I'm Also Looking to Play and Record Your Maps

@HAK3180 Also unsure if you are planning to do all of Interception 2's maps, but I'd appreciate if you could try to fit in my Map11 from Interception 2, its a big one and I would love feedback as i'm sure it will have a lot of areas to possibly critique

@Zolgia108

download the .wad

The first few encounters do not really represent what this map becomes. You start with just a chainsaw and an arch-vile. Then you (could) get a cacodemon in your face with no room to dodge with just a chainsaw and shotgun. Then you get a lot of distant and turret hitscanners with no health or armor in sight. But the supplies are there. And this section is much fairer than it might seem at first glance (so is the archie because crushers). Then you just have a blast. I did anyway. You run around the huge city, picking your shots, as you avoid revenant missiles, mancubus fire, arachnoplasma, damaging floors, and of course, the hitscanner gauntlets. So it really does take after Odyssey of Noises, which is my favorite iwad map, but there’s really only the one room that is a clear, unmistakable emulation of Plutonia Map 29. That room, incidentally, contained a gimmick/puzzle I didn’t care much for. Progression is good for the most part. You spend most of your time slowly clearing the area and then you pick up the keys one by one and use them, but they don’t really allow access to significantly more than what you have at the start. The only issue I had was the yellow key. I couldn’t figure out how to get it for a long time. I will admit it was definitely part brain lapse, but I think what would help is making the switch in the red room do something visibly (like lower bars halfway or something), so that the player does not think that switch helps get the yellow key.

Bottom line: Perhaps my favorite map from this mapper: hectic running fun

@DerFurer'sFace, If Mr. Moose requests the whole thing, I will do the whole thing, either as beta or when it comes out. I'd be glad to do whatever is requested. I'll put 11 on my queue.

@HAK3180

thanks a lot for taking the effort of playing this map, i saw big differences between what happened in your gameplay and my brother's, i will definetely need to fix many things. Textures will be the last thing to fix, first of all i will add the 2nd ssg in the cacodemon part as well, second i will put a lift near the yellow key so that it won't create that scratch like progression, i felt guilty when you where wondering for so much time. I don't really think it's your fault, i mean if there's one thing that you taught me when you played my maps is that not everything is obvious and that if someone gets stuck it means something is wrong with the map. Lastly:yes i tried to recreate a city lke situation taking a lot of inspiration cause that's the best city like map ever as we both know :), i think it would be impossible to make a "city" map with no resemblances. 

This said, i really enjoyed your gameplay, i'm just sorry that it could have been more smooth, i still have some Djinn nonsense progression in my mind and it's hard to get rid of them ahahahaha

thanks again! Next map will be much easier i guess :)

@UNERXAi

Doomworld forum topic

So far this project is pretty basic. On a positive note, nothing here is broken, and there’s a decent sense of progression and an attempt at a focal point, but the actual headquarters is just a blip of the map, despite being the namesake. Nevertheless, I like how it’s your ultimate objective after two keys and you’re taken on a mini adventure beforehand. There are some good encounters, like the surprise arch-vile and the revenant trap waiting at the top of the lift, but you kinda get the sense that monsters are placed without a ton of thought and some things work and others don’t.

Bottom line: Pretty basic map with some good ideas here and there

@HAK3180 Since you're going to play DFF's MAP11 from Interception II, you might as well play MAP12 with it.

• MAP12: "Gilded Terror" by The Mysterious Moustachio

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2wn6oaywcq26t9m/interce2-map12-HAK.zip?dl=1

@HAK3180 Just as an addendum to my last post, here's the link to MAP11 just to make it easier for you. You will need the resource pack but i'm sure you already have it.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GjcHv5Nd5-H7LMz8KOqZziHwpXHwQxLU

@DerFurer'sFace, well, I hope it's not too different from the link in the project thread. I've already played it; it will be up...who knows when... Internet has been dreadfully slow lately. Gonna have to call the company, I think.

No worries, the link I sent should be the same as the project thread since its hosted on my google drive

2 hours ago, HAK3180 said:

@UNERXAi

Doomworld forum topic

 

So far this project is pretty basic. On a positive note, nothing here is broken, and there’s a decent sense of progression and an attempt at a focal point, but the actual headquarters is just a blip of the map, despite being the namesake. Nevertheless, I like how it’s your ultimate objective after two keys and you’re taken on a mini adventure beforehand. There are some good encounters, like the surprise arch-vile and the revenant trap waiting at the top of the lift, but you kinda get the sense that monsters are placed without a ton of thought and some things work and others don’t.

 

Bottom line: Pretty basic map with some good ideas here and there

Thank you mate.

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/d-f/forebwad

If you could make a video of my map. It's just one level, no megawad. No need to download any texture packs or resources, just use GZDOOM, doesn't work in Chocolate or any Boom port. Just boot up and play.

