What is INFRA-RED?

Infra-Red is my latest modification project for Quake1, an infiltration-type single-player mod designed to be used with the DarkPlaces engine.
The idea behind Infra-Red is simple. The mod lets you play any single-player map (as long as it is supported) as a “thief” who has to cross the entire level while avoiding all kinds of infra-red signals and pick up various hidden artifacts. As the action takes place at night, all maps are significantly darker and more mysterious (expect some nifty music!) than their “original” counter-parts. There are no monsters in Infra-Red, but that does not make the level easier to cross, quite the contrary. Infra-Red signals are of many different kinds and you will need to master them before being able to progress in the game. Some of them move (in many possible directions), others are static. Some are visible, others invisible, many are visible during limited time. Some need to be triggered, others turned on or off. Some trap you and force you to think up elaborate strategies to escape, others trick you into pathways you would not have imagined taking. Infra-Red is a true, smart, difficult puzzle mod.
To help you in your progression, all sorts of artifacts and tools are at your disposal. Special-vision goggles help you discover, for a limited time, infra-red signals you did not suspect existed. An improved torchlight (make sure to check your battery level!) helps you light up your path between fields of signals, while a couple of far-reaching flares help you discover triggers which, once shot by your silent sniper rifle, deactivate particular signals that were in your way. A smart use of grapples thrown in your way can extricate you out of a tricky situation, while a bad use of them can mean… the end of your mission. Infra-Red is a refreshing blend of Quake (duh!), Metal Gear Solid and the infra-red missions on NOLF (for those who remember them).

While Infra-Red classic is the main (currently implemented) game, the mod will offer a couple of alternatives to “spice it up”. You will be able to decide, for example, to speedrun each level (you’ll need an enormous amount of practice for that, believe me). Various levels of difficulty will be offered, changing the way infra-red signals appear in the maps, you’ll also be allowed to decide whether or not the secondary objective (stealing the artifacts) needs to be reached in order to go on to the next level. A multiplayer option is planned, but will probably not be implemented in the first release.

Already implemented in Infra-Red is a very versatile, yet easy-to-use in-game editor which makes it easy to add signal-and-triggers placement information for any map into the mod’s QuakeC source. My plan is to have a large amount of the “classic” single-player mission maps supported by the mod, as well as some of the finest custom maps. The modification is, believe me, extremely fun… :-)

When will it be released?

Not for QExpo. “Argh!”, I hear you say. Unfortunately, I’m currently a very busy man (I’m preparing my own wedding, yay! :-)) and have very, very little time to devote to Infra-Red in the next couple of weeks. I’m planning to keep on working on it probably starting September, when my honey-moon is over and classes have not started yet, so expect info and screenshots on my site by then. (http://www.planetquake.com/cocot)

Any screenshot?

Here are, as promised, a couple of pics of what InfraRed will look like. I should point out that I've taken those in a bit of a hurry and that they originate from a test lay-out. That explains the absence of the final models (yes, one the test-triggers is indeed my lousy UQC logo :P) and some lack of symmetry in some of the signals lay-outs...



Starting the level, this is what you see...


... for a couple seconds, as InfraRed signals
suddenly appear...


... and you don't wanna step into those...
But will you remember their location once they
dissapear again? (and again, and again...)


Some help from the goggle...
But these lines move! Will you remember their pattern?


Argh... it's dark in here...


Let's turn on our flashlight, shall we?


Mmm... this place looks safe enough...


Ouch... looks like we've stepped into a trap!!!


How to escape? ...
Mmm, let's throw some flares around...


I have the feeling the darkness hides something
important for us...


Wait... what's that on the right?
*zoom* *zoom*


... looks like a trigger!


yes! ... *zoom* *zoom* and...


hit! Infra-reds desactivated! :)
Time to move on!



By the way, dude, who are you?

My nickname is CocoT and I’m the owner of the Neurotic Conversions Site. I’m thirty (yes, I know, I’m old), assistant-professor of English literature, living in Belgium (but traveling a lot to the US) and, last but certainly not least, about to get married to my beautiful Chicago fiancée.
I mapped and moded for Doom and Duke3D, then started getting interested in Quake a couple of years after its release. I got to know the Q1 modding community at AI’s Café and stuck with it. Over the years, I released a handful of mods, such as Quakeability Bot Arena, Quad Hunt, Suicide Bomber and my most important work so far, Ultimate Quad Capture. I have little gift/patience for mapping and modeling, which explains in great part why I prefer to concentrate on perfecting original game-play ideas rather than shoot for total conversions and the likes (every time I’ve tried that, my plans ended up falling flat). I believe (but I might be wrong :-P) my mods are therefore simple, yet pretty fun.
Community-wise, people know me for having hung around the Q1 modding world for more than six years, following everyone from AI’s Café to MDQnet (for which I was a newsman for a while), then, of course, Inside3d. I was particularly involved in the making of the first QExpo, an event which remains to me an incredible example of what community spirit can achieve. I have officially announced my “retirement” from modding a couple of years ago but, as this booth shows, the fun of codding keeps on catching up with me :-)
Happy birthday Quake1.
Enjoy QExpo 2006.
Thank you to all the people who are involved in it (you know who you are) and who helped/are helping make this dream come true one more time.