BMC's Black Metal Death Match

After a long break from mapping due to school stuff. I have completed my gift for HDRambo.

Black Metal Death Match is an interactive 6 map death match map set with tricks and traps in mind.

There are more ways to kill your enemies now than ever...

The maps were solely by myself, some of the textures are made by myself as well.

(Other texture and sprite credits are in the credits section of the pk3 file for reference)

 

The music in the map pack was written, recorded, and performed by Doc. All original and solely made for this project.

The intermission screens, graphics, and logo all made from scratch by myself.

The map project is strictly for online use as it is a death match map set and is a TSPG exclusive.

The official server hosting the maps is:

[TSPG] BMC's Black Metal Death Match

 

It is public, tested, and ready for fragging. The file will automatically download upon joining the server and is located on the TSPG website for download.

Though if you wish to download it for solo use... the link to the wad is: https://allfearthesentinel.net/zandronum/wads.php?name=bmdm&user=2864

It is called bmdm.pk3

The maps are listed as: DM01 - DM06.

Make sure to use OpenGL when playing this map pack. The server is hosted with Brutal Doom though it is vanilla and compatible with other mods.

 

Happy fragging!

 

!

42 MB download for 6 DM maps. Wow.

 

I ran this vanilla because BrutalDM literally isn't even worth thinking about, I'd be hard pressed to find a worse mod for PVP. Most people will try this with vanilla anyway.

 

First impressions: This is really dark. Even with using OGL as a crutch for lighting, it's still really dark.

Teleporter pads could stand to be made more obvious. In a room such as this https://i.imgur.com/pFUug2j.png it would be easier to quickly see where a teleport is if it had some sort of translucent or particle effect. As it is, it's kind of plain and could easily be seen as just decoration https://i.imgur.com/XZEBXQn.png BUT WAIT it's a one way teleport. There's two teleports in this one, that is plain, symmetrical, circular, dark, and drab, and one of them does not even work. Wonderful. Not to mention plasma is virtually useless in a room like that. This set up (getting there, getting plasma, getting back out) is long, pointless, and kind of sucky when you need to quickly get back into the fray. Especially for a plasma, maybe BFG it's worth the effort but not plasma. Especially when getting there is a gauntlet of 20 damage lava! https://i.imgur.com/aqwHTfa.png Look at this, in what DM world is this a good idea? Also if you're making this OGL exclusive, you could certainly consider making it look better. For downloading 42 MB I'd expect custom textures and something that didn't look straight out of 1872. Same with this lighting effect: https://i.imgur.com/FBZ6FXT.png I'd expect this for a vanilla wad, not a pk3 reliant on OGL.

 

Also what's up with this pistol spawn shit? Convention threw that out literally 25 years ago. You were making this for HDRambo? I know he likes shitty maps but that doesn't mean you should put in the effort to make one. This first map is extremely disjointed, has no flow, and seems to be more of a single player map than PVP. https://i.imgur.com/PVCnZi8.png Most people are not going to be happy opening a tight corridor door leading into this. Iwad standards don't make good maps, even mappers in the 1990s knew this so before the inevitable "but it's supposed to feel old!" argument, that's bunk.

 

Anyway, the map has a nice atmosphere but like Hexen upon close inspection the architecture and texturing is quite bland. Some doorways are missing upper/lower unpegged bits so when the door goes up the walls go with it. I hope the next map is better.

 

Map02: https://i.imgur.com/2zmizkQ.png

holy FUCK

One of the big flaws of making OGL only sets is that people have so many different OGL settings. There is no one way that it will be played. This probably isn't supposed to look like this, but goddamn. Oh wait I fucking died! I spawned, moved a bit, fell off a cliff and died! That is garbage design. https://i.imgur.com/LvWF7P8.png this pentagram doesn't teleport me anywhere, but the last map taught me pentagrams are teleports? Inconsistency is not good for PVP. I need a flashlight to navigate this map. Or zdaemon compatibility so the gamma lets me see. https://i.imgur.com/2GpusgU.png this sums up the map. I really don't even need to go further through this.

