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Project Name:		"The Widening Gyre"
			Single player level for Quake 2
			by Carson Utz (Riscchip)

Files:			Risc2.zip / Risc2.bsp / Risc2.txt
Contact:		http://www.riscchip.com
			cutz@bcn.net (see 'notes' before
			sending an email)
						

Version:		October 27, 1998
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**Additional Credit**

	* Robert A. Duffy for QERadiant.
	* Travis (Lemur) for 3ds2map  
	* My marvelous beta-testing crew:
		Dragon(slo) aka Vern Mason, Richard Neff, Sgt. Pects, Bruce Riegel, 
		Dashboard & Sweet Maureen the Queen (last but not least :-).
	* RUST -- Game design paradise:  http://www.gamedesign.net
	* ID Software, of course, for Quake 2.

	Special Thanx:

	* Rob Taylor (The Atom Splitter) for a zillion other things
	* All the SPQ-Review page authors who reviewed my last map,
	  thanx for including me!
	* Everyone who sent me a kind word on my last map, too.
	  You guys are the reason I do it.  Thanx!


**GAMEPLAY INFO**

	Single Player:		Yes
	Deathmatch:		No -- visit my page for a seperate DM version 
				in a few weeks.
	Cooperative:		Yes
	Difficulty Settings:	Yes
	Base System:		P166 / 32 RAM / Compliant hardware accelerator


**BUILD INFO**

	Build Time:			80-100 hours
	Utilities Used:			*QERadiant 077
					*3D Studio Max
					*3ds2map
					*Microsoft Word

	Brushcount:			5005 total
	Entity Count:			765 total
	Build Machine(s):		P2 333 / P2 450 in various configurations
	Final Compile Machine:		P2 450 / 256 RAM
	QBSP3:				22 minutes
	QVIS3 -level 4:			7 hrs, 33 min
	QRAD3 -extra -bounce 40		3 hrs, 27 min
	Known Bugs:			None.


**INSTALLATION**

	--Create a directory under quake2 / baseq2 called "maps" (without quotes).
	--Extract risc2.bsp to this folder
	--Run Quake 2 with the following command line:
	
		quake2.exe +map risc2

	--Alternately, start Quake 2 as usual.  Then, bring down the console (~) and type
	  "map risc2" (without quotes).
	--The map runs on medium difficulty by default, to get the easy or hard settings
	  you can do one of two things:  (1) Bring down the console (~) and type "skill x"
	  where x = the number for the desired skill setting. (2) Start Quake 2 as usual,
	  select 'game,' and then pick the skill setting there.  Then, bring the console 
	  down again and load the map.


**MISSION DATA**

The most important thing to point out is that this map was part of a unit I was working on.
This was the second map in the unit.  In the previous level, the player attemped to access
and power-up a secret Strogg "Singularity Projector"--something like a transporter, or their
original black hole generator.  The Projector is required to access and conquer the Strogg
orbital city.  

However, in order to power up the Singularity Projector, the marines require a specially
encoded DataCD.  The codes are stored in a computer that is orbiting the planet.  Your mission 
in this level is to infiltrate the Strogg central-city comm station and download the proper 
access codes to a data CD.  Then, just grab the disk and exit the level where you entered.  
In the full unit, this will return you to the previous level (Singularity Complex).

This is just for context:  so you know what's going on with the story, and so the F1s are 
a little less cryptic.  Gameplay-wise, the map stands alone just fine.


**NOTES**

Once again, thanx a million for downloading my map and giving it a try--I really appreciate it!
First thing to note is that I'm moving, so I don't really have a valid email after this
Thursday (Oct 29).  You can try cutz@bcn.net, but consult my web site for a more current
email:

http://www.riscchip.com
_______________________

This map is quite different from my last map, and most Quake 2 maps I've seen:  it's similar
to an Unreal map in terms of layout and dynamics (but not, of course, in the same dimensions):
You have numerous routes to take, and your success will depend largely on how you approach
each area.  You'll have to be patient, explore, etc.

This map is also a bit harder than ID's maps.  If you take on the hard skill setting, be 
prepared for some serious action.  You'll want to take the time to find some secrets, and
plan your attacks carefully.  I think this sort of a map is fun, because you can play it
a bunch of times using different routes and modes of attack to succeed.  There are 5
secrets, some easy to find, none are impossible to find.  If you take your time, you'll
probably find all of them.

I've decided to add deathmatch starts to another dedicated deathmatch version of the map, which
will support a large number of players.  I put together a beta DM version, and it's a blast
with a zillion bots. It won't be good for the average 10 person, in-your-face, DM experience, but
for a LAN party or something, it could be a kick.  So, we'll see.  I don't want to muck up
this single player version with more DM entities, though, so it will be another map
altogether.  Anyone knows a server where I could beta-test a large map like this, lemme know.

Coop-mode has some dead-ends.  Not much I can do there--mostly just the blue key area.  If you
die in there it can skrew things up.  It wasn't designed with coop in mind, but I put the starts
in for folks who'd want to try anyway.

Lastly, I'm naming the base system for this level a Pentium 166 with 32 megs of RAM and
a hardware accelerator.  I designed the map with this system in mind.  The r_speeds are
plenty low (about like the Xatrix maps, I'd say), but in a 5005 brush map the game
becomes more demanding.  There are lots of textures, entites, etc. to account for.  You
may get memory-related errors on a slower machine (like overflow errors, for example) with
less RAM.  You can try it on a slower machine, just don't email me complaining if it runs
really slow.

**COPYRIGHT/PERMISSIONS**

"The Widening Gyre" is Copyright (c) 1998 by Carson A. Utz.
Quake 2 is Copyright (c) 1997 by ID Software Inc.  All rights reserved.
The Quake 2 logo and likenesses are trademarks of ID Software Inc.
All artwork including 3D models, textures, and skins is the exclusive
property of ID software.  

You may distribute this map on the internet, on a network or other electronic
medium where it can be obtained for FREE, but only as long as it is distributed
in the risc2.zip file ALONG WITH this .txt file (risc2.txt).  You may NOT remove the .bsp
file and distribute it alone--the map and this .txt must go together.  In addition,
this .txt file must remain unaltered when distributed.

If you wanna put this on a magazine CD, great, but you must first obtain from me
HANDWRITTEN permission.  No other options.

You may NOT use this map as a base for building other maps.
You may NOT convert this .bsp file into a .map file or reverse engineer it in any way.

Be good,

--Risc :-)


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Turning and turning in THE WIDENING GYRE
The falcon cannot hear the falconer; 
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; 
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, 
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere 
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; 
The best lack all conviction, while the worst 
Are full of passionate intensity. 

Surely some revelation is at hand; 
Surely the Second Coming is at hand. 
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out 
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi 
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert 
A shape with lion body and the head of a man, 
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, 
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it 
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. 
The darkness drops again; but now I know 
That twenty centuries of stony sleep 
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, 
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, 
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? 

-- William Butler Yeats, January 1919
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