I figure I may as well give you the run down on exactly what has been altered so far for phase II of the project. I hope this will also give you an idea of how much more work needs to be done before phase II is finished.

Episode I (Chex Quest levels):

E1M1 (Landing Zone)

• Bases and crowns have been built out on most of the walls of the landing bays, using a combination of regular sectors and Legacy's 3D sectors. Some new textures were created in order to get these to look right.
• The largest bay, now known as Bay 1, has been altered on its west side in order to accommodate the fact that it is lower than the surrounding buildings. The west wall has been made taller, to match the height of the adjoining building, and outer walls of this building have been added. This keeps the building from being bigger on the inside than on the outside, and alleviates the problem this section has with Legacy's ceiling bug. (info on the ceiling bug provided on request)
• Work on Bay 1 has finally been completed.
• This level now ends with a teleporter, which leads to the storage area (E1M2)
• Bases and crowns have not yet been built out inside hangars.
• Hangar doors now have individual identifications (hangars 1A, 1B, 2A, 3A)
• New textures for the doors between Bay 1 and Bay 2 have been created, based on the existing hanger door textures.
• A new flat was created for the undersides of the 3D sectors used for building up the crowns of the walls. Looks much better.
• The "red carpet" flat used in the bays (and in E2M2) has been fixed up so that it tiles better. The yellowish shades towards the edges of the flat have been eliminated, so it no longer looks "mouldy" and faded.
• All lights within the Nutritional Centre (blue area) have been extruded down from the ceiling, giving them a more 3D look. Some new versions of the flat for these lights had to be made in order to get them to line up properly with the edges of the lights.
• The crowns and bases have been built out on the columns in the blue room, but not on the walls of the room itself.
• The flats for the Galactic Federation Of Cereals seal and the sectors containing them were altered in order to eliminate the blue cross that appears in the middle of the seal in opengl mode.
• All the flag poles now have bases.
• The observation deck overlooking Bay 1 from the nutritional centre has now been built out into a semicircular structure, which is better for looking out into the bay.  The size of the window has been increased as well.
• UPDATE:  Difficulty levels have been implemented.
• PLANNED: The bases and crown inside the hangars will have to be built out as in the rest of the level.

E1M2 (Storage Facility)

• Player start position has been moved back into the room where it was in the original version of Chex Quest. The player now starts on an inactive (dead) teleporter pad as a point of continuity (Presumably, he teleported from E1M1). The teleporter is dead, so he can not chicken out and try to teleport back.
• The Storage Facility signs on the walls of the start room have been restored.
• All teleporters have been extensively redetailed. This is the only level that has had the detailing done to the teleporters so far.
• Heretic style teleporter glitter has been added to the teleporter pads on this level, and all other levels with teleporters.
• New flats have been created for the tops of the crates, based on the textures used for the sides of the crates.
• The flats making up the Digital Café logo and the sectors containing them have been altered to eliminate the black cross that appears in the middle of the logo in opengl mode. The light above the logo has been extruded down to give it a 3D look.
• The teleport line in the start room has been removed. (This line was put there in the Scifience version of CQ)
• No further alterations to the look of this level are planned at this time. I believe the original look given to it is quite effective.
• UPDATE:  Difficulty levels have been implemented.

E1M3 (Laboratory)

• Extensive work was done to fix the texture alignment, particularly on the large steel plate textures. Additional steel plate textures with narrower widths were created to help with this process.
• The "bathtub" in one of the rooms has been altered such that it contains Legacy's 3D water effect. New flats and textures were created for the "bathtub".
• Various cabinets and shelves have been built out from the walls using Legacy's 3D sectors.
• The round room the player teleports into when going south through the blue keyed door has been made into a perfect circle.
• The stone benches in the round room have been converted into tables, using a combination of regular sectors, invisible sectors, and 3D sectors.
• Stone benches in the room just north of the first door have also been converted into tables.
• A wall that was altered in the Scifience Studios of this level has been restored to its original outline.
• The flasks no longer have glowing stoppers.
• The Bunsen burners are no longer transparent, except for the bubbling liquid inside the beakers. The flame of the Bunsen burners now casts light.
• The texture around the edges of the slime pool has been fixed so that it matches the rest of the room.
• New 128 × 128 flats have been created, based on the steel wall textures, to match with said wall textures, and improve the look of the steel plate motif areas of this level.
• UPDATE:  Several of the doors on this level have been replaced with new versions with more 3 dimentional appearing door jams.
• UPDATE:  Difficulty levels have been implemented.
• PLANNED: Any other items on the walls that can be built out, will be built out.
• PLANNED: Desks and computers will be added to the round room to the south.
• PLANNED: The existing light ceiling flat used in many of the rooms on this level may be eliminated, and replaced with more natural looking lights built at ceiling level. Some lights may be thing based.
• PLANNED: An exit to the secret level may be hidden in this level at some point.

