MAYhem: 2020 Edition - On Idgames!

[Obsidian]

10 hours ago, Impie said:

The Keen pointer only works on map 32 in PrBoom+, right?

 

The KeenDie codepointer works on every map: if there are any maps in the final compilation that use both the Baron of Hell and the Commander Keen, then giving the Baron the codepointer would mess them up. It might pay to just put a switch near the third baron for the sake of keeping thing simple.

[sajbear666]

16 hours ago, Obsidian said:

@sajbear666 - Sea of Blood

 

Also the ambush at the red key is kind of telegraphed in software mode by the SUPPORT3 midtexture going through the floor. :P You'll need either a separate sector inside the ambush itself or a shorter SUPPORT3 variant: just whip it up in the TEXTURE2 lump and you're all set.

 

I don't see it, can you post a screenshot? :)

[Obsidian]

No probs.

 

Spoiler

 

It'll only appear on certain settings in some source ports, but it's very noticeable and especially prominent in a project that limits the amount of sectors a mapper can use. :P

[brightentayle]

@Obsidian

Spoiler

I'm not sure what's happening exactly, but it appears that pressing the switch, even in the updated MAP30, still doesn't end the level. Noclipping into the boss room and destroying the head (with your own hands) works, however.

 

[Obsidian]

2 minutes ago, brightentayle said:

@Obsidian

  Hide contents

I'm not sure what's happening exactly, but it appears that pressing the switch, even in the updated MAP30, still doesn't end the level. Noclipping into the boss room and destroying the head (with your own hands) works, however.

 

 

 

Hmmm...I might know what the problem is: the crusher speeds seem to differ in significant ways between ports and it's possible that the barrels were squashed before they could properly explode. I'll update my map super quick, cheers for the catch. 

[brightentayle]

1 minute ago, Obsidian said:

 

 

Hmmm...I might know what the problem is: the crusher speeds seem to differ in significant ways between ports and it's possible that the barrels were squashed before they could properly explode. I'll update my map super quick, cheers for the catch. 

Oh yeah, just to clarify, I've tested that in PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4.

 

If that helps.

[4MaTC]

2 minutes ago, Obsidian said:

 

 

Hmmm...I might know what the problem is: the crusher speeds seem to differ in significant ways between ports and it's possible that the barrels were squashed before they could properly explode. I'll update my map super quick, cheers for the catch. 

Told you! I thought i'm going nuts: how it is possible - bossbrain dies, but level still goes on =)

[Obsidian]

Heh, it is indeed quite wild. Serves me right for getting lax with my testing, apologies!

[Obsidian]

Alright, updates to my first and second submissions! Cheers to Horus, Brightentayle and 4MaTC for the feedback.

[Horus]

4 hours ago, DavidN said:

 

What an appropriate title for someone desperately trying to finish playing a map before the toddler wakes up - I really like this one :) In fact, in the middle of playing it I forgot that it was constructed from only 20 sectors, despite it looking simple on the automap - they're used really well to create fairly intricate rooms and mechanics with three different paths from the hub. It felt about the right difficulty as well. Only negative thing I could think of was that the stacked skull switch in the big arena path looks amateurish, but I understand you might not be able to indent it with the sector limit (at least, without sacrificing one of the secrets).

 

Thanks for the feedback! Both you and Obsidian mentioned the surprise of 20 sectors, which itself is a pleasant surprise to me :) 

 

I agree about the stacked skull switch, fortunately I have thought of a solution that stays within the sector limit and doesn't sacrifice a secret, I will post an updated map soon.

[Impie]

@Obsidian I added a switch to the third pole.

[DavidN]

Fantastic :) Glad it was helpful! It's odd - somehow the map while playing it looks a lot more intricate than it does on the fairly simple-looking automap, which is a good sign that you've used the sectors well.

 

@Walter confetti

Straightforward but it works! I think the first couple of rooms would benefit from being less tall so there's less of an expanse of plain space, and maybe some SUPPORT borders with patches of other textures. The Cyberdemon felt a bit out of place just being sort of... there, rather than set up as a climactic encounter or in a vantage point above the canyon.

 

@NaturalTvventy

There are so many of them! I'm going to have to just stop saying I'm impressed that this works with just 20 sectors, because all these maps look amazing. I liked that there were stashes of ammunition and health to go back to - it felt sort of reassuring knowing that I could retreat and regroup before returning to the slaughter.

 

@wydoomer

Nice base map with the texturing making it feel a bit different from other techbases. I really liked the cramped cacodemon encounter, especially as I had just intended to see yet another Cyberdemon when I saw the bonanza of rockets leading up to it. The silent teleporters in the west and northeast lead back to themselves, which was a bit strange - are they meant to go to each other, or just be a way of escaping the pits that they form later on? It seems a bit unnecessarily mean to have the lava pits near the walkways in the beginning not just be a couple of units higher to make them escapable! :)

[TheV1perK1ller]

I have only just started playtesting other people's maps. Indeed, they are quite impressive! I will post my reviews when I can.

