Congestion Control 2

A level for id Software's Doom II by Karthik Abhiram

Quick Info - Story - Playing the level - Gameplay - Tips and Other Info

Graphics - Music - Other Credits - Links - The Fine Print

The purpose of this HTML file is to give some extra and interesting (hopefully?) information about my latest level for Doom II, Congestion Control 2 (a.k.a. CCT2) that does not appear in the text file supplied with it.

It is also intended to give credit where credit is due - you will find links and acknowledgements for all the resources and tools used for making this level.  Not only that, all the people who have encouraged me by giving me comments/reviews/demos of my levels, are acknowledged (and where possible, linked).

Perhaps you may think that a document like this is a bit too much for a single level, but hey, it's coming free with the WAD and I did all the hard work anyway :)  The document is very exhaustive, so be warned!

A CCT2-related piece of a conversation with Tobias Münch and Pablo Dictter...

[ 13 May 2003, about 2:45 AM IST ]

Quick Info

[ Top ]

Story

Yes, Congestion Control 2 has a story.  But instead of writing a conventional Doom-type scenario for this level, I decided to draw one instead.  Click the link below to view the one-page comic I drew for the Congestion Control 2 story.

[ Top ]

Playing the level

Extract the file cct2.wad to a directory of your choice, and then with your favourite engine (PrBoom, ZDoom, Legacy, etc.), use the following command line

<engine_name> -file <path>cct2.wad

For example, under a DOS/Windows platform, if you had extracted cct2.wad to the folder E:\Doom, and if you are using PrBoom to play it, then you would type

prboom -file e:\doom\cct2.wad

at the DOS prompt.

The command line will be similar under Linux also, just replace the path name with the appropriate one.

The complete path name is of course, not necessary if the WAD file is in the same directory as that of the engine.

And if the source port you are using comes with a launcher, even better!

Now, start a new game to play CCT2!  It's that simple.

Please also have a look at the Links section for the sites of the various engines that are recommended for playing CCT2.  This level does not work under the normal doom2.exe or with Doom95.

[ Top ]

Gameplay

Congestion Control 2 is intended to be a fast, not-too-long Doom II level.  Completion of the level should be pretty straightforward.  As far as difficulty is concerned, it is meant to be a reasonably difficult level to play.

CCT2 implements skill settings, and although it is primarily intended to be played in single player mode, it does support other modes also.

Single Player

• Skill 1, 2 are designed for novice players, or for those who want to blast through the level quickly.  There are about 70 monsters on the map.
• Most Doomers will want to play this level on Skill 3, which is designed to provide a good challenge, while being fun at the same time.  Approximately 100 monsters appear.
• Skill 4 is intended for experienced Doomers, and it is purposely intended to be difficult.  There are about 150 monsters.
• The distribution of health, ammo and weapons is done in such a way that you should ideally have a steady supply of whatever you need to fight the monsters.  CCT2 is never unfair.
• The level does have a number of secret areas, and although finding these would definitely give the player an advantage, visiting them is not required to complete the level.
• The level was not designed with jumping in mind.  Still, if you are playing Congestion Control 2 in an engine (such as ZDoom or Doom Legacy) which supports jumping, you can go ahead and use the feature, I've tried to make sure that you won't get stuck anywhere.

Deathmatch

• Congestion Control 2 also supports Deathmatch play.  8 Deathmatch start points are included.
• Certain enhancements have been made to make it more fun in DM.  Most notably, you will find a switch in the outdoors area, which lowers the bars to the castle-type area.  This switch does not do anything in single player (by the time you can reach it, the bars are already lowered).  But a player who starts outside in a DM game can activate this switch to allow free passage through the level for everyone.
• The level was tested in ZDoom and ACBot 1.41 for Doom Legacy, for deathmatch play.

Co-Operative Play

• 4 Player starts are included.  Co-op should be fun, though I haven't tested it.

[ Top ]

Tips and Other Info

This section will deal with some more technical oriented information about Congestion Control 2.  Also, some trivia about the level is included, for those who are interested :)

And as you may (or may not) already know, there is a whole secret area in the level, which is done in the style of Quake II - and also features some "personal" additions!  It is not all that tough to find, but I've anyway described how to get to it here (without cheating, that is...).

