The DWmegawad Club plays: STRAIN

Map29
I mostly like this mostly linear techbase. Sure, there are a couple of "what am I supposed to do now?" moments in it, but it wouldn't really be a STRAIN map without a few of those.

This is Ron Allen's only contribution to the WAD, and in fact the only level of his that an "author search" turns up on the Doomworld levels database (he did work on the Unofficial WAD Designer's Handbook with Bill McClendon though).

The map makes a strong first impression: good use of height and varying light levels in the opening room, and the textures on the 'circular' pillars wrap properly. It continues to deliver good visuals I think. I like the use of the red flat in the next change, for instance: it brings out those claw-like frames around the doors very nicely. The crack in the earth in the western section is also a neat touch.

Gameplay-wise, there is not a lot of real challenge here, and what difficulty there is, is sometimes a bit on the cheap side: long distance chaingunner snipers. The map's northern section does make pretty good use of super-imps as turrets, though. Nicely thematic, given that they are arachnotron replacements.

Overall, a solid last 'normal' map before the Icon of Landis.

MAP28 is a pretty good spirit world homage. I couldn't find the yellow key, so I watched heretic's uv-max demo. It's in a secret. I can't tell if the key was actually needed or if it's just to crush the hell lords. The latter would be great, the former terrible.

100% Kills and Secrets

MAP29. I used to HATE this level, so one more which I replayed (so I could explain the reasons of hatred). Well, it's not so bad. Overall too dark and not too visually attractive. Some parts make me wonder if this map didn't end up in Strain by mistake, it should belong to Icarus (SHAWN textures everywhere!).

...but the action was quite solid, so (I repeat): not too bad.

28

And now for something completely different! This is so thematicaly out of context that it feels like a secret level that has somehow elbowed it's way into the main roster. Everyone knows that sky used as a floor flat is passé so what you need to do it cover entire areas in it including where there are height variations. This combined with the garish texturing, stark light contrast and teleporting hyper imps makes it quite the head rush.

It's feels somewhat comforting to be back on solid ground after leaving the trippy bleeding area. The thick stoney pillars here are aesthetically pleasing in a proto-Quake kind of way and the holobots fight contained here is pretty fun, the spectral holos stalking you in the dark as you weave through the posts. There are a bunch of switches in here and I just hit them all, the only one that I could work out the target for is the one that pulls down the lift to the next area.

I had a lot of fun in this next area. After I found the invul it removed a lot of the risk but prior to that the turret minister of pain worked really well with the holobots making a nuisance of themselves while it oversees and pings rockets at you. The area surrounding the diamond platform structure looked pretty cool like a doomed planet or remote zone of hell.

The two dark high contrast wings look really atmospheric but couldn't have hurt to be trimmed to just the one. Any sort of combat here shouldn't work at all but it's actually not so bad. I felt compelled to push on aggressively to make sure everything was dead before I lost sight of it in the inky blackness. There are more switches in here, which I think reveal the switches in the final area.

The final area was pretty dull actually. There was the ominous lurking of the demon lord but I killed him through the gaps in his chamber and then there's the poly drones that were more of a probl dead than alive for me here. I got completely stuck here and had to refer to a LP to figure out how to exit. Turned out the yellow key was in a secret and is not needed to beat the level, just crush The Lord that is dead now already. Worse I misjudged the gap in the walls to the exit, partly because they were smaller before I hit some switches and partly because a polydrone died in the gap and I think I got some sort of aversion to try squeezing through. Around half my 40 min play through was spent uncovering these 2 'puzzles'. How did I get this far! The map is not even that confusingly built compared to the average STRAIN effort but the crazy visuals and some non-obvious switches threw me completely off.

MAP29 - Self-Destruct

Kills: 100% | Items: 95% | Secrets: 66%

A more "ordinary" and very solid map. The circle decorative structure after the first door is really cool. There are other parts that are also nice, like the metal "towers" at east, the circle place at south-est, and for some reason the very big area. Though in this one there was definetely space for a more interesting fight. Also I used all the plasma ammo against hordes of hitscanners, it was still fun but also kinda a waste for a MAP29. A good map overall.

MAP29 Self-Destruct

well not quite the kinda thing you'd expect. it's just another level that has the usual STRAIN tropes. gee, penultimate levels should be TOUGHER. first off, the east area. There's a spiral staircase that forms to the top of a platform, but before it is a switch which lowers the ledge just before it. Your gut instinct, yes, YOUR GUT INSTINCT tells you to press the switch, and if you go trigger the stairs while the lift is in use (which I first did), well, you can't leave the map. horrible design choice there.

left part of the map was better than the right part of the map. the building of a bridge was a little better IMO than the whole right side with it's teleporting monsters (and the so called "curse of the monster who is stuck in the closet and makes this map max-unfriendly"). there's that big open area with lava, which isn't tough, but you'd have to be one hell of a masochist to enjoy the forced walk over the lava, just so you can find the switch. so for better or for worse, this had its moments, but I will not hold a map like this in high regard.

MAP27: Dispensary Beta
97% kills, 5/6 secrets

Bit of an old-school Tom Hall feel to this one, with linear path despite the areas interconnecting with lots of windows and blocky design. I do like that the different areas have different themes, whether it's the TEKGREEN parkour area, or the quick-moving computer lifts, or the sewer tunnels. Keeps the level fresh as you move throughout it. It is a bit long, and has a bit too much hell noble meat for my tastes (not helped by me missing the fairly obvious NFG secret, I just didn't need that healthpack!) It does flow pretty well, for the most part, not being too difficult nor too easy. I agree with purist that the biggest mistake is the final battle, as the room is set up perfectly to have the cacodemons (hey, this map remembered they exist!) warp in from the windows above, but instead has them teleport in one at a time at ground level in the middle of the room. Oh well.

MAP29: Self-Destruct

I found this techbase to be pleasantly gloomy and menacing, the emphasis on gleaming metal and pristine technology an interesting counterpoint to the grungy music and entertaininglu visceral moment-to-moment combat. There sense of events building towards a climax within the WAD's overall story is quite palpable. Which makes it unfortunate that the author's vocabulary of challenge seems to contain only the words 'darkness' and 'distance;' there really isn't a lot here to threaten the player that doesn't really on one of those two factors for protection from the player's return fire, and by about two-thirds of the way through the map's running time the one-note nature of it wears a bit thin. I pretty much just dashed through the last one-third or so of the map simply because actually taking out the uncertain number of super-imps bombarding me from all around the lava hall sounded nothing but tedious.

