[ON /IDGAMES !!]Existential Dread [-complevel 2] 6 Map Vanilla (Limit Removing) 'Classics-Styled' Mini-sode

[Andrea Rovenski]

Existential Dread started out as a project for me to make Doom maps again. It has been about 5 years since I made anything, and I have played a lot in that time period for speedrun demos, and have been super impressed with quality of recent wads, I figured that I would give mapping a whirl again. Existential Dread was a warmup project, to get back into making doom maps and vanilla in particular. A lot of the maps progress with a certain style I'm aiming for, and I'm hoping to start another new wad now that I've gotten the hang of the ol' doombuilder once again.

 

 

Existential Dread is a 6-map 'mini-sode' for Doom 2, -complevel 2, vanilla. I tested on Glboom/Prboom 2.5.1.4 and the only issue that I'm aware of are intercept overflows on MAP05. The gameplay is heavily inspired by classic mapsets with my own sense of bizarreness added on. I've been knee-deep in vanilla wads as of lately and wanted to make something in these veins, but also with a unique enough look and flow to keep things INNERESTIN' 

 

Link: /idgames

 

 

Spoiler

 

Resources, including graphics/textures, pulled from various of my favorite wads:
Memento Mori
Memento Mori 2
Jenesis
Anomaly Report
Requiem

 

Music pulled from:
Memento Mori 
Memento Mori 2
Requiem
STRAIN
Mega Man X5 (intermission midi)
Silent Hill 2 Promise Reprise (text intermission midi)

 

 

Let me know what 'cha think!

Edited September 16, 2022 by Cyberdemon531
specificity(1), idgames link(2)

[Shanoa]

First off, welcome back to mapping!

 

Secondly, I've played MAP01 and MAP02 so far and a bit of MAP03 but had to stop. Gotta love the constant teleport in, keeps me on my toes at all time. There's been a recent thread on here about mixing techbase + hell, seems like you did just that based on the first two maps.  So far though, frantic combat and interesting visuals, I'll be completing the remaining maps very soon. Good work and thank you for the maps!

 

I get thrown off sometimes because from a level to another you can see area you've been in in a previous map so i'm like "why does this not work" >.> Just a dum-dum moment from me.

Edited August 21, 2022 by Shanoa

[SilverMiner]

Some keys in the first half of the wad can be got by bumping. But it requires some effort, so leave as it is.

Map05 should have a room with 11 special (death end sector) cuz it's very very likely to bug out.

Map06 should have around 3 more medkits somewhere near red key. And 2 less pinkies to teleport in.

There's a weird wall in both map01 and map06 that eats rockets like a sky.

Some glowing rocks bleed in the start of map06, but it's ok

 

Here are some demos.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hczm9fyypqfen3c/existFDA.zip?dl=1

 

[Bri0che]

1 hour ago, SilverMiner said:

There's a weird wall in both map01 and map06 that eats rockets like a sky.

 

Maybe the walls "eating the rockets like a sky" should be caused because of what is explained in this Decino's video  : 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Also... I'm gonna give it a try and feedback soon ;)

Edited August 21, 2022 by Briøche

[kvothesixstring]

I had fun with this set, I had a few minor issues that I state in the Twitch VOD. I don't recall anything glaring off hand. I think it was me being dumb about secrets. 

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1568986977

 

Edited August 22, 2022 by kvothesixstring

[Biodegradable]

This was a very enjoyable WAD with some spicy challenges and an interesting concept for the finale. Great job, Cyber!

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by Biodegradable

[Andrea Rovenski]

19 hours ago, SilverMiner said:

Some keys in the first half of the wad can be got by bumping. But it requires some effort, so leave as it is.

Map05 should have a room with 11 special (death end sector) cuz it's very very likely to bug out.

Map06 should have around 3 more medkits somewhere near red key. And 2 less pinkies to teleport in.

There's a weird wall in both map01 and map06 that eats rockets like a sky.

Some glowing rocks bleed in the start of map06, but it's ok

 

Here are some demos.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hczm9fyypqfen3c/existFDA.zip?dl=1

 

Thank you so much for the demos! Will look into some of these potential issues.

 

12 hours ago, kvothesixstring said:

I had fun with this set, I had a few minor issues that I state in the Twitch VOD. I don't recall anything glaring off hand. I think it was me being dumb about secrets. 

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1568986977

 

Watched the whole thing, glad you enjoyed the maps! And also you gotta boost your music, the midi for map05 starts off pretty low :D. Will take a look at some of the things I found from watching.

[LadyMistDragon]

Here's some demos of mine. It was sort of interesting to see the Fire and Ice-ish level in 05 whereas six was apparently a plunge into nightmare by revisiting everywhere you've been (but 05 did NOT have a Cyberdemon there!) There's an amusing bit at the end of cracked that sort of fits the map title if only on accident.

