"New year, new URE" - URE:E2 - E2M2 up!

[Zylinderkatze]

Another update?

 

Almost looks like I'm trying to make up for my absence ^^;

 

So instead of risking the "too much level geometry in line of sight" and letting you go through that big door at the end of that road..

 

..I added a little door off to the side (and around the corner from the busy map):

 

^{Aw.. how quaint!}

 

The door on the right is a dummy now. I even have an in-map explanation why.. but that's not directly visible, really. It's more.. implied, once you go further into the area behind the smaller door.

 

I'll see if I can maybe hint at it some more but I doubt I'll make a convincing job of it with the slim margin of DrawSegs left for me to cram in there before it overheats.

 

Maybe the fact that the lights aren't on will have to be enough of a hint that the door isn't going to work.

[Zylinderkatze]

Last update for today!

 

Because it's 11:58pm

 

The path back now "snakes around" to avoid direct sight lines :)

 

^{Also, those two X-ed out doors now never open}

 

This way, I am hiding most of the added complexity from the two existing pieces of map!

 

Now it's time for bed.

 

Goodnight!

Edited November 12, 2023 by Zylinderkatze

[Zylinderkatze]

I'm a WIP.

 

Okay so here's the last two looks at the progress I've made on E2M5. Nearing the end (but there's at least one other part of the map under construction so don't get too excited)

 

^{That switch right there is a very important switch.}

 

Too dark, you say? Well.. uh..

 

Is this better?

 

^{It's a secret passage. I spend too much time on those :D}

 

It's time for bed but now you can see that I'm still busy busy busy!

 

Goodnight for now :)

[Zylinderkatze]

Did some stuff!

 

Nothing to write home about though. Mostly pushing some pixels and realizing I need to make some lines impassible so that you don't weirdly step onto the scenery as you play the map.. and so that enemy bodies don't end up somewhere on an elevated bit, blocking the view.

 

Not that that happened or anything.

 

But yea! Spent about an hour maybe, today. Going back and forth between E2M5 and E2M3. Also added a bit of Doomcute. Because.. well.. I'm me :D

 

Goodnight for now!

[Zylinderkatze]

I'm planning to not "work" on my maps until midnight again today..

 

..it's 10:40pm already, though.. maybe I'll just post some progress and that'll.. somehow trigger my.. reflex to stop for the day?

 

Here's hoping! :D

 

 

So.. remember how I said..

 

On 11/13/2023 at 11:31 PM, Zylinderkatze said:

but there's at least one other part of the map under construction so don't get too excited

 

..take a look at one of those (former) construction zones!

 

^{A lot less progress-y and a lot more progress-ed}

 

And then here's another, basically "upstairs" from the previous image:

 

^{Fancy lampcy}

 

I don't have a "before" for you but believe me, this is better.

 

Also, I suggest that you wonder why that wall in the back is brown instead of green. and then maybe investigate? Yea. 

 

Bring ammo, though! Just sayin'

 

 

And then there's this:

 

^{I shared this before, before the red key card moved in..}

 

The focus is not on the pillar in the front.. or the way the light "plays around it". That part is not new and I'm already satisfied with it.

 

What I instead mean to point out is the utter and blatant disregard for any detailing in the outcrop that the card is in.

 

Because that's not really where it'll go. I think. It's just my "this is the general area it will ebentually be in"-crutch :D

 

...

 

Though.. now that I mentioned it.. I feel an idea coming on.

 

Oh no.

 

...

 

I'm about to go back to editing! AAAAA~

[Zylinderkatze]

Phew.. crisis averted!

 

I managed to quickly whip up something that looks "good enough for now" and will remind me that I want the player to "go around".

 

^{Not through that door you see. There's another one.}

 

So now I get to go to bed before midnight, still!

 

Yay!

[Zylinderkatze]

Hey Doomworld!

 

Remember when I said..

 

21 hours ago, Zylinderkatze said:

"go around"

 

I remember it like it was yesterday.

 

Anyways.

 

This is part of the "around" that you will "go"!

 

^{So many height differences! :o}

 

That light with the different light levels in the back / on the left will likely disappear again.. too many different flats! Not for the Vanilla engine or anything.. just.. too many different light "textures" for my liking (not in view besides the "CEIL3_6").

 

Also, I think I want it to get darker back there instead of brighter.

 

We'll see where this takes me :D

[Zylinderkatze]

On 11/8/2023 at 11:50 PM, jerrysheppy said:

For whatever it may be worth, ctrl-shift-c and ctrl-shift-v continue to work as they always have for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My UDB is fully updated.

 

Which game configuration are you using? I just stumbled across this post about someone having a copy/paste problem and it was only broken for one/some of the configurations but not all.

 

I'm on "Doom: Doom (Doom format)".

 

Because I like Doom.

Edited November 17, 2023 by Zylinderkatze

["JL" was too short]

Ahh, I do pretty much all my mapping in GZDoom/UDMF format so that might explain the discrepancy in our experiences.

[Zylinderkatze]

14 hours ago, jerrysheppy said:

Ahh, I do pretty much all my mapping in GZDoom/UDMF format so that might explain the discrepancy in our experiences.