Map 29: Kills: 85%, Items: 95%, Secrets: 33%, final time: 12:58 (0 deaths, I guess)

First playthrough of the level I managed to get stuck. The staircase that raises in this level should also raise the lift; problem is, I had no idea that was the case and I raised it while the lift was down. So, the lift didn't go up and I assumed I'd raise it later in the map. After I went through the demonlord circle area and spent a few minutes searching, I opened Doom Builder and found out that I was completely stuck. Having to restart, of coursec didn't help my perception of this level but the level isn't amazing anyway. I didn't find an SSG, I dunno if there is one in the level, but the lack of one made the entire experience a lot more grindy and tedious. Lots of encounters in this one would have been much better if I had an SSG; like the imp/demon crowd in the second room that teleported in when I came back to that area, or all those cacos that I had to SG. The demonlord also didn't really serve much of a purpose, easy to run away from and kill with circle-strafing. Not a terrible level, but sorta meh gameplay.

FDA here.

MAP29 was pretty good until I got BFG'd at the end. After that, I went straight to MAP30. Carryovers made managing the large waves of enemies pretty fun. Super imps in the lava area ate rockets if I recall correctly.
??% Kills 16% Secrets (no idea where that number came from, it was just there from my notes)

Map30
Ridiculously easy to cheese: scoot past one imp in the white corridor and you can make it into the central area without waking the IoS. In fact, that way it won't wake until you start pumping rockets into it. The biggest issue then is the tendency of auto-aim to drag your rockets off course, causing you to be injured by backblast (though there are plenty of invulns around to eliminate even that risk).

Of course, an argument can be made that the best IoS is a quick/easy IoS, so on that front I guess you could say it delivers! I do think that it was a mistake to end the wad with so vanilla an encounter, though. STRAIN was supposed to be all about the new and unique, and yet here we are riding a platform to shoot rockets into a hole. Again.


Overall
STRAIN is a mixed bag for me. I don't much care for the new monsters, for a start. Now it's true that I'm innately suspicious of gameplay hacks in general, but I think STRAIN was a contributing factor that. Too many of the 'new strain' are just minor tweaks of existing creatures, and keeping the Baron makes no sense to me in the circumstances.

I do actually quite like the NFG. The sprite looks a bit out of place, and the ammo limit is too low (100 base, going to 200 with backpack, would be better), but the increased damage makes it more effective for clearing out big HP sinks. The psychic blaster, though ... ugh all around. Looks silly and isn't worth the rockets it consumes.

The levels ... I feel like 11, 27 and 29 are the only ones I'd point to and say "worth playing if they were standalone". Probably also 28 just for how visually unique it is (though I hear it's very rough on pistol start). Other maps are quite satisfactory within the context of the megawad (01, 09, 23, 25), but no great shakes in and of themselves. And there are some painful experiences here, too: 21 is the stand-out for me, but 06, 17 and 19 are also firmly in the 'do not want' column. I also hated 31, but mostly for the tyson gameplay and obtuseness of the secret exit, so I'll cut it some slack: some folks like Tyson, and you don't need to find the secret exit to end the map.

29

STRAINs penultimate offering subverts the typical epic adventure with a medium sized map. It also betrays it's title, which is screaming for a gimmick of some kind. None of this makes it a bad level - I thought it was amongst the better ones in the game - I was just surprised it ended as quickly as it did.

I'm a. It fan of the way this one looks despite it featuring a lot of shiny brushed metal, which I've mentioned before is one of my least favourite texture themes. I think it's juxtaposition to the more grimy look goes a long way to help and is love the jagged absurdist archeticture that is on the right side of the intricate but not so busy to be a distracting blur in the choco resolution I'm using. The jaw like surrounds and the cracked steps that have already been mentioned are nice details and the more bare expansive areas have their own charm in a cinematic kind of way. The lighting is mostly gloomy and also helps set the atmosphere of being one of the nastier places in the STRAINiverse only the area you take a lift down to with an edge dropping down into lava was negatively effected by the dimness causing me to fall in once more than tolerable but even this gave the area an edge it would have otherwise lacked.

Fights are above par and along with only a handful of STRAIN maps proves the new monsters can be challenging if they are placed utilising their strengths - the long range turret fast imps are the best example of this in the map. I think my playthrough was benefitted by being continuous as I did not notice the grind problem others have mentioned. Before writing this I played some other bits and bobs so my memory of it is not very specific but it was definitely a good map.

final thought is that I think STRAIN would have benefitted from having more of the E3 levels having the warped base angle to them like this one and - I suppose an extreme example - MAP28, just the give the episode a more distinct theme.

MAP30 - Boss

Here we go. Actually it is lot easier of what it might seems. Getting in the area where the Ios is isn't very difficult, and there are so much invuln-spheres that basically you are in god mode for all the time. Notable is the thing that the IoS can be defeated from 4 different locations, I think coop players will like this. Once you get to one of the elevators it's done. Pretty short level that takes us quickly to defeat the IoS without gimmicks or tricky fights.

In this replay I found many things that I don't like so much or don't work well in the maps. The new monsters and weapons are balanced and interesting. Having 3 monsters that are basically the same (the nobles) and also the invisible variant of the holobot imo makes suffer a bit the gameplay on counting on similar sceneries for the fights without offering so much variety. The replacement of the spiderdemon is really good as it change an aspect that makes the spiderdemon difficult to use well.
The NFG is a nice weapon to use, though I don't like so much the sprite, and the sawed-off is a good improvement of the SG. The Psychic Blaster is fun to use but like Capellan said it isn't worth the rockets it uses.

Map 30: Kills: 92%, Items: 31%, Secrets: 100%, final time: 5:22 (2 deaths) (total time ~10:45, although there were times I was menued because I had to do something else)

I've seen this map before, but I didn't remember how it was done. Pretty meh attempt at an IoS map to end this mapset, trying to get the raise/lower sectors to match up is a pain, and they are too slow to match up anyway (even the idea in TTP worked better as it was at least through the use of one sector and it wasn't too annoying to get the correct timing (and no monsters blocked the path). There is one saving grace to this map, and that is that it is trivial to cheese the IoS by shooting it from the top of the platform; not sure if this was an intended feature, but if it was known, then it is a lame way to kill the IoS, but at least it's trivial to perform. I was definitely hoping for some kind of new Dehacked boss, but oh well. The music is pretty funky, though.

