DRD new pictures

I've just finished detailing the Sewage System and as Graf Zahl requested - I'm releasing a five-level-demo. File is pretty big though, becasue of new textures, midis and a few sounds.
It should be right over here:
http://doomos.webpark.pl/index.html

Please vote after playing the fifth level of that map set, because the poll is about E1M5 only! I really need to know your opinions on it.

Thanks.

*WOULD like to map too, but has permanent mapblock. Oh well.*


EDIT: A .rar file? Expect MANY curses from winzip user (i use winrar btw, way better)

It sticks out a bit from the other maps in my opinion, but it certainly looks nice, and plays well. I'm real fucking tired, and more than a little drunk so I'm too lazy to post detailed thoughts, but my one suggestion would be to put ranged enemies first on E1M5 - there was to many instances where pinkys were the front line of attack, which just begs for crossfires. The placement of enemies led to the map being a little too easy I think, and I was playing from a pistol start.

One other thing, I noticed you weren't using too many of Zdoom's features.... why not just make it compatible with the Boom standard if you are thinking about going for vanilla? Most ports have support for it.

//Edit: Oh Christ, how did I forget: I ryalky liuked yurh maol ellman, bat i.m reol dskunk at hje memont,

I think that the map is fairly easy for a start map; cos I'll be aborting E1M1 to E1M4, leaving Sewage System on it's own, which means I have a really good looking map to start with. E1M5 will be E1M1, and new maps will match with it's standards. Large (more than 600 sectors), and highly detailed. You can expect more challenge in further maps, And I intentionally used E1 enemies only, but since I'm planning to make a whole episode like this - Lost Souls, Cacos, Barons and Bosses are coming right up!

All I can say is: Wow!

E1M5 is an impressive piece of Doom mapping and certainly ranks among the best stuff I have seen recently.

E1M1-4 are also very good and if you really plan to abandon them for DRD don't hesitate to upload them to the /idgames archives as a separate release. People are just waiting for quality releases like this. It would be a shame if the majority of players (who don't read this forum) never have a chance to see them.

Mr. NobodX said:

Expect MANY curses from winzip user.

They don't deserve better. Why still use an archive manager that's limited to one single format if there are lots of others that can handle all common archive types?

Graf Zahl said:

(...)E1M1-4 are also very good and if you really plan to abandon them for DRD don't hesitate to upload them to the /idgames archives as a separate release(...)

I will.
Thanks for feedback.
Anyone else?

Alright. I just finished playing through and here are my thoughts:

First of all, I am a bit harsh when judging maps, I consider most of my own work as 3-4 stars and only perfection like vrack3 and some AV maps as 5 stars.

Architecture and detail:
map01-04 are pretty average in this apartment, they look like doom E1 but a bit more cramped and with a shitload of detail added. It looks good in some areas, and bad in others (too much wall detail in a small area a'la GothicDM makes me puke). Some of the "METAL" walls look completely out of place.
Overall it's not bad at all, 3/5

Map05 takes a big leap up in architecture which now matches the detail level more closely. It still feels a little crammed in some areas, but it's much much better. Obvious Darkening 2 influences. Good stuff here, ranks up with some of the classics. 4/5

Playability:
Well, the monster setup is of course rather limited in Udoom which makes variation hard to achieve. It's a lot of the same, but it's still not bad at all. The monster packs are varied within the boundaries of the shareware monster setup, but the wad is a little low on interesting traps imo. It's not hard, and not overly easy.

The layout can be rather confusing at times, a bit annoying with doors that won't open for no obvious reason and having to backtrack to non-obvious areas without any added action.
A good effort, but no way near perfect. 3/5

Atmosphere and feel:
This is of course my very personal opinion... The wad has good lighting variation which makes for a moody feel unlike the happy-fun-joy feel of some too bright maps. The lack of traps is a bit of a bummer though, you soon realize that you can run around shooting without having to be prepared for some nasty assault from behind. 3.5/5

Overall:
A good wad. If all the maps looked like map05 it would get 4 stars from me despite the gameplay faults. As it is now it gets 3 stars overall. Going over the gameplay would be a good idea imo, remove some of the roaming monsters and move them into strategically placed teleport traps.

