Grove walkthrough.

[Little Faith]

In order not to derail this week's newstuff I have decided to put up this little thread describing all the odd things you have to do in order to get through B.P.R.D's Grove.

If you should describe Grove with only one sentence it would be: "Easy, if you know how".


Okay, let's start at the beginning:

***

Smugla's House:
You have just landed in Smugla's backyard and he doesn't appear to be around at the moment. Unfortunately the outer gates are up and you are trapped on his perimeter.
Your first objective is to open the gate.

Outside the points of interest are: Smugla's mushroom garden containing mushrooms which are rightfully yours.
A weird sort of machine with cabling running towards the outer gate.
An outhouse adjoining the mushroom garden, the door is locked and bears a sign reading: "Busy" (better not disturb).

Inside the house the points of interest are:
A crude map of the Grove.
A locked safe.
A pair of bookcases.

Take the map. You will notice that you stand by a small square representing Smugla's house with a key sign in it. That key sign is significant later on.
Now take a look at the bookcases. The observant will notice a slightly recessed book. Try touching it. Something will happen.
Go outside and look at the weird machine one of the sides has opened revealing a switch. Hit it and the gate will lower.
By the way, feel free to loot Smugla's mushroom garden and reclaim your stolen property.

***

The Well:
Now you have escaped Smugla's perimeters and are at loose in the Grove. It is a wondrous, but unfriendly place and you won't get far with your measly pistol. Besides it is very dark and eerie. Your second objective is to find an adequate piece of weaponry.

If you look at the map you will see a small x with an arrow saying boomstick. Interesting, eh? Well, let's check it out. Beware of the spots marked by large exclamation marks. They are probably dangerous and should not be approached before you have found a suitable weapon.
Do not lose patience when you follow the trail to the boomstick. The map is not 100% accurate and you may have to search a bit. You should be able to find a small clearing with a dried out well. If you are a mouselooker you might be able to spot something at the bottom of the well. DO NOT jump into the well. You have no way of getting back up again.
What you need now is to fill up the well with water. Remember, this is not Boom, water is esentially solid and everything will float at it's surface.

***

The Hands of Passage:
If you look at the map again you will see a small series of "waves" near an oval with three stars in it. Perhaps this is worth checking out. This looks a bit interesting. It can even be reached without passing those big exlamation marks.

When you arrive there you will find following points of interest:
Three great stone hands with open palms grasping upwards.
A small basin filled with water with a valve beside it.
If you walk a bit longer up the path you will se a great closed doorway. On the map it is marked with a keyhole.

The three great hands each request a differently coloured key. You cannot honour their request right now, so let's turn our attention to the basin. Turn the valve and watch the water drain away to somewhere else. DO NOT jump into the empty basin, you cannot get back up again. Besides it contains nothing apart from water.

***

The Well, Revisited:
You had a guess where all that water wen't, right? Well, congratulations. Once you have found your way back to the well you will find that it has been filled with water.
Even better, held up by the magical properties of vanilla Doom water, is an authentic big bad spankin' double-barreled sawed off super duper shotgun!! Do a happy little dance and get on with your quest for Great Justice!

***

Grove Central:
Look at the map. You will see a great circle with the letters G.C written in it. Interesting. Let's check it out.

- En route to the "G.C" you will experience a little "incident". Good you went through the labours of acquiring a sizable boomstick. If you gorged yourself on Smugla.. er, I meant YOUR invigorating mushrooms you might have a better chance of making it. Now you know what those exclamation marks mean! -

The Grove Central is a sight indeed. Unlike the surrounding Grove this place is very well lit by dozens of lamp-posts (elegant ones even). Unfortunately the locals here are not of the friendly sort and you will probably have to make use of your sawed-off.
The buildings of the Grove Central contains many wondrous things. Watch as an entire room changes before your eyes. You should not underestimate the technological clout of the Groves' inhabitants. It is from this place the whole Grove is administered and control of this place is imperative for your mission.

The most important room of the Grove Central is the control room. Inside you will find a series of large breaker switches. They are labeled:
Cemetery Gates (this switch is out of order)
Drain Water
Smugla's Safe
Cave Lock
You

Better remember these. They should prove helpful if you encounter some hindrance on your way. Actually we already have encountered something. The locked safe in Smugla's House. Hit the Smugla's Safe switch. If I were you I would not tempt faith by messing with the "You" switch. It is probably vital for something.

Besides the switchboard there is a small board with five knobs in it and a tiny door besides it. For details on these consult the appendix.

It would also be a good idea to explore the perimeters around the Grove Central. There are lots of supplies to be had here and you are going to need them sooner or later.

