[Boom] Sekhemti, 6 maps in Egypt

[Shawn]

                                                                                     

Sekhemti

 

A Boom compatible 6 maps journey through the valley of the Kings. Each map can be completed in 5-10 minutes (except Map 05 which is approximately 15 minutes long).

 

Charged with a perilous quest, Doomguy must journey into the forbidding Valley of the Kings. There, among treacherous tombs and malevolent forces, he seeks the elusive relic—the Ankh of Eternity. Armed with its ancient power, he will confront the last Hell's portal, sealing it for eternity or succumbing to the malevolent abyss.

 

Map format : Boom - compatibility level 9 for Doom 2
Iwad : Doom 2
Port targeted : DSDA Doom 0.26
Tested successfully with : DSDA Doom 0.26, GZDoom 4.10, Woof 11.3, PRBoom+ 2.6.66
For GZDoom, jumping and crouching are disabled as they can break some maps. You can use Freelook if you want, it makes some secrets easier to unlock but nothing game breaking. Please use the Doom Software renderer for GZDoom.
Co-op : Fully supported with special teleporters for locked-in fights.
Difficulties fully implemented. Most traps are disabled and some shortcuts are added for easy mode.

 

Download link : Sekhemti

 

These maps aim for a difficulty similar to Doom 2. If you are a veteran of Doom or a spicy map lover, I highly encourage you to enable co-op monsters in single player for a much more satisfying experience.
For DSDA Doom, use the launch parameter -coop_spawns
For GZDoom, select the Ultra-Violence+ difficulty in the main menu (It's Ultra-Violence with co-op monsters enabled)
For PRBoom, use the launch parameter -solo-net
I'm less familiar with other ports, but I'm sure they have ways to enable co-op monsters for your enjoyment. If you know a way to enable co-op monsters for other ports, please tell me and I'll add it here.

 

About mods compatibility. Small spoiler warning.

Spoiler

This wad uses SoftFX for 32in24-15tex made by @Muusi. It replaces all monsters sprites and adjusts the colormap with a special brightmap version. This is to make monsters have their eyes glow in the dark. This is used in some pitch black fights where you can only visualise monsters with their glowing eyes. If your mods modify monsters sprites and/or the colormap, you may find those fights more difficult than intended.

 

Screenshots

Spoiler

 

Credits

Spoiler

 

Textures, Sprites and Sounds

32in24-15tex - the 32in24 team
SoftFX for 32in24-15tex - Muusi
Mummytex - Andy Mckie
Chosen 1.33 - Mouse
OTEX - Ola Björling
EgyptPack - Craneo
Remnant Texture pack - StalkerBlade
ID Software - Doom
DBTanathos - Hexen 2 Texturepack
Raven Software - Hexen 2 Textures, Heretic and Hexen textures
Lobotomy Software - Powerslave Sprites and Textures
FreeDoom Team - Some Textures
Ceeb - Textures for Realm667
DunkelSchwamm - Sprites for TSR
OSJC Latchford - new barrel sprites

Daniel - Status bar
Boss voice - Myself

 

Music 

Map 01 : Ana Wel Azab
Map 02 : Haramt Ahebak - Warda
Map 03 : Ragheb Alama - Moghram Ya Lail
Map 04 : Ehab Tawfik - Ada El Leil
Map 05 : Warda - Batwanes Beek
Intertext music : Karem Mahmoud - Amana Alek
Sadly for the three other tracks, I have no idea where they come from, they have no names.

 

 

Changelog

Spoiler

Final version

- Removed some unused files.

RC2

- Added a new title screen logo.

- Added a status bar (RC2f)
- Changed font color (RC2f)
- Changed exit texture (RC2f)

Map 01
- Fixed a softlock in the first secret. (RC2c)

- Added a bit more life overall. (RC2e)

Map 02
- Made two switches glow to make them easier to see. (RC2e)

Map 04

- Added some shotgun shells in Single Player. (RC2d)
- Changed some Hell knights into other monsters to speed-up the clean-up process. (RC2d)
Reworked the Yellow Skull area.
- Made platforming easier.
- Made the Yellow Skull Key trap less cheesable.
- Made deep water friction slow down the player a bit less.
- Made GZDoom behave similarly to the other ports concerning deep water friction.
- Added differences between difficulties. Easy = No friction, no damage. Medium = Friction, no damage. Hard = Friction and damage.

