Notable Former Residents
Nirvana
Retired Residents
Ryan13
| VAMPED is one of the New Classics: a level on the rise in popularity because of it's superb game balance. Whether you are a tunnel rat or dogfighter, gausser or energy weapon fan or missile runner, the close quarters of this small arena can play to your strengths. |
| "We played that one on Kali, and he won. All I have to say about ENDER is he needs to get his modem fixed. :P We can never get hooked up for some reason. I call people for matches all the time, yet he loves to blame it on my modem." |
-Chipmunk
| "He spanketh me, and I did not like it." ;) |
-Nirvana
| "I was trying to prove my talents to ENDER, and after a D1, I agreed to play him in D2 Vamped. Little did I know that this guy has tricks up the wazoo. At one point I made the match stop to check my sound after he pasted me with plasma (I thought it was reversed), but it turns out he had just pulled a trick on me. I dunno if he invented it, but he performed it like a pro. It's the one where your opponent is by the water in vamped, and you shoot through the grate on the long hall, to scare them out of the water room, and then you SMACK them. ENDER did a textbook example of the trick on me. Basically, the whole match went like that. I was so frustrated that I had 4 gauss suicides. I've never been quite so flustered with a gauss cannon while playing D2. If you beat ENDER in vamped, consider yourself an excellent pilot." |
-Birdseye
| "ENDER + Vamped = SuperENDER!" :o) |
-Z
| "Nirvana and I had been having some great games and we finally decided to do a vendetta. I had played Nirvana in Vamped before and was lucky enough to pull out of it with a 22-20 overtime victory. Well our first match of the vendetta we decided to re-play Vamped. Talk about a different game! Nirvana was all over the place, he was well on top of his game. I had gone into the match with the mindset that I had won before, it should be a close one. I struggled to catch up but when it was all done and over I lost 20-15. One thing everyone needs to keep in mind about playing Vamped is that the Merc missiles are a major factor. If you don't have any, you're gonna die." |
-Chipmunk
| "A couple days after I played Nirv his first UT match on modem in Io NH, we decided to play his other home, Vamped, in an unofficial match. He had felt his game was "off" in Io, and sought redemption here. And he started off strong, too. 3-zip. I could tell he had gotten his confidence back. So like always when facing a top notch player in a level he is strong in, I had to go about determining which areas NOT to venture in to very often, and look for patterns in his movement and behavior that I could exploit. He was clearly strongest in the tunnel areas, and placed great importance on controlling the main missile respawn zone in the back corner of the long tunnel. So I decided to let him have those areas, and all the missiles. I don't need no steeking missiles anyway. ;) I took control of the main room like I usually prefer to do, and made him pay as often as possible when he came out to fight in the open. He did a lot of firing off blind smart missiles; I figure he knew they would respawn in the back anyway, so he was getting free shots, in effect, because I wasn't contesting his control of the respawn area. We did quite a bit of peekaboo in the main room around those pillars, and that's how I caught up. He also tried to assault me a few times after I retreated into the water zone, and those attacks went poorly for him. After I established that I would not go into the back, I went back there and got a surprise kill. I really enjoyed that one. He must have been starting to feel pretty secure back there. I know he believes that control of those missiles is the key to the game. And that must be a pretty good tactic: he rarely loses matches in his home. But I showed him that the gauss can put a damper on that approach without the need for any missiles. I won this game 20 15, and I tell you straight out I would have LOST without the gauss. The gauss gave me a way to hurt him without having to chase him into all the tunnels, and that's what I relied on to get the job done." |
-Sirian
| "It was very close at the beginning. Some very intense dogfights (which I came out of more often than he.) Neck and neck until it was about 6-6 then I took off. Kill after kill, without getting killed. I had him to 18-10. Thinking I had it made I switched over to practice more with Fusion. Next thing I know, we werent dogfighting anymore. He had switched tactics to a hit and run with Spread or Gauss. Mercs and Flashes. I had been blinded at least 7 times and the score was 19-19. What a comeback!!! and BAM another flash as I was flying through the reactor tunnel... totally lost and blind. Dop was watching and laughing when I could see again, my first thought was "Where am I?" then I heard Dop lauging again and realized I was speaking my thoughts... curses and all. But I managed to pull through at 21-19... man I was sweating. It was a GREAT GAME!" |
-Bruun
| "To me, part of what it means to be First Tier is to have no fear. That does not mean to be stupid, or to let tough negotiators always get their way with the level picks. But it does mean you take some risks, you go out of your way to play others on their best levels from time to time. And I try to back up that belief with action. So it was that I challenged Ender to a vendetta with the first two games in his D1 and D2 homes, and game 3 in one of my homes, his choice. Ender had been performing stronger and stronger against me of late, and I felt it was time to make a statement, to lay it on the line in a bold way, and find out if I still had the upper hand in this long rivalry by testing him at his best. Ender in Vamped is like... well, it's a nightmare. He knows how to minimize his risks. I've played him in here several times now, and not yet won. It's almost impossible to catch him unprepared. You have to earn each kill, and there is no part of the level where he is not completely comfortable, strong in his confidence. I knew my chances in this level were not high, and that's how it turned out. But this match was a lot of fun, and I was pleased with my 14 kills. With two games in his homes, the vendetta for me was a case of busdriver or bust! Check the Rose and Pro Lightning pages for the rest of the story." :) |
-Sirian
| VAMPED is the most popular level yet produced by Nirvana, out of the more than 100 levels he has released. There is one main dogfight room, reminiscent of Athena but a little smaller. There are two doors from this room that lead into the back tunnels, and four open portals that lead to a tunnel that runs around half of the room, covering two of its sides. The back corner of this tunnel holds the main energy bay and there is a tiny room with a pool of water at its base that Vlider specifically requested. The top of this room opens onto the LONG tunnel that is the defining feature of Vamped. Most of the missiles respawn in the back corner of this tunnel. The other end of the tunnel opens into the back area of the level, where the exit is hidden in the ceiling and a secondary energy bay sits near a door. |  |
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There is an omega cannon tucked in a closet in the ceiling. If it matters to you whether or not the omega is in play, you might fly through this level and not realize it has an omega. Don't be fooled. Also keep an eye on the mercs. These always-dangerous missiles can play a key role in matches here. |  |
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Level designer Nirvana believes that controlling the long tunnel is the key to victory in Vamped. The tunnel is certainly a dangerous place, with its floor grates and tremendous length. Players who make their home here tend to know both how to trap and kill opponents in the tunnel, and how to avoid such death for themselves and still gather almost all the missiles. Using plasma or quads can often overwhelm gauss users in dogfights or close-in tunnel skirmishes, but gauss rules from a distance. There are a great many tactics that can be used successfully in this level, and counter-strategies for taking down each of them. Perhaps that is why Vamped has become so popular. This level rates 8 on Overall Design. |
-Ratings-
| Level Name | DF | TR | TM | TP | EB | GM | 3D | WF | CR | LV | ST | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D2 Vamped | 5 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 8 |
| D1 Vamped | 5 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
| Back to the IDL War Journal |
Vamped for D1 plays a bit differently. Spreadfire looms large, and the fusion
can put the smack down on runners and tunnel rats, or on the hapless opponents
trying to flush them out. Quads are a threat at all distances in this level.
There is an NH variant for those preferring not to play with homers.
Overall Rating: 8