[Ultimate Doom Community Project] Solar Struggle - Making maps where names are pre-selected (Development thread) [Looking for artists] [WE HAVE ALL THE MAPS]

[The Kingslayer]

On 10/26/2021 at 2:34 PM, ViolentBeetle said:

@The Kingslayer

Since Lorenzo submitted his map first, he won a race to decide the space ship's design and you should copy it as your map's exit area. Seems like it'll be a big floating UFO thing.

No worries, we’ve got that sorted out.

[cannonball]

Finally started on E2M7 - Just the early areas built so far.

 

[Nefelibeta]

On 10/25/2021 at 10:01 PM, PinkFlamingo said:

As I am working on a boss map (E4M8), I was particularly interested to see what @Nefelibeta and @muumi made for their boss maps (E2M8 and E3M8). Below are my reviews of their maps. I played on Ultra Violence difficulty.

 

E2M8 by @Nefelibeta

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I played the first version of this map (before you changed the outdoor areas to indoor) so this review refers to that version.

It's a really nice looking techbase! Very clean texture work. I liked how you progress through the map, collecting the keys and all of the weapons while encountering increasingly more difficult traps. The length of the map is also good as a final map of an episode.

The boss fight at the end was very well done. I loved the atmosphere in the dark blue room where you face the Cyberdemon. While this is a fairly standard fight, the darkness and the strobing lights make it challenging to see where exactly the Cyberdemon is and the low-tier enemies create a good distraction, making the Cyberdemon's moves unpredictable. Overall, I really liked it. I believe it's a fitting and memorable end to the second episode.

 

Some minor points of critique:
- Somewhat halfway through the map, I felt like I was getting way too much ammo and power ups for what I needed to handle the fights. Towards the end I was using the plasma and rockets for everything, which took away some of the suspense and tension. I think you could maybe get away with removing almost half of the ammo (considering there is also the berserk to punch out enemies when you run low on ammo).
- The trap when you grab the plasma gun felt easier than most of the previous traps. Maybe the cliff's edge could be made a bit more narrow or one or two Barons could be added to increase difficulty?
- I found a misaligned brick texture at the base of the final elevator.

 

E3M8 by @muumi

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Wow. Fantastic looking map with great atmosphere. Really feels like you are running around at the base of a sci-fi super structure. I wonder, what is that sector art in the beginning of the map? Is that the space elevator seen from a distance? Or something else?

The map plays really well. The Mastermind is placed far enough from the player for auto-aim to not work, but close enough to the player to still get sniped by the Spider's machine gun. I will use that approach in my own map E4M8 as well. Combat is chaotic in a good way. Ammo balance is also good. There were a few moments where I thought I was going to run out of ammo but I never did. Overall a very memorable map to end the third episode.

 

Very minor point of critique:
- I'm not a big fan of damaging blood. Maybe lava would be more fitting? That's just some nitpicking though.

 

 

Progress on my own map: E4M8

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I have been working for about two evenings on my map now. The overall layout is finished and I believe I can have a playable first version this week. According to Wikipedia, the surface of Venus is very hot, rusty and dominated by volcanoes and craters. I imagine it also being very dark because of that thick cloud layer above. So, I am going for a rather dark map with lots of contrasting bright volcanoes and lava streams.

The Spider Mastermind is at the center of a lava-filled crater and out of reach of your attacks (assuming auto-aim and no freelook). The player needs to walk around the crater's edge, avoid getting sniped by the Mastermind, while also encountering some monster traps along the way. Eventually you will reach an elevated point in the map, from where you can shoot the spider. Here is a very early screenshot:

 

 

 

 

 

There, I updated the map as what you said.

I didn't really remove half of the ammo since I don't find it really intersting to punch out barons, so I only removed the rockets and some of the cells for the final fight.

solare2m8agasad.zip

[Jark]

11 hours ago, cannonball said:

Finally started on E2M7 - Just the early areas built so far.

 

 

Great palette choice - red carpet isn't something I considered working that well.

 

By the way my map prefaces yours, I enjoy having some sort of consistent narrative so perhaps we can consider making the exit of my map link to the start of your map? For example I have the exit elevator of Beetle's map start my map off.

 

I have planned to exit Transport Nexus with the player going to a terminal labelled Research Complex via sector art - what sort of vehicle or method of transport might this be? Boat, train, elevator, simple teleporter? I am yet to make the end so I am flexible to suggestions.

