Counterattack - Now on /idgames!

Counterattack is a 7-map mini episode for Doom II that I started on in the beginning of September 2016. The maps are Boom compatible and focus on singleplayer (with COOP support). Gameplay consists of my standard, medium-paced difficulty with an emphasis on exploration and semi-nonlinear flow. The map sizes range from medium to large, with the largest taking around 30-45 minutes to complete.

This started out as a single map for the Vinesauce mapping contest (I'm a fan of Joel's streams), with the stipulation that I would restrict myself to using only stock Doom II textures (apart from new sky textures). But after finishing the map, I had the urge to do another one. And thus this project was born!

Joel played my map on stream! If your interested in watching it, click here.

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback and left kind words! I hope you enjoy the maps :D


Releases:
- Counterattack [8mb] (Mirror) (readme.txt) (Final Changelog)
- Counterattack Statusbar GFX [13kb]
- Sky textures released HERE.

Old Betas and Other Stuff
- Counterattack Beta 3 [8mb] (changelog) (ALSO OLD)
- Counterattack Beta 2 [8mb] (changelog) (OLD OLD)
- Counterattack Beta 1 [5mb] (OLD)
- Leftover sky textures
- More leftover sky textures


Screenshots:
MAP01: Aggilus



MAP02: Phlogiston



MAP03: Aegritudo



MAP04: Maeror



MAP05: Dolor



SECRET: Desiderium



SECRET: ??????

Looks pretty impressive!

Can't wait to play this!

;)

Seriously though, looks spectacular as always Mek, itching to play this. :D

For a moment, I actually considered just throwing these two maps into Vela Pax to see if anyone would notice :P

Thanks guys!

Looks cool man.
Now get back to work on Vela Pax. ;D

Coooool, more of your stuff is always appreciated... that and I'm a stock texture fanatic so I look forward to seeing how you use them!

Mmm-hmm! Can't wait to play this this!

Incredibly excited for more Mek maps!

Thanks again for the kind words everyone :D.

Since I don't have anything for you guys to play yet (hopefully Joel will get to the map eventually), I'll just keep this thread updated as I make progress on the last map and other things.

Once again, Mechadon shows up and opens a big can of awesome sauce on us.

Jimmy, your Twitter avatar is badass.

I can't think of words. This is beautiful as always, mek. Every time you post a screenshot, I open doom builder again. You're an inspiration to us all.

That made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside Pavera :D. If I actually inspire other people to make things, then I'm doing something right. Thank you!

I've got a small update to post. I'm working on finishing up some graphical things before I start on the last map, and I did a quick sky texture for MAP01.


I've finished up the titlpic and interpic as well. That should just about cover the graphical stuff I'm looking to do, though I'm considering doing a new statusbar graphic as well.

Progress update!

I finished up the layout for MAP03 tonight. Also there's 4 maps now instead of 3 :P



I made a new sky for this one too:



This map is going to be a thematic buffer between the industrial base and the hell city. There's likely going to be a lots of marble, metal, and tech stuff. So it'll be a somewhat odd theme, I think.

I might do the bare layout for MAP01 first before I tackle the rest of this map.

Mechadon said:

Also there's 4 maps now instead of 3 :P

oh GODDAMNIT MEK

I had an unfinished map laying around which I wanted to use, but it wasn't gonna work for MAP01. So I figured eh, why not do a 4th?

This is probably why I haven't finished many of my projects lately :P

Aaaand the bare layout for MAP01 is finished :D



I'm probably going to start work on MAP03 first. I'll save MAP01 for last. Maybe by then Joel will have played my submission and I can make a test release.

Wow, that looks straight out of Vela Pax indeed. Will definitively check it out when you finish it. :)

Yea I suppose this project can almost be sort of a Vela Pax-lite. My process is totally different these days though (do a bare layout then do detail/lighting and gameplay, instead of doing layout and detail all at once). I think the end results looks and plays a bit different because of that (for the better, I hope).

I would like to finish both maps by the end of November by the way. That might be a bit optimistic though, I'm not sure. These last two maps should both be smaller than the two maps I've finished though. So we'll see how things turn out.

Hope its ok that I'm posting another update so soon after the last. I have a couple w.i.p. shots I thought it would be cool to post.



I've been playing around with the CEMENT* textures, and so far I like the combinations I've come up with. I want to work in some more techbase/industrial influences too.

Yay another update!



The detailing work for MAP03 is done. Next I gotta do lighting and then finally the gameplay passes. It shouldn't be too much longer before the map is in a playable state. I'm hoping to get it there by the weekend if possible.

I'll post some screenshots once the lighting is done.

Mechadon said:

http://imgur.com/Hj3fRcRhttp://imgur.com/mFwh9bMhttp://imgur.com/luQfM8U

I've been playing around with the CEMENT* textures, and so far I like the combinations I've come up with. I want to work in some more techbase/industrial influences too.

If I tried to use those textures in combination it would probably look like a bathroom. I wish I could design architecture like this!

^^ such a beautiful layout, i'm starting to drool...

The CEMENT set is definitely a pain the ass to work with when it comes to getting it to align nicely against other textures. If you can wrestle with that, I found that thinking of them as industrial tiles moreso than weird bathroom tiles makes them easier to work with. CEMENT9, the one that's easiest to work with, is the one that probably screams "bathroom" the most out of the set though, heh. Sadly I didn't use the CEMENT set as much as I would have liked in this map.

Thanks for the kind words as always! I will probably have some proper screenshots to post here very soon.

Lighting is finished, so here are some screenshots!




I'm not entirely sure how long it will take me to finish up the gameplay, but I'm hoping I'll be able to get it done over the weekend (depending on how busy I am).

A question for those who are interested in answering it: If I finish up both remaining maps before Joel plays my submission, should I go ahead and do a public release? He has close to 90~ish more wads to go through, so it's no telling how long it will take him to get to my map.

Looks great. I'm always impressed with your ability to use vanilla textures in novel and unique combinations.

Thank you skillsaw, I appreciate that :)

If all goes well, I should have most of the gameplay done in a few days. And then I'll start work on MAP01. MAP01 should be about half the size of this map, so I'm expecting it'll take half the time to finish...hopefully :P

Aaaand MAP03 is now complete! All I need to do now is play through it a bunch of times to smooth things out. But it should be ready to go :)

I updated the sky texture for the map as well. It wasn't as dark as I wanted it to be. I kept the pink color scheme though:



I've updated the screenshots in the first post as well.

Also while I was at it, I updated the MAP01 sky texture. My first one was a bit too rough, I think. Here's a glimpse at the new one:



I'm hoping to get started on MAP01 relatively soon. I need a breather after spending most of my free time finishing up MAP03 (thankfully I'll be taking a holiday trip soon). It's looking dubious whether or not I'll finish up the last map before the end of November. But its a smaller map, so it shouldn't take me too much longer :)

Also, again, let me know if you guys think I should release the first test beta after I finish MAP01, or if I should wait until Joel play's my map on his stream. I was going to wait, but its looking like it will take quite a while before he gets to it.

I say just release it, I'd love to play it as soon as possible. :)

Mech you are a mapping machine.

Idk if I can hang on these, but if you need somebody to test easy mode I'd love to give the maps a few runs!

Looks excellent, surprising precisely no one, I'm sure.

Once it's ready to go you might as well put a beta or RC out there, I say. Big complex maps always have more kinks to be worked out that more eyes can help find, and that aside, speaking from a purely self-interested standpoint now.....perhaps help take the edge off of the wait for Vela Pax. ;)