Spiderfight! Very short single level WAD

[Nootrac4571]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e3emdv53wyfo3xe/spiderfight.wad?dl=0

 

Inspired by (or maybe rather, in spite of) this thread: 

 

I had a quick go at making a standalone boss level using the normal unmodified Spider Mastermind. There's a bit of a gimmick to it which I think is kinda interesting? It's a bit of a brain-fart; I only spent a couple of hours bashing this out this evening, so it's not super well tested or anything, and I suspect it's probably awful and no fun at all. But I thought I'd share it anyway for feedback since I'm convinced there's the potential for something good here.

 

WAD info:

 

Requires Doom2.WAD. Replaces Map01.

Needs a Boom compatible source port (uses generalised actions, because I couldn't get enemy hitscanners to trigger either of the "G1:floor moves" actions.)

 

Tested with PRBoom+ and GZDoom.

 

Difficulty levels are supported, although the difference is purely the amount of health you're given.

 

Screenshots:

[galileo31dos01]

Cool gimmick, solid execution. Here's a "successful" attempt with an unexpected non-stun-lock: 

 

spiderUV_01.zip

[Obsidian]

I dig it! It's a solid concept that can be built on rather easily and I wouldn't mind seeing this in a fleshed out project.

[Fonze]

Really cool idea and good execution for a small vignette; was fun to play!

Spoiler

I also like how this relatively simple set up encourages prioritizing the use of guns for the specific tasks required (ssg for pain state on MM and rockets for revs while behind cover) to preserve cover. 

 

I'll echo sid here and say I'd also love to see more of this and other fun encounter ideas bonking their way around in your head ;D

[Nootrac4571]

22 hours ago, galileo31dos01 said:

Here's a "successful" attempt with an unexpected non-stun-lock: 

 

Man, I love watching other people play my levels. Good work - although it illustrates one of the problems, that it's maybe a bit too random. If you don't get the stunlock and she decides to shoot you while you've got no cover, then there's not much you can do about it.

 

21 hours ago, Fonze said:

I also like how this relatively simple set up encourages prioritizing the use of guns for the specific tasks required

 

Thanks! That's something I hoped would work. The plan was that players would assume the RL is meant for the boss, and the SSG for the revs, and have an "aha!" moment when they realised the opposite was true. Then I chickened out and added a CG - an adequate weapon for both - just in case they somehow ran out of ammo. It's probably unnecessary.

 

22 hours ago, Obsidian said:

I wouldn't mind seeing this in a fleshed out project.

 

Me too, although the problem is, just like E3M8, that it only really works from a pistol start - coming into the level with a bunch of ammo or anything stronger than a RL would totally break it, so it can't really work as the end of a larger mapset or anything.

 

Although maybe a WAD of just creative Spider Mastermind boss levels - with forced pistol start every map - would be fun? Or really tedious. One of those.

[HAK3180]

8 minutes ago, Nootrac4571 said:

...the problem is, just like E3M8, that it only really works from a pistol start - coming into the level with a bunch of ammo or anything stronger than a RL would totally break it, so it can't really work as the end of a larger mapset or anything.

 

Although maybe a WAD of just creative Spider Mastermind boss levels - with forced pistol start every map - would be fun? Or really tedious. One of those.

People are used to pistol starting maps in a set if they are told to do so, which something like a text file can be used to indicate. Then, if they don't, it's their problem, not yours. In fact, it seems to me that larger sets more often expect pistol starts for every map than continuous play, even if they do force the issue after an episode or something.

[rdwpa]

I'm not sure what the nuances were meant to be as one can just do what I do in the video below, and when playing the encounter a variety of ways to try to better understand it, I didn't run into any problems at all. The mechanical demands of the encounter (basically 'what you do' while it is happening) are also not very interesting. 

But the mechanic is really cool, and can be repurposed for other types of encounters. A variation I'd enjoy is 3x more of those cover sections, and equidistant gaps between all, but also a 'real fight' taking place on the exterior instead of just those four revs. The idea would be to fight those monsters while also having to hide consistently from the MM -- i.e. to prevent it from firing and eroding the cover and making hiding from it even tougher, etc. You'd want to use mostly low-tiers as roamers, and restrict mid-tiers to positions where they can't easily hit the MM. 

 

Also, I think your assumptions about players' intuitions won't hold. That bosses are immune to splash damage looms large in people's minds, and will tend to make people much less inclined to use the rocket launcher against cybs/MMs when given another viable choice.  

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited December 6, 2018 by rdwpa

[Nootrac4571]

2 minutes ago, rdwpa said:

A variation I'd enjoy is 3x more of those cover sections, and equidistant gaps between all, but also a 'real fight' taking place on the exterior instead of just those four revs. The idea would be to fight those monsters while also having to hide properly from the MM -- i.e. to prevent it from firing and eroding the cover. 

 

That's... a really great suggestion. I bashed this level out really quickly as a proof-of-concept, but that sounds like a much better extrapolation of the core idea. Thanks!

[Walter confetti]

Pretty lovely map!