Plerbtonia, a vanilla Plutonia mapset (20 map demo, development thread)

[Plerb]

Plerbtonia is an under development Plutonia megawad featuring relatively short maps. It's vanilla compatible (-complevel 4) and the IWAD is PLUTONIA.WAD. The maps are designed for pistol starts and haven't been tested on continuous. Skill levels are sorta implemented (HMP and UV are mostly the same but HNTR is easier). There's an embedded DEHACKED lump which is required to be loaded for it to work properly. Also there's occassionally a UMAPINFO lump in there as well, on and off, depending on how the maps in any given demo fit into the episode ranges.

 

IMPORTANT: As of Demo 3, this will NOT work properly in anything that doesn't fully support complevel 4 behavior. Z-Ports etc will be supported again for the final release, but not right now.

 

===Notes===

(partially) out of date, I'll rewrite this bit later.

Spoiler

 

*They're not very polished visually, as my main focus was on the gameplay, but I think they look servicable enough.

*Difficulty wise I think these maps are hard, and some of the later maps are probably harder than Plutonia itself. HNTR is implemented but HMP is mostly the same as UV currently. Whatever difficulty you pick it, should bring a challenge.

*This was tested primarily in DSDA-Doom, with additional testing in GZDoom and CRL. For Z-port users, I disabled jumping and crouching, and it also has a custom pixel-art cursor I made a week ago, inspired by the Doom logo, because why not.

*I haven't yet named any of the maps.

*The title screen music was made by me, and the intermission music is currently unreplaced but I plan on composing my own music for that too.

*A few maps have potential spots for AVJ skips. I might fix these later.

*There isn't any multiplayer support (at least right now).

*Graphics credits: SKY3 is from Valiant (doesn't appear in any maps yet, i just didn't bother removing it from the wad's demo), a handful of textures are from Doom 1, the offset A-MYWOOD is from 32in24-15_tex, and everything else is by me, some of which is edited from Plutonia graphics.

*There's a dehacked lump included with barely anything in it.

 

 

 

===Screenshots===

 

Spoiler

 

 

===Maps + Commentary===

 

This is out of date and refers to the second demo, I'm just too lazy to rewrite it right now.

Spoiler

 

MAP01 (Made July 3rd. MIDI: Enter Plerbtonia by me)
The map that kicked off this whole WAD. I downloaded 1000 Lines 3 and played a couple maps, and then suddenly got the inspiration to try making my own map with this restriction. Plutonia was chosen as the IWAD because I was already planning to eventually start a Plutonia mapset. The line restriction changed a bit over the course of the map's development, but I eventually settled on 200. I think this is the easiest map in the WAD.

 

MAP02 (Made July 3rd. MIDI: Dark Swamp from Atroxian Realm (a Commander Keen mod), by Gamebird)

 

MAP03 (Made July 3rd-4th. MIDI: NWarkanoid#17.mid from Warkanoid 2, by Vakhtang Adamiya)
The opening arena was directly taken from a random 5 minute speedmap I made March 27th (I was trying to make an entire megawad of 5-minute speedmaps, most of them are utter shit but this one had potential).

 

MAP04 (Made July 4th. MIDI: Down the Line by me)
This was a remake of a random speedmap I made in 15 minutes in April. The general flow is the same as well as the central crusher, but the original version was a LOT rougher.

 

MAP05 (Made July 4th. MIDI: Contempt from TNT: Revilution, by Varis Alpha)
VERY loose remake of a speedmap I made almost exactly a year ago.

 

MAP06 (Made July 5th. MIDI: Warkanoid#57.mid from Warkanoid, by Vakhtang Adamiya)
The color-changing key signs were supposed to be a single sector with a single texture (which is still in the WAD, as I'll try and find some other use for it in a later map, also it's not in the second demo WAD), but I wasn't able to get that working. The solution I ended up using is less elegant but it does the job. I feel like the ending is somewhat underwhelming compared to the rest of the map, I might make it more challenging but I'd like feedback on it.

