Power Station: Updated First Arena to include respawning ammo pickups, added more fodder. Added additional BFG. Changed pacing in some phases to make first Archvile spawn when group health of the Mancubi and Tyrant reach a low percentage, as opposed to just the Tyrant being slain. Fixed Archvile not having spawn effects.
Added vault next to the landing pad you go to after the first arena (power station) to indicate direction better
Slayer Gate: added new extension to path near respawning medkit that wraps around larger building with new jump pad. Added one extra wave in the encounter with new enemy variant (archvile blue). Expanded playable space by moving invisible walls out much further and adding teleport fade volumes on floors outside the arena.
Void Arena: Reworked bottom area by making it less flat, added floating void terrain with fall hazards, much easier to group enemies up down there. Reworked some of the terrain on the top to be less of a large flat land. Changed borders to be less of a cliff and more of an edge to give off the feeling that you're on a floating rock better. Added new geometry and details. Added more pickups to the bottom floor. Changed the possessed archviles encounter to remove all other enemies when the 4 archviles are killed. Added new encounter with new archvile variant to follow up.
Final Fight: moved the overdrive powerup to the center of the topside of the arena to avoid accidental pickups after teleporting.
Fixes:
Fixed annoying clipping issues in Slayer Gate arena and Void Fight Arena on exterior.
Made it so you can start the mod by starting on a new save file.
Known Issues:
Sometimes fodder (usually stone imps) are not removed after an encounter. May need to finish the job yourself.
Void Arena and Slayer Gate arena still have a few places where enemies may get stuck and die. Usually Doom Hunters in the Void Arena and Pinkies/Mancubi in the Slayer Gate arena.
For any issues, like map not loading, bugs, please let me know. And see the Known Issues in the description if you haven't in case that is there. idStudio is being very weird and difficult, idk why it's so finnicky.
Make sure you downloaded the latest version and put the "doom-mod-404654769" folder into the active mods folder. And also I don't think it should be saying map twice like you posted. The command should work with "map soulvalleydemo_v15"
UPDATE: I didn't have the whole file downloaded. Somehow the 2 GB download was interupted and I was missing the "virtualtextrues" and .json data. It works now after a complete DL of the zip.
Same here. I dropped the "doom-mod-404654769" in the active mods folder and it doesn't work. I get the same error message. If I try to play normal DOOM Eternal in the beta the game will crash. If I choose "play with mods" then it boots up but the map is not there.
Been trying to get it to work all day today. I put Soul Processor folder in my Mods folder with the zip files of all my other mods. Don’t have an Active Mods folder, but that’s where my active mods are. Not sure if that’s correct but nothing happened when I go to campaign. Also when I type “Map Processor” I get a msg saying something like “Not Present in Package” would greatly appreciate any help if at all possible…
Can you imagine what you are doing to Ultra-Nightmare players with this level?? I've got 2.500hours in Doom Eternal and i'am in the bubble with the best players. No one beat this level! The only exception is idk929.
You have make it more marathon and ultra-nightmare friendly. You level is only pain! god damnit...
I and several others have tested and beat it on Ultra Nightmare. The biggest problem I have are glitches like enemies somehow finding their way out of locked areas.
I have also beat campaign and TAG 1 + 2 on Ultra Nightmare several times. It is possible, trust the process.
Yea we should've clarified that we use no superweapons and no overpowered weapon mods as well like Lock-On and D-Blade. No power-ups like the Onslaught and Haste, or the hammer. Clearly the intent with numerous placed BFG pickups was clear to allow us to clear all the overwhelming hordes of enemies with a delete button.
The fog is too thick in the fog fight, very little ammo to go by in any arena of the mod.
There are various custom levels like this one done by numerous people who are making the same mistake. Namely making it a challenge as a crutch to create contrived ammo scarcity by making us run around and survive from chainsaw to chainsaw. And we dump ammo into demons VERY QUICKLY.
I'm playing Bunny's Unbalance Tormented Earth with no superweapons and Air Control right now. The Barge fight has your sensitive spot in a tight deathgrip but it's still fun to play because you never run out of ammo or fodder to refill your stack.
Another example of CBT done right is Wicked's Challenger Map, version 1.0, the crazy one. It's really difficult but it's still fun because you don't have artificial challenge imposed on you.
