===================================================================
Filename of this text file:
'AAK_WAQ.TXT' (PC)
'AAK_WAQ Readme & Help' (Mac/Unix)
This file must be distributed with 'AAK_WAQ.WAD'.
===================================================================
Name: AAK_WAQ.WAD [WAQ.WAD]
Author: Andrew Kingdom
Type: Doom2.WAD (PWAD)
Use: Single player, Multi-player and Deathmatch.
Patches: MAP01
Construction: Built over 3 months (including research).
Description: A challenging level covering a large area. Lots of monsters, weapons
and powerups. Excellent views. Several puzzles. Fairly consistant and
good quality. Meals provided.
Version: 1.0 (release)
Date: 20 June 1996 (released)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings fellow Doomster,
I wasn't actually going to release this wad as it's only my second, but several
people convinced me it was good enough to release (and indeed, threatened to do nasty
things if I didn't).
Many hours of research, subject testing, tea drinking and hair tearing went into its
making. Your mission (should you decide to accept it) is to play and complete the
level.
Quickstart
----------
If you're wanting to jump straight into the level, I suggest the following skill levels:
* I'm too young to die -- exploration (with no virtually no monsters).
* Hey, not too rough -- ditto.
* Hurt me plenty -- if you're a good player
* Ultra violence -- for the 'Mr Doom' or Deathmatch.
* Nightmare -- for those with cheats up to their eyeballs.
Basic instructions:
The WAD should already be in the same folder/directory as DOOM2.
On a Macintosh, drag 'AAK_WAQ.WAD' onto your DOOM2 application icon.
On a PC, type 'DOOM2 -file AAK_WAQ.WAD'
Names and Places
----------------
* the Abandoned temple: A rather creepy place. Wonder what that voice-over means?
* the Ammo-dump: Massively up-lifting. Beware of Geeks bareing gifts.
* the Balcony: A long balcony with bars to protect you from falling. Off the octagonal
room.
* the Ballroom: A large room with a parquetry floor. I guess it's late, everyone seems
to have left.
* the Battlements: Don't fall off the castle wall (during the battle, I meant).
* the Bedroom: (Off the tech-room) Looks like an all-knight party.
* the Bell-tower: A very tall tower. Hmmm. That's an odd looking bell hanging there.
* Crate room: A crate-filled room (or are they brown paper packages tied up with string?)
containing a few of your favorite things.
* the Cyber-Demon room: Is that a rocket-launcher in your pocket, or are you guys
just pleased to see me?
* the Desert: Surrounded by abandoned apartments, there's a rather noxious crevasse
amongst them trees. Looks like some-body's already discovered the spikes at the bottom.
* the Dungeon: Join the SS picnic, but mind the gutters. 'Roll out the barrel...'
* the Kitchen: A room with moving 'shutters'. Don't stay for lunch, you're on the menu.
* the Labrynth: A con-Crete maze? Don't wake the 'Minotaur'.
* the Lava-pit: A large pit of lava. Careful or you'll really be in the hot-seat.
* the Long-run: It's a long way out.
* the Main Hall: A large dining hall complete with fireplace.
* the Maze: You are in a maze of twisted little passages, all alike. (the only way
out of the dungeon).
* the Octagonal room: Where all roads lead to, when you roam.
* Outside: A place with grass and a 'moat' filled with I-don't-want-to-know-what.
* the Secret-passage: Out of the frying-pan into the fire.
* the Slime Gate: the entrance to the Desert (from the balcony) or a real pain if
you're outside.
* the Spitter room: a room with imps in it, below the switchboard and balcony.
* the Switchboard: Press the wrong switch and you won't be bored.
* Supply room: Any small room containing goodies.
* the Tech.-Room: A high-tech. room looking down on the entrance to the main hall.
* the Toilets: Where you go for relief and privacy.
* the Torture chamber: I can't see the wood for the corpses. (off the dungeon)
* the Upper-Hall: large re-creational area complete with diamond-shaped swimming pool.
Frequently Asked Questions
--------------------------
Q: What do I have to do to finish the level?
A: Find a head on a stick and shoot him. He's in a room at the end of a long lava
filled passage.
Q: How can I tell which floors will hurt me?
A: Lava floors will, the outside 'moat' does, the 'moat'/gutter in the dungeon does,
the fireplace does, and that's about it.
Q: Is there a backpack?
A: Yes, It's in a nasty little red cupboard, in the Spitter room.
Q: Is there a BFG?
A: Yes, It's in the labyrynth.
Q: Why do the keys dissapear when I try a different skill level?
