Death's Dichotomy: 5 Experiences for GZDoom [FINAL -RELEASED TO IDGAMES]

[Major Arlene]

 

Death's Dichotomy is 5 maps by 4 mappers for GZDoom. This is an offshoot of the now cancelled Near Death Experiences project. The aim of the project is to explore ideas and thoughts on death and dying.

 

Someone asked me how this could be emulated in Doom, and he said, "Every beginning has an end, and it's our responsibility to make life as good as we can for ourselves and others. I can't think of a map for that, can you?" Well, think back to the very first episode of Doom. We slog through endless hoards of demons, and as we step into the teleporter after defeating the Barons, we think, "wow, I did a really good thing killing all those demons!" But, what's our reward? Another room of demons, surrounding us, tearing away at us before we are resigned to death. Regardless of our good deeds, our beginnings, we must meet our end. 

This set is tested with GZDoom 4.5.0 and may not work as well on older rigs due to the features used in some maps. Please let me know what your specs are when reporting performance issues.

Some maps are a bit on the slaughtery side so I would recommend playing on a lower difficulty if you are not used to that sort of thing.

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

LV-31 by @Bauul

Sempiternal by Major Arlene

Omnia Mors Aequat by Clay

Tech Duinn by Major Arlene

Cyanotic Dreams by @Remmirath

Download link to come once private beta phase is complete! I am beyond excited to show you the fruits of our nearly 3 year effort.

May 1 Update- Release Candidate 1 is officially a go! GO GO GO!
May 9- RELEASE CANDIDATE 2. Feedback brought into consideration from the thread so far and folks around Discord. Thank you all for your help!

May 16- FINAL RELEASE (on a dropbox link for the time being in case of any further issues but added balancing to Cyanotic Dreams, fixed missing monster sounds, and added a proper credits file. Some other small bugfixes done to the rest of the maps as well.)
July 7- FINAL FINAL RELEASE ON IDGAMES.
A HUGE thank you to all of my playtesters: @Bridgeburner56 , @Terminus, @Regular Warren , @leodoom85 , @LordEntr0py , @Toilet_Wine_Connoisseur , @Biodegradable , @Insane_Gazebo , @notTyrone , @Aquila Chrysaetos , CreepyRebel, and I'm sure a few more folks who I cannot locate but I thank all the same.

@Eris , @Immorpher , and @Jimmy 's music feature in this set, please give them a lot of love!

Please let me know of any bugs that you run across, video feedback is preferred but screenshots with descriptors works as well. Thank you folks for all of your patience. I'd like to also thank the folks who originally participated in the Near Death Experiences project that ultimately produced this set.

[Murdoch]

I impatiently await the download link.

[LordEntr0py]

Woo! Looking great, Arlene!

[Murdoch]

So is the download ready yet?

 

Sorry, could not resist.

[Major Arlene]

Release candidate 1 looking very likely to be out by Sunday or Monday. hold onto your butts.

[Major Arlene]

RC1 is GO!!!

[The Final Event]

I had a lot of fun testing this set. every map, despite being from different mappers, feel like they're part of the same experience, which is a top notch experience.

Glad to have been a part of it <3

[leodoom85]

^{At least we're not dead after those near death experiences....}

[Killer5]

Yo.

 

So I played the maps. There were a few things I noticed while playing which got in the way of my experience:

 

Clay's map:
- The midtextures leading up to the large room which becomes dark with cacos can be walked through. These should be impassible.

- The large fight with cacos is very dark. I lost one of the cacodemons and was also running into walls after I picked up health potions. Not sure if this is supposed to be part of the gimmick here but it was something I noticed.

- The water pit where the rsk is is not water when I jump into it. I can look up and I am just floating (can't see the underside of the water texture which is above me).

- The lift on the way out of the bsk room was odd in that I couldn't run off of it when it was going up (same thing not being able to go underneath it).

