Doom II: 25 Years on Earth - 32-map limit-removing old-school megaWAD - One Year Late Edition Released! Now on /idgames

[Phobus]

UPDATE 21/09/20: Courtesy of the incredibly efficient personnel on the /idgames archive, you can now download this project from there too! Here's a link!

 

UPDATE 19/09/20: Doom II: 25 Years on Earth (One Year Late Edition) is now available! This update has a raft of fixes and changes to various maps, fixing and addressing as many bugs and a complaints from the DWMC play-through of June this year as I could. MAP13 should be less fragile, MAP15 should be much harder (impossible, hopefully) to soft-lock yourself in, MAP27 seems to work fine in complevel 2 (mostly as intended!), MAP30 is a bit less clunky and the harder-to-find secrets aren't quite so hidden - likewise, the one-time ones should all (or mostly) have alternative ways of opening them later in their respective maps. There's other fixes and tweaks not listed here as well! A major highlight of this new version is a brand new status bar by Doomworld's very own @P41R47!

 

If you've not already played it, you best get in there quick before you're over a year late! If you have already, I'll leave it to your discretion as to whether you want to revisit it and see if the changes you wanted to see are there. I'll be uploading this to the archive shortly, as I'm feeling pretty confident in my work.

 

UPDATE 22/05/20: Doom II: 25 Years on Earth is now released. Here's the highlights:

• 32 single-player-only maps, built for limit-removing ports (tested with prboom+ 2.5.1.3 in complevel 2 and GZDoom 4.2.3
• All maps have difficulty settings implemented
• Continuous play is encouraged, but pistol-starting is certainly doable (and more challenging)
• Three cl2 demos are included in the WAD file that should play back in demo-compatible ports
• Every Doom II line action and sector special is used at least once
• Maps start very easy and there's a bit of a lumpy difficulty curve from there, with a couple of properly difficult maps, but generally a pretty reasonable, old-school experience
• No jumping or crouching (ZMAPINFO included for this)
• You can mouselook if you like, but you should be alright with autoaim as well
• Game play mod compatible (but not mandatory)
  • DeHackEd is just for level names and intermission text strings
  • DECORATE just changes the extra gibbed corpses to be green to make my nukage areas look a little nicer - this is totally optional and can comfortably be overridden if your mod requires it

 

Thanks again for your patience

 

Updated older information below:

 

 

September 30th, 1994. The day Hell came to Earth. When id released Doom II. When the world learned the satisfaction of the SSG, and the terror that accompanies an Arch-Vile bringing back your fresh kills.

 

We've come a long way since then, but I'm celebrating the landmark in an older-fashioned way. A 32-map single-player-only megaWAD, using every vanilla Doom II linedef action and sector effect at least once. I'm targeting prboom+ (complevel 2/limit-removing) and GZDoom compatibility. Here's some screenshots cherry picked from what I've put in the picture thread:

 

(new screen!)

 

All of those lovely skies are from @Mechadon and his lovely "Mek's Box o' Skies", so if you like what you see, do look that up!

 

Here's that download link again: /idgames

Edited September 26, 2020 by Phobus : Update 26/09/20 /idgames links only, no demo any more.

[Get Phobo]

Looks promising. Love the sky textures.

[Mk7_Centipede]

a dining room?!

 

this looks cool.  i look forward to playing it.

[Phobus]

I forgot to mention in the OP (unlike in the pictures thread) that the skies are from @Mechadon's awesome "Mek's Box o' Skies".

[NightFright]

You are not even 50% done with all maps and you wanna finish the rest within the next two weeks? That's an ambitious deadline, man. 

 

Anyway, screenies looks promising. Even if you take longer, I'll definitely check this out.

[Phobus]

Hmm... I concede I may not meet this deadline, but I'll be as near as I can. I think I'm about two days behind where I want to be at the moment. Also, it's been pointed out to me that "Thin Lizzie" is actually "Thin Lizzy", so I've done my best to fix that with some poor image manipulation skills.

