=========================================================================== Advanced engine needed : Boom-compatible (-cl 9) Primary purpose : Single Player =========================================================================== Title : Hardfest Filename : hardfest.wad Release date : 25/09/2022 Author : Various Email Address : [redacted] Other Files By Author : Many things... Description : A collection of "Hard" maps, ranging in style from tight, small combat puzzles to expansive slaughtermaps. There's also a puzzle map and a platforming map thrown in for good measure :^) We've got 20 maps, split over three episodes for you. Good Luck! Additional Credits to : MAPPERS: akolai Astro X Dan el inferno Endless finnks13 gabirupee HiRon Kinetic Korp Ludi Norb RockyGaming4725 Scorpius Thelokk Worriedidiot Yumheart TEXTURES: The cool CC4-tex list: NiGHTMARE Espi Eriance Fredrik Johansson Janitor DaGGeR Ola Bjorling Vader XDelusion esselfortium RottKing Nuxius Afterglow AgentSpork RottKing Enjay Huy Pham SargeBaldy Tormentor667 The GothicDM Team The Requiem Team The Eternal Doom Team id Software Raven Software Rogue Entertainment Additional Skies by Mechadon, Eradrop and from TNT:Evilution Assorted textures by Jimmy Magnolia textures by FuzzballFox and 40oz Assorted textures by Ludi A flag texture from OTEX by ukiro SPRITES: Green Chaingunner by TheDarkArchon Darker Chaingun by Arsinikk Dark BFG by Yugiboy85 from Occula, small edits by gabirupee & finnks13 Black Gloves for weapons by Grimm and MrFireSeth Green Plasma by Ludi GRAPHICS: Title Screen drawing and M_DOOM by Korp Colour Translation Tables by Xulgonoth MUSIC: Korp LPad PLAYTESTING: akolai Alaux cannonball CittyKat112 david asaad el inferno finnks13 gabirupee HiRon LordHydra Ludi Maribo Mr Zzul sandwedge Sena Thelokk =========================================================================== * What is included * New levels : 20 (+1 credits map) Sounds : No Music : Yes Graphics : Yes Dehacked/BEX Patch : Yes, just for level names Demos : No * Play Information * Game : DOOM2 Map # : Map01 - 21 Single Player : Designed for Cooperative 2-4 Player : No Deathmatch 2-4 Player : No Other game styles : No Difficulty Settings : Yes * Construction * Base : New from scratch Build Time : Just over three months Editor(s) used : Ultimate Doom Builder, Doom Builder X, Slade3, paint.net, DoomWriter Known Bugs : Map10 will not work in ports that fix the players turning into zombies bug, non-ZDoom players who run into this should warp to MAP10B. May Not Run With : Non Boom-compatible ports Tested With : DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, prboom+ 2.5.1.5 =========================================================================== * Copyright / Permissions * Authors MAY NOT use the contents of this file as a base for modification or reuse. Permissions have been obtained from original authors for any of their resources modified or included in this file. You MAY distribute this file, provided you include this text file, with no modifications. You may distribute this file in any electronic format (BBS, Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include this file intact. I have received permission from the original authors of any modified or included content in this file to allow further distribution. * Where to get the file that this text file describes * The Usual: ftp://archives.gamers.org/pub/idgames/ and mirrors =========================================================================== =========================================================================== ////////////////////////// ////// MAP LIST ////// ////////////////////////// =========================================================================== MAP01 - Basement Dwellers Author - finnks13 Music - Starcore by Korp Comments: Originally made for a Haste inspired set of maps, I ended up reworking this map and submitting it to Hardfest after I felt that there wasn't anything that was particularly suited to the Map01 slot. I think it works quite nicely as an opener, especially if you don't mind hitscan hell maps :P The idea behind the map was to take that classic Map01 style of just having fodder enemies and taking it to it's limit to create something more challenging out of it. My main inspirations were the opening part of Vanguard Map09 and that bit in Going Down where you blow up a water cooler and a load of imps spill out of the walls. ~~~ MAP02 - Catnip Outpost Author - Korp Music - Pixel Pastries by LPad Comments: Just a generic green CC2 lookin' techbase. I had no plans to stand out, really, just wanted to make a map for a project that wasnt mine. I'm still impressed i managed to actually finish something and i had a lot of fun working on it too, just hope everyone else has as much fun playing it! :3 ~~~ MAP03 - Decaying Fields Author - Endless Music - Necrosis by Korp Comments: This one is a small, tight map with a lot of enemies but spread around various areas to make combat a little bit more ''tactical''. On UV it can get a bit rough