MegaDoom Add-On 3/MEGADOOM3.iso/dm2wads/last/tlr-2.txt

Text File | 1995-05-11 | 29KB | 646 lines

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                        T H E   L A S T   R E S O R T

                     The Ultimate Deathmatch Experience

                                     by
         Michael Houston, Greg Houston, Andrew Warrington & David Sears

*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*

================
QUICKSTART INFO:
================

The Last Resort (TLR) is a Deathmatch only episode for Doom II version 1.7a.
It replaces the first nine levels, and contains new graphics, sounds, music,
demos and sprites. Each skill level provides a different way of
playing deathmatch:

                Skill 1/2: Only weapons (for old deathmatch rules)
                Skill   3: Weapons and items (for -altdeath)
                Skill   4: Disables co-operative exits.

Monsters have been added, but with the -respawn playing option in mind. In
other words, there will only be a few monsters (usually sargeants & soldiers)
in each level. We suggest playing on skill 3, with monsters and -altdeath.

To play TLR, you must first run the TLR_INST.BAT batch file with the files
LAST.WAD, RESORT0.WAD and DMADDS11.EXE in your Doom2 directory.


If you are using the regular sersetup program, use the following parameters:

-file LAST.WAD RESORT.WAD -altdeath -skill 3


If you are using ser6, then make the following changes to your ser6.cfg
file:

DEVPARM=-file last.wad resort.wad
EPISODE=1
MAP=1
SKILL=3
DEATHMATCH=1
ALTDEATH=1
DOOM2=1

To play alone (boring), type:

doom2 -file LAST.WAD RESORT.WAD


This should be enough information for you to be able to play TLR. Read on
for further details....


========================
The Story of Asmodeus...
========================

It was agreed by the Management of the World Resort Fantasy Theme Park that
their artistic director was hard to work with.  He was moody and
argumentative, and they had kept him thus far only by virtue of his brilliant
mind.  It was he who had conceived the park's many areas: the Old West town,
the Roman Arena, the Shrine, the Funhouse...

He called himself Asmodeus, and he would sometimes sit cross-legged in the
middle of his worlds, with his eyes, focused on nothing, moving frantically
as if in REM. He could see something, but nobody knew what...

It was becoming clear that he would have to be removed.  His designs had
become chilling; his eccentric twists would seem to blur the distinction
between fantasy and reality.  His ideas no longer seemed safe.
The Management was worried.

After a short and argumentative meeting, Asmodeus was fired.  It had seemed
to him like just another abrasive interaction with the Management.  He took
no notice of the fact that he was supposed to leave, and it came as a
surprise when Security apprehended him as he headed for the Funhouse.
After Security dropped him outside the gate he stood there for several
minutes, staring with panic and fear through the gate at his park.
Then he disappeared.

The World Resort Fantasy Theme Park had problems.  Indeed, Asmodeus' designs
did blur the distinction between fantasy and reality, as strange events began
occuring.  In the Old West, a seemingly normal tourist began a shooting spree
that left two people dead and several others injured.  Panic ensued when a
lion that had been stolen from the zoo mysteriously ended up in the Roman
Arena. Inexplicably, two clowns hired for the Funhouse began incorporating
blood into their act.  A public relations man assured the public that they
had since been fired.

Despite the press releases and an aggressive marketing campaign, nothing was
going to save the park.  Speaking for the public's fast-growing fears, one
columnist wrote "Soon children are going to start disappearing..."  The World
Resort Fantasy Theme Park went bankrupt, and was boarded up and left to rot.

                       .               .               .

Several years later, there was an ad in a newspaper:

             ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
             ▒      EXPERIENCE THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE       ▒
             ▒                                              ▒
             ▒          Come see our new park,              ▒
             ▒          Where the chills are so real...     ▒
             ▒          It will be the last resort          ▒
             ▒          you'll ever need to see.            ▒
             ▒                                              ▒
             ▒              THE LAST RESORT                 ▒
             ▒                                              ▒
             ▒       GRAND OPENING:  DECEMBER, 1994         ▒
             ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒


You read the ad, and you were interested.  Now, just through the front door,
you are locked inside.  A voice warns you that only one vacationer will get
out alive.  The longer you stand there, the greater the chance that
it won't be you.

                        ---------/----------/---------


============
II. FEATURES
============

Description of files included in TLR-II.ZIP:

Name          Size (bytes)  Description
====          ============  ============

LAST.WAD    :    2,307,259  The main wad file containing everything but the
                            sprites.
RESORT0.WAD :      288,014  The pre-DMADDS sprite file. This is used to create
                            RESORT.WAD.
DMADDS11.EXE:       97,792  The program which creates the useable sprite file.
TLR_INFO.TXT:       28,510  This file.
TLR_INST.BAT:        1,955  The installation batch file which creates the
                            sprite file RESORT.WAD.
TLR_LMP.ZIP :       68,879  A collection of multiplayer .LMPs of TLR.