@The Mysterious Moustachio, @DerFurer'sFace

Doomworld forum topic (project)

It’s a big one. Toward the beginning the combat is a little simplistic and the detailing is perhaps a little too bare for the grandeur, but after that first ascent, this map is excellent. Visually, there’s a pervasive interplay of rock and base. It’s magnificent all the way through, as long epic maps often are. The combat is always fun. It’s rewarding to plow through the hordes fairly quickly, and it’s a challenge, but it’s not something that you would think too much for a Map 11, if you’re going for a gradual incline. As it almost has to be to make a map like this work, its greatest feature is the layout. I was almost never lost because of how many paths there were to get from area to area and how distinct the different parts of the map were. I really liked how after about halfway through, you no longer really accessed totally new areas. They were always visible, interactable, just not reachable until you did a certain thing. My only issue with the map was that it maybe wears out its welcome a little bit when you start getting close to the exit. So many exit signs precede the actual exit, and it feels just a bit deceptive. I think the other part is that after the yellow key, you do start to access a few totally unseen areas, so it kinda feels like the map just keeps hanging on when it could have just ended. All that said, it really comes full circle conceptually, so I’m not sure what would get cut. Perhaps just the preliminary exit signs themselves.

Bottom line: really good grand, epic map that hopefully doesn’t kinda overpower the wad

@HAK3180 Thanks for getting to my map, glad you liked it, and it pointed out many issues I should change and address. You were close to finding the secret path (the last box was in the computer room by the yellow staircase which once all 4 boxes were found opened the yellow force field). I'll definitely make some tweaks.

@Doomkid

idgames download page

I can’t help but wonder about the secrets in this map. If I don’t find the BFG, do I die 100 times instead of just the 20 I did? Seems perhaps too much a game changer, considering how much plasma the map contains. But it’s a good map – certainly with some meat to it. Another good setup – I like how areas you think you’re done with keep coming back into play. I haven’t really had any complaints about the visuals in this wad, and they don’t start now.

Bottom line: a suitable penultimate map

Hello, can you take a play at this map? Is a map by NeedHealth and me made for the Deadly Standards 2 project, level is E2M5 for Limit-Removing ports (cl 3), title is Lazaretum.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/5qgly4opr7d912b/standard3.zip/file

Next time if you wish i'll give the full episode

@SamuelNMEvander

idgames download page

I like the philosophy of this map. It’s a huge remote canyon area with lots of paths to obtain one simple objective. So it’s very nonlinear, even with some one-way drop-offs. However, I think most players will lose interest fairly quickly because the texturing is dull and repetitive (some good lighting though) and the combat is simplistic and gets grindy. Most of the map is essentially very wide hallways of imps, demons, and humans. The “rooms” are all cool ideas, but they too are so wide open that they are not very effective in terms of challenging and interesting gameplay. I’d love to see this mapper try something about one-tenth the size.

Bottom line: Too big a map for a new mapper but it shows creativity and some thoughtfulness

It was to be my original E1M1 for an upcoming Episode I'm making but as you can see, it got really big but I had to finish it because all of my other projects up to that point had me quitting them. So I posted it as a one off to also learn a way to post to Idgamesarchive. I did learn that smaller maps were more fun to play so my next map is a lot smaller and takes place inside the base the player tries to get into in Foreboding.

Once I've finished the Episode I want to revisit Foreboding to make it a lot more compact because I like the idea of a player starting from a dropzone and looking for lost keys to access the base. As much as textures go, it's something I'll have to think about. I didn't want to use custom textures for this episode because I want people to be able to just boot it up and play without needing to worry about plug-ins.

Adding custom textures to the wad with SLADE3 would be ideal but then you run into author's licences behind those textures, so I'd be interested in free-to-use texture packs so they can be included in the wad itself, akin to something like Sunlust. I really don't want the wad to have texture requirements to play. 

@SamuelNMEvander, you won't hear me say maps need custom textures to be good. Rather, I was trying to express that the style of this particular map doesn't lend itself all that well to the stock resources. So my suggestion was to (A) think smaller in scale or (B) try to break up the monotonous sections more, both vertically and horizontally or (C) find some textures that work better for lots of continuous use. And those are in the order in which I would advise them.

All that being said, there are textures out there that don't have those requirements. The Community Chest 4 texture pack,* for example, just requires you to credit it, but does allow you to include it (pieces thereof) in the wad so that the player doesn't have to load it separately.

^{*I think this is true anyway; don't quote me on it.}

Mistakes were made. A lot of the shortcomings of the map comes from its relation with the rest of the episode as E1M1 along with its scale. Thanks for the Community Chest 4 heads up. I do dislike Slaughterwads so I think this might be my last big level.

@The Mysterious Moustachio

Doomworld forum topic (project)

This one has some features I don’t think I’ve seen yet in this wad, including the yellow textures and the effect on the liquid. It also has a somewhat bizarre aura in much of it. I much enjoyed the progression, the layout, and the look.

