Jaquaying the Quake Maps - Analysis of Quake 1 and 2 Maps (PART I)

Geophobia by Andrew 'than' Palmer

INTRODUCTION

I decided to conduct a little experiment. Since Jaquay had worked on Quake 2 maps, and that both Quake maps are heavily praised in their design (mostly), and I had found memory of the game back when it came out, I decided to analyse the maps from a dungeon making perspective. I will not tackle, for now, any mod/wad/exterior maps.

I could have spoken about other great design choices that have a link with D&D too, such as how monsters can fight between themselves, how traps and (some) secrets are telegraphed, how you can use the environmental hazard and traps against enemies, and how it's all about focusing on "exploring/figthing as action" and so on. But for now, I'll only speak about level design. Also, I might have chosen instead Doom 1/2/64 since the simpler and non-3D layout is more suited to D&D. I might do it later, under some other circumstances, but for now, it's Quake.

To do this, I determined some criteria, heavily influenced by what I had read personally about good map design and the Alexandrian series on Jaquaying the Dungeon. Before explaining my criteria, I just want to point out some obvious things:

• Both FPS games are linear by nature, except for the rare occurence of secret levels. Therefore, non-linearity per se will not be tackled. 
• Since they are FPS games, some elements are 100% dropped and will not make appearance in here, especially with regards to faction and all. 

For each criterias, I will vote them 0 or 1, a binary criteria. For the overall "feel" or appreciation, it will be /5 (because some maps, although not super complex, can still be fun in their own simple ways). 

Here are the criterias I decided to go with, with a small explanation. I understand some might seem arbitrary, but that's how it is: 

• Doom Rule (DR): Romero is said to have given the following general rule: if you can make your map in Doom, then it's a failed Quake map. By this, he meant that if you didn't take advantage of the Quake 3D engine (because no, Doom isn't "real" 3D), then it's not a good map. For the purpose of this exercices, I understand it as: if the map is all on a single plane (no use of real verticality, of stacking rooms, of undergrounds, etc.) then it's 0. This rule can also be understood as the Over/Under Rule. 
• Loops: Is there multiple ways to reach the same location, and is there moments when you go back to the same location (although sometimes changed, for example, through the use of over/underground). 
• Secrets/Unusual Paths: Are there secrets and unusual path that brings something to the level design. Here, I will not make use of the normal "hidden item" as a secret per se, because the game is "made" to have a bunch each level. I'm only going to be reviewing secrets that add something to the level itself such as: secret level, alternate path, gamechanging bonus (such as a Quad Damage in a room full of monsters or a quad damage before a teleport to a room of enemy that normally would be more difficult). It needs to add something to the level. 
• Elevations Shifts (ES): All maps have elevations, that's just how the 3D engine works. What I'll be looking for, is only for those that the elevation provide something, i.e. where it links different sections, can lead to loops or secrets, and so on. 
• Entry: I'll consider here if there are multiple entries into the same core section of a level OR if the level starts at a midpoint entry, i.e. it can go in multiple direction from the get-go. 
• Landmarks: Is there any easily recognizable landmarks to ease navigation or create foreshadowing, such as having the exit portal/door in view/right at the beginning but locked. It can also be the presence of a "hub"-like room, i.e. a room where you return to in different iteration of the map loop for multiple reasons. 
• Atmospheric Tools (AT): Here I'll take note of all kinds of use of contrast (light/dark, cramped/open areas, above/under ground), texture changes between areas/elevations, isolation, etc. This one will be heavily subjective. 
• Environmental Interactions (EI): Switch and all yes, but also clever use of traps, area changes, teleporters, chute, windows, collapsed passages, bridges and so on. 
• Intuitiveness: I don't mean simplicity here. Rather, I mean can you see/understand what happened when you flip a switch? Can you get to where you can see? Can you move naturally between areas without too much backtracking? Anything that deals with flow and navigation. 
• Single Room Architecture (SRA): This is a catch-all for all other "room only" considerations, such as compact spaces with overlaps, composed chambers (multiple paths from the same room), texture or light highlight, waves of monster through hidden compartment, and so on. In other words, was there a "wow" factor included regarding room design instead of general level design.  
• Personal Appreciation (PA): /5. 

