Disciples of darkness (updated final, on /idgames )

looks awesome!

Played few moments ago and it's a pretty hard and awesome short mapset, i don't find any groundbreaking bug expect maybe there's too much archviles in the dark cave at northeeast section of map02

15 hours ago, walter confalonieri said:

looks awesome!

Played few moments ago and it's a pretty hard and awesome short mapset, i don't find any groundbreaking bug expect maybe there's too much archviles in the dark cave at northeeast section of map02

Thanks for play walter :) Yes that part is rather tricky I know. I tuned down that encounter during the playtesting on UV because even I couldn't consistently beat it :/

Hello. Here are some whatev maxes for your wad:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zcjjk1o6fscp87t/Disciples Of Darkness.zip?dl=0

The only problem I have with this wad is that it is only two maps. I really really REALLY enjoyed these maps. Looking forwards to more stuff from you.

Prolly reality/max map02 if it is ever released.

Thanks for making these maps.

Edit:

There is a poor PE in a closet at the back of that pillar room in map01. It never had a chance to really do anything. Prolly best to make it a rev/vile.

If you ever feel like making map02 even more fun it is def possible to pacifist the that caco/cyb/quad vile fight. just remove all of the cells and rockets from the previous area. There is a secret berserk pack after all :P.

Yeah fun stuff. I was going to record some maxes too, but I guess there is no point anymore. ;) 

Nonsense. We need more demos for these.

Yeah this is great! I played m01 so far (clumsily and with keyboard only, as I'm currently traveling for work -.-. if you want to watch the demo of me playing horribly I can post it I guess :p). The list of influences is right up my alley (what is Runriot, btw?), and so is the resultant map. Can't get enough oppressive cyb-vs-the-world dooming in my life, and the D-D/BPRD-ripoff style works so well for this type of map imo. No significant comments, really. There's a nasty slime-trail behind the player start, and many areas could use some block-monster lines (e.g. the HKs guarding the YSK/RSK route doors from the start), but the balance seemed fine.

Looking forward to checking out m02, which I'll probably wait until I get back home to play.

Here's a casual max for map01. The only fight that I feel is truly 'lethal' is the one with the cyber/PE/vile on the left side. (Or maybe my strategy is just unnecessarily dangerous -- that is certainly likely lol.) Rest of the fights require concentration but can be cheesed a bit, I think, making them engaging but relatively easy for this type of map, I think. For example the one with the cyber + lots of revs + PE can be infight trolled, because the PE waking up really isn't so big a deal. But lol at the archvile accidentally waking up this time. :D 

I'm unfortunately not able to play due to a bandaged hand but from watching all the demos these appear to be 2 absolutely fantastic maps :D

12 hours ago, Killer5 said:

Hello. Here are some whatev maxes for your wad:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zcjjk1o6fscp87t/Disciples Of Darkness.zip?dl=0

 

The only problem I have with this wad is that it is only two maps. I really really REALLY enjoyed these maps. Looking forwards to more stuff from you.

 

Prolly reality/max map02 if it is ever released.

 

Thanks for making these maps.

 

Edit:

There is a poor PE in a closet at the back of that pillar room in map01. It never had a chance to really do anything. Prolly best to make it a rev/vile.

 

If you ever feel like making map02 even more fun it is def possible to pacifist the that caco/cyb/quad vile fight. just remove all of the cells and rockets from the previous area. There is a secret berserk pack after all :P.

Cool demos Killer5 ! I like them, very entertaining :). For the last area of map 02 I usually go for a "gotcha!" style of fight but your strategy is certainly fast. Yes that PE sometimes remains in the room, at times he goes outside.

Glad you like the wad. I'll probably add a third map to this before the release.

11 hours ago, rdwpa said:

Here's a casual max for map01. The only fight that I feel is truly 'lethal' is the one with the cyber/PE/vile on the left side. (Or maybe my strategy is just unnecessarily dangerous -- that is certainly likely lol.) Rest of the fights require concentration but can be cheesed a bit, I think, making them engaging but relatively easy for this type of map, I think. For example the one with the cyber + lots of revs + PE can be infight trolled, because the PE waking up really isn't so big a deal. But lol at the archvile accidentally waking up this time. :D 

Very cool demo rdwpa I liked it. You managed the last area very well :) The strategy you used at the left side is good and yes bit unlucky with that vile^

also thanks for the feedback Ribbiks :). Runriot is this map by Dario Casali https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/p-r/runriot

