Black Room (Doom 2 map, /idgames)

[Paul977]

This is a Boom compatible (cl9) level for Doom 2. The setting for this map consist in some UAC bases placed in a mountain area. 
Parts of this level are inspired by some BPRD maps and also the midi is from the wad Grove made by the same author.
The default difficulty level is HMP and not UV: I suggest to play on skill 4 only if you are in the mood for a challenge & you like very harsh Doom scenarios (similar in difficult to map 04 of disciples of darkness).

 

Tested: PrBoom + v2.5.1.4, GZDoom 2.3.2

 

Textures: from cc4-tex.wad, GOTHICTX.WAD, CRFE_P1.wad and from Speed of Doom courtesy of Joshy. Sky textures are made by Mechadon.

 

Screenshot:

 

 

Doomworld: 

 

idgames: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/blackroom

 

Edited July 1, 2018 by Paul977

[Catpho]

There are some grammar errors in your post... I'll give a past for most of them except for the misspell "Groove" (sorry, i cant stand seeing it like that :P, pls fix it to Grove)

Looks hella cool tho, i'll check it out. B.P.R.D inspire stuff + high difficulty + Grove midi sounds really intriguing!

 

[tourniquet]

One of the best maps i've played so far this year. I love this midi and always wanted to create something with it however never got the right idea. Thus i'm really glad that you came up with this wonderous, mysterious nostalgia trip. This looks and plays like a B.P.R.D or D_D map in every way. Encounters, lighting , texturing i loved all of it. Thank you

Edited May 10, 2018 by tourniquet

[Demonologist]

Hey Paul, great map as always, at this point it's safe to say that you've perfectly nailed this kind of gameplay, the talent at establishing these quirky D-D-esque encounters that are able to cause a heart attack both before being triggered (by the sheer looks of them, that is) and in the actual process of dealing with them when the chaos gets unleashed is evident. Once again, it's pretty much as if the guy himself didn't truly leave, so good job carrying that torch even though I've said it before.

 

Now, to the, uh, theatrical side of the question. Of course I picked UV right away because hey, it's me, managed on my first try, attaching my FDA below. Inbefore anyone actually realises what's written in the previous sentence - I'm making it clear that I'm attaching it for laughs and genuine amusement since it's not a demonstration of skill or anything related to it, rather than of a fact that today seems to be an extremely lucky day for me and I probably need to quit writing this post and go get the lottery ticket asap. All this fluke all the way through is so ludicrous that I was chuckling towards the end and upon exiting the level laughed like an idiot. In fact, pretty much all the damage I received throughout was due to my own stupidity as I seemed to try really hard to counterweight my good fortune with self-inflicted suffering, so is there any skill in that?..

Grab your popcorn and have a good laugh I guess. Thanks for the map once again!

Blackroom_dem_FDA.zip

[Catpho]

Darn, gotta go. Here's a quick bug report then:

Slime trail:

[Paul977]

Thanks for the bug report @Catpho, I'll fix that sector error somehow. 

 

And cool playing @Demonologist , some luck with the viles and unluck with the cyber^. Thanks for the demo, it's very helpful in improving some sections of the level

[WH-Wilou84]

Excellent stuff Paul !
It's as if Death-Destiny himself tried to make a map using some of the CC4 assets. Really nice and faithful to the source.
The traps are deliciously evil while not being over the top.

Keep going !

Here's a potential showstopper : the player can outspeed the closure of doors 173 and 174 and get stuck in sector 58 with no way out if he doesn't activate the trap (switch 745) beforehand. Maybe the two doors should be closed by "Door close stay (fast)" linedef actions instead of what you currently have.

[Merry Widow]

Wow, those screenshots are something else. Beautiful work! :)

[Valboom]

Great look! Now download it

[Player177]

   Jumped in to congratulate on the release! Very impressive map! It really reminds the map4 and, I'd like to note, feels more like a Blue Room because of all the atmosphere. I played this, better say I chose to play a puppeteer role for cybers in most encounters and damn they're unfriendly. Now I understand that this and the ambience has led me to strange impression about the map, as if it has some scenario and prehistory and then I remembered Alien: Covenant, wtf! Not a very weird association because of the musical instrument used here and there I guess. I think you will want to tune something, complicate couple encounters. I want to say that I rather like the big area with the YK and the BK somehow most of all.

   I would suggest to change the secret button sidedef texture for the one from the switch texture pack. The reason is simple, the present one doesn't change colour after pressing and doesn't produce no sound after pressing. The SW1WDMET forehead can suit well. Sorry for the details and explanations, but this was surprisingly irritating thing for me while playing and I decided to check it up closely.

   Sometimes I notice things like this, there may be more:

 

 

[loveless]

Played your map earlier tonight on UV, didn't see any problems.  Here's the vod, hope it's helpful.

[gaspe]

Cool map, and nice choice for the aesthetics.

I'm attaching my fda: blackroom_gaspe_fda.zip

I think I was being very lucky many times and I managed to go pretty far into the map, only to waste everything and die at the cyberdemon in the secret area...

