The DWmegawad Club plays: Unholy Realms & Zone 300 (simultaneously!)

cannonball: You should only insert the id hash into your YT tags, not the whole address.

EDIT: Delete the php watch command as well, keep just the id and nothing else. :p

Yeah, you're vids aren't showing up on my end either dude.

MAP02 Storage

A decent second coming that actually focuses on Tyson-style play, good for practice. The chainsaw is given after the zombieman trap at the beginning, and there's a secret berserk, which I use for pretty much the remainder of the level once I get it. Lotsa pinkies abound, maybe that's why the music track is "The Pinky Shuffle" :). Fun punching the guys in the face, but that hitscanner trap in the right part of the map can go to fucking hell. Final Time 2:40.

MAP02 Control Facility

*Regular Run*

Wasn't too hard. Lotsa bonuses around, I guess one hitscanner ambush and the YK ambush standout the most, but the berserk secret makes things easy. Final Time 2:18.

*Reality Run*

Not much to expect. I run the moment I trigger the hitscanner ambush hoping they aren't quick on the trigger, guess that's the most interesting part fur me. Final Time 2:19.

should be fixed now, thanks for the heads up Dew :)
I always have to find something to fail at.... apart from dying loads :P

UR MAP02

Much superior then I thought , this ain't a crate maze with just crates around which makes this a really funny map.
A classic map with no inspiration.

Z300 MAP02

Reminds me of the first finished map I made with all those themes scrambled into one massive map with bare health , I finished the level with 38 HP , so yeah , really hard map.

UR Map02: Storage

The fake-out door at the start isn't too dangerous (since the monsters revealed are just zombies) but it does help put the player on their toes early. Lots of nice chainsaw action. I'm really digging the skylights so far - they definitely help spruce up corridors and might be the author's calling card. The one in the first room seems a bit out-of-place texture-wise though, with the brown brick used nowhere else in the techbase. I also appreciate the use of crates here - just a few piles here and there without creating the Obnoxiously Requisite E2M2 Crate Maze (TM) we all know and love. Especially the crates in the loading track on the ceiling. I do think the ones in the walls look a bit weird, though.

My only dislike would be the "instantly dropping wall" trap a bit before the red key. I suppose it's like instantly appearing monsters... I partially dislike it because it seems non-realistic (which I know can be a silly complaint in a game where the player can't jump over a window ledge, but still) and also just because it seems unnecessary - I'm not sure having a quickly lowering (or even slowly lowering) trap would make much of a difference. 3/5

Zone 300 MAP02: Control Facility

The first trap on the switch at the start gave me 2002 ADO flashbacks, with it's thin computer bank filled with a long line of zombies/imps.

It's really a mess aesthetics-wise, with a bunch of different texture schemes that don't really go together in a good way. I mean, I'm not expecting high art from a 300 linedef map, but just the texture selection alone is blargh on this one. Also, what happened here? The corners randomly change into different textures, perhaps to break it up, but instead just makes it look worse. One corner has two different sides and the other corner only has one, and IMO don't break up nicely like a SUPPORT texture would. Eh.

Gameplay this seems pretty overstocked as well, with a SSG and blue armor being given for "free" and no monsters in the map larger than a demon on UV. Really easy going here. 2/5

UR map 02
FDA

Died a couple of times on this one, one of them was a surprise chaingunner right before the exit - much more of that malarkey and I'll have to start saving! This was a fun map, lots of chainsawing to do. Route was varied enough to give a few options for tackling it as well.

300 map 02
FDA

Heh, I was playing this very warily, after a couple of traps you tend to anticipate them every time you pick something up or press a switch. SSG feels a bit early in the wad, but thats not really a problem when you are pistol starting, plus there is plenty of meat to use it on. Also a cheeky rocket hints at a secret launcher that I didn't find. Nice.

UR MAP02: Storage
Much more upbeat and bright than the previous map. Really cheerful music too, so a pleasant experience. One or two of the traps felt a little more barbed than I was expecting, but nothing really did me any harm. I enjoyed the largely Tyson-style gameplay.

Z300 MAP02: Control Facility
Darker than the last map, but still with an upbeat background tune and a very similar aesthetic and play style. I missed the secret, but didn't feel like I needed anything more than I had. Plenty of monster closets here.

