My first WAD - Industrial Jazz [V3 Fixing my fixes UPDATE]

[Boxyt]

 

// Your First DooM WAD

 

#include <idgames>

 

int main() {

    std::cout << "Hello Doomworld!";

    return 0;

}

 

My first attempt at the DooM mapping (although previously I've made some maps for other games). Small WAD containing 4 maps as well as custom soundtrack by Raeg and really neat shades for the Doomguy!
Inspired by some heavy nostalgia induced by some new retro shooters like Shrine 1 & 2, which sparked the descent down the DooM content, whether it’d be playing other WADs or just binge-watching DooM content on YouTube…

Enjoy!
 

V2 UPDATE NOTES (That I actually remember):

^{tl'dr mostly QOL changes with no bigger gameplay modifications}

 

Spoiler

 

• general texture alignment cleanup, I might've still missed alot of them but hey, it should be a little better now
• secret shootable switch on map01 now a little more visible
• added measures to make the final room in map01 a little harder
• added non-secret SSG on map02
• changed blue keycard secret on map02 into something more useful
• added multiple lifts to get out of acid pools on map02
• fixed accidentally being able to skip 2 enemies on map03 when collecting yellow keycard
• hopefully fixed being able to pickup BFG9000 on map04 through the bars
• added non-secret SSG on map04
• changed the teleport destination after 1st switch to more reasonable place on map04
• moved those shells that were clipping into the floor near the 2nd gate switch on map04

 

 

V3 UPDATE NOTES ( thanks Lucius Wooding for playing V2 and finding some bugs)

^{tl;dr I somehow broke few things in V2}
 

Spoiler

 

• fixed the Mega Armour secret teleporter not working on map01
• added switch to lower the trap pillar from behind if you manage to get there on map01
• map02 somehow dodged being broken in v2
• fixed the unpegged plasma yellow door rails and pegged yellow card door textures on map03

 

 

General Info:

Tested with: GZDoom, Zandronum

Format: Just default GZDoom compatibility

Freelook: On (optional)

Jumping/crouching: Off

Renderer: Hardware, preferably with Sector light mode set on "Dark" (Software might work but multiple visual glitches may appear (I am stupid and mixed them up, thanks Arsinikk for the playthrough that made me realise that))

IWAD: Doom 2

4 maps, starting with map01

Difficulty: Doom 2+ Tested on Ultra-Violence, different difficulties included too

 

Story:

Doomguy has found a cool pair of glasses during one of his many adventures. Now armed with red, glowing eyes and sudden urge to listen to Jazz, he rushes through a newly emerged outpost. He needs to act fast, as it seems the demonic forces have decided to use their most inhuman weapon in history:

 

Free Jazz...

 

Download links (OLD, use UPDATE V3 below):

Doomshack

Google Drive

UPDATE V2:

Doomshack

Google Drive

UPDATE V3:

Doomshack

Google Drive

Screenshots:
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soundtrack:

 

Made by one and only Raeg, available to listen to on YouTube too!

All custom tracks in the wad are in the .mp3 format, thus the filesize.

 

 

 

 

Edit 1: some formatting 

Edit 2: fuckup with the stated preferred renderer, fixed now

Edit 3: changed the map format to a correct one(?)

Edit 4: V2 update and some cleanup

Edit 5: V3 update because I broke a secret in map01 with V2

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by Boxyt
v3 update

[fai1025]

nice, look quite well for the first wad

[Arsinikk]

Hey I played through your mapset on stream!

Overall I quite enjoyed it!

 

You can see my playthrough and feedback here:

 

 

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1537203318?t=00h08m38s

 

[Boxyt]

 

10 hours ago, fai1025 said:

nice, look quite well for the first wad

 

Thanks! Hopefully more will come!

 

2 hours ago, Arsinikk said:

Hey I played through your mapset on stream!

Overall I quite enjoyed it!

 

You can see my playthrough and feedback here:

 

 

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1537203318?t=00h08m38s

 

 

Hey! Thanks for streaming it! I've messed up on multiple fronts with both the compatibility and renderer. Probably got a huge brainfart when making the post.
Yeah, most of those graphical glitches are due to the software renderer and I've fixed the description now to the hardware one.

