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

[Capellan]

MAP06

It's a good thing I saw the mentions of Requiem map09 in the thread before playing this, or I would have been very confusedly wondering how I had managed to play just this map from the WAD before :)

 

Other than that, my comments are pretty much exactly the same as they were before.

 

 

MAP07

Definitely not a Dead Simple clone, though it does use the 666 tag to block you from the exit until you have found and killed all the Mancs. There's no 667 tag, which is probably just as well given that there's an arachnotron in the AV ambush room that could get rezzed and really mess things up.

 

Speaking of the AV ambush, am I the only person to comment on the slightly odd decision to overlay monsters on one another that you could then telefrag?  I know it kind of creates an instant pile of bodies for the AV to rez, but it seems an odd kind of way to go about it.

 

Had pretty good fun for most of this map, though Worch continues to like switches way more than I do.  There's decent if low key action through most of the map, and other than a couple of blind drops, nothing too annoying crops up.

 

The cyber is completely skippable, and I did just that.

 

[Spectre01]

MAP07 - “Three-o-Matic” FDA-Max (1 death): ttp07-S01-2559-FDA.zip

This map doesn't play around from pistol start. There is no SSG in sight or any real armour aside from a few useless bonuses. I was largely successful here by popping in and out of cover while taking shots at the myriad of hitscanners in this map. The one trap that got me was the surprise Vile duo, which would take forever to shotgun down but weren't much of a problem with the Rocket Launcher. Speaking of rockets, you get like 60 of them near the final area. Their purpose being to take out a Cyberdemon in a rocket duel. As wasteful as that may feel, there is no need to save all those rockets as the exit room is largely mild. It was nice having a few left over for those Cacos and PE though. I'm sure this map is more enjoyable while playing continuously, and having some armour, but with only one relatively early death, I didn't mind it too much. Quite fun overall, despite the very bland detailing.

 

1 hour ago, Capellan said:

The cyber is completely skippable, and I did just that.

Shame!

[gaspe]

MAP07: A step down from the previous level with empty spaces that look bland and the gameplay is allright but kinda boring, the lack of SSG on pistol start didn't help. The cyberdemon makes its first appearance and if you want you can trade some rockets with it, this was probably more exciting back in 96'. The trick of the stairs in the southern cave was nice, and I liked how the blood pools had some hidden optional areas.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP07: Three-o-Matic

 

This one felt lacking in some of the artistry of the preceding map, less clever and more cruel with lots of moments where slow reactions (or the wrong reactions) can lead to the player taking a hit that, thanks to the map's general lack of armour, they really can't afford to suffer.  It quickly becomes apparent enough that mancubi are being used as mini-bosses and also as a way of estimating or parceling out progress toward the final objective, with a set of 666-tagged bars initially blocking the teleporter that leads to the final showdown with the Cyberdemon (followed by a gaggle of his minions who are perhaps better entrenched to bleed the player of some health than their boss is).  Overall I'm left with a feeling that the environment isn't as fully-realised as in some of the preceding maps, a broad sense of functional but anonymous corridors and boxy rooms that don't aspire to be anything more involving.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP07 Three-o-matic

 

This is a pretty cool map. A few traps as usual, but milder, and there's plenty of space to run. Central hub map, several locales to go to, two for keys, and another with a cool staircase gimmick. If I recall, the center teleporter requires the mancubi to get killed, so it's more of a hunt them down thing rather than fight in an arena, which is fine. The big outdoor yard screams cyberdemon fight, an invulnerability was here but I didn't use it for him. I used it for the exit room, where it too was still unnecessary. Unfortunately that 30-second door ruins it yet again.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

5 hours ago, Capellan said:

Speaking of the AV ambush, am I the only person to comment on the slightly odd decision to overlay monsters on one another that you could then telefrag?  I know it kind of creates an instant pile of bodies for the AV to rez, but it seems an odd kind of way to go about it.

Agreed, it was rather strange to do that, and when I played, one of the viles got stuck in the wall, I think, because it could attack me, but I never found where it went. It was a really strange trap.

