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Volunteers: Habe Quiddam
Posted By: Mark LevinDate: 8/11/01 2:13 p.m.

Habe Quiddam, Habe Qiddam, Habe Quidam... another great level, joining The Rose and G4 Sunbathing among my all-time favorites. It also has the best music in the game (the last level comes up a close second).

This level has a very different type of design from most of the others in the game. It's very interconnected and almost non-linear, it doubles back on itself many times and reuses rooms in interesting ways. It also uses heights to great effect, most rooms have at least two paths through them at different levels. The player is constantly rediscovering things, and being led back to see previous areas from a new angle. These two concepts weren't widely used until second- and third-generation maps, like those made for Marathon Infinity or games with true-3D engines. Just another way that Marathon was ahead of its time.

The first terminal on this level has a secret, one that makes the level somewhat easier to figure out. When Durandal displays the location of the alien energy converter, he does so by means of a checkpoint centered on the item. However, at the beginning of the level, the item is locked inside of several platforms marked Secret, which causes the checkpoint display code to not draw any polygons beyond them (relative to where it started). The checkpoint appears to be placed inside an isolated, small, strangely shaped room that is very hard to find within the level. If you go through the level and return to the first terminal without getting the converter, you will probably have opened the platforms along the way. This nullifies the Secret flag, and the terminal displays much more of the level, making the converter much easier to find.

The central puzzle, while not exactly realistic, is fun to work with, making good use of the aspects mentioned above. You pass elements of the puzzle several times before seeing how they fit together. You get chances to plan ahead, realize what you must do, and time your run carefully.

One potential bug: The door you must open in the room with three tall columns can be jammed half-open and force you to reload. Be careful when hitting the switch.

Among the other hightlights of this level: The secret found in the corner of the second turn after jumping around in the three pillars room, a useful chunk of ammo. The assimilated Bob in the same room (through the locked door) who seemingly retreats from your fire and waits for you to come to him. The hidden flamethrower in the last lava room. The normal Bob thrown in with a crowd of monsters just to throw you off balance. The secret extra entrance to the lava pool that makes it a bit easier to get into the pool. The fact that the ideal number of seconds to wait between the silver platform vanishing into the lava and jumping in to grab the converter is 7.

And the introduction of assimilated civilians.

From this point on, all green bobs die. :) I still remember my first encounter with one; I had crossed the bridge on Shake Before Using on the first try and hadn't found the terminal where Durandal warns of them. I saw a green dot on my motion tracker and saw a green bob running out of the darkness at me, shouting "Thank God it's you!" Just as I was thinking "Hey, Bobs never said that before-" he ran right up to me and something exploded, killing both of us. I wasn't sure what had happened until, while falling to the floor, I caught a momentary glimpse of the Bob's shattered corpse, oozing yellow blood. My first thought was that the aliens had somehow infected a human, turned him to their side and sent him on a suicide mission. I was staring at the screen in bafflement and horror for several seconds before I was able to reload the game.

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Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

Volunteers: Habe QuiddamMark Levin 8/11/01 2:13 p.m.
     Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSidoh 8/11/01 3:38 p.m.
     Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamHamish Sinclair 8/12/01 3:22 a.m.
           Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSidoh 8/12/01 10:02 a.m.
           Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamJohn Sumner 8/12/01 3:27 p.m.
                 Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamMark Levin 8/12/01 4:11 p.m.
                       Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamJeff 8/13/01 9:28 a.m.
                 Read Me!Sidoh 8/14/01 8:16 a.m.
                       Re: Read Me!Hamish Sinclair 8/14/01 9:33 a.m.
                             Viding: I try & die *NM*Still Thinking 8/14/01 2:29 p.m.
                             Re: Read Me!Sidoh 8/14/01 2:59 p.m.
                       Don't Read Me *NM*Still Thinking 8/14/01 2:29 p.m.
                             Bite Me *NM*get azure 8/15/01 7:15 p.m.
                 Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamHamish Sinclair 8/14/01 12:30 p.m.
                       Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamJohn Sumner 8/14/01 3:12 p.m.
                             Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSidoh 8/14/01 4:36 p.m.
                                   Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamMark Levin 8/14/01 7:26 p.m.
                                         Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSidoh 8/16/01 9:13 a.m.
                                   Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSidoh 8/18/01 7:37 p.m.
                                         Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSpeaker-To-Animals 8/18/01 8:00 p.m.
                                               Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamREB 8/19/01 5:29 a.m.
                                                     Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamHamish Sinclair 8/19/01 5:35 a.m.
                                               Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSidoh 8/19/01 7:45 a.m.
                             Re: Volunteers: Habe Quiddam7revor Smith 8/14/01 7:23 p.m.
                                   Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamJohn Sumner 8/15/01 5:36 a.m.
                                         Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSidoh 8/15/01 6:50 a.m.
                                         Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSidoh 8/15/01 6:52 a.m.
                                               Ug, One of these shouldnt be here...Sidoh 8/15/01 6:56 a.m.
                                         Re: Volunteers: Habe Quiddam7revor Smith 8/15/01 8:22 a.m.
                                               Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamHamish Sinclair 8/15/01 9:15 a.m.
                                                     Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSidoh 8/15/01 9:41 a.m.
                                                     Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSidoh 8/15/01 9:44 a.m.
                                                     Re: Volunteers: Habe Quiddam7revor Smith 8/15/01 11:28 a.m.
                                                           Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSidoh 8/15/01 11:44 a.m.
                                                     Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSoapstone 8/15/01 12:11 p.m.
                                                           Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamHamish Sinclair 8/15/01 12:30 p.m.
                                                           Re: Volunteers: Habe Quiddamrae 6/18/03 12:48 p.m.
                                                                 Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamHamish Sinclair 6/19/03 9:43 a.m.
                                                                       Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamGholsbane 6/19/03 10:35 a.m.
                                                                             Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamHamish Sinclair 6/20/03 11:23 a.m.
                                                     Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSidoh 8/16/01 8:59 a.m.
                                                           Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamHamish Sinclair 8/16/01 11:08 a.m.
                                                                 Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamSidoh 8/16/01 12:16 p.m.
     Re: Volunteers: Habe QuiddamJeff 8/13/01 9:25 a.m.



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