Shades of Azure - 12 short, blue maps [/idgames, Boom/cl9]

[KeaganDunn]

My first Doom mapset in a long time, and perhaps the first one of 2022...

 

is a set of 12 (10 with 2 bonus) blue maps for Boom, with the following traits/gimmicks/whatever:

-- All map titles are one word and end on the letter T, except for MAP32. Don't ask why.
-- The maps are primarily coated in blue, using textures and flats from 32in24-15tex & OTEX.
-- Some maps might have a semi-speedmap feel to them, with sparse detailing. That was initially the plan.
-- Some maps are easy and entertaining, some are hard and require knowledgeable use of the BFG; but all except two of them can be knocked out in less than 15-20 minutes. Although I'm worried the majority of the set might actually be of medium difficulty for the average player...
-- My standalone release "Heavenly Rock" is included, in the MAP32 slot here, with some slight modifications from the original.
-- @RiviTheWarlock made an amazing guest map for the MAP07 slot. Everything else is made by me.
-- Soundtrack mostly consists of original MIDI tracks from talented musicians old and new. (Jimmy, Dragonfly, Velvetic, AD_79, etc.) Meticulously-picked-out bangers.

 

MAP LIST: (would recommend looking. More disclosure and commentary of each in text file.)

Spoiler

MAP01 - Manifest
- MUSIC: “Technical Difficulties” – James Paddock (Jimmy)
- DIFFICULTY: 1 / 4

 

MAP02 - Regiment
- MUSIC: “Strictly Plate-tonic Forking” – Joshua O’Sullivan (Dragonfly)
- DIFFICULTY: 2 / 4

 

MAP03 - Deficit
- MUSIC: "Lily” – Joshua O’Sullivan (Dragonfly)
- DIFFICULTY: 1.5 / 4

 

MAP04 - Impact
- MUSIC: "Hydrocarbon" - Brayden Hart (AD_79)
- DIFFICULTY: 2 / 4

 

MAP05 - Restraint
- MUSIC: "SHUT YOUR FUCK UP" - James Paddock (Jimmy)
- DIFFICULTY: 3 / 4

 

MAP06 - Prospect
- MUSIC: "Scavengers" - Kevin Martins (Velvetic)
- DIFFICULTY: 2 / 4 (gradual)

 

MAP07 - Aquaduct

- AUTHOR: Rivi the Warlock
- MUSIC: "Blood of the Unworthy" - Tristan Clark
- DIFFICULTY: 3 / 4

 

MAP08 - Conflict
- MUSIC: "The Old One's Gentle Slumber" - Brayden Hart (AD_79)
- DIFFICULTY: 3.5 / 4

 

MAP09 - Segment
- MUSIC: "The Infinite Labyrinth" - Tristan Clark
- DIFFICULTY: ? / 4

 

MAP10 - Verdict
- MUSIC: "Crawling Vermin" - Maxime Tondreau, edited by me

              "Young and Dead" (MIDI version) - Kevin Martins (Velvetic)
- DIFFICULTY: 4 / 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MAP31 - Ascent
- MUSIC: "Soon" - Brendan Bradley (Bucket)
- DIFFICULTY: 3 / 4

 

MAP32 - Heavenly Rock
- MUSIC: "Men in Black" by Will Smith, MIDI rendition by unknown
- DIFFICULTY: 2.5 / 4

 

PORTS TESTED IN:
DSDA-Doom v0.19+
GLBoom+ v2.5.1.7
GZDoom v4.6 & v4.7

 

TECHNICAL INFO:

GAME: DOOM2.WAD
MAPS: 01-10, 31-32
SINGLE PLAYER: Designed for
COOPERATIVE 2-4: No, I've debated it and decided it will not work.
DEATHMATCH: No
DIFFICULTIES: Yes. Please use them.

BASE: New from scratch
BUILD TIME: Six months on and off

 

Big thanks to @Jimmy, @Biodegradable, and @Kaapeli47 for playtesting prior to release!

Also thanks to @Insane_Gazebo for the primary TITLEPIC.

