ZONE 300 - New 32 level vanilla compatible megawad released. 300 linedefs.

I have just finished working on a new megawad for Doom 2 named Zone 300. It was inspired by the 100 linedefs project but this time around I set myself out a design limit for 300 linedefs.

Work started on 9 August 2013 and finished 21 September 2013.

Its a mixture of linear and non linear maps and tried my best to limit symmetrical areas although there are some (like MAP16). There is all new original music and the gameplay difficulty is equal to id's maps. All maps have SP, Multiplayer and DM starts but its designed for Singleplayer.

Because of the smaller and less detailed levels it was much easier to get the gameplay balance right too. Zone 300 starts off easy but gradually gets harder but do not expect a Hell Revealed difficulty.

MAP32 has about 2000 linedefs and was an abandoned map from Doom 2 the way id did which I finished off. All other maps have 300 linedefs.

FROM THE TEXT FILE

Your mission is simple. Blast you way through techbases, dungeons and hellish abodes and save Earth from extinction. These maps contain no more than 300 linedefs apart from the much larger super secret level. Zone 300 = Short, quick and simple.

DOWNLOAD THE FINAL VERSION HERE (844kb): http://www.paulcorfiatis.com/zone300.zip

Also been uploaded to idgames.

From what I've played so far, this looks good :)

Retog said:

From what I've played so far, this looks good :)

Thanks. I tested some of it in Doom2.exe v1.666 and all worked fine. But before I upload it to idgames, who knows?

suddenly a megawad appeared, neat :)

You deserve to be praised just for the idea itself. The limit of 300 linedefs allows for making maps that don't look ugly and provide a longer time of gameplay, but thanks to the limit they also can't get overcomplicated and too long to be boring, and they're apparently also very quick to create for you. Megawad in less than 50 days = awesome! The limit forces to be creative, so the resulting maps are always interesting. I mean, 300 makes for a great balance.

And of course, your execution of this idea appears to be perfect. From the 2 maps I've played so far, I'm impressed. :)

FDA: http://www.mediafire.com/download/vthozjua1g6jz1c/GRBz300fda.lmp

made it to level 10. Sweet maps so far. Great job, keep 'em coming.

scifista42 said:

You deserve to be praised just for the idea itself. The limit of 300 linedefs allows for making maps that don't look ugly and provide a longer time of gameplay, but thanks to the limit they also can't get overcomplicated and too long to be boring, and they're apparently also very quick to create for you. Megawad in less than 50 days = awesome! The limit forces to be creative, so the resulting maps are always interesting. I mean, 300 makes for a great balance.

And of course, your execution of this idea appears to be perfect. From the 2 maps I've played so far, I'm impressed. :)

I spent 3-6 hours a day relentlessly working on the project, map designing and making music and making sure the maps highest linedef # was #299 hence triangular sectors here and there to limit the linedefs (300 linedefs = linedef #0 to #299 = 300). But also I wanted to create a realistic Doom-like environment.

If you look at a huge map like The Great Urban battle, it was very, very hard to test the map and get the gameplay balance perfect. It was more than setting a standard for a personal size record, 20,000 linedefs +. That level looked great, perhaps the biggest city you could imagine but did not play great. I tested the gameplay for 2-3 weeks on that map alone zzzzzz.

And also every song is an original composed by me too. But the songs used in MAP20 and MAP27 were composed about 13 years ago but modified and enhanced for Zone 300. The MAP13 song was a rewrite of one of my first ever midi files named Running Demon which I made back in 1998. The song used for the intermission text is a remix of the Doom 2 endgame used in Doom 2 Unleashed Pcorf Community Project. The music sounds great through headphones and the Roland Sound Canvas sounds and also sounds good in the OPL synth as well, esp the rock songs. I wanted to have more rock songs this time round because Zone 300 is aimed at fast paced action.

hihi, here's fda where I played to 15, started losing steam around then.

http://www.mediafire.com/?o9wzmdw694x5j8l

Some parts were fun to play, others were a bit tedious (why does every level end with a 64-wide corridor of monsters? -.-). I applaud the use of all original midi too, that was cool.

