Development:Hired Guns/Maps

This is a sub-page of Development:Hired Guns.

Map Files

The released archives of the intended AGA version final game files do not contain any extra levels over the original retail game release, contrary to accounts from the developers on the internet. However, checking the other surrounding material reveals that there are unfinished levels cut from the original game included in the development files, and also more maps presumably made especially for the new CD32 release. Note: to play cut campaign levels, it's necessary to copy them over an existing campaign level map. The best candidate for this for campaign maps is 07.map as that's the first level in the game. If you copy a campaign level over a short action level it will instantly fail as you start as there is no time limit defined in the map, and therefore you have 0 seconds to beat it! To play short action levels, replace one of the existing SA maps with it. 23.map is the first short action map, "Animal Enclosure".

The directory "Maps" contains the raw map files not just for the final game, but also the empty placeholder map included with the level editor (in the directory "Editor") and also the three levels created for the Amiga Format magazine demo (in the directory "Demo"). There is a fourth directory called "Test" with a further folder inside called "Scott" that contains the map Action1 as detailed below.

Test Map

Action1.map

A test level located in a directory indicating as such. It's a simple plus sign shaped level. Characters start at each arm of the plus shape. Two of the four small starting areas has a switch that will unleash a horde of enemies in one other character's area. The map then moves to a central raised area and there seems to be no more content after this. This seems to have been a test map for the original release of the game based on its date and the lack of the new lighting system when run in the game. There's an early document that lists the state of the games' maps that explicitly mentions this map as an intended short action map - and comparing it to map 35 where it would be used shows this in fact an early version of the "BatMobile" map. For whatever reason this early version was also kept as a test map. Has default text set in the Worldmap and Detailed Description fields.

Original Game Cut Levels

These levels are deliberately missing from all versions of the final game, but are in fact present in the development files that were uploaded, and their directories even detail the names of the levels. Most were simply never started and are empty placeholders.

13.map - Dropzone

This is a map intended for the first area in the game - note that in the final game you never actually play this level, you start off with this area already complete. Actually playing the map in game reveals it's simply a huge empty flat field with no content whatsoever. The Worldmap Description in the file is what is used in the actual game for the Dropzone area description.

16.map - NotUsed

Exactly the same map as Dropzone - empty. Default map description fields set.

22.map - Stopover

Worldmap Description	Detailed Description
A travellers rest, with a dark past Deep in a forest...	[blank]

Very strange unfinished map. You start off literally standing next to the exit. Exploring the level reveals two large warehouse type structures filled with endless empty square rooms, which give way to a large number of similar locked rooms (from the fragments of leftover texts it seems it is supposed to be an inn. This also suggests this is an older leftover map from when the game was going to be more fantasy oriented). One of the warehouses has a second floor with more of the same. However, one of the doors to the rooms has a nasty trap that seems to reveal a game bug. Walking through it you fall through the floor into a basement. Your character ends up in a one square area that houses an elevator. On the same square as this elevator also seems to be an open doorway. The end effect is your character is stuck there forever (presumably the elevator should raise you up after the fall). Sending another character the same route results in them landing on the stuck character's head allowing further progress to the basement floor above. In here there are lots of rat corpses and then crowds of the rat-men enemies. The area is also awash with items that turn out to be useless remains only. A forcefield part way can be walked through to reveal more rat men who shoot fireballs at you, and a pair of psi-amps, one of which is bugged and has no title and does nothing. There's clearly been a lot of work put into this level - it's named and it even has a Conversations.txt file full of custom dialogue for it (most levels in the final game don't even bother with this). The end result was likely intended to be something like the ammo depot level, a tantalising large amount of items to harvest once the player has been through a tough gauntlet.

As with some of the retail game maps there is also a fragment of unused text visible in the map file:

 come to the inn of the third moon.    joy the Contari inn

(Seems to have been "Welcome to the inn of the third moon. Enjoy the Contari inn")

24.map

Supposedly a cut one player Short Action map. Another empty flat plane. Exactly the same map as Dropzone - empty. Default map description fields set.

32.map

Exactly the same map as Dropzone - empty. Default map description fields set.

36.map

Worldmap Description	Detailed Description
[Default text]	*** TREE WORLD *** Designed by I. Dunlop FIRST PARTICIPANT TO REACH EXIT POINT WILL WIN.

A surreal and seemingly complete Short Action map. A kind of distant cousin of Action1.map, once again each character starts separated for an all vs all deathmatch style game (although oddly it's considered a 3 player map according to the directory name), and each begins next to crates with a grenade launcher and grenades in (the perfect weapon for combat based around height difference and keeping the high ground). The level is set mostly in grass land, but as a neat trick uses grass floor for the ceilings as well, with the intention of creating a kind of multi layer treetop feeling. It's an ingenious use of the game graphics with the players navigating the many holes in the foliage that result in long falls back to the start, as well as blasting lots of squirrel and lizard enemies.

There's also a fragment of more unused text in the map file:

 ELCOME TO TREE WORLD, HOME OF SQUIRRELS AND OTHER WILD LIFE

Unreleased CD32 version levels

More interesting are five new levels in an archive called ScottMaps.lha that clearly were intended to be in the game, and not only this, seem to have been designed around the new lighting feature of the enhanced version. They are accompanied by a Readme file signed off by someone called "Martin", who presumably must be Martin Good of DMA Design. These maps also have the Worldmap and Detailed Description fields populated, but the only way to see these is through loading them into the map editor, which shines a light on their actual names. All maps seem to be 4 player versus themed maps for the Short action mode.

