1994 tune-up challenge (*updated /idgames link*)

[Malinku]

Malinku said:

First build of my map. Just to get a build in before the deadline (and to have a backup in case I lose it)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/cdo2e5

I think you missed this

[GreyGhost]

Snarboo said:

On Monday, I'm going to . . . begin compiling the wad together.

When you get to the texture lump - could you rename and add Xenomorph's custom sky1 patch to it as XENOSKY? That's what I'm calling it as a sky transfer (which I thought I'd screwed-up big time when testing - turned out I had texture lumps in too many wads :D).

[Snarboo]

Can do GreyGhost! :)

The first post has been updated. Looks like we have 26 solid maps for this project. From May 10th to August 1st, we should focus on fixing any lingering bugs in the maps and wrapping this project up. I'll try to have the entire wad compiled before the end of the week is up, hopefully sooner.

[MajorRawne]

Whoops, I was under the impression that we still had time to work on our maps right up until the deadline. The updated version of Rawnwood that I uploaded is not ready for playtesting yet. I thought I'd just be able to upload the finished version in a few days. /silly me

[Snarboo]

The entire point of testing is to finish the maps if they are not and remove bugs. You are encouraged to work on your map and upload it when you can. :)

[pavera]

I still exist, and an updated version of Fortified Castle will be uploaded sooner or later for more bug catching. The end is drawing near. I'm pretty excited to see the finished product!

[MajorRawne]

K sorry I thought they were in for final playtesting before release... my brain doesn't work when it comes to this thread :)

[maggot202]

Hello
I was browsing trough my wads and i've remembered that i was making a version of Brian and Craig Sparks map #2 and i never finished it (another mapper took an interest in it and i moved on to make comcon). Given that mapper didn't meet the deadline, i was wondering if it would be possible to complete that map. My version is about 60% complete, i could finish it before friday.

I know the deadline is over, but if you want it, boss-man, i can deliver it.

[Snarboo]

Just submit it in it's current form and I'll add it back to the roster. I just want to know which maps are in at this point.

[maggot202]

Here it is. Like i said, it's about 60% complete. It has very few monsters, and at the time i didn't know how to use voodoo scripts, so everything is very vanilla-like. It's easily improvable, and since it's a short map, it should be quick to finish.

[MajorRawne]

Work has temporarily halted on my map due to the fact that I have been quite literally pissing out of my arse for the last 3 days - thanks muchly to my best mate who invited me to his house without telling me his family had only just got over a diarreah and sickness bug. I was supposed to be meeting a girl this weekend, we had the hotel booked and our weekend planned. So she ended up staying in the hotel alone because they wouldn't refund her and I am stuck in my room with a mug of soup and an emergency toilet roll.

[DeathevokatioN]

Thanks for sharing that bro.

[MajorRawne]

;)

[Super Jamie]

MajorRawne said:

and I am stuck in my room with a mug of soup and an emergency toilet roll.

Look on the brightside, at least you didn't eat a big hot curry dinner beforehand.

Also you need some sort of integrated computerchair/toilet, then your Doom mapping would be unstoppable!


And of course I'm still around for testing. I've been working on a few other projects lately but now all these are submitted I'll get to work on the ones I haven't already tested. I'll definitely get everything done before the August deadline. Talk about relaxed schedule :)

[General Rainbow Bacon]

I think all mappers need that computerchair/toilet. Whoever invents that will be a millionaire in about a minute *runs away to the drafting table* :)

[GreyGhost]

MajorRawne said:

<a sad tale of misery and disappointment>

Get yourself one of these, disinfect your map before uploading it and get well soon.

[MajorRawne]

Thanks lads, I am already on the road to recovery, it only took half my body weight in water to get there! No it wasn't that bad really. I'm going to have to buy that "nerd bog" but I'd spray it gold (my "golden throne") and I'd fit a cup of tea holder and somewhere to rest my book, preferably with a little machine attachment that turns the pages for me.

Work has resumed on RAWNWOOD today and I've changed it over to Boom, so I'm experimenting with all the cool effects. I closed the outside area off, cos it was giving me headaches, so that solved a lot of problems in one go. I started implementing the difficulty levels. It's quite hard on UV.

[Super Jamie]

Ice Nightmare 2 by masayan

Another great tuneup. The original of this was very messy (esp that exit room, wtf?) and I love the unique feel you've given alot of the locations by slightly altering the dimensions but remaining very true to the original. The tricks and traps you've expanded upon are great, and the secrets are a perfect mix of hidden well enough and being rewarding enough. There's also a big increase in difficulty, I couldn't finish it without godmode though I'm sure alot of the regulars in the demos forum will love UV Maxing it.

I had a weird issue with this one where if I loaded it on its own it would work fine but using fdgfxd2.wad produced HOMs?

The tracks on the first door are not pegged properly.

You may wish to block alot of the thin wall detailing all over the level (eg: the sides of the first room). It is possible to walk up into these and can look a bit silly when a monster manages to do it, or a corpse lands in there.

I thought the bottom of these could do with being silver, though if you'd rather it remain a hidden trap then that's understandable.


I thought these two doors could be a bit more obvious. I only realised they were open-able when I saw monsters opening them. In the original the author just had those WOOD walls, so it was easy to tell something not-WOOD was a door. You've used a bit more variation in texture so these doors can potentially blend in as detailing.


No other issues. Great job!

[Super Jamie]

Ultima by 40oz

Continuing the high standard of tuneups here, another high quality contribution. Lots of nice atmospheric lighting and simple but effective sector detailing on all surfaces, including some pretty fancy stairs. I'm a big fan of the original Ultima Underworld and it was cool to see this, even as a re-re-interpretation some areas are definitely still pick-able as coming from the game. Not that I was really expecting this to be and it's a kickass map on its own anyway.

