AD 1.8.1 Chaos Test Map 1 file - Arcane Dimensions mod for Quake

=====================================================================
Title : Chaotic Trinity (160745-160769)
It took 24 years to go from Bomb to Moon!
Date : 4th May 2021
File : test_chaos1.zip
Requirement : Arcane Dimensions 1.8+
Description : Blockout experiment in moonlight
Feedback : Thanks to Koren, Markie and Shambler

=====================================================================
Installation
=====================================================================

* Extract the contents of this Zip file into your AD folder
* Load up AD with your preferred Quake engine of choice
* Load the map from console by typing 'map test_chaos1'
* In the starting room pick a Chaos mode, 1 or 666
* Pick up the Rune and jump through the exit portal!
* The map should restart with Chaos mode active

=====================================================================
Skill Levels
=====================================================================

There are no special monster spawning setups for different skill
levels because the map is designed for Chaos mode, which is
supposed to be random and overwhelming to play.

The first initial ramp to the jump boots has an extra segment
for skills 0/1 so that the player can get to the boots easier.
Skill levels 2/3/4 players should have better jump abilities
and the jump distance is further.

Even though setting the skill level does not change the monster spawns
in this map, it can affect monster projectile speeds, pain reaction
times and the quantity of attacks per monster.

How to set Evil Skill
---------------------------------------------------------------------

* Start any map from the console by typing 'map <map name>'
* Bring down console again and type 'skill 4'
* Reload the map and the starting HP should be 50

An alternative way to select Evil skill is to change the
console variable 'scratch4' to '1' and then load the map.

Please note that Evil skill combined with Chaos mode 666 prevents
loading of savegames files. Quickload/load is pointless! :)

=====================================================================
Map Information
=====================================================================

Game : Quake SP only
Coop/DM : Spawn points exist, not tested.
Difficulty : 101 - Monsters
Textures : ad_prototype.wad (included in zip file)
Editor : SDRadiant 1.3.8
Build Time : 1 week + 1 week for readme!?!

The source map file is in the zip file for viewing pleasure.
Please do not use any of these assets in ANY COMMERCIAL PROJECT.
Remember to give credit if you use any of the assets.

=====================================================================
Chaos Mode
=====================================================================

Chaos mode in Arcane Dimensions 1.8 is a new system that will
randomize all monsters and change some items or powerups to
give positive or negative effects on pickup.

The Chaos system is designed for maps with only ID1 Quake monsters
and will do nothing with new AD monsters. Please remember that
the system is NOT designed to be balanced or fair, but instead
a fun challenge of random surprises!

How to enable Chaos mode?
---------------------------------------------------------------------

There are two touchable pillars in the AD start hub which can
be switched on or off (keep touching them) to give different
predefined Chaos levels.

The mode will be active until the engine is closed down or reset,
be aware that once Chaos mode is active all maps loaded afterward
will be changed. (including the start hubs)

How to tell if Chaos mode is active?
---------------------------------------------------------------------

The AD start hubs do have monsters (lying down zombies) and items
(small health packs) that can be changed. Chaos mode is designed
to keep working regardless of map or skill changes.

How to turn off Chaos mode?
---------------------------------------------------------------------

* Completely shut down and then restart the Quake engine
* Type into the console 'scratch3 0' and reload any map
* Touch (toggle) a chaos mode pillar in the AD start map

What Chaos modes exist?
---------------------------------------------------------------------

There are 5 predefined modes to pick from :-

1 = Monsters have default HP and randomized within family/type
2 = Monsters have default HP and randomized by bounding size

Modes 1/2 are designed to keep the original balance of a map by not
changing the monster HP, so that weapon/ammo balance will be the same.

17 = Monsters HP matches new type and randomized within family/type
18 = Monsters HP matches new type and randomized by bounding size

Modes 17/18 are designed to be closer to a complete randomization and
all monsters having the correct HP values. Can cause ammo shortages!

Mode 666 = is a special mode with complete monster randomization,
HP changed to match new types and quickload/load functionality
does not work if using skill (evil) 4!

