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

[tmorrow]

map03: The Cliff Top Fort, by Dan Huff
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

This map has a large outdoor area, a building complex and some silos. Unfortunately the map is fairly bland with few decorations. There are several teleporters to facilitate getting around the building complex where you will spend most of your time. Most of the enemies are low tier with a handful of pain elementals thrown in to spice up the battles. The secrets are extremely simple to find, in fact almost impossible to overlook.

Most of the encounters are far too easy given the weaponry and ammo you are given. You are provided with super shotgun, plasma rifle, rocket launcher and chainsaw but most of the ammo is for the super shotgun so you'll be using that the most of the time. The enemy density marginally increases in the silo area where the yellow key is located. I enjoyed that area the most with the exception of the slow ride down the lift after collecting the yellow key.

At the top of a flight of stairs is a teleporter and a window into a room with a silo that you can't get into . There are 2 lost souls in there and only one of them triggers. This won't matter for sourceports that use the doom2 way of ignoring lost souls in the monster count.

The circular area where you find the blue key has a huge hall of mirrors in zdoom and to a lesser extent in glboom and you can't see the chaingunners shooting at you. The area seems to work fine in prboom and gzdoom though.

[Capellan]

Searching idgames for author name "huff" turns up  fair few deathmatch levels by Daniel Huff, but nothing single player.

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames//index.php?search&page=1&field=author&word=huff&sort=time&order=asc

 

Also a bunch of x-rated wads by Stephen Huff, but they're probably not relevant unless you're fascinated by low-res bosoms.

 

[Roofi]

Map 03 : The Cliff Top Fort
 

 

Difficulty : Easy

Death(s) : 0

FDA : yes

 

DEMO

 

You climb the mountain and  you find a D!zone-like alien fort ! You start to wonder if the aliens are very dangerous but in any case you are sure that they are not good architects!

 

I agree with others , this only  map made by Dan Huff was crap. I think he was the most unexperienced mapper in the team because he seems to be totally unknown in the doom community. It was playable but that could be perfectly included in a Dzone map pack because it shares exactly the same weaknessesses.

 

First , the progression was totally unintuitive . As said before , the mandatory keys were placed in secrets , it makes no sense. But that would not have been a  big problem if there was at least a little clue to find them. I fortunately remembered how to find the blue key because because I would have spent dozens of minutes searching it , seeing how it was ridiculously hidden. This level was very open at least but a lot of useless doors lead to the same places. You don't even know in which order you must find the keys. The progression was also annoying. You can take a lot of teleporters but you never know where they lead. Also , we must add fake walls for no real reason , elevators which take forever to go down (Yellow key) and I maybe forgot other things.

 

I'm a bit mixed about the aesthetics because even if the map has a lot of weird rooms and uninteresting long corridors , some parts look pretty nice. I enjoyed visiting the circular rooms because it's actually an under-used shape , especially in 90' wads. Some textures were cleverly used. I liked how the texture "Cratop2" was used to make sand in the circular rooms near the spawn . The level was not ugly  but terribly lacked of light variations , consistency between rooms... It broke the immersion but at least the music worthed it.

 

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP03: The Cliff Top Fort

 

I feel like I've got a bit of a soft spot for maligned maps.  I pop into the thread, I skim over what's been posted already, and if I see a level catching flak, there's a part of me that can't help but want to take a contrarian stance.  "Oh," I tell myself, "surely it's not that bad.  Surely there are things to love about it.  Surely there's some value in what it's doing even if it's doing something unconventional."

 

For what it's worth, the mandatory secrets don't particularly bother me here; it's apparent enough, in the circular structures where the blue and yellow keys are found, that there's more going on in both areas than is immediately obvious, with the smooth emptiness of the blue "flying saucer" encouraging further investigation, and the flame atop the yellow key tower likewise inviting the player to ask just what the purpose of the ascent might have been.  On the other hand... yeah, the barrenness of the preceding maps ramps up here in a way that doesn't feel deliberate; I get a sense that the anonymous corridors and bunkers of this level are intended to be engaging, but fall flat.  There are some good ideas here but they're not executed in a way that satisfies.