Map 05
- Fixed a bad impassable linedef. Cacodemons and Pain Elemental can now get out of their cages in the Yellow Skull fight.

- Fixed a small texture misalignment. (RC2b)

Map 06
- Removed energy cells at the start of the map on Medium and Hard difficulties (260 -> 160). Easy difficulty is unchanged.
- Made the Cube Spawner shoots monsters one second faster (150 -> 120 tics).

 

 

Download link on Idgames : Sekhemti

I would be grateful for any feedback you can provide to help me improve.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Shawn
Updated the Wad to the final version in Idgames

[Biodegradable]

Damn, those screenshots are nice. Definitely going to check this out over the weekend.

[Murdoch]

Oooo Egyptian themed, neat. Definitely on the download queue.

[LadyMistDragon]

Sorry I have no feedback. I was just trying to get a feel for the wad.

 

 

[DRON12261]

Went through it yesterday on Doom Retro at UV-MAX. Really enjoyed it. The mapping is neat and the levels themselves are pretty interesting. Also liked the icon of sin, stylized as pharaohs, etc. And it's quite good and memorable, considering that in the vast majority of wads that I've seen, the icon of sin is the torment of the player.
 

I recommend everyone to pass this, will take at most an hour of your time.

[Shawn]

11 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

Sorry I have no feedback. I was just trying to get a feel for the wad.

 

Thank you for giving it a try. I was apprehensive about the wad being too easy for the people here, but I'm pleased that it appears not to be the case.

 

5 hours ago, DRON12261 said:

Went through it yesterday on Doom Retro at UV-MAX. Really enjoyed it. The mapping is neat and the levels themselves are pretty interesting. Also liked the icon of sin, stylized as pharaohs, etc. And it's quite good and memorable, considering that in the vast majority of wads that I've seen, the icon of sin is the torment of the player.
 

I recommend everyone to pass this, will take at most an hour of your time.

 

Thanks a lot for the review. If anything bothered you with your experience, feel free to tell me so I can craft a better experience next time.

[DRON12261]

31 minutes ago, Shawn said:

If anything bothered you with your experience, feel free to tell me so I can craft a better experience next time.

I don't have much to complain about, you've done a good job. Maybe the icon of sin with infinite monster spawning could spam the player a little bit, but it's more about random and it's more of a problem with Doom 2 itself. And it's definitely one of those "last levels" that I will remember. You managed to smooth out the roughness of the fight with the icon (although the actual fight with the head of Romero and was not) and interestingly present it to the player, which was not coped with by a huge number of mappers for all 30 years of the existence of Doom.

[slowfade]

I think the egypt theme is just perfect for Doom with its sense of adventure and danger. Great, atmospheric maps, really liked them. I played on HMP. Good design throughout. The dark room with sinking sand/sludge and archvile was perhaps my favorite. I liked how each map ends and in the next one you can look back. The glowing eyes mod was a nice touch, worked really well here.

 

I had a crash because of a missing file after the end text, but it could be some problem with my old PrBoom+ or then there really is a file missing...

[Biodegradable]

I probably should've taken it for a run on ordinary UV before jumping on UV+ but I wasn't sure if ordinary UV would be too easy based on the OP. Regardless, this is awesome stuff so far, mate. My only gripe is the quicksand area in MAP04 as I felt that one was... oooooh... OOOOOH! Mean, yes, quite mean. I'll finish this sucker tomorrow, but for now, here's part 1:

 

 

[Veinen]

Egyptian themed maps are my jam so I gave this a go; it's a great little set overall, had a lot of fun playing through first on UV and then UV with coop monsters. Your difficulty assessment is pretty spot on, it's pretty laid back but with plenty of hectic moments to keep you on your toes. You really do seem to like that crossfire gameplay mechanic to keep the player moving. The coop monsters make the maps a little bit beefier, but not actually that much more difficult I feel. It was my second playthrough so I did have the advantage of overall foreknowledge and there weren't any surprise coop extra monster moments (even the second AV in map05 I was kind of expecting). The music choices in the wad are excellent, digging the Greek folk type vibes and it makes the set more distinct from e.g. the Epics. Visually everything looks great and you've done an excellent job of creating a believable "realistic" ancient Egypt environment. Great work!

