-Xciter

-Sirian

THE MUSES are Spaz's Masterpiece. Not only is this mission the largest ever done by Spaz, it's the one he put the most time and care into. This set boasts a large number of custom textures, including floor and wall textures along with many custom signs paying homage to LAN Descenters. Spaz relied heavily on kiln for playtesting and advice; there are quotes from kiln and signs dedicated to him spread throughout the mission.

The Muses are split into two Halves. The levels in First Half are intended primarily for LAN play. They are rather large, and each can easily support an 8-player game. Spaz completed these designs early in 1997, but his monitor blew out and he went without a computer for quite some months. He took a break from the net and from Descent, and returned to complete The Muses in November of 97. He finalized and released Muses First Half at that time, then worked intensively to complete the Second Half, which are smaller and designed for both head-to-head play and cozy anarchy games.

The Muses in general are noteworthy for being intensely 3D and for requiring 3D fighting skills, but this is particularly true in the smaller levels. Second Half of Muses are extremely demanding on the dogfight skills. These levels represent a unique collection. They differ in flavor from all previous Spaz designs, and are not for the timid. Each level has two panels: one that unlocks a door to a secret weapon cache (called Kiln's Cheese Shoppe) and another that opens up the reactor. This innovative concept allows players to agree to play with a lower weapon count if they choose, and leave the extras (and the meaner guns) locked away. Yet it still allows for enough weaponry in the levels to support larger anarchy games.

After both halves were released, Spaz considered combining them into a single hog file. With two halves, it is rather cumbersome to refer to any particular level, since no one uses the name of the muse each level is dedicated to, and with two level 1s, two level 2s, etc, it can be rather confusing. But there was fear that if there were two versions of the hogs -- one split and one combined -- that some players would get only one version, and some would get the other, and the mission would see less play time because of incompatible files. Spaz chose what he thought would be the lesser of two evils. However, if he HAD combined the levels into one file, they would have been placed from smallest to largest, meaning that the Second Half levels would have preceded the First Half. So that is how we at IDL intend to review them.

The Muses - Second Half

Terpsichore Level One of Muses Second Half is a real shark pen. The main room has four entrances, all through tunnels that have doors at both ends. As such, entire games are often fought primarily in this one room, particularly if all the powerups pile up there after the first couple deaths. The shape of the room does not lend particularly well to ambushes, but reborn players will often have to fight their way back in there. There are three other rooms, where some fighting may take place; but this usually only happens if one of the players makes it a point to force the fighting there.

The unusual architecture of the main room demands the ultimate degree of dogfighting skill. You simply will not win in there unless you outfight your opponent in a 3D dogfight. The energy bay allows for some intense peekaboo exhchanges, and players will need ratting skills to be able to hold their own in any part of this level. The layout rewards the passive player to a large degree, and coping with runners can be difficult here. Overall Rating: 8

Thalia Level Two of Second Half is the most popular Muses level for anarchy games, due to its atmosphere and superior architecture. The level is enormously fun with 4 or 5 players. The main room is open and has three entrances. The level has two vertical wells, one of them quite long, and the missiles will play a key role in games here. Both tunnel and dogfight skills are in high demand.

Coping with runners in this level can be extremely frustrating. The layout is one long, continuous, twisty circuit, and players so inclined can maintain distance under almost all circumstances. Spaz's later works have moved away from the type of interconnectedness present in most of his early releases, like Tribute, Vesta, Maia, Io, and Athena, and toward a more circuitous design with long, sometimes twisted loops - situations that play really well in anarchy at the expense of quality for head to head players. Thalia is surely the most beloved Muses level, overall, but you are advised to know your opponent and what you will be getting in to before you agree to a match in this architectural masterpiece. Overall Rating: 8

Melpomene Level Three of Muses Second Half is the most straightforward design in the set. There are three rooms connected by two long ramps and a small vertical well. The level has one door. Some fights will occur on the ramps, but almost without exception this is a pure dogfight level. It's that simple.

Standoffs will occur often as one player is in one room and the opponent is in the other. Patience brings many rewards, but the lack of cover allows an aggressor to deliver punishment to the camper if he avoids being overly predictable. This level's simplicity is it's greatest appeal, and we rate it highest of all the Muses for its overall quality when it comes to playing a ladder match. Overall Rating: 9

Erato Erato is another simple design. The level is dominated by two extremely long hexagonal hallways, which intersect perpendicularly at a corner. There are just two rooms, a third, smaller hexagonal hall with two pillars, plus the Cheese Shoppe, and two winding tunnels that connect the main room to the ends of the main hallways. With such long corridors, homers can be particularly vicious in this level. Game play is a little bland in head to head, if players fight mostly in and around the big tunnels; but can be interesting if the action is spread across the entire level.

The lighting effects in the primary hallways are some of the most visually impressive in the entire set. Spaz must have used either corner lighting or empty light textures. It's a thing of awesome beauty to fire off a couple shots and then sit and watch as the glows from the shots travel along the length of the walls. At the same time, this level also contains the only lighting errors in the mission set. Spaz's editor, DMB, has some problems dealing with shootable lights. Effects can bleed through doors, resulting in darkness on one side of a door even when the light you shot out was on the other side. Spaz worked around this in Level 5, but he must have overlooked it here. We strongly recommend the host set lights to unbreakable when playing this level, to avoid running into these unsightly lighting anomalies. Overall Rating: 7

Euterpe Level Five of Muses Second Half is extremely impressive. The level is one long circuit with a large dogfight room situated in the middle, connecting to the outer corridors through five narrow tunnels. The reactor sits in a room atop the level, and is reached through a vertical well at the apex of the outer circuit.

