Confinement Community Project. (Project Released!) (Boom Compatible!)

Looking for full feedback now if possible: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7-33qvLZBHXM3BXTC16NDU0S2c (link updated after Big Ol Billy's feedback below)

Title: Urbanismo

Author: 7Soul

Format: Boom

(playable area within 1024 square)

I'm interested! I'll see what I can do..

Gameplay is pretty pleasant and I like the overall aesthetic. Nice use of verticality and outside-the-play-area work to sell the environment. My biggest complain is that the ending didn't feel like an ending—I was actually pretty surprised when I flipped the last switch and the level ended. An exit sign would help, of course, but I think you should think about how you could use gameplay and visuals to tell the player that they've reached the final battle. Only other real quibble is that the two secrets rely on the same mechanism (although I do love a tiny slider hunt). 

There are quite a few small visual details that together could help the map really coalesce. Basically, make sure textures are aligned and decide exactly how you want certain textures to work together. Maybe you haven't gotten to the visual polishing phase yet, so feel free to ignore the following comments. :P But since I'm pedantic and have them fresh in my mind here are the specific issues I noted:

2 hours ago, leodoom85 said:

@Big Ol Billy

• This is surprisingly a hard map that relies on speed and heavy infighting. It took me a third try to clear it properly.
• If you don't know what to do, you'll die a LOT.
• Kill all of the monsters that are protecting the switches and you're done. GOTTA GO FAST!!!
• Fortunately, you put a invul sphere for the exit and I appreciate that after all of the madness that's happening in the map and of course, for the cyberdemon aiming at you...
• Overall, it's a map with a chaotic and faster gameplay. It's really hard to get 100%, probably that the gameplay was designed to be like that and you can't enjoy the map properly.

Thanks for the comments Leo. Overall, sounds like I achieved what I set out to do, though I'm not sure that was a good thing :P But yes, it's very much a Swift Death-inspired map where you have to learn by dying a couple of times (three tries to clear sounds perfect for what I was imagining). Are there any things that could be conveyed more clearly? One thought I had this morning was to move the Quake-style switches so the player's facing west when he/she uses them, and thus it's immediately clear that they lower the yellow key/invul sphere/zerk. Small change but it might smooth the progression out a bit.

40 minutes ago, Big Ol Billy said:

 

Thanks for the comments Leo. Overall, sounds like I achieved what I set out to do, though I'm not sure that was a good thing :P But yes, it's very much a Swift Death-inspired map where you have to learn by dying a couple of times (three tries to clear sounds perfect for what I was imagining). Are there any things that could be conveyed more clearly? One thought I had this morning was to move the Quake-style switches so the player's facing west when he/she uses them, and thus it's immediately clear that they lower the yellow key/invul sphere/zerk. Small change but it might smooth the progression out a bit.

I think that's fine the way it is. That's because if the player has enough ammo for the previous map, it should be fine to clear the map with no problem. However, pistol-start gameplay is another story. That is, if pistol-start is used for every level...

Map is technically "done", just needs polish. Put it in whatever slot you wish; anybody is free to modify/copy/touchup/use as a base
HOMS are delibrate; but they need to be tweaked to be less garrish.

Hi! Can i join? if so, i would like to test maps also. Thanks

2 hours ago, Big Ol Billy said:

Gameplay is pretty pleasant and I like the overall aesthetic. Nice use of verticality and outside-the-play-area work to sell the environment. My biggest complain is that the ending didn't feel like an ending—I was actually pretty surprised when I flipped the last switch and the level ended. An exit sign would help, of course, but I think you should think about how you could use gameplay and visuals to tell the player that they've reached the final battle. Only other real quibble is that the two secrets rely on the same mechanism (although I do love a tiny slider hunt). 

