[Ultimate Doom, complevel 3] Solar Struggle Community Project: Release thread. [Now on IDGAMES]

[ViolentBeetle]

14 minutes ago, Book Lord said:

The development thread guidelines did not allow the BFG in the second episode, so check it out.

I saw people try and bump it before, but to no avail. I think it can be raised a bit on invisible pedestal then.

[Book Lord]

33 minutes ago, ViolentBeetle said:

I saw people try and bump it before, but to no avail. I think it can be raised a bit on invisible pedestal then.

I was playing with DSDA Doom. Maybe not at first attempt, but with perseverance, I got it.

[Wavy]

Thanks for your review @Book Lord! I'll now address a few things.

 

11 hours ago, Book Lord said:

The only element I would give a second thought are the items in the large storage room; Berserk and Computer Area Map are easily spotted from below, but they can be accessed only from the top of the collapsed conveyor belt. If you jump down in the warehouse, getting back up requires a loop around the entire map. Maybe add a lift that becomes accessible after unlocking the warehouse door?

This is all fair. I was actually meaning to add some kind of way to return upwards, but I just wanted a functioning and playable map so that just went completely over me. I'll update the map to have some way to return up before the crate room.

 

11 hours ago, Book Lord said:

Moreover, the backpack is revealed randomly and secretly when approaching that door switch, and this does not make much sense.

...and I would agree. I wanted some kind of secret behind those crates but I didn't have a good idea on how it would be accessed, and it was something I didn't want to waste my time on as I was way over the deadline already. I might add some kind of marker on the switch and somewhere around the secret crate (that or I just change the way the secret is accessed).

 

Thanks for the feedback nonetheless!

Edited June 4, 2022 by Wavy

[DJVCardMaster]

Happy seeing this finally finished.

[RataUnderground]

On 5/30/2022 at 7:57 PM, Book Lord said:

 

M5: Mining Complex - @RataUnderground

This map was weird, it has a lot of chaotic action that I liked, though there were also confusing moments where I could not see where to go, so I just dropped into a pit I did not check and usually I made progress. The switch before the RK was in total darkness and I missed it on my first pass. The Imps behind the waterfall were annoying, the autoaim seemed unable to locate them, and being scratched through a texture is always irritating. There are lots of secrets and some of them I could not figure out. The lowering waterfalls were... weird, but I can reason like that sometimes. Lowering a misaligned ASHWALL, walk through a solid metal grid, follow an invisibly thin ledge and access the HUGE secret area, was above my sixth sense skills. That big cavern with Lost Souls and Spectres... cannot be good, it is ok only because it is optional. The lift at the end of it takes ages to lower and ages to raise. Not a bad piece of work, but the secret department needs some reworking, IMHO.

 

The map is lighted enough with the software renderer wich is the way I tested the map, but I noticed watching other people playing it that the map in general looks a lot darker in other render modes : / . I don't know, I don't think I should adapt the map to GzDoomers since its not the intended focus port, but as always in Doom everybody plays its own way and thats fine as long they don't blame me for it xD . Maybe I should light'em up an small sector to highlight the switch without ruin the intended darkness of the room.
 

Spoiler

PrBoom OpenGl

GzDoom hardware acelerated

As a mapper I cant help but I make a lot of irritating things as a concious decision, like the imps in the waterfall or the enormous cave and the slow elevator because in these spots I want to make the player feel out of their confort zone without increasing too much the difficulty of the map (maybe you remember the hot start of my map (map 04 "Bilis") in skulltiverse with the pain elemental, wich you described in the wad club as "borderline irritating" to my delight xD). I take note of all the feedback wich is always useful to correct mistakes ( and I corrected a lot of mistakes in each map thanks to the testers :) ) , but these are not mistakes, its a subjective taste and everybody is free to dislike them.

Said that, hope you had a good time playing it!

(As always, sorry if I made spell mistakes, english its not my first languaje)

[Nefelibeta]

1 hour ago, RataUnderground said:

(maybe you remember the hot start of my map (map 04 "Bilis") in skulltiverse with the pain elemental, wich you described in the wad club as "borderline irritating" to my delight xD)

Just come here to say that I enjoy bullying that pain elemental with chaingunner and imps. ;)

[Wavy]

v2.111 of E2M2: Storage Complex is here! And should (hopefully) be the last and most finished version of the map available. (<- that didn't age well)

^{Here's the old v2.0, v2.1, and v2.11 versions if you're curious}

 

Here's the changelog:

• The large crate room now has a lift that sends you back up onto the broken conveyor belt, allowing you to return back to previous parts of the map without the need to do a loop around it.
• A red line now points to the lowering crate secret in the large crate room upon activation, making it more noticeable.
• Fixed and tweaked textures.
• Changed the E2M3 room at the very end to be identical to the actual room from E2M3 (it's minor, but I like continuity)
• (v2.1) Fixes the soft-lock issues mention by @PinkFlamingo
• (v2.11) Tag the berserk and backpack secrets as actual secrets as mentioned by @Caleb13
• (v2.111) The shootable evil eye is now visible on easy mode.

• (v2.111) The tunnel opened by the evil eye secret has lighting applied and has evil eyes around the entrance of the tunnel.

• (v2.111) The backpack secret is now actually-actually a secret.

• (v2.111) Fixed some of the red cracks in the large crate room from not showing.

Edited June 13, 2022 by Wavy
Update to v2.111 (I'm really good at this "Doom mapping" thing, ey?)

[PinkFlamingo]

36 minutes ago, Wavy said:

v2.0 of E2M2: Storage Complex is here! And should (hopefully) be the last and most finished version of the map available.

 

I found two potential soft-locks in your map:

 

1.