I don't know who was testing your map, but absolute devils, aimbots, and veterans like idk929 were struggling while playing it, summarizing their UN runs as pure luck. (Again, he does no superweapons) I had the time to only try out the first arena encounters, and it got really boring that instead of fighting, doing my task as a player, it became just a chore trying to constantly Ballista boost around waiting for the pick-ups and chainsaw to refill. I would beat the level but I just deemed it unecessary to waste time with so much resource scarcity.
I would keep silence but it's just all my friends and acquaintances like Amnu above streaming this mod have gotten extremely tired and exhausted by the end of it and I felt I needed to relay the concerns. Lots of people I know have beaten it, yea, but the map seriously needs a ton more resources.
I'm making custom maps too and watching people playtest them I just see how much stuff the arenas always need. Both in terms of placement density and refilling quality/quantity.
I wanna just try and see if I can import the mod in idStudio and fix it myself and have my friends replay it more often than once.
Either way I think you have done great job in terms of level design (not just the looks but the gameplay implementation as well), it's really high quality for the volume of community work. But I personally would just remove all the crutch demons like Cursed Prowlers, Blood Maykrs and just add more demons like Caco's or Turrets to create pressure; add a lot more ammo and fodder, and reduce fog thickness.
And sorry for the short outburst of anger, some of my friends are really depressed after trying their best for weeks to beat it. Best regards.
P.S. Doom Hunters get stuck on the crates in the first and last arena all the time (perhaps the corresponding traversal entity is missing).
Visually this level looks great. The encounter design is more CBT than Tormented Earth with too few checkpoints. I have combined 3000hrs on both PS4(1700) and PC(1300), I have UN'd every vanilla master level without hammer, crucible or BFG, 100% UN the campaign, 100% ACE the TAG 1 and 2 no BFG. Even with these accomplishments I still acknowledge that I have a skill issue. This level absolutely requires the use of high skill tech in order to beat let alone Ultra-Nightmare. It took me over 30 hours just to finish it on nightmare and that included scamming the fog section and abusing the BFG and the 4x speed in the last arena. Massive amounts of bullet sponge heavies in the slayer gate with no M(g)aykr Drones. At least there were drones in the rest of the arenas. Why are there so many archviles?? There are 7 normal one and is it 3 or 4 FentViles after, including waaayy to many cursed prowlers. Vert nice for your first Ass Portal mod. Please make a balanced version.
Let's see a video of you beating this on UN, pls. Otherwise no one believes you.
No you <33333 I read this guy's reply to another comment that addressed the SAME issues as me and the response was that we really do have to use the BFG and all the Power-Ups according to modder's design. I still don't like that. I still hope he either/or: a) redesigns the arenas for no-supers users. I.e. adds more lot more ammo and resources and fodder; and enemies if needed. Making use of super weapons and such merely optional, e.g. for people struggling with finishing the mod on higher difficulty. b) releases a separate version for no-supers users c) releases the map file because apparently idStudio cannot extract the latter (or .map file is not included during packaging because it's not needed for the game to run the map). I tried importing his mod into a newly created project and there is no way apparently to get my hands onto redesigning stuff myself. Would be a massive loss if the guy just decides to ditch the development. So far I have an impression that it is definitely what he intends to do from his lack of responses to our messages and concerns. Really hope he releases the map because I'm willing to fix some of the issues myself that he mentioned in another comment like demons dying to geo.
The mod tool is busted and I can't upload anything on it unfortunately. Instead, download the mod and put it in your active mods folder, it's very easy to install.
I played the first half and the slayer gate with the usual restrictions of no hammer, no dblade, no bfg, no shield etc, and they were extremely fun. But as you get to the maykr arena it gets bullshit: it just feels unfair unless you either pick the power ups or not. I didn't progress past the Berserk slaughter arena cause it just doesn't feel fun, both for geometry clipping, the water killing you in the moment you interact with it for the DOT being overkill, both for the random spawns, which really kill the fun of planning the run. Also the cursed prowlers really don't make justice in maykr arena, ballista boosting, wall dashing and bunny hopping felt amazing, but then you get hit by a Cursed Prowler and you enter the unfunny zone.
The arenas are fun, don't get me wrong, and they are also challenging, but past the cultist base arenas, it feels like everything but interactive, pick ups aside.
