Title:
	Earth
File Name:
	Earth0.zip, Earth1.zip, and Earth2.zip
	(Earth2.zip soon to be released) which
	contains: pak0.pak (unit 1), pak1.pak (unit 2), 
	and pak2.pak (unit 3), respectively. 
	(placed in Earth directory under Quake2)
	Note: These pak files are sequential, pak0.pak 
	will run by itself without the other 2; pak1.pak
	requires pak0.pak to run but not pak2.pak and
	the pak2.pak requires both the earlier 2.
	Note: as of 25 July, Earth0.zip (pak0.pak) 
	and Earth1.zip(pak1.pak) files are released.
	The ending, Earth2.zip (pak3.pak) will be 
	released soon.
Author:
	Roger Ritenour
e-mail:
	ritenour@rlc.net

Story:	
	You are on your way for a well deserved
	vacation of sun, surf, and fishing. The
	Strogg invasion is over. And, the world
	seems peaceful at last. The bus you are riding 
	moves gently down pastoral country roads to 
	where the mountians meet the sea. Suddenly,
	your cell phone comes alive, bleeping for 
	attention. Now what! nobody has your 
	number except... You grab it and immediatly
	a statically voice pleads "We need help! They're 
	Back! Someone must go out and find the stargate..."
	Then all is silent. Strange... Suddenly there is
	an explosion and all blacks out. You come to next
	to the wreckage of your bus, dazed. All that comes
	back to haunt your memories is that pleading 
	voice about the stargate...

Description:
	3 Unit Quest with multiple sublevels. It is a quest
	for the Stargate to Antares and a final showdown 
	with the new Strogg Makron. These units have many
	custom textures, their own set of skies, and
	new sounds. It is broken up into 3 seperate zip
	files to limit the size of the downloads, 2 now
	released, the 3rd coming soon.

Setup:	
	Create a directory under Quake2 game directory
	and call it Earth. Place the pak files (pak0.pak,
	pak1.pak, and pak2.pak) there.
	(Note: these are the same file names as the main game
	file under baseq2 directory, a Quake2 requirement;
	care should be taken not to accidently overwrite the
	pak files under the baseq2 directory. If this
	should inadvertently happen, you can correct the 
	situation by copying the original pak0.pak from the 
	game CD. The original pak1.pak and pak2.pak files
	are obtained from the downloaded version 3.19 upgrade.
	This upgrade is q2-319-x86-full.exe which most likely
	is found under the Quake2 directory on most systems.). 
	Also, an upgrade to Quake2 version 3.19 is required.
	This upgrade is obtainable from id Software's page on
	the internet at no cost for those with the game on CD.
	your directory structure should look like with the
	pak files inserted:

	     +--Quake2
		  +--baseq2    (game files)
		  +--Earth
		  	+--pak0.pak
		  	+--pak1.pak
		  	+--pak2.pak
	 
Running:
	With the setup above, the game is started normally.
	pull down the console (<~> key) and type set game 
	earth<enter>. Set your skill setting by typing 
	skill 0<enter> (easy), skill 1<enter> (normal),
	or skill 2<enter> (hard) (note, if you skip this 
	step the skill will default to 1.) Then type 
	map marina<enter> and you are off and running.
	When you do game saves, you will have a whole new
	set of save slots. If you save a game to return
	to later, when restarting Quake II only the 'set 
	game earth' command is necessary to get back to 
	Earth; starting a saved game is then done in the 
	usual way.

Note on screen brightness:
	Many of the dark areas such as caves and night
	settings have low levels of ambient light designed
	in. It may be necessary to tweek the brightness for
	the most realistic effect. (This can be done from the 
	Quake2 main menu without shutting down the game) Note
	though, there are a few areas that are intentionally
	completely dark that cannot be make visible this 
	way. (the only way to see in these areas is to
	use muzzle flash from your weapons)

