Tech-Heresy (Single map, limit removing) - RC2 released!

[Matt Eldrydge]

PLAY INFO
IWAD: Doom 2
DEHACKED PATCH: Yes, changes map 01 and 02's names. Embedded in the WAD file.
Format: Limit-removing
Difficulties: Implemented, all skills should be a fun challenge!
Difficulty level: Not too hard but the final fight is somewhat inspired by Sunder map 01, so there's a free invuln in it for HNTR/HMP players.
Multiplayer: Not supported, but if there's demand I'll add co-op starts.
Map slots: 01, plus 02 as an epilogue so you don't get into Doom 2's maps.
Freelook: Feel free to use it.
Jumping/crouching: Nope, jumping will lead to sequence breaking.

Sourceports tested: DSDA-Doom 0.25.6, GZDoom 4.10

 

DOWNLOAD LINK: RC2 update 2

 

Info about the WAD (spoilered since I wrote a lot):

Spoiler

This is a heavily edited version of Technobabble Heresy, a map I made for the Radio Free Gehenna community project. Said project called for limit-removing maps without too much detail, so I submitted two entries to get better at limit removing mapping: Drowning Witch (map 04) and Technobabble Heresy (map 16). 

Drowning Witch is my first limit-removing map but I'm sure it's vanilla-compatible given how basic it is, while Technobabble Heresy is my second and much better attempt at that format. Since the former is so basic and I didn't even know how to vertically align textures (I had only mapped in UDMF until that point), I decided to skip it and give the latter a facelift, with a more coherent hell/tech look with brick/metal here and there, as well as some wood. Since I detailed it even more and made its combat a bit harder to compensate it being a standalone map, I won't replace RFG's version with this.

 

The final fight is the one entirely new area and I really admire Sunder's architecture, so I pulled some inspiration from its map 01 and made the fight less hard and more challenging according to my so-so skill level - both in actually playing the game and mapping, naturally.

 

So, you can see Tech-Heresy as a sort of "remastered director's cut" I guess? Not all of the map is edited because I think some parts hold up ok, but the rest of it represents all I know about mapping at this moment. I'm absolutely a neat freak and the absence of more border textures in vanilla bothers me to an irrational extent, so you'll see a lot of vertice abuse and brute forced texturing in this map too. :P

 

Another thing that I really wanted to achieve was making a map without a visible sky but offered a lot of nice views. To achieve this I took a look at other WADs, but the tip came from Alien Vendetta's Misri Halek - tall ceilings, lots of height variation and light effects. I might have gone a bit overboard with the darkness, so I added a few lights here and there too. The one thing I'm still coming to terms with vanilla is the rather limiting brightness increments, but people seem to like my efforts on that front so I must be onto something.

 

All in all, this should be a nice, fun map for most people. If you've been playing for a while there's some eyecandy, if you're new to custom WADs this might be a nice challenge, if you like a bit of Doomcute you'll find some here too. Hope you enjoy it! :)

 

 

MUSIC
Map 01 - Recryptinated by Hayden49
Map 02 - Motion Pitcher by DiR
Intermission - Everything Mends by Hayden49

 

INSPIRATION
Shawny's Shallow World for the 8-wide light and support textures hackery.
LunchLunch for the combat, though it won't show much here I think.
Insane_Gazebo for the final arena's look and feel.

 

PLAYTESTERS
Teh Nems, Marian, Skelegant, Joblez, TreehouseMinis - thank you for your interest and feedback!

 

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Aeddes666, BioDegradable, plums, Zahid - thank you for your help!

Edited October 17, 2023 by Matt Eldrydge

[Aeddes666]

Hello.
Very good.
Only thing to say, is on the final area, some monsters can't leave sectors (at corners), including CyberD. Maybe is intentional?

 

 

Edited October 15, 2023 by Aeddes666

[Zahid]

good map little too eay as lot of ammo and health 

cl2 on prboom is no playable so i use cl9 here my demo i maxed it on uv in 15 mins

bfg secret is one time open door i guess

popi9.zip

[Matt Eldrydge]

18 minutes ago, Aeddes666 said:

Hello.
Very good.
Only thing to say, is on the final area, some monsters can't leave sectors (at corners), including CyberD. Maybe is intentional?

