Infested - a GZDoom/UDMF mapset - Episode 3 in development!

[ginc]

UPDATE 2023-10-02: Updated the stable release to 2.04 to fix a bug with the BFG not working under GZDoom 4.11.0. Also included a fix for Mama Cacodemons not biting players, they will monch on you now :) Download links are updated. This fix is not in the test build yet, as there is no BFG in MAP10 anyway, but it will be included in the next one.

 

UPDATE 2023-09-25: Episode 3 is in development and the first map of the episode (MAP10 - The Valkyrie) is ready for testing. Jump to that post here: https://www.doomworld.com/forum/post/2707484

 

1. About this WAD

 

Infested is a GZDoom-compatible UDMF mapset that currently (October 2022) has 7 maps split into 2 mini-episodes.

Design goals:

• Gameplay feel of a Boom/MBF-compatible megawad, still firmly a Doom 2 WAD despite all the features
• GZDoom visuals (portals, 3d floors, truecolor textures) and scripting (custom encounters, expanded arsenal and bestiary)
• An adventure with maps (some non-linear) that lead into each other with a "sense of place"
• Lots of monsters to kill, with frantic action but not full-on slaughter
• Sprinkle in a few gameplay concepts/gimmicks that may or may not have been done before
• DOOMCUTE

 

If I had to pick 4 influences on this work, in no particular order they would be:

• Lost Civilization
• Going Down
• Valiant
• Doom Eternal

 

The first episode was released in 2021 and won a Cacoward, and now the sequel is here!

 

2. Downloads

 

Infested v2.04 (Episodes 1 and 2): Click Here

Full Readme: Here

 

3. Quick Info

 

IWAD: DOOM2.WAD

Source port: GZDoom 4.8.0 or newer required (tested on 4.8.0)

Recommended compatibility settings: Tested with Default. Doom, Boom and MBF modes should also work. Doom (strict) and Boom (strict) are NOT recommended.

Recommended visual settings: Tested with hardware rendering and dynamic lighting. Software rendering NOT recommended, this breaks a few things and probably performs like ass. Dynamic lighting is optional for most maps but STRONGLY recommended for MAP07, which will not be much fun without it.

Jumping / Crouching / Freelook: No / No / Optional

Extra keybinds: Alt-Fire recommended but not required

Game modes: Single player fully supported, co-op supported (but needs testing), deathmatch not supported

Difficulty modes: Yes (4) - lower difficulties reduce monster count, remove some "arena" traps, add more health/armor pickups, and reduce damage taken
Maps included: 7 gameplay maps, 2 story maps

Custom stuff: monsters, weapons, textures, sprites, MIDI music, scripting, etc.

 

Difficulty wise, UV is intended to be somewhere between Eviternity and Sunlust - difficult at times but manageable, especially with saves.

HMP has fewer monsters and should hopefully feel about the same as popular megawads like Eviternity, Valiant, etc.

Lower difficulties don't further reduce the monster count, but they make things easier in other ways - more pickups, fewer traps, etc.

 

I would like to thank the denizens of the Hellforge discord for their help and support. Great place to be for aspiring GZDoom mappers.

I've enjoyed a ton of Doom WADs both new and old over the past few years, and a few of them have rubbed off on the development of this one. In any event, this project is my way of giving back to the community, so I hope someone enjoys it and keeps spreading the joy of DOOM.

 

4. Screenshots / Videos

 

Episode 1 gameplay / dev commentary

 

Episode 2 gameplay / dev commentary

 

MAP01 - The Artist

MAP02 - The Conduit

MAP03 - The Tower

MAP04 (intermission) - The Deal

MAP05 - The Explorer

MAP06 - Rain Tempter

MAP07 - Alone in the Darkness

MAP08 - Destined to Crumble

Edited October 2, 2023 by ginc
Episode 3 development update

[ginc]

5. More Information

Check out the Readme for more information, but here's a summary:

 

WEAPONS

The arsenal is based on Doom 2's weaponry, with some modifications to the originals (faster pistol, punchier shotgun, etc) and some new variants added.

Weapon slots 3-6 have a standard weapon and a "super" weapon. Super weapons have 2 fire modes (primary and alt-fire), effectively replacing their standard versions.

 

Slot 3: Dual-mode Shotgun. Replaces the SSG. Allows the player to fire 1 shell at a time or 2.

Slot 4: Heavy Chaingun. Blast them with all barrels for More Dakka, or with a single barrel for accuracy.

Slot 5: AP Rocket Launcher. Fire standard explosive rockets, or piercing charges that penetrate monsters.

