ZPortal - Finally released!

[Cutman]

(post copied from ZDforums)

ZPortal. A mod based from Valve's very first Portal trailer back in 2005(06?). If you haven't heard of portal yet I suggest you check it out, otherwise feel free to continue.

Check this site for a brief intro on this wad: http://cutstuff.net/blog/?page_id=8



From the text file:

As promised years ago, here is an expansion to the Portal Gun for ZDoom that I released
a while back. The wad contains a hub map with four levels (Complex, Canyon, Sky Palace
and Castle), two new portal guns and all new obstacles, puzzles and challenges for you
to accomplish! It also has a vauge storyline which isn't worth worrying too much about.

How to play:
Use the portal gun to create two "portals". Step into a portal to come out of the other.
Use fire and alternate fire to fire the two different portals.
Make sure you have Fire, Alternative Fire and Inventory keys set up on your keyboard.
Mouselook and jumping are also mandatory.
Find new inventory items and portal guns to help you solve even tougher puzzles.

Warning:
This wad is ONLY compatible with GZDoom as it uses 3D floors, models and dynamic lights.

For more info, visit the my website:
http://cutstuff.net/





***** WARNING: You WILL need this version of GZDoom. PERIOD! *****

Download: http://grafzahl.drdteam.org/gzdoom/GZDoom-Bin-1-1-04.zip

And finally, here is version 1 of the ZPortal adventure!

http://cutstuff.net/pub/doomwads/ZPortalv1.zip (9.10MB)

(note: not uploading to idgames yet, waiting for a bit of feedback to make sure it's okee-dokee)

[Guest DILDOMASTER666]

Epic, mindblowing, ingenious... CutManMike.

[Creaphis]

Sweeeet. About to play it.

Judging by Cutman's "success" at starting a ghoul fad I expect this will trigger a wave of clones.

[Cutman]

Let's hope so :P I'll be releasing an "editor pack" shortly just for that purpose.

[Creaphis]

Okay, I've played through most of it and it's time for me to head off elsewhere. It's awesome, but you'll hear that from everybody else, so I'll bring up some concerns:

1. The rapid switching back and forth between portals with the sticky portal gun is irritating, especially if you're new to these levels and have to carefully line up your shots (like I do). Could it instead only switch the player to the other portal when a new portal is formed? Perhaps this could be accompanied with a "force teleport" item so that the player has manual control over switching from portal to portal while standing inside a sticky one. I'll understand if you don't change this, as I imagine that new functionality would be a pain in the ass to code when you're hoping to see this out the door.

2. I haven't found any simple way to get out of the portal camera. Perhaps more functions (like fire and use) should be capable of getting out of that view.

3. The water pit underneath the third portal gun doesn't teleport the player.

[Cutman]

1. I know. I've been scolded about this multiple times. I was going to make it so you could press use on the portals to go through them, but I like the idea of an inventory item more. I'll look into that before I make version 2 (idgames worthy version!)
2. I noticed this but I didn't find any parts where it was a problem. You can get out of it by pressing coopspy (f12 by default) but I'll look into this too.
3. Intentional, it's water after all! :P You can get out of there with a couple of well placed portals.

Thanks for the feedback

[Creaphis]

Cutman said:

3. Intentional, it's water after all! :P You can get out of there with a couple of well placed portals.

Good point. I did manage to teleport myself out once, but it seemed like the drone was meant to cover the entire room, and that I had managed to escape the pit in an unintended way. I tend to ask, "Am I really supposed to be able to do this?" when I accomplish some unusual feat in a game.

[Kira]

When I'll have my new computer I'll play it for sure, sweeeeeeet...

[Creaphis]

Still not done, but I'll take this chance to point out that:

1. The wrong skull key colour appears in the HUD when picking a key up.

2. In the advanced area of the canyon level, there's a room with two sideways-moving pillar polyobjects. One of these is invisible when in the north half of the room. So, nodes may have to be rebuilt with a polyobject-friendly nodebuilder.

Still loving the puzzle.

[Cutman]

Could you take a screen of which pillars are vanishing? Also which keys are displaying incorrectly?

[Inferno]

This is absolutely brilliant.