 

OLDER VERSION PLAYTESTERS (last updated 2/15/22):

stxvile

Blip

Major Arlene

David Asaad

Maribo

Clippy

Terminus

Tarnsman

Rivi the Warlock

Ryiron

 

Additional credits go to the musicians, guest mapper Rivi, and other friends and supporters here and in the Hellforge discord server.

 

DOWNLOAD (idgames):

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/azureshades

 

Older version patch notes:

Spoiler

v1 - Initial release. Lower difficulties might need further balancing.

 

v2 - Fixed a number of misalignments and small bugs in various maps. MAP07 secret is no longer accessible without triggering it, for example

     - Extra monsters and/or changes to encounters across difficulties in various maps, including MAP03 and MAP08 which are more difficult on HNTR/HMP now

     - All monsters in MAP07 can be killed (hopefully). The second setpiece is slightly rebalanced as a result.

     - Small detail passes on a couple of the maps, including 05. Might do more in the future.

     - HNTR has now had a full continuous playthrough and ammo balance is further accomodated for that difficulty - will need further help on the others!

     - More fast lifts where necessary! (i.e. MAP06, MAP09)

 

v2.1 - Hotfix on MAP04's potential softlock. Thanks David for uncovering this

 

v3 - TITLEPIC is now its original incarnation, with permission from Jimmy. lol

    - Got rid of doors that close on you for the final encounter of MAP04. This will allow the player to avoid engagement almost entirely like before, but oh well.

    - MAP07 should be fully functional now. Aside from the little misalignment here and there that I will no doubt find after making this post, all closets seem to be working now. Still want to reduce the wait time on the second setpiece but I need to figure out the voodoo doll setup.

    - Changes to some of MAP10's encounters. Might've went too heavy on the archviles...

 

RC1 - TITLEPIC is now a little commission by @Insane_Gazebo. Big thanks! The original one of Jimmy is still there as the CREDIT pic, don't worry.

    - The one secret in MAP06 that nobody found is hopefully easier to find.

    - Removed all Player 2-4 starts. I've decided that cooperative play will not work with this mapset, unfortunately.

    - Might still have to alter MAP05's progression, depends on how others perceive it from here.

    - Probably some other small fixes I can't remember doing.

    - Once Terminus and Clippy finish their playthroughs I might wrap this up and send it off to idgames. :D

 

RC2 - Minor fixes and balances in the wake of playthroughs from @Terminus, @Clippy, and @RiviTheWarlock. Thanks a lot!

    - Slight fix to the INTERPIC by @Velvetic

    - MAP07 has been nerfed a bit, especially the second setpiece. MAP08 has forgone some changes as well.

    - Detail passes in MAP04.

    - Ammo/health balancing changes to MAP02.

    - There's a sky bug in MAP10 with the Eternity Engine (which I only saw through Tarnsman's playthrough)...not sure if I'll fix this or not.

 

RC3 - Several changes, also cleaned up the WAD file and updated the Word document. This should be the last call before this gets put on idgames!

    - Detail passes and visual fixes on MAP04, MAP05, MAP06, MAP07, and MAP10. Thanks to Velvetic for some help on these!

    - Sky bug mentioned above is fixed.

    - Fixed the potential to grab the fake yellow key in MAP03 (hopefully).

    - A big lift in the main room of MAP05 that nobody noticed is made more obvious via switches. :P

    - Fight balancing in MAP05 and MAP07.
    - You are now able to back out of the secret fight in MAP10 (lift added just in case).

 

IDGAMES - Various minor bugfixes (also had a dehacked mistake with the red pillars at the last second, good job me)

 

This is a side project I've had on top of Dwelling, a large MBF21 map I'm also working on. Looking for your help there also!

Edited February 25, 2022 by Dunn (& Dunn)
updated file

[E.M.]

This looks really cool. I'll have to play it sometime.

[Yugiboy85]

Looks cool dunn. Will check out sometime this coming week :)

[Terminus]

Woah momma.

Term likey.

[RiviTheWarlock]

No midi of Blue by Eiffel 65, 0/10

 

In all serious though, congrats on the release! Was a very fun texture set to use and probably one of the maps I'm most proud of. 

