(Limit Removing) - Dirt - Single Map

[Paf]

This is a map I made for a (maybe) cancelled private (for lack of a better word) community project.

IWAD is Doom II.

Compatibility - Limit Removing

EDIT: I forgot, build time was ~2- to ~3 months on and off (mostly off)

 

Pretty mediocre hell map. Not much else to say about the map itself - I'd say it takes ~20 minutes to beat.

I don't really have anything interesting to say (or that I can think of,) so if you have any questions, ask.

 

Midi is "Junkhead" from Doomkid's "Alice In Chains - Dirt" midi mix. Also is where the map title comes from because I'm unoriginal and uncreative - at least when it comes to naming things.

Was supposed to be MAP28 of said cancelled project.

Hope I said everything I need to.

Anyways, here's the download.

G28.wad

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

 

Edited October 28, 2023 by Paf : fixed a really stupid softlock

[Biodegradable]

It's anything but mediocre with a hell of a midway rug-pull that's cheeky as fuuuuuck. Nicely done, fam. Only issue I noticed was a flimsy death exit that doesn't work too well. Everything else is lovely.

 

 

[Paf]

4 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

It's anything but mediocre with a hell of a midway rug-pull that's cheeky as fuuuuuck. Nicely done, fam. Only issue I noticed was a flimsy death exit that doesn't work too well. Everything else is lovely.

 

 

Seems to be an issue with GZDoom and it's handling of certain things - exit is supposed to be a death exit (which works for me, even on 1hp on cl2)

I'll upload a video of it in a minute - maybe it's something to do with your compatibility settings? First guess is not being able to exit while dead, and also the voodoo dolls not being stuck when the barrels are being crushed.

[Paf]

Uploaded the video - Testing on DSDA-Doom on complevel 2

https://youtu.be/ti2wadewkTE

exit's fine, trying the same thing on GZDoom. works with 101HP but not anything below, even 100HP. turns out, it doesn't push the voodoo dolls at 100HP (or lower) because they get crushed rather than blown into the exit line. turns out - not a compatibility setting issue. it's just a difference in the physics. if I move a voodoo doll past the crusher, maybe it won't crush all voodoo dolls if they're below 101HP.

https://youtu.be/urmIDSFSNa0

testing my theory - works fine moving a voodoo doll past the crusher, even maxed out 200/200, or on 1hp. exit works now.

https://youtu.be/aR6Nhise34c

 

Thanks for pointing out the bug, @Biodegradable.

uploaded the fixed wad to the main post

Edited September 29, 2023 by Paf

[LadyMistDragon]

Do you know what a crescendo is?

 

Because that's kind of how this was. Holy crap, the only guy better with Arch-viles than you is Doom_Dude, but wow, I could not believe my bravery with the multiple Arch-viles that were punched here! 

 

 

 

[s4f3s3x]

Great map : ) I don't know why you're downplaying it.

I love the intricate architecture and the coherent texturing, a well-executed classic style. I agree that your AV usage is effective, without being exceedingly mean.

I played on HMP, got 100% kills, missed two secrets. I'd personally add the possibility of backtracking once the exit is reached; if it's already there though, I couldn't find it.

 

I also found an issue with these midtex here:

 

 

They're passable, and let you fall down to death.

Anyway, good job!

[Paf]

6 hours ago, s4f3s3x said:

I also found an issue with these midtex here:

 

They're passable, and let you fall down to death.

I don't know how I never noticed that, should have been really obvious to me from the start. Fixed, uploaded to main post. Thanks for playing.

[thiccyosh]

 

Well, where do I start?

 

I have already playtested this map before, but that was a very brutal version inside that private community project with very little health, very aggressive encounters and taunting secrets. I hated that version of the map, every second of it was horrendous and painful to play because neither was the map respecting my time, but it also wasn't respecting its source material - obviously being Plutonia - by doing the exact opposite of what Plutonia was doing in terms of design.

 

Why exactly am I saying this? I say this because I think this (the non-brutal) version is in terms of balancing and combat the best it can possibly be. And because Paf was scolded by me the first time for the brutal version (And Poopshit Extreme 3D), leads me to believe why he thinks that his map is mediocre. Which wasn't my intention, sorry :(

 

Anyways, Paf has kindly asked me to replay it. And I gladly did so (btw if you're not into secret-hunting and picking off stragglers you can leave after 17:50 in the video). I think this map is great. Now that combat has been tweaked and player is given more resources to work with and some of the more spicy encounters have also been tweaked to be not a losing fight from the start, I reckon this map would fit in any Plutonia-esk mapset. Don't let the video fool you, this map is still hard and is not kind to blind players.

