[dev thread, final version out, don't post here thank] Devious Deviance - An MBF21-compatible CP where we implement difficulty settings differently

[MFG38]

DOWNLOAD FINAL VERSION OF DEVIOUS DEVIANCE:

https://mfg38.github.io/files/doom_wads/ddevian.zip

 

Well, it's been a while since the last community project I hosted, hasn't it? But after the surprising success of the ones I previously hosted, especially Literalism (which even got an honorable mention at last year's Cacowards (goddamn)), I've been wanting to continue hosting them. I planned to host one earlier this year but "failed to find the time" - that is to say, my focus was elsewhere. With that said, I decided that today shall be the day I announce my fourth CP, Devious Deviance! ^{(Please excuse the name, I couldn't think of a better one.)}

 

This one employs a gimmick I've had in mind since last year, taking after the gimmick/concept map Death is a Dish Best Served Fast by myself from that year. Traditionally, difficulty settings in Doom have primarily changed enemy encounters and placements ever since 1993 - with DiaDBSF, I decided to experiment with a different way of implementing them by keeping the monster count and composition the same across all difficulties but changing up weapons/items given to the player. And this community project, as you might have guessed, aims to expand upon that concept.

 

RULES

• IWAD is Doom 2, compatibility target is MBF21. TEST YOUR MAPS IN DSDA-DOOM -CL21 TO ENSURE MAXIMUM COMPATIBILITY WITH THE TARGET PORT!
• Maps of all gameplay styles and build qualities are welcome.
• Our resource pack is going to be OTEX v1.1, which you can get from either here or here. You may use a custom (non-OTEX) sky texture if you wish - other custom textures are a strict no-go.
• Maps made for this project are to be single-player only.
• Monster count and composition MUST REMAIN THE EXACT SAME ACROSS ALL DIFFICULTIES! (I will personally check in UDB that every map submitted follows this rule, so don't try to fool me.) Everything else can be changed when implementing difficulty settings - weapons, ammo, powerups, decorations, even voodoo doll setups if you want to get extra creative.
• Difficulty settings must be implemented! They don't have to be implemented in the first version of your map, but I do expect them by the time I compile the first public beta version.
• Death exits and KDITD-style exits are to be avoided for the time being. This is subject to change later upon my own discretion. I'll post a separate announcement should I decide to mandate forced pistol starts.
• Each mapper may contribute up to 2 maps.
• Submission deadline is September 24th, 2022 @ 11.59am. Maps will be sorted roughly by difficulty for the final mapset.

 

SUBMISSION TEMPLATE

 

Please use the template below when submitting your map:

Map name: [title of your map]
Author: [how you wish to be credited]
Play time: [estimated play time of your map]
Music: [name and source of custom MIDI used (if applicable)]
Difficulty settings: [yes/no]

Description: [brief description of your map]
Notes: [any notes you can think of, e.g. how the difficulties change etc.]

 

Rock 'n' Roll!

Edited September 7, 2023 by MFG38
Final release

[Salmon]

Glad to see you hosting another project!  I'll definitely make something for this.

[MFG38]

SUBMITTED MAPS

"Flukey Malarkey" by @RED77

"Agnosia" by @SCF

"Icarus Mk. II" by @Ravendesk

"Estuary Shrine" by @Salmon

"Upon the Plane of Eden" by @Dr. Zin

"Blasted Blaze" by @alexsa2015sa

"Temple of Steel" by MFG38

"The Refinery" by @knifeworld

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by MFG38

[Walter confetti]

I don't get completely the main gimmick rule, we have to make using the same number of monsters but with different monsters and guns in each difficulty settings?

[Death Bear]

5 minutes ago, Walter confetti said:

I don't get completely the main gimmick rule, we have to make using the same number of monsters but with different monsters and guns in each difficulty settings?

It looks like only items change. Enemy number and composition must remain the same.

[gabirupee]

This looks fun, and i think i have enough time to make a map so. Count me in :)

[NeedHealth]

I'll be there.

