My custom levels called 4Doom - With another new enemy!

[Xegethra]

Hello there!

For the past 2 or 3 years I have been on and off working on some levels for Doom 2 and more recently I have been touching them up.

Currently I only have 4 levels made, hence 4Doom. There is no story per se but the general theme is escaping the base towards the mountains.

Click here to download my maps.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/jufkowz997i3262/4Doom_V6.2_-_By_Xegethra.rar
There have been a few changes since last time, but the images can remain the same.

As of version 5.6 I converted my maps to ZDoom with Doom in Doom format.


My maps have no custom imports, all textures, items and weapons are original Doom and Doom 2. However I have made three new enemies for my maps. My levels also use the PS1 Doom music. Although primarily using Doom 2 as it's IWAD, there are also Doom 1 textures present. Because of this, it may be wise to load up Doom 1 along with my WAD, just drag them both into GZDoom or Zandronum and they should display all textures then. Any other engine you are free to try, but it must have a crouch function! Also because I'm such a Norbert there may be some minor lighting issues displayed in GZ and Z Doom. This is because of my mistakes in the flickering/blinking lighting effects that I haven't figured out yet. Although in Zandronum no such issues exist, so I don't quite understand that.

I have also made the levels have two difficulty levels each, a hard and easy mode. There isn't much support for CO-OP however there are some multiplayer differences.

So here are some images. (I tried not to take any images that would give the game away too much). Images taken within Zandronum.


Level 1
Base - This is the main base, like any other military/corporate establishment you'd expect. Crates are kept here, as well as a computer room, an equipment shop and some temporary barracks for staff working long shifts overnight.





Level 2
Base Next level - Here is more basy things, and some more crate rooms and another hardware shop and yet another super computer. However this part of the base houses more corridors and the general's luxury hideaway is located on these levels too. Past the luxury hideaway is one entrance to the sewers.





Level 3
The Sewers - What you would expect, lots of slime and pipework where monsters love to lurk. Here you will also find some dingy barracks for soldiers because they ran out of room on the upper levels, lifts take them to and from the floors. There are also remnants of the old sewer system still lying around, from a time before UAC came and built their higher tech systems. A hidden fallout shelter also resides here. There is also a giant machine, responsible for the barrels, ammo types and various chemicals. Home also to mysterious lab rooms.





Level 4
The Dungeons - From even before the old sewers, for the old base long before UAC were around, lies some old dungeons. The old sewers exit to here from an old rickety lift left over from the old pre UAC base. Not only do you find cells here, but you will also come across some courtyards amidst the mountainous scenery. UAC never did really care to venture here, nobody really knows who built this place. But the demons seem to have moved in and adapted to it nicely.





Here are the latest enemies.

My Imp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJiVNIhzWKM


And this guy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo5zDVqbedA


An ant creature I made, I hate ants so I decided to make a creature based on that to make the game a bit more intimidating for me. He has a little friend to help him out too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKnLt8ny6fs

A video containing them all.

If you want to see more images, then you can check out the album I made for them. (Different albums for different versions)

https://imageshack.com/a/7aFq/1
https://imageshack.com/a/0dbq/1
https://imageshack.com/a/sloq/1

I also have done some videos of my levels, although I do try to avoid any secrets. If you don't want the videos to spoil the WAD then you don't have to see them. These videos are of the previous version of my maps, so changes have been made since.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPSRnoBPebH2shRwNiKEwmGOMK6PW-CGE
If anyone wants to record videos of their own, then go for it...be it the full thing, or just snippets, it's all cool!

My levels may have some bugs in them, so if you notice any then please let me know.

I hope you enjoy my levels and thanks for taking a look! Please let me know what you think!


