Nuclear Chunks; A 6 map LR Plutonia WAD (RC1)

[Khorus]

1 hour ago, HAK3180 said:

I was enjoying map three until I became pretty well convinced that I could not progress. I checked your original post, and you did not mention difficulty levels, but I think I have always played on Hurt Me Plenty with no problems. I opened the map in the editor and found that the blue key is only present on hard (the other two are present on all difficulties), so unless I missed something else, I'm thinking it's impossible on easy and medium.

 

Whoops, correct that the key is only on hard. That's what I get for rushing the release a bit, sorry for that. Here's v2 of the third map (all other links updated too)

[RjY]

MAP03 EXIT 162/162 0 32/32 2/3 25:05+19

 

The third map is a day early! First attempt. Third time lucky, I survived this one. Some spoilers below.

Spoiler

 

Chaotic opening with monsters attacking from all directions. Once I'd got it a bit under control I tried to get a few monsters to infight. Couldn't get the arachnotron to get hit by the revenants on the sniper tower (didn't want to shoot said revenants with ssg, too wasteful) but not much success, also got hit down to 7% while messing with revenants by red door and a hellknight that had wandered over. Then I found a rocket launcher and fell onto a berserk, which solved both problems.

 

Red key area: immediately I could see an archvile across the way so I approached very cautiously and cleared monsters one at a time, probably unnecessarily. Pressing the button released enough hellknights to get a "<swear word> that's a lot of hellknights!". I let one sneak up on me and lost half my health. On the other hand, I somehow escaped the teleporting revenant lift trap unscathed. It was well done though, totally unexpected. Found the secret plasma pack, which I actually was able to work out, instead of just falling in it.

 

Returning to first area finds some more monsters have appeared, again was overly cautious dealing with them. Through the red door the yellow key is almost immediately available and ends up feeling a bit redundant. Through its door the exit can be found. What actually happens at the exit was a really impressive effect. I wasn't expecting it at all, great job making it work. No nasty monster at the end this time (honestly I did think "is that it?" when the final chaingunner went down) so for the first time in this collection I survived the map!

 

I got all monsters and items but missed one secret. I do remember wondering if there was anything over on that far ledge by the start, but I must have pushed on every wall in the map except the correct one to lower the barrier. Oh well.

 

In summary this was a really good map, better than the first two I think (not that the first two were bad). If there were any bugs, I didn't spot them. The demo is about the opposite of a speedrun though, so as usual I suggest if you watch it to speed it up a lot.

[Scotty]

Map03 FDA, 100% Kills 0% Secrets

 

Good stuff, enjoyed this the most out of the three maps so far, very fun to play and felt more Plutoniaesque (reminiscent of Plutonia 2 episode 1) to me thanks to better weapons and what felt like a more concerted attempts to try and kill me:

 

Spoiler

The lift rev trap definitely woke me up!

 

[Khorus]

On 26/01/2018 at 4:59 AM, RjY said:

MAP03 EXIT 162/162 0 32/32 2/3 25:05+19

 

The third map is a day early! First attempt. Third time lucky, I survived this one. Some spoilers below.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Chaotic opening with monsters attacking from all directions. Once I'd got it a bit under control I tried to get a few monsters to infight. Couldn't get the arachnotron to get hit by the revenants on the sniper tower (didn't want to shoot said revenants with ssg, too wasteful) but not much success, also got hit down to 7% while messing with revenants by red door and a hellknight that had wandered over. Then I found a rocket launcher and fell onto a berserk, which solved both problems.

 

Red key area: immediately I could see an archvile across the way so I approached very cautiously and cleared monsters one at a time, probably unnecessarily. Pressing the button released enough hellknights to get a "<swear word> that's a lot of hellknights!". I let one sneak up on me and lost half my health. On the other hand, I somehow escaped the teleporting revenant lift trap unscathed. It was well done though, totally unexpected. Found the secret plasma pack, which I actually was able to work out, instead of just falling in it.

 

Returning to first area finds some more monsters have appeared, again was overly cautious dealing with them. Through the red door the yellow key is almost immediately available and ends up feeling a bit redundant. Through its door the exit can be found. What actually happens at the exit was a really impressive effect. I wasn't expecting it at all, great job making it work. No nasty monster at the end this time (honestly I did think "is that it?" when the final chaingunner went down) so for the first time in this collection I survived the map!

