sunlust.wad

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Extra info (because reading is fun!):
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Sunlust is a set of 32 boom-compatible maps for Doom II, designed to be played
from pistol start. The maps meander through a range of themes, from
traditional bases and temples to abstract hellish, void, and tech aesthetics.
UV is designed primarily for ubermensch doom-gods, thus we encourage most
players to start off on HMP or lower.

Sunlust was started in March 2013 (post "Combat Shock 2" but before "Stardate
20x6") after we realized we both had similar tastes for highly difficult,
highly stylized mapping. The megawad was developed at a leisurely pace, and
it's interesting (at least to us) to see how our aesthetic and gameplay
preferences have evolved over the past few years. The modus operandi for
designing maps was simply showcasing the kind of Doom we like to play, which
for the most part consists of tightly balanced, highly strategic combat
encased in visually appealing environments.

The difficulty disclaimer is a tad dramatic, truthfully the mapset (even at
its least forgiving) is no more difficult than our previous releases. We think
E1 should be beatable by most everyone, even on UV. The latter maps of E2 and
E3 are where the true ass-kickings begin. There definitely are some slaughter
maps in Sunlust, we love that shit, but there's a lot of small-scale
challenges as well. On average I'd say we occupy a strange middle-ground
between plutonia-style difficulty and full-on hardcore gameplay, hopefully
you'll dig it as much as we do!

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Map commentary:
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===================================================
01 - Chasing Suns:                  Ribbiks & Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: "Journal" from the game "Flashback", sequenced by Simon Agozzino

[R:] Danne provided the core layout for this one and then I skinned it up and
added gameplay / additional scenery. Not much else to say, it's a short and
straightforward opener.

[D:] This map was meant to be the first map in Combat Shock 3 until Ribbiks
and I started working together. He tweaked the gameplay and pimped the map. A
cute starting map with a BFG?!

===================================================
02 - Down Through:                            Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: "Magician Type 0" from the game "House of the Dead"

I wanted to make a map that was set indoors all the way through. It kind of
feels like the typical early nukage-map in a megawad, which is quite nice. The
AV reviving corpses trick is made by crushing barrels in dummy sectors that
kills monsters, who after death gets teleported.

===================================================
03 - Forgotten Shrine:                      Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "The Hall of Collosia" from the game "Secret of Evermore"

My goal for this map was to use the textures of maps 01 and 02 in a more
natural setting. I also wanted a layout with a lot of verticality.

===================================================
04 - Sol:                           Danne & Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: “Desk Lamp” by Stuart Rynn

[D:] The old map04 obviously sucked and got thrown into the waste basket that's 
called "Summer of 69". I took the best and most functioning parts of old map04
and tied them together with a new middle section. The theme is slightly changed
and it got a fancy space sky to fit with map05. Ribbiks made most of the
texturing and the cooldetailing in the center area.

[R:] A brief indoor romp followed by the much beloved 3-key gathering. Poor
man's nonlinearity!

===================================================
05 - Gear Up:                                 Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: "Lord of Space" by James Paddock, made for "TNT2: Devilution"

There was an earlier map05 that was scrapped. Ribbiks and I felt that map05
and 06 were lacking both in gameplay and in looks compared to the other maps
we'd made, so we nuked those maps and started from scratch. We settled for a
more “space-like” theme with glowing mid-textures and other cool features. The
goal for the map is to gear up with armor (?!) so that you are well prepared
for map06. You still get a blue armor after picking up all the armor bonuses
though, so they are completely useless hehe.

===================================================
06 - Neo Gerouru:                           Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "Plantation Crash" from the game "Zone 66", sequenced by MaliceX

The original map06 was the first map I made for this project back when Danne
and I had just started working together. That map was trashed a year later
after we decided it sucked :p. So here's a new one!

Welcome to Neo Gerouru, a compact little tech layout chock full of lights and
laser detailing. Aesthetic was influenced by Akira, some of esselfortium's
spaceDM stuff, and a playlist of 90's house music on repeat.

===================================================
07 - Total Enclosure:               Danne & Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "Moon" from the game "Legend of Dragoon"

[D:] 666 and 667 tags? Hell yes! But not in the conventional way. I had an
idea of a adventurous map where you have to seek and destroy to get out. It's
even more adventurous if you decide to track down all the mancubus. Pro tip
from a 90's gamezine: Watch out for the brown slime! Find all secrets to
unlock a great reward! Ribbiks made the secret building.