 

Thank you for the video! I'm not sure what's going on with the Cyber not leaving the corner, he can actually leave that place and walk around when I play it on DSDA-Doom, so I'm not sure what gives. Those torch ledges do have monster blocking lines so they don't get stuck when the platforms descend so that might have something to do with it.

 

If anyone has any idea why that is, I'd be glad to hear it.

 

12 minutes ago, Zahid said:

good map little too eay as lot of ammo and health 

cl2 on prboom is no playable so i use cl9 here my demo i maxed it on uv in 15 mins

bfg secret is one time open door i guess

popi9.zip

 

Thanks for playing, I'll check your demo out tomorrow! I've done a bit of fixing around, it seems I forgot removing a SR Lift action from the front linedef of the wall that reveals that section. That might have something to do with it.

[Aeddes666]

9 minutes ago, Matt Eldrydge said:

 

Thank you for the video! I'm not sure what's going on with the Cyber not leaving the corner, he can actually leave that place and walk around when I play it on DSDA-Doom, so I'm not sure what gives. Those torch ledges do have monster blocking lines so they don't get stuck when the platforms descend so that might have something to do with it.

 

If anyone has any idea why that is, I'd be glad to hear it.

 

 

Thanks for playing, I'll check your demo out tomorrow! I've done a bit of fixing around, it seems I forgot removing a SR Lift action from the front linedef of the wall that reveals that section. That might have something to do with it.

On the south east corner, with a lot of imps, i think there's too many imps blocking each other. (Just an idea... I'm not a pro mapper, btw)

Edited October 15, 2023 by Aeddes666

[Matt Eldrydge]

Well, the thing is on DSDA-Doom they behave correctly. Maybe there's some complevel thing I'm not aware of making them not work correctly, though I do concede I added a lot of imps to that one platform and that could definitely be causing issues.

[watto3699]

Awesome map mate,

I don't usually have the endurance to play through high enemy count maps, but this one was genuinely a good time.

Like the earlier poster said, a bit easy with the excess health and ammo, otherwise a fantastic map. Good Job!

[Biodegradable]

4 hours ago, Matt Eldrydge said:

Well, the thing is on DSDA-Doom they behave correctly. Maybe there's some complevel thing I'm not aware of making them not work correctly, though I do concede I added a lot of imps to that one platform and that could definitely be causing issues. 

 

@Aeddes666 Could you tell Matt what port, comp level and mods you used in your playthrough? That'll help 'em narrow down what the issue is.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Biodegradable

[plums]

5 hours ago, Matt Eldrydge said:

Thank you for the video! I'm not sure what's going on with the Cyber not leaving the corner, he can actually leave that place and walk around when I play it on DSDA-Doom, so I'm not sure what gives. Those torch ledges do have monster blocking lines so they don't get stuck when the platforms descend so that might have something to do with it. 

 

If anyone has any idea why that is, I'd be glad to hear it.

Are you sure? I just tried the map on DSDA-Doom (didn't play it properly, just helping debug) and the cyber and pinkies couldn't leave, on cl2, cl9, or cl21. I think they don't have enough room between the steps and the nukage troughs; the other monsters can move out because they move slower and so need less space.

 

If you raise the height of the nukage to -168 it should fix the problem. (max 24 units between highest and lowest floor for monsters to cross without a problem.)

 

Also the south-east corner full of imps doesn't lower on cl2 because the second-from-the-outside ring of imps are partially stuck in the ceiling. This isn't a problem in cl9/21 where it doesn't matter. You should be able to adjust the width of the section that lowers so only the outside ring of imps are on it (didn't test this)

 

Unrelated, linedef 1759 is missing a tag. (That's maybe the SR lift you said you forgot to remove the action from).

