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The Green Herring

Community Chest 4 (PUBLIC BETA PERIOD OVER!)

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IMPORTANT UPDATE (Aug. 17, 2012 6:15 PM PDT): THIS WAD HAS BEEN RELEASED! CHECK OUT THE NEW THREAD HERE!



Community Chest 4's Public Beta is here! As usual, it is a full megawad, boasting 32 maps made by 20 members of the Doom community. The reason it's being released as a public beta is so the Doom community can have input in playtesting this WAD before it is finally released! So without further ado, here is the download link, kindly provided by esselfortium:

http://essel.spork-chan.net/wasd/cc4pbeta.zip
http://www.sendspace.com/file/0w1tam (Public Beta Version 2)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/yh87m5 or http://www.speedyshare.com/aQrsR/cc4pbet3.zip or http://essel.spork-chan.net/wasd/cc4pbet3.zip (Public Beta Version 3)
http://www.speedyshare.com/V2cy4/cc4pbet4.zip (Public Beta Version 4)

This WAD requires a Boom-compatible source port that supports increased SEGS. PrBoom+ 2.5.1.3 with -complevel 9 (Boom compatibility) entered at the command line and Eternity v3.40.20 "Mjolnir" are both recommended for this WAD.

You have until August 17, 2012 to play and report on anything you find. On that day, the final version will be released! So if you discover anything wrong, post it here ASAP! Don't wait till the last minute!

Enjoy!

NOTE: Please do not post demos for this version in the Doom Speed Demos forum. Instead, post them in this thread. They're going to be obsolete when the final version's released, anyway, so the less confusion there is, the better.

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Thanks for all the hard work and long hours you've put into preparing this for release, TGH. It's great to finally see it come out :)

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FDAs for individual maps, 01 to 05.


Map01 - neat music. I like to see more than three enemies per fight on a map01, too.


Map02 - it was OK. A bit confusing at first, in that water part. Possibly a great map, I think I got jaded because I read the text file up to map02 and saw the author was skillsaw before playing, so I had very high expectations, and in the end it almost looks like something cut out of Vanguard because it wouldn't have held up to those (incredibly high) standards.


Map03 - absolutely hated that one. Your standard cramped map trying to cram too much "realistic" detail, and a bazillion textures but no real visual theme, save for perhaps the later parts - but during which you can't see shit anyway because it's ridiculously dark! No fight to speak of either, enemies are clearly there as fillers. I was surprised to see Phobus made the map on the tally screen, because I have played much better stuff by him and genuinely thought this was someone's first map. What happened here?


Map04 - nothing ever really happens in this map, as you fight small monsters with the occasional D2 monster thrown in and trudge through uninteresting environments, only challenging through health scarcity rather than interesting gameplay. Up to the part where infinitelytall revenants on a platform too high compared to the small cramped lower floor you're at to shoot them safely smack you a bit and a switch releases an arch-vile somewhere near the 64px wide corridor you came from. Needless to say, I died and couldn't be bothered to restart. Terribly generic in a bad way.

Potential objective issue: in that square room with monsters on the sides and a revenant on a platform in the middle, its floor is too low / the railings on the player's side are too high for missiles to hit, most of the time.


Map05 - this one was an absolute blast. An entire adventure, condensed into a single map. Visual themes and gameplay styles change seamlessly, keeping you on your toes - and plentiful health and ammo make sure you have some leeway for mistakes reacting to these various changes. I truly liked the early on, not working teleporter acting as a very obvious visual clue for later, and stitching the map together as a cohesive experience. Likewise with the part right after that where you pass by the "start area" - although it's a clone of that area as the original one had walls there, the illusion works. Brilliant! Another favorite part was the conveyor belts, and the fights there. Top notch map. :)

One nitpick: in the room with an arch-vile and a big computer / switch, it's possible to get behind the computer from the left side, and to get out it gets a bit wobbly. Might be better if getting to that part was impossible entirely, as it is the small opening makes it feels like there might be a secret or something.

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Ahh yes, i have been waiting for this moment for a very long time!

