Going Nowhere Fast [Community Project]

[joe-ilya]

After spending 6 months on these maps, I've finally made the most promising maps for openning a new community project that I can do.

Images of all the maps so far :

Spoiler

MAP01


MAP05


MAP13


MAP25


MAP27

Mapping rules :
-Must use Doom 2 as the Iwad
-Must be Boom compatible
-Must use cc4-tex.wad texture pack (can be found here) and/or stock Doom 2 textures (alterenative skies will be provided for each episode later)
-Use one of the many themes provided to be the majority of the map (Themes provided in the map list)
-The final map of each episode must have a death exit as a non-secret exit (Except for MAP30, this rule also applies to MAP31 and MAP32)
-The final map of each episode must have no invulnerabilities [Except for MAP30 (this rule is here incase the player has the invulnerability while going for the death exit (rule won't apply to a map that uses the telefragging voodoo doll technique), this rule also applies to MAP31 and MAP32]
-Must have an exit and the player start spawn
-Mustn't use nazis (outside of secrets and the secret maps, commander keens may be used only if aren't seen in regular maps)

Mapping tips (that I could otherwise include in the map myself) :
-Death exits should be a cutscene connecting to the next episode's theme
-Use custom MIDIs
-Implement difficulty settings
-Should be multiplayer compatible
-Should have a title
-MAP15 and MAP31 should have secret exits
-The slaughterfest maps don't require a ton of monsters, the Scythe series never exceeded the 1000 monsters counter, you don't have to exceed that limit for the map to be considered a slaughterfest, but feel free to do so if you're an extremist
-Have it bugless
-Have at least one item and secret

Maps so far :

-Short maps.

Rural areas/villages
MAP01 : "Mass genocide"* by joe-ilya
MAP02 : Open (feel free to use this rough layout plan by Memfis)
MAP03 : (a rural environment set in/by a swamp)** by ChaingunnerX
MAP04 : (castles and farms)** by Deadwing
MAP05 : "Library of spells"* by D0paminecloud

Dry wild west
MAP06 : (untitled)** by walter confalonieri
MAP07 : (untitled)** by 40oz
MAP08 : (untitled)(WIP) by bzzrak
MAP09 : (untitled)** by Crunchynut44
MAP10 : Bad religion** by Lo_Mein

-Adventurous and explorational maps

Spaceships
MAP11 : Open
MAP12 : Open
MAP13 : "From planet to planet"* by joe-ilya
MAP14 : (Untitled)** by Surreily
MAP15 : (Untitled)** by Quantum Dranger

Urban environments at night
MAP16 : Open
MAP17 : Open
MAP18 : Open
MAP19 : Open
MAP20 : Open

-Slaughterfests

Nature/aztec
MAP21 : Open
MAP22 : Open
MAP23 : Open
MAP24 : Open
MAP25 : "Twilight Sparkle massacre"* by joe-ilya

Hell environments
MAP26 : Open (feel free to use this map by SArais for visual inspiration if you want)
MAP27 : "Slaughterhouse"* by joe-ilya
MAP28 : Open
MAP29 : Open
MAP30 : Open

*These maps are in the same wad file.
**These maps are unpublished.

Spoiler

Secret levels
MAP31 : Deathmatch environment (a mixture of materials ; wood, marble, dirt, grass, fire, bricks, metal, rock and greenwar/dwango) : (untitled)** by Outrageous Videos
MAP32 : A super secret level by joe-ilya (final release only)

Ideas for maps :
MAP03 - Going by a grand structure in several ways for 3d effect and interactivity.
MAP04 - A dungeon with troops suffering in different ways.
MAP19 - A ghetto on fire
MAP24 - Going lower and lower, and then into the metallic core of the earth
MAP22 - An exposed underground structure visible open from above the ground (it's digged out)
MAP29 - Climbing and jumping into a volcano.
MAP30 - Inside a volcano riding skulls and mortar over lava while fighting a boss or a few.