On the other hand, the maps is astonishingly well made and it runs just like a base game level if not better! Before the maykr arena the use of enemies is very well thought and also interactive, for example: in the arena prior to the maykr one, randomness aside, I liked that I could predict and manage the fodder spawns for achieving a re-stacking rotation during the double spirit marauder as the arena geometry allowed for precise but methodical ballista boosts + meat hook swings, or in the small arena prior to the escalation encounter one, I liked the used of both gargoyles and stone imps and of course the verticality of the arena, which made it feel more streamlined in a healthy way.
I would argue a balanced map should be released too, seeing the forthcoming of Dark Ages people will surely come back to the game, and this map is a gem that shouldn't be left behind!
You seem to be playing the older version, I released a new version recently that removed the electric water and reworked the Void Arena (Makyr Arena). It also fixes most of the clipping/level geometry issues on the exterior border.
I can't help it though if you are refusing to use the power ups at all, that is a choice and they're there to help guide and assist in the battle. Trying to do the first switch fight without Berserk is just not a good idea, too many Marauders I just wanted you to beat up. It's there to give you a break and just go in with no brain and punch stuff before you get hammered by the next fight.
Prioritize the cursed prowlers early in that battle, only 3 show up in the void fight total at the beginning of the battle that has the Blood Angels and Doom Hunters. It gets really crazy and you're given respawning BFG ammo and respawning Quad Damage, and opting to not use any of that will obviously make your experience far more difficult. The map is made with using these strong abilities in mind, so they make use of how powerful they really are.
Give the new version a go and let me know what you think!
I must admit I also look for an unfair challenge by playing with such restrictions, and you are absolutely right ahah. I just finished downloading it and I will now give it a try, thank you for replying :).
P.S. Blame Saverio, he brainwashed me to play Honor bound for 5 months straight /ironic. :P
I tried the latest, the wall still damages over time, i died thrice because instinctively I wanted to ledge grab but I ended up losing 150hp in 1second. After completing the berserk encounter, I wasn't able to swap to any other weapon, the workaround is to restart from the last checkpoint. Lastly the void arena misses models (Both under the main platform and right behind from where you fall), and more than once I fell out of the map to then be teleport in the middle of chain-gunners to then be killed full stack in 2 seconds or so. Also why there are no meathook nodes in the Void arena? It's a broad atrium, 2 meathooks with 7.5 second recharge each would make it feel way more playable and more skill expressive (zazman and murican would probably enjoy that as they usually rely on multi meathooking). Lastly, in the second arena, the double platform one, you should consider reducing the dot, it is, once more, overkill: it is okay for the player to be punished if he doesn't position correctly, but losing 50hp because you dashed into a wall with is very obnoxious, especially when the dash can also halts you in front for 1/4 of a second when colliding with an AI, and yes, it is noticeable.
I still repute the map fun and a good direction for the mod portal, it just needs more polishing and, once completed, a streamlined casual version for new players.
The wall is electric and not intended to be climbable. There are electric effects to indicate that, but unfortunately the game keeps bugging out and not showing all of them (despite everything showing up when testing within editor). The water that fills up the bottom is removed and the entire bottom was reworked, ground included.
There is also a bug mentioned in "Known Issues", where activating a switch while Berserk is still active causes the weapon switch bug. I don't know what to do about that other than maybe have some logic make sure the switch shows up at an appropriate time.
The Void Arena is not missing any models. It has been reworked. The ground layer is reworked to have less space and have the void as a fall hazard that you have to look out for. If you fall into either of those hazards, you get teleported back into the center by default. Which is very intentional. Now you can actually see the endless void. Same thing with the gap on the second level. It needed to be less flat.
I also don't want Meathook nodes in that arena, there are multiple teleporters, plenty of room for Ballista Boosting, and plenty of enemies to grab onto. It needs that limitation if it is already so open in order for enemies to have better pressure on you.
Also, the DOT on the walls on the towers are quite easy to avoid, unless of course you don't use all your equipment and challenge yourself, then it'll be easy for enemies to overwhelm you. The meathook though will serve as an immediate way to get around any problem there. And if you're stuck and not airborne enough it's gonna be a tough time.
I do not really intend on reworking on the whole level for a more casual version. I can't work on this stuff a lot unfortunately and the editor has a lot of problems. The level is intended to be very hard but gives you things like powerups, BFG ammo, etc. to work with in order to deal with it. If I had a lot more free time I might do more.
