Relic - 4 adventurous maps with devious traps in the jungle!

[EduardoAndFriends]

7 hours ago, Faceless said:

The final fight was amazing and really really hard. The wad reminded me of Plutonia, and thats a good thing!

The level design was 10/10. Im not a skilled player at all, it was very hard for me in UV, but i glad that i finished it on UV after getting slaughtered in final fight lol.

 

Great wad, gonna pay attention on your future works.

Thanks mate! I love Plutonia, and especially Cydonia, so that means a whole lot - thank you!

[EduardoAndFriends]

11 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

Hot damn, that was awesome, Ed. You got me pretty hot under the collar a couple of times, especially the second round with the number door room, oooh... you cheeky fuck! This is quite the ferocious little set for sure. It's beautiful, deadly and thrilling. My only real complaint is how cramped of the encounters felt at times. Other than that? Well done, mate. You've quickly proven yourself to be a formidable mapper bursting with imagination that people should absolutely be paying more attention to. I can't wait to see what you do next! ;^)

 

 

Thanks, bruv! Watched the whole thing; I had a ridiculous grin on my face the whole way, especially when you're making your "Hrmph!" grumpy noises. I've gotta sample some of those for a future WAD (with your permission obvs)! I'm going to roll everyone's critiques / bugs into a hot fix (version 7) coming out today. Going to make the map 03 waterfall transparent as it is necessary progression, cheers for pointing that out.

 

I know it can sometimes be hard to see certain visual cues if you use a mod that has a lot of decals such as the one you used because there was a string of health bonuses disappearing into the waterfall, but after such a blistering fight, expecting people to comb the surrounding area for clues is asking a bit much, lol, especially if you pick the health bonuses up accidentally. I need to consider that fact that people DO play with splatter mods and as such, need to highlight switches / progression a bit more obviously in future too.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to glide down my Slip'N'Slide of gore, I really appreciate it! ;^) -Edz 

[EduardoAndFriends]

6 hours ago, thelamp said:

Great set of maps! Really liked the final fight here cool stuff

 

 

I wish Doomguy actually went dododododo when running across platforms! Also, your happy "ooh yeah" when grabbing the plasma secret has GOT to be used for a secret sound in the future. :p well spotted with the Sinkhole Showdown - skillsaw is my favourite mapper, and I've been thinking about that map for the last few months cos it's so dang fun. I always try SUPER hard to make fights that need to be experimented with and probably won't be clocked on the first go, so watching you turn fights around until they click into place is really fascinating and fun. You're such an entertaining dude to watch, man! You absolutely nailed what was required of the final arena ... the lost souls prohibit the use of the rocket launcher and you've got to go hog wild with the plasma like you're storming Normandy Beach all by yourself. On easier difficulties there are BFGs, but UV demands that the plasma gets the spotlight. Thanks for pointing out the misaligned back textures on the hedges, I'll add that to the version 7 fix. Cheers, mate! :)

[EduardoAndFriends]

UPDATE: Fixes implemented for version 7 (download now in original post)

 

Spoiler

 

• Waterfall texture now transparent in map03.
• Railings of dark bridges prior to number room fights all impassable now.
• Number room at map02 end has been only slightly nerfed. It was a BIT too spicy for the second map even though it was achievable.
• Hedges aligned in final arena.
• Final view made clear in map05. Our hero's cool ship is fully viewable to end on a better visual note. 

 

Thanks everyone for testing thus far, I truly appreciate your time and help. Other fixes to come if needed.

 

Cheers. -Edz xo

[Egg Boy]

Howdy, Ed! Finally got around to playing this since the entire thing released. I won't be too detailed, if you want some more in depth feedback or feedback on something in particular, you know where to find me ;)

 

Anywho, here's a few quick thoughts on each map:

 