17PuzzleP.map

Worldmap Description	Detailed Description
Let's Get Together	Co-operate or Kill to Reach the Exit.

Each player starts at the top of a large tower, standing on top of a unique keycard. To progress down the tower, each player's keycard is needed for various blocking doors, which is the "co-operate or kill" hint in the level description. The higher levels have a grid of sentry guns with interlocking fire. They have huge amounts of health making them a difficult obstacle to get past and necessitating the use of a nearby RPG to stand a chance.

GridP.map

Worldmap Description	Detailed Description
The Grid	Cross the Streams, but Watch Your Step

Another deathmatchy level. players can escape from their initial position (with switches that open doors for other players) to a basement full of lots of hardware and mutant Lemmings, or head up to the surreal "grid" of the title, a series of elevated columns linked by semi visible platforms patrolled by AHL-Cims.

ChaosP.map

Worldmap Description	Detailed Description
The Heart of Chaos.	Beware the unseen enemy.

Complicated All vs All map. After stocking up on the new Sub-Machine gun weapon, players are led down stairs to a teleporter that leads to a grid like maze full of Hadrahls and teleport traps. inside are teleporters to more areas with fake exit signs. There seems to be a bug on one of the teleporter traps that seems to result in the character falling in black void endlessly. Clicking on their window when this happens can crash WinUAE. Todo: Needs to be tried on real hardware. There's also a nasty ambush involving bats and a key..

ChurchP.map

Worldmap Description	Detailed Description
The Cathedral of Pain.	Trust Your Senses.

4 player map set in a giant church. The new AGA lighting effect is put to good use with big stain glass window style shafts of light in the main structure. Gantries lead up the sides to the roof while in the basement there are lots of auto sentries that can be deployed against the crowds of Skeletons inside.

CLightP.map

Worldmap Description	Detailed Description
Fear of the Dark.	Once in the dark side, you can never turn back.

This one's pretty neat and built around the new AGA lighting. Essentially, after stocking up on a huge number of grenades and other weaponry provided, players enter an area that has massive amounts of unhatched eggs inside. These are mostly in dark areas, and the puzzle is that entering an area with no light triggers all the eggs to hatch (Releasing Morg enemies who shoot extremely damaging fireballs). As such switches have to be pressed to trigger a path through the darkness. According to the readme there are questions whether this functionality actually works properly or not. From experimentation it actually doesn't, pressing the button does not move the lit area meaning only trial and error (or looking in the map editor) can reveal the actual path through the eggs.

Included in the archive is a file called 'README':

You should now have my five maps:
17PuzzleP
GridP
ChoasP
ChurchP
CLightP

and also Panels.ilbm (and this file...)

I've already imported the panels in all the files, but I've not checked them
all (because I don't have enough memory to run the game at work...)
I have checked that the bit at the end of ChurchP.map works (where you fall
past several panels) and it seems to be OK, so I've assumed the rest'll be
tickety-boo too.

The major problem that you'll have to check is in CLightP.map, and it's
complicated...

What you'll have to do is find the stairs up to next level. It's at the
south end of the map, roughly a third of the way along. This should take you
into a room with lots of eggs. The problem is if you step amongst the eggs
in the wrong place, then you'll hatch one which'll hatch the rest because
they're full of full strength Morgs.
It's the old path of light problem which you solve by pressing the switch in
the small room in the south of this room. The egg-free area of the room
should be under a load of lights, and the eggs initially should be in
darkness. You'll have to check this because I've no way of finding out if
this is the case.
After pressing the button, this should set some blocks way above you moving,
with the result that a path of light should also move around the area with
the Morg eggs. This is the only safe path through the eggs.

If the path doesn't show up at all, you're going to have to either ditch the
map, or change the path between the buttons into grass or puddle.

Other than that you'll probably want to tone down all the problems I've put
in the other maps. (Although I've tried not to do warreny type maps and keep
the number of floors on each to less than 20...

Cya some time.

Martin.

Finally there is a file in the archive called L2-Saved-Positions. This is in fact a saved game from another DMA Design game, Lemmings 2(!).

Demo Map Files

In Maps/Demo/ there are three folders with maps in. The first two are the levels from the demo version of the game. However, the third map is in fact a different unreleased version of the second map. It's not clear what has been changed other than the obvious: the third and fourth characters now start off far below the other first two characters on different floors from each other. Possibly this was intended as a three player version of the original two player map. What is also interesting about these is the actual original demo maps as found on the disk are in an older format that cannot be opened in the map editor. The versions here have clearly been updated to the final game map format. Unused/HDDScripts.lha/RollingDemo.script suggests this map was specifically used in rolling demos of the game.

Map Editor Map Files

The map editor directory has three map files in it:

• Blank.map - The blank default flat plane map used by the map editor and e.g. the Dropzone level
• examplemap/map.map - First demo level
• maps/00.map - a Version of map 21 (Spaceport - the last level) where the first player now starts several floors below everyone else.