Creating custom Chaos modes
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Other modes can be created by changing the 'scratch3' console
variable with different values. The variable is broken down into
bits (^2 values) that are added together and each bit represents
a function of Chaos mode.

Bits 1 or 2 have to be set otherwise no randomization will occur.

bit Description
+-------+-----------------------------------------------
1 Turn ON randomizer (family selection)
2 Turn ON randomizer (bbox selection)

16 Turn OFF health reset for spawning monster
32 Turn OFF Health Pack Item monster replacement
64 Turn OFF poison monster selection process
128 Turn OFF ability to quickload/load on skill 4

4096 Turn OFF seed reset on NEW level
8192 Turn OFF seed reset on CHANGE level
16384 Turn OFF seed reset on DEATH

Example bit values:-

33 = family, NO rotten HP changes [1 + 32]
49 = family, HP is reset, NO rotten HP changes [1 + 16 + 32]
66 = bbox, NO poison monsters [2 + 64]
98 = bbox, NO rotten HP change and NO poison monsters [2 + 32 + 64]

How can I share Chaos mode?
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Each time a map is loaded or changed a random seed is generated and
displayed (use impulse commands to show details) on the console.
If you set the console variable 'scratch2' to a specific seed number,
the system will then start with the same random number setup each time.
Changing the console variable to a specific seed number is the perfect
way to setup challenges with friends and multiple twitch channels!

New Chaos related Impulse commands
-----------------------------------------
190 = Display current random seed
192 = Display current settings (scratch3)
194 = Display weapon upgrade progression
196 = Reset seed for Chaos system

What are the best maps for Chaos mode?
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Any map that has lots of ammo / health items, plenty of powerups
and plenty of monster variety. The best id1 (vanilla) episode for
Chaos mode is The Elder world, where your worst nightmares come true!
Episode 4 can be endless amounts of fun with the large quantity of
powerups and different monster types wanting to be randomized!

=====================================================================
What is different about Chaos mode
=====================================================================

Health Pack (HP) changes
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Rotten (15) HP have a 33% chance on spawn to be swapped for a
monster and further chance of it being Tarbaby (66%) or Boil (33%).
The monsters will have the ambush (spawnflags=1) option set by
default to prevent rooms turning into bouncing nightmares.

Once the monster (tarbaby/boil) is killed the HP pack will be
spawned like a backpack and can be picked up again. Just imagine
the monster swallowed the item and then vomited it on death!

The mega health (+100hp) on pickup can give either positive or
negative benefits. The positive chance (>66%) is the player will
get an Env Suit for 30s and the negative chance (<33%) is the
Mega Health rotting (fading away) effect (default = 1 per second)
will be faster at 5 HP per second instead.

Ammo Pack changes
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Large ammo (shell/cells) boxes when picked up can be used to gain
the Widowmaker and Plasma Gun early. To help the player get the
weapon upgrades early, there is a <33% chance that small SHELL ammo
boxes will be upgraded to large and <66% chance that small
CELL ammo boxes will be upgraded to large.

The percentage for CELL ammo is greater than shell ammo because
generally cells are more rare. This change is really aimed at
ID1 maps, however new Chaos maps should be aware of this feature.
It can be a cool way to give the WM/PG through map progression
instead of a fixed location.

Weapon Upg Pickup Easy Norm Hard+
+------------+-------+----+----+-------
Widowmaker Shells 3 4 5
Plasma Gun Cells 1 2 3

Armour changes
---------------------------------------------------------------------

The green and yellow armours can have negative (<33%) or
positive (>66%) spawn effects which can change the item
up or down the scale below:

(lowest) Backpack > Green > Yellow > Red (highest)

The red armour does not change on spawn and is only checked
when the item is picked up for any positive (<33%) effects
that can give the player the Blast Belt for 30s. This can cause
problems if the player has the Blast Belt already because the
timer will be reset. If a map contains a Blast Belt then it might
be better to give the armour shard backpack for red armour only.

Powerup changes
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Some powerup/artifacts on spawn can be swapped for another item
based on positive/negative random chance, which can create an
interesting puzzle/problem if the item is required in some way
for its surroundings ...