What comp mode should I type in for it? Boom or GZDoom? Due to the conveyor belts and the particle fountain in map03 other stuff mentioned in the stream?

And yeah, now that I look at it alot of the textures are misaligned, didn't know that you can align the bottom parts too. I'll go and try to fix any that I can find cuz after sitting in front of the Ultimate Doom Editor I just kind of glanced over them...

 

Only now it occured to me that on map02 the SSG secret is so essential and can be missed so easily. I'll try to adress it in a fix.

On map03 I screwed up with those 2 monsters that didn't spawn for you as their trigger was the fall from the yellow key card and I completely missed the fact that the player can just turn around and get out the way they came in. 

Also I'll send the compliments to Raeg about the tracks and the issue of map04 screaming at the player.

Glad that you enjoyed it in spite of it's flaws!

[RED77]

That are some great levels.

[Degree23]

Played in Zandronum on UV continuously.

 

Map 1: Some (non secret) armour would probably be good here given how many fights there are.

 

Map 2: The descending staircase with the Revenants revealed as you went down was incredible. Fighting the Cyberdemon with a RL is the classic E2M8 fight, but given the open space it is quite tedious without being that dangerous, especially with the low number of other monsters around, the MegaSphere, and the large amount of space to run around in. Usually a PG or BFG is preferred to speed the encounter up. I'd like to see something that stops you ending the level until you've dealt with the monsters in this area.

 

Map 3: I actually think the final room here would be a better place for the Cyberdemon fight from the last map, and in effect swap the enemies from the final rooms of Maps 2 and 3. And also like the end of Map 2, I'd like something that stops the player from just being able to run past all the enemies and exit.

 

Map 4: The opening was a bit cryptic, needing to fall down in order to make progress. At the end of the huge bridge, after you go back to hit the switch that lowers the door, I would be tempted to have a Spider Mastermind appear behind this door and walk onto the bridge, especially as you don't use one anywhere else. I'd also probably put HKs (or something) on the pillars where the Imps previously were, to make a "bridge part 2" fight. Running through the door to be confronted by only a few enemies and a trap that drops down only 2 Chaingunners felt very anti-climactic. A bridge of this magnitude deserves a more intense fight, at least on UV. The final fight was extremely frustrating though. The sheer amount of Revenants, and the fact they will fire homing rockets, made for a lot of running around in circles and it was a very unsatisfactory end to the adventure. Because of the structure you had them on, hitting some of them with the RL proved to be very difficult, and getting close enough to use the BFG was not that practical either. Having given it some thought, I'd rather have Revenants on the "Bridge Part II" if you were going to use them anywhere, and rethink the structure surrounding the Cyberdemon in the final room.

 

Just in general I'm noticing that a lot of your traps and ambushes are easy enough to back out of. You don't have many that lock a player in the trap and force them to deal with it so it's possible to run back out of a lot of them and ignore the main threat, or force them to funnel into a corridor where they aren't nearly as threatening. It was also a bit disappointing to telefrag more than one Cyberdemon. It was ok to do once, but otherwise felt a little cheap, especially as you didn't have to have prolonged encounters with any of them. There was great potential for particularly the one

 

I really enjoyed the architecture of the maps. There were some really fun layouts to run through and a lot of the fights were good fun. The large open spaces felt like the had enough stuff to generally fill them, aside from maybe the end of Map 2. Overall this was a really fun set of 4 maps to play through!

[Boxyt]

40 minutes ago, Degree23 said:

Played in Zandronum on UV continuously.

 

Map 1: Some (non secret) armour would probably be good here given how many fights there are.

 

Map 2: The descending staircase with the Revenants revealed as you went down was incredible. Fighting the Cyberdemon with a RL is the classic E2M8 fight, but given the open space it is quite tedious without being that dangerous, especially with the low number of other monsters around, the MegaSphere, and the large amount of space to run around in. Usually a PG or BFG is preferred to speed the encounter up. I'd like to see something that stops you ending the level until you've dealt with the monsters in this area.

 

Map 3: I actually think the final room here would be a better place for the Cyberdemon fight from the last map, and in effect swap the enemies from the final rooms of Maps 2 and 3. And also like the end of Map 2, I'd like something that stops the player from just being able to run past all the enemies and exit.

