Switcheroom 2 (Now on IDGAMES!!!!!)

[Magnusblitz]

1 hour ago, ShadesMaster said:

Wait so what's the one open map to be done, again?

 

MAP25 (in city style)

Edited March 26, 2019 by Magnusblitz

[Noiser]

5 hours ago, Magnusblitz said:

Low Power (MAP22) definitely has a bad case of 'original map slathered with new textures' so I've kinda been thinking about just remaking a new map.

That's a shame, I really liked this one.

[ShadesMaster]

I'll take MAP25! Give me a few days!

Edited March 26, 2019 by ShadesMaster

[Jaws In Space]

12 minutes ago, ShadesMaster said:

I'll take MAP25! Give me a few days!

You got it.

[The_MártonJános]

On 3/23/2019 at 1:43 PM, Jaws In Space said:

Nirvantlet (...)

[...]First things first this map needs a name change so that people aren't looking for homages to The Gantlet.[...]

Tek (or Tech) Zen.

Edited May 23 by The_MártonJános

[Walter confetti]

You know, I was thinking about what to do with my map for this project and i've taken my decision: i'll leave the project because i'm not interested anymore in this, is quite long time I don't understand how to change in better my map, even from before this resurrection thread, you can work on my map and turn it better if you like or just remove it if it's not good enough (well, if that was the case it will been removed already, but stop digressing now). Anyway i'm not longer interested in this project, sorry for that. Also sorry if I sounded rude.

[traversd]

RE: Changing progression/starting location. If the changes "work" and the original layout is easily seen I think it is an OK option if the standard progression in the new episode isn't working. This was needed in a few maps in SR1 where teleporters in E1 didn't really fit for example. I suppose an issue with changing things up too heavily may work against the player misunderstanding the required progression vs the expected progression - and so something to consider if looking to implement progression changes.

[Jaws In Space]

Alright I made it through the city episode of maps, plus the two secret maps.

 

Underfactory by Scifista

This is the worst offender in the wad so far for combining elements of two maps. The texture usage is from The Factory, the monster usage is from The Factory, & quite a few rooms are directly inspired by The Factory. Also there's a stuck mancubus in this map that pays tribute to a stuck shotgun guy in Underhalls, which really doesn't need to exist.

 

Misanthropia by @tourniquet

This is a pretty good map from tourniquet, it's not the most city like map, but I think that it's good enough. I did find this map to be pretty freaking difficult in an not so fun way due to an abundance of monster closets. Trying to rush trough this map seems like instant death due to every single item or new room unleashing a nasty trap, one too many of which were filled with chaingunners. I'd like to see either some changes made to the monster usage, less annoying monster closets, or just increase the supply's available to the player so that there isn't so much door/corner camping. As for a few specific changes I'd like to see delete chaingunner 217 at the start, also keep sector 247 open not being able to use this passage later in the map became petty annoying.

 

Waterside by @cannonball

Best map in the episode imo. Just a few suggestions, I'd like to see a bit more rocket ammo in the first half of the map before obtaining the blue key. The only annoying part of the map for me was the Arch-Vile 2 Revenant combo just before the yellow key, there's not very much cover there so it's either take damage or try to get the monsters to run along the platforms to fight them from a safe place.

 

Wolfencity by Scifista

This map has some of the most annoying monster placement in the whole wad. A true hitscann hell, plus every armor is very heavily guarded by higher tier monsters & due to a short supply of ammo & health in this map I couldn't even take on those fights. This map was a DNF for me, the thing placement is just completely annoying in every way possible.

 

Map 31 by @Megalyth

This is a near perfect map, great way to turn Barrels Of Fun into a wolfenstein map. My only issue was getting stuck on a few trees while fighting the Cyberdemon.

 

Map 32

-Tourniquet is remaking this map, I've seen the first draft & it's much better than what Joe-Ilya made.

 

Infected Well by Cannonball

This is another good map from cannonball, quite a bit tougher that his previous map. The start here is pretty rough, I found the only way to survive is to run for the berserk pack. Also speaking of rough sections, past the area accessed by the blue key if you don't go to the section that contains the BFG first the other 2 sections are very tough to get through. Also minor issue you might want to fix here.

These guys can't hit me at all. Lastly it wasn't very clear to me at line 400 & line 403 were switches that activated 2 different things. I spent a little while wandering the map before I tried hitting them again.