Playing this level against a single opponent requires a solid mix of aggression and patience. Like all the levels in Muses Second Half, the level is slanted to favor the passive player. Running, camping, gathering missiles, all are likely to factor into any games played here. Yet the layout also lends well to being able to force your opponent to fight, particularly if you can figure out where he is at.

Shortcutting through the center is the key to this level. If you play only in the outer ring, you are going to be at the mercy of an opponent who does not fear the center and the tunnels that connect to it. Stealth and gaining the edge of surprise are crucial tools in this level, whether your strategy is one of aggression, passivity, or a combo of the two. Overall Rating: 8

The Muses - First Half

Calliope Level One of Muses First Half is surely the most played level in the set. The first level always is. This level has plenty of rooms and halls and allows for a nice mix of dogging and ratting.

Head to head matches in Calliope are more about hunting and stalking than they are about fighting. Players who do give this level a shot for a ladder match will find that energy is a key issue. There are four bays, all located in tunnels where you are vulnerable to a wisened opponent. This gives the advantage to the player who uses more gauss, and can make quads appealing over plasma for the fact that your fuel lasts a good bit longer that way. This level is quite large, but it is interconnected well and is playable for 1 on 1 games. Overall Rating: 7

Polyhymnia This level is extremely demanding on the 3D fighting skills. There are three large dogfight rooms connected by long, narrow tunnels. The layout can be confusing. Consulting the map a bit is advised for new players.

The presence of the phoenix in this level can be a huge factor. It really gobbles up the energy, though, and this level's energy bays are all off the beaten path, so if you do use the phoenix, be prepared to kill quickly or run into big time energy shortages. The smart mines can make for lethal death traps in the tunnels, particularly if you have to make frequent pit stops. This level is simply brutal. If players are mismatched in their skills, expect the game to be a slaughter. This one is for the skilled ONLY. Overall Rating: 8

Clio This level was played for the 4-on-4 teams competition at the Nov 97 NY dfest. Players there actually got to play it while the Muses were still in beta, and before some of the levels had even been started.

Clio not only has the shortest name of the nine muses, it is also the best design for team play on LAN. This one is a masterpiece, the crowning jewel of the Muses when it comes to anarchy. It is a bit too large for ladder matches, though. There are two large areas: an "upstairs" and a "downstairs" and they are connected only by a single vertical well. The reactor well is a dead end, and is mostly unused. Getting trapped in there is not a good idea. If you play this one for a match, you will want to try to move the fighting downstairs if you prefer tunnel action, and upstairs if you want to be dogfighting more. Overall Rating: 7

Urania The final level of The Muses is simply HUGE. Nearly half the level lies tucked at the bottom of a long well, and you can quite literally play an entire game without ever finding it unless you make a point to go and look.

Level Four of Muses First Half can actually play rather fast, if players stick to the main area, which consists of a squarish, two-tiered fighting zone that is extremely 3D-intense. You may want to venture alllllll the way down to the reactor room at least once, though, to grab the smart mines and the phoenix cannon. This level also has more of Spaz's trademark mega and shaker teases than just about any other he has ever made. No less than 2 megas and 6 shakers are on display in unreachable niches. Urania would be a nightmare to play against a hard core runner, but it's a blast if players seek to engage one another more often than not. For ladder matches we give it an Overall Rating of 6

Summary

The Muses get their name from mythology, as do all of Spaz's levels, but both the names and these levels are something special. The muses are the mythological figures that grant inspiration to mortals. Spaz not only honored the muses with this set, he clearly drew on their gifts as well! This mission stands above all others yet produced for Descent anarchy, and it set new standards across the board for all other level designers to try to live up to. Spaz reserved the Muses names for what he hoped would be his best work, and because he had to make a level for each muse, he knew it would be a massive undertaking. If you have never gotten to play the Muses on LAN, your Descent experience is incomplete! This mission is optimized for multiplayer LAN anarchy, so not all of the levels are ideally suited for 1 on 1 games. So keep that in mind when reviewing the Level Ratings: we rated the levels for how they play in ladder matches, and without any regard to their MASTERFUL quality for the type of gameplay they were designed to support. If you don't yet have a copy of this mission set, you MUST get it! It is that good.

-Ratings-

Level Name	DF	TR	TM	TP	EB	GM	3D	WF	CR	LV	ST	Overall	Special
Muses, Second Half, Level 1	10	7	3	3	7	4	4	9	4	8	5	8	x
Muses, Second Half, Level 2	9	9	1	1	8	4	7	8	0	8	7	8	x
Muses, Second Half, Level 3	9	4	3	4	7	3	5	8	5	9	6	9	x
Muses, Second Half, Level 4	8	6	3	2	7	4	3	9	3	6	5	7	x
Muses, Second Half, Level 5	9	9	4	4	7	3	6	9	4	8	8	8	x
Muses, First Half, Level 1	9	8	3	4	5	3	4	8	3	8	4	7	x
Muses, First Half, Level 2	9	7	4	3	4	3	6	9	2	8	5	8	DF
Muses, First Half, Level 3	7	9	4	2	7	2	5	8	3	8	3	7	x
Muses, First Half, Level 4	10	8	1	3	6	3	7	8	1	7	6	6	DF

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