NOVA II: New Dawn - First status report in November | Still open for mappers!

[an_mutt]

I have most of a map done for Map 15, but most of it is untextured/undetailed and I'm still figuring out some areas. Also, about 99% of thing placement and 100% playtesting is still to be done. I'll post what I have come November, I guess. :V

EDIT: I should note that I'm currently busy with college work so I have little time to work on maps for the time being - most likely I'll either post the finished map myself at a much later date or will have to post what I have at the deadline and then have another mapper do all the texture/detail work and thing placement to get it up to scratch as a playable alpha.

[joe-ilya]

Can I do a third submission?

[tourniquet]

Work on the Ribbiks/Moi Collab is still in progress allthough slowly nearing a completion, i can't really determine when it will be finished.
On the other hand i've been also working on a second entry for NovaII which i eventually get finished somewhen next week.

[mouldy]

tourniquet said:

Work on the Ribbiks/Moi Collab is still in progress

Now this is something i look forward to seeing

[mrthejoshmon]

As a status report, I have to admit that my NOVA 2 submission has not been touched for months:

TNT: Project Geryon, me uploading crap to my Youtube, Thy PrBoom Maps, WOOO 2 and a lot of motor vehicle college have been getting in my way and drawing me away from the submission, I expect to get right on to it when I get that sudden urge again... Soon.

[kildeth]

Egregor said:

Just curious, is there going to be an alpha compilation for November? I'd like to see one. Any mappers here who have been working on a map for this but haven't posted an alpha yet?

Most likely. I was going to do an alpha compilation earlier this month but I decided to keep my word and wait until the status report as some people feared they'd miss out if I posted the alpha early and they wanted their maps included.

joe-ilya said:

Can I do a third submission?

Sure, why not. EvilNed had about 5 submissions included in the first NOVA so it's only fair.

[jmickle66666666]

i need to rework major parts of my map, I played through it again recently and there are only scant few and far between parts that I'm much happy with. I'm still happy with it being part of an alpha if I don't find time to work on it til then, though.

[blueinferno776]

I have been on and off with progress, the past two weeks I've got nothing done because of lifestuff issues. None of my maps are close to be finished by november.

[Paul D]

Been slowly working on some midis, but I've had to take a break due to some hearing loss issues, after I've gone to the ear doctor and get my issues sorted out I'll get back to making stuff.

[Arjak]

Hey, guys. Sorry I haven't been around lately. I've been really distracted by other projects and real life.

I haven't done any mapping in months and I'm concerned of whether I'll be able to do any soon. I'll see what I can do, though.

[kildeth]

It's all fine, everyone. It's better to have less progress at this point in time anyway as I've got a lot of uni work to catch up on. That, and I've done hardly any mapping for this project either, even if I would like to contribute at least one work.

[tourniquet]

Greetings Nova II Folks, as mentioned earlier i've been working on a second map lately.
The concept itself is a bit older, i started this shortly after Mayhem2048, but lost interest mainly because i find tech/base themed stuff not very appealing.
Nonetheless maybe a neat entry for NOVA II, though still very Beta.
I don't mind adjusting the difficulty in case this gets predestined for an earlier position in the set.
The custom sky's just a placeholder i'll gonna remove it for the final version

Screenie:

Spoiler

Download UV only

Feedback and critique are of course much appreciated.

[mouldy]

tourniquet said:

Greetings Nova II Folks, as mentioned earlier i've been working on a second map lately.

Download UV only

Feedback and critique are of course much appreciated.

Bloody gorgeous map, really nice use of some lovely textures. Feels mysteriously empty a lot of the time, can't complain as it lets me ogle at the scenery without monsters getting in the way. My only criticism would be that i ended up a bit lost from time to time, even though the map itself is quite compact. I would hit a switch and often have no idea what it did, so there would be a hunt around to see if it opened something, and up and down the very slow lift a few times. I get that the switch hunting is adding to the general mystery of the place, but can't help feeling like i'm being kept busy running back and forth. Thats the nature of the beast I guess. One thing I'd suggest if you were of an evil disposition: its fairly easy to run away from the cyber and his baron friends once you have spent the requisite amount of time dodging their missiles, I wonder if you could punish people for doing that by having them teleport somewhere else later on if they are left alive..

Cool stuff.

[tourniquet]

Cheers mouldy...

