2022ADO ... Released! (now on idgames)

[hawkwind]

Beta 3 ...

 

Just 2 things to mention.

 

1. UMAPINFO error.

 

map E1M3
{
    next = "E1M3"
    nextsecret = "E1M9"
}

 

should read...

 

map E1M3
{
    next = "E1M4"
    nextsecret = "E1M9"
}

 

2.

 

I erroneously mentioned this for E5M6 ...

2. Invisible blocking at x 2321 y -2993 between vertices 945 and 921. GZDoom. Suspect nodes build

issue.

 

I meant E5M7. The info is correct though.

I fixed this by placing a new vertex in the middle of line 1779. The issue is also in zdoom software.

Edited October 19, 2022 by hawkwind

[Devalaous]

@pcorf @Kristian Nebula this may be out of the scope for this project, but E3M5 and E3M6 both crash the Unity port instantly. All other levels from E1M1 to E4M9 load up fine.

 

I'd also like to say that all the music I heard was really good. Looking forward to playing this on my main port.

Edited October 19, 2022 by Devalaous

[Firedust]

Beat the first episode! As expected, superb stuff - action-packed combat and great use of lighting and Romero-inspired texturework. Shame it's sort of difficult to admire the classic visuals at times even though it's very apparent a lot of effort went into that department - reason of course is the number of baddies per square map unit. The highlight for me was the fight in e1m5 (hopefully, I remembered that correctly) when you pick up the key and around 7 or so monsters closets open up. The RL is definitely worth finding because nothing's quite as satisfying as blasting away hordes of zombies and imps with well-placed explosive charges, and the first episode gives you plenty of opportunities for that.

 

Also, whoa - no cacodemons or lost souls in e2m1?! Scandalous!

Edited October 19, 2022 by Firedust

[pcorf]

5 hours ago, hawkwind said:

I erroneously mentioned this for E5M6 ...

2. Invisible blocking at x 2321 y -2993 between vertices 945 and 921. GZDoom. Suspect nodes build

issue.

 

I meant E5M7. The info is correct though.

I fixed this by placing a new vertex in the middle of line 1779. The issue is also in zdoom software.

 

I could not find any issues in E5M6 as x 2321 y -2993 was outside the map so I assumed it was a mistake on your behalf. I am also so hopeless at typing mistakes, just very tired and burnt out in life right now and looking forward to getting this completed.

Edited October 19, 2022 by pcorf

[pcorf]

4 hours ago, Devalaous said:

but E3M5 and E3M6 both crash the Unity port instantly.

 

Maybe it is because of the huge size of these maps. I never use this port anyway and is obviously an issue with the port and this is nothing I can do, sorry for that.

 

Only way to fix this issue is make two new smaller E3M5 and E3M6. Giving that Kristian spent almost the entire year working on these maps I do not want to remove his hard work from the project.

[Devalaous]

Its a shame, if the whole main segment of the wad worked, I'd have tossed you a DMAPINFO lump to include in the release

[pcorf]

23 minutes ago, Devalaous said:

Its a shame, if the whole main segment of the wad worked, I'd have tossed you a DMAPINFO lump to include in the release

 

I don't play the Unity port. Perhaps it does not support certain Boom features, or it could be the map size or complexity of the maps or perhaps the nodebuilder used.

 

Please PM me the DMAPINFO lump. I assume that is for Unity, can remove E3M5 and E3M6 from it so you play the episode E3M1-2-3-4-9-10-7-8.

Edited October 19, 2022 by pcorf

[Impboy4]

Yeah, the Unity Port only supports vanilla only wads.  I don't think there will ever be an update to support Boom format mapsets.

[pcorf]

8 minutes ago, Impboy4 said:

Yeah, the Unity Port only supports vanilla only wads.  I don't think there will ever be an update to support Boom format mapsets.

 

Yep indeed. Players need to read descriptions.

 

2022ado was originally intended for limit removing but Kristian's maps were Boom so it was changed to Boom. Some maps however are limit removing only including the entire episode 1.

