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

[kalensar]

Hooray for your official Episode 1 release! I've played this WAD since it was only at Map03 made, and have enjoyed almost every update to it. Currently enjoying the new changes with 2 thumbs up. Feels extremely polished now.

[bofu]

25 minutes ago, kalensar said:

Hooray for your official Episode 1 release! I've played this WAD since it was only at Map03 made, and have enjoyed almost every update to it. Currently enjoying the new changes with 2 thumbs up. Feels extremely polished now.

Thanks a lot for the constant support. As a new level creator, it's been really crucial in keeping me going!

 

Spoiler

I'm truly sorry to anyone who notices the Easter Egg in MAP02.

 

[QuaketallicA]

Wow I'm impressed. I've played the first four maps so far, and they are good! Unique, interesting concepts for the levels, good non-linear level design, and great eye for architecture/use of textures. It all looks very nice (although 1 room in map 1 weirdly had a bunch of lamp sprites but no lighting effects to show light coming out of the lamp posts.) Map 2 feels very Duke Nukem-inspired, trying to make it like a real-life corporate building.

 

My only real complaint is the combat is pretty tame. It's on par with Episode 1 of Doom 1, maybe even less challenging than that. I'm on UV yet it's sooo easy right now with an abundance of ammo, health, and high-powered weapons right from the start. Add in secrets, and my arsenal is beyond overkill for the handful of enemies I'm up against. To paint the picture, I'm on map 3, and I've already got everything except the BFG, and I've not even needed to use the plasma gun or rocket launcher once because bullets and shells are always maxed out. I'm assuming you balanced the enemies and items more for beating each map from pistol start, but taking the maps in context of the whole wad, with guns/ammo carrying over level to level, it's just too easy to the point of boredom. There's no challenge at all. You need to add more enemies, more danger to the player.

 

 

I just came to post because I think I found an easter egg? (Forgive the low resolution image; I like using 320 x 200 in software renderer and no mouselook)

 

 

Found this secret in MAP 02 in the office complex where all the cubicles are. Looks like some dude has a very particular mousepad ;) Maybe I just have a dirty mind but it kinda looks like a red-headed chick with her nude breasts out... y'know, if she were made out of Legos. Or it could be a boxer in front of a red background holding his fists out. Looks like he lost a tooth.

 

Edit: Oh yeah, and the custom music is sweet, too!

Edited May 20, 2022 by QuaketallicA

[bofu]

3 hours ago, QuaketallicA said:

Wow I'm impressed. I've played the first four maps so far, and they are good! Unique, interesting concepts for the levels, good non-linear level design, and great eye for architecture/use of textures. It all looks very nice (although 1 room in map 1 weirdly had a bunch of lamp sprites but no lighting effects to show light coming out of the lamp posts.) Map 2 feels very Duke Nukem-inspired, trying to make it like a real-life corporate building.

 

My only real complaint is the combat is pretty tame. It's on par with Episode 1 of Doom 1, maybe even less challenging than that. I'm on UV yet it's sooo easy right now with an abundance of ammo, health, and high-powered weapons right from the start. Add in secrets, and my arsenal is beyond overkill for the handful of enemies I'm up against. To paint the picture, I'm on map 3, and I've already got everything except the BFG, and I've not even needed to use the plasma gun or rocket launcher once because bullets and shells are always maxed out. I'm assuming you balanced the enemies and items more for beating each map from pistol start, but taking the maps in context of the whole wad, with guns/ammo carrying over level to level, it's just too easy to the point of boredom. There's no challenge at all. You need to add more enemies, more danger to the player.

 

 

I just came to post because I think I found an easter egg? (Forgive the low resolution image; I like using 320 x 200 in software renderer and no mouselook)

 

 

Found this secret in MAP 02 in the office complex where all the cubicles are. Looks like some dude has a very particular mousepad ;) Maybe I just have a dirty mind but it kinda looks like a red-headed chick with her nude breasts out... y'know, if she were made out of Legos. Or it could be a boxer in front of a red background holding his fists out. Looks like he lost a tooth.

 

Edit: Oh yeah, and the custom music is sweet, too!

Thanks for the feedback. About the difficulty: the combat really ramps up starting around MAP07. I strongly encourage you to give that one, MAP09, and MAP11 a playthrough on UV.

