The DWmegawad Club plays: 99 Ways to Die & Troopers' Playground & Talosian Incident

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP02

10:38 | 100% Everything (continuous)

5:06 | 50% Kills | 77% Items | 100% Secrets (pistol-start)

On continuous, at least, there's no real substance to this level. So after I beat it, I went back and pistol started it. It's kinda crazy how different this level ends up depending on how you progress: My first play, I went forward into the tunnels to get the yellow key, and when I went back to the starting-area windows, all the baddies had spawned on the other side of the courtyard. Blast some rockets across the gap, teleport over and clean up with the SSG, easy-peasy. On pistol-start, I noticed the area across the courtyard was vacant, so I tackled that first; got as far as the wall-o'-lifts, nabbed a chaingun, and had to beat a hasty retreat due to almost immediately running out of ammo. Back into the tunnels, then, to search for ammo and guns; this triggered the teleports, but this time guys had 'ported down into the courtyard, and then were finding their way up into the starting hallway! Coming back from the tunnels, I ran into a revenant, and had to waste 3 of my rockets on him (1 of them missed entirely.) I had just enough ammo left to get back through the meat to the lift wall, snipe the majority of the imps there, and then (now entirely out of ammo) dodge the remaining imps and book it to the exit switch. Whew! On my continuous run, I obviously explored far more of the map, and a lot of the design choices were pretty head-scratching, the archvile that gets released after you reach the exit perhaps the most perplexing. Then there was the yellow key door, behind which lay a bunch of empty rooms into which lost souls would sloooowly trickle. So boring waiting for all those dudes to make it in, but such is the burden of a max killer. Really, most of the level has a "what's the point?"-ness about it. I will say that that wooden pillar room and the aforementioned wall-o'-lifts are the two visuals that immediately spring to mind when I think of this WAD. So there's that. Also, do you think there were enough soulspheres and armors in this map? I mean, geez. On continuous, there were about three more than I needed of each! Of course, on pistol-start I never had enough ammo to even reach most of them. (Now that I think about it, though, I could/should have run through the yellow door, nabbed the goodies, and raced the baddies out, but I completely forgot to do  that.)

[tmorrow]

map02: by Warren Marshall
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

Time to hunt down the first of the 4 corrupt archive brothers. He's hiding somewhere on this map for sure.

Wow! this map is a contrast to the first. Much more interesting and exciting in both layout and monster encounters. No more hallways here, we've got barrels to explode, teleporters to take, a crusher to avoid and pain sectors to negotiate.

As long as you wake up the enemies at the beginning you will have a fun and hectic first couple of minutes. Of course you can elect the sneak approach and get to the tunnel leading up to the crusher room without waking up the enemy but that's not nearly as much fun.

In my first run I completed the entire first wave with pistol, first enticing all the enemies to teleport up onto the higher ledges and then dropping into the middle. The revenants kept exploding the barrels and causing the juiciest kind of infighting you can get, revenant vs revenant bitchlapping. We don't get to see this often enough in doom. Bring more barrels!

The earliest weapon pickup is the rocket launcher but using it can be quite dangerous with several spectres roaming around. You'll need to use some fancy footwork to skirt around the those spectres to get to the super shotgun past the crusher after which you can start the execution program.

Unfortunately the yellow key room wasn't nearly as dangerous as it could have been and the trip to the exit didn't spice up until the very end.

[Capellan]

99 Ways to Die (or possibly actually zero ways)

PrBoom+, HMP, continuous, no music, saves.

 

MAP01

Well, this sure is an orthogonal map of orthogonal-ness.  My favourite bit is that after the text file says "you may find SMALL texture misalignments, but you will have to look hard!", one of the yellow key trims is mucked up.

 

The map's very brown, as everyone has noticed, and there's not a lot of height variation in the combat, even though the architecture does go up and down a bit.  Action-wise, the only dangerous elements are the chaingunners shooting you through bronze midtextures, which makes them very hard to see.  They actually got me down to 6% health but then the map throws so much health and armour at you that I exited at 200/200 anyway.

 

I do like the idea of optional but rewarding content behind the yellow doors, though as used in this map it's a bit of backtracking busy work and would be entirely pointless if you were playing pistol start.

 

MAP02

The combat is a bit more ambitious here, with (regrettably inefficient) teleport traps making an appearance and the chance to use barrels as weapons, which I always appreciate.  There's also a bit more height variation and also some colours other than brown!

 

I entirely omitted the northern section of the map in my playthrough which appears to be the most challenging room of the level, at least in terms of monster density.