Feels mysteriously empty a lot of the time, can't complain as it lets me ogle at the scenery without monsters getting in the way.

didn't want to overuse teleport ambushes and stuff in here but nota big deal to spice things up a bit

Switchhunt

yeah agree on that.. some of the switch mechanisms are almost pointless and could be scrapped..i might also try to rework the blue bar mechanism which is probably a bit hard to figure...

its fairly easy to run away from the cyber and his baron friends once you have spent the requisite amount of time dodging their missiles, I wonder if you could punish people for doing that by having them teleport somewhere else later on if they are left alive..

that's actually a good idea, i didn't mean to unecessarily lengthen the lock-in, this would be a nice solution...

thanks man

[dobu gabu maru]

Finally played through your map tourniquet

It's clear you spent quite some time spiffying it up and the thing is a beauty. However what I was most impressed with was the difficulty—usually maps like these are pretty harsh on a player during their first run-through but I had a decent time. It's not to say it isn't hard—the dumb hallway with the two AVs that teleport away killed me about 7 times—but I think this map (& your style maybe?) offers some good visual eye candy and manageable fights for those that are slaughtershy. I also liked most of the austere silence on the map, as constantly being on edge for teleport ambushes everywhere can become exhausting.

Only a few things to point out:

- This still hasn't been decided upon, but keep in mind that we don't have E1/E2/E3 skies so the one in your map may not necessarily be red (I'm sure there will be a red one somewhere tho).

- It's a bit of a personal preference, but I like using impassable lines at places like this window. When the player goes to look outside it can be a tad jarring to have doomguy suddenly step up on a sliver of space.

- I think it's imperative not to have any monsters crowding the exit bars in the dual hallway with the BK switch. I say this because the way the hallway is designed is already tricky enough (since the bottom path has a slight bend, making it harder to use the RL to clear out the AV there), and the player should only be punished by additional monsters when they step outside/try to escape. I spent a long time trying to fight off the AVs there when an HK/pinkie would come up behind me for a nibble, and effectively kill me at my low health. If you've playtested this a bunch though and find it too easy to escape, having one HK/two pinkies could probably do the job, though you should have them pop up after the BK switch is hit.

- Speaking of, I agree partly with mouldy that you could reduce some of the switch hunting stuff (BK switch could just be BK for ease of conveyance and the YK switch down in the walkway doesn't seem necessary).

- The only two monsters placements I'm iffy on: the manc at the start doesn't serve much of a purpose beyond pressuring you at the start, as once you go into the curved stairway it's a bit boring to chew through him with just the SG. I'd either take him out or take out the pinkies, as they serve the same purpose of just meat-shielding that doorway. The other monster I don't like is the arach that warps in at the walkway after you press the BK switch in the dual hallway. Riding the slow lift down just to be pelted by plasma isn't too fun, especially when it feels like surviving the monster is up to luck (had to try it 4 times).

- This isn't a complaint, but I first thought the rev lifts in the final arena were kinda dumb. That is, until I saw an AV teleport there and then I was like "ohhhhh, now I get it". Clever implementation.

Otherwise really nice work!

[tourniquet]

cheers dobu..

Regarding the sky, i can live with any sky in this map.
I mainly kept the red one since the map looked a bit boring with the standard e1 sky.
I'll gonna remove it in my next update to prevent misconceptions.

I wouldn't say it's my style to make easier maps, i just wanted to make something not too hard considered to the difficulty of the Ribbiks collab.

Quite interesting that you also liked the occasional "silence" this wasn't actually intened but i think i'll gonna keep that aspect.

I've allready started removing some of the switchhunt absurdities and stuff and i will also rework some things in the BK area you've mentioned.

Thanks for the feedback....

[Toxie Rocks]

Sign me up. I've only ever released one map so I think I qualify as a new mapper. Also big kudos for the texture pack. I've been wanting the textures from Ultimate Doom and Final Doom, but have been too lazy to search them out.

[kildeth]

Signed up. Welcome to the project =).

[dobu gabu maru]

tourniquet said:

I wouldn't say it's my style to make easier maps

Well consider me interested in one of your harder endeavors.

Speaking of difficult maps, I've fully implemented all difficulties and tweaked various things in Surreptitious Ichor. I left the secret BFG in but made it accessible from earlier on, and switched out the megasphere in the wooden mezzanine for a BFG before the final fight. As such, I threw in more bulky monsters for the final fight, which will hopefully drain ammo stocked up from the area before (may be a bit too much? I like the balance but I also know where the spawns/ammo are :P). I'm open to more suggestions if the general consensus seems points in a particular direction.

Download here.

[blueinferno776]

Since october is coming to a close. I decited now to tell my overall progress with everything. So far my work has been really slow and inconsistent but this is the most progress I have ever got done in mapping! I have started over thirdy personal projects in the past not finishing any maps what so ever! Half of them were megawads.. So gladly I never announced them here. :)

So.. Here are the stats. I have no sceens to post now, They will be posted on november first.

Binary Vault: This one is a bit of a problem child at first and it did not help that I posted such gaudy sceenshots. It looks a LOT better now and my plans for this one are figured out finally.

