My new map Forgotten base!

[azerty]

This is my latest map it's called Forgotten base and this is my best creation so far. Feedback would be really appreciated it would also be nice to report any technical issues. I hope you like it! This map is greatly inspired by Die teufelmachind by Lazlo panaflex available here.

 

Information:

-Iwad: Doom 2

-port: gzdoom only

-jumping: no

-mouselook: needed

-duration: about 25min

-renderer: hardware accelerated

-sector lighting mode: Standard 

 

credits:

-cc4-tex

-OTEX by Ola Björling (Ukiro)

-Special thanks to Thing! for the great playtesting efforts

 

Download links:

-map: Hard version (old version), newest version

 

-combined version: map + textures

 

 

When playing please load cc4-tex first and then OTEX otherwise the animations won't work properly!

(Sorry for the trouble I am currently working on a version where the map and the textures are in 1 file.)

 

some screenshots:

Edited September 28, 2021 by azerty

[Astro X]

Looks cool, buddy

 

I def wanna try it!

[Lazlo Panaflex]

That's a heavy lean on the Die Neoplasmaschine aesthetic :)

[azerty]

Yeah I was just about to put it in lol!

[Deleted]

I like the dark and red/green combo. Will probably give this a try later tonight, and post again with my thoughts after playing.

[azerty]

I got some feedback from someone and I am currently reworking a lot of the encounters so if you want to the the best experience I suggest you wait. If you prefer playing right now  that's ok to it's up to you.

 

*EDIT: The update has been made encounters should now be much more fun. Let me know what you think :)

Edited August 20, 2021 by azerty

[Clippy]

Hey buddy .... I don't like giving a less than great review

 

Let me start by saying the visuals were stunning - amazing eye candy the whole way through

 

But the gameplay ... was ... rough

 

I felt like there was an over abundance of hitscanners and an extreme under abundance of health

 

Not to mention EVERYTHING was a trap and I only had the chaingun, SG & SSG. If more weapons were around they were hidden and of no use

 

I really feel like this could have been challenging but still fun with a few more weapons and health but in it's current format I found it quite frustrating to play, every step of the way was a struggle but not the fun kind for me anyway. I am curious what the original version was.

 

Not to mention constantly getting stuck on the beautiful terrain while in combat - altogether I enjoyed the visuals, but did not have fun with the gameplay

 

TLDR: GLORIOUSLY BEAUTIFUL map - extremely harsh and unforgiving to the point of annoyance

 

This is my opinion anyway - the video may need some hours to process but I gotta go to bed and have beautiful nightmares now

 

 

Edited August 21, 2021 by Clippy
hi there

[Deleted]

I downloaded the WAD and noticed the missing textures everywhere, and then came back here and saw that you are working on a version that combines everything into one file. I'll probably hold off until that version is ready to go!

[Biodegradable]

I echo Clippy's sentiment with this WAD. It's very nicely made, there's a lot of cool attention to detail and such, but it's unfortunately not all that fun to play. I didn't find the combat to be really sadistic or anything, in fact it was quite good for the most part, but the sheer dearth of health and weaponry to deal with it all just made the map feel more like an endurance test than anything else. I also didn't understand the progression all too well as it felt like a good chunk of the map (from getting to the blue skullkey, returning to the blue door and beyond) seemed entirely optional and you can skip it completely. Given the lack of health and weapons, it's not worth the aggravation to even bother with. Not sure if that was a design choice or a mistake. So yeah, pretty map with some nice design/layout, combat is well put together in most cases, but it's just not that much fun because of how stacked the odds feel against the player.

 

 

The last tidbit is unlikely your problem, but for some odd reason the buttons didn't animate for me. Not sure what that's about since they worked for Clip and we're both using the same versions of GeeZee so... I don't know what the deal is with that, but that's not your problem. Just something I'll have to investigate.

 

 

[Murdoch]

Shots look great but based on feedback so far i will wait. Always err on the side caution when giving out health and ammo. Challenge created by resource deprivation is extremely hard to pull off without creating frustration. Give the player a chance to make mistakes. Building challenge with well designed fights is much safer and more fun.

