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  • Abyss Of Pandemonium v2.0 Improved Edition (2019)

    Greetings, everyone!

    I remember myself enjoying to play AOP as it really felt like a continuation of Quake's story and had some unique features which fit quite well into the world of Quake.

    There were some things I wanted to improve and polish while playing this mission pack and now most of this stuff has finally been implemented.

    So, let me introduce you a very useful patch created by me and Seven for Abyss Of Pandemonium The Final Mission v2.0.


    ==================================================

    The following bugs have been fixed:

    1. Legond's lightning attack spawns from wrong position (too low), now it spawns right from the
    hand of Legond as she commits a lightning attack.

    2. Dog is partially stuck in the wall near the exit area of aop1m2.bsp map (Core Reactor),
    now the dog stands near the wall and does not touch it.

    3. Enforcer is partially stuck in the rock near the exit area of aop1m2.bsp map (Core Reactor),
    now the enforcer stands near the rock and does not touch it.

    4. Fiend is partially stuck in the ground near the river area of aop1m4.bsp map (Temple of Moon),
    now the fiend stands correctly at the ground level.

    5. Dog is partially stuck in the cargo box near the underwater tunnel area of aopend.bsp map (Legonds of Quake),
    now the dog stands near the cargo box and does not touch it.

    6. Hovering box with shotgun shells at aop1m3.bsp map (The Power Station), now the box stands on the floor.

    7. Knight spawns behind the player and stucks in the ceiling at skill 3 at aop1m5.bsp map (The Dark Palace),
    now it spawns in a proper place and does not get stuck.

    8. Two death knights are improperly placed at aop1m5.bsp map (The Dark Palace). The first one spawns at the same place
    and time as the ogre once you press all 4 buttons after falling into basement and both these enemies telefrag one
    another upon their spawn. The second one teleports into the super shotgun area when you have already passed half of
    the map and you have to go all the way back into that area in order to kill this guy for the sake of 100% kills.
    If you step into the teleporter to the final part of the map you won't be able to go back and kill that guy.
    The decision was made to remove those two death knights.

    9. aop1m1.bsp map (Gates of Abyss) was missing soundtrack, now it uses impel music track #11.

    10. aop1m2.bsp map (Core Reactor) was missing soundtrack, now it uses impel music track #2.

    11. aopdm2.bsp map (Runic Raging) was missing soundtrack, now it uses impel music track #2.

    12. aopdm3.bsp map (Mental Overlord) was missing soundtrack, now it uses impel music track #11.

    13. aopdm4.bsp map (Mental Overlord II) was missing soundtrack, now it uses impel music track #6.

    14. Grammatically incorrect message "Hell passage is save now" occurred at
    start.bsp map (Enter the Abyss), now the message says "Hell passage is safe now".

    15. There was half of the ending text missing when exiting aop1m6.bsp map (The Forgotten One).
    It turned out there was only half of the ending text inside of client.qc from AOP v2.0 source code provided by Seven.
    Now there is a full ending text displayed when exiting aop1m6.bsp map (The Forgotten One).

    16. There was half of the ending text missing when exiting aopend.bsp map (Legonds of Quake).
    It turned out there was only half of the ending text inside of client.qc from AOP v2.0 source code provided by Seven.
    Now there is a full ending text displayed when exiting aopend.bsp map (Legonds of Quake).

    ==================================================

    The following features and tweaks have been added:

    1. Added orthographic amendments as well as alignment improvements
    for the in-game messages shown during the game levels.

    2. Added different looking Lightning Enforcer to make him better
    distinguishable from regular Enforcer.

    3. Created and added new skin for world model of Napalm Gun to make it better
    distinguishable from regular Grenade Launcher.

    4. Removed unfinished view model of Armor Mounted Laser System
    because of a white square being rendered while player looks up.

    5. Added 2 official extra deathmatch maps done by Juha "Psychodad" Koiste.
    These maps are aopdm7.bsp (Cruel World) and aopdm8.bsp (Cruel World II).

