The DWmegawad Club plays: Rowdy Rudy's Revenge! & Rowdy Rudy II: POWERTRIP!

(UV, Chocolate Doom)

Rowdy Rudy's Revenge MAP01: "Hidden Compound" by Doomkid

Rudy's quest to avenge his brother starts at a hidden UAC mountain base. Don't forget to pick up the berserk pack located right behind the player's starting position, as there's no way back up there. It will greatly help dealing with the imps that roam around the entrance, as you begin with no rifle ammo initially -- a fact that may make pistol starting much harder in future maps.

This map actually took me two tries to beat, owing mainly to the chaingunners, and the new enemy type, the spectre imp. They make no sound upon being alerted, and thus are able to sneak up on you easily -- especially if you play on Chocolate Doom, where the resolution can make it hard to distinguish the fuzz effect from the background. The chaingunners drop no chaingun, which also makes things harder for the player.

This map already has a few unusual design choices -- for instance the first switch that causes another switch to raise back in the starting waterfall area, or the exit elevator switch that is attached to the door, which is not to say that they are bad, of course! I like that the maps appear to smoothly transition into one-another, hope that trend will continue with future maps. Music choice also seems pretty fun so far.

Secrets aren't too hard to find, and ammo is tight. A good opening map overall that doesn't go too easy on the player.

great choice for this month! I've played them both, so there wont be many surprises so I'll play in medium, instead of the normal easy. If it proves too hard I'll go down.

MAP 01 : Secret berserker at the start, rewarding those who look around before running forward, and introducing us to the bayonet. Inside we have two hitscanner types, the hooded ones and the chaingun equivalents, also regular imps and invisible imps! But, most important, a shotgun. Oh, and let us not forget the dualblade chainsaw! The secrets are easy to find and so we reach the end in 5m30s, 100% everything.

 There will be more tomorrow.

And we're back with Rowdy Rudy's revenge! A partial conversion by none other than @Doomkid, the "wadist oldschoolexual" ( whatever that means) himself! Enough with the formalities lets get started!

We begin with Rowdy Rudy's revenge, in which we must avenge Rudy's brother and defeat the evil protecters!

Map 1: Hidden Compound, Hard* ,pistol start

A short opening map that establishes the conversions true intentions. Be as 90's as possible( And I love this, the 90's is my second favorite era, after the 80's). The partial conversion oozes the 90's style of conversions, such as batman doom, Hacx and Aliens doom, using dehacked  wizardry to create something unique. A lot of care has been put into the weapon replacements and the Dehacked enemies. The Rifle in particular is a great starting weapon. The use of PSX doom\Doom 64 sound effects is also noteworthy. The map itself introduces us to some new enemy variants, such as the invisible imp and hooded former human. The length of the map and the aesthetic reminds me of Strain's short opening map, introducing key changes to the enemy roster and weapons. Good stuff, Doomkid! You really nailed that 90's style!

You'll get a laugh( for once while reading one of my posts) once you see my deaths on Expert...

Silhouette's Stats:

Kills: 100%(?)

Secrets: 100%

Deaths on expert: 5(!)

Deaths on Hard: 0

90's-ness: 90%( I'm still waiting for an enemy with an attack designed to annoy the  life  out of me or instantly kill me, than you'll get the extra 10% back!)

Haunted by the battlefields of plutonia: YES

* I switched to hard mode ( from expert)because of the lack of ammunition and health items in the map.

Ok, so... I'm interested in what you do, and I want to participate, I'll play Rowdy Rudy's Revenge (blind) and I'll write my experiences and some feedback of the levels and monsters. I'll play through GZDOOM V.2.4.0 (cause it runs better on my potato) on the hard difficulty setting, as I'll play blindly, I'll try to go for all the kills and secrets whenever I can. I'll write about the first map soon.

