Confusion Constructions - Doomworld /idgames database frontend

Title:	Confusion Constructions
Filename:	levels/doom/Ports/a-c/confcons.zip
Size:	3.31 MB
Date:	03/15/23
Author:	slowfade
Description:	A somewhat unusual E1 replacement for limit-removing Doom 1. Use complevel 2 if your port allows it. No jumping, no crouching, no freelook. All of those will break the gameplay and the illusion. Please do NOT use the clipping cheat, it will very likely destroy everything. Also, play on UV, this is designed for that. Pistol starts possible but not required.
Credits:
Base:	New from scratch
Build time:	About 22 months and I don't want to know the hours
Editor(s) used:	DBX
Bugs:	None to my knowledge
Rating:

Download mirrors:

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View confcons.txt

===========================================================================
Advanced engine needed  : Limit-removing
Primary purpose         : Single play
===========================================================================
Title                   : Confusion Constructions
Filename                : confcons.wad
Release date            : 2023-02-20
Author                  : slowfade
Email Address           : [redacted]
Other Files By Author   : None yet
Misc. Author Info       : My first Doom maps

Description             : A somewhat unusual E1 replacement for limit-removing Doom 1.
                          Use complevel 2 if your port allows it.
                          No jumping, no crouching, no freelook. All of those will
                          break the gameplay and the illusion.
                          Please do NOT use the clipping cheat, it will very likely
                          destroy everything.
                          Also, play on UV, this is designed for that.
                          Pistol starts possible but not required.
===========================================================================
* What is included *

New levels              : 9
Sounds                  : No
Music                   : No
Graphics                : No
Dehacked/BEX Patch      : No
Demos                   : No
Other                   : No
Other files required    : None

* Play Information *

Game                    : Doom
Map #                   : E1M1 - E1M9
Single Player           : Designed for
Cooperative 2-4 Player  : No
Deathmatch 2-4 Player   : No
Other game styles       : None
Difficulty Settings     : Not implemented (but designed for UV)

* Construction *

Base                    : New from scratch
Build Time              : About 22 months and I don't want to know the hours
Editor(s) used          : DBX
Known Bugs              : None to my knowledge
May Not Run With        : Vanilla
Tested With             : Crispy Doom and PrBoom+

* Copyright / Permissions *

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a
copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

You are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
If you do so, you must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the
license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable
manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your
use. You may not use the material for commercial purposes. If you remix,
transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified
material.

* Where to get the file that this text file describes *

The Usual: ftp://archives.gamers.org/pub/idgames/ and mirrors
===========================================================================

* More Information *

This is a set of 9 maps for the limit-removing Doom 1, replacing the first episode.
My focus with these maps was not so much the traditional gameplay, but what I could construct using the limited linedef actions of the original
Doom 1. That being said, I also have an interest in different types of gameplay that are simply made by making different kind of maps. These, I feel,
are different from the typical (if there is a typical Doom map in 2023). These are my very first Doom maps, so I didn't know much what I could do until
I tried things and learned, often the hard way.
This production doesn't have any story. It's purely a set of maps.

My approach was a combination of engineering and artistry. I got ideas and then made them to the best of my abilities. Then I tried to make everything
look nice. Although things could have been better with some custom textures, I decided to try what I could do with just those available in Doom 1.
There's a certain charm in using only the stock textures, and not relying on getting any texture I wanted made me a better mapper to some degree.

As a point of interest for those with more technical understanding, I might mention that no construction in these maps utilizes the possibility of a
sector being more than one polygon. Many sectors share the same tag, of course, but no sector is split into disparate parts for the sake of utilizing
control sectors. I didn't want to start using that kind of advanced stuff yet; I wanted to see what I could do without relying on the possibilities
of those more technical methods.

Because of the limited nature of the linedefs in the original Doom, not all puzzles are reversible. I didn't want to water down my ideas too much,
and as a result, in some cases failing a task will stop progress for the map and it will need a reset (a possibility for dying is available, the player
will never be softlocked). Likewise, it's not always possible to backtrack, and some fights are meant to be inescapeable until resolved. By modern
standards I'm likely to be considered unfair and cruel, but I've played worse...
I suggest saving now and then.

