Terminal Stages of Nostalgia - one map

This looks cool! Great job getting this out AD!

Glad you got this out :)

Had a blast playing through this!

Really cool map, had a blast playing through this. 

Beautiful map

Fantastic map, really enjoyed it - knocked it out of the park again! :)

After Salvage on Tetanus, you're easily one of my favorite mappers!

Have a quick question:

1 hour ago, AD_79 said:

A moderate-to-large single map for Vanilla Doom II.

For some reason I read that as "simple" map, and then started playing. Realised this was far from simple, then came back to check the author, and it made a lot more sense!

Similar to the above, I fell into a pit here while fighting AVs and this Chaingunner ambush, and was a bit surprised to discover that there seemed to be no way out? The floor is damaging which felt like punishment enough if there was some sort of teleporter or staircase out. Having thoroughly enjoyed the map to this point, it left me feeling a bit sour on the map and that I don't really want to go back and try it again. This is a shame because it's clearly an awesome map in terms of layout, visuals and gameplay. Why inescapable pits?

7p! props to all logged on sleepyheads

Congratulations on getting this out - beautiful map, and massively enjoyable to play through.

i remember playing your solid map in some dmp so went for it....

here is my min fda i died after 40% completion and in second attempt i died again miserably after 90%..

its rather enthusiastic map with moody atmosphere and linear progression and smart combats so far 

i dont like this texture pack at all with false colors i guess its from btsx(which i dislike for same reason)

its hard to read AutoMap and find secrets.... i thought red orb was a megasphere but it was invul....cant guess which pit is inescapeable and other.....

will try again maybe....

prboomplus 2.6 cl2

popi9.zip

Damn good stuff! Has some really nice visuals and I appreciate the way that it opens up ways back to previous parts of the map, helps with exploration.

yes!!! wish i had recorded an FDA because i almost managed a saveless playthrough on UV blind and it was a great time. i only found one secret (soulsphere across from one of the portal entrances) and didn't let myself frustrate myself by going on quests to find more. took just under 30 minutes which is around my sweet spot for "longer" maps.

beyond the great fights, nice geometry, and handsome lighting: lots of PEs to hug, lots of barrels, and some required hurtfloor! three of my favorite things <3 (also inescapable pits :) - i only took one chance with any of them and it paid off lol) GREAT MIDI TOO!!!!!!

Awesome map, AD! I haven't played doom in a while but this was still a super fun map to play even as I was shaking off some rust. Love the black and blue texture theme.

Really really enjoyed the map, thank you :). Cannot wait to see a "good" max demo for it heh.

just started trying doom WADs today and glad this is one of the first i tried, loved the music and aesthetic. really fun and not too hard for a noob like me :p though normal did kick my butt a bit lol

Looks great, congrats on the release! I recognize a few of those textures (:

Mmmm, gimme that vanilla goodness.  I'll be on the look out for your trademark monolith. ;)

wow that's a big map (i recommend others use saves).  really crisp and chill.  here's an 8 minute failed fda.  if i remember this exists next time i'm in my downloads folder, i'll revisit it.  i say that a lot about levels, but yah.  this map served a good purpose for helping me unwind after some work, but it'd be a shame if i didn't see the rest of it (and this level is healthier for that purpose than, lets say, playing yet another d5da challenge map when you're trying to relax...).

thanks!

noisy_ad-nstlg.zip

Simply a great map, both in the visual and gameplay department. Congrats on getting this out. Really looking forward to whatever you put out next!

A huge thank you to everyone who has played so far. It means a lot to me.

6 hours ago, Degree23 said:

Why inescapable pits?

This is likely an unpopular opinion, but on top of being a good way to limit the player's space (which normal pits provide as well, to be fair!), I like the sense of danger that they provide. That feeling of "I need to not slip off the edge at all costs" is much more tense than if you could escape without too much consequence. They're maybe overly punishing, especially if one's playstyle typically avoids saves, but it's outweighed by how they make me feel when playing.

