Salt-Man Z Posted May 14, 2021 (edited) Just replayed MAP15, probably my favorite map of the WAD. Just absolutely epic. Funnily enough, I think I played through it backwards compared to my first time. But I have to question why you gutted the secret exit, and instead made the normal (only) exit go directly to MAP31? That made me sad, especially since I finally figured out how to properly acquire the red key (which can still be "bumped" through the wall from the lava lake, BTW.) Also 3 pinkies got stuck in their teleport closets (see screenshot). Spoiler 2 Share this post Link to post
Moustachio Posted May 14, 2021 (edited) @Salt-Man Z I’ll check out those pinkies and publish an update later tonight tomorrow night. Thanks for the kind words on MAP15! This map has easily been the hardest to play test and balance for considering it’s many winding paths. About the secret exit. I initially set out in this wad to use MAP31’s text intro as an episode break. I was attempting to be more narrative-driven and make the text break a mandatory passage in the play through. As I’m sitting here trying to defend a strange decision, I find it more and more appealing to just re-implement MAP15’s secret exit. While I’ll lose my precious Classic Doom-knockoff narrative, it would just make more sense from a gameplay perspective to switch it back to the normal wad structure. Edited May 15, 2021 by Moustachio 2 Share this post Link to post
OpenRift Posted May 14, 2021 Exciting stuff. Can't wait to see the full 32 levels when it's done! 1 Share this post Link to post
Moustachio Posted May 22, 2021 The stuck Pain Elementals in Map 15 have been fixed. It's secret exit has been reinstated as well. Download Version 0.4.3 Changelog: Spoiler Map 3's grate bug was fixed. Map 15's three stuck Pain Elementals now spawn correctly. Map 15's secret exit has been re-implemented. This effectively makes Map 31 a secret level alongside Map 32. 2 Share this post Link to post
Salt-Man Z Posted May 23, 2021 Yessssss. I did finish this earlier this week. Great stuff, as usual. (I did not replay MAP33--MAP31 in the previous release--as the first time through was pretty harrowing!) 1 Share this post Link to post
Moustachio Posted April 12, 2022 I said I would be back eventually with new maps, and here they are. MAP21: Distant Shores -- Music track: "Desert Lake Ceremony" by Dial-up for Murder MAP22: The Meat Grinder -- Music track: "Subtle Fury" by Dial-up for Murder Don't expect anything super challenging yet, there's still 8 more levels to go in E5. Do, however, expect an iteration on the styles I used in CRUD and Atonement E4. All fully vanilla-compatible of course. I was able to UV Max each map in about 10 minutes. MAP23 is coming along smoothly and should be joining the rest of the wad shortly. The Ancient Shore was moved to MAP33, and the old MAP21, Eternal Suffering, has been removed entirely. v0.5.0 Changelog: Spoiler Added Map 21 and Map 22, complete with music tracks. Updated the Dehacked patch so that hanging bodies are no longer solid. Added a new easter egg to Map 01, reworking the old easter egg. I had to reconfigure the dead lost soul into a new decoration. Recorded all new demos for the title screen. Map 16 had its title changed to "Re-deployement" from "Deployment". Just sounded better, being in the middle of the wad and all... This wad file will see updates periodically. Check back on the thread for updates, and check the last updated and version number at the top of the text file to see which revision you're playing. KNOWN BUGS: The music in Map 01 plays back incorrectly on the second loop (only on some soundfonts). If anyone knows how to fix this, leave me a message. The demos bug out whenever revenants show up. I've tried to correct for this bug before by editing the demo to no avail. If anyone can fix this, PM me. I haven't added written remarks for MAP21 or 22 yet. I just realized this, and I'll include them with MAP23's update. 5 Share this post Link to post
TheCyberDruid Posted April 12, 2022 Just played through the first 9 maps and wow... this is good! The music (especially map 2) is amazing. While some of the traps are quite gnarly I like how there's always enough health around to recover. Looking forward to the next 13 maps and more later. 1 Share this post Link to post