Edited October 16, 2023 by plums

[Bengaltiger1]

This look simply stunning. The textures are very diverse yet there's still coherency there. You can be proud of the production quality here :)

[Matt Eldrydge]

5 hours ago, plums said:

Are you sure? I just tried the map on DSDA-Doom (didn't play it properly, just helping debug) and the cyber and pinkies couldn't leave, on cl2, cl9, or cl21. I think they don't have enough room between the steps and the nukage troughs; the other monsters can move out because they move slower and so need less space.

 

[Helpful stuff snipped]

 

Well those might be the issues. I added the slime troughs last and was a bit impatient since the map was done, though I did well in calling this version RC1. :P

 

Other than that, thank you a lot for the feedback! I'll look into making the corners have monsters only behind the lowering floors - that should also help.

 

I'll go back and add a couple more area denial monsters in the final fight and move the revenant sniper platforms back a little since the barrels on them blow up the moment they fire a rocket. Oops.

 

5 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

Could you tell Matt what port, comp level and mods you used in your playthrough? That'll help 'em narrow down what the issue is.

 

Seems like the issues are more on my side, honestly, but this is also good practice. Still, this kind of map shouldn't break with mods, if that makes sense, and I'm rather peeved I didn't test it more thoroughly yesterday.

 

8 hours ago, watto3699 said:

Awesome map mate,

I don't usually have the endurance to play through high enemy count maps, but this one was genuinely a good time.

Like the earlier poster said, a bit easy with the excess health and ammo, otherwise a fantastic map. Good Job!

 

Thank you a lot! I might have been a bit over generous with health and ammo, so I'll adjust the fights and supply placement a tiny bit today. I'm not too sure how much is too much but I think we all agree too much ammo is better than not enough ammo! ;)

 

4 hours ago, Bengaltiger1 said:

This look simply stunning. The textures are very diverse yet there's still coherency there. You can be proud of the production quality here :)

 

Many thanks! I'm rather proud of how the visuals came together, just gotta iron out some of the gameplay issues now.

[Biodegradable]

11 minutes ago, Matt Eldrydge said:

Seems like the issues are more on my side, honestly, but this is also good practice. Still, this kind of map shouldn't break with mods, if that makes sense, and I'm rather peeved I didn't test it more thoroughly yesterday.

 

Yeah, Plums really came through with discovering the issue. While the probability of the map's behaviour being affected by an old or newer version of GZ that Aeddes was potentially using, I doubted the vanity mods would've played a role. All good in the hood, mate. It's a learning experience. Just got to be sure to test thoroughly. ;^)

Edited October 16, 2023 by Biodegradable

[plums]

14 minutes ago, Matt Eldrydge said:

I'm rather peeved I didn't test it more thoroughly yesterday

It's pretty much a guarantee, with anything, that if you make a change to something at the end of working on it and don't test it, that thing will cause a problem. Bonus points if you say something like "I don't see how that can cause a problem" to yourself :) The universe tends towards maximum irony.

[Aeddes666]

7 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

 

@Aeddes666 Could you tell Matt what port, comp level and mods you used in your playthrough? That'll help 'em narrow down what the issue is.

Sure.
Using GZDoom 4.11, Tilt++ and a flashlight mod.
Also in comp opt, i use "Default".

Edited October 16, 2023 by Aeddes666

[Treehouseminis]

Just played this, after the first minute I realized when we were chatting you sent me an early build of this.  I think it got more detailed haha, very cool looking level.  The final fight is new to me and it was a fun one.  Too bad your going for limit removing otherwise you could make all the floor acid details fake floors and solve the pathing problems.  Look forward to more levels like this though.

 

I did find a missing texture here :

Spoiler

 

[Matt Eldrydge]

6 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

 

Yeah, Plums really came through with discovering the issue. While the probability of the map's behaviour being affected by an old or newer version of GZ that Aeddes was potentially using, I doubted the vanity mods would've played a role. All good in the hood, mate. It's a learning experience. Just got to be sure to test thoroughly. ;^)

 

6 hours ago, plums said:

It's pretty much a guarantee, with anything, that if you make a change to something at the end of working on it and don't test it, that thing will cause a problem. Bonus points if you say something like "I don't see how that can cause a problem" to yourself :) The universe tends towards maximum irony.

