[RELEASED] Gridlock - A community project (maps aligned to the 64 units grid)

Great news Fractal! I was hoping this project was still active.

On 28.05.2017 at 5:03 PM, FractalXX said:

FractalXX

You disappeared for a long time, you might think that this project is closed. I collected during this time a lump in a playable form, but there may be some inaccuracies.

https://yadi.sk/d/yChORte93HBVCK

Alright, I was the one who applied for the 'job', also, I just made an account here, so to inform you about my progress and to get feedback from you later.

 

This will be my second published map, and the first to be made Boom-compatible. This will also be my first contribution to a greater project, there is a lot I'll ask after I'm done with the building of the map. For example, the music for it, but mostly the integration of said map into the megawad.

 

I kindly ask you to help with these matters.

3 hours ago, Xabika2202 said:

Alright, I was the one who applied for the 'job', also, I just made an account here, so to inform you about my progress and to get feedback from you later.

 

This will be my second published map, and the first to be made Boom-compatible. This will also be my first contribution to a greater project, there is a lot I'll ask after I'm done with the building of the map. For example, the music for it, but mostly the integration of said map into the megawad.

 

I kindly ask you to help with these matters.

You don't have to worry about the "integration" part. I'll do that.
What you'll have to care about:

- Use vanilla Doom2 textures, or the CC4-tex resource wad.

- Follow the grid restriction rule for vertexes (64 units, things don't matter, they can be on any grid)
- You may include your own music (in .midi or .MUS format of course) but if you don't want to, I'll pick one (I have several gigs of .midi files to choose from lol)

Since you'll be doing the secret map, you're free to choose any theme for it, there's no rule for it. It doesn't even have to be serious, but it should be a map of full value.
 

3 hours ago, BeeWen said:

https://yadi.sk/d/yChORte93HBVCK

Um... I apologize for being dumb, but what's that exactly? What do you mean you collected a lump in playable form?

 

Great news Fractal! I was hoping this project was still active.

I wouldn't ever abandon this project even if it lasted for several years. We're also near completion so we must not give up.

 

17 hours ago, FractalXX said:

 

Um... I apologize for being dumb, but what's that exactly? What do you mean you collected a lump in playable form?

 

levels 2,7,16 and 29 have error lines. Card 3 no the texture of the sky. 6 there is no tag on the sector, giving access to switch out. 1 and 28 extra texture.  In my version it is fixed.

 

 

4 hours ago, BeeWen said:

 

Oh, I see now.
Actually, MAP06 is mine and I updated it since then. Those bugs are fixed now.

I didn't know about the others but thanks for the fixes.

We'll need the approvement of the authors of these maps though.

19 hours ago, FractalXX said:

We'll need the approvement of the authors of these maps though.

I approve.

Good news: I'm already done with the map.

Funny thing is, I didn't want it to become a slaughtermap but it ended up being one anyway.

On 2017. 05. 30. at 4:54 PM, FractalXX said:

You don't have to worry about the "integration" part. I'll do that.
What you'll have to care about:

- Use vanilla Doom2 textures, or the CC4-tex resource wad.

- Follow the grid restriction rule for vertexes (64 units, things don't matter, they can be on any grid)
- You may include your own music (in .midi or .MUS format of course) but if you don't want to, I'll pick one (I have several gigs of .midi files to choose from lol)

Since you'll be doing the secret map, you're free to choose any theme for it, there's no rule for it. It doesn't even have to be serious, but it should be a map of full value.

Okay, then I'll leave the music up to your choosing.

Also, there's some weird stuff happening between ZDoom and PrBoom+:

With ZDoom, the map uses SKY1 as sky, which is ideal, but PrBoom+ uses SKY3. The map should use SKY1 as sky at all times. I mean, is it possible to do that in Boom?

When I was testing (with ZDoom), I spotted something odd: The normal exit also takes the player to MAP32, what's up with that? I made 2 separate exits, one of which is a secret exit, so I don't want that to happen. (...) Tested it with PrBoom+ as well, and there, it works as I wanted.