 

Remmirath's map:

- The midtexture bridge upon entering the building is textured on only one side so you don't see the bridge looking at it from certain angles.

- The first fight I was able to sit in the nook with 300 cells to the left of the door and just kill stuff. Can also jump out.

- The map didn't appear to have difficulties implemented.

 

Arlene's red map:

- The first area with the bars that raise around the player. I was able to simply run through the center and then I appeared in the next area. I assume I am supposed to be caught by the bars and lower down.

- The water effects didn't look like water. I was just floating in the air. Not sure if this is intended.

- The final fight was jarring to me because it was quite different atmosphere wise (very large slaughter fight out of no where). Mancs also continued to spawn in for quite some time while I was rocketing viles.

 

Arlene's blue/yellow map:

- The room with the two lifts when I was riding up a lift an imp spawned on my head.

- The area with the spectral vegetation I was able to leave and then have all of the monsters run off to the side. I assume this is a portal thing based on where the area is in the map.

[IvanDobrovski]

 

Spoiler

https://imgur.com/8QrPZK4

In this area in Tech Duinn, a mancubus walked in there and clogged the whole thing. Now it glitched for good. Should probably use TagWait or something.

 

Spoiler

https://imgur.com/fYDUSw1
Cyanotic Dreams: Is this bridge meant to look like this? It looks like the faces are facing the wrong direction or something.

The exit did not open for me even when I had max kills.

Spoiler

In Omnia Mors Aequat, I get a spam of these:

https://imgur.com/r4uJgJt

 

This level is completely broken for me, I have no idea where to go and there seems no clear progression anywhere. I think those bugs there might be the cause, not sure.

https://imgur.com/ToWgdS4

These bars aren't blocking.

 

Wicked makes no sounds.

 

Also my favorite map is by far LV-31. I've never imagined I'd be afraid of Zombieman, but here I was about to shit myself lol...

Edited May 2, 2021 by IvanDobrovski

[Bauul]

6 hours ago, IvanDobrovski said:

Also my favorite map is by far LV-31. I've never imagined I'd be afraid of Zombieman, but here I was about to shit myself lol...

 

I'm glad you enjoyed my little gimmick map!

 

It was originally designed for the secret slot (hence the name) which is why it's a tad smaller scale than the other maps.

[danidf96]

Just finished the level by @Major Arlene and so far it's amazing, love the little text at the beggining and the end, can't wait to play the rest. I was worried that it wouldn't run on my computer but it's perfectly optimized, great job everyone.

[Dieting Hippo]

I did a UV playthrough on stream yesterday, check it out!
 

Timestamps for specific maps:

Spoiler

00:20 - LV-31

10:30 - Sempiternal

15:52 - Omnia Mors Aequat

44:28 - Tech Duinn

1:51:01 - Cyanotic Dreams

 

Some notes where I messed up the level flow or scripting, or there was something odd:

Sempiternal:

- (12:15) I was able to get to the Megasphere secret that's visible at the start of the level. That let me skip over to what appeared to be the last few fights.

Tech Duinn:

- (48:22) I ran through the elevator cage before it could capture me inside.
- (1:33:30) I was able to leave through the two gigantic doors before the arena fight, but couldn't get back in. Had to noclip to get back inside.

 

Cyanotic Dreams:

- (2:04:30) I couldn't figure out immediately how to exit the area after the last fight, which led me to believe that the gate to the wall teleport was a timed gate. Turns out that stepping on the small colored square at the back will open the gate up and I figured that out on accident!

Edited May 2, 2021 by Dieting Hippo

[Major Arlene]

RC2 has been released! Hope to have ironed out some of the bugs brought up here. Let me know what you guys think!

[Major Arlene]

A HUGE thanks to Ultraviolence for playing through Tech Duinn! Check out his video here.

[Murdoch]

I missed the release. I really need to not keep forgetting the follow button is a thing that exists. Will definitely download this weekend. 

