[BOOM] Abandoned Project

Well, I played it. Here are my FDAs. Just as I expected, the design is fabulous, with elegant detailing and a lovely color scheme that stays consistent throughout the whole wad. Gameplay-wise map01 and map02 were my favorites: quick punchy fights, lots of rocket action, what's not to like? In map03 I thought I was so clever when I shot that switch with the SSG but then I got three arch-viles as a punishment, which was pretty funny and definitely spiced things up. I enjoyed it for the most part, but after around 10 minutes I noticed that I'm being more defensive than I'd like to be and I realized that there are way too many revenants for my taste. They are certainly effective at forcing the player to move but it can get tiring after a while. As a result, I arrived at map04 in a worn-out condition and couldn't muster up the energy to finish it. Probably should have saved it for later. I'll give it another go tonight. Anyway, this seems like a very high-quality project and it has proper difficulty progression and everything. Doesn't feel abandoned/unfinished at all!

Oh, I completely agree. It's his creation, he gets to be as cruel/"selfish" as he wants about it. But from my experience I can tell that presenting your works in a prouder fashion tends to widen your audience considerably, which is why I had to suggest a different approach. Although if he's not satisfied with the wad perhaps he actually wants it to receive very little attention heh.

Anyway, here is another attempt at map04. Just like earlier today I ran into some serious ammo issues that resulted in a spectacular failure, but at least now I can say that I've seen pretty much the whole level. My impression remains the same: masterful design, way too many revenants, still very cool. I wonder in what way this wad doesn't satisfy an0n's standards and eager to see his next release if he believes he's capable of better things now!

It never had a name and "mab" is just map with a b.

vigilantdoomer is right, I released this to mark it as done so that my brain would stop bothering me about it.

I wanted it to be a 11 map episode that changes a bit visually as it goes, eventually switching colors to orange. MAP05 was supposed to be more metally than silvery and would resemble Caged from Plutonia. The problem was that I couldn't for the love of god make a map like this, I had like 4 attempts and I just couldn't make it look good. I stopped working on it, went back and I didn't like the WAD anymore.

As for future projects, there (probably) will be none. I can't make more than 1 map per half a year and I won't contribute to DBPs anymore since my views on mapping are polar opposite to 40oz's.

Sad to hear that these maps don't live up to your expectations, an0n. I think they look pretty good and I'm a fan of your past works. I think more people should know of this wad, so would you mind if i crosspost it elsewhere?

an0n

I saw memfis' note about ammo and played a little more conservatively than I normally would have, and generally had very little trouble with ammunition. These maps were super fun to play! I'm glad you released them, even if they're meant for a larger episode. It still felt complete by the time I reached the end of MAP04. By the way, you can use the mapping workshop subforum if you ever want any private playtesting help.

So many awesome and important gameplay factors were hit with a homerun here. Lots of height variation, large open spaces to move around in, obstacles and corners to use as cover, and the big explosive fights were all fantastic. The detailing and attention to texture alignment was all very nice and made a really cool environment to fight and play around in. Reminds me of Monuments of Mars but better. Even with a few deaths and some tricky combat scenarios, everything felt challenging but fair. I was very immersed in the combat and the maps held my attention very well.

I don't really have any per-map notes, other than like memfis, ammunition seemed scarce on MAP04, (even after I backtracked and found that secret with the backpack and two shell boxes) and I agree with him that generally adding some early non-secret large ammo pickups to these maps would help punctuate the aggressive playing style that these maps really call for. Every map felt complete and I don't have anything to add that would make it better than you already have.

My biggest note is that there was about a million instances where I had to step into lava to get sometimes mandatory items, such as keys or stupid little stimpacks and bonus items when I'm down to <20% health. The heavy monster opposition is a thing that's easy to fuckup and make too hard and unfair to a point where I, as the player can't really trust the mapper to know how to care for my enjoyment as the player, and you do it all so well here! It seems out of place when by the time I know I can trust you, these item pickups in damage floors are like multiple instances of ha-ha fuck youuuu suffer

Lastly, I don't really love the hot starts. The ones in these maps are particularly inoffensive compared to ones I've played in other maps, but you demonstrate very well that you know how to engineer a good trap, and so hot starts kinda start to feel like a crutch you don't need to lean on. That's a note that applies to pretty much any map that uses hot starts that takes more than a minute to beat.