[Release] Halls of The Goat Child (GZDoom port now available)

[Remilia Scarlet]

Quick Overview:

• Singleplayer only.  Designed with UV in mind, but the other difficulties are (somewhat) tested.
• There are two versions.  The original requires Doomsday Engine.  It should run with any 2.x version, and was tested both with v2.2.2 and the latest development code.  Get it here.  There is also a GZDoom Edition that requires any recent version of GZDoom (tested with v4.2.2).
• This uses Doom2.wad for the IWAD
• This requires OTEX v1.1 (not included).  Download the WAD file here.
• Mouselook is suggested.  No jumping or crouching allowed, including rocket jumps.
• README File (alternate README for GZDoom Edition)

 

Halls of The Goat Child is a semi-speedmap that I started on a whim.  I was needing a break from Quake mapping, but didn't want to do anything too elaborate.  It's been ages since I've done a Doom map in vanilla format, and so I decided it was a good time to scratch that itch.  For added fun/nostalgia, and to remove some of vanilla Doom's stricter limitations (I didn't want to go that vanilla), I decided to do it for Doomsday, an engine I have a soft-spot for.

 

A few days later, I ported it to GZDoom so more people could play it.  Unfortunately, the GZDoom version looses some of the visual fidelity and general feel of the map.  Thus I highly recommend using the Doomsday version whenever possible.  Otherwise the layout/enemies/etc. are identical.  This level is NOT meant to be used with any other mods.  Keep that in mind.

 

Unlike my usual maps, this one is short and sweet, taking me about 12 minutes to complete on UV.  It gets to the point and doesn't do anything too elaborate.  All in all it took about 22 hours spread out over five days to build, which for me is an incredibly short amount of time.

 

Known bugs (Doomsday version): there's some known slowdown in a few areas.  Turning off ambient occlusion ("rend-fakeradio 0" in the console) seems to help a bit.  One or two switches also don't make a sound, which has something to do with the XG line type that I couldn't figure out.

 

Known bugs (GZDoom version): the lighting in GZDoom tends to be a lot flatter/blander.  There was only so much I could do without having to redo all the lighting from scratch.

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

If you've never used Doomsday before, drop goatchild.pk3 and otex_1.1.wad into whatever directory you tell Doomsday to search for data files in.  Then when you select the game in the launcher screen, there will be a small box icon next to the play button.  Click that, search for the pk3 and OTEX, and click the plus icon to add them.  Then click play.

Alternatively, if you're a command line junkie like I am, just do this:

Quote

doomsday -game doom2 -file path/to/otex_1.1.wad -file path/to/goatchild.pk3

 

For the GZDoom version, just load the pk3, OTEX v1.1, and lights.pk3 however you normally do.

 

Downloads:

Doomsday version: https://mega.nz/folder/MxMWDRIB#QOPIuiYqcRSnzNvAaqPCPw/file/MpUi0B5Z

GZDoom version: https://mega.nz/folder/MxMWDRIB#QOPIuiYqcRSnzNvAaqPCPw/file/9gFkCLiS

Edited February 13, 2024 by Remilia Scarlet
v1.1

[Walter confetti]

Doomsday? In 2020? Well, this looks pretty random for a source port choice...

 

Anyway, the map from the shots looks really good!

[leodoom85]

@Walter confettiDoomsday Engine is still alive, believe it or not. Same goes with Doom Legacy (which it has version 1.48).

Edited November 13, 2020 by leodoom85

[Walter confetti]

I knew about Legacy, not much about Doomsday. There's also EDGE that are on the road again thanks to @Lobo and his MEGA project...

[Remilia Scarlet]

5 hours ago, Walter confetti said:

Doomsday? In 2020? Well, this looks pretty random for a source port choice...

 

Anyway, the map from the shots looks really good!

Yeah it still gets updates. I also have a soft spot for it since I used it for a long time, and mapped for it before GZDoom.

[Doomenator]

I started my acquaintance with Doom modding and making my own HD Texture Pack under the Doomsday, before switching to Zandronum and GZdoom. Doomsday a quite good engine.

[Remilia Scarlet]

My own playthrough of this if anyone is interested ^,_,^

 

[Matias]

I always find it really cool when people make wads specifically for less popular engines

[Lampenpam]

The music didn't work for me. First time using Doomsday Engine, is there something I have to do to get it working? It would have made the atmosphere a lot better :/ 

[Foodles]

Is Doomsday the one where everything is in 3D, also known as JDoom? Or are those two separate entities?