Trivia

• I drew an initial plan for the map of this level on 1 March 2003.
• The initial title of this level was supposed to be Out of Phase 4: Interview with the Cyberdemon.  It was supposed to be much shorter and built much faster than what it eventually ended up becoming.
• The WAD is being released on 15 May 2003, which is my 21st birthday (hence the 21 sign in the secret area).
• On 15 May 2001, my brother released his first level, The Anomaly Part II.
• 15 May 2003 is also the release date for The Matrix Reloaded in the U.S.
• I wanted to have a Spider Mastermind, the Romero head and a Douglas Adams quote at the end of this level, like in the first Congestion Control, but it didn't turn out that way, heh.  Anyway, with the exception of the Spider Mastermind, the whole range of Doom II's monsters is here for you to fight.
• The level took two and a half months to make.
• This is the first released level of mine that requires a source port/advanced engine to play.
• The font used to make the Congestion Control 2 logos is called Decrepit (you should be able to find it at any decent font site).

Secrets

Skip this section if you want to find the secrets out for yourself.

• When you reach the room with the berserk pack, just look around a little - you will find a candle (yes, that's a candle) positioned in front of a demon face on one of the walls.  Press this to lower an iron block in the same room, and walk into that to teleport to an outside area.
• In this outside area there is a switch, pressing it lowers the green pillar with the supercharge on top of it.
• Just opposite this switch, you will find another candle in front of a wall - press this to lower a small section of the wall.  Shoot at the face inside, and teleport back.  Turn around now, you will find that a bar which blocked a teleporter has been raised.  Take this teleporter to go to the Quake II Secret Area.
• There are a couple of interesting secrets once you get outside.  Firstly, just walk into the "dark cave" - at one point a megasphere should magically appear.  This is a secret.
• In this same area, there is a teleporter which allows you to go on top (from where some cacodemons came out).
• Once you are here, just look to your right, there is a passageway (it's dark).  This leads to the BFG room.
• When you enter the UAC base, you will come to a hallway with a small staircase.  Look to the left of the staircase at the walls (there is an indentation just below where the red key is placed) - there is a switch on one of them.  This opens a door (just near the red key door), revealing an elevator.  You can take this to the invisibility/chainsaw secret room.

Some other level features (DeHackEd, MAPINFO)

• The level includes a DeHackEd patch and a MAPINFO lump to change certain aspects of the game (the level title in the automap, a par time at the end).  None of this affects gameplay, neither is any of this required - I used these features of source ports since the level wouldn't anyway work with normal doom2.exe, and to add a little "polish".
• If you play the level with ZDoom, it concludes with some victory text after the intermission screen, and is followed by the Doom II End Game sequence, which shows the cast of characters.  There is also a different music for the level, and in addition to that the clouds in the sky will scroll, all thanks to a MAPINFO lump.
• The par time for this level is set to 8:17, which is based on a reasonable estimate by my brother and myself.  This is for Ultraviolence skill.

Tools used

• DoomCAD 6.1 by Matt Tagliaferri for map building.
• XWE 1.11 by Csabo for map building, inserting various resources, cleaning up the final WAD.
• Wintex 4.3 by Olivier Montanuy for inserting various resources and for creating the final WAD (the level and resources were in two WADs).
• ZenNode 1.1.0 by Marc Rousseau for node building.
• BSP 5.0 by Colin Phipps (and others) for node building (I used BSP at some earlier stages of the map... the final nodes are built with ZenNode).
• Paint Shop Pro 6.0 by Jasc Software for making the new graphics.
• DeHackEd 3.0a by Greg Lewis to make a small DeHackEd patch.  Once I inserted this into the WAD, I edited both this and the MAPINFO lump from within XWE itself.

I should probably also mention ZDoom's latest beta versions as a "tool" used in building the map.  Since ZDoom doesn't require the nodes to be built to play a level, it saved a lot of time while editing!

Bugs?

• The level has no playability bugs.
• If you play this level with a port in OpenGL mode, then there may be some visual errors - in some rooms, you may be able to see parts of adjacent rooms through holes in the roof!  This only happens in a couple of places, and is nothing serious (I also don't know how to fix it).  Use the software renderer in your port to get rid of the errors.

