Alpha Centauri now on Idgames!!!

[nicolas monti]

New episode for Doom2 consisting of 9 levels, it uses alpha textures, some new textures based on alpha patches and some regular doom 1 textures.

It should run on any limit removing port, not tested on vanilla but I bet some visplane overflow may cause the game crash.

This time I've tried to play more with light contrast and as in my latter works I've tried to keep the monster count at an Iwad level, any map should be beatable in less than 30 minutes in a blind playthrough and the regular timing should be 10-20 minutes per map if no less for some of them.

 

Official release:

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/a-c/centauri

 

Last update before idgames, details in a post below:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/83049u2dzb8rmtt/CENTAURI01.wad/file

 

First version (gaspe demos)

http://www.mediafire.com/file/brx2s3bm3iw9lso/CENTAURI00.wad/file

 

Some pics:

 

 

 

 

 

The maps are finished but still WIP so feedback is desired for what can be improved and feel free to report bugs or something you find annoying, thanks!!!

Edited July 13, 2023 by nicolas monti

[Walter confetti]

Looks pretty cool, even if a little bit weird from what i see...

[MikeyScoots]

My guy, you gotta do something about this texture use. Immediately.

[MikeyScoots]

So many questions. Ill start with the biggest one. Why the hell is the rails stepping down every 64 units or so. What?!

Edited May 12, 2020 by MikeyScoots

[Deadwing]

Wow, impressive work!

Very moody sky and lighting work. I'm pretty sure all these maps also plays amazingly well!

I'll try to record some of the maps later today.

[gaspe]

I think I missed to play some of your last maps :S I'm lucky since I was looking for something to play. That sky looks cool and I like how you used the FLAT1_3 grate as a railing.

[yakfak]

the texturing looks gorgeous and sexy, the screenshots rule :3 i kinda like the various styles of shading on the alpha textures before it all got standardized into a particular noise distribution

i always like yr maps, grabbing right now!

[Nirvana]

Some of the texture choices are a bit odd and yet they work somehow. I think your use of shadows being as strong as it is helps tie a lot of these odd textures together. Cool stuff.

[grrfield]

That map03 is just one of the finer maps i've played in a long time. Besides the nice map layout, enough exploring and just some tenser battles. Just the ***  and the *** at the end had me killed. I was expecting/hoping for imps or other lower cannon fodder, lol.

 

Got to redo that soon with more success and the other three secrets I could not find.

 

Edited May 12, 2020 by grrfield

[HAK3180]

Glad to see a thread for this. I played 7-8 today but I'm having Internet issues again, so who knows when you'll see those videos?

[Deadwing]

I played through map 1 to 4 (didn't finish yet 4). If you think this is a classic monti wad with low tier enemy fighting + low health available, you'll be as suprised as me lol

 

This is by far the hardest stuff made by him, I got my ass kicked a lot >.< I am actually trapped in the lunch room in map 4, since I haven't figured out how to beat that setpiece lol 

 

Monti's doesn't mind of using mid-tiers and especially restraining player movement with bulker foes such as Hell Knights. The layouts also, so far, have been more action oriented than exploratory. Sometimes the progression can get as erratic as the textures choices, which is really fun and the setpieces are as creative as ever.

 

Map 1 starts pretty easy until you grab that key and difficult rises really fast, especially with the later HK fight.

 

Map 2 has an easily distinct initial area + the corridor area which is very remarkable. I like how Monti mixes abstract layout with recognizable shapes, with tables, locks and the very distinct gorestuff over the table lol really creepy considering his earlier works.

 

Map 3 is a classic monti's sewage level with lots of nukage + suits, but this time the opposition is as though as ever, holy shit. I definetely wasn't expecting some fights and traps here.

 

Map 4 is the one I haven't finished. The layout is really good, but the difficult is way above my league. I think I should drop to HMP lol

 

My playthrough so far:

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=usWYpAuvVLU

Edited May 12, 2020 by Deadwing

[Firedust]

Screenshots look fab as usual, my friend. I cannot wait to play this!

