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dobu gabu maru

The DWmegawad Club plays: Japanese Community Project

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Map 7

Great, another Dead Simple meme map. What, is map 30 gonna be an IoS? I wasn't left with much of an impression as nothing really stood out. I'll probably give the wad a few more maps.

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MAP06 - UV - Pistol start - No save (2 tries)

I said earlier that I was looking forward to more burabojunior maps and I got my favorite from the set so far. If I'm to believe the JPCP boards, it's a better experience on ZDoom so I probably missed out a little on PrBoom+, I don't know.

Anyway, I had a good time and since we seem to share similar tastes, I guess I'll have a ride on his next maps. I'll probably replay that one to find all the secrets as well.

-EDIT-

MAP07 - UV - Pistol start - No save (lost count of how many times I died)

I for one think it was a pretty effective Dead Simple clone. I liked how the windows lower when the arachnotrons appear, which amounts to telling you that you'd better make yourself a safe spot fast. I liked the archvile fight as well, those panels weren't just for show. I said I was sucker for the gothic theme, and here it eased me into it too.

My main complaint would be that the beginning was a bit boring. Cleaning the mancubuses at every try was a chore until I optimized my strategy, while the other parts were fun.

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MAP07 Confused Arena

elitists, watch out, it's got the typical Dead Simple beginning and arena style. The second shots are fired at chaingunners and other enemies, while we deal with the arachnotrons last. That's a quick one.

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MAP07 - “Confused Arena” by Tatsurd-Cacocaco

Traditional map07 homage, given enough of a spin to still be interesting and fun. Not much more to say, does the job well enough.

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MAP08 - 54-pit
ZDoom, UV - Pistol Start, KIS(%): 100/100/100

Hang on a minute, let me read the comic on the automap, first. And spoiler alert: you'll face the situation from that comic in the end. Anyway, it's another interesting level by the author who showed an intriguing level design before from MAP05. And it's funny that it's hard to recognize the comic page from the actual level; you can only recognize it from the automap. Not only the comic page, but also some parts of level are interesting, and one of them is a toilet section. That was something that you might expect from mouldy's rememberable levels, such as Going Down. Other example is a laboratory with revenant cells, from comic page of course. But it's a little bit disappointing since I don't need to deal with that skeleton squadron in order to achieve UV-Max. Speaking of UV-Max, you need to backtrack to visit secret yellow key section if you want to clean up the level, or of course, you can just move to the exit if you don't care about it. Other than interesting moments, the overall gameplay was just fine. But it could be better if we had some more varieties(putting more rocky columns, adding more details for floor, etc.) for the middle section of comic page, which is just large, plain flatland.

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08 - FDA. Even more eccentric than Map05. In some parts the visuals are still too messy for my taste, but this time they at least have a purpose on the automap. And there are lots of cool ideas. Sadly I couldn't figure out the mirror puzzle on my own, but when I looked in Doom Builder it made perfect sense, so I like it. The part with revenants was very funny: I circlestrafed around them several times before I realized that they are harmless. The whole comic book thing reminded me of BAD_ART.WAD: Badass music too, although it can get quite loud near the end...

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MAP07: Confused Arena

Dead Simple homage, but fun enough as such things go, with an intervening mixed wave to break up the player's expectations at least a little. Not a lot else to say.

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Map08
DAT AUTOMAP.

First the bad things about this map:
I had a glitch with the switch to leave the “bathroom” not rising, so I had to blindly hump fleshy walls to get out of there. And I thought the red key room was really dull from a visual design perspective.

Other than that though, there is much to like here. Great realisation of a semi-ruined base, with some fun variations in the normal progression paradigm, where you can access some “key locked” areas without actually needing the key, but do need to key to actually finish the level. And of course there’s that whole entirely optional yellow key wing. I skipped it myself, but I always appreciate when mappers go to the effort of including “bonus” material that’s not part of the mandatory route to completing the level.

There’s a good variety of monsters in use, too. I like that Toooooasty uses lots of troopers; it’s yet another way his maps stand out from the crowd. He also does a fairly good job of mixing up the elevations of the fights, without too many of the “I can’t even see them!” problems map06 had.

Definitely a memorable journey. I liked it a lot.

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Capellan said:

Map08
DAT AUTOMAP.

First the bad things about this map:
I had a glitch with the switch to leave the “bathroom” not rising, so I had to blindly hump fleshy walls to get out of there.