[ Top ]

Graphics

Congestion Control 2 uses several new graphics in the form of flats, textures and other graphics.  Here are the sources from where these graphics were taken.

By the way, many of these graphics can only be seen in the secret area in the level, heh...

Flats

• Three flats have been imported from Heretic.
• Six Quake II flats imported from the most excellent Quake II Texture Pack, available at Afterglow's site.
• Blue and Green ceiling lights made by myself.

Textures

• Seven textures (different types of bricks and a horizontal wood texture) imported from Final Doom: The Plutonia Experiment.
• Three textures imported from Doom I.
• 22 Quake II textures (doors, walls, misc. decorations, and a rock texture) imported from the most excellent Quake II Texture Pack, available at Afterglow's site.
• 12 textures made by me - these are used in the secret area.  These include the CCT2 logo, the 21 logo, the pictures of my brother and myself.  Also, 7 of these textures are based on drawings of mine.

Other Graphics

• The sky is replaced with a bright white sky imported from Final Doom: The Plutonia Experiment.
• The titlepic was made by me, based on my drawing Get the Megasphere!, available on my site.
• The intermission picture was also based on the above drawing.
• End level name graphic (which appears in the intermission screen) made by me.

Other than the graphics I made myself, all the other graphics are the property of their respective authors and were used without permission.

[ Top ]

Music

Congestion Control 2 features a few music replacements.  These are listed below.  One of these will only be heard if you play the level with ZDoom.

Musics

• Main level music is a MIDI track from Final Doom: TNT - Evilution.
• If you play the level with ZDoom, then the main level music is a MOD file, extracted from the demo version of the game Guimo.
• Title music is a track from Final Doom: TNT - Evilution.
• Intermission music is a track from Hexen.
• The victory music has been replaced with Popcorn Dance Mix by Davie M. Karlsson (this is the same track that was the main level music in the original Congestion Control).  This is intended mainly for ZDoom users, because after CCT2 finishes, you will see some victory text.  Those using other ports will only hear it if they warp to a level that shows text after it ends (such as MAP06, MAP20, MAP30, etc.).

If you want to...

• If you are playing the level with ZDoom and you want to hear the level music that will play in other ports, then press the tilde (~) key to drop down the console, and type changemus d_runnin. To change the music back to the MOD music, type changemus guimo at the console.

All the replaced music tracks are the property of their respective authors and were used without permission.

[ Top ]

Credits and Acknowledgements

There are several people that deserve to be acknowledged for contributing to the making of this level in one way or the other!  Here is the list of all the people I want to thank.  If I have forgotten anybody, apologies for that.

Thanks to...

• My brother Varun for beta testing and useful feedback, and inspiration.
• The authors of all the resources used in the level (see the Graphics and Music sections).
• Tobias Münch, Pablo Dictter, Damian Lee, Joel Murdoch for being the good friends that they are.
• The authors of all the tools used in building the level (see the Other Info section).
• To everyone who has given me comments/done reviews/made demos of my levels.  Apart from the people already mentioned, this is (in no particular order): Chris Hansen, Opulent, Joe Pallai, Brad Spencer, Ismaele, Virgil the DOOM Poet, Albert Valls, Wim Vanrie, Magikal, Steve Clark, SgtCrispy, Sarge Baldy, deathz0r, Hyena, Scott Wall, Simon Broadhead, Josh Frazier, Ganeshan, Dale Lunar.
• Thanks to the Doom Community news sites, and their staff (past and present) for posting updates about me.
• To Chris Hansen again, for choosing the first Congestion Control to be part of his 2002 Great Doom Releases list.
• To id Software for making Doom II and for supporting modifications.
• To the authors of all enhanced engines a.k.a. source ports of Doom.
• To my parents, and friends (the non-Doom people).
• And last, but not the least, to YOU, the person who is reading this, for downloading this package!

[ Top ]

Links

This section contains links to several sites that you may want to visit.  Some links are to pages which are part of the Doomworld idgames Archives Database, which provide several download mirrors for the same file.

All links are correct and working at the time of writing.