 

Yeah, you two have a point there. Thanks for the assistance, I managed to fix the map and maybe make it a bit more balanced in the process. :)

 

3 hours ago, Treehouseminis said:

Just played this, after the first minute I realized when we were chatting you sent me an early build of this.  I think it got more detailed haha, very cool looking level.  The final fight is new to me and it was a fun one.  Too bad your going for limit removing otherwise you could make all the floor acid details fake floors and solve the pathing problems.  Look forward to more levels like this though.

 

I did find a missing texture here :

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Hey Treehouse! Happy to hear you enjoyed, I thought you'd appreciate the last fight. :) I do believe that texture error has already been fixed as of RC2.

 

The map should run correctly in both DSDA-Doom and GZDoom now, haven't had time to test it on PrBoom+ but it should work a-ok!

[LadyMistDragon]

the link to RC2 is screwy and doesn't lead to anything

[Matt Eldrydge]

8 minutes ago, LadyMistDragon said:

the link to RC2 is screwy and doesn't lead to anything

 

Give it a try again, it should work now!

[S3M_XM]

You can softlock yourself before the first arena fight if you strafe right before the FIREBLU pillars lock you out.
 

Spoiler

And the Berserk pickup (Thing 5) would be considered as a secret?

 

[LadyMistDragon]

Well, I recorded a video of the original version in the meantime and it took a long time to upload because of a video bloated to hell by MP3 music but anyway...

 

 

 

[Matt Eldrydge]

1 minute ago, S3M_XM said:

You can softlock yourself before the first arena fight if you strafe right before the FIREBLU pillars lock you out.
 

  Hide contents

And the Berserk pickup (Thing 5) would be considered as a secret?

 

 

Noted, I thought someone would be able to pull that off even though I couldn't. :P Anyway, updated the link in the OP so this softlock should be fixed. Thanks for the heads up!

 

No, that berserk is there so you can either punch out the monsters in the starting area or use it as a full heal before the red key lock-in fight.

 

5 minutes ago, LadyMistDragon said:

Well, I recorded a video of the original version in the meantime and it took a long time to upload because of a video bloated to hell by MP3 music but anyway...

 

Thanks for playing! I could clearly tell the moment you got surprised by hitting the first switch and attempted rushing into the cave - that's a fight you're more or less encouraged to first dig your feet in, then actually push out when things are calmer. I'll watch the rest of your playthrough soon!

[Wo0p]

Yo! Very enjoyable map! Finished playing on UV last night and got murdered a couple of times by the twin archviles and the last arena. Don't think I've ever seen a "slimeporter" before, that was cool :) My favourite area was definitely the fleshy patchwork intestinal slaughterroom? fantastic visuals :)

I don't have a vid for you unfortunately, but I didn't find any bugs during my GZDoom playthrough.

Edited October 17, 2023 by Wo0p

[Matt Eldrydge]

5 hours ago, Wo0p said:

Yo! Very enjoyable map! Finished playing on UV last night and got murdered a couple of times by the twin archviles and the last arena. Don't think I've ever seen a "slimeporter" before, that was cool :) My favourite area was definitely the fleshy patchwork intestinal slaughterroom? fantastic visuals :)

I don't have a vid for you unfortunately, but I didn't find any bugs during my GZDoom playthrough.

 

Hey Wo0p! Thanks a lot for playing, I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the map! That gore room is one of my favorites too though actually making was awful, I couldn't feel my hand for a few minutes after I was done drawing all those blood channels.

 

I'm also relieved to hear no bugs were found! Again, thanks a lot for playing. :)

[Biodegradable]

Finally got around to playing. The map's really good fun, mate. Also, visually, it's gorgeous. I love your attention to detail, so that was my favourite aspect personally.

 

 

[Matt Eldrydge]

44 minutes ago, Biodegradable said:

Finally got around to playing. The map's really good fun, mate. Also, visually, it's gorgeous. I love your attention to detail, so that was my favourite aspect personally.

