Realm Of Demonology (now on /idgames)

Good day everyone. I've been playing Doom for, well, decades with so much taking and absolutely no giving, so a little while ago I've finally decided to map some for my personal enjoyment and relaxation (and what a relaxation without fast and overpopulated maps could be) and now I'd like to share it with everyone who's interested in more demon-slaying. Here you'll get 6 maps (I don't mention 'outro' which is map07) where you can do exactly that. It's for

DOOM2 IWAD AND BOOM-COMPATIBLE PORTS with
PRBOOM-PLUS -COMPLEVEL 9 being the best way to do things in here.

I've released this stuff yesterday on iddqd.ru and already gathered some feedback (thanks guys), so I won't do the same mistakes I did there and just speak my mind instead: these are rather short maps without too close attention to details (but they still look nice I think) and with attempt to create entertaining but not very hard gameplay. Actually it's medium at best with some harder moments (Map03 being the finest example of that) and - I have to admit that - some less entertaining, but still okay moments as well, all in arena-based areas of various shapes and looks. So overall it won't mutilate you (not even close) but I also wouldn't call it a walk in the park. In terms of style I stepped away from conventional themes a bit, trying to focus on something more unusual - and also atmospheric - instead. It's up to you to decide if I have succeeded in any way mentioned.
You'll find more specific information in txt so I won't be writing a poem here, it's already long enough introduction.

IMPORTANT - You'll need that cool CC4 resource wad to play this one, grab it here:
http://essel.spork-chan.net/wasd/cc4-tex-16.zip

Some screenies:
http://i.imgur.com/rGyXEZy.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/0FyncB4.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Yu6xutC.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/LrCsXdv.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/wN55PgS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/l3W8ZwH.jpg

Download link:
http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?id=17119

Feel free to criticise, abuse and even mix it with dirt if you feel like you have to, but please - be constructive and don't let all them strong emotions defeat your reason. And who knows - you may even like it after all...
If you have any questions (I don't mind chatting, but it would be better if they're topic-related, you know) - feel free to ask and I'll gladly answer. Have a good time with this one!

This is great! It's like hellcore + slaughtermap, with some avant-garde texturing thrown in for good measure. I'm a fan of vicious traps and there's some fun ones in this mapset, pretty good choice of visuals/music as well.

Maps 01, 02, and 06 were my favorite. Pretty solid throughout, with the occasional annoyance:

map06 felt pretty anti-climactic. After an entire level of infinite ammo BFG arenas the final arena is a measly dozen enemies or so, not even very threatening ones.

map03 felt pretty harsh if you didn't know ahead of time what was going to happen. Got mauled by some AVs that tele'd in because I didn't know to run to an invul that was revealed left a bad taste in my mouth. But with fore-knowledge it's not a big deal I suppose.

Also in general circle-strafing around big packs of projectile enemies doesn't make for the most interesting gameplay. There were a couple areas that felt a bit tedious (near end of map01, first arena in map06).

Anyways I enjoyed the maps, nice work!

Wow, thanks, these are very kind words. Glad you like it!
I have to agree with you, gameplay-wise it's far from being perfect. I guess next time (if there will be any) I'll have to raise the bar a bit while minimizing careless spam and circlestrafing. It's not hard for me, it just requires a little bit more planning. Lazy me...
You may laugh but I actually think that the last area of Map06 is the hardest. The reason is simple: there's a significant situation change. It was funny to watch demos from playtesters when they started bfg barrage towards single cyber and then suddenly realised that plasma cells were almost nonexistent. There are less monsters there indeed but it's too dangerous to be careless there, especially when playing fda-style. One big mistake - and you're up for another run from the beginning. That was the idea, though probably not executed perfectly.

LINK IN OP IS UPDATED.
Map03 was revealed to have serious logical errors (special thanks to Lainos for pointing them out in all their ridiculousness) so it's now fixed. I've also slightly "reconfigured" the 4th wave (the one which accompanies bfg and invul) so that it would become much more fair towards the player and won't kill him instantly. Please re-download, and sorry for the inconvenience.

Cool stuff. I especially liked the church map, the way you had to alternatively duck behind these benches or climb them to move around.

In the last map, I did not care much for the teleports in front of hordes facing you, or that part where barons scratch your back from behind a fence, but neither of those things were dealbreakers.

Another small issue I had was, in the numerous parts where you're blocked from falling down, the lines being right at the edge of the sectors. It feels like you're banging against a solid wall (because you're blocked when your "arms" or "torso" hit it, way before your "feet" would). In those situations, I prefer seeing a surrounding sector with block lines, even if it's only for an extra 16 map pixels. Obviously, it's a lot of work for something that probably doesn't matter to anyone but me, but I felt like mentioning it regardless. :)

Overall, it was neat. I dig the abstract style.

Thanks a lot, it seems that this stuff isn't that bad after all.

Phml said:

Cool stuff. I especially liked the church map, the way you had to alternatively duck behind these benches or climb them to move around.

Benches have proven to be rather fun and controversial decision at the same time, heh. I've seen numerous demos already where people blow themselves to pieces with rl because of 'em. Funny to watch of course, but I also can easily understand all the hatred towards myself after that. Though I think they make good addition to gameplay providing environmental challenge combined with monster threat. Tough but interesting from my point of view.

Phml said:

Another small issue I had was, in the numerous parts where you're blocked from falling down, the lines being right at the edge of the sectors. It feels like you're banging against a solid wall (because you're blocked when your "arms" or "torso" hit it, way before your "feet" would). In those situations, I prefer seeing a surrounding sector with block lines, even if it's only for an extra 16 map pixels. Obviously, it's a lot of work for something that probably doesn't matter to anyone but me, but I felt like mentioning it regardless. :)

And this is actually a good point. Unfortunately such bumping is a Boom issue which could easily affect another person's playing style. I personally don't even notice it (or maybe just got used to it) but that doesn't mean that others also treat it the same way. In the end - it was me being somewhat pedantic and mathematically precise, but from now on I'll definitely take such nuances into consideration. Thanks for mentioning.

Download link in OP is replaced with /idgames link now.