[Limit Removing] UAC Nukage Solutions, LLC

[YMB]

UPDATE v1.1: Final red key room completely re-imagined (and more evil).

UPDATE v1.11: Possible softlock via missing yellow key fixed.

 

 

The Union Aerospace Corporation is pleased to report that offworld nukage processing efficiency has reached nearly optimal levels. We are requesting the services of a skilled technician to diagnose and repair some minor hell portals anomalies that have been observed at our main site on Deimos. Compensation will be provided only upon satisfactory completion of directive. Good luck!

 

Another year, another techbase WAD. I attempted to focus on some aspects that I thought were lacking in my first completed map:

• Larger rooms and corridors, allowing for less cramped combat
• More open areas and connected regions
• Multiple possible orders and paths to completion, with backtracking
• More secrets with satisfying difficulty of discovery
• Level design meant to feel like a "real" place

Hopefully I pulled off at least a few of these. During the creation of this map, I intentionally limited my Doom Builder options in a couple of ways that I won't explicitly mention in order to focus more on the "big picture" of the map. It ain't perfect, but I think it's an improvement on my first one! Let me know what you think.

 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD (998 KB)

 

Yours in peace, love, and demon slaying...

YMB

 

Doom 2 MAP01 - Limit Removing Port Required!

Tested in Crispy Doom and GZDoom

Difficulties fully implemented - THIS MAP IS NOT HARD (I promise)

Estimated Time To Finish (UV) - 15 minutes, 20 minutes for 100%

 

SUPER SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Bank (for early testing)

Revenant (for hosting)

The Only Doom Clan That Is Confirmed To Currently Be In Space

 

YOU WON'T BELIEVE YOUR EYES! SCREENSHOTS:

 

And if you really, REALLY wanna see everything first, look no further!

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by YMB

[YMB]

Whoops! The link was busted. Fixed now, sorry!

[Fiendish]

I just finished this map on Crispy Doom and recorded a demo for you here. Really great job with the architecture, texturing, and lighting; the map is very pleasing to the eye. The interconnectedness of the map was great, though on the downside, it did make the map difficult to navigate at times.  The combat was pretty easygoing, which fits for a traditional-style techbase.  There were a couple areas where doorfighting may have made the combat a bit too trivial, such as the red room at the end.  You might spice combat up by having an enemy attack from behind when opening the door, or having the monsters in the room hidden and only wake up once the player enters the room.  But the spaces overall were well-sized -- not too cramped or too open -- making them painless to move around in. 

 

The only issue I ran into with this map was with the progression. Often I'd hit a switch and scratch my head not knowing what it did. One-way lifts made this worse, because then I'd be unsure whether taking the lift would bring me away from where I was supposed to go, and cause me to get even more lost.  I almost threw in the towel at one point after running around in circles for quite a while. I had to open the map up in doombuilder to figure out the progression at that point -- it turned out I had simply not seen a switch, which was hidden below the main floor level of the room, not visible unless the player goes to a particular corner of a room and looks back toward the center of that room.  For future works, you might try to avoid these problems in two ways. One, with switches, you might try to steer the player toward what the switch does, ideally by having its effect in eyesight from where the switch is pressed.  Second, you might visually highlight progression-linked switches to make sure players don't miss them like I did. If they're not staring the player in the face when they enter the room, it can help to use lighting to guide the player toward them -- for example, making them cast a light against a wall will draw the player to check it out.

 

Overall, though, I had fun with it. This is an outstanding second map! 

[YMB]

9 hours ago, Fiendish said:

I just finished this map on Crispy Doom and recorded a demo for you here. Really great job with the architecture, texturing, and lighting; the map is very pleasing to the eye. The interconnectedness of the map was great, though on the downside, it did make the map difficult to navigate at times.  The combat was pretty easygoing, which fits for a traditional-style techbase.  There were a couple areas where doorfighting may have made the combat a bit too trivial, such as the red room at the end.  You might spice combat up by having an enemy attack from behind when opening the door, or having the monsters in the room hidden and only wake up once the player enters the room.  But the spaces overall were well-sized -- not too cramped or too open -- making them painless to move around in. 

 

The only issue I ran into with this map was with the progression. Often I'd hit a switch and scratch my head not knowing what it did. One-way lifts made this worse, because then I'd be unsure whether taking the lift would bring me away from where I was supposed to go, and cause me to get even more lost.  I almost threw in the towel at one point after running around in circles for quite a while. I had to open the map up in doombuilder to figure out the progression at that point -- it turned out I had simply not seen a switch, which was hidden below the main floor level of the room, not visible unless the player goes to a particular corner of a room and looks back toward the center of that room.  For future works, you might try to avoid these problems in two ways. One, with switches, you might try to steer the player toward what the switch does, ideally by having its effect in eyesight from where the switch is pressed.  Second, you might visually highlight progression-linked switches to make sure players don't miss them like I did. If they're not staring the player in the face when they enter the room, it can help to use lighting to guide the player toward them -- for example, making them cast a light against a wall will draw the player to check it out.

