Dominus Diabolicus - MBF21 33-map megawad [now on idgames]

[TJG1289]

Yup, it works now! 

 

Outside of that little issue, the rest of the WAD has been fantastic! I was not expecting it to be as tough as it is on UV. Monster counts are high throughout, and some maps get a little slaughtery, but there hasn't been anything that has given me too many issues. Most I've died on a single fight was probably like 7 times before beating it. Great visual design too! Maps look fantastic considering it's mostly just vanilla textures, but they're used very well and the actual architecture is great. New monsters are pretty cool, and I like how the summoner works. Having a sorta IoS monster makes fights a lot more hectic, and also makes him the #1 priority to get rid of. 

 

Yeah, this has been really fun! Very high quality WAD. 

[Firedust]

Map 33 sector 2816 secret is empty lol

 

Might be a uv only thing :'(

 

EDIT: Wait, just found another one! Are all secrets empty on uv?

Edited March 18 by Firedust

[bofu]

52 minutes ago, Firedust said:

Map 33 sector 2816 secret is empty lol

 

Might be a uv only thing :'(

 

EDIT: Wait, just found another one! Are all secrets empty on uv?

There is something in that sector, or there should be, anyway, but:

Spoiler

it's a fake invulnerability sphere that teleports away when touched.

If it's not showing up, it might be a bug with GZDoom.

Edited March 18 by bofu

[Firedust]

13 minutes ago, bofu said:

There is something in that sector, or there should be, anyway, but:

  Hide contents

it's a fake invulnerability sphere that teleports away when touched.

If it's not showing up, it might be a bug with GZDoom.

Yep, it didn't show up in both secrets I found!

[bofu]

42 minutes ago, Firedust said:

Yep, it didn't show up in both secrets I found!

That may lock you out of the fourth secret, then. I'll do some investigating. I assume this is 4.11.3?

[Firedust]

13 minutes ago, bofu said:

That may lock you out of the fourth secret, then. I'll do some investigating. I assume this is 4.11.3?

Yep. Overall, I found three secrets. Two were empty. The third one was by the starting area. No idea where secret 4 is.

Edited March 18 by Firedust

[bofu]

47 minutes ago, Firedust said:

Yep. Overall, I found three secrets. Two were empty. The third one was by the starting area. No idea where secret 4 is.

Can you test the following in the console?

summon deh_actor_161

Spoiler

Secret 4, by the way, is in the starting area. The other secrets are in the wooden sector at the back of the pipe organ, behind a wall with a baron on it in the southern part of the map leading to the red key area, and revealed by a hidden switch in the blue key courtyard area by grabbing a medkit in the northeast quadrant of the courtyard filled with imps, arachnotrons, mancubi. Collecting all three of the fake invulns that are supposed to be in those secrets is what opens the fourth secret.

I wasn't able to reproduce in my local copy of GZDoom, so there might be a compatibility setting that needs to be enabled, but I can't think of what it would be.

Edited March 18 by bofu

[Firedust]

48 minutes ago, bofu said:

Can you test the following in the console?

summon deh_actor_161

  Reveal hidden contents

Secret 4, by the way, is in the starting area. The other secrets are in the wooden sector at the back of the pipe organ, behind a wall with a baron on it in the southern part of the map leading to the red key area, and revealed by a hidden switch in the blue key courtyard area by grabbing a medkit in the northeast quadrant of the courtyard filled with imps, arachnotrons, mancubi. Collecting all three of the fake invulns that are supposed to be in those secrets is what opens the fourth secret.

I wasn't able to reproduce in my local copy of GZDoom, so there might be a compatibility setting that needs to be enabled, but I can't think of what it would be.

The command worked. The organ was the one secret I didn't find. Found the other three. Wtf, that's not how it was supposed to happen, but the door to the secret in the starting area was def open lmao what happened there

Edited March 18 by Firedust

[bofu]

9 minutes ago, Firedust said:

The command worked. The organ was the one secret I didn't find. Found the other three.

While secret 4 is supposed to be empty, the other three secrets should have had that actor in them when the map loaded. Do you happen to be running any other wad files besides DD? I can't think of anything else, especially since the items are there for me.

