UAC Take Over. New Update!

[SlinkyWinky]

Up to about 6 months ago I've never created a single map since I started playing Doom back in 93. I was going to make more but my best friend and fellow Doomer passed due to complications related to Covid. Technically, he's the only one that's ever played these maps and I'm finding it hard to get motivated to complete them or to do more. We played a LOT of Doom together and it's hard just to fire up the game anymore. So instead of letting these maps rot on my drive, I thought I'd share them. 

 

Doom E1

Some custom sounds and graphics

Extensive use of scripting in some levels

Latest version of GZDoom is recommended but Zandromum is functional.

Can be played with Hi Res texture packs but some textures are messed from custom scaling of original textures

Recommended playing with Brutal Doom or Project Brutality. 

Level 2 requires a flashlight. BDBE_Flashlight included in zip.

E1M2 Script is broken for multiplayer.

 

**Update:

 New level added (E1M5) and minor visual tweaks and changes to the other levels.

 *New level added (E1M6) and minor changes to other levels

 

Download:https://www.mediafire.com/file/2m7y3s70jdrl6y2/UACTakeOver1_8.zip/file

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by SlinkyWinky : Link to new Download

[P41R47]

Sorry to hear about your best friend, pal!
And you made this levels to play with him...

its a terrible year for us all.

Gonna check those maps, but for the screens taken, they surely look beautiful!
Keep at it!

[Chip]

Those screenshots look amazing! It looks like a Romero level! great texture use!

 

Spoiler

Oh, and about your friend, I'm so sorry. It can be hard. I hope this helps 

 

 

[Biodegradable]

My condolences on your loss, mate. Remember your friend well. I went ahead and played the first map, I neglected to read this properly and didn't realise I'd need a flashlight for the second level, so enjoy my playthrough of Level 1. The first map is really cool and atmospheric with good, straightforward progression and an interesting, creepy and somewhat claustrophobic atmosphere to it.

 

 

[SlinkyWinky]

Thanks for your support, guys! It's means a lot to me. And thanks for the music, Lit_gam3r. J.B. had quite an eclectic collection of music and the Beetles were definitely on at least one of his playlists.

 

I watched the video, Biodegradable. Man, you were so close to some of those secrets! And yeah, I noticed some of the pinkies and spectres were stuck, too. Brutal Doom shrinks some of the hit boxes for the monsters so I guess I never noticed them being stuck. I might incorporate new ones with smaller hit boxes to fix this. Looking forward to hearing more from you guys! 

[SlinkyWinky]

*Bump*

[SlinkyWinky]

New version. Fixed Demon and Spectre getting stuck. Minor changes to E1M2 and fix to prevent getting stuck in E1M4 if you don't have the red key.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/dfoqns90gujje5p/file

Edited September 8, 2020 by Sliinkywinky

[Soundblock]

Hey man, really sorry to hear about your friend. It's great having a co-pilot buddy nearby while making maps like this that can give you immediate hands-on input. Can really be the difference between finding the energy to make something or not.

 

Looking at the screenshots & peeking at the playthrough, your levels definetely have atmosphere & you probably got a knack for this stuff, should you wanna try & keep it up as a creative endeavour. If you find you've reached a stage where it is complete, I encourage you to upload it to the archives (it's also possible to keep making updates to existing files on there):

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/

 

There's a basic guide here about the torrenting & stuff, which still was good last time I checked:

 

 

[SlinkyWinky]

Hey, thanks, bro.

 

I'd send it to IDGames but the WAD contains copy righted and unedited resources - unapologetically. It has some Doom 3 sounds and a modified but full length version of a Metallica song on E1M4. Metallica was J.B's favorite band and it just didn't seem right to cut it. I'll do Doomworld the favor by not having to deal with copyright problems but I refuse to cut it for the sake of the memory of my friend. F

Edited September 15, 2020 by Sliinkywinky

[SlinkyWinky]

New Map and additions and fixes/changes coming in a week or so.

[Doomkid]

Apologies for the bump, but I just played through this wad and really enjoyed what's here so far. The use of modern-ish features like 3D floors, slopes, fog and dynamic lights are used in such a classy way that meshes well with Doom's presentation, as opposed to trying to overhaul it. This is a real treat for fans of slow-burn Doom 1 paced action!

