Maiden Voyage V2.0 - Now On IDGAMES! A 32 Map Limit Removing Megawad - My First Ever Maps

[Mustangtel]

2 hours ago, Large Cat said:

I've also included a simple dehacked file that you can pop right into your wad to display the correct automap names, if you like. You can copy that format for any non-vanilla format.

 

 

Oh gosh...I missed that bit when I first read your post! You took the time to do that for me??  that is incredibly gracious of you...I'm touched, thank you! I just opened slade3 and bunged that dehacked file into it with the wad, and it works perfectly! now the level names display correctly in the automap. I going to fix some bugs, include that dehacked patch, and edit my opening post with the updated version in the next couple of days.

 

Thank you :-)

[TMMMS]

theres one need to go back outside ie backtracking to the very beginning to get the secret shotgun behind the house

 

anyway always happy to help i made it to map03 already and i will give more feedback as i go

[OnionTaco22]

Looks interesting and just downloaded it. It's too late in the night right now for me, but I will hopefully play it sometime tomorrow.

[Clippy]

9 hours ago, mancubian_candidate said:

Wow, what an achievement! I'd love to give this a shot but don't have time to play a whole megawad at the moment (have a huge backlog!)

 

I'll try record maps 6-10 seeing as Clippy did maps 1-5 and I'll leave feedback here 😄

 

I got a rare extra free time and interest today so I went ahead and gave er with this 

 

 

@thelamp visited via dying phone and has a cool fridge

 

You're still bringing new ideas to the table and for the most part I am keeping interest but some maps are maybe a lil longer than need be - but other than that I see different ideas and concepts still forming and a reasonable and decent uptick in difficulty mostly - hope the vid is helpful anyhow have a good 1

 

It's also noted and impressive I haven't seem to find any real game breaks, soft locks or screw ups. Everything works I have a feel you tested these thoroughly - this is very good you can tell you put passion into this and tried to make something with effort and care

 

Again, well WELL above the curve of ppl starting out, but most ppl are impatient kids haha - which is also what could be holding ppl back from diving too deep into it, it's turning out to be a very slow burn and everyone these days has A.D.D.

[Mustangtel]

25 minutes ago, Clippy said:

 

I got a rare extra free time and interest today so I went ahead and gave er with this 

 

Oh nice one Clippy!  I'm off to watch that right now :-)

 

I have actually just changed a little something in map 7 (only a minor change), along with some other small fixes....I'll be releasing the updated version soon. Might wait a few days to see if anyone reports any further issues.

 

Tonight I've fixed the following bugs / annoyances:

 

Map 01: Fixed the bug so that the door can no longer close on you to lock you out.

Map 05: Made the red door need the red key to open (how on earth did I miss that one ha!)

Map 07: I've got rid of those annoying multiple switch presses during the initial Mancubi fight, and replaced them with a tag 666 action (now that I know how to do it!)

Map 13: I've "tarted" up the central arena area a little bit to try and make it a bit less bland looking.

Map 15: I've fixed it so that the player can no longer grab the yellow key and take the secret exit without taking on the last big fight. I'm pretty sure its now foolproof and can't be cheesed :-)

Map 16 and 18: Fixed the possible softlock issues in those two maps.

Map 19: I've added just a few extra provisions to the start area to make it slightly less sadistic :-)

 

Maybe I should have made some of the maps a little shorter and used the time saved to make them look a little better....something I'll bear in mind for the future.

[TMMMS]

so wheres the fourth secret in map03 i see that not even clippy in their playthrough was able to get it

[EduardoAndFriends]

11 hours ago, Mustangtel said:

ohh...first Clippy, and now Eduardo and Friends....I'm truely honoured :-) (been subscribed to both of you on Youtube for a while now). Cheers mate!

 

Don't expect too much though...it has a few issues lol

No worries man! Think of any issues as an opportunity to think “well I won’t do that again”. I still do think this quite often! If I feel a map is a bit bland or not jiving how I want it, I’ll check out a map I’m inspired by and consider what makes it great and work out how to emulate those qualities. 😎 one thing: never give up, never surrender! By Grabthar’s Hammer!