[Nefelibeta]

1 hour ago, Jark said:

 

Great palette choice - red carpet isn't something I considered working that well.

 

By the way my map prefaces yours, I enjoy having some sort of consistent narrative so perhaps we can consider making the exit of my map link to the start of your map? For example I have the exit elevator of Beetle's map start my map off.

 

I have planned to exit Transport Nexus with the player going to a terminal labelled Research Complex via sector art - what sort of vehicle or method of transport might this be? Boat, train, elevator, simple teleporter? I am yet to make the end so I am flexible to suggestions.

Now come to think of it, maybe E2M7 can end in a elevator surrounded by underground lava lake or some sort? 'cause that's the theme of my E2M8 submission.

[cannonball]

3 hours ago, Jark said:

 

Great palette choice - red carpet isn't something I considered working that well.

 

By the way my map prefaces yours, I enjoy having some sort of consistent narrative so perhaps we can consider making the exit of my map link to the start of your map? For example I have the exit elevator of Beetle's map start my map off.

 

I have planned to exit Transport Nexus with the player going to a terminal labelled Research Complex via sector art - what sort of vehicle or method of transport might this be? Boat, train, elevator, simple teleporter? I am yet to make the end so I am flexible to suggestions.

The initial thought was an elevator for the start of E2M7 as sort of seen by the metallic structure in the picture, however this is not a necessity and can alter the start to fit whatever you like.

2 hours ago, Nefelibeta said:

Now come to think of it, maybe E2M7 can end in a elevator surrounded by underground lava lake or some sort? 'cause that's the theme of my E2M8 submission.

 

I was planning to put the exit just outside the facility, so this kind of exit should be perfectly doable.

[Jark]

4 hours ago, cannonball said:

The initial thought was an elevator for the start of E2M7 as sort of seen by the metallic structure in the picture, however this is not a necessity and can alter the start to fit whatever you like.

 

An elevator is doable and is thematically appropriate to the episode, descending and all. Ok, I will make an area for elevators then sometime in the future - when I get to that stage I might ask for the elevator to paste to get an idea for scale and theme.

[PinkFlamingo]

@Engired, I saw that your map E4M7 is listed as 'done' in the first post. Could you share it with us in this thread? I would like to see how you did the exit so I can adjust the start of my map (E4M8). (or just post a screenshot of the exit)

[ViolentBeetle]

7 minutes ago, PinkFlamingo said:

@Engired, I saw that your map E4M7 is listed as 'done' in the first post. Could you share it with us in this thread? I would like to see how you did the exit so I can adjust the start of my map (E4M8). (or just post a screenshot of the exit)

I think this is the latest version.

In any case, the explicit instructions that you jump onto eponymous "Tether" and rappel down, or something like that. So you can build off that if you want.

[ViolentBeetle]

Time for some monthly progress report.

 

First 16 maps that are "more or less done" were compiled for your convenience (If you are into some testing)

Contains following:

E1M1, E1M3, E1M6 and E1M7

E2M1, E2M5, E2M8 and E2M9

E3M2, E3M5, E3M7 and E3M8

E4M1, E4M4, E4M7, E4M9

Includes UMAPINFO to tie maps together in progression

E1M3 secret exit should currently act like normal exit due to lack of secret level in the episode.

E4M9 should follow E4M7 directly due to lack of secret exit in the episode

For this purpose, I recommend you use a port that supports UMAPINFO. This is also good for E4 music, although Crispy is smart enough to pick it on its own.

GET IT HERE

[ViolentBeetle]

New month seems like a good time to check for vital signs.

@maxresdefault (Is here)

@Astro X (Is here)

@Anarkzie (Is here)

@RataUnderground

@Bobby “lolmcswagger”

@SMG_Man

(The list incomplete, text editor is not being cooperative)

Are you still with us?

Edited November 2, 2021 by ViolentBeetle

[Anarkzie]

I need to get a move on, I'm still tinkering away on mine. I've not played them all but I've dipped into a few and I'm blown away by the quality of the mapping on display. The very first map(the prison one) was really strong, specially considering its a wad starter and faces restrictions on weapons and enemies available. Well done guys. 

 

[xdude_gamer]

16 minutes ago, Anarkzie said:

I need to get a move on, I'm still tinkering away on mine. I've not played them all but I've dipped into a few and I'm blown away by the quality of the mapping on display. The very first map(the prison one) was really strong, specially considering its a wad starter and faces restrictions on weapons and enemies available. Well done guys. 

