The DWmegawad Club plays: Memento Mori 2

[gaspe]

MAP23: It starts as a sort of variations of the 3 keys hub, there's a 4-way teleport to reach the next path and the locked doors are all located on separate areas of the same courtyard, I liked that. As usual you have to collect the keys on a linear order. The gameplay is a based a lot on traps that will become harder as you progress into the map. The first section with the RK is rather easy, the hitscanners and the low ammo you have from the start can give you some problems. The YK setup is still not hard to manage, and many monster are put in places where they aren't able to reach you but the trasformation and the area looks nice despite a not so impressive texturing. The BK trap can result in a (almost) certain death, suddenly you will surrounded from all directions and the monsters are already close, there's a secret invuln. orb nearby. The most difficult moment happens way later, when you reach the northern tan-bricks courtyard and a sudden lift drop takes you to a room full of monsters and at the sides there are 2 closet with few cacos and like 6 pain elementals. You can try to rush out but behind the door there are some chaingunners awaiting. The last cyberdemon fight isn't that bad but you can skip it, the exit room is full of imp so you can just rush in there but you can kill from a couple of windows early in the map if you want, so it remains only an AV to guard the exit switch but not a big deal since you should have enough ammo. Visually is a bit too all over the place but it's good enough and the architecture has some nice things. If you find the secrets the ammo would be allright, I was having more trouble with the scarce health. Remarkable is the secret BFG with a puzzle teleport and even a trap to get it, and it's something that you'll really need on a pistol start.

[galileo31dos01]

MAP20: The Experiment

 

So, an experimental map. It's bland in general and has plenty of boxy spaces that have no aesthetic appeal, minus the lighting trick at the hub which is awesome, and that's fine. Actually, it wasn't as dull as other implied, and that's counting the last cyberdemon you hear but never see. Funny though, one could imagine that it's going to appear anytime soon but instead a lonely trooper spawns, maybe he did that roar from behind the walls.

 

Here's a couple of attempts in which one I miss the last kill, and another in which an imp never shows up: mm2_map20attempts.zip

 

The actual video is a sort of FDA after two weeks so my moves might look clumsy. 

 

 

[Summer Deep]

MAP23:  This continues the recent sequence of longish, fairly tough levels. It's also quite complex, with two of each key
colour required, and contains a well above-average secrets count. Three particularly brutal fights: the one in the blue
key room is certainly manageable with plasma and circle-strafing, and can be neutralized entirely if the nearby
invulnerability sphere is found. Then there's a massive ambush involving Barons and Revenants in the secret BFG room, but
you need to discover the switches then negotiate a mind-boggling number of teleporter combinations just to get there: I
came out of this encounter with 6% health. Finally comes the one involving the Pain Elementals, Cacos and god knows what
else in that small room near the end - the only way I could survive this was to get out as quickly as possible, then take
the lift on the left to the relatively safe area above: I'd take my hat off (if I had one) to anyone who could survive
this assault on UV without leaving the first room (maybe two or three perfectly timed and directed BFG blasts would do the
job, maybe not). 

 

It's quite possible to run straight through to the exit from here, but the Cyberdemon fight is one of those where the
player can use the cover of a central pillar and engage with the foe at close quarters with the SSG, which is always
guaranteed to get the pulse racing...

 

100% kills, 16/18 secrets. Some of the secrets here are rather trivial, and perhaps shouldn't be labelled as such.

 

MAP24:  A shorter, very straightforward and enjoyable map, in a similar vein to MAP08, which presents us with a steady
stream of encounters in manageable chunks, a welcome contrast to the increasing incidence of somewhat overblown setpiece-
type stuff we have seen in recent levels. It was great fun to blast oncoming Revenants with rockets in the corridors, or
snipe them through windows, and to take potshots from afar at the Mancubus guarding the yellow key in his watchtower. I
didn't even mind the Startan E1 style decor or the fact that the green armour was so far from the start.

 99% kills, 0/5 secrets (need to retry this map sometime and find at least a couple of the secrets)

 

[Capellan]

MAP24

Though I don't feel that there was good follow-through on the "the early maps are in hell" part of the "from hell to Earth" MM2 storyline, one of the nice features of the WAD is that it has a bunch of E1-ish techbases in the final stretch. It's nice to see a WAD endgame that's visually very distinctive from the norm, and also to have a bunch of KDitD style levels that are packed with higher-tier monsters.