[Gez]

Doomsday is the merging of the various "jPorts" (jHexen, jDoom, jHeretic).

 

Things are only in 3D if you use the resource pack it's shipped with, but you don't have to.

 

@Remilia Scarlet: There's a typo in the victory text, "whipsers" in the first line instead of "whispers".

Edited November 15, 2020 by Gez

[Remilia Scarlet]

5 hours ago, Lampenpam said:

The music didn't work for me. First time using Doomsday Engine, is there something I have to do to get it working? It would have made the atmosphere a lot better :/ 

There shouldn't be, no.  It should just work.  You'd have to check on the Doomsday Forums if the music isn't working for you.
 

5 hours ago, Gez said:

There's a typo in the victory text, "whipsers" in the first line instead of "whispers".

Derp, and here I thought I had caught all of those XD  Note to self: enable flyspell mode in Emacs next time.

 

5 hours ago, Foodles said:

Is Doomsday the one where everything is in 3D, also known as JDoom? Or are those two separate entities?

I actually forget that 3d pack even exists lol.  It's something I never use (as you can tell from my video). 

Edited November 15, 2020 by Remilia Scarlet

[Remilia Scarlet]

UPDATE

 

I've ported the level to GZDoom so that more people could play it.  This level is NOT meant to be used with any other mods.  Keep that in mind.

 

Some of the visual fidelity was lost during the conversion.  This is just due to how different Doomsday is from GZDoom.  The story text is the same, but is also presented differently due the lack of InFine support in GZDoom for the debriefing/story scripts.

 

So yeah, the content is all there, it'll just look blander and flatter.  I highly suggest using the Doomsday version instead whenever possible ^,_,^

[Gaia74]

i really enjoyed this short but fun map with the shadows of the nightmare realm vibe, excellent map!

[plums]

Started to play this in Doomsday but it felt way too floaty for me, no matter what settings I adjusted. Going to give it another shot in GZDoom. Too bad, the lighting and atmosphere look great in Doomsday, maybe I'll give it another pass with -nomonsters after. Anyhow the early berserk secret trapped me in in Doomsday after the secret door closed. In GZDoom the door stays open.

[MFG38]

Played through the GZDoom version on HNTR, here's a quick review.

 

The map's atmosphere was a definite highlight. The visuals, music and subtle fog really came together here and blended into something I can only describe as delightfully dark. (It almost reminded me of PSX Doom, now that I think about it.) I wouldn't say the visuals were bland to any extent either. Gameplay was overall fun, if a little on the easy side, but that's by no means a complaint - and the Cyberdemon battle right before the exit was surprisingly tense. If I had to name something negative about the map, the length would be the only thing to pop up in my mind, but even then, I do like the "short and sweet" approach here as opposed to your previous works. It's definitely a change of pace, but I for one have next to no complaints about it. c:

 

I'm sort of tempted to give this a re-run on HMP. Might even record a playthrough of my own - it's been ages since I did one.

[Remilia Scarlet]

1 hour ago, plums said:

Anyhow the early berserk secret trapped me in in Doomsday after the secret door closed. In GZDoom the door stays open.

It's technically a platform... I probably forgot to add a special to the other side :-P  I'll put out a v1.1 this week sometime.  There's a pool of lava that should hurt you as well that doesn't in the Doomsday version, which is due to a missing sector effect.  Derp.

 

18 minutes ago, MFG38 said:

I'm sort of tempted to give this a re-run on HMP.

Definitely give it a try.  It's really not meant to be long at all, just barely long enough... when done on UV.  On the lower difficulties it can go by a bit quick.

[Biodegradable]

I played the GZDoom version. Thank you for making a version for it by the way, Rem, as I was quite eager to play it. Onto the actual map, I loved it! It's challenging, but it's not really brutally unfair. It'll give you a good kicking, but leave enough wiggle room for you to see that it can be overcome. That's the kind of difficulty I can certainly appreciate, especially as a Doom fledgling. I really loved the atmosphere and texture work, the combat was tough-as-nails thanks to the somewhat cramped spaces but still very fluid thanks to the right amount of spacing. Progression was clear, traps were nasty, lighting on point, ambient music appropriately creepy, just one big lovely package. I thoroughly enjoyed traipsing through this dark, satanic castle. :^)

 

 

[Pirx]