 

[SlinkyWinky]

Hey!

  I appreciate the shoutout, DoomKid! I'm glad you enjoyed it. It means a lot. Thank you. 

[TheNoob_Gamer]

Just finished E1M1 so far, and if it wasn't for your request I would never have stumbled upon this gem!

The usage of GZDoom features is very impressive right here. I like various themes presented in the map (techbase meshed with hell, an underground crypt (sorta?)). Consistent visual cues like health caches, new weapons make things more immersive. And, combine with no normal music present, the mood is rather.. tense, which is fitting.

 

The visuals tie in rather well with the gameplay, another big plus. You did a good job with a rather limited bestiary and weaponry. It seems tactical play (or moving as fast as possible) is encouraged here - I had to use the pistol dealing with mobs for quite a bit, and often I had to play slow.

 

However, the (apparently) tactical playstyle is also the biggest issue for me and I think that health items in particular were not placed very well. Usually, after getting a key, there should be a medkit lying around for easier healing, under a rather aggressive hitscan hell. This is only the case with the blue key room, but the encounters at that point have become relatively tame, and previous 2 (red and yellow), I died a lot due to zombies everywhere. I imagine this would be hellish if paired with Brutal Doom. Overall, my point is that after you get a key, there should either be less pinkies (less grind), zombies or more health. This could balance out encounters, so that you don't have to play slowly all the time.

 

I think that in the underground crypt (or the sewers system?) area, the fork leading to the yellow key exit could do with a little better visual hint (like a yellow bar?) . And, in the final reactor area (with the baron leader), the flickering lights seem to be rather troublesome, and timings could be tweaked to avoid this.

 

Spoiler

Minor nitpick: Instead of saying something like "Reactor Room Now Has Power", imo it's better to say "Reactor Power Resupplied" or something like that. It just occurred to me that it's kinda a strange text.

That's pretty much all I have to say. If I have more time,  I will surely play through more of this. It has been rather good so far.

[Endless]

Holy hell. This is amazing mate. A hidden gem that I should have played long ago. I'm just going to be quick and tell you that the first 2 maps are atmospheric masterpieces. All the work you did is amazing and your friend would be fucking proud and happy!

 

You'll see this map fully reviewed in the next issue of the Wadazine. I love it!

[Teo Slayer]

Wow, so cool. Everyone here makes the best WADS and Mods ever. This is the side I love from the Doom Fandom

[SlinkyWinky]

Hello, Everyone!

 

  TheNoob_Gamer, thankyou for all your input. I've made some changes to the map based off of some of your suggestions. However, I must note that the first two maps are not designed for the typical run and gun gameplay that you usually get with Doom. My original goal was to see if I could create a tense and uneasy atmosphere using mostly only what the base game had to offer. Health and ammo are meant to be a little scares so the player has to be more tactical. The third map is designed to look and play more traditionally, for the most part, as a pallet cleaner. J.B. and I played a s**t ton of maps together so I made these mostly just to experimenting with ideas that we didn't get to see much in other maps; to see what works and what doesn't.

 

  Endless, that online magazine looks freaking awesome, yo! Looks professional AF. Definite read. I appreciate the review, too! 

 

  I appreciate everyone's input, even any gripes you may have. I'd like to gauge everyone's general opinions. No sense making something no one wants to play. Thanks, everyone!

**Edit Here is a link to me playing the first level with BD in case anyone wants to see it. 

https://youtu.be/YfNhiz7gj3g

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Sliinkywinky

[SlinkyWinky]

in coming new map. 

 

[SlinkyWinky]

New level (E1M6) is out! Let me know what yall think.

[Astro X]

On 8/4/2021 at 1:41 AM, Sliinkywinky said:

New level (E1M6) is out! Let me know what yall think.

I tried this level and found it super cool to play!

 

I do feel a nostalgic and "dark" atmosphere there on your style. I personally design maps (just recently started mapping) focusing on challenging combats, but I really enjoy what you do with ambient and lighting/sounds.

 

Only thing is that I could not go through all areas properly for some weird reason, unfortunately, so I had to no clip a couple of times :(

 

I hope you can enjoy my playthrough and sincere thoughts. Also, I'm sorry for your loss. I hope you can find some friends here in this community.