 

I got all monsters and items but missed one secret. I do remember wondering if there was anything over on that far ledge by the start, but I must have pushed on every wall in the map except the correct one to lower the barrier. Oh well.

 

In summary this was a really good map, better than the first two I think (not that the first two were bad). If there were any bugs, I didn't spot them. The demo is about the opposite of a speedrun though, so as usual I suggest if you watch it to speed it up a lot.

 

Awesome! That was a great read while I was stuck at my parents yesterday, so cheers for that. Glad you had a good time!

 

On 26/01/2018 at 5:58 AM, Scotty said:

Map03 FDA, 100% Kills 0% Secrets

 

Good stuff, enjoyed this the most out of the three maps so far, very fun to play and felt more Plutoniaesque (reminiscent of Plutonia 2 episode 1) to me thanks to better weapons and what felt like a more concerted attempts to try and kill me:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

The lift rev trap definitely woke me up!

 

 

Thanks! The maps are definitely getting more open and difficult, glad this one suited you more. :)

 

Screen for next weeks map (mostly done, a bit more geometry with a good bit of work left on creating and balancing fights):

 

[gaspe]

MAP02 was nice, like the first map it doesn't feel so much like Plutonia but I'm fine with that, and it seems to me that you aren't going to follow its style (though I got disproven after playing MAP03). Only thing I didn't liked was the final cyberdemon fight. MAP03 is a rather big change from the previous levels, the first part was quite chaotic but you can find easily some safe spots plan well what to do, the red key area is nicely staged I think and I liked the exit ship.

[Khorus]

14 hours ago, gaspe said:

MAP02 was nice, like the first map it doesn't feel so much like Plutonia but I'm fine with that, and it seems to me that you aren't going to follow its style (though I got disproven after playing MAP03). Only thing I didn't liked was the final cyberdemon fight. MAP03 is a rather big change from the previous levels, the first part was quite chaotic but you can find easily some safe spots plan well what to do, the red key area is nicely staged I think and I liked the exit ship.

 

Thanks, glad to hear you're still playing and have enjoyed the new maps! I'm definitely trying to beat my own drum here with my own sense of architecture and design while keeping it familiar. I also want to both give a sense of progression through the maps in both world design and difficulty, one common criticism of mapsets (including megawads) designed by one person (or committee) is the feeling of deja vu. I'm trying to make each area a distinctive landmark and bounce around with the themes while retaining a sense of progression. We'll see how that goes and I'll stop ranting and get back to working on the next map. :)

 

This is basically my job at the moment, but not in a bad way at all!

[baja blast rd.]

FDA for 03. Didn't seem particularly hectic, tbh, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Persistent armor attrition was more of a factor. I didn't notice the RL until later than ideal, my mistake. In the YK trap with the cacos that were sprung free, I KNEW there couldn't be just cacos, so that mancubus warping in (presumably one of those floor-lower-to-highest "delayed" triplines) was a mix of both surprise and "hah! knew it!"

 

chunks3v2_rd_demo.zip

[HAK3180]

I did finally play this and I thought it was really good. Funny, I'm currently finishing up a map with a boat exit, so I appreciated that. I thought the map was surprisingly short based on initial expectations. The opening section and the blue key section were quite a bit longer than the rest of the map, and I didn't mind that at all. Hub + 3 key maps are great, but this was a nice front-loaded variation to it.

 

Thumbs up from me!

[Khorus]

Here's the link to Map04! (*cheer*yay*) We stop off for some fuel for our boat on an island, pity it's been buggered by demons. Let's kill them! The music is another track from the Open Transport Tycoon music pack, it may be a bit sedate for some but it help gives the map a sense of exploration and place that I wanted.

 

 

 

 

On 28/01/2018 at 7:31 PM, rdwpa said:

FDA for 03. Didn't seem particularly hectic, tbh, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Persistent armor attrition was more of a factor. I didn't notice the RL until later than ideal, my mistake. In the YK trap with the cacos that were sprung free, I KNEW there couldn't be just cacos, so that mancubus warping in (presumably one of those floor-lower-to-highest "delayed" triplines) was a mix of both surprise and "hah! knew it!"