    6. Added footstep sounds when walking with low speed or velocity.

    7. Added "Previous Weapon" (impulse 12) support.

    8. Added name "Iron Fury" to aopdm6.bsp map since that map didn't have any name.

    9. Added more ammo boxes to the following maps:

    aop1m1.bsp map (Gates of Abyss)
    aop1m2.bsp map (Core Reactor)
    aop1m3.bsp map (The Power Station)
    aop1m4.bsp map (Temple of Moon)
    aop1m5.bsp map (The Dark Palace)
    aop1m6.bsp map (The Forgotten One)
    aop2m1.bsp map (Heresy)
    aop2m2.bsp map (Carnage Castle)
    aop2m3.bsp map (Central Complex)
    aopend.bsp map (Legonds of Quake)

    Update:

    Amount of ammo boxes in each level has been slightly revised.
    Excessive ones have been removed, though there is still enough
    ammo available for pickup, meaning that you won't run out of it anyway.
    Challenging aspect of gameplay is not affected.

    ==================================================

    Components:

    Pak5.pak contains:

    maps/aop1m1.ent
    maps/aop1m2.ent
    maps/aop1m3.ent
    maps/aop1m4.ent
    maps/aop1m5.ent
    maps/aop1m6.ent
    maps/aop2m1.ent
    maps/aop2m2.ent
    maps/aop2m3.ent
    maps/aopdm2.ent
    maps/aopdm3.ent
    maps/aopdm4.ent
    maps/aopdm6.ent
    maps/aopdm7.bsp
    maps/aopdm8.bsp
    maps/aopend.ent
    maps/start.ent
    progs/enforcer.mdl
    progs/g_prox.mdl
    progs/h_mega.mdl
    progs/null.mdl
    impel.cfg
    progs.dat
    quake.rc


    There are also 3 custom icons included to use with game's shortcut and AOP official soundtrack (.mp3 format) to use with Mark V or QuakeSpasm.
    The soundtrack from quaddicted is in .ogg format only, so I decided to convert it to .mp3 format.

    ==================================================

    Credits:

    1997-2005 by Impel Team
    2008 by Resurrection Team
    2019 by 0V3RDR!VE & Seven

    0V3RDR!VE
    progs.dat stuff adding, editing and compiling. .ent files editing and testing.
    Repositioning or removing entities. Assigning missing music tracks and names to
    the maps. Adding full ending texts to the source code provided by Seven. Fixing
    grammatically incorrect message. Creating custom skin.

    Seven
    Adding features into source code and cleaning it from bugs found. Providing
    features and fixes used in his own project "AOP - The Final Mission v2.0 extended_20160330.rar".

    ==================================================

    Requirements:


    1. An engine port which provides external .ent files support (e.g. Mark V or QuakeSpasm).

    Mark V v1.99 (Revision #4) Download Link:

    http://quakeone.com/markv/builds/109...revision_4.zip

    QuakeSpasm v0.93.2 Download Link:

    https://sourceforge.net/projects/quakespasm/


    2. Abyss Of Pandemonium The Final Mission v2.0 itself.

    Abyss Of Pandemonium The Final Mission v2.0 Download Link:

    https://www.quaddicted.com/filebase/aopfm_v2.zip

    ==================================================

    Installation:

    1. Create a folder called "Impel" in your quake directory and unpack all the files from
    aopfm_v2.zip into it.

    2. Download our patch and unpack all the contents of the archive into Impel directory.

    3. Use shortcut or .bat file (both of which must be created by you) to launch the AOP.

    For example, If you use Mark V the launch parameters should be like this:

    Mark_V.exe -game Impel -particles 8000

    P.S. -particles 8000 is necessary because there is a huge amount of pixel particles used by exit teleporter at aop2m3 (Central Complex)
    and playing this map with default value will simply remove grenade/rocket pixel trails from your grenade/rocket launcher.

    That's a bug from original developers.

    In conclusion, I would recommend to play this mission pack on "Nightmare" difficulty (it's called "Hell" in AOP).

