[DEV THREAD] Constriction: 1024 [LAST ALPHA RELEASED]

Some more feedback for stages I played this week.

Played on - HMP, UV (except for The Dome of Creation)
Tested in - GZDOOM 4.10.0, DSDA-Doom

@Walter confetti - We're All Killing in a Yellow Submarine

Version played - v1
Difficulty assessment - very easy

10/10 for the idea, that's for sure.

The map itself is very simple. On the combat front that's not a big deal, it's a fun, easy little romp, just enough for a breather when the player finds the secret stage. However I would work a bit more on the aesthetics - I've detailed some suggestions for that below. That said, the ending with the Baron was absolutely genius, I had to double-check in the editor whether it really fits within the 1024 bounds and it does! :DD

Suggestions:

@exl - Pit o' Despair

Version played - v2
Difficulty assessment - hard

What can I tell ya? It has Chaingunners. Of course it will be despair. ;)

Another very solid map from exl. I originally had it down as "very hard", but then I found out that the stage gets significantly easier if you don't go for the stairs switch immediately (like I did), and just in general take down the enemy waves one at a time - with that in mind it was actually easier for me on UV than on HMP with my initial strategy. It is still quite difficult though, a good fit for an endgame stage (combined with the overall aesthetic). I like how it forces the player to keep moving at all times during the fights!

Suggestions:

- I would add a bit more ammo on UV, as I always ended up running out before getting the Plasma Gun. If anything there should be a good few ammo boxes on the red key platform, as I don't think there's enough ammo in the whole stage to deal with the final Mancubus wave (I dealt with that by simply running away lol).
- One of the Arachnotrons sometimes gets stuck on the edge of the raising staircase, but it's honestly not a big deal and I don't think it's worth it trying to fix that with monster blocking lines, as that would risk interfering with the flying enemies later on.

@OldManHan - The Dome of Creation

Played on - HNTR only
Version played - v5
Difficulty assessment - borderline Kaizo

So I was standing there at the beginning of the stage, and I was like, "Should I........ shoot?"

The stage was absolutely beautiful and superbly detailed, I've never seen anything quite like it - but I didn't enjoy it very much, at least until I switched from HMP to HNTR. Maybe it's just not my style of combat - I never liked such hyper-focused, every-step-of-movement-counts fights. That said, some moments in particular feel more janky than others, which I've detailed more in the suggestions.

All in all, in my opinion this is a strong contender for MAP29. It has the quality, the difficulty and the overall feeling of "finality" to it.

Suggestions:

We now have a cheatsheet about the project

Be sure to check it out, it will be used to add or manage all the important info about the project. Here it is: Google Sheet link
The names of the authors are by default their DoomWorld username, if you want to be credited in another specific way, feel free to mention it, and it will be changed(This will be taken into account for credits and CWILVxx, aswell as other important information).
Also, possible final versions do not mean they are final, as they can still be changed, and subject for future feedback (Specially when the first 16-map alpha version comes out).
Difficulty factors are just ordinal numbers for non-static maps, feel free to discuss them in the ⁠feedback channel at our Discord.

Name: Lament Constriction

MIDI: "Legion" by Jimmy

Map: MAP30

Difficulty Settings: Implemented

Build time: 3-5 days

Tools used: Ultimate Doom Builder R4060, SLADE 3.2.2

Tested with: DSDA-Doom 0.26.0

File: moustachio-const1024_R2.zip

I took a little inspiration from the way Claustrophobia 1024 did their MAP30. I wanted to improve upon it though by putting a new spin on the IoS that didn't involve quite as much waiting.

Screenshots:

More feedback!

Played on - HMP, UV (except for The Garden of Tears)
Tested in - GZDOOM 4.10.0, DSDA-Doom

@dmh094 - The Garden of Tears

Played on - HMP only
Version played - v5
Difficulty assessment - hard

Why is it whenever there's a stage with "Tears" or "Despair" in the title, it's always those Chaingunners? :p

So first things first, I initially absolutely hated the Chaingunners here, and I was going to tell you to remove them or tone down their cover so they're easier to get rid of. But then I tried sniping them with the Shotgun, and the stage became overall a lot more manageable - plus I think it's kind of interesting how it forces you to switch between the Shotgun and the Super Shotgun, so it's not that bad after all.

