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Level: Ship of the Night back home search
Author(s): Croft Storm
total rating:2.28 Gameplay &
Puzzles		 Enemies,
Objects &
Secrets		 Atmosphere,
Sound &
Cameras		 Lighting &
Textures
Akcy 2 2 3 2
Bene 6 4 4 4
bERT 4 3 4 5
Catherin 1 2 2 1
CC 2 1 2 2
DJ Full 5 4 4 2
eTux 2 1 0 1
Gerty 3 2 1 1
Jay 2 2 1 1
Kristina 2 2 2 2
Magnus 0 0 1 1
manarch2 3 2 2 1
MichaelP 3 3 1 1
Obig 4 4 2 2
Orbit Dream 1 2 2 1
Sash 2 1 1 1
Scottie 2 2 3 3
Sherry 1 2 1 1
Yoav 6 5 5 5
category averages
(19 reviews)		 2.68 2.32 2.16 1.95

Reviewer's comments

"Report for Croft Storm:
Gameplay&Puzzles - B: Mark certainly has a distinctive feeling for gameplay. The work he presented to us was spicked with annoyances, such as tedious wandering through large rooms, very little to do except a fairly strange puzzle to avoid triggering a sentrygun and the only real gameplay element placed at the end of the level - the bike jump. For me, that seemed like he wanted to give us a secret hint for his talent, just like he wanted to leave the players of this work at least one fun element they should remember. All those unnecessarily hard tasks were just perfect for such a level because this tells the players that there are so many other things to enjoy than playing those silly levels. Thanks, Mark, for this insight. The best thing in this level was of course that unmarked jump-through ceiling causing most of us to run around headlessly in this level searching for the revolver. Most likely he wanted to express that pacifism, even if at first sight the only possible way, is not helpful when you are in dangerous situations.
Enemies, Objects & Secrets - B - Mark seems to be very talented, as he was able to place quite a few enemies that looked exactly equal. This time his great talent really can be seen. Also the fact that he didn't place any secrets in this level shows he knows how to not strain players with tasks that only consume time - getting more ammo wouldn't have helped either, so just what I expected from this experienced creator. The only objects in this level were two ladders (a major and incredibly innovative hint for the mentioned jump-through ceiling), parts of full gates that served as one-square doors, a very obscure door that we all remember from the TR 4 Cairo levels to be not being openable via crowbar, but in this level it is actually, and from the wrong side - this is a clear example of Mark to show us that not everything in life is as it seems.
Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras - C - The large, boxy rooms Mark presents us here are nothing but ingeniously crafted, full of great details - the only thing is that the inclined player first has to get used to all those greenery, has to get absorbed by the well formed oversized rooms. The camera work of the builder is also brilliant. By using no single camera hint of what a switch does, he teaches players a lesson to only rely on themselves, not on the mostly useless things presented us on TV. The only camera that he actually uses is the one while performing the bike jump - again a very decent hint only to show us he is able to use cameras, but only those that can't really mislead players as when this camera is shown, players can't do anything wrong or right anymore. Sound usage is rather what we can call normal, and thus this deserves the lowest grade in the report.
Lighting & Textures - A - Mark perhaps showed the best texturing work of any release I have seen before. The ultra-limited texture set that cannot consist of more than ten different textures was showing the minimalism of the builder that wanted to create a fully irrealistic level, in which he absolutely succeeded. Every texture had its appropriate place and Mark is one of the few builders that actually are able to do magical things with the "texture all"-buttons. Mark really asked hisself why to use lighting in a level - this only would make things more realistic and this level would suffer heavily from that. Also, he has the talent to not overly confuse with dramatic lighting so that the breathtaking gameplay experience would be spoiled by it.
All in all, this level tells people to try a level themselves, because it shows everybody can make a better, err... forget the last word... level than this, perhaps masterpieces could only be built because of this work. This might be the milestone achievement in TR history. Now the only thing left me to do is searching for the "Irony Off" - Button..." - manarch2 (19-Jul-2012)