Edited August 21, 2021 by Murdoch

[azerty]

Thank you guys so much for playing (even if you had a bad time)! I am currently reworking the balancing. Will upload the updated version as soon as possible. Sorry for the bad time.

 

 

You where able to exit cause to get thru that door you needed a red key card which you could get by going going thru another door but I forgot that you the red key card at the beginning. I never tried to open the door myself before going the whole way so I never found out about it.

Edited August 21, 2021 by azerty

[Murdoch]

12 minutes ago, azerty said:

Thank you guys so much for playing (even if you had a bad time)! I am currently reworking the balancing. Will upload the updated version as soon as possible. Sorry for the bad time.

 

No harm done i am sure. A positive response to less than ideal feedback shows good character. Well done. 

[azerty]

1 hour ago, Murdoch said:

 

No harm done i am sure

 

Well I ma note sure pretty sure clippy ig going to see a doctor. :)

[Clippy]

Just now, azerty said:

 

Well I ma note sure pretty sure clippy ig going to see a doctor. :)

 

lol I'm very sorry about that - I lost all my money to the swear jar

 

This map does have promise and you can't please everyone.

 

For a blind run it's especially rough - with foreknowledge it's probably not as bad

 

Take your time reworking it if you wish and may be best to re-release it - I would be willing to give it another shake :)

[azerty]

@hjordan159 I am currently working hard on the map itself so if you are wanting to wait until the version of the map where both map and textures are in one I think you will need to wait for a long time. It's up to you to choose what you are going to do. 

[azerty]

I updated it! I didn't make the encounters easier I just gave the player a better fighting chance please let me know what you think. If it is still to difficult or even that I made it to easy (that would really surprise me). If you already played it but don't want to do it again but still are curious of what changed. Here is a video of me playing it without any secrets.

 

I hope the map is enjoyable now and if not please let me know!

 

Edited August 21, 2021 by azerty

[azerty]

I played the map without dying once! This was my 4th attempt.

 

[Astro X]

My screen was very dark, other than that, I enjoyed what you had for me:

 

 

Edited August 22, 2021 by Astro X

[azerty]

I recommend you use the standard sector lighting mode that should help with it being to dark I also suggest using hardware accelerated as it makes everything look way better, without that you don't have any glow which also makes the map look way darker. I added it for the other players so they don't have the same problem sorry I didn't do that earlier. Thank you for playing! I am really happy you liked it, hope the rest will to.

Edited August 22, 2021 by azerty

[Clippy]

Played again. Much more fun I hope my commentary makes sense as I ramble on the whole video. I am surprised you changed monsters around a bit I thought you would only add resources 

 

Hope my vid helps 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[azerty]

Thank you so much for playing again. I was always scared cause it's very hard for me to playtest as I know the whole map by heart, that's why just to be sure I replaced some monsters. I see you dealt perfectly with the map and I am happy about that. I am going to undo some of the changes I made with the monsters not all tho cause there are some good reasons for some of them. Happy you enjoyed it and I really appreciate the effort, I will reward you greatly with some cliptucky videos :)

[Clippy]

43 minutes ago, azerty said:

Thank you so much for playing again. I was always scared cause it's very hard for me to playtest as I know the whole map by heart, that's why just to be sure I replaced some monsters. I see you dealt perfectly with the map and I am happy about that. I am going to undo some of the changes I made with the monsters not all tho cause there are some good reasons for some of them. Happy you enjoyed it and I really appreciate the effort, I will reward you greatly with some cliptucky videos :)

 

Haha I just have fun playing - would love to see more vids of course but no obligation

 

 

[RevenantFTS97]

I downloaded this map two days ago, and after several failed attempts I decided to take a break

Today I played it again and beat it. So here it goes my review:

 

In terms of aesthetics, the map is just ASTONISHING. The textures are really nice, and with all the fancy lights and scrolling effects it makes really appealing to the eye. Somehow this map's enviroment made me think of a typical sci-fi movie where there is also an abandoned base and everyone is dead. The difference being, that your map doesn't have that depressive feeling and that boring filter which makes everything grayish. Thank God for that (I love this kind of colorful technological base)

 

About the secrets... I was only able to get two. The 1ST is nice and useful. The 2ND secret (2NDI discovered) which was that Medkit behind the "fake"

bar was a bit disasppointing. I mean, JUST A MEDKIT? At that point I was thinking: "mmm... I wish there was a BERSERK pack around here."