 

chunks3v2_rd_demo.zip

 

Glad you had fun! For the manc, there are a couple of WR lift lines around where I think the player would go to handle or avoid the cacos. There's also a walkover door open line in the yellow key area for a door in front of the lift that opens the way for the manc.

 

On 29/01/2018 at 10:44 PM, HAK3180 said:

I did finally play this and I thought it was really good. Funny, I'm currently finishing up a map with a boat exit, so I appreciated that. I thought the map was surprisingly short based on initial expectations. The opening section and the blue key section were quite a bit longer than the rest of the map, and I didn't mind that at all. Hub + 3 key maps are great, but this was a nice front-loaded variation to it.

 

Thumbs up from me!

 

Cool, hope it helped at all. I was worried the map would be starting to wear out its welcome a bit which is why the yellow key area is short, to keep a lot of the action in the main first area. Map04 and hopefully Map05 should be a bit longer. :)

[HAK3180]

I'm gonna be sad panda when these are done. It's like a nice kickoff to the weekend. 

 

Map 04 was fun. I particularly enjoyed the look and flow of this one. I was a little bit confused as to where the exit was. I guess I should have maybe given you more credit because I assumed the exit signs at the beginning were just there from that being the exit in Map 03. But when I think about it, it's kinda a cool idea: get off the boat, go slay some demons and accomplish some stuff, then get back on the boat.

 

One thing I'd like to see more of is secrets. I'm kind of a 3 minimum, preferably 5 or 6, sometime 9 or 10 person, but hey, to each his own. 

[Khorus]

On 02/02/2018 at 11:16 AM, HAK3180 said:

I'm gonna be sad panda when these are done. It's like a nice kickoff to the weekend. 

 

Map 04 was fun. I particularly enjoyed the look and flow of this one. I was a little bit confused as to where the exit was. I guess I should have maybe given you more credit because I assumed the exit signs at the beginning were just there from that being the exit in Map 03. But when I think about it, it's kinda a cool idea: get off the boat, go slay some demons and accomplish some stuff, then get back on the boat.

 

One thing I'd like to see more of is secrets. I'm kind of a 3 minimum, preferably 5 or 6, sometime 9 or 10 person, but hey, to each his own. 

 

Ha, that's nice to hear. I wouldn't worry though, there'll be a good few maps yet; I still have plenty of ideas!

 

Hope it wasn't too confusing! I tried to imply the boat exit through an extra exit sign on top of the boat as well, a pipeline leading back to the boat with a drop off point in the terrain and a matching pipe texture that lowers near the switch and on the boat. Fortunately the map isn't too massive if one was to get lost.

 

Yeah I understand that in regards to secrets. There's only one on this map (plus an extra unmarked secret so max runners don't get screwed) because I don't like to shove in too many "closet with goodies" type secrets and the more special ones are a bit harder to place once the map is mostly done. I'll try to keep it in mind when building future maps!

 

 

Here's a screen shot of today's work on the next map. Aiming for a larger map that uses less textures but makes up for it in shapes and architecture.

 

[seed]

52 minutes ago, Khorus said:

Here's a screen shot of today's work on the next map. Aiming for a larger map that uses less textures but makes up for it in shapes and architecture.

 

Looks so peaceful and quiet, I love this.

[Phobus]

I'm caught up with these now! I liked the reuse of the boat in MAP04 and am enjoying the sense of adventure developing from these maps linking their entrances and exits together. Game play is tough, but I don't think it's been too hard for my liking yet! The maps do need a little learning to avoid cheap deaths at the start, but you're reasonably supplied once you explore a bit. Looking forward to Friday :)

[SleepyVelvet]

fdas 3,4: noisy_Chunks3-4.zip (edit: played on Chunks4 wad)

very nice.  the maps are pretty big for a week's worth.  I got boned from my rear on Map03 tho.  Some might find it unfair.

