Blood II: Revelations
"Revelations is going very well, 75% of level design is now complete, with levels ranging from Temples, a warehouse, a train ride, a train yard, the city streets and many others. There are lots of original ideas and huge scripted parts in it, Cultists being thrown through windows by Shikaris, Zealots surprise attacking you, walls caving in. In revelations we have tried to re-capture the Blood 1 feel (with darkness and the element of surprise) but set in Blood 2 times, Here at Tequila we want to immerse the player into a world which is not only visually captivating, but also involves the player with what is actually going on in the surroundings, we also want people to feel emotions including fright and surprise. The coding is also near completion (including the Revelations launcher, front end ) but a few bugs are being ironed out at present." — Peter Hopkins, April 26, 1999
Blood II: Revelations was a planned expansion pack for Blood II: The Chosen which was under development by Tequila Software, a British based software developer which consisted of Peter Hopkins, Tom Francis, and David Wilson that had previously worked on Quake II: Unseen (and got in a trademark dispute with id Software over the phrase "mission pack").
Development[edit]
"Tequila Software was informed by the publishers to create an 'expansion pack' for a game they hold the rights to and publish. The concept for Blood 2: Revelations is born. Tequila works on Revelations for 6-8 months before the publisher decides its a no go due to the limited sales of Blood 2. Tequila continues work on Revelations with the hope to get it complete for two reasons, a free release over the Internet and the second reason to end up with a good portfolio. Tequila Software officially disbands. Peter Hopkins continued working on Level Design with the Lithtech Engine for another year, completed his A Levels in Computer Science, Business and Law and Design and Realisation and now works full time at Headfirst Productions as a Level Designer and Background Artist currently working on The Call Of Cthulhu. David Wilson has just finished studying Computer science for a BSc at University and Tom Francis is currently studying Philosophy at Southampton University." — Peter Hopkins, July 2, 2002
After the release of both Blood II and Shogo: Mobile Armour Division, Monolith Productions was open to outside developers building expansion packs for their franchises, probally in part to bring in more revenue after both games sold worse than expected. Revelations was intended to extend Blood II in a similar vein to how Shugotenshi and Legacy of the Fallen would have extended Shogo. Tom Francis of Tequila was a good friend of James Wilson, and contributed some ideas that would eventually appear in the Plasma Pak as well as in Blood II. Through this friendship Tom and the other Tequila developers were able to negotiate with Monolith, and formed their development house with the intention of making the expansion pack. Although much work was done on the project and the developers were confident they could ship it before the release of Quake III Arena, the project faltered and Tequila Software disappeared.
Storyline[edit]
Chapter One
- Level 1: The Warehouse
Map name: 01_Warehouse
- Level 2: Trainyard
Map name: 02_trainyardstart
- Level 3: City Transport
Map name: 03_traintrip
- Level 4: Subway Station
Map name: 4_subwaystation
- Level 5: Tube Train
Map name: 05_traintrip2
- Level 6: Subway System
Map name: 06_subwaysystem2
- Level 7 : Sewer System
Map name: 07_sewersystem
Note: The story line for Blood II: Revelations is about Caleb taking over the Cabal; when the player plays as any of the other Chosen, they are not playing in story mode, so the plot does not need to be worked around them. This is why the article refers to 'Caleb' in the plot, but 'the player' in level plans.
In an interview with Planet Blood, Peter Hopkins outlined the story for the expansion:
During the reformation of the Cabal after Tchernobog’s eleventh incarnation was destroyed, a cult by the name of the Krest began to form within the Cabal. As Gideon came to power within the new CabalCo and began his obsessive hunting of Caleb, the Krest split off, believing Gideon’s obsession to be misguided and dangerous. As the Krest developed and grew outside the Cabal, they overran an entire city to use for their own headquarters.
Soon, Caleb destroyed Gideon and took the entire Cabal for himself, infested with the presence of Tchernobog. The high council, leaders of the Krest, immediately saw that the new Cabal was a threat to the cult, and realised that Caleb must be destroyed and Tchernobog banished, or better, instated into a Krest member, giving the Krest control over the entire Cabal.
A Krest member named Cain was selected to be the new host for Tchernobog, and to take over the Cabal in order to control it as the Krest high council wished. Caleb was captured by an elite team of Krest gunmen and taken to a huge downtown warehouse where the rituals to excorsise Tchernobog from him could be conducted.
