NOVA: The Birth - v1.1 release now on idGames!

[nub_hat]

Here are 5 more midis including a very short one meant for the title screen if Paul Ds song doesn't work, it might be too short though.
http://www.mediafire.com/?qzi1r4z89hq937k

I've started mapping but it's going slowly at the moment.
I have this one room so far
http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/1624/screenshotdoom201208071.png
Hoping to have something playable by the end of the week.

edit: it's gonna take a bit longer than that but I am working on it
I would love to work with a map together with someone.
we could trade the map back and forth via pm or something else
I can write more music as well I'm not sure how much we need

[Paul D]

Wow man, those midis are very, very well composed pieces. I really enjoyed listening to them, especially "nhsong1" is just great. The weird off-key violin effect at first sounds horrible, but actually it really helps build the tone of the song.

That said, however, they don't feel very "doomish" to me, I don't know, the tone just doesn't feel right for doom. On the other hand, I've heard songs similar in style to these used in really good wads, nhsong1 reminded me of Hellcore 2 for some reason.

[Arjak]

nub_hat said:

I've started mapping but it's going slowly at the moment.
I have this one room so far
http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/1624/screenshotdoom201208071.png
Hoping to have something playable by the end of the week.

That's a nice screen. I love the way you have the dark area on the side of the pillar opposite the light. It shows a good attention to detail.

[cannonball]

I decided to update my map (The Prisoner) I made a few months back. It should be better looking and cleaner. Also modified the gameplay a bit in places. Should be a little easier now.
http://www.mediafire.com/?5331knfknghokb9

[dobu gabu maru]

If you guys wouldn't mind, I've been working on a hell level that I'd like to contribute, since I haven't released an official map yet. I've worked on a couple of maps so far so I know my way around DB, but it'll be nice to get feedback. I'll upload it when I'm done.

Picture
Picture
Picture

(ASHWALL isn't the only texture I'm using, I swear!)

[kildeth]

Welcome to the team dobugabumbaru! Those screenshots create a rather unique and grim atmosphere, more interesting than I would expect from such a limited variety of textures. Maybe try adding some really bright lava area in an unexpected place, or just as cracks in the floor to give the scene some extra 'oomph'. That's all I can suggest at the moment.

[dobu gabu maru]

kildeth said:

or just as cracks in the floor to give the scene some extra 'oomph'.

That's actually the only source of light in the level so far, until I introduce torches further on. Atmosphere has always been very important for me in Doom, so I'm trying to use it as much as I can.

[kildeth]

Maplist for the third alpha release of Nova...

Map01 - Outpost (Primeval)
Map02 - Hazard Facility (Kildeth)
Map03 - Sewage Processing (Arjak)
Map04 - Suspend (Fuzzyfireball)
Map05 - Phobus Anomaly (Phobus)
Map06 - Teleportarium (Paul D)
Map07 - Cistern (Stygian)
Map08 - Warehouse District (Sgt Dopey)
Map09 - The Prisoner (Cannonball)
Map10 - Extorta Nova (Fiend-O-Hell & Memfis)

Coming sooner than you think!

[cannonball]

Nice to see a new alpha being released soon, though can you not put my second map in there (into the supernova) as I withdrew the map from this project after seeing the vast number of interested new mappers and decided that one map is all I should contribute to be fair to other people.
I look forward to playing the new maps and the edited ones which I have already played :)

[kildeth]

Sorry, I missed your post, good luck with the mini-episode thing you are making and feel free to donate more maps if you change your mind, there is no limit on how many maps one can make for this project... as long as it eventually gets done! :P

New alpha will be 10 maps long as originally planned... huh, oh? What's this...?

http://www.mediafire.com/?m1937qyra5r04rv

Hmm, seems like an interesting link... let's click!

...

OH YAY! The third alpha has finally arrived! *Triumphant Pokemon music plays*

[nub_hat]

A few thoughts on the music, my song on "Cistern" doesn't fit the level at all.
I wrote this which should work better.
http://www.mediafire.com/?0qki6535s6kda92

Having a 6 minute song on the story screen is a bit of a waste, you could put it on one of the longer maps next release.

Some of the maps appear to be missing difficulty settings.
I haven't beat all of them but it's rather enjoyable so far.
Not a big fan of the cyberdemon sounds as soon as you fire in "Extorta Nova" but if it's an important part of the level keep it in.

