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Da Werecat

Administration Processing Complex Facility

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I wanted to make this map for quite some time.

It's based on an old scheme I drew somewhere in the 90s. I find it interesting, because it reflects a state of mind that is much harder for me to achieve today: a pure fascination with geometric shapes. Also, I wasn't "spoiled" by Doom 2, Thy Flesh Consumed, and custom maps, let alone modern custom maps. I think I was exposed to Duke Nukem 3D and some other games of the genre, but my experiences with them were very brief. Anyway, it was a time when the simple fact that sometimes you can wander outside "in the decorations" was mind-blowing.

Trivia:

- The most obvious sources of inspiration were Mt. Erebus and Computer Station. I've also managed to spot a few little homages (intentional or not) to other Doom maps.
- Since I don't own a scanner, I had to "convert" geometry with a bunch of rulers and a calculator. The recreation is pretty faithful, with angles and proportions preserved.
- The center of the north-east part of the main complex was improvised. I had to replace a spiral staircase - the only "impossible" place on the drawing.
- Floor height differences are mostly accounted for on the original scheme, but I had to make another significant change to better fit everything into Euclidean space.
- Other intentional changes were made mostly around doors, switches, and teleporters. A few lines were added to make ceiling heights and light levels vary a little bit more.
- Thing placement had to be done from scratch (well, almost).

Enj Endure. In a way, it's a 1994 map, except it won't work with vanilla Doom. You'll need a limit-removing engine.





Yep, that's colored lighting. I was screwing around with this exe and its "LIT files straight from the stone age", as the author describes them. Frankly, I'm not very happy about how this engine blends colors, but working with it was moderately fun. Use "+" to toggle lighting modes. Note that e1m1.lit should be in your <ChocoTest>\wad\Doom.wad directory.

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The map is sympathetic to me. I like the shapes, for a 90's-originating map it doesn't look bad. And it plays very good. But that's because you created the gameplay newly, right? :) Still I have to admit, as long as a map like this provides enjoyable shootage and is nicely flowing, and this one does, I enjoy it. So cool to see such a one.

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Dragonsbrethren said:

Thank for the FDA. I kept the weird progression from the drawing, with just a few small tweaks. They wouldn't even matter with the route you took.

scifista42 said:

And it plays very good.

Thanks. Surprising to hear, actually.

scifista42 said:

But that's because you created the gameplay newly, right? :)

Yeah. :) Originally, there wasn't any gameplay to speak of. The only map objects that were present are a bunch of small obstacles and a key. This was never supposed to be a playable map, I didn't even know about modding back then.

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I tried it and thought it was okay, however I forgot to set -fast when I usually play with that mode lately so I'll have to try playing it again after I finish my current save.

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This is an odd map for sure, and I didn't like it at first, though I got to like it more by the end. I suppose I basically didn't like the look of the first room, the structures seemed too big. As I went on, I began to appreciate more the odd shapes I kept finding.

The fights are easy, but because there is very little health or ammo I wandered around at low health most of the time. I was also killed once when I teleported to the high place above the Zerk. I had left an Imp alive to avoid wasting ammo, and while I looked around to get my bearings, he fireballed me to death.

Once I had the Zerk, the map became even easier. More ammo was soon available, so for the first time I had a real surplus. I assumed the monster count would stay low, and I was right, so there was really no challenge at this point.

Some parts felt very 1994-ish, such as the tunnel with the Baron, but I didn't mind too much. I like '90s maps. :)

Some of the notable moments -- having to save a game before straferunning again and again to get the Backpack. It wasn't needed, but I wanted credit for the secret. I also ran out of ammo at one point and had to punch a Sergeant and an Imp -- before I had the Zerk. Also, teleporting into the nukage and having to run for it when I only had 20% health. Oh, I also found the computer map but still missed a secret.

I played the normal map on Risen3D and did not bother with the lighting engine. My final stats were 99% Kills, 92% Items, 75% Secrets, and it took me 37 minutes to finish. I kinda liked it. ;)

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I think I'll give this a spin at work tomorrow or in a couple of days, maybe try and record a FDA if I find instructions on how to do it (I don't think I ever recorded demos before).
Also, could you maybe at least photograph the drawing on which this is based? Kinda really curious to see that :)

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FDA. ~15 mins long, no deaths, 100% kills and 3/4 secrets. I reach the exit in around 10 mins but went secret hunting a bit afterwards.

90s is strong in this one definitely, simplistic visuals and strange shapes everywhere. Pretty sparsely populated but the lack of recovery items makes it not a complete cakewalk. Once your health starts dropping it's going to stay low, until you find the berserk pack at least. I wasn't exactly comfortable regarding health most of the time heh :)

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Two FDAs and both players nearly died. :) Maybe I should add a stimpack or 5. In my previous map, I made the opposite mistake of drowning the player in pickups.

Memfis said:

There is some weird anomaly in this place - http://i.imgur.com/JtJpVS9.png Like an invisible obstacle that doesn't let you pass, quite amusing.

Yeah, I saw it. Or should I say "touched"? Probably a node builder issue. ZenNode was giving me lots of visible glitches instead.

SteveD said:

Some parts felt very 1994-ish, such as the tunnel with the Baron, but I didn't mind too much.

I had to shove someone tough in that tunnel, it seemed like the only way to make the situation look less stupid. :) That part of the map was always the laziest.

SteveD said:

I kinda liked it. ;)

Well, thanks. :)

Antroid said:

Also, could you maybe at least photograph the drawing on which this is based? Kinda really curious to see that :)

Yeah, I was going to, actually. The photo is so crappy that I had to sign everything that's more or less important.

Some thoughts:

- Now you can accuse me of "cheating", because I used switch 2 as an excuse to decorate an empty room.
- S5/D5/T6 room is a blatant Mt. Erebus rip-off.
- R4 building is decorated with an obvious Pandemonium homage.
- T1-T2 "acid trip" was most likely inspired by Refinery.

Veinen said:

Thanks.

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I thought this map was really neat. I love the sprawling layout of the interior of the complex with hallways that wrapped around important areas and abundant view of the outside. There was something very stylistically unique about the whole thing that kept me motivated to explore the rest of the map. Even with the super minimalist approach to detail, I felt like there was a real sense of place to everything. It felt like it could have come from the upper crust of 1994 (even if it couldn't have run in vanilla). Neat stuff!

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Alas, the mouse here at work is pretty different so I died embarassingly a couple times (all the while missing 50% of my pistol shots), and so the FDA idea is kinda out of the window. I played it without recording afterwards, quicksaving every once in a while, and quite liked it. Defintely looks retro, and I find myself loving this style more and more over time. The only legitimately ugly thing, I thought, was the brightness of the liquid sectors and the streaks of light it produced on some bigger walls.

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I downloaded this before but didn't play it until now. Not bad! Very 90s ish in terms of shapes & things but too balanced and texture-aligned to feel entirely like it was from 1994. It was pretty fun overall.

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