Deathmatch Dimension for Quake

Deathmatch Dimension is a ten map single-player episode of classic Quake goodness, inspired by the deathmatch maps that shipped with the original game. Each map has been lovingly rebuilt from the ground up for intense combat with Quake's familiar bestiary, and can be played as a full episode in sequence, or by starting with the shotgun for an extra challenge.

Note: Deathmatch Dimension requires the game Quake to play. You can buy it on Steam here. It is also available on other popular store fronts, and to Game Pass subscribers.

"Story"

The story follows the adventures of Dave the Quake Marine, as he travels in search of the perfect place to set up his easel and do some painting. However, things do not always go according to plan...

Levels

start - Deathmatch Dimension
Original level

dmd1 - It Begins with Two Deaths
Inspired by dm1, by Tim Willits

dmd2 - Hemophobopolis
Inspired by dm2, by American McGee

dmd3 - The Occupied Base
Inspired by dm3, by John Romero

dmd4 - The Bad Palace
Inspired by dm4, by American McGee

dmd5 - Round the U-Bend
Inspired by dm5, by Tim Willits

dmd6 - The Dark Portal
Inspired by dm6, by Tim Willits

dmd7 - Geophobia
Inspired by dm7 (remaster dm8), by American McGee and David Namaksy

dmd8 - The Edge of Oblivion
Inspired by q2dm1 (remaster dm7), by Tim Willits

dmd9 - Sludge Refinery (Secret Level)
Original level

Development

This episode was originally started all the way back in 2006 when I released a map called dm3rmx for the 10th anniversary of Quake's release during an online event called QExpo. The map was a single player remix of dm3, the largest of the original game's deathmatch levels.

I didn't initially plan to make a full episode of deathmatch remixes, but later released two more levels (dm5rmx and dm7rmx) in 2012 and one more (dm6rmx) in 2018, which made me feel like I should do all of them, but I didn't have the time or motivation back then.

It wasn't until late 2022 that I finally decided to finish the episode, and began spending a very unhealthy amount of time in front of my computer in the evenings and on weekends trying to meet self-imposed deadlines. This time was spent making the rest of the levels (six of them), as well as doing a polish pass on the maps I had previously released. Bear in mind that my day job is quite similar to this hobby, so I was trying to not get burned out and had to take time off occasionally!

The episode was quite a bit more work than I had bargained for in the end, but I'm glad I finally completed. I never even intended to make a map based on q2dm1, but since it was included in the remaster, it felt wrong to omit it. The secret level (dmd9) was also not something I was going to include, but since it was somewhat related, and I had the scrap on my disk drive for a while I decided to finish it too.

Although I realise that there are things in the maps that could be improved, I'm happy with the release as it is, since a reliable way to be miserable is to chase perfection and never release anything and never move on with projects. Hopefully now that Deathmatch Dimension is finished and released, I will feel like working on other projects again.

Updates

1.01 - Fix major progression bug in dmd4 skill 2 (due to minor last minute tweaking!)

1.02 - Fix visually unpleasant bar sticking out into lift shaft in dmd2 (due to last minute tweaking)

1.03 - Fix small a couple of issues with shamblers on dmd4 on easy, as well as a similar issue with a scrag in dmd1.

1.04 - Very tiny fix to DMD8 geometry, as well as a minor lighting tweak. This was done before making the modifications to the remaster versions of the maps.