    ==================================================

    Patch For Abyss Of Pandemonium v2.0 (01.05.2020) Download Link:

    https://disk.yandex.ru/d/CJELCXefsVuaTQ

    P.S.
    In russian language "скачать" means "download".
    Last edited by OV3RDR!VE; 02-20-2024, 11:13 PM.

  • #2
    Well done and thank you to both of you (OV3RDR!VE and Seven) for putting this together. I'm currently hooked on Arcane Dimensions but I'll have to give AOP a go

    Kind regards
    Monty
    Last edited by Mr.Burns; 11-16-2020, 02:41 AM.
    Mr.Burns
    "Helping to keep this community friendly, helpful, and clean of spammers since 2006"
    WWW: Quake Terminus , QuakeVoid You Tube: QuakeVoid
    Servers: Quake.shmack.net, damage.servequake.com

    News: JCR's excellent ctsj_jcr map is being ported to OOT

    Comment


    • #3
      Hey I remember getting AOP as a kid when it first came out, I was super excited about it!

      Look at this... bet there arent too many of these in the world anymore.. https://imgur.com/a/oI7i3sX

      Are you one of the original developers of the mission pack? If so ..its so awesome you have stuck around in the quake scene for so long and still care about your work 20 years later. Your work was part of my childhood and one of the reasons i got into maps and mods, and I still play quake to this day.
      I had so much fun with AOP, some reviews that you can see online thought it wasn't that good but I thought it was super fun! super underrated. The new weapons were so fun and imaginative, and it had lots of cool maps and monsters. Temple of the moon blew my mind when i first saw it. I still love it!

      BTW, I recognize the "Evolve" logo you have, I think i remember it from somewhere, ... perhaps some quake 2 mission pack.. were you involved in that as well?

      I would love to hear the backstory about all this stuff and have a chat with you,

      Would love to hear from you, all the best,
      Alex

      Comment


      • #4
        Thank you guys for your positive respond, it's a pleasure to hear it from you.

        No, I'm no way an original developer of AOP, I'm just a passionate enthusiast who is excited about this game just as you Alex.

        I truly consider AOP being an unofficial Mission Pack #3 for Quake and therefore wanted it to be as bug free as possible.
        I tried to refurbish it using all my little knowledge in order to make it as worth as 2 official mission packs.

        So the patch I presented is the the outcome of that attempt.

        Are you considering to sell your original copy of Abyss Of Pandemonium sometime on eBay?


        Regarding my "EVOLVE" avatar... I'm a big fan of Zaero Add-On Pack For Quake 2 and own an original US boxed version
        of the game which was released with 28 page user manual. EVOLVE team did an astonishing job on creating this so called "Mission Pack #3"
        for Quake 2 and I really loved it.

        BTW, Alex, take a look at my self made front cover and inlay for CD regarding Abyss Of Pandemonium v2.0.
        I burned my tweaked version of AOP v2.0 onto CD just for the sake of my old games collection

        image_3146.jpg

        image_3147.jpg

        7.jpg

        Last edited by OV3RDR!VE; 12-23-2019, 01:25 PM.

        Comment


        • #5
          I also printed official user manual and the story from a long ago shut down website.


          8.jpg

          Comment


          • #6
            Oh thats awesome dude, I love quake 2 and all the missions packs including Zaero.
            Q2 still has some singleplayer mappers too this day, although its no where near as active as quake.

            Id love to chat with you more about q and q2 mission packs,

            Feel free to add me on discord APM#5097
            and drop me a message in chat.

            Have a good one,
            Alex

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks, Alex. I would like to chat with you regarding Quake too but I don't use discord. You may send me the link to your Facebook account (if you have one) and we may continue our chat there, via private messages.

              Best regards

              Comment


              • #8
                not really a facebook kinda guy, tho i do use WhatsApp, do u use this?

                Ill send u a PM with my WA,

                Thanks, All the best!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Hello, Alex. Unfortunately I don't use any messengers.

                  All I can suggest you is to chat via Facebook or sending private messages here.

