DTS-T - A ZDoom megawad [available now]

RELEASED!
dts-t.com/DTS-T.zip]DOWNLOAD HERE!

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As I know from longterm observation, one of the things that the Doom community really likes is when a new Megawad pops up out of nowhere. Even better: When it's almost done! I have been working on this in all calmness for the last couple of years, not telling anyone in public that I resumed the project, because I had been very wrong about the release date once before (~2004) and didn't want to make this mistake again. So here it is:

I have a 33 level megawad here. And it will be released in 2012!


About the story

A hidden UAC base on Phobos: Not satisfied with their achievements, scientists have developed a new kind of teleporter, capable of not only sending things through space, but also through time and into different dimensions. There were two prototypes of this machine but one morning, one of them was found missing! Needless to say that one lone marine is sent through the second device, to find out where the missing prototype might be and who is behind the theft...

Features

-33 new Levels from scratch, that have never been released (with the exception of two demo levels a decade ago)
-Explore four wholly differing realms, ranging from medieval castles to dusty tombs, to a sinister space station, and apocalyptic and hellish regions never seen before!
-Lots of references to pop culture: Subtle (as well as not so subtle) allusions to those fantasy, adventure and space operas you all grew up with!
-ACS scripting in all levels to bridge the gap from classic Doom gameplay to wholly innovative puzzles and mechanics.
-Voice acting! (yay! :D)
-A fistful of Realm667 assets thrown in: Just enough to enrich the experience, without digressing too much from the classic doom gameplay.
-Music from all classic Doom games, Hexen and Hexen 2, Quake2, Duke Nukem and more, to always create the right mood, whether you battle through dungeons or tech bases.
-Slow and consistent ramp-up of assets and difficulty. If you want to see Plasma Rifles, Arch Viles or Cyberdemons, you have to play far into the game.
-Supports ZDoom and GZDoom.
-Jumping and Crouching supported (but not mandatory).
-Designed for a Singleplayer experience, ITYTD to Ultra-Violence supported.

Not included

-Multiplayer (Unfortunately, I had to cancel my coop ambitions at some point, because ACS scripting got too complex).
-Nightmare! (It's untested. I might do a Nightmare!-patch later on, though)
-Icon of Sin typed final level :D

The design history

I began this project in 1998 as a megawad for Final Doom's TNT episode. Back then, I didn't really have the means to modify Doom beyond doing new levels, so the extra textures, music and skies of TNT appealed to me. I worked on this until 2004, by the end of which about 60% of the levels were completed. I then took an extended break from the project but never had plans to abandon it altogether. In 2010, I resumed the development of DTS-T, now working with Doom Builder 2 and switching the IWAD from TNT to Doom2, as well as the engine from Doom95 to ZDoom.

Being a software developer, the possibilities of ACS scripting greatly appealed to me and during the design of the remaining 12 levels, the scripting got more and more complex from level to level. I have spent the last couple of months revisiting all 33 levels, unifying and smoothing the experience, adding ACS scripts to the older levels where originally crude classic Doom mechanisms were in place. I "beautified" all the spots that looked way too "1994-ish", added voice acting to the levels and threw in weather effects here and laser beams there to further intensify the experience. I decided that a ZDoom exclusive mod should allow jumping and crouching and spent weeks making all 33 levels robust for these movements.

Despite being ZDoom exlusive, DTS-T still is supposed to have a classic touch to it. Most of the time, you will only encounter the classic Doom and Doom2 monsters, although I did add a few surprises here and there. In many of the older levels, I mostly use ACS scripting to guide the player a bit, for example in cases where a switch does something far away. Later on, there is a bit more scripting: There are complex puzzles in some of the levels; there are conveyor belts; there is a time limit on one level and in another level you are required to kill every single monster to get teleported out, rather than finding a physical exit. There is a slope here and there but most of the time I used conventional architecture. And of course there is voice acting in every level. Nothing intrusive and skippable most of the time, the voice acting is supposed to guide you through the story and create a bit of atmosphere.

I am currently playing the game over and over, balancing things, fixing the last ugly spots. My brother is going to play through the finished game soon, giving me final feedback. DTS-T is just a couple of weeks away from release.

Difficulty

DTS-T was built to have a slow and steady ramp-up in difficulty. The first couple of levels are fairly easy, about KDITD difficulty. The difficulty then ramps up to about Doom 2 level by the middle of the game. The final chapter is probably a little above Doom 2, maybe somewhere between TNT and Plutonia, with the hardest levels scratching Plutonia difficulty. It never gets unfair, though, and stays below Scythe difficulty. This is my personal perception, of course, and might be perceived differently by other people.


