Dark Cathedral WAD - W.I.P

[Xegethra]

Hello there!

*Disclaimer*
I need a bit of help in making some aspects of this level, I will tell what later. There is also a switch behind a painting you need to trigger, it is an odd one and it will require you to press it a few times, not sure why but I am working on it.

I have made another WAD, this time set in a dark Gothic Cathedral. It uses a lot of custom textures. It looks a bit fantastical. It plays in GZDoom or Zandronum....and yes, everything has spikes on it....

This map is best played with no other mods (As they tend to break things and my custom enemies don't spawn), and it uses Doom 2 as it's IWAD (But juuust incase, you might wanna load up Doom 1 as well, just incase I still have a texture in use from it). Can be played single player or with up to 3 other people making 4 in total.

Dark Cathedral Download

Dark Cathedral Download, on Dropbox

Fixed a spawn point issue, sometimes the game thinks it should give you control of the dummy player, as opposed to the one you are supposed to control...sorry about that, all should be good now.

Before you download though, know that this is quite a buggy map...I made it primarily as a map where I was learning how to do certain things like 3d floors and slopes. I made it in GZDoom Builder which I have never used before either but despite it's flaws and prone to (a lot of) slowdown I am quite proud of it as I needed minimal help in creating it (Thus far). It was really just a test map that I thought I would show on the forums. I am still working on a custom key system for my map, currently using the basic skulls as a placeholder.

It uses the same custom enemies of mine in my other WAD...my Ant Man, Deathrock Imp....they fit the setting so I opted to use them instead of the normal ones, it also uses a new Baron, a Monk and a Spirit, Spirit Guardian. They all (Except the Baron and Spirit Guardian) spawn in by triggers being walked over every so often, they are not placed in the map.

People also say the level is a bit dark in some places, to try and beat this, turn on ambient lighting on low levels. That should brighten up the dark areas while keeping them dark, for both GZDoom and Zandronum. Also it is best to play with dynamic lighting. Due to how each source port handles things, there is noticeable difference in how my levels will look in each, so I'll upload my settings for either one of them (You will need to change controls) so perhaps you can see what's what and play around, see which looks best and of course, back up your own settings just incase.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/yha9a1on060ckyu/Game_Settings.rar

The music used is this.
http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/7/71/IMSLP153846-PMLP153090-Bach_ToccataFugeDminor_darjac.mp3

In older versions this is the music used.
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Classical_Sampler/Toccata_and_Fugue_in_D_Minor

Here are some images.












The Album
https://imageshack.com/a/ttKz/1

Other Images

Spoiler

Older Images
https://imageshack.com/a/7rZz/1


The "Story"

Our Doom Marine is strolling through the depths of hell one day and gets a bit lost, he stumbles on to a large structure....taking shelter from a brimstone flare he runs inside to avoid a fiery death, only to discover he has entered the unholy cathedral. He must be in the city of Dis, as it looks a pretty big building. However, the demons notice his entrance and proceed to attack....they give him a sporting chance though providing weaponry for him through portals and the like. But even so he must find the exit portal out of there...they have locked the doors and won't open them again, to see if he can escape the hard way. Doom Guy now has to find the portal to teleport himself outside so he can continue further into the city. (Yeah, I set this some place in the Doom 1 timeframe near the end of the game).

Areas of play.

+Main Cathedral+
Here is the entrance to the cathedral in which our space marine has unwittingly stumbled upon. It is a dark place of worship for non other than the big devil himself, Satan.

Big and open, enemies don't like that you are here so they do their best to rid you of their place of worship. You can go up or down a level from here....go down and you will be met with a locked door...
find the key.

+Crypts+
Now you have the key you can enter the crypts, this is the place where the bodies of dead demons lay forever...a demon can die in the afterlife for all eternity and keep coming back, but the process of coming back can go wrong and they return as spirits of their former selves. If living in the afterlife wasn't painful enough at times, then living as a spirit is many times more painful, forced to
live eternity in even more agony and despair. They are fragile, both physically and emotionally and in even more hurt. They don't appreciate you coming into their crypts causing them more grief and stopping hell's invasion.