In total therefore, each map will be ranked on 15. Just to clarify, it's not a matter of a "passing grade X/15". Any map that has 5-7 or more is a solid map IMO becaue it can showcase multiple good level design choice (and be fun).

My methodology was to play the map myself, and then put some playthrough/speedrun on repeat while taking down notes. I have not commented each point for each map outside of the score because it would be too tedious. If something was worth it, I commented in the commentary section of each of them.

I will divide the series in two parts: one for this introduction and Quake 1, and the other for Quake 2 and the conclusion. 

QUAKE 1 ANALYSIS

If you don't really know anything about Quake, you can find the map blueprint for Quake 1 here.

Serial	Episode Serial	Map Name	Map Designer	DR	Loop	Secret	ES	Entry	Landmark	AT	EI	Intuit	SRA	PA	Total	Commentary	Overall Best
1	e1m1	The Slipgate Complex	John Romero	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	0	4	10	Because of the biosuit secrets, I added the ES point. Overall it's a solid first map to showcase the core mechanic of the game and the fact that there are a bunch of secrets in this game.
2	e1m2	Castle of the Damned	Tim Willits	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	1	5	13	Easily one of my favorite map. It's not a difficult or big one, but everything is tight and good. *Entry: If you count the secret, you can effectively go two different direction in the first room.
3	e1m3	The Necropolis	Tim Willits	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	5	12	Solid overall map. Because you can switch between different section of the map to get the gold key by jumping down, it's a very nice map with verticality.
4	e1m4	The Grisly Grotto	Tim Willits	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	4	14	Very nice level with some solid loops, different elevations because of the water section and overall good progression. It feels like a mini world in itself.
5	e1m5	Gloom Keep	Tim Willits	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	4	13	Although the map is awesome, somtimes I felt the map was a little bit less intuitive than others. It also had less contrast in textures and overall feel. Still a solid map with very cool navigations and secrets.
6	e1m6	The Door to Chthon	American McGee	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	7	For the intuit point it's difficult. On the plus side, in some places, it tells you the way (literally through a text message) to go. And there are some teleporters that open when you get a key to get back faster to the action (i.e. the closed door). But on the other end, I feel this is just lazy and there are some paths that are so full of traps that it's "unintuitive" to go there. It's not that I'm not a fan of traps or difficulty, but I didn't liked the implementation of those, especially since my last playthrough of Quake is from long ago and I didn't remembered all those "gotchas!". Also the level has no contrasts: only cramped space (or almost), all the same textures, lava all over the place, etc. Elevation is not really used even if it's there. Also it woulnd't pass the doom rule if not for the failing trap and the secret, which in Doom could have been implemented using teleportation anyway. Not impressed with this one.
7	e1m7	The House of Chthon	American McGee	Boss Fight												Boss fight, nothing to say really. It's not an exciting fight but I'm not going to judge that. Boss fight should have been more akin to Duke Nukem instead of the two boss fight in this game (i.e. big but impressive bullet sponge).
8	e1m8	Ziggurat Vertigo	American McGee	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	3	11	Weird secret level because of the gravity thing, but it's still a fun level with LOTS of verticality because of the gravity. I added Secret because of the lava quad damage that makes a huge difference (especially on nightmare) and open a new path.
9	e2m1	The Installation	John Romero	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	5	14	Easily one of the best map overall in terms of map design. Although it might not check everything, it's extremely solid in execution. In layout it almost looks like a Doom map (with classic diagonal paths in the middle of water and so on), but in execution it's all Quake making full use of 3D space level design.You could even argue that the closed doors are kind of "landmarky" and give it 15/15.	X
10	e2m2	The Ogre Citadel	John Romero	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	0	3	9	Simpler level with a nice gothic theme and some loop/elevation/bridge thing going on, not much to say.
11	e2m3	The Crypt of Decay	John Romero	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	4	12	Two very good thing with this one. First, the loops go bigger and bigger as you get used to the layout of the level. That is, the "extending bridge" feature build on top of previously extended bridge, create a very nice flow of exploration and backtracking. Second, when you pull switch, you directly see the effect through a window (and for the secret, a lazy message but whatever). Very nice touch.
12	e2m4	The Ebon Fortress	John Romero	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	3	9	A nice enough level with some different mechanics, such as moving plateform. But personally nothing that really stand out.
13	e2m5	The Wizard's Manse	John Romero	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	10	There was a very nice elevation work in here, with multiple layers of map, stairs, elevators, underwater work, etc. It is overall a tough and memorable map.
14	e2m6	The Dismal Oubliette	John Romero	1	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	4	12	The elevator trap/challenge with the vore at the end is a tough one that's worth it. Lots of small loop, a main hub section. What's not to love?