Game overview with screenshots


Prologue

It all starts on Phobos, where the super-secret DTS-Device waits for you to step through! I used patrolling marine actors, as well as the scientists from Stronghold to breathe life into this introduction level. The level borrows some room concepts and texture choices from E1M1 to be in line with how the original Doom starts out. It was created in 2012.

http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map01.png


Chapter I

The first chapter throws you into the medieval realm of Blackshire. I used fog and Jon Washburn's wonderful weather effects to create a dismal atmosphere. These levels are the oldest of DTS-T, having been created around the year 2000. Needless to say they went through a couple of revisions since then. They are simple and quick to play through and should set you in the right mood for things to come...

http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map03.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map05.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map06.png


Chapter II

Chapter II sets you into the realm of Gogypt, where I used egyptian and gothic themes. Discover ancient temples and sinister cathedrals. Tan-colored fog and dust clouds create the right atmosphere in the outdoor areas. These levels were originally created between 2000 and 2002. The episode is similarly short as the first one but is also progressively harder than Chapter I, with Revenants and Cacodemons joining the fray.

http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map0701.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map0702.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map08.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map09.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map1001.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map1002.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map11.png


Chapter III

After castles, tombs and temples, the marine travels into the far future. I built a UAC space station with 6 decks, each deck being one level. A part of the episode also plays out on an asteroid.
I designed these levels in 2003 and 2004. The episode is substantially longer than the first two and also a bit more difficult.

http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map12.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map13.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map14.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map15.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map16.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map17.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map18.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map19.png


Chapter IV

The final chapter of DTS-T takes the player to the so-called Apostruct. This is a hub level from which the player travels to individual levels. The reason for the hub is to give the player some choice of the order in which he plays the levels but the levels themselves are played in a linear fashion. This is the largest, most difficult and also the newest chapter of the game. I built the levels between 2010 and 2012, after a five year hiatus from the project. Some levels have a hellish theme to them but I explored totally different styles here and made heavy use of ACS scripting in some. There is a lot of variety in this chapter but each level in itself has a very consistent theme. If you play on Ultra-Violence, you're in for a good challenge once you reach the Apostruct!

http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map33.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map21.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map22.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map23.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map25.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map26.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map27.png
http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map29.png


Last but not least, a screenshot from one of the two secret levels:

http://www.DTS-T.com/screenshots/DTS-T_map32.png


I hope you like what you see and I'm looking forward to your comments. I will keep you updated about the project and a release date here.

Some of the textures and texture combos in chapter 2 look weird and don't really match the overall style of the rest of the project. You might want to do some re-texturing of the Egypt theme with some improved textures before release. Aside from that a lot of the work here looks pretty interesting I'll be looking forward to trying this out.

Edit - Just noticed it's not for COOP, I hate playing by myself lol.

Looks pretty cool!

I'm gonna be honest: some of the shots look way too simple but the ACS things you mention make me to trust that this WAD is good.

I mean, I always look for unique things, and despite the simplicity of the levels, I can feel that it may be good.

When you release it, definitely expect for a commentary walkthrough from me ;D

I don't think simplicity is too much an issue Katamori as long as it's fun considering this is a one man megawad there can be some slight sacrifice here.

Pottus: simplicity is a bad omen for me; it's a kind of "reflex", because the worst WADs I've played were always underdetailed.

"a bad omen" That really brightened my day =)

Hehe, sorry if I was grammatically wrong, I have mistakes in English... :D

Not at all, it's just a funny expression to me from some past experiences.

Whilst the screenshots aren't exactly blowing my mind, I like your attitude and work-ethic, as well as the idea of this, so I'll be checking it out later.

This brings memories of early ZDoom projects when people were trying to do Doom-with-story-and-dialogs. Good times, good times. Some of those were just garbage full of slopes but already from your screens I can see something I'll enjoy.

Will be keeping my eye on this.

EDIT: Arenas in Chapter IV look damn sweet

EDIT2:

These levels are the oldest of DTS-T, having been created around the year 2000

Now I know why I had that feeling :)

Thanks for the feedback so far.

DTS-T is shaping up for release now and I have a (tentative) release date: December 1st 2012! More details to follow near the end of the week.

It's true and I'm very honest about the fact that I spent a god-awful amount of time with this and, as a result, some of the levels date back several years. I tried my best polishing them, though. I feel the point has arrived where I just have to step out into the open, rather than thinking twice about things and spending another decade on this *g*

I will spend the rest of the week, playtesting, tidying up files, writing the readme. And being done by next weekend hopefully. ;-)

It was always my goal to create a unique, seamless, atmospheric and carefully balanced Doom experience. I hope you will like it. Stay tuned.

Sounds veeeerrrry interesting.......

Well, there goes next weekend for me.

Wow! Seems awesome!

Unfortunately, I won't make it today. If nothing pops up, I will release tomorrow.

