[Release] Shadows of The Nightmare Realm - Updated 16 November 2023

[Remilia Scarlet]

Shadows of The Nightmare Realm (SoTNR) is finally done!  Download links are at the bottom.  Some quick basic info:

 

• GZDoom or K8Vavoom, both work as of v1.1
• Doom2.wad
• Singleplayer only
• No jumping, no crouching
• Mouselook is considered a requirement
• Be sure to include brightmaps.pk3 and lights.pk3 when using GZDoom
• Be sure the following are enabled: dynamic lights, high resolution textures, 3d models (don't worry, only used for scenery in a few places places

The premise is Lovecraft-inspired, but not part of any of Lovecraft's universes.  The story takes place not long after Doom 2, where Hell was defeated by the Doomguy.  What no one knew was that there was a far greater and nigh inconceivable evil lurking beyond our realm: the Baleful Ones.  They saw how Hell had failed and felt it was now their time to succeed.  They knew of the Doomguy's strength, and so decided to attack him in the one place he's vulnerable: in his nightmares.  Thus, SoTNR takes place within the dreams of the Doomguy, each one manipulated by the Baleful Ones.

 

The gameplay is pretty straightforward, with Doom-style exploration and combat.  One difference is that your inventory is cleared and your health reset at the start of each map.  After all, each one takes place in a separate dream :-P  There are six total maps: three main levels, one secret level, one boss level, and a Quake-style start map.  The music is all new and is done by me.  If you'd like, you can grab the soundtrack here or a FLAC version here.

 

Update: v1.1 is now released.  New download links are below.  Changelog:

Spoiler

• ZScript has been removed, so it now works in both GZDoom and K8Vavoom. There's small lighting bugs in K8, and the performance tanks because of how I did the lighting back then, but it is playable (I just turn off shadows in a few rooms in level 3).
• Small balancing issues, mainly related to a general lack of stimpacks or rockets. This is especially true in level 2.
• Small lighting fixes in level 3.
• Texture alignment fixes in level 3.
• The Archon of Hell's health was reduced from 2000 to 1650 so they don't feel quite so much like a bullet sponge.
• The story retcons that I've been planning for years are finally in place. SoTNR is part of a sort of personal mythology I have going, which also includes Umbra of Fate (its prequel), my Xala'noth level for Quake, Eschatology, The Unending, and I think a few others. The main difference is that the "Elder Gods" are now "Baleful Ones". It's still heavily Lovecraft inspired.
• A spelling issue was fixed.
• A softlock on level 1 and the tech area of level 4 was fixed (they're the same layout).
• Added a pillar to a room in level 2 so that the fight with the spider mastermind feels better.
• Added a light in level 3 to make a switch more obvious.
• Reduced the absurd ceiling detail on the outside of level 3 that couldn't ever be seen properly anyway to improve performance.
• The crusher trap in level 3 is now a bit more obvious.

 

Downloads:

• v1.1 https://mega.nz/file/4lVSxaLK#qPzHNp5klwmJPJ3ItebExWsGnb1p3dpiRp5ArS_fBKI

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Videos:

Spoiler

These are complete playthroughs with all secrets shown.  You've been warned.  They were done in K8Vavoom, so expect a few visual glitches due to how I lit the levels.

 

 

 

 

You can also listen to the soundtrack on YouTube:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 23, 2023 by Remilia Scarlet
Update to v1.1

[Jayextee]

YES. GLORIOUS PINK-SKY DOOM.

That said, I'm downloading but got to run an errand before I play. It's now my reward for doing so. :D

[Phade102]

2 hours ago, Jayextee said:

YES. GLORIOUS PINK-SKY DOOM.

That said, I'm downloading but got to run an errand before I play. It's now my reward for doing so. :D

I am following the cute Cacodemon to every thread he is in. You shall notice me or I shall cry.

 

On another note, congrats on getting it done Yuki. it looks AMAZING.

[42PercentHealth]

Wow... those screenies! Makes me jealous of people with PC's that can execute the OpenGL lighting...

