Quake 30th Anniversary Jam

[Sprony]

For the first time in Map-Center’s young existence we get to celebrate a major anniversary for Quake. We love doing our Retro, Traps and Xmas jams for the game, but this one is of course extra special. We’ve decided to not only pay tribute to the original game, but also honour people like Fingers, Kell and Metslime who were instrumental in the early days of Quake modding. That means you can use the IKBLUE, IKBASE, Knave and Rubicon texture wads for this event. We’ve also come up with some very specific guidelines to ensure this event stays true to the original game so please take note of that. Now, let’s celebrate 30 years of Quake together!

Aesthetics: Build a map that still looks and feels like Quake, but without the hardware restrictions of the time. Only use the textures we provided (vanilla + SOA | DOE), IKBLUE, IKBASE, Rubicon and Knave) and push those details to the max. You can use advanced compiling parameters, lit water, colored lights, fog, etc. Show them what 30 years of community improvements can do!

Progs: id1 (vanilla quake)

Music: No custom sound effects or music this time, but feel free to add a track number to your worldspawn by setting the sounds key to a number between 5 and 11.

Design: Make a map that honors the gameplay of the original. That means no slaughter and wave-based arena maps. Quake wasn’t about fighting hordes of enemies. Focus on smaller combat spaces with a few strategically placed monsters and with a heavy emphasis on verticality. Make it more about the journey of navigating and surviving these abstract places and Eldritch horrors from another dimension.

Specifics: No ports, remakes or retextured maps. It must be a brand-new or yet unreleased submission. Map name format: mc_q30th_mappername. The trigger_changelevel entity should point to "start". Maps should be compatible with Quakespasm AND Quake Remastered (KEX) engines. No huge maps that take hours to finish. Maximum length should be 15 to 20 minutes and no more. Also, no skymaps or custom models. Make sure to include 3 info_player_coop and some info_player_deathmatch entities. Please consider adjusting gameplay for different skill levels via spawnflags. Remember to test the map with "developer 1" active to catch all map errors.

Starts Friday February 27th and ends Sunday March 29th, followed by a public playtesting period. You must give yourself the Jamming role if you're participating (see rules channel). Submit your map by making a post in the playtesting-forum and pinging me (Sprony) and the "playtester" role. Must include your .map, .bsp, a .txt readme. Also, when submitting, please mention the theme, average playtime and targeted difficulty (easy, medium, hard, nightmare) of your map in the playtest post (see the FAQ for more details).​

 

[Sprony]

Quake Anniversary Jam FAQ

What if I use textures other than the ones provided?

We’re trying to pay tribute to a certain time period in Quake modding and we want to stay true to the aesthetic of that era. If you missed this requirement you will be asked to either adjust your map or go for a solo release instead.

What happens if my map doesn’t meet the design requirements?

This event is all about making a map that honors the gameplay of the original. If you choose to ignore this and for instance still opt to make a slaughter or wave-based arena map that takes an hour to finish it will not be included.

Can I use one of my earlier releases for this jam?

You’re not going to half-ass a tribute to the game you’re still playing 3 decades later. That’s why we specifically say no ports, remakes or retextured maps. We’re not in it for the numbers, therefore it must be a brand-new or yet unreleased submission.

Can I use the playtesting period to finish my map if I didn’t make the deadline?

No, you can’t. We’ve been lenient during previous jams but it’s reached a point that it has become susceptible to possible abuse. Your map should be done by the deadline and playtesting should be used for polish and improvements, not to finish building the map. We’ve always been focused on playtesting, but especially for an event as important as this one we want quality over quantity, which is also the reason why this event runs longer than usual.

Why do I need to mention the theme, average playtime and targeted difficulty?

We want to try something for the final release and it would save us a lot of time if we don’t have to extract that information ourselves. Base, Medieval, Runic, and Common are the four main level themes in Quake. Wizard, Terracotta, and Elder World are the subtypes of Medieval. The additional texture wads that we’ve provided (SOA | DOE, IKBLUE, IKBASE, Rubicon and Knave) are complimentary to these four main level themes. Average playtime is what you’ve clocked during playtesting and targeted difficulty is of course subjective, but should indicate what you’re aiming for regardless of the player’s chosen difficulty level.

 

[Sprony]

It was brought to my attention that I forgot to add the required wads. My bad, I've added them to this post. Also, if you plan on participating through the website, please leave a comment here so we can take that into account for the (potential) number of portals in the hub. Thank you!

After Alexunder collected all the necessary wads, Xage combined them into one and also a added a separate wad with editor only textures. Please note again, these are the only textures you're allowed to use for this event.