Fields of Glory: 8-map pack

Hello everyone :) I've finally seen my freshly uploaded mappack in the /newstuff and I'd like to share some additional data (and also to make an ANSWER). I do hope this pack will be at least fun to play.

Requirements:
zDoom or gzDoom due to GAMEINFO, MAPINFO and DECORATE syntax.

1. Storyline
You are playing as Ann Forgent, a cyborg agent sent to investigate a sudden disappearance of contact with a trade outpost on far reach of the galaxy. She was sent, of course, not right away, but after losing contact with military units sent there beforehand. She arrives there to find an outpost filled with demons and zombified military - and just goes to clean up all this mess.

2. Mappack contains:
a. 8 maps:
map01 - Docking bay
You arrive at trade outpost to have a chatter with demons and zombies.
map02 - Temple of blood
You teleport to an ancient temple placed somewhere at the same planetoid the outpost is.
map03 - The Battlecruiser
You teleport again to a volcanic area where a battlecruiser sent to investigate seems to have fallen or landed.
map04 - Hellstation
You arrive to a station that provides supplies from nearby planet to ships passing by and the outpost itself.
map05 - Planetary
You arrive a research base with an archeological dig, that probably triggered an invasion.
map06 - Enisan
Welcome to Hell!
map07 - Styx
Have a nice ride with the waters of river Styx to realm of a demon that started all this mess.
map30 - Apotheosis
Find and kill the demon. Quite obvious task.
b. New guns
Gauss Rifle - more precise and powerful, but more ammo-consuming version of Chaingun.
Missile Flooder - basically a defensive missile turret taken off from its stand. Fires 10 missiles with a short interval.
3. Screenshots and videos




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k4JP25NG3A&feature=share&list=UULeuwOxsJehYHfVdf-4h1CQ&index=3

4. DB link
http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/?file=levels/doom2/Ports/d-f/fldog.zip

5.An ANSWER
A first review this WAD received sounds like this:

No, this is bullshit, I seen one map before. I think I have played this before. As for the maps themselves, I guess it's quite okay, but I didn't like that cyberdemon reactor hall trap. I see some misaligned textures. I don't think the new weapons are any good, I can't get why there be a naked t4 chick either. ~1/5

Dear reviewer (if you'll happen to be reading this). Each and every map here WAS created from scratch during last 1,5 or a bit more years. There are two reasons you could see a familiar map here:
1) idclev08 - idclev29 will bring you to original Doom 2 maps. Because final map has not map08 id, but map30.
2) There is a map, part of which can remind a map you saw earlier. This is definitely a coincidence, not that impossible considering most of textures travel between all the wads and similar visuals happen all the time.
I think I still have old in-progress backups from around April 2013, and I can share those. Also, plagiarism accusations should be supported with actual proofs. It is very unpleasant for me to hear that I am lying about content I was working on really hard to create. AND "t4 chick" is obviously NOT naked :(

6. Remarks
1) Obsidian texture used in map30 is actually different from what I intended to use. Version with original texture - IIRC it was some free obsidian tex, but I could not remember how to credit it - can be found here: http://xgm.guru/p/d2fog/index
2) I did not change sounds or original weapon sprites, sorry :(
3) And sorry for possible mistakes with texture placement or common newcommer mistakes within maps

Hmm, anime chick armed with 8-barreled rocket launcher? It is supposed to be a reference to some Japanese animated superheroine TV series or something?

In any case, I fail to see the point of 8-barreled RL, because there are only a few situations in Doom gameplay where it would be actually useful. Rockets are usually too rare to waste them in spray-and-pray manner...

Oh and... why the hell it consumes 10 rockets per volley when it has "only" 8 barrels?

Caleb13 said:

Hmm, anime chick armed with 8-barreled rocket launcher? It is supposed to be a reference to some Japanese animated superheroine TV series or something?

In any case, I fail to see the point of 8-barreled RL, because there are only a few situations in Doom gameplay where it would be actually useful. Rockets are usually too rare to waste them in spray-and-pray manner...

Oh and... why the hell it consumes 10 rockets per volley when it has "only" 8 barrels?

It has 10 barrels ) And in this map pack there ARE such situations.