Slot 6: Spread Gun. Fire plasma in straight line, or at a faster rate in a spread pattern.

 

MONSTERS

Gore Nests are stationary growths that will trap you in their territory when revealed. When damaged enough, they will shield themselves and summon reinforcements. Clear out enough demons and they will lower their guard to launch salvos of fireballs at you.

 

In addition to the regular cast of Doom 2 monsters, new variants of the following demons appear:

Imps, Pinkies, Heavy Weapons Dudes, Cacodemons, Cyberdemons, Lost Souls, Pain Elementals, Barons of Hell

 

Each episode also has a boss monster based on the Cyberdemon and Spider Mastermind respectively.

 

6. Credits for Assets Used

 

SCRIPTING / MAPPING

MAP03 contains miniatures of some of Xaser's famed big ass towers.

ZScript for the AP rocket launcher's monster penetration (SpecialMissileHit) has been adapted from Arctangent's code on the GZDoom forums.

 

MUSIC

Intro - "Dark Expanse" - Zach "Ribbiks" Stephens

Intermission - "Title (Terminal Velocity)" - Kyle Richards (for Terminal Reality)
MAP01 - "Golden Temple / Breeding Grounds" - DoctorM64

MAP02 - "Caverns" - Graeme Norgate (for Rare)

MAP03 - "Come to my circle, chichiburrin" - zan-zan-zawa-veia

             "Liquid Luck" - James "Jimmy" Paddock

             "SA-X Arrival" - Kenji Yamamoto (for Nintendo)

             "Robo-zombie mecha-brain boss battle" - Cyriak "mouldy" Harris

MAP04 - "Underneath the Rotting Pizza" - Nobuo Uematsu (for Square)

MAP05 - "Noir" - Sarah "esselfortium" Mancuso

MAP06 - "Corner Club" - Stuart "stewboy" Rynn

MAP07 - "Cold Reality" - Leslie Spitzer, Larry Peacock and Brad Cross (for Parallax)

MAP08 - "Death Marshes" - Darren Mitchell (for Iguana)

MAP09 - "Lurking in the Darkness" - Nobuo Uematsu (for Square)

             "Everything Explodes (extended)" - James "Jimmy" Paddock

MAP10 - "Pressure Cooker" - Magnus Palsson (from VVVVVV)

 

TEXTURES

Jimmytex
OTEX
RTP - Realistic Texture Pack
CageTex
FoxTex
Makkon
Texture packs from Max Payne, Hexen 2, Heretic 2
Dark Souls HD textures
Truck from Redneck Rampage
Lost Civilization - many sources
Gas station textures from Heartland
Night sky from Antaresian Reliquary
Teleport texture animations from Warp Effect Pack UE4 by Nadir Khabibullin
TV textures from Running Late 2
"Clean" Doom font from Realm667
 

SPRITES / MODELS
Gore nest from D4V
Flattened Cacodemon corpse from Antaresian Reliquary
SSG sprites modified from Antaresian Reliquary
Smooth shotgun and rocket launcher from Heartland
AP rocket launcher from TPH
Spreadgun from Supercharge
Green cyberdemon from Supercharge
Trees from Supercharge
Portal model by Zanieon
Grass from Elementalism
Many decor and weapon sprites from Realm667, from creators including:
Captain Toenail, Amuscaria, Ettingrinder, elend, zrrion the insect, et al.

 

SOUNDS
Creaky door opening sound from Joy of Mapping 5
Elevator sounds from Heartland
Gore nest sounds from D4V and Jenesis
Machinegun sounds from Realm667
Heavy Chaingun spin sounds from Supercharge
Rocket Launcher alt-fire sound from Antaresian Reliquary
Plasma/Spreadgun sounds from Supercharge
Some item/key get sounds from Supercharge
Teleport charging sound from Antaresian Reliquary

Edited September 26, 2023 by ginc
credits update

[Pixel Fiend]

Great job. Incredible amount of detail and plays well. 

[ginc]

Thanks for the kind words!

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by ginc
Organizing screenshots

[ginc]

Added some fixes today and ran through it, this version might be final if nothing bad pops up in testing.

[ginc]

Version 1.0 is ready, with epilogue added, a few more fixes, and further reduction of monsters in MAP03 on lower difficulties. Enjoy!

 

Download

[Dynamo]

Lovely detail! Looking forward to play this soon, and hope to see more from you :)

[baja blast rd.]

Fantastic wad. 

 

I think UV (with carryovers) is a lot harder than advertised in the first post -- because of the potential for health bottlenecks in the gore nest fights, and then in 03 that continues, but with many setpieces also being quite difficult with finicky terrain and new monsters. It's still enjoyable, but after getting through it, it feels like HNTR or HMP would be for first-time players who want something like Valiant or Eviternity on UV.