*Old Versions*
https://www.mediafire.com/?zhozrnntlwd2c2b
https://www.mediafire.com/?wigp2hgggvwhwme
https://www.mediafire.com/?s0npjj3glugm8fb
https://www.mediafire.com/?yf3bebmvd4lk3pz
https://www.mediafire.com/?1agsbl27srtvbel
https://www.mediafire.com/?4m9ti2ar3sqr9h9
https://www.mediafire.com/?stq4882n2nqofc8
https://www.mediafire.com/?hlwjqcqkkjtvl4x
https://www.mediafire.com/?bc2iabpvf9h96c6
http://www.mediafire.com/download/ue46fqplx4d74sq/4Doom+-+By+Xegethra.zip

[joe-ilya]

3 years for such crap? I made better maps for Doom0alpha when I just begun making maps, but they were still better then this and they were made in 2 days unlike this 4 mapped thing.
Did you even test this thing? I got stuck like twice and some textures even glitched up.
I got stuck in that dark shotgun trap at the beginning(I even managed to get outside the map within the walls of the trap), and Opened a random ceiling that then blocked my patch to the blue door.

[Grazza]

Losered for flaming, trolling, shitposting and pot-calling-kettle-blacking.

[Xegethra]

joe-ilya said:

3 years for such crap? I made better maps for Doom0alpha when I just begun making maps, but they were still better then this and they were made in 2 days unlike this 4 mapped thing.
Did you even test this thing? I got stuck like twice and some textures even glitched up.
I got stuck in that dark shotgun trap at the beginning(I even managed to get outside the map within the walls of the trap), and Opened a random ceiling that then blocked my patch to the blue door.

No need to be rude, that's just a new thing I put in there to hide the imp, where as before he wasn't hidden.

And I did say I worked on it on and off....so I'm sorry if I missed anything but I never said I was great at it. These are just levels every now and then, I added to, I often went months without touching them...it's just something I made for fun to occupy time and thought maybe I'd share them. If you can't be nice about the mistakes I made then just sit back and calm down.

I'll fix it, hold your horses! But thanks for letting me know anyway!

To be honest I'd had forgotten about even going in that room when I removed the barrier to let the imp out...I made the lindef impassable before not letting you go in there...but this blocks the imp from coming out. So I removed it and forgot to make the door openable from the inside...but this has been fixed now.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/ue46fqplx4d74sq/4Doom+-+By+Xegethra.zip

[Springy]

Judging by the screenshots, you seem to have some texturing issues already. I might give it a shot later and see what the game play is like. I think it might also help to have some shadow casting for the stair lighting and those lighting effects in that first shot alone could be done better. The fourth screen looks much better but I personally think the lights on the side of the stairs need replacing along with that texture for the floor in my opinion.

[Xegethra]

Lighting is something I thought I did well at in parts, but some parts could use some work...you'll see this mostly in level 3 in the barracks.

But because the maps work in both GZDoom and Zandronum, I thought I would try to get the lighting to look decent in them both as I know Zandronum has lots of new fancy lighting effects from the items which might clash a bit with GZDoom where I had to change sector brightness.

As for the stairs, I tried to make it look like the lights are on the corners of the steps. It is the same texture all round the sides.

I'll have a look at that tutorial and see where I went wrong, thanks for the heads up!

[Springy]

Just a note that the tutorial is only on shadow casting, not just general lighting. What I mean is, you have light on the ceiling and I think it will look better just on the floor (stairs part, first shot) but that's my opinion.

[Xegethra]

And I think I agree with it, throughout making the maps I often didn't like how the ceiling was bright as well as the floor....sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, like if I have a light in a wall that is low down I don't want the ceiling to be bright as well.

*Edit*

OK I have been having a go at it and I am part way there. Here's a video of what I managed to get.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNIIX3wjwhQ


*Edit Again*

OK got the hang of it, before I was doing it the wrong way around.



I always wondered why there was no setting in Doom Builder for separate ceiling, floor and wall light levels....just 3 separate boxes to type in light values....as opposed to a full sector value.

[Xegethra]

I hate to bump so early, but I don't want people to miss my update.

I have made some changes to level 1, not just cosmetic as I have tried out making at least 2 difficulty levels, but level 1 also removes multiplayer placements thus far....I have uploaded the update.

Here are some images, some show the working Shadowcasting!

The computer room entrance with shadow casting thanks to Springy bringing it to my attention!


Staff Barracks/Rooms


Inside one of the rooms


Into the crates


A corridor


Further down


And a revamped exit lift (I always try to make it look like lifts are taking you from level to level.

[Six]

I don't entirely understand some of the texture choices, It gives it that '94 look we're all very familiar with. Some of the alignment is off, noticeably on stairs, doors, and smaller "objects" (ei: furniture).

