Possible Megawad Idea - Dark Plutonia

[Psyrus]

Ok, here's a few (minor) things.

Screen 1: This may be a bit overly critical, but the impaled body appears to be too close to the edge of the sector from that particular angle. Look at the base of it.

Screen 2: There appears to be a misaligned STEPLAD1 where the SSG is. Since the inner sector appears to be 96x96, and STEPLAD1 appears to have a strict 64-length appearance, set the X-offset to 16 or -16 for those sidedefs--whichever looks better.

The rest looks nice.

Edit: By the way, I've been browsing through Plutonia recently to see what changes were made based off of the screens, and a thought came to mind when I came across Genesis. One thing that stood out (in a bad way I may add) were those odd vertical SHAWN2 planks found at the left side of the map. It's just a bad mismatch with the rest of the map's motif. While thinking this is to be "Dark Plutonia," would this map provide a darker atmosphere if it meant changing those SHAWN2 planks to some kind of metallic arches, possibly much like the ones seen in the starting area?

But again, this is just me. When this particular concept was mentioned, map02 and map31 of Vile Flesh came to mind as an example.

[Shanoa]

Nice screenshot there...and wow at your speedmapping skills

[Death-Destiny]

The next map in Dark Plutonia is now essentially complete. The map I re-created this time was map20, "The Death Domain." While probably most notable for the creative name, this was the map where you started in a barren field with some arachnotrons and chaingunners with sniper revenants. The field was surrounded by what would probably equat to a sewer. Prior to the blue key, there were four barons that teleported about randomly.

This speedmap didn't go as well as planned. The map needed to be a lot bigger than my sketch would suggest, so I thought I had more time than I really did. Nonetheless, it still turned out decently. It seems Plutonia-ish in terms of the layout, but the theme doesn't seem Plutonia-ish to me. Then again, the original map seemed to mimic doom2's style, hence the appearance of the map. The gameplay actually kind of reminds me of AV in some places, so this will probably be one of the tougher levels in the set. On a side note, a mudfall texture seems to see infrequent use. I was surprised to realize that I had never composed one like in the first screenie in all the maps I've made up until this point. It does look nice to be so underused. Anyway, below are the screenies of map20, "The Slaughtering Space."

Screenies: [Outdated]

7/32 maps down. 22% completion. This is still decent decent progress! =)

[Shanoa]

Wow dude...seeing those remakes makes me want to play the real plutonia...nice screenies and keep up the good work.Can't wait till next screenies.

[Tango]

Looks great. Where's the Plutonia sky, though? :P The Doom2 default skies are horrible imo.

[printz]

Tango said:

The Doom2 default skies are horrible imo.

Oh my God, I think they actually go best with that varied-brick group of towers in the next-to-last screenshot. Much better than in Doom2.wad.

Nothing is closer to that Doom 2 city sky, than Plutonia's eclectic architecture.

[Death-Destiny]

The next map in Dark Plutonia is now essentially complete. The number was 17 this time around. Map17, "Compound", was the one where you ran through nukage at the beginning for some reason. It had the tic-tac-toe shaped path through the said nukage and pitted you against several imps and an arch-vile to get the yellow key.

I had no problems with time here since the original map was fairly simply designed even for Plutonia. The original map was notable for being the only map in the set other than "Hunted" that has no revenants in it. (OMG o.O... When you hear Plutonia, aren't Revenants the first thing that comes to mind?) Following que, my map has none either (You've been spared this time. ;),though the gameplay is still a bit tougher than I expected. The level has a very Plutonia-ish look to it. See for yourself in the screenies of the re-creation, titled "Venomous."

[Screenies outdated]

That's 8/32, 25% completion. ONE-QUARTER DONE. SWEETNESS!!!
Just for the record, I'm going to polish and finalize these 8 for the release so I don't have to do all 32 at once. It's mostly just texture alignments that weren't a good use of speedmapping time, so you can expect the next update sometime next weekend.

[Shanoa]

haha nice nice..glad there won't be any revenants in your level stupid skulls >.<

[Nuxius]

I really like the look of the latest two maps. Keep up the great job, Death-Destiny. :)

[Mechadon]

Can't wait to play this :D. Been staring at the screenshots for a few minutes now.

[Tango]

Haha, awesome.

[printz]

I'd replace the last Arachnotron with a Spiderdemon, just to anger the player.

[Tango]

printz said:

I'd replace the last Arachnotron with a Spiderdemon, just to anger the player.

Totally :P

I'd actually replace the steptop with a step texture that uses more than 2 shades of brown :P

[Dutch Doomer]

Damnit how the hell can you map so fast and still be able to make the maps look nice.

[The Lag]

no kidding.
i think it's because he is actually 5 people.

[GBT3]

I really want play this when finished because I need some break with original Plutonia. After Doom 2 sequel - TNT Evilution (like Ultimate Doom) and Plutonia Experiment (like Doom 2)I want something new but still in classic theme.

[gggmork]

This is gonna be fun, I hope most are made more difficult than plutonia (that first I played was).

[Death-Destiny]

gggmork said:

This is gonna be fun, I hope most are made more difficult than plutonia (that first I played was).

