DATE: 12th of July, 1996 ================================================================ Title : Ruins to the Underworld Filename : Ruunder.WAD Author : Kyle LomelĄ S. Email Address : ricrod@vianet.com.mx (...a friend's Email so keep it cool!) Misc. Author Info : I'm just a 12th grader at the American School Foundation of Guadalajara (in Mexico), who doesn't have time to be creating these types of DOOM2 levels (they are so time consuming!). This is my first (and probably last!) Doom2 level. I do have another DOOM2 level lurking around in my harddrive... but I guess I will never finish it (ever since I noticed how much time it was taking me to finish this one!). Description : STORY: UAC had been studying the ancient ruins of a civilization which had discovered the secret to opening a portal to the Underworld. One of the most remarkable sites of these ruins was the mile high crusher, which had amazingly pinched a whole between both dimensions. UAC did the impossible to cover up their sinister operation. From outside the site seames to be and abandoned brick structure...but from the inside, its a completely different story . A duke had discovered these ruins in the 12th century and built his castle around them, including a precious library with countless volumes on witchcraft. But now UAC has taken over and integrated this castle to thier research facilities. It was recorded in the computer logs that the researchers were able to open the portal for a few moments, but it was too unstable. A few days later, after this grand moment, demons began to appear everywhere. Little by little the researchers of this ultra-secret operation became possesed by confusion and rage, rendering themselves useless to their tasks. Somehow UAC forsaw that the doom of the world was inminent and decided to give it one last shot. They hire the one last man on earth who had any experience with these types of operations (you), and hoped for the impossible. LEVEL CONSTRUCTION: It took a WHOOOOOOLE YEAR to create this level (I am not kidding!).But it wasn't a 24-hour a day kind of thing,but more of a "30 minutes here"-"30 minutes there" thing. I had a small deathmatch level planned out when I first started... but, as time went by, it got soooooo big I just had to convert it into a one player type of level (although I think deathmatch and COop is DOable,I have never really tried it). I tried to pay attention to the texture alignments, aswell as the shadow effects of certain light sources. This level represents a hell of a lot of patience on my part (and probably on your part as soon as you play it). I hope you enjoy it. Additional Credits to : - Id-Software for creating this superb game. - Ben Morris for creating, what I still consider to be the best, DOOM level editor:DCK. - Olivier Montanuy for creating the excellent Wintex utility. - Peter Monks for creating TED. ================================================================ * Play Information * Game : DOOM II© v1.9 (it should work on other versions) Episode and Level # : MAP01 (I never want to bother with other levels) Single Player : Yes Cooperative 2-4 Player : I Guess (you could, but it would be too slow for modem play [I just placed a whole bunch a 1,2,3,4 and deathmatch player starts]). If you think of using this level in multiplayer mode... COop would probably best fit this level... . Deathmatch 2-4 Player : Yes (I recommend using at least 3-4 players) Difficulty Settings : Yes (Since the level is sooooo big, I couldn't save the game in progress... it resulted that there were too many THINGS that could change during the game so DOOM2 would crash.) To fix this...difficulty settings: 1-2 : minimal amount of THINGS... you can save 3 : normal amount of THINGS ... you can save 1/2 throughout the level (at your own risk) 4-5 : maximum amount of THINGS (as it had been originally)... you can't save unless you practically kill everyTHING. ) New Sounds : No New Graphics : Yes (teleporter animation and sky texture) New Music : No Demos Replaced : None Weapons : All (...and believe me, you NEED them!) * Construction * Base : New level from scratch Editor(s) used : LEVEL CONSTRUCTION: Started out using WADED 1.83á (learned the basics to constructing WADS [built the first 1/2 of the level]... moved on), DCK2.2 (for placing THINGS... until they were too many and DCK2.2 couldn't handle it), and DCK3.x (excellent level utility...did the other half of the level with it). NODES BUILDER: Mainly WARM. I used Zennode 0.68á for a while but suddenly began to recieve an "Abnormal Program Termination" message while building the level...so I stopped using it. GRAPHICS: Wintex3.4 (never got the hang of using Wintex4.2) Aldus Photostyler SE v2.0 (used it to create both textures. The sky texture took me about 15 minutes to create and was created totally from scratch (it was a snap!). Known Bugs : I have noticed a little of HOM in the outside area where the ruins are, but its very unnoticeable (only if you look at it at one angle). But the main bug are the DOOM engine limitations. Because of it you will have a difficult time saving at difficulty settings 3-5 (I tried the impossible to fix this, but the level just wasn't the same without most of the THINGS [so I give you the option]). The sky texture colors didn't come out quite as I had wanted. But I looks OK. Origionally I had intended the level to use the sky texture in the first episode of DOOM1©... but I have been told it is illegal to distribute it in WADS...so I substituted in my own. If you have the opportunity (and the patience of installing it) use the DOOM1 sky texture. It best fits the mood of the level. (*note: What follows are fixed bugs...I hope that if you experience similar problems with your level... it might help you...*) A bug I encountered was one which resulted with DOOM2 crashing and displaying the message "visible plane overflow". What happenes is that I placed 8 sectors around various lamps to simulate lighting. Whenever a player stood viewing two of these lamps in a straight line... DOOM2 would crash. I fixed this bug by inserting a sector between any two "lamp sectors" , thus obstructing the direct view of +16 sectors which could cause DOOM2 to crash. If your DOOM level crashes while saving it is most likely due to the fact that there are too many THINGS in the level. Mayor tip: plan your level ahead! **** NOTE: I used a 486 SX/33 (8MB of RAM), and was able to play **** it OK (although it did get slow when I was presented **** with the view of the outside area). I wouldn't recommend **** using anything lower than the computer I used to play **** this level. I personally consider this to be a HUGE single level... of course, I haven't played that many WADS to begin with. Generally it takes me about 20 minutes to run through this level in difficulty settings 1-2. I have a hard time finishing this level in difficulty setting 3. And have a HELL of a time trying to finish in difficulty setting 4 (tip:don't try to kill the cyberdemon...just run. The teletransporter is there for a reason.. and the BFG9500 is not for the cyberdemon but for...). I have never finished this level in difficulty setting 5. If you are ever able to finish this level in difficulty setting 5 (mainly for the reason you can't save), you would have earned my deepest respects! I would even consider you to be DOOM GOD! I have never played this level in Deathmatch or COop modes. I guess my level will work... but if it doesn't feel free to fix it...and indicate so at the end of this file. * Disclamer * I am not held responsible for any damage or anomally in data your computer may experience due to the intensity and heat my level introduces into you and your hardware. If you feel that this level is too suspicious, due to its size, simply don't use it... and remember that you will never know how much a not-so-simple level may stir your adrenalin. ©©© Copyright / Permissions ©©© You MAY distribute this WAD, provided you include this file, with no modifications to the text I wrote (what I wrote ends after the lines at the bottom). You may modify the WAD itself provided you indicate so at the ending of this file (beyond the lines) stating your reasons for doing so, exactly what you modified, date, and who you are. You may distribute this file in any electronic format (BBS, Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include this file intact. If you would like to build additional levels including this WAD, please give me some credit and send me an email message indicating you plan on doing so. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ============================================================================== <<>>