 

Spoiler

Also, it's hard to tell because Doomcute, but that's a Mancubus mousepad

[Rudolph]

3 minutes ago, bofu said:

 

  Hide contents

Also, it's hard to tell because Doomcute, but that's a Mancubus mousepad

Spoiler

So, a "Manpad"? A "Mancupad"? A "Mancubousepad"? :P

 

[T-117]

10 hours ago, kalensar said:

Hooray for your official Episode 1 release! I've played this WAD since it was only at Map03 made, and have enjoyed almost every update to it. Currently enjoying the new changes with 2 thumbs up. Feels extremely polished now.

Same.  I think the gameplay in general has been progressively getting better.

[bofu]

15 minutes ago, T-117 said:

Same.  I think the gameplay in general has been progressively getting better.

 

I credit playtesters and feedback for that one, yourself included, of course!

[michealrockshim]

Big map and nice architecture but there still need something for this wad. a many, many monsters. just like a slaughter maps, but not too much.

[bofu]

5 hours ago, michealrockshim said:

Big map and nice architecture but there still need something for this wad. a many, many monsters. just like a slaughter maps, but not too much.

 

The difficulty and monster count ramps up considerably starting in MAP07. I didn't want to start the mapset off with that kind of monster count.

 

That being said, I'm still looking at potentially adding more enemies to the earlier maps, at least on UV. But I want to leave some room for the maps to get harder in Episode 2 and 3.

Edited May 24, 2022 by bofu

[QuaketallicA]

19 hours ago, bofu said:

 

The difficulty and monster count ramps up considerably starting in MAP07. I didn't want to start the mapset off with that kind of monster count.

 

That being said, I'm still looking at potentially adding more enemies to the earlier maps, at least on UV. But I want to leave some room for the maps to get harder in Episode 2 and 3.

Thanks for the reply. Ah...'twas a Mancubus. lol I wouldn't have guessed that. 

 

I've since played more maps. Honestly, I really adore the level design of nearly every map of this wad. I like the subtle Duke3D influences, the use of the Icon of Sin in Map 04 was quite clever. The level design also feels reminiscent at times of Quake II, one of my favorite FPS games ever. Like I said above though, I really feel almost bored at times because there's just not enough monsters imho. The maps feel kind of empty sometimes. I get the idea of wanting to ramp up the difficulty, but look at the early levels of Doom II on UV difficulty. The game still ramps up, but you can still die in map 4 or 5 if you're not careful. The other thing is that the earlier levels are also generally smaller and give you fewer guns, so that the weaker enemies feel a little tougher. But in your wad, if you can find some of the secrets, which aren't that hard (though well thought out, I like 'em!) then you will have too many high-powered guns early on that make it easy to decimate the medium-tier foes. 

 

At least on Ultra-Violence, which is in theory the hard mode for veterans or those replaying the maps after beating them on normal/Hurt Me Plenty, maybe add more monsters there to spice up the challenge.

 

On the other hand, you could just give a lot of weak enemies (e.g. zombiemen/shotgunners/imps/pinkys) who are easy to mow down with a chaingun or something. It won't give the player a challenge yet, but you'll feel more like a badass because you're killing more things, and maps may feel less empty.

 

Of course, at the end of the day, it is your wad. You do what you think feels best for your project. That's just my 2 cents.

Edited May 25, 2022 by QuaketallicA

[bofu]

8 hours ago, QuaketallicA said:

Thanks for the reply. Ah...'twas a Mancubus. lol I wouldn't have guessed that. 

 

I've since played more maps. Honestly, I really adore the level design of nearly every map of this wad. I like the subtle Duke3D influences, the use of the Icon of Sin in Map 04 was quite clever. The level design also feels reminiscent at times of Quake II, one of my favorite FPS games ever. Like I said above though, I really feel almost bored at times because there's just not enough monsters imho. The maps feel kind of empty sometimes. I get the idea of wanting to ramp up the difficulty, but look at the early levels of Doom II on UV difficulty. The game still ramps up, but you can still die in map 4 or 5 if you're not careful. The other thing is that the earlier levels are also generally smaller and give you fewer guns, so that the weaker enemies feel a little tougher. But in your wad, if you can find some of the secrets, which aren't that hard (though well thought out, I like 'em!) then you will have too many high-powered guns early on that make it easy to decimate the medium-tier foes. 

 

At least on Ultra-Violence, which is in theory the hard mode for veterans or those replaying the maps after beating them on normal/Hurt Me Plenty, maybe add more monsters there to spice up the challenge.

 

On the other hand, you could just give a lot of weak enemies (e.g. zombiemen/shotgunners/imps/pinkys) who are easy to mow down with a chaingun or something. It won't give the player a challenge yet, but you'll feel more like a badass because you're killing more things, and maps may feel less empty.

