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"Beyond Belief is one of the earliest examples of the professional caliber levels that would come out of the mid 90s Quake scene. Created by Matthias Worch, Beyond Belief is an eight level set that would've easily fit in as an official fifth episode, even at the time of its original release. Editing Quake in the early days was a challenge, with most people not having access to the hardware used to run the original tools. Third party editors were in constant flux and were primitive. Basic features such as 3d previews and adjusting textures were not available. All of this had to be done by hand editing the original maps, and sitting through a very long compile process to check your results. Created over the course of seven months, it truly is a testament to the time and frustration perfecting an episode would've taken back then. This didn't stop Beyond Belief from releasing within Quake's first year of release, however, and its legacy lasts to this day; the episode is often brought up as one of the essential add-ons within the community. This release of Beyond Belief also includes Beyond Belief 2008, a sequel map created by Matthias Worch and Negke."
— Addons mod description in the 2021 remastered edition of Quake
Beyond Belief is a 10-level Quake episode mod originally released on May 15, 1997, by Matthias Worch (of Legend Entertainment fame).
Holding the distinction of being one of the first full-length community-made episodes made for Quake, Beyond Belief was built upon the original episodes' design principles, with its ramping up of the weapon/enemy progression earning the mod its reputation for being "tough, but fair".
On September 29, 2022, the mod was added as a downloadable addon
for the 2021 Quake Remaster, with an interview of its creators following suit.
The addon is comprised of the levels "Beyond Belief", "Mission Control", "The Cleanse", "Another Fine Mess...", "Hell's Sewers", "The Lava Grounds", "Seal of Secrecy", "The Unholy Alliance", "Imaginations From The Past" and "The Deepest Mark".
This episode mod and its 2021 Remastered edition addon version show examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: The 2021 Remaster addon version has been expanded to include Beyond Belief 2008, originally released on August 4, 2013, by Worch and "Negke". It features the standalone map "Imaginations From The Past" created in the spirit of the original Beyond Belief episode.
- Brutal Bonus Level: "Imaginations from the Past" features anywhere between 99 and 127 monsters depending on difficulty.
- Developer's Foresight: After doing the Rocket Jump to the Nightmare portal, you're greeted with a mega health pack above a platform on top of the episode selection area.
- Easter Egg: There's an area in "Seal of Secrecy" unlocked by discovering all four secrets that contain the phrase "Would you die for this?". A similar Easter Egg is found in the Unreal Mission Pack: Return to Na Pali level "Glathriel Village Part II", also created by the same author, linking to the website of the pro clan Ocrana, whom Matthias Worch used to integrate during his Quake days.
- Final Boss: Chthon... Again. And again at the tail end of "Imaginations from the Past".
- Harder Than Hard: The Nightmare difficulty portal is located in a room tucked away in a corner above the central chamber, accessible from a second-storey walkway hidden behind a shootable wall, located beside the Hard difficulty portal's lava pit. Unlike the other floor-placed portals, the Nightmare portal is affixed to the ceiling beyond the player's jump height, though the game quickly addresses this:Oh, so you think you're ready for Nightmare, hmm?
[A Rocket Launcher drops from the ceiling]
Then you know what to do here... - Hub Level: The aptly named "Beyond Belief".
- Ludicrous Gibs: "Imaginations from the Past" shows you the many ways to turn Zombies into chunky salsa that don't involve explosives: from Quad Damage-powered shots to Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom to using Spawns.
- Puzzle Boss: Subverted twice. The usually invulnerable-only-to-Lightning Chthon appears as the end boss at the tail end of the main story and the end of "Imaginations from the Past", but in both cases, you can use your regular weaponry to take it down. The latter even has a convenient Quad Damage placed near the exit door.
- Secret Level: "The Deepest Mark". The level is entered from "The Lava Grounds", the secret exit hidden within a cave beneath the big lava lake, accessible only by using the Pentagram of Protection.
- Skippable Boss: Chthon does not necessarily have to be killed in the final confrontation; once the Rune is taken, the passage to the exit opens.
- Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom:
- When disabling the spike traps in "Seal of Secrecy", the player finds a two-tiered room, one of which contains the button that triggers the trap down. However, pushing it will cause some spikes to fall from the ceiling, killing the player unless they figure out how to escape.
- "Imaginations from the Past" has several Zombies trapped in cages. Secret buttons across the level (usually nearby) allow you to eliminate them without wasting ammo.