Ok, here I come

ROWDY RUDY'S REVENGE MAP01: HIDDEN COMPOUND (HARD DIFFICULTY)

RESULTS: 100% KILLS, ITEMS AND SECRETS

I'ts a good introduction to the game, and has a nice ambient. We see that our wadist oldschoolexual makes good use of some of the Playstation and Doom64 sounds, it gives a nice touch to the game. It has two berserks so you should save one in case you get low on health. We get introduced to some new enemies, both hitscanners and proyectile throwers (and invisible imps).

I ended with 16% health because I got rekt by the invisible imps, luckily the map gives you enough health to survive, so beware of your surroundings. The secrets are easy to find and one can give you acces to the shotgun (when you kill the shotgunner).

Good short map, nice gameplay and a lot of health for noob players like me. 10/10

EDIT: I decided to record a demo, so you can watch my gameplay. (The demo isn't a blind play, but before recording, I did play it blindly)

IMPORTANT: PLAY IT BACK IN GZDOOM V.2.4.0, OTHERWISE IT WON'T PLAYBACK.

Demo: rwd01SK3m244.zip

Alright! I have not gotten to play past the first couple levels of either of the Rudy wads yet, but I loved Ray Mohawk, so I know I'm in for a good time.

This month, since I'm playing Hell Revealed through Crispy Doom, I will do the same for Rudy. Figure it will look nice with big chunky pixels.

Port: Crispy Doom 5.10.0

Crispness:

• Extended Automap Colors
• Show Level Stats In Automap
• Report Revealed Secrets (I want to try and discover as much as I can in this playthrough)

Difficulty: Expert

Extras: eawpats via timidity for the music - good fit for this soundtrack I think.

Rowdy Rudy's Revenge was actually one of the first unofficial wads I ever played. I've been a fan of Doomkid's work ever since. I've also played most of the levels in the sequel, up until map 14 stopped me in my tracks. This time I'm intending to get all the way through it. 

I'm playing saveless on hard difficulty. At first I was going to go with expert, but after I died twice on the first level I decided to turn it down a notch.

Map 1: Hidden Compound

First thing I want to say is I love the pistol's replacement in this wad. I often even find myself defaulting to using it when I still have shotgun ammo. The custom enemies all generally feel like good additions to the game as well (although I kind of hate the phantom imps). I've never seen another wad that uses so much custom content while still feeling so much like classic doom. As for the design of the level itself, I don't have much to say. It was short, straightforward, and had great music. I liked it.

Rowdy Rudy's Revenge -

Map 01: I've played it a few times before, and never went further because I wanted to finish other things first. The first time I tried it I remember aiming and trying to shoot a guy only for my bayonet to come out, not realizing I had no ammo! How do you forget ammo on a revenge mission?

Love the music choice, hate the invisibile Imps - especially in low res mode.

Nice challenging first map, and a good dose of custom content. This was my first time playing on Expert. I hope I can make it through the rest at this level.

Map01 - 100%K 100%I 100%S

This shot hit me with the blockmap bug big-time. I fired many bullets til I realized I'd been had.

I haven't played any of the Rudy wads before, so now seems as good of a time as any! PRBoom+, UV, Pistol Starts, saves whenever.

MAP01 - “Hidden Compound”

Very short intro map with a brief outdoor passage and a quick loop around the inner compound. I am not a huge fan of the Nightmare Imps, as they have a tendency of silently sneaking up on me. They do infight with regular Imps and seem to move a bit faster. Other dehacked changes are pretty cool: Slot 2 is no longer borderline useless and melee seems better as well. New sprites and textures look good too. The outdoor progression with one switch raising another in a previous area was a bit strange, especially as there was no indication of the new switch location. The exit is pretty quirky: an empty room requiring you to press the back of the door you just went through.

MAP02 - “Arbitrary Base”

Another quick map with a nukage theme and some new enemies. This one's got plenty of Rifle ammo, resulting in more shooting and less stabbing compared to last map. Even without Berserk, the Bayonet is still decent against Pinkies and the one Sergeant I stabbed at the start. The green Caco and Plasma Trooper also make a brief appearance, the former I assume is more damaging with its Baron fireball. 

I am playing on Expert, continuous.

