Released: Infernal Gladiator

[Laocoön]

After eight months of mapping, music making, and more, I am proud to present my one-man, 33-map megawad:

Story 

Sanguinus Rex, ruler of one of Hell’s realms, the Ocean of Blood, has captured you and is forcing you to fight your way through a series of arenas. As if generated by satanic AI, these small-to-mid-size maps contain machinery, computers and structures that resemble human-made objects but serve no purpose. Every time you beat an arena, you are transported to a new, hellish pseudo-techbase location to start from scratch against a greater challenge, whilst the hell nobles bet on when you will succumb. As you proceed, you notice that the landscape becomes increasingly hellish. Can you survive all the arenas and kill the vampiric demon king in his fortress, the Mangled Heart?

 

Concept

The idea behind this megawad was to create maps that are challenging for intermediate players (such as myself) to beat in one sitting, saveless (but not blind!). The first 20 or so maps are therefore quite short, making restarting them less of a chore. Many of the early maps consist of just one or two rooms or spaces. Towards the end, the principle of brevity went out the window; the levels after map20 are increasingly large and probably fairly hard to beat in one sitting, without practice. That said, there are no excessive enemy counts even in the later levels. 

 

There are no official secrets in this wad, but it cannot hurt to do some exploring. All the levels have a computer area map, even the ones that really don’t need one. This is usually easy to find, but not always. 

 

Information 

33-level megawad. 

Map format: UDMF 

Tested with: GZDoom 4.10 and 4.11 

Jumping and crouching are disabled 

Pistols start is enforced through ZMapinfo

Texture pack: the wonderful OTEX, by Ukiro 

Music: original tunes composed, programmed and played by me. I use the tracker/DAW Renoise, and a combination of virtual and real instruments – although for this soundtrack, most instruments are virtual. The music is in .ogg format and takes up more space than your typical MIDI collection. 

The title screen, intermission screen and credits screen are also by me, and so is the menu graphic. 

 

Custom monsters 

The wad uses custom monsters, but they are quite rare in the earlier levels. 

 

Spoiler

 

Agathodemon by Jimmy 

Archon of Hell by Tormentor667 

Baby Cacodemon by Yuraofthehairfan 

Belphegor by Tormentor667 

Nosferati by MagicWazard (modified to become the final boss, Sanguinus Rex) 

 

Screenshots

Spoiler

 

 

 

Trailer

 

You can watch @austinado playtest the beta here (spoilers, obviously): 

Download link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a8IanZciBGBLUPh1zCHR4-iq94ej6W4k/view?usp=sharing

 

Design concepts
 

Below, I say something about the overall design concept and the idea behind each map. I write this more for my own sake than in the expectation that anyone will read it 😊 

 

Spoiler

 

In general, the visual concept of the wad since the beginning was “dark, satanic techbase” or “techbase in Hell”, using OTEX’s Black Metal textures as a basis. The longer I went on making maps, the more the concept became “techbase in Hell and X”. For example: techbase and flesh, techbase and ice, techbase and seas of blood, techbase and volcano, etc. 

 

There are some inescapable pits here and there, but fewer than I had intended. I often found myself adding lifts and stairs to get out of the lava/nukage where I got annoyed during playtesting.

 

I am terrible at platforming, so there are not many platform sections in this wad. There are some, however, as part of the purpose of this mapset is that intermediary players will get better at the game.

 

The combat design is a combination of my own original ideas mixed with remixed versions of other people’s concepts; experienced Doom players might recognise some homages here and there. 

 

MAP01 Up’n’Down 1 

This is not the first map I made, but it’s brisk, fun and easy to restart when things go wrong, and I decided early on to make it the introduction to the wad. The concept is also quite strong and clear: there is a cybie in the lift in the middle who follows you to whichever floor you are on, making each fight more complex. Climb to the top, jump down, get the BFG and delete him before you go to the exit. As with so many other tunes in this wad, the music track is a polymetric, Meshuggah-inspired  metal piece, fairly uptempo to reflect the pace of the level. 

 

MAP02 Hot Start 

This is not the only map with a hot start in the set, but it is maybe the most hectic. This map is a condensed version of the type of map where you need to collect one key of each colour. There are four fights: the opening bout, and one in each corner to get the keys. One of these was recently completely rejigged. The music track is even more in-yer-face than the previous one, to go with the busy nature of the level. 

