[G/ZDoom] PhoboChromaPhobia - a DBK sidequest

[Big Ol Billy]

 

Strange dreams are being reported by low-level personnel over at the UAC's Department of Biochemical Kaleidoscopetry. Better head to Phobos and get to the bottom of this disturbingly... colorful... evil. But is your mind ready for it?

 

PhoboChromaPhobia is an 11-map set for G/ZDoom, tested in ZDoom 2.8.1 and GZDoom. Made with (among other things) the original Doom's recent anniversary in mind, this project uses stock resources almost exclusively, and features a "doubled" Doom 1 bestiary (with "super" versions of the D1 monsters) in lieu of our beloved Doom 2-exclusive foes--plus a few surprises. This one started out as a resource pack for a potential DBK community project, but grew too extensive and "personal" feeling, so I'm releasing it as a solo joint. That said, I'm still indebted to the DBK folks, especially Glenzinho and Scrangus, for support during development, so this is very much a DBK-adjacent project, if not an official series entry.

 

>>DOWNLOAD RC2<<

Previous versions: RC1

 

Special shoutout to @Crunchynut44, whose excellent MIDIs soundtrack the lion's share of the project.

 

Content advisory: bright, pulsating colors; phallic imagery; light (?) psychoanalytic themes

FYI for modders: uses nonstandard custom palette; custom enemies and decorations via DECORATE; stock weapons are unchanged

 

SCREENSHOTS

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COMPATIBILITY

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IWAD: Doom2
Jump/crouch: No, disabled via MAPINFO
Freelook: Ok, not necessary
Difficulties: Supported 
Pistol start: Supported
Continuous play: Supported

 

Difficulties are implemented with the the classic Easy (Skills 1/2)/Medium (Skill 3)/Hard (Skills 4/5) scheme. The difficulty philosophy is basically that lower difficulties reduce the complexity of fights, which might mean different monster compositions, less exacting resource management, and/or more room for error via health/armor/powerups. *No-freelook play with pistol starts on UV will give you the most challenging, classic experience.* 

MAPS

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01. Siderodromorphosis
02. Staurophasia
03. Chirocephalism
04. Hydrobinarophoneme
05. Karazinoplasty
06. Ultrapolythanatology
07. New Technology for Implanting Artificial Childhoods
08. Psytokenosynthesis
09. Phallus Dei
10. Cerebande

 

31. Pheragone (secret map)

MUSIC

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01. Deepest Reaches - Crunchynut44
02. Call of the Haunted - Crunchynut44
03. Gaslight - Crunchynut44
04. Down Below - Crunchynut44
05. Zoid, Thou Art - Big Ol' Billy
06. Candyman (Theme) - Philip Glass
07. Isolated - Crunchynut44
08. Faithless - Crunchynut44
09. Spook - Crunchynut44
10. Graverobbers - Crunchynut44
Credits sequence: In the Night - Crunchynut44
31. "Profondo Rosso" - Goblin

 

Title/Intermission music: Vertigo (Theme) - Bernard Herrmann

 

OTHER CREDITS

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Playtesting: Scrangus McBrickdad, my bandmate Robert
Extra graphics: Sky graphics by Mechadon and Minigunner, extra midtex from CC4, magic sparkles adapted from Heretic, liquid texture adapted from Powerslave, wallpaper texture adapted from an exhibit at the Leopold Museum in Vienna
SFX: Original Doom PC Speaker sounds, crusher thud from Quake, evil chanting performed by me
Secret map text taken from Freud's THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS, trans. A. A. Brill, 1913

 

Edited February 20 by Big Ol Billy

[Terminus]

Yo why has no one commented on this yet lmao

 

What a fantastic little wad. Kinda like E1 on crack. Loved it.

Love to see another release by you! Keep up the great work!

[Big Ol Billy]

Lol “E1 on crack” hits the nail on the head!

[Devalaous]

I'm not sure how I feel about getting neon floating doom penis on Valentine's Day....but given my love for the DBP/DBK's boundless creativity, I'll give it a pass.

 

 

[bioshockfan90]

Played the first 3 maps this evening before I turn the PC off for the day. Fantastic work! Love the custom enemies I've seen so far, especially the

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floating IoS cube turret

 

Not often you see full on psychedelic Doom maps, I think the last time I got this vibe out of a wad was with Sign of Torment. And that was more in a mental way, this is a more drugged out experience. As someone that deals with mental illness, it's definitely pretty spooky to play and I can't imagine how the average Joe in my position would handle something like this, but for me it's just cool and relatable. P.C.P indeed! Dissociative madness. 

 

Will try to play the rest tomorrow and blog about it. Great job Billy! This is one of my favorite releases of the year so far in terms of creativity.

[Optimus]

Just finished it, short and sweet. I am uploading a video.

Interesting idea, although too flashy for my brain, haha!

[Big Ol Billy]

RC2 is up now, with some minor changes based mainly on @Optimus's playthrough. Linked in the OP.

 

Changes:

• Reworked the outdoor supply area in MAP02, removing some monster teleport closets that were too easy to not trigger on continuous
• Fixed a misflagged secret item on MAP06, which was missing on UV
• Removed a duplicate MAP06 (file size is slightly smaller now, lol)
• Tweaked credit sequence on MAP10

[S3M_XM]

That was a bizarre and trippy experience.

You can softlock yourself between the trees from the jump pad from the secret in MAP09. Also you can't get back up there from the jump pad due to the trees.

 

[Big Ol Billy]

5 hours ago, S3M_XM said:

You can softlock yourself between the trees from the jump pad from the secret in MAP09. Also you can't get back up there from the jump pad due to the trees.

 

Dang, I knew I was potentially setting myself up for trouble there but I thought I checked the softlock possibilities thoroughly enough. Evidently not! The intention is to let the player use the jump pad to jump over the trees, but I probably should just use a less fiddly method (i.e., a teleport, or just have the player backtrack back around the church). Thanks for pointing this out, should be an easy fix regardless.

[Catpho]

It probably doesn't feel as in-your-face at first, but this has the best use of custom actor + custom sound for storytelling purposes since MyHouse (the hall of fame includes Scythe 2 M16, Comatose... and not much else comes to my mind atm). Still in the meet and greet as of m04, but I can really see the gameplay changes resulting in a more whacked out version of DB Impact's attrition-based gameplay. M03's visual motif feels so lyrical.

Ppl play this damn it

Edited March 24 by Catpho