Duality (IDgames) - MBF21 5 maps mini-wad

4 hours ago, dmh094 said:

There is a cyber that fires homing rockets. Wasted plasma on it before I realised the map kills it 😂😂

Two of us then 😅

14 hours ago, JXC said:

Is there a reason there aren't any custom monsters?

There are two dehacked enemies in this wad, but other than that, I like to keep the enemy roster more or less Vanilla.

Maybe in a future wad, I'll try to use some custom enemies.

6 hours ago, Beubeu said:

A must play !

 

My only complait would be that the secrets are maybe too hard to find but it's not a big deal 

 

Beside that, you have no excuse to not give it a try 

5 hours ago, lunchlunch said:

Well done

Thank you very much :D

4 hours ago, Jonathan said:

I'm about half-way through playing this and really enjoying it. Just from an aesthetic point of view, I love the overall vibe you create through the colour schemes and attention to detail. Everything feels so finely crafted. Just really fun spaces and environments to explore and be inside.

 

Feedback wise, my only issue was

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the instant death when entering the sea. I didn't notice the tiny warning sign on the beach and had to restart the level :-(

 

Thank you! Glad you are enjoying your time with it! As for the trap, I understand it can be cruel if you fall by the end of the map, but I figured it was better than having a block line 😅

I've already finished this WAD, but I haven't finished recording all the levels yet:)

Map01 is quite interesting, the construction of the level is very perty, Even those sushi can be eaten.

At the very beginning(that sushi place)， that blue armor can be bumped，after that everything become very easy:)

6 hours ago, Cecilia said:

 

I've already finished this WAD, but I haven't finished recording all the levels yet:)

Map01 is quite interesting, the construction of the level is very perty, Even those sushi can be eaten.

At the very beginning(that sushi place)， that blue armor can be bumped，after that everything become very easy:)

Nice going! That was a pretty smooth playthrough! Good strategies!

Thanks for the heads up! If there is a need for a 1.3 version, I'll fix the armor bump :)

Map02 Corrupted Conservatory

Honestly, I quite hate this map. But it doesn't mean you did anything wrong, it's just because I really don't like the damage floor. However, the construction and concept of this map are really interesting, especially the Supply terminal (for the radiation suit and a megacharge) created by voodoo doll, it's really funny，I used 'idclip' to take a look, it was really interesting.XD

I have an idea that may not be fully developed yet, if you want to force people to walkthought the whole level on the damage floor, maybe not using the 20 damage floor would be better, because you konw, there is a chance of burning through the radiation suit, sometimes it really harmful to gameplay experience.

But I not a mapper and also not a very skilled player, if my perspective doesn't align with your original design concept, please forgive me for that.:)

6 hours ago, Cecilia said:

 

Map02 Corrupted Conservatory

Honestly, I quite hate this map. But it doesn't mean you did anything wrong, it's just because I really don't like the damage floor. However, the construction and concept of this map are really interesting, especially the Supply terminal (for the radiation suit and a megacharge) created by voodoo doll, it's really funny，I used 'idclip' to take a look, it was really interesting.XD

I have an idea that may not be fully developed yet, if you want to force people to walkthought the whole level on the damage floor, maybe not using the 20 damage floor would be better, because you konw, there is a chance of burning through the radiation suit, sometimes it really harmful to gameplay experience.

But I not a mapper and also not a very skilled player, if my perspective doesn't align with your original design concept, please forgive me for that.:)

Thank you for the honest review! I understand damaging floors aren't everyone's cup of tea. Even more so ones that burn through the rad suit. 

It was indeed by choice that I've kept it that way. I wanted it to be extra punishing walking through the nukage.

That is why there are several dispensers throughout the map.

However, despite all this, your gameplay was stellar, with precise strategies and movement!

Thanks again for playing and recording :D

This is a very beautiful level; the sunny (and deadly) beach and the huge hotel look like something out of a Duke Nukem style level.

I think this map's design features unique mechanics. If you fail to locate the secret area, the process will become difficult. Additionally, because the hotel is so huge, it is quite complicated to find the correct direction :)

First time on this level, I try to find some good weapons or a backpack first. Before I get what I want, I don't actually delve deep into the level, when I find those two screct area, the subsequent strategy becomes much easier.

But I have to say, you've hidden it quite well!

18 hours ago, AshtralFiend said:

 

Thank you for the honest review! I understand damaging floors aren't everyone's cup of tea. Even more so ones that burn through the rad suit. 

It was indeed by choice that I've kept it that way. I wanted it to be extra punishing walking through the nukage.

That is why there are several dispensers throughout the map.

 

However, despite all this, your gameplay was stellar, with precise strategies and movement!

Thanks again for playing and recording :D

 

 

While I don't like damaging floors, I still really enjoy your work, I thoroughly enjoyed researching the gameplay strategies and recording the videos:)

Map04 should be my persnal favior!

This level's mechanics are quite complex, and the design is beautiful. Two style of high-tech tomb, one are stone + flesh and another are flowing water + bones that perfectly fits the theme. The combat difficulty is also higher than the previous levels, and supplies are more limited. Theoretically, I can start with either tomb, but in practice, it's easier to begin with the side that has the Megasphere.