 

MAP07 (Made July 6th-July 9th. MIDI: Krilewood Forest from Atroxian Realm, by Gamebird)
This has a very experimental and weird layout. It flows almost entirely differently based on your choices near the start. Probably the most difficult layout to design so far but it was very satisfying when it all worked out. Ideally the player would have a 50% chance of going down either path but I might need to make this more clear, depending on how people play it.

 

MAP08 (Made July 13th-16th. MIDI: The Anthrax Solution from AVMidi, by Varis Alpha)
One of the funnest maps I've ever made (imo), especially when you're blasting through it and watching the explosions pile up behind you. It was vaguely inspired by MAP13 from Valiant, taking the concept even further. There'll be even more barrel-centric sequels to this map sprinkled across the megawad.

 

MAP09 (Made July 10th-12th. MIDI: The Caco's Best from AVMidi, by Megasphere)
This was designed around a couple areas that appeared in a dream I had a few months ago (which I only remember because I hastily jotted down sketches of it right after I woke up from that dream). This and MAP10 are actually supposed to be E2 maps, but they're both maps I finished so I might as well just release them now. I just umapinfo'd in the E2 sky (obviously won't show up in vanilla).

 

MAP10 (Made July 7th. MIDI: Blood Rush from PlutMidi, by Tristan Clark)
This map began life as a potential StarZone map (another project I'm making) a few months ago, which I worked on for a day and then scrapped it. I dusted it off, replaced all 32in24-15 textures with stock Plutonia ones, and made one of my best (and hardest) maps across my mapping career. I'm leaning towards moving it to a later slot due to the difficulty spike, but I still wanted to release it for the MAP07-MAP10 demo. The MIDI is maybe a cliche choice for a Plutonia WAD but it fits well enough.

 

MAP11 (uses e4m1 track from chex3 vanilla by me)

Just a small dummy map to end the demo with :P

 

 

===Download===

plerbtonia_demo4.zip

Old versions:

Spoiler

plerbtonia_demo3.zip

plerbtonia_demo2.zip

plerbtonia_demo1.zip

 

Edited Wednesday at 10:33 PM by Plerb : new demo

[Plerb]

I fixed a softlock in MAP02 and updated the WAD. The download is still plerbtonia_demo1.zip.

 

Original post content for preservation purposes:

Spoiler

2 days ago I got a random spark of inspiration to make a small Plutonia map. And then I made 5 more. The main thing about these maps is they all have under 250 lines (initially my limit was 200, but MAP05 and MAP06 went over a bit over that), thus they're all fairly short. Though I didn't time them, I'd guess each map was made in less than 4 hours total. The WAD is vanilla compatible (-complevel 4) and the IWAD is PLUTONIA.WAD. This is just a demo, I'm going to make more maps for this. The maps are designed for pistol starts and haven't been tested on continuous.

 

===Notes===

 

*They're not very polished visually, as my main focus was on the gameplay, but I think they look servicable enough. I plan to go through and improve texture alignments etc later (even if it causes them to go over the initial linedef limits).

*Difficulty wise I think these maps are hard, some maps might even be harder than Plutonia itself, but I'm not great at judging this. Difficulty levels aren't yet implemented, save for one UV-exclusive arch-vile in MAP06.

*With the exception of MAP06, there aren't any secrets in the maps.

*I'm going to make more of these (possibly very soon), but I wanted to release what I made so far so I can get feedback on them. I definitely plan to make at least an episode, but this could definitely become a megawad.

*This was tested primarily in DSDA-Doom, with additional testing in GZDoom and CRL. For Z-port users, I disabled jumping and crouching, and it also has a custom pixel-art cursor I made a week ago, inspired by the Doom logo, because why not.

*I haven't yet named any of the maps.

*All graphics included in the WAD are made by me.

*The title screen music was made by me, and the intermission music is currently unreplaced but I plan on composing my own music for that too.

*A few maps have potential spots for AVJ skips. I might fix these later, though it would increase the linedef count.

*There isn't any multiplayer support (at least right now).

 

Edited July 20 by Plerb

[SleepyVelvet]

That was just good, clean, short fun.  Thanks for the meal.

FDAs: noisy_plerbtonia_demo1.zip

[Plerb]

7 hours ago, SleepyVelvet said:

That was just good, clean, short fun.  Thanks for the meal.

