Cold Open: Single Map WAD for Boom

A great little map that could be the beginning for a promising megawad. The gameplay it's not boring and brings surprises. At the start, player can feel a minor deficit of shells, if he often miss, but this is not critical. I want to draw attention only about the designation of the barrier, opened by the yellow key, though present, but it does not look clear, because it is perceived simply as part of the decor. This made me slightly confused. In the rest, everything is fine.

I was run through the map only once and wasn't find any bugs. Good luck with your project!

 First Dmo Attempt - ZDoom 2.8.1, 4 mins

Really good little map. Reminds me a lot of Quake's first level but that's probably what you were going for. Please update us if you do end up making it a megawad. I would play it in a heartbeat.

2 hours ago, StormCatcher.77 said:

(Feedback)

Great to hear you enjoyed it! About the yellow key signs, I tried to make them more visually obvious by making them blink, but I suppose that didn't work, maybe if I make them brighter they'll be more noticeable.

46 minutes ago, Medenutcracka said:

Really good little map. Reminds me a lot of Quake's first level but that's probably what you were going for. Please update us if you do end up making it a megawad. I would play it in a heartbeat.

I actually played Quake before Doom (but never mapped for it) maybe its visual design rubbed off on me. I'd say I was a bit more inspired by Scythe 2's first episode, which I'm a really big fan of. Thank you for the positive feedback, I'll definitely keep you posted when I get more done. 

We never came to the conclusion where the lava flows from two lavafalls on the sides =)

Those shots are quite good. Reminds me a lot of Bloodstain, with a similar level of polish. The gamma is pretty high though, as I suspected; turns out there was much better lighting contrast in-game. You have a STARTAN wall visible on the right side of the start area that is presumably a messed-up sky horizon. I too was confused for a bit by the YK bars. Gameplay is simple yet serviceable for a map of this sort -- the invis has a use, encouraging aggression so that you can use it while it's active, and the secret is fun too.

Here's a fast-paced casual playthrough. Two monsters didn't warp in because their destination was blocked by other monsters and their conveyors don't loop. I don't mind, since I spent just a few minutes on this, but give your conveyors infinite loops (a 'teleport to linedef w/ same tag' action after the main teleport line, leading to an actionless tagged line before it) if you want fast maxes of your maps. ;)

cldopen_rd_cpt.zip

14 hours ago, rdwpa said:

Those shots are quite good. Reminds me a lot of Bloodstain, with a similar level of polish. The gamma is pretty high though, as I suspected; turns out there was much better lighting contrast in-game. You have a STARTAN wall visible on the right side of the start area that is presumably a messed-up sky horizon. I too was confused for a bit by the YK bars. Gameplay is simple yet serviceable for a map of this sort -- the invis has a use, encouraging aggression so that you can use it while it's active, and the secret is fun too.

Hey, there, thanks for the kind words, I can't find the startan wall you're referring to, perhaps it's a rendering issue? I'm running PRBoom+, and I don't see the error.
EDIT: I think I solved the problem, let me reupload the map, and tell me if it's fixed on your end.

alright, this version should fix the startan wall you were seeing and all monsters should teleport in. Thank you for informing me about these bugs Rdwpa.

This was a tasty treat! Rare for me to finish a map on the first go, but I made it this time: bob_cldopn.zip . More importantly, it felt really good--no filler, nothing too crazy, but totally engaging throughout. Lava/white rock visuals are really lovely too.

Pretty good, short map. Didn't encounter any problems running it with GZDoom.

Hey, guys! Again, thank you so much for the kind words. I just wanted to let you know that I've updated the map, and the link at the top should lead to the new version. Fixes in this version include:

-removal of excessive impassible walls in the early section.

-FINALLY actually fixed the teleporting, it should work every time now, no matter how fast you go. ;)

-added two windows in the room behind the yellow key bars to give the map a bit more visual variety (not too much though).

Check it out, and please continue to report any issues you guys find.

and the link for those of you who don't feel like scrolling back up: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qd1Fk-z-kbmdlEffV28oPqUSDWBsJCLo

@Egg Boy I beat your level.

@mArt1And00m3r11339 Is that metroid music I hear?

I felt like the indoor parts needed a little bit more light contrast so that everything isn't the same shade of brown, and that the yellow door bars need a little bit better telegraphing, like making the bars yellow themselves or a similar color. Usually brown bars mean that an area is opened remotely, not directly.

The lava floor in the indoor area close to the beginning that have the uneven rubble in them may benefit from an invisible floor. Seems like a waste to make the lava damaging there since it would happen rarely. Up to you.

I like the atmosphere and the texture use. Decent challenge, overall, though I felt there was too much ammo given to the player near the end.

Looking forward to the next set of maps!

Nice contrast in that first screenshot: White, red, brown, orange..

4 hours ago, Medenutcracka said:

@mArt1And00m3r11339 Is that metroid music I hear?

That's the map's music. And yes.

Just now, Egg Boy said:

That's the map's music. And yes.

I somehow didn't even notice that during my playthrough. Weird. Amazing choice though.

3 hours ago, MTrop said:

I felt like the indoor parts needed a little bit more light contrast so that everything isn't the same shade of brown, and that the yellow door bars need a little bit better telegraphing, like making the bars yellow themselves or a similar color. Usually brown bars mean that an area is opened remotely, not directly.

 

The lava floor in the indoor area close to the beginning that have the uneven rubble in them may benefit from an invisible floor. Seems like a waste to make the lava damaging there since it would happen rarely. Up to you.

 

I like the atmosphere and the texture use. Decent challenge, overall, though I felt there was too much ammo given to the player near the end.

 

Looking forward to the next set of maps!

Hey, thanks for the feedback! I didn't even consider an invisible floor. 

5 hours ago, Medenutcracka said:

@mArt1And00m3r11339 Is that metroid music I hear?

Yes, it is. It is from Metroid Prime (someone mentioned it in the comments section on YouTube).

4 hours ago, MTrop said:

(Feedback)

Also just realized you're Matt Tropiano, I actually listened to a lot of "History of the Wad." (I listened to Evilution episode TWICE) while making (looking at a blank editor) this particular map, so thanks for the inspiration.

very late here, but I really dig this map. I was looking for inspiration for small map01-esque maps and dug this up because I remembered really liking the shots from years ago. I would love to see a small episode with this theme - metroid music, gothic stones, lava and ice, hell yea

5 minutes ago, Tango said:

very late here, but I really dig this map. I was looking for inspiration for small map01-esque maps and dug this up because I remembered really liking the shots from years ago. I would love to see a small episode with this theme - metroid music, gothic stones, lava and ice, hell yea

Maybe I'll return to the concept sometime, I did just do a snow themed episode not too long ago (with a first map that bares this name is well), so it'll probably be a bit before I want to work with it again.