[Now On Idgames!] Alphabet Doom [32 Map Community Project for Doom 2 limit-removing]

[aRottenKomquat]

Here is another community project with a silly premise for mapping constraints. It's titled "Alphabet Doom", a 32-level megawad for vanilla (limit-removing) Doom 2 where each level must fit within the outline of a letter!

 

Download now from idgames! https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/megawads/alphabetdoom

 

 

 

For example, Map1 which is the letter A:

 

 

* Map List & Credits *

 

MAP01: "Arachnophobia" by @aRottenKomquat. MIDI by @Proxy-MIDI
MAP02: "Baby Beelzebub's Bastion" by @Death Bear. MIDI by @Proxy-MIDI.
MAP03: "Cuckoo for Cacodemons" by @aRottenKomquat. MIDI by @Proxy-MIDI
MAP04: "Destined to Die in the Distilling Plant of Doom" by @spineapple tea. MIDI is MAP02 from Sunlust.
MAP05: "Emergency Explosive Entitlement" by @Andrea Rovenski
MAP06: "Fear Factory" by @RED77. MIDI by @Proxy-MIDI
MAP07: "Bowl of Dead Simple Gruel" by @Biz!. MIDI is "Nocturne Op. 9, No 2" by Frederic Chopin.
MAP08: "Half & Half" by @ChippiHeppu. MIDI is Guardhouse by @Jimmy.
MAP09: "Ignited Irony" by @Engired.
MAP10: "Juxtaposition" by @D0M0
MAP11: "'Kay, Then" by @BedrockCastle. MIDI is "John the Fisherman" by Primus.
MAP12: "Lowly Limbo" by @Vladguy.
MAP13: "Military Complex" by @RileyXY1.
MAP14: "Nothing Special" by @Norb. MIDI is "Easel" by @Jimmy.
MAP15: "Out of Order" by @EagerBeaver. MIDI is "Crypteque" from Crypt of the Necrodancer, rendition by JereTheJuggler.
MAP16: "Powering Up" by @Bochnik Chleba. MIDI is "Say Your Prayers" by Robert Prince, from Duke Nukem 3D.
MAP17: "Qaverns and Qorridors" by @Lorcav. MIDI by @Proxy-MIDI.
MAP18: "Rocket Frenzy" by @RastaManGames. MIDI is "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" by Smashing Pumpkins, covered by @Doomkid.
MAP19: "Silent Castle" by @RileyXY1
MAP20: "Trickier and Trapier" by @Ar_e_en. MIDI is "Gary" by @Jimmy.
MAP21: "U-Turn the Tables" by @quakis.
MAP22: "Violent Varicocelectomy" - LadyNims
MAP23: "Wit's Wicked Doom" by @bunnytummy.
MAP24: "eXterminator" by @Eon Toad.
MAP25: "Yesteryear" by @DoctorNuriel.
MAP26: "Zerburk" by @Andrea Rovenski.
MAP27: "El Ñoño Va y Viene" by @Cacodemon187.
MAP28: "The European Onion" by @Origamyde.
MAP29: "Ideas from the Deep" by @aRottenKomquat.
MAP30: "Malapetaka" by @lokbustam257. MIDI is "Doom 2 Mashup" by @stewboy
MAP31: "Ohm a God" by @Emperor S P O O N
MAP32: "How Did You Get Here?" by @PRO-RC. MIDI is "Peace of Mind" from Resident Evil, sequenced by James Flynn.

 

Development Thread: 

 

Edited March 30 by aRottenKomquat
Adding idgames link

[RileyXY1]

The Midi for Silent Castle is "You Suck" from Rise of the Triad, famously used on other Doom levels such as Demonic Hordes from Alien Vendette and Fire and Ice from Scythe.

Edited March 18 by RileyXY1

[Rabbid]

oh cool it released

[Ar_e_en]

Nice to have another project that I worked on to be mere inches away from the finish line!

[Rabbid]

uhh, do not use the dehacked on zandronum, I did that and uh...yeah it was a mistake...


it makes it run...extremely slowly for some reason...

Edited March 18 by Rabbid

[aRottenKomquat]

15 minutes ago, Rabbid said:

uhh, do not use the dehacked on zandronum, I did that and uh...yeah it was a mistake...


it makes it run...extremely slowly for some reason...

 

The dehacked patch shouldn't be required for the vast majority of source ports. All it does is set map names so I'm not sure why it would run things slow...

[Rabbid]

yeah I don't know why it runs Zandronum slowly either...