[Woolie Wool]

MAP06: DEEP DOWN BELOW

Time: 13:11 | Kills: 93% | Items: 86% | Secrets: 20% | continuous

 

An old favorite of mine from Requiem returns in this wad to fill the map06 slot. This appears to be missing a couple of areas and has a simpler texture scheme than the Requiem version but it's still pretty good. I forgot about the somewhat eccentric progression of this map, where you have to take two different paths to get the blue and yellow keys, and use both of them to get the red key. The standout encounter is the red key area, where the key plays hard-to-get by slamming doors in your face just before you can reach it several times as you hit a series of switches that trigger small ambushes, culminating in the reveal of an Evil Trooper up in a sniper's nest when you finally get the key. Backing up and plinking at him with the shotgun got rid of him pretty easily. The texture scheme reverts to the same sort of disjointed brick/tech melange as the early maps, but at least the muted colors and subterranean locale enforce some thematic consistency.

Edited May 10, 2018 by Woolie Wool

[Magnusblitz]

MAP07: Three-O-Matic

100% kills, 4/4 secrets

 

This one was a huge slog to play through on pistol start, really needed the SSG or more rockets to make things fun. I was definitely glad I saved a couple rockets for the surprise AV duo, otherwise that fight would've been a huge pain in the ass. Really contemplating switching to continuous for this WAD just so I don't have to play with the popgun so much. I like the less linear layout of this map, but that's about it, none of the traps or other parts really spoke to me. Points for not being Dead Simple at least (and still using the special tag).

[Roofi]

Map 07 : Three-O-Matic

 

Difficulty : Hard

Death(s) : 4

FDA : No

 

DEMO

 

This map is not really that hard when you know how the deadliest traps work but it was clearly tougher than the previous maps in the wad. To put it simply, all the disadvantages come together in this level: powerful monsters , low ammo , no armor , no SSG... However , it's my favourite map for now thanks to the non-linear gameplay and also the clever traps.

 

And yes , we are without SSG again as in map 04. You still have the rocket launcher but it's not as pratical as the SSG. As said before , powerful monsters are waiting for your death. I had to die two times before understanding how to manage the vile's trap after the blue key's door. I laughed the first time  I saw the stuck monsters but it was a lot less fun when the viles were teleported just after in order to resuscitate them. There was also the first cybie fight  in the mapset near the end of the level. That fight was not really hard but rockets were quite scarce so you must be accurate in your shots to not run out of ammo. You had to kill also two special troopers  together . They were not hard to kill too but they can deal a lot of damage very quickly when you are close of them. The rest of the map was not hard when you play cautiously. 

 

Four secrets can be found but the reward was really poor. There was no interest to find a single medkit or just some blue bottles. The soulsphere was more useful but still insufficient to survire a Cybie's rocket due to lack of armor.

 

I've nothing special to say about the aesthetic , not ugly but not awesome too. Some rooms were cute like the first room. However , this level has a "new" music. Not really new in fact because Worch just replaced the music of map 07 with the music of map 09. It didn't bother me because I actually prefer the music from "The pit".

[tmorrow]

map08: Star Control, by Matthias Worch
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

A step down in difficulty for the largest map in the set. The pistol starter will have to suffer with shotgun, chaingun and berserk despite the loads of plasma ammo strewn around. None of the fight are overly challenging.

I wasn't as impressed with the switch based progression as I was on the earlier maps. The keys could have been guarded far more vigorously as well. There are some teleporters that can be used as shortcuts but depending on your route, the destinations may already be cleared.

My favourite section was the hunt for the yellow key. The rewards for finding the secrets were quite helpful on this map, providing armor, health and ammo.

map09: Deliverence?, by Matthias Worch
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

An extremely simple and quick icon of sin map. Collect the rocket launcher and a bunch of rockets then shoot through the windows in the middle and let splash do the rest.

ttpbonus.wad: map01: by Matthias Worch
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

Some people may not have noticed but Matthias has a bonus map (ttpbonus.wad) included in the TTP package. It is the first map Matthias ever created and is worth a play. I was not too fond of the rooms with the extreme lighting experiments going on but enjoyed the rest of the map.

Overall WAD Comments

A thoroughly enjoyable wad by a gifted mapper, the strength of these maps is how danger and progression is achieved by changing and rebuilding a level right before your very eyes. All of these maps are well worth playing today, my favorites being map06 and map07.

