zekhmet project - calling bugtesters and FDA folks! (NINE maps done)

[yakfak]

11 hours ago, Pegleg said:

*********************************************************************************************************************************

Years have passed since demons from Hell first invaded Mars and overrun Earth. Time has healed many of the scars left on Earth after you defeated the demons and drove them back to Hell. As the years have gone by, the truth behind the demonic invasions has slowly faded into myth and legend as those that witnessed them have grown old and died, leaving mostly second-hand stories to be told by those who were never there. For you, though, the memories of those battles remain seared in your mind, as fresh as the days you lived them. Because of that, you have remained vigilant, just in case it all happened again.

 

Long ago, you retired from active duty in the Marines, but quickly found that a passive life of liesure and relaxation was not for you. Although the gray hair speckling your head and the lines around your eyes betrayed your age, physically you felt almost as spry as those bygone days, and you longed to, once again, be a part of something bigger than yourself. As a result, you found yourself pursuing a career with the UAC as their new head of security. The longer you worked at the UAC, the more you found the thought creeping into the back of your mind that part of the reason that you were hear was to ensure that they would not endanger the world again. However, very little of what you saw harkened back to the wild research days prior to the first invasion. You were beginning to think that the UAC had learned its lesson about dabbling in things they did not understand.

 

One day, word reached you that a program manager had found a collection of old teleportation data and some papers on slipgate physics and had joined forces with a team of junior scientists and engineer to bring a new "transportation" project to fruition. By the time you heard about it, the experimental setup was nearly complete and you were too late to stop the work. All you were able to do was gather your team and rush to the lab, just in case the worst happened. As you entered the lab and the saw you, you heard this exchange between two members of the experimental team:

 

"What is he doing here? Get him out of here!" The first yelled.

"He's the head of security. He has the right to go anywhere he deems necessary. We can't force him out," the second replied.

"We don't know what will happen. He could be in danger," the first pleaded.

"Look at who you're talking about. I don't think we should worry whether he can take care of himself," the second stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

 

The experimental team had constructed a man-sized gate that was wired to numerous relays, switches, meters, and other controls. A large conduit delivered power to it. The displays on the controls read out a series of steadily increasing numbers as the power flow to the gate mounted. Suddenly, the lights in the room dimmed and there was a flash of light from the gate. Reflexively grabbing for your sidearm, you shielded your eyes until the light faded. Once it had, you looked again and saw a shimmering wall of crackling energy between the walls of the gate. After a handful of heartbeats, this shimmering wall was replaced with a view of part of the rolling coutryside of Earth. After a few moments, that scene was replaced by the rugged terrain of Mars. This process repeated itself, changing periodically to show a different vista, some familiar, others alien. The scientists scrambled to take readings and record data as you watched the scenes shift, with the time lapse between each shift slowly growing. As you watched, you saw all manner of creatures in these vistas, but never anything that resembled the demons you dreaded returning.

After several minutes, the scene stopped on an image of a windswept plain, evidently on a distant world. The sky was a silvery-orange, lit with a pale light from a single distant star. Clouds drifted through the sky, casting faint shadows on trees filled with orange, yellow, and red leaves, reminiscent of autumn foliage. Ruined buildings dotted a landscape that seemed empty of beings. As you gazed at the vista that seemed to stretch out before you, you unconsciously began to drift toward the gate, looking in wonder at this distant planet, and its ruined remains of its civilization, wondering what happened to them. Before you realized it, you were just outside an arm's length from the gate.

 

There was a sudden surge of power and an alarm started to blare. Sinewy bands of energy crackled out from the edges of the gate, surrounding you, pulling you toward the threshold of the gate. In an instant, you were gone, being hurtled across space toward the autumn world that you had seen. As you lost consciousness, your vision first blurred, then went black.

 

In an instant, you open eyes, finding that you are lying on your side. Rolling over, you push yourself up and stand, slowly checking yourself for injuries. Finding none, you gaze up into the silvery-orange sky, just in time to see a fleeting crackle of shimmering energy fade from view. Running a hand through your gray hair and then down your face, your lips tighten as you survey the scene before you. Taking stock of your situation, you realize that you are trapped on a distant, unfamiliar world that appears devoid of all inhabitants. Perhaps the scientists and engineers would be able to reopen the gate, you think. Possibly, they would be able to trace the energy signature to this place, you consider. You weigh your options, reaching the conclusion that you can either sit down and wait to see if either of those prospects occurs or you can explore this new world and try to find another way home. Putting your hands on your hips, you pat your sidearm and grimly nod to yourself. Turning slowly in a circle, you look at your surroundings again. Seeing no obviously clear direction that you should go, you exhale sharply and begin walking toward the horizon.

