Tronyn, I could help you with the QC for this project if needed. I didn't read all of this thread but since I imagine the QC is a small job, I could probley handle it. 

I've just got the Barons to convert from Nehahra's Pascal-ish to straight QuakeC.

LONG POST WARNING

Also, I've just written a possible backstory, as well as settling on a nice set of textures. Here's some extracts:

(Note found on front door of Miskatonic University's Rare Books Building)

My name is Richard Knokkel, but my friends call me "Dick Knuckle." I gladly bear the joke, which is somewhat rude, as well as the nickname "Skippy", earned after a particularly humiliating period on the football field.

I have since abstained from "stiffening up" prior to any sporting performance.

* * *

I remember my first interview with Professor Birch, the head of the Rare Books Collection at the Miskatonic Library. This was in part due to having some difficulty finding the old house where the collection was housed, a significant distance from the main library proper. Security appeared to be peculiarly tight; the door was locked, and I had to identify myself to a suspicious fellow by passing my identity card through the letter-slot in the front door and peering into a security camera next to it. Once inside, the atmosphere remained one of distrust, until the Professor arrived at the front desk.

"Before you ask," he snapped (and I was to learn that the Professor always snapped,) "We moved the collection here, and keep under so much lock and key, because of theft... Why, we have here some volumes which are the very last of their kind! Can you imagine what a, er, collector, would stoop to in order to gain them for himself?"

* * *

The interview was successful, and I will leave it at that. My primary job was the moving and sorting of priceless volumes, and also, often wearing facemask and gloves, copying down some passage or other from the elderly, decaying volumes. It was not tiring work, and I enjoyed handling the books, and wondering on who had consulted them before in the past, and why.

One day, I found a note requesting an excerpt from a book I had never heard of. Confused, I asked the secretary at the front desk, a hard-faced man called Pym.

"What the blazes do you want that for?" he screeched at me, leaping out of his chair, face working in a passion. "How in God's name did you find out?"

"Find out what?" I spluttered, "Do we have it or not?"

"Have what?" Professor Birch asked from the top of the stairs, surrounded by his fellow researchers. Close-mouthed and suspicious, all of them.

"He's asking after- after-" Mr Pym's mouth worked silently, then croaked with fright, "the Arab's book."

* * *

"I told you we keep rare, valuable works here," [Birch] said quietly. "Some of them are... they... deal with occult themes. They are considered, among certain people, to be wisdom of great power. And they would do anything to get their hands on them... or the words contained therein."

And the Professor siezed a dart from a collection lying on his desk and threw it at a rather tattered picture of a young man that was pinned to a dartboard. "Bloody Lovecraft and his stupid tales!" he snarled, "Why couldn't the young fool have kept his mouth shut!"

* * *

Perhaps because of that damning note, I now paid more attention to the heavy vault-like door behind the front desk. I didn't have to be Sherlock Holmes to connect the ominous rattle-boom of that door to the appearance of certain titles on any requests.

About two months later, I received a phone call from Professor Birch, who in tense tones, told me that my services would not be required for the next two weeks. "We're, um, having to perform an, ah, rush job, so to speak, er, for a very important client," he stuttered, "Try not to take this wrong, but... consider this paid study leave. I'm trying not to be rude, but you'd just be in the way."

* * *

I remember that about the midpoint of my "study leave" there was a terrific freak electrical storm. I couldn't help noticing that a lot of lightning was striking about the University itself, particularly the library.

When I returned to the Rare Books Collection, I saw nothing unusual at first. My identity card let me in the front door, which is where I saw the symbol first.

It was a sort of five-pointed star, painted in yellow, with some sort of symbol in the middle: <||>, like an eye. I soon found that every window and external door in the building had these symbols painted nearby.

I was also alone. 

Thanks Vermuelen but I think Fat Controller's got it for this round.

That story sounds great. I guess we'll need a new texture with that symbol on it, for the library start map, heh.

I volunteer to do the start map; that is, unless someone else wants it. I envision it sort of like Scragbait's halloween map, a small-ish building/complex that you approach from the outside, probably using a mix of contract revoked and normal Quake textures.