[Mustangtel]

11 hours ago, TMMMS said:

so wheres the fourth secret in map03 i see that not even clippy in their playthrough was able to get it

I won't spoil it completely, but its not hard to find...think corridors not far from the red key location...but not in any of the bedrooms ;-)

[Large Cat]

Here are my demo playthroughs for the rest of the wad, maps 21-30 (still on UV in DSDA Doom). They're still recorded on the original version of the wad, of course.

 

mv-e3-largecat.zip

 

The last episode actually introduces some interesting new elements, not really seen in the earlier maps!

Spoiler

• MAP21 is a great breath of fresh air, just letting loose and showing you its whole hand from the start. This does wonders for pacing, given that most maps at this point feel more like marathons with how many enemies are waiting to knock your block off, spread across a grand facility layout. MAP21, on the other hand, is mostly one explosive combat scenario. We love it.
• MAP29's final combat was a great view with the ceiling, and the scale does work nicely as an ultimate event. It still suffers from many issues of other large-scale fights, but it serves its role as a peak moment well.
• MAP30's first fight might be my favorite in the wad; it's spicy and constricted in a way that hasn't happened at any point up to now. The final fight's AV towers also create a nice initial objective with some danger to mitigate.

I'm interested to see where your continued mapping journey takes you! I'm especially interested if you delve more into high-monster-count slaughter combat.

[Mustangtel]

35 minutes ago, Large Cat said:

Here are my demo playthroughs for the rest of the wad, maps 21-30 (still on UV in DSDA Doom). They're still recorded on the original version of the wad, of course.

 

mv-e3-largecat.zip

 

The last episode actually introduces some interesting new elements, not really seen in the earlier maps!

  Hide contents

• MAP21 is a great breath of fresh air, just letting loose and showing you its whole hand from the start. This does wonders for pacing, given that most maps at this point feel more like marathons with how many enemies are waiting to knock your block off, spread across a grand facility layout. MAP21, on the other hand, is mostly one explosive combat scenario. We love it.
• MAP29's final combat was a great view with the ceiling, and the scale does work nicely as an ultimate event. It still suffers from many issues of other large-scale fights, but it serves its role as a peak moment well.
• MAP30's first fight might be my favorite in the wad; it's spicy and constricted in a way that hasn't happened at any point up to now. The final fight's AV towers also create a nice initial objective with some danger to mitigate.

I'm interested to see where your continued mapping journey takes you! I'm especially interested if you delve more into high-monster-count slaughter combat.

Hey Large Cat...thank you so much for your comments! I'm wondering if you're the first person to complete the whole wad?

 

Really pleased you generally liked the final episode. Most of those maps were the final maps I made, after gaining some experience...the exception being Map 29, which was originally going to be the final level of an 11 map episode. Once I got to 11 maps though I thought to myself "I've come this far so I might as well continue"....and before I knew it, it had turned into a full 32 maps. So....I then decided I wanted the current map 29 to be the final level. (i'm sure you know what I'm going to say next ha ha).....

 

So I changed the slot to map 30 in UDB and then tested it. All went ok until the final fight...hundreds of monsters started teleporting in....and all of them telefragging each other immediately! Actually quite comical to watch, but of course completely useless for the game. Took me a while to figure out that monsters can telefrag each other on a MAP30 slot.  So changed it to MAP29 and made a new MAP30, which was the final level I made for this wad, hence why I guess it plays a little better. (pretty brutal in places though...even I can't beat it saveless, and I made the bleedin' thing lol).

 

I've been watching your demos....thanks so much for doing that!  On map 31 I was shouting at the screen "don't fight the revs....release the cyber!"