However, the map's length, crampedness and overall merciless design did make me play a lot slower than I'm used to, sniping more and taking cover in anticipation of new enemy waves. This is not a bad thing in itself, just wanted you to know for reference that it's basically how I played the stage. I didn't technically finish it, I tried running past the Cyberdemon to get the yellow key and it killed me at the last moment, but I didn't feel like replaying the stage just for that one final moment.

Aside from that, the stage looks great (especially the pond area with the circular climb), the progression is quite clever and I like how it encourages the player to hunt for secrets, to keep up with its gauntlet-style tricks. It helps that the secrets are all well designed and just plain fun to figure out!

Suggestions:
 

@RED77 - Monsters in my Pocket

Version played - v4
Difficulty assessment - very easy

Super easy map, to the point where it felt a bit empty, at least on HMP - but maybe that's because I just came into it from The Garden of Tears, so it just seems that way by comparison :p

At any rate the map is good, it will be a perfect fit for one of the early game stages. I don't have much else to say about it other than that the elevator with the Revenants was hilarious, I'm still not exactly sure what happened there other than that it was funny XD

Suggestions:

@Scorpius - Castle Vendetta

Version played - v1
Difficulty assessment - easy

Another easy map, good for an early game stage (especially seeing as it's castle-themed, too). I honestly enjoyed my playthrough, there was just enough stuff to keep the player engaged (a standout was that sinking staircase, I really liked that trap). I like how the ammo wasn't neccessarily super abundant too, it added a nice layer of strategy to the whole thing (as in, yeah, it's easy, but you can't go around wasting ammo either). I also like how the Baron on UV is basically used as a time limit for dealing with the blue key area Hell Knight, that's definitely an idea I'm gonna steal!

The only thing I didn't like here was the teleporting Archvile at the end, that part felt a bit mean to me - I survived it by just hugging the wall until the exit teleporter lowered.

EDIT: I took a closer look at that encounter and I think I figured it out - it's basically a game of cup shuffle, right? Where you have to keep your eye on the Archvile as it teleports and then hide in the correct place when it stops? If so, that's really clever - but still, my honest initial reaction to it was more of a "wtfishappening, whereisthearchvileomg" which is probably not ideal. If I were you I would simplify the encounter (see suggestions), and leave the teleporting shuffle thing for another map, where you'll have more space to properly introduce the idea to the player.

Suggestions:
 

3 minutes ago, sq. Tiramisu said:

More feedback!

 

Played on - HMP, UV (except for The Garden of Tears)
Tested in - GZDOOM 4.10.0, DSDA-Doom

 

@dmh094 - The Garden of Tears

 

Played on - HMP only
Version played - v5
Difficulty assessment - hard

 

Why is it whenever there's a stage with "Tears" or "Despair" in the title, it's always those Chaingunners? :p

 

So first things first, I initially absolutely hated the Chaingunners here, and I was going to tell you to remove them or tone down their cover so they're easier to get rid of. But then I tried sniping them with the Shotgun, and the stage became overall a lot more manageable - plus I think it's kind of interesting how it forces you to switch between the Shotgun and the Super Shotgun, so it's not that bad after all.

 

However, the map's length, crampedness and overall merciless design did make me play a lot slower than I'm used to, sniping more and taking cover in anticipation of new enemy waves. This is not a bad thing in itself, just wanted you to know for reference that it's basically how I played the stage. I didn't technically finish it, I tried running past the Cyberdemon to get the yellow key and it killed me at the last moment, but I didn't feel like replaying the stage just for that one final moment.

 

Aside from that, the stage looks great (especially the pond area with the circular climb), the progression is quite clever and I like how it encourages the player to hunt for secrets, to keep up with its gauntlet-style tricks. It helps that the secrets are all well designed and just plain fun to figure out!

