BlazedMaps

I believe Box 59 is Acid Falls and Box 61 is Spider's Den. It has been so long since I made the maps though so I may have mixed them up, but the one with the acid is "Acid Falls" and the one with the Arachnotron is "Spider's Den."

Hey, sorry for not reaching out sooner. A few months ago, I signed up for map 8 but the last couple of months have been very busy for me. This caused me to forget about my role in this project. I've taken on quite the workload and I've not been that active in the Doom community as a result. There has some progress on the map but its very minimal, mostly just various polishes adhering to your suggestions. I understand this is pretty last-minute considering the deadline but I'm not sure if I will be able to increase "visual fidelity of my map" in 3 weeks, especially considering its been a long time since I've last made a Doom map and I have a lot of other stuff I have to do. Unfortunately, you may have to re-open the slot for someone else because I don't have a lot of time to work on it anymore and I'm not really confident in my current skills.

@Halfblind, do you think I could move from slot 62 to slot 61? I haven't really been keeping up with the project the last couple days so I'm not sure if there's going to be any complications with this but as far I can see nobody has claimed slot 61 yet. I'll have to make some edits to the room, but I can make it work. Updated map: Box61CornerwBCedit.zip

Thanks for the criticism! I will definitely use the format, it's just that I didn't think they were necessary for rough drafts. Also, for the "underground" thing, I just want to clarify that this map was never meant to be underground, I was just trying to connect my map to the previous one (which I believe is a water treatment facility) by trying to get some details about it clarified. It's actually supposed to be more like a carved-out mountain base full of buildings that just happen to be broken and dark. Im actually trying to take some inspiration from Uncharted 2's mountain levels near the end of the game with a more remote slightly gritty/sci-fi take (e.g. the chapters Siege, Cat and Mouse, and the Monastery). Anyways, I'm definitely going to take full advantage of the 2-month time period to polish this map. This map is obviously no-where near done and this is pretty much just a "gameplay layout" with barely any thought for design and looks. I just posted this draft to make sure I was going in the right direction (and that the theme wasn't completely off) so I wouldn't finish the map and end up having to complete redo it. I'll probably post another rough draft next month before the final release, hopefully amplifying the positives and fixing the negatives you pointed out. I do plan to add more detail, use some more textures, fix the texture misalignments, and definitely fix the outdoor areas. However, I am a bit confused on your tech-base criticisms. Do you mean that they could use some more height differences, more rooms? I'll definitely edit the tech-base designs and maybe post some screenshots when I think the design is refined enough to see if thats the vibe you're going for. Anyways, thanks for the criticisms, a lot of them didn't even occur to me while playtesting so it's always good to get a second opinion!

Alright, so I finished a rough draft of the map (playable from start to finish). I removed an archvile near the start during testing because I literally could not get past it (replaced it with a revenant). My only concern is that the map is too brutal for Map 8, but I tried to compensate with health packs and ammo. I know this wad is supposed to be "on the difficult side" but i'm not exactly sure how hard its supposed to be, I just tried to create a hard but fair experience. Criticism is very welcome; the map will definitely be changed for the final release. I would also especially like criticism about the difficulty and/or if theres any texture errors (misalinged or out of place). I plan to add some more secrets, pad out some areas (adding more rooms to the others bases and decorating them), and fix any bugs/annoyances in the draft. I also plan to maybe improve the ending arena a bit because it felt a bit cramped when I playtested it. I played EPICALLL's map 4 and realized how dull and bland this tech base is in comparison. I'm not sure if that's the mood Episode 2 is going for or if I should slightly liven it up a bit (I mean, Episode 2 is supposed to be a middle ground between Episode 1's vrack-esque bases and Episode 3's grittiness right?) This map is very "rough around the edges" right now (both figuratively and literally) so i'm probably going to make a lot of changes before final release. Map8FirstDraft.zip Edit: New version where I fixed a couple of oversights that I somehow missed and added in a new secret Map8SecondDraft.zip

Don't worry, there's quite a few revenants too lol. I'll definitely continue working to make this map even better though, its still in a pretty early stage (I just started on it last night).

Hey, @Garland and @EPICALLL. Heres what I have of Map 8 so far. It's kind of a futuristic facility in the mountains (tried not to make it too gritty, but rather sort of an abandoned feel). I'm just trying to make sure that this design currently works before I get too far into developing it. I'm also trying to incorporate a clean transition from Map 7 to Map 8 with the toxic sludge-water in the facility but I'm not exactly sure if the "water treatment facility" is underground, ground level, or if its unclear. I'm going to assume its unclear but if it's not you can let me know so I can change some things up. The map is in a very stage right now so just be sure to let me know if there's anything that should be changed. Just in-case, im also going to note the map also has an arch-vile, a mancubus, and a couple of pain elementals (spread apart). Not sure if thats "too hard" but I figured since it was map 8 these things were probably ok to add (especially since it was mentioned the wad was meant to lean towards the harder side). I'm pretty sure its not a problem though, just thought to bring it up.

