Arctic Research Center A1

[Jimi]

There was an editing contest at www.doom3.co.uk which I participated and made a map called Arctic Research Center A1. The map didn't finish in time and was a bit incomplete. Today I fixed the map and made it complete... The map is for DooM II and it requires quite a good computer to run it well(it has 6901 vertices, 8150 linedefs, 14152 sidedefs and 1512 sectors)

Arctic Research Center A1 (http://koti.mbnet.fi/jeejeeje/files/Arctic.rar)

The download is 7.56MB.

[GuntherDW]

it's good but the text should've been readable...
edit : u aren't really spoily on health aye? :p
i had to load again like countless times cause my health was down to 20% at the beginning and 4% at the end, so it was kind of hard to make it :p

[Jimi]

The texts should be readable in higher resolutions... the first 2 were 1024*768 and the last one was 800*600...

[GuntherDW]

i play in 1152x864, and the first text is just not readable and the 2nd one (ending) is barely, but most of the text is scrambled :(
i tried with -pwadtex but that didn't do it... :s

[Jimi]

Check them from the pk3 then.. shouldn't get scrambled. Or check if you have disabled high res patches from kickstart.

[Xerxes]

It is especially the particles that slowed down considerably the computer. not the map :D
You generate some too much !!!

[Harry]

wow, This map runs slower than DooM 3, but it's a great map(well, bundle) with more than just a map:p

[DaniJ]

Nice map Jimi. It ran OK not particularly smooth.

I think the gameplay was a bit lacking in this one though, it ended all to quick but it showed some very good use of Doomsday features while it lasted.

[GuntherDW]

hmm, noticed this when extrating the pk3 =
extracting: Data/jDoom/Models/Guns/Bomb/Bomb.pcx bad CRC 210e2b44 (should be 3e0b62b7)

edit : u say view it in the pk3, i unpacked it and it holds a shitload of textures, wich one? :)

[Jimi]

They're in data\jdoom\patches. If the bomb.pcx has a bad crc, can you see the bomb skin ingame?

[primus1236]

Great Map! :) The particles did slow it down a lot, but I still really liked it. Great job on those enemies too, they scared me the first time I saw them. Did you make them yourself?

[Skitso]

I think the level doesn't work like it should in my system... I can't get inside anywhere without IDSPISPOPD, nothing happens anywhere and there are only few archviles here and there. Whats the problem?

[Grazza]

If you are seeing archviles (and have models turned on, as you should to play this wad), then it sounds like you haven't installed it correctly.

You need to put Arctic.ksa in kicksprofiles\ and Arctic.pk3 in Data\jDoom\ (these paths are included in the zip, so if you unzip it into your Doomsday folder with "Use folder names", it should put them in the correct places automatically). Then in Kickstart, choose Doom II, and then under Add-Ons, select Arctic Research Center A1.

You need to explore a bit to find your way into one of the buildings. Once you have restored power (by pressing four switches), you can access further areas.

[Catsy]

The good: architecture and design are amazing. You obviously put a lot of work into it, and paid attention to the little details. I especially liked things like the vents in the ceiling, and the way almost all of the lighting was done through lightmaps on the textures. Ambient sounds were horribly creepy, in a very good way.

The power plant at the beginning was a nice bit of scripting. I like how the lights that were dull and lifeless before suddenly come on. Some of the shadowy corners were almost as atmospheric and creepy as Doom 3!

The landing flares look cool. For that matter, the whole outside area does a nice job of looking arctic.

The bad: It just wasn't fun to play.

The new monster was novel the first time, but got tedious and annoying after that--particularly since they move so fast and the only guns which are especially effective at targeting them run out of ammo very quickly. They make irritating sounds, move jerkily enough to make aiming at them difficult, and look even more cartoony than the original Doom sprites.

The guns: was the player forced to pick them up all at the start? I didn't even realize I had more than one weapon until later. Considering how many enemies there are, there needed to be more ammo, and the weapons needed to be spread out so that the player could have the fun of finding them (and realize he had them), not to mention know what they are. The #8 weapon generates a constant "droning" sound as it spins that is like nails on a chalkboard.

The ammo pickups all seem to be some kind of variant of the backpack, and are visually almost indistinguishable from the "barrel" objects until you happen to walk over one.

Level flow is very bad. In fact, there really isn't any, and it's very difficult to tell where to go next. The text prompts are a nice idea, but fail to tell the player anything of substance. "Find a way into the power plant". That's nice--where? It was sheer luck that I happened to press "use" when looking at the one computer it actually worked on. Since nonstandard textures and designs are used for all the switches and such, progressing amounts to complete guesswork. This will appeal to people who like to wander and explore, but will quickly bore someone who wants to do something besides admire the scenery.

The architecture is very nice, but starts to all look the same after a while. More variety in textures would probably help.

Having all the doors open with switches on the walls? Gets very tedious very quickly.

All in all: don't want to play it again, but you've got a lot of editing skill and a lot of really cool ideas that are waiting to be used in a better, tighter level.

[Hexagon]

I've just tested it quickly but it seems to be very good (hard too *bawl* ) .I like a lot the ambience you putted in (and the new stuff too) .A shame , it's sooo laggy (my poor PC has pain to run it (640*480*16,no FR).It's , for me, the main problem with DD ....
Anyway, good job Jimi *thumbs*

[Jimi]

Ooh, thanks Catsy, that comment was great to read :)