Anyway, here's the map: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2w9mu4xb2m5wa1v/map31 - Monochrome Mood.wad?dl=0

Edited June 1, 2017 by Xabika2202

On 2017. 06. 01. at 0:36 PM, Xabika2202 said:

Good news: I'm already done with the map.

Funny thing is, I didn't want it to become a slaughtermap but it ended up being one anyway.

Okay, then I'll leave the music up to your choosing.

Also, there's some weird stuff happening between ZDoom and PrBoom+:

With ZDoom, the map uses SKY1 as sky, which is ideal, but PrBoom+ uses SKY3. The map should use SKY1 as sky at all times. I mean, is it possible to do that in Boom?

When I was testing (with ZDoom), I spotted something odd: The normal exit also takes the player to MAP32, what's up with that? I made 2 separate exits, one of which is a secret exit, so I don't want that to happen. (...) Tested it with PrBoom+ as well, and there, it works as I wanted.

Anyway, here's the map: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2w9mu4xb2m5wa1v/map31 - Monochrome Mood.wad?dl=0

It's possible with the sky transfer line special.
Did you test it with the cc4-tex skies or the vanilla ones? I'm asking because the cc4 skies fit well for almost every theme.
I'll include the map in the next update as we still need to fix some bugs/have the others approve for the fixes by BeeWen.

17 hours ago, FractalXX said:

Did you test it with the cc4-tex skies or the vanilla ones? I'm asking because the cc4 skies fit well for almost every theme.

I tested it with cc4-tex, but to fit the nature of the map, I'd like it to be a white sky.

Nevermind, I used the skytransfer as you suggested.

Here's the updated version.

7 hours ago, Xabika2202 said:

I tested it with cc4-tex, but to fit the nature of the map, I'd like it to be a white sky.

Nevermind, I used the skytransfer as you suggested.

Here's the updated version.

Nice!
I included it in the wad.
Now we can test everything when I put up the next update.

We only need a CWILV for that map (Monochrome Mood - Xabika2202) and we're off to test.

16 hours ago, FractalXX said:

 

We only need a CWILV for that map (Monochrome Mood - Xabika2202) and we're off to test.

Map 31 CWILV ready.

https://yadi.sk/d/XgoxSYVB3Joc6L

I tested Monochrome Mood and I noticed that the sky texture "N_ICE01" is marked as an unknown texture. What texture pack does that sky texture come from? Below is a screenshot of the issue.

Ah it's nice to finally be able to end Phantasm lol.

 

Couple things I found weird in the new area:

- the grates from Heretic look out of place IMO - regular Doom2 grates would be just fine,

- the platform with the yellow keycard starts much higher than the sky's height, which is all the more noticeable with how long it takes for it to lower,

- the button to activate the platform was also a bit hard to find (good thing the area isn't too big). Some blinking light there too might help, I dunno.

Come to think of it, giving the key so close to the switch you use it on makes you wonder if the yellow switch or yellow key were necessary at all. :p

 

 

Other things I noticed in the WAD:

- Overgrowth's version is wrong. Link is on p.10. Also the sky texture never displayed correctly for me in that map with ZDoom.

- map 15 is missing a mapinfo secretnext = MAP31

- map 32 leads to map 02 instead of map 16

- map 11's mapinfo should be sky1 = "sky1" (currently sky2)

 

Also I'm not sure what should be the correct sky color for Crimson Castle. In the original wad it's cloudy/white, in the project wad it's night/blue, but given the map's name shouldn't it be hellish/red?

 

If you're willing to modify the map order a last time, 64 ways to die (27) is one of the easier hellish maps. It would fit better if it was moved up, I guess either just before or just after Blood Lake Penitentiary (I can't really tell which of the 2 is harder).

 

BladeRunner is actually fine at its current slot. It's slightly harder than Exit Wound and easier than Tower of Hope. Good job if it was done on purpose lol.

 

Additionally you might want to swap these too (I have no preference, just offering perspectives):

 

- Pillar64 (02) and Stiff (04)

PROS:

Stiff is much smaller and arguably easier

CONS:

Pillar64 is a higher quality map, having it earlier might be more motivating for players.

Stiff's song being Doom's E1M4, it's a cool nod to have it at 04.

