Fractured Worlds [Final Release/Idgames]

[Nirvana]

Fractured Worlds is a collection of 8 blue/cyan Boom compatible (cl9) maps, spanning a wide variety of themes and presenting some challenging set piece encounters and incidental combat. There are some large and small maps, and each one contains a secret fight, accessible by finding the hidden purple keycard in each level. There are 6 maps by me (7 including the anti-Underhalls map at the end) and 2 secrets maps by Scotty and Insane Gazebo, taking the map 31 and 32 slots respectively. Maps jump from tech gardens and deep caverns to grand neo-gothic architecture and abstract void spaces. 

 

                                

 

Some things to note about the wad:

 

Maps are balanced for pistol starts and continuous play will break the balance of the maps fairly badly (just a warning.)

 

The 1000 health, cyan Cyberdemons from Magnolia replaced Masterminds in this wad and differ in colour from regular Cyberdemons, who are a darker blue.   

 

Difficulty levels have received a lot of attention in this wad, and I'd urge you to use them if you're concerned about the maps being too challenging. While Fractured Worlds is considerably more reasonable than Breathless or Entropy, with late Sunlust being my target difficulty, there are some very challenging fights on Ultra Violence, especially for blind playthroughs.

 

Hurt Me Plenty acts as a toned down version of UV, while Hey Not Too Rough is toned down even more, as well as adding teleporters to most death pits in the wad and making certain platforming sections much easier to traverse; if you are adverse to death pits or platforming, and want a more casual experience with extra fodder to mow down, HNTR is the difficulty for you! 

 

Lots of work went into balancing each difficulty, so it would be great to see them played!

 

Maps were mostly tested in Prboom-plus, and are somewhat designed around software rendering aesthetically, so I recommend it. The wad was also tested in GLBoom-plus, GZDoom and DSDA Doom. The final area of Map 5 suffers from some slight FPS drops if you play uncapped in software. While I never experienced anything below 70 FPS, it's something to be aware of.

 

An extra little note is that map 2 has a secret that requires an SR50 on Ultra Violence, all other difficulties can acquire it in an easier way.

 

Multiplayer support has been added as of version 1.8. Multiplayer testing was conducted in DSDA Doom v21.3 with '-coop_spawns' and in Zandronum version 3.0.1.  

 

Big thanks to my playtesters:

 

Zzul
Ribbiks
Scotty
Insane Gazebo
Loveless
Nevanos
Ancalagon
Daerik
Tourniquet

Bemused
Riff

NoReason (2 maps)

Bridgeburner

Lucky Edie (big shoutout for doing a bunch of extra testing for missing textures etc. at the last minute!)

 

Thanks to Scotty for the HUD and Insane Gazebo for the Title and Intermission pics.

 

Special thanks to Ribbiks for help with the palette, dehacked, extending midis, help with compiling, and general magnanimity.

 

Extra credits are in the wad.

 

Map List:

Spoiler

1. Tomahawk 

2. Midnight Tengu

3. On Electric Winds

4. Hyperspeed Descent

5. The Starlit Core In Meltdown

6. The Outermost

7. Dreams of a Higher Being (Credits/no Underhalls map)

31. Dark Matter (Scotty)

32. Amarite Accelerator (Insane Gazebo)

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

DOWNLOAD:

Fractured Worlds on idgames

 

Alternative Dropbox link

 

 

Changelog for v1.1:

Spoiler

General:
-Fixed HUD side panels being incorrect texture

 

Tomahawk:
-Made some lines impassable in the final fight to stop players getting caught on geometry

Midnight Tengu:
-Added a teleporter for HNTR to get out of the death pit in the curved staircase fight

-Added a tiny bit of extra health to the YK fight
-Added 2 energy cells to the final fight

 

On Electric Winds

-Attempted to fix the bug found by Aurelias in DSDA-doom regarding the vile/pinky teleporters (appears to work as intended)

 

Changelog for v1.2:

Spoiler

Tomahawk

-Some extra health added on HNTR

 

On Electric winds:

-(Hopefully) fixed GZDoom bug in map 3 that caused a softlock

-Added a few extra shells

-Fixed lighting sequence bug in final fight

-Minor misalignments corrected

 

