The DWMegawadClub Plays: Dawn of the Dead & Earth & Classic Episode

[Magnusblitz]

E2M6: Outpost 666

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

Well it's the missing map from Dawn of the Dead, at least in name and starting room, which is an odd fit since the DOTD one clearly meant to follow from the map before it (the start room being the same as last map's exit room, complete with EXIT signs) but doesn't follow from the one here in Classic Episode. It's also a return to the E1 aesthetic, though there are some hellish bits here and there like some floating marble cubes intruding on the north end of the map. Nothing to write home about, my main takeaway is that there's just not enough heavy duty ammo for dealing with all the cacos and barons, as others have noted. The unreachable ammo shelf before the red key almost feels like it's being rubbed in by the mapmaker.

 

[tmorrow]

I can't commit to next month so no vote from me. Eviternity seems to be the favorite at this stage but there have been many good alternatives proposed. Possibly I can join for a few of the earlier maps for whatever wad(s) prevail.

 

e2m7: A Place of Sin

A Place of Sin? I don't know about sin but there plenty of shafting going on right off the bat. No matter what way you run, baddies wake up with a roar and you'll have demons, spectres, cacodemons and barons trying to separate your meat from your bones. I'm not sure how our marine pulled it off but he managed to survive the opening wave mostly unharmed and with health to spare. The automap showed that 1/3 of the enemies had been mysteriously, er, subtracted from the map.

After the opening, most of the later traps and encounters are a notch lower on the stress meter. If you want an early exit you only need to pick up the yellow and blue keys but if you want to pickup some juicy rocket ammo and a soulsphere then you will want to find the red key and take on the optional red door area. Of course in doom great rewards come with great pain and the bonus rockets and soulsphere come at a high price in barons and other enemies that teleport in to debate you over the acquisition of those resources.

There's one official secret to a bfg and a non official secret you might walk into that contains a plasma rifle.

[Capellan]

CLASS_EP e2m6

The ratio of rockets to barons continues to be the major weakness of this mapset, to my mind. There are five goatboys here, plus about eight cacos, and something like 10 rockets to grab, which is at best half what it really needs to avoid interminable stretches of the 'shotgun shuffle'.

 

The switch to lower the blue key also seems a little weirdly obtuse. Why is it hidden until you approach the blue door, which is not generally something you would bother to do without the blue key it lets you get? Just Jan messing with us again, maybe. I actually only approached it because I thought it might be a secret, and found this trick much less cute that the blur sphere shenanigans of e2m5.

 

Other than that, we've got another solid techbase, this time with enough marble and STONE2 to conjure up some thoughts of E2. Despite having lots of staircases and windows, it felt a little 'flat' at times, in terms of monster being positioned more or less at the same height as you. Even the cacos, which was particularly disappointing.

 

[dobu gabu maru]

Hey folks, I'm gonna be without internet for the next week or so, which means I'm going to need someone else to handle the club duties of making a new thread. I'll leave that up to you guys to decide (though Magnus has proven he has the chops to handle it!)

[Magnusblitz]

Sure, I can do it again.

 

+++ Eviternity

[Capellan]

For those who have played it: what gameplay changes, if any, does Evilternity have?

 

[Tristan]

Just now, Capellan said:

For those who have played it: what gameplay changes, if any, does Evilternity have?

 

 

Pistol is faster, lost souls have 45 health, and there's some custom monsters outlined here.

[Capellan]

Thanks.  Doesn't sound like my thing, so I'll take the month off.

 

[Walter confetti]

E2M7: A hellish map in the style of pandemonium, very well made and reminiscent of Dr Sleep maps somehow, is another compact, good and fun map with some charming effects and ideas, pretty enjoyed playing this map. Also the starting room remeinds me of Quake episode 3 for some reason... Maybe it was inspired like that room i've posted the screenshot from E2M3 from a Quake project...