[Phobus]

To give some more concrete progress, here's a list of the finished maps (and those imported from Triacontathlon) with a very brief concept:

 

MAP01: Drop Pod Excursion (MYHOUSE map)

MAP02: Bunker Buster (underground UAC bunker)

MAP03: Urban Renewal (Urban Escape part 2 (although way less difficult))

MAP04: Wasted Luxury (plush apartments with some tricks to keep you on your toes)

MAP05: Skyline (rooftop of a big, urban UAC facility)

MAP06: Destination Defenestration (another slice of urban life, with some jumping and climbing about to spice up progression)

MAP07: Rat Run (short linear journey through shadowy halls - already toned down)

MAP08: Constriction (1024 tech base choked with vines - now matched to the difficulty of this mapset)

MAP09: Skulking Death (sewers and archaeological sites strung together and infested with demons - adjusted appropriately and I preserved the exactly-50 monster game play!)

MAP10: Haste Keep (small, partially flooded castle guarding a teleport - tweaked and added to - should now fit in nicely)

MAP11: Bloody Denial (a large ruined temple that's out to get you - I've toned this down a little to fit the megaWAD, but kept the exactly-100 monster theme)

MAP12: Emerald Fluid (a nukage facility that's gotten out of hand - tweaked significantly, but still "Five Rooms of Doom")

MAP13: Caldera (a pit of lava is the central focus of a series of a little diversions)

MAP14: Water Treatment (slimy stone and fluids - now adjusted to fit)

MAP15: Spaceport (industrial space port)

MAP16: Unruly Cargo (spaceship interior)

MAP17: Entrance Made (industrial facility that you've crashed into)

MAP18: Meat Grinder (large industrial facility with plenty of moving parts and lots of fleshy bits - rather hard)

MAP19: Fester (waste facility with a vengeance - definitely needs toning down)

MAP20: Reclamation (tiered exterior industrial facility)

MAP21: Security Station (cluster of four circular buildings under a night sky - might need to revisit this, as it gets pretty hard near the end)

MAP22: Power Trip (plasma rifle rampage through a corrupt UAC facility)

MAP23: Corporate Hell (the first of a series of tricky maps in corrupted UAC facilities)

MAP24: The Front Line (second tricky corrupt UAC facility map - more outdoorsy than the others)

MAP25: Middle Management (third tricky corrupt UAC facility map)

MAP26: Upper Management (fourth and final tricky corrupt UAC facility map)

MAP27: Press Gang (combines industrial themes with the "tricky corrupt UAC facility" setting)

MAP28: Broundry 3 (high-exposure, more difficult take on the Broundry theme)

MAP29: The Armoury (a tough corrupt UAC facility map centred around a secretly-accessible BFG9000)

MAP30: Final Test (tower of challenge)

MAP31: Holiday (island vacation map with optional spa break!)

MAP32: The Waiting Room (killing time and demons until your flight comes in)

 

I'm currently adjusting MAP19, and then I'm basically ready to release!

Edited May 21, 2020 by Phobus : Update 21/05/20

[doomfighter667112349]

 looking awesome waiting to play this megawad after is finished.

 

[NightFright]

Just to clarify: This isn't going to be a slaughterwad, right? Reasonable monster amounts and placements? Would be a pity to ruin vanilla-style maps with Plutonia gameplay...

[Phobus]

Oh no, I don't think so. I'm no fan of slaughter maps, so wouldn't make them. MAP30 and MAP32 are probably about as close as I get to the genre, whilst MAP22 is more about mowing down hordes of weak enemies with your plasma rifle to give you that "power trip". The maps average about 140 monsters, and that'll lower as I make more of the earlier maps.

[NightFright]

Outstanding. I'm absolutely in, then.

[Phobus]

I'm committing to the 6-map demo fall-back plan I had above. Unlike id software, I couldn't quite rush out 32 maps for this deadline! however, progress is going well and I've got about 2.4 maps done out of the 6 I need. Downside (sort of) is that I'm away from the 27th to the 29th on a weekend holiday (oh no!), so I've only got today, tomorrow and the 30th to meet even this more generous (to myself) goal. So if you're in the antipodes, I probably will be releasing the 6-map demo on time :P

 

Expectation on the full, 32-map megaWAD is 7th-10th October. I want to release this as quickly as possible, but between adult responsibilities and me not wanting to release something disappointing, I accept that it'll take time.

 

Feel free to hate me for being late! Also do check my earlier posts, as I've updated them with the latest information on my progress.

 

Thanks for understanding and thanks for all the support and hype! 

