5 levels, set in a Military Research installation in the desert South- West of the U.S. The main focus of the research is in Genetics, so there are a variety of Labs and computer centers. There are also waste and water treatment areas, storage bays, speciment containment areas, and power generators. Being a military installation there are armories, barracks, security posts, holding cells, and a Medical Center. There is even an Administration section (with offices), as well as bathrooms, a lounge, and vending machines. Plus lots of human and alien enemies!
These levels extensively use Half Life textures, weapons, and enemies. They also feature a cool new sky, and scripting. ZDooM features include translucency, laser and force-field barriers, underwater environments, true elevators, colored lighting, fog, slippery surfaces (ice), quakes ... the list goes on. (Read Notes, below.)
From surveillance recordings of Lt. Col. R. "Johnny" Alvarez, Ph.D Prisoner I.D. HK-420B
"Forgive me Father, for I have sinned... Hey, just a minute. You're not my real father. And I can't recall if I'm Catholic. You're probably not real anyway. Just some apparition conjured up by my mind. It's the damn water, I tell you. Loaded so full of hallucinogens you could stand a spoon up in a cup of the stuff. Maybe even dissolve a spoon if you tried hard enough. But they won't get me to talk. Not the Exec, not the goddamn guards, and certainly not you. You, with your fancy black robes, and your hood that hides the gleam in your eyes, and that scythe. Oh, wait... That's a different hooded and cloaked figure I'm thinking of. Reminds me of this song I used to know:
I'm following in the footsteps of the Grim Reaper, The guy better known as your brother's keeper. I'll follow him down till it gets much deeper, 'Cause a one-way ticket is so much cheaper.
Any relation of yours? Hah! I crack me up! But seriously, folks..... Look, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but it's my nappy time. G'night."
"What? You still here? Where'd you stash your scythe? Or sickle. Or pickle. Tickle, tickle. Persistent fellow, aren't you? Anyway, I've been thinking. Since you're not real then you can't tell anyone. So perhaps I'll let you in on a little secret. I did it! They'll never prove it, but I did it! I can almost hear her skull cracking open with the impact, her bones disintegrating as she .....
But I see that you're confused, so perhaps I should start at the beginning. (Start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. When you read you begin with A, B, C, when you sing you begin with Do, Re, Me.) Oh sorry, I got carried away. Anyhoo, it all started when Dr. Mary Cleland joined the team. Doctor, my ass! Probably a doctor of proctology. Ha! I made a funny. "My ass"? "Proctology"? Get it? No? Oh well.
So Dr. Cleland, with her fancy diplomas from Johns Hopkins comes waltzing in and begins trashing my work. The work I've slaved at for the past twelve years. All that intense research and dedication meant nothing to her. "Unsustainable cell mitosis" she chirped. "Accelerated mitochondrial degradation outside acceptable parameters", she whined. All a bunch of CRAP! But the goddamn Exec listened, and soon I was being relegated to grunt work. Z-Chromosome decoding. What the fuck! Six years in med school, Flight Medicine at Brooks, twelve goddamn years in mutation research at this place and then I get to split some fucking alien's DNA? You're damn right I was pissed.
How'd I do it, you ask? Brilliantly, as always. See, the boys up in the Fractal Lab had developed this prototype "Portal", they call it. Step in and Voila! you step out some- where else. Uses UHF Electromag frequencies, and genetic encryption to generate fractals that you can transmit just like ESAT waves. Used to be unstable, so you could hold a field together for only a couple of hours. But they've been working on the problem for months, and it's probably taken care of now. But back then, these fields could be turned on and then a few hours later they'd be gone without a trace.
So one evening Cleland goes into Containment to study the "subjects". What she doesn't know is that I've set up a fractal field at the J-47 console. She steps up and BAM! the next thing she knows is that she's in one of the cages. The Behemoth's, no less. Poetic justice, that's what it is. It crushed her like a fly. What I'd have given to have been there. SPLAT! Hee, hee, hee! Splat goes the weasel! Man, I slay me!
But back to my tale, for I perceiveth that thou art tiring of my narrative. To make a long story short the Exec ordered a DNA analysis, and it turns out that I wasn't as careful as I thought I was. So here I am, PID HK-420B. But they can never prove it. And, I've got the Statute of Limitations on my side, not to mention the Statue of Liberty.
But I'm not counting on no stinkin' statue (HA! I made a double negative. Isn't there some law against that?) to get me out of this shithouse. See, I've got a plan. The next time that bastard MP Cpl. Sullivan comes in to check up on me I'll pretend to be asleep. Then WHAM! I'll squash his cojones, grab his sidearm, and then I'll be home free.
But wait, that's not all. I'm going to CRUSH this place! So the bastards want to take all the credit for my research, do they? I'll show them. I'll get into their computer systems and wipe out all their goddamn data. Then I'll blaze through their precious Labs and Containment Chambers and fry all their beloved "subjects". There'll be nothing left of this place but walls and bits of rotten meat. I'll be king for a day! Then it'll be Devil's Canyon on my way to Hawaii, where beaches, babes, and beer are available for the taking. Mess with Johnny, will they? I'll show 'em ......"
