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Ensuring that you are running a full registered version of Quake II, within your /quake2/baseq2/ directory, create a new directory called maps (unless you already have one). Using a .zip extraction program such as WinZip, unzip your .zip file into the aforementioned maps directory. Ordinarily, you'll have extracted 2 files from the zip file: A .bsp file, which is the actual Quake II (binary space partition) level file, and a .txt text file, which the level author uses to tell you some information about him/herself, technical information on how the level was created, etc.
Next, start a single player game of Quake II as normal and select your skill setting from the onscreen menu or by pulling down the console (using the tilde key, which is immediately to the left of the 1 key on most
keyboards) and typing skill 0 for easy, skill 1 for normal or skill 2 for hard. Then, again at the console, but on a new line, type map [name of map]. So, for example, if your .bsp file was called jawbreak.bsp, you would type map jawbreak. You don't
need to add the .bsp file extension. That's all there is to running a user-created level.
If you have a level that you want to suggest for inclusion on these pages, please under no circumstances send it to me as an e-mail attachment. The sheer size of Quake II levels makes this impractical and as I live in England and pay for my online time, you are costing me money! Just drop me a mail and let me know where I can get hold of the level. I'll do the rest. Any levels sent to me by attachment (unless by prior arrangement with myself) will immediately strike up a close relationship with my trashcan...
For the uninitiated, a mirror site is an ftp site that holds exactly the same files and directory structure as the main Quake file archive at ftp.cdrom.com. Usually, if you try downloading files from a site closer to your geographical location, you'll achieve a faster download, plus it reduces the strain on ftp.cdrom.com. A full list of ftp.cdrom.com mirror sites can be found at http://www.cdrom.com/pub/quake/.
All the links on my site (where possible) point to files held on the main Quake II file archive at ftp.cdrom.com. These files have been checked and verified as 'righteous', uncorrupted, undamaged files. In almost every case, they are the same files I use to review a particular level. If your download is corrupt, the problem almost always lies at your end. Try downloading the file again or try a mirror site. Also, make sure you aren't closing the download connection too early.
Dave Kelvin has put together a great site called |24| at http://www.planetquake.com/24/ that alphabetically lists every author who has built a Quake or Quake II level (be it single player, deathmatch, ctf, qrally, whatever) and uploaded it to ftp.cdrom.com. Use it to track down maps by your favourite authors.
While I sympathise with your plight, I am merely the webmaster of this site, not the Oracle of all Knowledge :) If you have a problem with a level, mail the person who built the level! You'll find their mail address in the text file that accompanies the level. You would not believe the mail I get from people saying "Level X does not work - your site is crap!"...
John Carmack, Adrian Carmack, Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Vai, M.C. Escher, Théodore Géricault, Alan Shearer, Steven Spielberg, Homer Simpson, Angela Sefton.
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