 

 

 

[SlinkyWinky]

Hey, Astro!

 

  Watched your playthrough. Very insightful to see how other people play my maps. When you build it, what seems so obvious to you may not be to others. The console in the red key room has the terminals with the monitors on and lit green. You should have been able to go up to it and interact with it. That would have properly started the scripted sequence to gain access to the appropriate doors and started the proper ending of the level.  Additionally, I never expected someone to pistol start a map for the first time on UV! You got some cojones, man. I always expect most players, myself especially, to start on skill 2 rather than 3. 

 

  There are a couple of reasons why these levels are in D1 instead of D2. The first is the fact that E1 was Lou's favorite. The second, I took it as a personal challenge to try and make something playable with something that was so limiting. D2 is my favorite, too but I'm trying to stick this one out in memory of my buddy.  I told him I was going to make an E1 episode and that's what I'm trying to do - if I can ever get motivated enough to finish it. 

 

I also saw, in your video, that some of the lighting and texture scaling seems to be off. What ingame renderer are you using? I built the level around my own personal settings so I'm not sure what everyone else uses. 

 

Seeing as you mentioned it in the video, I never call myself a level designer because real level designers build for flow of gameplay first, then visual theme second. I'm still trying to learn how to get a picture in my head on the screen while juggling the limitations of my own skill and the engine. 

 

Well, I hope you give it another try (may be on a slightly lower difficulty level?) so you can get the real experience. I'll look into making it more obvious that you need to interact with the console seeing that it's not something typically done in Doom. 

 

[SlinkyWinky]

Question: Would anyone be more interested in these maps if it was for D2 rather than D1? I just don't seem to be getting much feedback.

[baja blast rd.]

titles like "looking for some feedback" are gonna get glossed over a lot

 

would go with something like

 

UAC Takeover - an UDoom episode for GZDoom - e1m5/e1m6 added 

 

^ I am assuming that is the name based on the download link

 

a title like that would grab the attention of people who might play this, and helps people understand the core idea so that reading the body of the OP becomes filling in blanks rather than learning everything about the project

 

people are generally also more likely to play completed things, but that affects everyone and just means you'll get more players when it's done 

[SlinkyWinky]

12 minutes ago, rd. said:

titles like "looking for some feedback" are gonna get glossed over a lot

 

That's a darn good point, rd. Fair enough. I will definitely keep that in mind.

I do see there are a fair number of downloads so people are at least looking at the page and downloading the maps.

33 minutes ago, rd. said:

people are generally also more likely to play completed things

I'd be more driven to finishing the episode if I thought people were more interested. I don't have much time to work on this stuff and would rather switch gears and do something else that people would enjoy more. At this point it feels like I'm trying to ride a dead horse.

[msx2plus]

hey there - i know i'm almost year late to seeing this thread, but my conolences regarding your friend. positive vibes your way. <3

 

this is a cool project you've got going!

 

e1m1: a little tight on ammo, maybe. really enjoyed this one! i think a couple of the environmental themes switch a little too quickly and could be blended together a bit more, but it's still really cool. the pacing is pretty solid! as mentioned you're making nice use of GZ features! as a sound-maker-typer-person i appreciate your use of ambient sounds in the environment. this is one of the most underutilized mapping tools.

 

e1m2: try changing the channel you play the AI voice on - it can be cancelled by player sounds and you can miss out on what it has to say. A_StartSound with CHAN_7 would likely be fine, you can also use CHANF_OVERLAP if you want it to overlap other stuff in whatever channel it's in - this means the sound can overlap itself though. more hud-based subtitles for them would be great too!

 

you might notice that sometimes the game stutters when playing a new sound as well (ambient sounds for example) - in your MAPINFO you can add something like this to help alleviate that:

 

map E1M2 "Dark Passages"
{
    PrecacheSounds = "soundname1", "soundname2", etc
}

 

beyond that i'd just address the errors that crop up along the way via the console (i got a few about brutal doom not being present and various missing actors/sprites) and maybe look into seamlessly looping the ambient music - LOOP_START and LOOP_END are common metadata types supported by OGG and FLAC and GZDoom will gladly use them.

