# Level Details

Title:
  Necropolis: Mausoleum
Version:
  1.0
Release Date:
  March 5th, 2006
Get It At:
  Necropolis: Mausoleum
Readme:
  mausoleum.html -- the file you are reading now.

Author:
  Peter Jones
Contact:
  Contact Pete
Website:
  Pete's Place :: Mapping

# Play Information

Game:
  Half-Life
Game Mode:
  DeathMatch
Level Name:
  Necropolis: Mausoleum
Players:
  2-6
Known Bugs:
  None yet...

Base:
  New level from scratch.
New Graphics:
  Many, not created by me; see Other Credits for full details.

Installation:
  - Place the .bsp files in your valve\maps directory.
  - Copy the .tga and .bmp files into your valve\gfx\env directory (create it if you don't already have one)
  - If you extract the zip file, with subdirectories enabled, into your Half-Life\valve directory, everything should go to the right place.

# Build and Compile Information (Reference)

Build Time:
  Started May 22, 2005
Editor:
  Valve Hammer Editor 3.4
Additional:
  Wally 1.51B [to assemble the WAD file]
  XP-Cagey's P13 release of Merl's 1.7 build of Zoner's HL Compile Tools (ZHLT_1.7P13)

## Final Compile Parameters

- `hlcsg.exe -wadautodetect -wadinclude n_mausoleum.wad n_mausoleum`
- `hlbsp.exe n_mausoleum`
- `hlvis.exe -full n_mausoleum`
- `hlrad.exe -sparse -extra -dscale 1 -bounce 2 n_mausoleum`
- `opt_plns.exe n_mausoleum`

## Compile Time (on 3GHz P4)

- n_mausoleum: 1h 6m 43s

# Other

## Setting the scene

Necropolis:
  n., A cemetery, especially a large and elaborate one belonging to an ancient city. Literally a city of the dead.
Mausoleum:
  n., A large stately tomb or a building housing such a tomb ... from Mausolus, Persian satrap of Caria whose tomb was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. A monument to the dead.

In a remote region of the Tibetan plateau, nestled amongst the mountains of the Kailash Range, this ancient necropolis was discovered recently by a lone, lost climber. The only survivor of a team of six, he was found, half-drowned and delirious, on the shores of holy Lake Manasarowar, three weeks after the search had been called off. Lying in a hospital bed, he babbled about a pyramid in the clouds for quite some time before anybody wondered whether there might be something more than fantasy to his story, which only grew more coherent as he recovered his strength and wits.

There were gaps in his memory, but he managed to provide enough detail to determine the right general area to look. A team of archaeologists and anthropologists was gathered together, and on the 14th of January they set out to investigate.

They never came back.

One month after they were officially declared missing, a second team -- a military team -- was assembled. As a member of that team, you are a well-trained killing machine. However, nothing in your training, or in your experience, could prepare you for what you would find in that remote eyrie in Tibet.

The experts say the pyramid is a blend of Incan and Egyptian cultures -- strange enough at the best of times, and it certainly doesn't belong in Tibet! They could not explain its existence. Nor could they explain the strange madness which gradually twisted the minds of your men as they camped within the walls of the mausoleum, the madness which led to raised tempers, flaring rage, and finally all-out war as you and your comrades began to kill each other. Yet even death was no escape.

It was like being caught in a sick, violent game, manipulated at the whim of some giddy player, killing and being killed for someone's enjoyment...

It was a nightmare. It was a deathmatch!

### Necropolis: Mausoleum

This ancient temple -- weathered and eroded by the ravages of time -- is buried beneath a huge drift of the sand which has been blowing across the high walls for countless centuries. (What? "Thirty" is countless! Even if you took your socks off, you could only get to twenty, give or take...)

At least two groups of explorers -- "looters" is such a harsh word -- have been here before you. The first group dug a narrow tunnel through the sand, part-way around the wall, but were unable to penetrate the interior of the temple; the second group extended the tunnel -- obviously with access to better technology or greater manpower -- to gain access to the interior of the North gatehouse.

### Gameplay

Late afternoon, nearly sunset.

It's DeathMatch: just kill anything with a pulse, and have fun!

## Features

In keeping with the nominal storyline -- you're part of a military team, remember -- all players spawn with a shotgun, and partial (60%) kevlar body armour.

The only weapon not included in Mausoleum is the Gauss Cannon, AKA the "Jump Gun". Quite apart from my own inability to hit a barn door with the darn thing, I didn't want to include it in this level because it made handling the outer walls problematic at best. (One thing I really dislike in levels is the invisible barrier (particularly noticeable in UT2004 Onslaught maps) which holds the player inside the map for no logical reason other than because "it's the edge of the map"! Call it a pet peeve if you will, but it meant there was no room for the Gauss Cannon in Mausoleum.)