So you are in the crypts fighting off the spirits and their guardian holds another key...kill him and you can go into the vampire's lair. The guardian is another spirit, tasked with protecting the vampire's peace and quiet.

+Vampire's Lair+
This is a little room where a deceased vampire lives, and like the others, he doesn't like you coming into his domain and wrecking up the place. He holds the key to the hidden switch. You get that key, flick the switch and then find the final switch, then do your best to escape, but don't die...if you miss the portal you will spawn back in the cathedral to try again, hopefully if you keep on dying, you won't end up coming back as a tortured ghost!!....asking the demons nicely to open the front door to let you out doesn't seem likely.


The custom enemies I used.

A video of my enemies

Death Rock Imp - The most common enemy seen in the cathedral, he fires pink energy balls and while not fighting will most likely be listening to some pretty heavy tunes.


Ant Man (and his little friend) - This insect man can float around and give birth instantly to hostile little ants, I'm sure they are nice creatures once you get to know them, but they are on guard duty so that might not happen.



Monk - A devil's monk, these guys live and breath the order of Satan and this cathedral is their main place of worship. They are commonly found in the spires and back rooms.


Black Metal Baron - Another tough guard, he lives in one of the spires and is there to guard the red key and ward off attackers.


Spirit - This is what happens when you die in hell and the process of coming back as you were goes wrong, instead you could end up like this and be in even more pain than before, fragile but still fighting their turf...all they want is their peace and quiet.


Spirit Guardian - This guy is the top ghost of the crypts, tasked with guarding another key and trying to protect his ghostly brethren...annoy him enough and he won't be afraid to let you know.


Vampire - Living behind the crypts, this blood sucking demon has taken residence in this cathedral and you are in his bed room.
(Currently doesn't exist).

Priest - The one who runs the place, holding sermons and unholy prayers, after the mess you cased you'll have to answer to him.
(Currently doesn't exist).

There is also now a little secret dedicated to gggmork for his really big help on some switch problems I was having, thanks again for the help!

*The help I need*
O.K, despite what I have made so far I am having some difficulties with my level.

The first thing is, judging by my "story" description, I plan to have more enemies in the map. However my artistic skills are not too great here. So I have drawn out some ideas of how I imagine them to look. I just hope that if somebody does help me out here that as much detail as possible can be represented. As for how they fight and act, I have my ideas, but I am willing to talk about any ideas you may have too.

First is a priest.
http://imageshack.com/a/img910/5215/8PHg0F.png

Vampire.(Basically this is a drawing version of me me and me
http://imageshack.com/a/img674/9360/0nPqqh.png


Another thing would be custom keys, I don't want to use the keys currently in use by the game, so I have made half a working key before in that it opened the door when picked up....if I told it not too, it would not open the door when pressed. If anyone can help me make custom keys then that would be much appreciated.

Any new aesthetic changes, I can happily just make on my own for the most part...I plan to add more study things to the study for example.

If anyone could help me out then I would appreciate it, of course I would give you credit for helping me in the making of the level.

(Old Downloads)
http://www.mediafire.com/download/utnjd6j261utjlg/Dark_Cathedral_-_By_Xegethra_W.I.P_-_3.7.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/download/7v7bi9wd2vbxyvy
http://www.mediafire.com/download/ten47q0vkx0grsq
http://www.mediafire.com/download/liffepjlo8coqq9
http://www.mediafire.com/download/ouw2vcqw9v8c7iu
http://www.mediafire.com/download/5wd2295247z4g35
http://www.mediafire.com/download/ejqj7vnfylyqleq
https://www.mediafire.com/?x8w3ngxa2i7zes3

[Jaxxoon R]

Well, you certainly weren't kidding about the slowdown. It is very nice-looking though with all the subtle purples and reds. I almost thought the super-long spiral staircase was endless.

[Xegethra]

Aye, it does feel a bit long, you can probably guess that it is meant to be a spire you are walking up.

