==================================================================== Vostok Rising A Quake 2 level by Ed Cope ==================================================================== CAUTION: Unusual installation!!! See instructions below. Do not place the new pak0.pak file into your Quake2/baseq2 directory. ==================================================================== Filename : vostok.zip Version : 1.0; 1-24-98 Author : Ed Cope aka Scope E-mail : scope@wt.net Homepage : http://web.wt.net/~scope/ Description : Single player Quake2 level Beta testers : Paul Taylor, Per 'Ellusion' Nyhaug Other levels by author : QUAKE LEVELS: Cope's First The Locks Mines & Mayhem Introducing the Blarg Gib Factory MALICE LEVELS: D3 and D12 from the commercial release Testosterone DM level QUAKE2 LEVELS: Gib Me Liberty ==================================================================== The Story: June 12, 1850 ... somewhere near San Francisco Having spent the last three nights sleeping in the office, the last thing I needed was a rude awakening at six in the morning. A sharp staccato knock on the door penetrated my dreams and gradually roused me from a deep sleep. I stumbled across the floor and slid the door open, groggily propping myself up against the doorjamb. Squinting against the morning sun streaming over the main street rooftops, I recognized the all too familiar forms of Jeb and Cooter. "What is it this time?" I sighed, too tired to yell. "You didn't wake me up this early to talk about visitors from outer space 'gain ... did ya?" "We saw what we saw Skeet" Jeb pleaded. "I ain't got time for this. We've had 'bout 5,000 more folk take up residence in this county in the past six months and it's still just me and deputy Scroggins trying to uphold law 'n order ... and the two of you know as well as anybody that Scroggy is better at catchin' ill than catchin' crim'nals ..." "But Skeet, we got proof this time." Cooter cut in. Too tired to argue with them, I flung the door open, turned around, and sat down on the edge of my desk. "Ok. Make it quick." Jeb and Cooter crowded around. Cooter reached into a saddle bag he was carrying and pulled out a shiny looking device; it almost looked like a pistol but it was too fancy for a shootin' stick. "What the hell is that Coot?" "Near as I can tell it's some kinda' gun" Cooter replied. "That's right" Jeb cut in. "We found it while prospectin' up in the mountains." "Well ... what's it do?" I said, finding my interest peaked. "Dunno yet. We ain't got up the courage to try it." "Well, I ain't got all day. Try to shoot it 'gainst the wall or somethin'." "Uh .... ok" Cooter replied after a few seconds pause. With a shaking hand he slowly raised the weapon and caressed the smooth trigger with his finger. Pointing it towards the wall of one of the cells, he paused again, glancing and both Jeb and I as if looking for an excuse not to pull the trigger. The only reply he received was a curt nod from both of us. Taking even himself by surprise, Cooter pulled the trigger and a flash of greenish light shot from the muzzle with a sharp hiss. We all instinctively brought our hands up to cover our eyes as the bright light flashed across the room and impacted the wall with a splash, leaving only a charred black mark on the wall. Speechless, we all stared at each other. Jeb was the first to get up the courage to walk over and inspect the char mark on the cell wall. "Damn" I muttered, now fully awake. "Lemme see that thing Coot." As if in a stupor, Cooter walked over and gently set the gun down on my desk. I picked it up and admired the gleaming metal and streamlined look of the weapon. It felt warm and comfortable, almost as if it were designed for my hands alone. "Well Skeet ... do ya' believe us now?" Cooter said with a crooked grin on his face. "Ya ... and watcha gonna' do about it?" Jeb chimed in from the other side of the room. "Dunno .... guess I could go take a look. Where exactly did you find this ... this ... blaster?" "'Bout a half mile up-slope from where 'ol man Jones found that mother load last year." "Alright" I replied. "I'll head up and take a look this morning. I'll have to confiscate this weapon as evidence you know." "Yah, ok ... but we got dibs on it ...." With my mind already planning out the day, I ushered Jeb and Cooter out the door, completely oblivious to their exited chatter. As I shut the door behind them, a plan solidified in my mind. This was the perfect opportunity to visit that secluded valley up in the mountains that I had stumbled upon a few months back. There just had to be a rich vein of gold hidden somewhere in that valley. As I started to gather together my mining supplies, gold fever began to seep through my bones and dominate my thoughts. Why should I spend all night protecting the residents of this shanty town just so they can spend their days searching for gold in the mountains? I know these mountains better than any of the thousands of prospectors who had streamed in over the past year. Lord knows I deserve it more than anybody ... and today would be my day. Filling out my saddle bag with several sticks of dynamite, I strapped on my holster and badge and opened the door to leave. Almost as an afterthought, I removed my six shooter and slid Cooter's blaster into the holster. Then, slinging the saddlebag over my shoulder, I began the two hour journey up the mountain. ==================================================================== * Boilerplate information * single player : Yes cooperative : No deathmatch : Sorry, this level just wouldn't work as a DM level difficulty settings : Yes demos replaced : None new graphics : Yes, a few new textures new sounds : Yes, five new sounds new monsters/weapons : No new Code : No music : No track pre-selected * construction * base : new level from scratch editor(s) used : Worldcraft 1.5b, Qoole 2.3 shareware, Quark, and notepad build time : About 40 hours number of brushes : 1015 compile time : On a P150 w/ 32 Megs RAM QBSP3: 104 sec. QVIS3: 4505 sec. QRAD3: 2030 sec. known Bugs : None ==================================================================== * installation * Due to the use of some new sounds and textures, the easiest way to package this level was in .pak form. The new .bps, .wal, and .wav