I've already played a few beginning maps of both megawads, but didn't get far, except for one my participation in a multiplayer session on Zone 300. I'm glad the Megawad Club is here so I can get myself to get into these really. So, this month I'm jumping in!

Unholy Realms MAP01 - "Water Treatment"

OK "classic"-like map, somehow gives a feeling that the whole megawad will be paced in similar spirit. I like the short pistol gameplay. The berserk area is incredibly easy, and can be effectivized by not grabbing the berserk while triggering the line, saving it for later when you may lose some health. That's no complaint however. This is a very short, satisfying, and can be said - motivating map. As we know, Snakes's style is matured well, people don't need to be afraid of encountering horrible design choices or basic mistakes, you know what I mean. New textures don't really stand out, which is good. I'm very keen on the textfont too.

Zone 300 MAP01 - "The Spaceport"

Serves great purpose as an introductory map for a wad of this type. I was actually impressed by it the first time I saw it. Being used to 100-lines awkwardness, I really admired pcorf for finding the good balance between limitation and freedom. Simple, short, but already introduces some game elements like nukage, suit, switches, lifts and ambush traps. Very well!

EDIT: Oh and I play and will play this all in Zandronum, UV, continuous play - my favourite way to enjoy wads :)

Zone 300: Map 2 - UV, pistol start

I liked this map more than the first one, but it still wasn't all that good. The traps this time around felt a little more challenging, but the final fight was pretty lackluster.

This map seemed to use the 300 line limit better than the first one, but I still felt that some lines were wasted, was the yellow key even necessary? why not just have that switch open the door. Also since you're just giving it away why not have the 200% armor on the same platform as the blue key.

I'll be sticking around for Unholy Realms, seeing as the maps are pretty short-looking!

MAP01:

It's still 5 minutes until the third, but eh, close enough.

Zone 300, map 03: A bit more fun than the previous two levels, although with perhaps the two biggest "non-secrets" I've ever seen. The first big teleporter trap actually killed me on my first time, I'm somewhat shamed to admit; when I saw everything that wasn't Pinkie teleport away, I switched to my fists, thinking nothing serious was happening, and then got overwhelmed when everything came back in the room. Weird trap, but oddly effective.

UR Map 03 -- Nukage Processing Zone - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
This is another clean, bright techbase, and far more OSHA complaint than your average UAC facility--it's a nukage processing zone, and yet for a change the green stuff miraculously hasn't spilled all over the place for the long-suffering marine to go dog-paddling through as he cleans up the infernal infestation. Apart from the (in)famously PCorfian convention of having keystripes near switches indicate that the switch makes the matching key available (rather than that the switch requires said key in order to be operated) I couldn't really spot much of the avowed Whispers of Satan influence here, but I suppose it's true that I can recall the second half of WOS a lot more distinctly than the first. Many of the same understated but pleasing details that characterized the first two maps are found here (I particularly liked the glowing conduit-bays that the two specters pop out of), although the texturing is perhaps a little more polyglot than it needs to be in places. The worst offender in this regard is the Technicolor Nightmare Room (TM) behind the yellow-locked door.....I appreciate your attempt to brighten my day here, Snakes, but this just seared the shit out of my corneas, dude. Think I'll pass on a second helping of this, if you don't mind.

Temporary eyestrain aside, it plays fine. The concept of a startroom ambush based on trick doors returns from the previous map, although since it's bulls and buckshot instead of peckerheads with peashooters this time, things are a bit more pressing. This opening ambush is probably the most adrenaline-stimulating fight to be had here, although the little romp outdoors is lent some nice color by a couple of well-placed barrels. I didn't really feel like I needed the rocket launcher at any point, but it's the thought that counts, I suppose. Though highly predictable, the ambush by the exit is a sound idea. Although, it occurs to me that the strangely awkward setup that requires the player to jump into the ooze in order to hit the switch that raises the last walkway sort of makes it seem like a bit of a misfire (and suggests I should probably take back my OSHA-compliance remark from earlier).

It seems that I found more to complain about in this map than in either of the other two....some pretty odd aesthetic/design choices here. It's concise and compact, though, and most of the actual gameplay's reasonable enough, so I reckon it's no big deal.