 

Overall, though, I had fun with it. This is an outstanding second map! 

 

Thanks for playing! Could you let me know specifically which switch you're referring to in this case? I might be able to make it a bit easier to find.

 

Also, the red room is probably the part of the map I'm least happy with, so I'm going to work on that today!

Edited January 19, 2023 by YMB

[Fiendish]

21 minutes ago, YMB said:

 

Thanks for playing! Could you let me know specifically which switch you're referring to in this case? I might be able to make it a bit easier to find.

 

Also, the red room is probably the part of the map I'm least happy with, so I'm going to work on that today!

 

Sure -- the main one that gave me a problem was the one that lowers tag 13. I'm sure not everyone will miss it, since there is armor next to it, but missing it the first time definitely makes it hard to find later. I want to stress though that I did really like this map! The interconnectedness is especially cool.

[YMB]

10 minutes ago, Fiendish said:

 

Sure -- the main one that gave me a problem was the one that lowers tag 13. I'm sure not everyone will miss it, since there is armor next to it, but missing it the first time definitely makes it hard to find later. I want to stress though that I did really like this map! The interconnectedness is especially cool.

 

I had a feeling it was this one! Fixed:

 

Spoiler

 

[Votterbin]

This is pretty solid stuff! The entrance to the red room is foreboding as hell and I love that

 

3 hours ago, YMB said:

Also, the red room is probably the part of the map I'm least happy with, so I'm going to work on that today!

What kind of changes do you plan on?

[YMB]

1 minute ago, Votterbin said:

This is pretty solid stuff! The entrance to the red room is foreboding as hell and I love that

 

What kind of changes do you plan on?

 

I just uploaded a new version about 15 minutes ago with a totally different ending! You might have just missed it. Here's what the new version looks like (if you don't mind ruining the surprise!):

Spoiler

https://streamable.com/k1y3dp

 

[mancubian_candidate]

2 minutes ago, YMB said:

 

I just uploaded a new version about 15 minutes ago with a totally different ending! You might have just missed it. Here's what the new version looks like (if you don't mind ruining the surprise!):

  Reveal hidden contents

https://streamable.com/k1y3dp

 

 

And would you look at that, I was just going to report the following:

 

Spoiler

I got soft-locked on the Red Door Trap in the old version, looks like you have it fixed though!

 

Well done, this is an excellent map. Really enjoyed it! :)

[YMB]

1 hour ago, mancubian_candidate said:

Well done, this is an excellent map. Really enjoyed it! :)

 

Thanks for playing! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

 

For anyone who wants to see all the secrets, or just wants to check the map out, I've uploaded a UV-MAX playthrough below!

Spoiler

 

 

[thelamp]

Very detailed map both in the geometry and encounter design! Great stuff!

 

 

[YMB]

1 hour ago, thelamp said:

Very detailed map both in the geometry and encounter design! Great stuff!

 

 

 

Thanks for playing, loved the video!

 

Blue key hint/concept:

Spoiler

The silver switch in the big room with the SSG is what lowers the blue key platform. The idea is that you can see the blue key through the grate above it and should be able to hear the platform lower when you hit the switch... but I was testing without music, so that might be the issue.

 

 

[LadyMistDragon]

I really felt off my game. But you sure started spamming the Arch-viles, didn't ya? Well, here's a demo in any case.

 

 

lmd_uac.zip

[Biodegradable]

Hot damn, this is a really fun map. A highly-detailed, Rubik's cube with lots of hidden nooks and crannies, stellar combat and fun setpieces. The way the Cyberdemon fight was the only thing I disliked. Everything else is golden. Well done, mate. :^)

 

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Biodegradable

[YMB]

17 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

I really felt off my game. But you sure started spamming the Arch-viles, didn't ya? Well, here's a demo in any case.

 

 

lmd_uac.zip

 

1 hour ago, Biodegradable said:

Hot damn, this is a really fun map. A highly-detailed, Rubik's cube with lots of hidden nooks and crannies, stellar combat and fun setpieces. The way the Cyberdemon fight was the only thing I disliked. Everything else is golden. Well done, mate. :^)

 

 

 

Thank you both for playing! One thing that I learned seeing people play this one is that progression that might seem obvious to me while creating a map might be very puzzling to another player. Definitely something to focus on for my next attempt!

[Clippy]

really delicious map I want chocolate bars - it was on the easy side but thats nice to have that experience sometimes - so many ppl go way too hard lol - and your stock texture use is amazing and inspiring! Love it bud

 

 

[YMB]

49 minutes ago, Clippy said:

really delicious map I want chocolate bars - it was on the easy side but thats nice to have that experience sometimes - so many ppl go way too hard lol - and your stock texture use is amazing and inspiring! Love it bud

 

 

 

Thanks for playing! Just watched the video, I really enjoy the rapport you guys have.