[Firedust]

1 hour ago, bofu said:

While secret 4 is supposed to be empty, the other three secrets should have had that actor in them when the map loaded. Do you happen to be running any other wad files besides DD? I can't think of anything else, especially since the items are there for me.

Nope, only DD (not running the extra wads in the folder either). I've reloaded and they are there, but the conditions for them to disappear seem to be strange. One of them disappeared when I approached the baron wall without opening it (just crashed into the wall and I could hear the orb vanishing). The organ one disappeared when a vile yeeted me across nearby. Ahahaha

 

EDIT: There's also a shortcut I discovered by accident in map 30. You can strafe across from the blue key door porch onto the two devil switches without ever needing the blue key to raise the stairs.

Edited March 18 by Firedust

[Firedust]

Alright, I'm done! First of all, apologies for the double post, but I figured it would be better to share my overall thoughts in a separate entry.

 

Overall, this is an extremely fun wad and perfect for completely unhinged run and gun gameplay. I never felt the burnout because the maps, while quite a few sporting over 400 monsters, were actually not that long. I laughed when I checked back and noticed you had added brutal doom compatibility because to me, the idea of playing DD together with BD is insane, considering how tough it gets at times. There were quite a few maps that I loved visually (Go to Hell, map 29, and pretty much every map from the first foray into hell).

 

Now onto a few things I feel you could've done a bit better (just my opinion, of course).

First off, I feel that you reveal your hand too early. Difficulty-wise DD peaks very quickly and then retains that level with the odd ballbustingly tough secret map or gimmick map (like buckshot) thrown in. By the time the player reaches map 13-14, they are probably well familiariased with most of the wad's shenanigans and traps. A gentler difficulty curve would've worked wonders to ameliorate this issue because, as I've already mentioned, the maps are super duper fun!

Secondly, the level of detailing across the maps felt incredibly inconsistent at times. The first few hell maps looked cool and quite nicely detailed but then at some point the texturing got a bit... blander, for the lack of a better term. It's almost as if you got burnt out circa map 17-18 (can't remember exactly) but marched on anyway. Moreover, some areas within some maps looked underpolished too - did you intentionally revisit some maps to spruce parts of them up while leaving other parts as they initially were? Again, nothing wrong with any of this per se, because this wad is obviously mostly combat focused.

 

And that is all I got! Thank you for making this fun mapset, I really enjoyed my time with it!

EDIT: Forgot to mention the soundtrack - reminded me a bit of Going Down at times, complimented the gameplay superbly! Looking forward to more releases from you!

 

Edited March 18 by Firedust

[bofu]

Thank you for the kind words! As this is my first project, I definitely bit off almost more than I could chew with it. While I could certainly go back and touch up things, I've decided that going crazy with it would be against the spirit of it at this point. My next projects (probably community projects!) will certainly take a lot more polish.

 

3 hours ago, Firedust said:

Secondly, the level of detailing across the maps felt incredibly inconsistent at times. The first few hell maps looked cool and quite nicely detailed but then at some point the texturing got a bit... blander, for the lack of a better term. It's almost as if you got burnt out circa map 17-18 (can't remember exactly) but marched on anyway. Moreover, some areas within some maps looked underpolished too - did you intentionally revisit some maps to spruce parts of them up while leaving other parts as they initially were? Again, nothing wrong with any of this per se, because this wad is obviously mostly combat focused.

 

To address this point: it's actually a bit of a conscious decision on my part. One thing I've noticed while playing projects with incredibly consistent levels of detail is that I end up not really appreciating them during a playthrough, even though they should be. When there's a set piece that has had that extra little bit of polish, however, it stands out, and I remember it a lot more. (Case in point: I put a lot of effort into making the rock formations in Cacophony look genuinely like crags and peaks and not like a wall going all the way up to the skybox, but it probably goes unnoticed because I do that to all the rock formations everywhere in the wad.)

Edited March 18 by bofu

[Lunar Sovereign]

playing in DSDA on map 20 the window showing the bfg secret is a HOM in software rendering. none of the other windows in the wad have had that problem for me.

[bofu]

1 hour ago, Lunar Sovereign said:

playing in DSDA on map 20 the window showing the bfg secret is a HOM in software rendering. none of the other windows in the wad have had that problem for me.

Fixed and reuploaded. This is why you don't re-tag your sectors at 3 AM in the morning, kids! (Also, replaced the now desynced demos, for those who care about that sort of thing.)

