Hell on Earth: UAC Factory Cleanup

[Koko Ricky]

A huge nonlinear factory-themed map for Doom 2 MAP 01. It's limit-removing, but you'll need an .mp3-friendly source port to hear the custom music I made. This is easily the biggest and most complex map I've made to date, with lots of new graphics and plenty of Doom cute. One could easily get lost in this map for an hour if they wanted to explore everything. This map first went into production years ago, influenced by the oppressive architecture and interiors of places I've worked. It's very personal in a way, but also a map that I've had a lot of fun creating and refining. Shoutout to @Kappes Buur who really helped me out with cleaning up the mess I initially made of the texture lumps. Check out the link for a more detailed description, as well the the story. 

 

https://www.moddb.com/engines/doom-engine/downloads/hell-on-earth-uac-factory-cleanup

[Firedust]

Did you post a thread for this map last year on DW?

[Koko Ricky]

2 hours ago, Firedust said:

Did you post a thread for this map last year on DW?

When it was in testing phase, yes.

. 

[Delisk]

I remember playing a previous version, still a pleasure to play this!

 

 

[LadyMistDragon]

A video. Does the custom track have a name? I checked the description on moddb to make sure I didn't miss it. Should be up fairly soon. 

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by LadyMistDragon

[Marty McFly]

hello

 

[sidestepper]

This is a MASSIVE map! I apologize, I could not quite finish a full playthrough, but will probably finish it soon. Very cool, went in blind and had never played any version of it before, also new to the community and using all the various ports and such. Played with GZDoom, not sure if you meant for a different port or with other mods, I certainly didn't have any of the cute stuff, so that's my bad. I did get quite lost at one point. Wish I'd found the rocket launcher. Ton of fun though - good stuff.

 

 

[baja blast rd.]

Had to IDCLIP out of a softlock early out of one of the bathroom stalls (lol). 

 

 

A lot of this is well made and reminds me of something out of the '00s in that it's not really following in the usual Doom tropes of even this type of map. I really like how each area has its own well fleshed out identity, and of course I expected to find the plasma rifle where it should be: in the cybernetic area. 

 

A few sticking points would be: 

 

- The combat is really heavy in "frontal clear-up" type stuff, especially through hallways. You don't really need to be too trappy or setpiecey but the occasional fight from some other archetype would help a lot. One way that a bit of modern input would be worth it is in the combat. In such hallway-heavy "pseudo-realistic" areas, authors have shifted away from using this many mid-tier enemies and kinda take what you did at the start but persist with that even longer throughout the duration of the map. The enemy count would read higher of course, but most of those enemies would be weaker so all in all there'd be less stuffing. 

 

- Once you start the ending, which I didn't realize would happen, it's basically a ticking time bomb until you can finish the map -- but the exit just wasn't conveyed for me in any way whatsoever. I kinda just stumbled upon it by luck because I'm the sort of player to try stuff and I felt like trying something different instead of persisting with whatever was going on in the area with the cyber. I could definitely envision having gotten soft-softlocked (technically exitable but practically unfeasible because out of ammo and too many spawned-in enemies and no real clue where to go). Additionally, the ending forced my hand and made me leave earlier rather than possibly explore for more secrets.

 

- I also missed the RL but I don't know if that was an obligatory pickup or one of the secrets.

[Koko Ricky]

@baja blast rd., thanks so much for the criticism. I want to make more balanced and enjoyable maps and this helps me understand where my design ideas might not always work, or when progression is overly cryptic. I think I made some of them weapons too hidden and the exit is not really clearly marked. In my next map I think I'll go for something a bit smaller scale and make things more blunt and clear.

[thelamp]

This was an interesting map and I enjoyed figuring it out

 

 

[Serathis]

Enjoyed it, pretty neat map. The whole romero head thing is probably not such a good idea in a map like this, there have to be other ways to make a return trip more interesting. 

[baja blast rd.]

On 5/9/2023 at 7:56 PM, Koko Ricky said:

@baja blast rd., thanks so much for the criticism. I want to make more balanced and enjoyable maps and this helps me understand where my design ideas might not always work, or when progression is overly cryptic. I think I made some of them weapons too hidden and the exit is not really clearly marked. In my next map I think I'll go for something a bit smaller scale and make things more blunt and clear.

 

I thought only the ending had that issue. Before that, though, "getting lost in the world" is a big part of the charm and was engaging, so if things were "unclear" that's not really a bad thing. Giving the automap powerup helped in that respect too because it was easy to notice where I hadn't explored yet. 

[Koko Ricky]

The link has been updated. There have been several notable fixes including:

 

- An elevator texture that was incorrectly pegged has been unpegged

- Ventilation shaft is much easier to access

- Exit is a lot more obvious due to exit sign placement

- IOS does not become alerted until the player enters the exit chamber for the second (and final) time

[FEDEX]

I was checking the time stamp of the wad, and it's the same as the original one (05 may , 13:26) i think it is not updated

Edited June 20, 2023 by FEDEX

[Koko Ricky]

12 minutes ago, FEDEX said:

I was checking the time stamp of the wad, and it's the same as the original one (06 may , 17:15) i think it is not updated

Thank for checking! I thought I saved the new upload but I hadn't. It should be updated now.

 

[plums]

Great sightseeing map, really liked it. You put a lot of work into realizing the map as an actual place and it shows. It was definitely on the easy side, I felt like I was drowning in spheres, but that's not entirely a problem. I played the updated version, the only real complaint I had with the progression was that it seemed like I couldn't go back and fight the cyberdemon after I left that area? Not that that really matters, but you know, you put the big guy in there and people are going to want to take him out.

 

Automap really came through at the right time. Lots of weapons, I didn't even get the SSG but I don't think it mattered, there were tons of rockets and cells for any mid-tier enemies I didn't feel like shotgunning.

 

A few *very minor* problems, the only thing you might want to look at is that in Crispy Doom, or DSDA-Doom -complevel 2, the candles on the steps around the cyberdemon are all floating in the air because they're too wide to fit on the step they're supposed to be on. No real way to fix that without widening the steps probably.

 

I've been here on and off for a decade now (yikes!), and any time I have been active and around I don't think I've ever seen you post a map. (I'm probably wrong but I don't remember any.) Anything else of yours you'd like to recommend? Doesn't necessarily have to be the same style as this.

Edited June 19, 2023 by plums