Bottom line: A different atmosphere to this one, but it works well

@Doomkid

idgames download page

I find the atmosphere to be very appropriate for a hellish finale. You start staring at a a small-medium building that becomes the setting for Act I. It basically has three sections/towers that you take in order, culminating in the top middle. Then you get a classic-ish Doom finale. It’s clever, challenging, and rewarding to figure out and execute.

Bottom line: Somewhat similar to Last Call in concept (a legitimate map and then a sort of IoS ending), it’s a fitting ender

Thanks a ton for playing this, I really enjoyed watching you get through it and learned some things along the way that I can do better as a mapper!

One small tip as a player that may make life easier in future, never be afraid to walk up to things, or to hump hump hump those walls. There were a few times I noticed you were (briefly) lost because of a reluctance to hump, there would be keys or items on a tower and instead of humping it you’d look around for a switch, which makes enough sense, but one thing I’ve learned is “always hump first”. Heck, that should be a Doom slogan.

At the end, the big snakey walkway that leads to the IoS is one big-ass lift. You committed seppuku not once but twice on that walkway without a single hump which would have saved you time and irritation. In general, if you become a more hump-happy player, you’ll definitely find more secrets and progress faster through maps. Now if a map just gives you a big blank wall and expects you to hump the whole thing, that’s pretty bad design, but anything that looks even remotely platform-like or tower-like or whatever needs a few humps, just to be sure. I learned to be a humpy Doomer through all my time with Wolf3D and cryptic old 1994 maps and honestly it’s helped me so much with finding secrets and whatnot. A lot of Doom streamers I’ve seen have hump-reluctance, for whatever reason.

Again, thanks a bunch for playing through this, it was very enjoyable for me!

hello i finish my new map, you can play it please? :) https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/106146-the-palace-of-perversion/

Okay great I will send you mine whenever it's finished haha 

@Doomkid, I've always had a weird sense of justice (for lack of a better word) when playing video games. Long story short, I often don't like to hump away except out of desperation because I want to have "earned it." It can create little problems, but I'm okay with that. I won't blame the map for my own "stupidity," assuming I eventually figure it out, which in this case I didn't, though it does surprise me that I didn't try to activate a lift. Seems I was set on finding a teleporter. Also, your maps are a bit of an outlier in terms of my average secret finding, which is pretty frequently in the 40-60% range on FDA, but that's okay too. Replay value, hey.

@Walter confetti and @NeedHealth

Doomworld forum topic (project)

This reminds me of Lunar Catastrophe in that it is definitely old school Doomy, but it has modern skill in mind. Visually, it’s spot on for Shores of Hell. It doesn’t remind you distinctly of any one map, but no one would guess wrong which episode it is. Just limit-removing, so not too many bells and whistles keeps the nostalgia firmly intact. The layout is definitely intricate. It’s a bit puzzling, but not in a bad design way, more in a clever way, and certainly a Doomy way. I think the Doom 1 bestiary is used quite well, particularly the barons of hell. There are maybe a dozen or so, but I don’t think I found even one to be a grindy meat wall. I don’t play a lot of Doom 1, but when I do, this is the quality I’m looking for.

Bottom line: Definitely feels like Doom 1 with slightly upgraded visuals and heightened combat

Thanks a lot for playing and thanks for the feedback! I'm gonna work out the few problems you found, glad you liked it!

And yes, you've got the title meaning right, is Latin for lazaret. I know it doesn't look that much like some kind of hospital / quarantine location, let's just pretend that demons heavily changed this place

And about the missing 2 secrets:

@xdarkmasterx (I believe I played this before the update, whatever it was)

(I call it "Palace of Perplexion" a few times, which I don't think is even a real word; don't mind me.)

Doomworld forum topic

This is pretty much a slaughter map and it doesn’t appearhave difficulty levels implemented, so I’m not likely to enjoy it or be very successful in it. However, I can appreciate many aspects of it. I don’t particularly like the section with the cyberdemon and flood of imps, but the other parts (and it was a map of distinct parts) were dynamic and more fun, great difficulty notwithstanding.

Bottom line: A map of distinct setpiece fights, a deviation from the mapper’s normally layout-centric style. Not my favorite but not poorly executed.

@HAK3180 Heyo. Mind giving me some feedback on my recently finished map? Anything would be greatly appreciated. All info is in the thread. 

@HAK3180 Alright, here is a map from Interception II I've been wanting to show off for a while. I'm not sure whether or not I should slow down posting these or not. I wouldn't want to ruin any full playthrough impressions, but I suppose that a full chronological run would be a different enough experience.

But I digress...

• MAP07: "The Everlaster" by @joe-ilya

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8c73u0096ha5vus/interce2-MAP07_HAK.zip?dl=1