 

But this is spectacularly creative and also well designed too. Hoping you make more stuff in the future.

[ginc]

Thanks for the feedback, I'm hoping to get some more people to comment on the difficulty because MAP03 may have veered into compact slaughtermap territory (like Going Down but even nastier) in parts. As a relatively new mapper I may have fallen into the trap of getting "too good" at my own maps.

 

And maybe the arenas could use a Soulsphere or Megasphere.

[Nihlith]

I keep getting this from gzdoom. Looks very cool though. Any guesses on what I'm doing wrong? 

 

Script error, "infested-v1.0.pk3:zscript" line 1:
Version mismatch. 4.7.0 expected but only 3.5.1 supported
 

[Mr.Rocket]

10 minutes ago, Nihlith said:

I keep getting this from gzdoom. Looks very cool though. Any guesses on what I'm doing wrong? 

 

Script error, "infested-v1.0.pk3:zscript" line 1:
Version mismatch. 4.7.0 expected but only 3.5.1 supported
 

You need to 4.7.0 version of Gzdoom found Here.

[Nihlith]

I got it. Thanks.

[Dynamo]

I am not yet finished with MAP03 (about 150 monsters left it looks like) but my main complaint so far is that in the offices floor, it's a bit too easy to get stuck on level geometry, and that ruined several of my attempts at tackling the arena. I didn't have similar issues with the other floors (though some of the tables in one of the other floors, the "recreational" one with the big tvs and beach chairs, I recommend making it possible to get on top of the tables, both for navigational purposes but also because there's cells there that you otherwise cannot pick up). I am playing on HMP but I'd say the difficulty is mostly fair.

[Nihlith]

[ yt]

 

This was my second attempt. I'm having a lot of fun but it froze during the second infestation orb encounter. It was my second run because the first time it froze up during the first orb encounter. Still, its alot of fun.

 

The visual composition of this wad is amazing.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Nihlith

[CBM]

pretty damn cool. I am specially intrigued by how the tower was made, by using portals (I assume) to make each level of the tower.

 

However... maps 1 and 3 clearly stand out as the best maps and map 1 have both old school sector lighting and dynamic lights and it looks kind of odd the way it was mixed together

 

also I had to jump in map 1 to complete it, I havent 100% completed the other maps yet... the architecture in map 1 is my favorite so far

Edited November 13, 2021 by CBM

[ginc]

2 hours ago, Nihlith said:

(video)

This was my second attempt. I'm having a lot of fun but it froze during the second infestation orb encounter. It was my second run because the first time it froze up during the first orb encounter. Still, its alot of fun.

 

Was it a hard lock-up that required manually closing GZDoom, or did you regain control? Also, did it happen when you weren't recording?

Just curious because the only hard locks I encountered were early in MAP03's design phase, and that's because I went crazy with portals and had to scale things back.

 

If you're running it on an older system, how is the performance?

 

1 hour ago, CBM said:

pretty damn cool. I am specially intrigued by how the tower was made, by using portals (I assume) to make each level of the tower.

...

also I had to jump in map 1 to complete it, I havent 100% completed the other maps yet... the architecture in map 1 is my favorite so far

 

That goddamned tower's portal system took many redesigns to get working in a reasonable capacity. Basically, the floors are linked by sector portals, and each one has a view of the cityscape outside the tower through 1-way visual linedef portals. For performance reasons, the areas outside the tower are NOT sector portal-linked - I really wanted Cacos to float around out there but it just wasn't in the cards :(

 

As for having to jump to beat map01, where did you get stuck?

Edited November 13, 2021 by ginc

[Nihlith]

2 hours ago, ginc said:

 

Was it a hard lock-up that required manually closing GZDoom, or did you regain control? Also, did it happen when you weren't recording?

Just curious because the only hard locks I encountered were early in MAP03's design phase, and that's because I went crazy with portals and had to scale things back.

 

If you're running it on an older system, how is the performance?

Hard lock. I'm using a year or two old low end laptop, 64 bit windows 10. Works fine except when it doesn't. At most it would cost me a minute to manually reset and load my game again. I only restarted the level because I was trying to screen capture my first run through. 

 

In the first gore nest there are pictures of hellish terrain with depth. Are those sky boxes or portals or what exactly? Ancient doomer secrets?

 

Edit: I'll let you know about running it without recording as soon as I get the chance.

Edited November 14, 2021 by Nihlith

[ginc]

1 hour ago, Nihlith said:

In the first gore nest there are pictures of hellish terrain with depth. Are those sky boxes or portals or what exactly? Ancient doomer secrets?

