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Sign of Torment (Boom compatible 32 map megawad){Final}


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  • 2 months later...
  On 4/30/2020 at 1:01 AM, Bushpig2dope said:

Screenshots look good but make sure not to burn yourself out man! 32 maps is a lot for one guy but hey if you think you got this you got this!

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@Bushpig2dope

Thanks, that will definetly take some time. I made the 11 maps in 6 months and this is rather a beginner wad. BTW I added more rockets, so the maps should be more enjoyable.

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  • 4 months later...

I've posted newer version of my wad containing new maps, so check it out if you really want to.

 

Because there is a lot of bugs with my project I am forced to suspend it. Maybe you can explain it?

 

Keep in mind, that this wad is unique in comparison to other mainstream wads.

Edited by Kain D.

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  • 7 months later...

i just played through level one, and it's bloody fantastic!  Remarkable atmosphere and aesthetics, really loved the layout and the uniqueness, the music!, and pretty tough gameplay (i've never shot a Revenant with a pistol before), but on HMP perfectly manageable (thanks for implementing difficulty levels properly..)  If the rest is anything like this (watched a little bit of Arbys550's videos and it looks like it is!), and difficulty won't get too crazy, i know i'll love the whole thing.

Edited by dei_eldren

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  • 2 weeks later...
  On 5/12/2021 at 2:11 PM, dei_eldren said:

i just played through level one, and it's bloody fantastic!  Remarkable atmosphere and aesthetics, really loved the layout and the uniqueness, the music!, and pretty tough gameplay (i've never shot a Revenant with a pistol before), but on HMP perfectly manageable (thanks for implementing difficulty levels properly..)  If the rest is anything like this (watched a little bit of Arbys550's videos and it looks like it is!), and difficulty won't get too crazy, i know i'll love the whole thing.

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If you've completed Plutonia you shouldn't have any problems with it. It's mostly Doom 2 difficulty mixed with Plutonia's. I think right now, map 09 is the most difficult.

 

I also posted newer version with fixed bugs and 3 new maps.

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  • 2 weeks later...

tl;dr: This mapset has a unique use of gimmicks and lots of creative ideas. The first episode isn't very fun, but it rapidly and steadily gets better from there.

 

Alright, so I played through this set. It's pretty cool, but we'll get to that.

 

The goal of this WAD, as I understand it, was the creation of a megawad with usage of obscure Boom features, unique level design, and a more meaningful story than most. I think that this is mostly successful. Boom extras such as jump pads and silent teleports are mostly used pretty well to help make these maps unique. Even smaller things like sliding doors are a nice touch. The level design is pretty weird and often abstract, but motifs such as the black and white areas, red messages, and the wires/machinery connected to jump pads help to make the set cohesive throughout. I'll admit to not paying too much attention to the story, but things certainly seem to be coming to a head in the final maps. So I think that this WAD is thematically a success.

 

Now to move into the levels themselves.

 

To put it bluntly, I hated the first episode. The combat consisted of so many rooms of monsters spread randomly across a room seemingly without thought and with so much slow grinding of mid-tier enemies which made each map a slog to play through. The hellish theme was mostly okay, I guess, but compared to the later levels they felt almost incoherent even given the sort of abstract theme of the WAD. However, nothing that I saw felt really irredeemable and I think that the episode could be vastly improved with a proper balancing pass to keep progression moving. As it stands though, I think that the first episode really drags the whole experience down and may turn people away from the later levels, which would be a shame.

 

Now, moving into the second episode, it's like a goddamn switch was flipped. I swear the quality instantly doubled. Immediately we have a more pleasing theme (or maybe I just like snow), more coherent level design while keeping the weirdness intact, more creative gimmicks and level ideas, and of course far better combat. The introduction of new enemies and the buffed plasma gun along with the creative level ideas keeps things fresh and interesting throughout. Map14 and Map19 in particular stand as two of my favorite maps in this WAD. There's still some parts that aren't very good (the end of Map15 comes to mind), but it's still a significant improvement over the opening act and a damn good romp overall.

