Hell Frontier. WIP megawad for Doom 2. [Development thread: Episode 3 progress 8/???] - New MAP29 (update 26.04.2024)

[ViolentBeetle]

 

Ha ha it's time for a new map. This time it's MAP16: Nerve Center

I wanted to try my hand at slaughter again - if you can call 100 monsters a slaughter. It's pretty much just a single fight against teleporting horde, with a prologue. But there's also a gimmick.

 

On an unrelated note, MAP17 has been made easier, so if you suffered through it before, it's a good time for a rematch.

HFRONTE2_20220601.zip

[Clippy]

yo I played new map - had a half hour window and really shouldn't have tried - I was too rushed - but did not expect to spend 25 min on a fight - so I had to save scum in the end and rush out - not sure if some armour would have helped but there was so much crap to dodge - the map design is great tho and the final arena is build perfectly for the situation just I messed up due to my hurry and also missing all the bfg shots lol  - hopefully vid is still useful

 

on a personal note I am trying to hard to cram doom in short windows and have to stop - like after this video I had to run out the door cause my time was simply up - sorry about that - cool map anywho

 

 

[ViolentBeetle]

Following the feedback, I have concluded that I made MAP16 too damn hard.

Because of it, I radically increase amount of recovery items during the final battle. Specifically, I am replacing external medikits with soul spheres and green armor on UV, some of which becomes megaspheres and blue armors on lower difficulties. It would still challenge your requiring you to run out of cover to grab it before arch-viles zap you.

HFRONTE2_20220604.zip

[Clippy]

5 hours ago, ViolentBeetle said:

Following the feedback, I have concluded that I made MAP16 too damn hard.

Because of it, I radically increase amount of recovery items during the final battle. Specifically, I am replacing external medikits with soul spheres and green armor on UV, some of which becomes megaspheres and blue armors on lower difficulties. It would still challenge your requiring you to run out of cover to grab it before arch-viles zap you.

HFRONTE2_20220604.zip

 

Felt compelled to try this again.. @sandwedge joined in 

 

I was hoping I'd have an easier time but I still had a go with it

 

I was actually surprised to see three blueberries there. Maybe I beat this quicker than you wanted this time

 

All I know is balancing levels is a bitch amirite? 

 

Also I played hide and seek with a cacodemon somehow 

 

 

 

[ViolentBeetle]

New map! Finally bridged the gap with MAP15: Final Detonation

Map has secret exit, but there's no secret level yet.

 

HFRONTE2_20220723.7z

Edited July 23, 2022 by ViolentBeetle

[bartekmil]

Just completed Final Detonation, tested in crispy, really liked it. The celtic cross/crosshair like room was nice because the chaingunners you encounter in one corridor can actually go backwards and flank you from another side when you deal with the reventants. Cave fight was great too, and well protected against cheesing, though at my later try I was able to peek in and wake up the arachnotrons without getting down from the cross room. Great fight overall, cacos dropping in really made me panic.

That explosion sequence at the end was a treat, I always like encounters where you come back to corpses you made and an archvile drops in, but this is another way to spin it and its great - abundance of health and cells + bfg made it pretty easy to dispose of the archviles on the first try, i dont know if you intended that but previous encounters made me struggle much more than the last one.

 

[Firedust]

Good luck with the project! Very much looking forward to playing this mapset when you're done :)

[ViolentBeetle]

2 hours ago, bartekmil said:

That explosion sequence at the end was a treat, I always like encounters where you come back to corpses you made and an archvile drops in, but this is another way to spin it and its great - abundance of health and cells + bfg made it pretty easy to dispose of the archviles on the first try, i dont know if you intended that but previous encounters made me struggle much more than the last one.

I'm not very good with BFG so I might've made it a little too easy. Probably if I scatter cells around more, it will be more interesting.

[Clippy]

New map great - had some visitors while playing - I loved it - entirely - that ending was epic!!

 

 

[ViolentBeetle]

3 hours ago, Clippy said:

New map great - had some visitors while playing - I loved it - entirely - that ending was epic!!

1. Picks up rocket launcher in the first 5 seconds

2. Refuses to use it

3. Leaves

True chad doomer. I'll see if 2 more arch-viles would improve the game. Originally I put 4 but it seemed a little excessive during first test. Might not be excessive in the end, due to them being overly busy.

[ViolentBeetle]

2 days of hard work inspired by MAP04 of @mouldy's Overboard conceptually, and now we have MAP19: Mount Dismal

The usual - difficulty implemented, pistol start recommended.

HFRONTE2_20220808.7z

[Clippy]

Cool map - I had just finished overboard map four in my last video so I was prepared for this. Fun times

 

 

 

[ViolentBeetle]

 

Would you look at this, new map. This time it's MAP20: Exit Wound

And thus we wrap up second episode. Still needs a secret map though.

 

The map is larger than most and fairly open, even if linear. I added 2 of all weapon pickups just in case. 6 monsters are hidden in a rather obscure secret.