Amarite Accelerator

-Small misalignment fixed

 

Changelog for v1.3:

Spoiler

General:

-Added Scotty and Gazebo's names to the automap for their respective maps

On Electric Winds:

-YK fight buffed slightly to employ its gimmick more

-BK fight gimmick made slightly more obvious (buffed slightly to compensate)

 

Hyperspeed Descent:

-Fixed softlock in secret fight

-Fixed minor texture issues

 

The Starlit Core In Meltdown:

-Fixed berserk secret not damaging

-Switched some Barons for HKs in BK fight

-Added a touch of ammo

 

The Outermost

-Fixed YK fight not triggering sometimes

 

 

Changelog for v1.4:

Spoiler

General:

-Made Lost Souls not count towards kill % in GZDoom due to various voodoo closets using them as blockers

-Fixed map 16's CWILV being "Suburbs"

 

Tomahawk:

-Fixed a stuck Manc in GZ

-Made red key lift slightly more obvious

 

Midnight Tengu:

-Made Barons in YK fight visible at beginning of fight to signal their use later

-Extended one side wall in YK fight to make it slightly safer hiding from Cybers

 

Hyperspeed Descent:

-Minor texture changes

 

Dark Matter:

-Removed a monster blocking line that caused issues

 

Amarite Accelerator:

-Slight changes to make progression clearer

 

Changelog for v1.5:

Spoiler

General:

-Added extra credits

-Rebuilt all maps with extended nodes to help with minor nodebuilding issues

 

Tomahawk:

-Slight nerfs to HNTR

-More health on HNTR

-Slight texture fixes

-YK podium now monster blocking

 

Midnight Tengu

-End lighting sequence fixed

-Some monster block lines for secret lift

-Switch more obvious in YK fight

 

On Electric Winds:

-Fixed missing texture in final area

-Altered BK grab to fix softlock

-Other minor changes

-Fixed random pain sectors on the rock walls near the YK fight
 

Hyperspeed Descent:

-Fixed some minor alignment/brightness issues
-Made stairs to final area more obvious

 

The Starlit Core In Meltdown:
-Inaccessible secret now accessible

-Fixed cheese in rocket launcher fight

-Fixed softlock due to broken platform at beginning of map

-Some minor misalignments/texture issues

-Major changes to HNTR, including more health, ammo, and general nerfs

-Removed pain sector from second platforming section on HNTR

-Minor detailing fixes

 

The Outermost:

-Fixed missing texture in finale

-Added some monster block lines to stop Cybers getting stuck in PG fight

-Nerfed the buffed up BFG version of the secret fight slightly

 

Dark Matter:

-Extra detailing and lighting added

 

Amarite Accelerator:

-Fixed up trims/texture detailing

-Fixed softlock via secret fight

 

Changelog for v1.6:

Spoiler

Tomahawk:

-Made second red key switch more obvious

-Fixed some misalignments

-Added some cells

 

On Electric Winds

-Hopefully fixed occasional bug where monster wouldn't tp in

 

Hyperspeed Descent

-Added a way back from the final area

 

The Starlit Core in Meltdown

-Added some extra detailing

-Added a way back from the final area

 

The Outermost

-Added some extra detailing

 

Changelog for v1.7:

Spoiler

General:

Extra credits

 

Tomahawk:

-Minor detailing

 

Midnight Tengu:

-Minor detailing

 

Hyperspeed Descent:

-Fixed possible softlock

 

Dark Matter:

-Minor fixes to some enemies etc.

 

Amarite Accelerator:

-Removed accidental secret-tagged sector

 

Changelog for v1.8:

Spoiler

General: 

All maps now have full multiplayer compatibility, including monster and ammo spawns, multiplayer compatible lock-ins and teleporters in some maps to get around more easily. All HNTR teleporters and platforming handicaps have been added to multiplayer to make the experience better as well

 

Tomahawk:

-Texture fixes

 

Midnight Tengu:

-Texture fixes

-Secret fight is now buffed when BFG is acquired before entering (monsters are crushed otherwise)

-Fixed some potential cheese

 

On Electric Winds:

-Texture fixes

 

Hyperspeed Descent:

-Texture fixes

-Fixed potential cheese

 

The Starlit Core In Meltdown:

-Texture fixes

-Platforms are now easier to see in opening area

 

The Outermost:

-Texture fixes

 

Dark Matter:

-Secret fight at start is now buffed when BFG is acquired (monsters are crushed otherwise)

 

Amarite Accelerator:

-Texture fixes

-Teleport closets made slightly faster for final fight

-Automap touchups

 

Edited November 29, 2021 by Nirvana

[Tango]

what a day, damn

[Insane_Gazebo]

Some of my favourite maps I've played this year. Nirvana has made some great stuff.

