EX3: Alone - a new in-progress megawad

[osminee]

EX3: Alone - a brand new megawad in-progress by osminee for TNT Evilution. Inspired by TNT and Plutonia, in EX3 you will travel through the remainings of your spaceship and on the surface of an unknown, unnamed planet. For now 3 levels are done, starting from MAP01 and ending on MAP03. This WAD was tested in PrBoom+, so keep in mind that you shouldn't use jumping and crouching in more advanced ports, but freelook is fine.

Info:

Spoiler

Maps done: MAP01-03

IWAD: TNT.WAD
Map format: Doom II map format
Tested with: PrBoom+

Difficulty: Doom II, maybe little higher

 

Story:

Spoiler

You and your buddies are travelling peacefully on your brand new UAC spaceship. You sit in the control room and observe all of the ship's components status, while others pilot to search for new, not discovered planets and stars. You feel very tired because of the journey, so you fall asleep...

You wake up and hear agonizing screeches and screams. You rush into the screen and see that none of the engines are working. "CONTROL LOST WITH BASE", reads the bright, red text. You hear some growling and breathing sounds outside of your cabin. All of the screams suddenly stopped. After all of that only one thought comes to your mind.

Hell wasn't prepared for what had to come next.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Link to the WAD:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sqd_TAdG6Na2ol0pLgLgbb3WREANzuoi/view?usp=sharing

Screenshots:
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 25, 2022 by osminee
Fix errors

[Large Cat]

Played through all three maps from pistol start in UV in Crispy Doom. I made demo recordings for the first two maps here: ex3demos.zip. The first demo is a blind playthrough, while the second demo is actually my second playthrough of the map, as Crispy Doom crashed after my first playthrough. Crispy Doom also kept crashing after MAP03, so I didn't record a demo for that one. I think the reason for the crashes is that you forgot to convert CWILV02 to Doom Gfx, so the PNG for the intermission screen crashed non-ZDoom ports.

 

Now, onto the maps themselves. I'll start with a few general comments.

 

Visuals

 

Your texture usage is pretty clean, I think. Aside from occasions where you might want add a border texture, such as a transition between a metal/silver texture and rock, I think the environments made sense. I'm glad you've inserted a few of your own textures into the mix, and I hope you play that up more and more through the level set. Since this is TNT-inspired, I think you could lean into the TNT-exclusive textures to really evoke that feeling without having to make tons of new textures yourself.

 

Geometrically, I think your environments are sparse on detail. Since TNT is known for its environment/atmosphere, I think some deeper detailing is called for. In techbase situations, this usually means adding computer panels to break up chunks of wall and putting lights in the ceiling and as decorations. In outdoor areas, this often means adding rock/tree decorations and variation in floor heights. I've noticed the borders of your outdoor areas are usually flat rock surfaces, which looks fairly static; I think your rocky locales would really come to life if the borders looked more like, say, the rocks obscuring the revenant secret in MAP01; the height variation and slightly jagged shape create a much more engaging view.

 

It looks like you've messed with light levels a little bit, but I think you can go further by adding more light variation within rooms/areas. Indoor light fixtures combined with some sector lighting can really sell the techbase and cave locations. Some shadows in the big outdoor areas add some nice depth.

 

Gameplay

 

First off, pacing. I think you did a good job keeping the energy up in a lot of your combat, so good work on that! I'll detail exceptions case-by-case.

 

Difficulty-wise, I don't think you are quite hitting your intended mark, as UV is generally a pushover compared to even the early TNT maps. That said, I don't know that you need to crank up the difficulty; if you are happy with the challenge level now, you might just change your description. Right now, the difficulty is a bit uneven, but it hovers around a bit below Doom II for me.

 

I like that your maps each seem to have a big "setpiece" fight to serve as the combat climax, usually in a nice open arena. Unfortunately, they all seem to fall prey to the same issue: too much space, too few monsters. Hence, these main brawls end up being the easiest encounters, which doesn't seem like the intention. Currently, I can just avoid all danger by using the abundance of room to flee or dodge; the MAP03 big blood room is the deepest offender of this for me. These fights could benefit from some tinkering, which I'll describe map-by-map.

