Water Treatment Facility #17 [RC2]

[durnurd]

I hope I'm allowed to do this. If not... well you should make it more apparent in the forum rules.

I've been working on a level off and on for the past several years. Now, it's nothing amazing, as if I were a good mapper, but I would like people's opinions on it.

As you can probably guess from the filename, it's in MAP03. It's part 3 of a progression of maps where the first map, you only get the pistol, and at the very end of the first map, you get the shotgun. In the second level, same with the machinegun, etc. The progression has no consistent story line. Each map is a story in its own right. They are only tied together by meansof the progression of weapons.

I've compressed all files to the extent that I can without losing quality, and I made it in just under the 255 KB limit (Yay, GZip). Anyway, please comment.

And actually, in case you're wondering... No, I didn't intend for the acronym to be WTF.

[Vader]

Actually the acronym would be WTP

[durnurd]

Actually the acronym would be WTP

Whoops. It's actually called Water Treatment Facility. Yeah... about that.

I must have subconsciously not liked the acronym. Well, anyway, I just realized that the included demo has gone out of synch with the game. There are some times when it is surprisingly accurate, but suffice it to say, I will have to make another eventually.

[Vaecrius]

How do you get through the first door?

[Captain Ventris]

How do you get through the first door?

You don't. You've been duped!

[Vaecrius]

Hmm... explains why I noclipped into a bunch of guys with their backs turned to me and ran out of ammo so fast. o_O

::tries again::

...I can't believe running along the wall mashing the use key worked. x_X

[Vaecrius]

Damn, this map's pretty sweet :O

Just a few comments:

Can the initial entrance be a bit more obvious? I almost gave up quite a few times...

You might want to proofread the dialog a few times. I've noticed a couple typoes here and there.

Some of the dialog might be a bit too much. The last combo with the stairs and the end are actually pretty self-explanatory and fun to figure out, and where the end area isn't - well, it's kinda hard to read all that and fight at the same time. (That said, one tip could have helped a bit with that first door X( )

One thing you can try: Have the person on the other end work only from limited intel, and have a few hilariously obvious gaps and wrong assumptions in their knowledge of the current situation that the player would have to correct for themselves. Unless you're planning on that in later levels

Is there any way to disable the moving-object cinematic when something is already visible from the first person view? When I tried the stairs combo I was on the second last step when the cinematic kicked in and I stopped moving right then - I just got fed up and IDCLIP'd that part.

But overall, though... pretty kickass map. :O Reminds me of UAC_Dead somehow - nothing quite struck me on the level of the UAC_Dead bridge, but the intro bit to the end boss definitely makes up for that.

[durnurd]

I was somewhat worried about several things, including the dialog and the cutscenes (i.e. they get really annoying, and the stairs problem).

Oh, and I was also somewhat worried about the first door. The way I made it noticeable is having a deep hum emanating from the computer within. Apparently it's not loud enough. It works with headphones much better than speakers (especially without subwoofers). I used to have a lighter texture on the door, but I thought it was too noticeable. Maybe I should change it back? Or use a noise easier to hear?

I'm not sure what to do about the stairs though... Maybe I just shouldn't show them lowering again? But then the explanation of why they lower becomes more helpful. I like the idea of having an explanation behind why these things happen.

[Vaecrius]

I didn't make the connection between the hum and the door at all. ^^; Come to think of it, it took a bit to realize that most "special"-looking stuff in the map actually did something instead of being just eye candy... the thing giving off sparks in the dark corridor for example.

One thing you can do with that first door is to put one zombie behind it who emerges if it hears shooting outside, e.g., at the barrel...

[durnurd]

A few changes, a few additions, and easier to get into the first door. Let me know what you think!

It's 7z-compressed, so if you can't decompress it, well, shame on you for not having 7z. Here's a link to a bz-compressed version: http://www.beardedchild.com/files/WTF17.wad.bz2 (It's slightly larger)

Again, it's in level 3, and the demo works now, so try watching the demo before playing if you want to see how it looks.

Oh, one more note. Set cl_maxdecals to something higher than default, like 3072.

[QBasicer]

I couldn't get past where you needed to get to the gate to do something with a life. I couldn't find some secret switch in the sewers.

[durnurd]

No switches are secret that I'm aware of (at least, not the ones you need to beat the level). If you're talking about the sewers off to the left of the main area, there is a lift at the end of the sewer that brings you up to the switch.

If you're talking about the area off to the right, it's simply at the end of the hallway, which is quite obvious, which is why I think you're talking about the area off to the left.

[The NUtcracker]

Suggestion: Could you increase the close delay of the red doors that you have to go through to step on that switch? Or at least add in a secret switch that removes the bars between them. For me, at least, it's way too hard right now.

Question: Why do the stairs lower after you raised them? I see no point in that.

[durnurd]

Suggestion: Could you increase the close delay of the red doors that you have to go through to step on that switch? Or at least add in a secret switch that removes the bars between them. For me, at least, it's way too hard right now.

Question: Why do the stairs lower after you raised them? I see no point in that.

The way I've found for the red doors to work: Open the left door, then immediately the right door, then run through the left door, hit the switch, and run out back to the right door, which should still be open. If it's closing, activate it again, and it will open from where it is, instead of all the way from the bottom. This will give you enough time to hit the button.

As for the stairs, as per the suggestions from the previous version, I took out the explanation which I myself thought was too long as well. The button you press raises the stairs via hydraulic pressure. Once you step off the button, the hydraulic pressure immediately begins to decrease. When the pressure gets too low, the stairs cannot be supported any more, causing them to fall back down.

In a game style sense, this means that it is a timed event, which is not uncommon in gameplay, as you will find something similar in, I believe, E1M6 or 7 (I think) where a door stays open for 30 seconds, then closes again, and you have to get through it in time.

[durnurd]

The level was released to the idgames archives a few weeks ago. Doomworld finally got around to reviewing the newstuff, and this level got a scathing (read: absolutely no) review.

If anybody wants to play the finished version, it's at:

http://doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?id=14979

Or, if you can't get past the section the reviewer had trouble with, here's a version where monsters freeze during cutscenes:

http://www.beardedchild.com/files/wtf17.wad