1995 called. They want their Doom levels back.

[Zylinderkatze]

All Hands On Deck!

 

End of the month = End of my nerves!

 

I mean.. E1M7 is done!

 

Well.. done enough. I like it- but the novelty has worn off for me after playtesting (test playing?) it about a dozen times with different approaches on which secrets to pick up and which to ignore (seriously, try to find the chaingun in the tech area, if you play this. It's not that hard to find and it might save your a~ life).

 

Here ya go:

 

M7-compare.zip

 

Here's a little somethin' somethin': 2020

^{Octagonal! (2020 version can be found at E1M7)}

 

Wait.. you're kidding, right?: 1997

^{What can I say. It was already perfect..? (No. But: 1997 version: E2M7)}

 

Well.. of course this is only the starting room. Which I actually left almost untouched. As you can see above xD

 

But here's what I did touch:

 

^{There's techy tech..}

 

^{..and creepy cave..}

 

^{..and monumental marble..}

 

^{..and homely hell <3}

 

Yes, that's all you get to see here. You'll just have to play it for yourself!

 

Explore at your own ris~ ..leisure.

 

Enjoy!

Edited September 30, 2020 by Zylinderkatze

[Zylinderkatze]

[[END OF E1M7]] (for now)

 

8<--------------------------------------- cut here

 

[[BEGINNING OF E1M8]]

 

Had a really long workday today so I am not going to do much editing- it's already 10:45pm.

 

But!

 

Here's a first look at E1M8. The map, at least:

^{It has a little bit of everything :3}

 

And here's the first thing you see when you start the map:

^{A lot of grey stone. Get used to it ^^}

 

There's kind of a "Base" vibe around every corner- but the STONE2 is what kind of ties it all together.

 

Layout is decent, it flows pretty well but there's a few spots where you have to be a little too quick to get from a switch to a secret ledge. Stuff like that. Overall I don't think there are any "hidden things that you need to find to get through", though. Unlike the old version of E1M7 ^^;

 

I'll add more info when I have it :)

 

Goodnight!

[NightFright]

Will you by any chance actually provide both versions of your levels in the end? It could be really interesting to compare the 90s edition with your remaster by playing the maps side-by-side. If the original maps were playable at all, that is.

[Zylinderkatze]

5 minutes ago, NightFright said:

Will you by any chance actually provide both versions of your levels in the end? It could be really interesting to compare the 90s edition with your remaster by playing the maps side-by-side. If the original maps were playable at all, that is.

 

@NightFright! Good timing- I was just about to leave ^^;

 

Yes, the original levels will be included. The new ones will occupy the slots E1M1 - E1M9 and the "retro" versions will be in the same spots in Episode 2 (so.. E2M1 to E2M9). I actually already supply the "classic" version in these comparison ZIPs, too. For the latest one (E1M7), when you load the WAD, just use "idclev27" to jump to the old version :)

Edited September 29, 2020 by Zylinderkatze

[ketmar]

ah. now you're pushing maps faster than i can play them! still have to catch up with the last 3... oops, i mean 4. so sorry for not giving any feedback for a long time. but i feel like i played them all (so much pictures!), and i like them. new way to play Doom for those who don't have time to run it, i guess.

[Zylinderkatze]

9 hours ago, ketmar said:

ah. now you're pushing maps faster than i can play them! still have to catch up with the last 3... oops, i mean 4. so sorry for not giving any feedback for a long time. but i feel like i played them all (so much pictures!), and i like them. new way to play Doom for those who don't have time to run it, i guess.

 

Haha ^^ Yeah I know what you mean.. kind of like passively playing- I guess these posts are like a slowed-down ("decelerated"?) version of a "let's play" stream.

 

I would still like people to play the levels themselves, though- and point out stuff that didn't feel fun.. or that might've been mean or unfair, without any compensation.

 

But since I am not really actively posting any links on a "play my levels" thread, I am in no position to feel bad about low player numbers ^^;

 

That will (hopefully) all change once I am at the "beta version of E1, combined" stage :)

[Zylinderkatze]

Randomness!

 

Look, it's E1M2 in FreeDoom xD

 

^{GZDoom with FreeDoom WAD, that is.}

 

Some places look odd but some work surprisingly(?) well ^^;

 

I am currently playing through E1M1 - E1M7 for a "mood analysis" and figured I'd switch things up a bit.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Zylinderkatze

[ketmar]

playing known maps with freedoom textures can be fun. freedoom sprites are not fun, tho. that's why i had to implement some cli args to ignore sprites (and sounds) from wads, so only textures are in effect. ...when you're too lazy to rebuild a wad, so you're adding the feature to the game engine. lol.