 

Here are some thoughts I had about each map:

Spoiler

MAP01

• Pressing the switch to open your way out of the first rooms is a neat bit of environmental story.
• The brown brick building out the first window looks like something interesting will happen, but it doesn't seem to do much, which is perplexing.
• This initial techbase area could do with some of the detailing I mentioned in the visuals section. It's the first thing the player sees and tells the story of our marines before they crashed, so some detailing will go a long way to create the TNT vibe.
• The chainsaw secret is a very nice one, I think. The revenant secret is rather cryptic, though, as you have to walk on a certain patch of ground to lower a rock elsewhere in the map, which feels like a leap. I think you could either telegraph this more or move the trigger closer to the rock it lowers.
• The secret revenants are very easy to trap without fighting, so you may want to help them have a greater ability to chase the player.
• I really like the grand vista with a relative army of hitscanners. This battle starts off good for me. The chaingunner perches on the walls were irritating to deal with, however, since I have to duck into the room to shoot them, then run away to avoid being shot in the back by the rest. Putting all of the chaingunners on one side of the room would greatly alleviate this and encourage the player to take cover on the other side of the room.
• The mancubi are a bit of chore, but not a big deal. The pinkies that appear on lower difficulties are totally harmless, so you may want to switch them out for something with a ranged attack.

MAP02

• The secret path out of the starting room throws you into the thick of it, but I think it works out okay as long as you don't get shot in the legs by the chaingunners beneath you.
• The starting room looks very weird from the outside due to the low sky. You may want experiment with either extending the building upward or placing the central hub in a cave.
• The big canyon (presumably the one in the title) really rubbed me the wrong way. I thought the platforming was required to progress, so I spent a lot of time hopping across those platforms.
• I initially exited the map missing a third of the kills, I believe because I grabbed the yellow key in an unintended way, which I show off in the demo before completing the area as designed.
• The reason I looked so hard for a weird way to grab the key was that I did not realize the green texture by the entrance was a lift, since there was so much of that texture in the area. I'd recommend changing the texture here to something unique to help draw the eye.
• The monsters that teleport in are pretty much harmless, since you can easily flee, come back, and plow through them from above. I'm not sure of an easy fix for this; you might have to remove the lift up at the beginning of the area somehow and replace it with a lift that forces you to platform through the rain of fireballs, though that sounds like a real pain to deal with.
• The big canyon is an eyesore right now due to the combination of bright light level and noisy textures. I'd suggest making the canyon darker and possibly reeling in the usage of ASHWALL 6 and 7.
• The archvile fight with no secrets has the potential to be the hardest encounter so far by a mile. At this point in the WAD, I'd suggest either replacing the AV, removing the supporting pinkies or replacing them with shotgunners (for ammo), or giving more room to hide.
• I like the secrets in this map well enough. The invuln secret was interesting to locate, and the start area secret gives an alternative progression option. I think the rocket launcher could do with a little more telegraphing outside the automap.

MAP03

• This is a very sudden thematic transition, but I think it fits the TNT theme well, reminiscent of MAP 16: Deepest Reaches.
• I like some of the details you added to the caves, like the little bloodfall. I'm also glad you replaced the stock music (although the TNT03 default tune is a banger).
• The yellow key progression almost seems like a secret with how hidden the switch is; when I saw it on the automap, I assumed it was a tunnel linking to the imp closet. Making the player leave the room to find the next switch is also a bit cryptic. Thankfully, this isn't so bad when the map is so small.
• Your pentagram imp ambush is a nice idea, but the monster closet is really wonky, causing very sporadic imp arrivals. You can fix this by rotating the closet so that the teleport line is on the side of the closet pointing toward the room the player is in; right now the imps generally don't wander all the way to the top of the closet if the player isn't on the north side of the map. I'd also place the imps two or three across rather than single-file to minimize very late teleports.
• BUG: The exit door had the red lock texture, but it seems to be opened by the yellow key, making it possible to exit the map prematurely.
• The big blood room has a great entryway and impressive scale, but the combat there is almost trivial, since the zombies die quickly and the imps and cacos have no chance of landing a hit. To make this threatening, I think you should either shrink the room considerably or turn it into a catwalk area surrounded by damaging blood to make dodging require some careful movement. You should probably also put the caco closet between the player and the exit so running away isn't as simple.
• The secrets worked well for me here. The fake wall is classic TNT, the armor at the altar is a nice touch, and the fake torch is another classic. The torch secret itself has an interesting layout, and I think you could take this idea further, in the vein of the red key treasure room in TNT MAP16.
• I'll mention the CWILV02 issue again; make sure to convert that to Doom Gfx.

