[Completed] Declared New Apocalypse - Doom II Megawad

[Kan3]

                                                                       

 

It has now been 2 years since I started my first steps into the doom modding and basically into this wad.

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I can't be more excited to finally release it to its fullest.

That's what I said the last time, but hey, there's always room for improvement! Jokes aside, I have to thank @skepticist for the huge thoughtful feedback, testing and advice I received, cause I decided to re-work tons of stuff of this wad to push it to the limit (or better, to push me to the limit).

From now on, I will take come "vacation" and start with other project and, who knows, maybe in the future, with D.N.A. 2.

 

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That means that I won't touch it anymore (hallelujah) except if someone will find any type of bug (hopefully not).

^{Well... I fixed some minor bug, that's for sure...}

 

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO!

I present you Declared New Apocalypse.

 

Lore:

Spoiler

I know there's no need for lore in Doom, but, just to give you something for contest purposes:
"You got yourself captured by the demons legion (while you were asleep, drunk or taking a c**p, whatever), so, with the hell's greatest menace caged, the demons are trying to rise again, lead by the 4 "horsemen" of the apocalypse and the Beast.
It is your duty to escape that dirty jail and stop their advance, destroying their leaders."

 

Description:

Spoiler

The player will travel through prisons, rifts, mazes, fortresses, forests, graveyards, sewers, factories, labs, the Hell, haunted libraries, all to chase down (or be chased down) by new stronger demons and bosses, but with the help of new powerful weapons at his disposal.
                          

• The wad presents 3 new Episodes, with 14 new levels, 12 + 2 secret, a Hub (reachable by beating the final level or just by entering the "Reliquary" episode), from where you can play all of the levels pistol starting (actually "fist starting"), go to a "testing area", change the skill level and reach the secret 15th level, a wave based arena.
  You also have the possibility to play the standard Doom II within this wad, so with all the changes it adds.
• There's a little "relic hunt" system (get all of them to open the passage to the secret arena, where you will find the very last relic, which will unlock a            secret permanent powerup).
• Tons of new monsters*, plus 4 bosses have been added to refresh the encounters and the gameplay.
• Every vanilla weapon have been modified to better suit what I had in mind, plus there are 2 new "standard" weapons and the 4 "weapons of the apocalypse", obtainable from each boss.
• There are a couple of new progression and secrets mechanics (not too fancy stuff).
• There are 2 new hard skill levels, for adrenaline enjoyers.
• Some of the vanilla decorations have been reworked and made breakable.
• Every monster, weapon, decoration now have its brightmap and dynamic light.
• The mods "Alternative Doom Smooth Weapons" and "Brightmap Plus" have been directly implemented into the .pk3 (check "Credits.txt").
• Etc. (read the "Infos.txt", "Manual.txt" files for more information about all of the additions and modifications).

 

With the latest hot fix you can now play standard Doom II with the modified Nightmare difficulty and the new Apocalypse difficulty!

                       
This is my first ever "pwad", but despite that, I'm really proud of it, cause I ended up making exactly what I had in mind when I started this project.
                          
I basically used all of the trickery of UDMF format and ZDoom features, so I'm quite sad to say that this thing is (quite surely) only compatible with GZDoom (4.8.x), but you won't regret it, trust me!
Another quite sad note, is that this monstrosity won't be compatible with any mod that changes vanilla actor classes (It may run, sure, but some script will definitely break).
                          
That said, sit down, take a deep breath and enjoy this heavy paced, hard hitter, atmospheric wad!

*= You're going to find several custom monsters from Realm667, but they've all been modified by a certain degree, so watchout!

Here's The vital info:

• IWAD: Doom II
• Port: GZDoom (Tested in 4.8.2)
• Format: UDMF
• Render Mode: Hardware Accelerated (highly recommended or there'll be unavoidable HOMs in some maps)
• Type: Custom maps, monsters, weapons, decorations, powerups, ammo, graphics, GLDEFS, scripts, sounds, musics
• Levels: DNA01-12 + 2 secrets (DNA13-14) + Reliquary hub (RELIQ) + Wave based arena mode (ARENA)
• Game Mode: Singleplayer only
• Difficulty: Hard
• Freelook: Highly Recommended (or you'll definitely miss some secrets)
• Jump/Crouch: Not allowed
• Starting Weapon: Fists
• Pistol (Fists) Start: Implemented for every map (forced fists start if playing the Reliquary episode, which is the hub)
• Skill Levels: All of the vanilla difficulties have been implemented and slightly reworked, + Doom and Apocalypse skill levels have been added
• Mods Compatibility: For now, I cannot guarantee compatibility with mods that alter vanilla actor classes, so it would be better to not use any possible conflicting one.
• Light Mode: Doom (Suggested, since every light level has been adjusted with this setting).