WARNING: Whatever you do, DON'T USE THE CLIPPING CHEAT! These maps are filled with linedefs that are meant to be triggered, one after another, and
using clipping will seriously paralyze everything. Don't use that cheat!

No jumping, no crouching, no freelook. The maps are designed to be played just like ordinary Doom 1 is played, with the same movement and viewport.
Use complevel 2 in your source port if it has that option.

Meant to be played on UV. No other difficulty settings are implemented, and some places will lose their intended difficulty if dangerous floors
hurt less. Just play on UV. Maps can be pistol started if the player wants to, and continuity does not make the end of the set much easier.

Audio warning: There are certain areas here and there where a great number of sectors are triggered at the same time, all of them making sound,
which can become quite loud especially if using headphones. This same warning applies to most Doom productions...

* Maplist *

Maps listed in the order they appear when the episode is played: 1, 2, 3, 9, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

The secret map is not secret; there is no specific hidden secret exit in map 3. Instead, the normal exit uses the secret exit property, and so
takes the player to map 9, and after completing that the player returns to map 4.

E1M1: Crane Over Toxic River

I've read there's a crane in some famous WAD, but I've never played it and I had no memory of the screenshot I've seen
while making my map. Any similarities are purely coincidental.
Because it's the first map, it's quite forgiving of player mistakes. Others maps aren't quite so.

E1M2: Base For Increased Box Production

Where are all those boxes fabricated? This might shed some light on the subject -- or not.
This map has one of my favorite sceneries in this WAD: the boxing area and a couple of places after it.

E1M3: Dam Dynamics

This has perhaps my favorite construction in this WAD, the dam. There's also an area with more experimental elements.

E1M9: Skull Tower Rider

This map has a small puzzle that gives it this name. You'll understand it when you see it. I'm particularly proud of this
puzzle, the hidden mechanics of it. It's not difficult to solve (some might argue it's not even a puzzle).

E1M4: Poison Isles

Perhaps my overall favorite map in this set. A large island (and a couple of smaller ones) in a sea of poison.
If you are on the island, and fall down to a previous level, you can find an alternative way upwards if the original way
you used no longer works. Originally it wasn't so but I decided to make the map more accessible to clumsier players.

E1M5: Facility Five

The map begins with some fast target shooting and continues with operating a large machine.
This is my least favorite of these maps. I'm still not convinced the large machine was a good idea, and the entire room is
a bit of a mess somehow. But I spent too much time on it to discard it. Live and learn...
Also, the last puzzle is pretty difficult to do properly, so I added a hidden way to reach the exit room, if you fail the
puzzle. Even I thought that's fair, just this once...

E1M6: Floodgates

A larger map based on all kinds of changing environments. It was a great map to engineer, a terrible map to try to detail
after the fact.

E1M7: Arena Of Blood Poppies

The difficulty is cranked up quite a bit. A large battle ensues. Can you find all the secrets?
Also, I do know what a poppy actually looks like.
(It should be theoretically possible to complete this map in pacifist. But it will be challenging.)

E1M8: Dark Tower Endures Until Not

The battle reigns on until the dark tower is conquered. And it might take some effort to do it (at least if UV-maxing).
(This map should be possible to complete in pacifist. During the end phase of the WAD's development I became interested in the idea
of making the map at least theoretically possible to complete in stroller and added some designs allowing alternative ways to do some
things that otherwise are based on speed. Completing it in stroller will require some good strategies, throughout knowledge of the map,
and some good luck -- but more skill than luck, I think. I spent a lot of effort trying to balance the additional stroller difficulty
with the already difficult nature of the map. I even added an alternative teleport so that a previously unavoidable telefrag can be
avoided if the player so chooses, even though stroller rules do allow it. I've completed the map in stroller with saves, so it's
definitely possible for a skilled player to stroll through!)

Thanks for playing!
--slowfade

mong