Moustachio Posted April 23, 2022 (edited) Thank you very much @TheCyberDruid! Here's MAP23: Cast Iron The difficulty ramps up a bit from the first two E5 maps. Expect it to take anywhere from 15-20 minutes to UV-Max this time around. I also made some minor tweaks to the following maps: MAP04* MAP05* MAP06* MAP07* MAP08 MAP33 Those marked with (*) had some slight gameplay changes. Full changelog below. v0.5.1 Changelog: Spoiler Added MAP23: Cast Iron. Edited MAP04: Changed the white room back to a secret area. Fixed some jarring flats. Fenced off the end room so that players can't jump down to the secret area. Edited MAP05: Added just a touch more ammo at the start to pistol starts a little easier. Edited MAP06: Toned down the four AVs at the end to two, as they felt just a tad cheap at this stage in the game. I left the one by the cyberdemon alone in multiplayer though. Edited MAP07: Added an extra green armor by the yellow key and some extra ammo behind the blue door. Edited MAP08: Changed the odd green torch to red, as that torch is no longer tied to the soulsphere secret. Edited MAP33: Changed the black void texture to a blood theme. Too many people were reporting it as a "missing texture", so the ALLBLACK is gone. Edited the Dehacked patch so that evil eyes are no longer solid. Removed the Version 0.4 change logs from the text file to cut down on bloat. Edited April 23, 2022 by Moustachio 7 Share this post Link to post
Moustachio Posted May 15, 2022 MAP24: Occult has been added to the roster. Minor tweaks have been made to the following maps: MAP08 MAP10 MAP23* None of these changes affect gameplay (except for MAP23 where I just placed two medikits placed by the exit portal). Changelog: Spoiler Added MAP24: Occult. Edited MAP08: Created a small sector adjacent to the staircase to allow the fence texture to render at full height. This avoids textures rendering through the floor in certain ports. Edited MAP10: Added a small invisible wall around Romero's head to keep players from blowing it up with rocket splash damage. Edited MAP23: Modified the start to retain continuity with the previous map. Added two medikits by the exit. Modified the Icon of Sin's death behavior to instantly end the level upon death -- and silently too. No more loud, long death exits. Added an ENDOOM screen. 6 Share this post Link to post
Firedust Posted May 15, 2022 Almost there! Very excited to play this once you're done. Loved your contributions to Akeldama. 3 Share this post Link to post
TheCyberDruid Posted May 15, 2022 15 hours ago, Moustachio said: MAP24: Occult has been added to the roster. Played it with a pistol start and I like the layout of the map. The area with the blue key is interesting. I like the solution to the 'riddle' and the payback at the end :) Not sure if it intended, but after the blue door you can 'cheese' the spider mastermind by sniping it through the window. Looking forward to the next map. 1 Share this post Link to post
Moustachio Posted May 26, 2022 (edited) MAP25: Moonshine has been added to the roster. Things are getting a lot harder. I'm gonna really try to go all out with the last five maps (but in a fun way). Stay tuned. Changelog: Spoiler VERSION 0.5.3 CHANGELOG Added MAP25: "Moonshine" Edited MAP01: Made the sector with the SSG a secret trigger instead of the door at the start. Tagged the sector outside of the exit room as a secret. Edited MAP02: Made the rocket launcher secret door a little easier to see. Edited MAP03: Changed one of the plasma guns to a soulsphere. Edited MAP05: Fixed a bug where some enemies wouldn't hear gunfire and teleport in. Added an extra platform so that you can get to the other side of the blood lake from the start a little easier. Edited MAP11: Restored the first Spider Mastermind. Restored the BFG secret. Restored the Megaarmor secret. Added a switch to lower some secret paths before the blue key. Added barrels around the last Archvile near the blue key. Moved a revenant near the blue key. Edited MAP13: Fixed a misplaced texture near the start. Restored the soulsphere that unlocks in the starting room after getting the blue key. Added extra ammo by the yellow key. The four arch-viles have also been reduced down to two arch-viles in single-player. Restored the BFG by the north-westernmost yellow key door. Edited MAP18: You can now use the big raising metal sector at the start as a lift once it's raised. Fixed misplaced textures on the red key platform steps. Edited MAP24: The Spider Mastermind now teleports in after the yellow key door pops open (thanks to TheCyberDruid for pointing out that you can cheese the Mastermind from another window). Edited MAP31: Fixed a texture misalignment in the warehouse area. Made the teleporter out of the cyberdemon den a two-way teleporter. Renamed Episode 3 to "City" on the episode select screen. KNOWN BUGS Some HOM effect by the orange key. Edited May 26, 2022 by Moustachio 3 Share this post Link to post
Moustachio Posted August 21, 2022 (edited) MAP26: Son of the Crusher has been added to the roster. DOWNLOAD MAP27 and 30 are currently finished and awaiting the completed midi soundtrack from Dial-up. MAP28 and MAP29 are each about 45% done. I plan on adding MAP27 and MAP30 as soon as the soundtracks come in, with MAP28 and 29 rounding out the maplist at a later date. Changelog: Spoiler VERSION 0.666 CHANGELOG Added MAP26: "Son of the Crusher" Split what was to be the rest of E5 (MAP26-MAP30) into its own episode, Episode 6: TARTARUS. Added a death exit to MAP25. Rebuilt all map nodes with vigilantbsp. It has worked wonders in reducing visplane counts throughout the wad. MAP10, MAP16, and MAP22 retain their original nodes to maintain title screen demo compatibility. Edited August 21, 2022 by Moustachio 11 Share this post Link to post