                  I hope you understand.

                  My best regards.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by apm View Post
                    ...

                    Look at this... bet there arent too many of these in the world anymore.. https://imgur.com/a/oI7i3sX

                    ...
                    Nice one! I used to check Ebay on a regular basis back in the day for one of those

                    /Moon

                    – Moon[Drunk]'s Quake Graphics
                    – Quake Revitalization/Retexturing Project

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Mr.Burns View Post
                      Well done and thank you to both of you. I'm currently hooked on Arcane Dimensions but I'll have to give AOP a go

                      Kind regards
                      Monty
                      Hello, Morty!

                      I​​​​​ would love to hear from you regarding your thoughts on our patch for AOP v2.0. Have you played it already?

                      Please complete the game with it and let me know what you think

                      Best regards.
                      Last edited by OV3RDR!VE; 01-28-2020, 02:41 AM.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by OV3RDR!VE View Post
                        [SIZE=18px][I]Greetings, everyone!

                        I remember myself enjoying to play AOP as it really felt like a continuation of Quake's story and had some unique features which fit quite well into the world of Quake.

                        There were some things I wanted to improve and polish while playing this mission pack and now most of this stuff has finally been implemented.
                        hi there, would it be possible to add the option to customize monster health, ammo gained (at ammo box pickup and at weapon pickup), max ammo and powerup duration ? (writing values on autoexec.cfg) like someone did with this mod.

                        https://www.moddb.com/downloads/quake-config-mod

                        this mod has a custom version for base game and each mission pack (1 and 2), you write inside autoexec.cfg the new values, (for mp1 and mp2 the new monsters, weapons, ammo, powerup are also customizable.)
                        (for example i made the small medkit give 10hp instead of 15, i made the mp1 empathy shield last 300 seconds instead of 30, just writing the modded values in autoexec.cfg)
                        (i changed max shells ammo to 200, and max nail ammo to 600 like this)

                        ///////
                        /////// Set your desired values for monster-health here
                        ///////


                        /////// monster health values

                        set fish_health 20 // default 25 //Rotfish //Zombieman
                        set dog_health 20 // default 25 //Rottweiler //Zombieman
                        set soldier_health 30 // default 30 //Grunt //Shotgun Guy
                        set enforcer_health 50 // default 80 //Enforcer //SS Nazi
                        set ogre_health 60 // default 200 //Ogre //Imp
                        set wizard_health 70 // default 80 //Scrag //Heavy Weapon Dude
                        set knight_health 100 // default 75 //Knight //Lost Soul
                        set hellknight_health 150 // default 250 //Death Knight //Spectre
                        set demon_health 150 // default 300 //Fiend //Demon (Pinky)
                        set shambler_health 500 // default 600 //Shambler //Hell Knight
                        set shalrath_health 300 // default 400 //Vore //Revenant
                        set tarbaby_health 40 // default 80 //Spawn
                        set zombie_health 60 // default 60 (more than 110 makes them invincible against grenades/rockets) //Zombie
                        set boss0_health 1 // default 1 (zaps from Electric Pylon on Easy)
                        set boss_health 1 // default 3 (zaps from Electric Pylon)

                        set eel_health 30 // default 60 //Electric Eel //Shotgun Guy
                        set tarbaby_mitosis_small_health 20 // default 60 //Hell Spawn (duplicated)
                        set tarbaby_mitosis_big_health 40 // default 100 //Hell Spawn
                        set knight_statue_health 100 // default 75 //Statue (Knight)
                        set hellknight_statue_health 150 // default 250 //Statue (Death Knight)
                        set sword_health 150 // default 150 //Phantom Swordsman
                        set ogre_boss_health 90 // default 200 //Multi-Grenade Ogre
                        set wrath_health 105 // default 400 //Wrath
                        set overlord_health 1050 // default 1000 //Overlord (leader of the wraths)
                        set mummy_health 90 // default 500 //Mummy
                        set mummy_strong_health 900 // default 1000 //Queen Mummy
                        set guardian_health 200 // default 200 //Guardian
                        set guardian_boss_health 2000 // default 2000 //Quake's Guardian
                        set hephaestus_health 1000 // default 1250 //Hephaestus
                        set hephaestus_skill_health 0 // default 250 (adds health on difficulty)
                        set dragon_health 4000 // default 3000 //Dragon
                        set dragon_skill_health 0 // default 1000 (adds health on difficulty)