Map 01 was pretty cool and sets the wad off on a promising start. I enjoy all the custom work. The bayonet weapon feels pretty good. I must say those invisible imps are quick. They got me a bunch of times when I wasn't expecting it. The switch on the back of the door was reminiscent of Mars War.

Map 02 has one of my favorite level names: Arbitrary Base. The new enemies continue to amuse. Nothing too difficult here. I can feel the wad is setting up for some bigger maps with these new enemies, though. I really enjoy the bouncing health/armor bonuses. It gives it a great feel, almost Commander Keen ish.

Time to play another wad! Last time in Plutonia I kind of was occupied with other stuff and didn't have time to participate, so hopefully this won't be the case. Heard this was a good wad but haven't played it. Going in blind, in Expert, -complevel 2 and software mode in PRBoom.

MAP01 - "Hidden Compound"

A nice, slighty tricky starting map. I found it interesting how you had no ammo for the pistol replacement, instead having to rely on the fist replacement for the first part. If you look behind you, you can find a berserk, which makes taking the imps out way easier. The new enemies were pretty nice, though the stealth Imps were tricky to deal with.

MAP02 - "Arbitrary Base"

Another nice map. I like the way it flows, going around in circles and looping to the main hub type area. Not too difficult, but I was at low health in some parts. This level also introduces plasma marines, which fortunately aren't as deadly as Scythe 2's, and also Baron fireball spewing Cacos, which I hope they won't be too much of an issue.

Missed these when they came out, but Doomkid seems like a cool guy so I'll take a spin. :)

MAP01: Hidden Compound

100% kills, 3/3 secrets

Pretty easy intro map, but that's appreciated when starting something with a lot of custom assets, to help get the lay of the land so to speak. Turns out that everything still feels pretty Doom-y... the weapons and monsters look different but all seem to operate pretty much the same, with a nice souped-up pistol replacement. I really dig the new imp sprite, especially the subtly longer arms. I did die once, to the first chaingunner behind the entry door - wasn't sure who to kill, killed the cultist first, and the chaingunner got a bead on me and immediately ripped me to shreds. Didn't make that mistake again. Not much else to say about the level, it's pretty short, although with a few little weird bits (like the double switch to open up the first door, or the exit switch... I wonder if we'll see that repeated). Good little trick putting the only shotgunners up on a ledge that requires some platforming to reach. So far so good, I'm not sure how I feel about the shadow imps yet, and the bouncing health/armor bonuses are a little too animated for me, but other than that, no complaints.

Map01: Hidden Compound
GZDoom | Kills: 100% | Secrets:100%

Rowdy Rudy starts off with a rather simple base among the mountains. As others have stated often having a shorter intro map  helps set the tone well for the rest of the WAD, as well as allow the players to grasp any new mechanics. such is the case with the player starting with only a bayonet and a secret berserk a la doom 2 "secret behind the start". The nigh mare imps are rather tricky but all the other monsters so far are not too far off their counterparts. The pistol is also upgraded to a 2-shot burst rifle that is rather accurate. One thing the two rowdy WADs did well was make the pistol fun to use, and useful to boot.

The map itself is very simple in detail, but looks nice all the same. some of the texture have a oddly paler look to them, reminds me of WADs like Neo Doom or The City of Damned Children from the december DWMegaclub. Colors are just a tad more muted than usual doom.

Overall, a very good start to the WAD, and shows the player some new tricks, and promises more to come.

Perfect timing! I've been meaning to do a play through of the Rowdy Rudy duology for a while now. I have a soft spot for dehacked partial conversions like this. Now, I have played several maps from both installments of Rudy's saga, but I never really achieved mastery over either, and most of the maps will be completely new to me.

For this playthrough I will be using Crispy Doom, aiming to complete each map on UV and exit with 100% kills & secrets. Saves are allowed, but discouraged. All of these points are negotiable, depending on the situation. Right then, on with the wad!

MAP01: Hidden Compound - 100% / 100%

Ah yes, MAP01, the entryway to a new experience. Favourite to none, these maps nevertheless serve the essential role of introducing the core elements of a given wad, making a promise to the audience about what to expect from the experience going forward.