Overall thoughts:

I liked Strain; some of the maps were kinda weird and a lot of the design and gameplay is very 90s, but not necessarily in a bad way. Even some of the corridor maps worked in my opinion (like map 6), and many of the maps were quite fun to play, especially when they used the fact that the player starts with no ammo well. The monster changes and weapon changes are so-so; some work, but others don't add to the gameplay in any way. The fast imps are pretty cool, especially when used well as snipers, the mini-cybers were kinda fun, and the flying hitscan cubes did quite well at wearing down my health. I'm not too confident on the benefits of slow revenant projectiles. I think they would have worked better if all of them were homing, as the non-homing ones had no purpose as they were too slow to ever make it to me; the homing ones were much harder to shake off than normal revenant projectiles (though even then they were easily avoided). Increasing demon health didn't really add anything good to the gameplay either, and the demonlords had far too much health, even though their spread worked quite well a lot of the time. Finally (I dunno if I'm forgetting any monsters), the BFG zombiemen weren't very effective; if I was unlucky, they could cause instant death quickly, otherwise they were easily killed, and often they fired too slow to be a problem anyway. I appreciate the changes to the fist and pistol, but I prefer the plasma gun and BFG over the Strain weapons #6 and #7. Thus, Strain is definitely kind of a mixed bag; some bad gameplay changes and some good ones, and some bad weapon changes and some good ones, but overall, it was fun, and while a lot of the gameplay, visuals, and progression was very 90s, it was mostly the good kind of 90s.

MAP28: Unknown
99% kills, 12/13 secrets

Well, this is certainly a bit of a weird one, especially at the start - sky for floor (even a lift floor!), some blind teleports and tons of teleporting enemies, bloodfall doors, etc. It's also a toughy for a pistol start since there's no weapons/ammo provided, necessitating punching your way through imps and then liberating some armaments from zombies (I ended up abusing the lift at the start to clear out the imps one at a time, eventually). The weirdness of the start area is a little undermined by the boxyness of it, though, even if this is 1997...

After that the level becomes a bit more standard, though also somewhat boring - lots of corridor shooting without much cover or threat from multiple angles. I liked the look of the dark rooms with the red light strips running through them, but that was about it - after that opening room there's not much of note, except for maybe the switch hitting to unlock the exit being a bit tricky (I missed a switch for the longest time because I had found the secret behind it, lifting it up and not realizing there was a switch I had missed there). Speaking of secrets, I think the map really only has three, as one of them is just every-sector-gets-a-tag E4M3 style.

Not bad, and I probably am more forgiving of it since it's a relatively short map despite the 185 monster count.

MAP30: Boss

I come from the "quick IoS is best IoS" school of thought that Capellan mentioned so at least for me this is an inoffensive climax to the Strain experience. Oddly enough the four-way rotational symmetry of this map makes it clear that it's designed for co-op play, compared to the earlier levels which didn't seem to emphasise this at all. To some extent it feels like the final arena is relying on slightly cluttered visuals to obfuscate its essential simplicity. Still, fun times were had blowing away the... General, according to the closing text crawl, who for some reason is a head-on-a-stick? Makes me wonder if there are any WADs that replace the Romero head graphic with a functionally identical, I don't know, pulsating brain in a life support tank or something.

- - - - -

Closing Thoughts

I think one thing I've mentioned a few times regarding individual maps is a sense that the WAD is, in some ways, ahead of its time. There are no shortage of moments that boil down to "press switch, scour level," which seem like they're crying out for Hexen-esque "(x) has opened on the (y)" hint text or some other kind of additional information and guidance that the Doom engine, by default, just can't provide. One might argue that providing additional information in this way trivialises certain levels, but Strain isn't all that consistent about turning the subsequent "What did it do?" hunts into actual challenges by throwing monsters into the newly-revealed path of progression.

Anyway, that's enough of "what Strain might have been;" in terms of what it is, I found it an enjoyable and clearly ambitious project that tries hard to do something different and refreshing, and the effort behind it is worth praising even if the results are sometimes mixed.

MAP30's a boss shooter, not much else to it. Maybe it's worth mentioning that the coop starts are clearly visible here. Everyone gets every weapon + full ammo, and a single hell lord to fight before the IoS. The boss himself is difficult to see. Figuring out how to hit him takes time, but the arena is stocked full of health and even a v-sphere. I died once before I found the lift up to him.

37% Kills 100% Secrets
---
Here are my picks for the wad. The last one is inspired by me picking up Going Down after playing the end of NOVA II. (GD was great!)
Ugliest Level: 6
Worst Puzzles: 21
Worst Ammo Starvation: 12
Hardest Level: 17 (qualifies for ammo starvation too)
Hardest Pistol Start: 28
Favorite start: 4
Favorite Short Level: 4
Favorite Long Level: 27
Creativity Award: 15's fake destructible walls, 2's changing layout
Now I want to play: Demonfear

Final thoughts: I don't know. I just don't know. Even at the end, my opinion from roughly in the middle of the WAD stands. STRAIN is an ambitious project in terms of how it tries to re-shape Doom's gameplay. In that regard, it does a pretty good job. It's the pistol starts I take issue with. For all the careful unveilings of weapons and enemies, starting around MAP11, the pistol starts get more and more frustrating. The visuals are split like the gameplay. For all the beautiful new textures, you have maps (mostly by Landis) that are offensively ugly. Thank God 30 is a collaboration. His monotextured horrors still stick out, but at least it's only half of the level. In short: STRAIN's a mixed bag. For every step forward, it takes another back. I'm still glad I played it, if only to see a different approach to the classic Doom monsters. For me, the rest is just noise.

SoundofDoomDoors said:

Now I want to play: Demonfear

You'll probably be disappointed. Most of the maps are from 1995, and it shows :)

30

An IOS replica is a strange decision to make from a project with the goal of shaking up Doom 2 into something closer to a partial conversion. Not only are the spawn shooter and boss brain are re-employed but the method to beat them is similar too.

The level starts lowering into a treasure trove of goodies and then serves up a bit of incidental combat in the form of a few barons and dopplegangers all in enough space to ignore if you wish and then a few imps in a corridor before entering the main outdoor area. Essentially all this could just have been cut as it serves no purpose. It's probably only there to appease one of the collaborating authors.

I thought the out door was too cluttered both visually and architecturally with a mish mash of tech colours and height changes every few steps makes it confusing to work out where you are supposed to go. Climbing to the peak of the tech mount and fighting some polydrones on the way reveal mega spheres and invuls and eventually I found the way to the ground area where the means to beat the game lie.

