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Title   : Ritual (v0.96)
Date    : 4th January 2025
Design  : Juan Carlos "Zothique" Deus
Music   : The Inhuman Host (https://theinhumanhost.bandcamp.com/)
Artwork : Simon "Sock" OCallaghan (https://www.simonoc.com/)
Testing : Colossus, Giftmacher, Ionous, Than and Vondur

Project RITUAL
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Your orders arrived at 03:45 and by 5am you are on a military helicopter, rushing toward an unknown location in the middle of Atlantic Ocean. Whilst onboard you receive your briefing, classified documentations and equipment, now listen carefully Ranger!

On a remote Black Reef Island, a secret operation called "Project RITUAL" was started when strange artifacts were discovered. It is believed these artifacts are related to "The Quake Incident" that happened 28 years ago. Very little is known about the artifacts except they seem to emanate strange powers and influence over anyone in the vicinity of them.

Three days ago, we lost contact with the island and now our base has gone silent. No one knows what has gone wrong and no contact can be established. Several assault teams have been sent to investigate and take control, but all have failed to return or contact us. We believe something or SOMEONE has seized control of our base and is now conducting their own experiments with the artifacts.

Recently we have discovered a secret organization using a strange insignia that has somehow broken into our supply chain and reached our base. We believe they are responsible for the sudden radio silence, and they plan to merge the artifacts together into some portal or gateway, but without further evidence this is pure fantasy at this point.

Your mission is simple; Gain entrance to the base via the drainage system on the east side of the island and find out what has happened. If you encounter any hostiles you are ordered to eliminate them with extreme force. As you are aware this is a one-way trip with no backup support, but we are counting on your skills and expertise to get you through this mission, successfully!

Due to the excessive air defences of the island, you cannot go in with many supplies and we have arranged for you to have a single shotgun, an axe and small amount of ammo. Use all the resources you find at our base to complete your mission and stop whatever experiments are going on at all costs.

This is NOT a rescue mission, or capture enemy forces, this is seek and DESTROY everything at the base type of mission! The fate of the world is in your hands Ranger, the artifacts must not be used for nefarious means!

Into the threshold of Ruin
--------------------------

The foul stench of rotting flesh and stale air greets you as you crawl through the outer drainage pipes to reach the base. As the sound of the helicopter fades into the distance you hear the dripping water echo around you while the oppressive darkness consumes your sight. As you go deeper into the tunnels you find flickering monitors casting erratic shadows across the walls of maintenance stations nearby.

The air around you feels charged with a strange energy as you descend further into the darkness of the tunnel system. In the distance you can hear guttural murmurs and low growls interspersed by screams and whimpering of frightened voices. You shake the feelings of Doom and progress further into this Quaking madness...


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Installation
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* Create a new folder called "ritual" in your Quake folder
* Copy the Zip file into the new folder
* Extract the contents of the zip file
* Create a shortcut to your preferred Quake engine
* Add the following to the command line

 -game ritual

* Run the shortcut (click icon) and make sure the engine loads
* After the start map has loaded pick your skill level via the pipes!

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Skill Levels
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EASY 
----

This skill level is designed for players who are starting Quake for the 
first time. If you feel unsure of your skill level or unaware of the game 
Quake or want to do some sightseeing of the episode, then this is the 
skill level for you!

NORMAL
------

This skill level is designed for regular or returning players of Quake 
who are familiar with the game mechanics. If you enjoy a well balanced 
and regular combat experience, then this is the skill level for you!

HARD
----

This skill level is designed for seasoned players who have mastered the 
game Quake and all of the expansion packs. If you enjoy a thoroughly  
intense experience with challenging encounter setups, then this is the 
skill level for you!

NIGHTMARE
---------

This skill level is designed to be unfair and even the entrance is hidden 
so that only the foolish will stumble into it! If you enjoy brutal and 
unforgiving combat encounters, then this is the skill level for you!

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Technical Stuff
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Design       : This episode is designed for a classic look using the original game
               engine, QUAKE.EXE. Fully tested on DOS quake and a CRT monitor, this
               episode is designed for nostalgic retro gamers who want an old school
               experience like the original game!

               The following limitations are applied to all maps :-

               - NO coloured lights (.lit files have been deleted)
               - NO environmental fog (_fog 0 set on all worldspawns)
               - NO environmental skyboxes (sky textures used only)
               - NO Fence textures (new transparent texture feature)
               - NO transparent liquid surfaces (worldspawn overrides exist)
               - NO alpha values on torches or light models (solid flames)

               All maps are designed for <900 wpolys and the original entity limits.
			   Obviously these limits are not perfect and some minor variety does exist.
               The original ambient thunder sound has been replaced for waterfalls.
               Some liquid surfaces have extra light detail (reqs advanced engine)

               All map source files have been added to the PAK file so that anyone can
               view and see how things have been setup. These map files are NOT to be
               modified or release separately from this Episode.

