The DWmegawad Club plays: Struggle

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP03: 3rd Supply Depot

 

Larger in scope than the preceding maps and somewhat bigger in scale, with more decent-sized rooms and long lines of sight which allow you to break out the grenade launcher should you so desire - not that it's really necessary, with all the small fry that's crowding the map almost eager to be shredded by your choice of shotguns or dual pistols.  One thing about swapping the chaingun for dual pistols, replacing the rocket launcher with a grenade launcher, and tweaking the player's ammunition capacity is that so far there is a reduced emphasis on high-tech environments and elements compared to regular Doom and a greater sense of the player as a modern action movie protagonist of more human capabilities, wielding more familiar weapons; and yet these weapons are so potent that all the zombies and demons and other awful monsters the WAD can throw at you are just wheat before your gunmental scythe.  Overall it's a good, solid level, though I found that I didn't care for the way the secrets are hidden (one seemed to have no 'tell' at all, the other could be said to have a 'tell' but the same texture was used elsewhere, earlier, as simple wall decoration).

[antares031]

MAP03 – 3rd Supply Depot

PrBoom+, UV - Pistol Start, KIS(%): 100/100/100

 

In case you missed from the text file, this level is actually older than the previous levels. This level was originally designed as the MAP03 for the megawad project in 2013, that I eventually scrapped with 11 finished levels. While the original one was mainly designed with stock textures of Doom 2, except the skybox and a few custom textures, this one was redesigned to make it more suitable with Struggle’s unique elements, especially the dual-wield mode. You can even start the level with three dual-wield mode items around, allowing you to mow down those zombies and imps quickly, while the original one only had a shotgun. Not to mention that several areas received some minor changes, so it’s much easier to navigate around, once the one-way doors were opened. Probably I should have made a new level from scratch, but I’m happy with the result of this renovation, since the layout, gameplay, and progression were pretty decent for MAP03 slot.

 

And about the notorious soulsphere secret that everyone mentioned. The original version had more significant hint, with misaligned texture. But I thought this was too obvious, so I changed it to the current one. Maybe I was thinking that the climbable crate with stacked small boxes itself was a good enough hint for the soulsphere on the other crate, but obviously I was wrong. I’ll make sure to change it a little bit for the final version. Thanks for pointing that out. :)

[Magnusblitz]

One thing I noticed in MAP02, the monsters don't have idle animations... freeing up states to use elsewhere or just a personal change?

 

MAP03: 3rd Supply Depot

100% kills, 0/2 secrets

 

Not the most imaginative name in the world... anyways, once you survive the opening encounter (proper move is to move to the side to grab one of the dual pistol boxes instead of forward for the one you immediately see), this one really lets you rip and mow down hellspawn with the weapon of your choice. This especially shows in the outdoor box area, I feel, since the monsters perched on boxes will spend more time running back and forth while you're not stuck doing so and can let loose. Ammo proved to be the only thing really stopping me as I pretty much ran through this one, just switching between shotguns and dual pistols depending on my available ammo (with a bit of grenade launcher for the revenants). The drill is useful too in spots where ammo gets tight; I'm still not sold on the hammer... something about it seems off, not sure if it's the slower speed or the overhand motion making me think it should have longer range like Hexen's axe. Can't say much on the secrets, didn't find them or really look for them, too busy reaping everything in sight.

[tmorrow]

map04: Local outpost, by antares031
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

So we are at the local outpost where enemies are everywhere, inside and outside the facility. The map is highly non linear so you can tackle it in many ways.

We get our first 2 encounters with archviles on this map. Luckily there is no spider mastermind around for them to resurrect. Our first solitary mancubus shows up as well.

The red key battle is the first tricky fight. You get to take on several revenants that are released who are most upset at the theft of their shiny red key. I'm getting better at timing my strafe to avoid the twin revenant shots and returning fire in between their volleys.

The final battle is a lot of fun as well. I'm not sure what the best choice of weapons is but I managed it with the dual pistols initially and then swapping to super shotgun halfway through. The odd grenade or two softened them up too.

The 3 secrets yield grenade launchers, ammo and a soulsphere and are well worth picking up.

[Roofi]

Map 04 : "Local outpost"

 

 

 

 

 

Difficulty : Medium
Death(s) : 0

DEMO

 

It starts to get more arduous now. You have to explore a tech base located in a kind of  highmountain. This map is more ambitious than the first ones because you must cross a lot of various places , namely caverns , canyons and the tech base. While the previous maps had a tendancy to be flat in order to facilitate player's moves , that one contains more height variations so that rushing become riskier.

