Mutagen Rapidem - Single Map

[SiMpLeToNiUm]

Hi folks! Coming at ya with a single release (not sure if I've done one of these here before)! This here map was originally intended to be included in @Jimmy's Isolation project. Due to time ill-spent on what was essentially a DOA I pulled the map from the project to focus on making it better within my own timeframe. I retained every limitation of the project sans the lovely lovely sky being shown. ;p What you see now is the better part of a month or so to build and a lot of iteration. Thanks to @Insane_Gazebo, @boris, @Aurelius and @Bridgeburner56for pointing out sore spots and helping me get it up to snuff! Credits to the always lovely @Eris Falling for his awesome midi Battle of Chaos which you hear echoing throughout the washed out walls and gut-strewn ancient ruins of this beast!

Should work out of the box with PrBoom+ and takes the MAP01 slot. As of right now, only minimal difficulty settings have been implemented in the form of a few extra pickups. If there's a desire I can always tweak a few things to make fights less tough and help out some people that don't care as much for that sort of thing! I'll be on vacay for the next week though so it'll have to wait until at least 6/28.

Have fun with it and please be open with that juicy feedback!!

EDIT: Several small tweaks and some softlocks addressed in new version!

EDIT 7/1: Made the switch to lower the plasma rifle more obvious!

EDIT 7/2: Fixed a softlock 

 

 

 

 

Mutagen_Rapidem_r4.zip

Edited July 2, 2020 by SiMpLeToNiUm

[Guardsoul]

Congratulations for the release!

[Demion]

Thanks for the level. I'd like to know which complevel should i use. I tried complevel 9 in prboom+ but got stuck. I can't go any further. I'm at the place shown in the 5th screenshot. I pressed all the switches in the area, but nothing happens.

[SiMpLeToNiUm]

1 hour ago, Demion said:

I pressed all the switches in the area, but nothing happens.

Complevel 9, yeah. The area in screenie 4 is where your progression is.

[SiMpLeToNiUm]

@DemionDid you ever figure it out, man?

[Demion]

6 hours ago, SiMpLeToNiUm said:

@DemionDid you ever figure it out, man?

Yes! I forgot to tell you, i figured it out. I enjoyed  the map. I played it on UV. It was filled with my worst Doom nightmare, the archie. I saved a lot i should say, haha. I didn't like the palette you used, though. Sometimes i couldn't distinguish monsters from the enviroment, especially in the dark sectors. Too greyish i'd say. But it was an enjoyable experience overall.

[SiMpLeToNiUm]

I'm glad you enjoyed it and were able to find your way along! I did notice I leaned a bit heavier on the..."spicy" side this time around heh

[Pełzająca Część Twarzy]

I just finish your map on UV
Very cool green color palette, especially on a lost soul and Pain Elemental with that nice green smile. I like that rocket launcher is your go to weapon, you can kill stuff fast and you can blow yourself up because there's not that much space, it give some unique challenge
Main problem of this map for me is that it is a bitch to navigate. Lots of switches that do something, somewhere. After your little troll with Plasmagun i have no idea where to go. I was hanging around looking for I dont know what. Even after slaughter-sewers i was no idea what i have accomplite. I think some more color key could be helpful or something like that. Also platform to the end do not work for me or maybe i did something wrong, i dont know.
Overall, good map but easy to get lost 

[SiMpLeToNiUm]

Thanks for your feedback! A few people have commented on the obtuse progression in the map so it's definitely something I'm going to address going forward. I'll be working on ways to make sure the time spent between switch presses is minimal and or you can see pretty quickly what they've done. Glad you enjoyed the map overall!

[SP_FACE1]

19 minutes ago, SiMpLeToNiUm said:

Thanks for your feedback! A few people have commented on the obtuse progression in the map so it's definitely something I'm going to address going forward. I'll be working on ways to make sure the time spent between switch presses is minimal and or you can see pretty quickly what they've done. Glad you enjoyed the map overall!

You can add me to the few who were confused about the switches. But that's pretty much all my criticism. Otherwise beautiful map. I liked the visual style and admired the texture combinations and interior design of the level :)

[A.K.]

I really like the use of the green/grayscale of color. I also like the feeling that this map gives you when you start out and there are a bunch of imps lined up in all directions giving you the false sense this is a slaughter map. (Its not a slaughter map)

Ill play more of this tomorrow as I have died quite a few times already and Im trying to beat the map without saving, heh.

[El Inferno]

I got stuck here. I jumped here from the plaform with megasphere after pressing green switch near the green key.

[Degree23]

Played on UV, really tough fights but mostly manageable due to a reasonable amount of health being dotted around. Even fights in tight areas where you're using the Rocket Launcher felt survivable, which I don't often find to be the case. I played until I an ambush revealed a whole row of Imps (not so bad) but also 3 AVs directly behind me without warning and without any real cover, which is where I died and stopped. Not my kind of thing - I'm not a fan of traps that spring AVs on you like that.

 

Music is awesome too, and maybe the rest of the map is as well, but ambushes like that generally cause me to stop playing.

[SiMpLeToNiUm]

On 6/26/2020 at 10:44 AM, el_inf said:

I got stuck here. I jumped here from the plaform with megasphere after pressing green switch near the green key.

Right. I was actually just thinking earlier today that this was a possibility. Thanks for the catch! Will be back in a few days to fix it up.

EDIT: Fixed this and added a few pacing/QoL changes to that area!

Edited June 29, 2020 by SiMpLeToNiUm

[SiMpLeToNiUm]

On 6/26/2020 at 1:07 PM, Degree23 said:

and without any real cover, which is where I died and stopped. Not my kind of thing - I'm not a fan of traps that spring AVs on you like that.

To your point, I actually did find while testing that I had to get behind the pillars in a very specific way or clear out just enough imps to let myself squeeze behind one so that's a good greivance. Especially given when you get to that area perhaps I shouldn't have made it such a ramp in difficulty or at least given the player some more options to tackle that problem. Some lessons there for sure.

EDIT: This has been addressed partially on easier difficulites with replacing 2 of the archviles with imps on ITYTD/HNTR and HMP.

Updated the OP to reflect these and some other changes to the exit and several tiny tweaks for QoL

Edited June 29, 2020 by SiMpLeToNiUm