                        /////// monster gib values

                        set demon_gib -80 // default -80
                        set dog_gib -35 // default -35
                        set enforcer_gib -35 // default -35
                        set fish_gib -20 // default -20
                        set hellknight_gib -40 // default -40
                        set knight_gib -40 // default -40
                        set ogre_gib -80 // default -80
                        set shalrath_gib -90 // default -90
                        set shambler_gib -60 // default -60
                        set soldier_gib -35 // default -35
                        set wizard_gib -40 // default -40

                        set eel_gib -12 // default -12
                        set mummy_gib -35 // default -35


                        /////// ammo pack values

                        set shells_small_ammo 10 // default 20
                        set shells_big_ammo 20 // default 40
                        set nails_small_ammo 30 // default 25
                        set nails_big_ammo 60 // default 50
                        set rockets_small_ammo 5 // default 5
                        set rockets_big_ammo 10 // default 10
                        set cells_small_ammo 15 // default 6
                        set cells_big_ammo 30 // default 12

                        set lavanails_small_ammo 30 // default 25
                        set lavanails_big_ammo 60 // default 50
                        set multirockets_small_ammo 5 // default 5
                        set multirockets_big_ammo 10 // default 10
                        set plasma_small_ammo 15 // default 6
                        set plasma_big_ammo 30 // default 12


                        /////// weapon pickup ammo values

                        set supershotgun_pickupammo 20 // default 5
                        set nailgun_pickupammo 60 // default 30
                        set supernailgun_pickupammo 60 // default 30
                        set grenadelauncher_pickupammo 10 // default 5
                        set rocketlauncher_pickupammo 10 // default 5
                        set lightning_pickupammo 30 // default 15

                        set nailgun_lava_pickupammo 60 // default 20
                        set supernailgun_lava_pickupammo 60 // default 20
                        set grenadelauncher_multi_pickupammo 10 // default 3
                        set rocketlauncher_multi_pickupammo 10 // default 3
                        set lightning_plasma_pickupammo 30 // default 5


                        /////// max ammo values

                        set shells_maxammo 200 // default 100
                        set nails_maxammo 600 // default 200
                        set rockets_maxammo 100 // default 100
                        set cells_maxammo 300 // default 100

                        set lavanails_maxammo 600 // default 200
                        set multirockets_maxammo 100 // default 100
                        set plasma_maxammo 300 // default 100


                        /////// heal item values

                        set medikit_small_heal 10 // default 15
                        set medikit_big_heal 25 // default 25
                        set megahealth_heal 100 // default 100


                        /////// armor values

                        set greenarmor 50 // default 100
                        set yellowarmor 100 // default 150
                        set redarmor 200 // default 200


                        /////// powerup time

                        set envirosuit_time 30 // default 30
                        set invulnerability_time 30 // default 30
                        set invisibility_time 30 // default 30
                        set super_damage_time 30 // default 30

                        set powershield_time 30 // default 30
                        set antigrav_time 300 // default 45

                        /////// item respawn time

                        set ammo_respawntime 30 // default 30
                        set health_respawntime 20 // default 20
                        set megahealth_respawntime 20 // default 20 (5 + health rot time + respawn time: (5 + 100 + 20 = 125)
                        set armor_respawntime 20 // default 20
                        set powerup_respawntime 60 // default 60 (invulnerability/invisibility: respawn time * 5 ("60 * 5 = 5 minutes")

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I think that customization options you're talking about are as useful as football bat.

                          Enjoy pure gameplay with original values.

                          Best regards.
                          Last edited by OV3RDR!VE; 08-20-2020, 03:09 AM.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by OV3RDR!VE View Post
                            I think that customization options you're talking about are as useful as football bat.