All of what I found is just visual stuff. Health is fine though I was enjoyably short towards the end. Ammo is good though you could give the backpack earlier if you wanted. I did the ArchVile room last and ran out of everything, though I didn't use the chainsaw or berserk at all and probably should have.

Lots of the terminals around the start area have the wrong upper/lower pegging on the green marble.


Here I'd make the METAL* pillars a separate sector and lower them, so you get a brown bar completely along the bottom and the little bit of texture doesn't repeat to the floor.


Middle brick misalignment, just to the west of the start where you first meet shotgunners.


Brick vertical misalignment to the right of the stairs.


Brick/marble could do with a bordering texture in between.

[Super Jamie]

(double post, too many images)

You could randomly horizontal-align these stair faces so they don't appear so uniform. No big deal.


Lots of different vertical alignments here.


Vertical brick alignment here.


The silver SUPPORT at the back of this lift isn't pegged properly


This little sliver of corner looks odd. I'd make it a bit more "blocky" so the bricks don't look like they're paper thin towards the end.


Just to the left of the above, vertical misalignment on the bricks.


The exit door could definitely be a bit more obvious. Green door flat against green bricks blends in alot. Inset it, lights, etc.


There's a caco down here who's pretty easy to miss unless you walk right on the edge of the walkway. Re-position, maybe even raise it up on a sector transfer or in an alcove.


The quality of all these maps (especially compared to their originals) never ceases to amaze me.

[Super Jamie]

Fort Borg by ArmouredBlood

Nice tuneup here. The original of this was a bit boring with some silly texture flaws, so well done not only making sense of it but making it fun too! You definitely increased the battles a bit and that slaughter part was intense. A good level to be proud of here.

The texture alignment in that outdoor area (where the slaughter opens) could do with some work.

Lower unpegged on this window


Alignment on these stones. You could even make these pillars metal and have them stand out from the stones if you wanted, that way you'd give the feel of the window being built from two different materials.


Misalignment on the door that closes in the maze.


The Pain Ellie over here is pretty much useless because of the Impassible lines. Replace with Caco.


Make this guy Deaf so he gets 360 degree vision, then you can't sneak up on him like this. This is in one of the rooms to the east of the Mastermind.


I got stuck in here because it's too low to walk out of. Check the other pits for this bug too.


Another job well done :)

[Super Jamie]

Sweet by Mr. Freeze and Krispavera

This file is missing. I guess the download expired. Does anyone have a copy? Maybe upload to the DRD Team shared space.

Nefarious Chateau by walter confalonieri

Amazingly precise detail here, this must have taken you AGES. Excellent work making all the original encounters alot better. The new areas you've added give a very realistic sense of location. Super job man!

My first run, the Cyberdemon followed me inside and proved difficult to kill. I should have grabbed the RL and taken care of him outside like I did on the second time. Still, his presence was okay in there as it kept me moving.

Visually I couldn't fault this. Gameplay wise I have two minor suggestions:

Make these Imps deaf and move them to the sides of the lift, so they surprise the player when he comes up.


This room is badass. I was scared shitless going in here because I was sure there was some epic certain-death battle on the way, but the hardest enemy was a lone Hell Knight. Wasted opportunity :(


Absolutely A-grade mapping here!

[MajorRawne]

These are looking really good... my map is going to look totally noobish next to these... I'm really working hard to make a challenging but attractive map. I'm uploading a newer version of my map in the next day or two so don't play Woodhal2 just yet please!

How hard are our maps supposed to be? I am struggling to beat my own first room on Ultra Violence.

[printz]

Super Jamie said:

Sweet by Mr. Freeze and Krispavera

This file is missing. I guess the download expired. Does anyone have a copy? Maybe upload to the DRD Team shared space.

Somebody let him know before he goes away from the forums

[GreyGhost]

Super Jamie said:

Sweet by Mr. Freeze and Krispavera

This file is missing. I guess the download expired. Does anyone have a copy?

That's one wad I can't locate. Try bugging Mr. Freeze, I think he was making the final changes.

[MajorRawne]

Woodhalls 2 ("Woodhal2.wad")


Woodhalls 2010 ("Rawnwood.wad") - heavily work-in-progress

[phi108]

Great job everyone, I look forward to playing the final version, and I think I need to do a playthrough of all original maps first.

And has anyone chosen an old map they themselves made to update? I know Enjay may have one or two he could choose, but I don't know of other modern mappers that did 94 maps too.

[Super Jamie]

MajorRawne said:

How hard are our maps supposed to be? I am struggling to beat my own first room on Ultra Violence.

As hard as you want them to be :) Most people have upgraded the difficulty, partially because these maps had alot of boring/easy 1994 encounters and partially because that's just how mappers roll these days. 16 years of practice and sourceports with nice controls enable us all to be better Doomers.

Even if you make something impossibly hard, there will be someone out there who can beat it. If you can't beat a part, just godmode it, make sure the player can escape certain-death situations (eg: surrounded by Revenants with 10% health and a pistol) and just check for ammo balance.

Likewise, if you think an original encounter is too hard then feel free to modify it.

I haven't looked at your map yet, but judging from those DB screenshots you're definitely on the right track.

[ArmouredBlood]

Fixes to fort borg.
http://wadhost.fathax.com/files/AB.FortBorg-5-18.zip

[Super Jamie]

ORIGWAD by traversd

Well, how do you improve two rooms and a door? Good job :) Amusingly ironic use of the end battle from E1M8, though I had to godmode both encounters. I'm not sure anyone could really do them properly?

The only suggestion I have is to make the darks a little less dark, there's some nice detailing there but it's very hard to see!