Please Comment on / help test my wad. "Candles on the Ceiling"

[CtrlAltDestroy]

This is my first semi-huge wad. I got the idea for it one day when me and a friend were talking about traps, how none of them we've seen were really that scary, and how most of them are just a bunch of doors that open with monsters behind them. So I made this wad. It's full of (I hope) truly unique traps which don't rely on the SHEER NUMBER of monsters, but are based on the Terrain of the level.

The name "Candles on the Ceiling" comes from a glitch that happens at the very beginning of the level. It kind of surprised me, so I left it in there :->

I spent at least 30 hours on this thing, so please try it out and comment. Also tell me if you find any bugs. Good luck, and remember "if a trap looks too cheesy, it probably isn't!"

http://www.geocities.com/ctrlaltdestroyx/FILEBANK.html

(EDIT) Now the file is available.

[ShadowRunner]

We're sorry but this page is currently unavailable for viewing.
Try freewebs.com.
Your bandwith wont get hit and u wont have to deal with that kind of shit.

[CtrlAltDestroy]

you mean you can't download it?

I don't even have a homepage. I just uploaded the file.

Well, I tried to open a freewebs account, but I got a Too Many Clients error. I don't really understand much of this hosting stuff, I just want a place to put the file.

(EDIT) Oh, I see what you mean. I must create an index. I'll do that right away.

[SyntherAugustus]

Have you tested this map? I can't even open any of the doors.

Starting room looks good tho.

[CtrlAltDestroy]

Ah, that's the first puzzle. You have to figure out how to start the level. Try shooting something.

[ellmo]

Ohh, man. Now he really nailed you, BlackFish!

[READ THE FAQ]

has this wad been in /newstuff i can't seem to download it

[Amaster]

I understand that you probably made those walls shootable in order to wake up all the monsters. But you may want to mark the necessary wall somehow. It's not a puzzle, it's just trial and error.

[boris]

Don't ever touch a level editor again. Thanks.

[CtrlAltDestroy]

boris said:

Don't ever touch a level editor again. Thanks.

You mean you can't beat it?!

2 of my friends beat the whole thing, and I never told them anything!

[Shaviro]

boris said:

Don't ever touch a level editor again. Thanks.

Don't ever use these forums again. Thanks.

[ellmo]

But this map is bad. So very fucking random. Crazy texture combinations and layout that makes no damn sense. Hundreds of monsters and even more misalignments.

Try harder next time.

[Vile1011]

I wasn't too keen on the whole "run around like an idiot until you find the random hidden line you have to walk across in order to open the next trap" thing. Second, all the traps I managed to see were either "Open a door with lots of monsters" or "randomly teleport player somewhere else".

[Volte]

Well I thought it was alright. Yes, the textures were all over the place and the level design is rather sub-par, but it's all about the puzzles. I guess I'm just a sucker for these kinds of levels.

I'm at the room with the weird pie-slice things in the center which lower the marble pillars in the corners.

[Little Faith]

boris said:

Don't ever touch a level editor again. Thanks.

Ahh, pulling an Afterglow I see..


Remember: Afterglow is cool because he makes awesome levels, not because he flames newbies.


The same is relevant about you.

[CtrlAltDestroy]

I appreciate all the comments, especially those that weren't blatent flames. The thing with the blatent flames is, they're not specific enough.

The "textures all over the place" was completely intentional. The original storyline was that you're trapped in a nightmare and you see various memories all over the place. But I did try to give each room its' own seperate theme. But what are these texture misalignments you speak of? I thought I got them all out. What do you want me to do, align the floor and the ceiling?? Or are you talking about the way the bricks in the wall get cut off by the ceiling? If so, that happens all the time in real life so you can't whine about that.

"I wasn't too keen on the whole "run around like an idiot until you find the random hidden line you have to walk across in order to open the next trap... or randomly teleport player somewhere else".

I think I only did that once.

"Try harder next time. "
I certainly will.

[ShadowRunner]

This map is horrible.I had to idclip most of the time becuz i couldnt find the Walk over lines.
This is pure crap.

[Volte]

ShadowRunner said:

This map is horrible.I had to idclip most of the time becuz i couldnt find the Walk over lines.
This is pure crap.

Heh.

[zark]

OK, I've played it for a few minutes. First off, you really need to make that first "puzzle" a bit more obvious. Your typical Doom player will try the doors, try running around a bit, then give up and close your level. Also, you need to add more weapons and ammo in my opinion - taking on all those monsters in the start room with just a pistol and hardly any ammo is a bit of a stretch.

[Kristian Ronge]

CtrlAltDestroy said:
The "textures all over the place" was completely intentional. The original storyline was that you're trapped in a nightmare and you see various memories all over the place.

That's *one* way of putting it... ;-P

But I did try to give each room its' own seperate theme. But what are these texture misalignments you speak of? I thought I got them all out.

Look, I'm going to be as honest as I can. Much of this level made my eyes bleed. It was more or less completely dark for large portions of the map, and when you got to see anything it could very well be a cyber's rocket in your face or small sections opening up revealing hidden monsters pouring out. And, the map changes theme, sometimes subtly, and sometimes not subtly at all, every 5 sectors which is *never* a good thing - intended or not. Some areas looked detailed enough while others were bland.

Your map reminds me, in a way, of Avatar's "Kinetics" (Memento Mori map 12). This is not a good thing. That map had many similar problems (although in a smaller scale) that were common around 1995: Wierd progression where the player through trial-and-error has to figure out where to go next to push a switch or cross a linedef - or teleporting the player to god-knows-where*, strange texturing (including strange door texturing with repeating doors), awkward lighting (some areas are completely dark, some are a mish-mash of brightly lit and very dark sectors), ...
You even put in a boss shooter!? Ugh. That hurt. :-)

* EDIT = I feel I need to clarify this a bit. I consider it *rude* to teleport the player to some random location when there's no clearly marked teleport. If you are scouting out an area and happen to pass over a linedef close to a wall or corner and you're instantly teleported to a different room entirely... that ticks me off. Unmarked teleporting lines should IMO be used solely for monsters only. Also, when there's a new section of the map that will open up only when the player has left for some other room and there activated a switch or passed over some linedef, then the entrance to this section (which will open up when the linedef is passed or switch is pressed) must be marked, otherwise the player won't know he's supposed to look back in that little nook in the room he just went through. He is therefore left to randomly check every room of the entire map to see what just opened up. You managed to avoid these problems most of the time, but there was one time or another where this was the case.

Don't take this the wrong way; I sound a bit cynical because I've seen so many WADs - probably in the thousands - and have come to expect, and like, different types of maps. This type of map just isn't to my taste, I'm afraid.

Let's focus instead on the good points: The individual areas where you have spent more time with detail look good, for the most part. The monster selection is also mostly good, with a balanced array of cannon fodder being thrown at you.. It rarely gets "impossibly" hard. This is an area where you excel; the gameplay, when it wasn't interrupted by the wierd texturing, layout, and progression, was entertaining. You have an eye for what makes killing monsters fun.

Please don't be put off by my comments, because hey, what do I know, right? ;-)

It seems some people did like it. I'd love to see you do more maps.. because you obviously have what it takes to make *really* good maps gameplay-wise. perhaps next time do something a bit less "unique", please? :-)

[Little Faith]

This reminds me of Industrl.wad that suffered from exactly the same problems.


Bad things: Unhinted switches and teleport lines. I kinda like the weird progression, and some of your tricks are quite neat (like the small area with six teleports near the shotgun).