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Title                   : The Rat (Part I, Part II, Part III)
Filename                : rat.zip (rat1.bsp, rat2.bsp, rat3.bsp, rat.txt)
Author                  : RMC
Email Address           : OurMC@hotmail.com (read all before flaming)

Summary                 : Brutally hard SPQII puzzle-solver; many entity tricks.
Other levels		: My first one ever.

Single Player           : Yes
Cooperative             : No
Deathmatch              : No
Difficulty Settings     : Yes (The Rat is for experts; try skill 3 -- hard+)
Max kills               : Hard  : 84/85 + >=76/76 or >=79/79 + 6/11 >= 166/172
                          Medium: 69/70 + >=69/69 or >=71/71 + 3/8 >= 141/147
                          Easy  : 62/63 + >=56/56 or >=57/57 + 3/8 >= 121/127

Build Time              : Off and on for 6 months
Editor(s) used          : QERadiant v.72
No. of Brushes (total)	: 1351 + 1778 + 794 = 3923
No. of Entities		: 599 + 829 + 301 = 1729

Setup                   : Copy .bsp files into \quake2\baseq2\maps
                          (create the \maps directory if necessary)
                          Start Quake II: bring down the console with "~"
                          Type "skill 3", enter, then "map rat1", enter.

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=== THE RAT ======================
"The Rat" is my first level editing attempt ever, envisioned as the first episode in a 3-part story.  "The Rat" consists of 3 maps meant to be a single level: the first split occured to work around a bug (see below) and the second split occured to reduce compile time.

=== THE STORY ====================
Read your F1 updates...they are part of the plot.  Yes this level has one.  Apologies if you don't go for those.  The level unfolds it but here is the preface: two platoons are exploring a below-ground "Tank" bunker, thought to be abandoned.  Command has been picking up strange readings in the area similar to but weaker than those given off by Strogg blackhole generators.  Your platoon recently lost radio contact with the other platoon.  Radio contact is not on your mind though: that double-barrel shotgun you just spotted down a side hall is.  You want it and you'll be back in no time.  Wilkins waits at the hallway entrance, covering you.  He took some damage on the trek from the lz and is looking battle fatigued, but what the heck.  You marvel at the size of the hallway, happy at not having encountered any of the Tanks that used to roam it.  Suddenly you hear hydrolics kicking in behind you, and spin around to warn Wilkins...

=== DIFFICULTY WARNING ===========
"The Rat" on Hard/Hard+ is a brutal but do-able extreme romp for good SPQ2 players.  I cringe at the thought of playing this with keyboard only.  Playing it through (ie: no save/restores) will likely require several attempts.  I enjoy the old "arcade" game ethic where several tries might be required to "dial" a level enough to finish it.  The fact that most every room is a sort of puzzle, where the correct solution allows you to finish with minimal damage, accounts for much of the difficulty.  Therefore, a first time finish on Hard/Hard+ would be unlikely and would require a great mouse player who knows tricks like amp'd sensitivity.  I love attempting first time finishes though so let me know if you make it.  Once you solve all the puzzles, playing it through might prove fairly easy.  A lot of play testing went into Hard/Hard+ and not much into Easy/Medium, so for the full experience I encourage you to play it on Hard even with many save/restores.  By the way, all the monsters except in the first secret room and the exit room can be killed (without cheating) but some thinking might be necessary.

=== DESIGN NOTES =================
While "The Rat" is three bsps, the intention was a single level, envisioned as the first in a 3-part story.  It leaves you hanging because the story is not yet over.  Let me know if you would like to experience the rest of it.

Being my first level, I opted against attempting eye-popping architecture and just tried for decent texture alignment.  Luckily the somewhat boxy style perfectly fits the plot.  Being a programmer, I did focus on "programmable" aspects via triggering, sequencing, timing, logic gates, and so forth.  For my own education and fun I ended up using most of the "programmable" entities.  This level has a lot of functionality and entity tricks packed into it, hopefully making for some interesting play.

Speaking of "play", the guiding principle was to produce very fast-paced, close-quarters combat.  Looking, listening, and thinking carefully before entering each room and then letting the reflexes take over once all hell breaks loose is the sort of playing required to survive intact.  Many levels I play have a hunt-down-Strogg sort of feel, and I tried to reverse that feel.  Hopefully you'll be caught off guard a few times.

