Tom's Halls: A Doom Alpha Community Project (PUBLIC ALPHA AVAILABLE!)

[Plerb]

I told myself I wouldn't make any more maps for this, but I would like to claim 0.4/0.5 E1M4, I have some ideas for it.

[Faceman2000]

On 10/24/2023 at 12:59 PM, years said:

hi, heres my map

needs playtesting (im exhausted playing my own map repeatedly), especially on vanilla

E2 style corrupted techbase, just in case you didnt have enough

let me know what y'all think, hopefully its not too detailed/hard etc

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/f2a0twu2bki9ypp6i7547/unusedmapyears.wad?rlkey=sz6f4q69lat4c3bg797eo2ln6&dl=0

I’ve only had the chance to play through this once but this is some seriously good stuff. The visuals are fantastic, the gameplay is good, the layout is great, all high marks. Maybe I missed some - like I said, haven’t played through it more than once - but there seemed to be very little ammo. I wound up having to punch three Barons in the last room - I’d missed the BFG secret but even still, I was already flat out of ammo by the time I got to that last arena.

 

The other thing was that there are tutti-frutti errors all over the map. A lot of the 72px tall textures are tiled vertically resulting in some messy effects. Many of them can be easily swapped for the 128px versions of themselves.

On 10/25/2023 at 6:15 AM, DoodlesGDX said:

this should be the last time I update this map. Includes minor fixes and (most importantly) the custom textures.

extramap_doodlesgdx.zip

I haven’t had a chance to look at this yet, but I wanted to just say thank you for continuing to update this while I’ve been incommunicado these last few weeks. I’ll hopefully have feedback for you soon.

 

@Plerb It’s yours! Thank you, too, for continuing to work on your map. If possible, I’d like to suggest setting this map in hell - we have a lot more Deimos maps than anything else at this point and of course the map wound up being an E1 map eventually.

Edited October 28, 2023 by Faceman2000

[Plerb]

16 minutes ago, Faceman2000 said:

@Plerb It’s yours! Thank you, too, for continuing to work on your map. If possible, I’d like to suggest setting this map in hell - we have a lot more Deimos maps than anything else at this point and of course the map wound up being an E1 map eventually.

Great! And yes, this will be a hell map :)

[Faceman2000]

Alright guys, super sorry for the long delay. . . 

 

Here is Control Center, based off the level that eventually wound up as E3M3. I've only set up and tested UV singleplayer, and I haven't littered the level in corpses yet, but it's good enough to show off finally.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xtl-yKqdQT3sWQkUQS5XwmOJ83DGxWaP/view?usp=sharing

 

Please send any feedback or thoughts! Thanks!

[Xeebleton]

never mind, some textures and lighting were messed up. this is the final build.

extramap_doodlesgdx.zip

[Plerb]

Is the deadline still around December?

 

Also @Cacodemon187 would you be okay with uploading what you had so far with your take on Spawning Vats? It looked pretty promising from the screenshot you posted, and I'd like to see it get finished one way or another.

[Faceman2000]

1 minute ago, Plerb said:

Is the deadline still around December?

 

Also @Cacodemon187 would you be okay with uploading what you had so far with your take on Spawning Vats? It looked pretty promising from the screenshot you posted, and I'd like to see it get finished one way or another.

He actually sent it to me, so I’ve got what he was working on. It’ll definitely find its way into the project!

 

As for the deadline, I’ll be pushing it back. IRL has been slowing me down, and I don’t want to push this project out half-baked: I feel responsible to make sure it’s the best it can be. My grandpa’s funeral was this week, and my little boy is due in two weeks, so life is normalizing again and I’ll be able to focus a bit more on this again. Progress will still be slower than it was but it’ll be easier to find time. Again, I thank you and everyone else who are sticking with this project during this difficult time.

 

I also wanted to ask for specific feedback on my last map: After you retrieve the blue key, the ending of the map feels really anticlimactic to me, but I can’t figure out a way to spice it up without adding a new exit or teleporting in a bunch of monsters. What are everyone’s thoughts?