1 hour ago, Biodegradable said:

I played the GZDoom version. Thank you for making a version for it by the way, Rem, as I was quite eager to play it. Onto the actual map, I loved it! It's challenging, but it's not really brutally unfair. It'll give you a good kicking, but leave enough wiggle room for you to see that it can be overcome. That's the kind of difficulty I can certainly appreciate, especially as a Doom fledgling. I really loved the atmosphere and texture work, the combat was tough-as-nails thanks to the somewhat cramped spaces but still very fluid thanks to the right amount of spacing. Progression was clear, traps were nasty, lighting on point, ambient music appropriately creepy, just one big lovely package. I thoroughly enjoyed traipsing through this dark, satanic castle. :^)

 

 

 

 

watching your demo at work, on the phone  ;)

 

the map looks gorgeous. are the weapons included or are you using a mod?

[Biodegradable]

3 minutes ago, Pirx said:

are the weapons included or are you using a mod?

 

Yeah, it's another weapons-based mod from my growing collection: Enhanced Vanilla Project. It's a new favourite of mine :^)

Edited November 17, 2020 by Biodegradable

[Pirx]

5 minutes ago, Biodegradable said:

 

Yeah, it's another weapons-based mod from my growing collection: Enhanced Vanilla Project. It's a new favourite of mine :^)

 

thx i'll check it out. and both map versions. haven't used doomsday in a while because gzdoom plays pretty much everything, but dd looks beautiful indeed.

[Remilia Scarlet]

Updated the Doomsday version to v1.1.  This fixes getting stuck in the berserk secret, and fixes a sector that was meant to hurt the player, but wasn't set to do so.

The GZDoom has NOT changed.

[plums]

Just played through it twice, first with GZDoom and then with Doomsday. The DD version definitely had better lighting, but GZDoom isn't *that* much worse if you turn on dynamic lights and bloom. And given how much worse Doomsday feels to me -- I think I spent longer playing with options trying to improve the feel than I did playing the map -- I can't really recommend that people go out of their way to play the Doomsday version if they don't already have it installed, unless they're feeling especially inclined to preserve authorial intent.

 

The GZDoom version doesn't mark any secrets as being secret.

 

As for the map itself, it was really good. I got kind of a Quake feel from it but also something of a Quake-3 vibe, especially with the interconnectedness of everything, which gave it a kind of DM-map feel even though it's a SP map. The atmosphere was top-notch, the music track worked really well, and the level design was great. I played on UV and didn't think it was very hard, the only time I came close to dying was after I fell in some lava by accident on the first playthrough, but I don't think that's necessarily a problem. If you did want to make it harder, it would be pretty easy to do by locking in the player for some of the ambushes, but it plays fine as-is and the focus is more on atmosphere anyhow. The big boy at the end gave me a surprise, but you made it easy to fight with the ledge around the corner (intentionally I assume). Cool stuff, great work.

[Clippy]

I gave this a try and I had a good time and I like the look of this map. unfortunately I did get lost & confused a bit as this was my very first attempt so now that I know what's going on I could have done it much faster but here it is anyway haha

 

 

 

[MFG38]

So I gave this another spin on HMP and just uploaded a video I recorded of the playthrough.

 

 

I've already given my thoughts on the map, though, so just enjoy the video. :P

[Caleb13]

Speaking of secrets, none of them has properly marked sector in GZdoom version, so it incorrectly reports the map has 0 secrets. In any case, I'm looking forward to any possible sequel/expansion to this.

[adamastor]

Another great map Miss Scarlet.

 

Thank you for all the eldritch awesomness you conjure up.

[Sigh Man Vanz]

Wow, can't believe this is a map that you just made on a semi-whim! It's probably one of the most immersive maps I've ever played -- I really felt like I was *in* that temple! Fantastic stuff, thank you for making it.

[Sigh Man Vanz]

On 11/15/2020 at 10:26 AM, Lampenpam said:

The music didn't work for me. First time using Doomsday Engine, is there something I have to do to get it working? It would have made the atmosphere a lot better :/ 

 

I know you posted this ages ago, but I had the same problem initially and fixed it this way: after opening Doomsday, open the task bar, click on settings (the gear icon), click "audio", click "music plugin", and change it to whatever works (for me it was "FMOD"). The normal music in Doom didn't work after that, but the added music for this wad did. (It's definitely worth it). Once you're done, just remember to change the music plugin back to the default setting.