Gothic Arch demo

What To Do, What it is, etc:

This is a Quake 2 version of a prefab demo I originally submitted to the first Quakelab, and another version I made for the heck of it.

This archive contains two really simple levels. It also comes with the maps and a .mrg file of the arch-cutter brush.  The arch in this example is rather low-res, it's simply to give you the idea of how they look.

The first level, gothic.bsp shows the effect of a simple gothic pointed arch when two of them intersect in a square block (in this case, repeated along a hallway).  You can do much more with this arch, such as have it ribbed, different lengths on perpendicular sides (which
is not possible with the older semicircular arch), more ornate columns, etc.
Check out some architectural history books for examples.

The second level, archtest, is based on the original version I submitted to quakelab.  I added some colored lights and stuff.  Hopefully it's not TOO garish ;-)  Just jump off the end of the platform that you start on.

The main drawback with gothic arches is that they have a hideous price in new brushes when used excessively for subtraction. I imagine they also play merry hell with framerate, so don't get too extravagent and try replicating Salisbury Cathedral or something.  On the other hand, my system gives r_speeds  of less than 500, even on archtest.bsp, which seems really good considering the mess you get when you use gl_showtris ;-)


Anyway, Have fun

Jimmy "Gregor" McKinney