===================================================
08 - Oneira:                                Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "Dead Sea" from the game "Chrono Cross"

This one started as a Death-Destiny inspired speedmap that I had originally
planned to submit to the Doomworld Megaproject 2013, but instead polished up
and included it in this set. The difficulty ramps up pretty hard for maps 08
through 10, so this might be the appropriate point for timid players to drop
down a notch.

===================================================
09 - Saquasohuh:                              Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: "Chasing Devrich" from the game "Death Come 4"

The blue moon is the final sign before purification of the earth. I guess the
demons plotted the whole thing. Better kill them while you're at it. There are
lots of ways and routes to finish this map. I guess exploring different
strategies is a good idea here since the difficulty curve is starting to
strongly increase. This map took a while to make and it set a new standard for
me when it comes to detailing and lightning-variation, which forced me to
revisit all my other maps and tweak them. Of all of my maps in Sunlust, this
is my favourite.

===================================================
10 - Maru:                                  Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "Awaken" from the game "Xenogears"

The goth-blue theme continues. Since this is the last map of the first episode
I made it fairly difficult. The red key route is completely optional, but the
BFG  it yields can be very helpful for the final room. I think this map may be
the first time I've ever used barrels.

===================================================
11 - Cave Culture:                            Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: "mist.mid" by Stuart Rynn

This map was also meant to be a part of Combat Shock 3. When I lifted this for
Sunlust I changed almost all of the textures and made the gameplay a lot
harder. The texturing is quite conventional, but who would want to play a
megawad without some maps with a heavy usage of zimmer textures?!

===================================================
12 - Dangeresque:                           Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "Mountain Road" from the game "Ys I", arranged by Amanesan

The zimmer "forest" maps (11 through 13) were meant to be a brief breather to
start off the second episode, so this one is very easy. I need to be reminded
occasionally that not every map needs to be a complete ordeal :p

I tried to mix this one up a bit and avoid some of the tropes I overuse (e.g.
arena-centric design, ammo starvation, denying and and all safes spots). The
result was a punchy open layout with slightly chaotic enemy placement.
Hopefully this gives the player freedom to choose if they want to speed
through or carefully camp each fight.

===================================================
13 - Ruins of Skania:                         Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: "quickfast" by Paul D, made for "NOVA: The Birth"

The second map I made for the project. It was originally also a zimmer-fest,
until I grew tired of it and gave it a much paler touch. When I got back to re
texture this map, doom builder 2 gave up on me and started lagging heavily in
3d-mode, so I switched to gzdoom builder. A pretty easy map overall.

===================================================
14 - Troglobite:                            Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "Another World Of Beasts" from the game "Final Fantasy Anthology"

I wanted to make a mysterious cave map where a majority of the content is
optional, so this one is completable within a few minutes if you gun it
straight for the exit. I hope though that the environment is interesting
enough that at least a few players will explore the rest.

This map also contains the first and probably only piece of doom-furniture
you'll ever see in one of my maps, I couldn't resist putting a boat in the
undergound cove area.

===================================================
15 - Strength And Anger                       Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: "depths.mid" by Ribbiks

I started to have some issues with coming up with ideas when I started to make
this map. The idea was to make a big slaughter map inside a really dark swamp
cave of some sort with the exit-room being the centre of the map. I hated it
and took the best bits and pieces and built a new map around them. It became
cramped and fairly slaughter-ish. PM me on dw if you want more cyberdemons
thrown into the last fight.

===================================================
16 - Lost Antiques:                           Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: "Dungeon" from the game "Castlevania 64", Sequenced by Hyena

The last of the temple/swamp maps and the easiest of them all?! This took me a
while to make since I was really dry on ideas. The main goal was to make an
opening fight that was possible to skip with some skilled movement, then
advance to another part of the map that is loosely connected to the starting
point. The map is very linear and straight-forward, which is pretty okay since
there are lots of tactical options and strategies to beat all the fights. The
final room holds the teleporter that takes you to the new flesh...

===================================================
17 - The Womb:                              Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "Apostate" from the game "Binding of Isaac", sequenced by Ribbiks

I found myself with a lot of free time one weekend and made this map almost
entirely in one sitting. I usually just dump the player straight into the
action but for this one I wanted to establish a bit of tension and atmosphere
in the opening. Overall it turned out to be a very small, very linear map.
Quite a bit more punishing than I had anticipated.

This map is the reason Sunlust has new PLAYPAL/COLORMAP lumps. It all looks
fine in GL-graphics, but the default palette simply does not have a dark-red
range suitable for this map, everything turns into a nasty grey/brown mess on
software graphics, urgh! I tried to choose the palette so that this map now
looks good, and other maps (including sprites, menu text, etc) is minimally
affected.

