The DWmegawad Club plays: Doom the Way id Did (& Ultimate DTWID!)

+++Auger;Zenith

+++Judgement

+++Fragport

I do agree with Book Lord about CC being an interesting one to talk about, but it also seems like it could be a drag. And I know some of these maps are big bois, and given how I've been posting lately, I may fall behind and I doubt I'd have time to do multiple maps in one day if we get stuff like Map 29 often. I could be wrong tho. Either way, if that wins, we'll still play something from Fragport's creator, and I'll try to keep up.

E4M5: Doctrines of Devils
DOOM Retro, UV, Continuous w/saves, played on a Steam Controller
 

I'll probably stick with the Steam Controller for the rest of my playthrough.
 

I had a lot of fun with this map, a lot more than I thought I would. There were a lot of neat set pieces to fight through. The battle for the red key sticks out to me because I really enjoyed riding the lifts one by one, blasting the imps that pop out. It reminded me a lot of DOOM 2's The Pit, (which is another personal favorite map of mine). The BFG room was fun, especially after grabbing the invincibility sphere that was conveniently located near the teleporter leading to it. The room behind the yellow skull key was a good bit of dickish fun. I enjoyed this map a bit more than I did the previous one because it didn't feel like half of the map was covered in damaging floors. It might also be because I could listen to Perkristian's rendition of Waltz of the Demons all day.

E4M5: Doctrines of Devils

I'm not so sure about this one, personally I don't see much ID influence on this map. Now if you told me this was from a "Make a map like it was 1995" project then I'd totally buy it. It's a very square map, but there's still some clever details if you pay attention. There's plenty of good gameplay throughout as well, though I'm up on the air if the trap behind the yellow key door is one of those moments or just bullshit with the impossible to see spectres in a near pitch black room all while you have four Barons of Hell to contend with, leading to near inevitable prodoomer moments with the rocket launcher. Fortunately there's an Invulnerability sphere positioned in a way you can use it on just about any encounter you'd like.

e4m5.zip

E4M5 Doctrines of Devils (HMP, continuous, blind): K 100%, I 93%, S 67%, D few, T  25:18

Grade: A- / Difficulty: B+

Who's Who

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

E4M9: Terror - Use3D

100% kills and secrets

Time: 15:12

Card: Zombie man can leap at their prey

It's been 8 years between installments, and Use3D's map for E3 wasn't one of my favs, so let's see if that time made any difference. I think it did. This map perfectly emulates the original E4M9 without being a straight rip-off. It's still kinda tech base-y for a E4 map, but there's some hell influence in this one. Kinda symmetrical, but not exactly. It's a little more fun than the original I think cause of this. At least, it's more interesting. The BFG secret is one I'm surprised I figured out. I admit to IDDTing to see where the one secret I was missing was at, but figuring out how to get to it requires some thought. Maybe if you played The Spirit World. There's a lot of pinkies to punch, which makes the berserk directly behind you when you start very useful. I punched a lot of things, including a baron I teleported right next to at one point. Progression wasn't nearly as confusing as Use3D's other map this month, and was pretty intuitive. The yellow key and switch to lower the bars in front of the exit could be missed tho. I missed the switch at first and had to backtrack. Overall, pretty solid map, and I appreciate the early backpack and BFG for the next map!

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

E4M3: Earth, Blood, and Fire - Purist

100% kills and secrets

Time: 12:08

Card: Lost Soul is always focused on the player

Were you missing barons? The first 2 levels didn't have any, which didn't feel very E4 to me. Well, the secret map had a few, but this map ratchets it up a notch. You've got 4 of them sniping you from the main lava room here, and you won't have the ammo for them unless you got the BFG. Or you can wait and have the cacos that eventually show up infight with them. I didn't even try and got 2 cacos to fight with 2 barons. Nice. The map design is kinda weird. It doesn't feel very E4 to me, but it's got 90s experimentalism written all over it. It didn't dawn on me until right now that you can telefrag the barons. Oops. The main thing in this map is you teleporting to the baron platforms in order to eventually get the blue key from a random caco closet right in front of a blue switch. It's a compact level, but the teleporting makes it feel slightly bigger. The secrets aren't too bad. I accidentally figured out the medikit secret, and the chainsaw jump took a couple of tries. Plasma rifle one I had too look up, and it's surprising the plasma isn't in the normal progression yet. This map was just more weird than anything. Idk if I really liked it. Def didn't hate it.

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

E4M4: Unclean Spirits - Marcaek

100% kills and secrets

Time: 17:25

Deaths: Like, 9

Card: Baron has a regenerating shield

Holy difficulty spike, Batman! This map will kick your butt from here to next Sunday. And best of all, it feels like E4. Easily the most id-like so far in the ep in general design and texture usage. There's barely any time to breath in this one, as you're almost immediately thrown into the fire. Literally, as you have to jump in some lava while dealing with a ton of enemies from all sides. Barons are excessive here, and they'll smack ya for big damage if you're not paying attention. Every single weapon pickup is a trap. The lowly chaingun will sic 4 barons and a bunch of imps on you. The CHAINGUN. The Rocket Launcher opens up cubbies on your level and above with way too many enemies to rocket. The plasma rifle, finally not in a secret, is the easiest trap as it's 2 cacos and a couple of other things. The berserk that's out of the way in the lava unleashes like 10 imps and a baron. All this is nothing compared to what awaits you when you take the teleporter by the plasma. You get teleported to an area with 3 pillared barons, spectres, a caco, lost souls, shotgunners, and a surprise Spider Mastermind. BFG rush it and keep running behind it quickly to get to a platform with a much needed soul sphere. God, it's like every few feet a closet opens with bad guys, or things teleport back in by the beginning. This map is pretty cruel. It's probably the biggest challenge I've faced in a Doom 1 map in a very long time. And I did enjoy it! Definite rush when you beat one of these fights. A few secrets have a lot of goodies in them, which is very nice. Overall, an incredibly solid map that will crush you. Very worthy of the E4.