I think I hit all the big points. Overall, these were some nice snappy maps to play through with some nice ideas. I think the execution could be cleaned up, but I'd love to see where this WAD goes with some more time!

[osminee]

2 hours ago, Large Cat said:

Played through all three maps from pistol start in UV in Crispy Doom. I made demo recordings for the first two maps here: ex3demos.zip. The first demo is a blind playthrough, while the second demo is actually my second playthrough of the map, as Crispy Doom crashed after my first playthrough. Crispy Doom also kept crashing after MAP03, so I didn't record a demo for that one. I think the reason for the crashes is that you forgot to convert CWILV02 to Doom Gfx, so the PNG for the intermission screen crashed non-ZDoom ports.

 

Now, onto the maps themselves. I'll start with a few general comments.

 

Visuals

 

Your texture usage is pretty clean, I think. Aside from occasions where you might want add a border texture, such as a transition between a metal/silver texture and rock, I think the environments made sense. I'm glad you've inserted a few of your own textures into the mix, and I hope you play that up more and more through the level set. Since this is TNT-inspired, I think you could lean into the TNT-exclusive textures to really evoke that feeling without having to make tons of new textures yourself.

 

Geometrically, I think your environments are sparse on detail. Since TNT is known for its environment/atmosphere, I think some deeper detailing is called for. In techbase situations, this usually means adding computer panels to break up chunks of wall and putting lights in the ceiling and as decorations. In outdoor areas, this often means adding rock/tree decorations and variation in floor heights. I've noticed the borders of your outdoor areas are usually flat rock surfaces, which looks fairly static; I think your rocky locales would really come to life if the borders looked more like, say, the rocks obscuring the revenant secret in MAP01; the height variation and slightly jagged shape create a much more engaging view.

 

It looks like you've messed with light levels a little bit, but I think you can go further by adding more light variation within rooms/areas. Indoor light fixtures combined with some sector lighting can really sell the techbase and cave locations. Some shadows in the big outdoor areas add some nice depth.

 

Gameplay

 

First off, pacing. I think you did a good job keeping the energy up in a lot of your combat, so good work on that! I'll detail exceptions case-by-case.

 

Difficulty-wise, I don't think you are quite hitting your intended mark, as UV is generally a pushover compared to even the early TNT maps. That said, I don't know that you need to crank up the difficulty; if you are happy with the challenge level now, you might just change your description. Right now, the difficulty is a bit uneven, but it hovers around a bit below Doom II for me.

 

I like that your maps each seem to have a big "setpiece" fight to serve as the combat climax, usually in a nice open arena. Unfortunately, they all seem to fall prey to the same issue: too much space, too few monsters. Hence, these main brawls end up being the easiest encounters, which doesn't seem like the intention. Currently, I can just avoid all danger by using the abundance of room to flee or dodge; the MAP03 big blood room is the deepest offender of this for me. These fights could benefit from some tinkering, which I'll describe map-by-map.