[Major Arlene]

FINAL RELEASE IS HERE! Thank you all SO much for all of your feedback, time, and dedication to this project. Please let me know if you find any other bugs, I will be keeping this dropbox link for 6 months and after that this set will be finally FINAL FINAL on /idgames.

[Murdoch]

Just now, Major Arlene said:

FINAL RELEASE IS HERE! Thank you all SO much for all of your feedback, time, and dedication to this project. Please let me know if you find any other bugs, I will be keeping this dropbox link for 6 months and after that this set will be finally FINAL FINAL on /idgames.

 

I will have to download again. Started on the weekend. Definitely an atmospheric treat, and a challenge. Having to modify my usual HUH HUH MAN CHARGE IN SHOOT SMASH style of gameplay.

[SyntherAugustus]

This mapset is very interesting and I'm having fun playing through. There are some odd bits though. I already mentioned the first one in your stream.

 

Map03:

-If the 3d lifts hit an actor on the way down, they will clip into the floor and then malfunction.

-*If you shoot your weapon in the first room during the cutscene, you will be attacked. Perhaps disable firing or set the monsters to ambush?

* This seems to only happen if you warp directly to map03. I noticed in my autosave that firing was disabled.

-Is Map03 the only map that uses midi? I noticed it when I had my Sound Canvas VA turned off until I turned it back on.

 

Map05:

-You are greeted with dozens of sloped portal warnings upon boot in the console.

What's up with projectiles being blocked as the lift functions in this section? It lets you kill yourself with rockets if you're trying to shoot the monsters in the room.

 

Map01: 

-The water bit in this doesn't quite communicate you can drown easily if you don't act fast. If you die without saving, you have to go through the really long cutscene and then some to get back to that section. Perhaps disable drowning? I'm not sure how that works.

Edited May 17, 2021 by SyntherAugustus

[Murdoch]

OK so downloaded the latest version. My thoughts so far.

 

Hub Map

Beautiful, complimented by a stunning piece of music. I actually stood about admiring the architecture for some time, listening to the music. Good job @Major Arlene and whomever composed the track.

 

LV-31

Jesus Christ, what a tense experience. Hats off to you @Bauul. You made Troopers terrifying, you absolute madman. And once again kudos to the composer, a perfect fit. Takes some getting into the zone and requires a level of resource management I normally dislike, but it suited the style of gameplay and atmosphere that was being created so good job. One thing I will add, after the yellow door (I think) there's a bit where a bunch of Troopers drop from the ceiling. I had to reload this spot a few times as I kept dying, and a few times the Troopers actually dropped on top of each other. Kind of killed the mood a bit seeing them standing on each other's heads like this. Not sure what, if any solution can be found for this. A minor issue regardless. EDIT: maybe widen the hole and increase the number of (I assume) conveyors bringing them in?

 

Tech Duinn

Just started this before finishing for the night but already impressed by the atmosphere. 

Edited May 17, 2021 by Murdoch

[Major Arlene]

Hotfix pushed for the blockline issues in Omnia Mors Aequat and the lift issue in Sempiternal. Cheers for all the feedback so far. <3

[Terminus]

Congrats on the final release!

This was such a treat to play and this project really does bring out the best of what GZDoom and OTEX can work with.

 

Don't snooze on this one, guys.

 

Here's my playthrough of the wad from around 3 weeks ago if anyone wants to take a look :P

 

 

[Demon of the Well]

Howdy, I seem to be having a problem with the current version (downloaded earlier today, since the last update push): if entering the map "Sempiternal" from the portal in the hub, the marine spawns on the initial featureless platform floating in space, but cannot move or act in any way, so the game softlocks indefinitely. However, if you warp to the map with IDCLEV03, you're able to move normally once you spawn and thus teleport into the map proper. The portal entrances to the other four maps all seem to work fine (as does entering them via IDCLEV or warp commands).

 

Edit: this is using GZDoom 4.5.0.

 

Edit 2: I should maybe mention that there's no sign of a cutscene in either case, evidently there should be one, ala "Tech Duin?"

