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The DWmegawad Club plays: SKULLTIVERSE

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MAP18: "Symmetry Bad" by Nimiauredhel

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/1 secrets

 

Nimiauredhel provides another map with a bespoke track to go with it which helps set the tone for the off-kilter feel the map imposes. The feel is further enhanced by a rather ominous-looking animated texture behind you at the start, which hides the level's only secret. The level makes use of silent teleporters as well to skip you between the symmetrical halves of the map, and dangle the yellow skull key ever so slightly out of your reach. The yellow skull key in question being on a small yellow pedestal which you teleport past whenever you approach it, before you realize that it is actually made to represent a similar pedestal in the previous arena, which lowers as you lower this one later on. Neat little visual quirk.

 

The combat I admit I didn't really feel so much. The second room with the yellow skull key at the center is kind of annoying at the start, as the encounter just feels spongey and unpleasant to deal with using your arsenal at the time. I imagine the feeling could be lessened by leaving some enemies and returning when you have the SSG in your possession, but I'm personally not a fan of having to do that to limit my annoyance. Otherwise most of the combat is a little normal for the craziness of the layout and general vibe the rest of the map holds. The closing cyberdemon fight was pretty fun though.

 

Overall a so-so map. I enjoy the layout quirks, but combat could use some tuning up.

 

MAP19: "The Crucible" by LordEntr0py

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills*, 1/2 secrets

 

This one sets the expectations high right from the get-go, showcasing impressive architecture and playing one of my all-time favourite Doom midis, Jimmy's Sunset Over Babylon. Despite being more of an architectural marvel than the atmospheric marvel that is LordEntr0py's previous map in this set, the combat seems to follow a similar philosophy of taking it slowly to start before catching you offguard with the more flashy encounters. With that said, while MAP10's initial encounters were trivial, the ones in this map aren't quite so, mostly being exercises in carving out a space for yourself in relatively cramped areas among meaty groups of barons and other foes while you only have the rocket launcher and chaingun to rely upon. The level is also covered in streams of hellslime that do deal damage, so care in where you are standing is always needed.

 

The two last encounters are where the level truly shows its claws though. The former encounter sends in large groups of imps, some mancubi, and an arachnotron and pain elemental to stop you. Once done with that, you eventually come across a wealth of ammo and a megasphere, signaling what's to come. This fight results in all of the gates in the level opening and over a hundred monsters breaking loose, including a spider mastermind near where you are and a cyberdemon by the entrance. I love the way that this final encounter gives you pretty much free reign of the entire level when it happens, allowing you to move to another area whenever you are feeling overwhelmed. The biggest dangers in this fight that I found are getting boxed in by the caco-cloud that spawns, and the spiderdemon, who can be surprisingly hard to get cover from whenever you venture into her sights.

 

Very fun level, and visually superb. The final fight is one of my favourite encounters in the wad so far, potentially my favourite. Also, asterisk on the kills as I had to cheat to clear out 6 stuck imps, which cannonball mentioned earlier.

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19 - Map10: Terminal Decay was without question a fine looking map with a realized concept and a unique feeling of Claustrophobia, but @LordEntr0py absolutely banged it straight out of the park here. Incidentally or not - this map is the opposite of Map10 in so many ways: the former was all indoors while this is all outdoors; the former was quite dark while this is quite bright; the former was claustrophobic while this one becomes increasingly wide open; the former had most of its visual strength from 'little' details while here the scenery is grand and epic from the get go; and the former used next to nothing outside the playing area while this one uses the background to create epic scenery and make it look a lot bigger. And it works. Almost perfectly. Spicy tough yet not too overly tough gameplay, with a clear sense of escalation and raising stakes, and the place gets only more beautiful the more it opens up. The music is not only a great tune, it also fits perfectly. I join the Map19 > Map10 apparent majority. Absolute smash job of a level and unquestionably among the top three of maps I can comment on within Skulltiverse. As a big fan of The Hate Flow, this effort did not let me down in the least. Gotta look at RAMP one of these days!

Edited by FrancisT218

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Map 19: The Crucible (UV, pistol-start)

 

Lord Entropy's second map takes a remarkably different tack from his first. While that one was located in some base, complete with Duke3D access door buttons, this is one is set in some sort of strange infernal fortress. "Sunset Over Babylon" is something I've heard before, and it fits this map just as well as any track. There's such a strong poetry to how the different visual elements link together that  can't be overlooked, and I'm so here for ir!

 

Nothing really to puzzle out. You're provided plenty of ammunition, but no Super shotgun, so be prepared. When you've pressed the second to last switch, the only real advice I can give is to plasma whats nearest to you, rocket enemies in the general direction of where you want to go and KEEP MOVING. This doesn't feel as sadistic as Lord Ent4opy's previous map, but it's quite a deal harder on the other hand. The proliferation of Barons makes this feel like "The Crucible: Revealed" or something(John Hathorne was right all along). After a while, it was hard for me not to say "Hey, who hurt you? What's your problem?" It was really only the occasional Chaingunner that got to me though. The Cacocloud that emerges after the last final ambush involving a pinkie right next to you was quite difficult for me, though. I was never killed by infinite height monsters, but there were definite times a stray Revenant rocket would hit me, then I'd fall into the lava, be struck by Imps, and fail to get out in time. I did find both of the secrets though, which are a huge help to surviving everything. Honestly, the Cyberdemon and Mastermind felt somewhat pointless when all was said and done. I mean, the spider wouldn't even infight with the nearby barons properly!

 

I didn't really like this as much as Lord Ent4opy's previous map. I guess it's ok for an end fight, but the limited space may have kept it's full potential from being realized. On the other hand, you're shooting rockets everywhere, so I was never bored.

 

 

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10 minutes ago, FrancisT218 said:

19 - Map10: Terminal Decay was without question a fine looking map with a realized concept and a unique feeling of Claustrophobia, but @LordEntr0py absolutely banged it straight out of the park here. Incidentally or not - this map is the opposite of Map10 in so many ways: the former was all indoors while this is all outdoors; the former was quite dark while this is quite bright; the former was claustrophobic while this one becomes increasingly wide open; the former had most of its visual strength from 'little' details while here the scenery is grand and epic from the get go; and the former used next to nothing outside the playing area while this one uses the background to create epic scenery and make it look a lot bigger. And it works. Almost perfectly. Spicy tough yet not too overly tough gameplay, with a clear sense of escalation and raising stakes, and the place gets only more beautiful the more it opens up. The music is not only a great tune, it also fits perfectly. I join the Map19 > Map10 apparent majority. Absolute smash job of a level and unquestionably among the top three of maps I can comment on within Skulltiverse. As a big fan of The Hate Flow, this effort did not let me down in the least. Gotta look at RAMP one of these days!

It was no accident. I'd spent a week obsessing over a dark, claustrophobic labyrinth with Terminal Decay. The Crucible was my recovery map. I needed something wide open.

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Map20:


I spent probably 95% of the time circlestrafing, lol. It's the most effective strategy here at almost all times, maybe excluding the brief archvile encounter (but even they tend to eventually get hit by something and stop targeting you). Much of the time, you don't even need to do anything else as enemies kill each other pretty effectively, but the third wave is a slight exception, as the radiation suits are practically necessary and will eventually run out if you wait long enough for the enemies do your work for you, and there's a pain elemental or two to add a little extra pressure. Even then, there's so much leeway that not much direct killing turns out to actually be necessary. An entertaining little romp, but it lacks depth.

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MAP 20 – Cybertemple of Cyberdoom by ViolentBeetle

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

Skulltiverse had already offered plenty of hordes to slaughter and broad battle arenas, but nothing so far was presented with enough emphasis to be called a boss fight. The map title did not play around and openly spoiled the presence of one or more Cyberdemons. Bosses have not been prominent enemies in the MegaWAD and started appearing regularly only since MAP17, so I was looking forward to seeing what the project leader had in store.

 

The temple was bare and unadorned, except for weapons and ammo suggesting a rather ominous scenario. The BSK was on display above the usual pillar, and a switch invited me to unleash the mayhem at will. As expected, the wooden walls opened and released the first host of hellspawn, consisting of Pinkies, Revenants, Imps and Mancubi. The Cyberdemon appeared exactly where everybody would guess, on the central altar dominating the temple, and started dispensing rockets around.