[Firedust]

lmao that secret exit in e2m5

 

took a while to find the secret teleporter what with the switch opening the wall in a random area xD

 

then it's a speed switch puzzle

 

then another speed switch puzzle

 

insanity haha

[pcorf]

18 minutes ago, Firedust said:

lmao that secret exit in e2m5

 

took a while to find the secret teleporter what with the switch opening the wall in a random area xD

 

then it's a speed switch puzzle

 

then another speed switch puzzle

 

insanity haha

 

It was inspired by this.

[zokum]

If you are having problems with many slime trails on your e3m6, there are ways to reduce this.

Tag the walls of all the control sectors as non-render (not monster closets)
Set linedefs you will only ever see from one side as render only on this side.

This in itself will not reduce slime trails, but it will let the partition algorithm pick other partitions, and hopefully fewer splits. The thing that goes wrong here is that the partition algorithm will find partitions that cross these control sectors, but splitting those does not matter much, but the partition algorithm does not know that.

That will allow it to generate better trees. I'll give an example. In a map what was once considered the 3rd best split at that depth, will now become the best split because that line no longer splits a control sector. A map without splits will have 0 slime trails.

We could end up with the algorithm splitting a game play sectors in order to avoid splitting two control sectors, or the algorithm would have the same amount of splits due to the control sector, but choose the one in the gameplay area that produce the split because it is a more balanced split.

Worst case scenario, you could get more splits, but I think overall, you should end up with fewer splits.

Come to think of it, there is a way one could write an algorithm that would build maps fairly efficiently and with greatly reduced chance of splits. You would basically say splits are ok when they happen on integer coordinates, but disliked otherwise.

Without checking, I think splits only really occur on double sided walls, so that could also become part of the criteria. I have a hunch that many of the slime trails in the doomwiki are bad seg angles or other problems. They're basically misclassified.

[Firedust]

I have a question. In E3M3, why does the door in sector 1342 even require a red key in the first place? You can open it without the key from the other side... I actually got to that section before obtaining the red key because of how I navigated across the map.

 

Having a blast with this so far. Difficulty progression is VERY similar to that of the first Odyssey, as are the episode styles. Episode 3 is gorgeous. Very mean to place the plasma rifle in the E3M5 exit door though (even though it doesn't technically lead to the exit haha)

Edited October 20, 2022 by Firedust

[Kristian Nebula]

7 hours ago, Firedust said:

I have a question. In E3M3, why does the door in sector 1342 even require a red key in the first place? You can open it without the key from the other side... I actually got to that section before obtaining the red key because of how I navigated across the map.

 

Having a blast with this so far. Difficulty progression is VERY similar to that of the first Odyssey, as are the episode styles. Episode 3 is gorgeous. Very mean to place the plasma rifle in the E3M5 exit door though (even though it doesn't technically lead to the exit haha)

 

It's to dictate that you can enter it only from the back side, I could have left it also unmarked but for some reason I wanted to make it a red door. Glad to hear you are liking it! :)

[Firedust]

E4M7 was EPIC! I assume it was meant to be some kind of large demonic prison for imps? The episode is stylized like the Death Tormention series by the same authors and judging by the name (Tormented Suffering), I'll go ahead and assume that this was intentional.

 

EDIT: Three maps into episode 5 and I can quite confidently say this is your best Doom episode ever, Paul. The combat is insanely tight - makes the previous episodes feel like a family vacation; and the attention to detail is astounding. Not sure if venturing outside your comfort zone and channeling your inner sadist were a conscious decision or simply a byproduct of you trying your hand at making a Sigil episode for the first time, but this is super impressive work so far. I wonder, how long did episode 5 maps take you to make in comparison to the other levels? Some of the stuff here is seriously Demonastery levels of beauty. Cannot wait to play through the rest.