 

A lot of monsters and especially revenants are perched and force you to play defensively , you have to kill them first if you want to navigate in safety. This level has consequently a better gameplay because it incitates you to use all your weapons depending of the scenarios . The last big fight on the heliport requires a good usage of the grenade launcher and akimbo gun to survive because  the monsters spawn too fast to use the other guns. The drill is useful to spare some ammo when you only face to weak ennemies as imps , demons or zombiemen. The pistol stays useful when you want to kill a far sniping enemy. The map itself is not really hard but contains more dreadful traps in narrow places. The fight on the heliport that I mentionned just before represents a real difficulty spike . I noticed that you can find the same weapons in various locations in the same level. There are in fact 4 grenade launchers in this map ! It's funny that you can find it in two differents secrets so it would be impossible to miss. I always appreciate when mappers put the weapon in different places , it adds a real touch of non-linearity. I noticed the same thing in the second level where you can find two drills.

 

Also this map introduces a "new item". Not actually new because it's basically just a computer map but it has a totally different sprite due to its spheric appearance. It can confuses the newcomers , I myself thought it was an invulnerability sphere or a megasphere. However , the computer map doesn't help at all to find the secrets because they are all hidden in the automap , it's quite frustrating to be honest.

Edited July 4, 2018 by Roofi

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP04: Local Outpost

 

We've had glimpses of, and brief sojourns through, natural settings before now, but this is the first of the WAD's levels to offer up the great outdoors as a central part of its gameplay; the techbase 'spine' of the map bisects a mountainous river valley that the player is compelled to explore in search of the keys necessary for progression, and despite the linear look of the map's layout you've got quite a bit of freedom in where you go and what order you tackle things in, with the option of clearing out the lion's share of the monster population before popping through the blue door if you so desire.  There's a lot to be found as you poke through the cliffs and crevices of the map, though the sheer amount of ammunition that's trickled out as individual clips and paired shotgun shells may start to grate after a while.  It's probably the first time you've given spaces and crowds where you can really use the grenade launcher to its full potential, especially during the climactic helipad battle just before the exit; fortunately amidst all the shells and bullets there are no shortage of grenades supplied either.

[FrancisT218]

Level 4

 

This one is a step up from the prior three in about every way; it feels more expansive, is more difficult, and you have some definite eye candy to see as well in the visual department. It also gives you your first level in which a large portion is outdoors providing a refreshing break from the indoor aesthetics. The hardest parts for me were to thin out the opposition initially (and get well supplied) and then the final battle - which is probably the best setpiece fight so far, not that it wasn't fun to mow monsters down from the start.

 

I can agree, the hammer and automap would be more useful if they had slightly longer range and at least gave you a hint about secrets, respectively. But it didn't really hurt my enjoyment level here. Good music too (which is almost always the case throughout this wad).

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP04 Local Outpost

 

These levels get bigger, but this one has similar combat already. Of course, with the more open spaces to find, there's projectiles to dodge while you hone in on the worst of enemies, like the hitscanners for instance. The helipad battle is good.

[DavitW]

MAP03: 3rd Supply Depot

Another map that's not too different from the previous two. The gameplay and combat here felt a bit more varied than the previous maps, there's plenty of zombies and Imps to mow down with your dual pistols and there's a handful of big boy's in here like Revenants and Hell Knights. It looked like the Lost Souls and Cacodemons were ever so slightly faster than the used to be as well. Unlike others I've noticed I didn't really have much trouble with the 2 secrets in this map and i'm usually pretty hopeless when it comes to secrets.

 

MAP04: Local Outpost

Boy, These map names just get more and more inspired. Besides that this is probably the most ambitious of the wad so far. The combat and design feels much more varied and there's also a large outdoor section to go through as well. Another map that's not too linear or non-linear and I felt from a pistol start the health and ammo was balanced quite good. The map leads up to a big showdown on a helipad with imps sniping at you while groups of enemies spawn in 3 waves. Not too tough but you still gotta keep on your toes for this one.

[rehelekretep]

im behind already! what a surprise!

map02 fda

big introduction to some new weapons here!

axe for berserk - fun but i prefer fist

drill/saw for chainsaw - actually think i prefer the drill!

grenade launcher for rocket - not a fan as the "grenades" are quite small and harder to track to their target. also the revs' own are also a bit scary as theyre less visible.

dual pistols for chaingun - i prefer the chaingun.

