SlaughterMAX - Doomworld /idgames database frontend

Title:	SlaughterMAX
Filename:	levels/doom2/Ports/megawads/smax.zip
Size:	10.9 MB
Date:	01/03/20
Author:	Various
Description:	SlaughterMAX is a community project meant to spread the joy of making and playing slaughter maps. All maps that were submitted and had a UV Max demo recorded were included, until there were 32 maps. The demos are also included in the zip file, so if you ever wonder "how the heck is this even possible?!" or just want a good show, check out the demos! Note about difficulty settings: Ultra-Violence (renamed "UV Max") is the main difficulty that all of the demos were recorded on. Hurt Me Plenty (renamed "Casual") is slightly more forgiving and is recommended for casual play. Hey Not Too Rough has been re-branded as "WILD!" and has experimental, ridiculous, or very hard gameplay that is sometimes barely tested, and will usually be harder than UV.
Credits:	See bottom of text file for full credits.
Base:	New from scratch
Build time:	About 9 months from project start to finish
Editor(s) used:	GZDB, DB2, SLADE, GIMP, MS Paint, Bitmap Font Writer, HxD, and whatever else the various authors used!
Bugs:	There's at least one soft-lock. Watch your step!
Rating:	Log in at the Doomworld forums to comment.

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View smax.txt

===========================================================================
Advanced engine needed  : Boom
Primary purpose         : Single play
===========================================================================
Title                   : SlaughterMAX
Filename                : smax.wad
Release date            : 1/1/2020
Author                  : Various
Email Address           : [redacted]
Other Files By Author   : N/A
Misc. Author Info       : See bottom of text file for full credits.

Description             : SlaughterMAX is a community project meant to spread
                          the joy of making and playing slaughter maps. All
                          maps that were submitted and had a UV Max demo
                          recorded were included, until there were 32 maps.
                          The demos are also included in the zip file, so if
                          you ever wonder "how the heck is this even
                          possible?!" or just want a good show, check out the
                          demos!
                          
                          Note about difficulty settings:
                          
                          Ultra-Violence (renamed "UV Max") is the main
                          difficulty that all of the demos were recorded on.
                          Hurt Me Plenty (renamed "Casual") is slightly more
                          forgiving and is recommended for casual play. Hey
                          Not Too Rough has been re-branded as "WILD!" and
                          has experimental, ridiculous, or very hard gameplay
                          that is sometimes barely tested, and will usually
                          be harder than UV.

Additional Credits to   : See bottom of text file for full credits.
===========================================================================
* What is included *

New levels              : 32
Sounds                  : No
Music                   : Yes
Graphics                : Yes
Dehacked/BEX Patch      : No
Demos                   : Yes
Other                   : No
Other files required    : None

* Play Information *

Game                    : Doom 2
Map #                   : 01-32
Single Player           : Designed for
Cooperative 2-4 Player  : No
Deathmatch 2-4 Player   : No
Other game styles       : None
Difficulty Settings     : Yes

* Construction *

Base                    : New from scratch
Build Time              : About 9 months from project start to finish
Editor(s) used          : GZDB, DB2, SLADE, GIMP, MS Paint, Bitmap Font
                          Writer, HxD, and whatever else the various authors
                          used!
Known Bugs              : There's at least one soft-lock. Watch your step!
May Not Run With        : Some of the maps will not be performant in GZDoom,
                          for example
Tested With             : PrBoom+ or GlBoom+, complevel 9

* Copyright / Permissions *

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a
copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

You are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format;
and remix, transform, and build upon the material. If you do so, you must
give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if
changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way
that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. You may not use the
material for commercial purposes. If you remix, transform, or build upon the
material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as
the original.