Finishing up couldn't be much simpler. There's a switch to start a platform perpetually raising/lowering and a slit in the wall large enough to launch rockets through so I correctly assumed the boss brain was hidden somewhere in that general direction. For someone not aware of Doom tropes it may not be a clear enough objective but, let's face it, those players would never have got this far.

So STRAIN has something of a limp finish and a missed opportunity to strain (hurhur) out some final creative juices in what is a pretty creative megawad. That aside, it is still a pretty poor map and wins points only for its brevity and simplicity to finish once you work out where the boss brain is.

STRAIN

Overall STRAIN can be applauded for some bold design decisions, most prominently the changes to weapons and new monsters but also the puzzle orientated gameplay and consistently tech theme. Whilst more often than not these do not improve of the original experience it provides something new whilst managing not to ruin things completely. Damning with faint praise maybe but it is an achievement to produce a decent quality megawad after removing the Revenants, BFGs and Hell episodes from it entirely.

The maps themselves use the new resources pretty well and are of decent quality although some suffer from what is an apparent directive to make puzzly or tricky levels. Some people just don't suit this sort of gameplay style and perhaps the more annoying obtuse moments here as a result of mappers bing forced out of their comfort zone.

Best maps: 04, 05, 13, 22, 24
Worst maps: 11, 12, 17, 19, 25
Episodes: E3 > E1 > E2

The club hasn't played HacX yet?

Please consider it for next month, it is not a different game, just a dehacked-based total conversion. It's still Doom gameplay.

MAP25 - "Main Laboratory” by Arthur Chang

A real pain in the arse map from pistol start, hardly any health or ammo, and no armour til late in the day. I was on practically zero health for most of the time, the 2 free soul spheres barely left me with over 100 health when I got them. Very little margin for error through most of it. Hope this won't be a pattern for the rest of the maps, its pretty draining. Finally got to use the mega weapon whatever it is. Looks utterly ridiculous and can hardly see its projectiles. They seem to do me damage as well which helps keep my health nice and low. Some zombies have decided to carry BFGs, though they look identical to the others so you'll only find out when you are dead from one of their shots. Frustrating map.

MAP26 - "Main Laboratory II” by Holger Nathrath, Charlie Patterson, and Eric Roberts

I'd like to personally thank this map for giving me plenty of health and enough ammo to kill everything without my fists. In fact it felt like a breather after the recent maps, there were a few tricky moments but on the whole it was short and simple, and the only ridiculous moment I can remember was the exit room where a lift delivers you into a point-blank hellknight gangbang. Other than that, and the disappearing bridge key trap it was fairly breezy.

MAP27 - "Dispensary Beta” by Andy Badorek

Love the cheeky music. Has some cheeky gameplay too, though nothing I'd call unfair. The lack of bullshit traps, obscure puzzles and resource starvation make this one of the more enjoyable maps of the wad. It also gets big points from me for having a caco swarm and a rocket launcher.

MAP28 - “Unknown” by Bjorn Hermans

What the fuck? I've been wondering with a lot of these maps if they were truly tested on pistol start, I mean its impossible to make a map without playing it surely. But then this map comes along, and it requires you to punch your way through a maze of imps with no weapons. They will just eat you, and if by complete chance you get through them you will have no health left and will be immediately killed by hitscanners. Did I miss some guns somewhere? Gonna have to skip this map.

MAP29 - "Self-Destruct” by Ron Allen

This is a cool looking map, a little obscure in places but generally keeps the flow going and the pace fast. I missed quite a chunk of monsters I think, must be some hidden stuff to explore but I was in no fit state to hang around after the bfg zombies zapped me outside the exit. Good map.

MAP30 - "Boss” by Jon Landis and Rich Johnston

Finally made it to the end. Bit confusing but I eventually discovered the romero head in the middle going up and down on a platform by accident. Think a stray bullet must have hit it, I don't think I'd ever have known it was there otherwise. Not sure the intended method with those lifts and stuff around the outside, but I just stood right next to romero in the middle and blasted him in the face with SSG every time he popped up. I'm glad there was that option, rather than monkeying about with rising platforms.

Final thoughts..

So that's the end of STRAIN, and it was a strain indeed. On the positive side its a pretty impressive piece of design considering its vintage, there's a lot of effort gone into the custom graphics and the new monsters are all good additions when used properly.

On the downside, pistol starting this wad was a BIG mistake, I would seriously put a health warning on the packaging about that. Especially having ammo for weapons that don't appear in your map is just sticking two fingers up at pistol starters who already face a tough start. And then there are the "puzzle" elements, which I would argue aren't really puzzles so much as time wasters, and there are one or two maps that have crimes of gameplay that would have made me quit the whole thing without the DWMC incentive to carry on. I think my overall opinion of this wad would have been a lot higher if i'd played it continuously, but there is enough annoying stuff to make sure that probably won't happen in a hurry.

However, adding a final slice of bread to the shit sandwich I would say that the music is excellent throughout. Some of these tunes are real classics, its no wonder I've heard them often in many wads since.

still not quite sure how to play MAP30 so I'll avoid it.

Final

what to say about STRAIN? It's varied, in quite a lot of ways. new enemies provide some thrills, and weapon changes also make things a bit more interesting, while keeping it real all the same. playing it again, some of my previous thoughts about this mapset remains. there's some fun, and there's some frustration.

things I enjoyed:
-the berserk fists
-the holo-bots, polydrones, and BFG troopers
-pushing through the caverns of MAP25 with the invulnerability intact
-the deliberate but not outright trollish trolling for the rocket launcher in MAP10
-the music, especially in MAP11 and MAP13
-MAP08
-MAP27

things I hated:
-MAP06
-demon lords
-MAP14 had four authors and I still didn't like it.
-MAP21
-figuring out the secret exit in MAP31
-backtracking in some maps.
-one potential exploit in MAP29 makes it unbeatable
-NFG and psychic blaster gun holding sprites look bad

MAP30. I actually like the aesthetics, except for these boring corridors with imps. Thanks Capellan for the tip. On UV there's a Cyberdemon Jr. near the tower with the rising platform, so remaining silent until the end is too risky, but generally it helps.

You don't need rocket launcher, I somehow killed IOS with 2 rockets and finished with the psychic blaster... The tool found its purpose?

Strain is a classic. MM,MM2,Requiem,Strain. One person - Florian Helmberger - contributed maps to all 4 of them. Weapon and monster changes... are not so important. So they are quite nicely done if I don't feel them so much when playing. Unlike everyone else, I like incresed HP of the demon. Favourite maps: 13,17,23, but there are at least ten more I like a lot.