 

Map 4: The opening was a bit cryptic, needing to fall down in order to make progress. At the end of the huge bridge, after you go back to hit the switch that lowers the door, I would be tempted to have a Spider Mastermind appear behind this door and walk onto the bridge, especially as you don't use one anywhere else. I'd also probably put HKs (or something) on the pillars where the Imps previously were, to make a "bridge part 2" fight. Running through the door to be confronted by only a few enemies and a trap that drops down only 2 Chaingunners felt very anti-climactic. A bridge of this magnitude deserves a more intense fight, at least on UV. The final fight was extremely frustrating though. The sheer amount of Revenants, and the fact they will fire homing rockets, made for a lot of running around in circles and it was a very unsatisfactory end to the adventure. Because of the structure you had them on, hitting some of them with the RL proved to be very difficult, and getting close enough to use the BFG was not that practical either. Having given it some thought, I'd rather have Revenants on the "Bridge Part II" if you were going to use them anywhere, and rethink the structure surrounding the Cyberdemon in the final room.

 

Just in general I'm noticing that a lot of your traps and ambushes are easy enough to back out of. You don't have many that lock a player in the trap and force them to deal with it so it's possible to run back out of a lot of them and ignore the main threat, or force them to funnel into a corridor where they aren't nearly as threatening. It was also a bit disappointing to telefrag more than one Cyberdemon. It was ok to do once, but otherwise felt a little cheap, especially as you didn't have to have prolonged encounters with any of them. There was great potential for particularly the one

 

I really enjoyed the architecture of the maps. There were some really fun layouts to run through and a lot of the fights were good fun. The large open spaces felt like the had enough stuff to generally fill them, aside from maybe the end of Map 2. Overall this was a really fun set of 4 maps to play through!

 

Thanks so much for the feedback! Glad you've enjoyed it despite many annoyances (really happy to hear that you liked the staircase on map02)

 

I'll admit that planning for the levels started with a very vague general idea and rest was a stream of consciousness that only sometimes was held in reins by some kind of rational thinking about what the player may actually do. Notes taken though and the next project will be (hopefully) for more planned and thought out.

 

[Biodegradable]

This is a fun and interesting little map set. This WAD didn't suffer from any of the typical newbie pitfalls and I had a good time with it. Good job, fam. :^)

 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by Biodegradable

[Boxyt]

On 7/21/2022 at 11:14 AM, Biodegradable said:

This is a fun and interesting little map set. This WAD didn't suffer from any of the typical newbie pitfalls and I had a good time with it. Good job, fam. :^)

 

 

 

 

Thanks!

[Daytime Waitress]

Only through two maps on HMP at the moment, but thoroughly enjoying it - especially the rocket-to-crowd ratio. The end fight on the second map was a lot of fun precisely because it got me a few times: there's less than ten enemies in that space, but they all do exactly what they're meant to do - marvelous stuff.

 

Aesthetically, the detailing and sense of scale are really on point, and - it kind of goes without saying - that soundtrack is an absolute bop.

 

Really looking forward to seeing what the rest of it has in store, and coming back to it all for UV.

[Boxyt]

23 minutes ago, Daytime Waitress said:

Only through two maps on HMP at the moment, but thoroughly enjoying it - especially the rocket-to-crowd ratio. The end fight on the second map was a lot of fun precisely because it got me a few times: there's less than ten enemies in that space, but they all do exactly what they're meant to do - marvelous stuff.

 

Aesthetically, the detailing and sense of scale are really on point, and - it kind of goes without saying - that soundtrack is an absolute bop.

 

Really looking forward to seeing what the rest of it has in store, and coming back to it all for UV.

 

Glad to hear that you've enjoyed it so far! Good luck with the rest of the levels!

[Daytime Waitress]

I got a bit worried when you wished me luck, but I think the difficulty was so well judged that, while I wasn't pushed too hard in the incidental combat, each encounter felt well weighted; and yet I still want to see how you fill out the space on UV. Although I gotta admit that I did tap out with less than 100% kills on the final termite mound/worst birthday cake ever.