 

- Trials of Iniquity (22) and Blood Cathedral (23)

PROS:

ToI is much larger

The following maps all happen to be long and hard, which would sort of split the hell levels in 2 sub parts—regular levels for warm up, followed by massive mazes of spam and frustration, with ToI between the turning point/gateway.

CONS:

Though much shorter, Blood Cathedral's huge difficulty spike at the end makes it arguably harder than ToI.

 

 

 

Latest maps reviews:

 

 

- 64 ways to die -

 

Only bad point IMO was the end part could have done without the cyberdemons. The fight was tedious and the area a little cramped to dodge, though I guess being trapped in corridors was the point. The spiderdemon didn't have much use either.

Rest was great. I really liked how consistent it was all around—medium size and difficulty, variety in the areas in looks and gameplay while each retaining the same size, diffculty and detail level (though the final part looked a bit poorer). I also liked how the hell theme was used in a clean and stylish kind of way rather than chaotic/horror.

 

I noticed a couple vertex mistakes:

- https://i.gyazo.com/10e666c00637ade0c960db0e6e193825.png not symmetrical with the others

- https://i.gyazo.com/0812d1f486f459aab7dcf27420a6c403.png not on the grid :(

 

 

- Bladerunner -

 

Got a mixed opinion on that one, because it's so long and so different as you progress.

Simply speaking the gameplay is divided in 2 parts:

- The beginning is following a single direction, mostly 64px corridors with hard monsters and barely any items.

Any time you find ammo you use all in the next fight and have to berserk a lot.

Like Exit Wound lots of areas felt downright cruel, overwhelming you with monsters and forcing you to retreat to try taking them 1 by 1.

No freedom + no ammo. It was exhausting to the point that for my 2nd playthrough I immediately went IDDQD.

- And then, at around 1/3rd of the map, you get to the large room with the 3 keys (which aren't used, weird) and the gameplay changes drastically, for the better.

Things start to open up (literally!), you can start choosing where to go, most fights get easier, and you start collecting ammo. The secrets are also interesting to hunt.

Personally I would have started the map there and removed everything before. :/ I'm not asking for this though lol.

 

And there's an entire optional last 3rd of the map, which is like a separate map (notably with its different theme) and was my favorite part. Lots of freedom!

I'm not sure why it was there but it was really cool.

 

Finally, because you have a lot of decoration with faces, I found it difficult to know what was a switch and what wasn't. Like here it really looks like decoration, and when you walk around the area it's not obvious that it's the objective.

Same here. It's not so bad since it's a secret but the map has multiple red blocks with faces like this and only this one reacts, so finding this one is hard.

 

 

- Monochrome Mood -

 

I like the greyness (but I'm a sucker for tech anyway), and the angular architecture (same thing). :)

The concept is simple but I guess it's fitting for a secret/bonus map.

I also find it funny that the green areas are all linked to the secret exit and that level happens to be all green. Was it on purpose? :D

 

The difficulty was okay, though the majority of monsters kill each other before you even see them, making the placement a bit weird.

I see no point in closing the 3 gates since there's no way you can survive inside the rooms before clearing them.

I liked the blocked archvile that greets you at the entrance of the blue area. Had several reloads there before I could escape fast enough.

The yellow area had the most interesting fight, forcing you to move around to avoid getting cornered. However I had trouble finding what to do to exit it. At first I IDCLIP'd out thinking I had to play blue and red first for yellow's exit to be open, but on the second try I saw I didn't complete the sequence of walking on the 3 squares. The last one is obvious but the first 2 not so much if you don't notice the first opens the second.

 

The secrets are fun but understanding what they do is confusing. First I don't think you need to hide the switch room from the automap. Showing the switch but placing it out of reach at first might help the players to understand this is what they're after.

 

There's a misaligned vertex here. Only saw it because of the visual glitch it causes in game.

Edited June 5, 2017 by Cyberia-Mix

15 hours ago, mArt1And00m3r11339 said:

I tested Monochrome Mood and I noticed that the sky texture "N_ICE01" is marked as an unknown texture. What texture pack does that sky texture come from? Below is a screenshot of the issue.

This texture I also found in cc4-tex.wad, though it's not a regular sky texture, it worked just fine for me. Weird.