@4shockblast: SSG on MAP29 is next to where you start the level.

Map 27 -- Dispensary Beta - 98% Kills / 100% Secrets
Ah, Andy Badorek. Easily one of the most seasoned of the STRAIN participants (up there with Landis and Windsor), and I daresay, perhaps the one with the best 'batting average' of them all at that point--there's a certain ineffable quality to most of his SP material (not well acquainted with much of his DM stuff I must admit), a sense of immersiveness that makes them compelling. Combat in his maps is often quite simple/easy, but there's usually a fair bit of it, and it makes a satisfying accompaniment to his particular style of layout and construction, which focuses on communicating setting through engagement with the environment. Discrete sections of his maps feel different because you move through/around them in different ways, as opposed to be because they look starkly different; indeed, I reckon the relatively high level of visual coherency (as evinced by texture selection and color scheme and whatnot) in combination with his penchant for self-contained concepts is precisely why he nails that 'techbase adventure tour' feeling so well.

Knowing the Club's past itinerary, I would assume 'Dispensary Beta' reminds one of 'Twilight Labs' in more ways than one--not quite as freeform as the MM map, this, but even more thematically polished. In fact, I might go so far as to say that it is the best-looking map in the WAD; that 90% of its asset use is stock stuff rather than custom STRAIN additions says a lot about the versatility and usability of the new stuff, IMO, but I suppose I don't need to beat that dead horse anymore at this point. It's not just a matter of materials, though, of course, but concourse and execution as well--the neutral base-grey color scheme is unassertive but fits the 'sterile zone' techbase theme comfortably, lighting is well handled via both directional shadowing and subtle shifts between areas, and incidental architectural/environmental features like chunky banks of computer equipment and broad windows looking into other areas establish the setting while also adding intrigue to the progression. Most of the shapes and angles in the architecture are quite orthogonal, but frequent height changes and variation in room scales keeps the level from feeling like an artificial backdrop, and indeed the whole is more 'organic' in feel than some of the freehand shaping from earlier maps, simply because the layout/architecture are integrated more naturally. I did spot some misalignments here and there, the most memorable being the grey hexagonal paneling in the water/lifts room (I swear that's got to be one of the most often misaligned textures in all of PWADdom), but generally speaking there's a level of polish and aesthetic coherency on display here that outpaces 90% of the rest of the WAD. Aesthetic nicety is no substitute for inherently engaging action, of course, but I do wonder if my overall impression of STRAIN would be more positive if more of its maps looked like this (while still playing/functioning as they do, I mean).

Fairly high monstercount by this WAD's standards, but most of the action is relatively casual incidental skirmishing against small groups of low/mid-tier monsters. There's a much more conventional pistol-start here than that posed by many of the other E3 maps, as well; all in all, there should be relatively little to make a modern player sweat in Dispensary Beta. In a way it feels like the combat here is a little 'old-fashioned' relative to STRAIN's late 90s vintage and some of the vaguely Quake-esque meat-grinder CQC stuff that was more popular at that time, but given the articulation between rooms it manages to stay pretty engaging. Most of the 'big fights' are, ironically, the bits that are easiest to criticize; much has been said about the slow trickle of cacodemons into the pool at the end already, for instance. I would agree with the general consensus that having the gasbags come from more than one spot at once would've been better; another thought that occurred to me after fighting the holobots at the start was that having more of these guys appear to come through the windows while the cacos trickle out of the aether might've been an interesting prospect with slow-moving nature of the holobots' projectiles. Low point is probably the yellow key fight, quite a lot of meat to laboriously grind through there, and it's temptingly easy to just take the card and leave (I let the lords infight with their vassals for the sake of 'completion'). As aforesaid, though, it's not really battle choreography that makes Andy's stuff fun, it's a more OG Doom-style exploration angle where progressing through the varied environments is the real draw, rather than individual combats.

Map 28 -- Unknown - 99% Kills / 100% Secrets
Another map from Hermans. Leaving aside the wacky visuals for a moment, in layout/construction terms this seems like a much older work than the more compact and conceptually unified 'Outskirts' from early in the game--as others have noted, in terms of shape it is heavily orthogonal (although this subsides a bit with the earthen terrain farther north), and somewhat spaghetti-stringy in layout. One wonders if this map might've been initially slated for the fourth entry in the Serenity series which never ended up materializing...we certainly know STRAIN is home to at least a few other repurposed maps, at any rate. Anyway, back to the visuals....well, to say that they're 'different' would be a bit of an understatement, but all things considered I actually think this is a positive thing. Asset use here is totally different from anything else in the WAD, and there's more of a sense of saturate color being applied in disciplined ways (e.g. the red guide-stripes that lead the way through the darkened northern tunnels) to create a specific effect, as opposed to the 'let's shit whatever wherever and call it good' look that some of the earlier levels have. To yet again harp on the asset pack, looking at specific elements it's not difficult to find fault--the spackle-grey 'buttercream ripple' texture that covers the outer boundaries of the first area speaks for itself, for instance--but the sea thematic shift the weird patois of blood, tye-dye pillars, and topographically chaotic terrain provided by the first area is something that the mapset needed at this lategame point; something to say that we're not in Kansas anymore, similar to the aesthetic benefit provided by 'Ruins' from earlier. That being said, that the more northerly areas are more thematically grounded is probably for the best; though quite striking/memorable, the look of that first zone is probably hard to take in large doses. As another aside, I kind of like the outdoor metal walkway in the middle of the map, if for no other reason than that it gives a good view of the E3 sky, which is actually pretty cool in concept (if a mite rough in execution).

I reckon some of this is psychological shorthand resulting from my knowing the author's other work, but again I see a lot of Serenity-isms in the gameplay here--yet again, via a combination of blocking lines, elevated terrain, cage mesh, etc. a disproportionate number of the monsters in the first zone are prevented from actually physically encroaching on the player's space, and even in the later areas where they are not thus impeded their capacity for exerting physical pressure is minimal due to the frontal/corridor-based nature of the combat. Ironically enough, though, here we once again see the STRAIN imps come good--the idea to have them zip all around the strange terrain via a circuit of monster teleport lines arranged on elevated platforms that only they can reach (usually) is quite clever, and their harrying overview, in combination with the initially rather disorienting terrain and relatively high number of monsters on the ground makes for a surprisingly hectic battle engagement, at least until you can carve out a space for yourself to work from. Easier said than done, that--again, this level forwards a rather unkindly pistol-start where it's easy to die in the first 60 seconds due to your total lack of armament and disadvantageous monster-blockades (ironic that the regular imps in the darkened tunnels at the start are significantly more dangerous than the STRAIN imps would be in the same situation due to the much shorter startup on their attacks) but once you punch out your first sergeant you at least tend to accumulate basic ammo fairly quickly.

