Phendrena Posted October 8 (edited) Hello all, Over ten years ago, @schwerpunk decided to do a community megawad the Monochrome Mapping Project. I was fairly keen and really into mapping back then and I included a map, Monochromatic Nightmare. To be fair, It was confusing mess of a map and fairly middle of the road, but it was something. I've been pondering having another stab at mapping and I have decided to start on a sequel to my submitted wad (hahaha!!) In the first map The Soul Sphere was your nemesis. He wants revenge. I would suggest, having a brief play of the previous map (or watch some of this video from @Suitepee or this more recent one from DemoGorgonZola). I'm delighted to have reached the point where I can say that I am happy with the map and consider it now suitable for a 1.0.0 release. Many things have changed since my first post, including areas shows in the following posts that no longer exist or have changed very dramatically. Provided you are observant, you should be able to discover many secrets. [1.1.0 Update] [16/11/24] Following feedback I've updated the map to 1.1.0. Hopefully the difficult scaling should ramp up earlier, in all difficulty levels. I've added a titlescreen and intro text to provide a little more backstory. Several areas have been revised and expanded and one area ditched completely and replaced. UAC is now an equal opportunities employer (Female Zombie Pack) Zombies like chainsaws. I did experiment with additional monsters from Realm667, but removed them. I consider this the final release of this map. I will only update for bugfixes. I have updated the screenshots in this post to better reflect what is now available. [GZ Doom Required] [UDMF] Version 1.1.0 FINAL : Monochromatic Revenge -> Dropbox <- Spoiler The Automap : Title Screen : The map looks better in motion rather than the very flat looking screenshots. I hope you enjoy the map as much as I have enjoyed creating it! - Dave Edited November 16 by Phendrena : v1.1.0 FINAL Release 12 Share this post Link to post
Riclo500 Posted October 9 This was neat! Nice job. I'd love to see more cool effects 1 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted October 9 7 hours ago, Riclo500 said: This was neat! Nice job. I'd love to see more cool effects Thank you for having a look at the level. I noticed you flick and in and out of the map - i figure your looking for secret lines. Well, I am a sadist and mark all secret lines as show as one way and then hide anything behind the one-way with not shown tags. I tend to like subtle visual clues, although there is a huge automap hint in my current build (which will be moving to further in the level). You did miss the super shotgun secret though, the lure of a medkit didn't tempt you in it's direction! I'll put up a further build later on today. - Dave 0 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted October 9 (edited) Update 09/10/24 :: Mono Revenge v0.16 Screenshots Spoiler You can now access the area overlooking the armour (slightly hidden secret) View of the outside area Thanks for looking! - Dave Edited October 21 by Phendrena : Moved screenshots into spoiler tags 1 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted October 14 (edited) Hey everyone! I've updated to version .021 I created things, I liked things, I disliked many things, I scrapped things. I pondered, I created and adjusted. So here we are, v0.21 - roughly 60% of the layout done. All parts of the map can be accessed, there is no exit yet and many areas (quite clearly) need to be filled in. Here are a few screenshots from the current version Spoiler UDB Automap v.021 - highlighting WIP areas. Enjoy the current update and please let me know your thoughts on the layout and visuals. - Dave Edited October 21 by Phendrena : Moved screenshots into spoiler tags 1 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted October 18 (edited) Updated 18/10/24 :: Mono Revenge v0.24 The map is coming along quite nicely, there is still plenty for me to do as not every area is complete and it still lacks many many enemies and traps. I would very much appreciate feedback as the map is more complete. Bear in mind that the layout is still only 75% (ish) done and the enemies are generally only placeholders. There are areas missing more stuff and clearly one texture is a massive placeholder. Screenshots in spoiler :: Spoiler v 0.24 Automap Green Armour Room Blue Key Outside 1 Outside 2 Thanks for looking! I would appreciate feedback, thoughts and comments based on the current WIP. - Dave Edited October 18 by Phendrena 0 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted October 18 Re-uploaded v0.24, it had a teleporter error. - Dave 1 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted October 21 Updated to v0.30 The map is now a loop rather than backtracking and the ending can be triggered - although this is only a temporary end. There isn't too much more to be done now other than sorting the ending out and completing a few buildings. I would very much appreciate comments and feedback on this build as it is close to release. Screenshots ::: Spoiler AUTOMAP : Super Shotgun (1) :: Super Shotgun 2 :: In the Sewers :: You'll want to find the HIDDEN Radiation Suit :: Watching the Yellow Key :: Please enjoy and thank you for looking! - Dave 1 Share this post Link to post