 

(You can find more info and the credits in the txt files inside!)

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

UPDATES:  

• Spoiler

   

  • Minor Update: new testable boss and animated textures.
  • Update 1.2: Cleaned up a large amount of useless textures, implemented "pistol start support" for every map, minor improvements to some maps, map07 almost done. 
  • Update 1.3: Repaired some minor bug, slightly improved Death "AI", Map07 completed (I keep forgetting player starts...).
  • Update 1.3.5: I repaired and improved minor issues in various maps after testing and repaired map 6 bugs.
  • Update 1.4: Added support for HNTR/TYTD difficulties, repaired a bug in map 5 and 7 and a couple of errors, added first 1/4 of Pestilence sprites and kind of improved his bugged attack, removed map99.
  • Update 1.5: Completely renovate map03, added sounds to polyobject doors, added vertical auto-aim to the railgun, slightly improved texture to map 2 and ammo counts in map 5, changed some scripts for a little more compatibility with other mods, completed "pestilence" sprites, a couple of improvements to map 4.
  • Update 1.5.5: (wasn't planned lol) found a bug in map07, added a bit more health in map02 and started map08.
  • Update 1.6: Deleted 1 imp variant, modified the other 2 to create 2 new monsters ("Abomination" and "Gremlin"), improved map01 start, minor changes to most maps (with changes to music, health, ammos and monsters), minor improvements to custom monsters, halfway through map08.
  • Update 1.7: Map08 completely done, adjusted some monster stat and couple of tweaks to pickups and monsters in various maps.
  • Update 1.7.5: Map09 almost done, fixed blind pinky's bug, slightly improved pestilence mines attack, adjusted zombie scientists attacks and minor changes to some monster, fixed minor bugs in map08, New boss "War" added yet not textured, added Cyberbaron 
  • Update 1.8: Map09 released, War boss complete (missing some sprites), fixed various bugs in map08  and 09, fixed all missing textures after last update, introduced new bosses abilities, weaknesses and strength, modified Doom's weapon projectiles properties, added health bars for every boss, fixed minor issues in every map.
  • Update 1.9: Map10 released, modified vanilla weapons (pistol, shotgun, super shotgun, chaingun), removed obsolete DeHacked patch, correctly implemented fists start through DECORATE, added modified version of BossEye and BossBrain, modified LostSoul health and ZombieMan drop, added BloodGhost, ZombieFodder and CacoLich monsters (modified by me), added more Otex textures, slightly changes to other monsters
  • Update 2.0: Map11 released, added new Boss Famine (yet untextured), added Alternative Doom Smooth Weapons mod, modified super shotgun, chaingun and berserk, added new Unholy Bible powerup, added Stone Imp and Stone Demon (modified by me), added Torch Switches and Purple Torch, added Chandelier, remade map10 exit to introduce new mechanic, slightly changes to bosses and other monsters for balance purpose, reduced map03 size, added more Otex textures, added more details in a map01 room.
  • Update 2.1: Map13 released (missing last room and boss), completed Famine sprites and sounds, added custom End Game intermission screens, fixed minor bugs in various maps, updated some map's scripts and gameplay, slightly adjust some monsters and weapons.
  • Hot Fix 2.1.1: Some skies have been found "messed up" cause of my latest edit in Slade, now they're back to normal, added Line Horizon to every "sky line", so that Hardware Accelerated is no longer mandatory as render mode in the display options (even if there might be HOMs in map 10). 