E4M1 - "Into the Grave" by Pavera

Engaging opener which forces the player to run past the first Caco and in search of more ammo. The teleporting enemies, and especially Sergeants, may seem scary at first, but they end up congregating at player spawn and the structure across. Snipe them from the rocky tunnels and you should be fine. After the lift with the Sergeants lowers, the Imps below have a tendency of infinite heighting, which is somewhat annoying. The exit Cyberdemon is the most surprising part of the map, and the bridge is not the best location to dodge his rockets. Grabbing one of the Radsuits and retreating into the lava is the safest bet and being on a timer feels exciting. Good opener to the wad.

E4M2 - "Vile Affections" by RottKing

Not nearly as punishing as Romero's Perfect Hatred, this highly orthogonal map is mostly shotgunning Imps. Sergeants remain the most dangerous Doom 1 enemies, but, as long as you don't rush in blindly, they aren't too threatening if picked off from a distance or behind cover. Also, I'm not sure how this layout is emulating Romero's style. None of his maps are this committed to 90 degree angles.

E4M9 - "Terror" by USE3D

Wide open layouts and flexible encounters. I made good use of that Berserk from the starting room. There are plenty of Pinkies and I only found the BFG after everything died. As with the previous map, squads of Sergeants are the thing to watch out for, as well as that one surprise crusher. The red brick doesn't really gel with the tan and water textures, but I like how the map looks. Good placement of barrels as well.

+++ Community Chest

I didn't get to participate in the last 2 months due to RL, but I will have more spare time for March and will almost certainly participate. My voting goes to:

+++ Hexen: Beyond Heretic

or

+++ DBP37: Auger;Zenith and Heartland

A part of me want to see Hexen win, if only to see how dobu gabu maru manages the hub progression :D. for variety and also since Heretic has already been covered. It would be interesting to take a break from Doom and discuss about Hexen's design and where it succeeds and at what parts does the game fall flat on its face.

Alternately, I vote Auger;Zenith and Heartland. Yeah I know almost everyone here has played both of these at least once, but having a DWMC for these wads would be great. I particularly want them to win because I love the "realistic environment" elements in them that I would love to write about. I also added Heartland since Auger;Zenith only has 22 maps and Heartland having 7 maps fill the remaining days of the month.

E4M4 - Unclean Spirits - Marcaek *Shawn Green* (91%K/92%I/50%S):

Fuck this map in particular, I don't remember E4 being this punishing, not even in Romero maps, Romero himself had some decency not to give so few resources to fight this many monsters, not sure if Romero made this, but it feels like a mixture of an already Experienced Shawn Green with help of Romero, but I guess you can say it gives somewhat of an impression of E4 here, at least there is some wood. Shawn green never made this kind of complex maps in the original E4 or Doom II, his most remarkable work is probably E4M8, which, yes, this map would have fit E4M8 really well. For starters, there is an area with a spiderdemon that it's so random, it feels like this is a standalone map, or some kind of map you would find in a random 90's megawad. There are way so many optional tasks, I've felt like playing Ozonia again. Well I think this is somewhat welcome, but its difficulty? I think not, this is a pain in the ass, several attempts were burnt here. swimming in lava pools with no time, grinding packs of enemies that block your way, having to complete some tasks to get goodies that, trust me, you will need...
...this level was stressful, and again, I don't remember any of the Ultimate Doom maps being this stressful. Once you get the plasma gun the map turns "easier" but, easier is just a word, it won't make this map a walk in the park, sadly. Progression here is convoluted, as I don't know which thing makes me progress, and which thing is optional, I've just casually found out the blue skull key, and rushed through the exit. This map would have been iconic if this was in the original Ultimate Doom, luckly for me, it's not, it is harder than the entire Plutonia mapset, as it feels just slaughtery. Talking about Plutonia, it feels kinda a lot like it, but I give that feel to "Shawn Green", which, kinda resembles both Casali's mapping style a bit. Playing his three maps, you will get what I mean. 

IDness ratio: 2/5
 

E4M5 - Doctrines of Devils - Gifty *Sandy Petersen* (100%K/97%I/33%S):

This one has quite some good looks that may resemble E4 a bit more. Feels way to complex for Sandy to make this, but there are some areas like the circle where you'll have to jump over pillars, which I can only attribute Sandy for that. A fun map, but gets painfull at the end, the yellow skull key room shutting the lights off is scary, you won't know how to proceed (Fuck 30-second doors), if you manage to survive in a place so narrow with spectres and barons blocking your way, congratulations, I don't think there is anything harder than that, more than E4M4 and such setpiece. The south-east room with the flesh walls was kinda neat and difficult aswell, but it's no problem if you find the secret invulnerability. 
Another quite Sandy moment is the area with the lifts and the red skullkey, annoying and gimmicky as hell, but welcome. There is no Sandy map in E4 originally, but I like creativity, so this map is nice to have here.