A: The keys still exist -- they've just been moved to correspond with the difficulty
of the skill level.
Q: Why am I stuck and can't move?
A: Probably you're leaning against a 'sticky' wall -- a wall that's not smooth because
it's at an angle. Try moving away from the wall. There may be one or two areas I've
missed where you can REALLY get stuck (usually in a 'v' shape). Please let me know
if this happens. NB: I am not talking about a room you are stuck in, such as the entrance
to the labyrynth (press that button!).
Q: Which switch on the switchboard does what?
A: That's a job for you. If you wish, print this text file out and fill in the following
gaps. (Do not save them in the text file itself).
Switches, from left to right.
Switch 1: _________________________________________________________
Switch 2: _________________________________________________________
Switch 3: _________________________________________________________
Switch 4: _________________________________________________________
(Gap): Leads to spitter room.
Switch 5: _________________________________________________________
Switch 6: _________________________________________________________
Q: How do I get out of the lava pit?
A: There's a column in the centre housing two switches. One of those will lower a
(rather large) lift.
Q: How do I get into the abandoned temple area?
A: There is a passage to the south (lower end) of the outside wall to the west (to
the left of the map). This is opened by a lion's head button in a tiny room somewhere.
Q: How do I get into the belltower?
A: There's a switch somewhere in the toilets which lowers a lift...
Q: How do I get out of the Ballroom?
A: There's an entrance to the Maze in the south-west corner, or there's a large(ish)
lift in the far north-east corner.
Q: What does 'flushing' the urinal/trough toilet do?
A: Opens the door behind you, and another door (if you run through, turn right and
go straight ahead. Have a chaingun ready!)
Q: How do I get back out of the Labyrinth?
A: Bad news! I get lost in there myself. I suggest that you look at your map as you're
going in, to get a general idea of where the entrance is. There is a light amplification
visor somewhere in there, but I find this makes things worse.
Q: How do I get to the Old Hall?
A: There's a lift in a passage beside the lava pit.
Q: How do I re-open one of the Toilet doors?
A: You don't. It will open again in 30 seconds or so.
Q: How do I get out of the crate room?
A: Any of the skinny crates will lower when you 'activate/press' them.
Q: How do I get into the central 'servery' in the Kitchen?
A: Outside the end toilet is a passageway.
Q: How do I get onto the main battlements?
A: Jump onto a particular crate in the crate room.
Deathmatch
----------
This wad was designed particularly with a deathmatch in mind. I Suggest that you play
at skill level 'Ultra Violence' with monsters ON, and respawning weapons, the objective
being to clear the level of monsters. I've been careful to ensure that virtually
all rooms have more than one entrance, so no one can 'sit on' weapons or guard a particular
room. The one exception to this is the ammo dump, but that's a risk you'll have to
take. NB: Energy weapons (ie: BFG,etc.) are rather useless in the lift to the ammo dump
because by the time the shot reaches the other player, the lift has long left
that position behind. A direct weapon (eg: shotgun) has better results.
This may be a problem if you are on a slow network, or are running slow machines.
This is mainly due to the 500+ sprites/things used. Either play with different options,
or make your first objective to clear out areas with large numbers of monsters (this
REALLY speeds things up).
HELP
----
Only read this if you're REALLY stuck.
Help is placed at the end of the file for your protection.
The Author's Ramblings
----------------------
Well, I hope you have fun / had fun playing my wad. It's really not such a nasty place
after all. *grin*
Just though I'd mention that there are several 'easter eggs' included in the level,
some which are very handy for death-matches.
Things I would like to add to the wad (but I don't have or don't have the program
for):
* A BELL for the bell tower (funny about that), especially if I can have it ring (and
sound) when you enter the room.
* Patching several sounds I have in mind.
* Adding a blue (ie: not coal-brown) sky.
* Adding custom monsters. Eg: swamp monster for the moat, a large dragon, and some
kind of flying dinosaur such as a pterodactyl.
* Adding a title page and introductory text.
* Adding conclusion text and ending the game after the first level. (I suspect this
is in the application/executable, not in the WAD).
I'm having a small break from wadding to collect ideas for a new wad. I understand
that HEXEN is now available for Macintosh. Maybe someone has a spare original copy
lying around they could send me. *wide grin*
If you have any queries, ideas, or suggestions (or you've managed to finish the level
without cheats), I'd love to hear from you.
Please, If you are contacting me with a query, make sure you've read ALL this documentation.
Probably the answer is included, and 90% of enquiries I get are from people who didn't
read the documentation. Not that I mind, but it wastes your time, wastes my time.