 

There are quite a few small visual details that together could help the map really coalesce. Basically, make sure textures are aligned and decide exactly how you want certain textures to work together. Maybe you haven't gotten to the visual polishing phase yet, so feel free to ignore the following comments. :P But since I'm pedantic and have them fresh in my mind here are the specific issues I noted:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

When these doors close the texture gets misaligned (at least on GzDoom 2.3.2). You might have something weird going on with floor/ceiling heights. Moreover, this tech-y door seems out of character with the wood and brick aesthetics of the map.

 

 

Why is this switch sitting on the floor? I don't really see why you shouldn't put it standard chest-level, inset into the wall.

 

 

The SHAWN-y floor texture of this lift is totally out of character with the metal side texture. Door tracks on the lift itself seem like a needlessly fiddly as well, though I'm fine with the ones on wall (personal preference, admittedly).

 

 

 

Align those textures! Also beware of the cartoony WOODVERT, which (sorry id) is totally out of character with most of the other wood textures and is a terrible eyesore IMHO. CC4tex has lots of great wood textures, so mine those for the variants you feel you need!

 

 

I'm not crazy about the PANEL textures, which seem a bit posh for the earthy brick/stone/wood thing you've got going on and which has the makings of something strong. But if you're going to use them be careful about separating them cleanly from the other textures. This sudden change from panel to wood is really an eyesore (also alignment issues above and especially below the skull switch). 

 

Decide what you want the ceiling for this kind of brick structure to be and stick with it unless there's a meaningful reason to deviate. Here we have a wood ceiling (completely different kind of material) and an orange rock ceiling (different color, arguably different kind of material), neither of which seem great to me. 

 

 

4 vents should be enough for anybody :P

 

 

Thank you for the feedback, I updated the link above in case anyone wants to try it

did initial stuff for hell map
below link contains most recent version of contribution.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oil32g0dauzqdoi/Skycrack.wad?dl=0

3 hours ago, SArais said:

Map is technically "done", just needs polish. Put it in whatever slot you wish; anybody is free to modify/copy/touchup/use as a base
HOMS are delibrate; but they need to be tweaked to be less garrish.

Pretty cool, fairly tough too! Those chaingunners did me in an embarrassing number of times. The multiple sky effects are really cool, combined with the red/blue torches, jagged shapes, etc. Not something I've seen before.

The 'zerk got me through it in the end, but a touch more health might be welcome. I liked going through the wires in the dark to find the blue key switch, but I feel like there should have been a few more enemies left to fight. Took a while to figure out I had to blow up the barrels to kill Romero—maybe there's a way to kill two birds with one stone and have the last enemies emphasize where you need to look to end the level. Otherwise maybe there's something visual that could be done to convey the significance of that area. Overall pretty memorable, especially visually.

41 minutes ago, Big Ol Billy said:

 

Pretty cool, fairly tough too! Those chaingunners did me in an embarrassing number of times. The multiple sky effects are really cool, combined with the red/blue torches, jagged shapes, etc. Not something I've seen before.

 

The 'zerk got me through it in the end, but a touch more health might be welcome. I liked going through the wires in the dark to find the blue key switch, but I feel like there should have been a few more enemies left to fight. Took a while to figure out I had to blow up the barrels to kill Romero—maybe there's a way to kill two birds with one stone and have the last enemies emphasize where you need to look to end the level. Otherwise maybe there's something visual that could be done to convey the significance of that area. Overall pretty memorable, especially visually.

 

I added some more stimpacks and a couple of lost souls+pain ele at the end. A slight bit more bullet ammo has been added to compensate.

@SArais

• I liked your map. It gives a surreal feel to it.
• The berserk was all I needed for the rest of the map, though some players can use the berserk as a strategic pickup for health.
• The gameplay was fine at least. Not much monsters used which can be a nice rest after some tough maps...probably.
• This.........just wow. It gives an impresion of three skies. Awesome stuff!!!

Boom! Done. First version atleast..

No difficulty settings yet and some polishing is needed, but I would like to get feedback. It is kinda mega version of those classic train maps with a twist. Playable area is 2048x1024. 