 

Looking back on it now, I probably did make it a bit easy, but again that's a byproduct of the level creator not being as good at Doom as the level players! Next time I'll give UV a serious difficulty boost and just play my own map on HMP. :)

 

And I actually thought the crates made the Cyber encounter easy enough, but thought other people would just not want to deal with him at all, so I added the invuln. I'm too nice...

Edited January 21, 2023 by YMB

[pampoo79]

very nice map, the only critique I have is the amount of buttons whose function is unclear. also there are far too many items available, I finished the map with 400 bullets 86 shells, 510 cells and 15 rockets (HMP, killed Cyberdemon).

 

I softlocked myself at the eye switch area because I completely overlooked the yellow key. You need to put in a walk trigger for the elevator.

Edited January 21, 2023 by pampoo79

[YMB]

5 minutes ago, pampoo79 said:

very nice map, the only critique I have is the amount of buttons whose function is unclear. also there are far too many items available, I finished the map with 400 bullets 86 shells, 510 cells and 15 rockets (HMP).

 

I softlocked myself at the eye switch area because I completely overlooked the yellow key. You need to put in a walk trigger for the elevator.

 

Whoops! I'll just change the trigger to lower the access switch bars to be the linedefs surrounding the yellow key, so there's no way to get to the eye switch without the yellow key. Good catch and thanks for playing!

Edited January 21, 2023 by YMB

[pampoo79]

2 minutes ago, YMB said:

 

Whoops! I'll just change the trigger to lower the access switch bars to be the linedefs surrounding the yellow key, so there's no way to get to the eye switch without the yellow key. Good catch and thanks for playing! 

what? no no I did get to the eye switch without the yellow key... I mean this elevator

[YMB]

4 minutes ago, pampoo79 said:

what? no no I did get to the eye switch without the yellow key... I mean this elevator

 

Sorry if I was unclear, the change I just implemented makes it impossible to get to that point without the yellow key.

[pampoo79]

No I misread your comment. Anyways, good work.

[sandwedge]

Enjoyed this level.  You actually made the nukage techbase concept interesting despite it being done so much, with that trail of slime washing down the hallways, crates floating in a pool etc.  Some really nice architecture and pleasant combat flow.  The ending screen reminded me that I've played a previous map of yours, As hell crept up through the sewers, and I really enjoy your style and the amount of work you put into these.  Keep it up!

 

 

[YMB]

6 hours ago, sandwedge said:

Enjoyed this level.  You actually made the nukage techbase concept interesting despite it being done so much, with that trail of slime washing down the hallways, crates floating in a pool etc.  Some really nice architecture and pleasant combat flow.  The ending screen reminded me that I've played a previous map of yours, As hell crept up through the sewers, and I really enjoy your style and the amount of work you put into these.  Keep it up!

 

 

 

Thanks for playing, had a good time watching your video!

 

I AM UTTERLY EMBARRASSED BY HOW EASY THIS MAP ACTUALLY ENDED UP BEING FOR EVERYONE.

Edited January 26, 2023 by YMB

[Clippy]

Lol why would you be embarrassed by that. Honestly it's nice to have a break from a lot of ball busting content that seems to be happening lately. Not every map has to be painful and as you see people thoroughly enjoy the experience

 

I look forward to seeing what you do next this was great!

[YMB]

7 minutes ago, Clippy said:

Lol why would you be embarrassed by that. Honestly it's nice to have a break from a lot of ball busting content that seems to be happening lately. Not every map has to be painful and as you see people thoroughly enjoy the experience

 

I look forward to seeing what you do next this was great!

 

Thanks for the kind words. Personally, I'm a fan of levels where you can explore without too much stress, so that was reflected in this map. I'm kind of out of touch with the "meta" of Doom levels right now, so I'm not sure if the general consensus is hard=fun.

[Somniac]

This was great fun, I was so busy blasting monsters I almost kept forgetting to stop and admire all the intricate detailing. I thought the layout was excellent and the progression intuitive. I did manage to softlock myself at one point by backing out of the room behind the red key door before the bars came down, not sure if I skipped a linedef or I just moved too fast! Either way, only a minor issue and this was a great map all round.

[YMB]

9 minutes ago, Somniac said:

This was great fun, I was so busy blasting monsters I almost kept forgetting to stop and admire all the intricate detailing. I thought the layout was excellent and the progression intuitive. I did manage to softlock myself at one point by backing out of the room behind the red key door before the bars came down, not sure if I skipped a linedef or I just moved too fast! Either way, only a minor issue and this was a great map all round.

 

Thanks for playing! I just added a SR door open to the bars facing the outside of the room in case someone else does something similar.