Introduction
Mapping for the BUILD Engine version of PS/EX had always been a possibility, but because there were no mapping documentation this became a trickier process. What started out as a curiosity soon evolved into cross referencing the official levels and piecing together the information needed to create their own guide, eventually a three level campaign was developed attempting to show off some discoveries made along the way.
Review
When the initial release thread popped up out of nowhere during the tail end of 2016, I was not only fascinated because of my love for tinkering with the BUILD engine, but realised I hadn’t yet made a complete run through the original game. This became a good excuse to give it a proper spin with something else waiting for me once I was done. Besides the classic trio consisting of DUKE3D, BLOOD, SHADOW WARRIOR with REDNECK tailing from behind, most of the other BUILD Engine games were often overlooked beyond a few cautionary glances. But that wasn’t without good reason considering the quality of games like TEKWAR, WITCHAVEN and SHAOLIN seemed rushed out and unfinished, otherwise held together by duct tape. Yet even from a technical viewpoint these were all curious relics created on less feature rich versions of the engine, I take special interest from a mapping perspective how these developers implemented basic functions or effects in comparison to the other games I’m already familiar with; whether you’re mapping for DUKE3D or BLOOD, a simple door for example would involve a different process to create. As a game or topic of discussion, POWERSLAVE always seemed stuck in the middle of the conversation, a passing thought perhaps due to its console releases drawing attention away from it’s PC counterpart. After finishing my playthrough I found a decent experience overshadowed by giants and wouldn’t doubt this had been lumped together with the runts.
Regardless if anyone else creates something using the provided guides, I have an appreciation for their existence to document features for historical purposes, so seeing the game receive some much needed attention even this late is better than nothing. One key point taken from the released information mentioned that, despite using a similar map format as TEKWAR, sloped sectors could still be rendered in game with proper collision under specific rules. These findings along with various other unused effects reveal several missed opportunities during the official campaign. It can be hard to imagine an Egyptian setting without taking advantage of slopes yet Lobotomy somehow managed well enough to pull off their chosen theme and recreating similar monuments. Perhaps they knew this was in their back pocket but chose not to use them for unknown reasons. Angled surfaces were otherwise more prominently used in their Saturn and PlayStation variants because those were built on a different engine altogether. RETURN TO RUINS is a short episode highlighting some of this lost potential, consisting of two main levels and a boss finale. There was a tease for an update to include an additional map somewhere down the road, but seeing that was almost a decade ago it was about time I stopped holding off from discussing this project.
Level 1: Lava Caves – by Oasiz
RTR begins by laying it thick with the discoveries made and serves as a good introduction behind the initial concept, the most telling sign being that Oasiz took every opportunity to abuse sector slopes wherever they made sense. The obvious choice of theme would then take place somewhere cavernous with an underground city amidst lakes of lava, a perfect excuse for recreating natural terrain as molten rock flows out from the seams. Other use cases include having sand piled against walls, angled shadows on walls or decorative purposes for city architecture, breaking up the overall blockiness using tapered edges, archways and some structural damaged from wear over the years. There’s also a mine cart track that leads from the central area back toward the upper entrance, using gradual slope inclines and dips along one section. Design has a fair bit of variation going for it that constantly shifts between the natural caverns dug out to support the city and man-made constructions slowly being reclaimed by plant growth and earth crumbling away. Having lava be a dominant part of the level also helped add a major aesthetic impossibility for a somewhere like this to exist, all out of sight from public eyes. Had this place been built here prior to being surround by the smouldering dangers, or was the location chosen on purpose and served to protect the inhabitants from external dangers? This doubles as a tense hazard when having to jump across gaps with checkpoints as your sole safety net.
The goals here are relatively simple otherwise, a linear run and gun gauntlet against a wide selection of the game’s opposition, often encountered in large groups or being ambushed from hidden closets. Combat works well enough to give you something to shoot at, but these enemies won’t pose too much of a threat nor perform their roles as well as they could have. Too many horizontal placements didn’t allow for these numbers to work well together, as projectiles often hit other foes rushing forward and negating their attacks. Moving some of these foes to higher elevations could have given them a chance to shoot from steeper angles, yet the few instances where enemies do have a height advantage are easy to ignore and avoid. Bastets in open spaces also needed other foes for distraction, perhaps more ranged enemies or an earlier wasp barrage from multiple positions to worry about before grabbing the key. Besides one block pushing task and waiting for floating rocks to reach a hidden weapon, there are very few side opportunities to get distracted by. Progression remains a non-stop momentum, as if you’re flowing down one long stream that eventually loops round back to the central area. Checkpoints are even kept to a minimal because they benefit from this layout to get right back into the action. Repurposing the city central by restructuring how you proceed through it by raising barriers and adding fireball traps was a nice touch to get the most out of returning to a previous area. Bonus points as well for the faked windows along an overpass that overlooks this very section you just finished up conquering, like a visual reward that adds dimension and best suited for showing off BUILD Engine’s unique quirks.
