Hells Half Acre - Doomworld /idgames database frontend

Title:	Hells Half Acre
Filename:	levels/doom/g-i/halfacre.zip
Size:	114.86 KB
Date:	04/26/96
Author:	Tom Simon (Sime)
Description:	BACKGROUND: I like wads with a kinda theme, not just haphazard stuff thrown together. Ones that sorta make sense; as much as critters from hell can make sense, that is. This one is kinda hell-based, but not actually in hell itself. It's some kind of an outdoor type area on Earth or one of the moons of Mars (you decide...) Anyhow, it's been overrun and slowly being converted by hellspawn, which of course you must utterly and irrevocably slay, being the fearless Space Marine. (all rights reserved, etc. etc.) No rest for the wicked... Pretty basic formula: Find the switches to throw to allow you access to the keys you need to proceed though the level. Takes awhile to even see the first (yellow) key, so don't get discouraged. All the stuff you need to do the level is provided. Just look for it. (i.e. the radiation suits) No cyber-anythings or BFG's here. I like the more low-tech slugfest weaponry. Thank God for shotguns. Pittsburgh sports fans will like one of the secret areas. And if you don't, well, get bent. =)
Credits:	Thanx to the folks at SAMS publishing for making the Secrets of the DOOM Gurus book which got me into this whole mess. More thanx to Justin Fisher for 1) creating his AliensTC.wad, which scared the wits out of me, and 2) for kindly allowing me to sample a sound from this same wad for my level (this guy should be working for id, AliensTC is an amazing wad!!!). Also thanx to Ben Morris and Bill Neisius for creating the idiot-proof (mostly! I still managed to screw some things up) utilities I used for this level. id doesn't need my thanks, they get enough of my money. =) I also used a sound from the OttawaU.wad. I tried to contact one of the authors of it, but never reached him. Sorry! I hearby give credit to Jean-Serge Gagnon and the other authors of that wad (don't know their names but there were more than one of them) for the sound and take no credit for creating this sound myself. I just really like it so I used it. I also included a sound I downloaded from the net, and no doubt it's copyrighted six ways to next Tuesday by some movie studio. I don't take any credit for this one either, nor do I intend to profit from it. (This is my first wad and I don't wanna get in trouble, so I'm trying to make these things clear.) Blah blah blah, yata yata yata, the thing the thing and the thing. FUTURE PLANS (as if you really care...) Next up is a multi-level Wolfenstein themed wad for DOOM 2. I'm sure it's been done before, but hopefully not in the exact same way I am planning. I wanna have it based on Hilter finding an evil artifact and using it to summon demons etc. which (surprise surprise) get out of control in the nazi stronghold. Guess who plays the part of the British intelligence agent sent in to investigate? At my rate of editing, look for it when DOOM 8 is released. =) And remember not to cheat. It's no fun if you do!!!
Base:	New level from scratch--"Only" took about, oh, 9 months to make! That includes learning how to edit from scratch, losing half my wad to a bug in EdMap, finding out that I really didn't understand WADED's make sector function, and finally deciding on DCK. So I'm only a _partial_ idiot. Plus my mom discovered solitare and my sister found Myst. How's a poor guy supposed to get his DOOM fix??!!??
Build time:
Editor(s) used:	DCK 2.2, DMAUD, DMGRAPH
Bugs:	Something was goofy with the reject map. (Reject map was too small?) It seems to have repaired itself (I hope) however. But it runs OK on my 486 DX 50Mhz. So if you've got at least that then I guess it will run fast enuf and you will be OK. I WAS also having some problems with viewing the large outdoor courtyard from the northeast corner of it (would crash to DOS) but I cut out a few lines/visplanes and it seems to be OK now. I tried to align the textures as best I could as well. Don't care for sloppy or random stuff. AND you can't get stuck anywhere. Nothing burns me up more than falling in a pit of goo and not being able to escape from it. Putting in a pit you can't see the bottom of is just _begging_ me to jump into it. And most of the time they're just traps. There should ALWAYS be a way out. If you find any errors, please lemme know.
Rating:	(3 votes)

Download mirrors:

/idgames protocol:

idgames://5670

Reviews:

Anonymous	Too primitive even for a 1996 map. No, even if you like mazes, this one plays boring.	x
Anonymous	Great if you like mazes/ Not so great if you don't.	x
Anonymous	Not bad. Nothing revolutionary but fun. 7/10 for me.	x

View halfacre.txt

Title                   : Hells Half Acre 
                          (Not 'cause it's mind-bogglingly huge or anything, 
                          I just like the name)

Filename                : halfacre.wad 
Files Included          : halfacre.wad and halfacre.txt (this file) are 
                          both in halfacre.zip
Author                  : Tom Simon (Sime)
Email Address           : SimePSU@AOL.com 
Misc. Author Info       : Underemployed college grad somewhat addicted
                          to DOOM, and creating neat levels for the same.

Description             : BACKGROUND:

I like wads with a kinda theme, not just haphazard
                          stuff thrown together.  Ones that sorta make sense;
                          as much as critters from hell can make sense, that
                          is. This one is kinda hell-based, but not actually
                          in hell itself. It's some kind of an outdoor type 
                          area on Earth or one of the moons of Mars (you 
                          decide...)
                          Anyhow, it's been overrun and slowly being converted 
                          by hellspawn, which of course you must utterly and 
                          irrevocably slay, being the fearless Space Marine.  
                          (all rights reserved, etc. etc.) 
                          No rest for the wicked...
                          
