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Title       : A Horse Named Quake
Date        : March 27th, 2016
File        : mjb_horse.zip
Author      : Matthew J. "Bloughsburgh"
Website     : http://youtube.com/user/blattymeow
Description : Small medieval tower set at night
Testers     : Scooter, DeeDoubleU, Zetty, Rick, Broken_Tripod

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Installation

***Arcane Dimensions is Required!***
--If you are greeted by a red wall, then you are not running Arcane Dimensions!--

See the AD readme included for further details.

-------

*Extract mjb_horse.bsp and mjb_horse.lit into the Quake/ad/maps directory.
Run Quake with Arcane Dimensions and in the console type: map "mjb_horse"
  
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Skill Levels

EASY (0) : Greatly reduced enemy threat, upgraded and abundant resources.
Designed for "touring" the map.

NORMAL (1) : Balanced enemy threat and resources. Moderate difficulty.

HARD (2) : Increased enemy threat, downgraded and scarcer resources.
Designed for those seeking a challenge or find normal too easy.


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Level Design Process:

This was never meant to be my first public release but I fell in love with the set piece
and here we are! 

I was originally designing an entirely different map (Which is now scrap) but was trying to work on details like windows, frames, etc. I turned to retrojam1_skacky for inspiration and began trying to create my own roofing and windows. It just started as a test map to create roofing similarly seen in maps set in this type of environment. After I cracked the code to create slanted roofing, I began layering and imagining if this was a medieval courtyard of sorts.

I added terrain on the ground floor, displaced a swampy section and added moonlight. When I compiled and ran the map in Quake I fell in love when I looked up. I knew I was going to keep going with the map just to experiment with vertical layers. As I continued, I was more impressed by the visual flair after each test of the map. Because of this, at some point I said to myself: "This is it, this will be my first release".

With that revelation, I began to go obsessive with the details and tried to pour as much quality as a newbie can muster. Originally, the map only had three layers but after being so pleased with the vertical concept I decided to add a fourth. Any higher would have drifted from the illusion of a layered structure and just a really high place! The fourth layer was added, and I was beginning to look at the random roofing placement I had and began to think of what type of gameplay could occur. Since I have an impression to give, I wanted some things to be atypical to give me a sense of individuality. One such element was suspending a stable key by a rope where the player has to leap from the fourth level in hopes of snagging the key lest they plummet to ground floor.

The other element was the whole "horse" theme. It wasn't really a theme but an accident. I thought of the name of the map very early in the process and it was simply just to have a random name that really meant nothing. For some reason the name "A Horse Named Quake" seemed "right" for the level and I kept with it. 
I added a stable section and began playing with the idea of including a "horse" element. This resulted in locking up an idling miniotaur that can be seen at the
very start through the locked stable door. The goal was set and the general layout completed, now it was time to add gameplay and finer details.

I wanted to stray away from teleporting monsters in...even when AD allows for silent spawning. Since the level was mainly vertical, I opted for monsters to jump down from higher ledges, or break out of windows. Monsters still spawn in, but they do so "naturally". This requires numerous monster_jump triggers and some use of the entity_state triggers. One notable hiccup I had was when the player picks up the silver key, a knight will shatter through a window and begin charging to the player. Since monster_jumps were added for the first batch of monsters at the start, the knight will foolishly hop down and run like a ninny with no hopes of reaching the player. I could have removed those jumps but then the starting fight would not be as dynamic as I had planned and the player could leave the knights in the dust by jumping down. Instead, I made use of state_triggers where when the silver key was picked up the monster_jumps were disabled on the second level. If the player jumps down to the ground, then a trigger sets the state of the monster_jumps back on and the knights follow you down! This is a very subtle but in my eyes an important logical setup to have as it keeps the pacing of the encounter.

The silver key section was merely for a way to lengthen the level in a seemingly natural manner. Just having the player go up and back down is too "fast". Instead, I opted for: Up, Down, Up, Down but presented in a way that it didn't feel like a chore. When the button is pressed in the silver key area, a message is displayed: "Rope extended". This leads to the 3rd floor but I needed some visual language to guide the player to the rope. I first went with lights turning on but with flickering torches all around, I was having too many light surfaces errors. I went with flickering lights and instead set a scrag (easy, normal) and an ogre (hard) as a turret right by the rope. This way, the player will be forced to look up at the direction of the rope as the monster turret will not move towards the player and will be stationary.

A challenge that I faced throughout the entire process of this map was how the player would progress upwards. I had choices: Ladders, Teleports, Ledges, Lifts...the list goes on. Teleporters are a cop out in my opinion and should be used sparingly, I used a ladder for the ground to level 2 and a rope from 2 to 3...so I did not want to repeat those. All I had left were ledges and lifts. I went with ledges and a bobbing crate! I built some scaffolding and a crate using a func_bob which has a great effect if used correctly. My original plan was for the player to use the bobbing crate to reach the higher ledge and thus access to the fourth level but some play testers found that occasionally the bobbing crate was too low and could never allow for the height to reach the next ledge. I added a lift strictly as a fail-safe. It is one of the very last additions to the map but it is better than being completely stuck or removing the cool bobbing crate!

Another hurdle I faced was how quick the pacing would be if the player grabs the key and just drops to the ground floor, unlocks the stable door and exits. I needed the player to have an obstacle when coming back down that wasn't just passable monsters. With that I devised a poorly implemented arena on the third floor which forces the player to fight some skull wizards. I added respawning items for the duration of the fight so the player couldn't get stuck. I also added a push trigger at the stable key so the player would not be frustrated if they miss the jump. This has a second intention which forces the player to land into the arena. If you hold back when grabbing the key, the player could bypass the push trigger and thus the arena fight. I added a stronger push trigger as a safety net just below! A coold tidbit is the forcefield causes damage on HARD skill!

