DBP37: AUGER;ZENITH - THE Cyberpunk MEGAWAD!

[Some1NamedNate]

Deathmatch WAD when?

[ax34]

What does this "Всего" mean? I'm Russian, and and i know Russian language quite well, so i ask.

[Soulless]

Ive been playing this mapset (late to the party) and really enjoying the ride.

I must say the AoM homage escaped me and as someone mentioned I thought it was indeed a joke map.

Despite this the maps keeps growing on me. Currently on map 18, but already have a favourite, "Luminescent Synapse",

such an immersive map, amazing in every aspect; About this one also wanted to point out that I couldnt get 100% kills,

got all secrets and explored pretty much everything, heres an automap screen:

Spoiler

https://imgur.com/a/Gs2ta0v

 

[EffinghamHuffnagel]

I think I know the Revenant you mean. I had the same problem. Go to the bath house. In one of the stalls there is a bar of soap on the ground (which had two Helmets near it, IIRC). Bend over and pick up the soap. You'll get a surprise. Not obvious, but funny. I wondered it maybe the bar should be red to be more noticeable, but that might be too much. I also loved that all the showers and sinks can be used (which fills them), and I think all the toilets can be flushed (which replaces the brown liquid with blue). I had to find them all. I thought there might be a secret which is only scored when all usable liquid objects are used (and all that rain just kept making me pee). It's also a subtle hint to use the water fountain. Nice. Great map.

 

And, after the end of MAP06 (combat in a grey rain. THAT was Blade Runner) I found and edited some images and threw them into an add-in wad for myself.

Spoiler

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn't decide between the two cars for Titlepic and the two ladies for Help screen. The last four are Doom-paletted because I used them as skies.

 

[SuperCupcakeTactics]

@Some1NamedNate I've seen interest in deathmatch maps in this theme before so if I manage to bring myself to make a DM map of my own I'll see if I can kickstart a project for people to contribute to it. Experimental gimmicky unorthodox DM mapping encouraged (as long as they're "playable" of course). First of all there'll be the skatepark DM map, and then a map featuring a Mixom facility surrounded by a shantytown inspired by the real-life Amazon warehouse built in Tijuana. Putting that out there if anyone wants to start it without me because you're totally welcome to.

 

@ax34 That's only half of the texture. The full texture of the Cyrillic reads 'Всего́ хоро́шего!' I looked up 'всего' and it appears to just be an adverb. I don't know Russian but the full 'Всего́ хоро́шего!' is meant to read along the lines of "cheers," "best wishes," or "all the best to you."

 

@EffinghamHuffnagel Thank you for sharing!

 

Shoutout to Usednoo25 for the lovely fan-work he has done featured on his DeviantArt. This piece inspired by a JOJOLION cover:

Spoiler

 

Edited October 11, 2021 by SuperCupcakeTactics

[ax34]

21 hours ago, SuperCupcakeTactics said:

That's only half of the texture. The full texture of the Cyrillic reads 'Всего́ хоро́шего!

Maybe scroll it then?

[lunchlunch]

@ax34

Edited October 18, 2022 by lunchlunch

[iUsuallyDie]

Holy shit this wad is amazing. I love a good cyberpunk aesthetic.

[Captain Ventris]

Every level was a wonder to behold. I was sad when the wad ended, even though it was on a high note!

[DarkQuill]

Just finished the last handful of levels off today. Holy moly that was awesome. Great use of custom textures and sprites, good music selection, a lot of interactivity with the world itself, and super fun overall.

 

The Arcade Machine secret was hilarious. Absolute pleasure to play through.

Edited November 27, 2021 by DarkQuill
typo

[Gregor]

So what does the name of the wad actually mean? At first i thought you meant "augur", as in someone foretelling the future, and just misspelled it. Was that intentional? It's a cool sounding name, that's for sure. But what does it mean? Driller, zenith?? But what was the inspiration here?

Edited December 18, 2021 by Gregor

[SleepyVelvet]

4 hours ago, Gregor said:

So what does the name of the wad actually mean? At first i thought you meant "augur", as in someone foretelling the future, and just misspelled it. Was that intentional? It's a cool sounding name, that's for sure. But what does it mean? Driller, zenith?? But what was the inspiration here?

It means a lot of things.  For example, there is a doom poster I'm fond of named Xeep who has a very large penis and/or is one.  "Auger" refers to his penis; and "Zenith" refers to the biggest one.  AUGER;ZENITH is an allegorical story about his growth into the biggest penis across the multiverse.

[Gregor]

1 hour ago, NoisyVelvet said:

It means a lot of things.  For example, there is a doom poster I'm fond of named Xeep who has a very large penis and/or is one.  "Auger" refers to his penis; and "Zenith" refers to the biggest one.  AUGER;ZENITH is an allegorical story about his growth into the biggest penis across the multiverse.