[Paul977]

Thanks for the feedback and the playthroughs. I've made some adjustments based on it and posted a new version with a download link in the OP (file called Blackroom1.wad); I left the old link in case people want to see gaspe and Demonologist FDA 

[Player177]

I have played Blackroom1.wad a little and noticed that:

1) The archvile in the plasma room didn't tele in this version

2) The switch to the exit has wall texture

Also, Paul, you may want to add at least just an upper or lower texture with a switch for the linedef 6445 for the sound of the secret button

[Paul977]

Good catch @Player177 I've made a quick fix and uploaded a new file with those issues removed. About the secret switch I like to have a blue light texture there for some reason^ (I know it's not an easy to find secret, that true tho). Might do something for that in the final realese

[DeletedUser]

I'm late to the party! ;D

 

Have an FDA which miraculously pulls back from the brink of destruction, not performing at my best here, as shown by poor Archvile dodging -.-

 

Blackroom1_BlooditeKrypto_FDA.zip

 

If the opening post didn't state otherwise, I'd genuinely think this was crafted by Death-Destiny! The resemblance to his style both visually and in gameplay is impeccable in execution. The architecture is very faithful, oozing that distinct claustrophobia which immediately mounts pressure on the player before a trap is even sprung, with each encounter providing a minimal breadth of movement room, making you feel overwhelmed and forcing you to react and strategize immediately.

 

The health distribution was just right, their is a sufficient amount to patch you up if one makes a critical mistake, but not too excessive to make one relaxed and spark the compulsion to take daring risks, the problem with putting too little health is it sets expectations for the player to perform flawlessly, which just adds a layer of frustration when it comes to challenging encounters as you'd need to perform consistently from one battle to the next, here the amount offered did not suffer from this. It was clever blocking off the passage to the SSG area but re-opening it later, so one can return to replenish before the last area.

 

The ammo allocation was pleasing, as it makes one rely on infighting between the Cybers and his lower brethren leading to more tense and strategic battles. I had to distribute my cells wisely saving up BFG shots for the Cyber after being crippled from infighting, but I was reluctant to use it immediately after springing an ambush, this made fights more intense and interesting to overcome, it's easy to give the player a large surplus of cells to go wild with the BFG and decimate everything with ease, however it's a far more interesting design ethos to provide the BFG with a ration of cells so you really have to consider each shot wisely, reversing the stature of the BFG from ultimate demon killer to bite sized horde killer with limited capacity.

 

The finale was a great twist, although the Cyber kills the last swarm for you, it's still an intimidating encounter as you have to take great care not to take a rocket to the face, as the number of demons awoken from splash damage begins to rise, your space for manoeuvring effectively begins to diminish gradually. The small skirmish at the exit was perplexing I have to admit, the threat is greatly reduced due to two reasons:

 

1) You can see what your final opponents are and where they are positioned, this immediately destroys any suspense and tension, it would have been more interesting to have an empty room, then as you enter the wall behind you closes and stuff starts to teleport in at an unexpected location.

 

2) By this point after flicking the switch you'd expect the Archviles to teleport around or behind you accompanied with more Demons to block your way such as Mancubie or Arachnotrons and the path back to get blocked off, as would be the Death-Destiny tradition in creating one last bastard of a hurdle before claiming victory, but to my surprise no, an invisible wall just lowers and the trio of Archviles are at the mercy of a close proximity BFG blast, unless your unfortunate enough to have no cells left, then yeah this can be intimidating ;) I was really expecting something more sinister and dreadful for the exit, granted the prior encounter was intense but this ended on a low point.

 

A great level overall, I hope to see more from you in the future! :D

 

[Paul977]

Cool and entertaining demo @Bloodite Krypto with some thrilling moments; I appreciate your feedback on the level who help in improving some areas. The final version will have some changes 

Edited May 29, 2018 by Paul977

[Paul977]

Final version of this map released. Both Doomworld and idgames links in the OP.

 

Changes on the gameplay are in the big area of the level where I removed (or drastically reduced both on HMP and UV) a 'camping' spot that occurred on the YK encounter. I've decided to not change the final encounter because the fight before it can go really bad (I've recently replayed it) particularly in a saveless attempt.

I've added a titlepic and a new intermission midi

 

Regards

Edited July 1, 2018 by Paul977

[BlackMetalChainsaw]

Looks fantastic. I like the idea and I remember the good ol days with brutal dark

[RonnieJamesDiner]

Good lord that was an interesting way to start the day! Deciding to jump right in on UV was certainly punishing, but incredibly fun and ultimately felt as though that's what the experience should be. Loved the aesthetics - the choice of textures created a very oppressive color palette, which added a lot to the tension. And I really enjoyed getting a good look at each new set of enemies before actually engaging, it helped it all seem a little less daunting and more tactical. I agree completely with Demonologist - despite successfully using demons as meat shields, provoking in-fights, and ducking around corners at the last second, I'm fairly certain that luck propelled me to victory more than anything. With flame from four different Arch-Viles licking at my very soul, I'd never been so relieved to step across an Exit linedef in my life.

 

10/10, would have a heart attack again.

[mArt1And00m3r11339]

I don't know if I shared this with you already but if I didn't, then here it is. I beat your level on Ultra-Violence.