Was a lot of fun to help out with too! :)

[Xyzzу]

11 minutes ago, Tango said:

what a day, damn

What a year tbh 💙

[loveless]

so good!

[Plats]

Hell yeah been waiting for this!

[RHhe82]

Looks nothing short of amazing, can’t wait to try it. If ”late sunlust” is the target difficulty, it’s HNTR time for me.

 

Being somewhat new to the community, how much mapping experience such creations demand from the mapper? I know my three maps makes vanilla look good…

[Redneckerz]

I have now learned that using colors unusual to Doom lends for a very appealing image in a WAD.

 

Heavily liking the use of space (As in, big open halls) to evocate how little and timid DoomGuy is.

 

What else can i say. In a year full of surprises, this is yet another one.

 

The Doom Community is spoiled beyond belief this year. There, i said it.

 

@Nirvana and team great stuff. This is a great autumn release.

[Nirvana]

55 minutes ago, RHhe82 said:

Looks nothing short of amazing, can’t wait to try it. If ”late sunlust” is the target difficulty, it’s HNTR time for me.

 

Being somewhat new to the community, how much mapping experience such creations demand from the mapper? I know my three maps makes vanilla look good…

I mapped a lot as a kid/teen but didn't start making proper releases until much later. I'd say it's difficult to gauge how much experience you would need for more complex stuff, as it's entirely dependent on the person. I'd also note that the new iterations of Doombuilder are vastly easier to use than the editors I started with (Doomcad 95...lol) so you can likely progress at a much faster pace these days. If I were you I'd likely just try to knock out a small wad of a few maps, get some feedback, and go from there.
 

38 minutes ago, Redneckerz said:

I have now learned that using colors unusual to Doom lends for a very appealing image in a WAD.

 

Heavily liking the use of space (As in, big open halls) to evocate how little and timid DoomGuy is.

 

What else can i say. In a year full of surprises, this is yet another one.

 

The Doom Community is spoiled beyond belief this year. There, i said it.

 

@Nirvana and team great stuff. This is a great autumn release.

A big part of my 'process' for this wad was attempting to intermingle odd themes, textures, colours, and gameplay into something vaguely cohesive. Time will tell if I succeeded I guess :D

Edited October 19, 2021 by Nirvana

[UnknDoomer]

Does wad combines fine with gameplay mods? For example "Complex Doom" (no add-ons)? Looking to give it a try, but not sure how to play it. I.e. in case at least cyberdemon was changed.

Edited October 19, 2021 by UnknDoomer

[Nirvana]

30 minutes ago, UnknDoomer said:

Does wad combines fine with gameplay mods? For example "Complex Doom" (no add-ons)? Looking to give it a try, but not sure how to play it. I.e. in case at least cyberdemon was changed.

I don't know all that much about mods, and haven't done any testing. I'd imagine that the dehacked in this wad would mess with something like Complex Doom and Project Brutality though, but I'm not entirely sure.

Edited October 19, 2021 by Nirvana

[Bridgeburner56]

Hot. I shall be playing this on Friday

[UnknDoomer]

@Nirvana, https://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?t=58535

[Biodegradable]

Some beautiful looking maps from those screenshots. Congratulations on the release!

[thiccyosh]

The screenshots look nice! Definitely will play this wad!

[BCHQ]

Oh boy. Another super beautiful megawad that's gonna kill the shit outta me. Looking forward to it!

[Egg Boy]

Oh, cool, really enjoyed your last map. Look forward to this.

[Aurelius]

Having a lot of fun with this set, thanks for making it! MAP32 is also one the best (if not the best) things I've played this year, so hats off to IG as well.

