Yellow Signal (Single boom compatible map)

[Dopaminecloud]

First map of the year, started in february but left untouched for nearly a month until I picked it up again a few days ago.

It's a short linear space base and I would consider it of medium difficulty. Credits to my friend for the midi which got me to start this map in the first place.

Tested in gzdoom and prboom, all difficulties implemented.

 

I'm looking for feedback moreso on gameplay than anything, but everything goes.

Enjoy.

 

NOTE: It requires cc4-tex (link below) and you must load cc4-tex first.

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

Downloads:

cc4-tex.wad

Yellowsignal.wad

 

[NinjaLiquidator]

Good map, I was myself thinking that yellow-white combination would be cool but I never made map with it. You were fair with health and ammo, it was not over-difficult and fun to play. Negative things are a) you still repeat trap cliche after switches and b) your map requires external texture pack but better would be if used textures were already part of your wad.

[Ed_Deth]

looks nice. downloading now. edit this later.  Liked it please make more. Thank you.

 

Edited March 31, 2017 by Ed_Deth : Had more to say.

[Walter confetti]

Looks cool....

[Zahid]

 here's a failed uv fda on prboom using iddt*2

visually very pleasant map with rather predictable layout and gameplay....it feels a space base to me so trees looks awkward...

lighting is most striking point here for me....fun overall 

 

fda.zip

[Dopaminecloud]

Too predictable huh. I could use a crash course on interesting gameplay design. 

For the other points:

-I couldn't justify to myself including the textures and increasing the file size for just a single and short map, working under the assumption enough people already have cc4-tex lying around anyway.

-As for the trees, rather than just a base I had initial plans to make it look more like a colony of sorts. Ended up scrapping an entire second half of the map which would've included an indoor biodome-like nature area due to burnout.

 

Thanks for playing and thanks for the demo Zahid. Glad you had fun.

 

[baja blast rd.]

Here is a casual max. 

This is a pretty solid map overall. Visually, gray bars are already a theme of the past: I'm reminded of Lunatic and various post-CC4 maps of this sort, mostly. But I think you added enough to keep it from being bland: void, yellow highlights, trees, etc. 

 

The map itself plays mostly fine. The most dangerous encounter is the first fight with the archvile -- without the secret soulsphere that is, which allows you to tank an AV hit with impunity. I'm not a big fan of the pain elemental in this building, however: the combination of it and chaingunners means that in a blind playthrough one should camp this room and wait for the PE to float over, which is dull. The void area is fun and suitably tense due to the dark, but this little nook is pretty bad, because it's possible to get caught in there and of course the black wall is indistinguishable from open dark space in the heat of the action. The last fight is somewhat of an anticlimax. The first vile fight is more dangerous and exciting. I'm tempted to suggest adding a second archvile somewhere (at the back of the room behind the cacos, maybe), and making the green armor a blue armor on all skills to compensate. The player easily has enough cells to handle two viles. Cacos operating the door to enter is a great touch, though. :D

 

By the way, where's the midi from? 

[RjY]

Here is a 53 minute first attempt demo which dies 8(!) times:

1. early death due to getting caught up in monsters with only a pistol before spotting the weapons
2. reached first archvile trap in the garden centre, wasn't expecting it, didn't have correct weapon selected, dead
3. survived dark sector, reached the observation deck, trap was obvious but I still screwed it up
4. stupid death in the dark sector, to revenant missiles basically
5. reached observation deck again, ran for the gate not having noticed on previous occasion that it needed a second switch to open, and also that it was flooded with cacodemons
6. early stupid death to chaingunner bunker, due to being irritated and playing sloppily
7. see above
8. suicide to hellknight after being annoyed at losing too much of the soulsphere stupidly to cacodemons around rocket launcher.
9. successful exit despite losing soulsphere to demons in dark sector having survived largely unscathed through the garden. Lurked in green armour turret to survive observation deck. Finally, nearly dying to unexpected teleporting archvile by exit. If I'd died there I probably would have quit the recording.

Final stats 138/136 0 51/51 2/2 12:29+30 12:29 but like I say the demo is 112018 tics [53:20].

 

Gameplay seems quite straightforward and "sedate" except when it isn't and drops a load of monsters on you unexpectedly. Looks great, remindful of Vrack, Sunlust, Kassman's CC4 maps, and vaguely of Green Herring maps for some reason, probably the evil traps heh. Nicely interconnected layout that loops around itself; even though it's basically linear you don't really notice. I'm glad you didn't do an extra section, the map is a good length as it is. Good detail, solid look avoiding bland featurelessness without going to an excess of filigree linedefs. Enjoyed the secrets, not excessively hard to find. Uranus indeed.

 

Suggestions for minor fixes:

• Put monster blocking lines around sector 137 so rockets don't push the revenants off it
• The outside of the chaingunner hut containing the super shotgun has a texture misalignment, compare linedef 936 to the one to its left
• Could argue the hut behind the chaingun containing health bonuses (sector 944 etc.) and the plasma gun pedestal or surrounding area being made secret, even though they're both pretty obvious - nothing wrong with mixing easy and hard secrets
• Observation deck archvile doesn't wake up if you run away from the switch quickly enough, as I discovered to my benefit. I almost tried to punch it but it got past me out of the alcove and I thought better of it.

[Dopaminecloud]

Entertaining playstyle and excellent feedback.

However I don't think I'll be uploading the updated map unless I ever feel like adding that second half. I'll be taking the feedback with me to the next map though, whenever that may be.

 

The midi is an original composition by my friend RNF, whos name I put in the map itself as credits. 

 

Edit:

Haha, I don't think I'll be watching an hour long demo for this little map. Thanks for the summary.

Perhaps rather than another part I could just make what I had planned into a follow up map. 

 

Implemented most of the fixes too, I added a hellknight in the archvile alcove to block any initial rockets so it won't be killed too quickly.

Edited March 25, 2017 by Dopaminecloud

[Suitepee]

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/132301488 = my playthrough on UV.

 

Generally good gameplay here, with good use of monsters in tight spaces. The backpack room could have perhaps used a Baron encounter or something to block the passage out of the room, but otherwise some fun encounters here. (I even argued that a Cyber could be used for the exit)

 

Texturing was good on the whole, but as Dobu_GM pointed out in my Twitch chat a bit bland having the same grey textures both outside and inside the space base, bar the cool black and yellow "Sunlust-esque" area (the visual highlight of the wad!) in the middle. I liked how you indicated the direction to go with the 'ruined' stuff in the tower early on also.

 

Good stuff overall, I look forward to seeing a bit more from you in the future. Hope this feedback helps.

[Pinchy]