 

What else can I say?... Ah, yes... is it just me or your map is kinda punishing? I'm saying this because of some enemy traps, for instance, like in that green room with the Pain Elementals and the Mancubus, or  the Mancubus at the end, where the bars block the path. Also I noticed there are a lot of enemies, at least compared with the last maps I downloaded here in Doomworld. At one point I was thinking: "Should I try this map later with fast monsters?"

 

To end this review, I would like to mention that I appreciate you have put custom music. It is always a nice addition (it gives the map a personal touch). Anyway Cool map and good job

 

I have recorded a video, but unfortunately I can't upload because according to YT "it is too long" (therefore it can't be proccessed)

[azerty]

19 minutes ago, RevenantFTS97 said:

is it just me or your map is kinda punishing?

Yes it is pretty punishing. The goal was more to make the combat varied and unexpected, I hope it wasn't to difficult. I updated the map to give the player more resources and make it less frustrating.

 

Here is what I have to say about the secrets:

Spoiler

They where meant to be hard to find to still make everything challenging there for if you find one the reward is pretty good. About the medkit, I found that secret to be pretty easy so I made it a small one I will maybe add some armor to make it more rewarding. There is a secret with a berserk somewhere is the big room with the 3 cacos and the painelemental

 

I have no idea how but if possible could you send me the video so I can still watch it that would be very helpful.

 

I am glad you enjoyed it and thank you for playing :)

Edited August 25, 2021 by azerty

[RevenantFTS97]

On 8/25/2021 at 7:15 AM, azerty said:

Yes it is pretty punishing. The goal was more to make the combat varied and unexpected, I hope it wasn't to difficult. I updated the map to give the player more resources and make it less frustrating.

 

Here is what I have to say about the secrets:

  Reveal hidden contents

They where meant to be hard to find to still make everything challenging there for if you find one the reward is pretty good. About the medkit, I found that secret to be pretty easy so I made it a small one I will maybe add some armor to make it more rewarding. There is a secret with a berserk somewhere is the big room with the 3 cacos and the painelemental

 

I have no idea how but if possible could you send me the video so I can still watch it that would be very helpful.

 

I am glad you enjoyed it and thank you for playing :)

 

After 6 days, here it is the video of my (successful) playthrough ;)

ENJOY IT!

[azerty]

Thank you so much it was very helpful.

 

I am still working on the texture and map in one file thing but I can't get it to work sorry for that. I will continue trying but if I really can't get it to work I will just leave it like that.

 

 

[azerty]

I finally did it here is a combined version of the map and the textures. It took so long because I couldn't get it to work. I was overthinking it because it was way easier than I thought. @hjordan159 you where waiting for this version well here it is (you probably already forgot about this map lol).

 

There is something else I wanted to say. Would it be interesting to make a little map pack of 5 or 7 maps like this one? I would like to try it out once as I always make standalone maps and would like to know your opinion.

[Deleted]

9 hours ago, azerty said:

@hjordan159 you where waiting for this version well here it is (you probably already forgot about this map lol).

 

Hey, I should be able to try it sometime this week. Trying to finish up my own WAD over the next day or so, and then I'll be sure to check yours out and report back!   

[Deleted]

Nice work on this! The fights and visuals are very well done, difficulty felt right, and you got me a few times with some of the traps. The low light and color scheme go really well with the design of your rooms. I also liked the animated textures such as the computer monitors and so on. 

 

I did feel a bit resource-starved for some fights but managed to deal with it. If there is a rocket launcher or BFG I never found them, but I'll also be playing this more than once. Otherwise I had a really good time and no real major faults. Good job bud!!

 

Some screenshots:

Edited October 4, 2021 by hjordan159

[azerty]

Thanks for playing I am glad you liked it. The resource starvation in actually intended but I see you still got thru it so I think it's manageable. I am working on a new map so you might be interested in that one but it could still take some time as I have a lot of work and I am not always home.