[taufan99]

6 hours ago, Faceman2000 said:

As for the deadline, I’ll be pushing it back. IRL has been slowing me down, and I don’t want to push this project out half-baked: I feel responsible to make sure it’s the best it can be. My grandpa’s funeral was this week, and my little boy is due in two weeks, so life is normalizing again and I’ll be able to focus a bit more on this again. Progress will still be slower than it was but it’ll be easier to find time. Again, I thank you and everyone else who are sticking with this project during this difficult time.

 

I also wanted to ask for specific feedback on my last map: After you retrieve the blue key, the ending of the map feels really anticlimactic to me, but I can’t figure out a way to spice it up without adding a new exit or teleporting in a bunch of monsters. What are everyone’s thoughts?

Thanks for the clarification as well. These must be tough times for you. I've been recently rather busy with real-life responsibilities as well, so all I can say is take your time.

 

The blue key surprise section is fine for me, but if you want to add a few more teleporting monsters and/or moving the normal exit somewhere else, by all means feel free to do so. Oh, and you might want to add a few more ammos for the earlier sections of the map, as it's rather easy running out of them without properly finding the secrets.

 

(Speaking of which, I can't be the only one who noticed that we have less E3-based submissions. Guess I might make my second submission here another E3-based map as well!)

Edited November 4, 2023 by taufan99

[Plerb]

I finished the layout of my map a couple days ago, but I got hit with burnout and it might be another week until it's fully done. It mainly needs more secrets and detailing. Here's a screenshot.

 

Edit: I started working on a finished un41. I'm envisioning it as a D_VICTOR replacement. I might try un31 as well sometime.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Plerb

[Plerb]

Okay, here's my take on un41.mid, titled "The Beginning of DOOM". In hindsight, I probably should've claimed it before making it, but I was so excited making this that I forgot. Like I said in the previous post, I designed it around being a D_VICTOR replacement. @Melodic Spaceship converted it from .it to .mid and also came up with the title. I also included the original .it file as it sounds a bit different (though obviously it won't be used). Would like some feedback.

TheBeginningOfDOOM.zip

[taufan99]

55 minutes ago, Plerb said:

Okay, here's my take on un41.mid, titled "The Beginning of DOOM". In hindsight, I probably should've claimed it before making it, but I was so excited making this that I forgot. Like I said in the previous post, I designed it around being a D_VICTOR replacement. @Melodic Spaceship converted it from .it to .mid and also came up with the title. I also included the original .it file as it sounds a bit different (though obviously it won't be used). Would like some feedback.

TheBeginningOfDOOM.zip

I love this a lot! Really convinces the feel of victory quite well, while also being decent in its own.

[Plerb]

Okay, my take on 0.4 E1M4 is more or less done. Thematically this takes after Pandemonium and House of Pain with its blend of hell and techbase textures. I imagine it to be some sort of computer station from hell. I haven't come up with a good name for it yet.
Difficulty levels and deathmatch starts are implemented. It was tested in DSDA-Doom and CRL, and I haven't found any visplane overflows or tutti-fruttis. @Melodic Spaceship also helped test it. The music track is E2M6 from the DTWID soundtrack for now.

 

04_e1m4_plerb.zip

 

Also @Faceman2000 I'd like to hear your thoughts on my un41 track.

