[WIP] Virus - Episode 1 "Shareware Release"

[Cutmanmike]

You could just make his arm weapons look the same, then the mirroring will be fine. But yeah I wouldn't have noticed/cared since most of the wad uses really simple graphics. You can get away with it

[Phobus]

Doing that would then make his firing frames look very dodgy, so I'll leave them as is. And your second point is definitely a good one. Afterall, the Prism, GreaterPrism and Virus have no rotations at all, and most monsters only have frames up to around D-G (with a few exceptions for those with a lot of attacks or interesting deaths... or both).

And as a status update, I have one more monster to make before my plans tell me to start mapping out the remainder of Episode 1 as I've sorted out all of the other resources and even updated the HUD to accomodate the two weapons that will turn up in the later episodes. I'll make a start on that monster later.

[Phobus]

Here's something for all of you people out there who like to know how things compare. I've just done a quick test of the enemies from Virus against their various equivilants in Doom, and here's what I found:

Turret - difficult to compare, as it will only fight enemy monsters as a friendly. Chaingunners are roughly where this thing is equal, as it is pain locked easily but is either overpowered or not challenged by most other types of opposition.

Spore - Too powerful for most weaker enemies, this is best off matched against things like imps or cacodemons, as they do fair damage against health.

Prism - chaingunners are probably their closest equal, as most other monsters struggle to hit it, and the more powerful ones will own it in a few hits if they do. However, if it starts multiplying there is little hope for anything that isn't more dangerous than a cacodemon.

MeshWalker - Oddly this has no match, as it's too powerful for any non-boss monster, but nowhere near as lasting as a mastermind or a cyberdemon.

Virus - These match up almost perfectly with HellKnights, with barely any health left over no matter who wins

Leader - Too tough for Barons of Hell, not healthy enough to take hitscan abuse, these compare somewhere near equally with cyberdemons, as they reflect the rockets back and don't take radius damage, but generally lose. They get trounced by Spider Masterminds though.

Drone - good for beating zombie men and imps, basically impervious to melee attacks due to their size and speed, not so hot against chaingunners, these are just good at being weak and hard to hit basically. Shotgunguys kind of have them as equals in that whoever blasts the other first can expect to win.

GreaterPrism - Definite Cacodemon match up here, as the caco either wins and then dies by prism, or loses. Good match-ups with Hellknights and Revenants too for much the same reason.

MeshFlier - Again, difficult to judge, but Barons of Hell or Mancubi generally seem good matchups

LandCarrier - Great against SpiderMasterminds, useless against Cyberdemons. Both fall down largely to the support, which in the former case owns, and in the latter case gets annhialated by radius damage. Somewhere between the two.

Mill - Mancubi are probably better than Hellknights against these, but either or is ok for an even fight most of the time.

TreadMill - Arachnotrons and Mancubi generally either lose or win by small margins.

AirCarrier - If it attacks a Pain Elemental it's a fair fight - if it's the other way around it's not. Generally works alright against an unsupported ArchVile too, as it builds up attack power if the Drones don't get blown up.

Felix - Hopeless against dual Barons of Hell if they start it, and generally useless against the bosses, though it can beat a spiderdemon mastermind if it gets a good start from range. It barely survives though. Difficult to judge really, but arguably equal to a Spidermastermind, though it works better at range, wheras the mastermind is devestating up close. No good against cyberdemons though.

And there we are. For the most part, Archviles, Demons, Spectres, Lost Souls and Zombiemen don't compare it seems, but boss wise the cyberdemon is still top of the pile. Though that doesn't indicate much about how you, the player, will compare to the Virus enemies

[Phobus]

*bumpity boo*

Just sticking the monsters into MAP04, so here's a two part sprite comic-type thingy for you:

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I'm trying to get Episode 1 completed within a month or so as I'm getting some free time. We'll see how this goes.

[Ixnatifual]

There's gotta be a Revenant somewhere in this picture too:

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[Captain Proof]

lol...orcs make me laugh.You gotta love a group of greenskinned,disorganized,cursing, Axe and gun weilding humanoids bent on fighting everything they see(Often times each other)

as a long time WH40k player (Ultramarines Chapter) all I have to say is "long live the imperium of man"

[Phobus]

Right, as MAP05 is basically finished (I'll post some form of advert or screenshot tomorrow when gameplays down properly), now's the time to unveil my latest idea.

Basically, I've come to the conclusion that, as far as progression goes, MAP06 is the least vital in my episode format, as all of the monsters are introduced by then, the secret level goes from MAP05, and all of the other stuff happens after MAP06. So that means it could easily be made by somebody else.

