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

[Fletcher`]

Jodwin said:

Map27:
A few texture misalignments:
http://www.akinomori.com/stuff/images/map27_1.jpg
http://www.akinomori.com/stuff/images/map27_2.jpg
http://www.akinomori.com/stuff/images/map27_2_map.jpg
http://www.akinomori.com/stuff/images/map27_3.jpg
http://www.akinomori.com/stuff/images/map27_3_map.jpg

The blue door needs to get its doortraks unpegged
http://www.akinomori.com/stuff/images/map27_bluedoor.jpg
http://www.akinomori.com/stuff/images/map27_bluedoor_map.jpg

I'll take a look at it after work tomorrow.

[Snarboo]

I can handle it if you like, `rf.

[printz]

I'm getting my ass kicked in MAP02. Those zombiemen taking free potshots at me at the beginning while the platform is lowering and I'm helpless are annoying, and I don't like how that radsuit is inaccessible at the beginning of the slime rooms, making me have to guess which route to take in order to survive that rather intense place filled with shotgunners and spectres and damaging floor...

MAP01 is quite cool, short and (bitter)sweet though.

I also played MAP18 which is very brown and realistic (this is Doom2's fault not mapper's though) compared to the grey and futuristic original (hey, Doom is grey, Doom 2 is brown!). It still looks like something that can easily be transmapped to Doom 3, art-wise. It was very hard because I forgot to turn monster infighting back on :) I liked how the shotgun kills 2 shotgunners instantly, perfect weapon to use when going through the train cars to mop them around. I think that the crate maze before the blue door has TOO FEW medikits compared to the number of hitscanners in it... I always expect some of those boxes to contain medicine and hiding places, but noo. The level otherwise feels huge, and it probably requires tons of route planning to be survived.

[negke]

Some more things (if they have been discussed or fixed, please ignore this post).

Map15: Minor texture issue here, and wrong ceiling height here. Also, I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, but once again the timed doors (Spiderdemon area) took way too long to open. Maybe there should be a button next to the Spiderdemon platform - or the doors shouldn't close at all on lower skills, for it's more probable that players press the button right after entering the area instead of exploring the surrounding rooms for supplies/weapons first. The secret exit door took its sweet time, too, though not as long as the others.
Awesome map btw.

Map16: I exited the level with 43% kills?! I wasn't supposed to take on the Cyberdemons that early then? It was an annoying fight anyway.

Map18: Texture here.

[Snarboo]

Fixes for the next version:

• Fixed minor texture issues in Map 15, Map 18 and Map 27.
  
• I swapped out some of the spectres that spawn into Map 26 with imps. There were simply too many of them before, and it was very easy to get cornered. I also made a few thematic changes, such as marking the formerly hidden red doors, swapping out the indoor tree with the eye lamp, moving a couple doors into alcoves, and lighting a room.

[printz]

Snarboo said:

I swapped out some of the spectres that spawn into Map 26 with imps. There were simply too many of them before, and it was very easy to get cornered. I also made a few thematic changes, such as marking the formerly hidden red doors, swapping out the indoor tree with the eye lamp, moving a couple doors into alcoves, and lighting a room.

You're the boss, I won't complain. I also hope the doors are marked subtlely, probably with red markers surrounding the whole antechambers instead of simply surrounding the secret doors. That way, the player will guess there's a red door there and start humping the walls to find it.

Don't imps infight specters, resulting in a balance-tilting? Note that the whole idea to survive that ambush is to go against your instincts and run inside that building, it's safer in there, you get a SSG, health and a berserk, demons are too fat to easily waltz in. The building also has a part of the corridor thin enough that demons can't fit through. Even more so, if you release the pinky demons from the next room, they'll stop there and make a barrier. The nearby spawned archvile won't be able to get out and corner you when you return to the start! Hopefully the alcoved doors didn't widen that corridor :)

By the way, I hope you're not highly bothered by this particular Boom glitch: If you're in a deep water current with sludge friction and try to move, some times you won't be able to move against the flow until you release the keys. Have fun suffering that while fighting the cyberdemons! Dunno how to fix that except by advising players to avoid the slime and slide along the walls instead.

[Snarboo]

Alright, I've played through the last 3 or so maps, and the only major issues I've noted are minor texture misalignments. I'd say this puppy is ready for release. The only thing missing is a custom title screen.

I'm going to wait a day and see if any of the testers note any further issues that need to be addressed.

[dew]

yeah, i haven't found anything wrong with map29 (a fine map indeed) and tbh i didn't bother with map30, because i couldn't find my way through and it swamped me with monsters. :)

[Snarboo]

Yeah, Map 30 is very difficult but makes for a nice finale. :)

Fixes for the next version:

• Fixed a texture misalignment in Map 29.
  
• Added neg!ke to the list of testers.

The only work left is to run the wad through a node builder and wait for the title screen.

[negke]

Oh, I didn't think my comments qualified me as a proper tester; admittedly I'm pretty slow to play through this wad. Snarboo, if it's for the readme, please make it "negke".