 

the layout is confusing like map01, i had to use the automap to find the doors. i did like the unit 1/unit 2 stuff as i had to pathfind without it.

there was a nasty bit near the end where the invisi-cacos can infinite height you, a trap remedied by door/place camping. this map still has some problems with this, even the traps dont really put any pressure on the player from sides/behind. maybe this will improve on future maps.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

Alright, so I'm going to make due with what I have at the moment and make a return for this one.

Demo

 

Quick reviews, since I played four maps in one sitting.

 

MAP01

Pistol start, UV, Crispy Doom 5.2

A good opener, it starts off by introducing you to your new weaponry pretty early on. The pistol replacement is quite useful even after later weapons are obtained, and I found fairly quickly that the fist replacement is useful, as well.

The layout isn't completely explicit on where you need to go or what to do, but half the fun is figuring it out, so I didn't mind it so much.

 

MAP02

Continuous, UV, Crispy Doom 5.2

The chaingun replacement is introduced here, and it's useful enough, particularly at close range, but its usefulness there is surpassed by the shotguns, so I wound up defaulting to them.

The layout here is nonlinear, and I made much use of my map to navigate to find the keys and eventually finish.

 

MAP03

Continuous, UV, Crispy Doom 5.2

Another solid map, another confusing one, at times, though. I already forgot most of this map, so I'll let the FDA do the talking.

 

MAP04

Continuous, UV, Crispy Doom 5.2

A wide open map, this one encourages exploration and has a rather challenging early start. Both keys can be obtained relatively early with some exploration and a significant amount of resistance can be culled at the same time. There's a solid penultimate fight that can be easily dealt with if you save up your rockets.

 

I'll post another review tomorrow, one in more detail than this one, with another demo.

[tmorrow]

map05: Sewage treatment, by antares031
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

An excellent, highly non linear, sewage map and my favorite so far. The keys have to be taken in order but everything else can be tackled in any order. Plenty of rad suits have been provided for exploration in the slime, allowing you to make a few mistakes and wrong turns and still have plenty of protection from the toxic waste.

I really like the map layout and the way there are several windows into rooms you can't actually enter until later, but can do some fighting before hand to thin out the baddies. Beware that you will run into new enemies in formerly cleared out areas after hitting certain switches.

The enemy difficulty is ramping up, with several archviles appearing to guard switches and keys. The last couple of ambushes are a little nasty, especially on the way to the blue key. Cybie finally makes his dramatic appearance with a roar as you drop down into the slime tunnel leading to the exit. As long as you have saved ammo for new assault rifle pickup though, most veterans will have little trouble strafing away from cybies shots and polishing him off quick with the more powerful weapon.

The secret hunt yields several rewards, a soulsphere, megaarmor, megasphere as well as a timely radiation suit.

[antares031]

MAP04 – Local Outpost

PrBoom+, UV - Pistol Start, KIS(%): 100/100/100

 

The level was started as a test level to try some custom textures, especially the light-brown brick wall in the beginning. And then I thought that it’s time to design some opened outside area, rather than an another series of tech-base rooms. So I designed a rocky canyon, and expanded both indoor sections and canyon areas. I also added some caverns, since I thought that the level with rocky canyon and waterfalls must include some caverns around for some reason. Combat is still manageable for casual players, but now has some tough elements, such as arch-viles and a closed setpiece with waves of monsters.

 

This level also introduces an automap with a custom sprite. Every powerup, except Berserk, now has a shape of sphere with one of my favorite sound effects from Doom 3. I thought this SFX fits really well with those original spheres, such as soulsphere and partial invisibility, and I wanted to match the sound with other powerups that didn’t work pretty well with the sound; man-made equipments, like rad-suit and night vision goggle. The automap used to be a purple version of godsphere, but I added the computer screen from the original one to make it less confusing. The part after the blue key door is actually a tribute to my second playable level ever created, back in 2006. Probably it’s hard to recognize the difference, but here are some comparisons. (#1) (#2) (#3)

[Roofi]

Map 05 : "Sewer Treatment"

 

 

 

Difficulty : Medium
Death(s) : 0

DEMO

No Uv-max here , I accidentally stepped on the exit linedef.

