The DWmegawad Club plays: Struggle

[Roofi]

Map 06 : "Meet the Afriest"

 

 

DEMO

Difficulty : Medium
Death(s) : 1

 

No UV-max here too because you can't go back to the grey base once you have been teleported into the blue strange cavern.

 

It doesn't stop getting harder, the fights will make you more "struggling". First , you are way more vulnerable due to the lack of armor considering that the monsters are more dangerous compared to the original bestiary. Secondly , don't expect to play fast if you try it for the first time , the cramped layout force you to fight powerful monsters in close-quarters. The invisible cacodemons and the revenants get really dreadful due to narrowness. Be careful while using your grenade launcher  ! Thirdly and its the most important feature : two totally new enemies which have an unique attack and a recolored sprite from Heretic ! You will meet it some ophidians in a kind of computer room located in the grey base the first time. You will fight a bunch of blue disciples of D'Sparil in the last area consisting to a strange surrealistic blue cavern . Their "new" attack are just various projectiles of already existing monsters (hell knight , cacodemon..)  combined with a dangerous blue plasmaball  . They are not  really hard to beat thanks to their reasonable ammount of HP but they prove to be efficient in closequarters fights .

Fighting the new "bosses" was the funniest part of the map for me. Despite of that , I didn't like the gameplay a lot and the grey colour bores me a bit in this map compared to the blue section.

 

 

Map 07 : Point Foxtrot Tango

 

 

Difficutly : Medium
Death(s) : 2

DEMO

 

Weird but funny name.

It's the dead-simple map of this map where you confront the classic duo of mancubus and arachnotrons but not exclusively. Antares reserved for you some explorations and a quirky final fight against a customized Spider-Mastermind. The very beginning was brutal , you shall pick the green armor as soon as possible because the revenants can kill you quickly if you don't react in time. You will also find the blue monsters you encountered in the previous level but they don't pose real problems. The map 07 gives the opportunity to show the new weapon of the arachnotron since it now has a machine gun instead of a plasma rifle. The Spider mastermind fires very powerful plasma balls but it looks like it can still shoot bullets because I lost health even if I managed to dodge the plasma balls. I was hallucinating maybe. The last fight is quite difficult but can be easily overcome it by understanding the pace of the ascending and descending walls.

 

I expected to start in a blue level because of the end of the previous map but this is not the case at all. Indeed, the adventure still takes place in a grey base with certainly a pleasant appearance but which becomes a little repetitive for my taste. I loved the music of this level like the others, it gives a really dynamic and funny  tone to  the megawad.

 

[antares031]

MAP06 – Meet the Afriest

PrBoom+, UV - Pistol Start, KIS(%): 107/100/100

 

A short level, designed to introduce two custom monsters. The first one is Antaresia; a cerulean ophidian, which is nearly identical to Ophidian from Heretic. The difference is that, instead of slightly more powerful fireball, now it shoots super-fast, damage-boosted energy bolt, after it fired three normal projectiles (caco’s fireball). The energy bolt, which replaces Arachnotron’s plasma projectile, is only just slightly more powerful than Imp’s fireball. But it’s as fast as your grenade shot; 30 units per tic. And Antaresia shoots a special energy bolt, three times stronger than the other’s energy bolts. It’ll be better to learn how to dodge that projectile, since there will be more monsters that shoot energy bolts, including the next one.

 

The other one is Afriest. The name is basically a combination of Afrit and Priest. And yes, it uses a color-swapped version of Dark Bishop from Hexen. Originally it was a flying Arachnotron, shooting plasma rounds constantly while they’re hovering around the player. But then I changed it to shoot three kinds of projectile at the same time(caco’s, baron’s, and macubus’ fireballs), instead of shooting plasma shots loudly all over the place. They also used to have much faster movement speed, making them really agile and deadly. But then I thought it was way too OP, and only made the game more annoying, rather than challenging. So I slowed them down a little bit, and let them only shoot a pack of projectiles once, rather than spraying fireballs, literally. And yes, now it shoots an energy bolt, instead of two fireballs diagonally.