Here's a picture of some stuff I'm messing around with, this is a different level that I'll probably finish before the other one.
http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/8669/screenshotdoom201208162.png
I dunno if it's a good idea having the ceiling lights like that and I don't like the STARGR1/BRONZE1 transition but feel free to let me know what you think

What kind of map size should I be going for?

[cannonball]

cheers, just a couple of notes for my map considering the future of the project
- the song used is from Vile Flesh composed by Gwyn Williams, it was a placeholder really as I think some copyright issues might be raised. As a result it would be nice (but completely optional) is someone wanted to make a midi for this map which created a similar mood or feeling to the song used at the moment.
Also I saw that you thought this would be a 2nd episode map, then I thought that it would make a good episode starter (map12) but that's for later discussion :)
As for the beta, I will play it later this evening.

[Arjak]

Oh dear. I started playing Alpha 3, and ran into a problem not five minutes in. In Map02, Upon starting, I grabbed the shotgun and ammo, went into the door to the left of the entrance door, killed the former human, blew the barrels to be safe, entered the room, turned to the left, I hear a door open, and THIS happens:



I was playing in Chocolate Doom 1.7.0 Win32. Looks like it might be missing textures.

[Paul D]

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/39292814/word%20bearer.mid

This is a midi remix of a theme from the game Warhammer 40k: Chaos Gate.


Honestly, I think it would probably fit much better in Heretic or Hexen on a boss stage- Maybe we could use it here though as a "boss stage" theme.

Also:

RE the title theme:
Lol kildeth, I hadn't thought about using that one for anything- It was originally a joke!

and "final.mid" seems like a too fast-paced action-y track for my level. The old music, while it took a while to build up, it worked pretty well.

Actually thinking about it, Could we use nhsong2 for Teleportarium?

[kildeth]

@nub_hat - I'll be sure to fix up the music for Cistern. I just kinda threw some songs in without much thought just so the download would have custom music for each level before we sort everything out and find out what fits. As for the story screen song, it stays until I find another place to put it... it was originally the track for 'Teleportarium' but Paul D said it didn't fit after he iterated it so I changed it.

As for your mapping progress, I would suggest putting some sort of dividing barrier between the transition of the two wall textures so they don't clash so badly. That's what all the professionals seem to do.

@cannonball - I'm honestly not sure what the final order of the levels will be and what will start and finish each episode until we compile everything and get 22 more finished maps. I was thinking something along the lines of increasing difficulty with some maps switched around here and there to give some semblance of theme consistency but the final result will probably be naturally varied throughout the wad whatever we do due to all the different mappers/styles involved and the lack of specific theme so I say we just go with the flow of randomness and see what happens :P

@Arjak - Ah crap! that's the level I made too. :P Luckily that strange behaviour doesn't occur for me in Skulltag, maybe it's a visplane error? If it is, not to worry cause this is meant to be a limit-removing project which means that stuff doesn't matter.

@Paul D - Yeah I knew it was a joke but as soon as I heard it I was like 'that songs adds instant flair and atmosphere to the WAD without even starting a new game... it HAS to be the title track' lol!

I only switched the old song out of Teleportarium cos you told me that it didn't fit your level very well once you had worked on it a bit more. We can certainly use nhsong2 if you would prefer unless you want the other song back? (Which is currently being used for the story screens)

[nub_hat]

I would love to do par times for this project.

I found some bugs when I played yesterday.
Here's a demo showing a game breaking bug in Hazard Facility blocking the only way to the key.
It doesn't always happen and I'm not sure what triggers it.
http://www.mediafire.com/?c6ane06475o6ogv

I used nova_alpha_3.wad in prboom+ 2.5.1.3 with -complevel 2.

The first lift in "Teleportarium" after the revenant doesn't work with -complevel 2.
I'm not sure why not, there's no problems with default prboom+.

[Arjak]

Played again using PrBoom+. You were right, it must've been an engine limitation bug. I am now stuck on Map 6. That one's just one death trap after another.

I must admit, you all are much better level designers than I am. You guys are making id-quality stuff, and I feel like I'm stuck at "decent for '95" quality.

Oh well. Only one way to fix that: Study, study, study!