******

Z300 Map 03 -- The Alleyway - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
This is a little better than the first two maps, in terms of both play and aesthetics. While there's still a marked sense of rigid orthogonality in the shapes and structures, the texture combinations (sort of a Deimos-meets-early Doom II look) look more considered than in the previous map, and lighting choices generally have more of a natural look to them as well. The BGM has a decidedly 'Eternal DooM' flavor to it...it's a decent track, but I'm not sure how well it fits t the map. As for the play, it remains basic and re-uses some of the ideas seen in the previous maps, most notably the 'group of monsters lying in ambush descends on a lowering platform setup.' I did kind of like the extra teleportation shenanigans that supplement the closet-trap near the southern switch, however. Finally, the sense of verticality is more pronounced in this map, although it mainly concerns traversal, and factors into combat in only a very trifling way.

This sounds fun. I hope posting a few levels in batches is fine? Going to pass on Zone 300 just because it was practically the last thing I played. An excellent set of maps though.

Unholy Realms (UV, continuous, mouselook)

Map 01: Solid start, pretty typical map01 simple gameplay. Good use of machinery sounds for effects. Secret was too elaborate for too little reward, but I guess you've got to keep the bonuses pretty low at the start. This might be a sign of lots of hard-to-find secrets later in the wad?

Echoing what mouldy said, I don't like the fonts at all. It's not a big deal and I'm picky about these things, but still.

Map 02: A few nice mini-ambushes. A bit worried about monster teleport spam in later levels since that's not really my favourite kind of gameplay, I guess we'll see... had to use the chainsaw a lot but that's what it's there for! Good architecture, simple stuff like slits in the walls looks nice. Got all 3 secrets in normal gameplay.

Map 03: Ammo shortage of the first two levels is mostly gone by this point (presumably different if I were playing from pistol start). Only found one secret; the two where you can actually see where you're supposed to go eluded me, embarrassingly. Visually I'm liking the direction of this wad a lot, apart from maybe those orange walls. :P

Map03 - "Nukage Processing Zone"
Layout is fine here, gameplay if anything is a little easier with the traps a little easier to avoid on the first attempt.
My issue here comes with the final room, what's going on here, why is the switch in the nukage? Even if it's the only switch you can see, it's not exactly obvious that it raises the bridge (you would assume it would be to escape the pit.), also the fight in that room can have it's sting neutered as the monsters are marked as death and hence only monsters that see you will come for you, reducing the numbers, the rest can be taken out one by one.
My least favourite map so far.

Map03 - "The Alleyway"
On the other hand this is my favourite map of Zone300 so far. The map looks and feels better constructed, some good gameplay here too with the berserk fist getting a real workout from pistol start. Even with the KDITD monsters being the only ones used, this map provides a decent challenge. Whilst the berserk secret seems pointless, the soulsphere one I feel is done well.

Unholy Realms MAP02 - "Storage"

This map lets you advance forward fast, while providing a bit of nonlinearity and some more or less hectic small fights, and all of this is incredibly satisfying. The visually broken pillars in Zandronum are bugging me though. Also I found this on the exit door. But it isn't due to its bugs, but rather thanks to its advantages, that I find this map memorable and pretty darn good.

Zone 300 MAP02 - "Control Facility"

Fun map, with that music specially. You actually don't encounter any imps before the yellow door, I think. :) Felt quite a long, which surprises me because it uses some detail too, I wonder how didn't all the lines surpass 300. If you know where/what the traps are, the level loses nearly ALL challenge. Still, good job.

MAP03 Nukage Factory Zone

The map list has this thing called "Nukage Processing Zone", but the map info lists it as "Nukage Factory Zone."

*Regular Run*

This one's inspired by WOS MAP02, which is pretty good in itself. Particularly the outdoor area and the sewer at the end were quite well done renditions themselves. The cacodemon comes to view in this level, as well as the rocket launcher, and it's quite a lot of fun playing this. Only main thing would probably be the shootable switch near the YK area, which may not be obvious the first time it's seen. Final Time 3:40.

*Reality Run*

Well, I had to double back a few times, cuz I forget what I do a lot, but it's nothing special. There's less annoying hitscanners on HNTR, no chaingunners, no fucking devious traps, but I pay attention and kill those guys first. Final Time 4:48.

