[WIP] The Rending of Syataqwa

[SuperArjunaButt]

Name: The Rending of Syataqwa (SYATAQWA.WAD)
Map Format: UDMF
Ports Tested: GZDoom 3.2.5. I wish this worked on Zandronum, but it seems to crash on some DECORATE stuff (specifically A_SetSpeed). This will not work with Zdoom due to the use of portals.
IWAD: DOOM2.WAD
Map: MAP01 for now
Music: Just some ambient stuff from here
Gameplay: Single Player
Difficulty Settings: Yes, for HMP and UV. NOTE: HMP will hurt you plenty
Multiplayer: I might go back and add coop if people want it enough. This is not a deathmatch map.
Build time: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 2 months-ish?
Textures: See the txt file in the ZIP for this and the full credits.
Requirements: Jumping is strongly recommended. Be sure you have it bound to a very convenient key. Check your HUD message scaling to make sure it’s reasonable. Freelook is assumed, but probably not required. As for compatibility settings, it assumes you’re using the hardware renderer in GZDoom (damn you Plane_Align *shakes fist*). Note: Because this mod modifies the monsters a little, it is not and will never be compatible with Bloodfixer.







Download here
(EDIT: Uploaded a new ZIP 'cause I needed to patch an area with lines that should have been impassable but weren't)

STORY

Halfway up the Miskatonic River in central Massachusetts, between the mostly quiet college town of Arkham and the tourist trap of Dunwich, lies Syataqwa Island. No one knows how to pronounce that name. The indigenous tribes claim it comes from an Elder God who built the island untold aeons ago for some purpose best left unexplored. The average suburbanite, of course, laughs all this off. Over a century has passed since the Dunwich Horror of 1928 and the incident at Innsmouth the year before, and the hipsters who moved here out of Boston and NYC to start overpriced microbreweries and gastropubs put names like Dagon and Yog-Sothoth on their IPAs and $20 pumpkin spice kale salads to give them that #local #cachet #OldOnes.
The Miskatonic University System runs a branch of their Extension Service on Syataqwa Island, mainly to support various archaeological projects, but also to help local small businesses and hold summer classes for their Distance Ed students. DoomGuy, after the events of Doom 2, returned to Earth and enrolled in Miskatonic’s MBA program. When he stepped off the Dunwich-Arkham ferry one afternoon, however, he found something had gone horribly wrong. The business instructors uncovered management practices not meant for mortals, and now the geometry of the Peaslee Business Center makes no sense! The Doom monsters are back, but some of them appear out of nowhere without even a teleport flash. Someone...or something...is tearing the fabric of reality apart, and it’s up to you to stop it!

Finally, I’d like to replace the Product Placement Here sign, and I’ve thought of a couple names for Lovecraft booze:

Cthulhu Eggnog'n
Yog-Schnapthoth
NyaRUMthothep
Obed Marsh Innsmouth Lager
Absinthoth
Miskatonic Moonshine
Scotch-Niggurath
Whateley's Unspeakable Brandy
The Cognac Out Of Time

Do any of these jump out to people? Anyone want to suggest something else?

[Bigger C]

Given the tendency of inbred hillbillies to be a common foe in Lovecraftian fiction, I think Miskatonic Moonshine would be best.

[Skitplade Miles]

An impressively awesome cluster fuck of a map! Fittingly madness inducing with all the effects at once, has a very strong atmosphere as a result!

[SuperArjunaButt]

Given the tendency of inbred hillbillies to be a common foe in Lovecraftian fiction, I think Miskatonic Moonshine would be best.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!



Looking at some of the replies I got on Twitter and thinking about what will go in MAP02, thre will be plenty of other places for Cthulhu booze.

An impressively awesome cluster fuck of a map! Fittingly madness inducing with all the effects at once, has a very strong atmosphere as a result!

I think I'll need to add a testimonals section to this post later

[JPL]

This is great man! Really good bold uses of colored lighting and scrolling textures. The disciples totally waste me, I'll have to figure out how to deal with them.

[SuperArjunaButt]

Awesome! Thank you for playing! Here's a few tips for dealing with the disciples that I've figured out from playtesting.

---

1. They're kind of like the cacodemons in that you can mostly stop them from firing if you use the chaingun.
2. Did you grab the megasphere behind the secret door behind the blue skull door?
3. The monster sound blocking lines should be set up so that you can climb up the stairs and get in a rocket blast or two on them before they get aggro'ed.
4. Circle-strafing is your friend, though you might want to half circle-strafe around the tables and cut through them at times.
5. You might know this, but in the initial encounter, kill the Revenant last.

[SuperArjunaButt]

Oops, the Commander Keen entrance was broken and I goofed up the thing specials in the library so you can't advance if playing on ITYTD/HTNR. I just edited the download link with a new version that should fix both of these bugs.

[Vertigo]

Crossposting from DW for more exposure. Here's my review / sorta FDA:



If I had to describe The Rending of Syataqwa in one word it would be 'unsettling'. The atmosphere is creepy and surreal with the perfect midi to go along with it. The lovecraftian influence is clear and unnerving.

There's a couple of new enemies which can be a bit of a pain to fight (I think the Disciple/Heretic guys should die to one SSG meatshot for sure) but fit the wad well. They have a trail effect behind them that I didn't like at first but once I got used to it it blended well with the rest of the map.

The low grav room was one of the highlights for me and I would love to see that expanded. Hitting middies in ql/q3 is one of the most satisfying feelings in gaming so to get a semblance of that in Doom is fantastic.

Visually the map is solid. The main town exterior is pretty ok but once you get inside the buildings it's much better. That being said the green set piece on the left hand side of the town looks awesome and is a great use of stock sprites. I also really liked the look of the blue staircase leading down to the library fight.

All in all, I enjoyed this map and would recommend it. I had various issues that caused me to have to replay the first 1/3 of the level numerous times and each of those times it was fun to play. I found the level length to be just right too, it's a solid 15-20min level, it doesn't drag on but it doesn't end abruptly either.

I'm looking forward to more maps from SuperArjunaButt.

[Gideon020]

Heh, playing this with the Strange Aeons weapons and monsters pack is fun.