shroomzy5000

Post has been updated to point to the proper google drive file :)

Hello Doomworld, I'm excited to reveal my upcoming first map, UAC BLACKSITE Let me know what you think, I'm trying to get this out before the end of the year but I'm still working on the SLADE 1/2 of the map. Still need to write the mapinfo definitions and learn how to load in the custom song I wrote for the map. Because this is a first release, I copied this from the forums to be sure I was including all required information! Technical Information: What port(s) did you test with? GZDoom What map format did you use? Common formats: Vanilla Doom2 - No custom textures or anything of that sort. Freelook? - YES Jumping/crouching? - NO Specific compatibility settings? - NO Software or hardware rendering? - HARDWARE Which IWAD did you use? - Doom2.wad & DOOM2.pk3 were the only resources used in creation. How much content is there? - A good amount I feel. I am new to Doom modding so playtime I'm sure will vary greatly but 100% playthroughs I feel can range from 20 mins to over an hour, depending on experience. (I'm on the closer to an hour end of that spectrum) For maps: Single Level, MAP01 only. If you make it to underhalls, its over. For mods: Are there new textures? Enemies? Weapons? Gameplay features? - NO, Vanilla Doom2 assests. Does your map contain specific gameplay themes? I guess I would say Tech base aesthetic, the map itself is not a slaughter-map but some of the encounters are that way. Roughly how difficult is the gameplay? I'm a noob so this map is a legitimate challenge to me playing on UV. That being said, I'm sure veterans & experienced players will only find specific encounters to present any level of challenge, if much at all. GOOGLE DRIVE: If you have any questions about the map, please feel free to ask. Would love to hear your first impressions based on the screenshots! There's 24 total pics displaying about 80% of the playable areas... Maybe less, idk I wasn't gonna show you all the secrets haha https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LRlxI2a0eDPuLcfKZOKdip0GvH6pcWqy?usp=drive_link Pretty sure I set up my google drive correctly so anyone clicking this link can see the screenshots! If anyone has issues accessing the google drive, please let me know. I sent the link to my friend, and it worked for them but that's the only level of testing I did lol Background: I appreciate all the people on these forums who have helped me along the way, and this larger community I'm coming to know and love. I'm trying my best to really flush out this map prior to an official release. I started a much bigger project first with a whole original story and everything, started making custom textures and skyboxes and using some of the community modded content but felt like I wasn't really learning the way I should. SO, I decided to pace myself and start a completely vanilla build to really familiarize myself with the basics before getting into the crazy advanced stuff. The ultimate goal of this map is to really just see how good can I get with JUST UDB & a doom wad. I want to be very minimalistic within SLADE. Right now the only reasons I know I will have to get in there is to put in the custom midi song I made for the map, and also to just disable jump and crouch using MAPINFO, and some of the more basic SLADE stuff like renaming the map on the end screen, adjusting par times and such. I set generally high standards for myself and although I am fully aware this will be nowhere near perfect or the best map ever made, but I do want it to feel professional and clean. To this end, if anyone willing to help me achieve this would like to be part of "play testing" of sorts, I would greatly appreciate and of course credit upon final release :) Thanks everyone!

haha sorry made a more recent post when i dropped it! here you go! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LRlxI2a0eDPuLcfKZOKdip0GvH6pcWqy?usp=drive_link

This album was in my ear basically the entire time when making the map i just dropped lol

Hello DoomWorld! I am so very excited to announce that my first map UAC BLACKSITE is now finally ready for me to present to you. I want to personally thank everyone on these forums for the amazing support and welcoming arms. I believe today marks 60 days I have been a part of this community and it's been an amazing first 2 months, and I look forward to many, many more. I got really detailed in the tech stuff in the README copying most of the first-time builder templates provided on pinned threads for newbies, so I won't get too crazy here. PORT: GZDoom - only port I tested with MAP FORMAT: UDMF Freelook: YES Jump: Disabled Crouch: Disabled Resources Used in UDB: DOOM2.WAD, gzdoom.pk3 Content: 1 map, possible secret ending, all difficulty up to UV implemented. (although there is this one part where you have to fight a barron with a shotty even on easy mode... so i guess you guys can let me know about that if you're so inclined lol) DOWNLOAD: Google Drive https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LRlxI2a0eDPuLcfKZOKdip0GvH6pcWqy?usp=sharing Anyway, I really hope you enjoy and please please please feel free to be critical and leave feedback. I want to learn of all the areas I can improve upon. My dream is to build my own video games some day and I want to learn to create good levels and gameplay experiences. My main goal with this map was create an environment that rewards the player for exploration and playing the map in different ways to get different combat results. I did my best to have flushed out 3 separate gameplay loops which will, in my opinion, deliver a new experience, simply based upon how you choose to progress through the level. Did you go left or right at that T junction? Should I do this encounter first or that one? The kind of rewards that I believe create replay value, something I find in some of the greatest WADs I've played. I really tried my best and although I am well aware this is far from perfect, I am really proud of this map and intend to update it accordingly based on community feedback. All that said, please enjoy UAC Blacksite OH and I almost forgot the most important part! I have an unnamed death metal project that has been going on for 10+ years and has never seen the light of day. So yeah, original songs in every WAD I will release. Converted into MIDI for the classic DOOM vibes, and you can switch between that and a higher fidelity synth-based version in the map! Neat little trick I think I'm going to keep doing. I intend to release the REAL versions recorded and fully mastered on itunes for the free, but that will be down the line and as time allows. In the meantime, you can find the .wav to the gameplay track used in the google drive, since the WAD itself uses an OGG. Screenies :)

