New wad: "The Box" (download link UPDATED)

[PeterMoro]

Do you like maps with tons of rewarding secrets? 

Welcome to “The Box”, a box / square themed puzzle-wad inspired by the movie Cube.

 

This wad just got added to the IDgamesArchive so I've updated the link and also added some new screen shots. 

 

Story: “Just like many other marines in the UAC, you signed up for the 'special program', code named Project Survival. Believing it to be about exploring the surface of Mars, coming out of cryo-sleep you are surprised to find yourself not on a UAC transport ship, but alone in a dark room with no windows or doors and carrying only a pistol. What is this place? Why am I here? More importantly, how do I get out?”

 

This is a puzzle-wad with twelve secrets in total. Finding these secrets is not necessary but encouraged as you'll be rewarded with the best items and ammo. All secrets are behind certain doors and every secret door's trigger is in proximity IF you are clever enough to figure out their activation. You can absolutely complete this map without finding a single secret, if that's how you roll.

Actually, there's way more action than secrets / puzzles but I like secrets in maps and I wanted to make a wad with many secrets.

 

Name: The Box

Map format: UDMF

Ports tested: GZDoom, made for GZDoom

IWAD: DoomII

Map(s): MAP01

Music: “Dark ambient” by Stereocode

Gameplay: Single player only

Difficulty settings: No

Multiplayer placement: No

Build time: About 9 months, mostly around 30 mins a day during my lunch break.

Textures: This wad uses Doom and Doom II textures only: d1gfxd2.wad ( SargeBaldy) and DoomII.wad.

Requirements: Jumping and crouching are disabled. Free look is permitted.

Credits: Thanks to the awesome devs who made Ultimate Doom Builder. Thanks to all the cool dudes at Doomworld.com who helped me with technical issues.

 

Gameplay: puzzles, action, mystery, secrets, surprises, and an intense final showdown. Difficulty is above average but it's totally possible to finish this map on the first attempt without saving if you are badass. Veteran Doomers might die once or twice. Secrets get progressively harder but none are ridiculously impossible because I hate gameplay like that. It's totally possible to find all secrets in a single playthrough if you have a keen eye. Look for switches, alternate textures, and other out-of-place visual abnormalities.

The final and most difficult secret rewards a ComputerAreaMap which gives secret locations away and it's possible to backtrack and find them all.

 

Don't be discouraged by the starting dark puzzle room - it's easy to solve if you search around a little and then the fun begins :P

 

Playtime: 60 – 90 mins, depending on your ability to find secrets.

 

Controller players: Please ensure that your Left Thumb Y-Axis (moving forward) sensitivity is higher than normal so that you move faster and it's possible to complete certain timed puzzles. Default controller speed is crazy slow compared with a mouse, even when Autorun is toggled on. So it needs to be adjusted.

My Left Thumb Y-Axis (moving forward) settings are:

Overall sensitivity: 2.000

Dead zone: 0.200

 

IMPORTANT: This map uses Dynamic Lighting and so be sure to enable Dynamic Lighting for the optimal experience. (This map would look pretty crap without it enabled). Also, be sure to enable Light Shadowmaps = Yes (in Dynamic Lighting settings).

Having the correct brightness levels ensure that some areas are not too dark or bright.

My (recommended) GZDoom display settings are:

Screen size: 10

Gamma Correction: 1.00

Brightness: 0.00

Contrast: 1.0

Saturation:1.00

 

Please experiment with the Brightness / Contrast levels in the first room to find a balance that works for you. Ideally you should be on the verge of full darkness in the first room, but still able to see the walls when you are next to them.

 

Project Survival: Will you be able to escape the Box?

Download here (link updated May 20th):

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/s-u/thebox

 

Good luck marine!

 

Screenshots:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23 by PeterMoro

[Async Unicorn]

Can you please fix the link? Right now it requires the access, but you can open it for everyone who has the link.

 

[PeterMoro]

1 hour ago, Vanilla+Unicorn said:

Can you please fix the link? Right now it requires the access, but you can open it for everyone who has the link.