 

MAP03 Grid 

This level takes place on bridges (in a sort of simple grid pattern) that raise and lower above nukage. All the goodies are on the bridges, and most of the enemies are in the nukage, so don’t fall off! The electronic techno music track is meant to evoke 90-degree angles and is therefore a straight 4 to the floor thing. 

 

MAP04 U-Turn 

The starting room is a small-scale version of that arch-vile circus in Sunlust map 29. The combat leads you away from and then back to this room (in a u-shape), finally presenting a new challenge as well as a now-open exit door. Like the three previous maps, this is more techbase than hell, but it is clearly not built by humans! The music here is classic nineties big beat, inspired by the Chemical Brothers’ Chemical Beats (303+Assembly Line break). 

 

MAP05 Corridors (formerly Mini-Maze) 

You are caught in a maze with an arch-vile and must find a way to unlock a berserk to kill him and the enemies that are unleashed when he dies. Consider it Tyson training in a confined space. This map turned out a bit too easy during playtests, so extra enemies teleport in once you’ve picked up the berserk. This level would play like a pig on any other port than GZDoom, because it is pretty cramped and you’d get stuck on the geometry a lot. The music is a creepy, atonal ambient piece. 

 

MAP06 Mound of Skulls (Formerly Skulls)

You are on a mound of skulls in a lake of blood in some sort of crater. Each time you flip a switch, walls raise up around you and you have to survive the monsters that teleport in. Do it again and again, until you have enough weapons and keys to get out. This map kills me a lot, especially the finale and the red key fight. I listened to the playtesters’ advice so that a Soulsphere teleports in after you’ve collected all three keys. The music is sort of polymetric metal again, but more mid-tempo, electronic, and without prominent djent guitars.  

 

MAP07 Death V 

This one might have been called Hot Start 2. There are six enemies guarding six switches, each one surrounded by protective crushers in an open space where only some pillars provide cover from everything. Once you have flipped each switch, stage two begins, where infighting is key to get 100% kills. This is one of the simpler maps, but it is not easy to beat. The tune here is up-tempo rock and roll. 

 

MAP08 Execution 

This is the first map I made for this wad. Its size and the simplicity of the concept are the models for everything else that happens in this wad, but some ideas introduced here were not adhered to as strictly as I had imagined. This is the most black-metal techbase of all the black-metal techbases in the set. Defeat a pyramid of Mancs, unlock the BFG, kill the remaining enemies and skedaddle. A bit of everything in a very confined space. I upped the difficulty a tiny bit after watching a playtest. The music is what I think of as movie trailer music: it goes ‘bweeeongg’. 

 

MAP09 Hashtag 

So-called because it resembles a hashtag symbol from above, this map is essentially a single arena where enemies come at you in increasingly intense stages as more resources gradually become available. I find this one kind of tricky myself, because it’s sort of relentless. Since the ceiling and the floor are very different, there’s an absolute shedload of linedefs in this map, despite its small size. The music is more polymetric metal, though you’d have to turn it up pretty loud to hear it over the carnage. 

 

MAP10 Up’n’Down 2 

This is the exact same concept as map01, but a very different execution – and tougher. The tune picks up the melody from Up’n’Down 1, but develops into something different, and it’s one of my favourites of my Meshuggah rip-offs.  

 

MAP11 Temples 

The only serious platformer of the pack, this map might resemble a much smaller and more industrial version of Precarious from Sunder (in concept if not aesthetically). It is a lot more forgiving, though: after a lot of playtesting I got sick of dying in the sludge, so I added a teleporter to get back up. Though I have played this level a lot, I am still not very good at platforming. The music is metal with a vaguely exotic vibe, to go with the temple structures seen in the background. 

 

MAP12 Concentric

For this map, the concept is that you start inside a box that opens up into a bigger box, wherein there are other boxes that open, something which keeps changing the arena and adding new monsters. Very techbasy level with an electronic soundtrack to boot. 

 

MAP13 Clamber 

Another map where you start at the bottom and have to get to the top, but this time the climb is more extensive, and there is no cyberdemon on a lift. I am happy with how varied this is in its verticality. More metal music, but acoustic, more pleasant and less full-on this time. 