Level 2: Temple – by MetHy
Having now reached the surface and greeted to a blue sky, the second level is a quintessential Powerslave experience that really encompasses the game as a whole for me, what you could typically associate from spelunking an ancient Egyptian temple is all here. While slopes made a prominent showcase in the prior level, they’re not quite screaming for attention this time round with focus instead put toward the moment to moment gameplay and effects. Your primary goal is leaving via the exit door that requires all keys to be found for it to open, gained in a specific order as progression remains to be linear while using clever ways to disguise that fact. As you move forward the path will split with one requiring a key and the other involves succeeding a small trial to retrieve it. Over the course of navigating the temple you’ll connect back to the central entrance which slowly transforms from its simplistic introduction to something far more expressive revealing how linked together each zone truly is.
There’s a lot going on during this mission with its dense and varied selection of locales both inside and out of the main temple setting, delving through its dungeon halls and taking a few underwater tours. Part of what kept the whole thing an engaging adventure were due to the many moving parts, classic stuff like touchplates opening big doors only while weighted down, or massive structural changes like creating a staircase to a lower section or uncovering a pool of water to dive into. Enemy usage is much more minimal for this excursion but MetHy takes advantage of a few things going for them, such as positioning Anubis zombies up high to take pot shots if you’re not paying attention, or having Bastets attack in tight rooms where they can melee from close quarters. Instead the bulk of concern comes from the physical space. Simple puzzles that involve pushing blocks to form bridges or pulling multiple levers that change which gateways open and close to create a path through a maze. But of course we can’t rummage these old ruins without dealing with traps like crushers, wall shooters and enemy arena ambushes. There’s even a room that fills up with sand after snatching a key, a great looking sequence but without any notable dangers to you at first. This only made me more suspicious and leaving the room then reveals the prior area drained of its own sand, transformed into a platforming stage while dodging many arrows and fireballs. All good stuff.
Level 3: Boss – by Oasiz, MetHy & Daedolon
It’s a shame the missing level by Daedolon hadn’t been completed which might have provided that extra bit of pacing before reaching the climax, instead we enter the finale which was a joint effort between all the authors who started the project. This essentially boils down to a boss rush against Powerslave’s three major bosses within two simplified arenas. In truth I wasn’t excited coming back to this one because I don’t find boss rush gameplay all too satisfying, especially within most classic shooters, unless there’s something else going on to make up for it all. Your rematch against Set provides more than enough space to run loops to avoid his attacks and any severed hands carried over from previous levels will make short work of him. The fake exit was then a cute notion before dropping down to where the true finale awaits around a sea of lava and some good looking terrain different to those seen during the other levels. Walking up the ramp also involves a scripted explosion which tears off the path behind you and a large portion of the upper arena as it all drifts away, so the overall presentation here is always a high point. There’s no turning back and the checkpoint makes sure of that. As far as the fights up here go, I don’t have a whole lot to discuss besides that both bosses love getting caught up in the geometry, becoming easy targets to cheese if you find the correct spot to shoot from. Trying to fight them legit sometimes seemed as if there wasn’t much tactical space to really avoid attacks or tackle them in ways besides weaving in and out behind columns precariously close to the edge, ironically the safest position to fight from.
Conclusion
At the time of writing, POWERSLAVE doesn’t have many custom levels so any output is still pleasant to see and this short episode offers a good showcase of features the Lobotomy developers could have tapped into for their visual and navigational design, makes you wonder what they could have pulled off using newer versions of the BUILD Engine. The levels for RTR each have their strong points going for them, with the first putting a focus on action packed combat and forward momentum, while the second is more adventurous as you delve into a temple for its keys solving puzzles and avoiding traps. The finale however is functional as a boss rush, but I’ve never been a lover of these type of levels in general. It might have held my attention more had it been a traditional level where each boss is used at major milestones along the way, their defeat opening up more of the zone and introducing more hazards. Simple arenas on their own and holding down the trigger just don’t do it for me.