 

A couple of things: it seems like you can squeeze to the Megaarmor secret in Map 06 without using the hidden door and there might be one or two other little issues to spot as well. Like how if you're stuck on the edge of one of those lifting stairs in the liquid in Map 05, you can find yourself stuck probably because there's little room between each one.

lmd_exist.zip

[Walter confetti]

Looks really great!

[DoomGuy9001]

Looks like the River of Infinity map is broken for GZDOOM? There's a secret section that you can't get out of once you enter. Wad looks great outside of that! Hopefully can finish it once that bug is patched out. 

[ToxikDeth]

Really good wad :) 

[Arsinikk]

Played through this wad on stream on UV and really enjoyed it! I look forward to your future endeavours! :D

 

 

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1571090108

 

[besus]

General comments:
Maps are quite non linear, has intricate & elaborate structures. They look good, I like the continuity between maps
They're a little more hitscanner heavy than for my taste but whatever.

Map specific comments:

01. Nice intro level in general, I only dislike the SGing Mancubus.
02. Small bug: bumpable red skull; a little too many barons w/o ssg
03. Despite the door camping in some part which feels kinda grindy, most progression aren't obscure in nonlinear level because of monster spawn, excellent design!
04. First door was a bit hard to find though that's just my skill issue; (also bumpable red skull but isn't sequence breaking).
05. Minor issue: Midi isn't loud enough; also some game-breaking -cl 2 delicacy: I got all ghosted 4 times in a row lol (near wooden barriers/bridge w/ imps in ciricular lake with invis, chaingunner/shooting  from tower does this; way too many decorations too); not a fan of sniping arachnos and floor viles but whatever. Progression is more obscure than last maps. 
06. Ending sequence is very cool!

Cool wad, I enjoyed all maps except map05 because of all ghost. Sorry If I'm being too critical.

[Andrea Rovenski]

Thanks y'all for playin!

 

re: bumpable keys, some of them i will fix, some i wont. I like having some wonkiness. 

re: all ghosts, tbh, i should have said "limit removing" because that's what I meant, but I haven't posted anything in a long time and forgot the exact term. So yes, play with the intercepts/spechits disabled. :D

re: map05 midi, it's from memento mori and i really like it, but also don't know anything about midi editing so if someone wanted to boost it for me, cool, if not then I'll probably leave as is. I also play music 100% all the time, and noticed most people do not do that (weird!) so it might sound more out of place because of that :D

 

Will fix some of the visual issues and other slight bugs and upload to idgames sometime by the end of the week. :)

 

[Shanoa]

Finished this too, MAP05 was definitely the most challenging if only due to the risk of being shot from across the universe by enemies but overall it was a very fun mini-episode. Also for a specific area of MAP05...you can't shoo me away, it's MY health bonus now! (: MAP06 was super interesting for reasons already mentionned, the first warp had me go "wait isn't this MAP01...?". Good stuff!

 

Looking forward to the teased followup. ;) Thank you for the maps!

Edited August 25, 2022 by Shanoa

[egghead07]

Enjoyed 2/3rds of these maps. Some interesting scripted events like the adjacent rooms which had you pressing switches and monster spawning in the other room. Cool! Can't remember the maps name sorry. Nice design overall though!

[Soomerian]

I think there is something wrong with this wall in the southernmost area of map 5. Here is a screenshot from PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4 in software mode:
 

 

and here are some error messages from Crispy Doom, not sure if they're related:

P_LoadLineDefs: Special linedef 64 without tag.
P_LoadLineDefs: Special linedef 67 without tag.
P_LoadLineDefs: Special linedef 183 without tag.
P_LoadLineDefs: Found 3 special linedefs without tag.
THIS MAP MAY NOT WORK AS EXPECTED!

Anyway, amazing work! Looking forward to the sequel :)

[scwiba]

Fantastically creative mapset, channeling a lot of that '90s weirdness.

 

1 hour ago, Soomerian said:

I think there is something wrong with this wall in the southernmost area of map 5. Here is a screenshot from PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4 in software mode:
 

This is a common glitch, but it's easily fixed if you split the sector on one side of the midtex into its own sector, and then change the light level (even just to 193 which will still look the same). For some reason Doom will draw a midtex this way unless the sector on one side has a different light level than the one on the other side.

Edited August 28, 2022 by scwiba

[Vile]

This was a fun episode and I appreciated the continuity, particularly in map06.  I believe the only issue I had was allghosts in map05 but I see how that was meant to be disabled anyway.  Look forward to seeing more!

