Author : Christoph A. Loewe (AEon)
Email Address : **email removed**
Website : www.AEons.de
Description : Quake III Arena - DM Map in modern style.
Inspired by Brasilia the capital of Brazil.
Check out the collage at:
www.aeons.de/pix/F...iliaCollage.jpg
Map finally breaks with the boring, you have
seen it a thousand times in id'ish
wannabe maps style :).
(To make it clear: id maps rule, copying their
style does not!)
Other Levels by Author : AEarena, AEsculpt for Q3A.
AEcantow, AEcthdrl, AEcube for Half-Life.
AEcyrena, AEshake2 both for Quake II
See aeons.gametown.de under "Files".
Thanks to : Thanx to Flash, CoolBlue, Master for testing!
Greetings to Cranky Steve for his faithful
and objective tests of my maps 8-).
=====================================================================
* Instructions *
1) Extract map-aearcs.pk3 into your Quake3/baseq3/ directory
2) Start Quake3
3) Maps will be accessable from the menu
* Play Information *
Settings : Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch
Bot Support : Bots are fully supported
Level Name : AEarcs
Single Player : Bots
Cooperative 2-4 Player : Bots
Deathmatch Player : yes (12 respawn points)
Difficulty Settings : Bots again
Map build system : p3 800MHz w/256 MB, Win2K & Geforce DDR 32MB
Number cruncher : Athlon 900MHz w/392 MB, Win98 & Geforce DDR 32MB
Compile Time : 1:06 hours (full vis),
8:16 hours (light -extra)
* Construction *
Base : Completely from scratch
Editor used : Q3Radiant v2.01 & GtkRadiant 1.1
Known Bugs : None of importance 8-)
Build time : Ages sorta :)...
New Textures : nope...
New Sounds : nope...
* Credits *
Thanx to id Software, for Doom, Quake, Quake II, and Quake3Arena.
* Legal Stuff *
This level is (c) 2000 Christoph A. Loewe (AEon).
You are not to include or distribute this map in any sort of commercial
product without first obtaining permission from the author. You may not mass
distribute this level via any non-electronic means, including but not limited
to compact disks, and floppy disks.
* Fun Stuff *
This is for Cranky Steve to help him out in his next potential
map review :). You can say what you will, but he is one of the
few folks that actually read these map.txt files.
Questions Cranky might ask and AEon might answer:
1. Why don't you build maps like those by id Software?
AEon: Because I can't ;), it's not my style and I personally
find it boring to imitate a style that has already been
done.
2. Where do you get your ideas from?
AEon: I have to admit that I don't have that many ideas, so I
check out real architecture for inspiration. Examples
of this is AEarcs (this map) that uses the slick design
found in Brasilia. My next map will have a distinct Greek
feel to it, not ancient Greece like the Acropolis mind you.
3. What do you consider important in map design?
AEon: To me it is a lot more important to design the architecture
along with the game flow, than to spend endless hours
decorating maps with useless details that will only make
the frame rate drop and will be ignored by most players
anyway in the fighting frenzies. In this sense I like to
keep the textures simple and let the structures speak for
themselves. You can pep-up mediocre design by using nice
textures, but that still does not make the design
outstanding in any way.
4. Why don't you use more textures?
AEon: AEhm :). Well picking the right textures is an art, just like
getting good design to work. And to be frank I never really
liked having to pick textures. To put it differently: If you
really want to properly use textures included with Q3A, you
will need to imitate id's usage of them. As it may be, folks
that know how to do something new with existing textures have
be greatest respect.
5. Why does AEarcs only use 3-4 textures?
AEon: This was done on purpose. Since Brasilia's architecture is
mostly done in concrete, it would be completely out to place
to use colorful textures, to decorate the walls with
useless ornaments. As mentioned before, the Brasilia
architecture speaks fort itself in design, so that textures
are secondary.
6. Why do you always use lava in your maps?
AEon: I like the warm glow that radiates from the lava. I also
use lava as a light source. Note that I try to make the
lighting believable and try to avoid setting lights without
a plausible source. In this way the lava helps to lighten up
dark places.
7. Why didn't you use water instead of lava?
AEon: I did some tests with Q3A water, and most of the textures would
either not work properly (read: weren't animated) or were
transparent. The latter, alas has such a big impact on the
frame rate that it was a no go. Lava was a compromise. I also
wanted to add a bit of danger: Run off the edge and a lava bath
is guaranteed. Note that most of the lava in the structures has
been clipped off, for your safety :).
8. What do you wish to see more in maps?
AEon: There is so much great (modern) architecture out there, be it
real world or in Science Fiction films/cartoons. I would love
to see more of that in maps instead of the same boring 100th
re-do of a map design blatantly copied from id.
9. Why the heck is the frame rate so low in your map?
AEon: Aside from the obvious, that I am not fully aware of all the
potential optimizations like hint brushes or portals and the
like, it has to do with the size and the openness of the map.
Anyone can build a map that is cramped that has a high frame
rate, but that has been done so many times, so why not stretch
it a bit. Note on my Athlon 900MHz with GeForce, I have every
thing turned on to the max. at 800x600 and even with 7 bots
the map will run ok. So if you turn off just about everything
it should be playable on low end machines.
* Where to get this map *