I'd say work on how you implement them and make sure they're positioned correctly. Also the transitions could be less sharp, for example the flat textures break immediately rather than being separated by stairs, doors, ect.

Most of the rooms are boxes. Maybe experiment with an array of shapes or even try random angles and then improvise for better results.

Don't be afraid to stick to a specific texture theme either. It keeps it consistent and it's easy on the eyes.

[Xegethra]

Yeah it's off on a lot of doors, so I tried to get the edges in the middle to form a "new" looking texture....as the middle of the door doesn't meet up with the middle of the wall it is on....I will change this, I was trying to be a bit "arty" I guess you could say. An example of this is in the computer rooms, where I tried to vary up the screens.

That's why some other textures might look off....I was just trying something.

Where do you think they need better alignment? In the later upload I have changed some already.

Boxes were something I started with, and didn't seem to think much about changing, perhaps I should but then there's the aspect of making the area look convincing, as much as Doom is capable of that.

But thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!

[Xegethra]

Well, I've updated my map some more. I've tweaked some textures, added two difficulty settings for level 2 as well so now both level 1 and 2 play in two difficulties. I have also changed the location of the blue key in level 3, it is in a giant machine you have to go through in order to get it....this machine room is a whole new room.

Been out of the loop for a while, it took me a while to build the room. It is meant to be a room with a machine that makes and fills barrels, processes chemicals and fluids and makes various ammo types. It has a few components to do this which may or may not hurt the player. Also be careful of the furnace looking room, it is not finished yet and you WILL get trapped in it...so avoid it. This room is very much a work in progress, I thought I would add it in as a varied room as opposed to the normal sewer feel the level has.

I've updated the first post with the new version.

Here are some images in general of the newer update.

Door frames


Inside the machine


Various Goo being processed


Small vat


Above the vat


Grinder


Looking up at the observation deck


Looking from the observation deck

[Xegethra]

And my maps have another update. All levels now have different difficulty settings.

The furnace in level 3 won't get you trapped anymore. Just find the way out when the floor goes down. I will later put things in there to go get so the risk is worth taking, but for now it functions as I want it to.

No images as nothing too much has changed visually.

https://www.mediafire.com/?stq4882n2nqofc8

[mrthejoshmon]

Downloading it now, gonna give it a spin and see what it's like (I would record a demo for ya but I don't do ZDoom demo's).

[Xegethra]

Ahh thanks for giving it a shot.

I'm quite a bit nervous about level 3 really, I added in the machine room as some visual variety for the sewers. I put it in where the fancy looking corridors are.

My favourite level so far is level 4, visually I like it best....very outdoorsy and whatnot. I tried not making it too difficult, you can do it from a pistol start like all of my levels. But I will say that if you get the yellow key, then you won't be able to use it on anything....I can't figure out what to make to give it access too...I just like the idea of that sort of delivery for a skull card.

[mrthejoshmon]

Right, let me just get the negatives out of the way so I can focus on the positives:

- The music you have used, for some reason it sounds like it is possessed. Seriously, what did you do? The PSX music keeps shifting pitch, distorting and going ape shit at me (the first time it happened it scared me to death god damn it!) also, some of them have a strange static "ticking" sound that constantly plays... If you are not experiencing this problem, then I am calling a priest to get this bloody demon soul out of my ZDoom.

- The bed poles are set to impassible, that is extremely annoying.

- Now normally I don't care about texture use unless it is really bad or really good, I'm not saying your use of textures is bad, I just want to say please align the textures in the next version.

- I have encountered many bugs like bleeding sectors and even one I have never even seen before, I don't even know that is going on here:



- My final complaint is this: Please don't use MID textures for solid walls



Sorry if I came across as a dick there, but those are some serious issues you may want to consider fixing.

Positives:

Now whilst there was some major issues, none of them were particularly game breaking and the actual style and gameplay of the maps were honestly quite good in my opinion, here are some of the things I liked the most:

- These maps have optional areas that reward the player for exploration, this is a great little feature most people do not include.

- The style of the maps is actually rather nice, I really like the crate room in MAP02 and I really REALLY like the machine room in MAP03.