Spoiler

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Dealing with this ambush was quite easy, since all that was required was running around in circles, trying not to get blocked by roaming monsters, while directing rockets to the elevated Mancubi, which were less likely to be hit by the careless horned titan. This wave was the first of three, each one featuring a fresh Cyberdemon in the middle acting as the master of ceremonies, as explained in retrospect by the intermission screen. Killing each boss triggered new events and layout transformations, in another display of ability by @ViolentBeetle. What this level lacked in the visuals, it surely made up in technical prowess and combat harshness.

 

The second wave implemented Arch-Viles, Cacodemons, Revenant snipers and a thick herd of Hell Nobles. Provided the AVs are immediately localised and neutralised, as was my case because I was next to their closet, this fight should not upset a seasoned player more than the first. The real trouble came with the third and final setup, where the author decided to go all in: walls opened into a surrounding lava basin full of enemies, the temple floor crumbled and melted to scorching lava, and 100 monsters were deployed at once in a wild and confusing pattern. I died a lot of times without even understanding who hit me, then I realised that it was a combination of damaging floor, which required picking up a Radiation Suit as soon as possible, and countless shots from former humans, which materialised all around the place and simultaneously placed their cross hairs on me. Escaping their barrage was the main challenge of the map, since it required nimble feet and proper use of cover, all while keeping an eye on Revenants, Pain Elementals and Arachnotrons.

Spoiler

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The glass cannons did not last long after stirring up an infight with the tougher demons, so I was able to move around more freely and eliminate those wicked Revenant snipers and the relatively few survivors. The Cyberdemons were less threatening than I anticipated; quite the opposite, they helped by thinning out the opposition distracting hellspawn that would have chased me otherwise. This was a nice, bloody epilogue to the marble hell section of Skulltiverse, and to the second episode in OG Doom II terms. See you on MAP30, @ViolentBeetle (at least I hope so…)

 

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MAP20 - Cybertemple of Cyberdoom

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

 

That rather violent insect is back, which had me worried. Funny enough though, I didn't die nearly as much as I thought I might. The interesting thing about this map is the Mancs, Lost Souls and lava at round 3 caused me far more grief than the Cybers ever did. The is definitely running around like a maniac and clearing out all the sniper enemies while infighting takes care of most of the others, then finishing off the Cyber at the end of each wave. No doubt this'd be a painful pistol-start, so big respect to the maniacs who enjoy that play-style hehe. The central gimmick to the level progression was pretty neat and easy enough to get a handle of. Wasn't sure how to get the Soulsphere secret, but it didn't matter anyways since this is the end of E2 and you're greeted with a death exit lol. It's a simple, effective map that keeps you on your toes and is about as relentless as VB's other maps, just in a different flavour. :^P

 

 

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MAP20 - Cybertemple of Cyberdoom - dsda-doom - skill 4 pistol start - rewinds used

 

As has been noted, a lot of the opposition here can be made to infight quite easily via circling.

That, however, is my jam. The Beetle has impressed yet again.

 

Spoiler

 

 

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Sorry for yet another month I did not participate since beginning but I will try my best to catch up! As usual I have been a bit burned off from playing so much Doom as of lately (since there is so much stuff I haven't played yet and had to check out in meantime). To make up for that, I will play and post 6 maps per day.

 

PrBoom-Plus 2.6.1um - UV continuous blind with saves (100% everything) - No complevel specified this time, since I tried with complevel 9 and demos didn't play, then I tried without complevel and they played, so I assumed this was intended, plus the fact I got 3 episodes to select in menu, which is the main feature of the PrBoom+ Umapinfo fork in first place.


The only thing that seems weird is the menu graphic/logo, it looks fucked up. I don't know why but I'm not the only one with this problem and I will attach a screenshot with the menu to show what I mean. Out of curiosity, I tested in ZDoom 2.8.1 and there it looked fine, so I don't know why PrBoom+ glitched that logo but it's not the only wad that had glitched main menu logo, I guess Hellbound was another wad with glitched menu? I swear there were at least two other wads with similarly glitched menu but I can't remember their name at the moment.
The blue interface is nice. The status bar indeed seems similar to the status bars of Wolfenstein 3D and Batman Doom, as someone else mentioned earlier.
The concept is very interesting with the same teleporter being used as both the map's starting and ending point and it requires the blue skull key to advance next map, which won't be an easy task, at least not always.
Now I will talk a bit of each map, I will try to be shorter than before, hopefully. Let's start!

 

MAP01: Skullgate Central
A rather interesting opener and also quite dark. At least I had to temporary move into another room since I couldn't see much due to daylight and this worked as I could actually see where I'm going and where I'm shooting.
What makes this opener unique is the fact you only get chaingun and bullets as your ammo, as well as a chainsaw and a berserk pack in two different secret areas.
It wasn't as bad as I expected, even with taking a bit of damage earlier, picking up a medkit by accident at 94% health (while I was killing those enemies) and wasting a bit of bullets early with my shots missing, I was still able to do just fine. Since I had to do quite a bit of chaingun sniping to kill those revenants (especially those tricky ones on ledges guarding the red key), which I thought they would give me some trouble but thankfully that wasn't the case. I grabbed the armor as soon as it became available (since those bonuses early didn't last too long) and it went pretty smooth, especially as the map was quite generous with health and ammo. I ran out of bullets at one time and finished a spectre off with my unpowered fist but after that and carefully searching around, there were a few more boxes of bullets and clips available.
The last trap (when grabbing blue skull key) wasn't bad at all (I expected more revenants/chaingunners to show up), it's just a bunch of imps and two demons. I killed first the imps with chaingun and made some use of the chainsaw on those two demons. Then the map was pretty much done.
I found two secrets by myself (box of bullets and chainsaw secret), with the berserk secret (as well as last enemy) having to look up on a video posted earlier to see where it was, since I reached the end of level and was missing one enemy, item and secret. So I needed to get the 100% completion before leaving the map.
Overall, not bad opener. A bit challenging but nothing too crazy.

 

MAP02: Regular Base
When I saw the map was made by joe-ilya, I didn't have many expectations as others mentioned in the thread. The author's maps aren't anything special (or at least that's the impression I usually get) but this one surprised me a bit. I liked the random Duke3D button (which made it stand out a bit more in contrast to the environment, also the fact Duke Nukem 3D is one of my favorite games of all time and I find interesting when its textures and music are used in Doom wads), the jumping blue skull key where you had to run to pick it up and also that SSG tease that I almost thought I was given the SSG already but it looks like we won't get the SSG for a while.
Fun short map, a bit inspired by DOOM2 MAP02: Underhalls. I think this should have been the first map IMO, since it seemed much easier, though at same time this is also the map where you get access to shotgun first time, so maybe it's better it's the second map as otherwise it would have ruined the previous map on a continuous run if you started with the shotgun. Plus it also makes the map02 reference a bit more logical, as otherwise if it was placed on map01 slot, then it would have needed to have a reference to MAP01: Entryway. :P
The secrets available are an invisibility at beginning and the armor accessed by pressing the Duke3D button near the blue skull key spawner.

 

MAP03: Get Rectangular
Another somewhat short and interesting map and a bit more difficult compared to previous, though still nothing too crazy. Maybe I've been lucky with avoiding the dangerous parts that some people may find a bit difficult, like when a revenant teleported while I was shooting and running away from the hell knight, then at a later time when grabbing yellow key, the hell knight teleported and he simply took the elevator down without attacking me and that way I didn't get surrounded, I was able to kill the caco and knight from that small space with the shotgun. I found the first secret myself (the shell box at start of map), though I had to look for the second secret at one of earlier videos in the topic, which was a very much needed blue armor, which saved my ass for the next map!
Oh and funny how that plasma (like SSG in previous map) was teased and when approached, it became unavailable because the bars closed on top of it. Also that cacodemon placed on the helipad, was probably acting like a helicopter or something. :P

 

