[to be renamed by v-3] Facility of the Damned v-1.2.2 [released]

 
Status update: 5/15/19    So here I am again, I have been super busy with life stuff, training a dog, getting my new pc up and running, and planning a move.
As stated in the last update, I was working on a submission for Akeldama, sadly I was unable to finish it but thankfully someone else was willing to let me pass them the torch so the map could be finished.
I will soon be getting back to mapping, musicing, and texturing this wad so let me lay my current progress on y'all...

=finished stuff=

Map 01 (some touch ups to clean things up a little bit, I can sfly call it 100% done!)
map 02 (being given another layer of polish, to fully finish it, I never really felt it was 100% finished after I updated.)
STbar  (This is completely done, phew)
A very small number of random textures

=In progress stuff=

Map 03 (60% done)
Map 04 (4% done)
Map 05 (-10% done)
Custom music (???% done)
LK 8-800v (a custom weapon that fires lasers! [sprite work 30ish% done/scripting and stuff not started, may need help])
urban themed textures (25% done)

=not started=
Map 06 - Map 32
NAPD ally (plan on editing the WolfSS entity)
UORDF ally (slight edits/variations of marines)
Civilian ally/npc (will probably have to scratch make this from top to bottom)
Dredlord? (still thinking of a name, attacks similar to an Archville but is easier to avoid the ranged attack/Revanant punch[maybe a kick?])
Zombie variants of NAPD, civilians, and UORDF 

  So that's what I'll be doing over the next who knows how long but do keep in mind that when I do update the DL, some of this stuff may not be full implemented or even in the wad file.
That said, if anyone wants to take part in the project, feel free to post on the thread or shoot me a dm.
See y'all in the apocalypse. 



Status update: 3/22/19    So first off I want to say that I haven't been working on this until a few days ago while also working on my submission for Akeldama that I still need to wrap up so I can bring my focus back to FotD, before getting back to mapping I had decided to work on some music that will be in the wad as well as the tunes by Imorpher and Dial-up-for-Murder, the part that will take the longest is making new textures for the sprawling city environments of New Atlanta, I also plan on changing the name as the first two maps are the facility with the third and fourth being a transition from facility to city. I will not update the wad for a while until I finish map eight and I have no clue when that will be, I will at least make an attempt at an episodic update cycle after that, the ultimate goal is to make it feel like Doom still but not being Doomguy (call him Doomdude I guess).
The whole idea is that the events of the wad take place at the same time as Doom 2 but on the planet Proxima B where similar events happening on Earth are reaching out to other worlds, where the UAC goes, Hell is sure to follow, so get ready for Hell on Proxima!



Update v.1.2.2 news! [January 2nd 2019]
Here it is, a major transformation of what will likely be a long term project for me, I've made many fixes to the first map I made (my first map ever released) and put a lot of though, effort, and coffee for map two, I've thought out an interesting story, changed some things around for learning purposes and even gave making my own scratch made content a crack.
This wad is more of an opportunity to learn the ins, outs, and other stuffs of Doom mapping and making custom content for Doom so there will be hick-ups as I make more stuff for this wad, I'll fix things as quickly as I break them.
That said, I hope you enjoy the project as much as I'm enjoying making it.

I will post news updates on the wad a few times a week to keep everyone up to date on the wads progress.


Facility of the Damned version 1.2.2 download
http://www.mediafire.com/file/zjfhyaa3g333457/FacilityoftheDamned-ver-1.2.2-f.zip/file



Planed maps---
Map01=Detox [done]
Map02=Shafted [done]
Map03=Wreckreation [in progress] for an early look at the incomplete map, open the console and type "map map03" press the switch in the spawn elevator to exit.
Map04=The Office
Map05=New Atlanta 1
Map06=New Atlanta 2
Map07=Steel, Fire, and Flesh
Map08=Layover
Map09=Return to Proxima B
Map10=The Plan

More planed [some may be added in between and others removed at any time]

update info...
Here's some news on Facility of the Damned's next update (v1.2.2), the first version, 1.0 as I'm going to call it will remain available as a progression track from first release whatever the final version will be.

>>>>>
overall

          changed the main menu.
          edited Doomguy's face slightly.This is work in progress and may not be finished until a later update
          added new textures.
          added new music.
          

