VENOM VENDETTA (v1.2) - A Single MBF21 map

[AshtralFiend]

 

Venom Vendetta is a short single tech-base-themed mbf21 map for Doom2. The main focus was to make a map with a small monster count that could be quickly completed.

 

Story:

 

Spoiler

Breaking news! Hell is up to no good again! Afterburning our crops, they are now poisoning ourcity's water supply!
It all happened yesterday! A no-good Spiderdemon made herself at home at Doom city's water supply facility! 
Now she and her cohorts are spewing their poison everywhere, contaminating our precious water!

Hold on... We just received a report! An exterminator is now on its way to clean up this mess! 
Stay tuned for more details coming soon!

 

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Edit v1.2 change log:

 

Spoiler

- Fixed slime trailer present on windows before raising the bridge,
- Minor texture fixes and tweaks,
- Added better visual cues for some of the secrets,
- Fixed the possibility of getting some items without opening their closet,
- The first teleporter to the blue switch will only open after getting the blue key, making progression smoother,
- Moved the icon of sin further from the exit switch to avoid accidental deaths and restarts,
- Some enemies have a better clear shot at the player.

 

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Misc Info:

 

• Single Player;
• Only UV implemented (for now);
• Uses DOOM 2;
• Play Time: Between 15 and 20 minutes;
• Made in 3 days;
• Not designed with Jumping/freelook in mind (while jump will probably break the map, feel free to use freelook) ;
• Tested with DSDA and GZDOOM;
• New Color Palette (Created by me);
• Plasma Rifle sound effect from Sunlust.
• Map music: Bullet Train  - by DiR

 

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Screenshots:

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Download Link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/y1n3fzzqpcwywcuc72uq0/VVv2.zip?rlkey=6mvme9w336fi10wir0stcmsob&st=ayu3wn8v&dl=0

Edited May 20, 2024 by AshtralFiend
New Download Link

[DreadWanderer]

I love the screens, such a bold shade of pink. Will defo give it a shot later today!

[fefor]

Well that was honestly awesome, I really like the intertwined layout and the compact combat, the detailing and texturing is beautiful and that custom palette is very cool, love that doomcute laboratory desk and all of the moving machinery in the walls. I have a soft spot for maps that can be this engaging with a low enemy count, so this is a 10/10 in my book.

 

Spoiler

the explosion on the exit switch almost gave me a heart attack

 

Here's my uvmax demo played through DSDA

vv-uvmax-00002.zip

Edited April 2, 2024 by fefor

[Maribo]

Very vibrant color palette, I particularly like the greens and pinks. Cute map, thanks for sharing.

 

vv-maribo.zip - UV -dsdademo, v0.27.5.

[Matt Eldrydge]

I am a Matt and I endorse this map. :)

[Napeyear]

This was an excellent level with some incredible detailing and texturing! I had a blast running through this on UV. I thought the slime and water areas of the level really complement the palette that you used. I also liked the interconnected level design, going back through the same areas as the level progressed. The doomcute in the laboratory as someone else already mentioned was really dope too. I managed to find only one of the secrets, despite running through it twice.  I didn't think it was super difficult but it was a great challenge nonetheless, without being unfair or annoying all at the same time, (also really good for allowing monster infighting as well, which is a huge plus), Well done AshtralFiend!

 

4 hours ago, Matt Eldrydge said:

I am a Matt and I endorse this map. :)

 

As another Matt I support this message.

 

Spoiler

Note: I played it twice because my FDA was on MBF not MBF21 so I couldn't kill the IoS at the end. Not a problem because the rest of the level worked perfectly and it gave me another excuse to play it twice :P

 

Demo link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pwlbmrxGGKmRq-DP8P9Fj-oHEYnYdLK3/view?usp=sharing

 

My full comments below (as included in the zip file)
 

Spoiler

 

IWAD: Doom 2
PWAD: VENOM VENDETTA
Map: 1
Author: AshtralFiend

 

DEMO NOTES:
Player: Napeyear
Skill: 4 (Ultra-Violence)
Exe: Dsda Doom (MBF21)
Time: 7:34

 

Comments: Awesome MBF21 level with very solid progression and great item and monster placement. The color pallette for this map was very pleasing to look at and think the slime and water areas of the map really complement the overall aesthetic of the level, along with the music choice, making it really fun to zoom through on UV. I thought the arch-vile placement was really good, and was sinister without being too unfair, such as the second archvile that spawns near the red key after you deal with the first archvile. Dealing with the respawning monsters along with the arachnotron that creeps your way from across the bridge was way more hectic than I was expecting! Ammo and health was pretty much perfect in my opinion, as I always had enough, and If I ran out, I could just go back to previous areas of the level to stock back up. I liked the way you use verticality in this level, placing monsters in areas well above the player often able to shoot through the MIDSPACE textures from other areas of that map at the player. In addition, there were small platforming moments that didn't feel annoying at all, and took advantage of the great level design and interconnected nature of the level.