MAP04: Bilis
Wow, things got a lot more difficult! Some parts really caught me by surprise. Reading the earlier comments, I knew what to expect at beginning, so I switched to chaingun and went to pain elemental's face and tried to kill him as fast as I can. Though that chaingunner shooting behind me was a bit dickish because I couldn't concentrate on two things at same time, though thankfully he didn't shoot immediately, only as I was almost done with the elemental. Had to endure quite a bit of damage before I could concentrate on the chaingunner, leaving me with 67% health left at that point (and 170% armor I guess).
Another part that was a bit tricky was when approaching the red key, some monsters suddenly appeared and I took a bit of damage but nothing too bad. I was hoping they would spawn upon grabbing the red key, not before that. I guess I should have been a bit more careful.
But the biggest fight was when grabbing the yellow key, spawned all kinds of monsters, suddenly you get surrounded by knights, revenants, cacodemons, shotgunners and one or more chaingunners. I initially went circles around them but then suddenly when I started taking a lot of damage (maybe I got caught between two shotgunners that shot at same time?) and rushed to the small room that had the green armor on the pillar. I had to be careful to not pick up the green armor by accident since my blue armor had dropped below 100% and I was also getting surrounded by monsters that tried to invade the place. Two hell knights and two revenants (though not at same time) invaded the place and I was very desperate to kill both the revenant and the knight at same time while trying my best to dodge their attacks. My health had dropped to 41% and armor to 59% at that time, which is hard to believe that I had 126% health and 136% armor before the big fight began, so I must have really took some serious damage.
I manage to kill them in time and at the doorway I was lucky enough to witness a knight, a revenant and a cacodemon all fighting each other at same time, which was quite amusing. I can't imagine what would have happened if they didn't infight.
Then when I was done finishing the winner and the remaining knight, I was going to grab the leftover medkits around the map and then was wondering what to do to progress. Turns out you must step on the armor pillar, revealing the last four enemies (two imps, two shotgunners) and the access to blue skull key behind the yellow bars. Once I was done clearing them, I grabbed all the goodies.
At least I found all 4 secrets by myself, though other than the health bonuses secret which I grabbed early, the rest secrets I got when I was done with the map. That way I got to finish the map with 200% health, though too bad the blue armor had to be replaced since it was quite damaged by that point, even if I wasn't forced to grab the green armor, I would have grabbed it anyway at that point as a full green armor is a better deal than a very damaged blue armor.

 

MAP05: Green Tech's Embrace
Interesting map with the green sky. Nowhere near as difficult as I thought it will be. Now that I remember from watching the megawad's included demos, this map is shown in one of the demos. Though I still got to play most of it by myself. The map also introduces the mancubus, though I think only two of them are encountered, one is halfway in the map (can be killed earlier with some rockets if aimed correctly) and another is guarding the exit when you get the blue skull key.
You will also get the much needed backpack in this map for first time, as the ammo can be a bit scarce at times.
The best part is that the map contains both a blue armor and a soulsphere (which is also the only secret in the map), which are definitely worth grabbing before exiting (on a continous playthrough at least). I didn't have problems with dealing with the encounters, it was easier than I expected. I also made sure to blow up all barrels in advance with only a couple of them saved for some enemies when they got near the barrels but other than that, they are more of an obstacle than anything. Or maybe they would be useful for pistol start, who knows?

 

MAP06: No OH&S Compliance
Tricky map at times, though nowhere near as difficult as I thought it was gonna be. Quite simple in fact. Maybe I have been lucky again. As all I took was a single fireball to face by an imp at later part of the map and that was it. Not even those traps with pinky demons managed to touch me. Though I admit it did put pressure to me initially and that's how I also found the berserk secret by accident, by just going backwards when I was getting cornered and this also helped me to deal with ease with those demons, by punching them from the safe spot while they couldn't reach me.
Oh and there is also a crusher in the middle of map, as well as a pit with cacodemons, which I was careful to not fall into and they only became active when I reached the main rocket launcher with those rockets and the switch.
The other two secrets were trickier to find (I looked for them after I was done with the level), I know about that ammo cache pillar but I had no idea initially how to lower that pillar to be able to access the ammo and there was also a hidden rocket launcher secret (near the blue skull key), which took a while to find.
Anyway, after getting the RL secret, I was wandering around for a while until I did something that lowered that pillar. Not sure what exactly was but I assume it was pressing on those pillars at beginning of map, one of them might have lowered that secret and then I could grab the ammo and get sweet full 100% in this level.
Other than that, there isn't much to say about it. Sure, it looked a bit bland at times but it was still fun to play.

 

Tomorrow I will resume playing and I did take a look at comments about MAP07, it seems it's inspired by a similar map from Valiant (an excellent megawad that I somehow haven't gotten around playing it) and it's gonna be quite tricky. Hopefully things will go as planned. The megawad seems promising so far and I'm ready for whatever challenge happens next!

 

Deaths (so far): 0

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

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SKULLTIVERSE_MAP06_TEXT.png.447cf4f2d7d3a5b29830fe9638ba08ab.png

 

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MAP20 - "Cybertemple of Cyberdoom" - ViolentBeetle (100%K/76%I/0%S):

Here is ViolentBeetle attempt at making an arena map, good effort, but ended being annoying when the map "drowned" itself in lava, the level does not look like the previous map, but sets the deal for an episode "finale". Nothing more to say. Again, not a fan of Arenas, they have to be pretty well made like yesterday's map for me to like them.


Deaths: 151 (HMP - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP15
MAP19

MAP10
MAP31
MAP09
MAP13
MAP11

MAP05
MAP12
MAP16

MAP03

MAP01
MAP20
MAP14
MAP04
MAP07
MAP32
MAP08
MAP02
MAP06
MAP18
MAP17

 

 

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MAP20 - "Cybertemple of Cyberdoom" - ViolentBeetle

 

Serviceable at best, a little underwhelming at worst. 

The map is what it is, three waves of monsters follow the press of a switch, each following one is triggered by the death of the central cyberdemon. The first wave is on the easy side in reality, as long as you keep moving. The second wave carries the biggest single threat due to the double archvile release as these can seriously ruin your day. The final fight was probably the most fun to go through, the sinking floor helps a little here (You get enough radsuits). 

There is a lack of general visual polish and the symmetry of some areas is very obvious. I understand creating a map like this to end an episode, but in my opinion this felt a little flat. I preferred the finale of the first episode (By the same author) a lot more.

 

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MAP21 - Fallen Dimension (HNTR, blind, continuous w/ saves): <stats invalid>

 

Spoiler

So many strange things can happen while playing Doom, and sometimes they are downright embarassing.  When finally figuring out to telefrag the Cybie, i entirely missed obtaining the YSK in the act and spent the next five minutes running around complaining about obscure progression.  Kinda stupid, but at least i didn't see the YSK at any point on his pedestal, and then i didn't even see the icon from the corner of my eye on the HUD after it appeared.

 

Anyway, the map begins with a forced pistol start, and though i'm wrong in my assessment that the starting room looks like it might have a slaughter-scene later, there's something about it that gave me at least the right inkling of what's to come.  But that's quite a long way a way for now.  The only way forward is to the library, by an alcove offering the SSG, and after the zombies and Imps, the opposition quickly gets tougher.  The library in fact has four different waves of enemies to deal with before i can move forward.  The library is very nice, by the way, with intestines replacing the marble floor and walls and skulls being stuffed into the walls, and the whole affair is a lot of fun.

 

From the library i exit onto a ledge overlooking an outside area between two buildings, guarded by a Cyberdemon from the other one.  This is going to be the arena for a couple of punishing encounters.  The first one triggered by a switch is basically a wave of some number of Imps and couple of Spectres and Cacodemons.  It wouldn't normally be a problem but the principal weapon is the Chaingun.  i guess i should've been more mobile and not just doggedly stay in my corner, so the Cyberdemon could have helped out, but instinct made me stay away from his sight as much as possible. 

 

Next another door in inside the building, the RL alcove, seen at the start, can be opened.  Behind is a large hall, with some Imps and Hell Knights, as well as caged Mancubus and Revenants, who will be dangerous behind one's back, if one dashes in without care.  Instead, i stand by the door, unable to retreat, taking potshots from the Imps, until they're at least dead, and then run to collect more rockets for the Hell Knights at the back ledge, at which point the caged enemies come also to my attention.  It's not exactly a tricky situation, but the hits even if low damage do take their toll.  There's a nasty ambush of teleporting Imps and a Rev upon the ledge which killed me twice, first time simply blocking me before any reasoned reaction was possible.

