Sustenance Ep1 (5 maps)

[SCF]

Hello! Last month, I posted my first map on here (Feature Creep). After that, I was kinda thinking about working on a full megawad. But because that would be a huge undertaking, I decided to just focus on the first (5 map) episode for now and see where it goes from there.

 

This episode takes you through a city, heading for a portal inside a shrine on the outskirts. I tried to experiment with different types of maps, so it has:

• A basic, linear introduction level
• A 'doom-y' city environment
• A 'realistic' city environment
• An outdoor map that rewards exploration (still mostly linear though)
• An arena survival fight

 

Additional Credits
Textures from OTEX 1.1 by Ola Björling (ukiro) [actually included in the wad this time]
Music by James Paddock (Jimmy)
                    
Difficulty
UV is the main difficulty, but other settings are supported. Maps start out fairly easy and end at... medium difficulty?

 

The maps were designed for pistol start, but it's still playable as a continuous episode (you'll probably end up with a lot more ammo than intended though).

 

Length
Five maps, each between 5-15 minutes long

 

Tested with
GZDoom 4.2.4 (Used for development)
PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4 (Went through the maps once to make sure it's playable)

 

Screenshots

Spoiler

 

Download

Sustenance Ep1 v2 download

 

Edited September 11, 2020 by SCF

[xAn]

Went to the near end of the 2nd map until a rev's rocket catched me. I really like it so far, felt it to be a bit underpopulated. But that could be just me. I will go and complete the set to see what's up ahead.

[TheOrganGrinder]

I've played through the first four levels and taken a peek at the fifth; I generally don't engage well with pure arena maps, but that's a quirk of me as a player and not a commentary on you as a designer.

 

I enjoyed the four levels that I played through, though I'm inclined to agree with @xAn that spaces often feel a bit underpopulated; maybe this is down to me playing on HMP rather than the intended UV, but the overall scale of the second through fourth maps felt a bit off compared to the population both as a whole and as individual monsters, like I was working my way through buildings and spaces built for inhabitants maybe half-again as tall as any of the creatures present.  I love the variety and the ambition that's on display throughout.

[Denim Destroyer]

Just finished playing on UV while trying to obtain all kills and secrets. Basically what I noticed is how each map (save for map05) suffers from being too wide open and having too many supplies. Lack of a sense of proportion is something that affects plenty of new mappers in Doom, but let me explain what this means. When I say too open I mean how much free space is available for the player to move through not if the map is linear or nonlinear. In your instance this means that each map has areas that are too big for their own good and combined with a low monster count makes combat trivial for seasoned players as they will have no problems circle strafing enemies. Playing through the maps makes me believe you used Eviternity as inspiration for Sustenance, I recommend examining your favorite maps from that WAD to try and understand things such as player size proportion relative to the environment around you. Basically my solution to this problem is trying to find the a balance between make the player feel claustrophobic while still having room for the player to maneuver.

 

Another thing that bothered me was how many supplies you provided the player. Giving rockets and other ammo for an expected tough encounter is fine but it isn't fine to drown the player in ammo for each encounter, this makes encounters too easy. It is also important to note that the amount of supercharges you provided is close to what I have seen in WADs such as Going Down or Ancient Aliens when I am about to encounter a mass group of enemies but Sustenance lacks the amount of enemies to make the amount of superchargers you provide seem necessary. Really it comes down to adding more enemies to your map but only you can decide when enough is enough. I recommend playing more WADs to develop what you consider to be a fair amount.

 

With all that said I did consider the level set to be a solid foundation for a good wad. The visuals and level variety is present plus your idea of having the exit visible from anywhere in the map is nice and something I wish more people would do. Work on making environments less large in proportion to the player and improving enemy placement and you are golden!

[SCF]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I can see your points about underpopulation, especially on maps 3 and 4. I thought map 2 was pretty well-stocked with enemies though, considering it's only map 2, and doesn't have too much empty space (other than the opening station area which was intentionally left empty as an introduction). Any particular areas you thought were lacking in enemies?

 

12 hours ago, Denim Destroyer said:

Another thing that bothered me was how many supplies you provided the player. Giving rockets and other ammo for an expected tough encounter is fine but it isn't fine to drown the player in ammo for each encounter, this makes encounters too easy. It is also important to note that the amount of supercharges you provided is close to what I have seen in WADs such as Going Down or Ancient Aliens when I am about to encounter a mass group of enemies but Sustenance lacks the amount of enemies to make the amount of superchargers you provide seem necessary. Really it comes down to adding more enemies to your map but only you can decide when enough is enough. I recommend playing more WADs to develop what you consider to be a fair amount.

