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Deadwing

Nevasca: Up on /idgames archives!

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Finally all the 9 levels are done and this is ready for a final testing before release!
I hope you guys like it, even if it is more limited and basic than most projects, but I had fun making the levels (which probably took around 1 year with some big intervals lol).

For those that still doesn't know, Nevasca is an episode-format wad for zdoom source port, focusing on snow themes among with some ruins, hellish or techbase variants.
Level design is focused on non-linear layouts, with low (but stronger and faster) monster count. The focus is to challenge the player with orchestrated battles, where taking cover is a limited option. There are also new powerups and weapons to help deal with the faster pacing.

Download: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/m-o/nevasca

Story:

"A land cursed by darkness and coldness, the chosen one which appears from time to time performs his pilgrimage once again to try to bring the winds of change for a new age."

Project Goals:

-> ZDoom
-> 9 small/medium maps. It should take around 1.5~2 hours to beat all the levels.
-> 4 new mp3 songs.
-> Clean and very simple detailing, I don't like decorating stuff too much.
-> Focus on non-linear (but not sandbox) gameplay, pacing, battle and challenge. Also, is based on setpieces which focus on keeping pressure on player, taking him away from his comfort zone. I highly recommend playing this on HMP if you don't like too much difficult/traps.
-> Snow + Tech + Ruins mapset.
-> You'll probably be able to speedrun all the levels. :P

Progress:

1 - Blessing Chamber: 100%
A chamber that was used in the old days by many ancient religions for praying. It's currently overrun, but it has a secret exit that is used by the pilgrim to prove their worth.

2 - Pilgrimage Shrine: 100%
The first step for ones in their fateful journey. Will the old gods give their blessing or curse him with a gruesome death?

3 - Underground Shelter: 100%
An underground structure used in ancient times. It is said that many used to take shelter to avoid the religious wars on surface, until it got discovered.

4 - Bloody Tundra - 100%
Some say this was a forest in the past, others just think it was another standard hellish landspace. Anyway, the darkness came and with it all the life was taken. The passage to the central station is inside the high-tech structures.

5 - Central Station - 100%
High-technological place taken as reference on all continent. Many dark experiments are done for unknown purpose. The pilgrim use this place as a shortcut to the pits of Two guardians.

6 - Two guardians pits - 100%
A big structure used to pray for the old guardians, protecting the entrance of the Sky Fortress. Sadly, the temple failed at its objective when one of the guardians got killed.

7 - Sky Base - 90% -> Need feedback
A place that holds many secrets, where many believe this is the source of all evil and corruption. Unforntunaly, no one who arrived has returned.

8 - Final Level - 90% -> Need feedback
The pilgrimage is finally in the end. Will our chosen one be able to put an end to all of this?

9 - Secret level - 100%
An old level from an old wad I've made, which I decided to release as an outtake.

Balance Changes (to adapt mouselooking, also these have new sprites):

Medkit: 25 -> 40
Stimpack: 10 -> 20
Health and Armor Bonus: 1 -> 2
Rockets deal 30% more damage (something close to that). You can only carry 15 (30 with backup).

Spectre HP: 150, They're noticably faster.

New Monsters:

- Dark Imp: Same old Imp with faster projectiles.
- Frozen Cacodemon: Same old Cacodemon with faster projectiles.
- Death Incarnation: Same old Revenant with faster missiles.
- Frozen Skull: Stronger and more unpredictable version of Lost Souls. Can Also shot from distance.
- Frozen Hell Knight: Stronger than Hell Knights, weaker than Baron of Hells, replacing both. It's a lot more aggressive with faster projectiles.
- Zombie Marine: Stronger than Former Sergeants but weaker than Chaingunners.
- Rocket Zombie: Very strong sniper that shots rockets.
- Frozen Demon: Replaces original Demon.

Pics:







Credits:

Feedback Providers:

Doomworld: scifista42, AD_79, Memfis, gaspe, Obsidian, Rumia, Suitepee, Dime.
Zdoomforums: doony, The Nameless Watcher, xenoxols, Ed the Bat.
Doombrasilforum: SKULLRUSH, Jason, jdredalert, RafaelB.

