MAYhem 2018 - Purple Version!

[Catpho]

4 hours ago, Obsidian said:

"text"

Yo sid, i can't record demos with it. Is it because of the white space in the file? Or my Prboom version? (ver 2.5.1.4, 2 key strafe 50 removal)

[Rene Mori]

Alright, it's time to start the party and test these maps right into the oblivion. I really like how all of them are distinctive and having unique personality, it surely makes this set quite diverse.

I will start with the first map: Sugar, Water, Purple by @Pinchy

First I must say, it's one really polished map. Didn't notice any homs, or serious misalignments. Except for couple really small ones:

Spoiler

 

The only problem which I had, were these "windows", you and monsters can actually shoot through these, even though they are pretty solid looking. But maybe author intended it this way, so I'm not sure about this.

Spoiler

Visually wise it's quite beautiful, really consistent. Quite a solid job in that department.

Now, gameplay is something what I can't really judge that much, since I'm not exactly the most qualified person in terms of experience, but I must say I had quite a lot of fun. I really like when maps are quite scarce on ammo, I even had to use my fists at some point. Which leads to me to question the secret with berserk powerup. I feel like it should be given in the beginning, because you can get it almost in the end of the map, where it's quite pointless, unless utilised for health regen of course. But it's more of a personal preference honestly. Also I think you should change this 10 armor secret, by placing blue armor near it somewhere else. I'm fairly certain players would like to save red armor as much as they could, hence that would make this secret really useful. But because there is blue armor, player probably would avoid getting there, because switching red armor to blue armor is kinda a bad move. One again, this is more of a nitpick, it's nothing game breaking. As far as encounters go, I liked pretty much all of them. Though fighting hell knights + grells with shotgun is perhaps too slow in terms of progression, but it didn't bother me that much. So, in overall quite solid map, really liked it. All my complaints are miniscule anyway. Here is my walkthrough from the beginning, you can analyse footage, I guess: (note, I died at 3:27 mark, so you might skip it to this point)

 

Edited September 28, 2018 by BioRenegat

[Benjogami]

I know map slots aren't final, but since mine is 15 it got me thinking: I could add a secret exit very easily, if we want to have secret maps. Might make sense since there are some pretty spicy maps in here. ;)

[WH-Wilou84]

The first map crashes PrBoom 2.5.0 with a "P_LoadSubsectors: no subsectors in level" error message.

[Rene Mori]

Well, I tested this map with prboom+ ver.2.5.4.1 and it works like a charm

[Killer5]

@Obsidian

Updated the original post for Tesseract with an updated version that includes all difficulties fully implemented as well as coop teleporters present.

[rehelekretep]

15 hours ago, WH-Wilou84 said:

The first map crashes PrBoom 2.5.0 with a "P_LoadSubsectors: no subsectors in level" error message.

why are you still using such an outdated prboom? mac user?

[Catpho]

On 6/1/2018 at 3:52 AM, PepsiBepsi said:

 

Name: Failed mining operation

Hi, i checked it out a bit on UV.

 

I took the left route first, and boy that ssg made the map simple to solve, encounters became mostly bullet eaters, although i think you weren't going for anything difficult considering the modest below 100 monster count. Right path gives a bit more excitement, lack of armor makes hitscanners and the tight space a problem until you grab the supplies below. Regardless of the paths, after conquering them the rest of the level is quite trivial. The Caco/grell/bombers release was embarrassing if it was a real encounter, as they are put into position far enough for the player to dispose of them easily (especially the bombers). If it was a joke, its not really effective.

 

As a whole, gameplay was a bit hindered by a rather not so cool layout (some corridors, forced two paths don't add much outside some trial and error). It could make a decent run and gun romp with some more health, ammo supplies and trash monsters spread in a more generous (because only stimpacks lying around, plus hitscanners and layout slows it down a bit), and the final encounter wasn't so bad (actually i think the entire map needs some more flying monsters roaming around, layout could do that well from my assessment, emphasis on "my" however).

