Snaxalotl

BRING THE NONDESCRIPT LIQUID BACK

The first one is UDB and the second is from wad2pic. It makes nice screenshots but doesn't have a ui and has to be run through the command prompt. https://github.com/gamescomputersplay/wad2pic

Map 26: "Igneus" Part of this map was made while I was experiencing burnout, then I came back to finish the rest of the wad once I had the right mindset and energy for it. As a result maps 26-30 are all the ones I had the most passion and motivation to make, I loved every part of making them and felt like they turned out pretty well. Map26 doesn't do anything strange or different aside from the unconventional look but the gameplay is still solid, not one of the best maps in the wad but fully serviceable. Map 27: "Maligned Annex" Easily the most detailed level in the wad and the smaller spaces allow for such an intricate look without hitting the visplane limit. This one took a long time to make, especially with how much time went into getting it in a vanilla compatible state. The only thing I think I might have changed was compromising visual fidelity a bit more in exchange for more space but other than that I really enjoyed the freedom of difficulty in making monster encounters with how late in the wad this is. Typically I rely on more incidental combat and randomness that can end up being perceived as random thoughtless placement but here I fully lean into the more arena oriented experience. This and map10 "Industrial Crypt" are tied for the best two maps in the wad for me. Map 28 "Thresholds Beyond" Darkness is often used as an obstacle or point of difficulty in abscission but this is the most extreme use of it throughout the whole megawad. The player is cast in a massive dark hellish cavern and must use the illuminated walls to navigate and target enemies, and the natural cavernous layout helps create a difficult to navigate environment until the initial waves of monsters are cleared. The environment does look random because for the most part it is, aside from the layout of progression which is handmade I try to make natural areas actually feel like they aren't perfectly made for the player to navigate like an artificial base or fortress might have. And the free roaming monsters plus incidental combat really help add to the unpredictability of the area the player has found themself inside. Map 29 "Epiclesis" I really didn't want to make an Icon of Sin map for map30 like so many other megawads do so I figured I'd throw a curveball and do it for map29 instead. As usual the Icon of Sin doesn't reach his full potential as the various crushers throughout the level help limit the spawn rate along with solving another problem spawners have in any slot other than 30... Since Monsters can't telefrag each other in any other slot the crushers are essential to prevent monsters from getting stuck inside one another and can even mitigate the ammo starvation before he is activated. At least this time the player has an opportunity to take revenge by caving in the entire level once reaching the exit. The visuals are less intricate here than some of the other levels and that's for a few reasons. Mainly the vanilla limitations are much more pronounced when making such a massive level like this one, and the other being the aesthetic I wanted to create. We are deep underground in a deeply hell infused cavern and series of destroyed techbases, it really helps add to the chaotic and destroyed feeling and can mask the lost ability to detail in such large areas (I didn't want all of abscission to be small environments so a compromise had to be made.) Map 30 "Abscission" After collapsing and partially destroying the massive columns of flesh deep beneath the earth we still live to see all the destruction we caused here. The whole environment is built around the actions taken in map29 and we continue on the finish the job by climbing inside the tower of flesh we attempted to break earlier. Before the main course we take our last journey through a relatively intact techbase area to warm up before the final encounter, this part would probably become a chore if playing saveless and having to repeat it on every death but I don't create maps surrounding that play style so I don't mind. The final showdown is the closest thing to slaughter the entire wad has along with a greater sense of triumph and hope than most of the other maps have which is greatly aided by the midi, a fitting end for the wad. The environment is chaotic and the monster placement is much more concentrated but there was a lot of thought going into where they were placed. I'm not a fan of blocks of a single enemy placed in various spots and instead go for a more organic feel which helps add chaos through infighting, plus it would make sense the forces of hell appear more disjointed right after their home is collapsed deep into the earth. This final level is my favorite moment in the wad and I still greatly enjoy the two maps tied together as the ending level. The dehacked shenanigans reserved exclusively for map30 really threw most players off and added greatly to the whole experience, seeing playtesters turn around in confusion repeatedly thinking they were getting shot at never got old. Finally completing this map and megawad felt great at the time and had there been more slots to fill I would still have been eager to keep going, this last stretch of maps are the most fun I've ever had with mapping and I'm glad I didn't succumb to the burnout that mappers often feel when making such a large project on their own. I'm not sure if I'll make another megawad again but if I do abscission was essential in helping me learn my niche with dark oppressive and atmospheric maps, plus any future endeavors won't be tied to any iwad inspirations as Doom I and II are the only wads I have enough nostalgia for to justify such a thing. This thread was very insightful and a joy to read throughout the month, and I'd like to thank you all for the massive amount of feedback that is available to learn from here :>

