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Articles
Q1 SP views and articles: 21/07/01:

Modders / coders talk about the Q1 SP mapping scene.

Introduction:
Despite both scenes thriving, with many people still making innovative releases, the Quake single player mapping, and Quake modding / coding scenes are quite seperate from each other. Sometimes there can be a bit of friction between the two scenes, and sometimes it can seem that neither scene understands the desires nor values of the other scene. So to encourage some communication and positive discussion, I've done some interviews to find out what the more established people in each scene think of the other scene.

Firstly, what modders / coders think about the Q1 SP mapping scene. I tried to choose people who were well established in the modding / coding scene, and who hadn't had direct involvment with Q1 SP map projects. CocoT has made a whole lot of mods, see Neurotic Conversions. FrikaC has made the renowned "Frikbot" mod, see Frikbot. This interview was also sent to a few other modders / coders, who did not reply.

Shambler: 1. What is your favourite Quake single player map, and why?

CocoT: I know this is probably sound very un-original, but I'd say most of the Neharha maps are my favourite SP maps. The main reason for that is because these are ones of the few maps around that show a really nice combination of detailed, at times quite impressive archtitecture and interesting use of a custom engine. Nehrarha maps are really nice to look at and wander in, unlike, in my opinion, most of the original ID SP maps, but of course that was then and this is now, things have changed and we can't blame ID for that. I also appreciate the fact that these SP maps are in a pack. I have a hard time really enjoying one single SP map out of the blue, I don't know why. It's probably because of the lack of "story-line" and the mapper's tendency to fill these maps with too many monsters, imho.

FrikaC: I've played very few Quake single player maps in my time. Being a coder of deathmatch bots doesn't get you running around single player very often. With what little I've seen though, I would probably name Ikspq2 my favorite single player map of all time, mostly from the stunning effect seeing the ikblue texture set for the first time and adding to that beautiful architecture and frantic gameplay.

Shambler: 2. What Quake single player map have you been most disappointed with, and why?

CocoT: Well, this is going to sound like a paradox, but I'll answer "Neharha" again. You see, while the maps bundled in it were great, I, as a coder and as someone hanging around with some engine-coders, couldn't help but think that things could have been pushed further a little more still. Of course, many could point out that Neharha managed to keep a "classic touch" which could have been lost if the modification had made heavy use of custom-engine-related features or totally new textures. This is true. But there are some engine-based features that can add a lot to maps and that don't always disfigure an older game. I'm thinking of colored lighting, particules and other visual eye- candies. Of these, I thought Neharha made too little use.

FrikaC: To be disappointed in a map you must first have an expectation of quality before you play it. Of all maps I had expected to be high quality, every single one of them were indeed high quality. Aside from my own efforts, I can't honestly say I've been unpleasantly surprised with any maps I have downloaded. Now it may seem I'm dodging the question, but I have particularly low expectations of maps, forged by playing thousands of low quality total conversion maps.

Shambler: 3. What do you think is the most important contribution Quake single player maps have made to the Quake scene?

CocoT: I don't agree with the idea that the SP mapping scene alone has kept the whole Quake1 community alive, as some argue, but I do, however, believe it did play a role in keeping it in the front scene of gaming sites such as PlanetQuake. There has been a strong feeling among QuakeC coders that bigger gaming sites were not interested in them anymore and I must admit that, if it wasn't for newly-released SP (and DM, for that matter) maps, Quake1 would receive very little media coverage, indeed, at least on the "general" gaming sites.

FrikaC: Single Player maps add to the world of Quake, they make it seem like the game is an endless nightmare spanning many hundered dimensions. The maps pretty much always include excellent secrets and puzzles that keep the adventure aspect of Quake alive. Deathmatch maps and mods tend to keep you merely honing your aim, movement and domination skills. Deathmatch is always a challenge, but it's also always the same.

Shambler: 4. What do you perceive as the strengths and weaknesses of the Q1 SP mapping scene?