 

The final episode, at least what is done so far, is something completely different. This is quite possibly the best execution of a spooky atmosphere in Doom that I have seen in quite some time. The darkness, the music, the blood and impaled corpses, the messages burned into the floor, the clever use of invisible monsters, the scarce health, and the noticably more vicious firefights help make these maps really stand out. The execution is, I think, masterful. If you can keep things interesting for the final maps of the WAD and prevent fatigue with this awesome theme, then I think you're golden.

 

Here's a big text dump of my notes. Here you'll find map-by-map comments, observations, complaints, and suggestions in a mostly unorganized fashion.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Edited by Spie812

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  • 3 weeks later...
  On 5/21/2021 at 7:47 AM, Kain D. said:

 

If you've completed Plutonia you shouldn't have any problems with it. It's mostly Doom 2 difficulty mixed with Plutonia's. I think right now, map 09 is the most difficult.

 

I also posted newer version with fixed bugs and 3 new maps.

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(Sorry for late response, i was on a hiatus from here.) 

 

Thanks for your reply, i'm by now on map16 and this really has fulfilled its promises.  i've come to think of your WAD as a natural progression (a sequel of sorts) to Eternal Doom, but while the levels are even more complex, the progression is really well managed - partly due to your use of spawning monsters in the direxion one is supposed to go to, and also by the end of the level one always has a good grasp of the layout.

 

Only issue i've had is a true scarcity of health, and as an example, you can imagine my troubles on map14 going to the canyon with HKs, Revs, Mancs and Archies with less than 10% health and being offered very little help there! :D  But, maybe it's just me, i can accept that too.

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  On 6/22/2021 at 6:23 AM, dei_eldren said:

Only issue i've had is a true scarcity of health, and as an example, you can imagine my troubles on map14 going to the canyon with HKs, Revs, Mancs and Archies with less than 10% health and being offered very little help there! :D  But, maybe it's just me, i can accept that too.

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Ok, I'll change medikit to berserk pack in the plasma gun room. Scarce health is one of the "features" of the third episode.

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I'm always intrigued when a traditional three-"episode" Doom 2 megawad does something other than 20 maps of mundane settings followed by 10 maps of hell, so you've got my interest. :)

 

Scarce health as a schtick, alas, tends to lose my interest, but I'll reserve judgment for that until I can play it in its complete form.

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  On 6/22/2021 at 7:57 PM, jerrysheppy said:

I'm always intrigued when a traditional three-"episode" Doom 2 megawad does something other than 20 maps of mundane settings followed by 10 maps of hell, so you've got my interest. :)

 

Scarce health as a schtick, alas, tends to lose my interest, but I'll reserve judgment for that until I can play it in its complete form.

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This wad is rather far from "traditional". As for the scarce health, I only meant the third episode and this is done by placement of health, not its quantity.

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  On 6/22/2021 at 7:53 PM, Kain D. said:

 

Ok, I'll change medikit to berserk pack in the plasma gun room. Scarce health is one of the "features" of the third episode.

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That should do it!

 

One more general comment i forgot to make: i love how everything in this WAD is done with conviction, nothing is left half-assed.  Makes for truly immersive experience.

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  • 2 months later...
  On 6/1/2021 at 11:33 PM, Spie812 said:

The goal of this WAD, as I understand it, was the creation of a megawad with usage of obscure Boom features

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I don't know if it's worth it to write something about this after all this time. From my perspective this isn't a goal, I'm just not afraid to use them and I don't understand why other Boom features aren't used more frequently.

 

 

Anyway, newer version has arrived with new maps 24, 25 ,26, 27.   

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  On 9/20/2021 at 7:56 AM, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

The screenshots remind me a little of A.L.T. which is a favorite of mine for its surreal and disturbing atmosphere. Is this somewhat similar?

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If you like A.L.T., you probably like this wad. I think the first episode feels similar like A.L.T., athough Sign of Torment wasn't inspired by any wad.  