*********************************************************************************************************************************

 

 

hee good work pegleg, a very pulp approach! i have my heart set on something a little more psychedelic than that but thank you for teh brainstorming all the same

Edited April 19, 2018 by yakfak

[Pegleg]

On 4/19/2018 at 6:10 AM, yakfak said:

 

 

hee good work pegleg, a very pulp approach! i have my heart set on something a little more psychedelic than that but thank you for teh brainstorming all the same

Thank you.

 

I thought of this while walking my dog. It's a bit more of a light-hearted approach.

 

**********

Doomguy McDoomperson V, or "Quinn," as he liked to be called, was the great-great-grandson of the legendary Marine who defeated the scourge of the demonic invasion. He had heard all the stories and even seen the picture from his great-great-grandfather's funeral of the man in his coffin, a rocket launcher at his side. But Quin was not his great-great-grandfather. He was not a Marine. What he was, was a man in search of enlightenment. To that end, he joined a group and took an experimental compound. Upon taking the compound, he began experiencing visions of a distant world, where it appeared to be autumn, the planet empty save for what appeared the ruins of an ancient civilization as yet unknown to mankind. During his last vision, he saw two things: a grain of salt and a statue of an elephant that appeared to be living its best life. Quinn thought he could learn something from that elephant, so he volunteered to be transported to that distant world, where he could explore, learn, and return home a changed man.

**********

 

I have to also credit @Grain of Salt and "End of Sight" for the inspiration behind parts of this.

Edited April 20, 2018 by Pegleg
Added "End of Sight"

[dobu gabu maru]

17 hours ago, yakfak said:

i have my heart set on something a little more psychedelic than that but thank you for teh brainstorming all the same

 

You wake up in a pile of snork a little hungover. "Shouldn't have astral projected so hard last night," you mumble to yourself, the twin moons above slowly draining your eyelashes of their neon crust. When was the last time you had slept this long? You can't remember—all your memories are locked in the peefee, and you ate that monfs ago. Shame too, that, since you don't remember whether the strange monsters before you are friends or foe.

 

"Do I know you?" You ask the gibbering bipeds, but they only respond with snarls and rude gestures. "Do I know myself?" You rhetorically wonder, scratching the back of your head. Your fingers trace the outline of a rectangular metal plate bolted to your cranium, the whipsnaps inside you telling you that it's part of the Old Language; it reads "Property of UnitedHealth-Sachs-Exxon". You search amongst the snorks beside you and discover a small babang, one that still contains 50 babangies. You look back up to the strangers and they seem to be drawing closer.

 

"What do you want?" You ask, still a little drowsy.

 

"Can't you see I'm tired?" You communicate, wondering which of the Old Gods created them... and whether or not they hated yours.

 

"Don't come any closer, I'm serious." But no response.

 

They continue to approach, numb to your warnings. You raise your babang, krikrack pumping through your microtubes. Is it okay to make them nomove? The other strangers on the astral plane always advised against it, but they're not here now... and it'll be at least another monf before you'll see them again. These strangers have lots of teeth, lots of soft bits... and they seem more than happy to make sure you nomove.

 

The twin moons above begin to weep as you pull the trigger.

 

You really shouldn't have eaten that peefee.

Edited April 20, 2018 by dobu gabu maru

[Skeletonpatch]

31 minutes ago, dobu gabu maru said:

peefee.

 

If that becomes the backstory I'm definitely going to try mapping for this. I just came across this thread today and was thoroughly intrigued by this project. I won't be able to start mapping for at least another week or two, but hopefully I'll be able to pull something doubledoubleplusgoodness for you once I have time.

[Misty]

I wish I could join, but seems that lots of of people are already interested in his project... Anyway, D_STALKS sounds so cozy and nice for me.  Feels like I'm going in the forest at summer evening, when sun sets down or sitting near warm fireplace with hot cup of tea at grey rainy day. 

[Benjogami]

the world behind your chair

 

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ujaitg3ez0dquhf/benjozek_v1.wad?dl=1

 

Map lives in the MAP06 slot, difficulty settings are implemented.

 

 

[Pegleg]

3 hours ago, Benjogami said:

the world behind your chair

 

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ujaitg3ez0dquhf/benjozek_v1.wad?dl=1

 

Map lives in the MAP06 slot, difficulty settings are implemented.

 

 

I find this picture so intriguing. It genuinely makes me wonder about it.