[Dragonfly]

I streamed up to the end of MAP10 and I am flippin' loving this wad. Antares has done a smashing job. The DeHackEd changes are very, very appealing to me - removing the Revenant homing missiles, the player's weapon changes, the ammo caps, the new enemies, spectral Cacodemons, etc... It's all really good stuff and genuinely helps Struggle to assume it's own unique identity and personality.

 

I look forward to stepping into the world of deep blue maps ahead. :)

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2018 by Dragonfly : Added VOD, removed 'now live' notice.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP07 Point Foxtrot Tango

 

Looking past the beginning we got...a hub map! Weeeee! And it's overall pretty nicely done with the separate areas and such. The only really bad thing this map does is have 30-second bars when the mancubi and arachnotron spawn, or something like that. Quite boring having to kill four of each and waiting a bit longer. The ophidian things return, but I found the rifle good for getting rid of them. The spidermastermind combines what the arachnotron ought to have been with his own chaingun, in an interesting final arena.

[CPCTC]

Map 7 - Point Foxtrot Tango

HMP Difficulty, Pistol Start

 

The level starts with a hectic fight, where the player is surrounded on all sides by loads of enemies, including 4 revenants. I'm quite new to doom, so it took me multiple tries to take them all out. The pit area is very cramped with boxes, so the player is highly encouraged to squeeze past the imps onto the rim, where the encounter was much easier. Taking a look at our surroundings, it looks like we are back in a tech base, and out of the blue dimension. It's a bit of a shame, as most of the previous maps were tech bases, and I was very intrigued by the blue area at the end of the last level, as well as the new monsters it brought. I suppose we'll probably return to it at some point later in the WAD, but it's too bad that antares031 doesn't follow up with the abrupt character change that I loved so much about the last level.

 

Anyway, when he does decide to do tech bases, he does them quite well. After heading through the only open door and completing the next room, the player has of choice of going right or left. The right door leads out towards a nice little semi-outdoor area, where the player can grab the blue keycard. I'm really glad that the player is allowed to romp up and down the hill, as it's a nice change from hallways, and not all map creators let the player explore outside of the windows. There are also a ton of enemies in this area, consistent with gameplay we've seen in earlier levels: lots supplies and lots of enemies. It keeps the gameplay fun and differentiates the WAD from others I've seen.

 

If we were to head left instead, we could grab the red keycard instead of the blue one. After grabbing either, we are teleported back to the hub area to open the respective keycard door. Whichever keycardcard door we open, they eventually lead to the room with the other one. It's very nice level design; by teleporting the player in front of the door to the keycard they just collected, they are incentivised to go through that door, instead of backtracking to where they made the choice of red or blue keycards. This way, the player can experience more of the level, and it avoids confusion because the player doesn't have to search for the door thier card opens. It's very nonlinear, and I very much appreciate the amount of thought that was put into this.

 

After opening both keycard-doors, the player can proceed to the spider mastermind bossfight behind the yellow door. It's quite a fun fight, because the player is almost required to memorize the pattern that the walls move. Unfortunately, mine was bugged the first time I played through the level, and the pillars were out of sync. There were times when I had no cover at all. During this time, while I was circle-strafing, I experienced the same thing as Roofi: Even when I dodged all of the plasma balls, I still took damage, and it seems like the mastermind still fires some hitscan bullets. I'm not sure if this is intentional or not.

 

The second time I played this fight, the pillars were not bugged, and the groups were moving opposite of each other, and I had constant cover. I almost liked it more the first time, because I had to run to the corners of the room to refill on health, which required me to take my eyes off the incoming projectiles.

 

Either way, the bossfight was fun both times. Because we've already fought both of vanilla doom's bosses (although modified), I wonder if there are any custom bosses later in the mod. I very much look forward to the rest of the mod.

[DavitW]

MAP06: Meet the Afriest

We encounter 2 new custom monsters here. One of them's a blue version of the snake thing from Heretic, They're not so tough as long as you have a few rockets/grenades on hand. The other's a blue wizard from Hexen, these boys definitely seem like they can be a pain and you get to fight 6 of the bastards at the end of this map. Before all that we have another Techbase to get through first, I'd suggest going through the door up top first so you can get a Grenade Launcher and clear the area out to make things easier later on. They're throwing more high levels enemies at us and considering armor seemed to be lacking compared to previous maps you don't want to get too reckless for this one.

