Final Chambers (Boom-compatible) [WIP?]

[NEANDERTHAL]

A while back, I made a level called Final Chambers. I released it unfinished (it's my bad habit) and it didn't receive much notice. So, I finished it (finally) and here it is:

Final Chambers!

 

A large map with ~120 monsters, and branching paths. Not every play-through may be the same!

 

Feel free to record demos/videos/etc, they're useful for re-balancing and possible revisions.

 

Changelog:

Spoiler

3-21-17:

 - lava now does less damage.

 - shotgun duo at first arena is now imp duo.

 - many monsters are now deaf.

 - final boss revised heavily.

 

Map Layout (spoilers!)

Spoiler

Here ya go:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2XLVgBhkr0ddmRnQzJfYkpiY3c

Edited March 24, 2017 by NEANDERTHAL

[Pure Hellspawn]

by big, how many monsters do you plan on having in this map?

[NEANDERTHAL]

Probbably around 120-200. By big, I mostly mean actual space to move around more than monster count.

[NEANDERTHAL]

Bump for new version!

[baja blast rd.]

Hey, I had a lot more fun with this one than Wonderwaste, which was a nice surprise. Here is a playthrough (not a first playthrough, of course): 

 

 

The start here is very unpleasant, I think, mostly for two reasons: 1) The two ledge shotgunners in the area you drop into, which can inflict random and unavoidable damage which can pretty much doom you, since there is no armor and only one medkit as recovery. If they inflict 40%+ damage you might as well just reset, especially if the former humans troopers chip in with damage too. 2) The fact that the shotgun box is wedged in the little step adjacent to the nukage in prBoom+ (probably is fine in the port you use). In fact there are a lot of stuck monsters in this map, which leads me to believe it was tested only in (G)ZDoom with monsters. 

 

After that, the action becomes fun! I like inducing infighting between the arachnotron and baron (technically unnecessary if you leave as soon as you can), and the close-quarters fights that follow are the highlight of the map. It's also cool thematically how both fights are introduced by lowering floors. It's not too hard to finish these fights with a lot of health and armor, however. I'd rather see that blue armor and a medkit or two moved to the very beginning of the map (before any monsters are encountered), for a more natural difficulty progression. (I found the start much more dangerous than this pair of fights.) 

 

I don't really like the fact that 20% nukage is used in the blue key 'puzzle'; radsuits leak with 20% damage nukage, and it's mostly just unpleasant. The next room has a couple of barons in it, which really have no reason to exist, other than as potentially a 'ammo tax', which I'm not really a fan of. At this point the challenge is pretty much over, though. It's also possible to leave the map without even SEEING the spider mastermind. At the end of my video you see me wiggle my screen at the blue armor, because I was originally baffled as to what it was there for. The reason is because in a previous playthrough I just hit the exit switch before the mastermind was even revealed. The fight doesn't seem like it'd be an interesting one anyway. I'd just retreat and camp it. 

 

I noticed it was possible to take another path, hitting the early red key switch, but I didn't get the SSG or even the berserk along this route so it seemed like it would be tedious.

 

 

[NEANDERTHAL]

Excellent work, @rdwpa !

 

I've revised the map a bit. Many monsters are now deaf, which resolves some problems. The shotgunners at the first arena are new imps, too, which should make it more fair and make movement more interesting. I've also changed the spiderdemon to a cyberdemon in difficulties higher than easy, and changed the way it's introduced so you don't leave early. Also, the lava no longer leaks thru the radsuit.