[yakfak]

the world behind your chair is so mean and fiddly it makes me cackle and the secret is so loveable :)) this map is definitely a keeper, thank you very much Benjogami! actually im happy the pack has already inspired two crazy maps and feel like starting my own soon

 

dobu's backstory for the game is nice and silly too I giggled

 

myst haruko: you can still join this project and create any kind of weird map you may have in your head, there's no need to be intimidated and the project doesn't have "slots" as such! :3

Edited April 22, 2018 by yakfak

[Benjogami]

4 minutes ago, yakfak said:

the world behind your chair is so mean and fiddly it makes me cackle and the secret is so loveable :)) this map is definitely a keeper, thank you very much Benjogami! actually im happy the pack has already inspired two crazy maps and feel like starting my own soon

 

Glad you like it! For the secret, I thought the player would really enjoy a cozy resting place at that point in the map, and it ended up helping me out with the name as well. :D

[rehelekretep]

does anyone know what im getting wrong; @Benjogami's map is loaded but i havent got any music. i re-used my command line from dobu's map so im not sure why im getting Doom2 music this time...

glboom-plus -iwad doom2.wad -file zek1res.wad benjozek_v1.wad -skill 4 -complevel 9 -warp 6 -record benjozek_v1-fda-rehelekretep

 

[yakfak]

6 minutes ago, rehelekretep said:

does anyone know what im getting wrong

 

 

add zekmus1.wad to teh file roster, that's all :) they're split up, i forget why

[dobu gabu maru]

yakfak, would you want a monsterless puzzle map for the set? I was brainstorming some ideas last night for something very non-Doom-like, and was just curious if you'd want me to give it a shot

[baja blast rd.]

On 4/19/2018 at 11:59 PM, dobu gabu maru said:

 

You wake up in a pile of snork a little hungover. "Shouldn't have astral projected so hard last night," you mumble to yourself, the twin moons above slowly draining your eyelashes of their neon crust. When was the last time you had slept this long? You can't remember—all your memories are locked in the peefee, and you ate that monfs ago. Shame too, that, since you don't remember whether the strange monsters before you are friends or foe.

 

"Do I know you?" You ask the gibbering bipeds, but they only respond with snarls and rude gestures. "Do I know myself?" You rhetorically wonder, scratching the back of your head. Your fingers trace the outline of a rectangular metal plate bolted to your cranium, the whipsnaps inside you telling you that it's part of the Old Language; it reads "Property of UnitedHealth-Sachs-Exxon". You search amongst the snorks beside you and discover a small babang, one that still contains 50 babangies. You look back up to the strangers and they seem to be drawing closer.

 

"What do you want?" You ask, still a little drowsy.

 

"Can't you see I'm tired?" You communicate, wondering which of the Old Gods created them... and whether or not they hated yours.

 

"Don't come any closer, I'm serious." But no response.

 

They continue to approach, numb to your warnings. You raise your babang, krikrack pumping through your microtubes. Is it okay to make them nomove? The other strangers on the astral plane always advised against it, but they're not here now... and it'll be at least another monf before you'll see them again. These strangers have lots of teeth, lots of soft bits... and they seem more than happy to make sure you nomove.

 

The twin moons above begin to weep as you pull the trigger.

 

You really shouldn't have eaten that peefee.

 

Fun story. I'd read more of this lore. :)

Edited April 23, 2018 by rdwpa

[yakfak]

16 hours ago, dobu gabu maru said:

yakfak, would you want a monsterless puzzle map for the set? I was brainstorming some ideas last night for something very non-Doom-like, and was just curious if you'd want me to give it a shot

 

Hell yes

[yakfak]

 

bump! eccentric mappers needed

[Catpho]

Not a map post, but i think here is a potential source of inspiration: i loaded the zekhmet texture pack with iwad maps, and boy they are funky.

Example:

Call it "Temple of the muddy dogs" or something, and these are not the wackiest instances (this is a retexture of map04 from plutonia).

[Scypek2]

How about tweaking the stats of the stealth monsters? Like making the stealth hellknight extra fast, and give the stealth pain elemental significantly lower pain chance... wait, did I already say it before? Anyway, if you lowered lost soul HP that could give mappers and excuse to put more lost souls and pain elementals everywhere... just a thought.

 

Well, aside from thoughts, I don't have a map update to show but I made four more small and totally disconnected rooms, and more notably, I came up with a whole bunch of cool map ideas. Ones that I may actually implement, unlike a whole adventure game of talking with sector-based creatures and rescuing 3d worms that will help you move around nukage, implemented with a whole bunch of voodoo conveyor belts and floor writing, which I envisioned earlier. I might still try a bit of that but I'll keep it low key. I hope the maps won't have to be too architecturetastic if they're quirky enough in other aspects?