[gaspe]

MAP03: I remembered this a bit, and I thought it was worse but I somehow revalued it. Gameplay isn't engaging, if you are pistol starting you are more forced to move and probably you can get some more interesting skirmishes at the start. The lighting is extremely lacking and the texturing seems neglected, which accentuates the bad feels of these empty places. It seems that the author really loved his circles, and there are other oddities like some linedefs in the central building are hidden, and idk know what's going on with the sectors in the BK tower. On the other hand I think that are some good things. There's a decent attempt of setting the scenery: in the outdoor the different parts have all different sky heights, there's a view of an unreachable tall silver tower, the various locations (the circular rooms, the dark inner halls, the outer buildings) fits well for the theme though their execution is poor. The usage of the yellow door marks as lanterns was nice. Actually we need more mandatory secrets in our lives. The YK tower was cool (could it be a lighthouse?), the best thing of the level.

[Catpho]

MAP03 - “The Cliff Top Fort” by Dan Huff

Dan Huff is one of the few deviations from John Bye and Malcolm Sailor (those 2 make the majority of the mapset), and boy aint this different.

Instead of the moody exploration from Bye or the short and to the point action of Malcolm Sailor, we get a map that reeks mid 90s/early doom mapping tropes. A large Cliff Fort (gee, that was unexpected) with crude and bland looks (the "simple" adjective can only go so far, nice metal thingys tho), nonexistent lighting detail and large unexciting empty spaces. But despite all of that there are still visuals to remember: funky looking automap, a nice view on top of a metal thingy (what ARE those things? Towers???) and still a John Bye track being a John Bye track. Gameplay is standard shotgun affair that is tough because health is sometimes in short supply. Progression is diabolical tho. One of the reasons why i dread playing 90s wads is that they sometimes have mandatory secrets, but this was handles tastefully i think (???). It makes sense in a weird way.

For the rest, i like gaspe's post on this so go read that (and Yakfak's too while you are at it, its on the first page).

Some screenies:

 

Edited May 15, 2018 by Catpho

[Capellan]

MAP04

This is the first map that's really felt like Doom, with reasonable monster density for the space provided, but it is only just getting going when it comes to an end. There's simply not enough meat here: basically just four areas , being the start, two wings to get keys, and then the end.

 

I'm not averse to small maps, as my own mapping history will show, but a small map should still feel complete, in and of itself, I don't think this one does. Which is a shame, since until the abrupt end, I was digging it.

 

 

[Pirx]

so, to get ttp done...

 

 

MAP07 - “Three-o-Matic”

 

doesn't play well from pistol start at all. too little weapons and health (there's a secret soulsphere somewhere, but pretty late). on the other hand, there's not much one can't steamroll with the weaponry brought from the earlier levels. the only time a took a hit was from the double archvile trap, and that for my sloppy play. so i see those mancs were used to lower the grates around the teleporter when dead. the single siege cow with enough space for dodging... i don't know, today he was more a test of how close can i stay while ssg-ing him, just because. the last room was rather strange too because the cacos outside had trouble belching fireballs at me, and the PE kept detonating its skulls uselessly against the wall.

 

 

MAP08 - “Star Control”

 

not very impressed by this one. a series of disjointed, vaguely techbase-ish rooms with less resistance than the previous maps. the evil troopers were wasted in every map by being placed on crates, pedestals etc like turrets.

 

at least, apparently matthias played that game too.

 

 

MAP09 - “Deliverance?”

 

with a question mark? yeah it's very basic indeed.

 

overall it's ok, but shows its age because of the tropes that are barely used in modern mapping: made for continuous play, "fuck you" traps like inescapable pits, barons in empty spaces like they're going to scare anyone today, secrets without any hint. i can live with low detail architecture, but said tropes are tiring imo.

thanks on the info on the author, however, i liked seeing how his quake architecture was at a much higher level imo, and how this modding got him a job in the game industry.

[Pirx]

now off to talos. 

 

good thing that modern ports can simply load those wads without assembling them with deusf which doesn't run on 64 bit anyway.

i'll play that on continuous too as it's obviously intended with its story mode. the crew went to great lengths to tell their story through doom maps, something i think was quite novel at that time. 

 

 

MAP01 - “The Transport” by John Bye

 

very inspired by "alien", you're alone on a ship with utilitarian silver walls, some hibernating marines, some specimens, an armory, and that low droning in the background does a good job of establishing the bleak atmosphere that marks this wad.

 

 

MAP02 - “Desolation” by Malcolm Sailor

 

not much in the way of combat, just some imps and other rabble to punch. you leave the shuttle on a planet where the grand scale architecture, the orange sky and the low key music leave you with just one impression: of desolation.