8 hours ago, Cyberia-Mix said:

- Monochrome Mood -

 

I like the greyness (but I'm a sucker for tech anyway), and the angular architecture (same thing). :)

The concept is simple but I guess it's fitting for a secret/bonus map.

I also find it funny that the green areas are all linked to the secret exit and that level happens to be all green. Was it on purpose? :D

 

The difficulty was okay, though the majority of monsters kill each other before you even see them, making the placement a bit weird.

I see no point in closing the 3 gates since there's no way you can survive inside the rooms before clearing them.

I liked the blocked archvile that greets you at the entrance of the blue area. Had several reloads there before I could escape fast enough.

The yellow area had the most interesting fight, forcing you to move around to avoid getting cornered. However I had trouble finding what to do to exit it. At first I IDCLIP'd out thinking I had to play blue and red first for yellow's exit to be open, but on the second try I saw I didn't complete the sequence of walking on the 3 squares. The last one is obvious but the first 2 not so much if you don't notice the first opens the second.

 

The secrets are fun but understanding what they do is confusing. First I don't think you need to hide the switch room from the automap. Showing the switch but placing it out of reach at first might help the players to understand this is what they're after.

 

There's a misaligned vertex here. Only saw it because of the visual glitch it causes in game.

Yes, the green secrets are on purpose :)

The major monster infighting was also intended, tha idea behind that is if someone wants to speedrun the map, they're going to have to put up a real fight. On the other hand, taking your time makes everything much easier.

Well, I apologize because of those "pressure plates", I don't know how to make them more obvious to step on. If somebody could help with this case, I'd appreciate it.

About the hidden secret area, I think the 2 walls that needs to be lowered first are easy to find (since automap doesn't hide them and they're directly activated) so they offer no reward, but there should be some difficulty finding the secret exit, which I think one can put the pieces together only when seeing the exits (the white and green telepads), so they may want to backtrack.

I fixed the misaligned vertex right away. Thanks for the heads-up.

In the yellow area, the medkit placement was my mistake, they're supposed to be in the middle of the lowering platforms, that is also fixed.

+ varied a little bit on the green area between the blue and yellow areas.

link

Edited June 5, 2017 by Xabika2202

If you make a pressure plate lower when stepped on, it would be a strong clue that it does something.

16 hours ago, Xabika2202 said:

Yes, the green secrets are on purpose :)

Neat idea to make that continuity then. :D

 

Players are more likely to step on the pressure plates if you put some item on them that they can always pick up, like backpacks. Light effects also help.

 

Quote

+ varied a little bit on the green area between the blue and yellow areas.

It does seem a bit better but either way I don't think there's much you can do with the 64u rule in such a small space to make it clear that players don't need to come to the middle from both sides. A switch would be best for that I guess, activated through grates or by shooting, but you would need a larger room first. Not a big issue anyway.

 

Quote

About the hidden secret area, I think the 2 walls that needs to be lowered first are easy to find (since automap doesn't hide them and they're directly activated) so they offer no reward, but there should be some difficulty finding the secret exit, which I think one can put the pieces together only when seeing the exits (the white and green telepads), so they may want to backtrack.

Yeah I agree with your thinking. It's just the final part that I find unreasonable, that players have no hint to find what they unlocked, and nothing catches attention to that place. There's no particular reason to think it lies in the BFG room that you may or may not have visited previously, or even to expect that you're looking for a hidden room and not something that opened recently. You could revisit the whole map and miss it.

Thankfully the map isn't that big and the switch not that badly hidden. Not finding the BFG before is actually helpful lol.

But even then, my stance is secrets need to be easy simply because players are accustomed to badly designed secrets in custom maps and expect BS by default, so they have no patience. It takes a damn good map to gain their trust and make them willing to be in your care. And I do think easy secrets help achieving that anyway.

Still, it's just my own view on the matter.

 

 

Thanks for the notification Cyberia-Mix.

I've fixed the problems you mentioned.

Sadly, I don't think I'd change the map order any further. :(
It's a really tedious work and last time I did this, a lot of bugs emerged from that. Also, I think the current order is good as it is.
I updated every map to their current version, hopefully.