                            Enjoy pure gameplay with original values.

                            Best regards.
                            i see, recently i found seven modified source code, and customised it... i am having a blast with the modified gameplay, i also found seven modified abyss source code, and learned how to compile qc code... i will try to modify and compile source codes for all mission packs and post the result on this forum if i succeded. when i wrote the reply here i didn't know how to modify and compile qc code, also those values do not make the game as fun as the new values i put after i discovered seven modded source code. thanks for the reply.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Hi OV3RDRIVE and everyone,
                              I am one of the original developers of Abyss of Pandemonium. I was credited for Game Core Design, Lead Programmer and QA, but also designed levels AOPEND, AOPDM5 and AOPDM6.

                              Firstly I'm amazed and impressed that people are still interested in this mission pack 22 years later and still developing mods and enhancements for it. This was a hobby project for most of us back then and we never thought it would have much of a life beyond the release of Quake 2. It was a joy to play through this improved edition and see all the enhancements made.

                              I have a few interesting tidbits about the development of the mission pack which I'll share, and if anyone has any questions I can do my best to answer them here.

                              We got together in 1997 with the aim of developing the unofficial 3rd mission pack for Quake 1. Aj Greenlee had the initial idea and put out a call on a Quake message board to assemble a team. Myself along with about 4 or 5 others showed interest, we were all from around the globe, I was in Australia, there were a few in the US, Canada and a few more in Europe. It was never intended to be a commercial venture, just a passion project. We exchanged emails and did the entire development over e-mail group messages and ICQ instant message chat.

                              I was 15 when I joined the team and was programming after school and during school holidays. I had no C programming experience, I'd done a little bit of QuickBasic programming and Visual Basic, and made a few adventure style games using Hypercard on Mac. I had learned a little bit about QuakeC by working on two projects, and X-Files total conversion that was abandoned fairly early, and Descent to Quake, which changed the character to a space craft that could move in any direction and could shoot lasers, orb projectiles and missiles, like the gameplay from Descent. Many Total Conversions were being developed for Quake in those days, and while the idea of using the Quake engine to create a whole new game was appealing, the work involved always become insurmountable and the projects frequently fell apart. The appeal of starting a mission pack project was that the work was fairly manageable, just a handful of new enemies and weapons, and there were plenty of levels designers who could contribute to a new set of levels by substituting in the new enemies and weapons into their currently in-development maps.

                              The technique for developing the weapons and monsters was to copy John Carmack's existing code provided in QuakeC and change values and variables and functions to have different results. For example, the leap attacks for the Dark Knight and Blud were taken from the Fiend, LG2 Prototype lightning was made to bounce by changing the projectile type to the same as grenade when it hits a wall, then changing it back. I couldn't get the lightning attack from the Shambler working for other enemies so I changed it to an attack that locks onto you but had a percentage chance of missing to the left or right, however this had the odd side-effect that lighting enforcers can attack in a direction they're not facing.

                              We wanted to boost the number of new monsters without having the animators/modellers to create all new models and animations, so someone suggested doing reskins of the Enforcer and Knight and giving them new attacks. I remember personally drawing a new skin for the Enforcer which had grey skin, different texturing on his clothes and chubby cheeks and we put it in the game. When we signed up with a publisher, and the publisher negotiated with ID software the terms of the sale of the Mission Pack, we found out we can't include any ID Software copyrighted material in our .pak files. As our reskinned models were originally animated by ID Software, and we'd just put a new skin on it, the publisher deemed this was a risk of copyright infringement. So we had to either reference the original model from ID Software with no modifications, or create a brand new animation for the enemy with an all new skin. One of our modellers quickly took on the task of coming up with an original model for the Dark Knight, however we referenced the original Enforcer model to save time. So the fact that someone reskinned the Lightning Enforcer in this mod makes me very happy as that was the way it was always intended to be.