Rowdy Rudy is an experience that essentially sells itself. It is clear right from the get go that this ain't yer gran-daddy's Dewn, kid. The entire feel of the game is different, less schlocky sci-fi and more schlocky action film. The bestiary has been made more earthly, with a far wider variety of hitscanners and a reduced demonic presence, while the arsenal feels more utilitarian and militaristic. Doom 64's legendary SFX also helps to ground the soundscape by making the opposition feel more bestial than demonic, and making the arsenal feel more understated and less cartoony.

Rudy's earthy vibes are also conveyed visually. Greens, tans and light greys dominate the palette. The extensive set of new sprites also conform largely to this new aesthetic, and fit together well despite their wildly varying sources. The layouts are a lot simpler and less secret-heavy than those found in Doom, though no less abstract. Detailing is almost non-existent, unsurprising given the format. All of this contributes to the relatively grounded feel of the wad.

Rudy himself feels more like a regular soldier on a mission than a space marine stranded far from home in the midst of a demonic invasion. He doesn't punch demons into gibs with his bare hands, instead opting for the time-tested bayonet. He faces down hell with a standard issue rifle rather than frantically dashing around with a sidearm, desperately searching for a better weapon. There is an element of horror to Doom that is wholly absent here. Rudy is not a desperate survivor gradually descending into blood-soaked madness. He is a man on a mission, determined to see it through to the end.

Rowdy Rudy, like many of 'kid's wads, feels almost like a 90's 'Doom clone' with an extra layer of polish. There is a palpable retro charm to the wad, a sense of totally unrepentant cheese, much like Doom itself. This may not be yer gran-daddy's Dewm, but it could have been his Rewdy.

The first map gets this vibe across well enough, though is otherwise fairly unremarkable.

(UV, Chocolate Doom, Pistol Start)

Rowdy Rudy's Revenge MAP02 - "Arbitrary Base" by Doomkid

A fairly short map with an upbeat music track that reminds me of classic DM wads back from my ZDaemon days.

Difficulty-wise I found this a bit easier than the first map actually, probably because you are given a shotgun and a lot of bullets for the rifle right away. But maybe I was just more awake when playing it. We encounter some new enemies here, including the new caco, pinky and a marine with a slow-firing plasma rifle. The only thing that might get you killed here is the unexpected teleport into the room with the twin platforms.

Overall not much to say, it's a fairly short straightforward level. Despite the new dehacked enemies and weapons the mod so far feels very classic, very Episode 1-like.

Map 02: Arbitrary base

New enemy variants inbound!

This map is another short, yet punchy one. New enemy variants are introduced, including a marine that fires plasma( No idea if he fires in bursts or continuously, like the chaingunner... They don't live long enough for me to find out), a green cacodemon( They used to be so cute... why Doomkid? Why would you do this?) and my personal favorite, The eyeless(?) Pinkie, which will inevitably haunt my dreams until the end of time. So thank you very much for that. The techbase layout of the map feels like a "the way id did" lost map, both in the abstract, clean nature of the layout that lends nicely to the overall flow of the map. I thought I'd also mention the bayonet makes pistol starting much easier, since the damage output is really high. It's nice to see Pistol start players getting an advantage here, not having to scrounge for a better weapon than the pistol.

Not going to lie, this feels like a spiritual successor to strain....

Silhouette's stats:

Kills: 100%

Secrets: 100%

Deaths: 0

Chances of the Pinkie haunting my dreams: 99.9%

Wondering if Doomkid is stuck in the 90"s: Yes( this is a compliment, finding solace in the past is about 75% of my personality... depressing, but true.)

MAP 02: Arbitrary Base

What a title! It's funny that I mentioned wanting to see a toxicacodemon yesterday and my wish was immediately granted. He introduces himself by emerging from a vat of slime and vomiting baron projectiles at you; he's definitely a higher priority target than your garden variety caco.