                          Pretty basic formula:  Find the switches to throw
                          to allow you access to the keys you need to proceed
                          though the level.  Takes awhile to even see the
                          first (yellow) key, so don't get discouraged.

All the stuff you need to do the level is provided.
                          Just look for it. (i.e. the radiation suits)

No cyber-anythings or BFG's here.  I like the more
                          low-tech slugfest weaponry. Thank God for shotguns.

Pittsburgh sports fans will like one of the secret
                          areas. And if you don't, well, get bent. =)  
                          
Additional Credits to   : Thanx to the folks at SAMS publishing for making
                          the Secrets of the DOOM Gurus book which got me
                          into this whole mess.  
                          
                          More thanx to Justin Fisher for 1) creating his 
                          AliensTC.wad, which scared the wits out of me, and
                          2) for kindly allowing me to sample a sound from 
                          this same wad for my level (this guy should be 
                          working for id, AliensTC is an amazing wad!!!).  
                          
                          Also thanx to Ben Morris and Bill Neisius 
                          for creating the idiot-proof (mostly! I still 
                          managed to screw some things up) utilities I used
                          for this level.

id doesn't need my thanks, they get enough of my 
                          money.  =)

I also used a sound from the OttawaU.wad. 
                          I tried to contact one of the authors of it, but 
                          never reached him. Sorry! I hearby give credit to 
                          Jean-Serge Gagnon and the other authors of that wad 
                          (don't know their names but there were more than 
                          one of them) for the sound and take no credit for 
                          creating this sound myself.
                          I just really like it so I used it. 
                          
                          I also included a sound I downloaded from the net, 
                          and no doubt it's copyrighted six ways to next 
                          Tuesday by some movie studio.  I don't take any 
                          credit for this one either, nor do I intend to 
                          profit from it.
                          (This is my first wad and I don't wanna get in
                          trouble, so I'm trying to make these things clear.)
                          Blah blah blah, yata yata yata, the thing the thing
                          and the thing.

FUTURE PLANS (as if you really care...)

Next up is a multi-level Wolfenstein themed wad 
                          for DOOM 2.  I'm sure it's been done before, but 
                          hopefully not in the exact same way I am planning.
                          I wanna have it based on Hilter finding an evil 
                          artifact and using it to summon demons etc. which 
                          (surprise surprise) get out of control in the nazi 
                          stronghold.
                          Guess who plays the part of the British intelligence
                          agent sent in to investigate?
                          At my rate of editing, look for it when DOOM 8 is
                          released. =)

And remember not to cheat. It's no fun if you do!!!
=========================================================================

* Play Information *

Episode and Level #     : E2M1 (Because I like the sky...)
Single Player           : Yes 
Cooperative 2-4 Player  : Start positions are there but coop play isn't
                          really implemented in this level (no extra weapons
                          for extra players, etc.)
Deathmatch 2-4 Player   : Start positions are there, once again, not really 
                          implemented. I think the level is kinda too big for 
                          deathmatch.  Never played one tho.
                          (You folks must have really fast modems to
                          play deathmatches. Sounds neat, but it takes me
                          forever to just log on at 2600...)
Difficulty Settings     : Yes
New Sounds              : Yup (3) 
New Graphic             : Yes (1)
New Music               : Ixnay. I always turn the music off anyways.
Demos Replaced          : Nada

* Construction *

Base                    : New level from scratch--"Only" took about, oh, 9 
                          months to make! That includes learning how to edit
                          from scratch, losing half my wad to a bug in EdMap,
                          finding out that I really didn't understand WADED's
                          make sector function, and finally deciding on DCK.
                          So I'm only a _partial_ idiot. 
                          Plus my mom discovered solitare and my sister found 
                          Myst.  How's a poor guy supposed to get his DOOM 
                          fix??!!??

Editor(s) used          : DCK 2.2, DMAUD, DMGRAPH

Known Bugs              : Something was goofy with the reject map. 
                          (Reject map was too small?) It seems to have 
                          repaired itself (I hope) however.  
                          But it runs OK on my 486 DX 50Mhz. So if 
                          you've got at least that then I guess it will 
                          run fast enuf and you will be OK.
                           
                          I WAS also having some problems with viewing the 
                          large outdoor courtyard from the northeast corner
                          of it (would crash to DOS) but I cut out a few 
                          lines/visplanes and it seems to be OK now. 
                          
                          I tried to align the textures as best I could as 
                          well. Don't care for sloppy or random stuff.

AND you can't get stuck anywhere. Nothing burns me
                          up more than falling in a pit of goo and not being
                          able to escape from it.
                          Putting in a pit you can't see the bottom of is
                          just _begging_ me to jump into it. And most of the 
                          time they're just traps.  There should ALWAYS be a
                          way out.

If you find any errors, please lemme know.

* Copyright / Permissions *

Authors (MAY) use this level as a base to build additional
levels.

You MAY distribute this WAD, provided you include this file, with
no modifications.  You may distribute this file in any electronic
format (BBS, Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include this file 
intact.

I'd be flattered in both cases, just please let me know about it so I can
look for it!!!

* Where to get this WAD *

If you are reading this, then you already have it.
(Ha ha as if everyone doesn't say that.)
I'm planning on putting it on ftp.cdrom.com.
Or email me and I'll be happy to send it to you if you are reading this and
for some reason don't have the actual level itself.

Thanx for reading this far.
Now start playing, and send feedback.

Excuse me, but I must get back to the cage and plan for tomorrow night!
Narf. Poit!
Zort.

--Sime

mong