                              We also discovered that all the textures for the levels were stored in the level files, which means all our levels had ID Software copyrighted content, so we decided that in order to sell the mission pack we'd need to replace every single texture in the game. So one of the texture designers redesigned literally every texture to give it a unique look. They did a fantastic job in a short amount of time, and allowed us to move forward with publishing the game.

                              The reason there are two models for the Juggernaut is that we did not coordinate which modeller would work on which enemy, so both our modellers worked on the Juggernaut and we ended up with 2 models. We decided to implement them both and the game randomly chooses which model to use. This has the undesired result of infighting between the Juggernauts.

                              Our publisher pushed for a December 1997 release, in order to better line up with Christmas sales, however this pressure made the end of development quite rushed. We intended to have 2x6 missions but ended up with 10. The final boss was modelled from what I think was a 'stock' human model with modified animations. I was always a bit disappointed that the final boss was not big and scary, but we were really strapped for time. In the final months of development the last level had not been designed, Aj Greenlee had done a small map with a narrow corridor very early on, and someone put the boss in this map and showed me. I was really disappointed as it was not the arena-style final battle I had envisioned. I had been dabbling in quake and doom map design for a few years, and I had an unfinished map that I knew with a bit of time and attention could become the final level. So I added the arena to it and put in the boss and it was complete. I don't think my map is up to the same standard as the other map designers, it's pretty crude in some places, however it achieved the arena style battle I wanted and also added some additional gameplay length to the 2nd chapter, which was already quite short with only 3 maps at this point and boss room.

                              Also the first level in the game after the hub was not originally intended to be there at all. One of the map designers had done an epic level that (from what I was told) was the best map in the game, so we decided we should put it first to make a good first impression. As the map become closer to being finished, I started to hear reports that the map was taking a long time to compile (all maps are run through a compiler before they are playable). Then I heard reports that the map was taking longer than 40 hours and would still be compiling. Someone took the level to their office and tried to compile it on the fastest, most advanced machine their company had and it would still just endlessly compile, never finishing. I heard that it did successfully compile at some stage but there were all these glitches in the drawing of the level by engine that it was unusable. So we decided we had to throw out that map and one of the level designers volunteered to design a new map for the first level and did it all very quickly, I think we told him the situation on Friday and by Monday we had a finished level 1 that played great. Still I always wonder what this 'lost level' looked like. There would have been some 'in-progress' builds of this level floating around at the time, but they would be very hard to track down now.

                              Some regrets I have are that the Lightning Enforcer's attack is too short and looks dumb when it misses you, I wanted to differentiate the Lightning Enforcer attack from the Dark Knight's lightning attack, the Shambers attack and Legond's attack, but this a cheap fix that didn't make a lot of sense. Also calling the last map 'Legonds of Quake' was a play on words of 'Legends of Quake' that doesn't make any sense in the context of the story. My coding was not very optimised, which meant the other programmer couldn't easily fix of modify the stuff I was working on. Also the publisher put the label 'Total Conversion' on the box, which we never told them it is a 'Total Conversion' and it's obviously not a 'Total Conversion', we asked them to take it off but I assume the first batch of boxes had been printed. They did send us each a boxed copy of the game which was great though.

                              Working on this mission pack was a great experience and I learned a lot about working in a team and coordination, and the effort it took to deliver a finished product. While the vision was to produce an expansion pack up to the same quality of the official ones, and I think we may have fell a little short, but I'm still very happy with the final result. Deciding to publish the game commercially was a bit of a double edge sword, it attracted more talent to the project as they prospect of getting paid was alluring, but it also brought a lot of problems with the high pressure to deliver before christmas, and also the additional time we had to put in with retexturing and creating new enemy models.

                              So yeah, that's some brief notes about development, it was a very exciting time to be doing modding as the Quake modding community was thriving, with Quake being the most advanced 3D tech on the market. Thanks everyone for still playing and continuing to develop this expansion pack. I'm very pleasantly surprised that the project still lives on.

                              - Ryan 'Gribe'
                              Last edited by Gribe; 11-14-2020, 01:51 AM.

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