[MBF21 Community project] Paint-It Doom. Get creative with simple colors... again! But now with Ancient Aliens palette [Unlimited slots!] [We are past deadline for new maps, finishing phase]

[DeetOpianSky]

4 hours ago, ViolentBeetle said:

I made it to the room with the foot but don't know what to do there - is this where the map ends for now? The ledge in the plasma gun pit is still very bouncy, though I made it out this time. The space behind yellow key is too narrow to pass through which is weird.

 

Thanks again for putting this through it's paces.

-Congratulations!
You've reached The Icon of Shin.
 

Spoiler

While this IOS is incredibly powerful, it does have a weakness.

Spoiler

An Achilles *heel

Spoiler

*Ankle. Shooting (hitscan or chainsawing) flesh away from the ankle will begin the final fight.
I will add that this is still in early stages in regards to the aesthetics, I plan for much more blood and gore in the final itteration.

Spoiler

All the flesh around the ankle needs to be removed for phase 2
It's easiest to platform onto the foot with the chainsaw or shoot at the revealed archvile via autoaim to remove the rest of it if you'd rather do so from the floor.
Once all of the ankle flesh is gone there will be a wave of archviles, shortly after they enter the fight a door will open to additional supplies, the normal exit switch, another delayed wave of archviles,

Spoiler

and access to a secret BFG and the Secret Exit switch via the book case.
 

 

 

 

The ring of Archviles around the ceiling can be killed via the puzzle (dark wall of shootable switches behind the foot) and are not activated in any other way at this point.
 

Spoiler

The combination to kill the archies around the ceiling in this version is just lighting up the first few columns on the left side completely.
I plan for the puzzle to do a lot *more when all is said and done.

Spoiler

The front of the steps on the west side of the room are color-coded to the highest row of the puzzle which can be activated from the step.
I may make the floor of the steps the cooresdponding color as well so it's more evident.

The shoot switches on the west wall will clear each row, or in the case of the south-most switch, clear the entire puzzle.
*The puzzle may make the BFG/Secret Exit area more accessible in a future update, kill additional teleport-in archviles, etc.

 

Plasma/pit ledge does require a degree of combating elastic collision.
While this functions as intended, I'll re-evaluate it in a future update.

The yellow key placement is intended for a bit of added 'difficulty' in navigating to both switches to make it accessible.
 

Edited February 1 by DeetOpianSky
Corrected text.

[ViolentBeetle]

1 minute ago, DeetOpianSky said:

The yellow key placement is intended for a bit of added 'difficulty' in navigating to both switches to make it accessible.

I think it would help to make the wall closer to it then.

 

Otherwise I'll play it again later.

[DeetOpianSky]

Pushed an update for The Icon of Shin

 

Minor fixes, visual updates and added some sign-posting (still in progress).

 

[Nootsy-Nootsy]

I *know* this map is going to be infuriating for people who aren't me, the person who made it and knows where all the land is. But in the vague hope that it's not, I'm giving you version 1 for playtesting. Keep track of your feet!

note: there are three secrets to the map that are probably easy to find, but for playtesting purposes I don't use them.

stomach_acid.zip

Edited February 10 by Nootsy-Nootsy

[DeetOpianSky]

 

On 2/7/2024 at 8:20 AM, DeetOpianSky said:

Pushed an update for The Icon of Shin

 

Minor fixes, visual updates, corrected some software rendering issues and added some additional sign-posting.

 

 

[ViolentBeetle]

Sorry I wasn't able to check the newest maps yet, but I will soon.

[osminee]

Hey, got a question.

 

Can I put a MOD in my map as the music track or should we simply stick to the common denominator of MIDIs?

[ViolentBeetle]

1 hour ago, osminee said:

Hey, got a question.

 

Can I put a MOD in my map as the music track or should we simply stick to the common denominator of MIDIs?

Do you have info on what ports do and do not play MOD music? Because I honestly have no idea.

I suppose if DSDA can play it, it should be fine, but I'd prefer something that every MBF21-compatible port can handle.