 

A slightly easier or harder map compared to the fourth depending on whether you found the not-so-hidden megasphere's secret or not. The major part of the level was a piece of cake thanks to plenty ammo and health but beware of the untreated water which can deal you little damage. The quite numerous "radsuits should help you a lot. The first time i've seen the new sprite of that item in the big room where you take two curved corridors in order to reach a red and yellow door , I thought it was an invulnerability sphere. Nevertheless , you can easily guess the purpose of the "new item"  without having to test due to its abundance contrary to the fourth map where there was only one computer sphere.

 

A new weapon also appears in this level : the assault rifle which currently replaces the plasma gun. It uses bullets but doesn't act as a hitscan weapon like the akimbo or the shotgun so it may be hard to use in long distances. However , it's incredibly powerful in close-quarters fights and against boss. You should spare some ammo for the last Cyberdemon which uses the same ammo as your grenade launcher ! I liked the fact that the red key unlocks an armory room where you find the new gun. The map has a similar gameplay to the third map where many ennemies stacked  in corridors don't pose a really big threat. It's my favourite level for now because the more ennemies , the better when the bestiary mainly consists of weak monsters. The last traps showed to be very dreadful if you didn't pick up the megasphere before. The embuscade happening before you obtain the blue key may kill you in few seconds. The last fight against the cyber is not that hard but you must also know where you put your feet due to the presence of toxic liquid.

 

The music and the level itself remind me a lot of Moonblood for some reasons , maybe due to the jazzy music.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP05: Sewage Treatment

 

The twistiest and certainly the toughst map in the WAD thus far, this one feature all three keys but permits fairly free exploration even before the player has acquired and used any of them.  It's a pretty involved environment with a lot of multi-level rooms and abundant toxic slime including a number of one-way transitions as the player passes down slimefalls and drops from ledges; overall, then, the pace of exploration is quite deliberate, lots of moments at which the player is asked "Are you sure you want to do this?  Are you quite ready?" before committing to the next area, which provides a nice counterpart to the increasingly frantic pace of combat, almost as though the level is shifting from one discrete tempo to another.  The representational nature of the WAD's level design continues, with a signposted armoury giving up the assault rifle which replaces the plasma gun; it's a little odd to see its 'bullets' as little yellow projectiles, even though it's inevitable given the weapon/slot being replaced, but it's certainly an effective tool in your arsenal, great for quickly clearing out rooms or burning down bosses - and oh, look, there's a Cyberdemon guarding the exit, what are the odds of that?  One does wonder why the sewage treatment plant needed a dedicated armoury prior to the demonic invasion; maybe to fend off the threat of sewer-dwelling mutants or Rodents Of Unusual Size?

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP05 Sewage Treatment

 

Oh my god is that fucking MMMBop I'm hearing as a midi lol.

 

Big level here, got the radiation suit treatment, although I forgot to mention that the powerups are quite different. Somewhat possible to get lost in but the combat is there in waves. The arch-vile, mancubus, and cyberdemon apparently debut here. I notice just the faster projectiles but slower arch-vile fire? Also that plasma gun replacement is laughably overpowering, especially how quickly I blew down the cyberdemon, haha.

 

And the hell knight BLEEDS RED FUCK YEAH

[rehelekretep]

map03 fda

cool map here. much easier to navigate due to a hub structure but it doesnt feel like youre backtracking a lot. some much more threatening areas than 01 & 02 such as the revs (re)spawning near the YK door and the fight outside in the storage area - lots of hitscanners!

still a lot of open door, shoot straight, repeat but definitely improving. the rev is really different: he(she?) is a lot more dangerous in tight quarters now, kinda subverting the usual trick of running near to them and kiting for melee punches - theyre genuinely scary if you dont have room to manoeuvre, like a weaker cyber.

no secrets again :'(

[Forli]

MAP04 : Local Outpost

 

Things are starting to get more dangerous as this map took my first death right at the start, the revenants firing fast rockets through the windows are easy to overlook, which is bad for me, since I'm all about overlooking things. The rest of the map was still on the easy side.

 

I liked the switches that lower something you can see at the other side of a window, it's a cool way of directing the player. Also, the change between outdoors and indoors sections make this map both more visually appealing and easy to navigate than the previous maps.

 

Near the end there's the first staged fight of the wad, I just went to the stairs and kept firing grenades which seemed to make it rather easy.

 

 

MAP05 : Sewage Treatment

 

A mazelike level with unavoidable damage sectors can easily make me hate a map, fortunately there are enough extra radiation... spheres? to allow for some mistakes and the "maze" itself was not too complicated so things didn't get frustrating.