• Map01: Fun little opener, very cramped. I noticed here that there was no sky-hacking, making all the outdoors areas feel a bit enclosed and more like rooms with skies on the ceiling. Thought the orange textures were a bit misplaced. Ship was cool, though. Fights can be pretty challenging, with the last one determined by how you react within the first few seconds. Love the area before that flooding with imps, a real panic moment.
• Map02: Has DKC music, so no matter what I say, its an automatic masterpiece. This map is made up of 4 encounters, the first is pretty tight if you're not quick with the RL, taking out the archviles as soon as possible is very important since they can get you at angles you wouldn't expect. Encounter 2 with the raise archie pillar and flying meatballs is pretty fun, probably my second favorite encounter. The third encounter feels very inspired by BTSX's tough skin river, in terms of combat, its my favorite, very chaotic with an angry cyber stomping around. It could be touched up a bit visually, I feel the atmosphere of a dark cave (which is what I assume it is supposed to be) could be captured better with some fade to black textures on the upper architecture as well as darker lighting overall. The brightness makes it feel odd with the all black background. The final encounter involves the same room from the end of map01, the conceit of the fight is generally the same. Again, with this map, I found myself questioning some of the color choices, had a very kitchen sink feel with some of the architecture. Definitely down to preference, I tend to prefer tighter color schemes while this has a more chaotic bend to it.
• Map03: Favorite map so far, lots of memorable encounters, especially fond of the "rock and a hard place" encounter that places a glut of demons behind you, while you attempt to maneuver around revenants and navigate a storm of pinkies, proving the rocket launcher is the best weapon in doom. The platform hopping in the beginning of the map is pretty cool, but once the hitscanners teleported onto them, they kept being pushed off because Boom has issues with that, would recommend putting block monsters lines around those to ensure they do not fall down. The final encounter is in the same room as the last two, I actually rather like the idea of having a room that iterates on itself with each map. Its also small enough that it doesn't get tired, and I look forward to the changes after each map.
• Map04: Oooh, is that Dallas' "Bad Apple" midi I hear? Classic. Second favorite map, lots of cool little moments, the sink-hole showdown area was real fun, though I imagine it would have been a real struggle if I hadn't found the plasma rifle secret. A good portion of the difficulty in this wad comes from just not having room to maneuver, which is a completely valid way to design things, but I was happy the last two maps opened up considerably. Though I still found the room with the raised platforms over lava a bit frustrating. The final room was cool, especially the fake out involving the end room from each map. I found the lost souls unnecessary, their only purpose seemed to be to block your movement as well as cyber rockets, I think the room could have been cooler if you were dodging rocket volleys and running from cover to cover. The final fight could have definitely got a lot more ugly with the mastermind provoking the pain elementals, and boom's removal of the lost soul limit. Probably could have soft locked myself if I wasn't fast enough. 

[Misty]

I'd say map03 end fight needs some rebalance on easier skills - leave 2 archviles on easy, 3 for medium and 4 for hard skill. Otherwise, it was fun to play entire project. Thank you for making it. 

[EduardoAndFriends]

3 hours ago, Misty said:

I'd say map03 end fight needs some rebalance on easier skills - leave 2 archviles on easy, 3 for medium and 4 for hard skill. Otherwise, it was fun to play entire project. Thank you for making it. 

Cheers, Misty. :) I’ll revisit that fight before a proper release on idgames. Ta!

[EduardoAndFriends]

4 hours ago, Egg Boy said:

Howdy, Ed! Finally got around to playing this since the entire thing released. I won't be too detailed, if you want some more in depth feedback or feedback on something in particular, you know where to find me ;)

 

Anywho, here's a few quick thoughts on each map:

 

