[WIP] Tainted Blood

So, back in May last year or whenever it was I begun an Episode 1 project and in December, I began to pick it back up but that never really happened. Well, now I have plucked up the motivation to start work on it again and hopefully after this is released, (if ever), I will be creating other episodes for a full four episode megawad (Mordeth will probably be before this). I'm not aiming for a huge amount of 1337 detail (regardless, some of these need a bit more light and detail). Enough with the chit chat and other shit here is what I have so far:

E1M1: 100%
E1M2: 20%
E1M3: 5%
E1M9: 0%
E1M4: Barely anything but started.
E1M5: 0%
E1M6: 0%
E1M7: 0%
E1M8: 0%

Time for some screenies.

Taken from E1M1




From E1M2 (sergeants kept shooting me when I was trying to take a shot)




From E1M3



I still have other projects to complete, such as my Strife hub, Heretic episode and Hexen hub (the hub was started yesterday) amongst a shit load of other projects but I will still be putting focus on Blasphemer and this.

Credits (thus far): id software for Doom and Mechadon for some play testing some point last year.

EDIT: I should mention that this will be vanilla compatible so -complevel 3 will be advised obviously. I will be releasing a demo after three maps are completed.

mmm.. looks some bland 1994 map...

I am sincerely curious how it will play. I can imagine various concepts how to approach gameplay in sheer darkness like that in your screenshots. Please say you'll release the first map once it is finished. :)

scifista42 said:

I am sincerely curious how it will play. I can imagine various concepts how to approach gameplay in sheer darkness like that in your screenshots. Please say you'll release the first map once it is finished. :)

I will be releasing a demo after three maps are done.

You gave it up after 4 days?

That was quick.

I think the idea is to say "screw it, I suck, I give up", then everyone else says "no man, you're awesome, continue this!" and then you get motivated again.

Motivation is a big killer.

I struggle with it my self, usually because I take on things that take a little too long to accomplish.

So far I have not given up on anything yet, but I do have long breaks at times while I research into other projects, work on them and then maybe have another break while playing a game for a few weeks....Skyrim is a real time stealer here!

I just always have all these great ideas I want to do and when I start them I get another cool idea!.....damn....brain!!!

Katamori said:

You gave it up after 4 days?

That was quick.

This. Release E1M1 at least.

Nobody learns anything from quitting! Pick yourself up by your dirty bootstraps and map!

Memfis said:

I think the idea is to say "screw it, I suck, I give up", then everyone else says "no man, you're awesome, continue this!" and then you get motivated again.

Hopefully.

Springy: Unless you're just completely sick of the idea and don't even want to ever touch it again (which I can understand), maybe just focus on getting 1-3 level(s) out, judging the reception then deciding if it's worth it for you to continue.

This is Doomworld, and none of us do this for a paycheque. We're used to project languishing. :P

I like the looks of it, but then, I'm a sucker for E1 replacements. Keep going. I want to play this thing.

I may or may not continue it. I'm just completely out of ideas (well, I say completely I have the ideas and can envision it from a players perspective, I just lack editing skills and I really shouldn't be lacking them). Also, if I can't do something I just drop it hence why I have released shit all really. I have been thinking about changing its style to the same of my most recent WIP but as of now I may continue to work on that instead.

Springy: Unless you're just completely sick of the idea and don't even want to ever touch it again (which I can understand), maybe just focus on getting 1-3 level(s) out, judging the reception then deciding if it's worth it for you to continue.

Well considering this will take a year to produce two extra. I'm going to upload the first map, the 95% completion isn't really 95% and monsters are a bit all over the place. Also, there's a switch I need to move at some point. I suppose that I could just get some feedback for now seeing as no one has really tried my maps. Oh and one of the secrets probably needs to be made less harder to get and lastly, there's no difficulties implemented. Just don't expect too much and it's a bit hard for an E1M1 (considering all the roaming about demons), I came to the realisation the other day that most maps are probably going to be flat like this and no one will like an E1 replacement like that (they want more of say, Concerned, Knee Deep in the Undead, Needs More Detail etc).

