Altars of Madness [Now on idgames!] [Boom] [12 Maps]

[myolden]

 

Final Update 7/10/2022

 

The wad is now on idgames here: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/aom

 

RC3 Update 7/6/2022

 

RC3 is now here: [redacted]

 

The following changes have been made:

Spoiler

- Made as many walkover linedefs as possible angled to (hopefully) avoid linedef skips
- Fixed potential softlocks in maps 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11
- Fixed an issue that caused candles to move after hitting the first switch in map 7
- Fixed a number of visual issues in map 7, 11, 12
- Fixed an issue with yellow torches not being fullbright (a bit of a hacky workaround, but it works)
- Disabled jumping and crouching via mapinfo

 

Sometime in the next few days I'll be adding demos and doing one last final run through of the maps before uploading to idgames. Thanks again to everyone who contributed, whether that be demos, videos, comments, bug reports, or anything else. 

 

RC2 Update 6/14/22 

 

RC2 is now available here: [redacted]

The following changes have been made:

Spoiler

- (Hopefully) fixed a possible linedef skip in map 5

- Moved some obstables so the switch for the secret plasma gun in map 6 a little easier to see

- Removed a potential method to cheese the final fight of map 8
- Added teleporters to the out of bounds areas in the final map 8 arena in case the player is blasted out by archviles
- Slightly modified the final fight in map 8 so the archviles teleport down into the watery area below
- Fixed a visual bug with the switch that initiates the final fight in map 9
- Fixed an issue where players could grab the plasma gun in map 9 without initiating the associated fight

- Revised the secret backpack in map 11 to be less obscure

 

I really appreciate the feedback being given, thanks to everyone who's played and left their thoughts. If no major issues pop up in the next week or so I'll just upload to idgames.

 

 

 

Original Post 

 

Altars of Madness is a set of 12 Doom 2 maps in Boom format created by me over the course of a few months. The target source port is prboom+ but we tested in a variety of sourceports. The maps are relatively small and can be beaten in under 10 minutes. Each map is designed to be pistol started, and a death exit is placed at the end of each map to force this (sorry continuous players).

 

I'd like to thank my beta testers who all gave me very valuable feedback. Thanks to them a lot of bugs were squashed, textures were fixed, and gameplay was balanced. 
@Death Bear
@Danlex
@Vile
@Peccatum Mihzamiz

 

I'd also like to thank @BluePineapple72 for creating the beautiful M_DOOM logo that greets you in the main menu, and @StorkGreen for creating the snazzy yellow torches used in maps 4, 9, and 12.

 

I'll leave this project in it's RC status for around a month, during which time I will try to fix any bugs brought to my attention via this thread. Then it's on to idgames.

 

WAD: [redacted]

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

Maplist:

Spoiler

Map 01: Anisette
Map 02: Daymare
Map 03: Morningstar
Map 04: Path to Ground
Map 05: Where the Slime Live
Map 06: Streamline
Map 07: Immortal Corruptor
Map 08: Obscura
Map 09: Anxiety Hangover
Map 10: Ecstasy of Unbecoming
Map 11: Old Thunder
Map 12: Hyperventilationsystem
Map 13: The End

 

MIDIs:

Spoiler

Map 01: "Command Post" - Dune: The Battle For Arrakis
Map 02: "Moon Sea" - Dark Cloud
Map 03: "Mini Boss" - Secret of Evermore
Map 04: "Overdose Delusion" - Silent Hill 2
Map 05: "Character Making" - Final Fantasy Tactics
Map 06: "Alien Forest" - Stuart Rynn
Map 07: "Fire Hive" - Jimmy Paddock
Map 08: "The Flintstones Unused Song 2" - Dean Evans
Map 09: "Ocean Palace" - Chrono Trigger
Map 10: "Skedar Ruins" - Perfect Dark
Map 11: "Geothermal" - Cave Story
Map 12: "Under The Progress" - Parasite Eve
Map 13: "Leaving the Body" - Chrono Cross

 

As an extra treat, I almost always name my maps after songs I like and this WAD is no exception. I've gone ahead and 
compiled a youtube playlist of all of the songs these maps are named after if you're curious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E_4FcwZoR8&list=PLBM3UM3qZ8N7OviuSDkRdjOp3sh-I-w9y

 

Edited July 20, 2022 by myolden
Updated to include idgames link

[Peccatum Mihzamiz]

This wad is one of the best things I've played this year. Everybody: play it and enjoy the tight fights, lovely architecture and the unified overall atmosphere of these special maps!

