/vr/ - Retro Games

>>10810096
A mixed bag from the really early days of the community, talent ranging from quite good to not very good at all.

There's no one across the board consensus on TNT Evilution by itself, I like a lot of it, and so do many, but there's a lot who do not like TNT at all, and there's sincerely a lot to dislike.
In my opinion, about 50% to 60% range between "It's decent for its time." to "This is REALLY good!" but then the rest is either "This is pretty dull." to "This is inexcusably fucking bad." I am cutting TNT some undeserved bit of slack because of nostalgia, there's things in it I would not tolerate from modern works, but that's old games you grew up with.
Some say it stops holding up about half way and then the third act falls apart, some say only the first third has anything good to offer.

What a lot of people really agree on though is that whether or not they like TNT, it manages to capture a bit of a style, in large parts thanks to its cool new music which really sets a lot of good tone. People have taken inspiration from its visuals and used it for stronger works and 'sequels,' like TNT Revilution, TNT Devilution, and THT Threnody, to name just some. Very good stuff worth checking out if you liked TNT.
Another aspect of TNT which is celebrated is that The Plutonia Experiment exists because of it, brothers Dario & Milo had creative differences with the rest of the team and were dissatisfied with the direction of TNT, feeling creatively stifled, so they took a sample set of 8 maps, a few rejected from TNT, others which they had noodled away on on the side, and pitched it to iD Software. iD thought it was cool as fuck and asked if they could turn it into a complete 32 level set before the Final Doom deadline, so that it could be sold as a double bundle with TNT, 32+32, and the Casalis agreed. Working their ass off for a few months, they create what's commonly regarded as Final Doom's strongest and most influential half.

>>9738831
I like it, but it really is a very uneven product thrown together by a bunch of amateurs, and it really shows at parts. The music is great, I love the atmospheric and lengthy exploratory treks, and as a whole it manages to have a sort of coherent visual style without even aiming for one, but some authors were clearly much more adept at making levels than others.
Plutonia is not as oriented after aesthetics or creating any kind of mood, but instead its focus on pure gameplay pays off and it's just a delightful action arcade adventure from start to finish. Tough, but in smart and fun ways.

>>9738843
I do like the wider variety in level design more, even if it gets lopsided at parts.

>where in TNT you can escape by the skin of your teeth
You can do this in Plutonia as well, frequently the best solution to an ambush is to either fall back and make more space for yourself, OR, to instead rush forward, which might seem counter-intuitive at first, particularly if more monsters are coming from that direction, but just the same you may find the space and cover you need ahead of you.
I didn't use to like Plutonia that much back in the day, vastly preferring Evilution, but it's grown on me a lot over the years.
Maybe some day I'll try my hand at making something which is like a halfway between Plutonia and Evilution, aiming towards the best of both worlds.

>>9738865
Gotta warn you that TNT is not balanced too well for Pistol Start. Map 29 stands out as being fucking agony if you want to UV-Max it, because it has a lot of Cell ammo, but the Plasma Rifle doesn't spawn on UV, so that level alone becomes a complete chore, and in that case it's best enjoyed by just trying to avoid fighting a lot of enemies.

>>8023576
TNT has a mixed reputation, and it always has, because it really is a pretty mixed product. I think it has lots of good and great maps, and I love it a lot, it's one of my favorites and it inspires my mapping, but it has its weak and shitty parts too.
I'd say that ~70% of the megawad ranges from alright to excellent, with at least 50% of the entire megawad being memorable in a positive way.