CPD - LIMIT REMOVING DOOM2 MEGAWAD (FINAL RELEASE)

[Cheesewheel]

2 hours ago, Slipgate Tourist said:

Thoroughly enjoying this wad. No doubt my favourite of the year so far.

 

Ran into a small issue here:

  Reveal hidden contents

Using ZDoom 2.8.1

 

Yeah thanks for the feedback, I actually fixed that missing texture a few versions before the final release but it somehow reappeared, something to do with my poor version tracking I think.

[P41R47]

Yeah, i found this on my recent replay, too.

I was going to send you a PM with the bugs i found, but this the only one i found so far.

If you decide to make an update with fixes someday, send me a PM so we can double check before releasing the update ;)

[Biodegradable]

Been playing the set this month as I wasn't interested in the DWMC's pick. This WAD's teeth are sharp and it bites hard, but the maps are really fun. Currently being tortured in MAP23. You're a bastard, Mr Cheesewheel lmao good stuff. Hopefully, I'll complete it soon.

[Cheesewheel]

1 hour ago, Biodegradable said:

Been playing the set this month as I wasn't interested in the DWMC's pick. This WAD's teeth are sharp and it bites hard, but the maps are really fun. Currently being tortured in MAP23. You're a bastard, Mr Cheesewheel lmao good stuff. Hopefully, I'll complete it soon.

 

Map23 is imo the best map of the wad, nonstop chaos.

 

Great to hear you are enjoying it.

[Biodegradable]

Trapped on MAP29 currently. The last fight on MAP28 was a ball-buster and now this one is even more and it's just... goddamn, man. I'm terrified of what you're going to do to me on MAP30 lol.

[Cheesewheel]

6 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

Trapped on MAP29 currently. The last fight on MAP28 was a ball-buster and now this one is even more and it's just... goddamn, man. I'm terrified of what you're going to do to me on MAP30 lol. 

 

MAP30 might give you a heart attack if MAP29 is an issue...

[Biodegradable]

It did, mate. It most certainly did.

[P41R47]

2 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

It did, mate. It most certainly did.

hahaha those final maps surely are hard as hell.

Glad you enjoyed the megawad so far, Bio :)

 

Hope it get more recognition as it is a really awesome project made just by Cheesewheel alone.

And surely this is a great achievement for just one man megawad :D

[Biodegradable]

Yeah, for real. I'll admit, this thing has kicked my arse 6 ways to Sunday and there were a couple of times I had to quit for a while and come back to it later. Some of the maps can get really mean and I'm playing on HMP for crying out loud! But it's also really well made. Terrific maps with interesting progression, varied and challenging combat, cool designs and excellent texture work. It's an incredible achievement and deserves some acknowledgement. I knew Cheese here was a solid mapper when I played their excellent and highly-underrated 3-map WAD Quirk and this megaWAD is a testament to their skills.

 

CPD is rather vicious, but also pretty well-balanced and quite fun at times. Daunting in scope, but lovingly crafted with a great eye for detail and combat. While it beat the absolute crap out of me and got me rather riled up a fair few times, I have nothing but respect for it.

[head_cannon]

 

I did a UV-Continuous playthrough of this megawad over the winter, and I had a wonderful time. While there's clearly been care put into the Pistol Start setups, the fact that a story is told (as each level's exit seamlessly transitions into the next level's entrance) makes me assume that a Continuous playthrough was intended as an option. I think it plays fine in that mode, and stays engaging without ever letting the player get too overpowered.

 

Fair warning was given that E2's skyfloors wouldn't look right in Crispy Doom, but that minor blemish wasn't a deal-breaker, and other than that, the levels looked great in the software renderer. I have to give props for how each level built an aesthetically-pleasing color palette while restricting itself to the stock textures, and in addition to that I have to admit that I had grown so used to dimly-lit gloomy scenarios that this megawad's dedication to bright outdoor environments was actually rather refreshing.

 

-

 

Set in my ways as I am, I enjoy a good retelling of Doom's story, and CPD did well with its scene changes & text screens to present the saga of investigating the techbase, heading underground to the ruins which had been disturbed by the UAC, reaching the bottom and going to Hell, and then fighting your way back topside again to return to a Hell On Earth scenario.

 

It had a smooth, steady difficulty curve. There were difficulty spikes in the boss arenas of levels 7, 11, & 30, but that seemed appropriate since those are the points with new text screens & scene changes as a reward for persevering. Spending the repeated attempts to try to understand and eventually get good dice rolls in these fights was worth the time.

