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[RELEASE] Gothic Library DX  "Extended Gothic Library based on beta material"

User is offline   MetHy 

#1

Gothic Library DX
For Cryptic Passage for Blood


An extended version of level Gothic Library for Cryptic passage, based on the cut content from the beta version of the map.
Credits go to Shawn Swift and Robert Travis for the original map(s), I only filled in the gaps between the beta and final versions.

Download links:
Dukeworld: https://dukeworld.du...lood/CP03DX.zip
Moddb: https://www.moddb.co...thic-library-dx
Bloodfreeminded: http://www.blood.fre...ion=maps&id=624


Requires having a copy of Cryptic Passage installed.


___________________________________________


A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed Shawn Swift. He sent me a beta version of Gothic Library which had a more fleshed out layout with more rooms.
These rooms were mostly empty, and ended up being cut for the final version of the level.

Gothic Library DX aims at merging the final version of the map with the rooms and layout of the beta version, while also filling in the empty rooms in the process. The goal is to
stick as close as possible to the original intent and to the style of the two original authors. Thus, giving the map the few extra minutes of gameplay I feel it should have had.
More info in the "Making Of" folder, if you care so much as to read through that.


Screenshots:

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Map comparison:

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This post has been edited by MetHy: 03 December 2020 - 05:33 AM

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User is offline   jkas789 

#2

Instant download. Really nice work MetHy.
0

User is offline   MetHy 

#3

Map updated to v1.1, the main reason being that the "gib-able" corpses should make sounds and spawn guts.
Download updated on Dukeworld and MODDB, but I'm not sure if I can update the download on Blood.freeminded.

I don't think I'll update the map any further since like I said Cryptic Passage didn't seem to have an real beta-testing either; in the case of v1.1 it's just that the corpses should have been like that as proven by other maps in the add-on.
I'd only update if there is a solution to fix the SOS rendering glitch (the glitch where you see a glimpse of the other floors when crossing a series of small sectors); but I doubt there is a fix for that on the mapping side as even manipulating sector numbers doesn't seem to help.


View Postjkas789, on 03 December 2020 - 05:59 PM, said:

Instant download. Really nice work MetHy.


Thanks, but I can't really take much credit as almost everything is based on existing content from the beta version or by the authors. Even the new puzzle in the basement is based on Shawn Swift's "Pestilence" map for Duke, which has a basement with a similar puzzle at the end of the map; and according to older interview you can find on the wikia, there was a puzzle planned for the map.

The basement is probably where I took the most liberties, as I cut half of the "outer ring" room; but also replaced some white walls by red walls in the middle room (turned some full walls into pillars and beams, to stick with the idea that these support the walls from the other floors). The reasoning being this is, like I said, the basement was huge and I don't believe it would ever have ended up in a final version as huge as it is in beta. The original layout, before turning those white walls into red walls, was also more mazey, and a more cramped mazey basement was something Cryptic Passage already had in the first level; and I don't believe something like that would have served the map as the player is already prone to turning in round aimlessly if he doesn't find the "semi-hidden" switches required for progression through the map. Making space for the filing cabinets just seeemed to make the most sense.

Had the basement been included to begin with, perhaps it would have been a bit more mazey indeed, and that's where the designers would have put a time sink for the player, instead of having those semi-hidden switches throughout the map. Switches which if you ask me, were added by Travis as a mean to give more playtime to a short map. However, I didn't want to make such big modifications as to getting rid of those switches.
My point being that had those rooms been included to begin with, and not after the fact, things would be different; I had to make do with what was already there and in a way that makes the process a little backwards.
Also, the entire basement would look better with a slightly darker visibility (16 or 32), but since similar places in the add-on, or even in the map itself, did not have varying visibility, I opted against it as well.


A few words about mapping for Blood:
- Blood's effects system is awesome. Very easy to use and user-friendly. Instead of relying on Sector Effects and other Effect Sprites like Duke or SW, you apply data directly to sectors and walls. The process is very streamlined and logical, as a same data is always in the same place (unlike in SW, where "speed" of an effect may be tag number 4 or tag number 8) and once you know about a couple of hotkeys, most of the info you need are in the editor and you don't need to rely on outside documentation as much. The only real problem being that as a result of this system, you can not stack effects, for example in Build games relying on Sector Effectors you may stack a rotating effect with an effect that changes the sector's height, because the two things do not alter the same values; but in Blood you can only set one effect per sector.

A great example of how user friendly Blood's system is would be how easy it is to make double slide doors: you set the sector and walls accordingly, then a marker appears which serves as "destination", and depending on the timer you set, the game automatically sets the speed of the effect based on distance and time. Compare this to Duke and how you have to count the distance manually, and how you have no control over speed. Not to mention that in Duke, "double" slides are pretty much a hack regarding the 2nd door.
SW's double slide door system is also very easy to use, however it is limited to only 4 sliding directions.... In Blood you can place the destination marker wherever you want.


- I really appreciate the work done with xmapedit to improve mapedit; but (x)mapedit is still based on DOS Build and god did I miss Mapster32. I missed the extra features like being able to grey out other floors, or being able to add or take out sectors and sprites/walls when you do a selection, and I also missed undo. DOS Build is also very glitchy: random shit happens all the time, for instance a white wall suddenly disappears in a 4 walls sector, and DOS Build doesn't even detect the corruption. Copy pasting is very glitchy, either you can't move selected sectors when other sectors are overlayed (but if you reload and try again, it may work); or the pasting process will forget to merge some walls; etc etc
I really hope for the sake of the Blood community that a mapedit version based on Mapster32 can see the light of the day. I have no idea how this game has managed to retain a mapping community with such a glitchy, feature light, editor; the fans must be very dedicated.

This post has been edited by MetHy: 04 December 2020 - 02:32 AM

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