[DeetOpianSky]

The Icon of Shin - Update Uploaded to Drive

Added additional sign-posting, some tweaks here and there.
At first I felt the monster spawner sounds added to the experience/music, after having some playtesting done it turns out that it's extremely annoying for some players.
Would it be possible/okay to add some dehacked to make monster spawners silent as was used in FireRainbow map 09 ?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I've started working on a second map for this project and plan to have a playable version ready soon.

I have gotten permission (by an artist/band) to use an mp3.
Speaking with others in the community converting this to an .OGG would make for better looping/in game experience.

If this is acceptable, I may be using 2 songs for the map and using a music changer partway through.

Please let me know if there would be any issues with this.

Edited February 21 by DeetOpianSky
Corrected text.

[ViolentBeetle]

@DeetOpianSky Again, sorry for not being able to play it yet, work+bad weather keeps me without energy to do anything. With luck I might remedy it as early as tomorrow.

It should be possible to make monster spawners silent, I should look into what can be done about it.

 

I think I'm OK with mp3, although idgames maintainers might ask me for a proof of permission to use it.

[ViolentBeetle]

@DeetOpianSky I did beat the map, although I still don't understand the rainbow puzzle and I would never have guessed I'm supposed to shoot the shin. I think maybe if you draw a crosshair around it or something, it would make more sense. I get the idea behind the final part now, but it's way too confusing and I don't know how one could reliably beat it without BFG (Which I didn't find)

Also something is wrong with the sky in this room, do you actually need a sky transfer instead of UMAPINFO there? I think you have different textures and offsets in parts.

Also not sure what to make of the pulsating lights, They look like they just fade to black at random, I don't really like this effect, but if you do like it, you can keep it.

[ViolentBeetle]

@Nootsy-Nootsy I can't quite figure out what am I supposed to do on your map, I'll try again later.

But I can tell you this - if I can't tell the difference between floors and walls, that's not great. Please do something so I can see staircases and pits.

[DeetOpianSky]

1 hour ago, ViolentBeetle said:

@DeetOpianSky I did beat the map, although I still don't understand the rainbow puzzle and I would never have guessed I'm supposed to shoot the shin. I think maybe if you draw a crosshair around it or something, it would make more sense. I get the idea behind the final part now, but it's way too confusing and I don't know how one could reliably beat it without BFG (Which I didn't find)

Also something is wrong with the sky in this room, do you actually need a sky transfer instead of UMAPINFO there? I think you have different textures and offsets in parts.

Also not sure what to make of the pulsating lights, They look like they just fade to black at random, I don't really like this effect, but if you do like it, you can keep it.

I'll see what I can do to address these issues and let you know when the next update is pushed to the drive.

Thanks for playing, and for the feedback.

[Nootsy-Nootsy]

10 hours ago, ViolentBeetle said:

@Nootsy-Nootsy I can't quite figure out what am I supposed to do on your map, I'll try again later.

But I can tell you this - if I can't tell the difference between floors and walls, that's not great. Please do something so I can see staircases and pits.

Yeah... :(
Say. If you maybe just play the map without any enemies, would that make it better? I can just tone that bit down by a huge amount.

[ViolentBeetle]

33 minutes ago, Nootsy-Nootsy said:

Yeah... :(

I think simply lowering light level could help the level not being so flat. I couldn't really assess the level's difficulty because it was impossible to tell where I can go and where I can't, ie can't tell stars from the walls.

Is this an integral part of your concept?

[Nootsy-Nootsy]

4 hours ago, ViolentBeetle said:

I think simply lowering light level could help the level not being so flat. I couldn't really assess the level's difficulty because it was impossible to tell where I can go and where I can't, ie can't tell stars from the walls.

Is this an integral part of your concept?

Sort of... maybe? I didn't really play with the idea enough to justify it, but at least one secret relies on it. Being the one making the level it's hard to judge what would be a 'fair' thing for the player to try their hardest to visualize the edges of the space. That's why I'm thinking maybe just removing most of the enemies so you can move as slowly as you want and feel out the space.