I could type for ages about designing the map but I will finish with the ending. The entire map is focused on "getting your horse" so I had to make the minotaur the focus of the finale. You can see him, you know he will attack when you unlock the door so the tension is built the entire time. But what if the player misses the stable and goes straight into the outdoor section from the onset? I needed some subtle visual language to suggest the player to inspect the stable first. I added a func_breakable that triggers at map start that just splinters a small chunk of wood from the stable entrance. From viewing all of the testers, I have concluded that this was successful. Breakables are not something in vanilla Quake and not everyone will have played AD so I had to introduce that you can break objects. To do this, I had the mossy wood texture ALWAYS be breakable. Anything with this texture signified it could be broken. I also added chips to wood planks to make it appear fragile. Finally I hit the point home by blatantly stating that the overgrown wood looks breakable...TWICE!

*One last note is I wanted to implment Preach's Nightmare skill detection hack in order to create a fourth difficulty. While this works just fine, it runs the risk of the hack breaking if another patch is released for AD. This would cause my map to be unplayable unless my specfic version of AD was used. I decided against it.*

Thank you for playing my very first Quake release, I hope it rings something special in you even for just a short moment.

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SECRETS:

********SPOILERS ON HOW TO FIND ALL SECRETS**********


SPOILERS!

*****************************AHHHHHHHH****************



0) Not a secret per say but a hidden element found at the skill selection area. Use the sloped wooden plank to jump and bump your head on the small button on the ceiling to open a secret vista of the level and access to the nightmare key! There is also a hidden cryptic message to be found here...try breaking all the wood planks!

1) Shoot the red button in the darkend corner to the right of the sealed stable to gain access to the Mega Health

2) Use the bobbing wood plank in the water to reach the blue window sill, then jump to the cutout ledge and wrap around to reach a semi-transparent window. Shattering this window yields an armor secret plus some nails!

3) Slope jump on the cobble ramp to press a displaced brick infront of the silver key door to break open the bars to an early SSG!

4) On the third level, look for a misaligned wood texture on the roof where the wooden support beams end and shoot!

5) On the third level, look high up above for a grenade launcher sitting atop a fragile plank of wood. Shoot it down!

6) Run passed the bobbing crate and onto the wooden ledge below. Shoot out the closest semi-transparent window and enter the small passage. Break open the other side and jump to the opposing wood ledge for the only rocket pickup!

7) To reach the remaining 3 secrets, you have to damage all of the yellow windows spread throughout the level:

	1 - Look through the sewer bars at the deepest part of the swampy pond.
	2 - Climb the first ladder and jump into the sectioned off water area.
	3 - On the second floor, by where the rope extends.
	4 - Sticks out like a sore thumb with the large collection of blue windows by the scaffolding.
	5 - Enter the passage at secret (6) but look around in the middle of the passage. You will see a yellow lit square hole near the top. You will also see a small lit square ledge that you can jump on. While on this ledge, jump and face the square hole to see the ultra secret yellow window! Fit a shell through there!
	6 - Fourth level against the wall, passed the stable key jump point.

   When all windows are damaged, a message will display that the stable is unsealed. Go to the sealed stable next to the minotaur and collect the WidowMaker!

8) With the WidowMaker in hand, go to the fourth floor and jump to the ledge of the blue dragon window (You will see blue particles showing you have the WidowMaker)
and the window will shatter giving access to a not yet defined rune hint!

9) When all other 8 secrets are found, a message will display: "A secret has been revealed...but where?" If you found the cryptic hint in the skill selection area, you may know where to look. Otherwise go back to where the quad was found and look up into the hole and shoot the red button! I will leave what is up there for you to discover!

*********END OF SPOILERS********


*******AHHHHHH END OF SPOILERS!*************





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copyright:        The source map file is included in the zip file if you want to
		  see how something was done in the map.
                  Please do not use any of these assets in any commerical project.

additional        The majority of the textures are based on existing Quake assets
compilers and     BSP/VIS Compilers - TYRUTILS v0.14 by Kevin Shanahan
Dev tools:        Coloured light and LIT support by Bengt Jardrup
		  Light modifications by Eric Wasylishen
                  TexMex by Mike Jackman (organize textures)

engine:           Designed and tested to work with the following engines:

QuakeSpasm 0.91.0 (http://celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=60452)

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Map Information:

Game          : Quake SP only
Coop/DM       : No
Difficulty    : Easy 17, Normal 45, Hard 67 - Monsters
Textures      : ad_start.wad, Q.wad, retrojam1.wad
Editor        : TrenchBroom 1.1.6 and TrenchBroom 2.0.0
Build Time    : About 3 weeks

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Thanks:

-The people of func_msgboard who are happy to provide assistance to anyone
wanting to continue the Quake legacy.

-Bengt Jardup, Eric Wasylishen, Spike, and MH for their compiling tools/modifications/efforts.

-Simon "Sock" Callaghan and the AD team who have provided a robust toolset
that does not put limits on my creative liberties during mapping!

-DeeDoubleU, Scooter, Rick, Broken_Tripod, and Zetty for testing the map. I would have released a flawed
map if it wasn't for you all!

-Necros for the compiling GUI which makes life so much easier.

-My fiancée Kelley, who helped support the process and give a few pointers on visuals. ;)


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Distribution / Copyright / Permissions 

Quake I is a registered trademark of id Software, Inc.

This MOD/MAP may be electronically distributed only at 
NO CHARGE to the recipient in its current state, MUST 
include this .txt file, and may NOT be modified IN 
ANY WAY. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THIS MOD/MAP TO BE 
DISTRIBUTED ON CD-ROM WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION.

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