Eviltech: New Megawad with 34 maps released!!!

[Neon]

I thought the first 11 levels were excellent, some of the best levels I've played. I enjoyed them more than doom's original e1, e2, and DTWIDD. Very well done.

As for the rest of the maps, not my style. They are so different from the first 11 maps they don't feel like they belong in the same wad.

[cannonball]

I played the first episode pretty much in one sitting, the architecture is nice and has a really nice classic feel to it. Though I did feel some of the levels were a little sparse in enemies in places. The remaining episodes look full of very large maps which kind of make vile flesh look small :P
I will hopefully do some runs after my exams in a fortnight's time

[nicolas monti]

Neon said:

As for the rest of the maps, not my style. They are so different from the first 11 maps they don't feel like they belong in the same wad.

It seems like everybody likes the first episode so for all the levels of my new doom1 megawad I will resurrect my 2002 ideas and I'll make them develop.
Mid size levels with abundant ammo, non linearity, classic doomy feel without overdetailing, accurate episode themes and inspirational english names for the maps. I've finished 3 of them but the university will fuckdelay it a little. :)

[gun_psycho]

So Nicolas, are you thinking of taking my mega boss rush idea for E4M8 into consideration?

By the way, I haven't gotten to tackling those big maps of this megawad yet, mainly because I feel that they're gonna be a doozy. (not as much of a doozy as many slaughtermap megawads I played, mind you)

[nicolas monti]

gun_psycho said:

So Nicolas, are you thinking of taking my mega boss rush idea for E4M8 into consideration?

By the way, I haven't gotten to tackling those big maps of this megawad yet, mainly because I feel that they're gonna be a doozy. (not as much of a doozy as many slaughtermap megawads I played, mind you)

Well, possibly, I have to use all the Doom 1 capabilities for that map. the key is not "anticlimaticness"

[PRIMEVAL]

The following link is a modified version of this PWAD, changing a few things in map32 for a better flow. Changes made by MegaDoomer.

LINK REMOVED BECAUSE THE WAD DOES NOT ALLOW MODIFICATIONS
Maybe I should have stated that approval was given to modify this map. My bad!

His changes:
"1) I removed all 800 Nazi troopers. They are what really are completely out of place and spoil the map IMO.
2) I took out the blue armor and supercharge near the beginning. I played the map after edits starting with a normal 100% health and no armor as I entered into the E1 dimension, and the balance seemed to work quite well.
3) For each weapon at the start, I removed all the ammo for that weapon except the weapon itself. Without the massive Nazi fight that has to be considered, full supplies in everything are not needed; I tested it and it worked well in similar fashion to the health/armor. The only weapon I did keep other ammo for is the Rocket Launcher. However, I only kept roughly enough to kill the first set of Archviles (before you enter the E1 dimension) with it.
4) I removed the super shotgun (SSG) and preserved the backpack by putting it in the SSG's place. Since the level is essentially a Doom I tour, any SSG action seems unfitting.
5) Other small improvements/changes mainly to gameplay

Changing all this, the balance on UV seemed pretty good from start to finish. And it was a LOT of fun! In fact even though it was one of the 2011 maps I think with these changes it is the best map in the megawad - almost good enough to alone be worth the price of admission. :) It's like an entire Classic Doom tribute wad in one level, just awesome, when all the extra stuff at the start is removed. I kept the Archviles because it "forces" the player to use up some of his/her heavy ammo (rockets/cells) when switching dimensions; and again this worked well when I played it, to prevent entry into one of the "dimensions" when significantly overequipped."

[fiend-o-hell]

I was reading some posts here and was glad to see I wasn't alone in hating this. I've only played through the first 5 levels, but all the map layouts look like some hyper-abstractions of already abstract doom 1 levels. I found myself transitioning inexplicably from progressing to backtracking and back again all in a short span of game play. I found that there was just no flow at all to these levels.

Then their is the wall beveling. Oh my god the wall beveling! The way its used here is redundant and overly complicated, making already difficult navigation harder because it clutters up the automap.

Another annoyance was the repetitive nature of the monster encounters which I think others have noted somewhere around here.

Finally the texture transitioning is far to busy. It happens so often that I just can't build up a mental reference point or recognizable land marks.

Anywho, I'll keep playing through this...

On the plus side, loved the retro music!

[PRIMEVAL]

With Monti's permission, Map32 of this wad has been modified to balance out gameplay: http://www.mediafire.com/?jvnqnurcaks9b3h

An email has been forwarded to a couple of moderators as proof.

I feel it is an excellent level that's worth the redownload alone, and if you tried the original version of Map32, this one really does fix its imbalances to make it quite possibly the best level of the whole megawad (at least from what I've played so far).

[nicolas monti]

PRIMEVAL said:

With Monti's permission, Map32 of this wad has been modified to balance out gameplay: http://www.mediafire.com/?jvnqnurcaks9b3h

An email has been forwarded to a couple of moderators as proof.

Thats true, no problems with that modificiation, If someone wants to do something similar just ask me and I'll see each case for giving or not permission

[Avoozl]

Found an issue with map 17 so I made a few screenshots.

http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=sa7qlf2k6brh4w9
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=gc1rwvxs1ltrb36

EDIT: looks like there is another problem like that but won't upload any more shots at the moment.

[nicolas monti]

Avoozl said:

Found an issue with map 17 so I made a few screenshots.

http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=sa7qlf2k6brh4w9
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=gc1rwvxs1ltrb36

EDIT: looks like there is another problem like that but won't upload any more shots at the moment.