 

I'll try that setting. If it works in that, I might just do my mapping in that mode.. if it doesn't mess with the ability to save the maps in Doom format once I'm done.

 

Although I should probably also make a post somewhere where the UDB masterminds can see it, about how it seems to be buggy after one of the updates that happened in the last 4-ish months.

 

Or maybe I'll just see if I can revert to am older version of UDB and disable the updating.

 

There's a reason to go to my PC right now and open up UDB xD

[Zylinderkatze]

One more thing..

 

..I mean.. no. One thing.

 

Let me do this again.

 

 

One thing!

 

One thing I like about doom mapping is the variety.

 

Like.. not in textures or types of maps or whatever.. that, too, obviously.. but in how you can approach mapping.

 

Yesterday I got a little fatigued with pushing for detailing my map and tying up all the loose ends.. but I still want to keep working on it.. so instead today I am adding some enemies! Monster closets, surprise ambushes, you name it!

 

^{They can't wait to meet you <3}

 

I already had a bunch of enemies and enemy variety and all.. difficulty settings, too. But there were (and still are) a bunch of sections that are void of enemies. This gave me some more incentive to keep going and flesh out those areas (figuratively, mostly).

 

Now to put on some good music and get in the zone :D

[Zylinderkatze]

Huh.

 

I don't know what this is (or why) but this kind of willed itself into existence in front of my eyes..

 

^{It won't stay where it is now.. it's kind of "too neat" for what it does xD}

 

..I'll see if I can use it at a later point in time!

Edited November 18, 2023 by Zylinderkatze

[Zylinderkatze]

A bid thee farewell!

 

For tonight. Because it got way too late again.

 

I'll leave this here:

 

^{It's one of the last missing pieces to connect loose ends!}

 

Of course it's another secret area. Why am I spending so much time on those >_<

 

Anyways.. now all that's missing here is a bunch of enemies.

[Zylinderkatze]

Oh hi!

 

Hello :) Yea, so I was secretly working on my map in the shadows, more than I shared on here.. creating missing connections and whatnot, detailing out formerly bland tunnels..

 

..like this one!

 

^{Maybe if I feel like it, I'll post a "before".. but it was really just a tunnel}

 

It's slowly slowly coming together :>

 

Actually more than slowly. I think I'm mostly done! 

^{I mean.. aside from adding more enemies and balancing out stuff :D}

 

One thing I am still "waiting for inspiration" on is a 2-way connected area that will only let you access a secret passage (leading to a weapon) if you get into it from one side.. but not the other. Like.. not locking / blocking.. but you have to.. I dunno.. maybe find a switch in one area to be able to then access the weapon in the other area. Something like that.

 

Perhaps with one of my "signature" miniature fake screen dioramas.

 

We'll see.

 

Tomorrow.

 

Because today is over.

 

Good Night! <3

[Zylinderkatze]

I'm better now.

 

I mean.. getting better. 

 

I mean.. at not "accidentally" writing a whole map section just to validate a secret passage.

 

^{See? It's just a room!}

 

Neat!

 

It's basically just a monster closet, actually. But a kind of pretty one.

[Zylinderkatze]

What's that on the floor?

 

Were you playing around with DOOM1 default flats again, ZK?

 

^{Be honest!}

 

This is likely not what I'll keep here.. but I like how it looks.. will save for later :)

 

For now, it's time to sleep!

[Cacodemon187]

5 minutes ago, Zylinderkatze said:

^{Be honest!}

That grate looks so cartoony lol

["JL" was too short]

I feel like I'd be pretty sus of a switch with an extremely prominent grate on the floor, right where I'd need to be standing to press the switch.

[Zylinderkatze]

20 hours ago, jerrysheppy said:

I feel like I'd be pretty sus of a switch with an extremely prominent grate on the floor, right where I'd need to be standing to press the switch.

 

Don't worry about it.

[Zylinderkatze]

Dark. So dark.

 

I don't know what it is about my maps. I map them out with light values switched to max and make sure they look good with "255" light, basically.. but drop the light to somewhere around 130 in game (up to 200 max, usually).

 

^{Also, what's that COMPTALL doing in front of grated floor? ô_o}

 

There's no enemies here yet (maybe there won't be any! *gasp*).. it's kind of a secret room in a pretty.. opposition-heavy area. Perhaps this will be your respite!

 

Also, it's the last room (as far as I can tell) that was still "needed" to tie up stuff and have.. "enough detail".

 

"Airquotes".

 

I'll do a few more passes over the map (with my eyes xD) to check if I left any loose ends.

 

Then add some (more) enemies.

 

Then try to survive a playthrough.

[Zylinderkatze]

I spoke too soon!

 

Ha! When has that ever happened.

 

^{Arrow? Circle? Uh-oh.}

 

So.. that arrow is pointing to a passage that is "secret" in nature but "not" in effectiveness.

 

Basically that passage was chosen by me to serve as a "if you find this, you'll get a weapon!" connection.. but it doesn't do that yet. I talked about this earlier ^^;

 

 

And that circle is.. well.. circling a door that opens to nowhere.

