Uncharted Territory - My First Map

[Fiendish]

Greetings, Doomworld! After lurking on these forums for a while and spending about a month and a half working on my first map, I've decided to join and share what I've got. My goal was to make a map that provides a sense of adventure without skimping on the action. It's on the longer side for a first map, I think (it takes me a bit over 20 minutes to complete on UV). Difficulty-wise, I'd estimate that it's harder than Doom II but not as hard as Plutonia. If the map is well received, I hope to make it part of an episode or mini-episode, with each map starting seamlessly where the last left off. 

 

Thanks for playing the map, if you decide to do so. I hope you have fun with it, and I would greatly appreciate any feedback. :-) 

 

UNCHARTED.zip (Last Updated 3/1/2021) 

 

Wad info:
- This wad contains a single map, Uncharted Territory (replaces map01 of Doom II)
- Format: Vanilla Doom II
- I've tested it on GZDoom, PrBoom+, and Crispy Doom. Requires a limit-removing source port. 
- Some decorations won't show up on PrBoom+ and Crispy, but they're purely aesthetic and don't make any difference to the gameplay.
- Freelook and crouching are allowed but not required. Jumping can break intended sequences and so is discouraged.
- Gameplay style: run-and-gun, exploration
- Difficulty settings are implemented.
- Enemy counts: UV - 317; HMP - 264; HNTR - 193
- Multiplayer is not currently supported.

 

Screenshots:

 

Spoiler

 

Credits (thank you to all of those below for these amazing resources):
Music is "Permanence" by AD_79. 
Textures are from 32in24-15 tex (thanks to Esselfortium for the texture set, and to the other artists who created textures within it)
Root Pack from Realm667 (credit to Lucario, Captain Awesome, Xaser and 3D Realms)
Small Trees and Bushes from Realm667 (credit to CaptainToenail and Raven Software)
The sky texture is slightly modified from a neural-upscaled Doom texture (credit goes to hidfan for creating the neural upscaled Doom textures)

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Fiendish : Uploaded a slightly updated version of the map

[Somniac]

That looks quite impressive for a first published effort. I'll try and give it a run through before the weekend's out and leave some feedback!

[Fiendish]

4 hours ago, VisionThing said:

That looks quite impressive for a first published effort. I'll try and give it a run through before the weekend's out and leave some feedback!

 

Much appreciated! I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

[spineapple tea]

I haven't played it yet but the screenshots look incredible, especially the outside areas.

[Veinen]

Really cool adventure map you have here. There's definitely a sense of place here and a feel of an Indiana Jones -like adventure as you progress through the map. Difficulty isn't high but sufficient to make things interesting and you can definitely bite the dust in the later parts of the map when the AV density starts to increase. I found a few of the secrets which helped, notably the BFG and a bunch of extra cells which allowed me to spam plasma later on quite liberally, which possibly made my life considerably easier in some ambushes. As for combat in general, it's a nice mix of incidental fodder and ambushes with a good amount of variety. My personal favorites were, the BSK bridge, the bloodfall room ambush in the ruins and the penultimate Rev horde + AV. 

 

Some of the ambushes got somewhat predictable later on in the map as several had a similar pattern and a "solution" to them: big time trouble ahead so backtrack a bit, clear some light opposition that has teleported to your back and you have a safer spot to take on the main ambush (for example the aforementioned penultimate ambush). Throwing a curveball once in a while is something to think about, you could block off the retreat completely sometimes or have meatier opposition spawn on your back so the player is forced to make decision on which side of the battle to take on first. Pressure from both sides is definitely a good thing but applying the pressure in different ways is what I would encourage. Now I'm a pretty experienced player and possibly in the minority here but I can spot these kind of patterns in ambushes pretty quick and in FDA's it's something I will take advantage of. And it's definitely not a thing only new mappers have a tendency of doing but veteran mappers as well.