Edit: This is an actual model used for Missile Flooder sprites in-game.
Edit 2:

It is supposed to be a reference to some Japanese animated superheroine TV series or something?

More or less. Without any specific show as an aim. She's just a character often occurring in my "art":
http://fav.me/d7apvw1
http://fav.me/d7f8fvg

There sure are a lot of misaligned textures, all right. And Barons, soo many Barons. You'd think that there's a convention or something.

And are you sure Commandress Keen there isn't nude? Or is it a Ly situation going on here with her wearing a jumpsuit the same color as her skin, or whatever?

She's got some grody monster feet, by the way.

Jaxxoon R said:

There sure are a lot of misaligned textures, all right. And Barons, soo many Barons. You'd think that there's a convention or something.

And are you sure Commandress Keen there isn't nude? Or is it a Ly situation going on here with her wearing a jumpsuit the same color as her skin, or whatever?

She's got some grody monster feet, by the way.

There's a lot of Barons indeed. Nothing impossible though :) I re-checked lots of times for player to have a weapon to deal with those horny bastards :)

Misaligns are my scourge ( I tried to cath 'em, but, yeah, my brain began to melt on a regular basis. I thought I managed to catch most obvious instances (

And as for Forgent, she's wearing a light-gray catsuit while being a bit pale. Conversion to Doom palette makes colors merge a bit, though they are still obviously differ. And yes, I have some serious issues with drawing an anatomically correct figure :(

I'm sorry, I just don't get it. Another wonderful feedback example:

Level disign is awful, with supertight corridors and unnecesary obstructions, misaligned textures, and MANDATORY SECRETS. In the very first level there are lots of shells, but no shotgun. The only source of shotgun is a shotgunguy that does not appear on some difficulties. The monster encounters are not balanced in any way.

1) There are both shotgun and supershotgun on level 1 on all difficulties. SSG is secret, usual SG is not. It lies openly in one of rooms after the blue door.
2) There are NO mandatory secrets. Run fast enough and you will not need to open any of secret areas to get to the exit. Barons are completely avoidable. Here, I can even show you:
http://youtu.be/AYWu4yaRzBo
See? No secrets required. Same applies to ALL levels. Yes, it would be hard, but absolutely possible.

What's the reason to comment on something when you did not even try to understand what's happening?

Yeah, except you used a shotgun from a shotgunguy, which does not appear at easier levels, making portion of the level harder, and some times chaingunners come out and ruin the fun before you can open that door. Beginning of the level is harder on easier difficulty than on regular one, which is not my idea of a good balance at all. I ran through all the levels again, and I can't find a good thing to say about them. Architecture and balance are awful, there are a lot of misaligned textures, and other signs of bad map design. In my opinion, these maps are bad.

My personal advice would be to at least try to improve your mapping skills before you actually integrate ZDoom or so stuff into a wad. The way it's implemented seems utterly unnatural and contradictional in my view and somehow raises the feeling that I am playing a Terry wad or something, no offense though.

Rastrelly said:

created to look as natural as possible within traditional doom level pool...

These maps do not fit naturally with the original Doom levels.
The levels seemed as if they were designed by someone with only a week or so of Doom-mapping knowledge.

• Textures were severely misaligned
  
• The over-all design of levels were very boring and a bit linear
  
• Very odd use of height variation -- height variation is great when it's used correctly, but in this case, the height variation of floors were so weird and minuscule that they did more harm than good
  
• Some doors lead to a single square room with one enemy and one item inside that could completely be by-passed
  
• Two completely different floor and/or ceiling textures ran into each other -- this is a huge no-no
  
• The use of most textures did not fit in very well with the surroundings and did not make sense
  

With a map set being in development for roughly 1-to-5 years, I would've expected something a little more satisfying than this.
My advice for you would be to stick to making small, single map WADs that are mostly vanilla-based.
As your skills grow from reviews and tips people give you, then you can start releasing two or more maps at a time with a few ZDoom features here-and-there.

Map 01: The blue key is guarded by a Baron. And there's a Baron before that. You have a shotgun from a sarge and if you find it, a box of shells. this is on HMP difficulty.