Sedated heavily and left lying in the dark, bound in a straight jacket, Caleb is left while the priests prepare themselves in the Krest underground temple. Unfortunately for them, Caleb comes round early...
Introduction[edit]
Chapter Two
- Level 8: City Streets
Map name: 08_citystreets
- Level 9: Office Complex
Map name: 09_officeentrance
- Level 10: The 13th Floor
Map name: 10_mainoffices
- Level 11: The Rooftops
Map name: 11_rooftops
- Level 12: The Great temple
Map name: 12_temple
- Level 13: The Great temple
Map name: 13_templetunnels
- Level 13: The Great temple (Arena)
Map name: 14_templeend
A short sequence starting with a Cabalco control room with Caleb commanding groups of Cultists working at various computers. The doors burst open and Krest gunmen charge in, murder all the Cultists and go for Caleb. He takes a few down with his Life Leech, but is soon knocked unconscious by the butt of a Krest gunman's Assault Rifle. The screen blacks out and fades in showing a gloomy, badly lit warehouse scene with Caleb tied in a straight jacket standing in the middle of the room.
Basic 'Look and Feel' Objectives[edit]
The game generally would attemptedly have a dark city kind of look and a slightly gangstery/film noir feel. Certainly the combat, with the new weapons which require reloading, would be more cover orientated, with the player generally having to hide while reloading and jump out to empty his weapon at whatever is around.
Level Plans[edit]
The Warehouse[edit]
The player is weaponless in a large, dark room and must spend the first minute or so navigating through the dark warehouse without any protection. About three or four Krest guards are posted around the warehouse, patrolling around the dusty corridors and the large dark storage rooms. The player has little chance, armed only with his knife, against these, and so must try to get to the ground floor with a minimum of fuss.
On the way down, the stairs give way and the player falls into the foundations. It's extremely dark, and there's a Baptist there. The only clearly visible thing is a crack in the wall at one end, through which the player will have to escape. The Baptist will not follow.
The player can, if he so wishes, return to the entrance of the warehouse from the outside, but he will be murdered instantly by the hordes of enemies there.
The only other building in this part of the city is an office block, which is locked up. The player can smash through the glass front doors with his fists, and inside, slumped against the reception desk, is a corpse with a .65 by his side. The player can then either take the lift up to the thirteenth floor of the building (all other floors are sealed off) and jump down onto the warehouse roof from out of the windows there, dropping through an open skylight to get back in, or he can simply return to the warehouse via the normal street entry, but he'd probably get killed trying. The player will then have to kill everyone in the warehouse, specifically the group of opponents at the entrance, since one of them (or possibly a civilian amongst them) holds a key to a lorry outside. Once the player acquires this and leaves the warehouse again, there will be a huge crowd of even more powerful enemies coming down the street towards him. Since he has very little chance of defeating these, he must dash to the lorry, get inside and then use the dashboard in order to start it. In typical horror movie style, the vehicle doesn't start for several tries and the enemies will crowd outside and shoot through the windows. The doors of the lorry will automatically shut and lock when the player gets in, so he cannot give up starting it. When he finally gets the lorry started, it drives straight into the wall of the train yard, causing a huge number of explosions, the collapse of a wall and a small adjacent hut and the destruction of the cab of the lorry. The next level begins with the player sitting injured in the back of the lorry, then the doors open.
Ending[edit]
Caleb enters the inner chamber of the Krest’s undergorund temple, where Cain is awaiting him.
Cain: Oh, nice of you to show, Caleb. You’re LATE.
Caleb: [sarcastic] Oh, I'm sorry. My watch must be slow.
Cain: Any last requests before you reach the zenith of agony?
Caleb: Yeah, is there a bathroom in this joint?
Cain: ENOUGH you pathetic INSECT, you will not ruin my plans.
Caleb: Why does everyone keep calling me that? Have I lost weight?
Cain: <starts chanting something in Cabal language>
Caleb: Well, it was fun, but I'm afraid I can't stick around. And neither can you.
There’s lots of white sparks and stuff, then Caleb screams and the screen fades to white.
Cain: Hmm, this is better than Cool-ade.
The view zooms up to him and suddenly the player resumes control, but of Cain, not Caleb. It turns out that the player, since the end of Blood, had been controlling Tchernobog, not Caleb, and now Tchernobog has been manifested into Cain he assumes this body instead.
Caleb: I'm gonna have to put you down...
And then the player is left to fight Caleb (who's using two Shotguns) with only his claw (since Cain carries no weapon in his temple place). If the player dies, Tchernobog returns to Caleb and the game is completed. If the player wins and Caleb dies, Tchernobog is still manifest in an ample form and the game is completed.