  • Hot Fix 2.1.2: "One day I'll freaking learn to delete every additional player start that I put in maps to test them!"
  • Update 2.4: I had to remove the previous fix cause it led to more visual bugs than fixes, improved cyberdemon fight in map09, reduced zombie scientists attack speed and damage.
  • Update 2.4.1: Drastically reduced Stone imps range attack strength, reduced stone monsters resistances to certain weapons, fixed map01 possibility to get stuck cause of monsters closing door, reduced Famine's ranged and melee attack damage and radius, fixed impossibility to get the soulsphere in map10 and added more ammo, changed weapons placement and added more ammo in map11.
  • Hot fix 2.4.2: "Fixed" some door tracks in map01 and map03 and some texture alignment.  
  • Update 2.5: Added a hub level (Reliquary), accessible from the episode selection or by completing the wad, added a Relic Hunt System with 23 relics to find, added a new skill level "Apocalypse", added 4 boss weapons with their ammo, added a monsters/weapons manual, added a new status bar, corrected scripts, bugs, glitch in every map, improved some scripting and some map aesthetics, improved map03, improved and balanced some monster behaviors and properties.
    (June 8th 2022)
  • Final Release: Arena mode added, new "power", Fixed soft lock in map08 and map09, added proper ending in map13, added GLDEFS for some vanilla light sources, improved some map's linedefs geometry, doubled Hell's Core ammo, added default backpack on Apocalypse skill level, improved stealth monsters room in map11, improved scripts in some maps, balance improvements on Pestilence, minor fixes.
  • Hot Fix: Repaired a script bug in "Apocalypse Arena" where health packs won't spawn in HMP, removed unused graphics and sound.
    (September 22th 2022)
  • Declared New Apocalypse:
    • File transformed into .pk3 from .wad and name changed.
    • Cleaned up scripts.
    • Brightmaps for every monster, weapon, decoration.
    • New attack pattern for each boss.
    • Re-balanced monsters.
    • New map 5, Tenebris Silva, and maps names changed from "MAPXX" to "DNAXX".
    • Improved Icon of Sin fight.
    • 2 new monsters and replaced 3 Zombie Scientists with new counterparts.
    • 2 new relics to be found, now every relic has its own "Relic Statue" in the Hub.
    • New Room in the Hub
    • Added new Gauss Rifle Sprites and changed name.
    • Improved Chaingun sounds and script.
    • Reworked chainsaw: added new sprites, changed behavior and script.
    • New ammo type for the Chainsaw, Fuel.
    • Improved Stone Imp attack and added new sprites.
    • New Stone Demon ranged attack.
    • Dynamic lights for every new and old actor class.
    • Moved flat textures in the appropriate folder.
    • New music for each boss fight.
    • Fixed improper GLDEFS.
    • New intro cutscene.
    • Reworked Grenade Launcher: new sprites and script.
    • Replaced vanilla lamps, skulls on pole and impaled bodies with breakable counterparts.
    • Burning Barrel can now explode.
    • Changed every DECORATE to ZSCRIPT.
    • Fixed glass not spawning issue.
    • New Skill level and reworked vanilla skill levels.
    • New Core-giver mechanic from skill 5 (Nightmare) to the following.
    • Improved Blur Sphere.
    • New broken door texture.
  • Hot Fix: Now it's possible to play standard Doom II with the new skill levels, grates in map 1 didn't block actors, fixed Hell Souls detonate frame sequence and possible game breaking bugs in Apocalypse skill level due to them wandering.

