Abyssal Speedmapping Session 16 - The Ride Never Ends!

[TMD]

Memfis said:

Thanks for considering a European session!

No, right now Moscow time is the same as GMT+3. We don't have that daylight saving thing anymore in Russia.

Good to know. Tell your friends in the Russian speedmap community! I should have a solid time and date for everybody by the first of the month. But I am anticipating it to be at about 6 PM Moscow time.

Also, wad and textfile are pretty much compiled. I just have to deal with some BS pertaining to doubly used textures. (SFALL) Keep going with the testing, I suppose! I plan to release this thing Tuesday.

[Walter confetti]

Never_Again said:

walter's map
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 9 + cc4-tex.wad.
Kills/secrets: 100%/100%
WAD has following errors:
· Thing 0, Invalid Type 32000
· Linedefs 133, 134, 135, 136 have no action special - sector tag 6 is not required on any of them
· Same for Linedef 749 and sector tag 12
· The exit switch got the wrong texture, should be SW1HOT not SW2HOT

Thank you very much for testing, anyaway the new textures are already present in the wad, there's no need to use the cc4-tex pack! Sorry if i explained bad on the last post!

Anyway, a fixed version of my map according to your feedback:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/losw5wh989cpzqz/abs-vertix.wad

[Jaws In Space]

fixed 12 trapped chaingunners

https://www.dropbox.com/s/c76wfr07dpwc8i2/Assmap.wad?dl=0

[Never_Again]

Alfonzo's map (ass-sa16.wad)
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 9
BROKEN
· linedef 420 is missing sector tag 2 - if you jump down to the supercharge and revenants before the teleporter (sector 92) is lowered, you're stuck for good
Other issues:
· thing 0 = invalid type 32000
· there should be some indication that linedef 178 is shootable, it's easy to miss seeing it altogether if the player jumps to the right or to the left instead of straight ahead
· sector 86 has tag 7 but no linedef has tag 7; most likely, the tag is not needed at all (the sector is a manual door to the exit)

hint: don't use Zdoom to test maps that are supposed to be vanilla- or Boom-compatible. Doombuilder's Map Analysis is also worthless as far as compat testing is concerned. Example: make a Boom map with a Generalized linedef. Load same map with Doom 2 config. Check with Map analysis - no errors reported.

Get the shareware of DeepSea, load the appropriate game config (under Options) and check your map with that instead. Saving complex levels is restricted in the shareware version; however, the checking function is not limited in any way.

walter and JiS: all good now

Short summary:
scifista - OK
Breezeep - OK
walter - OK
JiS - OK
4shock - OK (completable with godmode + bazillion saves)
Alfonzo - BROKEN

[scifista42]

Jimmy, your map is standardly conventional yet very fun to play, and big thanks for resisting the urge to put an unfunny squad of archdicks to the exit! :)

[Never_Again]

Pinchy's map
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 9 + ultratex.wad
· Use underscores or hyphens instead of spaces in filenames
· Lots of HOM at the start, tracked it down to presence of TEXTURE1 and PNAMES in WAD directory, without them the start looks OK
· There should be some sort of hint that linedef 1392 is shootable; missing it results in missed kills
· massive HOM in the main/exit are

Spoiler

The map still can be completed with 100/100, but that looks terrible and confusing. Prboom-plus reports numerous texture errors, e.g.:

bad texture 'RAINBLU1RAINBLU1-' in sidedef 189
bad texture 'RAINBLU1-' in sidedef 189

The full list is here.

TMC: I don't think your release target of tomorrow is realistic.


edit:

Jimmy's map
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 9
Passed with 100% kills and secrets
No errors of any kind.