 

I agree. E1M1 is excellent for its job. I'm more or less waiting for the Beta or the RCs so I can give criticism :)

[Pixel Fiend]

It indeed looks very high quality, not unlike Literalism. The first map is instanly my favourite Prison level I've seen in Doom so far. Thanks for the demo.

[SMG_Man]

I've started on mine, but I haven't had much time lately to map. I've got more free time this week though so I should be able to make some real headway now

[xdude_gamer]

@ViolentBeetleWait, aren't there 36 maps and not 27?

 

4 episodes, 9 levels each. 9 x 4 = 36

 

Just a little error in the project's main title. Says 16/27 maps done and not 16/36. 

[ViolentBeetle]

2 minutes ago, xdude_gamer said:

@ViolentBeetleWait, aren't there 36 maps and not 27?

 

4 episodes, 9 levels each. 9 x 4 = 36

 

Just a little error in the project's main title. Says 16/27 maps done and not 16/36. 

You are right, I forgot how many episodes there are.

[ViolentBeetle]

Turns out, I have put wrong textures into the wad and as a result a few switches were incorrect (I bundled a few switches together because Doom 2 switches weren't backported to Ultimate Doom). The link and file name didn't change, but file inside should have correct switches now.

 

Apologies for the inconvenience.

[cannonball]

Playing the E1 maps tonight

 

E1M1 - Visually this looks nice and clean, I must admit the amount of monsters you face with only the pistol is a little on the thick side for my liking, no real issues once the shotgun is acquired. For the most part the gameplay is relatively straightforward with a couple of traps that give the shotgun a good workout. 

 

E1M3 - Not a fan of this one. Right of the bat, perhaps a more controversial view here but was not a fan of the midi here, I don't know but the remix didn't sit well with me. The map itself is a fairly linear crawl that is proceeds too slowly for a UDoom map, the health is manageable but the general design really doesn't offer the player a chance to really stretch their legs. Oddly despite some sluggish gameplay the keys are very lightly guarded (The yellow key needs a proper rework as the demons felt pointless and the mechanics for the imps felt a little unreliable as I had to walk into the damaging room a couple of times to wake up all the imps). The secret exit is trivial to find, that isn't a proper issue per se, however many do like to have their brains scrambled a bit to find it and here it is offered up on a platter.

 

E1M6 - No issues with this one really, a non-linear three key hunt that you can do in any order you like, a single key will grant you the rocket launcher. All I would say is this was very easy, in fact it could be close to bordering on being easier than the same point in Knee deep in the dead. Maybe consider adding a little more spice to the opposition perhaps? Otherwise a solid compact layout and a blast to dash through.

 

E1M7 - Oh boy that moment you walk through those 'control gates' really leaves a very bad impression where monsters rise from the floor directly in front of you. After this initial brawl I then completely forgot that I had a rocket launcher because the remainder of the map is very simple and rather dull. Oddly the best this map offers is behind a secret that houses nearly half of the monsters and it is only when you reveal the second secret that you are somewhat rewarded. I guess this is fine but frankly the rest of the map isn't particularly good. I did laugh at the 15 rockets I got to face...... one cacodemon...

 

Overall - E1M1 and E1M6 are very solid entries, but in my opinion the other two need a lot of work. 

 

[NaturalTvventy]

@myoldenden I got stuck in map01 in the blue key room. The switch in there opens the door once. If the door is triggered again from the outside open/wait/close, the player can get locked in.

[myolden]

1 hour ago, NaturalTvventy said:

@myoldenden I got stuck in map01 in the blue key room. The switch in there opens the door once. If the door is triggered again from the outside open/wait/close, the player can get locked in.

Interesting. I'll change the switch that opens the door from inside to a repeatable one. Thanks for the heads up.

[Doomlust]

3 hours ago, cannonball said:

E1M3 - Not a fan of this one. Right of the bat, perhaps a more controversial view here but was not a fan of the midi here, I don't know but the remix didn't sit well with me. The map itself is a fairly linear crawl that is proceeds too slowly for a UDoom map, the health is manageable but the general design really doesn't offer the player a chance to really stretch their legs. Oddly despite some sluggish gameplay the keys are very lightly guarded (The yellow key needs a proper rework as the demons felt pointless and the mechanics for the imps felt a little unreliable as I had to walk into the damaging room a couple of times to wake up all the imps). The secret exit is trivial to find, that isn't a proper issue per se, however many do like to have their brains scrambled a bit to find it and here it is offered up on a platter.