 

Here we're introduced to the assault riffle that replaces the plasma gun, but it seems to work the same way, sending a stream of fast projectiles. It's hard to judge if it's weaker or stronger or if the bullets fly faster.

 

Also there's the cyberdemon who seems to have picked up the same grenade launcher as the player, I thought the grenades look like suppositories when in flight which made the encounter kinda weird to me :S.

[FrancisT218]

Level 5

 

A sewer level, where you see mostly vanilla textures here. The monster counts are going up, but supplies are abundant (which should be a theme). It's fun to fire the Dual Wield or Rifle at a large horde. There is a lot of slime, but you get plenty of radiation protection. The fake door fight was at least as hard as the Cyberdemon for me, providing I kept distance in the later. Music is more 'cheesy' and oldschool sounding than most in the wad. All in all, nothing really remarkable but it is a solid entry in all the important aspects still.

[tmorrow]

map06: Meet the Afriest, by antares031
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

Meet the Afriest. Oh boy! In fact we meet 6 afriests at the end but not before being introduced to our first Antaresia and a map full of old favorites as well. A smaller map with a smaller enemy count this time but with a density such that enemies are encountered wherever you go.

Antares031 has you bustling back and forth through the facility as you chase down those elusive keys and switches. An archvile or two are tossed in to keep you on your toes and guessing what he's going to throw at you next.

Rooms on the map are cleverly interconnected, in fact most rooms are separated into 2 parts that can only be fully visited by using both entrances.

The 2 secrets contain a megaarmor and soulsphere and will prepare you for the more difficult parts of the map.

My favorite were at the keys where the action intensifies and interrupting the afriests ritual at the end, those rascals are definitely up to not good!

[DavitW]

MAP05: Sewage Treatment

Look's like it's already time for the obligatory sewer level. It's tight, ugly, dark in places and a bit of a maze too, But the way forward is usually quite clear and plenty of shortcuts are available to cut down on backtracking overall making for an experience that flows quite well. There's plenty of Rad Suits to deal with all the toxic waste too. The only problem I had was finding the staircase that leads up to the red key area, It's shoved in a corner and seemed pretty damn easy to overlook. This was the first level where i really felt how much more dangerous the enemies could be, Just a few Zombiemen or an imp in the right place could deal some damage. I quite liked the music this level had going on as well.

[Rayziik]

Got bored and decided to do some first-exits on this wonderful set.

Here's some demos if anyone wants to watch em': Struggle FEs for 01-06

[Magnusblitz]

MAP04: Local Outpost

100% kills, 1/3 secrets

 

Boring name but not a boring map; I really liked the layout to this one. Good combination of inside starbase and outdoor canyon, with areas being well sign-posted (it's quite clear from the start you raise the bridge, and get the blue key to the bridge...) yet also have a lot of interconnectedness to let the player approach the level from a number of different ways. The manc and AV make their first appearance, though I didn't notice any differences (apparently the manc's fireballs are faster?) Still getting used to the revenants, with the missiles being so much faster I can't even stand by open windows for a few seconds before needing to hide.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP06: Meet the Afriest

 

So this is what the introductory episode has been building up to!  Urban grunge and technological sprawl gives way here to a surreal cerulean abyss from which new monsters spring forth, based on Heretic's ophidian and Hexen's dark bishop respectively, though in these incarnaions they're rather tougher and more dangerous, raining deadly projectiles on the invading marine with gay abandon.  Prior to that boss encounter the level treads pretty much the same groove as the five that came before, offering up a twisty little techbase that delivers plenty of gameplay for its compact footprint; I don't know if that's something specific to Struggle or a hallmark of @antares031's greater body of work, but it certainly gives the whole thing a distinctive flavour.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP06 Meet the Afriest

 

Uh oh, I don't like custom monsters, really I don't.

 

A shorter map, well actually somehow it took just as long as the other one. A lot more cramped than usual. So two new custom monsters are here, the first is this ophidian thing that shoots projectiles and is easy to circlestrafe around. The arch-vile that teleported to the blue door hall was more dangerous than it, really, as it resurrected enough enemies while distracted. The other new guy is some dark bishop replacement also shooting some projectiles, and there are two of them. They are okay to fight, and we start to see this blue area that will probably be more prevalent. Looking good so far.

