3 challenging maps by skepticist

2 difficult, non-linear maps that are less slaughter-oriented (maps 1 & 2, uses plutonia.wad):
http://skepticist.yolasite.com/resources/WADS/skepland.zip
Intended for:
-complevel 4 if you use plutonia as iwad
or
-complevel 2 if you use doom2 as iwad and plutonia as pwad
(both ways work)

map 1:


map 2:


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Another challenging, more slaughter-oriented map (map 32, for doom2):
http://skepticist.yolasite.com/resources/WADS/asgarden.zip
Intended for -complevel 9 (boom)

map 32:

I think these look nice. Nonlinear maps can be a hit or a miss, as they are tricky to design, I think. Map 1's screenshot reminds me of "Songs of the Damned" for some odd reason. I'll take a look at them and let you know what I think.

I played map 1, and good lord, Ultra-Violence is brutal--too brutal. I question how fair it is. It could just be me but that was...ugh a headache. I managed to do much better on HMP, as that seemed a bit more sane although still extremely brutal. Map 2...I don't know how I'm going to make it through this one. The maps are nicely done, and I like the music, but they're pretty unforgiving.

Awesome wads, the gameplay is very very good. skepland.wad m02 is my favorite. I hope there will be more maps. :)

UV is indeed very hard if you don't know the maps. I wonder if we'll see any succesful FDAs.

Memfis said:

Awesome wads, the gameplay is very very good. skepland.wad m02 is my favorite. I hope there will be more maps. :)

UV is indeed very hard if you don't know the maps. I wonder if we'll see any succesful FDAs.

I want to see some FDAs.

Brilliant work Mr. skepticist !
Tried map 01 ( link to FDA here, PrBoom 2.5.0 -iwad plutonia.wad -complevel 4 -skill 4 ), and man, that was hard.
Some traps are very clever and indeed challenging ( sector 93 was the most dreadful imo ), others are predictable ( yellow key scene with Revenants ) yet still insanely dangerous.

Sorry for the slow pace of the FDA, but I was too afraid of dying. This sniping Cyberdemon in particular had me being worried all the time.

Nice work with texture alignment, too. Music fits very well.

I'll try the other maps soon.
You are very talented at making such levels and I'd really like to see more !

Skepticist: I demand you make a slaughter map for slaughterfest. These are awesome!

> others are predictable

Well, it wasn't intended to catch player by surprise 'cause the map is hard even without that.

> Sorry for the slow pace of the FDA

Actually this is one of best FDAs ever to grace my eyes, so thank you very much for spenting your time on playing the map. It's just jawdropping to see that you've been able to pass through every deadly trap in here, since it was considered barely possible.

(as you may see in text file, i don't recommend to play skepland.wad in UV-FDA style unless you're ready to die a lot)

> Nice work with texture alignment, too.

I was proud that killed nearly every misalign here, but by watching your demo i found one that escaped my sight in all playtests. Dammit. (it's walls near the lift with a chaingunner on it)

> You are very talented at making such levels and I'd really like to see more !

Thanks you very much for kind words. I used to be a speedrunner in a first place, and mapping isn't my cup of tea... But i can't deny the fact it was a nice change of pace to go out try something i never did before. In the end the result turned out not that bad.

Only thing i regret about these maps is that they a bit flat in terms of design (no, i don't wanna to create 1001 sector just for sake of good looks, but it could have been used a bit more detail) and over-use of "close room" traps. It good to have an one or perhaps two, but there's no need to repeat it again and again, it becomes old. I do not wish to remove that scenario completely, though, just make the setups more varied in the future (yeah, m03 in works, but do not count i ever finish it).

BTW, it will be great to see more demos. :)

I consider UV-MAX in sub 7-30 as optimal for m01, but it's hard to pull out with my skills (8:02 is the best i've got). Dunno which time is to consider as good for m02, though, i even a bit unsure of it's route. Somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes, i believe.

> These are awesome!

Glad to see you liked it. ;)

As for slaughterfest... Well, i'm not that speedy (read: lazy) to make many maps at same time, so sorry, i'll better finish up skepland first (if i ever will).

hmp fda for map01. respect to wilou for surviving uv, the map had me scared shitless even on hmp. now i'm afraid to try 02.
good job on not allowing me to break the map, skep. and if you wonder why i shot the doll... i thought the texture behind it was exit teleport. :)

> good job on not allowing me to break the map, skep.

