[Release] The Unending

[Remilia Scarlet]

Basic Info

• Singleplayer only
• This is for k8vavoom.  It should also be playable with GZDoom, though the lighting will be incorrect and incomplete (this is expected).
• This uses Doom2.wad for the IWAD
• Mouselook is expected.  No jumping or crouching allowed, including rocket jumps.
• README file

 

Description

The Undending is about a guy who just had an unfortunate accident and is now in a sort of repeating personal hell.  I originally built this map back in in July/August of 2018 but have never released it.  It's mostly unchanged from the 2018 version save for the lighting, which I re-did to take advantage of k8vavoom, and the ZScript code, which I converted back to Decorate.  There's actually quite a few things I would have done differently if I would have built this today in 2021, such as making much cleaner geometry and an improved level layout.  But, I didn't want to change it too much from how it was back in 2018 - how I build levels today is quite different, and this sorta represents the last of my old ways.  So, that's why it's still mostly in the same state.

 

Note: you may encounter some slowdown in this map ("a few things I would have done differently", as I said).  If you do, try using lightmaps instead of stencil lighting or shadowmapping.  I noticed I had a generally higher FPS with this enabled.  There's also a few known visual glitches that, as far as I can tell, aren't actually due to how the map is built, but these should barely be noticeable and don't effect gameplay.

 

Screenshots

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Downloads

https://mega.nz/folder/MxMWDRIB#QOPIuiYqcRSnzNvAaqPCPw/file/1kFEhT4a (9.3 MB, SHA1: 79a04110b064636b792e535f60e18683a8f34bad)

 

Edited February 13, 2024 by Remilia Scarlet

[Biodegradable]

New Remilia map! GET HYPED!

Edited March 1, 2021 by Biodegradable

[Catpho]

Guess i should download k8vavoom, like, right now.

Edit: @Remilia Scarlet I know this is a bit of a derail, but can i ask what are the recommended graphical settings for this map? Screenshots look very cool and i want to live in them, but i've never used this source port before :P

Edited March 1, 2021 by Catpho

[Remilia Scarlet]

23 minutes ago, Catpho said:

Guess i should download k8vavoom, like, right now.

Edit: @Remilia Scarlet I know this is a bit of a derail, but can i ask what are the recommended graphical settings for this map? Screenshots look very cool and i want to live in them, but i've never used this source port before :P

Baaaasically... I disable bloom, enable stencil lighting/shadowmapping, and have texture filtering enabled.  That should be all that's needed.  I also have my shadow resolution set to 1024 and the filtering for them set to "nearest" since I like sharp Doom 3-style shadows.  If you change the lighting type, either restart the map, or use vidrendererreset in the console (I think that's the command... it should say in the help text of the menu item).

 

There's a few options in Advanced Rendering Options that sometimes change the way shadows are cast very slightly, but those should be adjusted for performance.

 

I also have the built-in gore mod set to absurdly high levels, but that's not shown in the screenshots :-P

EDIT: Oh yeah, you'll want to enable shadowmaps if you want that neat grate lighting effect and dynamic shadows cast from monsters/things.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Remilia Scarlet

[Soulless]

Crazy good map in every sense. The use of 3d floors are great, really feels like a doom/quake hybrid.

Specially the exit area was gorgeous quake looking.

The lightning is top here, and gives the perfect atmosphere for this ancient castle of yours.

Just one secret, but no way I could find it, well hidden I guess.

Maybe too short! Highly recommended.

 

[Gaia74]

I'm so glad to see another remilia map, I'll enjoy playing this!

[GratefulName]

I love those lighting effects.

[Murdoch]

Woah, definitely adding this to my download list for the weekend. Looks dead sexy.

[TheGreenZap]

Wow! I loved this map! The lighting and the entire map was so cool with a terrific theme that continued throughout. The music fit very well I believe with the story behind this map. This is going to be one I come back to and play over again. More please Remilia!

[Biodegradable]

Phenomenal work, Rem. A beautifully-macabre castle filled with terror and delight brimming with challenging, but very fun combat. I adored staring at the map's design when I wasn't fighting for my life, desperate for health kits hehe. I love this map just as much as your previous release. 10/10!

 

 

[Voxelvoid]

Things like this make me want to stop creating my maps.

[PeterMoro]

1 hour ago, Voxelvoid said:

Things like this make me want to stop creating my maps.

I know exactly what you mean! ; ) Some people around here take Doom to another level of awesome.

 

Stunning map on every level. Remilia Scarlet excels at lighting / atmosphere. I thoroughly enjoyed this map. 10 / 10.

[Remilia Scarlet]

2 hours ago, Voxelvoid said:

Things like this make me want to stop creating my maps.

Aww please don't.  Maps of all kinds are what keeps Doom going!  Also keep in mind, I've been mapping since like 1994 or so :-P

[Biodegradable]

2 hours ago, Voxelvoid said:

Things like this make me want to stop creating my maps.

 

Do not be intimidated, be inspired!

[ketmar]

yay! i guess this is the first map created espacially for k8vavoom! thank you alot, and hey, i believe it should be announced in The Official k8vaoom Thread too!

[ketmar]

On 3/1/2021 at 3:11 PM, Catpho said:

can i ask what are the recommended graphical settings for this map?

set renderer to stencil/shadowmaps, and turn on shadowmaps in options-> video -> shadowmap options (this will be the default renderer starting from the next build, but for now you have to manually select it).