Map_01 -- Detention Block After you have "squashed Cpl. Sullivan's cojones", exit the holding cells and explore the barracks and storage bays before riding the elevator up to the main level.
Map_02 -- Administration Center You've raised the alarm. Access to the Labs has been blocked by a Level 2 force field. You'll have to turn the power off to proceed. Then you'll have to figure a way into the security post to open the main door.
Map_03 -- Research Labs You enter the Lab area and realize the power needs to be restored. Unfortunately a laser barrier is blocking your way. Find the red key to turn off the laser and restore power. (Explore everything possible before restoring power). Now you can access the central courtyard and other areas as well. Naturally you first try to get into the Armory. Armed to the teeth you proceed through the Radiation Lab and Genetics Research to get the blue and yellow keys. Finally you can take the elevator in the central courtyard down to Containment.
Map_04 -- Utilities Damn! They sure aren't making things easy for you. There's a Level 5 laser barrier that's blocking your way into Containment. Plus the shtoopid grunts have the security post locked from the inside. Make your way through the storage bays and find a way into the hazardous waste conduits. From the radioactive and bio- hazard Waste Areas you'll find yourself in the Water Treatment Plant. Take a deep breath and negotiate your way through the control rooms until you pick up the red key. Access the main electrical maintenance room and sneak into the security post. A quick flip of the switch and the laser is off. Containment awaits!
Map 05 -- Containment Aliens everywhere. Caged and contained aliens everywhere. You'd think it would be easy to just waltz in and spray them with a good old-fashioned dose of lead. But the doctor has prescribed a diet that's strictly low in minerals, and if there's one thing them shtinkin' aliens do, it's follow their doctor's advice. Still, you're up to the challenge of taking on hordes of pissed off aliens, aren't you? Well, aren't you?
Notes: I take credit/flames for all the large rusty metal signs. The original Q2Tex.wad contained signs for "Warehouse", and "Supply Station". Using these as templates in MS Paint, I edited the letters to create new letters, but mostly I cut, pasted, and cleaned up to create 12 new signs. Likewise, I used the "Access Denied" sign to make the "Access Granted" sign.
I also created 2 hybrid Midgrate/chain link fences, & made the palm tree taller. The laser is all mine. Also, I used the flat for ice and animated it to look like water.
Cyb's Hlgfx.wad had incomplete animation sequences for some enemies. I filled in the missing sequences for the cyberdemon. Two graphics for the super shotgun were identical to those for the regular shotgun (i.e., before being picked up, and in "idle" mode). This made it confusing, because a player wouldn't know which type of shotgun was being picked up or selected. I modified the graphics for the super shotgun so that there would be no confusion. However, I did not modify the firing & reloading animation sequence for the super shotgun (which was already different from the regular shotgun). I also cleaned up 2 of the reloading animation frames so that the player's hand looked better. Finally, I replaced the graphic for the plasma rifle before being picked with a Star Wars trooper rifle, and centered the HUD view of the plasma rifle (for which I needed to draw in the right side of the rifle); and I re-drew the graphic for the crowbar and replaced Cyb's graphic.
Credits:
Chris Pisarczyk AKA ChrisDragon (chrisdrgn@hotmail.com) for his Half- Life textures in Valve.wad Cyb (http://members.xoom.com/cybspage, cyb@frad.org) for his sprites and sounds in Hlgfx.wad Nick Baker (nbaker1@titus.force9.co.uk) and Derek MacDonald (derekmd@ hotmail.com) for their Q2Tex.wad Rick Clark (rickclark58@xoommail.com) (http://rickclark.20m.com/) for answering many ZDooM scripting questions, and Rick's tutorials Tarin (tarin@paci-fist.net) (http://www.paci-fist.net/doom/) for answering many ZDooM scripting questions, and Tarin's acsstuff.wad The good people at DooMWorld forums (Fanatic, Lut, and many others) for their helpful advice and tips to all who ask Stian Skjondal (http://members.xoom.com/zerosignum, zsignal@organizer .net) for his skypack2.wad, which contains fantastic skyscapes. Team TNT (http://www.teamtnt.com) for their Retres.wad The GothicDM Crew for graphics from their Gothictx.wad (see disclaimer below) Joe Zona (tbjzona@worldnet.att.net) for his palm tree sprite in his excellent Real.wad Chuck Lai and his team (Doom2x.doomshack.com) for the 2 columns of experimental "subjects" and the 2 sets of animated computer panels in D2XGold.wad Randy Heit (zdoom.notgod.com) for his incredible source port id Software for DooM, DooM2, Quake, Quake2, Q3A. Valve for Half-Life
Base:
New levels from scratch (although I swiped some stuff from my earlier levels)
Build time:
About 5 months (3-4 hours a day).
Editor(s) used:
Map editing -- WadAuthor v1.30, an excellent utility Graphics editing and wad merging -- Wintex 4.3 Adjusting height of sky -- DEEP 97 Sprite & graphic editing -- MS Paint
Bugs:
In Levels 2,4,5, when riding the elevators, do not try to step back off once the elevator starts moving. You can get stuck between the elevator and the floor/ceiling of the adjacent corridors. idclip lets you get out, but the elevator is then unusable and creates HOMs. Step on or off only AFTER the elevator stops.
