Bloodstain finally out!

Ladies and gentlemen,

I'm proud to announce that today I've officially released Bloodstain! I know it might be almost out of nowhere, but hey, I think it was about time.

Here is the primary download link:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/z6aiu28ug4svndm/BStain.zip

And now at /idgames too:
https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/megawads/bstain

So everyone who wants to, GO 4 IT!



And yeah, I've almost forgotten – Happy New Year! :-)

Regards,
Pipicz

I cant figure out how to download it :(

yeah, pretty complicated download site (mostly because I can't read the language), but I eventually figured it out.

so you already uploaded to idgames, so this is the final version? don't see that very often. Guess you're confident there won't be any gamebreaking bugs or whatnot?


Anyhow, I'm off to try it out :D

Oh sorry for the language there, gonna upload it to mediafire in a moment :-)

I can't assure there won't be a single bug, but I think it has been tested quite thoroughly. Unless I've released a wrong version, it should be possible to 100% everything at complevel 2 :-)

yesssssss

kmxexii said:

yesssssss

Ribbiks said:

so you already uploaded to idgames, so this is the final version? don't see that very often. Guess you're confident there won't be any gamebreaking bugs or whatnot?

/idgames will accept updated versions of WADs.

Was expecting more club soda.

Linguica said:

/idgames will accept updated versions of WADs.

yeah, but the implication of an "/idgames release" announcement is usually that it's final, i.e. safe for demo recording and whatnot. At least that's how I often interpret it.



either way, been poking around several of the maps, some very interesting themes and architecture. 14, 16, and 29/30 are my favorites thus far. monster placement is a bit haphazard in general, but seems like it could be decently chaotic if you try to play blaze through it.

I'm up to MAP14 so far - awesome stuff although the MAP05-MAP07 stretch was weaker than the rest of the maps. I'm very strongly reminded of Scythe and its sequel, as well as AV, KS, and PL2 at points, so this wad feels stylistically like something of a throwback to last decade which gives it a much different character than most recent releases. It's cool to see. So far 'Mountain Outpost', 'Shimmering Grotto', and _especially_ 'Verdant' are standout maps.

I'm looking forward to playing the rest. Thank you for the release Pipicz!

Screenshots: https://www.facebook.com/bloodstaindoom2

Which for whatever reason aren't in the OP at all. :confused:

skillsaw said:

...So far 'Mountain Outpost', 'Shimmering Grotto', and _especially_ 'Verdant' are standout maps...

Ribbiks said:

...14, 16, and 29/30 are my favorites thus far...

I'm quite surprised you like maps 11 and 14 this much. They are possibly my least favourite maps from the megawad - even to an extent that I was considering removing them from the pack as they don't fit there much and imho are just meh...
Well, looks like it's a good thing I didn't do so after all :-)

Well, well, well, yet another mod that got released this Christmas. And pretty awesome one, though I made it only to Map14 so far. I also noticed some problems while playing in Zdoom 2.8pre-1805 ov UV:

-Map06: five cacodemons didn't teleport into playable areas, because sector tagged 39 has misplaced destination thing.

-Map07: after I shot the final mastemind with SSG 2 or 3 times, it became stuck.

-Map11: projectiles disappear when shooting at archvile in sector 912 from west side of water (from sector 901 for example). This happens because they're "eaten" by F_SKY1 in some other sectors.

Caleb13 said:

-Map06: five cacodemons didn't teleport into playable areas, because sector tagged 39 has misplaced destination thing.

-Map07: after I shot the final mastemind with SSG 2 or 3 times, it became stuck.

-Map11: projectiles disappear when shooting at archvile in sector 912 from west side of water (from sector 901 for example). This happens because they're "eaten" by F_SKY1 in some other sectors.

Oh, that misplaced destination is quite an issue, I did some minor thing placement changes about three days before the release, this is a totally dumb thing to let slip through :-/ Well, I guess that there will be a need for a re-issue with fixes after some time, straight upload to /idgames was probably a little too hasty; for now I'm gonna watch out for other observations about stuff that needs fixing :-)

My strategy against the map07 spiderdemon (screenshot taken after many seconds of holding down fire):



It's not stuck, either. :)

I agree that the idgames upload was too hasty! There's some good stuff in the first seven levels, and my overall impression is positive, so I'll play on, but occasionally there is -- let's put it bluntly -- nonsense, the sort that wouldn't have survived a beta stage. :)

I just got through the first map...Wow! This is really freakin' good! :D
My only gripe is that there was a lack of ammo. But I think that's more just me being horrible at video games.

