The DWmegawad Club plays: Heroes' Tales

[Spectre01]

MAP04 - “Survival” by Lainos

What stood out to me here, aside from the point of these Pinkies that do a whole lot of nothing, was the lack of any sort of lighting variation when you make it topside. It looked like both indoor and outdoor locations were all set to the same brightness level, which gave it a lazy and ugly looking "fullbright" effect. The initial drop into the damaging lava is quite mean, but otherwise I didn't encounter much in the way of encounters that I could classify as engaging.

 

MAP05 - “Canyon” by 3EPHOEd

It's a mid-90's looking outdoor canyon with some peculiar block lines.

 

MAP06 - “Nemesis” by Archi

One of the better maps, along with map03, this is a fun little map with some very snazzy scrolling yellow lights. The courtyard area is also quite nice and contains familiar platforming we know and love. The boss fights with the Spider above and Cyber below are a cool way to wrap things up from a cinematic perspective. What I like here is that ammo and weapons are not held back from the player and provided when needed to handle a particular situation. In contrast to some of the previous maps with shotgunning big boys.

[Phobus]

MAP06 - I like the Arch Enemy - "Nemesis" MIDI, but otherwise this is a pretty plain map. Very flat for the most part, with a bit of detail to liven up a blocky room/corridor layout. The AV is in an awkward place, whilst the Cyberdemon is only a risk if, like me, you're bad at BFG combat vs one. The Spider Mastermind was stuck for me... not sure if that's GZDoom or the map, to be honest. All in all, it's a serviceable map that does nothing special. I like that the between levels text was changed, though! Always a nice touch.

 

MAP07 - Sigh... The Dead Simple clone again. Starting on a damaging floor wasn't welcome and my attempts to just smash my way through with a BFG were punished. I think the AVs at the end are pretty unwelcome given how open the arena is when they turn up, although I think the hitscanners around the outside, combined with the ever-potent threat of Revenants, is even more of a bother. All told, I don't like this map.

 

MAP08 - A high fidelity city map that looks pretty good and has almost no threat at all. Particularly playing continuous, where you can pick off the harmless demons from various ranges. Aside from the initial ambush and one or two enemies that can get the jump on you (like a cacodemon outside of a window) or might surprise you at range (the imps at the start if you're busy plinking away at something else), most enemies or revealed slowly and are basically in front of you. Going by the ammo set up and the (surprisingly easy to get) secret BFG, I think it may be a reasonable challenge on pistol start. Particularly if you berserk the Hell Knights near the end.

 

MAP09 - That music was annoying... The map itself was ok, though. Not as good look as the last, despite similar attempts at detail, due to being too brown and quite basic in architecture. I found it quite low on threat due to most of the enemies being in front of you and encountered through narrow corridors or doorways. I never did find the third secret, but as I'm well overstocked now due to playing continuously, I'm not too worried.

 

All caught up, and I'm glad, too, as tomorrow's map has 322 monsters.

[gaspe]

MAP09: The theme is nice but the execution not so much, it's a series of corridors to travel.

[DavitW]

MAP03: Aquapark

This is a pretty cool style of map that doesn't seem done too often. You basically have a bunch of structures and buildings on some water, a old school type of map too. It's ugly as hell but the gameplay was good, and it's small and designed well enough you likely won't get lost running around trying to figure out where you're supposed to go.

 

MAP04: Survival

This map felt like it had more variety than the other maps so far. Visuals are still not great like the fullbright outdoor area, but the cave at the beginning had lighting so not too sure there, but the gameplay was pretty good and you had that cool flesh elevator part with a close quarters Baron fight.

 

MAP05: Canyon

This is another one that's got style and some pretty nice atmosphere too. The opening part can be a bit tough if you're careless but the rest of the map is pretty basic and easy. You have a berserk pack, mega armor, soul sphere and a megasphere in a sort of secret area so health and armor is definitely no problem. The red and blue key fights weren't done too well as you can walk away from the Archvile and not even realize he was there and the Cyberdemon is placed in a really poor position so most of his rockets would hit the wall in front of him.