 

Few things I've noticed so far (contains spoilers!):
 

Spoiler

 

(MAP03) This fight seemed to not activate each time, and I think the reason is that the sectors tagged 11 are set to Scroll Things by multiple different lines, and their effect stacks so that all the scrollers in those sectors are insanely fast, causing line skips in the closets. That's my theory anyway :P

 

 

(MAP32) Texture misalignment above the hidden purple door switch.

 

Edited October 19, 2021 by Aurelius

[Jacek Bourne]

Doomworld is brimming with excellent releases this year.

Edited October 19, 2021 by Jacek Bourne

[Nirvana]

6 minutes ago, Aurelius said:

Having a lot of fun with this set, thanks for making it! MAP32 is also one the best (if not the best) things I've played this year, so hats off to IG as well.

 

Few things I've noticed so far (contains spoilers!):
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

This fight seemed to not activate each time, and I think the reason is that the sectors tagged 11 are set to Scroll Things by multiple different lines, and their effect stacks so that all the scrollers in those sectors are insanely fast, causing line skips in the closets. That's my theory anyway :P

 

 

Texture misalignment above the hidden purple door switch.

 

 

What port are you using? Eternity per chance? Have play tested that fight a huge amount and never once had it not work, so I'd assume it's a port-related issue. If it is Eternity and you have advice to fix it I'd be glad to hear it (will take a look at the super fast scrolling theory first.)

[Aurelius]

27 minutes ago, Nirvana said:

What port are you using? Eternity per chance? Have play tested that fight a huge amount and never once had it not work, so I'd assume it's a port-related issue. If it is Eternity and you have advice to fix it I'd be glad to hear it (will take a look at the super fast scrolling theory first.)

 

I was using DSDA-Doom version 0.20.0, using cl9. I tested it with the latest (0.21.3) and had the same effect. It works maybe once every 5 or 6 times for me. I tried PrBoom+ 2.5.1.5 and surprisingly, I didn't have the same issue there. 

Edited October 19, 2021 by Aurelius

[Korozive]

WOW!! What a year for new content 2021 is shaping up to be. I just can't keep up. :o)

[big smoke]

awesome

[Nirvana]

13 minutes ago, Aurelius said:

 

I was using DSDA-Doom version 0.20.0, using cl9. I tested it with the latest (0.21.3) and had the same effect. It works maybe once every 5 or 6 times for me. I tried PrBoom+ 2.5.1.5 and surprisingly, I didn't have the same issue there. 

Really odd that DSDA would have different scroller behaviour than prboom-plus tbh. I'll look into making the tps less likely to break though. Would recommend others to play prboom-plus for now (should be updated in a few hours hopefully.)

[Korozive]

Looks awesome.

Man it's like DOOM is accelerating instead of fading away. Just cannot keep up.

[Master O]

@Nirvana https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/118561-cacowards-2021-mentionation-thread/?page=15&tab=comments#comment-2402560

 

[David Asaad]

Hell yea!

Edited October 19, 2021 by David Asaad

[Not Jabba]

This looks great! Among other things, thank you for the excellent explanation of difficulty settings.

[Nirvana]

29 minutes ago, Not Jabba said:

This looks great! Among other things, thank you for the excellent explanation of difficulty settings.

 

I tried to make HNTR and HMP equally fun experiences as UV and I really want people to try them out! I also tried to think about what players on HNTR wouldn't particularly want to deal with, and platforming and death pits seemed to be a safe bet :D

[RHhe82]

I'm loving it, as I have almost completed Map02 (still searching for last two secrets). I'm playing on HNTR, and I haven't found my way out of any death pits I've fallen into so far... But what I want to ask, is how exactly Fractured Worlds compare to WADs considered hard? I mean, I'm avoiding Sunlusts and Stardates and such things I've seen on Youtube videos, but I'm having fun* on FW on HNTR. I feel like I'm learning (hopefully) learning something on how to handle harder WADs, but I don't know. I have no experience.

 

I also wanna say that third of my playtime goes into staring at beautiful architecture and wondering, how this and that has been accomplished with Boom :-D

 

(* Despite dying a lot, and saving like a savescumbag that I am).

Edited October 19, 2021 by RHhe82
cont'd