Combat later in the level leaves progressively less of an impression as the player's armament increases, but at least there's a way to reduce some of the later busywork via the secret yellow key (erroneously flagged as 11 separate secrets, incidentally), which allows you to activate some crushers inside the stone strongbox where the exit is located to dispatch its temperamental guardians; bits of optional intrigue like that also stand out from previous levels, where the mandatory progression is more convoluted and the 'secret' stuff is rather direct in execution. In all, I guess it's no secret that I'm not a big fan of this author's work, but I think this odd map is making a positive contribution to the mapset here, in a way that it perhaps wouldn't if it weren't so singular in aspect.

MAP29: Self-Destruct
93% kills, 0/3 secrets

A nice little romp through a dimly-lit techbase, populated mostly by small fry zombies, imps and demons with a very light smattering of higher-tier monsters. Doesn't really feel like the penultimate map, but I like it nonetheless... it's pretty straightforward, and the amount of "what does this switch do" is somewhat alleviated by parts of the level being closed off behind the player until he unlocks the return path. The only thing I didn't really like was the wide-open cavern near the end, as it's loaded with so many hitscanners that it can lead to the player getting ripped apart by enemies he can barely see, but that's a small complaint. Most of the map is pretty decent action, and the generally dim light setting helps make the level look better than it otherwise might. Also like those cheeky BFG zombies at the end.

MAP30: Boss

Bit of a weirdly self-abortive map here... after the usual MAP30 free arsenal, teleport to the next area, immediately hit the switch, fall down into a trench of safety, teleport back up, kill a hell lord, open door, teleport away, hit first lift, ride up, clear out a couple of monsters then throw rockets through the hole at the Romero head. Felt like I missed a LOT of the level here, but whatever...

It's got the 1997-style jumble of textures mess, varying wildly from area to area, not much to say here. I suspect that a lot of players will miss the Romero head (I only just barely noticed him myself), could lead to a lot of aimlessness. Not much else to say... it's an Icon of Sin map, with all that carries with it.

Overall Thoughts

I admit, given the way I've seen this mapset discussed before, I expected a certain... something more. I suppose given that it was made in 1997 (with the limited tools that existed) only so much weirdness could really be expected... after all, take out the Dehacked work and custom textures, and it's an generally the overly blocky/orthogonal 90s-style maps you'd expect.

Speaking of those two additions (the Dehacked patch and the custom textures), I'd say that they probably help as much as hurt. The textures for the most part are somewhat ugly, though that's mainly because they mesh poorly with the original IWAD textures; the levels that stuck mainly to the custom textures entirely look pretty good for the most part. The weapon/monster changes are certainly a mixed bag: I like the holodrone and polydrone, the speedy imps grew on me (especially in levels that used them creatively), the hell lord is a good addition and the mini-cyber works well as a mid-range enemy, gameplay wise. Giving the red demons more health is just annoying, and the rainbow lost souls don't add anything (in addition to looking silly, "clown skulls" is a good nickname for them). The changes to the fists and pistol are rendered somewhat pointless by the lack of Tyson gameplay (and even starting bullets) on most maps, the NFG is interest but a bit hamstrung by lack of ammo, the Psychic Blaster is an interesting weapon but difficult to use (and pretty unneeded except for killing hell lords). I suppose they do help STRAIN stand out a bit, though.

I find it a bit difficult to pick out best/worst maps, since most of them have some good points and bad. Part of this might just be my own disconnect with the time period it was released in... things are gonna be ugly and blocky, just gotta roll with it. I think it does get better as it goes on, though there's also an increase in the amount of "puzzles"... which, a lot of which aren't really puzzles so much as there's a fair amount of "what does this switch do" to varying degrees. But there were surprisingly few spots where I actually got outright stuck and had to use the map editor.

Honestly I guess it was just nice to see a WAD without spamming revenants, mancubi and arch-viles everywhere.

Map 29 -- Self-Destruct - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
As Magnusblitz says, this doesn't quite feel like a 'traditional' map 29, mainly because it lacks the intensity one might expect, and cedes momentum to the player's favor very early in the proceedings. Considerations like these are always relative, though, I suppose...the bodycount is again one of STRAIN's highest, and the physical scope of the level is there, it's simply that thing placement is quite favorable to the player for a change, e.g. the very conventional pistol-start, which has the SSG freely available (albeit still credibly missable) within moments of the start, and a steady diet of ammo, health and powerups throughout, again in contrast with many of the more miserly E3 maps earlier on. Battles are generally quite simple, barring a couple of points where hitscan attrition from distant snipers can be problematic if RNG is unkind (in contrast to Magnus, I took more damage in the open 'power station' area on the east side, courtesy of a couple of commandos in the overlooking silver control room I had neglected to kill in a timely fashion). I reckon it's a level that aims more for spectacle or narrative, with its panoply of switch mechanisms that do 'something' cosmetic in the immediate environment and its depiction of a more and more damaged environment as the player makes it deeper in (I believe we are supposed to interpret later features as a result of our own actions earlier on, i.e. the last area to the north is flooded with lava because we've been tampering with control systems the whole time prior to it), as opposed to one that's about brutality per se.

I guess the upshot of this is that we could say it's a similar type of map as 27 before it (although certainly not as visually slick), but there are of course certain distinctions to be made. 'Self-Destruct' feels a lot bloodier than 'Dispensary Beta', for one thing--the 220+ monsters aren't really distributed evenly throughout the complex, but rather often appear in dense clots and heftier mobs that make for more protracted spates of killing rather than the smooth, steady pace of Badorek's map. I imagine some will find certain fights to be unnecessarily padded by extra monsters that don't really add much extra threat--again, the wave of reinforcements that appears outside the building in the eastern power station comes to mind, who have little recourse but to try to funnel through the small door into the building one by one if you refuse to oblige their aggressions by standing out on the catwalk--but generally speaking I don't think it's a problem, with most of the monsters being small/weak and thus easy to mow down without feeling like your time is being squandered. As aforesaid, no real issues with resources arise in the combat, so there's no reason to hold back or count your shots at any point, which is a refreshing change of pace after the prickly pistol-starts and more tool-limited setups of other recent maps. Even moreso if you find the many hidden bonuses, incidentally--most of them are quite generous in payout, and what's more, not all of the secrets are flagged as such, ala the bonus megasphere you can unlock in the main hub by doing....something...in the eastern wing.

