Tribute to the Lamplighter - stonework in space?! A Boom map

[Havoc Crow]

=== DOWNLOAD FINAL VERSION FROM /IDGAMES ===

 

Title: Tribute to the Lamplighter
Game: Doom II
Compatibility: Boom
Tested on: prboom+
Music: "Other World 1" from "YU-NO" (originally composed by Ryu Umemoto; MIDI sequenced by ShinkoNet)
Additional credits: Textures from cc4-tex. Sky texture from Mechadon's Box 'o Skies
Difficulty settings: Yes
Multiplayer: Players starts only
Average playtime: 12-16 minutes

 

Description:
[unreadable] ...she rebelled or perhaps grew senile, as even angels may do, and her work became sloppy and grotesque. Her creations would explode into lethal radiation tearing invisibly across the cosmos, or collapse on themselves into blots of gnawing, murmurring void... [unreadable] ...in an attempt to curry her favor, and direct her destructive might to their own ends... [unreadable]

-- Preliminary translation of Tablet XXVII

 

A linear map of moderate (?) difficulty.

 

===== old version (Feb 14): download here ===== (916 KB)

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

 

Edited May 10, 2021 by JudgeDeadd
add idgames link

[kvsari]

Very nice! I like this map. I have a bit of a soft spot for void maps.

[ketmar]

slightly too hard slaughterfights for my taste (but don't take it as a criticism, please, i'm just a very-below-average Doom player), but i really love the atmosphere of the map! it looks and plays great. i found the platforming part at the end is hard too -- but again, i just bad at jumping.

 

p.s.: oooh, sorry, i didn't noticed that difficulties are implemented, and played it on UV. so it's completely my fault with choosing wrong dificulty for fights.

Edited February 14, 2021 by ketmar

[TheGreenZap]

I love love love the atmosphere and the music is awesome. Too many slaughter style fights for me however. Really really cool map though!

 

(ok, edit. I did something I never do and I turned it down to Not Too Rough and finished the map. Tons of fun and I liked the moving around and climbing in the different areas. I wish there was more!)

 

Edited February 14, 2021 by TheGreenZap

[LVENdead]

I recorded a video playthrough of your map with some commentary:

 

 

I very much enjoyed this map. I'm sure it's no surprise to hear that it's absolutely gorgeous which is always a huge motivation for me to explore and engage with a map. I like how you've gone for this sort of "alternate plane" setting that is neither Hell nor Earth nor Techbase, yet still remains ominous and unholy looking. CC4 always gives me Quake vibes, and this map certainly leans into that aesthetic in places in my opinion.

 

The combat is energetic and at times chaotic, but you give the player plenty of ammo to deal with the challenge and don't really skimp on the weaponry. I like that you wisely use ammo itself as a motivator for the player to move around the arena as much as they would to avoid enclosing monsters, and I never really felt like the balance was either too generous or too miserly. Just the right fit.

 

Of course, I'm sure some players are going to say this map leans heavily towards the slaughter-y, but I didn't think that too much the case until the last fight, especially with what would be a very low monster count for that type of map. I do feel like there were a few noteworthy fights that kind of felt samey, between the consistent use of pinkies +imps, or the "maze of crates" setting for the arenas. The last fight is a sharp shift in difficulty, but I didn't feel like it was outside the character of the map leading up to it. I'm not amazing at slaughter stuff, so I caught the majority of my deaths here, but I still felt like it was a doable challenge that required some good crowd management and some ballsy gambits to survive. Overall, the map has a perfect stopping point where it avoids beginning to feel like a slog, and those transgressions of "sameyness" don't really stack up too high to detract from the total experience.

 

 

[SP_FACE1]

Beautiful map.

Unfortunately I quit prematurely when I got stuck in the wooden crate room because I thought the lift didn't work (i.e. thought there was a bug):

Spoiler

But after watching @LVENdead's video, I realized I just missed the little crates that can be used as stairs.

[Spie812]

First off, everything on the presentation side, the theme, architecture, texture work, the layout and progression, the skybox, the music choice, etc., are all great. Absolutely no complaints about them or oddities that I noticed while playing. It's all really well done.

 

Now, combat is pretty claustrophobic, which I do like. I had to do the pinky dance on several occasions. Having to maneuver around demons on the floor while others take potshots from above works well. I also liked having to push through enemies to access the weapons and ammo for the most part. However, the mancubus and his friends can cut off access to the ammo in the crate room leading to the blue key, which caused me to completely run out at one point. I didn't have such problems with the other encounters in the level. The final battle is pretty hard on UV, and it took me a while to figure out a consistent strategy. The combat seems appropriately lighter on the lower difficulties, though I didn't play them in their entirety.

 

Overall, the level is fantastic. The level looks great and the combat is hard but manageable, though the final fight might take a few tries. Definitely wouldn't mind seeing more in this vein.

 

Here's my FDA. The first two attempts are alright, both failing at the final fight. It goes downhill from there as I start to get sloppy. Didn't manage a complete run while recording.

tribute.zip

[Havoc Crow]

Thanks to everyone who commented! I'm planning to adjust the difficulty a bit in the next release, and later publish it on /idgames.

[Havoc Crow]

Hello, everybody — after a long delay, here's an improved version of the map:

 

Tribute to the Lamplighter v2.zip (943 KB)

 

Overall, the map remains very similar to v1. Changes include:

- the fight for the blue key, and the final battle, have been redesigned: monsters trickle in one group at a time, rather than all at once. This should make these fights less frustrating and (slightly) easier.

- the super shotgun has been moved to make it impossible to miss.
- a railing was added to the stairs in the red key room, to keep players from falling into the drink and getting mobbed.
- fixed a softlock in the damaging floor hallway (found by noisyvelvet).
- a number of minor aesthetic fixes.

 

Unless any critical flaws are discovered, I'll be uploading to /idgames soon.

[TheGreenZap]

Love this map, one of my all time favs!

 

[Havoc Crow]

The final version is now up on /idgames! Thanks for all your feedback.

Edited May 10, 2021 by JudgeDeadd