Ater Fieri: hellish episode now on Idgames!!!

[nicolas monti]

Finally the 9 maps are done, the goal was to make a hellish episode themed in doom1 hell maps, you can take this as the unreleased favillesco third episode.

Some maps are plain hell and some are hell with bits of techbase just as many original E3 levels.

Map 3 is from 2017, map 9 is very old, from 2012, done just after my first megawad "eviltech" was released and some minor tweaking was done in its gameplay for this release. Map07 is from the last days and the remaining 6 were done in early 2019 before starting working in the "mass extinction" megawad

 

Idgameslink

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/aterfier

 

Changes since the first public beta:

 

EDIT: a bug in map04 that prevented the player to progress in vanilla and boom has been fixed.

 

EDIT: fixed some strange behaviour that prevents the player to reach one of the secrets in map01.

Fixed player stuck if gets early to de Inv secret via AV launching in map02.

Removed 40 redundant rockets from map03 and redundant radsuits and also added one extra secret that was untagged by mistake.

Also some minor light tweaking for map02 and 03.

 

EDIT: unreachable secret chainsaw in map04 fixed, also added a green armor in the big room after the blue door.

40 cells and around 30 rockets removed in map06 but added some bullet boxes to prevent ammo starvation and added an extra RL at the end of the plasmagun path to deal with the imp hordes if you started with that portion of the map.

Big jump that leads to the blue key area at map07 made easier.

 

EDIT: final room at map2 now reachable from outside in coop if player dies inside. Inescapable pit not damaging in map04 fixed. You can now go back for secret hunting after final encounter in map07 and fixed a couple of damaging steps over lava at the east of map08.

 

EDIT: floating armor bonus in map04 fixed. Added 10+ rockets 8+ shells and 100+ ammo bullets in map06. Added new TITLEPIC and INTERPIC with respective midis

 

EDIT: refined some lighting at the SE area of map09 and added a delayer for opening the exit during the final fight.

Added Logo.

 

EDIT: added exit sign in map06 and added map mame lumps

 

EDIT: central tower teleport destination rotated in map07 and final courtyard's south border modified to avoid camping.

Better distribution of rockets in map08 to avoid ammo starving if you choose the blue key path first, also rad suit at the eastmost area pushed back to avoid grabbing when turning into the steps and finally monsters from the last closet can now teleport into the exit area if you choose to bypass the fight (all things seen in @HAK3180's playthrough).

Secret Inv more visible in map09

 

EIDT: now you cannot jump off the tower and escape the fight from the soulsphere secret in map04

2 extra radsuits added in strategical points in map09.

 

The maps:

 

Map01: tip eht fo mottob

Map02: 289 BC

Map03: oneiros

Map04: evil kivitas

Map05: telesto lab

Map06: mesmerized

Map07: dead mantra

Map08: sic itur ad astra

Map09: meaningless life

 

Feel free to suggest any change for the best!

 

Edited July 13 by nicolas monti

[RjY]

Ater Fieri

Will this take me to Flavortown??

 

Haha only joking, this looks fantastic!

[nicolas monti]

2 minutes ago, RjY said:

 

Will this take me to Flavortown??

 

Haha only joking, this looks fantastic!

Lol didn't know about that, nor Guy Fieri, I had to google it.

Ater fieri is latin, it means "to become dark".

[gaspe]

Pretty nice map, the music makes it also good to be the opener if that's your intention. I'm looking forward too se what you will do with the rest of the episode with the hellish themes. I have attached my fda, I didn't finish the map perhaps there could be some more health along the way. The only thing that I didn't like was the final cyberdemon,  it's a thing that you do very often and in this case I feel that it isn't necessary, also to have more variety since I was kinda expecting it.

I spotted only a couple of problems: the lines 1388-1399-1400 (lifts at the secret berserk pack) aren't textured so you see some homs. And the secret invisibility is unreachable, the passage to the teleporter in the nukage is too narrow and you can't pass.

oneiros00_fdagaspe.zip

[rehelekretep]

@nicolas monti complevel 2 or 9? im guessing 2 but wanted to make sure.

[nicolas monti]

On 9/19/2017 at 7:20 AM, gaspe said:

Pretty nice map, the music makes it also good to be the opener if that's your intention. I'm looking forward too se what you will do with the rest of the episode with the hellish themes. I have attached my fda, I didn't finish the map perhaps there could be some more health along the way. The only thing that I didn't like was the final cyberdemon,  it's a thing that you do very often and in this case I feel that it isn't necessary, also to have more variety since I was kinda expecting it.

I spotted only a couple of problems: the lines 1388-1399-1400 (lifts at the secret berserk pack) aren't textured so you see some homs. And the secret invisibility is unreachable, the passage to the teleporter in the nukage is too narrow and you can't pass.

oneiros00_fdagaspe.zip

Nice, I'll fix that and see what can I do with the final fight.

