[FINAL RELEASE] Refracted Reality

[ate0ate]

I gotta say, I loved the little secondary ambush after dillydallying too long on the elevator and having to ride it up again. I had just enough time to think, "hey I wonder if they actually thought about this and are gonna throw more mons... (teleport sound)  ...Yup they did!" Its the attention to detail like that that really makes the maps in this wad stand for me thus far. Not to mention the incredible atmosphere.

[leodoom85]

@MaishyN @ate0ate

That issue will be fixed today as soon as I'm free from work. About the yellow arena, if I make it harder, other people will complain and ask to make it easier or to stay the fights as it is. Maybe the sole addition of another vile, and just that vile, can make the fight spicier

[leodoom85]

22 hours ago, MaishyN said:

The yellow switch teleport could be repeatable. First time I got teleported next to the room with archvile it started going the other way and I ended teleporting to the starting area again and I had to go back through a part of a map.

About that, it won't be possible, because it's using a script that does several actions at once.....including that can spawn an archie......

If I set that as repeatable, it will lead to disaster.

[General Rainbow Bacon]

4 minutes ago, leodoom85 said:

If I set that as repeatable, it will lead to disaster.

That's fine.  Most things in this game lead to disaster.  We're used to it.

[Nine Inch Heels]

14 hours ago, leodoom85 said:

About that, it won't be possible, because it's using a script that does several actions at once.....including that can spawn an archie......

If I set that as repeatable, it will lead to disaster.

Just add a few lines of ACS to the switch that also opens a teleport cubby or whatever (or just anything else so players don't need to work that switch a second time) and then you can make the switch useable only once and it'll be fine.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Nine Inch Heels

[Aurelius]

@leodoom85 Like NIH said, it would most likely make more sense to have a yellow switch open a teleporter, so that the switch itself does all the transformative actions that you only want to happen once, while the teleporter is just that, a teleporter. However, if you necessarily want to have the switch teleport you, I made some modifications to your "exit" script which will make only the teleport part repeat, and not the rest of it.
 

Spoiler

//EXIT!!!

bool exit = FALSE;

script "exit" (void)
{
    Teleport(0,11,0);
    if(exit == FALSE)
    {
        exit = TRUE;
        Delay(1);
        Pillar_Open(98,16,16,16);
        Door_Open(400,16,0);
        Thing_Activate(48);
        Ceiling_RaiseByValue(401,20,96);
        Thing_SpawnFacing(25,111,1,0);
    }
}

 

[Gez]

8 hours ago, leodoom85 said:

About that, it won't be possible, because it's using a script that does several actions at once.....including that can spawn an archie......

You can have the switch's script change the action of the switch, so that the first time it does all that stuff and the next times it just teleports.

[leodoom85]

13 hours ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

Just add a few lines of ACS to the switch that also opens a teleport cubby or whatever (or just anything else so players don't need to work that switch a second time) and you then you can make the switch useable only once and it'll be fine.

Making another teleporter should be the easiest way....so yea. I'll do that.

[Austinado]

Yeah so, i´ve been streaming this today...finished about 4 maps...and just to tell you guys, you have my vote for CacoWards...amazing Job. Having fun...and im completely mesmerized! 

Cheers!

 

[pagb]

Spoiler

Huh? This MAP02 was a drag though. 13 to go... Beautiful stuff!

[Mr. Meanor]

OMG I HAVE BEEN WAITING 84 LONG YEARS FOR THIS ONE.

This is kinda like a bucket list wad for me. I have soooooo anticipated this, and yes, I will do it live AFTER my playthrough of Lost Civilization. 

I've always wanted a chromatically colored wad, and here it is.

Will let you guys know when I get ready to play this beast.

STAY TUNED.

[printz]

Any plans to push this to /idgames?

[Decay]

Probably when it's a final release?

 

It's been interesting watching streamers play through the maps. I've never been one to watch streams, but it has been enlightening to see how people play the maps and finding little things to improve them. Many thanks to those taking the time to do this!