(RESORT.WAD):    3,860,406  This file will get created after you run
                            TLR_INST.BAT. It contains the new sprites.
              ============
       Total:    6,652,815

The Last Resort (TLR) is a Deathmatch only episode, designed to run
on Doom II version 1.7a. It contains the following:

                - Nine new levels from scratch.
                - Over 700k of new graphics.
                - More than 200k of new sprites.
                - Some new sounds for the ending.
                - A new soundtrack consisting of 4 new songs.
                - A total of 12 LMP Deathmatch demos (1.7a only)

Each level contains its own theme, its own unique design, and its own
deathmatch strategies. Since this is a deathmatch episode, there have
been many DM specific features that have been added:

        - Co-operative exits (and optional single exits for those of you who
          don't like the idea).
        - Several deathmatch scenarios available: weapons only, weapons &
          items, respawning monsters, etc.
        - "Opponent Indicators", for the larger levels. These help narrow
          down the hunt for your quarry.
        - Cages: Although there's a big weapon inside, you'll have to
          sacrifice 30 seconds to get it.
        - Moving sniper spots: These allow you to still shoot your opponent
          from a sniper spot, even if he is directly below you.
        - Special "Trap" areas that you can set on your opponent.
        - REAL bulletproof windows. Sure, you can see your enemy through the
          the window, but you can't shoot him/her.

============
DESIGN GOALS
============

Everyone who has played Deathmatch has their own personal preferences for
a deathmatch level. Some like small, frag-a-minute slaughterfest levels,
others prefer to hunt for their quarry, where a lower frag count is more
important. Some complain of co-operative exits, others want them. Some wish
the levels were simpler for their slower computers, others love to get wads
which require the power of a Pentium to run at full motion.

It was our goal to bring all these kinds of Deathmatch levels together in
one major episode, where each player can find a type of level he or she
shines in. We wanted each level to be unique in design, depth and strategy.


===================
PLAYING INFORMATION
===================

There are several methods to play TLR. Most of these can be chosen by the

skill level:

All levels have both co-operative and single player exits. To play with
co-operative exits, choose skill levels 1-3 (the single player exits are
blocked with a set of torches). If you don't like co-operative exits,
choose skill level 4 (the torches won't appear). To make exiting
co-operatively easier, there are two illuminated EXIT signposts (marked
EXIT 1 and EXIT 2), at each of the places where the two opponents should be
when exiting. Listed below is a summary of the different scenarios to play:

        Skill 1  :      Only weapons (intended for old DM rules), but since
                        it's the easy level, you get more ammo per weapon.
        Skill 2  :      As above, but with regular ammo per weapon.
        Skill 3  :      Weapons and items (for ALTDEATH). This is the
                        recommended skill level.
        Skill 4/5:      Weapons and items, but single exits are no longer
                        blocked.

Some people like playing with a few respawning monsters (like sargeants and
soldiers), so they have been added to each skill level. If you don't like
monsters while playing DM, use the -NOMONSTERS option. NOTE: We recommend you
leave the monsters in. The reason for this is that -NOMONSTERS will make the
incredible ending rather boring and uneventful. Besides, there are so few
monsters per level they're usually dead within the first minute.

Once you decide on what skill level to choose, you should decide how you plan
to play TLR. Because there are 9 whole new levels for DM play, it is
recommended you spend about 10 minutes on each level (with the -TIMER 10
option). Another way of playing is to end the level whenever a person first
reaches a certain number of frags. It differs from level to level, since
some levels have a very low frag count. The recommended frag count for each
level is in the DESCRIPTION OF LEVELS section.

You should also agree beforehand whether to end the level "Stocked Up" or
not. Usually the loser will want to get some ammo and weapons before he or
she decides to cooperatively exit for the next level. In our experience,
stocking-up is a waste of time, since the loser usually ends up dead anyway,
stocked-up or not.

One last note: We have not been lucky enough to play these levels with a
network, so we don't know how good or bad they'll be with 3 or 4 players.
Although this episode has been designed for up to 4 players, the rest of
this document is expressed from the point of view of 2-way Deathmatch (ie.
only two-player cooperative exits, not three or four player).


=====================
DESCRIPTION OF LEVELS
=====================

What follows is a detailed description of each of the Theme Park's levels.
The wise deathmatcher should study this section intently, along with learning
the levels before hand. The number in brackets next to the title is the
recommended frag count to reach before proceeding to the next level.