 

 

[galileo31dos01]

MAP09: Exploded City

 

Can see why others disliked the midi, in OPL3 it sounds too busy to hear at the same volume as others, like if it came from a forgotten list of unused iwad tracks or something. Anyway, the map wasn't really busy, on a visual perspective it's a continuous cycle of brown bricks and grays, detailed as if there had been an explosion underneath presumably caused by the demons of hell who wanted to invade the "city" and aaaaaaa whatever... Definitely one of the least attractive maps in gameplay (most is straightforward killing), though not exclusively bad, could work in speedrun mode save for the initial SG-cacos/pinkies but that's not my worry.

[gaspe]

MAP10: It isn't a very long level, despite the high monsters count could suggest otherwise. The map for the most throws at you monsters from your front in corridors but it was fun to roam on the ruined city streets plus the attention to detail was very good. It's a good effort for a map made in 4 hours. I liked also the music (I'm not sure but is it a song by Blind Guardian?) it gave a sort of an adventurous feel while you try to escape from the ravaged city.

 

Oh, the next map will be very funny for sure ;)

[Magnusblitz]

MAP06: Nemesis

98% kills, 1/1 secret

 

Boy you Ruskies sure like tan brick don'tcha? This map is okay, pretty forgettable but fun enough while playing as the ammo/monster balance is nice and punchy and there's enough going on to keep things moving. Would've been better off ending with the AV room though instead of tacking on the pointless cyber and SMM fights, the latter of which is mostly stuck.

 

MAP07: Colliseum

100% kills, no map secrets

 

Dead Simple with some cacos during the arachnatron phase and then an extra fight afterwards. And some running around aimlessly until you realize a switch that looks like you already pushed it lowers to reveal a new switch that opens the exit. The combat actually isn't bad on it's own merits, but, fuck Dead Simple clones.

 

MAP08: Upper Town

100% kills, 1/1 secret

 

A decently detailed city map, though some of the design cues are bordering on cliche, such as the large-H helipad and the big asphalt crack in the street. Combat here is pretty undercooked, as it's either pinkies in small rooms or easily avoidable (I ran by both the key baron and the final hell knights unintentionally, and had to go back to kill them).

 

MAP09: Exploded City

100% kills, 1/3 secrets

 

Ahhhh the tan brick returns with a vengeance, making me want to retroactively raise my imaginary score for last map based on use of color alone. This one has the linear paths and oddly-shaped/designed rooms I mentally associate with 90s map-making, for better or worse. I actually felt quite similarly in that at least it's punchy and easy to plow through, so it doesn't offend... basically the same feeling I had with MAP06, so no surprise they're by the same author in that regard.

[Spectre01]

MAP07 - “Colliseum” by Shadowman

Well, shit in my boots! An entirely symmetrical Dead Simple clone with the spawn on a damaging floor and 8 Mancs to fight with an SSG and no armour. Yeah, nah. I do like the city background, but that's about it here. Also, the switch to open the exit randomly appearing in one of those burning alcoves is irritating. As Alpa Chino said in Heat: "Don't waste my <expletive> time!"

[Magnusblitz]

MAP10: Mudrun

99% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

More of an exploded city than the last map, funny enough. This is another level that firmly has 90s/early 00s sensibilities, with lots of attempts at real-world representationalism and a very linear approach that consists of lots of outside alleyways with rectangular buildings to explore between. I'd say it does so with mediocre success, as the furniture is laughably oversized (the seats are roughly at Doomguy's head) and there's a lot of reliance on invisible walls and the like. Gameplay isn't my cup of tea as the monsters just feel plopped into fill space for most of the map, giving it a grindy feel.

