The I.M.P. Act (GZDoom/Doom2 megawad. Version 1.0 now on idgames!)

[Fernito]

13 hours ago, aRottenKomquat said:

RC2 is available in the OP now! Thanks @Fernito for all your testing!

 

I did make some tweaks to Map08 as well. I added revenant teleports on the arachnotron platforms as part of the hell knight wave. Hopefully that plays better.

 

Single-player mode should essentially be complete now. Obviously I'll still accept any playtesting, feedback, and bug reports. But my main focus for RC2 will be on cooperative testing and balancing when LadyNims and I have a chance to work through that.

Nice! I'll give map09 another go asap (I'll also check out the improvements in map07/08).

[SleepyCat]

I gave it a quick run through and I don't have much useful commentary besides it was a lot of fun.

Spoiler

The ammo supply is interesting, there feels like quite a low quantity of rockets throughout the whole thing compared to other ammo types which isn't necessarily bad but it just feels like a different balance to a lot of levels I've played lately.

Also I love the use of some of the portals and 3D platforms, at first to create just 3D spaces but as time goes on introducing paradoxes and tardis rooms add a whole vibe of hell and its excellent, I've recently started doing some experiments towards building paradoxical levels which make sense enough to still navigate and you've given me some interesting ideas.

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by SleepyCat
typo that inverted meaning

[Fernito]

Hey! Sorry it took me so long, here's map09 of RC2. The "only cacos and imps" gimmick worked well this time :) Definitely offers a more balanced experience than the previous version.

[aRottenKomquat]

Version 1.0 is now available on idgames! We fixed a lot of issues thanks to @Fernito's playtesting, and cooperative mode is finally reasonably balanced. Here it is: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/g-i/imp_act

 

 

[Rudolph]

Oh, I just got the pun: "Impact"! Nice one. XD

 

Looking good so far, but if you do not mind me asking, what are the Dark Forces influences? I am asking because I am fairly unfamiliar with the game, as I have never gotten far into it nor do I plan to, since it does not really appeal to me.

Edited May 15, 2023 by Rudolph

[aRottenKomquat]

1 hour ago, Rudolph said:

Oh, I just got the pun: "Impact"! Nice one. XD

 

Looking good so far, but if you do not mind me asking, what are the Dark Forces influences? I am asking because I am fairly unfamiliar with the game, as I have never gotten far into it nor do I plan to, since it does not really appeal to me.

 

There really was no pun, not intentionally anyways. Originally, I wanted the name to be one of those government bills where it promises one thing and does the exact opposite, and I wanted to have the name of a Doom monster in it. I did a lot of brainstorming, tried things like the P.I.N.K.Y. Act, D.E.M.O.N. Act, H.E.L.L. Act, etc, with a forced acronym that declares that the the bill absolutely will not result in a fresh invasion from Hell, and eventually settled on I.M.P. Act - Improving & Modernizing (Tele)porters or something like that. It doesn't quite meet my original intentions but I just couldn't get anything to work like that, and had to settle.

 

As for the Dark Forces influences, it's the way some maps are large and have a lot of optional areas to explore. Also, 3D floors and portal-based room-over-room are pretty important to the Dark Forces level designs, so I drew some inspiration from that. One of my Episode 2 space station maps will be directly inspired by Detention Center, having one or two main elevators that connect a few areas in a very un-Doom-like room-over-room design. I always thought Dark Forces had some of the best map design out of any of the pre-Quake "2.5D" games from the 90's.

Edited May 15, 2023 by aRottenKomquat

[Rudolph]

I see. Thanks for the explanation!

 

Anyway, on MAP03, there is an item outside of map boundaries on the west side of the map. Not sure if it was placed there by accident or what it is since it cannot be reached without further cheating, but I can see it is there when I type am_cheat 2.

Edited May 15, 2023 by Rudolph

[Fernito]

Congrats on the release, @aRottenKomquat! :)

[Caleb13]

I know it's probably too late, but I couldn't get 100% kills in MAP08. There are 4 closets tagged 29, with archviles and barons inside. But they never opened, even when I tried grabbing megaspheres and everything else in sight. I played on UV in GZdoom 4.10.0.

[aRottenKomquat]

3 hours ago, Caleb13 said:

I know it's probably too late, but I couldn't get 100% kills in MAP08. There are 4 closets tagged 29, with archviles and barons inside. But they never opened, even when I tried grabbing megaspheres and everything else in sight. I played on UV in GZdoom 4.10.0.

That is really weird. They're supposed to open with the yellow key door.

[Caleb13]

Ah, I see now. It does indeed work, I just BFG'd the cyberdemons so quickly that I never noticed the newly released monsters. Nevermind, then.

[aRottenKomquat]

6 hours ago, Caleb13 said:

Ah, I see now. It does indeed work, I just BFG'd the cyberdemons so quickly that I never noticed the newly released monsters. Nevermind, then.

 

That's impressive. The intended outcome (at least on a blind playthrough) is the player gets the crap scared out of them by the cyberdemons, retreats, and bumps into Arch-Viles that are bringing everything back to life.

[aRottenKomquat]

On 5/15/2023 at 11:32 AM, Rudolph said:

I see. Thanks for the explanation!

 

Anyway, on MAP03, there is an item outside of map boundaries on the west side of the map. Not sure if it was placed there by accident or what it is since it cannot be reached without further cheating, but I can see it is there when I type am_cheat 2.

 

It's an ammo box. I have no idea why that's out there. Minor issue so it'll be fixed when I release Episode 2.

[princetontiger]

I think this is underrated... it feels very much like classic Doom from the 90s but improved. The style and aesthetic feels a lot like the original Doom game.

 

I nominated it for caco award.

Edited May 26, 2023 by princetontiger

[princetontiger]

@aRottenKomquat I found the secret key in Map03 and had fun beating Map09.

 

This is a really fun wad. So much to explore with the secrets...

[aRottenKomquat]

Update on this: I think we are at least 75% done with Episode 2: The Infested Station. Layout is basically complete on 7 maps, with only moderate layout work left on 2 of them. Monster/item placement and playtesting is basically done on 4 of them, with a fifth well along the way. So I think we're on track for a spring release on the second episode if our work schedules allow it.

 

Also I found a snazzy online Doom text generator thingy, and was able to whip this up rather quickly. This pleased me more than it probably should have.

 

[TMMMS]

i really liked the first episode and i look forward to playing episode

 

i was particularly impressed by the nerfed icon of sin in map09 i didnt know it was possible to modify its monster spawns

[netcurse2000]

Very promising wad. First map is a good techbase. I'm very pleased that one of the most underrated original midi sounds right away.

 

 

[netcurse2000]

Map02 playthrought