FDAs: noisy_plerbtonia_demo1.zip 

Thanks for playing!!! I'll have to fix the bumpable soulsphere secret in MAP06. You do a lot more single-shotgunning and chaingunning higher-tier enemies than I intended, but I think that's just a difference of playstyle and there's not much I can do about that. You didn't do any major sequence breaks so that's good.

 

Edit: I just realized I released this WAD exactly 1 year after registering for Doomworld (July 5th). That was completely unintentional, but it's very fitting.

Edited July 7 by Plerb

[THEBaratusII]

 

I played it through Woof!, and I really like that the MIDIs from Vakhtang Adamiya are being put to good use! As far as I remember, the only Doom WAD I played that featured his tracks was A.L.T. (using MIDIs from Astrobatics). I have been a big fan of Vakhtang's works since childhood.

Thanks for the demo; I actually enjoyed it. Funny enough, I was originally going to play this using Doom 95 but went to Woof! because the vertical mouse movement landed me in situations where I died. I may replay it again sometime. Another thing to note is that the furthest I got with pistol start because I was recording demos was MAP05. By the time I got to MAP06, it got a bit difficult for me, so I replayed the WAD continuously. Again, this WAD was a fun one and hope to see more in the future.

[Plerb]

4 hours ago, THEBaratusII said:

I played it through Woof!, and I really like that the MIDIs from Vakhtang Adamiya are being put to good use! As far as I remember, the only Doom WAD I played that featured his tracks was A.L.T. (using MIDIs from Astrobatics). I have been a big fan of Vakhtang's works since childhood.

Thanks for the demo; I actually enjoyed it. Funny enough, I was originally going to play this using Doom 95 but went to Woof! because the vertical mouse movement landed me in situations where I died. I may replay it again sometime. Another thing to note is that the furthest I got with pistol start because I was recording demos was MAP05. By the time I got to MAP06, it got a bit difficult for me, so I replayed the WAD continuously. Again, this WAD was a fun one and hope to see more in the future.

Thanks! You can definitely expect to see at least one Kraisoft MIDI (mostly the Warkanoid series which are my favorite) in every WAD I release (that has music anyways), probably more than one. I've seen a few WADs that use MIDIs from later Kraisoft games, but Valhen is the only other mapper I've seen use MIDIs from Warkanoid specifically. I think Warkanoid 2's music especially fits Plutonia due to the nature theme.

Also there's some note dropping from the OPL playback, especially in MAP04 (which I noticed myself when I tested them with CRL before release), but it's not too major to be unlistenable I guess.

I'd like to see the demos from you playing pistol start! (even the failed MAP06 attempt) Definitely looks a lot easier with continuous, especially some of the opening fights which tend to be the hardest. In MAP06 I was trying to approach Sunlust levels of difficulty for a bit, with the double archvile ambush (which is nerfed below UV).

 

Anyways I have 3 more maps at various points of development. At this point my goal is to make it a full megawad, but I'll keep releasing a handful of maps at a time to keep myself motivated. Later maps will probably use custom textures more, some of which I might make myself.

[THEBaratusII]

3 hours ago, Plerb said:

Thanks! You can definitely expect to see at least one Kraisoft MIDI (mostly the Warkanoid series which are my favorite) in every WAD I release (that has music anyways), probably more than one. I've seen a few WADs that use MIDIs from later Kraisoft games, but Valhen is the only other mapper I've seen use MIDIs from Warkanoid specifically. I think Warkanoid 2's music especially fits Plutonia due to the nature theme.

Also there's some note dropping from the OPL playback, especially in MAP04 (which I noticed myself when I tested them with CRL before release), but it's not too major to be unlistenable I guess.

I'd like to see the demos from you playing pistol start! (even the failed MAP06 attempt) Definitely looks a lot easier with continuous, especially some of the opening fights which tend to be the hardest. In MAP06 I was trying to approach Sunlust levels of difficulty for a bit, with the double archvile ambush (which is nerfed below UV).

 

Anyways I have 3 more maps at various points of development. At this point my goal is to make it a full megawad, but I'll keep releasing a handful of maps at a time to keep myself motivated. Later maps will probably use custom textures more, some of which I might make myself.

