Something I came with.

[Danimetal]

Hi!!!.

This is not really a post about a mod or map I´m going to do now or doing, but about an idea I had while taking a shower and surely some others also had (maybe not while taking a shower).

It consists of making a map and giving the player a certain time to complete it (via scripting). The time is so short that the player needs to extend his time picking up items (for example, blue skull keys that with scripting, give him a few seconds more and then dissapear of the inventory). If the timer runs to zero the player dies :P.

The you can riddle the place with puzzles, platforms, locked doors and monsters and make that killing them also gives some time (still, I think there´s some ZDoom map about this) but it would need the BEX codepointer stuff, that will exist in 2.0 if I´m right.

It would be quite fun and I´m thinking on making a stupid, simple but generic script about it so any mapper who doesn´t know about FS can try to play this "Time-Trial" stuff :). It would be quite generic and use a lot of comments like "This is the amount of time you get by picking that object", "This is the amount of time you´ve got to complete the level" and so.

Any suggestions apart from "Let that idea go" :P???.

[jnsg]

Sounds like a neat idea. I've always felt that puzzle-oriented maps would be fun in Doom. One thing you might add, though, is awarding extra time for completing a puzzle. That way you don't waste all of your time solving it only to die right when you get to the next part.

[Danimetal]

Sounds good :). I´m not thinking about puzzles right now but could be done once I draw some test maps about jumping, killing and avoiding traps :P. I´m also thinking about power ups like super jumps and stuff... That reminds me of doing some Jump Pads!!.

[Danimetal]

Finally, it has taken a shape :).

I made a small Doom2 map (quite small, drawn in about 10 minutes and you can finish it in 4 :P. Still, it took time to texture it) that has the scrips implemented. That´s what it has to offer:

-The time limit: It´s the sauce of the whole map. Different time limits are offered for each difficulty level ranging from "Still I have some time left" to "There´s no possible way of doing this!!!".
-The time items: The three keycards give you 5, 10 and 20 seconds more to complete the level. Also, there are some checkpoints that add more time to your counter.
-The powerups: Three powerups (the three skull keys) are available. One of them is the Super Jump (z key), the other is a translocator (x key) and the other teleports you to the beggining of the map (b key). I´m thinking about possible powerups that could be nicer and of a way to implement them (I wrote the code for one that stops the timer, but isn´t there).
-Overall ugly-crappy-E1sh look. It can be done better, but not faster :P.

It comes with a dehacked file so the keys can float in the middle of the air and, if I ever do something with this, I would like to replace graphics and such to avoid it looking like "The big key collector"... Also, the code is quite customizable so you can make different kinds of maps from "Take your time but be in a hurry" (5, 10 and 20 seconds per key) to "I´m frantically collecting these so I don´t die!!!" (1, 2 or 3 seconds per key)...

So, once I betatest it works I will give a link to it so you can play it (surely I will create another thread) and, if you like it, can take the code and do things with it :). It´s actually quite easy!!!!... I feel tempted now to share my mapping time between my current project and a pack of maps for this but maybe it´s better to wait for Legacy 2.0 (with Hexen´s Z coordinate so easily set, more items, more powerups...) and rewrite the code then.

Finally, I wanted to ask you for suggestions like more powerups, ways of playing it and things like that. Thanks :).

[wario]

maybe u should add a thing that makes u go turbo for some time... or a thing that makes the time go slow for a while.

bah... i probaly cant beat those levels... im slow :P

[Danimetal]

Here it is!!!!.

http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/hosted/Tground.zip

Please, read the file coming with it. Skip the garbage if you want to, but read the rest since it will tell you how to play it!. I know it looks simple and will accept any criticism. Also I know it plays strange, difficult even in Easy modes for me but... This is trying to get the old-school feeling where "Easy" meant "Easy if you master it" and "Hard" meant "You will NEVER make it" so if you try maybe will be killed a few times before you get the hang of it.

Please, post any suggestions, bugs, criticism, ideas and feel free to use the script if you want to make something like it :).

PS: It´s for Doom 2, I almost forgot!.

[wario]

well it looked good in overall.... but there's a thing i dont like about it and that is thats its way too hard... its even worse than hr and av. so make it easier... alo there's a bit too much time.. even with ultra voloince i could complete it in time (with iddqd ofcourse). so just please some less monsters and less key card skulls ... then it would be a great wad *laugh*

[Danimetal]

I take your suggestion and think like you... I just put the monsters there at random and I don´t think it´s a balanced wad... Still, there are much key card skulls???. I think I put one translocator, one restarter and two super jumps there. I hope you´re referring to regular keykards ;).
Why not using the code and drawing a map Wario???. I would be so pleased to see the idea developed here and there :). I mean, that´s not the way it´s supposed to be. It´s unbalanced, crazy and there are WAY too much monsters in narrow spaces.

By the way, I managed to complete it in UV (I never use cheats :P), I think that once you get the hang of it you can play it with confidence... Still, I made it and know where everything is... I think it could do a nice episode if worked nicely :).

[wario]

yea i meant key cards.. umm drawing a map... does that mean making a map or something? ( my bad english knowlege)

[Danimetal]

Yes :). Everything you need to do is plan it like you want it and putting the whole keycard and skulls there :D. The script is so damn easy to implement and customize and the dehacked file is also quite simple...
I´m getting happy with this project, hope doesn´t take me away from my other.

[wario]

hmm ill try to make a map... but be warned tough (u probaly know) my detailing skills are very low

[Danimetal]

If so, I´ll post the standard script... Let me upload it...

http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/hosted/timescrip3.txt

There it is. I took the time for translating it and changing the variable names to some who are easier to understand... By the way, now that it´s up there it´s available for anyone who wants to take a look or make a map or modify or whatever.

Wario, my advice is to make the map in a way that you feel compfortable with it. Detailing is something relatively important in Doom as the Doom engine doesn´t allow for an extreme detail like, let´s say, Doom3. The original map I posted looked bad in that sense but I just wanted to try to make something playable... So that´s the only advice I can give you. Just map something that suits you.

Also, I recommend you to do the map first and then to read the script. In about ten minutes you will have it if you follow its instructions :P. Don´t hesitate to change things and ask me if something about it goes wrong (I still find some bugs on it). Also, If you want to take a look at the script of the original map, just do it :).

I´m looking forward to see your work with this and also hope other people can get interested on its development... Now I´m off to think about how to add new powerups ;).

EDIT: Stupid me!!!. I forgot to add this:

http://www.geocities.com/danimarlboro/hosted/Testing.zip

It´s the deh file that will allow you to have floating keys if you spawn them with the spawn(type, x, y, angle, z) FS command. It also speeds up the chaingun a little.