Doom map - "Solitude"

[Chubz]

I finally got around to completing my map set to E2M2, "Solitude."  It has an oldschool design and doesn't feature any fancy overly detailed rooms or source port features, but it does feature plenty of action and is also pretty challenging when played on UV/NM.  It is meant to play like an oldschool Doom map.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD



"You drop in from the sky; your feet thud against the cold, hard ground.  Your fellow marines were killed in the process, but you've taken care of the attackers.  The downside?  Now you're in their territory.  As you step forward and slide open the door ahead of you, you enter an open room that leaves you sick to your stomach.  The sight of fresh wooden crates hits home like deja-vu and the stench of acid makes your nostrils cry and your intestines rumble.  But now isn't the time to sight-see.  You're here for one reason:  To kill them before they find and kill you.  You're in solitude."

MORE INFORMATION
GAME:  DOOM/ULTIMATE DOOM
MAP:  E2M2
THEME:  EPISODE 2 (PREDOMINANTLY)
DIFFICULTY DIFFERENCES:  YES
EDITOR:  DOOMBUILDER
BUILT TIME:  4+ WEEKS

[Unconscious]

Played through it earlier - was pretty damn fun, if you ask me.

I really need to back into Doom mapping. I gave up hope, after losing a WIP that I had spent 2 months on, due to a virus.  :/

[Chubz]

Played through it earlier - was pretty damn fun, if you ask me.

Thanks for the feedback!  That sucks about what happened to your WAD due to a virus.  Seems like those sorts of things always happen when you have something good going . . luckily for me, this one went pretty smoothly.  I've even had some cases in which DoomBuilder will crash, completely screwing up the map data and making it impossible to load the map back up, meaning that if you don't have a backup of the file, you're screwed.

EDIT - Disregard the question asked below.  I took a real close look at the texturing in-game and did notice a few rough spots and just one mis-aligned texture behind a crate that I didn't notice/correct before I released it.  I took care of the problems and edited my original post with the re-uploaded and improved file!
Someone else played the map and commented that, although it was fun and challenging, they felt that the crate texturing could have been improved on.  Did you notice any poor texturing on the crates when you played through it?  I'm always open for suggestions and definitely would like to improve the map as much as possible.

Thanks again!

[Unconscious]

I really wish I liked Doombuilder. I know it's poor modmanship, but I've always found myself using Deepsea. I find it easier to use - although buggy, it's much more straightforward than the others.

Good luck with future levels, I'll be looking forward to 'em.

[Chubz]

I really wish I liked Doombuilder. I know it's poor modmanship, but I've always found myself using Deepsea. I find it easier to use - although buggy, it's much more straightforward than the others.

Good luck with future levels, I'll be looking forward to 'em.

What don't you like about DoomBuilder specifically? 

I remember trying DeepSea before DoomBuilder and it was an awesome program as well.  When I found out about DB, I moved on to it, but before then, DeepSea was definitely my editor of choice and very easy to learn.  Before that, I tried WadAuthor and it seems like I thought it sucked.  I just never liked that program.

[Unconscious]

I really wish I liked Doombuilder. I know it's poor modmanship, but I've always found myself using Deepsea. I find it easier to use - although buggy, it's much more straightforward than the others.

Good luck with future levels, I'll be looking forward to 'em.

What don't you like about DoomBuilder specifically? 

I remember trying DeepSea before DoomBuilder and it was an awesome program as well.  When I found out about DB, I moved on to it, but before then, DeepSea was definitely my editor of choice and very easy to learn.  Before that, I tried WadAuthor and it seems like I thought it sucked.  I just never liked that program.

Wadauthor is my least favourite mapping program.

I don't know what I don't like about it - I just feel like it's a little bit cluttered.

[myk]

I finally got around to completing my map set to E2M2, "Solitude."  It has an oldschool design and doesn't feature any fancy overly detailed rooms or source port features, but it does feature plenty of action and is also pretty challenging when played on UV/NM.  It is meant to play like an oldschool Doom map.

Not bad. I like the nonlinear progression and the general architecture is decent. I do tend to prefer maps with more monsters and health, though, but that's just my playing preference. This one's more "survival" styled, as I didn't encounter any health items other than bonuses (I could have missed a secret, though).

While it's true that it plays like a plain level certain elements make it incompatible with Doom or other plain engines (such as Chocolate Doom or even PrBoom or Boom using Doom behavior).