MAP04 is using an out-of-date version of my track "Battle Strategy" from Plutonia 2 - proper version is here. Minor nitpick maybe, but that was a bit surprising to hear, since the work-in-progress versions of my tracks for PL2 were never posted outside of the developer group. :P

Jimmy said:

MAP04 is using an out-of-date version of my track "Battle Strategy" from Plutonia 2 - proper version is here. Minor nitpick maybe, but that was a bit surprising to hear, since the work-in-progress versions of my tracks for PL2 were never posted outside of the developer group. :P

Ah, the developer group is probably the place where I got it; hope you don't mind much :-) Of course, I can replace it with the final version of the song if you wish :-)

roadworx said:

I just got through the first map...Wow! This is really freakin' good! :D
My only gripe is that there was a lack of ammo. But I think that's more just me being horrible at video games.

The ammo at UV is rather thin throughout the whole megawad, but it sure is enough. Sometimes it might just be wise to utilize the berserk :-)

Map04: It's possible to get the red key just by running up to the platform from the blue door. This probably wasn't intentional but figured I'd mention it. You should probably move it back some.

Some more things I noticed:

-Map20: there are HOMs if you fall into lava pits (sector 956) in the YK room and use lifts (sectors 620 and 897) to get out. Shouldn't be lava in sectors 331 etc. damaging? For some arcane reason, two "nazis" didn't teleport out from the easternmost part of sector 605 when I grabbed the soulsphere, even though all other monsters did. I noclipped there and it seems the barriers somehow got back up:

-Map25: not exactly a bug, but it is quite easy to fall from the red key moving platform with no way out. The door to the final arena is not MP-ready. Actually, now when I'm thinking about it, other maps probably suffer from similar MP-related issues, too.

bstainfo said:

[1.6 MIDI music]

There are no original MIDI tracks in Bloodstain, all tracks are col-
lected from various sources (origin of some is unknown or I don't
simply remember it, in that case I'm sorry; if you recognize any of
those tracks, please let me know):

So here's what I can help identify or precise (I prefer to also give title and author when possible, not just the source)

• Intermission - metadata says: "Who'll Be Your Double?." Player Select Theme Street Fighter ZERO 3 Sequenced by Tsu Ryu
  
• MAP01: apparently titled "Bondstyle" (metadata says "bondstyle (c) 2000 Jamie Robertson for plutonia 2 bgcsoftware.co.uk/jamie-robertson/")
  
• MAP02: you credit Dead Souls to Nine Inch Nails, but the metadata refer to Joy Division, so it looks like a transcription of the original rather than NIN's cover.
  
• MAP03: "Nothing So Cruel" by Mark Klem, from Memento Mori II
  
• MAP04: "Battle Strategy" by Jimmy (beta version)
  
• MAP06: "Rage" by Sonic Mayhem, sequenced by Jay Reichard
  
• MAP08: metadata says: "Sigma Fortress A" (Mega Man X) Original Score by Setsuo, Tomozou, Suto, Yuko, Kirry. Sequenced by Jarron Woodsorrel
  
• MAP09: it's from Project Doom, Jay Reichard's metal remixes of Doom's music. Metadata says: Human Barbecue (Remix) By Jay Reichard (silentzora@yahoo.com)
  
• MAP10: "Watz Next?" by Lee Jackson
  
• MAP11: "Night Run" by Stuart Rynn
  
• MAP12: Carmaggedon's CARMID03 (unused MIDI music found on the game CD)
  
• MAP13: "Jungle" by John Weekley
  
• MAP14: E1M1: The Docks theme by Kevin Schilder
  
• MAP15: "Dracoid Ruins Battle" from Lands of Lore 2, by David Arkenstone & Frank Klepacki
  