 

Suggestions:
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

- The number 1 complaint I have about this map is that I feel like I kept getting stuck when running through the starting area. I think the culprit here are the torches on the corners - their hitboxes seem to jut out of the wall and block the player's movement. As a decoration they look great, but I think that gameplay takes priority here so something needs to be done about them. Maybe you could try making the fenceposts they sit on a bit bigger, by extending them backwards so they cut into the secret grass area instead of the main gameplay area?

 

- The trees in the starting area can be seen poking through the wall at certain angles. This is not a big deal though, especially since I'm not sure how far back they could be moved not to interfere with the secret area behind them.

 

- I honestly have no idea how to collect the Rocket Launcher, it just seems like I got it randomly by bumping a wall in the starting area at the correct point in time. If that's the intended way to do it then it's a bit confusing (unless I'm missing something obvious here).

 

- The Megasphere next to the Plasma Gun could be moved a bit further back (or even placed on a pedestal in the corner or something), because it's hard to discover the switch you're supposed to press without collecting it in the process. On my playthrough, I came there just after collecting the secret Megasphere, and I thought that there must some kind of walk-over trigger that lowers the yellow key, so I was forced to collect the second Megasphere much to my frustration.

 

- I didn't enjoy the last Cyberdemon encounter - trying to fight a Cyberdemon in such cramped spaces after such a long, taxing stage was just plain not fun, that's why I decided to screw it and run past it. If I were you I would honestly remove the Cyberdemon entirely, or at least leave it for UV exclusively.

 

- Speaking of UV, I checked in the map editor and saw that the only difference between UV and HMP seems to be an additional Cyberdemon near the end. If that is the intended design instead of just a placeholder, then that is not acceptable, imo, especially since HNTR seems to be implemented properly. The current HMP should in my opinion become UV, and a separate HMP difficulty should be implemented.

 

 

@RED77 - Monsters in my Pocket

 

Version played - v4
Difficulty assessment - very easy

 

Super easy map, to the point where it felt a bit empty, at least on HMP - but maybe that's because I just came into it from The Garden of Tears, so it just seems that way by comparison :p

 

At any rate the map is good, it will be a perfect fit for one of the early game stages. I don't have much else to say about it other than that the elevator with the Revenants was hilarious, I'm still not exactly sure what happened there other than that it was funny XD

 

Suggestions:

 

  Hide contents

 

- It seems a bit counter-intuitive to me that you have to run across the lava to progress early in the stage. If anything, I would add some health bonuses on the far-off platform that you're supposed to run to, that should be more of a hint to the player.

 

- Punching Pinkies on lava is always fun, but I would add one or two Spectres into the mix, at least on UV, to spice the fight up a bit.

 

- It is possible to jump on the exit stairs without pressing the switch and triggering the final Archvile ambush. That's what I did on my first playthrough (I didn't even notice the switch), and I thought the Archvile was a trap that failed to trigger or something, because I heard its wake-up sound right before I exited the stage.

 

 

@Scorpius - Castle Vendetta

 

Version played - v1
Difficulty assessment - easy

 

Another easy map, good for an early game stage (especially seeing as it's castle-themed, too). I honestly enjoyed my playthrough, there was just enough stuff to keep the player engaged (a standout was that sinking staircase, I really liked that trap). I like how the ammo wasn't neccessarily super abundant too, it added a nice layer of strategy to the whole thing (as in, yeah, it's easy, but you can't go around wasting ammo either). I also like how the Baron on UV is basically used as a time limit for dealing with the blue key area Hell Knight, that's definitely an idea I'm gonna steal!

 

The only thing I didn't like here was the teleporting Archvile at the end, that part felt a bit mean to me - I survived it by just hugging the wall until the exit teleporter lowered.

 

Suggestions:
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

- I would definitely mark the locked doors and switches better. I noticed that the doors have colored centerpieces and there's a blue flag next to the switch, but that is imo not enough, you should put the colored skull border texture on each of them too.

 

- One of the Pinkies that teleports in the blue key area gets stuck on the torch.