"After playing The Jerusalem Project, I got back to the GTSS game. As long as my computer is wiped out of any screenshots, I had to download some resources. This is why I played Temple of Karnos and Ship of the Night. The latter one appeared to be one of those almost unicolor, oversized and flat levels which, somehow, I still like, and I can't help enjoying. If You stumbled upon my previous reviews, You must have noticed my ratings for such productions are usually higher than anyone else gives. As long as the highest and the lowest rating don't count, I decided to keep not looking at other ratings before reviewing a level, for them not to affect my own via subconsciouss sugestion. But how it will be in case of this particular level? Let's see.
Gameplay & Puzzles:
Proceeding through many side rooms in order to open a door leading to the central one. That side-stepping design always works good, so the game is not that boring... and the author decided to vary those rooms a bit - once we encounter some sliding/jumping in order to raise a block, and shimmying to a switch opening a door - and in the other room, we avoid some pads triggering a sentry gun. Shame that most of this potential is wasted, because the game apparently wasn't betatested at all, and it's unfinished - the mentioned raising block is triggered with an unmarked tile, and useless - because we can use another, static block next to it in order to grab a crack and perform the shimmying (also mentioned). I opened the walkthru, hit Ctrl+F, saw the word "revolver" and "climb" and made sure it IS there indeed. I spent several more minutes on finding the item. When it finally happened, I realized the hint is ingame. Levelbuilders are really various - for one of them, a floor is an ornament, for another one - it's crucial for progressing. After that, I had to shoot the ball, find NOS, fight several mercenaries to obtain the crowbar and use it to access the motorbike, which I could mount the NOS in. Simple and linear, isn't it? But on the other hand, no element is repeated and it's all flowing smooth.
Enemies, objects and secrets:
The SAS fight was surprising and ir required quite fast action to perform. All other enemies I encountered were also mercenaries of the same kind however all of them placed rather good. And don't forget the sentry gun. From additional objects, there are several single switches and two ladders. One of them is a kind of creative hint. I know I'm giving spoilers here - but I want to say why I think this game is much underrated. Of course there are no other objects - but there is also no useless object here, so I think it's not that bad as it seems to be. As for secrets: I haven't found any. Maybe only a revolver, which - even though crucial - is hidden the way quite hard secrets often share. Crowbar door is missing a proper animation... or an improper door is set as a crowbar one.
Atmosphere, sound and cameras:
The level doesn't resemble a ship, until the moment You get on its deck. Seen from there, it looks like made of LEGO bricks and is one of the ugliest ships I've ever seen in a custom level. All in all, I think it deserves one point for impression I finally had, and which was confirmed while jumping over the river - so it appeared the game is actually about escaping from the ship. EDIT: after playing the game I found out there is a readme with a storyline telling so (I can't recall when I didn't notice a readme before... well, I surely did it in the past, but anyway I can't recall when). The final camera is a bit too short and I had to repeat the jump and fail it in order to take a closer look into the river... and I found out that - just like in case of the ship - this is also the ugliest river I've ever seen. Mostly because of what seems to be a failed opacity, so it looks like a row of separate tanks. No more cameras ingame, but also no need for them, as the difficulty remains on the same level all the time (except the revolver part). Sound well used, but not too much of it.
Lighting and textures:
Boxy, boxy, boxy! No part of the game has adjusted lighting - and it's rather bright in every room, even though I spotted no lamps on the walls nor ceiling. The final deck is also bright and it does not match the night - but at least the sky and the finishing rocks fit the builder's intention. No wonder that final "sightseeing", compared to the whole preceding monotony, gave me some reward. So - again - it's not that bad.
SUMMARY: I'll be more watchful if it comes to walk-through walls and ceilings. I've always had problems with them and I never learnt. Well... gotta improve. I see much unused potential in this level. It already is quite interesting, but it could be much more. Shame the author seems to have quitted building for good - I would like to see more of his workd and - as soon as I have some more time - I will play those remaining three levels he have created before he left.
CONDENSED SUMMARY: Short. Basic. Boxy. Flat. Recommended." - DJ Full (12-Aug-2011)