Aesthetically, it's not particularly elaborate, with many large, symmetrical areas (and the broadstroke texturing that style tends to entail) and simple lighting choices, with a slant towards the dim/dingy. Generally I wouldn't call it ugly, really, perhaps just a mite plain; its main virtue seems to be in texture selection, which has a fairly grounded (and thus, incidentally visually coherent) 'realistic' slant that seems to try to communicate details about the setting that would be more ponderous to depict via sectors, ala the rusted plating used to show heat stress on the metal towers melting into the lava field up north. I didn't care for the look of the main room in the western wing so much-the combo of supercomputer stuff, ashwall, and grungy metal was a mite much for me--but as Magnus says the dimmer lighting does gloss over issues like this to some degree. I do feel like the author missed an opportunity to use the IoS death-explosions to make it look like we blew up a part of the base at the end, though!

Map 30 -- Boss - 217% Kills / No secrets
This was not the level I thought it was going to be...I had a clear picture of what I thought was STRAIN's map 30 in my mind, but apparently I was thinking of something else entirely, as the only feature here that looked any sort of familiar to me was the bright, featureless peripheral grey corridor encircling the boss arena proper. Ignoring that now I'm going to spend all evening wondering what the hell I was thinking of instead, I can't say that STRAIN's finale really offered much of what I look for in map 30 IoS setups.

I do kind of like the level's intro, where you descend slowly through a grated shaft into the traditional map 30 supply room (and could see your buddies having a similar experience in co-op play). There's a touch of appetizer play in the decidedly homely rusty/slimy 'trench' area before porting into the aforementioned corridor; ironically the first 30 seconds of the map are probably the most dangerous, since you can be quickly shot to hell between the bulletboxes and mirror-positioned demonlords in this place if you stand around gawking at the visual mess around you (a homage to the nukefalls in the original map 30, perhaps?). Jog through there (no reason to stick around to fight given that other players' areas are partially cordoned off from your own) and you hit the boss arena in short order, another kaleidoscopic setup with the brain's core in the center and mirrored firing positions all around it, prosecuted by some slowly auto-cycling lifts. The 'General's' head can be freely damaged from the outset, and the area is positively lousy with hi-test ammo and powerups (you can freely access player 2-4's areas in this part of the map) and mostly bereft of pressure; the spawner operates at a traditional Doom II speed and tends to place monsters in positions where they can't do much, and so there's not much chance of losing here. Not much chance of fun, either, though....I know a lot of people dislike IoS setups to the point where they'll be glad for what a paltry/untaxing challenge this one represents, but because it's almost impossible to lose control you can't really have any of the 'epic holdout' map 30 gameplay I like either, and so you might as well just put in your two minutes and call it good.

*********

As always when I return to something I've not played in a long time (and particularly when it's something this old), it's pleasing to notice new details and wrinkles I probably didn't before. For instance, it never really struck me before how unusual STRAIN is in terms of its setting and theming--I always knew it was somewhat aesthetically unique, of course, courtesy of its idiosyncratic asset pack and strange/quirky DeHackEd work (especially where some of the monsters are concerned), but I hadn't realized how strongly it made the commitment to a unified 'realistic' setting, with the majority of the game taking place in the secret lunar research facility, and the remainder taking place 'en route' to that location through some seedy earth-slums and, briefly, through space. The representationalist look writ large is fairly common in WADs of this same vintage (and Team TNT projects in particular), of course, but seldom is it taken to these heights so persistently over the course of ~30 maps; and, more interestingly, even rarer is the focus on very specific setting for that length of gametime, that's a tack that has only fairly recently begun to be re-explored in certain more modern projects. STRAIN is certainly a journey as a result, and feels vastly different from other iconic megaWADs of its era despite some obvious overlap in authorship and moment-to-moment gameplay tropes.

As a journey, though, I think its biggest issue is that it's not paced particularly well--the game has no really obvious climaxes, and not much of a curve in battle intensity or map complexity, and so despite its aesthetic uniqueness parts of the game tend to blur together into nondescript blotches of techbasery; since it's generally not a fight-oriented WAD, this aspect of gameplay doesn't serve the differentiating role it otherwise might, and the delivery of setting and progression is not always strong/striking enough for each part of the journey to feel distinct, or particularly relevant. It's sort of a 'calm seas', thing, I guess--when the ride is mostly leisurely it tends to be the choppier stuff you remember, whereas if it's framed as a wild-eyed rollercoaster you mainly remember the particularly zany loops and plunges, not so much the practical little straightaways. There are idiosyncratic aspects to STRAIN, of course--map 10's RL keepaway is too charming to forget, Adelusion has some of his usual refusal to be 'normal Doom' showing up in various places (particularly the super-conceptual map 21), and the ammo-free pistol-starts on certain maps flip the table in a game balance that frankly probably plays it too safe over the duration--but the overall impression for me is of missed potential. When the new assets are used to make something that looks good, all I seem to be able to think of is how much more frequently they're used to make a rather homely, colorblind tableau instead; when I see the new monsters/weapons put to interesting use all I seem to be able to think of are all of the moments where they're treated as redundant meatshields. I suppose part of this is my problem and not the game's (and in fairness, I think I did say at the outset that my memories of STRAIN were vaguely uncharitable to begin with, and it's important not to discount the power of preconception), but nevertheless I think it's fair to say that STRAIN is perhaps a mite too, well....restrained than something that tries to change the feel of the game as it does really ought to be. Does make me wonder what the modern community might be able to do with this kind of style, though.....

My top 5 STRAIN maps, in no particular order:
Map 13 -- Ruins
Map 27 -- Dispensary Beta
Map 11 -- Command Control
Map 03 -- Downtown
Map 08 -- Hangar

Demon of the Well said:

As a journey, though, I think its biggest issue is that it's not paced particularly well--the game has no really obvious climaxes, and not much of a curve in battle intensity or map complexity, and so despite its aesthetic uniqueness parts of the game tend to blur together into nondescript blotches of techbasery; since it's generally not a fight-oriented WAD, this aspect of gameplay doesn't serve the differentiating role it otherwise might, and the delivery of setting and progression is not always strong/striking enough for each part of the journey to feel distinct, or particularly relevant.

i noticed this blurring together too as i lost the sheet of paper i had used to scribble some notes about the maps from 23 onward, being busy for playing regularly. thinking about it, everything became something silver and concrete techbase with red rails and warning striped, inhabited by demonlords and holobots, while offering little clearly distinctive, with few things that stood out. for example, i liked recurring the marble lobby theme connecting several maps like a hub until you continue through that fountain. for some things i had to load the map to know again which lab, sub-lab and dispensary i'm talking about, not very imaginative naming.


