A classic journey down and down, with PAL Xbox…

(6:51) Level 4 ('The Silent Cartographer') on Heroic. Here's how you can descend into the security shaft if you have PAL Xbox (MC isn't resilient enough on NTSC/PC, though there's a co-op method you can use). Two set-up demos are included. First the basic way, then setting up with no music and a rocket launcher.

Released July 2nd 2019, gameplay recorded June 28th-29th 2019.

00:02 (Setting up) This easy set-up work doesn't need much extra description, but I'll mention one thing. At the start, I've just turned on my flashlight, and I continue to use it while setting up, for the sake of brighter footage. However, that leaves me with depleted charge by the time I get the checkpoint. There's still enough left for me to reach the bottom and explore a bit, but obviously it would be better to have a fully charged flashlight when you checkpoint.

01:14 (Descent) No need for a crouch landing with the big first drop, but after that I do crouch landings to minimize shield damage. I get all the way to the third prong before my shield is bleeping and I pause to recharge.

02:38 (Prong landing) Scary landing on a prong tip! That was partly for fun, and partly to give you an aerial view of the three platform stacks and the holed surface below. Notice some odd moving light when I hit the prong. I think that's actually my flashlight continuing on without me then coming back, or something like that. The effect varies. Also, notice something right at the end. The falling plasma grenade fizzles out! That's weird. I need to look into that.

03:13 (Setting up with no music) This time I demonstrate setting up with no music - and also I take the opportunity to get the newly spawned rocket launcher. Gratuitous Jackal slaying included.

Note: I didn't mind losing health while tackling the cloaked Elites, because I knew there was a medkit by the launcher. If you aren't going to get the launcher though, you'd want to be more careful not to lose health, to save yourself a trip to a medkit (not that you have to have full health to descend, but obviously it's best).

04:58 (Descent) This time I use the platform stack on the right, for variety. My first crouch landing is slightly below par, and I get a bleeping shield after my fourth drop, rather than (more usually) the fifth, but it doesn't matter of course. Near the bottom, I continue jumping despite having a bleeping shield, and I get down ok, though with health loss. At the end of the clip, you can see that my falling plasma grenade overtakes the rocket, which is interesting. And so does MC.

Tech note: contrary to how it looks from the editing, this descent wasn't actually done right after the checkpoint. It was a later one. Generally I use a 'page curl' transition to indicate such a separation, but in this case I used a simple dissolve, which gave a seamless look, matching how things went with the first set-up (in which I did use my first descent).

06:32 (Mishap) To end, just a quick comedy clip involving the other platform stack. I make a wild jump to part of the top platform but don't quite make it.

Closing remarks This is yet another old topic I was waiting to give some movie treatment. Nice to get there at last; and it's certainly high time I had some Silent Cartographer action anyway. More stuff coming, on this security shaft business!

© 2004-2020 by Rockslider