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Title: Grazer Station
Filename: map-jlctf1.pk3
Game: Quake 3 CTF
Author: Joel Baxter (aka Johnny Law)
Previous work: None (awww, his first map... how cute...)
Email: **email removed**; if that fails: **email removed**
URL: www.clanplaid.net/quake/jlctf1/
Thanks to: - The denizens of the QBoard and the Quake3World level
editing forum, for advice and entertainment.
- Iikka Keränen, for the IkbaseQ3 texture set.
- Justin Fisher, for the groovy skybox images.
- David "Zoid" Kirsch, for Q3 Threewave CTF textures and
shaders, and of course for popularizing CTF.
- The original author of the Q1 Threewave CTF bolt-and-
hammer logos, Brian "Whaleboy" Cozzens.
- Mike Jackman (author of TexMex) and Ty Matthews & Neal
White III (authors of Wally) for tools for getting the
bolt-and-hammer logos into a usable file format.
- El Santo Negro of Clan Plaid for taking those old logos
and making the "nostalgia logo" panel textures used in the
bases.
- Dave Eaton II, author of NPherno's MD3 Compiler (which I
used to modify the spotlight models).
- The various authors of the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation
Program), especially Tor Lillqvist for the Windows port.
- Clan Plaid for being my "gaming support group".
- Everyone who gave me feedback. I'll probably leave
someone out (sorry!), but in alphabetical order that
includes altrdst8, Btbl, Cornelius, DrZuess, Frenchy, Kala,
keditok, nix, Matt Simpson, and Sliver. Gracias.
- Shadowdane for help with sound file format conversion.
- Of course, Robert Duffy, Paul Jaquays, and the rest of id
software.
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* Play information *
Deathmatch: Can be fun sniping a truckload of bots
CTF: Yes, 8-14 total players recommended
Bot skirmish support: Yes, although please see jlctf1-bots-readme.txt
To install, place the pk3 file in your baseq3 folder. If you wish to try
the map out alone or with bots, you can access it through the in-game
Skirmish menu in CTF or FFA mode. (Alternately, you can start the map with
the command "\map jlctf1" in the console, after setting g_gametype to 0 for
FFA or 4 for CTF.)
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* Random comments *
Setting: A small planetoid towed into low Jupiter orbit to host
a communications and supplies relay post for researchers;
abandoned for decades, and with tidal stresses causing
dangerous core heating, it's not exactly an OSHA-approved
work environment anymore... but it'll do for a game of CTF!
Design notes: Here's what I was trying to do with this map. Who knows if
I succeeded, but this might explain some things you notice
about the map:
- First, I was disappointed with the simplicity of the
original Q3CTF maps. As someone who was "raised" playing CTF
on the Quake 1 singleplayer maps, I wanted a map that
took longer than a few seconds to completely figure out.
This is the result. Still a lot less complicated than some
Q1 maps ("Ruins of NeoMinonk" for example), but more involved
than, say, Q3CTF1. :-)
- I wanted to make a map that had a little more subtle style
than the baroque-techno and disco-dungeon looks prominent
in Q3.
- I tried to design a map that provides many options for
offensive and especially defensive approaches, and one that
encourages teams to spread out and find different roles if
they have the manpower.
- I wanted to reward team communication.
- I wanted to prevent fast flag run routes, and balance risk
and speed considerations among the routes. Flag routes
shouldn't branch in ways that allow FCs to easily shake close
pursuit. There should be bottlenecks in the connectivity
between the two halves of the map. And a FC should not be
able to effectively hide from the enemy team by staying in
any one spot. (P.S. though I don't agree with all of the
following doc, it's interesting:
www.planetquake.co...ert/qlevel.html)
- I wanted to provide some situations that make weapons other
than the RL attractive, but also some situations that
encourage rocket-jumping.
- I wanted to play with the fun features of Q3. :-) This
includes visuals, of course, but also the way that the
removal of the grapple and introduction of jumppads affect
combat. Speaking of which, this map has not been tested
with a grapple, and I can think of at least a few ways in
which a grapple might be Bad News for gameplay here. Give
it a try if you must, though... might work out OK for all
I know.
Player tips: Thanks for reading the readme. :-) In return, here's a data
dump of useful factoids that might not be immediately
obvious. (Probably best to skip this part for now then come
back after you've had a look at the map.)