 

MAP07: Point Foxtrot Tango

We're definitely in Dead Simple territory with the start of this map, and with the Revenants on pillars, Zombies hit scanning from every direction, Demons and Lost Souls blocking your path and getting stuck on the Architecture of the room this part's definitely a pain in the ass. After that it opens up into a more non-linear hub level with plenty of monsters and traps waiting for us behind each door. As the map progresses we get 3 more fights in the starting room with Cacodemons, Mancubis and Arachnotrons. Once we finally lower the yellow key it's time to take on the Spider Mastermind and she's a tough bitch here with a plasma ball attack to go with her chaingun. The Assault Rifle's a good weapon of choice here as you can easily fire it around the corners of the Pillar's and take her out from relative safety.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP05: Sewage Treatment

100% kills, 0/4 secrets

 

Another solid map where you can explore most of the map before finding any of the keys, as I did... you can see them from areas early on but it took me so long (and so much monster meat to blast through) that by the time I reached it I had completely forgotten about the key! I really do like the look of the level though, it's that good combination of feeling thematically cohesive but still having enough discretely designed areas to act as signposts and keep things interesting. My only real foible would probably be that the big arrows in the slime are a bit cheesy. I'm also not sold on the sprite replacement for the powerups, like @Roofi I thought the first one was an invuln sphere but after seeing four in the next room it becomes obvious they must just be radsuits. Hardest room for me by far was the ambush before the blue key, probably because the sudden 20% damage sludge caught me by surprise. Good placement of the cyberdemon to show off the new rifle, though.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP08: A Forgotten Base

 

Forgotten by whom?  Clearly not the monsters, who infest its twisting corridors and gloomy chambers rather thickly; this is a level with significant opposition and frequently not a lot of room to manoeuvre, in a way that feels like it takes the established Struggle aesthetic and cranks it up a notch.  That's notable in the monster density and usage, the overall layout, and also in the presence of the one-way doors that I've yet to remark upon but are especially significant here.  They're a helpful shorthand for "once you've hit a switch, used a key, or otherwise made progress, your path will bring you back around here," and signal ways in which the level will open up as the player advances, forming a fairly critical part of each map's layout and overall style; they've seen usage in ever level of the WAD so far, but they rise to greater prominence here, with a sense of stumbling across one every twenty-seven feet that borders on the self-parodic and certainly is on the playful side.  On the whole, despite the greater number of those evolving interconnections (or reconnections, maybe?) this is a level that feels on the disconnected side to me, built out of discrete subsections, individual challenges, and distinct enounters that, outside of the large-scale repopulation of the map upon the collection of the yellow key, feel like they were assembled, and are most obviously tackled, in a rather piecemeal fashion.

[tmorrow]

map08: A forgotten base, by antares031
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

 

Aw! @TheOrganGrinderstole my joke about Forgotten and got in first. :-)

Oh dear, we've forgotten about this base, but the enemy hasn't. They have moved in and taken over completely. Time to get it back! In this nonlinear base, you have several rooms full of beasties to tame. There are even enemies outside the facility.

There is not a lot of armor on the map so you can't let the enemy make you a pin cushion for long. Health is more plentiful and all weapons up to the assault rifle can be found. The entire southwest area with walkways over lava is devoted to getting your grubby hands on the assault rifle.

The keys are guarded to the hilt of course, the blue key must be obtained first and then the yellow. Both involve big fights with revenants, hellknights and the occasional archvile. It isn't the walk in the park. The trip to the exit can be quite nasty until you know what to expect.

The soulsphere and a combat armor make up the loot from the secrets and are well worth finding.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP06: Meet the Afriest

100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

Admittedly the final fight area caught me by surprise a bit, since I thought the ophidian (or Antaresia as it's called here) was the new 'Afriest' monster. Neither of the two new monsters feel very difficult to be honest, at least as long as there's room to dodge their attacks. Worst part is how loud the Afriests are. The level itself is decent, a little back more towards the overly-cramped feeling of the first couple levels for my taste though.

