Absent Bosses from QUAKE 1

[FighterForJustice]

Considering how disappointing it was to have only two grand bosses throughout QUAKE, and no bosses at all to equal Cthon and Shub-Niggurath in the remaining three episodes, hasn't anyone every since QUAKE was released thought of trying to program and design new bosses to make the QUAKE 1 a more complete experience?

Hasn't anyone considered designing new final levels where you could fight the bosses?

If so, would the bosses be borrowings for H.P. Lovecraft, or original bosses with Lovecraftian influences?

[inkub0]

Maybe this is a work for RMQ team
talk to them in their thread

[Phenom]

hasn't anyone every since QUAKE was released thought of trying to program and design new bosses to make the QUAKE 1 a more complete experience?

Yes I have & good point. Maybe someone will do that!

OMG I just had the best idea! I just need someone else to make it now!*joke*

[golden_boy]

I've seen some pretty scary things in some RMQ testmaps. I can't say for sure if any of them were bosses, because I was busy running away.

The horror, the horror.

[Phenom]

Whats the max poly-limit for a model in Quake1 for a standard client of course.

[Phenom]

Heres my rendition of chthulu for a boss.
He likes humans, on sandwiches. I made him in 30'er'so minutes




P.S I was only interested in being vaguely detailed with the head of Chthulu, I know its not quite Doom3 quality but oh well, go cry about it, now.

***Update***

Just compiled it and switched it out for zombies. It works! I have Chthulu in Quake! Woohoo!

[metchsteekle]

anoomated or are you working on that?

[Phenom]

anoomated or are you working on that?

This was really just a test to see how difficult it would be to get a model working from start to kinda-finish (no textures or animation ingame yet) using Blender, QME & Rqack.

The whole process is fairly simple and almost no add software is needed except for the ones listed above.

The scaling at first mad Chthulu about the size of a grenade, once I scaled it up*10 it was just a hair shorter then a Shambler.

However I don't see anything Cthulu+boss+Quake related to be interwoven into any current ID maps they just don't suit anything bigger then a shambler really. New maps would have to be made for a boss like Chthulu. I was sort of impressed when Chthon rose-up out of the lava pit but found that boss fight to feel quite static and close to unimaginative with acceptation of Chthon itself of course.

In my view a Quake remake should have LONG lasting levels with excellent plot. not tiny levels that can be completed in 20 seconds using a speed technique. levels should be sized to fit larger enemies and given a grander feeling overall. Quake had some excellent architecture in its day but 14 years later I've seen stuff that blows 1996 Quake away.

I'd be happy to continue working on this model if people were interested in this project. Otherwise I'll probably end up archiving it never to be seen again.

[mankrip]

It would be nice to have the three extra bosses follow the theme of the runes. Some ideas:

Rune of Earth Magic
Boss: Chthon
Theme: Lava (element related to the core of Earth)
How to kill: Stepping on buttons (which is possible thanks to gravity, which is also related to the planet as a whole)
Gameplay emphasis: Button pushing

Rune of Black Magic
Boss: ?
Theme: Death, something related to cannibalism, torture or abuse
How to kill: Something related to freeing some crucified zombies could work (free zombies that are being tortured by trap_spikeshooters, so the torture ends, the zombies get out of the way of the spikes and the spikes hits hidden buttons, a chain or something else that's keeping the boss from falling to his death)
Gameplay emphasis: Button shooting/hitting with the axe

Rune of Hell Magic
Boss: ?
Theme: Religion
How to kill: Doing something related to heresy or sacrilege, like violating an altar (which also happens in one of the registered maps) or tainting some "holy water" with the blood and gibs of the boss or of the enemies; drowning the boss in holy water could also be interesting
Gameplay emphasis: Maybe riding platforms, maybe swimming

Rune of Elder Magic
Boss: Chtulhu, maybe
Theme:
How to kill: Making Chthulhu eat (attack) the monsters instead of us
Gameplay enphasis: Monster infighting, and maybe wind tunnels (which may be useful for the eating, or to escape from it)

Shub-Niggurath's Pit
Boss: Shubby herself
Theme: Monster spawning (teleporting monsters inside the map)
How to kill: Telefragging (which is similar to spawning inside her)
Gameplay enphasis: Teleporting

The general concepts behind these ideas are: Like Chthon and Shub-Niggurath, the other bosses must be invulnerable to player attacks, and the level design must be done in a way that allows the player to beat them even without ammo (since the players may waste all of their ammo by trying to kill the bosses directly).

[Phenom]

Rune of Elder Magic
Boss: Chtulhu, maybe
Theme:
How to kill: Making Chthulhu eat (attack) the monsters instead of us
Gameplay enphasis: Monster infighting, and maybe wind tunnels (which may be useful for the eating, or to escape from it)

I was thinking something similar to this. Or maybe just a straight forwards fight with Chthulu and give him 10 times the health of a Shambler and have him chase you throughout the "boss level" while fighting ogres and such for ammo. When I think boss fight I think of fighting against a maneuverable tough opponent with an adept amount of lethal abilities. Hitting switches to kill a monster/boss in Quake to me is so 1996. I'd like to fight a boss man to monster, not man to buttons.

[mankrip]

What I like about the original bosses is that they're basically impossible to defeat through any brute force. This can make the battle slower paced, but makes their defeat feels a lot more rewarding to me, because it actually feels like the player has found a way to beat immortal beings through his cunning. After all, "You have proven that your skill and your cunning are greater than all the powers of Quake. You are the master now. Id Software salutes you."

[inkub0]

There are many monsters in Lovecraft's bo0ks...

I think Nyarlathotep is a must, maybe in the Hell magic realm...

Dagon is a right choice, i think... is related with water element.

Maybe a Dhole, a great worm, is the right replacement for Chton (chtonians are worms, but dey dont appear in Lovecraft boks)

Cthulhu is obviously a great choice! (but is hard to create all that tentacles)

Shubb Niggurath is the final boss, but i think that level (shubb niggurath's pit) is not so spectacular... i imagine something like the hell in doom3...

Hey guys, try to find on internet the book of the RPG "Call of Cthulhu" 5th edition. it has great illustrations!

[Senban]

How about placing Cthulhu in an underwater arena (R'lyeh obviously), and basing the code loosely on the dragon from the second mission pack?

As for minions how about doing the statue from the start of Call of Cthulhu but have it glowing, hovering and shooting lightning at the player. Iconic literary reference all done in 1 frame.

[mankrip]

Shubb Niggurath is the final boss, but i think that level (shubb niggurath's pit) is not so spectacular... i imagine something like the hell in doom3...

There's an old alternate version of end.bsp that was really interesting; it was used in a leaked beta, and there's a version of it that works in the final versions of the Quake engine.

[inkub0]

i imagine that cthulhu can raise from ocean, maybe in a level with a beach and a starry sky =)