[Community Project] ShovelDM - Shovelware Deathmatch

[xdude_gamer]

ShovelDM - Shovelware Deathmatch

Inspired by @Gibbon

 

ShovelDM is a 11-map [two episode] PWAD intended to be in the vein of old 1990s WadAuthor creations that "could've been" included in a shovelware box set, much like Deathmatch 2 for Doom II. Inspired by Gibbon's PANDORA.WAD, this community project will revolve around creating low-threshold, 1990s-flavored deathmatch maps. As long as the map doesn't need cheats to complete and has all the weapons necessary, then we're golden.

 

---

 

IWAD - DOOM 2

Port - Vanilla (should run in DOS). Use whatever port you want when testing, but mind vanilla limits.

Play - Deathmatch, add monsters if you wish for singleplayer (like in Bourgeois DM)

 

---

 

Mapping regulations:

 

Spoiler

- The level MUST be able to run in the original executable.

- OPTIONAL support for all difficulties, such as ammo types and whatnot

- You can have a custom midi, just keep the DOS limit in-mind (65kb)

- don't obsess over your map.  If you think it is ready then it is ready.  Misaligned textures etc..  are part of the charm (but don't overdo it).

- Custom Sounds, Text, Textures, Sprites etc...  ARE ALLOWED AS LONG AS THEY ARE TAKEN FROM REAL SHOVELWARE WADS.

 

Maplist (one map done, one in progress, rest are fair game):

 

Spoiler

MAP01: Wicked Garden - @xdude_gamer (COMPLETE)

MAP02: Legacy of Kings - @DRON12261 (COMPLETE)

MAP03: Deatchmatch Platforming - @aRottenKomquat (COMPLETE)
MAP04: Showdown - @Walter confetti (COMPLETE)
MAP05: Bullet Race - @DRON12261 (COMPLETE)

MAP06: Techbase Reclaimed - @xdude_gamer (COMPLETE)
MAP07: Dead Complex - @ignatiOS (COMPLETE)

MAP08: Base - @SilverMiner (COMPLETE)

MAP09: [no name yet] - @DRON12261 (in progress)

MAP10: Dirt - Shiba (COMPLETE)

MAP11: Cornucopia - @Gibbon (COMPLETE)

 

1. If you make or update a map in your slot, please keep us posted.

 

2. Custom graphics, such as ENDOOM and TITLEPIC screens, are optional but allowed.

 

3. Download DOSBox Staging here, it is what I will use to test maps: https://dosbox-staging.github.io/

 

4. Deadline: January 1, 2024

 

Godspeed mappers, and long live shovelware.

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by xdude_gamer
some maps complete

[xdude_gamer]

Gibbon has nabbed one of the maps on Discord, I'll be sending it when he finishes up. Btw, my discord is sladeramsey

[DRON12261]

I could have participated. The only thing, I had no experience in developing maps for the original vanilla up to this point, perhaps there is some advice from someone (I understand using Chocorenderlimits for testing should be quite a good option? Well, and of course the final tests run in DOS).
 

And maybe I'd like to see a ready-made map (MAP01) as an example. A text description of the rules is good, but a finished example map is even better.

[Walter confetti]

The terror in my mind thinking of the standard DM shovelware maps i saw during my younger years and randomly got on idgames.

 

Over this, it's a interesting project! I wish you all good luck with It, maybe i can do something as well, but no promises.

[Moazoom]

I'd like a slot, just keep in mind I'm pretty new at making maps so quality will be questionable. Any plans for group playtesting?

[xdude_gamer]

4 hours ago, Moazoom said:

I'd like a slot, just keep in mind I'm pretty new at making maps so quality will be questionable. Any plans for group playtesting?

 

There will some group playtesting. Which map would you like, by the way?

https://discord.gg/EcVBAEdGE

[xdude_gamer]

6 hours ago, DRON12261 said:

I could have participated. The only thing, I had no experience in developing maps for the original vanilla up to this point, perhaps there is some advice from someone (I understand using Chocorenderlimits for testing should be quite a good option? Well, and of course the final tests run in DOS).
 

And maybe I'd like to see a ready-made map (MAP01) as an example. A text description of the rules is good, but a finished example map is even better.

[xdude_gamer]

Make something that looks like it was made in the 1990s, has some nice sections, and could be fun even if it looks clunky.

 

My map consists of:

 

* Tendrils that branch off from the center that have ammo

* Radiation suits, megasphere, and BFG in alcoves

* Damaging floor but an easy way to get out of it

* The center provides room for tight fights over different, powerful weapons

[xdude_gamer]

6 hours ago, DRON12261 said:

(I understand using Chocorenderlimits for testing should be quite a good option? Well, and of course the final tests run in DOS)

 

And yes, the chocolate render limits for testing are a great option because they actually show the visplanes and whatnot. I'll run those through Ultimate Doom Builder. You can make it as detailed as you want, you can also make it as simple as you want, but either way it's hopefully fun

[Moazoom]

38 minutes ago, xdude_gamer said:

 

There will some group playtesting. Which map would you like, by the way?

https://discord.gg/EcVBAEdGE

joined :)

I'd like map 10 because its a clean number, but honestly I dont mind which slot I get, as long as it gets played.