 

(whispering) otex retexturing project for e3 slot? ;-)

[Zylinderkatze]

6 hours ago, ketmar said:

playing known maps with freedoom textures can be fun. freedoom sprites are not fun, tho. that's why i had to implement some cli args to ignore sprites (and sounds) from wads, so only textures are in effect. ...when you're too lazy to rebuild a wad, so you're adding the feature to the game engine. lol.

 

(whispering) otex retexturing project for e3 slot? ;-)

 

That is true.. a lot of the charme of Doom, for me, comes from the sprites and sounds of the monsters. But in a way, playing with Freedoom thereby shifts my focus to other things, like the layout, I noticed. Which was an interesting twist on my own levels.

 

I also did a few test runs of all of my maps (1 - 7) for time and.. well the first one can be finished really quickly (even once I will make it so that you have to actually leave the platform).. if you're really quick, you can make it in under 2 minutes. It only takes time if you want to gain access to the Plasma gun- then it's more like 10 minutes. Then the following levels kind of each get longer and longer in play time. one of them takes over 20 minutes to finish. I hope they will nevertheless remain fun to play, for someone less biased than me xD

 

And.. sure, I'd like trying out what other packs do to the look and feel of my maps.. I looked it up- OTEX looks neat- I'll keep it on my mental backburner for when I make a less.. vanilla-centric version of my maps, with more details.. or completely new maps :) But that won't be until next year.

Edited October 1, 2020 by Zylinderkatze

[Zylinderkatze]

All work and no play..

 

..no. I'm not dull- just worked a lot again today, then watched some Netflix to switch off my brain a little ^^;

 

Which means I only had time for a little cleanup in the starting area of E1M8.. not much to mention but I'll show it anyways:

 

Before:

^{The layout isn't bad, it's actually one of the better "first view" scenes of mine}

 

Current (still very much wip):

^{Stones now start at the ceiling (and end at the floor), lighting's updated..}

 

..there is still a lot more to do to make it look less "janky" but it's already better (in my eyes) and might even stay like this for now (for a "first pass", basically).

 

I also fixed a few things around the corner but I don't want to upload two different scenes just yet, from what's basically just half an hour of work xD

 

Also, it's already midnight so I'm off.. but I wanted to at least pop in and say hi~ but now:

 

Goodnight!

[Zylinderkatze]

You thought yesterday was bad?

 

Nah. How about this: I just got off work and it's 11pm! While I started at 8:30am! yay!

 

Today's mapping extravaganza will be postponed.

 

Maybe I'll just go to bed early.

 

Take care!

[wrkq]

... you don't happen to be an IT guy for a three letter company headquartered in the north, do you?

[Zylinderkatze]

2 hours ago, wrkq said:

... you don't happen to be an IT guy for a three letter company headquartered in the north, do you?

 

IT, yes, north, yes(ish), three letters, no ^^;

 

I assume you are in a similar situation? How cool would it have been if we had discovered that we work for the same company, through a forum post like this xD

I work for a small team (6 people) in Hamburg- and our main customer had problems with a feature on their website and there was an assumption that it might've been caused by- or be related to- a recent update I developed and published.. so of course I was determined to see if that was true and what I could do to help fix it.

 

Turns out that my code wasn't the cause.. but of course it still has to be fixed- which I started with yesterday and am looking into some more today.

 

The only reason they found the bug at all is because they did some additional manual testing (on top of the automatted tests) to see if everything still worked after the update. The actual bug is older but no one noticed it until now. It only happens in kind of arbitrary circumstances / combinations of manual steps. So actually this is good. Knowing there's a bug and (by now) also how to remove it makes the project better :) "The only good bug is a dead bug."

[wrkq]

Heeeh, kinda similar situation indeed. I know the pain and weird long work hours very well. C'est la IT vie.

If you'd answer yes to all three questions, good chance we could find each other in the corporate address book, but guess it's not /so/ small world. :p

 

2 hours ago, Zylinderkatze said:

The actual bug is older but no one noticed it until now.

 

Ahhh, classic. Nothing better than bugs hiding other bugs.