- The gameplay is actually quite fun, I enjoyed running around in the bases clearing the corridor room by room, it made me feel like a complete badass. Also MAP04 is undoubtedly the best map in terms of gameplay and style (I like the whole demonic theme going on with the subtle but nice details).

- The difficulty was absolutely fine, I didn't die but I also had to fight my hardest for my life against the demonic horde. This is how Doom should be.

- Some of the details in the map was rather nice (I like the overall look of MAP02's crate room, very nice use of flashing lights).

- You clearly put much effort into making many of the rooms in this wad and some of them look quite interesting.

Overall this wad is could be something quite good if you stamp out all the bugs and such (but this may take a while, I know how much of an ass bleeding sectors can be to clean up), the gameplay is quite fun and the style of the maps is decent. If this was your first wad then you have something to be quite proud of here, a truly valiant effort.

[Xegethra]

Hah why thank you, this is indeed my first WAD.

I'm not too sure why in parts there are bleeding sectors, I try to fix them but I seem to not manage it....oddly enough the glitch doesn't seem to show itself in other source ports....however I will go back and try to fix it again.

As for the music going all funky, I have no idea on that. Again in other source ports it is fine and I haven't noticed it in ZDoom....but then perhaps my ears suck so I didn't pick up on it. Does it happen randomly or is it in specific parts?

I know that some textures are misaligned because I was trying to make them look like they are "part" of something else. However, if there are some genuine mistakes, I will look to re align them. Some of these are because even with some walls I think look like, alignment can be tricky for what I was doing and my eyes just mash it all together and might miss some mishaps.

I'm glad the crate room comes off well, I didn't want to make another maze made of crates that people tend to do...but I still wanted a crate room as it completes the base feel. So I just made it some walls and gave it broken lighting.

The machine room was a bit of a hassle to make, and there's still the furnace to add items too. I'm not entirely sure what these machines are....aside from the furnace, crusher, grinder and conveyor belts and that weird barrel filling thing. I just improvised moving parts to look like some sort of hightech/futuristic machine.

And I made level 4 to get you away from the base. The general idea is that you are trying escape it and get to the mountains and the end of that level is achieving this. I was thinking about adding in a mountain level for a level 5 but once there, I wouldn't know to "progress" it..as in what would the end of that level be? And if you escape the base to the mountains only to find more demons...then there'd be little point in escaping it....so I just left out a level 5.

But I'm glad overall you liked it. I did put a lot of effort into it being as I had no map making skill at all before making these levels. So thanks again for trying them out!

One thing I'd like to know is though, how did you find the secrets to be? As in are they decently findable?

[Xegethra]

Ok I fixed up some of the graphical bugs that I found.

First off, I did fix the dungeon cage doors.

It turns out that all I had to do was move the texture upwards, as ZDoom made the texture visable when it was below the floor....no other source port showed this but at least now, it looks like it should in all of them. I also fixed that one in level 3 on the red key card door.

Aside from that I just have done some more renovation work on some rooms.

Level 1 got a bit of a makeover as well.
I revamped the computer room a bit, changed some tech textures around and gave the walls a new texture....I still liked the black enclosed look, so I went with a texture that is black naturally instead of using a transparent texture for a wall.


I made the corridor a bit cleaner.


And I made the staff barracks a bit more cosy/warm looking.


Other than that I plan to add in some more machinery to the machine room just to fill out a couple of the empty areas, the original idea was going for a bit of a cramped/enclosed look with machinery taking up a lot of space.

Anyways, here is the newer version for those who wanna give it a go!
https://www.mediafire.com/?4m9ti2ar3sqr9h9

[Jaxxoon R]

The computer room does look loads better now. But why would the UAC ever make chairs out of bloody demon marble? It just looks goofy. Is it some kind of new fad, or something?
Although the STEP texture on the walls doesn't look too bad, they are kind of jarring. This is more a matter of personal taste, to be honest.

[Xegethra]

Yeah, I was going for a material that didn't look just like metal, or if it does, painted metal....I was trying to see if I could make some "antique" looking stuff. Green settees that have been bloodstained and damaged a little.