I attempted to give these Strogg as much intelligence as possible.  I also poke some fun at their stupidities.  Strogg in-fighting and "friendly fire" is intentional where present, sometimes for humor but sometimes to be used to the player's advantage in difficult situations.  Rather than make the level hard by throwing in a bunch of the totally resiliant Strogg, I strove to construct scenarios where the lighter weights could deliver a serious butt kicking.  By the time I finished I noticed I had employed most types of Strogg.  Their usages seemed appropriate, so I hope you don't mind.  With their processing technology, they have plenty to spare anyway<g>.  Opportunities abound to die quickly, but I don't consider these unfair sudden-death traps.  You do need to look and think carefully though.  Weaponry is light to help create fast-paced, close-quarters combat.  The bigger weapons simply are not necessary and would detract from the fun.  I did not pick a soundtrack since careful listening is recommended.  And I hope the Duke-style messages don't bother you.

=== THANKS TO ====================
Id Software for incredible game technology and incredibly fun atmospheric immersive games.  Extra special thanks with frosting and sprinkles for true focus on buildability and extensibility.

Robert Duffy for the QE4 Radiant editor.  It totally rocks.  And Id again for releasing the QE4 source.

John Fitzgibbons for introducing QII logic gates: this is just about the single most coolest editing realization around.

My wife and kids for putting up with my absences beyond the usual (I am a full time programmer by day AND night so they are accustom to me being "away" but this ate heavily into the remaining pie).  Thanks to my son for conceiving of the moving floor in the flyer room and to my wife for the idea of making one-way force fields (even though it took a ton of time for me to figure out how).

The SPQ2 level review sites which entertained and eventually inspired.  Especially: Matt Sefton (supreme quality only...miss ya dearly), Lt. Dan (thanks for staying active), Talon's Strike, Quake Hotel, and 3D Gamers Edge (you were the oasis in the SPQII drought...praying you don't think this level sucks).

Q2 level editing sites for stellar tutorials and information.  Thanks for uncovering it all so I don't have to.  Especially: Rust (THE encyclopedia...daily visits), Ravages of Radiant (how this tenderfoot learned Radiant), and the Quake Workshop 2 (weird how they have gems no one else seems to know about).

My beta testers for putting up with such an extreme romp.  Esp. Radu for insistently testing keyboard only play in software mode and Mark for allowing me to observe on a 4+ hour marathon from start to finish.

Anyone who plays it and sends me useful feedback.  The Rat took much longer than expected.  I hope there are still some SPQII players out there given how cool Half-Life is.

=== KNOWN BUGS ===================
Created for 3dfx.  You can play it in software mode and one of my beta testers has extensively, but I did not work at making it look great.  No testing with OpenGL.

Once a beta tester got stuck *in* a one-way forcefield and had to noclip out.  Never saw the problem again.

Sometimes the water flowing in from the floodgates gets "stuck" for a moment...don't know why.

Save before the explosives avoidance test.  Occasionally the game flips out with overflow messages during the ensuing mayhem.  I searched and posted for solutions to no avail.  Originally it always flipped out, but does so only occasionally since I split the level.  Very rarely do I or my beta testers see it now.  Email me if you know how to fix it.

In the original (non-patched) QII, monsters always shot through force fields even when those fields were bulletproof.  Now they recognize bulletproof-ness and don't "waste" their ammo.  Also fall damage is less realistic.  I am running with v3.17.  Other "bugs" with a direct impact on gameplay may exist earlier versions.

Save again in the room with shootable flooring.  I saw the means of getting out the exit doors disappear once (but only once in scores of plays)!  No idea why.

Very rarely in the room where the monsters jump at you, one gets gibbed by one of the doors.  Tried a bunch of fixes to no avail.

Not really a "bug": Max kills possible is off a bit for three reasons.  First, on Rat I you cannot kill the Brain in the secret and in Rat III you cannot kill the brains in the exit room.  Second, just prior to the transition from Rat I to Rat II, there are 3 monsters.  If you don't kill them all, those left "follow" you into Rat II.  So if you kill all 3 in Rat I, the max kills possible in Rat II will be 76/76, and if you kill none in Rat I, the max kills possible in Rat II will be 79/79, and so on.  Third, the max kills possible in Rat II can increase.

The exit room has high r_speeds.  But hey, I think the show is worth it, don't you?

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=== SPOILERS: GAME TIPS ==========
Playing this level with keyboard only would be extremely difficult.  Increasing mouse sensitivity is necessary IMO (it takes some practice to control the extra speed but it makes you a better deathmatch player).  Binding quickly accessible keys to hand 0, 1, and 2 is also very helpful since you can take better advantage of left and right cover AND not have to adjust for head-on accuracy.  Pay attention to F1 updates.  And if you miss any of the protagonist's messages because you are too busy fighting, note that you can pull down the console (with "~") to review the last few.  All tips below regard skill 2-3: monster counts and items described may vary on easier settings.