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I've finished playing through the four new maps. In short, everything I said in my last post still applies. I still really like the atmosphere and more punishing combat. There are enough new gimmicks in the new levels to keep the episode from starting to drag, though the novelty of the theme begins to wear off by the end. Keep up the good work, and I hope to see some cool stuff in the final few maps.

 

As before, I will drop my notes.

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@Spie812 I don't know if you're intrested in my answers. Anyway:

 

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  • 2 months later...

It is done, all 32 Maps. Although final 3 maps were tested only by me(when posting this).

 

In terms of difficulty the third episode is closer to Plutonia. There are difficulty spikes.

 

All the bugs in the "Known Bugs" section(except -nomonsters info) are sourceports' bugs. It is not up to me to fix them.

 

I also have reports about Woof and DSDA Doom. In Woof linedefs 210 work properly, but it doesn't have ogg support.

DSDA Doom fixed friction disappearing, when loading a save. But kept all the bugs, that are in GlBoom+/PrBoom+.

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Your story contains several grammatical errors, I fixed them for you if you want to update it:

 

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Edited by TheMagicMushroomMan

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I never knew this existed O_o.

Downloading but I gotta tell ya I am like 18 months behind on playing new content. This has been such an amazing year for new releases. :o)

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Glad to see this unique project finishing up.

 

  On 11/28/2021 at 10:30 PM, Kain D. said:

All the bugs in the "Known Bugs" section(except -nomonsters info) are sourceports' bugs. It is not up to me to fix them.

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As I read the bugs, it does not appear that you can play this in any single port without dealing with issues you did not intend. Is that accurate? If so, I hate to say, but that could be a significant deterrent. 

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  On 11/29/2021 at 2:39 AM, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

Your story contains several grammatical errors, I fixed them for you if you want to update it:

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Thanks, I'll fix it.

 

  On 11/29/2021 at 2:21 PM, HAK3180 said:

Glad to see this unique project finishing up.

 

As I read the bugs, it does not appear that you can play this in any single port without dealing with issues you did not intend. Is that accurate? If so, I hate to say, but that could be a significant deterrent. 

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Like I said: It is not up to me to fix them.

Every sourceport I tested has problems with this wad. Sign of Torment uses much more Boom features and it causes sourceports to explode.

My point is, there is like 30% Boom features, that are completly unused, by other mappers.

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  On 11/30/2021 at 9:44 AM, Kain D. said:

Like I said: It is not up to me to fix them.

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No, but you could make sure that your wad runs perfectly in at least one of them. You can say that your wad is bug free and the source ports are to blame, and that may be true, but it's irrelevant to the consumer. For all intents and purposes, it is your wad that is buggy, not the source ports. 

 

It's probably too late now, but I just fear people will not even download upon seeing that list of bugs with not even one port to play it on fully functionally. It's a major turnoff to me personally, and I'm someone who does not care about immersion and plays on different ports and/or comp levels all the time.

 

Let me ask you: If you want to play your own wad Sign of Torment from beginning to end, how do you personally do it?

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  On 11/30/2021 at 3:35 PM, HAK3180 said:

Let me ask you: If you want to play your own wad Sign of Torment from beginning to end, how do you personally do it?

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I'd chose GlBoom+ 2.5.1.4, or PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4 with default compability, but set "Retain quirks in Doom's sound code" to yes.

DSDA Doom with -cl9 might also handle it well, but it is untested.

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I enter map06 and enter the first room. I read the words on the ground, look around, and all the paths you can choose wall up. I can't continue.

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  On 12/1/2021 at 2:53 AM, Bryan T said:

I enter map06 and enter the first room. I read the words on the ground, look around, and all the paths you can choose wall up. I can't continue.

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  Reveal hidden contents

 

Edited by Kain D.

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I can't choose anything because they all wall up before I can get to them.

Using gzdoom 4.7.1

Edited by Bryan T

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