I guess you've realised pacifist route already? It's fairly obvious. Looking forward to watch the demo.

FDA for map 02 : here
( -iwad plutonia.wad -complevel 4 )

Wow, this one's even harder :o
Couldn't complete the map. I died a lot at the beginning, which is brutal, and then, after a very tight surviving session, I died at the yellow key trap ( got caught up by Revenants and Arch-Viles, very nice trap setting here ). Then I gave up :)
First demo isn't worth watching ( managed to survive the Berserk area once though ).

I think there may be a lack of ammo. Berserk is still there, though, but it's very hard to get it :p

skepticist said:

Only thing i regret about these maps is that they a bit flat in terms of design

They're open, non-linear, and with many height variations ( lifts etc. ). This is very good already, and the medium detail level perfectly suits a Plutonia setting.

skepticist said:

and over-use of "close room" traps.

I liked those, they reminded me of Hell Revealed II somehow. I think Doom monsters are really dangerous when you actually can't run from them.
Granted, "close room" traps aren't good for speedrunning, but it seems your maps feature shortcuts anyway.

Stunning job. I'll try the third map !
Edit : I'll watch dew's demos instead first. :p

Well, you have until Dec 31 to make a map if you want to.

As for the rest of Skepland, I can't wait. How many maps do you think you're gonna make?

> How many maps do you think you're gonna make?

If all be fine it will be two more maps there.

> I think there may be a lack of ammo.

Sure, you should pick up either berserk at start or SSG early to not run out of ammo. But of course it's difficult to tell when playing in FDA style where to go and what to do best. That's why i recommend to play HMP first.

(there's should be a little more shells at the yard perhaps, and in exit zone, but i don't wanna to break demo compability now)

skepticist said:

> I think there may be a lack of ammo.

Sure, you should pick up either berserk at start or SSG early to not run out of ammo. But of course it's difficult to tell when playing in FDA style where to go and what to do best. That's why i recommend to play HMP first.

(there's should be a little more shells at the yard perhaps, and in exit zone, but i don't wanna to break demo compability now) [/B]

Map 1 was doable for me on HMP, but I found UV to be way to difficult. I died more times than I care to mention. Map 2 I think does have a bit of an ammo shortage, even on HMP. I didn't get very far because I didn't have enough ammo to deal with the monsters at hand. The maps are nicely done, complex, and well-textured, the new music is very appealing, and map 1 is perfectly done on HMP. But, hmm...Map 2 may need a bit more ammo.

> Map 2 may need a bit more ammo.

How much ammo do you additionally need, and at which point you ran out of it? (demo will be handy here, so i can see for myself your route and reason of such shortage)

If more people will reply to this thread with complaints about ammo shortage in m02 even on HMP, I, of course, will fix that (though it will be a shame if Wilou demos will run out of synh). Cause it's not intended for player to encounter such problems at this difficulty level.

You're really good at FDAs, [WH]-Wilou84.. map 1 UV with only a single death I think (I suck at FDA but was up to like 20 deaths on map 1, and still didn't beat it.. maybe because I use keyboard only or don't have the patience for careful play), and you went a really hard route on 2 but still snuck by really difficult situations including punching a vile without berzerk, ha ha.

I think dew has the same doom curse I have where the game cheats against us. Multiple times mancubus fireballs glazed past atoms of the wall edge instead of being blocked and a vile blast hit him when it looked like he was clearly hiding behind cover, and then a chaingunner in a small enclosure played hide and seek for eons, never moving into a shootable position just to piss you off with impatience. Its like every random number is rolled against us. The first I've seen to nab that key.

skepticist said:

> Map 2 may need a bit more ammo.

How much ammo do you additionally need, and at which point you ran out of it? (demo will be handy here, so i can see for myself your route and reason of such shortage)

If more people will reply to this thread with complaints about ammo shortage in m02 even on HMP, I, of course, will fix that (though it will be a shame if Wilou demos will run out of synh). Cause it's not intended for player to encounter such problems at this difficulty level.

I honestly don't know how to make a demo. I've never made one. As for how much ammo, really, not very much. I'm not asking for boxes of it...a tiny bit more in the beginning would be nice. That's the best way I can describe it.

fullmetalvaran33 said:

I honestly don't know how to make a demo. I've never made one.