I also posted this in the main JPCP thread, but I'm pretty sure the switch isn't supposed to "rise."

Spoiler

Look in the bathroom mirror. In the mirror version of the bathroom, there's no fleshy corruption, so the switch is visible. You press the corresponding area of the wall in the bathroom you're in, and the door opens.

edit: Kuchitsu also posted it it above, but my spoiler has a fuller explanation.

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jerrysheppy said:

I also posted this in the main JPCP thread, but I'm pretty sure the switch isn't supposed to "rise."



Yes, and as *I* posted in the JPCP thread, that explanation does not jive with the sector tags that are actually in the map, which suggest that is *is* intended to rise. It has it's own different switch texture and everything.

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Capellan said:

Yes, and as *I* posted in the JPCP thread, that explanation does not jive with the sector tags that are actually in the map, which suggest that is *is* intended to rise. It has it's own different switch texture and everything.


My bad for missing that, then! I see that you just posted that today, whereas I made my post a while back when I originally played the map. I hadn't checked the JPCP thread today, so sorry if it seemed like I was calling you ignorant.

I think it's cooler the way it actually worked out. Have we gotten any explanation or response from the mapper?

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Seems like originally it was just a 30 second "close wait open" door, but Tatsurd said that it's quite a long time, so Toooooasty made it operated by a switch instead. From the development thread it's not clear whether the invisible switch was intentional or not, but I believe it was. I think the switch sector is tagged simply because it was created after the lowering walls, so it just inherited the tag. The switch texture is perhaps just for the sound? Because there would be no clicking sound without it.

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map 6: 86% kills, 1/3 secrets

What mostly sticks out for me is two different approaches to the caverns in the map. Creep around alerting as few enemies as possible or aggro everything on the lower elevations to encourage infights (since they're so far below it's not really viable to target them without mouselook). I found where to use the blue key so no problems there (though do concede it's not that noticeable). The following warp in can get difficult though as long as one doesn't rush in, corralling the non-flying monsters is a lot easier.

Cool optional area, reminds me of Sunlust: I had seen the portal when scouting but forgot about it when playing through. Did go back for it though not including that in my completion stats since I used IDDT.

map 7: 100% kills, 0/1 secrets

Well, I'm already burned out on Dead Simple remakes so zzzz. Employed cacodemons as bullet shields. Found suspicious texture that could hide a secret but not how to access it. Map still managed to surprise me around the predictable portions.

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No explanation that I have seen (though I have not read the JPCP thread thoroughly). It's possible your explanation is correct and it is working as intended (for the reasons kuchitsu just described).

In which case I think it is a bad design decision, rather than a bug :)

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MAP08 - UV - Pistol start - No save (finished on first try)

I was going in with low expectations as map 05 didn't click with me, but I was genuinely impressed here! Great visuals, much more of the cool ideas I noted before, and Toooooasty's detailing madness put to good use. Music fits the map perfectly.

Had a jumpscare with the revenants, nice job! Sadly, I pushed the exit switch by accident, expecting it to be something to get rid of those baddies, so I didn't look at the automap nor felt like I got everything that was to be enjoyed here. I'll definitely give it another play!

Funny how the author suddenly rose up in value for me. I am now looking forward to his next entries.

-EDIT-
Was impatient, gave it another shot and got 100% K/S. That YK thing was a blast.

Also, I beg to differ about the switch thing being a bad design decision. It was just a puzzle. Demonic corruption, monsters doing a mind-fuckery through the mirror... the switch is just part of the anomaly.

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Didn't check the other JPCP thread but there's a "typo" in the comic automap of MAP08 : "Must destroy this plase" should be "Must destroy this place". Sorry if it has been already mentionned/corrected for a future build.

Another thing that may not work as intended : if you go near or hit the yellow key switch to the optional area without having the key, the barred door opens with some imps firing through and a caco teleports behind. I would expect this as a trap when you go back here with the key.

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MAP04: Thaumasia
100% kills, 1/1 secret

This one has all the trappings of a tiny, modern level, with a challenging scenario early on with the two revenants pushing the player into harm's way from all the chaingunners and imps littered around. After that, it then just goes whole-hog into stuffing the maps with as many imps and zombies as possible just to get turned into red paste by your rocket launcher, heh. Certainly amusing, this one.

