Moustachio

@BeachThunder That's a good point! @Tangra Here's a true silent death exit in Boom.

@Tangra, here's an example of a nearly silent one (just has the teleport sound). Got the idea from this post. The way it works is by teleporting the player onto a voodoo doll and having the player's corpse slide across the exit line. I teleport the player into an extra sector first since the switch teleport linedef tends to trigger the level reload action once the player dies. This example is a little too fast still, sometimes I still trigger the level reload (which would not be fun for single-segment runs).

@macro Let’s go with the death exits as a rule. I think it will ruin the difficulty of some maps (like MAP27) if you had the BFG or other weapons. I’ll go ahead and update the OP. Maps without a death exit can be updated once we compile the whole wad. @Tangra Here’s the documentation for the line horizon effect from zdoom.org. Apparently using certain nodebuilders like ZokumBSP can generate vanilla line horizons as well which I did not know.

You can indeed use one custom texture for the sky, and it can be animated. That is a fair point. Since we are all working independently, and we’re all balancing on pistol start, I think it would make the most sense to end each level with a death exit as @TJG1289 suggests. Action 450 is the Eternity Engine specific linedef action for drawing a horizon line. It’s the same as ZDoom’s line action 337. From what I can tell, neither line action has conflicts with any other, so most ports ignore them, and the ports that use them draw the floor out to the horizon. In MAP01 I used 337 & 450 to make the ocean appear endless in ZDoom & Eternity based ports.

@BeachThunder I see what's causing the HOM. It's the missing upper texture on linedef 112. There's no ceiling showing underneath the upper texture like the sectors around it, so it never fills in the flat texture and leaves a HOM. @Raith138 Here's a UV Max demo of MAP27. Damn that was tough. It took me 40 attempts to UV Max. This is a tough level, but I have grown to love it. It feels like an entire Doom II level distilled into two very difficult and fun encounters, and I think using the default music helps accentuate this. What I like most about it is that it's so short that replaying it over and over doesn't feel like a chore. Again, the rather lowkey Doom II midi gives it a more relaxing vibe as well. The gameplay is anything but relaxing, but it doesn't feel like I can really complain about the difficulty when the exit is just out of reach from the start. Some RNG is involved of course, but I don't think the map is impossible, nor unfair. I think it's quite generous with health, and there are routes around the little arena that can help with each fight. Something else I changed my mind on is that it's also an easy map to cheese. It doesn't feel so underwhelming now that the map is really tough. If anything, it feels generous to players who dread roadblocks & difficulty spikes in their campaigns. I also like the little changes from the last revision. I think moving the berserk pack to the same corner as the rest of the health really widens the options for the player at the start. The elevated cubby is also really cool. At first I thought, "Really? Just some former humans?" But considering the amount of times I've been at nearly 0% health by the end of one of these encounters, those former humans (and later imps) prove to be quite imposing. And finally, I actually appreciate the boxed in feel that not going too far outside the lines with detail gives. With less detail, it feels more like a Doom II level, and I personally don't mind this. It gives me a warm, nostalgic feeling, and it also helps me focus on the action. I think it's just growing on me the more I play it. And thanks for taking the time to incorporate some feedback into the level, I think it's just more solid as a result, especially for the MAP27 slot. I did have one complaint: the green armor is right on the player start at the beginning. This is great for pistol starts, but it'll be a bit unfair for anyone coming in from a previous map with less than 100% blue armor since it will replace their armor automatically with weaker armor. Given how tough it is, I don't think players would be too opposed to that green armor being a blue armor instead. Or it could just be 100 armor bonuses stacked on top of each other.

If it hasn’t been claimed yet, I’d like room 30.

Sign me up for MAP01 please!

@macro A hell themed map on slot 19 would be alright. You got the slot.

Another revision of MAP30 (R4). This one is mainly cosmetic. Now, there are sequenced lights that show you which hole the Icon will pop out of. There's also just general ambient sequenced lights. Sky has been changed to one of the OTEX skies. UV is more difficult now.

Here's an updated version of MAP01 (V3) with the changes mentioned: no pain elementals on single-player, less lost souls in the swarm near the end, and the way forward is marked more clearly (I hope). Made a little splash image for the front page from some screenshots of the completed maps: @BeachThunder Found a HOM effect above the SUPPORT3 texture here:

Map Name: intercep3_rando5 Author: Moustachio Resources: Doom 2 + custom textures + Boom SWITCHES lump for one custom switch texture Format: Boom Comments: I often create random little level starts in the editor. Most never see the light of day, and a select few become finished maps. This level start was created on August 24, 2021, and I meant for it to be a potential Hell level for some prototype of Interception III. Ultimately, I did scrap that iteration of the project. This level start is pretty nifty, throwing us right into a heavy brawl in a hellish castle. And of course, it ends pretty much right after the brawl is over. The end of the dark hallway had one exit linedef placed at the end of it, but otherwise it has been untouched since August 25, 2021 according to the original file's metadata. Download: intercep3_rando5.zip Screenshot:

