[BOOM, CL9] TNTPhobia - An oniric walking-simulator tribute to TNT: Evilution [v1.2] - now on idgames!

[Fernito]

 

An oniric walking-simulator tribute to TNT: Evilution 

 

 

[STORY]

You decide it's time for your traditional annual playthrough of the IWADs. This time, you feel like starting with TNT for a change. You kinda enjoy it at first, but after a while you come to the sad realization that it doesn’t feel the same anymore. Back in the day, you could play for hours non-stop, but now you're tired and bored after just a couple of maps. You can sense you've gotten older. Frustrated, you turn off your PC, put on your cozy pajamas, and jump straight into bed. You’re feeling unusually exhausted...

 

Right after falling asleep, you start having a weird lucid dream. It feels like déjà vu - you were just playing this map. But... something feels off... Wait, was this door always here?...

 

[ABOUT THE WAD]

Around two years ago, my friend @Veemon, who had already been working for a while on his “TNT: Overcharged” megaWAD (by the way, do yourself a favor and check it out - it's great stuff), asked me if I wanted to take over slot 21. He mentioned how much he hated the original MAP21 of TNT and asked if I could create something TNT-inspired to fill that slot. He gave me complete creative freedom, but initially, I struggled a lot to come up with an idea. That changed last year when I had an epiphany after playing a couple of well-known walking-simulator WADs that totally blew my mind. It was at that point when I knew I wanted to jump on the bandwagon and try my hand at this style of map.

 

Given that this is by far the most involved map I’ve ever created, I thought I might as well release it as a standalone WAD.

 

[IWAD / PORTS]

• It plays with TNT.WAD using compat level 9, or the Boom (strict) compatibility preset in GZDoom (this is automatically enforced via ZMAPINFO in any case).
• I recommend playing it with DSDA-Doom, but any port that supports Boom format should do. I experienced some issues in GZDoom involving conveyor belts and voodoo dolls. I think I fixed them all, but keep in mind there is a chance that something might break if you use that port (if you find any bug, please report it!)
• In DSDA-Doom, run it with the following params: 

  dsda-doom -iwad tnt.wad -file tntphobia.wad -cl 9

   

[OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS N’ STUFF] 

• Play with no HUD for a more immersive experience (you’re not gonna need to check your status too often anyway)
• Jumping and freelook should be disabled to prevent breaking sequences, such as shooting switches that would otherwise be out of reach.
• The map was designed with vanilla lighting in mind, so either the software renderer or hardware renderer with indexed lighting will do fine.
• Save often. Take into account that, even though it’s a walking-simulator, you can (and will!) die.
• Keep in mind that having a good knowledge of the original TNT maps and other IWADs is vital for finding the “good ending”.
• Getting 100% kills is not possible by design. Sorry if this bothers you, but remember you’re playing in a dream! Dreams cannot be 100%-ed :) 

 

[CREDITS]:

Thanks to the playtesters for their vital feedback: @Veemon, @Lagoonatic and Tomás Rojas.

 

[SCREENSHOTS] 

Warning, mild spoilers ahead.

Spoiler

 

 

[DOWNLOAD]

2024/08/10 - TNTPhobia v1.2 

2024/08/03 - TNTPhobia v1.1

2024/07/26 - TNTPhobia (RC2)

2024/07/20 - TNTPhobia (RC1)

 

[CHANGELOG] (may contain mild spoilers):

Spoiler

v1.2

• Implemented difficulty settings. Now most monsters are gone from the rather challenging sections in lower skills
• Fixed potential softlock in transition between MAP08 and Heretic's E1M1 section
• Fixed potential softlock in Doom 2's MAP18 section
• Fixed possible "cheesing" of MAP27's archvile fight
• Fixed decoration not present in MAP23 cave in medium skill

v1.1 

• Several colored doors missing the action
• Fix unreliable behavior of conveyor belt of doomguy XVII
• Fix pentagonal pit causing damage exit in MAP28 area
• Small aesthetic fixes throughout

v1.0 

• First idgames releases (equivalent to RC2)

 

Edited August 12 by Fernito : Update idgames link

[Async Unicorn]

Screenshots are not working, unfortunately

[Fernito]

12 minutes ago, Async Unicorn said:

Screenshots are not working, unfortunately

 

Oopsie! Thanks for the heads-up! Should be fixed now

[Egg Boy]

I'm about 4 minutes in, this is something else.

[Egg Boy]

After finishing the map (I did not find the secret ending) I have to say this piece was incredible. The atmosphere was incredibly unsettling while being simultaneously nostalgic in a melancholy way. Its a shambling monstrosity made up of memories, melded together and sometimes indecipherable from others.

[roadworx]

i only played a few minutes of this before having to go to bed (how fitting), but holy shit, i can already tell that this is something that's gonna stick with me for a while. i can't wait to wake up so i can play more of this!

[Bank]

Absolutely wild and consistently surprising

[Scuba Steve]

Absolutely bonkers. If you plan on making any changes, may I suggest one...?
 

Spoiler

Some sporadic combat littered throughout the map would greatly increase the tension. It is so devoid of enemies that some of the suspense is stripped from the experience. If you are never *quiiite* sure when you'll encounter another small assortment of enemies, you're even more on edge keeping an eye out for the next potential ambush.

 

That aside, I'm going to have to dive back into this because I *know* I've missed plenty.

