1995 called. They want their Doom levels back.

[Zylinderkatze]

Terrible sense of humor

 

I may or may not have acted upon the idea I mentioned in my last post.

 

The access to the BFG might possibly involve manipulating a monitor. But I couldn't get myself to do it quite as oddly as I did in 1997 ^^;

 

 

The actual area where you pick up the weapon is done. I now even hint at how to raise the access bridge, in case you miss the console in the main room:

^{Notice that thin trail along the floor and into the wall.}

 

Unfortunately, I had to make it so that you can never stand outside and look back into the main room (like in this in-editor screenshot) because.. Segs. No screenshot this time. Let's just say there was a lot of HOMing. So.. now as soon as you walk outside, the "METAL1" thing closes down, kinda like blast doors or something I guess ^^; Not 100% happy about it but that's easier than iteratively removing details / sectors in there until it doesn't HOM anymore.

 

 

Anyways. This is what the adjusted connecting pathway looks like:

^{"Real levels have curves"..?}

 

Not too much adjustment happened aside from it being more "rounded". I did change a bit about texturing and stuff but nothing to show, yet, really. Need to leave some stuff for you to discover in game, too xD

Now I just need to connect the small room in the lower right of that screenshot back to the main level and I'm done with this part completely.

 

Granted, you could also just walk back the way you came (without that connection) but that's the way it used to be in the old level and you do get a little bonus there, too :)

 

Right now my bonus is sleep!

[Zylinderkatze]

Sooo..

 

I didn't post anything yesterday or the day before. No bad reason- just "real life actual people interaction" on Tuesday and ..no particularly thrilling results during my editing / mapping forays, yesterday. Just some fine tuning and bugfixing in the BFG area, also in relation to Loading Bay 1.

 

Then I got a little carried away last night and created this:

 

^{What is this, a teleporter for.. really big ants?}

 

The problem is that you can't even really tell that it's double the size of a regular floor flat, so.. I dunno xD 

 

It was fun to play around with- and Vanilla says "thumbs up" to it as well but it doesn't really feel right (yet).

 

I'll see where I go with it during today's editing.. which starts..

 

NOW!

[Zylinderkatze]

..and it ends.. now ^^

 

No, not the project. Only the editing session. 4 hours is enough!

 

And here's the update. Let's look at the whole map this time!

 

^{Dun dun dunnn.}

 

A little hard to see: The "started" in the middle of the picture. That's where I.. well.. started.. to tie things together between "the labyrinth" and the stuff that's still waiting to be fixed.

 

Here's a little "before" and "current, but not done":

 

 > 

^{I'll definitely do something about how all walls are the same height.. and the MARBLE1 usage.. But not now ^^;}

 

 

Also, here's a look at the (very mildly) adjusted "storage room" next to Landing Bay 1.. that's where I added a little hint at how you might get to the soul sphere.

No "before" picture this time because.. I forgot to take one from the old file and I already closed the editor. Maybe tomorrow :)

 

^{So cement-y}

 

Yes it's a "double"-height room with textures that look better when they're 128 (or less) high.. but to be honest, this actually doesn't bother me all that badly. There's some textures where it does bother me (like BROWN144).. but I kind of like the way the.. warning strips (the black and yellow diagonal stripes) make the transition by not making any effort to transition. If that makes sense.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm not 100% opposed to vertical multiples of a texture.

 

This is all I'm showing for today so I can make it to bed before midnight :)

 

20 minutes left. I better hurry xD

[Zylinderkatze]

The best laid plans..

 

I am predicting I'll get this thing done over the weekend. Mark my words.

 

The stuff that's left now is really nothing, compared to the giant of a job I ended up doing on the labyrinth part ^^

 

Also, I have one more things to discuss (with myself, I guess).. I might end up asking for thoughts / ideas / opinions later.

 

No pictures this time ^^;

[Zylinderkatze]

Mixing things up!

 

Remember the "current, but not done" from the last post with pictures?

 

It looks like this now:

 

^{One way..}

 

^{..or another.}

 

What I mean with "mixing things up" is that this is just a quick update while I am still working on stuff- instead of one big update before I go to bed xD

 

Also, this might still change a little with finetuning but so far I am satisfied.

[Zylinderkatze]

Oh look!

 

I found the Red Skull Key!

 

^{So many skulls >_>}

 

^{I'm sure nothing bad will happen when I pick it up ^__^}

 

I heavily adjusted alignment and texture choices in general while maintaining the same look and feel, I would say.