Well.

I guess, i was expecting something more... existential? Philosophical... But phallic, megalomanic is also cool.

It makes sense, i suppose. Auger; Zenith... Dickus; Biggus... So did you suggest the title to @SuperCupcakeTactics?

But where does the cyberpunk theme fit into that?

Edited December 18, 2021 by Gregor

[SuperCupcakeTactics]

@Gregor I made the name and while it is the coolest name a WAD can have it did have meaning when I was deciding on it and creating the graphic of it. I did use the word "augur" in the first text crawl screen, but that was just because I could and to insert note of cyberpunk mystics of some sort (a much higher level of the kind of cyberpunk that traps self-driving cars by standing in front of it and having a salt circle drawn around it that leaves no escape). Fun fact: I had a killer headache while I was writing every single one of those text interludes.

 

The 'AUGER' is the amalgamation of every "impending doom" humanity has issue with that were decades, even centuries now in the making. The world of unchecked greed and shortsightedness, perhaps a dead-end on Earth in the (very aesthetic) cyberpunk dystopia timeline. The warning stripe bar in the graphic represents a (technological) barrier that was reached long ago and leaves life ever stagnant. The 'ZENITH' is the highest point (depending on perspective) below that barrier and it cannot elevate itself past the folly of selfish and ignoble decisions that only weigh heavier on those left to toil on Earth (assuming you're not a corporate bigwig colonizing and waging war off-world). High tech and low life! 

 

The inciting problem that surfaced in the world of AUGER;ZENITH is a supernatural one of demons that have existed since time immemorial, intelligences that have materialized themselves after many years of synchronized interaction focused between electronic display screens. Demons evolving to rise again in a world littered with black mirrors to stare in to and out of — crawling out of a world of illusions to that of the real to connect with the energies that seeded their development. The only wonder of the world left below a starless sky.

[lunchlunch]

.

Edited October 18, 2022 by lunchlunch

[Gregor]

27 minutes ago, SuperCupcakeTactics said:

The 'AUGER' is the amalgamation of every "impending doom" humanity has issue with that were decades, even centuries now in the making. The world of unchecked greed and shortsightedness, perhaps a dead-end on Earth in the (very aesthetic) cyberpunk dystopia timeline. The warning stripe bar in the graphic represents a (technological) barrier that was reached long ago and leaves life ever stagnant. The 'ZENITH' is the highest point (depending on perspective) below that barrier and it cannot elevate itself past the folly of selfish and ignoble decisions that only weigh heavier on those left to toil on Earth (assuming you're not a corporate bigwig colonizing and waging war off-world). High tech and low life!

 

I didn't notice that warning stripe in the title before but that's such a cool detail. I like your explanation even though it's still a bit obscure. But that is perhaps for the better. That leaves some room for interpretation. It definitely fits in with the cyberpunk theme though. The auger as a symbol for humanity's unbalanced technological and social progression like drilling into the rock of nature's laws. And the zenith as a cultural and social barrier of stagnation. The whole system of human society being pushed against the barrier while the drill tries to reach higher and higher. Something has to give way... Sounds pretty dystopian to me.

I'm currently playing through the wad and having an absolute blast. As soon as i heard the Policenauts intro theme i was pretty much sold. Love the look & feel of the whole thing. It oozes atmosphere. The choice of music is also excellent. There are some really great maps in this set. So thanks for making it! This is definitely one i'll keep replaying and recommending to others.

[Gregor]

53 minutes ago, lunchlunch said:

Cupcake is covering up the truth. 'Auger;Zenith' is in fact an allusion to the fluctuating dimensions of Xeep-Eep's genitalia, as is evidenced by this out-of-bounds message in MAP06:

 

Here we go. Conflicting origin stories. I like it. You cannot trust anyone.

[HellGhost]

Found this lying around...

[Gez]

On samedi 18 décembre 2021 at 6:57 PM, Gregor said:

So what does the name of the wad actually mean? At first i thought you meant "augur", as in someone foretelling the future, and just misspelled it. Was that intentional? It's a cool sounding name, that's for sure. But what does it mean? Driller, zenith?? But what was the inspiration here?

Well obviously you have a word starting with A and another starting with Z. So there's a holistic aspect here, as the entire alphabet is encompassed.

 

The other obvious thing is THIS IS THE AUGER THAT WILL PIERCE THE ZENITH! just like in my Japanese animes.

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Gez

[Gregor]

2 hours ago, Gez said:

Well obviously you have a word starting with A and another starting with Z. So there's a holistic aspect here, as the entire alphabet is encompassed.

 

The other obvious thing is THIS IS THE AUGER THAT WILL PIECE THE ZENITH! just like in my Japanese animes.

