BLOODBATH: HELL'S DEEPEST
CREDITS, EXTRA INFORMATION, and DEVELOPER COMMENTARY

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PLAYTESTED IN ---
	- GZDoom v4.4.2 & v4.5.0 (primary testing port)
	- GLBoom+ 2.5.1.7 (dsda-doom, -complevel 9) (secondary testing port)

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CREDITS ---

PhobosAnomaly for being my go-to playtester, supporter, and a great friend. :>
Clippy, Rivi, Soulless, and Terminus for their playthroughs and feedback. Regardless of gameplay style. :)
Everybody else who has given this mapset a shot, including you :)

Thanks to the folks who made the MIDIs. Links and credits are below.
Afrit sprite was ripped from Scythe 2 and stats slightly modified (spoilers).
Credit to ukiro, creator of the OTEX texture pack, for the MAP31 sky
Nihilistic for pointing out some errors and fixing multiplayer-related problems

Inspiration comes from Scythe's E3, many of Ribbiks' debuts, and other high-quality mapsets.

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MUSIC ---

TITLE SCREEN (D_DM2TTL) 	- "Courtyard of the Damned" by James Paddock - a mashup of "Sinister" and
				"Waiting for Romero to Play", both originally by Robert Prince 
STATS SCREEN (D_DM2INT) 	- "Safe Room Theme" from Resident Evil Zero, sequenced by OCRE
TEXT SCREEN (D_READ_M) 	- "Cacoballad" by Fookerton
MAP01 (D_RUNNIN) 	- "Spiritual Hatred" by James Paddock - a mashup of "Getting Too Tense" and
				"Donna to the Rescue", both originally by Robert Prince
MAP02 (D_STALKS) 	- "Mountain" by Fookerton
MAP03 (D_COUNTD)	- "Unruly Fortress" by James Paddock - a mashup of "Suspense" and "Untitled",
				both originally by Robert Prince
MAP04 (D_BETWEE)	- "Hatshepsut" by James Paddock
MAP05 (D_DOOM)		- "Rune Acquired" from Quake 64, sequenced by Jay Reichard (slightly modified by me)
MAP06 (D_THE_DA)	- "Briefing" from Descent 2, sequencer unknown
MAP07 (D_SHAWN) 	- "Safe Room Theme" from Resident Evil Zero, sequenced by OCRE
MAP31 (D_EVIL)		- "Dusk Imp" and "Square Soul", both by Fookerton
MAP32 (D_ULTIMA)	- "Safe Room Theme" from Resident Evil Zero, sequenced by me

Fookerton's MIDI dump where I found his tracks: 
https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/105947-sharing-some-midi/

Paddock's site: https://www.jamespaddockmusic.com/

MAP05 & MAP07/DM2INT tracks were found on vgmusic.com
MAP06 track can be found anywhere, it seems...

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Maps in order of when they were made (a few were made at the same time):	

Truth Untold, Reckless Defense, Aftermath, Gehenna's Gate, 
Merciless Allotment, Against the Spirits, Aquatic Sanctuary, Ellipse of the Damned


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MAP 01: TRUTH UNTOLD ---

Ironically, this is the first map I made for the WAD, with it being a first Hell level in mind, and actually 
has a substantial amount of detail in comparison. 
I wanted to ramp up my playstyle and mapping style with notably difficult and tightly-constrained maps. 
This one I think is a great start, showing the player that we're not messing around here. Although it does 
introduce a lot of enemies at once, in my defense this is just a mapset rather than a fully fleshed-out WAD,
so I don't see the purpose of a monster introduction curve that I did with First Blood.

Some maps, like this one, begin with dropping you in with the use of a pitch-black conveyor belt at the very start.
This was inspired by some maps from Going Down by cyriak.

No hitscanners, no medikits or stimpacks. Just guns, ammo, powerups, health and armor bonuses, and a
plentiful amount of demons to kill.

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This map was first of a 2-map demo I released for Bloodbath. Clippy played it on UV and loved this one, though
struggled with health and armor all the way, with luck on his side half the time. Biodegradable attempted to
play UV but gave up after having gone to the southeastern rooms first - and then gave it a shot on HMP. He 
liked Gehenna's Gate better, finding this map to be a bit more "tedious" than the other one, but found HMP
difficulty to be fairer. Which is great. I'm glad he and BoxY gave these a shot on HMP, and it allows for a lot
more tweaking.

I can see where Bio was going...as a couple rooms contained several Cacodemons and other bullet sponges that
you would sit there and shoot without having to move that much. BoxY said that, while the map looked 
nonlinear, it was pretty clear there was a certain route you had to take in order to survive. Admittedly I don't
look around for other strategies or take into consideration what other players can potentially do.

With that feedback, I decided to nerf this map's combat, and take out a number of enemies that presented 
zero challenge, just extended door-fighting. With this being a first map, I definitely had to go a little lighter.


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MAP02: MERCILESS ALLOTMENT ---

All the health in this WAD is in the form of health bonuses and powerups, thus they all count towards the
item total. There is one megasphere at the beginning of this map. The title is "Merciless Allotment". 
Make of that what you will.