[antares031]

MAP05 – Sewage Treatment

PrBoom+, UV - Pistol Start, KIS(%): 100/100/100

 

An another recreation of one of my earliest levels from 2006. (#1) (#2) And this level itself was also originally designed in 2013, just like MAP03, and then it’s partially redesigned in 2015 for Struggle. The most notable change, other than adding new custom textures around the level, is the southeast part of the level, where the player can get a red keycard. (2013) (2015) I also adjusted some monster placements to make the level much easier than the original, including the Cyberdemon fight. Back then, there were no safe platforms around the sewage pool there, so it was like a time-limit arena with some spare stimpacks around. (Thanks for the suggestion, @scifista42!) Just a random fact, but the one from 2006 had four Cyberdemons in total, and lots of arch-viles around.

 

This level introduces a new weapon replacement, an assault rifle, which is basically a plasma rifle with less ammo capacity, but much faster projectile velocity, and +40% more damage. The toy model is based on Daewoo K2, which is a service rifle of Republic of Korea Army. Yes, I wanted to put a rifle, that I used during the military service, to my favorite first person shooter. I think it’s pretty cool idea, actually. Shooting demons with my own rifle. :D

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP07: Point Foxtrot Tango

 

I think the player can be forgiven, upon entering this level, for groaning to themselves, "Oh, for goodness' sake, another Dead Simple clone!"  It doesn't take a great many minutes of gameplay to discover that this is absolutely not the case; yes, the central arena at the hub of the level echoes the classic MAP07 layout in a surely deliberate way; yes, you're brought back to that arena at a couple of points to face a first wave of mancubi and a second wave of revenants; yes, the map-specific tags are in full effect here, step by step opening the eventual route toward the exit.  But this is so much more than an arena battle in a square room, serving up a delicious helping of the established Struggle aesthetic alonside the expected confrontations and triggers, acknowledging its Doom II roots and invoking them but steadfastly refusing to be bound by them.  The whole of it concludes with your first look at the revamped Spider Mastermind, now a plasma-spewing monstrosity that's perhaps less threatening than its vanilla Doom counterpart, falling readily before a well-supplied assault rifle, but still managed to bleed some health from me despite what I felt was a decent show of strafing and dodging; perhaps there's something to its attack mechanics I'm not picking up on?

[FrancisT218]

Level 6

 

This one gives you fairly standard stuff you've come to expect from the wad so far (with one new monster making a cameo appearance) - until you think you are done! Meet your first foray into the Antaresian world, where you'll also find the Afriest(s) this level is named for. It is not too hard here if you keep moving, but it definitely shows this is no monster to mess with either. The main map has modest difficulty and the same good aesthetic and gameplay you've (hopefully) come to expect by now. Many of these maps lack too much in the way of particularly distinct stuff to say about each one individually, but that's hardly a problem as there's often at least one distinction & it doesn't really seem repetitive anyways.

 

BTW I really enjoy many of antares031'sinsights and 'trivia'. So I'm glad he's participating. :) I had no idea he made all these unreleased levels some nearly a decade before Struggle or ANY public single player releases became a thing!

[tmorrow]

map07: Point Foxtrot Tango, by antares031
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

A map in the spirit of Dead Simple but with some large differences. You start in the tech base center, full of platforms and pillars to a vigorous beginning that involves revenants and tier 1 enemies. This area is the Dead Simple stage and you will visit here twice more for what makes up for at most a third of the battles. The lion share of the map involves clearing out the wings on the way to the keys and makes for a very enjoyable map.

You head south to hit a switch to unblock the ways to the blue key in the west and red key in the east, which can be taken in either order. Collecting the blue key deposits you back in the center for a new fight with a bunch of mancubi. The red key takes you back to the center for a battle with several arachnotrons. In both fights you are locked in for a while in the Dead Simple tradition.

Finally a couple of one on ones with antaresia unlocks the yellow key that takes you to the final fight, your first encounter with the new and improved spider mastermind. The idea is to use the rising and falling platforms to avoid his attacks. I find you can easily get unlucky and have all platforms down at the same time. You can cheese the fight by hitting the switch that opens the telporter room in the corner and run into it and take the boss out from safety.

Pickup the secrets for a soulsphere, megasphere, berserk pack and more grenades.

[antares031]

6 hours ago, TheOrganGrinder said:

...but still managed to bleed some health from me despite what I felt was a decent show of strafing and dodging; perhaps there's something to its attack mechanics I'm not picking up on?

 

Spider Mastermind not only has two newly-installed energy bolt cannons, but also has her original super chaingun.