 

Those are visual line portals into an area with a regular sky texture (and teleporters), basically used to make fancy monster closets.

 

Oh, and I'm not sure if you knew, but alt-fire with the SSG fires a single shell - you don't have to swap to the single shotty. You'll find some other weapons with alt-fire in the other 2 maps.

[whybmonotacrab]

Did the first level. Holy shit this rules. I look forward to playing more, but so far this reminds me of Cyriak Harris' brand of chaotic ingenuity. Very much look forward to playing more. If the rest of the set is anything like this, I have a serious contender for wad of the year.

[CBM]

7 hours ago, ginc said:

If you're running it on an older system, how is the performance?

 

That goddamned tower's portal system took many redesigns to get working in a reasonable capacity. Basically, the floors are linked by sector portals, and each one has a view of the cityscape outside the tower through 1-way visual linedef portals. For performance reasons, the areas outside the tower are NOT sector portal-linked - I really wanted Cacos to float around out there but it just wasn't in the cards :(

 

As for having to jump to beat map01, where did you get stuck?

The performance is ... ok... in this 5 year old gaming laptop. It did stutter now and then but I experience that from time to time on this laptop when I am making heavy and large UDMF maps as well

 

Does the portals help lessen the performance impact? Some say that portals require more juice than 3d floors.

 

I got stuck after killing the first demon hearth (looks very similar to the doom 2016 demon hearths) ... BUT

I just played the map again and it turned out that it was just me that didnt navigate properly on my first run... this time I beat the level without jump and crouch and didnt have problems navigating.. I like the underground secret alot btw

 

on map 3 you forgot to make the lines at the harbor impassable so its possible to go to the water and not be able to get up again (and it ruins the immersion of the endless ocean).. I love exploring the city though... However I guess that I can't really explore it without using crouching to escape the tower so it may just be because I cheat by using jump and crouch

 

on map 1 the city is not fully present, but I get that its made as scenery and not made for exploration but on map 3 the whole city is fully present... if exploration is not a feature then why is the whole city created? pretty cool though

 

this is a very cool UDMF wad that deserved to win this years cacoward. You made something truly amazing with this

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2021 by CBM

[Master O]

 

[ginc]

13 hours ago, CBM said:

I got stuck after killing the first demon hearth (looks very similar to the doom 2016 demon hearths) ... BUT

I just played the map again and it turned out that it was just me that didnt navigate properly on my first run... this time I beat the level without jump and crouch and didnt have problems navigating.. I like the underground secret alot btw

 

on map 3 you forgot to make the lines at the harbor impassable so its possible to go to the water and not be able to get up again (and it ruins the immersion of the endless ocean).. I love exploring the city though... However I guess that I can't really explore it without using crouching to escape the tower so it may just be because I cheat by using jump and crouch

 

on map 1 the city is not fully present, but I get that its made as scenery and not made for exploration but on map 3 the whole city is fully present... if exploration is not a feature then why is the whole city created? pretty cool though

 

Just out of curiosity, what source port are you using to play this? Jumping and crouching should be disabled if you run it in GZDoom. The other behavior sounds strange - the "gates" that block you should get lowered when the "demon hearth" (gore nest) is killed. If there's a translucent barrier around the gore nest, that doesn't mean its dead, it just means you have to kill more demons to damage it again. If the demons fail to teleport in for some reason, this process could break, and I'd like to diagnose and fix it if possible. I may post a quick video later demonstrating how those fights are supposed to go.

 

Also, the cityscape is only made for scenery, I'm curious as to how you managed to get out there - the player shouldn't be able to get out onto the streets.

 

But thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed it!

 

54 minutes ago, Master O said:

 

 

Thanks for the mentionation!

[baja blast rd.]

On 11/13/2021 at 12:34 PM, ginc said:

I'm hoping to get some more people to comment on the difficulty because MAP03 may have veered into compact slaughtermap territory (like Going Down but even nastier) in parts

 

I don't think it's a big intractable issue. Purely based on monster composition, the fights aren't overly hard compared to things like Going Down. (Although yeah, the new monsters might still require getting used to.) It's mostly just a resource thing, like how the nest fights are multiple escalating waves, and if you enter relatively low or squander the first wave's supplies, you might be in a rough spot for quite a while. (You can also understand that and start to strategize to avoid that too -- but one of the defining characteristics of Valiant on UV is that it's generally forgiving against possibilities like that.) 

