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Title			: The Triple Towers
Filename		: mktriple.BSP
Version			: 27th August 1998
Author			: Martin Kilcoyne
E-mail			: martin8@clara.net
Web Site		: http://www.martin8.clara.net
			  Contains my other Quake II maps, skins and a few prefabs. Also has
			  info on my current project, links to other cool web sites, some
			  boring information about me and some ugly photos ;) You can submit
			  your own work to me too if you want. E-mail me first and we will
			  arrange for it to be put it on the website (web space permitting,
			  I have 25 Mb to play with).
Description		: On my fourth full Quake II Deathmatch map now. This is my attempt
			  to better my previous map "Superposition" which recieved a 3 out
			  of 5 rating from the Quake II Deathmatch map review site "Multi
			  Player Quake" (http://www.planetquake.com/mpq).

			  Again, like Superposition, I have opted for a simple layout so as
			  to allow players to learn the map and weapon placements quickly
			  and easily. Large and complex maps have their place but small and
			  simple ones are more "instantly playable".
			  This map's main influences are "Tokay's Towers" (original Quake II
			  DM maps) and "Wasted" (by Headshot). It consists of three 
			  octaganal rooms joined by multiple corridors. Each room has two
			  levels. The levels are accessed by either elevators (one in each
			  room) or stairs (one set in one of the rooms). All three rooms are
			  joined at the lower level by three intersecting corridors "a la" 
			  Tokay's Towers. At this intersection there is a chaingun and 150
			  bullets. However, directly above this chaingun is a hole in the
			  roof leading to the upper level. From the upper level you can 
			  bomb your opponents through this hole with the nearby grenade
			  launcher :) I have included both the railgun and rocket launcher 
			  in this map and I have left out the BFG (I think the BFG tends to 
			  spoil the playablilty of small maps).

			  On the technical side, I came across an article on the Quake
			  Workshop 2 web site called "Wider Is Better". Wondering what it
			  was on about I decided to read it. It was about the VIS process
			  and how long it can take. In the past my map The Arena took 4
			  hours to compile, The Arena (conference version) took nearly 7
			  hours and Another Warehouse Level took about 3 hours so I was
			  intrigued by this article. The author was talking about how making
			  the walls of a map thicker makes the VIS time shorter. He stated
			  an example; his son had a map that had been compiling for 3 days
			  and still had not finished. The author got a copy of the map file
			  and made all the exterior walls 32 units thick instead of 8 and
			  recompiled it. It took 10 minutes to compile! I decided to give
			  this theory a go.

			  All the exterior walls in this map are 64 units thick (apparently this is what all
			  the original Quake II maps are like too). The compile time and
			  r_speeds speak for themselves. This map only took 20 minutes to
			  run BSP -Full VIS -QRad xtra :) AND r_speeds are cool too;
			  the maximum is 650 (in only one small spot in the map) average is
			  about 250. Also consider the open plan nature of the design of
			  the map, there are no doors and therefore no areaportals
			  separating the map into smaller areas, I have not put in any hint
			  brushes either. If you make Quake or Quake II maps then I suggest
			  you read this article, in is invaluable for making maps which both
			  compile and run much quicker.

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			  By the way if you run or know of any server running this map
			  then please e-mail me (martin8@clara.net).

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N.B. (Eraser users only): I have also included a route table in this zip. This will allow
			  you to start using the map immediately with the Eraser Bot
			  without having to "teach" the bots the level. To use it just unzip
			  the file "mktriple.RTZ" into your "C:\quake2\eraser\routes" 
			  directory BEFORE you load the level for the first time, otherwise
			  a route called "mktriple.RTZ" will be automatically created and
			  you will have to delete this and then replace it with my version.

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Other Stuff by Author	: Levels:	The Arena (regular deathmatch version) [mkarena.BSP]
					The Arena (CTF version) [mkarenactf.BSP]
					The Arena (conference version) [mkarenaconf.BSP]
					Another Warehouse Level [mkwhouse.BSP]
					Superposition [mksuper.BSP]
			  Skins:	Captain Jean Luc Picard [picard.PCX]
					Lieutennant Commander William Riker [riker.PCX]
					Lieutennant Commander Geordi La Forge [geordi.PCX]
					Lieutennant Worf [worf.PCX]
					Doctor Beverly Crusher [crusher.PCX]
					Duke Nukem [duke.PCX]
					Max (combat pants and Sepultura T-shirt) [max.PCX]
					Houston Rockets (basketball uniform) [rockets.PCX]

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*  Play Information  *

Game			: Quake II
Single Player		: Just to check out weapon placements etc.
Deathmatch		: Yes. 10 spawns.
Difficulty Settings	: No.
New Sounds		: No.
New Graphics		: No.
Demos Replaced		: No.


*  Construction  *

Base			: New map from scratch.
Build Time		: About 15 hours over 3 days.
Brush Count		: 914 (of which 216 are entities)
Compile Machine		: Pentium 166 MMX, 32 Mb RAM, 4 Mb Righteous 3D 3DFX Card.
Compile Time		: Approximately 20 minutes (Wider IS Better! see above :).
Editor(s) Used		: QERadiant 077 (powerful yet easy to use).
Known Bugs		: Nothing that I know of.


*  How To Use This Level  *

Unzip the file "mktriple.bsp" into your "quake2/baseq2/maps" directory.
Start up Quake II and bring up the console then type "map mktriple".


*  Additional Credits  *

** Obviously, all credit to ID SOFTWARE for creating the QUAKE II phenomenon.
** Also to ROBERT DUFFY for QERADIANT; a class level editor, download it from
   <http://www.planetquake.com/qeradiant>.
** My appreciation to RYAN FELTRIN, creator of the most excellent ERASER BOT; a superb piece
   of programming, download it from <http://impact.frag.com>.
** Thanks to Jason (Smash) at the Quake II map review site Multi-Player Quake for reviewing
   my Superposition map when I only submitted it 3 days before the update was due, cheers.
   Check out the cool web site at: <http://www.planetquake.com/mpq>.
** Cheers to "Imaginos" whose article "Wider Is Better" is what makes this map compile and
   run a hell of a lot quicker than my previous efforts :) If you haven't read it, check it
   out at <http://www.planetquake.com/qeradiant> in the tutorials section.
** Thanks to my mate GARETH BRIGGS for perserveering with Quake II map editing after a spell
   of really shitty luck with VIS errors etc. You are the only mate I can talk to about Q2 
   map editing without falling asleep :) Keep up the work on your map, I'm sure it will turn
   out cool in the end.
** Finally, thanks to my cousin PAUL LEES for downloading QERadiant and the Eraser Bot for 
   me before I got my internet connection.


*  Copyright / Permissions / Legal Bullshit *

You are NOT allowed to commercially exploit this level, i.e. put it on a CD or any other
electronic medium that is sold for money without my explicit permission!

You MAY distribute this BSP through any electronic network (internet, FIDO, local BBS etc.),
provided you include this file and leave the archive intact.

If any magazines want to put this map on a cover CD, then make sure you ask me first, send
me a copy and we'll be straight :)

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