if you can tell me what the BFGs string listing is, inside of smoothdoom, i will add it to the script. I know tons of people really like that mod, and i even wanted to have my WAD use smoothdoom animations, but that was really not my goal with this map. it was to truly understand what i can do with UDB and create the best looking and fun WAD i could with vanilla assets. The next map I release will be using custom textures so ill probably do further research into making the wad use the smoothdoom stuff. Either way im glad you enjoyed it and im working on an update to be released soon to fix some other issues people found and perhaps reduce some of the length! So far im happy to say no one has fully discovered the secret ending that i know of yet haha

@RataUnderground here is the exact script that opens the door, and it works for me if anyone could shed some light on why its not working I would love to get to the bottom of this :) Thank you!

@RataUnderground watching your playthrough has been amazing! I didnt even think anyone would be able to do it without freelook! Im so happy you found the crusher in the yellow skull room! That was an afterthought feature to make the fight less.... annoying? And the LOL door... man i wish I couldve heard the reaction to that haha and your use of infighting throughout the map is masterful. I never thought of most of these encounters being done like that, it clearly shows the gap in skill and experience lol as far as your encounter with the BFG door, i legitimately don't understand why it doesn't work for you. I saw in the video you have the BFG out... I used a checkweapon to run the script that opens the door which doesn't work if the bfg isnt equipped... but you clearly had it equipped. Do you know, were you using any mods that could possibly effect the check weapon? I tried the map after watching and didn't have the same issue! Let me know and Ill be happy to fix!!

Thank you so much for the kind words and honest feedback! I can't wait to watch the video! its still buffering for me but i honestly cant wait, thank you so much for giving it a shot and even uploading! As far as the bfgdoor, i think i see what I did wrong, I used checkweapon in the scripting rather than checkinventory, so if BFG is not your held weapon door wont open! i just fixed that and will release in update soon :)

Hello Doomworld! My first map is very VERY close to release! Im hoping to drop it on the 21st or 22nd... That being said, I just finished putting the custom song I wrote for the map into the WAD, and it goes from 34mb, to about 180mb... Now I know we live in 2023 and these sizes are laughable by modern standards, but as far as Doom modding I am unsure due to just how new I am to all this. If i post a WAD and its a few hundred mb, is that something that would turn people away or raise concerns? I can't imagine anyone running GZDoom would be faced with hardware limitations, just wondering if there is a kind of etiquette for this? Thanks again!

I personally write for a death metal project. All of the songs realease in my WADs and future WADs were composed in guitar pro, mixed in logic, then exported from logic as a MIDI file - after that, its simply a matter of drag and drop the music file into slade. some people that are really good at mapping (aka not me) use really intense structures in slade. the method i used for my first map was far less elgant. basically load in the midi file, move it above the map markers and write a map info definition that plays the s ong

is this a WAD made specifically to teach people how to light???

this looks so pretty and cool. do you litterally just get to shoot fireballs and melee??? omg i cant wait

Just finished my first WAD :) Custom music too, original soundtrack by me You can get it on my google drive - i also uploaded a .wav version of the song i made for the map for your listening :) My hype feature is that the map has a MIDI and .wav (converted to OGG for file size reasons) that you can switch between in-game without going to a menu Enjoy! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LRlxI2a0eDPuLcfKZOKdip0GvH6pcWqy?usp=sharing

I actually had this map finished before I was even aware of the community project. Definitely intended as a solo project, and i might be misunderstanding this project? I thought people were just kind of throwing their maps in, based on that first post by obsidian, more or less just submitted mine since i released it today and it seemed to fit the bill, but i completely agree with what you are saying. I didn't think the maps being made were necessarily made for the project, and i totally get it if my wad is rejected due to the size, i dont think i even offically signed up like any of the people at the beginning of the year lol i honestly have no idea what im doing haha XD

