Three Is A Crowd (Anniversary Edition on idgames)

[Scypek2]

Well, as you can see from the video, some of my DM levels can still kick your ass even without the other players' involvement!

 

It's too bad I procrastinated on it as usual and didn't get more DM testing done. I did some DM testing with @Omniarch on Odamex and it was great, and I've thoroughly tested the dm areas in vanilla to make sure it all works okay, but I never actually got to DM anyone in vanilla after all. I hope I'll still get to at some point!

 

Also, one of the various tweaks/fixes in this release is making the first two maps less unforgiving. They still haven't lost their edge, but there should be more wiggle room. MAP01 used to have just barely enough ammo even if you did everything perfectly, and MAP02's left wing was especially awful for anyone trying to 100% things. The infamous MAP08 also has... some extra mercy thrown here and there.

[head_cannon]

 

While this thread is back on the front page, I want to take the opportunity to say how impressed I was by Three's A Crowd. I did a UV-Continuous playthrough in Crispy Doom last winter, and was blown away by the creativity contained within this campaign, and how it managed that tightrope walk of constant antagonism towards the player while still being really entertaining to struggle against and overcome.

 

I grew up with Doom 1 & 2. So, admittedly, part of the reason I venerate the foundational texts is because of that nostalgia. But I still think that those campaigns have qualities which are endearing on their own merits and not just because of that fond attachment to a symbol of a simpler time. For me, it's that sense of mischief I treasure most about their dungeons. Setups and payoffs. You would play and the game would play back. Yes, Doom is fast and thrilling, but more importantly, Doom is mean to the player. This mapset is filled with cruel surprises that rank among the best I've ever seen.

 

I can't get into my favorite moments without digressing into a complete level-by-level breakdown, so I'll just talk about the big one: Sheer Poison is art. The perfect "darkest moment" before the dawn, confronting both the protagonist and player with utter despair before it's finally overcome and they get their cathartic payoff of the following final-boss fight.

 

It was totally worth pushing through the most intentionally-aggravating sections - this vanilla-compatible Doom 2 replacement campaign is able to conjure the impression that you're in a hostile realm, the plaything of a reality-warping malevolent force, and makes you want to fight back, persevere, and not let it break you. That's a difficult balance to strike, and I had a lot of fun doing these dungeon-crawls & overcoming these trials even as I cursed your name at each new twist of the knife. Three's A Crowd has one of my favorite Continuous campaigns of all time. Thanks for making it!

[Scypek2]

Thank you for your support!

 

After spending some time playtesting the DM levels with real people, I was ready to release the new version decisively. Here it is!

 

As a reminder, the new version contains:

• 27 deathmatch-exclusive arenas, best suited for duels but also fun with 4 players. Some of them fully embody 3IAC's weird side with switchable obstacles, darkness, poison and crushers, while others are more on the normal side.
• numerous gameplay and visual improvements - the ugliest areas made prettier, the most boring moments more exciting. For some levels, such as MAP07 and MAP22, the difference is pretty massive.
• some of the especially unforgiving maps (such as MAP01, MAP02 and MAP08) offer more leeway now, often in the form of secrets... but I took care to never trivialize what makes them stand out.
• a huge new secret level for hardcore 3IAC fans. Don't worry, it's (almost) as easily skippable as ever.

Check out the video if you want a sneak peek! Don't worry, unlike at the time of recording, right now it truly is the final version.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Scypek2

[Xymph]

15 hours ago, Scypek2 said:

After spending some time playtesting the DM levels with real people, I was ready to release the new version decisively. Here it is!

But now there's a newer 3iac_121.zip in idgames/incoming/ -- what's changed? Why does it have the same version number?

And that zip does not contain 3IAC_121.txt (and 3IAC.deh) like it should, and which newstuff/3iac.zip does include.

 

15 hours ago, Scypek2 said:

27 deathmatch-inclusive levels

These are normally termed DM arenas within levels, not levels. Like Sigil isn't a megawad no matter what Romero said. ;-)

[Scypek2]

The text file was there last time I checked, no idea where it went. Reuploaded, hopefully for good. The new version solves a singular softlock, so between that and the recent upload, I didn't feel like it deserved a new number.