 

MAP14 Warm Welcome 

You start in a demonic spaceship (?) in a hot, hellish caldera. The exit is behind locked bars, so you’ll have to venture outside to see if there’s a key. The concept for this level was hexagonal lava columns, and there’s quite a few of them. This is another short, hectic level with a hectic soundtrack. 

 

MAP15 Breakout 

As you head down a passage towards the entrance to another hellish techbase, a wall blows up, allowing you access to the outside world. Is this an escape? Nope. It is not. Visually, this continues where the previous map left off, with lots of lava, glowing rocks and angry demons. There is a secret exit. This used to have another metal toon as bgm, but the testosterone got a bit too much so I replaced it with a retro synth bop instead. 

 

MAP31 Low 

The bottom of an industrial pit. One of those maps where the walls you walk between at the beginning becomes platforms you traverse later. I added an extra lift late in the playtesting, because I got sick of going back to the stairs in the corner of the map each time I fell down from the platforming section. The original track for this was purely percussive, but I tired of it during late-stage playtesting and replaced it with one I’d made earlier and never used for anything, despite being quite fond of it. The only exit takes you to map 32.  

 

Map32 Intorsion

The last map I made. A lot happening in a relatively small space. Very pleased with the aesthetics as well as the combat. The tune's a waltz.

 

MAP33 Idyll 

This is the closest the mapset gets to a joke map. Endless BFG ammo versus endless cyberdemons etc. to the sound of birdsong and synth arpeggios. The central structure in the cave is meant to evoke 1980s plastic toys. This absolutely broke during playtesting and underwent some big changes. 

 

MAP16 Hell Hall 

Another industrial-style arena, but industrial in a very demonic way. At this stage the demons are getting a bit nervous about your progress, so they are upping the ante. For fans of rusty metal, concrete, and large spaces. The music track shifts between calm and full-on. 

 

MAP17 Cramped 

As the name implies, there is not a lot of space to manoeuvre in here, even though it opens up more towards the end. Very rusty and industrial, with a militaristic soundtrack. 

 

MAP18 Flesh Fort 

Huge fleshy apertures act as the entrance to some sort of hellish building that might be described as a caco sanctuary guarded by cyberdemons.  Enter at your peril! And then kill everything. 

 

MAP19 Run Away 

You are being chased and must fight your way through the obstacles efficiently or be caught up and gibbed. Your reward for getting to the end is a BFG and the option to go back and avenge yourself on the big lads who were bullying you. Up-tempo breakbeats/jungle keeps the tension high. 

 

MAP20 Bracing 

Set on a frozen lake, this one is quite simple in principle: lure the cyberdemon into the trap and squash him. This will open the doors to the slaughterhouse, where you must defeat all the enemies to get to the exit. In practice, however, this is easier said than done. The ice is so cold it hurts, so try not to fall off the central structure. Plinky-plonly ice music accompanies the action. 

 

MAP21 Blood Boiler 

This one takes place in a kind of cauldron of blood, on marble and metal walkways and towers crawling with cranky monsters. Fight your way to the big gate across the way and slaughter your way to freedom! Bit cramped at times, this one. Moody music, but not too heavy, for once. 

 

MAP22 Worship 

The demons had a satanic church they weren’t using for anything and thought it might make for a good gladiatorial combat location. Visit its catacombs, find some keys, unlock the big gate and get murdering! The music is appropriately moody, spooky and heavy. At this point I found myself making slightly more exploration/adventure/story-oriented maps, though they are not yet very big. 

 

MAP23 Slice of Heaven 

For this one, the demons have literally sliced out a section of heaven and repurposed it as another arena in which to torture Doomguy. The second half takes place at the bottom of a lift ride, in a very different milieu.  

 

MAP24 Brain 

For this one, the demons teleported in a real human techbase and plonked it down in one of the most disgustingly organic and fleshy areas of the Kingdoom of Blood. The result is a bio-technological mishmash, where it is sometimes hard to see where unethical human experiment ends and hellish chaos begins. Except at the end, where it is very easy to tell! 

 

MAP25 Pentagram  

Another human techbase repurposed as an arena, this one is more slick and space-age than the previous map and less fleshy, but very much infested by demons. This one is meant to be mean and hard, and I think that’s succeeded. By now, there’s no going back to simple, one-room concepts. Just like map24, this level has several different stages and sections and it teleports you to a different location for the finale. 