OK Springy, I downloaded the maps and gave them a whirl.

I think you're on the right track with your efforts at lighting, although I'd like to see more gradations with medium lighting instead of such stark contrast. Just vary it up a bit and I think you can enhance the mood.

Here are the main things I'd advise you to do with map and fight construction.

First, you need some real combat. E1M1 was dead easy in spite of Pinkies and Cacos, because all the encounters were shooting galleries with the monsters right in front of me. I didn't even take a hit until I went towards the exit and a Sergeant finally nailed me. I took a few more shots from hitscanners, but since I'd found the Soulsphere, I just walked right at them firing away. There was no challenge at all.

In order to spike your difficulty, you need to have monsters attacking from multiple directions and heights. You mentioned Concerned as an example of Ultimate Doom mapsets people like. There's a reason for that -- cannonball wants to beat the shit out of you when you enter his maps. He wants to hurt you, man! ;D That said, I thought the opening of E1M3 was more like it. Treat the player as your enemy. Bitch-slap their ass around and make them like it.

The way you get multi-direction combat is by using height variation and traps -- be they monster closets, teleport traps or whatever you can think of. You don't need a trap in every room, of course, because that gets repetitive and predictable, so you have to design rooms in such a way that they are difficult to conquer. You also need to make rooms and corridors that flow into each other and have enough space for monsters to roam a bit.

Your rooms in E1M1 are basically all rectilinear and connected directly to the next room by simple doors or short, straight corridors. The rooms are also extremely small, barely more than hallway spaces themselves. There will always be rooms that don't really connect to anything else, but try making rooms with 2 or more ways in/out, and make certain you have some non-deaf monsters, so they can start roaming towards the player once the shooting starts. That way, the player can get surprised, perhaps at the worst possible moment when their health is low and one bullet from a zombieboy can take them out.

E1M1 had too many switches. Switch-hunts are not popular with most of us players, because they disrupt the flow. At least one switch opened what you probably intended as a trap, with a lift that descended behind you and a Caco on the other side. But the opening was too narrow to let the Caco out, so it was dull, door-camping target practice. Remember that we want to have fights with flow and danger. Admittedly, for all I know, you might have something much nastier in mind for the other maps, but I can only judge your style by what's available, and E1M2 was dead easy, too. Another note on the Caco-revealing lift - avoid entryways that have a vertically narrow ceiling sector in a room with a sky ceiling, because it looks bad.

One hallway had a bunch of windows, and in the outdoor room on the other side were Pinkies. They should have been hitscanners or Imps, because Pinkies cannot attack the player through windows, but hitscanners and Imps can. Keep the player in danger.

Avoid over-detailing. The start room in E1M1 is tiny, yet I begin on a platform in a sunken floor, meaning you created a bumpy floor, which I found irritating. There's also consoles, overhead lights and whatnot. My advice, take out the platform in the middle of the sunken floor, or raise the floor, so it's not bumpy. And make the room bigger and make it possible to look into other areas from the room. Think about the IWAD E1M1.

That's pretty much it for now. Summing up, you need multi-directional combat, interconnected rooms, traps, height variation and killer instinct. BTW, the secrets were kinda weird, but I still found all of them. Mostly luck, I think. ;D

I'll be happy to check out any modifications you make.

Thanks Stevey D! I didn't put any monster closets due to it being an E1M1 but I can definitely see your point on making it less messy and the switch hunting, I'll implement these when I go back to it. I'll probably replace the soulsphere as I wasn't too sure about that at first.

Okay, just had a spout of ideas and E1M1 is now complete (not bothered with shadow casting for now). Expect a three map beta in a couple of weeks or so. Oh, E1M5 is underway but can't show much now except for a little and very under detailed starting room.