MAP03 The Alleyway

*Regular Run*

More funky music. Actually fun to speed through, especially with the easy berserk secret, although the soulsphere secret was pretty hard to come by. Final Time 1:15

*Reality Run*

Chaingun sniping all enemies outside before moving on. The biggest problem was obviously the hitscanner reveal at the key, where I used my carefully conserved rockets to take out the two mobs. Final Time 1:52.

Unholy Realms MAP03 - "Nukage Processing Zone"

NOTE: I apparently forgot to save my game after MAP02, so I decided to play through and enjoy MAP02 again before jumping on MAP03 :). But, something happened. This time, on the lift leading to a cacodemon, I wanted to lure the caco into the lift and blow the barrel near him. I needed to run out before and managed to release demons, then killed caco and returned to the lift to better fight demons. After that, somehow, at a moment when a demon ran into the lift, the lift started raising again! Then I had to cheat to get out. Here are screenshots of the bug: http://i.imgur.com/rhOrsTq.png, http://i.imgur.com/8d1tt8Z.png. I don't know what I triggered, I was at the back side of the lift, and a demon just ran in when it happened.

Now to MAP03. Unholy Realms actually unfolds progression in both difficulty and maps complexity. Although still being classified as small, this map is nicely nonlinear and compact. Looks even better than the previous two, and that's something to say. I like the final area, I knew it already, still killed me several times. Found the secret with computer map, but the other two remain a mystery even with the map. Isn't it odd? Anyway great level again, and I also have to say that UR soundtrack rocks :)


Zone 300 MAP03 - "The Alleyway"

Really digging the music. The level itself less. The basic idea "let's have height variation" is nothing special in my eyes. There's about two ambushes and the rest goes along the lines of "shoot the bad guys in front of you". Maybe the reason is my continuous playthrough. Speaking of which, however, I wonder why there is ammo placed in the exit corridor. Even more ammo for continuous players? For the sake of balance, I'd personally avoid such things in my own maps, but can't say I mind it in yours. Overally, this is not bad map at all. And my feelings about it still stay positive. I just admit I expected more.

UR MAP03: "Nukage Processing Zone"

I really like the layout and look of this map, just feels... good. Hard to explain. Difficulty gets kicked up a notch with some caco swarms and a difficult final battle. There's a few parts that aren't quite intuitive, mainly with the switches. First is the already-mentioned Pcorf-style "blue switch reveals the blue key" rather than the other way around. Also, took me awhile to figure out I had to shoot the switch near the yellow key instead of finding another way in. And lastly, jumping into the nukage to hit the switch to raise the bridge - seems like bad design by some UAC engineers right there. :) On the other hand, it does make that final fight all the more difficult and fun.

And yeah, that rainbow-colored circuitry room... yeesh. Also, not sure what the point of the Computer Map is, since it doesn't help reveal any of the other secrets and it's not a difficult map to find your way around in. 3/5

Zone300 MAP03: "The Alleyway"

I usually play continuous, but I had tried this one out from pistol start when trying some of the maps out the first time. I think it works a lot better with a pistol start, using the berserk pack... if you have the SSG from last level, it's comically easy. The teleport traps don't do much, as the monsters just get teleported out of the way (except for the demon at the end). Certainly nicer on the eyes than the last map, though. 2/5

UR MAP03

Fast peaced start and I'm already fucked , I tried to run away but i got chopped by a chaingunner so I tried to shoot the sergants and grab their shotguns to get the chaingunners chainguns and then my weapons restored to a good postion.
The rest of the map feels like the previous played wad : It rapes you , especially the last trap I died once over there but then I thought to push the switch through the ledge but failed , I activated the trap instead and then quickly got out of sight and started peek-a-boo shooting the searching enemies like the "Pain in the ass in a trap" type of cacos.

Z300 MAP03

Feels like Alien vandetta.
Cool plutonia styled barracks , but some of the enemies are easy to kill it's possible to shoot them through the window\alcove and thats all.
I don't understand the logic of the berserk : Why is it a secret? There are just two shotgunners that make the secret way too obvious.
Nice use with pillars , the exit is just being really boring and poor , why most of the exits are just an alcove with some enemies? Can't it be something more creative like a trinagle with barrels and enemies?