Oh boy.  Just in case you get stuck in the entry hall...be sure to check both doors carefully.  Same goes for the next area too.

Yes you can kill the Tanks at the beginning and survive without being mamed for life, but it takes a little thinking.  Of course slipping away is a fine tactic too.

A lot of the rooms are ambushes meant to throw you into a tactical combat situation where anything less than fast and furious reaction will get your butt kicked.  So look and listen before you jump into each new room.  Rushing into new rooms usually results in taking some rough punishment.

Watch your back and don't assume as you backtrack that what you already cleared is still clear.  The Strogg made this test maze for combat research so you can be very sure they loaded it with secret access doors available only to them.  You don't think they would be stupid enough to let you find any of them, right?  And if you have not already figured it out, they are also testing their individual troop teleportation research based on their black hole generator technology.  So now they have even more ways to surprise you.

When you drop down the first shaft at the beginning into the pool, get out and away from the water as quickly as possible.  Otherwise those machine gun guards will send you to a watery grave.

The ten blaster soldiers standing atop the cable-supported block in the water room with the force fields can be easily killed without taking any damage at all.  Grab the rebreather, turn it on, pop up on one side and get off a couple shots, then dive and swim the length of their platform to the other side, pop up and swim side to side, blasting into the crowd now at the other side of the platform.  Continue strafing as they run toward you until no one is left.  By the way, those force fields are each one way but from opposite directions.

In the water room with the berserkers, surfacing from your pool can get you killed in a hurry.  Instead, use the extra time on the rebreather to make it through the tunnel without sucking water.  Staying just below the surface, take out the three buttons which open the floodgates.  Then swim to the top and watch the fun.

In the lava room with the flyers, some platforms move slower than the others, so get on em.  Also try to face each wave directly without other platforms in front of you.  Being blocked by other platforms is a disadvantage to you and an advantage to the flyers since you are moving and they are not.  And don't stand in the middle since you'll keep banging your head on the light.  This is probably the hardest room in the whole maze and would be extremely difficult without the precision and speed of the mouse.  When each wave of flyers appear, try focusing your firepower on each flyer until destroyed, rather than spreading it back and forth between all of them.  And if all else fails then use the goodie you found in the secret: it was intended to help frustrated players complete this room.

In the room with the various steel barrier partitions which pop up and down, the waves of attack might seem to come in random order.  Actually they come based on where you walk in the room.  This applies to the first three attacks.  Each time you trigger an attack wave (signalled by one of the banks of lights above shutting down) stay put until the Strogg appear.  They will not teleport near you, but if you dash across the room you risk running into one of them during teleport, which everyone knows results in instance death!  For the fourth attack, which is always the same, get up on the second floor.  Tis better to let those Strogg down below kill each other off than to take them on all at once.  Oh yeah, and never waste bullets on the berserkers: use shells instead.

Save some grenades from the second floor for a little later.  The doggies on the ground floor of the multi-storied elevator room can be a real pain otherwise.  Flush em out of their hiding place.

Be careful in the hallway which leads into the room loaded with explosives.  No sudden movements and a close relationship with the force door will keep you happy.  Obviously once in the room you want to run right through to the other hall.  Don't be as stupid as Strogg are about things that go bang.  By the way, the entrance force field blocks shots but the exit force field does not.  So take the opportunity to use it against them.

Cemite is an odd Strogg construction material which can bear great loads but disintegrates under high impacts.  Use it to your advantage.

When you fly up the air tube into the red hub room (notice the green, yellow, red "stoplight motiff" sections?), the welcoming crew can give you a big headache.  Take out the shotgun guards while still riding the wave.  Then hop off the air onto the platform opposite the rocket chick.  You can use the bridge for cover.  Note that you can take out the rocket chick when catching some air, but she is more likely to nail you (although it is fun to die thus because you fall all the way back down the tube and go splat<g>).

Notice how the route to multi-storied room with the Cemite floors is uphill?  Not having the high ground sucks.  Proceed uphill with caution and watch your back.  If you keep getting wasted, take out the top two monsters before crossing the halfway mark.  Then run up to the room and take out the two gaurds.  Then blast away at your new acquaintance heading uphill after you.