And that's exactly what I'm asking. Who fancies making a small map for Virus Episode 1, in MAP06? If this goes well, I'll do the same again for later episodes, if there's no interest or this doesn't go well, I'll just do it myself and that'll be that.

Here's what I'm asking for:

-A volunteer to make a small/mid size, Virus style MAP06 for me, following the rough template laid out in previous maps
-The vounteer must not leak anything
-The volunteer should be able to do the map in about 2 weeks
-The volunteer should be willing to follow the further instructions I'll give as to monster usage when he is accepted

Here's what you get for volunteering:

-A project of yours pimped in MAP09 (the secret map) of this Episode
-Your name (as you want it written) in the credits file, and under your level title
-An exclusive preview of MAP04 and MAP05 (to give you an idea of what the difficulty and the like is up to)
-Any help I can give you whilst you're working on the map
-My thanks (worthless pretty much, I know, but you'll get it anyway)

So, if you're interested in being the guest mapper for Episode 1, volunteer below and tomorrow, when I update the thread on the completion of MAP05, I will see who's volunteered and go from there.

Selection will be based largely on what I know of your mapping, so don't be disheartened if a high profile mapper volunteers before you; I may not pick them. Likewise, don't worry if you're not picked, there are other episodes that will eventually be in development, and you'll get another chance to work with more resources than current available too.

NOTE: I am serious, I'd like a quick commitment, or nothing at all, as I'll be likely getting through the remaining parts of this Episode quite quickly and I'll not wait if I know I could be done. However, if you're nearly done at the end of two weeks, I'll be glad to give you an extra day or two to wrap it up.

Obviously, you will be sent the current map wad, the resources for Episode 1 and a DB config for Virus episode 1 as well, and instructions on what you specifically can't use, and what standards there are (colour wise). When your map is complete, I'll vet it for bugs and gameplay errors, but otherwise leave it as is (afterall, there's no point in having a volunteer map for you if you're just going to spend for ever changing it anyway).

Mapping for Virus is quite simple, quick and easy BTW, as things such as texture alignment and interesting lighting play a much smaller role, and it's more based on the shape and flow of your maps and rooms.

Ok, any volunteers?

[Mik57]

Hmmm... Im just about done with my GVH map, I have tomorrow off.. I need advertising for Sigmata... and next week is a bit of an easy week for me. If you want, I volunteer.

[Phobus]

Ok, thanks to my two volunteers.

As there are only two of you, and you're both pretty much equal in terms of reliability, mapping and any other criteria I'd care to think of, I've decided on a contingency plan that doesn't let anybody down.

You can both do a map. Mik57 gets MAP06, hnsolo77 gets MAP07 (due to asking second), and you both get the aforementioned things. You will get slightly different guidelines however, not that it makes too much of a difference (I think anyway). I'll PM you everything I think you'll need to know in a little. Thanks again

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And as I've finished up MAP05 now (well, I did do it yesterday evening) I've decided that the simple approach to showing off the map works best here. So here's a couple of screenshots in a spoiler:

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Here's the half you start in, which is cluttered, vibrant, and hides lurking opposition (unless like me, you've rushed to the middle right up against the sky to take a screenshot )


Here's the other half, taken from a corner to show off the more sweeping, spaced out architecture. This houses more of an arena fight.

[Phobus]

Well, it would appear that Episode 1 is finished!

However, I've got to make the training map and I need to test co-op all the way through episode 1. SO we've got to wait at least one more day

[Remmirath]

That's excellent news, Phobus.

I'm offering for a co-op session testing, if you want.

[Phobus]

I was going to get my brother to do it, because he's easy to set the games up with and we can bug test and fix as we go with minimal difficulty. Plus he's been waiting for this as long as everybody else

[FuzzballFox]

Ooh new content! :O
Something about the text on the left though...seems too far towards the centre of the screen...any chance of moving it left more so it's not blocking as much?

[Project Shadowcat]

Ooh new content! :O
Something about the text on the left though...seems too far towards the centre of the screen...any chance of moving it left more so it's not blocking as much?

A counter with each ammo-type would seem fine enough without adding "Ammo:" to each line. You could have health and shields in big-ass numbers in the corner they're in now without the text there, either.
I can provide a font file that would be suitable for that upon request.

[Phobus]

The text is nearer the middle because those are screens taken on my laptop, which uses a widescreen screen ration, hence the text appearing nearer the middle. I've put in the ammo for each line just because, and the text for the health and shield is just there because It just makes more sense to me as it is.