Heartbeat
By Jason Harper, JasonHarper@pobox.com
Version 1.0, May 9, 1999

This is an experiment in doing an "animated chapter screen", a.k.a. "non-interactive level", along the lines of the first level of my Missed Island map. To try it, open Marathon Infinity's prefs, go to the Environment section, and select the supplied map and physics files in the appropriate pop-ups. You can also simply double-click the map to use it, but in that case you must not touch the controls - the whole effect is based on the player not being able to move, which is enforced by the physics model. (Editors note: physics does not stop mouse control - gls)

The effect cannot be seen properly in Forge, since it doesn't have the same texture smearing behavior as the game itself, and doesn't implement liquid flows. You can sort of see it by holding down the sidestep-left key (normally 'Z'), but please don't try this until you've seen how the effect is supposed to look in Infinity. Note that in Forge's visual mode, or in Infinity if you actually move around, the level is going to look absolutely hideous: it exceeds all sorts of engine limitations if you look in any direction other than due north.

The one unavoidable flaw with this technique is that the effect is ruined if the player views the automap, which cannot be prevented except by patching the Infinity application itself. The problem is even worse in this map than in Missed Island's intro, since you don't get the proper view back even if the map is dismissed.

This level is available for inclusion in scenarios: you'll just need to give me credit in your README file. Please contact me if you need any customization done: in particular, the scrolling text at the top can be easily changed ('flatlined' would probably have been a better choice).

Heartbeat