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Marcaek

50 Shades of Graytall (now on idgames!)

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mouldy said:

Glorious carnage, great fun. I left a bunch of monsters behind by accident, but thats their problem. Archvile teleporting on the manc pedestal at the start is a nice touch. Looks damn good too.

Cheers for the kind words Mouldy :)

Oh, would it be necessary to do the difficulty settings now, or is it okay to get that implemented during the testing phase?

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During the testing phase is ok, but the sooner said settings can be tested the better. :)

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Those last two submissions were cool.

The majority of franckFRAG's map was too dense and meaty for my taste, but i liked the cyberdemon scare right at the start. I personally like 30 second maps that simply exists to "look cool".

CorSair's map was epic.

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CorSair said:

Haven't been active on mapping side lately, but I still have something.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/15qehztjeectpu5/50sog_b1.wad?dl=0

It is currently in playable state, just needs more tweaking with monster placement.

I had more plans for it, but because being lazy and no time for it, I had to cut out the second area.


Looks pretty good so far, But I've notices a few bugs while playing:



There seems to be some weird sky transfer glitch here.



HOM is revealed after this section of the wall is lowered.

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Corsair's map has cool subareas but the hub is kinda... bland as hell. There's still time to do things to it, as the deadline is only for submission and there's enough map to it to work with.

I'm gonna make a rough beta3 tonight.

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Sure, but the beta will be coming tomorrow. I need a break from doom for the night. You can afford to make some changes to your maps in the meantime if you feel the need.

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Just a note that I'll be posting an incomplete map tonight. I'll get it uploaded and linked before midnight my time. ;)

Will probably have an update tomorrow afternoon.

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Ok, Beta 3 is up, OP updated.

Things I noticed:

Noisyvelvet, your map seems to be unplayable in Zandronum due to line 6107. Is... it being used for some kind of effect?

Corsair, the subareas of your map are cool but IMO the hub itself is kind of bland and undercooked. The sky you supplied seems to not tile horizontally as well. The HK snipers in the left hand room are kind of ineffective and not really fun to take down IMO. I have to replay it to provide more feedback but I'm iffy on it.

FranckFrag's map is short and silly which is fine but tbh I think I'm going to leave it out, as for SteveD's map, I'm not sure about it either. Part of this is wanting to keep the maplist relatively short as well, really. I'm undecided as of now on what to do there but leaning on capping things off :/

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Marcaek said:

as for SteveD's map, I'm not sure about it either. Part of this is wanting to keep the maplist relatively short as well, really. I'm undecided as of now on what to do there but leaning on capping things off :/


This is not a problem and I wouldn't mind pulling out and/or being rejected, but I'll work on this for 2 more days anyway and toss in whatever I have completed on Wednesday. As you can see, I went for small size and raw savagery here simply to make it possible to finish the thing in a hurry. I'm pleased with the raw savagery part, but I still don't feel I've come up with an idea that I really love as a Graytall map. I'm having a much harder time than expected in producing something I like visually. This is especially true with my first effort. As with this map, I like the way it plays -- albeit in a very unfinished state -- but it's so damned hideous that it can never be a successful Graytall map. I can't even imagine how many vertices I'd have to put in to align the texture in a nice decorative way with that one. But I think that if I use the cc4-tex.wad, I can produce something that'll make me happy.

Anyway, I hereby predict that I will fail completely at making a successful Graytall map, so cheers to all of you who have managed to do so, but in trying to do the deed, I think I've at least come up with the germ of a couple nice Amiga Demo Party maps. ;)

I'll also be happy to playtest the mapset.

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I'm not used to supplying a map with a poor gameplay. It was more an architecture exercise, but also unfinished, I don't have more time to improve it.

I prefer that you don't add it honestly. I improved it one day in another theme.

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Marcaek said:

Noisyvelvet, your map seems to be unplayable in Zandronum due to line 6107. Is... it being used for some kind of effect?

oh, woops. that's a random line i threw in ad hoc to fix a nodebuilder messup. I'll close the sector or something and send a link to a fixed version of the map.