* Where to get the file that this text file describes *

The Usual: ftp://archives.gamers.org/pub/idgames/ and mirrors

=============================================================================
========  SlaughterMAX  =====================================================
=============================================================================

PROJECT LEAD: Benjogami

MAPPERS:

42PercentHealth
A7MAD
antares031
Archi
Bdubzzz
Bemused
Benjogami
DanielAlexander
Dododamian
elmle
floatRand
Killer5
mArt1And00m3r11339
Memfis
Nirvana
RjY
Scotty
Spectre01
tourniquet
Xyzzy01
Yousuf Anik

MAXERS:

A7MAD
Ancalagon
antares031
Bdubzzz
Bloodite Krypto
DanielAlexander
elmle
mArt1And00m3r11339
Player177
Spectre01
The Green Herring

TITLEPIC is by DanielAlexander
M_DOOM, INTERPIC, BOSSBACK and Status Bar are by antares031

Title midi is from Everquest
Intermission midi is a midi version of "Chill and Rigor"
from 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

Thank you NoisyVelvet for recording the autoplay demos

Thank you elmle for testing WILD mode

=============================================================================
========  CREDITS FOR EACH MAP  =============================================
=============================================================================
MAP01: Mud Elemental
Map by: Memfis
Max by: Ancalagon
Max time: 0:01:53
Midi: from Phobosphere
=============================================================================
MAP02: Showdown
Map by: Dododamian
Max by: A7MAD
Max time: 0:04:13
Midi: E3M1 (Untitled) by Bobby Prince 
=============================================================================
MAP03: Canyon Base
Map by: DanielAlexander
Max by: DanielAlexander
Max time: 0:12:25
Midi: Last Ninja 2 - Central Park Loader OST
=============================================================================
MAP04: Struggle Bug
Map by: A7MAD
Max by: Bloodite Krypto
Max time: 0:01:29
Midi: "Heretic E1M9 Graveyard" by Kevin Schilder
Additional credits: Sky is by Mechadon
=============================================================================
MAP05: The Broken Machine
Map by: DanielAlexander
Max by: Ancalagon
Max time: 0:03:22
Midi: Street Fighter II - Ken's Theme
=============================================================================
MAP06: Sons of Liberty
Map by: Scotty
Max by: Bloodite Krypto
Max time: 0:09:13
Midi: "Yell Dead Cell" from Metal Gear Solid 2
Additional credits: Sky is from Sunlust
=============================================================================
MAP07: Lift of Enlightenment
Map by: Bemused
Max by: Bloodite Krypto
Max time: 0:01:42
Midi: "Gutknot" by Thyrbse, from Hell Revealed 2
=============================================================================
MAP08: Dang!
Map by: 42PercentHealth
Max by: Ancalagon
Max time: 0:08:16
Midi: "Legion of Fear" by Knightrider of Doom
Additional credits: Sky is by Eradrop
=============================================================================
MAP09: Heavy Impact
Map by: Yousuf Anik
Max by: Bloodite Krypto
Max time: 0:22:21
Midi: Children of Bodom - Lake Bodom (midi version)
=============================================================================
MAP10: Velvet
Map by: floatRand
Max by: Player177
Max time: 0:09:40
Midi: "Crystal Teardrops" from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Mapper comments:
"When I started working on this map concept, I had some few constraints;

* A rather constrained space, after coming from Confinement project I had
some hungering for more.
* Contains invasion finale that can be accessed from start
* Shortcuts and secret doors aplenty

"Originally I had floated idea of making map sort of silly 'revenant
factory', with conveyors moving them around, and finale being bit comical bit
where you open security system to slam a button that releases all revenants
into the factory. I had even thought about using 'Spalding Factory' theme
from Barkley Gaiden. However, I must I struggled with the theme (perhaps it
is just that I kinda am bad at using Doom2 textures), so I kinda went with my
'safe space' which is magical libraries etc. A throwback to 'Felt' of
Disjunction and first map I made public. But perhaps it is masturbatory to
reference something so recent - and something that is not perhaps that great.