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my own FDAs for maps 01 to 05: http://www.mediafire.com/?eear72y9l7c4xby

map01: chaingun spam vs weaklings. neat opener. couldn't find the secret because i'm blind as a bat.

map02: so easy to recognize a skillsaw map... if not for the visuals, then the final invasion battle is a clear sign, heh. i loved the fast pace.

map03: hrmm. this map is confusing. i exited by accident, because i had no idea i what those switches behind teleporters were. i thought it's some sort of riddle to access a secret. so i reloaded the FDA just before exiting and "finished" the map properly (use -skipsec 840 if you want to watch the second demo). still couldn't find 2 secrets, even with the compmap and spending quite a lot of time on it! damn... perhaps some are a bit too obscure? the southwestern part is really cramped, although i don't think it spoils the whole map. the cave/outside/temple areas are good.

map04: the ssg routine felt tedious, some fights begged for a rocket or two. it wouldn't make the map easier (risk of blowing yourself up in the cramped parts), just faster flowing, which would be an immense plus. there was a point where i woke some monsters too soon and a revenant kept punching me as i rode an elevator (sector 608). perhaps make the monsters upside deaf?

map05: brilliant. got stuck behind the computer phml mentions, i couldn't wobble my way out, so i "reloaded" the FDA from that moment to continue playing. if you watch the smaller demo first, just run the second with -skipsec 460. the bloodied empty rooms were doing a lot to set a haunting atmosphere and the final fight was fun. and the barrel conveyor fight was quite witty. gj!

EDIT: nvm lol.

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FDAs for map06 to 10, as individual maps.


Map06 - start wasn't too inspiring, seeing tower chaingunners right away and far away... It ends up not being that bad, and the map is entertaining, save for two significant flaws.

The first issue is an usual one; putting ammo and health in small bits, and scattering them everywhere, around corners. With how tight the ammo is in this map, you have to hug every wall and bump
against every pillar. Not fun.

The other problem: the SSG. It's not obvious at all to see, you can't even get a look at it from normal ground level; and to even pick up the item, you have to go through a double platforming part, the first part arguably giving you a red herring with an earlier secret that might make you believe you have seen all there is to see there.

Again, the ammo is tight even with the SSG. It might end up fairly bad if the player doesn't grab it.

I would strongly suggest doing something about this. Put the SSG on the ledge instead of the middle so it's visible from ground level, or move it entirely near the start on a pillar and throw a visually corresponding switch in that chaingunner tower instead. Anything. As it is, it's so bad it's gamebreaking, in my opinion.

I died somewhere near the end and made two more unsuccessful fast attempts, not because of any flaw or boredom with the map, simply ran out of time to play. With more sensible SSG and ammo placement, this level could be good.


Map07 - easy to run out of ammo if you don't play the "right" way, lots of infinitelytall bullshit with chaingunners and cacos. No flow that I could see. Boredom settled in fast, and after not trying very hard, I gave up.

Opening the first door to the right, a zombieman seems too close to the door tracks and gets stuck for a bit.


Map08 - it could have been good, but there's just too many flaws. Lack of ammo unless you play it right, *and* a non-linear layout not giving you any visual clue what is that specific intended way to play. Potentially interesting themes ruined by being too busy visually, with clashing colors everywhere and too much minor architecture ending up detracting from the atmosphere rather than adding to it; and that detail often impeding on gameplay - i.e., floor bumpiness is everywhere.

In the midst of all this "what could have been", there is one great-looking area, the greenhouse room.


Map09 - ridiculously bad start, pitting you against an arachnotron and imps with nothing but a pistol, and again much visual noise making for a hard time picking a route.

Apparently you don't get a new weapon either until you duck through chaingunner, shotgunner and hell knight fire to kill a shotgunner and grab their drop. Did I mention there's no armor either?

I played for a grand total of 44 seconds and gave up, so it's likely I missed important stuff making it much easier, but I don't care. Messing up your start that bad wins an instant trip to the garbage bin in my book.


Map10 - solid map. Good flow, good fights. My two complaints would be windows at 24- px height without impassable lines causing you to go up and down as you duck near the walls; and the relative lack of health (although it isn't overly punishing by any mean) coupled with the numerous but slow teleports at multiple locations encourages skipping through things until you find a safe spot to camp.

Teleporting into four revenants from all sides near the end, and then throwing twelve (twelve!) mancubuses on top of that as soon as you move at all in this small room you haven't even had a chance to get a look at yet felt utterly unfair. The rest of the map was good enough it didn't detract from the enjoyment, but that's one huge difficulty spike right there. At the very least I'd suggest turning the revenants so they face away from the player and he gets to have a look before the chaos begins. It is, at most, one extra shot and shouldn't unbalance the fight yet would give a fighting chance on first playthroughs.