@TJG1289 Definitely check out the V2 version if you're planning on making your map easier. I do think the updated difficulty will probably align more closely with what you're cooking up, but I'd play V2 first. Cannons shooting enemies sounds like it can be done with some silent teleports and conveyor belts. I think I'll let you figure the fun parts out though, that sounds like an awesome feature! Thanks for the update. @Lina Thanks for playtesting! I agree that the pain elementals are a bit much and I'll axe them in V3. I think I'll make about half of that lost soul swarm co-op only as well. I'll also make all switches and lifts fullbright in some way and try to make sure someone won't miss the way forward quite as easily. Seems that it's not impossible to find your way around, but I have gotten a few comments about finding the way forward taking some effort (more than I intended anyhow).

Enjoying the discussion and the feedback everyone, keep it coming! I suppose I can let go of my precious skull swarms… at least on single player. Actually, I’m happy with letting MAP01 feature many of the enemies and weapons since I want to convey that this will be a much more challenging wad than Doom II. Playing some of the later maps like 21 & 27, it seems that it’s already shaping up to be quite difficult. As far as difficulty progression goes, I’ve had a mindset from the start that we will get there when we get there. It was never going to be easy to manage since you can’t really just swap maps around here. I think lots of feedback and revisions will need to be had later on to tighten the difficulty curve. @MrBlaskovitz MAP19 really is a carbon copy of Going Down MAP02, so I’ll have to reject it unfortunately. It was okay that it was a beginner map, but blatant plagiarism isn’t really what I would consider a reasonable submission. It’s too bad I hadn’t played GD in so long, as I might not have caught that. Thanks, @SCF. MrBlaskovitz, I’d really like to give you a chance to come up with an original map, but I’m not sure I can trust you with that at the moment. I’m opening up MAP19.

@BeachThunder I think those are fair points. Here's an easier version of MAP01 with 74 enemies on UV. Arch-viles have been removed or replaced on lower difficulties, and a lot of the enemies have been flagged for multiplayer only (including the mastermind). Also caught a misalignment or two. What do you think about this version's difficulty?

Here's MAP01. A pretty spacious first level that's actually fairly challenging. I think it's about Plutonia MAP01 difficulty on UV. Takes place on an Earth base by the sea. MAP01: Moment of Conception Music: "Emulations" by @Psyrus Sky: Doom 2 SKY1 Tested with: DSDA-DOOM AT COMPLEVEL 9 BECAUSE I MADE THE RULES (and gzdoom) Obsceneshots (-nomonsters): @MrBlaskovitz Demo for the latest revision of MAP19. The zombies in the middle sector don't teleport in for the yellow key ambush. Chaingunner also fell off the ledge again.

@MrBlaskovitz Just discovered a soft-lock in GZDoom. Since the enemies are not infinitely tall in GZ, you can stand on the first arch-vile, kill it, and get stuck in its cubby. The chaingunner can still fall off his platform outside of the hallway window. Here's a demo that shows off the bug.

@MrBlaskovitz Demo for the latest version of MAP19. It's fun watching you incorporate different aspects of feedback into each revision. The map keeps getting better. I liked the new additions a lot. The arch-vile near the exit is better than the hell knight, but still pretty tame. I could probably have just run past it and hit the exit switch. But the star of the show was the arch-vile in the first computer room. That was a pretty fun twist seeing an AV that early, and the environment was good for that kind of fight. Plenty of weak demons to keep the AV busy resurrecting. I think the yellow key trap broke again because the zombies didn't teleport in. The yellow room also feels like a bit of a throwaway encounter since it is just a hell knight and two pinkies. I liked the environmental storytelling bit of breaking into the security desk and opening the elevator from there though. The soulsphere secret is nice though the metal panel looks the same as all of the metal panels in the other room which are not secret. I only found it via pressing use on everything, not because I was given a hint to open that particular locker. One final bug, the chaingunner outside the window at the end of the hallway sometimes falls off the platform before dying, rendering him an unobtainable kill. I would just use the monster block linedef flag to keep him on that platform.

@Mario2560 UV Max demo for V2 of MAP20. I liked the changes here! The raised yellow key room was a nice touch, and I liked that the secret was a chaingun which helped spice up the combat. Some nice improvements here. @BeachThunder UV Max demo for MAP28 1.2. Was able to exit with full items, kills, & secrets.