Seeing what Matthias was able to do in 1996 makes me wonder what kind of work he could produce today in doom. After his amateur work designing doom and quake maps Matthias went professional and has made a career as a video game designer and computer graphics artist. A quick search around the internet shows that Matthias has a wiki entry, his own website  and a youtube channel. His level design retrospective videos are particularly interesting.

[Pirx]

 

update, i had a bit of time for gaming  :p

 

 

playing The Troopers’ Playground on continuous, with 1 save at the start of each map, after reading how it's apparently made for this style of play. not feeling like getting bitten by pinkies only because i'm supposed to have my gear on map05 or so.

 

 

MAP01 - “Welcome

 

easy game, predominantly brown map, with 2 wings housing one of the 2 keys that are required for opening the exit door. behind it: this enemy marine with an auto shotgun. looks a bit goofy without a helmet, though, and is easily dispatched with the chaingun (hm, later experience tells me i was just lucky enough to stun him)

 

 

MAP02 - “Intrusion”

 

@Roofi indeed reminiscent of the early hell revealed maps, boxy and incoherently textured, however mostly brown. yeah the pinkies convinced me that playing this with carryovers was the better idea. hiding shotgunners behind grates is mean. i liked the trap with the baron, however defused it easily as the cacos were visible from the door, so i shot them first from here (instead of running into them and then back and into the baron's arms, as the author intended). the map gives you the ssg, and from here on it's a walk in the park. 

 

 

MAP03 - “Simply Dead…”

 

more a tricks and traps map. annoying from pistol start, with only a shotgun against a PE, so one should block that one from spewing skulls while also using it as a shield agaist the chaingunners who spawn repeatedly in this first larger room. lots of boxy rooms, not much visually. the baron crusher is dispensable, like a strange side-quest, but at least it looks unmistakable with its lattice ceiling. there's one secret blur sphere intended for the chaingunner gangbang. the map had a bug, perhaps it doesn't work correctly with gzdoom, i don't know, anyway, the wall would close if i stepped on the blue key pedestal and trap me behind that fence forever. so i took the key without stepping on that pedestal and it worked fine. the fight at the exit was built around the two barons as main opponents, but actually they only were in the way (or not even that) while i sniped at the chaingunners above.

 

 

MAP04 - “Going Down”

 

just quoting @Spectre01 here because he summed up my thoughts on this map, it's kinda silly from pistol start, and matthias brings a bit too much of his switch games for my taste here. it's mostly a game of sniping chaingunners and shotgun guys, and occasional imps and cacos in a brown, uncomfortably narrow underground complex. it gets you a backback though.

 

 

MAP05 - “Underground Temple”

 

i was about to quit for today when the map loaded and i noticed the welcome change in textures, now we also have marble and some concrete. indeed udoom ep.4-like @Roofi. why didn't this come earlier? some secrets i stumbled upon by humping walls, like the one right after the blue door. also somewhat better fights, like those where you can get barons and cacos to do the dirty work for you. iirc one trooper. smacked him with a rocket. not a spectacular map, but definitely an improvement after 3 and 4.

 

 

MAP06 - “Deep Down Below”

 

but wait, that's map09 from requiem, or an earlier version of it, although unchanged in large parts. lacked the barons vs mancs infight behind the yellow key and had one trooper instead of a chaingunner. overall i preferred the requiem version.

 

[Woolie Wool]

MAP07: THREE-O-MATIC ON THE TREE

Time: 16:11 | Kills: 101% | Items: 48% | Secrets: 50% | continuous

 

Another somewhat disjointed brick/tech melange. This one has a fairly hectic start for a '97 wad as you're lowered on a pillar into a room full of zombies and imps and have to clear them out quickly to avoid being caught in a crossfire. It's routine stuff now but a lot more involved than the usual room with a shotgun you got in '97. Almost all the significant threats are hitscanners; on continuous, where the severe weapon restrictions in this map don't really matter, the difficulty is continuing to decline as hitscanner crossfires that are just as deadly now as they were in the '90s make way for dull encounters with singles, pairs, or trios of heavyweight monsters, including the dullest dual archie encounter I've played since 6fiffy1 (speaking of late '90s...).The cyber is a bit more tense than the usual '90s fare due to the layout of the T-junction you fight him in making circle-strafing impractical and the extreme shortage of cells that makes the plasma gun more or less a non-factor in this level, but he's completely unsupported and goes down easily unless you run straight into a rocket. The terrible two Evil Troopers are pretty scary, though--they were no match for my Wolf3D-honed hitscanner evasion, but players more used to projectile throwers over hitscanners might get minced once or twice.