- The ammo on the high center walkways is sometimes RL
ammo, sometimes LG ammo. The powerup is sometimes Quad,
sometimes Battle Suit.
- There are a few places in the map that use a "force field"
that is visible from only one side. It is always anchored
to a certain texture that looks like a light fixture of
sorts. You can shoot through the force field in either
direction, but you cannot pass through it. If you try to
approach it from the invisible side, you will just be
blocked. If you approach it from the other side, you will
either be blocked (at the tower trapdoor), bounced away
(at the sides of the central enclosure), or vaporized
(at the top of the central enclosure). Sorry it's not
consistent, but anyway the point is no harm done unless you
are trying to rocket jump onto the top of the central
enclosure.
- All doors throughout the map have the same "handle" graphic
on them, and the same general texture. Once you've found
one door, you now know what they all look like. All doors
are two-way except for the door that allows you to drop
down onto the RL. The other doors give you access to the
basement and access to a little cache of Stuff in the flag
room.
- It doesn't hurt to look for ways to take shortcuts with
strafe jumps and rocket jumps -- there are plenty. The only
shortcut you REALLY need to know, however, is how to rocket
jump from the outside area to a tower deck. This provides
another base access route. Truly "leet" RJers might be able
to do this in one forward jump from the ground below, or one
backward jump from the nearest "spatula" elevated walkway,
but I find that to be hit-or-miss. It's easier to do an RJ
from the medium-sized cubical light fixture on the ground
against the central enclosure wall. The fastest and most
reliable way though is to do a low-impact RJ onto the roof of
the "shed" that covers the drop-down to the RL, and then RJ
from there to the deck.
- In the tower, you'll find a trapdoor that opens to allow
you to view the basement below. You can stand on, and shoot
through, the force field that covers the opening. Anyone
below can also shoot at you but they will not be able to see
you. If you push the button on the far wall of the tower,
a green light will appear around the trapdoor and the force
field will release, allowing you to drop down into the
basement (don't hit the lava!). The green light will turn
red 2 seconds before the force field returns. Don't get
caught halfway through the opening when the force field
returns -- it's nasty.
- One more note about the tower. On the way out to the
sniper deck, you don't have to jump over the hole in the
deck. Just run forward and the trim on the floor will pop
you over the hole.
- In the base, use the tilted jump pad just by running
straight forward onto its lower part. Nothing fancy
required. Sorry if you find this confusing at first... I had
to cut back on the active area of this pad to avoid some
"misfire" jumps.
- The jump pads on the floor of the base can be used to reach
the yellow armor or the flag if you're careful. Approach
them from the side near the platform you're trying to reach,
and as soon as they activate, press forward or backward to
guide yourself away from the "natural" destination and toward
the armor or flag. You'll probably need to strafe some too.
This is tough... not sure if it's a useful trick "under
fire".
- Speaking of tough tricks, it's possible to strafe-jump from
the flag platform onto the tilted jump pad.
- If you hang around in the basement for a while, you'll hear
and see some stuff happen. This is randomized a little so
I wouldn't recommend trying to use this event to precisely
time anything like powerup respawns.
- Remember that in Q3, thin walls/floors transmit splash
damage...
- Finally, in case you didn't notice: there's more than one
way out of the basement. Try the "elevator" at the back.
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* Map specs *
Base: None; new map from scratch
New sounds: One id sound modified for lower volume; three public
domain sounds (modified a little)
New graphics: Yes; see the credits above, plus textures and shaders
created or modified by me
Editor: Q3Radiant 1.81 and 1.97
Build time: A few minutes here & there spread over about 3 months
Brush count: 3515
Entity count: 459
Max polygons in view: approx. 8000 *
Imagelist size: approx. 3 Mtexels **
Compile machine: P3-733, 128 MB
Compile time: approx. 6.5 hours
* This is the max r_speeds value with gun display enabled, 3D icons, 3D
items, and high detail geometry.
** This is the imagelist size at r_picmip 1 (2nd-highest texture quality).
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* Known issues *
There are four warning messages about G_PickTarget printed to the console
when you start the map. I know exactly what the cause is, and in this
particular case those messages are guaranteed harmless.