[antares031]

MAP07 – Point Foxtrot Tango

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

 

The original version, back in 2013, was an obvious homage to Dead Simple; you kill mancubi in the arena, then kill the arachnotrons, then proceed to the next part, where you can find an exit switch and hundreds of extra monsters. Compare to the old level, this is something slightly different. While you still need to fight against the mancubi & arachnotron squads, you need to obtain red & blue keycards from different sections first. Red keycard section mainly focuses on linear, straightforward progression with narrow indoor corridors. And once you get the red keycard, you’ll encounter the arachnotrons, all around the starting arena. Blue keycard section features opened outside area, with a battle against a swarm of cacodemons. And yes, mancubi are waiting for you in the arena, when you grab the blue keycard. The order of both fights are not fixed, so you may encounter arachnotrons first, or the others, depending on your progression. The arena used to allow players to escape during each fight, but many players pointed out that it would be much better, if the level locked in the player inside the arena, rather than let them escape from the monsters.

 

This level also features the first appearance of Spider Mastermind with new arsenal. While it still has its original chaingun, now it has a pair of energy bolt cannons, one for each side of a chaingun. So yeah, it has both hitscan attack and projectile attack, making it actually defeats a Cyberdemon in 1-on-1. Not to mention that it also got a slight HP boost for +10% than the original. But keep in mind that your plasma rifle replacement also got more damage boost. So if you managed to stock some rifle bullets, the fight won’t take too long to defeat the classic boss.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP08 The Forgotten Base

 

Now I'll be honest, I don't really like this layout. Most likely because of those goddamn no entry doors that are only openable on one side that force me to go the long way each and every time. Quite a few nasty and cramped fights also pollute this level. A few of those ophidians make their return, best to save the rifle for them. There's also the S-curve where you can pick up a rifle and kill cacos and revenants on the other side, a true highlight. But man, this level was way longer than it looked and I hate those kinds of deceptive layouts that make this kind of level.

[FrancisT218]

Level 7

 

So we have a Dead Simple room here no doubt, but we're not even close to just a clone thankfully. Instead, the fights and their associated tags simply grant you access to locked doors and are well integrated into the progression of the level. In Beta 5, you were not locked in to fight, but here it seems you are, making it more challenging. The majority of the level, however, is not Dead Simple as there are several distinct sections branching off with keys to attain followed by switches to press. While the Mancubi and Arachnatrons only show up in the center, these other areas themselves are at least on par with previous levels for difficulty. And you end by fighting a Spider Mastermind which has now picked up a rifle in its arsenal too.

 

The level is arguably a step above previous ones aesthically, as areas seemed to be a bit more detailed with eye candy even more abundant

I say 'even more' as to not result in any confusion that previous levels were also plenty nice to look at too.

[Forli]

MAP06 : Meet the Afriest

 

Most of the map consist of some very cramped fights that increase the danger of the faster monsters. The interesting part happens near the end when 2 new monsters are introduced, they fire different types of projectiles, but all travel on a straight line so the can be circle strafed on an open enough area.

 

 

Map 7 : Point Foxtrot Tango

 

I thought we were going to continue going through some blue caverns, but apparently not.

 

The only difficult part of this map is right at the start, interestingly we get a ssg, but the best weapon to use at first is the pistol, as it's more useful to kill the hitscanners while circlestrafing around the revs.

 

The rest of the map has a bit too much of shooting from doorways, other than that we have to collect the 3 keys in order as we keep being teleported back to the starting room to do some dead simple fights.

 

At the end there's the new spider mastermind who combined what I think is a weaker version of it's chaingun with something similar to the arachnotron's usual attack,it can be a bit confusing as I thought the projectiles were dealing explosive damage to me, but it was actually the hitscan.

 

And I have to say it again, that waterfall texture looks wrong next to that water flat, am I the only one who thinks that?

 

 

MAP08 : The Forgotten Base

 

The thing that I remembermost from this map is how many times I had 1 or 2 pain elementals come out alongside a bunch of cacodemons.

 

As the name says this map felt a bit forgettable, the only remarkable moments were at the end with the lights going out and the floor lowering.