• Various textures display the tutti frutti effect; at least the small crate textures used on walls.
  
• The Doom Builder camera (thing 32000) is in the level. This will cause Doom to abort due to an unknown thing.
• The ASHWALL2 texture from DOOM II is used on some sidedefs, presumably non-viewable ones. This will also cause Doom to abort.
• The column you can teleport to after getting the blue skull key has a switch which does nothing. In Boom it works but not in Doom. I haven't checked exactly what's causing it to malfunction.
• The illusionary walls hiding the cacodemons are multipatch textures. These produce the medusa effect when used on two-sided linedefs. I'm not too fond of illusory walls in any case. I'd just leave the gaps there or add (possibly concealed) doors that open as the player moves over the platform.
  
• I got an invalid sector type error in the green slime area, but couldn't replicate it so maybe that can be ignored...

Here is a copy of the level without the camera thing and with all instances of ASHWALL2 edited to ASHWALL (from DOOM) which will run in Doom or Chocolate Doom, but with the other glitches. These should not be hard to fix.

[Chubz]

Thanks for the awesome feedback, myk.  I had no clue there were so many possible errors in other engines, as I only tested it with ZDoom.  I guess that was a major goof on my part!

I do appreciate you playing it and giving your thoughts on it, though, and pointing out those errors.

Major kudos and thanks once again!

[コービン]

I had no idea you did Doom mapping, Chubz! The level is really awesome, very old-schoolish.

[Chubz]

I had no idea you did Doom mapping, Chubz! The level is really awesome, very old-schoolish.

Thanks!  I saw your comment on WIP after I'd uploaded it and had forgotten to even check the comments up until just yesterday or so, LOL.  It sucks, though, because it won't let me update the status of the WAD to "completed."  Every time I'm logged in and click "Modify this WAD," it says "That's not your WAD! You're not allowed to modify it!"

It does this for all of my WADs, which really pisses me off. 

[Rizimar]

Finally got around to playing it. This is a really damn good WAD. It was fun and challenging. Like Corb said, it was very reminiscent of the original Doom levels. Cool stuff, Chubz. Got any more?

[コービン]

I had no idea you did Doom mapping, Chubz! The level is really awesome, very old-schoolish.

Thanks!  I saw your comment on WIP after I'd uploaded it and had forgotten to even check the comments up until just yesterday or so, LOL.  It sucks, though, because it won't let me update the status of the WAD to "completed."  Every time I'm logged in and click "Modify this WAD," it says "That's not your WAD! You're not allowed to modify it!"

It does this for all of my WADs, which really pisses me off. 

Haha WIP completely sucks. Boris doesn't update the thing and it doesn't seem like he cares about it anymore. It's broken all of the time and I haven't been able to update any of my WADS in weeks. I'm sure there's build-up of submissions that the site just rots away.

Do you have a lot of time to map for Doom?

And personally I learned first with WadAuthor and preferred it over DeepSea. Deep was a great program it was just cluttered. That and I learned WA first. . .

[Chubz]

Finally got around to playing it. This is a really damn good WAD. It was fun and challenging. Like Corb said, it was very reminiscent of the original Doom levels. Cool stuff, Chubz. Got any more?

Thanks!  I'm in the process of making another map right now.  It's themed after MAP09/The Pit and will be in an amateur Megawad project.  I still have a lot of work to go, though, as it's still in only its very early stages.

Haha WIP completely sucks. Boris doesn't update the thing and it doesn't seem like he cares about it anymore. It's broken all of the time and I haven't been able to update any of my WADS in weeks. I'm sure there's build-up of submissions that the site just rots away.

Do you have a lot of time to map for Doom?

And personally I learned first with WadAuthor and preferred it over DeepSea. Deep was a great program it was just cluttered. That and I learned WA first. . .

Yeah, it seems like it has gone downhill over the past few years.  I remember back when it used to be booming and more active (or so I think).

And no, unfortunately I don't have a whole lot of time to map for Doom.  I'm usually caught up with other stuff - school, playing new games, work, programming, and the list goes on.  I really like creating maps, though, because it's so easy to do and the game is so fun to play even today.

[コービン]

Snap, well at least you have some time here and there to map. Your stuff looks really traditional but it's hard to tell apart from any of the official E2 levels. So yes =)