[ViolentBeetle]

6 hours ago, Nootsy-Nootsy said:

Sort of... maybe? I didn't really play with the idea enough to justify it, but at least one secret relies on it. Being the one making the level it's hard to judge what would be a 'fair' thing for the player to try their hardest to visualize the edges of the space. That's why I'm thinking maybe just removing most of the enemies so you can move as slowly as you want and feel out the space.

I don't know about "all", maybe if there were no arch-viles, it would be more playable. Right now the level has a lot of pressure to find ammo before you get cornered and zapped, while impending navigation with invisible pits and staircases.

[DeetOpianSky]

Spoiler

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vf0GOx07J0vWkuZ7TfEu4oMLk59xOsuz/view?usp=sharing

@ViolentBeetle

 

Potential language issues aside, How's this ?

 

I may add similar 'text' to the row resets/clear buttons if this approach is more acceptable.

 

This revision has been uploaded to drive.

Edited February 24 by DeetOpianSky
Corrected text.

[Chookum]

Hello yes sorry this took a while.

Fairly confident this is good to go after testing it myself.

 

This one's fairly difficult unless you know its tricks and ambushes, so put it in the back half.

 

 

All relevant info included inside WADINFO lump.

 

BLAKGOLD.zip

 

Quote

Map Name: Empire of Black & Gold
Author: Chookum
Length: Medium. (15-25 Mins)
Difficulty: All 3 accounted for. 295 monsters on UV.
Co-Op?: Starts there, somewhat accounted for in gameplay.
Music: Brilliant Void (Stage 3), from Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
        Arranged by Scotty (vgmusic.com)

 

Asset Credits:
Paint It Doom assets compiled by ViolentBeetle
Ancient Aliens textures compiled by Skillsaw et al.

 

Edited March 3 by Chookum

[Nootsy-Nootsy]

stomach_acid_careful.zip
Removed a lot of the enemies that force you to move quickly. Hopefully that's defanged enough.

[ViolentBeetle]

Ok, I'm back. Sorry for not coming back earlier, I was sick and when I wasn't, I was consumed by my own thing.

@Chookum

Great map, only a few minor thing

• First room, corner as I make a jump towards the switch - something weird going on out of bounds, perhaps you tried to do a sky wall in way that only works in hardware renderer?
• Blue key has poor detection of me picking it up, I bumped it without triggering ambush several times
• The following fight might be too hard, I think if you remove arch-vile, it would be better
• Overall difficulty is fine, but maybe could use a few armor pickups. (I didn't find any secrets, perhaps armor is all there)
• The final fight might be too easy, but it's a welcome change of pace, not going to lie

I will come back and play the re-submissions once I'm done with my chores or tomorrow, whichever comes first.

[Chookum]

10 hours ago, ViolentBeetle said:

Ok, I'm back. Sorry for not coming back earlier, I was sick and when I wasn't, I was consumed by my own thing.

@Chookum

Great map, only a few minor thing

• First room, corner as I make a jump towards the switch - something weird going on out of bounds, perhaps you tried to do a sky wall in way that only works in hardware renderer? 
• Blue key has poor detection of me picking it up, I bumped it without triggering ambush several times
• The following fight might be too hard, I think if you remove arch-vile, it would be better
• Overall difficulty is fine, but maybe could use a few armor pickups. (I didn't find any secrets, perhaps armor is all there)
• The final fight might be too easy, but it's a welcome change of pace, not going to lie 

I will come back and play the re-submissions once I'm done with my chores or tomorrow, whichever comes first.

 

Thanks for playing!

 

I'll make some adjustments and put out a V2 by Sunday.

[ViolentBeetle]

@DeetOpianSky

I think I'm getting a hang of it - the final battle does seem doable, although I'm not sure if the logic for shooting the shin is comprehensible. Maybe you could somehow put a button on it to make it clearer?

Also lego bricks seem like they should save from arch-viles but don't.

