Criticality [/idgames]

[Scotty]

Large single Boom map made using OTEX and featuring a slightly modified version of the awesome Wormwood palette.

 

*IMPORTANT NOTE*

This map is designed to take advantage of software rendering quirks. It is absolutely not designed for GL/hardware rendered graphics. For this reason I recommend playing in PRBoom+ or zDoom 2.8.1. If you play in GZDoom I strongly suggest selecting "Doom Software Renderer" as the Render Mode.

 

Screenshots:

 

Spoiler

(taken in zDoom 2.8.1)

 

Difficulty settings are implemented. UV is mostly intended for those who know the map already. HMP is not far from UV, with only minor alterations to take the very harshest edges off the difficulty and make it easier for blind play. HNTR is significantly more casual, while still retaining the slaughtery spirit of a lot of the combat. All difficulty settings are subject to tweaks based on whatever extra feedback is received.

 

Known bugs, all will be fixed in the next build:

- none so far!

 

Full credits in text file. Textures are included in the wad file.

 

IDGAMES LINK

Edited July 8, 2021 by Scotty

[Yumheart]

I haven't beaten it yet, but it's fun and very pretty.

[WH-Wilou84]

Looks right up my alley, I'll make sure to try this one.

[tourniquet]

crit_FDA-TNq.zip DNF on HMP. Gave up on the Vile barrage fight, couldn't find a solid strat to beat it, seemed like RNG-fest to me.

 

I liked the whole 'meant for software mode' premise & i'm glad the map ran mostly fluid on my stubborn old Computer. Lot's of cool fights and setups, certainly there are a couple of neat secret encounters i've missed, gotta make sure to watch someone play this on UV. RK fight is pretty tame/cheesable if you stick in the corner with the 2 perched viles. Visuals are exquisite, overall really good stuff.

[Stabbey]

I'm not a fan of slaughter maps, especially ones which people are calling "difficult", so I played on HNTR.

 

- I do appreciate that you're often given time to decide your approach and target priority instead of being surprised all the time.

- Was I supposed to have found a yellow or blue keycard at some point? Because I did not, and I gave up looking. 277 kills, 40 minutes, 4 secrets discovered, 3 claimed.

[Scotty]

1 hour ago, tourniquet said:

crit_FDA-TNq.zip DNF on HMP. Gave up on the Vile barrage fight, couldn't find a solid strat to beat it, seemed like RNG-fest to me.

 

I liked the whole 'meant for software mode' premise & i'm glad the map ran mostly fluid on my stubborn old Computer. Lot's of cool fights and setups, certainly there are a couple of neat secret encounters i've missed, gotta make sure to watch someone play this on UV. RK fight is pretty tame/cheesable if you stick in the corner with the 2 perched viles. Visuals are exquisite, overall really good stuff.

 

Aw man:

 

Spoiler

There is a green skull switch in the vile fight that temporarily hides them via a lift setup. I guess i should try and signpost that better.

 

3 minutes ago, Stabbey said:

I'm not a fan of slaughter maps, especially ones which people are calling "difficult", so I played on HNTR.

 

- I do appreciate that you're often given time to decide your approach and target priority instead of being surprised all the time.

- Was I supposed to have found a yellow or blue keycard at some point? Because I did not, and I gave up looking. 277 kills, 40 minutes, 4 secrets discovered, 3 claimed.

 

There are a couple of routes through the map, including the two main compulsory routes which grant you the red and yellow keys. I was trying to have the map be somewhat non linear/open ended to encourage/give the feeling of exploration. I guess i should highlight the yellow key path better (both key routes start at the beginning of the map).

[Stabbey]

I did see a route split, the stairs past the backpack, and the stairs down to a suspicious switch. I chose the switch route, which got me the red key after a little bit and following that one eventually led me back to the backpack stairs to the "Any Key" switch, but I didn't find any Yellow Key, and I spent many minutes going back around to look. Are you sure it was placed on all difficulty levels?