[Thelokk]

Started digging my claws into this one, stellar stuff. It really has that Sunlust vibe minus the unapproachability. Well done!

[Vile]

Thanks again for letting me have an early playthrough of this set, it was a nice surprise and the levels were awesome!  Highly recommended stuff.

Edited June 6, 2022 by Vile

[gabirupee]

Just wanted to say these maps are BEATIFUL the architeture is marvelous and the combat is my jam, like a easy version of sunlust with high threat encounters and limited movement, Great job!

[eternalegg]

these are phenomenal comments, must be a real treat of a wad cant wait to try it

[StorkGreen]

Map01 UV-Pacifist in 1:53

Cool map, i like blue maps

aom01p0153.zip

 

There will be more demos, i guess and hope...

[Arwel]

Amazing mapset with nice looks and punchy strategical combat. I don't even agree it's easier than Sunlust! Some fights are easier, while others are harder than many Sunlust fights. Mancubus turret level for example was a pretty hard one, also the mechanic felt novel to me personally, I've never seen anything like that before! Also, some design choices look very fresh too.

[ryiron]

This map set has all my favourite things. I've done the first two maps so far. Will see how I go with the rest. Really enjoying the aesthetic and combat so far. Video for map01 with playlist for the map set below. 

 

 

[tom3kb]

Played first 3 maps, not to big maps but they looking good, dint'n like the fights so far, small rooms, to many monsters for me. So far i pass this wad.

[muumi]

did little speedrunning

 

[myolden]

9 hours ago, StorkGreen said:

Map01 UV-Pacifist in 1:53

Cool map, i like blue maps

aom01p0153.zip

 

There will be more demos, i guess and hope...

 

Cool to see a pacifist run, gonna check out the demo tonight when I get home.

 

14 minutes ago, muumi said:

did little speedrunning

 

GG, you now hold the WR for map 4.

[muumi]

wee im the best

[BluePineapple72]

“Y’know what I say? This mapset is NOT a fun compact doom experience with tightly designed combat encounters. One color per map? That’s just plain lazy!”

[LadyMistDragon]

Demos for some of the maps. I sure appreciate the difficulty climb here, gotta say. Most of these could probably be called your hardest. It's almost like skulltiverse were exactly the sorts of maps you always wanted to make.

lmd_aom.zip

[myolden]

14 hours ago, StorkGreen said:

Map01 UV-Pacifist in 1:53

Cool map, i like blue maps

aom01p0153.zip

 

There will be more demos, i guess and hope...

Interesting to see how the pacifist run neuters some of the fights since the monsters don't wake up. Though I do think pacifist may not be possible on some maps without the use of some kind of glitch, such as map 7 and 12. 

 

 

3 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

Demos for some of the maps. I sure appreciate the difficulty climb here, gotta say. Most of these could probably be called your hardest. It's almost like skulltiverse were exactly the sorts of maps you always wanted to make.

lmd_aom.zip

Thanks for the demos! Watched a few and it's fun to see how you tackle the fights. Glad you seemed to enjoy it.

 

 

12 hours ago, ryiron said:

This map set has all my favourite things. I've done the first two maps so far. Will see how I go with the rest. Really enjoying the aesthetic and combat so far. Video for map01 with playlist for the map set below. 

 

 

Great to see videos as well. Glad the maps are to your liking so far, will keep up with the videos as you post them.

[Nefelibeta]

Just here to say this mapset is good fun! Especially loved “Tight arena&RL only” map here. Keep it going ;)

[muumi]

jogged thru map1

 

[Snark]

Yeah, this is cool. Not usually a fan of the whole "tight enclosed fights" thingy but thought it was well implemented here, on HMP anyway.

Didn't find any softlocks or bugs, but hardly found any secrets, either they're VERY well hidden or I shouldn't have had 4 gin and tonics.

Only nitpick I have is on the narratively aesthetic side, but I find it's a highly recurring trope in contemporary doom wads, which is that I feel I'm playing video game levels instead of "living" a story, but we all know what Carmack said...