Edited May 11, 2018 by Woolie Wool

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

We got to the end of the Trooper's Playground today, so let's round it off.

 

MAP08: Sci-Fi Space Place

GZDoom 3.4 pre-298, UV, continuous run, manual saves

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

Quite possibly the easiest map of the set, this one is the largest and is a rather nonlinear one at that. Most of the fights are against low level projectile throwers or against zombies, but you always have adequate ammo to deal with them. Primarily, the map is really just a key hunt with a couple switches here and there and a little combat.

 

Somewhat fitting as a penultimate level, you'll face three troopers in this map, but their locations are such that the threat they pose is minimal. For you continuous runners, your SSG and rocket launcher will carry the day with them.

 

Toward the end I was sufficiently bored that I decided to play around with my plasma rifle that I'd barely used the entire wad. While a neat map, there wasn't anything I found particularly cool here and it seemed to stay a while longer than it actually did.

 

MAP09: Icon of Just Shut the Fuck Up and Let Me Kill Shit

GZDoom 3.4 pre-298, UV, continuous, no saves

 

Just run in and shoot the rockets in the holes and you're winner!

 

Bonus map

GZDoom 3.4 pre-298, UV, pistol start (obviously), no saves

 

Since @tmorrow did this one, I figured I'd do it, too. That way if he was wrong (which I doubt he was), he wouldn't be wrong by himself.

 

Apparently Matthias' first map, this one shows its age even comparatively speaking, with its incredibly easy-to-find secrets and really easy difficulty. I ran this with the deh file in the event he had decided to use the trooper here as well, but he didn't. The only points of note that gave me any pause were the areas that were pitch dark, such that my flashlight mod carried me.

 

A very basic map, just hunt the keys, kill the bad guys, find the exit, this one lends itself toward fun, but it's nothing particularly special.

 

Overall, The Trooper's Playground was ultimately an enjoyable romp, but not a really memorable one. It utilized some neat mechanics, but it never really ascended beyond that, neat.

Give it a B.

[Roofi]

Map 08 : Star Control

 

 

Difficulty : Easy

Death(s) : 0

FDA : Yes

 

DEMO

 

The monsters took the control of the base in order to blow up the star ! You must stop them before it's too late !

 

It was not a hard task. As said before , Star control is one of the easiest map in the set and also the best according to me. The gameplay is more fluid thanks to non-linearity , larger rooms , more plentiful ammo and health , green armor , fairer traps...However , no SSG but it wasn't really needed  compared to the previous level. No rocket launcher in sight while you can find some rockets in a secret. You can find two green armor in this map but one of them was located at the very end of the level so it was not useful. The other can be obtained much earlier in a secret which was really easy to reveal (You must press a switch similar to E1M1's one) I was expecting a sordid trap in the red key room, but I was really surprised by the invisible floor. I love how Matthias worch keeps us in suspense by making unexpected situations. The others traps were quite basic but not enough to be bored. The evil troopers were not a big threat because they can't reach you again. The most dangerous monsters were maybe the few revenants which populate the level. Hitscanners were quite numerous but not a big trouble when you wear a green armor.

 

I digged the aesthetics of this map because it was more rich in details than the previous levels. I have a favourite for the little outdoor courtyard near the end of the level , where you kill  some chaingunners after hitting a switch. It reminded me of Mars war , one of my favourite megawads , for some reasons.

 

Map 09 : Deliverence?

 

 

Difficulty : Very Easy

Death(s) : 0

FDA : Yes

 

DEMO

 

Well , a very classic IOS map... The shittiest map in the mapset to be honest. You must kill the boss in a futuristic bland arena. The idea of raising and lowering the romero's head was rather nice but spoilt by the strange vanilla mechanics. You have just to shoot the metal bars with your RL to win the game !
The music from "The pit" was replaced by the music of "Dead simple" this time.

 

 

I will make my global review and the review of the bonus map later.

