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joepallai

AshDream (2nd map in WIP)

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Hipsters these days making me go without a SSG... this map better be worth it Joseph! (although it's safe to assume it will be)

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I never got back to you with more feedback about this map when you sent a WIP months ago D: so sorry about that joe. glad to see the map is finished now though, looks awesome! gonna give this a whirl and leave some feedback here in place of the feedback I never gave before heeeh

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@Tango   It's cool; I think all I really was looking for was someone to repeatedly break the map.    Please leave feedback whether positive or negative;  it'll be used to finalize this map for AshDreams.

 

@Memphis    Yep, everything in AshDreams is going to use the same theme that was present in Dementia (E4M6).   Though this map is shorter in length (I consider this a medium size map for the project).

 

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Actually I dunno this one is driving me nuts, I finally had a foothold on the 4th try (weapon, health, ammo, and armor famine) and then you kill the player with a self telefrag? :-(

 

edit: video evidence of my fail

 

Edited by Vorpal

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Yeah that was one of the ideas I was worried about.   I  thought the trap was well sign-posted; but it does occurs halfway through the level so it probably is not my best idea.   

 

Thanks for the video,  I'll change a few things and re-upload by Saturday.

Edited by joepallai

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I just got through playing.

Overall pretty good map with no major flaws I could think of. My only complaint is the death teleporter but that is only a minor complaint. I would telegraph it better by having some blood wall textures on it in addition to what is currently present. I definitely will play the other maps when they get released.

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Some blood or whatever in front of a teleporter usually means nothing other than decoration spam, at worst it communicates "this will be dangerous". Outright killing the player for taking a teleporter has no gameplay value and doesn't teach a lesson (teleporters are still necessary elsewhere in the map). Well, I suppose it teaches the player that they should be savescumming.

 

If it was part of some puzzle, with some poetry about death written on the wall, and a selection of teleporters and some clues as to the "safe" one(s), that'd probably be kinda cool... but would still piss me off haha.

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12 hours ago, joepallai said:

Yeah that was one of the ideas I was worried about.   I  thought the trap was well sign-posted; but it does occurs halfway through the level so it probably is not my best idea.

At least the trap wasn't at the end of the level. That would've been cruel. I see what you mean about the dead body and the gore on the teleport pad, but when I see that it doesn't necessarily trigger the thought in my head, "Oh, I'm going to telefrag myself if I step on this." Especially since it seems to be in the general flow of the level.

 

Anyway, about the map. In my opinion, it's a pretty good map.

 

It seems focused on exploration more than combat, which is nice. There are still monsters around to keep things interesting, but you never seem to be swarmed in an unmanageable way. There is not an overly abundant amount of ammo, but you don't seem to be aiming for ammo starvation, either. Perhaps if you added more monsters, the level would feel more starve-y. There seem to be a reasonable number of medi-kits and stimpacks, and they're located decently well. There are some puzzle-y aspects to the map, too, although nothing too intense.

 

I liked the inverted cross cutouts in front of the demonic church with the fire background and the hanging corpses inside them, shrouded by darkness. The lost souls in those alcoves were a nice touch. Although, it seems that there should've been more monsters in the church area; it seemed rather empty.

I liked the blue torches outside the blue locked door.

I think the default Episode 4 sky works very well with this map.

 

Like I said, I liked the map. If you're looking for slaughter, look elsewhere. But if you want a decent map with a variety of aspects and a mix of combat and exploration, this may be for you.

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39 minutes ago, Vorpal said:

If it was part of some puzzle, with some poetry about death written on the wall, and a selection of teleporters and some clues as to the "safe" one(s), that'd probably be kinda cool... but would still piss me off haha.

If you used a different texture for the "suicide" teleporter, and you had an example earlier in the map to teach the player, that might work.

 

For example, you choose a texture that you plan to use for the telefrag trap pad. Differentiate it from "normal" teleport pads. Surround it by a small pool of blood or a ring of fire or make it flash noticeably, just something to make it look different than the others in the level. Early in the level, have the player encounter this type of teleporter. Have a monster walk onto the pad and telefrag itself. Voila, you've just taught the player that this obviously different-looking teleport pad is a bad thing and you shouldn't step on it. Then, later, when the player encounters this teleporter again, if they step on it and die, then it's not on you for being a dick, it's on the player for not learning the lesson you tried to teach.

 

In fact, you could set up a puzzle later on with two teleporters, one a "normal" teleporter and one a "suicide" teleporter. Again, make the suicide teleporter the type you've taught the player is bad. Then, they just have to remember which is the bad pad and not step on it.

