[COMPLETE] Yet Another Hell Castle (single map)

[P0NYSLAYSTATION]

Final Update:

Spoiler

• Made the windows behind yellow key door impassable
• Tweaked ammo placements across the map
• Made a secret more rewarding
• Added support for Easy, Medium and Co-Op settings

Quick Bugfix:

Spoiler

• Fixed exit gate not lowering consistently
• made a secret easier to get
• Fixed an irregular stair in final area

 

B5:

Spoiler

• Removed Boom-only linedef actions for compatibility (thanks holaareola!)
• Reverted unintended teleport linedefs in the final area added in b4
• Fixed a sneaky HOM that nobody noticed :)
• Re-made all monster teleport traps with separate tags for each exit
• Made a secret un-stuckable

 

B4:

Spoiler

• Added monster blocking linedefs to prevent bunching up on the battlement
• Added medkits to blue key room
• Made spectres in blue key room wake up at the right time
• Fixed HOM at final bridge
• Made final bridge switch full brightness for better visibility
• Added boxes of shells to final fight
• Added monster blocking linedefs to final fight to prevent swarming in the corner due to unavoidable (?) wakeup
• Fixed broken monster teleport linedefs

B3:

Spoiler

• Fixed teleports for real this time
• Removed early rocket launcher
• Replaced SG spawn with SSG spawn
• It is now possible to return to the blue key area after leaving
• Added return teleport to exit room
• Added missing secret special
• Added missing reward to a secret
• Yellow key door actually requires the yellow key now
• Archvile wakes up at the right time now

Quick bugfix before I go sleep:
 

Spoiler

• Removed final Baron
• Fixed HOMs on exit panel
• Added monster blocking to outer edge of yellow key fight to prevent Cacos escaping
• Made lava teleports an accessible height
• Added exit signs to exit door

Still to do:
 

Spoiler

• Add lower difficulty levels
• More?

Hello everyone,

This is my third map that hopefully isn't terrible, any feedback or demos would be greatly appreciated. It's a (currently) UV only, somewhat chaotic map about storming a demonic castle, because I'm very original. Gameplay is intended to be high intensity with quick punishments, but should not be too hard if you don't panic.

Sorry if this post is missing anything, I think I've followed everything on the sticky post.

Single map, vanilla weapons, monsters and textures.

IWAD: Doom 2

 

Sourceports tested: Woof!, PrBoom+

No Freelook, Jumping or Crouching

Difficulty: moderate/high, similar in difficulty to the early/middle maps of Scythe 2

Length: 10 to 20 minutes depending on completion percentage

 

Yet Another Hell Castle.zip

Edited June 7, 2021 by P0NYSLAYSTATION : Final Update

[Degree23]

I love a good castle map!

 

The opening was a great scene, as the bombardment of projectiles really does make it feel like you're storming a castle. I grabbed the MegaSphere to the left, and what looked like a teleporter pad next to it (which also had blue lines around it on the minimap, usually indicating a teleport) seemed to not work? I just had to run back to the start and take 100 damage for it. (There seems to be a similar issue with one to the right of the initial climbing stairs in the lava as well. You also have another two to the left of the Yellow Key, but they're also too high to walk on from the lava) Due to how wide the map is, it's possible for some Cacodemons to be sent flying far out at the Yellow Key fight, which if you're trying to kill all monsters, means you have to wait an extremely long time for them to come back. It's possible they may naturally reappear later in the map, but I sent 2 flying and only one of them helpfully made its way back into my path.

 

There's some HOM on the sides of the "exit board" that you lower in the final arena fight, as well as behind the teleporter to the exit door. The Baron appearing as the final enemy feels a bit of a weird choice given that you've just fought a Cyberdemon. It would almost be better having nothing there. (An annoying final monster would be an AV appearing if you wanted to irritate the player!) The exit board seems to be a really weird choice of texture given the rest of the map. I'm also a fan of the exit of a level being clearly signposted. Granted there's nothing else you can do at the final section of the level other than try to go through the door, but it feels more satisfying.

 

I really enjoyed playing through this. I did miss having a SSG, but that's mainly because of how I like to play. There was enough ammo to deal with everything.

[P0NYSLAYSTATION]

19 minutes ago, Degree23 said:

I love a good castle map!

 

The opening was a great scene, as the bombardment of projectiles really does make it feel like you're storming a castle. I grabbed the MegaSphere to the left, and what looked like a teleporter pad next to it (which also had blue lines around it on the minimap, usually indicating a teleport) seemed to not work? I just had to run back to the start and take 100 damage for it. (There seems to be a similar issue with one to the right of the initial climbing stairs in the lava as well. You also have another two to the left of the Yellow Key, but they're also too high to walk on from the lava) Due to how wide the map is, it's possible for some Cacodemons to be sent flying far out at the Yellow Key fight, which if you're trying to kill all monsters, means you have to wait an extremely long time for them to come back. It's possible they may naturally reappear later in the map, but I sent 2 flying and only one of them helpfully made its way back into my path.

 

There's some HOM on the sides of the "exit board" that you lower in the final arena fight, as well as behind the teleporter to the exit door. The Baron appearing as the final enemy feels a bit of a weird choice given that you've just fought a Cyberdemon. It would almost be better having nothing there. (An annoying final monster would be an AV appearing if you wanted to irritate the player!) The exit board seems to be a really weird choice of texture given the rest of the map. I'm also a fan of the exit of a level being clearly signposted. Granted there's nothing else you can do at the final section of the level other than try to go through the door, but it feels more satisfying.

