A Quake in the Force

A Quake in the Force

A look at Star Wars Quake TCs

Written by Brian Taylor

This article expresses the author's opinions. They do not necessarily reflect those of the magazine....

They've survived legal troubles with Lucas Arts. They've been working hard to bring you the ultimate Quake TC (Total Conversion, for the acronym impaired). They realised that Jedi Alliance sucks. (They changed their password, and wouldn't give the project leader Red Knight the password). They can leap tall buildings.....er, nevermind. The team behind the Star Wars Quake TC (Officially titled Star Wars: Call of the Force) isn't allowed to give exclusive interviews, but this is basically everything I can gather from their website. This is also a blessing for those with Quake who most likely won't be playing Jedi Knight for a while, or never (Read: Macs). I recently downloaded the first prelim. It turns the super nail gun into the stormtrooper rifle. When you're in chasecam mode, and you switch to axe you carry a lightsaber (In first person perspective this is not yet implemented-you still see the axe). The player skin is dressed in black, with the Rebel Alliance insignia on the back. The grappling hook is there, too, although it is not mentioned in the text file. It even converts the grunts into stormtroopers.

It has also been confirmed about another enemy: Ewoks. (Technically, it wasn't confirmed, but when there's a wireframe drawing of an ewok that is said to be in the game, you just assume) Finally! We get to blast those annoying little balls of fur into oblivion where they belong. Other enemies include AT-ST's (seen in a screenshot), Stormtroopers (in the prelim), sandtroopers (again, in a screenshot), Jawas, (Bet there's a Tatooine level, or a few.)

There are tons of new features that will adorn this TC. You will be able to crouch, roll either sideways or forward, and have front and back flips. There will be new enemy AI's, an experience system, an open-ended plot, ships and vehicles that you can fly and drive. There will also be "buddies", or people who follow you around and help you achieve common goals. Full outdoor environments, destroyable environments, and "true-to-life" areas, such as cantinas with patrons, and starships with the crew walking around.

All the Star Wars weapons you know and love, and then some. The lightsaber is here, as I already mentioned. From the various screenshots I've seen, it looks like it's going to have a red blade, and a handle like Luke's green saber. The stormtrooper rifle will replace the nail gun. (I know I'm being redundant) There is also a weapon called PHIL, which is like a sniper rifle, zooming scope and all. Thermal detonators are there. There are different damage models, for example: If you skewer (I love that word (I also love parentheses)) a human, it will most likely kill them instantly, but with an alien, it might not. The weapons will be visible on the player, so in DeathMatch, you'll be able to see what your opponent is carrying.

You'll visit the scorching deserts of Tatooine, the frozen ice fields of Hoth, the insides of a Star Destroyer, Endor, Bespin, and other famous Star Wars locales. Fly a speeder bike, pilot a TIE fighter. These are just some of the things that you will be able to do. From the screenshots I've seen, it looks like you might be able to fly an X-Wing too.

Now, on to Star Wars: Capture the Flag. This takes the CTF mod for doom, adds Star Wars skins, models, and levels, and makes for a great gaming experience. The two teams, Rebel and Imperial, each have five different skins. The Rebels are Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker, and C-3PO. The Imps include Stormtrooper, Admiral Thrawn, Bossk, 4-LOM, and Boba Fett. Once you install it and connect to a server, you are assigned to either Red Team (Rebels) or Blue Team (Imps). Sometimes, for what reasons I do not know, you get imps on Red Team and Rebels on Blue Team.

You get a color-coded lightsaber, depending on your team, a grappling hook (Great for the Trash Compactor) the Air Fist (a Quake weapon that pushes your enemies away from you. This is not original to SWCTF, a blaster rifle for the nail gun, a super blaster for the super nail gun, thermal detonators instead of grenades, a sniper rifle for the Thunderbolt, and a new rocket launcher graphic. You are apparently able to use your lightsaber to block the nail gun replacement, but I don't know how.

There are currently five levels: Mos Eisley, Diplomatic Mission (Aboard the Tantive IV), Detention Block (complete with trash compactor), Central Core (of the Death Star), Hoth (With a shooting AT-AT), and Bespin, complete with carbon-freezing chamber. The powerups are now Force objects.

Make sure you have the Quakeworld Client and Quakespy to play.


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