IDness ratio: 4/5

(UV Playthrough - Crispy Doom)

Order of Preference:

+++Claustrophobia 1024

E4M5 - Doctrines of Devils by Gifty:
An interesting "What If?", this map imagines an alternate reality in which Sandy Petersen ended up making a map for Thy Flesh Consumed. I think this map actually feels pretty similar to what a Petersen TFC would have been like - experimental, with some interesting ideas that don't all work but are memorable if nothing else. I think the map looks far too nice to be a Petersen map but this isn't a unique problem that this map has, and it does reflect the slightly more refined texturing that was present in his Doom 2 maps.  

I thought there were a few really cool fights here - the red key fight reminds me of (I think) the red key fight in Monster Condo, and the BFG ambush is pretty spicy and fun to tackle. My favourite moment is the finale, where the lights suddenly go out and you're forced to deal with a few spectres and barons - it's not particularly challenging, but it's definitely fun. I'd say barons are actually used pretty well here, for how common they are because of all the powerful weapons you're given. I didn't like the platforming section much, but it does seem like something that Sandy would do. Fun map overall.

~~~

Didn't do my votes yesterday so...
(EDIT: Changed my votes slightly, I meant to vote for Haste)
+++ Community Chest

+++ Haste
+++ Uprising 

I'm gonna pass on voting since both these past couple of months I've been struggling to keep up with the club's pace and I have no idea if I'm even going to be participating in March.

E4M2: Vile Affections

Oh yeah, there's that Thy Flesh Consumed harshness I've been missing; or maybe it's just that the luck which spared me the worst of what the last level's shotgun sergeants might have inflicted on me didn't carry over into this one?  I feel like much of the difficulty here arises from the scarcity of health pickups, so it's not merely a matter of being able to beat the combat encounters with the weapons and ammo you have available, but doing so unscathed, or at least as minimally scathed as possible, since recovering from serious injury is no easy prospect and every bit of health that you bleed to a stray shotgun pellet or imp fireball and can't claw back narrows your margin of error in later, tougher encounters.  The map's secret areas can be game-changing in that respect, offering up a berserk pack and later a soul sphere to attentive, detail-oriented players, although the trigger for the berserk secret feels needlessly obtuse, not arbitrary necessarily, upon figuring it out you can see why a particular piece of architecture might be assigned as a trigger and a specific action might be needed to engage it, but there's a certain sense of the point-and-click adventure genre to it, of object + action = result as an equation solved through trial and error more than logic.  The soul sphere and rocket secrets feel better highlighted, and I do like that the player knows exactly where the door opened by the switch in the soul sphere secret will be if they've been paying attention; one nice thing about relatively compact and brief maps like this is that you can reasonably expect the player to keep memorable scenes, details, or pieces of architecture in mind over the course of the map's whole running time and so link cause to effect, trigger to result, accordingly.

Environmentally and aesthetically, the phrase I arrive at when grasping for words to describe this level is "anonymous murderbox," which has a more derogatory tone than I'd like; my impression is one of an environment designed around and in service of the gameplay, of a series of bounding boxes textured in a low-key way and spaces flowing seamlessly into one another.  There's not much here that will make you stop and go "wow," and conversely not much here that will distract you from the task of surviving the pressure that imps, cacodemons, and shotgun sergeants will be steadily applying to you as you make your way from one encounter to the next.  Minimalism certainly has its place and the absence of particularly fine detail helps the cleverness and smooth navigability of the underlying layout to shine through.

E4M6 Molten Gods (HMP, continuous, blind): K 100%, I 100%, S 100%, D yes, T  27:59

Grade: A- / Difficulty: B-

Who's Who

My third vote is pretty clear by now...

+++ Community Chest

E4M9: Terror

The level name comes across as a mission statement that this is going to be a bigger, meanier, and scarier version of the original E4M9: Fear, and to be honest I'm not sure that the map is doing itself any favours by setting itself that goal, because I felt at though the map was at its best when it was being asymmetrical, involved, and creative - in many ways, its strengths are the ways in which it is least like its ostensible inspiration.  Perhaps the only benefit is gains from emulating Fear specifically is that it does harken back to that specific map rather than invoking the more feel of being a Thy Flesh Consumed level in general, adding to its distinctiveness within the WAD, but I'm not sure that's really a net gain versus the further layer of restrictions under which it has to labour in drawing on one particular level.

It's not a bad level, and if you come into it expecting the symmetry and brevity of Fear you'll find that the map has a few twists, turns, and tricks in store for you; rather more of the map's real estate is mandatory for progression this time around, with plenty of variety in its combat encounters and traps to keep you on your toes.  I feel that there's a little bit on an illusion of symmetry here, a sense that the map tries to convince its player of a separate-but-equal balance of progression possibilities, in its eastern and western wings, whereas the actual route through the level is a bit more linear than that.  The one-time-only secret soul sphere had me wondering if this map might have been the work of the same author of E2M5, and it turns out that is indeed the case; both the soul sphere secret here and the possibility of locking oneself out of being able to access the secret exit in E2M5 have a similar sense of arbitrariness to them that I can't say I'm entirely a fan of.  If I must restart, reload, or replay, I'd rather it be for reasons other than a failure to decrypt the map author's coded messages.

E4M3: Earth, Blood and Fire

