Temple

Temple is a Trinket Wars map created by CrazyTalk. It was one of the five original maps from the Beta 1.0 version. On Beta 2.1, alongside Fort, Desertruin and Saints, it got updated with the then new Holy Grail game mode, and later with Trinket Wars. It is often regarded as one of the best maps of the mod due to it's crazy layout and traps yet satisfactory balance for the game mode.

Stats

• Map file: tw_temple (formerly pvk_temple and hg_temple)
• Mode: Trinket Wars
• Author: CrazyTalk
• Release Date: Beta 1.0 (January 2007)
• Theme: Ruins (aztech), volcano
• Number of enemies per trinket: __
• Pick-ups: Food (x_), Armor (x_), and Ammo (x_)
• Stage Hazards: See Traps and Hazards

Overview

Temple's layout is very labyrinthine with a considerable amount of corridors. It has very few open areas for battles which rely on evading and parrying. Despite the labyrinth aspect it's layout is actually very simple, considering that both floors lead to the same areas: the altar and the volcano pit. The altar is set under two floors: each of them has four exits which some of them may lead to the volcano pit while others lead to the ground floor and eventually traps. The volcano pit, is rather deep and players who fall onto it may either hit the rocks or fall into the lava. The lava itself doesn't instantly kill players but it drains the player's health and really fast. The only way to pass though the pit is on a wooden bridge. In typical PVKII tradition, the map isn't meant to be taken seriously since it has more stage hazards than every map made to date. Some of them are natural, such as lava, while others are triggered by the players, Indiana Jones-styled, like a giant boulder.

Traps and Hazards

Temple is widely known for it's traps, which can variate depending on the corridor you're standing on.

• The food trap
• A giant boulder is activated when a player walks around the area near the giant spider webs;
• The falling rocks and the spiked trapdoor are activated with switches located in the lava pit and under a small room in the ground floor, respectively;
• The wall spikes are triggered if any player steps on the light beams;
• The moving walls are hazards which aren't triggered by players, however, those who are in evasion mode might feel clumsy and end up being squashed by one of them;
• The fire-breathing bust is activated when a player steps in the giant floor switch;
• The trapdoors, while they don't kill players they do cause fall damage;

Hazards include the lava and the giant spider webs. Lava can be found in both the volcano pit and the altar, which it's surrounded by the fluid. The spider webs, despite being easily avoidable it can create a lot of damage for players that are pushed off with a special attack or with fire power.

Presentation

Unlike most maps which are based in a specific class or all of them, Temple takes place in, well, a temple, possibly build by a civilization of the New World, possibly the Aztechs. The repetitiveness of wall textures in the map creates an allusion of claustrophobia and distraction, making the layout more complex than it should. The lightning contributes for a warm and frightning environment and it can come from either the altar's ceiling or from the lava lakes.

History

Much like all the original maps, Temple got some substantial improvements over the years. On Beta 1.0, the map's lightning was slightly different and it lacked many of the traps and hazards that are known today. The moving walls followed an unique direction rather than always moving at the same side. On the Beta 2.0 update the map got some updates when it comes to stage hazards, including the fire-spitting bust, the wall spikes and falling rocks in the volcano pit. New rooms were added for the upcoming Holy Grail mode so that dead ends could be avoided. Later updates included new hazards, such as the giant boulder and the giant spider web, and also made certain corridors wider in order to concentrate more players.

Trivia

Temple's hidden credits.

The Ninja.

• There are in-game credits hidden in the map. There is a room with giant pillars and one armor pickup. It has upper and lower levels, and in the upper level, there is a walkable platform by the wall. Walk it into the corner of the room, and you'll see map credits and a picture of Christopher Walken. By pressing the "use"-key on Christopher Walken, you activate sounds in the map. You'll now hear some sounds, like "I gotta have more cowbell!" and "I put my pants on like the rest of you, one leg at the time”;

• A rather unpolished ninja model is also an easter egg hidden in Temple. Near the food trap and the moving traps there's a prision with two cells, one of them is opened and in the other one lies a presumably dead ninja;

• In the first version of the map, corpses could be seen in the lava pit and the altar's lava ditch. The corpses resemble that of burnt human bodies seen in Valve's video game Half-Life 2;

• The early version of the falling rocks were activated when a player climbs the rope at the volcano pit, however various players using it at the same time caused the trap to not be triggered properly. Later it was added the switch for a more practical use of the trap;