Also available in the Schrödinger variant - you look at the code, say out loud "But... how does that work, it shouldn't!" and then it stops working.

 

2 hours ago, Zylinderkatze said:

"The only good bug is a dead bug." 

Would you like to know more?

[Zylinderkatze]

I'm almost out of time, I'm late I'm late I'm late~

 

Another day of unexpected circumstances (worked for 5 hours today on my day off xD) so just a little "before and current" comparison of a different part of the map:

 

1995:

^{Not really bad, the silver actually looks kind of eye-catching}

 

2020:

^{I still like this one better, though. Also because of the aligned stones}

 

Again, chances are this will still change some more before I'm done with the level but I wanted to post something :3

 

I might return to the silver block above the computer console to draw attention but I also like the light stripe thing.. I may just use that elsewhere, though.

 

Goodnight for now!

Edited October 3, 2020 by Zylinderkatze

[Zylinderkatze]

More progress today!

 

But not much to show, because it's all detail work that doesn't make much sense to show. There's not really a good angle at which I could easily show what I improved. You'll just have to take my word for it xD

 

I do have a little "before" and "current" comparison but it's a small change.

 

1995:

^{Same problem as before: Sloppy aligning, STONE2 offset, etc.}

 

2020 (so far):

^{Using a ceiling light instead of a lamp, some initial fixes..}

 

Not done, though. I think the door on the right should actually be inset a little. Or maybe a lot. Also, the way I reduced the "this is a yellow door" indication leaves the bricks kind of weirdly "cut". I might make it so the skulls take up a whole brick's worth of height. More will change. I am kind of going over several parts of the level at the same time ^^;

 

Also, I am adding better visual cues about what something might do when you trigger it- as well as breakthroughs between different parts of the level so that you can see a secret room (and its switch) from a different room.. or see that other room with it's blue armor in case you find the room with the switch first ^^;

 

I guess it can't hurt to show what I mean:

 

From the room with the switch, gazing at the glorious blue armor:

^{Still a bunch of aligning to do. Also, that room looks kinda boring ^^;}

 

From the room with the armor, getting teased by the sight of the switch:

^{Same as the comment above: it looks a bit bland, still.}

 

Also.. who uses full height standard door graphics anymore? Tsk. xD

 

Let's see where this goes tomorrow~

 

Goodnight for now!

Edited October 5, 2020 by Zylinderkatze

[Zylinderkatze]

I dunno boss..

 

..I'm not sure you made it better.

 

^{Hello, door.}

 

So.. I'm in the middle of remodeling this area and I came back to the door from yesterday. I figured "why not make it fit with the theme a little better- since at that point (until a room or so down in a different direction), this area is mostly STONE2.. and the kind of tech-y DOOR1 I had here before.. didn't really fit.

 

I kind of like this "organic" process of gradually edging closer to the final style that an area will have.. I'm currently balancing out way I want it to feel like.

 

Knowing me, I wouldn't be completely surprised if in the end it's "DOOR1" again xD

[Zylinderkatze]

Different hour, different room

 

This is the last time I'm posting for today, I swear.

 

Okay so I found a storage room (very barely used as such. look at that one puny box).. and I figured it needed a bit of a glow-up. No, not blow up. Tsk tsk. You and your violent mind.

 

Here you go!

 

1995:

^{Dude.. there's.. nothing here. wth.}

 

2020:

^{There's still nothing here but you don't notice it as quickly x3}

 

Of course there actually are monsters in here and stuff to pick up but I forgot to switch on "things" in the view ^^;

 

I think so far it's still mostly a good thing that I lived to see the day of visual editors. 

 

But not I need to go and sleep. Bye!

[Zylinderkatze]

You know you enjoy your hobby..

 

..when you align textures of an escape from an area..

 

..even though that area is pitch dark in game xD

[wrkq]

It is pitch dark. You're likely to be eaten by a grue.

[Zylinderkatze]

1 hour ago, wrkq said:

It is pitch dark. You're likely to be eaten by a grue.

 

Psh. Don't be so zorky. You'll be fine.

[Zylinderkatze]

Did you know?

 

Today is "Day of the Random Slime Trail"!

 

^{Where did you come from, where do you go?}

 

I suppose I'll have to push around a vertex or two, to see if it's an angle or proximity thing. Fingers crossed.