• Map01: Fun little opener, very cramped. I noticed here that there was no sky-hacking, making all the outdoors areas feel a bit enclosed and more like rooms with skies on the ceiling. Thought the orange textures were a bit misplaced. Ship was cool, though. Fights can be pretty challenging, with the last one determined by how you react within the first few seconds. Love the area before that flooding with imps, a real panic moment.
• Map02: Has DKC music, so no matter what I say, its an automatic masterpiece. This map is made up of 4 encounters, the first is pretty tight if you're not quick with the RL, taking out the archviles as soon as possible is very important since they can get you at angles you wouldn't expect. Encounter 2 with the raise archie pillar and flying meatballs is pretty fun, probably my second favorite encounter. The third encounter feels very inspired by BTSX's tough skin river, in terms of combat, its my favorite, very chaotic with an angry cyber stomping around. It could be touched up a bit visually, I feel the atmosphere of a dark cave (which is what I assume it is supposed to be) could be captured better with some fade to black textures on the upper architecture as well as darker lighting overall. The brightness makes it feel odd with the all black background. The final encounter involves the same room from the end of map01, the conceit of the fight is generally the same. Again, with this map, I found myself questioning some of the color choices, had a very kitchen sink feel with some of the architecture. Definitely down to preference, I tend to prefer tighter color schemes while this has a more chaotic bend to it.
• Map03: Favorite map so far, lots of memorable encounters, especially fond of the "rock and a hard place" encounter that places a glut of demons behind you, while you attempt to maneuver around revenants and navigate a storm of pinkies, proving the rocket launcher is the best weapon in doom. The platform hopping in the beginning of the map is pretty cool, but once the hitscanners teleported onto them, they kept being pushed off because Boom has issues with that, would recommend putting block monsters lines around those to ensure they do not fall down. The final encounter is in the same room as the last two, I actually rather like the idea of having a room that iterates on itself with each map. Its also small enough that it doesn't get tired, and I look forward to the changes after each map.
• Map04: Oooh, is that Dallas' "Bad Apple" midi I hear? Classic. Second favorite map, lots of cool little moments, the sink-hole showdown area was real fun, though I imagine it would have been a real struggle if I hadn't found the plasma rifle secret. A good portion of the difficulty in this wad comes from just not having room to maneuver, which is a completely valid way to design things, but I was happy the last two maps opened up considerably. Though I still found the room with the raised platforms over lava a bit frustrating. The final room was cool, especially the fake out involving the end room from each map. I found the lost souls unnecessary, their only purpose seemed to be to block your movement as well as cyber rockets, I think the room could have been cooler if you were dodging rocket volleys and running from cover to cover. The final fight could have definitely got a lot more ugly with the mastermind provoking the pain elementals, and boom's removal of the lost soul limit. Probably could have soft locked myself if I wasn't fast enough. 

Thanks for the detailed feedback, man. :) totally understand and appreciate your impressions; still got much to learn I’m sure heh heh. I get what you mean by texture mixes and colours being down to preference. Too much of the same bores me to tears TBH and I’m sure that breeds some questionable choices on my behalf. 
 

In terms of fight difficulty, in future I might level things across the board to a certain degree and let difficulty settings dictate weapon placement and ammo amounts. Dunno, could be fun instead of enemy replacements.
 

Your impressions mean a great deal so thanks so much for playing and taking the time, EB.

Edited April 23, 2023 by EduardoAndFriends
Spelling boo boos

[Clippy]

Awesome lol - well crafted kicked my butt

 

lets do more

 

 

[EduardoAndFriends]

6 hours ago, Clippy said:

Awesome lol - well crafted kicked my butt

 

lets do more

 

 

Sick! That was wicked fun, glad ya liked, bud. Looking forward to more of your stuff!

[Clippy]

It's been a while but I was able to record map 2, hope you like it - for a challenge I played an outdated harder version and botched a bunch of things along the way lol - hope u like it

 

 

[EduardoAndFriends]

17 hours ago, Clippy said:

It's been a while but I was able to record map 2, hope you like it - for a challenge I played an outdated harder version and botched a bunch of things along the way lol - hope u like it

 

 

That was magical, bud. Such good fun. :) thanks for playing man!

[Scuba Steve]

Mental note: play this.

[Klear]

I've been eyeing this since the beginning, but first I was waiting for difficulties to be implemented and later had my hands full with this month's DWmegawad Club. The first map was exactly what I hoped for - I love it. The cramped tunnels look great in VR, I especially liked ducking under the hanging leaves. I played on HMP and didn't have any trouble. I think UV might be within my reach, but after some of the maps in PUSS IX, I feel like I need a vacation. Maybe I'll do an UV playthrough sometime down the road.

 

Definitely looking forward to playing the rest of the maps soon!

 

 

[EduardoAndFriends]

11 hours ago, Klear said:

I've been eyeing this since the beginning, but first I was waiting for difficulties to be implemented and later had my hands full with this month's DWmegawad Club. The first map was exactly what I hoped for - I love it. The cramped tunnels look great in VR, I especially liked ducking under the hanging leaves. I played on HMP and didn't have any trouble. I think UV might be within my reach, but after some of the maps in PUSS IX, I feel like I need a vacation. Maybe I'll do an UV playthrough sometime down the road.