@BeachThunder Demos for MAP28. Wow. Now this is a cool map. I think everything that I look for in a space restricted map is here and then some. Clever use of height variation, boom effects, and outside-of-bounds monsters. And three secrets! On my first playthrough, I thought the level was a tad grindy due to the lack of SSG, but unraveling the secrets in this map was a blast and did indeed reward me with the SSG as well as a plasma gun! I had a lot of fun with this bite-sized map. I believed I had found everything and wasn't able to trigger the last secret sector because I ended up with the secret backpack in the end. I didn't remember lowering the wall though... so I went and watched the UV max demo, and it seems like I was able to grab the backpack through the wall. I did see that there was a candle marking the secret, but I think it may have blended in with the corpses or something. Some indication on the wall for that secret would be a nice quality-of-life addition.

@Mario2560 Here are all of my demo attempts. Feel free to play them all back in DSDA Doom. The first one (non-numbered) is my blind attempt, and the last one (00007) is my first completion which also happens to be a UV Max run. First impressions: I think this is a solid map! What I liked: I can see that there's a lot of playing around with different monster combinations, and the flow is good too. I feel like I got the super shotgun at the right time and was always well equipped with health and ammo for whichever given situation I found myself in. The final fight with the arch-vile caught me off guard, and was actually a very fun fight. A good way to go out. I also liked the window outside showing the little buildings, a good bit of doomcute there. Wasn't keen on: I did feel that the lack of secrets or items was underwhelming. The whole map was very flat with little floor or ceiling height variation. Now, it does sort of fit with the theme, but Going Down demonstrates how height variation can factor into an office setting. Some texturing looked off to me, such as how certain wall indents have the same floor and ceiling texture as the rest of the room. It's cool that you and MrBlaskovitz seem keen on working together and sharing map revisions, and I like that your maps are both variations on the same theme. Mapping duos always create some interesting projects. As always, there's more to learn, so feel free to come back and revise the map to your liking as long as the project is open. Feel free to take or leave the feedback above as a starting point towards refining your original idea.

You're not being disrespectful, you're allowed to tell me you want to keep the map the way it is. These are just suggestions. The bottom teleporter is more efficient because imps will pool up on the right side of that top teleporter and hit the actual teleport lines less frequently. You should try both and see which one teleports imps faster. And there is nothing stopping somebody from making all the enemies outside the play area. That's actually a large part of what you can do with a small map size like 512x512. Same goes with detail. It's not against the rules, nor does it defeat the purpose of the map, it's just another tool you can use to get more out of what space you have. I would just recommend coming back to this map after a break and seeing what new ideas you may have then. If you don't have any, that's okay too. The map is fine. Sort of a demonstration of what I'm talking about:

@Raith138 The monster closet can be improved upon so that single imps are more likely to teleport through. Here's what I mean: On the top is the existing one in MAP27, and on the bottom is something similar to what I usually use. What I've found is that the extra lines help imps teleport in because they often spend time wandering behind the teleport lines in the closet. As far as space goes, there's always more vertical space to work with, and there's space outside of the map that monsters and detail can exist even though the player can't go there. For the switches. I meant that instead of one switch unlocking the next switch, have them both open at the start. Then, once they are both pressed, open the exit up. So the two switches can be pressed in any order, but only once they are both pressed would the exit open. Maybe after a bit of a timer so the player can't rush to the exit and skip the last fight. You would have to move the revenant & imp teleport destination off of the exit teleporter though.

@Raith138 Another demo for the new version. In this demo, you can see how the final imps teleport in really slow, making me wait for them to get out to UV max it. My main comments on the level still stand. I think it's still very short, and while it's fun to take care of the two hordes, there's not a lot to them. I think it would have been more interesting to have both switches be needed to activate the ending, since it was more fun to combine the two encounters. It's also still possible to run straight to the exit if you get there fast enough after hitting the switch. Upon replaying it, I think the level still has more potential to be unlocked.

@Raith138 Here are three demos: the FDA demo is my first attempt, the FIN demo is my first completion, and the UVMAX demo is UV max. At first, I was terrified to see the swarm of shotgunners right at the start. I thought this map would have solely sergeants based on the name, but thankfully it turned out to be a short & sweet combat puzzle involving multiple monster types. I liked using the switches to activate different monster swarms to block the shotgunner fire. The abundance of big health pickups also made it more feasible to try out different strategies each time since I could soak up a fair amount of hitscan damage before being in danger. It was cool to see how you designed this encounter around a very small playable area that included: height variation, monster variety, and a limited arsenal. My only complaint is that I wanted more by the end of it. I was expecting to have to press both switches to reveal the ending, but it seems like you just need to press one. You can also force your way into the exit before the fight really gets started as well, which kind of defeats the purpose of the map. I also thought some of the outer walls would lower and reveal some enemies outside of the playable area, but I understand if you didn't want to go down this route. Great work. Did you want the default MAP27 midi to be used?

You're not necessarily handicapped by Linux. You can natively build the Ultimate Doom Builder source on Linux (though it is experimental). I find that UDB is more fully featured and easier to use for map editing than SLADE, and it has upper & lower unpegging bound to U and L by default.