"Either way, doing slaughter-style gameplay proved to be bit difficult with
the set constraints and maybe feels like afterthought. I hadn't really done
that much slaughtery stuff, outside of specific encounters from
Disjunction - map10 finale particular. I also tried to make the final
encounter difficult to cheese, a situation where you have no safe corners to
sit in and you have to use to shortcuts / openings you made prior, but if you
rush the switches to the exit you can access outside section which can be used
to safely kill revenants. Oh well. It isn't the fastest way apparently, so I
guess it isn't that bad of a deal.

"Oh, and I did enjoy making those 'elemental plane' sections. The 'elemental
plane of fire' worked out much better, but the water one? I guess I didn't
have as many ideas as I hoped. Oh well." -floatRand
=============================================================================
MAP11: ritournelle
Map by: tourniquet
Max by: Player177
Max time: 0:09:37
Midi: "Amethyst Princess" by rdwpa
Additional credits: Sky is from Speed of Doom
=============================================================================
MAP12: Abscess
Map by: Nirvana
Max by: Bdubzzz
Max time: 0:05:18
Midi: Secret of Evermore, Mini-boss
Additional credits: Sky is by Mechadon. Bdubz for testing and demo, 
Scotty
for fixing sky transfer woes.
Mapper comments:
"I was originally going to make the map a much more wide open, canyon-like
space, utilising the contrasting rock textures you see in the starting area
throughout. However, once I built the entrance to the main building, I
decided I liked the idea of a river of blood pouring out to form a large pool
and the concept became "where is this blood coming from?" I'm a big fan of
using the default Doom 2 textures (it's one of the reasons I was drawn to
this project), because I think it forces you to think outside the box in
terms of textures-use. In this vein, I was inspired by the gaping maw in
Sunder map 2 and decided I would design my own giant demonic mouth using the
Icon of Sin's big ugly teeth. I really like how it turned out and love the
Doomy boxiness of it all.

"This big mouth inspired the rest of the room, with the skin and brain
textures overtaking the area and this room inspired the name of the map; the
demonic presence sort of eating away at the rest of the world. If I had, had
more time to edit the map I would have altered the final fight to be a bit
more exciting, but I was happy to punch out a little map without too many
hangups. At least Bdubz enjoyed it :D" -Nirvana

Maxer comments:
"I put the most effort in to getting a FAST time for this map because it was
turning out to be a little friendly competition ;p 5:2x was my goal and it
ended up being 5:18. I think to  really improve it anymore it comes down to
infighting RNG with the first encounter that you skip. (sometimes when i went
to the final encounter there was barely any hell knights left, other times
there was a lot left and a cyber) Also screw those mancs on the cliffs :p"
-Bdubzzz
=============================================================================
MAP13: Rocketfest 2018
Map by: Scotty
Max by: Bdubzzz
Max time: 0:06:49
Midi: from Rise of the Triad
Additional credits: Sky is by Mechadon
Maxer comments:
"This demo was the most fun to record and the time ended up being pretty good
for me since I'm not a speedrunner :D" -Bdubzzz
=============================================================================
MAP14: Slaughterstein
Map by: Xyzzy01
Max by: Bdubzzz
Max time: 0:07:02
Midi: "Evil Incarnate" by Bobby Prince
Mapper comments:
"...what. I literally made this random throw-away map (that I probably wasn't
even planning on releasing) over a year ago to deal with mapper's block I had
at the time, and somehow it's now part of a much larger project?! ._.
Regardless, I am immensely content it found a home here; making it qualify
for this project really opened my eyes to the world of slaughtermapping, and
now I hope to make more slaughtermaps in the future! :D

"Anyway, the idea behind this map was to just make a challenge map, totally
styled to that of Wolfenstein 3D. I always loved those secret maps in Doom II
and decided to make my own! The various encounters in this map used to be much
easier, but they all had a similar theme: a fight that forces the player to
work with the limited space they have in each room and incentivize the player
to herd the monsters and find ways around them to access ammo. I think the
final version of Slaughterstein by Benjogami still has that aspect intact,
which is a relief! I went all out on making this as 'wolf' as possible by
having ZERO light variation, items and monsters arranged in a grid, large
secret areas, and I even simulated vines that are hard to see through like
the ones from that game. The thing I like the most about this map is its
simple nonlinearity; you can make your own path through it by choosing which
door to open next. I think about the only thing I would change about
Slaughterstein, looking back at it, is making those secrets less generous
than they are. ;)