UR MAP03: Nukage Processing Zone
Unintuitive switches abound in a twitch-gaming techbase map. It looks pretty good (although even I found the room through the first yellow key door a bit garish), I liked the music and I missed a secret (I think that's one per map I've not gotten so far) without feeling like I needed it, so all told it's an alright map. The fact that most of the opposition jumps out of a wall in barbed traps already is making me think the later levels are going to be pretty tiresome.

Z300 MAP03: The Alleyway
The "secret" berserk was pretty handy and I was pleased with the way the soul sphere secret was executed (and actually needed finding). Otherwise the map is basically pure classic-style game play. Pretty toothless, but enjoyable enough.

UR map 03
FDA
This one felt like it had a bit more bite, the start in particular is fairly hectic surrounded by enemies and having to kill for weapons. Enjoyable map, although the final room is a bit confusing - the only option appears to involve jumping into a pit and then suffering an onslaught while trapped in damaging nukage. It killed me the first time, on the second go I triggered the abmush without jumping down which made things easier. It felt a bit like cheating, but with no way of knowing how I was going to escape the nukage I didn't fancy having to deal with monsters while figuring it out.

300 map 03
FDA
I like how short these maps are. This one was quite brutal in places with fairly high monster density traps and naughty monsters teleporting around. The ambush with hitscanners in the dark neary finished me off. Good fun though.

Haha, it's after midnight here, MAP04 allowed :p
(If you don't agree this is legit, just be aware of spoilers and remind me for the next time. I'm going more forward because I'd like to rather focus on mapping instead of playing this weekend, as I have some rests.)

Unholy Realms MAP04 - "UAC Courtyard"

Actually tough challenge. There are multiple encounters that can drain your health to the lowest value in fractions of a second. Longer map this time, but still compact and nicely well detailed. I enjoyed a lot even the dying here. Notably well performed moments are the hellknight enclosing corridor and the end. But it seemed like all the (numerous) encounters were polished "wisely". If the purpose of a game (or of a map) is to teach the player the skills and effective strategies to use against monsters, through punishment and challenge, then I say UR is doing a great job at this and this map is a prove. Difficulty really jumps up here yet gameplay remains fast-paced and satisfying, which I'm happy with.
Can't find a way to the invisibility though.


Zone 300 MAP04 - "Canyon Hub"

I like it. It even makes sense, as a few metal buildings around a canyon. I've got an impression that each next map is shorter, but the truth probably is that all the maps are similarly short, and whether it's less-short or more-short differs from map to map. I am considering that at some point, maybe I'll switch to pistol start, just to let the maps not to be that easy, with SSG and all. It's already apparent that pushing the limits to edges isn't really pcorf's style. He prefers short nice maps over a bit longer and less detailed (->ugly) ones. At least it seems so now. Maybe it'll change later.

Not a good sign when you've fallen behind at the second map heh. Also decided to drop by at zdaemons survival games for UR tonight so looks like FDAs will start and end at map04 and rest will get some other sort of demos.

Unholy Realms Map02: Storage

Whipped up a quick UV-Max a couple of days ago that I didn't have time to post.

Alright map. Starts very tyson-style with a free chainsaw after the first door and you could pretty much kill the entire map without acquiring any other weapons. Personally, I hate the chainsaw so I used it very little and ignored most enemies until I got the secret berserk. Pretty straightforward kill everything within sight after that, few traps but they're not very lethal if you know what's coming. If you take the route I did, the Imps and pinkies below the bridge can and will crowd the area near the BK and which is somewhat annoying when playing with infinite tallness turned on. Visuals are good for the most part, except for the crate-walls which look a bit goofy. There's also the speedrunners shortcut to grab the BK which is pretty cool.

Unholy Realms Map03: Nukage Processing Zone

Another quickie: UV-Max in 3:33.

Things are starting to pick up it seems. Someone mentioned WoS map02 when describing this and I agree. The ending in particular was very much like the one in that WoS map. I totally cheese it though so it's not like it was very hard haha. Combat-wise the highlight is the outside area which comes with a healthy amount of monsters and some rocketing fun for those who found the secret teleporter. I'll join the rainbow room haters -gang here though since it's visually such a huge contrast to the rest of the map. Nothing else to complain really so overall a solid effort.

Zone 300: Map 3 - UV, pistol start

I very much enjoyed this map, easily the best one so far. Enemy placement is good, & the traps are much better than in the previous 2 maps, both ambushes almost killed me.