 

Anyway, this is a mostly fun romp through a startan and brown1 wonderland. It has good inter-connectivity, such as you being able to enter the yellow wing from a couple of different directions, and it looks good. I liked the caco/sergeant/PE combo in the NE part of the map. That's a neat combination of threats.

 

There are definitely some missteps, though: that mancubus with the yellow key is pretty uncool, and the ability to corner bang everything behind the blue door before ever going in there is a mistake.

 

Slurped up all the goodies in the exterior area right before exiting – which more or less seems to be the only time you can get to them – so I go into the next map fairly well stocked.

 

[rehelekretep]

On 11/22/2018 at 1:06 PM, riderr3 said:

MAP22
That's a long map with long way to yellow door. Many backtracking.
The start is probably rough for pistol starters and lacking medikits.
Tried to reach that silver teleporter pedestal, but it's seems to be impossible if you jumping from the lift.
Interesting usage of sectors which served both as doors and lifts, depend from which sides it's accessed.
I've lured cyberdemon out, but didn't encountered him later. Nice view to nukage lake with red mountains.
 

i jumped on the teleporter but its actually an exit from the bfg secret, not a entry teleporter!

[Hells Kitchen]

Been away for a while so playing catchup...

 

MAP16

Holy shit this was BRUTAL. 100% hitscan hell, and every one of those fucking chaingunners and shotgunners got a shot in. Bloody 30-40% health lost at a time, thanks to the complete absence of armour. Once again we have popup monsters, which I don't particularly appreciate. Past the blue door a veritable clusterfuck of chaingunners, shotgunners and lost souls instapop and I well died within 0.234 seconds. Basically everything beyond the blue door is a solid adrenaline rush, with revenant/mancubus pincers and other nasty hitscan-centric encounters to go with it. The architecture and height differences work to make the monsters yet more dangerous, an example being the yellow key room. To top it off, we are afforded teasing views of the secret mega armour and soulsphere, both of which I eventually found after much exploring. This is perhaps the most intense map so far. I liked the architecture, it lends itself to exploration while amplifying the threat.

 

MAP17

Difficulty gets ratcheted way down after the last outing. We are greeted by those god-awful bricks, which then give way to a more techbase-themed installation. Those bricks clash with the rest of the map's theme, it just does not work. Gameplay was rather ho-hum, with about 90% SSG'ing stuff infront of you, there really wasn't any time where I felt a sense of urgency. Good cacodemon usage at the blue corridor though. It's good to have a bit of a breather after an adrenaline ride, but here it was a rather anemic experience. 

 

MAP18

This is a nicely detailed techbase/nukage facility. The teleport chain at the start was a surprise, just as I was thinking "fuck", I stepped off the lift and SPLAT! The purring archvile gave a nice sense of dread almost right from the get go, wondering when he is gonna pop out. However, he doesn't prove to be particularly dangerous, I simply hosed him down with plasma from the red switch room. Gameplay is decent, not really difficult, but there are times when chaingunners and revenants put a bit of pressure on. I never liked having to pick up mandatory items to proceed, in this case the berserk pack, and with me being at 92%, it's bloody annoying. I had absolutely NO. FUCKING. IDEA. how to pick up the blue key, I was wondering around the whole map for fucking ages looking for switches etc I may have missed, all the while taking damage from the 10% nukage in my fruitless quest. 

 

I had to watch the video on the previous page, and it turns out the blue key appears next to nukage vat, but that didn't happen in my case, forcing me to noclip. I also got a rapidly repeating lift sound rather than the buzzing in the blue mancubus room aswell. Maybe this map is bugged in GZDoom? Overall gameplay is good, not that difficult, but not boring either. That tantalizing secret soulsphere at the end... you bastard! The map looks great and ability to interact with it by crushing barrels, raising the nukage level etc is nice. Just a shame about the blue key issue, on my end atleast. 

 

Was doing map 19 but was starting to get fucken pissed off at being constantly killed so will need to calm down first. 

 

 

 

[Marcaek]

Here to make suggestions for next month.