[Austinado]

 

[Joshy]

I played through this in the past few days using GZdoom 4.3.2, on UV, save/load. Good job guys! The overall atmosphere is quite palpable with great mixture of colours, dynamic lighting, and music, all working very well together. Gameplay was generally good, sometimes it felt 'unoptimised' or redundant at times where you think, 'oh not this again!' and it dragged on a bit longer than it needed to. It was fun overall though! If I had to be really nitpicky, at times I felt the texture alignments could be done better. It felt a bit distracting to experience wonderful atmosphere and then occasionally I see unusual texture cutoffs, making bricks look like wallpaper instead of actual bricks. This is really just a minor point that doesn't detract from the whole project but it definitely would help IMO.

 

One complaint- Ravage could do with some more health overall, specifically the last fight. As I played this map, I thought 'there is no way in hell I'm going to kill all these monsters with my low health and ammo' and just cheesed fights whenever I could, and then I read Decay saying this gameplay was done on purpose, I definitely don't feel like an idiot now! However, the last fight definitely could do with a non-secret soulsphere and green armour at least (if I remember correctly, there were only medikits?). It's too chaotic to deal with just 100% health. I was ready to give up until I found the megasphere secret. I'm not sure it's a good idea to make finding that secret a requirement to play out the fight without frustration. Great looking map though!

 

One bug I noticed- on Map02, two spidermasterminds are stuck, can't move and shoot (sector 8674 and 8943).

 

If I had a gun put to my head and I needed to name my top 5, from memory, it'd probably be these in no particular order:

Under the Thulian Lights

Maiestas

Per Nox Ad Astra

Paradigma

Aeternus

 

Overall it was pretty consistent and worth a play. Well done guys!

[DwarfCleric]

Yeah, it looks good, it looks amazing. But here is the thing I want everyone to know and understand: It could look EVEN BETTER.

And it's not because of the mappers' fault, or fault of the one who makes the textures and whatnot.

It's in the engine.

 

Like I say in the video description: The good news is that this feature exists since 2012. December 2012 to be exact, brought to us from the hard work of a guy that went by the nickname Korshun.

The bad news: It is being kept away from you. Version 1.9.1 still has that feature.

 

Then I ask: Who is the group of people that has the ultimate word on what stays and what is thrown in the garbage bin?

Decisions totally based on personal taste and opinion that affect everyone.

Wouldn't you like to have your game looking better than worst? It was when I finally put the videos side to side that I realized, I didn't think the difference would be that much.

Refracted Reality maps appear halfway through the video.

 

 

 

Look at the stained glass window on the left. It's supposed to look like that: colorful, vibrant. Not pale, discolored, without constrast.

The blue ceiling is different of course because this old version is lacking some of the script stuff used to light that up, don't play dumb.

It's not about gamma or brightness, it's about colors and lighting but also the contrast and sharpness of floors, stairs and walls up close.

 

[Decay]

okay

[leodoom85]

Uh....................why testing stuff with GZD 1.9.1?
And, since you touched both of my maps, that part of the blue "sigil", it's done with UDMF features added in GZD 2.4.0....I think.

[DwarfCleric]

8 minutes ago, leodoom85 said:

that part of the blue "sigil", it's done with UDMF features added in GZD 2.4.0....I think.

 

Romero achieved the same effect of having bright portions of ceilings, floors and walls on Sigil, made entirely with features from Final Doom (v.1666?)

 

[Nine Inch Heels]

48 minutes ago, DwarfCleric said:

It could look EVEN BETTER.

And it's not because of the mappers' fault, or fault of the one who makes the textures and whatnot.

It's in the engine.

And why are you looking to discuss what the engine does in a thread that is about the maps people made? This is a discussion which, IMHO, should take place somewhere else entirely.

[leodoom85]

I agree with Nine. So please, use the minimum version mentioned in the OP, or by default, stick with the recent stable version of GZDoom, which is 4.3.3
Thanks.