15	e2m7	The Underearth	Tim Willits	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	4	12	Weird level considering it's a secret level that offers no new weapon or bonus, should have been a real level. None the less the looping and overall level is awesome.
16	e3m1	Termination Central	John Romero	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	4	9	Very straightforward but good level.
17	e3m2	The Vaults of Zin	American McGee	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	6	I check my table after playing a map, and I KNEW it was McGee: unavoidable/non-telegraphed traps ("gotcha!"), Serious Sam type encounter (i.e. clear the room before moving on), lava world, boring layout, lack of health/ammo, a useless message to show the way to go, lazy teleporter spam, etc. Like his other maps, it barely passes the Doom Rule. Although to be fair to this one, the redeeming factor in this one with regard to Doom Rule is actually a nice room since you revisit it at different height to get the key and all.
18	e3m3	The Tomb of Terror	American McGee	1	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	3	9	More of the same but a little bit better, but I do get tired quickly of his tropes and I find McGee's map the worst for now. This one at least had a very nice layout and a good use of 3D space.
19	e3m4	Satan's Dark Delight	American McGee	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	5	One of the worst map of the game: McGee's tropes, long slow boring plateforming. Inintuitive. Multiple "action stopper" such as said plateforming. Cool thing is that you can crush enemies with a switch and some room are interesting in layout.
20	e3m5	The Wind Tunnels	Tim Willits	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	3	8	The wind tunnels themselves are junk to be honest. They create all sorts of bizarre situation (such as me getting killed mid-air before even landing because of two fiends jump). I understand they are a great 3D achievement, but boy they aren't fun. If you mentally replace them by some sort of teleporters, the level is much better. It has some very nice loop and an okayish layout. Probably the weakest from Willits in the game, but still not too bad.
21	e3m6	Chambers of Torment	American McGee & Tim Willits	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	3	10	I had high hope for this one because I checked the name in advance this time and I saw that Willits might have been able to "check" McGee wonkey idea to put them to good use. I was not dissapointed in that manner: it is better focused. The map is better laid out with less gotcha (although not without any). It has a better pacing and more contrast and overall work. Loops are less focused on teleporters and more on paths, which is much better. As a counterpoint, there is less use of the 3D environment and verticality.
22	e3m7	The Haunted Halls	American McGee	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	7	More of the same from this McGee episode.
23	e4m1	The Sewage System	Tim Willits	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	3	9	It's like the wind tunnel, but less janky. Good overall.
24	e4m2	The Tower of Despair	Sandy Petersen	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	3	8	Weak layout (deus ex teleporter), gotchas, strange loops, very high difficulty spike. Not a bad level per se, but it felt... weird?
25	e4m3	The Elder God Shrine	Sandy Petersen	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	3	7	Huge difficulty spike again with weird design choices (infinite respawn ghost monsters). In terms of level design, it feels creative but crude. Most loops feel forced. Petersen's level feels empty and drab in terms of how he uses space and contrasts.
26	e4m4	The Palace of Hate	Sandy Petersen	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	Phew. This level felt stretched and unispired. I don't know exactly why, but everything was samey, there was a load of monsters, few ammo, etc. I didn't enjoy it at all. Also, weirdly, it's the only level in my whole playthrough were I had bugs, and it was due to enemy placement (for example, monsters clipping through wall and such). A drag. Also, I might be wrong but outside of 1-2 overhead bridge that are useless since they don't operate per se as loop (you don't need to use it), it doesn't really check the Doom Rule. But since there are those bridges I still gave the point, although relunctantly. One cool thing is that if you perform the jump with the grenade launcher you can get a secret area that loop you back to the door after you just get the key. It's just too sad that it's not really a secret since it's literally in your face but oh well.
27	e4m5	Hell's Atrium	Sandy Petersen	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	3	10	Easily the best of Petersen. Much more dynamic in its layout with multiple places to go, you can skip a chunk of the level if you so wish, some interesting exploration elements, and so on.
28	e4m6	The Pain Maze	Sandy Petersen	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	7	Horrible level to play because of the abondance of spawn and gotchas, but in general the layout was very good.
29	e4m7	Azure Agony	Sandy Petersen	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	1	2	9	Unremarkable. At this point I was beginning to get tired of this episode. It had no creativity and brings no "fun" (at least to me). This map was still of little bit higher creativity. At least some of the room were much better in terms of their layout, interesting feature, constrasts, etc. It felt more "alive" and dynamic.
30	e4m8	The Nameless City	Sandy Petersen	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	2	8	Seemed less painful (less spawn?). Some portion used a little bit of elevation shift.
31	end	Shub-Niggurath's Pit	John Romero	Everybody knows the dissapointment

