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Rapp0ng

My second Doom map ever!

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*EDIT* Fixed some linedef and HOM issues within map and reuploaded.

 

Hello there,

 

The last time I posted a WAD (which was my first map ever) was about a year ago. Well I finally got round to making my second!

 

Took me about a week to complete. This time I wanted to focus on more of a tighter, more polished map as the general feedback of my last map was that it was too large and empty.

 

I went for a Sigil feel this time around and tried to aim for around the same level of difficulty. You may notice a few homages to Sigil (being the Romero fanboy that I am) throughout the map.

 

I have this tested this map more times than I can count to make sure not only that its functional, but balanced as well. But I am still an amateur at this so no doubt I have missed things or misjudged the item/monster balance. So hopefully one with more experience can advise me on how to make my maps better in the future!

 

*NOTE* This is quite a dark map (because darkness = scary) If you are using GZ Doom you may need to turn up the brightness a touch as I mostly tested on Crispy Doom which had the perfect level of darkness I was aiming for. But on GZ Doom it was a bit darker than I would have liked.

 

Editors used: Doom Builder, SLADE3

Map name: Vehement Malaise

Game: Ultimate Doom

Map: E3M5

Tested with: Crispy Doom 5.9.1, GZ Doom g4.3.3

Difficulty Settings: Designed for UV but HMP, HNTR, ITYTD are available.

Mouselook: Not designed for it but its not really going to ruin the map if you want to use it.

Jumping/Crouching: No

 

I hope you enjoy it :)

 

Thanks

 

Spoiler

 

 

615420914_VehementMalaise5.png.ff73bdacc80bc816aedea3208181162e.png1846088336_VehementMalaise1.png.0e680bd7911e5f64f7ff7ee3bc878b0c.png798962807_VehementMalaise2.png.7aab806e89279d8c4e2124c7212b80ae.png1489362202_VehementMalaise3.png.c1e6811d6f4fd3727b760f77325c3508.png738355900_VehementMalaise4.png.386c6ea26ca588f6ef2bc70c5de42995.png

 

 

 

 

 

Vehement Malaise.zip

Edited by Rapp0ng

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4 hours ago, doomfighter667112349 said:

very cool map reminds me of sigil

Thanks! Thats what I was hoping to achieve.

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Thanks for playing @Clippy! I loved watching it :)

 

Sorry for the lighting, as I was saying GZDoom lighting is too dark unfortunately as I designed the map using Crispy Doom which is how I like to play it. I wanted to keep the lighting which I felt looked perfect on Crispy Doom (maybe others disagree).

 

Those two secrets you were confused about had health and ammo in both, which you picked up.

Quote
Spoiler

I laughed at the end as you accidentally shot the ending bridge switch meaning you had to face the cyberdemon in a cramped corridor. I was worried that would happen but I figured the switch was too out of the way for that to happen. Guess I was wrong!

 

 

 

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Front Side Def 3530, Sector 252...missing texture / HOM effect. :-P

Apart from that,- very nice map, I like it! Maybe you've just opened a door to another Sigil episode.... work on that ;-)

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43 minutes ago, Rapp0ng said:

Thanks for playing @Clippy! I loved watching it :)

 

Sorry for the lighting, as I was saying GZDoom lighting is too dark unfortunately as I designed the map using Crispy Doom which is how I like to play it. I wanted to keep the lighting which I felt looked perfect on Crispy Doom (maybe others disagree).

 

Those two secrets you were confused about had health and ammo in both, which you picked up.

 

 

 

No worries about the lighting once I fixed it on my end the play was much better

 

I got a little bit confused again besides the secrets I wasn't sure exactly how I made the drawbridge raise

 

Could I have shot that at the start? And danced around the cyberdemon?

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@4everDoomed I knew I would miss something :( Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. Perhaps I will make an episode one day!

 

@Clippy 

17 minutes ago, Clippy said:

I got a little bit confused again besides the secrets I wasn't sure exactly how I made the drawbridge raise

 

Could I have shot that at the start? And danced around the cyberdemon?

Not at the start, the ending door is closed until you are near the end of the map when it opens. So that all that stands in the player's way is the cyberdemon for the final showdown. That was the intention anyways.