 

Definitely looking forward to playing the rest of the maps soon!

 

 

Wow! That's so dang cool! Haha, for some reason the sprite replacements didn't pop in as they should, not sure why. :p (the green pillars are ferns etc). Can't wait to see how you go with the other maps! Cheers. :)

[ZeMystic]

It took me a while to get to playing this with finals week and a new job, but holy shit edz you released another banger! You really paid attention to how encounters would play and designed some delightfully devilish situations. I also appreciate the return of the space ship from your last episode. I hope that this is something that continues in future projects. Keep up the fantastic work!

[Klear]

7 hours ago, EduardoAndFriends said:

Wow! That's so dang cool! Haha, for some reason the sprite replacements didn't pop in as they should, not sure why. :p (the green pillars are ferns etc). Can't wait to see how you go with the other maps! Cheers. :)

 

Ah, that makes sense! I thought I saw some oddly-placed pillars from time to time. Blame the VR port I'm using, minor issues like this crop up from time to time. I also don't get to see the cool score screen and map names etc, though in other wads it works. But it's not worth figuring out IMO.

 

Played levels 2 and 3 back to back yesterday, but only found the time to upload them now. And am I glad I stuck with HMP! Yeah, this is definitely the difficulty for me. I got lost a few times, but that may just be because I'm not very observant. I did find all secrets in map 3 and wow, and I glad I did. Helped a ton.

 

Looking forward to playing the conclusion!

 

Oh yeah, the audio is desynced quite a bit. I think it's because of variable framerate as I'm recording. I tried to fix it in post, but it doesn't always work out, so sorry about that.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by Klear

[Klear]

...and here's the rest:

 

 

I think map four was actually my favourite. It just has a nice flow to it, the final fight looks great in VR (all those flaming skulls flying around in 3D!) and there's a lot of tension being built up. In fact, I'd say that your ability to build up tension is the best thing about this wad in general.

 

Close second would be the first map, as that was the most enjoyable when it comes to VR-specific strats and such.

 

Thanks for making this, I had a blast. I'll probably check out Grime too someday soon.

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by Klear

[EduardoAndFriends]

On 5/1/2023 at 7:02 PM, ZeMystic said:

It took me a while to get to playing this with finals week and a new job, but holy shit edz you released another banger! You really paid attention to how encounters would play and designed some delightfully devilish situations. I also appreciate the return of the space ship from your last episode. I hope that this is something that continues in future projects. Keep up the fantastic work!

Thanks, ZeMystic! Cheers, mate - more Doom incoming. ;)

[EduardoAndFriends]

On 5/2/2023 at 4:47 AM, Klear said:

...and here's the rest:

 

 

I think map four was actually my favourite. It just has a nice flow to it, the final fight looks great in VR (all those flaming skulls flying around in 3D!) and there's a lot of tension being built up. In fact, I'd say that your ability to build up tension is the best thing about this wad in general.

 

Close second would be the first map, as that was the most enjoyable when it comes to VR-specific strats and such.

 

Thanks for making this, I had a blast. I'll probably check out Grime too someday soon.

 

Damn, Klear, this looks flippin' amazing! Poking the SSG around the corner to blast a revenant in the face was hilarious. :D Thanks so much for playing and for your time, dude!

[LVENdead]

 

Shooooooooo mercy

 

These maps are really cool but boy did the second one manage to blister my ass a couple times. I tend to struggle with cramped fights and these had no shortage of them. On the other hand, lots of interesting setups and generally just enough of what you need to get the job done. I can't imagine how screwed I would have been if I hadn't found the secret PG on Map 2.

 

Intrigued to play the rest of the set once I'm good and warmed up again :)

[EduardoAndFriends]

7 hours ago, LVENdead said:

 

Shooooooooo mercy

 

These maps are really cool but boy did the second one manage to blister my ass a couple times. I tend to struggle with cramped fights and these had no shortage of them. On the other hand, lots of interesting setups and generally just enough of what you need to get the job done. I can't imagine how screwed I would have been if I hadn't found the secret PG on Map 2.