Just use the -record parameter. Enter it like this:

prboom-plus.exe -complevel 4 -iwad plutonia.wad -file skePLand.wad -skill 4 -warp 01 -record demoname.lmp

Change the skill and demoname as you see fit.

Mithran Denizen said:

Just use the -record parameter. Enter it like this:
Change the skill and demoname as you see fit.

Thanks for the tip. Dunno if I want to make one, though. Not trying to be difficult I just have a lot to do over the next few days. But it's nice to know for future reference.

gggmork said:

I think dew has the same doom curse I have where the game cheats against us. Multiple times mancubus fireballs glazed past atoms of the wall edge instead of being blocked...

oh yeah, i couldn't believe some of the dickmoves the game pulled against me. when the HKs pinned me against the wall in the crate room, i was sure i was dead. i also didn't expect to survive the low health scare near the end. from what i hear of map02, i'll probably ragequit in frustration, heh.

The link is updated. I've added a bit more ammo in m02 for HMP at the start, also moved some of the shells closer to the starting zone on both HMP & UV for more comfortable playing while not going an optimal route.

Now it's safe to record on, I believe (unless something really critical will pop up).

It will be good to see more FDAs, there's still none for asgarden.wad. And thanks everyone once again.

fda for asgarden. does not finish. it's long as fuck aswell. watch at your own risk :/

edit: I uploaded the wrong .lmp

heres the right one: http://www.mediafire.com/?y3vfv241c34e6ev

I get invalid or deleted file at that link. can you check to see if it is there? Or maybe you are changing it as I am trying to down load it?

Edit.
Yup, There it is now, Thanks

tough as nails start on map02, those fda's comfort me as i'm not the only one clueless where to go. wherever you run, there's something worse waiting for you than what you were just running from.

the maps have a polished, authentically "plutonic" look with the mud walls and brown bricks. nice that skepticist's maps measure up to his demos.

> fda for asgarden. does not finish.

Yeah, the map had no mercy on you. I expect you to be especially annoyed by all those flying monsters around that usually blocks your movement in the moment most critical. I doubt that your attempts with trying to provoke infights in backyard and then run out was a good idea, though... Also, too bad you didn't find the only secret (it's fairly obvious), it could make things a lot easier.

Anyway, i wonder why you not tried to kill one of cyberdemons instead of cleaning up BOTH staircases when running under invul. Once one side is cleared it's not a big deal to kill everything else there.

I usually don't play maps like this. I use save slots the first time so I get to learn the map if I'm going to record a demo. Running around and dying and playing the same PE part at the start for to long made me pretty frustrated so I couldn't continue.

The part where I got the farthest I was very annoyed yes. It was even UNFAIR tbh. I think in 10 tries I would fall down in 9 of them. And having the teleporter on the back side of the cyberdemon platform was just to piss me off it seemed. And that soulsphere on top of the lava-fall in the HK room (just behind the red door) was just floating there and laughing at me cuase I couldn't climb up again without facing that unfair room.

I dunno why I cleared both stairs with the invuln. I stopped thinking about what I was doing less than halfway through the demo.

I think you could throw in some medkits or stimpacks where the chaingunners are at the start (just 2 or so), so you could recover somewhere if you taste a cybies rocket at start up like I did a couple of times.

thanks for the map. this was much more fun than the 2 previous :)

What's next? Superb levels by stx-Vile or probably Sedlo? Can't believe skepticist could make such brilliant maps. Really, how many time you spend for making map01?

> Really, how many time you spend for making map01?

I'm slow when it comes to mapping process. I often redrawing areas so they more satisfy my needs, it's almost like redrawing the entire map twice. As for map01, it took a week to draw, around 16-18 hours in sum, and much more time was spent for testing (yet that terrible misalign is still there, meh).

Close but failed max on skepland map 2. Didn't practice much on last parts so those are kind of slow/cautious.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TMB9SVPC

uvmax on asgarden, not a perfect run (forgot to pick up shells and used hud to find caco straggler)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NFZW99LL

http://www.doomworld.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1013356#post1013356

fda for map02. doesn't exit, many deaths, over 1hr long, horribly cautious playing. i hate you so much. :p