Whitemare

A mixed bag as can be expected with a community speedmapping project. Some great maps in here (map11, map15), but—while some maps are jarringly short—when a map doesn't hit the mark it at least doesn't overstay it's welcome. 

Done with these settings:

- GLBoom+ 2.5.1.4. complevel 9.

- Hurt Me Plenty.

- Continuous combined with a pistol start mindset.

- Saves every 10 minutes or so.

Nice mixed bag over here. First of all, snowy ambient in Doom is awesome, definitely one of my favourite custom themes. Some neat use of the textures and details, also a lot of misaligned walls and a few HOMs here and there, which I didn't care so much to be honest. Maps have caves, castles, mountains, platforming and even damaging water (perhaps too cold for doomguy's feet?), and a great usage of light variations, notable in the caves, a feature that made gameplay more enjoyable. In addition, a great collection of midis, of which two tracks were, unusual for the game (maps 12, 14).

There are a couple of things to mention in terms of progression. On one side, most maps start similar, and excluding the bigger ones, all are pretty straightforward, so chances of getting lost are practically null. On another side, I'm not too sold on the difficulty's progression. I had way too many troubles in an early map, compared to the rest of the wad, which had it's ups and downs in monster placement. For example, in map 01 you get to kill lots of enemies in very open spaces, not hard at all but there are further maps that could have fit better in the first slot. As for map 03, this was the toughest of all for me, making the subsequent maps a cakewalk until slot 13. Between those two, there are several maps that fit their slots but also other ones, particularly 07 and 10, that lack substance and purpose, and could have perfectly been in slots 01 and 02, or expanded in some way. In regards to pros, exploration and puzzles are not only present but main factors in several maps. One of the standouts is map 12, the Boom one, obscure switch-hunt but plenty of nice tricks, like shooting ice columns to reveal enemies (one thing, at the mancubi tech room, there are two panels, to open the door hit the panel without the tiny switch, but hit the upper side, you have to either jump or use something to reach it). 

When I think of secrets, map 08 stands out as the secret-hunt one of the set. You need to find your weapons, otherwise you are bound to ignore every living being. There's another map where a secret is crucial to solve a puzzle for progression, you have to find a switch that enlighten the way to reach some switches, I actually liked it because it was very useful, but I get it can put off some players. Most maps don't have secrets, uh whatever.

My favourite maps are 08, 12, 15 and 32, this one is a bit of a joke map so don't take it seriously. The others are ok, and I didn't like maps 07, 10 (both too short) and 16, another typical IoS with timed lift, too many cube shooters, which leads to too many flying crap, and a lame start (seriously?).

Anyway, kind of liked it overall. The puzzle and exploratory maps worth it, I'd recommend those above the rest. And (continuous) players, use PrBoom+ complevel 9. My rate is 6/10