We've just got a distress signal
from one of our Mars Research Outposts that they're being overun by zombies! we don't
know why or how, it just is. Naturally, Sarget Kelly, who's alive only for the convenience
purposes of this story, has ordered YOU to go down there and sort out the problem.
Be careful and good luck!
Title : Zombie Shuffle
Created By : Starbug
Description : Single Player Map for use with DOOM 3
Special Thanks : id Software, Levelsource.com, Doom3world.org, and also my beta testers
Credits :listed in full in a PDA at the end of the level
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---Instructions---
1) I assume you already unzipped the zombie_shuffle.zip file, otherwise you wouldn't be
reading this!
2) Place the zombie_shuffle.pk4 file in the C:/Program Files/DOOM3/base folder
3) On the menu screen press Ctrl+Alt+~ (Tilde) or just ~ (Tilde) to bring down the console.
4) Type: map zombie_shuffle, or just "map zom" then press tab and it should fill in the rest for
you
5) Observe the humorous loading screen and wait for it to load, then play the game!
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---Map Information---
Build : Built From Scratch
Build Time : A long time...i wasn't really counting...several months, not solidly.
Requirements : DOOM 3 Retail Install
Map Name : Zombie Shuffle
Game Mode : Single Player
New Textures : No
New Sounds : No
New Music : No
New guis :Yes
Audio logs :No
Gameplay Time : 16 mins. (at least, if you know the exact layout of everything, don't read
any of the PDAs, and know all the cabinet codes off by heart)
This map wasn't designed to scare you much at all, it's mainly about fun. It's not an
architectural masterpiece either, nor is it an original setting or even story, but hopefully you'll
get some laughs and gameplay out of it!
Most of the enemies are zombies (albeit with varying objects stuck in them), some are zombie
soldiers and a select few are actual demons of a sort. Even so, there are opportunities to die,
so quick save every now and then unless you want to start the level from the beginning each
time you slip up! for those of you who mearly get injured, health packs are provided.
This map is certified 100% imp free! (their screeches annoy me)
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The story:
Set 15 years after the...incident...that happened at mars city and the delta labs, the UAC is in
deep trouble. The "unlimited" funds are now limited, the base is full of corpses and zombies,
and it's likely no one will ever work there again. Figuring it would just be cheaper to nuke the
old base rather than clean it up, they set about building a new set of research "outposts" on
the other side of the planet, so that if that one went down they'd still have some left.
It's been more difficult that they thought though... people don't want to work with the UAC
anymore (i wonder why?), the bases are all short on staff and low on budget, competition is
cropping up everywhere, and the board of directors, or board of counsellor Swans, whatever
it's called, has banned the UAC from ever using teleportation technology ever again. ever.
Now this is where the story gets real cheesy and unoriginal. We've just got a distress signal
from one of our Mars Research Outposts that they're being overun by zombies! we don't
know why or how, it just is. Naturally, Sarget Kelly, who's alive only for the convenience
purposes of this story, has ordered YOU to go down there and sort out the problem.
Be careful and good luck!
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Technical stuff: This map has been tested with cards: GeForce 3 (the card i use), radeon 9800
PRO and geforce fx 5700. You get ultimate performance in this level using the recommended
card for DOOM 3 which is the GeForce 6800 series of cards. Using my own card the level
played well, but the FPS was very low in certain areas.
The loading screen was made for 1024x768 pixel resolution. It looks fine on anything less or equal to that, but on higher resolutions it will look pixelated and crappy. But i'm hoping that few people were insane enough to buy a top of the line graphics card capaple of running doom3 on 1280x760 pixels and still managing to smash zombies's faces in with flashlights at a decent framerate.
The issue of lag:
As mentioned, some areas are laggy. Mentioning them all would result in spoilers to the
content of the level. On the GeForce 3, or equivalent card (or less) the lag can get as bad as
around 5fps in some areas. Better computers/cards which can run the game at higher
resolutions than my crummy 640x480 with medium detail with no specular lighting or
anti-aliasing, may well get only moderate lag of 20-25fps in those same laggy areas. I have
tried minimising the lag as much as i can though.
There is, as with most games, a large amount of lag at the very beginning. i bet you've always
wondered why that happens, what on earth the computer is doing. Well in my level at least,
i found out! it's all the dead bodies! the computer spends processing power making all the
bodies simultaneously fall to the ground and hit stuff. but it's also the particle effects.
Despite most of them being turned off at the beginning of the level, they all seem to go
through one animation cycle (whatever it's called) for some reason, and THEN turn off.
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Known bugs/issues:
In the very first room, there is a UAC logo on the wall that...glows...in the dark...hmmm, odd...
On very rare occasions, the shield soldier in the 'chemical storage' room will 'freeze' upon
death, as though he was literally scared to death. A quick punch in the face will fix this
problem. I'm not sure if this is a problem related to my level or the game itself, though i've
only ever encountered it in that particular room.
Some of the "curvy bits" in the corners of the rooms do not always have aligned textures,
i have now tried to fix many but some are unavoidably out of place, namely in the server bank room.
At one point of the level there is an NPC in front of a gui. If you move the crosshair from the
NPC directly to the gui panel the "Talk" writing under the crosshair may occasionally 'stay'
instead of disappearing. Fix this by looking at the NPC again and moving the crosshair away
from him but not onto the gui button.
Another NPC in the level tries to run. due to the fact NPCs aren't supposed to run, despite
having the animation for it, my NPC runs in straight lines but then turns at walking pace,
which looks odd, but it's the best result i can get out of him.
Some zombies with objects stuck in them have messed up path finding. This serves only to
make them more comical.
At one point in the level there is a collapsible floor. Due to doom3 not being designed for this
kind of thing, it's not entirely reliable, and you might find yourself on the other side of a large
hole, mystified as to the chaos that followed in your wake. i could put player clip to prevent
the player from reaching the other side, but figured that would be mean and people would
think "awww! stupid invisible wall! i wanted to reach the other side!"
BIG BUG: the elevator
the elevator in the level (they're is only one, you'll know it when you see it) wasn't designed
with a rotary motion in mind. unfortunately this means that pressing your face against the
glass window while the lift is in transit will almost certainly result in it malfunctioning, and
on one rare occasion, once caused my early demise (in the game, not real life!). i have placed
player clip to try and restrain the player from the window but for some reason the player can
still push through it like treacle, so I ve added an appropriate warning sign as well. in fact, it's
probably best just to stand still and swivel around on the spot when the lift is moving, just to
be safe. it's important you don't cause the lift to malfunction otherwise the extending platform
triggers will mess up and you'll exit the lift with your feet supported only by air and may not
be able to continue the level, because the dome shape of the bottom of the lift shaft may
prevent you from reaching the ladder.
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----Additional Copyright babble----
You should not use this map as a base to build new levels.
Please, create new maps on your own from scratch!
Do not include this map in a mod, mappack, or any
release you call your own, without my permission. Do not
sell for profit.
Websites may distribute this file via electronic means only,
if the zombie_shuffle readme.txt and zombie_shuffle.pk4 file is included intact,
and unaltered.
