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Title                   : Hexorcism for Quake 2
Filename                : hexq2.zip

Author                  : Kevin Hall (Akak)
Email Address           : kachall@fidnet.com
Web Page                : http://www.fidnet.com/~kachall/akak

Description             : A SP/DM Quake 2 map with a faint Hexen theme

Other levels by author  : This is my first

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I really would like an email from anyone who plays this map, even if it's just to say "Played it.  It sucked :)"  Email me at kachall@fidnet.com
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* Story *

"Almost there, hero."  The voice crackles in your headset.
"Yeah, I'm ready." you reply, trying your best not to sound nervous.  After all, the only reason you got this job was because you convinced your client that you do this kind of thing all the time and this was "just another run-of-the-mill robbery job."  You had better not blow it now by looking like an amateur.  
	You look around the inside of the tiny transport vessel you've been sleeping in for the last few hours and think about how much has changed since your last mission as a "regular."  The memories of your return from Stroggos still piss you off.  What did you get for single-handedly releasing the death-grip that ol' Makron and his big gun had on planet Earth?  A medal.  One lousy, worthless medal and the same pathetic Sergeant's pay you were receiving before the mission.  Pay.  Yep, that's what did it.  Once you realized that you knew more about the Strogg race and how to defeat them than any other human,  things were never the same.  Sure, you could have stayed on active duty and worked in Military Intelligence. Those ops guys would have killed to get just a small piece of what's in your head.  Unfortunately for them, they would kill for it but not pay for it.    So instead, you decided to use that knowledge to turn a slightly larger profit as a civilian.  A few message board postings on the 'net resulted in your first "consultation" against the Strogg.  Those early missions were easy:  steal this, recover that, assassinate this guy,  kidnap that guy....easy stuff.  As you got successful,  word of your prowess spread like wildfire and the jobs started to come in more frequently.
	This job, however, is different.  You almost didn't even respond to the email from your current client when you read that this mission was to occur on  some prehistoric planet you've never heard of.  The pay was good, very good as a matter of fact, but the lack of detail is disturbing.  As usual, though, all concern went out the window when they offered to double your pay.
	So now here you are, bumping through hyperspace on your way to a planet that has been described as "medieval at best."   Intel reports are sketchy.  All you know is that you are to teleport down to the planet, infiltrate an archaic fortress which has been taken over by a Strogg platoon, and steal some "vitally important" CD.  "Hmph...'vitally important'" you mimic.  "How come it's always 'vitally important?'  Hell, I never even know what's on these damn discs but they're always 'vitally important.'"  
	Settling back in your seat, you shrug and admit to yourself that you don't really care what's on the CD.  Just as you're about to doze off again,  the voice crackles in your headset once more.
	"We're here." the pilot says.  "Move to the teleporter deck and get ready to rock."
	You check the charge in your blaster and make your way to the teleporter.  "Everything's green." the engineer comments. "You ready?"
	"Hit the 'send' button and set me down easy." you reply, again trying to sound as calm and cool as possible.  The engineer checks his calculations and looks up at you one last time.
	"Good luck." he says.  After a pause, he looks up from his work and stares right into your eyes "And DON'T give me that 'I don't need luck.' line.  The last few guys we've sent down there all said it, and we haven't heard from them since."  
	"LAST FEW GUYS?" you yell.  "What last few guys?"  But the whine of the teleporter drowned out your question as your view of the engineer faded in a shower of sparks...


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* Play Information *

Game                    : Quake 2
Single Player           : Yes
Cooperative             : No
Deathmatch              : Yes (8 starts)
Difficulty Settings     : Yes (recommend skill 1 [medium])
New Sounds              : No
New Graphics            : No
Demos Replaced          : No

* Construction *

Base                    : New level from scratch
Build Time              : Several hours every night for months!
Editor(s) used          : WorldCraft 1.6 Shareware
Known Bugs or problems  : The framerates are slow (r_speed ~1000) in two                           areas
No. of Brushes		: 3182
No. of Entities		: 706
QBSP3                   : 13 minutes
QVIS3 level 4           : 1 hr. 15 min.
QRAD3 -extra -bounce 40 : 8 hr. 4 min.


Playtesters		:Robert "Anaxagoras" Renzetti
			:Spencer "Phayyde" Jones
			:EnLiL
			:Death Mage
			:Halifax
			:Brian "Grin Reaper" Griffith (play his maps!  They rock!)

* How to use this level *

Copy the .bsp files into quake2/baseq2/maps (if the /maps folder doesn't exist, create it)
Start Quake 2 as normal.  Bring down the console (hit ~) and type "map hexq2" (no quotes) and you're off!

* Background *

I was motivated to make a castle-type level after playing the incredible Hexen 2 mod, Siege.  Deathmatching on the spiral stairs below the throne room was some of the most intense 'net play I'd ever experienced.  While messing around with Worldcraft, I duplicated that spiral staircase as best I could and it turned out pretty good.  Slowly (very slowly), it grew into the map you have now.  Some specific sources of inspiration:
- The outside of the castle was designed after a photo of a Scottish castle I saw on the 'net.
- The arena area is modeled after the battle arena in the original Conan the Barbarian movie.
- The trap in that arena was shamelessly stolen from the first Skaarj attack in Unreal :)
- The cross-shaped main room is modeled after the interior of an old cathedral in Mons, Belgium, where I graduated from High School 15 years ago.
 

* Special Thanks *

Everyone at RUST (www.gamedesign.net).
David Hyde and Brian Griffith for their help, patience, and incredible SP maps.
Richard Neff for his invaluable FAQ.
Fishman, GrrandMaMa, and anyone else who wrote one of the entity tutorials that I refered to constantly.
Shadow (www.merzone.com) for his great compiling front-end, Q2BeaVeR.
Everyone at Hexen2.com for their support, creativity, enthusiasm, and advice.  Including, but not limited to:  Anaxagoras, Halifax, Thorson, Phayyde, Elric, Daz, Tobey (who came up with "Hexorcism"), and all the rest who will complain that I left them off :)
id for Quake 2
Raven for Hexen II (still the best!).
Valve for WorldCraft
My wife and kids for their understanding as I retreated to the office AGAIN because the map is "almost done!"

* Copyright / Permissions *

This level is (c) by Kevin Hall 1998.
You are NOT allowed to commercially exploit this level, i.e. put it on a CD 
or any other electronic medium that is sold for money without my explicit
permission.

You MAY distribute this BSP through any electronic network (internet, 
FIDO, local BBS etc.), provided you include this file and leave the archive 
intact.