DescentBB

Meh. I don't see it ever being fun to play Descent on a mobile with a touchscreen. Too many input sources needed, which the phone will never provide.

Anyway, I thought just now that since we're bit stunted for the time being as far as editing the OP goes, we could use this time to improve on the existing levels that need it. Such as Lightwolf's levels. Some of you who have access to dropbox could get on it and do some secondary mapping, tweaking and fine-tuning

I can still keep a list of anything we receive.
It's not likely to be that much...

Alter-Fox wrote:I can still keep a list of anything we receive.
It's not likely to be that much...

Yeah, not without my personal prodding

Xfing wrote:Meh. I don't see it ever being fun to play Descent on a mobile with a touchscreen. Too many input sources needed, which the phone will never provide.

I've come up with a way to simplify that to two D-pads (though one controls weapons) and a few buttons. Basically you use the left D-pad to control your F/B/turning/afterburner, right D-pad to control your 3 weapons (counting bombs as separate weapons), headlight, and E/S Converter, and buttons on the top for bank, auto-align (side and mine variant), and automap. Double-tap a turning key to strafe.

Edit: Also primary/secondary/bomb cycling buttons - that is a lot of inputs, isn't it?

Xfing wrote: Anyway, I thought just now that since we're bit stunted for the time being as far as editing the OP goes, we could use this time to improve on the existing levels that need it. Such as Lightwolf's levels. Some of you who have access to dropbox could get on it and do some secondary mapping, tweaking and fine-tuning

Go ahead.

Foxy? Naphtha? You guys are good at this kind of thing

I looked at the list based on some crazy thought, and I concluded (if my math/basic observation skill is correct):

There are 60 levels and 8 designers. If everyone (including Xfing) could only do 5 levels (including secrets), then we would be 20 levels short. So unless X wants to do 20 extra levels, we either need to extend the level limit or bring in extra designers. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

We know this. We're working on it.
Although, I was under the impression you were off the project by now.

Awright, back home at last! Oh joy.

These 2 months have passed quite uneventfully but no harm done, I'll get to micromanaging and send out some PMs in the near future.

I gotta post an apology, I haven't worked on a map in a looooong time. Don't get me wrong, I still plan on doing them! Just life got in the way, I graduated college, moved away from home, and got a full-time job. I've still got the ideas for my remaining maps floating around in my head though, don't worry! I hope you guys are doing well!

Same here, if I can get a good idea for a sol level.
Was my Ceres level good enough to be retextured and re-released as another level?

Meh, might as well try.

Edit: Ok, maybe not all of the life stuff, but I haven't worked on a level in a while, at least not one to be released to anyone anytime soon...

Umm... Lightwolf.
I was under the impression this project didn't need anything more from you.
Course you're still welcome to come in here and discuss.
...
I was under the impression you got a PM from Xfing about that... I've got a PM from him saying he sent it to you.

I never got a PM from him... and either way, I still have one level left.

Huh... well I apologise then, I must have misread something.
Make it a good one.
By the way, I'm smack in the middle of replaying the old games and some of their mods in anticipation for Overload. So if you copy I will catch you.

No worries, I got over that a while ago
Of course, I may accidentally make something a little similar... if something is too similar, just lemme know and I will change it.
And I am starting to forumlate an idea, though it may be a little while until I act on it. Also gonna have to look at the listing and decide which level has the right texture scheme (where applicable).

Speaking of textures, I thought of (as in looked at Revenge O' Dravis) a possible tecture scheme for Umbriel Tholin Research: green rock/lab. I also looked for the other untextured Sol levels and didn't find anything.

And no, I am not doing Umbriel. I am leaning more towards Varuna (again) based on recommended textures (but a little orangier), but I still haven't completely made up my mind.

Edit: I looked at a random DOOM thing, and apparently brown is a good texture for Ganymede Outpost (which happens to actually be the name of the DOOM level in question).

I'm sorry, I don't remember if I actually sent a PM to you or not but yeah - as far as your contributions go, we're good for now. Make no mistake, we'll need to do some serious editing even on those levels of yours that have been accepted in order for them to meet our standards.

I was thinking about starting on something new too. Bit busy with real life at the moment though. I wonder how homeyduh is doing, he didn't reply to my PM. A shame, I really want more levels from him.

BTW for the money earned abroad I got a new, fairly powerful PC, so now I might try playing some XL.

Just had a bit of an interesting idea: What if every door had D1 door sounds, and not just the D1 ones?

LightWolf wrote:Just had a bit of an interesting idea: What if every door had D1 door sounds, and not just the D1 ones?

Just about the most random, haphazard and honestly pointless thing I've heard in a long while.

What would that ever accomplish?

I dunno. Just a wandering thought.
Seems kinda silly for this particular project in retrospect, but it could work for a different project...

I, uh... know there might be a history, but... would it kill us to be a little polite?

Sirius wrote:I, uh... know there might be a history, but... would it kill us to be a little polite?

Well, there are no mods around, so guess we need to keep the order by ourselves a little. Derailing and irrelevant suggestions is not what we need right now, what we need are some levels! Been PMing people, but many seem to have gone AWOL. Blimey.