[Captain Red]

Is there a reason you didn't centered the portal gun?

[Cutman]

Lack of suitable weapon graphics. Although to be honest I just picked out some random ones from different games. It shouldn't be too much of a bother though.

[CodeImp]

Gameplay is very nice. Too bad you didn't (get someone to) make the maps look good. It could have been a nice game AND good looking too :P

EDIT: I also agree with Creaphis that the automatic jumping back and forth is annoying and a use key for it would solve the whole issue.

Also, the projectile size is too big IMO. It often sticks to something I didn't aim at because it was near it's trajectory. Frustrating.

[Cutman]

Well to be honest the more detail I could have added the more frustration. Could you imagine how annoying it would be if I had bits of the terrain poking out for detail blocking shots?

Screw detail! Get Tormentor to make some portal maps! :P The gameplay's okay that's all I care about ;)

[CodeImp]

No, thats bullshit. First of all, not all detailing must "stick out". Second, when you know the puzzles, you know where detail can stick out and where it cannot. At the very VERY least you could add a little variety in the use of textures and align the textures properly.

[Cutman]

Well maybe if someone makes a portal map for doom in the future they'll keep those tips in mind.

Also, the projectile size is a problem on Doom/Zdoom's end. Teleporting into something smaller often doesn't work or teleports you SLIGHTLY into the wall getting you stuck.

[Death-Destiny]

Cutman said:

Well to be honest the more detail I could have added the more frustration. Could you imagine how annoying it would be if I had bits of the terrain poking out for detail blocking shots?

Screw detail! Get Tormentor to make some portal maps! :P The gameplay's okay that's all I care about ;)

Agreed. Maps DO NOT need detail to be fun. The recently released NMD series is a perfect example of this idea.

[Kira]

It's just a bonus, still with this a map can please your eyes as well as the gameplay is fun.
But if it's the author's choice it have to be respected, if at least he've pushed his efforts on the gameplay.

[Vegeta]

Death-Destiny said:

Agreed. Maps DO NOT need detail to be fun. The recently released NMD series is a perfect example of this idea.

Yeah, but NMD's architecture is better than this.

[Cutman]

The standard of quality in doom has risen to a point that I can't be bothered to keep up with any more. I won't make excuses, I'm lazy as hell. If you want to criticize the wad for it's lack of detail go ahead, but you're playing it wrong if that's all you pay attention to.

[Kira]

If it's because you're too lazy, you can ask Tormentor to detail your wad :P

[Cutman]

Heh, actually I did! But I think he's got enough on his plate with his new wads (especially stronghold, that thing is jizztastic)

[Kira]

I think there are a lot of good detailers who would love to help you with this aspect...
But in fact it isn't very important, just a bonus as I've said before.

[Creaphis]

I'm usually quite critical of a map's visual appeal, but I have no problems with this. Even though structures are plain, they're often large and epic, like in a good rocket jumping wad. This is the sort of visual aesthetic that belongs in a puzzle wad, I believe.

The first key I picked up was the red key, and the blue key appeared in my HUD. When using the key at the switches, it behaved as the red key. I then found the blue key, which appeared yellow in my HUD, but behaved as the blue key at the switches.

This is the polyobject that's messing up:

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/4564/screenshotdoom200805251jw9.png

On that line, half the object renders. To the right of that, it renders just fine. To the left, it's completely invisible.

[Cutman]

I'll look into it. Probably not much I can do because polyobjects are dreadful (hence why there's hardly any used in this wad)

[Creaphis]

Alright, finally finished. Brilliant stuff! Ingenious puzzles. Interesting ending.

Sure enough, the yellow key was red in the HUD, to finish the set.

The floor underneath the first lava head doesn't teleport the player.

[Guest DILDOMASTER666]

Polyobjects must exist by themselves (with no other polyobjects in the same subsector) and must be convex objects made up of only one-sided lines... Right?

[TheAdmantArchvile]

Yay! I've always wanted to paly this wad ever since I saw the youtube video

[Tango]

Death-Destiny said:

Agreed. Maps DO NOT need detail to be fun.

Yes, but it's also agreed that this mapset is already fun. If it's already fun then why not add detail?