 

Map 17 by Jaws In Space
-As soon as I'm done with these reviews I'm remaking this map from scratch

[traversd]

Here is a new take on MAP07 in the Wolfenstein secret level theme --> https://www.dropbox.com/s/4arcja68mwkgoxb/map07_as_ZZWOLF1.wad?dl=0

 

Because it is not on MAP07 it uses Keens to access the exit switch.

 

Edited March 31, 2019 by traversd

[ShadesMaster]

And here's mine so far, "Sludge Falls" - based of course on Bloodfalls, about half the map is done so far.

[Noiser]

I'm very excited with this! More than 50% was already done as well. I will be posting some screenshots very soon, maybe next to finish it. I'm glad to see this project revived!

Edited April 3, 2019 by Noiser

[Pegleg]

How closely do we need to adhere to the overall structure of the original level? I understand that there have to be features that are clearly reminiscent of the original layout, but structured to follow the new theme. But how much can you add to the void space within the original map and outside the original map?

 

For instance, looking at the layout of the original Map 26, i have some ideas of what to do with it, but some of them will require additional space to be added to the map in order to add "buildings" that you can see more than just 1 side to the layout (to have more of a "city" vibe).

 

is this sort of thing allowed? Or have I missed the point of the project?

[Jaws In Space]

1 minute ago, Pegleg said:

How closely do we need to adhere to the overall structure of the original level? I understand that there have to be features that are clearly reminiscent of the original layout, but structured to follow the new theme. But how much can you add to the void space within the original map and outside the original map?

 

For instance, looking at the layout of the original Map 26, i have some ideas of what to do with it, but some of them will require additional space to be added to the map in order to add "buildings" that you can see more than just 1 side to the layout (to have more of a "city" vibe).

 

is this sort of thing allowed? Or have I missed the point of the project?

 

For the city episode it really does help to allow mappers to add additional space to make the map more city like. So long as the map is recognizable & noting major is added, like a whole new room, adding additional space to the map is fine.

[Dylan Jarvis]

Wow it's been so long since I made my map for this project. I miss these days.

 

[Jaws In Space]

Just a quick update on testing maps. This has been a really busy April for me so I've not really had time for Doom. After his weekend though I should be able to get back to providing feedback for maps 21-30.

[dpstatic]

I think I'll go ahead and submit my map. So, you can take a look at that along with the hell levels.

 

Here's Subjunction, a starport styled level based on Suburbs.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oii5gta0ehz8d3s/subjunction.wad?dl=0

[DukeOfDoom]

18 hours ago, dpstatic said:

I think I'll go ahead and submit my map. So, you can take a look at that along with the hell levels.

 

Here's Subjunction, a starport styled level based on Suburbs.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oii5gta0ehz8d3s/subjunction.wad?dl=0

Just played your map. I definitely enjoyed it. A bit of a mixture between MAP04 and MAP06.

[Magnusblitz]

New version of MAP15-as-Starport: http://www.mediafire.com/file/28zp1r6kua66a5g/map15-as-map02-v7.wad/file

 

Fixed the texture misalignment in the nukage area.

 

Didn't change any of the items... I'm fine with the chaingun being in the secret it's in now, especially since it's one that rewards knowing the original map. Same with the armor placement in the same spot, but I might be open to adding a vest or something on lower difficulties. I did delete the hell knight.

 

As far as the lifts in the center, yeah, it can be a pain (especially if you're lost and backtracking a lot) but as you said, there's not enough visplanes for steps (which I originally had there) and I'd rather not flatten things out and lose any more verticality than it already has. I did change them to fast lifts, I know it doesn't make a huge difference but maybe it'll help a bit.

 

I changed the RL/backpack switch from the greenish-grey to red, so it'll stick out more and be more noticeable.

 

 

[Magnusblitz]

v8: https://www.mediafire.com/file/papcg7u1a80h4j7/map15-as-map02-v8.wad/file

 

After thinking about the lifts in the center a bit more, I think I came up with a decent way to fix it by flattening out the walkway but raising the center tower a bit to still give some height to the building while eliminating the lifts. I haven't tested this out in ChocoRender yet so if anyone can please check to make sure it still fits under the vanilla visplane limit.