Textures:

Most new textures from "NeoDoom", by Daniel
Snow textures from nhell_d2.wad, by Alexander "Eternal" S.
"2mbrown.wad", by Daniel "Tormentor667" Gimmer
"celticsh.zip", by Crista Forest, aka "CD Warrior"
"cwbdoom5.wad", by Christopher "shaithis" Buecheler
"GOTHICTX.WAD"; by Anthony Czerwonka
Skybox retirado by Wad "Schythe", "Skypack1.wad", "Skypack2.wad"

Weapons:

Freezegun, Railgun and Biorifle takes from "NeoDoom", by Daniel, with some balance modifications I've made.
New Rocket Launcher sprites from HELLSTORM CANNON on realm667 by ghastly_dragon, with some balance modifications I've made.

Pickups:

New Medikit spirte from MEDICAL BACKPACK on realm667 by TheMightyHeracross, with some balance modifications I've made.
New Stimpack spirte from FIELD KIT on realm667 by ghastly_dragon, with some balance modifications I've made.
New Armor Bônus spirte from ARMOR SHARD on realm667 by Infirnex, with some balance modifications I've made.
New Health Bônus spirte from SMALL BLOOD CONTAINER on realm667 by Lucario, with some balance modifications I've made.
New powerups from a very old post from zdoom community (which unfortunately I can't find anymore - wad name's is 'PowerupResource.wad'), with some balance modifications I've made.

Monsters:

New Revenant spirtes from DEATH INCARNATE on realm667 by by Eriance, Blue Shadow, MagicWazard, Ghastly Dragon, Sandypaper (Brightmaps), Midway, Rogue Entertainment and Raven Software.
Frozen Cacodemon, STDarkImp, by Nanami.
Frozen Demon and HellKnight from nhell_d2.wad, by Alexander "Eternal" S.
Zombie Marine by Bouncy and Ixnatifual.
Rocket Guy by The Innocent Crew.
Maelstrom by TheDarkArchon.

Miscellaneous:

New Status Bar sprites made by Nevander from zdoom forums, with some changes I've made to make it look frozen.
Trees and grass sprites from NeoDoom, by Daniel.

Music:

All songs by myself, except the Map09 which is a MIDI version of Sunhair by Ozric Tentacles (provided by the band itself).

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Deadwing said:

first 2 maps

The downloadable demo actually contains all 8 maps. I've played only the first 2 so far, though. I like the maps. The layouts and environments are well done, IMO. Detailing is simple, but more than sufficient to make the maps look nice. New weapons worked well to spice up the gameplay. New enemy balance is hard to get used to at first, but I didn't have much problems, because I knew your maps for a long time. :)

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Avoozl said:

The first shot almost looks like something made from oblige.


What is that?

U.O.D. said:

Mother of God.


Hahaha, you can kill them with two rockets (they deal more damage too, btw) or three SS shots. Monster count on maps are also quite low, so no big horders :P

scifista42 said:

The downloadable demo actually contains all 8 maps. I've played only the first 2 so far, though. I like the maps. The layouts and environments are well done, IMO. Detailing is simple, but more than sufficient to make the maps look nice. New weapons worked well to spice up the gameplay. New enemy balance is hard to get used to at first, but I didn't have much problems, because I knew your maps for a long time. :)


Thanks scifista! :D
So someone played my old maps hahaha Actually the others six maps are only placeholders from my old wad and I forgot to remove hehe With Nevasca, I tried to improve enemy placement and create some more exciting fights, especially since that was the main complainment from my old stuff (which I agree, tbh)

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Reminds me of decent/good 90's maps from the shots, which I always enjoy. I'll take a look at this.

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Oblige is a level generator for Doom. You just push a button and it gives you a bunch of new maps. Funnily enough, back when I played your Eclipse wad, for a moment it also made me think "could these be computer generated levels?". Of course I quickly dismissed that thought but it's kind of interesting how your works have that "automated" feel to them, obviously dictated by your simplistic detailing. Oh, and this is in no way a critique, I actually think it's kind of cool.

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Full balance change on first post added :D

AD_79 said:

Reminds me of decent/good 90's maps from the shots, which I always enjoy. I'll take a look at this.