In sector 400 (in the large crate room, the sector that has the Berserk pack in it): You can drop down in this sector from the north (sector 401), never activating linedef 2071 and therefore get stuck here. You could perhaps solve it by adding the same linedef action 82 to linedef 2039 or change the crates to make it impossible to enter sector 400 from the north.

 

2.

In the big conveyor belt room, you can drop down into an inescapable pit northwest of sector 497. I suppose this is an oversight because every other pit here has a teleporter pad.

Edited June 5, 2022 by PinkFlamingo

[Wavy]

16 minutes ago, PinkFlamingo said:

I found two potential soft-locks in your map (but they are easy fixes):

Ah man, was intending that to be the last version but oh well. Thanks for noticing them though ;)

 

Edit: Updated the map to address the the soft-locks. See my post above.

Edited June 5, 2022 by Wavy

[Caleb13]

So I continued my play through E2 to E4, this time in RC1 version. E2 and E3 were still rather easy, I had no problem playing from pistol starts. E4 was much nastier, I started to die with pistol starts, but it still felt easier than Thy Flesh Consumed or Sigil. Anyway, I noticed quite a few bugs along the way, I played on UV in GZdoom 4.7.1.

 

E2M2: aren't the backpack and computer map supposed to be secret?

 

E2M3: pinkies can become very easily stuck in narrow areas of sector 1304.

 

E3M1: small HOM at stairs linedef 1538. I could grab the red key without triggering the lost soul closet. Also, Gzdoom reports these texture problems:

Unknown bottom texture 'SW1MET2' on first side of linedef 1912
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1MET2' on first side of linedef 5671
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1MET2' on first side of linedef 7577
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1MET2' on first side of linedef 7605

 

E3M4: I don't think linedef 4590 should have switch texture.

 

E3M7: teleporter sector 574 needs to be WR, not W1. Monsters in closet sectors 694 to 696 never became active and thus 100% kills is impossible.

 

E3M8: there is missing "r" in word "their" in the intermission text.

 

E3M9: lots of texture problems:

Spoiler

Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on first side of linedef 45
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on first side of linedef 50
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 165
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 166
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 167
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 168
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 169
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 170
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 171
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 172
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 173
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 174
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 175
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 176
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 177
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 178
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 179
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 180
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on second side of linedef 181
Unknown bottom texture 'METALDRK' on first side of linedef 183
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on first side of linedef 314
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on first side of linedef 317
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on first side of linedef 335
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on first side of linedef 336
Unknown top texture 'BRICKGT2' on first side of linedef 473
Unknown top texture 'BRICKGT2' on first side of linedef 516
Unknown bottom texture 'GRAY_N66' on first side of linedef 1126
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on second side of linedef 1126
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on first side of linedef 1129
Unknown bottom texture 'GRAY_N66' on second side of linedef 1129
Unknown bottom texture 'GRAY_N66' on first side of linedef 1132
Unknown bottom texture 'GRAY_N66' on first side of linedef 1135
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on second side of linedef 1135
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on first side of linedef 1138
Unknown bottom texture 'GRAY_N66' on second side of linedef 1138
Unknown top texture 'CRATELIG' on first side of linedef 1144
Unknown top texture 'CRATELIG' on first side of linedef 1145
Unknown top texture 'CRATELIG' on first side of linedef 1146
Unknown top texture 'CRATELIG' on first side of linedef 1147
Unknown top texture 'BIGDOORF' on first side of linedef 1223
Unknown top texture 'BIGDOORF' on first side of linedef 1224
Unknown top texture 'BIGDOORF' on first side of linedef 1226
Unknown top texture 'BRICKGT2' on first side of linedef 1232
Unknown top texture 'BRICKGT2' on first side of linedef 1374
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on first side of linedef 2009
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on first side of linedef 2010
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on first side of linedef 2011
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on first side of linedef 2012
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on second side of linedef 2013
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on second side of linedef 2014
Unknown top texture 'GRAY_N66' on second side of linedef 2015
Unknown top texture 'COMPSTA4' on first side of linedef 2163
Unknown top texture 'COMPSTA4' on first side of linedef 2164
Unknown top texture 'COMPSTA4' on first side of linedef 2165
Unknown top texture 'COMPCPU' on second side of linedef 2166
Unknown top texture 'COMPCPU' on second side of linedef 2167
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on second side of linedef 2358
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on second side of linedef 2360
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on second side of linedef 2361
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on second side of linedef 2368
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on second side of linedef 2369
Unknown top texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 2630
Unknown bottom texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 2630
Unknown top texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 2639
Unknown bottom texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 2639
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2669
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2670
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2671
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2673
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2674
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2675
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2677
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2678
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2679
Unknown top texture 'GRYFALL1' on first side of linedef 2689
Unknown top texture 'GRYFALL1' on first side of linedef 2690
Unknown top texture 'GRYFALL1' on first side of linedef 2692
Unknown top texture 'GRYFALL1' on first side of linedef 2693
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on first side of linedef 2741
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on first side of linedef 2744
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK3' on first side of linedef 2745
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK3' on first side of linedef 2746
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK3' on first side of linedef 2747
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2749
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2750
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2751
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2752
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2764
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2765
Unknown top texture 'CRATVRK2' on second side of linedef 2767
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2784
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2785
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2786
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2787
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2788
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2789
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2790
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2791
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2792
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2793
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2794
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2795
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2796
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2797
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2798
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 2799
Unknown bottom texture 'MARBGTH3' on first side of linedef 3014
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on second side of linedef 3022
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on second side of linedef 3023
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on second side of linedef 3025
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on first side of linedef 3027
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on second side of linedef 3029
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on second side of linedef 3031
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on second side of linedef 3032
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on second side of linedef 3034
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on second side of linedef 3047
Unknown top texture 'SUPPA32B' on first side of linedef 3048
Unknown top texture 'MARBRED6' on first side of linedef 3070
Unknown top texture 'COMPOHS4' on first side of linedef 3071
Unknown top texture 'MARBRED6' on first side of linedef 3072
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 3142
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 3143
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 3144
Unknown top texture 'ZIMMER7B' on second side of linedef 3145
Unknown bottom texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3168
Unknown bottom texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3183
Unknown middle texture 'BRONZEG5' on first side of linedef 3184
Unknown middle texture 'BRONZEG5' on first side of linedef 3188
Unknown middle texture 'BRONZEG5' on first side of linedef 3189
Unknown top texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3192
Unknown bottom texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3192
Unknown top texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3233
Unknown bottom texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3233
Unknown top texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3242
Unknown bottom texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3242
Unknown top texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3251
Unknown bottom texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3251
Unknown top texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3260
Unknown bottom texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3260
Unknown top texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3269
Unknown bottom texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3269
Unknown bottom texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3295
Unknown middle texture 'BRONZEG5' on first side of linedef 3296
Unknown middle texture 'BRONZEG5' on first side of linedef 3300
Unknown middle texture 'BRONZEG5' on first side of linedef 3301
Unknown bottom texture 'BRONZEG4' on first side of linedef 3302
Unknown middle texture 'BRONZEG5' on first side of linedef 3303
Unknown middle texture 'BRONZEG5' on first side of linedef 3307
Unknown middle texture 'BRONZEG5' on first side of linedef 3308
Missing texture 'GRAY_N66' is used 123 more times
Missing texture 'METALDRK' is used 116 more times
Missing texture 'ZIMMER7B' is used 30 more times
Missing texture 'BRONZEG4' is used 2 more times