- The Pinky teleport trap in the lowering staircase room feels a bit inconsistent, sometimes it takes a while before they all appear. Looking at the teleport closet in the editor, I would make it a bit wider and add a few perpendicular teleporting linedefs beyond the original teleport line.

 

- I would add an UV-only ammo box and shell box on the platform after the lowering staircase fight, because I always run out of ammo in the Archvile fight on UV, to the point where I never actually finished it, I just ran away after killing the Pain Elementals and Cacodemons.

- Maybe you should remove the final Archvile's teleporting linedefs and just make it run around? That would be enough for a final encounter, imo. Or maybe replace it with a flood of Imps or something, where you have to quickly get rid of them before they overrun the walls and barrage you with fireballs (idk, just a random idea).

 

that's really good feedback. I'll adjust the map, Thank you so much!

Update to Castle Vendetta: VENDETTA-v2.zip

Just one more submission to go!, as we will launch an alpha compilation of all maps when we hit 16, ready to be playtested, June was a stale month, but we are back again with some work, play-testing will be needed. 

My submission

(Seems like it's been added already, but I'll post it anyway)

MAP04: Watering Hole

My first successful use of OTEX, it's not as scary as I thought.

What the fuck is @Mycomedes map? Seriously check it out, no comments (Difficulty HAS to be toned down for sure, but amazing nonetheless)

I don't think this is actually legal for Doom standards.

By the way, we reached 16 maps, these days I'll be compiling the first alpha release. Happy mapping and testing everyone.

OK, we now have a test build of all compiled maps we have so far for testing purposes, you can check at the OP. 16 maps so far, some of them do not have difficulty settings yet implemented. We are happy to recieve general feedback and play-testing from people outside the project aswell. You can visit our Discord aswell.

You DON'T need to load the alpha with OTEX.wad, as it is already attached to the wad itself.

 

Back again with more feedback! At this point I think I'll do this for all the maps at least once - I mean, I was going to play the project when it comes out anyway, so why not do it now and help the development at the same time? :p

Played on - HMP, UV (except for Lily of the Nile), saveless
Tested in - GZDOOM 4.10.0, DSDA-Doom

@ViolentBeetle - Watering Hole

Version played - v2
Difficulty assessment - medium

Now that's a great map right there! I must admit I wasn't expecting much of it when I saw it in the release screenshot a while ago but this was just an incredibly fun ride from start to finish - probably my personal favorite map so far, at least as far as combat is concerned. I loved the heavy use of the rocket launcher here, especially against the Caco swarms, and the way all the action centers around the titular water hole is very elegant in my opinion!

Suggestions:

- The rocks that you have to climb to get out of the watering hole could be a bit more distinct, as it's a bit hard to make out where the edges are. Aside from that I like that climb, its steepness and irregularity adds an interesting element to the map's combat.
- I'm pretty sure there was an Arachnotron on HMP, but on UV it fails to appear for some reason. EDIT: Seems like it's a GZDOOM problem and not a difficulty thing after all!

@DJVCardMaster - Library of Restricted Knowledge

Version played - v4
Difficulty assessment - easy

I played this map once back when the project started, but I didn't really pay attention to it so I thought I'd give it another go to see if I can think of any feedback.

And I can't - it's just a very solid map, and I wouldn't change anything in it honestly. Just wanted to mention that I absolutely love the claustrophobic atmosphere here, plus overall the great use of OTEX! I also like how the map demonstrates the "start out constricted, open up area gradually" thing from the original mapping tips section, it's something that stood out to me even in my first playthrough back then. My favorite fight here is the Hell Knight ambush with the flanking Shotgunners, that one's just chef's kiss for me!

The midi for the map seems broken in v4, though - it has "Into Sandy's City" as MAP01 music (which I played the map with), and the original song that's supposed to be there according to the cheatsheet is nowhere to be found.

Suggestions:

- None!