 

If, in another map in the set, you want to use that teleport configuration and not have it kill you, do the same type of thing in reverse. Teach the player that that type of pad is now OK by having a monster step onto one and not instantly die.

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Ok so after the player has been taught what a "suicide" teleporter looks like, what gameplay value / purpose is there to putting further ones in the map?

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Thanks Classicgamer6 and Pegleg for the reviews, glad you liked it.

 

I am rethinking the death trap teleport, I could tie it into the yellow key secrets and use it to transport the player to a better vantage point after the blue key.  That was an earlier idea I had but never used; maybe save the death trap for another (shorter map) and tie it into a gameplay reward.

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3 hours ago, Vorpal said:

Ok so after the player has been taught what a "suicide" teleporter looks like, what gameplay value / purpose is there to putting further ones in the map?

You could argue that a suicide teleporter, by itself, serves little gameplay value/purpose to begin with. I figured if you wanted to incorporate it into a sort of puzzle (sort of like you mentioned), then the fact that you showed the player what it looks like at least tells you which one you shouldn't take. Otherwise, I think you have to do something more, like your poetry about death or something like that.

 

Besides, what is the value of showing the player one if you're never going to put that knowledge to use?

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2 minutes ago, Pegleg said:

Besides, what is the value of showing the player one if you're never going to put that knowledge to use?

 

There is zero gameplay value in a suicide teleporter, even in my "borderline tolerable" scenario involving a puzzle, is my argument.

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It's hard for me to make videos but I made a demo, maybe it will be interesting. Attaching to this post. Thankfully I've read about the death trap so I knew what to watch out for.

 

The map was very adventurous. I love how the outdoors become darker as you progress: it's a very effective way to add some atmosphere. Now all it needs is a kickass pcorf midi and you'll have a complete package. :)

 

Most of the secrets seemed pretty easy to find but honestly, that's how I like it. I'm yet to solve the mystery of the yellow key though... The gameplay also seemed rather relaxing, perhaps some more shotgunners wouldn't hurt. But then again this is only the first level.

JPAsh001_41_mem_FDA.zip

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Memfis, thank you for the demo and review!   Very interesting to watch and I caught a texture misalignment in the library by watching so I'll fix that.

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I've updated this with a tweak to monsters (some shotgunners added per Memphis' suggestion in addition to some other changes), item placement and a new modified texture (that will probably get overhauled again as I gain skill in texture editing).  The death trap has been removed, though it is still highly dangerous.  

 

I might have gone to the other extreme with the difficulty with all of these changes...hard to say.  Enjoy,

Joe

 

Edited by joepallai : removed older version

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finally following up on my promise from like a year ago! gave the latest version a whirl, and quite enjoyed it. doom 1 gameplay is generally not my cup of tea, but I did really like this. I've probably mentioned some of this stuff before, but the scale of everything is really lovely. the vastness of the mastermind plains, contrasted with the crampedness of some of the interior areas, made for a really great atmosphere.

 

I played with a very vanilla-ish gameplay mod, so my experience should be pretty parallel to anyone playing vanilla/modless.

 

some specific notes:

 

  • I feel like some areas could possibly benefit from some more lighting contrast, especially the indoor areas. maybe it's because I'm playing in GZDoom or because of my lighting mode in GZ though
  • really enjoy the lack of health actually. works well for me against doom 1's limited bestiary. [I wrote this note early on in my playthrough; felt like there was a lot more health as the map went on. maybe some of the later medkits on UV could afford to be stims instead?]
  • I'm debating whether I feel the crusher squares in the southeast could use a visual hint about which squares are crushers or not. it looks like the square you activate the crushers from is one that is not a crusher, so maybe that does suffice for me actually
  • felt like some parts could use a bit less health on UV even. the far southeast, separated area for example, has two medkits near the top teleporter, which felt like overkill maybe
  • really like the dark south courtyard
  • after getting the YK (devilish hiding spot btw) and coming back up into the outdoor area with the BK, really liked that moment. felt cool to emerge up those steps after wandering around inside for so long
  • really enjoyed the mastermind encounters, to my surprise, as I usually don't like that monster. I was able to herd demons and cause infighting so that they took down a huge chunk of both mastermind's hp for me. not sure if that was your intent, but I liked it a lot :D
  • is the blue key door supposed to be upper unpegged?
  • took about 22 mins for a playthrough. I got the YK secret but still missed about ~30 monsters? only 4/11 secrets though, so I'm guessing the rest of the secrets is where most of those monsters come from
  • I would even maybe say that, on UV at least, some of the interior areas could use some more shotgunners or imps sprinkled in them (which might better justify leaving the amount of health as it is on UV). maybe an additional dozen or two monsters all said? I dunno though
  • I wasn't sure which texture was the newest one, but I did like all the non-stock textures I saw

 

lovely map :D

 

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@Tango   Thank you so much for the detailed response and feedback!   Really glad the spidermasterminds worked as well as they did, I find spidermasterminds to be one of the hardest monsters to use effectively.   (and it was my intent to herd some of the demons against them so I could run away and snipe from a distance).