 

E4M1: Both secrets are inacessibe in GZdoom because the lift trigger linedefs are facing the wrong way. Well, linedef 1481 actually works, but is tiny and has no visual cue.

 

E4M2: linedefs 2078 and 2193 have wrong texture near floor and missing texture near ceiling. I think sargeant 164 shouldn't be hidden in that closet - there is no incentive to search for it. Also, this map produces LOTS of other texture warnings:

Spoiler

Unknown top texture 'SHAWN02' on first side of linedef 28
Unknown top texture 'SHAWN02' on first side of linedef 43
Unknown top texture 'BASE2' on second side of linedef 800
Unknown middle texture 'SHAWN02' on first side of linedef 910
Unknown top texture 'SHAWN02' on first side of linedef 918
Unknown top texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1435
Unknown bottom texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1435
Unknown top texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1440
Unknown bottom texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1440
Unknown top texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1443
Unknown bottom texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1443
Unknown top texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1449
Unknown bottom texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1449
Unknown top texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1462
Unknown bottom texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1462
Unknown top texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1710
Unknown top texture 'SHAWN02' on first side of linedef 1718
Unknown top texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1719
Unknown bottom texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1719
Unknown top texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1721
Unknown bottom texture 'SHAWN02' on second side of linedef 1721
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1ZIM' on second side of linedef 2554
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1ZIM' on second side of linedef 2556
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1ZIM' on second side of linedef 2557
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1ZIM' on second side of linedef 2559
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1ZIM' on second side of linedef 2561
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1ZIM' on second side of linedef 2562
Unknown top texture 'BASE2' on second side of linedef 2892
Unknown top texture 'BASE2' on second side of linedef 2928
Unknown top texture 'BASE2' on second side of linedef 2939
Unknown top texture 'BASE2' on second side of linedef 3037
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1ZIM' on second side of linedef 3527
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1ZIM' on second side of linedef 3529
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1ZIM' on second side of linedef 3530
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1ZIM' on second side of linedef 3532
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1ZIM' on second side of linedef 3534
Unknown bottom texture 'SW1ZIM' on second side of linedef 3535
Unknown top texture 'ILVER1' on second side of linedef 5317
Unknown top texture 'ILVER1' on second side of linedef 5319
Missing texture 'SHAWN02' is used 70 more times

 

E4M4: when playing from pistol start, there is not enough ammo to kill all the monsters unless you find at least one of the secrets. Health is also pretty tight, compared to other maps.

 

E4M6: the most tedious and confusing map of the pack, due to teleport puzzles and switch hunts. I had to look in an editor to find my way to the exit. Computer map would probably help somewhat, but IMO critical switches/areas need to be highlighed somehow.

Edited June 5, 2022 by Caleb13

[Book Lord]

5 hours ago, RataUnderground said:

The map is lighted enough with the software renderer wich is the way I tested the map, but I noticed watching other people playing it that the map in general looks a lot darker in other render modes : / . I don't know, I don't think I should adapt the map to GzDoomers since its not the intended focus port, but as always in Doom everybody plays its own way and thats fine as long they don't blame me for it xD . Maybe I should light'em up an small sector to highlight the switch without ruin the intended darkness of the room.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

PrBoom OpenGl

GzDoom hardware acelerated

 

I played with DSDA Doom, so no GZDoom rendering. I agree that complaining for excessive darkness is generally pointless as there is gamma correction as a quick solution. 

 

I think that you should either light the switch area a bit more, it even better place a stuck door instead of a normal wall, so people will look for the switch. Not a big issue, though; you might leave the map unchanged if you think it works better for the atmosphere.

 

5 hours ago, RataUnderground said:

As a mapper I cant help but I make a lot of irritating things as a concious decision, like the imps in the waterfall or the enormous cave and the slow elevator because in these spots I want to make the player feel out of their confort zone without increasing too much the difficulty of the map (maybe you remember the hot start of my map (map 04 "Bilis") in skulltiverse with the pain elemental, wich you described in the wad club as "borderline irritating" to my delight xD). I take note of all the feedback wich is always useful to correct mistakes ( and I corrected a lot of mistakes in each map thanks to the testers :) ) , but these are not mistakes, its a subjective taste and everybody is free to dislike them.