@sajbear666 Amazing map! The titular blood sea makes for a stunning backdrop, and the wooden theme works very well. I had no issues in the ammunition department, and the monster placement works great, too. What I do dig about this level is the constant fear of falling into the blood. Whilst I only played on the UV difficulty, I did encounter a couple of monster placement issues in PrBoom 2.5.1.4. 

•  Two Cacodemons appear to be stuck due south-west and south-east of the Super Shotgun. It appears that hanging decorations are impeding their movements.
•  A Hell Knight and Baron are locked together in the western-most room.
•  A Hell Knight and Lost Soul are joined in the southern exit maze room, in the north-west.

Again, I had a very good time with this map. Excellent stuff!

 

@DavidN Another amazing map, done in a very short amount of time! The 'Knee-Deep' thematic was definitely evident in terms of layout and design; interconnectivity is always something I love, but is never something I could probably design myself. :P The addition of the new textures were also put to great use, and looks effective all throughout the map.

While I restricted to the Shotgun for a time, I didn't mind. Opposition wasn't too tough, with ammo and health being plentiful. Admittedly, I did not manage to locate the means to access the Rocket Launcher secret. :P In terms of improvements, I would say that none are necessary - very solid work! :D

 

[Horus]

New version of my map attached (v3): horus_20sectors_v3.zip

 

Changelog:

- Solved the stacked skull switch issue

 

Here's how it looks now:

Spoiler

 

 

[Obsidian]

@Scorpius - A Touch of Death

 

Someone's a fan of Perfect Hatred. :P Fortunately the comparison doesn't hold too much sway and the map is a good time in its own right: delightfully vicious, but not so much that it feels like knocking over a brick wall with the thicker parts of your skull. Looks really good too, with the dark surroundings lending a fair bit of atmosphere. Cool stuff. :)

 

@blinds1ght - Toxic Waltz 3.0

Quick note: looks like you've put a player start in the final area instead of a teleport destination, probably wanna fix that. Beyond that, it's a fun romp that now has enough meat to be called a proper map: personally I reckon it could make a good MAP11, it feels like a good episode culmination. Nice stuff.
 

@TheV1perK1ller - Daybreak Station

 

I went over the bulk of my feedback with you previously, so I'll just report a couple of fixes that need doing here.

• I'm still noticing some midtextures clipping into the sector floors in software mode: I'll include a screenshot at the bottom of this post to show you (taken in ZDoom 2.7.1). I'd recommend moving the midtextures to the edges of the sectors instead of in the middle of them to avoid this: it doesn't look quite as neat as what you wanted in the centre, but it does fix the clipping.
• Would you be able to do a sky transfer for your map please? You'll need to use action 271 in Boom with the 0 tag (seeing as the sectors with F_SKY1 don't have tags on them) and have the sky you want to use in the resource pack as the upper texture on the control linedef. I normally would take care of this myself, but for some reason your map makes ZokumBSP crash and it saves without the nodes.
   

Spoiler

 

[Bauul]

10 hours ago, DavidN said:

Absolutely bloody terrifying :)

 

Music to my ears! :D

 

Thank you for the review, and I'm really glad you enjoyed it (if "enjoying" it is the right word!)

[Phobus]

@Obsidian @TheV1perK1ller You could just change the light level on one side of the mid-textures that are drawing through the floor to be sightly higher or lower than on the other side. This makes the software renderer have to cut the texture off appropriately as it draws a new floor and ceiling for the changed light level.

[Obsidian]

1 minute ago, Phobus said:

@Obsidian @TheV1perK1ller You could just change the light level on one side of the mid-textures that are drawing through the floor to be sightly higher or lower than on the other side. This makes the software renderer have to cut the texture off appropriately as it draws a new floor and ceiling for the changed light level.

 

Yeah, but considering the sector limitation that isn't always a possibility. If TheV1perK1ller can use the sectors at their disposal to do it then that's obviously the best, but what I suggested is purely the most expedient of the options available. 

[TheV1perK1ller]

I apologise for the repetitive posts.

 

One more small update: DaybreakStation_v1.2.zip

•  Sky transfers are now present, as opposed to the previous use of RSKY1.
•  Altered offending clipped mid-textures so they no longer do so.
•  Increased sector brightness to three sectors, notably outside.
•  Added an additional green armour in the yellow key room.

I made sure to playtest in ZDoom this time around.

