Astral Abstraction - An Atmospheric Total Conversion

[The Final Event]

 

-DON'T run any mods alongside Astral. It replaces everything, any type of mod will break it

-Comp level default
-Requires GZDoom 3.6.x or newer
-Requires Dynamic lights, models and 3D floors to be on
-Requires Hardware rendering
-Requires jumping and mouselook to be on

 

Astral Abstraction is an atmospheric 5 episode total conversion that aims to advance the formula of Doom's gameplay, bringing it more in line with the modern entries in the series.
The vertical aspect of gameplay is expanded and more fleshed out, and the pace of gameplay is faster.

 

October 8th, 2050. An unforseen threat has infiltrated Earth.
The official channels of defence are letting us down and you decide to take matters into your own hands.
Find the source.

 

Astral Abstraction adds some new mechanics

Spoiler

Ladders:
Press use to mount a ladder.
Forward to climb up, Back to climb down.
Dismount with use, or with jump to leap off the ladder.
Ladders can be mounted midair.

Dash:
If you have the dash module, press run while moving in a direction to dash (always run is forced on in Astral Abstraction)

Jump Pads:
Stepping on jump pads will launch you upwards

Platforming:
Astral Abstraction's level design is much more vertical than base Doom.

Powerful Weapons:
Instead of one BFG, each episode has its own power weapon.

 

Spoiler

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YKS104fnkwKhPdKRzk722tX4ACvVtkPP/view?usp=sharing

Edited January 13 by The Final Event
Required GZDoom version corrected

[Bridgeburner56]

OCONC

[Firedust]

holy f is this real

[TJG1289]

Looks and sounds pretty cool! I definitely like the focus on verticality. 

[PeterMoro]

Looks beautiful. Will take a swing this weekend.

[notTyrone]

Yo, this thing slaps.  Really getting those Doom 2016 vibes with some of the early fight arenas.  Weapons feel so smooth.  Nicely done.

[knifeworld]

This looks fucking amazing! Gave the first bunch of areas a shot before I go to sleep, I'm impressed.

However,

8 hours ago, The Final Event said:

If you have the dash module, press run while moving in a direction to dash (always run is forced on in Astral Abstraction)

Why is always run forced? As a player I like to have more fine grained control over how I move, unless it's say, a survival horror mod where it makes sense to default to slower movement initially. You already move at a decent-ish pace without running, and GZdoom movement is slippery enough as it is.

I went to the length of trying to find if there's a way that I could turn it off again via code or some rarely used command.
Hell, I guess the dash thing makes you run even faster than normal eventually (Haven't found it yet), so maybe I'm just talking total nonsense lmao.

EDIT: Nevermind, I finished the first map and maxed Map02, enjoyed both! The difference is tiny and I'm just being silly, I guess I just had to get used to it. Will probably still prefer it off for regular map sets though.


One thing I'm not quite sold on is the fights with instantly teleporting monsters, especially ones where you get pushed forward into them in some instances. I don't think they need to be "blind friendly" or any nonsense like that, but it does get annoying after a handful of reloads.

Edited January 11 by knifeworld
re-evaluated my opinion after actually playing more of the maps

[Jerem]

pretty solid pacing! the weapons feel pretty damn nice too :)
a collection of some of my favourite areas so far!

edit: finished! e2m2 was my favourite map c:

Edited January 11 by Jerem

[Matt Eldrydge]

This came out of nowhere as far as I can tell, and I knew I had to play it after finishing E1M2! Fantastic work on the visuals and combat alike, but the music is really out there and I would like to hear it outside the game!

 

I recorded a video of E1 (minus the secret map, assuming there even is one) to get word about this project out there, it's a lot of fun. :)
 

 

[Sikreci]

Pretty good overall. Just "finished" episode 2. Nice music and atmosphere. Was initially not a fan of the anemic weapon audio but the understated sound effects actually work well with the general vibe of everything else. I ended up just cheating through the door that apparently lead immediately to the exit in E2M6 because after 8 rounds of Simon Says I ran out of patience. Totally killed my momentum, I'll try to jump back in and do the other episodes another day.

[Sempiternal-Futility]

This is very good. One of my favorites WADs ever. Thanks for making it

[Terrcraft]

On 1/10/2024 at 1:30 PM, Bridgeburner56 said:

OCONC

what did he mean by this? 🤔

[Muleke_Trairao]

Damn, I wish I could try this out right now! Will do once I'm back from vacation!

[Jimmy]

the void orbs

 

they're here

[Pechudin]

Weapons sound like I'm aggresively salting food. Kick that up a notch fam. The "sterile lab" aesthetics are interesting though. Felt kinda like Portal 1?

[SiMpLeToNiUm]

17 hours ago, Terrcraft said:

what did he mean by this? 🤔

It's an in-joke referring to the extensive usage of the OCONC otex concrete texture (along with Warren's personal...attraction to it <3 )

[tom3kb]

How many maps are in this wad?