Can I take Map08? (Also, Episode 2 takes place in futuristic tech bases, right? So primarily indoors?)

"The Prison" is just a placeholder name for these three maps, I actually plan for this to be a much bigger project. I eventually plan to create an entire megawad (32 levels). I already have made custom music (whether its good or not is up to you lol, one criticism I have of my own music is that its a bit "unfocused", its my first time with custom music) and I eventually plan to change the sprites, level names, intermission screens, etc (some of which I already have done). This is ambitious so its probably going to take a while, especially since I'm a new modder and I don't want to just rush stuff out. These three maps are probably going to look a bit different in the finished product, if it comes out. These maps were tested with PrBoom+ and GZDoom, although GZDoom tends to have the best results. I will say though that jumping is definitely not intended and it can break a certain sequence in map 3. I did not change the level names in this version of the wad, but in the current version of the wad level names don't show up in PRBoom+ and some of the intermission screen texts goes a bit off the screen (the latter can be easily fixed though). Map format is Doom 2. In terms of difficulty, map 1 and 2 are not that bad but map 3 ramps it up a decent amount I tried to make it as fair as possible though. It should be noted that this wad is intended to be played on HMP or higher, ITYTD and HNTR are very unbalanced difficulties with very little enemies. Download: The Prison.zip

Yeah, you're probably right. I don't think its possible to get above 30 ammo after you kill the HK. That leaves you to deal with the lost souls, cacodemons, chaingunners, and pinkys. The only possible way I could see this is maybe with perfect mathematical infighting between the pinkys, lost souls, cacodemons, and chaingunners to get all of their HPs as low as possible to be finished off with the 30 bullets left over from the HK fight. Since the cacodemons take the most hits to kill, we would want the cacodemons to infight with the pinkys, lost souls, and chaingunners to get its HP as low as possible (and kill the other enemies). Im not even sure if lost souls can infight, i'm almost certain that they can but for some reason i'm not sure lol. Even if this is possible, it would require a perfect cyberdemon fight with none of the shots missing.\ Again, its all hypothetical and obviously this is not a realistic way someone would go about finishing the map. If I think if a definitive strategy to 100% the map without using the chainsaw i'll let you know. I'm not gonna give up just yet. You gotta make more these maps like this, Jepsi, you've got me determined lol. Edit: I actually managed to get a cacodemon knock off a chaingunner during one of my runs, meaning that not only the chaingun is added to the mix (could be useful if i decide to speedrun the map somehow) but its definitely possible to get above 30. Unfortunately, I realized that pinkys and lost souls cant cross over into the cacodemon and chaingunner territory, so its going to have to be chaingunners vs cacos and lost souls vs pinkys. The pinkys and lost souls CAN, however, cross into the room with the HK and Zombies, so that breeds new infight possibilities. Not only will it lower the HP of the HK, but the pinkys and lost souls will be killed. Right now, my strategy is to kill the shotgunners, lead the pinkys and lost souls to the HK room, make the HK infight with all of the zombies (preferably the zombies starting the infight to slightly lower the HK's health). Then, after the infight, rush over to the caco and chaingunner room and make the chaingunners initate the infight (hopefully getting the chaingunners knocked off the edge). The only part im stumped on is killing the cacos, im starting to think it might be actually impossible (with the reasoning being it took me around 40 shots to kill a caco but i might've missed some so its hard to tell). With the current amount of ammo, I may only be able to kill 2 cacos before resorting to the chainsaw. I was using the chaingun to kill the cacos (up close of course) but i dont know if theres any strength difference between the pistol and chaingun. I guess the question might be now: How many enemies can you kill before resorting to the chainsaw/fists? I still have hope that a 100% run without using chainsaw/fists is possible because the chaingunners did quite a bit of damage on some of the cacodemons, but I guess RNG would play a role to some extent. The ideal scenario would be chaingunners starting the infight and getting the cacodemons low-mid health range, then a cacodemon would kill the chaingunner, knocking him off the edge and giving you slightly more ammo to deal with the remaining cacodemons. Also, this may sound like an outlandish idea, but if a cacodemon tries to attack the chaingunner and you aren't ready for him to die yet, you could always try standing in front of the caco to eat their projectiles. However, even then, you may not have enough ammo to kill the HK, and even if you did you would need a perfect cyberdemon fight, obviously not missing a single shot. Still, im pretty sure its possible. Edit 2: Managed to get a chaingunner to completely kill a cacodemon by themselves (using the blocking projectile strategy and of course lots of luck), if only I can replicate this four times in a row. Edit 3: Note to @Jepsi - I would like to point that out even though we verified the map was possible, @Biodegradable's criticisms are valid and I wouldn't necessarily write them off (unless you want to fully embrace the challenge map thing and i'm all for that lol). As of right now, the map is more of a "challenge map" (which, as you can see here, is definitely a thing some people are into lol). I would still recommend adding more ammo, making it a bit less boxy, maybe adding some decorations, and fixing texture blending a bit to polish it up a bit. For example, with the texture-blending, there is one part where it goes from stone straight to wood. IIRC, John Romero has a method involving "transition textures" or something like that to avoid jarring changes in texture. Maybe expand the map a bit too? Some suggestions would be adding maybe adding a rocket launcher, plasma rifle, or BFG to deal with the cyberdemon. You could also add some pillars and decorations to the arena and changing the textures to be more foreboding. Of course, these are just some suggestions and ideas. I will actually still recommend keeping the original build up though because clearly it has some sort of audience. Definitely keep honing your map skills because you got the right ideas imo. Sorry for writing an entire essay lol, anyways I'll reply to this post again if I end up beating the map 100% with no fists/chainsaw, posting a video and sharing my strategy.