   

And last, but not the least, the download!

File: Declared New Apocalypse (September 23th 2022)

 

^{I promise, I won't touch this again, for real this time! (Promise already broken...)}

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"Hey! Wtf is with this file size?"
"It's due to the intro cutscene video, my apologies, but it was too cool to not include this feature and despite the video dimensions (960x540p) it still weighs over 30mb"

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You can find the special thanks in the Credits. txt and Infos.txt files!

 

I will leave this here if you want to see some "footage" and I will update the playlist with a new map every (some) day:

Spoiler

 

 

Known bugs:

• Map 11: automap floor arrows in the dark room are not shown properly.
• Spider Mastermind can get stuck in map 8.
• UDB: false BlurSphere GLDEFS error.
• UDB: map 12 portal with displacement mismatch and portal with both sides in the same group error.
• Invisible floor stops the player fall in a map 12 trap.

 

I hope you can enjoy it and don't hesitate to give me advice or any kind of critic!

Thanks a lot!

 

My other works:

• The Marshes Redone
• Twilight Descends Redone
• The Mansion Redone
• Threshold of Pain Redone
• MimicPack

 

From the original post:

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I'm basically new to doom mapping etc. (I didn't even know of the existence of such wonderful community and tools even if I'm playing this game since '96-97 more or less) and this is my first wad, made in over 1 year of learning, editing and enhancing (and blood).

 

Edited September 23, 2022 by Kan3 : Ultimate Update

[Biodegradable]

Ooooh, those screenshots... Colour me intrigued. :^)

[Kan3]

6 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

Ooooh, those screenshots... Colour me intrigued. :^)

Thank you :)

it means that I did a good job with the screenshots at least x))

[Kan3]

Minor update:
I've added animation to some textures (used in map12) and I started to work on map07 and the second boss (this one is testable in map90, I'd like to have some feedback about his attack patterns, even if he's missing the new sprites fro now)

[tib_]

good start bro, here's a demo of me playing MAP01 (and a bit of MAP02). Recorded with GZDoom 4.5.0

 

Looks like it requires hardware acceleration, I saw HOMs in the sky when I used software rendering

dnademo.zip

[Kan3]

12 hours ago, tib_ said:

good start bro, here's a demo of me playing MAP01 (and a bit of MAP02). Recorded with GZDoom 4.5.0

 

Looks like it requires hardware acceleration, I saw HOMs in the sky when I used software rendering

dnademo.zip

Thank you for your demo!
Yeah, I'll add it in infos in this post, it's cause of I haven't set a skybox in those maps and I simply left untextured walls so that the ceiling sky will just cover them, not thinking this was a hardware accel. feature. Thank you for pointing this out

[tib_]

Recorded a demo of MAP02, same setup as demo 1

 

dnademo2.zip

[Kan3]

2 hours ago, tib_ said:

Recorded a demo of MAP02, same setup as demo 1

 

dnademo2.zip

Nice! I could already see a couple of bad gameplay ideas I got for this map x) gonna change them next
I have to say that unfortunately no one of these maps (except for 1 and 6) are meant to be played pistol start, I haven't thought about this mechanic (probably good idea to add this "support"), so if you're willing to go further, I suggest you to give yourself a shotgun at least x)
And thanks again

[tib_]

Here's another one for MAP03. Sorry, but its a long one that I couldn't complete

dnademo3.zip

[Kan3]

13 hours ago, tib_ said:

Here's another one for MAP03. Sorry, but its a long one that I couldn't complete

dnademo3.zip

Cool! No problem, I already know this is a tedious map, but I do love this kind of oppressive maze concept (I even cut the length of this in a half, but still...) and you're even completing it with pistol start, that's really impressive actually. Unfortunately, I haven't tested it without freelook and as you can see, the "shoot the eye" secret wasn't working cause the aim is a bit too low, I'll fix that.
You're almost at the end btw :D

[Kan3]

UPDATE: I found out that I was loading my wad with tons of useless textures, so I've cleaned up, adjusted a bit the organization down there and made some very minero improvements to some maps (oh and map 7 is almost done, I only need to arrange 1 more room and the boss fight)

[tib_]

Here's a demo of MAP04 with version 1.2 of DNA.

 

absolutely pumped that I had plenty of ammo to use in this level when I started with only a pistol

 

dnademo4.zip

[Kan3]

11 hours ago, tib_ said:

Here's a demo of MAP04 with version 1.2 of DNA.

 

absolutely pumped that I had plenty of ammo to use in this level when I started with only a pistol

 

dnademo4.zip

Ahahah glad it "works" and they're not too few even without some secret, neither too many from what I've seen.
Time to put those missing texture again (damn you auto-texture-remove tool!) and, perhaps, block the sound in the red key room, since revenants weren't supposed to wake up before getting the key x))

[Kan3]

UPDATE: I finally finished map 7 and the second boss pattern, even if I still need to texture him.
I've repaired some minor bug in some map thanks to tib_, improved a bit some mechanics in map 3 and 6 and slightly improved the first boss behavior and attacks.
Unfortunately I had no time to draw the second boss texture yet, so for now it's just a huge pissed Mancubus x) and I cannot find a way to get rid of a bug in one of his attack pattern, but luckly it won't break the fight in any way.

