What if Map1, but Archviles?

[A.o.D.]

The day before yesterday someone made a shitpost where they took MAP01 from Doom2, and replaced all of the monsters with Archviles.  They didn't build the level around that style of gameplay, they just replaced the monsters and called it a day. 

 

However, I thought.. What if you took different MAP01s and ran with the Archvile-only combat concept and tried to make a real level out of it?  I'm talking about levels like E1M1 Hangar, or E2M1 Deimos Anomaly, or E5M1 Baphomet's Demesne, or Hollywood Holocaust, or the Slipgate Complex, or possibly even Bob Omb Battlefield.  So I cranked out a speedmap in the style of E1M1 from scratch. 

 

Let me just preface with this:  This map is a son of a bitch.  Incaution, curiosity, and greed are punished.  You are not guaranteed sufficient resources going into each fight.  You may have to scrounge while being hounded, or even resort to your fists or your pistol.  Secrets do not make the map easier, they make the map harder as there are traps at every turn, and even small mistakes will cost you your life.  The easiest way to win this map is to go for a 0% run.  Here, the damned are judged for their sins.

 

IWAD:  Plutonia

Map Name:  E1M1, but Archviles

Build time: 5-6 hours

Tested with:  Chocolate Doom, PRBOOM+, GZDOOM

Additional Assets:  E1M1 - Doom 2016 by MetalMargatroid.MID, Sky texture from the Box O' Skies pack by Mechadon

Play time:  about 3-5 minutes, not including deaths.

Difficulty:  Not implemented.  The only way to make this easier is to play on ITYTD.  Going for a 0% run on Nightmare is probably easier than ITYTD.  This is about almost as hard as I can finish, given the limited resources, unfavorable terrain, and abundant traps.

 

19 Monsters.   3 Secrets.  No Visplane overflows.  No Mercy.

 

Updated version that replaces the delicious aged cheese in the final room with SPAM.  This is likely the final version unless other errors pop up in playthrough.

 

e1m1butarchies.zip

 

 

Edited March 14, 2021 by A.o.D. : Eliminated Cheesable Final Room

[Biodegradable]

 

Edited March 14, 2021 by Biodegradable

[A.o.D.]

Yeah, that last fight is bullshit, but it can be done without getting hit while actually fighting from inside the room.

 

Hell, I'll go so far as to admit that playing the map 100% is pure bullshit. 

[Mangcubus]

I admire the effort of turning that guy's shitpost into a real idea.

[grothendieck1453]

Cool map! I especially liked the surprise in the exit room.

 

By the way, there seems to be a texture missing in the 3rd secret (the elevator).

[A.o.D.]

5 minutes ago, grothendieck1453 said:

Cool map! I especially liked the surprise in the exit room.

 

By the way, there seems to be a texture missing in the 3rd secret (the elevator).

 

F-WORD

 

Fixed.  Thanks for finding that.

 

Every time I took that elevator in game I was too busy watching my back.

[Pseudonaut]

As usual, I played with saves first, then began attempting a saveless run. This was attempt #4.

 

 

For the final fight, the only reliable strategy feels like cheesing. If you let yourself get trapped in the room, which I assume is intended, you have to get lucky with the viles' positions or you're going to get hit and there's nothing you can do about it. Still, good map overall.

 

Despite what is seen in this video (I used the pistol at some point), you can definitely 100% this without using the pistol/fists if you're brave enough to run for ammo in some risky situations.

[A.o.D.]

54 minutes ago, Pseudonaut said:

As usual, I played with saves first, then began attempting a saveless run. This was attempt #4.

 

 

For the final fight, the only reliable strategy feels like cheesing. If you let yourself get trapped in the room, which I assume is intended, you have to get lucky with the viles' positions or you're going to get hit and there's nothing you can do about it. Still, good map overall.

 

Despite what is seen in this video (I used the pistol at some point), you can definitely 100% this without using the pistol/fists if you're brave enough to run for ammo in some risky situations.

 

 

I appreciate that you recognize my intention that in order to have enough ammo, you have to take risks to grab resources from exposed positions.  Also, that BFG is obtainable.  You have to be moving at least SR40 at the right vector and cross the teleport linedef at just the right moment in order to get far enough before the game engine realizes that you've crossed it.  You also only get one shot at that, since the platform you have to hop across drops into the death pit after you enter that side room.  It's only good for one shot, but I thought it'd be a nice little surprise.  So far I've only been able to duplicate that grab once with live enemies, and I did it earlier today on an unsegmented run on stream.

 

Make no mistake, 100%ing this level kicks my ass.  I was amused to see that you take more or less the same route I do.

 

 

aaaand I just thought of several ways I could improve the last fight, both by forcing the player to not be able to cheese it, and by making it less RNG heavy. 

Edited March 14, 2021 by A.o.D. : brainstorm

[A.o.D.]

Fixed, and probably for the final time, unless some bug or missing texture pops up.

[Biodegradable]

Wow, I must've been tired last night because I didn't notice I only rendered the last 2mins of my playthrough. I'm just going to quietly fix that. Luckily, I hadn't deleted my footage yet.

 

[Edit] There we go, now it's on full display. Even got a better thumbnail this time.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Biodegradable

[Pseudonaut]

2 hours ago, A.o.D. said:

Also, that BFG is obtainable.  You have to be moving at least SR40 at the right vector and cross the teleport linedef at just the right moment in order to get far enough before the game engine realizes that you've crossed it.

 

With a BFG, the final fight might actually be consistent. I'll have to try again and find out.

[A.o.D.]

1 minute ago, Pseudonaut said:

 

With a BFG, the final fight might actually be consistent. I'll have to try again and find out.

You only get one shot.

 

In more ways than one.

[Pseudonaut]

1 hour ago, A.o.D. said:

You only get one shot.

Here it is.

 

The setup I used for the BFG grab is pretty consistent somehow (SR50 was used), but it's still the hardest part, and quite precise. Once you have that, the ending fight is pretty simple. A reality run wouldn't be too hard, but could be ruined by RNG in the secret backback area, where viles can block you in all sorts of ways if you're unlucky.

 

I realize there's an updated version of the wad that fixes the HOM and removes the cheese strat for the ending, but I didn't think about that until after.

[Biodegradable]

Phenomenal stuff, Pseudonaut!

[A.o.D.]

Nicely done.

 

I guess I have to put together a video of me playing the final version so that a) I can prove I can actually do it and b) show what the final fight actually looks like.

[leodoom85]

I swear that there's already a mod that turns all monsters to archviles. It's called "RAEWA" (Replace All Enemies With Archviles).

 

Still, turning map 01 into a more strategic version seems fun. Like Go 2 It, for example.

[A.o.D.]

This goes beyond just replacing one enemy type with another.   This map was made from the ground up to utilize one enemy type and only resembles e1m1 instead of being a 1:1 recreation of it.

[Retro Dino]

I'm not even going to attempt this.

[A.o.D.]

16 minutes ago, Retro Dino said:

I'm not even going to attempt this.

Any particular reason why not? 

[A.o.D.]

Here's a stream of me playing the final version of this map on UV.  I miss the BFG grab, but still clear the final room without much difficulty.  I think I maybe made it too easy?  Or maybe I just know how it works so I automatically used the optimal strategy.  It's hard how to gauge these things when you know what all the tricks and traps are.

 

 

[KhanShakyr]

On 3/14/2021 at 9:08 AM, Biodegradable said:

 

What mod are you using with this?

[Biodegradable]

Dead Marine