 

Visually fine. Quite clean, ok texturing choice (not so keen on some areas being bland, mainly corridor parts). Good looking outside area. The only thing that reminds me of a "mining operation" however is the vague drill structure on the left side.

 

There you have it, my suggestions. It's coming from someone who enjoys a variety of doom styles and likes save scumming (im trying to do it less). I think this has potential to be a nice early map. Would have recorded a demo but can't play it for some reason.

 

Oh, and i can do a quick armor grab here (softens up the right route a lot), achieved by just doing a strafe against the wall with the armor:

Spoiler

 

[PepsiBepsi]

@Catpho

Thanks for the feedback!

The grell/caco/bomber encounter was my biggest concern. I think I might have them teleport into the map rather than have those awkwardly placed doors on the other side of the map lol.

And the name was last minute, so I had to think of something quick to make it look like a mining operation XD. I did throw in a "mine entrance" in the right corner of the map, but its inaccessible, and only visible through 1 window.

But thanks for the suggestions, I'll be sure to make some tweaks.

 

[PepsiBepsi]

I've just made some significant changes to gameplay. I made the left path a bit more dicey. I took out the super shotgun and put a chaingun in it's place. I also added some grells and cacos to the main area in an attempt to keep the player on their toes when traveling from one path to the other. 

 

I took out most of the bullet sponge enemies from the left path, mainly because they were more annoying then challenging, and added some lower level enemies in their place.

 

Ammo is definitely more plentiful after the left path. I did barely anything to the right path since it was fairly ok to start.

 

Hopefully this improves the gameplay a bit. I should have thought out the layout a bit more since it made monster placement rather challenging.

 

As always, I would greatly appreciate any feedback.

updated link:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/d358wv1mmynmum5/PepsiMayhemPurple.wad

[Rene Mori]

Alright, time to give some more feedback.

map02: "Surreality" by @valkiriforce

What can I say, this is quite neat map in overall, really enjoyed it. Definitely would fit right into the "beginning mapset" category. Visually wise it's really nice, didn't notice any misalignments. However there are 2 things which bothered me and you need to fix them (well, first one at least):

First one is hom in this section of this map, which I found with prboom+ (this red rectangle). This is the only one I found within this map, so it's not that much work. 

Spoiler

Second one is kinda debatable, but this room has misaligned textures, the best solution would be just to change size of this room:

Spoiler

Music is great, like this tune, layout of this map is also really well done, I like how despite this being quite compact, there are still different ways and order to beat it. 

Gameplay was pretty good, quite easy, but satisfying. I will say that the only thing which bothered me was this backpack secret. Not only the area is visible within auto-map (I would recommend to fix this), but it's also in plain sight:

Spoiler

I think you should hide it somehow. Like, make this wall higher, so that the way to find this secret is by being observant, since you can see it from outside anyway:

Spoiler

Other than that, can't really complain, really solid job in overall.

Woops, almost forgot that I recorded video, here you go. It's from my first try, didn't die though:

 

map03 - "Tesseract" by @MegaBlast/Killer 

So, I already left feedback to one of the authors in discord (not sure if he read it or not though), so I'm not going to write it here, instead, I will give advise as how to play this map and what to expect. Because of my wrong approach to it, I absolutely hated it in my first full completion of it, but then after returning back with "tuned in" attitude, I had quite a lot of fun with it.

1) If you play on UV, DON'T PLAY WITHOUT SAVES, (the first time at least) that was my grave mistake, the best way to describe this map is "it's really difficult puzzle", You have to tackle each section (there are ~6 of them) individually, before tackling them continuously. You have to develop strategy for each one of them for sure.

2) The reason being is because in this map if you step even one pixel to the wrong side, you are dead. And the best part about is that everything here is intentional. Almost no health regeneration and almost no walls in room with 20 revenants + 2 arch-viles with only ssg? Intentional. No way to return back from falling right into the pit? It's no oversight, it's intentional. Really tight ammo capacity, to the point where you have to land almost every shot perfectly? Well, you probably already guessed it. The point being, it's brutal challenge, but once you overcome it, it feels absolutely amazing to say the least. Well and difficulty wise it definitely should be last/almost last map from this mapset. 

