Gates of Delirium - what a great title. It comes from a song by Yes that really does reflect the level quite well as noted in the level notes in the spoiler guide. This song I remember.
Gates of Delirium is the first level in the chapter titled, "Return". Very appropirate. We start the level in an open compound of some sort. We see for the first time the Earth texture set with it's lush use of plants and traditional building materials that are supposed to be representative of 15th century Italy. There are so many things we take for granted in more recent Marathon scenarios, but Tempus was entirely new at the time. Tempus may not have had any new monsters (although there were some new sprites as we'll discuss later in the series), but the Earth textures represent a radical departure from anything seen with this game engine before.
Gates of Delirium is mostly an introduction level. The monster level is very low, although so is the amount of ammo that teleports in, and the design starts out deceptively simple and builds to something much more complex - a trend we will see again and again. The mission is very simple - to retrieve a scientific manuscript - but completing the mission is a bit more complex. Who would have ever thought that such sophistication could be accomplished without electricity, let alone computers! Low and behold, we still have switches to contend with, but they are mechanical rather than electrical. To open doors we find that we need to flip levers, turn cranks, or press mysterious "L" buttons - a special switch that indicates something of importance. In later levels we will find destructable gears in place of wires or circuits. And we can pick up keys and use them to unlock doors. Pretty clever all around, I think.
Note the attention to detail. The landscapes out the windows with rolling hills and rivers. The sounds of birds in the background. The fireplace with a real flickering fire. All of these things were new when Tempus was released. But, eek, there are enforcers and troopers here, and no shield rechargers or pattern buffers to be found. The weapon supply is limited, consisting of only dual magnums, shotguns and the occasional enforcer weapons. Ah, but if you have faith, you will be saved. The S'Pht seem to be completely unaware of this - I wonder what kind of technology this uses?
Note also the prevalence of maze designs. We will see this again and again. The convent itself is a vast maze of buildings with hallways, bedrooms and many switches that must be activated to move from area to area. Fortunately, there are always alternative return paths with doors that, once opened, provide an easy shortcut to various sections. We also see our first hedge maze. The design is pretty much symmetric as mazes of the time usually were, with lots of goodies to be found, and an occasional monster. Note that the Pfhor can become just as disoriented as the player in the hedge maze, providing an opportunity to escape some of them without having to actuall kill them.
In spite of what the S'Pht will later tell you, one of the most significant features of this and subsequent levels is the presense of personal notebooks that you can read and from which you can gather much information. Your built-in translator has been modified to enable to read Italian as if it were English - a definite advantage - unless you're Italian! The one manuscript you can read on this level is a diary from none other than Leonardo DaVinci. I'm not going to repeat any of the text here, as this post is already long enough, but suffice it to say that DaVinci has been seeing shadows. There seems to be a mysterious cloaked figure that has been visiting him and that has even been speaking to him in his dreams. Strangely, new insights have started coming to him since he started seing this dark figure - insights such as the relationship between acidic corosion (electrochemical) and lightening. In fact, DaVinci's famous drawing of a man in a circle was inspired by this strange visitor. Could this be true? Could some of the insights of one of the greatest scientific minds of all time have come from S'bhuth? If so, this has major implications for the development of humankind.