I feel this map benefits from the presence of the secret level and the player's diversion through it en route to events here; there are enough similarities between E4M2 and E4M3 in terms of their architecture, the blending of one area into another, and the overall footprint and dimensions of each that I'm not sure either would be done any favours by being played one after the other.  Lots of orthogonal corners, lots of lichen-hued blocks of grey stone, lots of green torches, and outside of the main area you'll find secondary spaces of green masonry, wood, and brown-green techbase wall overgrown with vines; if you'd told me Vile Affections and Earth, Blood and Fire were by the same author, I'd have believed you without doubt or question, which is probably a good indication that both map authors are successfully emulating Shawn Green's style, although I'll admit that, looking at Green's body of work, I feel there are traits both common to both maps that don't seem to have a clear source in the canon from which I'm drawing.

If there are similarities in how E4M2 and E4M3 look, they certainly play very differently, in terms of the player's progression through each level and the combat encounters therein.  Where E4M2 is all about getting from place to place on foot, teleporters form a major part of this level's structure and the player's progress through it; arranged around the central courtyard are what I would consider to be eight separate subzones in a hubspoke fashion, four or which are accessed through teleporters in a specific order, with Barons of Hell standing guard until you're in a position to telefrag them (unless you've carried over heavier weapons from a previous map).  It feels like a puzzle level even though there's nothing too obtuse here in terms of cause and effect, and I couldn't help but think of it as a tomb or mausoleum as I was making my through, although I can't really point to anything in particular that left me with that impression and D&D-inspired maps feel like they're Tom Hall's forte more than Shawn Green's.

E4M6 – Molten Gods by @Tarnsman

Doomsday Engine, UV-Fast, Continuous, blind run w/saves

Tarnsman was one of the main architects of Doom II the way id did, even though he did not work at the first instalment of the series. It was no surprise that he cooperated to Episode 4, taking up the slot and the task to mimic one of the most memorable levels by John Romero, Against Thee Wickedly. I am not a big fan of the original E4M6, and I was positively impressed by the alternative ideas developed in Molten Gods, a level picking the best and not reiterating the worst expedients from its Ultimate Doom counterpart.  

“Thou shalt make thee no molten gods”, speaks the Bible, and it was appropriate from Tarnsman not to adore John Romero to the point of placing lava in pivotal points, and to exploit an annoyingly placed 4-way teleporter to reach the sides of a pit. There were lava floors to cross, some of them mandatory, and about three Radiation Suits scattered around, although their placement was sensible and encouraged planning ahead. The map size was constrained, requiring less than 15 minutes to max out everything.

The essential weapons were readily accessible, but pistol start balance was very tight. Carry-over ammo allowed me to clear the map nexus from all monsters without much trouble, and the YSK was soon in my hands. The Cyberdemon appeared earlier than in Romero’s map, using his dominating position to bombard me with rockets wherever I moved. When I emerged from the Computer Area Map secret and barely dodged a rocket coming straight at my face, I decided I cannot let him make my life so harsh. I killed the boss with the shotgun from the bottom of his ledge. A rather anticlimactic moment, but -fast monsters are just too aggressive to let them live.

The RSK was found after an easy Baron and Cacodemon encounter, along with a secret Soul Sphere. The adventure continued with small encounters and ambushes through the red door, leading to a gate that sent me to the north-eastern corner of the level. I checked the ugly faces and found a secret, leading to a cramped basement with the BFG, protected by a nasty assortment of monsters. A Baron teleported just behind me and splattered me against a wall. The BSK set piece involved three more Barons in a ridiculously small room. The switch unlocking the bars was behind one of the muscle-bound demons, but it was impossible to survive with -fast monsters if the best weapon was not acquired beforehand.

The last room was a pure formality, presenting a frontal cluster of opposition that was no match for a player that outlived the previous challenges. Molten Gods was a short, entertaining level, carefully reproducing the best tropes of Romero design, while being a little less interesting from the visual standpoint. It also limited floor damage by reducing the required passages over lava and it simplified the secret hunting, two aspects of the game that were a bit overstretched in Against Thee Wickedly. This was both a nice homage and a worthy level on its own = a perfect addition to Ultimate Doom the way id did.

E4M5: Doctrines Of Devils

I remember this being the map that I disliked the most when I originally played Ultimate Doom: The Way Id Did. Despite the cool use of lighting in the sometimes-flooded wooden house in the west, I found the fights to be all stupidly tedious and felt quite annoyed at having to leave anyone alive in the central area because of everything arrayed against the minimally-equipped pistol starter. Well, I played continuous this time and had far less trouble, though health was still quite low for most of the map, the only health beyond the Supercharge at the beginning probably meant to help you survive the gauntlet in the central area including some cleverly-placed hitscanners were 4 medikits on pillars in the central area and some scattered stimpacks. The bit where the platform lowers into the lava when you step on it made me very upset on first playthrough. Now I see it's actually not all that damaging, Gifty lets the demons do the talking here! It also helps that Lippeth's slightly-atmospheric but still action-filled "Let the Wicked Be No More" actually goes well with a tough map with critical touches of atmosphere. Which is quite critical because this map is aesthetically unremarkable beyond certain locations.

What's more, I found things to annoy me about practically every area. The linedef you need to cross to lower the barriers blocking the Invulnerbility Sphere you need to cross feels far too precise for a map that'll likely damage you the more you step in the blood. I do like the fight you find yourself in after taking the eastern teleporter, featuring some cell-lik flesh rooms on the sides.involving a minor cacophony of Barons of Hell, Cacodermons, and Shotguns. You have just enough room to move around, although playing keyboard-only will probably result in at least a few deaths.