You'd better believe it >=D. The difficulty of Dark Plutonia will be tougher than the original on UV since most of us need more of a challenge these days, though there will, of course, be skill levels for those who were content with the original difficulty ;) (Setting skill levels is part of speedmapping too!) The demo map gave a good impression of the style of gameplay you can expect. It will be fast-paced with plenty of action and a lot of danger, but a successful playthrough should not take terribly long. The only maps that will deviate from this are 29,31, and 32, which are designed to be much more difficult. As a player, I tend to prefer shorter levels since I can complete them quickly to relax after the work day is over. I have about 45 levels on my harddrive I downloaded but never played because they all have like 500+ enemies and so take too much time to play except on weekends and whatnot. =/ Anyway, the debugging is going well, but I still want to use the full week for the sake of thoroughness. I'll start the next speedmap this weekend. I've already got a great idea for it. =D

[Belial]

I'm almost done with my exams, so if you need help with testing these are definitely my kind of maps.

[Jodwin]

Death-Destiny said:

(OMG o.O... When you hear Plutonia, aren't Revenants the first thing that comes to mind?)

For me, Plutonia == chaingunners.

[Vegeta]

This looks very promising, I'm very surprised about your speed mapping skills.

[GBT3]

As original text say:

More chain gun zombies, revenants, hell knights and cyber-demons than any other DOOM in history.

TNT had awesome atmosphere with no progress but instead of regular scenario, very similiar to episodes idea from Doom.
Best in Plutonia is feeling that you need run like hell to forwad. Some parts with Mancubuses and Revenants was partially suicide, nailed wit all sides. 29 level has most realistic hell "city" theme than any other level in classic series. Cyberden wasn't that hard, if you played all levels before and this. Go 2 it isn't special hard, just... normal.

[Tango]

Belial said:

I'm almost done with my exams, so if you need help with testing these are definitely my kind of maps.

You should probably accept his offer, Death-Destiny ;P Belial = most helpful tester I've ever had.

[Death-Destiny]

Tango said:

You should probably accept Belial's offer, Death-Destiny ;P Belial = most helpful tester I've ever had.

I won't need any beta testers for probably another couple of months or so when I've got all the maps finished and finalized. Belial's beta-testing reputation seems to preceed him... I'll be sure to ask him when we get there. Thanks in advance Belial!!! =D

[Cupboard]

I just want to say that I like what I see so far. Hopefully you have the patience to continue.

[Death-Destiny]

Update: The next level in Dark Plutonia is now essentially completed. About time too. I've been dying to speedmap this one, but the other maps deserve their debugging time, though. =P The number this time around was 31, "Cyberden." This was the second-hardest map in Plutonia (in theory anyway =/) where you fought cybs 1 by 1 as you search for the evil-looking switches similar to the one in the 2nd screenie.

My rendition of the map is also supposed to be one of the top two hardest maps in the set. Curiously enough, this map has the exact same number of enemies as "4-Gone Conclusion" on UV. This map has more smaller foes though and is based more on positioning than slaughtering sprees. The speedmapping went well overall . I didn't realize in planning that the main part of my map would need some wierd tricks to work, so I spent 1.5 hours just on that. Mercifully, the rest of the triggers in the map could be prepared in about 15 minutes. Check out the screenies of map 31, titled "Death Denied."

Screenies: [Outdated]
Here they are. Only 9 Cybs this time. I always wondered what the chainsaw was for...
The evil-looking switches I alluded to:
This is the most complicated room in my map, but I had time to squeeze in some unnecessary details, like the candles and the blood pools. I had already planned this room to take the most time (other than the 1.5 hour trigger session.)

Well, well... 9/32 maps, 28% completed. Moving right along. Since I just got done debugging the other maps, I went ahead and debugged this one too so it's ready to go. Also, I wrote the part of the .bex patch for this point in the project and composed a new sprite for this map that will be a secret until release. ;)

[Kira]

Jodwin said:

For me, Plutonia == chaingunners. + revenants

Fixed.

[Shanoa]

TheCupboard said:

I just want to say that I like what I see so far. Hopefully you have the patience to continue.

Wow thats a neat looking remake you did there Death...i can't wait to try it :P *is off to play Plutonia* like you said DP will be harder so better seeing what await me in Plutonia...and then imagining it 2 times worst :P

[Death-Destiny]

Update: The next map in Dark Plutonia is now essentially complete. This time was map 16, "The Omen." This was the map where when you get the blue skull key, loads of revenants and mancubi teleport in to make you wish you didn't. This map featured a fight against an arch-vile for the yellow key where you had absolutely no cover. (FYI, I hate that as a player, so my maps all give you something to hide behind.) You didn't need the red key to finish this map as there was a ledge you could jump from that wasn't corrected.

I had no problems with time for this one. After 10 speedmaps, I'm getting noticably better. As the screenies show, I'm able to make more complicated and detailed areas time-efficiently. The original map used primarily brown and grey, but mine used mostly the green textures, so they don't look all that similar. For some reason, that green flat reminds me of Pain Elements, so this map has quite a lot of them. =/ Here's the screenies of map16, "The Oracle."

Wow. Now that's a lot of green.
This is a version of a bagua with the eight trigrams and their names. These are used to "track manifestations before changes." It seems omen/oracle-ish to me. =)
And one more...

That's 10/32, 31% completion, just shy of one-third. This project keeps on moving ahead. 'Til next update =D

[Death-Destiny]

Just so you people following the progress on DP know, I'm currently finishing DR2008 from a while back, so there won't be another update until probably Monday or Tuesday. Sorry =(