 

 

MAP03 - “The Cliff Top Fort” by Dan Huff

 

i see where the dislike for this map is coming from. very basic architecture and lighting in parts, a bit of rabble to kill, and then you run through the same empty hallways looking for a key to leave this desolate place. at least the mushroom-shaped metal structure sticks out, the only detail i recognized immediately.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP04: The Chapel

97% kills, 2/3 secrets

 

If you were getting bored of the open, desolate maps this one turns the tide by squeezing a bunch of small fry enemies into close quarters. Nothing a little buckshot can't fix (or the ample amount given in this level for that matter). It's a bit too room-hallway-room-hallway for my tastes, and as Capellan says it ends just when it starts getting going. There's some deep water tricks done here but they're barely noticeable, not even worth the mapper's time including IMO.

[DavitW]

MAP03 - The Cliff Top Fort

Well this map straight up blows chunks, Fortunately there's a part of me that likes ranting about bad maps so i'm just going to tell you all the reasons i can why this map sucks. To start off the map's ugly as sin and poorly designed, The architecture is very simple and boring while most of the map's brown as hell with only a little bit of green and what I assume is a silver UFO there to break up the monotony. The gameplay fairs little better as the map is non linear and doesn't have the slightest sense of flow or direction to it, You can do non linear maps well but even then the player needs some sort of bread trail to follow so they don't end up wandering around aimlessly for 10 minutes. Going off that weapons, items, and enemies just seem to be thrown around haphazardly with little rhyme or reason and the map goes from giant wide open spaces to tiny hallways back to huge open areas in no time. and to top it off the elevators going down from the yellow key and to the exit are too damn slow.

 

MAP04 - The Chapel

This is a fairly short and simple map here taking placing in a sort of cavern setting. The monsters are mostly zombies and the lesser demons packed in fairly tight and there's not much in the way of clever tricks and traps here, But it's still competently designed and enjoyably to play through even though it does end abruptly. It look's like there's still plenty more to go through but nope, enter the fort and the maps over. Of course they're probably setting up to the next map but i still felt there should have added a bit more to the map.

[tmorrow]

map04: The Chapel, by John Bye
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

It's time to go subterranean. That artefact has got to be somewhere! John Bye gives us an underground cavern to explore. There are some buildings, even a chapel that contain the keys needed for progression and a final cavern with a blood river running through it. The toughest encounter is probably the one at the beginning before you collect weapons.

[Roofi]

Map 04 : The chapel

 

 

Author : John Bye

Difficulty : Easy

Death(s) : 0

FDA : Yes

 

DEMO

 

While you are going down , you hear a loud organ playing a strange melody as if you were in a church. You notice that there is indeed a kind of church but in what do the aliens believe?

 

A very straightforward level where you have to explore a little chapel hidden in a cavern. The monster density is higher but it doesn't pose more difficulty thanks to the SSG which you get very early and also the lack of real trap. I think that some traps would not have been a refusal in order to keep the player in suspense. However the beginning was a little tough because some shotgunners and a chaingunner welcome you happily. I also reproach the absence of exit sign because I often walk accidentally on the exit linedef whereas I want to find all the secrets...

 

Anyway , the architecture was interesting in this level, I would liked a slightly bigger level but whatever. The chapel's details look good for a 97' wad . I liked the Deep water effect used in the river of blood because it gives a realistic tone. I usually like underground maps but the music annoyed me to be honest , I turned down the volume.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP04: The Chapel

 

Now that's better, a much clearer and more focused concept with tighter execution, the anonymous and starkly-lit hallways and out-of-place seeming technological elements of the preceding maps giving way here to a subterranean church and its surrounding caverns.  These aren't new ideas by any stretch of the imagination but I think the disappointments of MAP03 help to make them welcome nonetheless; these are familiar themes, executed competently, although the decision not to signpost either of the locked doors nor the exit is a curious one.  The former isn't a problem in a map as compact and brief as this one; the latter... feels unnecessary, and definitely caught me off-guard, when I was looking instead for a way to climb up to the chaingunner perches.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP04 The Chapel

 

Far from the best John Bye level, but not really awful awful. Secrets will require quite a bit of guesswork, and John Bye does not do the deep water effect quite well. Combat is an improvement, while we saw hitscanners in the last level, there are more here. This only really has a chapel in the middle and some big caverns to the north and south.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

3 hours ago, Roofi said:

While you are going down , you hear a loud organ playing a strange melody as if you were in a church. You notice that there is indeed a kind of church but in what do the aliens believe?

Fhtagn!

 

MAP04: Underground Chapel, OF DOOM

GZDoom 2.4.0, UV, continuous, saves

 

Screenshots first, spoilered as is normal.

Spoiler

Not a bad looking cave, especially for the time.