Edited May 19, 2021 by Demon of the Well

[Major Arlene]

2 hours ago, Demon of the Well said:

Howdy, I seem to be having a problem with the current version (downloaded earlier today, since the last update push): if entering the map "Sempiternal" from the portal in the hub, the marine spawns on the initial featureless platform floating in space, but cannot move or act in any way, so the game softlocks indefinitely. However, if you warp to the map with IDCLEV03, you're able to move normally once you spawn and thus teleport into the map proper. The portal entrances to the other four maps all seem to work fine (as does entering them via IDCLEV or warp commands).

 

Edit: this is using GZDoom 4.5.0.

 

Edit 2: I should maybe mention that there's no sign of a cutscene in either case, evidently there should be one, ala "Tech Duin?"

yeah, I realized I forgot to fix a script back to OPEN on Sempiternal when I was doing the hot fix for the lift. it should be fixed now :D

[The Mike]

Hey! In the same area you used for your screenshot of Omnia Mors Aequat, I can't get onto the lift at the end of the room (the one that's slowly lowering and rising). It's like there's an invisible wall blocking my way, and there doesn't seem to be any other way out of the room. Am I just dumb or did something go wrong?

[Major Arlene]

23 hours ago, The Mike said:

Hey! In the same area you used for your screenshot of Omnia Mors Aequat, I can't get onto the lift at the end of the room (the one that's slowly lowering and rising). It's like there's an invisible wall blocking my way, and there doesn't seem to be any other way out of the room. Am I just dumb or did something go wrong?

uploading a new version right now, I did a dumb and somehow set a blockline that I didn't mean to set. that lift should now be properly functional :D

[Rex705]

This looks great and is super fun. I played Level 31 and it's spooky!

 

My video of Level 31

 

[Demon of the Well]

Hello again, I re-DL'd the WAD and played to what was functionally the end today, and there seems to be at least one final issue. The order I played the experiences in was this:

 

Sempiternal -> Cyanotic Dreams -> LV-31 -> Omnia Mors Aequat -> Tech Duin

 

All of the maps seemed to work as intended individually, but I noticed that when I was brought back to the hub after finishing Clay's map, the portals to the three maps I had played before it were open once again. I didn't try entering any of them, opting for the final unvisited map instead. After finishing that last map, I was again returned to the hub, with the portals to "Tech Duin" and "Omnia Mors Aequat" now barred, and the portals to the other three still open. Presumably, in order to see the final/farewell message for the mapset, I'd have had to enter and complete those three a second time (I tried re-entering "Sempiternal" again, and it seemed to load up just fine, as though I'd never visited it before).

[Major Arlene]

1 hour ago, Demon of the Well said:

Hello again, I re-DL'd the WAD and played to what was functionally the end today, and there seems to be at least one final issue. The order I played the experiences in was this:

 

Sempiternal -> Cyanotic Dreams -> LV-31 -> Omnia Mors Aequat -> Tech Duin

 

All of the maps seemed to work as intended individually, but I noticed that when I was brought back to the hub after finishing Clay's map, the portals to the three maps I had played before it were open once again. I didn't try entering any of them, opting for the final unvisited map instead. After finishing that last map, I was again returned to the hub, with the portals to "Tech Duin" and "Omnia Mors Aequat" now barred, and the portals to the other three still open. Presumably, in order to see the final/farewell message for the mapset, I'd have had to enter and complete those three a second time (I tried re-entering "Sempiternal" again, and it seemed to load up just fine, as though I'd never visited it before).

well that is hella weird. remind me never to do hubs again lol! I'll have a look and check it out. thanks so much for playing!

[Demon of the Well]

NP, NP

 

You should definitely still do hubs again, though (at some point at least). Everybody loves a 'stage select' setup now and again, in fact I'd warrant that's probably one of very few things one could reasonably expect most players to agree on, regardless of countless other differences in taste and predilection and so on.