Demon Gate Mega Collection

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Demon Gate Mega Collection / DemonGateMegaCollection.bin / text / a41_spdm.txt < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1995-05-26 | 18.9 KB | 345 lines

WARNING---WARNING---WARNING---WARNING---WARNING---WARNING---WARNING This PWAD is the single player/deathmatch version of a41_coop, the first co-op pnly episode for doom. It is intended for single players who do not have access to a four-player network or to three other players who are willing to play co-operatively. IF YOU CAN PLAY FOUR-PLAYER CO-OP, DO NOT USE THIS PWAD. Use a41_coop for full enjoyment. Deathmatch starts and weapons are included, but I think only M7, and MAYBE M8 and M9 will be any fun. Try warping to those levels. Two and Three player co-op games are not really supported in either version, due to four-player puzzles in a41_coop and deathmatch weapons in a41_spdm. Sorry. WARNING---WARNING---WARNING---WARNING---WARNING---WARNING---WARNING ==> Be sure to read "Important Play Info" below before playing. ==================================================================== Title : All for One - the First Co-op Only Episode Single-player/deathmatch version Filename : a41_spdm.WAD Author : Chris Hill Release Date : 26 May 1995 Posting From : shill@post.its.mcw.edu E-mail Address : ChrisAlanH@aol.com Misc. Author Info : Played doom almost every day for a year in preparation for this project. Single-player notes : The puzzles from a41_coop have been significantly modified to make these levels playable by a single player. Mostly doors that would close now do not, lifts with remote switches became directly controllable, and teleports were added to enable access to all areas. There are some switches that now do nothing, and a few puzzles that require a lot of running around, where four players could cover all stations at once. Overall this may seem a bit strange, so keep in mind that you're playing modified levels. I also encourage cheating. You should never need to "clip" through walls to succeed, but liberal use of "god-mode" to boost health is recommended, since the monsters were planned for four players. During testing, when the players split up, they tended to die. Deathmatch notes : These levels are not planned for deathmatch play. The deathmatch starts are not ideal because of this. Some areas do not offer the kind of non- linear connectivity that is conducive to death- match play. If this bothers you, go download one of the VERY many deathmatch arenas. M7 may actually be good for deathmatch, as MAY M8 and M9. Feel free to warp to these levels if the early ones play as badly in this mode as I think they will. On any of the levels I recommend starting with a truce until all significant areas are opened. [The rest of this section is quoted unmodified from a41_coop.txt.] Software requirements : Registered Doom, at least 1.666 (see Bugs below) Incomplete tests show that 1.9 and 1.9 "Special" also may not work due to missing textures in the doom.wad. Really, this was only thoroughly tested with 1.666 Description : It seems that Mars wasn't the only world under attack from hell. Your squad of marines has been dispatched to a distant planet where Hell has established a beach- head. You awake from cryo-sleep to the realization that something has gone horribly wrong. Hell knew you were coming. They've tried to stop you. Your ship is under their control. It's all down to the four of you. First you must attempt to regain control of the ship. Access to the Armory and shuttle is blocked. The Power Core is overloaded and there's a hull breach in Ship's Services. Multiple Security and Safety fields block your progress. Perhaps you can find an alternate route to the shuttle and use it to abandon ship and head for the Station that orbits your target world. And how did the demons get here, anyway? Once aboard the station, you must find some way to get down to the surface of the planet and attack the demons on their home ground. Justification : The reason no one plays co-op Doom is that it's unnecessary. Almost all non-deathmatch PWADs are set up for a single player, with the co-op game modified, if at all, to include more monsters and MAYBE a co-op exit. Players beyond the first are superfluous. Not here. I've worked to create a variety of puzzles and switch games that require at least two and often all four players to complete, while still allowing the sort of carnage that can only be found in a multi- player game. I hope you enjoy solving them. Important Play Info : Each player in this game has a role to fulfill within his squad. Green: Scout/Pointman Indigo and Tan: Fire Support/Wingmen Red: Heavy Weapons/Anchorman Weapons access is severely limited until you gain entry to the Armory, at which point weapon selection serves to reinforce these roles. Keep this in mind when beginning play. In order to successfully complete this episode, several goals must be achieved. First, communication between all players is vitally important. Four computers in one room with all players having easy access to each other is best. Intercoms or conference calls on a voice line are still tolerable. Testing has shown that communicating via the keyboard Type command is inadequate and distracting, since messages will fly by too fast to be of benefit. Resist the impulse to use the keyboard - even shouting down a hall is preferable. Second, the players must be committed to playing as a group. Again, testing has shown that using single-player or deathmatch tactics will lead to lack of success and enjoyment. If you act on your deathmatch-honed instinct to shoot another player as soon as you see him, you are not ready to play this episode. Stick together, watch each other's backs, communicate, and consider who can best use any supplies you find. Be aware of any messages you find in the game, and apply the information your surroundings. For example, if a message says that you'll find the siren's emergency shutoff in the ship's laundry, and you later enter a room with dryers and steam presses, odds are you'll find the siren shutoff there. There are several mazes or maze like areas in these levels. Use the auto-map, both to sort out the twisty passages and to co-ordinate action with the other