There's not much I can say after previous replies in this thread, and nothing to show after all the demos, so I'll just be that guy giving useless general comments this time. In any case, this is a solid fun and a very cool tribute to Death-Destiny, Malcolm Sailor and the like. I liked the first map more, but that doesn't mean that the second one didn't have its moments of cruel brilliance in its encounters and overall nature of layout and gameplay, so it's more like a matter of personal preference.
Overall - quite entertaining for those who like it harsh, it's always nice to see more good maps in this style, Ribbiks' monopoly on those since D-D's departure can't last forever. Good work!

Thanks Demonologist, glad you had some fun with this :)

aiiight. m02 is equally as great. some cute setups, the second to last setup is my favorite, I think. the BSK fight was great as well, love the idea of the vile columns forcing the player to stand in strange spots. other stuff:

- a lot of fights are verrry cheesable. A lot of D-D setups were like this as well (watch any of their max demos and you'll see 90% of the strategy for each room is to immediately run out :p), sometimes this is fine, but some of them seemed a bit much. I'm actually not convinced having a BFG on this map makes sense, a few choice shots can trivialize the last encounters. Having a zerk pack and more plasma ammo might make more sense.

- BSK area was a bit dark imo

Map01 was great, difficult and fun to play :) Map02 started good too but I didnt like the last rooms... The Fact that I had to do the Cyberdemon and Archvile Room with 28 % Health wasn't really that awesome... couldn't you place a Berserk in that room ? But without that cool Maps :)

22 hours ago, Ribbiks said:

aiiight. m02 is equally as great. some cute setups, the second to last setup is my favorite, I think. the BSK fight was great as well, love the idea of the vile columns forcing the player to stand in strange spots. other stuff:

 

- a lot of fights are verrry cheesable. A lot of D-D setups were like this as well (watch any of their max demos and you'll see 90% of the strategy for each room is to immediately run out :p), sometimes this is fine, but some of them seemed a bit much. I'm actually not convinced having a BFG on this map makes sense, a few choice shots can trivialize the last encounters. Having a zerk pack and more plasma ammo might make more sense.

- BSK area was a bit dark imo

Good points Ribbiks :) Yeah I saw all D-D wads demos (included your uv-max of Grime which is Amazing; tryed to use your strategy to tackle the level by failed badly :/ ) and in some cases is better to just flee. About not having bfg and having more plasma ammo would change a bit the gameplay making it perhaps a little fast paced and then different from what I had thought. But yes the last fight is intentionally subdued to give the player either to rush it or go for a slower 'gotcha' style of fight. I'll probably do something with the brightness of the BSK area

@DAZZER: there is Berzerk pack you can obtain after you got the red key, you have to hunt a bit for secrets :)

13 minutes ago, Paul977 said:

(included your uv-max of Grime which is Amazing; tryed to use your strategy to tackle the level by failed badly :/ )

Funny thing about Grime, gggmork posted a demo back when that wad was first released that is actually way better than my demo on the dsda. If you're curious, here it is (runs with zdoom 2.20): http://www.mediafire.com/file/huej451ujnnzaan/Grimezd220ggg1713.lmp I was unaware of this demo at the time, and mildly embarrassed that my efforts at the time were already beat :p

It's fun to contrast with D-D's own demo where he plays by the rules, so to speak: http://www.mediafire.com/file/bwkjwlbkgvcmnyo/GrimeDDDemo2050zd220.lmp It's always fun to watch author playthroughs on maps like this, to see how it was "supposed" to be played :)

17 hours ago, Ribbiks said:

 

Funny thing about Grime, gggmork posted a demo back when that wad was first released that is actually way better than my demo on the dsda. If you're curious, here it is (runs with zdoom 2.20): http://www.mediafire.com/file/huej451ujnnzaan/Grimezd220ggg1713.lmp I was unaware of this demo at the time, and mildly embarrassed that my efforts at the time were already beat :p

 

It's fun to contrast with D-D's own demo where he plays by the rules, so to speak: http://www.mediafire.com/file/bwkjwlbkgvcmnyo/GrimeDDDemo2050zd220.lmp It's always fun to watch author playthroughs on maps like this, to see how it was "supposed" to be played :)

Cool demo indeed, wasn't aware of that: he did the large area of the level pretty damn fast. And great D-D demo aswell I wish to had the first Cyber sandwiched like happened to him when I attempted his strategy^. Thanks for sharing :)

I like green stuff. Recently in my WIP mappack I even changed animated red rock texture to animated green rock texture. Also there are green SKSNAKE.

