Garry's Mod

Garry's Mod

vp_whitecomplex
An honest review (from the perspective of a gmod maps explorer)
First of all, hello there. I'm a dumbass who loves exploring gmod maps and never writes anything. Yet here i am, writing this because i want the creator to know how much i adore his/her work.

Recently, I have played all (current) VP maps and absolutely loved them. Lore, atmosphere and everything was done really well. And the music is a vibe! So i felt like writing this small love letter.

now to the actual review:

This map, especially the atmosphere, is really well done. The "Sun" is ominous, as always, 10/10 on that. The scenery is also nice, gives a good idea of the enviroment and world-building. I really liked the few creepy sounds (like someone knocking on a door, the many alarms and water splash [someone drowning?]). The ambiance also needs to be mentioned, it's well placed and helps to make the "Sun" more ominous.

I was surprised to notice a lack of "creepy things happening in your face", but i'm not complaining (or maybe i didn't trigger them??). Honestly, one of the alarms almost made me jump because i momentarily forgot about it.

For those curious, there are no jumpscare. But i will list some COOL things happening:
-a black guy staring you from a window (what a pervert)
-a creature with tentacles getting OBLITERATED by the "Sun". (made me laugh, 10/10)
-another, more humanoid creature getting obliterated by the "Sun" (or striked by Zeus, idk it lasted barely 2 seconds)

Exploring and completing this map (and the others) was really fun. But, unfortunately, i have a huge complain: THE DAMN DOORS

(yes, spiderman reference)

I can 100% understand what you're going for, but unfortunately the colossal amount of doors in every map doesn't really help. They do turn the map more labirintic and make it look huge, and that's good, but the main problem i find is that...they're all locked (initially) and inside most room are found triggers. So, while the gameplay can be fun and engaging, after a while it WILL get boring because it will turn into "spend hours looking for doors you haven't opened yet so hopefully something cool happens".

I have to give credits on not hiding the keycards in a god forsaken corner of the map and call it a day, it's a bad habit that (sometimes, not always) kills fun.

I also have another minor complain: maybe i'm super extra dumb, but the lore can be pretty difficult to understand. I still haven't understood what drugs the "Sun" sniffed, who or what is Inno (good design btw) and what's up with monsters appearing here and there.

what else to say....oh, right. I loved your work so much I downloaded 2 Inno wallpapers (that you posted in another discussion, can't remember which one) and saved the OST in my personal playlist. Whoever wrote the music for your maps didn't have to go that hard, but i sure as hell wont' complain about it.

I honestly think that the concepts you created for all these maps would be really cool for a game.

Will i make more maps reviews? I would like to but don't think so lol, i doubt anyone would read them.

Instead of pestering the author with tons of questions, i'll leave a more wholesome message to whoever reads this (author included): you're cool, i hope you live a happy life :)
Viimeisin muokkaaja on wholesome psycho; 7.9.2024 klo 11.52
< >
Näytetään 1-8 / 8 kommentista
where do i find each of the events
most events happen naturally by exploring.

for the ones i listed, thankfully i take hundreds of screenshots per map.

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/profiles/76561199158400975/screenshot/2404447294182672761/

and

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/profiles/76561199158400975/screenshot/2404447294182670119/

couldn't take a screenshot of the third one and forgot the location. Maybe the "beach themed" room, idk i forgot :(
Viimeisin muokkaaja on wholesome psycho; 7.9.2024 klo 11.49
As the producer of the Voidplaces soundtrack, (other than Inno's Music. My version isn't completed yet.) I appreciate it!
About the Sun, it's pretty much all that's told in the previous maps; it just appeared, replacing our Sun and causing either mass extinction, warping people to other things, or even as we see in some drawings of WhiteCom, rapturing them. What we know in this new map is that apparently it corrupts the environment and the people's minds (judging by the distorted propaganda wallpapers, the progressively degenerative notes around the map that go from warning about the sun to just draw smiley faces around it and embracing its existence).

The reality appears to be that it's starting to be widely accepted that the Pink Sun is the real Sun, and it's a notion that's being actively enforced by the speakers, propaganda and stuff. Being the only "resistance" one that's long gone, like the speakers' message from the first map (the "and remember, that in the sky, that's not the Sun" one) which appear to be aged compared to the WhiteCom ones. Well, of course there is our GMod characters, which seem to be against the Pink Sun and its creatures. But that's meta-lore.

And about Inno? At first I thought she just was the bratty humanoid representation of the Pink Sun who does whatever she wants. But after the update to Voidmall she appeared to be something else in the past, which is now fading away. She mentions a "friend who took the bullets for her", but the pieces of info are so vague that I can't build a coherent story with the clues we got so far. My guess is that she feels alone, for one reason or the other

Ngl I'd appreciate the owner to make a map that throws in a bit more lore, even if it's 80% loredump, I'd DEVOUR that map up.
Viimeisin muokkaaja on Your average Enclave soldier; 8.9.2024 klo 1.33
you're right about Inno: according to a comment left from p'nk black on the song "Enter a door", Inno was indeed a human at some point but was killed by something that "baited" her by singing and then was morphed into the mascot of the mall (basically a Genius Loci). Also, according to that comment, Inno is one of the "good guys" but attacks the explorers "Out of desperation", altough she later turned the mall into a safe space.

And yeah, poor girl is alone (fair enough, everyone is either dead or turned into a monster) so of course she's initially desperate to not let us go. I know that feeling.
Viimeisin muokkaaja on wholesome psycho; 8.9.2024 klo 4.36
I hope that the maps evolve into something more plot-driven, we could have Inno as a potential unlikely ally in what's to come. I think it'd be spectacular
Where did you find those wallpapers?
< >
Näytetään 1-8 / 8 kommentista
Sivua kohden: 1530 50