[Spectre01]

MAP02 99WTD02-S01-FDA-849.zip

And here comes the questionable 90's pistol start balance! Punching at the start wakes up a bunch of crap, including Revs and Cacos, and decent core weapons are obtained quite far from spawn. Seems like the type of map that's more fun on continuous or with foreknowledge when starting from scratch. Otherwise, you're likely to stumble upon something with just your pistol and have a bad time. The maps itself is a lot more visually interesting, and the detailing is quite nice. I liked the room with the Focus-esque closing window and pillars over water.

 

[Roofi]

99WTD Map 02 :

 

 

Difficulty : Easy

 

DEMO

 

It was a bit tougher than the previous level , especially at the beginning because you must encounter a lot of monsters before finding a weapon.

 

The map author loves making very boxy layouts because only the stairs prove to be a bit curved. I don't complain it , the maps take place in a brown castle so it makes sense for me to see a lot of square rooms. I think also it has its own charm , the mapper wanted rather to work on details and lightning than the room shapes . I liked the bridge made of trunks  and the half-open gate near the end.

 

The fights were more interesting , the one of the "Yellow Key room" with the lost souls and cacodemons was my favourite and the teleporting monsters at the beginning force you to run to the unknown. The rest of the level became a piece of cake once you found the powerful powerups (Soulspheres , blue armor). Also , a rocket launcher and a plasma are generously given so that even powerful monsters (Arch vile at the end) can't resist you.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP02: (no title)

 

This one is, I think, primarily interesting for the way its branching routes and the presence of a decent chunk of monsters in an off-the-map "waiting room," ready to teleport in when awakened by noise, combine to create a more organic distribution of monsters throughout the map during play, the mob making its presence known in different areas and at different times depending on the player's actions, though the scenarios @Salt-Man Z outlines are the most obvious ones.  I think the release of the arch-vile upon the player's approach to the exit is likewise meant to provide a different gameplay experience depending on just how the player advances through the level; a player who's just rushing for the exit, or who knows the layout of the map and doesn't approach the exit until every other part of the level has been explored, may not encounter the arch-vile at all, but if you stumble across the exit while other sections of the map remain unexplored, or if you've left health and armour sitting around elsewhere, thinking "I'll come back and get this when I really need it," then the arch-vile will be right in your face to complicate things as you begin the process of backtracking.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP02

 

So here's why 99Ways is a good wad. The lighting. It certainly grabbed our attention before we got our hands on Alien Vendetta and all those other wads. Just look at those window lights! Cool. The yellow key is quite easy, but the game tried to trick me into going somewhere else, which is someplace quite fun actually. The log-filled area is quite cool, the revenants were dumb enough to go under that crusher while I moved to the plasma gun. The room behind the yellow door isn't much apart from another rocket launcher grab. The problem here are these flying monsters which aren't really useful in any way. Alternatively, you don't need the key yet again, as the only way to the exit is to jump out the window to that courtyard, take the teleporter and the lifts up, and there you go.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

MAP02: 99 Ways to Die: Electric Boogaloo

 

GZDoom 2.4.0, UV, continuous, manual saves

As before, in spite of the name, this map is not difficult on a continuous run. I did not go back and run a pistol start, but the lack of weaponry was distressing, regardless. As far as architecture goes, it is consistent with its predecessor, but it did add a couple new things, such as the yellow skull hall (where I saved). The plasma rifle room was my favorite area, but it could've been better, if the revenants couldn't run into the crusher (lulz), but all told, it seemed somewhat like more of the same. As stated before, the warping in of the vile after leaving the second courtyard is bizarre, and I only noticed it when it began reviving imps.

 

I suppose, given the mod name 99 Ways to Die, I expected to be brutalized, so I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or not. Still, its a rather pleasurable romp through the (not-so) labyrinth.

[Pirx]

22 hours ago, Aquila Chrysaetos said:

First time joining DWMC (at least officially), but let's jump to it.

 

 

 

Welcome! I've written somewhere how I  lurked for about the first full 2 years of the dwmc's existence before posting anything. ..

[gaspe]

MAP02: Oh the pistol start here, well after some retries you can understand to go to the optional areas and pick the weapons before going the face the teleport "ambush" which is set in a weird way. I liked the tier structure that leads to the exit, and it looks like you can exit the level in a very short time if you want.