@Mycomedes - Lily of the Nile

Played on - HMP only
Version played - v1
Difficulty assessment - hard

Ok wow what a ride owo

At first I was a bit disappointed that this wasn't an Egyptian-themed map - but I think it would take the pickiest player in the world to stay disappointed at a map like this. Everything's just flawless, from the fights to the visuals, I even got my Egyptian pyramid at the end!

I've seen in the cheat sheet that this is ranked as harder than The Dome of Creation, but in my opinion it is much easier - I did this on HMP on like, my 3rd serious try, while I couldn't even touch TDoC on HMP (at least in the v5 version). In general, I think this one would be perfect as MAP28, so that it can be the interdimensional portal that takes you to the Dome of Creation.

Also - I see what you did there with the teleporting Revenant near the end, that got a good laugh out of me ;)

Suggestions:

- Something needs to be done about the Cyberdemon ambush, because they start shooting way too fast after you press the switch. On my first playthrough, it was basically an insta-kill for me before I knew what was going on, which is not cool (I revived myself with iddqd though, I occasionally do that when a trap feels just too unfair).

20 minutes ago, sq. Tiramisu said:

- I'm pretty sure there was an Arachnotron on HMP, but on UV it fails to appear for some reason.

Arachnotron should be on every difficulty, maybe I can do something to make it easier for it to walk into the teleport line.

@ViolentBeetle I've checked again and it seems like it's a GZDOOM problem and not a difficulty thing, on DSDA-Doom it works on all difficulties!

My mistake, I did not upload V3 of ViolentBeetle's map, also DFF's, I'll do it right now.
I did also change the ost in the alpha version for The Library of Restricted Knowledge, switching it for Heretic - E2M7, it's already changed into the spreadsheet, but I did not upload a V5 with that song, as I decided to directly change it into the alpha build.

MAP##: 01
Name: Deviant Depths
Author: PinkFlamingo
Music: "Action Hero" by @ZeMystic
File: PinkFlamingo-Deviant_Depths-V1.zip

Tested in: GZDoom g4.7.1., dsda-doom 0.21.3.

Requires OTEX textures to be loaded with this

Description:

This map was originally meant for @MFG38's community project 'Devious Deviance' released earlier this year (hence the weird map name). However, due to a severe lack of inspiration and motivation, I never managed to complete it in time and it ended up in my 'unfinished maps' folder. When I began brainstorming ideas for Constriction 1024, I realized I could use the opening segment of this unfinished map as a base since it was roughly 1024 x 1024 large and just like Devious Deviance, it was using Otex textures exclusively. So here it is! In the spirit of the original map, difficulty settings are a bit unusual: All monsters are exactly the same for every difficulty. Only weapons and items change. I am curious what you think of this :-)

31 minutes ago, PinkFlamingo said:

MAP##: 01
Name: Deviant Depths
Author: PinkFlamingo
Music: "Action Hero" by @ZeMystic
File: PinkFlamingo-Deviant_Depths-V1.zip

 

Description:

This map was originally meant for @MFG38's community project 'Devious Deviance' released earlier this year (hence the weird map name). However, due to a severe lack of inspiration and motivation, I never managed to complete it in time and it ended up in my 'unfinished maps' folder. When I began brainstorming ideas for Constriction 1024, I realized I could use the opening segment of this unfinished map as a base since it was roughly 1024 x 1024 large and just like Devious Deviance, it was using Otex textures exclusively. So here it is! In the spirit of the original map, difficulty settings are a bit unusual: All monsters are exactly the same for every difficulty. Only weapons and items change. I am curious what you think of this :-)

 

Great entry! texture usage may feel a bit monochrome though, I would suggest to use other OMET textures like the green or brown ones here and there if you want, to break with it a little bit. Overall it is a fun map, I'll have to really check twice to actually see if rocket launcher is harder than the SSG though. I think I'll have to see what people on discord think about difficulty settings. For now it is fine. It is now added both in the spreasheet and the OP.


EDIT: I almost forgot to mention, be sure none of the "windows" can be accessible through archvile jumps, as those would break the 1024x1024 barrier rule, so, for example, lines 612, 453, 680, 695 should be impassible.