• MAP16: "Lost Soul" by Grave
  
• MAP17: "Midnight Call" by Mark Klem, from Memento Mori II
  
• MAP18: "Pressure Point" by Sonic Mayhem, MIDI by Jay Reichard
  
• MAP19: "MAP15: Last Resort" theme by Jeremy Doyle
  
• MAP22: "Somewhere Over the Horizon" by Mark Klem
  
• MAP23: metadata says: "Sams the man" (c) 2000 Jamie Robertson for Plutonia 2 bgcsoftware.co.uk/jamie-robertson/
  
• MAP24: "Death's Bells" (MAP04 theme)
  
• MAP25: "Dread" by Xaser
  
• MAP27: The Demons from Adrian's Pen (Remix) by Jay Reichard (silentzora@yahoo.com) (Project Doom again)
  
• MAP28: "Cavern" from Metal Gear Solid, MIDI by Jay Reichard
  
• MAP29: "The Temple of Judgement" by Grave
  
• MAP31: "Task Force" by Lee Jackson
  
• MAP32: "Phendrena Drifts" from Metroid Prime
  

Some more notes on the last maps:

-Map27: this map was a big ammo drain. By the time I grabbed the red key, I run completely out and had 2 cyberdemons and 1 archvile roaming around. And that happened even though I had 300 cells and 20 rockets from previous maps, found 3/4 secrets and telefragged cyberdemon in the easternmost alcove. Then I went back through yellow door in hopes of finding more ammo, but I became stuck - there is no way to open bars tagged 14 from the lava area.

-Map28: pain elemental (thing 354) was stuck. If the player drops into flesh pit (sector 542) for the second or third time, a HOM is visible. And there were Zdoom warings:

Unknown top texture 'ROCK16_R' on first side of linedef 963
Unknown top texture 'ROCK16_R' on first side of linedef 1040
Unknown top texture 'ROCK16_R' on first side of linedef 1049

-Map29: shouldn't the map name read "of fire..." instead of "ov fire..."? Anyway, the starting area was super-annoying experience. There wasn't enough ammo, so I had to lure afrits to infight most of sniper monsters around the lava, which took forever. And the ammo shortages didn't stop there, I completely run out several times. I had to hunt for secrets in cleared areas, but they usually didn't help much. This definitely needs more ammo, particularly near start.

Adding to Gez's list

MAP05: MIDI rendition of "Song 2" by Blur
MAP26: Theme tune to Halloween (1978 movie)

Gez, awesome job you've done there, thanks a lot! Will include it in the next version of the txt :-)

Regarding those errors, some I've fixed, some are intentional (e.g. pit under the RK platform in map25 - intention was to let player wait a bit there, if I put a teleport there, you wouldn't need the platform to lower or rise at all; "Ov" in map29's name is completely intentional too).
About ammo shortage in later maps - that was intentional too (and have tested the maps with pistol starts and coped with it quite well), but I agree that it can be a bit harsh sometimes; but I think I could put a few more boxes here and there.
And keep coming with your remarks, I'm glad you're mentioning anything you find suspicious or wrong :-)

Of course you've created the maps, so you know the optimal path to take. Map29 in particular is highly non-linear, so such problems can ensue if the player chooses a "bad" path. Well, it will be interesting to wait and see what will other players think. But I had no ammo problems until Map27 and Map29, even though I didn't use berserk as much as I could.

Only part way through so far, but looks good, feels good, having fun :)

Pipicz said:

Ah, the developer group is probably the place where I got it; hope you don't mind much :-) Of course, I can replace it with the final version of the song if you wish :-)

Yes please, I'd be grateful if you did. :>

Gez: MAP11's track is "Night Run" by Stuart Rynn, not "Starting Out". Also MAP03 is Mark Klem's "Nothing So Cruel" (found in Memento Mori II). MAP07 would seem to be a MIDI of Rammstein's "Du Hast".

Fixed.

MAP05, MAP07, MAP21, MAP30, title and readme are identified in bstainfo.txt already, the only thing that could be added is finding out the identity of the people who made the MIDI files.

MAP20 is from Dimensions of Time, which in turn credits it simply to "AOL" (since it's not from Commander Keen, Rise of the Triad, or TNT: Evilution).

i played this earlier today, and so far i'm liking it! :)