[tmorrow]

map03: by Warren Marshall
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

Be sure to patch your wad if playing on ultra violence or you face a map breaking bug and get stuck at teleporter that won't take you to the end area. A second, minor bug also exists where you can't register the megasphere secret due to the sector being to small to step into.

The final 3 archvile brothers need to taste some lead, or even better, some plasma.

The first archvile is guarding the red key with his pain elemental and cacodemon buddies. You may be a bit short of ammo if you are pistol starting at this point. After killing the archvile you can leave the rest of them to it and come back later after you've found more ammo.

The last 2 archviles are guarding the exit with the help from the bulk of a couple of mancubi. With the help of a plasma rifle and plenty of cover, you shouldn't have any trouble removing oppressors, concluding negotiations and restoring the Kingdom to its former glory.

A tougher map than the other two in the wad but still fairly straightforward by today's standards.

Overall WAD Comments

Warren Marshall treats us to 3 maps, created using basic stock doom2 resources. I think the second map is the best in the set. Made in 1996, 99ways may be overlooked by many, considered to be too basic with easy game play. That may be, but the maps are well worth playing through at least once, I certainly enjoyed my play through.

[Woolie Wool]

MAP03: BRING ME OLD BROWN TROUSERS

No demo.

I managed to fuck up my command line parameters and played this map twice without the fix loaded, and I don't like this map so fuck it, I'm not doing it again. The two final archvile brothers were out shopping.

 

The pistol start is pretty anus, with packs of pinkies, imps, and cacos roaming the halls, and you have to kite your past monsters to get some ammo, but after that it's quite easy, if you don't do what I did on my second run and stand there in the courtyard like an idiot when the first vile warps in after you get the red key. It's still routine room/hallway/room mapping and everything is some sort of box. But hey! There's more green now!

 

I actually overwrote my deathless LMP up to the unusable exit teleporter of this so there's no demo this time.

 

I was very disappointed by this wad. I thought this was supposed to be some elite 1997 map set that could stand with Requiem and Malcolm Sailor's work. This could be any random 3-star pwad from Doom Underground or Sir Robin's Castle or similar review sites of the era except for the fancy lighting. I don't understand the hype at all.

 

[Spectre01]

1 hour ago, tmorrow said:

Be sure to patch your wad if playing on ultra violence or you face a map breaking bug and get stuck at teleporter that won't take you to the end area.

I knew I was missing something important before hitting that record button on this map!

 

MAP03 99WTD03-S01-DNF-FDA.zip

So, long story short, I had 4 enemies left and was unable to use the teleporter after the lift fight. I'll replay the map again later so I can finish it and add my overall thoughts.

[dobu gabu maru]

10 hours ago, Pirx said:

Welcome! I've written somewhere how I  lurked for about the first full 2 years of the dwmc's existence before posting anything. ..

 

Resident essayist and Doom-sommelier DotW was a lurker too for a while. Everyone's gotta start somewhere!

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP03

9:30 | 100% Kills | 100% Items | 50% Secrets (continuous)

5:08 | 70% Kills | 90% Items | 50% Secrets (pistol start)

(That may have been the quickest 9:30 I've ever experienced.) This map has a little more meat to it; unlike MAP02 which has the bulk of its opposition crammed into only one or two areas, this level spreads it out a bit more. The red key area is probably the most hazardous ambush, with all the pain elementals and the vile and friends. On my continuous play, I felt fortunate to have my backpack carrying all the shells and bullets necessary to take all those guys out. On pistol-start, I just ran through and got out as quick as I could. That was my basic pistol-start strategy on the whole, though I made sure to grab the megasphere first thing (that was the unobtainable secret, yes?) along with the chaingun and all the shell boxes I could find. That dumb slow elevator at the end gets me every time time; both this time and the first time I played it, I panicked and backed out as the elevator started rising. Then I have to wait for it to rise, wait a second, wait for it lower, then hop on and clean up. My second time through I just whipped out my plasma and torched everything as it appeared; the waiting might have ended up the easier route, but who wants to wait on a giant slow lift? Not this guy. Even the exit fight with a whopping four baddies didn't pose any issue. I would have maxed my pistol-start run if I had been allowed to go back to earlier in the map. Overall, easily the best map of the bunch. Much more intense combat (though I was never in any danger ever of getting killed; I think my second try I got taken down to 90% at the elevator) and the architecture is at least varied enough to be interesting, with the (woefully-underpopulated) sewer section, the cave-like red key room, etc.

 

I can't say this WAD has stood the test of time, but it's certainly inoffensive enough. Might be interesting to see a project (community or otherwise) that attempts to fill out a megawad or an episode with the same design sensibilities, just ramping up the difficulty as it proceeds.