 

Soon i am back to the outside area, and this time the assault is deadly.  There are more Imps, but also Cacodemons and Pinkies, and from the other end there's a Mancubus shooting at me.  What kills me mostly though is something that teleports close to me and i can't see before dying.  After some tries it turns out to have been a devilish Cacodemon.  Teleporting enemies out of sight behind me when dealing with imminent threats from the front is indeed dastardly, even if effective - that one is actually the only occurrence of what i'd call unfair here.  There's also a Pain Elemental that gives me quite a lot of trouble before i'm able to clear the situation after many tries. 

 

Next there seems to be nowhere to go, except that the Cyberdemon has disappeared, having lowered inside his pedestal apparently at some point.  After a while i figure out to try the fireblu portal, and voilale roi est mort!  And, his death provides me with the unseeable YSK, causing the mise-en-scene recounting of which began this solemn soliloquy of life and death.  What follows next is nothing less than my apotheosis and final victory with total omnipotence allowing no opposing force to prevail.

 

The final combat, in an incredibly brilliant setting, a room that always lowers to another floor with a new layout and a new wave of enemies, always worse than the last, at timed intervals.  Truly impressive, not only technically but gameplay-wise also.  Despite the gameplay being slaughter, at first i think i'm actually going to get through it, until the Arch-Viles appear, when it becomes clear to me i'm not going to be able to finish this in any other way than savescumming and trying too many times.  So i simply must resort to Godhood, by divine right of iddqd.

 

The map is fantastic, but the final fight, especially in the lowest floor, unfortunately makes it unbeatable for me, unless i missed an Invulnerability sphere and i doubt i did.  My shame though is missing the secret BFG, which could have been a gamechanger.  Once again, my blind run was unsatisfactory and i'd love to play the map again, except it's not worth it since the final is unbeatable, because it is a really good one just like shawny's earlier entries, until the end :D  As with some other maps, i do feel some curiosity towards how it would go with some foreknowledge and frankly on a better dooming day.

 

One hell of an episode opener, and a lot tougher to play than it would look on paper in an interesting and grotesquely attractive environment.  My own experience was marred by my own mistakes, too, and on video i emphasize too much the slaughter, which was really only at the very end, but i guess it's natural it was foremost on my mind especially after having to resort to invoking my godhood.

 

 

Ranked:

Spoiler

MAP15

MAP18

MAP12

MAP06

MAP01

MAP08

MAP10

MAP14

MAP03

MAP04

MAP19

MAP31

MAP16

MAP11

MAP02

MAP21

MAP09

MAP05

MAP07

MAP17

MAP20

MAP13

 

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MAP20 - Cybertemple of Cyberdoom

hmp/continuous

 

I’m usually not a fan of bossfights in Doom, and this one is no exception. You get a rectangular arena with a cyberdemon in the middle and 3 waves of enemies gushing in from the sides. I didn’t mind this at first, but after killing the first cyberdemon and starting the second wave, I was like “This, again?”, and it basically was this, again.

 

I find most of the combat here a bit too boring. The cyberdemon is somewhat awkwardly placed, since he can’t easily infight with most of the crowd below him, as he often hits the platform he stands on instead.  Having to kill him with the plasma gun 3 separate times while he’s barely injured gets old pretty fast too.

 

The third wave was pretty good though. Seeing the arena transform into a larger one with an additional danger of the damaging floor made me sigh in relief that at least something interesting happened in this map. I enjoyed this part of the fight quite a bit. Not a terrible conclusion to the episode, but could’ve been better.

 

MAP21 - Fallen Dimension

 

This map is excellent. Great looking all the way through (are those textures from Demonastery perhaps?), with an enjoyable midi in the background. 

 

The lowering and raising cyberdemon is an interesting idea, but I don’t really see what’s wrong with keeping him up on the platform at all times. Avoiding his rockets is not that hard. All of the combat in that area is pretty fun, coming at you in waves, kinda like the last map, but less repetitive. I was slightly missing the ssg at this point, so I was glad to see it appear right in the next area.

 

The entire series of fights after grabbing the plasma rifle has to be one of my favorite combat scenarios in the whole wad. It’s very dramatic, progressively increasing in difficulty and monster occupancy. 

 

My only issue with the map might be its placement in the wad. It comes right after a similar ordeal of fights coming at you in waves, which is a structure that fits the end of an episode more than a beginning. Aside from that, Fallen Dimension is a big success. 

 

Spoiler

MAP19

MAP09

MAP15

MAP21

MAP11

MAP07

MAP10
MAP04
MAP05

MAP13

MAP17

MAP12
MAP01

MAP14
MAP03

MAP20

MAP16
MAP02

MAP18
MAP08
MAP06

 

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Map 20 - Cybertemple of Cyberdoom (UV, pistol-start)

 

I really wish this map had received a less cheesy name, because its architecture sure accomplishes what it sets out to do. You're surrounded by high grey walls when you start, laid-out in an almost funnel-like manner if funnels were rectangular. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the wooden walls to the sides of the fort's interior are holding something back. Also, that red throne in the middle's a perfectly appropriate place for the big bruiser himself to take potshots at you, and there should be a fair amount of enemies to distract him too. Did I mention he gets replaced throughout the fight as more waves pile in? And this is some cool-ass music

 

It's all relatively weak stuff in the first wave, trash mobs with a decent chunk of Revenants and some Manicubi on the sides, but you get just enough rocket ammo you won't fret too much if you're as poor a shot as I am.

 

The second wave is mostly not too difficult, though a pair of Arch-vile does emerge from an open alcove, and since the nearby pillars are quite narrow indeed, they were able to end my run once. I didn't immediately realize it at the time, but the Berserk Pack in the same alcove exists to alleviate such expected injuries from fighting them. The rest of the second wave consists of slow-moving Hell Knights and Barons, and bears little commenting on as such.

 

The third wave really brings on the pain. The majority of the floor is now lava and an outdoor area has opened up with Arachnotrons and weak hitscanners taking up the lower space and Revenants on the ledges above it. Inside, however, you've got such a conflagration of chaingunners, Revenants, two Pain Elementals, and Mancubi that you simple can not stand still. I attempted this the best I could, but without knowing a decent route, I'd inevitable get felled by something. At a certain point, I eventually found a safe route, and it was probably because I quickly moved out of range of where the chaingunners spawn from. It certainly wasn't guaranteed victory even then though, since you'll have very spare opportunity to switch to the plasma rifle for close range work. At least you're provided with enough rad suits that floor damage shouldn't be much of an issue. After probably 45 seconds, things were cleared out enough that I could largely stick with rockets. Don't feel tempted to stand still to kill the Revenants on the corners though. Cybie is still largely in sight and wil blow anyone unaware to bloody chunks.

 

This was a decent finale, but have to admit it doesn't really have the same impact as the other closing map. Still, I'm not sure what else you could do once you go with an arena style.

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14 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

MAP20 - Cybertemple of Cyberdoom

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

 

That rather violent insect is back, which had me worried. Funny enough though, I didn't die nearly as much as I thought I might. The interesting thing about this map is the Mancs, Lost Souls and lava at round 3 caused me far more grief than the Cybers ever did. The is definitely running around like a maniac and clearing out all the sniper enemies while infighting takes care of most of the others, then finishing off the Cyber at the end of each wave. No doubt this'd be a painful pistol-start, so big respect to the maniacs who enjoy that play-style hehe. The central gimmick to the level progression was pretty neat and easy enough to get a handle of. Wasn't sure how to get the Soulsphere secret, but it didn't matter anyways since this is the end of E2 and you're greeted with a death exit lol. It's a simple, effective map that keeps you on your toes and is about as relentless as VB's other maps, just in a different flavour. :^P

 

 

Honestly, the only difference is carryover ammo. That 3rd wave really brings the pain on!

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MAP20: "Cybertemple of Cyberdoom" by ViolentBeetle

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 0/1 secrets

 

This episode comes to a close with an arena-style map in three waves which is set in a nice looking demonic-style temple. Each wave features a cyberdemon on a pedestal at the centre of the room with other monsters being stationed around the arena, either on ledges or freely roaming around. Once the cyberdemon dies, another teleports in and the next wave of monsters is triggered, and after the third wave you are done. The premise doesn't get much simpler than that.

