EOH: The Spaceship - Single Player, Single Map for GZDOOM [Canceled]

[ARMCoder]

Map canceled, it was too immature for primetime.

 

Version 1.1 is out!

 

I followed @Biodegradable's advice and made a few tweaks in the map so the first sector is not so disorienting. I took the time to make a few other tweaks, and seeded a few more goodies here and there.

 

The download link is the same. I hope you enjoy it!

 

New Map! EOH: The Spaceship!

 

This map is set in a Trek-like spaceship, where the player progresses through all the weapons and faces increasingly powerful enemies. The environments include a Lower Deck, a planetary Away Mission, the Engineering Room, the Bridge and more!

 

• UDMF format, tested on GZDoom.

• Difficulty settings are implemented.

• Freelook is OK. Jumping and crouching are forbidden.

• With 240+ monsters aboard the ship in UV mode, several booby-traps and a final boss fight, expect a good deal of fun!
• Requires the DOOM2 IWAD.

This map was originally the MAP08 from the "Embers Of Hell" mapset (here). I always felt that the map deserved some improvements, and in the end I decided to make it a standalone map, where I did lots of improvements! Players that already know the old MAP08 will find some renewed fun here, there are several new rooms to explore, more traps and aesthetic improvements.

 

Have fun!

 

Link at ModDB: (retracted)

 

A few screenshots (more at ModDB):

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by ARMCoder

[Biodegradable]

I'm sorry, ARM, but the balancing is horrendous! I can barely make it out of the first sodding room without getting obliterated. As soon as I manage to get past the the gaggle of Pinkies and the horde of Imps and manage dodge past the two Hell Knights with very little health remaining, if the two Arachnotrons don't get me, the two groups of Chaingunners and Shotgunners will. Threw in the towel after what felt like the 15th cheap death in a row.

 

If you're going to throw 20 demons in the players face in a dark, cramped corridor then you should at least give them a fighting chance with by providing an appropriate amount of effective resources. Trying to fight everything I listed with only 20-odd shells and a regular shotgun with no armour or cover of any description isn't going to cut it. I would've loved to have seen more, but the opening sector is just overwhelmingly cruel.

[NaliSeed]

What's horrendous is playing the game using texture filtering. I'd almost forgotten how bad everything looks. 🤮

[ARMCoder]

7 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

I'm sorry, ARM, but the balancing is horrendous! I can barely make it out of the first sodding room without getting obliterated. As soon as I manage to get past the the gaggle of Pinkies and the horde of Imps and manage dodge past the two Hell Knights with very little health remaining, if the two Arachnotrons don't get me, the two groups of Chaingunners and Shotgunners will. Threw in the towel after what felt like the 15th cheap death in a row.

 

If you're going to throw 20 demons in the players face in a dark, cramped corridor then you should at least give them a fighting chance with by providing an appropriate amount of effective resources. Trying to fight everything I listed with only 20-odd shells and a regular shotgun with no armour or cover of any description isn't going to cut it. I would've loved to have seen more, but the opening sector is just overwhelmingly cruel.

 

Yes, the beginning IS tricky and definitely you should not go head on towards the horde. What to do? First, use the Berzerk-powered punch to dispatch the first Pinkies and save on ammo (you found the Berzerk pack, right?). Still in the first room, use its wider size to dodge enemy fire and dispatch the Imps with the shotgun (and most likely the Knights). At the other end of the corridor there's a chaingun and a box of ammo, and avoiding the baby Spiders fire is not especially hard. The narrow passage, in fact, will cover you most of the time. 

 

I find quite easy to beat this sector, knowing the right strategy. But I'm becoming afraid that this "strategy" aspect is not what most players expect or want in a gameplay.

 

Edit: try to explore the port (left) side first (follow the light Amp goggles), the enemy progression is much more linear!

 

Edit 2: I reviewed the map in UV and the resources the player can pick right away in the main concourse after passing the first corridor (in addition to the chaingun and the box of bullets) are:

           - 2 large Medikits

           - 1 green Armor

           - 4 boxes of Shells

           - 4 bundles of 4 Shells

           - 5 bullet clips

           - 1 Light-Amp Goggle

And at the side corridors there are 2 more large Medikits and one more box of bullets. There are the monsters of course, but many of them are hitscanners that you can wipe out fairly fast and collect more ammo. The first *real* problem are 3 Revenants at the starboard side, but you can finish them last, just before descending to the Lower Deck.