By the way, the Megashere's sercet button I can't active it with shooting or pressing, but have to shoot it and press at the same time to actived it. Is it bug or designed for? I'm using GZDOOM to run your WAD.

The final level is quite intense and really has an endgame feel to it. The overall difficulty of the battles I think should be the most challenging of the entire WAD. The instant-death floors scary me at first XD

But the fact that they also affect the enemies is really cool, in the red skull area, there's a mechanism that specifically utilizes this feature. In the video, right at that spot, an ambushing Revenant into the blood pool and got instantly killed, it's turlly helpful (around 6:18 in the video). I was quite lucky. Theoretically, you can tackle either the red skull or the yellow skull area first, but it's better to go for the yellow skull area first since it offers the only armor available in the early part of the level. The red skull area, on the other hand, only has a berserk pack, which was not going to help (I didn't even pick it up in the end in this round). The ammo supply in this level is very limited, and if you don't plan well, it's easy to run out of ammo.

Overall, this WAD is very well-made and quite enjoyable. Once I understand the mechanics of each map, it becomes relatively easy to play. I had a very good time playing this WAD and recording these videos. Thanks to your excellent work!

17 hours ago, Cecilia said:

 

The final level is quite intense and really has an endgame feel to it. The overall difficulty of the battles I think should be the most challenging of the entire WAD. The instant-death floors scary me at first XD

But the fact that they also affect the enemies is really cool, in the red skull area, there's a mechanism that specifically utilizes this feature. In the video, right at that spot, an ambushing Revenant into the blood pool and got instantly killed, it's turlly helpful (around 6:18 in the video). I was quite lucky. Theoretically, you can tackle either the red skull or the yellow skull area first, but it's better to go for the yellow skull area first since it offers the only armor available in the early part of the level. The red skull area, on the other hand, only has a berserk pack, which was not going to help (I didn't even pick it up in the end in this round). The ammo supply in this level is very limited, and if you don't plan well, it's easy to run out of ammo.

Overall, this WAD is very well-made and quite enjoyable. Once I understand the mechanics of each map, it becomes relatively easy to play. I had a very good time playing this WAD and recording these videos. Thanks to your excellent work!

Thank you so much for your time playing and recording all 5 videos! I really enjoyed watching your walkthrough of Duality.

I always try to experiment with weird ideas in my wads, which sometimes can make progression somewhat confusing to first-time players or people not familiar with my mapping style. I'm happy you took the time to learn the maps and most of all, had fun.

Thanks again, and I hope you also enjoy my future works :D

On 5/27/2024 at 3:57 AM, AshtralFiend said:

 

Thank you so much for your time playing and recording all 5 videos! I really enjoyed watching your walkthrough of Duality.

I always try to experiment with weird ideas in my wads, which sometimes can make progression somewhat confusing to first-time players or people not familiar with my mapping style. I'm happy you took the time to learn the maps and most of all, had fun.

Thanks again, and I hope you also enjoy my future works :D

You're too kind~

I truly appreciate the time and creativity you put into your WAD, I had a lot of fun exploring and learning from your designs.

And of coures, I'll look forwad to your future works! I've also been revisiting Duality in this time, I'm really enjoy it:)

Duality is now on IDgames: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/d-f/duality

A huge thanks to everyone who played and provided feedback! This project is now concluded!

Just completed this early this week.

This has to be one of the more visually striking releases I ever played. the clever use of textures (blue key blinds anyone?) the new textures and color palette are all top notch (this made me go and download your palette packs). I finished this quickly wanting to see more of the visual design but if I'm being honest outside of the first map the gameplay wasn't really to my taste. 

• Forced pistol starts with death exits are fine but the level design did not lean on that and offer engaging "gun hunts"
• over use of symmetry in all the maps (again map01 being the exception) made it confusing and unintuitive to navigate
• Even some of the combat encounters had symmetry in them
• The scenery in more than 1 occasion clashed with moving around a combat area in a way that did not feel intentional 

That being said, the experience still stuck with me and I am looking forwards to your future work.

9 hours ago, BEG said:

Just completed this early this week.

This has to be one of the more visually striking releases I ever played. the clever use of textures (blue key blinds anyone?) the new textures and color palette are all top notch (this made me go and download your palette packs). I finished this quickly wanting to see more of the visual design but if I'm being honest outside of the first map the gameplay wasn't really to my taste.

Thank you for giving it a go! All the points you brought up are absolutely fair!

I confess I felt a little obsessed with symmetry and decoration that may unintentionally hinder movement.

I hope you at least had some fun with it 😅

I have some other published projects that are more in line with traditional progression and asymmetry if you are interested 😁

Thanks again! 

Doom: Duality Ultra-Violence First Playthrough

This is a good short set. I recommend if you are looking something to play for under 2 hours. Here is a blind playthrough with some bad playing.

On map04, the red skull secret doesn't open up when clicking the hidden switch

20 minutes ago, unraveler said:

On map04, the red skull secret doesn't open up when clicking the hidden switch

It isn't meant to, iirc. The solution is more complex than that.

Absolute masterpiece!