[galileo31dos01]

E2M9: Dissension

 

The secret map treats us with a crossover between Inferno and Thy Flesh Consumed, the former solely because it's an introduction to "Hell" in Doom's own universe, the red cross in the northwest room should be the hint to know (appears inverted in the automap). This is way more of a E4 level as the overall aesthetics and heavy reliance on meaty setups define it. I will say that, the best the map could offer was at the start, specially when the ground opened leaving less space to move around. That's a great idea imo. There's a few instances I didn't mind, namely the room with the YSK, which was supposed to lock you in but only when you go get the chaingun, otherwise you're free to leave immediately. The baron squad under the crusher is another idea that made me doubt if the execution was how the authors planned. It's possible to trigger the crusher and wait a good couple minutes for the barons to die, zzz, or kill a few with rockets and skip at least one, so that they get crushed later. One thing: at the room holding the plasma rifle, there's a switch that reveals a teleporter, which takes you to the start iirc. It's practically pointless since there's no reason to backtrack, unless you left the blue armor untouched. Overall, a fine map, few misses but mostly a hit. 

 

 

 

E2M6: Outpost 666

 

Veken left a slot open in his own classic episode to fill another slot in this "classic episode". I can see why the transition from E1M4 to E1M6 felt abrupt to others, although the map still screams Phobos (that E1M2-ish shotgun placement) and to me it would have fit better right before the actual E2M5 while this last moved to E2M6, or maybe earlier. That being said, I found this offering a bit weaker, definitely less interesting than the previous maps. The high number of lonely barons and cacodemons exceed the rocket supplies available, plus no berserk, it missed the opportunity to formally introduce the plasma rifle. I guess, if you have some patience, or you were "born that way" like me, an alternative is to chainsaw a few of those high-HP creatures, using infighting to your favor. All things considered, it's not a bad map per se, there're ways to compensate the low number of rockets, like using them better than I did at the RK fight. 

 

About the "unreachable ammo", the idea is to bump the wall (see 4:50). It doesn't work in ZDoom because, reasons, different physics I guess, and this is a vanilla mapset so there's no cheekiness there from the authors (;

 

 

[Pirx]

well, i've been asking about eviternity for the last 2 months, so this victory by a landslide shouldn't surprise anyone...

 

+++Eviternity

 

iirc we had something like this last time when we played valiant and ancient aliens... 

 

[Pirx]

10 hours ago, Eris Falling said:

 

Pistol is faster, lost souls have 45 health, and there's some custom monsters outlined here.

 

A more usable pistol and the buggers more easily dispatched,  that sounds good to me. Don't know about the nightmare demon yet, I'm not so fond of having to ssg them twice.

[T-Rex]

Continuing on where I left off with The Classic Episode.

 

E2M3: The Deimos Complex (Jan van der Veken)

100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Time: 11:27

 

After two Anthony Soto maps, we finally get a map by Jan van der Veken. Even though it is called The Deimos Complex, it still feels a lot like Phobos, right down to using the basic enemies of Episode 1. Unlike the first two maps of this episode, however, it's larger and houses a lot more monsters. Be wary of the gunners as they can chip off a substantial amount of your armour and health if you let them. Although this is a Veken map, he still puts great emphasis on John Romero's level design sensibilities, and there are quite a few neat little homages to Knee-Deep in the Dead, which I see a bit of E1M2, E1M4, and E1M6 along with a few other Romero maps I may have missed out on. The enemy ambushes are well-orchestrated and they keep you on your toes, so every time you do something, you have to keep moving, or else you'll take more damage than necessary. The computer area in the southeast and the area with the stairs in the northwest are where you'll have to watch out for the enemy hordes. Nevertheless, this is still a fairly easy map.

 

E2M4: The Evil Base (Jan van der Veken)

100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Time: 12:41

 

The difficulty ramps up in this Shore of Hell-style map as we are introduced to stronger enemies like cacodemons and barons. While the first three maps were John Romero in style, this map takes after the design tropes of Tom Hall, particularly E2M7 Spawning Vats since there's a couple of areas reminiscent to the map, like red monster closets overlooking the slime pool, the greyish stone wall textures, and the computer rooms. The tricky spots include when you reveal a secret holding the backpack and monster closets holding cacodemons open, and then there's the room en route to the red key where you have to contend with two barons while trapped in. Thankfully, it wouldn't be too much of a problem if you got the rocket launcher handy. A radiation suit will allow you to wade through the slime areas including the small room with rockets and a baron on the damaging floor. Beyond the red key, you get a nifty little warehouse with enemies and be ready for a couple of ambushes as you go for the blue key. This map is fun while on the tricky side. We're finally getting a bit of challenging, which would only get more interesting as we press onward.