[tmorrow]

map09: Spectre strikes, by antares031
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

The spectre strikes all right. There are an awful lot of them showing off their stealth skills and trying to sneak behind you for a free bite. Sneaky bastards. Fortunately, in this techbase you can often find places to funnel the buggers in narrow passages and doorways so you know where they are. That doesn't stop the odd surprise though as a couple decide to sneak around the long way to get at you.

There are a couple of nasty traps on this map. Collection of the super shotgun before acquiring the combat armor and/or better weaponry is not advisable. You really need to plan beforehand where you are going to stand and fight for each trap or you will get shredded in seconds.

There are 4 secrets to discover which will help your endeavors enormously with 2 soulspheres, a megaarmor and computer map.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP07: Point Foxtrot Tango

100% kills, 0/3 secrets

 

I agree with @Forli it's a bit of a disappointment to go back to the starbases right again, but, what can ya do. As many have noted, the opening chamber takes some notes from Dead Simple, something that is further reinforced once you fight the arachnatron and manc reinforcement battles later. Thankfully there's a lot more to the map, and the center instead just becomes a battleground to repeat after claiming keys. The next surprise is that despite the hub-map layout of three key doors and one regular door, the vast majority of the map is actually behind the one non-key door, which will split into two wings (one for the blue key, one for the red) that leads to two mini-boss Antaresias, which then give up the yellow key which leads to the final boss, the new souped-up Spider Mastermind.

 

This map had me playing a bit wary, since it seemed every step forward would open up a new monster closet or surprise teleport ambush, so I had to be careful to take care of everything before moving forward. Despite that there was still plenty of frantic running, especially after being teleported back into the cramped central chamber. The Antaresia fights were undercut a bit since it was possible to just run up to them and teleport out (they're not big enough to block the teleport pad). For the SMM, the aiming seems a bit weird, circle-strafing let me avoid a lot of the chaingun damage, something that doesn't work on the vanilla one. Sometimes it would get a bead on me but oftentimes not. Less than 20 grenades and it was dead. I am worried to see it roam freely though as that bugger was dancing in place FAST.

 

Also, anyone else find the sound replacements a bit too loud? I feel like I need to choose between blowing out my eardrums or making the normal sounds too quiet to hear.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP09 Spectre Strikes

 

In this somewhat big level, the main deal is having to deal with spectrecacos. One area practically functions as a hub of sorts, as much of the action tends to return to this room every time you do something like grab a key, and among the enemies there will almost always be a spectrecaco. Yet somehow, it's not really those enemies who are most dangerous. Having to deal with the new revenants was considerably more dangerous. Also it took me awhile to figure out how to open the offline doors. Those things are really starting to get on my nerves lately.

[Roofi]

Map 08 : The forgotten base

 

 

Difficutly : Medium
Death(s) : 0

 

DEMO

 

A forgotten base? What a lie, you saw all the creatures inside?!

 

I miraculously managed to finish this level in one try since the difficulty goes up a notch although the wad stays very feasible for the moment.

The rarefaction of armors greatly impacts (for my part) the fast-paced side of the wad. You can always try to run to the monsters but the many revenants can obviously reduce you into pieces. Add to that ,  the dangerous traps involving at least one arch-vile acting as a turret , as well as the traps that follow each other like at the end of the level where the ground descends by surprise. It's the hardest map yet and I don't expect it to get any easier afterwards! I think I'm gonna suffer in the final levels. :)

 

In any case I found the map a little more beautiful than some I played before. I always like it when a circular room fits into a very square layout. It brings more diversity and complexity too. The level is quite mazy but as Antares said previously, you have to pay attention to the "Unit 1" Unit 2" signs because they indicate the order to follow. I also liked the "resupply room", I always liked the concept of "supply rooms" in maps, like the "armory room" in the map "Sewer treatment". There are also many more "locked doors" which give more meaning to the interconnections.