 

I'm off for today, presumably. Let's see if that's true xD

[Zylinderkatze]

Quick update before I go!

 

It was this. I mean- it were these vertices / vertexes..

 

Compare this:

^{The ones outlining the lit up area at the top.}

 

To this:

^{Moved just a smidge and the problem's gone~}

 

Okay now I'm really off for today though. Bye!

[wrkq]

On 10/6/2020 at 10:21 PM, Zylinderkatze said:

 

Psh. Don't be so zorky. You'll be fine.

 

0_o

How the plugh I never ever ran into this during the 13 years it existed... it's been like, half of the whole Age Of Doom to date...

[Zylinderkatze]

 Some more "then and now"! 

 

Two different rooms, both with a bunch of (new) surprises.. which are not visible in these screenshots, of course xD

 

Another room with a blue armor? How.. uh.. generous..?

 > 

^{This is quite a glow-up, I think. Still very much the same layout but sensibly "up-detailed".}

 

Not sure about the way those silver light-columns are set up, though.. I know I'll keep coming back to all parts of the level until I feel that it's done, though.. so.. no worries. They'll feel right to me eventually ^^

 

"Room number two":

 > 

^{That silver column was kind of an afterthought.. of course there's a bonus on top. But it might still change.}

 

(the reason for the change in ammo is the adjustment of ammo-dropping enemy types across different difficulties)

 

I think I'm done for today so.. goodnight!

[Zylinderkatze]

On 10/7/2020 at 10:41 PM, wrkq said:

 

0_o

 How the plugh I never ever ran into this during the 13 years it existed... it's been like, half of the whole Age Of Doom to date...

 

It's a niche of a niche, though. Or a niche of a niche of a niche. A nerd rapper going on about a fabled creature from a an ancient text adventure.. it's a few layers deep xD

[Zylinderkatze]

I've been busy~

 

..I just didn't share it ^^;

 

Here's some more insight into the rooms in progress.

 

One of the larger rooms in this map:

 > 

^{Some / many of the changes are really just of the "cleaning up" type.}

 

Looking at it side by side, I think that the light level looked better when it was brighter. Hmm~ Maybe I will go back and change it. Already have an idea.

 

A connecting passage:

 > 

^{From "overwhelmingly blue" to "still very blue but with a bit of accents and diversity".}

 

I like it a lot better in the current form. The "interactive element" on the right, too.

 

 

Thought of the day:

 

I realized that this level suffers from the "this layout wouldn't make sense in the real world" phenomenon that a bunch of (early / original) Doom levels had. But I am kind of tempted to leave it like that.

 

Not out of laziness, though.. and I am still good on time.. but because it's fun to play regardless and it might be a little less fun, actually, if I added stuff just to make the layout more believable. I'm not 100% sure yet. Cue heavy shrugging.

 

It's the end of the renewal efforts for today, though.

 

Bye!

[Zylinderkatze]

Still a lot to do but..

 

..I think it's time for a progress overview!

 

The "basically" in "basically done" means tht there's still some detailing and transitioning to do.. but generally stuff here looks and works fine now.

 

Also I realized that the blue key is completely optional and only needed for some weapon and armor pickup (like that blue armor in a previous screenshot).

 

Also, there's a door / pillar blockage before you can get to the final area.. and even though that's pretty neat (yes!), the problem is that you can basically remove part of it before you ever get there in person. Actually, getting there with having found the switch first is more likely than without. But I already have an idea how to solve it (with something as simple as a window, of all things xD).

 

Okay. but back to the overview: Even though I'm "only" a third into the month and the detailed / intricate part of the map is mostly done, I know I'll still need most of the rest of the month to tie everything (else) together.

 

^{No explaining footnote this time, it's all in the picture ^^;}

 

I'm going to stop for today, though. Need to do some other things~

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Bye for now :) 

[wrkq]

14 hours ago, Zylinderkatze said:

tie everything (else) together.

Did you consider a rug? Rugs are really good at tying a room map together.

[ketmar]

On 10/11/2020 at 12:58 AM, Zylinderkatze said:

I realized that this level suffers from the "this layout wouldn't make sense in the real world" phenomenon that a bunch of (early / original) Doom levels had. But I am kind of tempted to leave it like that.

most of the things Big Corporations do doesn't make any sense. and i wouldn't expect any sanity from hell levels. so creating "unsensical and unrealistic levels" suddenly have alot of sense and realism...