 

there are alot of other settings, but it's better to not touch 'em unless you're absolutely sure you have to. the defaults are tweaked to "look good most of the time". i mean, there are almost no safety nets there, so you may end up with some weird and barely playable config. it is enough to delete "config.cfg" to reset it all, tho.

 

p.s.: next k8vavoom build is coming soon, and it will remove weird white dots you may see from time to time, so you may watch The Official Thread to not miss it (yeah, shameless self-promotion here).

Edited March 3, 2021 by ketmar
.cfg, not .rc ;-) and added some self-promotion (sorry ;-)

[Remilia Scarlet]

5 minutes ago, ketmar said:

.cfg, not .rc ;-)

Silly fellow Linux user :-P

 

14 minutes ago, ketmar said:

thank you alot, and hey, i believe it should be announced in The Official k8vaoom Thread too!

You're welcome, and thank you for mentioning it in the thread!  I have a much larger project already in the works for k8vavoom.  I'll post more shots of it as I get it finished.  But first, I have one more map to work on for Endless.

[ketmar]

three screenshots to compare.

 

you will lose carefully crafted lighting effects if you aren't playing the map in k8vavoom with shadowmapped lighting.

 

p.s.: but don't play it right now, new k8vavoom build is only day or two away! the new build is here!

Edited March 4, 2021 by ketmar

[Clippy]

What a nice map. Unique experience and very beautiful and super detailed throughout. I had a pretty good time here is my video

 

 

 

 

[Korozive]

On 3/2/2021 at 2:45 AM, Voxelvoid said:

Things like this make me want to stop creating my maps.

Do yourself well and let it inspire you instead.

[Korozive]

On 3/1/2021 at 9:44 AM, Gaia74 said:

I'm so glad to see another remilia map, I'll enjoy playing this!

There are others?

[Remilia Scarlet]

Just now, Korozive said:

There are others?

Yes, quite a few: https://alexa.partition36.com/games-and-mods/doom/

[Korozive]

1 minute ago, Remilia Scarlet said:

Yes, quite a few: https://alexa.partition36.com/games-and-mods/doom/

Sweet, Thxs so much

 

[terminator]

hi remilia. a quick question. since you released [the unending] from an old map made in 2018, would you still be releasing [one doomed marine], your map from 2010 for use with gzdoom as per mentioned on your website? many thanks for all of your awesome mapping work.

[Remilia Scarlet]

15 hours ago, saibog said:

hi remilia. a quick question. since you released [the unending] from an old map made in 2018, would you still be releasing [one doomed marine], your map from 2010 for use with gzdoom as per mentioned on your website? many thanks for all of your awesome mapping work.

If I do, it'll be for k8vavoom.  That's still on my list of things I want to do, but it's pretty low priority for me.  There's one large project I have still in the works, so possibly after that's finished.

[Remilia Scarlet]

Whoops, almost forgot to post this.  Here's my own playthrough using k8vavoom.  Sorry about the slight slowdown, my old CPU doesn't always like me ^_^;

[ketmar]

36 minutes ago, Remilia Scarlet said:

my old CPU doesn't always like me

it is about GPU, actually. using 1024x1024 shadowmaps mean that the renderer has to wipe ~4MB (or even 6MB) texture for each light source (including all dynamic lights). this eats the whole bandwidth and more. i will prolly add an option to allow using differently-sized shadowmaps for different light sources -- lights from powerups and projectiles usually don't need such high resolution anyway.

Edited March 9, 2021 by ketmar

[Remilia Scarlet]

@ketmar My GPU is a 1080, but my CPU is an older 2700k, so I'm usually betting on slowdown being my CPU (or RAM speed, but not here) is all :-P  Then again, I do run it at 4k...

Edited March 9, 2021 by Remilia Scarlet

[ketmar]

this map is not CPU-intensive at all (especially with physics optimiser). it doesn't really matter how good your GPU is in this case, because here memory bandwidth is what matters. even with 10 light sources, the GPU needs to zero out ~60MBs on each frame, and then fill them again with wall data, and then check them for each pixel. this will bring down any GPU.

[LVENdead]

Here's my video playthrough of your map:

 

 

I've always been a big fan of Quake's aesthetic. Combining that with Doom 3 style shadows and gorgeous dynamic lighting makes this an absolute visual feast. I love the rendition of Sign of Evil you included in the map. Overall, just a very atmospheric experience. 

 

 I generally liked the progression of the map and the combat as well. I did think it was a bit too "room to room" in that there wasn't much in the way of roaming monsters that you have to account for, it was mostly "push to new area, open door, kill monsters inside". On the other hand, the rooms or arenas themselves were pretty effective, often giving you some tighter quarters to maneuver in where footwork and spacing felt important (especially with the incorporation of the skags as medium pressure units). I do have to say I was a little disappointed that the map didn't really build to anything - you get the red key and then it's just kind of over. I was expecting some kind of resolution especially after the cool intro sequence. Not even really much of a final fight which was a bit of a shame. With so much work put into how amazing this map looks and feels, I think it would have really brought the whole thing together if there was something iconic that happens at the end. 

 

But I mean I'm not trying to focus too much on those aspects or really imply that they majorly detract from the map. I thought it was great and I very much enjoyed playing it. I would love to see more in this style. Out of curiosity, were you inspired at all by Shadows of the Nightmare Realm? This map had me thinking about that WAD a lot while playing it - even if the visuals don't quite look as similar as I thought they did, it really felt similar.