 

You're right about the arenas. Also, apparently I wrote "inclusive" when I meant "exclusive".

[Xymph]

TITLEPIC is now a .png lump, which breaks vanilla compatibility. v1.2.1 doesn't load in Chocolate Doom, PrBoom+ or DSDA-Doom unless that lump is removed.

 

MAP32 in v1.1: linedef 2322 was one-sided; in v1.2.1 corresponding linedef 3163 changed to two-sided. Spotted in SLADE while cropping for the wiki, in the game it indeed provides an outdoor view towards the DM arena.

Reminds me of an old saying: If it ain't broken, don't fix it. ;-)

Edited July 20, 2023 by Xymph

[Gez]

28 minutes ago, Scypek2 said:

You're right about the arenas. Also, apparently I wrote "inclusive" when I meant "exclusive".

Inclusive is actually correct if these levels include both single-player and deathmatch content. Exclusive would be for levels that are only for one game mode and exclude the other.

[Shepardus]

The maps are inclusive of single-player and deathmatch, the arenas are deathmatch-exclusive. :)

 

Can confirm the issue with the titlepic, have to use -warp to load it in ports that don't support PNG.

[Scypek2]

3 hours ago, Xymph said:

TITLEPIC is now a .png lump, which breaks vanilla compatibility. v1.2.1 doesn't load in Chocolate Doom, PrBoom+ or DSDA-Doom unless that lump is removed.

 

Incredible. I was pretty sure I updated the titlepic and THEN tested it in Chocolate Doom, but I guess it was the other way around. I fixed it, but now I want to wait a few more hours before uploading just in case.

 

3 hours ago, Xymph said:

MAP32 in v1.1: linedef 2322 was one-sided; in v1.2.1 corresponding linedef 3163 changed to two-sided. Spotted in SLADE while cropping for the wiki, in the game it indeed provides an outdoor view towards the DM arena. 

 

That, on the other hand, works exactly as intended. Thanks for noticing!

[Xymph]

1 hour ago, Scypek2 said:

That, on the other hand, works exactly as intended.

Really? Looks like an ugly HOM in Chocolate Doom, certainly when standing next to the south wall and looking due west.

 

MAP12 had a distinct DM arena before, now it is joined with the rest of the level. Where does the main level end and the arena begin, so that I know how to redo the crops and re-render the map views?

Edited July 20, 2023 by Xymph

[Scypek2]

2 hours ago, Xymph said:

Really? Looks like an ugly HOM in Chocolate Doom, certainly when standing next to the south wall and looking due west.

Maybe if you noclip to stand there. Normally, you can see a bit of a HOM if you approach it carefully enough, but it seals itself up as soon as you approach it so that you only get a glimpse of the hellish arena.

 

2 hours ago, Xymph said:

MAP12 had a distinct DM arena before, now it is joined with the rest of the level. Where does the main level end and the arena begin, so that I know how to redo the crops and re-render the map views? 

 

The westernmost part of the DM arena has a minor impact on singleplayer because that's where the pain elemental comes from, but the bridge and door that connect the two can't be reached by players in either DM or singleplayer.

[Xymph]

3 hours ago, Scypek2 said:

I fixed it, but now I want to wait a few more hours before uploading just in case.

I nuked the earlier uploads from incoming to avoid wasting the maintainers' time.

[Scypek2]

Thank you.

 

I gave it one last thorough combing, and found more stuff... including the end text crashing the game because of the last line being too low. How did no one ever catch that?! Anyway, the latest 3iac is on its way.

 

Edit: here it is!

Edited July 23, 2023 by Scypek2

[Scypek2]

It seems there was a problem with the correct version getting uploaded to idgames. Well, it's on idgames NOW! If you see "1.2.2" in the corner of the title screen and a fancy new menu cursor, that means you have the latest version.

[vdgg]

delete, wrong thread

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by vdgg