Tell me what you think, if there's anything to improve :P

Memfis said:

Oblige is a level generator for Doom. You just push a button and it gives you a bunch of new maps. Funnily enough, back when I played your Eclipse wad, for a moment it also made me think "could these be computer generated levels?". Of course I quickly dismissed that thought but it's kind of interesting how your works have that "automated" feel to them, obviously dictated by your simplistic detailing. Oh, and this is in no way a critique, I actually think it's kind of cool.


Thanks for the info :)
Oh god, these eclipse wad are really old haha
I see, maybe the way I think it is similar to those who made the generator hahahaha

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Deadwing said:

Full balance change on first post added :D

Revenant Health: 300 -> 400
Spectre HP: 200 -> 150, they're noticably faster.
Demon: 200 -> 250, have less pain and are a bit slower.
Baron of Hell HP: 1000 -> 600, it'll attack twice.

I can see something quite different when I look into your DEHACKED. Besides, demon's and spectre's normal health is 150.

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scifista42 said:

I can see something quite different when I look into your DEHACKED. Besides, demon's and spectre's normal health is 150.


What, I'll check it again. D:
Some stuff are on decorate too. (health changes, and I guess demon and baron of hell)

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Deadwing said:

Some stuff are on decorate too. (health changes, and I guess demon and baron of hell)

Well, your combination of DEHACKED and DECORATE is quite odd. DECORATE is extremely flexible and can handle everything that DEHACKED can. True, some tricks are slightly easier to do in DEHACKED, like ammo capacity or max armor change. But altering behaviour of stock monsters partially in DEHACKED and partially in DECORATE is a pretty unclean solution.

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scifista42 said:

Well, your combination of DEHACKED and DECORATE is quite odd. DECORATE is extremely flexible and can handle everything that DEHACKED can. True, some tricks are slightly easier to do in DEHACKED, like ammo capacity or max armor change. But altering behaviour of stock monsters partially in DEHACKED and partially in DECORATE is a pretty unclean solution.


Yeah, I agree, I need to do some cleanup in the files. I started messing with dehacked in my first wad, then I wanted to add new monsters and stuff so I started to use decorate and I haven't messed with dehacked anymore.

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Sup guys!

I've finished map 3 (Bloody Tundra) and 4 (Central Station), following the style of the first two maps. I've made some balancing changes, such as reverting all HP changes on monsters, while maintaning the faster projectiles. Also, first and second maps had several monster placement changes to fit better pacing and balance.

Download link for the new version is here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z9l6fdnive70am4/nevasca.zip?dl=0

Any feedback is appreciated :D

Map 3 and 4 Layouts:



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I played all the 4 maps. This looks really interesting. I liked the snowy settings and the layouts are good. I also liked the music, I found it to be fitting with the levels.
It is pretty difficult with the new changes and I took a while to get used to the faster projectiles. I liked the 2 new guns (the Freeze gun is really fitting) and they are fun to use. Also the powerups were interesting. I noticed that also the Cacos have fast projectiles, and about those (for all the monsters) I think they are a bit too much faster and encourage you too much on relying on covers and chokes, but maybe it's just me. In MAP04 was a bit weird to see many stock textures where the other levels mostly use custom graphics, the stock textures gave me more the impression of beign placeholders. I found also these issues:
-on MAP01 it is possible to get into the elevators (the ones with the imp and the revenant) at your back when you go for the rebirth, and get stuck in there
-on MAP03 there's a hom in the closet with the frozen hell knights at the red key
-I can't switch back to the plasmagun if I switch weapon

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gaspe said:

I played all the 4 maps. This looks really interesting. I liked the snowy settings and the layouts are good. I also liked the music, I found it to be fitting with the levels.
It is pretty difficult with the new changes and I took a while to get used to the faster projectiles. I liked the 2 new guns (the Freeze gun is really fitting) and they are fun to use. Also the powerups were interesting. I noticed that also the Cacos have fast projectiles, and about those (for all the monsters) I think they are a bit too much faster and encourage you too much on relying on covers and chokes, but maybe it's just me. In MAP04 was a bit weird to see many stock textures where the other levels mostly use custom graphics, the stock textures gave me more the impression of beign placeholders. I found also these issues:
-on MAP01 it is possible to get into the elevators (the ones with the imp and the revenant) at your back when you go for the rebirth, and get stuck in there
-on MAP03 there's a hom in the closet with the frozen hell knights at the red key
-I can't switch back to the plasmagun if I switch weapon


Thanks for the feedback!
Glad to know things worked mostly fine and the music fitted well lol

- I think I'll reduce a bit Caco's projectile then. I think currently they're faster than the Imp's projectile, I guess it'll be better if both had the same speed.

