Welcome to MD-1224's Map Ratings Page. This page will have various players critiquing various maps based on objective data and subjective data.
Neptune is a map most suitable for 2-6 players. It has a flat structure, with two floors. The level layout can be somewhat easy to learn for someone not new to the level. Its structure allows for fast play that is not overly fast. It has dark textures, which allow players to see each other quite easily. Though its fast play comes more into play because Descent 2 players use their afterburners a lot, while in the Descent 1 version, it plays slower because there are no burners available. There are more than two plasma cannons in the level, taking away the usefulness of spew camping and also allows more players to have plasma cannons rather than just the customary two players. In one-on-one games, it doesn't play too fast, as to put mind games out of play, but it allows quite a bit of room for them.
Grrrrrrrr...this level gets WAY OVERPLAYED! I mean, it gets boring when played over and over again. Yes it is a good level, but can we play something else more, shall we, rather than make Neptune the Rangers' Minerva?! When people play other levels, rather than just one, their skills will increase and so will their level variety. To the Rangers: Let's grow our skills as a group, and not be restricted to just one level. As Glock21 said, "Don't be a master of one level. Become a master of many levels."
Neptune is a relatively small multiplayer level with a typical weapon balance. It does not seem to emphasise any weapon particularly; the only notable feature is the lack of homing missiles. As usual, the main secondary weapons are Flash, Mercury and Smart missiles, with the latter two seeing the most use. The most commonly used primary weapons are lasers, Plasma, and Gauss. Fusion and Spreadfire are also available, but Vulcan is not.
Because it is such a small level Neptune is also quite simple, and tends to be easy to pick up. It can also be very fast-paced, similar to but not to the same degree as Dissent 2, and the pace depends heavily on the player load. It plays at a normal pace with about four players; increasing the number past this tends to result in a faster game, but it becomes difficult to take much control over the game.
The level, like Keg Party, mostly uses textures from Quake; they do not seem to affect the game in any way. The lighting is normal and there are no difficulties with visibility in the level.
Neptune's layout does make a minor contribution to gameplay, although the vast majority of the level is visited frequently by players. The energy centres are mostly placed out of the way of the main fight, although one in a side hallway is less remote than others. The two main rooms, the upper hallway and the main corridor that snakes between the main rooms are all highly active parts of the level; it is difficult to pick a most active part but it may be the junction between the back room and the upper hallway. This is likely due to a combination of the number of blind angles of attack on this position and limited space to dodge - this makes it more likely for a player to die here - and the close proximity of most of the player spawns, which make for an inferno when people rush back to claim their weapons.
The least-used part of the level is the tiny tunnel leading to the reactor, because this position is tactically almost useless, the reactor poses a minor threat, there are no weapons in the area and it is almost impossible to survive being ambushed inside this tunnel.
Apart from that the two corner rooms with energy centres are less used than other parts of the level - due to not being useful routes between most areas - but still frequently visited. The most defensible area in the level seems to be the energy centre room under the top hallway, mainly due to the bottlenecks when coming in to the room (it is in fact quite possible for a good player to fight off attacks from both entrances simultaneously). This area is also the second least frequently visited, and thus makes for a good place for a player to catch a breath.
The grate between one hallway out of this room and the top hallway allows for interesting Smart missile attacks against passing players, but this tactic is unlikely to be successful much of the time, and also leaves a player vulnerable to attack from outside, so is not used much.
A workable level that provides a decent variety of tactics. Although the textures give it some interest, other than that it is about as standard as you can get - there really isn't much to write home about here as the same mix can be found in plenty of other levels. Still, it is a good choice for a medium-to-fast paced level for about four players, where others such as D-Day and Pulling Teeth generally run much more slowly. I have to say, though, that I am not very impressed with the amount of attention it has received lately. There isn't anything wrong with the level per se, and when I first discovered it it was actually fairly nice - but at present it can be played several times a day, to the extent it seems to have become a crutch for some players - I have noticed people performing significantly better in Neptune than anywhere else! That said, there is still a place for it - but I do think people need to be aware of alternative levels, especially when others may be more suitable for the number of players you have. Just choosing Neptune for eight players because you can't think of anything else implies you need to get out more!