Map01

          has been updated to detail the dull areas and to make decorative doors a bit of an obvious decoration.
          fixed an issue where a zombiman was stuck in a wall in the beginning, he needed more space.
          added a new area to get the yellow key.
          added more items.
          added more monsters.
          added a third secret.
          
         





 

Game
Doom II

Format
UDMF

Engine
GZDoom

Title                   
Facility of the Damned (v.1.2.2)

Filename               
FotD-v1.2.2.wad

initial Release date            
11-23-2018

Update Release
v-1.2.2 - 1/2/2019
V-1.3.? - TBA

Author                  
WolfMcBeard    

Misc. Author Info       
I live off of coffee and N64 games I've had since I was five.

Description            
UAC's complex "Foxtrot-Alpha-0-Alpha" on Proxima B ,a few miles away from New Atlanta, has stopped responding to any form of communication for nearly seven months. Their experiments were moved to Phobos only three days ago, but we need you to go to Proxima B and figure out what happened to the facility and if possible, recover their research, and with any luck, we'll find a clue on where Deimos went.

Additional Credits To....
id Software for Doom and Doom II
MaxED, Gez, and DRD Team for GZDoom Builder
Simon Judd for Slade
Spencer Kimball, Peter Mattis and the GIMP Development Team for GIMP
Microsoft for Paint

Dianna for tolerating me while I do Doom things and everyone on the Doomworld forums for their advice.

The testers : guitards & Pierrot 

From the Doomworld forums:
Fuzzball for some of the textures, myself I guess for a few more textures and the levels, and Immorpher and Dial-up for Murder for their awesome music. 
                          
From Realm667: 

Textures - 
NMNCorp. 1 & 2 [cred; Pawel Zarczynski aka NMN ] - 
System Shock Textures 1 & 2 - [cred; Conversion: Ceeb--Author: Looking Glass Studios ] - 
Doom textures for Doom II [cred; SargeBaldy ]
XTRA LITES TEXTURE PACK [cred; FuzzballFox ]

Weapons - 
Not implemented (may add two or three additional weapons in future updates.)

Misc. - 
Spark Spawner [cred; Decorate: Solarsnowfall, Tormentor667, Ghastly_dragon--GLDEFs: Ghastly_dragon--Sprites: Tormentor667, Solarsnowfall ]

You will need to use GZDoom to play this wad

                                     If you do find a bug, please inform the author and describe the issue as best as possible.
 

[Edit--additional info]
 

Ehh...Mediafire for screenshots?

Pretty sure you could have just uploaded the screenshots. Also:

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/95295-new-to-posting-maps-read-this-first/

4 hours ago, Gideon020 said:

Pretty sure you could have just uploaded the screenshots. Also...

My screen shots are too big to upload on the forums for some reason, I'm on a 0.22mb limit for files, never had that problem till 3 days ago.

Hi wolfmcbeard, I played your map and I would like to give you my feedbacks.
This is one of my first map reviews, I will try to give you constructive feedbacks since I'm also experimenting with Doom mapping :)

First, the map is not working on prboom+ because it is made in UDMF. This format allows extra features such as the swimmable liquids, 3d floors, auto-scaled textures and light actors used in this map, but is not compatible with prboom+ (Boom format) or vanilla Doom (Doom 2 format).

Overall, it's visible you have put effort on it. There are some complex structures (the nukage room, the elevator, the computer zone), a way to switches and keys and some traps.

I found a bug : the  zombiemen outdoor at the start could be stuck because the sector they're standing on is too small.

Things you can improve in my opinion:

Some areas are quite detailled, but others are just bland corridors (the one leading to the switch for the blue key for exemple). Try to have a cohesive level of detail in all the map.
To avoid bland rooms, add texture transitions, height variations, panels in the walls, windows... also use sector lighting, it will add a stronger atmosphere to your rooms.
You used a lot of streched textures, notably for doors and computers, but I find it ugly in some places.

I think there isn't enough monsters. A map is enjoyable when you're forced to fight your way and plan your movement to limit damages and dodge projectiles comming from multiple directions. Traps are a good thing, but are locally limited. Increase monster density, at least for UV difficulty. You can add monsters behind corners or on elevated areas for exemple.

Put more ammo. The only two boxes of shells are availible at the very end. You can make the gameplay focus on ammo starvation but the effect is not the same for this kind of map with a low monster count and big areas because you can barely provoke monster infightning. In fact, I would put ammo where there are traps.