[Rabbid]

uh, I just got through maps 31 and 32...did nobody playtest these maps? both of them are ridiculously hard pistol started, if not impossible (map32 has no super shotgun or weapons to deal with the 13 archviles, it's not physically reasonably or possible to beat it pistol start, and map 31 has just a general lack of ammo, plus health and the weapons given just genuinely suck to deal with the archviles) and map 32 is a huge buggy mess...atleast on PRboom+

like I've never raged at a map more than 31 in this whole pack, it feels like map 31 and 32 were intentionally made to anger pistol starters, map 31 while it isn't impossible, it's not worth it to 100% and map 32 is literally just impossible...

[aRottenKomquat]

31 was tough but beatable for me. 32 was nearly impossible for me, but I did eventually beat it. I wouldn't have accepted that for a normal level (it honestly wasn't enjoyable to me but I did find the gimmick and presentation interesting), but I think that's fine for the super-secret level. 

[Ar_e_en]

I replayed both secret maps with pistol starts, and while I do think that Map 31 might be a bit too hard - it's still beatable. Where as Map 32 is actually pretty fair in terms of pistol starts, you get enough cover, the ammo for the SSG may be hidden around the woods, but if you look for it - you will have more than enough for the Archviles. 

 

However, I did find one little softlock in Map 32. So, you might want to enable a few lines to be impassable for a last minute update:

Spoiler

MAP 32

• You can fall down a little gap and get stuck around the area of X = -2299, Y = 832 

 

 

[Rabbid]

I think the cover on map32 isn't consistant, that's why it's not too great to play through, it's fair sure, but its not consistant, you can be shot from somewhere completely random plus maybe a lite-map would be useful traversing it, there's blood on the floor that form a path yes, but you can't see them on prboom and it's a bit inconsistant, plus you're saying you wouldn't let that in on a normal map, but I'll be honest, there is several maps where I just gave up trying to pistol start them, I was thinking all maps after w were just not fun to pistol start if possible for some of them, w and z are like so difficult I don't see it as even worthwhile to try pistol starting them, and so far the 4 extra after have been...not great (except the euro map, that one was actually pretty good, a breathe of fresh air) I might be just generally annoyed after map31 and 32 but honestly I kind of dropped interest, I think I also forgot how to beat map 16 pistol start, even then I still don't see why you would pistol start map 16 ngl

keep in mind that I'm not a bad doomer, I've beaten most of the maps up to then without cheating, plus I like hard maps, I'm not mad at the creators, I'm not trying to be mean or anything, I'm just saying some of these maps should've been playtested by people who care about pistol starting because I don't see much playtesting in that department, w and z I've tried but I see them as too unreasonable to be pistol started and both secret maps are too difficult to pistol start either from a lack of ammo and health or generally lack of weapons (keep in mind I was running through the forest, so I almost certainly missed something on map32)

again, not trying to be mean, I literally am making a 7 map mapset that trumps a bunch of these maps in difficulty for freak sake, I just think a few of these maps should be nerfed, like map31 is fine sure, but also keep in mind, I'm a completionist and I like to 100% things, so when I see these maps have a lack of ammo and more monsters than I can deal with, I get sad and annoyed which I don't want, I'm not complaining on the maps in general, most of them are great looking, I'm just saying from a completionist's pov, they're too difficult to complete 100% and map z honestly needs a giant nerf at the start

however I can complain about Map32's look a bit because on prboom, idk if the other source ports...the textures tend to freak out and I've been complained to about things similar before so I know for a fact when a lot more people get to that map they're not gonna be happy... it looks fine and I like the detail to the map, but the texture issues really ruin it

TL:DR: the maps are fine mostly, but from a completionist's view they're unfair, map32 has too many texture issues that needs to be fixed and some maps, for the completionists, should be nerfed, not trying to be mean or hurt the creator's of the map's feelings, I personally see these maps as great looking, just some things could be fixed to make them easier for other players who are 100%ing.

[Rabbid]

2 hours ago, Rabbid said:

I think the cover on map32 isn't consistant, that's why it's not too great to play through, it's fair sure, but its not consistant, you can be shot from somewhere completely random plus maybe a lite-map would be useful traversing it, there's blood on the floor that form a path yes, but you can't see them on prboom and it's a bit inconsistant, plus you're saying you wouldn't let that in on a normal map, but I'll be honest, there is several maps where I just gave up trying to pistol start them, I was thinking all maps after w were just not fun to pistol start if possible for some of them, w and z are like so difficult I don't see it as even worthwhile to try pistol starting them, and so far the 4 extra after have been...not great (except the euro map, that one was actually pretty good, a breathe of fresh air) I might be just generally annoyed after map31 and 32 but honestly I kind of dropped interest, I think I also forgot how to beat map 16 pistol start, even then I still don't see why you would pistol start map 16 ngl