 

Of course, at the end of the day, it is your wad. You do what you think feels best for your project. That's just my 2 cents.

I'll definitely give it a thought. I might crank up the monster count in MAP03 (though I've always had an easy time with Doom 2 up until Dead Simple). If you don't mind telling me how you find the combat in MAP07 onward, that is how I plan on making the combat escalate for the rest of the WAD.

 

EDIT: I'll be making a slight rebalance to the first few levels after all. There are definitely some more chances for combat that can give the player a little more excitement during supposedly "safe" moments. Most of these will consist of lower tier enemies in groups, and I also don't think the plasma gun needs to be accessible before, say, MAP05 or so.

Edited May 25, 2022 by bofu

[Rudolph]

Made it to MAP07. Very good so far, including the soundtrack.

 

I am surprised however that the secret Blursphere near the secret Megasphere does not count as a secret. Not a problem per se, just something that strikes me as odd.

 

Keep up the good work!

[bofu]

30 minutes ago, Rudolph said:

Made it to MAP07. Very good so far, including the soundtrack.

 

I am surprised however that the secret Blursphere near the secret Megasphere does not count as a secret. Not a problem per se, just something that strikes me as odd.

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Ah, good catch - it ended up getting sector tag 9 instead of sector effect 9! I just fixed it. (Thankfully, sector tag 9 is just a teleport destination sector, so it wasn't breaking anything.)

[bofu]

MAP12: The Precipice of Pain has been released! It took a while, and as soon as you play it, I think you'll understand why. It's tough - real tough on UV. I mean it when I say you shouldn't feel bad about playing this on HMP.

 

 

The only other change besides this is that the par time for MAP11 was incorrect; this has been adjusted.

[bofu]

Sorry to bump my own (stagnant and unloved, woe is me) thread, but I was playing around with Dehacked and was able to do some very interesting things that I feel would add to this project (new enemy types that integrate will with the vanilla ones, for one). The caveat with it is this: this will require complevel 21 to function properly on the PrBoom/DSDA-Doom/Woof family of ports (though if you don't specify complevel, it works fine). This wouldn't affect Crispy Doom or GZDoom compatibility at all.

 

So, the intended complevel of this project may be changing. I'll be going through and retesting in complevel 21 to see if any breaking changes are introduced.

[bofu]

MAP13 is coming along much faster than MAP12 did. There are some custom textures that start appearing, but they're all based on the original textures to maintain that vanilla-esque aesthetic. It also marks the first appearance of a new enemy type you may be able to spy from a screenshot or two: the Former Human Vanguard. Armed with a super shotgun, this guy replaces the Wolfenstein SS. He's a deadly jerk in close quarters and is slightly tougher than even a chaingunner, but when he fires, he has to stand still to reload, and when you kill him, he drops a super shotgun, so, hey.

 

I hope to have this map released in a few days, once I finish implementing playtesters' feedback.

 

Screenshots:

 

Spoiler

 

[Nihlith]

[yt]

 

 

Kinda lost my nerve at the end. This level is a kick in the ass.

 

[Nihlith]

This is as far as I've gotten. The Depths, like the maps before it, is thematic, engaging and extremely detailed. Details everywhere and I love that sort of thing. I'm convinced that the toilets do something. It's casual, well paced and then jarring and frightening. The musical choice, the pacing and the toilets led me to believe that this was just going to be a jolly slaughter but the map seemed to change in tone after one of the ambushes and my approach changed from confident murder machine to desperate horror movie protagonist. Retrospectively almost Predator-esque.  

[bofu]

14 hours ago, Nihlith said:

[yt]

 (video)

Kinda lost my nerve at the end. This level is a kick in the ass.

 

 

This is the first of the nasty levels, and it's going to get a little rougher from there. Starting with MAP09, the fights start to get even bigger, though as long as you're not pistol starting (the maps were designed with pistol start and continuous play both in mind, but Project Brutality does introduce some massive lethality) you should always have the tools you need. You'll just need to make sure you're fast and pay attention.

 

(Also, because of some new textures I'm adding, the next version of the WAD is going to include a Project Brutality compatibility patch. Another thing necessitating it will be the new enemy type added in MAP12 that replaces the Wolfenstein SS - PB already has some good analogues for it, so I need to make sure those spawn instead of whatever enemies go in there. Thankfully, that's pretty easy in DECORATE. I need to see if there are any other popular gameplay mods that might get affected by this.