 

that's all i've got for now, didn't have a ton of time to dig into it tonight. this does a lot of things i'm usually not into in doom stuff - sloped and 3d floors and whatnot - but you're using it all pretty tastefully.

 

also, don't worry about playing to the crowd and making something you know people will enjoy - fulfill your vision first and let the right people find it. do take part in community projects, too, they're a great way to get involved, make connections, and learn a lot in a short time.

 

best wishes!

[baja blast rd.]

played e1m5 because I wanted to try something it doesn't seem like you got feedback on. this was actually one of the best times I've had in a map recently. the underground tunnel section and some of the nearby traps were exhilarating, and the atmosphere (thanks to both the map and the music) is pretty sick. kinda reminds me of a lot of good classic ZDoom sets, and with a modern dynamic feel to the gameplay. so please don't stop it just for audience reasons. definitely will play the whole thing sometime.

 

FDA (sorry about the random Doomworld alerts, forgot I had a random thread open)
 

 

[msx2plus]

e1m5 is indeed very good and e1m6 is equally solid in a totally different way - excited to see where your mapping takes you if this is where you're starting!! considering how well these play without brutal doom i'd be interested to see how you designed for doom 2 without any particular mod in mind. you have a keen sense for putting pressure on the player, herding the pinkies in these maps is remarkably stressful

[SlinkyWinky]

Hey, everyone!

 

  Sorry for being away for a while. Between hurricanes, family matters, and some how catching meningitis (the later of which I now have the luxury of slight but permanent hearing loss) I've been distracted to say the least. On a good note, I trying to get back into the swing of things. I've started on the final three maps but may take a while. I'll post a few screenshots as I get further along.

 

  In the meantime I've made a few updates based on the following suggestions:

 

On 8/11/2021 at 10:02 PM, msx2plus said:

e1m2: try changing the channel you play the AI voice on - it can be cancelled by player sounds and you can miss out on what it has to say. A_StartSound with CHAN_7 would likely be fine, you can also use CHANF_OVERLAP if you want it to overlap other stuff in whatever channel it's in - this means the sound can overlap itself though. more hud-based subtitles for them would be great too!

 

you might notice that sometimes the game stutters when playing a new sound as well (ambient sounds for example) - in your MAPINFO you can add something like this to help alleviate that

 

beyond that i'd just address the errors that crop up along the way via the console (i got a few about brutal doom not being present and various missing actors/sprites) and maybe look into seamlessly looping the ambient music - LOOP_START and LOOP_END are common metadata types supported by OGG and FLAC and GZDoom will gladly use them.

First off, allow me to thankyou for this these awesome nuggets of information! 

E1M2's AI sound handing is by design. Some things, I didn't feel were important enough to force the player to listen to the dialog while others I made sure were played. I will revisit this, though. E1M6 puts everything on channel 2, I think, as BD sounds tend to conflict. I'll still look into it, again. 

 

I've had a stutter every once in a while but never thought it could be sound related. I will defiantly do this. Can't hurt.

 

I just finished editing the music and converting them to OGG. I also added beginning and ending loop points. Some of the songs I had to modify just a bit because I couldn't find a loop point that transitioned well so I added a wee bit of modification at the end of some of the songs. You can still tell where the loop ends and then begins if you listen closely enough but I don't think anyone will notice whilst all the killing is going on. 

 

On 8/11/2021 at 11:58 PM, rd. said:

played e1m5 because I wanted to try something it doesn't seem like you got feedback on.

 

Super glad you enjoyed the level! I've changed to the door to stay open as you suggested. Excellent suggestion! Thankyou.

 

As I mentioned, I'll throw up a few screens as I get further along to see what everyone thinks - so keep an eye on this thread if you can. In the meantime, if anyone has any more suggestions please feel free to post them. Till then, everyone take care! 

[SlinkyWinky]

As promised - Some pictures of the next incoming map (E1M9).

 

[Astro X]

3 hours ago, SlinkyWinky said:

As promised - Some pictures of the next incoming map (E1M9).

Looks very impressive, well done!

[SlinkyWinky]

Two new levels (E1M7 and E1M9) and a few additions and changes to some of the other levels. Better late than never, I guess!

https://www.mediafire.com/file/2m7y3s70jdrl6y2/UACTakeOver1_8.zip/file

E1M7

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by SlinkyWinky