Graf Zahl said:

They don't deserve better. Why still use an archive manager that's limited to one single format if there are lots of others that can handle all common archive types?

It's not limited to one single format; it can load TAR, gzip, UUencode, XXencode, BinHex, and MIME.

Anyway, the thing about WinRAR that's really, incredibly annoying is the way insists on resetting the Destination Path to the directory the current archive is in. At least WinZIP remembers the last directory you extracted a file to.

Erik said:

(...) remove some of the roaming monsters and move them into strategically placed teleport traps.

Will do, oh Milord.
Thanks for Assistance. I'll post updated Sewage System when it's finished. And going after example of it, further maps will be more like E1M5 in detail and size.

NiGHTMARE said:

It's not limited to one single format; it can load TAR, gzip, UUencode, XXencode, BinHex, and MIME.

Anyway, the thing about WinRAR that's really, incredibly annoying is the way insists on resetting the Destination Path to the directory the current archive is in. At least WinZIP remembers the last directory you extracted a file to.

Ooh yeah. I've been battling with this one forever.

I don't know if it's kosher to have the Super Metroid - Maridia music in the wad.

Ellmo,If you have/Can get Aim and talk to me thatd be great.
S/n is XBlackDagger89X

1-Long.
2-Many doors that don't open make me angry.
3-Make all LITE sectors 255.

k!

EDIT: Sorry I just realized this thread was about the fifth level. The following is my review for the entire demo. I'd also like to take back my poll opinion :P

I played it and I loved the first two levels, liked the third and fourth one, and didn't really care for the last one. I ran around ofr about an hour trying to figure out what to do. Eventually the slime killed me.
The music to the third was so annoying I had to turn off the music until the next level.
I found a few very obvious texture misalignments, and I took screenshots of them, but I can't show you them unless I find your email.
I got kinda bored just fighting off monsters stashed everywhere. You need some traps and monster teleports in there.

Overall, I think you should focus more on the style of your first few levels. I also agree about that 'too many doors that wouldn't open' thing. It was pretty good, but eventually degenerated into a moderate annoyance.

Ellmo,Exactly where do u get ur site hosted up from?

EarthQuake said:

I got kinda bored just fighting off monsters stashed everywhere. You need some traps and monster teleports in there.

Thanks. I've just added a few traps here and there, and I'll think a way to avoid those inoperable doors.

ShadowRunner, my website is hosted on polish web portal, so I don't think U'll be interested. On the other hand If you desperately need a host for your website I could arrange that for you and then pass your accound login and password...

It'd be hard to fix them now, so just try to let up on em in the future. You can still try though!

Wh... you mean the doors? No, that won't be a problem. In fact I have some useful ideas on how to achieve that. I think I'll aslo reduce the number of monsters since this is supposed to be first map i new mapset.

yeah that'd be great,although i know nothing of html whatsoever haha.

Okay, updated "Sewage System" is done. I removed some of monsters and made a few traps + monster teleports. There's also one additional secret, and I've reduced the number of non-operable doors.

Could take a quick look at it? It's E1M1 now, not five.

http://doomos.webpark.pl/sewage.zip

if the link doesn't work, go to my homepage

Good demo. I really like e1m1 the best.

.............Why dont the custom textures appear for me in zdoom,they appear as checkers.

U've been using the updated version of "Sewage System" without the DRD_demo.wad;
it's the second file which contains textures, e1m1.wad it's only a map. You have to use them both.

O ok.

I'll look at the updated version a little later tonight.

You can visit WIP, or my homepage for more info on incoming levels. I will not post screenshots here, go to http://doomos.webpark.pl/index.html
Three first screenies come from E1M2... Enjoy.

I cannot get the original demo. Every time I try to download it, I receive an error message. I was able to download the updated demo, though, but it's missing the textures and such. I can't wait to see it, though.

Go to my homepage, you should be able to get whole file with one demo map.

First off Ellmo... KICK ASS map(s)... I really like Sewage System, it has that DooM feel and then some... I just don't know how to get that door leading to the Yellow Key open... I'm using Zdoom v61, is there a switch that I'm supposed to hit that'll make the doors to the Yellow key open up... Again, killer, killer map, but I'm just kinda wondering how to beat it... (get the key, that is..lol).