[TMD]

Never_Again said:

Pinchy's map
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 9 + ultratex.wad
· Use underscores or hyphens instead of spaces in filenames
· Lots of HOM at the start, tracked it down to presence of TEXTURE1 and PNAMES in WAD directory, without them the start looks OK
· There should be some sort of hint that linedef 1392 is shootable; missing it results in missed kills
· massive HOM in the main/exit are





The map still can be completed with 100/100, but that looks terrible and confusing. Prboom-plus reports numerous texture errors, e.g.:

bad texture 'RAINBLU1RAINBLU1-' in sidedef 189
bad texture 'RAINBLU1-' in sidedef 189

The full list is here.

TMC: I don't think your release target of tomorrow is realistic.


edit:

Jimmy's map
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 9
Passed with 100% kills and secrets
No errors of any kind.

I dont plan to release it tuesday. I plan to have all the compilation and files ready to go, so that all that will be left to do is bugfix.

[Never_Again]

Good to hear that. Given the shape Pinchy's map is in, it may take a while.

TheMionicDonut's map
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 9 + ultratex.wad
Exited with 95% kills and 100% secrets
Errors:
· got stuck in sector 81 by the exit, there's no way out
· 12 (heh) unkillable monsters never teleport out of sector 113. It seems that the reason for this is that sector 122 is mistakenly tagged to linedef 567 (with the Sky Transfer special); should be tagged to something else
· texture errors, from Prboom-plus' stdout.txt:

bad texture '' in sidedef 64
bad texture '' in sidedef 66
bad texture '' in sidedef 72
bad texture '' in sidedef 75
bad texture '' in sidedef 84
bad texture '' in sidedef 94
bad texture '' in sidedef 250
bad texture '' in sidedef 809

I guess you used Del or Backspace in DB and forgot to type the hyphen "-"?



edit:
FuzzballFox's map
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 9 + ultratex.wad
Exited with 50% kills (there are no secrets)
No errors found. 100% kills is problematic, unless you get lucky with infighting.



edit2: moved report on 4shock's map here, so all pending issues are on the same page

4shock's map (shockabys16.wad)
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 9
Theoretically should be maxable by a tiny subset of slaughter experts - those with insane Mario skills - as no glaring errors have been found. For the rest, intense savescumming is the only option besides noclip+godmode, although ports with mouselook and/or air-acceleration control may make it a little more playable.
If you're OK with all this, keep it as it is. If not, here are some ideas:
· reduce spacing between pillars in start area
· add skill levels
· add a backpack at least for HMP and lower
· set at least one of the teleporting Revs in the middle section as UV-only
· add teleporters to sectors 119 and 138, two lava death traps at the end of the level seem like a terrible idea
· mark the exit in some way so it doesn't look like any other teleporter, only bigger

There's also a very large slime trail:

Spoiler

[Fuzzball]

Yeah there was a lack of ammo for my map- Donut did mention that when it came to the stream! Was too lazy to add more though :P
I think I did mention to him though that if he wanted to crack open my map and add more he's very much welcome to!

[AD_79]

Anything wrong with my map that I might have missed?

[Capellan]

I'm sure Never_Again will let you know if there is, AD :)

Thanks for doing this, Never. It's very helpful.

[AD_79]

Well I know there's some misalignments here and there, but you know, speedmaps :P

[Never_Again]

@FuzzballFox: I think just six more boxes of rox should balance UV well. If that's still not enough for someone, he should encourage the Spideys do a better job. ;) Lower difficulty levels should have one Cyber from each pair removed, IMO. The extra rox should be set UV/NM-only. You could also set the supercharge pillar as a secret; it's a bonus and is easy to overlook on the first play.

@Capellan: thank you, Adam; you covered for me on my dinner break nicely. ;)

@AD_79: no worries, I'm doing every single map. I'm just going in reverse order from how they were posted, in order not to play older versions where updates exist.

I'm not going to bother anyone about texture misalignment, though; IMO, raw looks is one of speedmaps' strengths, not a weakness. The only reason I pointed out that switch to walter is that "unused switches that look like they have been already used" are a pet peeve of mine.

