===========================================================================
Advanced engine needed  : Boom-compatible (-cl 9)
Primary purpose         : Single Player
===========================================================================
Title                   : Hardfest
Filename                : hardfest.wad
Release date            : 25/09/2022
Author                  : Various
Email Address           : [redacted]
Other Files By Author   : Many things...

Description             : A collection of "Hard" maps, ranging in style from
                          tight, small combat puzzles to expansive slaughtermaps.
                          There's also a puzzle map and a platforming map thrown
                          in for good measure :^)
                          
                          We've got 20 maps, split over three episodes for you.
                          Good Luck!
                          

Additional Credits to   :   MAPPERS:
                            akolai
                            Astro X
                            Dan
                            el inferno
                            Endless
                            finnks13
                            gabirupee
                            HiRon
                            Kinetic
                            Korp
                            Ludi
                            Norb
                            RockyGaming4725
                            Scorpius
                            Thelokk
                            Worriedidiot
                            Yumheart

                            TEXTURES:
                            The cool CC4-tex list:
                                NiGHTMARE
                                Espi
                                Eriance
                                Fredrik Johansson
                                Janitor
                                DaGGeR
                                Ola Bjorling
                                Vader
                                XDelusion
                                esselfortium
                                RottKing
                                Nuxius
                                Afterglow
                                AgentSpork
                                RottKing
                                Enjay
                                Huy Pham
                                SargeBaldy
                                Tormentor667
                                The GothicDM Team
                                The Requiem Team
                                The Eternal Doom Team
                                id Software
                                Raven Software
                                Rogue Entertainment
                            Additional Skies by Mechadon, Eradrop and from TNT:Evilution
                            Assorted textures by Jimmy
                            Magnolia textures by FuzzballFox and 40oz
                            Assorted textures by Ludi
                            A flag texture from OTEX by ukiro

                            SPRITES:
                            Green Chaingunner by TheDarkArchon
                            Darker Chaingun by Arsinikk
                            Dark BFG by Yugiboy85 from Occula, small edits by gabirupee & finnks13
                            Black Gloves for weapons by Grimm and MrFireSeth
                            Green Plasma by Ludi
                            
                            GRAPHICS:
                            Title Screen drawing and M_DOOM by Korp
                            Colour Translation Tables by Xulgonoth

                            MUSIC:
                            Korp
                            LPad

                            PLAYTESTING:
                            akolai
                            Alaux
                            cannonball
                            CittyKat112
                            david asaad
                            el inferno
                            finnks13
                            gabirupee
                            HiRon
                            LordHydra
                            Ludi
                            Maribo
                            Mr Zzul
                            sandwedge
                            Sena
                            Thelokk
                          
===========================================================================
* What is included *

New levels              : 20 (+1 credits map)
Sounds                  : No
Music                   : Yes
Graphics                : Yes
Dehacked/BEX Patch      : Yes, just for level names
Demos                   : No


* Play Information *

Game                    : DOOM2
Map #                   : Map01 - 21
Single Player           : Designed for
Cooperative 2-4 Player  : No
Deathmatch 2-4 Player   : No
Other game styles       : No
Difficulty Settings     : Yes


* Construction *

Base                    : New from scratch
Build Time              : Just over three months
Editor(s) used          : Ultimate Doom Builder, Doom Builder X, Slade3, paint.net, DoomWriter
Known Bugs              : Map10 will not work in ports that fix the players turning into zombies bug,
                          non-ZDoom players who run into this should warp to MAP10B.
May Not Run With        : Non Boom-compatible ports
Tested With             : DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, prboom+ 2.5.1.5

===========================================================================


* Copyright / Permissions *

Authors MAY NOT use the contents of this file as a base for
modification or reuse.  Permissions have been obtained from original
authors for any of their resources modified or included in this file.

You MAY distribute this file, provided you include this text
file, with no modifications.  You may distribute this file in any
electronic format (BBS, Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include
this file intact.  I have received permission from the original
authors of any modified or included content in this file to allow
further distribution.


* Where to get the file that this text file describes *

The Usual: ftp://archives.gamers.org/pub/idgames/ and mirrors

===========================================================================

===========================================================================
//////////////////////////
//////   MAP LIST   //////
//////////////////////////
===========================================================================

MAP01 - Basement Dwellers
Author - finnks13
Music - Starcore by Korp

Comments: Originally made for a Haste inspired set of maps, I ended up reworking this map and submitting
it to Hardfest after I felt that there wasn't anything that was particularly suited to the Map01 slot. I
think it works quite nicely as an opener, especially if you don't mind hitscan hell maps :P

The idea behind the map was to take that classic Map01 style of just having fodder enemies and taking it to
it's limit to create something more challenging out of it. My main inspirations were the opening part of 
Vanguard Map09 and that bit in Going Down where you blow up a water cooler and a load of imps spill out of
the walls.

~~~

MAP02 - Catnip Outpost
Author - Korp
Music - Pixel Pastries by LPad

Comments: Just a generic green CC2 lookin' techbase. I had no plans to stand out, really, just wanted to
make a map for a project that wasnt mine. I'm still impressed i managed to actually finish something and i
had a lot of fun working on it too, just hope everyone else has as much fun playing it! :3