 

I am glad your remember that PE comment, but it was just me playing Skulltiverse with -fast monsters up to map 11, a habit I have dropped since then. 

 

I know you made the secret area awkward on purpose... It is acceptable because it is an optional part that nobody forces you to play, especially pistol starters who cannot bring the RL to the next map. However, if these areas were part of the normal progression, I don't think many people will like them. The slow lift in particular is just a waste of time.

2 hours ago, PinkFlamingo said:

In the big conveyor belt room, you can drop down into an inescapable pit northwest of sector 497. I suppose this is an oversight because every other pit here has a teleporter pad.

Sorry @Wavy, I noticed this pit but forgot to mention it. Luckily, there was another one so my observations would have been incomplete anyway.

[ViolentBeetle]

12 minutes ago, Caleb13 said:

Anyway, I noticed quite a few bugs along the way, I played on UV in GZdoom 4.7.1.

Some of those are addressed internally, I'll take a look at others, thanks.

[Wavy]

On 6/6/2022 at 1:25 AM, Caleb13 said:

E2M2: aren't the backpack and computer map supposed to be secret? 

 

Well, turns out I completely forgot to tag them. I updated E2M2 above to v2.11 and they're now both now tagged as a secret.

Edited June 7, 2022 by Wavy

[Endless]

Already completed episode 1 and I'm enjoying it a lot so far! Great job, looks amazing.

[sandwedge]

Played through the first half of Episode 1 saveless, and just as I suspected this CP's structure lent it all a very cohesive feel!  Some classic doom 1 that amps up some of the detail and themed locations which I really liked!  Honestly some of the music and vague backstory along with the clearly identifiable locations gave this episode a little bit more flavour that I really appreciated.  I don't like story in Doom but just a little bit of narrative spice, a solar struggle through facilities on titan, was cool.  The gameplay was pretty accessible hence decided to go saveless, but it flows real good even though I generally prefer Doom 2, so that's a really good sign.  Great job folks!

 

 

[ViolentBeetle]

1 hour ago, sandwedge said:

Played through the first half of Episode 1 saveless, and just as I suspected this CP's structure lent it all a very cohesive feel!  Some classic doom 1 that amps up some of the detail and themed locations which I really liked!  Honestly some of the music and vague backstory along with the clearly identifiable locations gave this episode a little bit more flavour that I really appreciated.  I don't like story in Doom but just a little bit of narrative spice, a solar struggle through facilities on titan, was cool.  The gameplay was pretty accessible hence decided to go saveless, but it flows real good even though I generally prefer Doom 2, so that's a really good sign.  Great job folks!

Weird how you don't seem to have custom intermission. Episode 1 should have it already in RC1. Did you grab an old version or you don't have enough UMAPINFO support?

[sandwedge]

1 hour ago, ViolentBeetle said:

Weird how you don't seem to have custom intermission. Episode 1 should have it already in RC1. Did you grab an old version or you don't have enough UMAPINFO support?

 

I just checked and I recorded this on May 27.  I thought it was the first release candidate, maybe just when all the maps were in though.  Don't think it's umapinfo problem anyway.  I recorded the rest of episode 1 then too but I will download the latest for episode 2.

[ViolentBeetle]

3 minutes ago, sandwedge said:

 

I just checked and I recorded this on May 27.  I thought it was the first release candidate, maybe just when all the maps were in though.  Don't think it's umapinfo problem anyway.  I recorded the rest of episode 1 then too but I will download the latest for episode 2.

I will release RC2 soon, so be on the lookout.

[Book Lord]

Episode 3: Moon Madness

 

E3M1: Lunar Gateway by @LordEntr0py
Gorgeous starter by no one else than LordEntr0py, with extensive height variation and spacious vistas. This is a sight to behold from the beginning to the end, full of manageable but non-trivial ambushes, starting with a lot of ammo starvation in the first section. Then there is the huge (11) secret department, a treasure trove of hidden fleshy cubbyholes to discover and paths to explore. I was about to give up the last one, i.e. the terrace you see from the start, since the way to get there is extremely well hidden, but it's under your eyes. The route to the big flesh cavern was amazing, and the unusual reward was a stunning transformation of the level hub into a more hellish place. Awesome. Still, I found a couple of issues in this impressive creation, and I'll list them:
1) Linedef 1538 and 1619 have their front sidedef specified, but the player sees the undefined back (already reported by @Caleb13)
2) The button on Linedef 1295 does not change when pressed, creating a weird effect. Maybe use another switch type.

 

E3M2: Tranquility Terminal @RHhe82
An easier level despite the reintroduction of Barons, this encourages relaxed play and charging forward into danger. The layout is simple but with good detail, lighting and constant incidental pressure, achieved by frontal opposition, and some closets that open out of sight. The secrets are easy to figure out, but still fascinating. The only remark I have is the area behind the yellow doors. The enemy placement seems to assume the player will enter from the north, so when you actually enter from the west (yellow door in the level hub), the enemies are deaf and facing north, which is not a great thing to see. Maybe rotate them 45° so they will see the player entering from any door?

 

E3M3: Deep Space Observatory by @dac
I like the ever-changing layout and especially the secrets, which take some time but are rewarding. The gate that opens on top of the tower (was that the Deep Space Observatory?) and leads to the water shrine with plasma gun, is mystifying and does not encourage the player to walk through. It should look more like a teleporter and less like a platforming shortcut to nowhere. What a good place to spam some cells though, it was mindlessly fun. The Blue Armour secret is likely to be found only after leaving, which is better since entering the RK area from that direction and dropping in the middle of enemy forces is not great. The combat was a bit of a grind, with plenty of ammo to spam, but if you pistol start there is a lot of nonthreatening Pinkies to kill with shotgun and chaingun. It was also easy to (legitimately) fool the enemies, especially in the final lift, where the Barons can see the player from the top, so you just move back and lure them down the lift, to avoid getting cornered by them and the Spectres.