MAP05: Woodexial
96% kills, 3/8 secrets

I really liked this map, though the end section peters out a bit. Very nice wood design (and underrated theme, IMO) especially since it's using just stock textures. The heavy usage of pistol zombies and the chaingun to start is a good move, as it's also somewhat novel. The layout in general also felt novel, lots of design points that aren't used too often... the whole thing felt very much like fresh breath. It could use some tighter texture selection (especially that bronze circuit "door") and alignment (basically the scrolling stuff so the switches actually sink into the ground instead of just "melting") but a fun map.

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Weekend’s here! Finally get to catch-up.

MAP02: Mini-base indeed! Rarely do we see a MAP02 more compact than MAP01, not that there’s anything wrong with that. The clausterphobic nature of this base is more my style but there’s a bit too much meat wandering the hallways here, making gameplay pretty slow at times (especially for the push into the courtyard). None of it’s bad though, just sub-optimal. I really enjoyed the RK ambush, as it’s not too often you’re torn whether to take out the PE or hitscanners first—brilliant work there.

MAP03: This is a pleasant map. Palatable amount of action, brief moments of tenseness around the map (like in the RK room), and some pretty decent traps. It’s not necessarily a map that evokes a certain style or has a good sense of atmosphere, but it looks great and never disappoints. Decent stuff.

MAP04: Ooof, burabo isn’t playing around here. Very first thing I did was step outside and go “oh cool, I know where the exit is” before I was promptly sandwiched between explosive rockets. Took a bit of footwork to survive that encounter, but almost everything burabo throws at the player is meant to kill at the slightest hesitation. Ironically the easiest part is the ludicrous warp-in at the end, since rockets make short work of the meager meat walls. Texturing is a bit mishmash for me though… it’s clear burabo has a penchant for detail but the texture choices here tend to clash or look garish, primarily due to the dreaded olive brick that covers most of the level. Speaking of, I spotted a misalignment here—I’m assuming it’s present on the other side as well. Overall It’s a fun map that bumps up the difficulty a bit.

MAP05: Really strong first impression here. I was curious when Suite deemed Toooooasty the Japanese version of yours truly, and after stepping out into southwestern wing I suppose I can see the resemblance! Toooooasty works magic on the stock textures by cleverly arranging them in staggered waves to keep the visuals fresh and chaotic. There’s a veil of madness to it, but beneath it's structured and tiered, avoiding the clashing present in MAP04 by never overwhelming the player with too many colors. Additionally, the lighting is surprisingly calm, meaning there’s not a lot of contrast to mislead or distract the eye. Sure there’s high detailing everywhere, but it doesn’t come across as ugly or gaudy—merely bold and erratic. Utterly fantastic stuff… though of course, it’s largely because I also adhere to this design philosophy myself :P

Gameplay is great too—rarely do we have a chaingun & zombieman oriented map to wreak havoc upon. There’s not a lot of set encounters per se—the only one I remember is the faux exit battle—but combat still remains sharp thanks to the high enemy count populating the numerous alcoves. It’s perhaps the most relaxing of the maps thus far but still has options for the combat to get nasty (like if you don’t keep the southwest PE in check), so for the most part it all works. I especially liked the dark final room with its big COMPBLU widescreen projectors, as that was a entertaining closer. Looking forward to whatever Toooooasty does next!

MAP06: Burabo’s second effort fares much better with me, as it relocates his vicious lust for blood to a much better area. This time the gameplay is all about neutralizing hitscanners as you madly dash through each section (or at least that’s how I played it—corner camping seemed too boring), and since chaingunners are plentiful the map can put up quite a fight. I wouldn’t have it any other way though, as it was quite satisfying to finally reach a point where I could stop and catch my breath. Double AV surprise at the BK was the other highlight for me (speaking of, there’s a tooooon of misalignments on the rocks in those caves… dunno if that is intentional or not). Very good—looked alright too.

MAP07: Oh hey, a Dead Simple map! Didn’t expect to see one here. Thankfully the gameplay remains interesting which is all a Dead Simple map really needs not to be heinous. Like others I don’t have much to say about it other than I appreciated the final wave that warps in since the arachnatrons were pretty much a dud (they could hardly do anything with the chest-high border walls blocking their vision).

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MAP07 - “Confused Arena” by Tatsurd-Cacocaco

a square dead simple clone, where you start by shooting mancs on pedestals and finish by shooting arachnotrons. this time there's a second wave in between, hence the "confusion" i guess. i rocketed the chaingunners asap and ran a bit in circles to create infighting. after the spiders are gone (they can be camped easily in the room with the switch) you get a visit by a few skeletons and an archvile, who warps between pedestals similarly to the one in plutonia map07, but can't hit you if you simply stay in the exit room. perhaps he should start resurrecting corpses instead, making him more urgent to take out.