[antares031]

I have no idea what I've just played, but this is a mind-blowing stuff. I haven't found the good ending yet, but I can tell that this is such a fantastic nightmare to have, especially for those who like TNT:Evilution and  ̸́tḣ̷̓̐e̷͛̾͛̂ ̴͆̂̂͗͒̏ờ̸̡̡̟̱̯̅̒͐͒̿̑̊̽̅̅̕t̵̛̟̺̫̹̖͈̐͌̀͑͑̾̄͜ͅḩ̵̛̛̫͎̣̯͕̏̔̉̈́̒͆́̎e̵̛̛̖̠̞̘̻̲͈͐̅͌̄͛͆̈́̿̕͠͠ͅr̸̨̮̩̲̺̺͈̹̜͛̓́́̎̎

[kevansevans]

Incredible.

[Jimmy²]

This is horrendous.

 

I love it.

[TheShep]

Just "finished" it. Did not get the good ending. Took about 2 1/4 hours to get as far as I did. Nice job! Very unsettling.

[Lagoonatic]

Was VERY happy to playtest this monstrosity! Some of you are not ready for the lengths you'll need to go to get the good ending lol GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! Cacoward material right here

[Tristan]

Love this

[knifeworld]

Absolutely bonkers, phenomenal tribute! ... and I barely explored everything I feel there was to explore.
 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

Every time there was a change I was like "no you didn't..." "don't!" "no way" etc.

 

[Redneckerz]

Nevermind the map layout, that lighting and sector shadow work is pretty bonkers. I'll be forever defending proper use of Doom's lighting alongwith texture work, and this right here is a course in doing that right.

[Fernito]

16 hours ago, Scuba Steve said:

Absolutely bonkers. If you plan on making any changes, may I suggest one...?
 

  Reveal hidden contents

Some sporadic combat littered throughout the map would greatly increase the tension. It is so devoid of enemies that some of the suspense is stripped from the experience. If you are never *quiiite* sure when you'll encounter another small assortment of enemies, you're even more on edge keeping an eye out for the next potential ambush.

 

That aside, I'm going to have to dive back into this because I *know* I've missed plenty.

 

Spoiler

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback! :) I actually gave this a lot of thought during development (whether or not to implement more fights). In the end, I decided to leave it like this because I really want the player to become comfortable with the experience and lower their guard at some point. I prefer that the tension is generated from other aspects rather than expecting a fight to pop up.

 

[boltface]

Incredible map.

 

Spoiler

Found a softlock, dunno if it's intentional or not though but it's the only actual softlock I've found. You can jump down to sector 686 and friends, around X -8000 Y -6000, and there's no way anywhere from there, not even to death.

 

[General Roasterock]

I haven't been riveted and intimidated in that way by a Doom map in a while. This is right up there with Myhouse in atmospheric off-kilter expectation subversion progeny. 

Spoiler

My clear took me an hour, and I found less than half of the secret Doomguys to finish the entire thing. I will most certainly be coming back for more.

 

[Dreemurr Deceevurr]

That was spectacular! Glad I took the time to play this.

[Fernito]

22 hours ago, boltface said:

 

  Hide contents

Found a softlock, dunno if it's intentional or not though but it's the only actual softlock I've found. You can jump down to sector 686 and friends, around X -8000 Y -6000, and there's no way anywhere from there, not even to death.

 

 

Spoiler

That's indeed a softlock I missed! Thanks a lot, will be fixed in the official release :)

 

Edited July 23 by Fernito : Typo

[Nirvana]

Very interested. Will check this out when I get the time.

[pavera]

Just finished a playthrough of this, it's really really something. great work, really had me hooked all the way through. This really deserves more attention!!

[Joshy]

Thanks for making this! Final Doom was my first full doom game (after shareware doom) so playing through TNT is a huge part of my childhood memory; the nostalgia made this walk-through experience a very powerful one.

Spoiler

Took me more than an hour and a half, I thought I did a good job finding a handful of well-hidden doomguys and turned out I didn't even get close to half.

 

[Shepardus]

Can someone give me a hint as to what's supposed to happen? I feel like I'm either blind or the WAD got updated and something broke, because all I see upon warping to MAP21 is

Spoiler

a room shaped like the second room in TNT MAP01. I walk up to the evil eye and I'm silently teleported to a sky-textured room with a layout like the last room in TNT MAP01. I kill the enemies there, there's a switch that would raise the bars in the original map but does nothing here, and then there's the exit switch.

and yes, I am playing on complevel 9.

[Fernito]

51 minutes ago, Shepardus said:

Can someone give me a hint as to what's supposed to happen? I feel like I'm either blind or the WAD got updated and something broke, because all I see upon warping to MAP21 is

  Reveal hidden contents

a room shaped like the second room in TNT MAP01. I walk up to the evil eye and I'm silently teleported to a sky-textured room with a layout like the last room in TNT MAP01. I kill the enemies there, there's a switch that would raise the bars in the original map but does nothing here, and then there's the exit switch.

and yes, I am playing on complevel 9.

 

Ooof, my fault! I moved the starting point because I was fixing some issues and forgot to move it back. Now it should be ok!

[Shepardus]

3 minutes ago, Fernito said:

 

Ooof, my fault! I moved the starting point because I was fixing some issues and forgot to move it back. Now it should be ok!

Much better! I only played a bit, but it's very promising, I'm looking forward to playing the rest!

[xsnowboarderx]

All I can say is...

 

I did not realize just how much I missed until I mentally put the pieces together toward the very end.  This will definitely require another play through.

[Canjul]

Looking forward to running this later!

 

What other walking-sim type WADs inspired you? I haven't heard of any before.

[FearTheReaper]

Coldpal palette really helps to spot detail in distance, as even brightest gamma doesn't help in some areas, but Jovpal adds more atmosphere while playing this map.