I'd say this map is actually easier than the first, even having to bayonet the first shotgunner I met because pistol start. It's a short, unstuffy slime-base with maybe four fights of any heft. The room with the two secret platforms (which I couldn't figure out how to access) is definitely the one most likely to kill you, but you'll have a ton of rifle ammo because the boxes give you a hundred bullets, so go hog wild. I've never hit the 2 key more in my life, and I like how Doomkid makes the shotgun feel like a premium weapon here. Note that the 'weak' chaingunners don't drop chainguns, and keep an eye out for the plasma guy, who's essentially a frailer and slower arachnotron that looks like Doomguy with an oxygen tank on his back. 

I admit I played ahead last night and had to force myself to stop, so I'm looking forward to replaying MAP 03 tomorrow.

here we go, MAP 02 : Love the fact that last map ends where this one starts, I always like it when maps "make sense" in this way. Up the stairs, into the lava to grab the armor, kill imps from outside, and I enter the base. A quick jump over the lava and I'm in a doorway that 'ports me deeper inside the room. Kill all, press a switch, climb the secrets, back to the first room, grab the blue key, go outside, enter the blue door and.. die to a plasma wielding soldier! 

 Again, this time I survived the dude, went back for health and I'm ready to go enter the next door, a imp a door and that's it, done.

1 death, 3 minutes 10 seconds, 100% K/S/I.

All right, here we have Rowdy Rudy's Revenge MAP:02 Arbitrary base (HARD difficulty)

Results: 100% kills, 34% items and 0% secrets

Another short but good map, not too hard but not too easy, I wasn't ready for the surprise teleporter, so I still recomend that you beware of your surroundings (did that make sense?), here we get introduced to the blind pinky and the toxic cacodemon (a lost souls spawned and I had to kill him, cuz in GZDOOM he counts as kill). And a great midi for the map.

Sadly I couldn't find the secret, but still, a rather fun map. 9/10 for the gameplay and the midi.

Good chance to get to play these 2 wads. I tought I never touched Rowdy Rudy's Revenge! but I have some vague memories of the first 5 or so maps, I guess I tried it when it was released.

MAP01: I like how it starts already with some things that mess with the player with a missable secret (a very useful berserk since you don't have ammo at the start) and a little "what did this switch do?" . The action is the usual forgiving gameplay of intro maps but you can have a nice introduction of some of the new monsters.

MAP02: It's cool how MAP01 ended with a preview of this level, I hope it continues like that. The layout is maybe even simpler than the previous map, but I liked a lot that unexpected teleport that turns a basic room into an interesting trap. Not sure if I like the "new" textures, maybe it's because I'm so used to the stock textures that seeing them like that doesn't feel right and some look better while others are worse.

MAP03 - “The Slime Trail”

Didn't actually get a chance to use that Chainsaw, as this map is light on the melee fodder.

As the map title implies, it's a nukage base with some dark, spooky areas. I got slightly stumped at the start after grabbing the Shotgun, but the automap did confirm I'd have to dive in the nukage without a suit. Is the blue key optional? It unlocks a secret area with more beefy Chaingunners that drop real weapons instead of clips. Since there are so many 100 bullet cases around the map, the rest of the combat was some good ol' fashioned "Get some!" spraying. Some cool traps here, though the cowardly player can back out of most of them. The new Rocket Zombies appear to function similar to Lunatic's variant, which also fired Revenant missiles. I think they work well, as do the Plasma Zombies. The low-HP enemies in vanilla Doom's bestiary tend to not be very engaging, so these new ones fill a good niche.

Alright gonna give this thing a shot and try to keep up. This seems like a fun way to work through some Doom, and this is a very interesting collection to start with!

Disclaimer: I've played like, 10 maps or so of RR2 so I won't be playing that entirely fresh, but for reasons that are entirely irrelevant, I played it on a cell phone with an Xbox SCUF controller on Delta Touch and so at least the experience will be refreshed in some way.

Playing in GZDoom, Expert, Pistol Start, Saveless until I decide I don't care anymore (anyone want to take the over/under? I'm guessing maybe map 5...)

