StormCatcher.77

Just one shy of a full megawad of years, now.

🎂

Bark bark bark bark

*Checks her calendar and clock*

*It's now the 5th*

Yay I'm 38 now!

I'll be back to more consistent Dooming again in January. I need some time off to take care of some family stuff.

Time to rethink some things!

I think I'm kinda at junction in life.  I recently got some mental health diagnoses* that have really gotten me thinking about how I approach my mapping hobby.  Specifically, I'm thinking that large projects like Eschatology, Umbra of Fate, or SoTNR are just a bit too much for me to handle anymore.  Even if I do complete them, I'm left feeling incredibly drained and it takes me forever to recuperate.  They just aren't fulfilling and I don't feel that they're a good fit for me or my mental issues.

So from here on out, for the foreseeable future, I think I'm mainly going to concentrate on individual maps.  Things like my Freaky Panties series, or WMC, or my one-off maps like The Unending or Halls of The Goat Child.  All of those have been far more fun and rewarding to work on than any sort of large project.  In a way it makes sense, too.  If I consider the maxim "build what you want to play", then long huge projects aren't what I enjoy playing.  What I enjoy playing are concise 10-25 minute long maps, bite sizes pieces of gameplay and artistic expression that leave me satisfied yet unburdened by obligation.  That's what I enjoy most playing when it comes to maps (Doom and Quake).

Eschatology, while not exactly the antithesis of all that, doesn't really align with what I enjoy.  It's a large project with multiple levels, a hub, and a story that further extends my personal Doom cannon.  It's not bite sized pieces, it's long and (potentially) never ending.  To put it bluntly, it's not what I want to do.  Buuuuuut... I still like and am happy with Eschatology.  Heck, I very proud of what I've done with it so far, as it's probably some of my best Doom work ever.  It's just that it's turned into an odd dichotomy for me.  So is there a way to reconcile this dichotomy?  Well, I think there might be, actually.

Freaky Panties started off as a single one-off map.  It was just an experiment, a short "let's see what I can do in one month's time" combined with an idea for how to do a dynamic difficulty system.  Then came Freaky Panties 2, which had a similar theme (techbase), a short development time, and continued with experimentation (this time more backend/workflow stuff).  Then I joined WMC and made Freaky Panties 3: Spooky Panties for WMC01: The Rising.  Again, it was techbase + experimentation + short development time ("make a map compatible with both GZDoom and K8Vavoom" specifically).  Now there's Freaky Panties IV, which will be released this month and continues with the trend of techbase + experimentation + short development time.  It has, effectively, turned into a mapping series, and since they're all the exact kind of bite-sized concise maps that I enjoy, it's a mapping series that's been immensely fun and rewarding to build.

So... why not do the same with Eschatology?  The levels are already "separate" in a sense.  The way the game unfolds currently is just like in Arcane Dimensions, where you have a hub that you use to select any level in any order, and each one is a pistol start.  It's basically a mapping series... digest?  I guess?  But with extra steps.  So why not take out the extra steps and just turn it into an actual mapping series?  I can still have its overarching backstory for flavor (slightly adjusted now so that it's less confusing; thanks to those who have given me feedback!).  You can still play them in any order.  I can still use all the same resources.  But rather than it being inflexible, where I try to shoehorn it into some awkward idea of a "digest" of maps every year or so, it becomes more fluid.

So that's my plan.  Eschatology as a mapping _series_, with individually released maps utilizing a common theme.  They'll all feel and play similar (just like Freaky Panties tends to feel similar between maps), they fulfill my desire to create concise one-off maps, and it relieves the pressure of managing a huge Doom project.

And of course I'll continue to head up the WMC series :-P  That has been incredibly fun, and has also been a wonderful learning experience since it's successfully brought me outside my comfort zone.

Side Note: On a technical side note, I think as far as my own levels go, K8 and Doomsday will be the ports I target anymore.  I find them easiest to work with, and they have the features I want.  And they deserve some love <3  So I'll likely be reworking some of my past stuff, like the first Freaky Panties, for K8 in the coming months as well.

* If you're curious, I was diagnosed with Paranoid Personality Disorder, as well as something sorta like PTSD.

Just finished Eviternity Map 19 Dehydration, I thought it was a great epic adventure, thank you for making it!

Changed my profile picture. Credit for the art goes to Necro-Kitten at Deviantart.

A few days ago I mentioned something about a Quake map I had sitting around on my hard drive, and I was trying to decide what to do with it.  Well, I've cleaned it up and decided what it'll be.  But first a bit of backstory...

For a while I've been wanting to do a sequel to Shadows of The Nightmare Realm that continues on with the storyline, but I hadn't come up with anything solid.  All I had was a few ideas and test maps.  Since it wasn't going anywhere, I decided to put it on the back burner while I worked on a new project ("Kuroneko Project") that deals with a coven of witches.  This was originally going to be for Quake, but for various reasons I switched over to Heretic and GZDoom early on.

Before the switch, I had a start map and a normal level mostly finished - the thing that's been sitting on my hard drive for a while now.  Well, the other day, I a flash of inspiration for this SoTNR sequel that I put on the back burner... and what's more, I realized I could use this level in the sequel.

So it is, the sequel of Shadows of The Nightmare Realm will use Quake.  This new project is called Xala'noth and will be released in pieces/episodes. This new level (and the start map) is the first piece and is called "The Shore of Shadows".

So yeah, it'll be out middle of next month.  I'm currently waiting on some things for my Heretic project anyway, so this is the perfect time to get this out the door.

So glad I seem to be over that horrible mappers block/depression that plagued me most of the year.  Now to do Heretic stuff.

What you think about my new avatar?

New avatar! :D Still giraffe related of course~

My old nickname is BJ34 if you know. Now I'm changed my nickname.

Just in case. But, if "antares" is too long to type or pronounce, just call me "anta". Since it's the most favorable nickname for my, eh... nickname.

My maternal grandmother passed away this morning. There's no more chicken soup, ricecakes, and other delicious dishes, made by her. Rest in Peace

Congratulation me. I have gone to the university. On the budgetary basis.

Two more sections to go.

What is an "invisibility sphere" like? That means you secretly like it? Like as a stalker? A half like? You like it but you dont want to be shot by a hitscanner (plutonia like?)? 

Its interesting that your latest maps are called "Time Parallax". Are you making separate series for "Time Parallax" and "Cursed realms"? Why did you decide to call them like that? Or you just that they sound cool and made up "Time Parallax" because you are bored of calling them "Cursed realms" :P ?

Its interesting that your latest maps are called "Time Parallax". Are you making separate series for "Time Parallax" and "Cursed realms"? Why did you decide to call them like that? Or you just that they sound cool and made up "Time Parallax" because you are bored of calling them "Cursed realms" :P ?

I've just reinstall my Windows. I did not sleep all night

Saw some newborn deer yesterday while out hiking, twins probably no more than a few hours old. One was standing & staring at me, I though he would run as I approached to take a photo, but he just crouched down to hide with his sibling enabling me to walk right up to them. I got a few good shots & then continued on my hike.