Ultimate Talo

[thebiomage]

Here's a map that I created some 13 years ago. Found it lying around recently and decided to remaster it and put it up for download. The map is based on my childhood home (the name Ultimate Talo translates to Ultimate House). The map can be quite challenging and you need to be careful with the ammo. See if you can find all the secrets!

Here's the download link and a few screenshots. If anyone knows a better place to upload the map please let me know.

Download: http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=78595642458139285952

[Ribbiks]

ahh yess. myHouse.wad, an obligatory staple in the archives of any 90s doomer. techlight cookware, mud-filled toilets, if only there were portraits of hitler in the bedroom then it would be perfect.

not too much else to say, took me several attempts at getting hitscan raped before I made it too far indoors. extremely stingy with the health/ammo, as you mentioned. some armor or a few stimpacks outside would have made the map a bit more enjoyable imo.

Also I'm guessing this was intended to be played in zdoom? I hit a picture on the wall (playing in prb+) and suddenly the entire map kerploaded (guessing all 0-tagged sectors all lowered, or something).

[plums]

Well, that was pretty 90s. I got as far as the teleport area with the red key, after many attempts, but decided to call it quits there. It was kind of fun in a dickish way, I think even a medikit outside would have made it more fun since you don't need to worry quite as much about hitscan luck. Not my favourite map but the low supplies made it a bit of a puzzle to crack, which was somewhat enjoyable.

FDA in ZDoom 2.7.1 if you want to watch me die a lot:
http://www.doomworld.com/vb/attachment.php?postid=1279498

[thebiomage]

plums said:

Well, that was pretty 90s. I got as far as the teleport area with the red key, after many attempts, but decided to call it quits there. It was kind of fun in a dickish way, I think even a medikit outside would have made it more fun since you don't need to worry quite as much about hitscan luck. Not my favourite map but the low supplies made it a bit of a puzzle to crack, which was somewhat enjoyable.

FDA in ZDoom 2.7.1 if you want to watch me die a lot:
http://www.doomworld.com/vb/attachment.php?postid=1279498

I have probably played the map too many times myself to judge the difficulty properly. Though I did intentionally try to make it challenging mostly by keeping supplies low and making you fight some tougher enemies with limited weapons (like those 3 revenants at the early part of the level). I agree the hitscan enemies at the start can sometimes drain your health annoyingly quickly. Though you can just run past the very first chaingunners and deal with them later.

A pretty good tactic is to go into the house from the side door, you will find a chainsaw in the very first small room in there and that can help you save ammo and clear the early part of the map. Also if you go into the house from the front entrance (with the porch) and quickly move straight forward, the fireplace will lower down and reveal a double barreled shotgun.

The red key area (cellar) can be accessed straight away, but it should probably be the very last area to go in (you don't need the red key for a while). You pretty much need the plasma gun or BFG to make it out alive from there.

Ribbiks said:

ahh yess. myHouse.wad, an obligatory staple in the archives of any 90s doomer. techlight cookware, mud-filled toilets, if only there were portraits of hitler in the bedroom then it would be perfect.

Now that I think about it, pretty much all of my friends made similar levels of their homes as well. Guess everyone had the same idea. Btw there is a portait of Hitler in the map, but in an area you can't get to :).

Ribbiks said:

not too much else to say, took me several attempts at getting hitscan raped before I made it too far indoors. extremely stingy with the health/ammo, as you mentioned. some armor or a few stimpacks outside would have made the map a bit more enjoyable imo.

Also I'm guessing this was intended to be played in zdoom? I hit a picture on the wall (playing in prb+) and suddenly the entire map kerploaded (guessing all 0-tagged sectors all lowered, or something).

The level should work even in the original Doom 2 afaik. The original version was made in some old editor (Waded or something I recall) and I later worked on it with Doom Builder 2. That shouldn't make it depend on zdoom? I haven't at least intentionally made it depend on anything. Could you post a screen of what picture it was that caused the problem? There is a hidden secret-level switch in the map (looks like a face with an evil grin) that will immediately end it. It was supposed to take you to the secret level, which would be even harder version of this map. But apparently you can't connect to the secret level from map 01 in the original Doom 2.