[TMMMS]

3 hours ago, Mustangtel said:

I won't spoil it completely, but its not hard to find...think corridors not far from the red key location...but not in any of the bedrooms ;-)

if its the secret soulsphere youre referring to then i already got it

 

anyway ive since decided to cheat and thats how i managed to locate the elusive fourth secret which is a box of rockets near the large well

[Clippy]

This is unprecedented for me to have this much time but I've had it and I used it for this

 

 

I filmed this shortly after the previous session but since it was Monday everybody was working so just me this time

 

You pumped out a lot of maps here they're just getting a little big to digest so I'm going to take a break for a while and focus on other things but I do hope to visit the bonus map someday and yes I'll get the newer version

 

In the meantime hope more people check this out but for now I'm back to work

 

Have a good 1 

[JaySmithen]

I just played the first four maps with Doom Incarnate and I have to say this is a fantastic set of maps, I've had a big stupid grin the whole time I've been playing 😁
I really like how there is a lot of room to move around in 👍

I'm gonna go play some more, Cheers Mustangtel! 🍻😀

[sandwedge]

Hey there, just played the first 8 maps and had a good time!  I haven't played doom much lately and wanted to play some stuff in crispy doom, and I had sat in on one of clippy's videos so this came to mind.  Exactly the type of oldschool straightforward levels I felt like playing coming back to doom.  Of course great stuff putting so many levels together so quickly!  Some specific notes I took (played in crispy doom on ultra-violence pistol start):

 

-Levels have a vanilla feel despite being limit removing, I bet a bunch of this would naturally work under vanilla limits.  As a beginner it makes sense to use an easier format, but might be worth checking out vanilla if you're confident because there are quite a few vanilla fans out there like me!  Or you could go the route of detailing maps more, or ignore that and do whatever you want, but it looks nice on low res crispy doom settings.  Like playing a 90's wad without the annoying stuff lol.

-I was starting to feel a bit fatigued with the visuals but then map 6 was a nice breath of fresh air with the outdoor craggy rocks.  Some more stuff like that would be cool.  I like that it transitions in a techbase type area, going through variable terrain is a nice way to tell a story to a player.

-I like a bunch of the larger encounter traps, not too hard but satisfying.  Plenty of good incidental combat too, though at times predictable.  Something you'll undoubtedly get a feel for as you go.  I love mowing down hitscanners so works for me!

-Map 7: I had a glitch with the first door into the big area, couldn't open it on the other side to leave the level.  Looked at in doom builder and saw a trigger in the rev trap area thats supposed to open it but it didnt work for some reason.  Also I figured you could use the map 7 special trigger instead of switches until I realized you have more mancubi in the level.  I think for that trigger to work you have to kill all mancubi in the level iirc so maybe that won't work.  Or change the later monsters.

- In general you use the trick a lot to have several switches to pop up to leave an area, it became a bit tedious after a while.  Other wads use different tricks to let you leave that make it hard to exit during fights that dont take so long, maybe just dont require so many switches or dont make it the same type every time.

-I think all the levels were about 10-15 minutes long, and all had a lot of backtracking with all the keys.  I wouldn't be so afraid to have a bit more variable length, especially with the first few levels, maybe have shorter breather levels, and not necessarily rely on the same backtracking tricks to extend playtime in every level.

 

All in all I enjoyed your work, it's a great first megawad (!) and look forward to playing more!

 

 

[Mustangtel]

7 hours ago, JaySmithen said:

I just played the first four maps with Doom Incarnate and I have to say this is a fantastic set of maps, I've had a big stupid grin the whole time I've been playing 😁
I really like how there is a lot of room to move around in 👍

I'm gonna go play some more, Cheers Mustangtel! 🍻😀

Ah nice one Jay!  I'm really pleased you like it :-)  I have probably given a little TOO much room to move around really...something I'll think about in the future. By the way, I'm releasing a small update later today to fix some bugs and issues.