"This is one of those moments where I regret to play every level. Time honestly, in this level is to be seen absolutely nothing interesting. Constantly the same textures. Constantly stretched textures. Paper-thin walls. A cover hole disguised with a texture. SAS-Soldiers who appear very sudden from Nothing. And one sees a wrong animation if Lara opens a door with the crowbar. Why one should play this level? No reasonable reason occurs to me." - Scottie (27-Apr-2010)

"I'm not so happy with this level and the gameplay. Though the author's ideas are good. Nice first attempt. The rooms are quite huge and the textures not so well applied. Keep on building." - Tinka (27-Oct-2005)

"Considering this level is the first one from the author, it seems to me nothing more than practicing with the editor. As that, it's all right, there are enemies, pickups including the hidden colt, and a minor puzzle too, look at the ceiling how to avoid the machine gun to appear. But that's it, a few rooms, the textures are all the same. The title says it's a ship, but that didn't come out to light. So this level is first attempt, nothing more." - Akcy (05-Jun-2005)

“Stretched textures. Boring gameplay. It’s a normal first level. Luckily it ends after just less than six minutes.” – Magnus (29-Jan-2004)

“Well this level is quite short but I was looking for the Revolver for a while till I managed to find it climbing up in the right-hand corner of the low room where the hideout was invisible. :) The story may take place in a ship. In the end Lara gets on a motorbike and jump off the ship. But there are no other objectives or artifacts. This level seems to be a demo in virtue of the flat walls and empty rooms. The author would have furnished a bit these rooms so the level must have gotten a better score. Although there are puzzles and ideas. Unfortunately there are no added sounds and secrets. It maybe will be continued. Find the walkthrough pictures and savegames here: http://treditor.hu/english/ship_of_the_night_eng.htm ” – Obig (22-Dec-2003)

“Minimalistic approach by this level builder meaning not a lot of different textures. It adds to the gameplay because you have to look around good in some places to progress though it's not that difficult. A climb through ceiling is not my thing but I have to admit there was a certain clue. There are some guards to kill too and then it's off to the ship's deck and side-car escape routine. Certainly not convincing as a ship but if you want a small in between level that's not boring either than this is your thing.” – bERT (01-Dec-2003)

“Short level. You need to find the way to the deck there you ride on the motorbike to the end of the level.” – Yoav (05-Nov-2003)

“This is obviously a first time attempt. All I can say is that the creator should continue building in hopes of improving.” – Sherry (26-Oct-2003)

“Very short and as a first attempt it shows promise. The laser sight room is a good puzzle and finding the revolver takes a bit of doing. Its setting is supposed to be a ship but textures are wrong and the animation on opening a door with a crowbar is actually funny because it's not the correct animation. The ideas are there and what's needed is a working knowledge of actually pulling a level together. I'd like to see what this author does in the future. As I said - there is promise here of bigger and better.” – Bene (26-Oct-2003)

“A first level by a new author (I did use the revised Wads) and although the title suggested a ship there is not anything to find in here what remotely resembles a ship. Having said that it is a rather sneaky little level. Main goal is getting off with a bike and you need to find that canister and that is easier said than done if you want to do it the proper way as the revolver is very well hidden. The author is so nice to give clues just look at the ceiling and tiles on the floor and you can shoot that ball they way you should with revolver and sight. There are some faults in this as well the animation of the crowbar lighting could be improved stretched textures and very empty rooms. But you have to start somewhere so I am not complaining. 20-10-2003” – Gerty (24-Oct-2003)