[ella guro]

MAP09 - “Exploded City” by Archi

i actually liked this map. it was a bit bare-bones, but its experimental style reminded me of some of the old Memento Mori maps that were about ideas over detail. and there are some really neat ideas here (particularly some of the blown-out bits towards the end of the map), even if they're under-detailed, esp compared to the previous map. This is something that could very easily, outside of the context of a speedmap, become a base for a pretty interesting city-themed map. it's definitely not there yet, but it has potential. but then i guess i prefer the more experimental maps i've seen from Archi (particularly Map 06 in Sacrament) to the more recent slaughter maps he's made.

 

MAP10 - “Mudrun” by Nil

i am not impressed. it's mostly a series of linear tunnels where you kill massive amounts of enemies. it's what i derisively refer to as "modern level design", lol. a lot of tricks were made to artificially lengthen this map and make it feel more epic, but i felt it was pretty light on ideas outside of one or two points. it feels foolish to also take on a map of this size in a speedmap setting, and it's pretty obvious to me that this map was made by someone less experienced. some people might find this to be more to their taste, but it feels like a waste to use a speedmap to try and make a map to the scale and ruined city setting that so many mappers have already tried and done much better.

[Phobus]

MAP10 - I liked this map a lot. It starts out feeling like it's going to be a Serious Sam sort of "big corridor full of enemies" map, with the corridor being themed as a destroyed city, but you do a range of interior areas as well which breaks up the monotony very well. The challenge builds as you go on, although probably peaks in the building with the yellow key in it, where you're fighting AVs relatively often. The final warehouse is an interesting war of attrition with zombiemen and the odd bigger hitter. I loved all of the Doom-cute furniture and building damage and how that (and firmly closed doors) turned what could've been an open area into a pretty linear challenge path whilst still feeling like an interesting exploration. The supplies are pretty heavy in this map, but I came out with only 100 green armour and 100 health and a full stack of ammo and weapons, so it actually did weaken me slightly overall. The upbeat music felt pretty good, particularly after how crap the last map's was.

 

I see the next map has a comparable monster count. I'm guessing "speed map" could also be a 24-hour thing?

[Hells Kitchen]

Map 9

Holy brown bricks batman! Not much eye candy here that's for sure. The poorly placed window textures on those outcrops past the lava pit were oddly used, would've been better as rock IMO. Most of the fights were basic picking off low tier stuff from your corridor cubby, or in the corridors themselves. Some hitscanners are placed a lil bit high up, including one chaingunner, but I use mouselook so fuck him, if they can shoot you from the top of the Empire State Building, it's only fair that I'm able to return the favour lol. The pain elemental and his backup of lost souls was the most combative part. I'm not sure, but I think there is a hidden chaingunner in the mancubus yard, while on the wall with the teleporter of the bastard kept peppering me and I could not see/find him anywhere. Hidden chaingunners belong in Mock 2, fucken. A forgettable map visually and gameplay wise, oh and the music made me want to kill myself :)

 

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP08: Upper Town

9:06 | 100% Everything

This one really reminded me (initially) of the some of the large city maps from A.L.T. Its shortness was thereby quite disappointing, though the level itself isn't too bad for what it is.

 

MAP09: Exploded City

14:10 | 100% Kills | 100% Items | 66% Secrets

The first time I've missed a secret all WAD! IDDT shows me it was in one of the lava rooms, but I had already passed through twice (once without a radsuit) and I wasn't about to make another loop. Very 90's. Sooooo brown. At this point I'd started thinking I should have gone with UV, but the next map reassured me I had made the correct choice...

 

MAP10: Mudrun

28:45 | 100% Everything

I'm torn on this one. On the one hand, it looks like an absolutely epic map. (And looks more like an "exploded town" than the previous level.) On the other hand, it has so many irritating little quirks about it. The author's inconsistency in player-blocking lines is pretty high on that list: some of the fires block you (quite obnoxiously) and some don't; some of the pits you can climb into and out of (generally for no gain) and some you can't. The raggedy edges of the rubble are smoothed off in this fashion, which can sometimes be helpful, but here it's done in such a fashion as to break the illusion of place. The combat itself was pretty iffy, too. Either homogeneous mobs (like, huge mobs) of low-tier baddies, or more mixed mobs of heavies all up in your face. And I certainly wasn't expecting tag-team archies on HMP! I will say that the southern building was (despite a number of obnoxious encounters, and more than a handful of deaths) highly memorable; almost felt like I was breaking into a bank or something. Oh, and the music track was great, too.