Ribbiks said:

hihi, here's fda where I played to 15, started losing steam around then.

http://www.mediafire.com/?o9wzmdw694x5j8l

Some parts were fun to play, others were a bit tedious (why does every level end with a 64-wide corridor of monsters? -.-). I applaud the use of all original midi too, that was cool.

Why?. Because to limit the amount of linedefs I had to make the exit rooms as simple as possible and therefor they contained monsters, often with a monster teleporting out behind you to increase the challenge. But from MAP21 onwards the exits are different. Sky floors used from MAP21-29. MAP30 is the Icon of Damnation boss.

Here's a no-sound FDA of map01-30 with no deaths in 2+ hours. Tried to max everything, but missed a few secrets and I think the secret levels too.

Blasted through the first 3 maps and really like 'em. To be honest, I'm probably more a fan of this type of low-detail IWAD-style maps than I am of really massive detail big maps. These maps look really good, IMO. Kickin' it oldskool!

Good combat, too, and nice traps. I was never bored.

Of course, we do have the famous pcorfian traits of unavoidable items in front of switches and complicated secrets, but at least -- so far! -- the unavoidable items are small things.

I also really loved the MIDI for Map03. Great stuff!

I'm gonna keep playing this puppy. Thanks, Paul!

Retog said:

From what I've played so far, this looks good :)

I'm in agreement with this post. Good stuff Paul :)

Playing this in ZDaemon with fast and powerful monsters right now, join if you want :) - zds://37.157.193.245:10712

This is so far up my street it's washing my dishes.

So, I'm going to give this a shot. I'll let you know. :)

Cool stuff, quick and fun for the most part. I've played through maps 1-21 so far and the only ones I didn't particularly fancy were the crate maze platformer (map10) and the The Chasm lookalike. The chaotic monster mash maps have been my favorites (second part of map11, map15, map19) easily. Anyway, since it's the FDA-day, I'll throw in mine too:

http://www.mediafire.com/?vkbsqy2ho2akcde

Includes FDAs for maps 01-21 played on UV with pistol starts for every map. A couple of deaths here and there but one per map at most. The demos are short, 4-5 mins is probably the average final time with the exception of this one map with a Cyber and a Mastermind at the end which took me around 10 mins. Oh yeah and map10 displays my unbelievable platforming skills so it also took a little longer than usual.

Whoa a megawad in under a megabyte! nice! checking this out now!

This was pretty damn nice. Good job.Had a lot of fun playing multiplayer on Zdaemon.
One thing I would add is a few maps were a bit scarce on ammo on multiplayer but that can be quickly and easily fixed :)

cannonball said:

This was pretty damn nice. Good job.Had a lot of fun playing multiplayer on Zdaemon.
One thing I would add is a few maps were a bit scarce on ammo on multiplayer but that can be quickly and easily fixed :)

I could add some extra multiplayer ammo to the maps (esp with the extra Cyberdemon, MAP26 for example) before the upload to idgames even though it was designed for single player in mind. DM should work well. MAP11's DM is played completely in the outdoor area and there is a DM specific exit which closes off in the red brick area where you get the keys.

MAP29 to get the Megashpere secret you need to have enough health to execute an Archvile jump. I might consider replacing the Megasphere in MAP30 with a Soulsphere instead. Or perhaps replace the Megasphere in MAP29 with a Soulsphere.

There was a problem on map32 in multiplayer. When one player entered the red key area, the bars behind him closed. Then he died and the others couldn't get into that area. You could make these bars openable from the entrance side to fix this problem.

Wow, this is incredible. Can't believe some of these maps only have 300 lines. Very fun, only a few of the maps have been "misses" so far: the one with the dumb crate jumping "puzzle" that was basically just "quicksave on every crate the map" (MAP10 I believe) and MAP31 wasn't very fun, I hate mazes and removing the automap was just mean. MAP32 was totally worth it, though. Stopped on MAP16, definitely have to finish this one soon.

Edit: The bit near the end of MAP32 where you have to walk along a thin catwalk over nukage is kind of annoying with infinitely tall things on, since you get caught on the lost souls below.

Awesome. Unholy Realms and a pcorf megawad in the same day =0.

Memfis said:

There was a problem on map32 in multiplayer. When one player entered the red key area, the bars behind him closed. Then he died and the others couldn't get into that area. You could make these bars openable from the entrance side to fix this problem.