 

I'll re-examine the health situation in the SE separated area and elsewhere; also will consider adding more imps and shotgunners (don't want to add to many sources of ammo however).   Also the lighting contrast in at least one area (SE Marbfac2 sector to better signify its purpose) (maybe in the area near the first red key switch as well, that always seemed off/could be better).  Was also thinking of adding brighter sector lighting in the NE caged ledges as they aren't terribly visible .

 

thanks for pointing out the screwed up alignments on the doors to the blue tower (both are off).   I'll take care of that during Christmas vacation.   

 

Lots to think about...once again thanks for the feedback.  Joe

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Some screenshots from E4M5 which is closest to being completed (a relative term here as it will be a while before I complete this).

 

Weird Machinery

AshdreamE4M5a.png.161333674188512cbf8e9446c2b0a865.png

 

A familiar omen

AshdreamE4M5b.png.ff0ae621dd9fba5b8dd6d5fa0f57d68f.png

 

A humble start

AshdreamE4M5c.png.132dcf6020188529a895a7abd5c082ba.png

 

Large open spaces

AshdreamE4M5d.png.167e3543fbcbf89693e6b24332e6d194.png

 

And dimly lit halls

AshdreamE4M5e.png.68026fe17556b8076cb8b1bb5ede9fce.png

AshdreamE4M5f.png

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Was trying to find an earlier version of E4M5 on my dropbox account and found this early in-development shot of E4M1 in the editor.  Ahh memories....

 

612443486_2017-05-21(1).png.b8cdf6af404a4311dab92b80db457161.png

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gotta love Doombuilder's 3D mode--this broken window was a texture alignment nightmare using Wadauthor...

 

 

2000767589_texturealignmentnightmare.png.c26f556aac11f3db7eaedf5f7ba7065f.png

 

work on E4M5 is sporadic right now, but moving in a good direction as I'm reworking everything that wasn't working for me previously.   No deadline for this one (I started it almost 20 years ago, it can wait).  Also found my original sketch for this level: 

 

 

 

1270484687_2001-jpe4m5(early).jpg.e4484b971121d87a78586adb834cde05.jpg

 

Also started reworking parts of Dementia which is getting moved to the end of the episode (most likely E4M8 but may end up in E4M7).   Map shot of changes there:

 

 

 

E4M8rework.png.a8c41d104e03a8239461dc86be6fe086.png

 

 

 

Edited by joepallai : pictures

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found the only early development shots of "Parechesis" on my old imgur account.  

 

 

ashdream-E4m1-inprogress-25.png.9513d5c08623d59f959517fe313c84a8.png

 

 

Ashdream-E4-M1-New-East.png.c9fd400761fdcf6dcf3ebb19546506b9.png

 

Ashdream-E4-M1-New-25.png.92e33357b35aec4e68f136bd1a86abd9.png

 

 

Currently working on E4m5 (needs a name) planning textures to add and have finally figured out a decent connection in the area below.  I can tie that in with the area to the west using that metal wall idea that's lost in an older version of this map on a different computer.   It's only taken 2 years to figure this out...sometimes it's right in front of you the whole time.... 

AshDe4m50013.png.9cee56293778e143c731647c54e1e200.png

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Found my earliest sketch for E4M5 back when it was to be part of 2002ADO. (Had too many projects going and I'm a slow mapper so my slot was given up so I could focus on E4M6)

 

 

 

202610940_2001-jpe4m5initialsketch.jpg.67209966db9959486fbd93f905e309aa.jpg

 

Amazing how little actually transfers from the paper to the map; basically only the initial courtyard and the teleporter made it.  

 

 

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A mostly useless update here.    I found my initial sketch for Parechesis.    Some of the design ideas end up being laughable.....one caco, what was I thinking....

 

 

 

PUREDOOM-Map-idea-02.jpg

 

 

Here's where I've left off on E4M5 while working through a different map.   Includes most recent thoughts/ideas on map.   

 

E4-M5current-ideas.png

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