[eharper256]

Okay, following your request for a review, here's a video of me playing Map 1 & 2 in Walp:

 

Thoughts about Map 1: Pretty interesting intro, running from the altered Cybie. My actual first thought was "Seriously an insta-death-trap?" but fortunately its not a rocket firing Cybie. Second part had serious E4 vibes; and the blood-related lost souls are interesting. The end part makes it kinda hard to spot and snipe the attacking Imps as they blend into the bars; and crossing without doing so is quite dangerous (as you can see me failing with near the end lol).

 

Map 2: Much bigger map. First of all, for whatever reason the Caco-Trap at the exit didn't lower the barriers (or maybe I'm just hugely impatient, lol) so I had to use Fly to get over it. I would also say this map is really stingy on Health and Ammo towards the latter part (ignore the Hell Knights nailing me at the start, that was just garbage play from myself, tired after work lol). I liked most of the combats and they were interesting though.

As a general thought: I love the architecture and its clear you've put work into it; BUUUT, there is still a feeling of homogeneous-ness; there is all wood and brown colours occasionally split by red, and so everything kind of blurs together in a world of brown (what I call 'The Quake 1 effect'), which is a shame because it draws eyes away from the effort you've clearly put into it. Some more different texture usage would be nice (blacks? some of the ubiqutous green marble?).

You've got a good sense of flow; which is a great asset in any mapping. I didn't have to stop and wonder 'what next?' or consult the map, it was always clear where I was going for the most part or after a little wander.

[Kan3]

Thank you a lot! and damn if that's a great looking mod!

Yeah, I put those imps behind bars and with a brownish background and stalagmites, so that it's hard to detect where the next fireball's coming cause I'm a bit of an a** x)) (there should've been 2 hellknights inside the bloody room, dunno why they're not there, gonna check)

I'm sorry for the exit, I've set up a script to make the exit block lower after those cacodemons are dead, but it seems that the script got broken (so for the one for the yellow door with hellknights inside9, maybe cause of the way I wrote it, since the other scripts seemed to work fine, that makes it incompatible with the mod.

I see, my laziness in not looking for more textures other than vanilla fo these 2 maps has backfired x) you're probably right, especially in map 2, that is a giant brown rock/brick rift

Very glad to hear that! Years spent in playing doom have served me well :D
 

[Kan3]

UPDATE: Finally I remembered to repair those errors at the start of map 3 and 7 (unknown what's the matter with the error in map 4 and I've decided to not repair map12 error cause it would require some edit I don't like), I found than a little bug in map 5 when testing in in speedrun and one in map 7 in HNTR difficulty, both repaired.
I've decided to delete map99 (where I saved the previous version of map03) cause no one will ever play it and that's a good choice x)
Finally I've started drawing Pestilence's sprites, I made the first 16 for now and I've already added them cause I wanted to see them in game.

Next steps will be adding new textures to map 2 and do an almost complete makeover to map 3, since I'm the only one liking it unfortunately T_T

[tib_]

map05 demo 

 

you didn't give me enough ammo for that boss fight haha

 

dnademo5.zip

[eharper256]

Map 4 notes: Pretty good overall, some really hairy moments but manageable. I have to say I don't like the fact that when you get teleported back to the central fountain, you're slowed down loads by the blood whilst surrounded by enemies; I would definately get that removed. I'd also say that, if I didn't manage to find the Superarmour and Soulsphere secrets (Urn/Robe in video obviously) that the final Baron version of the fountain ambush would have likely killed me (because the entire surface is always slowing you down as you can see in the video; and I couldn't dodge some hits because of it). Nice texturing throughout this one.

(for those curious, Map 3 was skipped because its a marathon labyrinth I couldn't provide a video for).

[Kan3]

11 hours ago, tib_ said:

map05 demo 

 

you didn't give me enough ammo for that boss fight haha

 

dnademo5.zip

Damn it!  I hide it too much, might add some around the central court.
I'm sorry for the revenants shooting along that tight corridor, I thought that the auto-vertical aiming would have been able to aim at them, but they're too far away, I think I'll add some cover.
Weird that the railgun seems to have no auto-vertical aiming at all, I might try to fix it.
And Thank you!