===================================================
18 - Mu Cephei:                               Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: "Your Mission" from the game "Resident Evil 2", sequenced by Necro

I don't know if this qualifies as a sandbox map, but it was a word I was
thinking about when making this. Insta-raising monsters, ariel-trolling, arch
vile-frenzy, mass-revenants and sniping mastermind! Good luck.

===================================================
19 - Blood Geometry:                        Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "Mission Landing" from the game "Unreal Tournament '99"

Not a whole lot of blood, but I guess there's plenty of geometry?..  A
straightforward map, a linear progression of slaughter fights that weave
around some imposing fleshy structures.

===================================================
20 - Inverti in Darkness:                   Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "Zodiac Boss Theme" from the game "Final Fantasy Tactics"

For this map I was trying to make it feel like the player stumbled into a
frightening complex of towers inexplicably strewn about a giant cavern,
presumably deep underground, and rife with hellspawn of course. I wanted to
create an atmosphere of dread, a malevolent puzzle chock full of imposing
monster placement and mean-sprited traps. In short: This map hates you :p.

So yeah, on UV this is probably the hardest map in E2.

FYI: The big slaughter fights in the southern areas are completely optional,
but much like map10 the supplies they yield will definitely make the final
area easier.

===================================================
21 - Entering Aquatic Desert        Ribbiks & Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: “Ocean Flute” By Stuart Rynn

[R:] A collaborative effort: I made the initial layout --> Danne added
gameplay --> I retextured it to fit into the snow episode --> Danne added
final detailing.

[D:] Ribbiks made a layout which I later based the map off, then Ribbiks came
back and did some visual stuff when I felt that I was getting bored of the
map. I wanted to make a map that played differently depending on which key you
grabbed. If you pick BK, you will get RL and BFG. If you pick up YK, you will
get PG. If you pick up both, you will get something in between. There's lots
of AV-jump potential in this one.

===================================================
22 - Black Rabbit:                          Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "Snow Battle" from the game "Dragon Force", sequenced by SilverKnight

I was in the middle of making "Swim With the Whales" when I made this map, as
usual I was having way too much fun drawing curvy unnaturally smooth
landscapes. This map used to be covered in snow, then at the last minute we
decided snow is ass. So now it’s an ambiguous black/goth/tech... thing.

===================================================
23 - In Flight:                             Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: “Menu” from the game “Secret Of Evermore“

This used to be the name of the old map21, which got trashed for sucking. In its
place is a new slightly-tyson map. Ammo is super tight so berserk usage is
mandatory on UV. Getting heavy weaponry in this map requires finding enough of
the YK switches strewn about the map.

===================================================
24 - Dying On Cue:                            Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: “Unholy Voices” from the game “Blood”

Another map that I realized sucked. I did the same for this as I did with 04,
took the best parts and made a new center area for the map. It all starts of
with a pretty harsh and dark fight that leads you into a cramped and cubic hell.
You better make sure you get those keyes before you enter the teleport that
takes you to the exit! Otherwise you will end up blowtorched anally. If you are
a prboom+ player, please go out of your comfort zone and try the last fight in
gzdoom. Launching projectiles into the conveyor belt is very fun, you'll notice.
Also, this map got a new theme.  

===================================================
25 - Proxyon:                                 Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: "Dreams" from the game "The Incredible Machine 2"

This is the only one of my E3 maps that didn't take ages to make. My mapping
block that started to become a pain just disappeared and I made half of this
map in one sitting and then I spent 1 week on and off making the rest and
polishing. The gameplay is very straight-forward and linear. This map was
named “penix” for almost a year for some reason. I guess it's just what I
first thought of. Phoenix, penis... hmm... Penix? Makes sense.

===================================================
26 - Kinetics:                              Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "casb2.mid" from the game "Heretic II"

A black-goth base with an excessive amount of scrolling textures. I stepped up
the difficulty a bit more for this one but pro-skill slaughter players will
probably still find most of the map pretty easy.

It came to my attention sometime after making this that there's a level in
Momento Mori with the same name. They beat me to it by about 20 years but I
decided to keep it anyways. The title feels appropriate since the lighting
detail throughout is in constant motion. Besides, I had originally chosen the
name as a nod to Danne's indie pop band :p

===================================================
27 - Emerald Spire:                 Ribbiks & Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: "Bloody Excrement" from the game "Final Fantasy Tactics"

[R:] Another collaborative effort. I did most of the layout and detailing,
Danne made most of the sexy set-pieces and added some final touches. I like
the setting in this one, mysterious verdant towers lost in an endless void.
Gameplay in this one is all about awkwardly tight spaces and a 4-way symmetric
slaughter arenas.