 

-

 

Sadly, for Boom players, complevels 2 and 9 will no longer be fully supported going forward with the next release (they'll still work, it's just that the new enemy will make the wrong firing sound - gameplay is unaffected). This is because those complevels do not support some of the DEHEXTRA code pointers that I'm using to alter attacks. You can still use them if you really want, of course, but unexpected side effects may occur going forward! Crispy Doom and GZDoom are completely unaffected, however.

Edited July 20, 2022 by bofu

[Nihlith]

10 hours ago, bofu said:

 

This is the first of the nasty levels, and it's going to get a little rougher from there. Starting with MAP09, the fights start to get even bigger, though as long as you're not pistol starting (the maps were designed with pistol start and continuous play both in mind, but Project Brutality does introduce some massive lethality) you should always have the tools you need. You'll just need to make sure you're fast and pay attention.

 

(Also, because of some new textures I'm adding, the next version of the WAD is going to include a Project Brutality compatibility patch. Another thing necessitating it will be the new enemy type added in MAP12 that replaces the Wolfenstein SS - PB already has some good analogues for it, so I need to make sure those spawn instead of whatever enemies go in there. Thankfully, that's pretty easy in DECORATE. I need to see if there are any other popular gameplay mods that might get affected by this.

 

-

 

Sadly, for Boom players, complevels 2 and 9 will no longer be fully supported going forward with the next release (they'll still work, it's just that the new enemy will make the wrong firing sound - gameplay is unaffected). This is because those complevels do not support some of the DEHEXTRA code pointers that I'm using to alter attacks. You can still use them if you really want, of course, but unexpected side effects may occur going forward! Crispy Doom and GZDoom are completely unaffected, however.

 

I've gotta say, there is a strange quality to these maps that makes me like them more as I play. I played up to the demolition zone a couple of times and the taste went from sour to sweet. There's something that impelled me to do it again when it was sour. I've laid an old computer to rest and also started using the most updated version of GZDoom and so there was a bit of a mess with getting everything to work smooth with Project Brutality. I actually didn't get my sound right until I adjusted it on screen and I spent The Depths with a HUD so small I could barely understand it. In the end I was just afraid that I'd encounter your custom monster and be faced with a lamp pole or something. I really want to see what custom content is in there, the insult would almost be as deep to me as it was to the creator if I didn't get to see it right. I thought that you had abandoned that idea but the idea that you are making this work for mod on mod off is impressive and really cool. 

 

On 5/25/2022 at 5:29 AM, QuaketallicA said:

Thanks for the reply. Ah...'twas a Mancubus. lol I wouldn't have guessed that. 

 

I've since played more maps. Honestly, I really adore the level design of nearly every map of this wad. I like the subtle Duke3D influences, the use of the Icon of Sin in Map 04 was quite clever. The level design also feels reminiscent at times of Quake II, one of my favorite FPS games ever. Like I said above though, I really feel almost bored at times because there's just not enough monsters imho. The maps feel kind of empty sometimes. I get the idea of wanting to ramp up the difficulty, but look at the early levels of Doom II on UV difficulty. The game still ramps up, but you can still die in map 4 or 5 if you're not careful. The other thing is that the earlier levels are also generally smaller and give you fewer guns, so that the weaker enemies feel a little tougher. But in your wad, if you can find some of the secrets, which aren't that hard (though well thought out, I like 'em!) then you will have too many high-powered guns early on that make it easy to decimate the medium-tier foes. 

 

At least on Ultra-Violence, which is in theory the hard mode for veterans or those replaying the maps after beating them on normal/Hurt Me Plenty, maybe add more monsters there to spice up the challenge.

 

On the other hand, you could just give a lot of weak enemies (e.g. zombiemen/shotgunners/imps/pinkys) who are easy to mow down with a chaingun or something. It won't give the player a challenge yet, but you'll feel more like a badass because you're killing more things, and maps may feel less empty.

 

Of course, at the end of the day, it is your wad. You do what you think feels best for your project. That's just my 2 cents.

 

I can see where you are coming from but I had a lot of fun playing these maps and I felt pressed at times, sometimes desperately so. There is a different level of difficulty which will produce a flow state in different players. I fear that if the maps were made for you, I'd have nothing to record because I'd be spamming saves everywhere and/or not getting to the end. I felt like the maps were about attention more than ammo management. I was pressed enough to not complain about ammo, but again, your gas mileage may vary. Every varying factor matters. 

Edited July 20, 2022 by Nihlith

[bofu]

MAP13: Grotto of Gore has been released! Many thanks to my playtesters for helping out with this one.

I've also added a Project Brutality compatibility patch going forward. This is to keep the custom enemy from being replaced with something unthematic and also to make sure that some custom textures work well with the warping effect it produces on certain stock textures.