***

Smugla's House, Revisited:

Something is afoot here. Apparantly Smugla has returned from whereever he has been and he does not look pleased. Be prepared for nasty fight. Smugla is very dangerous with his super-chaingun and a direct confrontation would be unwise. Use his house as cover. I sincerely hope you have acquired some kind of protective clothing by now.

Once Smugla is disposed of you can explore his house. The switch didn't lie. The safe has opened. Inside is a statue of sorts. It's golden head can be removed. You have found a yellow skull key! Now you know what those "key" symbols on the map means.
Now let's find out where Smugla had been hiding all along. He appeared in the mushroom garden. Look, the outhouse door is open. It must be there he was hiding. He appears to have dropped something very valuable out there.

***

The Hands of Passage, Revisited:
Now you have one of the three keys the big stone hands requested of you. Let's see what they are good for. When you activate the correct hand a small pretty yellow star lights up. Nothing else happens though. It seems a single key is not enough.

***

The Caves and the Cemetary:
On the map there is a key sign a very short walk south from the stone hands. Looks to be exactly where we need to go.
Unfortunately the place, a cemetary, has been boarded up due to heightened spirit activity. Wielding you mighty boomstick you can't be bothered with a few ghosts, but you still need to find an alternative way in.

A little bit longer east is a cave according to the map. Maybe it hides a passage to the cemetary. It is worth a try.
Unfortunately the cave is sealed by several iron bars, but remember the switchboard over at the Grove Central. Rush over there and hit the "Cave Seal" switch.
The newly opened cave is a quite fantastic place. It is illuminated by several large crystals that produces bright, though a bit flickering, light seemingly at their own accord. The cave ends with a giant stone slab inscribed with a weird symbol. Now, this symbol must be there for a reason.
Search the cave thoroughly. Near the bottom of the crystal nearest the cave entrance you may find a tiny little symbol corresponding to the big symbol. Hit it and the stone slab will open up.

Behind the caves a small path leads to the cemetary. It is a small place and has indeed been completely overrun with ghosts. Keep your nerves under control and you should make it through. The whole area is covered with skulls and bones. No wonder there were so many ghosts with such a sloppy burial. Search the area thoroughly. One of the skulls seems a bit off-colour. It is not an ordinary skull, but a red skull key.

***

The Ruins:
Unfortunately activating two hands does still not accomplish anything. It looks like you'll have to satisfy all three. According to the map the third key is located in a bunch of ruins in the northeast corner of the Grove.
The ruins themselves reveals nothing of interest besides maybe a few shells or stim-packs. Apparantly the key must be inside that sealed tomb the map alludes to. Unfortunately it is indeed quite sealed, and no, there were not any "tomb seal" switches over at the Grove Central. Looks like you will have to do a bit of further exploration.

***

The Stone Circle:
Past the the cave there should be a stone circle according to the map. Given that someone bothered to mention it, it must have some sort of importance. Let's go check it out. Unfortunately the map is very inaccurate here. The position of the stone circle is way off and in the end it is but a small ring of stepping stones hidden deep between the trees and bushes, but lo and behold! You are being teleported.
You are now in wholly different clearing full of bloodthirsty monsters. In the middle of the clearing is big stone pillar. In the periphery there is a ring of tablets each bering a leering face. A bit away from the central pillar is a pedestal bearing a switch fashioned like a skull. It is probably important, let's hit it!
Unfortunately you seem to be quite trapped in this clearing. There are no paths leading away from here you are caught within a circular wall of vegetation.
But those tablets seem to have a function. They are in fact a kind of switches lighting up with an eerie glow as you press them.
Each time you light up a switch a horrendous demon appears out of nowhere, except for one. It lowers the central pillar instead revealing a teleport back to the rest of the Grove.

***

The Ruins, Revisited:
That switch in the Stone Circle must have opened the sealed tomb because now roaming undead prowl the ruins with blood on their mind. Defeat them with your trusty shotgun and enter their tomb.
Inside the tomb a row of adorned skulls are displayed on a shelf. One a deep reddish gold, another emerald greeen, a gleaming white one and lastly a magnificent sparkling blue azure skull. You have aquired the last of the three skull key. The blue skull key.

***

The Hands of Passage, Finale:
Brandishing all three skull keys you can now finally hope to win the favour of the three stone hands.
Activate the remaining hand. Now follow the northbound trail. The gate has opened! But the hands are not it's only guardians. Be prepared for the final battle for freedom!

Behind the gate you will finally find the hole that will lead you back to your own world. You have completed the mission. You have defeated Smugla, reclaimed the mushrooms and won your freedom. Congratulations! (with enduring all my pompous crap).