 

 

A couple of secrets found by complete mistake.

 

Aw, look at that glitching.

 

Probably the first Doom-esque map, our glorious space marine finds himself invading an underground church and trampling all over alien Jesus. Whups, my bad! Battling your way through some rather easy fights, you'll collected first the yellow, then the red skull, and make your way to a nice river of blood. It looks a little like a scene from the Book of Revelation, yes?

 

"And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea." Revelation 16:3, King James Version

 

But still, you must cross the river yourself and get to that strange structure in the distance, where the level very abruptly ends. Even I was taken aback by that one, I'd been expecting a switch or teleporter exit, or otherwise one clearly marked.

 

The gameplay of this one is really easy, not the way I like or am accustomed to, and only the chaingunners at the end did real damage to me.

[gaspe]

MAP04: Simple level with a very straightforward gameplay that throws lots of meat but it's also easy. It sets nice temporary change.

[Capellan]

MAP05

Doors: The Doorpocalypse. There are 108 action 1 lines on the map; so 54 doors, plus the three keys doors and the several doors that are opened by remote switches. This is substantially more than the map needs, especially given the multiple times that a door simply opens into a short corridor with another door at the other end, and no monsters or items.

 

(Early maps of Demonfear also have way too many doors, in the interests of full disclosure)

 

There are some entirely optional elements to the map, and some more substantial than standard secrets, both of which can add value to a level, but I don't think they really help much here. A couple of dead-end rooms with a few health potions or a couple of pinkies doesn't really move me much, and the secrets may be larger than normal but they're still not especially interesting.

 

That exit thing sure is a thing that is a thing.

 

 

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

32 minutes ago, Capellan said:

That exit thing sure is a thing that is a thing.

*Puts on monocle*

Sir, I dare say that statement may have been the most articulate to have ever been spoken.

[Roofi]

Map 05 : The Fort - I

 

 

Author : John Bye

Difficulty : Easy

Death(s) : 0

FDA : yes

 

DEMO

 

You discovered a medieval fort buried underground.Your exploration becomes more exciting but you also ask yourself a lot of questions about the aliens.

 

This map confirmed for me that the wad must only be appreciated for its eerie atmosphere. Concerning the gameplay , it has a lot of similarities to the third level. It consists to explore a lot of rooms connected with a lot of corridors and , as Capellan said , a billion of doors. Those useless doors make the navigation pretty annoying. The labyrinthic structure also encourage you to use your automap. The level suffers also a terrible lack of height variation because it's in fact nearly as flat as a wolfenstein map. There are sometimes some steps and some lifts for secrets but that's all. The numerous secrets tend to be extremly generous because you can actually find 3 soulspheres in secrets and more goodies ! But unless you play continously , they are useless to find due to the fact that the monsters can be easily killed without taking any risk.

 

However I liked this level  for it's accurate use of lights. The rooms were pleasant to see contrary to the third map because John Bye handled very well the bright constrasts. The rooms prove to be quite diversified even if there is a certain homogeneity in the textures and few details too. I love above all the music composed by him. I feel very alone but also quite sad while listening it because it actually strengtens the desolate aspect of the fort.

 

The level unexpectedly ends in a tech base where you must destroy something to exit it. Yes , the IoS has a new sprite but the pain sound stays the same so it was very weird.

 

 

 

[Capellan]

3 hours ago, Aquila Chrysaetos said:

*Puts on monocle*

Sir, I dare say that statement may have been the most articulate to have ever been spoken.

 

It's as accurate and succinct a reconstruction of my reaction as I could manage :)

 

Also, I've just realised that I now find myself in the weird position of having no idea what I want to vote for once the 25th rolls around.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP05: The Fort - I

 

Did you ever play Dungeons & Dragons, back in the day?  Like, way back in the day, when the dungeon maps were printed on the inside of the module cover in non-repro blue?  Did you ever feel that some of the maps tried to fit exactly as many rooms within the boundaries of the page as possible; and that the module writers didn't know just what to do with all of these rooms, so sometimes you'd pick your way along a twisty corridor and kick down the door at its end, and there's a 10' x 10' room with an orc and nothing else in it?

 

That's kind of what this one feels like to me, a sprawl of corridors and doors and rooms with no apparent function in either the narrative of the WAD and the level or in the gameplay it's trying to create; here, pinkie demon in a room on his own, there's no reason to come along this way except to kill him, and very little point in doing that because he's so completely isolated from the rest of the map (by those aforementioned corridors and doors) that there's barely any interaction possible, no sense that he's a part of a system of gameplay.