 

Some misc commentary for each map below in spoilers:

 

Spoiler

 

Map01

• A fine enough intro map. Short and doesn't offer much in terms of resistance but gives an introduction to the outdoor visual theme and the "switch hunt" type progression you use in several other maps as well.

Map02

• A more substantial, dungeon crawler type map with a nice aesthetic and atmosphere. Very reminiscent of early Epic 2 maps. I like the way the map has two paths to take but it does not matter which you take first since you get all the same items in both paths anyway.

Map03

• I really like the main fight in this map. I love the monsters trickling down from dark corridors gimmick and the lights out finale is really, really cool with the glowing eyes and whatnot. Great map!

Map04

• Overall a nice arena type map where you better keep your feet moving or the crossfire will get you.
• I think you could give the player a Rocket Launcher with a small amount of ammo (like e.g. 10 rockets) here, especially in coop mode. Available after you press the triple-key switch, for example. I don't think it would make any difference on the overall difficulty of the map but it would make the cleanup process much quicker. Otherwise there are a lot of HKs you end up SSGing to death here unless you get super lucky with infights.
• YSK area
  • It seems you can grab the key without triggering the related ambush quite easily. Maybe make the key alcove a little bit bigger to make sure that the player crosses the trigger line? Or trigger the ambush when the player reaches the AV platform?
  • I'm actually a bit on the fence with the AV in this area because I foresee most players just plinking it to death with the CG or SG like I do in the demos. There's no real benefit to playing it more aggressively (other than saving time in speedrunning) and the player is not pressured from any other direction when dealing with AV. But for atmospheric purposes the AV fits within this area very well though, so I dunno.
  • It wasn't initially very intuitive that you can get back to the small platforms from the mud so I had an unnecessary death there. I did learn that pretty quick on my second attempt though so not really a problem or anything, just a note.

Map05

• Easily the largest and the toughest map in the wad. Opening area is cool, took me a couple of deaths to realize the best solution is to get out of there instead of getting chipped to pieces by random projectiles from across the room. There is also a lot happening in this room wrt environment (narrow spots, changing floor levels, impassable objects) which make dodging monsters and projectiles a lit bit more challenging.
• After my 1st playthrough I was left with the feeling that the YSK area was much easier than the other two key paths, since I left it for last. On my 2nd playthrough I switched it up a bit and went for the RL first and the result was that the RSK area also was quite easy (although there is still the opportunity of self-inflicted rocket damage among the spawning pinkies). So I guess it is all just highly dependent on the order you do things, even the YSK area is probably a lot trickier if you don't have the Plasma Gun at hand. On the other hand I do see benefits of having the PG in the BSK area so I think you have done a very good job of creating non-linear a hub map with three branches where there is no immediately obvious "best" way to do things. Another great map!

Map06

• Interesting take on the monster spawner gimmick. On both playthroughs my overall impression was that it's a pretty easy map; you get a lot of plasma so you can spam away rather freely and the spawner is quite slow. Bad luck with the spawner can spice things up a bit but I got none of that. 

 

 

FDAs in the attachment, played with dsda-doom 0.26.2. The zip includes demos for both playthroughs. My laptop had some serious issues with map01 for some reason making it super laggy, so both map01 demos probably look a bit weird. In the coop UV map03 demo I forgot you respawn rather than restart upon death but I was pretty much finished with the map anyway so I just cleaned up and exited rather than start over.

FDA_sekhemti_01-06.zip

[Somniac]

 

Full HMP playthrough. This was a great set of maps! Good stuff for a casual playthrough. I do like a good Egyptian themed wad, this had great upbeat gameplay and the music was nice. Enjoyed whizzing around it taking on the encounters in a fairly carefree manner. Nice usage of Boom features too.

 

On the last map I was able to exit without taking out the Icon of Sin, not sure if I missed something but I was playing fairly casually as I usually do. Good stuff! 

[Shawn]

Thank you everyone for your nice messages. I'm really happy that everyone seem to like this mapset.

 

@DRON12261 Thank you for the kind words. Good idea, I'll probably add a second Cube Spawner in UV+ to put more pressure on the player.

 

@slowfade Thank you for the review. Weird about that crash. I used the latest version available of PrBoom+ found here and could finish the Wad fine. Can you tell me the error message, so I can try to fix it on my side ?