Edited June 7, 2018 by BioRenegat

[Pinchy]

On 6/5/2018 at 6:32 PM, BioRenegat said:

I will start with the first map: Sugar, Water, Purple by @Pinchy

 

~ A little from column sheev, a little from column wheej! ~

 

V0.96

 

- Shuffled the items so the armour is away from the secret 10 bonuses

- Closed the transparent windows, it was an early design I decided not to use anyway, the setting is based on the user as well

- Fixed rock alignments in the last fight

- Super Shotgun raised and lit more to improve visibility (you can get this early)

- Adjusted the start room to prevent corner cheese

- First exit sign removed, real one moved back a bit as I think it can be missed

- Various ammo and health added to balance the start room

Edited June 7, 2018 by Pinchy

[Rene Mori]

Ok, I initially wanted to cover 3 maps, but I will do right now only map05: Vasiliki Thalassa by @Aquila Chrysaetos since much must be said about it.

First of all, my condolences to author, since his hard drive met it's sad demise. That's the ultimate reason, as to why this map needs more work, since it didn't have much feedback and time, but I will say that for what it is it's quite decent map, it just needs more fixes/tweaking. So, here we go:

First, about music. I launched this map to test if it works, and instantly recognised this tune, since it's my favourite one from entire epic 2 megawad. The problem was my soundboards weren't effecting it. Upon futher inspection I found out that it was s3m module format, hense why instruments were predetermined. So what I did for my playthrough was just swapping midi from epic 2. 

This out the way, lets speak about gameplay. There were couple problems with it:

In this area if you fall down right into the pit, you can't get out. Which is weird, since you can do this in every other similar area.

Spoiler

Next will be this encounter. You can actually just rob this poor cyberdemon, without him even noticing anything. He will definitely get his paycheck cut down because of his sloppy work. This needs some sort of fix, which would force you to fight him.

Spoiler

Also, you might already noticed this in these pictures above, but this map is really dark. Giant part of this map has 96 brightness, and I'm going to be honest with you, I had really serious troubles with navigation, since I just couldn't see platforms. 

Also, none of nukage floors have damage % property, which is kinda weird honetsly, because it makes platforming kinda pointless in a way.

My last complaint gameplay wise would be that a lot of areas are empty. There are no enemies, no weapons, no health or armor. Just nothing. I get it that they are like "hub world", but still it feels really empty.

Spoiler

visualy I didn't notice any misalignments, which is great, and I really liked the fact that you can beat this map in many ways, and you will always get different experience, since you will get different weapons/encounters depending on which route you took.

So, I think somebody needs to help to tweak this map, since it has pretty solid premise. Despite all problems it had, I still enjoyed it.

Here is video from my first playthrough, I must warn you, it's painful to watch since I fell down like billion times.

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2018 by BioRenegat

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

Thanks for the thorough review, Bio. I knew I missed a pit you could get softlocked in, but I couldn't remember where.

I'll see what I can do to repair the level, though I'd rather hear a review on the second before I do anything so I only have to fight my machines once instead of twice.

As for the lack of damage, I interpreted that purple water to just be water, so it didn't seem right to make it do damage.

[Rene Mori]

3 minutes ago, Aquila Chrysaetos said:

Thanks for the thorough review, Bio. I knew I missed a pit you could get softlocked in, but I couldn't remember where.

I'll see what I can do to repair the level, though I'd rather hear a review on the second before I do anything so I only have to fight my machines once instead of twice.

As for the lack of damage, I interpreted that purple water to just be water, so it didn't seem right to make it do damage.

Ah, so I presume you have your pc in working condition now? That's good to know. Also, if you need to, I can send you midi of this music, so that people could use different soundboards for it.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

11 minutes ago, BioRenegat said:

Ah, so I presume you have your pc in working condition now?