As for the steps on the wall, I just thought it looked nice....sorta like wallpaper but instead it is painted panelling on the wall...at least that's how I see it

[Blastfrog]

As long as the texture choices/alignment and the geometry aren't too garish, I actually don't mind 94 style maps. If anything, I kind of prefer slightly lower detail, because as long as it's not terribly plain, I don't think it's necessary to go overboard with getting the visual point of the room across.

That being said, I don't recommend trying to imitate real world structures like beds, couches, toilets, etc. At least not without appropriate textures to go with them, the only stock texture that works in that bedroom is the TV, because the texture's supposed to be a CRT screen. That wall lamp and rubble pillow looks pretty absurd, and uncomfortable to sleep on.

To note, if this is ZDoom exclusive, you can use regular textures on planes, and flats on walls.

[Xegethra]

Ahh, I don't think it is ZDoom exclusive. I haven't been able to put walls on floors and vise versa, unless there is an option I haven't come across to enable it.

[Blastfrog]

Do you have your map set as Hexen or UDMF format, or just the regular Doom format? Hexen used an entirely new, more flexible map format, and ZDoom relied on it for advanced features for the longest time. The community has defined a new standard a few years back, UDMF, which is even more flexible than Hexen.

If you're going to use an advanced map format, I recommend UDMF over Hexen, it makes working with the advanced features far easier.

[Xegethra]

Ahh, that will be a no then, it uses Doom 2 format.

But I did just convert it successfully into ZDoom with Doom in Doom format but I am having trouble getting it to work in UDMF or Hexen.

The maps load up in the editor fine, but won't play test at all.

I get this error with UDMF
http://puu.sh/85iDF

And this one with Hexen
http://puu.sh/85iEY

You can tell I'm not well versed in conversion. But yeah, I can convert it into ZDoom with Doom in Doom easily and it will play in all the source ports I have. The other two formats won't, I can't tell what I'm doing wrong.

I thought maybe they are being awkward because I tried to convert straight from just Doom 2 format. So I took my Doom 2 format back up, saved a copy and converted that into ZDoom with Doom in Doom and it worked, but didn't work when I converted that into Hexen or UDMF either.

*Edit*

Well, I have come across some converter programs...some are kinda old and won't work. I read in some places that converting within Doom Builder is a bad idea, having experience I can agree. Which program would be best for the job? I've tried a few but to no avail..sometimes the exe doesn't wanna load up.

[Memfis]

mrthejoshmon said:

- My final complaint is this: Please don't use MID textures for solid walls

http://i.imgur.com/ST0OCHj.png

Um, actually that looks really cool imo, like a different version of the BLAKWAL textures.

[Obsidian]

I think it glitches up in some ports unfortunately, so I'd either change it to something else or make a new texture that actually has black behind the bars as opposed to ZDoom plonking it there.

[mrthejoshmon]

Memfis said:

Um, actually that looks really cool imo, like a different version of the BLAKWAL textures.

I get an instant reaction to "incorrect" texture use (In my eyes, MID should never be used as a solid wall). However, I am not the author of these works so ultimately it is up to him what he does.

[Xegethra]

If it's prone to glitches then it might be best not to use it. Although I do like the look of it better.

There is one way I could do it that I think looks sorta good but it isn't a solid wall then. Either way, I'll just have to do and stick with an option.

And I haven't been able to to come up with a decent image for the pillows in level 1, I might just have to make them another colour.

The white looks good on the sides, I took one of the shiny doors from the Wolfenstein textures and offset it so only the white parts show up...but as for the top, a white pillow looking thing is pretty difficult. I tried looking at some Plutonia and TNT textures but nothing is solid enough white. I'd use the Wolfenstien texture again if I could offset floor images. However working in ZDoom format does give a couple of new options...I still haven't successfully converted to anything else though....

*Damn, spelling errors abound here!*

[Xegethra]

I updated it a bit again, I decided to just (for now at least) keep my maps converted to ZDoom with Doom in Doom format as opposed to Hexen UDMF as things tend to go a bit wrong for me there.

I just changed the machine up a little bit, removed some of the health items in there, added in some cell ammo and a plasma rifle and put something in the furnace.

https://www.mediafire.com/?1agsbl27srtvbel

[Doomkid]

I'm really digging the look of these screenshots, this one is on my "to play" list!