Overall

Good maps in a solid 3D environment really gives life to concepts such as loops and verticality. This experiment really helped me see that. I don't know how much can be ported to TTRPG with a mapper, because here the concepts are put in place to keep the action/pace moving forward. In TTRPG I sometimes feel the Jaquaying technique are used mostly to confuse the players and/or offer multiple paths and therefore player agency. For example, they are not meant for players to come back faster to an area to unlock a door where they just picked up a key like it would be in Quake. This begs the question: how can you do a Quake dungeon in old school D&D? This will have to be talked in elsewhere, either by me or someone else. But I feel it would look more like a Dark Souls map than a classic D&D map with 15 empty room per level.

Per Designer

If you take a look, John Romero's map either have the highest or among the middle/half score. But in reality there were the most enjoyable one no matter the score. Therefore it seems to me that I missed one or more important factors to denote in my analysis that would probably have been there in all of his maps. One thing for sure is that generally, whatever he does, in terms of Loops/Doom Rule/Interactions/etc., he does it well. He did the best map IMO (e2m1), and his maps feel the best because everything is "right in place". 

Tim Willits maps are the most "solid" overall and are in general the better "designed" with a constant quality to them. It was a shock to me since I knew nothing of the man, compared to other names that are known well in the industry and previous ID Software games (Romero, McGee, Petersen).

In the comments, it might seem like I diss a lot what McGee did, but in reality I just feel that his creavity (his map are creative, let's give him that) is not focused enough and it feels sometimes disjointed or completely out of place with the overall aim and action/pace of the game.

Petersen was a huge dissapointment. I didn't remembered his maps and now I know why: they feel weak, have weird (in the bad sense) layout, are static and void of interest, with only "gotchas!" (which I am not a fan of) as any kind of "surprise". They look more like bad mod/wad than actual maps. I know that for Doom, Romero had a moto of playtesting the same map over and over up to hundreds of time to make sure they were fine tuned. I'm willing to bet 20$ that nobody playtested Petersen's map a hundred time. On the other end, although he does not use enough design tools enough to my liking such as contrast, he has the most unique atmosphere and decorations. Some of his map weirdly feels empty, as if it didn't want to use them enough or all the time? Can't say. Also, the maze-like pattern of his maps are... different. Can't say it's better or worse, but personally I didn't like it since it was cutting to the action and making everything felt less intuitive. Maybe it's more like a D&D map? Who knows. I'd need to compare with his work on Doom and Doom II, since I love about all maps in both of those games. Maybe it was the transition to 3D? In any cases, by his own admission, his map were less "aesthetically pleasing".