 

E2M5: Deimos Observatory (Jan van der Veken)

100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Time: 11:08

 

Here is yet another Episode 2 style map, and there's a bit of a sense of nonlinearity to it as at the start you have one path to take and another. Both passages lead to separate floors of an area reminiscent to Deimos Anomaly. Level design is all Tom Hall-esque, much like the previous one, and there are thankfully not as many tricky areas to tangle with, but still, you have to be careful of potential enemy ambushes. One ambush happens at the very start when you take another passage that leads downstairs to a switch. Another when you collect the red key in the northeast section, and then when you grab the yellow key. Ambushes consist of spawning monsters or monsters emerging out of closets that eventually open. Save collecting the berserk pack and the soul sphere for when you're done with the level so that you can max your health to 200% for the next map, whether it be E2M6 or especially the secret level. Again, this is another neat and fun map with lots of places to explore and enemies to plough through. Secret exit is rather easy to find, and I like how it's a neat homage to the fireplace area of E2M5 Command Center.

 

E2M9: Dissession (Travers Dunne/Jan van der Veken)

100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Time: 11:30

 

The secret level of the episode. This one pays homage to Episode 4 with a hint of Episode 3, and it is a rather tricky map. Immediately when you hit the switch, you lower down to find yourself surrounded by monsters. First order of affair is to take out the shotgunners are they'll do more damage than any other enemy. My advise is to get the green armour first, then find the blue armour secret much later as you'll need it for the last couple of areas. Much like Episode 4, there are a lot of barons, so get ready to use your rocket launcher whenever you see them. Luckily, you'll be getting the plasma gun pretty shortly which will come in handy for a certain upcoming ambush. As Walter pointed out, this map is heavily inspired by American McGee, and it shows in the architecture. There's a part where you'll encounter a group of barons with their backs facing you and you can do some damage to them by activating the crusher trap, which also works for some shotgunners that will spawn in. Final testing ground is where you grab the blue key for the exit, and here is where the rocket launcher and plasma gun shines. Tough cookie all the way through.

 

Alrighty, that's more than half of the episode done, and I'll play the next couple of maps tomorrow. See you then!

[DJVCardMaster]

E2M7 "A Place of Sin" - Jan Van der Veken (100% K/I/S):

We have here a pretty misplaced E3/E4 styled map that can't give you a break at any moment, this is just painful to get through.
Ammo starving from bullets or rockets is starting to be a big problem in this one, making me die early, and then dying 4 more times before I figured a way through.
I went to the rightmost path to get the secret plasma-gun behind the Techwall, then moved out to the door, and to my right there was a secret TP, where you can enter and get the BFG. From now on, the map gets (just a little bit) easier than before.
It's just a slaughter map, pretty weird map comming from Jan, didn't like it that much, but it had some action, however. 
There is trigger lines everywhere, constantly punishing you with monster closets, which I found annoying.
When you get the full arsenal the map becomes a cakewalk...
...Except when you get faceblocked by a bruiser at the BK.


Forgot to mention there is another cacodemon at the end, just like most of DoDead maps.
 

Death counter: 17

Maps in order of preference: 

E2M6 (Great)

E2M3
E2M2

E2M9
E2M5
E2M4
E2M1
E2M7 (Ok)

We are right at the last map of the month...

 

[TheOrganGrinder]

E2M6: Outpost 666

 

This is another map that's quite "transitional" in its nature, sitting somewhere between Phobos and Deimos with its blend of STAR*, BROWNGRN, SLAD*, and STONE* textures that give way in places to skulls, inscribed demonic faces, and other Hellish intrusions into the underlying technological fabric.  It's a solid layout, built across multiple levels that often have you climbing higher as you progress, although the exit marks a return to the main floor of the map and suggests an over-and-under layout even though the sectors involved aren't that close to each other.  Gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag, with plenty of Barons of Hell to worry about and a fairly miserly approach to every flavour of ammunition except shotgun shells, many of which will be scooped up from the corpses of the fallen sargeants that serve as the lowest tier of opposition you're going to face (at least on Hurt Me Plenty; there's a squad of zombie men present on higher and lower difficulties who are absent from the middle tier).  I'm going to call the fact that both of the available chainguns require a barefoot dip into the nukage an interesting choice and leave it at that; it does contribute furthe to the focus on the shotgun as your primary weapon of choice for much of the running time.