“I could see that the author of this level had a few good ideas in this 13 minute level but they just didn’t get pulled off all that well. There is the block you raise to supposedly get to a lever but you can easily make it there without raising it the blue ball you shoot stays static and maybe should have swung the SAS sometimes popped out of thin air right in front of your eyes some of the rooms were just used to house shotgun shells and I hate to say it but the textures of this ship though you really can’t tell it is a ship are all monotonously the same and it isn’t even a nice texture to start with. On the good side it seems the author fooled a couple of players with the well hidden revolver which I found in a secret room through a climb through ceiling just take a note of a different floor look in one room and it will lead you right there the collection of the scope was also nicely done with an automatic gun you can trigger but if you follow the hints on the ceiling you won’t. For what it’s worth the download will only take a couple of seconds so you may as well take a look but it is really a first attempt and shouldn’t be looked on as anything else.” – Sash (21-Oct-2003)

“I am sad to say that the first effort of this author isn’t a very successful one. Apart from empty and big rooms textured with one single tile there is nothing interesting to see here. The player’s goal is to open some iron doors shoot a ball and find the nitro to perform a jump with the bike which lead to the end of the level. Fifteen minutes with just some SAS to shoot and personally I can’t say I understood what this was all about. It is supposed to be a ship but doesn’t look like one; there was a block that doesn’t need to be raised as the access to a lever can be accomplished by a few jumps and the door which needs a crowbar is the wrong door placed. I believe more work has to be done in order to have a good playable and fun level.” – Kristina (21-Oct-2003)

“Oh dear I'm trying to find something positive to say about this level. How about 'it's short'. You can just about see the glimmer of interesting gameplay but it's all a bit embryonic the rooms are huge and empty and the textures are really really boring. Still in all fairness this is a first time attempt and who knows what the author will bring us with a little more practice. 21.10.2003” – Jay (21-Oct-2003)

“I guess you can reach the 30 minutes of gameplay the author mentions in the readme if like me you keep searching and searching for that revolver that seems to not be in the level. Eventually I did revert to manual targeting with the shotgun to shoot that blue ball. I actually played it again and made it through in less than 10 minutes when knowing where to go. This is clearly a beginners effort with rather huge bare and empty rooms only very few different textures used and those fairly stretched most of the time no real lighting to speak of and if you were not told that you are in and on a ship you would probably not notice. There are two things I liked: the sloped jumps room and the room where you get the lasersight were at least good hints of gameplay ideas. The bike jump to end the level is fun but of course rather straightforward. The crowbar animation for the door to the bike is wrong and there is certainly more to learn for this author to build a decent level to play but hey we all started somewhere so keep at it go through the manual and play a few other levels to learn!” – Michael (19-Oct-2003)

“File under 'first attempt'. No need to say more just keep building!” – Orbit Dream (19-Oct-2003)

“Oh boy - another case of attempting to build a level without knowing many of the basics that the manual and tutorial level teach you. What you get here is some 10+ minutes of gameplay with repetitive texturing (mostly the same texture appears through the level) practically non existent lighting no camera work to guide you and not very exciting puzzles even if the sentry gun that appeared out of thin air caught me off guard it took some time to notice the blue ball on the ceiling in one of the rooms (I found a laser sight but no revolver so aimed at it manually with the shotgun) and so did the jump switch in the door with the shotgun shells. The motorbike jump at the end caused some excitement too but overall the level isn't very memorable. Also raising the red block is unnecessary as you can jump to the higher block from another one nearby. After going through the standard course the manual and tutorial level offer a builder can apply textures nicely split the walls into segments so the textures wouldn't be stretched - use simple lighting effects add cameras where they're needed - make at least a nice level in the looks (the gameplay does require some creativity). Hope the author does give the manual/tutorial level a try and we can expect something exceptional from him in the future as this level is not so good.” – eTux (19-Oct-2003)

“Big boxy boring rooms with plain textures climb up to a floor switch outside large corridor more rooms with plain textures half gates to open. The room where the lasersight is got me I didn’t know how to get out past the machine gun. I tried everything including stepping on different floor tiles so I had to cheat to get the lasersight. I’d be interested to know how it’s supposed to be done. Shoot a few guards pick up the nitrous oxide climb up top (looks kind of like the bow of a ship) pick up crowbar open door get bike put canister in rev up onto ramp and jump over to cliff.” – CC (19-Oct-2003)
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