[Leaving the forum, so no more updates] Necro Mortalis - 18 Maps for Doom 2 - Coming soon!

[Zediru]

Hello, this is my first post here. I'm Zediru, but you can call me Zed, Sed, or Alex. I am working on a set of maps for Doom 2. I don't have anything playable just yet, but I wanted to put this out there anyway. I will do a quick summary of some basic details about the project, then I will explain some things about it in more detail, and I will finish with about a dozen screenshots. Unfortunately no single map is yet complete, but I will have one or two playable teaser maps in a month or less.

 

Name: Necro Mortalis

Map Format: Doom

Ports Tested: GZDoom

IWAD: Doom 2

Maps: MAP01-MAP18

Gameplay: Singeplayer only

Difficulty Settings: TBD (explained below) 

Build Time: Hundreds of hours, and counting

Textures: Mostly Doom 2 (explained below)

Music: TBD (explained below)

 

Necro Mortalis a PWAD for Doom 2, and is meant to feel like the old game. The maps are organized into three episodes, with six maps per episode. I have spent (and will continue to spend) a lot of time making sure each episode has certain themes and motifs that distinguish it from the others, without breaking the overarching theme that holds everything together. The same is true for each individual map and its relation to the episode that contains it. I've played many WADs which are advertised as one big idea, but which in fact are a long and disjointed sequence of great but inconsistent ideas. I hope to avoid this pitfall.

 

Now some brief comments on Textures, Music, and Difficulty. The only new textures will be things like lights and a couple liquids, which Doom 2 was lacking. I might put together some new switch textures made from existing Doom 2 patches. I am writing music for each map, all MIDI. Each episode has its own musical theme. For example, episode one is various genres of heavy metal, and episode two is dark/spooky/haunted stuff that doesn't belong to any music genre that I can think of. I am hoping to get some feedback about the music when I am able to release some playable teaser maps, because if people don't like it then I'm willing to scrap it in favor of music from the original game. In either case I will release my music separately for anyone who might like to listen to it, or use it in their own project. As for difficulty, the maps in my WAD won't be easy but they will be fair and enjoyable. And I never leave the player without any idea where to go; you should always be aware of at least one unexplored path. There won't be multiple difficulty settings at first, but I hope to eventually implement this after initial release.

 

I plan to finish and release episodes 1 and 2 together, THEN finish and release 3 as an update. I am also working on a bonus fourth episode, but I am likely going to expand that into its own separate project.

 

Now for the screenshots, which are in no particular order. I wasn't really sure what my screenshots ought to include, since pictures don't convey what it will be like to actually play the game, so I picked some places that look kind of nice, I guess. Even so, there are some obvious issues like texture misalignment, bad texture choice, and boring lighting in some of the screenshots. This will all be addressed by the time I release anything, but feel free to call attention to it anyway. EDIT: I just noticed some of the screenshots have text at the top, oh well.

 

Spoiler

Edited January 26, 2019 by Zediru : title change

[elend]

Looking good so far! Keep it up and welcome to DW!

[hella knight]

Well you've given yourself a bit to live up to here, good luck with it.

How long have you been working on it for? What's your history with Doom? When and why did you start playing? What got you into mapping? Would you like to link to some of your other music? What are some of your favorite wads?

Thanks.

[Zediru]

On 1/8/2019 at 10:16 PM, hella knight said:

Well you've given yourself a bit to live up to here, good luck with it.

How long have you been working on it for? What's your history with Doom? When and why did you start playing? What got you into mapping? Would you like to link to some of your other music? What are some of your favorite wads?

Thanks.

I apologize if I came off too strong in my original post. My purpose was only to get straight to the point, and to convey that I take this work very seriously.

 

I've been playing Doom since I was a small child, basically when it was first released. Not just Doom, but a lot of the classic FPS: Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Unreal, Serious Sam.

 

Before going on, I want to be clear: I have not released anything to this date, so if that makes you skeptical then I understand. You'll just have to wait a bit longer and then my work will speak for itself.

 

My first exposure to video game level design, not counting imaginative drawings of generic "levels" as a child, was with UnrealEd for Unreal Tournament 1999. I was a young teenager just messing around trying to put the worlds I could see with my mind's eye into the computer. But I never made anything worth talking about. Looking back, UnrealEd was way too advanced for me to handle at the time.

 

Since then (about 10 years), I've toyed around with level editors for various games like Battlefield 2, Serious Sam 1 & 2, UT2003, and now Doom. I found Doom Builder about 5 years ago, and it really clicked for me, perhaps BECAUSE of it's inherent limitations. In the past 5 years I've probably started, made progress on, and then scrapped, a few dozen maps and projects. Each time, I hit some critical obstacle that made it near impossible for me to continue. You know when you're making something and after a while you realize that it's just simply NOT turning out well. 

 

I've been working on this particular project since last December (just over a year), and I feel that this time I have a handle on things. I'm able to recognize the creative pitfalls that have trapped me before, and avoid them. I have a fuller vision of what I want to make, as well as what can actually be made with the tools I have.

 

As for what other WADs I've played, here are some that jump out at me when I think back on my childhood: Dark Covenant, Raven, Thud, and of course Plutonia and TNT. There are many more that I can remember bits and pieces of but can't remember the name.

 

More recently I've played and enjoyed Urania (oh my god I love Urania), The Ultimate Torment and Torture, Deathless, the Community Chests, Freedoom, Memento Mori 1 and 2, and Scythe 1 & 2. I'm probably forgetting a lot.

 

 

Edited January 11, 2019 by Zediru

[Zediru]

On 1/8/2019 at 10:16 PM, hella knight said:

Well you've given yourself a bit to live up to here, good luck with it.

How long have you been working on it for? What's your history with Doom? When and why did you start playing? What got you into mapping? Would you like to link to some of your other music? What are some of your favorite wads?

Thanks.

Here is a sample of some music. This in particular is NOT intended for Necro Mortalis, but it's at least evidence of some musical competence.

 

 

[hella knight]

No, I appreciate the confidence in your work. It is just surprising see someone break into the scene like this so I was curious. I didn't mean to sound too interrogative either, just getting straight to the point myself. I like to hear from the people behind the maps (I've listened to all the Doom podcasts and interviews I can find) so thank you for answering all my questions so well!

Thanks for the song too, looking forward to the OST.