 

[TJG1289]

I finished the first 3 episodes, and am really enjoying it! I agree with Pechudin that the "sterile lab" aesthetics are really interesting. Everything is so reflective and shiny. I'm really digging the music too! It's some good synthwave/ambient stuff for the most part. The gameplay changes are really tight, though it did take me some getting used to hitting "use" on ladders and that I could jump off them. Maps are pretty short, but that's not a bad thing. I hope to finish this up tomorrow! Good stuff.

[tom3kb]

Yeah, im also playing non stop. Finished first two episodes. Wad is great, graphic, textures, soundtrack. What i dont like to much is enemies spawning on your eyes and maybe i would like to have more weapons too use. But this is great work.

[Sinael]

The aesthetics and visual design of the maps are good, but the sounds are complete disaster. Pistol feels like i'm shooting a typewriter, Shotguns feel like airsoft, RL is a pathetic "plop". Same about enemy projectiles, fireballs sound like a water baloon splash and not a fiery burst they should be.

 

The instant demon teleport encounters make the maps feel much less fluid and natural in terms of gameplay flow. Feels disjointed. Not a fan.

[tom3kb]

In real life most gun sounds sucks so i dont have big problem with sounds used in this mod. They are "different" that we are used to. Something new, good or bad i dont know? Its different.

[Firedust]

What are the secret triggers in this partial conversion? I tried opening up e1m2 in the editor, and I've still no idea how to get the PE secret... Is there a shootable switch somewhere? 

Also, regarding the sounds - haven't found anything criminally wrong with them, except one - monster projectiles. The fact that upon collision they sound like someone's shooting the player from behind is extremely disorienting and misleading.

EDIT: The arachnotron walking sound being the same as the monster projectile sound isn't helping either lol

The visuals are great though - don't get me wrong! And combat is good fun too!

EDIT 2: Kinda mean to take away the guns twice if you find the secret level in the first episode :(

EDIT 3: So I just had a mancubus piss off two revs and kill them! And afterwards, he still required three rockets to be brought down! My guess is that, for whatever reason, he took zero damage from the infighting... Intentional?

EDIT 4: Okay, thoughts so far (just beat E2M4):

Fantastic soundtrack, very slick gritty visuals (game reminds me a lot of Firestarter, what a throwback!), and dynamic combat!

I wish you'd rely a bit less on instant teleporter encounters though :)

Edited January 14 by Firedust

[Sinael]

13 hours ago, Firedust said:

What are the secret triggers in this partial conversion? I tried opening up e1m2 in the editor, and I've still no idea how to get the PE secret... Is there a shootable switch somewhere? 

 

It is not mentioned anywhere as far as I could tell, but the wad is explicidly for GZDoom, the jump is not disabled even if GZDoom has that option, and there's a sound replacement for jump, so my guess was that jump is permitted, even if severely underused in the level design. That PE secret is easily reachable with a jump.

 

Also yeah, finding a secret level supposed to be a bonus, not a punishment as it is now.

[Firedust]

1 hour ago, Sinael said:

That PE secret is easily reachable with a jump.

Yeah, but how do you lower the walls? I know jumping is mandatory in the wad.

[ClumsyCryptid]

Just finished playing through this.

Quite surprised on how well the gameplay was, and it did take me a bit to adjust. It's in this weird middle ground of vanilla doom and doom 64, weapons pack a punch (same with enemy projectiles), new mechanics add depth (ladders got me playing the areas like it was a source game lol). Soundtrack is next level. I like how the BFG alternatives really mesh well with the episodes as well as the endcaps for each episode.

My only complaints are the weapons could sound meatier, and the firing sound for the final episode's super weapon is repetitive.

Edited January 15 by ClumsyCryptid

[Firedust]

This wad's mapping style really reminded me of another wad that I just couldn't remember, but now I know! This has similar aesthetics to Assembly Line! Uncanny resemblance, considering how they were made by two different people!

Edited January 15 by Firedust

[Terrcraft]

33 minutes ago, Firedust said:

This wad's mapping style really reminded me of another wad that I just couldn't remember, but now I know! This has similar aesthetics to Assembly Line! Uncanny resemblance, considering how they were made by two different people!

if you mean this 

then yeah its the same person.

[Firedust]

29 minutes ago, Terrcraft said:

if you mean this 

then yeah its the same person.

Yes lmao

[LVENdead]

Hey, glad to see this thing finally released! I remember being very impressed by your earlier work Assembly Line. The first couple of maps made me think this was going to stick closer to that formula (where Assembly Line feels like it almost served as a proof of concept for this larger project) but I'm glad that by the end of the first episode there was a lot more experimentation in that regard.

 

The presentation here is on point and definitely one of the strongest aspects. I love the music and sharp detailing, and the use of lighting that strikes a good balance that never tips over towards "so much bloom I need sunglasses".

 

I'm eager to check out the rest of this set and see where it takes me. Here's a video of the full first episode if you're into that kind of thing.

 

 

[bludr]

Anyone can help me with E4M1?

Spoiler

When I activate lift with red key, I am squashed in few seconds. I can't figure out the reason.

Also, what's with the red exclamation point signs I see now and then? Is this some kind of mistake? 
Other than that it's a great mod, one of the best in recent times. I'm really having fun. Except for the dashing between ladders. I hated that already on Doom Eternal.