Xfing wrote:As far as your contributions go, we're good for now.

Xfing wrote:...what we need are some levels!

Too bad I can't remedy that issue...

Naah, last time you tried it didn't work.
Just relax and remember you have got one in for sure, even if it will be modified pretty heavily. That's not so bad for a relative novice.
...
And just think, when the mission's out you won't have spoilers!

Alter-Fox wrote:Naah, last time you tried it didn't work.
Just relax and remember you have got one in for sure, even if it will be modified pretty heavily. That's not so bad for a relative novice.
...
And just think, when the mission's out you won't have spoilers!

Actually he's got three in

Right now there's a bit of a dry period, most of the more seasoned designers are preoccupied at the moment. Well, I might make something, but I only have conceptual ideas for Solar System levels, and there's already an overrepresentation of my levels in that section

Actually, I have four.

I am currently getting mixed signals about the issue, so I'll probably just try a Sol level and see what happens from there.

LightWolf wrote:Actually, I have four.

I am currently getting mixed signals about the issue, so I'll probably just try a Sol level and see what happens from there.

Nah dude, we're good, really.

If you're so keen on making some levels, why don't you complete an author mission pack of yours? You've started on quite a few of those, judging from all the threads you made. That's a really good way to get yourself established, practice and slake your level editing thirst. Not to mention you'll most likely get it out way, way ahead of this project, which is still far from being even halfway done.

To be clear, we aren't going to accept anything else from you for the time being Lightwolf. And that's not going to change until we say it does. This is Xfing's project and he and I have discussed this at length -- we do appreciate that you're putting in time and effort but we really can't accept any more submissions from you right now.
It wasn't an easy decision, but you need to respect that Xfing's the captain of this team so he gets to decide who's on it and who's off it whether or not you like that. And right now you're off the team.

There. No mixed signals anymore.

By the way, I'm curious if you've started anything for DCA 2 yet. I don't know how much experience with music you've got but I'd like to hear what you could come up with.

Ok guys, so let's get to it! Homeyduh is AWOL it seems, so is PigmyRhino, so guess I'll be freeing up those slots. Funny how people just disappear without a trace sometimes, same thing happened to Stroodles

I'll probably be making the Makemake level next, since I have this very specific idea for its concept, but the rest of the levels are still open season. Awaiting proposals!

Kaizerwolf, Phozon, Alter-Fox, I'm looking at you specifically! I know Naphtha is busy with his Plutonian Shores at the moment, so I'm not bothering him now (fingers crossed both for the mission's completion and him being available again, haha)

EDIT: Started doing Makemake. Now that I've started it, I'll definitely finish it reasonably soon. It's gonna be very pink and use all the pink textures of D1, to hopefully create a nice theme.

Pigmy moved to Florida, it's quite possible this slipped his mind.

Just lemme know if you need a Varuna Military Base.
I actually made this version significantly bigger, as well as improved design overall IMO.

No links until I get the OK tho.

LightWolf wrote:Just lemme know if you need a Varuna Military Base.
I actually made this version significantly bigger, as well as improved design overall IMO.

No links until I get the OK tho.

Ehhh... wouldn't hurt to see it I guess. Don't get your hopes up though, quality control here is strict

Hello! Here I am!

After seeing a post on Reddit's Gaming sub about Descent, I made a few posts, and someone asked to see the levels I'd built. It kind of got me into the spirit of making levels again...

So! I'll be picking back up on my progress with the Salt Distillation Facility, and working on my unknown Beta Ceti level! I think I asked about this once before, but my idea was to have an almost derelict level, with lots of dark areas. The idea behind it is a Reactor gone rogue, moreso then usual; PTMC had designed this one differently, and it manipulated the virus, and the reactor itself became a bit smarter than the usual fare. As such there are traps and puzzles and the like, designed and hidden into the level itself. I've mostly got the conceptual ideas in my head for how the level will look, and it may be a bit crazy, but I think you guys will like it!

Kaizerwolf wrote:Hello! Here I am!

After seeing a post on Reddit's Gaming sub about Descent, I made a few posts, and someone asked to see the levels I'd built. It kind of got me into the spirit of making levels again...

So! I'll be picking back up on my progress with the Salt Distillation Facility, and working on my unknown Beta Ceti level! I think I asked about this once before, but my idea was to have an almost derelict level, with lots of dark areas. The idea behind it is a Reactor gone rogue, moreso then usual; PTMC had designed this one differently, and it manipulated the virus, and the reactor itself became a bit smarter than the usual fare. As such there are traps and puzzles and the like, designed and hidden into the level itself. I've mostly got the conceptual ideas in my head for how the level will look, and it may be a bit crazy, but I think you guys will like it!

Beautiful! Can't say I didn't miss you Looking forward to your levels as usual.

As for my Makemake level, I haven't been working on it very hard past what I've got already, since I've gotten so drawn into playing single player on Insane. But I'll definitely finish it sometime like I've finished all the others, possibly even quite soon. Playing Descent on Insane from cold start with a goal of not dying definitely makes you understand Descent gameplay more intimately, that is bound to help immensely when it comes to populating the levels with robots and powerups.