No, I have to use an older one to do anything. I'm borrowing my mother's laptop for internet use only, so I have to download it here and transfer it to the older laptop (because it can't connect to the internet) using my phone as a medium. The process takes at least an hour to do.

Frankly, I'd rather these two I built had been tossed because between you, myself, the fence post, and everyone on the forum, the two maps I submitted here really suck.

About tweaking our maps, @Obsidian, is there a specific deadline by which I need the maps reposted? Also, is there a specific limit to what I can modify? I'd like to make these two maps a lot better than they are, but that would (I think) require some serious revamping.

[baja blast rd.]

m18-sco-rd-7.zip 

 

Updated version of our map. The version in the compilation is now obsolete, because the end fight is different. Slight changes elsewhere too. Expect a followup with slight tweaks in a day or two as well. See my next post in this thread.

 

HMP is implemented, would highly appreciate feedback on that for those who nope out of UV after some tries.

 

 

Edited June 12, 2018 by rdwpa

[Obsidian]

14 hours ago, Aquila Chrysaetos said:

 

About tweaking our maps, @Obsidian, is there a specific deadline by which I need the maps reposted? Also, is there a specific limit to what I can modify? I'd like to make these two maps a lot better than they are, but that would (I think) require some serious revamping.

 

Ideally I'd like to have things wrapped up by either the end of this month or halfway through the next: hopefully that gives you enough time. As for gameplay alteration, I'd prefer it if you don't go too overboard. Some tweaking is fine, but redesigning encounters completely when you don't need to is somewhat frowned on.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

Adding some light encounters to otherwise empty and brightening the map and a couple other things, then. Maybe a little detailing, too, to make it look less bland. I'll get started after I hear another review of Ultraviolet, then.

[Worm318]

On 6/8/2018 at 1:13 PM, rdwpa said:

m18-sco-rd-7.zip

 

Updated version of our map. The version in the compilation is now obsolete, because the end fight is different. Slight changes elsewhere too. Expect a followup with slight tweaks in a day or two as well. 

 

HMP is implemented, would highly appreciate feedback on that for those who nope out of UV after some tries.

 

 

I did a playthrough of the old version of your map using GZDoom 3.4.0 (Boom (strict) setting), did it in ITYTD tho as UV was kinda outside of my skill level (also I thought it was gonna be longer). I will try to record an HMP run later of the new version.

Liked it a lot, really cool use of the Suicide Bombers to put pressure and draw player atention from other incoming threats in some of the fights. The grells usually were my doom if I didn't cleared enough space due to their damage. I think it's doable for someone better in a blind-run, but less skilled players can definitely beat it by trying different areas and getting more resources after a few tries

Some issues (present in the new version) besides some texture misalignments:

• GZDoom displays "Line 4450 has no first side" on console
• This barrier is passable, I don't think it's intended as there's a teleport to go back

Spoiler

 

• You can break the ambush near the start by "dancing" in the left side of it (in the previous version I could do it in the right side). I also tested this in prboom+
   

Spoiler

Video showing how:

 

 

Edited June 11, 2018 by Worm318 : my english is bad :P

[galileo31dos01]

@Obsidian The last map pack is missing STGNUMX lumps, in the zip file I posted weeks ago there's a file called "STGNUMblank" which is to import in the wad as STGNUM0, STGNUM1, etc, so the hud looks the intended way. Sorry if I didn't explain myself better before.

[baja blast rd.]

m18-sco-rd-8.zip

 

Updated.

 

Includes fixes from Worm318 and BioRenegat (thank you both), including a infinite-height specific logic gate that allows a fight to function properly if infinite height is turned off. 

[valkiriforce]

Well if there's no other feedback here's yet another update to my map Surreality

[Urthar]

A few of these maps were extremely dark in software. (Hurt Me Plenty)

 

FDAs (MAY18_P RC1.wad) MayPurpleFDA.zip

 

  

Edited June 15, 2018 by Urthar

[Swalzi]

5 hours ago, Urthar said:

FDAs

Thanks for giving the mapset a run through! Even if it's FDAs, they are insightful in how a player perceives a new map the first time.