[Capellan]

MAP03

Definitely more resistance on this map on the others, making for a more engaging experience overall.  The red key trap is pretty easy to cheese - I nabbed the key and easily scampered out of sight before the AV could hurt me.  Presumably he then resurrected everything in that zone and they all had a self-pity party because the doom guy wouldn't come back to play.

 

The slow lift is ridiculously easy on HMP.  Not only do the monsters only trickle in slowly, but you get an Invuln at the base that lasts for the entire ride up!  It doesn't last to the final fight, though, which at least makes the 2 AV + 2 Manc combo a little more interesting than it might otherwise have been.  Still there is a lot of cover so it is a very easy fight by modern standards.

 

This caco winner hasn't really stood the test of time, but neither has most of Demonfear, so I'm certainly not going to excoriate it for that.  Glad we finally got to give it a whirl.

 

I'm on vacation for the next few days, so will probably resume playing on Monday and try to catch up then.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP03: (no title)

 

This one's a bit more substantial and a bit more fierce, though it's got that same overall layout of three paths branching away from the start, one of them initially sealed by the red key, as well as a preponderance of corridors and other linear spaces wrapped around and interconnecting a fairly small number of rooms and discrete encounter areas.  It's also, as I feel is typical of its vintage, quite clearly designed for continuous play, with a bunch of rockets strewn around and no launcher to feed them into unless you're bringing your own toys to the party from the previous level.  The sheer height of the slow lift is, I feel, a questionable design choice all on its own, to say nothing of the toothiness or lack thereof possessed by the monsters that pile in there; it doesn't need to be so huge as it is, except perhaps to make quite sure that the player can't take the invulnerability item from the bottom of the lift and make use of it during the tag-team-of-tag-teams arch-vile and mancubus battle at the very end.  And on the other hand I rather like that the player is left with the option of skipping out on the big arch-vile/pain elemental party that follows the red key, with the possibilities for mayhem there that don't demand more than the player's most brief presence to kick things off.

[Spectre01]

MAP03

So what I missed out on last time was this cool final area. As always, I'm a big fan of the skin-metal and various flesh textures. This is the most substantial map in the set, and a couple parts (like the 3 PE's teleporting in after the Vile, when grabbing the red key) caught me off guard. Otherwise, there is some nice detailing by '96 standards, although I do wish the overall brightness was toned down a bit for a grittier atmosphere. The finale with the double Manc+Vile team isn't exactly enthralling by modern standards; just don't waste all your rockets early on the Mancs only to have the Viles resurrect them.

 

Final Thoughts

There isn't too much to be said about this short set from my perspective. It's fine, but not something I'd be recommending to other players or replaying again. Since it's so brief, I did take the opportunity to play it continuously as well, which was much more enjoyable. The resource placement is... questionable, to say the least, and I would've fired-up my grill for a roast if speaking from a purely pistol-start perspective. My mental note still stands: "Though shalt not pistol start 90's wads and complain about it!"

Overall score: 2/5 - It's OK.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP03

 

So for our finale level we have a map that is surprisingly broken on UV and not on other settings. Now that's what you get for playing UV all the time. Not too long, has a weird winding path to the right which is quite optional, but it has a secret which isn't actually triggerable, plus some more lighting and linedef trickery with the nukagefalls from the sky. The outdoor areas on the left side are alright, with the teleport ambush after the red key being the cake muncher with around three pain elementals coming in. Bad move with the next teleport ambush on the rising lift. Wouldn't be bad IF the lift wasn't a long rising and lowering lift. I hate those to the bone. The teleporter takes us to a finale with mancubi and arch-viles, except it sort of sucks because the arch-viles are behind the mancubi and not in a good position to fight defensively over.

[Rene Mori]

Welp, I guess I will be joining this event, seems like a pretty fun way to spend time.

So, Now, 99 Ways to Die. the real question everybody thinks about is, did this wad age like a fine wine, or is it more like forgotten spoiled milk in the corner of your fridge, which after many years turned into the nuclear mess? I think the answer is somewhere in between.

MAP01 - "brick5 extravaganza"

Gameplay wise this level was alright, really easy, encounters are somewhat straightforward, nothing really stands out. I think the main problem is that it gives quite powerful weapons, but there are no encounters, which actually would justify them. Also, usage of 1 texture makes it kinda boring, but lighting usage is actually pretty good, which makes up for the lack of variety in visuals. In overall, pretty mediocre.