[Keyboard_Doomer]

DBoy said:

Could you post a screen of what picture it was that caused the problem?

Here is a video showing the bug in a different place (recorded with -complevel 2 - vanilla Doom2 compability): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9qbYxj2Ko8

This is the picture (probably the one Ribbiks mentioned) that also causes the bug the happen: http://i.imgur.com/dL6sbh1.png

It's not that you'd make it ZDoom-compatible but it's a common mapping error that ZDoom fixes and other ports don't.

DBoy said:

apparently you can't connect to the secret level from map 01 in the original Doom 2.

Yes, in vanilla you can only exit to secret level in maps that originally had secret exits (map15, map31). I guess it would be better to remove the switch if you're planning to make a fixed version of the map since this way you can "accidentally" exit the map before you've seen 10% of it (the switch isn't very hidden actually).

[thebiomage]

Keyboard_Doomer said:

Here is a video showing the bug in a different place (recorded with -complevel 2 - vanilla Doom2 compability): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9qbYxj2Ko8

This is the picture (probably the one Ribbiks mentioned) that also causes the bug the happen: http://i.imgur.com/dL6sbh1.png

It's not that you'd make it ZDoom-compatible but it's a common mapping error that ZDoom fixes and other ports don't.

Ahh I can see what caused the problem. Both of these trouble spots were using "switch" actions (63 - SR Door Open Wait Close and 112 - S1 Door Open Stay (fast). All the other doors are using "door" actions, e.g. 1 - DR Door Open Wait Close. So actions that start with S need to tag the door sector, but actions starting with D do not? I have one door with action 117 - DR Door Open Wait Close (fast), and if what I said is correct then this door wouldn't need a tag either?

Keyboard_Doomer said:

Yes, in vanilla you can only exit to secret level in maps that originally had secret exits (map15, map31). I guess it would be better to remove the switch if you're planning to make a fixed version of the map since this way you can "accidentally" exit the map before you've seen 10% of it (the switch isn't very hidden actually).

The switch is out in the open, but it closes off and hides itself permanently after 30 seconds from the map start. Since the switch is in the tough area with the revenants I thought it might be hard to notice it and make to it in time (especially with ultra violence).

Anyway I'll fix these problems and possibly make some adjustments with few extra health items at the start to reduce the hitscan annoyance.

[plums]

DBoy said:

Ahh I can see what caused the problem. Both of these trouble spots were using "switch" actions (63 - SR Door Open Wait Close and 112 - S1 Door Open Stay (fast). All the other doors are using "door" actions, e.g. 1 - DR Door Open Wait Close. So actions that start with S need to tag the door sector, but actions starting with D do not? I have one door with action 117 - DR Door Open Wait Close (fast), and if what I said is correct then this door wouldn't need a tag either?

This is correct. Doors don't need sector tags, but switch, walkover, and gunshot types do.

[Keyboard_Doomer]

DBoy said:

The switch is out in the open, but it closes off and hides itself permanently after 30 seconds from the map start. Since the switch is in the tough area with the revenants I thought it might be hard to notice it and make to it in time (especially with ultra violence).

Oh, haha. I didn't replay the map after I noticed the switch in -nomonsters, sorry about that. But anyway, there's no secret map so the switch isn't needed.

[Walter confetti]

played this evening, nice map but way TOO cramped... also rise up a little the ceiling since this looks too short as height...

[thebiomage]

Updated the map with suggested fixes here. There are a few more health items now, the buggy doors should be fixed, secret exit has been changed to something else, and I also rose the ceiling inside the house quite a bit. Not sure how I hadn't noticed it being so low before. While doing that I also added some more details to the map.

You can download the updated version of the map here (or from the link in the original post): http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=78595642458139285952