 

@Biodegradable Awesome video ! I loved it. You were hilarious through the whole video. You were super close to find the secrets on Map 02, the candles are indeed an indication.
About Map 04, GZDoom seems to handle friction differently than the other port. You're supposed to be slow down a bit, but not THAT much. That made the fight way too hard and frustrating for you, I'm sorry about that. I'll see if I can do something to make GZDoom behave like the other ports. I'll probably tone that section down for easier difficulties. There is no other shenanigans like that through the rest of the wad, so I can't wait to see how you will handle the last two maps on UV+.

 

@Veinen Thank you for your thoughts and the detailed review. I wasn't sure about how people would react to the music, I'm glad someone is liking it ! Your replays will help me a lot to craft my future maps, I can really see what works and what doesn't.
About Map 04, I like your idea about a rocket launcher with little ammo to help the cleanup. About the AV room, this room seems to create lots of strong opinions about it, I'll see if I can smooth it up a bit. Maybe I can trigger the trap earlier, but I'm afraid this will make this fight way too hard. I'll test it.
I spent a lot of time on Map 05, so I'm happy you liked it.
About Map 06, I'll wait for Biodegradable's video to see how he will make it on UV+. If it's too easy for him, I'll probably cut down on the ammo a bit and maybe add a second Cube spawner on UV+ to really put pressure on the player.

 

@Somniac Thank you for the great video. It was fascinating to see you find the secrets in Map 02 so easily. About the last map, you're supposed to flee, there is no Icon of Sin to kill.

[philcul]

13 hours ago, Shawn said:

I wasn't sure about how people would react to the music, I'm glad someone is liking it!

 

Just wanna add that I thought that the music was fantastic, I loved it, especially for that setting - but I like this kind of sound in general :)

[slowfade]

I get the error (my version of PrBoom+ is 2.6.1) when I finish the game by reaching the exit in map 6, then I watch as all the end text appears, and after whatever is supposed to come next (I guess the enemies appearing on screen?) Boom crashes with a Windows message dialog "W_GetNumForName: HELP2 not found".

Edit: It's possible it's just a problem in my setup, or something that works fine in another port and escaped detection here.

Edited August 3, 2023 by slowfade

[Biodegradable]

And now the conclusion. Really beautiful visuals, Shawn! I really dig this map set. You should be very proud of your work, mate. This is a stellar little WAD and definitely a top favourite this year for me. I'll have to take it for another spin later on the less intense difficulty to see how it flows differently.

 

 

[Shawn]

@AdNauseam Thank you. I think it gives so much identity to the wad. I'm really happy about it.

 

@slowfade I found the source of your error. PrBoom+ 2.6.2 changelog say that they fixed that error.

UMAPINFO: fixed using_FMI reset * no more crashes at textscreens
(e.g. after MAP06, MAP11 or MAP20) after viewing finale picture upon finishing
a level with UMAPINFO 'endpic' property

If you update your PrBoom+, it should no longer crash.

 

@Biodegradable Thank you so much for the video. The final level was a treat to watch. I was anxious for the whole duration. I agree that UV+ is intense but you conquered it and it was a real spectacle to watch. This last level use the Cube spawner from the Icon of Sin. According to DoomWiki, Pain Elemental have a 3.91% chance to spawn. You were really unlucky with so much of them. Nice catch with the little goof in Map 05, I'll change that for the next update. Thank you again for the videos.

Edited August 3, 2023 by Shawn

[slowfade]

Cool, good to know there's nothing wrong with the wad. Just typical for me to encounter an obscure bug in the software -- not for the first time.

 

Edit: I also recommend people to give this wad a try, especially if you like egypt / crypt themes.

Edited August 3, 2023 by slowfade

[Shawn]

New version ! You can download it in the first post.

Thank you everyone for the great feedback.

 

Changelog for RC2

 

- Added a new title screen logo.

Map 04
Reworked the Yellow Skull area.
- Made platforming easier.
- Made the Yellow Skull Key trap less cheesable.
- Made deep water friction slow down the player a bit less.
- Made GZDoom behave similarly to the other ports concerning deep water friction.
- Added differences between difficulties. Easy = No friction, no damage. Medium = Friction, no damage. Hard = Friction and damage.