Very good looking map, I really like the art style. The encounters in the first half were fun, but after entering the maykr section it went full bullshit. If you will change the encounters that start after jumping to the maykr area to be on par with previous ones (less waves, archviles, prowlers) the map will be way better. Beside the downsides it's great, I think you have big potential to make awesome maps, especially art wise.
I can see how it gets a little BS for some as the map progresses, I've gotten really good at the game and needed to make something wild for myself, which is why it gets so wild later into the map. Definitely can be a bit much which is why I want to make a classic style map later that progresses the challenge and difficulty better. But thanks and glad you liked a good chunk of it!
26 comments
Fixes:
Fixed annoying clipping issues in Slayer Gate arena and Void Fight Arena on exterior.
Made it so you can start the mod by starting on a new save file.
Known Issues:
Sometimes fodder (usually stone imps) are not removed after an encounter. May need to finish the job yourself.
Void Arena and Slayer Gate arena still have a few places where enemies may get stuck and die. Usually Doom Hunters in the Void Arena and Pinkies/Mancubi in the Slayer Gate arena.
For any issues, like map not loading, bugs, please let me know. And see the Known Issues in the description if you haven't in case that is there. idStudio is being very weird and difficult, idk why it's so finnicky.
Same here. I dropped the "doom-mod-404654769" in the active mods folder and it doesn't work. I get the same error message. If I try to play normal DOOM Eternal in the beta the game will crash. If I choose "play with mods" then it boots up but the map is not there.
You have make it more marathon and ultra-nightmare friendly. You level is only pain! god damnit...
Badly designed encounters by somebody who probably played very little Eternal.
I have also beat campaign and TAG 1 + 2 on Ultra Nightmare several times. It is possible, trust the process.
No power-ups like the Onslaught and Haste, or the hammer.
Clearly the intent with numerous placed BFG pickups was clear to allow us to clear all the overwhelming hordes of enemies with a delete button.
The fog is too thick in the fog fight, very little ammo to go by in any arena of the mod.
There are various custom levels like this one done by numerous people who are making the same mistake.
Namely making it a challenge as a crutch to create contrived ammo scarcity by making us run around and survive from chainsaw to chainsaw.
And we dump ammo into demons VERY QUICKLY.
I'm playing Bunny's Unbalance Tormented Earth with no superweapons and Air Control right now.
The Barge fight has your sensitive spot in a tight deathgrip but it's still fun to play because you never run out of ammo or fodder to refill your stack.
Another example of CBT done right is Wicked's Challenger Map, version 1.0, the crazy one.
It's really difficult but it's still fun because you don't have artificial challenge imposed on you.
I don't know who was testing your map, but absolute devils, aimbots, and veterans like idk929 were struggling while playing it, summarizing their UN runs as pure luck. (Again, he does no superweapons)
I had the time to only try out the first arena encounters, and it got really boring that instead of fighting, doing my task as a player, it became just a chore trying to constantly Ballista boost around waiting for the pick-ups and chainsaw to refill.
I would beat the level but I just deemed it unecessary to waste time with so much resource scarcity.
I would keep silence but it's just all my friends and acquaintances like Amnu above streaming this mod have gotten extremely tired and exhausted by the end of it and I felt I needed to relay the concerns.
Lots of people I know have beaten it, yea, but the map seriously needs a ton more resources.
I'm making custom maps too and watching people playtest them I just see how much stuff the arenas always need.
Both in terms of placement density and refilling quality/quantity.
I wanna just try and see if I can import the mod in idStudio and fix it myself and have my friends replay it more often than once.
Either way I think you have done great job in terms of level design (not just the looks but the gameplay implementation as well), it's really high quality for the volume of community work.
But I personally would just remove all the crutch demons like Cursed Prowlers, Blood Maykrs and just add more demons like Caco's or Turrets to create pressure; add a lot more ammo and fodder, and reduce fog thickness.
And sorry for the short outburst of anger, some of my friends are really depressed after trying their best for weeks to beat it.
Best regards.
P.S. Doom Hunters get stuck on the crates in the first and last arena all the time (perhaps the corresponding traversal entity is missing).
Let's see a video of you beating this on UN, pls. Otherwise no one believes you.
I read this guy's reply to another comment that addressed the SAME issues as me and the response was that we really do have to use the BFG and all the Power-Ups according to modder's design.
I still don't like that.
