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Rubicon 2 Released!
Rubicon 2 is a new Q1SP experience with three large single-player levels, plus a custom mod featuring new enemies, sounds, textures, mapmodels, hazards, and more. It should run with any Quake engine, but for the optimal experience I recommend Fitzquake or any derivative engine such as Quakespasm or RMQ.

Screenshots / Readme / Download (9.5mb)
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Still Looking... 
Some of the bounding boxes are indeed off. I have been tweaking items so that they show up correctly in the editor. I will post a new version next week-ish. 
 
cant get it work for coop.

quakespasm -dedicated gives me:
SpiritQuaddict entered the game
IFNOT 4332(???) branch 23
client.qc : SelectSpawnPoint
client.qc : PutClientInServer
<NO FUNCTION>
runaway loop error
Host_Error: Program error
Client SpiritQuaddict removed

ERROR-OUT BEGIN


QUAKE ERROR: Host_Error: Program error


./darkplaces-dedicated +sv_protocolname quake +map start -game rubicon2 crashes ~28 seconds after a client tried to join (unsuccessfully):
SpiritQuaddict connected
server Profile:
[CallCount] [Statement] [BuiltinCt] [StmtTotal] [BltnTotal] [self]
1 45000000 800000000 0 0 inf% SelectSpawnPoint
5001479 ----------------------- builtin ----------------------- find
710 34790 101768 34790 101768 100.00% RotateTargets
Host_Error: server runaway loop counter hit limit of 10000000 jumps
tip: read above for list of most-executed functions
QuakeC crash report for server:
s6464: CALL3 find (=find())
s6465: STORE_ENT GLOBAL1, lastspawn (=entity 0)
s6466: NE_E lastspawn (=entity 0), world (=entity 0), GLOBAL4330
s6467: IFNOT GLOBAL4330, statement 6469
s6468: RETURN lastspawn (=entity 0)
s6469: GOTO , statement 6503
s6470: IFNOT deathmatch (= 1.0000), statement 6503
s6471: STORE_ENT lastspawn (=entity 0), spot (=entity 0)
client.qc : SelectSpawnPoint : statement 25
client.qc : PutClientInServer : statement 0
Client "SpiritQuaddict" dropped
SpiritQuaddict left the game with 0 frags
Quake Error: Host_Error: server runaway loop counter hit limit of 10000000 jumps
tip: read above for list of most-executed functions
 
 
It works fine if I do it locally with non dedicated (but listen?) games started via the menu with both Quakespasm or DP as the server and client. 
 
Note to self:
Use +deathmatch 0 ... 
Oh Dear 
and +coop 1 
 
i don't think i put any coop starts in there... 
 
Yeah, at least the start map has no coop starts. Shame on you!

On the other hand both quakespasm and zquake are simply choosing normal player starts so I guess that is an engine-side feature? Darkplaces fails. Is picking a normal player start for coop an engine feature and is it in vanilla Quake? 
I Am The King Of Double Posts 
What i meant is that even if there are NO coop starts, quakespasm and zqds work fine since they simply spawn players on the normal player start. 
 
according to this code in client.qc:

if (coop)
{
lastspawn = find(lastspawn, classname, "info_player_coop");
if (lastspawn == world)
lastspawn = find (lastspawn, classname, "info_player_start");
if (lastspawn != world)
return lastspawn;
}


it will search for coop starts first, then, if none are found (or it ran out before all players were spawned) it will look at SP starts. 
 
It was just all too confusing for my simple mind and I did stupid things. I think the problem was that I did not explicitly set "deathmatch 0". 
Beautifully Detailed, Solid Gameplay 
The opening map has a lovely feel with references of E1M1 and the extra help on the menu is a really nice touch. First time I have seen that done in custom content. I was surprised but I read the readme file so was prepared, I thought! :)

The first map is breathtaking on detail with particle effects, ladders, railings, hatchways and boxes littered at odd angles everywhere. The lasers are a really nice touch with the key doors having colour coded panels next to them to keep the visual language consistent.

The game play is up close and personal most of the time and the layout is like some crazy rabbit warren, weaving all over the place. There are several main routes that go through water for no apparent reason, which seems odd, especially as the theme is tech and it is trying to maintain scale and a believable environment. This was highlighted by the fact you had arrows on a wall point down into the water. I imagine because without the arrows it would not have been obvious to go down.

After I got the gold key I was lost and wandered around looking for the gold key door for a while. The flow of the level worked well in some places but felt disjointed in others. Played on easy so I could see the place and enjoy the visuals more first time through the maps. The set pieces (especially the dam) was amazing, I loved how you progressed from one side to the other.

Map 2 started out with weird flow, you arrive on a platform with water below and no natural route down? There is a lift, but it set to go up all the time. There are teleporters but all of them are locked, did not make any sense. Eventually jumped down and found the half pipe tunnel (looked amazing) and worked my way through the complex. It was very dark inplaces, could not see some mobs.

I liked the concept you did for the turrets, especially later on when you put mobs on top of them as well. The initial presentation of the turret was perfect. The turning speed was not too fast which gave me time to look around for clues. Eventually when I found the trick I looked up and saw there was huge diagrams on the walls! doh! Very cool idea and probably more important to me, it was presented to the player really well.

Again the environmental detail, architectural shapes and flow around areas was amazing. I especially liked the final gold key building, the exterior looked like it could physically stand up. Having structures that look believable with a good choice of materials really helps to sell the whole environment immersion.

Map 3 started out weird again, jumping down some huge hole in the ground to water below. It was a nice touch having the door close after a certain time limit. The map felt a lot bigger and certainly had a nice feel of epic space to move around in.