Then there's the northeast area where you acquire the red key. I remember I was quite stumped in my first playthrough and spent my time wandering through the red key door area before eventually realizing the gap here might actually lead somewhere. The wooden structure in the middle has 4 different quadrants in the corners with an interior decorated everywhere with skulls. In one location, you even get a quad of Imps to tangle with! Unfortunately, this is also the worst part of the map because you have to wait until the platform you are on has raised to its maximum height so you can then jump to the following platform which will now be below you. It's not quite as bad as the Cacodemons near the end of the factory in Doom 2, but is still idiotic. The decision to place the red key behind an invisible wall on one side was also pretty bad.

Now, heading to the West Wing, you are greeted by a whole pack of Sergeant attendants who decide you're Republican and attempt to terminate you with extreme prejudice. This section initially killed me far too many times when I first played it. I think my health must've been low to begin with.

Behind the red door after a series of switch-pushing, climbing over vined marble and engaging in several nail-biting encounters, I then came upon a sight I'm almost convinced was stolen from a secret level in Turok Level 7, other than the platforms thankfully not going up and down and the pillar with the corpse hanging in the middle and more stimpacks than you can shake a stick at. And you WILL need them unless you're some kind of supreme Doom platformer because the drink below will not be kind to those who find themselves in. There's a Baron at the far end and a Caco pair to give you further trouble.

After some more nonsense, you'll find the yellow key and return to thatg possibly iconic starting hallway. Head to the other end of the room behind the yellow door and suddenly, said room will darken and closets will open up containing Barons and pinkies. I'd already used up the Invulnerbility at this point for a far lesser reason so I just rocketed them and miraculously, the pinkies never got very close to me. It would take me a while to find the pointless nearby radsuit secret after this (you basically have to step near the switch and cause a nearby light to turn on), but after that, I sailed comfortably to victory.

I still don't find I enjoy this map too much, probably because of the roughness of the beginning on pistol-start and the setpiece encounters have a scattershot feel to them that makes it seem like there was an attempt made at claustrophobia but only half-heartedly. That's probably just another way of saying I didn't find any of the main fights to be so strong by themselves that they really made the map. It feels a little bit like Gifty had a few related E4 ideas that were basically slapped together. Still fun, but not a favorite.

Grade: B

Difficulty: B-

I really should stop crapping on Doom 2 in Spain Only for being a barebones vanilla experience. Voting for it might have made things a touch more interesting. At any rate, my third vote will be going to +++ Community Chest

E4M6: Molten Gods. DSDA v0.24, UV-PS, 100% kills and secrets. Comp. time 17:46.

Yet another solid entry, that's not quite as relentless as E4M4, but will have some tight spots and a cyber turret I wish was telefraggable at the end. Molten Gods follows Thy Flesh Aesthetics closely with its tunnels of lava in the middle of marble and wood and metal. It was painful, but I quite enjoyed this one, too. At first there's a little problem with ammo, I ran out of it and only by a miracle survived running around spectres and imps in tight spots. Once you get your act together, and understand to use the cybie to dispose the riff-raff, ammo won't be a problem.

I wonder if the cramped-quarters foursome with barons is doable without the secret BFG, it probably is, but aside from ammo-starved beginning, that was the hardest part for me.

After obtaining the blue key, I was a little lost as to where to go next. Cyberdemon's platform looks like something that's accessed from somewhere else, but I couldn't figure out any other solution than a running jump from the overlooking ledge.

E4M5: Doctrines Of Devils

By Gifty

Kills: 96%

Items: 73%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 10:38

Another heavy hitter up to bat, but one that doesn't really stand out from the others unfortunately, Doctrines Of Devils is another grim, wood-fortified stronghold crawling with baddies, you get an early Supercharge which should get you through the first defence line,  a snazzy dual between you and a gang of Imps with their Caco-captain, I find it more interesting to activate the blood rise is the middle of the room here, just to be more interesting and dramatic, after this the map's energy tapers off a bit but it's still cool, similar to E4M4 this map is drenched in poisonous footing, but not to the same extent, the big lava pit with the shotgunners on the edge while you're waiting for platforms to lower can be a bit annoying, and there are parts of this map I have trouble remembering, but I greatly appreciate the *first BFG of the month for me* in this map! You only get one shot in the first room so use it well, and you won't be clogged with ammo elsewhere either but you should have enough, overall? Yeah, solid map, could have been more

Grade: B+

Difficulty: B

I voted earlier, but I'm moving it to here in case it doesn't get seen as it was very early

+++ Community Chest

I need it

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

E4M5: Doctrines of Devils - Gifty

100% kills and 66% secrets

Time: 15:13

Deaths: 4

Card: Sentry turrets are scattered around that shoot Cyberdemon projectiles

Great, just what I needed. I spotted 5 of them, and most were in very inconvenient spots.