I can be contacted at the following addresses (20 Jun 1996):
agk@bbs.ausom.net.au
Andrew Kingdom
PO Box 1088
Mountain Gate, VIC, AUSTRALIA, 3156
The Fine Print
--------------
You are encouraged to distribute this wad to anyone and everyone. I do, however, ask
that you respect several things:
This text file must be distributed with the wad.
I specifically request that you do not distribute any modified copies of the wad or
this text file.
The wad and this text file remain copyright (c) the author (Andrew G Kingdom), 20
Jun 1996. The wad may not be sold for profit other than as part of software / wad
collections. I request that you attempt to notify me of inclusion on such collections.
Permision is hereby granted for distribution by such methods. I would appreciate a courtesy
copy of any such product which contains my wad, and I request such if it is a commercial
product/release.
Dedicated to Masafumi Ueda and Frank Seide.
Also to the DEU team in the hope they will remove some of those 'features' I've learnt
to work around. ("It's not a bug, it's a feature" - anon.)
Special thanks to my main beta-testers:
David M Rickarby
and
Russel 'the Cyber-Demon' Collins.
WAQ.WAD was created on a Macintosh IIvx using Demon by James Knight (jknight@ai.mit.edu).
Demon v1.0b1 Mac 68K is a Macintosh port of the free software package DEU 5.3. DEU
was created and is maintained by the DEU team: Raphael Quinet, Brendon Wyber, Ted
Vessenes and others.
The author runs a Macintosh IIvx 20/1024 CD and a 386 4/40.
<New Page>
HELP -or- Solutions to puzzles
==============================
** WARNING ** ** WARNING ** ** WARNING ** ** WARNING **
Only read this if you're REALLY stuck.
You will get much more out of the game if you're able to solve the puzzles yourself.
I've included this section only for if you're STUCK; so that you don't get frustrated
mailing me and waiting for a reply.
Try to limit yourself to only reading about the specific problem you're stuck with.
Some (cryptic) hints are given in the NAMES & PLACES section, and more general hints
in the F.A.Q. section.
:HELP:STARTS:HERE:
:HELP:STARTS:HERE:
...................................................................
Q: How do I find a lion's head button in a tiny room somewhere?
H: It's in the Toilets.
A: Go into the left toilet of the three in a row.
A: 'Flush' the toilet and jump backwards (quickly) at the same time.
A: A room opens up to your left.
...................................................................
Q: How do I find a switch somewhere in the toilets which lowers a lift...
H: There's a button in the toilets' supply room.
A: Go into the supply room and turn around.
A: Press one of the buttons and open the door.
A: You should see the lift coming down (very fast) opposite you.
...................................................................
Q: I'm REALLY lost in the labyrinth. How do I get out?
H: Get as close to where you think the entrance is (my looking at the map). Choose
a wall and follow it. If you think you're going way off in the wrong direction, turn
around and follow the same wall back.
...................................................................
Q: Seriously, How do I get out of the crate room?
H: There's a crate against the east wall which drops down.
A: Lowering any skinny crate will lower all skinny crates.
A: Lower the middle skinny crate.
A: Go East, young man (or woman) and with great haste.
A: Lower the central skinny crate and run (fast) to the exit in the east (right) wall.
Have a barrel of fun on the way.
...................................................................
Q: How do I access a nasty little red cupboard?
H: There's a button in the crate room.
A: On the podium (stage) area at the north (top) of the crate room is a blue thing,
and it's not an SS uniform (be amazed).
A: Press the button and run (fast) to the spitter room.
A: Head for the red area (ouch).
A: If you get stuck in there, hit the buttons at the back.
...................................................................
Q: What might I find outside the end toilet?.
H: Stay on the lift and go right ahead.
A: Go onto the lift at end of the passageway.
A: Stay there until it comes back up.
A: Turn to your right (ie: face north)
A: go along the passage ahead of you.
A: Go ahead and jump (You know you've got to jump). In fact: All you need to do is
jump. Go ahead...
...................................................................
...................................................................
Q: How do I get into a room at the end of a long lava-filled passage.
H: At the end of a long blue-walled passage is a button...
A: You need all three keys.
A: You need to use all three keys.
A: Go into the Abandoned temple area.
A: Just near the entrance you should be able to see a yellow door.
A: The button-at-the-end-of-the-passage lowers the room at the end of a long lava-filled
passage.
...................................................................
** WARNING ** ** WARNING **
This is the end of the HELP section.
Only read this if you're REALLY stuck.
That's all, folks!