 

Only thing I don't really like about this map is the lack of a backtracking teleporter. As you can see in the video, Idclipping or just knowing you can't backtrack are your only options here. I'm willing to look over the fact that some secrets are missable and you only get one chance to activate them. I don't know how to get to that Megaarmor in the pretty landscape though...

 

Bugs? There is one, in the video there is a pit with non-damaging lava you cannot escape, I think that's just a broken lift though. I knew about those passable midtexture gates but I forgot as soon as I closed the map back then. Whoops.

 

What else can I say, it's a definite improvement over the brutal version and I think it's better off as a standalone map, rather than a map in a community project with maps of heavily varying quality.

 

 

Have a nice day.

[Paf]

37 minutes ago, thiccyosh said:

I have already playtested this map before, but that was a very brutal version inside that private community project with very little health, very aggressive encounters and taunting secrets. I hated that version of the map, every second of it was horrendous and painful to play because neither was the map respecting my time, but it also wasn't respecting its source material - obviously being Plutonia - by doing the exact opposite of what Plutonia was doing in terms of design.

 

Why exactly am I saying this? I say this because I think this (the non-brutal) version is in terms of balancing and combat the best it can possibly be. And because Paf was scolded by me the first time for the brutal version (And Poopshit Extreme 3D), leads me to believe why he thinks that his map is mediocre. Which wasn't my intention, sorry :(

 

Anyways, Paf has kindly asked me to replay it. And I gladly did so (btw if you're not into secret-hunting and picking off stragglers you can leave after 17:50 in the video). I think this map is great. Now that combat has been tweaked and player is given more resources to work with and some of the more spicy encounters have also been tweaked to be not a losing fight from the start, I reckon this map would fit in any Plutonia-esk mapset. Don't let the video fool you, this map is still hard and is not kind to blind players.

 

Only thing I don't really like about this map is the lack of a backtracking teleporter. As you can see in the video, Idclipping or just knowing you can't backtrack are your only options here. I'm willing to look over the fact that some secrets are missable and you only get one chance to activate them. I don't know how to get to that Megaarmor in the pretty landscape though...

 

Bugs? There is one, in the video there is a pit with non-damaging lava you cannot escape, I think that's just a broken lift though. I knew about those passable midtexture gates but I forgot as soon as I closed the map back then. Whoops.

I actually forgot you've playtested this map before - otherwise I probably wouldn't have asked you to playtest again. Thanks for all the feedback in the original version and so, though. Map was very unbalanced.

 

Also, your feedback on the map didn't largely change my view of it like that - I still think (and thought it was) generic/mediocre from the start of making it. Which is also what lead to the name for the other map, I didn't know what to name either at all and I didn't really feel like they were that good. Obviously I felt like they were good enough to submit for the community project but that was about it. Thanks either way, though.

 

I'll try to add a backtracking teleporter later if it's possible. I did that for what was supposed to be MAP29 (which is also "finished," but I didn't feel like uploading it. If I do, I'll release it separately from this map) but I didn't think of it here. I'm also going to add some staircases if the player jumps into the lava in some places, since it seems like there could be secrets there which might lead the player to jump off and die. I'll record a video to show how you get the mega armor - attached in the spoiler below;

Spoiler

 

Also, where's the broken lift you mentioned?

[thiccyosh]

28 minutes ago, Paf said:

Also, where's the broken lift you mentioned?

 

See video, around 21:40. At least I couldn't find a way out unless I am indeed blind.

 

 

29 minutes ago, Paf said:

I'll record a video to show how you get the mega armor - attached in the spoiler below;

 

*video*

 

 

Oh wow, I actually almost had it, but didn't find the switch.

 

 

32 minutes ago, Paf said:

Also, your feedback on the map didn't largely change my view of it like that - I still think (and thought it was) generic/mediocre from the start of making it.

