No More Demons - Slaughterwad in tight corridors (MAP02 now in development!)

[NieMaMordy]

Hi!
I felt nostalgic recently, and decided to create a new hub based map. My main goal was to create a map that not only looks good, but is also challenging.

The title of the WAD is inspired by the game 'No More Heroes', that I recently played for the first time. Custom TITLEPIC I drew is also based on the cover of that game. 
You can check it here. It isn't anything special, but I consider it to be good enough: 

Spoiler

Map itself is short. It takes me about 6 minutes to finish it. I designed it to be very hard for me, so whether you enjoy the map or not depends on your own skills. I made sure that all encounters, with exception of the first one, can be dealt with in two ways. Difficulty should get slightly higher with each encounter. The thing I am most proud of is lighting and texture placement. 

Here are the screenshots of the map:

Spoiler

I used custom status bar, which is a modified version of the one I created for the WAD we worked on with AnonimVio in the past.
Custom pickup sound is used. It is a slightly modified version of the one used in the old DOS game called 'Abuse'.

Custom music is also used.
Titlepic music is cut midi, called 'Like a fighting whirlwind' from the PS2 game 'Only you RE Cross'. I don't know the author of that one.
Stage 1 music is Castle theme from 'Shadow of the beast', sequenced by Lucas Charles Amery.
Stage 2 music is Io theme from 'Rance IV'
Intermission music is called 'My Glorious Days', taken directly from files of PC-98 game - 'Rance III: Leazas Kanraku'

Let me know if you like my new style. I hope you have fun playing it.

This WAD requires Limit Removing port. I tested it on Doom Retro, Crispy Doom and Unity port. It does not support COOP or DM. Difficulty levels are supported by MAP01. Please attach currently used version of the wad, when you upload your demo, as it is constantly updated!

MAP02 is now in progress! Download the newest version, and give it a try!

You can download the newest version here:
NMD02.1.zip

(Old versions below)
NMD02.zip
NMD.zip
NMD1finalmaybe.zip
NMDv1.4.zip
NMDv1.3.zip
NMDv1.2.zip
NMDv1.1.zip
NMDv1.0.zip

Edited August 26, 2021 by NieMaMordy
New map is now WIP!

[Pseudonaut]

Played in PrBoom+, recorded a UV-Max demo in 3:06. I was thinking of doing a Tyson run at first, but I gave up after a few deaths. After seeing the ending, it's clear that I made the right decision. I didn't realize there was a secret until everything was dead, so some time was spent searching for it. I tend to like maps with cramped berserk-oriented combat like this, and this one is pretty fun.

 

nmd-306.zip

[tealdude]

Very good map! I love the marble with heavy bordering with brown metal, and the texture alignment to turn SUPPORT3 into a brown metal border is very nice looking. 

[Biodegradable]

Tough and interesting little map that creamed me a good few times hehe I like it.

 

 

[NieMaMordy]

@Pseudonaut A few minutes after my original post, I updated the wad in the topic due to some last minute fixes. Because of that, your demo gets desynchronized after the second encounter. Can you attach the version you used to your original post? I already deleted it, but I'd love to watch your playthrough!

@tealdude I am a huge fan of metal and marble mix! It gives me a lot of opportunity to use fancy lighting. Also, I originally used SUPPORT3 because I couldn't find anything better. Turns out it was a right decision, and I will certainly use it in the future.

@Biodegradable Thanks a lot for the video! It made my morning a bit more interesting. Glad you enjoyed the map! 
 

Edited December 20, 2020 by NieMaMordy

[Pseudonaut]

7 hours ago, NieMaMordy said:

@Pseudonaut A few minutes after my original post, I updated the wad in the topic due to some last minute fixes. Because of that, your demo gets desynchronized after the second encounter. Can you attach the version you used to your original post? I already deleted it, but I'd love to watch your playthrough!

 

I'll attach it here:

NMD-old.zip

[SuperCupcakeTactics]

Nice TITLEPIC and the maps look good too :)

[NieMaMordy]

I uploaded a new version of the wad. I added one more encounter, and revamped the previous last one. I will update the first map further later.

[NieMaMordy]

I uploaded new version of the wad. It includes a new version of previous final fight, and adds a brand new area outside! I also changed the level music to one composed by me. Have tons of fun and let me know if you like it so far :D

[NieMaMordy]

New version uploaded. I gave the player more room to move in the final fight. I also fixed some minor issues :D

[Biodegradable]

I liked the original version better. It has tough stakes, but still felt beatable. The new version just feels ludicrously unfair and mean-spirited to me.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Biodegradable

[Pseudonaut]

Played the new version with saves first, then recorded this. I made some silly mistakes (most notably at the end) but still survived. I think this was attempt 3 or 4. Like before, I think it's a pretty fun map, and I enjoyed the new fights as well. The last fight stands out, and will probably be the most problematic fight for those who haven't had much exposure to slaughter.

 

nmd-518.zip

 

 

 

[NieMaMordy]

@Biodegradable
I am planning on adding the difficulty levels when I finish the map. I know it is very hard and unforgiving right now, but recently I've started to love maps with high difficulty like this. Note, that I made each fight start after pressing a switch, so the player can prepare for it and/or save, though I always manage to beat my map without saving or picking up the secrets, just to make sure that unfamiliar players can still beat it. 
 