Moustachio Posted September 9, 2022 (edited) Well I think I've been sitting on this for long enough now... MAP27: Chamber of Reflection has been added to the roster. DOWNLOAD It's a longer, more linear sort of challenge map. It's really designed to test you if you don't find secrets, but I feel that the secrets can give you a good boost. I'm still working on getting that library room within the segs limit. Thankfully, no visplane overflows as of yet. I don't have the midi yet; Dial-up is still working away at it. Feel free to IDMUSxx to another map theme in the meantime (or play with -nomusic like Jaguar Doom). The secret exit in MAP31 also got an update: I gave it a bit of an actual hiding spot now. Similar concept, but more fairly executed in my opinion. MAP32 also had a NO HELL PALADIN monitor added next to the exit door, signifying that you need 100% hell paladin kills to open the exit door. Would it be weird to prematurely release MAP30? I've been sitting on that for a while as well... Changelog: Spoiler VERSION 0.666.4 CHANGELOG Added MAP27: "Chamber of Reflection" The midi is currently in progress. The default Doom II midi for the mapslot is currently used. It'll be worth the wait! Made some changes to the ending of MAP31. Hid the secret ending in what I felt was a more clever way. Added a monitor displaying a NO HELL PALADINS symbol at the end of MAP32 to signify that all Hell Paladins must be dead to open the exit door. Edited September 9, 2022 by Moustachio 5 Share this post Link to post
KneeDeepintheSludgemetal Posted September 9, 2022 Just wanted to say the music and background ambience is amazing in this wad. Especially Earth map 1. It sounds great no matter what Port I use, but man oh man does it sound great with Retrodoom. The lighting and gameplay is great too! Thanks! That is all. 1 Share this post Link to post
Moustachio Posted September 18, 2022 (edited) MAP28: Entropy Pool has been added to the roster. Same deal with the music as with MAP27, I expect the midis to take some time. I also expect MAP29 to take quite a while, as it's shaping up to be a bit colossal. And MAP30 still needs some touching up. But this is the final stretch! Two more maps to go! The map featured here is definitely the most challenging one to date. It's a relatively small map with a two key layout and an optional secret key. What makes it so challenging? Lots of enemies trying to kill you in one space. Luckily, there are plenty of friendly Cyberdemons to help out. And I don't believe I've stuffed as many Masterminds in one space before. I don't know if I ever will again. It's probably not the hardest level you'll ever play, but it should give you a Plutonia-esque run for your money. DOWNLOAD Changelog: Spoiler VERSION 0.666.5 CHANGELOG Added MAP28: "Entropy Pool" Edited September 18, 2022 by Moustachio : Added a short description of MAP28. 7 Share this post Link to post
Moustachio Posted October 15, 2022 MAP29: The Devil's Machine has been added to the roster. You start out in a plot measured for you at Hell's premier bottom-tier cemetery. You break free of your spiritual engagement with the Reaper, and proceed to fight against the rest of what Hell has to offer. This map is about 15-20 minutes long, but it is also very tough. Expect to die a lot. Unless you're better than me. In which case, more power to you. MAP30: Atonement has also been added to the roster (a.k.a. The Arbiter on the automap). It's finally time to face off against the real mastermind of the Hell invasion. The Arbiter is a freak nightmare of a monster. He doesn't appear strong at first, but he will wear you down with his high mobility. At 5000 HP, he's also a damage sponge, allowing him to slowly drip your health away if you're not playing at your top level. After the beating the Arbiter, you'll have to make one last push against the forces of evil. Luckily, you should find plenty of powerups and BFG ammo to help you tear through the never-ending final horde. Or, you can try to conserve that ammo and see how long you can really last... Also, all of the midis are finished and included. A special thanks to Dial-up for Murder for finishing out the soundtrack. And with that, Atonement is finished! Below, you can download the release candidate. Please let me know if you find any bugs such as monsters not teleporting in, texture misalignments, visplane overflows, midis not looping, etc. I've done my best to test for these throughout development, but occasionally, a last minute change or node rebuild can cause strange bugs to happen (like demons falling into the floor). With any luck, the release will hold up to public scrutiny and be ready to submit to idgames on Halloween. [DOWNLOAD RC1] 20 Share this post Link to post
Firedust Posted October 15, 2022 (edited) OMG Congrats on the release! Is map 33 accessible by idclev only? Edited October 15, 2022 by Firedust 1 Share this post Link to post