 

Aw, don't be like that! I think everyone can agree with me that this map is not mediocre/generic. I would take maps like these over any stargray Romero-esk techbase. Give yourself credit where credit is due, or else you wouldn't have cared enough to rebalance the map, right?

[Paf]

18 hours ago, thiccyosh said:

 

See video, around 21:40. At least I couldn't find a way out unless I am indeed blind.

 

 

 

Oh wow, I actually almost had it, but didn't find the switch.

 

 

 

Aw, don't be like that! I think everyone can agree with me that this map is not mediocre/generic. I would take maps like these over any stargray Romero-esk techbase. Give yourself credit where credit is due, or else you wouldn't have cared enough to rebalance the map, right?

I mean, I felt like it was good enough to include in a community project and I felt obligated to rebalance the map as a result, but thanks, I guess.

[Paf]

On 9/29/2023 at 7:21 PM, LadyMistDragon said:

Do you know what a crescendo is?

 

Because that's kind of how this was. Holy crap, the only guy better with Arch-viles than you is Doom_Dude, but wow, I could not believe my bravery with the multiple Arch-viles that were punched here! 

Sorry, I actually meant to reply to this yesterday but I forgot to do so. Thanks for testing the map - the rebalance probably made it a lot more bearable to play.

[Paf]

On 9/30/2023 at 8:56 PM, thiccyosh said:

See video, around 21:40. At least I couldn't find a way out unless I am indeed blind.

(apologies for double-posting but I just went out to check)

oh, that's just a lift activated with a switch. should have probably signposted that better, whoops. I'll change the texture to something else and hopefully that'll avoid confusion.

 

also - added a backtracking teleporter. turns out adding backtracking lazily didn't take as much time as I was expecting it to - hopefully it works without any bugs or softlocks though, I don't think there are any but I may have introduced something. Uploaded to main post.

Edited October 2, 2023 by Paf

[Zahid]

failed attempt 

good map a bit random 

popi9.zip

[Paf]

what do you mean by random exactly? also, i'll watch the demo soon. do you mind uploading it to yt so people can also watch a video of it?

[Paf]

6 hours ago, Zahid said:

(demo)

watched the demo. took me a while to get to it, mb. thanks for testing, don't think you encountered any bugs or anything so that's good.

[ryiron]

Playthrough in dsdademo format (v0.25.6): dirt-ryiron.zip. Its not an fda because I played this a bit previously but hadn't finished it. The first half is fairly casual playing, and then kind of spikes in difficulty a bit.

 

There's a softlock near where the ssg is. The lava pit with the lift in it isn't damaging floor, and if you jump down there is no way out. I also wanted to go secret hunting at the end, but doesn't seem like there is a way to backtrack?

[Paf]

5 hours ago, ryiron said:

Playthrough in dsdademo format (v0.25.6): dirt-ryiron.zip. Its not an fda because I played this a bit previously but hadn't finished it. The first half is fairly casual playing, and then kind of spikes in difficulty a bit.

 

There's a softlock near where the ssg is. The lava pit with the lift in it isn't damaging floor, and if you jump down there is no way out. I also wanted to go secret hunting at the end, but doesn't seem like there is a way to backtrack?

that's weird - there is a teleporter at the exit for backtracking. maybe you ran an earlier version or something? had trouble running the demo as well - was desynced.

[Spie812]

Alright, so I played through this. The video shows my first successful run on Ultra Violence. The demo is attached, including a second demo for my FDA, which ends at the elevator trap.

 

 

First off, the hell theme is well done and the level makes great use of stock textures. It's a lot of brown on more brown, but almost every brown texture is represented, keeping things interesting. The architecture is great and the lighting is well-used. Good points all around.

 

I had a little bit of trouble with navigation at first. The level's progression is mostly switch based and there were quite a few switches where the effect was not immediately obvious. Pair that with a lot of side areas and it's easy to get turned around. It never took me long to find the right path myself, but I could imagine a hypothetical other player getting confused.

 

Apart from that, I like the map's progression a lot. The level starts with open areas and somewhat scarce resources, with shotgunners chipping away at your limited health. Then at the halfway point we move into smaller indoor areas with stronger enemies and cramped fights. It's a good change. I feel like the second half leans pretty hard into the revenant/chaingunner/archvile combo for its difficulty, but I also think that it ends before getting too repetitive.