 

I'll either put "something" behind there.. or make it a dead end.

 

The latter would be the sensible choice so you know what I'll be doing.

[Zylinderkatze]

Things are coming together!

 

Did I say that already? Well they are!

 

^{Indoor pool? That's odd.}

 

This area will feel weird.. and somewhere between "believable" and "out of place".

 

So.. right in line with everything else I make in DOOM xD

 

Short session today, didn't address yesterday's issues yet.

 

Night!

[Zylinderkatze]

On 11/22/2023 at 10:13 PM, Zylinderkatze said:

 

Retouching?

 

I can't help myself.. I'm kind of feeling watched.

 

^{Kind of neat, kind of cringe.}

 

There's an area nearby where I'm already using TEKWALL* stuff so this felt maybe more in line with that.. and with the grated floor. 

 

I'll leave it for now and focus on the stuff I talked about the other day, instead ^^;

[Zylinderkatze]

Look!

 

Found one in the wild! :0

 

^{It lamp.}

 

Kinda tempted to recreate that shot in Doom (2)..

 

..but I must not get carried away, I'm almost done with E2M5!

[Zylinderkatze]

More progress!

 

I think I have got most of everything together.. but the progression to get to one of the weapons.. is a bit too complicated.

 

And coming from me, that's.. rough xD

 

But first, the progress!

 

I went from this:

 

^{Varied height and looking into a different area! But a bit bland, maybe?}

 

..to this:

 

^{I'm kind of levitating towards the OG Doom "LITE" edges lately.}

 

Not sure if I'll keep it like that (or if I'll keep ammo on those ledges, if I do keep them) but I like the color contrast with the red & yellow against the green.

 

 

..about that progress though?

 

Okay so I figured out how I can "gatekeep" the later weapon area. But like I said, it's complicated.

 

First, you have to gain access to this "upstairs" area:

 

^{Oooh a computer console!}

 

So if you know me and my maps, you may have noticed that I often hide (usually purely optional) things behind an interaction with a computer monitor like this. Usually glowing or flickering.

 

This time it's no exception. It opens that DOORHI thing down at the lower level on top of the "conveyor"-looking thing. Look very closely and you might see something peeking out from behind that door :0

 

Then, later on, you get up there on the other side and are able to jump onto the conveyor from the other side.

 

Then, even later on -and in a different part of the map- you'll see this:

 

^{So dark, man..}

 

Okay so this is intentionally not that obvious in this screenshot (it will be more so in game because you can walk up to it xD) .. but since this is a secret, I can't just give it all away!

 

Basically, one of these switches only works if you did the other thing first.

 

I mean.. it needs a key. You get a key. There. I said it.

 

 

The moral of the story

 

I had to twist and turn things around in my brain (and the map, to some extend) to make things work with progression.. bu once I figured out you get a key first and I can just gate that extra part off with said key, it was all good and finally made sense.

 

One thing I still have to figure out though is that the weapon you get there.. is also in a different part of the map. 

 

Not that it's a bad thing to have a weapon twice.. but I'm kind of contemplating putting something else in the spot where the other weapon is.

 

I'll figure something out, as always!

Edited November 26, 2023 by Zylinderkatze

[Zylinderkatze]

11 minutes ago, Zylinderkatze said:

the weapon you get there.. is also in a different part of the map

 

Here, I'll just show you.

 

^{This area is much easier to "solve", too. So.. I dunno >_<}

 

Basically it's another "find a way to open that DOORHI" thing.. only that it's all in one room.

 

And you find this one earlier than the other (before you find any keys).. so.. maybe this one shouldn't be a weapon (or not the same weapon).. maybe something smaller. Maybe a powerup instead.

 

Hmm.

 

Maybe a Backpack. I already have one of those but it would be a neat early find.

 

Any ideas?

[Zylinderkatze]

Playtesting!

 

Not enough ammo.

[Zylinderkatze]

More Playtesting!

 

You currently need to find secrets to have enough ammo (bad).

 

Also, you need to get enemies to infight a bunch... which is kind of fun because you can only string them along without really shooting much :D

 

^{No, not me, shoot him!}

 

I'll still have to add some more ammo and make sure you realize early that infighting is necessary.

 

At the time of that screenshot I had 2 shells left, 5 rockets.. and no rocket launcher :D

Edited November 27, 2023 by Zylinderkatze

[Zylinderkatze]

Almost bedtime!

 

I leave you with an example of "randomly strewn about ammo" in URE:E2 M5.

 

^{The shells. Better than nothing.}

 

Maybe come back later and see if you can open the door for more!

 

Goodnight for now :D

[Zylinderkatze]

In case* you're wondering where I am~

 

I'm currently on forced hiatus, because my old PC looks like this.. 

 

^{Something's missing :0}

 

..and my new one still looks like this..

 

^{ZK, i think the cables belong in the PC.}

 

My evenings are currently occupied by social interactions and my days are occupied by work..

 

..but as soon as this thing runs, I'll be back to mapping, baybee!

 

Goodnight for now ^^

 

___

* get it? case? Eh? Eh?

Edited November 29, 2023 by Zylinderkatze