Temple

Temple is an Aztec-themed Trinket Wars map featuring a crazy layout rigged with numerous traps and overflowing with lava. It is regarded as one of the best maps.

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 (Aztec), volcano
• Pick-ups: Food (x7), Armor (x5), and Ammo (x6)
• Stage Hazards: See Temple#Traps and Hazards

Overview

Temple's corridors border on labyrinthine. It has very few open areas for battles which rely on evading and parrying. Despite its appearance, its layout is actually quite simple as both floors lead to the same areas: the altar and the volcano pit. The altar is situated between two floors, each with four exits. Some of them lead to the volcano pit, while others lead to the other floor and traps.

The volcano pit is rather deep, and players who fall into 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 considerably quickly. The only way to cross over 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 style.

Traps and Hazards

Temple is known more for its traps than for anything else.

• The food trap involves a food pick-up innocently stashed in a corner. Beware, there are two nearby switches that cause the corner to rotate, sending you to a sticky end by... Raven.
• A ramp leading down to the volcano pit hosts a food pick-up. Simply walking around on that ramp is enough to summon the giant rolling boulder.
• The falling rocks in the volcano pit are activated by a switch on the other side of the cavern. Mind your head when using it though, not all of the rocks land on the far side.
• There are two trapdoors that drop players into spike-filled pits, both of them are activated by switches. One is obvious, the other is more hidden.
• While not exactly a trap or hazard, there are two secret rooms that house pick-ups. Both are accessed by using the "use" key on slightly suspicious pieces of wall.
• The wall spikes are triggered if any player steps into one of the beams of light. If you're very careful, it's possible to trigger this trap without being killed by it.
• The moving walls aren't triggered by players, however, those who are trying to evade enemies may clumsily end up squashed.
• The fire-breathing bust is activated when a player steps on one of the floor switches.
• The twin trapdoors won't kill players, but they will cause fall damage. If you successfully jump over one, remember that you're only halfway across!
• If you find yourself in a corridor with a chest behind a gate, get out as soon as you can. The lever at the end will cause both sides to be blocked off while the ceiling slowly crushes you.

Hazards include the lava and the giant spider webs. Lava can be found in both the volcano pit and the altar room, as well as a couple of side-areas. The spider webs, despite being easily avoided, can cause heavy damage to players that are knocked into them with special attacks or kicks.

Presentation

Unlike most maps which are based on a specific team or all of them, Temple takes place in, well, a temple, probably built by the Aztecs. The repetitive walls can make it difficult to remember exactly where you are, making the layout more complex than it should. The lightning contributes for a warm yet sinister environment.

History

Temple's hidden credits.

Like all the original maps, Temple has received some substantial improvements over the years.

In Beta 1.0, the map was lit differently, and lacked many of its current traps and hazards. The moving walls moved in unique directions rather than always moving back and forth.

In the Beta 2.0 update the map got some new 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.

In Beta 2.1, alongside Fort, Desertruin and Saints, it was updated with the then new Holy Grail game mode, and later with Trinket Wars.

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

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. Among them: "I gotta have more cowbell!" and "I put my pants on like the rest of you, one leg at the time”.

• Temple was one of the five original maps from the Beta 1.0 version.

• A rather unpolished ninja model is another easter egg hidden in Temple. Near the food trap and the moving wall traps there's a prison 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. The switch was added for more practical use of the trap.