[gaspe]

MAP11: It's rather impressive for a speedmap, even if you can see that the look is a bit lacking with mono-textured buildings and only few lighting variations, with more time it could have been something more appealing though the city flooded in the toxic still makes an impression. What's matter is that the concept of the map is done well. The gameplay uses the awkward things of the map: having to walk through damaging liquid with monsters that will target us from the roofs, there are some platforming sections and occasionally groups of cacodemons will be released. The finale is a room with like 100 revenants, I must say I appreciated it more than a boss battle that was more predictable to put there. I liked the egyptian textures used for some details, giving more a feeling the something is wrong there.

[Phobus]

MAP11 - The music I remember from a Raven game, but it worked well with the big outdoor forest village I thought I was getting. Then I saw the giant pit with the city in it and realise what sort of map it was. It was pretty reasonable all the same, though. The room stuffed full of revenants at the end was a bit silly, so I'm glad I'm continuously carrying a BFG9000 with me. There is a secret one, but I never worked that out. The platforming for the secret soulsphere was pretty tricky for me, but eminently doable. Otherwise it's one of those big sandbox maps that turns out to basically be a succession of encounters and platforms that you want to clear out from below whilst the radsuits are plentiful and then progress through once you've worked out the start of the sequence.

 

The huge buildings slowly lowering was a bit painful, particularly when they just reveal a block of enemies that want a BFG slap or two to clear. A reasonable map, though and I'm happy with how the theme transitions are being worked into the "plot". The next map is looking a bit smaller again, which is welcome after a couple of whoppers.

[galileo31dos01]

MAP10: Mudrun

 

The first of the set that wasn't a speedmap. Another classic ruined city during the apocalypse or some sort of catastrophe that ended with humanity, which became inhabited by the demons and once again the marine from another dimension arrived for a vendetta, of what? if humans are no longer alive... Whatever, agreed it's partially grindy, the initial SG-mancs wasn't the best idea to start with, but the map isn't exempt of surprises, namely the inner series of tight quarters towards the red key and the lonely blue armor which exists for mere trolling. Eventually we stumble upon a lot of DoomCute machinery, realistic design here and there, the big thingy in the, room (you know, the thing that looks like a thing). I was more intrigued about the Xs and ":)" in the depot at the end, I always relate that face with nothing good, so, I'll never know... Anyways, loved the map.

 

MAP11: The Source

 

Something more substantial from Shadowman, yet nowhere near to what's coming later. The graveyard at the beginning reminded me to a map from Icarus in a similar context. The design is like a sequel to his previous map 02, navigation through and over bricked buildings of all heights and sizes, this time involving more serious catwalk platforming and jumping (nothing "niche" though). The cleanup at ground level is sort of mandatory, particularly the cacos and arachnotrons who can infinite height or push you to the chasm later, but it's engaging enough due to the pressure of the slime and ample rocket supplies available, there're also more than enough radsuits to waste which is a good sign for casual blind playthrough. The central tower culminating in a slaughter-esque rev spam is my favourite part, silly but funny. Not sure about the egyptian textures, though it seems to me the author had an attraction for them given his next map. I guess the revenants are mummies?...

[Magnusblitz]

MAP11: The Source

95% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

Starts out nice and small with a run through a decently well-made forest/shacks area before opening up into a giant slime pit with city buildings into it... all those Chasm fans, c'mon down! Lots of slime and platforming may turn people off, but radsuits (and ammo) are plentiful and the platforming's not really that bad... took me longer to find the random teleporters that worked, with the only platforming that gave me trouble being the staircase to the blue key since I kept trying to cut the corners. The end is literally a box of revenants so hope you find that BFG secret.