"I gotta say, for a map that I wasn't really taking seriously while building
it, it's becoming one of my favorites! I should make more like this one...
Oh, and thank you Bdubzzz for maxing it! You got this
map accepted after all." -Xyzzy01

Maxer comments:
"Mostly a casual Max with a couple of fast strats I practiced. Nothing to
impressive ;p What was fun about this map is there's a lot of ways to go
so you had to think about 'whats actually the fastest
route to go for a UV-Max?'" -Bdubzzz
=============================================================================
MAP15: Necroveins
Map by: Benjogami
Max by: A7MAD
Max time: 0:05:22
Midi: Original by PRIMEVAL
Mapper comments:
"The idea that started this map was the maze of viles far below the floor that
would resurrect stuff that died in the middle of the map, and everything else
was speedmapped around that. I made it in a single day, less than a week after
the project was started, because I wanted to set a casual tone for the
project, with simple but bold visuals and blunt gameplay that still invited
different approaches.

"I chose the map for the 15 slot because it was easiest to patch a secret
exit into my own map ;)" -Benjogami

=============================================================================
MAP16: Blood and Stones
Map by: Bdubzzz
Max by: Bdubzzz
Max time: 0:21:43
Midi: "Atlantis Theme" from Banjo Tooie
Mapper comments:
"My first map I completed. The focus was more on gameplay that I find
enjoyable/challenging and not map design/detailing/layout. There definitely
would be a few things I would change looking back at the map but I think its
better to leave early projects untouched and look back at them.. Did I
improve as a mapper? :thinking face emoji:" -Bdubzzz
=============================================================================
MAP17: Literally Unplayable
Map by: Bemused
Max by: Ancalagon
Max time: 0:11:06
Midi: "Gotham" by Lee Jackson
=============================================================================
MAP18: Swiss Cheese Strike
Map by: Bdubzzz
Max by: Bdubzzz
Max time: 0:23:28
Midi: Final Fantasy/Chrono Trigger/Secret of Mana medley
Mapper comments:
"2nd map I made that again mostly focuses on gameplay. The textures used
throughout are kind of random. This map has a couple encounters that ended up
being pretty cool but maybe a little extreme for your average
doom slaughter player." -Bdubzzz
=============================================================================
MAP19: Last Light
Map by: Benjogami
Max by: Bloodite Krypto
Max time: 0:11:41
Midi: "Opening to Hell" by Bobby Prince
Additional credits: Sky is by Mechadon, edited by Benjogami
Mapper comments:
"Similar to Necroveins in that it started with a single gameplay concept that
I wanted to explore: a huge mess of corpses inside maze-like partitions, and
then a huge mess of viles is released into the center of it. I didn't
particularly care how the corpses got there, even if it was more grindy than
difficult, because I felt like the vile phase would be a good payoff.

"But of course making all those corpses is a large portion of the map, so it
should be somewhat interesting. I decided that each of the 3 keys should
trigger fights that were tense by themselves, and that choosing between
different orders and combinations and timings of keys should be
an interesting process.

"The tall bright fireblu pillars that mark where unused megaspheres are was a
purely functional addition---while testing, I found it annoying that I didn't
know where the megaspheres were, and adding a bright fireblu pillar that went
dark when the megasphere was grabbed seemed like a good way to fix it. This
led to the map's name and the theme of fading power/light." -Benjogami
=============================================================================
MAP20: The Mouth of Madness
Map by: elmle
Max by: elmle
Max time: 0:32:37
Midi: A remix of the Shinra Company theme from FF7 called Son of Chaos
=============================================================================
MAP21: The Outhouse
Map by: Benjogami
Max by: Bloodite Krypto
Max time: 0:03:54
Midi: from The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall
Additional credits: Sky is by Mechadon
Mapper comments:
"I made this map and then wanted it to have a home, because I really liked
it. Because it's a small map and doesn't really stand by itself, and because
I didn't have any ideas/motivation for a set, I thought about the sort of
community project I might like it to live in, and came up with the ruleset
for SlaughterMAX.

