Thy Flesh Consumed Re-ordered

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Dr. Shotgun
Posts: 54
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2016 9:29 am

Thy Flesh Consumed Re-ordered

Post by Dr. Shotgun »

On April 30th, 1995, Doom was re-released was the Ultimate Doom, containing a brand new fourth episode, Thy Flesh Consumed. An infamous episode among players and the Doom community at large.

If you're like me, you might have always found episode 4 to be a little bit of a chore to get through. Always dreaded coming to play in a run, or just plain skipping it. And why not? Its extremely inconsistent difficulty curve has you stating out at what could arguably be considered the two hardest levels in all of classic Doom, and then kind of weaves you in and out of relatively easier levels, ending on debatably the two easiest levels in the episode. Not only is that troublesome enough for how it breaks the flow of the episode, especially in comparison to the more sensibly-scaled previous episodes, but those initial two levels are quite the hurdle to overcome. And they ask you to do the first from a pistol start. Most players who survive that start the next level with barely any ammo or health.


Well, I have something for you. Presenting Thy Flesh Consumed, Re-ordered:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1xu2 ... WlSTW1IdUU

This is a very simple mod, currently only for ZDoom-based source ports. It's just a MAPINFO lump (and a corresponding LANGUAGE that adds support for Italian, French, and whatever pbt is) that does exactly what it says it does. It re-orders the levels of Episode 4 to try and follow a more sensible difficulty curve. I'll explain the new level order and my reasoning for it down below.

Currently, this release should be considered a v1. I've ran into a small problem where the automap will still display the old map designation (e.g. Hell Beneath is still listed as E4M1), and I need to figure out a way to make that not happen, preferably without loading the wad up with the entirety of episode 4's maps just to rename them. Still, as it is currently, it's perfectly playable and functional. That's just a simple interface bug that does not impact gameplay. I am also planning on adding Zandronum support once I get a firmer grasp of the old MAPINFO syntax.

As a bonus to make up for it, this minimod also inserts the par times from the Doom Classic port, something that was absent from most of the PC releases. If I got any of them wrong, do let me know.


I have no doubt that almost anyone here could have done this if they wanted to, however unless I missed it somewhere I've not seen such a thing. This isn't meant to be taken as a major project, nor do I expect this to be allowed in speedruns or anything. This is just a small quality-of-life enhancement for the original Doom to make playing through Thy Flesh Consumed a bit more fun. I'll admit, I actually kind of like TFC, but yeah someone must have fallen asleep when they organized the levels.


Now as promised, I will explain the new ordering and my reasoning for it. Obviously, since this is meant to follow a difficulty curve, it will be a little subjective. If enough people support a level being in a different place, I will probably change it.


THE NEW ORDER

E4M4: Unruly Evil is now E4M1.
Spoiler: Explanation
E4M7: And Hell Followed is now E4M2.
Spoiler: Explanation
E4M5: They Will Repent is now E4M3.
Spoiler: Explanation
E4M3: Sever the Wicked is now E4M4.
Spoiler: Explanation
E4M6: Against Thee Wickedly is now E4M5.
Spoiler: Explanation
E4M1: Hell Beneath is now E4M6.
Spoiler: Explanation
E4M2: Perfect Hatred is now E4M7.
Spoiler: Explanation
E4M8: Unto the Cruel is still E4M8.
Spoiler: Explanation
E4M9: Fear is still E4M9.
Spoiler: Explanation
Last edited by Dr. Shotgun on Mon Sep 25, 2017 5:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
JohnnyTheWolf
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Re: Thy Flesh Consumed Re-ordered

Post by JohnnyTheWolf »

Excellent idea!

Just a small correction, though: 'schizophrenic' does not actually mean what you think it means. I would use 'inconsistent' instead.
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Outtagum
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Re: Thy Flesh Consumed Re-ordered

Post by Outtagum »

This is neat little add-on. Can I ask, will this mess up the map order of E4 replacement WADs? I'd like to add it to my autoload. :)
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Armaetus
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Re: Thy Flesh Consumed Re-ordered

Post by Armaetus »

This is a great little addon because I found M1and M2 to be obnoxiously difficult as starter levels in the episode.
Dr. Shotgun
Posts: 54
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2016 9:29 am

Re: Thy Flesh Consumed Re-ordered

Post by Dr. Shotgun »

Outtagum wrote:This is neat little add-on. Can I ask, will this mess up the map order of E4 replacement WADs? I'd like to add it to my autoload. :)
Some will, some won't. If it's just levels, this will overwrite that. Something like DTWID's Lost Episodes. However, if the mod has a "clearepisodes" in its own MAPINFO (so basically replacing the existing episodes with custom titles) then it won't cause conflict. An example would be No End in Sight.

If there's a way around this, I would love to know. Anyone who has a suggestion, I am open to them. Wide compatibility is my goal with future versions.
JohnnyTheWolf wrote:Excellent idea!

Just a small correction, though: 'schizophrenic' does not actually mean what you think it means. I would use 'inconsistent' instead.
I've seen the term "schizophrenic difficulty" applied to instances like episode 4, but just to avoid any needless confusion I have changed that.
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Outtagum
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Re: Thy Flesh Consumed Re-ordered

Post by Outtagum »

^
Thanks for clarifying. I'll just keep it in my ZDL window for now then. Good luck improving compatibility. :)
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