~~~

MAP03 - Decaying Fields
Author - Endless
Music - Necrosis by Korp

Comments: This one is a small, tight map with a lot of enemies but spread around various areas to make combat
a little bit more ''tactical''. On UV it can get a bit rough due to low number of items and damage floor.
Secrets are meant to help the player, so look for them.

~~~

MAP04 - Blood and Rebar
Author - Ludi
Music - Broken Machinery by Korp

Comments: The original title of this map was By The Time I Get To Phoenix, named after the 2021 album by Injury
Reserve. I wanted to dedicate this map to member Stepa J. Groggs who passed in 2020. After the leadership shift,
I felt the original meaning changed and the name changed as well. 

Regarding the map itself, it was a bitch to make! I found myself having to restart the map several times before
I found myself satisfied with the final product. This map took about a month to create in total, with the final
version being about 2 weeks. 

In hindsight, I probably should have telegraphed that the sand pit in the caco fight would slow you down a little 
better. Oh well, that's Hardfest, baby! 

~~~

MAP05 - The Metal Age
Author - Scorpius
Music - Atomic Press by Korp


Comments: Damn... what a rush! Loved making this and took the "highly difficult" things in many different ways
such as navigation, traps, enemy placements and types, etc.

~~~

MAP06 - Cubecraft 3D
Author - Worriedidiot
Music - Cyber Gambit by Korp & LPad

Comments: Adventures of Square 7 with squares or something. Features at least 5 squares, 2 cubes and 0 linedefs
that don't align to the 64x grid. Had no real inspirations for this one aside from wanting to try something new.
Consists of mostly run & gun type arenas.

~~~

MAP07 - Cacau Brownie
Author - gabirupee
Music - Twisted Royalty by LPad

~~~

MAP08 - Aetheon's Heart
Author - Yumheart
Music - Crimson Forest by Korp

Comments: Wanted to make a difficult "classic-styled" non-slaughtermap. The main difficulty derives from ammo &
weapon placement and the general crampage of the map, often forcing you to push past a few mid-tiers to get to 
the supplies you need. Health is also very tight, it's easy to drive yourself into a corner if you save in too 
many bad spots. Fun fact: Aethon apparently just means brown-red, which, aside from sounding cool, is pretty 
fitting for this map, I suppose.

~~~

MAP09 - The Smegma Flow
Author - Thelokk
Music - Sussy Baka by LPad

Comments: Sunder, and especially the maps from 2009 are the end all, be all of difficult wads for me - I don't 
particularly enjoy the tightly controlled, heavily coreographed tendencies of contemporary 'difficult' wads, so I
often find myself drawn to the wild, chaotic moshpits of maps like 'The Zealous Machine' or 'Pale Monument', which
I tried to recreate in the final fight of my map. I also greatly enjoy expansive adventure maps, which explains 
pretty much the rest of my offering - I want the player to feel as if they are actually exploring a place, some 
abandoned techbase in the middle of a poisonous ravine perhaps?

Fun fact: the title 'The Smegma Flow' comes from the map's protoype, which used snow and ice textures to... well,
I guess you know what I'm getting at. It looked pretty great but then the modified palette came into play, and the
greens were too good to pass. 

~~~

MAP10 - Ethereal
Author - akolai
Music - Liminal Space by Korp

Comments: "You find yourself beset by a terrible fate... through the dark, reclaim your soul, and return to the land
of the living"

I settled on making a puzzle map when thinking about how to be completely out of line with the rest of the project. 
Moonlight wasn't on my mind while making it, but I realised the similar premise about halfway through. The soulsphere
representing your soul is also taken from that one skulltiverse map, and the mini-city corresponding to the actual 
location is stolen from pecca's rr2 (?) map. This uses zokumbsp because it seemed to handle one room slightly better, 
I've heard it has some issues in zdoom but we'll see.

~~~

MAP11 - Malachite Forest
Author - el inferno
Music - Encapsulation by Korp

Comments: platforming + exploration map to get lost in. Lower skill settings simplify combat and progression a bit 
but dont affect any platforming, so I suggest you to bind a jump key if you dont want to have such a hard time. 

The regular exit can be reached relatively quickly and there's a 'secret' exit somewhere else :^) 

~~~

MAP12 - Barricades 2
Author - Worriedidiot
Music - Bear My Piercing Salutations by LPad

~~~

MAP13 - The Abyss
Author - Norb
Music - Caged and Voidpilled by Korp

Comments: This map is inspired by Dark Tartarus Map40


The development of this map is interesting. Actually it isn't, half of my time here was just testing ideas for
a map. I tried a techbase, techbase in hell, hell styled thing... Nothing sparked an idea... Until, of course,
I played some Dark Tartarus Map40 and found my inspiration.