[Capellan]

MAP08

The largest, most sprawling, exploration themed level of the wad.  It's not terribly difficult, certainly easier than say map06, but it's pretty fun to run around and it is nice to see (a) a strong futuristic techbase theme, at odds with most of the level and (b) several globs of mixed monsters that at least challenge you to prioritise your targets a bit.  Most of it would be instinctive to modern players by now, but back in the day this would have been pretty clever.

 

 

MAP09

Insert rockets on hole, go boom.

 

 

Overall

Really glad we finally played this one.  I didn't love every level, and there were rather too many switches in general, but it's very good by the standards of its time, and was certainly worth the play, IMO.

 

[Spectre01]

MAP08 - “Star Control” FDA-Max: ttp08-S01-2734-FDA.zip

Large map, with a memorable central chamber and good use of verticality. Nothing is particularly mean here, although having just the regular Shotgun and Chaingun available is pretty damn boring. At least there is some armour early on and plenty of health. What's the deal with those teleports too? Didn't seem very useful... Another map that would be faster and more fun if played continuously.

[Spectre01]

MAP09 - “Deliverance?” FDA: ttp09-S01-254-FDA.zip

Hmm... 0 monsters. Could it be? Yes it is! An IoS in the map09 slot! But wait a minute, monsters can't telefrag outside of map30. Doesn't that mean that if I don't alert them, the spawn destinations will be full of stuck and useless enemies? It sure does! I don't know what's intended here, but I basically ran around until trying to shoot through the bars, which seemed to work. The monsters were stuck and completely useless. Which is good, because I had jack-shit from pistol start except for the Rocket Launcher. Thanks for the cells I guess!

 

I may just blast through this wad on continuous before posting my final thoughts. Pistol starting is clearly not the intended experience, and wasn't for the previous wad, so I'll likely be doing continuous play for the next one.

[gaspe]

MAP08: Suddenly there's one map with a clear and definite theme that was strange but it's a good level, second only to MAP06. Shame that there's some exploration you can do in the base but you won't find some more powerful weapons. The effect used for the RK was cool.

 

MAP09: IoS, I guess I was lucky because I finished it in 20 seconds, so that's a good thing.

 

On the whole it's an interesting episode where the usage of tricks (all done in vanilla) is the main attraction. Not always at its best regarding the looks but it was fun to play even though it's clearly tailored for a continuous play.

 

Now, are you ready to get depressed for the rest of the month?

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP08: Star Control

 

This one feels like a return to form for the WAD, with a stronger technological feel rather than the bricks and grungy metal that dominated the preceding map, and a brighter and more airy overall atmosphere.  The central chamber with its yellow-locked lift shaft and encircling walkway is a nice landmark, and the internal teleporter network that opens up once you ride that lift up to the map's upper level is an interesting inclusion even if it doesn't feel like it'll see much use.  Outside of that I'm inclined to say that the combat gameplay is pretty more of the WAD doing what it's done thus far, with lots of imps, demons, and zombies of various ranks punctuated occasionally by heavy hitters.  There's lots of plasma available but even playing on continuous I didn't really feel the pressure to break out anything bigger than the chaingun and super shotgun for the most part.

 

MAP09: Deliverance?

 

And here we are at the conclusion of the WAD, with a mercifully brief and straightforward Icon of Sin battle marking the point where it all ends.  I actually like the sense that it's a somewhat token fight as set-piece battles haven't really been the focus of the level set up to this point, have they?  It's been more about the corridor-crawling and relatively tight confines of techbase and brick mazes, rather than anything especially staged and theatrical.  The local monsters are out of their element in a setup like this so of course it's a relatively straightforward task for the invading marine to romp to victory.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP08 Star Control

 

Biggest level of the set, penultimate too. What's to say? Action is consistent as always, and it isn't too cramped or difficult. A faux-hub with that elevator to the high level, but most of the action won't take place there. There's quite a lot of interest in the side areas, including the lowering of the midsection of steps on the right and the floating red key. Pleasant map.

 

MAP09 Deliverence?

 

That's not how you spell that. A roundabout IoS map which isn't fun due to the rising/lowering platform gimmick.

[Roofi]

Map Bonus :

 

 

Difficulty : Medium

Death(s) : 1

FDA : no

 

DEMO

 

According to the txt , it was his "first true single player wad for Doom II". Nothing seems to say that this map was his first. But whatever , we can realize very quickly that he had little experience when he made that level.