[Faceman2000]

Alright, some reviews:

 

@DoodlesGDX Thanks for your updated version of the map. There are still things that need work in my opinion, however:

• The and second rooms are extremely bare and underdetailed. They could really use some love. Adding some ceiling height variation in the first room or objects or inset computer panels or anything like that could really help those first two rooms. Also, the red key door should be inset from the wall a bit to change the impression the room just being a big box.
• Also in the first room, I feel it was a really odd choice to remove the barrels - they're perhaps the most memorable piece of the original scrap and really give the level some personality. The weird structure in the center could be made interesting with different textures, too.
• There's two much resistance in the altar room. When you first go in there, you don't have nearly enough ammo to deal with them. If you ignore them and kill them on your return, it triggers the ambush in the next room prematurely and your stuck playing peek-a-boo on the stairs. I'd suggest removing the two Barons from in there, having the two teleporter Barons warp to the altar room instead of the zig-zag room, and mark the monsters in the zig-zag ambush as deaf.
• The horseshoe room from E2M5 has been improved but I still feel you could differentiate it from E2M5 a little more, perhaps with changing the heights of various objects. I also feel you overcorrected on the plasma gun secret, as now that space serves no purpose.

@Plerb Your music track is quite good, thanks for submitting it! On first listen, the intro sounded a little cluttered to me, but on repeat listens I think what's happening (and I'm not a musician, so bear with me here) is it seems the same instrument is being used to do the new arpeggios and the "strummed chords" from the original midi, and since it's the same instrument on both it sound a little muddled when they play against each other. Overall though, I think it's a great contribution! I'll hopefully try out 0.4 E1M4 tonight or tomorrow and get back to you.

 

@HEXWALKER, @taufan99, and @YeOldeFellerNoob, any updates? I should have my first rev of 0.5 E2M1 by the end of the week.

[HEXWALKER]

7 hours ago, Faceman2000 said:

@HEXWALKER, any updates? I should have my first rev of 0.5 E2M1 by the end of the week.

I'm mapping pretty much every day this week, should have something to show by the end of it, sorry for the radio silence!

[Xeebleton]

8 hours ago, Faceman2000 said:

• I also feel you overcorrected on the plasma gun secret, as now that space serves no purpose.

I actually repurposed that space to be for multiplayer, as it'd be a bit too OP for the map, and its so obvious that you cant really call it a secret, so the one place I saw fit for it was there.

[Xeebleton]

aight, finished updating my map

extramap_doodlesgdx.zip

[Faceman2000]

Okay @Plerb, some thoughts on your map. I’ve only played it once and want to take another crack at it soon, but I enjoyed the level. The main point for improvement that I came away with was that there’s too much health on the level - a lot of the medkits could be swapped for stimpacks and I don’t think it’d hurt anything. I felt like I was drowning in health most of the map. The other thing I noticed is if at the end of the level you miss the switch for the final staircase and jump down (whoops) you have to basically go all the way around the map again to progress. Adding some easy way to get back up once you get that far would be really nice.

 

Nice work once again Plerb, this is a fun map.

[Xeebleton]

fixed some minor graphical bugs, changed some monsters and geometry, and added more multiplayer stuff.

extramap_doodlesgdx.zip

[Faceman2000]

Here's my first Rev of 0.5 E2M1! As per usual, this Rev only has placement for UV single player. I'm pretty happy with the end result - as always, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OT-Vm7dtaKP0fwCyetsHheCfg7HQQ8Ab/view?usp=sharing

[Plerb]

Here's an update to my 0.4 E1M4 map. Changes:
-Added a lift to conveniently get back to the area that activates the exit stairbuilder
-Made the plasma gun more visible from the secret area where you lower it
-Replaced medkits with stimpacks here and there
-I forgot to tag some secret doors with the Secret linedef flag, that's fixed now

04_e1m4_plerb_v2.zip

 

Also I'm definitely going to make a revision of my un41 cover at some point.

[Async Unicorn]

Honestly, it's one of the most interesting community projects for me now.

I'm looking forward to see all maps at their full glance!

[taufan99]

On 11/14/2023 at 5:33 AM, Faceman2000 said:

any updates?

Sorry for the late response, but I've still got a lot on my real-life table as of now. I promise I'll do my best to finish my map by December 10.

[nrofl]

seems like something I can commit to and finish in four weeks. I would like to take 0.4 E1M7 (E1M4) but the resource wad has them in doom2 mapnames. Im assuming that the base to use is 0.4 MAP07?