I created map17 and I enjoyed watching the demo. The beginning of the map was somewhat expected. A devious opening but kind of non-stimulating for players if they stay in the tunnel and fight on pistol start. The most effective way to take on the opening encounter is to careen on through the demonic horde, evading between and around them. Leaving most of the opening monsters alive and focus on them later.

It's one those maps that need a bit of foreknowledge on pistol start, particularly the opening encounter.

[tourniquet]

may18_p-07-08_TNq.zip

 

FDA's with saves for both M7 & M8

 

M7: A Damn solid map @AD_79

 

-nice mixture of incidental combat and traps

-encounters swap back and forth between moderate and more challenging stuff altogether a really good balance

-Plasma Marines are utilized in a somewhat bearable manner (i usually despise those bastards)

-loved the RK Cyb trap & followup, probably my favorite part of the map

-early PG trap was fun too

 

Didn't like the Health/Ammo placement on damaging floor in the RK fight. Other then that there's not much that'd come to my mind in terms of critique.

Really enjoyed the map as it was. Good job :)

 

M8: Wasn't able to finish the map @Breezeep Upon opening the RK door one gets greeted by a HOM and can't progress any further.

 

Visually this one's striking just as the previous one however Plasma Marines kinda ruined the fun here tbh. Couldn't find any enjoyment in dealing with multiple of those while only having SG/CG. Later you get a RL but now they're placed in obnoxious sniping spots, sometimes hard to see due to trees. Had to save scumm like crazy to make any progress. RK crusher fight seemed alright but overall i didn't really enjoy this one. sry :(

 

 

[AD_79]

Awesome, thanks tourniquet! I'm waiting on a couple more people to give it a shot, but when that's done I'll dive in and make some changes, as well as add in skill settings, automap cleanup and some other stuff.

[hedgehog]

@Breezeep, because of this post in the I'm Also Looking to Play and Record Your Maps thread

Quote

Same as AD, I haven't gotten any feedback on my map for that set yet, so I'd appreciate if someone were to give it a spin and share their thoughts.

I played your map and jotted down a few notes. I don't know how valuable my feedback will be (I'm better at assessing Quake maps than Doom maps) but maybe it'll be better than nothing -- at least in combination with feedback from other people. I only just noticed that you did get a bit of feedback from @tourniquet above (I only notice the comments on @AD_79's map before), but maybe my thoughts and impressions will be somehow useful too.

 

Played on ITYTD using PrBoom+, from pistol start. This was the first map I have played from this or any Mayhem set, and the non-stock monsters were all new to me. Additional disclaimer: I played this after having slept far too little. I'll hide the rest with a spoiler tag, because of, well, spoilers.
 

Spoiler

Construction looks good and I like the way the map alternates between buildings and natural terrain. The very prominent red accents are pretty, and I suspect they contrast nicely with some of the more predominantly purple maps in the set (but I can't say for certain, as I haven't played any of the others yet).

 

I was stuck for a while at the very beginning, as I could not figure out what the button that lowers the purple key pedestal had done. I had not noticed said pillar initially, and could not figure out what had changed in the map. In addition to my own sleep deprivation, a combination of three other factors may have played a role here:

 

(1) The pillar itself is fairly unobtrusive and grey, and the key is purple, which makes them both potentially blend into the background somewhat -- especially in the heat of combat, when the player's attention is focussed elsewhere. (2) In addition to this, the pillar is not is not positioned directly in a path the player necessarily has to take; or in other words, the player does not have to directly encounter the pillar before finding the button. But more importantly, (3) although the pedestal is quite close to the button, the player has their back turned and their view cut off while pressing the button -- in addition to which the pillar drops down quite quickly. So at best, if the player turns around immediately and knows exactly where to look, they'll catch a glimpse of the last bit of the pedestal disappearing behind the railing -- but what is much more likely is that they'll turn around and the pillar will be gone. And this change in the level might not immediately register if, like me, they failed to notice the pillar in the first place, due to (1) and (2).