 

Also, the room / path leading up to this is done now.. and I cleaned up around it a bit.. wait I'll show you:

 

^{Green stuff = done. As you know.}

 

I finished the purple stuff today (and some smaller things, details and all.. but marking all of those on the overview would take too long ^^;

 

And now I am sufficiently exhausted- not because of the editing but because of the work day leading up to it.. so I'm off~

 

See you tomorrow :)

[bLUEbYTE]

Looking good! maybe one day we will see the culmination of your work as a whole episode? Maybe theme can shift a bit as you progress through the maps within the episode. But I can see the retro charm in your maps; they are not too big, not too sprawling, so the player can actually get a sense of the place. I hope you will stick to your design decisions, and that it be shape up to be a significant map pack.

[Final Verdict]

11 hours ago, bLUEbYTE said:

Looking good! maybe one day we will see the culmination of your work as a whole episode? Maybe theme can shift a bit as you progress through the maps within the episode. But I can see the retro charm in your maps; they are not too big, not too sprawling, so the player can actually get a sense of the place. I hope you will stick to your design decisions, and that it be shape up to be a significant map pack.

 

This is exactly what I was thinking. It would be nice to play it as part of an episode as he obviously has talent for mapping. But much of that would depend on how much free time he has, given enough free time I have no doubt he could produce a quality vanilla episode. 

 

It's actually a good time for vanilla/retro maps, they seem to be making a comeback this year. I'm easy though, I tend to play both vanilla maps and the modern ones. To be honest I barely see the distinction, it's all Doom to me. The only thing I dislike is tons of fancy effects/textures trying to disguise poor map design. Although, it would have to be a pretty dismal map layout for me to complain. I'll let it slide completely if it's someones first map though, we all start somewhere.

 

 

[Zylinderkatze]

So many kind words, @bLUEbYTE and @Final Verdict ^^ Thanks!

 

Yes the goal is a full episode, for sure. The base material is already there in the original files (which are 20+ years old by now) ..but I made it my goal to brush them all up to meet my standards of today (whil still being able to run on a fully "original limits" maintaining engine such as Chocolate Doom, Crispy Doom, etc).

 

I'm "almost done" with E1M5 as I am typing this, actually- and my plan is to get it all done (meaning the remaining E1M6 - E1M9) this year, because "2020" somehow sounds better than "2021" xD

 

I spend most of my spare time on the project, it's basically my main hobby at the time (and has been, since early February).. but I "only" spend an average of 3 hours a day on it. That's already a lot but I also still have a long way to go.

 

The levels so far have been based on the original levels from 1997 (except E1M1 which was a complete redo).. and progress has been good. Unfortunately the next two levels (E1M6 and E1M7) will require a lot of work and I doubt they will be done in under a month each. 

 

I'll see how that goes- and so can you, if you want to, because I try tp post about it every day that I work on it :)

 

One update is actually coming up right now.

[Zylinderkatze]

Today was a semi-lazy day so far.

 

I did work on the level for.. a few hours, actually- but most of that time went into cleaning up more stuff and making sure it "works", visually, with the rooms leading up to it. Also I tried a few triggers that I previously defined but didn't test.. and then spent over half an hour to find the best combination for the ambush I wanted to create ^^;

 

Here's the updated overview:

 

^{Everything green is now done (adjusted to meet my expectations in myself ^^)}

 

The room on the very left is the exit "stage".. and I am about to start fixing the curving path that leads up to it.

 

The room on the very right is the room that I mentioned to be kind of unfair (an encounter with some Cacodemons).. I meade it a little less mean and a little more visually pleasing. Here's the change:

 

Before:

^{Lava on the ceiling.. sure, might work in some cases but not really here.}

 

Lots of misaligned stuff. Tsk tsk.

 

And now:

^{I guess it does look a little less menacing without the "sky lava"}

 

Spent entirely too much time pushing textures around. It kind of looks and feels and "plays" better now but I'm still not 100% convinced with some choices I made. The ceiling light for example. I might add some more height variation to it- I already have a few ideas. But I also don't want to overdo it.

 

Also I'm not completely sure how obvious it is what you will have to do here. I mean I know what to do.. but it would be sad if I didn't xD

 

I'm going to take a break for now though. I might be back later :)

[Zylinderkatze]

Okay so maybe not add any detail?

 

I think this room is overdetailed now. Sad.. the ceiling-lava-bits looked good to me ^^;

 

^{So overwhelmed.}

 

I'll see if I can reduce some of it.. but I'm not too optimistic.