Absolutely makes sense, I was definitely dreading making that jump on my 2nd playthrough 😂 

Also, here's my playthrough:

Hot damn, a new AD_79 map out of nowhere! No time for it this evening, but I'll update this post with a video tomorrow. :^)

[EDIT]

Wonderful stuff, @AD_79! Terrific use of colours, spicy combat and reasonably straightforward level progression. Not sure if I discovered some broken monster closets or I just didn't trigger a linedef somewhere, so I'll let you be the judge. Anyways, this map rules. You never disappoint, fam.

I've apparently never used this account I registered years ago until now just so I could post this.

I haven't played the map yet but I'd like to say I'm really glad you found the motivation to finish and release it. Out of all the mapsets and wads I've been playing recently over the last year or two, I can definitely say that your maps are the ones that have been the most memorable and most fun for me. Creator's block usually hits everyone eventually in different ways so it's great to see you find the strength to persevere whilst living up to your standards. Keep fightin', keep that creativity going, lets see even more from you!

Cheers!

I enjoyed the concept, each time I entered a portal was like time travel to good old times.

Layouts and connections are sweet and its really easy to navigate.

The map really has a special vibe, loved it.

Played through this yesterday (only the single playthrough at this point), and managed to get 93% kills and 1 secret (yay!). This was a lot of fun and I'm glad you were convinced to finish it. I really appreciated the layout and linearity (which often feels like a "dirty" word, but), I think it gives the map a lot of its strength. It feels like a huge level, but I never got lost, and never felt like I lost momentum either. Tons of fun little skirmishes, and I always get the impression that you have a sharp sense for knowing which kinds of monsters are actually fun to fight with which guns (and combinations thereof). Good stuff, welcome back you sexy beast.

Loved the midi, as well. Fit the mood/tempo of the level quite perfectly, which is no surprise!      

Masterfully done. The pacing is wonderful - oftentimes longer maps tend to drag on and can cause burnout - but giving the player time to breathe really alleviated this.

Greetings, recorded an FDA if you're interested, thanks for making and sharing the map!

ad-nstlg_dem_FDA.zip

Here's mine as well :
(DSDA Doom -complevel 2, Ultra-Violence)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2xg6m31i4sqz43r/ad-nstlg-fda-27-05-2023-wh.zip?dl=1

Loved the (main) theme right off the bat, nice contrast between abstract vivid blues and pale green stone structures. Between this, Stardate 20X7 and Capybara, it's cool to see these textures getting some attention.

Gameplay-wise, I had a good time, this is a fantastic level from what I've seen so far.
Things pick up slowly but steadily as you pick up basic weapons and work your way towards the mysterious Nostalgia Generator and its assorted plane-shifting adventures.

I only found like 2 or 3 secrets, but I haven't finished the map yet.
 

There's still a lot remaining to explore in there, I'll definitely give it another try. I'd like to see if trying to get that BFG9000 was worth the risk.
MIDI is spot on, too. Fits the moody theme like a glove.

Great work !
It was certainly worth it to pick that map up and resume your work on it, although I'm pretty sure it would've been a solid addition in your project instead of a solo release.

BFG 

I played this map a couple of days ago and it was great! I really like how much time you spend exploring at the beginning before fighting anything (that single lost soul notwithstanding), which really helps set up this almost contemplative and at times...forlorn(..?) sort of mood that permeates the rest of the map. I'm a big fan of how the progression doubles back to open new paths without being this long bewildering non-linear slog, so it manages to be large without being hard to crack. The fights were also setup nicely, a good mix of digestible stuff to keep your momentum up and more complex affairs that require some thinking or good improvisation to conquer. I was also completely convinced the whole time I played this that it must have been meant for BTSX or something, I only skimmed your initial post the first time so I kind of misread what you said about its origin. I didn't find many of the secrets, which made it doubly painful that you placed several of them just out of arm's reach to the player ;)

Good stuff and glad you dusted it off to finish it and share it!