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PF Volunteers - Garden of Eden
Posted By: Steve LevinsonDate: 8/21/04 9:51 a.m.


So, I have finally sealed myself from the other A.I.s. They should not be able to harrass me for some time, enough time to finalize my greatest endeavor yet. Soon, I will make history, when I create new life from two totally different lifeforms.

I am God!

To fullfill my plans, I need some adequate Carbon-based life. You will not suffice as I need your hands. The aliens may play a part, but their physiology is imperfect for my plans.

***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM OSINDIR***

You m..st hurry, I h@ve 001time to ex%lain. Find a way ßüt of the Doctor's pl?ygr1und.

So the Doctor has us in his evil clutches, but Ossinder will help us to get out - or is this really part of Mece's plan, as we'll come to suspect in a few levels? In any case, this is a pretty amazing level - a true Garden of Eden of sorts - one could almost forget that this is the M1 engine. Almost. The views are the most expansive we've seen so far, but they still feel closed in, and the poly limitations are very evident, particularly with the shrubbery. Still, you have to give Matt and Andrew credit for making this level feel as expansive as they possibly could, given an engine that never really was designed for use with outdoor scenery. Still, we will see something here that we wouldn't in Infinity - both water and lava in one level. As per a recent post in the story forum, this is easy when we're not really dealing with real fluids - these are just textures, after all. One other important detail - look at the sky - it's blue! We've seen red skies and most commonly grey skies, but this is the first time we see a blue sky - this truly is Eden.

We start the level in an open area with a couple hunters and a central structure that will figure prominently later on. On the back side is a pattern buffer. Once the hunters have been dispatched and your pattern is saved, head into the building and read the terminal as above. Somewhat easy to miss just to the left of the terminal is a ladder - your way to the rest of the level. As soon as you climb up, however, jump back across the way you came to a corridor opposite the ladder. After dispatching a bunch of wasps and possible some hunters and other friends, use the 1X shield recharger at the end of the hall if you need to before jumping out into the next garden area. After killing any remaining monsters in the immediate area and recharging if necessary, read the terminal out here:


I1001 an110ybo%dy there? This is Fig1ret Me0ri% of the P.S.S. Ki010etic. I100%%^ persons can hear my hail, please ^end some s01rt of b%acon. We are unable to011it the or%t of% the <>New Arizo.0111101 moon. Please help.................

Ah, so this is what Mece is after - another mercenary ship, with humans for his experiments! And Mece isn't the only one interested, as we'll soon learn.

The entire object of the rest of the level is raising a couple of platforms in the initial area so that we can jump across to the exit. This involves flipping a couple of switches that, of course, aren't anywhere near the platforms they raise. But we can forgive the authors in this case - the scenery along the way is stunning, the gameplay is excellent and the objectives are fairly obvious. From the outdoor area by the shield recharger, follow the river to where it goes over a waterfall and jump down with it into the next garden area. Have fun playing with the jugger and hunters (you don't need to kill them and probably should only if you need to), pick up the available ammo and then head to a passageway back under the building, taking care to avoid taking damage from the wasps that line the passageway. At the end of the passage, a 2-piece door will open to reveal a platform that will take you up to a ledge that overlooks the second garden area. Note to Matt and Andrew – the platform textures don't really look right on the door. Follow the ledge to the left and jump into the opening across the way.

Although indoors, this upper area of the building provides its own scenic vistas. As you follow the corridor, note the 2 windows on the right that overlook the juggernaut garden area. Well done! Head right and head to what appears to be a dead end. If you tab on what appears to be a door, however, you'll find that actually it's a wrap-around door that reveals 3 passages - left, right and center - all with hunters. You might want to hang back a bit and tab on one of the side panels instead, then deal with the hunters more or less one at a time. Behind them, however, are additional monsters that will attack you, particularly as you venture down the passages to the sides. The first switch you need to hit is directly ahead, at the end of the center passage - it raises the first platform. The next place to head is to the left passage - once you deal with the monsters, there is a 2X recharger that makes this the obvious next stop. Continuing along this corridor, eventually you come to some windows overlooking another garden area with some hulks and other friends. These you can jump out of, and should as soon as it's safe to do so. You'll quickly find a pit you can jump into with a PB and the second switch, which raises the second platform back at the start of the level. You can leave the area via a tunnel back into the corridor from which you came. Continue around the corridor - it forms a loop - and we'll come to another terminal with the same distress call from the Kinetic, a window overlooking a large open garden area that is not accessible, but that contains a lot of wasps, and an opening to yet another garden area that you can access - this one surrounds the central corridor. One interesting point that is easily missed - there are moving panels over a couple of the windows that raise and lower - an interesting effect.

Assuming you’ve recharged your shields and saved your game, proceed back all the way around and jump back down to the level that that ladder leads to - you can now jump across to that central structure and from there across to an opening on the other side of the building. This leads to a vast lava pool - that's right, lava - with a central island guarded by a bunch of hunters. Take out the hunters, proceed around the outside of the pool to the back side and jump across to the central island, where the exit terminal awaits. It seems the aliens have mounted a counterattack and all teleporters are malfunctioning, thanks to a series of EM pulses. So why are we leaving the area via a teleporter?

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Replies:

PF Volunteers - Garden of EdenSteve Levinson 8/21/04 9:51 a.m.
     Re: PF Volunteers - Garden of EdenSteve Levinson 8/21/04 9:57 a.m.
     Re: PF Volunteers - Garden of EdenDr. John Sumner 8/21/04 10:25 a.m.

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