@Pseudonaut
I really appreciate the video, as it helps me to see how much health and ammo you have at certain parts. Do you think that there is something I should change in the final fight, or should it stay as it is right now? I already moved the rockets in front of the switch, instead of on its sides, so it's more clear that Player should switch to the rocket launcher. I think moving the soulsphere to the final location might also make sense. What do you think? 

BTW, what happened to this revenant rocket in 1:50?  

Edited February 14, 2021 by NieMaMordy
pseudonaut mention

[BoxY]

Since Pseudonaut made this look so fun (it was) here's a max for v1.3 in 4:49: nmd-449.lmp 1st exit, 8th attempt.

 

A good time is easily under 4 minutes just by being aggressive with zerk at the start, shit like chaingunning the revenants is slow and pointless and I only did it because I'm a wimp. I also got some bad zerk RNG where like 4 imps in a row took 2 punches, but oh well. I also wasted at least 10 seconds trying to remember where the progression and the 2nd secret was.

 

As for what I think of the map itself I really liked it, it's tight and focused and a great use of a very small and simple area. I think the only thing I don't like balance wise is that the health is really loaded into the end part of the map even though the tough fights with hard to avoid damage are all at the start, especially those pinkies chomping down on my ass that were always doing 32 or 40 damage rolls each and leaving me with low health for the next 4 fights. I would also have liked just maybe 8-12 extra shells to clean up stray enemies, like for example if the pain elemental leaves 3 lost souls when it dies. However it's clearly possible to survive all the fights even if the worst happens so I can't complain too much about the resources. I certainly wouldn't call the map unfair or mean or whatever.

[NieMaMordy]

I uploaded version 1.4 
It includes a brand new well arena that the Player has to finish before entering the last revenant fight. I changed the placement of later health items and added one green armor at the end, so the revenant fight is a bit more forgiving, but I also removed an accidental invisible monster wall, so you have to be more aggressive in this fight now. The Player should not be showered with health at the end now though. I noticed that most of you guys decided to use SSG against the Hell Knights and first three Revenants, so I added 8 more shotgun shells to the Hell Knight room, so it's easier to win using just this weapon. The map is very close to it's final release, where I add difficulty levels. If I don't loose my interest in mapping, I might create map02.

Here is a new set of screenshots, for those who do not follow the topic:

Spoiler

 

Edited February 14, 2021 by NieMaMordy

[Pseudonaut]

8 hours ago, NieMaMordy said:

What do you think? 

BTW, what happened to this revenant rocket in 1:50?  

 

I don't have much of an opinion of the position of the soul sphere. Haven't played the new version yet, but I expected that removing the monster blocking line would be a big difficulty increase.

 

Regarding the disappearing projectile, I've seen this happen on other maps before (like Hell Revealed map32) with complevel 2. I always assumed it was related to some vanilla mapping trickery, but I don't actually make maps, so I don't know.

[NieMaMordy]

I uploaded the final version of the map. Unless there will be something important to change, I won't be extending the map any further, and will move on to work on the next ones.
 
I added Difficulty levels! The easiest skills often use lower tier enemies and more pickups, while the medium skill mostly includes less enemies of the same tier, or more pickups.

I also fixed some minor errors, like the how easy it was to cheese the last revenant fight by hiding behind the pillar. While I added the invisible wall back, it is now closer to the player, and I added more pillars, so you cannot shoot from the safe distance so easily. Some pickups have also been altered.

One minor thing, that does not make that big of a difference is removal of death exit, as it didn't work in crispy doom for some reason.

I am thinking about sending this map for Plutonia revisited 2 community project. What do you guys think? Would it fit, or is the style too different?

[BoxY]

Here's a messy max of the final version: nmdf-455.lmp

I almost didn't record this because I thought at first that the last two fights were just too hard for me to do without saves, but I did some practice and found some semi-consistent ways to do them so they weren't that bad in the end. It ended up being a fun map if a bit stressful.

 

Oh and a funny bug report, you can line skip the exit by strafe running and get softlocked in the sky:

 

 

Needs blocking linedefs or extra exit lines. :p

 

I didn't mention this before but it's also easily possible to cause the all-ghosts bug in the central area, I got it twice during the zombiemen+revs fight, possibly because a chaingun tracer was going over all the corpses, dropped ammo, and candles. I think removing some candles would make it less likely since that way one tracer can't go across a whole line of them.

 

As for whether it could go in PRCP3 I'm not sure, it doesn't have a very Plutonia feeling to me, mostly because of the style of fights and the texture theme, but I could say the same thing about most of the maps people made for PRCPs so it's up to you.

[NieMaMordy]

I am now working on MAP02! Currently, it contains the starting area and a few fights. In the next version, it will include the outdoor area. Give it a try, if you liked the first map!

[CHAINMAIL]

Took me 5 or 6 tries but I finally beat it in 5:25! Had a really fun time with this little map. The detailing of the design in such a small area is executed well. Good job on the custom music too! Will be looking forward to MAP02.

[NieMaMordy]

I gave Map 02 some visual polish, changed the sky, music and overhauled the fights, to be more approachable. Give it a try!