Map22: "Mausoleum" Abscission doesn't have many challenge levels thus far so I decided E3 was a good point to create a short brutal level. Pretty much everything here is meant to be difficult other than the hell knight that just likes to chill (pls don't crush him he's nice). Not really much else to say here, its pretty one dimensional from a theme perspective but the combat situations have some variety for the short runtime it gets. Map23: "Hazard Pay" Not one of my favorite levels in the wad but it gets close. This map shows my intent when making a megawad, as I make each map I look back and try to find patterns to break. As a result this one has an emphasis on barrel hazards, raising/lowering floors that create both walls and bridges, optional ghost monster mechanics that can spice up the office fight but don't break the encounter, and a door with nothing behind it! Part of the issue many megawads have is there is a set pattern the player picks up on and gets used to. It's certainly unavoidable when maps are all created by the same author as I have my own style of mapping, but it can be alleviated. It turns out so well when you look back on the ways previous maps could get viewed as repetitive so you can go against the grain and try something new, and I think this map really shows how well that mindset can work. The only thing I would change here is finding a way to make the spider mastermind more reliable, sometimes she ends up near the exit nearly at full health and the player can just duck in cover and slowly kill her without any challenge. Also side note I absolutely love this midi, it touches on the more synth oriented feel of the early levels with a much larger sense of scale attached. Map24: "Abyssal Refuge" This is basically the Episode 3 equivalent of Map09: "Hadal Facility". It has the same massive layout with a nonlinear approach and a focus on low tier enemies, but without the restrictions of an Episode 1 map in regards to difficulty. This level is quite oppressive and the ammo scarcity is brutal at first. I can see why this map is so divisive but I wouldn't have it any other way as it captures the suffocating feeling of being trapped deep in an underground complex. That's all I really have to say about it since it's basically a harder more advanced version of map09. Map25: "Exsanguination" The first and only full burnout level in the megawad, after making this I realized I was exhausted from making 25 maps over the span of about 2 months, and shortly after starting map26 I decided to take a long break before returning to finish what I started. Too many megawads have a disappointing final act due to burnout and I couldn't let that happen to Abscission. As a result this is my least favorite map in the wad, overall its just meh but lacks the drive and inspiration I had when making the others.

Map21: "Of Flesh & Fission" Another one of my personal favorites in the wad, and serves as a great introduction to Episode 3 as the player returns back to the Sarcophagus. Gameplay is linear, though there is a spike in difficulty and the starting hub / checkpoint system add an interesting twist. I really like the visual design that this map has though again I had to make compromises to keep under the visplane limit, but in the end I found a balance between scale and detail that I like. scraps of houses and furniture are buried beneath a massive complex with reactors overgrown with flesh, a good setting now that we have reached the final stretch. I enjoy how health is bountiful in this level but its only accessible at the start so the player needs to restock and try to keep their health up until they can return through the next checkpoint. Each section provides a new type of encounter which helps prevent any tedium or repetition, and that teleporting chaingunner area can be so unpredictable/deadly. Though perhaps it overshadows that last area which is meant to be the hardest part of the level. I can't say I'd change much about this level in hindsight, perhaps fleshing out (pun intended) the final area to extend it making it more than a frantic rush to clear out enemies to access the ammo they are guarding while being pelted with fireballs from a distance. Maybe an encounter once the player was stocked up would make it more satisfying, though overall I like the concept that is in place. The midi here is much very atonal compared to the other tracks so far and slowly increases in volume and chaos as it progresses. I made the track about as long as I thought it would take most players to reach the end so it ends up climaxing around the final area, slowly building tension until we reach that point.

That doesn't account for the pain elementals or archives though, Im not really sure how infighting would reliably take care of them. And if the solution is for the player to shoot the pain elementals, archviles, and cyber demons then I don't think the map would be beating itself at that point as those are the main threats in the level and require player intervention.

Yes it is! I love this song :>

Map20: "To Hieron" The 3rd boss map in the wad, fully embracing a hell aesthetic and opting for a much more open and expansive area compared to E1's final level. Its a simple concept but abscission doesn't have any maps like this thus far, unless you count map07 with its limited roster or map11 which I'd say has a very different feel to it. I prefer when my boss maps aren't the most challenging levels in the wad and instead just increase the pacing compared to the slower/harder levels that came before. Despite its simple looks it actually gets very close to the visplane limit, part of the reason I like smaller environments is that there is more room to add details before the game starts to break, its a simple but effective look here but the charm would be lost without the lighting effects. I don't quite understand how the map could be labelled as having zero monster synergy as @Cutman 999 stated. Archviles and pain elementals prevent pacifism as they will constantly create more lost souls and revive enemies that succumb to infighting while hitscanners cause chip damage. In every attempt I had at getting monsters to infight each other until the map beats itself I end up hitting the lost soul limit, and getting my health drained as every dead hitscanner comes back from the dead to keep causing damage. This makes prioritizing archviles/pain elementals while avoiding hitscan attacks and the cyberdemon the main priority at first. All of this feels like synergy to me personally, though I suppose that's subjective. I can safely say though that I didn't experience burn out when making this map, I liked how it turned out when I first made it and I still like it to this day.