Deathmatcher said:

Unfortunately, I won't make it today. If nothing pops up, I will release tomorrow.

Don't worry, I still wait you on the whole next week. :D

RELEASED!
dts-t.com/DTS-T.zip]DOWNLOAD HERE!

Oh nice, you finally got this out I've been going through some of maps they seem a bit weird in design but I think that is a good thing. I don't really have a lot to time to play through this right now though so most of my observations have been in DB2. Anyways another thing I kind of noticed is an inconsistency in detail I'm guessing this is because the development time has been spread out for so long. It's really disappointing this is only for single player since the time I do spend playing Doom is coop survival on Zandronum.

Okay. I have played this just only six maps now, and my opinion so far:

Just a personal opinion, but I am not a fan of really blocky and repetitive mapping style.
The UV feels bit easy on my end, however, the enemy placement and item progression has been quite good. There's been few nice little ambushes.
Overall, the visual enjoyment has been quite lame for me, but I still enjoy this set. Gonna play more tomorrow...

I have made it to the final level of the 2nd chapter, and I have to say, I really like it a lot. Not the "Nice, worth a playthrough" like, but the "This has the potential to be one of my top ten wads of all time" like. I have a feeling that it only gets better from here, as I LOVE the idea of the hub level, and the levels that you chose to go within them seem very innovative, indeed! The Vivarium seems like an awesome idea and the exit method to it is perfect for that level.

I am very impressed. If this doesn't get a cacoward this year, I will be very surprised (and disappointed).

Thanks for this!

^Agreed. Everything about this wad screams cacoward. The immersion is definitely there. The voice acting of the Major is top notch btw. I really feel as if I'm on missions with his occasional information piping in.

Flat empty rooms/areas and banal "kill a few monsters in front of you" gameplay definitely don't scream cacoward. I agree that there is a certain immersion factor but... Wow, you guys have, like, really low standards if you think that this is amongst the best wads released this year. I dunno, maybe I need to play more but the first few levels are very primitive IMO.

Yes Memfis, the first few maps are kinda bland, keep playing. ;D

I started playing this, it seemed quite interesting and looks like effort was made - I like the idea and the general presentation but the level design is kind of plain. Like wolfenstein style almost - seems weird to build a sophisitcated custom wad and have maps that are basic even by the standards of the original doom?

I had to stop playing when I got to a room with a very narrow ledge winding around what appears to be an inescapable pit of lava. Is it going to be worth me persevering?

I did get a bit peeved by that room too mouldy (espcially with Lost Souls shunting me off into it on the first go) however, if you push through you get to see the levels just keep building in quality and sophistication. I'm up to Deck 0 of the space station and my opinion as rising as the level numbers do. I've been missing a fair few secrets and I definitely think the first chapter wants an overhaul, but the second chapter starts to step up the level making and now Episode 3 is showing some more detail and more features being used.

I'd disagree with anybody who says this deserves a cacoward, but I am very happy with my overall experience in the first two hours. This is a good example of continuous narrative in Doom and the progression reflects this nicely.

Yeah, guys, stop mentioning how simple the design is about this wad. Sure, it's simple, but it's fun, which IMO is most important.

Yes people. The wad is worth continuing.

To the author: The voice acting for Major Reily is great. I'm in the space station hub now. Really cool so far. I'm definitely going to play all the way through this one. :D

The thing is, even late in E2 we've got some bland square rooms with a few monsters in just to hold a switch so the corridor that it opens on to can have something more to it than just a door at the end. The design is simple and that is a detractor, even from the fun.

I fully agree with you that this is worth seeing through to the end (not the least because its pretty easy and very enjoyable) but to ignore the glaring flaw of the weak map design of the majority of what I've seen so far would be silly. I found myself constantly thinking of little improvements that'd be nice to have as I was playing (zombies being era-appropriate was the second one after moving away from the Wolf3D map design that tends to pop up - he's using Decorae afterall!)


I'm in two minds about Major Reily. I like the voice acting (he conveys the right emotions and isn't omniscent) but the distortion effect on the voice tends to make me think I have a friendly Dalek acting as my mission control :P

Well, yeah. Okay, I agree that there is room for improvement, but it's still a damn fine wad.

If anyone figures out how to get to the super-secret level, PM me. I'm stumped.

Phobus said:

I'm in two minds about Major Reily. I like the voice acting (he conveys the right emotions and isn't omniscent) but the distortion effect on the voice tends to make me think I have a friendly Dalek acting as my mission control :P

More like Vasudan pilot from Freespace 2. :P

Anyway, blasted now to level 14, and I don't know, is it just me getting attuned to level design, or is there really happening some improvement. Can't really tell...

Still feels too easy for UV, for now.