UAC Blacksite - My First Release - GZDoom

[shroomzy5000]

MAP RELEASED OFFICALLY HERE:

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/142281-uac-blacksite-my-first-release-availible-now/?tab=comments#comment-2750318_______________________________________________________________________

Hello Doomworld,

 

I'm excited to reveal my upcoming first map, UAC BLACKSITE

 

Let me know what you think, I'm trying to get this out before the end of the year but I'm still working on the SLADE 1/2 of the map.  Still need to write the mapinfo definitions and learn how to load in the custom song I wrote for the map.

 

Because this is a first release, I copied this from the forums to be sure I was including all required information!

 

Technical Information:

What port(s) did you test with? GZDoom

What map format did you use? Common formats: Vanilla Doom2 - No custom textures or anything of that sort.

Freelook? - YES

Jumping/crouching? - NO

Specific compatibility settings? - NO

Software or hardware rendering? - HARDWARE

Which IWAD did you use? - Doom2.wad & DOOM2.pk3 were the only resources used in creation.

How much content is there? - A good amount I feel. I am new to Doom modding so playtime I'm sure will vary greatly but 100% playthroughs I feel can range from 20 mins to over an hour, depending on experience. (I'm on the closer to an hour end of that spectrum)

For maps: Single Level, MAP01 only.  If you make it to underhalls, its over.

For mods: Are there new textures? Enemies? Weapons? Gameplay features? - NO, Vanilla Doom2 assests.

Does your map contain specific gameplay themes? I guess I would say Tech base aesthetic, the map itself is not a slaughter-map but some of the encounters are that way.

Roughly how difficult is the gameplay? I'm a noob so this map is a legitimate challenge to me playing on UV.  That being said, I'm sure veterans & experienced players will only find specific encounters to present any level of challenge, if much at all.

 

GOOGLE DRIVE:

If you have any questions about the map, please feel free to ask.  Would love to hear your first impressions based on the screenshots!

There's 24 total pics displaying about 80% of the playable areas... Maybe less, idk I wasn't gonna show you all the secrets haha

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LRlxI2a0eDPuLcfKZOKdip0GvH6pcWqy?usp=drive_link

 

Pretty sure I set up my google drive correctly so anyone clicking this link can see the screenshots!

If anyone has issues accessing the google drive, please let me know.  I sent the link to my friend, and it worked for them but that's the only level of testing I did lol

 

Background:

I appreciate all the people on these forums who have helped me along the way, and this larger community I'm coming to know and love.  I'm trying my best to really flush out this map prior to an official release.  I started a much bigger project first with a whole original story and everything, started making custom textures and skyboxes and using some of the community modded content but felt like I wasn't really learning the way I should.  SO, I decided to pace myself and start a completely vanilla build to really familiarize myself with the basics before getting into the crazy advanced stuff.  The ultimate goal of this map is to really just see how good can I get with JUST UDB & a doom wad.  I want to be very minimalistic within SLADE.  Right now the only reasons I know I will have to get in there is to put in the custom midi song I made for the map, and also to just disable jump and crouch using MAPINFO, and some of the more basic SLADE stuff like renaming the map on the end screen, adjusting par times and such.  I set generally high standards for myself and although I am fully aware this will be nowhere near perfect or the best map ever made, but I do want it to feel professional and clean.  To this end, if anyone willing to help me achieve this would like to be part of "play testing" of sorts, I would greatly appreciate and of course credit upon final release :)

 

Thanks everyone!

 

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2023 by shroomzy5000

[princetontiger]

Hey shroomzy5000, this was a lot of fun. Thank you for making it!

[riptide]

where's the WAD?

[shroomzy5000]

1 minute ago, riptide said:

where's the WAD?

haha sorry made a more recent post when i dropped it!

 

here you go!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LRlxI2a0eDPuLcfKZOKdip0GvH6pcWqy?usp=drive_link

[shroomzy5000]

Post has been updated to point to the proper google drive file :)

[Riclo500]

Wow, this was amazing. I loved all the GZdoom mechanics and how they fit with the level and really made it unique. It's a big shame it seems like more people haven't seen this, I can tell you've put alot of work into this! Even with all the scripting there was only one part where my gameplay mod bugged the map, which was the door near the blue skull key (where the big gun is at about 34:45). Also I cheesed the fuck out of whatever the final fight was supposed to be lmao. This was great, so much so that I might even do a second playthrough sometime in the future. Everything was my first try too, really really well balanced!

Also holy shit, I just noticed that this was your first map, which makes everything even more impressive. Relying on scripts always seems to end up bugging maps somehow unless you really know what you're doing, especially with gameplay mods, so it's impressive that nothing broke (aside from that one door). Awesome job!

My guess as to why more people haven't seen this is because the screenshots make it look like a typical first map when it's way more than that, but maybe it was your intention to subvert expectations. I and everyone else who plays this map will be looking forward to your future releases.
 

 

[shroomzy5000]

Wow this is sooo cool too see my map played with all these mods!  Fortunately, I think I have learned my lesson about using scripting to call inventory checks for certain weapons to open a door.  That also seems to have broken, smoothdoom.  You were so close to the secret ending its not even funny, I definitely thought you would be the first to get it on video when you got all 6 keys!!!  That fight in the fire room, if you do it before getting BFG, it gives you blue key, so thats how you would beat the map with just the normal 3 keys.  Your gameplay was phenomenal compared to a few others that have made videos because of how well you backtracked.  I designed the map with replayability and learning all the different encounters and how they go together allows some really diverse pathways to progress.  It would be really cool to see one of those crazy speed runners try to find the fastest and most optimal order to do the encounters haha. In your case you got the BFG before the turbine room, and without a gameplay mod going that room with no BFG makes the challenge skyrocket haha

 

And i think some of the bad reception is due to the fact I also have 2 posts, this on was more of a leading up to post, to get any feedback based on screenshots i put in the google drive.  Ill edit this post to draw a link to the one for the maps actual release :)

 

I really thank you for your time and review of the map!  Also, you can public the video if you care you do so, I want to build my own video games some day and I really care about peoples feedback!  Id love as many people to see it and criticize it as possible so I can learn what it takes to become a great game/level designer.  I wish could see people's reactions when they hit that LOL door for the first time haha.

 

Glad you enjoyed it and had fun with the WAD.  Many more to come! Happy Holidays!

[PowerPak]

I'm glad I was made aware of this. The sprawling progression made this really engaging to play through, as well as the spice of some really devilish moments. I wasn't expecting to play through a map this size in one sitting on New Year's Eve, but that's what ended up happening.

 

Absolutely incredible work. I hope you do well in the future!

 

Spoiler

[Smolspidey]

Awesome map you did a good job