 

Here are some thoughts I had about each map:

  Hide contents

MAP01

• Pressing the switch to open your way out of the first rooms is a neat bit of environmental story.
• The brown brick building out the first window looks like something interesting will happen, but it doesn't seem to do much, which is perplexing.
• This initial techbase area could do with some of the detailing I mentioned in the visuals section. It's the first thing the player sees and tells the story of our marines before they crashed, so some detailing will go a long way to create the TNT vibe.
• The chainsaw secret is a very nice one, I think. The revenant secret is rather cryptic, though, as you have to walk on a certain patch of ground to lower a rock elsewhere in the map, which feels like a leap. I think you could either telegraph this more or move the trigger closer to the rock it lowers.
• The secret revenants are very easy to trap without fighting, so you may want to help them have a greater ability to chase the player.
• I really like the grand vista with a relative army of hitscanners. This battle starts off good for me. The chaingunner perches on the walls were irritating to deal with, however, since I have to duck into the room to shoot them, then run away to avoid being shot in the back by the rest. Putting all of the chaingunners on one side of the room would greatly alleviate this and encourage the player to take cover on the other side of the room.
• The mancubi are a bit of chore, but not a big deal. The pinkies that appear on lower difficulties are totally harmless, so you may want to switch them out for something with a ranged attack.

MAP02

• The secret path out of the starting room throws you into the thick of it, but I think it works out okay as long as you don't get shot in the legs by the chaingunners beneath you.
• The starting room looks very weird from the outside due to the low sky. You may want experiment with either extending the building upward or placing the central hub in a cave.
• The big canyon (presumably the one in the title) really rubbed me the wrong way. I thought the platforming was required to progress, so I spent a lot of time hopping across those platforms.
• I initially exited the map missing a third of the kills, I believe because I grabbed the yellow key in an unintended way, which I show off in the demo before completing the area as designed.
• The reason I looked so hard for a weird way to grab the key was that I did not realize the green texture by the entrance was a lift, since there was so much of that texture in the area. I'd recommend changing the texture here to something unique to help draw the eye.
• The monsters that teleport in are pretty much harmless, since you can easily flee, come back, and plow through them from above. I'm not sure of an easy fix for this; you might have to remove the lift up at the beginning of the area somehow and replace it with a lift that forces you to platform through the rain of fireballs, though that sounds like a real pain to deal with.
• The big canyon is an eyesore right now due to the combination of bright light level and noisy textures. I'd suggest making the canyon darker and possibly reeling in the usage of ASHWALL 6 and 7.
• The archvile fight with no secrets has the potential to be the hardest encounter so far by a mile. At this point in the WAD, I'd suggest either replacing the AV, removing the supporting pinkies or replacing them with shotgunners (for ammo), or giving more room to hide.
• I like the secrets in this map well enough. The invuln secret was interesting to locate, and the start area secret gives an alternative progression option. I think the rocket launcher could do with a little more telegraphing outside the automap.

MAP03

• This is a very sudden thematic transition, but I think it fits the TNT theme well, reminiscent of MAP 16: Deepest Reaches.
• I like some of the details you added to the caves, like the little bloodfall. I'm also glad you replaced the stock music (although the TNT03 default tune is a banger).
• The yellow key progression almost seems like a secret with how hidden the switch is; when I saw it on the automap, I assumed it was a tunnel linking to the imp closet. Making the player leave the room to find the next switch is also a bit cryptic. Thankfully, this isn't so bad when the map is so small.
• Your pentagram imp ambush is a nice idea, but the monster closet is really wonky, causing very sporadic imp arrivals. You can fix this by rotating the closet so that the teleport line is on the side of the closet pointing toward the room the player is in; right now the imps generally don't wander all the way to the top of the closet if the player isn't on the north side of the map. I'd also place the imps two or three across rather than single-file to minimize very late teleports.
• BUG: The exit door had the red lock texture, but it seems to be opened by the yellow key, making it possible to exit the map prematurely.
• The big blood room has a great entryway and impressive scale, but the combat there is almost trivial, since the zombies die quickly and the imps and cacos have no chance of landing a hit. To make this threatening, I think you should either shrink the room considerably or turn it into a catwalk area surrounded by damaging blood to make dodging require some careful movement. You should probably also put the caco closet between the player and the exit so running away isn't as simple.
• The secrets worked well for me here. The fake wall is classic TNT, the armor at the altar is a nice touch, and the fake torch is another classic. The torch secret itself has an interesting layout, and I think you could take this idea further, in the vein of the red key treasure room in TNT MAP16.
• I'll mention the CWILV02 issue again; make sure to convert that to Doom Gfx.