Oh thanks for finding that. I wouldn't even think about that issue. Will try and find a way to solve this issue.

I also found another problem in MAP32 myself where there is a wrong floor and ceiling texture because of confusion in DB2 (Floor and ceiling textures the other way around). It took me some time to get used to DB2 in the beginning but all the 300 linedef maps were made using DB2.

Also going to make some changes to MAP10 so when you get down to the big crate, the crate with the red key lowers, or even moving the red key to the big crate so its easier to get and adding an item to the crate where the red key originally was. Or perhaps removing MAP10 altogether and making a new level.

- Resolve the Key issue in MAP10 or make a new MAP10. The main challenge is now trying to maintain it at 300 linedefs.
- Add automap to MAP31 or replace with a new map.
- Widen the catwalk/tightrope in MAP32, fix the bars, move the Lost Souls.

THIS IS SPARTA!!! A new Paul megawad? Don't mind if I do. I quite liked the 100 lines efforts (they were pretty creative considering the limit), but this limit would be a lot better in the gameplay department and good for some nice, quick romp throughs. Good job lad, I'll download later.

I don't see the problem with MAP10 to be honest. Just played it expecting a nightmare; it isn't. It is a very short jumping 'puzzle' and not too much a ballache to restart without reloading a saved game.

In fact, "fall off the large crate onto the edge of a crate under the overhang" was kinda clever, I thought.

It's worth mentioning that the music in this is consistently great. A much needed change of pace from the usual "let's steal all the songs from RoTT and see if anyone notices."

Gifty said:

It's worth mentioning that the music in this is consistently great. A much needed change of pace from the usual "let's steal all the songs from RoTT and see if anyone notices."

I'm sick and tired of hearing the same stuff over and over again. The same songs from Duke Nukem 3D (Gut Wrencher, etc) and ROTT. And nothing is more annoying than Hexen's Grover.mid while Hexen has so much to chose from.

Duke3D and Rott have some great songs and I am sure they will be co continued to be used. Some of the music in ROTT is downright brilliant for sure. In fact all these games have great music.

And also authors are very welcome to use the music in Zone 300 in their creations or maps as the textfile states.

I have also decided to drop the Star Wars like song in MAP32 and have just finished working on an all new neo classical song for MAP32 which I think is awesome, its like a soft waltz but then it really rocks.

Made some changes to MAP10, you still have to jump across the crates but the frustration factor should be less now. The key has also been moved to an easier to reach area because even I found it frustrating and had questions myself and just wanted others to probe that.

MAP31's automap is now fully restored with stuff added for hints in to getting to the keys. The maze level was inspired by Vulcana and Plutonia's MAP11, you are in a dark maze and you hear the growls of Arch Viles hence the name Creepy. Its not the biggest maze, unlike Twzone2 MAP31.

New changes made to MAP32, the catwalk has been widened and the Lost Souls and Cacodemon have been moved into acloves higher. I have also added a new secret area with a Computer map and fixed the multi player issue in the lava area.

Link still points to the previous version.

LodiB88 said:

Link still points to the previous version.

Haven't uploaded the new version yet. Still going through it. But will provide a link soon.

Nicely done!

Had a quick look through some of the levels. Going to play them through for real after UR beta.

Some really nice midis in there! I especially remember liking the music in map11

Hello everybody.

Here is the new and upgraded version and hopefully the final version.

FINAL VERSION (844kb): http://www.paulcorfiatis.com/zone300.zip

Changes

MAP10

- Some changes made to make the red key easier to get.

MAP26

- Extra cell packs added for multi player.
- Retextured the traps where the Cacodemons and Pain Elementals emerge from so it looks better.

MAP30

- Megasphere now a Soulsphere.
- Blue Armor added below platforms with rocket Boxes.
- Extra multiplayer ammo added where the rocket boxes are.

MAP31
- Automap now visible
- Computer area map added to secret behind the starting point.

MAP32
- All new song.
- Extra switch added to aid multiplayer in the lava area.
- Extra secret added with computer area map.
- Catwalk widened.
- Lost Souls and Cacodemons now start in alcoves higher.
- Fixed a floor and ceiling texture so now it looks as it should look like.