[Mustangtel]

3 hours ago, sandwedge said:

Hey there, just played the first 8 maps and had a good time!  I haven't played doom much lately and wanted to play some stuff in crispy doom, and I had sat in on one of clippy's videos so this came to mind.  Exactly the type of oldschool straightforward levels I felt like playing coming back to doom.  Of course great stuff putting so many levels together so quickly!  Some specific notes I took (played in crispy doom on ultra-violence pistol start):

 

-Levels have a vanilla feel despite being limit removing, I bet a bunch of this would naturally work under vanilla limits.  As a beginner it makes sense to use an easier format, but might be worth checking out vanilla if you're confident because there are quite a few vanilla fans out there like me!  Or you could go the route of detailing maps more, or ignore that and do whatever you want, but it looks nice on low res crispy doom settings.  Like playing a 90's wad without the annoying stuff lol.

-I was starting to feel a bit fatigued with the visuals but then map 6 was a nice breath of fresh air with the outdoor craggy rocks.  Some more stuff like that would be cool.  I like that it transitions in a techbase type area, going through variable terrain is a nice way to tell a story to a player.

-I like a bunch of the larger encounter traps, not too hard but satisfying.  Plenty of good incidental combat too, though at times predictable.  Something you'll undoubtedly get a feel for as you go.  I love mowing down hitscanners so works for me!

-Map 7: I had a glitch with the first door into the big area, couldn't open it on the other side to leave the level.  Looked at in doom builder and saw a trigger in the rev trap area thats supposed to open it but it didnt work for some reason.  Also I figured you could use the map 7 special trigger instead of switches until I realized you have more mancubi in the level.  I think for that trigger to work you have to kill all mancubi in the level iirc so maybe that won't work.  Or change the later monsters.

- In general you use the trick a lot to have several switches to pop up to leave an area, it became a bit tedious after a while.  Other wads use different tricks to let you leave that make it hard to exit during fights that dont take so long, maybe just dont require so many switches or dont make it the same type every time.

-I think all the levels were about 10-15 minutes long, and all had a lot of backtracking with all the keys.  I wouldn't be so afraid to have a bit more variable length, especially with the first few levels, maybe have shorter breather levels, and not necessarily rely on the same backtracking tricks to extend playtime in every level.

 

All in all I enjoyed your work, it's a great first megawad (!) and look forward to playing more!

 

 

Hey Sandwedge! great to hear from you, and many thanks for your analysis :-) its always humbling to get praise from someone I've watched many many times on Youtube...First Clippy, Large Cat and Eduardoandfriends, and now yourself, Thank you!

 

As you say, I'm sure a lot of the maps probably are actually Vanilla, but some I'm pretty sure exceed the limits, so I decided to play safe and call it Limit Removing. If using Crispy, please bear in mind the possible bug I mentioned regarding Map 32....it can turn into an All Ghost Monsters mess sometimes (about 1 in 3 times when I tested with Crispy...totally fine with GZ though).

 

Yes...the switches at the start of Map 7 are annoying to say the least lol. I've actually already fixed the issue ready for release in Version 1.1 (along with some other bugfixes) ready to release later today. The switches have been removed and replaced with Tag 666 action (and the later mancubi replaced of course). Oh, and I'll definitely have a look and see whats happening with the door issue you had. EDIT: Just had a look, and I can't see why that linedef didn't open the door for you...however, just to be safe, I've added a very simple fix to V1.1 in case it happens to anyone else (simply made that door a blue door for the way back...you'll already have the blue key by then).

 

Cheers mate :-)

Edited May 1 by Mustangtel

[Mustangtel]

Version 1.1 bugfix is now available. I've edited my opening post with the new download links.

 

Just a few subtle changes and fixed some bugs. Many thanks to everyone who reported the bugs (especially Large Cat).

 

Fixed some issues with doors sometimes not opening in maps 1 and 7.

Map 5: the red door is now actually a red door!

Map 7: Got rid of the annoying switches during the initial mancubi fight and replaced with proper tag 666 action. Also replaced later mancubi so that this action works.

Map 13: Some slight visual improvements and a slight change to end fight to make less "cheesable"

Map 15: Player can no longer grab yellow key and exit to secret level without taking on the final big fight.