Edited April 23, 2019 by Magnusblitz

[Jaws In Space]

2 hours ago, Magnusblitz said:

v8: https://www.mediafire.com/file/papcg7u1a80h4j7/map15-as-map02-v8.wad/file

 

After thinking about the lifts in the center a bit more, I think I came up with a decent way to fix it by flattening out the walkway but raising the center tower a bit to still give some height to the building while eliminating the lifts. I haven't tested this out in ChocoRender yet so if anyone can please check to make sure it still fits under the vanilla visplane limit.

Yup that's good, visplanes aren't an issue at all.

[Jaws In Space]

Finally I'm done with reviewing all the old maps.

 

Dark Descent by @Megalyth

Okay so after going through this map again I will say that it's not as bad as I remember it being. I still think it the weakest of Megalyth's maps, but with a few touch ups this one will be good to go. First off the opening room is very boring, this room really needs some detailing & more organic shapes to go with the rocky texturing. The same can be said for the following marble hallway it's just too plain & uninteristing from a visual standpoint. The rest of the rooms look quite good by comparison to these two problem areas, especially the red rock room & the exterior area.

 

Brutto by Scifista

Well I have to say that this is Scifista's best map in the wad, it's still got a few issues with it though. The overall design & detailing is very simple, there's no reason for the Cyberdemon to be stuck behind a monster block line, & the random Icon of Sin explosion is unnecessary.

 

Unhallowed Fortress 23 by @Tactical Stiffy

Oh boy was this map a slog to get through from pistol start. At the beginning of the map I was constantly out of ammo & things didn't let up until about the time I got the plasma rifle, which is around halfway through the map. This map is in desperate need of more supplies at the start & access to an earlier Rocket Launcher. Also the room at the north east corner of the map needs some texture work it's very ugly as it is right now.

 

Fellowz Keep by @cannonball

For having a relatively small monster count this map is surprisingly difficult, but not really in a fun way. An annoying large portion of this map is hitscanners, more than that though these are hitscanners up on ledges in sniping positions. Thes guys got old fast & I suggest swapping a good portion of them out for groups of imps or something. Also that Cyberdemon is pretty boring to kill, I suggest getting rid of the 2 platforms & replacing it with a narrow walkway so that the player can dodge back & forth while sill under the threat of falling into the lava.

 

Camp Blood by Cannonball

Third really tough map in a row here, I'm going to have to reorder these hell maps. This map is pretty much chaos from start to finish, there's almost no safe place to stand due to all the windows & monsters on ledges everywhere on the map. Also it wasn't immediately clear that the blood wasn't damaging so I avoided a few supplies on the ground level for quite a bit. There is a bit of an ammo imbalance here, most of the supplies are in the buildings with just a little bit on the ground level. This caused me to run into trouble a few times, I would go to assault a building only to find myself face to face with a wall of meat & nothing to kill it with. Any teleporter or lift is near instant death because of this problem. Lastly it's really easy to miss the switch that opens up the teleporter up on the rocky ledge.

 

Seoreh Cinatas by @tourniquet

Honestly I don't really have any complaints with this map. Way better then Tenements, good job tourniquet.

 

Squisher by Joe-Ilya

-The lava by the teleporter in the crusher room doesn't damage.

-The spiral staircase is a slog to get through.

-Too many demons down in lava pits that are a pain in the butt to kill.

-The final battle needs some work, it's either really RNG heavy or requires camping to beat.

 

Yugoth Sins by @Archi

This is an alright map. Seemed pretty trial & error to me. Go into a room, die, repeat room with BFG in hand. I didn't feel like fighting the 4 cybers so I left the map without killing them.

[Jaws In Space]

On 4/19/2019 at 9:39 PM, dpstatic said:

I think I'll go ahead and submit my map. So, you can take a look at that along with the hell levels.

 

Here's Subjunction, a starport styled level based on Suburbs.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oii5gta0ehz8d3s/subjunction.wad?dl=0

I played your map just now. It's decent enough with a bit more work it'll be good to go. First thing I noticed is that the texturing of the opening section is a bit reminiscent of The Focus, I would suggest swapping out the TEKGREN textures for something else. Secondly the METAL2 hallways are pretty plain, you are far from the vanilla limits so you have plenty of room to add more detailing such as the indented tech lights like in the opening section, also some ceiling detail could be added as well. Monsters are pretty sparse, but that's fine, this map could be a good map 2 for now. Also sectors 49 & 112 should probably be marked as secret. Speaking of secrets the 2 energy packs in the the plasma gun secret should be swapped out for energy cells.