Edited February 27, 2019 by TheOrganGrinder

[gaspe]

E2M7: DotD M7 had a slight different style and theme compared to the set and that happens also here as the map that will take to the finale is a sort of E3/E4 base. Tough start to get through with the shortage of ammo and health and with a good usage of the monsters in the area. If you survive that the rest of the level is way easier, so much to the point of being almost underwhelming. Ammo won't be a problem anymore, finally you can get the plasmarifle (it's a bit hidden) and there's a free blue armor early on. The area after the red door is optional and it gives you a soulsphere and all the rockets that were missing from the previous levels, better pick the RL before going there.

[VanaheimRanger]

+++ESP 2

[Capellan]

CLASS_EP e2m7

We have a sudden diversion into E3 motifs here, which feels a lot more abrupt than the E4-stylings of the secret map, because we all tend to expect "And Now For Something Completely Different" when we hit a secret map.

 

This is not to say this is a bad map, because it's not. It does have issues – it feels like it was probably designed mostly for pistol start, for instance, as that mode would force you to scramble at the start, whereas continuous is just a grind with the shotgun and chaingun – but it's overall a nice looking and pretty fun level. I like that the red key wing is completely optional, but stocked with plenty of rockets (at last!) and power-ups. I'm going into the final map at 200/200 and feeling pretty good about it.

 

 

[galileo31dos01]

E2M7: A Place of Sin

 

The Classic Episode was never meant to have a cohesive single-episodic theme, if it wasn't clear enough, this map suddenly place us in E4-stylistic terrain. Most of the pressure component is at the start, groups of different HP monsters stalking around every corner and one practically unequipped. This depends, because a big portion of the meat can be sawed in the meantime from a temporary safe point, but it takes little time to find other weapons with basic exploration (minus the plasma rifle, that is), and there's not much to roadblocks to keep the pressure on the same level. The RL is at least important for the optional wing, which hides tons of good and bad shit. I really liked the red-bricked maze, took me to "Limbo" (one of my favourite E3 maps). From there, the map is basically done, if one found the BFG, the final teleport swarm is chill. I do want to say, the baron behind the yellow-coded door is a cheap jumpscare move. Fun map overall.

 

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by galileo31dos01

[Magnusblitz]

E2M7: A Place of Sin

100% kills, 1/1 secret

 

Nice hot start on pistol start here, with enemies on all sides, barons nearby, and cacos streaming in from outside (letting them teleport in as opposed to being stuck outside the window as on E2M5). Once you clear out the initial area it's pretty smooth sailing to pick up the red and yellow keys. The red key wing is optional and leaves you with some rocket ammo and a soulsphere, whereas the yellow door opens innocuously revealing the blue key that turns out to be one of the most dickish traps I've seen in awhile - an insta-pop baron in the face and a bunch of enemies appearing behind you to box you in with said insta-baron. At least this one finally has some resources to let you cut loose, didn't need to shotgun any barons for once.

[Walter confetti]

E2M8: pretty cool ending map, with the change of having the cyberdemon appears after some other waves of monsters teleporting in the circular section at the end of the map, enjoyed the concept behind it, the only thing that i didn't liked are the unsigned locked doors (things that are shown at the starting room), overall a pretty fun ending and a really good mapset!

 

My final votes for this club month choice are:

3) Earth: some amazing graphic works and really cool ideas, but there's also quite some boring levels and invisible mazes, dark tunnel mazes... i remembered it better than this... This make me think that i also want to check the other map from this author for seeing if it really was that good, Phobos...

2) Dawn of the Dead - Good mapset with few flaws

1) Classic Episode - Really fun mapset overall!

[Salt-Man Z]

Okay, so I've been playing Classic Ep on and off here over the past couple of days, just haven't bothered to sit down and post something about it. This is a "classlc episode" for me in more ways than one, since I played it early on in my pwadding days, and it's stuck with me ever since. I reckon I played it at least twice through before I found this community, and then in 2017 I replayed it again for the first time on UV. This time I'll also try pistol-starting, and at least for the first four maps I haven't used saves. We'll see how long that keeps up...