 

CPD really hit the sweet spot for me as a player. It constantly challenged me and kept me on my toes, but was never oppressive and discouraging (outside of those aforementioned boss arenas). The majority of the time, it was just good clean fun as each encounter was set up & paid off.

 

It always played fair, either telegraphing that bad things were about to happen or else allowing the player space to improvise when suddenly surprised with a trap fight. I really appreciate when a mapset rewards those who can keep a cool head in a frantic situation, maintain their composure & mobility, and find the escape hatch to get out alive.

 

Another thing I appreciate is how this megawad didn't make excessive use of monster teleporters - it only used them when appropriate, and almost always warned the player that teleport pads or summoning circles were about to start spawning enemies.

 

-

 

There were a couple twists in the formula along the way which provided a delightful surprise:

Spoiler

1: Over the course of the journey, hell's castles gave way to military bases, and I thought it was very novel how I eventually commandeered a fighter craft and took off to a space station. Seeing the underworld so clearly mirroring the material plane was interesting, and I like how, on your rampage to clear a path until you've reached topside again, the final destination is a high-tech interdimensional travel hub instead of a purely magical portal.

 

2: I thought it was particularly clever how, after an entire megawad's worth of exits being clearly marked as decorative spaces with no danger, there was one level (Map26) that betrayed that promise. Very evil, and very funny.

 

3: That finale was incredible. It just keeps escalating and escalating, and after overcoming that absurd final battle at the top of the climb, there's still a rocket-dodging obstacle course to complete. After that, there's still one last rush of monsters to break through! Seeing a glimpse of distant daylight raises hopes that it's finally over, and then the final plot twist surprises you. I love the use of the E1M8 exit sector, as you have to helplessly watch while your overseers put you into stasis, callously disregarding your personhood and storing you as an asset until the day comes that they wield you as a weapon against extradimensional threats once again. What a fantastic Half-Life reference.

 

-

 

Even if the E3 environments ended up having clashing colors and not being as appealing as what had come before, I still can't say that any chapter of this campaign ended up being a chore. It was good stuff the whole way through; thanks for making this!

[Cheesewheel]

3 hours ago, head_cannon said:

  Hide contents

1: Over the course of the journey, hell's castles gave way to military bases, and I thought it was very novel how I eventually commandeered a fighter craft and took off to a space station. Seeing the underworld so clearly mirroring the material plane was interesting, and I like how, on your rampage to clear a path until you've reached topside again, the final destination is a high-tech interdimensional travel hub instead of a purely magical portal.

 

Hey what a fantastic write up! I'm glad you enjoyed this project so much.

 

A little bit more on your first point - the idea was that maps 18 - 20 were UAC facilities that they had built inside hell to study it. (You can see the UAC collecting artifacts in MAP06, MAP08 mainly.) Of course these facilities were overrun by the demons! MAP18 was meant to be a UAC facility with a surrounding wall where the demons had managed to break through. (There is a big missing chunk of the wall to show that).

[P41R47]

9 hours ago, head_cannon said:

 

I did a UV-Continuous playthrough of this megawad over the winter, and I had a wonderful time. While there's clearly been care put into the Pistol Start setups, the fact that a story is told (as each level's exit seamlessly transitions into the next level's entrance) makes me assume that a Continuous playthrough was intended as an option. I think it plays fine in that mode, and stays engaging without ever letting the player get too overpowered.

 

Fair warning was given that E2's skyfloors wouldn't look right in Crispy Doom, but that minor blemish wasn't a deal-breaker, and other than that, the levels looked great in the software renderer. I have to give props for how each level built an aesthetically-pleasing color palette while restricting itself to the stock textures, and in addition to that I have to admit that I had grown so used to dimly-lit gloomy scenarios that this megawad's dedication to bright outdoor environments was actually rather refreshing.

 

-

 

Set in my ways as I am, I enjoy a good retelling of Doom's story, and CPD did well with its scene changes & text screens to present the saga of investigating the techbase, heading underground to the ruins which had been disturbed by the UAC, reaching the bottom and going to Hell, and then fighting your way back topside again to return to a Hell On Earth scenario.

 

It had a smooth, steady difficulty curve. There were difficulty spikes in the boss arenas of levels 7, 11, & 30, but that seemed appropriate since those are the points with new text screens & scene changes as a reward for persevering. Spending the repeated attempts to try to understand and eventually get good dice rolls in these fights was worth the time.

 

CPD really hit the sweet spot for me as a player. It constantly challenged me and kept me on my toes, but was never oppressive and discouraging (outside of those aforementioned boss arenas). The majority of the time, it was just good clean fun as each encounter was set up & paid off.

