900 Deep in the Dead [RELEASE!]

[Jayextee]

900 DEEP IN THE DEAD

(formerly Knee-Deep in Less Than 900 Lines)





Whilst taking a short break from Nex Credo, I decided to pursue a very short project just to give myself that "I finished something for once!" buzz and feel all good about myself.

Inspired by Capellan's awesome 100 Lines project, here's my own take on the theme; an Episode 1-styled wad with only 100 lines (or less!) per map.

Expect basic architecture and sometimes-linear progressions, but short and (hopefully) fun maps.



Here's what the critics are saying about 900 Deep:

-- "My eyes! How the fuck am I supposed to see where to go without a computer on every wall?" - John Thomas, Pen Island

-- "It's like I've traveled back to 1992!" - Mary Land, Maryland

-- "It's Doom the way I'd have done it had I made myself my own bitch!" - John Romero, wherefore art though Romero

-- "It's beautiful!" - Sandy Petersen, with his eyes closed and needles stuck in them

-- "I done a piss everywhere." - Todd Hollenshead, Homeless

-- "I coded a cutting-edge-in-1994 engine for this? Bitch, I want my money back!" - John Carmack, snorting lines of something from the hood of his Ferrari F50

But don't take the word of these made-up testimonials (or even a real one, thanks to Ryathaen) as gospel, try it yourself -- either from the official idgames URL or MediaFire.

Enjoy.

[Tristan]

Okay, when this is released, I'm going to make myself playing, simply because of how much the critics reviews amused me :P

[Walter confetti]

cool!

[Jayextee]

Still working on this, even if it took more than a week as I thought; I had a Nex Credo map to finish, and that put up more fight than I thought it would.

Here's E1M5, turned out nicer than I thought it would.

[Reisal]

I'll keep an eye on this and probably play through it with commentary over it.

[Jayextee]

Mr. Chris said:

I'll keep an eye on this and probably play through it with commentary over it.

Oh shit. ;)

S'cool, brah. I don't think I've really had this with anything I've done before (which has admittedly not been much), looking forward to it. Nervously. :)

[Xaser]

This is certainly a cool idea, but the name is really convoluted. Something more like "Knee-Deep in Nine Hundred" gets the idea across without being wordy.

[Jayextee]

I was going to call it "Doom2700" or "Doom3600" if I did all three/four episodes. Can't be bothered with that many, so uh, Doom900? ;)

[Bucket]

Ankle-Deep In The Dead?

[Capellan]

kditd900.wad seems the obvious choice :)

[Jayextee]

Jesus fucktits Christ, I managed to make a 100-lines map with more than two minutes of gameplay!

Mainly because 73/100 lines are two-sided and it was an utter clusterfuck to do that. Turned out nice enough though. :)

[Jayextee]

...aaaaaand it's now 900 Deep in the Dead. Still a mouthful, but less is leaking out and dribbling onto your chin now.

[Phml]

You cocktease, I thought the name change meant a release. :)

[Jayextee]

Two maps until that, sire.

However one of them is E1M8 which should take no time at all since I already know what I'm going to do for it...

I'd give an ETA of three days, but I'm hopeless at keeping to that shit. ;)

[Gez]

You should work on the sequel when it's finished. "The 900 Shores of Hell" has too good a ring to pass.

[traversd]

JXT: For the maps that are under 100 linedefs are you using the remainder in other maps (go over 100)? Just on a size/scale standpoint, e1m6 is probably a good candidate for some extra linedefs if you are still under 900 in total for the episode.

[Avoozl]

I'm really looking forward to this.

[Jayextee]

Gez said:

You should work on the sequel when it's finished. "The 900 Shores of Hell" has too good a ring to pass.

Arrrrgh, don't tempt me! Actually may crib one (or both) E2-esque levels I did for the actual 100 Lines project, since I'd kinda started doing just that as a joke (but gave in after two maps).

traversd said:

JXT: For the maps that are under 100 linedefs are you using the remainder in other maps (go over 100)? Just on a size/scale standpoint, e1m6 is probably a good candidate for some extra linedefs if you are still under 900 in total for the episode.

