PC/CD Gamer UK 41/PCGAMER41.bin/walkthru/quake.txt

Text File | 1997-01-28 | 19KB | 309 lines

Quake Shareware - Playing Guide

Quake, probably more than any other action-based PC game, requests and
requires you to discover its hidden secrets. While itÆs possible to explore a fair
way into the shareware game without collecting the Quad Damages, extra health
and super nailgun ammo, your task will be a damn site easier if you do. Taking on
two fiends with a shotgun may be gallant but is not an exercise that will cement
relationships with your life insurance salesman.
The snag is that QuakeÆs true-3D environment makes locating the entrances,
switches and triggers to the booty substantially harder than, say, Doom. Rather
than simply running along the walls belting the spacebar, youÆll have to spend a
while looking up into the rafters, peering down into the gloom and sometimes just
standing still in the right place to find some of the hidden areas.
All told, the shareware game contains a total of 24 secret areas. The lack of a map
(grr) makes it much harder to pinpoint many of their positions. The best tactic is
to follow the instructions until youÆre roughly in the correct area and have a look
around for yourself. WeÆve kindly marked them on their usefulness. The asterisks
indicate two factors - the value of the hidden reward and the risk/time involved in
obtaining it. For example, although there may be a brilliant 100 health bonus, if
you have to leap over a deep lava pit in an exposed position itÆs not really worth
the effort. Anything marked with three asterisks is well work collecting at some
point.

Level 1, Difficulty
Select Level
The first levelÆs a very clever idea that owes a lot to RavenÆs hub-based design
that we saw in Hexen.
1) Finding the Nightmare Level of difficulty is not so important for the shareware
version. But when the entire game arrives, playing on the hardest setting will be
the only way to access all the maps in single-player mode. To discover it, move
through any of the three entrance halls and proceed to the pool, which you can
drop clean through. Walk into it slowly, and hold the move backwards key as you
fall through. If you do it right, youÆll land on a high narrow beam that leads off to
the left. Follow it to reach the Nightmare Level.
2) Just before you enter the Nightmare difficulty slipgate, shoot the switch on the
wall. This opens up a secret level later in the game.

Level 1, Map 1
The Slipgate Complex
This level eases you into the action proper and shows what to look for as you
tackle the later maps.
1) There are more secrets on this level than any other, and although they start easy
it doesnÆt stay that way for long. Move forward and look at the flashing alcove.
Shoot the small wall at its end to open up a small compartment. **
2) Jump over the right of the first bridge you arrive at. Proceed down the tunnel
and walk up the steps to register the secret before carrying on down the tunnel and
using the lift at the end. Not exactly hard but worth having. ***
3) Past the bridge and through the door at the end. Turn right, move round the
pillar and shoot the globe screen halfway up it. Hop on the platform behind you,
move around the ledge and shoot the second globe to reveal Quad Damage. You
can shoot the next wall as well if you want. ***
4) Return to the start of (3). Turn left this time, raise the platform over the slime
and turn left. Shoot the red target in the wall to your left, turn around and collect
the shotgun from the new alcove. **
5) Find the walkway that descends down and to the left through the door beyond
(4). On the corner of one of the turns (hit all the switches, by the way) thereÆs a
light, a section of the wall that is higher, and a button. Jump onto the low wall,
move round, and make your way to the high wall. Look round and jump to the
low ledge thatÆs jutting out of the wall ahead. Now move to the next, and then the
area with the 100 health. *
6) Your first swim. Grab the biosuit (for slime protection) from the door to the
right of the bottom of the walkway behind the pillar. Jump into the muck and
move forward through the opening and onwards. When the tunnel opens up, look
upwards and pop through the hole in the roof. Collect the goodies and slipgate
out. **

Level 1, Map 2
Castle of the Damned
WeÆve all voted this one as the best conventional Deathmatch arena. The
combination of open areas, traps, water, weapons and turning-the-corner action
makes it vee spesh.
1) Walk off the bridge past the stairs to the right. Shoot the greeny wall there, wait
for it to open, enter and proceed until you reach the stairs. You can also arrive
here by jumping off the bridge with the big red rune over it and climbing the ramp
in the room through the arch. **
2) Find the bridge with the green armour to the right and the double-barrelled
shotgun to the left. Jump off and move through the door under the shotgun. Take
the first right and follow the platform thatÆs above you all the way. When you
reach the pool, shoot the symbol high up on the wall and move up the ramp. The
symbol lowers some armour above you which you can collect later. Move through
the slipgate and collect the armour. **
3) Turn right after crossing the bridge with the red symbol. Climb the stairs to the
left and move behind the middle column thatÆs on your left. Look down and push
the block there. Collect the Quad Damage from the area to your right.