Edited May 25, 2020 by TheV1perK1ller : Another small edit to a window. Not enough to classify as a 1.3 release.

[Phobus]

Good point, with the sector limit this isn't just a technical issue. Vertical alignment might be a major problem with putting the mid-textures at an edge, but I see it's already been addressed.

[Gerardo194]

Hi, how are you guys?

Is there a room for me to participate??

[TheV1perK1ller]

@Gerardo194 Of course!

[Gerardo194]

Put me down, I'm in :)

[TheV1perK1ller]

Great! All of the rules are in the OP, in case you haven't read them already. :)

[sajbear666]

16 hours ago, Obsidian said:

No probs.

 

  Hide contents

 

It'll only appear on certain settings in some source ports, but it's very noticeable and especially prominent in a project that limits the amount of sectors a mapper can use. :P

 

It seems that software renderer on gzDoom has some issues, I saw something similar with the "beams" in the eye button room. I'm gonna take a look, but I'm not hopeful :/

 

prBoom works perfectly though.

Edited May 25, 2020 by sajbear666

[sajbear666]

11 hours ago, TheV1perK1ller said:

@sajbear666 Amazing map! The titular blood sea makes for a stunning backdrop, and the wooden theme works very well. I had no issues in the ammunition department, and the monster placement works great, too. What I do dig about this level is the constant fear of falling into the blood. Whilst I only played on the UV difficulty, I did encounter a couple of monster placement issues in PrBoom 2.5.1.4. 

•  Two Cacodemons appear to be stuck due south-west and south-east of the Super Shotgun. It appears that hanging decorations are impeding their movements.
•  A Hell Knight and Baron are locked together in the western-most room.
•  A Hell Knight and Lost Soul are joined in the southern exit maze room, in the north-west.

Again, I had a very good time with this map. Excellent stuff!

Thank you for the kind words! Makes me super happy! I will check the monster placements! :)

[sajbear666]

@TheV1perK1ller I fixed all the enemy placements! Thanks for the help! :)

 

@Obsidian I fixed the problems with the render, but it required 2 new texture variants! I hope that is ok! I have attached them here together with the "updated" version of MAY20RES_1.2.wad Also uploaded the fixed version of my map! :) Super thanks for the feedback!

MAY20RES_1.2.zip

 

sea_of_blood_mayhem2020_1_1.zip

[dac]

Let's play through some maps too.

 

@sajbear666 - Sea of Blood (Hurt Me Plenty)

 

Gonna echo what others said, this is very good, atmospheric and fun. The map might be a bit flat, but that's not really a slight considering how open it is and how attacks can come from every directions, far away. The ending fight is a bit too easily skippable and infights easily, but even then I had to be careful dueling revenants. Can't wait to see what you do next in the future!

 

@Dragonfly - Wet my Appetite

 

I expected some good stuff, I got some good stuff. The ending was a bit weird and sudden, as it's a good finale but it felt like there was a bit missing between it and getting the yellow key. Good use of elevation too, even with only 20 sectors there's enough variations to not feel as if it is.

 

@DavidN - Wastewater Plant

 

I'll have to replay this and get all the secrets, but otherwise, liked it! Liked how interconnected it was, liked how non-orthogonal it was too.

[Revenant]

I've uploaded a slight update of my map, same URL as before. Added a bit more action to the red key area and fixed a few small texturing issues that could be noticeable in coop.

 

On 5/23/2020 at 9:11 PM, Obsidian said:

personally I was expecting a much larger ambush in the lead-up to the red key and I was a bit confused when it amounted to a single Archie on a platform.

 

I felt like that area could have used a bit more as well, but I threw in some imps and HKs to teleport in after lowering the key which should spice things up a bit.

 

I might also take @TheNoob_Gamer's suggestion of repositioning the archvile teleport stuff a bit to make it a little more directly engaging, but maybe it's not quite as necessary after adding those extra enemies to the area.

 

On 5/23/2020 at 9:11 PM, Obsidian said:

The last battle could probably use a bit more oomph too: as it stands you can lure the Revenants into infighting with the Cacodemons and neuter a lot of the threat as a consequence.

 

Yeah, I was afraid of that as well. Not really sure of a great alternative; I tried a few different approaches that included replacing the cacos with different kinds of non-flying enemies to stay up on the ledges, but then it turned out to be too easy to find safe spots where you could then pick off the manc while totally avoiding any threat from any outside enemies.

 

Either way, glad you had fun with it :)

[brightentayle]

Now I'm pretty sure I'm either gonna rush my map in three days flat or just leave it hanging forever. So I'm leaving it here in case I suddenly vanish.  Suggestions and harsh criticism are welcome, though I'm pretty sure it won't be as easy to leave for a quarter-baked map.

 

Oh yeah, and it has a name now!