E1M4 (Arboretum)

• The main arboretum area on the north end of the map has been changed to look more like a greenhouse.  Translucent textures, and a translucent 3D floor are used to simulate the glass.
• The pond in the main arboretum now contains 3D water.  It is now edged with tile, and multiple sectors within it give the impression of a sloping bottom.  Since the pond is supposed to be an artificial construct, I have kept the original geometric shape.
• Water lilies have been added to the pond.
• The earthen areas around some trees in the room to the east of the main arboretum have been edged with tile.
• Ceiling flats throughout the level have been changed to better match the walls.
• The alignment of the textures on the walls in the grapevine maze have been fixed. A second layer of lines with the transparent grape vine textures has been added around the walls to give a greater impression of foliage depth.
• The room at the top of the lift has been converted into a greenhouse.
• UPDATE:  Several of the doors on this level have been replaced with new versions with more 3 dimentional appearing door jams
• UPDATE:  Difficulty levels have been implemented.
• PLANNED: The large hydroponics tanks in the hydroponics lab, which are currently just textures, will be rebuilt as 3D structures, including the inclusion of the 3D water effect.
• PLANNED: The pool in the hydroponics lab will be redone as a 3D water version.

E1M5 (Caverns of Bazoik)

• Extensive texture realignment in many areas.
• The Flembrane has been removed from the level. This is because the Flembrane is intended to become the main boss at the end of the episode on E1M8 when it is created.
• The thing based hostages at the end of this level have been removed, and replaced with texture based clones. This was done because the things used cast light in Legacy's opengl mode, and also because it frees up the things for use as different object on other levels.
• A series of slime pillars has been added as a substitute for the Flembrane.  They serve the same basic purpose, as a barrier that has to be shot away before the player can rescue the hostages.
• The monster caches now work correctly.
• UPDATE:  Difficulty levels have been implemented.
• PLANNED: Detailing will be done on the level to make the walls of the level appear less blocky.
• PLANNED: The rivers of slime will be altered to improve their appearance.

Levels E1M6, E1M7, E1M8, & E1M9 will be created as part of phase III. Until then, the regular DooM levels will appear there. The DooM levels are not part of the Ultimate Chex Quest story line, so just ignore them for now.
As of Phase II beta 2, levels E1M6, E1M7, and E1M9 have been replaced with dummy levels that will automatically warp to level E1M8. Level E1M8 will then automatically end the episode. This is to address the problem of the presence of DooM levels, and any violent imagery they contain. These levels will eventually be replaced in phase III.

Episode II (Chex Quest 2 levels):

E2M1 (Spaceport)

• The thing based stools in the diner have been replaced with 3D stools built from a combination of regular and 3D sectors. New textures and flats were created for these stools.
• The 8' thick walls of the diner were thinned down, and booth seating was added where the extra thickness used to be.
• 3D sectors were used to enhance the diner's countertop, and create tables for the booths.
• New flats and textures were created for the diner.
• Large banks of windows were added to the south and west sides of the diner. The windows use a translucent texture to simulate glass. An invisible sector is hidden inside each window, and will be used to simulated the breaking of the glass at a future date.
• A box of Rice Chex now sits on the counter of the diner.
• The secret entrance to the area with the red key has been altered so that it no longer reveals its edges in opengl mode.
• The storage cabinet and the bookshelves on this level have been built out from the walls using 3D sectors.
• Outer walls for the ending area, now identified as Hangar 12 have been added. This is due to the fact that this building was taller on the inside than the outside in its existing incarnation, which is really bad design, and causes Legacy's ceiling bug to show up.
• A huge open area was created around much of the level, with a large control tower (no textures for it yet) in its centre. I figured a large spaceport should have a control tower. Another large building was added to this area for decorative purposes.
• Large steel posts and beams were added to the larger hangar at the east end of the map to add some much needed internal structure. I've never seen a photo of the inside of a hangar that didn't have posts, beams, and trusses everywhere, and the inside of this hangar was so boringly plain that something had to be done.
• A corrugated steel texture and a corrugated steel flat were created to dress up the hangars on this level.
• UPDATE:  Changes have been made to Hangar 12 at the west end of the map to make it rounder, and improvements have been made to texture alignment.
• UPDATE:  Two of the doors leading to the large hanger at the east end of the map have been detailed to include improved door jams.
• UPDATE:  New textures have been created for the two large doors at the east end of the map to give them the apearance of single large doors, instead of pairs of doors stuck together.
• UPDATE:  Difficulty levels have been implemented.
• PLANNED: More detailing of the hangars.
• PLANNED: A landing pad where the player landed after returning from episode I. It may become the new starting point for the level.
• PLANNED: More fake buildings around the edges of the map to give the it a more citified look.
• PLANNED: New textures, flats, and detailing for the outside of the diner, the sidewalks, and the building with the red key in it.
• PLANNED: Making that darned street look like it is part of a network of streets, and not just an isolated bit of asphalt in the middle of nowhere!