Working hard on Makemake. All that's left to add is the areas where you pick up all the keys and the reactor room. I'm at around half of the cube limit at the moment, I'll definitely make it under 800 (or was it 900? I keep forgetting), though I'm running out of ideas real fast here

Also, I did some adjustments to Sedna. Seeing how pink Makemake is, and how the pink textures stuck out like a sore thumb there, I decided Sedna doesn't need any pink, and I've replaced it with another interesting variety of orange to supplement the theme. I've also fixed some remaining lighting and texture alignments.

It's 900, unless it's designed in D1 first, as is Varuna:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwhA94 ... sp=sharing

Yup, finally got it up. I definitely tried to work on the size, as should be evidenced by the 779 cubes needed. There is a shortcut that allows you to circumvent the blue key. It won't help your speedrun, however, as you still need the blue key to avoid going the long way out. I did wind up encountering the D1 wall limit, so there is a one-sided secret door. I also was unable to put the desired red diagonal stripes next to the red door due to the lack of said stripes in D1. These should be easy enough to fix, however, once converted to D2.

Anyone have a link to the D1 .PIG and .POG that Pumo made? Not that I'll be making any more levels for this project anytime soon

LightWolf wrote: Anyone have a link to the D1 .PIG and .POG that Pumo made? Not that I'll be making any more levels for this project anytime soon

Help yourself

And here are the starter POGs. Number 7 is for Pumo's PIG.

As for your level, lemme check it out.

EDIT: Ok, checked it out. Guess it's quite good, all things considered. The geometry is actually quite decent, it looks good in the automap too. The size is appropriate too. Definitely one of your best so far. I'm actually inclined to accept it, even in the boss slot. But it still needs plenty of work. Which I'm not that inclined to do myself, so I expect you to do it now, so that we don't have to deal with it later.

Major stuff:

- way too many matcens. Those 4 matcens in that one room are significant overkill, even 1 would have been just enough. Still, feels like there's way too many overall, you definitely didn't think through how it's gonna scale on Insane
- the texturing is all over the place, and not in a good way (as opposed to stuff like Zeta Aquilae). Some textures are way overused, way beyond what can tolerably be called tasteful, and the level definitely needs to confine to a more precise theme. Half of the different textures you used can be easily done away with (and should). I don't think purple or blue are a good choice for Varuna - we should try something altogether new and distinct for this new planetary object.
- that whole part with the circular pretzel tunnels leading to the red key is way too lazy and quite ugly too, replace it with something more elaborate - if you want cues for making good winding tunnel parts, check out level 14 or 19 of Descent, those ones did it right. Hell, can't say even 5 didn't. Also, try to keep stuff parallel to all the rest of the level - it looked really good in the automap until those winding tunnels came along.
- Same with the boss area. It's really good, but it needs to be retextured to match the theme you choose for the level. Also, align it with the plane of the level, that looks way better. Not to mention a nicer entrance tunnel can then be added via curve generator. Did you know it also works on distorted cubes, producing extended versions of them?

Minor stuff:
- some textures are stretched improperly, ugly
- border light textures overused a bit, not tasteful
- one of the doors for the trap beyond the yellow door acts as overlay on one side, you can fly through it and then you get stuck

Do all this stuff - hell, even do most of this stuff and you've got a spot for Varuna. I or someone else will take care of the rest when time comes. Would be a shame not to let you have it in fact, since I really like that boss room. And it finally seems to have a decent level surrounding it. I encourage others to check out the level too and share their feedback, so that LW knows what to improve!

Shouldn't the pig have a different name? 'cause that seems like it should cause issues with D1.

LightWolf wrote:Shouldn't the pig have a different name? 'cause that seems like it should cause issues with D1.

Well then how about you keep them in separate folders?

Eh, true. But still

Edit:

Xfing wrote:Did you know [the curve generator] also works on distorted cubes, producing extended versions of them?

I did know that that works when DLE is not being dumb (Otherwise I might take you up on that suggestion)

Edit 2: Not much I can really do about the trap door. The wall data for it says that it's a locked, non-auto door19 - and nothing else.

LightWolf wrote:Eh, true. But still

Edit:

Xfing wrote:Did you know [the curve generator] also works on distorted cubes, producing extended versions of them?

I did know that that works when DLE is not being dumb (Otherwise I might take you up on that suggestion)

Edit 2: Not much I can really do about the trap door. The wall data for it says that it's a locked, non-auto door19 - and nothing else.

Maybe there's a duplicate wall that acts as overlay. I know I flew right through it

Oh, also if you have no idea where to go with the texturing, I've actually got a theme proposed in the level listing, just go with the brownish yellow walls like those from D1L14, supplement with some dark greens for ceilings maybe, that'll be interesting. The secret doors could be green too, mind you, so the level could contain some of those green rocks from D1. You'll find the ready door texture in the template POG.

Ok, time for Varuna 3.1!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwhA94 ... sp=sharing

I changed some of the textures, completely eliminated the red key tunnels, got rid of two of the blue key matcens, and did some minor matcen rewiring. In removing the tunnels and realigning the red key room, I even fixed the glitchy door. There were a few other minor tweaks as well.