 

I think I enjoyed the third map most of all - it felt like a really good escalation of what you'd put together in the previous two maps, especially in terms of progression. Little things like giving the player incentive to go back and explore, and colour-coding those areas with the keys really added to it. I never felt underpowered without the secrets, yet I appreciated the way they were placed, and the way you telegraphed the kind of secrets you were going to hand out earlier in the WAD.

 

Spoiler

On that, I had a really neat interaction on Map 04 before the big bridge: wasted the caco and he went flying through the wall to lead me to the blue armour!

 

Visually, 03 was also the most satisfying map for me. The plasma area with the flashing blue lights was spectacular, and the exit room was - well, it was even more spectacular again. I actually stopped and gave you a little round of applause for that one. I'm not trying to shit on the previous levels or the last one, it just seemed like you really pulled out all the stops for the third map, is all.

 

Parts of Map 04 gave me happy little reminders of Alien Vendetta, particularly the imps in their cubbies on the spiral staircase. And it was around that point when I realised what I loved most about this WAD: it felt like a highlight reel from a full megawad, stuffed into just four maps. Not in an overblown, setpiecey way: just that the sense of escalation progressed really quickly, yet logically within the bounds of what you'd laid out in earlier maps. Gorgeous stuff.

[Martin Howe]

On 7/20/2022 at 11:34 PM, Degree23 said:

Just in general I'm noticing that a lot of your traps and ambushes are easy enough to back out of. You don't have many that lock a player in the trap and force them to deal with it so it's possible to run back out of a lot of them and ignore the main threat, or force them to funnel into a corridor where they aren't nearly as threatening. It was also a bit disappointing to telefrag more than one Cyberdemon. It was ok to do once, but otherwise felt a little cheap, especially as you didn't have to have prolonged encounters with any of them. There was great potential for particularly the one

Please bear in mind that for casual players on HMP this should be considered an advantage, not a disadvantage; I was very please that there weren't many doors locking the player in; in fact, I consider it part of the fun to work out how to use the terrain against the monsters and funnel them into a killing zone because, being zombies, they are too stupid avoid it. So for me, this is a feature, not a bug. I'll always take a clever way to defeat them over slaughter.

 

Why not leave it as it is for HMP and add the trapping doors or bars on UV?

Edited July 23, 2022 by Martin Howe

[meapineapple]

I was having a lot of fun, up until the final encounter in the fourth map. It was an exhausting ~15 minutes of flailing around before I finally noticed the tiny red patch on the floor. The WAD was generally not great at communicating to the player what its switches are doing.

 

But that was the one major stain on an otherwise enjoyable map set. The maps played pretty well and looked very good. I especially liked the architecture on map 3's larger rooms. I think you have a few things to learn yet about mapping for Doom specifically, but your mapping experience in general certainly shines through here.

 

You can watch my playthrough here:

 

 

[Boxyt]

6 hours ago, Daytime Waitress said:

I got a bit worried when you wished me luck, but I think the difficulty was so well judged that, while I wasn't pushed too hard in the incidental combat, each encounter felt well weighted; and yet I still want to see how you fill out the space on UV. Although I gotta admit that I did tap out with less than 100% kills on the final termite mound/worst birthday cake ever.

 

I think I enjoyed the third map most of all - it felt like a really good escalation of what you'd put together in the previous two maps, especially in terms of progression. Little things like giving the player incentive to go back and explore, and colour-coding those areas with the keys really added to it. I never felt underpowered without the secrets, yet I appreciated the way they were placed, and the way you telegraphed the kind of secrets you were going to hand out earlier in the WAD.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

On that, I had a really neat interaction on Map 04 before the big bridge: wasted the caco and he went flying through the wall to lead me to the blue armour!

 

Visually, 03 was also the most satisfying map for me. The plasma area with the flashing blue lights was spectacular, and the exit room was - well, it was even more spectacular again. I actually stopped and gave you a little round of applause for that one. I'm not trying to shit on the previous levels or the last one, it just seemed like you really pulled out all the stops for the third map, is all.

 

Parts of Map 04 gave me happy little reminders of Alien Vendetta, particularly the imps in their cubbies on the spiral staircase. And it was around that point when I realised what I loved most about this WAD: it felt like a highlight reel from a full megawad, stuffed into just four maps. Not in an overblown, setpiecey way: just that the sense of escalation progressed really quickly, yet logically within the bounds of what you'd laid out in earlier maps. Gorgeous stuff.

