PL2: Mordeth Award contender finally hits the streets

[Deeforce]

I didn’t like the original Plutonia that much, but this kicks ass! Very enjoyable. I’m on map 10 now.

[LexiMax]

It would have been funny if MAP31 had not been completable without tricking into the exit, just for old times sake. I ran through a couple of random levels and saw some really cool stuff, although I did notice the odd misaligned texture, nothing too serious though. I especially like what you did with the end boss, how it's not just the same old demon head.

You know, you keep thinking that you've seen the last great 'classic' megawad with every single release. But then Alien Vendetta, Kama Sutra, Hell Revealed 2, Scythe 2, Community Chest 3 and now Plutonia 2 gets released and proves me wrong.

[Brandon D. Lade]

Deeforce said:

I didn’t like the original Plutonia that much, but this kicks ass! Very enjoyable. I’m on map 10 now.

Better be ready - Map 11 is a b*t*h.

[DeDo]

Map31 is very similar to P1 map31 but that was probably the intent. Some maps are very clearly based on existing maps from P1,makes me go like hey, this looks familiar. Map 15 comes to mind as one of the more recent I played. So far very nice, very good, hope the quality stays. The music is very good as well, map11 is probably my favourite so far and I was very happy to hear my favourite Ultimate Doom track in map31.
Now onto the second half of the game!

[tatsurd-cacocaco]

Really awesome wad! I arrived at map 9 on UV. I like original pl06, pl11, pl31 very much, so I expect map 11 and map 31 arranged. Of course, I have already enjoyed map 6.

I feel that there are a lot of impossible maps on NM and Pacifist.

[Searcher]

This makes me happy on so many levels.

I intend to play this for the next several days. Yeah! I am certain that this is going to be a historical release.

Nice Job Gentlemen! Thanks!

[Mr. Yes]

This looks like an instant classic (just finished map 10). Much better than PL1 - i didnt like that hardcore-gameplay. Quite challenging but not too hard, very nice level design.


But i am missing too many secrets. Aren t there any demos out there?

[Brandon D. Lade]

Mr. Yes said:

But i am missing too many secrets. Aren t there any demos out there?

Probably not yet, but I think there will be soon - there always are. Just be patient.

Oh, Deeforce, have you hit Map 11 yet?

[Deeforce]

Yes, I finished map 11. Interesting and very long level. At the end I had some problems finding the exit, but the rest was great! I like those Arch Viles levels. Maybe you don’t know about Flames Of Revenge (MAP 03). It is also such a level, only a bit more complicated :-P !

[Brandon D. Lade]

Deeforce said:

Yes, I finished map 11. Interesting and very long level. At the end I had some problems finding the exit, but the rest was great! I like those Arch Viles levels. Maybe you don’t know about Flames Of Revenge (MAP 03). It is also such a level, only a bit more complicated :-P !

Map03 is called Emerald Eve, not Flames of Revenge, and it is nothing like Map 11. What are you talking about?

Also, why do most of the textures appear as solid black if you use doom2.wad as the iwad?

[myk]

Brandon D. Lade said:
Map03 is called Emerald Eve,

He's evidently talking about Map03 of the WAD he linked to, but that Emerald Eve is an error (in the DEHACKED lump and in MAPINFO), if you reach the end you'll see it's called Skull Island.

Also, why do most of the textures appear as solid black if you use doom2.wad as the iwad?

Because the port you are using is capable of running add-ons without the proper IWAD, rendering all missing textures that way. Both the thread we are posting in and the text file clearly note that the PWAD is for Plutonia, not DOOM II.

[The Ultimate DooMer]

6 maps in and the extreme skill setting is already pushing me a bit...a classic for sure. Looking good too.

DeDo said:

Map31 is very similar to P1 map31 but that was probably the intent. Some maps are very clearly based on existing maps from P1,makes me go like hey, this looks familiar.

Yeah I've noticed a few already...personally I'm beginning to not like the sticking of tribute bits in everywhere, although that could be because I played this not long ago. Still, as long as they play well without resembling the original too much it's all good.

TheCupboard said:

Ah, yes. Chaingunners standing on platforms in the far distance, I've missed you so much.

I don't mind those...unless they're right next to you at the start *cough* map 05 *cough* it could make some maps impossible if you enter with less than full health.

[Brandon D. Lade]

myk said:

He's evidently talking about Map03 of the WAD he linked to, but that Emerald Eve is an error (in the DEHACKED lump and in MAPINFO), if you reach the end you'll see it's called Skull Island.

Because the port you are using is capable of running add-ons without the proper IWAD, rendering all missing textures that way. Both the thread we are posting in and the text file clearly note that the PWAD is for Plutonia, not DOOM II.

Thanks. I clicked his Flames of Revenge link and it does indeed lead to an archvile maze wad that plays on Map03. Also, I understand that this wad needs Plutonia to play. I was just curious why it handles it this way if you play it wrong.

On the other hand, BTW, when I first loaded this wad, it was accidentally from doom2.wad. But I quickly realized that something was fishy and restarted it from plutonia.wad.