 

 

Thanks for the playthrough! I'm pretty sure I forgot a second playerstart lying around when I fixed the first arena fight, I promise the map has a smoother difficulty curve when you start at the actual starting room. :P

 

I'll watch it in full in a bit, given the length of the video it seems like you pulled through anyway! That gets me thinking about different starts for different skill levels, so that's at least a happy little accident. :)

 

EDIT: Went back and fixed the player starts. Thanks again Biodegradable, your commentary was entertaining and helpful!

Edited October 17, 2023 by Matt Eldrydge

[Wo0p]

2 hours ago, Matt Eldrydge said:

 

Hey Wo0p! Thanks a lot for playing, I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the map! That gore room is one of my favorites too though actually making was awful, I couldn't feel my hand for a few minutes after I was done drawing all those blood channels.

 

I'm also relieved to hear no bugs were found! Again, thanks a lot for playing. :)

 

Yeah I can imagine the carpal tunnel syndrome haha. The bane of obsessive detail mapping, eh? ;P

[Maribo]

Cute map. I quite like the look of the blood channel room + the prevalent usage of eye textures throughout. I played this in a very drowsy, fugue state of mind and it wasn't a bad trip, it's overflowing with resources even on UV and has a few easy-slaughter setups within, moments of panic can hurt but keeping a cool head and making use of the free space you're given are often enough to save you.

 

Casual playthrough, -dsdademo format, plays back in v0.26.2 - th01-maribo.zip

[kalensar]

 

 

Fun map! Died once in the final room, other than that it was a smooth and very fun bunch of fights. Played on HMP.

[plums]

Played this today, very good overall, lots of visual detail. Fairly easy on UV but that's not a complaint at all, and it looks like you weren't trying to go to hard on the player. Great stuff!

 

Found a *tiny* slimetrail in the cute epilogue map, pretty harmless to leave in.

[Matt Eldrydge]

On 10/17/2023 at 10:03 AM, Wo0p said:

 

Yeah I can imagine the carpal tunnel syndrome haha. The bane of obsessive detail mapping, eh? ;P

 

Haha, you tell me. I figured that one room was honestly rather bland all in all, so I just made it look extra scary. I think it worked well enough!

 

15 hours ago, Maribo said:

Cute map. I quite like the look of the blood channel room + the prevalent usage of eye textures throughout. I played this in a very drowsy, fugue state of mind and it wasn't a bad trip, it's overflowing with resources even on UV and has a few easy-slaughter setups within, moments of panic can hurt but keeping a cool head and making use of the free space you're given are often enough to save you.

 

Thanks a lot for playing, Maribo! I know the feeling, I was in a very tired state when I played Meat Machine for the first time (which was my first exposure to slaughter, incidentally).

 

I'm not sure if I can call it my style just yet, but in combat-heavy maps like this I'd rather the player be challenged more in the movement, space and prioritizing monsters than ammo usage - that said, there's a berserk right behind the player start and behind the blue door in case you like punching stuff or need a health reset.

 

I'll check your demo soon, by the way!

 

14 hours ago, kalensar said:

Fun map! Died once in the final room, other than that it was a smooth and very fun bunch of fights. Played on HMP.

 

Glad to hear you liked it! The final room is indeed supposed to be a more of a challenge, more specifically to people not necessarily into slaughter - I'm in a bit of an odd place, since I do like me some slaughter but I'm also not good enough to comfortably play them, so I do try reflecting that in my maps when I do go for more combat. If you only kicked the bucket once in there, even on HMP, that's a win in my eyes. :)

 

3 hours ago, plums said:

Played this today, very good overall, lots of visual detail. Fairly easy on UV but that's not a complaint at all, and it looks like you weren't trying to go to hard on the player. Great stuff!

 

Found a *tiny* slimetrail in the cute epilogue map, pretty harmless to leave in.

 

Thanks Plums! And indeed, I just wanted it to come off more like a fun set of fights you can somewhat turn your brain off in to enjoy for more seasoned players. A lot of the people I'm friends with (and myself included) aren't actually that great at the game, so my maps will likely stay on the easier side all things considered. :)

 

And hooray for my first slimetrail! I'll take a look at what I can do to fix that either way, the epilogue was a bit rushed and I might go back to add more details to it.