Edited March 19 by bofu

[bofu]

A few issues with demo desyncs (due to me recording them with -coop_spawns; there's a bug in Woof and DSDA and other such ports that makes it desync) and coop-only monster placements have been fixed, and after some fine-tuning, the WAD has been submitted to idgames for upload! I'll update the thread if/when this is successful.

[bofu]

Now on idgames! Thank you all for your support and encouragement. I will address any bugs that may have snuck through if they break levels, but if not, it's time for me to go ahead and move on to my next projects!

[bofu]

Sorry for the quadruple bump to my own thread, but a couple minor issues were identified and fixed:

• Various minor texture choice/alignment issues in MAP05, MAP09, MAP16, and a couple other places.
• Bugfix on GZDoom where the boss could get telefragged while he couldn't in non-GZDoom source ports.
• Updated boss to have the BOSS MBF21 flag to try to avoid situations where Corruption Cards spawns a whole bunch of them or Frankensteins them together with other monsters. Ouch.
• Fixed outdated or downright incorrect MIDI data.

The fix is currently pending on /idgames/ but is available on the Dropbox link.

[FEDEX]

I've downloaded the dropbox version and the wad file stamp is 7th march, is this the latest updated version?

[bofu]

2 hours ago, FEDEX said:

I've downloaded the dropbox version and the wad file stamp is 7th march, is this the latest updated version?

 

I will double check, since I re-uploaded a few days ago. I'd recommend idgames, but I am also about to reupload for one more nodebuilder issue that somehow sneaked by.

 

The time modified on the DominusD.wad file itself should be the 6th of April.

Edited April 14 by bofu

[bofu]

Updated version has been uploaded to Dropbox and is currently pending upload on idgames (I kept screwing this part up because I have too any copies of the file floating around). This fixes a few bugs reported in the wild, thank you for that.

 

Spoiler

• MAP01: Adjusted a deathmatch spawn position to not overlap an enemy on the off chance that -nomonsters isn't used in a DM game.
• MAP10: Adjusted a deathmatch spawn position to not overlap an enemy on the off chance that -nomonsters isn't used in a DM game.
• MAP14: Made some slight adjustments to address nodebuilder issues and texture alignment.
• MAP27: Fixed some stuck HMP things.
• MAP30: Fixed some stuck HMP things; telefrag flag turned off in GZDoom.

 

[bofu]

Last update: a hotfix was pushed out to the Dropbox version for a softlock that affected only GZDoom in MAP33. Not sure when it got introduced, but it's been fixed, along with a few lighting, texture, and automap issues, as well as some refinement to the flow in MAP11 (the enemies that spawn in at the gate will now only spawn in when the gate is actually, you know, open).

 

idgames update (final one, since I just went through every level one by one in both source ports again) to follow.

[OneSwellFella]

I'm someone that struggles to stick with a full 32 map wad, not because of their quality but their length. And the fact I suck at this game helps nicely. So with that said, while I haven't finished it, this is one of the most energetic and engaging mods I've played. I love it. And I genuinely plan on finishing it. 

[CacoKnight]

How the hell on earth did I miss this one? Started playing yesterday and I'm at level 10, the tricks are just perfectly placed to not get boring and annoying, the level design and the mix with hell and other textures are just awesome, great musics too, already one of my favorite wads. Thank you for the hard work.

 

edit:

MAP11 wow.

 

edit2:

Completed! One of my absolute fav wads! Had to use some cheats because 4-5-600 monsters wtf? Also no way humans can possibly play MAP32 and MAP33 :)

Edited April 21 by CacoKnight

[OneSwellFella]

Welp, I have to say, I don't think I can beat this wad. I was playing with Led's GenWep mod, which has fairly vanilla balancing, and I simply cannot beat the big fight in map 12. I'm playing on Delta touch (yeah, I know, what's the matter with me?) and I don't think it's possible. So I skipped it, and I don't know if I can beat map 13 either. I just suck. This is on HMP btw.

[bofu]

2 hours ago, OneSwellFella said:

Welp, I have to say, I don't think I can beat this wad. I was playing with Led's GenWep mod, which has fairly vanilla balancing, and I simply cannot beat the big fight in map 12. I'm playing on Delta touch (yeah, I know, what's the matter with me?) and I don't think it's possible. So I skipped it, and I don't know if I can beat map 13 either. I just suck. This is on HMP btw.