Initially I was going to do something completely different (much more open), but in practice it didn't become very interesting. So I decided to make this map, it really is a "go ahead" which is not ideal... I didn't have many ideas for barracks so I made a kind of bunker. If other players have the same opinion as yours, I'll pass my map slot to someone else interested in the project.

[Astro X]

23 hours ago, ViolentBeetle said:

New month seems like a good time to check for vital signs.

@maxresdefault

@Astro X

@Anarkzie

@RataUnderground

@Bobby “lolmcswagger”

@SMG_Man

(The list incomplete, text editor is not being cooperative)

Are you still with us?

I am, should be uploading here a first version of my map this weekend :)

[xdude_gamer]

Here's a criticism of the first episode of Solar Struggle.

 

E1M1:
Right off the bat, E1M1 puts you in a nice location. With Doom II textures and that music (what an eargasm!), you're pretty pumped up to go in and blast some baddies into the ground. The level itself is mildly difficult. I finished the level on my second try, since the last trap got me pretty good. The prison setting is put to use very well. It's also super open and it feels pretty good to run around in. All around, a solid first map for Solar Struggle and a excellent map atmospherically in general. 9.5/10.

 

E1M3:

It's alright, to be honest. Not quite as great as E1M1, but still good nonetheless. It's a pretty hard map. I died about 3 times mainly from shotgunners. There's a ton! It feels like playing a Plutonia map on HNTR difficulty (when playing on HMP, I'm a wimp player). It's got a nice music track that strangely reminds me of TeamTNT's Icarus: Alien Vanguard. It feels like a normal techbase level though, so it seems kinda vanilla instead of being something new. Other than that, decent map. 7/10, would play again.

 

E1M6:

I don't like this map very much (I'm so sorry mapmaker who spent several hours of his/her time making this!) since it's a switch hunt, it's not very linear, and it's got a LOT of hallways. I pretty much spent like 4 or 5 minutes wandering around finding the rooms and stuff. Meh map. 5/10.

 

E1M7:

This is a great level. A very fast & furious level. I beat it on my first try (though that demon trap in the yellow key was fricking terrible and left me at 5% health) and it was a rather easy-ish level. Can't say much about it, it feels like a very simple and very interesting level that would've won a Cacoward back in 1996 or 1997. 9/10.

[LoreCaco37]

16 hours ago, cannonball said:

E1M7 - Oh boy that moment you walk through those 'control gates' really leaves a very bad impression where monsters rise from the floor directly in front of you. After this initial brawl I then completely forgot that I had a rocket launcher because the remainder of the map is very simple and rather dull. Oddly the best this map offers is behind a secret that houses nearly half of the monsters and it is only when you reveal the second secret that you are somewhat rewarded. I guess this is fine but frankly the rest of the map isn't particularly good. I did laugh at the 15 rockets I got to face...... one cacodemon...

Thanks for the feedback. I have had to put off uploading a fixed version of the map due to my schedule conflicts. any further feedback is greatly appreciated as I myself feel like my level needs work but I am unsure where I need to improve. I'm on the forums pretty frequently so any feedback here will likely be addressed by the end of the day.

Traffic Control v1_2.zip

[Shawny]

17 hours ago, cannonball said:

I would say is this was very easy

Yeah, I am aware of this, In fact I have raised similliar sentiment on Discord when I submitted the map.
There are few factors to why that is that and if I could figure out a good way to amend this, without changing
flow/progresssion of the map, I would. As it´s stands, this is going to be one of those "have a break" maps.

 

4 hours ago, xdude_gamer said:

(I'm so sorry mapmaker who spent several hours of his/her time making this!)

Thank you, but you don´t need to be. I spent quite a lot of time and effort on this and I am (mostly) satisfied with the result.
I am confident in my work and believe that the map is good, though I will be proven right or wrong once more people will play this
and more opinios will be raised.
I will admit that these kind of maps are not for everyone and majority of people probably more linear maps with more spectacle.

 

4 hours ago, xdude_gamer said:

since it's a switch hunt

We clearly have different opinions on what that actually means.

Bottom line, I do appreciate the feedback and your impressions on the matter.