[MFG38]

32 minutes ago, Walter confetti said:

I don't get completely the main gimmick rule, we have to make using the same number of monsters but with different monsters and guns in each difficulty settings?

 

Essentially what @Death Bear said. You can basically change everything with the difficulty settings except the enemies.

[Quill]

Seems interesting. I'm in.

[Xaser]

The project rules seem like they run counter to the real goal here. I get the impression that the idea is something like "make the maps play vastly differently in each difficulty setting", stuff like switching up the map progression with blocking decorations, changing the weapon loadouts, etc. -- but there isn't anything in the project guidelines that actually encourage any of this. The only hard rule is "don't touch the monsters", which doesn't really encourage players to experiment with the main theme (unless they decide for themselves to try weird stuff) and removes a lot of avenues for exploring it (swapping monster types is a very powerful tool for changing up gameplay of an area). With the rules as stated, someone could make a map where the difficulty settings just change health and ammo counts and do nothing else, and it'd be completely within the letter of the law while violating the spirit.

 

tl;dr: It'd be better IMO to double down on the "make the gameplay wildly different" aspect and axe the hard monster rule.

[RED77]

Oh! I want to make a map for this one!

[SCF]

This sounds fun, I'll give it a go. The first idea that came to mind was to keep enemies and pickups the same on all difficulties, but have the map geometry be radically different. I'll have to try and see if I can make it work.

[MFG38]

5 minutes ago, Xaser said:

The project rules seem like they run counter to the real goal here. I get the impression that the idea is something like "make the maps play vastly differently in each difficulty setting", stuff like switching up the map progression with blocking decorations, changing the weapon loadouts, etc. -- but there isn't anything in the project guidelines that actually encourage any of this. The only hard rule is "don't touch the monsters", which doesn't really encourage players to experiment with the main theme (unless they decide for themselves to try weird stuff) and removes a lot of avenues for exploring it (swapping monster types is a very powerful tool for changing up gameplay of an area). With the rules as stated, someone could make a map where the difficulty settings just change health and ammo counts and do nothing else, and it'd be completely within the letter of the law while violating the spirit.

 

tl;dr: It'd be better IMO to double down on the "make the gameplay wildly different" aspect and axe the hard monster rule.

 

From a certain perspective, I definitely understand what you're saying here, but on the other hand, I did mention decorations and voodoo conveyors (or rather, voodoo doll locations therein) as things that can be changed. Surely there are some mappers who'll happily catch that ball and try something creative with how they implement the difficulty settings, wouldn't you agree? If anything, I'd love to see as many mappers as possible catch onto that and go wild. That said, if someone wants to only change health and ammo pickups, the last thing I want to do is stop them from doing so. Really, the core idea here is to simply see what people can come up with difficulty setting-wise when they have to actively ignore the enemies in the process. But again, I do see where you're coming from.

[Ravendesk]

Hi. I'm a new mapper, but this is a very interesting concept and I want to give it a go. Can I participate?

[MFG38]

2 minutes ago, Ravendesk said:

Hi. I'm a new mapper, but this is a very interesting concept and I want to give it a go. Can I participate?

 

Absolutely!

[Ravendesk]

3 minutes ago, MFG38 said:

 

Absolutely!

Great, then sign me in (for 1 map).

 

I have a few questions.

Are there going to be custom enemies (green cybers,  for example)?

Any weapons changes are planned or all vanilla?

[MFG38]

2 minutes ago, Ravendesk said:

I have a few questions.

Are there going to be custom enemies (green cybers,  for example)?

Any weapons changes are planned or all vanilla?

 

No custom monsters or weapons, just the stock Doom 2 ones.

[PinkFlamingo]

I began making a map for this.

 

Just to be sure, can we change the location of teleport destinations so that certain monsters appear in different locations on different difficulties?

[MFG38]

2 minutes ago, PinkFlamingo said:

I began making a map for this.