 

Thank you for the kind words about the 3rd level, I really had fun making that map and got a sudden burst of inspiration to add more detail at the time.
More things to come as I am preparing myself for a little more advanced WAD and continue to learn the tools!
 

5 hours ago, Martin Howe said:

Please bear in mind that for casual players on HMP this should be considered an advantage, not a disadvantage; I was very please that there weren't many doors locking the player in; in fact, I consider it part of the fun to work out how to use the terrain against the monsters and funnel them into a killing zone because, being zombies, they are too stupid avoid it. So for me, this is a feature, not a bug. I'll always take a clever way to defeat them over slaughter.

 

Why not leave it as it is for HMP and add the trapping doors or bars on UV?

 

That's actually a neat idea that I haven't considered before to split trap types and frequency between different difficulties

 

4 hours ago, meapineapple said:

I was having a lot of fun, up until the final encounter in the fourth map. It was an exhausting ~15 minutes of flailing around before I finally noticed the tiny red patch on the floor. The WAD was generally not great at communicating to the player what its switches are doing.

 

But that was the one major stain on an otherwise enjoyable map set. The maps played pretty well and looked very good. I especially liked the architecture on map 3's larger rooms. I think you have a few things to learn yet about mapping for Doom specifically, but your mapping experience in general certainly shines through here.

 

You can watch my playthrough here:

 

 

 

I've watched the whole thing. Glad you've enjoyed it for the most part!  
Yeah, the ending is a little rough to say the least now that I look at it, it could be planned out and signalized far better

[ARMCoder]

Played the mapset in UV today. I don't have much to add after all the previous reviews (that mostly I agree to). My lasting impression, overall, is that the mapset was quite on the easy side for UV.

 

The traps that are set off are compatible with the newfound weapons/ammo, but this is so "perfect" at times that they begin to be predictable. Like, "now this would be a good time for some Cacos to show up", and voilà, Cacos are insta-delivered. Or maybe not Cacos, but Knights. You get the point.

 

The final showdown in MAP04 was the only time I felt really challenged, I died a lot until I changed plans. I managed to snipe the Spiders and the Cyber from afar and skip the barrage of Rev's guarding them; the Pinkies were fair game, just had to drag them out of the room for the slaughter. I'm not sure what to think about, because a room that was nearly impossible to beat, suddenly became a piece of cake. I'm not sure whether this was the author's intention.

 

Aesthetically the maps are superb, the design and path/room layouts are very good. Some secrets seemed to be very well hidden, what can be a little discouraging since the maps are ample. Not really a problem, maybe it's just me.

 

I liked the work overall, I think a few doors/obstacles/monsters calibration, nothing really extensive, will make a ton of difference.

 

Cheers!

[Boxyt]

On 8/2/2022 at 3:12 AM, ARMCoder said:

Played the mapset in UV today. I don't have much to add after all the previous reviews (that mostly I agree to). My lasting impression, overall, is that the mapset was quite on the easy side for UV.

 

The traps that are set off are compatible with the newfound weapons/ammo, but this is so "perfect" at times that they begin to be predictable. Like, "now this would be a good time for some Cacos to show up", and voilà, Cacos are insta-delivered. Or maybe not Cacos, but Knights. You get the point.

 

The final showdown in MAP04 was the only time I felt really challenged, I died a lot until I changed plans. I managed to snipe the Spiders and the Cyber from afar and skip the barrage of Rev's guarding them; the Pinkies were fair game, just had to drag them out of the room for the slaughter. I'm not sure what to think about, because a room that was nearly impossible to beat, suddenly became a piece of cake. I'm not sure whether this was the author's intention.

 

Aesthetically the maps are superb, the design and path/room layouts are very good. Some secrets seemed to be very well hidden, what can be a little discouraging since the maps are ample. Not really a problem, maybe it's just me.

 

I liked the work overall, I think a few doors/obstacles/monsters calibration, nothing really extensive, will make a ton of difference.

 

Cheers!

 

Hey! Glad to hear you've enjoyed the WAD!