[Foofoo]

Good job- though with getting the yellow key you aren't really supposed to kill 'Smugla' (Umm... Spider Master Mind with Chaingunner frames) I only meant for the player to get the key and run off. Is there enough ammo to kill him? Damn. I shouldn't have put that mega sphere in the out house. It was meant to be secret!

[Little Faith]

Appendix!

But there are still things I have not touched on.


Indeed there is a secondary mission, that if you complete it will aid you greatly in facing Smugla and the final guardians.


On your journey you may have stumbled upon many weird sights a bit off the beaten path. A locked gateway standing by itself, a boarded up shed, light shining from far beneath the trees. And what is the point with all those diamond shapes on the map?

Fear not brave traveller of the edge of dreams, there is a hidden reason with everything, though it might only emerge for the most inquisitive souls.

Let's embark upon the Quest of the Diamonds:

The First Lonely Lamppost:
The easiest of the five diamonds is the one lying a bit northwest of Smugla's house. All you need to do is to follow the trail to the well and search the edges of the road. You should be able to find a small sidetrack between the trees. Follow it and you will reach a lamppost and a small relief package.

The Tower of Technology:
At the edge of the Grove Central perimeter you may also find a small side trail leading into the trees. It will end in a tiny stone plate. Step upon it and you will find yourself transported to a very high-tech looking structure overlooking the Grove shrouded in the night. A powerful blue armor awaits you here.

The remaining three diamonds are not readily accessible like the former two. They are locked by powerful wards and barriers that must be overcome first by finding a hidden switch.

The Boarded Up Shed:
From the clearing with the well a small trail leads westward ending with a tiny shed with a locked door and boarded up windows, yet light penetrates the cracks between the boards. In order to open the door you must search the perimeter of the Grove Central. In the northwestern corner you should find a small pole with a lever. Turn it to open the shed.
The shed contains an artifact of extreme power. The glorious Light Amplification Visor that turns the darkest night into the brightest day. Use it wisely because it's time is limited. It will aid you greatly in the final battle.

The Second Lonely Lamppost:
In your frantic search for the stone circle you might have stumpled upon a small slab of marble blocking off a tiny trail.
To banish this ward you must enter the teleporter to the real stone circle and locate the tablet that has two faces, one hidden from the masses (in other words, look at the backside of the tablets). Activate this and the trail will be laid open.
At the end of the trail is a solitary lamppost shining down on a small stash, most notably a backpack.

Smugla's Hidden Aspiration:
An enigmatic gatepost sits nonchalantly by the side of one of the main roads. It won't budge to any advances.
To get past this solemn guardian you will need to search the haunted cemetary. One of the wooden epitaphs will carry a hard to notice circular recession on it's backside. Activate this and Smugla's hidden empire will be laid bare for your taking.
By gazing at the totality of Smugla's treasures one cannot help to doubt one's own vengeful quest of reclamation. This wondrous sanctuary is the fruit of Smugla's many nightly ventures. Kept aloft by his thievery. Yet it's beauty is amazing, almost holy.


The Grove Central board of pegs:

As I have mentioned before there is a small board with five pegs standing beside a tiny locked door. This is the "diamond tally". Each time you successfully visit one of the diamond areas the corresponding peg will depress itself. Once all five pegs are depressed the tiny door will open leading you into... well, who knows.

[Little Faith]

Foofoo said:

Good job- though with getting the yellow key you aren't really supposed to kill 'Smugla' (Umm... Spider Master Mind with Chaingunner frames) I only meant for the player to get the key and run off. Is there enough ammo to kill him? Damn. I shouldn't have put that mega sphere in the out house. It was meant to be secret!

Well, I did run out of ammo during the final fight the first time through (ran past the last guardians and into freedom).

With the super secret Smugla should be a pushover.


BTW, what does that "Drain Water" switch in the Grove Central control room do?

I pressed it several times with no discernible effect. The whole well thing seems unaffected by it.

[Foofoo]

lol- not only aren't you meant to kill Smugla, but you aren't meant to kill the Barons and Hell Kights at the end either. If you see, on the map, there are 2 trails running down from the 3 star locks. I did this for the purpose of the last fight. You make the monsters follow you down to that secret locked brick 'gate' (with the star infront of it), and then you run up the second trail, up to the hand locks and continue off to the end.

[Foofoo]

What does the water drain switch do? Absolutley nothing- basically because you already drained the water when you got the super shotgun. (The place has such crap drainage that it floods the well- I guess) Doesn't really make sense does it. I'm no plumber.

[Epyo]

I see there's a lot of stuff I missed playing this, I'm gonna play it again. It felt a lot like I was playing Myst when I played this. I'd love to see a sequel.