About variety yes, there will be, it's guaranteed, even roman aqueducts and no joking.

 

10 hours ago, rehelekretep said:

@nicolas monti complevel 2 or 9? im guessing 2 but wanted to make sure.

I should run with complevel 2, that's how things are planned.

Edited September 20, 2017 by nicolas monti

[nicolas monti]

Second map which will take the first slot of the episode just realised, I hope you enjoy!!!

[Ribbiks]

Interesting map, surprisingly accessible in terms of layout/texturing. The monti-isms are still evident, but overall it feels like a more conventional approach. The relatively modest resources, extensive use of darkness, and spiky difficulty makes for an entertaining play. fda attached.

tipeht00_fda_rbk.lmp.zip

[nicolas monti]

24 minutes ago, Ribbiks said:

Interesting map, surprisingly accessible in terms of layout/texturing. The monti-isms are still evident, but overall it feels like a more conventional approach. The relatively modest resources, extensive use of darkness, and spiky difficulty makes for an entertaining play. fda attached.

tipeht00_fda_rbk.lmp.zip

Thanks ribbiks, I'll check the file tomorrow, I've tried to make it small and simple, doom1 vibes off course. Check the second map of my other project if you want, it was released a month ago or so.

 

[ShadesMaster]

 

Playthrough of the first level, but I didn't save so I died a few times. Will have a sucessfull playthrough - with SAVES - in the near future!

[ShadesMaster]

 

And HERE'S the full playthru of the first map!

[nicolas monti]

24 minutes ago, ShadesMaster said:

 

And HERE'S the full playthru of the first map!

Awesome man, I hope you enjoyed the style, wait for the next one!

[ShadesMaster]

Absolutely did! This is what DOOM 2's Hell should have been - more evocative of DOOM 1. Nirvana fell flat, but this pulls it off.

[nicolas monti]

Third map done!

https://www.mediafire.com/file/j67dn2wgx6so2c8/289bc00.wad/file

 

First post updated with pics.

EDIT: file updated saved with different nodebuilder to fix slimetrails.

Edited June 4, 2019 by nicolas monti

[Ribbiks]

20 hours ago, nicolas monti said:

Third map done!

 

I liked it! I dig the off-kilter pacing where you feel like you're drowning in resources while wandering about the sandbox, which sets you up for some surprise thorny bits towards the end. I let the YSK mobs get a bit out of hand, so by the time I got around to the BSK I was scant on ammo so it played out practically like a slaughter-lite setup. Also I like the floating door at the start, like you just came from a banal techbase somewhere and you tripped and fell into a weirder zone :p

 

Not sure about that midi though, it has this section at a couple minutes in where it seems like everything but the drum track drops out.. seemed a bit too... sparse.

[nicolas monti]

2 hours ago, Ribbiks said:

 

I liked it! I dig the off-kilter pacing where you feel like you're drowning in resources while wandering about the sandbox, which sets you up for some surprise thorny bits towards the end. I let the YSK mobs get a bit out of hand, so by the time I got around to the BSK I was scant on ammo so it played out practically like a slaughter-lite setup. Also I like the floating door at the start, like you just came from a banal techbase somewhere and you tripped and fell into a weirder zone :p

 

Not sure about that midi though, it has this section at a couple minutes in where it seems like everything but the drum track drops out.. seemed a bit too... sparse.

Thanks, I was rushy with the midi, surely I'll cut out that final part or choose another midi.

I was unsure about the ammo, I felt it was too much too but at the end of the level I was almost empty no matter which way I played it so I guess its ok.

For the next map I have something different in mind, more unique.

[nicolas monti]

Fourth map for playtesting!

First post updated with pics

 

https://www.mediafire.com/file/gmubepf7flised7/mesmer00.wad/file

[nicolas monti]

Fifth map for playtesting!

First post updated with pics

 

https://www.mediafire.com/file/f80ddpgtjxlop4b/telesto00.wad/file

 

EDIT: added a trap after the switch down the elevator at the east side.

Edited June 21, 2019 by nicolas monti

[Ribbiks]

Mesmerized: Holy cow, this was excellent. With foreknowledge maybe it plays a bit more conventionally, but in my blind attempts I loved the all the messy situations I got into due to lack of resources. There's a nice sense of danger in the dark-as-hell forest exterior, which contrasts with the bright inside sections (which thematically feel like they should be safer but turn out to be surprisingly harsh). Lots of striking visuals. Moody midi choice. The awkward shape of the cyb terrace was cool. The mild platforming en route to the RSK was nice. Possibly my favorite of all the maps you've made. great stuff! (demo attached).