To answer original intention behind the last room:

Spoiler

it was done in a sort of angry rush when I had no idea how to plan out something smarter. I had the visuals of a deathstack of Revenants on a huge structure bashing the player with some homing punishment but no really smart idea how to actually implement it. I've decided to basically make an arena you'd run around in and blast the main structure with BFG shots and rockets with some smaller distractions on the way like Pinkies causing some good ol NASCAR type crashes. Two buttons on the small towers that'd lower the way to the teleporter to telefrag the Cyberdemon and end the level with the button there.

 

Really glad you liked the visual part of the WAD!

I am working on a new DooM related project now, but updated version is also being slowly tackled

 

[Custom Longplay]

Hammer Episode. The 4 maps were a feast for the eyes. Respect for this achievement. Here is the first video of map 1! All the others are still being converted!

 

[Industrial Jazz] - Map #01 - Front Dissonance - [4K] - [100% Secrets]

 

 

[Custom Longplay]

The last 3 maps are now also available. As I said before, the whole map set is just beautiful.

 

[Industrial Jazz] - Map #02 - Toxic Groove - [4K] - [100%]

 

 

 

[Industrial Jazz] - Map #03 - Underground Walk - [4K] - [100% Secrets]

 

 

 

[Iindustrial Jazz] - Map #04 - Devil`s Lay Out - [4K] - [100% Secrets]

 

 

[Boxyt]

On 8/15/2022 at 10:55 PM, Custom Longplay said:

Hammer Episode. The 4 maps were a feast for the eyes. Respect for this achievement. Here is the first video of map 1! All the others are still being converted!

 

[Industrial Jazz] - Map #01 - Front Dissonance - [4K] - [100% Secrets]

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

On 8/16/2022 at 1:29 PM, Custom Longplay said:

The last 3 maps are now also available. As I said before, the whole map set is just beautiful.

 

[Industrial Jazz] - Map #02 - Toxic Groove - [4K] - [100%]

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

[Industrial Jazz] - Map #03 - Underground Walk - [4K] - [100% Secrets]

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

[Iindustrial Jazz] - Map #04 - Devil`s Lay Out - [4K] - [100% Secrets]

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you! Glad you've enjoyed it and thanks for the compliments! 

Edited August 18, 2022 by Boxyt

[Boxyt]

Updated the WAD to version v2! More info in the edited OP. Mostly QOL and some texture alignments.

[Lucius Wooding]

Well I downloaded this a little while ago and just got around to finishing it, I think I missed out on the V2 version but I'm not sure. So forgive me if any of this doesn't apply I guess. I went for UV max pistol starts.

 

First of all, I was very impressed by this set of maps. It went above and beyond aesthetically, the combat was fun with a few really spicy and interesting encounters, and for the most part I had no trouble getting through it progression wise. It reminded me a bit of the experience of BTSX E1, in a few ways. Obviously this uses vanilla textures and is definitely more detailed being limit removing, but it has a similar formula for the pacing, encounters, and progression and I felt some kind of similarity to the aesthetics, being techbase dominant. I mean that as a compliment of course. In some cases as people noted there were pulled punches in ambushes but not every map needs to decimate the player's soul. It certainly had a few fights that felt absolutely scathing and fiendish by comparison, even if the majority of encounters were manageable for an experienced player.

 

I liked a lot of the sector art and really good use of lighting, some areas had really fine detailing and filigree which I appreciate. On top of that, nearly every nondescript monster perch had a personal touch to it, it wasn't a wad that only put the work into its big set piece fights. The health and ammo aside from a bit of map 4 were generous enough in my opinion. I thought the secrets were well done and mostly had nice rewards, a couple times they seriously bailed me out. Also the custom difficulties and portrait are fun touches that add a little something. 

 

Map 1:

Spoiler

The toughest section was probably the chaingunner + archvile nest. Ate up my ammo and the imps coming around the corner caused me to eat face rockets. 

 

A couple of the floor (metal7) lighting textures by the archvile nest are off, not sure if I had the updated version or not.

 

I got the megaarmor secret but wasn't able to get out? Not sure what the deal is with that but perhaps I'm on an old version of GZDoom or using odd settings somewhere. It looked like the blue square was supposed to be a teleporter but it kept not working. Since nobody is complaining about it I'll assume it's just me. I tried shooting and humping everything in sight but obviously just idclipped out.