 

+++A compilation of Richard Wiles' loose maps

 

+++Another of Michael Krause's maps

 

I'm next to positive both work in vanilla but I'll check and edit them if needed.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP21: Sanctuary

94% kills, 2/6 secrets

 

Very obvious aesthetic homage to 'O' of Destruction here, though like Capellan notes it does start to pull away from that once the main open sections have been left behind. It is very stop-start, with each room usually being empty until a switch or key trap reveals a big monster closet to clear out. Since everything is so self-contained, none of the fights are very tough, unless you're sloppy and let the Pain Elementals really start flooding the level or something (which admittedly did happen to me on the yellow key fight, as instead of taking the time to take out all the wall snipers first I popped open the trap, oops). Health does get limited after a point and there's only two armor vests that I found though, so attrition can be a factor. It's solid enough, though the blockiness of the level and stop-start nature make it feel a bit... unfinished isn't quite the right word? Could use a bit of extra pizazz though.

[Magnusblitz]

On 11/21/2018 at 10:21 AM, Summer Deep said:

There's a very contrived, telegraphed arrangement to set up infighting between the Baron and the Archvile, in which the Baron always seems to lose and never retaliates for some reason.

 

Monsters don't target Arch-Viles and so won't infight with them (except as collateral damage when attacking the player/other monsters and the AVs are caught in the cross-fire).

[vdgg]

On 11/21/2018 at 7:21 PM, Summer Deep said:

MAP22:  

 

It's also worth noting that the secret area with the BFG and 200 plasma cells is apparently only available once, so if you
have 600 cells when you visit it, then you won't be able to return later in order to top up your ammo.

 

 

It certainly was intended to be a one-time only secret, but it doesn't work and it can be visited multiple times.

 

https://imgur.com/bvirJCS

 

The numbers show floor heights. The barrier is elevated from -39 to -15 and you can still jump from the lift as -32-(-15) is 17 units...

 

[DavitW]

I'll be skipping the secret levels just for catching ups sake, and also because i was too lazy to find them.

 

MAP16: The Nephilim

A lot of the difficulty from this map seems to come from attrition, once again not a lot of armor to be found and with so many hitscan enemies around they're bound to get a shot in eventually. But we do get the Super Shotgun right near the beginning which most maps so far didn't seem to do and overall i liked the gameplay and design of this map, It just worked well. Even the pop-up monster ambush behind the blue door wasn't too bad as it was obvious something was up. The one at the exit though was definitely more of the dumb variety, and it also had one of those stupid traps where monsters teleport in one by one and it just takes ages.

 

MAP17: No One

So we got a stony passage into a tech base/cave map. Ammo and armor was in pretty plentiful supply here but there were a few challenging encounters to make use of it, it was mainly a bad encounter with a few chaingunners that caught me unaware that did the most damage though. Credit for doing something a bit different than the rest of the wad so far even if it was a bit basic in some areas.

 

MAP18: Regulate

This was a pretty fun and enjoyable map. Ammo was a bit bit tight at parts which lead to some bullshit difficulty but overall a good experience. The monster telefrag part at the beginning was definitely a surprise, But funny bit's like that add character to the map. There were plenty of other nice details like the computer switch that causes a crushes to crush some barrels for whatever reason and the blue key trick which adds some charm to a map that's other wise pretty simple.

[gaspe]

4 hours ago, vdgg said:

It certainly was intended to be a one-time only secret, but it doesn't work and it can be visited multiple times.

 

https://imgur.com/bvirJCS

 

The numbers show floor heights. The barrier is elevated from -39 to -15 and you can still jump from the lift as -32-(-15) is 17 units...

 

I tried some times to see if you can pass after the barrier is raised, I was able to succeed one time. I don't understand how it can happen, the ceiling around the lift that is at 32 would make a gap of 47 (from -15 to 32) which you shouldn't be able to through it.

 

MAP24: A sort of breather map with the E1 theme of startan techbase. The gameplay doesn't follow the limits of Doom 1 bestiary and you are given an SSG and many monsters from Doom 2 (revenants, chaingunners...) are mixed with the classical population of imps and low tier zombies. It could not be missing the secret outer courtyard with brown walls, it's also nice that from it you can have a good view of many areas ahead, too bad that you can preventively kill all the monsters behind the yellow door, and when you got the YK from there you can shoot at the revenants behind the blue door. Not sure if you can take time to do that in a speedrun. For a true E1 style it was missing more closets to refill the areas, but it gives some more personality to the map. I love the first calm part of the music and how it shifts to something more rocking in the end.