due to low number of items and damage floor. Secrets are meant to help the player, so look for them. ~~~ MAP04 - Blood and Rebar Author - Ludi Music - Broken Machinery by Korp Comments: The original title of this map was By The Time I Get To Phoenix, named after the 2021 album by Injury Reserve. I wanted to dedicate this map to member Stepa J. Groggs who passed in 2020. After the leadership shift, I felt the original meaning changed and the name changed as well. Regarding the map itself, it was a bitch to make! I found myself having to restart the map several times before I found myself satisfied with the final product. This map took about a month to create in total, with the final version being about 2 weeks. In hindsight, I probably should have telegraphed that the sand pit in the caco fight would slow you down a little better. Oh well, that's Hardfest, baby! ~~~ MAP05 - The Metal Age Author - Scorpius Music - Atomic Press by Korp Comments: Damn... what a rush! Loved making this and took the "highly difficult" things in many different ways such as navigation, traps, enemy placements and types, etc. ~~~ MAP06 - Cubecraft 3D Author - Worriedidiot Music - Cyber Gambit by Korp & LPad Comments: Adventures of Square 7 with squares or something. Features at least 5 squares, 2 cubes and 0 linedefs that don't align to the 64x grid. Had no real inspirations for this one aside from wanting to try something new. Consists of mostly run & gun type arenas. ~~~ MAP07 - Cacau Brownie Author - gabirupee Music - Twisted Royalty by LPad ~~~ MAP08 - Aetheon's Heart Author - Yumheart Music - Crimson Forest by Korp Comments: Wanted to make a difficult "classic-styled" non-slaughtermap. The main difficulty derives from ammo & weapon placement and the general crampage of the map, often forcing you to push past a few mid-tiers to get to the supplies you need. Health is also very tight, it's easy to drive yourself into a corner if you save in too many bad spots. Fun fact: Aethon apparently just means brown-red, which, aside from sounding cool, is pretty fitting for this map, I suppose. ~~~ MAP09 - The Smegma Flow Author - Thelokk Music - Sussy Baka by LPad Comments: Sunder, and especially the maps from 2009 are the end all, be all of difficult wads for me - I don't particularly enjoy the tightly controlled, heavily coreographed tendencies of contemporary 'difficult' wads, so I often find myself drawn to the wild, chaotic moshpits of maps like 'The Zealous Machine' or 'Pale Monument', which I tried to recreate in the final fight of my map. I also greatly enjoy expansive adventure maps, which explains pretty much the rest of my offering - I want the player to feel as if they are actually exploring a place, some abandoned techbase in the middle of a poisonous ravine perhaps? Fun fact: the title 'The Smegma Flow' comes from the map's protoype, which used snow and ice textures to... well, I guess you know what I'm getting at. It looked pretty great but then the modified palette came into play, and the greens were too good to pass. ~~~ MAP10 - Ethereal Author - akolai Music - Liminal Space by Korp Comments: "You find yourself beset by a terrible fate... through the dark, reclaim your soul, and return to the land of the living" I settled on making a puzzle map when thinking about how to be completely out of line with the rest of the project. Moonlight wasn't on my mind while making it, but I realised the similar premise about halfway through. The soulsphere representing your soul is also taken from that one skulltiverse map, and the mini-city corresponding to the actual location is stolen from pecca's rr2 (?) map. This uses zokumbsp because it seemed to handle one room slightly better, I've heard it has some issues in zdoom but we'll see. ~~~ MAP11 - Malachite Forest Author - el inferno Music - Encapsulation by Korp Comments: platforming + exploration map to get lost in. Lower skill settings simplify combat and progression a bit but dont affect any platforming, so I suggest you to bind a jump key if you dont want to have such a hard time. The regular exit can be reached relatively quickly and there's a 'secret' exit somewhere else :^) ~~~ MAP12 - Barricades 2 Author - Worriedidiot Music - Bear My Piercing Salutations by LPad ~~~ MAP13 - The Abyss Author - Norb Music - Caged and Voidpilled by Korp Comments: This map is inspired by Dark Tartarus Map40 The development of this map is interesting. Actually it isn't, half of my time here was just testing ideas for a map. I tried a techbase, techbase in hell, hell styled thing... Nothing sparked an idea... Until, of course, I played some Dark Tartarus Map40 and found my inspiration. It was 2 weeks before the deadline at this point, so I had to hurry. I managed to make a map before the deadline (good fucking job Norb!) and I'm very happy with the result! It was my first time participating in a Community Project, and I had so much fun making the map and talking with other participants, ILY all that worked on Hardfest <3 ~~~ MAP14 - Subtlety Author - finnks13 Music - Triple Shot Espresso by LPad Comments: The main idea behind this map was to make a very small arena that gets worse and worse the more you make your way through it and the challenge of can the player get the BFG before they're overwhelmed by the hordes. I was inspired by Frog and Toad Map05 for the compact looping layout and slightly ridiculous feel of the map. ~~~ MAP15 - Gorgeous Nightmare Author - Astro X Music - Tunnel Vision by LPad Comments: I didn't have as much free time as I'd have liked, so I started building arenas based on various random ideas I had for fights and wanted to utilize eventually. I love hard maps, sinister and ominous ones, often long, especially ones that slowly build up the atmosphere [hence the length]. I don't like giving all the weapons right away, nor BFG spam, or a room with seemingly irrational enemy placement (not being disrespectful to anyone who likes this). I'm not good at decorating rooms or making them look cool, but I try my best. I focus on combat, I'd say inspired by difficult wads ofc, but also by what I'd like to see in a map. The description is getting long, so what I'd like to say is that I wanted to build a tough map that I could possibly beat one day if I try, and also build something people would find enjoyable to play - not the hardest map, not the coolest, but a decent contribution to this project that I found to be very interesting. ~~~ MAP16 - Security Breach Author - RockyGaming4725 Music - Seat Warmer by Korp Comments: Hadn’t used a texture pack until this cp, and it was quite fun using one! Bit overwhelming at times but now I can’t go back to vanilla textures, so I guess it was a success haha. At first I didn’t exactly know what I was wanted this map to be, it was this sort of brick and tech combo, which I ended up liking the atmosphere of. I really tried to pay more attention to floor/ceiling decoration as well as verticality (which, wasn’t too much of a success but certainly an improvement over my previous few maps). I’m happy with how it turned out, I think it was a big step forward visual wise for me. Boom lighting could definitely be taken advantage of more but I hadn’t really tinkered with that before. The doomcute was inspired seeing a playthrough of a wad which had papers scattered around as decoration. I thought it might be neat to have it on a machine thing… so that’s what’s in the first room. Bonus comment - the high tech quarters was actually inserted after the map was finished, because I thought laser doors were cool haha. ~~~ MAP17 - Otherworldly Frontier Author - HiRon Music - Carbonize by LPad Comments: A corrupted base, an overall ruthless level with lots of tough fights to prepare you for the later slaughtermaps. Inspired by Sunlust map 30. ~~~ MAP18 - Asymptote Author - finnks13 Music - Abaddon's Horns by Korp Comments: I love TimeOfDeath's BFG spam maps in the slaughterfest series, and this is a tribute to them. The specific inspirations are SF2012 Map19 and SF3 Map28, but I wasn't particularly trying to emulate the specifics of his mapping style in a "the way iD Did" manner - moreso the general ideas behind his combat scenarios. To that end, there are lots of rather long fights that require consistent and continuous execution on the part of the player, but are relatively generous with health pickups and ammo so they don't become obnoxious. I'm very proud of this map, it came out much better than expected and I think it's very fun to play. ~~~ MAP19 - Callused Author - Kinetic Music - Infernyde by Korp Comments: I wanted to make a BFG spam map akin to Flotsam Map06, general layout and vibe takes from that, but aesthetically I use some more white rock and gothic textures, and make use of some vibrant greens that this wad has to offer. Couldn't resist just making the YK section more modern with the ribbiks-y lighting on the walls and just going nuts in general with light gradients. Secret fight is also just my desire to make a cool looking area. The other guideline I had for this map was to make it easier than my other released stuff while still being a challenge, and I think it fits that difficulty I want on UV. ~~~ MAP20 - Aphelion Author - Dan Music - Last Stand by Korp & LPad Comments: This map started out as a dimensions 01 style map - a cave with multiple phases that could be opened up at the player's discretion. What I ended up with wasn't really long enough, so I added a separate finale. But the cave section of the map really sucked gameplay wise, and the finale I'd built was pretty underwhelming. So I scrapped the entire cave section and retooled the finale into what is now the opening fight. The other two fights came together pretty quickly after that. I did keep the 'multiple phases within the same room' idea (for the first and last fights at least) from dmn01, but unfortunately I wasn't really able to find a satisfactory way of keeping the phase transitions within the player's control, so I ended up switching to purely voodoo doll timers. Sorry speedrunners :^) ~~~