The Warlock's Hearth - Released - /idgames Download

I got lost a sixth of the way in. Big exploration maps aren't my cup of tea anyway. I really liked KSS -- it inspired me to start speedmapping, which I've learned a bunch from doing.

The only bit of feedback I can give is wrt the arbitrary monster blocking lines. They always seem weird to me (even in KSS). The HK in the dark small room early on (in the big room with a couple of arachnotrons) is the culprit here.

Awesome map! It was really nice to explore the whole thing. I liked the music, it puts you in the right mood for the map.

Well, well! I had a crap-ton of fun playing through this with TMD and Altazimuth a short while ago, with Gobalt's coop zombies mod thrown in for shits and giggles. Nice going! I noticed that there were multiplayer things in place despite the lack of player starts for players 2-4, so I figured it was worth a shot. There was only one major hitch in the run, which happened after the sector [74] barricades had sprung up to block the spawn at the start; we all died before the switch that lowered the barricades could be reached, and had to start again.

I would recommend lashing out a bit more with the multiplayer thing placement. Some more elaborate changes and setups could work wonders for a map that works really well for cooperative play.

Sectors [26] (a crate) and [2790] (a stepping stone) were damaging, when I don't think they were supposed to be. Other than that, nothing to report! A fun, rambling adventure with some standout moments.

Preparing the /idgames version now.

rdwpa said:

I got lost a sixth of the way in. Big exploration maps aren't my cup of tea anyway. I really liked KSS -- it inspired me to start speedmapping, which I've learned a bunch from doing.

The only bit of feedback I can give is wrt the arbitrary monster blocking lines. They always seem weird to me (even in KSS). The HK in the dark small room early on (in the big room with a couple of arachnotrons) is the culprit here.

Thanks for giving it a play despite knowing big maps aren't your thing. I'm flattered to hear kssht.wad inspired your own working methods. :)

Hmm, not too sure which block lines you're referring to. There should only be lines blocking the arachnotrons from leaving their position in that area (if it's the blood filled room where an archvile enters the fray when a switch is pulled), otherwise the map is quite limited in their use really. If you meant the HKs near the yellow key and rocket launcher, they were being blocked from leaving the room by a lighting trick requiring a lowered floor. I've now decided to open that up as that was a bit silly, though it does leave a little visual flaw. Oh well!

gaspe said:

Awesome map! It was really nice to explore the whole thing. I liked the music, it puts you in the right mood for the map.

That's great! Thanks for playing.

Alfonzo said:

Well, well! I had a crap-ton of fun playing through this with TMD and Altazimuth a short while ago, with Gobalt's coop zombies mod thrown in for shits and giggles. Nice going! I noticed that there were multiplayer things in place despite the lack of player starts for players 2-4, so I figured it was worth a shot. There was only one major hitch in the run, which happened after the sector [74] barricades had sprung up to block the spawn at the start; we all died before the switch that lowered the barricades could be reached, and had to start again.

I would recommend lashing out a bit more with the multiplayer thing placement. Some more elaborate changes and setups could work wonders for a map that works really well for cooperative play.

Sectors [26] (a crate) and [2790] (a stepping stone) were damaging, when I don't think they were supposed to be. Other than that, nothing to report! A fun, rambling adventure with some standout moments.

Perfect timing with this feedback! You guys must have been enjoying yourselves if you started again from scratch that far in. ;) I hadn't considered the scenario you had, you can now lower those barriers from a few different directions in case of deaths, weird player positions etc.

I only just did my first co-op run through of the map last night myself, so map starts are now in and I've added a couple of extra multiplayer only fights. Nothing major, more to keep extra players interested/challenged. I would very much like to do a map with heavier emphasis on co-op, but I would need the right testing setup and partner. Damaging sectors now fixed.

Aaaand it's out! Here's the /idgames download.

Have fun, kids. :)

Khorus said:

That's really strange, I was using GZDoom as my Zdoom test port and it works fine. But checking with Zdoom 2.7.1 confirms it doesn't work, so thanks for pointing that out. Had no idea GZDoom handled audio any differently.

There are no differences in sound code between ZDoom and GZDoom. However, development builds of both can now use either FMOD Ex or OpenAL as audio backend, and knowing which one is used is probably more important to know than whether it was ZDoom or GZDoom.

That said, I just tested "Warl_H test1" in both ZDoom and GZDoom, with both FMOD and OpenAL, and music worked each time, so I don't know. (I hadn't downloaded the test2 version and it's no longer on DropBox, so I can't check if the music file is different.)

Nice! Loved Speedy Shit but haven't played it in a minute. I seem to remember you being a sadistic mapper with some pretty nasty traps you bastard, lol!!!!

Gez said:

There are no differences in sound code between ZDoom and GZDoom. However, development builds of both can now use either FMOD Ex or OpenAL as audio backend, and knowing which one is used is probably more important to know than whether it was ZDoom or GZDoom.

That said, I just tested "Warl_H test1" in both ZDoom and GZDoom, with both FMOD and OpenAL, and music worked each time, so I don't know. (I hadn't downloaded the test2 version and it's no longer on DropBox, so I can't check if the music file is different.)

Ah OK, that makes sense now. I download GZDoom dev builds from time to time, whereas ZDoom is 2.7.1 iirc. When I am at my PC, I will edit this post with a link to the test2 version if it helps testing.

Ashstrodamus said:

Nice! Loved Speedy Shit but haven't played it in a minute. I seem to remember you being a sadistic mapper with some pretty nasty traps you bastard, lol!!!!

Heh, thanks. :) Yeah, the traps in Speedy Shit are a pretty big source of difficulty in that wad. This map is more sparing with them and a little bit less challenging, but should still be good fun.

review is up, thank you for this rare look at a longform style!

kmxexii said:

review is up, thank you for this rare look at a longform style!

Oh wow, that was quite a surprise. Thanks for the great write up, means a lot. I agree that the music really ties the map together. A bit of a shame not too many have played it yet, but I'm biased there. ;)