 

Map 09 : Spectre Strike

 

 

Difficulty : Medium
Death(s) : 1

 

DEMO

 

The difficulty continues to increase as long we advance in the wad. Expect to see more invisible cacodemons than usual according to the title. On the other hand, it is far from being the main source of trouble, the more I play this wad and the more I have the impression that the revenant is really overpowered compared to the rest of the bestiary. All my deaths are due to them (and my nullity too). They'll kill you in gewseconds if you don't have any armor. The flying boss that we beat in the sixth level returns but does not pose big problems, it can however surprise the most inattentive players. The level is not really very difficult although several traps make many enemies appear at the same time. Besides I found it amusing how several different traps are activated in the same large room at the very beginning. The spectres are not very vicious in this level since their appearance is generally quite predictable and we benefit from all the space necessary to see them from far enough.
On the other hand, a huge peak of difficulty appears when you press the switch near the non-secret blue armor. Indeed, a handful of viles accompany the many monsters that appear. If you run away, another one is waiting for you in the main room and almost killed me .

 

Like the previous level, I found the architecture and use of textures more neat. I think we're approaching recent levels of antares. It's still grey but the darker aspect breaks a bit the monotony. The level is also more open and the interconnections better worked. The room where the blue boss appears is very pretty and the brick textures a little orange give a certain mystical side. Moreover , I have a favourite for the external zone at the very end of the level , I like how Antares details the rocky landscapes.

 

 

[Deadwing]

TBH, once you get used with the new Revenant behavior, he doesn't give much trouble. Maybe if the sprites were different it would help disconnect the old Revenant behavior from the new one, IDK.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP09: Spectre Strikes

 

If there's a particular theme at work in this second episode I suppose it's one of darkness and abandonment, a sense that, while there's a familiarity to these techbases, a similarity to the maps explored in the first episode, they're gloomier, twistier, and more run-down; there are also occasional nuggets of religious architecture and imagery (such as the cathedral/temple area encountered in the north-east of this map) that feel out-of-place in a way that's endearingly reminiscent of The Shores of Hell.  As @NuMetalManiak notes there's a hub to this level, a sewer or canal from which the rest of the map sprawls in winding loops, and though it's less formally delineated than the squarish arena of MAP07 it once again serves as a pitched battlefield on multiple occasions, with new waves of enemies appearing every time your progress brings you back to the area, though often from a different vantage point.  The invisible cacodemon isn't new but it plays a much more prominent role here, making up a large component of various encounters and waves of reinforcements, the combination of its flight ability and the prevalent gloom making it a rather more fearsome ambusher than the land-locked spectre of vanilla Doom that it replaces.

 

While I've generally been enjoying Struggle, I will say that I liked the transition to a new environment that's hinted-at by the vertiginous end-of-level plummet from the exit walkway of the techbase to the chthonian darkness of the caverns below.  After nine levels of mostly techbase environments I'm ready for a change of theme.

[antares031]

MAP08 – A Forgotten Base

PrBoom+, UV - Pistol Start, KIS(%): 104/100/100

 

Ah, yes. This level. What a name for a forgettable level, like many people mentioned. This level is an another outpost level with a claustrophobic layout. Sadly, unlike other levels, I also found this level a little bit forgettable, because of its lack of character. The first two levels did a good job as an opening of the megawad, MAP03 to MAP07 had their own characters, like a supply base with wide-opened layout, a good combination of indoor rooms and outdoor areas, and an introduction of new custom monsters and an upgraded classic boss monster.

 

Anyway, like the first level, this one was an another testing place for custom textures. Back then, the texture scheme for techbase that I really wanted wasn’t established yet, so I was just playing around with those basic textures from Textures.com. We’ll see the other techbases with much better texture scheme in later levels, like MAP12 and MAP16. The level still follows the elements from the previous levels; it has non-linear layout with lots of low-tier monsters, and some mid-tier monsters. Those cerulean ophidians are also making more appearances, so be familiarize with new baron replacements. And be careful with those arch-viles. I believe that the one in the S-curve area was the cruelest one.

 

6 hours ago, Magnusblitz said:

Also, anyone else find the sound replacements a bit too loud? I feel like I need to choose between blowing out my eardrums or making the normal sounds too quiet to hear.

 

Mind if I ask which ones I need to adjust? Let me see what I can do with those sounds. 

[rehelekretep]

they are quite loud - im playing on speakers and havent tried with headphones though...