Edited October 7, 2022 by ARMCoder

[ARMCoder]

4 hours ago, NaliSeed said:

What's horrendous is playing the game using texture filtering. I'd almost forgotten how bad everything looks. 🤮

 

I'm not sure about what you mean, as the very most textures and lighting are vanilla. Is there anything that show up in the screenshots? Is this a problem in THIS map or in Doom in general? I feel lost. Thanks.

[Biodegradable]

Okay, I had a slightly better time with it the second time around. I still think the first sector is a bit unfair and too dependent on the luck of infighting to work, but otherwise I had a fun time with it as I've had with your other maps, mate. A wealth of imagination on display as per usual with some interesting set pieces.

 

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by Biodegradable

[ARMCoder]

4 minutes ago, Biodegradable said:

Okay, I had a slightly better time with it the second time around. I still think the first sector is a bit unfair and too dependent on the luck of infighting to work, but otherwise I had a fun time with it as I've had with your other maps, mate. A wealth of imagination on display as per usual with some interesting set pieces.

 

[video tomorrow]

Thank you!

 

I may very well tone down slightly the first encounter, because it's a bad idea to frustrate players just in the beginning of a map. I'm thinking about removing one Knight and giving the player a new Light Goggle along the Berzerk, as it was in the old MAP08. This alone should change the ambience from "survival horror+strategy" to something more conventional.

 

Thanks for your feedback, as always!

[ARMCoder]

3 hours ago, ARMCoder said:

Thank you!

 

I may very well tone down slightly the first encounter, because it's a bad idea to frustrate players just in the beginning of a map. I'm thinking about removing one Knight and giving the player a new Light Goggle along the Berzerk, as it was in the old MAP08. This alone should change the ambience from "survival horror+strategy" to something more conventional.

 

Thanks for your feedback, as always!

 

As intended, Version 1.1 is out! I hope the map start is less problematic now. Other minor tweaks were made and a few goodies were added into the map.

 

Have fun!

 

[ARMCoder]

On 10/7/2022 at 10:17 AM, Biodegradable said:

Okay, I had a slightly better time with it the second time around. I still think the first sector is a bit unfair and too dependent on the luck of infighting to work, but otherwise I had a fun time with it as I've had with your other maps, mate. A wealth of imagination on display as per usual with some interesting set pieces.

 

 

 

Thanks for the playthrough! A few considerations here:

 

- I didn't test the map along the Brutality mod, this may explain the difficulty issues you had in the first sector. Version 1.1 should be better in this aspect.

 

- You are a hero, by defeating both Cyberdemons without picking up the BFG (and 2 more large plasma packs). They can be reached through a teleport you passed by (and missed) just after leaving the Bridge. You meet some more monsters this way, but this largely pays off!

 

- I feel that most players prefer a more straightforward map. This one is about exploration, observation and a little strategy (the Computer Map is supplied to aid in the mission). I could improve some more details to make the map easier to follow, but I admit that this one will not gather many fans anyway. So I think I will leave this map alone.

[Biodegradable]

14 minutes ago, ARMCoder said:

- I didn't test the map along the Brutality mod, this may explain the difficulty issues you had in the first sector. Version 1.1 should be better in this aspect.

 

I didn't use a Brutality mod. The mods I use are purely cosmetic and don't affect the gameplay.

[ARMCoder]

Ok.

Edited October 10, 2022 by ARMCoder

[FEDEX]

Hi @ARMCoder why did you cancel this project?

[ARMCoder]

1 hour ago, FEDEX said:

Hi @ARMCoder why did you cancel this project?

 

Various reasons, in no particular order:

 

- I need a break. A really long one.

 

- My drive and inspiration to design maps have been dwindling slowly but steadily over the last weeks; in fact I sort of forced myself to release this map, as to keep a schedule that really doesn't exist, nor should exist.

 

- The more I look at this map, the more I see severe design issues, especially the long, dull, symmetrical, almost endless hallways. I think the map is salvageable, but not without a LOT of time and effort. I want to keep the "Trek starship" overall shape, and the Saucer area has a lot of free room to build interesting settings... but I won't look at it anytime soon.

 

Thanks for the interest! See you later!