[nicolas monti]

14 hours ago, Walter confetti said:

Looks pretty cool, even if a little bit weird from what i see...

Thanks, it should be weird at some exent.

14 hours ago, MikeyScoots said:

My guy, you gotta do something about this texture use. Immediately.

It's the way I like, on one hand I know how to texture in the traditional safe way, all aligned and support2/3 everywhere and on the other hand I understand not everybody will be pleased.

14 hours ago, MikeyScoots said:

So many questions. Ill start with the biggest one. Why the hell is the rails stepping down every 64 units or so. What?!

I wanted that rail to go down, the steps are 2 units height, I could have made them 1 unit height for more smoothness but I do not see the result too extravagant either.

13 hours ago, Deadwing said:

Wow, impressive work!

Very moody sky and lighting work. I'm pretty sure all these maps also plays amazingly well!

I'll try to record some of the maps later today.

Thanks Deadwing, I hope they play well, there is time for fixes anyway!

 

13 hours ago, gaspe said:

I think I missed to play some of your last maps :S I'm lucky since I was looking for something to play. That sky looks cool and I like how you used the FLAT1_3 grate as a railing.

Thanks, I like that sky too, I also like metro stuff, stations, tunnels and the wad feature some of those elements in some maps.

 

12 hours ago, yakfak said:

the texturing looks gorgeous and sexy, the screenshots rule :3 i kinda like the various styles of shading on the alpha textures before it all got standardized into a particular noise distribution

i always like yr maps, grabbing right now!

Thanks, over the years the alpha textures have kind of become my standad textures, this time I wanted to make more use for them but I've made more focus on lighting this time, inspired in some blood moods like french meat believe it or not.

 

11 hours ago, Nirvana said:

Some of the texture choices are a bit odd and yet they work somehow. I think your use of shadows being as strong as it is helps tie a lot of these odd textures together. Cool stuff.

Thanks, lighting is a trend that I want to keep developing, it bring the maps a lot of immersive atmosphere, even for areas that are simple or underdetailed

 

9 hours ago, grrfield said:

That map03 is just one of the finer maps i've played in a long time. Besides the nice map layout, enough exploring and just some tenser battles. Just the ***  and the *** at the end had me killed. I was expecting/hoping for imps or other lower cannon fodder, lol.

 

Got to redo that soon with more success and the other three secrets I could not find.

 

Thanks, gameplay is the part I kind of struggle with in the sense that people have very different tastes, I continue learning what the average player would expect, playing different wads help a lot also. This time I've tried to constrain the space for the player during some fights to keep him/her busy.

 

9 hours ago, HAK3180 said:

Glad to see a thread for this. I played 7-8 today but I'm having Internet issues again, so who knows when you'll see those videos?

The wait is worth it, I watch your videos no matter what author map's when I have the time because of the comments.

[elmo972]

Looks great! I'm going to tr it out!

[nicolas monti]

18 hours ago, Deadwing said:

I played through map 1 to 4 (didn't finish yet 4). If you think this is a classic monti wad with low tier enemy fighting + low health available, you'll be as suprised as me lol

 

This is by far the hardest stuff made by him, I got my ass kicked a lot >.< I am actually trapped in the lunch room in map 4, since I haven't figured out how to beat that setpiece lol 

 

Monti's doesn't mind of using mid-tiers and especially restraining player movement with bulker foes such as Hell Knights. The layouts also, so far, have been more action oriented than exploratory. Sometimes the progression can get as erratic as the textures choices, which is really fun and the setpieces are as creative as ever.

 

Map 1 starts pretty easy until you grab that key and difficult rises really fast, especially with the later HK fight.

 

Map 2 has an easily distinct initial area + the corridor area which is very remarkable. I like how Monti mixes abstract layout with recognizable shapes, with tables, locks and the very distinct gorestuff over the table lol really creepy considering his earlier works.

 

Map 3 is a classic monti's sewage level with lots of nukage + suits, but this time the opposition is as though as ever, holy shit. I definetely wasn't expecting some fights and traps here.

