Hey,
I believe I owe a long-coming explanation regarding mp_dark_final. So I made the preview video around 2 years ago, where I initially promised it'd be coming soon, planning it to be released a couple months apart from that point. This was obviously an overly optimistic goal, which, deep down, I didn't honestly expect myself to fulfill within the given time-range. Then I kept making promises about release dates, never actually being able to fulfill the promises due to personal reasons... yadda yadda... point is, it's all awkward as fuck. Question may arise, why in the hell is it so hard to make/finish such a map.... Why can't you just wrap it up.... Why do we have to wait an eternity?
The answer is rather complicated. The dark maps were never about just being " x + 1 " maps down the line with all the other maps being released. They were meant to stand out in terms of difficulty, in fact 1st and 3rd dark were by far the hardest maps upon release and the 2nd was amongst top 3 hardest maps, as well. With time passing it's obviously harder and harder to achieve such goals regarding mapping, because the skill cap rises, the game evolves, people get better. Initially, back then, dark final was already the hardest map, but It wasn't THAT much harder, than the current metagame, so I'd consider it worth to be released already. I wanted it to be unimaginably hard. This was the time I got accepted into university and my life had changed from the core, because I've started living alone also etc.
Let's face it, these insane hard maps are not "fun" in the sense of flow of gameplay. They are not fun to play, but they aren't about being fun to play. They're about giving you that mind-blowing epiphany/relief from beating bounces you would never have imagined you'd be able to do. This feeling , in my opinion, outweighs all the casual fun you can possibly have from completing mediocre maps. For this reason, I wouldn't want to make a map, which is hard enough already so it's absolutely unfun to play, yet it's not hard enough so it'd thrive to be the hardest possible map. Pretty much all the 16-17/20ish maps fall into this category, imo. It's like, they're aids as fuck to play, yet you haven't really achieved too much if you finished them, you just completed an aids map that's nowhere near considered to be epic hard, it's just.. hard. It probably has very gay techniques, but nothing too advanced. It's just a grind. I don't want a grinder map, I want a revolutionary map. Is dark_final hard enough to fit these requirements as it is right now?...... Absolutely fucking no, this is the harsh reality. Would I want to release a map with Kie, which is just not hard enough to be even possibly considered as the hardest map? No thanks. I mean, it's not my call at the end of the line, obviously, since Kie is the one creating the bounces in radiant.
"Then what the fuck are you doing in all of this?" Well, my role in this... at the time Kie wasn't really good at the game, because he had just returned and I was solo testing and adjusting every single bounce and giving suggestions as to how to change and improve them, giving design ideas and Kie was actually designing and creating the map in radiant. Kie said he considers my work as to be half of the whole process. I was, obviously, also going to promote the map throughout walkthrough, giving it exposure. Obviously I'm not the owner of the "rights" or however you want to call it, I am just a co-creator of the map in a sense.
I had lost interest in the game for reasons I've already explained here: https://board.3xp-clan.com/Thr…s/?postID=33949#post33949
In order for me to achieve the goals I have set for this map, back then, which for it to be mind-blowingly hard, I'd need to get good at the game again. If I want to be honest, it's not that hard. I'd just need to actively play for a few weeks, also kind of... "tryhard", if you wanna call it that. I'd get back on track in no time, i'm very confident. But.. It's not really about getting good again. Getting and being good at this game 10 years apart of it's release, with all the tools available to you, is not really a strong feat in my opinon. The hard part, the actual hard part is... having true motivation, which I just do not have. I do not see the a strong future for this game, this doesn't mean I don't love the game. This is the best game/mod I've ever played, I wish it was popular and succesful, but it's just nowhere near as popular where I'd consider putting in the required amount of hours, I was putting back then, when I was younger. I don't consider myself a casual gamer, I've never truly enjoyed playing anything casually. If i play something, I'm going to fucking tryhard my ass off till I'm the best. There is no middle way for me. This is the reason I have never been able to "come back" after my initial quitting in 2013. I have never found motivation to be strong enough to keep me playing, because I can't play if i'm not thriving to be the best.
I want this map finished, but I personally don't really have the time/motivation to be good again, so I could finish this map. The only active player I'd trust with finishing the map, is Do0d1e (Sardonyx), because he is by far the best currently. He said he doesn't really plan to play too much after he's finished with helping para create mp_edge_v2 (which I'm creating the walkthrough for btw). so I have no idea how this map is going to get released. Right now it's literally impossible, and imbalanced, so basically unplayable.
"So.. all this talk, but when is it actually going to get out?"
I have no fucking clue, it'll get out when I get motivation to be good at this game, which may.. never happen if it's up to me. Maybe next year I wake up on a beautiful morning and I feel like... "fuck i miss this game, i'm going to tryhard a bit" and I get good and maybe I decide to work on this project, maybe not. It's just how it is, honestly.
Your best bet playing this map is probably keep nagging Do0d1e so he'd decide he wants to take on this project and give his everything (which he already has been doing with edge v2, so I'd understand if he didn't want to) and finish it.
If Kie has different plans, I'll respect that, as it's his brainchild and he is the main author of the project.
Thanks for taking your time to read this and I'd like to apologise for all the confusion I've created past 1-2 years.
fre4kZ