We're working on some graphics (new title, intermission, HUD, etc.) and hopefully it will be done soon.
I'll upload the next update during the week if those things will be completed.

Edit: Another thing: I guess we should make up a "real" name for the project. Any ideas?

Edited June 6, 2017 by FractalXX

Sorry i've forgot to post for so long but I have to tag out, I see I've been marked as missing. I honestly don't have the drive to finish this level. Sorry about that

On 6/6/2017 at 6:47 AM, FractalXX said:

Edit: Another thing: I guess we should make up a "real" name for the project. Any ideas?

Some ideas:

• Grid64
• 64by64
• Vertex64
• Gridlock
• Aligned64
• 64Units

On 2017. 06. 09. at 9:36 PM, Nevander said:

Some ideas:

• Grid64
• 64by64
• Vertex64
• Gridlock
• Aligned64
• 64Units

For me, Gridlock seems the best.
Here's an M_DOOM graphic for it:

Also in the OP and updated the topic with the new name.

 

On 2017. 06. 09. at 9:19 PM, NoahMLG said:

Sorry i've forgot to post for so long but I have to tag out, I see I've been marked as missing. I honestly don't have the drive to finish this level. Sorry about that

No problem.

Edited June 11, 2017 by FractalXX

Holy shit, this is still a thing... (After me being gone for an entire school year...)

 

Kinda surprised it's not finished yet... or dead...

40 minutes ago, Royal_Sir said:

Holy shit, this is still a thing... (After me being gone for an entire school year...)

 

Kinda surprised it's not finished yet... or dead...

Of course it's not dead.
We're doing the last works right now.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3zy8tldi6w6b31f/Retrofitv6.wad?dl=0

 

Went through the thread. There was a complaint of a rogue vertex not on the 64 grid.

 

-Fixed rogue vertex

-Optimized NW outside area by deleting the back sectors that served as walls

-Added decoration in the Red Key area.

22 hours ago, Royal_Sir said:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3zy8tldi6w6b31f/Retrofitv6.wad?dl=0

 

Went through the thread. There was a complaint of a rogue vertex not on the 64 grid.

Ah that's nice. Now as far as I can tell there are only 3 maps left with not so gridlocked vertices: The Lost Tower, Through and Around, and 64 Ways to Die (maybe more).

Would be nice to have all of them in order for the project to live up to its name. :p

Some tool to check vertices coordinates would be handy but I have no idea if it exists or can be made.

On 2017. 06. 13. at 3:18 AM, Royal_Sir said:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3zy8tldi6w6b31f/Retrofitv6.wad?dl=0

 

Went through the thread. There was a complaint of a rogue vertex not on the 64 grid.

 

-Fixed rogue vertex

-Optimized NW outside area by deleting the back sectors that served as walls

-Added decoration in the Red Key area.

Thanks! Will be included in the next update.

 

16 hours ago, Cyberia-Mix said:

Ah that's nice. Now as far as I can tell there are only 3 maps left with not so gridlocked vertices: The Lost Tower, Through and Around, and 64 Ways to Die (maybe more).

Would be nice to have all of them in order for the project to live up to its name. :p

Some tool to check vertices coordinates would be handy but I have no idea if it exists or can be made.

The author's will have to fix them. If someone goes missing or won't have time, I may fix them later.

19 hours ago, Cyberia-Mix said:

Ah that's nice. Now as far as I can tell there are only 3 maps left with not so gridlocked vertices: The Lost Tower, Through and Around, and 64 Ways to Die (maybe more).

Would be nice to have all of them in order for the project to live up to its name. :p

Some tool to check vertices coordinates would be handy but I have no idea if it exists or can be made.

May I see exactly where I missed having gridlock in my map (Through and Around)?

New HUD and other graphics are coming in V3.

 

3 hours ago, Soldier993 said:

May I see exactly where I missed having gridlock in my map (Through and Around)?

https://i.gyazo.com/18f387af344b3407de5df8078398dd06.png

In the meantime, V3 is out.

It's only testing now (hopefully) + fixing rogue vertices.

Edited June 14, 2017 by FractalXX