 

E3M4: Fusion Plant by @BluePineapple72
A good industrial map with mostly claustrophobic combat that almost got me in a few instances. I felt lost when I collected the BK: I backtracked through the blue doors, only to find a lot of stuff and no way to advance. The environment-assisted progression through the red door was not very obvious and it took me a lot of time to figure out that I do not need the key to get behind that door. Place a stuck door instead, especially since the RK is behind that door! Then there are the secrets, with a lot of cryptic stuff like the Soul Sphere in the last room: for me it was impossible to figure out because the trigger is not even a switch. Moreover, the third red door in the BK area for some reason did not open. This messed up both the Soul Sphere in the warehouse with forklifts (check the screenshot, there are some missing textures in the "partial" solution of the puzzle), and prevented me from reaching the outside area with the Computer Area Map. Considering that I did not find the trigger to access the stash in the YK area, I left with 0% secrets. Additionally, when I cheated with IDCLIP to pass through the stuck door in a subsequent test, I was able to access the Soul Sphere but I did not score the secret since Sector 156 is tiny. Maybe choose a bigger sector to tag as secret, for example sector 293 where you must enter to complete the Soul Sphere procedure.

E3M5: Helium Refinery by @Captain Toenail
A large tech-base with a classic feel and a slightly confusing layout, featuring frequent but not too threatening ambushes. The corrupted sections paired nicely with the industrial setting. There is not much health around, but lots of power-ups to compensate for that. I found the secrets, but they were both useless, required only for maxing out enemies and items. I cannot find a good use for Light Amplification Visor anywhere in the level and the Computer Area Map was pointless at that stage. Maybe place some of the freebies (Blue Armour, Soul Sphere) in the CAM secret area, and the CAM as a collectable item elsewhere?

 

E3M6: Deep Crust Borehole by @myolden
A lovely moon base, with lots of cramped fights that were all entertaining, if still not too deadly. The plasma gun Barons almost boxed me in, but I escaped with only one hit. I found the secret BFG before entering the blood pit and descending into the titular borehole; the big gun made me a little too self-confident and I was almost killed by the swarming monsters. Especially Cacodemons appeared above my head for some infinitely-tall BS, which left me barely standing at 14%. Check how the Cacos appear in this ambush, since they probably do not spawn at the floor level but much higher, out of visibility. There are lots of great visuals here, interesting progression, and fascinating secrets eventually leading to the secret exit. I only missed the Combat Armour because I did not see the narrow passage behind the teleport pad!

 

E3M7: Freight Terminal by @MemeMind
The start is nice and chaotic, it encourages dropping down as soon as possible. The penalty is to suffer infinitely-tall harassment by Pinkies, a pretty common occurrence in this map. I like the straightforward, realistic design of the areas, but gameplay-wise, most of them are a bit too large to pose a meaningful challenge. There are long corridors with unnecessary lifts that waste the player's time (e.g. Sec 444 could be a staircase instead); there are odd holes in the walls (e.g. Sec 411, 684) and the inaccessible nukage pool that invite searching for secrets that do not exist. Quite the opposite, the Blue Armour is difficult to find, there is a misaligned texture but nothing that hints at a secret. The Soul Sphere is easier. For some reason, the Sergeants in Sec 405 heard the noises from the basement and managed to get up with the elevator. I am not sure if this was intended or not. In front of the YK there is a box of ammo (Thing 262) that floats in the air when the lift is lowered. The exit requires running through a wall of meat that emerges from the mouth of a grotesque creature. There is an odd red teleporter that leads back to the first section of the base and it is easily missed; moreover, there is no return once you drop into the beast's belly. Good ideas on this map, though its focus is more on the representation of a corrupted transport terminal than the optimisation of the player experience. I suggest reworking the spaces a bit and shorten the corridors, removing unnecessary movement obstructions, and to reposition the teleporter to the first half near the green armour just before the exit.

 

E3M8: Space Elevator by @muumi
An enormous arena with a fleeting Spider Mastermind, firstly seen at the beginning and mysteriously disappearing to return before the end. The place is full of Shotgun Guys and 20% lava patches that are quite taxing for the health, which is not abundant (I was a fool to miss the Soul Sphere secret, it was very easy). Pistol starters seem to have no other choice but to run around with the shotgun, kill all hitscanners while dodging numerous Baron and Imps projectiles, then hunt for the switches to unlock the progression. I winded up in the chaingun dead end, where I was surrounded by Sergeants and would have been killed by the upcoming horde without my carry-over plasma weapons. I used up all my rockets and cells to destroy every monster around the Space Elevator, and when I picked up the BK I was running out of everything. At that point, heavy weapons and ammo were provided, but there seemed not to be enough to kill everybody. The Spiderdemon is not an enemy that can provide a challenge in normal situations, but I think muumi devised an interesting setup to confront him. It was like an endurance test, constituting an exciting finale.

 

E3M9: The Dark Side by @Astro X and @ViolentBeetle
A high body count secret level, boasting some slaughter type combat, its best feature is nudging the player towards more and more trouble as he rushes into things. I think pistol starters are going to struggle a bit more, since every weapon that you collect throws you in correspondingly harsher environments, where ours truly (ViolentBeetle) let himself go with monster count (might have been Astro X? Nah, I doubt it). Maybe there are too many Barons, and too many monsters in general on UV (391), but it's fine for the secret level. The Cyberdemon arena was brutal and totally unexpected at that stage, I played sloppily and was killed by the boss. Getting out of it was also a bit frustrating, as you press the visible face and nothing seems to happen, except that another face appears in an invisible niche. This should probably be changed, considering that out of the arena another large group of monsters is about to teleport. Linedef 3063 is a Block Monster line that is used to hold the Cacodemon in place, but it also prevents the next wave from entering the arena and encourages camping at leisure. Another suggestion is to make the trigger of Sector 63 more obvious: to open the door, the player must step on any of the moon phase icons on the floor, but there is no invitation to do that. Maybe move some pickups there, to increase the chance that people will step on the icons? Not a big issue, though.