There are no health or armour recharges in this level!

## Feedback

I would appreciate feedback from anybody who likes (or dislikes) this level. If you have something to say about this level, or an error to report, please contact me. Without feedback, how can I hope to improve? :-)

## Playtesting

This level has been extensively playtested by the following people, all of whom have made comments contributing to the finished product:

- Ben Davies
- Peter Jones
- Karen McKavanagh
- Kim Stallard
- Dawn Stuart
- Grant Wheatley

Surprisingly, Mausoleum actually seems reasonably playable with only two people; any more than three or four can quickly become highly chaotic. Which is a good thing! :-)

## Comments

### Revision History

#### Version 1.0 -- March 5, 2006

This is the initial release, seven months to the day after we had our initial "Grand Opening Night". Much has changed since then -- and I also took some time out along the way to write my first novel. :-)

#### Development

As initially conceived, this level was substantially larger. However, by the time I actually finished building what I wanted to build, I was pushing at numerous limits of the Half-Life engine and the compile tools. At various points in the development of the initial version of this level, I got (and resolved) each of the following errors:

- Exceeded MAX_ENGINE_ENTITIES
- Exceeded MAX_MAP_CLIPNODES
- Exceeded MAX_MAP_FACES
- Exceeded MAX_MAP_LEAFS
- Exceeded MAX_MAP_TEXINFO
- Exceeded MAX_PATCHES

Additionally, the playing area was just too large for effective play. Once again, I had gotten carried away and taken it too far.

The solution I came up with was to split the level into three. Two, Mausoleum and Crypt, would split the level into above-ground and below-ground respectively, the complex having been buried in sand and ravaged by time; the third, Temple, would be the complete, functional complex, set 3000 years ago at the height of its glory.

The original was split into three separate files on the 23rd of January, 2006.

Mausoleum is the first of these three to be released. After the split, the tunnel through the sand was completed, the stargate was "weathered", the below-ground sections were removed, and the weapon layout was substantially revised.

### Known Bugs

- I really blew the budget with this one. Again. (So much for promises! ;-)) Some areas are just way too complex for the software display driver to handle. All I can recommend is that you run this level under the OpenGL driver, or not at all. I am sorry if this inconveniences anyone, but I really cannot see a fix for it without completely redesigning the level. (This is the way the level wanted to be built!) I promise my next set of levels will be a little more playable for all -- but then, I've said something like that before!

## Other Credits

Thanks go to the following:

- Valve Software, for producing this great game, and giving us the means of creating our own levels.
- The Playtesters (listed above) for their feedback and suggestions which helped make this level better than it would have been without them. Also for their "gentle nudging", which helped me stay focused on finishing!
- Ben Davies, whose "arena" concept provided the nascent starting point for what was eventually to become the three levels which make up Necropolis, and who provided so many helpful thoughts and ideas along the way. I may have built these levels, but Ben is very much the co-designer.
- Rebecca Seger, whose input helped shape the obelisks, the glowing green hieroglyphics and, to an extent, the room with the pool (which doesn't actually exist in this level; you'll need to download Temple or Crypt to see what I'm talking about.)
- The "Egyptian" texture set used throughout this level was created by Sock. While the original concept helped in my choosing this set of textures, the textures themselves suggested many of the design details of these maps. The texture set was downloaded from The Wadfather.
- The "sierra" environment map (ie, the 'sky' graphics) was created by MuadDib (and tweaked ever-so-slightly by myself.) It seemed a perfect match for the feel I was trying to evoke. The environment map was downloaded from The Wadfather.

## Other Levels

### Half Life: Deathmatch

- LavaLab
- LavaLab: Erupt (variant of LavaLab)
- Lab17: Storage
- Lab17: Flood (variant of Lab17: Storage)
- Lab17: Slimelab
- Lab17: Quake (variant of Lab17: Slimelab)

## Copyright and Permissions

This level is copyrighted 2006 by Peter Jones.

You MAY distribute this level through any electronic network (internet, FIDO, local BBS, etc) provided you include this HTML file, and keep the ZIP archive intact.

You MAY include this level in the map rotation of a "free" internet HLDM server, but if you do so I'd really appreciate an email to let me know you're using it! You MAY NOT include it on your server if you are charging for access to play on the server!

This level MAY NOT be included with any compilation packs UNLESS you ask me first and I grant permission.

You MAY NOT make a profit from this level without direct signed permission from me.

You MAY NOT modify this level (or any of the files in this distribution) in any way, nor may you use it as a base or template for your own level.

In other words: give it to your buddies, play it as much as you like, but give credit where credit is due, and if you are going to make money from this level, I want some too!