 

Even though it is a boss map with intimidating waves of enemies, I actually found it to be the easiest map in a while. The cyberdemons typically end up being more of a boon than a threat, as if you simply keep constant motion around the room he will cause all sorts of commotion among the riffraff and wipe out a good chunk of them for you, leaving you to rocket some stragglers and plasma the cybie himself to death. The biggest threat in the level to me were the archviles in the second wave, which can end your run easily if you aren't prepared, but if you are even they aren't much trouble. I do quite like the spectacle of the third arena, the area opening up and most of the floor sinking into lava really caught me off-guard. This final fight will make you rely a little less heavy on infighting, but if you keep circling the room consistently and ensure to properly budget your radsuits you should make it by just fine.

 

So yeah, I found this one relatively easy, but I thought it was a fun map and a fine closer to the episode regardless.

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map20: "Cybertemple of Cyberdoom" by ViolentBeetle

 

I somehow love this map name. The closer of the second episode has yet another creative gimmick from ViolentBeetle: there is a central perched cyberdemon, and thanks to some under-the-hood Boom engine trickery, killing each cyberdemon triggers a sequence that transforms the environment. At first the transformations are simple ones, like lowering walls, but later on they become radical ones, with the temple Cybertemple™ collapsing into disarray in a body of lava. Upon each change, the next fresh cyberdemon dramatically appears to take the disposed one's place.

 

As mentioned, the two biggest fights allow easy circling. That isn't the end of the world because these fights are short anyway. The main source of drag for me was the 12 early perched mancubi, which are harmless if you keep circling; it's a lot of those relative to how effective they are.

 

map21: "Fallen Dimension" by Shawny

 

This one is a blast. It looks like it was originally a manor of some sort, but as sometimes happens, an evil presence decides the bloodfront property looks nice and there are good hellschools in the neighborhood, and moves in. Before you know it, flesh is spilling out of everything (the flesh here seems to especially like reading) and corruption seeps through it all and the property taxes spike. 

 

j0YQ2md.png kiNzwEt.png

 

The presence, whatever it is, must be strongest outside on the balcony guarded by the cyberdemon. Timed fights unfold with an off-kilter logic; two doors are more or less alive, blazing open and closed to troll you; and the cyberdemon essentially is a puppet of some mysterious force, occasionally being hidden away in the platform.

 

The combat scenarios in "Fallen Dimension" are Shawny's strongest, and the climatic multi-phase subterranean fight is one of my favorites in the wad so far. I loved how hectic and chaotic that one gets and the sheer force of momentum from pushes you from wave to wave. But for such a hectic fight, it is also quite permissive in good ways. The main thing is you don't have to kill everything to be adequately prepared for the upcoming wave; you mostly have to avoid being caught off-guard and react well. With the freedom to not constantly hold down the trigger, you can sometimes focus more on repositioning yourself or grabbing resources or swapping between weapons -- which allows this fight to keep depth you sometimes have to sacrifice for the fun of sheer chaos.

 

I found progression confusing a couple of times. The skin lift out of the final fight didn't immediately jump out to me even with its brightness; and finally, the last tiny switch that leads to the exit can be hard to notice when it suddenly appears.

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MAP21 - Fallen Dimension

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

 

Man, oh man. Shawny's gone full sicko mode as the kids say these days. This was a pretty nasty map with a deep learning curve for Yours Truly. This was a very tough pistol-start that forced you to try and push infighting as far as you possibly could while not exactly having a great deal of cover or room to maneuver at any given point be it either things are to wide open or there's simply too many arseholes crammed into one area to make heads or tails of what's going on half the time. Thankfully, Shawny continues to try and balance out his cruelty with heaps of ammo and health later, but starting out you've got fuck all to work with. My only gripe is that I felt the progression was a tad cryptic. A really bloody mean map that's sure to be enjoyed by the more masochistic members of our community, that's for sure.

 

 

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MAP21 - "Fallen Dimension" - Shawny (100%K/100%I/66%S):

This one is more of a banger from Shawny than his last two iterations at least for me, this one is a solid "select one path first, select the other one later" kind of maps. Both paths are similar to tackle, the more difficult one is the way to go anyway, as it has the SSG  for you to use, and again, I'm not good at rocket spamming. Weird layout if you ask me, but fights are good. Yes it is slaughtery as Shawny got us used, but I still enjoy this a little bit more as I don't feel as choked by monsters as in MAP32, for example, not even at the last "invasion" area. Yes, invasion areas are back, at least at the end of it. The level turns into an elevator of hell (another reference to Hellevator, maybe?) and monsters start coming in waves. What I mostly like about this over MAP14/MAP32 is that this map gets progressively harder, there is somewhat of a slower paced difficulty curve, the other two maps had said curve, but without pace. it's like suddenly, you'll get recieved by 50 revenants and other stuff, run if you can.


Deaths: 173 (HMP - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

 

MAP15
MAP19

MAP10
MAP31
MAP09
MAP13
MAP21
MAP11

MAP05
MAP12
MAP16

MAP03

MAP01
MAP20
MAP14
MAP04
MAP07
MAP32
MAP08
MAP02
MAP06
MAP18
MAP17

 


 

Oh yes, the visuals are confusing, will this episode be hellish-themed? Or just fleshy? 

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MAP07: Constant Companion
Wow! I did this map in first try! I didn't think I would get so lucky! Though that doesn't mean there won't be deaths later in levels. Plus I think this was greatly helped by beginning the level with near maximum health and armor, while saving the blue armor for the end of the level.
Anyway, as it was previously mentioned, this map is similar to MAP07: The Mancubian Candidate from Valiant (probably one of the best megawads ever made)
In this case, you have to protect an Arachnotron until end, then after the last wave, you are free to kill him.
I did have to endure a bit of damage at times by standing still (while hiding behind a pillar) so the arachnotron doesn't see me or fire at the enemy, sometimes it was quite efficient in fighting and winning against the enemy that actually dared to hurt him. I witnessed some revenants fighting back and fired a few rockets at him but thankfully nothing was fatal.
I found the part with the archvile a bit difficult as I even got fried by it once (ouch!) and at later time in the penultimate wave, I got down to 40% health and no armor (at the part I had to kill the demons with SSG, it was before the mancubi wave) since during the demon's corpse animation, I was stopped for a second and ate 1-2 plasma projectiles until I managed to escape in time, take cover and then before the last part where I had to drop down, reading some comments earlier about the 3 hidden switches that allow access to the green armor secret (which was much needed at that point!), I went to look for them (I was safe to explore those places on my own without getting bothered by the arachnotron) and found all 3 of them with some careful looking, they are small tall white switches.
Once done, grab the armor, switch to RL and hope for the best. Really, the mancubus wave wasn't bad at all! I guess I was lucky, though I did take a fireball to face but nothing too bad, plus the arachnotron got infight with one mancubus (the last one), then I helped the arachnotron kill the mancubus, hide for a while while looking at the automap stats and once I saw 64/65 kills, I knew that I was safe to kill him, so it took two SSG blasts to kill him. I don't think he was heavily injured as I expected but I know the whole thing could have turned out much worse and I'm glad I was extremely lucky. Oh and didn't notice until after I took screenshot and looked at it again, that the sign changes when you get the OK to kill the Arachnotron! That was a very nice detail and didn't think the sign would change, thought that looking at automap stats was enough or just waiting a bit after the last mancubus was dead.
Overall, it was a very interesting map and came as a pleasant surprise! Of course my opinion would have changed if I died multiple times but I can still appreciate interesting and well done maps like these.