I also ignore editor warnings about unclosed sectors (a few maps here have those), unless they affect loading the WAD or gameplay. Remember, MAP02 in DOOM2.WAD has 'em too. :D


Surreily's map
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 2 + ultratex.wad
Exit with 100%/100%
No errors found. There are some overlapping linedefs but I didn't notice anything wrong while playing.
Bonus points to the author for making another map that works in Chocolate Doom (with -merge ultratex.wad). There's some HOM to the left as you look down through the blue-key door, but I think it's only visible with gamma turned way up. Never seen a Surreily map before, so what a nice surprise to find his first entry easily on par with the best.


AD_79's map
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 9 + ultratex.wad
Exit with 100%/100%
No errors of any kind. Works in Choco! (except the sky is from D2, not new, but what can you do...)
MAP12 was among the best (if not the best) in abyspe15 - it felt just like a 33rd map that wouldn't fit into PLUTONIA.WAD and had to be left out - so really I could hardly expect anything less here. A little easier this time, methinks, but I would be the last playtester to complain about a map being too easy. :D

I did find something ... err ... interesting:

Spoiler

Prb+


Choco

Weird, huh?

[AD_79]

Oh, you know what that is? I made the map using uacultra.wad as the resource, not ultratex.wad. Loading it with uacultra.wad shows what it should be, a blue screen of death :P

[Never_Again]

Indeed, there's a blue-screen texture with "-file uacultra.wad ad79_abysped16.wad":

Spoiler

Thank you for the clarification, I think this is important info for the compiler.

[SleepyVelvet]

AD_79 said:

...made the map using uacultra.wad as the resource, not ultratex.wad...

i did the same with mine.

[Never_Again]

TMC, you copy this? ;)

Capellan's map
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 2 + ultratex.wad
Exit with 100%/100%
No errors. However, that's not saying much; kind of like saying TNT MAP01 has no errors. A third flawless speedmap in a row, WTF? You're all a bunch of goddam cheaters!

Yep, works in Choco all the way through, too; just as advertized. I did dig up something even more bizarre this time:

Spoiler

Choco -merge ultratex.wad -file ultbeach.wad

The damnedest thing, it goes away by itself in a while and turns into plain old blue water.

Shit, that's a lot of free entertainment for one day. Thank you, guys. ;)

[4shockblast]

Updated the link, it should be the same link. I don't really understand the slime trail, it didn't happen every time for me, I changed some stuff around on that linedef and it hasn't happened yet, but I'm not sure. I added an exit sign as well. Also, the cyber platform on the right of the slaughter area had no monster blocking linedefs, so I added them, and the bars that raise to block the main area weren't narrow enough, now they block the way back. Now the only errors are terribly aligned columns. :D

As for adding skill settings, I don't really think it's worth it. The start platforming section is hard but doable even without ZDoom air control, so I am not making it any easier on UV, and I cannot think of a way to make it easier on lower skill settings without any major changes. I also assume that anyone who can get past the first section legitimately can probably deal with the rest of the map, heh.

[Never_Again]

@4shock: I hear you. I agree with you that the start is the hardest part by far and cutting down monster counts elsewhere for lower skill setting is like trying to stop a shotgun wound to the belly with a bandaid. I think calling it the first platforming sequence "doable" is stretching it a bit, though. Well, it's your map. Artistic vision and all that ... I'm just afraid that very few players will be able to get out of the starting area without noclip.
BTW, the updated version has Player 1 start next to the BFG. The slime trail is still there. The exit is now marked, but don't you think that sign looks kind of tacky on the floor in front of it? Would look much better in an alcove behind the exit, somewhere a third way up the wall, perhaps.

Last map!
NoisyVelvet's Fatman
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 9 + ultratex.wad
I can exit with 100% secrets, but 100% kills is tricky. There's a weird bug on this map, something I haven't seen outside of a few old WADs like FORGEX.

There's an invisible hole in floor in the north-eastern corner of sector 32. It's a little south-east from the medkit (thing 154). The hole is large enough to hold a Revenant and a couple of Imps, who tend to wander in there from the neighboring sector and can only be killed with splash damage from rockets.