Story :
UAC decided to get onto another experiment into getting rid of the continous invasion of hell, so they got their favorite doomguy, but instead of commanding him in person, the company decided to hypnotize doomguy so he won't have to feel exhausted during his mission.
Now you're a UAC scientist who controls the hypnotized doomguy via a sense controller that was taught to the hypnotized doomguy and to you by the experiment founder.

 

Edited March 26, 2017 by joe-ilya : New slot claimant for MAP15.

[Fuzzball]

The story only works if the whole wad is played in one room on a PC screen with empty beer bottles everywhere and piles of garbage and some VR shit going on.
Make it work :P

[joe-ilya]

Make that a HUD if you want.

[Fuzzball]

Gee yes I'll make it like everybody else can make the maps and the textures and the music and the wad and OH YEAH I SEE HOW IT IS
Edit: Okay I fell for bait- Iyla try making another megawad yourself this time? It's all good and well "heading" a project and getting everybody to do the work for you and calling it a community proje- oh wait... OH

[AD_79]

I like that MAP05 screenshot. Good job, D0paminecloud. Can't say I feel any major Scythe vibes from any of these shots, though. Maybe it feels more like it in-game?

Also, I can't stop laughing at "Twilight Sparkle Massacre". Seriously??

[baja blast rd.]

Best map name. Hahaha.

[Memfis]

Consider using different sky textures. IMO it looks lazy when wads use cc4-tex and don't replace the skies, and it makes them feel just like all other wads that use the same pack.

[joe-ilya]

AD_79 said:

I like that MAP05 screenshot. Good job, D0paminecloud. Can't say I feel any major Scythe vibes from any of these shots, though. Maybe it feels more like it in-game?

Also, I can't stop laughing at "Twilight Sparkle Massacre". Seriously??

Maps don't have to look like something from Scythe, the only thing Scythe-inspired is the size of the maps and the expansion of episodes to be 5-map sized.
"Twilight Sparkle massacre" is a callback to "Twilight massacre" from Speed Of Doom.

@Memfis Yeah, I'll add that to the texture pack rule, hopefully it'll attract more mappers.

[Memfis]

Wouldn't it be better to establish some skies beforehand instead of relying on people using random ones? You know, for consistency and stuff. It doesn't have to be 3 skies exactly, anything is possible with sky transfers (6 episodes = 6 skies?).

[joe-ilya]

You're actually right, I'll withdraw the rule about giving the mapper a choice to use a random sky, the current cc4-tex.wad skies will be used as placeholders untill I find skies that fit all 6 episodes and the secret maps, first I need at least one map in every episode so I could compare and contrast to see fit.

[Cynical]

joe-ilya said:

MAP25 : "Twilight Sparkle massacre"* by joe-ilya

Speed of Doom/My Little Pony crossover? Well, now I really have seen everything.

Also, "Scythe tribute" and "-cl 9" aren't things that go together...

[Obsidian]

joe-ilya said:

Maps don't have to look like something from Scythe, the only thing Scythe-inspired is the size of the maps and the expansion of episodes to be 5-map sized.

Sooooo......why even mention Scythe then? You might as well ditch the name and think up a new one like "Joe-Ilya's Mountainous Pile of Wobbling Giblets" or something.

In all seriousness, if you are looking for something to emulate in your maps a better idea might be the original Hell Revealed or possibly Kama Sutra. Look at what makes those maps tick and try to replicate it yourself. As it stands you're nowhere near capable enough to invoke the spirit of Erik Alm in your work.

[Cynical]

HR1 and KSutra are both better than Scythe 1 IMO. Scythe 1's first 28 maps don't seem like they'd be very hard to emulate stylistically (EDIT: Ok, 19 might be tricky).

I tried emulating HR24. I failed miserably. It's not easy.

[joe-ilya]

Cynical said:

Speed of Doom/My Little Pony crossover? Well, now I really have seen everything.