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@Marcaek:
Regarding the skybox, in GLBoom+ it generally tiles well when looking over the horizon line, but when looking below the horizon line it has tiling problems. The problem Breezeep pictured was more apparent in PrBoom+, and unfortunately, something that I can't fix. The skybox itself is from Plums' skystravaganza (from here: http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?file=graphics/plmsky1.zip)

I probably end up changing that skybox.

And then there's plethora of slime trails in the eastern part. I think I managed to cut the most annoying ones, but I probably end up having my brain explode before I can find every one of them.

Second problem is trying to figure out proper balance for other difficulties.

As for the rest of the criticism, noted.

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I actually finished my map in rough draft form. It's complete, and has difficulty settings enabled. It's rough around the edges and may not be playable yet on UV, but should be survivable on HNTR. Haven't played it yet myself. I'm crashing now, and ATM I can't get into Mediafire, so I'll upload when I wake up, or maybe after I playtest it.

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Okay, does someone get this problem in GZDoom? It is fine in PrBoom+ or GLBoom+.

And it is in main hub where you get the rocket launcher.

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My apologies for being so late. I was busy today and it took awhile to playtest the map on all 3 difficulties. I thought it was a little too easy on HNTR and HMP, but UV seemed about right. If the map is accepted, I can do some more visual work on it. Some of the textures are still misaligned, and some decorative work can be done as well. I didn't add a sky texture, so it's good old Doom 2 E1. I did add a MIDI, "Die You Fucking Bastard!" by DoomHuntress, which is nicely close to the Amiga techno-MOD style. If someone else is already using it, I'll yield. It's a damn nice track, with good-sounding instruments.

Anyway, here it is, along with a couple pics of the BFG room;

http://www.mediafire.com/download/qg58oirywufgd1k/GRAYp.wad



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I had a go at your map SteveD. It starts off like a puzzle to solve where to go and what to do without having any ammo to kill everything, which is interesting. Although I don't like the megasphere trap that will kill you unless you know in advance what will happen, thats just my personal taste though. The final fight with bfg is fun. I wasted all my bfg ammo and had to kill a couple of the cybers with SSG, which is a bit of a grindy way to finish an action map. But given foreknowledge that probably wouldn't be a problem, and this seems to be a map that wants you to learn how to play it.

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mouldy said:

The final fight with bfg is fun. I wasted all my bfg ammo and had to kill a couple of the cybers with SSG, which is a bit of a grindy way to finish an action map.


Thanks for the play, mouldy, and I agree about the grindy ending. This wasn't such a problem on HNTR and HMP, but my first attempt at UV was a DNF because I ran out of cells and rockets with too many Cybs and Archies to kill. I added 1 cell pack on HMP and 2 on UV, and that was enough to complete the map, but I still ended-up using rockets and shells on the final Cyb. I considered replacing the Cybs in the BFG room with Archies on a 1-for-1 or 2-for-1 basis, the latter of which would certainly liven-up HNTR. I decided not to because I wanted to get the map out, and also because I was tired of playtesting by then. ;)

I think another way to improve the map would be to lower the stair heights in the Megasphere Room from 16 to 8 units. This would require pulling back the walls if the same floor height is to be retained so as to allow twice the number of stairs, or lowering the floor by 64 units and adjusting the stair heights. 8-unit stairs would allow the monsters above and below an easier way to pursue the player. I also once ran away from the Cybs by going in there, but they chased me right into the room until they reached the stairs and were unable to climb, so for anyone who tries that tactic, it would be cool if the Cybs could chase them right onto that platform. That might result in some panic. ;)

Edit:I wanted to mention that the Megasphere Trap was inspired by a much nastier one in Demonologist's "Imago Mortis" from Mayhem 2048. Always steal from the best, I say. :)

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Partly played through beta 3 on UV & pistol start (using zdoom), my thoughts;

MAP01: This one simply gets the ball rolling well enough, easing players in with low difficulty and introducing them to the project's intent early on. It's definitely a suitable entry to start from, it flows well and has enough bite toward the end to keep you focused. I'm not entirely keen on the HOM switches though - checked them in prboom+ too in case it wasn't intended.

