[Ultimate Doom Community Project] Tribute Quilt - let's make a map out of 36 segments to celebrate Doom's anniversary [Beta v3, updated 08.06]

[ViolentBeetle]

Shuffling the sectors is the main idea. Sky transfer should be doable. My other idea is to make a combo out of different skies, but we'll see.

[ViolentBeetle]

15 hours ago, Faceman2000 said:

In E2M7, sectors 19, 27, 37, 38, 39, & 60 have CEIL1_1 for their ceiling. Sector 60 should have FLAT5_4, 27 and 37 should have MFLR8_3, sector 38 should have CEIL3_3,and the rest can CEIL5_2. Linedef 259 is missing its upper texture - should have BROWN144. 

 

E3M5 is an outdated build. Please download the newest version here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1azDdwoImtT02mkHPH2YH0aM0iWQzXNSK/view?usp=sharing

 

When assembling, please keep in mind that both of mine have merged sectors that could break when copying and pasting them.

Ok, I fixed the flats and updated the file, I'll be on the lookout for sectors.

[ViolentBeetle]

I'm finally starting to re-evaluate submissions, It'll be on the second sheet of the same google doc. I don't know if there's any point for you to read the comments, but you will at least be able to track progress.

I may or may not also make public blocking out on another sheet.

[ViolentBeetle]

On 3/12/2023 at 11:59 AM, RED77 said:

E1M8.rar
Updated!
I've changed the box of shells for stacks and Also corrected a minor texture issue with one of the doors.

Somehow I missed that entirely, maybe I was on a wrong complevel, but the map is broken right now because demons are stuck in negative-height sectors and it blocks geometry.

 

I think I fixed it, but the baron towers are now very tall, so maybe you'll want to take a look.

I have put it here if you want to take a look

Edited May 24, 2023 by ViolentBeetle

[ViolentBeetle]

After a hard day's work, my first idea on how it all may come together. We'll have to see if it actually comes together. So, the hard part might be over, now the hardest part begins.

Black lines represent severed connections, colored lines represent locked doors, colored cells is where keys are.

Spoiler

We start in E1M2 and go to E2M9 for the blue key, then enter E1M8 and go to E4M8 for the yellow key, then enter E2M8 and proceed to the E4M9 where we collect the red key and proceed to E4M6 for the exit.

There's some backtracking opportunities as well. Hope I didn't make any mistakes.

 

[ViolentBeetle]

One more progress report before I go silent because at 915 monsters, the map is huge and it will take me a long time to wrangle. Probably biggest I ever needed to develop and playtest.

The geometry arranged itself nicely, and is probably final. I have color-coded map based on key needed to access it. The progression is green(Starting area, not locked), blue, yellow and red. Blue and yellow can only be entered from a specific segment, but there's locked connections for backtracking/additional exploration. Red can be entered from any connection. There will be some doors where appropriate.

Spoiler

 

[MoreMending]

I feel like it might be a good idea to have E1M1 first, because most people know it well (at least better than E1M2), so they'd be able to understand the scrunching down of maps/segments of maps a lot better.

[ViolentBeetle]

3 hours ago, MoreMending said:

I feel like it might be a good idea to have E1M1 first, because most people know it well (at least better than E1M2), so they'd be able to understand the scrunching down of maps/segments of maps a lot better.

I can see your point, but personally, but I don't think anyone would come into this map unprepared, so I don't think this is a concern.

[Fernito]

On 5/25/2023 at 2:42 PM, ViolentBeetle said:

One more progress report before I go silent because at 915 monsters, the map is huge and it will take me a long time to wrangle. Probably biggest I ever needed to develop and playtest.

The geometry arranged itself nicely, and is probably final. I have color-coded map based on key needed to access it. The progression is green(Starting area, not locked), blue, yellow and red. Blue and yellow can only be entered from a specific segment, but there's locked connections for backtracking/additional exploration. Red can be entered from any connection. There will be some doors where appropriate.

Hide contents   Hide contents

 

I love the way the full layout's looking. Will you need help playtesting it?  

[ViolentBeetle]

58 minutes ago, Fernito said:

I love the way the full layout's looking. Will you need help playtesting it?  

Yes, I'll post it when I'm confident there won't be any immediately obvious bug and other issues and am satisfied with health and ammo balance.

[ViolentBeetle]

Big success. It's working.

I couldn't handle 100% completion, but I almost scored 100% kills - there shouldn't be stuck monsters. Secrets might require tagging/untagging later.

Pretty much all submissions remained as is geometry-wise, though I fixed a few bugs and fixed some non-ideal practices. There's also some minor flat changes to help continuity between segments, but they are pretty minor. And I also made a lift not missable permanently because in a long game it was pretty annoying, even though I think it was like this in original too.

I added a teleport to escape a death pit that probably shouldn't be a death pit. I aslo added teleports in an area that is way too easy to get blocked in by monsters.

 

First post will be updated in a moment.

 

 

TODO:

- Iron out bugs and major graphical issues

- Review secrets and see which ones should and should not be secret

- Get someone to do music and graphics.