Map18: "Elder Shrine" I'm a bit mixed on this one but I generally like how it turned out. The central shrine the map surrounds is a neat aesthetic but I think I could've fleshed out the rest of the map a little bit more. It does its job as a slight break map giving the player a renewed sense of confidence after "Predation" and the final fight is meant to find a fun balance between difficult and a power trip. Additionally as @Blast_Brothers pointed out, its showing a transition from the human industrial bases and cityscapes of earth into a more hellish direction. The transition isn't complete, but it shows that we are straying further from earthly designs. Map19: "Phosphene" Initially I didn't consider this one of the better maps in the wad but over time it grew on me. It's gameplay isn't like anything in the wad before it, and leans more heavily on the use of pinkies and doom 1 gameplay. I don't typically like jumbled and mixed themes in my maps but I went against my habits and did it anyway as I thought it would fit well within E2. Throughout the map the environment and texturing constantly changes as if its multiple areas mashed into one, but they meet in tasteful ways similar to a deimos style. (Also hinted at by the title as the mixed themes lightly allude to a dream like experience) I also can't stress enough how much of a difference vistas can add to a map's experience! The massive unreachable outdoor area surrounding the map gives a much larger scale to the map (along with the midi) yet does nothing from a gameplay perspective. The map would function the same if walls were given instead of a large sea/moat but it would feel much more cramped and less interesting. I really struggled with the visplane limit with this map but the result was worth it. This level also highlights my mindset with combat too as I don't always expect the player to clear out each room as they find it. Its often the better play to leave a few enemies and push ahead until you are more stocked up on ammo, and the early berserk helps alleviate any issues with ammo reserves. This is all supported by the lack of mid and high tier enemies as the bulk of the combat is against low tiers yet it still manages to be somewhat difficult. I love not relying on the tougher parts of the enemy roster and instead using them as support while the player mainly combats weaker opponents. Overall I think this is a solid map and love how it deviates away from most of the other levels in the wad and finds its own groove.

Map17: "Predation" This is one of the maps I consider to be peak abscission, after toying with the roaming cyberdemon concept for a few maps I decided to go all out with that design before moving on to other ideas. This map isn't just built around the player, its built that cyberdemon too. I really can't express how long it took redoing teleport spots and geometry to make sure that he can reliably find the player, its still not perfect but on almost every occasion he will be near the player at all times (Which was much more difficult to do as the map isn't fully built around free monster movement without those teleporters. From the start you are relentlessly hunted throughout a nonlinear collection of areas which add so much variance to each playthrough, compounded by the randomness of the cyberdemon. Slowly but surely you get more stocked along the way until you can finally take the fight to him... Sure you could always run away after getting all 3 keys but most players I watched run this map felt the desire to take him out and get revenge, despite the exit being so easily accessible after getting each key. Abscission isn't a wad for everyone. I felt a massive lack in dark atmospheric maps and oppressive game design where the player is barely scraping through when the difficulty peaks. The toughest maps aren't the boss levels, its ones like these and map13 that push the player around while they feel like they are scraping by. I don't regret making each map dark and having oppressive levels like this one. Because that's what I think really gives this wad its own identity, along with the atmosphere and soundtrack that it rides off of. dark and oppressive is my bread and butter, and the highlights in abscission like this wad really helped me find my niche. On a side note the music track has taken a much different tone than the others so far. Its not just the levels that are changing aesthetically, so is the music. Early E1 had a more synth oriented melancholy feel while slowly building in grandiosity until giving way to map11 and E2. From here drone is much more present and as hell is becoming more visually apparent the music reflects it with strings and more vocals. When making music for each map I try to make it build off of the environment and reinforce what emotion I want tied to it. Here in predation there is a much more sombre tone filled with a hint of optimism, reflecting that the tables could turn on the cyberdemon hunting you.

Map16: "Cold Ascent" Back when I first released this wad I didn't like this map very much and felt it was filler. But now looking back and playing it recently I think it works well as a standard map in abscission. This time around my twist on a city level was having the map take place on the rooftop of a tall building, though its design does lean into a little bit of an otherworldly influence. That invulnerability was placed early to tempt the player into taking it when its not really needed, thus making the final fight much more difficult. And unlike map15 I felt that this arena actually has teeth, though its still very doable without the bfg secret. I like how almost the entire map becomes the final arena at the end rather than the encounter taking place inside a brand new room, it helps get the player acquainted with the space which makes navigation and combat easier for a first time playthrough. Even though this map doesn't really do anything special or out there like some of the other maps, but I think the flow is solid.

