Zheretic Ahoy!

[Fletcher`]

Hey hey kids. It's that time again. I'm looking for playtesters for a new Zheretic map I'm working on. It's pretty much done now, the only thing left is difficulty settings.

Feedback is greatly appreciated.

[The wad!]

[Da Spadger]

Nice with a Heretic wad for a change.

Pro: Not ridicously hard, but not too easy either. Fun to play, and good use of zDoom features.

Con: A bit more ammo would have been nice, or at least a pair of Electrogauntlets, i found myself wielding the stick quite often. :/

[Sporku]

Good map, especially considering I don't even really like Heretic that much. I didn't really find any bugs aside from being able to get the Green key a few seconds early by running against the wall to grab it.

[Draconio]

Enjoyable map with good visuals. The ZDoom features used worked to enhance the map. It was a decent challenge, but I felt it started hard and got somewhat easier as I progressed. I didn't find either secret but I wasn't looking too hard for them.

Here are some issues that you might want to look at before your final release:

- It's possible to grab the Dragon Claw before lowering its platform by jumping.
- It's possible to jump up the step in the place on the stairs that fills with water, without pulling the switch that siphons water from the main room. I suppose the player will later be prevented from progressing anyways if the switch wasn't pulled.
- In the area where the ice turns to lava, there are some golems stuck together in one corner.
- I had to jump to take the yellow key when I reached it, instead of just walking up to the edge. I was also able to jump through that window and end up in a previous area of the map, but perhaps you intended this.

[Fletcher`]

Da Spadger said:

Con: A bit more ammo would have been nice, or at least a pair of Electrogauntlets, i found myself wielding the stick quite often. :/

There are gauntlets in one of the secrets, but I think a little more ammo might help others. I managed to finish it with little ammo left, but I don't waste ammo much if possible. ^_^

Draconio said:

- It's possible to grab the Dragon Claw before lowering its platform by jumping.

I should probably fix that. Though, it doesn't change gameplay too much as the switch is very close anyway.

- It's possible to jump up the step in the place on the stairs that fills with water, without pulling the switch that siphons water from the main room. I suppose the player will later be prevented from progressing anyways if the switch wasn't pulled.

There's a second water spillway that needs to be filled before you can continue.

- In the area where the ice turns to lava, there are some golems stuck together in one corner.

Hindsight on my part. I actually saw that, but forgot to fix it. Thanks for reminding me.

- I had to jump to take the yellow key when I reached it, instead of just walking up to the edge. I was also able to jump through that window and end up in a previous area of the map, but perhaps you intended this.

Yeah. Otherwise that last half of the map was cut off from the rest.

[Belial]

Well it's nice, but it's a bit too easy for my taste. 2 problems:

- the monsters that stay dormant until you cross a linedef look weird,

- jumping seems to be required to beat the map but at the same time it allows you to skip huge portions of it.

[Udderdude]

Neat map. The monster count was pretty high considering how cramped the map is.

Pretty tight ammo balance, I found myself scraping through in some parts. Towards the end it gets kinda loose with the 3 tomes though. Maybe you could move 1 of them a little earlier in the level, and remove 1 of them. I never even had to use them.

The health balance was waaaaaay too loose. I don't know how much damage you usually take, but .. I was not even trying to avoid firepower, and still finished with 6 flasks. I could have easily beaten it with way more. At one point I had close to 16.

The part with the melting ice used the default platform sound. Seeing as this is a zDoom map, you could add a custom sound to this, like the ice melting sound from Hexen. Give it a try.

Oh yeah, and I ran into all the bugs the above posters mentioned. If you're gonna allow jumping, you better check every nook and cranny.