Just A Mapset: Episode 1 - A Boom mapset, now on /idgames!

[Vortale]

 

Episode 1

 

/IDGAMES LINK

ALTERNATE LINK

 

 

Wanna play with your monster/weapon mods? Get the nerfed version here

 

DOWNLOAD WITHOUT COOL STUFF FOR YOUR MOD NEEDS

 

ABOUT

 

J.A.M: Episode 1 is a Boom (-complevel 9) mapset, containing 11 (+1) maps, with heavy usage of DeHackEd (so mods are highly likely to break it). Primarily uses OTEX textures (yep another one!) All difficulty settings are available and balanced for them, but this is intended for those who have beaten Plutonia on UV at least.

 

Story? It's just a mapset. There's nothing strange or unusual happening underneath, honest. :^)

 

This is my first submission to the public. This originally started as a small collection of maps I've worked on since around 2018, however, once I had more free time on my hands, it expanded into something much greater. A full 32-map megawad is actually planned out on paper, but that is far off from now.

 

TESTED IN: PrBoom+, DSDA-Doom, Eternity, GZDoom

 

CREDITS

Spoiler

Music:

Vladislav Baymurzin (ClumsyDoomer)
Stuart Rynn (stewboy)
Brendan Bradley (Bucket)
Stratovarius
Lee Jackson

Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy 6
The Incredible Machine 2
Lands of Lore 2

 

Sprites:

Amuscaria
Sodaholic
Captain Toenail
Ghastly Dragon
Gothic

(I also made a variety of sprites, the HUD and the title cards)

 

And of course Ukiro and co for OTEX

 

Testing (or just playing casually before release):

Flamedragon

Tarnsman

Killer5

 

And all the developers/gamers who have their legacies hidden inside as easter eggs.

 

If there are ANY names I've missed, please tell me.

 

SCREENSHOTS

Spoiler

 

MAPS

Spoiler

Map01 - "First Encounter"

Map02 - "Toxic Drum"

Map03 - "Master Machine"

Map04 - "Shrapnel"

Map05 - "City"

Map06 - "The Trials"

Map07 - "Fortress"

Map08 - "Meat Grinder"

Map09 - "Ancient Library"

Map10 - "Echoing Silence"

Map11 - Some Finale idk

(Map12) - The map with no exit that teases Episode 2

 

CHANGELOG/KNOWN ISSUES

Spoiler

Current known issues

 

[1.1]

 

None so far! Will update if anything's found, but there will be no other patches after this, so I hope nothing major is found.

 

[1.0]

 

Map02

- Speedrunners found out you can fall out the yellow zone in the super secret. Don't fall out the yellow zone in the super secret.

 

Map03

- One of the enemies doesn't wake up unless you're high enough on the map for it to see you. This is a bit of a pain, but if you're UV-Maxing, it should see you anyway given the route.

 

Map10

- There's a hole in the fence behind the spider mastermind. It was fixed in a previous version, but returned when I added the super secret fight. Just don't walk too far off.

 

Map11

- There is currently a clogging issue that can occur with the monster spawns. 100%ing the map is still possible, as those closets activate crushers, but the map gets progressively easier as it goes on as a result (unless you're very unlucky). This does not occur in GZDoom.

 

[RC2]

 

General
- For GZDoom, the Cybruiser has it's call back, so it can be heard anywhere on the map and you don't get a surprise rocket up the bum!
- Added some foam to the rifle/chaingun ammo to soften it's sound a little
- The Super secret fight now works in Eternity! It has also been changed slightly in all ports.
- A bunch of very tiny changes made to some maps that you wouldn't notice

 

Map04
- One of the blue skull bars did not require a key. Now it does. The locksmith has been fired.
Map05
- Removed a Secret tag and changed a teleporter location, to help UV-Maxing and make gameplay flow better (you're welcome speedrunners!)

Map08
- Reduced crusher noise a bit (it was inexcusably loud in some ports and I don't want to get sued)
Map09
- The Pain Elemental isn't a switch, but I understand the confusion and sheer desire to shoot at it non-stop. I've rectified it so you don't drain ammo on it
Map10
- For those GZDoomers playing on Default compat, you can Max now, the Mancubus leaves it's cage
- The spectres swimming in the sludge have been asked to vacate, due to conflicts with autoaim. We tried to come to some agreement but they refused to cooperate
Map11
- The boss felt things were too stacked against it. It was displeased and decided to change it. But something else was added to compensate for the increased difficulty

 

[FINAL]

 

General

- More minor tweaks you won't notice

- Significantly reduced file size

 

Map01

- Made a secret a little more obvious, as well as removed a secret tag.

Map05

- A sector removed itself from existence because ????????? (I legit cannot figure out how this happened as it didn't occur when I tested it before posting) but the sector was added back in. Good thing you could technically clear the map without it.

Map08

- Crushers decided they didn't want to function. Gave them a pay rise so they would.

Map09

- While I satisfied the Pain Elemental hate squad, I failed to realize what could occur if you DIDN'T shoot the eyeball with reckless abandon. Now the random HOM pillar won't be there.

 

Any issues? Complaints? Vitriol? Feel free to lemme know!

Edited June 27, 2022 by Vortale

[Walter confetti]

Looks pretty neat!

[Pixel Fiend]

Agreed the screenshots look promising but I'll wait until you have it on idgames because 100 megabytes is pretty big.