I greatly appreciate the soul sphere placed at the beginning since I barely had any health from the last level. This level isn't anywhere near as hard as the previous, but it still earns its id stripes. There's not a ton of health here, and damaging blood is all over the place. There's one truly tough fight, and that's the BFG fight. It drops 3 barons, along with an assortment of other creatures (and in my case a turret). You don't get a lot of cells here, so hopefully you have some from past levels. The path to raise the floor to the exit also has a tricky fight. The lights go out, 3-4 barons appear in front of you, and spectres behind you. I did get chomped here. Progression is kinda odd, but not difficult to figure out. The red key is accessible after walking on all 4 lowered platforms, but you have to touch each one to get the next to lower. The yellow key path isn't tough, just weird. You lower some walls in a room you can get to without the red key, but there wasn't anything in. Then you have a blur sphere fight with some platforming that's really easy. It's different, but not really enticing in the gameplay department. Overall, the map's a solid "good". Kind of middle-of-the-road, but nothing in it is bad. It's competent. 

E4M6: Molten Gods - Tarnsman

100% kills and secrets

Time: 1:35

Deaths: 2

Card: Cyberdemon projectiles explode on impact

YOU DON'T SAY, HUH CC? 

Whenever I see Transman show up in something, I have no idea if the map's going to be evil or not. In this case, not really. He really does nail the E4 feel though, and it's probably the best in the ep so far in that regard. Texture usage and use of lava really drives the feel home for me. There's a slight sense of verticality in this one, with some jumps needed to be made to lower areas. The cyb CC spoiled for me appears when you grab the yellow key. I didn't notice it the first time, and was busy picking off some imps from afar when I heard the cyb and realized he was very, VERY close to me. In this case, just above me. I didn't die to it this time, but it did snipe me when trying to deal with the newly revealed baron in the starting room, and I hadn't saved since before picking the key up. There's several secrets in the lava tunnels, so once you grab a rad suit, go hunting. There's an auto map in one of them that helps find the way to the soul sphere. The red key springs a baron and 3 cacos on you, and I was partially invisible during it, so that was tougher than it needed to be. There's only 2 really tough fights. For the 2nd map in a row, the BFG is booby-trapped big time. You're in some tight tunnels with flickering lights, and pretty quickly a baron teleports in behind you. More monsters, plus another baron are ahead. Almost died. Did die shortly after in the blue key room. You get the plasma and cells, but you have to deal with 3 barons in a small room. Hooray for that BFG you just got! Helped me on the second attempt. After that, it's just time to jump down to the cyb's level and 2-shot it. Idk if this map uses the E4M6 tags or not, but I'm not sure how the alcove with the shotgunners and rad suit opened back by the yellow key. And I don't think anything past the cyb would need the tags. *shrugs*. Very enjoyable level, and very id-like! 

Well, silly me neglected to take the secret exit in M2, so I'm going to do a separate pistol start playthrough of that map via DSDA-Doom.

E4M9: "Terror" by Use3D

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 2/3 secrets

This is another map that merges hell with a water aesthetic, moreso than we've seen before. We're given a demonic fortress with floors of water found all over. It's a style that I'm pretty fond of actually. The layout in this one felt nice and straightforward, the only time it felt a little awkward was backtracking with the yellow skull key to unlock the way to the exit, but otherwise it was a level I enjoyed navigating through.

Combat in this one was pretty solid. The beginning stretch felt the toughest because you run into quite a lot of hitscanners eager to chip away at your health. Later on you start running into more mid-tier foes such as barons. I was getting frustrated at having to shotgun them all which took up all my ammo... but while I was just about at the end of the level I noticed there is a berserk pack behind the starting point, so I'm just a fool. Obviously no card to talk about here, but I will say moving back to DSDA-doom for a level feels weird, I became a bit accustomed to the floatier feel of GZDoom there!

I liked this one quite a bit. The secret maps in this project haven't disappointed at all, unlike the ones in the original which I found quite boring, so not the way id did at all. Shame on you guys! (jokes)

E4M3: "Earth, Blood, and Fire" by purist

UV with Corruption Cards, no saves

100% kills, 2/3 secrets

Card: Lost soul haunts player briefly after death 

Fittingly to the title, some of the main themes here are the rocky ground areas and pits of lava. The blood presumably, is supplied by you and/or the monsters. Aesthetics feel fitting to the id style, although the secrets feel a bit on the wild side compared to what I remember. The race for the room full of health is a fun secret though. The chainsaw jump was a bit too tricky for me so I gave up on it. The remaining secret I couldn't find on my own and had to enlist the help of UDB since it contains monsters, made sense once I found it but it was easy for me to forget about that switch despite noticing it my first time around and just not finding what it did.

Combatwise I think this was the most difficult map so far for me. I was surprised to notice that there were only 88 monsters because the level felt a lot busier, maybe due to the somewhat cramped areas in the layout. You do get two radsuits to deal with the hellslime, which theoretically should be enough but my desire to "save the second one until I really need it" lead to me just forgetting about it when I probably could have used it, and taking unnecessary damage. There are quite a few cacos and barons in this map, luckily you don't need to take care of the four in the central area as you do end up telefragging them, but they love to snipe you when your guard is down. The card here causes lost souls to come back in a ghostly form a bit after you kill them. They will even move through walls to pursue you, but you are able to shoot them and kill them again.

Decent and challenging map.

GZDoom 4.7, HMP, continuous, first playthrough, no saves, optional MIDI pack

E2M3 - Rec Facility by @Captain Toenail

I think this would have made a very enjoyable little introduction to E2: it really feels like a bridge from E1, before reality starts getting fruity. But coming as it does after an absolute banger by Xaser and fort, Rec Facility's lack of complexity and intensity feels like a bit of a step backwards. The imps in the sludge and the final baron both enlivened previously-covered ground, though, which I always like to see.

E2M4 - Mental Ward by @ellmo
