[Community Project] Thirty Monsters Challenge 2: Thirty Aliens (Beta compilation is up!)

7 hours ago, Azure_Horror said:

A rules question:

- Monster spawners (from Icon of Sin) are forbidden, right? Technically, nothing in the rules or resource descriptions discusses monster spawner things, but they most likely break the whole spirit of the challenge...

They aren't, actually! The first 30mc had one map with them, and I don't mind if there is another in the second. Might restrict them for the third though.

2 hours ago, dac said:

They aren't, actually! The first 30mc had one map with them, and I don't mind if there is another in the second. Might restrict them for the third though.

Wellllllll... This gives me +100 mapping motivation!

Now I have a few additional drafts for the map finale...

BTW, which map from 30 monsters 1 used the monster spawner? Those things a criminally under-used, IMO. Always nice to play a map that uses them! (I can find the level with the help of UDB, of course, but it will likely spoil the map... And I wanna play it fairly first!)

Look forward to some feedback!

Google Drive Download (Zip, 712 KB)

Map Name: The Texas Skillsaw Massacre (30mc2_deathbear_m1)

Author: Death Bear

Music: Stargaze by Psyrus

Difficulty Settings: Not Yet Implemented

Ports Tested: DSDA-DOOM

Description: A small canyon filled with aliens to fight. Hamboning will not save you in the end. The spiffy new plasma gun might, though.

Notes: ?

Map Name: Moonsweeper (30mc2_deathbear_m2)

Author: Death Bear

Music: Gigabridge by Stuart Rynn

Difficulty Settings: Not Yet Implemented

Ports Tested: DSDA-DOOM

Description: Infiltrate the moon tower…the security can get pretty hot, though. Sweep it clean.

Notes: ?

Map Name: Neon Shuffle (30mc2_deathbear_m3)

Author: Death Bear

Music: Neon-Step by Psyrus

Difficulty Settings: Not Yet Implemented

Ports Tested: DSDA-DOOM

Description: Shuffle through a small blue and purple alien techbase. Fancy footwork may benefit you here.

Notes: ?

Map Name: Noxious Veins (30mc2_deathbear_m4)

Author: Death Bear

Music: Catalyst by Psyrus

Difficulty Settings: Not Yet Implemented

Ports Tested: DSDA-DOOM

Description: Inside a living alien ship, you search for a way out.

Notes: ?

I might as well give this a try!

QQ: Can I add just 1 texture, specifically a pure-white wall texture?

Ok here it goes

Name:- Copper Curry(30mc2_gudermann_m22_v2.wad)(I have mentioned m22 but it is on map01)

Author:- gudermannian function

Music:-Sepulchral by HellishGodzilla (Plutonia MIDI pack)

Difficulty Settings:- Implemented

Ports Tested:- DSDA-Doom

Description:- Magma Caldera fashioned as a Plutonic Gantlet. Inspired by PL map09.

Notes:- aa-tex.wad and aa_mon.wad is provided in the RAR file. It is highly recommended that they are loaded while playing this map.

Edit: Added a new version with recommended changes + some changes of my own

30mc2_gudermann_m22_v2.rar

Hate to bump this on such a sad note, but I'm dropping out of this one. I procrastinated on getting my map started for too long and it's not looking to be in a satisfactory shape by the deadline.

@Death Bear Played through each map, here's some quick notes:

Map 1: Weird impassable lines in moon area even though there's nothing to suggest not being able to go back there

Map 2: Felt extremely overstocked for the fight, can be easily circle-strafed and done without getting hit (apart from the hitscanners)

Map 3: Switch in closet behind shotgun very easy to miss, spent a minute or two looking for it

Map 4: Aside from starting on damaging floor, no complaints here :) The cyberdemon fight was pretty tense with the limited space, probably my favourite fight in all 4 maps

On 4/8/2023 at 5:58 PM, MoiraHeart said:

Map Name: Cabaret at the Edge of the Universe

Author: Moira Heart

Music: Stuart Rynn - Hypercube

Difficulty Settings: Implemented

Ports Tested: DSDA-Doom, Woof, GZDoom

Description: Your hyperspace minivan has ran out of juice and you stopped at a gas station near the edge of the universe. While your vehicle is refueling, you decide to check out the local cabaret. Barge in from the front, or carefully infiltrate from the side, but stay on the move, as those alien bastards prepared plenty of entertainment for you.

Notes: Well, first map warning. Been looking for a while for a project to lose my mapping innocence with and this seems perfect. I adore AA textures and all the custom content. While aesthetics are on a bland side, I'm pretty satisfied with how the gameplay turned out. Working with 30 monsters is a very interesting challenge for a new mapper especially, as I always feel the urge to fill every nook and cranny with a demon. I'll probably add more visual detail in further iterations of the map.

 

Download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-v4HwGL7umnLUyQyGSOOapUiRyhMClt4/view?usp=share_link

Screenshots:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I've made the map slightly more visually interesting, but I think I'll leave it at that. Can't wait to see the WAD finalized!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ncliOg-vldmqAdbIpPukoYk-Ys-iqCQz/view?usp=share_link

5 hours ago, Razza said:

@Death Bear Played through each map, here's some quick notes:

Thanks!

I've made some improvements to my first map, Cheers 😀

Map Name: Hammer Smashed Lilac

Author: Russell Bowtell

Music: Tempissed Phlux by David "Tolwyn" Shaw

Difficulty Settings: Implemented

Ports Tested: DSDA-Doom v0.25.2

Description: Just a short walk around the (square) corner, there is no keys and no switches. It's kinda tech base themed with lots of purple. It can be 100% completed in under 3 minutes fairly easily but near the end the player can get swarmed if they are unlucky :)

Notes: Now with more purple :)

Download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u-dzVyCL74itQq9PiYjkzYJPPdRYUTAP/view?usp=drive_link

Map Name: Goodbye Moonmen

Author: Ravendesk

Music: stage3.mid by Ribbiks

Difficulty Settings: Implemented, but require more testing from my side

Ports Tested: dsda-doom 0.25.6

Description: Beat two optional challenges at the start to get both secrets and some nice rewards.

Notes: Beta version, I'm more or less happy with the progression, but I feel like the fights need adjusting. Will try to come up with some improvements during the project testing period. Also would need to work a bit on visuals. Also I might choose a different midi idk.

Download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IzqM1joSKemKsEqKzjQK3cY0shrh9M4W/view?usp=sharing

Screenshot:

Quick question, lost souls don't count as kills, but they count for 30 monsters, right? So 29 kills + 1 lost soul is a valid map submission?

19 minutes ago, Ravendesk said:

Quick question, lost souls don't count as kills, but they count for 30 monsters, right? So 29 kills + 1 lost soul is a valid map submission?

Lost souls do count towards the, uh, count, excluding ones spawned by a Pain Elemental

The monster count is for enemies placed on the map, as Razza mentioned.

Name: Teleportic Troubled Tour

Author: SuyaSS

Music: The Oasis By James Paddock

Difficulty Settings: Implemented

Ports Tested: Woof 10.5.1

Description: Small map that was started just after the my first submission. But then, I suffered an intense mapper's block on this map causing me to stop working on it for several days. I got the motivation for working on this map again after playing Mapping at Warpspeed. There is a choice given to the player on which key they want to tackle first and I tried to make the final area arena-like.

Notes: Didn't turn out as good as I hoped.

DOWNLOAD: 30mc2_suyass_m2_v1.zip

Map Name: We live in black and white

Author: DynamiteKaitorn

Music: Cerebrawl - Plants VS Zombies

Difficulty Settings: Implemented (Some enemies are in different locations/change on lower difficulties)

Ports Tested: WooF 10.5.1 (Can't test in DSDA but nothing should break anyways)

Description: Bizarre... it seems this corner of who knows where seems to be lacking any colour. In fact, its all monotone! Stranger still, this place is populated, so somehow these demonic beings found a way into here and infested it? odd...

Notes: If you open my WAD in Slade, the WHITHALL texture will look red-ish. I converted it to the PLAYPAL's white colour. Also the map isn't very long (roughly 2 minutes playtime, 3 if you 100%).

Screensies!

30mc2_DynamiteKaitorn_m1_v1.zip

Map Name: All fish made by the government

Author: russin

Music: premo by Zan-zan-zawa-veia

Difficulty Settings: implemented

Ports Tested: DSDA doom, Woof!, Eternity Engine

Description: All the fish... All the fish are made by the government, they secretly create fish for the ruler of the planet X-9086. They use fish as fuel for their UFOs, they specifically raise fish for a secret race About which no one knows, someday they will dry up all the rivers and lakes, for the sake of fish, for them, at any cost just for them. They are not interested in human life, only fish. They watch your fish in the fridge that you bought from the store. They want more fish, they are hungry.

Notes: slightly claustrophobic map with lazy layout, but playable.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wjEg7SwSjAYYU9e1UBVC3ARLXwRn7nMh/view?usp=sharing

Sorry, got busy and didn't have enough time to get anything done for this project!

Sorry for the lack of updates, have been dealing with the worst month I've had irl for a while. But I managed to finish what I started.

https://mega.nz/file/P8E3wT4K#I8q-hWBPW7Z7trm7_K9HKM3Gp8LOsgAF6pByJOhUGck

Map Name: Aliens Climbing Your Stairs!

Author: knifeworld

Music: Aliens, Say Your Prayers! by Bobby Prince, from Duke3D

Difficulty Settings: UV Only at the moment, will implement all difficulties soon!

Ports Tested: dsda-doom 0.25.6, -complevel 21

Description: spinning and shooting and blasting and dying

Notes: climb them even faster for the secret




 

Time's up!

...Somewhat. I still need to finish some stuff so I'll allow a bit of a grace period for a while. After that, time to see how's everything.

I had a bad case of procrastination/mapping block, caused by lots of IRL head-scratching events.

However, in past few days everything started moving at a good pace!

Here is a screenshot, to showcase some progress:

Updated my entry (Missing red key on some difficulty and removed useless plasma packs)

(Screenshots soon but aside from a few things i didn't change anything)
MAP: https://www.dropbox.com/s/dzptpljk08i6lie/30mc2_HUNdebLeonidasX_m1_v1.5.wad?dl=0

Map Name: Abysmal Sanctuary 

Author: HUNdebLeonidasX

Music:  Fortune Ravine by Arata Iiyoshi (From PMD Explorers of sky) 

Difficulty Settings: Not implemented yet

Ports Tested: DSDA-Doom

Description: Originally meant to be a techbase-water themed map with different music but I decided to make an use out of those cool looking marble textures, and i had a pack of pokémon midis around so I decided to choose one from them too. So far is more of an arena, where you have to find all the keys in the main chamber.
I plan to add some decoration to the main sanctuary.
So far i'd say it's the hard-medium difficulty,.

 

On 4/30/2023 at 4:23 PM, SuyaSS said:

Name: Teleportic Troubled Tour

Author: SuyaSS

Music: The Oasis By James Paddock

Difficulty Settings: Implemented

Ports Tested: Woof 10.5.1

Description: Small map that was started just after the my first submission. But then, I suffered an intense mapper's block on this map causing me to stop working on it for several days. I got the motivation for working on this map again after playing Mapping at Warpspeed. There is a choice given to the player on which key they want to tackle first and I tried to make the final area arena-like.

Notes: Didn't turn out as good as I hoped.

Updated my 2nd map.

UPDATE DOWNLOAD: 30mc2_suyass_m2_v2.zip

ignore my post

Update for Aliens Climbing Your Stairs!
https://mega.nz/file/ywlETZyY#Ze76INppv6nsraqFbeNIr9s8oN2FgnkiYxBm3zN9wL0 

Difficulty changes fully implemented, keeping 30 monsters on all levels
Misc balancing
Texture/Lighting fixes
Fixed some enemies getting stuck on the edges

On 5/1/2023 at 3:19 PM, dac said:

Time's up!

 

...Somewhat. I still need to finish some stuff so I'll allow a bit of a grace period for a while. After that, time to see how's everything.

...Since it looks like the grace period is not over yet, I suppose I can still slip this one in that I've been working on:
 

Map Name: Thermal Research Site
Author: Worst
Music: "Level" or LEVELR from Hexen (placeholder)
Difficulty Settings: Not implemented (yet.)
Ports Tested: dsda-doom 0.25.6 and GZDoom 4.8.2
Description: Contact with the crew of the thermal research site has been lost. Management has sent you to retrieve the latest research data, and if needed, to provide assistance to the crew.

