Breathless HD Remaster Redux Dynamic 4K [/idgames]

[Nirvana]

A couple of years ago I made a really big blue (boom compat) map called Breathless. Some people have been requesting I rerelease the wad in a slightly more UV-Max-friendly format, and as I had something akin to this that had been sitting on my hard drive for a year, I decided I'd just polish it up and send it out. If there aren't any major bugs found over the next couple of days I'll put it on idgames, however I'm not really interested in making any further balance or visual changes to the map. Also I have a new big project coming out soon (ish,) so watch this space etc. 

 

 

Thanks to Gazebo for the new Title and Inter pics :)

 

Changes:

-New midi (The Sea of Mystery by Eris)

-New palette that clashes a little less

-Some sprite alterations that feel less out of place

-Minor balance changes (mostly nerfs) to fights

-Very minor visual changes

-Removal of one particularly bad encounter

-Additional map 2 so you don't dive right into Underhalls

-Basically all teleport closets have been made more efficient, with specific attention to the final fight and the big 242 room

-Map has been brightened up overall so it is somewhat playable in Software mode (although FPS for final fight can still be rough, still recommend GL overall)

-Some timers have been shortened

 

Screenshots:

 

 

Idgames:

Breathlessv2.wad

Edited September 7, 2021 by Nirvana

[Xyzzу]

SUPER NUT

[David Asaad]

YES

[sapphics]

Hype-u

[Plats]

Epic

[NieMaMordy]

What ports is it compatible with?

[Nirvana]

1 minute ago, NieMaMordy said:

What ports is it compatible with?

glboom+, gzdoom (prboom+ is mostly fine aside from some FPS drops in final fight) and zdoom is unlikely to enjoy it.

[Ancalagon]

Breathless remastered :D

[Nirvana]

12 hours ago, Ancalagon said:

Breathless remastered :D

It's back, and slightly bluer.

[Devalaous]

Meanwhile Jimmy over there: 'Damn it, why didnt I take this name first?'

 

This looks interesting. Blue is objectively the best colour, and its got a goddamn Eris midi, so it should be right up my alley.

[David Asaad]

Hey so I did two practice runs of this map and both times I had 1 mancubus come late in the room in that last screenshot. Not a major issue I guess I can just come back to that room at the end, but just letting you know. 

[Jacek Bourne]

Excellent.

[gingleheimer]

On 8/29/2021 at 11:35 AM, David Asaad said:

Hey so I did two practice runs of this map and both times I had 1 mancubus come late in the room in that last screenshot. Not a major issue I guess I can just come back to that room at the end, but just letting you know. 

I actually had this same issue, it's odd but consistent enough to pay attention to! Just make sure to have 1,668 monsters dead prior to entering the final fight on the stairwell (assuming you tackled every other fight.)

 

[gingleheimer]

But yeah, this is one amazing map! I appreciate having extra megas in the zombie-cyber-invisi fight, however I do kinda miss the archviles in that area (along with the ones at the beginnning of the revenant bonenanza)! Solid 9.7/10 for me, I kinda preferred the old midi :D

[Nirvana]

On 8/30/2021 at 1:35 AM, David Asaad said:

Hey so I did two practice runs of this map and both times I had 1 mancubus come late in the room in that last screenshot. Not a major issue I guess I can just come back to that room at the end, but just letting you know. 

 

K this is fixed. Will post to idgames so it's runnable I guess. Thanks for testing guys.

[Nirvana]

Idgames link here (updated link in OP too):

 

Breathlessv2.wad

[Blip]

Just found out about this new version yesterday and decided to give the map a second try because the original one kicked my (and my framerate's) ass.

 

Holy shit, this remaster is amazing. Every fight feels soooooooooo good to pull off with one's own strategy. The fights that gave me the most trouble were 

Spoiler

the one where cacodemons and pain elementals swarm you as you fight against a lot of cybers and hell knights; then the big room and the final fight. I think I used around one or two midsaves in each, so I think the fights are pretty well balanced in UV.

 

I loved entropy's monster design, so it's really cool to see some of them back and recolored. The new textures are also amazing.

Framerate is still kind of wonky at times, but it really isn't an issue in most fights except from maybe the last one, and only in some specific angles.

 

I really, REALLY had a blast, so much that it left me wanting for more.

 

Can't wait for your next project!

[Nirvana]

Glad you're enjoying it. I will say that my latest project will be a lot easier overall. Breathless isn't so much the gameplay I angle for these days but some of the fights are still fun I think. Framerate for software is still a bit rough in certain areas for sure, not sure if GL has similar issues for some PCs but it was fine on my (notably fairly high spec for Doom) rig. 

 

New project will be finished soon (tm).

[Jacek Bourne]

3 hours ago, Nirvana said:

Glad you're enjoying it. I will say that my latest project will be a lot easier overall. Breathless isn't so much the gameplay I angle for these days but some of the fights are still fun I think. Framerate for software is still a bit rough in certain areas for sure, not sure if GL has similar issues for some PCs but it was fine on my (notably fairly high spec for Doom) rig. 

 

New project will be finished soon (tm).

My anticipation as excitement levels have suddenly increased significantly.

[Bytefyre]

Hey Nirvana!  I have a (hopefully) small request.  I just loaded the map in widescreen for the first time (had previously loaded it in 4:3), and I had no idea I was about to see the ugly stock DOOM II green bricks to the left and right of the status bar.  Is there any chance you could make up a widescreen version of the status bar or have a replacement flat for the border so it doesn't clash so much?  Thanks!

[Nirvana]

Fairly unlikely to make edits at this point as it's on idgames already. Sorry byte!

[Bytefyre]

On 1/17/2022 at 8:44 PM, Nirvana said:

Fairly unlikely to make edits at this point as it's on idgames already. Sorry byte!

No worries!  I actually figured out how to fix the border myself; just copied in the GRNROCK flat from Sunlust (which is simply all black).  I initially tried to do it in an additional WAD, but it seems the autoload wouldn't work properly for this particular aspect, which is odd.