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Descent: Anniversary Edition Levels Contest Entry Form
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This level was created by Gustavo Hime
Feel free to send comments to the author at hime@centroin.com.br


 This is a anarchy level (single play capable - NOT
 COOPERATIVE CAPABLE!) fully disigned from scratch.     
 There are several interesting features in it, some of them never seen
 anywhere, which I will now call your attention to: cool environment, 
 hidden weaponry, exit track, starting room, balance between modem, 
 single player and net play, docking energy center, working exit
 corridor. For a more thorough description, read on: but beware, there
 are LOTS OF SPOILERS if you want the surprise.

 - Cool environment. The whole level is very cool to play, just 
   because of the environment. By this I mean it would still be cool 
   if all else stank.
   The maze of hex prismatic tubes and the octahedron dome are 
   specially great for dogfighting (as a matter of fact, I made those 
   turns in the maze so that they correspond to the ship's 
   maneuverability. It is possible to go through the maze with cruise
   100% without hitting any walls). The maze is small, but well built:
   you can get lost easily, but it wont be hard to find your way
   again. This can't be described, has to be seen. What CAN be
   described is: all textures have been carefully looked after, chosen
   and aligned, as well as lighting has been well made. No cheap thing.
   And, one last thing, I have designed those rooms in order to make
   them fast, not only cool. What good is a cool room if your frame
   rate drops below 0? It all runs reasonably well on a 486/66, and
   perfectly well on a 486/100 & above.

 - There is the following weaponry in the level:
                8 lasers
                2 quad laser
              * 1 vulcan
                6 vulcan ammo
                2 spreadfire cannons
                2 plasma cannons
                1 fusion cannon
                lots of concusion missiles
                16 homing missiles
                4 prox. bombs
                3 smart missiles
                2 mega missiles
              * 1 cloaking device        
                1 invulnerability

        *: not sure...

 - Most heavy weapons are well hidden (maybe Interplay should cut this 
            before distribution...)
       . The fusion cannon is behind a secret blow door.
       . The second plasma cannon is accessible only once the first has
         been picked up. To that end, the player must circle between the
         exit and the door with the tool figure REALLY fast, so he can
         enter it. This is time consuming, and leaves you rather 
         vulnerable. Once this cannon has been picked up, the door near 
         the exit will open and the other will be readily available for
         the other player. Question is, who has more patience? :)
       . The first mega missile is hidden under the lava, four homings 
         and the bombs are in another such niche. The second mega will be
         available only after the reactor is destroyed.
       . The smart missiles are tricky, you must blow the fusion door,
         enter the room with the plasma cannon and HURRY to the secret
         door that opens below the place of the fusion cannon.
             
 - If a player decides to blow up the reactor, he is probably either
   a bad loser (wants to finish the game once and for all) or a bad
   winner (wants to finish while he is winning). But... the reactor
   room entrance has been designed so you can't get out once you get
   in (at least not through the same door). The switch that opens the 
   door to the reactor room is as far as it can be, so that you will 
   cross the door just as it closes.
   When the player blows up the reactor, another door will open for 
   him, where he will find a special path to the exit, divided into 
   three segments: green, yellow and red. The green is fairly easy to 
   cross: its a long helicoid. At the end of it, there is a sharp turn
   leading to the yellow section, where he will have to be a good pilot
   to maneuver through the lava. The red section will work only in 
   robo-anarchy, there are some tons of monsters there, fairly
   difficult (at least for me) to get through without the mega
   missile, or without blowing them first through the see-through gate
   or without using the invulnerability hidden in the yellow section. 
   For the player that blows up the reactor, I believe it is possible 
   to cross this corridor in 30 seconds in standart anarchy (I myself 
   can manage that) and in 35 seconds in robo-anarchy and single   
   player.  The mega missile behind the see-through gate can be used 
   to kill the player coming from the corridor, but the robots will 
   come after anyone who tries.
   So, this exit track makes a great addition to both single and 
   anarchy playing.

 - The floating octahedron has eight doors, each one with a startpoint
   and two shield chargers inside. The door can only be shot open from
   inside, but they will all open when a major weapon is picked up, to
   make the shields available (this is more likely to be useful in net
   play, since there will be greater chances of a player beeing there 
   at the right moment. The fact that all start points are in the
   same room increases the hunting aspect and the chances of players
   finding each other in the level.

 - The level is for all single, modem and net play. Some may say there
   are too many weapons for two and/or two little for eight. 
   I like playing in both large and small places, with either lots or 
   few weapons. The level is goodly balanced for that, I think. The 
   weapon count is much like the Chaos levels' supplied with Descent.
   As for single player mode, note that the level has been designed 
   mainly for anarchy. The robots layout has been designed for 
   robo-anarchy; but I have added card-keys to make it single-playable, 
   and it has been proven to be very nice, much to my surprise, in 
   single player mode. If the jury is going to judge it only in one 
   aspect, judge it as a anarchy level, of course. (but I suggest you
   take a look at it in single player mode anyway, it is cool... :) ).

 - The energy center is very small, more like a energy beam, on top of
   the octahedron. This means the players will have to carefully DOCK
   their ships to reload, making them very vulnerable. It would be
   advisable to first attempt to lose your opponents in the maze, and
   then dock.

 - Finally, the exit corridor WORKS, and it has been designed by 
   myself (I haven't just stiched my level to a exit corridor suplied
   in Descent). It is very cool, too.

 - Here is a single player solve: go to the room below the dome and 
   get the blue card from the blue supervisor, near the vulcan cannon.
   Go to the door with the tool in the maze, and circle to and fro the
   exit to that location, until you eventually make it fast enough to
   get past the door and grab the yellow card. (the switch that
   opens the door is near the exit). Go past the yellow door on top
   of the maze and get the red key from the red supervisor. Go to the
   red door below the dome and cross the long corridor to the reactor.
   Blow it away and get the track that leads to the exit.



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  This special add-on level for Descent (the "Software") 
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