I tried improving Habitat

[Grichmann]

Hello, Doomworld! I'm new here, but I don't want to come in empty-handed. So here's a map.

 

I've played through TNT recently, and found Habitat very interesting. I'm aware of the map's infamy, but I saw glimpses of interesting design in there, so I decided to try my hand at fixing it. Hence, this wad, featuring a few changes aimed at improving the map's flow and connectedness. I was mostly concerned with those two aspects, so there are no visual overhauls of any kind. However, some areas have been tweaked, monster encounters shifted around, etc. Layout changes are minimal as I made an effort to preserve (my understanding of) the original design intent.

It's my first real attempt to do anything with a Doom map, so I've probably messed something up and didn't notice. Feedback is always welcome!

Original credits, of course, go to Id, Team TNT, and Christopher Buteau. Feel free to edit the map further if you want!

 

One thing I can't quite figure out yet is how to name the map in the wad and give it the original red sky texture that's been lost with the move to the MAP01 spot. The instructions I googled seemed a bit overcomplicated. Little help here?

A few screenshots of some changed bits (With SmoothDoom):

Spoiler

 

Youtube video explaining the design process: 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

Single level wad.

Uses TNT as base, no new content or scripts added.

Intended to comply with vanilla ruleset.

Difficulty slightly tweaked compared to the original, but overall remains fairly easy.

Tested in some depth (i. e. beaten) with GZDoom and Crispy Doom.

Download: new_habitat.zip

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by Grichmann

[Simomarchi]

Well, at least for the first time in my life (probably not but I really can't remember the last time that I played habitat, or TNT in general) I visited the underground section of the level. You have solved the problem that the map could be finished in like 30 seconds without firing a single shot, but there is still that nonsensical underground maze full of random secret zones that I probably will never understand what exactly do.

 

I appreciated also the fact that the wall in the first open area is no longer here, but if the blue key is needed for the completion of the level I don't think that it's a good idea to leave it inside that secret zone. Just delete that section and place the key and the monsters right behind the door .

 

The new zone behind the yellow door is strange. At least to me. The fact that you have to go upstairs to open the closet, and then enter in the closet for no reason to reveal the switch is not the best way to handle the situation. A simple switch at the end of the new zone would have been better.

 

Overall this map is no longer a joke, but is still a very badly designed level. I'm not saying that it is your fault, just that the original level is so poorly designed that I doubt that something can be done to fix it if you try to maintain the original layout at the same time.

 

Other than that be careful with this kind of modifications. You can't just open an IWAD, copy-paste a map and then add a few sectors to it, probably this violate the copyright of the original material. A completely new map made by you, maybe even called habitat2 and with the same concept, but with more details and a better general design will be a much more appreciated work, specially if it plays well (just look at almost every MAP07 of every megawad. They use the same mancubus-arachnotrons principle but are all different in their own way).

 

Lastly, if you want to change the name and the sky of your map you have to use a lump editor like SLADE3, that is free to download from its site.

With this software you can add and remove "entries" from you wad (such as textures, maps, music...). You can also create simple text files that control the behaviour of your level. This files are called MAPINFO (or ZMAPINFO if you want your map to be Zdoom-exclusive).

Just open your map in SLADE, go to "archive-new-entry" to create a new lump, then view it as text and write the following code:

 

map MAP01 "nice name"

{

        Sky1 = "your sky name"

}

 

Replace "nice name" and "your sky name" with the names of your map and sky and it is done. Remember to copy-paste inside your wad your custom sky from the source of your choice (a texture pack for example).

 

Further information can be read here:

https://zdoom.org/wiki/MAPINFO/Map_definition

 

And more generally here:

https://zdoom.org/wiki/MAPINFO

[Helm]

I quite enjoyed your video analysis of your changes. Thank you for going through all this effort to explain your process. I learned a lot! 

[Grichmann]

Thanks for the tips! I didn't think there'd be any copyright issues with a mod like this, but I guess we can only see what happens next.

 

It's not a good map, indeed. As I mentioned, it was probably the designer's sandbox where he experimented with (mostly visual) tricks like the multi-sector doors in the tunnels and the waste flow effect. No idea why it made it into the final wad. I really didn't set out to make it into a good one, just try and salvage what I could with relatively minor changes.

The almost-secret blue key,

Spoiler

I think, is definitely part of the intent, so I didn't want to lose it. I'm pretty sure the intent is making it pretty obvious during the shootout that projectiles and enemies go through that wall (that's why you get the plasmagun in that field. It definitely didn't work in the original, because you'd be too distracted by the teleport trap (makes you turn around to the noise), revenants (require total focus on their projectiles), and the archvile (obscures your vision). I tried to change the monster setup, the mancubus is supposed to move very little and keep shooting through the wall as much as possible, but now that I've experimented a little, I don't think the encounter can work at all: it will either draw your attention to the wall, or provide interesting combat.

 

As for the tunnels,

Spoiler

I frankly have no idea. It's an optional area with no meaningful rewards or logic behind anything. I guess the red key is the reward for exploring the place fully and being observant enough to notice the misaligned texture or the lift sound, but the payoff is still not exactly worthwhile. The yellow key area, which is a shortcut, is even more confusing; there's no indication you have to go into the treatment area, so if you go the other way, you're lost. In that case, the treatment area is probably the last place you'd look, because that's where you just came from. Maybe I could've got away with making the thing one-way, but I severed the connection to be sure. The piece of the tunnels it opens is a long and pointless gutter, anyway, so I really didn't take anything away by shortening it. And placing the only secret I changed there.

If I was more willing to commit to a layout change, I probably would've expanded the yellow door area into a larger room or an arena fight.

I've got a 7-ish level episode spinning around. A Habitat-styled map is definitely going to be there. We'll see how that goes, but it's definitely going to take a while.

[DoomRevolver]

Nice video analysis. I remember a gameplay where BigMacDavis said that Habitat used to crash the game in MS-DOS at the outside areas for some reason