I have 2 maps with 99 lines; I figure that one line may be usable for any potential fixes (if there's like a corner that needs blunting or something). I'd better hope for very few bugs, then. ;)

If not, it's just a name after all.

Avoozl said:

I'm really looking forward to this.

Thank you. I'm really hoping I don't disappoint.

[pavera]

I'll play this on my livestream for you when it comes out. Then you can join and I can chat directly with the author while playing! Oh man, the fun times.

[joe-ilya]

Why does this takes so long?
Just 100 lines per map , ridicilous...

[Acid]

It's exactly because it's 100 lines per map that you have to pay special consideration to keeping both the original gameplay and looks all at the same time on making it fun.

[Jayextee]

joe-ilya said:

Why does this takes so long?
Just 100 lines per map , ridicilous...

Good question, and one I'm prepared to answer in full:

I often plan my maps in advance on paper. This can vary depending on the complexity of the map, as I often draw a minor spaghetti-ball of paths and then use coloured felt-pens mark off key-door areas before I even attempt to draw anything that looks like the plan-view of a proper map.

For 100-Lines maps, these plan-views are really slow to draw because I am basically counting every last straight line I draw; and double-checking, taking into account linedef splits and such.

Translating this into Doom Builder isn't a quick process either, because there's quite a lot of fiddling around with heights and things to make sure that sectors sharing the same 2-sided linedefs don't 'clash' with each other; that is, if one area which is supposedly an enclosed sewer (for example) shares lines with an outdoor area, I don't want a small gap between the two destroying the illusion.

And then, of course, there's testing. I make sure every structure works as intended (even if interacted with in ways that are not intended) even before I start populating the map with things. But when I get around to that, I make sure every difficulty is playable, even with different approaches; I will typically do one playthrough in each difficulty in three different styles - careful play, reckless play, and time-attack play. If the map 'works' in all three of those, it's ready.

100 Lines maps are smaller than my usual maps, obviously. But that doesn't mean I can't take time over them; admittedly, I knocked up a couple for the 100 Lines project in under two hours -- the time spent planning and testing will always differ.

But the crux of what I'm trying to get at, is that I give a shit about what I'm doing. I don't rush. I make the best maps I can, even with a restriction on linedef count.

Hope that's a full enough answer for you. ;)

[chesse20]

will there be a doom II verison
i dont own a copy of doom I so i dont have the iwad for it

[Obsidian]

I noticed the new quote. :P

[Jayextee]

E1M7



I'm getting kinda worried how excited you guys seem for this; not like seriously worried, just a little cautious I suppose. Not that I haven't given this my best shot (given the limitation of never exceeding 100 lines), but it has to be said that this wad is quite experimental in nature: I've not always had the luxury to create elaborate monster ambushes or traps, or even in some cases to make anything more than a straightforward, linear map.

It's cool that people are looking forward to playing this (I thank and love you all!), but I certainly don't want to let anyone down.

That said, E1M8 to go!

I don't know whether to opt for a testing phase of this, since there's very little that feasibly can be done with the maps (save some object tweaking here and there) -- but if I do, it'll be a closed 'beta' until it is ready for release.

[baronofheck82]

I'm a big fan of tech/E1 themed levels, so I'm most certainly giving this a go when it's put up on the Interwebs.

[Jayextee]

Well, I just this minute finished E1M8. No screens for you, though.

Jayextee said:

I don't know whether to opt for a testing phase of this, since there's very little that feasibly can be done with the maps (save some object tweaking here and there) -- but if I do, it'll be a closed 'beta' until it is ready for release.

Any thoughts, anyone? Or should I just play the shit out of it (and try to break it -- as I also do some polishing, as there's a custom TITLEPIC among other things on its way) for a week then release it? :)

[Joshua Schäferhund]

-- "It's like I've traveled back to 1994!" - Mary Land, Maryland

*fixed :P

[Olympus]

Those screens look really cool and I must say I really like the concept. I will surely be playing this when its released! Im especially curious to see what you did with E1M8. A small boss map sounds very interesting!

I must second Bucket's name suggestion however; Ankle deep in the dead is a more clever name and the current title doesnt really flow too well. In the end its up to you but thats just my two cents.

[40oz]

cant wait to play!