Matt Eldrydge Posted October 22 Adding this to my list, this looks pretty cool. 0 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted October 22 8 minutes ago, Matt Eldrydge said: Adding this to my list, this looks pretty cool. Thank you! I can't wait to hear how you find playing the map :) I've still plenty to do, from adjusting the layout, adding more enemies, doing a balance pass, checking texture alignments, making sure design elements are consistent.... it's never ending list with Doom WADS! - Dave 0 Share this post Link to post
Stupid Bunny Posted October 22 This does look extremely cool, and I'm not sure when I'll have a minute to check it out but I absolutely love the visuals (I'm something of a monochrome mod enthusiast myself) and the overall design concept. Hope I can play the WIP soon and that more folks check it out because it looks really neat 1 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted October 22 1 hour ago, Stupid Bunny said: This does look extremely cool, and I'm not sure when I'll have a minute to check it out but I absolutely love the visuals (I'm something of a monochrome mod enthusiast myself) and the overall design concept. Hope I can play the WIP soon and that more folks check it out because it looks really neat Never played Commander Keen, but that is one heck of a makeover and greatly reminds me of playing on my ZX Spectrum as a wee nipper in the 80's! Brilliant work. I hope you enjoy my little project, still ongoing, but it'll get there. Current build is playable, not very balanced, but it is coming along! - Dave 1 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted October 24 Good morning everyone! I've added version .035 Barring a few required changes to two sections and adding more waves to the final arena battle (currently it has only one small wave + bosses) this map is done. I would very much appreciate some playtesting and feedback based on this release and then I can adjust, change and fiddle around some more. No additional screenshots, but here is the automap : Spoiler Thank you all for looking , hopefully playing, enjoying and giving feedback. - Dave 1 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted October 25 I have uploaded v0.37 of the map. The link corridor at the top left is now complete. The only proper section left to do is the outdoor area adjacent to the starting room. I would appreciate some Play Testing and feedback, I won't be adding any significant updates until next week to hopefully give people time to play the map and comment their thoughts - Comments on the final arena battle are especially welcome. Here is the current automap :: Spoiler Thank you all! - Dave 0 Share this post Link to post
BaK Posted October 25 Great concept! I like the minimalist look and the use of black and white to create very unique optical effects. The "dialogue" between the map and the player is very nice, made up of signs and writings on walls, which could be expanded with some basic lore. Overall, excellent work! 1 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted October 25 6 hours ago, BaK said: Great concept! I like the minimalist look and the use of black and white to create very unique optical effects. The "dialogue" between the map and the player is very nice, made up of signs and writings on walls, which could be expanded with some basic lore. Overall, excellent work! Thank you for having a play! I'm delighted you liked the little interaction between the player and the map, I'll see how I can expand it to make it more obvious that the Soul Sphere is holding a grudge from a previous encounter. Maybe some intro text or slightly expand the first text block. I'm glad you enjoyed it. - Dave 0 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted October 31 First post updated with v1.0.0 Release + screenshots. I'm delighted to have reached a point when I am happy and satisfied with the map. There are probably a few misaligned brick textures, but I'm blaming that on shoddy work by the tradesman who built the structures ;) Hopefully, you'll enjoy playing the map as much as I have enjoyed making it. It's been fun to get back into map making after such a long time away. @Suitepee as promised, I made the sequel! - Dave 3 Share this post Link to post