This was a blast. One of those levels that is technically linear, but does a whole bunch with its allotted space to make you think that you have a lot more options than you actually do. Plenty of tight corridors and blind corners keep you on your toes, even if it's actually pretty light on nasty surprises. Plus it doesn't overdo it on the sector raising/lowering shenanigans. It really feels like Halls of the Damned with a bit more verticality, for mine.

In contrast to E1M4, I actually found the wealth of siderooms kind of charming, even if they could've done with some Doomcute to dress up the "bar" or "armory" or whatever they were meant to represent; though I guess that sort of detailing might have overshot the megawad's goal. The use of lighting and the odd-angled alcoves dotted around just tied it all together wonderfully, making this feel like one of the iddiest maps so far, and one of my personal favourites.

Special shoutout to @Mr. Freeze for this track. His simple (not simplistic!) style throughout this wad definitely seems to suit slower, more ambient tracks, and I could definitely see (hear) this one popping up in an iwad. It really sold the atmosphere on offer here.

***

February was a lot shorter than I'd predicted, and so unfortunately I'm not gonna finish this one up in time. But I'm definitely going to continue with it at whatever pace irl lets me, and I'm very thankful to the club for giving me the push I needed to finally try it out.

2 hours ago, TJG1289 said:

Idk if this map uses the E4M6 tags or not, but I'm not sure how the alcove with the shotgunners and rad suit opened back by the yellow key.

I forgot to check this when I played the map. Tag 666 is used to open the big door in the last room and allow access to the exit, though there are few chances that anybody will dance around the Cyberdemon, push the blue switch and try to run for the exit without killing the boss. So, nobody will notice the presence of the level's inbuilt tag 666.

E4M6: Molten Gods

A classic Cyberdemon turret map, from a pistol start you won't have the weapons and ammo to deal with him until you get the blue key and plasma rifle that comes with it. Didn't seem like the BFG would have been particularly effective against him in that scenario so I decided to primarily use the plasma rifle on him instead. In my many attempts at this map I found that the monsters throughout could be quite unpredictable, depending on when they woke up and where they decided to go. One time even the Cyberdemon decided to sleep in and didn't wake up until I teleported to the ledge above him.

e4m6.zip

+++Auger;Zenith

E4M6 - Molten Gods - Tarnsman *John Romero* (100%K/100%I/80%S):

Ahh, a great level, with the usual Cyberdemon standing right at the middle of it. This map is really interesting, as it has that Romero escence, but interestingly, Tarnsman here went for a more "Knee-Deep in the Dead" approach right here, as he combines some things from E1 and without losing the casual wood and marble style, we are already used to from E4. Great level visually, and in terms of layout, a pain in the ass, as Romero got us used in his UD levels, having to swim in lava pools with limited radsuits, having to exit from the labyrith that the layout is, finding a proper way to tackle that annoying cyberdemon. A great setpiece, one of the best maps for sure, and I think it is the best example of a perfect ID score while making a great map aswell. Tarnsman effort here salvages E4 a little bit, as it was not that interesting so far. This level feels like a KDITD outtake in a parallel universe, re-skinned to be in the fourth episode, and it is great.
Also, the hunt for the secrets, as it is usual for a Romero styled map, is great.

IDness ratio: 5/5

(UV Playthrough - Crispy Doom)

Order of Preference:
 

E4M6 - Molten Gods by Tarnsman:
A mapslot I was dreading, considering the inevitable forced cyberdemon fight. Contrary to my expectations though, I thoroughly enjoyed myself here. The map has a really good balance of meanness with restraint, as it never becomes annoying or frustrating. I think the layout is very good here, with the "Molten God" himself able to splatter you from most angles (unless you manage to get him to go back to sleep like I did!) If anything, the layout feels a bit too modern and refined to be something that I would expect to turn up in Thy Flesh Consumed, but I mean this as a compliment to the map, as it works very well.

The secrets are pretty easy to find here, though since the only way to get a rocket launcher and BFG is through them, I don't mind this. I think the BFG might be a bit too easy to find with how it trivialises the rest of the map, but I suppose the fight to get it is enough of a death trap that the player deserves a break afterwards! The map looks great, the marble fortress is interwoven well with the wooden textures. Don't have much else to say, other than I wish more of this episode was like this map - short, fun and a decent challenge.

E4M7 Hand of the Heathen (HMP, continuous, blind): K 87%, I 90%, S 50%, D quite a few, actually, T  21:39

Grade: D / Difficulty: B+

Who's Who

E4M6: Molten Gods

By Tarnsman

Kills: 100%

Items: 72%
Secrets: 40%

Time: 8:51

I tell you what my friends, this episode is excellent, Molten Gods is yet another tightly wound, E4M2-esque experience, your reloading arm will get a healthy workout as you're stuck with a pump-action for quite a while, what stands out here to me is the layout as well, although it's a bit difficult to remember how to get onto the upper deck to jump on the Cyberdemon's platform, it's mostly airtight and interconnects in a nice way, once again spiced with lava on the side to keep you moving, does a great job resembling John Romero in that way, makes me think back to Circle Of Death and Tenements, nice job! It's not a one trick pony either though, the action holds really well, you'll get another BFG in this map in a secret which... uh... I wouldn't recommend passing by if you plan to kill the mandatory Cyberdemon (E4M6 tags, remember?) Thankfully the secret is pretty obvious though, between the Cyber turret you'll be facing off big Hell Knights and weak Pain Elementals as you cross the fortress as well, so be weary, this map is excellent, satisfying action, fast layout, great monster placement, the whole kitchen sink

Grade: A

Difficulty: B+

E4M6: Molten Gods
DOOM Retro, UV, Continuous w/saves
 

With all of the molten lava around (my worst enemy), this map certainly lives up to the name. This is a very nice looking map. I've always been a fan of more vertical maps, and this one sure delivers with plenty of ledges. The Cyberdemon was a bit of a chump from his position, so he was pretty easy to take out. The pit you jump down to grab the blue key was a real dick move, but there's a BFG nearby in a secret, so as long as one grabs that, this room ends up being cake. The ending room was a very nifty looking room adorned with that iconic white brick texture (some of the texturing here bugged me). It's a pretty decent map all around, although I do prefer the previous map.

