25 years since the release of Quake III Arena game by id Software, 23 years since I started creating maps for this game, and 20 years since my last reality-based rat map, "reqkitchen", I'm here with something entirely new! "Blast from the Past", also as "reqapartament", is my nostalgic journey back to the days of youth, my first computer, gaming, and hobbies.

"Blast from the Past" is a personal retrospection and an attempt to recreate the old apartment where I grew up in Poland. I wanted to once again feel the atmosphere of that time, so I filled it with many memories from the past. You'll find interesting stuff from the 1990s and 2000s (and beyond) that might evoke nice memories for you as well. But above all, the focus is on the joy of gameplay.

To ensure this, I prioritized maintaining a scale and arrangement of objects that would allow for dynamic and smooth gameplay, making it enjoyable for everyone. Whether in 1-on-1 matches, team games, or classic FFA mayhem, the map is sure to provide lots of entertainment!

Unlike my previous rat maps "reqbath" and "reqkitchen", the size of this map is smaller, with locations made more accessible for all players and bots. The challenge was to preserve the accurate dimensions of the interior, as well as the furniture and objects within it. I adopted a scale where 1 centimeter in real life equals three units in Radiant.

Creating this map brought me immense joy and serves as my nostalgic return to mapping after 16 years. I hope you'll have just as much fun playing it alone or with friends. :)

Gameplay:
The map is designed for gameplay using promode physics. For an optimal experience, for Quake 3 I recommend using the popular mod OSP 1.03a with promode enabled, and as an interesting alternative, the modern rendering engine Quake3e. For Quake Live I recommend download "More Gametypes" addon for pro-oriented gameplay (Pro Quake Live - PQL) (links provided in the "Requirements" section of my website: letsgoretro.pl/quake). The map can also be played on vanilla Q3/QL, but the gameplay feels more "sluggish". Item placement varies slightly depending on the selected game mode (1v1, team, free for all).

Secrets:
As is tradition, the map features secret locations with various bonuses. These are only accessible in FFA (Free for all) mode. There are also a few "easter eggs". Take on the challenge and try to find them all! :D

Social Media:
If you record gameplay on this map for YT, etc., let me know at aberesewicz [at] gmail.com. I'll share it on my letsgoretro.pl socials :)

DOWNLOAD
letsgoretro.pl/quake/

Quake 3 Arena:
letsgoretro.pl/qua...qapartament.zip

Quake Live:
steamcommunity.com...es/filedetails/

Screenshots:

Enjoy :D
Edited 11.89 hours after the original posting.
Edited 1.41 days after the original posting.

It is great to see you back, Requiem! And what an amazing gift for Quake 3's 25th anniversary — a tribute Larger Than Life map that looks absolutely gorgeous, super-detailed and massive! Looking forward to play this release and I will be more than happy to review it, too!

Thank you, I really appreciate it! :) Creating this map brought back so many positive memories! Those were wonderful times :) I’ve sent the link to the map to the LVL email, and I’d love to read the review <3 Have fun of course :D

I'm also leaving a link to the promotional video for the map :)
www.youtube.com/watch
Edited 6.5 hours after the original posting.

Nice work! I'm laughing a little at several things about this map.
Nice use of squarish geometry to keep triangle counts lower while still making it look great.

Thank You!
I’m curious about what made you laugh? :D

The unending attention to detail, all the nostalgia items ... how long did it take you make the map?

Oh yes, playing around with details, scanning, and taking photos of textures, searching them trought the internet, and then preparing them probably took the most time. The entire map was created over about half a year, mostly during free time away from work. Altogether, I think it took several dozen hours, but everything was very spread out over time.