- For the MAP4, the idea was to keep these textures, but I can see it feels odd when you have one style (use of custom textures) and then suddenly you get to a map with mostly stock textures. I'll see if I can some "re-texturing" lol

- MAP1: That's actually a good spot for a secret D: I'll fix the bug on MAP3.

- For the Plasma Gun, I think the current slot for it is 9. That made sense in my previous wad, which the player would get it only around MAP15 (after all three new weapons), but now there's no reason for that.

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Well, my internet pulled it's thumb out of it's metaphorical arse and let me download this, so thoughts!

-The autosaves feel a tad numerous and could most certainly be cut down.

-The Beta Lost Soul seems to be functionally identical to the Ethereal Soul from Realm667. I'd strongly recommend you use that instead considering it looks better overall.

-Maybe not have the Freeze Gun damage the player? The Bio Gun already does so and fighting can get rather close-quarters pretty quickly.

-You really like Pain Elementals, don't you? :P

-The fast projectiles take a bit of getting used to. One answer would be to change the monster sprites so the player doesn't assume, but it's a relatively minor quibble.

-All things considered I think this is pretty nifty: I'm imagining the levels will get even better later on if you plan to increase the map sizes. I only played MAP01-MAP03 because I wasn't sure if MAP04 was completely finished yet. Good stuff man, keep it up.

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Obsidian said:

Well, my internet pulled it's thumb out of it's metaphorical arse and let me download this, so thoughts!

-The autosaves feel a tad numerous and could most certainly be cut down.

-The Beta Lost Soul seems to be functionally identical to the Ethereal Soul from Realm667. I'd strongly recommend you use that instead considering it looks better overall.

-Maybe not have the Freeze Gun damage the player? The Bio Gun already does so and fighting can get rather close-quarters pretty quickly.

-You really like Pain Elementals, don't you? :P

-The fast projectiles take a bit of getting used to. One answer would be to change the monster sprites so the player doesn't assume, but it's a relatively minor quibble.

-All things considered I think this is pretty nifty: I'm imagining the levels will get even better later on if you plan to increase the map sizes. I only played MAP01-MAP03 because I wasn't sure if MAP04 was completely finished yet. Good stuff man, keep it up.


Thanks! :D

- Autosaves could certainly be fixed. I also placed autosaves in my previous wad, but here the feature worked well because the levels were mostly linear. I think I should try something different, since the levels in nevasca are way less linear. IDK, maybe like saving every minute if player health > 60? I could also place them only before the players enters an setpiece (ambush or big battle), though some battles you can join from 3 or 4 different places. Maybe I could just remove them, but I don't like manually save every minute XD

- I like to have Freeze Gun damage yourself if shooting by close range. The weapon itself is quite strong and the player can use frozen enemies in a strategic way (cover, blocking monster path). I guess it's already the best weapon in mid-range in the nevasca's arsenal, buffing it more would make it killer ass XD

- I also though about changing the monsters sprits, since it would send a clear message to the player that he's dealing with different stuff. The problem is that I don't know where to find them. (I guess the main problem is Revenant, since you can find a lot for Imps, Mancubus and even Caco's). But I think I'll do that and see what are going to be the results.

- Hahaha thanks! I'll do some retexturing on MAP04, so it won't clash with map 1-3 style. 4 is the same as 2-3. Probably 5 and 6 will be bigger :D

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Deadwing said:

(I guess the main problem is Revenant, since you can find a lot for Imps, Mancubus and even Caco's)


This is the first one that comes to mind. Maybe you could recolour it so it fits the frozen theme. :)

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I'm really digging what you have here. The non-linear layouts are nice, and the combat is fairly tricky and utilizes the custom monsters quite well. The new guns are fun too—the Freeze Gun in particular is interesting since it has quite a few unique uses, like cancelling the Pain Elemental's death attack.