Good findings, zdoom did'nt show that, Ports behave so differently!
By the way that tunnel part on map17 was very unstable for editing I remember. too many sectors and vertices.

[Pure Hellspawn]

I loved La Plata and map 32. I want to see a Doom II related map 32 and another la plata. Boedo was a good map too.

On another note Map 14 took me over an hr to beat.

[nicolas monti]

Pure Hellspawn said:

I loved La Plata and map 32. I want to see a Doom II related map 32 and another la plata. Boedo was a good map too.

On another note Map 14 took me over an hr to beat.

Thanks for your appreciations, about level 14, well, it could have been easily two maps, in my new project the levels will be shorter :P
You can test some leveles if you check for new doom 1 megawad: levels for playtesting on the treads.

[General Rainbow Bacon]

Nicolas: This is a great megawad. I actually like the transition from the relatively small maps to the obscenely large (and much harder) ones. It really feels like another episode. I know some people complained that it's too different, but I like it.

[nicolas monti]

General Rainbow Bacon said:

Nicolas: This is a great megawad. I actually like the transition from the relatively small maps to the obscenely large (and much harder) ones. It really feels like another episode. I know some people complained that it's too different, but I like it.

Thanks General Rainbow Bacon. Maybe in the future I'll release a version of eviltech with more ammo for the UV speedrunners, Long leves can be great if you like their theme, but if you don't, they can be a pain. For example if you like E2m2 and you find another area with crates it would be great, that was my philosophy on the second episode of eviltech. Now my aim is to improve gameplay.

[NightFright]

El bumpo. :) (I know I shouldn't do it, but well...)

Is there any chance to get at least a translation for the episode texts here? Since this megawad is really great IMHO, I'd like to know why I am doing things. ^^

The difference between the first 11 maps and what's coming next is indeed huge. I prefer smaller maps which can be completed in about 20-30 minutes max. However, your great level design compensates for the length, so it's OK. :)

While we are at it, how's the wad for the first Doom coming along?

[Eponasoft]

Just checked this out for a bit... played the first two maps so far. Pretty basic stuff thus far... not spectacular but not horrible either. Hearing a MIDI version of "Maniac" on the second map was... interesting... to say the least. :) It made it feel slightly less "been there done that", which is always a good thing.

[NightFright]

Well, it looks like the first 11 maps are like an extended hommage to the first Doom episode(s) since you are only encountering enemies from the first part, and you also won't get any weapon better than the rocket launcher (and no super shotgun). You should keep playing because after that, the whole thing takes quite a considerable twist. :) I liked it so far, currently on map 14.

[D_GARG]

judging of those screenshots, FCKING AWESOME

but I got to try it for myself c:

[NightFright]

Last night, I played map 14. All I can say is: insane size, but really great design. Took me 90 mins to beat that monster. Even though I still didn't figure out how to get the blue keycard in the end. :)

If you are interested in classic map design at all brought to near-perfection, this is definitely what you want to try. Not everyone will find it appealing, but I am a big fan of it.

[Guest]

played up to level 10.

Gameplay got a little repetitive, it was so much "walk in room, kill baddies, on to next room." Usually predictable fights, with very few teleport traps or other interesting fights to keep you on your toes. And on UV, the maps are overall way too easy. I have not dropped below 100% health since level 3 I think, and a number of times I would find a blue armor/soul sphere when I still had more than 150 health/armor.

But that said, the architecture is really good, in fact generally great looking levels, so I am not minding so much the rather 'tourist' aspect of the gameplay itself.

Looking forward to the remainder of the levels, as overall this is a genuine quality mapset.

Really well done, a unique and interesting mapset so far.

[NightFright]

I am at map 33 now... a totally insane slaughter. Huge open area, and it seems every monster is as fast as in nightmare mode... I found out the hard way. No clue how anyone is supposed to survive this in UV. :)

[nicolas monti]

NightFright said:

I am at map 33 now... a totally insane slaughter. Huge open area, and it seems every monster is as fast as in nightmare mode... I found out the hard way. No clue how anyone is supposed to survive this in UV. :)

Run, get the big weapon and go downstairs at the SE area, don´t waste your ammo in the open area! :)

[LigH]

I wonder if you forgot to add triggers which open two of the secrets in MAP19.

SPOILER!

These are the sectors in question: #782, #795

[nicolas monti]

LigH said:

I wonder if you forgot to add triggers which open two of the secrets in MAP19.

SPOILER!

These are the sectors in question: #782, #795

mm, strange, I remember I was able to open that secrets normally when I checked the wad, But is a long time ago. What port are you using? I't could be another problem with the compatibility so I'm going to check those and see what's going on.

[LigH]

I played it with Risen3D 2.2.0-15, and I did not find a trigger.

I did not even find any "cheating" with SLADE 2.

And Foxpup couldn't imagine a way either how to discover the trigger.

[nicolas monti]

LigH said:

I played it with Risen3D 2.2.0-15, and I did not find a trigger.

I did not even find any "cheating" with SLADE 2.

And Foxpup couldn't imagine a way either how to discover the trigger.

I cant check this out cos i'm not at home, if those secrets do not open on zdoom it's a bug, if they open on zdoom but not on any other port it's a zdoomism. the thing is that I checked all the levels on boom too!
-----------------------------
I´ve checked it. Those doors worked in the first release of the wad, but via zdoomized actions as many others doors, then I runned a program to delete those untagged actions automaticly and after that I remade the action lines adding the necessary tags in various levels, but obviously I forgot to reconfigure those doors so I´m going to fix and update the wad soon.

[Retog]

[nicolas monti]

This is the entire playthrough of the wad, made by AnonimVio recently, all credits for him: