[Ultimate Doom, complevel 3] Solar Struggle Community Project: Release thread. [Now on IDGAMES]

I have no idea what this could possibly be. It's like a solid wall has vanished.

47 minutes ago, ViolentBeetle said:

I have no idea what this could possibly be. It's like a solid wall has vanished.

Yeah, it appears to work fine on prboom+ though. One thing that i noticed is that the lamp next to the wall is flickering, not sure if that may be causing an issue on woof for some reason.

I have posted a note on their forum as well https://www.doomworld.com/forum/post/2536871

10 hours ago, Garlichead said:

Hi, not sure if this has been reported before but i found some weird graphical glitches  (Hall of mirrors?) on map e1m3 while playing on WOOF.

 

I am running the wad on complevel 3. You will find the screenshots and the save file on the spot below.

It appears that the is the wall in question and two others are marked as double-sided when they should be just impassable, this is what running the map analysis tool in UDB found:

6 hours ago, Jark said:

 

It appears that the is the wall in question and two others are marked as double-sided when they should be just impassable, this is what running the map analysis tool in UDB found:

 

Is it a big enough problem that I'd need to adress? Because updating on idgames isn't the most enjoyable experience.

Just now, ViolentBeetle said:

Is it a big enough problem that I'd need to adress? Because updating on idgames isn't the most enjoyable experience.

It shouldn't be anything other than a visual issue - I would recommend perhaps gathering a larger pool of fixes before putting a update out, unless a particularly game-breaking issue is found.

Mad props to all the creators out there on this... I had a blast!

I started following this megawad it at the early development stage and I was impressed by how quickly it was made! I immediately got interested in how one author reveals the intention of another author. 

I'd like to take up this project for a long time and now this moment has come. Let's get started!

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P.S. I play through GZDoom using mouselook and pass levels in a row without a pistol start.

One of the Best MEGAWADs I've played! Although he did not receive a Cacoward, but at least he received Special Attention!

Even I was satisfied with this work (Review HERE)!

This map is short but densely populated. The battle for the red key turned out to be especially hot. And as I also noticed: lost souls and cacodemons traditionally begin to meet only from the second episode. But this megawad breaks this tradition!

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At the beginning of this map you can easily find even too many delicious secrets. Fortunately, there is not even one possibility to return to the start with the help of a teleport and pick up what was left (as I usually do).

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@RataUnderground, I can say in advance that your map is the most confusing in the first episode! And to explore it in such a way as to find everything and to make all the monsters teleport, I managed far from immediately!

Although the battle with spectres and lost souls after taking the alternative yellow key seemed to me quite tedious. And this is just the moment when you can easily leave someone behind and not even notice it...

Great gameplay @RaRu Des2122 !
Don't worry, my map its more enjoyable if you don't try to 100% xD , but congrats anyway for your achievement!

I hope I can join in on in more VB projects in future :3

making E4M9 was a good memory and I've practiced mapping more since then and want to make some more cool stuff

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The first episode is over and the Saturn's satellite is behind! Some intermediate results can be summed up:

BEST MAPS:

1) E1M2: Admin Offices by @Peccatum Mihzamiz (the most authentic offices I've ever seen in Doom!)

2) E1M5: Mining Complex by @RataUnderground (the most non-linear and complex map which has stumped me more than once in the course of progress)

3) E1M8: Huygens Spaceport by @ViolentBeetle (the most atmospheric map in the episode - I really don't want to share the fate of the many marines who died before me...)

BEST SOUNDTRACKS:

1) E1M1: "Nightfall" by @stewboy

2) E1M8: "End is Nigh" by Jamie Robertson

3) E1M9: "You're Not Supposed to Be here" by Kelly Bailey

@ViolentBeetle While part of me feels weirdly proud for creating a level that's so polarizing (I say this after seeing the many impressions in the recent DW Megawad club playthrough of Solar Struggle), something ultimately has nagged at me quite a bit, saying "You can do better than this." Indulging my fantasy, I've ended up heavily re-working my level.

Partially to address the feedback I saw there; partially because I didn't expect the E4M5 map immediately preceding mine to be such a grand and long experience; and (if nothing else) partially to put in better teleport pathing, I present a revised version of my contribution: e4m6_v19.zip

I don't know whether the idgames archive upload can (or even should) be updated at this point, and I know it would be selfish to ask for that, but at the very least I want to make this available for some peace of mind on my part.

Updates can be done, but I think it's not reasonable to do major changes after all that time. People played it, maybe even made speedruns of it.

I'll link your post in the OP, so whoever interested could use it.

Moving to Ceres!

Despite the fact that you can find a secret plasma rifle at the level, only chaingun is quite enough for us. Even savings or metered expenses did not have to be resorted to.

As I understand it, the level is named after the surname of the discoverer of Ceres Giuseppe Piazzi. It was done at 1801.

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A large dark atmospheric ring-shaped level. Its first passage took me a lot of time and therefore I was pretty surprised when the serpentine moved into a long ago left conveyor belt. And red cracks near the same conveyor and in storage complex reminds me out of SIGIL...

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After the long battles with monsters here which were very inconvenient to make fight against each other, I was a little exhausted. And the rather small size of the next three maps seems quite appropriate to me. You can call them "the calm before the storm".

Formally, the BFG9000 appeared in this megawad earlier than usual - but it is just a museum exhibit that can not be reached in an honest way. So it remains only to sigh sadly and go to the next map...

By the way, it is the second such case in an episode. It was impossible to take shotguns from dead zombie sergeants on the E2M1: Piazzi Spaceport.

Another dark (I spent about three minutes choosing a more or less suitable place for the preview!), confusing but very atmospheric map. The aggressive influence of Hell is distributed unevenly here but it is very indicative: the upper levels of this giant transport hub look even more or less normal while the lower ones are completely entangled with yellow & pink guts and the barons of Hell have settled in here so much. They teleport right during the battle behind marine's back or in front of his face! How painful it is to shoot from a rocket launcher at such moments...

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This map is the complete opposite of the previous one: it is spacious, bright, straightforward and with much more dynamic fights! I can say that here the battle does not subside at all from the very beginning until the death of the last 234th monster :))

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And the episode ends with a natural slaughter!

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BEST MAPS:

1) E2M1: Piazzi Spaceport by @Lorenz0

2) E2M2: Storage Complex by @Wavy

3) E2M6: Transport Nexus by @Jark

BEST SOUNDTRACKS:

1) E2M3: "Car Dealership" from Gran Turismo 3

2) E2M6: "Archvile on Line 2" by @Bucket

3) E2M8: "Sewer" by Andrew Benon

Moon is awaiting us!

The starting map of the third episode makes us remember that we still have a pistol in our inventory and use it more often. At the first walkthrough, it seemed to me that the lack of ammunition would haunt us throughout the entire level but with a competent alternation of the main weapon with a pistol everything would return to normal somewhere in the second half of the map.

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@Jimmy's "Hate Machine" is guaranteed to add points to the map in my eyes!

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Almost the entire map is available for research from the very beginning and at the same time I can't call it linear - so the search for the optimal path of passage took me some time. However, I'm not sure that I succeeded))

And at this map a more or less optimal way was found here far from immediately. At first, I came to the room with a blue keycard without a red one which forced me to make this journey again at least twice. And some of the optionally visited rooms behind colored doors as well as the need to get behind the red door and then unlock it from the inside were also very confusing... Of course, during the first walkthrough, I shot a considerable part of my ammunition into the cyberdemon and after that I found out that it could be crushed! :))

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If on the previous map we saw only the devastating consequences of the forces of hell invading the Moon, then on this one the real hellish views have arrived!

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This map will definitely be mentioned in the list of the best soundtracks! And yes, we finally got hold of the BFG9000 - two-thirds of the megawad is already behind us...

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BEST MAPS:

1) E3M1: Lunar Gateway by @LordEntr0py (numerous secrets that reveal the hidden infernal essence of the level are the best part of this map)

2) E3M5: Helium Refinery by @Captain Toenail (one of the few levels that does not let me forget that this episode replaces Inferno)

3) E3M7: Freight Terminal by @MemeMind (I love trains, especially if you can interact with them)

BEST SOUNDTRACK:

1) E3M2: "Hate Machine" by @Jimmy

2) E3M4: "Well of Ass" by @Jimmy

3) E3M6: "Stage 1" from Cybernator

We are waiting for a trip to New Venice - previously an elite city on Venus but now the true headquarters of monsters from where their forces went on Titan, Ceres and Moon! 

And the first level clearly lets us know where we are - it consists of several islands hanging in space, between which both we and monsters can move freely. Neither plasma nor small arms will be provided to us here and even zombie won't attack us. Only imps, pinkies, cacodemons, barons of Hell and a rocket launcher, which is hard to get and easy to shoot yourself from it... The level is complex and highly chaotic but definitely memorable! 

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Another gorgeous level! In general, the quality and memorability of the levels in the fourth episode jumped up sharply compared to the first three. Given this trend, it's a pity that the @ViolentBeetle's team didn't create a fifth episode... The action in which would take place, for example, on the Earth ;))) 

Oh, and it's also the only map in Solar Struggle that features all 10 types of monsters from The Ultimate Doom.

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Judging by the fact that this map is secret, it is not necessary to destroy this cult according to the plot. But how can you leave someone behind when you have a mission to clean up the city?

Due to the small size of the level and the large number of monsters that attack me almost immediately after the start of the level and from all sides, I initially had to run past them, trying not to get involved in fights. This led to the fact that the monsters hurt each other and the newcomers and greatly facilitated my further work. I can't say that I didn't have to shoot anyone at all but I passed the level much faster than when I tried to kill with everyone myself, and saved a lot more nerves!

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There is very little health and armor at this level (and there are no spheres at all) so we had to pay especially close attention to the hitscanners. Even for weak wounds, first-aid kits can not be saved.

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It's a truly masterpiece, @MAN_WITH_GUN!

@SMG_Man made another masterpiece! At this time the level is sharpened not so much for battles but for searching! There's so much hidden here! And the best part is that everyone can pass this level in their own way: after taking the yellow key, you can go press the buttons and to the exit or you can not calm down until you find everything and understand how everything works here.

Personally, I already get great pleasure from the second map in a row! It seems to me that it is not necessary to remake and replace it...

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We have two record holders in a row here: the previous map had the most secrets for a megawad (12), and this one has the least - they are not here at all! However, this is justified: the map is very small, unsophisticated and represents one big battle. The last battle on the New Venice...

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Because of the MAPINFO lump I created (I made it so that I could see the intermission screens after the E1M8, E2M8, E3M8 and E4M8 as well as hear the music that sounds during the text at the end of the episode), the script responsible for lowering the lava wall and teleporting the horde of barons of Hell and cacodemons after the death of the spider mastermind. Therefore, I had to use the usual version of Solar Struggle without changes to complete the level with which all previous saves are incompatible. It is for this reason that I passed the last level from the pistol start.

Unlike most other megawads, here our journey through hell is extremely short: we jumped off, got to the spider, killed her and broke back. I am glad that here the battle with the mastermind is not reduced to one or two shots at point-blank range from the BFG9000. But the unchanging green sky that we saw on Venus is a little puzzling...

Anyway, the megawad is over and I sincerely thank @ViolentBeetle and his great team! I've already heard a lot about your other works so I hope to get to them someday!

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BEST MAPS: 

1) E4M2: Customs Office by @Anarkzie

2) E4M5: Waste Recycling Center by @MAN_WITH_GUN

3) E4M6: Mass Propulsion by @SMG_Man

BEST SOUNDTRACKS:

1) E4M5: "Under Death" by Mark Klem

2) E4M6: "Cry of Desperation" by Tristan Clark

3) E4M7: "Legion of the Lost" by L.A. Sieben 

I will sum up the overall results of the megawad a little later.

And now it's time to sum up the overall results!

I think it is not entirely correct to choose only one map out of all thirty-six as the best because the megawad is divided into four episodes. So I'll pick one map from each episode and do the same with the soundtracks. Here are my favorites:

Episode 1: Titan Terror

- Best map: E1M5: Mining Complex by @RataUnderground

- Best soundtrack: E1M9: "You're Not Supposed to Be Here"

Episode 2: Ceres Carnage

- Best map: E2M6: Transport Nexus by @Jark

- Best soundtrack: E2M3: "Car Dealership"

Episode 3: Moon Madness

- Best map: E3M1: Lunar Gateway by @LordEntr0py

- Best soundtrack: E3M2: "Hate Machine"

Episode 4: Venusian Violence

- Best maps: E4M5: Waste Recycling Facility by @MAN_WITH_GUN & E4M6: Mass Propulsion by @SMG_Man (I couldn't make up my mind)

- Best soundtrack: E4M6: "Cry of Desperation"

Full statistics on monsters and secrets. All is for an Ultra-Violence difficulty.

Hello some textures are missing(checkerboard sky in the second map and black patches), do I need extra files for textures? 

1 hour ago, plastrio said:

Hello some textures are missing(checkerboard sky in the second map and black patches), do I need extra files for textures? 

No, you shouldn't need extra files, and I doubt this issue would be unreported for so long if it was persistent.

Make sure you are loading it with DOOM.WAD and not something else. Otherwise, I'm not sure.

Checkerboard sky sounds like you are using gzDoom, who knows what's it up to.

On 11/17/2023 at 1:47 AM, ViolentBeetle said:

No, you shouldn't need extra files, and I doubt this issue would be unreported for so long if it was persistent.

Make sure you are loading it with DOOM.WAD and not something else. Otherwise, I'm not sure.

Checkerboard sky sounds like you are using gzDoom, who knows what's it up to.

Ooh, it's my bad. Wrong IWAD used.

So this wad caught my eye and was immediately drawn into this with certain wads. However I’ve experienced on one level e4m5 that there is a massive lag on this level that makes it unplayable im not sure what’s causing it. Could be certain  mods I play or my settings are not adjusted right. All other levels were fine to play so I don’t know what’s causing it. Has anyone experienced this on thier end? I’m going to do more runs with less mods to use up to a point that everything is vanilla