In the multi-storied room with the Cemite floors, use your shells on the berserkers and save your bullets for the infantry.  For the dual infantry level, put the middle guy between you and the other one so he gets it from both front and back.  For the dual berserker level, keep circling so they don't back you into a corner, and try to keep one in front of the other.  Those two will be very hard for non-mouse users.  The tanks at the bottom can be taken out without having to whittle away at them with your precious ammo.  Just look around.  I've said too much already<g>.

In the room where the Strogg jump down from the openings above, if you don't keep moving you will never survive (unless of course you use an invulnerability or you cheat).  Each of the four attack waves includes a single infantry monster.  Since he dishes out a lot more damage than the pea shooters, take him out first.  You'll have plenty of bullets since the Strogg are kind enough to keep teleporting them to you.  As with any one against many combat situation, you want to get your enemies in a line in which you are one of the endpoints.  That way they end up shooting at each other when trying for you.  When the Strogg congregate in the middle of the room, the best way to acheive this effect is to circle them.

As if it isn't obvious already...in the room with the two hanging platforms and slippery sloped floor, don't walk at the top of the sloped floor just yet.  In case you have not noticed, a bunch of Strogg are waiting in teleporters for you to cross that line.  Instead, shoot out the Cemite holding up the platforms.  You can do it regardless of from which door you enter.  There goes the gunners!  Now just play dodgeball with the berserkers.  You're the dodgeball!  Berserker revenge.  Oddly enough, this room is easier for keyboard than mouse players.  Not dying from falling downhill or from sailing into lava while dodging berserkers can be quite a challenge.  Two good ways to sink some ammo into the berserkers: wait at the non-slick top of the hill, shooting them as they come up, then fall back around the pool and down the hill; slip side to side on the slope.  Note you can jump over berserkers downhill from you if they have you pinned, but the jump will cause some damage.  Now might be a good time to use that goodie from the Rat I secret if you still have it.  Finally, take comfort in knowing the doors open in 30 seconds (originally it was 60 seconds).  If you live that long, those zerkers are all yours.

Completing the jump, multi-storied, and slippery slope rooms opens the fourth exit from the hub.  The rocket room might seem very intimidating at first but actually can be quite easy.  You will want to be well stocked on health and armor.  If rockets give you the willies, going back to find the secret from Rat II would be prudent before jumping in.  Actually I have finished it from 40 health, but the extra health and armor allow you to get glanced a couple times.  Two key techniques.  One, you can take out each of the first 3 chicks one-on-one if you are fast enough with the machine gun.  Two, side-stepping is the way to go.  With good health and armor, I actually beat the room once by just side-stepping for a long time and then using the shotgun 3 or 4 times at the end.

If you are still having trouble with the tanks at the beginning...here is my final hint.  You can kill them without taking any damage and without firing a single shot...every time.

In case you get confused by the exit room, no...you cannot kill the brains.  The exit room is just the "cinematic" lead into the next part of the story (if I ever get to it <g>).  Note that you can climb the laser for fun.  You can even jump from the laser to the closest window sill and look that sucker in the eye.

=== SPOILERS: SECRET HINTS =======
In Rat I, while Strogg can individually teleport into the maze, they still need to manage the air and water throughout the maze.  Keep an eye for loose rivets on the grates.  And no, you cannot kill the Brain.  He is observing you from a safe vantage.

In Rat II, check out the red section hub: the room with the air tube that comes up through the lava.  Inspect the outside of the tube carefully.  You will want to find this secret since you can shutdown the Strogg audio system from it.  Also don't immediately engage the Brain and Tech.  If you just scare them with a shot or two they will first try to hide behind the audio computer.

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=== COPYRIGHTS / PERMISSIONS =====

QUAKE2(r) is a registered trademark and the Q2(TM) logo, Id Software (TM) and the Id(TM) logo are trademarks of Id Software, Inc.  Quake(r) (c)1997 Id Software, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.  All artwork including 3D models, textures, and skins is the exclusive property of ID software.  

These levels are (c) by RMC 1998.  These bsp files may be distributed through any electronic network only if this file is included unaltered and the rat.zip archive is left intact and there is NO CHARGE to the recipient.  You are NOT allowed to comercially exploit these levels or distribute them on any medium, such as but not limited to, CD, floppy disk, etc, without the express written permission of the author.

You may NOT use these maps as a base for building other maps.  You may NOT convert these bsp files into map files or reverse engineer it in any way.  If you want to know how I did something in the map, just email me.

I also ask that anyone who reviews and/or lists "The Rat" at their site to kindly inform me.

Thanks,
RMC.