 

Just to be sure, can we change the location of teleport destinations so that certain monsters appear in different locations on different difficulties?

 

Sweet! And yeah, you can totally do that. When I say "everything else", I mean everything else is fair game as long as the monsters stay unchanged between difficulties. Go nuts.

[SuperPecanMan]

This is an idea I've played around with before but I'd love to make a map that fully commits to the gimmick, would definitely like to participate.

 

Is there a cap on how long/short or easy/hard the maps should be?

[MFG38]

2 minutes ago, SuperPecanMan said:

This is an idea I've played around with before but I'd love to make a map that fully commits to the gimmick, would definitely like to participate.

 

Is there a cap on how long/short or easy/hard the maps should be?

 

Welcome aboard. c: No cap, make it as long and hard as you want to.

[RED77]

On 7/16/2022 at 4:10 PM, MFG38 said:

DEVIOUS DEVIANTS (i.e. participants)

@Salmon

@gabirupee

@NeedHealth

@dotQLL

@RED77

@SCF

@Ravendesk

@PinkFlamingo

 

SUBMITTED MAPS

None yet. Check back in a few weeks.

Just begin working on it!

[RED77]

OK, guys.

Here's the first version of my map:

FLUKEY MALERKY

 

Tested for dsda_doom Complevel 21

I'll wait your feedback to improve on it.

 

Map name: FLUKEY MALERKY

Author: RED 77

Playtime: 5 to 10 minutes

Music: La Tormenta contra el Mar - Emancipacion Colectiva (MIDI version by https://www.instagram.com/facuavilacorsini/)

Difficulty settings: yes

Description: The evil forces of hell took over this toxic refinery. Find the switches to gain access to the portal that leads you out there!

Notes: 
You start in front of three doors, each difficulty gives you the key to only one of them:
Easy: Yellow key provides you with a better arsenal from start and unlocks special passages. Most of the big fights are optional.
Medium: Blue key has a rough start but, if you survive, you now have the tools to make your way ahead easier.
Hard: No chill for you. Prepare to start with some platforming and a very restricted arsenal. All fights are almost mandatory. 
SECRETS: you have access to all three secrets in every difficult setting

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by RED77

[MFG38]

@RED77 Sweet! I'll give it a spin tomorrow.

[MFG38]

Wow, @RED77, you kicked this off with a surprisingly strong first entry! Visuals were overall pleasant with great texture choices and tasteful use of detail, if with quite flat lighting for the most part. Layout flowed very nicely, and the choice of key given to the player at the start created some interesting variety in navigation and combat across the difficulties. I felt that UV was definitely the most challenging experience but still fair and fun. The only thing I'd possibly look into is replacing the switch textures with ones that would fit the map's dominant techbase aesthetic better.

[RED77]

46 minutes ago, MFG38 said:

Wow, @RED77, you kicked this off with a surprisingly strong first entry! Visuals were overall pleasant with great texture choices and tasteful use of detail, if with quite flat lighting for the most part. Layout flowed very nicely, and the choice of key given to the player at the start created some interesting variety in navigation and combat across the difficulties. I felt that UV was definitely the most challenging experience but still fair and fun. The only thing I'd possibly look into is replacing the switch textures with ones that would fit the map's dominant techbase aesthetic better.

Perfect. I'll make that and add more light and scenery details. I'll have a new version by next week. 

[Thelokk]

Sign me up.

[Jaccident]

I’ve been looking for a project to work on, I’m quite an inexperienced mapper but I’d love to give this a go! It’ll probably be my first time messing around with voodoo dolls,  so that should be cool to learn.

 

I won’t be able to start working on this until the 10th of August as I’m on holiday, is that ok?

[MFG38]

2 minutes ago, Jaccident said:

I won’t be able to start working on this until the 10th of August as I’m on holiday, is that ok?

 

That's absolutely fine.

[Jaccident]

1 minute ago, MFG38 said:

That's absolutely fine.

Great!! Thanks so much!