That said, what do you mean by when you say "missing textures"?

In the text description for Map32, Go 4 It, it says part of it is inspired by D5M1. I've never heard of any such map. Does anyone know what that map is, and if it is available online, may I have a link to it?

[myk]

Brandon D. Lade said:
That said, what do you mean by when you say "missing textures"?

DOOM II does not contain any of the Plutonia-specific textures.

I've never heard of any such map. Does anyone know what that map is, and if it is available online, may I have a link to it?

Dwango5 MAP01. It's a modification of DOOM II's MAP01, very popular for 1-on-1 deathmatch in the early days. Even to this day you can find online servers hosting it.

[Tango]

I remember playing a beta of MAP11 when Gusta and t.v. had just finished it and yeah, I was amazed. And jealous. :[

[SyntherAugustus]

omg yes!

[Brandon D. Lade]

Thanks for the info. Not that I mind, but how did my previous two posts get combined?

[Dco16]

Map16, skill 2, and I officially had to quit because I was getting massively, unendingly raped, and this is AFTER playing map32, which seemed to rape me less because going to the secret level is consensual.

[DeDo]

Fiend said:

Map16, skill 2, and I officially had to quit because I was getting massively, unendingly raped, and this is AFTER playing map32, which seemed to rape me less because going to the secret level is consensual.

Skill 4 here. This is strange, I had by far the most difficulty in map32 but that may be because I wanted to do some parts of it in a certain way. Map16 can be rough at times, but keep playing, you'll get it done. Map17 is great you don't want to miss that.:)

[Mr. Yes]

The last maps i played are my favourites so far: 12,13,14 - really great (is there any mediocre map from Eternal at all?)

[Brandon D. Lade]

If you are reading this, why not go here and cast your thoughts of this megawad? That would be highly appreciated.

EDIT: Also, you can go here and choose your favorite release from 2008, now that it is 2009.

[stewboy]

Brandon D. Lade said:

Thanks for the info. Not that I mind, but how did my previous two posts get combined?

If you double posted, a moderator probably combined them.

[Belial]

The only things I didn't like were map20 and the icon fight in map32.

All the maps were a nice challenge from a pistol start, though the non-linear ones like 17 and 29 took a while to figure out.

In map27 I must've missed some triggers that teleport monsters in.

There were a couple of misaligned textures throughout the wad, a particularly nasty one was a pair of switches in map28 (linedefs 2601 and 2693).

The new music was great.

Hopefully starting 2009 with a vanilla megawad of such quality will inspire some more vanilla goodness.

[Ganymede]

This is great, I'm loving it.

[esselfortium]

I do have a couple of questions for the team.

- With all the effort that was made to get this to require Plutonia.wad to run and to create replacements for any ripped textures (many of which I saw were actually Doom2-based and thus legal for this project to begin with), why weren't all the Ultimate Doom textures in the wad replaced as well? It seems like an odd double-standard.

- A lot of the new (and improved, in the case of the skull switches) textures in this are gorgeous! I see the textfile says not to use this wad as a base for modifications, so is there any chance of its textures being released in a form that future projects could make use of, or do you guys want to keep them exclusive to Plutonia 2?

[VinceDSS]

you need to ask t.v. if you want to use his textures.

[myk]

esselfortium said:
(many of which I saw were actually Doom2-based and thus legal for this project to begin with),

Only if the guys who modified them give permission (assuming they had permission to modify). When you've got a derivate work the work of all combined authors is cumulative. Some TNT graphics are DOOM II derived, but they've got some extra work on top of the original, and what to do with that depends on TeamTNT.

I agree it would have been optimal to replace the DOOM textures and said so during development, but the project was initially very rip-friendly and reverting that required work (drawing the graphics or testing the levels once they were changed), so any eventual respect paid to copyrights and author requests should be seen as a positive effort from the (late) team. As a result, this also added a lot of new content, including new music (which, going back to the levels once more, seems damn good to me).

[esselfortium]

Alright. I'm just playing devil's advocate; personally I don't care where you're getting your textures from :P

The textures I was referring to that I'm fairly certain are legal to use in anything Doom2-derived, though, are the N_WOOD textures/flats (NiGHTMARE's edits of the Doom/Doom2 wood textures), the ADEL* 32-tall metal bars (the color is different, but the patterns of noise are the same as doom's METAL, I'm pretty sure), and possibly some others, though I'm not as certain about those. The NiGHTMARE textures are available in various public-use texture wads, and the ADEL* bars from GothicTX also allow usage (though I think there's a condition of including a specific notice in the txt). And if the original wood and metal textures are being used, I don't see any problem with using variants of them.

Of course what was created to replace them looks good and there'd be no reason to change it back, but...eh. Whatever. Just struck me as odd :p

[myk]

Ah, I see. Yeah, changing the DOOM textures would have made more sense than changing those. TV made the changes, so I guess he wasn't aware of where the stuff came from and whether it had usage permissions. That requires knowledge about the texture packs or WADs these resources are from.

[esselfortium]

Ah, alright. Either way, it's really a non-issue. Ignore me :)