MAP02: The pacing here feels great, especially once the map winds back toward the beginning to complete it. Gameplay seems to encourage some ammo conservation and using certain weapons in more suitable scenarios. Enemies aren't too dangerous at first, but soon enough increase in aggressiveness. Nothing too chaotic, a fair romp and enjoyable overall. 'Nuff said.

MAP03: Another level with great pacing only this time pushing players into more nasty situations. Getting caught off guard by that plasma gun trap put me on edge, causing me to run back the way I came and brute forcing through the Arachnotrons to safety. Even enjoyed the fight against the duo Cyberdemons and surrounding Revies. Topping the map off is great texture alignment and distinctive areas. Bonus points for easy to notice doors and key switches!

MAP04: Holy crap, now that was some start to a level! Especially with only a pistol in hand. That initial rush for a weapon to make a quick counter-attack plan is hectic but sure gets the blood flowing. I died quite a lot figuring out the best approach to this with minimal health and ammo losses. Probably a fantastic map to announce, "Now shit gets real!" midway into the project. Once you manage to survive up till the blue key, things do ease out if only because the player acquires enough gear to proceed onwards with more confidence. It's a rewarding experience despite its short length.

MAP05: @Marcaek: Nice midi choice, fits that upbeat tone I was looking for. Where's it from?

MAP06: Another map with a hectic start that involves figuring out the best course of action, only ammo conservation is incredibly important. Who's the biggest threat? Should I bother killing these guys now? Its pacing seems dictated depending on which route you chose to take first whether that involves clearing out the exterior edges or diving right into the mouth of the central fort to find an easier footing. It feels satisfying finally gunning down everything that caused misery before finding enough gear to survive. The underground section does have a nice surrealism, especially so upon seeing that body from the corner of my eye!

MAP07: Unfortunately I'm probably too terrible to play through this style of level to enjoy it as intended. On UV, forcing the player to avoid most encounters before they get any decent weapon to fight with is a unique and interesting concept. But in so many of my attempts I could barely succeed getting anywhere far enough to call progression. Too much hitscan chaingun fired at me and not enough health to live through it all. This becomes problematic when I need to lure enemies away from tight exits. Even tried an attempt on HMP, but not much luck there either. Perhaps I'm approaching things the wrong way but I couldn't get into this one at all. I may revisit this.

MAP08: Balls to the walls, this one took a lot out of me. Much like MAP06 its involves finding the best course of action which keeps the fun factor high even after dying a bazillion times. I always tried something else the next attempt. At first it appears to be a slow and methodical level, until monsters start warping in around you! Ammo conservation seems incredibly important here, so much so it practically forces the player to keep moving and in turn triggering more enemies along the way. I found rushing around the battlefield picking off key targets, like Revies, a fun solution. It's deliciously vicious. The second half however took twice the effort from me, it's more cramped so avoiding foes wasn't always viable - I was always scared of a Caco creeping up behind me. Bonus points for the vertical scroll on the central pillar, I always thought something would be coming down "any time soon!?"

That is all I've played up to so far before taking a break. However I did sneak a peek at later levels and can't help but notice the sheer volume of slaughterfest-esque / monster congestion maps in the later slots. Many of them appear exhaustingly difficult and I have to be in the right mood before tackling those later maps. I'll post more thoughts once I get around to them.

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I have to say, I like the screenshots that have been posted here. If I can find the time I'll download this and see if the gameplay lives up to the interesting design.

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Crap, the switches in my map (MAP01) shouldn't be HOMs, they should be sky texture switches, like those seen in Mechadon's map. They appear properly in ZDoom. I don't understand what I messed up. :/

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Jimmy said:

Crap, the switches in my map (MAP01) shouldn't be HOMs, they should be sky texture switches, like those seen in Mechadon's map. They appear properly in ZDoom. I don't understand what I messed up. :/


It looks like the problem is caused by the linedef you used to activate the switch.



If you remove that it looks fine. Maybe try replacing that line with one that splits the sector in front, like in the right-hand pic above

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