There are some visual blurps here and there, mainly lighting mismatches that
I can't seem to get rid of and minor cases of The Sparklies that don't
respond to the usual treatment. Nothing you'll probably notice, so I won't
tell where they are. :-) Sparklies seemed to increase after I switched to
using the leaked 5.x NVidia reference drivers. May be driver problems, may
be map problems, but not worth the trouble to worry about.
If you examine the skybox closely you can see seams where the sides meet.
This is NOT a fault of the excellent skybox images provided for me; this is,
as far as I can tell, a problem with the Q3 engine.
If you're a spectator and you try to go through the wind tunnel leading to the
tower, there's a chance (for some reason) that you will be pushed "outside the
map".
You cannot block open the door over an RL drop-down. If you're standing there
when it wants to close, it will chop up and down rapidly and you had best move
elsewhere. This is an unavoidable consequence of making a reliable one-way
door with Q3's slightly bogus doors-and-triggers features. It's fine with me
I suppose... I don't really want players to be able to hold that door open
anyway.
Finally... the bots. Sigh. Check out jlctf1-bots-readme.txt if you want to
play bot skirmishes (and if you would not rather be happy in your ignorance of
the problems). :-)
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* Copyright / Permissions *
All graphics and sounds in this archive remain property of their respective
owners; they are used here with permission.
The author reserves all rights to the contents of this archive (pk3 and text
file) not superceded by prior claims and not waived in this document. The
modified public domain sounds are an exception; they shall remain public
domain.
You may of course make this map available on a Q3 game server, and you may
install it for a Q3 client to play the map alone or on a game server.
You may make this archive available as a free download, or freely
distribute it on some recording medium (such as a CD-ROM), provided that the
entire contents of this archive are present and unmodified. If any fee is
being charged for access, bandwidth, media cost, use of content, or any
other purpose specifically related to the distribution of this archive, you
MUST first contact the author and receive permission.
You may not use this map as a base for creating other works without
permission from the author.
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Bots are functional in this map, but they're not too keen about a few things.
First of all, there are two types of jumps that they do not understand.
1) The "express elevator" from the basement to the flagroom.
2) The jump from the flagroom to the tower.
I have some ideas about tricking the bots into understanding these jumps to
some extent, but it will require me either learning the .aas file format or
getting my hands on the source code to bspc. I've been unable to get any
information about id releasing that file format or source code, and I'm tired
of waiting. So I'm releasing the map as-is. If at some point in the future
I can improve the bots' behavior on this map, I'll release an add-on pk3 file
with the new .aas file.
Note that bots can still find an exit from every area in the map, and they can
also find an entrance to every area except the tower. To get into the tower
though, a bot has to spawn there (it can't figure out how to rocket jump up
there).
There are two other bot problems that are even less likely to be fixed.
First, I'm pretty sure that bots don't understand how to get through the tower
trapdoor, although I've seen them push the button.
Second, there are some simple walkway-to-walkway jumps that bots will not do.
For example, they refuse to jump to the flag platform as long as there's a route
to get there without jumping. Which kinda sucks for the bots offensively. They
also won't jump to the yellow armor in the flag room lobby (except for rocket
jumps). I actually figured out a way to restructure the walkways so that they
would make that jump if you commanded them to, but it made the walkways a bit
odd for human players, and bots would still never do it on their own initiative.
Which means of course that bots on the enemy team would never do it at all, as
far as I could tell. So I un-did the change. When you're playing with bots,
just consider that yellow armor "yours" I suppose.
These issues mean that an all-bots team will be handicapped when playing against
a team that has a human player (more than usual). This is not ideal, but I'm not
going to mangle my map to the degree that would be necessary to make the bots
happy. If you want to play CTF against bots on this map, you can still have a
good game by adjusting other possible handicaps to compensate, like team size and
bot difficulty. I also find that it's more fun if, when I'm the flag runner, I
avoid using the jump-to-tower as an escape route from the enemy flag room...
against bots that route is just way too easy, especially with small teams, since
they can neither follow you nor (apparently) predict where you will be going.
Bottom line: the map in general is just a little too complicated for the current
Q3 bot technology. I may be able to improve the bot behavior at some future date.
But the real solution, of course, is to play with people instead of bots. :-)