 

Though I only found one secret (the backpack behind the revenants in the blue key switch room), I thought the level had a good sense of progression, with just the right amount of exploration. I liked how when backtracking, there was always a new door that opened or monsters that spawn in to help guide the player to the right direction, though even if this weren't true I don't think the layout was particulary confusing enough to get lost. I think the spider mastermind placement was good too, being able to kill the mastermind right after grabbing the red key, or waiting until you grab the BFG was neat and I made a different choice on each of my demo attempts :)

 

There isn't much more I think I can say that would be super constructive, though I will say that on a previous demo attempt, I managed to grab the plasma gun by running up against the wall that conceals it, before hitting the switch, the only flaw I could nitpick in this map. I think that the level of detail and way your structured the encounters along with the map progression was exceptional, and I find it incredible that you made this level in only three days! 10/10 would play again.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2024 by Napeyear
Additional comments left out in demo notes

[AshtralFiend]

12 hours ago, fefor said:

Well that was honestly awesome

 

11 hours ago, Maribo said:

Very vibrant color palette, I particularly like the greens and pinks. Cute map, thanks for sharing.

 

Thank you for playing! Those were some nice runs!

 

11 hours ago, Matt Eldrydge said:

I am a Matt and I endorse this map. :)

 

Thanks for playtesting it! It gave me the confidence to share it here :D

 

7 hours ago, Napeyear said:

As another Matt I support this message.

 

Thank you so much for the extensive review and kind words! I tried to keep it simple, compact, and engaging :D

You were close to finding one of the secrets, but I think you missed the blinking switch (one of the downsides of detailing so much perhaps)

 

7 hours ago, Napeyear said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Note: I played it twice because my FDA was on MBF not MBF21 so I couldn't kill the IoS at the end. Not a problem because the rest of the level worked perfectly and it gave me another excuse to play it twice :P

 

  Hide contents

There isn't much more I think I can say that would be super constructive, though I will say that on a previous demo attempt, I managed to grab the plasma gun by running up against the wall that conceals it, before hitting the switch, the only flaw I could nitpick in this map.

 

 

Thanks for letting me know! I'll probably fix that and some other minor stuff I noticed in the demos.

Glad you had fun!

[Oxyde]

 

 

I came close to death many times during this playthrough. Banger music, and very cool flow of the level as a whole, loved the interconnection!

[DreadWanderer]

Finally got around to UV maxing this:

 

 

Great job, I love the layout and the vibes. Nice flow, compact, and with a few platforming puzzles on top. I've written some more extended impressions in the video description.

 

In terms of bugs I didn't really find any. Just so you know, the plasma gun and the secret megaarmor can be obtained without actually opening the closets. You don't even have to item bump, I think they're simply too close to the outside door of the alcoves and the player can just lightly brush the door. I also managed to get the rocket launcher from below in another run, possibly for the same reason. You could make the alcoves bigger and/or stash the goodies a bit more inside to make sure this can't be exploited.

Edited April 3, 2024 by DreadWanderer

[jmac]

This is one of the best-looking maps I've played. I especially liked the doomcute lab equipment in the baron room. The gameplay is also very solid, and you managed to squeeze a lot of good encounters out of a pretty small monster count. 

[mancubian_candidate]

Played this last night, good job as always 😄

[Paul814]

Just finished the map was great! Keep up the good work!

[AshtralFiend]

22 hours ago, DreadWanderer said:

In terms of bugs I didn't really find any. Just so you know, the plasma gun and the secret megaarmor can be obtained without actually opening the closets. You don't even have to item bump, I think they're simply too close to the outside door of the alcoves and the player can just lightly brush the door. I also managed to get the rocket launcher from below in another run, possibly for the same reason. You could make the alcoves bigger and/or stash the goodies a bit more inside to make sure this can't be exploited.

 

Thanks again for playing and for the heads up! One more thing to fix before uploading it to the archives!

 

23 hours ago, Oxyde said:

I came close to death many times during this playthrough. Banger music, and very cool flow of the level as a whole, loved the interconnection!

 

This was a great video! You went all-guns-blazing and still survived all the ambushes. Great work!

 

9 hours ago, jmac said:

This is one of the best-looking maps I've played. I especially liked the doomcute lab equipment in the baron room. The gameplay is also very solid, and you managed to squeeze a lot of good encounters out of a pretty small monster count. 

 

52 minutes ago, Paul814 said:

Just finished the map was great! Keep up the good work!

 

Glad you had fun :D

 

55 minutes ago, mancubian_candidate said:

Played this last night, good job as always 😄

 

Hey dude! Thanks! Glad to have you back! 😁

[DreadWanderer]

Another thing I think is worth adding: the volume for the MIDI seems to be all over the place, as if you were in front of a speaker but the speaker keeps moving closer and further away from you constantly. I suggest you normalize the level of the track, it's probably pretty easy to do in a program like Audacity.

[hawkwind]

I enjoyed playing this.

 

1. There is quite a visual bug however. At the start, from sector 628 you can clearly see a slime trail like error when looking at sector 165. And if fallen down at sector 847 - before sector 137 has risen - there is a similar rendering bug at sector 138.

 

2. Line 125 should be single sided and line 495 could use a slight x offset.

 

3. Line 7847 could have shawn2 as a front mid texture, to hide sector 1287.

Edited April 5, 2024 by hawkwind

[senpaigru]

this was a real treat to play and i love the colors. good work!

[AshtralFiend]

A new version with small fixes has been uploaded! A huge thanks to everyone who has played and provided feedback/videos!

[Custom Longplay]

I have written something about this map in my commentary! Otherwise I can only say, thumbs up for this map!

 

Project Brutality 3.0 - Doom 2 - Map: #356 - Venom Vendetta - [4K60ᶠᵖˢ]