 

As I said the map has a really nice sense of place thanks to realistic theme, geometry and intricate detailing. The realistic detailing is aesthetically very pleasing but can be a detriment if it starts to affect gameplay and make movement awkward. I think you've actually done a fine job here in restricting most of the main fights to more open areas that are not annoying to traverse. The exception is the final room with the fleshy thing in the middle, which is dark and bumpy and cramped but the it's not much of a trap in the end so it didn't matter that much. But yeah, just something to consider when making these kind of realistic type maps with a lot of small detailing.

 

Overall though, this was an extremely enjoyable map, so good job! I'll definitely encourage you to make more.

 

FDA in the attachment, played in UV with glboom+ 2.5.1.3. Took me around 30 mins to finish with zero deaths (secret hunting maybe 5 minutes of that).

FDA_uncharted.zip

[Biodegradable]

Very impressive, very tense, very cruel, very cool map. I'll let my footage do the rest of the talking for me hehe.

 

 

[Soulless]

Impressed of how many 1st entries of high quality im playing lately, such a cool layout and intuitive progression.

The exploration factor is great and the intricate paths makes the combat quite fun. Best moment probably was the huge trap before

exit room (minute 33:00 in Biodegradable´s playthrough), It was really frantic running around looking for a safe spot only to find

more monsters are coming from every previous path, loved it.

Found 6 secrets, all of em are fair to find if you pay enough attention. Quite entertaining 35 minutes or so on UV.

Great job @Fiendish!

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by Soulless

[Fiendish]

@Veinen Thanks for the positive words, detailed feedback, and the FDA! I enjoyed watching the FDA, and it was very helpful to see. I wanted for some of those ambushes to have a few possible solutions, allowing for either a more defensive or offensive approach. I think you're right that in some of them, the opposition blocking the retreat pathway could be beefed up a bit so that the defensive route doesn't end up being the clearest path of least resistance. With the last room, I was going for a more cramped fight than the rest of the map, but maybe it turned out a bit too cramped, making it less fun than it could have been. Definitely good to know. I may make an updated version of the map that addresses both of these issues, but at the very least will keep them in mind in making future maps.

 

 

@Biodegradable Thank you! I really appreciate the recording and the positive words. I enjoyed watching you play through it, though I hope you didn't find it too frustrating. I'm going to upload a small update to the map, taking your advice about widening the gap in the waterfall so that the pathway is clearer (thanks for that suggestion). I was really pleased to hear you say "I'm not going to forget this map anytime soon" at the end (though I hope that's in a good way haha). 

 

 

@Soulless Thanks very much! All of that is music to my ears. :-) That fight in the bloodfall room is also my own favorite in the map.

Edited February 28, 2021 by Fiendish

[DavidN]

Bloody hell, where are all these beginners coming from that say "here's a first try at a Doom map" and then produce a huge epic that's more elaborate than anything I've attempted in 26 years! This is a great exploration through some really nice looking and complex environments, with a good sense of increasing the difficulty gradually. This project already looks extremely promising and I'd love to see more :)

 

 

[ElPadrecitoCholo]

Uncharted Territory

 

Ultra-Violence || Zandronum || Vanilla

 

Status:

Deaths → 0

Saves → none

 

 

A really long map, really intense, very challenging and full of adrenaline at every moment, but this seems to be a description made for a map very inspired by Plutonia or to define a really tough MegaWad, but no, this time I say it more for this wad that, is really well set in some beginning of Mayan culture or something like that, the thing is that everything that is seen in the environment, is very well achieved, as I said before, from the outskirts of the map, to the interior , as if it were a kind of expedition to a mine that was related to Mayan temples or a similar culture, it is really surprising how well this kind of maps can be when there is a historical inspiration behind it, I really like this, and in truth, I got caught up in a lot from the first minutes of the game. Regarding the combats, well, everything beautiful will always bring thorns on its stem, which I imply that in the aspect of the battles, the map also stands out, by how it raises the encounters, the battles with the different types of enemies shown on the screen, and the traps that the Marine encounters when he is very distracted in the exploration, all this means that the map does not lose interest at any time, and most of the fights do not become so unfair once the tactic is discovered. In general, I found it to be an excellent map, very enjoyable and highly recommended, I hope to see such entertaining maps in the future, great work colleague.