Map 05
- Fixed a bad impassable linedef. Cacodemons and Pain Elemental can now get out of their cages in the Yellow Skull fight.

- Fixed a small texture misalignment. (RC2b)

Map 06
- Removed energy cells at the start of the map on Medium and Hard difficulties (260 -> 160). Easy difficulty is unchanged.
- Made the Cube Spawner shoots monsters one second faster (150 -> 120 tics).

Edited August 5, 2023 by Shawn
Small update to the wad RC2b

[Bobby :D]

Gonna post my full review tomorrow, this was a really good play! First impressions is a solid coffee break experience with some nice deviations and innovations on the gameplay of a Egyptian ruin crawler, especially the interior maps. Overall I'd give this a 7/10, denoting a generally solid and good wad with some quirks along some neat innovations and ideas. The main things I love are the use of timing and darkness (also the fact you used Arabic traditional pop music, good choices!) . More talk next time I'm here!

Edited August 6, 2023 by Bobby "J

[pavera]

This is really great work. Can't wait to see more stuff from you!

[indigotyrian]

Very fun! Love the light-hearted vibes here.

[Ralphis]

I haven't had time to get into this fully, but fyi I soft locked the map at the secret berserk pack by jumping onto the ledge afterwards and then running out to the pyramids

[Laocoön]

This is my cup of tea. In fact, I am currently reading a book on Ancient Egypt. I can't use my computer right now, but will download this as soon as I can.

[Shawn]

4 hours ago, Ralphis said:

I haven't had time to get into this fully, but fyi I soft locked the map at the secret berserk pack by jumping onto the ledge afterwards and then running out to the pyramids

Thank you for finding this. I've corrected it and updated the zip file in the first post. Hopefully you won't encounter other softlocks.

 

Thanks @Bobby "J @pavera @indigotyrian @Laocoön for the enthusiasm. I'm glad everyone is enjoying this.

[Pomps]

This is so good man! Great job

[ZenGun]

Great work! Very vibrant and memorable atmosphere. It's rare when i feel that something made in Doom is objectively beatiful (not by the standarts of Doom engine and maps made in it, but in itself), but this is one of those cases.
It feels really good even walk through these levels and look at them, let alone killing demons in process.

 

Fights are interesting and engaging, and UV+ difficulty feels just right.
Was pleasently surprised by semi-slaughterish gameplay at Map 03.

 

At the moment completed half of the set, probably finish it today or tommorow, because this is dope. 

 

P.S. Played without a intended music, because wasn't in the mood for music with melody. Instead, i turned on "Kirghiz Light" by Rapoon from a second track. It is a deep psychedelic tribal ambient, and it syncronized surprisingly well. I recommend everyone to try it, i think it reveals aesthetic of the wad from a new angle, and even fits gameplay-wise. 

 

Thanks for great vibes
 

 

[Muusi]

Love the Egyptian theme! Trying this out over the weekend for sure, love to see people doing stuff with my WAD :) 

[DreadWanderer]

Played and finished this today, very cool. I'm a sucker for Egypt-themed episodes, and this is just what I needed. It's like a little slice of Powerslave. Great use of low-tier monsters in the first few maps. My only gripe is that ammo is a bit tight in map 4 on UV, but I probably should have used the berserk more. I also found all but one of the secrets.

[Shawn]

@TheNonDrinkingLeprechaun Thank you ! Happy you liked it.

 

@ZenGun I spent months detailing everything. It was a really fun challenge to make every room have something unique to look at. Thank you for the music suggestion. It creates a new atmosphere and makes the maps feel fresh even for me. Thanks.

 

@Muusi Thank you for the great ressource pack. It was the initial spark that made me do this wad. I hope we'll see more maps use it.

 

@DreadWanderer Thank you, Powerslave's visuals certainly inspired me. I'll check the ammo count on map 04 UV.

[DreadWanderer]

1 hour ago, Shawn said:

 

@DreadWanderer Thank you, Powerslave's visuals certainly inspired me. I'll check the ammo count on map 04 UV.

 

Thanks, it's not at the level of major rebalancing, but I was literally left with nothing by the time I killed the arch-vile and got the yellow key. I still had 2 hell knights to kill plus a few imps that are on ledges and can't be punched away. I was saving the berserk in case I needed the health later (before I picked up the blue key). Something like an extra box of shells should do the trick.