Fear Station: Charlie

[ReX]

Fear Station: Charlie is a tech-themed map for GZDooM that plays on DooM2 Map01, but the gameplay is more suitable for Map27 or so. It features a new music track, a new, tall sky, non-linear progression, and plenty of 3D constructs.

Fear Station: Charlie is ready for download:

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Download File

Happy New Year, friends.

[Screenshots tomorrow.]

[Ed the Bat]

Good map! I consider it an improvement over Fear Station: Bravo. Has it really been two years since the first release of that? Wow...

[Rachael]

This is a nice map. I can definitely see a *lot* of your mapping tricks from the Paranoid series at play here.

[ReX]

Good map! I consider it an improvement over Fear Station: Bravo. Has it really been two years since the first release of that? Wow...

Many thanks, Ed. Fear Station: Charlie had been languishing on my hard-drive, incomplete for the better part of a year. With the current hiatus in the finalization of Paranoiac I put in a concerted effort the last 2 weeks to get Charlie done.

This is a nice map. I can definitely see a *lot* of your mapping tricks from the Paranoid series at play here.

Thank you, Eruanna. As for the mapping - old dog/new tricks. Whatcha gonna do, eh?

Incidentally, the battles play differently, depending on which weapons you pick up. For instance, you meet generally lesser resistance if you only pick up the shotgun, chaingun, and chainsaw. Somewhat stiffer resistance if you pick up the super shotgun. And maximum resistance if you pick up the rocket launcher and/or the plasma rifle. In other words, aside from the non-linearity lending itself to replay value, your decisions to pick up or skirt those 3 weapons also add to the replay value.

[Screenshots tomorrow.]

As promised. More pics at DooM Nexus

[wildweasel]

Would you mind terribly resizing the images? They're much too large.

[ReX]

Would you mind terribly resizing the images? They're much too large.

Done.

[wildweasel]

Thank you for your cooperation. And so as to not leave this thread without some feedback, I think the monitors in the second to last shot are pretty cool.

[ReX]

I think the monitors in the second to last shot are pretty cool.

Thank you ww. What would a GZDooM map be without sloped 3D sectors, eh?

On a somewhat related note, would someone please provide feedback on the ammo & health balance? My testing showed that that the health & ammo in the first one-third of the map (i.e., until entering blue key area) is tight on health & ammo. The problem is that the map is so non-linear and the gameplay is so dictated by weapon pickups, it is difficult to test every scenario. Thanks.

[ReX]

... would someone please provide feedback on the ammo & health balance?

My subsequent testing has yielded at least one instance that might be considered an error:

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Entering the upper level at the red key area is supposed to spawn ammo depending on which weapons you've picked up. The linedef that triggers this script (Script 13, linedef# 7848) should have been at the relevant blue-key door. Instead, it's on a linedef that can be crossed even without the blue key, which may result in only shells & bullets being spawned instead of rockets & cells. This has been fixed.

Also, I've discovered that depending on the path you take, you may not have enough ammo for the enemies that ambush you in the corridors upon your return from picking up the blue key. I've added some ammo and removed some enemies.

I'd still appreciate feedback on the general balance of the game before I make the final changes. Because of the intensity of the resistance one encounters in the map, I'd rather have too much ammo than too little. Health, on the other hand, should not be plentiful.

Also, I believe this thread belongs in the Levels forum.

Thanks.

[leodoom85]

I've played your map and it was great, a good challenge indeed. I think the ammo placement was somewhat balanced and I used the chainsaw many times to save some ammo for imps, pinkys and lost souls. Health on the other hand was a bit scarce, but with the secrets was enough to keep going. Maybe adding health and armor bonuses scattered in the entire map could make a difference. Solid map, awesome architecture and I will definitely upload my playthrough of your map.


P.S: You abused the 3D sectors too much

[ReX]

I think the ammo placement was somewhat balanced and I used the chainsaw many times to save some ammo for imps, pinkys and lost souls. Health on the other hand was a bit scarce, but with the secrets was enough to keep going. Maybe adding health and armor bonuses scattered in the entire map could make a difference.

Thanks for your feedback. I'll look at where the additional health & armor can be added.

Solid map, awesome architecture and I will definitely upload my playthrough of your map.

I look forward to seeing your playthrough.

Also, thanks for your kind words about the map.

[leodoom85]

Here's the playthrough of the map: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1hVVMPR99M
Have fun!

[ReX]

Here's the playthrough of the map....

Very nicely done!

You seem to have done quite well with ammo, but that's because you were using the chainsaw quite a bit. Your health was low in a few instances, and perhaps that's because of your relatively daring style of gameplay. I am a cautious player, and I rarely had any real problems with health in that map. Still, I agree that more health is warranted.

Thanks for the feedback and the demo.

[illuknisaa]

I found the map fairly bland. Lot of the rooms were just square with some pointless 3d floor detail thrown in (especially the railings hurt the gameplay when they block shots from monsters). Most monsters can just be avoided due to the rather open areas which give you plenty of room to maneuver. Map also had a severe lack of light variation. Everything just looks like it's light level is left at the default 192.

[ReX]

...especially the railings hurt the gameplay when they block shots from monsters

GZDooM allows for some variations in the "traditional" DooM gameplay; 3D sectors provide some of those variations. The point of these Fear Station maps is to make the environment somewhat realistic and logical (within the limitations of DooM in general). Providing railings at platforms is both realistic and logical. I agree that the railings block enemy attacks; by the same token, they make it difficult to attack those enemies. And while this might be considered by some as an impediment to gameplay, to me (and others) it simply means the player has to find an alternative method of achieving the same objective.

Most monsters can just be avoided due to the rather open areas which give you plenty of room to maneuver.

It appears that your taste veers towards fighting enemies in cramped spaces. I'm not a huge fan of such levels, and my mapping tends to veer in the opposite direction.

Map also had a severe lack of light variation. Everything just looks like it's light level is left at the default 192.

Actually, the default on my map editor is 160. On this map, the outdoor areas are typically between 160 and 176; indoor, well-lit areas are at 160; and poorly-lit areas are at 128, and areas with little or no lighting are at 96. Perhaps you need to adjust the gamma in your setup.

Regardless of my disagreements with some of your comments, I do appreciate your feedback.