Level 1, Map 3
The Necropolis
The spoon feedingÆs over and the convoluted level design begins. Tough enemies
too.
1) LetÆs take it from the top. Move forward, and kill the Ogre behind the bars
(plus his mates of course). Splat the Zombies with grenades. Move down the steps
until you reach a bridge. Drop off to the left and turn left. Shoot the alcove and
collect the rockets and health. **
2) Return to the bridge (1) but cross it, carry on and collect the gold key. At one
oÆclock thereÆs a slightly grungier area of the wall. Walk up to it and stand still. If
youÆre in the right place, youÆll sink down and be able to move forward and
collect the Ring of Shadows. * (** Deathmatch)
3) From where the Ogre behind the bars is, take the door. Follow the passage,
open the gold door, carry on, fall down the opening by the block trap and locate
the up ramp in the tunnels beneath. Climb the wall using the small ledges to where
the Ogre was. Hit the switch, jump off, go through the doors and kill the Ogres on
the high platforms to release bars blocking the yellow armour. Enter the new
slipgate. **

Level 1, Map 4
The Grisly Grotto
Another good level and the first to introduce the real possibility of drowning.
Remember that some of the most satisfying kills can occur underwater.
1) Hop through the hatch and shoot the symbols high on the wall above the spiral
staircase to release the armour. You should have spotted these for yourself. ***
2) Jump into the deep lake and locate the stash of rockets in the small passage
halfway down the right-hand wall. Surprisingly irritating to find and takes you
away from the action for too long. *
3) This oneÆs well worth doing as it unlocks the brilliant secret level. Into the
deep lake again. Swim under the pier lengthways, under the wall at the end and
surface. There should be a big open area with doors. Enter and locate the mass of
blue slime (not the puddle) with the bridge over it and the platform at the end.
Rise up on the platform, step on the five plates. Enter both new doors (careful)
and hit the switches in both new alcoves. A cave has opened up on the lake now.
Return, find the bright opening and swim on in. Enter the slipgate to reach the
Ziggurat Vertigo. ***

Level 1, Map 5
Gloom Keep
An experiment that no-one here seems particularly keen on. Loads of traps and
secrets.
1) Hop right into the water and locate the upwards opening to the 100 health
points. ***
2) Cross the start bridge and take a right to the portcullis. Find the stained glass
window and leap across to the wall to your left as you enter. Run and jump onto
the far raised area to find the easiest æsecretÆ ever. **
3) YouÆre at the start. Straight on and through to the Y-shaped raised-floor room.
Take the right fork, enter the large room you come across and move to the
exposed column with a torch on it. Jump when under the torch and enter the
alcove behind. **
4) Return to the large room (3), move forward and left, and go up the stairs. Up
the next stairs to the room with a slipgate at the end. Enter it from behind and
collect the Quad Damage from the far left of the area you are now on. ***
5) There is a deep hole leading to the exit slipgate. Fall down it, turn around and
shoot the wall. Collect the armour and enter the slipgate. **