 

Nice! will check out some of Valhen's works sometime.

 

 

Here are the pistol start demos. *including my MAP06 attempt* ^^

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dgiZGb4SUH3rZTPOPlsS4rXzNvn894jH/view?usp=sharing

[Plerb]

Here's the current progress on all the maps I started past MAP06:

MAP07: Just a single pathetic room.

MAP08: Layout is like half done.

MAP09: Layout is also like half done.

MAP11: Layout is done and enemy placement is like 2/3rds done. When it's done it'll have around 400 lines, which is way over my initial limit, but who cares. The line limits are more of a guideline than a rule to keep myself from getting carried away with detailing and size, but this one turned out reasonable regardless. This is the hardest map I've made so far, if it's too much of a difficulty spike I'll move it to a later slot. I'll probably finish this map by tomorrow.

 

I'll post a new demo once I finish MAP07-MAP11, which might be within the next week if things go well.

 

Edit: I finished MAP11. It's probably closer to Sunlust than Plutonia in terms of difficulty so it'll very likely be moved to a later slot, but it'll still be included as MAP11 of the next demo I release.

Edit 2: Even if I don't manage to finish any of the other maps soon, I'm still gonna release MAP11 within the next week because I'm really proud of this map.

Edit 3: MAP09 is more or less done. Now I have a quarter of a full 32-map megawad! I also started MAP10 but it's barely anything so far.

Edited July 10 by Plerb

[Austinado]

Pressing Start on the video, starts the gameplay

 

 

 

[Plerb]

1 hour ago, Austinado said:

Pressing Start on the video, starts the gameplay

Glad you enjoyed it! I didn't realize how stingy the ammo was in some maps, I'll have to add a few more rockets here and there in MAP04 and MAP06. Also all 3 people who played this so far didn't initially notice how to lower the skull keys in MAP02 so I'm absolutely changing the walkover lines to switches. The final version will fix the most noticable texture misalignments but I wanted to focus on gameplay. There'll be a new demo later this month with some additional maps (I already completed 2 more), and it'll also fix various issues with the existing maps.

[Plerb]

Progress update:

-I offset the ammo stinginess in MAP04 and MAP06 somewhat. I was going to replace the key-lowering walkovers with switches in MAP02, but then I remembered vanilla has no switch line types for lowering a sector and changing its flat.

 

-For now, I set aside the MAP07, MAP08 and MAP10 I mentioned in a previous post, and the next demo will feature different maps in their place. I'll probably finish them later in a few months with a fresh set of eyes, but what I had already started wasn't getting anywhere. Note that the map order isn't set in stone and the final version will probably shake up the map ordering somewhat.

 

-I've very nearly finished what is temporarily in the MAP13 slot (but will be included in the next demo). This was designed around a couple areas that appeared in a dream I had a few months ago (which I only remember because I hastily jotted down sketches of it right after I woke up from that dream). Funnily enough, last night I had a dream about this very map, because I was working on it into like 1AM before going to bed.

 

-The line restriction is pretty much irrelevant at this point, only the first 4 maps stay under 200 lines, and a couple of them now go way over that. Plus, I plan on touching up the texturing in these maps which will probably add a few linedefs. I'm still gonna follow loose linedef restrictions for some maps if I feel like it, but if I don't want to for that particular map, then I won't. I'll have to rewrite the OP when the next demo comes around.

 

Finished maps (disregarding texturing polish and difficulty levels): 9

Rough drafts and screwing around, put into map slots: 6

 

Edit: MAP13 is more or less done.

Edited July 12 by Plerb

[Zahid]

very fun to play mapset difficulty is very nicely balanced

imo maps are way too small should be bit bigger and with more monsters

brilliant reminisce to plutonia 

my fda for all 6 maps 6 is first exit demo as i died a lot here as its very tight on ammo but worth it

prboom cl2 uv skill 6.zip

 

 

[Plerb]

5 minutes ago, Zahid said:

very fun to play mapset difficulty is very nicely balanced

imo maps are way too small should be bit bigger and with more monsters 

brilliant reminisce to plutonia 

my fda for all 6 maps 6 is first exit demo as i died a lot here as its very tight on ammo but worth it

prboom cl2 uv skill 6.zip

I mean, they're supposed to be small maps, but glad you liked it otherwise, thanks for playing. I'll start watching your demos now.