[xdude_gamer]

3 hours ago, Moazoom said:

joined :)

I'd like map 10 because its a clean number, but honestly I dont mind which slot I get, as long as it gets played.

Alright, cool.

[aRottenKomquat]

Okay, sign me up for a slot, any slot!

 

Not that long ago I found the very first Doom level I ever made. It was a deathmatch level for Doom 1, and I think it has the right vibes for this. I'll just have to switch it over to Doom 2, do some testing, and finally something I did 20 years ago can see the light of day.

[xdude_gamer]

56 minutes ago, aRottenKomquat said:

Okay, sign me up for a slot, any slot!

 

Not that long ago I found the very first Doom level I ever made. It was a deathmatch level for Doom 1, and I think it has the right vibes for this. I'll just have to switch it over to Doom 2, do some testing, and finally something I did 20 years ago can see the light of day.

 

I'll put you down for MAP03. :)

[volleyvalley]

I'm not a person who denounces the '94 style of levels, in fact, I love this sort of stuff, but honestly, I don't see any resemblance of the map screenshots you've published to just about any '94 deathmatch level. In the 90s, deathmatch levels usually went in three ways: (I apologize if I missed something.)

 

1. They were genuinely good areas with a solid layout, which in turn, made them really fun to frag each other in. (DWANGO 1-5, DWELLER 1&2 and BRIT10&11.)

2. They were symmetrical arena-type layouts, which gets redundant after a while. (ZZONE.WAD, MAP07 of Doom ][ (makes me wonder if that was an deathmatch map converted to singleplayer.)

3. They were generally sprawling levels with alot of landmarks to explore, but it had the side-effect of the player's almost never finding each other. (ZZONE.WAD, WARZONE.WAD, many others in the early '94 umbrella.)

 

The early deathmatch levels were like other levels in 1994 - they were more experiments than something that was supposed to be fun. I don't see any experimentation here. Looking at the top-down view of your level layout, and I can probably guess that that layout took around 10? 5? minutes at most, because I can only see a square red box with squiggly cross-shaped platforms suspended in lava. Now, compare that to ZONE.WAD, which yes looked suffered a lot from the third point I mentioned before, but it was at least prettier, had more interesting areas and it has a soul, unlike your level. And the fact that you are also adding a .DEH file into an project like this is just out of place at this point. Have you seen an level in the early 90's with a .DEH file accompanying it? The first .DEH i've seen in a 90's .WAD was in Strain, which was released in 1997. The point I'm trying to make here is that if you are trying to commit to an design decision of making shovelware maps, then at stick to it, because this looks like a weird mishmash. 

 

When I saw this thread, I thought that the project lead would imitate levels like ZONE.WAD and early Jim Flynn work to make a wildly interesting level set, which wouldn't be as good to play, but it could've been fun to explore, at least then I could've respected it, but this not the case sadly. My problem is that it doesn't represent any deathmatch level from back in the day and tries to use the "90s style mapping" as an excuse to make a haphazardous mismash.

 

Project lead, if you're reading this, please don't take this at heart, you have a good concept and your heart is at the right place, but I guess what I'm trying to say here is that I expected a lot more.

 

[aRottenKomquat]

Alright, here's my MAP03 submission. For background, I originally made this deathmatch map in 2005, targeting Doom 1 with the free version of DeepSea. As far as I know, this is the first Doom map I ever created (I did have Blood/Build Engine mapping experience before this), and I can't believe I still had the file. I'd thought it long lost. As I recall, my friends weren't too keen about it, mostly because they didn't play nearly as much Doom as I did, and they didn't like Deathmatch anyway. I hope it works for this community project because it would be cool to release something so old and unreleased.

 

I converted it over to Doom 2, added an SSG and megasphere, and re-balanced some of the item placements, but otherwise it's pretty close to how it was back then.

 

Map Name: DMPlat

Author: aRottenKomquat

Slot: MAP03

Source Ports Tested: doom2.exe in DOSBox, GZDoom 4.10.0

Original build date: ~2005

Download: ShovelDM_MAP03.zip

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2023 by aRottenKomquat

[xdude_gamer]

1 hour ago, volleyvalley said:

 

 

 

Fair point. I did test it a bit and I think it lends itself to some decent situations despite being a little small. I'm not a fantastic mapper at all (more of a musician and speaker at heart) so these kind of allow me to butt into projects without looking like a total clown.

[xdude_gamer]

The idea was more or less a "four people go toe-to-toe in an arena over lava with tons of weapons" and some little inlets in the lava to hide. If the level is not satisfactory while testing then I'll get it out of here.