[Salt-Man Z]

1 hour ago, galileo31dos01 said:

the big thingy in the, room (you know, the thing that looks like a thing)

Yeah, does anyone know what that was supposed to be? I climbed down thinking it was something important, but it was just decoration.

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP11: The Source

30:15 | 97% Kills | 100% Items | 100% Secrets

Loved this map. First off: the Heretic music is awesome. Second: that view from the cliff when you first look down into the slimebound city? Breathtaking. Lotsa meat to plow through, along with some platforming and a lotta nukerunning, but thankfully radsuits, ammo, and health are all plentiful. What a blast. I did miss 7 baddies; looks like a single closet failed to open, either by me somehow missing the trigger, or maybe it's blocked off on HMP?

 

MAP12: Boiler

21:20 | 100% Everything

This one was pretty fun, too, but I feel like progression was a little more obtuse than it needed to be, particularly accessing the northern blue door, which necessitated running all the way around to the switch on the south side and then all the way back around to the lift on the north side. (And it took me way too long to figure out the lift was repeatable, too. Since I went through the north door first, most of the outdoor section felt like one big secret (which I guess it was) but man do you think that BFG secret area had enough spiders in it? Geez. Exit cavern was a little anticlimactic, being just a half-dozen flaming skulls and a single knight. Ah, well. The crazy-frantic beginning pretty much made up for it.

[Capellan]

I was finally going to start this last night, and then I read that it uses TNT.WAD.  Guess I am having another month off after all :)

 

 

 

 

[ella guro]

MAP11 - “The Source” by Shadowman

this is definitely much more of an impressive and distinctive environment than Map 10, esp for a speedmap. i like all the details in the area in the beginning. but it pretty much has nothing to do with the rest of the map once you dive down into the hazardous city area, which is a little weird to me. i was hoping for them to intersect or interact with each other somehow, but i guess you can't expect that much from a map made in such limited time. i also think the combat in the city area started fun but started to get a bit tedious towards the end. i liked unveiling different structures and going from ruin to ruin, but once you got to the central structure and fought a bunch of Revenants it just felt kinda like busywork and less interesting or engaging. so definitely a good longer map with a nice setting, but it starts to show its seams after awhile towards the end.

 

MAP12 - “Boiler” by Wraith

i like the map. it's basically just you starting in the center of a circle and moving out from there, and it doesn't go too far beyond that. but it works architecturally and in terms of setting. it has a nice claustrophobic mood to it too, like that feeling of being surrounded on all side in the beginning is nice. like mentioned above, there was maybe one too many tricks done to artificially lengthen what is otherwise a pretty small level that probably wasn't necessary, and the ending was a bit anticlimactic. still, i had a positive experience overall and it definitely did not overstay its welcome.

Edited September 12, 2018 by ella guro

[Magnusblitz]

MAP12: Boiler

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

I agree with @ella guro that this is basically just a spiral set of circles, but it does well by using height differences (and a ton of mancubi) to keep things interesting. Simple concept but solid execution. I admit I was a little surprised to come across the ending in the channel as I hadn't reached the northern blue door yet, took me quite a bit of searching before I realized I actually had never hit the switch near the blue key (thought I had and it raised the stairs nearby). It felt like there was some weirdness going on with the turret revenants flanking the channel as my rockets would sometimes pass through them (and they would shoot rockets that disappeared as well) but that was a minor thing.

[DavitW]

MAP06: Nemesis

Another map that's brown as hell, not even going to bother mentioning it anymore. There's not a lot to this and there's a few problems, like that red and yellow bar trap thing doesn't work and i'm pretty sure that Spider Mastermind isn't supposed to be stuck in a fence.

 

MAP07: Colliseum

Man, people here really hate Dead Simple maps. Anyways you start this map out on a hurt floor which is pretty much a crime against doom mapping as far i'm concerned, and for a Dead Simple map this actually wasn't that dead simple considering the switch in the alcoves behind the Mancubis that open up can easily be missed. The first fight with the Mancubis was pretty easy, the fight with the Arachis and Cacos was a bit challenging and the last with the archviles was actually quite challenging so I actually did like the map overall.