Edited October 21, 2022 by Firedust

[pcorf]

4 hours ago, Firedust said:

E4M7 was EPIC! I assume it was meant to be some kind of large demonic prison for imps? The episode is stylized like the Death Tormention series by the same authors and judging by the name (Tormented Suffering), I'll go ahead and assume that this was intentional.

 

EDIT: Three maps into episode 5 and I can quite confidently say this is your best Doom episode ever, Paul. The combat is insanely tight - makes the previous episodes feel like a family vacation; and the attention to detail is astounding. Not sure if venturing outside your comfort zone and channeling your inner sadist were a conscious decision or simply a byproduct of you trying your hand at making a Sigil episode for the first time, but this is super impressive work so far. I wonder, how long did episode 5 maps take you to make in comparison to the other levels? Some of the stuff here is seriously Demonastery levels of beauty. Cannot wait to play through the rest.

 

Yep indeed it is styled like the Death Tormention series and the name was intentional. You really in fact played Death Tormention 4. I was happy how E4M7 came out, lots of platforming and a prison-like atmosphere but the Imps do not care about been jailed and all they care about is shooting fireballs at you. This is your easiest chance to get the BFG as well in the episode as it comes useful for E4M8. You can get the BFG in E4M8 by shooting the eyes in the cyberdemon area of the map.

 

There are no hitscanners in episode 5 apart from the spiderdemon/mastermind. The zombiemen and shotgunners fell victim to a strange unknown gas so they are all dead on the ground but serve as an ammo source.

 

And with the upcoming E5M4 there was a health potion and armor bonus accidently on top of each other in the NW part of the map. I fixed that as well as a stimpack and rocket stuck together as well near the chaingun. There were some slime trail issues I also fixed.

 

The episode 5 sky (which I created myself from sky photos I took) has also had the powerlines (or streaks) removed and episode 4 sky now tiles better vertically so it looks better in E4M6 and E4M7. I actually had a better episode 4 sky from another wad but accidentally lost it when I restored a backup wad but could not find it so I did it myself. Here are some screenshots of the sky changes.

Edited October 21, 2022 by pcorf

[Firedust]

I think the sky in the e5m1 starting area sets the tone REALLY well for what's to come. Beautiful.

[Firedust]

All done! This was fun from start to finish - a classic Ultimate Doom megawad through and through! My favourite episodes have got to be 3 and 5 for reasons I've already mentioned in my posts here. Thank you Paul and Kristian for this wonderful work.

Just one personal thing: I sort of wish you abandoned that no hitscanner rule for E5M9, because everyone who's played the original Odyssey will remember those level parts for their absurd number of zombiemen :p

And kinda wondering what the story with Tommy is, it's not the first time he makes an appearance after all...

 

Also, since you've said you'll be taking a break from big projects for now, what do you say about Doomed Space Wars ep 2? *wink wink*

[pcorf]

4 hours ago, Firedust said:

All done! This was fun from start to finish - a classic Ultimate Doom megawad through and through! My favourite episodes have got to be 3 and 5 for reasons I've already mentioned in my posts here. Thank you Paul and Kristian for this wonderful work.

Just one personal thing: I sort of wish you abandoned that no hitscanner rule for E5M9, because everyone who's played the original Odyssey will remember those level parts for their absurd number of zombiemen :p

And kinda wondering what the story with Tommy is, it's not the first time he makes an appearance after all...

 

Also, since you've said you'll be taking a break from big projects for now, what do you say about Doomed Space Wars ep 2? *wink wink*

 

Tommy the trooper is a spinoff from the end of the original 2002ado and he kept the marine's wife hostage. This time he was captured by your revengeful wife ready to be blown off into the valley below. Just some made up silly thing because we know how pathetic these troopers/zombiemen are. There is still a hitscanner in E5M9, the mastermind but the general monster placement is different to the original sections. The other hitscanners are dead.

 

I need a break, but will make occasional maps from time to time especially for community projects but also standalone releases. My next plan is a MAP31 MAP32 Doom 2 pack of regular levels.