Jepsi Map Verified. @Scyon is correct, the map is indeed possible if you play it right. My gameplay wasn't even that great and I was still able to complete the map. Its just... a lot of punching to conserve ammo. Obviously do not use the shotgun or super shotgun until you encounter the cyberdemon and I recommend that you only use the pistol on hitscanners, but even then punch if you can. If you play the map perfectly though I don't even know if punching is necessary. For a theoretical no punching run, I would recommend using pistol shots sparingly, only on hitscanners to gain some ammo (try not miss a single shot but theres more room for error than you might think). Then, grab the blue key and get the HK to infight with all of the hitscanners in the room. Unload your pistol onto the HK until it dies. If @Scyon was correct, you should be able to just barely kill the cyberdemon. I also ended up with around 25 pistol shots after eliminating the HK, so you should have enough pistol shots to eliminate the cyberdemon if you miss a couple of your shotgun blasts. Edit: I did it. I completed JepsiMap.wad without throwing a single punch. I cannot take all the credit for this though, massive thanks to @Scyonfor the original strategy, although there is actually way more "wiggle room" than you would think with the ammo, especially if you use infighting. I don't plan to stop here though. Tomorrow, I plan to 100% this map without throwing a single punch. All secrets (picking up the soulsphere last and chainsaw only if neccessary but if its not i'll pick it up near the end also), all kills, all items. Im not sure if im going to use the chainsaw or not, maybe only if its absolutely impossible to beat the map without out (which im sure is not the case). Beating the cyberdemon with only 20 pistol shots is definitely a good sign that beating the map 100% could be possible. I'm not sure if jumping with GZDoom to get the chaingunners ammo would be "cheating", but grabbing the chaingunner's ammo is the first thing that comes to mind. All in all, this is a good challenge map imo. It could use some visual improvement but gameplay wise im all for it. Original verification (with fists): Verification (fists) 2nd verification (with no fists): Verification (no fists)

Updated the rooms to be compatible with difficulty settings. Couldn't think of any changes to make to Spider's Den, even though I feel that room probably could be better. BoxWads2.zip

Can I make a submission? I made two rooms, not exactly sure what specific room numbers I want though. Any room where the rooms fit is fine. I'm sort of a new mapper, I assume it's open to all skill levels but if not, you can just ignore this. I also feel like maybe "Spiders Den" could use some improvement, if I make an updated version of the room before the deadline, will I be able to replace the old room? I'm very excited to see this project come to light, there's definitely going to be a lot of variety with every mapmaker's different style. Edit: 59 and 62 would probably work (if im reading the diagram correctly) Edit 2: I made a third room inspired by Dead Simple, I'm thinking maybe this could be Room 70. Hopefully I used the archvile right according to the rules. TheBoxWads.zip

Great map, obviously a lot of thought and effort was put into this. Very underrated. Having to clear out the first room with only a pistol was a nice challenge. Although it is a bit symmetrical, it's not really a problem because each room has its distinctive features and the map isn't that large (at least from what i've seen so far). The only problem is that for some reason the door to the room with the yellow key got stuck in mid-opening. I used GZDoom, got the chainsaw secret (Not sure if the secret changed a ceiling height or anything), and played on Ultra-Violence. I'm not sure if the problem is somehow related to those or if this is just a random rare thing that I encountered. Overall, though, the map is a very creative and fun map to blast through.

Thanks for the review! Your criticism is greatly appreciated! The "doors disappearing into the sky", "Back of red door is untexthred", and "softlock in the spectres secret" are definitely overlooked bugs that I'll make sure to fix in the next patch if I upload, thanks for pointing those out. The optional big fight was actually a joke meant to kill players trying to push their luck with the secrets, it actually is possible to beat though. I think I probably could have executed it better though (Maybe a wall that slowly raises to reveal the fight) but i'm not that skilled with linedefs and sectors yet. I'm surprised that you actually enjoyed Map 3 though, even I find that map to be kind of a slog. I'll still try to fix the spikey walls and maybe add some decorations to the map. I will definitely take all of your criticisms into consideration when updating the wad or creating a sequel!