[NieMaMordy]

This mapset appears heavily influenced by Valiant and Eviternity, since it uses a lot of assets from both of them, while also adding a lot of new enemies and weapon behavior that seem similar to ones used in Struggle. In my opinion, this mix would not stand on its own, but your maps rival the best ones I played, and they use the new enemies and weapons so well, that this wad just became my favorite one from current year. I will definitely record a longplay of this one and post it here, just like I did with Suckerpunch 2, which used to be ma favorite up to this point. Just please reconsider your music choices, especially for the first two maps. Give this wad a go, guys! You're missing out on that one!

[Vile]

Played this and had a ton of fun!  I liked the weapon/monster changes that made the gameplay more fast paced.  Congrats on the release!

 

Spoiler

I'm looking forward to the follow-up after playing that.  Also those "special" secret areas in each map were very cool.

 

Also, there were some blue bars in map04 that I opened without the key, not sure if that was intended but it seemed suspect.

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by Vile

[Nefelibeta]

Best map titles ever.

[NieMaMordy]

I've decided to do a commentary-less walkthrough of your wad. I will add one part every day. Each part will contain some of my thoughts in its description. Here is a link to the first part. http://www.bitview.net/watch.php?v=uM16CVZPEuV

[Vortale]

Thanks for the kind words folks! I'm glad people are enjoying it so far!

RC2 has been released, and if all goes well, will be the last RC before the final submission to idgames. I feel pretty much everything has been ironed out, but there might be something that slipped through the cracks!

 

Changes can be found in the changelog on the first post.

 

For the file size, I feel quite a chunk of that is OTEX. I've crunched it down a bit more, but I'll need to crunch it down even further before the final.

 

As for the music, map01's choice is deliberate and I don't really mind map02 personally. If I change any track, it might be map08, if I can find something I consider suitable.

[NieMaMordy]

Would it be possible to somehow lower the volume of crushers in Meat Grinder? Maybe combine some of them into one sector?

[rfomin]

Wow, great mapset, I really like it. I think the choice of music is perfect. Everyone should try this, very high quality, especially for the first public release.

[loveless]

just finished playing rc2, had a good time! 

 

only found one issue, map 9 had a hom around here 
 

Spoiler

 

[Vortale]

Despite RC2 fixing all issues from RC1, it somehow grew bigger blemishes than the previous iteration.

 

But now everything should be complete and the final version has been posted! Currently in the process of getting it up on /idgames, which will replace the current link above when that occurs. At this point, if any new issues are found - providing they aren't completely game breaking - they'll be left in until the full set is finished in a year or two (hopefully).

 

File size was also greatly reduced, that's on me for not cleaning up the pile of OTEX sitting inside.

 

Thank you to everyone who has played it so far and had a good time, and for finding bugs here and there that escaped under my radar! Also, if you found any skips, don't worry, they've been kept in!

 

Finally, do not worry about the numbers right now. Please carry on! :^)

[TheShep]

I like how the map name is almost a nod to J.A.M. Productions, the creators of Blake Stone.

[Vortale]

So I've decided to create a version of J.A.M. that will work with your weapon/monster mods! Similar to Valiant's vaccination, it removes all the dehacked elements, but I've also removed the super cool super secrets. If you want those, you'll need to load up the original.

 

You can download it here!

 

It's been tested with a variety of things, including Brutal Doom, Guncaster, Roguelike Arsenal, Supercharged, Corruption Cards, Final Doomer+, and a little bit of Hideous Destructor. But I can't test literally everything. If people find issues with any mods they're running, lemme know and I will update the link. I'll likely not put this up on /idgames as it might get updated frequently, plus it isn't the main project. (Please note: Some mods that produce random elements such as Corruption Cards might cause issues that I can't do much about). I also need to give multiplayer a proper whirl with it, and perhaps do rebalancing.

 

Finally, speedrunners (okay it's literally just @Master Medi right now) have ran into a couple of minor bugs, and knowing speedrunners, will run into more. I'll list them in the known issues page, and they will be dealt with by the time episode 2 & 3 are done. It's a tad annoying that I missed anything given the nature of this mapset and it's secrets, but they thankfully don't totally break the maps too much (though you might get a little stuck).

 

This'll be the last time I update this thread about the wad. I figure I should put my head down and get to finishing Just A Megawad before 2022 is done!

 

Spoiler

Thank you for the mention in the cacowards! It's still wild to see my name on there given how stacked 2021 was!

 

[xvertigox]

This mapset kicks fucking ass. The increased weapon swap speed, the faster monsters, great map flow, I loved playing through this set. This map feels like quintessential Boom with strong skillsaw vibes as mentioned previously in the thread. I do love the sprites, they all suit the gameplay and OTEX perfectly. I'm very keen to see what the next episode is like.

 

Edit: I forgot to mention that I appreciate the variety in the maps. It's not just visual variety but also gameplay and set pieces, each map feels decidedly different to the one before it and the one after it. I'm replaying JAM and I'm loving it even more than the first time.

 

Edit 2: @Vortale since the hud isn't widescreen compat I made a copy of flat 'O8DMDA13' and renamed it 'GRNROCK' and it looks better IMO

 

Spoiler

Original

 

Updated

 

Ideally, a widescreen hud would be used but I think this a fair in-between.
 

Edited January 8, 2022 by xvertigox

[hakros]

Hi, awesome megawad, thanks for share it !
I will include it in my app at next release.
https://hakros.itch.io/hakros-doom-launcher
Greetings !