Level 1, Map 6
The Door to Chthon
Life starts to become decidedly tricky here, both in terms of the creatures you face
and the inaccessibility of the secrets.
1) Jump down from where you start and move down the corridor to your left to
the pattern over the lava. Forward and to your right, enter the room and look up.
Shoot the symbol on the left wall, enter the new door ahead and clamber along the
air conditioning units. If you look down, you can drop onto the ceiling of the
room you were just in and collect the Quad Damage. ***
2) Return to the lava under the floor and take a left. Push the Quake symbol plate,
fall into the pit thatÆs just opened, drop down the new stairs and walk to the end of
the passage. Look at the spikes, enter, kill the Ogres and escape at the other end
(bars will block your original entrance) as the spikes will now be moving toward
you in a youÆre-gonna-be-mushed way. Return to the area, trigger the spikes
again, step back (no bars this time), wait for the spikes to pass and step behind
them to collect the gear. **
3) Once you have the silver key, the dark room below the start will be lit. Cross
the pit and enter the passage. At the end turn left and locate the pillar with the
switch in it. Hit the switch, move round the column and shoot the new red symbol.
Turn round and youÆll be able to use the new stairs to get some rockets. **
4) Stay where you were for (3) until the stairs rise again. Enter the slipgate down
the new stairs and collect the health on the ledge near where you emerge.

Level 1, Map 7
The House of Chthon
id Software clearly felt that Chthon himself provided enough excitement for this
level. Use the floor switches to frazzle him in case you hadnÆt guessed. There are
no secrets.

Level 1, Map 8
Ziggurat Vertigo
We could try to describe a 16-player Deathmatch in this low-gravity level, but
you really have to be there. Fantastic idea and implementation.
1) Collect the Pentagram of Protection from in front of where you start and dive
into the lava by the bridge. Swim beneath the bridge away from the ziggurat and
you will emerge in a small room. Be grateful for invincibility and step back with a
mission. ***
2) Behind the silver key door head forward and left and shoot the dark wall. If
youÆve just been fighting, this may trigger it. Easy end. **


Console yourself
Only wimps use QuakeÆs menus. The real hard nuts customise every last detail
through the use of the console and its closely related config file. The console is
accessed by pressing the ` key (top left of the keyboard) or selecting Console from
the menu (although, as weÆve already explained, menu use costs lives).
This text-based control system works by accepting a multitude of commands that
express their gratitude in being employed by altering certain details and often
giving you a distinctly unfair advantage over Quake beasts or multi-player
enemies.
Extremely lazy consolites donÆt bother to even type these things more than once,
including a list of commands in a config file, saving it in the æid1Æ sub-directory
within the main Quake directory and running it by typing either æexec
filename.cfgÆ in the console, or running Quake by adding æ+exec file.cfgÆ to the
command line.  To use some of the extra features, press:

æmÆ to fire a quick missile. No matter what weapon you have selected, a rocket
will stream from your launcher, and then return you to your other weapon of
choice.
æ[æ to zoom in on what you are staring at. A cool way of sniping your opponents.
Press ╘]Æ to zoom back out again.
æQÆ to æPÆ to select tracks 1 to 10 of your audio CD. Watch out for track one if
you put a data CD in.
æ9Æ to play the previous CD track.
æ0Æ to play the next track. This assumes you have 16 tracks on the CD. If you have
more, you wonÆt be able to get at them, and if you have less, the extra tracks will
be very quiet indeed.
The config file also sets up your name and some running speeds. Express your
identity by altering the file in a chosen text editor or word processor.


You cheat
Here is a complete reminder of the cheats, all of which are typed at
the console.

GOD - Invincibility, which can be toggled on or off.
FLY - Suddenly gravity doesnÆt seem quite so essential. Use whatever keys you
defined to move up and down.
GIVE S x - Gives you x number of shells.
GIVE N x - And this does the same with the nails.
GIVE R x - Same again for the rockets.
GIVE C x - You must be getting the hang of it by now. Cells.
GIVE H x - This, though, gives you x health points.
GIVE x - And this is totally different. Gives you weapon number x.
IMPULSE 9 - Shortcut to getting all the weapons and loads of ammo.
IMPULSE 255 - Gives you the supremely marvellous Quad Damage.
NOCLIP - So that you can walk through walls. Use with FLY to stop you
dropping through.
NOTARGET - Stops the monsters from attacking you unless you start shooting at
them.
REGISTERED 1 - Makes Quake think youÆve got a registered copy. YouÆll be
able to get past the barriers, but walking into the slipgates crashes the game.