Map15: "Collapse" I'm not a huge fan of this one but think its a decent map. From an aesthetic and mood perspective it turned out fine but I still feel that its missing potential in regards to combat and flow. To avoid making a traditional city map I opted to make it a caved in section of a city buried beneath rubble which turned out looking much more unique than just having a traditional outdoor urban area. Also that hellish pit has a pretty weak fight intentionally, it looks like its going to lead to a nasty trap because signposting tends to be correct in doom levels. I don't want the player to know when and where I'm going to start challenging fights most of the time, so to help with that I'll occasionally give away free keys or go out of my way to advertise an area as if its going to be a tough situation but just include a light encounter instead. If I didn't do this then this megawad would fall into the trap of the player learning and understanding when every trap will happen before it happens, and predictability gets old real fast. Map31: "Reanimator" With the secret levels I threw my normal rules out the window, If I'm going to go against the grain and do something really cruel or strange then these two slots are the best spot. The slow lift is purely for technical reasons to prep the crushed enemies before the player shows up, and a short crusher wouldn't be as reliable or efficient despite making a reduction in the required height for the lift. If playing on a vanilla port then ghost monsters will turn this map into something much more fierce, though its not essential. and technically the level is impossible to lose as the icon of sin will get crushed regardless of whether the player is alive or not so I guess that makes it the easiest map in the wad ;) Map32: "Bed of Creation" Ohhhhh boy this is a weird one. Firstly the map requires an intercept overflow bug to be played the intended way, and from there everything is broken. I intended for a more complex design for how this map would play out but I can't stress enough how much the intercept overflow breaks a map. -The player can move through solid walls but not walls of a specific height, so a border was needed to prevent the player from wandering in the infinite void outside the map. -All projectiles lose the ability to land, and this does include splash damage... As such the player can't hurt anything and only the archvile can hurt the player with its flame attack (though the damage is reduced as the splash is gone) -All linedef functions stop working so normal exits and triggers are all gone, including an exit switch.. So I was left with a gimmick where I couldn't have combat outside of invincible archvile engagements, without any line functions to spice it up. and all the player got was an ability to go through walls. This gimmick for mapping is extremely unique but limited at the same time, and I felt compelled to make something as out there as possible for map32, a task I think I accomplished. The whole map is cursed and feels like a nightmare... Also fun fact! There are actually two ways to beat this level, the harder option is navigating to an exit platform to die on. And the second one was a failsafe incase making it there proved to challenging, if you get launched out a window you will be granted the sweet release of death (the good kind not the archvile kind)

Map14: "Oasis" This whole map owes its existence to "Prophetic Vision", I wanted this one to be a breeze in comparison. The midi, title, environment, and easier combat all just lend towards easing the tension and showing I'm not going to just constantly spike the difficulty upwards. I personally don't consider it a "filler" map as I think it serves its purpose well, but I can see it getting lumped into that category as it was made to compliment 13 rather than stand out on its own. That archvile has a semi random teleport destination for a little added replay value. And that teleport ambush was just for some extra shock value, its not something I usually like in doom maps as low health can just straight up break such an encounter. So with that all in mind I went fairly light on the hitscan and added 50 health on top of the teleport destination to make sure the player has a solid chance of surviving. I don't have much else to say, this map served its purpose but it only plays a minor role overall.

Map13: "Prophetic Vision" I would like to start off by saying "I regret nothing :>" I fully understand how easy it is to hate this map and why it wouldn't fit the interests of quite a few players. That being said I'm genuinely surprised how many positive comments have been made for this map today. Everything in this map is designed to stress the player out. Icon of sin, haunting midi, scarce ammo, and getting blocked from the exit when you think it's finally over. However, a lot of it turns out to be an illusion. The icon of sin's spawn rate has been reduced to about 1 monster every 20-40 seconds which is much lower than the standard, yet the sound plays every few seconds giving a much scarier impression initially. The combat on its own isn't even that difficult, I was shocked at how my playtesters struggled with this map so much... Which it turns out that it became so stressful that navigation and relatively straightforward combat got much more difficult under such pressure. The whole map is screaming at you to get out as fast as you possibly can, yet staying calm and taking it slow turns out to be the better solution. This is one of my favorite maps in the wad because its pure suffering up until the curtain gets pulled and the illusion is destroyed. Its difficulty built on stress rather than providing a straight up challenge, and I hope more people explore tactics like the ones displayed here. I think its a trick best used in moderation however, and I don't intend to bombard the player with something so harsh on a regular basis.