"ISOLATION" speedmapping project - BETA 2 RELEASED

[plums]

1 hour ago, IvanDobrovski said:

Well, the map is made to be a bit hard. Perhaps more difficulty specific settings could be employed? There are certain ways to beat that map, two styles, I don't want to guide people on how to beat it as that'd kind of kill the purpose. I'll just say you can land on specific spots from that pyramid into a BFG and a backpack for an early start.

I don't know how you'd feel about replacing the chaingunners in the cages with shotgun guys instead for HMP? I found the chaingunners quite troublesome while I was still figuring the map out.

 

It's maybe not necessary; once I got my bearings and figured out what threats were coming from where it wasn't too hard. Just getting to that point took some tries though, since you're thrown into the middle of everything immediately. Anyhow if you want it to be tough then that's fine. I did like it once I warmed up a bit.

Edited April 3, 2020 by plums

[plums]

FDAs for Strain 1, maps 1-16. Only Map04 had ZDoomism errors. Not sure of @Orka's DoomWorld name...

iso1-plumsfdas1.zip

 

@Jimmy the palette is included in the Strain 1 wad. Not sure if you meant to do that.

 

Also I've been using a less desaturated palette that still gets the point across without completely washing out all the colours.

 

iso-pal-lite.zip

Edited April 3, 2020 by plums

[IvanDobrovski]

Updated my map, @Jimmy. Did some difficulty changes, and made the central area lower a bit more so the spider mastermind is a little bit more threatening. Also, put a blue armor for the careful players. This was Strain 2 Map30.

iso_ivandob.zip

Edited April 3, 2020 by IvanDobrovski

[TravyB]

3 hours ago, plums said:

You've got linedef actions without tags, that aren't doors. e.g. Linedefs 319 and 327. That doesn't work in Boom; you should test it in prboom-plus with -complevel 9 if possible.

How would you go about looking for a specific line because something somewhere must be wrong but I'll be damned if I can see it. Also, how do you actually set PRBoom to Comp level 9 because I can't find any option for it. I even tried to add it into the gzdoom configuration thing, in the parameters, but the map still started and everything. 

 

EDIT: Apparently I had the doors set to switch and didn't even notice since they still worked in GZDoom. If this doesn't fix it or there's some other way to pin point an issue I'm unaware of (I even used map analysis mode but that didn't tell me anything special) then I'm unsure of what I'm supposed to do. 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uly9uvcrau2e2cx/SocialDistancing.wad?dl=0

 

Edited April 3, 2020 by TravyB

[IvanDobrovski]

25 minutes ago, TravyB said:

How would you go about looking for a specific line because something somewhere must be wrong but I'll be damned if I can see it. Also, how do you actually set PRBoom to Comp level 9 because I can't find any option for it. I even tried to add it into the gzdoom configuration thing, in the parameters, but the map still started and everything. 

 

EDIT: Apparently I had the doors set to switch and didn't even notice since they still worked in GZDoom. If this doesn't fix it or there's some other way to pin point an issue I'm unaware of (I even used map analysis mode but that didn't tell me anything special) then I'm unsure of what I'm supposed to do. 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uly9uvcrau2e2cx/SocialDistancing.wad?dl=0

 

You can use find & replace mode of UDB and find the linedefs specified.

[universal-quantifier]

@JimmyEdited my map to have a secret exit. Slot is MAP15.

 

viralsamplesv3.wad

 

Just my opinion, but seeing as maps 1 and 31 of Strain 2 are basically the same only with different enemy placement, I feel like it would be more fair to give one of the secret slots to A2Rob instead so his entry isn't stuck in MAP33 limbo.

Edited April 3, 2020 by universal-quantifier

[Shadow Hog]

Not super necessary, but I made an update to my map (currently MAP28 of Strain 1). This changes the nukage hurtfloor in the switch gauntlet into non-hurting blood, as I thought it looked nicer (also you'd have to do some very specific things in order to even wind up out there, but there are teleporters to take you back up just in case). More importantly, if for some godforsaken reason you're playing in co-op by your lonesome so you can respawn when you die without resetting the map's state (which I wouldn't recommend anyway, this mapset was specifically not co-op), I added a trigger to lower the "3D floor" to its outdoor state to the starting cave, so you don't render the map unwinnable if you die after the floor was raised (as it'd block the only path into the fortress).

[plums]

7 hours ago, TravyB said:

How would you go about looking for a specific line because something somewhere must be wrong but I'll be damned if I can see it. Also, how do you actually set PRBoom to Comp level 9 because I can't find any option for it. I even tried to add it into the gzdoom configuration thing, in the parameters, but the map still started and everything. 

 

EDIT: Apparently I had the doors set to switch and didn't even notice since they still worked in GZDoom. If this doesn't fix it or there's some other way to pin point an issue I'm unaware of (I even used map analysis mode but that didn't tell me anything special) then I'm unsure of what I'm supposed to do. 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uly9uvcrau2e2cx/SocialDistancing.wad?dl=0

 

Yeah that's got it.

 

To test in prboom-plus you just add '-complevel 9' to the command-line when you run it, or you can set Options -> General -> 2nd page: Default Compatibility Level to Boom. Just testing in PrBoom+ with default compatibility is enough for 99% of cases as long as you have all the optional compatibility stuff also at the defaults.

 

And yeah ZDoom and related ports are much more lenient about mapping quirks than other ports. Which is great if you're mapping for them but bad for compatibility with other ports.

[Hawns Braks]

Couldn't access pillar in silly room. Fixed

Removed BFG at the end, cus it was in a useless position and basically starting the next map with it(?). 

 

Hope i got everything now :tugs collar:

phobossnotstorage3.0.zip

[AconyX]

Last update for now. (Unless more changes required)

• Slightly more enemies
• More changes in different difficulties
• 1 medkit near the exit replaced with stimpack

Isolation-AconyXV3.zip

[plums]

FDAs for Strain 1 maps 17-24.

 

iso1-plumsfdas2.zip

 

Possible errors:

MAP17 @Cacodemon187 @Dragonfly I couldn't figure out how to exit your map, maybe was just me. edit: looks like you're aware of this. Great map until then!

MAP23 @an_mutt I got some monsters stuck on the lift making it unusable, *and* fell behind some boxes in the blue key floor. It looks like you've updated your map some so maybe these errors are already fixed.

 

I played a few maps from 25 and up but them mostly had me going "yeah, no thanks!" for one reason or another, so that might be it for FDAs. I'll run through them in god mode maybe, just to make sure that they're functional.

Edited April 5, 2020 by plums

[Roofi]

I hope you enjoy my barrel trap in the backpack's secret . :)

[plums]

Rest of the maps, no demos sorry.

 

Maps 28-32: I generally liked these (especially 28) and found no problems.

 

Map25 @Tarnsman great layout but too unforgiving/dickish for my tastes. The AVs in the pillars that appear after you get the green key are easy to knock partway off so they can't do anything. Unsure if this is a mistake or a small mercy for the player or both, but maybe you want block monster lines to prevent it? Anyhow you know what you're doing, so up to you.

 

Map26 @SiMpLeToNiUm a few things:

 

* In the lower slime area, what I assume is the teleporter back up does nothing.

 

* Also in that area there are some barrels that don't raise (sector tag 7) before you can get blocked by them or see them in the floor. It looks intentional from the map editor but it's a weird decision if so.

 

* I managed to raise one of the SWLION pillars up to the ceiling and it had a very clear missing texture. Not sure how that happened though, sorry. Screenshot

 

* I'm sure you know this but this map is extremely hard, with low ammo, and I'm honestly not sure how someone is supposed to beat it. Given that it doesn't seem to have skill levels either, I imagine most people will skip this one.

 

Map27 @Roofi A radsuit in an inescapable pit, really? Also yes that barrel/backpack secret in your other map was definitely a thing.

 

Map33 @A2Rob If the player gets the BFG secret and then presses the wall around the key, before pressing the switch that's supposed to lower that wall and give you the plasma gun, they can lock themselves out of getting the key. Better to change the key switch to repeatable.

 

@Jimmy It might be best to have an empty box MAP34 and a CWILV33 graphic, to prevent crashes from exiting Map33. Alternately you can probably make the exit a secret exit and I think it goes back to MAP01?

Edited April 5, 2020 by plums

[A2Rob]

@Jimmy Fixed an issue addressed by @plums, plus some automap cleanup.

Edited April 5, 2020 by A2Rob

[Gothic]

There has been a lot of talk regarding plagiarism lately around here, so I wanna play safe: are you guys ok with the E1M1 homage at the end of martial law, or should I reshape that room to look different?

[Jimmy]

Many thanks to the folks submitting fixes! Thanks also to @plums for the thorough map-by-map feedback and useful demos.

 

DOWNLOAD "ISOLATION" beta 2 (6.2MB)

 

Map order is not changed yet, but I must reiterate it's still very flexible.

 

Again, if your map is not up-to-date in this compilation, notify me immediately. I've almost certainly missed one or two things.

 

@Scotty I relegated @A2Rob's map to MAP33 because the difficulty of its initial combat puzzle simply felt to me like it wasn't a good fit for the main roster. Light and breezy that map is not! But this can still change if this isn't agreeable.

 

@Gothic Don't worry about it. It seems pretty clear to me that you drew your own lines there.

 

@Ambureon Your map doesn't appear to have some of the crucial map lumps such as SEGS, SSECTORS, NODES, REJECT and BLOCKMAP. Something's up with the way you're saving your map. I recommend seeing if you can set up a node builder in your editor, because the map flat-out won't run in PrBoom+ unless I save it and build the nodes myself.

 

Please test your maps in the intended port, people!

[leodoom85]

FINALLY!!!
I guess that I'll go back to the wad pretty soon

 

[zeldavxa]

On 4/2/2020 at 7:54 PM, plums said:

FDAs and very brief comments for Strain2 maps 1-25, using the beta from this post. I was hoping to get at least one whole wad done but I need to stop and go to bed. All except one or two were done with complevel -1 on PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, so I could turn with high resolution, and save/load easily.

 

In general I didn't comment on aesthetics etc. except when something was good, these are speedmaps so I didn't expect super high quality. Overall there are a lot of good short maps here though. The palette gives the whole thing a sense of unity that would otherwise be missing, but man is it ugly :p

iso2-plumsfdas.zip

 

Maps which have incomplete FDAs due to non-door linedef actions not having tags, aka ZDoomisms:

MAP03 @zeldavxa

MAP04 @Ambureon @nue

MAP08 @Mister_theMan (not sure DW name; map was missing textures and so I didn't even try it)

MAP13 @kudo

MAP20 @no_mic

MAP23 @Hawns Braks

You got me. I'm a baby ;)

[TheOrganGrinder]

Thanks for the Beta 2 version @Jimmy, I'll give this a look tomorrow.

[Ambureon]

1 hour ago, Jimmy said:

Your map doesn't appear to have some of the crucial map lumps such as SEGS, SSECTORS, NODES, REJECT and BLOCKMAP. Something's up with the way you're saving your map. I recommend seeing if you can set up a node builder in your editor, because the map flat-out won't run in PrBoom+ unless I save it and build the nodes myself. 

 

ah, i'm sorry! didn't realise that that was a thing i needed to do, i did try to test in prboom+ but i wasn't entirely sure how to configure things properly. does this fix things?

isolation - inverse quarantine v3b.zip

[DoubleCakes]

I've been waiting for this! I'll get playtesting ASAP

 

By the way, is mouselook necessary? Jumping?

[Shadow Hog]

It's Boom-compatible, so neither.

 

My map appears to be correct. I apparently forgot to make the blood floor not-damaging when I changed the texture, but whatever, you're not really supposed to ever get out there anyway (though it is possible), so I'm gonna leave it.

Edited April 6, 2020 by Shadow Hog

[plums]

11 hours ago, Jimmy said:

Thanks also to @plums for the thorough map-by-map feedback and useful demos.

Welcome! Also, just making sure you caught this: Strain 2 MAP08 by Mister_theMan has all sorts of texture errors but I don't know their Doomworld profile, if they even have one. If you got submissions through an alternate venue, I hope you can let them know.

 

(Strain 1 MAP04 was the other one with errors where the mapper had no DW profile, but at a glance it appears fixed in beta2.)

[Phobus]

Unless I'm mistaken, pistol-starting is enforced in GZDoom by default in at least Strain 1 of the beta 2 release. Is this intentional? If so... Why? It kind of defeats the object of compilation if you can't choose to play them continuously without editing the .WAD

[Fletcher`]

Whoops, look like the update I posted on discord the other day didn't make it in. I probably should have tagged you, Jimmy.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/691990161117937675/695232887343022141/rf_wineflu.wad

[leodoom85]

Video of maps 12-20, minus the secret maps, is coming soon.

EDIT: Here I go......

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by leodoom85

[TheOrganGrinder]

@leodoom85, thanks for the video!  It was interesting to see you play through Back Shift and compare how you handled it to @Dragonfly playing it on his stream, I think you were much more cautious in how you handled the early portion of the map (right up until you grabbed the radiation suit and took a dip in the sludge) and I think both of you were content to leave the spectres alone once you'd dodged past them - I'm not sure if more demons/spectres in that section would make for a more insistent threat that's harder to ignore, or if it's enough to have the lingering worry that, with infinite height on, they might get underfoot and cause trouble with the run across the pillars later in the map.

 

(By the way, you used straferun to cross the pillars, but I'm pretty sure you ought to be able to run straight across in the normal fashion - that was my intention anyway and that's how I did it when playing it myself, if that's not possible let me know and I'll tweak it some.)

[Hawns Braks]

That Subway map by Ronnie James is so cool 

[leodoom85]

30 minutes ago, TheOrganGrinder said:

I'm not sure if more demons/spectres in that section would make for a more insistent threat that's harder to ignore, or if it's enough to have the lingering worry that, with infinite height on, they might get underfoot and cause trouble with the run across the pillars later in the map.

Pillars were fine and, yea, I was more cautious with progress and, I hate infinite height. That can be in the right port instead...

[SiMpLeToNiUm]

Oh shoot @Jimmy my map made it in? That was... not supposed to happen lol

Edited April 6, 2020 by SiMpLeToNiUm