Another point, but it's more a personal though: there is too many doors you can't open and are just here for decoration. Usualy I don't like it because it restricts exploration, notably with the displayed message "That doesn't seem to work". If they arn't meant to be opened at all, I don't think they're necessary, you can put other elements of decoration (see above).

Clearly, the map is designed for GZDoom as it uses advanced features, but I think you should start mapping in a more simple format so you can focus more on layout and gameplay, and learn the basics of texture alignement and sector lighting.
That's an advice from a guy who doesn't map in UDMF though, it's all your choice.

Anyway, it's a good effort for a first map. Keep mapping, you will improve for sure :)

I have to pretty much agree with Pierrot. There are too many doors you can't open and quite a lack of monsters considering the size of the level. One thing I noticed in your level and something new mappers do is struggle with sense of scale. Often what will happen is people create rooms/hallways which are often much bigger than what the mapper is trying to do. Now the problems with this, besides making the level look like a rat maze, is that the player can simply ran around monsters due to all the room. To counter this problem I recommend comparing the height of the tallest monster you expect to be in a room and the overall room height.

Overall you do show potential especially with some of your smaller details and I do recommend that you look at other peoples level to see what they did as inspiration for you own future levels.

8 hours ago, Pierrot said:

Hi wolfmcbeard, I played your map and I would like to give you my feedbacks.
This is one of my first map reviews, I will try to give you constructive feedbacks since I'm also experimenting with Doom mapping :)

 

 

First, the map is not working on prboom+ because it is made in UDMF. This format allows extra features such as the swimmable liquids, 3d floors, auto-scaled textures and light actors used in this map, but is not compatible with prboom+ (Boom format) or vanilla Doom (Doom 2 format).

Overall, it's visible you have put effort on it. There are some complex structures (the nukage room, the elevator, the computer zone), a way to switches and keys and some traps.

 

I found a bug : the  zombiemen outdoor at the start could be stuck because the sector they're standing on is too small.

Things you can improve in my opinion:

 

Some areas are quite detailled, but others are just bland corridors (the one leading to the switch for the blue key for exemple). Try to have a cohesive level of detail in all the map.
To avoid bland rooms, add texture transitions, height variations, panels in the walls, windows... also use sector lighting, it will add a stronger atmosphere to your rooms.
You used a lot of streched textures, notably for doors and computers, but I find it ugly in some places.

 

I think there isn't enough monsters. A map is enjoyable when you're forced to fight your way and plan your movement to limit damages and dodge projectiles comming from multiple directions. Traps are a good thing, but are locally limited. Increase monster density, at least for UV difficulty. You can add monsters behind corners or on elevated areas for exemple.

 

Put more ammo. The only two boxes of shells are availible at the very end. You can make the gameplay focus on ammo starvation but the effect is not the same for this kind of map with a low monster count and big areas because you can barely provoke monster infightning. In fact, I would put ammo where there are traps.

 

Another point, but it's more a personal though: there is too many doors you can't open and are just here for decoration. Usualy I don't like it because it restricts exploration, notably with the displayed message "That doesn't seem to work". If they arn't meant to be opened at all, I don't think they're necessary, you can put other elements of decoration (see above).

 

Clearly, the map is designed for GZDoom as it uses advanced features, but I think you should start mapping in a more simple format so you can focus more on layout and gameplay, and learn the basics of texture alignement and sector lighting.
That's an advice from a guy who doesn't map in UDMF though, it's all your choice.

 

Anyway, it's a good effort for a first map. Keep mapping, you will improve for sure :)

7 hours ago, Classicgamer6 said:

I have to pretty much agree with Pierrot. There are too many doors you can't open and quite a lack of monsters considering the size of the level. One thing I noticed in your level and something new mappers do is struggle with sense of scale. Often what will happen is people create rooms/hallways which are often much bigger than what the mapper is trying to do. Now the problems with this, besides making the level look like a rat maze, is that the player can simply ran around monsters due to all the room. To counter this problem I recommend comparing the height of the tallest monster you expect to be in a room and the overall room height.

Overall you do show potential especially with some of your smaller details and I do recommend that you look at other peoples level to see what they did as inspiration for you own future levels.

I appreciate the criticisms and I will definitely work on things like the areas that looking back do seem dull, as well as encounters, I wasn't sure if it was alright or if I could've done more with the amount of monsters and items, I didn't want to go overkill, I kinda drew from how Doom 2 played.