Moustachio Posted October 15, 2022 6 hours ago, Firedust said: OMG Congrats on the release! Is map 33 accessible by idclev only? Yes, unless you’re playing with ports that support MAPINFO. 1 Share this post Link to post
Noiser Posted October 15, 2022 Congratulations! Can't wait to try this one out 2 Share this post Link to post
Firedust Posted October 15, 2022 37 minutes ago, Moustachio said: Yes, unless you’re playing with ports that support MAPINFO. Playing in GZDoom so it does support the feature! 1 Share this post Link to post
Deadwing Posted October 15, 2022 Congratz for the release, Moustachio! 2 Share this post Link to post
Salt-Man Z Posted October 17, 2022 Aaah, can't wait to dive back into this! 2 Share this post Link to post
Superjustinbros Posted October 17, 2022 Ooh I'll have to give this a go! Looks like a nice set of maps. 1 Share this post Link to post
Degree23 Posted October 17, 2022 (edited) This looks great, so I thought I'd give it a playthrough. I'm going through continuously in Zandronum on UV. (The text file says only 29 maps have been done btw) Map 01: What an absolutely enormous area to run around in outside of the map. I almost wonder whether the PG should be a secret in and of itself, since even if you drop down after the exit, I wonder how many people would think to run quite as far around given how small the "main part" of the map is. Map 02: Even with the PG from the first map to help out with the final fight, I nearly ran out of all ammo. I guess I could have Berserked or Chainsawed a few more lesser enemies, though I realised that I was also running past boxes of Bullets when I had 200 anyway. I'm exiting with 127/8 Bullets/Shells after going back through the map for spare ammo, which is not too bad, so I guess I was just surprised to nearly run out. From a Pistol start you may actually run out of ammo. Map 03: Some very harsh CG ambushes at the start of this one, probably makes it the toughest part of the map. You have two 100 Armors quite near the start of the map, so I wonder if one of them would be better moved to later on. (And if you find the secret MegaArmor near the start it makes the second one even less useful) Map 04: I was very surprised to reach the exit and open the red door behind me to find an AV and 2 Revenants. I couldn't quite work out where they came from! After going back through the map to search for other enemies, finding another huge outside secret area means I'm exiting with 200/200. Really enjoyable start. I'll definitely play through the rest of this shortly. Map 05: I suppose this map makes me realise I'm not quite the biggest fan of the shade of red being used in so many places, but that's just me. Map 06: In the double AV fight that pole in the middle of the fight was extremely annoying. The area gets very cramped with enemies spawning in, so decorations to bump into were quite irritating. Overall this first episode makes me excited for what's in store for the rest! Edited October 17, 2022 by Degree23 1 Share this post Link to post
Firedust Posted October 21, 2022 (edited) Alright, let's get going! I'll edit this post for all the bugs I find during my playthrough. Map 2, slime trail along the red line: https://prnt.sc/85GpkB4z_svQ Cacos be rocking that sauna look. Nice. Map 3, slime trail here: https://prnt.sc/_fZR8PYoKllx The stairs to the left of the teleporter in the outside secret area can't be climbed. Another slime trail here: https://prnt.sc/AQGs13ddHZYR Map 15, sector 909 broken teleporter closet. Epic map. Map 24, berserk secret is bugged. Crossing the tagged linedef doesn't actually lower the lift. Map 26, this wall texture is misaligned: https://prnt.sc/AQYQMY8S28BE Map 27, sector 623 teleporter closet with pain elemental is broken. Also, you should probably place monster block lines in the final arena, because the cybs are very likely to fall down and become very tedious to fight. Edited October 24, 2022 by Firedust 1 Share this post Link to post
Captain Keen Posted October 22, 2022 Just wanted to say I'm really liking this wad! I'm about halfway through right now, and love the episode progression. Also, yes, map 15 is epic! I have one question: would it be possible to get a version of the wad without the filter? I'm thinking something like Moonblood's no-filter.wad if you want to play with the original colors without the extra red tint. Thanks! 1 Share this post Link to post
Shepardus Posted October 22, 2022 1 hour ago, Captain Keen said: I have one question: would it be possible to get a version of the wad without the filter? I'm thinking something like Moonblood's no-filter.wad if you want to play with the original colors without the extra red tint. Thanks! Just load Moonblood's no-filter.wad, it's just the PLAYPAL and COLORMAP lumps copied from the IWAD. 2 Share this post Link to post
Captain Keen Posted October 22, 2022 53 minutes ago, Shepardus said: Just load Moonblood's no-filter.wad, it's just the PLAYPAL and COLORMAP lumps copied from the IWAD. Perfect, that works, thank you! 0 Share this post Link to post