 

Downloaded, will play when I can! Thank you kindly! :-)

 

[ShoDemo]

Oh shit! Is it is ready! 

Hope it runs on my pc. I have been waiting this for some time now. :D

And like 42% said, it is gorgeous!!! That picture with the chaingun shining purple light and the other one with the glowing eyes pentagram demon really got my attention.

[Jayextee]

42 minutes ago, ShotgunDemolition said:

Hope it runs on my pc.

 

I have a pretty low-spec laptop and it runs fine at 1366x768 in GZDoom.

Edited May 25, 2017 by Jayextee

[Deadwing]

I can't play it yet, but I've listenned the soundtrack and it is awesome, very atmospheric!

My favorites were the remix (suspense) and Dead Star so far!

Edited May 25, 2017 by Deadwing

[Fonze]

Well I know what I'm doing tonight :)

[Dragonfly]

I'm glad to see this released - the pics that have appeared from time to time in the Post your Doom pic thread have kept my interest, so it'll be exciting to see this in motion.

 

I'm currently working, much like most of the previous comments, but I'll be sure to check this out as soon as I can! :)

[R1ck]

been waiting for a while for this. let's see if my piece of shit toaster can handle the advance lighting of gzdoom :p

[Ed]

Congrats on the release! Looks awesome - I'll give it a shot tonight.

[Remilia Scarlet]

2 hours ago, ShotgunDemolition said:

Hope it runs on my pc.

 

 

It should :^) just as long as you can enable dynamic lights in GZDoom and they don't look all artifacty and wrong. Only time I've noticed that was on a laptop with older "Intel HD Graphics" that didn't support a new enough OpenGL.

 

 

[42PercentHealth]

1 minute ago, YukiRaven said:

It should :^) just as long as you can enable dynamic lights in GZDoom and they don't look all artifacty and wrong.

You can also disable OpenGL altogether, if it's too much for your PC to handle. It won't look as nice as the screenshots, but it will be playable.

 

That's what I have to do. :-(

[R1ck]

well if my core2quad + GT610 + 2GBDDR2 can run it why not yours @ShotgunDemolition?

 

Damn it, Ninja'd

Edited May 25, 2017 by R1ck
Ninja'd

[Misty]

It was awesome,I wish I could write everything what I liked,but I don't want write spoilers. I loved atmosphere and lights.

[leodoom85]

I discovered the secret level by accident :D. But I'll give a nice review about it when I finish the mapset...

[Nine Inch Heels]

I am actually arguing with myself wether or not I should write a review. I'm obviously biased in many ways since I playtested this thing quite a bit. Probably won't review it until some time later this year so it gets some more exposure then. I guess at that point I'm a lot more neutral towards this as well in every way imaginable. ;-)

[GarrettChan]

I desperately need a Nightmare portal!

[DoodGuy]

Awesome work, I'm impressed. I always had a weak spot for Quake style maps.

[Remilia Scarlet]

26 minutes ago, GarrettChan said:

I desperately need a Nightmare portal!

Do "skill 4" in the console right before exiting the start map.

[GarrettChan]

19 minutes ago, YukiRaven said:

Do "skill 4" in the console right before exiting the start map.

Wait... isn't the same thing as Skill 3? I found the secret exit on Corax01, but I can't figure out how to get to the Invis secret. Probably I should do a run of this. I found out that I really like the hybrid Doom and Quake feeling.

 

I didn't see "Mouselook is required", my bad.

Edited May 25, 2017 by GarrettChan

[Nine Inch Heels]

30 minutes ago, GarrettChan said:

I desperately need a Nightmare portal!

 

3 minutes ago, YukiRaven said:

Do "skill 4" in the console right before exiting the start map.

Alternatively, run it from the cmd, like I did during testing, and toss in -skill 5...

 

Note that you may not be able to use the -warp argument. You may need to use the +map "sotnr01" (or the likes) argument instead. Start the thing from the first actual map (not the one you choose your difficulty in), or whatever map your want to play, and it will have NM locked in place when you go from one map to another.