 

I really enjoyed playing through this. I did miss having a SSG, but that's mainly because of how I like to play. There was enough ammo to deal with everything.

 

Thanks for the feedback! Oops, I'll get those teleports fixed and the HOMs, I think I'll lose the baron he doesn't really add anything. There was an SSG right at the start btw, I'm amazed you plowed on through without it haha. so I'll add that to the list of things that need better signposting! You didn't miss anything with the borked teleports though, they just take you back to the rocket spawn outside

[Degree23]

Hm, I think I must have just ran right past the SSG while fighting the Imps and didn't even see it! It's on a platform like other weapons, so maybe it doesn't need changing. Another thing I forgot to mention was that it was a bit odd to have a Rocket Launcher in the outside area, but then a second one right inside the castle. The outside one could maybe be just RL ammo as you don't really need the weapon until you're inside the castle. Quickly blasting through v2, the teleporters still don't work, though I don't know if you got around to fixing that yet.

 

You said this is your third map, do you have your other two somewhere?

[P0NYSLAYSTATION]

I am the big dumb, I moved the teleport destination sector without moving the destination thing itself, and decided the SG spawn is pointless, replaced it with SSG for simplicity's sake. They should work now, along with a few other fixes listed in the OP. Thanks again for your feedback!

The other two really aren't worth playing, the first is just a compilation of every beginner mapping mistake in one map, and the other only works sort-of as intended, and it's full of bugs and slimetrails if you play it outside of GZDoom because I didn't understand doom mapping limitations and the differences between formats. I've put it up for poops and giggles, don't expect to enjoy it though :p

Bunker Escape.zip

[Biodegradable]

 

[P0NYSLAYSTATION]

Awesome playthrough, thanks for uploading! I've made a few changes based on your video, I'll update the original post

[kalensar]

Brutal.

[holaareola]

Fun map! Always love a Berserk start and as someone said, the huge, slow-moving volley of fireballs really sold the scale and was fun weave around while smacking down the demons.

 

Nice lighting inside the castle and the action quickly kicks up a notch. The layout of the map was my highlight. Lots of height variation, connectivity and nice broad-stroke architecture outside. Simple but quite grand and effective. The view from YK towards the end arena area was my fave, lots of irregular shaped architecture (those steps!). The the way you've wound the map round itself is really nice. The enemy mix was another notable, almost a Doom1 type setup peppered with a few Doom2 monsters - it really kept the pace up compared maps that lean more on the heavier side of the roster.  Ammo was fairly liberal on UV, but I didn't find it made anything too easy until the end.

 

Cool exit by the way. That multi-stage flourish with the massive scale of the map gave a nice feeling of progression vs your usual exit sign immediately followed by switch.

 

I was playing in Crispy and had to cheat past the ending due to not knowing the map requires Boom compatibility. Might want to mention that up top! You could make it vanilla compatible with a couple of really small changes -- may be worth doing since you've only used boom types in 2 places as far as I can see (walkover lowering the barrier to exit tele walkway, and the switch to open boss cage which could be replaced with type 103).
 

Spoiler

 

- I got myself stuck in the yellow door area by opening the secret wall with the two lights on and then jumping down before I had the yellow key. Had to noclip out. Maybe place some impassable bars to stop the player dropping down?

- On the final fight, I was able to stay on the south east side of the arena and comfortably gun everyone down. I had a look in the editor after I couldn't exit the map and saw why - Doom will only send monsters to one teleporter exit per tag, so all of the monsters destined for 22 come out of a single exit pad.

 

Lots of fun, look forward to your next release.

[P0NYSLAYSTATION]

I'm able to post again!

Thanks for the tips, I didn't realize those were Boom actions. I've fixed the secret and the teleports, that was an issue in other parts of the map too, along with a few other things. Unless any glaring problems pop up, I'm gonna make the lower difficulties and co-op placements over the weekend, tweak the ammo distribution and call it done!

[P0NYSLAYSTATION]

Massive thanks once again to everyone who helped test the map and provide feedback! The map is now fully complete and playable on every difficulty level, barring the discovery of any major bugs this will be the final update.

[GarrettChan]

This map actually reminds me of Community Chest Map29, so I don't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing to be honest.

[P0NYSLAYSTATION]

I'll check it out, which community chest is that in?

[GarrettChan]

6 hours ago, P0NYSLAYSTATION said:

I'll check it out, which community chest is that in?

1, but to be honest, the map doesn't age well.

[P0NYSLAYSTATION]

Just had a look in UDB, yeah I can see the similarities with the central arena and cyber fight

[Ponqo]

This is pretty good! the architecture is great! very impressive in scale, and the castle itself is nicely textured! reminded me of alien vendetta map11. reminiscent of classic doom levels from the 90's, and i mean that in an endearing way. gameplay is not very challenging, but it's still fun. 

[DNSKILL5]

I absolutely enjoyed this. Very well done! These are the kinds of maps I like to see! 

[P0NYSLAYSTATION]

Awesome, I'm glad you guys liked it! Yeah I was going for more of a casual shoot-em-up type of map with this one, I figured if I can't get that right first then I'm not ready to design anything more technical yet. And also yeah, I like the look of older, less-detailed wads from the early 2000s so its definitely not up to modern detailing standards