Download : Flying Thing

Screens:

Cool map @muumi. I didn't actually know stuff like this was possible with Boom. The take-off sequence and the anticipation that comes with it makes this a memorable variation on the "fight your way to the front of the train" style map. A few comments:

• Unless you mean for it to be a secret, I would make the first shotgun more apparent. My first playthrough I didn't see it until the plane had taken off and it was out of reach (especially cruel that you can see it being left behind as the plane takes off, though it's kind of dramatic when that happens OTOH). That stung when I met a swift demise moments later.
• Some good prioritzation challenges, especially in the opening fight. One quibble that may be a matter of personal taste: unless there's a really specific gameplay reason or visual effect you're going for, I don't really get teleporting monsters in without a teleport flash (that is the mechanism by which they're suddenly appearing at the beginning, right?). It might add just a hair of extra surprise, but it hardly seems worth it in most cases. Doom is abstract, admittedly, but it breaks the specific kind of immersion Doom gives me when a monster just suddenly appears. A teleport flash is one thing—perfectly justified in-game—but sudden monsters just scream I, THE MAP DESIGNER AM PUTTING THIS ENEMY HERE. To me it only works when the level is *really* "authorial," i.e. very much about the cat-and-mouse game between the player's moves and the mapper's attempts to anticipate the player's reaction and fuck him/her over, with basically no pretense of realism or immersion. I think given that you're aiming for a degree of realism beyond most Doom levels the insta-teleport is kind of out of character and a bit cheap. That said, there may be something I don't get about this technique—there are tons of wads I otherwise highly respect as pieces of design that do this.
• Getting that secret BFG and blasting the cyberdemon for 100% kills was so satisfying! Pretty nerve-racking, too, as I was totally out of ammo. I think that speaks well of the level's overall ammo/monster balance, especially since I didn't find the other secret until everything was over.
• Cool little setup with the pinkies and PEs behind the door you open up with the switch. Stay secure in the switch area and you're protected from the pinkies but the PEs will spam lost souls / come out and face the pinkies in a tight space but stay out of the PEs' sight.
• I didn't get what the little model on the table was supposed to be...

Probably could be polished a little more visually, but I think this is a cool entry!

some of the hell map coming together

Thanks for feedback.

10 hours ago, Big Ol Billy said:

• Unless you mean for it to be a secret, I would make the first shotgun more apparent. My first playthrough I didn't see it until the plane had taken off and it was out of reach (especially cruel that you can see it being left behind as the plane takes off, though it's kind of dramatic when that happens OTOH). That stung when I met a swift demise moments later.

 

Yeah, shotgun is not supposed to be secret, Ill make it more visible.

Quote

• Some good prioritzation challenges, especially in the opening fight. One quibble that may be a matter of personal taste: unless there's a really specific gameplay reason or visual effect you're going for, I don't really get teleporting monsters in without a teleport flash (that is the mechanism by which they're suddenly appearing at the beginning, right?). It might add just a hair of extra surprise, but it hardly seems worth it in most cases. Doom is abstract, admittedly, but it breaks the specific kind of immersion Doom gives me when a monster just suddenly appears. A teleport flash is one thing—perfectly justified in-game—but sudden monsters just scream I, THE MAP DESIGNER AM PUTTING THIS ENEMY HERE. To me it only works when the level is *really* "authorial," i.e. very much about the cat-and-mouse game between the player's moves and the mapper's attempts to anticipate the player's reaction and fuck him/her over, with basically no pretense of realism or immersion. I think given that you're aiming for a degree of realism beyond most Doom levels the insta-teleport is kind of out of character and a bit cheap. That said, there may be something I don't get about this technique—there are tons of wads I otherwise highly respect as pieces of design that do this.

At the beginning the monsters are just jumping out from invisible pits. That is actually because I was too lazy to make teleport hatches for all of them. :) I agree, teleport flash would be better. I will make atleast the nearest enemies teleport in next version. Ill probably change the archvile and its chaingunner friends in table room to teleport too.

