Threshold of Pain Redone (Single Doom 2 Map)

[Kan3]

I basically spent my childhood playing Doom, but not on a pc, on a Play Station!

So my nostalgia made me rediscover those different vibes that the Psx Ultimate Doom had and I got into its unique levels.

 

Thanks to PlayStation Doom TC I've been able to revive those pretty moments, but let's be honest, my memories were a bit... delusional?

Some of the levels were actually a lot less "detailed" than I remembered: plain, mostly monochromatic (and sometimes misaligned) textures, very boxy corridors and rooms, lack of real fights and traps... Yeah, we're used to something a bit more exciting 30 years later.

 

That's where my mapping inspiration told me "Hey! Why don't you take one of those unique levels and you give it a new modern look?" and here we are!
With the remake/rework/whatever of Psx Doom Map30, Threshold of Pain!
I always loved this level, cause it felt kinda different and mostly because it was the last issue (before entering doom 2).

 

A few words first:

• I know it's Psx Doom stuff, but I didn't want to rip off all of the work from Psx Doom TC, so I decided to not include their textures, sprites, things, sounds etc. except for the level itself (duh), the map soundtrack, the imp sounds that I used for a Nightmare Imp I decided to add.
• I wanted to remain "as loyal as possible" to vanilla, so ceilings and floors only use flats, no 3d floors, no scripting, not over-fancy ZDoom stuff (except for dynamic lights, that give a wonderful look to this kind of atmospheric maps).
• I consider this an attempt to transport this map into Doom 2 too, so supershotgun and doom 2 monsters and textures.

 

A couple of changes I made to make it feel even better (hopefully):

• Reduced Lost Souls hp
• DECALDEFS for torches, candles and health and armor bonuses
• Nightmare Spectre and Nightmare Imp
• New switch texture and lava fall

 

Here's some screenshots for ya:

Spoiler

BEFORE

https://imgur.com/O8qulvP

https://imgur.com/LRX6ELu

https://imgur.com/UvlvPMS

https://imgur.com/2pfhXAA

https://imgur.com/fSUxpIf

https://imgur.com/EHepA1H

 

Spoiler

AFTER

https://imgur.com/0eXJkRr

https://imgur.com/7RpTbiG

https://imgur.com/H4h1RJy

https://imgur.com/LahlIc1

https://imgur.com/KeC2Nuq

https://imgur.com/Eyn88yq

"Pimp my map" style

 

Here's the info:

• Game : Doom 2
• Port : GZDoom 4.7.1 (it uses ZDoom features, so it shouldn't be compatible with anything else)
• Map Format : UDMF
• Map # : MAP01
• Single Player : Designed for
• Cooperative 2-4 Player : Player starts only (I actually cannot test it for cooperative, so I don't really know how it works)
• Difficulty Settings : Every Difficulty Implemented 
• Jump : Not Allowed
• Crouch : Not Allowed
• Freelook: Optional
• Base : MAP30 PsxDoomTC
• Build Time : 3 weeks
• Editor(s) used : Ultimate Doom Builder, Slade3
• Render Mode (suggested) : Hardware Accelerated

 

Notes: I decided to aim for a hard map, so I made this quite challenging, a lot more than the original, be careful in UV.

Everything works fine, I haven't found any bug to date in my testing and UV max is perfectly possible, if you find any issue, report it/them here!

 

Here's the map: Threshold of Pain Redone

 

More Redone here:

• Hell Gate Revamped
• Hell Keep Revamped
• Redemption Denied Revamped
• Club Doom Revamp
• Twilight Descends Redone
• The Mansion Redone
• The Marshes Redone

 

I hope you enjoy it!

Edited January 19, 2023 by Kan3
Links

[Pezl]

Hey, ive played ur map and i can say its a good experience..

It remembers me doom 2016 theme which i like but this level was kinda dark that i was forced to use IDBEHOLDL to see where am i supposed to go and it also helped me to get yellow key.

I was really struggling there, even on the easiest difficilty its not easy, but i understand why it is hard when you menointed it.

I also used noclip once to progress since i got really lost

 

Overall, i havent found any bugs or missing textures, or anything like that.

Im sure some more professional doomers can beat this easily haha!

Good one, i liked the texture combos a lot

There you have mine score (did i rush the kill count?)

[TheCyberDruid]

I remember playing the Ultimate Doom on PSX (a year or so after playing Doom 2 on PC) and wondering about the new maps and the changed looks and sounds. This map is a really cool 'hybrid' and the lighting effects look really decent. The fights were fair, but some sniping chaingunners got me good. Really like the style of this map, so I wouldn't mind if you continue the experiment :)

[Kan3]

58 minutes ago, Pezl said:

Hey, ive played ur map and i can say its a good experience..

It remembers me doom 2016 theme which i like but this level was kinda dark that i was forced to use IDBEHOLDL to see where am i supposed to go and it also helped me to get yellow key.

I was really struggling there, even on the easiest difficilty its not easy, but i understand why it is hard when you menointed it.

I also used noclip once to progress since i got really lost

 

Overall, i havent found any bugs or missing textures, or anything like that.

Im sure some more professional doomers can beat this easily haha!