E2M2 (Cinema)

This level has had no alterations made to it yet, even though it is probably the worst level of all the original levels, and needs massive reworking.
At present, I am planning to eliminate this level, and replace it with another level with the same theme.

E2M3 (Chex Museum)

• Barriers have been built around the dinosaurs.
• The statues have been put on pedestals (spelling error).
• The outside courtyard areas have been extensively reworked in order to allow the new outer walls of the museum to be seen. No textures have been created yet, but the outer walls are intended to give the look of a 19th century museum building with a large cornice.
• The bases and crowns of the courtyard areas have been built out with a combination of regular and 3D sectors.
• A long boulevard, which curves away so I don't have to build more of it than I have to , has been added in front of the museum to help explain how the heck the player got here in the first place.
• A locked gate constructed of regular and 3D sectors stands between the player and his only escape route.
• Sconced wall lamps have been added to the covered parts of the courtyard areas, and to the stairway leading up into the museum.
• The claustrophobically low ceilings in the stairways have been raised
• A couple of new flats have been created to help eliminate the awful red flat used on many of the ceilings in this level.
• PLANNED: More statues and other exhibits in the museum.
• PLANNED: Replacing the ship in the upper gallery of the museum with a dinosaur.
• PLANNED: Altering the walls of the hedge maze so that they look more like hedges, rather than just walls with leaves painted on.
• PLANNED: Altering the outer walls of the hedge maze to give the appearance of being an outdoor area.
• PLANNED: Difficulty levels will be implemented for this level eventually.

E2M4 (City Streets)

• Two types of door that were accidentally eliminated during Phase I have been restored.
• UPDATE:  Several of the doors on this level have been replaced with new versions with more 3 dimentional appearing door jams
• UPDATE:  Difficulty levels have been implemented.

E2M5 (Sewer System)

• 3D water, albeit only a few pixels deep, has been added to all watery sectors.
• The door texture for this level, which was accidentally removed during Phase I has been restored.
• The doors on this level have been thinned down to a more reasonable proportion.
• Numerous sectors with identical characteristic have been merged together, and any extraneous lines and vertices have been removed.
• Extensive texture realignment has been done throughout this level. The textures on secret doors have intentionally been left missaligned as a subtle hint to their existence.
• An existing "wall" that was really a 2 sided line has been replaced with an actual wall, so that flemoids can no longer shoot at the player through this wall.
• The teleport platform at the end of this level has had teleport glitter added to it, and has had the "block monsters" flag set to keep flemoids from teleporting into the final room.
• UPDATE:  Three of the doors on this level have been replaced with new versions with more 3 dimentional appearing door jams
• UPDATE:  The final arena on this level has been reconstructed to make it rounder, and to make the size and positioning of the stairs consistant with each other.
• UPDATE:  A series of 36 flats, most of the 256 x 256, have been created to allow the floor on the upper deck and stairs to match the contours of the final arena and its stairs
• UPDATE:  A railing has been added to the upper deck of final arena.
• UPDATE:  New textures have been added to match with the new flats mentioned above, and for the posts for the railing.
• UPDATE:  The tunnel leading to the final arena has been reconstructed.
• UPDATE:  The trap doors that spring open to reveal groups of bipedici in the maze behind the yellow door have been fixed so that they will only spring open when the player trips them.  This was done to stop the larva in the maze to stop opening and closing them all the time.
• PLANNED: Difficulty levels will be implemented for this level eventually.