 

The whole was so-so but pretty good for a beginner's map. Some ideas were neat whereas some were annoying. Everything was playable at least and the map didn't suffer of serious problem.

 

Worch was already able to make clever traps or arduous situations without placing billions of ennemies. For some reasons , I digged the big flickering circular room with the lone revenant. I like how Worch plays with lights , liquids and other stuff to make monsters more dangerous. The pinkies' trap was nice but a bit too slow. The vile's trap at the end was kinda cheap because there was nothing to dodge its attacks.

 

However I didn't like the maze with slime , it annoyed me a lot because of the high edges. The rest was ok but nothing special.

 

 

 

Global review

 

TTP was a good wad for its time and stays enjoyable today. However , this mapset can be easily forgot because of lack of new music despite the new textures and the new ennemy. Also the levels didn't really bring a real innovation although a lot of traps were really well thought. Concerning the special monster , I think that Worch had not exploited their potential enough. Indeed , nearly every fight against them turned to be very cheesable because they were always perched on a sector so that they can't move.

 

 The gameplay itself was fine but not really fun. The lack of ammo and armor always forces you to play cautiously whereas the original Doom usually proposed a punchy gameplay. I add also the global crampedness and sometimes the strong linearity which contribute to make the wad very outdated. The aesthectics prove to be very generic today but there was not an advanced builder before so it was beautiful for its time.

[Rene Mori]

Holy mother of joseph, I had to blitzkrieg through 6 maps, since I was immensely busy during this week and creating custom monster during my nonexistent free time. So, without without further ado, let's get medieval on this wad:

MAP04 - "My sweet honeymoon with chaingunners"

No armor, tons of hitscans, only normal shotgun and chaingun are to your aid. Encounters are pretty straightforward, Except for 2 parts: First one is blue keycard trap, First time I entered this room I fell right into this hole like garbage into the trash can, I didn't even realise it was there. But it was pretty neat small "puzzle" so I guess there is that. And second one is balcony section in courtyard, the problem is that the texture aligned this way, that you can't see enemies who are below you, this doesn't apply to enemies however, these cheeky bastard. Visualy it's alright, but nothing special. So in overall it was pretty decent

MAP05 - "Gorgeous shores of hell"

I like this map visually, and I think the best looking map out of the set (but I gotta admit, I'm sucker for marble hell). Gameplay wise it's fairly challenging, since you will be really short on ammo. Other then that usual stuff, hordes of pinkies, some bones there and there, one really noisy arch-vile, you know, usual stuff.

MAP06 - "Mapper gets sudden stroke"

Am I the only one who felt this map was made by another person? Megasphere in the beggining, tons of weapons, really easy encounters, no traps. I doesn't mean it was a bad map though, I quite enjoyed for what it was, but sudden shift in mood took me by surprise, not gonna lie. (Ok, this map is from another map set, thanks to comments above, well that explains a lot)

MAP07 - "Screaming bones"

Welp, this level was my favourite gameplay wise but in a cheap way, pretty brutal and kinda unfair encounters, ammo was strict (I had to go berserk on these bastards a lot), somewhat complex structure of the level (though it's mainly illusion, it's still liniar as hell). Oh, and of course good old cyberdemon was an icing on the cake. The only problem was 1 stuck revenant, who could see me through walls, and was shooting at me (even though he obviously couldn't hit with projectiles cause of walls), that gave his extra edge to this level, since I was prepared to get spooked by really hard any moment. Seems like traps were designed not very consistent with that one, so it perhaps I got lucky to get decent experience from this map.

MAP08 - "Tale of pointless rooms"

Wow, this one looks really impressive visually. Thas central room with lift was pretty cool, not gonna lie. Encounters are pretty decent, but nothing really special. The weird part about this map is that there are some really weird parts. I managed to exit level without visiting many places, which strucked me odd. I returned back just to check, and it seems like they are important, since they have switches and stuff, but somehow they don't seem to do anything? I don't know, that was just weird. Still, pretty solid level.