Some general issues I had:
-The auto-saves could be more sparse. Maybe one before or after each key could work?
-The new power-ups are neat, but I think they last too long for what they do, especially Rebirth. A bit more balancing could be done on that part.
-A way to return to the first room in map 1 would be nice. Not too important though, I was just barred from killing the two imps in there is all.
-You can fall and get stuck in this little gap in Map 2.
-I couldn't tell if this was intentional, but this cliff in map 3 hurts the player when standing on it. You can get up to it using the stairs beside it.
-I couldn't figure out how to get the Yellow Key in Map 4. Maybe I missed something obvious, but I checked around for over five minutes and didn't find any leads, so perhaps it should be clearer?

This wad really has something going for it. Keep working on it!

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Rumia said:

I'm really digging what you have here. The non-linear layouts are nice, and the combat is fairly tricky and utilizes the custom monsters quite well. The new guns are fun too—the Freeze Gun in particular is interesting since it has quite a few unique uses, like cancelling the Pain Elemental's death attack.

Some general issues I had:
-The auto-saves could be more sparse. Maybe one before or after each key could work?
-The new power-ups are neat, but I think they last too long for what they do, especially Rebirth. A bit more balancing could be done on that part.
-A way to return to the first room in map 1 would be nice. Not too important though, I was just barred from killing the two imps in there is all.
-You can fall and get stuck in this little gap in Map 2.
-I couldn't tell if this was intentional, but this cliff in map 3 hurts the player when standing on it. You can get up to it using the stairs beside it.
-I couldn't figure out how to get the Yellow Key in Map 4. Maybe I missed something obvious, but I checked around for over five minutes and didn't find any leads, so perhaps it should be clearer?

This wad really has something going for it. Keep working on it!


Thanks Rumia, I've addressed the issues you listed!

On MAP01 I've added a passage so you can access the initial area again. Powerups were nerfed (they surely did last too long, it should be more balanced now). Bugs fixed :P

The yellow key switch is not hard to find, but I think its location can be more clear. (it is actually close to the bars that blocks the access to YK). I've put some health bonus close to it, so now it'll be harder to miss.

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I've updated the wad with some new changes:

- Weapons slots changes: Plasma Gun is back to slot 6. Freeze gun is 7, Bio 8 and Railgun 9. Now the wad will also support custom weapons mods.
- Cacodemon's projectile slight reduced (same speed as Imp's)
- Powerups were nerfed. Regen lasts 40% less time, Double damage and Damage protection lasts 33% less.
- Reduced autosaves on leves: Now they are only in key areas.
- I've made several mininum health/ammo balance changes in all levels.
- MAP1: You now can get out of the elevator in the regen trap area.
- MAP1: YOu can now access the initial area by a new pathway.
- MAP2: Fixed acid waterfall bug. You can't drop from there now anymore :P
- MAP3: Fixed HOM.
- MAP3: FIxed player-damaging cliff close to where the regen sphere is.
- MAP4 is retextured, with less stock textures.
- MAP4: Added some health bonus to indicate better where the Yellow Key acess switch is in the dark room.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/z9l6fdnive70am4/nevasca.zip?dl=0

MAP4 retextured screenshots:



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Excellent, the map 5 update released just in time for this to be playtested this evening as part of my playtesting stream.

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Suitepee said:

Excellent, the map 5 update released just in time for this to be playtested this evening as part of my playtesting stream.


Awesome, let me know when you start the playtest! :D

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Sorry Deadwing but I was unable to continue playing this wad past level 3. Too much frustration from the fast projectiles, dickish gameplay and high levels of rage-inducing gameplay.

http://www.twitch.tv/johnsuitepee/v/15570410 = should be the fifth wad I cover in this playtesting stream.

You seem to have good level design and whatnot, but for me personally I couldn't stand the difficulty. Best of luck pleasing those that enjoy it though, since you seem to have put a lot of good effort into this wad.

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