MAP02 - "awkward lift ride with a pinky'

Alright, this level is actually miles better compared to the first one. Interesting level design, different visuals. Pillars above the water? That is some top notch zen stuff right there. Beginning was kinda weird, because pinkies are blocking your entrance to the goodies (unless you are fast enough to pass them), so what happens is that you ride this lift up and down until you throw up until you kill all demons. After this little accident it actually gets pretty fun, crusher, revenants and floating orbs, all this good stuff will be there. After that there are no more special encounters like that, but it still keeps on a good level of entertainment. 

MAP03 - "I'm broken and can't get up"

Yeah, this level is kinda a mess in every way, but it was actually pretty fun. Broken teleport, secret which doesn't register were kinda a bummer, but do not fret, we are getting ARCH-VILE ENCOUNTERS! Yeap, this level has somewhat interesting encounters coupled with a fact, that you don't have much ammo. In fact, I had to return back to the red key courtyard, because I didn't have enough ammo to purge this place from evil (I mean, we can't just leave demons happily wander around, now can we?). And ending was just ok, lift ride was a nice touch, but it was kinda ruined, because enemies were spawning only from one point. And last enemies were disintegrated by space accordion plasmagun without any troubles. Also, visually it's a little bit inconsistent, but at least it has variety (I'm looking at you with a disappointment map01).

So in overall, it was a short, but a fun sweet ride, despite all flaws. And also you can't just leave aside the fact, that these old wads have some certain charm to them.

Gameplay info: UV difficulty, pistol start, 1 cup of really nice coffee.

Edited May 3, 2018 by BioRenegat

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

Intended to finish off 99 Ways to Die this morning, but I got sidetracked watching Markiplier play The Crooked Man and when it finished, it was 2 in the morning, and since I forgot to patch the game on my first run, I didn't have the energy to do it at the time. Finished it now, though, so let's post my thoughts.

 

MAP03: The Return of the Resurrection of the Revengeance of the Rage of the Arch Viles

 

GZDoom 2.4.0, UV, continuous run, manual saves

Since I just sped through the previous two maps trying to get to this one, I had the episode fresh in mind and didn't have terribly high expectations from this one. However, the fight immediately after the red skull exceeded them with a suddenly somewhat hectic fight against a vile and some PE's. Normally I hate these monsters, but I actually really enjoyed this specific fight. After that, some 'sploring revealed a megasphere behind a nukage fall and a few more monsters. Finally, the lift ride, while devoid an invulnerability sphere, was easy enough that one would've been overkill by three orders of magnitude. Finally, the last fight against a pair of mancs and viles did a little damage, but I ultimately pulled through with little trouble.

 

Overall, a good mod if you're looking for an easy romp, but that's really all this offers.

[gaspe]

MAP03: This wad wasn't balanced for pistol starts but the map was easy enough to not to be something frustrating. Visually is the best map of this little set, there was some variety here and some cute details like the battlements and the arches. The texturing in the green area was very pleasant. Before the end there's an elevator battle, it's somehow a clichè but I don't know why I'm always glad to see it.

 

Nowadays it isn't a remarkable set, even for a 96' wad is average but I can see why this could be somehow impressive back then. It's worth to look if you are interested for a wad with a historical value and I guess it's one of the first wads that showed some sensibilities that later were adopted and refined.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

Amusing. @Capellan busts his ass to get these three reviewed by the Club and life conspires to keep him from it.

@BioRenegat, welcome to the Club! More members is always better.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP03

100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

At least this one gives an SSG right at the start for pistol-starters, might need to run around a bit to find ammo but not as bad as MAP02's complete lack of opening weapons. And hey, now we have two colors, brown and GREEN! Woo. As others have said, this one has a bit more meat to it, but still pretty forgettable. The lighting is still really washed out, I really question how this won a Cacoward even back in 1996.

[Roofi]

MAP 03 99WTD :

 

 

Difficulty : Medium

 

DEMO

 

 

As said before , this is the most substantial level in the mapset and also the hardest. This is why it was also my favourite because the first level was too easy and the second one a bit too generous with the powerups. I died once in this map because of the arachnotrons at the beginning. The items tend to be less abundant.

 

We meet the terrible trio of arch-viles ready to burn your ass . The first fight was too cheesable to be interesting to be honest , the vile took too long time to teleport so I easily escaped. I enjoyed  the corridors with little slime puddles in the right section . It was very straightforward and gives a little adventurous vibe.