keep in mind that I'm not a bad doomer, I've beaten most of the maps up to then without cheating, plus I like hard maps, I'm not mad at the creators, I'm not trying to be mean or anything, I'm just saying some of these maps should've been playtested by people who care about pistol starting because I don't see much playtesting in that department, w and z I've tried but I see them as too unreasonable to be pistol started and both secret maps are too difficult to pistol start either from a lack of ammo and health or generally lack of weapons (keep in mind I was running through the forest, so I almost certainly missed something on map32)

again, not trying to be mean, I literally am making a 7 map mapset that trumps a bunch of these maps in difficulty for freak sake, I just think a few of these maps should be nerfed, like map31 is fine sure, but also keep in mind, I'm a completionist and I like to 100% things, so when I see these maps have a lack of ammo and more monsters than I can deal with, I get sad and annoyed which I don't want, I'm not complaining on the maps in general, most of them are great looking, I'm just saying from a completionist's pov, they're too difficult to complete 100% and map z honestly needs a giant nerf at the start

however I can complain about Map32's look a bit because on prboom, idk if the other source ports...the textures tend to freak out and I've been complained to about things similar before so I know for a fact when a lot more people get to that map they're not gonna be happy... it looks fine and I like the detail to the map, but the texture issues really ruin it

TL:DR: the maps are fine mostly, but from a completionist's view they're unfair, map32 has too many texture issues that needs to be fixed and some maps, for the completionists, should be nerfed, not trying to be mean or hurt the creator's of the map's feelings, I personally see these maps as great looking, just some things could be fixed to make them easier for other players who are 100%ing.

wait the issues just stopped on map 32...what the heck?

y'know what just forget I mentioned the texture issues for some reason for me they were glitching out heavily, it's a great map now

Edited March 19 by Rabbid

[Ar_e_en]

20 hours ago, Rabbid said:

however I can complain about Map32's look a bit because on prboom, idk if the other source ports...the textures tend to freak out and I've been complained to about things similar before so I know for a fact when a lot more people get to that map they're not gonna be happy... it looks fine and I like the detail to the map, but the texture issues really ruin it

 

20 hours ago, Rabbid said:

wait the issues just stopped on map 32...what the heck?

y'know what just forget I mentioned the texture issues for some reason for me they were glitching out heavily, it's a great map now

 

I played Map 32 in Woof and DSDA - I didn't find any  weird texture issues.  Although, I did catch someone streaming this wad on twitch and they DID experience some really weird texture bleeding on Map 32. I assumed that it was a GZDoom issue, but I guess it's actually a PRBoom issue (which is strange, because this is just a limit removing mapset and DSDA, which is derived from PRBoom-Plus, didn't cause any issues for me).

[aRottenKomquat]

Map32 is very large. My computer can open any of the maps in UDB in less than a second, and Map32 takes close to 30 seconds (I never had any issues in-engine, but my computer is rather decent). So it may just be performance problems on certain systems with certain source ports. All those trees are hell on the Doom engine.

[Rabbid]

36 minutes ago, Ar_e_en said:

I played Map 32 in Woof and DSDA - I didn't find any  weird texture issues.  Although, I did catch someone streaming this wad on twitch and they DID experience some really weird texture bleeding on Map 32. I assumed that it was a GZDoom issue, but I guess it's actually a PRBoom issue (which is strange, because this is just a limit removing mapset and DSDA, which is derived from PRBoom-Plus, didn't cause any issues for me).

who was streaming it? also I guess I'm not the only person experiencing them...idk because the issues stopped eventually so really...who knows... I've never had issues with limit removing mapsets before...

 

9 minutes ago, aRottenKomquat said:

Map32 is very large. My computer can open any of the maps in UDB in less than a second, and Map32 takes close to 30 seconds, So it may just be performance problems on certain systems with certain source ports. All those trees are hell on the Doom engine.

probably, either way that's just unfortunate, the map looks pretty good, if a lot of trees = very good of course, which i do because I think detail is the main thing that makes a map good, and of course, it makes logical sense.

[UnknDoomer]

 

[aRottenKomquat]

Update: The download in the OP has been updated with minor fixes based on what I saw in @UnknDoomer's playthrough. I fixed the missing custom music for MAP27 and also added EXIT signs on all levels that were missing them (except MAP32).

[aRottenKomquat]

We're on idgames! https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/megawads/alphabetdoom

Edited March 30 by aRottenKomquat

[Ar_e_en]

On 3/30/2024 at 4:46 PM, aRottenKomquat said:

We're on idgames! https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/megawads/alphabetdoom

Nice! 

[DoctorNuriel]

Hell yeah

[Proxy-MIDI]

On 3/30/2024 at 3:46 PM, aRottenKomquat said:

We're on idgames! https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/megawads/alphabetdoom

 

Congratulations ! ;)

[Donowa]

are the symmetrical characters (like z, x, o, s, and n) asymmetrical for their respective levels?