My pages

• Karthik82.com, my website.  Contains a blog, movie reviews, my drawings and more stuff apart from the Doom related material.
• Congestion Control 2 Page, the info/screenshots/download page.
• Get the Megasphere! Drawing, used for making the titlepic and intermission background.
• Congestion Control 2 Story, the large version of the drawing.

Source Ports

• PrBoom
• ZDoom (latest beta versions available here)
• Doom Legacy
• MBF
• Boom (TeamTNT Home Page)

Boom/MBF derivatives, such as SMMU, Eternity, JDP, etc. will also run this level perfectly well.

For a complete list of source ports currently available for various platforms, please refer to Doomworld's excellent compilation, which can be found here.

Tools and Resources

• DoomCAD 6.1, my main editor.
• XWE (Csabo), excellent editing and WAD manipulation tool.
• Wintex 4.3, WAD manipulation tool.  There are updated versions available, but somehow I still use this.
• ZenNode, fast and efficient node builder.
• BSP, excellent node builder.
• DeHackEd 3.0a, for EXE modification.
• Afterglow's Site (Derek McDonald a.k.a. Afterglow), textures.

Links to homepages of the people mentioned above

• Varun 20787 (Varun Abhiram, my brother)
• The Tobysite (Tobias Münch)
• Pablo's Internal Organs (Pablo Dictter)
• GG Inc. (Joel Murdoch)
• The DooMer's RecesS (Chris Hansen) (2002 GDR Page)
• The Doomed Speed Demos Archive (Doug Merrill a.k.a. Opulent)
• Outpost of Doom II (Alberto Sposito a.k.a. Ismaele)
• The Ultimate DooMer's Page of Doom (Steve Clark a.k.a. The Ultimate DooMer)
• Magikal's Doom Acheron (Kevin Reay a.k.a. Magikal)
• Brad Spencer: Maps/Demos (Brad Spencer)
• The Mole's Lair (Wim Vanrie)
• Présage (Albert Valls and Dense13)
• Doom Radio (Jeremy Elder a.k.a. SgtCrispy)
• Sarge Baldy's Hardass Doom Reviews (Owen Lloyd a.k.a. Sarge Baldy)
• Virgil The DOOM Poet's Lair
• Xavana (Ganeshan)

Official and unofficial Doom Sites

• id Software
• Doomworld
• NewDoom
• Doomworld's idgames Archives Database

My previous WADs

• Dark Fate (Doom II, 19 April 2003)
• Out of Phase 3: One Cloudy Afternoon (Doom II, 9 November 2002)
• Congestion Control (Doom II, 15 October 2002)
• The Other Side of Phobos (Doom I/Ultimate Doom, 12 March 2002)
• Out of Phase II (Doom II, 1 Jan 2002)
• Out of Phase (Doom II, 3 October 2001)
• Chaos Punch (Doom I/Ultimate Doom, 15 April 2001)
• ICK (Doom I/Ultimate Doom, 31 March 2001)

Plus there are a couple of levels available only at my site.

[ Top ]

The Fine Print

In conclusion, I just want to say thanks for downloading this level.  I hope you enjoy playing Congestion Control 2.  Do let me know what you think of it, and email me your comments (and as usual, demos are welcome!!).  Also, visit my site and play my other levels if you haven't played them already!

Some Important Issues

• You may distribute Congestion Control 2 freely and without permission.  But I request that you distribute the cct2.zip file UNALTERED, and in it's ENTIRETY.
• Level authors MAY NOT use this level as a base for additional levels.
• Level authors MAY use the textures that I made myself.  As for other textures and graphics which were not made by me, please get the respective texture packs and use them from there.
• This level will be uploaded to the public FTP idgames Archive Sites and can be downloaded from them and their mirrors.  The path should be something like /pub/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/cct2.zip.

A Final Word

Until next time...

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

(Hey, it looks like I worked in a Douglas Adams quote after all!)

And...

Happy Birthday to me!

[ Top ]

Congestion Control 2 by Karthik Abhiram © 2003

This document written by Karthik Abhiram

Doom II, The Ultimate Doom, Quake II are ™ and © id Software
Heretic and Hexen are ™ and © Raven Software
Guimo is ™ and © Jack in the Box Computing
All other software, tools, etc. mentioned in this document are properties of their respective authors, and are hereby acknowledged.