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Paul977

The Cursed Temple (map)

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This is a vanilla compatible level mostly inspired by Memento Mori (particulary map 07 and 28) plus some other more recent wads I've played. This level has been tested with GZDoom 2.1.1, PrBoom+-2.5.1.4 and ZDoom 2.8.1. About skill levels:
Skill 4: generally a 'normal' map with 3-4 difficult situations
Skill 3: normal map with one difficult situation
Skill 1-2: easy.
I used some textures from Memento Mori for which I thank the MM team aswell as I thank Mark Klem for permission to use one of his songs - Night Bats - .
Bugs: some minor misaligned textures are possible.

Screens:







DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/download/0v92d508hapbia8/CursedTemple.wad

I appreciate feedbacks and bugs report, thanks!

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Dang, this was a really fun level. It almost makes me want to celebrate Jens Nielsen getting back into mapping or something.

I only have a few gripes about it: first of all the midi comes in a rather strange format that PrBoom didn't recognize, so I had to play the level in ZDoom for it to play. Since it's Memento Mori's MAP07 music it'd be better just to copy that over to this WAD so it works nicely in any port of choice.

The other part is in a couple of places in the map I came dangerously low on ammo and even ran out of ammo in one area, namely the area in sector 834. I had to punch the remaining revenants little by little since I couldn't find any chainsaw or berserk pack in the map. I left the level with %33 secrets so I'm uncertain if there were any located in the map. I think it would be nice to have either one of those in the map somewhere, or maybe just cram some shotgun shells in the closets that contain the cacodemons/pain elementals there.

The other area I struggled in was in the blue key area - the arch-vile kept resurrecting the toughest monsters so I was quickly running out of ammo, but I managed to survive it with barely enough left over. Might be nice to have some fallback area open up with some additional ammo or something along those lines to help compensate for when that happens.

The only other minor thing is that door - sector 682. There was hardly any hint that it was a door, and I only happened upon it when I checked the map and saw that there was possibly a door there. I think it could use a bit more of a hint - namely the WOOD7 texture since it has those cuts in it or something along those lines.

Overall, I really, really enjoyed this level and was certainly impressed with it. The amount of interconnecting halls/secrets/doorways/lifts really brings to mind Nielsen's peculiarities and how much fun it is to explore all the little nooks/crannies for more goodies. Great work on this.

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Hey valkiriforce! Thanks for playing, glad you liked this map :)

valkiriforce said:

I only have a few gripes about it: first of all the midi comes in a rather strange format that PrBoom didn't recognize, so I had to play the level in ZDoom for it to play. Since it's Memento Mori's MAP07 music it'd be better just to copy that over to this WAD so it works nicely in any port of choice.


Yes the music format is an mp3 converted from a youtube video (with bitrate reduced). I used that because it's more loud that the one in the mmmus file. I have no problem using the latest Prboom version, but if in some ports it does not work I use the file from mmmus.

valkiriforce said:

The other part is in a couple of places in the map I came dangerously low on ammo and even ran out of ammo in one area, namely the area in sector 834. I had to punch the remaining revenants little by little since I couldn't find any chainsaw or berserk pack in the map. I left the level with %33 secrets so I'm uncertain if there were any located in the map. I think it would be nice to have either one of those in the map somewhere, or maybe just cram some shotgun shells in the closets that contain the cacodemons/pain elementals there.


There is a secret "ammo cache" near that area not easy to find. I usually have a lot of bullets without using that secret but yes, there is a shortage of sg shells in that area. I'll adjust the ammo a bit for that room.

valkiriforce said:

The other area I struggled in was in the blue key area - the arch-vile kept resurrecting the toughest monsters so I was quickly running out of ammo, but I managed to survive it with barely enough left over. Might be nice to have some fallback area open up with some additional ammo or something along those lines to help compensate for when that happens.


BK area is a bitch zone I admit^ it is easy to die there the first times to be honest, happen to me a lot too. Basically I wanted to make an area for challenge myself.. But, there is a way to get out without major problems :P

valkiriforce said:

The only other minor thing is that door - sector 682. There was hardly any hint that it was a door, and I only happened upon it when I checked the map and saw that there was possibly a door there. I think it could use a bit more of a hint - namely the WOOD7 texture since it has those cuts in it or something along those lines.


Yeah that area is intended to be a little puzzle in the map. I used WOOD9 in contrast to the WOOD6 but the darkness there can confuse a little I suppose.

Anyway thanks fot the advice valk, there is something to look over :)

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Really cool level. I loved how you keep to gain access to new areas and how the map changes, and the progression was nice too. I agree with Valkiriforce about the blue key room, the ammo seems quite strict but I was more lucky than him as the arch-vile didn't resurrect anything. I only think that the switches in the sectors 523 and 524 could be moved a bit to be more evident, I noticed only 1 of the 2 switches and I had to use the editor to see where to go. Maybe the blue skulls that mark the door could be lighten up a bit, but at that point it's the only place that remained unexplored so it isn't necessary.
Great job overall.

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gaspe said:

Really cool level. I loved how you keep to gain access to new areas and how the map changes, and the progression was nice too. I agree with Valkiriforce about the blue key room, the ammo seems quite strict but I was more lucky than him as the arch-vile didn't resurrect anything. I only think that the switches in the sectors 523 and 524 could be moved a bit to be more evident, I noticed only 1 of the 2 switches and I had to use the editor to see where to go. Maybe the blue skulls that mark the door could be lighten up a bit, but at that point it's the only place that remained unexplored so it isn't necessary.
Great job overall.


Hey Gaspe thanks for playing, glad you liked and thanks for the input :)
Yes the Bk zone is a bit unfriendly: a good strategy is to wait some seconds for the monsters to enter in the room then rush the arch-vile with the PR.
To be honest I thought the last room would have been the hardest area but seems you both didn't got problem there, good^

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I left some quick PM notes but I'll be back! The map deserves comments.

I'm not such a big fan of Nielsen, but I liked your map nonetheless. Had same problems as valkiriforce in the same spot with ammo (on skill 4). I liked the toughness of the map.

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I don't like the unmarked exit. I know J.Nielsen did that, and I expected the switch behind the arch-vile to be the exit, but I still think it's "bad design" with no redeeming factors such as "old-school".

About ammo, it's no longer a big problem once I discovered a not-so secret box of shells (there was an arrow pointing at it). Berserk would break a bit this careful medikit placement balance, I believe, so either don't change anything or add some shells/bullets maybe?

And I think my comments don't reflect I'm very enthusiastic about the map :)

A quick UV Max demo

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vdgg said:

I don't like the unmarked exit. I know J.Nielsen did that, and I expected the switch behind the arch-vile to be the exit, but I still think it's "bad design" with no redeeming factors such as "old-school".

About ammo, it's no longer a big problem once I discovered a not-so secret box of shells (there was an arrow pointing at it). Berserk would break a bit this careful medikit placement balance, I believe, so either don't change anything or add some shells/bullets maybe?

And I think my comments don't reflect I'm very enthusiastic about the map :)

A quick UV Max demo


Great demo vdgg!! I like how you beated the blue key area and the final area! Also good time, I beat this map in like 15:xx-16:xx^^ and always need the megasphere before the last battle.
Yes the berzerk is not intended to be used in this level and I'll add some shells on the cacos/pes cave.
I will probably also change the position of the 2 switch near the first soulsphere to make them more visibles.
Thanks for the demo and the for input :)

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Paul977 said:

I will probably also change the position of the 2 switch near the first soulsphere to make them more visibles.


I think that it's also possible to have only 1 switch there and keep all the effects working.

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