[Khorus]

Here we go with Map05! A large map (well, by far the largest so far at least) set in brown brick and stone, our boat is disintegrating in the nukage the map is soaked in so we're forced to explore! Go grab it here. The music is Jimmy's Map08 from the plutonia midi pack. The area you can only see and not access to the east of the map is the starting area for Map06, so a teaser of what's to come. ;)

 

Screens;

 

 

 

On 05/02/2018 at 6:41 PM, Phobus said:

I'm caught up with these now! I liked the reuse of the boat in MAP04 and am enjoying the sense of adventure developing from these maps linking their entrances and exits together. Game play is tough, but I don't think it's been too hard for my liking yet! The maps do need a little learning to avoid cheap deaths at the start, but you're reasonably supplied once you explore a bit. Looking forward to Friday :)

 

Nice to hear people looking forward to new releases. :) Hope this map doesn't bring the difficulty up too much, especially if it feels cheap!

 

On 06/02/2018 at 6:15 AM, NoisyVelvet said:

fdas 3,4: noisy_Chunks3-4.zip (edit: played on Chunks4 wad)

very nice.  the maps are pretty big for a week's worth.  I got boned from my rear on Map03 tho.  Some might find it unfair.

 

Thanks! Hope map05 isn't too big then. Funny that there were complaints on earlier maps that things were a little straight forward, hopefully it wasn't too frustrating.

[bioshockfan90]

Must...wait...until....the set... is finished.

 

Lookin' great! Keep up the work.

[HAK3180]

That was a lot of fun. I think the visual design has been solid all the way through, but this map took the combat to the next level. It felt like you really gave thought to the overall experience and the individual encounters. 

 

I had two minor issues. Near the very beginning, the platforms leading to the megasphere are damaging floors. I'm guessing that is not intentional.

The other thing, which I'm sure is a minority opinion, is that I don't particularly like forcing the player to straferun, which I believe was the only way to get one of the keys. It's not that I don't or am lousy at straferunning, but I just never feel certain that that's actually what I am supposed to do. If I can't make the jump with standard run, I tend to question myself: "Am I just supposed to SR50 here, or is there a switch somewhere that will make this accessible?"

[Phobus]

MAP05 is a good-looking exploration map with a bit more to explore than I found. You're clearly pretty good at hiding secrets, as I only managed to find two of the five! The open-ended layout and large percentage initially available to the player is cool and gives us a lot to take on before we knuckle down to finding any objectives. Quite a lot of map for just one week of development - an impressive release on it's own!

[EffinghamHuffnagel]

MAP05. Ooh. Harder and more intense fighting. Love the centralized Cyber who you can usually avoid, but dare not ignore. Things not already mentioned:

 

Starting area - the blocking bars to the west are bleeding into the ground.

 

Design issue - Linedef tag 25 near the Red Key raises the stairs giving access to the Soul Sphere back near the Yellow Key door, but the Chaingunner pits around the Soul Sphere are raised by linedef tag 40, which is near the Blue Key. After I got the Red Key, I assumed there would be a big fight when I grabbed the Blue Key, so I went back looking for health, saw the Soul Sphere, and fell in one of the pits.

What is the deal with the one solitary SP_FACE2 wall texture near the Red Key? I saw it and wondered if it was a hidden switch, or hiding something. I couldn't stop thinking about it. It was making me nuts.

 

Then I remembered MAP04 (which I did not comment on. The hidden Megasphere, which you can't see from the window, and is not tagged secret, and requires an AV jump to get, pissed me off). In an area full of SW1LION textures, there is one single SW1GARG texture on the back of an SW1LION texture. Is it the hidden switch which opens a secret? No! That's actually one of the other SW1LION textures. This one does absolutely nothing! Again, nuts-making, trying to figure out why it's there. Is the SW1GARG and the SP_FACE2 an example of the 'Impish nature' of your design philosophy? If I know to expect it, I can get used to it.

 

All around, really good work and fun to play. For the most part.

 

FYI: When I posted earlier about 'mis-aligned switch textures'; I meant that standard Doom2 has incorrect texture definitions for some switches. They were corrected in cc4-tex, which is part of my default load since so many maps use it. So when you use SW1BRN1 or SW1STONE, they look exactly like SW1BRCOM and are aligned correctly. When I play the map with cc4-tex, they're mis-aligned. My problem, not yours.

 

[SleepyVelvet]

fda 5: noisy_Chunks5.zip (prb+ cl2)

sucky demo for a decent map.  i liked it a lot.  some deaths, and i took it slow and casually. probably 45 mins total

 

also bugs: some damaging nonnukage here and there.  I counted at least 4 platforms that were damaging that i assume were not meant to be.

