NOVA II - Ver. 1.2 on /idgames (now with no missing keycards!)

[tourniquet]

No clue AD, just suggest a few good ones :p



Here's something for E1 or E2 maybe, taken from plums skystravaganza

[AD_79]

I put this sky (by IMX who made the red sky I used in the possible MAP21) into E2 to test how it would look. With some maps I feel it worked really well (MAP16, MAP17, MAP20), and with others it looked really out of place (MAP14, MAP18, MAP19). I'll keep looking.

I'm thinking something blue maybe? Seeing as an_mutt's map has a blue sky.

[an_mutt]

I think the sky I used is actually 3 repeating 256-wide textures, with the moon on its own individual side, so perhaps the sky can be the moon-less texture on all four sides? Or would everyone prefer to have a sky that is unique across all 1024 pixels?

And I'm really surprised to hear that the beta might be the Megawad club wad for next month - I didn't think it would be remotely ready for that level of playtesting in a couple weeks. My exams finish after the first week of June, so I think it would be much more helpful if it was saved for a later month and I can have a lot more time to go over my map and help with testing/providing feedback for other maps as well.

[AD_79]

A few blue skies I selected from plmsky1 (there are more), haven't looked at any of them in-game.

[dobu gabu maru]

A blue sky is probably our best bet—it may not work for a few maps but them's the breaks. I'll leave it up to you guys to decide.

an_mutt said:

And I'm really surprised to hear that the beta might be the Megawad club wad for next month - I didn't think it would be remotely ready for that level of playtesting in a couple weeks.

Nah tourny was right that we should definitely iron out the bumps next month rather than try and aim for a club release. It's likely we won't even have every map by the 31st anyway.

Speaking of maps, I'll personally revise the gameplay on MAP19... I have some pretty fiendish ideas that will make for a fun penultimate E2 map.

[cannonball]

I like the middle sky, the gold mixing with the dark blue sky looks intriguing to me.

Ha I have thought about that for a long time, I do think that map19 could be given a little extra spice.

[AD_79]

Not sure about this.

[dobu gabu maru]

Yeah, the yellow/gold seems to be distracting and doesn't blend well. Maybe just a blue starry sky? Though I wouldn't want starry skies for both E2 and E3...

[mouldy]

an_mutt said:

I'm not making a big map ever again.

Crumbling Necropolis

Wow, epic map. Here's a FDA
http://www.mediafire.com/download/edunnfhrloburz2/necro-mouldy.lmp
I played with saves (hopefully it will work). I think I died maybe a couple of times, and spent a lot of time running around lost, but enjoyed every minute. Really cool light and shadows. I never found the yellow key, but felt like I had more than my money's worth by the end. There were a lot of switches I was pressing without much clue what they were doing, but its not too bad. Long distance rev snipers are a big pain, but not obnoxiously so. I wouldn't change anything myself, but if you can sit through that demo you'll see if stuff was working as you hoped or not.

[Obsidian]

Err, is my map really difficult enough to warrant a MAP28 slot? I recall you saying you want to cut down on 20 minute maps in E2, so maybe switch with one of those.

[AD_79]

The slots are going to change (seeing how mine definitely won't be MAP27). I think Dobu added those just to show the map list is full.

[tourniquet]

I like the 3rd cloudy sky AD suggested, though it doesn't look like it'd tile vertically.

[SFoZ911]

Who made the small marble section in MAP32?

[tourniquet]

JaxxoonR made that one.

[dobu gabu maru]

Gave Engraved Bones and Crumbling Necropolis a whirl. Played it in Zdoom so I wouldn't bump up against any bugs.

Engraved Bones: Didn't really have fun with this one until the AV nastiness at the end (which is kinda funny coming from me considering how cramped and trappy my maps are). There's almost no breathing room at the start and you always have to be watching your back, crawling through the complex inch by inch. After the SSG the map becomes a little more enjoyable, and I actually quite like the rev battle up there due to the confined space you have to maneuver in. It definitely makes for a decent E3 minimap, and I would actually argue it fits the MAP27/28 slot nicely (since we need some slower-paced adventures between the MAP26 and MAP29 behemoths). Two things:

- Damaging floor should be 5/10%—there's absolutely no reason to punish the player so heavily for accidentally spending a tick too long on it.

- Not sure the chaingunner corner works. Beyond getting you to waste your ammo until you realize the gimmick, it feels arbitrarily punishing as sometimes you can make it to the lift no problem, and other times he'll spot you and begin tearing you a new one. Considering you have to go through this area twice, changing it to something like two imps would work better.