 

- Also, there are a couple inescapable nukage pits. I'm not a fan of that. Taking damage from nukage for failing to control your movement is fine, I think a way out should be provided.

Edited September 2, 2020 by Stabbey

[Bridgeburner56]

Played this map last night. Very high quality work and a lovely tight balance on UV.

Highly recommended

[tchkb]

Proof-of-concept HNTR-Max route (using a lot of recordfromto). Misses 3 random imps: thing 1615, thing 1979 and one from sector 1051 that teleported very late. I'll definitely do a proper HNTR speedrun once the final version comes out.

I think Thing 993 Cyberdemon is too noob-unfriendly - he has a very high chance to catch a blind player by surprise and blow him up immediately after teleporting.

On the flipside, the player gets a crapton of cells from Thing 131 BFG pickup onward and not much to use them on, so I'd personally prefer a bit more meat in later parts. A few examples I can immediately think of that shouldn't increase the difficulty too much: restored sector 1051/1052 Arachnotrons, restored sector 2279/2280 Cacodemons (from the closets that teleport to these sectors), a beefier sector 981 opposition (but small enough that you're more or less guaranteed to keep a healthy amount of cells for the final fight) and a beefy horde to replace the final zombiemen so you can put those 11 cellpacks at the end to use.

Speaking of the ending, I don't know how it works on HMP/UV since I haven't tried it yet, but I've noticed that it takes those warped-out revs a while to get crushed. Unless that crushing time can get significantly shortened somehow, that's yet another reason to put a meatier army guarding the exit so the maxers don't have to wait aimlessly in front of the exit while the crushers are still trying to do their job.

Also, Thing 3508 and 3511 HNTR-exclusive Imps are stuck on top of each other.

criticalityBETA1-skill2test.zip

Edited September 3, 2020 by tchkb

[Kachakeño]

I've tested on LZDoom 3.86a. It runs very fine even with hardware renderer. The only problem is compatibility and performance with gameplay mods like EOA, PB and ZRift (unlike SmoothDoom); they also affect monsters' position. 

[tchkb]

Another problem I've noticed during UV playthrough - one of Arachnotrons from eastern optional fight teleported into Sector 508 and got permanently stuck there. I don't know if he got stuck there while infighting something or if that destination area is simply not wide enough for arachs.

[WH-Wilou84]

I've played the map on UV with saves.
Gameplay is excellent, the map is really tough and features a lot of neatly designed encounters. The map opens itself up the more you progress, with plenty of interconnexion and pathways to already-visited areas. That's pretty cool.

I liked the multiple options you're given at the beginning, essentially choosing a weapon for a good third of the map (either Plasma Gun or Rocket Launcher). It kinda reminded me of early Ribbiks works (Stardate 20X6 map 06 for instance).

Got stuck at some point in a secret area with non-damaging blood pools on the sides and I couldn't escape.
I see this has already been reported. :)

Visually, this map has a strong industrial theme reminiscent of Quake II, and an ominous feeling to it. The combination of OTEX and the Wormwood palette makes for an original experience. I really like the emphasis on some of the green colors, turning them fluorescent and always fullbright (pretty neat concept that you'd also find on Doom 4 Vanilla).

A magnificent level, thanks for sharing :)

Edited September 8, 2020 by WH-Wilou84

[koren]

Really cool map, I loved it. It was fun to unravel and was challenging without being overtuned, given the length and design that lends itself towards exploration. For my own tastes, I couldn't detect any serious difficulty spikes or underlying issues. The theming was lovely and the lighting was really impressive, the dark core area in particular was really pretty and visually striking.

 

Critically, I've not much to say beyond echoing the comments that the cyberdemon spawn-ins could be particularly brutal for a blind player, in the BFG arena when they end up surrounded by a sea of spectres and the four vile switch room. The one guarding the switch with the four viles in particular is extremely cruel and very easy to clip on when trying to back off from the switch depending on when they decide to spawn in.

