#actionquake2

Gangsta. Action Quake 2 map. Released 2020.

A medium sized city map, part of Countryside/Backyard/Crossfire map series. 

Crossfire. Action Quake 2 map. Released 2019.

It’s an open fast-paced medium sized map featuring apartment blocks with a courtyard in the middle. Intended to be fun with all weapons, but favors the mid- and long range weapons a bit due to the long sight-lines. 

Callouts: park, yellow, dirt, garden, mid 📢

Third release in the countryside-backyard-crossfire-gangsta map series.

Backyard. Action Quake 2 map. Released 2019.

Abandoned storage buildings. Small and intense map, with a mix of indoor and outdoor action. Fun with all weapons. 

Callouts: concrete, dexter, electricity, office, parking lot, alley, storage, mid 📢 

Second release in the countryside-backyard-crossfire-gangsta map series. 

Working on this map was an interesting process. I had the first playable version of the map ready within a few days, but getting to the final version of the map was a year-long process of small adjustments to have it feel right; size of gameplay spaces, line of sights, ergonomics and flow. 🎮 

Countryside. Action Quake 2 map. Released 2017. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Abandoned buildings on the countryside. Fast and smooth map to navigate, fun with all weapons. 🎮 

Callouts: shed, space, tetris, garden, barn, garage, silos, mid. 📢 

First map out, in a series of maps (countryside, backyard, crossfire, gangsta) that takes place in the same area, each with its own unique theme. 

Terminal. Action Quake 2 map. Released in 2012.

Terminal is a medium sized map set in an airport terminal and is a remake of the classic map Airport. My least favorite map for Action Quake 2. Mainly because it’s so unfair for the average player; difficult to navigate, few routes, poor connectivity, sucky spawns and bad visuals. 

For Terminal, I made a LOT of changes. It’s more of a re-imagination than remake. Here are the changes: 

▪️ Removed toilet interiors  ▪️ Removed luggage storage interior ▪️ Removed generic mid-room interior ▪️ Improved connectivity; more routes and better flow   ▪️ Added jumps ▪️ Overall theme and themed areas  ▪️ New custom textures

Take Me Back (aq2ctf3). Action Quake 2 capture the flag map. Released in 2006. 

This map was part of a mod project for Action Quake 2 (which in itself is a mod) that never saw the light of day; Action Quake 2 Capture The Flag. So the release date for this map is just the last time that I worked on it. 

Take Me Back (aq2ctf3) is a small city map at night. Many different paths. Mirrored layout with red and blue colors in the environment for the different sides. 

Things that I would tweak, if the project would have continued..  Size of the map, stretch it out making it longer to traverse. Double the width for the sidewalks. Have 2 roads instead of 1 in the middle, with a divider between them. On the divider there would be pillars that support train tracks that run parallel to the roads. There would be a train station in the middle of the map. On the train station there are 2 trains parked on either side. The player can navigate through their interior to the opposite station platform or jump up on the train roofs. I would change geometry on one side of the map to disguise the mirrored layout. 

Trivia 

I made 2 maps for this cancelled mod project; Rebirth (aq2ctf1) and Take Me Back (aq2ctf3).

The name, Take Me Back, is a track title from the Belgian dance music act Sylver. 

There is a squeaking wooden board in the apartment interior. Jump over it, to avoid triggering the sound. 

The ventilation shafts on the rooftops function as jump pads. WeeEEeeeeee!! 

Rebirth (aq2ctf1). Action Quake 2 Capture The Flag map. Released in 2006.

This map was part of a mod project for Action Quake 2 (which in itself already is a mod) that never saw the light of day; Action Quake 2 Capture The Flag. So the release date for this map is just the last time that I edited the map. I decided to release it, despite the project being cancelled. I thought it would be too sad not to.. and I already had hundreds of unfinished maps. 

Rebirth is a small map set high up in the mountains. It has mirrored layout with red and blue colors in the environment to communicate the different sides. And it's a void map; if you fall off map you die, so be careful! 

There are a lot of different paths to choose from when moving towards enemy territory. Too many for its' size and they are not well balanced in length. Something that I would tweak, if the project would have continued, is the size of the map. I would stretch it out, making it longer traverse. I would also balance the distances of the different routes. And lastly I would still have a mirrored layout, but change the objects on one side so the mirrored effect is disguised. 

Trivia 

I made 2 maps for this cancelled mod project; Rebirth (aq2ctf1) and Take Me Back (aq2ctf3). Take Me Back, is a track title from the Belgian dance music act Sylver. 

The lower cave path is by far the quickest way to get to the other side. It features a teleporter (with no teleportation sound effect). 

There is a visual error in the map. If you look from a certain angle, standing on a specific spot, geometry disappears and you experience a design term that is called Hall Of Mirrors (HOM). Because when you see it, it looks just like that; a hall of mirrors. An endless hallway. Portals. 

If you throw a knife on the windmill wing, it stops rotating until the knife is removed from it. 

There is a well. The player can fall into it and die. 

Lava in this map doesn't hurt the player, it's just there for color-coding the red team’s side. Water is on the blue team’s side. 

In the main cave, in the middle of the map, the player can get stuck in a wedge. A classic Quake 2 physics issue. If you get really stuck in such a wedge you eventually die from physics code.