Powerup Positive (>66%) Negative (<33%)
+------------------+-------------------+-------------------
Invisibility Ring MegaHealth +100 Quad Damage
Enviroment Suit MegaHealth +100 Pentagram of Prot

When a powerup/artifact is picked up there is a >66% chance
that the player will recieve a second powerup benefit.
If the player has the second powerup (eg jump boots) already
then its likely they will lose them after 30s.

Powerup Time Pickup Bonus (>66%)
+------------------+-----+----------------------
Enviroment Suit 30s Jump Boots
Pentragram of Prot 30s Lava Shield
Quad Damage 30s Blast Belt

When the player has two or more powerups at the same,
some of these combinations give extra benefits.

Powerup 1 Powerup 2 Extra Benefit
+------------------+---------------+-------------------------
Pentragram of Prot Lava Shield Armour is not damaged
Quad Damage Blast Belt Damage taken -50%

=====================================================================
Top 10 mapping Chaos tips! (in no particular order)
=====================================================================

* Use all ID1 monster types regardless of theme!
It's generally recommended to keep the monster types consistent
with base and medieval separate, however in Chaos mode it's a
benefit to have as many different types of monster as possible.
The army/enforcer types can create great opportunities.

* Add plenty of different powerups for combo surprises!
Many of the powerups are randomized and can have extra temporary
positive affects when picked up. Also when the player has multiple
powerups they can be combined to give extra affects, for example
the blast belt + quad will reduce incoming player damage by 50%.

* Rotten HP can randomly become spawn/boils monsters
When adding HP to a map, try to use the Rotten versions because
there is a 33% chance they will be turned into a monster. The
HP item is not lost, it's dropped when the monster is killed.

* Large Shell/Cell ammo boxes can give weapon upgrades
In order to give the player the chance of getting the Widowmaker
or Plasma gun in old ID1 maps, large ammo (shell/cells) packs
when picked up can give the player the weapons as well. The
quantity of ammo pickups required depends on skill level.

* Armour/Megahealth can have positive/negative changes
Green and yellow armour pickups can be changed on spawn to be
upgraded or downgraded. When the red armour is picked up there
is a 33% chance the player will be given the Blast Belt for 30s.
If a map contains the Blast Belt powerup as a permanent item,
the timer will be reset and the item will be lost. To avoid
any armour randomness use armour shard backpacks instead.

* Setup monster patrols to create more randomness
Monster patrol points are a classic way to introduce randomness
to encounter designs by having the player find them in multiple
positions on different play through of the same map. Besides
adding character to a map with dynamic placement, it does bring
more randomness to the layout.

* Deathmatch map style layouts offer more route choices
Typically Single Player layouts are linear and do NOT offer many
alternative routes to bypass or engage an encounter. Deathmatch
layouts are designed to create alternative choices and the chance
for the player to retreat and find more supplies. Chaos maps
are often like puzzles, where some encounters are best dealt with
once more firepower or items have been collected.

* Avoid lock in arena fights with monster triggers
Arena fights generally don't work with Chaos maps because they
are unbalanced and often lack the right amount of resources.
There is nothing wrong with monster wave setups, however always
give the player the chance to retreat and find more supplies!

* Allow the player the chance to skip encounters
Chaos mode is often regarded as a puzzle mode where encounters
are just so unbalanced that its often better to move on and
come back once more resources have been found. Try to avoid
locked progression and allow the player to pick and choose
when to engage encounters.

=====================================================================
How does Chaos randomness work? (tables and percentages)
=====================================================================

The random setup used in Chaos mode is very much like an
encryption system with a private and public key used to
create the exact numbers each time.

The system generates a random seed (public key) first using
four random numbers combined. This starting point can be
specified exactly by the player or generated by the system.
Once the starting point is known all the other systems
(like monsters, items, poison etc) use an offset so that
they can all be switched on/off without affect each other.

Each time a random number is required the start seed plus an
offset is bitshifted by three numbers (private key) to create
the final random result. As more random numbers are required
the offset is increased over time to give the system a possible
8 million random number combinations.

The random number table can always be generated exactly if the
private keys are the same on multiple systems and the starting
seed (public keys) is declared at the beginning.