The only map to kill me a couple of times and cheap deaths as well, falling off ledges while fighting with no railings around. :/ Probably the best implementation of the flame guy because when it was introduced it was up close and personal (even thou the map was huge).

Lots of weaving up and over and plenty of 'Oh I was down there' moments. The level detail was nice and the crane was a cool surprise. Most of the rooms had beautiful architectural shapes (angled support beams, high ceilings, solid supports). I laughed when I got to the final room, I was thinking 'I bet I will get locked in here with lots of enemies' and it happened right on cue!

Overall an amazing release for Q1 with a strong theme and solid gameplay. Plenty of down time between encounters and occasional surprises. I certainly will be playing this map pack several times on different skill levels!

The only problem for me was the textures, they looked too low-resolution. It was made worse by the fact that everything is so close to the player. (small spaces). Coupled with the level of detail, it felt disjointed. Tech maps in Q1 are like the uncanny valley of game visuals, they are trying to be modern with human scale detail (keyboards, doorways) but it all feels too low resolution and clunky. 
 
are you playing with texture filtering? if so, try disabling it. might feel more "high-res" than the blur. 
Default Settings 
I was using the default settings for FitzQuake. I checked the readme file and it did not suggest any other settings. I downloaded the textures (wad file) to see what they looked like and they are Q1 size, which to me is low-resolution. As said previously, the game play and level design were awesome, I was just expecting some external high resolution texture pack and did not find any. 
 
thanks for the feedback, sock. I knew map 1 had weird layout, but was suprised to hear that you thought the hub room of map 2 was strange (forcing the player to drop down.) I guess I like exploration, and I like "interesting" traversal in maps, so I take it to extremes in my own levels, which I think is a positive, but sometimes produces rooms where the way forward is unintuitive, which I should try to improve on.

Surprised to hear a complaint about textures, I guess since you are more of a Q3 person you are used to higher res as a default. I have considered making a higher res texture pack for rubicon2, it probably wouldn't be that hard assuming I can find the time to do it.

Question for the crowd: if I did make a high-res texture pack for rubicon2, what res should it be? I'm leaning towards 2x res, since the higher you go the more jarring it is to see high-res images on low-res geometry, and the monster and item skins are jarring too. And if you try to fix the monster skins, you end up highlighting how bad the UV mapping is on those guys. So then I need to fix the UV mapping... 
 
I think high colour is more important than high-res. Wouldn't go more than 4x, 2x sounds OK (agree with you about the jarring aspect of it - I find that even skyboxes look "wrong" in Quake maps). 
Metl 
4x pls :) And monster skins for your unique monsters or all of them. And be sure to include hi-res assets skins too. I'll definitely re-play. Cheeky to ask for normals :S 
 
2x should be fine, yeah. 
Texture Density 
@Metlslime, I do enjoy exploring levels but the theme of your map was tech (human scale architecture), which implies at least the possibility of realistic foot routes. One of the two initial routes could of gone downwards via a curved staircase to the lower floor. The lift on the other side was not obvious because its default was up. IMHO artist theme should have an impact on layout because you want the environmental immersion which comes from the art and sound.

Unless you are planning to use the texture set again, I would not do anything hi-res. Once you start upgrading one part of the visuals, all of the others pieces look odd and disjointed. This is the art problem with any of the current Q1 mods, texture density across all assets has to look the same. Otherwise the technical limitations of how the assets are put together starts to look obvious. 
Moster Skins 
Grunt is barely ~60 units hight, the skin is 200 units high... draw your conclusion. 
 
What conclusion do I draw from that? At higher screen resolutions you'll see all of those extra pixels as you get closer to the grunt ... ?? 
"could Of" 
AAAAH!




... sorry. 
"could Of" 
AAAAH!




... sorry. 
... 
 
But If You DO Remake Textures 
Make them as high resolution as possible, and then scale them down and release the high-res ones for others to use (in other projects) as well! ;-) 
Wow. Nice Work 
I have to admit that I've not played any Quake in ages, nor done any mapping, and was aware that there are a few relatively recent releases that I should check out, this being one of them. Since today has been a rare PC gaming day, I just spent the last hour or so playing through Rubicon 2 (on normal, because it's been a while).

Great architecture, great lighting, nice work on improving the ambient sounds, fucking nice textures that work great with the lighting (I especially liked the white concrete and rusted girders on map 2) and the gameplay was awesome too.

At first I thought the new enemies were a bit pointless because there are similar enemies in Quoth that you could have used, but they flamethrower guys were much tougher here due to the fact you continue to burn for quite a while after you get hit. The flying guys were a little less annoying than BOBs, and the walking dustbin enemy was quite fun to fight in numbers, and despite his cuteness (especially the one that had fallen over on the training course in map two) managed to fit in quite well.

Oh, I also liked the recurring laser platform set piece. Nice way to completely obliterate my health... actually, I figured it out pretty much instantly the first time I saw it, but there were a couple of times they were combined with grunts etc. and I got owned. Still lots of fun, and reminded me of something I wanted to put in a base map a few years ago but didn't (it was similar but used nails and you had to pop a grenade down to turn it off. Was inspired by HL2 floor sentries).

I don't think I ever felt lost during my playthrough, which is amazing considering how dark and similarly textured the maps are. I think the way you lead the player around with lighting, enemy placement, textures and set piece architectural areas worked great.

Some of the areas in the game really felt like they were inspired a lot by the first half-life - particularly CZGs map and the main atrium with teleporters and the big tunnel in map 2.

Anyway, great, inspiring work. 
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