Overall, fun. Kind of felt like a Matt Tropiano map to me, and now looking at the text file it's nice to see Dutch Devil made it, because I usually tend to be very critical of his work. Good job!

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How excitingly awesome. TGH has put so much effort into getting this released. Great work to the mappers who toiled away on this thing for years too. yay!

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Its released finally. Nicely done TGH for leading this project. Everyone did a great job on this. I'm gonna celebrate, and get fucking drunk tonight.

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dutch devil said:

Its released finally. Nicely done TGH for leading this project. Everyone did a great job on this. I'm gonna celebrate, and get fucking drunk tonight.

That's the spirit(s)! Infinite thanks to you, TGH for the countless hours of dedication and, undoubtedly, the frustrations you had to go through. Tip of the cap.

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Yay :)
Great job on the release !
Congrats to the team and particularly to TGH for all the hard work that went into this megawad.

@ Phml : Seems you have missed the Super Shotgun which was near the starting point ( on map 09 I mean ). The green armor was between the starting point and the Arachnotron, too ( on the right, in some rocky alcove ). Heh, that's the problem when you try to make a non-linear level, players may miss important stuff... A lesson for my next maps I guess.
Sorry if the map has been an unpleasant experience.

Anyway, thanks for the FDAs guys, keep them coming !

Edit : The map list in the text file is incorrect regarding maps 12, 13 and 14.

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Played up to the start of MAP11 so far. Mostly it's been good - I really enjoyed Ochregerde and Inner Fear, despite the latter kicking my arse every step of the way (seriously, Dutch, your two-pronged teleporter ambushes are absolutely ruthless).

Some of the texturing has felt a bit "off" in places, like there's simply too many being used at once. MAP06, MAP07 and MAP08 are particularly guilty of this, and to a lesser extent, MAP03 and MAP05. Maybe the texture resource was a little too big? Less is always more in the case of custom resources, I think.

On a side note, Dutch Devil's MAP10 uses the track "Ice", which is an old piece of shit by me. When TGH notified me of this over IRC, I sought to remake it with my current level of composition ability. Here it is:

Icicles (4:39)

Up to you whether you use this or not, Dutch. :)

edit: whoopsies, updated
edit edit: and again - final version, I swear

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[WH]-Wilou84 said:
Edit : The map list in the text file is incorrect regarding maps 12, 13 and 14.

Yeah. MAP12 is my "Nectar of the Gods" level, MAP13 is Phobus' "Viral Implant" and MAP14 is Processing Control's "Downriver." Sorry! I'd like to get a corrected text file to esselfortium ASAP to prevent confusion.

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Props to TGH for his incredibly dedicated effort to this never-ending project. Great work.

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FDAs for first 10 maps.

Basically done in one sitting. I ran out of willpower to replay map 10 so it's DNF. Mixed feelings, but I'd rather leave no comment as I don't feel I know those maps enough from one playthrough. Authors should know better what went wrong. Happy bugfixing time.

http://filesmelt.com/dl/chestfour-fda1to10-j4.zip

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trailing phml in the FDA race. my own map06 to map10: http://www.mediafire.com/?u939vc83zjs6au1

map06: sweet map, great flow, good fights. i had no problem locating the ssg and the small doses of stuff worked for me, at least i didn't go super-stacked. my only problem was locating the elevator in that small courtyard with two revs in cages. yes, that metallic square in the corner just didn't strike me as a lift on top of the rampart. please, please make it stand out more, haha. if it was switch operated, perhaps, or had that yellow/black safety stripe around the base...


map07: another phobus map with abysmally bland start (plus extreme ammo drought). heh, you want us to hate your maps? one more radsuit wouldn't hurt either. it picks up nicely after reaching the middle, i really like the valley. i didn't enjoy being low on everything from the previous part, but the unkillable cyb sniper is a great idea. the base behind the cyb feels slightly pointless, like there's too much rooms for just the sake of having rooms when the whole place can be solved just by grabbing the BK and leaving.

anyways, it needs more generousness in the first part (it expects preknowledge right now, imo), otherwise the player is hurt and low on ammo and the pace grinds down to halt, because i refuse to take another step.