 

+++ Garrulismo

[rehelekretep]

map24 fda

glboom+, pistol start, uv

pretty simplistic level. open doors, shoot at things in front of you, find 3 keys.

despite that i quite enjoyed it. theres quite a good mood created with the remake and the midi.

i think it gets away with it because youre unlikely to die, so you wont have to repeat any of the actually quite dull combat.

youre given a bfg which seems to be just to clear out the hks and barons near the BK a bit more quickly? considering youd have to herd them to make the most of the 1 shot im not sure how much time that saves!

[Catpho]

Haha, dunno why i'm still doing this despite so far behind

MAP04 - “Ratamahatta” by Florian Helmberger

Another vintage goodie that in many ways quite similar to the map just preceding it, only this time it has much more bold ideas in execution. Traps in here are sharp and vicious, every corner and turn threatening bullets and fireballs, and there's a lot of them in this twisted layout. The level's geometry ain't rooting for you either, with constant sight line shifts and movement space that isn't the world's most comfortable to move around when cornered by demons. It's a nerve-wracking combo, but one that was expertly handled by Florian. Along the way are just pure memories, from the teleport "puzzle" to the cheeky graves (Dead Duck Nukem is the closure i didn't know i needed, also rip me apparently). The map sports some great visuals too, taking cues from "Inferno". Here we get glorious red-green-rocky hell, something the resource pack was born to do. Kickin rad soundtrack as usual, expected no less than excellence from David Shaw!

Some screenies:

[Capellan]

MAP25

My first thought on seeing this map was "Jens Nielsen?" but it's actually Denis Möller giving us this rambling brick city, full of intersections and crossfires and moments where it winds back on itself and gives you a new vantage point for a familiar location. It's good stuff: looks nice and plays well. Visually I could maybe ask for a bit more height variety in the outside areas, but Denis goes a pretty good job of including lower platforms that break up the near mono-level sky line (there is one building that's shorter, but as far as I can tell, only the one). Some memorable set pieces – still not sure how I escaped the blue key trap without getting hit at all, but I did – and plenty of incidental re-stocks of the monster count to keep you on your toes.

 

I also liked the cyberdemon / yellow key grab, which I skated through with a little quick footwork and scarpered.

 

Really, there were only two blemishes for the experience, for me. One was the inevitable insta-pop monsters out of solid floors (sigh) and the other was the 'bug' on sector 274. I set complevel 2 but I must have messed things up somewhere because it bugged out and I had to IDCLIP my way out of that one. That's not Denis's fault though, since it worked fine in vanilla.

 

[Capellan]

Oh, also:

 

+++ Deathless

[Spectre01]

+++ A.L.T.

[galileo31dos01]

I may have lost interest in keeping up with this, considering the last chunk of the wad contains the largest maps and my least favourite ones. But, I'll do my best to bare with them, maybe they're more fun knowing what to do, not that I recall much about them other than annoyances and skyscrapers.

 

MAP21: Sanctuary

 

After a short affair, a long somewhat sprawling MM1-ish map, mainly due to obvious multiplayer starts. I gotta say, this one felt a bit boring to run passively as ultra linear structures typically give me the feeling I should be skipping things (which is why you can see me ignoring some monsters), but a free(!) green armor is located next to the bridge, with lost souls included, so not much to speed up. After the start, there's a cute homage to Romero's map 11, possibly what I remembered the most from my first playthrough, and the fun began there, and had its strange ups and downs. I kinda had a bad time with the multiple caco/PEs ambushes in the open since 95% of setups like that result with a cyclops caught in infighting, which leaves plenty of skulls to absorb my ammo. It's a kind of setup that bores me but that's just my personal gripe. The inner fights like the green room with barons and imps, or the commandos ambush were fun, they are setups that I'd call "up to date" as they standout from the typical 90's incidental combat. I liked the trick with explosions pushing gibbed zombies from the windows, cool stuff. The chainsaw+pinkies room wasn't even well crafted, standing on either entrance where they can't get to you or change to SSG to avoid tedium. On the other side, the map was super friendly with plasma and I really appreciated that for a change of pace, the final caco wall was climatic and an exercise in keeping a distance, even if with plasma was considerably easy. Mixed feelings overall, but still better to play casually imo.

