Strange Aeons v5.7

[ImpieTwo]

Nice! Thanks Ed, I might just add that later.

EDIT: Okay, tested it and it should work. The add-on mod now includes the music.

[JohnnyTheWolf]

The damaging liquids are not consistent between episodes, but throughout each episode they are consistent. That's why water is painful in E4 -- where it's arctic cold -- and not the other episodes. It has less to do with texture and more with environment.

Actually, that does not appear to be true. In E2M7, the slime pit surrounding the Red Skull Key is not toxic - which is inconsistent with the rest of the level, let alone the entire episode.

O an unrelated note, what is going on at the end of Episode 2, right after the boss fight? The epilogue screen does not provide any explanation for it, let alone mention it.

Oh, and are the Invisible Worms in E3M1 supposed to be flying?

[ImpieTwo]

The damaging liquids are not consistent between episodes, but throughout each episode they are consistent. That's why water is painful in E4 -- where it's arctic cold -- and not the other episodes. It has less to do with texture and more with environment.

Actually, that does not appear to be true. In E2M7, the slime pit surrounding the Red Skull Key is not toxic - which is inconsistent with the rest of the level, let alone the entire episode.

Damn, I musta missed that sector. I remember reworking that room a bit from its original design so I mighta forgotten to tag it as damaging.

O an unrelated note, what is going on at the end of Episode 2, right after the boss fight? The epilogue screen does not provide any explanation for it, let alone mention it.

The first line of the endscreen is "Shaken by the sudden vision..." Admittedly it doesn't expound much, but that's the best I could do with the limited space those intermissions allot you. Basically it was a nightmare portent of the end of the main campaign and the Traveler's final destination (not including the epilogue episode and bonus episode).

Oh, and are the Invisible Worms in E3M1 supposed to be flying?

Yes, indeed! That's why they're so awful: nightmares are nasty enough without the ability to fly. Basically when you alert a Star Vampire, it can reach you no matter where you go.

EDIT: Man, I'm glad I let you guys talk me into adding the music to the guns n' monsters mod. The music in Epic 2 is awful, but now I can leave the music on!

[JohnnyTheWolf]

I would have expected something different for the Star Vampire than just a cloaked Worm - especially when the sprites do not even look like they are able to fly.

Maybe it would make more sense to use a floating monster, like the Lost Soul, the Cacodemon or one of their Realm667 variants.

[ImpieTwo]

Star Vampires in the Lovecraft mythos are flying, tentacled abominations that are only visible when they suck your blood.



The only thing I had that really worked was the worm sprite. The next best thing is the Feyr monster from Slayer, which I do have the sprites for, but they look a little too cartoony, and way too big anyway.

[JohnnyTheWolf]

Does the Super Shotgun drop in Strange Aeons? I have made it to the fourth episode and encountered several Leng Chieftains, but so far, none has dropped their weapon.

[ImpieTwo]

Does the Super Shotgun drop in Strange Aeons? I have made it to the fourth episode and encountered several Leng Chieftains, but so far, none has dropped their weapon.

No, it was just added to the weapon/monster add-on after-the-fact, since many Doom 2 mapsets include it and are balanced for it.

[Rachael]

As requested, I split the savegame crash discussion from here.

[JohnnyTheWolf]

In E5M3, there is an inaccessible room with what looks like a book on a pedestal. I take it is merely an easter egg, but what is it about?

[ImpieTwo]

In E5M3, there is an inaccessible room with what looks like a book on a pedestal. I take it is merely an easter egg, but what is it about?

You found a secret! But how to reach it...?

[JohnnyTheWolf]

Wait, it is an actual secret? I thought it was just a reference that I did not get.

[Dr. Crowley]

Nope it's a secret exit. Yeah, it is.

[JohnnyTheWolf]

Okay, I have finally beaten Strange Aeons! Whew, what a ride...

All in all, it was pretty good. The story was unexpectedly poignant and compelling for a Doom mapset, I did enjoy the numerous references to Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos and I wish the Double Fire Rate power-up could have been available in vanilla Doom; that would have been far more useful than the Blursphere... The only thing I disliked is the Dhole: it is tedious to fight and it is not even satisfying to kill. Also, I am a bit confused by the ending: if the protagonist accesses R'lyeh through his dreams, then why is he unable to escape after rescuing Daniel?

Finally, out of curiosity, can the Skeletons be killed for good? Shooting only temporarily incapacitates them, but they seem to stop getting back up after a while.

[ImpieTwo]

I figure he traveled to R'lyeh via the dreamlands, maybe to a time when it was still on the surface, and they planned to wake him in that period, thus dooming the future. It's sorta up in the air though. It just seemed like an appropriate ending and I wanted the Traveler to fight monsters in that environment one way or another.

You can perma-kill the skeletons if you kill them in a doorway and moosh their corpses.

[ImpieTwo]

5.5 update: fixed the final boss of episode 4. Now it's more obvious how to beat him, and a bit less tedious.