Combined Disciples of Darkness with Project Brutality and Colourful Hell (and Deep Water for a more realistic experience at the base of the first map): Awesome!

More maps needed (I know, time-consuming!) :D

Update. Added two maps.

OP updated with a new upload link and screens. Feedbacks and bug reports always appreciated, thanks !

Quick note: some of the wait times for switches seem very long for no particular reason. Like, in the first fight in map04 after dropping off the bridge, the one with revenants, HKs, and cacos. That might be the easiest fight in the map. In the last room, a switch makes a computer panel slowly lower for several seconds, which doesn't seem to serve any purpose, since it's dangerous anyway to release the next wave with stuff still hanging around. 

Nice!  I'll definitely play the two new maps tonight before SF2011 when I stream.

@rdwpa 

Yeah the second one was made before the fight was well cooked iirc, it can probably be replaced with a faster action. The first can be triggered via a linedef and usually is down before the fight is over. Thanks for pointing out

heh interesting. This is easily the most D-D-like new maps we'll see short of stepping into a time machine. the room construction and shapeliness, general choice of how mechanics are implemented, etc..

Very curious to see where your mapping goes from here :)

Map 3 was incredibly fun, at points I felt very anxious just walking around the map.  I wasn't able to finish map 4, though.  I got to the elevator down where the cyber, hk, and vile fight takes place.  I couldn't figure out a comfortable setup without getting hit by viles or eating significant splash rockets.  I tried to cheese by staying at the top of the elevator and rocket the pillar against the viles but couldn't as I only had a few rockets.  Everything so far as felt very solid, I love these maps!

@Ribbiks 

I'm a lot into D-D stuff atm I really like much his style, will see!

9 hours ago, loveless said:

Map 3 was incredibly fun, at points I felt very anxious just walking around the map.  I wasn't able to finish map 4, though.  I got to the elevator down where the cyber, hk, and vile fight takes place.  I couldn't figure out a comfortable setup without getting hit by viles or eating significant splash rockets.  I tried to cheese by staying at the top of the elevator and rocket the pillar against the viles but couldn't as I only had a few rockets.  Everything so far as felt very solid, I love these maps!

I saw the void: good run on map 03 :) and also on map 04 until that point^. Yeah that part is rather bloody: basically you need the cyb to kill all the monsters, when he cames at you, you hide in the little room with the flickering light, when he's near, you circumvent him going behind the pillar with the switch. Not having monsters corpses in the eleveator is very helpful so yeah a bit tricky^. Thanks for playing tho I spot something to fix in map 04 :P

Did a few changes after having some feedbacks. I fixed a bug on map 03, did few adjustments on map 04 and fixed a bug aswell. New download available in the OP

Thanks for introducing me to this WAD Paul, really had fun with it yesterday and I gave you my feedback already, so I just wanted to thank you again for a great mapset!

7 hours ago, Nevanos said:

Thanks for introducing me to this WAD Paul, really had fun with it yesterday and I gave you my feedback already, so I just wanted to thank you again for a great mapset!

Glad you had some fun man :)

It's great that this thingie has got more maps, I can only agree with Ribbiks in that it's easily the most D-D-like maps I've seen since the guy left (02 kinda stands out as this mapset's black sheep, but oh well). There is a definite amount of his followers around these places, yet their style is obviously more of "inspired by" rather than "a tribute to". In that regard, you've done a great job Paul, though I have to note that these are much less of an ordeal than what they're mimicking, heh. Sure, they're still lethal but far more manageable when it comes to cracking the fights on the fly.

All of the maps were fun and cool, though 04 has probably resonated with me the most, the most elaborate one and featuring rather solid and consistent variation between cramped stuff and more spacious scenarios, with some not-too-shabby infighting applications to create tense situations.

Overall you definitely managed to capture the feel and general mechanics of D-D's maps, also applying some of their better features while leaving some of the more questionable ones out, and also made them hard but fun to play, with good balance between tough challenge and "casual" playability. Thanks for bringing back the memories, and just doing some solid mapping job in general. Keep up the great work!