 

I was able to back out of the fight right after the megaarmor with all the distant pinkies; I was trying to punch them out without leaving the doorway and backed up when I triggered the pillar that traps you in, so I think I was softlocked. I didn't go nuts trying to find a way back in, I just idclipped back in since it didn't seem intended. I do like the fight reasonably well but there needs to be some kind of rework of the trap or at least a teleporter or trigger to get back in.

Map 2:

Spoiler

The revenant staircase fight was just really cool and I didn't really notice the predicament I was in at first. It worked really well as an encounter and was very satisfying.

 

Jesus the double archvile ledge fight with the hell knights was very brutal, maybe the moment in the wad where I screwed myself the most. I started off spamming rockets with great enjoyment. Then I noticed the monsters were steadily growing stronger so I figured I should go past them. About when the archviles spawned I knew I was probably boned. I found the soulsphere nearby but got cornered and died after teleporting and trying to rocket my way out. It wasn't anything too wild to deal with but I got played and the presence of both archies just makes it a chaotic mess in a good way.

 

I personally wasn't feeling the cyberdemon showdown at the end when it came up. It was a well designed arena with plenty of supplies but it dragged on a bit as cybers tend to do. I am loath to kill them with rockets but admittedly it's a pretty good way to finish the map. Not sure if I missed anything like a plasma or teleporter but I think I found all tagged secrets.

Map 3:

Spoiler

Interesting layout and the ending room was something else architecture wise.

 

Cool little secret lounge area and a few very creative rooms.

 

The door leading to the yellow key was pegged when it shouldn't be?

Doortracks to the yellow door with plasma were also funky. Not sure if either has been fixed though.

Map 4:

Spoiler

I had a bit of an ammo struggle for a bunch of map 4 but it wasn’t too bad. I found a secret with lots of shells at an ideal time. However I didn't really rely on infighting, I suspect the first cyberdemon would be beneficial if I kept him alive a bit longer.

 

The SSG secret was hard to spot in the dark, but I did use software lighting instead of your recommendation. Possibly a bit of a lighting cue near the shootable switch would help if you wanted. 

 

In the hell knight bridge area after the first cyberdemon, I was able to jump from the soulsphere platform into the lava which I don't think was intended. I thought there'd be a cool secret down there but instead it was just lava and I lost a full stack of health without finding a way back up. 

 

Really cool final fight concept in my opinion. Having the interconnected levels of walkways makes avoiding the projectiles much more bearable and the pinkies are very scary with 5000 missiles chasing you. No amount of megaspheres will prevent getting stuck and punished. Being able to approach the pyramid with the lower levels helps make the BFG shots count as well. Legitimately deadly, and a solid finale.

 

I was able to trigger the exit from below with a very specific angle, it is also possible while he's alive though I obviously needed iddqd or at best a million save states to get this. This would make for a really cool speedrunning trick but it's super hard to pull off. Just a fun tidbit.

 

[Boxyt]

15 hours ago, Lucius Wooding said:

Well I downloaded this a little while ago and just got around to finishing it, I think I missed out on the V2 version but I'm not sure. So forgive me if any of this doesn't apply I guess. I went for UV max pistol starts.

 

First of all, I was very impressed by this set of maps. It went above and beyond aesthetically, the combat was fun with a few really spicy and interesting encounters, and for the most part I had no trouble getting through it progression wise. It reminded me a bit of the experience of BTSX E1, in a few ways. Obviously this uses vanilla textures and is definitely more detailed being limit removing, but it has a similar formula for the pacing, encounters, and progression and I felt some kind of similarity to the aesthetics, being techbase dominant. I mean that as a compliment of course. In some cases as people noted there were pulled punches in ambushes but not every map needs to decimate the player's soul. It certainly had a few fights that felt absolutely scathing and fiendish by comparison, even if the majority of encounters were manageable for an experienced player.