 

Is there a reason why you do both sky transfer and setting texture in UMAPINFO. Weird sky artifacts are still there because of it.

[ViolentBeetle]

@Nootsy-Nootsy I just wanted to update that I lost the save where I was almost done with your map so I'll have to redo the whole thing again. It's definitely gotten better and although I don't really get your insistence on making things blend together, I will allow it. Nowhere did I say not to do this. But I'll need to see how it ends first.

In a meantime, you want to pick a midi for it?

[DeetOpianSky]

On 3/9/2024 at 3:19 AM, ViolentBeetle said:

@DeetOpianSky

I think I'm getting a hang of it - the final battle does seem doable, although I'm not sure if the logic for shooting the shin is comprehensible. Maybe you could somehow put a button on it to make it clearer?

Also lego bricks seem like they should save from arch-viles but don't.

 

Is there a reason why you do both sky transfer and setting texture in UMAPINFO. Weird sky artifacts are still there because of it.

Update uploaded correcting the sky issues.

I'll see what I can do to better sign-post the fight in a future update.

As for the legos:

Spoiler

The legos will prevent the archvile attack's explosive damage.
The 20 hitscan damage will still be dealt.

Spoiler

 

For the floor viles; the larger staircase, foot (from most angles), puzzle board and entrance hallway can offer quite a bit of safety.

The BFG/3rd secret and secret exit switch can be reached by rocket jumping from the foot onto the puzzle board and walking through a fake wall.
It kind of looks like a window behind the west corner of the puzzle board.
It's also possible to vile jump from the foot to get there, or double vile jump from the floor.

Either method allows completion of the level (to the secret exit level) w/o completing the final fight.

 

 

 

Edited March 10 by DeetOpianSky
Corrected text.

[Chookum]

V2 up!

BLAKGOLD_V2.zip

Empire of Black and Gold CHANGES

V1 -> V2

+ Weird sky stuff fixed near the jump to the first switch.
+ More Armour Pickups throughout Level.
+ Blue Key Fight's Archvile made Multiplayer Only (Yes there's multiplayer placements for this map)
+ Blue Key put in a recepticle in the wall to more consistently trigger the ambush.
+ Prevented cheesing the red key battle by having you drop in.

 

Edited March 10 by Chookum

[Nootsy-Nootsy]

On 3/10/2024 at 5:19 AM, ViolentBeetle said:

@Nootsy-Nootsy I just wanted to update that I lost the save where I was almost done with your map so I'll have to redo the whole thing again. It's definitely gotten better and although I don't really get your insistence on making things blend together, I will allow it. Nowhere did I say not to do this. But I'll need to see how it ends first.

In a meantime, you want to pick a midi for it?

tbh I'm disappointed too. Now that I have that idea solidified I feel I could do a lot better with it. If it works out I may completely redo the submission for something that actually makes use of the gimmick. Need to focus on a series of cool rooms instead of a big mashed up space. There's also just the fact that the geometry is currently near good enough, I could just fix it to look better <:

Edited March 11 by Nootsy-Nootsy

[ViolentBeetle]

@Nootsy-Nootsy Do you still want your map in the project? I will try to finish it tomorrow, if the ending works, I think it's good enough (Even if the idea is weird)

@Chookum Is there anything else you want done with your map? I don't want to replay it right now, so if you fix all the issues, I might just accept it.

[Chookum]

10 hours ago, ViolentBeetle said:

Is there anything else you want done with your map? I don't want to replay it right now, so if you fix all the issues, I might just accept it.

 

Negative. That's all from me.

 

I'll start working on a second map for this project with a plan though.

[ViolentBeetle]

@Nootsy-Nootsy Turns out I did finish your map last time, I just didn't realize there's an exit behind me because it's colored exactly the same as everything else. This is just plain not OK. Please change that at least, and add an exit sign. Also there's a narrow pit in the green zone somewhere where I fell and couldn't get out.

If you fix that, this would acceptable.

 

Also yellow doors opening when I pick up yellow key (?) is weird. But at least maybe open them as doors so I can see they were there.