Synopsis
| THIS compact D1 level is free of spreadfire and homers, allowing players to duel it out with weaponry that shoots where you aim it. You will need bigtime skills to hold your own in this one. |
| THIS compact D1 level is free of spreadfire and homers, allowing players to duel it out with weaponry that shoots where you aim it. You will need bigtime skills to hold your own in this one. |
|
"The other day it just so happened that Karash and I had arranged to play
some 1 on 1 for fun against each other. When we tried to decide on a
level, we were both pretty sick of the "Usual Three" meaning Io, Nysa,
and Athena. So we decided to play his home level of Standard1. Only
thing was, I didn't know it was his home level. But that never stopped
me before, now has it? :) The game started out with me just hanging in the
main dogfight room, because I was fairly lost and did not know where all the
tunnels led to. Karash was nice enough to let me fly around to get my
bearings before the chaos ensued. Once the game got underway, we
started duking it out in the big room up top, or down in the lava pit,
with plasma or fusion. Honestly, it was fairly even in all the
dogfights. Any fight I lost, I knew I had lowered him down to 20 or
less shields, and vice versa. So the fighting was real intense, with
each player trying to capitalize. While Karash spread his plasma all
over trying to nail me, I got a few fusion shots in that made him think
twice before getting too close. In fact 3 one-shot kills decorated his
pretty Pyro (in D1X, no less). :) After a while I think Karash got sick
of me being in his face with fusion, because he came back and got 2
fusion kills on me that game, causing me to switch up on him. A little
bit of smartmissile play came next, and the mighty one ate a few green
missiles for dessert. :) As new as I was to the level, I was doing surprisingly
well, having the game at 15-14 him. However, a bit of bad luck came next, and
after a kill, I rematerialized right in front of him, two times in a row; he got
off 3 really fast kills, giving him a four point lead. OH NO!!! :( However,
I came back and held the game to a respectible 20-17 at the
end. I feel pretty good, and this was the second game in a row I have
had with Karash that was a 2 or 3 point game, our last one being our
overtime match in Lachesis NH. He's one of the pilots whose style I
really want to get down, but have yet to figure out. Right now
I'm just coping with him -- doing ok at that. A little of our post game
conversation went like this:"
[Karash] I can't dodge your shots! |
-LordDeath
| "Fathom got sucked into Forsaken in spring 98, and he was one of the best players in the world at that game. Came out tops in the Forsaken Challenge ladder standings, and lost in the final to kiln (who got the $2000). And that whole experience, plus losing his T1 over the summer, led to burnout. fath retired for six months. Well, he returned to active status recently, and he and I just happened to be looking to play one at the same time, so we did. I had no idea what I was getting in to... he might be rusty, or he might be primed and loaded for bear (or rat). But what the Hell. I thought I'd take my chances and play in his home level. fath is a renowned dogfighter. He likes to keep it simple, and he will not be controlled. If he can beat you in a dogfight, your game is over. Because he will patiently hang out in the biggest room and kick your ass there over and over. I expected this to be his approach, and it was. So I nibbled at the edges, and boated the smarts at will while he stayed in the main room. I ratted and ran my ass off the first 2 or maybe 3 kills, hitting him, or trying to, in the main room, and mixing it up a little. Then I realized that he had set vulcan ammo to respawning -- a D1X feature. I was unsure about this, since I've always disabled it... but it was his home, and therefore his terms, and so I just changed up my strat a bit. I had the vulcan and I proceeded to use it unapologetically. I went down to the main room and switched up between fusion, plasma and vulcan, depending on the distance. Next thing I know, it's 7-1, and all of a sudden fath is nowhere to be found. Like any UT having a difficulty, he retreated to re-evaluate, try to find some advantage elsewhere in the level. We proceeded to rat each other out for a good ten or fifteen minutes, and he got another two kills as I got two or three. That was doing better for him, but still not good enough, so he tried camping. There are only so many spots you can camp on Standard 1, and he tried them ALL. Might have kicked the crap out of a player unfamiliar with the level. I caught him once with the vulcan and just plastered him before he realized. Drew a "heh" for that, too. :) Figured out some of his other spots without being able to really hurt him, but he soon gave up on the camping. Score by now was 13 3, and I know we were both surprised by that. The connect was SWEEEEEEET, I gotta say. My dialup was on its best behavior, and with his T1 it was like a modem call, if not better. And in the main room he just couldn't HIT me at first. There is a lot of room to dodge there, and I'd take a hit or three every so often, but really negligible. I think some of the fusion hits rattled his confidence a bit. He mothed into one long pass that had to have demoralized him at least a bit. Anyway, having tried EVERYTHING and none of it working for him, he went back to being fath: hanging out in the main room, forcing me to dog him time and again. And finally he was shaking the rust off... dodging my shots, getting hits... we went kill for kill, and that last third of the match felt like a real UT match. If we had warmed up before the match, he might have gotten 17 instead of only 7. It was that dramatic of a turnaround from earlier. Bottom line: I got lucky. Caught him coming out of retirement, and before he could shake off the rust, before he could 'remember' how intense a UT match really is and take himself up a notch. Fathom's next opponent may not be so lucky, and too bad for him!" hehe :) |
-Sirian
 |
S TANDARD 1 is a classic example of Karash's level-making. Ever since his breakthrough design in The Elegies, with Level 4, he has had *the* most refined sense of the odd angle in laying out cube structures. Karash designs most of his levels so that players will bump a LOT of walls unless they are absolutely flawless not only in controlling their ship, but in their awareness of their environment and their sense of orientation mixed with their ability to handle the ship as an extension of themselves, instead of as something to be controlled. You must BE your Pyro in Standard 1, if you are to achieve success in combat. |
| This level is neither large nor particularly confusing. There is a main dogfight room in the center of the level, and a wider, shorter room up top. The rest is tunnels. You will need to be strong all-around in here, and able to fight without spread or homing missiles, and that is just what Karash intended. His own skills are strong in both the dogfight and the peekaboo game, and the level is designed to let him target his enemy's weakness and pounce upon it. |  |
 |
 
You would be well advised to change your weapon
selection to fit the circumstances. Fusion can be devastating in the tunnels IF you get
the hit. Plasma or quads do best in the tighter dogfights. And don't forget the vulcan!
|  |
 |
The 3D elements of this level are intense. You will either do a lot of 3D maneuvers, or be shot down like a clay pigeon by a capable opponent. All of the dogfight areas are vertically tall except the room up top, and even there players who use autoleveling will be disadvantaged. Mobility is another skill featured in this level, and being able to move around successfully, without letting the two doors give you away, will put you in the strongest position to get a surprise kill. |
| Like most Karash designs, Standard 1 will not easily be mastered. You will need to play this one several times at least before you can really compete here with a veteran of the level. Karash originally intended to do several levels in a series (thus calling this one Standard 1, with 2 and 3 to follow) but so far he has not moved to finish the set. Perhaps he will, some day. Perhaps not. Standard 1 is a high quality, high threshold level that only true D1 afficianados will appreciate to its fullest. Overall Rating: 8 |  |
| Level Name | DF | TR | TM | TP | EB | GM | 3D | WF | CR | LV | ST | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard 1 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 8 |
| Back to the IDL War Journal |