Crumbling Necropolis: Hooowee this is a journey! Took me about 42 minutes to get to the normal exit (I tried looking around for the YK path but was easily stumped and stopped). I actually think I may have died more on this map more than any other in the set thus far. A huge amount of that is due to the randomly placed chaingunners and the myriad of revenants—any time I tried looking for a new way to go or a switch to hit, a rev missile would go flying up my ass when I least expected it. A green armor at the start would go a long way towards helping the player. I actually didn't mind the tight ammo balance, as most of the early game weapons were completely useless for a while anyway—the enemies on ledges were so far away that it was unfeasible to use the SG or chaingun on them until most of the baddies inside the complex were dealt with.

I did get lost. A lot. Around the 30 minute mark is when I finally grabbed the blue key. I think one of the problems is that the level loops about itself in so many ways that you'll explore a dozen avenues before finally finding the "right" one—I only stumbled on it after getting the BFG secret, realizing I could've gone in this direction the entire time. I think the progression is fine after that, but there really should have been a second (third?) way into that area where the cyber is. Other than that, I think the map is interestingly paced and gorgeous to behold; it certainly felt exhausting to play so I can only imagine what it was like to map it. I do think something like the RL should be given earlier and there should be more ammo for it, as the outset is the most brutal part since there's just no effective way to stop the revenants firing their tailing missiles. Also, the chaingunners that warp into this room are the most bullshitty thing on the map, as they always have a good angle to hit you and there's like a dozen, ensuring you'll lose some health and die as soon as you trigger their arrival (I died about 4-5 times just SGing them from the doorway)

Good stuff otherwise—thanks giving us this gem an_mutt.

[joe-ilya]

MAP30 could be called "King of hell"

[SFoZ911]

Yea, an_mutt's map is a highlight for me. Great addition to the mapset.

[Obsidian]

Update with Dobu's fixes. I'm a bit sad that I couldn't keep the Light Flicker on the damaging floor, but oh well.

Also, how does "The Malignant Emperor" sound as a title? Just a thought. :3

[AD_79]

joe-ilya said:

MAP30 could be called "King of hell"

That's a pretty boring title.

[Jaxxoon R]

How do you feel "Malign Emperor" or "Emperor Malign"? Means the same thing but rolls off the tongue far easier.

[mouldy]

Some map30 titles:

"Emperor of Disgust"
"Blood for the Tomb Lord"
"The Unwakening"
"Abhoratory"

[Obsidian]

mouldy said:

"Blood for the Tomb Lord"

I know what you're referencing. Admittedly, "The Skull Throne" is a good title as well.

Let me think...

-Deus Malignantis Arcana(Latin for God of the Malignant Arcana - possibly a bit wordy, but it fits the name of the final boss)
-The Infernal Crescendo(sounds nice and arty:P)
-Elysium's Bridge(again, fits the name of the boss)

Gimme time, I'll think of more.

[dobu gabu maru]

The main thing I was trying to invoke with "The Jealous King" was something depreciating since I always feel like we use "evil" or "cruel", but never something that's purely a vice for an overlord. In that sense I kinda like "Emperor of Disgust". "Elysium's Bridge" could also work as well. It should be left between Obsidian and mouldy to decide since it's their creation.

[Dave The Daring]

"The 30th Realm of Bloody Poopage"

That's the best I could come up with. Sorry.

[Velvetic]

"Non-Pragmatic Being in an Unusual Place" i like giving pretentious titles to maps xD

[Guest]

an_mutt said:

I'm not making a big map ever again.

Crumbling Necropolis

This was awesome. The monster placement was really good mostly I thought. Well placed enemies, not too many in any given area, but enough to keep you on your toes, coupled with the odd harder and more numerous encounter. I died in the exit area by a couple of arch viles, but otherwise made it through the map unkilled.

I too didn't find the yellow key, but I did find several other secrets.

I did get lost a lot. I think the most disorientating thing was having to take the teleporters to other sections of the map and having to figure out which way was up again. But to me it didn't matter. When you have such cool surroundings, being lost is half the fun. I was tired when I played this, and so consequently less likely to work out where I should go, but I still managed it, so I think the progression is good, though I may just have been lucky.

I liked this map a lot.

[MajorRawne]

What about "Skulls for the Throne" for map 30? It is Doomish and 40K without being biased towards one universe or the other, and it's pretty evocative.

I've been trying to upload my unfinished Nova 2 map for evaluation but Mediafire has been giving me shit for over a week. I've also been trying to upload my final Panophobia map but same problem.

If someone wants to PM me, I can email them the .wad files.

[obake]

I better get to work on getting my map up to the same level of quality as the rest of them! The project is still in a beta stage, right?

If anyone wants to play test my map ("Hated Attic") and give more feedback and criticism, it would be much appreciated.

[joe-ilya]

AD_79 said:

That's a pretty boring title.

"Lord" then?

[cannonball]

How about "lord of the supernova", just to hook it a little back to the wad title.
Also I will add difficulty settings/multiplayer stuff along with a few tweaks and fixes soonish.