Demon smelter - a WAD in the works

[mgr_inz_rafal]

Hello!
I'm working (once again) on a short mapset for Doom2. I have several single maps finished and released, but never been able to release something more complete because my maps tend to get bigger and bigger and more detailed and... boring :)

 

That's why this time my plan is to:

1. To be short - the whole "story" should fit in 3 or 4 maps
2. Vanilla compatible - so I don't spend much time on detailing (btw, vanilla look&feel is my preferable way of playing Doom, anyway)
3. Use vanilla textures only
4. Difficulty level support (no just monsters, but different power-ups, ammo boxes, etc.)
5. Co-op compatible (no deathmatch)
6. Have a catchy title :)

The stage is set as follows:

• MAP01 - You go through sewers to reach the enemy complex
• MAP02 - Escaped the sewers, need to go through the wastelands
• MAP03 - Entering the enemy complex and... we'll see ;)

Today I present the first map. It's an obligatory sewers map, compatible with DOOM2.exe and above. All feedback and/or FDA demos are greatly appreciated. The WAD is in the attachment.

 

Project status:

• MAP01 - review
• MAP02 - in progress
• MAP03 - planned 

 

DOWNLOAD:

map01m.zip

 

 

[myolden]

Just finished on UV with 100% kills/secrets, which took me about 16 minutes to do blind. This is a pretty solid map! I know people like to joke about hating sewer levels, but this seems to avoid most of the trappings that make people hate them so much. The long hallways have insets and slopes to take cover behind, and there's lots of windy paths that do a good job of breaking things up. There's a lot of good detail work as well (broken walls revealing rock and dirt, ripped up floors, piles of liquid, etc) and you've used the default texture set quite well. The secrets are both well hidden yet fair. Resources are tight but with some room for error, it's not totally unforgiving. All in all a very fun map.

 

My only criticisms/suggestions are pretty minor:

 

1) I would consider adding a few rockets somewhere on the map, even just 3 single rockets next to the launcher would be an improvement to me. It would give the RL a little more presence in the map.

2) A BFG on map 1 is very generous, perhaps that should be hidden a little better. Maybe in another secret?

3) There was one room where the monster spawners (near the rocket launcher) seemed to struggle to get all of the monsters out quickly enough. The last zombie didn't spawn until after I left the room, and at the end of the map I had to go hunting him down. (on the platform in the pic below).

 

 

Those minor things aside, I really enjoyed this map and look forward to playing the rest of your WAD.

[mgr_inz_rafal]

Thanks for the feedback, @myolden!

My idea was that this WAD should be indeed hard on the hard difficulty, hence some ammo starvation might happen. I'd like ultra-violence to be challenging because I have an impression that it became just a standard difficulty level to play :)

 

Also, the secrets I implement tend to be rather easy to find - I don't like pushing random walls myself, so I try to add more or less obvious clues.

 

Anyway, I'm glad you like the map overall. Regarding the things you pointed out:

 

Ad. 2) The early BFG is intentional. My previous experience shows that I was never able to build a WAD big enough to reach the point when I can introduce the BFG properly :) So, here it is from the beginning, but you're only allowed a single shot (no additional ammo available)

Ad. 1) You're right. I might consider removing this RL and introducing it in a later map. But if I decide it should stay, I'll add more rockets. Using rockets on zombies is always fun :)

Ad. 3) Good catch - I fixed that

[mgr_inz_rafal]

I just tested the first map on my Doom-dedicated-2004-laptop with Choco Doom and realized that I forgot that "BROWNWEL" doesn't tile well in vanilla :(

 

Need to figure something out since this underestimated texture fits the map theme very well.

 

[mgr_inz_rafal]

MAP02 is getting more and more polished. It takes some time because... life :)

 

As a reminder - you've escaped the sewers and are now progressing through the wastelands and caves to sneak into the UAC base.

 

Some screenshots:

 

[FireWarden1000]

I tested out Demon Smelter map01m.wad with GZDoom on Hurt Me Plenty, this is a very empty map, 46/100. The map design is a higher quality than many Doom 2 maps that I have seen before. Excellent attention to detail. To improve the graphics, I would add more lights to the map, and reduce the brightness of the areas of the map that do not have lights. My biggest complaint about map01m.wad, most of the fights with the enemies are 1 on 1 fights. The pistol will take out soldiers in 3 shots, and I used the pistol through most of the map. Enemies would appear in front of you instead of ambushing you. Enemies that ambush you while you are using the pistol will increase the difficulty of the map. Add Imps or Demons for the head on encounters, and use soldiers for ambushes. Imps, and Demons have more health compared to soldiers.