 

I think we are almost there, going to do a few more minor touchups, record the in game demos for Prboom-Plus 2.62 and then get this thing finally released. I might possibly make a new song for E1M6, not sure yet though.

[pcorf]

Update: I am doing the final testing of episode 3 in Prboom-Plus just to double check things and make sure everything is working as intended (fixed a few minor issues in E3M2, mainly slime trails). After that will clean up the wad (pretty sure we've used all resources). Hoping to upload the final release to idgames and to my website in a few days time. You cannot guarantee idgames and the wad can easily be rejected for unspecified reasons.

 

Files included in the zip will be.

 

2022ado.wad

2022ado.txt

2022readme.txt

2022readme.pdf

[tmorrow]

I've noticed the following using the Slade Archive Maintenance. Possibly some of these are intentional. Just raising these to your attention just in case. You decide whether anything is worth cleaning up.

1. Unused Patches: HELLCUT
2. Unused Textures: GRATE1, GRATE2, GRATE3, SKY5
3. Duplicated Entries names: D_E5M10 (both have same checksum d42474c5 too)

Beware that I'm not sure Slade is always correct. Take full wad backup before using any of those Slade reports, some of them can change your wad without you knowing.

 

The wad is looking good. I hope we can get a few more eagle eyes to scrutinize it before release.

[pcorf]

2 hours ago, tmorrow said:

I've noticed the following using the Slade Archive Maintenance. Possibly some of these are intentional. Just raising these to your attention just in case. You decide whether anything is worth cleaning up.

1. Unused Patches: HELLCUT
2. Unused Textures: GRATE1, GRATE2, GRATE3, SKY5
3. Duplicated Entries names: D_E5M10 (both have same checksum d42474c5 too)

Beware that I'm not sure Slade is always correct. Take full wad backup before using any of those Slade reports, some of them can change your wad without you knowing.

 

The wad is looking good. I hope we can get a few more eagle eyes to scrutinize it before release.

 

I think it is almost ready to be released, just need to playtest it over the weekend. Now with a crazy young son in my family I only get 1 or 2 hours a day. Yep I certainly won't be removing SKY5 but the duplicated D_E5M10 entry (which I did not realize) for sure.

[pcorf]

She is all complete!, yes on October 31. The Cacodemons are not pumpkins though, just tomatoes. 

 

Thanks everyone for spotting various issues I really appreciate all.

 

Now awaiting on idgames to see if it is rejected or accepted. However you can temporary download the zip from (my website) om the first page of this thread.

[EPICALLL]

Just discovered this today, and I'm already eager to play it.

So, I guess I'll state how I'll play this WAD before I rapid fire every map and give them a score on a scale of 1 to 10. (rapid fire as in short reviews mainly focusing on clear points.)

"The rules are, we play on Ultra-Violence and must Pistol Start each level. I need to play the WAD twice once before reviewing it, Saves are allowed, and we go for 100% kills in all levels, making exceptions when it's just not worth it. I play on GZDOOM Boom, and today's compatibility is Vanilla. Now, to the WAD."

[Pirx]

woah. totally missed this.

[NightFright]

Thanks a lot for finalizing this in time. Happy Halloween, everyone!

[pcorf]

24 minutes ago, NightFright said:

Thanks a lot for finalizing this in time. Happy Halloween, everyone!

 

Tried my best to fix all issues, spent hours of testing the last few days. It is not perfect but it is as good as we can get it. Hopefully on idgames within the next week.

[Rudolph]

For the time being, I have only this one thing to say:

 

"Al Dante"? L O L

 

^{But seriously, congratulations on the release!}

[Devalaous]

Finally, a 'full' pcorf E2.

 

Anyway, got this set up on Doom Launcher. Will give it a proper try soonish.

[Captain Keen]

Congrats on the release!

 

I noticed E3M6 still has the issue with clipping items when you play on software/multicore. Not sure if that's fixable, but it's the only level I noticed it in.

 

Anyway congrats again, this is one of the best Ultimate Doom wads ever made and a perfect Halloween 2022 gift to the Doom community!