 

Map 4 is the one I haven't finished. The layout is really good, but the difficult is way above my league. I think I should drop to HMP lol

 

My playthrough so far:

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=usWYpAuvVLU

Been watching your video, on the dining room fight is hard but doable, I've noticed you've started the fight with 80% health or so, the are 50 or so life bonuses in the kitchens besides medkits, I recommend to start full health if possible, the tactic is run firing plasma killing everything as soon as possible and ignore the switches til everything is dead, HAK recorded a video of that map, it may help to visualise what I say, I know you can do it on UV, but if you find it more enjoyable on HMP go ahead!

 

 

13 hours ago, Firedust said:

Screenshots look fab as usual, my friend. I cannot wait to play this!

 Thanks Firedust, you're always there when I release something!

 

8 hours ago, elmo972 said:

Looks great! I'm going to tr it out!

Thanks man!

[Deadwing]

Finally was able to pass through that setpiece, but wasn't expecting for that double archville lol

 

Played through the rest of 4, 5 and 6. Some really tough moments in these levels, with lots of arch-ville usage and chaingun, sometimes reminding me of Urania/Adonis by rrider3. 6 has a more IWADish layout without too many setpieces (yet). 5 is classic monti's with a very moody architecture (with these somewhat forests and the UAC mid texture which is really cool, btw).

 

Here's the playthrough:

 

 

Edited May 14, 2020 by Deadwing

[nicolas monti]

On 5/14/2020 at 4:54 AM, Deadwing said:

Finally was able to pass through that setpiece, but wasn't expecting for that double archville lol

 

Played through the rest of 4, 5 and 6. Some really tough moments in these levels, with lots of arch-ville usage and chaingun, sometimes reminding me of Urania/Adonis by rrider3. 6 has a more IWADish layout without too many setpieces (yet). 5 is classic monti's with a very moody architecture (with these somewhat forests and the UAC mid texture which is really cool, btw).

 

Here's the playthrough:

 

 

Thanks Deadwing, finally got to see your video, I'm glad you were able to win that fight on the dining room.

Map05 was played with no major inconvenients or bugs I see, and I'm glad you recognized the pipe structures as trees :) they're very abstract nontheless, the map is intended to be some oxygen processing plant with also botanical research.

I'll be uploading an update when I have more feedback on the last 2 levels!

Edited May 15, 2020 by nicolas monti

[Firedust]

Played the first level and you aren't messing around no more haha

 

The traps are far more brutal than I remember from any of your maps. Got 3/5 secrets, couldn't figure out how to get the backpack and berserk. The chainsaw was a happy automap accident :D

 

Great stuff so far!

 

Although you might want to redo that "lit" texture by the shotgun, because it protrudes a bit compared to the rest.

[Deadwing]

I've finished map 6 and 7:

 

 

 

The latter half of 6 was, as I expected, really tough haha

YK setpiece is really difficult, until you realize you can access the tunnel and deal with the crowd there. The RK setpiece was quite asshole with all these Chaingunners haha.

 

Map 7 layout-wise was one of my favorites. I took a while to notice that the railtrack deals damage lol The initial area is full of hitscanners and I thought there was someone poking me in one of these windows. Regardless, I was glad I was able to 2 shot the cyberdemon lol (although I've died too many times >.<). Really cool final room too.

[gaspe]

Fantastic work Monti. I still consider Mano Laikas to be my favourite of your wads but I think this one almost takes the first place. The realistic details and representational locations are things you already did in other wads as well but here the approach is slightly different and I got a less abstract feel overall, I was really having the impression that I was visiting somekind of fututistic cities. The sky helped a lot too and I liked a lot how each map is connected, the mood is somehow more serious and a sort of implied story . You also stepped up the challenges, I had the hardest time of all the other your wads (and it didn't help that I sucked more than ever to find the secrets). I remember that I criticized the usage of the boss monsters in your latest wads because they were often in mandatory and not so inspired fights but here it's the opposite, they are combines with other monsters too and the scenarios where interesting.

 

Here are my fdas, recorded on prboom+ with cl2: centauri_gaspe_fdas.zip

 

MAP01: The RK trap and the SSG tower are good introductions to the tricky moments that challenge you. I think only 2 stimpack at the SSG aren't too stingy as supplies, more than the revs the biggest problems is given by the hitscanners that can't always avoid the damage.

MAP02: This lives u to its name, the northern part is quite memorable (spooky when the lights go out). In this map though I started to see the only big problem I had in this episode as it seems that many traps are designed in a way that you are very likely to die unless you are already prepared to react in the right way. At the YK I think it's fine but when you have to enter in that sewer part I think I was also lucky enough to pass it on the second attempt.

MAP03: Sewers are a classic. Another little trope of this mapset are the hitscanners that are very present in the first fight so they can pontentially chop more of your helth before you have to venture into the later dangerous traps. Situations were manageable altough more panic-inducing, especially the pain-elementals at the YK.

MAP04: There 2 demos for this one, I did quite some attempts before deciding to do it with saves. The intro isn't a big deal, the dorms and the nukage canal was very pleasant. The big problems are at the cafeteria. After you pick the key you are locked in the area with no health support and the only reliable cover are those 2 pillars, the tables actually hamper the monsters and some projectiles but the hitscanners made the situations to be also based more on luck (some attempts went better than others). For the 2 arch-viles I noticed later that you can use the switch n1 alcove as a cover while you try to kill them quickly with the RL. I think that the optimal route is to go to the RK first since it gives you better position to fight the spiderdemon and you can also have the revs to help you.

MAP05: Things get more creepy too, and the concept of these forests inside the labs sure is cool. The cyberdemon encounter was very fun, it's tempting to use the other monsters to infight but orchestrate the things isn't so easy. I thought that that last imp I missed was tuck somewhere but looking at the editor I saw where it is, I don't think it ever shoot at me in my run, or at least I didn't noticed it.

MAP06: Another spooky and mysterious tech-base. A bit more on the exploratory side. The cramped places are more prominent here, I didn't think I could pass the whole BK trap but YK one got me and this is related to what I said before on MAP02 where some traps don't give you much opportunities to react.

MAP07: The rail system is cute, even if it's damaging and the map could have some more health around to me. The (now corrupted) church was nice and I like how you have to visit it 2 times. At the last area is mostly my fault because I trapped in that corner and that caco corpse was covering my view.

MAP08: I decided to give up and come back with to try with saves at the BK which imo is the hardest part in this level but I think that MAP04 was harder overall. Here you arean't really locked and you can go back to take supplies (if you saved them) when you want. The whole system to unlock the YK was the best part of the level. i think that the last fight can give you most  of the problem if you come there with not so much cells left to sue the BFG.

MAP09: I think that at least you can give 1 more medkit after passing the hell-knights room, it's doable but very hard and the very cramped spaces makes almost impossible to not take a lot of damage there. The BK is probably the "easiest" key to get. At the YK I didn't like so much how in some "buildings" you face monsters as you come out from the lift, like at the cacos at the teleporter and the revs at the southern side of the nukage canal. This also happens later near the spiderdemon where you have to take the lift to be pulled in a cramped room with 3 revs. The last was fun (though I think you already did a similar battle with cyberdemons), you can at least 2-shots one to have a more doable fight.

[Firedust]

Map 2: Another rather brutal affair, especially that fight with imps, specters and two viles near the end. Thankfully, I found the plasma rifle secret so it wasn't THAT bad, but I still lost a considerable amount of health. The only thing I didn't fancy was that the lights in yk hallway didn't come back on after the first fight, and killing revs there upon my return was not fun at all.

 

Map 3: The floor is toxic waste! Oh lawd, encounter-wise this is a ton of fun, but my paranoia kept on getting the better of me as I was constantly scared I would run out of rad suits. Place more maybe? Pretty please?

 

Also, is an av jump required to get that bfg secret?

Edited May 16, 2020 by Firedust

[Firedust]

Map 5: Two chaingunners didn't teleport at the yellow key arena, not sure what happened there. Play on Zdoom 2.8.1, uv. Also about the soulsphere secret in the same area: you can see the switch on the automap but you can't actually see it in the place where it's supposed to be. It looks like the adjacent textures. Is that on purpose? Did I miss a trick? 

[nicolas monti]

6 hours ago, Deadwing said:

I've finished map 6 and 7:

 

The latter half of 6 was, as I expected, really tough haha

YK setpiece is really difficult, until you realize you can access the tunnel and deal with the crowd there. The RK setpiece was quite asshole with all these Chaingunners haha.

 

Map 7 layout-wise was one of my favorites. I took a while to notice that the railtrack deals damage lol The initial area is full of hitscanners and I thought there was someone poking me in one of these windows. Regardless, I was glad I was able to 2 shot the cyberdemon lol (although I've died too many times >.<). Really cool final room too.

 

Thanks! I'll be uploading an update this next week with minor improvements, YK trap won't be cheesable but also slightly toned down and damaging railtracks of map07 will have voltage signs among other things but I'll wait until more feedback to avoid multiplying the versions of the wad!

[Gifty]

Shit, a new Nicholas Monti episode? It's a good day. Screw you guys, I love his texture usage.

[nicolas monti]

4 hours ago, gaspe said:

Fantastic work Monti. I still consider Mano Laikas to be my favourite of your wads but I think this one almost takes the first place. The realistic details and representational locations are things you already did in other wads as well but here the approach is slightly different and I got a less abstract feel overall, I was really having the impression that I was visiting somekind of fututistic cities. The sky helped a lot too and I liked a lot how each map is connected, the mood is somehow more serious and a sort of implied story . You also stepped up the challenges, I had the hardest time of all the other your wads (and it didn't help that I sucked more than ever to find the secrets). I remember that I criticized the usage of the boss monsters in your latest wads because they were often in mandatory and not so inspired fights but here it's the opposite, they are combines with other monsters too and the scenarios where interesting.

 

Here are my fdas, recorded on prboom+ with cl2: centauri_gaspe_fdas.zip

 

MAP01: The RK trap and the SSG tower are good introductions to the tricky moments that challenge you. I think only 2 stimpack at the SSG aren't too stingy as supplies, more than the revs the biggest problems is given by the hitscanners that can't always avoid the damage.

MAP02: This lives u to its name, the northern part is quite memorable (spooky when the lights go out). In this map though I started to see the only big problem I had in this episode as it seems that many traps are designed in a way that you are very likely to die unless you are already prepared to react in the right way. At the YK I think it's fine but when you have to enter in that sewer part I think I was also lucky enough to pass it on the second attempt.

MAP03: Sewers are a classic. Another little trope of this mapset are the hitscanners that are very present in the first fight so they can pontentially chop more of your helth before you have to venture into the later dangerous traps. Situations were manageable altough more panic-inducing, especially the pain-elementals at the YK.

MAP04: There 2 demos for this one, I did quite some attempts before deciding to do it with saves. The intro isn't a big deal, the dorms and the nukage canal was very pleasant. The big problems are at the cafeteria. After you pick the key you are locked in the area with no health support and the only reliable cover are those 2 pillars, the tables actually hamper the monsters and some projectiles but the hitscanners made the situations to be also based more on luck (some attempts went better than others). For the 2 arch-viles I noticed later that you can use the switch n1 alcove as a cover while you try to kill them quickly with the RL. I think that the optimal route is to go to the RK first since it gives you better position to fight the spiderdemon and you can also have the revs to help you.

MAP05: Things get more creepy too, and the concept of these forests inside the labs sure is cool. The cyberdemon encounter was very fun, it's tempting to use the other monsters to infight but orchestrate the things isn't so easy. I thought that that last imp I missed was tuck somewhere but looking at the editor I saw where it is, I don't think it ever shoot at me in my run, or at least I didn't noticed it.

MAP06: Another spooky and mysterious tech-base. A bit more on the exploratory side. The cramped places are more prominent here, I didn't think I could pass the whole BK trap but YK one got me and this is related to what I said before on MAP02 where some traps don't give you much opportunities to react.

MAP07: The rail system is cute, even if it's damaging and the map could have some more health around to me. The (now corrupted) church was nice and I like how you have to visit it 2 times. At the last area is mostly my fault because I trapped in that corner and that caco corpse was covering my view.

MAP08: I decided to give up and come back with to try with saves at the BK which imo is the hardest part in this level but I think that MAP04 was harder overall. Here you arean't really locked and you can go back to take supplies (if you saved them) when you want. The whole system to unlock the YK was the best part of the level. i think that the last fight can give you most  of the problem if you come there with not so much cells left to sue the BFG.

MAP09: I think that at least you can give 1 more medkit after passing the hell-knights room, it's doable but very hard and the very cramped spaces makes almost impossible to not take a lot of damage there. The BK is probably the "easiest" key to get. At the YK I didn't like so much how in some "buildings" you face monsters as you come out from the lift, like at the cacos at the teleporter and the revs at the southern side of the nukage canal. This also happens later near the spiderdemon where you have to take the lift to be pulled in a cramped room with 3 revs. The last was fun (though I think you already did a similar battle with cyberdemons), you can at least 2-shots one to have a more doable fight.

 

Thanks Gaspe, I'll try to watch all your demos, to see what can be adjusted, on the lift encounters of map09 I think I could try to make the monsters face the opposite way allowing the player to have time to work out his strategy, on the 3 cacos one the key is aligning them to avoid their fireballs. Thanks overall for the appreciations, I wanted to make something in my style but "more mature" and balanced if you like.

[Firedust]

This is his best-looking wad so far, in my opinion. The little cool details, texturing and lighting are all simply awesome! The maps have a stronger sense of place than his previous works too.

[nicolas monti]

15 hours ago, Firedust said:

Played the first level and you aren't messing around no more haha

 

The traps are far more brutal than I remember from any of your maps. Got 3/5 secrets, couldn't figure out how to get the backpack and berserk. The chainsaw was a happy automap accident :D

 

Great stuff so far!

 

Although you might want to redo that "lit" texture by the shotgun, because it protrudes a bit compared to the rest.

 

Going to check that lit texture.

3 hours ago, Firedust said:

Map 2: Another rather brutal affair, especially that fight with imps, specters and two viles near the end. Thankfully, I found the plasma rifle secret so it wasn't THAT bad, but I still lost a considerable amount of health. The only thing I didn't fancy was that the lights in yk hallway didn't come back on after the first fight, and killing revs there upon my return was not fun at all.

 

Map 3: The floor is toxic waste! Oh lawd, encounter-wise this is a ton of fun, but my paranoia kept on getting the better of me as I was constantly scared I would run out of rad suits. Place more maybe? Pretty please?

 

Also, is an av jump required to get that bfg secret?

 

Not AV jump required!

Not sure about more rads as that wasn't askes by the others who tested the map.

1 hour ago, Firedust said:

Map 5: Two chaingunners didn't teleport at the yellow key arena, not sure what happened there. Play on Zdoom 2.8.1, uv. Also about the soulsphere secret in the same area: you can see the switch on the automap but you can't actually see it in the place where it's supposed to be. It looks like the adjacent textures. Is that on purpose? Did I miss a trick? 

 

Gonna check those chaingunners.

About the secret, the switch is a regular texture but the pattern change is noticeable if you pay attention.

[Austinado]

 

[Lila Feuer]

This looks beautifully awesome, I love alpha style Doom. Gotta play this one!

[Firedust]

Map 8: Very confusing progression, especially with regards to the blue key. Took me a while to find that drop. Six chaingunners didn't teleport in from the closet - not sure what's up with that. Couldn't find the way to open the door to the megaarmor, you hide secrets too well nowadays :p

In general, the map was pretty straightforward bar the yk fight which was pure evil. Without the bfg, I would've been toast.