[UltraViolenceX]

On 4/23/2020 at 3:56 AM, pagb said:

  Hide contents

Huh? This MAP02 was a drag though. 13 to go... Beautiful stuff!

What about it was a drag? Not questioning your criticism, just wondering what could have been done better?

[Mr. Meanor]

RR will definitely get a nomination for cacoward from me. Guys, playtesters, mappers, and most importantly, leader @killerkouhai, you all made such a fantastic piece of art. Everybody SHOULD play RR, as it just broke my top 5 fav wads of all time. The atmosphere of each map was orgasmic, the layouts, the placements of enemies and items, the skybox variants for each map representing the color theme, just everything about Refracted Reality made me have such a great time, and killer experience throughout my playthrough on stream. I love you guys for it. I WANT MORE PLEASE

[MFG38]

Finally got around to playing this - great stuff! That's all I have to say.

[pagb]

On 4/27/2020 at 7:44 AM, UltraViolenceX said:

What about it was a drag? Not questioning your criticism, just wondering what could have been done better?

It was a very long level. hate them. The area with the two cibbies was the main offneder, felt a bit uncomfortable to fight on.

[leodoom85]

4 minutes ago, pagb said:

It was a very long level. hate them. The area with the two cibbies was the main offneder, felt a bit uncomfortable to fight on.

There are two areas with two cybies....I bet that you are referring to the one area before getting the blue skull...

[pagb]

6 hours ago, leodoom85 said:

There are two areas with two cybies....I bet that you are referring to the one area before getting the blue skull...

Yep, blue skull. And since I'm at it, I'm currently at MAP10, so I'll share my nitpicks until now.

MAP03: The start is though. If I didn't resort to the secret blue armor and plasma gun below de bridge, I don't know how many tries would it take me to complete the level (no saves)

MAP04: I'm the usual guy who likes his Doom dark, as it was back in the day. But this level is way TOO dark, first time in many years that I had to bump up my brightness in Doom. And that's with an IPS panel, which is already brighter.

MAP09: I don't know how this map is for people with lower hardware, but the amount lightmaps MURDER the framerate. It's the first time I see the main CPU core GZD is using clogged not by portals or outrageous amounts of linedefs drawn... but lightmaps. I had to scale down resolution to 50% to get it at stable 60fps (Ryzen 3600).

[Turin Turambar]

24 minutes ago, pagb said:

MAP09: I don't know how this map is for people with lower hardware, but the amount lightmaps MURDER the framerate. It's the first time I see the main CPU core GZD is using clogged not by portals or outrageous amounts of linedefs drawn... but lightmaps. I had to scale down resolution to 50% to get it at stable 60fps (Ryzen 3600).

 

Really? What's your usual resolution?

 

https://i.imgur.com/IooSAPd.jpg => around 90fps with all bells and whistles, with a Ryzen 3700x, which for GZdoom should be more or less the same as your cpu. Res 19200x1200.

https://i.imgur.com/mv1IYam.jpg

[Suitepee]

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/604201223 = part 1. (covering 4 maps going clockwise from the secret map hub)

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/605515623 = part 2. (covers the rest, including the secret map & boss)

 

Fun stuff, fun stuff. Didn't blow my mind too much (I thought Ultraviolence's map was the best one), but this is the kind of GZDoom-tastic wad I'd like to see more of in the future. The colourful atmosphere was great! The choice of music was also quite interesting throughout.

[pagb]

53 minutes ago, Turin Turambar said:

 

Really? What's your usual resolution?

 

https://i.imgur.com/IooSAPd.jpg => around 90fps with all bells and whistles, with a Ryzen 3700x, which for GZdoom should be more or less the same as your cpu. Res 19200x1200.

https://i.imgur.com/mv1IYam.jpg

4K, had to 50%... so it's 1080p to get it playable, as 75% still dipped below 60fps at times. My old 6 core Xeon wouldn't be able to run this propertly, and we're talking about a CPU that is rocking Eternal at stable 60fps at its new home.