Maps 16 & 18: fixed possible softlock issues.

Map 19: added just a few extra provisions at start area.

Added Dehacked file so that map names appear in the automap. (thanks again to Large Cat).

A few minor texture misalignments fixed in another two or three levels (I'm sure there are still some other minor ones!).

[DoomBerry]

Played up to map 12 on latest gzdoom.

 

Spoiler

 

Really enjoying the levels, especially the Imp slaughter and the awesome midi pack :-)

 

Very easy to follow maps, not very difficult in 95% of the fights/traps but the odd bigger fight is great.

 

Not found any major bugs to report yet outside of already reported texture alignments, just wanted to say great work!

 

 

 

Thank you

Edited May 1 by DoomBerry

[Mustangtel]

3 hours ago, DoomBerry said:

Played up to map 12 on latest gzdoom.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Really enjoying the levels, especially the Imp slaughter and the awesome midi pack :-)

 

Very easy to follow maps, not very difficult in 95% of the fights/traps but the odd bigger fight is great.

 

Not found any major bugs to report yet outside of already reported texture alignments, just wanted to say great work!

 

 

 

Thank you

Hi DoomBerry...many thanks for the feedback. I'm really pleased you enjoyed playing :-)

 

Yes the music is indeed awesome...all credit for that of course goes to Jimmy, Stewboy, Esselfortium and AD79 for allowing me to use it. I don't have a musical bone in my body so there's no way I could have made my own midis!

[Zesiir]

There we go, I've finished it. The last ten or so levels feel a lot more polished, which is expected from a first megawad. They are also hard as nails, but

I pulled through. I really enjoyed MAP24, as simple as it was the wow-factor of all those Cacodemons was worth it. And MAP28 was hard, but fair

and had both interesting architecture and good gameplay through the entire thing.

 

I struggled a lot with MAP30, you can probably guess where. But I took potshots at the Archviles with the Rocketlauncher, circled around the hordes

of monsters until I could flip the two switches that opened the exit, and then left as quickly as I could. I didn't get 100% in kills, but who cares.

 

@Large Cat Sums up pretty much everything I thought of as I played through the wad.

 

One thing I noticed, is that you're probably not aware that switches can be activated if they are adjacent to ledges. If you are below a switch that is

on a wall, you can activate it regardless of how high up it is. It's possible to cheese certain fights this way. Which I did at times...

 

Spoiler

 

Like here;

 

 

And here.

 

 

 

[Mustangtel]

1 hour ago, Zesiir said:

There we go, I've finished it. The last ten or so levels feel a lot more polished, which is expected from a first megawad. They are also hard as nails, but

I pulled through. I really enjoyed MAP24, as simple as it was the wow-factor of all those Cacodemons was worth it. And MAP28 was hard, but fair

and had both interesting architecture and good gameplay through the entire thing.

 

I struggled a lot with MAP30, you can probably guess where. But I took potshots at the Archviles with the Rocketlauncher, circled around the hordes

of monsters until I could flip the two switches that opened the exit, and then left as quickly as I could. I didn't get 100% in kills, but who cares.

 

@Large Cat Sums up pretty much everything I thought of as I played through the wad.

 

One thing I noticed, is that you're probably not aware that switches can be activated if they are adjacent to ledges. If you are below a switch that is

on a wall, you can activate it regardless of how high up it is. It's possible to cheese certain fights this way. Which I did at times...

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Like here;

 

 

And here.

 

 

 

Nice one Zesiir, I'm glad you've completed it :-) Yeah I think the last episode is probably the better of the three, purely because most of them were the later ones I made. I'm pleased you liked map 24...I wasn't sure people would like that one due to its simple layout....I actually set myself a speed challenge for that map and made it in 2 hours.

 

If its any consolation, I can't beat Map 30 without saving...it is considerably tougher than the other maps I think. But being the final map I think that's allowed :-)

 

Ah...I was always testing to see if any of the switches could be cheesed like that, but I never dreamed those two examples you show could be reached like that! I shall have to be more careful of those. Thankfully those two you show don't make a massive difference...maybe saves you a minute or so.