[D:] A damn tragedy, that's what this map started out as. Then Ribbiks came
and built some nice structures around two ultra-symmetrical rooms I made. He
tossed it back to me and it ended up like this. Ribbiks is guilty of the more
sadistic gameplay in this, but this map is easy compared to map26. The last
fight room was part of map28 a long time ago, but it got scrapped together
with the rest of map28. Good thing I found some use for that area. It looks
cool :)

===================================================
28 - Maelstrom:                     Danne & Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "Gate of the Ancients" from the game "Stonekeep"

[D:] The beast. Fuck me, this took me long to put together. This map has gone
through the most changes in my mapping history. Phml can fill you in on how
this map looked 3 years ago. I'm telling you it wasn't pretty. It feels like
this map is the whole reason for all the mappers block I've suffered through
since this project started. I actually think this started out as an entry for
Slaughterfest or Combat Shock 3, but Ribbiks liked the aesthetics so I decided
to pimp it up for Sunlust instead. 3 years later it looks nothing like the old
drafts. Ribbiks made the north-eastern island by himself and the rest is more
or less by me with some parts heavily tuned up by Ribbiks (like the big secret
exit fight). I grew tired of drawing lighting gradient sectors, so Ribbiks
fixed a lot of the gameplay tweaking to get a nice flow through out the map.
And do I sense some LAG?!

[R:] What he said ^^. This map will likely be unplayably laggy when played on
zdoom-derived ports, especially on lower end machines. Play on Gl-boom+ for
best results!

===================================================
29 - Go Fuck Yourself:                      Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "Max Man" from the game "Streets of Rage 2", sequenced by José Felix

An extremely difficult map, possibly the hardest in the set. Probably one of
my favorite levels I've made, lots of cool encounters. On UV you'll understand
the title within 30 seconds.

===================================================
30 - God Machine:                   Ribbiks & Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: "Retribution Dawns" by Aubrey Hodges, sequenced by Jay Reichard

[R:] A monster map to close out the set, an ominous twisted complex of metal
and black ooze. No shortage of demons so long as this place is operational,
shut it down and claim another victory over Hell. Good luck!

[D:] The magnum opus. The northern area was the first thing we made for this.
We wanted to have a huge ending fight for the whole megawad as closure. To get
that feeling of relief and reward, you know. We decided Ribbiks should make an
adventurous start of the map with some puzzle solving and pretty architecture.
Of course, he ended up making the most insane and huge structures... I like it
though, that's what made us work together in the first place. When you hear
Romero scream, it's over. Hope you enjoyed it.

===================================================
31 - Birds of a Feather:                    Ribbiks
===================================================
MUSIC: "garden.mid" by Stuart Rynn

An artsy map where I was really more interested in having fun "doodling" in
doombuilder than crafting compelling gameplay. Eternal's wads were the most
notable influence on this one, visually. UV requires SR40 to complete, deal
with it.

===================================================
32 - Postcoitus Doom:                         Danne
===================================================
MUSIC: TNT map16/28

Tired of maps being too hard? Then I could recommend: Practice! Practice is
fun, and good for you! Kill 2 cyberdemons in a small as shit room with bumpy
floors or face 50 revenants without any room to dodge! Everything is fun if
you just practice!

Been shotgunning barons since 1994? Try map32 of Sunlust! It's a good map, I
promise!

“Best map ever” - Doomguy
“Shit. 0/5. Won't play again” - Anonymous

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Other Miscellaneous Crap:
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[R:] For funsies, here's the rough order my maps were made in:
(Over the course of 03/2013 --> 06/2015)

01, 03, 22, 26, 08, 10, 29, 12, 20, 18, 14, 16, 27, 06, 31, 30, 28, 23

-------------------
Additional Credits:
-------------------

=== That big list of people that gets thrown around whenever someone uses
    anything from gothictx or cc4-tex. You know the one.
=== FranckFRAG for the M_DOOM graphic.
=== Stuart Rynn for some baller midi
=== Gez for pretty much being the Rain Man of midi metadata
=== Small orange letters and numbers ripped from Alien Vendetta.
=== HUD ripped and recolored from Green Goddess.

Main playtesters: Phml, Archi, Demonologist (when our maps weren't causing him
emotional breakdowns)

Some additional demos, feedback, and bugfinding by:
    - ArmouredBlood
    - Dobugabumaru
    - j4rio
    - Memfis
    - Mouldy
    - Plut
    - plenty of other folks on DW

^^ Thanks!