Credits:
	id Software, Some of the textures are 
	borrowed from DOOM. A few of the 
	textures came with the qED editor program,
	most particularly, the excellent texture
	adopted for use on the sides of the hills.
	Rodney Korn for his patience with me while 
	I e-mailed him to death for help with 
	his qWAL tool.
	Jako Malan, Mountains of Earth sky.
	The Space Shuttle Operator's Manual, and
	Web site: www.ksc.nasa.gov,  source of the
	technical information for the Space Shuttle, and its
	launch sequence.
	Web site: www.ksc.nasa.gov,  material for shuttle and 
	pad textures
	Helicopter sounds: sounds of UH-1 Huey
	Bup Parrish and his page: 
	www.inetport.com/~bubp/huey/sounds/sound.htm 
	(with permission)
	National Space Science Data Center/World Data 
	Center A for Rockets and Satellites of NASA for 
	the Bright Star Catalog, version 4. (public domain
	data)
	Web site: http://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ Space imagery
	used in skies and some textures.

Editors and tools used:
	qED2 level editor
	qWAL texture and pak tool
	QBSP3
	QVIS3
	QRAD3
	CorelDraw 6 & 8
	Corel Photopaint 6 & 8
	PhotoWorks
	cyn2box (Author written application, 
		renders panaramic images into Quake2
		sky format)
	render	(Author written application,
		plots stars from astronomical data
		into skies in Quake2 sky format)
	Syntrillium CoolEdit (sound editing software)

Known bugs:
	The level "Strategic Defense Command" 
	occasionally miscounts monster kills in the
	F1 screen. There are 54 monsters in the hard
	skill setting, but counts are sometimes reported
	as 54/55 or 54/56 upon completion. Reasons are 
	not known but appears to be connected with
	monster_medic resuscitating dead monsters.

	There are a number of open areas that experience
	a reduced frame rate. Generally, these are 
	wide open areas with lots of sky. If this becomes
	excessive on your machine, it can be reduced
	by switching off open gl graphics acceleration
	and using the "software" drivers, and/or using 
	lower resolution in the difficult areas. This 
	can achieve a satisfactory frame rate, even on a 
	133 MHz Pentium. Further note: The levels were
	checked out with the "software" drivers and do 
	work, but there are a few complex areas that that
	don't paint completely. Also, development was 
	done with Diamond Monster 3D 3DFX opengl, and 
	as a result there may be circumstances where 
	things do not work quite correctly with other 
	opengl chip sets.

Further technical note on graphics quality:
	This level provides open gl support. Most
	open gl graphics accelerators give an option 
	of restricting to 8-bit graphics. The sky graphics
	are provided in both 8-bit and 24-bit color files; 
	and they look much better with the 16- or 24-bit
	option turned on (8-bit graphics turned off). 
	These settings can be controlled from the Quake2
	main menu under "video" 