Planned Features[edit]
Gibbing an opponent would have to take more damage than it does in the original game and it would have been easier to de-limb people. The gibbing noise would have been made louder, and slightly more 'ripping'. As soon as an enemy is killed, their dying body would have been totally immaterial to the player
Pressing 'Y' would have played a randomly selected file from the character's Idle directory.
Enemies[edit]
- Krest Baptist: Armed with one or two knives. Close combat only, fast runners, dressed in smart black clothing, but with heavy white bandages around his arms, waist and legs.
- Krest Follower: Armed with a single Shotgun or an Assault Rifle. Similar in appearance to the Zealot, except with a face rather than the mask, (probably with a face mask or scarf of some sort over the mouth), and obviously with different weapons.
- Krest Preacher: Armed with a Sniper Rifle or Tesla Cannon. Preachers would wear black riot armour (kevlar vest, etc) underneath a black trenchcoat.
- The Missionary: A huge, hideously over-muscled humanoid that carries a Life Leech. In close combat, he will beat his opponents shitless with it, using it as a club. The Missionary would be a complete sadist, and always try to get in close to make his victims suffer for longer (since his long range magic would be more powerful and so quicker to kill someone).
- Cain: Cain is the only human ever to successfully control the manifestation of a Bone Leech within his body. The Leech has mutated and half developed, leaving him with one claw bursting through the palm of his left hand supported by a huge boney appendage protruding from his elbow and coming from a hunch in his back where the Leech festers. Cain formed the Krest in the later stages of the Cabal's life, and Cain himself is not actually undead, merely very mutated. In the end scene of the game, Cain takes Tchernobog from Caleb, and in an unexpected twist, the player takes control of Cain (more on this later). Cain's claw is more powerful than any of the Chosen's knives, and attacks more rapidly. The sound for it should be like a ripping sort of sound. Cain himself is intelligent but not over-superior like Gideon. His character will be like a slightly rougher, more nasty version of Ishmael. He's also surprisingly foul mouthed for such a sinister looking character.
Weapons[edit]
Throwing Knife:[edit]
Normal Fire: Throwing knives are selected by pressing '1' again, and so do not take up an extra weapon slot. Normal fire would flick the knife at the enemy very quickly and lightly, allowing the player to hit moving targets better, but still kill with a head shot. Second Fire: This would draw the knife back a short distance then hurl it with great force, leaving a bigger delay between pressing fire and actually throwing the knife, but being far more effective. Akimbo: Unavailable.
Flamethrower:[edit]
Normal Fire: This weapon would work, technically speaking, by producing a series of flame effects in a line in front of the weapon. The flame effect thing is already in the game, appearing on burning enemies. Anyway, it would obviously just burn anything in its path. The emphasis here would be on an almost malfunctioning improvised weapon, made from a petrol can and a cigarette lighter. The thing would billow out huge amounts of flame and burn up ammo very quickly indeed, but also incinerate enemies very quickly indeed. I feel there's definitely a need for a weapon like this, since the existing flame based weapons never allow you to burn large numbers of enemies at once. Black smoke should alsorise up from the nozzle.
Second Fire: Player moves the weapon down a bit, turns a valve on the weapon's barrel, and it fires an extreme blast of huge flames over a very wide spread, draining almost all the weapon's ammo very quickly indeed. Akimbo: Not available.
Deadlock Rifle[edit]
Normal Fire: This rifle loads four high calibre rounds at a time, which can be fired automatically (but with a lower fire rate than, say, the Assault Rifle) before the clip has to be reloaded. These four shots do not necessarily have to be fired all in one burst. Each round is capable of killing a Fanatic with a chest shot. Reloading is just pulling the small cylinder back an pushing something into the whole, before clicking it back into place. Second Fire: Fires all four rounds in a compact grapeshot style, giving a small but deadly blast area. Akimbo: Unavailable.
.65 Calibre Pistol with Mercury-Tipped Rounds[edit]
Normal Fire: This pistol has a clip on butt which allows it to be held steadily for a greater accuracy shots. The rounds themselves use an experimental technology with mercury tips. Since these relatively large rounds are fired at such high velocity, the streak of liquid metal impacts with enough force to shred anything it hits. Second Fire: Twists the pistol round so it's on its side, and fires at an improved fire rate but much lower accuracy. Akimbo: The weapon can be used in dual mode, which decreases the accuracy slightly but greatly helps the fire rate. The weapons are fired alternately, as with Shogo.