Edited May 1 by Mustangtel

[StyxGaming]

Hey! I came across this the other day and just knew I had to make a series on my channel playing this.

Never really do pistol start but decided this would be a great map set to try my luck!

Just posted the first level and can't wait to continue and hope to bring some attention to this wad!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csaKOOhnmzE&t=343s

[Mustangtel]

15 minutes ago, StyxGaming said:

Hey! I came across this the other day and just knew I had to make a series on my channel playing this.

Never really do pistol start but decided this would be a great map set to try my luck!

Just posted the first level and can't wait to continue and hope to bring some attention to this wad!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csaKOOhnmzE&t=343s

Hey, thanks so much for playing!  I just watched your youtube playthrough of map 1 and really enjoyed it :-)   (just subscribed too).  I've watched lots of your other vids in the past, and I'm pleased you're going to do these pistol start, as I think they play better that way. Version 1.1 (the current version in the download links) has a dehacked lump for the automap names, but not for the intermission screens. However, I'm currently working on Version 2.0, which will have some minor alterations to some of the maps (nothing that drastically alters gameplay though), some lightly improved visuals, and inclusion of the "CWILV" files to display the map names between levels. Hope to be releasing version 2.0 in a week or so time.

 

Thanks again!

[StyxGaming]

4 minutes ago, Mustangtel said:

Hey, thanks so much for playing!  I just watched your youtube playthrough of map 1 and really enjoyed it :-)   (just subscribed too).  I've watched lots of your other vids in the past, and I'm pleased you're going to do these pistol start, as I think they play better that way. Version 1.1 (the current version in the download links) has a dehacked lump for the automap names, but not for the intermission screens. However, I'm currently working on Version 2.0, which will have some minor alterations to some of the maps (nothing that drastically alters gameplay though), some lightly improved visuals, and inclusion of the "CWILV" files to display the map names between levels. Hope to be releasing version 2.0 in a week or so time.

 

Thanks again!

 

I saw you recommended pistol start so wanted to stay true to what you envisioned for your maps!

I will have to download the newer version for going forward and will keep an eye out for version 2. Great job so far though I definitely can see the passion behind the maps. 

[Clippy]

The party is not over yet here's the bonus maps 

 

 

 

I played too early nobody visited but was fun. Surprised how short map 32 was 

 

I only died once guess where I screwed up 

 

Will be back later. I'll be sure to always check for newer versions each session 

[Dragneel1967]

On 4/28/2024 at 8:57 AM, Mustangtel said:

Yes definitely a coincidence lol...never played GTA IV in my life. I called it Maiden Voyage purely because this is my first outing as a mapper...and the Titanic tie in is because bad things happened to her on her maiden voyage....

TITANIC TIE IN?! Oh I'm for sure playing now!! I love the Titanic and her history!

[Keyboard_Doomer]

Hello,

 

we're going to play part 1 of the wad for Thursday Night Survival today.

Setting sail 4.5 hours from the time of this post and you can expect it to last for 4+ hours... unless something unexpected happens.

[DogsRNice]

I really enjoyed seeing how in just the first few maps the level of detail and texture quality going up.

 

I like how map 4 begins with a view of the exit, its something I enjoy in level design.

 

If I remember I'll add some more thoughts when I play some more.

[Mustangtel]

7 minutes ago, DogsRNice said:

I really enjoyed seeing how in just the first few maps the level of detail and texture quality going up.

 

I like how map 4 begins with a view of the exit, its something I enjoy in level design.

 

If I remember I'll add some more thoughts when I play some more.

ah thanks...I'm pleased you're enjoying it :-)

 

I'll be uploading Version 2.0 tomorrow.

[Pure Hellspawn]

Loved Map32! You have that slaughtermap mindset!

Edited May 11 by Pure Hellspawn