MAP08 - “54-pit” by Toooooasty

lol @ that automap. the level is again a pretty irregular and colorful mix of tech textures, a likeable style. as for the switch in the bathroom, it might by intended to rise, but i liked the riddle as i saw it (perhaps an aftereffect of eternal doom): seeing the uncorrupted mirror image was a hint to press the place of the corrupted wall. most of the map was shooting smaller groups of monsters, without bigger threats. the frozen area was a bit square, but i liked the icicle graphics. also how one can climb onto the forklift up to the green hell portal (although you leave elsewhere). the red key room could be redesigned though. the shocking part was of course seeing an army of revenants, which blows up and causes a frame rate drop (i'm using smooth doom and ketchup, and could hear thousands of bullet cases drop or a similar noise). entertaining map with excellent music, again.

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map08 - demo here (including glide)

Glide video



+ well i thought id try my first doom glide as it looked like enough of a gap - and i succeeded! i havent played through to see how much this messes up progression - i think you can skip the RK.
+ awesome MIDI
+ the RK room switch riddle was awesome - i also liked the side-effect (perhaps intended?) of seeing the monsters that were about to teleport in through the 'mirror'
+ the revenant room is cool
+ the archvile placement when you try and get the YK is fantastic, as there isnt a great deal of cover, and he starts resurrecting a variety of enemies. great example of how 1 archvile can put pressure on the player, rather than using 50 of them

- the hell portal that opened could have had more enemies; i thought the map overall was a little bit easy
- a shame that you only have to face 1 of those revenants; seems a bit anti-climactic
- the mancubi rooms seems a bit of an afterthought. theyre not obnoxiously ugly, just very forgettable in comparison with the other areas.

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So with this I'm caught up with everyone.

MAP 05: Lots of “Can’t remember the last time that happened,” in this level. When was the last time I used the chainsaw on a lost soul? When was the last time I was killed by a zombieman? When was the last time I got any real use out of an invis sphere? This letter is something of a love letter to the zombieman the same way levels like Arch-Violence from PL2 are love letters to the Archvile. This is an absolutely amazing idea since the zombieman gets so little attention otherwise. Of course, there are 3 or 4 fake outs on the exit, like we’ve come to expect at this point. I sort of hope this trend keeps up and we eventually get a level which is nothing but fake trap exits. Probably my only disappointment with this level is the lack of an archvile running around in the middle corridor with all those corpses. That would have been a very fun addition for “Oh no!” factor. If they thought it would have messed with the difficulty too much then for fun there could always be a button that activates a crusher.

MAP 06: This map really comes out of left field here. A lot of the previous maps have felt like largely manmade structures and buildings where as this one is something of a naturally existing labrynth. The use of irregular shapes and decorations is amazing here and I love how all of the paths through the level intertwine, especially the rising platforms for the jump puzzle sections. The variety of monsters here is such that the entire map feels like a giant battle and thus the major issue with open world sort of maps in FPS games (think Borderlands), which is difficulty properly pacing the action, is more or less avoided. All said and done, MAP 06 is probably my favorite so far both in terms of combat and artistry.

MAP 07: Probably the one that gave me the most difficulty. It really seems to be modeled on the similar map from Doom 2 but with the difficulty turned up a bit and a significant “Buddhist Temple” sort of feel. As a result, I never really got lost in the map at all. I also like how there is a sort of an optional break in the middle. It lets slow, strategic players and people who really like monster infighting to take two different approaches to the map. Allowing for multiple play styles is very difficult but this map pulls it off very well.

I've seen a lot of people complaining that JPCP-MAP07 is too similar to Doom 2-MAP07. I have to disagree. The similarity is quite clearly intentional as the goal of a number of maps so far is to be a modern twist on Doom 2 with a Japanese flavor. That's apparent from the title screen which is the Doom 2 title screen done in an ancient Japanese art style.

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MAP07

A pretty decent Dead Simple remake. That has you running around to take all the Mancubi out then out comes HKs, Revs and Chaingunners. I hated the chaingunners, they were the only real threat here. Otherwise the map was over before I knew it. Not bad.