MAP 1 - Well damn, this map comes out swinging. Berserk punching is always enjoyable, but you don't realize how much better it feels until you get your hands on a Berserk bayonet. The gib sound is just so thick and is absolutely perfect. The gloves come off once you get inside the base. I was absolutely not expecting to be completely reamed by the hitscanners. The burst rifle replacement for the pistol is a nice touch, but it definitely still leaves you wanting some heavier hardware almost immediately. I like the novelty of discovering what the different enemies will do. Found all the secrets and left one random straggler, I've never been much for cleanup.

MAP 2 - Certainly feels like this WAD is going to shape up to have an interesting resource dynamic. The shotgun is certainly the ideal weapon in most of these encounters, and yet ammunition for it is almost entirely absent for the level. Having to fall back on the burst rifle, and with the prevalence of hitscanners, gameplay is a pretty careful or calculated endeavor. Judicious monitoring of lines of sight. Cautiously picking off as many enemies before entering a room as possible. The TP trap is particularly nasty and killed me the first time. Big fan of the caco reveal. Found the lone secret and achieved 100% kills. Everything was on the beaten path, almost impossible to miss any of the monsters.

---------

Overall:

I like that structurally and visually these two maps don't try to do too much. I'm always a big fan of the "continuous" layouts that tie map endings and beginnings together, so it's a pleasure to see it in this WAD as well. The textures remain firmly placed in the "Doom" camp, but still give it a nice fresh coat of paint. Many almost seem to be variants of the HD textures? which seems to kind of clash a bit with the pixilated aesthetic everywhere else, but it's not majorly distracting. The maps are both fairly simple in terms of progression and are quick endeavors. Easy to digest content that is still a blast to play.

33 minutes ago, LVENdead said:

 Many almost seem to be variants of the HD textures?

Yeah, from the textfile: "The texture resource used here is "High Resolution Textures w/o the High Resolution."

MAP02: Arbitrary Base

100% kills, 1/1 secret

Another small level, with one large confrontation and then the introduction of a couple new enemies. I'm playing continuous, which didn't really matter for this one (came in with one shell, and there's a green armor at the start) but still got really hurt in the main fight. The tricky teleport didn't really hurt so much as just the extreme amount of hitscanners in that room (plus a few more who teleported in on the ledges outside). Health was in short supply. Didn't get a good feel for the plasma marines, as they died infighting with the imps. Good reveal of the cacodemon though.

Map 2: Arbitrary Base

I forgot to mention in my first post that I'm playing with pistol starts, or this wad's equivalent to it at least. Another thing I'd forgotten about was the teleport trap in this level. Pretty nasty trick to disorient the player right at the start of a firefight. I also almost screwed myself over by deciding to check my map a split second before the green cacodemon sprouted out of the floor. Like the first map, this one is very short, but enjoyable.

Map02: Arbitrary Base
GZDoom | Kills: 100% | Secrets:100%

Map02 is a sun-dried nukage facility and a bit of a bullet hell. This one was rather tricky especially since I had zero reserve ammo from the first map, doing a pistol start. The entryway is not too terrible with easily stabbed zombiemen and shotgunners, the tricky part is crossing the slime into the trapped room full of chaingunners. The blursphere helps quite a bit with all the hitscanners though. Majority of the map is unremarkable. a good example of very minimalist (but tasteful) design with majority of the focus on gameplay. tricky but doable, short but still interesting, and the reveal of the toxicaco is a very nice touch. We also see another linked exit, which is a feature I always appreciate but is underutilized in a lot of WADs (usually since they are community mapsets). Overall another bite-sized treat.

MAP03 - "The Slime Trail"

Another fun little map. I was confused at first on where to go until I noticed you had to go down the mentioned slime trail. I didn't notice the pit at the end of the path, so I went back to flip the blue key switch and then realized I had to go through the slime again, which made me die many times to the Chaingunner in the pit because I had little to no health. I like how the layout makes you circle around the map. The midi sounds cool too, nice rendition.

I also got into this situation, where the Chaingunner couldn't hit me from below and I was positioned in such a way I couldn't get damaged from the slime. Though it was funny.