 

Spoiler

The best way to clear that fight is to focus on keeping moving and clearing out the pinkies and imps on the ground level while only thinning out the revenants and hell knights enough to give yourself some room to breathe. The enemies in the ledges are there to soften up the Cyberdemons for infighting later on.

 

Playing on touchpad/Delta Touch probably makes it a lot more difficult, but you can also try dialing down to HNTR. That, or start on Episode 3, where there are fewer huge fights but more challenging ones involving smaller numbers but deadlier enemy types.

[Bryan T]

There is a lot of content here. These levels get pretty damn tough too. You definitely like to teleport stuff behind me. I'm at the point where whenever I see a monster teleport in front of me I immediately turn around.

[OneSwellFella]

12 hours ago, bofu said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

The best way to clear that fight is to focus on keeping moving and clearing out the pinkies and imps on the ground level while only thinning out the revenants and hell knights enough to give yourself some room to breathe. The enemies in the ledges are there to soften up the Cyberdemons for infighting later on.

 

Playing on touchpad/Delta Touch probably makes it a lot more difficult, but you can also try dialing down to HNTR. That, or start on Episode 3, where there are fewer huge fights but more challenging ones involving smaller numbers but deadlier enemy types.

Welp, whatcha know, but I did skip map12, but have gotten through 13 and in middle of 14. Thank you Vytaan. Hope you don't mind copious savescumming and "give health" :/

[Auron]

Hello bofu!

 

First, thank you for the amazing work in this wad, relly good stuff and I'm having a lot of fun playing it.

Second, I'm not sure if someone has pointed it out but on GzDoom and map05 don't show the proper name in automap. There is a typo in the zmapinfo:

 

MAP MAP05 lookup HUSTR_52
{
    TitlePatch = "CWILV04"
    Next = "MAP06"
    SecretNext = "MAP06"
    Sky1 = "SKY1"
    Cluster = 5
    Par = 185
    Music = "D_DOOM"
} //MAP05

 

Sorry in advance if it's already fixed in most recent versions.

Edited April 23 by Auron

[bofu]

3 hours ago, Auron said:

Hello bofu!

 

First, thank you for the amazing work in this wad, relly good stuff and I'm having a lot of fun playing it.

Second, I'm not sure if someone has pointed it out but on GzDoom and map05 don't show the proper name in automap. There is a typo in the zmapinfo:

 

MAP MAP05 lookup HUSTR_52
{
    TitlePatch = "CWILV04"
    Next = "MAP06"
    SecretNext = "MAP06"
    Sky1 = "SKY1"
    Cluster = 5
    Par = 185
    Music = "D_DOOM"
} //MAP05

 

Sorry in advance if it's already fixed in most recent versions.

Nope, not fixed yet. Thanks for the heads up! I'll queue it up in case there's anything else that comes through - it's a pretty minor ZMAPINFO fix, which shouldn't cause any issues if I reupload.

[bofu]

The above ZMAPINFO issue has been addressed, as well as the following:

• Texture and lighting inconsistencies in a few areas have been touched up.
• A few maps have had particularly noisy traps turned into more subtle, less noisy ones.
• Automap fixes.
• MIDIs that were too slow or were looping incorrectly have been fixed.
• I've replaced the Corruption Cards pack with a full-fledged ZScript compatibility wad that converts all the Dehacked monsters to ZScript versions that play nice with most gameplay mods, and the Corruption Cards lump is embedded within instead. (No more "Deh_Actor_xxx" when you aim at a Cybermancubus or Summoner! The Vanguard is no longer problematic!)
• Balance in UV+ (Ultra-Violence with co-op spawns) has been tweaked a bit to make sure you have enough ammo if you go it alone and pistol start... if you're good enough.
• Visual issue fixed in MAP20.
• Fixed some minor DEHACKED jank with the boss that made one of his attacks slightly goofier than it should've been.

Unfortunately, this will invalidate any recorded demos, but as there aren't any submissions, I felt it should be fine! Apologies for the re-release, but I had a nice, relaxing few days to iron things out.

 

The Dropbox link (here) has been updated, and idgames submission is pending!