map08: aaaargh, this KILLED MY BRAIN. it's quite ambitious and potentially a lot of nonlinear fun, but i literally ragequitted after realizing i missed a W1 open-wait-close secret. that's just... no. no no no no no. i reloaded the demo from that point (use -skipsec 560 on the bigger one as it's the same thing), but my mood grew sour. i'm just not a fan of timed secrets and there's a lot of them here. not to mention 16 secrets are just going overboard. the plasma secret is really sexy, but does it have to be so ridiculously hidden? i eventually found it, long after reaching exit and returning to scour the map for secrets. just my steel wolfenstein-trained resolve allowed me to hump enough walls to discover two of those switches and especially that flickering one right next to the backpack of madness is just too much, imo. i only noticed that on the automap. that timed platform going to YK pissed me off as well, it's so far that there's no sound clue and anyone playing at lower resolution won't even see the movement in the distance as it goes up. i couldn't even locate two other secrets despite taking 37 minutes on the map.

i mean yeah, the map is playable even without the secrets, but they change the pace in a ridiculous way - they're very dependant on each other and once you find one, you start noticing the others too, but without them you're fleeing from strong monsters with the pistol and 4 shotgun shells. with them, you mow down baddies left and right. even the ssg takes a bunch of well hidden secrets to get through! i think it just goes too far with that optionality concept.


map09: i gotta say the ssg is stowed away in the last corner one would look to... but i found it and had a blast. fast pace, adequate fights, some nasty surprises (i jumped up with my chair when all the revenants appeared after the red bars). overall i liked the map.

a few nitpicks: i couldn't locate the lift sector 1095. i seem to have a problem with that SUPPA16B texture, i just don't realize it's used for lifts at a fast glance. some decorative crap screaming "here, lifts for everyone!" around it would probably help my brain a little. also chaingunner t.383 behind the said lift... pffft, that's a bit below the waist. :P and finally, i felt like i had to risk too much in the BK fight, because i ran out of rockets and i had the manco corpses in the door, ready for the vile to revive them over and over and that door is just too narrow to do anything with it.


map10: awesome map. the flow is linear, but it revisits the same places, which is neat and dutch devil has managed to make it work. i started with a few quick deaths, after which i quitted and killed the music. it was loud and obnoxious after a while, ruining my concentration, hehe. anyways, i already realized the correct way to solve the fights is to run away and kill anything coming down the halls. staying in the middle of the chaingunner assault after getting BK was a harsh lesson. also cool secrets.

anyways, the second to last battle (4 revenants, then mancubuses) is really unfair. i survived somehow, but i expected a mercy blow any second. what phml suggested doesn't sound bad. it'd allow to change weapons, at least.

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Well, it's great to see this massive thing finally released! I've only played 4 maps so far, but I wanted to share my thoughts:

Map 1: Renewed Faith
Really enjoyed this one. Nice green and gray textures, and the combat is simple with not super easy. Music is very fun and fast-paced, and I liked the layout of the map. Couldn't figure out how to get the secret, though. But that's not a big deal. Overall, a fantastic way to start a megaWAD.

Map 2: Slugfest
Not surprised this was by skillsaw because it looks and plays like one of his maps. Cramped combat is both fun and challenging, and the yellow key ambush caught my by surprise. Chaingunners are pesky critters in this map, but I'm not complaining. Good music once again.

Map 3: Three is a Charm
Another very cramped map with a classic-style tech base and a dark, dingy, dirty abandoned one. Liked the visuals and the claustrophobic nature of the map. Game play was very simple but decent. However, I found the exit extremely early--I think I had only killed 35-40% of the monsters in the map, and I hadn't explored much of it either. I didn't use crouching or jumping, and I didn't use noclip, so, I'm not sure why I found the exit so quickly. Definitely left me with a sour feeling about the map, which sucks.

Map 4: Polluted Paths
The music reminds me of some Doom or Hexen track or something...it definitely sounds familiar, but it's eerie and intense so it works. The maps starts off all right but it seems like the game play is very subpar, and there's nothing engaging about the map. It's too long, too easy for UV, and very slow-paced. Not sure what happened here...

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Everything in this looks incredible. And yet somehow, Lupinx-Kassman's maps still manage to stand out.

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Wow, very nice! I wasn't expecting to see a test version this soon. Hopefully I'll get some time soon to play through it. Good job getting this together TGH :D

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