Doomworld Mega Project 2015 - Now on /idgames

[GregLafitte]

I look forward to the next alpha

[Tristan]

GregLafitte said:

(since it seems you have not even played it for some reason)

I apologise, it probably was rather rash to just move on without saying anything, but I don't formulate opinions on maps without playing them at all. The two archviles near the start seemed really unnecessary, the cacodemons in the catwalk area were just annoying as they flew upwards, but were way out of autoaim range, meaning you either wait for them to come closer or try and navigate the catwalk while trying to dodge them, neither of which is of any appeal to me.

However, I will admit that I carried only 14 health over from the previous map, so basically getting hit by anything was certain death, which didn't help my frustration much, so I think I at least owe it another playthrough from a pistol start. One last thing of mention is that the map is seemingly devoid of health pickups, save for some health bonuses at the start, then a berserk pack and soulsphere that don't turn up until the later part of the level, so if someone is unfortunate enough to start the map with very low health like I was (and this is very likely, given that the previous map was pretty hectic), they're likely not going to have a good time. Granted this isn't your fault, and is probably something to be addressed in the map order, but it's always worth considering how differently your map might play for those playing continuously :)

[snapshot]

@Scifista : Filedropper won't keep that file forever, trust me i tested it :), upload it elsewhere like Mediafire

[yakfak]

good work scifista!
edit: I replayed my level worrying that ammo was too tight on UV but I found strategies to alleviate those limits through play style. No editing necessary!

thumbs way up for Toxic Graveyard and Sultan's Palace thingy, some cool maps are in the pack

[GregLafitte]

Eris Falling said:

I apologise, it probably was rather rash to just move on without saying anything, but I don't formulate opinions on maps without playing them at all. The two archviles near the start seemed really unnecessary, the cacodemons in the catwalk area were just annoying as they flew upwards, but were way out of autoaim range, meaning you either wait for them to come closer or try and navigate the catwalk while trying to dodge them, neither of which is of any appeal to me.

However, I will admit that I carried only 14 health over from the previous map, so basically getting hit by anything was certain death, which didn't help my frustration much, so I think I at least owe it another playthrough from a pistol start. One last thing of mention is that the map is seemingly devoid of health pickups, save for some health bonuses at the start, then a berserk pack and soulsphere that don't turn up until the later part of the level, so if someone is unfortunate enough to start the map with very low health like I was (and this is very likely, given that the previous map was pretty hectic), they're likely not going to have a good time. Granted this isn't your fault, and is probably something to be addressed in the map order, but it's always worth considering how differently your map might play for those playing continuously :)

It's okay and I apologise for my reaction. I appreciate your feedback, I thought about adding more health but was worried that adding too much health would take away any challenge, honestly I feel I could have added more ammo lol.

[Tristan]

Yeah that's something that playing continuous couldn't pick up on. I played it from a pistol start, and it was certainly a more enjoyable experience this time around.
Ammo was definitely a scarcity though, I ran out completely just before those arachnotrons, but fortunately I could run past them and grab the BFG. The other and more significant ammo issue I had was in the blue key room. I ran out of ammo again there, and had to try and get the barons fighting the cyberdemon, and then when they killed it, I took the blue key and had to leave remaining monsters alive. This will be a problem for maxruns, though on the other hand, I think a had a few dud BFG shots due to a poor aim. So not entirely sure there, but even in the best case, it's pretty tight.

Some other things, I felt the pain elementals were kinda annoying personally, and the spider mastermind was pretty ineffective, but I'm the sort of player who will just charge straight at them with the BFG in the hope of 1-shotting them. On the other hand, those two viles near the start behaved differently this time for some reason. On both of my attempts this time around, one vile woke up early (maybe my movement was a bit erratic) and came down into the main area, allowing me to fight them one at a time, which was definitely a nicer way of doing it.
When you first open the yellow door, are you supposed to run inside to that room amidst all the carnage immediately? My natural reaction was to back up when I saw all those monsters, but it was too far to the corner to avoid being blasted by arch-viles. Just about survived, thankfully.

Anyway, now I've played it again, I can say it's definitely not as bad as I had initially been led to believe. 5/10 from me.

More maps coming later.

[Tristan]

Pistol started MAP08, but gonna try and keep the continuous thing going from here.

MAP08: The Key to Happiness - joe-ilya
Whatever that may be, it isn't this map.

OK, that's harsh but I couldn't resist :P In truth, the map isn't actually that bad. Certainly better than I tend to expect from this author. In particular I was quite surprised when I saw arachnotrons being used in such an effective manner. The gameplay is something of a challenge, it's a bit tight on health for my taste, but that's still a better implementation of difficulty than MAP07 did before it. The gameplay definitely peaks early on, with the latter half of the map certainly being weaker than the former. The taunting with the red key was quite a nice touch.
Even visually, this map has some potential. The outdoor areas have a pretty nice setting, only to be let down by the fact that it's just one texture being monotonously wallpapered across large surfaces with nothing to break it up.

One problem I noticed is that you can fall into that pit with the spectres before it has risen and there's no way out. If that's intentional, then tough, I idclipped out of it because I absolutely cannot stand that sort of thing. Other than that, I don't really have anything bad to say about this map, which has come as something of a surprise to me. 6/10

MAP09: 3000CB - cannonball

scifista said later maps were better, and it was seeing names like cannonball on the list that made me believe him.

cannonball doesn't disappoint with this one. Accompanied by a fun and fast-paced MIDI, the gameplay here is pretty intense in places, culminating in the encounter with the cyberdemon, which is quite easy on its own, but throwing in the need to take down multiple viles while he can potentially take pot-shots at you makes the fight quite hectic. While the map as a whole is very fun, that's a definite highlight of it right there. Easily the best map so far. 9/10

[scifista42]

DMGUYDZ64 said:

@Scifista : Filedropper won't keep that file forever, trust me i tested it :)

I know, but I don't need to host it there forever. This alpha download link will no longer be needed after the project gets uploaded to /idgames, which will hopefully happen within a few weeks. Also, I don't use Mediafire and Dropbox because both require me to make an account and demand personal information. Filedropper is registration free and quick to use.