BTW, I love the new music for this WAD. My only beefs so far are with the title theme, which, although I realize now is a joke, just doesn't fit the hardcore action of the maps, much less Doom in general, and the level complete jingle, which is too short. If you want to actually read how well you did, it repeats, and gets annoying fast.

Besides that, I am loving everyone's maps. I just need to work on my own...

[Paul D]

@ nubhat:

I just fixed that mistake- there the trigger line was facing the wrong way, and somehow its action got changed to some far away sector.

[cannonball]

No worries Kildeth, as I said it would be best for later discussion :)
As I also said earlier, if someone wants to make a midi for my map feel free to do so.

[Stygian]

This release has definitely re-kindled my enthusiasm for the project.

I gave it a quick play-through and enjoyed every map. The music was excellent, too.

After playing these maps, I can't help but feel that my level design needs improvement. Time for me to revamp the layout and texturing.

[an_mutt]

Haven't played through the entire demo yet but I played up to map 05 which I really enjoyed - some excellent monster placement and everything felt balanced.

Anyway, progress on my own map! It's only a couple screenshots but I've been having some computer problems which has stopped me from working over the past week. I'm going for a wide open map with a hellish blood theme.

http://i.imgur.com/xiIE7.png
http://i.imgur.com/Ef63K.png

I'm hoping to get a bit more detail down and get started on the second area which will be more closed off and building-like.

[Arjak]

I have a new map idea! It will be a castle-themed map, which I am tentatively calling "Castle Bloodletting". I'll keep you posted once I start work on it. I hope there's still room for a second map of mine when it's finished; I have some epic ideas for this one and I don't think it will be done quickly, but I do think this might be poised to become my best map yet! :)

EDIT: Added a surprise to Sewage Processing; here's version...four, I think: http://www.mediafire.com/?0541nxsp0b0b6lu

[kildeth]

I might check out your update tomorrow Arjak. I'm kinda in the middle of an intensive training course so I won't be online as much as I otherwise would be but I'm still here to check how everyone is progressing whenever I can.

[Snakes]

an_mutt said:

http://i.imgur.com/xiIE7.png
http://i.imgur.com/Ef63K.png

Decent enough, but ATM the cliffs around the bloodfalls are suffering from the paper wall effect (SEE: E3M1) pretty severely. Adding depth there would help tremendously and also gives the impression that the ravine you're in is part of a larger network. It makes an environment far more convincing.

Plus, it can provide a nice spot to place a sniper or two.

[Arjak]

Castle Bloodletting is now in production! I have done a lot of work in the past few days, and the opening of the level as well as part of the search for the first key is complete. The level is nowhere close to finished at this point, but I think it's safe to say that this is going to be a little higher quality from Sewage Processing. It's also going to be A LOT harder. How hard? Well, my Doom skills aren't the best, but I'm having trouble playtesting on HNTR! I am somewhat afraid to try what I have so far on HMP or UV! I think it's safe to say that this is going to be a later map, as well as the fact that I might need an expert player to playtest on higher difficulties.

Here's a couple screenshots of the opening section:





Before you ask, this is from BEFORE you reach the castle. It's a short hike (and fight) to get there. Successfully getting inside is another thing altogether! :p

[Snakes]

Arjak said:

. It's a short hike (and fight) to get there. Successfully getting inside is another thing altogether! :p

That sounds an awful lot like AV Map08, and if you can emulate something even close to that, I'm sure it will be awesome. I like those maps that feel like long-winded adventures. It's one of the few times that I give linearity a free-pass in my notes.

Also, I've ran through Map01 tonight. It will be fun to send Primeval my thoughts on his mapping for a change :P

[DELETE-THIS-ACCOUNT]

I hope I can submit another map soon, but my time has been limited with mapping for DOOM.

[Phobus]

I've played most of the third Alpha in ZDoom (I just can't bring myself to try MAP10 again) and I've noticed that the "red" key door in MAP08 still only needs a blue key to open. I'm also not sure that the raising platform in the PANEL-interior building is a good idea, as it blocks off access to the lift that you need to use to get on to said floor. Otherwise the maps seem alright. I can't remember if it's MAP03 that I'm thinking of (the one with the little cubby holes in the walls for some items), but it has far too much ammo.

[Paul D]

Yeah, how is this going? I've been rather slow making any levels,

Been working on a few original midis.

[Retog]

This sounds like a very interesting project. Would I be able to contribute a new map?