 

MAP08: Upper Town

For a speed map this map is a pretty detailed city map although it is quite short, unfortunately from a pistol start ammo was quite tight so I ran through several parts of the map. Apparently there was a big Baron or Hell Knight or something at the end ambush but it's easy to run from and the exit's next to it so why bother?

[gaspe]

MAP12: I liked the visuals here and the map was fun with even some optional areas to visit. It seems like a repurposed Dead Simple that originally was meant to be in the 7th slot.

[Magnusblitz]

1 hour ago, gaspe said:

MAP12: I liked the visuals here and the map was fun with even some optional areas to visit. It seems like a repurposed Dead Simple that originally was meant to be in the 7th slot.

 

Yeah, wouldn't surprise me if the arachnatron area was originally a teleport box to re-fill the middle area and then the map got moved out of the MAP07 slot and the author just added a couple hallways to it.

[galileo31dos01]

MAP12: Boiler

 

Not a fan of this one. Looks like a revamped dead simple with questionable progression. I mean, on a first time it seems you have to grind the whole room with SSG/CG (blockmap bug included), and then you acquire your other weapons. The PR is obtainable earlier, as soon as you get the trickery of the lift (another thing I disliked), you can rush for it to use against the mancs, but the thing is the RL. On a replay, I found out you can take it if you surround the perimeter from the rightmost side, sure if the caco corpse wasn't obstructing the passage's view I would have noticed. However, the switch that opens the bars to the exit is right next to the RL, so there's no point on killing all the mancs. I also didn't get the point of the BFG secret or the spiders, seemed like an afterthought. The visual design indoors is nice, reminds me to NRFTL's map 09. Stock midi fits too, damn :/

 

Also @Magnusblitz is right on the revs, particularly the rightmost one, my rockets also pass through him, as well as his own missiles, no collision sound. Heh.

[Phobus]

MAP12 - The starting room and map name gave me the impression I'd be in some high-detail, gloomy, cramped tech base, which I was keen on playing. Then I was disappointed to discover the surrounding area, whilst still keeping up the visual fidelity, was basically just an awkward arena for sniper Revenants to surround you and then to ape Dead Simple. I never bothered with the totally optional Arachnotron bit, as leaving with a full megasphere was fine with me. Not a bad map, but not quite what I'd hoped for upon entering it. I also noticed one of the Revenants seeming to fall afoul of the block map, as it's rocket just disappeared. Curious, but no big deal.

 

MAP13 - A relatively cramped interior urban setting that gets some decent mileage out of the space, before following up with a brief excursion outside. The Spider Mastermind was an interesting prospect, as you could either inefficiently slug it out from relatively safety, or, as I did, charge through the teleporter with the BFG out and hope for the best. Of course, playing from a pistol start would preclude that option. The Arch-Viles in the map tended to be sudden and potent, whilst the lack of room made everything else a reasonable threat. Chaingunners waiting outside the doorway from the main building was a simple, effective trap for me. Good job getting a 3-key hunt into the space, as well.

[gaspe]

MAP13: A surprisingly cramped map from Dragon Hunter, author that I know him for his very huge maps in Whitemare 1/2. It's a cute 3 key hunt where every area has its trick.

[gaspe]

To be honest I think it's strange that there aren't maps by Eternal here, he was very prolific when these maps were made and he's also a great speedmapper. Maybe @Memfis do you know something?

[Memfis]

After the city-themed speedmapping contest, there was a conflict between Eternal and a few other mappers. He was accused of using prefabs and copy-paste "too much" or something (which is apparently not sportsmanlike?). Some people also outright didn't believe that he could create such elaborate levels in four hours (which I can understand, just look at the last map of Baker's Dozen...). He felt rather insulted and so all his maps went into BD instead.