[Clippy]

Hey there I thought I would at least check out map 1 - I somehow survived but played badly

 

I am quite busy now and back to work so any future sessions will be few and far between but looks cool

 

 

[Vile]

Solid mapset, had quite a bit of fun playing through this.  I'm also a sucker for blue themes in Doom so this one immediately drew me in.  Thanks for making it and for stopping in while I was playing it, Dunn!

[RiviTheWarlock]

3 hours ago, Vile said:

Solid mapset, had quite a bit of fun playing through this.  I'm also a sucker for blue themes in Doom so this one immediately drew me in.  Thanks for making it and for stopping in while I was playing it, Dunn!

Good stream, I watched the VOD afterward, the Imps are consistent on my end, but I'll look at them again to see if I can't get them to work more reliably for others.

[Blip]

This mapset is pretty solid. The maps were very fun. though I did have some issues:

Spoiler

• In map02, you can trigger the rl fight while going for the secret and cheese it really hard.
• In map05 I always hear cyberdemons dying when I fight the room with the zombiemen, archviles and revs and I don't know if it's intended.
• In map07 you can grab the secret rockets by bumping against the wall.
• In map08 the best choice at the beginning is always the megaarmor because then you get a two free soulspheres down there, you could probably switch one of them for a megaarmor.
• Map10 has two fights with 4 archviles and no cover whatsoever. While you can kill them easily with foreknowledge, they feel pretty cheap if you are doing a blind run.
• It is possible to not get all kills on map10, since enemies can get stuck on the pillars that rise up on the last arena. I think there's a crusher but I got really unlucky and somehow one hell knight didn't die and clipped barely in the wall where it made it impossible to kill.

My favorite maps were map05 and map10, they were really fun slaughterfests, though I enjoyed playing through all of them. I really liked the design of rooms and the usage of texture and the color palette.

 

All around a pretty good mapset!

[KeaganDunn]

1 minute ago, Blip said:

This mapset is pretty solid. The maps were very fun. though I did have some issues:

  Hide contents

• In map02, you can trigger the rl fight while going for the secret and cheese it really hard.
• In map05 I always hear cyberdemons dying when I fight the room with the zombiemen, archviles and revs and I don't know if it's intended.
• In map07 you can grab the secret rockets by bumping against the wall.
• In map08 the best choice at the beginning is always the megaarmor because then you get a two free soulspheres down there, you could probably switch one of them for a megaarmor.
• Map10 has two fights with 4 archviles and no cover whatsoever. While you can kill them easily with foreknowledge, they feel pretty cheap if you are doing a blind run.
• It is possible to not get all kills on map10, since enemies can get stuck on the pillars that rise up on the last arena. I think there's a crusher but I got really unlucky and somehow one hell knight didn't die and clipped barely in the wall where it made it impossible to kill.

My favorite maps were map05 and map10, they were really fun slaughterfests, though I enjoyed playing through all of them. I really liked the design of rooms and the usage of texture and the color palette.

 

All around a pretty good mapset!

 

Thank you so much for playing! It's great to hear someone enjoy MAP05 and MAP10 for how difficult or jarring they can be to most players. I admit I went pretty heavy on the archviles in MAP10, and the pillar bug you saw is probably the same one stxvile encountered, but he was able to get the Hell Knight there. 

All the monsters in the beginning conveyor of MAP05 get crushed (although the revs have a chance of teleporting into that room you mentioned).

And you have a good point about MAP08...I always find myself going for the megaarmor... :P

 

I'll have these issues sorted in an update soon. Thanks again!

[KeaganDunn]

As promised above - v2 of this WAD has been released! Thanks to stxvile, Blip and Major Arlene for their playthroughs prior to this update.

Looking forward to any future playthroughs and/or feedback and criticism!

 

CHANGELOG: 

v2 - Fixed a number of misalignments and small bugs in various maps. MAP07 secret is no longer accessible without triggering it, for example

     - Extra monsters and/or changes to encounters across difficulties in various maps, including MAP03 and MAP08 which are more difficult on HNTR/HMP now

     - All monsters in MAP07 can be killed (hopefully). The second setpiece is slightly rebalanced as a result.

     - Small detail passes on a couple of the maps, including 05. Might do more in the future.