 

It always played fair, either telegraphing that bad things were about to happen or else allowing the player space to improvise when suddenly surprised with a trap fight. I really appreciate when a mapset rewards those who can keep a cool head in a frantic situation, maintain their composure & mobility, and find the escape hatch to get out alive.

 

Another thing I appreciate is how this megawad didn't make excessive use of monster teleporters - it only used them when appropriate, and almost always warned the player that teleport pads or summoning circles were about to start spawning enemies.

 

-

 

There were a couple twists in the formula along the way which provided a delightful surprise:

  Reveal hidden contents

1: Over the course of the journey, hell's castles gave way to military bases, and I thought it was very novel how I eventually commandeered a fighter craft and took off to a space station. Seeing the underworld so clearly mirroring the material plane was interesting, and I like how, on your rampage to clear a path until you've reached topside again, the final destination is a high-tech interdimensional travel hub instead of a purely magical portal.

 

2: I thought it was particularly clever how, after an entire megawad's worth of exits being clearly marked as decorative spaces with no danger, there was one level (Map26) that betrayed that promise. Very evil, and very funny.

 

3: That finale was incredible. It just keeps escalating and escalating, and after overcoming that absurd final battle at the top of the climb, there's still a rocket-dodging obstacle course to complete. After that, there's still one last rush of monsters to break through! Seeing a glimpse of distant daylight raises hopes that it's finally over, and then the final plot twist surprises you. I love the use of the E1M8 exit sector, as you have to helplessly watch while your overseers put you into stasis, callously disregarding your personhood and storing you as an asset until the day comes that they wield you as a weapon against extradimensional threats once again. What a fantastic Half-Life reference.

 

-

 

Even if the E3 environments ended up having clashing colors and not being as appealing as what had come before, I still can't say that any chapter of this campaign ended up being a chore. It was good stuff the whole way through; thanks for making this!

awesome review, pal!

You really enjoyed it and diggit all those amazing details!

;)

Its just amazing what the clear vision and great sense of mapping that Cheeswheel has let him achieve.

[Cheesewheel]

I'll be recording a developer's commentary of CPD over the next few weeks (hopefully) wherein I'll discuss my decisions, what I think went well and how things can be improved. I'll also be giving advice and showing examples of good design habits that new mappers should be aware of. I don't think there is enough design commentary out there from authors on their own maps, so maybe this ripple in the water will get things going.

 

It's unscripted and ad-libbed but I am confident enough in front of the microphone that I don't think it comes off as awkward or weird.

 

Enjoy!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJyMjt5D5Pc&t=272s

[P41R47]

1 hour ago, Cheesewheel said:

I'll be recording a developer's commentary of CPD over the next few weeks (hopefully) wherein I'll discuss my decisions, what I think went well and how things can be improved. I'll also be giving advice and showing examples of good design habits that new mappers should be aware of. I don't think there is enough design commentary out there from authors on their own maps, so maybe this ripple in the water will get things going.

 

It's unscripted and ad-libbed but I am confident enough in front of the microphone that I don't think it comes off as awkward or weird.

 

Enjoy!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJyMjt5D5Pc&t=272s

Excellent video, pal!

Showing the insight for designs is a great idea and it will also help you develop your own style even further ;)

 

Only thing on the vids that could be improved is to add the option for captions.

Your voice is loud enough and your pronunciation is really clear making it easy to understand you.

But non english speakers may have it hard to understand you and may find easy to understand the readable captions.

[hawkwind]

Found a possible bug on map01 latest version.

Sector 249 does damage but probably shouldn't. If previously reported my apologies.

I will report here if I come across anything else.

 

map02 ...

1. Where sectors 88 and 89 are, look for misaligned BRNSMAL* textures.

2. Misaligned TEKWALL4 at vertex 1421.

 

map03 ...

Misaligned TEKWALL4 where sector 361 is.

 

map04 ...

Misaligned TEKWALL1 at vertex 752.

 

map05 ...

1. Misaligned tex line 91.

2. Sectors 48, 49, 562 and 563 should have sector effect 7 ( damage ).

3. Sectors 584/585 and 605 look out of place with damage and slime.

4. Misaligned tex line 223.

 

map06 ...

Check sector 422 for misaligned TEKWALL4.

 

map08 ...

1. Check sector 508 for misaligned TEKWALL1.

2. Sector 86 was probably intended to have a ceiling height of 136 and lines 378/378

having the upper texture BIGBRIK1.

3. Textures on lines 1475/1480 give the impression that door sector 271 can be opened

with the blue skullkey when the player is at sector 384. I realise the switch at line

2083 opens it.

