September 1997
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Title                   : The Push
File name               : push.zip
Author                  : Noah Grey
E-mail Address          : nst@netxpress.com
Homepage                : http://www.netxpress.com/~nst/noah/

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-* Play Information *-

Single Player           : No
Cooperative             : No
Deathmatch              : Yes (32 starts)
New Sounds              : No
New Graphics            : Yes (two original textures)
CD Track Played         : 8
GLQuake Optimized       : Yes

================================================================

-* Construction *-

Base                    : Created completely from scratch
Editor(s) used          : Worldcraft 1.5 shareware
Build Time              : About two weeks
QBSP / Light / VIS Time : 4:21 WQBSP, 4:28 light -extra,
                          31:43 RVIS -level 4
Brushes, etc.           : 1039 brushes, 151 entities,
                          173 average leafs visible
Known Bugs		: Standard (non-GL) Quake exhibits some
                          greyflash in a few areas, though the
                          biggest problem is the spikes in the
                          "eyes room" flickering in and out of
                          view while dropped.  Neither problem
                          occurs while playing in GLQuake; this
                          level was pretty much designed "for"
                          GLQuake, in fact.

================================================================

-* Instructions *-

Assuming you already know about setting up and playing a
multiplayer game, just make a MAPS subdirectory in your
QUAKE\ID1\ directory and drop push.bsp there.

Incidentally, I made this primarily for myself to play with
reaper bots; I don't have any quake-playing friends to provide
feedback, so if this level runs slowly over the Net, my
apologies.  :)

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-* Description *-

Tunnels, lava, more tunnels, spikes, teleporters, yet more
tunnels, "pushers", switchable crossways, metal/medieval
mishmash, and -- lest I forget to mention -- tunnels.

This is my first "real" Quake level (I made a sad, small single-
player level before this, but decided it wasn't good enough to
distribute, so consider this my first).  Needless to say, I'd
be very glad to hear what you think of my fledgling effort; I
know it's far from great, but if you did manage to get one
moment's enjoyment out of it, I'd love to know.  :)  Feel free
to write to me and/or visit my page (links listed above) to
share your thoughts, and be assured of a friendly and listening
ear.

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-* The Story *-

(What, a story for a deathmatch level? I know, I know -- but it
almost begs to be made sense of *somehow*, don't ya think?) ;)

---------------

It is said he was a wise and kindhearted, though mysterious,
man; a recluse, rarely seen outside the gates of his castle.
And it is said the castle was once, indeed, a beautiful and
remarkable place: built of a rare blue stone, dazzling bright
decorations along every wall and in every corner.

As the years passed, the townspeople whispered rumours of his
increasing dealings in unholy magick.  Some reported visions of
otherworldly beings swirling around the castle; even the very
sky above their heads seemed to absorb the death and corruption,
turning a shade of purple unlike anything anyone had ever seen.
It is said that as his power grew, so did the silent terror he
struck in the hearts of those that lived in his castle's shadow.
Even after the castle, by some new and unknown magick, became
sealed from within, the gates and windows becoming solid brick.
Never was he seen again by mortal eyes, and in time he merely
became something of a myth; mothers passed along his name to
their children as the bogeyman, the monster under the bed.

And then the disappearances began.

The disappearances were seemingly random; one by one, men and
women would simply vanish, leaving no trace of their physical
selves.  Their fate is unknown, but there are the visions, the
rumours, the recurring dreams, the ravings of madmen, to shape
our imaginations...

It is said he lives on, though not as a man.  It is said he gave
his soul to a god known only as Quake -- a god that offered him
greater power in the dark arts, and warped and corrupted him
beyond anything mortals can comprehend.  It is said the castle
bears little if any resemblance to its former self; the main
halls, sealed off forever from the outside world, stripped bare
of their cheerful decor, became a dark maze of tunnels.  A dark
chamber opened up beneath the earth, directly beneath the
castle; for what purpose, no one can say.  It is said the main
chamber, once so glorious, now bears only the foreboding image
of his eyes on every wall -- are they his eyes, or the eyes of
Quake himself? -- and the seal, stamped into the floor, of the
dark god to which he gave his life.  Is it from there that he
weaves his terror even now?

And then there are the traps, the devices that -- it is said --
were built to offer souls in sacrifice to Quake.  A grand
torture/sacrificial arena was built inside the castle, of which
no details are known, save for a recurring image of a bloodied,
beaten face sliding in and out of the darkness.

It is said people are thrown into this dark, twisted place for
a kind of amusement -- like lab rats, doomed to madness in their
supernatural prison.  And they do go mad, one by one; that much
we can assume.

There is no escape -- there is only the darkness, the sight and
stench of death, the mad devices and the mad screams and
struggles of the mad souls, those who will get no closer to
peace than to join in the oblivion that belongs to he who made
this place.

It is said you are next, and it is certain you too shall go mad.

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= Copyright (c)1997 Noah Grey, all rights reserved, etc., etc. =
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