     - HNTR has now had a full continuous playthrough and ammo/monsters are further accomodated for that difficulty - will need further help on the others!

     - More fast lifts where necessary! (i.e. MAP06, MAP09)

     - MAP08 beginning choice is changed (may alter gameplay of the map too much, haven't 100% tested)

 

Spoiler

do me a favor and try to break these maps as much as you can so i can fix them ok thx bye

 

[Maribo]

Hey, I played through v2 this morning and did some FDAs + took some notes for the main set. They're in info.txt of this zip:

soa_fdas.zip

I really like this set, the aesthetic is super pretty, and the pacing of the maps themselves is usually great.

Highlights for me:

Spoiler

Map07 as a whole, extremely well-crafted map.

Map05 elevator fight. Short but sweet.

Map10 final fight in the void. The way this fight can go down 2 different ways is pretty sick (You can either clear the first 4 viles or get catapulted out of the first lock-in, it makes you have to adapt).

 

[Clippy]

I very much enjoyed this map I hope the video is acceptable 

 

 

 

[KeaganDunn]

8 hours ago, Clippy said:

I very much enjoyed this map I hope the video is acceptable 

*snipped video*

Happy to hear you liked this one, thanks for the playthrough! MAP02's layout came together in two nights and turned out quite well. I need to do more maps like these.

 

If you plan on playing through the rest, I imagine you'll be able to knock out the first six maps without too much issue. It's entirely up to you if you want to go any further than MAP06, however, preferably on lower difficulties.

 

Don't be too worried about how you played, either - I'm impressed with your play and you did find a couple things I want to fix (the secret jump, being able to walk out of a fight, perhaps too much ammo in the end).

Thanks again!

 

[Clippy]

Was I not meant to run across that ledge to get the secret? Also finding all the secrets help with the extra ammo

[LadyMistDragon]

In Map 01, when you cross over the pillars from whence an Imp ambush is spawned, there's no obvious way to get to the switch which raises one pair of the exit bars when the pillars sink down.

[KeaganDunn]

v3 of this WAD is available! If there are no critical bugs/softlocks/etc I will consider putting this up for an idgames release. Thanks to David Asaad for his full playthrough, Maribo for her FDAs, and Clippy for his playthrough so far!

 

CHANGES:

    - TITLEPIC is now its original incarnation. With permission, don't worry XD

    - Got rid of doors that close on you for the final encounter of MAP04. This will allow the player to avoid engagement almost entirely like before, but oh well.

    - MAP07 should be fully functional now. Aside from the little misalignment here and there that I will no doubt find after making this post, all closets seem to be working now. Still want to reduce the wait time on the second setpiece but I need to figure out the voodoo doll setup.

    - Changes to some of MAP10's encounters. Might've went too heavy on the archviles...

 

    - Unfortunately, the music changer thing for Boom makes the music restart every time you reload your save (in non-ZDoom ports). If there's some sort of workaround available, please let me know! I plan to use it in Dwelling and that will definitely be a problem.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

3 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

In Map 01, when you cross over the pillars from whence an Imp ambush is spawned, there's no obvious way to get to the switch which raises one pair of the exit bars when the pillars sink down.

I'm a bit confused. Both switches and both teleporters in the west room have been fully functional for everyone so far. All the exit bars are one conjoined sector.

To raise the pillars and cross over again, you take one of the teleporters in the water and hit the blue switch again. Could you elaborate on the issue?

Edited January 10, 2022 by Dunn (& Dunn)

[LadyMistDragon]

I hadn't thought of the switch being timed. It seemed to work perfectly when I restarted the map though, so who knows. Just finished Impact, btw. I laughed when I realized the lift with the megaarmour lowers from a switch located on the side you're not likely to be.

[Clippy]

Map 3 - I am enjoying these challenging but tiny maps - I hope they don't become too fat later. I struggled with the big pit fight for a second until I changed my approach and found great success and extra ammo in my pocket - good times - these blue themed maps are eye candy

 

 

[Dragonfly]

Congrats on the release! Just finished listening to the soundtrack and enjoyed the selections thoroughly; hopefully I can find the time to play this soon!