I think I hit all the big points. Overall, these were some nice snappy maps to play through with some nice ideas. I think the execution could be cleaned up, but I'd love to see where this WAD goes with some more time!

Thanks, I will definitely consider this review when making new maps and updating existing ones!

[BendusOlos]

On 4/23/2022 at 7:07 AM, osminee said:

EX3: Alone - a brand new megawad in-progress by osminee for TNT Evilution. Inspired by TNT and Plutonia, in EX3 you will travel through the remainings of your spaceship and on the surface of an unknown, unnamed planet. For now 3 levels are done, starting from MAP01 and ending on MAP03. This WAD was tested in PrBoom+, so keep in mind that you shouldn't use jumping and crouching in more advanced ports, but freelook is fine.

Info:

  Reveal hidden contents

Maps done: MAP01-03

IWAD: TNT.WAD
Map format: Doom II map format
Tested with: PrBoom+

Difficulty: Doom II, maybe little higher

 

Story:

  Reveal hidden contents

You and your buddies are travelling peacefully on your brand new UAC spaceship. You sit in the control room and observe all of the ship's components status, while others pilot to search for new, not discovered planets and stars. You feel very tired because of the journey, so you fall asleep...

You wake up and hear agonizing screeches and screams. You rush into the screen and see that none of the engines are working. "CONTROL LOST WITH BASE", reads the bright, red text. You hear some growling and breathing sounds outside of your cabin. All of the screams suddenly stopped. After all of that only one thought comes to your mind.

Hell wasn't prepared for what had to come next.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Link to the WAD:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sqd_TAdG6Na2ol0pLgLgbb3WREANzuoi/view?usp=sharing

Screenshots:
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

this is amazing still holds the map design i only made scumbag.wad because i wnat to troll but feels good to play in singleplayer and another thing do you wanna make later a sequel?.

 

 

[osminee]

20 minutes ago, BendusOlos said:

 

Maybe I will make a sequel later in, but for now I want to finish the WAD. However, I still don't know if I want to make 15 maps, 21 or even maybe 32!

[BendusOlos]

wanna see scumbag.wad? 

Scumbag.rar

Edited April 25, 2022 by BendusOlos

[osminee]

1 minute ago, BendusOlos said:

wanna see scumbag.wad? 

Scumbag.rar

Thanks for sharing, will definitely check out later because now I am not using my computer

[BendusOlos]

i will warn you that is a a shit of a map and theres a LOT of OP enemies.

[Mr Masker]

36 minutes ago, BendusOlos said:

wanna see scumbag.wad? 

Scumbag.rar

I'd say just settle with your own thread rather than advertising on other threads, it's a bit irritating for some people and might make less people want to play your wad.

[DoomerCheems]

I have to say I had fun with this wad. The textures look quite organic and I get the TNT-esque vibe it gives off , being on another planet. The textures felt intentional and did alot for atmosphere. I liked the third map especially how you made all of the blood puddles and rivers look like they were flowing realistically. I can see some of these choices working for when I make wads so thanks for the tips and I hope you keep them coming.

[pcorf]

14 hours ago, BendusOlos said:

wanna see scumbag.wad? 

Scumbag.rar

 

I am not interested you scumbag!

[TheCyberDruid]

Got softlocked in map 2 in that area with the green pillar platforming bit. Got stuck after I fell.

 

In map 1 I noticed pretty much at the start this switch:

 

You can use the second texture offset to make the actual switch part the lower half of the texture. Use 64 as an offset.

[BendusOlos]

7 hours ago, pcorf said:

 

I am not interested you scumbag!

thats why bro is a thing that i made because was a ugly square map then i remade to look uglier and bad af

 

[osminee]

January 2023 edit: I edited all of the maps a bit based on some feedback I received. Also working on a couple of new ones, too!