Mayhem
by David Santoro

Mayhem is a network level that I have crammed with every sort of deathtrap that I could come up with.  My objective here was to create a map which would emphasize strategy over raw carnage (sorry, arena-lovers).  I have taken great pains to ensure that there is a way out of any sticky situation, difficult though that way may be.  The best way to win often is to know the map.  There are many secret areas, and there is ALWAYS a way to get to those items that seem so tantalizingly out of reach.

The map is divided into four basic sectors and a central room.  Here is a description of each:

Central room: This is the area with the central pillar with all the switches on it.  These switches drop an iron curtain around the pillar, preventing pesky pursuers from attacking.  These walls can also kill anything unfortunate enough to be under them when they drop, so step carefully.  Note the carefully designed Blood-Gutters beneath the wall to hold the bodies of any unfortunate victims...  Once the walls are down, a player can lock any of them in place by switching off the button that faces that wall.  This allows the player to lock any opposing players into whatever sector he/she is in.  Any walls that are not locked will return to their original positions after a few moments.

West Sector: There are two main rooms in this quadrant.  One is the "Gauntlet of Death" room (characterized by that oh-so potent TOZT-7 at the end), and the other is designed to eliminate pesky people that use the Caps-Lock key for running.  >: ) 

North Sector: The main room here is the Tower Room.  That big thing in the middle of the room with stairs going up around it is the Tower (duh).  Not much else to say about this room, except that it contains lots and lots of secret stuff and that it's a big carnage location in my net play games, because everyone flocks there.  Let's just say that the SPNKR at the top of the tower is there for more reasons than one...

East Sector: Three rooms and a staircase.  The staircase can be deadly if you know how to use it.  : )  The Civil Defense room can be used to bring some Defense Drones into the fray.  Lastly, the Bob room is a cache of ammo and minor weapons, which also happens to be swarming with Bobs.  Some of which are kamikaze.  ; )

South Sector: There's a big control room here, with two control towers.  One has a switch to shut off all the lights in the level, and the other has a 1X charger and a switch to gain access to the bunker.  The bunker is an easily defendable fortress with a TOZT and some other cool stuff.  Lots of nasty tricks to pull on pursuers from there...

Again, there's lots and lots of secret stuff all over the place, so look around.  If a switch doesn't seem to do anything, it probably changes something elsewhere.  Experiment, explore, and learn to fly without a Physics Model.  : )

Since this level is pretty big, it's recommended that you play with 3+ players.  Two can be fun too, but it's a different feel (stock up on guns and ambush the other guy) than a larger group.

Please send any questions, comments, criticism, or words of encouragement to daf@dartmouth.edu.  Enjoy!