 

Oh yeah, what was even the point of that disjointed big secret square? A couple of ammo sponges aaaaaand???...

 

 

[Hells Kitchen]

MAP19

Fuck that mancubus bit with the lift. 100% cheap dick move. Also fuck that teleport into a tiny room with the hell knight, revenant, and cacodemon. Another difficult map with some close-quarters combat with heavyweights, with attempts to escape only leading to the welcoming arms of more heavyweights. We also have numerous instances of chaingunner attrition, which, again due to the lack of armour, is dangerous. Thank god for that secret blue armour! I liked how the starting room is techbase-themed, with the area at the bottom of the elevator being a more underground motif, gives a good impression of descending into an underground base. Visually the map looks great, particularly the section with the rail tracks. Highlight was a pain elemental getting caught between me and a chaingunner.  The archviles were better used this time, the one in the chapel was an effective jumpscare, the bastard revived the revenant, the only reason I survived is because he luckily flinched from the SSG. The descending lift section after the 4 teleporters is one of my most hated gimmicks. Boring, artificial extension of the map. I'm in two minds about this map, it looks good with high-octane gameplay, but sadly was marred somewhat by the aforementioned dick moves and that descending part. Found only 2 secrets. Also lol at the hopeless caged pain elemental. 

 

 

Edited November 25, 2018 by Hells Kitchen

[Magnusblitz]

MAP22: R.R.F. Refinery

100% kills, 10/12 secrets

 

Woo, this was a wild one. Hot start and certainly some interesting room design, it's a veritable warren with a lot of little jumps and some rooms placed vertically in an interesting fashion, though the blue key wing is more straight-forward. Lots of opportunities for monster infighting, and you'll probably need it on a pistol start... I found the BFG secret but ended up using all my plasma to get to the SSG, and then it was pretty much SSG only from then on out, needing to keep track of where I left shell boxes in corners... there's a few rockets and another BFG secret later on (that's about 9 secrets thanks to some mis-tagging), but it's not much. The berserk was certainly useful as I (ab)used a block monster line to take care of the giant demon horde. I think I'd usually be down on a map of this length and weird design, but I found it strangely enchanting.

[vdgg]

On 11/22/2018 at 11:25 PM, rehelekretep said:

map22 fda

glboom+, uv, pistol start

ok map. lots of backtracking along corridors which isnt the most fun

given the bfg early (via a secret) but not much ammo. same with the rocket launcher. ssg or nothing!

i picked up a berserk but then completey forgot i had it so ammo was a lot tighter than it shouldve been :x

One of the least friendly maps for blind runs :) Yet you survived (one early death doesn't matter), so maybe it's not that hard map. I was surprised the cyberdemon stayed in his room for the whole demo.

 

@gaspe

you're right about ceiling heights, I over simplified and didn't take them into account, yes, there's something weird and it shouldn't be possible to re-enter, but it is!

 

MAP22

Kind of a sequel to High-Tech-Grave (MM MAP09). Apart from rooms entirely made of COMPBLUE and bricks there are some other sections, wood, sewer, stone (!). But this is somehow coherent, bricks being dominant, and they work very well with a new flat (see screens).

 

 

These also show the "double function switch", going next to the switch applies the lighting change via a walkover linedef and pressing the switch lowers the walls. The blue key section has some radical transformation as well.

 

I'm absolutely in love with the starting area which is true perfection of the Moellers' style. Also, as hectic as the start of High-Tech Grave, but done in a more intelligent way (the up-and-down lift doesn't work initially). The map as a whole looks great and for me it's Thomas' best level ever (even if his Requiem map has a more interesting layout, it has too many bugs for me).

 

What lacks a bit is the flow. I see the author worked hard to make the fights interesting, but usage of teleporting mosters is questionable (barons+lost souls), plus, rocket ammo is a bit too scarce I think and there's too much backtracking with nothing to do, even if in a good-looking map. The pinkies horde was a brave move, I personally like it, it adds character to the map.