Also, "Scythe tribute" and "-cl 9" aren't things that go together...

Feel free to make a limit-removing map.

Obsidian said:

Sooooo......why even mention Scythe then? You might as well ditch the name and think up a new one like "Joe-Ilya's Mountainous Pile of Wobbling Giblets" or something.

In all seriousness, if you are looking for something to emulate in your maps a better idea might be the original Hell Revealed or possibly Kama Sutra. Look at what makes those maps tick and try to replicate it yourself. As it stands you're nowhere near capable enough to invoke the spirit of Erik Alm in your work.

OK, what about just being simply inspired by the notably good megawads from the 2000's and letting authors have a huge variety of inspiration?

I'll rename the title of this community project into something else.

[Obsidian]

Getting snippy, are we? :P

[Benjogami]

The new title is very good. I'm intrigued.

Edit: whoops nevermind, title #2 was way better than #3. ;)

[joe-ilya]

This is a community project where I'm open for suggestions and maps, snipping this project into shape.

[40oz]

This is awesome :)

I hope this turns out well! It looks like a lot of fun!

[an_mutt]

Maybe it's a bad idea to segment your megawad into 10 small maps, then 10 adventure maps, then 10 slaughtermaps?

[joe-ilya]

How come? That's a logical progression IMO.

[an_mutt]

I think you're confusing map pacing with thematic consistency. Hardly any megawad gives you 10 maps of small maps, then 10 maps of large, etc. etc. Each episode of Scythe 2 starts with a small map, then builds up to a large fifth map that ends that episode. Megawads usually do the same thing across three episodes. The idea of playing 10 adventurous maps in a row, or - god forbid - 10 slaughtermaps in a row is just, god, no. Map 26 of Scythe 2 is a tight and tense Tyson map, for example. Having a mix of map sizes for each map in an episode is really important to giving each episode a good pace. The pace of maps 11-15 of Scythe II is fantastic, because it starts small, gets bigger, then culminates with two lengthy and cinematic maps that are areally satisfying to play together. You can choose episode themes that automatically feel like a certain style of map (for example, 'Urban environments at night' is an episode theme that sounds like it will be mostly explorative maps, but you still need to include one or two maps that are a little different or else 5 maps of the same kind of thing will get stale)

edit: looking at the 6 episode themes you've chosen, a few of them feel too vague (episodes 1 & 5) or too stock (episode 6). Try something different! Have hell not be the last episode. 'Urban environment at night' sounds like an awesome episode theme, because it's more specific than 'Hell' or 'Aztec', and just reading the words of the episode description paint a specific idea of what the episode will look like and how it will play out. Some other ideas for episodes could be like 'Dr. Sleep's Hell', or 'Sandy Petersen's Hell', or 'Iced-Over Abandoned Village', or 'Classy-as-fuck Hell'. 'El-Dorado'! 'Underground Flooded Aztec Town'. 'Neo-Tenochtitlan'. 'Spooky Ghost Jungle'. I'm just pulling ideas out of my ass here, but you could do the same thing! Basically I'd like to see a community project focused around small episodes actually do something cool with its episode theme choices.

[joe-ilya]

Adventurous maps can be small, slaughter maps can be small, and small maps can be even smaller.
MAP01 and MAP06 will be tiny maps, MAP05 is a relatively small map, MAP11 and MAP16 will be short adventurous maps, MAP15 and MAP20 will be a big adventurous map like your MAP15 for NOVA II and same will go on for a third episode.

EDIT: According to your newer edit, you want the episodes to be gimmicky, that'll get super stale, I mean, your suggestions were oddly specific.

The themes I've chosen are open enough for a person to look at them a different way than anyone else.