[xdude_gamer]

 

 

Here's the new MAP01, it's called "Wicked Garden."

[Walter confetti]

13 hours ago, aRottenKomquat said:

Alright, here's my MAP03 submission

Good one, i like It! At least the layout works good and It could be fun with real people on It, less with bots ready to jump in the lava pit (btw, that area needs more points to return back the arena, both via teleport and some stepped area)....

[xdude_gamer]

16 hours ago, aRottenKomquat said:

Alright, here's my MAP03 submission.

 

This is a really good map. I'd prefer to have more points to return back to the arena like Walter said. If not for the textures this could pass as a good deathmatch arena under any capacity, but it fits EXTREMELY well within the scheme of shovelware.

[Walter confetti]

Started something today, i'd like to claim MAP04.

[xdude_gamer]

18 minutes ago, Walter confetti said:

Started something today, i'd like to claim MAP04.

You got it mate.

[xdude_gamer]

 

I am pleased to present MAP06: Techbase Reclaimed, a speedmap made in about 90 minutes. It's very brown.

Edited July 9, 2023 by xdude_gamer

[xdude_gamer]

and DRON got another speedmap in, so that's MAP05

[aRottenKomquat]

7 hours ago, Walter confetti said:

Good one, i like It! At least the layout works good and It could be fun with real people on It, less with bots ready to jump in the lava pit (btw, that area needs more points to return back the arena, both via teleport and some stepped area)....

 

The original version had NO way out of the lava pits, except to hit the exit switch. I added a non-hurtfloor platform to the exit, and a teleport because for some reason there was a teleport target but no teleport...I do like the idea of more lava teleports. Could be like the out-of-bounds teleports you see in Quake Champions that give you a speedy route to the other side of the map.

[DRON12261]

Done, maybe not the final version
 

Inside one wad with two maps MAP02 and MAP05

SVDMDRON.zip (i hope link works)

MAP02 Screens:

Spoiler

MAP05 Screens:

Spoiler

Some additional info:

Spoiler

===========================================================================
Advanced engine needed  : Designed for DOS Doom, additional features in
                          modern ports, like lightning in ZDaemon, Zandronum,
                          Eternity Engine and e.t.c.
Primary purpose         : Deathmatch
===========================================================================
Title                   : ShovelDM DRON12261 maps
Filename                : SVDMDRON.wad
Release date            : 10 July 2023
Author                  : DRON12261
Email Address           : andrejskocko@gmail.com
Other Files By Author   : - Hotel of the Dead (solo release and there is also
                          a version for 666screts community project)
                          - Contributor in Tribute Quilt community project
Misc. Author Info       : Has a lot of WIP projects, yeaaah...

Description             : MAP02: Legacy of Kings - Inspired by "king1" map
                          MAP05: Bullet Race - Maybe a little bit from "SSL2"

Additional Credits to   : - Music by DAR (a.k.a. Davester2296): 
                          MAP02: Buh-Bye Heavy Lullaby [On Impulse Album]
                          MAP05: Start Your Engines! [On Impulse Album]
                          - OGG version of music was rendered with
                          RLNDGM.SF2
                          - Thanks to RastaManGames for compressing OGG file
                          - Sky texture was taken from 32in24-15_tex-v2.wad
                          and edited by me (sizes)
                          - Sky texture version with lightning was edited by
                          DRON12261
                          - Thunder sound was taken from Eternity Engine
                          resources
===========================================================================
* What is included *

New levels              : 2
Sounds                  : Yes
Music                   : Yes
Graphics                : Yes
Dehacked/BEX Patch      : Yes
Demos                   : No
Other                   : No
Other files required    : None


* Play Information *

Game                    : Doom 2
Map #                   : MAP02, MAP05
Single Player           : No
Cooperative 2-4 Player  : No
Deathmatch 2-4 Player   : Designed for
Other game styles       : None
Difficulty Settings     : Not implemented


* Construction *

Base                    : New from scratch
Build Time              : 2,5 days
Editor(s) used          : SLADE 3, Ultimate Doom Builder, Aseprite, Keppy
                          MIDI Converter
May Not Run With        : Not detected
Tested With             : DOS Doom2.exe; Chocolate Doom, Rude Doom, Crispy
                          Doom, Odamex, ZDaemon, Zandrobum, ZDoom, Eternity
                          Engine, Woof!, DSDA, Doom Retro and e.t.c.


* Copyright / Permissions *

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

You are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format;
and remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even
commercially. If you do so, you must give appropriate credit, provide a link
to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any
reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you
or your use. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must
distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

 

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by DRON12261

[xdude_gamer]

 

3 minutes ago, DRON12261 said:

Done, maybe not the final version

 

Really nice stuff, I like the names.

[SilverMiner]

Give me a slot

[xdude_gamer]

7 minutes ago, SilverMiner said:

Give me a slot

 

MAP08 it is

[DRON12261]

I think I can reserve the last slot, and have another map made by the end of the week (or maybe sooner).