 

PD. Andy Olivera wrote Both health and ammo are carefully placed, but there's a somewhat unusual pattern to it. Health is scattered everywhere, in small quantities, while ammo is sporatic and in larger quantities. I actually don't see it, as they are often placed together, stimpacks with shells mainly.

Rating 5/5

 

Recommended demo

NM Speed by Ancalagon (link). One of the impossible Nightmare maps. I still don't know how he survived!!!

[rehelekretep]

ah that is an amazing demo!

[SiFi270]

+++ Deathless

[gaspe]

MAP25: Very fun city level of brick and metal buildings. It isn't a sandbox where you can choose where to go but you are directed on a linear path. The map is built around a main big courtyard with a central tower (that hosts the exit) and some walls that break the outdoor in different areas. There are lots of windows and openings to different areas so if you want you can anticipate some encounter, though by being exposed to the fire from multile directions. Imps and sergeants make most of the level population, looking for shells won't be a problem, but there will be many tougher foes (nice use of the archvile) on the way and some nasty traps. One of the most dangerous part is at the BK where you are put in close quarters with revenants. The YK has a nasty encounter with a cyberdemon if you are afraid to fight them in relatively tight closed spaces. Before the YK there's a cool pentacle you have to assemble on the floor. The secret soulsphere is a reward only if you are playing continuous, it's accessible at the end. At the right side of the YK room there's a room with a random lift that gets activated by an imp outside the map that you can't kill. The deathmatch area looks fun :P

[Capellan]

MAP26

It's full of boring square areas with bland texturing and minimal lighting work, with a few monsters milling around inside them. Okay, sometimes more than a few, but rarely enough to make the space feel threatening. Frankly, this is just not very good.

 

 

[Summer Deep]

MAP 25:  As a previous commenter remarked, this level tends to move the player around on rails, so to speak, but I was
moving along quite happily on those rails through this very 'linear' map, when I reached that teleporter. Yes, THAT one. Hoped
it'd work out alright, as I'd been playing in GLBoom+ complevel 2 throughout, but no such luck, so I restarted with the
linedef-related setting as advised by Capellan, but the bloody thing still wouldn't work....Finally switched to a UV
pistol start in ZDoom, where this issue is no longer a factor of course, but by that time I was completely hacked off and
just wanted to get to the end asap.

 

That Cyberdemon fight was an absolute pig owing to what it must be said was a clever piece of design. After several deaths
I decided just to grab the yellow key then head for the exit, but then curiosity about that lever in the Cybie's lair
prompted me to go back. I'm not a good enough player to pull off one of those 2 shot BFG numbers, but after another six or
seven ignominious failures I somehow managed to nuke the big guy from point blank range, and discovered the secret of the
lever....a chainsaw. Yep. Was expecting at least that soulsphere, and then the lift suddenly lowered and dumped me into the midst of around 15 imps. Thank you, Mr Möller.

 

99% kills, 4/8 secrets

 

 

MAP26:  Yes, this is an uninspiring effort. Half the map seemed to be made of breeze blocks and the other half to have been built with materials left over from Icarus. Even the presence of four Cyberdemons could barely get the pulse racing, and I was at least expecting a semi-slaughterish extravaganza of a finale when I saw that megasphere in an all too significant setting close to the exit. Really something like a second SM or a supporting cast of Revenants was needed here to give the map a decent send off, but perhaps it didn't deserve it. 

 

 2/7 secrets

 

[Pirx]

got to play a bit, so here's a lengthy update.

 

 

 

MAP12 - “The Waterway” by Orin Flaharty

 

@ Capellan

i see... he has definitely strong visuals, his "black gate" in requiem was also pleasing in this regard. the map makes a good "living end" impression. 

unfortunately, the gameplay falls flat after an opening that made me expect a tougher map, especially the harmless archvile and the 2 barons on the way to the exit. i still had only a shotgun at this point, but plenty of shells, so boredom was the only threat at this point... and the berserk pack apparently only to refresh the continuous player, not required for any action behind the blue bars.

 

 

MAP13 - “Devils Paradise” by Rhys Hughes

 

too many shades of brown, combined with plain shapes. so, architecture-wise, it's rather basic and monotone. fights are better in places, especially if you play aggressively, that's the wall with imps & revs (a delightful chaos) and especially the court with the manc on a pedestal, indeed a plutonia impression as has been noted. first plasma gun, too bad i'm pistol starting, heh. 

