MY SECOND MAP - HELL AWAITS

[nrgrth]

I've decided to experiment a little bit and make something different than my first map, this map is not that big too, but the combat is improved. I'd really appreciate if you could check it out! Feel free to record your playthrough, it would be nice for me to see how the map is working with other people.

 

-Tested on GZDoom and Zandronum *GZDoom may have some minor texture bugs;

-DOOM2.WAD;

-Replaces MAP11;

-Free look is optional, crouch and jump are prohibited by script;

-HNTR/HMP for casuals, UV/UV+ for a challenge, I don't recommend Nightmare;

-No exploration, all for the killing;

 

Edit: the map currently supports 2 players coop.

Edit 2: second arena is buggy as hell, I'll delete it and add a different section for this map. I'll also remake that arena for a future map.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hellawaits.rar

Edited March 4, 2021 by nrgrth

[nrgrth]

Just to let you know, this is another project I have for another episode, who knows, I would include this map and make some little changes, like adding a little exploration. 

 

One detail I forgot to include in the topic: music volume up!

[Silhouette 03]

Fascinating map, man. An interesting experiment....

 

Gameplay

Your map seems to revolve around different arenas, similar to Doom 4 or Eternal. Set powerup, health and weapon placement, and enemies teleport in after a set number of demons are killed. This immediately means the combat is fast paced and frantic, and most importantly, fun. You seem to(mostly) understand what makes that style of gameplay work. There is one thing that you may want to consider, and that's not using so many specters. Specters are incredibly hard to see in that environment and end up with the player taking unnecessary splash damage due to them getting in the way, and block the players movement. I also think there are too many enemies in the second main arena, since the slab blocking the exit teleporter was already lowered and enemies were still coming 

 

Layout

The layout seems to mostly work in the player's favour, with plenty of space to retreat and choke points. However, The arenas themselves are a bit narrow. This makes it difficult to strafe and dodge incoming projectiles.

 

Texturing and detailing

Minimalism is key when designing arenas, which you seemed to take note of when designing the map. You can't have decorations block the player's movement, as it leads to cheap deaths that make the map artificially difficult. So good job.

 

Bugs

There are at least two HOM's in the map,( you mentioned that this might happen)

https://imgur.com/a/9xg5FIK

 

Conclusion

An interesting gimmick map that just needs a little bit more tweaking in the layout and gameplay department. Good to see you're improving!

 

[nrgrth]

3 minutes ago, Silhou3tte said:

Fascinating map, man. An interesting experiment....

 

Gameplay

Your map seems to revolve around different arenas, similar to Doom 4 or Eternal. Set powerup, health and weapon placement, and enemies teleport in after a set number of demons are killed. This immediately means the combat is fast paced and frantic, and most importantly, fun. You seem to(mostly) understand what makes that style of gameplay work. There is one thing that you may want to consider, and that's not using so many specters. Specters are incredibly hard to see in that environment and end up with the player taking unnecessary splash damage due to them getting in the way, and block the players movement. I also think there are too many enemies in the second main arena, since the slab blocking the exit teleporter was already lowered and enemies were still coming 

 

Layout

The layout seems to mostly work in the player's favour, with plenty of space to retreat and choke points. However, The arenas themselves are a bit narrow. This makes it difficult to strafe and dodge incoming projectiles.

 

Texturing and detailing

Minimalism is key when designing arenas, which you seemed to take note of when designing the map. You can't have decorations block the player's movement, as it leads to cheap deaths that make the map artificially difficult. So good job.

 

Bugs

There are at least two HOM's in the map,( you mentioned that this might happen)

https://imgur.com/a/9xg5FIK

 

Conclusion

An interesting gimmick map that just needs a little bit more tweaking in the layout and gameplay department. Good to see you're improving!

 

Thank you very much! I'll change some specters for pinkies. In the first arena, the portal lowers when the second Archvile dies, in the second arena, when the Cyberdemon dies, so it's not actually necessary to kill every demon, this was intentional! I'll work on the arena's layout too, I don't know what's happening with GZDoom, there was another texture bug in one stair, it was visible, so I just decided to remove one of the steps. Also, I noticed sometimes the Cyberdemon doesn't spawn in, so I made one change that I hope will reduce this problem, I've updated the map file. Again, thank you very much for the review! 

[Silhouette 03]

No problem, @nrgrth. I enjoyed your map and the arena-like combat.  It was good fun.

