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                                SCIMITAR
                                
                            scimitar-readme.txt

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Contents
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	1. Version Info
        2. Play Info
        	2.1. Difficulty Levels
		2.2. New Weapons
		2.3. New Monsters
		2.4. Maps and Continuity
		2.5. Exit Signs
		2.6. Demo Recording
        3. Resource Licencing
		3.1. Sounds       
		3.2. Patches
		3.3. Flats
		3.4. Sprites
        4. Level Names and Par Times
        5. Spoliers : Secrets
        6. Spoliers : New Monsters


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1. Version Info
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	Version      : 1.0
	Release Date : 25 Oct 2006
	
	I would like to have tested, tweaked and tuned this up some more
	before releasing it but owning to the fact that the 27th is my 30th
	birthday, the 29th is when my wife is due to give birth to our 2nd
	daughter and the 30th is the day we're due to move house before I
	start a new job on the 13th Nov ... I've decided i dont have the
	time to polish it up 100% 
	
	Some things I would like to have done:
	
	Enlarge MAP17, adding a couple of caves and cuttings to explore
	Spruce up MAP19's final battle, making it more arena-like
	Rebuild MAP20, it was only a concept build and never got finished
	Add the Scimitar as a pickup in some of the later levels
	Test and fix up for Zdoom
	
	I'd also like to have fully deathmatched up the levels, but if
	anyone wants to release a lightly modified DM-only version then
	go for it!


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2. Play Info
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2.1. Difficulty Levels
	
	This is designed to be played on UV either through or with pistol
	starts, the weapons you are handed are usually fairly wimpy and your
	ammo and health are deliberatly tight.This is where the difficulty
	comes from, if you treat each map one area at a time, bottlneck
	the monsters and tread carefully you will fair much better than if
	you dive straight in. If you prefer HR style gameplay then this may
	not be your cup of tea.
	
	The lower skill levels usually hand you a weapon at the start of
	each map and/or have extra health pickups and the occasional missing
	revenant or mancubus.
	
	Finally it's worth noting that I've tested each map and survived
	(albeit with saves) from a pistol start without using the Dagger,
	Scimitar or any secrets... But of course I know where everything
	is :-)
        
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2.2. New Weapons
	
	Dagger : Replaces the fist : this can take down	an imp in 1/2 blows
	and a demon in 2/3 blows, the latter number being more likely. 
	
	Scimitar : Replaces chainsaw : this can take down a revenant in 3/4
	blows and should have a higher kill rate than the beserk fists
	
	Please accept my apologies for the half assed sprites and sounds
	associated with these weapons, see above for explanation on time
	limitation!
	
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2.3. New Monsters
        
        Don't expect to be blown away by their originality, they're just
        reworkings of the existing monsters and i honestly could not produce
        a single sprite frame if someone was holding a gun to my head.
        As it is I would like to have augmented weapons onto 2 of the new
        monsters in particular, but some do have different walking and
        action sounds to their brethren so listen carefully!

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2.4. Maps and Continuity
        
        The maps are all fairly small, 17 and 19 are too short in my opinion
        for where they fall in the wad but 18 i think is just right. 01
        being the one where you only have a pistol with which to defend
        yourself is by far the simplest, so dont be put off if you think
        it's tiny.        
        
	Each map is designed to join on to the next, and areas of one map
	are occasionally visible from the next. There are no teleport
	exits so a continuous line can be traced from the start of the
	first map to the last. However this is an illusion, and if you tried
	to join them all together into a massive single map you'd have to
	move bits around that mysteriously overlap.
	
	Finally you may not have noticed this if i didnt point it out;
	teleports are never used, by the player or monsters. This ethic,
	combined with the need for continuity and strong episode themes
	made the creative process quite difficult, but hopefully also
	yielded strong results. My next project will be a lot flimsier!