[,,,]

4 hours ago, nue said:

seems like something I can commit to and finish in four weeks. I would like to take 0.4 E1M7 (E1M4) but the resource wad has them in doom2 mapnames. Im assuming that the base to use is 0.4 MAP07?

(note: I am not part of this project) I think there may be some confusion. This is a Doom 1 project, and the map order will be finalised later so your map name doesn't matter as long as it's ExMx. The resource .WAD provided doesn't have any maps included. If you're talking about my DEV.WAD, that doesn't contain all of the maps that this project is based on; rather, they are maps from Romero's source data dump, some of which this project has slots for and others it doesn't (as it contains Doom 2 stuff as well).

[nrofl]

35 minutes ago, Individualised said:

(note: I am not part of this project) I think there may be some confusion. This is a Doom 1 project, and the map order will be finalised later so your map name doesn't matter as long as it's ExMx. The resource .WAD provided doesn't have any maps included. If you're talking about my DEV.WAD, that doesn't contain all of the maps that this project is based on; rather, they are maps from Romero's source data dump, some of which this project has slots for and others it doesn't (as it contains Doom 2 stuff as well).

Clarified very well for me. Thank you

[Plerb]

Yes, MAP07 of 0_4resor.wad is 0.4 E1M7. I don't know why it's in Doom 2 format.

[Faceman2000]

@nue, Plerb is correct. I also don’t know why the 0.4 map conversion has the levels in Doom II format but please move forward with Doom in Doom format. The slot is yours; I’m excited to see what you do with it. I would encourage you to use the Deimos theme, as the original level is KDitD and the cut locker rooms (the main reason for including this level) would be out of place in hell even by Sandy standards.

 

@Plerb, I haven’t had a chance to play the newest rev - hoping to tomorrow - but I did play through the first rev a couple times and really enjoyed it. Good job. I’ll save any further feedback till I’ve played the new rev.

 

@DoodlesGDX, thank you again for your consistent work on this level. I made an edit of your most recent rev myself - you don’t have to keep any of the changes I made, but I wanted to illustrate what I meant with a lot of my previous feedback that hadn’t been implemented yet. Like I said, you are welcome to keep as many or as few of the changes as I made, but your last rev is still in need of a lot of work (specifically with detailing and differentiating the nukage pit) before I think it’s ready.

 

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IyP3hDJ5Vb9l-HxHHhMaSa-YOwMc2Fxf/view?usp=drivesdk

 

@taufan99, thanks for the update. I understand and look forward to seeing your map. @HEXWALKER, any updates on yours?

 

Finally, I am claiming 0.3 E1M1 (the earliest version of what would be E2M7). I’ve actually been working on it for two weeks now and hope to have a first rev releasable by this weekend. This will be in addition to Cacodemon187’s interpretation of the level - I feel our takes on it are sufficiently different to allow both to coexist in the same product.

Edited November 30, 2023 by Faceman2000

[Xeebleton]

new rev. @Faceman2000 I ended up using your edit as a base (amazing job by the way! exceeded what I expected!). please tell me if there is anything I missed here.

I also just would like to (as a casual/beginning doom mapper) thank you for pushing me to put more work on my map. working on my map further really helped out with learning more about doom mapping, such as making gates, and even helped me memorize functions in doom mapping such as teleporters and switches. this has also made me notice how much work one must put in order for a map to be truly complete, no matter how big or small. once again, thank you.

anyway heres my map and again, please tell me if there is anything I missed or need to improve on.
extramap_doodlesgdx.zip

[HEXWALKER]

16 hours ago, Faceman2000 said:

@HEXWALKER, any updates on yours?

Nothing of note. Work has been kicking my ass, but I should have something more to show pretty soon, sorry for the radio silence!

[Xeebleton]

made some pretty minor changes and fixes. namely a graphics bug on software regarding some bars in a secret, new torches added, some things were placed weirdly, and swapped items for 2 secrets.

 

extramap_doodlesgdx.zip