CocoT: Its greatest strength lies in my opinion in the number of its members and the cohesion between them (from where I stand, anyway). Productivity and self-confidence are two other major factors that make the SP (and DM) mapping scene so attractive. There always seem to be things on the work and maps released, which gives it a strong image of dynamism. Self-confidence is probably a result of that. While many QuakeC coders, I think, tend to ask themselves questions about the real "purpose" of keeping on coding for Quake1, most mappers don't seem to.
Weakness ? ... mmm ... maybe a certain sense of reluctance (from some people) to make use of what the latest changes in the field of Quake1 engine coding have brought forth. I'm a bit astonished, for instance, that there are so few mappers including lit files with their maps. I agree that not every player likes them, but then, people are free to remove them if they want. Another great example of similar "waste" is the under-use of tga textures.

FrikaC: I'm sure most modders will tell you the same thing: the original Quake monsters don't seem very exciting. They move very predictably, they react and behave the same way each time. Some may say this is what makes Quake what it is, but from my point of view, Quake is something given as a base. The fun is making something new from that base. Because of the monsters being so tired and the same, if you ever die in Quake single play, it was either because you were unprepared or undergunned. Rarely was your death a genuine surprise. For the strengths: they are very well established. There's plenty of tools, plenty of textures. The community has existed for so long they have all they need. This can be said of all of Quake however.

Shambler: 5. How do you feel the Q1 SP mapping scene has progressed and evolved since it started?

CocoT: If you look at the first SP maps out there (including official packs) and what is now designed, you understand very quickly that "progress" is almost a euphimism. Current maps have almost nothing to do with their ancestors. I believe one of the great things is that the Q1 SP and DM scene has obviously managed to continiously "build" upon its previous experiences, by which I mean that the standard hasn't stopped raising and that the whole community just followed. I often picture mappers as architects who, with time, learn more and more neat tricks to make their buildings look better and share these tricks with others. You see, the funny thing is that the maps that are built right now could have been built years ago but that, somehow, it wasn't. Mappers needed time to see the limitations and fields to explore and also, I believe, the influence of newer games, in order to build the maps they are building now.

FrikaC: Now virtually anything goes. In the early days mappers stayed very close to the id maps and style. Most early maps were in the medieval theme and looked very...bland. There's been great progression in both skill and style. Customized QC has made some map packs almost partial conversions, fixing some of what I said above.

Shambler: 6. What would you personally like to see most in a Quake single player map?

CocoT: Good, impressive, gigantic architecture. However important the game-play and weapon/item/monster placement is to many, I don't enjoy a map if I don't say from time to time "wow" when I enter an area. I love places where you feel very small, in a quite open area, surrounded by huge blocks of very detailed architecture. I guess you could describe my taste in Quake maps as "baroque" : what matter are the effects, the insane proportions, the details that "overdo it". The more complex and fresh-looking, the better.

FrikaC: I love big epic boss fights, something Quake deprived me of. Oh sure, Shamblers and Vores make great opponents, but something is missing. Their deaths don't give you a sense of accomplishment. That big cinematic victory as the walls crumble and level clears. I really miss that when playing Quake SP maps.

Shambler: 7. What sort of Quake single player mapping do you think would be most beneficial for the Quake community in general?

CocoT: This is hard question. On the one hand, I think that mod-or- engine-based single-player mapping could give a very needed boost to the community, particularly the QuakeC one. On the other hand, I also think that, if we look at things as they are, we should admit that most people not directly involved in the making of mods, maps or engines, are more likely to download maps that do not require any "tweaking" to the original Quake. You know how people are. There are gamers out there that aren't Quake1 fanatics but who are ready to keep a Quake1 folder somewhere just to have a go at a map from time to time, but you shouldn't ask too much from them and ask them to install this or that engine and this or that mod just to play a map. So my answer would be : mod/engine-based mapping would be beneficial for the whole Quake1 community, "classic quake"-based mapping would be beneficial for the image of Quake1 in the whole gaming community. So it's up to the mappers to choose, really.

FrikaC: I think mappers need to socialize with mod makers more. I'd really like to see some of these magnificent quality maps in the various total conversions that are started. To be sure, maps are what make or break a conversion. A small taste of what can be done if we cooperate is Nehahra; a long story driven conversion and movie that has redefined the way we look at Quake. However most modders aren't willing to stay in mapping channels, get in the face of every mapper and force feed them their ideas as Mindcrime did. With the mapping crowd so skeptical and unnresponsive that's the only way to get a mapper on your team. I can't say I blame them though, the modders that do bother them on a day to day basis are total newbies and have probably ruined the reputation of the modding scene. Anyone who has been in modding Quake for any length of time will tell you that next to model artists, mappers are the second most rare resource. So, in summary, I think total conversion mapping is the most beneficial, since TCs bring every branch of the Quake community together.