The monsters are randomized by two different systems depending
on how much chaos the player wants. The family system is aimed
at being more fair and balanced because the monster types are
similar, while the bounding box method is pure randomness with
extreme monster type combinations.

FAMILY spawning system
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Arcane Dimensions has so many different monsters that they can
be arranged into families of similar types. Like for example
there are multiple types of ogres and knights that look similar
and have slightly different attacks, but essentially are the same.

Family spawning is randomizing monsters within a close range
and similar types that it maintains some of the original setup.
In a strange way, this type of randomness keeps the balance
of the original encounter/map design.

Type HP % chance of choosing a different monster type
+------------+---+---------------------------------------------
Dog 25 <10 Scorpion, <30 Voreling, <70 Spider, 70+ Dog
Fish 25 <10 Tarbaby, <20 Zombie, <60 Eel, 60+ Fish
Army 30 <10 Plasma, <50 Grenade/Jim, <70 Rocket/Jim, 70+ Army
Zombie 60 <10 Tarbaby, <40 Boil, <70 Zombie Knight, +70 Zombie/Mummy
Knight 75 <10 Quoth_DGuard, <40 DCrossbow, <70 AD_DGuard, +70 Knight
Enforcer 80 <5 Deflector, <40 Eliminator, <60 Centurion/Defender, +60 Pyro/Enforcer
Wizard 80 <5 Wraith, <40 Gargoyle, <70 Gaunt, +70 Wizard
Tarbaby 80 <10 Fumigator, <30 Sentinel, <50 Boil, +50 Tarbaby
Ogre 200 <30 Hammer, <60 Mace, <80 Hunter, +80 ID Ogre Grenade/Nails
Hell Knight 250 <10 DarkPrince, <30 DeathLord, <70 Fury, +70 DeathKnight
Demon1 300 <10 Golem, <30 Minotaur, <60 Drole, +60 Demon1
Shalrath 400 <30 SkullWizard, <70 DeathSergeant, +70 Shalrath
Shambler 600 <30 Boglord, <60 Justice, <70 Nour, +70 Shambler

BOUNDING BOX spawning system
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Quake maps are often limited with spawning space and to reduce
spawning errors the original entity size (bounding box) can be
used as a maximum guide for randomization.

Vanilla Quake only has two bounding box sizes for all monsters
and everything can be broken down into two groups (hull 1 or 2)
allowing for a simple setup to randomize monsters within.

Once each monster is sorted into the relevant bounding box group,
they are randomly mixed up and then pushed through the family
system for extra randomness. The fly/swim monsters have to be
done separately because of map placement issues.

The final exception is that all army monsters (shotgun grunts) are
only randomized within their family type because they are often used
at the beginning of episodes and would make the start impossible
to get into without ammo shortages or better firepower.

Type MINS MAXS Hull % Range % Total
+-----------+------------+---------+----+----------+-------
Army -16 -16 -24, 16 16 40 1 00 - 10 10
Enforcer -16 -16 -24, 16 16 40 1 10 - 30 20
Zombie -16 -16 -24, 16 16 40 1 30 - 45 15
Tarbaby -16 -16 -24, 16 16 40 1 45 - 65 20
Knight -16 -16 -24, 16 16 40 1 65 - 85 20
Hell Knight -16 -16 -24, 16 16 40 1 85 - 100 15
+-----------+------------+---------+----+----------+-------
Dog -32 -32 -24, 32 32 40 2 00 - 20 20
Ogre -32 -32 -24, 32 32 64 2 20 - 40 20
Demon1 -32 -32 -24, 32 32 64 2 40 - 70 30
Shalrath -32 -32 -24, 32 32 64 2 70 - 85 15
Shambler -32 -32 -24, 32 32 64 2 85 - 100 15

+-----------+------------+---------+----+----------+-------
Fish -16 -16 -24, 16 16 24 *SWIM*
Wizard -16 -16 -24, 16 16 40 *FLY*
* swimming/flying monster positions cannot be randomized easily
without monsters falling of the sky or drowning.
The monsters still go through the family randomization setup.