****  Play Information ****
 
Single player: Yes
Cooperative player: No
Deathmatch: No
Difficulty settings: Yes, full range, all settings
	somewhat harder than standard Quake 2.
New Sounds: Yes many "world" or environmental sounds
	were created for many of the environmental 
	settings of the levels. Most of the sounds
	with the Space Shuttle launch sequence.  
	A few were imported from
	quake1 and from Doom II.
New Textures: Many surface textures, plus 7 new skies.
	Strong emphasis placed on the atmosphere and
	"feel" of the places. It looks fundamentally 
	different. All you DOOM aficionados will 
	recognize a few of the textures. Overall, it
	is a mix of about 40% Quake2 textures and 60%
	new. Of the 60 % new textures, about 5 % are
	Doom imports, a few are Quake1 inports and from
	the set that was provided with the level editor;
	the remaining 45 to 50% are author created.
New Skies:
	Marina: Mountainous coastline. Panarama built
		from photographic patches in Corel 
		Photopaint. Imported into Quake2
		format using cyn2box. Rendered at sealevel.
		Used in the Marina Level.
	Island:	Mountainous coastline. Panarama build
		from photographic patches in Corel 
		PhotoPaint. Imported into Quake2
		format using cyn2box. Rendered offshore 
		at an elevated viewpoint.  Used in the 
		transfer station levels (trans and caves),
		strategic defense (strat), and the 
		helicopter flights (hcptfor and hcptbak). 
	Mountains of Earth: Sky complements Jako Malan
		with permission. Software (8-bit Quake 
		palleted) bitmaps generated with 
		Corel Photopaint. (If you cannot use
		open gl, these palleted bitmaps don't do 
		these images justice.) Used in the Plane
		Crash (plane), The Badlands (abrams)
		and the Capture (truck).
	Castle Hills: Panaramic bitmap taken from Stony
		Man Mountain in west-central Virginia with
		Canon EOS Rebel with Quantary 52 mm lense
		on Seattle Photoworks 200 ASA film.
		Panaramic image assembled using Corel 
		PhotoPaint 8 and rendered into Quake2 
		format using cyn2box. Viewpoint is from
		the summit of Stony Man Mountian.
		Used in the Castle levels (castle1 and
		castle2).
	Florida Night: Starry Nighttime Sky. Actual 
		stars from astronomical data (Bright 
		Star catalog with 9111 brightest 
		stars seen from earth) rendered at
		28 degrees north latitude with the 
		time adjusted to place the constellation
		Orion rising in the East. Sky 
		plotted into Quake2 format with render.
		Skyline rendered as panaramic bitmap from
		night photographs taken from various
		locations at ~400 ft of elevation with
		Canon EOS Rebel with Quantary 52 mm lense
		on Seattle Photoworks 400 ASA film.
		Skyline assempled to approximate that 
		from Launch Complex 39 of the Kennedy
		Space Center. Skyline panarama converted 
		to Quake2 format using cyn2box and merged
		with the stars using Photopaint 8. Used in
		Kennedy Space Center levels (ksc and ksca)
	High Earth Orbit: Star sky from earth plotted into
		Quake2 format using render. Viewpoint is 
		from 30 degrees south latitude to match
		image of Earth, which is a photographic 
		patch. Earth subtends 45 degrees which 
		corresponds to an altitude of 6,450 miles
		(chosen arbitrarily). Used with the
		space station level (mir).
	Antares: Star sky from Antares. Plotted with
		celestial north (earth's) north up from
		viewpoint of Antares using render. Bright 
		Star catalog includes parallax (distance) data 
		which made an authentic transformation 
		to Antares possible. Antares is close 
		enough to the Sun so this transformation 
		is fairly accurate. Some of the dimmer 
		stars are probably not accurate as well as 
		the dim dwarf stars that would be visible 
		from Antares by virtue of being much
		nearer to Antares but too dim from Earth to
		make the Bright Star Catalog. Image of
		Antares is an artistic composit of various
		images of the sun in soft x-rays and red-light
		public domain photography. Used in Antares 
		level for the final showdown. (antares1 and 
		antares2).