Levels E2M6, E2M7, E2M8, & E2M9 will be created as part of phase III. Until then, the regular DooM levels will appear there. The DooM levels are not part of the Ultimate Chex Quest story line, so just ignore them for now.
As of Phase II beta 2, levels E2M6, E2M7, and E2M9 have been replaced with dummy levels that will automatically warp to level E2M8. Level E2M8 will then automatically end the episode. This is to address the problem of the presence of DooM levels, and any violent imagery they contain. These levels will eventually be replaced in phase III.

There are no levels for episodes III and IV, just the existing DooM levels. Don't complain to me about these levels, They are not part of TUCQ.
As of Phase II beta 2, levels E2M6, E2M7, and E2M9 have been replaced with dummy levels that will automatically warp to level E2M8. Level E2M8 will then automatically end the episode. This is to address the problem of the presence of DooM levels, and any violent imagery they contain. These levels will eventually be replaced in phase III.

Other Changes:

• Using fraggle script, I have been able to change the colours of the light emitted by the player's projectile weapons to match the red colour of the zorch. I have also changed the colour emitted by the teleporter flash. These changes may or may not appear in any beta releases I make (assuming I decide to do any beta releases), because rebuilding the wad file, which I do every time I make changes, deletes the scripting, which then has to be readded. This is kind of time consuming, and so the scripts may be left out in the case of betas.
• The end pic used at the completion of episode I has been changed. It now uses an altered version of a still from the original end movie, that matches the continuity of the new story line. It shows the Chex Guy landing with his ship at the spaceport in Chex City with a flemoid lurking in the foreground.
• Also using scripting, I have changed the graphic displayed at the end of E2M1 to an altered version of the Chex Quest 2 splash screen (The Chex Quest 2 logo has been painted out). Like the projectile colours, this may not appears in the betas.
• I have created two rescuable hostages, that can be rescued by zorching away the slime that is holding them in place. The first one is complete. He is another Chex Guy (without any weapon), who says "Thanks Buddy!" when freed, then proceeds to follow the player around. The second hostage is a corn pop guy. He also says "Thanks Buddy!", but does not follow the player yet, since I have not created a walking sequence for him yet. The sprites for both of these hostages are based on existing CQ sprites (Remember the hostages in the cave?). Other hostages will probably be created as well. These will give the player something more to do than just shooting flemoids in the later levels of ep1, and could be sprinkled throughout other levels of the game.  UPDATE:  The hostages have been temporarily removed.  I intend to reinsert them again as different things at a future date.
• I have also extracted a number of pics from the original end movie. I may use these, possibly in altered form, along with pics I will have to draw myself, to help in adding bits of story line to the game.
• The sprites for the cycloptis have been used to create a new flemoid.  The "flemoidus cycloptis tenacious" is identical in appearance to the regular cycloptis, but can fly, not just hover, and attacks with a three snot ball spread.  FCT is a very tough opponent.
• The snot balls fired by flemoidus bipedicus with armour, and flemoidus cycloptis tenacious are now opaque, as they were in the original game. (I never liked the transparent versions.)
• The snot balls fired by the flembrane and flemoidus maximus are now opaque, as they were in the original game. They also shed snot droplets as they travel.  In addition, I am currently working on an improved set of sprites for them.
• The water splash has been switched over to using the frames for the Heretic water splash, thereby making it opaque, and giving it seven frames instead of just the three used by Legacy.  I am currently working on a new set of sprites for the water splash.
•  A new glowing light shaft effect has been added to all teleporters in openGL mode.
• The snot particles that are knocked off the flemoids, and the player, when they are hit have been adjusted. The final sprite in the sequence has been changed to resemble a small pool of slime, and the sprite offsets have been fixed so that the snot does not disappear into the floor in openGL mode. When combined with Legacy's blood time setting, flemoids will leave tiny slime puddles when they are hit.  These slime puddles will disappear after the amount of time specified by the blood time setting has elapsed.
• UPDATE:  A large number of textures have been renamed with more logical names, in order to make it easier for modders to make levels for T.U.C.Q..  The old versions have been covered with the words “Change me” to identify them and allow modders to convert levels using the older texture names over to the new textures.

This should be a fairly complete list of all the changes I have made so far. I will try to update it from time to time as work continues.
 
 
 

Last updated on April 14, 2005.