 

Oh well- it was worth a try xD

[Zylinderkatze]

I hope nobody marked my words..

 

So.. I did not get this thing completely done.. BUT!

 

^{Look at that smexy new arc ("adjusted") and compare it with the one here.}

 

Adjusting that arc to make it look more like an actual arc / quarter circle.. took more time than I thought but now it's properly curved! Also I managed to work out a way past the unexpected roadblock of too much detail in the "detailed" area on the very right. It now works with vanilla / chocolate in all the angles that I could imagine to test. So that's something ^^;

 

Additionally. I got done with the "starting standoff" area completely (see "also done"), with everything that was still missing tp make it challenging but not unfair.. but also not too easy xD 

 

So.. still two areas left.

 

The ominous empty space in the lower right (aww) and the "checkout room" (it's not that, really) that leads into the next level, in the lower left (boo).

 

It's time to sleep now, though. So. 

 

Bye! ^^

[Zylinderkatze]

IT'S ALL COMING TOGETHER!

 

The exit area is getting to where I want it- look!

 

^{Finally some different light levels. I was getting worried.}

 

As a side note, this is what it used to look like before:

 

^{Why is it so bright D:}

 

Sadly, though, it's also kind of falling apart xD

 

^{Oh noes.}

 

Just from one single angle, though. That can be avoided.

 

Aside from that, I am about 80% where I want to be, with this room. So.. just that detail excess to take care of now.

 

Well.. not now now. Tomorrow. It's midnight ^^

 

Toodles!

[Zylinderkatze]

Belated update for yesterday:

 

Went to bed at around 6 pm and slept through until today. Headache fun!

[Zylinderkatze]

After a lot of back and forth..

 

..I decided to close up the previously open areas a bit, to combat the Seg / HOM problems. It's rather different than before now (even though the outlines didn't change much).. but it still feels fun and it's still a bit mean with a few hitscanners. It feels like it's going in the right direction. 

 

^{Stretching limits, still, though.}

 

With the frame around that door and it opening like any normal Doom door does (e.g. "not all the way"), it looks.. okay. I'm always cautious about doors "disappearing into the sky" and this is borderline. However, I didn't want to make it a "reverse door" (lift) this time xD Maybe I'll push things around a bit, maybe lower the step around it. We'll see.

 

So far, Vanilla can still deal. With how the new walls now hide a bunch of the previously.. exuberant level architecture. Fingers crossed (because I am only building one side and then mirroring / copying it over to the other side). I'm still determined to maintain that mirrored look but if this gets too close to breaking yet another time, I might ditch that thought.

 

We'll see.

 

Guess when? Not now xD

 

Goodnight!

[Zylinderkatze]

The good the bad and the hall of mirrors

 

Okay so that mirrored exit area is now.. pretty much complete. Both sides are fleshed out and functional, aside from a few small tweaks:

 

^{Why are there green circles and arrows? Oh no..}

 

Sadly, It's not only mirrored- but also kind of mirror..y. In the "hall of" sense:

 

^{Where'd the floor go?}

 

So.. yeah- when you stand in the place of either of the circles in the first picture and look in the direction of the arrow, you see.. that. It also happens when you leave the little secret area on the right, also indicated by that arrow there.

 

Anyone with "Chocolate Doom Render Limits".. "render limit highlighting".. experience: This does imply that there's a Seg Limit problem, right? Because usually it's walls that disappear and not floors / ceilings.. I am wondering if this is something I believe I read about before, when there's too many different floor- and ceiling textures in view? Am I remembering this right?

 

Could it also be that there's trouble with joined sectors? The two computer console platforms have their individual sectors joined to make editing easier- I was going to try to "seperate" them again by making them individual sectors again but I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask first (I am once again about to head offline so I already closed the editor and all). Any answers between now and my next post will be very appreciated but tomorrow I'll just try it out and see if that helps at all ^^;

 

I guess I will just have to get rid of some of the detail work (or find a smooth way to add a line-of-sight-breaking partition somewhere). Here's a last look at the thing before I strip it down:

 

^{Goodbye, overly detailed console area. I hardly knew thee.}

 

Also, goodnight!

 

Seeya tomorrow :)

[Zylinderkatze]

Phew.

 

It looks as though the weird "disappearing floors" thing might actually have been related to unnecessarily joined sectors. Because now the level seems to work.. even though I only really removed one small sector (but turned 6 - 8 previously joined sectors ..like all six ceiling lamps in that last picture of the previous post.. back into individual ones).