[omegamer]

Really dope mapset from what I've played so far. But for some reason I can't complete map05. I've killed all the chaingunners in the last arena and powered the switch in the room with the 4 archvilles. A big platform went down, but nothing more happened. Where is the exit? 

I'm to dumb to find it

[KeaganDunn]

19 minutes ago, omegamer said:

Really dope mapset from what I've played so far. But for some reason I can't complete map05. I've killed all the chaingunners in the last arena and powered the switch in the room with the 4 archvilles. A big platform went down, but nothing more happened. Where is the exit? 

I'm to dumb to find it

There are lifts on the corners of the building, after the platforms lower :D
MAP05's progression needs to be improved just a bit. Clippy and Terminus played through it just now. I'll see it in the next update

 

 

 

While I'm here, I have uploaded a video of the full soundtrack of this set, recorded in Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth. Credit to all who made the MIDIs!

 

 

[omegamer]

2 hours ago, Dunn (& Dunn) said:

Quote

There are lifts on the corners of the building, after the platforms lower :D

 

 

Omg thank you lol

 

[Clippy]

Hey there

 

Played map 4 but it's still processing

 

 

 

I gotta eat chicken

 

You were there when I played map 5

 

 

 

The difference between these two maps is off the charts in difficulty lol - but were fun - map 5 felt sooooo tame by comparison

 

Fun stuff I'll visit 6 down the road as the last UV map before I have mercy on myself an as you suggest, play on HMP for 7+

[LadyMistDragon]

On 1/15/2022 at 1:56 PM, omegamer said:

 

Omg thank you lol

 

I had the samer problem. It was probably a few minutes before I realized the relatively indistinct stone corners might actually be a clue.

[Clippy]

All right I tried map 6 but I was weary for what I'd be in for after map 5. To be honest this map wasn't frustrating at all like I expected to be. I played carefully and had a great time. The challenges seemed fair and not overwhelmingly insane. I'm actually surprised map 6 isn't map 5 and map 5 isn't map six. This may be my favorite map so far - it was a fun challenge

 

As per your request I will play the remaining maps on hurt me plenty 

 

Good times 

 

 

[KeaganDunn]

I've rolled out some small changes while I await the remainder of Terminus' and Clippy's playthroughs. After they're finished, I might wrap this up and send it off to idgames.

 

RC1 - TITLEPIC is now a little commission by Insane Gazebo. Big thanks! The original TITLEPIC of Jimmy is still there, don't worry. lol

    - The one secret in MAP06 that nobody found is hopefully easier to find.

    - Removed all Player 2-4 starts. I've decided that cooperative play will not work with this mapset, unfortunately.

    - Might still have to alter MAP05's progression, depends on how others perceive it from here.

    - Probably some other small fixes I can't remember doing.

[ryiron]

This is great. Having an absolute blast with these maps. I hit an odd issue in map05 where I only had 499/500 kills, and no idea where the final monster is. Demo is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pe945GAMyyzCUhxrvox4lkhiESjGf3jo/view?usp=sharing. I can't see anything with the show alive monsters cheat in the playback. The pinkie in the first room appears to have been resurrected by the archviles, but I don't think that's it. Any ideas? Did I miss something really obvious?

 

Maps 4 and 5 are my favourites so far. I really like the yellow key fight in map 4 with the invisible floor and the peanut gallery of zombiemen. 

[Shepardus]

4 hours ago, ryiron said:

This is great. Having an absolute blast with these maps. I hit an odd issue in map05 where I only had 499/500 kills, and no idea where the final monster is. Demo is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pe945GAMyyzCUhxrvox4lkhiESjGf3jo/view?usp=sharing. I can't see anything with the show alive monsters cheat in the playback. The pinkie in the first room appears to have been resurrected by the archviles, but I don't think that's it. Any ideas? Did I miss something really obvious?

The demo header shows you're using dsda-doom, which subtracts resurrected monsters from the kill count (since UV-Max requires resurrected monsters to be killed).

[ryiron]

@Shepardus Oh, thanks. For some reason I thought resurrected monsters didn't count towards the kill count. @Dunn (& Dunn), I don't think there is a way to get back to the starting room on map05? Maybe making the barrier a bit wider so the archviles cannot resurrect the pinkie?