Unlike the last 2 maps I didn't really spot any areas that stood out as a waste of lines. Overall a much better map than the first 2.

Z300 Map04:
Well, that was certainly a step back from the previous map. The first room is awkward to fight in, and I wasn't able to figure out how to grab the Soulsphere secret, but it certainly wasn't needed anyways. This was a pretty tepid affair, with tons of room to deal with very few enemies; very little pressure to be had in the fights here. I guess that this was a bit notable for being the first map to have "high-tier" enemies, with a trio of Hell Knights, but it's not like they represent any threat, given the conditions you fight them under.

UR Map 04 -- UAC Courtyard - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
Ah, that first imp to the left. I was wondering when the serene starts would come to an end, given Snakes' avowed Alm influence. Other than that, the first thing that struck me about this was actually the music track....is it my imagination, or is it some kind of reworking of one of the tracks from Evilution (damned if I remember the name of the one I'm thinking of, though)? I was a bit surprised that it never sounded like it actually hit full swing, but the stark tone suits the mood of the map fairly well, I suppose, as this is the first map that seemed like it possessed any real danger to me. I didn't die, but I was banged up a bit during the initial fighting in the titular courtyard--the imps are nothing to worry about; it's the combination of distant chaingun zombies, the narrow railed walkways, and a few pinkies who are more than proficient at choking up said walkways that holds the potential for an undue amount of bodily harm. After all of the restriction on monster movement in much of Kama Sutra, it's also good to see cacodemons in their natural element again--they're slow, but their ability to fly of course allows them to ignore the whole inconvenient walkway/pit setup, making their contribution to battles a very real one.

The battles in the side areas are generally smallscale, straightforward, and not very memorable, but this isn't much of an issue in this case--all of the action highlights take place in the courtyard (or courtyardS, if you prefer), at various different points along the progression path. I like to see big centerpiece areas reused in this way--adds a sense of depth and location almost wholly removed from the consideration of aesthetics--and this also helps to establish that the 'UAC Courtyard' is indeed the real focus of the map. Good work on this, Snakes.

The beamwork overhead in the main courtyard is fairly interesting, I suppose, but in truth I wasn't particularly taken by the map's appearance. I can't think of anything that was really ugly about it (barring a few small bugs, discussed later), but it was strikingly orthogonal in shape, and something about the elementary shadows cast by the aforesaid beamwork looked a bit off to me. There are also some insta-pop monsters that are very suspect from a purely aesthetic standpoint (e.g. most of the zombies in the yard fight before the blue key), although this is a small thing, I suppose. My favorite visual touch here is actually just a little thing, that being that you can see the blue key from your start point, assuming you think to look at the other door seen at the end of the previous map.

I also found what I assume was one of the speedrunner tricks for this map, that being the possibility of using the setting around the main metal post on the central walkway as a small jump that allows you to clear the railings and get into the two lower yards early....if you're light on your toes, you can even run along the top of the railing and use it to reach that blur sphere. This is neat, but I think it's half-broken at current: there doesn't seem to be any way to escape from the slime-pool yard with the red key if you use this trick to get down there at the start of the map, since the door in/out seems to only open on a trigger on its other side, even in PrBooM+ on complevel 2 (as usual, feel free to taunt me mercilessly if I've just missed something obvious). Other small issues I notice are various small texture alignments along the walls of the red key yard--there's one right behind the key itself for reference, but there's another farther east, and similar ones pretty much everywhere the shadow from the beamwork is simulated (the other yard doesn't seem to have this issue). It also seemed odd (though quite harmless) that one section of wall along the walkways used a slightly different brick texture than anywhere else for no apparent reason (e.g. it's not a secret tell or a closet wall or anything)--it's the one just to the right at the end of the central walkway. Finally, up in the sky directly over the squat red bars blocking off the second yard, there are a couple of phantom metal squares matching up with two of the bars.

Z300 Map 04 --Canyon Hub - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
Rather bland....I think I spent more time paying attention to the music track than the actual action (mainly because at the start it sounds a lot like that strange manic track from Rise of the Triad, and I was trying unsuccessfully to remember that track's name). The soulsphere secret is somewhat clever, I suppose (although people that have seen a number of PCorf maps before can probably surmise how it's done pretty easily), but the combat's really phoned-in, particularly in the outdoor area, which is simply too large for any of the monsters used in it, maybe beyond a few zombies, to make any impact. At least it's over quickly, even by the standards of Zone 300.