[yakfak]

17 hours ago, Scypek2 said:

Well, aside from thoughts, I don't have a map update to show but I made four more small and totally disconnected rooms, and more notably, I came up with a whole bunch of cool map ideas. Ones that I may actually implement, unlike a whole adventure game of talking with sector-based creatures and rescuing 3d worms that will help you move around nukage, implemented with a whole bunch of voodoo conveyor belts and floor writing, which I envisioned earlier. I might still try a bit of that but I'll keep it low key. I hope the maps won't have to be too architecturetastic if they're quirky enough in other aspects?

 

hey your ideas are more important than the look of the map, i'm not saying you have to make it look like sunder :))) just as long as it's visually interesting or appealing in some way

 

as for changing monster behaviour more... probably not. i think teh base monster set of doom 2 in general is already really expressive and you can do creative enough stuff with them as it is

 

your adventure game idea sounds incredibly intriguing, i'd like to see that!!

[Catpho]

Another totally justified bump. I did the same trick as my previous post with d2twid. Now its a even bigger acid trip (in spoiler cuz long post):

Spoiler

... But darn what is with these lights (from doom2 map17):

Spoiler

A possible idea is that make a map that follows twid guidelines, then add zek resources, then make it crazy. Hope this gave some ideas.

This resource pack is unique stuff!

Edited May 13, 2018 by Catpho

[yakfak]

^i always appreciate it when people put out new level sets that don't replace the texture table so you can use new packs with it

that's part of why I used the original texture names!

 

also i'm really proud of that dense bstone light lol
it makes me laugh i guess
a lot of the pack was made a) at random while laughing and b) with the idea that decorative textures would be pushed and material textures would be less important
scatterbrained high-activity stuff that wears your eyes out in twenty minutes yknow :)))

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

If you still need mappers for this, I'd like to contribute.

I understand we're using Boom format, yes?

And also, we can utilize whatever eccentrics plague our beings for our maps?

Just need to be 100% on these things before I begin.

[Catpho]

Just now, Aquila Chrysaetos said:

If you still need mappers for this, I'd like to contribute.

I understand we're using Boom format, yes?

And also, we can utilize whatever eccentrics plague our beings for our maps?

Just need to be 100% on these things before I begin.

Yes, yes and freakin YES

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

Alright! I get to be an asshole!

Just kidding. Sort of.

Will post updates periodically with in-game screenshots and GZDB shots.

I'm so excited!

[xdarkmasterx]

cool textures I started a level with these resources with revenants in and if it has too many i can make it less any way hello :)

[xdarkmasterx]

ok its finished download here if u like it https://www.dropbox.com/s/trfjbqy1yuiqgk0/the_palace_of_darkness.wad?dl=0

 :)

[Bushpig2dope]

1 hour ago, xdarkmasterx said:

ok its finished download here if u like it https://www.dropbox.com/s/trfjbqy1yuiqgk0/the_palace_of_darkness.wad?dl=0

 :)

Something about that was pretty bloody fun

[riderr3]

I'll try make something fitting to MAP05 music. Screenies will be later...

[yakfak]

On 5/21/2018 at 7:00 AM, xdarkmasterx said:

ok its finished download here if u like it https://www.dropbox.com/s/trfjbqy1yuiqgk0/the_palace_of_darkness.wad?dl=0

 :)

 

i giggled, this map is totally impossible for a player like me. I'd love to see a demo that beat it, wouldn't have to be a UV-Max, any exit would do!

 

there's some grand sweeping bits of design in this map and I'm gonna add it to the accepted levels so thank you for posting it

which music track do you want to pair with it?

[Catpho]

Holy cow the @xdarkmasterx level is uncompromising! Is the blackout part even beatable?

Here is a death montage until we get the answer :P

(was longer but i accidentally deleted the other demo)

failzekpoddm.zip

Edited May 28, 2018 by Catpho

[xdarkmasterx]

LEVEL UPDATED: in the old version was a bug which allow the demon to get stuck in the sky and block doors from opening in the temple area, new version fixed and added textures to the front of the doors:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/us23rspfdihlxuz/the_palace_of_darkness_v2.wad?dl=0

 

2 hours ago, yakfak said:

 

i giggled, this map is totally impossible for a player like me. I'd love to see a demo that beat it, wouldn't have to be a UV-Max, any exit would do!

 

there's some grand sweeping bits of design in this map and I'm gonna add it to the accepted levels so thank you for posting it

which music track do you want to pair with it?

 

ty :) i'd like to use map05 or map01 music (if that track isnt taken already),

 

any way here is UVmax demo (FOR THE OLD VERSION) https://www.dropbox.com/s/syeyqdq5whos3sk/palacedemoDM.lmp?dl=0