Level 1: HIGH NOON (4)
----------------------

The level is really broken up into two parts, the first part being the
actual "Gateway" to the Theme park. There are only four deathmatch starts,
and they are all in this small symmetrical room. There are, however, 12
teleports which bring you to various places in the Ghostown (the second part).

The second part is an old ghostown set in the wild west. Of the town's nine
buildings, there's a saloon, a sheriff's office complete with prison, and
a hotel. There are two first aid kits, two armours and several boxes of
bullets.

What makes this level unique is the fact that the only weapon you can use
is the pistol. All other weapons, including shotguns, are unavailable. This
makes for some interesting DM strategies:

        1. Your opponent only has a gun.  If you're at a high health level,
           it'll take MANY shots before he/she can frag you. Use this to
           your advantage.

        2. It's very easy to corner your opponent in most of the building's
           rooms. Use this with strategy 1, and you're sure to get a frag.

Designer's note: Yes, you will find it very hard and frustrating to use
only the pistol. Don't let this fact make you end the level sooner.
You'll get plenty of weapons on the later levels.


Level 2: THE CASTLE (6)
-----------------------

Welcome to Medieval Land! This dark level is set in a triangular castle,
with three main 'keeps' connected to each other by windowed passageways.

The best way to understand how to get the BFG is by watching the demo. The
procedure consists mainly of hitting a switch which lowers a lift in another
room, enabling you to fall into a pit (wherein lies the BFG).

In two of the keeps, you will notice a cage containing either the rocket
launcher or the plasma gun. If you enter the cage you're safe, but if you
get the weapon the cage will close for 30 seconds. I've been able to
get the weapon and exit before the door closed on me, but I haven't been
able to do it since. Hmmm - maybe it was in a dream...

Outside, on either side of the castle there are two sniper spots, with
teleports that enable you to go from one sniper spot to the other.

Designers Note: At first I didn't think the cage idea would work, and I
really didn't like being caught in there for 30 seconds. I figured the
cages would be ignored. I realized I was wrong when I noticed the amount
of dead bodies littered around the cages after a heavy DM session!


Level 3: THE ISLAND (10)
------------------------

This is the smallest and simplest of the levels, which also makes it the
fastest. No real need to describe anything here, just play it and you'll
see.

Designer's Note: I wrote this level for times when you need to pit two
Deathmatch rookies together. Since there's nothing to really learn
level-wise here, you won't waste your time telling them where to go or what
to do (back-seat Doomer syndrome).


Level 4: THE ARENA (7)
----------------------

In this level you must assume that your opponent is always at full health and
full ammo. The reason for this is I figured an arena level would only
work well if there was plenty of ammo around to unload on your opponent.

The arena is divided into several parts: the main arena in the center, the
health depots in the north and south corners, and the ammo depots in the east
and west corners. There is plenty of health and ammo to go around; the
question is whether you're able to get there in time or not.

You can quickly get around the level by means of teleporting to the
center area (where the BFG is) and lowering the silver wall.

The passageways which connect the depots are moving sniper spots. For each
sniper spot, there are three windows, one on the top, one in the middle, and
one at ground level. The floors start moving only when you cross the blue
line. These spots are handy for when your opponent comes too close for you
to shoot him/her at that height (almost right below you). If this happens,
you move to the lower window and peg him/her off at ground level. You can
exit through the middle window.


Level 5: THE PRACTICE ROOM (4)
------------------------------

This level is divided into 5 parts: North contains the shotgun and chainsaw,
south contains the rocket launcher, east contains the plasma gun, west
contains the chaingun and the central area contains health, ammo, etc.

For most of the weapons, you'll need to activate a switch to lower the
lift, platform, or diving board it's on.

You'll also notice several shooting ranges. You can shoot them if you want,
but all that will happen is that they will move up. They get reset when you
leave the room. At first I thought these were kind of useless, and were there
entirely for show. Lately, however, I noticed that they make a unique sound
when they're reset, which helped give away the opponent's position.

This is a pretty big level, so I added an "opponent indicator" in the center.
The opponent indicator consists of four arrow-shaped platforms pointing
north, south, east and west. If an opponent walks across one of the many
linedefs littered around the level, the corresponding platform will fall for
three seconds and then raise, thus pointing in the general direction of where
he/she is.


Level 6: VERSAILLES (3)
-----------------------

Well, it isn't an exact replica of the Versailles Palace in France, but I
consider it a decent attempt. Believe it or not, there are some parts of
this level which I took from an authentic garden plan of the palace!