23 - dispensary alpha

the visual description above applies exactly. colorful, clean adelusion map. i found ammo lacking because of the demonlords who eat it like popcorn. the bent corridor with the chaingun cubes floating outside stood out. the music track was one of the best in the wad, really made me enjoy playing the map. some perceived difficulty comes from this representational approach - it's easy to miss a switch when it's made to look like one of several computer panels for sake of realism, when today maps use to have the plain big red button for the sake of more streamlined gameplay.


24 - sub-laboratory

here we leave the lobby and go through the waste disposal, where a lot of clownfaces can be shot from a pipe. the YK had a lot of hitscanners behind the red rails and the RK a group of bots to pump rockets into. plus some very annoying lifts where you're greeted by a baron, with barely room to dodge.


25 - main laboratory

large sprawling map starting with a shaft-like techbase structure that has to be cleared out. later one memorable part: the underground cavern. it can be cleared after snatching the invulnerability so you don't risk having the archvile resurrect those demonlords. the rest, monotextured ashwall, can be cleared using the double berserk fists, one of strain's fun assets.


26 - main laboratory II

short map, the only one where i used that psychic bfg because there's nothing else available. pretty good, punchy map, i just wish it had proper weapons.


27 - dispensary beta

i only remembered that it's by andy badorek, and it's a nice map, with a clearer flow than many others in strain, a techbase to explore, with only small groups of monsters or few big guys at a time, until the cacos at the end.


28 - unknown

even better map name. it's something abstract, blue and green walls, where the fast imps with their silent movie animation fit well. something where doomguy might be hallucinating already under the influence of whatever they concocted in those labs. said fast imps are a nightmare when you pistol start. other mismatches like hexen-textured rooms mixed with robotic guards, which are a trademark of strain. cool dark hall with lines of fire on the floors.


29 - self destruct

again, old stone walls mixed with shiny steel, lots of red demons and several barons eating my shells


30 - boss

with all the thematic consistency in strain, they could have replaced romero with a cyber-brain or something... for someone who hasn't peeked inside the icon of sin, it's not evident why a shiny steel base has some guy's head on a stick as the final boss.


overall, it has been nice to revisit strain, expecially because i found it confusing when i played it for the first time in 1997. now i appreciated how colorful it is, as opposed to doom's browns, its thematic consistency, even its trademark of mixing high-tech and medieval elements, although this means that individual maps tend to stand out less. the rest is a mixed bag. the wads seems to be made for continuous play, rather than pistol start, at least some of the later maps. this ammo shortage gets annoying, especially vs the demonlords. some edits of enemies could have been better (i could go into details, but it's just my opinions) and especially those weapon replacements are expendable. it was made with the goal to create something different from standard doom gameplay, maps are of varied quality, with enjoyable maps like 4, 13, and the 22, 23, 24 sequence, which defines strain for me, as opposed to 5, 6, 12, 19, 21. i simply quit 6 and 21 and used idmus23 on 19's horrible music. speaking of which, some music is truly good, like 13 or 23, probably by mark klem.

Demon of the Well said:

As a journey, though, I think its biggest issue is that it's not paced particularly well--the game has no really obvious climaxes, and not much of a curve in battle intensity or map complexity, and so despite its aesthetic uniqueness parts of the game tend to blur together into nondescript blotches of techbasery; since it's generally not a fight-oriented WAD, this aspect of gameplay doesn't serve the differentiating role it otherwise might, and the delivery of setting and progression is not always strong/striking enough for each part of the journey to feel distinct, or particularly relevant. It's sort of a 'calm seas', thing, I guess--when the ride is mostly leisurely it tends to be the choppier stuff you remember, whereas if it's framed as a wild-eyed rollercoaster you mainly remember the particularly zany loops and plunges, not so much the practical little straightaways. There are idiosyncratic aspects to STRAIN, of course--map 10's RL keepaway is too charming to forget, Adelusion has some of his usual refusal to be 'normal Doom' showing up in various places (particularly the super-conceptual map 21), and the ammo-free pistol-starts on certain maps flip the table in a game balance that frankly probably plays it too safe over the duration--but the overall impression for me is of missed potential. When the new assets are used to make something that looks good, all I seem to be able to think of is how much more frequently they're used to make a rather homely, colorblind tableau instead; when I see the new monsters/weapons put to interesting use all I seem to be able to think of are all of the moments where they're treated as redundant meatshields. I suppose part of this is my problem and not the game's (and in fairness, I think I did say at the outset that my memories of STRAIN were vaguely uncharitable to begin with, and it's important not to discount the power of preconception), but nevertheless I think it's fair to say that STRAIN is perhaps a mite too, well....restrained than something that tries to change the feel of the game as it does really ought to be. Does make me wonder what the modern community might be able to do with this kind of style, though.....

and that's what i thought too: if mappers here feel like creating a sequel, they could use the strain resources to create a second sci-fi adventure without the mistakes of the first.

Pirx said:

if mappers here feel like creating a sequel, they could use the strain resources to create a second sci-fi adventure without the mistakes of the first.

Ooh, that would be super cool. They could call it RESTRAIN.

Pirx said:

and that's what i thought too: if mappers here feel like creating a sequel, they could use the strain resources to create a second sci-fi adventure without the mistakes of the first.

The first problem you will run into is agreeing what the mistakes are.

I can think of two definite bugs:

1. picking up an armour shard when you have over 200 armour resets it to 200
2. the doppleganger death frame being an unedited lost soul graphic

Everything else you'll probably find someone who likes it "as is".

Personally, my changes would be:

Replace the NFG graphics and bump its base ammo max up
Replace the psychic blaster with something actually useful
Small upgrade to the chaingun fire rate
Drop the red demon's HP to the point where two normal shotgun shots will take it out at point blank, and upgrade its speed and attack rate as compensation
Replace the baron with a new monster
Replace the IoS with a new monster
New graphics for the polydrone and the doppleganger (or replace them entirely)

But I bet someone's already shaking their head at something on there.

And that's even before you get to the fights and wrangles over how the maps should play.