Maan ShadowCode was flippin' tough.

[JC_Helios]

Well I just did Shadowcode again, and it really isn't THAT bad.

Grenades room:just run past the mines and crouch under the tranq lasers. If you can this is also a great room to stock up on mines. -Easy

Run Forest run!: Almost feels as if I could WALK through the corridor and make it... but not quite. - Very easy

Bots and big square crates: There's a repair bot, and medbot nearby... need I say more? Just got to look around and make use of your surrondings while being aware- easy

Jump puzzle: With speed aug you only take like 20-30 damage jumping from the top to the safe retracting platform. -Easy with speed aug moderate/hard without?

Vents/elevators: The start of a trend (Run Run Run!)- Easy, very easy if you expect the elevators

Resident Evil room: You take no damage if you rush in with the speed aug and duck below the oncoming laser.- Easy... maybe Moderate if you don't move fast enough and have to dodge

Electricity room: Made it through with speed aug, only got hit once. With a little bit of patience, timing, speed, and luck; I'm sure that someone could make it through taking no damage- Moderate

'Electrician'/fire boxes room: With speed aug I ran in and jumped my way through the room before he even lit the boxes on fire. I suppose the first time you can't do that, since you'll most likely be too wary of traps to just rush into the room. Luckily on my first time I had a extinguisher to put myself out.- moderate/little hard

Turret room: I understand peoples' issue with this room, I made it through fine though.... Only took like 1-3 bullets with speed aug and ballistic protection- between Little Too Hard and Too Hard

Hover bots: This time I left some stuff behind to make room for the GEP gun, was helpful for killing a few. They're a lot easier if you take note of where their "eyes" are, and the fact they can't seem to hear noise or respond to light... They're also just like other NPCs they'll chase you for a little bit and then give up, sometimes ending up staring at a wall, and thus no longer being a threat. They are annoying but it's also nice that they're scary, gives that whole..... "Run! run, hurry! Quick shut the door behind you!!!" type feeling(especially when there's like 3-8).- Hard but don't turn them into target frisbees on Trestkon's own personal shooting range, or anything....

Gas room: if you have a gasmask/hazmat-suit or do it fast it's not bad. -Easy


Server 6: I understand it being confusing, the first few times I did it I jumped down into the pit of death. Lot's of hover bots too, but they can be deactivated.- Little/Moderately Hard

Shadowcode mind-fuck: Great fun, and not too hard... first 2 or 3 times I didn't notice the train button though. Ended up jumping into the bottomless pit twice... thought maybe I had to walk along the rails above a bottomless pit. First time I completed it I still had 48 head health.- Easy

[Pointman]

In the gas room, you're able to run to the valve with a minimum health loss.

The resident evil room. Sometimes it's hard. But... the memories... lol, thats my favorite trap. Got me laughing for an hour, first time I saw it in Alpha.

Hoverbots - don't nerf them too much, PLEASE. They're scary. Even more than spiderbots. But they rock.

Verdict: please, DON'T scrap the whole OSC idea. Preety please.

[LTKJAY]

The flaming crates are awesome too, speed aug can do them easily but I'd love to find a way around them with minimal effort. Breaking the crates might work?, I dunna!

[Pointman]

I was able to throw some of the boxes away (before they start to burn), thus making a path to sprinklers activation button quite easy and harmless. Took me 20 mins before I was able to kick the room though.

[JC_Helios]

The flaming crates are awesome too, speed aug can do them easily but I'd love to find a way around them with minimal effort. Breaking the crates might work?, I dunna!

Ooops, I kept worrying that I was going to forget a trap or put them in the wrong order or something.... Oh well, edited in fire box room.

[chrisssf]

We were meant to find the electricity room hard? The one where you just walk a few steps to the other side right? Cause i got hit once for little damage - all my health counters stayed green... :S

[Jonas]

From a design point of view, any obstacle that requires you to take damage to pass it is a bad idea, especially since there are no medbots in the immediate area.

So we're removing the fire room and the turret hall and making the electricity room optional (with extra goodies if you choose to go in there).

The hoverbots won't be super-nerfed, they'll just be easier to kill with regular weapons. My test just now says: One medium-burst with the assault rifle will take them out. I was able to make it through the server 5 map without being hit more than twice - both unfortunately in the head, so it was red when I was done, but there's a medbot at the beginning of that map that you can go back to if you want

[Lewis]

Um. I think something may have broken?

First jumping puzzle in this section, over the radioactive waste. Happily bounced down to the next ledge on my third or fourth attempt. I am face to face with a door - only it's not a door. It's not registering as anything. So I put a hazmat suit on and hopped down to the bottom - there's nothing down there except a set of stairs leading to nothing, no way back up and, ultimately, death.

Out of curiosity (since there was no way back up to the top) I "ghosted" through the "door" - and there's an empty room. Should this have been a level transition, only it's not working for some reason? Or am I way off-track?

[JC_Helios]

The vent by the door....

[Jonas]

Go into the vent.

[xcomcmdr]

I loved the whole ShadowCode part! I'm gonna do it again in the dark someday. It's a freelin' theme park ruled by a dungeon keeper!

Still, the fire room was damn hard. I was half dead, and only jumping like crazy with the level 3 "enhanced legs" augmentation did not set me on fire. But I liked it too. I think removing it would make ShadowCode weak. Like if he wasn't really trying to kill you.

Maybe you could just modify it ?

I'm not against removing the turret corridor, though. It's small, and after that damn fire room.

Now, I'm not going to oppose the team, I'll just keep the patched version of TNM and the old version in the future (if I find the "patched version" too easy on that part).

I just hope the whole ShadowCode will always be deadly though : that it will not become a picknick or just another "dungeon". A terryfing nightmare with a damn crazy AI and a music that gives you the willies. That's what I loved!

An undeadly AI would ruin it, don't you think ?

PS : Don't worry about the jumoing puzzles, I hate them too (even if I'm not that far in the great TNM).

[elkston]

I found the ShadowCode sequence mildly challenging, but certainly not over the top. Then again, I had the speed aug (my favorite) upgraded to the maximum which made a few puzzles a no-brainer.

I thought the last bit with Shadow overlayed in your mind was very suspenseful. You guys really nailed that one with the map design, voice acting, music, and effects.

[r00tb33r]

I forgot to mention, as I was playing through ShadowCode sequence, it all felt incredibly familiar. Like a remake of Penumbra: Overture and Black Plague. ShadowCode was talking in your mind just like Red did. This is probably a coincidence, but Penumbra did pump a hell of a lot of adrenaline through me.

[Jonas]

Really? Hm.

It was meant as a joint reference to System Shock (obvious) and Johnny Mnemonic (obvious).

[deuxhero]

I really think the best sulution to the fire room is the boxes being both destroyable and the fire eventually dieing out.

Waiting at the entrence is a simple enough sulution, and even if the time based thing irks you, the boxes can easily be destroyed.