@PinkFlamingo Played through all 3 difficulties. Overall the map does well with simplistic but engaging fights. As for the skill breakdowns:

HNTR: Too little ammo and health. Assuming this is the easiest skill i'd imagine accessibility is a bit larger focus. Giving the player a plasma right out of the gate helps but someone picking HNTR likely is not the best at health or ammo conservation, much less avoiding arch vile and other nasty attacks. I'd replace some stims with medkits and give the player a full 100 cells between areas. If the player doesn't rush down the archvile at the end it becomes a mess for HNTR.

HMP: probably the hardest due to the SSGs longer reload. I'd swap the RL with the SSG. Avoiding eating face rockets with the pinikies isn't too difficult to manage and the faster fire rate and spalsh I found makes the mid fights and the archviles easier to manage.

UV: the zombie-archvile room here was a lot harder and required better strategy so thats good. SSG over the RL as stated would make it harder.

A revision of MAP30:

moustachio-const1024_R3.zip

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.

So, I was talking with the mappers at out Discord channel and we decided that we are setting up a soft deadline for March 2024. Soft deadline consists on having a fully playable 32-mapset ready for playtesting and with minor detailing done as our goal. With this we can do some proper playtesting and QA so we prepare the mapset for a release candidate (Hard deadline). As always, we invite the community to join our Discord (Ask for the link if it does not work via PM) and playtest some of the maps to check them out and help us verify and validate all the work done so far.

Of course these last months were mostly quiet in comparison to the early stages of development, so I'll make a shout-out to all mappers that have a slot so to acknowledge the new deadline and to check if there are going to be changes into the mappers roster.

 @Snikle @Kyka @Faceman2000 @SharkyChip @Pierrot @Drywtler @mr-around @DRON12261 @Eon Toad just doing a check-up for non-Discord/non-active members of the project, how's progress going? 

So, we have up to 6 more months from now on. Also, remember you can use the Alpha version as your assets wad if you did not start with your project yet.
Happy mapping!

1 hour ago, DJVCardMaster said:

So, I was talking with the mappers at out Discord channel and we decided that we are setting up a soft deadline for March 2024. Soft deadline consists on having a fully playable 32-mapset ready for playtesting and with minor detailing done as our goal. With this we can do some proper playtesting and QA so we prepare the mapset for a release candidate (Hard deadline). As always, we invite the community to join our Discord (Ask for the link if it does not work via PM) and playtest some of the maps to check them out and help us verify and validate all the work done so far.

Of course these last months were mostly quiet in comparison to the early stages of development, so I'll make a shout-out to all mappers that have a slot so to acknowledge the new deadline and to check if there are going to be changes into the mappers roster.

 @Snikle @Kyka @Faceman2000 @SharkyChip @Pierrot @Drywtler @mr-around @DRON12261 @Eon Toad just doing a check-up for non-Discord/non-active members of the project, how's progress going? 

So, we have up to 6 more months from now on. Also, remember you can use the Alpha version as your assets wad if you did not start with your project yet.
Happy mapping!

Thanks for pointing this out! Even though the map for the chosen map is not ready yet, I'm not casting to leave the project... prefering to stay yet.

5 hours ago, DJVCardMaster said:

how's progress going? 

Haven't touched anything (map's modification Date: June 7 2023) since I got busy with uni. Will return to mapping ASAP.

6 hours ago, DJVCardMaster said:

how's progress going? 

Same as Drywtler. University has been taking a lot of my spare time, so I haven't continued making progress on the map. As a summary, though, I have the layout of the map roughly about halfway done with no functionality (with that I mean that I have planned where switches and doors go but no tags yet). In regards to texturing, I've tried a bunch of different aesthetics, but haven't decided on something yet (there's a lift I can't find a texture that suits it). And, that's about it. I'll try to get going as there's a deadline now, and thanks for the heads up!

That's great to hear you guys are still, thanks for checking up.


As I said in Discord: Remember you can add a Text to your submission giving a little backstory to your map, that will be added on a future INFOPACK. It can be lore for your map or the story of why you created it, or something related.