It was 2 weeks before the deadline at this point, so I had to hurry. I managed to make a map before the 
deadline (good fucking job Norb!) and I'm very happy with the result!

It was my first time participating in a Community Project, and I had so much fun making the map and talking with
other participants, ILY all that worked on Hardfest <3

~~~

MAP14 - Subtlety
Author - finnks13
Music - Triple Shot Espresso by LPad

Comments: The main idea behind this map was to make a very small arena that gets worse and worse the more you make
your way through it and the challenge of can the player get the BFG before they're overwhelmed by the hordes. I was
inspired by Frog and Toad Map05 for the compact looping layout and slightly ridiculous feel of the map.

~~~

MAP15 - Gorgeous Nightmare
Author - Astro X
Music - Tunnel Vision by LPad

Comments: I didn't have as much free time as I'd have liked, so I started building arenas based on various random ideas
I had for fights and wanted to utilize eventually. I love hard maps, sinister and ominous ones, often long, especially
ones that slowly build up the atmosphere [hence the length]. I don't like giving all the weapons right away, nor BFG spam,
or a room with seemingly irrational enemy placement (not being disrespectful to anyone who likes this). I'm not good at
decorating rooms or making them look cool, but I try my best. I focus on combat, I'd say inspired by difficult wads ofc,
but also by what I'd like to see in a map. 

The description is getting long, so what I'd like to say is that I wanted to build a tough map that I could possibly beat
one day if I try, and also build something people would find enjoyable to play - not the hardest map, not the coolest, but
a decent contribution to this project that I found to be very interesting.

~~~

MAP16 - Security Breach
Author - RockyGaming4725
Music - Seat Warmer by Korp

Comments: Hadn’t used a texture pack until this cp, and it was quite fun using one! Bit overwhelming at times but now I
can’t go back to vanilla textures, so I guess it was a success haha. At first I didn’t exactly know what I was wanted 
this map to be, it was this sort of brick and tech combo, which I ended up liking the atmosphere of. I really tried to
pay more attention to floor/ceiling decoration as well as verticality (which, wasn’t too much of a success but certainly 
an improvement over my previous few maps). I’m happy with how it turned out, I think it was a big step forward visual wise
for me. Boom lighting could definitely be taken advantage of more but I hadn’t really tinkered with that before. The 
doomcute was inspired seeing a playthrough of a wad which had papers scattered around as decoration. I thought it might be
neat to have it on a machine thing… so that’s what’s in the first room. 

Bonus comment - the high tech quarters was actually inserted after the map was finished, because I thought laser doors 
were cool haha. 

~~~

MAP17 - Otherworldly Frontier
Author - HiRon
Music - Carbonize by LPad

Comments: A corrupted base, an overall ruthless level with lots of tough fights to prepare you for the later slaughtermaps.
Inspired by Sunlust map 30.

~~~

MAP18 - Asymptote
Author - finnks13
Music - Abaddon's Horns by Korp

Comments: I love TimeOfDeath's BFG spam maps in the slaughterfest series, and this is a tribute to them. The specific 
inspirations are SF2012 Map19 and SF3 Map28, but I wasn't particularly trying to emulate the specifics of his mapping style
in a "the way iD Did" manner - moreso the general ideas behind his combat scenarios.

To that end, there are lots of rather long fights that require consistent and continuous execution on the part of the player,
but are relatively generous with health pickups and ammo so they don't become obnoxious. I'm very proud of this map, it came
out much better than expected and I think it's very fun to play.

~~~

MAP19 - Callused
Author - Kinetic
Music - Infernyde by Korp

Comments: I wanted to make a BFG spam map akin to Flotsam Map06, general layout and vibe takes from that, but aesthetically I 
use some more white rock and gothic textures, and make use of some vibrant greens that this wad has to offer. Couldn't resist 
just making the YK section more modern with the ribbiks-y lighting on the walls and just going nuts in general with light
gradients. Secret fight is also just my desire to make a cool looking area. The other guideline I had for this map was to make
it easier than my other released stuff while still being a challenge, and I think it fits that difficulty I want on UV.

~~~

MAP20 - Aphelion
Author - Dan
Music - Last Stand by Korp & LPad

Comments: This map started out as a dimensions 01 style map - a cave with multiple phases that could be opened up at the player's
discretion. What I ended up with wasn't really long enough, so I added a separate finale. But the cave section of the map really
sucked gameplay wise, and the finale I'd built was pretty underwhelming. So I scrapped the entire cave section and retooled the
finale into what is now the opening fight. The other two fights came together pretty quickly after that.

I did keep the 'multiple phases within the same room' idea (for the first and last fights at least) from dmn01, but unfortunately
I wasn't really able to find a satisfactory way of keeping the phase transitions within the player's control, so I ended up 
switching to purely voodoo doll timers. Sorry speedrunners :^)

~~~