Hell Skylands: Its like Islands, But In The Sky! Feedback wanted!

[Alfredo]

Greetings everyone. it has certainly been a while since I last posted a map or done any mapping in general. Covid hit quite hard though and left me with quite a bit of spare time. It has been a busy few months, I finally graduated and received my degree in optical engineering, only to find that most companies around me canceled all interviews or went on hiring freezes until things get better. That aside. It has also left me with quite a lot of spare time to do hobby stuff, like Doom Mapping!

 

With that out of the way. I present to you a single map for Doom 2. A map that i've worked on for many hours on and off throughout the months. The map has quite a few new tricks that I learned and felt were fun enough to implement. I hope that you find the experience to be enjoyable as you trek across the skylands! The difficulty is balanced towards Ultra Violence. But there are Difficulty settings enabled. They do not alter the gameplay experience very much, adding in some extra powerups or taking out problem monsters from difficult fights. However, you will get the most out of the map on UV. 

 

 

There are places that you can get softlocked. But only if you really try to or if you land in an unfortunate spot. (If you don't die after falling from a great height. You may be in an unfortunate spot.)

 

There is some portal jank going on in some places. So if you get warped to the top of a rock or something, that's probably why. Portal jank.

 

Details:

1 new map from scratch

Replaces Map01 for Doom 2. 

Roughly 500 monsters on all difficulties. Nice and Chewy.

Compatibility is strictly GZDoom due to the use of portals and 3D floors. 

Set your Video mode to Hardware Accelerated to get the most out of the dark areas. 

Midi is from TNT Revilution

Difficulty settings? : Yes.

Co-op?: No.

DM?: No. 

Crouching and Jumping are not allowed. Freelook is fine but not needed.

Roughly 35-45 minutes playtime. 

Download link will be at the bottom.

Screenshots: 

 

 

And yes. I know there is redrock everywhere. x.x

Hell Skylands V2.zip

Edited July 31, 2020 by Alfredo : New Version with Feedback implemented.

[El Inferno]

I played and recorded the map. I like the use of 3d floors, really cool! I found 2 secrets and didn't find the BFG.

There were some interesting combat there. The AV fight in YK area was the hardest part for me. It felt a bit unfair since you have to somehow figure out the best spot to camp.

In the last fight one AV felt down and I couldn't kill him. Also there is no way from the exit to the main island in case you missed some monsters.

I got lost a little bit after I grabbed YK. I completely forgot about that red key switch which raises platforms to BK. 

My favourite part is the two fights in the BK arena. Very nice map overall!

 

Video (uploading):

Spoiler

 

 

[Alfredo]

22 hours ago, el_inf said:

I played and recorded the map. I like the use of 3d floors, really cool! I found 2 secrets and didn't find the BFG.

There were some interesting combat there. The AV fight in YK area was the hardest part for me. It felt a bit unfair since you have to somehow figure out the best spot to camp.

In the last fight one AV felt down and I couldn't kill him. Also there is no way from the exit to the main island in case you missed some monsters.

I got lost a little bit after I grabbed YK. I completely forgot about that red key switch which raises platforms to BK. 

My favourite part is the two fights in the BK arena. Very nice map overall!

 

Video (uploading):

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Yeah, that fight is a bit nasty. I might tone it down a bit if the general consensus is that its too tough. Added in some block lines to keep those monsters from falling off the platform at the end. I might add in a second teleporter that lets you go back to other areas. for monsters that you missed. 

 

Anyways. Thank you for the review and playthrough. I'm very happy you enjoyed the map! :D

[Suitepee]

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/690781377

 

I play this at 5:35 into the livestream.

[Jark]

Enjoyed this, is what it says on the box - last fight a bit tricky 

[Bridgeburner56]

I played this over the weekend and while there are some profession signalling issues I enjoyed it. Fights were varied and engaging with some challenging set ups. 

Recommended 

[Caleb13]

Pretty good, although there is distinct over-reliance on archviles in virtually all fights throughout the map. But the main problem is that the second red switch (linedef 2649) is too hard to find after the cave walls shift during scripted events. After fruitlessly running around for 10+ minutes, I had to view el_inf's video to find it. The second problem is that the BFG is almost useless - by the time you get the blue key, most big fights are already over. It may help in the exit fight, but that's in theory only, because like I said, I found the blue key last and was out of cells anyway. And I also noticed some minor bugs:

If you jump down from sector 683 right after start, you can become stuck in sector 639.

 

Sector 785 has wrong floor texture.

Edited July 30, 2020 by Caleb13

[Alfredo]

Alrighty! Lots of feedback! I appreciate everyone that's played the map and left their impressions. I've made a few changes accordingly. 

 

1: BFG is no longer a secret and is only tied to the last fight. All fights are doable without it and supplied accordingly. BFG is now presented as a choice before going into the final fight. Picking it up changes the fight significantly. If this change is too significant and not recieved well, the BFG might be removed altogether.

 

2: Archvile numbers have been trimmed down from some fights and replaced with other monsters. 

 

3: The intended progression path in the Yellow key cavern has been updated to be more noticeable.

 

4: The red switches in the main cavern have had changes made so that they are now easier to find and notice. The path for the west switch has been widened after grabbing the red key so that it isn't as easily forgotten 

 

5: A rocket launcher has been added to each wing of the map, in case it somehow gets missed. 

 

6: The secret switch in the fireblu magma springs has been changed to allow players to flip it without the blue key. 

 

7: Teleporters in the Yellow Key cavern have had torches added to make them more noticeable when its time to exit.