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

Uh, oh, I haven't been keeping up like I said I would.

 

I'll write reviews as I catch up in-game.

 

MAP05

Crispy Doom 5.2, UV, continuous, saves

Suffered my first death here.

This map wasn't as confusing as the others, so I didn't do too much extraneous running around.

Combat is solid, usually, but there were a few places where camping reigned supreme (the large room to get the red card, where I died).

There's a cyberdemon at the end in a toxic pit, so grabbing one of the rad spheres would've been a good idea before going down there.

Instead of using the assault rifle to kill him, like I should've, I elected to exhaust my 9mm and rockets on him, but I didn't have much difficulty against him.

 

MAP06

Died again. Sorry, Antares, I keep getting you killed!

Fun little map, easy to find my way around, only took 9:40 to finish. I suppose that's because I use the automap more when I'm not recording a demo.

Didn't have much trouble with that serpentine monster, though I watched Dragonfly play this map and later ones yesterday, so I knew what he was capable of.

Not much to say about the majority of the map.

The end fight was really cool, though. I suppose they're the "afriests" referenced in the map name, and they're quite powerful if you're not quick on your feet. I imagine a lot of Ironman runs would end here if not at the first serpent.

 

Also, since Antares is from Korea (unless I'm mistaken), I suspect that English isn't his first language, and I'm not sure if anyone pointed it out, but in the text, the last sentence of the first paragraph should say, "It seems like everyone you knew is dead right now." And in the second, it should probably be the first interstellar teleportation test. Just a minor nitpick.

 

MAP07

First, I must say, everyone knows about the fatshot/manc fireball clipping bug. I suffered this exact thing shooting a rocket at some imps. I watched it phase straight through the wall. That's never happened to me before, but it was quite amusing.

It's not quite a Dead Simple clone, but I daresay it's the best looking one regardless.

The method to get the yellow card was well executed, I thought, and the areas outside the courtyard added some much needed personality to an otherwise Dead Simple clone.

The fight against the (incredibly badass) Mastermind was a bit of an anticlimax to me, but I did have to weave from one column to the next as they moved, and that was neat.

 

MAP08

Dragonfly complained that the vile teleporting in in the room to the Unit 2 switch was unfair. I agree, because there's no real cover there unless you hop in the lava, but it's easy enough to dispatch it quickly with the new launcher, so I think it balances nicely enough.

Not a whole lot to say about this one. It's a good one, though.

 

MAP09

I felt this one was really dragged out. This was probably exacerbated by the fact that I died a few times, so by the time I got to the red card, I was really just waiting for the exit, which seemed to stretch itself farther and farther away so it could laugh and me in a raspy voice and poke me with a stick.

Dark is the game, here, with spectral enemies very common, but only one particularly difficult fight just beyond the blue door, I think.

I don't have much to say on it, I was just tired at the end of it.

[FrancisT218]

Level 8

 

This level doesn't give you anythingparticularly new or memorable, but I enjoyed it regardless, as it still possesses many of the positive traits of the wad. I do also remember difficult fights for two of the keys; a surprise Archvile above the lava that will zap you if you're not absolutely ready for it to appear; and a final trap in the water as you're dashing for the exit.

[Magnusblitz]

7 hours ago, antares031 said:

Mind if I ask which ones I need to adjust? Let me see what I can do with those sounds. 

 

Hard to single them out but definitely the bullet ones (pistol, chaingun, AR). Maybe the shotgun ones. Grenade is fine.

 

Monster-wise, the sounds the afriests make (just moving around) were really loud. Some of the projectile explosions too I think.

[Salt-Man Z]

So this was already going to be my next WAD up, but since I started so late, and won't be able to play for the last couple weeks, I won't be doing any map-by-map analyses for the Club. But I'll take this space to give my impressions so far, partway in to MAP05. GZDoom/HMP/continuous/saves/keyboard-only.

 

First off, I love that "struggle" is a synonym for "strain", since STRAIN is precisely what this WAD reminds me of, in both look and feel. (I have to assume this is 1000% intentional; I haven't yet read anything about the WAD, just saw the caco nom and the awesome screenies and knew I had to dive in.)