 

That's on the disappointing side, to me, because I think I get what the map is going for, with its eerie, mournful, contemplative music, its generally gloomy hallways that gradually give way from water-slick stonework to high technology?  It needs to be big, sprawling, and sparsely populated, doesn't it, to properly invoke that sense of a haunted and hollowed-out place?  But I don't think it coheres well; there are too many branches that taper off into nothing and nowhere, too many isolated sections of the map that don't contribute to that pervasive sense of sepulchral emptiness, but instead distract and detract from it, with their endless additional paces to walk and the repetitive sound of doom doors.

[Spectre01]

MAP03 - “The Cliff Top Fort” by Dan Huff

Continuing right where the previous map left off, there is a rather unusual base in the mountains. Now, I consider myself to be quite decent at navigation, but this map was twisting my plums with its progression. I did find everything eventually, but it took a while until I tried using the glowing pillar in the room with the red key bars. It also seems like half the lines on the automap are just missing for arbitrary reasons. I'm not a fan of that, and would rather have mappers not touch that feature at all than erase chunks of the map. Especially in a level that's as winding, non-linear, and full of dozens of keyed doors like this one. On the gameplay front, you're largely up against low-tier hitscanners and Imps, with quite a few Pain Elementals making an appearance. There is also an abundance of weapons and ammunition lying around, as well as a Rocket Launcher and Plasma Rifle for those who manage to check every alcove. My favourite part has to be the giant silo room, not unlike the ending of No End in Sight's e1m7, which lowers to reveal some enemies and contains multiple tiers to ride up to the red key. Definitely some interesting stuff here, and I would've saved a good 10-15 minutes had I slapped that glowing pillar earlier.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

MAP05: The Fort of Doors, Dungeons, and Not-So-Much Doom

GZDoom 2.4.0, UV, continuous, saves

 

Wow. Just wow.

Before I elaborate, a singular screenshot.

Two paths lead into darkness and my flashlight can't shine very far down either.

 

The exit really was a thing that sure was a thing that was a thing. I really don't know what to do with that.

 

It's been noted before, but I'm pretty sure that while building this map, Mister John Bye used up all the doors in the world and they had to wait until the world's door reserves refilled before they could move on. Personally, I don't think the map suffers so much from a massive over-doorse, but from ridiculous numbers of corridors that never go anywhere. It seemed like there were four large rooms and a maze of corridors somehow connecting them all in a setup that would make M.C. Escher proud.

 

The combat was easy, if a little rattling at first due to abundant hitscanners. But hey, I just finished a section of a wad on UV -fast and hitscanners were everywhere in that one, so I did okay here. Being ambushed by a vile in a tight room with nothing to hide behind was one of the low parts of the map for me (not that it says that much, it wasn't very interesting anyway), and the map as a whole was just a giant key hunt to go find the thing and shoot it to destroy it and end the level.

 

Whatever that thing was.

 

As far as atmosphere, the screenshot above captures probably one of the most atmospheric moments. It's dark, cramped, and there's monsters all around. Fortunately, you're well armed, so there isn't much to be afraid of. After all, you're too strong to be scared of the dark.

 

Also, this was the map in which I finally found my plasma rifle.

 

I didn't get to finish exploring it, either.

 

I think this map was going for a foreboding feeling in the end, but really I'm just confused and dissatisfied. I hope the next maps pick up the slack.

[tmorrow]

map05: The Fort - I, by John Bye
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

So we're in a fort, below the surface of the 3rd planet of the Talosian system. A long, spread out fort it is too, full of corridors and doors with a low monster density. Quite a bit of backtracking is required, especially for all of the secrets. If you are uvmaxing beware that there are a few switches that open side cubicles or rooms that can easily be overlooked.

There is ample health, ammo and weaponry for all the fights you encounter. The 7 secrets will reward you with plenty of health and ammo. There are 2 archviles on the map but they are easily contained and aren't really free to roam. At the end you have the pleasure of blowing up the fort's computer network. I hope our space marine has thought up an exit strategy ...

[Spectre01]

MAP04 - “The Chapel” by John Bye

Dark underground cave with some marble and a loud midi. This map had no armour whatsoever, but thankfully I'm playing continuous. Some vanilla deep water effects are used here, which is cool, but also makes the Pinkies in the final section (above) useless. Very simple, linear layout compared to the complicated sequence of doors and teleporters in the previous level. Gameplay is very straightforward without much in the way of surprises. There are a few doors with a buncha hitscanners behind them, so you can't play it too stupid.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP05: The Fort - I

91% kills, 4/7 secrets

 

Door! Hallway! Door! Hallway! Door! Square room! Door! Hallway! Door! Hallway! Door! Pointless room! Door! Hallway! Room! Repeat!