Stupid Bunny Posted November 5 (edited) This was a neat map. It looks absolutely fantastic, you've done a lot of cool things with the monochrome textures in terms of geometric eye candy and environments, and kept me wanting to move forward to see what was next. The wacky music was perfect for it and was super funky to listen to the whole time. Gameplay-wise the map is definitely a bit slow, especially at the beginning--I like that it takes its time to ramp up the challenge, but it might take a bit too much time and I feel like pretty far in I was still gunning down formers and imps with ample reserves of ammo. It's pretty corridor-heavy early on, too, although it opens up later here and there and the blue key area onwards definitely gets more challenging in terms of combat scenarios. I think I may have played on HMP (that's my default for new wads) so could be I'd have been more adequately challenged on UV (EDIT: I checked out the first bit on UV and would definitely recommend it for a first playthrough for most folks here). In any case the final battle was challenging, if a bit anticlimactic somehow--was expecting that cyber would reappear but instead it was just kind of over after a few waves. Spoiler The storytelling with the soulsphere taunting me was a lot of fun. If the map was harder (and again, on UV it may well be) it would be extra effective, but as is it was enjoyable and amusing. Overall this is great stuff, and everybody should check it out. I really love the world you've built with this. Oh minor point you should probably state in the OP that GZDoom is required to play this. Edited November 5 by Stupid Bunny : Throwing in a screenshot because the map looks awesome and people should see that 1 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted November 6 @Stupid Bunny Thank you for the comments! I've added the GZ Doom requirement back into the first post, I was there at one point. I must have edited it out at some point. Absolutely agree that on HMP or lower it is a little slower to start with, the Cyberdemon was originally the final enemy on HMP & UV, but I removed him from HMP and went back to a Baron. I would definitely consider sticking him back in as the final boss on HMP though. Really happy that you liked the spoiler stuff too, it was fun to do. Originally, the map was going to involve back-tracking after you get the yellow key rather than looping round, I was going to repopulate those areas with more higher tier enemies, perhaps I should go back and change the enemy line-up to be heavier after the yellow key and perhaps expand that area slightly. Great feedback, thank you for playing! Spoiler Oh, how many secrets did you find? Did you find the Megasphere? - Dave 1 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted November 8 Following the feedback from @BaK and also @Stupid Bunny I am currently working on making a few changes - such as ramping it up a bit quicker (especially after acquiring the Green Armour), add more flavour/lore interactions and change/expand a couple of areas. If anyone else would like to chip-in with their comments or Playthrough video I'd love to hear from you so I can take those comments onboard too. I'm away this weekend and for some of next week, so it'll likely be late next week before I add an update. - Dave 1 Share this post Link to post
BaK Posted November 8 6 hours ago, Phendrena said: Following the feedback from @BaK and also @Stupid Bunny I am currently working on making a few changes - such as ramping it up a bit quicker (especially after acquiring the Green Armour), add more flavour/lore interactions and change/expand a couple of areas. If anyone else would like to chip-in with their comments or Playthrough video I'd love to hear from you so I can take those comments onboard too. I'm away this weekend and for some of next week, so it'll likely be late next week before I add an update. - Dave I am very pleased to have been of assistance! Yes, you can consider the soul sphere in a completely different way: for the player it is usually an object to collect, but you could try using it as a character that "speaks" through the map's challenges and signs. You will certainly do a good job. Feel free to reach out if you need any advice! 0 Share this post Link to post
Phendrena Posted November 16 UPDATED! v1.1.0 FINAL uploaded. See the details in the first post for info. V1.0 is available on the ID Games FTP archive, so I apologise to the maintainers (Bill Koch & Eric Baker) for being premature in my submission as it will be replaced with this version, v1.1.0 soon. - Dave 1 Share this post Link to post