 

I mean, sure. A to Z. That is kind of... profound? I don#t know. But a bit general for my taste.

And what Japanese anime are you referring to? Is that a Metal Gear quote??

Edited December 20, 2021 by Gregor

[Gez]

It's Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, an anime that is about pointy sunglasses, believing in yourself, and having THE DRILL THAT WILL PIERCE THE HEAVENS! -- at least that's what my second-hand exposure through Internet memes tells me, because I've never actually watched it.

Edited December 21, 2021 by Gez

[NightFright]

I have just finished this as part of my complete Cacowards 2021 playthrough and gotta say I love it - except for map12. This one just didn't work for me. I totally understand where you wanted to go with this, but for me it's just lazy level layout, bland texturing and just looks pretty ugly, especially in 1080p. Sticks out of the entire pack in a bad way. Gratefully, the rest is superb, especially with the neat rain effect and excellent music choices. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by NightFright

[marcus72]

This is the best doom wad i have played to date, please dont get me wrong for those cacoward tier 1 2 3 winners...its basically a preference here.

I prefer mega map wads and this one was kept me on a constant interest level through out my gaming experience. I would strongly appreciate a sequel to amazing and wonderful creation...my vote for first place anyway.

Edited February 3, 2022 by marcus72

[Fluuschoen]

@SuperCupcakeTactics Bro, I'm in love. This is effing beautiful. Absolutely lovely. Can't remember when was the last time I played the game in 16:9/high-res @ properly low gamma before this. And it's complevel 2, which is pretty darn awesome. So much atmosphere and detail, late '80s/early '90s cyberpunk vibe (the bestest there is), total visual overload. Was having fun with exploring only and making screenshots after stuff was dead, was truly interested in the environment – a kind of urge I haven't felt since God knows when. You are a man of culture, I mean CULTURE.

Care to share the sources for the anime girls? It seems you favor roughly the same era of japanese animation as me (~'87-'96). : >

Thought about getting into mapping, and if I do, now I know what resources I'll use for a DM level.

Edited February 10, 2022 by Fluuschoen

[Katamori]

Okay, I have no idea why this thread was resurrected but ironically I was just talking to @Cell about it today - poor boy is a bit rusty on recent releases, but it was one nobody should miss.

 

So please allow me to take the opportunity to express my gratitude and amazement over AUGER;ZENITH, it's by far the best cyberpunk themed Doom mod I've ever played, at the same time my absolute favourite release of 2021 overall (as well as some of the preceding years) and some of the maps, up to and including MAP01 (which is an excellent, unmatched opener) are the most inspirational, most atmospheric pieces I've ever encountered in Doom.

 

I have a sweet spot for cyberpunk stuff, and especially everyday life locations in Doom in general and I've been missing this sort of thing back in the early 2010s - it's insane how far we've come since Doom City.

 

That said, at this point I think I can complain (though apparently it's not news for more regulars here) is that it's infuriating joe-ilya contributed to this one, as well - feels like the world's best, nicest cake, except someone dragged his finger across it: still tasty but just not the same.

 

That's my only complaint, though: some of the textures are rather abstract but they were put into great, GREAT use in many places. Really, a pinnacle for me in many aspects, and definitely a prime example of what can you reach even without ZDoom features. It's miraculous, and definitely a high point for me across everything else.

 

This is the kind of thing for which I'm glad we have Doomer Boards, regardless of any prior conflicts with DW - which I was missing out on in the first place :P

 

Ah, sorry for getting a bit sentimental.

[Kokoro Hane]

Just started this wad and loving it so far! The aesthetic of it is so cool!

[Noyemi K]

I gave this wad a spin with the intention of playing one or two maps just to try it out. I wound up playing 3x that amount and forgot to make my dinner. The atmosphere is really something special, with all the ambient sounds and the well-crafted and detailed maps lending a lot of verisimilitude. It's a great mapset so far and I can't wait to get back in and finish it. Really loved the first map, the rooftop shootout, and the start of Map06 was pretty magical too

[Fluuschoen]

On 9/27/2021 at 7:54 PM, EffinghamHuffnagel said:

And, after the end of MAP06 (combat in a grey rain. THAT was Blade Runner) I found and edited some images and threw them into an add-in wad for myself.

  Hide contents

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn't decide between the two cars for Titlepic and the two ladies for Help screen. The last four are Doom-paletted because I used them as skies.

 

Hey, man, can you post these pictures in properly high resolution somewhere?

[LF222]

Was wondering, is there a source for the character sprite on this texture?

[NightFright]

Any chance you guys have widescreen assets of the TITLEPIC, INTERPIC etc? Someone already made a widescreen statusbar in the "Widescreen Appreciation Thread" and this project would certainly deserve a full 426x200 image set.