 

Good job anyway.

[Death Bear]

 

[Pistoolkip]

Fun stuff. Great visuals, but I find the arena's to be a little flat and cramped. But then again, slaughter isn't really my cup of tea
 

 

[boltface]

In map06 you can get softlocked if you fall behind a tree near the red key. it's where the blue? purple? player arrow is at.

Spoiler

 

[Death Bear]

 

[myolden]

1 hour ago, boltface said:

In map06 you can get softlocked if you fall behind a tree near the red key. it's where the blue? purple? player arrow is at.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Thanks for the report, I'll add it to the list of fixes for RC2.

[Ravendesk]

Amazing wad so far!

 

I want to report a bug though.

In Map 05 I somehow managed to skip a linedef (spoilers ahead):

Spoiler

In this corridor where the revenants are supposed to emerge from the walls after you grab a rocket launcher and pass it the second time.

I somehow ran past it without triggering revenants and without a wall in front of me rising. Or maybe it was not a linedef, but the voodoo doll magic failed somehow, not sure.

I can't reliably reproduce but I can give you the save after that happened.

 

[myolden]

56 minutes ago, Ravendesk said:

Amazing wad so far!

 

I want to report a bug though.

In Map 05 I somehow managed to skip a linedef (spoilers ahead):

  Hide contents

In this corridor where the revenants are supposed to emerge from the walls after you grab a rocket launcher and pass it the second time.

I somehow ran past it without triggering revenants and without a wall in front of me rising. Or maybe it was not a linedef, but the voodoo doll magic failed somehow, not sure.

I can't reliably reproduce but I can give you the save after that happened.

 

Interestingly enough this also happened once while testing the map. I was never able to get it to happen again though, so I couldn't exactly diagnose what went wrong. I'll add it to my notes to put a second linedef that triggers that fight as a backup, which is the only thing I can think to do.

 

Thanks for reporting, and glad you're enjoying the wad!

Edited June 11, 2022 by myolden

[Nefelibeta]

1 hour ago, myolden said:

Interestingly enough this also happened once while testing the map. I was never able to get it to happen again though, so I couldn't exactly diagnose what went wrong. I'll add it to my notes to put a second linedef that triggers that fight as a backup, which is the only thing I can think to do.

 

Thanks for reporting, and glad you're enjoying the wad!

Adjust the vertices a bit I think? A parallel linedef can be skipped if you run too fast or you are lucky.

[Ravendesk]

Finished the wad, it's great. Combat is challenging but always fair. Really liked how map 11's concept of only having a berserk and a rocket launcher for the whole map was implemented.

 

My only minor criticism is

Spoiler

the evil eye secret in Map 11.

I have no idea how it's possible to figure it out without UDB except for randomly noticing it, but maybe it's just me being stupid. Otherwise the secrets are very good: hidden, but all the tips are there, and they are very rewarding.

 

Will surely make some demos when it's on idgames.

[myolden]

23 minutes ago, Ravendesk said:

Finished the wad, it's great. Combat is challenging but always fair. Really liked how map 11's concept of only having a berserk and a rocket launcher for the whole map was implemented.

 

My only minor criticism is

  Hide contents

the evil eye secret in Map 11.

I have no idea how it's possible to figure it out without UDB except for randomly noticing it, but maybe it's just me being stupid. Otherwise the secrets are very good: hidden, but all the tips are there, and they are very rewarding.

 

Will surely make some demos when it's on idgames.

Thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed the set. The map 11 secret you mentioned is something that I was very much on the fence about, it seemed too cryptic and obscure even at the time. I'll make a note to do something about it in RC2, either find a way to hint at it better or change it entirely.

[ryiron]

9 hours ago, myolden said:

Thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed the set. The map 11 secret you mentioned is something that I was very much on the fence about, it seemed too cryptic and obscure even at the time. I'll make a note to do something about it in RC2, either find a way to hint at it better or change it entirely.

 

I did manage to find this secret in my play through. The secret is visible on the map, so I figured there had to be something close by. I was only able to find it after clearing out the room, and heard the wall around the eye move when I was wandering around. I took a bit more searching to figure out what the actual trigger was. It is pretty obscure and easy to miss though. The main secret I got stuck on was the plasma gun in map06. The shootable switch for it is just barely visible.