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I enjoyed this!  I played it on PrBoom+ (I just had to change the name of the .wad file to make it a single word to make a batch file for it work.)

 

I was definitely reminded of Sigil in both aesthetics and gameplay but I liked Sigil so that's not a problem.  Like Sigil, you make good use of Doom's more limited monster roster.  There were good surprises but I never felt like anything was too mean.  Your hitscanners were usually well positioned for fair kills.

 

I took my time and found 5/6 secrets, all of them pretty enjoyable.

 

Observations:
- I died several times in the room with the raising and lowering floors.  Not a bad thing, just an observation.
- Even with software rendering, I found it a bit dark most of the time--but this is personal preference and I thought the same of Sigil.
- Really enjoyed the way the windows around the cyberdemon slowly opened up to make it more of a threat.
- Generally, weapon placement and the amount of health and ammo given felt very fair.
- In addition to the HOM mentioned above, you have one health bonus in the floor I couldn't access and a floating candle, both in the sort of crack area with the face scrolling wall.

- The only time I had any confusion about where to go was when you have to shoot the switch behind the cyberdemon, but it wasn't a huge delay.

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@Salmon Thanks, glad to hear people are getting enjoyment out of the map. In the end, that is really the most important thing with maps!

 

24 minutes ago, Salmon said:

- In addition to the HOM mentioned above, you have one health bonus in the floor I couldn't access and a floating candle, both in the sort of crack area with the face scrolling wall.

This is where I struggle with map building. I had some weird issues with this where I would load the map and certain things were hovering. I would reload the map again and it would be in the right place? I have no idea how to fix that.

 

During one playtest, I had a terrifying encounter with the cyberdemon where it somehow got off the platform before the bridge had raised and onto the walkway. This bug never happened again and I never figured out how he managed this. 

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Haven't gotten around to playing it yet but from the screenshots it looks very promising. Cant wait to try it.

 

Edit after playing through it: It's hard to believe this is only your second map, because this is something I'd expect to see in The Ultimate Doom. Played it with Crispy Doom and never got any issues. Never got lost while playing through it. The beginning was actually very hard for me and I ended up having to turn it from UV to HMP, first time I've done that in months, so good job. It can be hard in places but never down right unfair. One thing I didn't like was just how dark it was. The aesthetics were phenomenal looking like something straight out of Thy Flesh Consumed. Probably my favorite part was about half way through when I was fighting in a hallway and saw the silhouette of the BFG9000 in the background. Stuff like that absolutely gets me, seeing things you want just a few demons away. Unfortunately I didn't have much use for it because when it came to the cyberdemon fight at the end I just got two shots in with it and used my rocket launcher. I'd like to know why you took up the E3M5 slot. Was it because you didn't like the vanilla E3M5 and wanted this map to replace it, or did you not know how to change the music so just used this slot? Either way I'd rate the map a 7.5/10, I'd love to see more of your work.

Edited by N1ck

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@N1ck Thanks! I really appreciate the comments and feedback!

 

11 hours ago, N1ck said:

I'd like to know why you took up the E3M5 slot. Was it because you didn't like the vanilla E3M5 and wanted this map to replace it, or did you not know how to change the music so just used this slot?

There were 2 reasons: I was not sure about how to change the music, I wanted to use classic doom music "Demons on the Prey" rather than something custom so this seemed like the easiest solution. Also, I wanted to use Inferno skybox and again this was the only way I knew how. However, I am sure its probably easy to fix!

 

11 hours ago, N1ck said:

One thing I didn't like was just how dark it was.

Yeah, the decision to make the map dark I knew would be quite divisive.

When I first played Sigil, the darkness actually really got on my nerves. But on reflection I realised it managed to cause a real feeling of disorientation and unease. Every path was met with feelings of trepidation which I thought was pretty cool. So I tried to capture this feel within my map.

It's a tightrope because too bright and its not creepy, too dark and you go from creepy to just annoying.

 

But thanks again for playing and I am so happy you enjoyed it!