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MAP08

That was quite an adventure! This map has a very interesting design as the automap resembles a Doom comic strip right off the bat. The enemies are mostly easy to take down but the lack of armor vs quite a few gunners can give you a few close calls. I'm not going to lie but that rev tele scared the hell out of me I thought I was really going to have to fight 30 Revs, Phew. My favorite encounter was the bathroom one where the enemies in the fake mirror spawn into the room that was pretty neat. This map was definitely a cool one and very memorable, great work.

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MAP06: Riminshi Valley
90% kills, 1/3 secrets

Not surprised this is by the same author as MAP04, as they share a very modern style, and tiny/cramped architecture. Less of a gimmick map and more straightforward, with a nice half-cavern half-ruins theme that I really dig (especially the blue and brown color combo of the blue key area). Ammo seemed a bit tight though (ended up using the first in the last fight); no idea how to reach that secret teleporter sadly.

MAP07: Confused Arena
100% kills, 1/1 secret

Dead Simple remake, ew. At least it looks nice (or as nice as boxes can look) and there's some extra non-manc/non-'tron fights in the middle and end. The secret is cheeky, giving a lone rocket and 20 cells, woohoo.

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MAP08: 54-pit

This one gets points just for the inclusion of the automap 'comic' right at the start. :D It's integrated into the playing space in a nicely seamless manner; without the automap, the detailing used to create the comic would blend in well with other aspects Toooooasty's mapping style and propensity for boldly-rendered weirdness. The gameplay is fairly sedate, most of the opposition coming from zombies, imps, and demons thrust into the player's path by the bloody handful; what I'll find memorable, I suspect, are the striking visual set-pieces, from the juxtaposition of cluttered machine rooms and rubble-strewn spaces with the stark simplicity of the blue key dojo, the luridly green eye that glares balefully down upon the player's progress during the return leg of their journey, the laboratory full of revenant specimens, the inaccessible cavern full of water and pulsing light columns... none of it adds to the map's challenge but it does confirm Toooooasty as a delightfully demented painter is shades other than Doom's classic blood-red and grimy brown.

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MAP08 - “54-pit” by Toooooasty

Oh wow, this map is something special. I love the attention to detail in the scenery, it really tells a story (quite literally in fact when you check the map). The mirror puzzle in the bathroom is genius, and I like how you can choose to exit or go back for more at the end. The fighting is just the right level of easy to keep you engaged with the surroundings and keep you moving forward. Really cool map.

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MAP08 : 54-Pit by Toooooasty

Demo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCq8l5Mh1d4&feature=gp-n-y&google_comment_id=z12pzjyg2kf1fdelx23yyra43u21vtegx04

The automap is a 3D Comic book page ? That’s pretty impressive, and I really don’t know what to expect here… but amazingly enough, the actual level is normal. Except, not really. It’s a vast weird maze in a similar vein to this contributor’s previous entry (this time around it’s a rundown techbase complex), complete with even more esoteric set-pieces. I love it for the most part, only… well, there isn’t a single encounter in here that’s actually challenging. Compare it to, say, Burabo’s entries, and it really feels like a cakewalk. I’m deducing points for that, especially since I think it would be easy to make this map noticeably tougher without sacrificing anything that’s already in here.

PS : love the music !

PPS : After seeing the yellow key area in Suitepee’s video, meh, it’s nothing too special.

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MAP08 54-Pit

hmm, I don't often bother to check who the author of a map is when I get to it, but this is the same as MAP05, so items are scattered everywhere and combat is pretty strange. Even stranger is the apparent narrative comic visible on the automap. I don't bother to follow it though. toooooasty has some odd bits everywhere in this map, like in the restroom area, pressing the switch opens up the monsters, while the imps on the supposed female side cannot be accessed, or even shot through, but they can teleport to the player's location.

very dilapidated structures in some places, with some super strange climbing about, add that to the "revenant laboratory". Only they all go to some sector where they get crushed. After opening the blue key, I can already exit, but it looks like I can get a bunch of secrets by backtracking, including a yellow key. Regardless, this level is mindfuck, reminding me of a Scypek2 map.

That music track was really fucking annoying too.

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Getsu Fune said:

while the imps on the supposed female side cannot be accessed, or even shot through, but they can teleport to the player's location

That's not the female side. That's the reflection from the room you are, with monsters, because evil magic or something. When you shoot at them, you are just shooting the bathroom mirror, in short.

I am surprised the idea doesn't come across to some people. Perhaps because we all know the inside-out of Doom mapping so there's no suspension of disbelief?

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