I made the initial outside area long before mapping the rest - I had no idea what else to do for quite some time.
Then, while working on MAP06, I came up with some ideas for this one. I wanted to make it a small and short
map, with a monster count less than 80 or 90.

So, this is more or less a speedmap in episodic format. Two keys, two doors to unlock the exit. The outside area 
is kind of inspired by Drake O'Brien's maps in TNT. (of all things, yes)

SIDE NOTE: Difficulty settings do more than just changing actors in this map! Check out the other difficulties 
and notice the changes!


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MAP 03: GEHENNA'S GATE ---

A House of Pain-esque map with strategic and constrained encounters. Think twice before you make your
next move, and be ready for the worst. Secrets are recommended for this one, as you will be sent
to a couple "trials" here and there...bring only your skills and the proper weaponry for the job.

The "trials" were mainly inspired by the final fight of MAP05: Sphinx Rising from Stardate 20x7, a very 
purple mapset by Ribbiks. Except these ones are not as dickish, trust me. :P

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This map was the second of a 2-map demo I released for Bloodbath. Clippy played both on UV and enjoyed
Truth Untold more, taking serious use of the BFG in this map. Biodegradable and BoxY played both maps
on HMP, and liked this map more. Although that's probably because of the abundance of resources there
was on lower difficulties at the time. 

The final fight on UV (and probably the one before it) is a BITCH. An INTENDED BITCH. 
Originally it was a LOT more extreme, a lot more RNG-based, but even before I released the demo map 
I had to tone down the teleporting speeds a lot more than originally intended. You'll know what I mean 
if you get there, and you're playing on Ultra-Violence. It's completely different on lower difficulties...
and honestly, thank god for that.


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MAP 04: ELLIPSE OF THE DAMNED ---

All I had in mind initially was a little round building you would have to work your way around. Then I noticed
the similarity between this and Doom II's Circle of Death, then one thing led to another:

I purposefully made this map lenient on berserk, and only containing a shotgun, SSG, and chaingun, knowing
this one would precede Reckless Defense. If you use your berserk often, mainly in the first few minutes of
the map, you most likely won't have any ammo issues.

In short, the map is straightforward and very compact. So much so that I, for some reason, dread
playing this one...while I was making and testing it I was getting such bad RNG and such while trying
to fight and punch everything. It was not going well at all. But that's a rant for another day.


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MAP 05: RECKLESS DEFENSE ---

Okay, I'll admit, this map is a lot more experimental than anything. Special gimmicks aplenty, I wanted to make
a map that would carry the feeling of Hell actively screwing with you. Silent teleporters, sound-efficient traps,
you name it.

The final area, surrounded by rocks in a circular layout, mainly came from Valiant's fifth episode with similar
map layouts. This was to lessen the sense of being inside a box, similar to MAP12 from First Blood.

SPOILERS:
The first area full of barrels is duplicated for each player, 1-4. I'm not sure how this'll work for Players 3-4, or
servers with more than 4 players...but there should be no way for any player to get stuck in those areas. 

Unfortunately, it is impossible to get 100% items both on single-player and multiplayer. In multiplayer, if you
do not have four or more players, it will be impossible to get 100% kills. Sometimes you just gotta make
sacrifices to make the gimmicks work.


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MAP 06: AGAINST THE SPIRITS ---

I feel like this map has been the lead-up to all the maps I've done in the past several months. Only that long,
and I've made THIS. A sprawling complex made out of slime, metal, and brick that totally isn't an homage to
God Machine or anything. The gameplay is in the form of encounter-based branching nonlinearity with 
semi-slaughter setpieces that will take some serious strategizing (alliteration lol), especially on higher difficulties.

The nonlinearity is in the form of key-gathering in any order: There are three keycards you can obtain at any
time, after you push through the traps they spring. Each keycard will gain access to weapons, and encounters 
that will grant the corresponding skull key...but only if you prove your worth.

Also I decided to have a little fun with lights and voodoo dolls. I finally figured out the fake ceiling and
floor stuff in this one, too. Kudos to Outrageous Videos for his saveless playthroughs on this map and fixing
up a few UV-Max issues.

When the last of the demons die, and the sounds of Romero's severed head echo in the distance,
you will have won. You will be able to ascend back up to the surface of Earth...


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MAP 07: AFTERMATH (THANKS FOR PLAYING!) ---

You ascend from the deepest reaches of Hell's domain. You have conquered the underworld,
and ready to return to the bright green fields of Earth.

But on your way up, you don't hear anything. There is no sun in sight. Not yet, at least.
You are nearly about to reach the surface, but with no sign of peace on the horizon.

What could possibly have happened while you were down there, keeping the demons at bay? 
Where are the sounds of bliss and tranquility? Where is your ticket home?

Sorry, bud. The train has already left.


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MAP 31: AQUATIC SANCTUARY ---

Could've sworn this was a hell-themed map...no, wait...it was all just a dream. Or was it?