Rebuilding the nodes (and the blockmap) with Zennode seems to fix it, although I'm too tired to test it thoroughly now.

TL;DR:
Four maps need fixing
- Alfonzo's
- Pinchy's
- TheMionicDonut's
- NoisyVelvet's
4shock needs to reupload, too.

5/15, not bad.

[SleepyVelvet]

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/56831507/TheLonesomeFatmanWhoIsTooLargeToHug-v2.wad

That's a cool bug. I rebuilt it in Zenmode, but it broke the invisible wall sealing off the fatman. Instead, for that weird trapped-in-wall bug though, I fixed the map by snapping the two vertices, the ones that made up the offending wall, to a larger grid unit (instead of 1x1).

other changes: I marked the bfg waterfall a secret; widened the fatguy wall; fixed the crusher hom at the end of the map; aligned the flat when you pass through the silent teleporter at the start. I feel kinda dirty though for fixing things in excess like this though.

[TMD]

There were two maps not posted on dwf. I'll message them to you later.

Thank you for the bug tests

[Fletcher`]

Never_Again, did you try my map? Quest for the Lost Cyberdemon.

[Jimmy]

scifista42 said:

Jimmy, your map is standardly conventional yet very fun to play, and big thanks for resisting the urge to put an unfunny squad of archdicks to the exit! :)

Thanks! :D Yeah I've decided that I'm no longer going to be a blatant meme-pusher. :P

[Never_Again]

No, I still have to do yours and SlashBane's. Thank you for the reminder.

rf' map (or should that be rf''s? ;)
Tested with Prboom-plus -complevel 9 + ultratex.wad
Exit with 100%/100%
No errors, only a Zombie at the start (thing 23) is stuck in a rock and can't move.
I got it to run in Choco as well, with "-merge uacultra.wad"; and everything was fine (not counting the absence of the custom sky, but that was expected) until about a third of the way into the level it VPO'd on approach to the lava crossing next to the blue-key door.

Oh well, at least I figured out that the visual glitch on Capellan's map was caused by merging ultratex.wad instead of uacultra.wad. Does that mean that uacultra should be preferred to ultratex in all cases?


@NoisyVelvet: went through the new version twice, keeping an eye on the gang in that sector with IDDTIDDT. They tend to jostle in that corner while you come up from the blue key. Neither time anyone sank through the floor. Good jpb.
I seem to recall reading somewhere that setting the grid that low was asking for trouble; but IIRC that was with regard to slime trails.


SlashBane's map
Tested in Prboom-plus with -complevel 2
Exited with 85% kills (no secrets present).
No errors found. Big ammo shortage like on FuzzballFox's map, but 100% kills is not the intended goal on this map, I think. You don't even get a chance to stir up much infighting as the floor of the whole ground level is of the -10% damage variety, and there are no rad suits anywhere.
Exited with 102% kills in Choco (!) after patiently creeping around in godmode for like 8 minutes. Lots of HOM around the corners, even after rebuilding nodes; I guess Choco just can't handle it.

That's all the maps that have been posted in this thread, right?

[TMD]

Correct. I think mugsy is the only map not in thread.

And yes, I said use uacultra instead of u uactex because I am a dumb and did not know what uactex was called.

[4shockblast]

Reuploaded, had a different node builder for testing and saving which is why I didn't see the slime trail when testing. Should be completely fixed now, I hope. As for the exit sign, I kinda like its position and the fact that it's curved, so I'll just keep it where it is.

[Never_Again]

The slime trail is gone. Did you change the floor of the first section from lava to sky, too?

[4shockblast]

Never_Again said:

The slime trail is gone. Did you change the floor of the first section from lava to sky, too?

The first section always had skyfloors. The others had lava.

[Never_Again]

OK.
TMD, you were going to PM me links to the level(s) not in this thread? I haven't received any messages from you.

[TMD]

Haven't been at home computer. Give me a minute. Will send from laptop