 

Thanks for telling me @Vanilla+Unicorn ! Turns out that google locks the link automatically if it's just a .wad file. Doh! Had no idea. Stupid Google never mentioned anything. Putting the wad into a folder gives you the option to make it available to anyone. Well I think it works now. The link has been updated. 

[FEDEX]

Hi! just for your info, The download folder is empty

[PeterMoro]

On 4/1/2024 at 1:23 PM, FEDEX said:

Hi! just for your info, The download folder is empty

Hi, sorry for the late reply. Also sorry that you couldn't download the wad.

 

After a couple of weeks of posting the wad, the thread had almost zero interest, which has never happened to me before. It was baffling. It made me deduce that A) people aren't playing new Doom wads anymore .. or B) I didn't present the wad correctly and it wasn't interesting enough. I went with 'B' and decided to change it a little and repackage it. So I released "UAC training simulator" which is 99% the same wad but without the puzzle-wad starting area, which might have seemed boring or intimidating. I also added some new, colourful screenshots.

It was all in vain because no-one seemed interested in the new version of the wad. LOL and that's fine but certainly a bummer.

 

Anyway, I'd cancelled the link from Google drive but because you left a message, I've decided to re-link up the original wad because you seem interested in playing it.

So thanks for your interest and let me know if you can't download it correctly. (should be fine now though)

 

The original link has been updated. 

[BunnyBun]

What a wonderful wad! This map was incredibly beautiful and well made. Unfortunately, I wasnt able to find all the secrets so I couldn't 100% the monsters or secrets. This was definitely deserves more recognition! Here is my playthrough:

 

 

[PeterMoro]

8 hours ago, BunnyBun said:

What a wonderful wad! This map was incredibly beautiful and well made. Unfortunately, I wasnt able to find all the secrets so I couldn't 100% the monsters or secrets. This was definitely deserves more recognition! Here is my playthrough:

 

 

@BunnyBun Thanks so much for trying my map and posting a video! Really glad that you liked it. You had a lot of compliments at the end, and it really made my day :D "One of the best wads I've ever played." wow, thanks so much! "I hope he keeps making maps." I've made six, including this one. There's more on the way ;) 

[RataUnderground]

On 4/11/2024 at 5:19 AM, PeterMoro said:

Hi, sorry for the late reply. Also sorry that you couldn't download the wad.

 

After a couple of weeks of posting the wad, the thread had almost zero interest, which has never happened to me before. It was baffling. It made me deduce that A) people aren't playing new Doom wads anymore .. or B) I didn't present the wad correctly and it wasn't interesting enough. I went with 'B' and decided to change it a little and repackage it. So I released "UAC training simulator" which is 99% the same wad but without the puzzle-wad starting area, which might have seemed boring or intimidating. I also added some new, colourful screenshots. 

It was all in vain because no-one seemed interested in the new version of the wad. LOL and that's fine but certainly a bummer.

 

Anyway, I'd cancelled the link from Google drive but because you left a message, I've decided to re-link up the original wad because you seem interested in playing it.

So thanks for your interest and let me know if you can't download it correctly. (should be fine now though)

 

The original link has been updated. 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I get the impression that UDMF wads with a lot of bells and whistles have a more limited audience in Doomworld than wads that are more faithful to the original game. There's nothing wrong with them, of course, but it's my speculation as to why your map hasn't gotten much attention.
You also have to consider that the only reason that person has posted is because he hasn't found the download link. If it hadn't been like that, he would have downloaded the wad, played and probably not commented on anything, like the vast majority of times. But that doesn't mean he wasn't interested or disliked it. When we post our creations online, the number of people who interact with the creators afterwards is a minority, and I think that is a reality of Doomworld. We should not think that our WAD is of no interest to anyone just because we do not see anyone writing comments.

[PeterMoro]

Fair enough @RataUnderground. That's why I prefer using all (or mostly) stock textures so it looks and feels close to the original. 

Edited May 23 by PeterMoro