files are all in the pak file. If you're using Winzip, simply extract the pak file into your Quake2 directory and it will set up the "Quake2/Vostok" subdirectory. Or, if you're using a zip utility that doesn't support a directory structure, you can create a subdirectory called "/Vostok" directly under your Quake2 directory and extract the .pak file into that directory. Then, type "quake2 +set game vostok +map vostok" at the command line to start the level. Or, simply place the vostok.bat file into your Quake2 directory and run it. ==================================================================== * Credits * - id for an awesome game! - Paul Taylor from AWOQ2(http://www.quake2.com/awoq2/) and Ellusion from Lotus Look(http://www.planetquake.com/lotus/) for beta testing and running two of the best Quake2 level review sites out there. - All the other Quake2 review sites who pimped Gib Me Liberty: Akuma's SPQ(http://www.btinternet.com/~akuma/index1.htm) - the most under-rated and useful level review and resource site out there. SPQ2 Level Heaven(http://www.planetquake.com/spq2/) - the Grandaddy of review sites! Crashes SPQ2(http://www.quake2.com/crash/) Talon's Strike(http://www.planetquake.com/talon/) - Some good editing sites who's examples helped me along the way: Quake Workshop2(http://www.quake2.com/qworkshop/) LevelEd(http://www.planetquake.com/leveled/news.shtml) Rust(http://www.binarydreams.com/rust/) - Too bad Fishman doesn't answer e-mail - Team Epochalypse(http://www.planetquake.com/epoch/) - Clan Napalm Killers(http://www.napalmkillers.com/) ===================================================================== * Additional babbling * I welcome any feedback on my levels. For those of you that have some knowledge on the history of space travel, you probably figured out where the name came from after playing the level. I'm curious how many people will figure it out and how many will have no clue ... guess I'll never know. No critique on my writing style please. I don't pretend to be an author. I only hope that the story was interesting enough that you got some idea of the plot. This level is intended as the start of a two to three level series, although it stands on it's own quite nicely. We'll see if I ever get around to finishing the series and bringing Cooter and Jeb their new toy back. Once again, I found myself creating a Quake2 level using Worldcraft with no Quake2 support. Fortunately, the only surface attribute that I really had to edit was the ladder, so it was just a matter of cut and paste. I tried using Qoole to start out the level but found myself switching back to Worldcraft after I realized that the learning curve just wasn't worth it. As unhappy as I am with the lack of support, I am a slave to Worldcraft's ease of use. This is the first level I've done in which I finally realized how powerful a tool Worldcraft's clipping function is. It probably saved me several hours in the creation of this level. For those of you who don't use it, learn. I was worried when I started work on this level that the architecture would be too bland. The concept was to have what appeared to be a hastily constructed base simply for the processing of gold ore. This doesn't lend itself to a lot of grand architecture but it's funny how you can make even the simplest hallways look good with just the right lighting and a few well placed brushes. Atmosphere is everything. * Secrets * There is only one secret in this level. Go into the dark mine by the machine and shoot against the far wall to open up a small cavern with the quad in it. ===================================================================== * legal stuff * This level is copyright 1998 by Ed Cope. Permission to use, copy and distribute unedited copies of this file (vostok.zip) is hereby granted, provided that no fee is charged for the use or availability of this file (other than the normal connection costs for on-line services, if applicable). The above copyright notice and this permission notice must be left intact in all copies of this file. By using this file, you have agreed to the terms and conditions set forth in this document. If you do not wish to abide by these terms, you must delete this file from any and all storage devices (regardless of the specific media involved) immediately. Commercial distribution of this file, in whole or in part, requires prior agreement with the author. Commercial distribution includes any means by which the user has to pay either for the support (e.g. book, newsletter or CD-ROM) or for the file itself. Unauthorized commercial distribution is prohibited. If you wish to commercially distribute (see definition above for the explanation of "commercial distribution") this file, note: (1) This file contains intellectual property (including, but not limited to, textures and other artwork) owned solely by Id Software (http://www.idsoftware.com), and is subject to any and all copyrights held by them. This author does not have the authority to grant usage of Id's copyright, and, by granting permission to use this level in a commercial release, does not waive their rights thereby. By commercially distributing this file without the express written consent of Id Software, the publisher faces the risk of potential legal action from Id Software and has been so advised by this author. (2) Permission is granted by this author for the one-time commercial distribution of this file if all of the following conditions are met and agreed to by the publisher: (a) The author is notified by email or conventional mail PRIOR to the file's inclusion on ANY commercial release. (b) The author is provided with one (1) "contributor's copy" of the finished product upon it's release. This copy is to be mailed to the author using the shipping address specified by the author in his/her reply to the publisher's initial email notification, and is to be provided at no cost to the author. 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By returning a valid shipping address to the publisher, the author thereby grants the publisher one-time usage of the author's copyrighted work for commercial purposes. ===================================================================== * Where to get this level * ftp.cdrom.com and it's mirror sites