[dpstatic]

Thanks Jaws! I didn't even notice until now that I'm using the exact same flats in the starting area as the starting area of The Focus, I'll definitely be changing this area up. I think a lot of the problems you found with the map stem from me trying to keep the flow of Suburbs while trying to make something that authentically felt like it could have been among those early doom 2 levels. Looking at some of the other switcheroom maps, I can see that people changed things up a little more, so I'll be working on giving the map some more detail/variety. How do you feel about the starting area (the two rooms and "hallway" surrounding them) being essentially a scaled down version of the  area in Suburbs it's based on? I kind of grew to dislike it as I was working on the map, and don't know if It'd be better to leave it be, or rework the whole area.

[Jaws In Space]

25 minutes ago, dpstatic said:

How do you feel about the starting area (the two rooms and "hallway" surrounding them) being essentially a scaled down version of the  area in Suburbs it's based on? I kind of grew to dislike it as I was working on the map, and don't know if It'd be better to leave it be, or rework the whole area.

There's a few spots there where maneuverability is a bit tight. I don't know if keeping the exact same secret setup is a good idea, though I do like the usable computer panel. Otherwise there's nothing about it that seems outright bad to me.

[Jaws In Space]

Since Cell & Fernito are both on hiatus from Doomworld I have updated their maps based on the feedback in my previous posts. Next I will start on remaking Map 3 as a city map.

 

Updated Cell Map

 

Updater Fernito Map

[Jaws In Space]

Working on the starting area, still very WIP.

Map 3 for comparison.

[cannonball]

Right time for some updates

Changes

Map24 in City style (Plays in Map16) - Final fight tweaked slightly to make it less annoying - This transferred across all difficulties.

Map09 in City style (Plays in Map18) - Lots of structural changes, more inter-connectivity in the second half of the map. Suggestions by Jaws applied.

Map14 in Hell style (Plays in Map24) - This is a brand new map, replacing the last effort which I felt was not really in the spirit of the project (It felt lie the map had been transferred into a UDoom E4 style than D2 hell) - So this map is sort of in a style which is a mix of map24 and 25 of Doom 2. Co-op has not been properly done yet.

CB updates.zip

 

As for my last map (Map13 in hell style) - Not sure how to proceed at the moment.

Edited May 23, 2019 by cannonball

[Jaws In Space]

On 5/23/2019 at 5:30 PM, cannonball said:

Right time for some updates

Changes

Map24 in City style (Plays in Map16) - Final fight tweaked slightly to make it less annoying - This transferred across all difficulties.

Map09 in City style (Plays in Map18) - Lots of structural changes, more inter-connectivity in the second half of the map. Suggestions by Jaws applied.

Map14 in Hell style (Plays in Map24) - This is a brand new map, replacing the last effort which I felt was not really in the spirit of the project (It felt lie the map had been transferred into a UDoom E4 style than D2 hell) - So this map is sort of in a style which is a mix of map24 and 25 of Doom 2. Co-op has not been properly done yet.

CB updates.zip

 

As for my last map (Map13 in hell style) - Not sure how to proceed at the moment.

 

Sorry for the late reply. I've only now just found the time to sit down & play your new map. I found it to be a little bit frustrating, the lack of both radsuits & health caused me a lot of grief. A bit more in either department would do this map some wonders. Some suggested places for some radsuits or additional health: With the Arch-Vile & blue armor near the start room, by the red key or by the red bars, & swap one for the invisibility sphere. A few fights were a bit overwhelming due to some nasty Arch-Viles, the one that teleports into sector 96 I think is just fine as revenants like on the lower difficulties. Also 3 Arch-Viles in the BFG room is too much, there's enough going on in there that 2 or even just 1 is fine. As for the layout it strays pretty far from The Inmost Dens, with only the BFG room being immediately recognizable to me, I'm not going to be the one to complain about it though as the overall design & flow is there if you look for it.

[Jaws In Space]

It's taken me far longer than it should have, but I've finally finished remaking this map just now. Let me know what you think.

 

Map 3 city themed

[Super Mighty G]

So is map 25 still available? Because I'll take a whack at it. Bloodfalls in city style right?