Irkalla - An 11-map wad for Doom II (complevel-9/Boom)

Yes, I made sure that they were fully implemented in the latest download.  In the previous Beta 1 version, MAP04 did not have difficulty settings implemented, but it does now.



No problem, thank you!

My maps tend to be on the more minimalistic side when it comes to enemy placement, and Phobus also didn't pack his map with tons of enemies.  However, SuperCupcakeTactics and Peerdolius have very different mapping styles, so expect a higher monster count and a different experience in their 3 maps.

Hope you enjoy it!

Damn peerdolius what you've did with Unholy Cathedral is amazing. Already beat the map, currently working on getting the time down to less than 20 minutes (if possible lol) and find the remaining 3 secrets that i've missed.

I'm playing from map to map but i've got to say Bob, that so far, the progression in this mapset is fantastic - really varied (with the first two maps having a more "chill" exploring, 03 bringing a more chaotic pacing, 04 being the cramped-cuppy-devilishness time and 05 offering a more dense exploring/switch hunting experience).




No one cares.
_{With love, your biggest fanboy.}

Ah, thank you very much @panurge !  Hopefully you will continue to enjoy it!  I think that Phobus, peerdolius, SuperCupcakeTactics, and I all have different mapping styles, but in the end it makes for an interesting flow and keeps the player on their toes.

When I get a chance, possibly later tonight, I will definitely be watching your demos.  I'm very curious to see your play style in action.  I have never had any issues with ammo in these maps(apart from Map04, which is purposefully nasty and which I have added some ammo to), so I really want to understand how you play and what choices you made that made having enough ammo difficult.  I tend to be more conservative with ammo and also a stickler for precision and accuracy in my shots, but I also try to realize that not all players operate this way or find that approach to be fun.  It's certainly an interesting topic!

05 That took me nearly 50 minutes to beat and I managed to skip ~60 monsters somehow. Still having a lot of trouble with ammo. I did a lot of mental math to make sure I didn't waste any items that would exceed my max. I walked around every corner and stepped on every stepping stone in the lava lakes just to pick up every item I saw but I was still doing a lot of work to scrape by. Tried not to waste a single shot at any point. About halfway through the map I started chainsawing everything I could just so I could pad out my inventory some more. It was a lot of work and it resulted in me being pretty much maxed out and gifted an extra soulsphere I never used just before i hit the exit. I think you need to work on supplying the player with stuff they need BEFORE they absolutely need it. Especially in non-linear maps like these. The monster density is pretty tough, which makes some of these encounters drain my inventory. I got a little lost around the the cyberdemon part. Im very grateful that I was able to telefrag them -- i was very scared I was gonna have to fight him on that tiny balcony. After I got him i lost track of what the objective was and lost my sense of direction. Took me a while to figure out how to get that yellow key after I lowered it, and I had no recollection of where the exit door was after i got it. Anyway, very beautiful map, especially the city of the dead part. Getting some serious dante's inferno vibes here. There's a lot of imagination channeled into this mapset and I like it a lot. Would you mind if I took inspiration from this for a DBP theme some day? It's quite the adventure.

06 I like this one a lot. It was easier to navigate than the actual mt. erebus. The open layout made it a little easier to scavenge for resources and avoid problematic encounters. Good map. Had some pretty dark parts though. Appreciate all the attention you put into lighting around light sources though.

07 Really impressive visuals in this. The extreme heights were really cool. A lot of screenshot worthy stuff in here. Nice job. I did die a bunch. The pain elemental was pretty annoying but I anticipated a longer map with big drawn out battles like the previous ones so I was stingy with my bullet usage and it got me in trouble sometimes. Felt like there could be a bit more health. When I found the megaarmor secret it was a little more manageable. though

08 Lol i forgot this was an inferno remake again. Huh? This map again? Very nice recreation of Warrens though. It was cool to see the extra rooms reimagined in a way where they actually feel like they're part of the location and not just tacked on as an afterthought like E3M9 is. I need ammo!! once again, im still barely scraping by for the most part, and then im maxed out after everything is dead right before i step in the exit. The hell knights right before the fake exit room were ROUGH because of this.

09 I had to take a break from this one. Still having ammo trouble in this one too. I need more rockets for this, the archvile keeps resurrecting monsters and the shotgun/chaingun stuff just really isn't holding them back. I tried to use some infighting to carry me forward but these monsters have a difficult infighting relationship and the terrain is too bumpy for the precise movements I need to keep these monsters angry at each other. It's doable, but its a lot of stress.

Pretty nice WAD, I do like the aesthetics used in the levels. The thing is, I'm just not very good

I will post demo for map09 tomorrow, or otherwise soon (recorded against irka_rc1.wad). I didn't manage to finish it, but I got far into it in one go, and really that is probably as far as I can get to in one try (map is long). I died anyway, trying to speed up things, but really was surprised how many seemingly tough encounters are survivable on blind playthrough. That is some godly balance, this map is really balanced good, I like it! Outside of demo format, I would simply save when I had enough fun and continue another day.

Was surprised that blood is not damaging, but grey liquid is (yes, damn grey liquid, that is how far I got). The demo lasts little over 50 minutes, 360 monsters is killed (and some were actually skipped as I fled from one arena to another).

EDIT: Apparently, I'm late as this got released already? I hope someone else discovered it and the released version has a more robust setup.

And what happens when playing back the demo? Is there a way to see somehow what happened in another sector, that prevented exit setup from working in particular instance? Some people, I recall, where capable of doing that, I don't know a way, though.

Keep in mind that I suicided by rocket launcher at the end of the demo, but you can see that I'm restarting the same map, and that I spend quite some time before I suicide. I.e. my death was not the result of setup. Fast-forwarding may seem like the expected death come, but it was my doing, not the setup's one.

Ok, I messed around with it some more and I think I have the answer.  Apparently Doomguy's center mass needs to cross certain linedefs before they will trigger.  So if he is going at a high rate of speed and crosses a second linedef before the first one, he won't trigger the first one in time, which is exactly what occurred in your demo.  This issue should be somewhat rare, but still definitely needs to be fixed.  I will fix it and then see how to update the wad in the /idgames archive.  Thanks @vigilantdoomer !


Thanks so much for doing these videos, @pistoolkip !

I fixed this issue, and it will be reflected in the next update on /idgames.  I raised one floor entirely and added a step on inside another of the pits.  I'm not going to block off 2534 or lift the floor up due to the revenant being in there, but I will make the floor damaging so that if a player manages to get there for some reason, he will die to the damaging floor and won't be stuck forever.