Good one, i liked the texture combos a lot

 

There you have mine score (did i rush the kill count?)

I'm going to thank you in here to for your testing x)
About darkness I decided to leave it like that like in the original (I've actually increased it in the dark areas by 16 points cause it was goddamn pitch black D:) and I knew this could've represented an issue, but I decided to listen to some feedback first and if I get too many "negatives" about it, I will raise the light up and see if the map works anyway.
I'm still sorry for the struggle though D: I know the level very well, I can navigate it perfectly in to the darkness,  so this kind of feedback is very useful to help me understand where is "too much".

Question: in which point you lost the route? I'll see if I can rearrange something.

Thank you! :D

(Some of the monsters are behind traps in optional paths, or that needs to be triggered by progressing, so it's most likely due to rush, or stupid pain elementals in the last area that were too slow)

 

 

1 hour ago, TheCyberDruid said:

I remember playing the Ultimate Doom on PSX (a year or so after playing Doom 2 on PC) and wondering about the new maps and the changed looks and sounds. This map is a really cool 'hybrid' and the lighting effects look really decent. The fights were fair, but some sniping chaingunners got me good. Really like the style of this map, so I wouldn't mind if you continue the experiment :)

Thanks for the nice words! :D
Yeah, I'd love to cover the few unique levels actually (except for the disco level, that is already perfect as it is)

[Pezl]

I mean the atmosphere was good, jumpscares etc.

 

For me the only problem was to find way to open that cyberdemon gate,

then the room with hell knights, (route for blue key) I wasnt able to see the hole in wall

Spoiler

It is unlocked by the progress (i nocliped here to show u)

Spoiler

this route was hidden for me too in the dark

 

But now i know what to do, the atmosphere is great, just some routes you can miss

 

Also this is showcase with lightes so its visible now

Edited April 29, 2022 by Pezl

[Kan3]

2 hours ago, Pezl said:

For me the only problem was to find way to open that cyberdemon gate,

then the room with hell knights, (route for blue key) I wasnt able to see the hole in wall

  Hide contents

 

It is unlocked by the progress (i nocliped here to show u)

  Hide contents

 

this route was hidden for me too in the dark

 

I see.

I guess I'll just add a proper door texture to the blue key, so that a player can immediately spot the (possible) exit.
About the dark path on the right maybe extending the health bonuses trail can help, or increasing dinamica lights sizes in the corridor.
Thx for the response!

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

Awesome, ToP is one of my favorite wads, I even loved the unfinished sequel. Deep atmosphere. I'll check this out!

[Biodegradable]

It's funny you'd request me to playtest this map at this time, Kan. Only a month ago I stumbled across Kaiser's port/recreation of the original PSXDoom map. I really didn't enjoy what the original/recreation had to offer as the design felt rather flat and boring with a hard-on for Hell Nobles with no end in sight. But I'm happy to report that this more hardcore remake of yours with the extra detailing and spicy combat was tons more fun. The fight at the end was a big "NOPE!" moment for me as I ran my ass out of there, but the rest was solid. You even managed to spook me a few times hehe. ;^)

 

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by Biodegradable

[Kan3]

1 hour ago, Biodegradable said:

It's funny you'd request me to playtest this map at this time, Kan. Only a month ago I stumbled across Kaiser's port/recreation of the original PSXDoom map only a month ago. I really didn't enjoy what the original/recreation had to offer as the design felt rather flat and boring with a hard-on for Hell Nobles with no end in sight. But I'm happy to report that this more hardcore remake of yours with the extra detailing and spicy combat was tons more fun. The fight at the end was a big "NOPE!" moment for me as I ran my ass out of there, but the rest was solid. You even managed to spook me a few times hehe. ;^)

 

Thank you for your video mate! Very appreciated!

Oh, nice x) Lucky me I guess, so that you could compare this with the original (yeah, I've took a look at Kaiser's work and it's a perfect recreation!)
I got quite disappointed too when I played it again after 20 years ahahahah.
Last fight got everyone who tested it quite annoyed (with reasons), so it just earned a red flag and it will be changed, so will monster's count, ammunition and some dark areas for balance purposes.

(I didn't know the cyberdemon could've been used to clean the hell knights like that ahahah)

[Kan3]

UPDATE 

With this first and the last update it has been changed:

• Lost soul hp: reduced to 50.
• Brightness level in dark areas: up to 64 in the cave's tunnels and up to 72 into the fortress.
• 2nd invisibility powerup: it has been replaced with a blue armor, while the secret blue armor has been replaced with the map.
• Added a 2nd plasma gun.
• Exit wall texture in the hell's knights area: now there's a "proper" door texture to indicate the exit.
• Reduced monster's count.
• Nightmare's imp fireball: now it has a separate sprite (perfectly visible lol).
• Added GLDEFS for health and armor bonuses.
• Last fight: it has been slightly reworked.
• Added more ammunition.
• Fixed a bug: chaingunners and shotgunners were teleporting too early in the game.

 

That's it, I won't touch this again, I'll keep its present flaws (and future) cause this is how I want this map to be and to be felt.

I feel like other changes would inevitably disrupt my vision of its "essence" and I'd end up not liking it.
Thanks to all the testers! You've been really helpful!

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by Kan3