[KickAss]

Hallo,

looking forward to Doom II: 25 Years on Earth! The screenshots are great and vanilla gameplay is just the way to go.

MfG

[Gideon020]

Huh, if it comes out on the 7th, that'll make a nice birthday surprise.

[NightFright]

No need to rush things, it's not like you are on the clock here. :P Take as much time as you need, main things are map quality and enjoyable gameplay, not how long you took. ^^

[Phobus]

 

I've always liked building backdrops to maps that could be playable areas. For MAP03, I've chosen to utilise a backdrop in a little-played previous map of mine as the base of this new map, weaving through the unreachable areas from before and having the previous playable area unreachable and static this time, but with some enemies chipping in from the side lines anyway.

[Phobus]

Six map demo is no longer available!

 

You were getting MAP01-MAP03, and maps 16, 20 and 23, but there's no need any more. Grab the real thing instead!

Edited September 26, 2020 by Phobus : Removing demo link.

[kknot5889]

@Phobus Played through the first three maps on UV so far. Really enjoying it. I'll give you a full rundown when I've finished the other three maps but I just noticed this and wanted to point it out to you. On  map 3: the little lift that takes you to the platform across from the two chaingunners can't be called down from the ground floor. I flipped the switch and then backed up, thinking it would lower and I'd get an idea of what was in store. Of course, it raised and then there isn't any way to call it back down. Just wanted to give you a heads up.

 

Great looking maps. Good luck with your self imposed deadline.

[Phobus]

Thanks @kknot5889. In my mental map of MAP03, that's possibly two places... Do you mean the corridor with the (up to) three imps and the chaingunners over the alleyway out the window?

[kknot5889]

@Phobus I think we're talking about the same area, yes. Chaingunners on the ledge across the alley, three imps on your side, and pinkies in the alley below. The lift that gets you up to that ledge is where I mean. 

[Phobus]

@kknot5889 - I've just checked MAP03. If you're trying to get back up to where the chaingunners were from the alley, that dark metal (SUPPORT3) lift works fine in prboom+ and GZDoom. If you're trying to get the silver (SUPPORT2) platform up inside, then the left one of the two switches that you activated on the ledge you access by climbing the small crates is reusable and resets the lift for you to access.

[NightFright]

Cosmetic criticism. It seems you have included the map IDs in mapinfo or something, leading to odd automap names like "MAP01: MAP01: Drop Pod Excursion". Same thing in the graphic lumps for the level names, CWILVxx. But I guess you did that as a temporary thing to make clear which maps of the megawad we are actually playing since later on it's e.g. MAP16 as MAP04.

Edited October 1, 2019 by NightFright

[Phobus]

You have deduced correctly that it's to show the player that they're getting a sneak peek ahead in the later maps. There's probably a more elegant way to do it, but that seemed pretty safe for any ports that handle internal DEHACKED lumps or ZMAPINFO!

[kknot5889]

@Phobus Ah, ok. I didn't try to reset it by going back that way. Awesome. 

Just finished the last three maps. Really good stuff, man. Scared the shit out of me once or twice with Archviles. Loving it. Can't wait for the rest!

[Phobus]

Thanks @kknot5889! Glad you enjoyed it.

[Korozive]

Thank you for this very enjoyable teaser. Can't wait for the final release. Archviles were a nice surprise, wasn't expecting them. lol

 

[FrancisT218]

@PhobusVery well done so far! Nice almost fast-food maps. Loved (to-be) Level 16, especially because:

 

Where does this map take place? Who is the music track from? :P

 

On a side note dad used to listen to it like crazy...so much that mom (who passed away in January, sadly) couldn't stand it anymore. And I've been humming so much the past two days she'd surely be SCREAMING at me to stop. I wish I got to hear that scream...Just another little tidbit about her I guess...

[Phobus]

Glad to hear you both enjoyed the demo!

 

Sorry to hear about your mother, @FrancisT18. 

[KickAss]

Hallo,

got through the demo on H.m.p.. The maps are realy enjoyable and gameplay is vanilla as promised. The screenshots are wysiwyg! Thumbs up!

 

MfG

[Phobus]

Thanks @KickAss, I'm glad you got what you were hoping for. I've been burnt out so far this month, but I will pick this up and succeed in a full release!