[Khorus]

On 09/02/2018 at 11:39 AM, HAK3180 said:

That was a lot of fun. I think the visual design has been solid all the way through, but this map took the combat to the next level. It felt like you really gave thought to the overall experience and the individual encounters. 

 

I had two minor issues. Near the very beginning, the platforms leading to the megasphere are damaging floors. I'm guessing that is not intentional.

The other thing, which I'm sure is a minority opinion, is that I don't particularly like forcing the player to straferun, which I believe was the only way to get one of the keys. It's not that I don't or am lousy at straferunning, but I just never feel certain that that's actually what I am supposed to do. If I can't make the jump with standard run, I tend to question myself: "Am I just supposed to SR50 here, or is there a switch somewhere that will make this accessible?"

 

Thanks for the feedback! :)

 

Ahh bugger, no idea how a bunch of non-nukage flats got the damage special considering it was the last thing I did after all sector building (find and replace tool on nukage flats). Thanks for catching it. Definitely don't want people to SR50 to get important things! I made sure you could run straight ahead to get to the blue key using Crispy, but I'll make each pillar a bit closer/lower so it's not as difficult or potentially confusing.

 

On 09/02/2018 at 4:57 PM, Phobus said:

MAP05 is a good-looking exploration map with a bit more to explore than I found. You're clearly pretty good at hiding secrets, as I only managed to find two of the five! The open-ended layout and large percentage initially available to the player is cool and gives us a lot to take on before we knuckle down to finding any objectives. Quite a lot of map for just one week of development - an impressive release on it's own!

 

Thanks Phobus, hope the secrets weren't frustrating!

 

On 10/02/2018 at 5:12 AM, EffinghamHuffnagel said:

MAP05. Ooh. Harder and more intense fighting. Love the centralized Cyber who you can usually avoid, but dare not ignore. Things not already mentioned:

 

Starting area - the blocking bars to the west are bleeding into the ground.

 

Design issue - Linedef tag 25 near the Red Key raises the stairs giving access to the Soul Sphere back near the Yellow Key door, but the Chaingunner pits around the Soul Sphere are raised by linedef tag 40, which is near the Blue Key. After I got the Red Key, I assumed there would be a big fight when I grabbed the Blue Key, so I went back looking for health, saw the Soul Sphere, and fell in one of the pits.

What is the deal with the one solitary SP_FACE2 wall texture near the Red Key? I saw it and wondered if it was a hidden switch, or hiding something. I couldn't stop thinking about it. It was making me nuts.

 

Then I remembered MAP04 (which I did not comment on. The hidden Megasphere, which you can't see from the window, and is not tagged secret, and requires an AV jump to get, pissed me off). In an area full of SW1LION textures, there is one single SW1GARG texture on the back of an SW1LION texture. Is it the hidden switch which opens a secret? No! That's actually one of the other SW1LION textures. This one does absolutely nothing! Again, nuts-making, trying to figure out why it's there. Is the SW1GARG and the SP_FACE2 an example of the 'Impish nature' of your design philosophy? If I know to expect it, I can get used to it.

 

All around, really good work and fun to play. For the most part.

 

 

Thanks for the starting bars and the soul sphere feedback!

 

There's the odd bit of flesh around the maps, AASKIN3-4 at the start of Map05 and near the chainsaw in Map01 for example. I think SP_FACE2 breaks up the wall nicely and suits the red splashes of FLOOR6_1 on the ceiling.

 

Why did a secret that isn't marked piss you off? The point of it not being marked is so max runners aren't depending on such a random event to complete their run. I think it's cool to have such easter eggs in maps. Considering the player is half way or more through the map and you get a megasphere at the very start of the next, it isn't a massive deal. Are you complaining about the lack of consistency/predictability in secrets? :P

 

Glad you had fun with the maps!

 

On 10/02/2018 at 7:45 AM, NoisyVelvet said:

fda 5: noisy_Chunks5.zip (prb+ cl2)

sucky demo for a decent map.  i liked it a lot.  some deaths, and i took it slow and casually. probably 45 mins total

 

also bugs: some damaging nonnukage here and there.  I counted at least 4 platforms that were damaging that i assume were not meant to be.