 

The fight in the elevator before the last teleporter reminds me of Hell revealed map 31 but the idea was badly executed. You can get off  without problem of the elevator so you have just to kill the monsters from below. It could be the most annoying part in a speedrun owing to the elevator's slowness.

 

The final fight was quite interesting because the two others viles proved to be more dangerous than the first one. The flesh structure is pretty interesting but the final zone stays really bland . More details would have been welcomed to conclude this mapset.

 

Global thoughts on the mapset.

 

99WTD was an interesting mapset to discover. Warren Marshall showed us that we can make beautiful maps by toying with light gradients and not using a lot of textures. I'm not really keen with brown maps in general but this mapset was pretty neat in general.  I enjoyed strolling in the brown castle and the concept with the yellow key was fun. The gameplay has nothing special but it was playable at least. The two first levels were too easy compared to the last level. I would liked if the levels were a bit larger but nevermind.

 

However I don't think it was enough substantial to deserve a cacoward. The layouts are squarish as hell and above all it's just a mapset of 3 levels... There are a lot of good ideas but nothing is really  revolutionnary.

 

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

A question suddenly struck me:

When we start The Trooper's Playground tomorrow, are we to discuss up to MAP04 or only MAP01?

 

Rather sound like an idiot now than be an idiot tomorrow.

[baja blast rd.]

01 

 

You don't sound like an idiot. :P 

 

Other conventions:

 

- Secret maps for a megawad are usually unlocked on the same day as map15. This is the case regardless of whether it's actually needed to fit the megawad into a month.

- In Ultimate Doom, secret maps are usually unlocked on the same day as the map they can be reached from. 

- Maps with no gameplay content -- credits maps, outro maps, hub maps -- typically don't get their own day. 

- Bonus maps are played when it's reasonable to do so (usually unlocked along with the last map of the set or megawad, or with Ultimate Doom sets, at the end of the episode they are part of). 

- If an episode-length mapset has secret maps in slots 31/32, these are normally treated as bonus maps. 

- Atypical schedules are noted in the OP.*

- A protection fee of one million dollars shall be collected and paid to rdwpa every month. This is a nice club we've got here, it'd be a shame if something were to happen to it. 

 

*15, 31, and 32 of Talosian Incident will all get separate days, and 08 and 09 of The Trooper's Playground will be played on the same day.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

Hmm, I appear to possess insufficient funds by a small margin of $999,955.16.

Joking aside, I appreciate the answer. It's mildly disconcerting when someone has such a question and doesn't ask for fear of looking stupid, so I'll gladly take that bullet if it answers the question.

[Surreily]

Quickie review of 99 Ways To Die:

 

MAP01: I managed to die in the first room, go me! This is the first of three small to medium length maps that use advanced (for the time) lighting effects and lots of brown textures to achieve some pretty neat looking spaces. There's way too much health and ammo in this first map though. There's quite an emphasis on hitscan enemies, we'll be seeing more of that later. There's a completely optional area behind a locked yellow door - it's a bit random, but whatever, optional areas are always cool.

 

MAP02: In this map, we see more of that fancy lighting and more of those hitscanners. There's a pretty rad room on one side of the map where a bunch of revenants get crushed in a thing that could probably have used some monster blocking lines to achieve the intended effect - I am assuming the author was going for something like the windows in Doom II's MAP04. Much like the previous map, there's an optional area hidden behind a yellow door, but it's right at the start of the map and the key isn't obtained until later, resulting in needless backtracking for the player. Difficulty is still manageable, nothing too tough yet.

 

MAP03: This is the finale of the WAD. More impressive lighting effects on display here, especially considering the editors of the time (I can only imagine the amount of time this would have taken). We get some more difficult encounters here, including three pain elementals at the same time and a few arch-viles thrown in for good measure. I don't think the author playtested this one enough, as there is a serious bug that prevents completion when playing on Ultra-Violence due to what I assume is a teleport destination not being flagged as present for the difficulty. It's a bit of a shame, I had to noclip through the walls to the final encounter. It's probably the best of the bunch if we ignore that teleporter bug, and a great way to cap off this little set.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

1 minute ago, Surreily said:

MAP03: *Review*... I don't think the author playtested this one enough, as there is a serious bug that prevents completion when playing on Ultra-Violence due to what I assume is a teleport destination not being flagged as present for the difficulty. It's a bit of a shame, I had to noclip through the walls to the final encounter. It's probably the best of the bunch if we ignore that teleporter bug, and a great way to cap off this little set.

The hotfix was linked in the OP.