[Fiendish]

@DavidN Thanks so much for the positive words! I left a comment on your video, but I'll say here as well that I owe you a lot of credit for your YouTube videos, which were instrumental in helping me learn how to map. Thanks for the positive words about the map, and I really enjoyed watching you play through it. It was also helpful in revealing a few issues that I missed here and there (such as being able to step up on one of the tree decorations to get to a place I thought was unreachable). I'll add a small update that fixes this. 

 

@ElPadrecitoCholo Thank you for the generous feedback, and very nice job on your playthrough! I'm glad that you enjoyed both the combat and the different environments. :-) 

[Murdoch]

Concur with other comments, looks very impressive for a first effort or indeed a tenth effort. Adding this one to my download and play queue.

[Bri]

I thought this was brilliant. Demons are used well; the fights put pressure on the player but it also feels fun. I really like that gameplay overall. Great visuals and interconnectivity too.

[ElPadrecitoCholo]

3 hours ago, Fiendish said:

@ElPadrecitoCholo Thank you for the generous feedback, and very nice job on your playthrough! I'm glad that you enjoyed both the combat and the different environments. :-)

 

You're welcome partner, a pleasure to have shared my humble opinion about the gameplay and work you did on your map :-]

[Somniac]

Just got round to playing this, sorry it took me a while. 

 

Really good! You've got a flair for creating convincing natural looking areas - something I definitely don't have right now. Nice contrast between light and dark, cramped and open areas. I liked the fluidity of the approach and the way it loops back (something I'm also still fairly clueless about), and also the teleporter traps. Combat was pretty intense at all times. There was also a nice puzzle element to the gameplay with the switches without it becoming a switch hunt. It was bigger than I expected at first but a good length overall.

 

I noticed these two doors where the side tracks haven't been unpegged:

 

A minor oversight obviously, but I just wanted to make you aware. I also encountered this very amusing little glitch, somehow the imp got stuck on this rock and was doing a little dance:

 

Not sure how that happened but it made me laugh! 

 

Anyway, a really nice map that reminded me of Plutonia in places with its strong earthy visuals, but also quite unique in its own way. Felt modern while still being firmly rooted in the classic Doom ethos. I would go as far as suggesting this is deserving of a spot in the Cacowards most promising newcomers section. 

[DavidN]

On 3/1/2021 at 6:42 PM, Fiendish said:

@DavidN Thanks so much for the positive words! I left a comment on your video, but I'll say here as well that I owe you a lot of credit for your YouTube videos, which were instrumental in helping me learn how to map.

 

You're welcome! I'm really glad that I was able to help you out in some small way :D You've definitely got a great talent for putting maps together.

[Fiendish]

@Bri Thank you! I'm glad you had fun with it, and I really appreciate the positive feedback. I also started your map set and am extremely impressed so far. I'm looking forward to finishing it sometime soon. 

 

@VisionThing Wow, thank you very much for the kind words! I also would like to play your map as well and give you my thoughts on it. I am currently in somewhat of an unusual situation at the moment and not able to really play anything for probably another week or so. But I do plan to leave some feedback once I'm back to a normal situation and can play it (as well as the rest of Bri's map set). Good to know about the imp haha. The door tracks that you noticed were intended not to be lower unpegged -- I was going for a different kind of look for the doors in the temple, so that you can see the mechanism moving when the door opens. But I appreciate you pointing it out nonetheless (and I also see a misaligned texture that I missed in your screenshot, gah. I swear, finding all the misaligned textures for this map has been the bane of my existence). 

[Suitepee]

https://youtu.be/dn-w_2QRkFo

 

My playthrough starts at around 3:50. Fiendish by name, fiendish by mapping nature it seems.....