Now you can all play with the new map tech!
How does it play?
A lot like quake.
I've been working on it for months, but this week is the first time I played it.
You have to adjust strategy slightly:
Try to explore with "stealth". Only a few monsters are roaming.
If you wake up a bunch, it gets messy.
You need time to explore - build up weapons and armor.
Most of the usual quake one elements are present.
The silver keys are needed - and you can only open one door per key.
Not every button does something. And there are shootable
triggers, and a load of shootable secret doors.
There is a "basement" layer. It occupies the 128 units directly below the usual floor.
All the heavy weapons are there. This is also the best place to run.
Just watch for ocassional cul-de-sac. And the basement filled with slime.
Clear a safe area you can retreat to.
Map gen is very random right now and monsters accumulate pretty quick.
Ammo runs out pretty fast if you try to wipe them all out right away.
There is a good bit of ammo - you need time to gather it.
The lava pools are death traps, no way out. The slime pool has 4 side
exits, but some chunks might block them off.
When you die and respawn, you go back to the last info_player_start
you passed by. The first one is in the start area.
Any issues?
I've noticed when flying around that player and monster sounds go out.
All the environment stuff is still there. Not sure what this is about.
It might be flying, or something else.
You can get stuck. Look around. Some corners beyond the usual halls
have grates where you fall through to get unstuck. There are also ledges, steps
and hidden ladders here and there. Sometimes walk up step happens
and sometimes you have to jump.
If all that fails, console -> kill is the only way out.
I'll put something in. Either a one time teleport, or some type of beacon.
I like the beacon idea, because its easy to get lost.
There is one teleport pad destination I thought I fixed.
You land in the upper area with the tech lift.
Somehow the "build" trigger set is offset.
If you descend the lift it should be reset proper.
Exploring the chunks around the landing should hit a trigger.
But, if you fall off the chunks into void - there is no recovery yet!
This is another console -> kill situation.
No skill select exists. It defaults to normal. For harder,
console -> skill 2 or skill 3
I think its pretty hard on normal.
I have only explored far enough to create about 20000 entities.
I'm not really sure what the engine limit is. Quake engines have never
done this before. Eventually there will have to be some way to store
far away ents and chunks.
Work in progress - what is next?
What you can play now is quake hack. And it isnt.
It does not quite match the vision I have.
Some kind of boss battle room will be in the next release. You go
in, doors lock and you have to kill the boss to get out. Once the boss
is dead, the arena opens and a special chamber with a treasure opens as well.
Yes, for now you will only be facing Cthon and Shubbs. But the death method
may be different.
"Themed" areas. You'll start off in the tech base. As you explore you will
discover the other theme areas. Right now, every chunk is its own themed
area.
Progressive difficulty. Right now every chunk has some weapons and monsters
then selects more at total random. Skill 2 and 3 should have more monsters.
In the next iteration, things should start off easy, then slowly progress
to more difficult the further out you go and deep down.
And there should be some "dry" areas and "bonus" areas as well.
Outside areas are a possibility. I have a lot of the chunks done.
Not sure if these will make it in.
HD pack support. Install that, run quake hack, and it will use it.
That might not get in right away. Depends on how complex the qc is.
Score & points system. The Archon mod already has an experience
point system. When I get that in, besides a score board,
I might put in a "little shop". One of those rpg type areas where you
go to buy ammo and different weapons.
Will you add some kind of quake crafting? I might.
Just because I like the idea of fiend armor.
Future development:
I have ideas for a series of mods and games using this tech.
The "Escher" idea that started with relativity: Moddb.com in 2008
may now come into being.
Stay tuned!
-6
Why do the ammo and health boxes end up stuck in walls?
Because the dang bsp models are not centered right.
When the chunks rotate for variety, the box placement rotates uneven.
They have a corner at model relative '0 0 0' instead of bottom center.
Have not come up with an idea that doesnt throw off box placement
on every other map in existence yet.
Jan 1 update:
>here is one teleport pad destination I thought I fixed.
This is now fixed with the Jan 1 update: Moddb.com
(same download)
Bonus: a new hack chunk design has been added. More tech base.
Edited by: numbersix