"After writing my comments for Necroveins and Last Light, I realize that
all of my SlaughterMAX maps (and probably a lot of my other maps) start with
a single gameplay idea (usually involving viles) that I want to explore (so
that I can play it myself :D). This map's idea was to have a whole mess of
viles that the player can't deal with and has to run from, and then to have
those viles pursue the player and filter through the map and combine with the
other resident monsters to create a randomized oppressive mess for the player
to solve. I wanted every phase of the map to be very oppressive. It's also a
bit of a love letter to Doom's wonderfully simple but random and surprising
monster pathing. I like to make maps that play differently
each time." -Benjogami

=============================================================================
MAP22: Electro Wizard
Map by: A7MAD
Max by: Bloodite Krypto
Max time: 0:10:28
Midi: "Bergschrund" by James Paddock
Mapper comments:
"A map dedicated for players to take their anger on
hordes of Cyberdemons and archi's" -A7MAD
=============================================================================
MAP23: Pandemonium Unveiled
Map by: Archi
Max by: A7MAD
Max time: 0:12:57
Midi: "I Sawed the Demons" remix by Jay Reichard
=============================================================================
MAP24: Dead Ringer
Map by: A7MAD
Max by: Bloodite Krypto
Max time: 0:22:32
Midi: "Guardhouse" by James Paddock
Mapper comments:
"I forgot to tag all the monsters with the 'deaf' tag , ooops..." -A7MAD
=============================================================================
MAP25: Castle of Hell
Map by: Bdubzzz
Max by: Bdubzzz
Max time: 0:18:52
Midi: "Sidstyler" by Machinae Supremacy 
Mapper comments:
"4th map I made that is themed outside of a castle ( ended up being the
smallest and undetailed castle ever). The idea was you eventually go to a
hell like area in the map. I wanted this map to be short ( so it was easier
to MAX) but to still have an epic final fight, which I think it does ;)"
-Bdubzzz
=============================================================================
MAP26: Eviscerate
Map by: Killer5
Max by: Bloodite Krypto
Max time: 0:10:44
Midi: "Goin' Down The Fast Way" by Lee Jackson
=============================================================================
MAP27: BacknForth
Map by: Bdubzzz
Max by: Bdubzzz
Max time: 0:34:01
Midi: Forest Theme from Actraiser
Additional credits: Sky is the EP4 sky from The Ultimate Doom by Id Software
Mapper comments:
"3rd map I made where I actually thought of a concept before making the map.
You go 'back and forth' to a new encounter at the end of the map each time
and when you go back something changes on the map/monsters appear etc. This
was harder to do then expected and ended up just being small encounters
with more monsters. I also tried to stick with a 'theme'
for the map. (marble/hell textures)" -Bdubzzz

Maxer comments:
"This map was by far the hardest to get a UV-Max demo for. It eventually came
down to nerfing some problem encounters." -Bdubzzz
=============================================================================
MAP28: The Eclipse of Betelgeuse
Map by: antares031
Max by: antares031
Max time: 0:41:38
Midi: Psychedelic Eyeball - The Day of Defeat
Additional credits: Sky is by Mechadon
Mapper comments:
"Try to load this level with GLBoom+, if you're having a frame-rate issue.
Thanks, and have fun." -antares031
=============================================================================
MAP29: Skindustrial Sector 04
Map by: Spectre01
Max by: Spectre01
Max time: 1:34:01
Midi: "Winds of the Destiny" by Petter M�rtensen, from HR2 MAP20.
	"Church of the Machine" by Symphony X, from Scythe 2 MAP30.
Mapper comments:
"*HNTR is the intended difficulty!*
Large, abstract "skin-tech" city that's partially submerged in an ocean of
infected blood. Designed to be played from a Pistol Start. Originally
intended for DMP2017, as a sequel to my map from the previous year, this
level ended up here instead. The goal was to make a map which pushed
difficulty to the limit of what I find enjoyable in Doom: Medium-scale,
high-threat encounters that limit the player's mobility; whether through high
monster density, environmental hazards, or dangerous turret monsters (hence
the 4 Cybers in the central tower at the start). I also wanted an epic finale,
which lead to the creation of the sandbox-ish, macro-slaughter fight to wrap
up the map. Considering how long the map ended up, while maintaining a high
level of difficulty, it wasn't very friendly from a saveless/speedrunning
perspective. I ended up moving the intended difficulty to HNTR, and the more
reasonable HMP to UV, so the map could qualify for this project." -Spectre01
   