 

I liked a lot of the sector art and really good use of lighting, some areas had really fine detailing and filigree which I appreciate. On top of that, nearly every nondescript monster perch had a personal touch to it, it wasn't a wad that only put the work into its big set piece fights. The health and ammo aside from a bit of map 4 were generous enough in my opinion. I thought the secrets were well done and mostly had nice rewards, a couple times they seriously bailed me out. Also the custom difficulties and portrait are fun touches that add a little something. 

 

Map 1:

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The toughest section was probably the chaingunner + archvile nest. Ate up my ammo and the imps coming around the corner caused me to eat face rockets. 

 

A couple of the floor (metal7) lighting textures by the archvile nest are off, not sure if I had the updated version or not.

 

I got the megaarmor secret but wasn't able to get out? Not sure what the deal is with that but perhaps I'm on an old version of GZDoom or using odd settings somewhere. It looked like the blue square was supposed to be a teleporter but it kept not working. Since nobody is complaining about it I'll assume it's just me. I tried shooting and humping everything in sight but obviously just idclipped out.

 

I was able to back out of the fight right after the megaarmor with all the distant pinkies; I was trying to punch them out without leaving the doorway and backed up when I triggered the pillar that traps you in, so I think I was softlocked. I didn't go nuts trying to find a way back in, I just idclipped back in since it didn't seem intended. I do like the fight reasonably well but there needs to be some kind of rework of the trap or at least a teleporter or trigger to get back in.

Map 2:

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The revenant staircase fight was just really cool and I didn't really notice the predicament I was in at first. It worked really well as an encounter and was very satisfying.

 

Jesus the double archvile ledge fight with the hell knights was very brutal, maybe the moment in the wad where I screwed myself the most. I started off spamming rockets with great enjoyment. Then I noticed the monsters were steadily growing stronger so I figured I should go past them. About when the archviles spawned I knew I was probably boned. I found the soulsphere nearby but got cornered and died after teleporting and trying to rocket my way out. It wasn't anything too wild to deal with but I got played and the presence of both archies just makes it a chaotic mess in a good way.

 

I personally wasn't feeling the cyberdemon showdown at the end when it came up. It was a well designed arena with plenty of supplies but it dragged on a bit as cybers tend to do. I am loath to kill them with rockets but admittedly it's a pretty good way to finish the map. Not sure if I missed anything like a plasma or teleporter but I think I found all tagged secrets.

Map 3:

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Interesting layout and the ending room was something else architecture wise.

 

Cool little secret lounge area and a few very creative rooms.

 

The door leading to the yellow key was pegged when it shouldn't be?

Doortracks to the yellow door with plasma were also funky. Not sure if either has been fixed though.

Map 4:

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I had a bit of an ammo struggle for a bunch of map 4 but it wasn’t too bad. I found a secret with lots of shells at an ideal time. However I didn't really rely on infighting, I suspect the first cyberdemon would be beneficial if I kept him alive a bit longer.

 

The SSG secret was hard to spot in the dark, but I did use software lighting instead of your recommendation. Possibly a bit of a lighting cue near the shootable switch would help if you wanted. 

 

In the hell knight bridge area after the first cyberdemon, I was able to jump from the soulsphere platform into the lava which I don't think was intended. I thought there'd be a cool secret down there but instead it was just lava and I lost a full stack of health without finding a way back up. 

 

Really cool final fight concept in my opinion. Having the interconnected levels of walkways makes avoiding the projectiles much more bearable and the pinkies are very scary with 5000 missiles chasing you. No amount of megaspheres will prevent getting stuck and punished. Being able to approach the pyramid with the lower levels helps make the BFG shots count as well. Legitimately deadly, and a solid finale.

 

I was able to trigger the exit from below with a very specific angle, it is also possible while he's alive though I obviously needed iddqd or at best a million save states to get this. This would make for a really cool speedrunning trick but it's super hard to pull off. Just a fun tidbit.

 

Thank you! I'm really glad you've enjoyed the experience!

Also yeah, it seems you've been playing the updated V2 version and it seems that I somehow managed to break that teleporter by moving the teleport destination out of the designated sector right into the wall. How? I have no clue.
I've decided to do a quick fix because of that, so behold! V3 is here with a few minor fixes that should take care of the things you've pointed out! I've updated the OP and added new download links for it. for what's it worth I playtested it looking for anything obvious that I might've broken this time and it was working as intended.