Shambler: 8. What do you think the Q1 SP mapping scene could learn from the moding/coding scene, and vice versa?

CocoT: I think the QuakeC and engine-coding scene could bring a lot to the SP mappers who are willing to put aside their vision of Quake1 as a "pure", "classic" game that shouldn't be modified and who would be ready to try new things. I have this perfect vision of a group of QuakeC, engine coders and mappers getting together to create a highly- enhanced version of Quake1. You see, the idea would be to keep the Quake1 base totally untouched, but add a myriad of features that mappers could use in their levels. Not one or two features, but hundreds of them, all customizable to the mappers' need. This special modification would be able run regular SP maps withouth a glitch, but also all the other SP maps created with the new features in mind. That means that the purists could keep on using the regular monsters and entities, while others will be able to use new monsters, items, objects, effects ... etc. Of course, this should be done very seriously and the new features such as monsters should be very professional-looking and reminiscent of what ID "could "have done. Oh well ... one day, maybe ...

QuakeC coders could learn from the Q1 mapping scene, well ... to map. One of the most serious problems of the QuakeC scene today is that, while we are full of good ideas and release innovative mods, there are barely any good map that go with them, which mean they look way less attractive than they could have, had someone talented people designed maps for them. I have seen a very large number of very cool mods with crappy maps and I find it really, really sad. So either we should try to get more mappers involved in what we do, or learn from them what we can do to make our mod maps better.

FrikaC: From what little I've seen the mapping scene doesn't tolerate newbies too well. I can't say we treat them much better in the modding scene, but I do feel that as a group we give them more of a chance. I don't know, it seems that the single player mappers have been doing the same thing for so long they've become stuck in one train of thought. Modders, on the other hand, are opening up to new ideas every day. It's part of the definition of making mods: coming up with new innovative gameplay. On the reverse side I feel that modders have a less sense of community. We're terribly scattered, having a newbie contingent on PlanetQuake while the rest of the community posts away on Inside3D. It feels if the mapping community has more unity, I wish we could learn this from our mapping counterparts.

Shambler: 9. Where do you think the Q1 SP mapping scene will head to and achieve in the future? And how long do you think it can last?

CocoT: I've always been pretty confident about the future of Quake1 and so I'm also pretty confident about the way the Q1 SP mapping scene will develop. Every now and then, there are people poppping up complaining that Quake1 is dead or that it will die soon while, in facts, we see that it keeps on going. Of course we don't have the same player base as before, of course we don't have as many modders/mappers as before, but the people who stayed are real fans. I guess we should see a continuation of aesthetic research and complexity in the SP mapping scene. Mappers will probably keep on trying to simulate the nicest tricks of the latest engines into Quake1. So far, they have succeeded fairly well, particularly when they were coupled with custom-made Q1 engines. I believe that, when other games will come out (e.g. Doom3), new standards will be brought forth and that there will be people trying to see if these standards are implementable into ID's classsic shooter. Some might call it plagia, I think "emulation" is a better term.

FrikaC: I foresee a lot of changes with the advent of engine modifications. Some mappers have already begun releasing maps with external textures and colored lighting. As the capability of the engines improves, the visual quality of the maps will improve along with them. How long can it last? Indefinitely.

Shambler: 10. Any further comments?

CocoT: Nope ... except maybe I wish there would be more opportunities for mappers and coders to get together. QExpo is just a start (and I thank the many mappers who joined) and I hope our getting closer won't die away after it. I leave it up to all members of both communities to think up ways of achieving this ;-)

FrikaC: I have to point out that as an outsider to the SP mapping community my perceptions of it are based on the few end products I have seen, the interactions I've had and heard about and a rough survey of Qmap/Qboard over the years. Perhaps it's folly to pass any sort of judgement or opinion when so uninformed, but maybe my uninformed perceptions are as useful to the community as an informed one. What I have said and thought is probably not unique, and perhaps this mirror on the mapping community has given them a view of themselves they have never seen. Then again, maybe I'm just full of it, as usual.