Blood Baston: Based on a map I played in a constant reaccuring dream I kept having. Trying to emulate it turned out to be complete murder. I have decorated it more and built the gate to the main temple. The catacombes are giving me troble still and the path to the fortress is underway.

Nekomata: This will be the hardest map to finish givin that its going to be enormous. It is both a tech and hell map and both parts will have their own styles. The tech part is open and non linier, the hell part is a path like area brining you to a hectic showdown. Progress is very very slow, I want this to be the best I can make it.

Malarium: Greatly inspired from the ichor map I played here. A brutal slautermap that will a total bitch to beat. Progress is very strong since I am passionate about the whole concept. It will be balanced and fair with no total bullshit there will alway be a solution. :)

Destiny Pinnacle: Not started and not sure about the concept on this one. The map layout depends entirely on the skill level you picked starting the game. Yes, the stage will be completely different if you played on hmp vs uv vs hntr. I wanted to take complete advantege of the difficulty markers for this map and offer a very interesting impression for the player. I need feed back if this is too out there or it should be done by all means.

This is my first community project ever and I am happy to be a part of it! Good luck with everyone in the nova two team!

[AD_79]

Hey, is this still open? I'd like to make a map for this when I have time.

[kildeth]

AD_79 - Yeah sure. I'll sign you up as a mapper.

Seeing as it is nearing November, I'll probably compile the first alpha sometime soon. Right now though I'm waiting on plums to come back and give me his update of the first NOVA mapset so we can get that sorted and re-uploaded to /idgames.

[dobu gabu maru]

AD_79, we're open and happy to have newbie mappers :)

blueinferno776 said:

So.. Here are the stats.

I don't mean to be condescending, but you really need to consider prioritizing your maps and giving us reliable updates. It's often easy for mappers to tell us what their ultimate goals are, but harder to get them to execute a work plan on a finished map most of us are content with; it's often better to show than tell. I'm sure you're excited for your maps, but remember that many maps get stuck in limbo and it's better to work on a single one and show us the product of your efforts, rather than spread your contributions thin and get bogged down in developing multiple efforts forever. I could be wrong and you definitely could be adroit in producing multiple masterpieces, but I feel it's something worth considering if you're just getting started on mapping.

[blueinferno776]

Your right dobu. Screens would be better over all. It does look like I'm overwhelming my self with so many maps. I have it setup like this to go back and forth building the maps were my ideas are the strongest for the moment its been convenient so far.

Being in limbo is something am trying to avoid I really want them to count being my first community project.

[dobu gabu maru]

blueinferno776 said:

It does look like I'm overwhelming my self with so many maps.

IMO many of us do this kind of thing, perhaps without mentioning it. Hell, my first map promised to the original NOVA was never released despite me teasing it. It can be tough to learn that whatever aspirations you might have, they mean nothing unless you release a product for us to test (and criticize).

[blueinferno776]

dobu gabu maru said:

IMO many of us do this kind of thing, perhaps without mentioning it. Hell, my first map promised to the original NOVA was never released despite me teasing it. It can be tough to learn that whatever aspirations you might have, they mean nothing unless you release a product for us to test (and criticize).

I really need help in the speed department. It takes sooo long for me just to build rooms and texture them. Your pics look like a lot of work was put it despite that. I use gzdoom builder doom in doom format,even if I work on it for hours it feels like I got little done.

Pics for Nekomata

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

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

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

http://i.imgur.com/RZDc656.png

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

http://i.imgur.com/Sa3Qb0I.png

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

http://i.imgur.com/ug0pukU.png

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

There is a lot of areas that need to be decorated, how do I get more speed? Would it be better to just build create gameplay then texture decorate the map? This is were I always trip up.

[NuMetalManiak]

sloooooooooowwww progress.

[joe-ilya]

https://www.mediafire.com/?38374k2s2mm31qa
I want the MAP20 slot and the "Running from Evil" MIDI in my map.
Name : Joe's Facility
Status : Finished

[blueinferno776]

Here are screens for binary vault

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

I reworked this room quite a lot
http://i.imgur.com/h3lIPWD.png
http://i.imgur.com/cOh9lDy.png

Remember the old pics where the red door was?
http://i.imgur.com/H8bkYbC.png

Here is the room behind it.
http://i.imgur.com/KPLmCEX.png
http://i.imgur.com/xUNPCGx.png
http://i.imgur.com/j0QC1WS.png

This one needs more refinement.
http://i.imgur.com/fp7kK3I.png

Practicing building outdoor scenery, looks bland for now. I had a nasty slime trial by this window.
http://i.imgur.com/HskP0Ni.png

This map has a good chance for being the first one finished.

Getsu Fune: Thats some awesome screens am looking at! Especially the bottom one! Keep it up!

[joe-ilya]

When's the first status report? It's already the 2nd of november.