Edited June 7, 2022 by Book Lord

[ViolentBeetle]

Release candidate. Various fixes and also full set of intermission screens. I'm not entirely satisfied with Episode 2, but even with @PinkFlamingo's help I'm yet to improve on it. I will keep trying.

SolarStruggleRC2.7z

 

I would be grateful if someone could participate in testing on lower difficulties, to check if there's all keys and whenever there's any other oddities.

Edited June 8, 2022 by ViolentBeetle

[ViolentBeetle]

@Book Lord

Thanks for your feedback. I will address the issue on E3M9 to make things more intuitive (Really should've done it before uploading, rushed that a bit)

Maybe other mappers would take note of some of your criticisms as well.

[RHhe82]

12 hours ago, Book Lord said:

The only remark I have is the area behind the yellow doors. The enemy placement seems to assume the player will enter from the north, so when you actually enter from the west (yellow door in the level hub), the enemies are deaf and facing north, which is not a great thing to see. Maybe rotate them 45° so they will see the player entering from any door?

Thanks for the feedback! You’re not the first to consider my map easy - I actually thought it was sort of ”midpoint” from OG Doom to Final Doom :P (Also, ViolentBeetle’s directive was to have detail and difficulty resembling OG more, but I’m not sure how consistent we as a collective managed to be).

 

I’m mostly proud of my level, but the area behind the yellow doors is something I just put together, wanting to be done with the map, and I still feel it’s lacking something, and I’m not surprised it has design flaws. As you can guess, I always entered the area from the north door instead of the hub area, so your observation doesn’t surprise me.

 

I’ll try and update my map ”soon” (later this week, would it suffice, @ViolentBeetle?)

[Book Lord]

2 hours ago, RHhe82 said:

Thanks for the feedback! You’re not the first to consider my map easy - I actually thought it was sort of ”midpoint” from OG Doom to Final Doom :P (Also, ViolentBeetle’s directive was to have detail and difficulty resembling OG more, but I’m not sure how consistent we as a collective managed to be).

There is nothing wrong in making an easy map, provided it is still fun to play and interesting to explore. The set is mostly easy up to Episode 3, even though your Tranquility Terminal might be easier than some levels in previous episodes, including maps that do not have Barons of Hell. These monsters are more effective when the player movement is restricted and they can use their superior toughness to push you against a wall; this does not happen in your map, but it is not bad design, just a use of Barons that stems from the OG instead of relying on the recent community standards.

I played both Hellevator and Skulltiverse and I know most of the authors involved in this project (hence my attention). I also learned, at my own expense, what they are capable of when they want to challenge the player. Seeing myolden, Shawny, LordEntr0py, BluePineapple72, Captain Toenail, muumi, and ViolentBeetle restrain themselves from going all-in against Doomguy, creating great atmospheric maps that are very enjoyable even if played casually, is surprising and refreshing. This allows their work to be appreciated by non-hardcore players, who might be put off by some of their previous productions, and helps combining their work with contributions from less experienced mappers (but not unambitious or troll, like you aptly defined yourself), without excessive lack in coherence. There are also many other skilled and experienced people submitting maps to Solar Struggle, so there is really a lot to see here.

 

The cohesion of this map set is excellent considering the relatively loose guidelines. ViolentBeetle apparently communicated the mood and the setting in the best way! The difficulty up to episode 3 is well-balanced, with an odd map here and there (E2M3 by DFF is a bit out of sync, while still being a standout map, and I was only half-ironic about E3M9 allowing ViolentBeetle to let off some steam :) ). I am very curious to see how E4 will "significantly ramp up", with the above mentioned people not being involved at all.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Book Lord

[ViolentBeetle]

4 hours ago, RHhe82 said:

I’ll try and update my map ”soon” (later this week, would it suffice, @ViolentBeetle?) 

That sounds reasonable.

[RHhe82]

1 hour ago, ViolentBeetle said:

That sounds reasonable.

 

Turned out "later this week" meant today. I think I dropped off from the Discord server, so here's the zip file for version 1.1. Changes:

 

- Rotated and un-deafed the monsters in the yellow key courtyard as per @Book Lord's suggestion. I think the welcoming committee now works much better when entering from either door.

- Tweaked one of the Baron ambushes. I was always discontent with one of those, when the Baron would teleport in and walk away from the player for a moment before engaging the player. I guess I didn't want to relocate monster closets, and I didn't occur to me rotate the teleport exit thing :P

- Cleaned up the automap clutter. This was also something I totally intended to do when the map would be complete, but I guess I forgot about that, too. Doesn't affect the gameplay at all, but the automap should look a little better now.

- I remember @cannonball commenting long ago on one of the soulsphere's being too much a leeway for the player. I totally agree, so while I do stand by the level of difficulty I designed, I tweaked this so that on UV there are two medikits instead of a soulsphere. Shouldn't affect the balance that much, and two medikits is still generous, I think.

 

I can't believe I had already made the map back in last October! It seems so long ago now. It also explains the difficulty, since I had only recently got back in to Doom. If I made the map now, I think it'd indeed be harder. Perhaps.

 

SolStrugE3M2_v1.1.zip

[ViolentBeetle]

I'm reposting the call because editing it into a post was not the best idea.

I would appreciate if you play maps in this wad on difficulties other than UV and report if you were able to complete them, or if you encountered any oddities. Or report if you already did so.

Don't want to have another missing key crisis after release.