 

MAP08: Corruption Complex
An interesting short map that had a few nasty ambushes (mostly towards end) though nothing really too bad, especially if you conserved the blue armor from the previous level. But the design wasn't as great and I have to agree that along with MAP02 and MAP06, it is one of the weakest maps in the set and it also would have worked a bit better if it was placed earlier. It doesn't feel particurly difficult, other than some ambushes that may do some damage on you.
I did however like that SIGIL homemage where you had to shoot the eye and progress, I immediately got reminded of SIGIL (which I played and finished last year or back in January/February of this year, was pretty great imo) and reading people's comments, it appears that I was right with my guess.
The only thing I didn't like is that the soulsphere secret was really hard to get, I initially only found the berserk secret (early on, in the room with the sigil eye) and later I learned of the teleporter that sends you to rocket launcher secret which teleports you directly to exit, if you have blue skull key, giving you no chance to backtrack. I feared that the soulsphere secret would be similar and I loaded my other save game right before grabbing blue skull key (all enemies were still dead thankfully) and it took about 10 minutes to somehow get to it. I have no idea what exactly caused that place to open (it could be seen on automap and I instantly guessed it was a soulsphere judging by one item missing), all I did was holding fire to use my chainsaw on all those tech pannels and hope one of these activate the secret, I think that must have been the answer, really wish I could explain better to help other fellow players get the secret if they want 100% but due to my limited English, that's all I can offer. If someone knows better what exactly causes that soulsphere secret to open, please write down!
As for the fights, other than mostly easy fights, there's an ambush near end when lights close, what I did was immediately run back and kill those demons/spectres from above with my SSG and chaingun, must have worked nicely. Though the revenant in the next room (with the eye switch) caused me 80 dmg with a homing rocket (not the only map where I took a damaging revenant missile, see more below) and had to backtrack for some health. I purposely saved that blue armor for the end, as the blue armor from previous level was enough to last for the level. There is that ambush at end with revenants and an archie thrown into mix, though camping in the room with eye switch where they can't get to you is a smart move. Only thing is the archie kept resurrecting revenants, so I knew I had to use my RL, problem is it's very risky to use in this case and standing at least 1-2 meters away and making so rockets hit the enemies carefully was tricky, one time thanks to autoaim, it did hit the corner of the wall but since I was a meter away, I only took 40 damage and eventually the archie died, so then it was more like finishing the remaining imp and/or revenant. And then go secret hunting and have that sweet 200% health and armor, since the next map won't be very forgiving!

 

MAP09: Electric Red
People weren't kidding when they said this was a brutal map. It certainly was! And I got my first death here as well. I died at the Rocket Launcher ambush as I didn't think to use the RL when I was still holding the SSG. I thought I would have been able to succeed but this time I was dead wrong. I killed the two revenants and got ultimately overwhelmed by the cacodemons and all I saw was taking about 3 caco projectiles at same time and enough to take my last 60-80 or so health immediately, while covering my screen in red (hence the map name, I guess).
Reloading the save, I tried again with the rocket launcher and succeeded with only minimal damage! If only I knew the first time around...
Oh yeah and it also didn't help that when I first started the map, I took a bit of damage from shotgunners and when I took the elevator and entered the main area, I ran into a revenant's rocket (while dodging imps) that did maximum damage. No joke, most revenant missiles I took in this map did 70-80 damage! As if getting surrounded by many deadly monsters wasn't enough.
As for the rest map, there's many deadly ambushes and some not so deadly ambushes, like grabbing the first secret (press/shoot on the green torch) spawned a bunch of imps and demons, though nothing too threatening. And grabbing the blue armor also spawns a bunch of imps but they are no match for my SSG!
What's interesting is that there's a few ambushes that really keep you on toes and it goes on for the whole map, never giving you a chance to breathe until between every fight, where you can grab health and armor and prepare for the next fight. Other ambushes were deadly as well (the SSG ambush comes to mind) and the blue key where you get surrounded by imps on both sides while you are already busy taking 3 hell knights (and after that, a couple more cacodemons easily taken out with RL), so you must endure imp fireballs. The part with 3 knights in small space I didn't have any problem with that (maybe I got lucky) but the penultimate ambush (that guarded the blue skull key) was certainly something with those revenants' rockets on ledges while you are already busy killing knights. I got down to 28% health and was trying my best to not get another death, luckily I finished the last revenant in time (before it fired another missile) and got back up, to refill health and go back to beginning after grabbing the blue skull key.
Then it's revealed the last trap with an archvile and few more knights/revenants, that was tricky as well (though I had the RL selected and started firing right away) and since some damage I took from simply firing RL a bit too close, then finished off the archie and remaining monsters with SSG before I was fried! At that point my second blue armor (the one I picked that spawned imps earlier, before the last two fights) was entirely gone and just grabbed the green armor while I had 34% health or so. Felt very satisfying to clear this map and after that it was a matter of backtracking and picking up the goodies I saved for the end, most notably the blue armor secret on pillar, the secret soulsphere, as well as finding the last secret, which was an ammo cache near the SSG trap/blue armor secret)
Overall, this was a great looking level, as well as a challenging, quite difficult map I must say, even on a continuous run when started with 200% h/a and the resources available in the map, though once again in general I advise to save the soulsphere and one blue armor for continuous players, you will thank me later.

 

MAP10: Terminal Decay
I didn't enjoy this map to be honest, unlike the rest people. Gameplay wise, it's too dark and also too fucking annoying (at least the later ambushes that really got on my nerves). Not being able to see much in this map (especially some spectres that were pretty much impossible to see) was a major disadvantage and what caused me to lose tons of health/armor, starting with the area where the archvile gets summoned at the exit (though I easily killed him through the bars, it was the ambush afterwards that almost killed me). The berserk in next room was very much appreciated when I was at around 20-30% health left.
As mentioned, I managed to survive many encounters but the ones that killed me were starting with the part where the baron blocks the way (I didn't even try to run, just seeing him was enough to force me to stay in the room), since until that point after a mostly good start, I managed to lose tons of health/armor and get close to dying without any armor left for a while, while I had to rely on medkits. I got once killed by a pinky from behind while I was just struggling to kill those revenants in front of me with my SSG.
Knowing what to expect upon reloading, switch to my RL and this section goes mostly smooth, then kill the pinkies and the cacodemon and elemental with SSG. Then later the part with the megasphere in middle was a major pain in the ass, killed me once as well (all I saw was red screen of death upon getting hit by multiple projectiles even after grabbing the megasphere when I was getting close to death and yes I already had the green armor and decent health by that time I entered the fight). The second time I attempted this section, I managed to grab the megasphere just before I was dead (after being a bit more careful) and even then I lost half of the health/armor after cleaning the remaining monsters (revenants and imps).
Then later I get blasted twice by a surprise archvile and after killing it, eventually get finished off by a chaingunner (third and last death). After realizing what I did wrong, reload the save and try again, this time with only getting blasted once by archvile (also the arachnotron spawned this time, maybe it was better that I redid this part as I could potentially miss an enemy) and having plenty health to clean the rest of the encounters. Oh and grab the blue armor secret that I didn't get earlier (with help of dei_eldren's video), so I get to finish with 200% armor and 100% health at least. The other two secrets I found on my own and the soulsphere secret saved my ass in the red key card fight because I survived that part with 88% health (no armor before and after the fight).
Great atmosphere and great song (I guess it was from Hexen, at least sounded like the song that plays in the Guardian of Steel and Caves of Circe) but these alone weren't enough to save the map for me. And I'm not a huge fan of atmospheric maps in general which are often well received by the community. They are fairly annoying because they rely too much on gimmicks. At least that's the way I see it.
Maybe would have helped if there was another green armor placed somewhere in the map (so I could have something at least instead of going unarmored in some of fights) and maybe also a light amp secret placed somewhere (probably towards the end). Let's hope the next map will be better...

 

MAP11: Cold Blood
Well, things went even worse this time around. I was just about to admire this map and say that it was a million times better than the previous map but then something bad happened. Fuck the red skull key battle in particular (with half enemies teleporting in the back), that's all I have to say (or that my luck finally ran out and this time I've got so much bad luck or something). Everything went wrong after pressing the yellow key switch, I kept getting killed by homing revenant rockets that deal massive damage and are nearly impossible to avoid and also those two archviles that get revealed upon entering that room when I tried to take cover from the attacks. FIVE deaths all happened in just a couple of minutes! WTF!
After I finally finished the big fight, I killed the two fucking archviles and last two revenants, I went to look for the soulsphere secret (accessible by approaching the wall near blue armor, which should teleport you on the other platform) as I only found that berserk by myself that I saved for the end but it didn't make any difference whether I saved it or picked up that time. Excellent design (one of the best looking maps so far) and music, annoying gameplay (only the last part was annoying, everything until that fight was just fine)
Oh and when finishing the map, you die and pistol start MAP12! Awesome! If only I would have known earlier that I die at end anyway, so I can make use of that blue armor at least. Maybe then I could have survived the last fight! I guess my advice earlier with saving blue armor and soulsphere for the end of map doesn't apply to this map. :(

 

Deaths (so far): 9 (MAP09, MAP10, MAP11)

 

I hope I didn't sound too harsh but really I think I lost my patience with the last maps. I think I had enough for today, sorry for my sudden frustration. Today wasn't my lucky day or at least not after the first two successful maps, then getting completely dominated in the remaining maps, like the difficulty is between two extremes (too easy or too hard). I will continue tomorrow the maps 12-15 (and possibly the secret levels). I guess right now I'm going to play Quake (custom maps/mods) or something else.