HFRONTE2_20220821.zip

Edited August 21, 2022 by ViolentBeetle

[Bengaltiger1]

I got around to playing map20. Very fun to play. 1st the aesthetic was great. It was like a castle / fortress corrupted by hell. Much like your early maps the presence of hell textures certainly add variety to the visuals.

I endured some trial and error until I found the ssg, that helped me get a more solid foothold and not have to worry about splash damage from the RL.

The chaingunners gave me the most trouble early on, their placement was Plutonia-esque. They kept on weakening me, ultimately causing most my deaths.

The part with the archvile, arachnos flooding in on high ground was an ammo drain due to the vile going out of view and in rogue mode...locking on was hard wkth the room he had to move around.

I wasted a lot trying to get him isolated enough to attack, so I could get clean shots. The good news is the ammo caches were generous, I never got critical on ammo, and health to was generous. 

I think my fave encounter was the caco wave and the sniper cyberdemon after grabbing the blue key. Once I obtained the secret invul sphere it really helped make the wave of caco's more manageable. Without it It's surprisingly easy to get overwhelmed.

Got 3/7 secrets. And noticed I was missing 5 monsters @ the end. That was the only part where I was kinda disappointed as I like to get 100% kills. I can only guess they were hidden in the secrets I missed. 

 

All in all It's the most fun I had playing this wad. Even the tighter areas were fair and allowed enough time to retreat without getting pinned down and killed. 

I can't wait to play more of this wad. 

And also if you're making new maps for HF I am excited to see what else you have in store.

 

GG

[Clippy]

I loved this map - clever design, awesome challenging combat - a power trip letting you let loose with rocket launcher etc and some amazing secrets I would have never found without @sandwedge - the secrets were extremely interesting and I loved the attention to detail - kudos!

 

 

[Anarkzie]

Just played map 20, I have to say it was a lot of fun. I like the open design with enemies everywhere as it leads to a frantic start. In fact I would say the enemy placement was on point throughout the level. The secrets were also really well done, I particularly liked how you get all the chaingunners ammo on those raise platforms/half pillar things that leads to a room behind the wall with armour.

 

Good job.

[ViolentBeetle]

Guess who's back. It is I and I brought you new Hell Frontier map. It is an opening map for Episode 3, it's located in MAP21 slot and it's called Beatrice Beachhead.

I'm keeping this version in case someone recorded a demo for it or something, but please refer to one post below for a better version.

BeatriceBeachhead.zip

Edited August 28, 2023 by ViolentBeetle

[ViolentBeetle]

Update: MAP21 revision where cacodemons are less prone to floating away from the playable area and also last two waves are merged for a more dynamic ending

BeatriceBeachhead_v2.zip

[Clippy]

Cool map bro very digestible / dubbag visited and I had a very fortunate run with lots of scary moments. Caco building cool and that meat pile was fun and made me hungry 

 

 

 

[TheShep]

I'll probably chomp on this one when it's in RC status down the road. Tasty!

[ViolentBeetle]

I'm keeping this post and upload for archive purposes, please refer to OP or post below for more relevant version.

 

Babe, wake up, new Hell Frontier map just dropped.

This time it's MAP23: For Their Deeds Were Evil

I am packing maps together for the sake of convenience. It also contains MAP21, but I don't think I changed anything there since last release.

HFRONTE3_DEV_20230919.zip

 

Note: I realized I forgot to add difficulty settings. I won't re-upload just for that, everyone is playing on UV anyway. It'll be in when I release something else.

 

 

Edited September 23, 2023 by ViolentBeetle

[Firedust]

So glad you are making more maps for this!

[ViolentBeetle]

Some minor revisions to MAP23, mostly removal of one unfun arch-vile and replacing it with one pain elemental (Might be more fun). More arch-viles might get pruned in the future.

HFRONTE3_DEV_20230923.zip

[ViolentBeetle]

One more update to improve another encounter.

HFRONTE3_DEV_20230926.zip

[ViolentBeetle]

Guess what? New map!

This time it's MAP22: Negative Space

I sure hope you liked Hunted back in a day.

HFRONTE3_DEV_20231004.zip

[Clippy]

You are a mapping master haha - and you keep getting better - this entire map was a really great time for me, played it yesterday - the red space sky stuff was done well

 

Just really good stuff

 

 

[Clippy]

My run was not as fortunate as the last one haha 

 

That beginning was hard for me 

 

That ending tho. Buying a lottery ticket after that one lol 

 

Good times super engaging gameplay all thru as always 

 

 

 

[ViolentBeetle]

It's time for a new map.

MAP24: Blood Drive

HFRONTE3_DEV_20231214.zip

[Clippy]

always love your maps especially when I do good lol - fun and thrilling as always - love the unique atmosphere and MEAT CUBE !!

 

 

[ViolentBeetle]

Babe wake up, new map just dropped. It took me more than a week of non-stop mapping and testing, now suffer like I did.

It has a little non-linearity, and you might want to have a backup save to not get stuck without ammo.

It's MAP28: Visceral Reality

 

HFRONTE3_DEV_20240108.zip