Maps: (Compile Statistics with machine; 200 MMX w/ 128 MB SDRAM)
	marina:	Entry map, boatyard and seacoast. Relatively easy.
		Build statistics: qbsp3-98s qvis3(level4)-33739s(9.4hr)
		qrad3(bounce4,extra)-116020s(32.2hr)
	trans:	Island Transfer Station. Mountainous island
		percipitous falls. More difficult.
		Build statistics: qbsp3-56s qvis3(level4)-2624s
		qrad3(bounce4,extra)-11598s
	caves:  Underground catacombs in Transfer Station
		Island. Difficulty comparable to Transfer 
		Station, but with more combat in dark areas. 
		Build statistics: qbsp3-63s qvis3(level4)-5072s
		qrad3(bounce4,extra)-2912s
	hcptfor: Short helicopter ride from Transfer Station
		to Strategic Defense Command. No risk to
		player.
		Build statistics: qbsp3-2s qvis3(level4)-68s
		qrad3(bounce 4, normal)-6233s
	hcptbak: Short return helicopter ride back to Transfer 
		Station. No risk to player.
		Build statistics: qbsp3-5s qvis3(level4)-65s
		qrad3(bounce4,normal)-42628s(8.7hr)
	strat:	Stratigic Defense Command. Underground command
		post with helipad and airfield above on surface.
		Moderate difficulty.
		Build statistics: qbsp3-74s qvis3(level4)-27595s
		qrad3-21652s(bounce 4,extra)
	plane:	Plane crash. No monsters, but player must
		bail out to survive. Short duration.
		Build statistics: qbsp3-10s qvis3(level4)-403s
		qrad3(normal)-714s
	abrams:	rugged mountianous backcountry near site
		of plane crash. Player encounters Strogg 
		captured Abrams main battle tank that is
		hard to kill. (Note this is not the boss super
		tank monster, but rather, something entirely new.)
		Build statistics: qbsp3-24s qvis3(level4)-27598s(~8hr)
		qrad3-14792s
	truck:	Short ride in back of truck in cage, mainly for story 
		theme. No risk to player (that is, if he doesn't shoot).
		Build statistics: qbsp3-12s   qvis3(level4)-1177s
		qrad3(bounce4,normal)-14225s
	castle1:Old Central European Style Castle. Strogg are using
		it as a fortress.
		Build statistics: qbsp3-56s qvis3(level4)-13251s
		qrad3(bounce4,extra)-5733
	castle2:Continuation of castle1.
		Build statistics: qbsp3-36s qvis3(level4)-1091s
		qrad3(bounce4,extra)-476s
	ksc:	Kennedy Space Center, Shuttle Launch Complex.
		Player detours Space Center through Florida
		mangrove swamps to "avoid" Strogg stronghold.
		outdoor combat at night.
		Build statistics: qbsp3-149s qvis3(level4)-42383
		qrad3(bounce4,extra)-20283
	ksca:	continuation of Kenedy Space Center. Player emerges
		at Pad 39A and takes the Space Shuttle to Earth orbit.
		Some tough monsters guard the Space Shuttle on the
		pad that the player must take control of.
		Level and Unit ends with dramatic launch of the 
		Space Shuttle.
		Build statistics: qbsp3-105s qvis3(level4)-22724s
		qrad3(bounce4,extra)-126668s(35 hours)
	mir:	Space Station. This Earth-orbit station houses the
		Earthside terminal of the Star Gate the player must
		capture.
		Build statistics: Map under construction.
	stargate: Short level passing through the stargate
		Build statistics: Map in planning stage.
	antares1: Outlands from landing leading to Makron palace
		Build statistics: Map in planning stage.
	antares2: The Palace and the Showdown. Ends with a dramatic
		launch back toward Earth.
		Build statistics: Map in planning stage.

	
Colored Lights: Yes. However, they are used judiciously. You
	will not see a kaleidoscope of color, but
	rather subtle spectral shifts from hard
	white sunlight to "warm" white lights of 
	ordinary indoor lighting and the like.
	In strategic Defense Command, the aircraft's
	navigation lights are generated in their
	correct colors.
	The castle levels use subtle sunset colors, a
	yellowing sun with the blue sky lighting produces
	a subtle magenta cast over the outdoor areas. 
	There is one place with a striking blue glow of 
	Cerenkov radiation with nuclear material.
	The effect authentically depicts the appearance
	of highly radioactive materials submerged 
	under water and is not just a pretty blue
	glow. Those of you who have worked around nuclear
	materials will recognize this awsome effect.
	The Antares showdown is done in a ruddy red 
	that one might expect coming form a red 
	supergiant star.


**** Legal Stuff ****

* Copyright / Permissions *

Generally I have no objections if you modify or use it as a
base for building additional levels, however, the source files
are not included in the zip. The graphic files (.wal files, and 
sky) you may use, but please drop me a line and give credit as
appropriate, whether me or whom I borrowed from. I would also
be curious where you use them. You may distribute this level 
through any electronic network (internet, FIDO, local BBS etc.), 
provided you include this text file and leave the archive 
intact. You may include this file on a cdrom where the purpose
of the cdrom is a means of distributing Quake levels and the
price remains modest, with the primary purpose of the proceeds 
being for publishing the cdrom and maintaining the internet sites.
Commercial exploitation where this production may become the
centerpiece of considerable commercial gain must have my written 
permission.



 