 

Have a nice day everyone!

Spoiler

SKULLTIVERSE_MAP07.png.1c32ab47fcfdb4d39b9264d9977addc1.png

SKULLTIVERSE_MAP09_1.png.3b2a3ad26c0c97b1fac82f06aca7f4fd.png

SKULLTIVERSE_MAP09_2.png.f7173a4368ffe5f7f665306ac127dbb3.png

SKULLTIVERSE_MAP09_3.png.e085463f4f5baabc03017210985d9dc1.png

SKULLTIVERSE_MAP10.png.cb8f5d96a6c239b8f034eff4b1830e0c.png

SKULLTIVERSE_MAP11.png.3eec442d4b1408d4d93d20a30b3ea3c2.png

SKULLTIVERSE_MAP11_TEXT.png.d7af9d337abb3193f0a8defddfaf2c62.png

 

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Map 21 - Fallen Dimension (UV, pistol-start)

 

I forgot the title of the last episode, beyond it involving flesh I suppose. In what I'm pretty sure is his last map(he wasn't even sure he could contribute 2 apparently!), Shawny turns in a Doomcute opening reminiscent of the opening map he did. Instead of a techbase though, we get a flesh-factory! It's not so obvious with the opening room, but the Super shotgun path to the west leads to a library. The rocket launcher path in the east, on the other hand, leads to a sort of control room with satanic monitors surrounding it, and in the southwest, a small flesh-walled room with rocket boxes and a blood bath with body parts hanging over it, like some sort of grotesque ritual. But may i daresay that the music here might fit the map more than in Map 10, though this may well be more intense. Oh yeah.

 

The stockyard in the north probably come across even more aggressively. A blood-red sky with lights on the south wall as well as above the platform where you can see a Cyberdemon, it's no surprise that this scene conveys the bulk of the combat. It's sort of interesting how the switches on the southwest (next to an elevator pair that connects the stockyard to the control room) can only be activated if you take a particular path there. In either case, pressing either of them will trigger massive ambushes of Imps and Demons with Manicubi on the ledges on the west and east side, and particularly in the case of the second ambush, Cacodemons and Pain Elementals. It's not like the fighting's exactly a pushover on the way here, especially as you have to fight your way through and switch weapons throughout some rather claustrophobic environments. After dealing with these ambushes, the portal behind the Cyberdemon can be accessed, which, you guessed it, telefrags him so you can pick up the yellow key.

 

For some reason, I'm burning up, despite things being in the mid 50s, so there was no chance of me conducting a decent investigation of the sector machinery to pick up the BFG. I think the shootable eye switch in the west room may be connected, but I've no care. Heading to the yellow bars in the starting room leads to a pink-walled room with a plasma rifle and cells surrounding it. But the ambush starts before you even pick it up. In the course of the fight the room you're in lowers, revealing some more strong detailing with yet more enemies. If you spot a Supercharge in a corner, you might as well grab it because you'll have a much higher chance of surviving the rest. At a certain point, things will open up a little more and yet more enemies teleport in, including 4, count 4, Arch-viles. They ultimately weren't what killed me. Probably half of my four deaths came from me attempting to focus on them to the exclusion of surrounding enemies. The first two died easily enough, but the last two took far more effort. I mostly used the rocket launcher because, who knew, switching weapons when there's far too many enemies around.

 

So, pick up the blue skull key when everything's over and look for a flesh elevator to lower and trigger a Cyberdemon teleportation because of course. Or does he teleport in after a certain period of time anyway? So, ride the flesh elevator up to the cell-like flesh room you saw from the control room with some rocket boxes and some opposition that's not really so hard to kill after the mass of the previous room.

 

Might be the best shawny map, but my memory of 14 is already fading.

Edited by LadyMistDragon

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MAP21 - Fallen Dimension - dsda-doom - skill 4 pistol start - rewinds used

 

Nice little cramped tech flesh arena area. I missed that keypad on the wall for the longest time then once i found it I took a bit to realize I could summon the lifts back down again.

Once I got up there I'm outside in an alleyway that gives an impressive sense of space and place.

The yellow skull cyber was a lot of fun, I died too many times trying to be sneaky and grab it from underneath.

Tried to gather a giant collective revenant ball like a certain recent Zero Master adventure too but it wasn't happening.

 

Spoiler

 

 

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Map21:


I was a little annoyed by some stuff in the beginning, but I had a really good time with it overall, particularly because of the big fights. The plasma gun fight is probably the hardest and also my favorite in the map, with tough enemies that make constant movement a must, but enough enemies spawning that you need to kill lots of them quickly if you want to continue having space to move. The abundance of ammo for the recently acquired plasma gun ensures you can hold the trigger down much of the time as insurance in case you're cornered, so the fight is very doable even on a first attempt, not knowing when or where enemies are going to teleport in. I thought the surprise cyberdemon afterward had good comedic timing, so I like it even if it's isolated and simple to dispatch (though maybe it could be released and used for infighting while the previous fight is still going).

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MAP21 - "Fallen Dimension" - Shawny

 

This is going to have to be a try again moment for me, because my playthrough was terminated when I was softlocked in the yellow key area....

 

So I took the SSG path and made it outdoors and went through the wave of imps/demons/cacos. Now a passage to the start area appears that I went through, however I went back through the same path into the area with the yellow key/cyber. Now I am guess that I was not supposed to do this because dropping into this area resulted in me having no way of progressing further. I killed the caged revenants and even had enough shells to kill the cyber and get the submerged yellow key. 

 

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12 minutes ago, cannonball said:

This is going to have to be a try again moment for me, because my playthrough was terminated when I was softlocked in the yellow key area.... 

 

The front wall facing the building is an unmarked SR teleporter so you can get out of the pit.
I figured if that is going to happen people would try humping all 4 sides and get out.

The map is bit janky I will admit... fixed with some ducktape. Nornally people would not know it is there.

 

The same is the door with the green light. It is there to make sure people can backtrack if they need to.
Works on delay because conveyour belts in Doom port are working as they please, so to make sure

that one works reliably in all of them (tested on PRBoom+, GZDoom, Zand. tested myself, DSDA seems fine too from what I have seen).

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GZDoom/Blind/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 20 - The Cybertemple of Cyberdoom - ViolentBeetle

100% kills and 0% secrets

Time: 8:03

Deaths: 1

 

Ending the second episode we have a boss fight of sorts, where we have to take on 3 cybies, one at a time, in an arena. Once a cybie is dead, the next wave starts. The first 2 waves aren't too bad. I didn't take any damage until halfway through the second wave, just as I was killing the second archvile. This is mainly since the main strategy to the map is "Circle-strafe to win". The cybie-cybs are on a pillar in the middle of the room, allowing for it to rocket unsuspecting demon friends. So it seems like all 3 waves would be like this, but for the third, the walls open up and most of the floor becomes lava, so you'll need to find a rad suit(s) and take out the hordes coming from the walls. I didn't expect that, hence my one death. But even then, it wasn't too hard of a fight. Couldn't figure out the soul sphere secret, but I knew it wouldn't matter since this was the end of the ep, and I was probably going to enter a death exit anyway. MIDI is great, and I know I've heard it before somewhere recently.

 

Map 21 - Fallen Dimension - Shawny

100% kills and 33% secrets

Time: 22:57

Deaths: 9 I think

 

Starting off the final episode with a difficulty spike. We've got an environment that's fleshy and techy, with some more hellish textures as well. We've got 2 paths to take initially, each giving a different weapon. I originally went with the rocket launcher, died, then tried the SSG path. I would recommend that path first, then the RL, as both will take you to the same outdoor area with a cybie that raises and lowers into the floor, and some caged revs that do the same. Each time you make it out here, you hit a switch, and you get a multi-wave encounter filled with imps, pinkies, cacos, and pain elementals. Have the cybie do some damage to them to make it easier, and make sure to grab the spawning ammo. After you do hit both switches here, you can grab the yellow skull and telefrag the cyb. The yellow bar path is pretty tough, as the floor will continually lower, revealing more and more space and enemies. The final wave of this introduces 3 archies, which is not very nice. The blue skull is in an alcove here. There's a lift that takes you back to the RL path, but once it's lowered, you'll see another cybie on it. I really wish I knew about this back when there were monsters to kill so I could have it infight. Now, it's just a one-on-one that wastes ammo. I found the chainsaw secret, but couldn't figure out the BFG or the other one. BFG would have really helped. Decent level, creepy MIDI.