Tranquiliser[edit]
Normal Fire: Fires a single dart that would knock enemies unconscious in single player, or make them dizzy or their screen black out in mutliplayer (since making a multiplayer opponent lie unconscious for ten minutes is not going to be great fun for them or the people they're playing against). Second Fire: Fires a dart which explodes on impact, with a similar force to a napalm ball (ie. a lot), but uses up more ammo. Akimbo: Unavailable.
Harpoon Launcher[edit]
Normal Fire: This is the same weapon, but loaded with the aforementioned Harpoon. Second Fire: Player loads another two harpoons into the launcher, firing a devastating grapeshot of three harpoons. Akimbo: Probably not.
Spells[edit]
Justice: This is a duration effect based spell. When activated, it will work for 10 seconds. While activated, any weapons fired at another living creature, by the player or his enemies, will hit the firer instead of the victim. This applies even when a direct reflection of the weapon's effects would not harm the firer. So if the player is stabbed while the Justice spell is in operation, his attacker will take the damage. The same goes for the player attacking his opponents, so he is advised to remain peaceful while the spell is in effect, and watch his enemies destroy themselves. The spell creates a very obvious aura, and in multiplayer every player's display will be tinted to show that the spell is in effect.
Changes to Blood 2's Weapons[edit]
Knife[edit]
A Character's Strength attribute would have more seriously affected his or her's knife's power. A character of Strength 5 would have a very powerful knife attack indeed.
The Orb[edit]
Second Fire: Player very quickly moves his hand forwards and the Orb moves with it. If anything is within knifing range, the Orb will quickly attach itself, otherwise it will return to normal. This uses 20 focus if it hits, none if not.
Shotgun[edit]
Akimbo: If the left hand gun has 2 shells loaded, the right will automatically be set to 1. If the left has 1, the right will be set to 0 and will reload as the left fires. When the left has 0 and is reloading, the right will have just finished reloading and will have 2 shells. The reason for this is to ensure that the Shotguns are always synchronised so that they fire one after the other.
Mac-10[edit]
Akimbo Second Fire: Player reaches over with one hand to pull the latch on the opposite Mac, then does the same to the original hand's Mac. He then uses them in alt mode in tandem.
Screenshot Gallery[edit]
Legacy[edit]
On January 10, 2015 Peter Hopkins, formerly of Tequila Software, released what he had of the once attempted Blood II: Revelations expansion pack. This includes a wealth of new material, including two new music tracks and five new recorded Caleb lines, although most of the levels included are only part complete with little more than landmark areas finished.
"Please feel free to use the levels for non-profit creations including mods/inspirational works. Any other form of use is strictly prohibited. They are to serve as a nostalgic reminder for the modding community and if the community wish to continue with any of the editable levels they are free to do so for non-profit/non-financed projects. Be careful of sounds and textures contained within the project, I would advise keeping away from directly using these as some are directly from Blood/Blood2 - I don't own the rights to these, it was taken that Tequila could use them while working with Monolith/GT ... They are out there now, if the community feels like continuing the journey please feel free to do so." — Peter Hopkins, January 10, 2015
Joe Volante later collected the complied maps and other associated data released by Peter Hopkins into an easy to load REZ file.
"I zipped up a REZ file of the Revelations data so people can try out the single and BB test maps for themselves a little easier. Just download the Revelations.zip ... Extract the rez file into your Blood2\Custom folder ... Launch Blood 2 as normal (Either B2 or Nightmares) and load Revelations.REZ under 'Customize' button ... Don't forget what Blaze said to also add the command +enableretaillevels 1 under 'Advanced' button [you must do this to be able to select which level you want to play] ... Then launch game and select Single Player, then Custom Level ... you can also load the other test and BB test maps." — Joe Volante, January 17, 2015
Those interested in finding out more can read this thread on the GOG.com forum as well as this thread on the Transfusion Forums.
External Links[edit]
- Peter Hopkins Interview on Planet Blood
- Promotional from Planet Blood
- Revelations Preview at Sharky Extreme
- Forum thread from Transfusion Forums
- Forum thread from The Postmortem
- News post from Blood Line
- Guru3D News Post
- GA-Source update
- The Blood Lair screamshots
- Shooter Central News Post
- Peter Hopkins LinkedIn Profile
- MobyGames gameography for Peter Hopkins
- Revelations Gameplay and Trailers