Some more, hopefully not too redundant or outdated feedback:

Map20: Sky bug here
Map21: Damn, I love the theme! Green bricks/marbe with tech - nice. Not a single secret in such a big map? Gameplay/items are good, though maybe a bit tight on bullets in the later part of the map, towards the end. I found many texture issues, often bricks that don't align to adjacent walls.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. There are more, but I don't want to come across pickier than necessary. ^__^ Edit: just noticed Jodwin reported on these texture issues before. Oh well.
Map22: Misaligned rivets on a whole lot of bars, windows, and steps. Not only in this map - dunno, kind of bothers me.
Map23: The face texture on the backside of the door near the googles secret is cut off at the bottom. I didn't know what to do after pressing the button behind the BK door, what did I miss?
Map24: Texture thing here.
Map25: The vines are bleeding through the water in the pool near the plasma gun. Very annoying fight in that area btw. In the RK room with Cyberdemon window, the Megasphere is visible through the floor (Zdoom).
Map26: Damaging non-slime sector here.
Map27: Another badass styled level. Quite hard in parts. I felt quite pressed for ammo from the YK onward.
Map28: Not nearly enough ammo to finish it (HMP). I suppose this has been reported/fixed already?

[Snarboo]

Thankfully most, if not all, of the texture misalignments in Map 21 are fixed. Some of the issues I'm not sure how to fix, such as the damaging floor in Map 26. By all accounts it shouldn't be doing that. As for the vines in Map 25, there's another spot where transparent midtextures can be seen clipping through the ceiling. There's a way to fix this but for the life of me I can't remember what it is.

As for Map 28, it's intentionally designed that way. The player is meant to use infighting to its full potential. Luring the imps into the crushing bars near the rocket launcher also helps.

Fixes for the next version:

• The song for Map 3 has been changed out. It now has the same song as Map 15.
  
• traversd has sent over a new version of Map 15 that speeds up the other time delayed doors.
  
• The door with the face texture behind the blue skull key in Map 23 has been fixed.
  
• Minor texture issue in Map 24.

Edit:
Figured out the issue on Map 25, so you can add that to the list of changes. :p

[Snarboo]

Bumping the thread to check on the status of the title screen. This is literally the only thing keeping this from release.

[traversd]

Something I made tonight. Not sure if this conveys the idea well (1994 startan transitions to some form of extra detailed startan).



Yeh, a wall is probably not the most exciting of vistas. But maybe someone could liven it up with a '1994' logo or something?

-travers

[Snarboo]

I noticed the credits screen might make for a nice title screen in combination with this. Does anyone have the raw version of the credits screen without the credit text on top?

[GreyGhost]

Is this what you're after? Once I'm back from town I'll set about merging the images to see what they look like.




EDIT - The extra detailed startan looks pretty ordinary when converted to the Doom palette but I'll see what I can do with it.

[Snarboo]

Yes, that was it! That would look perfect with the background traversd created.

[GreyGhost]

That doesn't look too shabby for a first attempt, do you think the numbers and/or text would look better if scaled down a bit?

[traversd]

Looks good. Are you able to put a thick border(maybe 2-3pixels) on the 1994? Maybe in a dark silver (I'm thinking of the lip used for PLAT1 but not so thick)

[tatsurd-cacocaco]

The title is good. If all maps have been fixed, shall we record demos? (demo1, 2, and 3 for the wad)

[GreyGhost]

I'll look into that, maybe a mix of light and dark silver to give it the appearance of being embossed. <ninja'd by tatsurd-cacocaco>

[GreyGhost]

traversd said:

Are you able to put a thick border(maybe 2-3pixels) on the 1994? Maybe in a dark silver (I'm thinking of the lip used for PLAT1 but not so thick)

Hows this? I decided to give the edges a beveled appearance with a bit of fake shadow for good measure.

[Phobus]

Pretty nice - although from here those borders are barely visible. Obviously when its being displayed fullscreen it'll be a bit different.

[Snarboo]

I prefer the darker border over the embossed border, but both look nice.

I can't even begin to tell you guys how excited I am to get this project released. :D

[dew]

i had more fun with the test playthrough than i originally expected. i wish you a positive reception. :)

[GreyGhost]

Snarboo said:

I prefer the darker border over the embossed border, but both look nice.

How about beveled edges AND a darker border?



@Phobus - the thumbnails don't do them justice.

[Snarboo]

Ooh, I'd say that's perfect! When you get a chance, please upload a BMP or PNG version of the title screen so I can add it to the main wad.

[GreyGhost]

Oops - looks like MediaFire's servers are down, since there's a link in my previous post.

Here's another link and a re-sized shot for good measure.

[printz]

Those darker rectangles are supposed to be oil? It doesn't look quite alright, it looks more like shadow. It doesn't look liquid enough.

[Snarboo]

Alright, I'm going to add the title screen to the wad and then run zennode on it. Hopefully the default settings are sufficient. Once this is done, I will upload the final release candidate. I will do a brief run through of every level, and if everything checks out, I will upload the project to /newstuff.

[C30N9]

Cool title. I especially like how the background describes the project (tuning-up).