 

Map03: Darkness and Tight Hallways Part 2

Do you have much PVP experience? These tight hallways are definitely no good, especially combined with the darkness. Generally you want, for good flow, hallways 160 units wide or 192. 128 bare minimum. Everything looks the same https://i.imgur.com/BFoHnBw.png

Or it's pitch black https://i.imgur.com/uOPPC1B.png  This gimmick here https://i.imgur.com/ypFrAy6.png would not work well, as it requires extremely specific timing, and DM is too fast for this - not to mention any competent player will be on the look out for being trapped.

 

Map04: An unpronouncable name.

Hey this is starting to look better in terms of layout. More space for movement and fragging. The aesthetics could definitely use some touch ups, particularly again with the darkness, but this is an improvement over the previous 3 maps. That being said, the hallways still resemble patterns formed by throwing pasta on the wall and waiting for it to dry and drawing the result. It also has flow like a SP map - lots of dead ends, and the places for battle are very spread out and requiring going through said halls.

 

Map05: Here's good stuff, but if you get it, you die

Pools of deep red liquid, teleports surrounding good items, death traps. Am I playing SP or PVP? This map has the best aesthetics so far, but the gameplay blows. Nothing more to say here, moving along.

 

Map06: Black Wish aka I wish I never played this map

 

There's no weapons except chainsaws a berserk on a ledge that leads to death! What the FUCK. This is actually probably the best layout so far for PVP and it's completely screwed by this. There's some issues like midtex gates you can walk through rather than jump over. This map has potential. Get rid of these shitty spikes for added potential https://i.imgur.com/f7az7Vv.png

 

Thank you for making new content. PVP sorely needs it. But I'm sorry to say there is a ton of room for improvement. A big piece of advice would be to play a large variety of DM wads with a variety of people. Good players particularly. You don't learn playing with bad players and geriatrics stuck in the past. Start with these: https://www.doomshack.org/recommended.html That way you'll get a broader perspective on what does or doesn't work in PVP. Consult good oldschool players such as @Doomkid and @hobomaster22 along with the UD guys like @HumanBones, @Ralphis who can give you extremely good perspectives on what makes excellent OS maps, or even just good PVP maps in general.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by Decay

I’m really glad to see new PVP turf. I think with some TLC this could be great. I don’t mind the OS visuals, the only major problem I have on the aesthetic front is how dark it is. The layouts have potential, but I think they’d be greatly improved by taking Decay’s criticisms into account.

 

DM maps that have frustrating gameplay always get set to the side and forgotten shortly after release and I’d hate to see that happen here. Hoping for an improved build at some later date!

these look awesome! those are some killer screenshots, visual design looks excellent

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the visual design fundamentally. An older school look is quite fine. But the pk3 is calling for OGL exclusive use without using any OGL features. I'd also like to point out that complimenting visual design and nothing else for a dm wad is essentially useless, it's one thing I've always hated for my own wads. Look no further the Crucified Dreams. Lots of compliments on how good it looks but it sucks for game play. An author is not going to learn anything from this.

I've felt inspired to give this a look. Thus far I've tested map 01, Mouth of Madness.

 

I have to say right off the bat, the visuals here are amazing. I especially like this view:

 

You have a great eye for light and shadows. While I agree that some of the areas are a bit dark, that can easily be fixed by adding small spots of light. Add a candle on top, and you have visual indicators of where the player is allowed to explore.

 

I also think the crushers are a neat addition. One thing I like about them is that they are hazardous, yet not too difficult to avoid. Even in the middle of battle, a ready player will be able to navigate them without too much trouble, which is cool.

 

I did notice a slight HOM window, here:

One thing I would add is perhaps another room or two to the side of the beginning areas, which in my opinion would open up possibilities for players to hide from oncoming fire, since there is not much cover. That, or add a pillar in the middle of the room from the first screenshot.

 

But overall, I really like this map. I feel the theming and music go hand in hand, and it is especially cool to reach the mouth room. I will certainly get to the other maps soon. Keep up the excellent work, @BlackMetalChainsaw!