My initial idea for that part was to have you go all of the way up being chased then the inner wall would lower revealing the spike pit, then the planned Baron was gonna be up there. If anyone is good at sprite work and can do a better job of giving him that make over then that would be awesome. Then perhaps I can then put him up there.

I conqured the Ant Man, gave the Imp a new look, and in my other WAD made a cyborgy soldier....but that baron, I can't work with his shape. (But I have now managed it after working on him for a while).

But thanks for trying it out, much appreciated!

[Clonehunter]

Looks sick. Like a mix of goth and bondage. Very nice architecture.

[Xegethra]

Well, the two styles do go hand in hand haha. And as a cathedral in hell (or at least taken over Earth) I think it fitting. I'm glad you like the architecture, I was hoping it would have come off well.

[General Rainbow Bacon]

This looks awesome. I especially like the shot going down the main aisle.

[Xegethra]

Bit of a bump here, I made some changes to my map recently.

I added in some new areas, there is now a crypt, a coffin room, a study and the corridors leading to them. I have also shortened the spire by half it's original length and at the top is a little mini boss, a Baron redesign.

Hopefully people can see the changes, and take up my request for a little help as I am stuck on some things.

Been away for a while I know, so hey there! Hope all are well.

(Bah I screwed up the spawn point >_>...Will fix it!)

[Jaxxoon R]

The baron's death animation made me chuckle.

[Degree23]

I thought this looked familiar; I now realise I looked at this when you first posted it. I don't have too much to say but I just wanted to say that after running around in this for a while it looks absolutely incredible.

[Xegethra]

Jaxxoon R said:

The baron's death animation made me chuckle.

Haha! Goodo.

degree23 said:

I thought this looked familiar; I now realise I looked at this when you first posted it. I don't have too much to say but I just wanted to say that after running around in this for a while it looks absolutely incredible.

Why thank you, I did put quite some effort into it. There are a few things I want to add and change too...one of which I am about to start work on...it is a rework on getting ammo.

Another thing to do is perhaps work on the enemy trigger points a bit, I'm trying to find a balance where they mount up quickly...but not too quickly and overwhelming.

As far as new areas go, I am thinking of some possibilities....but for the moment I'd rather get what I have made working...there is one area you won't see unless you open it in a map maker as I haven't really implemented my key system yet...I'm a bit stuck on custom keys.

But still, I'm glad you like it.

What started out as a bit of an experiment...still remains as that in some way, but at least it one I hope to finish and give an end point to.

[Jaxxoon R]

That explains why I had to noclip around the map a bit. As a side note, the tomb looks a bit too similar all around, so I got lost a bit. But yes, it does look very nice.

[DeathevokatioN]

Wow.... amazing attention to detail, right down to the enemy design, looking forward to the final product, kudos on what you've done so far!

[Avoozl]

Holy fuck, so much detail and such large scale.

[Unholypimpin]

Yay more hellish/evil wads/maps. Thank you good sir, Downloading now!!

[General Rainbow Bacon]

Why don't you use the entire piece of music instead of just the toccata for the music?

http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/7/71/IMSLP153846-PMLP153090-Bach_ToccataFugeDminor_darjac.mp3

[Xegethra]

Jaxxoon R said:

That explains why I had to noclip around the map a bit. As a side note, the tomb looks a bit too similar all around, so I got lost a bit. But yes, it does look very nice.

Ahh noted. I've re-arranged the green lighting there now, I have placed the two green lights to mark the exit.

General Rainbow Bacon said:

Why don't you use the entire piece of music instead of just the toccata for the music?

http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/7/71/IMSLP153846-PMLP153090-Bach_ToccataFugeDminor_darjac.mp3

It depends on who composed their version and under what license their version is...I just went for Kevin because I knew his stuff is creative commons. For a quick slap on music piece I thought it did it's job, as the music will most likely change after I finish the other stuff in the map when I have more room to think about it.

Although the piece you linked to is much better indeed!

[General Rainbow Bacon]

If you go to IMSLP.org the one i linked to is also Creative Commons licensed.