[Book Lord]

51 minutes ago, ViolentBeetle said:

I'm reposting the call because editing it into a post was not the best idea.

I would appreciate if you play maps in this wad on difficulties other than UV and report if you were able to complete them, or if you encountered any oddities. Or report if you already did so.

Don't want to have another missing key crisis after release.

I am almost through E4 on UV (RC2); there are some minor issues to amend. If you are patient enough, I will give the whole thing a quick run on HNTR after that.

[ViolentBeetle]

3 minutes ago, Book Lord said:

I am almost through E4 on UV (RC2); there are some minor issues to amend. If you are patient enough, I will give the whole thing a quick run on HNTR after that.

Would appreciate it. I am going to go through the wad myself, but it would help if collaborative effort could save time.

[Shawny]

I did run on HNTR 100% (only E1 for now) and that one seems to be good now (one map needed some changes).
I am currently running E2 and that needs some fixing. I didn´t test much today but hopefully I will pick up the pace

in upcoming days.

E2M4 specifically has missplaced player start and blue armor is unreachable as a result. Map is still beatable.
(That was not the case in, at least, RC0 that I played last time.)

[Book Lord]

Episode 4: Venusian Violence (played in RC2)

 

E4M1: Docking Station by @LordEntr0py
We make acquaintance of New Venice (the Venusian city in the clouds) thanks to a rocket-driven map designed with remarkable precision. The floating buildings look all the same, which is necessary for gameplay since the first minutes are a mad dash through unknown terraces and staircases, while being chased by unbeatable opposition. The group of Cacos appearing by the red door was tricky to dodge, and putting my hands on the coveted weapon was a relief. LordEntr0py did his best to make sure the challenge did not end by picking up the rocket launcher, as both the BK and the exit ambushes were big and confusing enough to require good movement skills and organisation. The scenario was great as expected, though the monotone colours and the dim lighting did not make it look like the prettiest place in the Solar System. Still, it is a convincing vestige of a fallen human outpost on Venus, and a peculiar map to play.
 
E4M2: Customs Office by @Anarkzie
Big queue at the immigration office today! This map is positively crazy with its convoluted progression, exploding barrels, and twisting paths. The customs warehouses full of inappropriate equipment (somebody is smuggling Nazi paintings on Venus? lol), the absence of security railings and parapets for the service crew, the Spiderdemon & the Cyberdemon appearing without preambles, all these features contribute to a light-hearted atmosphere, touching the borders of comedy. Nothing is too difficult combat-wise, and the numerous enemies largely die like flies. The map provides interesting things to see, like the scary (but harmless) Lost Soul trap in the control room, the weird hellish sections, the maintenance catwalks above the clouds. I found the secret exit before learning that the normal one was readily accessible; I tried to open the bars, but they are difficult to operate properly (as any narrow bars used as doors), so I thought there was an alternative unlocking procedure. Please, place a(n exit) door instead of those faulty bars.
Some minor bugs that need to be amended:
1) Thin Linedef 3422 has PIPEWAL1 texture in the middle of STARTAN1 and looks like a slime trail (but it isn't)
2) The insta-pop monsters in the YSK room are in pits with FIREWALA texture and they can be seen before activating them. Shouldn't the pit lines have no texture?
3) Linedefs 1770/1785/1779/1768/1780 received a teleport effect to prevent the player from jumping down in the lower room, but this is pointless because he won't be through the red door without the RSK found at the bottom. Moreover, Action 97 WR Teleport caused a Lost Soul to repeatedly warp on that line for a buggy effect. Maybe you could do without the teleport effect and place more grates here if you want to block the line. The Lost Souls are useless in any case in this room, as they are mostly trapped behind solid mid-textures.

Screenshots of the bugs:

 

E4M3: Commercial District by @RataUnderground
This is a very open level, basically a single courtyard divided in many sections and paths that get populated by frequent and often surprising teleports, deploying large quantities of monsters. I like the abuse of GRAY textures, the coupling with MODWALL and white lights, and the monotone background that makes the few important points stand out a bit more. There is ammo for everything, including a BFG, and lots of hp to vanquish with it. The Baron teleport (21x) is epic but more of a time waste than a threat. The beginning is a bit harsh with the loose Spiderdemons that act as snipers and see you everywhere. When the Cyberdemon appeared by the BK, I lured him out to confront the spiders and I was lucky that he killed both while I was taking care of the Cacoswarm. There are two progression points that I found a bit puzzling and that consumed time:
1) the teleporter after you pick up YK and BFG sends you back to start, and from there it is difficult to choose the direction to take, especially if you missed some colour-coded switches. The author consciously oriented the destination towards the staircase, but the sight is disorienting at first and the player must turn around to see where he has landed. Sending the player to Sector 686 (near the coloured arrows) might favour the orientation and exploration of the terraces where the next steps lie; I also noticed that the teleport destination in that sector is not used (sector Tag 38 is not referenced by any linedef);
2) the switch with yellow bars opening the yellow-coded teleporter in the outside is a bit too hidden, and it is redundant too. You might just remove it and place some hidden goodies there. These steps are not very rewarding to figure out. There is also a teleport destination and sector Tag 42 in front of the switch, and they are not used anymore. Probably they are traces of former ideas about the progression.
However, I liked the sleek and clean visuals of the level and how combat and exploration were organised; a solid effort.

 

E4M4: Residential Areas by @DJVCardMaster
A classic-styled level that acts as a breather for the fourth episode. The gameplay is more relaxed than all other maps, with a few nice surprise attacks that are not dangerous, but still ok. Ammo in general is not plentiful, considering the number of Barons, but is more a problem for pistol starters. The 2 secrets are really well-hidden, I could not find them. The small ammo closet is ok I suppose, but the BFG is behind a perfectly aligned texture that looks all but out of place, and I did not spot the hint on the automap. The shootable trigger does not make much sense, maybe place a hidden switch in the computer panel area (e.g. switch behind switch)?