 

My last map got the feedback that ammo was too scarce, so I probably ended up overcompensating this time. Now I'll just have to take the average of the two. :D

 

Did you play the maps in sequence or from pistol start? I put extra ammo at the end of some of the maps so that players who ran out can always go back and get 100% kills without impacting the overall challenge, but it does mean you can take a lot of ammo into the next map.

[Denim Destroyer]

I played the maps sequentially so I had more than enough ammo to get 100% kills, with map05 being the exception since I ended that once the gates lowered instead of trying to max out kills.

[SCF]

I'm in the process of overhauling map 4, which I think is the one that needed it the most. Adding more enemies, more obstacles, and reducing the amount of empty space. I'll upload an updated version once it's done. The other maps I'll probably leave the way they are for now. If I ever put them together into a megawad I'll revisit them at that point anyway.

 

Here's what I've done to the base area so far, to make it less empty (as well as increasing the number of enemies that spawn when you pick up the rocket launcher).

 

Before:

Spoiler

 

After:

Spoiler

 

[Biodegradable]

These levels are pretty fun, man! MAP03 and MAP04 were my favourites, with the latter making me feel kind of like I was playing Duke Nukem with the city textures and reasonably well modeled DoomCute features. The inside of the big building could've maybe used some more decorations to make the rooms seem a bit less bare, but I understand the limitations of the engine, so no biggy just something to consider. Otherwise, I have no complaints. Good progression, neat layouts, tough but fun combat. This was a joy to blast through.

 

Keep it up, dude! 

Edited September 12, 2020 by Biodegradable

[SCF]

Version 2 Download

I've updated the link in the top post as well.

Changes to map 4:

• Adjusted terrain almost everywhere. Most combat areas are now a little narrower, and the base area has more obstacles.
• Completely redid the fight at the water pit near the end. I don't think the old one was very interesting. If you've played both versions, please let me know what you think.
• Adjusted enemy placement throughout the map. The total number of enemies on UV has increased from 149 to 246 (!). The map should be a bit harder now, but most enemies were added to places that were underpopulated before.
• Slightly more ammo added, but due to the extra enemies ammo should still be tighter than before.
• Switched item locations between the blue armor and the rocket secret. Makes more sense to have the armor be a secret instead of those precious 10 rockets. I added a green armor to the next arena for those who didn't find the secret.

The other maps are unchanged. Thanks everyone for the feedback. I personally think the map is much better now so it helped a lot.

[Denim Destroyer]

Finished your new map04 and I like this one a lot more than the previous. The map looks better and is less empty compared to the first version. Balance wise it would be better to add more ammo to the area where the player first picks up the rocket launcher and maybe remove some of the imps from the beginning that are sitting on the rocks closest to the sky. They simply don't add much to the map. One more thing, the new water area is a lot better now as the player cannot retreat like before. Overall version 2 is a lot more fun and unlike the first iteration provided a challenge, died four times trying to complete map04 alone while I didn't die once while playing through all five maps of version 1.

Edited September 11, 2020 by Denim Destroyer

[Kachakeño]

I've tested on LZDoom 3.86a. It runs with no problem. Works well with gameplay mods like PB and ZRift, but can affect monsters' position. 

[SCF]

23 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

These levels are pretty fun, man! MAP03 and MAP04 were my favourites, with the latter making me feel kind of like I was playing Duke Nukem with the city textures and reasonably well modeled DoomCute features. The inside of the big building could've maybe used some more decorations to make the rooms seem a bit less bare, but I understand the limitations of the engine, so no biggy just something to consider. Otherwise, I have no complaints. Good progression, neat layouts, tough but fun combat. This was a joy to blast through.

 

Keep it up, dude! 

 

Thanks for the comments and the video. It's unfortunate that you ended up playing it just before I updated map 4. Seeing the old version now it looks so empty.

 

About the tree turning into a pillar, one of the tree sprites replaces "red pillar with skull". I'm guessing your mod changes it into a regular red pillar when you shoot it, which of course looks a little weird when it was originally a tree.

 

[Suitepee]

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/739353118

 

Playtesting starts at 2:00:00. (pistol starts)

 

Good stuff overall, a nice and comfy mapset with great use of OTEX. Don't know why the final arena map had plasma at the end without their being a plasma gun to use though.

[SCF]

10 hours ago, Suitepee said:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/739353118

 

Playtesting starts at 2:00:00. (pistol starts)

 

Good stuff overall, a nice and comfy mapset with great use of OTEX. Don't know why the final arena map had plasma at the end without their being a plasma gun to use though.

 

Thank you. There's a plasma gun behind bars opposite the exit that opens up when the cacodemon wave starts. I thought I made it obvious enough, but I guess it blends into the background when you're not looking for it (and focusing on the fight). Both people who posted video playthroughs missed it, so I'll definitely have to make it more noticeable.

 

Spoiler