[Kan3]

43 minutes ago, eharper256 said:

Map 4 notes: Pretty good overall, some really hairy moments but manageable. I have to say I don't like the fact that when you get teleported back to the central fountain, you're slowed down loads by the blood whilst surrounded by enemies; I would definately get that removed. I'd also say that, if I didn't manage to find the Superarmour and Soulsphere secrets (Urn/Robe in video obviously) that the final Baron version of the fountain ambush would have likely killed me (because the entire surface is always slowing you down as you can see in the video; and I couldn't dodge some hits because of it). Nice texturing throughout this one.

(for those curious, Map 3 was skipped because its a marathon labyrinth I couldn't provide a video for).

Nice! Thank you!
I remember I just found out the friction mechanic and I probably overused it x) I'll probably delete it since it's an already narrow space.
Glad to hear about the texturing :D

[Kan3]

UPDATE: This one took me a bit more, but I cut in half map 3 and possibly improved aesthetics and gameplay.

Then I completed all of the second boss sprites, modified a couple of scripts to allow more compatibility with mods that change vanilla entities, found a trick that allow autoaim (vertical) when firing with the railgun (more no-freelok friendly now x) ), added sounds to polyobject doors, changed a couple of textures to map 2 to give it more contrast in certain areas, added more ammo in map 5 (no more risk to have to start a fist fight with the boss x) ) and reduced the friction on the blood in map 4 (I didn't remove it cause I want that fight to be more challenging since you have plenty of rockets).

[TheNoob_Gamer]

Tried a few maps, and I have to say: For a beginner's wad, this is really good stuff. Hoping to see more from you in the future!

(Playthrough of MAP01 only)

 

[Kan3]

1 hour ago, TheNoob_Gamer said:

Tried a few maps, and I have to say: For a beginner's wad, this is really good stuff. Hoping to see more from you in the future!

(Playthrough of MAP01 only)

 

 

Thank you very much! :D
The plan is try to become an active member of the community and improve step by step, I've seen "out of the world" level's wads, so I got a few goals x) 

[Kan3]

UPDATE: Thanks to the brave playtester above, I've been able to improve (hopefully) a few things.
I've decided to remove an imp variant (too many imps quite similar, too much brown around) and I've modified the other too, creating 2 "improved" version of them: the "Abomination" and the "Gremlin".

I've slightly changed the start of the first map to make it feel a bit more cohesive with the rest of the map, I've a bit more health and ammos in map 2, 3 and 6.
I've then decided to lower a bit more the traps difficulty in map 3.
Made a little change in a room in map 4, changing its music too, so I did for map 2, 6, 7 and 8 (I will add credits to the authors of those midis in the next update cause I forgot, sorry).
I've tweaked a bit the melee revenant and added a melee attack to the super demon (not custom textured yet), but removing his splash damage immunity, and slightly improved Pestilence attacks and room, trying to avoid the possibility of a cheated win.
Last thing, I've gone a bit forward with map 8 and added more custom enemies from realm 667, even if it's becoming too doom 3s style

[Kan3]

UPDATE: Oh boy, a month to release this map 8 x) this one took me really a lot of time cause I wanted to concentrate on detailing it and create new (for me, obviously) mechanics. I quite satisfied about the result and it seems that everything's working fine too. I'll admit, however, that maybe it's a kinda hard, but definitely possible even with no secrets and pistol start (don't worry about some unreachable stuff, everything will start to make sense with the next map).
As always, I started to tinker with monster's stats cause I was not satisfied x) but I think I've obtained a nice balanced result.

P.s. this is really a lot doom 3 style x)

[Peccatum Mihzamiz]

Hey there! Just watched a playthrough of the graveyard level over here. That map looked absolutely stunning, congratulations! I'll add it to my (far too long) list for future playing!

[Walter confetti]

Looks really great for a first map!

[dybbuk81]

Wow, okay

[Kan3]

On 9/10/2021 at 6:56 AM, Peccatum Mihzamiz said:

Hey there! Just watched a playthrough of the graveyard level over here. That map looked absolutely stunning, congratulations! I'll add it to my (far too long) list for future playing!

 

Thank you very much! Did't know someone tried it on twitch x) let me know what you'll think about it when the day comes :D

 

On 9/10/2021 at 10:21 AM, Walter confetti said:

Looks really great for a first map!

Thank you!!