MAP09 - "It's the end, and there is still no armor"

Welp, this is it, we had quite a huge adventure with lots of ups and downs, what kind of grand conclusion is going to wait us? Welp, John Romero riding lift while taunting us seems like a good way to end this wad. In all seriousness, it's just slightly more inventive icon of sin boss fight, that's pretty much it.

SO, What can I say about this wad, well, it holds pretty well even after 20+ years, which is impressive. I will point out that it was a treat to play it, but it's nothing ground breaking really. What's the morale of this story you may ask, well: "Never go killing demons naked". Seriously, doomguy, couldn't you bring armor with yourself or something?

Gameplay info: UV, pistol start, no saves. Environment difficulty: no light, since light bulb exploded with power of 2 colliding suns.

Edited May 11, 2018 by BioRenegat

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

Good to see you again, @BioRenegat. You've missed a rather eventful week. That's probably good.

Also, you can review the bonus map if you like.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP08: Star Control

100% kills, 3/4 secrets

 

Another shift in theme, this time to a techbase. Does a good job feeling different room-wise as well, with more large open areas and such. Lots of KTITD-style bits too like a computer maze and being able to go outside into a Phobosian brown area. I really liked the central room with the yellow key lift, gave me some Dark Forces vibes. Unfortunately there's no real ramp up in combat, as it's still single shotty/chaingun against small fry monsters for the most part. Lots of cells scattered about but no weapon to use them with.

 

MAP09: Deliverence?

 

A (close to) one-room IoS, looks like it's in a cage at first but the rocket splash can still hit the Romero head. Whatever.

[DavitW]

MAP08 - Star Control

This is the penultimate map of the episode, and so it fittingly has the most monster's although it actually was one of the easiest levels of the wad for me. This map's got a starport theme and so it's grey as hell though the color and texture opens up a bit later. Once again we're only given the shotgun and chaingun so it's another bad pistol start as you'll be spending large amounts of your time plucking Revenants and Mancubi to death. Of course there's still plenty of tricks here just like previous maps, Such as the red key area and an ambush with 2 troopers at the end. Although the design and architecture may not be quite as sophisticated as more modern maps it's still quite interesting and the map was enjoyable enough to play through.

 

MAP09 - Deliverence?

At least it seems the author seems to recognize he probably spelled the name wrong, Too bad he couldn't be bothered to get a dictionary out. This is a icon of sin fight where John Romero's head is on an elevator in the middle of the map and you to run around and shoot rockets through the windows. Not much to say here as it's a very basic map and you caneasily beat it in about 30 seconds.

 

Overall The Trooper's Playground was an overall good experience featuring level design that's pretty top notch for the time it came out and it can still be fun to play through. Highlights would be map 06 and map 08, while some lowlights so to speak would be map 03, which was neither interesting nor fun to play through and the atrocious pistol start balance, So if you're planning on playing this you'd be best off not being a hardass like me and just playing through it continuous instead.

[Capellan]

Talosian Incident

As usual, PrBoom+, HMP, continuous, frequent saves, no music.

 

 

MAP01

Ah, a silent opener.  That can be effective, but I think this is a bit too large and too static to really work.  Needed some remotely triggered moving platforms or doors or something, if it wsn't going to offer monsters (of course, suitably foreboding music might have helped, but see above).

 

 

[Roofi]

Good , let's start The Talosian Incident ! I played it 2 years ago and the main thing I remember is  that the wad was extremely atmospheric, mysterious and creepy at times. I think it's one of the best wads which use ambiant midi musics.

 

However , I don't remember at all how the layouts look because most of them were really weird and sometimes crappy to be honest. But whatever , I had an unique doom experience while playing  it. I think that it will be a very interesting to review because the authors wanted to make something experimental.

 

Configurations : Prboom + , UV (max when I can) , Pistol-start

 

Map 01 : The transport

 

 

Difficulty : very easy

Death(s) : 0

FDA : No (I had to record a second demo because I accidentaly exited the level).

 

DEMO

 

Well , everything went wrong during your journey. All your teamates look dead and exploring the spaceship alone gives you goosebumps.

 

John Bye introduces you to the special atmosphere of The Talosian Incident. This level shows you how The Talosian incident (TTI) will make you feel very alone. Indeed , you can hear a very quiet music  which completely contrasts with usual punchy tracks used in many wads. Also , where are the monsters? They didn't find you yet. You can actually find a revenant if you go down but he's impossible to kill without cheats because there is no way to wake him. There was also a pretty difficult and useless secret to find. You can get a free chainsaw in a bedroom , yeah !

