19 The Revealing Science of Gode

Tips and Secrets

As mentioned in the Tempus Irae read me, this level was named after a Yes song, Revealing Science of God, from the Tales of Topographic Oceans album. One unique aspect of this level is the fact that some of the ammo regenerates. If you visit an area that previously held some ammo, you can revisit it later on to "restock". I will explain why I felt it necessary to do this in the map making tips at the end of this section.

The player starts out in a dimly lit hallway. Directly ahead is a switch for a door that begins the journey through the level. A secret area behind the player also opens up that contains a 2x powerup and a second pistol - move quickly, as the secret door will close just as swiftly as it opened. Moving through the opened door, the player will come to a door on the right that leads to a study room which contains the book "terminal" for the level, and a save terminal. Keep moving through the hallway to the right, ignoring the switch on the right-hand wall (it just opens a door that leads back around to the start of the corridor), until you come to a outdoor area marked by a round parapet and switch that stands up on a small slab in the floor. Ignore the switch for now, and keep moving around to the right, through the small openings you can see. You will eventually come to a trellis that you can walk straight through to find another secret area that contains a shotgun and some ammo.

Return the switch on the little slab and activate it. A door will open ahead to the right. As you enter the door, it will close behind you. Grab the assault rifle on the ledge to your right, and use it to activate the switch behind the two troopers guarding the corner. Move around the ledge to the end of the room to enter another corridor with an outdoor area to your right.

This outdoor area holds ammo and dangers. If you don't feel you need the challenge, it can be bypassed entirely, but you will miss out on a 3x powerup, rocket launcher, rockets, and lots of ammo. After dealing with the outdoor area, head back down the corridor and around - a door leading back to the starting area will now be open.

Returning to the starting area, you find that a pen holding a hunter is now open. Behind a column in that pen is a switch you should activate to open a door to the rest of the level. That door is on the right-hand side, around the corner from the window where the drones will appear. There is a secret area to the left of this door -- tab the wall to reveal a room with an SMG and some ammo.

Through the door you will come to another outdoor area with a waterfall and pool. Jump down and head through the opening in the wall on the other side. This portion of the map can be fairly confusing, so I will only tell you where you need to go... exploration is invited, and rewarded, so by all means feel free to wander.

You'll enter a corridor that heads to the north and west. Head north, and turn left at the end of the hall, and then immediately turn right. Open the door there, and go up the stairs to a small room that looks into a dark corridor. If you look through the window to the right, you will see a stone wall blocking the end of the corridor. Throw the switch, and the wall will move down out of the way. If you fail to find this switch, you could be in for a frustrating time later in the level. Head back down the stairs, and turn left and follow the corridor back to where you started. This time, take the westward hallway which leads to an outdoor area guarded by a Mother of all Hunters, with water channels surrounding a grassy area. Head into the opening to the right of where you entered this area. You'll find a door in shadows and a corridor that leads to the right. That corridor is a dead end. Head through the door, to enter a room with three thin brick pillars, a door on the right, and a corridor that heads to the left. Take the left, and throw the switch to return to the corridor where you started this area of the map. Head back southward to the waterfall area, and use the small stairs on the sides of the water fall wall to climb back up to the top. You will find a door on your right that is now open, leading to a room with a checkerboard floor and some steps. Explore the floor of the room for ammo, then head up the stairs. The window to the right looks in on a room you will encounter later in the level. Move across the gap in the walkway and you will come to a door at the end of the hall. Go through the door, and you come to a room with a large wood and iron box in the center. Kill the hunters in the room, and then activate the switch. The box will drop down, revealing a Mother of all Hunters, a 2x powerup and a key. Grab the key and leave the room, heading to your right.

You will enter an outdoor area with parapets and another building across the way. After eliminating the opposition, you will need to climb a small set of stairs behind the left-hand round parapet on the second building, and then run across the ledge at the front of that building. You may need to take a couple of runs at this next part to get it right, but you have to run AROUND the edge of the second round parapet-- no grenade hop is necessary, but fancy footwork is required. Once you gain access to this second parapet, you will find the switch that raises a walkway to the building. Hop down, and use the stairs on the northeast side of this area to gain access to the walkway. Since you grabbed the key, the door should open when you tab the key lock.

You will enter a hallway with moving platforms. These can crush you if you are not careful, so time your progress down the hallway. A secret is here... tab the painting to the right of the first platform, and a small box back in the corner of the hallway will drop down to reveal a goodie.

Once you get to the end of the hall, you will drop down to a S-shaped area with shallow steps that leads to a long hallway guarded by a Trooper. This leads around a corner to an outdoor area guarded by two hunters. Make sure to run around the back of the box you can see in a shaded alcove to the east of this area... there is some ammo back there. Dive into the water at the end of the walkway, and walk through the wall of water.

You will come to a long passageway that is guarded by several drones. Be sure to look into the candlelit alcoves for powerups and ammo along the way. When you get to the end of this waterway, you will come to platform that will take you up to the room you could see from the checkered floor room earlier. Be prepared for a fire fight when you come up the platform... you'll have company.

You'll see a series of boxes on the floor on one side of the room. By running at, up and over these boxes you will be able to reach the ledge around the outside of the room, which will lead you do a hallway with a locked door, and a room at the end which contains the manuscript for the level. Grab the manuscript, ammo, powerup, and throw the switch on the wall to open the locked door in the hallway.

This leads to a lengthy underground passage. Careful as you run through here... an area on the wall will open behind you and hunters will materialize behind you as you move along. You will come to the stone that you moved out of the way earlier in the level, and see a room with zig-zag walls with fighters running around inside. You will also have a cyborg for company.

Keep heading forwards, around the corner, along the hall (you can stop by and say hi to the fighters as you go) and head down the curved stairs. You will come to a corridor that you visited earlier on in the level. Turn left, then right, and left again to move through a square room and then to the room with the three thin brick pillars. The large door that was closed off before should now be open. This leads to the final part of the level.

Head through the room with the water troughs.... the second trough has a powerup in it if you need one at this point, then head down the hall until you enter a distinctive room with low walls, and a balcony visible on the other side of the room. Careful as you come in, as you will activate a platform on the left side of the room which will reveal a Mother of All Hunters. Deal with the hunter, and head to the balcony.

Heads up here.. there is an enforcer on a balcony opposite who will begin to fire at you as soon as you step out onto the balcony. A few shots with your SMG should take care of him. For the ultra curious, there is a secret area on the balcony where the enforcer is. You will need two rockets to get there. Rocket launch yourself from the first balcony, and as you start to fall, rocket launch again. Timed right, you should land on the other balcony and be able to find the secret area. Unfortunately, there is not much here for you to find, but it is a cool looking little room if I do say so myself.

The exit is on the first balcony, but is on a time delay to make sure you have to deal with the Mother of All Hunters and Enforcer first.

Map Making Notes

One of the problems I had with the map as Steve presented it to me was that it contained a few minor "reality conundrums"... places where ground level and what floor of the building you were on shifted around. I resolved these "conundrums" so that the map feels like a series of "real" places. I feel that it is important in map making to consider that what you are building is "real" so that the interior and exterior views of a space "jive" with each other. This makes the map more enjoyable for the player, in my opinion.