4. Lower unpeg could be removed from lines 2449/2453.

 

map09 ...

1. Tex on lines 47, 868,869 could use some Y alignment to match lines 794/800.

2. Tex on lines 983/802 and 718/762 suggest the doors can be opened with the red key, but cannot be opened.

 

map10 ...

T199 stuck in wall.

 

map11 ...

1. Check sectors 264-266 for misaligned SKSNAKE2. Plus other "snake" textures elsewhere.

2. Check sector 355 and 187 for misaligned SKSPINE2.

 

map14 ...

1. No damaging lava sectors 154, 453 and 454.

2. T461 hanging mid-air.

3. Check scrolling SKSNAKE1 for alignment at sectors 405/407 etc.

 

map31 ...

Alignment errors at vertex 797, 830, 831.

 

map32

ZZWOLF7 needs alignment at sector 267.

 

map16 ...

1.Lower tex on lines 1756/1760 not Y aligned.

2. Line 1300 has has a switch texture, but opens door sector 245.

I suggest replacing linetype 31 with linetype 166.

 

map17 ...

1. Check SP_FACE2 alignment at sectors 378/379.

2. 2 of the pinkies at sector 298 could not teleport out. Possibly due to sprite radius.

 

map19 ...

Check SP_FACE2 alignment at sectors 391/392.

 

map20 ...

1. Check sectors 473/474 for misaligned TEKWALL1.

2. Check line 2495 for misaligned SP_FACE2.

 

map21 ...

1. Upper tex on line 1452 needs a Y alignment.

2. Seems a bit odd that line 1642 has SILVER2 whereas line 1640 has LITE3.

 

map22 ...

1. Secret sector 179 has lava, but since doom2 format, does no damage. Suggest placing a small raised platform here.

2. Seemed unnecessary to have a "double switch" at line 1243.

 

map23 ...

1. Lava sector 120 does not do damage.

2. Check sector 470 for misaligned TEKWALL1.

 

map25 ...

1. Check sector 370 for misaligned TEKWALL1.

2. Wrong ceiling flat sector 138 ?

 

map27 ...

Remove X alignment settings for lines 59 and 1161.

 

map28 ...

 

SERIOUS SHOWSTOPPER - If the player goes back to sector 205, from, say, sector 176, and walks over line 948

again, door sectors 207 and 208 reclose and the player is trapped. To fix either change linetype for line 72 to 44 (W1) or change

linetype for lines 957 and 961 to 117 (DR). Or change all 3 lines.

 

map30 ...

The only "complaint" is that when I got to sector 422 I had to use god mode to finish the level.

A few invulnerability spheres here would have helped.

 

I enjoyed playing this. Thank You.  :)

 

... done ...

 

UPDATE ... noticed since v1.2 ...

 

map01 ...

Sector 343 needs to do damage.

 

map05 ...

Sectors 176, 319 and 364 need to do damage.

 

map14 ...

Sector 154 needs to do damage.

Edited March 6, 2021 by hawkwind

[Cheesewheel]

11 hours ago, hawkwind said:

 

 

Thanks so much! I have implemented these changes in my build and will get them out at some point!

[Arbys550]

I guess it's probably too late for this since it's on idgames already, but in map32, the switch inside the revenant elevator at the northwest keen didn't work for me and I got softlocked. I was using complevel 2 on prboom+. I tried looking in the editor and I couldn't find out what went wrong.

 

Loving the maps so far!

[Cheesewheel]

11 hours ago, Arbys550 said:

I guess it's probably too late for this since it's on idgames already, but in map32, the switch inside the revenant elevator at the northwest keen didn't work for me and I got softlocked. I was using complevel 2 on prboom+. I tried looking in the editor and I couldn't find out what went wrong.

 

Loving the maps so far!

 

Glad you are having fun! As far as I know that is fixed in the V1.3 in the OP , idgames is actually outdated at this point!

[Firedust]

Hi hi sorry for bumping this so late, but I played the first 10 maps and they were so good! Level to level progression is a great touch too :3

 

[Cheesewheel]

6 hours ago, Firedust said:

Hi hi sorry for bumping this so late, but I played the first 10 maps and they were so good! Level to level progression is a great touch too :3

 

 

Great to hear you are getting some fun out of it! My next project will be at least thrice as good (I really mean it!!!).

[Firedust]

2 hours ago, Cheesewheel said:

 

Great to hear you are getting some fun out of it! My next project will be at least thrice as good (I really mean it!!!).

Very excited for the announcement! I actually made it all the way to map 20 in one sitting, that's how much fun I've been having with this :)