players. Saving and restoring is a pain in multi-player games, and I've added re-supply rooms at the start points on the tougher levels. Death doesn't have to mean restoring in a co-op game; generally, you should keep playing despite repeated deaths. This may mean you should reserve some supplies until you are about to exit a level, so you don't die loaded and come back to find nothing. Testers completed the whole episode with one restore, after a week- long break. They died a lot. Still, saving at the start of the level is always advisable (see "bugs", below). Having said all that, there are a few places where it's possible to screw up so badly that you cannot continue. I detest death-pits in single player games, but in a multi-player game it is not unreasonable to put a few characters into situations from which other players must rescue them. Still, if all four of you jump into the same pit, it's "Game over, man!" There are only a few of these, but messing them up will require a restore. Additional Credits to : Josh Fallon (NIGHTFAL) for the night sky texture. Marc Wensauer (AODSOUND) for the shotgun noise. Thanks to : Brendon Wyber and Raphaël Quinet for DEU, Colin Reed for BSP, Jens Hykkelbjerg for RMB, Olivier Montanuy for Deutex, Brian McKimens for the Line Types document, and the iD guys for a year of obsession. REM (the whole catalogue) and The Jam (Live Jam) for providing me with music during the project. Special thanks to : My wife Susan for keeping me housed, fed, and stable; my son Jon for putting up with my distraction; Disney videos for keeping Jon distracted. My testers: Tom Berna Matt Hill David Becker extra thanks to Mike Haefner for coming through, and especially Carl Stika, for the network access. Inspirational thanks to : The Authors of the PWADs that kept me playing this damned game: Michael Kelsey - RETURN Daniel Hornbaker - APOCALYP - a well constructed episode just when I needed one Justin Fisher - ALIENS_TC - !! Eddie Nguyen - UCA Series - for telling a story within a WAD. But where's the next part!? Ethan Brodsky - CRUSHER Norman Scott - THEKEEP2 - the BEST castle map Andy Chen & Claude Martins - INVADE series - the best "starship" levels Rand and Steven Phares - CLEIM10 - the best M8 Tom Neff - MAVERICK - the railings Peter Grundy - CADET - the best teleport pens Alberto Barsella - DEADBASE - the concept of remote sectors Scott McCreary - BITEDUST - the ladders and Leo Martin Lim - UAC_DEAD, the hands down best PWAD yet. Play these WADs. Special Curses to : IDE Hard drives in general (2 weeks) MIDI and MUS files (2-3 weeks minimum) X-COM (3 weeks and counting) ================================================================ * Play Information * Episode and Level # : E1M1-9 Single Player : Yes Cooperative 2-4 Player : No; play a41_coop.wad for four player games Deathmatch 2-4 Player : Yes, but not tested. Try M7, 8, or 9. Difficulty Settings : Yes, all; UV is exceptionally U and V Diff. levels are unaltered from a41_coop. Cheat for extra health. New Sounds : Yes, 1 sound New Graphics : Yes, a few textures New Music : No; see a41_mus.wad Demos Replaced : None * Construction * Base : New episode from scratch Editor(s) used : DEU 5.2 DEUGCC 5.2 BSP 1.2x RMB 2.1 alpha DEUtex 3.1 dmgraph dmaud musplay midi2mus Windows Paint Build Time : Each level took about 7-10 days, except M6 which I'd rather not discuss, and M4 which was 5 days with 3 months between them. Overall 5 months, with numerous digressions. Known Bugs : The occasional instance of ceiling leakage, mostly on M5, but not where you can see it w/o "no clipping". M4 has a special sound effect that rarely times out right. If it does, it's really cool. If it's early or late it's still OK, but kinda weird. Occasional door sounds when no door has been activated on M2 and M8. No big deal. M6 and M9 are quite large and may require a fast system to run well in net play. M6, M8, and M9 have enough things that saving may be problematic, even with 1.666. This is part- icularly true at UV; M6 at UV is not saveable until you've gathered a lot of stuff. Except for that case, saving right at the start of these levels should be OK, but I'd also recommend saving right before exiting M3, M5, and M7. These are smaller, and unless you've left all the stuff behind and died a LOT, they should be OK. M8 has a few bits that, during their brief operation, look really bad. The players should be nowhere near them, however, when they go off. M8 has crashed the game with a number of curious errors, including P_CrossSubSector and R_Project Sprite. This seems to have been due to excessive sprawl, and is under control so far as I've been able to test. Please alert me if it fails to run for you. This PWAD requires DOOM 1.666 at least. 1.2 will fail in a number of ways - lots of HOM, moires, and broken savegame buffers on at least M6 and M9. It was attempted with 1.9 "Special", but several textures seemed to be missing from the IWAD. No telling if this will carry on to the release version. It was not tested with 1.9 "normal". * Copyright / Permissions * Authors MAY NOT use these levels as a base to build additional levels. Authors are encouraged to explore the ideas behind co-op levels. Authors are Especially, Explicity, and Emphatically FORBIDDEN from including any of these levels in any sort of "Best of" combo WAD, or fiddling with REJECT 1.x to release a deathmatch-optimized version in an uncredited combo with, say, some popular movie monster graphics stolen from a different PWAD. You MAY distribute this WAD, provided you include this file, with no modifications. You may distribute this file in any electronic format (BBS, etc. but NOT CD) as long as you include this file intact and no charge is levied other than the basic connect charge for an on-line service. If you want to include this episode on a for-profit compilation, contact me for explicit permission. Permission to profit from my work is explicitly DENIED in all other cases. Violation will lead to loud public denouncement. The author eagerly awaits feedback. Please direct e-mail to the AOL address above. I'm interested in .LMPs, but please e-mail first. * Where to get this WAD * FTP sites: ftp.cdrom.com and its mirrors. Other: AOL in the PC games library (after a few months). Compuserve shortly.