 

E2M1: Foray

5:55 | 100% Kills | 94% Items | 50% Secrets (1st run)

8:15 | 100% Everything (2nd run)

I played this one twice! The no-save thing wasn't really intentional, and when I got to the exit switch I hit it unknowingly, since I was thinking the "exit" door in the outside the western nukage pool was the actual exit. It was not, and I hadn't gotten a chance to secret hunt, so I went ahead and ran a second attempt. You'd think I would have fared better with the foreknowledge, and I tried to use it to my advantage by taking a slightly different route, but I actually got blasted even worse! By this point I had decided to try going no-save, and at one point was down to single-digit health, trying to steer clear of as many windows as possible--not an easy thing here. I do love the open layout, with all the rooms looking into every other room, all the possible paths including three blue doors... Perhaps the most memorable bit of this map to me is the ledge overlooking the nuke pit to the yellow door, and the shotgunners hanging out just out view either around the corner or under the ledge; dunno why, but that's the visual that's always stuck with me in this map.

 

E2M2: Mars Outpost

11:28 | 100% Everything

Lots of directions to head here, so you can get lost for a bit until you find the way you actually need to go. As an example, I hit the switch that opened the way to the red key, but not seeing immediately what it did, I opted to jump out the window and back to the beginning, whereupon I wondered what to do next; if I had just backtracked from the switch, I would have seen where to go right away. Really fun map, and combat is just invigorating. (Also: deadly.)

 

E2M3: The Deimos Complex

13:41 | 100% Everything

The visual from this map that's always stuck with me is those two tall windows looking outside to the west. I had gotten maybe a quarter of the way through this when I realized I was supposed to be pistol-starting* and had to restart. Lots of traps here, some pretty obvious, but that floor turning to nukage in the southwestern tunnels always catches me off-guard.

*(I still don't really understand how pistol-starting became the de facto play-style when neither the original .exe nor any port support it barring the use of cheat codes or special key-binding.)

 

E2M4: The Evil Base

21:50 | 100% Everything

And here it is: my first death of the WAD. I turned left at the fork, and when the cacos popped up I ran forward and ended up getting swarmed and killed. I took things more slowly and sensibly the second time, though I had a huge scare in the northwestern area where the two barons show up; I thought i was a goner, but managed to weave my way out, luring them out to the nuke pool overlook where I finished them off later by plink-plunking them from the opposite shore. I will confess to finding the soulsphere secret via IDDT, though I was confused because I thought I had already checked there, and then when I went back to investigate I accidentally stepped on the crate that triggered the door, ha. I was much more terrified of death in this map, probably partially on account of dying once, but also the length, the beefed-up opposition, and the dearth of health. There was a medikit that raised up on a computer block that I couldn't figure out how to lower, so I assume you're just meant to dash over to it before you miss your chance, which, man, that just seems mean. Another really cool map, but exhausting.

[Magnusblitz]

20 minutes ago, Salt-Man Z said:

*(I still don't really understand how pistol-starting became the de facto play-style when neither the original .exe nor any port support it barring the use of cheat codes or special key-binding.)

 

It seemed strange to me too for the longest time, since I felt it was perfectly logical to play with savefiles and through each continuous episode. But Sandy Petersen said all of the level testing was done from a pistol start so the IWAD levels were balanced around it, and the demos in the game are always pistol starts. Might be that the speedrunners led to pistol starting becoming the default?

[DJVCardMaster]

E2M8 "Evil Refinery" - Nick Baker and Travers Dunne:

The final level, and a really nice one, finally a mapset finale that is not underwhelming. 
The problem is that it doesn't fit THAT MUCH any of the episodes, and you can tell here easily that this map wasn't made by Jan or Anthony, so aesthetics and layout here are totally different to the rest. The last arena has some Jan's feeling though.
Overall, the map is not that big, and is fun to get all the secrets.
The final area however, is pretty difficult for me, and I had to make the Barons infight with the cyberdemon and the other monsters to get out alive, it was a fun fight, but fighting a Cyberdemon on a space so tight is often a pain.
 

Death counter: 19

Maps in order of preference: 

E2M6 (Great)

E2M3
E2M2

E2M9
E2M8
E2M5
E2M4
E2M1
E2M7 (Ok)

I really liked this last map, and the episode itself was great, but tomorrow I'll show you my overall thoughs along with the other two mapsets. 

[T-Rex]

Might as well finish The Classic Episode, so here we go!