 

I think the easy solution would simply be spawning in more health. Spheres can work too as you mentioned, but one good principle is that stimpacks and medkits are basically "free" as far as balancing in maps like these -- ones heading towards slaughterlite where it's more about heavy-hitters than slow attrition. That's because all the (regular) medkits in the world will only get the player up to 100/0 (especially since armor will eventually be exhausted as the player keeps taking damage and healing). So the player is still fragile. But it provides a buffer against the times the player might have 30 health before an upcoming wave. 

 

Also, I'm mostly just keying in on your stated intention for it to be as difficult as those wads, so don't interpret this as "I found that frustrating." :P

[CBM]

12 minutes ago, ginc said:

Just out of curiosity, what source port are you using to play this? Jumping and crouching should be disabled if you run it in GZDoom. The other behavior sounds strange - the "gates" that block you should get lowered when the "demon hearth" (gore nest) is killed. If there's a translucent barrier around the gore nest, that doesn't mean its dead, it just means you have to kill more demons to damage it again. If the demons fail to teleport in for some reason, this process could break, and I'd like to diagnose and fix it if possible. I may post a quick video later demonstrating how those fights are supposed to go.

 

Also, the cityscape is only made for scenery, I'm curious as to how you managed to get out there - the player shouldn't be able to get out onto the streets.

 

But thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed it!

GZDoom, but I went to the settings and forced jump and crouch enabled.

 

The gates are lowering as they should but the first time I tried map 1 I found it confusing to navigate.. but on my next try I was able to navigate it properly.

So far the demons have teleported in as they should each time.

 

However, if the player isnt supposed to get onto the streets, havent you included too much of the city then?

map 3 has a complete city map to explore if crouch is used when in the parking garage.

 

In any case, this is perhaps THE most amazing GZDoom level collection that I have seen thus far. I hope it gets a well deserved cacoward!

I can't believe how many ultra high quality DOOM stuff we have seen so far in 2021! Amazing!

Edited November 14, 2021 by CBM

[Nihlith]

22 hours ago, ginc said:

Also, did it happen when you weren't recording?

 

Unfortunately yes. For whatever reason it seems like it freezes more often as I play more :(

[Vile]

I played through this earlier, quite a fun set and very detailed.  I got a bit confused regarding the progression in map03 but eventually figured out where to go.  I also ran out of ammo in a later fight in the penthouse but that probably could have been avoided if I explored a bit more.

 

Spoiler

The end map was quite amusing just from the setup and I'm looking forward to the continuation. :)

 

[LadyMistDragon]

Just wanted to say, this was really amazing! Beginning was hilarious (our humble marine's a professional exterminator, eh? So how come the city can't pay for some security company? Are they really all that weak? Is 'demon infestation' a regular problem, like gators in Florida or something? omg.) You definitely tried to make everything feel like real locations. I have more detailed review of this stuffed way down in next month's Wadazine:)

Edited November 15, 2021 by LadyMistDragon

[CBM]

It really is an amazing level and the fact that map 3 is in a tower made me realize why the rest of the city needed to be created... it is of course in order to have the real city view

[Pistoolkip]

Hey! Awesome stuff!


Here's a small bug I found in MAP01. Missing lower texture on one of the cliffs on the left side of the museum, visible from the stairs and windows

 

Edited November 15, 2021 by Pistoolkip

[ginc]

Good catch on the missing texture on the cliff. Flood fill failed me on that one.

 

As for the lock-ups... so when I was dicking around with portals I found that GZDoom doesn't really like it when flying monsters try to traverse multiple stacked sector portals at once - it can sometimes cause the same kind of lock-up as in the posted video, where the game keeps running but the renderer freezes. For this reason I did everything I could to prevent monsters from being in those areas (ie. outside the building). But if a Lost Soul somehow did a few linedef skips or just got spawned out of bounds (exceedingly rare in GZDoom afaik), then a lock-up might be possible. Never happened to me in the testing of MAP01, but maybe life finds a way.

 

On 11/14/2021 at 2:15 PM, rd. said:

It's mostly just a resource thing, like how the nest fights are multiple escalating waves, and if you enter relatively low or squander the first wave's supplies, you might be in a rough spot for quite a while.

...

I think the easy solution would simply be spawning in more health.

 

 

I do actually have health spawning in at the beginning of wave 2/3 on some fights (and the odd green armor), but on map03 its mostly more medkits and also, they're mostly getting pooped out of the monster portals, which are hard to access when the action is most intense. A more central location in the tougher arenas would probably be a better place to spawn that stuff, and maybe it should be more armor shards and less "basic" health items. But yeah, thanks for the analysis, food for thought going forward.

Edited November 16, 2021 by ginc