[muumi]

49 minutes ago, LoreCaco37 said:

Thanks for the feedback. I have had to put off uploading a fixed version of the map due to my schedule conflicts. any further feedback is greatly appreciated as I myself feel like my level needs work but I am unsure where I need to improve. I'm on the forums pretty frequently so any feedback here will likely be addressed by the end of the day.

Traffic Control v1_2.zip

I guess you are not in pineapple's discord, so ill throw this here

Playthrough:

Spoiler

 

I liked this level! Some feedback:

- ambush at the baggage checking room was kinda clunky with enemies rising on your face. Could try to teleport them instead.

- behind start building there is some sky issues.

- I obviously had to sneak behind every building, would have been cool if there was some token secret somewhere :)

- space shuttle capsule was very cute.

- Yeah, end was bit anticlimatic with only one lonely caco. :/

[xdude_gamer]

1 hour ago, Shawny said:

...Bottom line, I do appreciate the feedback and your impressions on the matter.

Yeah. I would say it's quite good for what it's meant to be however. The architecture is quite nice to be frank. 

[RHhe82]

1 hour ago, Shawny said:

I spent quite a lot of time and effort on this and I am (mostly) satisfied with the result. I am confident in my work and believe that the map is good, though I will be proven right or wrong once more people will play this and more opinios will be raised.
I will admit that these kind of maps are not for everyone and majority of people probably more linear maps with more spectacle.

 

 

For what it's worth, I think your map (and E1M1) are definitely first episode highlights so far -- I found Visitor Center nicely crafted, fun and varied map. I didn't even find it that easy (played on UV, pistol start), I think I even died once (used saves, though). At times it almost felt like the office levels of Going Down, with a pool table (if I interpreted correctly) and all :P Just far less chaotic and more conventional as dictated by project restrictions.

 

I do think you can rest assured that's some quality work there - it just goes to show that tastes in maps are varied.

[cannonball]

I wasn't expecting the replies, so I will try and go into more detail about E1M3/E1M7 if I can.

 

So episode 2

 

E2M1 - I really the mood and feel of this map. I must admit that I left a cacodemon and imp alive because I ran out of ammo, that is including the secret that I found. So perhaps a few more clips or even a berserk (Not sure if the rules would allow this???). Otherwise a nice eerie opener that allows a good level of aggression coupled with a TNT midi remix that works well.

 

E2M5 - I know that the map name suggests cramped tunnels, but this feels a little too cramped for my liking. All it seems to do is slow things down whilst the difficulty still remains on the easy side. The first baron is quite effective but the other 2 could be removed without really changing much of the gameplay as they only seem to impede the player, rather than exerting real threat. The caco in the exit feels a little pointless too.

The secret exit is fairly straightforward to find again, albeit requiring a little bit of careful footwork. The visuals are solid throughout this and gameplay is okay, albeit a little too linear shooter and constrained by space. I guess addressing this would be a pain and in the end if the surrounding maps feel more open then this might come as a decent change of pace. Still baron usage should be reconsidered here in my opinion.

 

E2M9 - This felt very E2 in style, this one is another that tends to throw most of the threat in front of the player. There plenty of ammo to clear everything with ease. This could be described as serviceable in terms of gameplay, but not much more. It's an okay map but it would be nice to seeing something more fleshed out here, a bit more to explore, trying to get some more vectors in terms of threat etc. 

I'm guessing the decorations on the various tables are the 'Artifacts' here?

 

E2M8 - I liked what this is trying to do, but the execution is a little lacking. The majority of this map could be described as having a lot of bark, but no real bite. You get a lot of monsters to fight but in most cases you can effectively guarantee victory by making one or two moves, a lot of the fights can be skipped with good reflexes and the monsters will be forced to come through a door where you can take them out without a care in the world thanks to the plentiful supply of rockets. I think there are a lot of fights that will need revising, a lot of doors probably need removing and replaced with something that can allow the author to force the player to play the map how they desire (Seal the player in some areas, the plasma gun fight really needs to cacodemons to arrive more quickly than they currently do for example).

Also do not put items in front of switches, especially items such as medkits and armour. I didn't need them and trying to avoid picking them up is irritating.

However....

The final fight looks really cool and plays pretty well (Though it depends somewhat on the intended difficulty), I beat this on my first attempt. for increased difficulty the use of extra demons/spectres/lost souls would be your best bet as these have a habit of obstructing the player and putting you in the firing line of the cyberdemon.