16 hours ago, DJVCardMaster said:

how's progress going?

Life got me quite busy lately, but I keep working on my map from time to time.

Honestly at this point, all is left to do is improving the visuals, and adding difficulty settings (that I plan to save for a v2). Hope to release v1 in a short amount of time.

I've almost finished map 32 of TNT:Foreverlution.

As soon as that is done, I will get on with my map for this in a much more serious way. :)

Definitely have something finished/close to finished in the 6 months until the soft deadline.

I had a false start with an overly-ambitious idea and I've restarted with a new one and should have something playable to share before long.

Finally got around to playing some more maps for this!

Played on - HMP, UV

Tested in - GZDOOM, DSDA-Doom

@MortisCausaDonatio - Dam Gendarmerie

Version played - v1 EDIT: It said v1 on the cheatsheet but it was actually v2
Difficulty assessment - easy

This is definitely a very "classic-style" 1024 map, with lots of winding corridors and switch-based progression - I think it will fit great as one of the early game maps, especially with how relatively easy it is. The eclectic texturing throughout the map is an intriguing choice, not one I would make in a map of my own, but still very intriguing (it certainly creates a sense of discovery as you progress)! EDIT: I forgot to write anything about the combat, so basically I think the combat is good as it is now.

Suggestions:

@DFF - The Transformer

Version played - v5 (I think this corresponds to 1.2 from the Discord)
Difficulty assessment - medium

Kind of amazed that nobody thought of something like this before! :P The concept is so original that it could've carried the whole thing all by itself, but even then it's just apparent that a lot of love was put into this map - from the incredible detail work to the differences between the fights on various difficulty levels (coming from HMP, I just went "holy shit!" when I suddenly started seeing Chaingunners in the Chaingun arena on UV!). This one's definitely going to be one of the highlights of the wad!

Suggestions:

@PinkFlamingo - Deviant Depths

Played on - HNTR, HMP, UV
Version played - v1
Difficulty assessment - (surprisingly) hard

I don't know what to think of this map. On one hand, the concept is very neat and everything else works just fine, from the layout to the fights (even the visuals, they might indeed be a bit too gray but they still look good even as they are now). However - the one flaw that prevented me from enjoying it is the significant ammo starvation. On my very first HNTR run, I essentially lost by running out of ammo in the Mancubus section (and I wasn't exactly being wasteful!), and the ending was basically a Tyson segment, which would probably be fine if it weren't for the Arachnotron blocking the exit switch...

Overall, if this was the intent for the map, then I respect that - once you realize what's going on, it becomes kind of a puzzle where you have to know precisely which ammo to use when. If that's the case, then this map should definitely be placed late into the wad, so the player knows that something's up and the map might not be as easy as it seems at first.

Suggestions:

- If the map wasn't supposed to be an ammo puzzle, I would add two bullet boxes in the Chaingunner closets, and teleport in a bunch of ammo for the final Archvile fight.

2 hours ago, sq. Tiramisu said:

- There should definitely be more ammo on UV, I ran completely dry twice during my run!

 

Thanks for the feedback.
I've ran and balanced the map on UV so that there is enough ammo to complete each arena but not too much carryover but i'm open to tweaking the amounts. do you recall at which two points you ran out of ammo specifically? If i had to guess one was likely the SSG arena

@DFF I don't remember precisely - but to be more specific, I never got to the point of having to punch Revenants, I always managed to grab that next ammo pickup soon after I dropped down to 0. Just to be sure I did another quick UV playthrough just now, and this time I never ran quite dry, getting to the normal exit with 5 rockets - so yeah, ammo is super tight here but it's manageable.

To be honest when I wrote that piece of feedback, I was going off the old mapping adage "always add more ammo than you need" - it didn't occur to me that the map was balanced around minimizing carryover, but that makes sense! And since each arena gives you enough ammo to deal with what it throws at you, I think the balance is probably fine where it is, after all - maybe if more people will complain during testing then something might be done, but for now it's fine.