[Maribo]

pt_demo1_maribo.zip - Some casual playthroughs from last week. DSDA-Doom v0.27.5 required, WAD version included for future playback.

 

Nice little coffee break WAD (for now). Definitely would not mind getting a megawad worth of relatively short and punchy Plutonia-inspired maps. I'll be back for the rest.

[Daytime Waitress]

This is way above my skill level (I've never actually even sat down and finished Plutonia itself...), but I still had a blast with the first three maps.

Loved the way music contrasted with the action - had a very calming effect on me.

Felt that the map sizes were really on point, too.

Hope you can punch out a full episode of this!

[Plerb]

18 minutes ago, Daytime Waitress said:

This is way above my skill level (I've never actually even sat down and finished Plutonia itself...), but I still had a blast with the first three maps.

Loved the way music contrasted with the action - had a very calming effect on me.

Felt that the map sizes were really on point, too.

Hope you can punch out a full episode of this!

Thanks! I plan on making this a full 32-map set, and I'll release a new demo with 3-5 more maps by the end of the month. The next demo will also have proper difficulty levels implemented, so maybe it'll be more in line with your skill level on HNTR.

 

1 hour ago, Maribo said:

pt_demo1_maribo.zip - Some casual playthroughs from last week. DSDA-Doom v0.27.5 required, WAD version included for future playback.

 

Nice little coffee break WAD (for now). Definitely would not mind getting a megawad worth of relatively short and punchy Plutonia-inspired maps. I'll be back for the rest.

I haven't watched these quite yet, I still need to set up the latest DSDA-Doom but now's as good a time as any to do that, I suppose. Wonder why the demos wouldn't be backwards compatible if it's just complevel 4, though...

[Maribo]

1 hour ago, Plerb said:

Wonder why the demos wouldn't be backwards compatible if it's just complevel 4, though...

They were recorded with the -dsdademo parameter, which records the demo in a separate, experimental format that allows for saving, loading, and cheats (if necessary). I often use it for recording casual playthroughs since it's less of a time & energy commitment than recording, potentially re-encoding, and uploading an independent video. The demo format isn't finalized and as a consequence, might not properly play back in previous or future versions of the port, so it's polite to mention which version it was recorded in.

[Plerb]

@Maribo Oh, that's cool! There's another reason for me to upgrade (once I take a break from the map I'm working on). I always save-scum on first playthroughs.

[Plerb]

I've been fairly busy the past couple days, but I finally installed dsda-doom 0.27.5 and watched Maribo's demos. And I more or less finished MAP09 today, so I just need to finish MAP07 and the next demo with 11 maps will be released. MAP09 and MAP11 are easily some of my best mapping work imo.

[Plerb]

I released a new demo with 4 more maps! Since I'm completely burnt out on this WAD for now, I may have half-assed one or two things when releasing this, here's hoping I didn't forget anything important.

 

Main changes in this version:

-4 new maps, which I think are some of the best I've made so far.
-All maps now have HNTR support, didn't bother with HMP yet.

-The first 4 maps got some texture alignment polish, couldn't be bothered to finish the rest before releasing this.

-Added a bit more ammo for MAP04 and MAP06, also I fixed the bumpable soulsphere in MAP06.

-I'm sure there's more but i can't remember :|

[Plerb]

Bumping this because it got buried and I'd like to see some feedback on the 4 new maps I added in this demo.

[paymentplan]

Hi Plerb :)

 

I fooled around in the first two maps on UV and had a blast! I love the conciseness with which you've distilled down the Plutonia style, both in level design and encounter design.

 

There are also some neat speedrunning tricks that I found that you'll see me fooling around with in the VOD from my stream. Not sure if they're intentional or not, but I hope if they aren't you'll keep them in! 

 

Very impressive and fun stuff. Looking forward to trying the rest of the demo, and I hope you can keep up the motivation and the good work! 