 

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This is really cool, especially for a second map ever.  I think the eastern side of the map is generally stronger than the western side; the subtle labyrinth around the yellow key feels distant and disconnected from the rest of the gameplay space, versus the intricately layered areas to the east which gradually unfold and interconnect into a space that feels a lot more developed and integrated into the structure of the map.  I also found myself at 200 bullets with nothing but a pistol to feed them through a long time before I was able to get into that western side where the chaingun can be picked up, which left me wondering if I'd blundered past a chaingun at some point earlier than the map, missing it in the pervasive darkness.

 

The "cracks" area that connects the wooden labyrinth to the Phobos Anomaly teleporter and adjoining area (red key turret and blood trench) feels like it's struggling against the physical constraints of its location, as though the adjacent areas were build first and then that connecting corridor was crammed in where there really isn't the space to make it as detailed an enviroment as you're trying to present.  On the other hand, the brightly-lit texture scrolling to the left is a great bit of visual guidance in an otherwise dimly-lit area, indicating direction to the player in a game that doesn't really have a lot of tools otherwise to indicate something like "go left."

 

As a Sigil homage it's crafted with evident love and attention to thematic consistency; you're depending on invoking Sigil's themes and tropes to prompt the player to take a potshot at the evil eye (Thing 109) so kudos on the job you've done there.  One thing I might suggest is making the trigger line (Linedef 1585) behind the eye a little longer, since there are plenty of angles from which you can fire a bullet into the slot but have it impact Linedef 3511 when it's not clear to the player that they've missed their shot.  Maybe drag Vertex 2823 some sixteen units to the west?

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@TheOrganGrinder Very astute observations. You have hit the nail on the head, I felt that the west side was the weaker part but I wanted to create a distinctive change in design between east and west as to not be repetitive in style and behaviour throughout the map. Also, I wanted to create the feel of the west being the internal labyrinth of the hellish domain whereas the east is the outer part of the dungeon leading out to the battlements and the caverns. As if the very structure was built within the mountains. (Yes, I really thought this much about it lol)

 

3 hours ago, TheOrganGrinder said:

The "cracks" area that connects the wooden labyrinth to the Phobos Anomaly teleporter and adjoining area (red key turret and blood trench) feels like it's struggling against the physical constraints of its location, as though the adjacent areas were build first and then that connecting corridor was crammed in where there really isn't the space to make it as detailed an enviroment as you're trying to present. 

Again, you are absolutely right. This was partially down to being still new to map building and not foreseeing issues until built. Also, I work on a figure-out-as-i-go basis which might be ill advised.

 

3 hours ago, TheOrganGrinder said:

One thing I might suggest is making the trigger line (Linedef 1585) behind the eye a little longer, since there are plenty of angles from which you can fire a bullet into the slot but have it impact Linedef 3511 when it's not clear to the player that they've missed their shot.  Maybe drag Vertex 2823 some sixteen units to the west?

Ah okay, fair enough. Never noticed this issue during playtesting, I will see if I can get that changed when I get the chance!

 

Thanks for playing and for the advice!

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I didn't play this, but I watched a video.

 

I noticed how the hallway around the Cyberdemon gradually loses more and more shelter as you progress. That's a neat idea, which I'm probably going to steal, but I was expecting the last of the walls to be gone by the time you come back with the final key, so you only have a couple small support columns to use. Have you considered removing most of the remaining wall for that last part of the fight?

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2 hours ago, Stabbey said:

I noticed how the hallway around the Cyberdemon gradually loses more and more shelter as you progress. That's a neat idea, which I'm probably going to steal, but I was expecting the last of the walls to be gone by the time you come back with the final key, so you only have a couple small support columns to use. Have you considered removing most of the remaining wall for that last part of the fight?

Thanks! I would like to call it taking inspiration rather than stealing :)

 

Yeah I suppose that could work. I guess I was worried about too much back wall splash damage from the cyberdemon which might be irritating for the player.


Also I like to pretend there is some form of physics involved, the corners are like load bearing walls. But perhaps I am thinking too much about it haha

 

But yeah, that would be a good idea. Might make the final fight a bit more fun!

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Nice map really like all the blinking/pulsing lights, they really make the map come alive. the balance was good too, cells and rockets were always low but enough to use on the higher tier enemies. I was low on health often even though health packs where scattered throughout the whole map. One thing that's probably just me, I never used the bfg since I thought the plasma was better for the engagements in the map.

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