 

 

 

MAP14 - “A Question of Time” by Matthias Worch, Thomas Möller

 

a hellish themed map again, predominantly with brown brick and red lava, and it's pretty rough due to offering little health, but plenty of hitscanners. also tedious in parts since i had to make do with only a shotgun through the whole map, probably only due to my inability to find better stuff (like that soul sphere on a pillar). at least i sniffed out the archvile trap and lured the barons out, or i would have easily run out of ammo. nearly died in the room with the lava ceiling where the sergeants spawned, killed them all, and suddenly a zombieman out of the blue... perhaps the map is more fun when i know it.

 

 

 

MAP15 - “The Devil’s Coterie” by Adam Windsor

 

a base with some hellish corruption, and even if adam sees points that could be improved today, map15 is one of my favorites in mm2 so far. so, that was the first caco swarm? i saw a few coming, they were easy to herd around the central pillars, but i was still surprised how many they were. also, clever encounters, like the archie behind the crushers, forced me to run in and take cover from him, while shooting at his minions. then the last fight with 3 of them, who could get in my back because of how open the rooms were constructed. overall a more modern gameplay than what we saw up to here, with enemies mostly in front.

 

 

 

 

MAP31 - “DejaVu” by Orin Flaharty

 

the e1m7 hommage, entertaining map by orin, now that i used markIV's new bolognese mod , especially as there's a berserk pack here that's quite useful against the masses of pinkies, it's just the sergeants in the mix encountered that made me pull out the shotgun more often. i pistol-started it, so i had no ssg, but it's rather easy if you don't let yourself get ambushed, there are several closets that open and you should listen for them.

 

 

 

MAP32 - “Dances with Demons” by David Kuykendall

 

dead simple with some imps and pinkies in the mix. the mancs can be killed by camping a corned with ssg, spiders are easy enough, the 2 cybers... well, those were fun, because i ran into a blur sphere while fighting them, and thought i could have some ssg vs rockets sparring with them, as they were low on health already from the plasma i had fed them. heard one shooting at me, fired a swing shot and there he went down. i wonder though why david thought the james bond theme fits the map...

 

 

 

MAP16 - “The Nephilim” by Denis Möller

 

funny use of the icon at the start, whose evil stare hurts you. the map consists in a lot of interconnected, rather dark underground rooms. the first half reminded me of tnt's "stronghold" as it had former humans of all kinds that exploded in ludicrous showers of gore with the bolognese mod, later mancs, revs and knights join the fray. got ambushed twice in the blue door corridor, once by some slow moving mancubi, and once by insta-pop knights and pinkies, but neither ambush was dangerous. entertaining map still, also thanks to the transforming room, very elaborate setup.  i did the map almost with the ssg alone, only used plasma when i had those silly insta-pop knights in my face. the plasma gun is found in a revenant closet and would have sped up things considerably without my habit of exiting with plenty of cells left.

 

 

 

MAP17? - “No? One” by Michael Rapp

 

similarly to his map17 from requiem, this is a sprawling underground complex, however with some open air sections and more texture variety, it's a kind of bunker built into rock, so much stone, combined with the more gothic looking cross textures in the courtyard. it's a bit rough until you get the armor due to many hitscanners, later however there's plenty of plasma and simple ambushes. i reached the exit first, which requires the red key i already had, and thought it was an oversight, but as i see, the yellow key part is indeed optional. it doesn't add anything interesting though, i just went back for the sake of completeness after i checked the automap. loved the sad music, it would have been better imo without the more upbeat ending.

 

 

 

MAP18 - “Regulate” by Matthias Worch

 

another techbase. the teleport game at the beginning was amusing, the lack of armor was not. traps are predictable, but said lack of armor makes them still dangerous. there are some questionable like @ summer deep mentioned, like getting the berserk only after wasting shells on the pinkies, then having to punch cacos and pains in an area which isn't great for punching. had to restart without bolognese because apparently it was causing the archvile to resurrect the monsters i telefragged in an invisible state. and it had a weird bug in conjunction with smooth doom turning specters that took chaingun damage into ghosts. that wasn't the map's fault, but for some reason it happened here, and after 3 restarts because of such shenanigans the map wasn't that enjoyable to me.