Notes: First version of the map, no difficulty settings yet, likely plenty of balancing still needs to happen, and various parts may need further improvement.

30mc2_worst_m1_v1.zip

Screenshots:

Hey @dac, I'd like to make a quick status checkup for projects that have passed their deadlines to keep the tracker up to date. Seeing as the May deadline has passed and we're into June during the grace period, should I consider this project closed from new submissions and ready for compiling? Cheers.

On 6/3/2023 at 2:25 AM, quakis said:

Hey @dac, I'd like to make a quick status checkup for projects that have passed their deadlines to keep the tracker up to date. Seeing as the May deadline has passed and we're into June during the grace period, should I consider this project closed from new submissions and ready for compiling? Cheers.

Yup. Making an official announcement:

Time's up! For real this time! I'll try and get a compilation out real soon.

Made an update to my map:

Map Name: Thermal Research Site
Author: Worst
Music: "Level" or LEVELR from Hexen (placeholder)
Difficulty Settings: Not implemented (yet.)
Ports Tested: dsda-doom 0.25.6 and GZDoom 4.8.2
Description: Contact with the crew of the thermal research site has been lost. Management has sent you to retrieve the latest research data, and if needed, to provide assistance to the crew.
Notes: Second version of the map, no difficulty settings yet, more balancing probably still needed, and some parts might need improvement.

30mc2_worst_m1_v2.zip

Screenshots: See my previous post (screenshots not updated.)

Changelog:

On 4/30/2023 at 12:36 AM, Ravendesk said:

Map Name: Goodbye Moonmen

Made an update to my map, partially reworked the visuals, rebalanced the fights (both secrets fights are now easier) and tested difficulty settings more. Previous post quoted for reference.

Map Name: Goodbye Moonmen

Author: Ravendesk

Music: stage3.mid by Ribbiks

Difficulty Settings: Implemented.

Ports Tested: dsda-doom 0.26.2

Description: Beat two optional challenges at the start to get the secrets and a nice reward.

Notes: More or less final unless playtesting feedback makes me reconsider.

Download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pP62aMKvY90H19kEy6qGuiUf_7QZ1zFU/view?usp=sharing

Map Name: Druid Artificial Dimension
Author: Azure_Horror
Music: "Ghosts in The Walls" by Stuart Rynn (Rebirth MIDI pack song for map 11)
Difficulty settings: Implemented. UV - merciless; HMP - merciful; HNTR - power fantasy
Ports Tested: DSDA-Doom, 15 January 2023 Release
Description: I tried to make a semi-adventure map, with a notable focus on super-chaingun and hectic, explosive, and nefarious fights. The map has 5 major combat encounters, and a couple of smaller engagements. Somehow, I did manage to squeeze it all into 30 monsters limit... Recycling and reusing monsters proved to be a lifesaver!
Version 1 has a lot of resources for the player, but it also can deliver swift punishment.
I tried to make UV-difficulty comparable to Ancient Aliens map 26 or Mapping at Warpspeed map 20. UV difficulty is not soul-crushingly hard at its core, but going through it requires fast movement, good situation awareness, and swift decision-making. HMP and HNTR are attempt to lower skill demands and make the map less taxing.

Notes:
Note 1: The gameplay difficulty does not change too much, if the  player enters the level with full ammo/HP/Armor coffers. However, the map becomes considerably easier with a BFG at hand. If multiple episodes are planned, it could be worthwhile to place this map before players get access to BFG.
Note 2: Due to quirks of design, this map is likely to feel easy for experienced challenge-map players, while appearing super-hard to more casual Doomers. Multiple fights involve immortal and/or hard to reach turret monsters, multiple lines of fire and other stuff like that. But the player gets a lot of resources to fight through all the nonsense, and a considerable amount of space to maneuver around. By standards of Thirty Monsters Project 1, I think the UV difficulty of this map belongs somewhere in the later half of "Taxing" or maybe in the early part of "Mayhem".
Note 3: I am open to rework resource balance of the map, if the need arises.

Download Link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ja7vm0kcqv2i36r/30mc2_Azure_Horror_m1_v1.zip?dl=0

Screenshots: