DOOM 87: The Lost World (Beta Release) for DOOM II - Vanilla-compatible maps.

[DCG Retrowave]

 

 

"DOOM 87: The Lost World" is an upcoming vanilla-compatible DOOM II megawad.  The first few maps are fairly easy, but the difficulty increases significantly by the start of the Hell episode on MAP12.  Currently, a 21-map beta release is available and features some epic vanilla DOOMING action!  Get ready for an exciting new adventure as Doomguy locates a secret hellspawn base on Earth known as "The Lost World."

 

Download the "DOOM 87: The Lost World" beta release today!

 

D87BETA.ZIP

 

(For more information regarding compatibility, please read the included "D87INFO.TXT" and "README.TXT."  MAP21 and MAP26 will not function as intended in source ports that don't allow ghost monsters, although these maps can still be completed.  I personally recommend PrBoom+ if you want to use a modern source port that'll run this WAD perfectly with DOOM II 1.9 compatibility.)

 

Epic screenshots for epic DOOMERS :D

 

MAP01: House of DOOM

 

MAP02: Surf Demons

 

MAP04: Evil Library

 

MAP07: The Ball Game

 

MAP08: Marketplace

 

MAP11: Arch-Ville

 

MAP12: The Heck Dimension (This is where things get really tough :D)

 

MAP15: Hall of Memes

 

MAP16: Demon Jail

 

MAP17: Disaster Area (yes, this map has a TNT reference at the end :D)

 

MAP18: Sadistic

 

MAP19: Surrounded

 

MAP21: Anguish

 

MAP22: Eternal Suffering

 

MAP23: Lost and Found

 

MAP24: Losing Control (A Go 2 It-style remix of TNT: Evilution's MAP01: System Control)

 

MAP25: Hellspawn Fortress

 

MAP26: Heck on Earth (THIS SLAUGHTERMAP HAS 13 GHOST PAIN ELEMENTALS BECAUSE I'M EVIL :D :D :D)

 

MAP27: The Guillotines

 

MAP31: MIDI Music Festival

 

MAP32: Software Update

 

 

 

Thank you for reading this message and I hope you enjoy playing the beta release of "DOOM 87: The Lost World!"

 

D87BETA.ZIP

Edited December 31, 2020 by DCG Retrowave
The 21-map beta release is now available!

[Austinado]

Looks interesting for sure.

[Zolgia108]

i loved the trailer (especially the Arcade part) , and i m glad to see a retro gamer enthusiast like you, so young and yet so wise :P

Will play this for sure

[DCG Retrowave]

1 hour ago, Austinado said:

Looks interesting for sure.

Thanks!

 

19 minutes ago, Zolgia108 said:

i loved the trailer (especially the Arcade part) , and i m glad to see a retro gamer enthusiast like you, so young and yet so wise :P

Will play this for sure

I'm glad you enjoyed the trailer!  The map with the arcade (MAP08: Marketplace) is based on the Forks Market in Winnipeg which does have an arcade.  It's one of my favorite places in the city because retro games :D

 

Let me know what you think of the maps once you've played them!  I'm very eager to hear player feedback :)

Edited August 25, 2020 by DCG Retrowave

[Zolgia108]

will play them and try to record a video as soon as possible :)

[P41R47]

Pretty imaginative maps!

Reminds me a lot to the 90's wads that tried to make something different than Doom.

Keep at it! This could turn out to be something really interesting!

@Doomkid might like this kind of work. Oh and @Maximum Matt, too.

Edited August 25, 2020 by P41R47

[Zolgia108]

so i played 1 8 and 19

 

1st thing to notice is that the maps feel pretty unique, and that's something to appreciate, a lot. I prefer creative maps to overdetailed but mechanical ones.

as a mapper i will try to be objective about gameplay:

 

map 1 is a nice introduction, i liked it for the most part (i loved the dos computer switch), i didn't enjoy the teleporters that were a bit confusing. Also don't forget the exit sign, i was single segmenting and i stumbled into the exit without wanting it (this happened just on this map cause the other one had either the exit door or a sign). Always remember to lower unpeg doortracks.

 

map 8 was really cool and evocative because of the arcade :) i really enjoyed if not for just 2 things:

1) the progression, it was rather "criptic" meaning that i was just randomly running and wandering searching for remote switches

2) the triple archie trap, that is kinda merciless cause i was singlesegmenting and i could really expect 3 of them together, when i saw the teleporter platform i thought it was a way out, but it wasnt  a teleporter at all so i got killed

 

 

map 19 is a weird one. Let's start by saying that it has 2 features, one that i hate and one that i love. The one that i hate is platforming, the one that i love is a starting situation in which i need to think about what to do. So i loved the infighting mandatory progression, but archviles that can fall down from those ledges are terrible cause then i need to platform without being able to kill them (cause they are too low) and lava is 20 dmg and i think it's an unescapable pit (not sure). So put a block monster line on those 2 archies if possible. I found miself killing 2 cyberdemons with a rl a shotgun and a chaingun cause i found the plasma only in the end (i was running away all the time because of random shit and cramped spaces). I needed to savescum a lot here cause RNG was a big factor, can't really singlesegment a map like that, too random.

Last area was forgettable. So this map is pretty unique like i said, and that's a good thing, but it needs to be polished a lot.

 

Tomorrow i will play the other 2 maps :) thanks !

Edited August 25, 2020 by Zolgia108

[DCG Retrowave]

3 minutes ago, P41R47 said:

Pretty imaginative maps!

Reminds me a lot to the 90's wads that tried to make something different than Doom.

Keep at it! This could turn out to be something really interesting!

Thanks for the feedback!  I'm glad you approve of my style :D

[Doomkid]

Oh, this looks gorgeous. I'll play through it soon and leave some feedback, but just based on the screenies alone I like what I'm seeing!

[DCG Retrowave]

2 minutes ago, Zolgia108 said:

map 1 is a nice introduction, i liked it for the most part (i loved the dos computer switch), i didn't enjoy the teleporters that were a bit confusing. Also don't forget the exit sign, i was single segmenting and i stumbled into the exit without wanting it (this happened just on this map cause the other one had either the exit door or a sign). Always remember to lower unpeg doortracks.

 

Which doortracks did I forget to unpeg?  I was pretty sure I didn't miss any, but I'll definitely fix it once I know where they were.

I was thinking about an exit sign this morning actually :D  I'll add one soon.

The teleporter is how I got around DOOM's lack of room-over-room.  I wasn't sure how else to do that in this map since it's pretty small (some other maps based on real locations were easier to alter slightly, but having the basement connected to the house in any way would've affected the outside area).  If you have any suggestions on how I could make this less confusing, I'd love to hear them :)

 

Quote

map 8 was really cool and evocative because of the arcade :) i really enjoyed if not for just 2 things:

1) the progression, it was rather "criptic" meaning that i was just randomly running and wandering :)

2) the triple archie trap, that is kinda merciless cause i was singlesegmenting and i could really expect 3 of them together, when i saw the teleporter platform i thought it was a way out, but it wasnt so i got killed

 

The progression should be far less cryptic on a second playthrough.  I wanted the player to explore this map to find where everything is, but I could try to make a standard path more obvious if that sounds good :)

The Archvile trap is terrifying at first and definitely an easy way to die at least once.  I can kill all the Archviles without taking any damage from them, so for this one I'd recommend trying that section again to find a safe way to deal with them.  The middle monster-only teleporter platform has a red keycard on it which will let you reach the exit.  (There's a way to safely Archvile jump in there and grab it early if you want to speedrun it or try a pacifist run :D).  Basically, this section looks harder than it is and it's intended to scare the player on their first try.

 

Quote

map 19 is a weird one. Let's start by saying that it has 2 features, one that i hate and one that i love. The one that i hate is platforming, the one that i love is a starting situation in which i need to think about what to do. So i loved the infighting mandatory progression, but archviles that can fall down from those ledges are terrible cause then i need to platform without being able to kill them (cause they are too low) and lava is 20 dmg and i think it's an escapable pit (not sure). So put a block monster line on those 2 archies if possible. I found miself killing 2 cyberdemons with a rl a shotgun and a chaingun cause i found the plasma only in the end (i was running away all the time because of random shit and cramped spaces). I needed to savescum a lot here cause RNG was a big factor, can't really singlesegment a map like that, too random.

Last area was forgettable. So this map is pretty unique like i said, and that's a good thing, but it needs to be polished a lot.

 

I figured this map would receive mixed opinions XD

The platforming (inspired by The Chasm, but designed to be far less frustrating) is something I feel is subjective (some people don't hate The Chasm! XD).  I'm open to modifying the platforms, but I'll wait for more opinions on this map so I can make a decision.

The Archviles fell off?  I've never encountered that before! :O  Are you using a source port that changes how monsters can drop from heights or something like that?  I can definitely add the block monster tag just in case though.

Infighting is actually not mandatory which might explain why this map was so difficult.  Through trial and error, the player will notice that some areas are perfectly safe to use weapons in while others are not (or at least not at first because you don't want the Cyberdemons in the center area hearing you).  No enemies outside of the starting room can hear you while you're in there, so kill the Archviles and Revenants before you progress.  That should help A LOT with your next attempt :)

A Plasma Rifle is next to the Cyberdemon on the other side of the door leading to the outside area with the blue key.  You can sneak past him and grab it without him waking up.  Just make sure you lure that Spectre away and go back to the starting room to fire a rocket at him so the Cyberdemon doesn't hear you!

Is the last area you're referring to just the outside section with the exit?  I was thinking about changing the enemy placement in that area if that's what you mean.

I could definitely polish this map more and I understand the points you made.  If you could try those tips I mentioned above in another attempt, let me know how it goes.  This map requires some practice to understand the traps and the stealth required to succeed which is why I chose to release it for this demo.  I was skeptical about how others would feel so I greatly appreciate your feedback!

 

Quote

Tomorrow i will play the other 2 maps :) thanks !

 

Thank you for playing the first three maps and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the remaining two!

[DCG Retrowave]

54 minutes ago, Doomkid said:

Oh, this looks gorgeous. I'll play through it soon and leave some feedback, but just based on the screenies alone I like what I'm seeing!

Gorgeous? :O  Thanks for complimenting my map design! :D  I try my hardest to make my maps look stunning while still keeping it vanilla, and that isn't easy.  I've had issues with less detailed maps crashing so I still amaze myself when I see ridiculously low visplane counts in maps I thought would need severe optimizations :D

 

P.S.  I like your YouTube channel :)

Edited August 25, 2020 by DCG Retrowave

[Chip]

this looks like a sure cacoward winner, which is an honor for a seasoned mapper, but a new one, WOW! If this is one of your earlier maps, then I can't wait to see what your working on in years to come! great job! excited to see a final release!

[elend]

That's looking spiffy indeed. Unfortunately I would like to play the finished megawad and not the demo maps. Have barely any time for released projects as is. I hope you understand. Keep it up and release it, and I'll make sure to give it a go. Looking really nice so far.

[DCG Retrowave]

16 minutes ago, elend said:

That's looking spiffy indeed. Unfortunately I would like to play the finished megawad and not the demo maps. Have barely any time for released projects as is. I hope you understand. Keep it up and release it, and I'll make sure to give it a go. Looking really nice so far.

I understand that.  The full release should be ready in about two months.  I'm glad you like what you see so far :)

[DCG Retrowave]

1 hour ago, LiT_gam3r said:

this looks like a sure cacoward winner, which is an honor for a seasoned mapper, but a new one, WOW! If this is one of your earlier maps, then I can't wait to see what your working on in years to come! great job! excited to see a final release!

You really think this is cacoward material?  I'm speechless!  Thank you so much for your kind words! :D

 

I take my time designing every map and I aim for perfection as much as possible.  I have a natural talent for math so I can figure out the correct offsets for lining up textures quickly in my head most of the time.  MAP01 is the oldest map that wasn't scrapped for DOOM 87.  There were three test maps I made for fun before it and then I got the bright idea to create a DOOM replica of my own house.  That concept pushed me to design the map to be as accurate as possible which forced me to learn how to properly design a solid DOOM map.  I still have lots to learn, but I'll always do my best with whatever skills I have at the time of a map's creation.  I also play every map I make at least 50 times within the first week and if I get sick of them, they need some improvements.  If I'm still enjoying it after constantly playing it, then it's good by my standards.  This is basically what I do when I'm composing music too.  Can I listen to my latest song 50 times in one week and still enjoy it?  I don't just make music for others.  I also make music I actually want to hear :)

Edited August 25, 2020 by DCG Retrowave

[Alter]

You should release that Into Sandy's City remix, it's probably the best remix i've ever heard of that tune :D

[DCG Retrowave]

7 hours ago, Alter said:

You should release that Into Sandy's City remix, it's probably the best remix i've ever heard of that tune :D

I shall do that soon then :D

[DCG Retrowave]

For those of you who would appreciate a walkthrough if you get stuck or just want to see the maps completed 100% before you try them, here you go :)

 

 

 

 

I'll upload the remaining two playthroughs soon.

 

Also, in case anyone is wondering, I'm a keyboard-only player.  Even with a DOS TSR to disable that weird vertical mouse movement, I don't find a mouse comfortable in a game that doesn't let you look up and down.  This is how I map my keyboard if you're curious.

 

W = Move forward

S = Move backward

A = Turn left

D = Turn right

Numpad 7 = Strafe left

Numpad 9 = Strafe right

Numpad 8 = Fire

Numpad + = Speed on

Alt = Strafe on (never used)

Spacebar = Use/open

 

I find this layout very comfortable which is great because I still suffer a little from repetitive strain injury (or carpal tunnel, but I was never officially diagnosed by the doctor who recommended taking Advil for this :D).  This started ten months ago and I had to stop playing games for two months because of this.  I'm much better now, but I still have to be careful.  Also, I don't think this wireless USB keyboard from Logitech is good enough for DOOM XD.  I think there was extra lag due to me recording the gameplay (my modern PC is very basic because I'm no modern gamer), but I only need to use this keyboard for testing my maps before copying them to my DOS PC which has a very nice PS/2 keyboard :)

 

 

 

(I'm posting these on a channel that YouTube recognizes as the official channel of a musician XD)

Edited August 25, 2020 by DCG Retrowave

[DCG Retrowave]

Here are the other two walkthroughs

 

 

 

I find it amusing that the video of MAP27 was copyright claimed for using my own MIDI cover of "Senbonzakura", but MAP31 hasn't been claimed for using a custom MIDI of my song, "New Start".  Apparently a MIDI of my own MIDI isn't close enough to be detected XD.

[Egg Boy]

I've played map01 as well as map08 and here's my 2 cents. I like it. It actually really reminds me of TNT Evilution. Its got this extremely classic feel, down to map01 feeling like a "myhouse.wad." I feel that the gameplay may be polarizing as its not really built around encounters at all, you sort of open a door and kill everything in the room, and then you're done, again, something classic wads were more keen to do than modern offerings. It really does feel like I'm playing something straight out of the 90s, the highlight for me was finding the yellow key in map02. Really... er.... interesting. Creative stuff for sure, but I don't really think the gameplay is as tight as it could be, I really didn't care for the archviles guarding the red key, there were a bit too many of them and it felt grindy rather than difficulty since they're stuck in one place and the player has easily accessible cover nearby. I'll have to get to the rest of the maps sometime soon, because despite some of the gameplay's shortcomings, this wad was quite fun.

[DCG Retrowave]

9 hours ago, Egg Boy said:

I've played map01 as well as map08 and here's my 2 cents. I like it. It actually really reminds me of TNT Evilution. Its got this extremely classic feel, down to map01 feeling like a "myhouse.wad." I feel that the gameplay may be polarizing as its not really built around encounters at all, you sort of open a door and kill everything in the room, and then you're done, again, something classic wads were more keen to do than modern offerings. It really does feel like I'm playing something straight out of the 90s, the highlight for me was finding the yellow key in map02. Really... er.... interesting. Creative stuff for sure, but I don't really think the gameplay is as tight as it could be, I really didn't care for the archviles guarding the red key, there were a bit too many of them and it felt grindy rather than difficulty since they're stuck in one place and the player has easily accessible cover nearby. I'll have to get to the rest of the maps sometime soon, because despite some of the gameplay's shortcomings, this wad was quite fun.

I guess TNT influenced me more than I realized :D.  I know lots of players don't care for half of TNT's maps, but I personally enjoyed most of them.  I don't hate any of them, but I definitely prefer some over others.

 

MAP01 is kind of like a Wolfenstein 3D map in terms of enemy encounters.  I think for a starting map this works pretty well and it gives the player a chance to get used to the common enemy types, navigating small areas, and dodging attacks.  Yes, I know most people on this forum have mastered those basic concepts, but I wanted this to feel similar to a commercial IWAD like the original DOOM where the first time player needs some time to learn the basics :)

 

As for MAP08, is the excessive amount of Archviles in that room the main issue you had with it?  I've thought about taking three out of there since, like you said, you'll be taking cover once it's time to kill them.  I definitely want a few to teleport in, but the main challenge with those Archviles is running past them to reach the second floor.  If I do remove some, I might take out a few rockets so the player will still need to ammo manage :D

 

I plan on releasing an updated demo containing a few improvements, mainly for MAP19 which was way too difficult to achieve 100% kills.  I should have it up by the end of the day or sometime tomorrow if you'd like to wait for that :)

 

Thanks for the feedback!  I'm glad you enjoyed the first two maps and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the remaining three.

[DCG Retrowave]

 

I like them :D

 

This is a silly video I made today.  The map is MAP21 from the upcoming full release of DOOM 87.  Get ready for these funny Pain Elementals to be unleashed!

 

Also, an updated D87DEMO.WAD will be uploaded by tomorrow evening.  All I need to do is record new demos on DOS because the slight changes cause the old demos to desync.  I might have it ready in a few hours, but if not, I'll have it ready tomorrow.

[DCG Retrowave]

More videos featuring maps and MIDI music from the upcoming full release!

 

 

MAP02: Surf Demons

 

 

MAP15: Hall of Memes

 

I'm currently uploading both old (never released MIDIs from before I started composing original songs) and new MIDI covers of mine to my artist channel and since most of them will be featured in DOOM 87, I'm using footage of upcoming maps for the videos.

 

Also, for all of you retro PC gamers, here is my Roland Sound Canvas SC-88, DOS gaming PC, and guinea pig :D

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by DCG Retrowave

[CBM]

this brings back memories...

I am going to assemble my old XT DOS machine again with EGA graphics. I have a very nice Phillips EGA monitor.

Then I can play my collection of ancient EGA compatible games.

 

btw my favorite is house of doom... somehow reminds me of the house from fallout 4

Edited August 30, 2020 by CBM

[DCG Retrowave]

18 hours ago, CBM said:

this brings back memories...

I am going to assemble my old XT DOS machine again with EGA graphics. I have a very nice Phillips EGA monitor.

Then I can play my collection of ancient EGA compatible games.

 

btw my favorite is house of doom... somehow reminds me of the house from fallout 4

Nice!  I hope to get an 80's DOS PC with EGA graphics someday for running much older software and games.

 

Also, I guess that means my real life house reminds you of the house from Fallout 4 :D

[DCG Retrowave]

The updated demo release is here!  Check the README.TXT for information regarding any changes (very minor changes, but they will improve the gameplay for the three maps they apply to).  This updated file is now attached to the original post as well. 

D87DEMO.zip

[DCG Retrowave]

I just realized that lower unpegged doortracks function differently than I thought.  Since I was making walls normal sectors with floor and ceiling heights until recently (I thought this was a better way to make walls at first :D), lower unpegged doortracks will move as the door opens and closes due to this.  @Zolgia108had mentioned that I should always remember to unpeg them and this confused me because technically I was doing that.  However, the way I designed walls in my earlier maps caused doortracks to move as if they weren't set as unpegged.  Thing is, I thought the movement for the doortracks was correct behavior and honestly, this vertical sliding looks better to me :D.  Now that I'm designing walls more efficiently (maxseg and visplane limits thank me for this change :D), I saw no movement on doortracks.  I plan to optimize my earlier maps for the final release by deleting unnecessary sectors, but I still think the sliding doortracks look cool.  What do you guys think?  Should I let them slide or not? :D

[Doomkid]

Just played through the demo version from about a week ago, spent 10 minutes all up just wandering around and adoring all the details in Map01. I have to say, this is one of the best myhouse.wad-style maps I've ever seen, especially for vanilla. The texturing is all really nice and it just generally has me looking forward to the final product!

 

With your permission of course, once this is 100% finalized and you're all done with it, I'd love to assimilate it into my collective vanilla wad pack:

 

[Zolgia108]

 

 

7 hours ago, DCG Retrowave said:

I just realized that lower unpegged doortracks function differently than I thought.  Since I was making walls normal sectors with floor and ceiling heights until recently (I thought this was a better way to make walls at first :D), lower unpegged doortracks will move as the door opens and closes due to this.  @Zolgia108had mentioned that I should always remember to unpeg them and this confused me because technically I was doing that.  However, the way I designed walls in my earlier maps caused doortracks to move as if they weren't set as unpegged.  Thing is, I thought the movement for the doortracks was correct behavior and honestly, this vertical sliding looks better to me :D.  Now that I'm designing walls more efficiently (maxseg and visplane limits thank me for this change :D), I saw no movement on doortracks.  I plan to optimize my earlier maps for the final release by deleting unnecessary sectors, but I still think the sliding doortracks look cool.  What do you guys think?  Should I let them slide or not? :D

 

 i just played map 27 and 31, i liked them, video is uploading (this time for real) so you will see some gameplay. In general i pretty much enjoyed the maps and their creativity, i didn't enjoy some of the archviles and the middle elevator in map 28, but still i had a lot of fun as you will hear in the video itself. I've also expressed my "opinion" in the lower unpegged doortraks, that i can summarize in a "i don't really give a shit".

 

Love the vibe, please go on with this :)

Edited September 1, 2020 by Zolgia108

[Zolgia108]

 

youube said some countries block this video because of the music, don't know why, let me know if you can see it @DCG Retrowave