CRT Testing  : PHILIPS 107E61 17" CRT Monitor at 640*480px and 72hz
               Used DOSbox to get pixel perfect VGA emulation at 320x200 resolution.

Engines      : The episode was designed and tested to work with the following ...
               - Original Quake (Quake.exe), WinQuake, MarkV WinQuake and QuakeSpasm.
               Should work with modern engines if they are 100% compatible with Quake.

Textures     : Original Quake assets and plenty of extra edits by Sock and Zothique.
               Many new textures are from Hipnotic and Rogue Quake Expansion Packs.
               All texture wads used for the episode are included in the PAK file and
               if anyone uses these assets they MUST give credit in their readme files.
               Remember folks, don't be a jerk and give people credit for their effort.

GKX/Hud      : Some HUD elements have been replaced to give the Episode a unique look.
               Original artwork design by Zothique with final updates by Sock.

Compilers    : BSP/VIS Compilers - by Kevin Shanahan/Eric Wasylishen
               - Latest Version - ericwa.github.io/tyrutils-ericw/

Options used : qbsp -notranswater -splitturb (solid liquids and extra lit info)
               vis -level 4
	           light -dirty -gate 1.0 -soft -extra4

Extra tools  : TexMex 3.4 by Mike Jackman (organize textures)
               AdQuedit 1.3 by Hicks Goldrush (create/organize PAK file)
               Photoshop CS5 12.1 by Adobe (used to create new textures)

Map Credits  : ze1m3s is a remix of Ancient Realms (hip2m1) by Tom Mustaine
               ze1m5s additional text msgs are inspired by H.P.Lovecraft
               ze1end is a remix of Shub-Niggurath's Pit by ID Software

Multiplayer  : Deathmatch & Coop spawnpoints have been added, but not tested.

Progs.dat      Custom progs (based on v1.06 from ID) to fix the following issues:
               New end boss + supporting train entities (stops movetype crashes)
			   Added spawnflags = 1 to func_bossgate for opposite rune state
			   Added spawnflags = 1 to trigger_hurt for player only dmg
			   Added Impulse 50 to show MOD name and version number
			   Added Impulse 51 to give the player all runes at once
			   Fixed monster fish double count bug in swim function
			   Added intermission message for end of ze1m6 (two types)
			   Added intermission message for all rune portal in start map
			   Changed intermission message for end of game (final boss dead)

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Maps
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Map     Theme (+rune)         Author    Title              Skill vs Mons  Secs

start   Base/Skill            Zothique  Threshold of Ruin   --/ --/ --    --
ze1m1   Base/Sewer            Zothique  Into the Cesspool   32/ 54/ 63     5
ze1m1s  Base/Windy (rune1)    Sock      Lungs of Behemoth   42/ 69/ 101    5
ze1m2   Base/Slime            Zothique  Braindead Plant     38/ 53/ 75     5
ze1m3   Medieval Crossover    Zothique  Castle Demonsclaw   43/ 76/ 102    5
ze1m3s  Green Temple (rune2)  Sock      Fiendish Hatred     48/ 75/ 101    6
ze1m4   Canyon/Rock           Zothique  Jaws of Azazel      52/ 84/ 114    6
ze1m5   City/Rock             Zothique  The Corpse Lords    53/ 79/ 106   10
ze1m5s  Red Monastery (rune3) Sock      Among the Dead      66/ 84/ 101    9
ze1m6   Blue Castle (rune4)   Zothique  The Hypogeum        69/ 93/ 126    9
ze1end  Lava Ending           Sock      Fallen Star         32/ 48/ 69     1

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New Music Tracks by 'The Inhuman Host' (Edited by Zothique)
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02 - Intro              (menu)
03 - Intermission       (intermission)
04 - Into the Cesspool  (ze1m1)
05 - Braindead Plant    (ze1m2)
06 - Castle Demonsclaw  (ze1m3) 
07 - Jaws of Azazel     (ze1m4)
08 - Among the Dead     (ze1m5s)
09 - Fiendish Hatred    (ze1m3s)
10 - Fallen Star        (ze1end)
11 - Threshold of Ruin  (start)
12 - The Corpse Lords   (ze1m5)
13 - The Hypogeum       (ze1m6)
14 - Lungs of Behemoth  (ze1m1s)

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Distribution / Copyright / Permissions 

Please do not use any of these assets in ANY COMMERCIAL PROJECT.
Remember don't be a jerk, give credit if you use any of these assets.

Quake I is a registered trademark of id Software, Inc.

All of these resources may be electronically distributed only at 
NO CHARGE to the recipient in its current state and MUST include this 
readme.txt file.

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