[Xegethra]

Ahh sweet!, then I will perhaps use that version. Thanks!


Should have another update fairly soon, just adding in some study like things at the moment and some enemy triggers.

[Xegethra]

Well, I made an update. Some changes includes are a new way to get weapons and health...no longer do they sit in the map but in certain places you can use "dispensers" to gain items, one of which is an ammo room. This idea is still being worked on, but it is to prevent running out of things to pick up and use to help.

You can now also access the whole level without no clipping, all the keys are there. Boss characters don't drop any custom keys yet though.

Also some various aesthetic additions have been made.

I'm also looking for a reason to put the player back in the main hall after they leave it. I have a pretty good idea as to what though!

[Xegethra]

Just a quick update to let players access the end of the map. The offer is still open for any sprite artists who might wanna help me out, if not then I'll just have to keep trying till I get it right.

[azrael1982]

I've merely "touched" this level, but I've already liked it. You've put a lot of effort into this project. Today, when I find some more time, I will play it once again.

[Xegethra]

Ahh haha, hopefully you'll like it.

I'm not too sure whether it is too hard or too easy at the moment, when testing it out sometimes I do better than other times. But I'll leave it up to everyone else to decide the difficulty of it, and hope to get a good medium. And eventually get some stuff in the crypts!

[Xegethra]

Got anther update in, the most notable thing is the new enemies in the map now. A monk and a spirit (His sprite work may end up changing).

The monk will spawn in various places due to triggers like the other enemies. And so will the spirits, but they'll only hang in the crypts. There is no Spirit Guardian yet though.

I have made some changes to trigger locations too.

Those red pools now have healing properties, I'm experimenting with ways to heal that don't use health pick ups. I have also changed the candelabras to be more reddish in their light. There are now aesthetic wall candles in some places too. The study now has a table with books scattered about on it.

There is now a secret room dedicated to gggmork hidden in the level as he helped me out with a switch problem.

The lift down to the lower levels is now switch operated, and has some doors. It also has had a makeover and looks a little less "Depressing"

Monsters can now spawn in the spire.

I have added in a new health item, Monk's Blood, which heals for 15 points

Please let me know if it is too hard or too easy to get through, I'm trying to find as minimal ways as possible of leaving pick ups laying around...I'm trying to have them spawn as much possible.

I am trying to work on some sort of guardian for the crypts, however so far I can never get it to look right.

[Xegethra]

Well, I have another update.

I made more changes to some of the spawn triggers and some enemy attributes.

I added in another new enemy, the Spirit Guardian. The boss of the crypts, who will fight alongside his ghost friends.

Other stuff is cosmetic, mainly trying to make the map seem more cathedrally.

I'll continue to update as much as possible, when more enemies make it into the map then it will be nearing completion. As far as the looks and rooms go it is. I just need the Vampire and Priest to be made lastly and some items to be converted into the aesthetic style of the map.

Anyways, I hope you can enjoy!

[raymoohawk]

really nice looking stuff, the custom sprites could be improved, but the antdude is really cool

[Xegethra]

Haha yeah, sprite work is tricky, but at least they resemble what they are supposed to...I hope!

[raymoohawk]

i think they just need some polishing, the spirit archvile is super creepy in a good way, it just needs to have a more even shading, specially in the hair like parts, so it is better integrated

[Xegethra]

I know I'm bumping this old as Hell topic, but I did some more stuff to the Level. I have also updated the original post.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/59721bw1vc903bp/Dark_Cathedral_-_By_Xegethra_W.I.P_-_3.8.rar

I managed to make the pillar you need to sink, guaranteed to do so, there is also now a priest enemy that will attack you, and at the top of the spire there is a way to teleport down back to the bottom again so you don't have to walk all the way down and the confession booths will give out shotgun ammo and health.

There is some change in difficulty but whether it is right or not is up to the individual, you are supposed to hold off waves of enemies while you try to escape after all.

I still plan to add the vampire and the custom keys in the future though. I will make a gameplay video of it sometime too, but others can do so too if they want.