Ten useful suggestions
1) If youÆre playing Deathmatch Quake, keep moving at all times. No matter how
safe you might feel, chances are that you can be seen and killed from somewhere
else on the level.
2) If you collect the Quad Damage power-up, donÆt select the rocket or grenade
launchers. Fire at someone from close quarters and youÆll do yourself four times
the damage. If possible, select the double-barrelled shotgun or super nailgun, and
only switch to the explosives when you know itÆs safe.
3) If you need to access a platform thatÆs just out of jumping reach, employ this
crafty tactic at the expense of some health. Face away from the platform, look
down at the floor, and as you press the jump key, fire a rocket into the ground.
The explosion gives you that little extra lift. If you fancy being really clever, write
a console alias to do it all for you.
4) If youÆre low on ammo or just donÆt fancy your chances with a multitude of
grisly beings, poke your head around the corner to attract their attention, and then
run and hide, letting the civil war take place without you. Return within 30
seconds and, all being well, one half of the army will have wiped out the others in
a friendly fire incident.
5) Practise endlessly until you master the art of looking around while running. If
you find yourself one finger short, enable the continuous run option or weigh the
relevant key down with a book.
6) Annoy anyone with a grenade launcher by running around them and then
legging it. They wonÆt be able to follow without triggering their own ring of
explosives.
7) If you use a teleporter in a particularly busy Deathmatch session, make sure
you run away before someone follows you through and telefrags you. Similarly,
follow your enemies through the teleport for the easiest kill ever.
8) If you find that you keep killing yourself with your own rockets or grenades,
turn on team mode from the Deathmatch menu. YouÆll still lose armour, but your
health will never be reduced by your own hand.
9) If you are frustrated on a particular Deathmatch level, or are amazed that
youÆre currently in the lead and donÆt expect it to last, rush towards the exit and
ruin everyone elseÆs game by moving onto the next one. This works particularly
well if you have all the good weapons and your opponents donÆt.
10) DonÆt be one of those people who hides in dark corners and picks players off.
No-one will like you, and you will achieve nothing but a hollow victory.


Weapons of destruction
Pick the right tool for the job, or waste ammo - the choice is yours.
Axe - Suitably Gothic, and there if you want a challenge. If youÆre running low on
ammo, the axe kills the Rotweiler and Grunt in two swipes, but donÆt even think
about using it on an Ogre, unless you enjoy being hacked by a chainsaw.
Shotgun - Far weedier than you might hope, the shotgun is hopelessly under-
powered, particularly at long range. ItÆs not as accurate (or forgiving) as it was in
the test version, either.
Double-barrelled shotgun - More than twice the power of the shotgun at close
range, this is arguably the most powerful weapon at close quarters, although slow
reloading times keep you on your toes. Highly inaccurate at long range, this is the
weapon to choose if you enjoy running at your opponent.
Nailgun - Satisfyingly rat-a-tat-tat, the nailgun is only useful until you find its big
brother, or if youÆre running a bit low on flechettes. Great for strafing past a line
of Ogres.
Super nailgun - A superbly versatile weapon and particularly useful against the
fearsome Shambler, the super nailgun gets through your ammo in no time.
Combine it with Quad Damage and you could count the bodies on the fingers of a
lot of hands. Also useful for preventing Ogres lobbing grenades as they suffer
from the recoil of 100 nails.
Grenade launcher - Certainly the most entertaining and flexible weapon, the
grenade launcher is particularly useful in furious Deathmatches. Encourage
someone to chase you down a corridor and then lob a grenade at the wall in front
as you turn the corner. Laugh as your hunter runs straight into it. Also useful over
holes and for clearing out monsters around corners, or destroying a task force of
Zombies - see the first Quake demo.
Rocket launcher - Deathmatches frequently degenerate into a rocket blastathon. If
you havenÆt had a good 16-player session in the Ziggurat Vertigo, witnessing
players blown from one side of the room to the other, you havenÆt lived. Not so
useful at close range, though, but extremely dangerous if youÆve got Quad
Damage. Watch out for the Shambler, who barely notices a rocket in his face.
Thunderbolt - Only accessible in the shareware version if you use the IMPULSE
9 cheat, the thunderbolt is a powerful beam weapon that is capable of taking care
of everything, including you if you decide to discharge it into the water,
whereupon it acts as a smart bomb.