This link is saved for archive purposes only, please go to the op post for the relevant version

Edited June 8, 2023 by ViolentBeetle

[Fernito]

Yesssss! Gonna give this a try asap!

[BeachThunder]

Wow, this is so much more confusing and labyrinthine than I anticipated. But it's still great, I loved walking into an area and thinking "oh, this is supposed to be that level!". I didn't end up visiting all the areas though (including my own section), so I'll have to play a bit more of it later.

A couple of things though:

 

in the E4M3 area, the red door doesn't need a red key, and the blue door does nothing. I assume the blue door is intentional, given that it's not in the right position for a door, but I'm pretty sure the red door should require a red key...

 

Also, in the E4M1 area, there's a (hopefully) unintentional STARTAN texture:

[ViolentBeetle]

@BeachThunder

Thanks, I'll get on this.

[SCF]

That took a lot longer than I was expecting. The individual parts may be small, but it adds up quickly. The map works surprisingly well though, the cramped spaces make it pretty challenging.

 

 

Besides what BeachThunder's already mentioned:

 

• The side entrance to E1M8 is blocked off before you go the normal way and lower the floor. I assume that's intentional, but it looked off and required some backtracking to get around.
• The E4M5 section has a clearly misaligned door texture. Not sure if that's the case in the original map, but figured I'd mention it.
• E4M5 also still has an exit sign, and that may be confusing. Similarly, E4M2 still has the pillar with the blue key symbol, but you can't go there without the blue key anyway so it doesn't really matter.
• You can't go into E4M7 from E3M8 (the door is one-way I guess?). Since the other door is currently bugged, that made E4M7 completely inaccessible.
• Maybe add sound-blocking linedefs between E4M6/E3M8. Otherwise the spider demon wakes up early, and all the barons from that room start streaming into E4M6. I had the same thing happen with the cacodemons in E4M2, but I don't remember from which side. They woke up from elsewhere and were clogging up the doorway.
• Extra radsuits on E4M6 and similar sections might be warranted. It's easy to waste them by going the 'wrong' way into another section.

 

[ViolentBeetle]

10 minutes ago, SCF said:

• The side entrance to E1M8 is blocked off before you go the normal way and lower the floor. I assume that's intentional, but it looked off and required some backtracking to get around.
• The E4M5 section has a clearly misaligned door texture. Not sure if that's the case in the original map, but figured I'd mention it.
• E4M5 also still has an exit sign, and that may be confusing. Similarly, E4M2 still has the pillar with the blue key symbol, but you can't go there without the blue key anyway so it doesn't really matter.
• You can't go into E4M7 from E3M8 (the door is one-way I guess?). Since the other door is currently bugged, that made E4M7 completely inaccessible.
• Maybe add sound-blocking linedefs between E4M6/E3M8. Otherwise the spider demon wakes up early, and all the barons from that room start streaming into E4M6. I had the same thing happen with the cacodemons in E4M2, but I don't remember from which side. They woke up from elsewhere and were clogging up the doorway.
• Extra radsuits on E4M6 and similar sections might be warranted. It's easy to waste them by going the 'wrong' way into another section.

• Yeah, the side entrance to E1M8 is intentionally sealed until you lower it from the southern switch. I don't know if it might be a good idea to add a door to conceal it.
• E4M5 had a lot of alignment issues, guess I didn't solve all of them. I'll have to go re-check the doors.
• On the subject of exit signs, I don't know if it's confusing because it's clearly sealed. If there's more confused people, maybe it's worth removing. The blue pillar might be awkward, but it's linked to the switch that shows you blue pillar. However, it might not be necessary because of the teleport that takes you right to the front of it.
• How is the other door bugged? Did I break something before uploading? But yeah, it's probably a good idea to make it accessible from Dis as well.
• The alerting of the rooms adjacent to E4M6 is intentional to make clearing adjacent rooms worth you a while. But I'll check if anything I don't want to come through does.
• Yeah, I agree on radsuits too.

I'm also getting some reports from @DRON12261 but I'm completely drained. I'll have a fixing spress in the morning.

Edited June 7, 2023 by ViolentBeetle

[SCF]

23 minutes ago, ViolentBeetle said:

• How is the other door bugged? Did I break something before uploading? But yeah, it's probably a good idea to make it accessible from Dis as well.

 

 

The other door is the broken blue key door one from E4M3 that was already reported

[ViolentBeetle]

1 minute ago, SCF said:

The other door is the broken blue key door one from E4M3 that was already reported

Oh yes, that's the fake decorative door. I probably shouldn't have allowed it, but somehow I missed it entirely during testing. The actual door is down in the lava. All the more reasons to unlock the backdoor.

 

@Pistoolkip, how attached you are to your fake door? I'm thinking making it more clear it's non-functioning might be an option, like add a step midtexture in front of it to make it look barred, or I can just remove it entirely.

[Faceman2000]

Got several for you. I'm only halfway through the level so I'm sure I'll have more.

 

E3M5 is broken. The dummy sectors are mostly missing so the gimmick doesn't work as intended.

