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Impie

Strange Aeons 5.7

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5.5 update: fixed the final boss of episode 4. Now it's more obvious how to beat him, and a bit less tedious.

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So I finally got around to finishing this up and I had a lot of fun with it.  I'd say that episode 5 probably has the strongest, or at least the most conventionally Doom-like, map design making best use of the game's familiar mechanics and expectations and delivering satisfying gameplay, while also possessing fantastic atmosphere; E5M4 Valley of Death in particular jumped out at me there.  I think it helps that there are a few different themes through which the levels cycle?  Whereas the earlier episodes tend to stick to a single particular theme, and by the time I got to E*M5 or M6 I was finding myself ready for something new - the maps are fairly short, sweet, and focused, though, so the consistent theme of each episode doesn't become monotonous or wear out its welcome.

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Thanks for the feedback, OG! Episode 5 was actually a compilation of unfinished and revised standalone Doom maps I didnt' know what to do with, hence why they have the most Doom-like feel to them. Finishing them for Strange Aeons actually improved them immensely: in fact, E5M7 was two separate maps originally (one of them my first ever release), and I thought it would be awesome to have the penultimate map comprise of two acts in two different environments. I agree that it seems to play the best of all the episodes and sometimes find myself revisiting the mod just for E5.

 

It's funny that Valley of Death jumped out at you because as a plain ol' Doom 2 map it was really unimpressive. But it also didn't have the giant worms or the underground dungeon back then.

 

If you haven't yet, give the Rylayeh mapset a shot with the Strange Aeons: Guns n' Monsters gameplay mod. It all feels like a follow-up to E5 and a solid epilogue to SA in general, as if the Traveler survived the sinking of R'lyeh and was sent back on government orders. And it's hard as balls.

Edited by Impie

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Update: Now that I know how to do custom intermissions, I finally got the episode ending screens to work whether you load it up in Doom or Doom 2.

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Unfortunately E2M7 has an easy softlock, by 

Spoiler

pulling the blue keycard switch, then too quickly killing the revenant that comes out on the other side, before he steps on the button.

Screenshot_Doom_20180816_234355.png.60e9a60c15286dd27c46dd86e17eb384.png

 

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1 hour ago, IoriBranford said:

Unfortunately E2M7 has an easy softlock, by 

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pulling the blue keycard switch, then too quickly killing the revenant that comes out on the other side, before he steps on the button.

Screenshot_Doom_20180816_234355.png.60e9a60c15286dd27c46dd86e17eb384.png

 

By that point you should have discovered that the revenants are friendly and fight monsters for you.

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Hi, sorry for bumping this! Just got around to playing this mapset. This is very cool, I am getting the same vibe from it as I did from Heretic back when I first played it. Creepy atmosphere, creepy monsters. I just beat e2m6 and there was one arachnotron that didn't spawn in (the one in the northeastern corner of the closet). Not sure what caused it, since the other three teleported in just fine. Using the latest zdoom version.

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9 hours ago, Firedust said:

Hi, sorry for bumping this! Just got around to playing this mapset. This is very cool, I am getting the same vibe from it as I did from Heretic back when I first played it. Creepy atmosphere, creepy monsters. I just beat e2m6 and there was one arachnotron that didn't spawn in (the one in the northeastern corner of the closet). Not sure what caused it, since the other three teleported in just fine. Using the latest zdoom version.

I'm willing to bet I mis-tagged something. Thanks for pointing it out!

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E4M4: Is the spider supposed to teleport in once you pick up the ak? Because I had full ammo and it didn't spawn in, for some reason.

 

E4M8: You might want to change that spider trigger on the blue armor. I had full armor (playing continuous) and had to shoot a rocket at a wall to pick it up to make sure I get 100% kills.

 

E5M2: Loving the combat in this episode. You've definitely stepped it up a gear here. One the Grells didn't teleport in (place where you encounter two Shamblers).

Edited by Firedust

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Apologies for double-posting, but thought it would be a good idea to share my overall thoughts separately after beating this TC.

 

What I liked:

 

- The atmosphere. You did a fantastic job at making the player feel unsettled all the time despite the light combat.

- The monsters (for eps 1-3).

- The environments in eps 1-3 +5.

- Combat in Episode 5.

- Some of the secrets are very cool.

 

What i think you could've improved:

 

- Episode 4 fell all over the place, to be honest. Both aesthetically, monster-wise (would've been awesome if you'd added some snowy enemy variants), and map design-wise.

- Some levels in Episode 5 didn't have any of those green imps, which felt weird.

- Wish you'd made the combat a tad more difficult in eps 3-4.

 

Overall, this was really fun and I enjoyed playing through this mapset. Thank you for making this!

 

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Can anyone recommend any other WADs like this one?

 

The "quake 1" inspired levels are fantastic.

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