Exploding barrel endings

[Dream_Warrior]

I am curious about why some megawads, particularly by Eric Alms, ends levels with exploding barrels. Why is this?

[Memfis]

To make the player lose all his inventory and start the next map with a pistol, fist and 100 hp. In classic ports there is no way to define episodes like in Ultimate Doom so the episodic separation is done this way.

[Obsidian]

You can find similar map endings in Congestion 1024 and Vanguard.

[Megamur]

MAP14 of Hell Revealed II seems like it tries a similar thing, but sometimes the exit doesn't actually kill me and just leaves me badly injured. And that's the problem with using these "death exits," because their behavior is somewhat unpredictable, occasionally leading to undesired results.

[Memfis]

It's not a death exit in hr2 map14. You teleport on a "damage and exit" sector, you can't die on these.
When done right, there is nothing that can go wrong with a death exit. Well, except the player pressing "use" and restarting the map, I guess, but you might as well just idclip to the next level if that happens.

[BaronOfStuff]

Not a fan of these, I generally play conservatively and losing everything like that for the sake of no plot whatsoever is something of a slap in the face.

Memfis said:

Well, except the player pressing "use" and restarting the map, I guess, but you might as well just idclip to the next level if that happens.

Or IDCLEV ;)

[Shadow Hog]

BaronOfStuff said:

Or IDCLEV ;)

Hey, if he keeps running in one direction, the next level's sure to be out there somewhere!

[Da Werecat]

Megamur said:

And that's the problem with using these "death exits," because their behavior is somewhat unpredictable, occasionally leading to undesired results.

And blown ears.

[Sokoro]

If you want to IDCLIP into next level, then you should play that map01 pwad which conbines all doom 2 maps into one level.

There is a death exit in Hellbound megawad... in some map with portal device, you defeat wave of monsters comming from the portal, only to enter it and find pistol and 50 bullets on next map.

[Snakes]

Memfis said:

To make the player lose all his inventory and start the next map with a pistol, fist and 100 hp. In classic ports there is no way to define episodes like in Ultimate Doom so the episodic separation is done this way.

Pretty much the exact reason I used these in Unholy Realms. I've always treated the sky changes as shifts in episodes, and if that's the only way to force the issue, then so be it. I personally liked having my items stripped away periodically before the days I began pistol starting - it allowed to alter gameplay it certain small ways. You can establish the next episode's mannerisms without forcing the player too much.

[40oz]

Megamur said:

And that's the problem with using these "death exits," because their behavior is somewhat unpredictable, occasionally leading to undesired results.

The bigger problem is telefragging an Icon of Sin and blowing yourself up and hitting the use key before the death sequence is over, starting the level over again. I don't hate people or their maps for using death exits but I don't feel the necessity to use them in any of my mapsets.

[Ribbiks]

I remember someone posted a boom-compat death exit that used crushers and scrolling stuff to trigger the exit in a single frame, so the death was virtually unnoticeable before the intermission screen pops up. Maybe using that would alleviate some misgivings towards accidentally starting a level over before romero dies or something.

[Z86]

Oh, I'm guilty of this in Hellbound too.

Memfis said:

When done right, there is nothing that can go wrong with a death exit. Well, except the player pressing "use" and restarting the map, I guess, but you might as well just idclip to the next level if that happens.

And this is the reason why I made it so that the barrel pushes you through an exit line instead of a Romero head. No time to restart then.

[Quasar]

If people didn't also insist on having a Romero Head be the boss of every damn megawad ever, they COULD just include a DeHackEd/BEX lump that modifies the Romero Head to instantly call A_BrainDie instead of doing all the explosion and screaming nonsense.

Haven't we had enough boss spawner MAP30's where you gotta shoot rockets into a tiny hole anyway? The one in Plutonia II was cool enough to be the last one ever.

[esselfortium]

Quasar said:

If people didn't also insist on having a Romero Head be the boss of every damn megawad ever, they COULD just include a DeHackEd/BEX lump that modifies the Romero Head to instantly call A_BrainDie instead of doing all the explosion and screaming nonsense.

Haven't we had enough boss spawner MAP30's where you gotta shoot rockets into a tiny hole anyway? The one in Plutonia II was cool enough to be the last one ever.

This could also be done using frames from Commander Keen or elsewhere, so even if you are using the boss brain, you can still do some DEH magicks to make the death exits reasonably seamless.

[Zed]

One that I liked was Kama Sutra MAP24: The Gift from GOTT. Probably because that one of the first ones I saw.

[Obsidian]

Quasar said:

Haven't we had enough boss spawner MAP30's where you gotta shoot rockets into a tiny hole anyway? The one in Plutonia II was cool enough to be the last one ever.

:(

(This post is totally relevant and important, honest)

[Gez]

Quasar said:

Haven't we had enough boss spawner MAP30's where you gotta shoot rockets into a tiny hole anyway? The one in Doom II was lame enough to be the last one ever.

Fixed. :p

[Avoozl]

I liked the IOS in MARSWAR.wad which has a photo of Bill Gates.