[Linguica]

I concur, BPRD made an intricate and atmospheric map hampered by shitty framerate and extremely annoying 1994-ish switch hunts. A WAD or series of WADs like this (self contained storyline, neat things to explore) that didn't depend on searching every wall texture for some blemish or indentation would be wonderful.

[Scuba Steve]

A walkthrough would be much more valuable if the framerates didn't prevent me from walking anywhere.

[Foofoo]

why does everyone bitch about the framerate? I mean, what am i supposed to do? Put crappy wall textures of trees like Redneck Rampage along the road or put tree sprites? I prefer the tree sprites. It would be laughably horrible putting tree textured walls along the road now wouldn't it Mr.GrumpyComplainer(s). I'm not going to be limited by everyone's shitty computers and even shitter game engines.

Sorry.

[Scuba Steve]

If id releases DooM 3 and everyone gets 8fps... everyone is going to complain. When an addon to a ten year old game is released that gets 8fps on a moderate computer today, I'm going to complain. Like all level makers have to deal with, a balance between gameplay and looks is always a consideration. Just because Grove is amazingly atmospheric and fun... doesn't excuse it's poor performance.

[Linguica]

Foofoo said:

why does everyone bitch about the framerate? I mean, what am i supposed to do? Put crappy wall textures of trees like Redneck Rampage along the road or put tree sprites?

Why couldn't you just put big voids in the areas where the player can't get to anyway? There's no reason why when I look out past the opening gate that the engine should be struggling to draw a tree that's all the way over on the other side of the map, because there's nothing whatsoever stopping it from being drawn.

No one wants you to make it look like shit, but come on. In areas where the trees are so thick that you can't see through them anyway, put a thin little wall through the middle so that everything behind it just doesn't get drawn and the performance is that much better.

[Foofoo]

Well I was going to put a big watch tower in the center of the map, so you could see everything, but I deleted it near the end of making map. I WAS going to do what you said- put walls and stuff in places- but I didn't. I seriously have no idea why. I just didn't think about it. I just wanted to complete the damn map, since it was taking too much of my time and I was sick of it. I rushed the piece of crap out like our friend Romero with that sword game. Maybe I'll do a GOLD VERSION or something.

[The Ultimate DooMer]

Foofoo said:

why does everyone bitch about the framerate? I mean, what am i supposed to do? Put crappy wall textures of trees like Redneck Rampage along the road or put tree sprites? I prefer the tree sprites. It would be laughably horrible putting tree textured walls along the road now wouldn't it Mr.GrumpyComplainer(s). I'm not going to be limited by everyone's shitty computers and even shitter game engines.

Sorry.

Err...you did use a treeline texture along the road. And it looks quite good as well. You could've used sector-based trees of course, but not everyone likes them...

But you certainly could've used the horizon trick to fill the big empty gaps in the map - that would've made a difference, particularly if the horizon sector was close to the treeline texture all the way round.

[Foofoo]

The Ultimate DooMer said:

Err...you did use a treeline texture along the road.

Yes, and i also added a million tree sprites to cover up the shame.

[chilvence]

Thing is, thanks to the dark atmosphere of the map you can get away with doing that completely - the small border of tree sprites between the path and the treeline is enough to cover up the effect nicely. I did a test, converted it to a zdoom format wad and cut large areas of void. On these one sided lines I put the line_horizon special so that the ground and the sky would stretch out nicely behind them. The framerate quadro-supra-quintoplextified, and the visual result was near exactly the same because you couldnt see the other side of the map anyway. Once I'd done that I had great fun playing the map (just a shame that I'd managed to pick up all the clues to finish it while I was cutting it up)

[The Ultimate DooMer]

Foofoo said:

Yes, and i also added a million tree sprites to cover up the shame.

There's nothing shameful about that.

[chilvence]

What you really need to do is change the layout of the level a little so you can cut more void space in it. Eg if the hidden path near the hand locks went east instead of southeast, you could cut a much larger swab of void space than you can at the moment, making the map more efficient.

If I were you, I'd ditch the map effect - its probably one of the coolest surprises I've ever seen in a doom wad, but it is slicing your level to pieces and causing people to drop through the floor or get horrible rendering errors. Your only other choice is to join it to the actual level itself and make sure all the sectors are closed - I tried that with good results, but it would take ages to do that to the whole map.

[Foofoo]

chilvence said:

If I were you, I'd ditch the map effect - its probably one of the coolest surprises I've ever seen in a doom wad, but it is slicing your level to pieces and causing people to drop through the

Holy shit! People actually dropped through the floor? hehe god this level is screwy. I had a little problem with that while making it but I fixed it, strange that people still get that.