Notable Former Residents
SoniC
| THIS is the first level to achieve prominence in open-socket pickup games of D2 on Kali in a long time. Perhaps, in no small part, due to its general similarities with Minerva2: size, weapon balance, wide halls surrounding the main dogfight area, some tunnels and lots of room for runners and missile boats. Yet this one is NOT Minerva, and if you have not yet given it a try, you may want to. |
| "I have both introduced SoniC to levels that became his home at some point, and chased him out of levels that he chose as home. In the case of KegParty, it was the latter. I took him on back to back in his two home levels in the summer of 98, and the D2 game was in Keg. He fought admirably, but my P90 was getting about twice the fps of his P75 (his vid card is that underpowered) and I used a lot of gauss. I also used my smart missiles wisely, with an almost Ender-like degree of success, and SoniC decided, not long after that game, to go in search of a new D2 home. At this writing, he is still looking. Just call me a meanie who tosses kids out of their homes and into the street!" :) |
-Sirian
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K EGPARTY stands unique among levels for its combination of layout, texture, and massive amounts of play time. This is one of the truly great anarchy levels to come down the pike recently, and deserves credit for its many accomplishments. |  |
The action in KegParty centers around the main room. This room is large enough to
host a spirited dogfight, and depending on your strengths and your opponent's
weaknesses, you can achieve success here with almost any weapon: gauss, plasma,
quad 6, even spreadfire or fusion. If your opponent dominates the main room, you
are in for an uphill struggle, and would be advised to gather as many of the
missiles as you can. It is possible to move around the level without going through
the main room, but only barely. There are three secondary rooms, but only one of
them is large enough to rival the hub in any way. The area where the fusion starts
can provide many missiles to the player brave enough to venture into it every so
often. Getting trapped in there can mean giving up an easy kill, though, so be
careful. Gauss and mercs make long distance exchanges both deadly and common.
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The weapon load in KegParty is optimized for four players. There are two packs of
proxbombs and a whopping seven smart missiles, as well as plenty of mercuries,
flash, and even a pack of guided missiles. Homers are conspicuously absent, lending
this level even more of a Minerva2 feel. There is plenty of extra gauss ammo
scattered around the level, to the delight of gauss lovers. Players can boat for
smarts and mercs to their hearts' content in this missile farm. Intelligent use of
proxbombs can be potentially devastating to runners in this level, who otherwise
would be difficult to pin down. Most important, though, are the smart missiles,
both the offensive placement of them and your dodging/evasion skills. As far as
guns go, there is an energy bay in each area, so there is plenty of juice available.
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| Players with extensive experience on Cases D2 ladder will likely feel right at home in KegParty. This level plays with its own unique challenges in anarchy, but in head to head, it really starts to feel a lot more like Minerva2. The skills required to succeed in a Keg ladder match are the same ones you need in Minerva2. This would tend to explain why Keg is so popular in open anarchy games but remains largely obscured by other levels in ladder competition. Of note are the Quake II textures that Mesmerist used for all of Kegparty. He took the screen shots himself in actual Quake 2, instead of extracting the images. KegParty was at the forefront of a brief trend for D2 levels using Quake 2 textures. Players who also play a lot of Quake 2 may find the texture choices dull or stale, but for Descent players who don't bother with Quake, it makes for a refreshing change of scenery. Even the reticle has been changed to match Quake 2, and some players may find this disorienting at first, until they figure out that those squiggles are a little L and R for left/right launch tube. This level has no reactor or exit. |  |
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KegParty is a solid effort, which has achieved classic status with its degree of play time. This level is optimized for anarchy, and is rather heavy with the missiles and ammo for a head to head matchup, so Overall we rate it an 8. |  |
| Level Name | DF | TR | TM | TP | EB | GM | 3D | WF | CR | LV | ST | Overall | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KegParty v1.0 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 8 | GL |
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