 

Beyond that, there's a few oddities like splash from rockets sometimes waking up & freeing some of the five pain elementals enclosed in that central rectangular divide in the half-circle shaped arena directly after the four vile switch room, with the cyberdemon and mancs, and the previously mentioned trapped arachnotron in the big crescent shaped eastern arena.

 

I recorded a max demo and made a video with some blathering commentary on top if you are interested:

 

 

Edited September 8, 2020 by koren

[Hurricaine Jr.]

Took me a few days of savescumming but a beautiful and really fun map. That last room was brilliant.

[hawkwind]

Visually a very nice map.

 

I noticed two issues, maybe three ...

 

1. T3508 is stuck into T3511.

2. Wrong lower texture on line 12472.

3. Maybe a bug. I cannot see any way of getting to secret sector 2440.

Teleport sector 2820 does have a teleport thing in it, and is tagged 219, which

refers to sky transfer, but there is no teleport line to teleport to sector 2820.

 

UPDATE ...

 

4. I noticed that the walls of lines 1835, 1832 and 1834 scroll when sector 314 opens with gzdoom and Eternity, but not with glboom+.

Edited September 19, 2020 by hawkwind

[Scotty]

Thanks for all the complements, critique, bug reports, demos, streams, etc etc etc, all useful stuff.

 

I am working on a second beta now that will address some common complaints and make some progressional and balance tweaks on all difficulties, so watch out for that in the coming week or so.

[Scotty]

Hello, i am pleased to release version 2 of this map - download here.

 

Substantial gameplay and progressional improvements have been made as well as some changes to secrets. There is a lot more optional content in the map now.

 

I hope the changes are well received - bugs pending this is the version i will probably look to move forward with and fully release.

Edited November 13, 2020 by Scotty

[hawkwind]

Possible bug ... I could not get sector 390 to lower, so could not teleport at line 21235.

Assuming this is a bug,  I then "teleported" to sector 1055 and continued. Then 100% kills -god mode - 100% secrets.

I thought that the floor of sectors 1550, 1448, 3267 and 3375 didn't look right with the flat OSLUDG01.

 

UPDATE -- Lines 5779, 5777, 6674 and 6676 need to be lower unpegged. And ...

lines 1835, 5778 and 6707 need to be upper unpegged.

All this to avoid scrolling textures when the "doors" open.

 

UPDATE 2 ... Sector 390 is bugged. The tag needs to be removed for the teleport sector to be accessed.

And the action on line 20469 should be changed to 23 - floor lower to lowest floor. Just looks better.

 

UPDATE 3 ... The ceilings of sectors 314, 914 and 1040 are not solid when those sectors have risen.

Using sector 314 as an example, you will need a control sector connected to a new sector 314, with a ceiling height of 252, since doors rise to a ceiling height 4 px lower than the real/adjacent ceiling height.

Edited November 19, 2020 by hawkwind

[Scotty]

New version uploaded (see OP), minor bugs posted by Hawkwind should be addressed (i really appreciate the time taken to go into such detail and over issues that are quite difficult to pick up on). I think i will look to /idgames this map this week.

[Scotty]

Version 2b available - last minute minor tweaks, including repositioning of the secret BFG.

[Blip]

All links seem to be dead, is there any other place where I can download it?

[Scotty]

Link fixed.

 

While i am here i should note that i will probably update this map again because apparently i cannot just let it go. However i have no timescale for this due to current disillusionment with the mapping scene.

Edited February 9, 2021 by Scotty

[joshescue18]

The download link is dead.

[Catpho]

Here's a link until Scotty reuploads it (i deleted the .txt sry :P)

criticalityv2notxt.zip

[hawkwind]

here's the txt file ...

criticality_txt.zip

[Scotty]

Hello, version 3 of this wad is available in the first post. I have tuned up all encounters that i felt were lacking plus have changed access to one secret area to try and balance each route of the map in terms of powerful secrets. All changes have been well received by those who played this version. Easy difficulty has also received attention.

 

Unless i hear of any bugs in the near future this is what i will ship off to the archives.

 

n.b. a side effect of this substantial update is that most of the info on the wiki page for this map is now obsolete.