 

MAP26 Hole 

The final attempt by the demons to be shot of you – if you can escape this pit and ascend to the surface you will have access to the Kingdom of Blood itself, where you can then start working your way towards Sanguinus Rex for some revengin’. Before that, however, there are a lot of caves to explore and nasty critters to kill. The goal here was to create a variegated organic underground map, somewhat in the style of Troglodyte from Sunlust, but with more variation in the texture use. The music is metal, very loosely inspired by Doom 2’s original map26 music. This is the first level to use the custom music changer so that the final stretch has a different (but related) musical theme.  

 

MAP27 Bloody Hell pt1 

My favourite map in the set (with maps 28 and 30 close behind), this marks the point where you are no longer fighting in confined arenas. Instead you will be battling your way through the streets of the demons’ fortified coastal town (on a sea of blood) to the tower teleporter that will send you directly into the capital of Sanguinus’ kingdom. This map combines medieval castles, unholy cathedrals and evil Tudor residential buildings with modern technology, and blood, blood, blood. Reflecting this, the music is equal parts pipe organ, heavy metal and electronic. 

 

MAP28 Bloody Hell pt2 

Having gained access to the central parts of the Kingdom of Blood, you’d expect yourself to be surrounded by grand buildings, red rocks, lava, more seas of blood, and masses of angry demons. And that’s exactly what you get here. The music is sludgy and dark, but speeds up at the climax – because this map too uses the custom music changer Thing. 

 

MAP29 White Heat 

The barrier between the central parts of the kingdom and its innermost heart consists of three dimensions of slaughter: the white central area, the blue/water area and the yellow/gold area. Using the yellow and blue keys you can unlock the final battle and progress to Sanguinus’ castle. The four areas each have their own soundtrack, in the same tonal key but with different levels of intensity. 

 

MAP30 The Mangled Heart 

This is Sanguinus Rex’s fortress city. The tech here is overgrown with flesh, blood, organs and other nasty things, and riddled with lots of very angry demons. Found throughout the map, Sanguinus’ elite bodyguards present an additional challenge. This is the biggest map of the wad, but it still clocks in a three-digit enemy number. Combat and gameplay are quite varied. Some sections involve exploring to find resources and unlock progress. Some sections are simple combat puzzles. There is one slaughterish section near the end, as well as mid-level and final boss battles. Using the music changer again instils each battle with its own mood. The soundtrack here is a continuation of the theme heard over the title screen. Once you have beaten Sanguinus Rex, you are free to go back to your own reality. Unless you want to play again. 

 

 

Edited May 26 by Laocoön

[Baron T. Mueriach]

Wow, did this just get released, or is it some kind of repost? Just confused on how nobody has commented yet lol

 

But holy moly this is nuts!

[Laocoön]

It just got released last night! (European time)

Edited April 8 by Laocoön

[Laocoön]

I added a massive amount of text to the first post, in case anyone wants to read about the ideas behind the maps. Play them first, though!

[Frank Harper]

Completed first five levels. The visuals are really looking good, and the levels seem to be designed so that you put your foot on the gas pedal and only take it off when the last demon is dead.

So far I got only two complains:
- Level 5: Corridors - it`s not hard but I think it takes a lot of luck, more than I like. Sometimes you get a really bad enemy movement and find yourself trapped with no way to survive.
- Second one is very subjective - music. I can't say nothing bad about the music itself, especially considering that it was made by you. But the old man in me can't accept high-quality .ogg tracks in DOOM. In my opinion MIDI suits better.

Overall, good job! Looking forward to finishing it!

[Laocoön]

Thanks for your comments, and for playing! I agree that map05 can be a bit random, but there are strats not to get caught. As for the music, I have been toying with the idea of adding a version with midis, but I couldn't get my head round how to use (or even install) midi editors, and I am too much of a control freak to use music made by others, so .ogg it is. The music is made on a tracker, though, so it's essentially nineties in that respect. (I too am old!)

[Laocoön]

 

New showcase video

[Laocoön]

Take a look at some of the early maps here (18 mins)

 

[Wo0p]

Whoa! Congratz and mad respect to create a megawad and accompanying music all by your lonesome, that's my current dream haha. I'll definitely try this out :)

 

EDIT: I love it. Music is awesome and seems to be somewhat Doom 2016/Eternal inspired, but fit the themes of the maps very well :) Haven't played too many maps yet but they're engaging, short and energetic. Noice!