 

Either way, I only found one presumably very unlikely angle at which it still "glitches out" and that angle is unlikely enough for me to call that exit area finished xD

 

Which brings me to the glorious overview image:

 

^{I'm at the point where it's easier to mark what's left than to mark what's done <3}

 

So.. only that one big room left and then this thing is done. Finally. 

 

No more time estimations from me xD

 

Also: Goodnight ^^;

Edited July 25, 2020 by Zylinderkatze

[VGA]

Is the episode almost complete? Or the map?

[Zylinderkatze]

6 hours ago, VGA said:

Is the episode almost complete? Or the map?

 

Hey @VGA! Unfortunately just this one map for now (E1M5).

 

I'm currently working on the last area that's still "old", then it's on to playtesting it for balance.. and then I'll publish it as a beta, like I did with the first 4 already :) 

 

With this last room I had / have no vision on how to modernize or overhaul it so I am just brushing it up a bit, adding a few sensical details and aligning some textures.

 

It shouldn't take too long but.. that's a treacherous presumption to make xD

 

I'll keep updating this space later today~

[Zylinderkatze]

Honey, I'm HOM

 

Yeah, so.. I had forgotten that this level was already "borderline detailed" for Vanilla to crunch through in 1997 so after a few details added, it looked very bad.. and even after a bit of streamlining it still has a few angles from which the level looks like this:

 

^{That's at least not all of the sector looking like this anymore.}

 

It's already better than it was but it's not yet good.

 

I'll fix that tomorrow ^^;

[Zylinderkatze]

Guess what I'm doing!

 

That's right, I am testing the level. As in.. balancing. As in.. everything else is done!

 

^{Oh hi! Are you a friend?}

 

I already know there's too much shotgun ammo in this. But I am testing health, too. So..

 

Yeah ^^;

 

Let's see where this goes.

[Zylinderkatze]

First summary..

 

^{Very healtly.}

 

Yeah. So. That's a little too much ammo xD

[Chip]

Wow I haven't been here in a while! It looks like things are really coming along well! I can't wait for the whole episode release! 

[Zylinderkatze]

1 hour ago, LiT_gam3r said:

Wow I haven't been here in a while! It looks like things are really coming along well! I can't wait for the whole episode release! 

 

Welcome back to the thread ^^;

 

I'm still on E1M5.. BUT! It's practically done. I am working on the balancing right now.

 

Which isn't 100% easy because there are two soul spheres in there, if you can find and access them.

 

I am testing it in the "minimal items run" approach next, to see if you can finish it without finding any of the secrets.

 

Currently removing a bunch of ammo~

 

Then it'll be "done enough" to be released as a beta ^^

Edited July 26, 2020 by Zylinderkatze

[Senor500]

Been a while since I checked in on this and...

1 hour ago, Zylinderkatze said:

Then it'll be "done enough" to be released as a beta ^^

Wow am I happy! Haven't fed Chocolate Doom with something in a while :p

[tamara mochaccina]

This thread is the only reason I'm still on DW atm lol, it gives me life

Edited July 26, 2020 by tam

[Senor500]

It does give life! The talk of the development during the making of the maps makes me excited to palying the episode, it's pure HEART.

[Zylinderkatze]

Aww you guys <3

 

Thank you @Senor500 and @tam.

 

I'm still running passes with "I know there's a secret there but let's not pick it up" in mind, so I can check whether it's finishable without bonus health.

 

I mean.. of course it's finishable without any bonus health if you're a pro at Doom.

 

But I am not a pro at Doom xD

 

It's 11:30pm here but I think I might actually publish it before I go to bed!

 

Fingers crossed.

[Zylinderkatze]

Would you look at this.

 

Normal Difficulty (HMP), any percentage run:

 

^{About to head out of this level ^^}

 

I'm curious how easy it is to understand (for an "uninitiated") what needs to be done here. Meaning: in this room and the rooms leading up to it.

 

You'll be able to tell me yourself in a little bit because I am about to push this thing out :3

[Final Verdict]

It's nice to see this still going. You have made a lot of progress since I was last here. With any luck I'll be finished with my current run when this gets released and I'll have time to play it.

 

I'll continue to come back and keep an eye on your work here. I like how you've approached this, with regular updates on progress. Looking at the screenshots, I feel like this will be an enjoyable episode/mapset to play once you're finished.

 

Best of luck @Zylinderkatze.