 

Highlights of this release:

Spoiler

 

MAP01-MAP12:

• Hid some linedefs on the automap.

MAP04:

• Fixed some minor geometry issues (linedefs that hadn't merged properly, etc.)

MAP05:

• Made some changes to some floor heights.

MAP11:

• Replaced a few enemies.

MAP12:

• Added a few enemies here and there.
• Added a second switch in the first arena that must be flipped to exit.
• Made the green armor in the mountain cathedral area easier to access.
• De-cheesed the Archvile and hitscanner trap and made the reward ammo.
• Adjusted teleport destinations for the enemies that appear after leaving the cathedral.
• Made a few linedefs monster-blocking.
• Made the archvile maze significantly less annoying.
• Tried to fix a few nasty slime trails in software renderers.

NEW FEATURES:

• Added the new map, MAP13: Grotto of Gore.
• Added a few custom flats.
• Added a new DEHACKED monster: the Former Human Vanguard, who carries (and drops!) the super shotgun.
• Removed prerecorded demos due to possibility of desynchronization.
• Made adjustments to the CREDITS lump (and duplicated it as the HELP lump).

 

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by bofu

[T-117]

This wad is coming along very nicely.  It has been a pleasure getting to play test these maps.  @Bofu forgot to mention the custom midi he made for map 13.  It's awesome.

[bofu]

Just a heads up: I've updated this to fix a few bugs I found in MAP03 and MAP05 pertaining to monster closets, introduced when I did some seemingly unrelated work. Apparently, Doom Builder will decouple merged sectors if you fiddle with them too much. If you've downloaded the latest release prior to seeing this post, go ahead and redownload it.

Edited July 25, 2022 by bofu

[bofu]

 

MAP14: SIN has been added! Atmospheric and difficult, with some nasty traps and some frantic fights; Hell has deigned to punish you for your hubris. At over 850 enemies on UV, it'll require fast reflexes, situational awareness, and all the ammo you can carry. Don't let the three-digit monster count fool you: this is gong to get real nasty, real quick, so you'd best be prepared.

 

You can download it HERE.

 

 

In addition, there are a few minor changes:

Spoiler

MAP05: Fixed a single sector's floor texture being incorrect.

MAP12: Added a method to clear out the imps on the ledge in the first arena fight a lot more quickly once the rest of the fight is over.

Music: Added text crawl music.

[bofu]

Just a heads up that the next release for this WAD is going to take some time. Not because progress is going slow, but because (spoilers) MAP15 is going to contain the secret exit, and I don't want to release it with a secret exit and not have a secret level to go along with it. And that secret level needs to itself contain a super secret exit. So, the next release is going to have MAP15, MAP31, and MAP32, which is going to take quite some time.

 

That being said, progress is going well on MAP15: Cyberphobia. I'll provide a couple of screenshots of the WIP, but I don't want to give too much of it away:

 

[Nihlith]

Fucking tight! Things have gotten nuts but if my luck could benefit from a little regression to the mean I should be able to jam through the new content and get some candid playthrough recordings up here pretty soon. Woot!

[bofu]

Progress update time!

 

MAP31 has passed testing, and aside from pending balance feedback, it's time to move on to MAP32. Once this is done, I can release all three maps together. There will also be a few minor adjustments to a couple of earlier maps in the release, mostly just texture alignments, automap adjustments, some vertex adjustments to reduce slime trails/HOM artefacts in software renderers.

 

[taviow]

Congratulations on this mapset @bofu, I'm finding it positively delightful and I love how you grow as a mapper as the maps go on. You're building something really special here for sure.

[bofu]

4 hours ago, taviow said:

Congratulations on this mapset @bofu, I'm finding it positively delightful and I love how you grow as a mapper as the maps go on. You're building something really special here for sure.

Thanks a whole lot. It means a lot to see someone liking and appreciating my efforts, and I credit feedback from my playtesters!

 

In other news, MAP32: "Deja Vu" is progressing pretty nicely. I hope to have it done within the next two weeks, though as I am currently trying to sell my house and work has decided to wait until now to get busy, that may or may not happen.

 

A word of caution about MAP32: it is going to be the most evil, wicked, borderline unfair map in the set, at least on UV, but even HNTR isn't going to be a cakewalk. I usually make a pistol-starting player work for more than one of an SSG, a rocket launcher, or a plasma gun in any given level; in this map, you get those (and most of the other weapons) in the very first room.

[taviow]

I am both excited and terrified!