[Wereknight]

So, what size on TITLEPIC & INTERPIC should be?

[scifista42]

320 x 200 pixels, and must use Doom's palette or at least look OK after being converted to Doom's palette.

[Wereknight]

scifista42 said:

320 x 200 pixels, and must use Doom's palette or at least look OK after being converted to Doom's palette.

Easy.

[Rook]

I've just had time to play my map: thanks, scifista - your changes are absolutely fine by me and you've done a great job putting this together. What is the music track you've used? I like it.

Thanks also to ErisFalling and rwdpa for their thoughts on the map. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[scifista42]

I completely forgot to mention that I added custom music to Rook's map. I did it because Doom2's default music really didn't fit the map IMO.

Thanks for your approval, Rook. The midi is wgwarhed.mid that I've found when browsing vgmusic.com.

In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, maybe I'd like to assign a custom midi to GregLafitte's map too, as an attempt to at least slightly improve its appeal.

(Both Rook's and GregLafitte's maps were originally submitted with no custom music.)

[Doomkid]

Hey Scifista, just let me know when this and the other half are both in their final state, I can mirror them on http://grandpachuck.org/files/wads/ :)

[baja blast rd.]

FDAs for maps 8, 9, and 14.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/vuifzmr3lb3alsu/dmp15aa1_8_9_14_rdwpa_FDAs.rar

I'll probably jump around at this point because harder and longer maps require a bigger time-commitment.

Map08 has that spectre fight and some ninja chaingunners but is otherwise not too threatening. Decent map, if rough around the edges. I nerfed the last fight in map09. I predicted a mass warp-in so I grabbed the goods quick and got the hell out. Another solid map, however. Map14 was very fun.

I think map07 is harder than the two that follow it, despite the feeling that it "should" come earlier (probably due to the techbase aesthetics and small scale). I played this one casually, yesterday -- the darkness and intrusive map geometry makes it a bit tricky.

[schwerpunk]

scifista42 said:

Thanks for your approval, Rook. The midi is wgwarhed.mid that I've found when browsing vgmusic.com.

Talk about a coincidence - one of my other maps, still WIP I think, uses the same midi, although I got it from Kingdom Hearts Insider (which I also recommend).

[obake]

This is turning out to be a most interesting project!

I'll give my two cents on the vanilla maps (as far as I've played) soon.

I really hope the boom and zdoom portions receive the same, level by level analysis that the vanilla/limit-removing stuff is getting.

[GregLafitte]

scifista42 said:

I completely forgot to mention that I added custom music to Rook's map. I did it because Doom2's default music really didn't fit the map IMO.

Thanks for your approval, Rook. The midi is wgwarhed.mid that I've found when browsing vgmusic.com.

In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, maybe I'd like to assign a custom midi to GregLafitte's map too, as an attempt to at least slightly improve its appeal.

(Both Rook's and GregLafitte's maps were originally submitted with no custom music.)

The midi idea sounds good too me, if it helps improve the map then its a good idea to do it. Also to answer the question Eris Falling asked in the review for my map, the idea was to use the BFG or Plasma gun to take out the Archviles then either get the Baron's to fight the cyberdemon or Use the BFG on him to get the key (There is an extra cell pack on the right side of him).

[scifista42]

GregLafitte said:

The midi idea sounds good too me, if it helps improve the map then its a good idea to do it.

I had this one in mind - but feel free to choose a custom music for your map yourself!

I have also discovered that when I rebuilt nodes in your map, it somehow broke the secret door, and now this door can't be opened when playing in ZDoom based ports (but it works in PrBoom-plus) - a true mystery, because it surely worked in ZDoom before. Anyway, it's my mistake. I will fix it for next version.

[GregLafitte]

The midi you have in mind is good I also thought about maybe using this midi I found called "Superboss Theme" on this list: http://www.midishrine.com/index.php?id=92

Let me know your opinion on this Midi.

[scifista42]

It's alright, I think (I have no deep sense for music anyway). So, I'd add the track to your map in the next version of the compilation.

[Wereknight]

- first TITLEPIC in process.

EDIT:

[Protester]

needs more 2015 things, like a drone or a debate over immigration

jokes aside, its a cool pic. Did you make that from scratch?

[Doomkid]

Cool, very tribal.. I dig it!

[schwerpunk]

Looks great. Man, some people just have an eye for this stuff.

[Wereknight]

Protester said:

needs more 2015 things, like a drone or a debate over immigration

jokes aside, its a cool pic. Did you make that from scratch?

Yes.

[dobu gabu maru]

Doomkid said:

Cool, very tribal.. I dig it!

Yeah I like the completely unique mood it emanates; it's not really something you expect for a titlepic

[scifista42]

I would prefer if the word "map" got erased from the title sign (just paste the background from the previous version of the picture over the respective place), and if there was only 1 instance of either "'15" or "2015" (either the middle one, or move the top one below the sign on the left).

[Wereknight]

First titlepic:



Second titlepic:

[Memfis]

Uhh I assume this is not in the Doom palette yet?