 

The new weapons have a lo-fi charm to them that gives 'em a home-brewed feel without clashing too terribly with the id assets. The beefed-up pistol is a minor miracle; I found it becoming my weapon of choice in the early levels before I found the SSG. The regular shotgun feels...off, somehow. Weaker. Though I think it's really just the new sfx that makes it seem wimpier. The dual wield pistols are The Bomb. I like to use them as much as I can, and thankfully there's usually enough ammo around (on HMP) for me to do so. Speaking of which, the new ammo limits seem totally arbitrary; I know they must have been meticulously analyzed to arrive at those numbers, but man are they hard to remember at times.

 

I thought it was really fun having ye olde zombiemen as the major threat in the first couple maps. I found myself prioritizing them over imps because of their speed and stronger weaponry, which was an interesting angle. The tweaked revenant made me about pee myself the first time he showed up blasting grenades into my face. Those suckers are fast! (My first death came partway through MAP05, when I was caught off-guard and up close by a revvie.) I've only run across one arachnotron so far, but its chaingun sure did catch me by surprise.

 

Also the new textures look great, the music is awesome, and the maps so far are super fun. Loving this WAD.

Edited July 9, 2018 by Salt-Man Z

[rehelekretep]

map04 fda

really fun map. i didnt have too much trouble navigating, quite intuitive. the combat was mostly open door and shoot but there were some nice traps with revs and the start with turret revs forces you to think about where you are exposing yourself to the outdoor area if you stay inside. speeding about caverns and jumping up/down things is always fun and with the dual uzis you can get quite carried away here.

the finale felt a bit too staged (imps 1-2-3, now demons 1-2-3, revs! join in!) and the grenade launcher splash seems more than the rocket launcher; or perhaps the smaller firing sprite is fooling me?

i did like the appearances of the viles - them and cybers are the things that still scare me after playing doom for a while now.

[DavitW]

MAP08: A Forgotten Base

This is similar to most other maps so far, Close Quarters and non-linear with a Techbase style, and it seems the creator really likes to start maps off by surrounding the player with enemies. Not too much to say about it even though this probably was the most challenging map so far, mainly due to the room with the pillars in the lava and a few of the Archvile Traps.

 

MAP09: Spectre Strikes

The Difficulty once again goes up a bit further with this one, mainly due to a few rough traps such as a dual Archvile trap behind I believe the Red key door and a couple of monster closets filled with some tough enemies. The Maps mainly built around the central room with the water and the various areas off to the site will usually loop back around here. The dark atmosphere of the map works well for the spectrecacos who of course make more than a few appearances throughout the map as the namesake implies.

 

9 hours ago, antares031 said:

MAP08 – A Forgotten Base

Mind if I ask which ones I need to adjust? Let me see what I can do with those sounds. 

 

I'd say the Pistol and Dual SMGs are a bit too loud.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP08: A Forgotten Base

100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

Despite the name, still chock full o' monsters. As others have said this one doesn't throw anything too new at the player, but I did really like the look of some of the rooms, particularly the lava room and the yellow doorway. Not quite sure why, just liked the way they were designed (though I do agree that the AV that teleports in halfway in the bridge room felt a bit bull to me since there's no cover, you basically gotta be prepped with the right gun).

 

And since I'm thinking about it, the Antaresia sounds are pretty loud too, and the explosion on one of their projectiles is particularly ear-splitting IMO.

[tmorrow]

map10: Cerulean Ophidians, by antares031
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

Cerulean Ophidians? Oh, those antaresia bastards whose energy bolts hit like a tank. A wonderful cavern based map. It's all peaches and cream for over two thirds of the map as you acquire the red and yellow keys. The trick is to assume there are antaresias behind every door and in almost every room and you will be proved right.

The pace picks up when you drop into the blue key trap. The lava damage in this area is insane so watch out.

The final fight is a fun one in the north area. The antaresias always seem to win the massive, infighting, bitch fight that ensues every time and you can just mop them up at the end and then grenade spam the final 3 afriests into oblivion.

The 4 secrets yield 2 soulspheres, a megaarmor and ammo and aren't that hard to find.