 

Ammo for the power weapons is at a premium, forcing the player to save them for the most difficult fights. You don't even get the SSG until the difficulty spike, I like that. However, since the plasma gun is right at the beginning, I feel like a player could blow all their cells before realizing that those were really best kept for later. That's not an issue but it's something that I felt like I should note.

 

I also played through once on HNTR. I appreciate the addition of extra bullets and shells since there are fewer zombies to keep your ammo count up. I have seen maps neglect this so the thought is nice. Most of the archviles are gone, but I feel like at least one should still be present at the finale.

 

Overall, I think this is a good map with a fun escalation from light attrition to tough close-quarters brawls.

g28-demos.zip

[TheCyberDruid]

Great design :) Love the outdoor area, but the end of the map isn't my cup of tea :) Good scaling of difficulty nonetheless. Would love to see a less cramped map with the same design.

[Paf]

On 10/5/2023 at 10:38 PM, Spie812 said:

(cut)

First off, the hell theme is well done and the level makes great use of stock textures. It's a lot of brown on more brown, but almost every brown texture is represented, keeping things interesting. The architecture is great and the lighting is well-used. Good points all around.

 

I had a little bit of trouble with navigation at first. The level's progression is mostly switch based and there were quite a few switches where the effect was not immediately obvious. Pair that with a lot of side areas and it's easy to get turned around. It never took me long to find the right path myself, but I could imagine a hypothetical other player getting confused.

 

Apart from that, I like the map's progression a lot. The level starts with open areas and somewhat scarce resources, with shotgunners chipping away at your limited health. Then at the halfway point we move into smaller indoor areas with stronger enemies and cramped fights. It's a good change. I feel like the second half leans pretty hard into the revenant/chaingunner/archvile combo for its difficulty, but I also think that it ends before getting too repetitive.

 

Ammo for the power weapons is at a premium, forcing the player to save them for the most difficult fights. You don't even get the SSG until the difficulty spike, I like that. However, since the plasma gun is right at the beginning, I feel like a player could blow all their cells before realizing that those were really best kept for later. That's not an issue but it's something that I felt like I should note.

 

I also played through once on HNTR. I appreciate the addition of extra bullets and shells since there are fewer zombies to keep your ammo count up. I have seen maps neglect this so the thought is nice. Most of the archviles are gone, but I feel like at least one should still be present at the finale.

 

Overall, I think this is a good map with a fun escalation from light attrition to tough close-quarters brawls.

g28-demos.zip

thanks for testing. the levels progression is pretty confusing at points, but i didn't bother to change it since i figured it wouldn't take too long to get onto the right path, but yeah, it might be an issue for someone.

 

i did lean pretty hard into the 3 monster combo or a bit, might have been worth changing things up with hellknights/barons and archviles since those would fit in most places, though it doesn't last for too long so it might be fine if left as is.

 

i also know the player can blow all the cells really early before they need to use it - that's intentional as well, it's meant to be conserved. thanks for all the feedback either way, i'll incorporate some of that in another map.

[Paf]

On 10/6/2023 at 8:55 AM, TheCyberDruid said:

Great design :) Love the outdoor area, but the end of the map isn't my cup of tea :) Good scaling of difficulty nonetheless. Would love to see a less cramped map with the same design.

thanks for testing the map, i figured the maps later fights centralizing around a cramped arena or room might be a turnoff for some people but hopefully that isn't too much of an issue for anyone

[Paf]

fixed a backtracking softlock that nobody else has dealt with, gladly. softlock while i was recording a playtest, which also gives me another reason to bump the thread i guess. main post updated, video uploaded:

https://youtu.be/JA45Hb6DvPU

Edited October 22, 2023 by Paf

[Tactical Burger]

pretty cool

[Paf]

Semi-unrelated, but it's a great thing to use to bump - Community project that this was supposed to be made for might be coming back, so that'll include this map (MAP28) and another map (MAP29)

[Tactical Burger]

4 minutes ago, Paf said:

Semi-unrelated, but it's a great thing to use to bump - Community project that this was supposed to be made for might be coming back, so that'll include this map (MAP28) and another map (MAP29)

yesish

[Paf]

1 minute ago, Tactical Burger said:

yesish

yeah - hopefully you can finish it mid-next year. i'll take a few more slots of the unfinished maps as well.