This is a very big level, yet it is also very open. There are no mazes or
dead ends, so finding your opponent isn't as time consuming as you would
expect. I didn't put in any opponent indicators for the very reason that this
level is meant for hunting. If you want a quick way to find your quarry,
just wait around the northern part of the gardens, since the three major
weapons are there.

For those of you who complain that the green player sticks out like a sore
thumb compared to the other coloured opponents, this level is for you. The
trees will act as perfect camouflage.

Designer's notes: Because of the large number of sprites in this level, you
will get some disappearing sprites in some areas. Sorry. Also, If you want
to see the longest fireball ever shot in Doom, go up where the rocket
launcher is, and wait.


Level 7: THE SHRINE (4)
-----------------------

The shrine is different from the most of the other levels in that each
weapon is hard to get. All the weapons are available, but most of them
will require some sort of skill to attain. It's a bit too complicated to
describe how to get each weapon here, and I thought it would be better to
show it through a demo.

Designer's Note:  This was my very first DM level. I released it originally
as THETA-4.WAD in the spring. There have been a few changes to the level
since then, but the layout is pretty much the same.


Level 8: THE BALLROOM (6)
-------------------------

This level is almost as small as The Island, yet it doesn't have the any of
the symmetry that made The Island so easy to navigate. Apart from the actual
ballroom, there is a garden in the back, which contains several secrets.
There are three pillars which start moving when you get the chainsaw, which
is on a table that is lowered when a switch is activated. Once these pillars
start moving, you can jump on them to retrieve either the rocket launcher,
the medical kit, or teleport to the area where the BFG is.

The level is also riddled with little nooks and crannies, some of which
contain bonuses. To exit the level, one player must stand outside the
exit room, since the exit switch is on the outside of the door that closes
when the inside switch is activated (see demo).

Designer's Note: My younger brother Greg designed The Ballroom. Also, for all
of you OLD Genesis fans, you may recognize that the music for this level
is "Apocalypse in 9/8" from the album Foxtrot.


Level 9: THE FUNHOUSE (6)
-------------------------

Since this is the last level, I took the liberty of going a little bit
overboard on the design. It is a big, slow level, but I believe it was
worth it. Thankfully there's an "opponent indicator", which you can see only
from the map. The arrows will light up whenever a particular linedef has
been crossed (as in The Practice Room).

There are several long passageways which have a closing door in middle. This
is handy if you're being chased - you run through, the door closes,
separating you from your hunter. What's more is that there are several
hidden cubby-holes through the paintings, which you can hide in while your
enemy has gone to press the button to re-open the door. This gives you a
perfect ambush shot at him/her. Be careful though - the weary deathmatcher
will not take a chance, and will probably shoot at the paintings just in
case there's somebody on the other side.

There are two more cages in this level, although they're more like traps. You
do get a nice weapon, but you're stuck for 30 seconds.

In the centre, there are four square rooms, which are the Funhouse's Hall of
Mirrors. No, this is not a bug, this is an actual Hall of Mirrors! You will
see several clones of either you or your opponent, but in each of the rooms,
there is one space which you can hide in. If you stay still, your opponent
won't know the difference between you or your clones. This works well more
for hiding than for ambushing.

The BFG is located in the centre of the Hall of Triangles. It doesn't take
long to memorize which way to go, although at first you will find it nice
and frustrating.

The curtain room to the south is fun, since you can run and shoot through
the curtains. I'd like to thank David Lynch's Twin Peaks for inspiration
for this room.

There is no single player exit for this level. Since it's the last level,
and there's a special ending, I figured it should end with both players.
After the ending there's a part I put in just for your viewing pleasure.
All I will say is this: cross the blue line, wait a few seconds, and you
will be safe to watch the carnage from as close as you want...

Designer's note: At first I didn't think this level worked very well as a
deathmatch level, but later found out that it just took more time than normal
to "learn" it. As it turns out, the more I play it, the more I think it was
the best of the bunch.


Further Notes
-------------

To make the player understand each of the different levels more clearly, a
collection of 12 .LMPs have been included with TLR. There are three .LMPs
which replace the demos in the original wad file, and 9 others (one for each
level) that are included in TLR_LMP.ZIP

In them, you'll see us use most of the level's weapons, secrets and
strategies. To see the .LMPs, you must first unzip the file TLR_LMP.ZIP
in your DOOM2 directory. Once that's done, enter the following parameters:

doom2 -file last.wad resort.wad -playdemo filename

where filename is the name of the .LMP (remember NOT to put the extension).
Also, in case you didn't know, F12 will switch to the other person's view,
and both players (green and indigo) will appear on the map.

Just to let you know, most of the deathmatch .lmps were recorded by
Michael Houston against Andrew Warrington (mostly from Michael's point of
view).