I still hope he either/or:
a) redesigns the arenas for no-supers users. I.e. adds more lot more ammo and resources and fodder; and enemies if needed. Making use of super weapons and such merely optional, e.g. for people struggling with finishing the mod on higher difficulty.
b) releases a separate version for no-supers users
c) releases the map file because apparently idStudio cannot extract the latter (or .map file is not included during packaging because it's not needed for the game to run the map).
I tried importing his mod into a newly created project and there is no way apparently to get my hands onto redesigning stuff myself.
Would be a massive loss if the guy just decides to ditch the development.
So far I have an impression that it is definitely what he intends to do from his lack of responses to our messages and concerns.
Really hope he releases the map because I'm willing to fix some of the issues myself that he mentioned in another comment like demons dying to geo.
The arenas are fun, don't get me wrong, and they are also challenging, but past the cultist base arenas, it feels like everything but interactive, pick ups aside.
On the other hand, the maps is astonishingly well made and it runs just like a base game level if not better! Before the maykr arena the use of enemies is very well thought and also interactive, for example: in the arena prior to the maykr one, randomness aside, I liked that I could predict and manage the fodder spawns for achieving a re-stacking rotation during the double spirit marauder as the arena geometry allowed for precise but methodical ballista boosts + meat hook swings, or in the small arena prior to the escalation encounter one, I liked the used of both gargoyles and stone imps and of course the verticality of the arena, which made it feel more streamlined in a healthy way.
I would argue a balanced map should be released too, seeing the forthcoming of Dark Ages people will surely come back to the game, and this map is a gem that shouldn't be left behind!
You seem to be playing the older version, I released a new version recently that removed the electric water and reworked the Void Arena (Makyr Arena). It also fixes most of the clipping/level geometry issues on the exterior border.
I can't help it though if you are refusing to use the power ups at all, that is a choice and they're there to help guide and assist in the battle. Trying to do the first switch fight without Berserk is just not a good idea, too many Marauders I just wanted you to beat up. It's there to give you a break and just go in with no brain and punch stuff before you get hammered by the next fight.
Prioritize the cursed prowlers early in that battle, only 3 show up in the void fight total at the beginning of the battle that has the Blood Angels and Doom Hunters. It gets really crazy and you're given respawning BFG ammo and respawning Quad Damage, and opting to not use any of that will obviously make your experience far more difficult. The map is made with using these strong abilities in mind, so they make use of how powerful they really are.
Give the new version a go and let me know what you think!
P.S.
Blame Saverio, he brainwashed me to play Honor bound for 5 months straight /ironic. :P
I still repute the map fun and a good direction for the mod portal, it just needs more polishing and, once completed, a streamlined casual version for new players.
There is also a bug mentioned in "Known Issues", where activating a switch while Berserk is still active causes the weapon switch bug. I don't know what to do about that other than maybe have some logic make sure the switch shows up at an appropriate time.
The Void Arena is not missing any models. It has been reworked. The ground layer is reworked to have less space and have the void as a fall hazard that you have to look out for. If you fall into either of those hazards, you get teleported back into the center by default. Which is very intentional. Now you can actually see the endless void. Same thing with the gap on the second level. It needed to be less flat.
I also don't want Meathook nodes in that arena, there are multiple teleporters, plenty of room for Ballista Boosting, and plenty of enemies to grab onto. It needs that limitation if it is already so open in order for enemies to have better pressure on you.
Also, the DOT on the walls on the towers are quite easy to avoid, unless of course you don't use all your equipment and challenge yourself, then it'll be easy for enemies to overwhelm you. The meathook though will serve as an immediate way to get around any problem there. And if you're stuck and not airborne enough it's gonna be a tough time.
I do not really intend on reworking on the whole level for a more casual version. I can't work on this stuff a lot unfortunately and the editor has a lot of problems. The level is intended to be very hard but gives you things like powerups, BFG ammo, etc. to work with in order to deal with it. If I had a lot more free time I might do more.
The encounters in the first half were fun, but after entering the maykr section it went full bullshit.
If you will change the encounters that start after jumping to the maykr area to be on par with previous ones (less waves, archviles, prowlers) the map will be way better.
Beside the downsides it's great, I think you have big potential to make awesome maps, especially art wise.
I can see how it gets a little BS for some as the map progresses, I've gotten really good at the game and needed to make something wild for myself, which is why it gets so wild later into the map. Definitely can be a bit much which is why I want to make a classic style map later that progresses the challenge and difficulty better. But thanks and glad you liked a good chunk of it!