[Omniplex]

Nice arena styled map, played it on Ultra-violence recently and from what I can tell is that it is quite good. There are some monsters that get stuck on each other in the lava pits on the first arena, notably the Blood demons and Cacodemons. There were also more Blood demons stuck on the walls around the "second floor" of the first arena as well. By the way, the Cyberdemon spawned that's a plus :)

 

A very challenging map on Ultra-violence difficulty, fun to play as well.

 

As for the detailing, it is also very good for a second map! I like the texture choices here, very good. I also like the music very much, nice one!

 

If I were to give an overall rating for this map from a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it 8.5/10.

[DSC]

With a name like that, I'm surprised your first map wasn't named Show No Mercy.

[nrgrth]

57 minutes ago, Omniplex said:

Nice arena styled map, played it on Ultra-violence recently and from what I can tell is that it is quite good. There are some monsters that get stuck on each other in the lava pits on the first arena, notably the Blood demons and Cacodemons. There were also more Blood demons stuck on the walls around the "second floor" of the first arena as well. By the way, the Cyberdemon spawned that's a plus :)

 

A very challenging map on Ultra-violence difficulty, fun to play as well.

 

As for the detailing, it is also very good for a second map! I like the texture choices here, very good. I also like the music very much, nice one!

 

If I were to give an overall rating for this map from a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it 8.5/10.

Thank you very much! The music is a cover of Territory, by Sepultura.

[nrgrth]

56 minutes ago, DSC said:

With a name like that, I'm surprised your first map wasn't named Show No Mercy.

Haha, I may think of another name later on, I'm not good with that.

[Degree23]

This was a really fun map until it seemed to break. I was in the second arena with 163/190 kills, but a bunch of monsters wouldn't teleport in or appear. The wall blocking them off looked really weird as when I idclip'd through the wall to see what was going on, the wall was see through from the other side. I'm not sure what happened.

 

I agree Silhou3tte's comment about the Doom Eternal vibe. I got that feeling almost immediately from playing.

 

A really fun map overall.

[nrgrth]

48 minutes ago, Degree23 said:

This was a really fun map until it seemed to break. I was in the second arena with 163/190 kills, but a bunch of monsters wouldn't teleport in or appear. The wall blocking them off looked really weird as when I idclip'd through the wall to see what was going on, the wall was see through from the other side. I'm not sure what happened.

 

I agree Silhou3tte's comment about the Doom Eternal vibe. I got that feeling almost immediately from playing.

 

A really fun map overall.

Thank you for the review, I'll check and fix this mistake. Did the Cyberdemon not teleport too?

[DavidN]

Here you go :)

 

 

 

I took a look in UDB in the last five minutes of the video and I see the problem you're having... the monsters are set up to teleport into the arena in chains, with one monster triggering another to teleport in, eventually leading to the Cyberdemon. The trouble is that monsters can't telefrag... so if the player or another monster happens to be over the designated teleport spot when the teleportation is meant to happen, the monster will just stay in the holding pen, potentially blocking the path to the Cyberdemon ever appearing for an unlucky player.

 

I'm not really sure of the best way to fix this, so I'm interested to see what ideas other people have! Maybe changing the chains so that the next monster gets activated (from the "Dormant" state) when its predecessor dies, and then is set up to eventually wander over a teleport line like the queue of monsters at the top right? Or making the teleportation spots one-way (maybe using a Z-height teleport spot and putting them up in the air would work...?!)

 

Despite that, I liked the look of the arenas and enjoyed playing them - you're definitely improving :)

[nrgrth]

1 hour ago, DavidN said:

Here you go :)

 

 

 

I took a look in UDB in the last five minutes of the video and I see the problem you're having... the monsters are set up to teleport into the arena in chains, with one monster triggering another to teleport in, eventually leading to the Cyberdemon. The trouble is that monsters can't telefrag... so if the player or another monster happens to be over the designated teleport spot when the teleportation is meant to happen, the monster will just stay in the holding pen, potentially blocking the path to the Cyberdemon ever appearing for an unlucky player.

 

I'm not really sure of the best way to fix this, so I'm interested to see what ideas other people have! Maybe changing the chains so that the next monster gets activated (from the "Dormant" state) when its predecessor dies, and then is set up to eventually wander over a teleport line like the queue of monsters at the top right? Or making the teleportation spots one-way (maybe using a Z-height teleport spot and putting them up in the air would work...?!)

 

Despite that, I liked the look of the arenas and enjoyed playing them - you're definitely improving :)

Thank you so much! I'll delete this arena and remake it for a future level, adding a second floor and changing demons' placement in a way that it doesn't block an incoming demon. My next post will be the fully episode when I finally finish it.