Underground Cult - an eerie Doom II map

[eoomu]

Hey guys, on these 2 months i worked on and off on this experimental map (stupid excuse for adding 3D floors), i put much dedication on the Ambient Design for creating an eerie atmosphere, but also, i worked very hard on the gameplay itself, for making this map fun to play!
i'm still a noob at making maps, but i hope you will like it! every feedback is really appreciated. :)
i must be honest... this map initially was for my upcoming megawad "Dementia", but right in the middle of the project i decided to redo the megawad in Boom Format, because the UDMF format has really too many options and every time i work on a map i get stucked in a development hell, the Boom format will be much easier for me, so i will re-do "Dementia" in Boom Format.
The Map was already on a late-stage of development when i made this decision, so i decided to not throw away everything and i make it until the end!
So yeah, i think this will be the last UDMF-Format map for a while, i will focus on Boom Format (if you have any tips on this map format, please let me know!).

 

but now, let's talk about the crunchy stuff:

 

----------
INFO
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===========================================================================
Archive Maintainer      : (idgames)
Advanced engine needed  : (GZDoom Required)
Primary purpose         : SinglePlay
===========================================================================
Title                   : (Underground Cult)
Filename                : (UndKult.wad)
Release date            : 03/02/2022
Author                  : (eoomu)
Email Address           : [REDACTED]
Other Files By Author   :
Misc. Author Info       :

Description             : (already done.)

Additional Credits to   : Matacrat, Clippy Clippington, Dannarchy and NilsQ for testing.
===========================================================================
* What is included *

New levels              : (1)
Sounds                  : Doom 2 Stock Sounds
Music                   : Title Music: Forbidden Area - Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
              Level Music: Gates of The Ancients - Stonekeep
              Intermission Screen: Leon and Claire - Resident Evil 2
Graphics                : OTEX.1.1.wad
Dehacked/BEX Patch      : Yes
Demos                   : Yes
Other                   : Yes / No (describe if yes)
Other files required    : (none)

* Play Information *

Game                    : DOOM2
Map #                   : MAP01
Single Player           : Designed for
Cooperative 2-4 Player  : No
Deathmatch 2-4 Player   : No
Other game styles       : Freelook and Jumping are heavily recommended, Crouching is disabled by default.
Difficulty Settings     : HMP and UV are slightly different from eachother

* Construction *

Base                    : New from scratch
Build Time              :  2 Months
Editor(s) used          : Ultimate Doom Builder - Slade 3
Known Bugs              : you can skip the bridge section by jumping on the left side and then on the platform.
May Not Run With        : I think it can run with anything GZDoom related.
Tested With             : GZDoom only

 

Zip file here: Underground Cult.zip (or you can download it from Idgames if you prefer)

 

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STORY
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You are an Ex-Cultist, your cult was dedicated to taking control of the demons, after so many years of fidelity,
 you left everything to live elsewhere, in search of peace and serenity, you abandoned everything, your friends, your parents and your village.
after two years, you started having recurring nightmares where you saw the sky tinted with a blood red color, you knew very well
that all of this had to do with your old cult.
after taking out your gun, you walked to the place of your past ...
but it was too late, your village had already been destroyed by the demons.
you hear a strange voice underground, they are calling you, answer their call!

 

Please, let me know if you liked this wad or if you found any bug during your playthrough, hope you like it! :)

and yeah, as you can see from the screens, it (obviously) supports Brutal Doom!

 

[ScrappyMcDoogerton]

I don't play a lot of GZDoom wads, but your post intrigued me so I gave it a spin. You really nailed the creepy atmosphere, and the combat was fun too. You may want to mention in the OP that there is swimming in this map, and so players will want to have the swimming keys bound. Here's a vid of my playthrough:

 

[Death Bear]

This was fun! Got some really cool stuff going on.
 

Spoiler

 

 

[eoomu]

Ok, i saw all your playthroughs, very nice gameplay, thank you for all!

 

But i think that it's time to reveal something on the map...

There is a supersecret that nobody found in this map, all you need to do is go to the east arena (where the yellow key is located) and jump on the fence in the front, you will find a secret with a soulsphere, but this is not the supersecret, try to touch all the walls you can in that sector, you will find a... "Stupid" surprise!

Edited February 7, 2022 by eoomu
added words

[sandwedge]

Haven't posted before but just wanted to tell you how good this was!  Difficulty was perfect for me, as I played through the first on HMP, then UV then UV saveless which I never usually do, and it was fun each time.  Starts off very mild so I was very surprised by the later massive encounters, but they were fun and very consistent to beat once you learn how to (and I don't play slaughtermaps or anything).  I also like the little messages with hints on them, very nice way to avoid confusion.  In general I love the medieval art assets (I assume from Heretic etc.), I'm playing through Eternal Doom right now and reminds me of that (only without the annoying cryptic puzzles lol).

 

One major issue I found is you can jump up to the yellow key from the back and skip that encounter entirely.  took me a few playthroughs to realize that though.  you can avoid triggering the archie too by avoiding the SSG which I didn't find very important for later encounters anyway.

 

Other minor issues that aren't really very important, but might as well mention for completeness:

 

didn't see the forum post at first and the /idgames upload didn't mention jumping so I got stuck on the bridge at first.  Became clear when I saw jumping was allowed but crouching was disabled.

 

Second secret up top near the red key has a switch to lower the wall for apparently no reason.  Made me think there was a secret around there.  Although maybe there is since I never found the last secret (even after finding your super secret one haha, nice)

 

Also just noticed difference between the red key encounter on HMP vs UV is 3 pinkies are replaced by an archvile, kind of a crazy big difference when HMP shouldn't be THAT much easier imo.

 

Is the missing secret a way to get the plasma gun early?  If not the big encounter with the revenants/2 mancubi/archies has a lot of plasma without a gun to use it, which was confusing and gave me major fomo haha.

 

Minor grammar mistake at the end, should be a hollow grave not "an".

 

Like I said mostly minor stuff, otherwise awesome map and definitely looking forward to the megawad!

Edited February 8, 2022 by sandwedge

[bimbo]

I really enjoyed this! Very aesthetically pleasing. I really liked the effect of

hitting the teleport, effectively swapping into the dark area with the cyber demons

. I'll definitely be watching!

 

[Biodegradable]

 

[princetontiger]

What a class act! I enjoyed this map a lot. Fun play on a snowy Sunday morning.

[unraveler]

Very fun map!

My only criticism is that there is no option to backtrack, to look for missing secrets, after reaching the final arena.

Edited February 13, 2022 by unraveler