 

Intrigued to play the rest of the set once I'm good and warmed up again :)

Quite fair enough, my man! Went HOG WILD with cramping and suffocation in this WAD, perhaps tooooo much; I’m wanting to expand combat in my current joint. It’s fun forcing myself into a different mapping headspace. ;) thanks for playing, budski!

[_sink]

you weren't kidding about UV!! this set beat my ass but i completed it just now and it was a real treat. cruel cruel use of lost souls. i loved the last arena.

[EduardoAndFriends]

13 hours ago, _sink said:

you weren't kidding about UV!! this set beat my ass but i completed it just now and it was a real treat. cruel cruel use of lost souls. i loved the last arena.

Thanks, _sink! :D

[LVENdead]

 

Loved the way these maps rounded out the adventure. I really enjoyed the temple theme overall, and each map kind of had its own thing going on while contributing toward a more cohesive overall feel. I appreciated how I got to unload more in maps 3 and 4, and how the action was more emphasized than the difficulty, or at least that's how it felt to me. The finale in the void jungle was really freaking cool and a fun encounter to unpack. Solid outing overall, really impressed and I can't wait for your deep sea dive adventure.

[EduardoAndFriends]

6 hours ago, LVENdead said:

 

Loved the way these maps rounded out the adventure. I really enjoyed the temple theme overall, and each map kind of had its own thing going on while contributing toward a more cohesive overall feel. I appreciated how I got to unload more in maps 3 and 4, and how the action was more emphasized than the difficulty, or at least that's how it felt to me. The finale in the void jungle was really freaking cool and a fun encounter to unpack. Solid outing overall, really impressed and I can't wait for your deep sea dive adventure.

Cheers, mate. :) Thanks for playing!

[Maribo]

Played this wad in about ~40 minutes this morning, give or take a few. Pretty jungle aesthetic with some rather interesting room/fight compositions, although it is a bit variable on whether interesting means "a bit strange", "surprisingly fun", or "maybe a bit undercooked" for each specific one. I liked the thematic repetition of the finale room in each map, riffing on the same basic structure with different fights is cool experimentation.

Here's my FDAs, -dsdademo format and will play back in v0.25.6. Cheers.

relic_fdas_maribo.zip

[EduardoAndFriends]

22 hours ago, Maribo said:

Played this wad in about ~40 minutes this morning, give or take a few. Pretty jungle aesthetic with some rather interesting room/fight compositions, although it is a bit variable on whether interesting means "a bit strange", "surprisingly fun", or "maybe a bit undercooked" for each specific one. I liked the thematic repetition of the finale room in each map, riffing on the same basic structure with different fights is cool experimentation.

Here's my FDAs, -dsdademo format and will play back in v0.25.6. Cheers.

relic_fdas_maribo.zip

Cheers, mate. Thanks for playing.

[Tiramisu]

 What a great, charming (and hard) wad! UV kicked my ass initially, so I switched to HMP and had an absolute blast playing it.

In fact, I think this might be an important step in overcoming my crippling UV addiction in general - I was always one of those "but what if I'll miss out on content??" types when it comes to difficulty levels, but comparing the first two maps (especially the way some of the Archviles were replaced with Revenants) helped me see that it is really not the case at all. That said, I'll definitely be returning to the wad later on on UV, now that I know the maps a bit better! ;)

Overall, like people said before in the thread, I got major Plutonia vibes from the maps (Aztec, anyone?), which is a plus for me too because Plutonia is my favorite official wad. The maps were colorful and interesting, with lots of fun Plasma Gun action as well as great music choices that just naturally drive up the hype and make you want to push forward (especially MAP04!!!). And as for pushing forward, I really enjoyed the little detail of the wall messages - they really made me feel like I was helping someone by killing all those demons, which I don't think I really felt before when playing any other wad.

Some thoughts on the individual maps:

 

Spoiler

 

MAP01 - My least favorite map of the bunch, but it's still good. I loved the dark corridor where you could see the trees outside, that was just my type as far as decorations go.

MAP02 - This was the map that made me switch to HMP. The back-to-back final battles were pretty brutal, but very satisfying once you got the hang of them. The only fight I didn't like was the single Archvile over the long water pool - there wasn't enough cover so I just ended up camping behind a corner each time I did that fight (which on the other hand is generally what you do when fighting an Archvile lol).