I think the episode's finale should be a showdown with many monsters teleporting into the start map, and a large battle outdoors taking place during a lightning storm. 

Fat Controller is realy into this one. Are you going to shoot for a particular number of maps, the theme and objective to each map and then do the assignations? 

i like the idea of building a start map and then using it as the final map as well. The "circular" logic seems quite satisfying. :)

As far as i am aware, its never been done before either. 

I updated the site - Kells textures now available for download (the fileplanet mirror for his other textures might not be up yet). Also converted the shots to jpg and got rid of the old coe/contract shots.
Same url,
http://www.planetquake.com/tronyn/arcane

We really need to think of a name for this project. 

We will just get as many arcane maps in whatever variety of themes people want, and then that will be the amount of books in the library. Trying to get each person to do a particular book and have them all link together towards some goal is probably going to be too difficult; this is more a project where you make whatever map you want, then it goes in the project, rather than "you - make a canyon, you - make a castle, ending in a tower with the e1 rune, etc." 

And having a good time! :)

I've never done something contemporary before, heh heh. Lots of Kingpin wallpaper, worn carpets and things. Screenies coming as soon as I have something worth looking at (e.g. the main foyer.)

(And it's such a nice change from medieval...) 

It's not finished, obviously, but I think there's enough brushwork to get the feel of it.

http://www.planetquake.com/fatty/smile/fcarcane0.jpg

On the left, you can see my attempt at an Elder Sign on the floor. It may look spak, but that's what I get from bending Bezier curves before shrinking. 

Spunkable visuals -- Quake by the way of Max Payne. 

I just had a brainwave for the ground level layout of the tower! 

We really need to think of a name for this project.

What about simply Bookshelf project as a name? 

If we're using "magician" enemies, why not have them have multiple attacks? Nothing spectacular, but for example we could crush the acolyte/sorcerer/warlock into *one* class of monster that can use all three attacks. Or the Vore could have another attack or two (the fast firepod from Rapture might work). What do you guys think of this?

This way, the gameplay is more challenging than simple horde combat (though you could use hordes of powerful, multi-attack monsters for some real fun, heh).

Bookshelf isn't a bad title; something along those lines would probably work. Or there's always the option of naming it something Lovecraftian, I mean just some bizarre word or two. 

Technically speaking, the various wizards are one monster, so merging them could be easily done.

But that reminds me: the Acolyte's attack inflicted "disease" on you, so your health rotted down at intervals unless you found a full health or megahealth. Keep it in, or take it out?

For a pack title though, we could always nick Ramsey Campbell's Cold Print, or maybe just Old Print. 

i like "bookshelf".

because its different to olde/medieval typical quake 1 map names. 

I'd say take the "disease" out. In CoE it was a good way to add some relevance to the weakest of the three magician monsters; but in a pack as challenging as I intend this to be, it would probably get annoying that some little schmuck's knocking your health down bit by bit as you face off with barons and overlords ;) 

Libris Arcanum

Libris et Mortis 

to do what you're doing, Fat Controller; that is, research the map I'm going to make and plan it out ahead of time. It's going to be a lot like Rogue's "Towers of Wrath" thematically. I also want to do some texture editing for it, but I may need some help (every time I've tried this it has never quite worked out).

btw, your start map screenie loooks great. 

If anyone wants code help, count me in. FC - I have the source code to the Rapture Barons (since I made them and everything) so if you want it, it's yours. 

how about a map too, while you're at it? :) 

I have a lot of work on right now I can't commit to anything so big until the summer... 

It looks like I'll need to get FrikQCC before I can progress with the code; unfortunately, bloody 3Ddownloads always seems to have a wait of an hour or two. Damn and blast.

My tower map is starting to get its act together, except for requiring some readjustment of scale, I think.

There's another impediment too, but I'll let you guess :) 

Sorry man, I didn't think it would be so hard to get hold of... I've mirrored it on PQ for now:

http://www.planetquake.com/commandhq/Frikqcc27GUI.exe 

God only knows why the looong queue times. Must be that new "Far Cry" demo or something clogging up the pipes. 

You'll soon be converted to the goodness that is FrikQCC. Look! It even has a GUI!