UR MAP04

Huge stepup in difficluty!
The first trap already killed me so I decided to be careful in that map , it's really tricky and surprisingly hard.
I also really liked that blue key on the right door of the start , and it has another hard trap where you have quickly go back , most of the traps are just hallway traps that are making you to get out of sight unless you have your hand on a rocket launcher which will be really helpful.
Cool courtyard design BTW.

Z300 MAP04

The metal room is really cool and detailed with panels and stairs and more.
The action begins on the grass cliffs and makes this map beautiful and hard with those lost souls.
The berserk can really save your ass.

UR Map04 - "UAC Courtyard"
A few nitpicks about some inconstencies in two regards
1) Liquid flats, in this map you have damaging and non-damaging nukage. This is a theme which seems to repeat in other maps based off the TNS event last night
2) Switches, sometimes you use the switch(1) texture for switches, yet you sometimes use the switch(2) texture, both for switches which you need to flip. Again this could cause some confusion.
Otherwise this map is fine, linear and pretty easy on the whole, I died stupidly in the blue key room after being sandwiched by a pair of hell knights.
Maybe if anything this map is too easy and the traps are a little too easy to avoid.
Still I know this wad will pick up difficulty wise in the next few :)

Zone 300 Map04 - "Canyon Hub"
This map steps up the difficulty in this wad, introducing chaingunners, lost souls and hell knights to the fray. The chaingunner trap is pure murder for pistol starters and the hell knights provide a tougher alternative to the imps used in previous maps. The lost souls are just irritating so do their job well. I kind of half assed the demo here because I died several times at the end by a constant bombardment of lost souls. Ironically this exit came also with the lowest health percentage for the half way point of the map throughout all of my attempts. Go figure....

MAP04 Industrial Courtyard

*Regular Run*

Inspired by Scythe 2, but I really don't see the resemblance to anything. It obviously ups the difficulty with several traps that can catch both slow and fast players off guard. Uses hitscanners wisely, and the BK courtyard there's an SSG that I somehow missed the first time I played it. The BK has two separate traps, the demon/hellknight/hitscanner teleport trap, and the two hellknights guarding the key itself. Had a shab after the BK with the teleporting revenants and the HK, was trying to get them to infight but it didn't happen. Step-up from the previous levels, with the nasty traps coming to me now. Final Time 4:02.

*Reality Run*

More luck than skill, and most definitely impossible on HMP. Most of the zombiemen I faced would be replaced by sargeants on HMP, so that's why. Chaingun-sniping is crucial in the courtyard, then watching out for the teleport traps. Still got caught off guard by some of them but miraculuously avoided hits somehow. After the RK, the cacodemons ambush me in the courtyard (they're hellknights on HMP), and I actually decided to hide behind one of their closets, which took some tries cause I was trying to berserk one caco to death quickly but he's a fluky bastard sometimes. After the red key was total luck that the zombies who came up didn't hit me, same thing with the zombies then after in the teleporter ambush, I was running for my goddamn life to avoid these kooks. Exit part had one more trap where I had to luck out with a chaingunner and a revenant. Final Time 5:33.

If anyone would be so grateful, I would definitely want to know how to reach the invisibility secret, cuz I missed it too.

MAP04 Canyon Hub

*Regular Run*

Boring first half, then the canyon is quite interesting with sniper imps across the canyon and other's nearby. Still nothing much to comment on though. Final Time 1:53.

*Reality Run*

No real hassles except for perhaps the chaingunners or the sniper imps on the other side. The two hellknights at the end aren't present on HNTR making things too much of a cakewalk. Final TIme 2:03.

Hurricyclone said:

Inspired by Scythe 2, but I really don't see the resemblance to anything.

Snakes uses a similar theme to Scythe 2 e3 (maps11-15). You can see the same(ish) rectangular pits with metallic borders and the fences around them.

If anyone would be so grateful, I would definitely want to know how to reach the invisibility secret, cuz I missed it too.

Try walking along the inner side of the bounding fence once you lower the RK bars to the second pit.