E4M5: Doctrines of Devils by Gifty

A relatively short, but nevertheless exploration oriented map hosting severall challenges where the combination environment/monsters plays a decisive role. Not only damaging floors, like in most of the preceding maps, but also the shape of the rooms is often important, particularly favouring barons and cacodemons. A funny lift fight, not too difficult as it's mostly fodder you'll encounter there, and some platforming (the main cause of my deaths here, as I'm really bad at that) are also present. Lol at the anti-circlestrafing mechanism in the central area. It can however be circumvented by playing this part pacifist (but not anybody will like to lose that much time on it ...). Without looking at the editor I wasn't able to know how it's possible to obtain the medikits there. The BFG area seems more oriented on continuous players: if you get it, chances are you burn all your ammo in the resulting fight as there seem to be no cells outside of this area. The fight near the exit is of the kind where foreknowledge changes everything, as you then simply can rocket the spectres from afar and then take on the barons. Fun map.

8,5/10

E4M6: Molten Gods by Richard Frei (Tarnsman)

I felt this map to have a high nostalgia factor. It is the map until now that most closely resembles E4 to me, with its visuals, the progression on ledges of different height, damaging floors, the rocky outside areas and the "traditional" monster usage, and thus one of my favourites. It's not an E4M6 remake (only the cyberdemon fight can feel similar, depending on the tactic you employ), in fact it feels closer to E4M2, or, as some wrote, it has also a bit of an E1 vibe - overall, very Romeroesque. As I fought the cyberdemon before getting the blue key (finishing him with the shotgun, but I had got the BFG secret before) killing it didn't seem to be mandatory for progression, but I guess it was. I felt the map was a bit easier than the original E4M6 but neverless I had six deaths, three of them at the start because I began too reckless, and two inside the ultra-cramped BFG area.

9/10

Okay, y'know what, you can probably ignore a bunch of what I said about E4M2 and E4M3 because I've just taken another look at the text file and it turns out those maps are intended to emulate the style of American McGee, not Shawn Green.  I don't know how I mixed that up as I did refer to the text file as I was writing up my thoughts about those levels.  This next level is the one that's supposed to be the Shawn Green map out of the set, hopefully I'll have my head screwed on a bit better from here on out.

E4M4: Unclean Spirits

So, of all the maps that I've played so far this month, this is the one that leaps out to me most strongly as really not aligning with the stated direction of the project; this doesn't, to me, feel like a level that could credibly have been put together by id's mapping minds even in the era of Thy Flesh Consumed, and while I can't point to a specific PWAD, project, author, or era to which it displays a closer kinship, I can't shake the feeling that the roots and the inspiration of this map point elsewhere.  I guess, if I squint, I can see some of the basic shapes and layout elements of E4M8: Unto the Cruel echoed here?  But they've been expanded upon and made more intricate, just as the level itself feels bigger, meaner, more developed in its gameplay and more cruel in its intentions than anything that's a part of the IWAD.  I'm also left with a sense that this really wants to be a Doom II map, and is chafing uncomfortably against the limitations of Doom's less varied bestiary; here is where an arch-vile would be turned loose to wreak havoc had that particular tool been a permitted part of the level's kit, there is where a perched mancubus would dominate all within its line of sight more convincingly than a Baron of Hell, these monsters really want to be hell knights or revenants or some other mid-tier enemies rather than the somewhat awkward mix of imps and Barons of Hell to which the map finds itself constrained.

The setting suggests to me either part of a subverted and corrupted cityscape (again with the feeling of Doom II there) or some curiously metropolitan corner of Hell, in either case a forum or meeting-place half-drowned in lava and so made less readily navigable than its original builders might have intended.  Appended to this is a small ruined keep overlooking a lake of boiling blood, where a Spider Mastermind awaits to provide a mid-level shock that contrasts nicely with the level's general reliance on large numbers of imps, shotgun sergeants, and lost souls, in combination with extensive damaging floors, to gradually wear down the player's health.  It all felt slightly awkward to me, as though I were repeatedly observing, "yes, that's a Thy Flesh Consumed use of that texture, that's an authentic Thy Flesh Consumed combination of textures, but this doesn't feel like a Thy Flesh Consumed environment;" again there is the sense that the restrictions within which the map must labour are not ones with which it is entirely comfortable or within which it particularly wishes to be bound.  I'm also going to put it out there that the particular combination of teleporters and walk-activated triggers here makes it tricky to approach the level constructively as a problem or sequence of problems to be solved; it's clear early on that you need to acquire the blue key to reach the exit, but how you do that, arriving at that solution, feels like it's less demanding of analytical logic than it is patience and trial and error.  I didn't really feel as though I was making progress so much as stumbling between triggers and encounters, with the eventual teleport to the blue key feeling less like I'd solved a problem or committed to a course of action and more as though I'd simply run out of other places to go.  That's all very subjective and maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace to properly enjoy this level tonight, or maybe it's just engineered toward a style of gameplay that doesn't really speak to me; I'm not going to say it's a bad map, it's too meticulously put-together and to delightful in its capricious cruelty for that, it's just one that doesn't click for me right here and now.