Interstice - Short, linear puzzle map [Boom CP]

[KeaganDunn]

Unlike the typical Doom map, the way forward doesn't always have to be obvious. It can be good sometimes to have the player figure their way out of a room or simply pay attention to their environment in order to continue forward. There's also this sense of mystery and curiosity that arises with such a different gameplay style, and when there's more secrets/monsters than expected...

 

That's pretty much where this little map came into play. I planned for it to be much more ambitious, until I read a tweet in the Wadazine that said, not every map you make has to be a magnum opus. :)

 

The combat and general progression vary across difficulties (Less blinking lights and more monsters on UV, movement puzzles absent on HNTR, etc), but the puzzles are still there. If you don't want to be challenged or get lost too much, please make use of the difficulty settings.

 

INFO:

TESTED IN - GZDoom v4.6, GLBoom+ v2.5.1.7, DSDA-Doom v0.19, DoomRetro

IWAD - Doom II

MAPS - MAP01

FORMAT - Boom (-complevel 9)

PLAY TIME - Around 20-30 minutes depending on your curiosity...

<15 minutes for a UV-Max playthrough with foreknowledge

INCLUDED - Map, MIDI, MAPINFO, Dehacked for map title, textures from 32in24-15_tex_v2

DESIGNED FOR - Single player. No co-op or deathmatch starts due to the nature of the map

TOOLS USED - Ultimate Doom Builder, SLADE, Doom Writer

 

Thanks @Regular Warren, @Kaapeli47, and @MAN_WITH_GUN for testing prior to putting this up!

 

DOWNLOAD: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/g-i/interstice

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by Dunn (& Dunn) : idgames

[Engired]

In the final exit room you can make it out and get softlocked before the door closes.

 

Other than that, took me about 10 minutes without accounting for saving and loading, and probably about 20 minutes to finish on my first try.

[TheNoob_Gamer]

Nice little map! Had some problem progressing at some parts, but overall really fun!

 

 

[KeaganDunn]

24 minutes ago, TheNoob_Gamer said:

Nice little map! Had some problem progressing at some parts, but overall really fun

Thanks for the video! However, it seems that the recording began with you trying to hit the switch and ended abruptly in the glowing computer box room. Oh well

 

With your comments on Discord and the video here, it seems like you found the blue key, but didn't experiment with it afterwards... ;)

 

9 hours ago, Engired said:

In the final exit room you can make it out and get softlocked before the door closes.

 

Other than that, took me about 10 minutes without accounting for saving and loading, and probably about 20 minutes to finish on my first try.

Thanks for playing! I made the fix here; will do the same on my site when I'm up for it again :P

[TheNoob_Gamer]

Oof! 

Was experimenting with video recorders since OBS got cranky lately, and this is what I get for giving it one last chance >:(

Spoiler

I did rocket jump to use blue key though, but it took me more than 10 mins to figure out the megasphere had an actual purpose other than... healing.

 

[KeaganDunn]

Forgot to post this. Here's the UV-Max walkthrough in case anybody needs it, but I highly recommend experiencing the map firsthand and trying to find things out yourself as best as you can. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALhTXhAPUJw

 

[MFG38]

So I played through the map on HNTR, here are some impressions.

 

In a nutshell, the map is really cool! I liked the almost sort of minimalistic visuals, with the predominantly brown aesthetic. The layout would otherwise leave a lot to be desired, but it works for the map's particular gameplay style. But the puzzles are the definite highlight of the map - they're really inventive and make you actually pay attention to your surroundings. The opening section with the "AV surveillance" was a nice and somewhat humorous touch, not-so-subtly hinting you not to fire your gun (which I admittedly only realized after trying it).

 

The only part of the map I wasn't a big fan of was the battle right before the exit - with only the SSG, the Chaingunners and Revs were an absolute pain in the ass to deal with. And when you add the AV, it becomes even more so with his ability to resurrect the other monsters. But then, I only ended up exploring a relatively small portion of the map and finishing it with a measly 29% kills.

 

Overall, a great map. I'm tempted to give it another go and see if I can 100% it.

[KeaganDunn]

9 hours ago, MFG38 said:

So I played through the map on HNTR, here are some impressions.

...

Overall, a great map. I'm tempted to give it another go and see if I can 100% it.

Thanks so much for playing, MFG!

About the "finale" you got stuck on, did you not have the rocket launcher? From the room with the HKs, zombies, and Revs? It's pretty much a requirement and it can't be missed. I'm concerned about this.

 

I would recommend exploring it a bit more if you want. ;)

Edited August 11, 2021 by Dunn (& Dunn)

[KeaganDunn]

Updated the WAD. Secrets are still the same, the walkthrough I posted still helps.

Thanks @Jimmy for the playthrough over on Twitch!

 

v1.1 - 

- Altered some fights on HNTR and progression in two parts have been made more obvious across the board
- Stupid useless barrel secret is now a shotgunner in front of an outdoor vista.
- A bit more ammo in the glowing room area on UV, mainly for the extra encounter in there

 

[Astro X]

Fun map! I played on watch me die

 

 

[MFG38]

15 hours ago, Dunn (& Dunn) said:

About the "finale" you got stuck on, did you not have the rocket launcher?

 

I did have the RL but just didn't realize to use it. Either that or I was out of rockets - I forget which was the case.

[Astro X]

@Dunn (& Dunn) maybe you wanna change the berserk secret or the red key section...

 

 

[KeaganDunn]

3 hours ago, Astro X said:

@Dunn (& Dunn) maybe you wanna change the berserk secret or the red key section...

-video-

I just tried this for myself and yeah, it's actually very doable. haha

I'm debating whether or not to leave this as a special option. It does exploit the concept of not firing a shot, but it is slower and not ideal for speedruns... ;|
 

 

[El Inferno]

Cool map. The bfg-spam part was very satisfying after an hour of wandering around :) Other encounters are also nicely designed, difficultywise pretty enjoyable, maybe a bit on the easier side (comparing to similar ribbiks stuff). I liked how you try to confuse the player (fake switches, etc) in a couple of places. 

[KeaganDunn]

Wow, that was quick.

This is now on idgames. A few changes have been made since (fixing a secret left open, ammo balance across difficulties, and a few alignments)

 

Thanks to all who played or will play this! https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/g-i/interstice

[Astro X]

Hey, I finally got back to your map to beat it this time.

 

I realized I did not redownload it --' so I played the earlier version of it. I beat it faster than expected, so I get lost a bit during the video lol