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DaemonHeadGames

Atomic Bath (First Map Release)

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Hey. I just made a first map!

I've been a long-time general game dev, but I never took the time to really release anything when I made Doom wads. After finding myself with a lot of spare time suddenly, I decided to sit down with DoomBuilder and take a crack at actually completing something for Doom. Specifically Doom 1.

 

This replaces E1M1 for Doom and is meant as a self-contained single level. My goal was to stay strict to the Doom engine and level design guidelines of original Doom.

 

Tested thoroughly in all difficulties (except Nightmare). UV should be resource-tight, but doable.

 

I'm considering this a late beta release for now, because I'd really like feedback before calling it done. There's a known bug that's keeping this map from working in Chocolate Doom (GZDoom works as intended, Zandronum untested). Any feedback would be much appreciated, especially call outs of texture alignment problems and help on how to fix a broken floor so that it'll work in vanilla Doom.

 

bAF7pM6.png

 

 

UFNE0y2.png

 

 

v09vmdQ.png

 

 

oTStmDw.png

 

Imgur gallery:

https://imgur.com/a/mwgrtZu

 

Additional Download link:

https://davidsheadgames.itch.io/atomic-bath

 

Have fun! (Replaces E1M1 in Ultimate Doom. Recommended for GZDoom with Doom.wad)

 

atomic_bath_release.zip

Edited by DaemonHeadGames : Updates to text

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small nitpick: i had to resort to checking the map to find out what i have to do in the first slime corridor. when you arrive there, you have almost fully charged envirosuit, so there is no reason to take another one. and there is no indication that i actually *have* to take it to proceed. also, it feels like a waste. maybe put a button there, and move the suit out of the way?

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I love UDoom maps, so I went ahead and played it.

 

First things first.

 

The texture only used in one map! I have no problem with it being here, I just get giddy every time I see it.

 

e9iynta.png

 

It was a nice ~10 minute romp around a loopy tech base - Very E1 vibe. The rest of my time was spent trying to max the map - That blue armor behind the door was my bane :(.

 

In terms of ammo, definitely had enough - I didn't get the plasma gun till after I'd killed everything though :(

 

W1WNxLJ.png

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I recorded my first attempt. It was a hard map. I nearly died and I didnt find all the secrets. Nice architecture;

 

 

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17 hours ago, ketmar said:

small nitpick: i had to resort to checking the map to find out what i have to do in the first slime corridor. when you arrive there, you have almost fully charged envirosuit, so there is no reason to take another one. and there is no indication that i actually *have* to take it to proceed. also, it feels like a waste. maybe put a button there, and move the suit out of the way?

 

I can look into what I can do. I wanted to keep the sinking platform like a surprise, but I get the logic of not needing to grab a radiation suit. I might try removing and replacing it with some other pickup and see if the player has enough time to just get to the end. It's fairly short. Thanks for the feedback!

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48 minutes ago, DaemonHeadGames said:

I wanted to keep the sinking platform like a surprise

oh, i see.

 

51 minutes ago, DaemonHeadGames said:

I might try removing and replacing it with some other pickup

put some health bottles there, it always works. nobody can resist the temptation to grab them! ;-)

 

also, linedef #1709 overlaps with linedef #1710. not a big problem, but still a bug. ;-)

 

p.s.: i like how the geometry looks at automap!

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Hey! Just played through this map, and I really liked it. It's definitely got that classic Doom feel which I love. The architecture is really nice in this level, and I love how interconnected everything is! Overall really fun map and I hope you make more in the future.

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Played your map


i have only one thing to say...
This is a great map and highly recommended to play through

 

Here is my gameplay video

 

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Thank you all for playtesting my level so far! I've taken all of your feedback and issues caught in the footage and patched fixes into the next version of the map (linked above as build 2). I feel very good about this being close to the final version of this level, but feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

The small patch list:

-Fixed Texture alignment issues in the beginning areas.

-Moved baron placement in the final stages of the maps.

-Spruced up haz suit pickup areas.

-Added detail to certain rooms for flair.

-Cleaned up sector errors and accidental debug linedefs.

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Yeah, this was a pretty solid map. You certainly like switches! I like how it has a strong sense of theme (like some kind of nukage processing facility), and everything's tightly woven, like the room with the slender crushers, which you later can see from above. I liked one of the darker areas, wending through pillars in the nukage with lost souls around, like they've been trapped there, or even spawned by all the muck. I realized the biosuits create pressure on the player to press forward (before it expires), which was a good motivation since I usually take my time and carefully/efficiently pick my way through enemies. Heretic/Hexen don't have any item like that so this is distinctively a Doom thing, put to good use here. I like the biosuit lockers near the beginning; one of several things that make it feel like a functional building.

 

The irregularly-shaped lifts felt a bit out of place, and I noticed a lot of them don't do what one would expect; like, press a switch to raise/lower this lift and it instead opens a side room with an enemy inside. The very beginning is kind of a coin toss (find dry land and it reveals shotgunners before you're in a position to deal with them), but once you get a shotgun and some cover, things get underway properly.

 

Overall, a pretty dang good map. 👍🏻

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Pretty good level my man, not a whole lot of complaints on my part. Structure was odd in a nice way, I like the irregularities of the geometry, and the whole thing was tightly packed in, not a whole lot of blank space left over. Secrets were good, not too easy, not too hard. You also set up the damaging floors (mostly) so that you can beat the whole level without taking any environmental damage, which is something I always like to see.

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Played it on UV and died once (couldn't resist shooting an oil barrel to take out that first imp, and took myself out in the process....). Got 98% kills, didn't have enough ammo to finish off the final Baron. The Berserk pack seemed to come along very late in the proceedings - could have done with it a bit earlier considering there are so many pink demons and Lost Souls in the map. Only found 2/10 secrets, that probably explains my ammo issues. An entertaining 10-15 minutes however.

 

Edited by Summer Deep

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This is a very well made map! Nonlinear, lot's of hidden secrets and mechanics. Enjoyed the elevator part and the hidden switches. Wasn't too hard, wasn't too easy, very well balanced.

 

Design: 4/5

Gameplay: 5/5

 

Great job and keep it up!

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I've just made final edits to this version of the map, based on local feedback (much appreciated!). I've also made a page for it on itch.io for my own self-promotion.

 

However, what are the best places to upload a finished wad so that it's more readily available to people who are interested? I'm kind of new to the whole process.

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