[Andrea Rovenski]

Thank you all for the feedback! Really happy to hear about the experiences. @Vile I saw your vod, thank you for calling my maps "abstract" :D

 

re: map05; I removed some of the decorations to hopefully reduce allghost, but either way I'd still advise playing with it disabled. I also hate complevel 9 because of reloading empty shotguns, so that is not an option for me :)

 

I fixed all the bugs mentioned, like the midtex issue and other stuff. Added a new bonus area to the end for solo-net (new game plus) players :) Will upload final version to /idgames very soon (aka tomorrow morning)

 

I'd like to have my next wad, "Existential Anxiety" out by early next year. This was a warmup, so expect the next one to be a bit more abstract and full of surprises :)

[galileo31dos01]

Hello, I played your maps in crispy-doom, UV/PS and found myself entertained all the time! Cool continuity, music selections, cool combat, a whole modernized MM mood, and most definitely got me interested about what else you'll bring us to the table.

 

I see I've been lucky and managed to elude intercept overflow in m05, heh. The only oddity I noticed was in m02: after using the switch next to the RL, two of four barons spawned in different areas very far away, and if it wasn't because there was still a bit more killing close to the exit I would have missed them (not entirely, since I'd look for any remaining stuff), so I wasn't sure about that part. One of them still got to where I was, a minute later, his radar must have been up to date!

 

I might also recommend checking this about teleport closets - yours were indeed functional, but in some occasions I'd notice monsters spawning with several seconds of delay in between, sometimes caused by either a monster or myself blocking the destination by coincidence, although there wasn't any egregious case -- in m02, speaking again of the barons, the one that should have spawned in the small room to shock me failed to do so because I blocked its spot, and he found the tp line after I killed the other one on the yellow water.

 

Anyways, thanks for sharing!

[Andrea Rovenski]

For the map02 traps, I made them purposefully spread around the map to facilitate a "clean up" loop, because I had demos in mind, and like to make things interesting. I also tried my best to make barons teleport to different areas each run, and so sometimes one of them sneaks you, and sometimes they don't. The delays are usually intentional, so to spread the fear and anxiety of not knowing how many will pop out. Thank you for the kind comments! I will tweak a little of it and take a look at that thread for future maps for sure.

[BohdanZPM]

@Cyberdemon531
I played your wad today. Some areas were really hard but overall I was having fun. You definitely like big packs of imps, don't you? :)
A couple of things that I'd like to point out:

1. Secrets are very clever and fun to find, especially with the slightly misaligned textures.

2. The rocket launcher trap with popping arch-vile is pretty brutal, I had to cheat in order to survive.
3. I did not get the purpose of lowering goldfall after pressing a switch in one of the rooms, as it accomplishes nothing, or maybe I was just blind.

[Andrea Rovenski]

1 hour ago, BohdanZPM said:

3. I did not get the purpose of lowering goldfall after pressing a switch in one of the rooms, as it accomplishes nothing, or maybe I was just blind.

There's a box of shells there, makes pistol start much easier :D

 

Thank you Bohdan!!

[Andrea Rovenski]

It's now been posted on the /idgames archive, so make some demos :D 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/d-f/existd

 

am now focused on the next installation. byebye.

[Krenium]

I really enjoyed this mapset! I love the weird angles and unusual (but pleasant) aesthetic choices. Gameplay is challenging but not unfair. I especially enjoyed the gauntlet that is MAP05 and the gimmick after the red door in MAP06.

[s4f3s3x]

Playing this and loving it so far, the Jenesis vibe is strong but these intial maps feel funnier to play than the former's starting entries ; ) . Extremely cool status bar graphic.

However, map05 is incredibly broken. I'm using the /idgames version and DSDA v0.24.3 (cl-2) and beside level names not showing in automap, I still got the allghost effects other people were talking about. Restarting the program and reload seems to solve it for a very short time, but I can't go on like this for the whole level... which is a shame since I'm really enjoying it.

Have/will you consider to do another bugfix round?

 

EDIT: Also a large bunch of monsters don't teleport in areas...
 

Edited December 23, 2022 by s4f3s3x
more bugs + bugs

[Andrea Rovenski]

it's a limit removing project so you have to disable emulation of things like all-ghosts. dehacked should be included in the zip, but its not in the wad itself because I didn't know you could do that at the time. Though, I am morally opposed to bugfixing so I won't :D Glad you enjoy it tho! But yes, disable intercept overflow emulation in your settings for limit removing status. I would use boom complevel, but boom sucks to play in and has so many engine issues that are garbage (reloading empty guns, monster behavior, etc) and I prefer vanilla style anyway. 

[Clippy]

It's Christmas Eve so why not play some

 

EXISTENTIAL DREAD

 

Actually pretty fun thanks for coming along 

 

Will do more after take my Santa hat off 

 

 

 

 

[Somniac]

This is great, loved the visuals, gameplay was tight and a good challenge. Loved the continuity of the maps, and especially that sequence in the final map!