[GarrettChan]

8 minutes ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

Alternatively, run it from the cmd, like I did during testing, and toss in -skill 5...

Oh yeah, I used the command line to do so, of course.

 

Now I realize the problem I was making there. I meant to say Nightmare in Quake... means Hard + Fast Monsters, not NIGHTMARE! in Doom... lol

 

While I'm still searching for the secret, the starting area (before the map changes), you can fall into the hole on the right side of the stairs and stuck. Probably somebody had mentioned that.

Edited May 25, 2017 by GarrettChan

[Remilia Scarlet]

18 minutes ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

You may need to use the +map "sotnr01" (or the likes) argument instead

Actually it's still corax## :-P

 

Yeah, the other way to get into Nightmare is from the command line, where the full command line would be (making some assumptions about where files are....):

 

gzdoom -iwad Doom2.wad -file sotnr.pk3 -file brightmaps.pk3 -file lights.pk3 -complevel 0 +skill 4 +map corax01

The skill numbers internally start at 0, so 4 = Nightmare.

 

If you want it more like the Quake-style nightmare, do this:

gzdoom -iwad Doom2.wad -file sotnr.pk3 -file brightmaps.pk3 -file lights.pk3 -complevel 0 -fast +skill 3 +map corax01

 

The maps weren't designed for Nightmare, save for the second level.  This is why there's no Nightmare portal.

[GarrettChan]

4 minutes ago, YukiRaven said:

The maps weren't designed for Nightmare, save for the second level.

Oops... I guess I accidentally make this too serious. I was just talking out of my arse, so never mind. I just mean that this reminds me a lot of Quake, so missing a Nightmare portal seems missing something.

 

If I'm going to run the maps, I'll still do the videos on Hard.

[Remilia Scarlet]

lol, gotcha :D  Yeah, Quake was the biggest influence on SoTNR.

 

Funny thing is, this actually started life as a Heretic project, and was codenamed "corax", which is why you'll see references to it if you open the pk3.

[Nine Inch Heels]

8 minutes ago, YukiRaven said:

The maps weren't designed for Nightmare, save for the second level.

The maps can all be beaten on actual NM as far as I'm concerned, though I'd argue that map01 is the most difficult one for absence of considerable firepower, which would help in some spots. But it's doable regardless, all you need is some proper elbow-grease while deliberately killing low-HP targets to conserve space in tighter situations ahead of time. Might take some attemps, because still the RNG can screw things up when the wrong thing respawns and moves where it's most inconvenient at the time.

 

Even map03 seems easier to me than map01 as far as NM is concerned, because when things go "instant-turret-mode" you have situations in which NM actually breaks some of the setups to the point of almost trivializing them, plus map03 is more prone to have infights as well. Just need proper routing is all.

[Remilia Scarlet]

Did you try map04 on it yet?

[Nine Inch Heels]

I'm not too big a fan of boss maps altogether to be frank, but according to what GZdoombuilder tells me, it should be possible as well. I might try that when I have some more time on my hands, though. Perhaps I'm under the wrong impression regarding this. Not to mention that I will need to have a closer look at the boss level before putting a review together anyways. I simply had a lot more time with the other maps in comparison, so I didn't touch that one on NM yet. But as I said so far I see no reason to dub it impossible at all.

 

EDIT: On that note, since there's item respawns in the boss map, it's pretty likely that I can come up with a convenient route for this map at some point in time that should be relatively easy to "emulate" for most people. ;-)

Edited May 25, 2017 by Nine Inch Heels

[GarrettChan]

Probably I'm not used to freelook, and I don't like the combination of freelook + autoaim, so I actually think Map01 is somewhat difficult. Almost die at the end and I was panicking. I hope I can finish the whole game, or it's disrespectful to the designer ;)

 

Should have a review after the whole game.

 

Playthrough of Map01

Edited May 25, 2017 by GarrettChan