The stretched textures were a bit of a nitpick of mine as some of the doors were a bit wide but I never got around to resizing them, but since I want to make a few more maps to go along with it, I'll be doing improvements to the first map including fixing that zombieman(I just looked, there was a bit that never got raised up when I made that area to give him a bigger sector)

As for the 'broken' doors, I do plan on keeping these but I will try something to use them as decoration such as being partially open leading to a collapsed hall that might have small items or some form of indication that they are only decoration.
any advice for this will be appreciated as a bigger project of mine will have many decoration doors but I want it to work well as it will be environmental.

I'm effectively using these maps to prepare myself to make my long term project better than this set, that said I want all the maps for Facility to be much better, and fun for anyone who plays them

I'll update this map and it will be available in about two weeks or hopfully less with hte second map for this set, but I'll be leaving this first version,1.0 if you will, available to track my progress on improvement.

Current v.1.1 issue  FIXED

uncentered Doomguy face on the status bar (that isn't the finished stbar)
 

I have no clue how to fix this yet but it may still be there in the update next week.
If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it very much.

It seems to be an offset problem. In the wad editor, give your new graphics the same offsets as the originals in the doom2.wad.

I meant to delete that as I had managed to get some help on it a while back, but that was indeed what happened.

On 11/24/2018 at 12:07 AM, wolfmcbeard said:

My screen shots are too big to upload on the forums for some reason, I'm on a 0.22mb limit for files, never had that problem till 3 days ago.

 

What I do is post my screenshots in Discord, then embed the links here.  I ran out of space on DW a long time ago, lol.

Ah, that's how I get around that, I've got back about 6mb but I didn't want to eat it up, so I'll do that.

For any one interested, I've done a major update.

Info for the next update

So I've made a decision to change how I will update Facility of the Damned...
Originally I planed on updating after the completion of each map but for the sake of the project, I've decided to do so every three or four maps that are finished.
The reason behind this some more along the lines of my own preferences, were it just one or two maps I'd probably be fine with it but pacing is nonexistent and I feel that's important for a project I want to make as a megawad.
There is other stuff I want to do for it as well, I want to make a new weapon for it and I've barely started sprite work for it, let alone the weapon itself as well as see about making a new enemy(haven't done anything for that). and custom textures, I like what I've used from 667 and I could just as easily use more stuff, but I want that personal touch that I can feel proud of.
I know, this is my first Doom anything and I could just make simple maps but hats just not how I'm wired, when I set something down, my mind automatically wanders to the "make it beautiful' mode so maybe you can see where I'm coming from.

I'm not opposed to the idea of working with others, if anyone wants to be involved with this, I would be perfectly fine with that as I know there's stuff that I will need help with, even if it's just advice or critique, it would be looked kindly upon.

But I usually only write like this when I need sleep and I realize I look dumb as hell when I do, so take that as an idea of my state of mind right now and a scale of how loud my neighbors are.
It's 2:03pm and I should've been in bed eight hours ago, running on five hours of sleep, staying up for at least two or three more, i love rambling, see you later.

On samedi 24 novembre 2018 at 2:41 AM, wolfmcbeard said:

MaxED, Gez, and DRD Team for GZDoom Builder
Simon Judd for Slade

?

I did contribute to SLADE; but not to GZDB.

"GZDoom Builder uses game configurations created by Gez"

To be fair, I'm not 100% where the original cred source is from now, fairly certain it was builder's about box, hence the above quote.
 

 I know it's not perfect and the last time I did anything other than this was figuring out how to play Halo Reach's "Winter Contingency" by ear on a Yamaha keyboard years ago and I never got that far in that, so here's hoping I can make something original and good. 

edit
I took a break from this wad for a bit and I'm also doing a community project at the moment so no new news on the wad itself at the moment.

edit 2
http://www.mediafire.com/file/1avc6s4fju5wn46/midi2-1.mid/file

A new, acoustic guitar style and longer length.

So...Many...More...to...make...
This is what I get for deciding to make a few city themed maps, planing on a few more of city maps for later in the wad, but in Hell.
The city maps will be absolutely huge as well and will take a long time to finish, the first one being map05.

Got a title track, I love how it came out, the music in the wad will be in mp3 or wav, but I don't see a reason not to share the midi (and eventually the other formats) for people to use in their projects as well!

http://www.mediafire.com/file/4dvl3l1bnlj3k2s/Proxima_Apocalypse.mid/file

Finally got around to playing this and had fun!