Possible flow of episode:

M1 Base map (as per id convention) ->
M2 polluting into a swamp map ->
M3 entering into a ruins map ->
M4 which enters a lost "lovecraftian" city ->
M5 which has a maze like cultist church ->
M6 that has a boss battle.
Secret map -> whatever really.

The focus would be on vanilla style gameplay and a vanilla aesthetic. Custom textures would be allowed and encouraged but they must be original creations. Looking for 6 to 7 mappers, doing one map each. One map will be a secret map.

The duration of the jam will be longer so that mappers have time to make additional textures and so that the gameplay can be super polished. The level of detail should be vanilla or slightly higher.

Restrictions:

- No coloured lights, fog, or fancy skyboxes
- Quake map protocol
- Textures must adhere to the original palette
- id1 progs (next time AD jam, sorry sock)

I'm open to a different episode flow if you have good ideas and a good argument.

Who is up for it? 

I'd certainly be interested in seeing it, but I don't know if I'd have the time to participate or not right now. 

Is skaarj-like AI for a boss enforcer or Knight doable in Quake? Can dodge player weapons, and move and fire at the same time? 

Cool, but what id someone fail to finish his map and whole Episode flow will be rekt? 

then the map would be replaced or they would offer their mapsource for somebody else to finish.

the pack wouldn't be released until it was finished. 

Especially swamp into ruins.

However I would say that fog, coloured lighting, and skyboxes should be obligatory rather than forbidden, because they can definitely enhance such themes, and mappers are generally using them really well at the moment. 

I can be flexible with that if enough people want it, I'm pretty firm with it being vanilla compatible though.

Hmm... What I might do is ask that the mappers to release a version alongside that is known to work in dosquake. 

Is a cool idea, however I see some potential issues :

1) People will fight over who gets to map what. IE everyone will want to do the Lovecraftian ruins map cos that's fucking cool. I suggest you simply set an order of progression and let the mappers decide the styles.

2) Silly restrictions. Standard Quake bsp format is fine, but no coloured lighting or fog/skyboxes is a unnecessary restriction. Those features enhance atmosphere.

3) Longer deadlines are a double edged sword. Too long and people lose interest and/or get lazy. 2/3 weeks seems to be the sweet spot??

4) You will need to pre-plan weapon progression so that authors know what kit the player has when entering their level. 

As far as I'm concerned if I get the interest and announce the jam, then whoever gets in first can pick their map.

I'll drop the silly restrictions, I'll keep the map format and indexed textures as-is though.

I want the maps to be polished, there will be a target release date, and I want to see the jam as a collaboration. I expect betas to be shared and tested amongst the participants. The weapon load out will be discussed and tweaked during this period.

I am loathe to enforce a strict deadline. If need be see this not as a jam, but as a collaborative project. 

Yeah, weapon progression is the biggest problem imo.
1-3 are easily solvable. 

I'd be interested to see the jam be a thing but I wouldn't be participating myself.

But to clarify, you can use just vanilla textures if desired? The whole time allotted to creating custom textures thing seems weird to me considering how adamant you are about keeping it vanilla fresh. 

yeah, you can use vanilla textures.

The original episodes each had a unique feel about them.

The reason why I want to incorporate some additional textures is to add a point of difference.

I want it to have a "this could have been an unreleased or forgotten id map" kinda vibe to it, rather than "gee this feels like episode 2". 

No coloured lights, fog, or fancy skyboxes
All these options enhance and add to the atmosphere of a map. Not sure why you would take away the fun parts of the map creation process.

Quake map protocol
Why? Most people use modern clients and computers, we are not in 1996 anymore. Restricting protocol will not make people map faster or complete their map to higher quality.

id1 progs (next time AD jam, sorry sock)
I assume you will wanting to do something different with Chthon this time as you seem to be mirroring the style of episode 1. Also WTF no Triple Barrel Shotgun!?! Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! :P

If you want to place restrictions to help people finish stuff quicker and not create large maps or monster death marches then restrict size and monster counts. Aim for each map being 15mins of gameplay with 3-4 secrets at most.

Bear in mind that Id has made Episode 1 already, you don't want to make it again by enforcing 1996 restrictions. Let people explore the theme, create new parts and not simply repaint the E1 map source layouts!

Decide on weapon progression early (including secret stash), which monsters appear in what maps and try to agree on skill levels and what they mean for each map. 

I still would like to use my colored lights tho. 

I would like to build an Id1+ map at some point, and what a way to continue 2017 for quake, a fan-made episode :) I'll have my eyes on this thread 

Make it work like Doom? As in have every map be shotgun-started, but obviously have the shotgun-start be the harder route while the keeping weapons from the previous episode route be the "easiest". This is what I'm doing with Schlossherr (which I plan to go back once I'm done with my QUMP contribution). 

Great idea :) 

I think its important that all maps as part of an episode should be designed with a Shotgun Start in mind as a standard, regardless what weapons the previous level offers - or at the very least keep those in mind and not worry too much about bumping up the challenge whatever players choose to do.

I always start from a clean slate once the next level boots up, it keeps thing interesting and should allows mappers to tailor gameplay to their level as they see fit for those who choose to take this approach.

Sadly these details could be missed out on but find it's preferable to have that option available. Reminds me of a Doom episode still fresh on my mind, "Going Down", where some levels (ex MAP03, MAP15, MAP18, etc) can lose their unique flavour when carrying over weapons often reducing the tension or challenge.

... that's my 2 pence 

All maps should be finish-able with a shotgun start but I wouldnt delete all weapons on each map start on an episode unless you're doing a hub style start map as in AD. 

but instead how about "AD Like Id Did" and do a 'what if id had made AD'?

You could have all the cool functions of AD but try to make it still feel like those classic 90's maps?

I dunno, just a brain fart. 

I like that brain fart. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRMpNA86e8Q 

neat!

@otp, go play with your guinea pig. or sth. 

so do we have any buy-in for the jam? or am I just mapping this thing in solitude? 

I'm currently making small runic/catacomb map, trying to make it like id would have made it (when using TB). Is this episode going to a thing or not? I'm not using mods, just vanilla quake.