 

E4M5: Waste Recycling Facility by @MAN_WITH_GUN
Ooof... 599 monsters on UV? ViolentBeetle said he did not want magnum opus maps in Solar Struggle, but this double-sized entry has made it so far without trims. Well, this is not a hard map because of the monster quota or the encounter design; the difficulty comes from the sheer length of the exploration and the trap-heavy design. The tech-base is nice with interesting elements and feels both IWAD-ish and somehow refreshing. I think the "floating city" theme is a bit preposterous here, with absurdities like walking on (damaging) sky and floating clouds of nukage waste. There is a ton of secrets (11); I found everything except the Computer Area Map, whose shootable switch escaped my attention. Since the secrets are a separate challenge of an already long map, the unreachable BFG on the crate is a bit of a troll move, and the BFG closet in the crusher section is obnoxious as well. The whole crusher section is terrible in my opinion, it forces to proceed slow and carefully, and it never stops, so you might cross it multiple times and is a chore. The optional section leading to the Soul Sphere in the east is incredibly long-winded for such a standard reward. The dark area with the plasma gun in the south-east is also super-annoying, with Shotgunners, Spectres and a nasty ambush that you must escape in the darkness. The rest was ok, the computer block was long and nonthreatening, but it was entertaining and impressive to look at. It is a horrible thing to say and for an author to do, but I think this map needs some trimming to fit into the megaWAD's big picture. The chief candidates for the activity are the whole south-western dark section, as it provides a weapon and bonuses found elsewhere and mostly annoying combat, and some parts of the eastern pool, which was heavily guarded but for no apparent reason. The BFG should be obtainable in some manner, for example by placing a teleporter in the secret that now holds a useless radsuit. The crushers might stay, but please make them stop when you cross Linedef 9435 with action 57. If this makes the BFG secret "too easy", then remove it or swap it for the Invulnerability.

 

E4M6: Mass Propulsion by @SMG_Man
And this is the gimmicky level... the first part with the two Cyberdemons and Doomguy wandering around, finding tons of Invulnerabilities and Soul Spheres, while still lacking adequate weapons, is not that great. It is impossible to predict when and how the Cybers will appear, so I used my carryover ammo to kill them asap. Tag 666 opens the YSK cage and then it is all about finding the yellow switch that opens all yellow bars of the level. When it is pressed, enemies start to teleport everywhere with fuzzy patterns. I killed some of them, then I got bored of their random behaviour. I happened to find the exit by crossing the toxic sludge tunnels that start from the room with the rocket launcher. The blinking light areas of the tunnels are non-damaging because you can have only 1 effect per sector, and this is illogical. Surprisingly enough, these sludge tunnels lead to the exit and allow to skip the search for the 4 switches that open the 4 doors close to the YSK place. I cannot say I did not like the shortcut. There is also a huge optional section in the southern portion of the map, but I was not liking the action and the level enough to stay and max it. I appreciate the effort to produce something different, but I unfortunately disliked most of the level's features: strong lighting constrasts, haphazard teleports, midtextures used as walls or to conceal switches, item distribution, mazey layout, tons of optional stuff and secrets. There might be others that like this level more than me, so take this with a grain of salt.

 

E4M7: The Tether by @Engired
A small village map with an early Cyberdemon and wild teleport ambushes. The terrain is wonky in some places and the passages between platforms are often narrow and is easy to get stuck. The map is very short and once the boss is dead, the difficulty comes from enemies teleporting slowly and randomly, especially hitscanners. They move very slowly inside their huge closets; looking at the map in the editor, the teleport design seems to be deliberate. Fair enough, since the player can just make a dash for the yellow door and the tether rope and leave the monsters to their business. It was an ok map, probably better on pistol start than on continuous play.

 

E4M8: Impact Site by @PinkFlamingo
This is a nice finale, a trip on the volcanic surface of Venus for a Spiderdemon battle. As admitted by the author, he took inspiration from muumi's E3M8 and placed the boss in the middle of the arena, out of autoaim reach, and designed a fight relying on shootable eye switches that raised barriers and bridges (as explained by the tutorial in the starting caverns). The lava is inescapable here, so players need to be careful and never jump into it. It was good fun, despite the Spectres being invisible in the dark landscape. The final wall of monsters exhausted my whole cell resources and most rockets, I am not sure if pistol starters can break through. The ending area looked great, and entering the corrupted meteorite was suggestive. There are two points in the map where it is possible to hit the Spider Mastermind without entering autoaim range:
1) Step on sector 462 without shooting the eye switch that raises the barriers. I am not sure if you can survive long enough to kill the Spiderdemon, but you can indeed hit the boss with rockets or BFG balls from there
2) Just before the BFG, on sector 107/269 the floor level is high enough to hit the Spider with rockets from safety (hide behind the corner if she sees you).
Very minor issues, but you might want the map to be 100% tight under that aspect.

 

E4M9: Cult Headquarters by @Mystic 256
A quick & sweet secret map with lots of action and slaughter encounters that are not too difficult, except for the Shotgunner attrition that would be tragic with -fast monsters. There are 4/5 big fights involving both rockets and plasma and culminating in a Cyberdemon arena that gets swarmed by all sorts of critters (= prioritise hitscanners or die). The combat is nicely done, and it flows very quickly if compared to E3M9, which is a more fulfilling experience at the price of some extra grind. MODWALL textures work very well with the E4 sky and the map looks great despite the rather square design. My only gripe with Cult Headquarters is that there are no rewards for continuous players, unless they find the rather obscure way to access the double secret inside the towers. There is no reason to have 2 secret sectors that will automatically be scored one after the other; one is enough. What the hell is this Cult with a trident symbol? The Disciples of D'Sparil?

Edited June 10, 2022 by Book Lord