 

e. Oh yeah, I was trying this out on the latest DSDA Doom with Final Doom compatibility :)

 

[Plerb]

@paymentplan Thanks for playing! Also thanks for bumping this topic back to the first page :P

I'm currently taking a break from mapping altogether, time will tell how much longer it'll be before I get back to this project. I definitely plan on returning to this for NaNoWADMo this year.

[paymentplan]

Here's my next session with the demo.

 

Just some simple playthroughs of maps 3-6. These levels were a lot harder, especially 6! 

[Plerb]

@paymentplan I never got around to watching your video of maps 3-6 and now it's gone :( Do you have it archived anywhere?

[paymentplan]

2 hours ago, Plerb said:

@paymentplan I never got around to watching your video of maps 3-6 and now it's gone :( Do you have it archived anywhere?

 

That's my bad, I guess I didn't fully understand how Twitch stores vods. I don't have it archived anywhere, but I'll see about recording some other demos for ya. Maybe won't be as valuable since I'll have some recollection, but yeah.

 

I also played through the whole rest of the demo including the new levels but that looks like it's gone from Twitch, too. 

[Plerb]

That's a shame. Were there any highlights from the deleted streams that you remember?

[-BLEEDTEA]

Very neat mapset! I was in enjoyment. Slight motivator for map-making too... It is reassuring to see fun gameplay with less complex visuals. Thanks for making!
Small loose thoughts:

I agree with you on MAP06's final fight. it is a bit of a sleeper, even on UV. The Archvile is very vulnerable and is easily Slaughtered before it resurrects Many. The resurrected are also weakened by rocket splash damage to the Archvile. Perhaps the Mancubus could be released...? I dunno.
A bit funny, but the thought of Spawning Vats crossed my brain while playing. The wooden skull pillar with directional lighting in MAP02 and the room in MAP08 with COMPOHSO & the yellow light flat reminded me of it. It's fun, intentional or not.

 

Also recorded demos! -dsdademo (0.27.5), skill 2, complevel 4. MAP05 thru MAP09 (partial). MAP06 onwards were first time attempts. Not sure if these are useful.

tea_plerbtonia_d2.zip

 

( Sorry for the long waiting times...! I tend to freeze up on deaths )

[Plerb]

@-BLEEDTEA Cool demos! It never occurred to me for some reason that you could cheese the sinking lift in MAP07, but I'm also not surprised with how complex the layout in that map is :P Definitely keeping that in there.

12 hours ago, -BLEEDTEA said:

I agree with you on MAP06's final fight. it is a bit of a sleeper, even on UV. The Archvile is very vulnerable and is easily Slaughtered before it resurrects Many. The resurrected are also weakened by rocket splash damage to the Archvile. Perhaps the Mancubus could be released...? I dunno.

In retrospect I think the somewhat anticlimactic end to that map is fine, considering how tough the beginning is (especially on UV).

12 hours ago, -BLEEDTEA said:

A bit funny, but the thought of Spawning Vats crossed my brain while playing. The wooden skull pillar with directional lighting in MAP02 and the room in MAP08 with COMPOHSO & the yellow light flat reminded me of it. It's fun, intentional or not.

Well, E2M7 is my favorite IWAD map, so it's no surprise it subconsiously influences a lot of my maps, even ones that aren't specifically E2-styled. :P

[Plerb]

Plerbtonia MAP07, and thus the entirety of E1, is done!!! (Note: Some of the maps were rearranged since the last demo, MAP07 in that is now MAP08.) This map was kind of cursed, I (barely) started it over a month ago, and every time I tried to build on it my inspiration would shrivel up like a raisin. But I changed my approach to designing it and managed to finish the whole thing this morning. It uses the MAP07-specific behavior in some creative ways.

Some of the new maps use vanilla and complevel 4 specific quirks, like the teleporter Z height thing, donut weirdness, and Mikostaggers. The final release should have workarounds to make it play as intended in Z-ports (@Melodic Spaceship is good at this kind of thing), but I probably won't bother for the demos. Thankfully everyone who played the previous demos so far used ports supporting cl4.

 

E1: 11/11 maps done

E2: 3/9 maps done

E3 + secrets: 0/12 maps done

 

Also, I seem to be alternating between putting my plerbtonia devlogs here, and in my status updates, I don't know why :P