This map creates and atmosphere that I just LOVE. And you absolutely nailed the soundtrack. I would almost wager that you started work on the soundtrack before starting the map? Either way, the experience here is fantastic. I also got to learn im absolutely doo doo at sector lighting. yours is so good

thank you for the kind words sir! I only tested in GZDoom and know the pond area in that beginning courtyard is 3Dfloor so you can swim, if there is an easy way to fix that so it works on other ports ill work on it! ill be honest though, ive never even tried another port being so new on the block haha i have much to learn still :)

I can tell you right now the size is 100% my fault because i never wrote a "video game" song before, all the songs in my wads come from mine and a friends metal project, so i naievely thought that to achieve all the looping, an 11 min song would be appropriate. yeah so im not gonna do that again lol

My submission! And its only 14mb now cuz you guys rule Doomworld release post: https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/142281-uac-blacksite-my-first-release-availible-now/?tab=comments#comment-2748880 Straight to the map: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LRlxI2a0eDPuLcfKZOKdip0GvH6pcWqy?usp=sharing Author: Shroomzy5000 Music: Blacksite by me & personal friend Tested in: GZDoom Multiplayer support: NO :( Jumping: No Crouching: No Freelook: Allowed & Strongly recommended.... Size: i think its small compared to some wads ive seen but its got alot goin on i think All Difficulty implemented: Yes Est. playtime: kind of a while because im bad. like UV takes me an hour+, the par time is just different so i could learn stuff in slade lol

Okay you right - OGG is the truth. I can notice a difference when listening to just the raw audio file but that's probably just because I have a trained ear. No way to tell the difference when youre in there killing demons! OGG dropped map size down to 14.8mb and i didnt have to compromise by removing one of the song files :) Really appreciate you. The file size was the biggest thing preventing me from launch, but now that this is good to go, im setting up the google drive to launch now! I will make an offical launch post and also circle back to this thread to submit the map! Thank you guys so much!

ima give ogg a shot - i made a post yesterday asking about file size and plums gave me some great links for file converters, i just used the flac one for no specific reason lol

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LRlxI2a0eDPuLcfKZOKdip0GvH6pcWqy?usp=drive_link Here you go! Got a ton of screenshots in the drive. They are dated though, so almost all of them are about 3 weeks old. many more of the finer details have been added in. and there are tons of areas of the map not depicted. I think what im going to do is release 2 wads. one with the bigger file size and the in-game switch between flac and midi. The other i will strip the flac entirely which will drop the WAD down to about 10mb. I will use that wad for this submission! Thank you for the advice! Hope you find the map worth trying out! As my first map i really want as much feedback as possible so i can become a better level designer :)

Hey Friends, I actually just finished my very first doom map! I'm planning on release in a day or two, but I stumbled upon this thread and would love to submit my map, but unfortunately due to the custom song I made and having the option to switch between midi and the high fidelity soundtrack in-game, the final file size comes up just short of 135mb - with about 125mb being simply the song... would this disqualify the map due to size limits? Everything else in the WAD is strictly doom2. no custom resources - made for GZDoom Thanks!

You guys are SO helpful! This is all really good info, and thank you so much @plums for the links - im gonna give FLAC a shot @Shepardus - you are 100% right about quality, i didnt notice the difference at first playing the map, but if you stop shooting demons for even a minute, you hear the ugly static buzz and volume on the song drops immensely. As you pointed out, I do have a MIDI for the song, but the gimmick or idea I was going for is to have both. Since I was a musician before being a doom mapper, I want to use my maps as a medium to release some songs. I've also been thinking of ways I can have a "personal" shroomzy5000 kind of a signature in all my maps. Since creating music is second nature for me, I wanted my signature to be a togglable switch in the map as soon as you load in, which alternates the song file. MIDI if you want that old school doom vibe, but the WAV was intended to be a high fidelity mixed version of the song, then outside the map, I was going to have the music posted for free download from itunes, which would essentially be the song as it was originally written without all the extra loops and repeats from the in-game version, along with full vocals, real instruments... ya know, the works. Youll see this idea implemented if you decide to check it out in a day or 2 when i launch. I think for this first wad of mine, Im gonna just drop the 1 file. im going to use @plums link to try and get it to be a FLAC with less size. Ultimately though if i cannot, i will post the same slade screenshot in the post and be as transparent as I can to explain the file size and why I wanted the music to sound a certain way. Thank you all for your time and advice! I hope you will try my map in a few days!

OH and to answer your first question, its like 10 mins lol im gonna go shorter on the next one