MAP03 - I associate that music with Super Mario World hacks, so hearing it in a DOOM stage was super weird at first. :p Anyway. 4 Archviles? Really? I made a save right before that fight and it took me over 20 tries of trial and error before I finally made it. It was probably the only fight in the wad that I actively disliked. Aside from that the stage was good. I play without infinitely tall actors, so I found a hilarious exploit where when you enter the underground room where you get the Super Shotgun, if you're fast enough you can run right over the heads of all the enemies as they rise from the ground - and then wait in the Super Shotgun tunnel as they fight each other, all confused at what just happened. XD

MAP04 - My favorite map in the wad. Intense but not too long, and had some very memorable moments, like the heart-attack inducing sand trap and the Hunted-style teleporting Archviles (it might have been the music, but that seemed to me like the most badass thing ever when I first saw it!). And the final fight was great too, not too hard but very satisfying overall.

MAP05 - Super neat little ending, I love when people include this kind of things in wads. :p

 

 

All in all, thank you for the maps and I hope you keep on creating! :)

[EduardoAndFriends]

On 5/25/2023 at 3:26 AM, sq. Tiramisu said:

 What a great, charming (and hard) wad! UV kicked my ass initially, so I switched to HMP and had an absolute blast playing it.

In fact, I think this might be an important step in overcoming my crippling UV addiction in general - I was always one of those "but what if I'll miss out on content??" types when it comes to difficulty levels, but comparing the first two maps (especially the way some of the Archviles were replaced with Revenants) helped me see that it is really not the case at all. That said, I'll definitely be returning to the wad later on on UV, now that I know the maps a bit better! ;)

Overall, like people said before in the thread, I got major Plutonia vibes from the maps (Aztec, anyone?), which is a plus for me too because Plutonia is my favorite official wad. The maps were colorful and interesting, with lots of fun Plasma Gun action as well as great music choices that just naturally drive up the hype and make you want to push forward (especially MAP04!!!). And as for pushing forward, I really enjoyed the little detail of the wall messages - they really made me feel like I was helping someone by killing all those demons, which I don't think I really felt before when playing any other wad.

Some thoughts on the individual maps:

 

  Hide contents

 

MAP01 - My least favorite map of the bunch, but it's still good. I loved the dark corridor where you could see the trees outside, that was just my type as far as decorations go.

MAP02 - This was the map that made me switch to HMP. The back-to-back final battles were pretty brutal, but very satisfying once you got the hang of them. The only fight I didn't like was the single Archvile over the long water pool - there wasn't enough cover so I just ended up camping behind a corner each time I did that fight (which on the other hand is generally what you do when fighting an Archvile lol).

MAP03 - I associate that music with Super Mario World hacks, so hearing it in a DOOM stage was super weird at first. :p Anyway. 4 Archviles? Really? I made a save right before that fight and it took me over 20 tries of trial and error before I finally made it. It was probably the only fight in the wad that I actively disliked. Aside from that the stage was good. I play without infinitely tall actors, so I found a hilarious exploit where when you enter the underground room where you get the Super Shotgun, if you're fast enough you can run right over the heads of all the enemies as they rise from the ground - and then wait in the Super Shotgun tunnel as they fight each other, all confused at what just happened. XD

MAP04 - My favorite map in the wad. Intense but not too long, and had some very memorable moments, like the heart-attack inducing sand trap and the Hunted-style teleporting Archviles (it might have been the music, but that seemed to me like the most badass thing ever when I first saw it!). And the final fight was great too, not too hard but very satisfying overall.

MAP05 - Super neat little ending, I love when people include this kind of things in wads. :p

 

 

All in all, thank you for the maps and I hope you keep on creating! :)

Hey, thank you so much for playing and for taking the time to provide your thoughts! I really, really appreciate it. :D I'm currently working on a little something that definitely isn't as bloody sadistic with its monsters, but I'm trying to balance things in a different way. Difficulty doesn't change monsters, but it changes weapon placements (you'll get the plasma earlier on easy etc), and amounts of ammo and health. And by implementing other factors that will (hopefully) ratchet up the tension, like deepsea diving and a dwindling air supply. Thanks again - keep your eyes peeled for other stuff REALLY soon. :)