Quote

• Getting that secret BFG and blasting the cyberdemon for 100% kills was so satisfying! Pretty nerve-racking, too, as I was totally out of ammo. I think that speaks well of the level's overall ammo/monster balance, especially since I didn't find the other secret until everything was over.

Nice to hear that the secret was some use! When I tested i managed to down the cybie with just infighting and my remaining shells, so I was thinking if the secret that late in map was bit pointless.

Quote

• I didn't get what the little model on the table was supposed to be...

I apologise for being absent for a few days on this thread. I will be going through the pages over the next day and compiling all of the maps currently done or in progress to the main thread. Apologies all.

Sign me in.

Work continues; I need to fix this door as it tends to HOM

I am going to get started with my map over the next few days. Should be fun to whip up something small.

The maps i'm seeing so far look amazing. I need to start my own, since its apparently bad taste for the creator of a project to not add a map XD Ill be updating the main thread later today with all the new authors that have signed up, as well as the currently done maps. If Someone has completed a map, please let me know if theres a name you would like it to go under.

7 minutes ago, Phade102 said:

The maps i'm seeing so far look amazing. I need to start my own, since its apparently bad taste for the creator of a project to not add a map XD Ill be updating the main thread later today with all the new authors that have signed up, as well as the currently done maps. If Someone has completed a map, please let me know if theres a name you would like it to go under.

I was trying to think of a good name for the first one I submitted and the like; however simply settled on "skycrack"- It's technically just me fiddling around with what i did in some of my other maps; especially "anomalous properties"

Still thinking about a name for the hell map, will consider when it's done.

I have officially  finished my map:

MAP23 - Mysteries O' Fun

Completely vanilla, all original textures

One hell of a challenge >;)

you can download it here: 

https://www.mediafire.com/file/g82lgm7g8tesuxv/Mysteries_O'_Fun.WAD_-_CzechMate29200.zip

plz leave me all your opinions and suggestions :)

Really dumb map (harsh, but I see no point in sugarcoating it). The random instadeath traps (I got to two before I decided to stop) make it not worth playing. The actual combat is easy, yet too grindy for redoing a lot to be fun, so I'd say this is a bad way of creating 'challenge'. Feels like a trollmap. Here's a demonstration of those in -nomonsters, mostly as support for my characterization of it. 

11 minutes ago, rdwpa said:

Really dumb map (harsh, but I see no point in sugarcoating it). The random instadeath traps (I got to two before I decided to stop) make it not worth playing. The actual combat is easy, yet too grindy for redoing a lot to be fun, so I'd say this is a bad way of creating 'challenge'. Feels like a trollmap. Here's a demonstration of those in -nomonsters, mostly as support for my characterization of it.

 

Thank you Rdwpa for the video.

@rdwpa Shit! well thank you for the opinion, really sorry it sucked :( keep in mind though that this is my first map, and making a compact map is waayyyy harder than I thought.

and they arent instadeth traps, I developed strategies to easily get around these on UV. I exited the first trap with 200% health once on UV. try playing around with the fake walls in nomonsters. 

and what did you mean by grindy and trollmap? I didn't understand that

again, really sorry

3 minutes ago, CzechMate29200 said:

@rdwpa Shit! well thank you for the opinion, really sorry it sucked :( keep in mind though that this is my first map, and making a compact map is waayyyy harder than I thought.

 

and they arent instadeth traps, I developed strategies to easily get around these on UV. I exited the first trap with 200% health once on UV. try playing around with the fake walls in nomonsters. 

 

and what did you mean by grindy and trollmap? I didn't understand that

 

again, really sorry

 

Check my private message to you, Czech. Work on the map, take the advice you've been given and work on that.

I tried draw map, but conception sucked, so I'll draw another map and post progress here. These days, I don't have strong creativity and motivation to do something wow and awesome(mapper's block caught me like a black hole)

2 minutes ago, MysteriousHaruko said:

I tried draw map, but conception sucked

try to generate a "schematic" from Dave's mapper and work your magic from it. that's what I did on this project lol

Kewl, pencil me in.