 

 

 

MAP19 - “The Shaft” by Jeremy Statz

 

larger and more dangerous than i thought, because of many ambushes in tight spaces. well, not that hard compared to some modern maps, but leaving little possibility to avoid damage to the player, which is annoying. for example, what if you ride up an elevator, only to find yourself face to face with a mancubus blocking the hallway and no room to dodge? chaingunners behind dark windows and the like. overall a solid subterranean adventure, featuring a broken subway track and even a chapel down there, a mix of themes. and then the ride into the titular shaft, leading to the platform with the 4 teleporters and 4 areas to clear before the exit would open. i wish i had found the plasma gun someone mentioned, but i kept them all off me with only ssg & cg for the most part, and a few rockets in the end. ok, now i see that a few others have written about that manc too. and the baron was already on that lift when i came back to it with the yellow key, so i shot him while he was going up and down.

 

 

MAP20 - “The Experiment” by Alden Bates

 

as the title says, an experimental map. with lots of trickery like sectors lighting up when you touch them, instant lifts, rotating columns, deep nukage (a squad of chaingunners wading through was an unexpected sight). combined with stuff like switches at twice the height of doomguy, a door stretched over 3 times its lenght, and overall random monster placement like the cage with the nobles. needed more work i think, the author knew some tricks but slapped them together without building something coherent.

 

 

 

MAP21 - “Sanctuary” by Andy Badorek

 

i found this map fun to play, or most of it, due to having more intense combat instead of the randomly placed enemies in many 90s wads. cute "zero of destruction" part, for the rest i'd echo @magnusblitz regarding the separated sections, but it didn't stand out to me, rather for having a few too many doors with health. for example i too searched that square room with 4 barons for some deeper meaning than just being an arena, and left them here to save ammo. there's plenty of ammo however, including hundreds of cells. final caco swarm at close range.

 

 

 

I'm on map22 on but it drags on. see you soon. voting starts but i don't have a favorite yet.

 

[joshescue18]

+++ Doom 2

[Magnusblitz]

MAP23: No Way Out

100% kills, 18/18 secrets

 

Another longish map, though a bit more refined and straightforward action than the last one. I think this one does a good job of keeping things interesting with that IWAD-ish sense of abstractness, while each room still feels thematically conceptual (i.e., this is the tech area, this is a brick courtyard) there's still some real surprise in where the map is going and doesn't feel pre-planned. At least for me, this gives a bit of a sense of adventure that keeps me wanting to push on and see what's next, especially since the level is fairly kinetic, always having another monster closet or hallway opening up.

 

There's a big monster count but a lot of small fry (zombies/imps) throughout, but still enough high-tier monsters to keep things interesting. I'd still say it's probably on the easy side though, with the exception of the three fights @Summer Deep mentioned (the blue key, which can be defused with the nearby invuln secret; the secret BFG fight which thankfully also rewards a megasphere; and the caco/PE gangbang near the end which I just ran from). The secret hunt is fun (even if some are easy, but the teleport one has me looking for awhile) and the central hub giving up the keys/weapons is cute.

[vdgg]

MAP23

Let's start with trivia: the map with the highest monster count, at least on UV, and the highest secret count. Also 99 items that count towards Items%, not the highest (MAP04 has 162), but quite high as well.

 

I really like the yellow key part with demons placed on a ledge above the player, one of these immersive moments when I felt like on Io, not in a Doom map. As a trap it doesn't work too well: if you skip the demons, they will attack you, but you still can grab the yellow key and escape, maybe killing one that blocks your exit. Ribbiks would never let this opportunity go and would temporarily seal off both exits. The ninetees...

 

And most of these encounters can be escaped, but I still like the level of brutality of the pain elemental trap: basically forces the player to go forward. I also remember I tysoned the map, and to survive this I let alive another pain elemental somewhere before in the map: this way I reached the lost soul limit and this trap had cacos and harmless pain elementals.

 

Blue key: without the inulnerability and even without plasma, but with some pre-knowledge it still can be done: just fire rockets at the walls and reduce the number of enemies by infinite height splash damage, then go for the key :)

 

The weapons (and copies of the keys!) appearing at the hub is  something I don't understand, since you can normally collect them anyway, so this is extra ammo.

 

This is a minor classic.

 

Rating 5/5