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2.5. Exit Signs
        
        Some people think exit signs suck, i agree that a bright red sign
        in an otherwise atmospheric map isn't exactly realistic. but because
        the map joins are seamless if i didn't have eixt signs then i'd get
        a bunch of people complaining that they accidentally exited the map
        before fully exploring it and killing everything. Obviously I could
        stick a pointy exit arrow in the automap, but none of the maps are
        so maze-like that i expect anyone to be looking at that much.
        
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2.6. Demo Recording
        
        Nearly every map has at least one speed run trick built in, there
        may also be more that I didn't think of. Some, however are only
        theoretical and might not be possible in some (or all) ports.
        Because of this pacifist may not be possible on all maps. The maps
        are, with the exception of the arenas, mostly open and max runners
        should have a few options as to what order to kill everything in.
        
        

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3. Resource Licencing
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        The majority of the "new" resources in the wad are remixes of doom2
        resources, so their usage is restricted to other doom2 iwad wads.
        The exeptions to this are listed below
        
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3.1. Sounds
        
        DSPEPAIN,DSPESIT
        - created by myself, fully public domain
        
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3.2. Patches
        
        CYCBRIK5, CYCBRIK3, CYCBRIK1, CLIFF_FA, CLIFF_F2, CLIFF_PL,
        CLIFF_P2        
        - from http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/texture/
        
        RSKY1, RSKY2
        - Iori
        
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3.3. Flats
        
        CYCWOOF1, CYCWOOF2, CYCLIFF, CYCCOBLS, CYCBRIK1, CYCBRIK2
        - from http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/texture/

        CYCROCF1, CYCROCK, CYCWTLE
        - created by myself, fully public domain
        
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3.4. Sprites
        
        Scimitar, Dagger
        - created by myself, fully public domain

	Orbs, Monsters
	- Reworkings of Doom2 resources

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4. Level Names and Par Times       
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	This list is incomplete, because I forgot to finish it, the times
	are also not all in the DEHACKED patch either, unfortunatley.

	 	Par		Name

	 	EPISODE 1 : REAR ENTRY

	01	1:00		First Contact
	02	1:30		The Temple			
	03	2:00		The Acropolis
	04	2:00		The Gardens
	05	2:00		The Barracks
	06	2:00		The White tower

	 	EPISODE 2 : KNEE DEEP IN THE SLUDGE

	07	3:00		Rats!
	08	2:00		The Sewers
	09			Sludgefalls		
	10			Daylight				
	11			Flood!

	 	EPISODE 3 : INTO THE BLOOD

	12			The Gatehouse
	13	2:30		Dodge!
	14	2:30		Duck!
	15	2:30		Dive!
	16			Foothills
	17			The Chasm
	18			Enter			
	19			Within
	20	2:30		Blood!			

	21	THE END

	31	2:30		Devious!	

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5. Spoliers : Secrets
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	I might have forgotten one or two!

	02      The blue-key switch has another switch on it's rear
	03	You can climb on the ruins
	04      Behind the first marble plinth on the right
	05      The yellow-key switch has another switch on it's rear
	07	Behind one of the sludgefalls
	08	There is a shootable switch near the red key
	        You can drop behind one of the grates
	10	There is a shootable switch near the "crossover"
	11	The switch has another switch on it's rear
	15	Secret Exit: near where you first entered the gatehouse
	16	The yellow switch can be switched twice
	18	Behind one of the bloodfalls before the main arena
	        Behind the health potion
	19	The first pillar on the left
		In one of the Mancubus traps near the red key


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6. Spoliers : New Monsters
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	Short list, just names the main differences to their originals

	SSG trooper		80 health. fires super shotgun, drops SSG
	demon			slightly narrower than usual
	spectre			slightly narrower than usual
	cacodemoness		fires green slimeballs
	baby cacodemon		fires imp fireball, much faster than it's mum
	red baron		fires faster, deadlier, red slimeballs
	arachno gunner		600 health. green eyes, chaingun
	arachno rocketeer	700 health. red eyes, rocket launcher
	mancubus ii		red eyes, shoots straighter (KEENDIE Pointer)

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