The rural theme could be set in a tower, a windmill, a super structure, ruins, villages, farms, cottages, condos.
The urban theme could be set in a ghetto, a sandbox city, a burning and collapsing city, an alleyway, a flooded town you parkour above.
The nature/aztec theme could be set in a wasteland, a frozen wasteland, a volcano, a cave, a plain, a hill, a pit, a river, a beach, a forest, a jungle.
The hell theme is familiar to the nature theme, only it's vaguely hellish as however the mapper sees so.

[Zaiman12345]

This wad looks great!

[Memfis]

Demos for maps 01, 05 and 13

01 had a really clever start, I've never seen anything like that before. Then it was just pistol gameplay, which is not my thing so I can't comment on it, but the locations were kinda interesting to explore. Perhaps they could use more color variety as I got bored of looking at all the brown stuff. Add some blue torches everywhere like in the first area? The lift seemed a bit awkward to step on without hitting the ceiling on the way up, and I thought it looked strange how the switch itself was a lift too. Overall it has some kind of unique atmosphere, which is good for an opener.

05 was fine but again way too brown for my taste. Maybe a nice contrasting sky could fix this problem, I don't know. Nice architecture in the library. Linedef 1682 doesn't need to be repeatable, as it's silly how it makes a sound every time you cross it. The teleporting monsters fight was decent and the ending sequence wacky but amusing.

13 - I like the visual theme overall and the "portal" system was cool as hell, but I think it's too harsh with health pickups and maybe ammo too, not sure. I was begging for a stimpack the whole time, had to constantly hide like a wimp, and just felt exhausted mentally. Tons of enemies everywhere also contributed to this feeling as every area had to be slowly cleaned up and I was progressing like a turtle. That's not quite the Scythe spirit. In my opinion lower monster density and more generous health balance could improve the gameplay a lot and make it more dynamic. An occasional empty area would be very welcome too, not everything has to be filled with cannon fodder.

The other two maps are slaughtermaps I guess so maybe more suitable people can comment on them.

[joe-ilya]

Thanks for the feedback, I'll implement that in the maps.

[dew]

joe-ilya said:

MAP32 : A super secret level by joe-ilya (IDgames release only)

This is so brutal. In a community project, you reserve a spot specifically for yourself that's utterly devoid of feedback/criticism. No one can see this until the idgames release. If it's a Zdoom-only map where you jack off a dehacked NaziKeen-replacement Bibi to a happy ending, no one will know until the upload. No one can object or do anything about their submission. Just trust in the Joe.

[joe-ilya]

Jesus, if you want to bash my maps so bad, go play through my lost maps.

I didn't mean IDgames literally, when the final version of this community project comes around, I'll give time for everyone to playtest the final product, how's that for a bargain?

[BigDickBzzrak]

Spoiler

Uhh. I have a weird-ass vanilla map I'm working on, then something *exotic* for DMP2017, then I might make something for this. Especially because "Going Nowhere Fast" reminds me of the name of a RotT track I particularly love. The themes seem cool too, absolutely disconnected from each other.
Maybe even TWO maps? We'll see.

One question though: how do you intend "Urban areas at night" to look like? I'm not sure you can represent that accurately with Doom's textures.

I'll post some feedback on the existing maps... later. These will also be the first Joe maps I've ever played.
BTW having some maps already at the start really seems great.

[joe-ilya]

?

Urban areas shouldn't be too hard to make with the kickass cc4-tex.wad texture pack listed in the mapping rules, you probably missed that part, that texture pack has everything, heck, some maps that used that texture pack made some rather appealing urban maps and many other themes.
If you're still not sure how to make an urban map, post a screenshot of your map so far (that is if you plan on making an urban themed map or are generally unsure) and hear out the feedback.

Have fun playing and mapping.

[grommile]

bzzrak said:

One question though: how do you intend "Urban areas at night" to look like? I'm not sure you can represent that accurately with Doom's textures.

Look at MAP12, MAP13, MAP15, and MAP16 of DOOM2.WAD.

Then turn down the light level in the outdoor areas.