 

Telesto Lab: Also a fun map. The traps in your maps seem to catch me way more off guard than most modern pwads do, as you seem to have no problems with turning what-appear-to-be-casual hallways into an ordeal :p. As usual I'm digging the peculiar shapeliness to everything, pointy awkward hallways, that obnoxiously thin catwalk before the 2-rev room that's just begging for an elastic collision to throw you off (these are all positives). (demo attached).

 

telesto00_fda_rbk.lmp.zip

mesmer00_fda_rbk.lmp.zip

[nicolas monti]

@Ribbiks thanks for your interest, feedback and support, I'm checking those demos at night when I arrive home, based on that I'll see if something has to be improved! Only 4 maps are left for the episode, and I have some ideas for them.

[gaspe]

Hey, it's been a while, here are my fdas from what is MAP02 I guess: ater_fieri_v1_gaspe.zip recorded with prboom+, cl2

 

The secret hunt is always endearing, wasn't able to find many but in some maps I did rather well. Very good choices on the midis as always.

Tip eht fo mottob: my favourite area was the red salad (red marble, blood, and the RSK). The surprise you have when you come back to the starting area was nice. On prboom the pillar with plasmagun doesn't reach the ground, it works fine on zdoom but I don't know what it is, maybe it too much high?

289BC: Cool roman architecture and nice use of the stock textures, using the pipes to creates the pillars. I failed horribly here.

Mesmerized: I loved the them, it was my favourite map. I got some flashbacks of Eviltech as few maps have something similar but here it was repurposed into something different. At the end the imps flooding the forest again can be a bit tiring, I just skipped to the exit.

Telesto Lab: I beat this after a long run. It's very nice map to retry and do different things to see what's better to do. I really wanted to telefrag the cybie :(

[nicolas monti]

9 hours ago, gaspe said:

Hey, it's been a while, here are my fdas from what is MAP02 I guess: ater_fieri_v1_gaspe.zip recorded with prboom+, cl2

 

The secret hunt is always endearing, wasn't able to find many but in some maps I did rather well. Very good choices on the midis as always.

Tip eht fo mottob: my favourite area was the red salad (red marble, blood, and the RSK). The surprise you have when you come back to the starting area was nice. On prboom the pillar with plasmagun doesn't reach the ground, it works fine on zdoom but I don't know what it is, maybe it too much high?

289BC: Cool roman architecture and nice use of the stock textures, using the pipes to creates the pillars. I failed horribly here.

Mesmerized: I loved the them, it was my favourite map. I got some flashbacks of Eviltech as few maps have something similar but here it was repurposed into something different. At the end the imps flooding the forest again can be a bit tiring, I just skipped to the exit.

Telesto Lab: I beat this after a long run. It's very nice map to retry and do different things to see what's better to do. I really wanted to telefrag the cybie :(

For what I've seen so far a couple of traps seem not to work on prboom, you can hear the noise of something lowering, I'll take care of it, also that plasma platform which do not lower entirely.

 

EDIT: on Telesto Lab I'll prevent specters to go into the lift at the East and I'll also prevent straferunning into that secret ledge with health by rising it a bit.

 

EDIT2: everything works on my prboom @gaspe what configuration are you using? What seemed to fail at least in two occasions was "W1 floor lower 8 units above higher floor"

Edited June 25, 2019 by nicolas monti

[nicolas monti]

Sixth map ready for playtesting

Evil Kivitas: 

https://www.mediafire.com/file/asar62brpuh664y/evilkivitas00.wad/file

 

Pics in the first post!

[nicolas monti]

The episode is done!

File and info in the first thread :)

[Firedust]

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees

[nicolas monti]

9 hours ago, Firedust said:

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees

Thanks for the enthusiasm man! I told you I was going to finish this one :)

[Firedust]

Two levels in and it's great! Except it feels like The Shores of Hell for some reason haha

[nicolas monti]

5 hours ago, Firedust said:

Two levels in and it's great! Except it feels like The Shores of Hell for some reason haha

4 levels are plain hell, no computers, tech stuff etc. Other 4 are a mix of E2 and E3 (gstone + compohso /cement etc) a la pandemonium /house of pain if you will, and finally there is one that is hellish only too but also deviant from the classic format. It's pretty clear what class each map belongs to.

[Firedust]

I have a question. If you're pistol-starting, how are you supposed to take down the final cyberdemon on map 3? Tele-fragging is extremely unreliable as he walks away as soon as he enters the teleporter. And I don't think there's enough ammo to go around. What's the catch?

[HAK3180]

@Firedust, when I encountered that old friend, I had ammo of 174/73/28/60. 73 shells alone is enough to kill two cyberdemons, and of course with just 20 more cells, two-shot BFGing is on the table. And I only found 2 secrets. That was my Ultra-Violence pistol start experience, for whatever you might deem it to be worth.