 

Ideally, in my opinion, the effect of a button or similar trigger should be immediately visible to the player -- e.g. a button that raises a bridge functions best when it overlooks the bridge. But here I would suggest adjusting the speed at which the pillar lowers (assuming that's doable in Doom; I have no experience with Doom mapping). If it were to drop down much more slowly, the player would see something happening when they turn around after having pressed the button. Seeing the pillar slowly sink down would hopefully draw their attention to it even if they initially missed it -- thus mitigating not only (3), but (1) and (2) as well.

 

 

On a related note: The way the level opens up to reveal the exit is neat. It's a pity, however, that here, too, the button is positioned so that the player does not see the blood drain away. As it stands, the player's view of the pool of blood is completely obscured when the button is pushed, and they actually need to cover a fair distance to be able to see it -- by which time the event is likely to have passed. Although similar to the situation with the purple key, this is not a significant gameplay problem, since the change to the level is drastic enough that it very quickly becomes obvious what happened. It's just somewhat unfortunate that the player doesn't get to fully experience that dramatic moment. Again, maybe it's not a bad idea to slow down the retreat of the blood so as to give the player a chance to see it happening.

 

 

I liked the teleporters that take you back to the beginning of the level, but it was a little odd that just one of the two blocks with buttons on all sides can be activated. Activating that block lowers both of them, whereas the other block does not respond to the use key at all. It would be more intuitive if either both blocks could be lowered by activating either block, or if each block could be lowered separately. As it is, it feels a little arbitrary. It's not a huge problem and maybe it's connected with some restriction of the Doom engine of which I am unaware, but I though I'd point it out.

 

 

Combat was quite hard, and felt more suited to HNTR (or perhaps even HMP) than ITYTD. The arch-vile fights in particular were really tough, given that they're free to roam and resurrect monsters that do a lot of damage very quickly. I understand that it's meant to be a challenging map, but perhaps on ITYTD it would make sense at least to make the fight after the red key grab a little more merciful by spawning one instead of two arch-viles. And perhaps the monster count overall could be ever so slightly reduced, at least on ITYTD.

 

The selection and sequence of weapons provided felt exactly right, but ammo was maybe ever so slightly too tight at the very beginning where you encounter the first arch-vile: I feel like I could have used a few more bullets here. After that, though, the map becomes extremely generous with ammo. One or two more health pickups wouldn't go amiss on ITYTD, however.

 

 

The crusher setup where you pick up the red key is really neat. I always enjoy environmental hazards that can be used to the player's advantage.

 

 

And lastly, I'm always a little disappointed when maps contain waterfalls that are solid and purely decorative -- so thanks for delivering here. :)

 

 

[hedgehog]

@Breezeep I had another quick look at the map with -nomonsters, and noticed the difference in the way the red key and purple key pillars are textured. I didn't want to suggest any aesthetic changes before, but maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to replace the pk pillar's current grey texture with something similar to that of the rk pillar (though obviously with purple instead of red, but preferably a relatively vibrant shade of purple -- if possible within the guidelines of the project). That might make it pop a bit more and blend into the background less. Plus it'd make for a bit more thematic consistency.

[baja blast rd.]

A casual playthrough for AD's map.

 

may1807_rd_cpt.zip

 

Favorite fights are the RK fight (pretty fun to weave through all the revs/missiles by shooting low-tiers), the drop-down fight right after that, and the cyb fight. The lead-up to these parts is good too. 

 

At that point, the map feels like it should either end soon (with the purple key being the exit door, and stuff after that cut), or for the existing progression, every fight after those closet fights being fleshed out a bit more. Because it feels like those are mostly there to justify the layout continuing past that point. One secret felt like a low number for a map (by 1 or 2) of this size. In the fight after the cyb fight, the pillars that raise up mostly get in the way of killing stuff (since it's easy to just retreat into the cyb area anyway). Maybe those could raise when the player hits the switch there.