 

4 hours ago, TheOrganGrinder said:

Did you ever play Dungeons & Dragons, back in the day?  Like, way back in the day, when the dungeon maps were printed on the inside of the module cover in non-repro blue?  Did you ever feel that some of the maps tried to fit exactly as many rooms within the boundaries of the page as possible; and that the module writers didn't know just what to do with all of these rooms, so sometimes you'd pick your way along a twisty corridor and kick down the door at its end, and there's a 10' x 10' room with an orc and nothing else in it?

 

 

That actually reminds me of one of my earliest experiences with DnD where a friend (DMing for his first time) used a campaign he found online. It consisted of us entering an empty room, poring over it ("do I notice anything interesting about the walls?" "no") and then moving down the next room and doing the same. Halfway through he finally said "okay, if you guys want to actually fight something, I'll just move you to that room". That's how I felt playing this map.

[Capellan]

4 hours ago, TheOrganGrinder said:

Did you ever play Dungeons & Dragons, back in the day?  Like, way back in the day, when the dungeon maps were printed on the inside of the module cover in non-repro blue?  Did you ever feel that some of the maps tried to fit exactly as many rooms within the boundaries of the page as possible; and that the module writers didn't know just what to do with all of these rooms, so sometimes you'd pick your way along a twisty corridor and kick down the door at its end, and there's a 10' x 10' room with an orc and nothing else in it?

 

Honestly, there are still plenty of D&D modules that are like that.  Some of them even still do a facsimile of the non-repro blue maps.

 

Man, it's been too long since I played D&D/Pathfinder.  But with a weekly Marvel Heroic game to play in, my tabletop schedule is full.

 

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP02: Desolation

9:31 | 94% Kills | 100% Items | 0% Secrets

Played this one twice, on account of forgetting to save after the first time. I shaved a minute-and-a-half off my time, but still didn't manage to find the last secret. And there's two points where you can't backtrack, hrmph. Love that looming spaceship at the start. The level really makes you feel like you're exploring an alien planet, which is neat. Not much in the way of threats, combat-wise, to the point that I ended up Tysoning things as much as I could between picking up the berserk and the SSG.

 

MAP03: The Cliff Top Fort

22:24 | 98% Kills | 100% Items | 100% Secrets

Hey, I liked this one too. I will agree that the key pickups were more obnoxious than need be. The blue one I only found by staring at the automap and wondering, "Hey, if click that wall will it do something?" The yellow key inside the reactor (or whatever) was neat, but trigging the lifts was a pain. And lol @ the red key just sitting there behind a barrel. The teleporters everywhere for no real good reason where kinda dumb, too. And then once I had the red key, I had no idea what to do. I eventally I clicked on that altar thing, which was neat, but it was far from obvious. I enjoyed myself, though.

 

MAP04: The Chapel

5:36 | 100% Everything

Love me a good marble chapel, and this one's underground, to boot; always a plus. I'm actually surprised there was so little to this map; I beat it in 5 minutes, and was at the exit before I knew it—literally: I walked through that door and was shocked when the tally screen came up! Thankfully I had found everything. Pretty fun map. It did hand me my first death of the WAD, when that first revenant put a homing missile directly into my face. The deep-water blood river near the end glitched out a bit in GZDoom, but nothing too terrible. It's hard to go wrong with the underground chapel theme, and this map didn't really particularly hard, but it still looks good; that cavernous opening vista was pretty dang cool.

 

MAP05: The Fort - I

23:49 | 100% Everything

This one was a blast. Yeah, yeah, doors galores. And a bunch of them led to dead-ends, too. Whatevs, I had so much fun with this one, even though it wasn't even particularly challenging. (Though those couple viles did give me a scare.) And it literally had like 2-3 soulspheres too many. But yay, I get to blow up some funny boss machine thing at end.

[Spectre01]

MAP05 - “The Fort - I” by John Bye

You know, the doors wouldn't be that big of a deal if they were single-use and stayed open. Otherwise you're forced to use them multiple times with all the backtracking involved, and it really kills the flow. I do like the various dead-ends and optional rooms; they make the map feel quite exploratory. Also, did anyone manage to open that alcove before the "boss brain"? I did everything else, but there were 3 dudes in there that just wouldn't come out.