 

Cheers for the demo NoisyVelvet, yes a few sectors somehow slipped through with damage when they shouldn't. Will be fixed for the next version.

[Khorus]

Here's Map06! We journey out of the brick base and into another grass/dirt/rock map (I love building large, organic outdoor areas) and trek towards a long ago abandoned techbase, now overgrown with vines and greenery. I'm not sold on how the last fight in the map turned out, so I might revisit it for the final release. Speaking of which, Map07 might be the final map for the set as it's feeling right to end it there.

 

But for now, enjoy Map06! The music is by Jimmy, Map07 from the Plutonia Midi Project.

 

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention, this map has a couple of instances where I break the 32 grid "rule" for aesthetic things I wanted to pull off.

Edited February 16, 2018 by Khorus

[SleepyVelvet]

fda noisy_Chunks6.zip (prb+ cl2 ; ~18m)

I found a couple secrets with the help of prboom's default automap: secrets are purple

i somehow didn't die... that rarely happens.  i feel proud.

I look forward to your final map

[HAK3180]

Ah, piss, I'm super busy this weekend and probably won't be able to play this until Monday or Tuesday. Looks fun.

[Phobus]

Just played MAP06 - it's a hectic start that belies decidedly manageable game play when you stop and take a moment, rather than just rushing about in a panic. I foundtwo of the secrets easily enough and saw something relating to a third, but as I'd killed everything and won't be carrying over for MAP07 on Friday, I figured 2/4 ain't bad. I like the use of the various natural flats and textures to create a natural environment that is far from monochrome. This is shaping up to be a very good map set!

[HAK3180]

I went ahead and made a video for this as well: FDA with commentary. I played on Hey, Not Too Rough in Crispy.

 

Another fun one.

 

 

[baja blast rd.]

This set is getting awesome. Here's a casual (i.e., not grinded) UV-Speed for 06 in 0:56. This jump at the start works on <5% of attempts -- it's pretty easy to just get hurled into the manc pit instead, which is actually hilarious -- so preventing it is not important, imo.

 

chunks6_06_rd_uvs.zip

Edited February 27, 2018 by rdwpa

[RjY]

Caught up on this wad at last.

(Sorry to bump the thread and make you excited for a new map, as you're now disappointed.)

First attempts on UV for maps 04,05,06

 

Chunks6-04-xxxx-1-1848.lmp

MAP04 DEAD 174/173 10 32/44 1/1 18:43+20 0:00
MAP04 QUIT 174/173 10 32/44 1/1 18:48+14 0:00

 

This was proceeding very nicely until with only a few monsters left I started faffing with a glide that looked like it would bypass both the keys, while doing so I triggered a teleporter and was eaten from above by monsters I couldn't see.

 

Chunks6-05-xxxx-1-1419.lmp

MAP05 DEAD 112/288 176 64/195 0/5 14:11+24 0:00
MAP05 QUIT 112/288 176 64/195 0/5 14:19+02 0:00

 

A large and complex map with pervasive 10% damage floor and snipers, and limited health, does not make for a good first attempt. I died early after slow and cautious progress. I've since finished the map properly after a few more unrecorded attempts, but it's one of those maps where I needed advance knowledge for success.

 

Some bugs: sector 399 (lift in front of cyberdemon) should not be damaging. Sector 1044 (popup in front of soulsphere, thing 635) contains two chaingunners stuck together on UV. Also it's ridiculously easy to lock yourself out of the first secret forever if you don't know about it (not really a bug...)

 

Chunks6-06-2452-2-2522.lmp

MAP06 DEAD 14/162 149 11/117 0/4 0:24+24 0:00
MAP06 EXIT 169/162 0 117/117 4/4 24:52+14 24:52
(Total 25:22)

 

After an early death in the chaotic start I was lucky (I think the archvile being distracted by the cyberdemon and hiding itself in a cave was the major contributing factor) and managed to finish the map on the second attempt. Even the secrets were not hard to uncover, at least from staring at the automap of a cleared area, and making educated guesses.

[baja blast rd.]

Just now, RjY said:

(Sorry to bump the thread and make you excited for a new map, as you're now disappointed.)

 

That is the beauty of the most recent mapslot being in the thread title. No disappointment here. :P

[Memfis]

I guess the dreaded 07 slot is too intimidating nowadays?