HOMEBy Al Giovetti
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Quake Shareware Walkthrough
Contents: |
Quake, probably more than any other action-based PC game, requests and
requires you to discover its hidden secrets. While it’s 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 Quake’s 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, you’ll 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 you’re roughly in the correct area
and have a look
around for yourself. We’ve 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 it’s not
really worth
the effort. Anything marked with three asterisks is well work collecting
at some
point.
Level 1, Difficulty
Select Level
The first level’s a very clever idea that owes a lot to Raven’s 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, you’ll 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 doesn’t 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) there’s 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 that’s 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
We’ve 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 that’s 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 that’s 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 feeding’s over and the convoluted level design begins. Tough
enemies
too.
1) Let’s 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
o’clock there’s a slightly grungier area of the wall. Walk up to it
and stand still. If
you’re in the right place, you’ll 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 one’s 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 ‘secret’ ever. **
3) You’re 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 that’s 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 you’re-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 you’ll 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 hadn’t 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
you’ve just been fighting, this may trigger it. Easy end. **
Console yourself
Only wimps use Quake’s 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 we’ve 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 don’t bother to even type these things more
than once,
including a list of commands in a config file, saving it in the ‘id1’
sub-directory
within the main Quake directory and running it by typing either ‘exec
filename.cfg’ in the console, or running Quake by adding ‘+exec file.cfg’
to the
command line. To use some of the extra features, press:
‘m’ 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.
‘[‘ to zoom in on what you are staring at. A cool way of sniping your
opponents.
Press Ô]’ to zoom back out again.
‘Q’ to ‘P’ to select tracks 1 to 10 of your audio CD. Watch out for
track one if
you put a data CD in.
‘9’ to play the previous CD track.
‘0’ to play the next track. This assumes you have 16 tracks on the
CD. If you have
more, you won’t 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 doesn’t 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 you’ve got a registered copy. You’ll
be
able to get past the barriers, but walking into the slipgates crashes
the game.
Ten useful suggestions
1) If you’re 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, don’t select the rocket
or grenade
launchers. Fire at someone from close quarters and you’ll 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 it’s safe.
3) If you need to access a platform that’s 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 you’re low on ammo or just don’t 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 won’t 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. You’ll 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
you’re currently in the lead and don’t expect it to last, rush towards
the exit and
ruin everyone else’s game by moving onto the next one. This works particularly
well if you have all the good weapons and your opponents don’t.
10) Don’t 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 you’re
running low on
ammo, the axe kills the Rotweiler and Grunt in two swipes, but don’t
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. It’s 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 you’re 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 haven’t had a good 16-player session in the Ziggurat Vertigo, witnessing
players blown from one side of the room to the other, you haven’t lived.
Not so
useful at close range, though, but extremely dangerous if you’ve 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.
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