Part 31: 30 - Into the Lion's Den

Let's play Into the Lion's Den

Happy Valentine's Day: I bought you a everyone's favorite/most memorable level.



Briefing & Level
Viddler | Polsy | YouTube HD | Download .mp4

So, how 'bout that level. Frankly, it lives better in my nostalgia memory than in the game. It's great for those first few minutes where Snipes is freaking out, but then it just goes quiet except for one line now and then. And all that's left is a "kill 3 random objects then sit around for 5 minutes" mission.

Let's meet the Rakshasa, Kayser, Comm node, SpaceHunk, SJD Sathanas, and me!



The Rakshasa is in that special group of cruisers with the Cain, Lilith, Fenris, and Leviathan that a well-armed fighter can take down solo. So that's something. It is, at least, probably the toughest of that group, but that's not much praise.



Discussed enough last time. It kills stuff.

Comm Node


This unknown thing is actually a communications node, according to the data tables and the wiki. It's never mentioned again in-game. Also according to the wiki, you have to aim at the conical parts of the crystal to damage it, so that's why the first one wasn't working. Lastly, the explosion on killing the crystal isn't part of the object, it's just a trigger in that level.

SpaceHunk


No one knows what this random item in the game database is, other than looking like a piece of a Sathanas. Apparently, it makes a Sathanas-sized explosion if you destroy it.

SJD Sathanas


What the heck is this? Well, esoteric FS2 trivia incoming. On this level, and in the future, there are a huge number of Sathanases. Too many for computers at the time of FS2's release to render. So Volition created the SJD Sathanas (the real one's just SJ Sathanas), a simple model, and stuck it way out in space in place of the actual juggernauts, too far out to tell the difference. They then coded it to display the actual Sathanas model in the target window if you select one. Because FS2O was made for much newer machines, it uses real Sathanases out there instead of SJDs.



No memory if I've shown the user screen in FS2 before, but here it is. That's my lovely picture, and my brand new Blue Lions squad that I run. Thing is, something is very wrong with that lion. I have no idea why. FSO changed it for the worse, I guess. Here's what the original looks like:

Way better than that freakish thing.