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MAP22 - Yuggoth (HNTR, blind, continuous w/ saves): K 100%, I 97%, S 100% (2/2), T 22:39

 

Spoiler

This gorgeous and evocative map builds up the threat from the start, and it doesn't take long for it to start throwing everything at you, like a teenage (or older) girl (or a woman) with poltergeist tendencies.  Opening the door into the fleshy-gutty-gory cave spawns a Cacodemon and an Imp to the small room of the skullgate, while outside are Imps and a Revenant on higher ground.  The action is ramped up in the next room, as climbing unto the ledge there appears a Cacodemon and a Revenant, and from a sidecave, leading to a plasma gun, much needed for pistol starters, run out three Spectres.  On continuous run, it's all quite manageable, if still threatening.  However, not so for me, as i had not yet noticed at this point i had not yet relinquished my divine powers, and accidentally had the godmode on.  Regardless, i'm pretty confident with the abundant heavy weaponry i had, it wasn't much of a problem, and to my liking i took quite a few hits from anything.

 

The next room is visually just a fine piece of work.  A long tunnel of flesh with a spine running the whole length of it, that serves as the location of the most vicious attack of the whole map.  After killing the straggling low-tiers, i finally notice my godhood, and duly wish to restart the level, except i've saved over the beginning, and have no wish to play this on pistol start.  Also, my video begins from here, before the first wave of enemies, including Cacos, Hell Knight and a Pain Elemental.  It's rather chaotic, and the spine is used as a clever environmental impediment, restricting movement and causing the space to feel surprisingly tight.  However, going up the spine, launches another wave, with Mancubi included.  Without my excess health i would've surely died on my first attempt before coming up with an actual strategy, but them's the breaks this time.  Sorry.  At least my undue advantage is now depleted.  There's by the way the second green torch secret of the WAD in this room - nice!  Except, it's more like one in Base Ganymede rather than in Doom Zero, yielding only (an admittedly needed) cellpack. 

 

Anyway, a side room has now opened up, offering the YSK - and the expected trap is a nasty one, but at least there's enough plasma prepared for it, as the expected Revenants and Hell Knights appear from the monster closets on both sides.

 

The YSK door is at the skullgate-room, and behind it is a dark labyrinth.  To be honest, i'm kind of tired in this WAD by now of labyrinths whose walls come down opening it up as a trap, missing the times when a labyrinth could just be a labyrinth.  The resulting encounter is easy enough with plasma, which i have a lot of, not sure how it would have gone with the RL, though there seems to be quite a bit of space to move at least.  Nice touch here, though, is the prevalence of Imps.

 

This opens up the last room of the map, holding the much-missed BSK, with a striking sacrificial altar in the middle, on top of which is placed a Soul Sphere (a boon in mostly arid unforgiving map.)  The BSK is prominently displayed in a blue side-section, and attempting it's appropriation triggers the trap, and Hell Knights, Cacodemons, Revenants, and Pinkies flood the room.  There are rockets available to take care of them, but i am happy to have enough plasma to take care of the sting, having to use rockets only for the last few Cacos and nobels.  Very nasty trap, if not somewhat predictable.

 

Finding of the second secret takes me a while, it's in the skullgate room, but i had on first inspection of the most obvious place, indicated quite clearly with a light, missed the switch, and this wastes up a lot of minutes until i decide to check that place again.  The green torch secret shouldn't be a problem to anyone, if one happens to take note of it (the most obvious things are also easiest to miss sometimes, i should know...)

 

The level is as said gorgeous, with many striking design features, and generally excellent aesthetics, and architectural design also (even so, i have a hard time associating Yuggoth with this map.)  In hindsight though, i'm not so fond of the combat.  My favourite encounters where the first two, they were clever and inventive, making excellent use of smaller numbers, but continuously throwing mobs at me in ambushes and traps wears me out.  i also tried this one pistol start, and my goodness, it was tough.  Surviving the spine-room took many attempts, until i realized there was just enough plasma to thin the crowd enough to make it feasible, and i frankly didn't have the stamina to go through the maze-ambush again (partly because i've also been replaying deadwing's Ozonia, and doing halfway decent runs on that still takes quite a bit of effort.)

 

 

Ranked:

Spoiler

MAP15

MAP18

MAP12

MAP06

MAP01

MAP08

MAP10

MAP14

MAP03

MAP04

MAP19

MAP31

MAP16

MAP11

MAP02

MAP21

MAP22

MAP09

MAP05

MAP07

MAP17

MAP20

MAP13

 

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MAP21: "Fallen Dimension" by Shawny

UV, pistol start, 1 save

100% kills*, 2/3 secrets

 

This one takes place in a large building that has mostly been taken by demonic fleshy corruption. It's quite a striking looking map, I especially like the way that the library section looks. The underground tech area in the rocket launcher path is pretty neat too, and the combination of rooms here really spurs the imagination as to what this place could have been.

 

As for the combat... well I did have to give in and do a save here. Took only a few attempts at that descending encounter before the blue skull key to know I should either find the BFG secret or do a save and preserve my patience, because with the plasma as your strongest weapon the archvile wave is quite brutal. Unfortunately I wasn't able to figure out that BFG secret, so save it was! In any case, it's a very fun and hectic encounter. I enjoy the cyberdemon area as well, he lowers and raises a few times between the waves so the cybie himself isn't too threatening a lot of the time, but having him there as something you need to keep an eye on does add a neat element to the fight. The rest of the combat, like the fights found on the RL and SSG path, and the chokable fights that close out the map, was also fun and relatively challenging.

 

Most difficult in the wad so far for sure. Asterisk on the kills is for an imp that failed to teleport into the cyberdemon area as he got stuck on a corner of the conveyor belts, so I had to cheat to coax him out. 

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Map 21 - Fallen dimension by Shawny

This is probably my favorite of Shawny's maps in this WAD. If anything this maps easily shows Shawnys creativity and expertice with blending and applying textures, with a lot of care made here in making the nailed skin flaps have some depth. All the textures blend extremely well, and coupled with the excessive use of gore, this bloody temple manages to be very colorful and interesting while also maintain that dark and foreboding vibe it sets with the MIDI and generally darker environments. 

I like both the side sections present within the map and honestly both are balanced really well. I could easily see going any side first, I just like going RL first since i find it more useful for the SSG section, but i put that up to my personal preference and not a balance issue. Combat feel nicely balanced aswell, without too many noticeable bumps or dips in difficulty other than the natural progression a map should have. The outdoor cyber arena i feel is a nice design, where the cyberdemon was more useful than hurtful for me, killing a few weaker mobs so I could slip by to the other end of the arena.

The final arena I adore in the most part. The concept, design, and detailing are all well done and I love the sinking gore pit that expands every step down, great boom work. Overall a very well designed map that features good non-linear design as well as pathing as many areas are reused or change within the map.

Map 22 - Yuggoth by Rune

Im generally not a picky doomer, where i'll usually give maps an easy pass as long as they are entertaining and detailing is consistent. This map normally would be "fine" in my book but I had some serious issues that just kinda ruined the experience. For the goods, the map does look nice with a good use of the gore textures. The monstrous spine room is super cool, Ive always had trouble making nice looking spines. The first half of the map is rather nice, the rooms are a bit too dark for my liking but its not terrible. however the second half of the map I did not care for at all. What starts as a pitch black maze turns into two very claustrophobic arena that left me extremely ammo starved and with low health. I had to cheeze and eventually iddqd to beat this one. Just was miserable. I tend to not be a huge ammo waster but i feel like there should be more present as i ran plum dry multiple times in the second half. Dark, cramped, and starved combat is not my favorite. The final BSK altar is designed very nicely, and the blue key being on a belt for the final room is a cool touch, acting as a natural visual timer, just wish it wasn't as packed.

Id say the map has good effort in place, and the first half i'd say is enjoyable and creative with its very natural and organic designs. Very well done. The second half though is just a painful slog and not very interesting as you can't see much of anything.  

Edited by DFF

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