 

However , you can die in this map because you will lose health if you enter in the blue key's room and the reactor's room without a radsuit. Otherwise , I don't understand why the blue key's room was dangerous...  Fortunaly , you don't have to collect the blue key to finish the level , but I advise you to explore the spaceship in order to fully enjoy the ambiance. If you are playing continously , don't forget to take a shotgun , an armor and ammo in the arsenal !

[Woolie Wool]

MAP06: STAR CONTROL II: THE UR-QUAN MASTERS

Time: 21:06 | Kills: 96% | Items: 92% | Secrets: 75% | continuous

 

What should be the climax of this episode is a major disappointment, a dull, ugly techbase with an irritatingly obtuse progression involving a very '90s shootable switch that looks like it should be shootable from any height, since it's not recessed into the wall like modern shootable switches, but it isn't. You have to go all the way around the level to reach a platform in the shootable switch room to activate it. Other than that nothing interesting happens; all the fights here pull their punches. Aggressive players will likely have already bypassed the two-Evil Trooper surprise even before they hear or see it trigger, and then they can be either ignored or you can slice the pie with the plasma gun for two easy kills because they can't move in their little closets.

 

MAP09: DELIVERENCE?

Time: 0:26 | Kills: 0% | Items: 100% | Secrets: 100% | continuous

 

Zero-effort IoS level, both on part of player and mapper. The moment you notice one of those shutters on the pillar opening is the moment the mapset is over. At least Worch could have built an IoS head so I could make the "purdy mouth" joke but he didn't even do that.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

The Talosian Incident

 

This will be the first time I've played it, just like the two before, so let's see what it has in store for us.

 

MAP01: The Empty Starship

GZDoom 2.4.0, UV, continuous, saves

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

This room damages you. I don't know why it does that.

 

A strange place for a secret.

"Sir, uh, this place is dead. Whatever happened here, I think we missed it."

 

A foreboding level, or it would be if my hud's kill counter didn't immediately betray it. You find yourself alone on a starship in interstellar space in the galaxy.

No, wait, that's too boring. Let's spice it up.

You appear inexplicably on the bridge of a UAC space vessel. It's quiet, no one's alive, and you've no idea where you are. On top of that, your equipment has also been inexplicably stripped from you, so all you have are your trusty handgun and fifty bullets.

 

Prose over with, this map favors exploration over combat (just a little) and has you search the decks for anything that might help you on your mission. In a specific hurt-room, you'll find the blue key and a shotgun, and further exploration can reveal a chainsaw hidden away in one of the walls. Still, you can find more weapons and armor in the ship, which may help in a continuous run.

 

As previously noted, there is a revenant present in the level, but it is not in a position for you to attack it, and a similar deal happens with some voodoo dolls in a large room near the center. Beyond that, there isn't very much to this level, but since Malcolm Sailor made the next one, the same thing shouldn't be true for it.

[tmorrow]

The Talosian Incident

It appears that the routine scouting mission on the third planet of the Talosian system has gone wrong, horribly wrong. With several of the crew dying grizzly deaths and the rest in suspended animation, our trusty space marine manages to pilot the space transport to enter the orbit and safely land on the planet, only to discover that all outgoing signals are somehow being blocked. So our hapless hero gets to suit up, find and shutdown the artefact jamming communications and save the surviving crew. Yeah, it's a typical day in the life of our marine.

 

Let's see how the mapset plays out the story.

map01: The Transport, by John Bye
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

You start aboard the Transport, which has come to rest on unfamiliar soil, that of the 3rd planet in the Talosian system. The ship is empty save for the dead pilot in the control room and the remaining crew in suspended animation somewhere on the ship. There's a stash of ammo, health and armor in the middle of the ship that can give you boost if you are playing continuous.

The first map is really a story intro. You can explore the halls of the space transport, find a chainsaw secret and visit the room full of the remaining crew, suspended in cryogenic chambers. Another room has a specimen revenant behind glass that can't be killed. I'll bet there's an alien inside that revenant! You can find a blue key card in a pain sector that is not really required.