Linedefs 7227 and 7238 (doortraks) aren't lower unpegged

Linedefs 7516 and 7519 have BIGDOOR3 as their texture instead of DOORTRAK

Sector 270 and 274 (in E3M8) break when their respective switches are triggered.

[ViolentBeetle]

14 minutes ago, Faceman2000 said:

Sector 270 and 274 (in E3M8) break when their respective switches are triggered.

Can you clarify this one?

[ViolentBeetle]

50 minutes ago, Faceman2000 said:

E3M5 is broken. The dummy sectors are mostly missing so the gimmick doesn't work as intended.

Also my bad. Is the top square really supposed to connect to a sector that is already open though?

Can you confirm if your submission has the right joining too?

[Pistoolkip]

1 hour ago, ViolentBeetle said:

Oh yes, that's the fake decorative door. I probably shouldn't have allowed it, but somehow I missed it entirely during testing. The actual door is down in the lava. All the more reasons to unlock the backdoor.

 

@Pistoolkip, how attached you are to your fake door? I'm thinking making it more clear it's non-functioning might be an option, like add a step midtexture in front of it to make it look barred, or I can just remove it entirely.

 

I ain't married to it. Probably remove it. Maybe replace it with a marble face texture or something?

[Faceman2000]

1 hour ago, ViolentBeetle said:

Can you clarify this one?

I’ll look into it further. I believe those switches are intended to raise bridges, but the bridges didn’t raise and I got a hall of mirrors.

 

As for E3M5, as I recall the open one was intentional because it allowed the others to open one at a time, but I’ll confirm that they are correct in the file I sent you later tonight and get back to you.

[Faceman2000]

Okay, just looked at E3M5, and that open sector was intentional - however, if you wanted to you could remove it and merge Sector 42 & 54. Either way, the setup present in the level I gave you is correct.

 

As for those broken sectors in the E3M7 square, I misspoke earlier: it's the sectors tagged 270 and 274 that are broken, sorry. After some investigation, it's the same issue - there were merged sectors with dummy sectors that broke when you copied it into the quilt. The following sectors should be merged:

- 1694, 1876, and 1887

- 1696 and 1888

- 1697, 1877, and 1886

- 1749 and 1902

- 1772, 1892, and 1904

- 1782, 1898, and 1903

- 1788 and 1897

 

That will fix the bridges and a lighting effect. There might be other broken merged sectors here that I missed - @Fernito should take a look and make sure everything else is working.

[Rorix]

@ViolentBeetleThere's a small issue in my section (e4m2, 4th tile from the bottom, left side). There's a cacodemon in an inaccessible sector on the southern edge. There's a door in that sector that should have tag 329, so that the caco can teleport in.

[Fernito]

@Faceman2000 Good catch! @ViolentBeetle I quickly fixed all the issues in E3M7 before leaving for work, here's the fixed version:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tovgc8arpwenick/TrbuteQuilt.wad?dl=0

 

I'm planning to give the whole map a go in the evening.

[ViolentBeetle]

Hotfix for things reported yesterday

• Fixed a lot of texture alignment in E4M5. There might be more left.
• Locked the red key door properly
• Added more pickups past the red key zone to make exploring it more alluring. Including more rad suits.
• Added some monsters to E2M7 to make it more suited for the final area. Also fixed computer orientation there.
• Reconnected control sectors on E3M5 and E3M7 (I started fixing before I realized Fernito submitted a fix, so I couldn't really use it, but I think I figured it out myself)
• Added switch to the back entrance to E4M7
• Replaced fake blue door with marble face
• Fixed missing tag on E4M2
• Added some sound blocking
• Replaced the MIDI to Inhabitants by @AD_79. It's not exactly what I want, but my first pick was too short for such a long level. There's still hoping for something custom-made.

This is an old file too

Edited June 8, 2023 by ViolentBeetle

[Pistoolkip]

I played through the map blind and recorded it with commentary.

Took me 1 hour 48 minutes of playtime, not counting deaths, so overall about 2 hours. Here's the vid:
 

I didn't encounter any game-breaking bugs, but lowering the lift in E1M7 was very akward, and I feel like there needs to be step to get from E3M3 to E2M8.

Honestly it played a LOT better than I expected. It wasn't as cramped as I would think, and the ammo and health balance was good, with some interesting fights.

Too many barons to shotgun and Cyberdemons to die to, but that's Doom 1 for you.

Overall a great trip down nostalgia lane. I think I correctly guessed each map but E3M9 took a while for me to get. 

Edited June 8, 2023 by Pistoolkip

[ViolentBeetle]

Watching @Pistoolkip's video and analyzing more player's pathing led me to a radical decision to swap E2M7 and E4M7

E2M7 works better a companion to E3M8 and connection to E3M6, while E4M7 works better linking right into E4M6 and exit. I hope I didn't introduce any bugs.

Also some minor fixes.

TrbuteQuilt_v3.zip

[BeachThunder]

Just watched @Pistoolkip's playthrough. This made me laugh:

 

Also, can I petition to get green armour in E1M1? That armour's just so iconic, it feels like a real shame to just have a single armour bonus there...