Edited April 16 by Wo0p

[Laocoön]

Aw, thanks! That's great to hear!

 

Edit: the music is not directly inspired by Doom 2016/Eternal, but Mick Gordon and I both like Meshuggah, I think. That said, there's lots of tracks in this wad that are not metal.

Edited April 16 by Laocoön

[Bryan T]

Perfect example of UDMF getting no appreciation on this site. Guy spends 8 months making a full wad and gets a couple replies.

 

I took a look at the levels. Some of the later ones are really impressive looking. I'll play it tomorrow. Thanks for the levels.

Edited April 26 by Bryan T

[Laocoön]

Thanks, man. I hope you will enjoy the wad! I'm really happy with it and would love for more people to play it.

 

As you will discover, it is not really using UDMF in a conspicuous way, as it's all behind-the-scenes stuff. For example, making it so a door opens when a specific monster dies is super quick and easy to do in UDMF, and it's just one if many little things that make it a joy to use for mapping!

[Arena Chess]

Very ambitious and looks of high quality. I look forward to playing this, but I will hold off until you have a final version. It's a shame this doesn't seem to be getting more engagement at the moment.

[Laocoön]

Thanks for digging this up. The whole wad has been played through by a few people and neither I nor they have found any bugs or issues - you can safely play this now if you want to. 

 

I've changed the topic title to reflect the fact that I now regard the wad finished.

[Arena Chess]

Just started a playthrough yesterday, and although I'm only about halfway through, I just wanted to say you have put together something quite excellent. I love how sleek and not overly detailed your aesthetic choices are. Gameplay wise, I love the snappy, straight to the point approach. That opener really sets the tone, and the pace feels very nice. Like the pressure eases up just enough for you to catch your breath and keep pushing. Very enjoyable.

As for the music, what can I say? It's awesome. I love the chugging, djenty sounds. Groovy and not overly aggressive. I appreciate that there's some more electronic/ synth elements throughout as well. Atmospheric, and haunting at times. Reminds me a bit of Meshuggah & Gojira, and I mean that as a high compliment It's right up my alley. Very interested in hearing more of your music. What are some of the inspirations behind your compositions? 

Anyhow, great work overall. Thanks for all the love and time you put into this. It really shows. 

[Laocoön]

Thanks so much for playing and for the very kind and nice feedback. I hope you will continue to enjoy the maps and the music in the second half of the wad as well!

 

I am really busy at the moment, but I can't say how grateful I am that people seem to like my music. No one cared or noticed before I started soundtracking Doom wads. When I have more time, I'll be very happy to share more of my music and discuss how I approach making it. In the meantime, check out my channel on YouTube for a small handful of songs: https://youtube.com/@la_o_co_on?si=rRlUrYEvmw2BLWOF

[Laocoön]

@Arena Chess

 

[Arena Chess]

3 hours ago, Laocoön said:

@Arena Chess

 

Thanks for sharing. I enjoy this very much. :D

[Firedust]

Beat this over the course of two evenings. You have a very clean mapping style and some cool original ideas (like in pursuit for example). Couldn't for the life of me figure out how to access the secret exit teleporter in 15. And I kinda wish you added secrets to at least some of the levels. Regardless, good stuff.

 

I did find one potential softlock in map 26 - you mistagged the door by the red key. If the player were to go there without having obtained the blue key first, then there'd be no way out.

 

Looking forward to your next mapset!

[Laocoön]

Thanks for playing! Sorry for mistagging that door. Will fix it and upload a new version as soon as I can.

[Laocoön]

To get to the secret exit:

Spoiler

-Shoot fireblu texture in crevasse near the normal exit

-Shoot switch that is revealed on a nearby pillar

-Jump in the lava, grab a radsuit to survive, and return to the Cyberdemon area, where you'll find a gate has opened 

 

[Firedust]

Dammit. I actually did step 1 but never noticed the newly revealed switch. Welp.

[Laocoön]

5 hours ago, Firedust said:

Dammit. I actually did step 1 but never noticed the newly revealed switch. Welp.

I assume you warped to the secret leves?

[Firedust]

1 hour ago, Laocoön said:

I assume you warped to the secret leves?

No clipped through the wall to take the secret teleporter lol