Maxer comments:
"It was still way harder to get a successful exit than I expected. Playing
consistently for a long period is not my forte. The demo ended up being 94
minutes long, largely due to extremely conservative play in the final area
(also platforming in Doom). Also, -shorttics really suck." -Spectre01
=============================================================================
MAP30: Bugger This
Map by: RjY
Max by: The Green Herring
Max time: 0:01:44
Midi: "Opening to Hell" by Bobby Prince
=============================================================================
MAP31: Assassin's Greed
Map by: mArt1And00m3r11339
Max by: mArt1And00m3r11339
Max time: 0:54:19
Midi: "Evil Incarnate" by Bobby Prince
=============================================================================
MAP32: Power Overwhelming
Map by: Killer5
Max by: Ancalagon
Max time: 0:15:16
Midi: from Gubble
=============================================================================
=============================================================================
=============================================================================

=============================================================================
========  Selected commentaries on the slaughter genre  =====================
=============================================================================

"Well, anyone can do this: create a few large sectors, some detail and put
thousands of ammo and enemies, we don't need skilled mappers for this
worthless shit! This is a very worthless ugly megawad, what a
waste of time! - 1/5"
     -anonymous, about some other wad

"I'm played this with god mode on and it seems to be a bit too easy for me.
Seriously, there's too much ammunition and powerups for such encounters.
Hell Revealed is better all the way. 2/5"
     -anonymous, about some other wad

"chewbacca taking a shit would be more entertaining"
     -anonymous, about some other wad

"Uglyslaughter map. After I died in the second room to cyberdemons and a
horde of arch-viles and hell knights I noclipped through the map only to
find a level full of misery."
     -anonymous, about some other wad

"Right. Map 1, ~30 revenants, a dozen Barons and 2 Cyberdemons. Yawn. I
cannot even begin to express how much I loathe these idiot slaughter fests.
How old are the authors? 12? Sick to bloody death of downloading garbage
like this and having hopes of an enjoyable game pissed all over. Mark crap
like this for what it is - idiot overkill crap."
     -anonymous, about some other wad

"Terrible... slaughter stuff, just make some normal mapset, please. Elitist
gameplay all over the place."
     -anonymous, about some other wad

"Wow. A *slaughter* wad. How inventive and fascinating. My score reflects
this sentiment. What rubbish."
     -anonymous, about some other wad

"ugly colors and design, slaughter gameplay, nothing in common with alien
vendetta, pure shit. 0/5"
     -anonymous, about some other wad

"Well, slaughterfests differ completely in gameplay phylosophy. Traditional
DooM gameplay is a mix of strategy, tactics, and variation in style and
intensity. Slaughtermaps usually try to place as many monsters per square
inch as possible, whereby the only thing a player needs to do, is finding a
walk path creating massive infights. Therefore SF gameplay is imho extremely
monotonous and boring. And yes, IMHO the gameplay (BTW for sure not too
difficult @ UV) completely ruined this mapset. It's a pity."
     -anonymous, about some other wad

"A terrible level set - nothing but uninspired map designs and constant,
near impossible later on enemy floods. Who thought this
would be a good idea?"
     -anonymous, about some other wad

mong