=======================
THANK YOU'S & APOLOGIES
=======================

We would like to thank the following people & companies, without which this
would either not have been possible or much harder to accomplish:

id Software:  Naturally, for creating the most re-playable computer game
              in history.

The DEU    :  For DEU 5.21 GCC and the BSP node builder.
design team

Jeff Miller:  For Wad Tools 1.00, which helped me find the directory entries
              I needed.

Bill Neisius: For Dmgraph and Dmaud, without which there would be no sounds
              or graphics in TLR.

Bernd Kreimeir: For DMADDS, without which there would not have been a new
                baddy at the end.

Autodesk    : For Autodesk Animator, which made splicing together the
              graphics all the more easier.

"Adler"     : Who hacked Deu so I could port TLR to Doom II.


Local thanks:
-------------

Greg Houston:   For graphics, cartoons, ideas and rice-crispy treats.

Andrew Warrington: For going over all the levels meticulously, writing the
                   storyline, and being an easy frag.

David Sears:    For writing the music, making suggestions, and making
                stoopid jokes.

The Clairmont:  For providing the beer, and a comfortable environment to
                gather our thoughts before a hefty DM session.

David Moloney:  For nothing.




I have an apologies section to beg forgivness for some of the design
flaws of TLR:

 - I'm sorry I only put in 278K of sprites. I should've put more, due to the
   fact that you always get a > 3 1/2 Mb sprite file, no matter how many
   sprites you use. Having just 278K doesn't seem (at least to me) to justify
   the extra hard disk space.

 - Sorry for those of you with slower computers. This has been tested on a
   486-33 DX with 8 mb, and have only experienced minor slow downs. If
   enough people request it, I'll post a multiple-wad version with separate
   wads for sounds, music, lmps, graphics and levels.

 - To those of you lucky enough to play this episode on a network, please
   give me some suggestions, reviews and annoyances about TLR. Sorry if
   the levels turn out to be too 2-player specific.

 - Sorry to all those people I forgot to thank up in the previous section.


=================
MISC. AUTHOR INFO
=================

Michael "Hunter" Houston, aged 23:
([e-mail])

A Mathematics student at Concordia Univeristy, Michael is well aware of the
fact that too much Dooming can lead to a pathetic GPA, which is why this
project has taken so long to be released. Before TLR, he released The LMP
Hall of Fame: Collector's Edition, which was a compilation of all the best
LMP demos recorded for DOOM 1.2. Not only is he a prolific doom-designer,
he is also a prolific (and unbeaten) deathmatch player. He uses the keyboard
only.


Greg "Wild Fire" Houston, aged 18:
(c/o [e-mail])

The younger brother of Michael, highly talented in both Deathmatch and
art, was more than eager to incorperate his wild and cartoon-influenced
drawings into Doom. He is currently in a Creative Arts program at
Dawson College.


Andrew "Delay" Warrington, aged 20:
(c/o [e-mail])

Being the newest Doomer of our group, Andrew's DM morale has suffered an
extensive amount of blows through fragging. This kind of treatment has turned
him into a very cold-hearted opponent, although he still tends to spend too
much time typing chat messages than actually playing.


David "Davinator" Sears, aged 24:
([e-mail])

Besides having a fond interest in the find craftmenship of Black and
Deckker chainsaws, Dave's other talents lie in music and sound recording.
Three of the four pieces included with TLR were of his own creation. He is
currently at McGill University in Sound Recording. He has a hebephrenic
sense of the absurd.


David "Rudy" Moloney, aged 23:
(c/o [e-mail])

Moved to the other end of the country.


==========================
COPYRIGHTS & FINAL REMARKS
==========================

If you want, you may incorporate any of these levels into releases of your
own, as long as you have a good reason to and let me know about it. If you
do include stuff from TLR, please give us authors some credit.

We'd really like to get some sort of feedback about how good or bad you
found TLR (what your favorite level was, your most-hated level, etc).
I've decided to make TLR Postcard-ware. If you enjoyed TLR, please send
us a postcard from where you live. Here's the address:

                The Last Resort Design Team
                259 Malcolm Circle
                Dorval, Quebec
                H9S 1T6
                CANADA

We're serious- Send us one! I mean, postcards are great: they're small, so
you don't have to be forced to write much, they're the cheapest things to
send in the mail, plus they have a pretty picture on the other side. When
was the last time you saw a software registration card with a nice pic
of some glorious landmark?

So, with that in mind, we hoped you enjoyed our humble Doom add-on, and
wish you all a high frag count in the Deathmatch sessions to come.


- The Last Resort design team.