#actionquake2

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Gangsta. Action Quake 2 map. Released 2020.

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

Callouts: Park, garage, car wash, gas station new way, containers, storage, hotel, parking lot, laundry, old way, office  📢 

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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.

Fast outer loop that has many connections in to the mid. Easy to access/exit roofs. Minimal amount of covers and hiding spots to favor movement.

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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. 🎮 

Backyard is the result of many early-morning level design sessions; coffee, chill music, mapping. 🎶☕🖥️

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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

Terminal has been one of the most fun maps to work on for Action Quake 2. Interesting to re-designing the original to something more accessible and fun, with a stronger theme. 

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Newrok. Action Quake 2 map. Released in 2012. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Newrok is a medium sized map set in nature and is a remake of the classic map Rok. My favorite map for Action Quake 2. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ At the time, I was inspired to do remakes of two classic Action Quake 2 maps; Rok and Airport. Rok is my favorite map in the game and Airport is my least favorite map (more on that map in an upcoming post). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So.. two maps on opposite side of the spectrum and that's what made this project so interesting. To investigate on how to improve an already great map and how to turn a dislike into a like. Challenge accepted! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ For Newrok, most of my changes revolved around navigation. Making the map more accessible: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ▪️ Safely drop down from heights ▪️ Added jumps ▪️ Added connections/routes ▪️ New playable areas ▪️ Opened up some camping spots ▪️ Themed areas ▪️ New custom textures ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Newrok went through many iterations and playtests (with clan eyeCandy), before finally being released. Overall an enjoyable project and I am happy with the end result. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The original is still the original.. but I feel that my version compliments it, rather than compete with it; having enough changes to make it uniquely different, yet feeling close to home.

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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!! 

Player can climb the signs in this map. 

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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. 

I happened to name another Quake 2 map the same thing; Rebirth. It was wizq2dm6 that I released in year 2015. At this point, Rebirth had a new meaning, being one of my favorite Hardstyle festivals. 

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Radar. Action Quake 2 map. Released in 2006. 

It's a medium sized map, set in the mountains. Communication base. Inspired by the TV show Alias. 

It's a void map, the player can fall off the edge and die. To create depth to the map, I added some out-of-reach areas that you can see but not reach. There is also the weather/thunder in the background every now and then. 

The angled trees make me cringe a bit. They add no value to either gameplay or visuals. They look comical, when the overall theme of the map is suppose to be dark/serious. 

Not a very popular map, but I managed to play it a few times online over the years. It's an okay map.

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Facility. Action Quake 2 map. Released in 2006, on my birthday. The first map in the series, but the last one to be released. A different map. Close combat focused. Not a very popular map. It has some weird designs and awkward gameplay spaces, located away from where the action is suppose to take place.  But I remember having fun with this map project. I wanted to create a nice mix of outdoor and indoor, long distance and close combat.  There are some areas in this map that I really like; the maintenance tunnel, the sniper windows, chimneys up high.. and you can be on top of some doors. A bit dirty. 😏

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Bwcity2. Action Quake 2 map. Released in 2006. It's a medium sized city map set at night. It's bigger and more open than the first map. A lot of cool areas; train station, parking lot , police station, parking garage, helicopter platform, container yard, industrial area. It even features a rotating donut. Let's do this! This map was a collaboration with Beavisss and Kurupt.

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Hidden3. Action Quake 2 map. Released in 2006. It's a medium sized jungle themed map with a fiery sunset sky. Open and smooth terrain, fast to traverse. It was the final map in the Hidden series and the most popular one. All in all, the Hidden map series never got very popular, except for Hidden3. Each map is very different gameplay wise. Hidden with outdoor, indoor and underground areas. Hidden2 features Counter-Strike chokepoint design. Hidden3 with its' open and easy-to-navigate terrain. Hidden maps were fun to create, learnt a lot. They all have a special place in my heart.

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Bwcity. Action Quake 2 map. Released in 2006. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It's a medium sized city map set at night. A lot of different cool areas; bank, book store, bar, restaurant, alleys. The bank has been robbed; blood, chaos.. police outside. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I enjoyed making this map, a collaboration with mapper Beavisss. There is a momentum and accountability that I enjoy when working together. And also to have another creative person's input. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Bwcity has a really interesting atmosphere. A lot of detail, narrative pieces and different areas around the map. Night map. Dark vibe, eerie, without being depressing. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Nerdy fact. There is a garage door that you can interact with (that I scripted), but I didn't think beyond the "round". So if you interact with the door and a new round starts before it fully resets.. then it doesn't reset properly and it starts from a higher position. So each round raises the door.. and eventually you can access an area that you are not suppose to access.. 😂😒 Ah well, it is what it is.. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Cool map. I like the theme and style. It feels very Action Quake 2, without being ugly. And has a nice sense of scale.

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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. 

Countryside is one of my favorite creations for Action Quake 2, really happy with it.

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Facility3. Action Quake 2 map. Released in 2006. 

A medium sized factory themed map set on a sunny day. It has a large open outdoor space with long sight lines. One side has a low storage building, and the other side has a big factory building. Player can traverse pretty much all of the environment, including the chimneys. 

Facility3 is the second map to be released, in the Facility map series. It has custom textures and some nice detailed brush. 

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Spring. Action Quake 2 map. Released in 2005.

It's a large map set in the mountains in a mining area. Warm weather, dry environment. There are 2 open areas, connected through mountain passages and building interiors. The main area is a large open lively space with waterfall, trees and a cabin. The second area is smaller desolate and dry, located high up nearby the big clock tower. In the map there are two paths and side; The big clock tower on one side and a large interior structure on the other. There are sound cues in the map; slamming on a door when you walk nearby and falling rocks when you climb the mine shafts. So if you know about them you will learn where your enemy is located. The slamming door sound can be avoided if you jump over it. If you fall down the clock tower you will also trigger a sound. 

This project was difficult. It was a collaboration together with the norwegian level designer Flunx. We use different level editors, Worldcraft vs Quark, so when exchanging files we experienced a lot of problems. This made us lose interest and we almost abandoned the project. Luckily we didn’t.

Spring has some popularity and it gets played every now and then. It has a strong identity, feels different in its’ design and visuals. I am happy with the result, and even though the circumstances were not optimal, I am happy to have collaborated with Flunx to make a map. I think he is a great level designer. 

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Facility2. An Action Quake 2 map. Released in 2005. 

A small fast-paced colorful industrial themed map set on a sunny day. There are 3 routes; street, rooftop, indoor. Each route plays very differently. Street with open areas, long sight-lines but still opportunity to get closer to the enemy via the container stack. Rooftop overlook the street and can be a winning advantage during a round. But being alone up there is difficult, as you are quite exposed and easy to predict. Indoor area is all about timing and close-combat, but not a place to stay in for too long. The initial seconds of a round, in this map, are so important since you will flank the enemy.

Facility2 is a popular map, especially in clan matches. I personally enjoy playing this map and I am very satisfied with the result. It checks a lot of boxes that I think make for a successful Action Quake 2 map; overall theme, themed areas, right size, good connectivity, player stories, simple design. 

Facility2 and Assassin2 share some funny similarities. They were first to be released in their series, and are also the most popular ones.