 

E2M6: Outpost 666 (Jan van der Veken/Anthony Soto)

100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Time: 12:17

 

The placeholder map from Dawn of the Dead is here in its completed form, and this is by far my most favourite of the set, a techbase map in the Episode 1 style, but it's got some elements from Episode 2 thrown in as well, including textures and enemies. Jan only did the starting area, while the rest was all done by Anthony, if I recall correctly. Level design layout is solid all the way through with lots of areas to explore and running up and down the various levels, feeling just like a map John Romero would have done if he contributed to Episode 2. The challenge is pretty tight as well, with the regular cannon fodder of Episode 1, some cacodemons and even a few barons to tangle, though with the later, the first two are easy to snipe off. However, the last couple of baron encounters are the most precarious, where you search for the red key in the outdoor area and get locked out while you have to fight two barons plus a bunch of pinkies who could hinder your movement with their fast movement and zigzag patterns, making you easy prey for the big bruisers themselves. Another encounter is at the end where the last baron guards the exit. Luckily, you got enough ammo to fend off the resistance, and I save the rocket launcher for the twin barons, but I would suggest using them before alerting the pinkies or when they're all dead. Overall, another fantastic map and even though it's mostly by Anthony Soto, it's very cool and pretty close to what Jan would have done. I save the soul sphere secret for when I'm about to end the map as it will be needed for the next one.

 

E2M7: A Place of Sin (Jan van der Veken)

100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Secrets: 11:26

 

The penultimate map is quite a tricky one! Unlike all the other maps that were Episode 1 and 2 themed, save for the secret level which took inspiration from Episode 4, this one takes after Episode 3, particularly E3M3 Pandemonium, and it starts you off rather intensely as you got a spectre coming your way, and attacking it alerts some shotgunners and pinkies. Careful if you choose to venture to the sides as in one you got more shotgunners, while at the other are some spectres and a baron. Either side has a couple of cacodemons that will teleport into the room as they get closer. There's also another baron opposite of the fake wall with imps and goodies in it. It's also where you'll get the BFG9000 at last. Almost every single area in the map is a trap, with a couple that are quite nasty. Going after both keys open up alcoves holding an assortment of monsters, beyond the yellow key door where you'll find the blue key reveals a baron and more enemies spawn in, and there's the optional area with the soul sphere where you get trapped in and when you pick up the rockets, all hell breaks loose with tons of pinkies and some barons emerging from their cubbies. If you know what to do in these situations, however, it shouldn't be that overwhelming. Once again, it's possible to exit with 200% health and armour if you save the soul sphere and the mega armours available. Just be mindful of that cacodemon guarding the exit switch. Hectic map from start to finish.

 

E2M8: Evil Refinery (Nick Baker/Travers Dunne)

 

The boss level of the episode. You start out in a hub where after you clear off the imps and gunners, you have the choice of teleporting to either the west or east quadrants each containing some enemies and even monster closets, and you'll have to visit both in order to finally gain access to the ending arena. As you hit the switches you find, a bunch of monsters will spawn in, saving the boss cyberdemon for last. At that point, the best strategy is to have the monsters infight with the cyberdemon so that by the time he has eliminated everyone, he would be softened enough to kill with just 2 BFG shots. Waste him, and the episode's over, ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom.

 

So in conclusion, I must say that this is one of the best Doom episodes I have every played. All the levels have a very id-like quality to them, with a lot of cues and homages to the original Doom. The level design for the most part screams John Romero with a few Tom Hall-like maps, and the secret level nails American McGee's style and the Episode 4 vibes too. Challenge is mostly on the easy side, but there's a couple of tough nuggets here and there, especially A Place of Sin and Dissession. It's hard for me to decide which are the best maps as every one is very good, so if I have to say which are my most favourites, it would have to be E2M2, E2M3, E2M4, E2M6 and E2M9. All that leaves me now is to rate the three wads we played on a scale out of 10, like always whenever I play along with the DWMC.

 

Dawn of the Dead - 8.5/10

Earth - 6/10

Classic Episode - 9/10

 

Well, that's it for me. It was fun playing these three wads, though Earth was a bit of slog with all those maze-like caverns and armies of barons that slow down the gameplay. May you guys enjoy the next megawad you'll be playing for March, if it's one that I won't take part in, take care see you all again next time!

Edited March 19, 2019 by T-Rex

[tmorrow]

e2m8: Evil Refinery

This is a fun episode finale. You have to do some teleporting crisscrossing from the main hub to the east and west wings to pick up the 3 keys. Your first visit to each wing is greeted with some hostility, but nothing fatal.

After collecting the keys you can enter the last room for the grand finale. How you tackle the last room is up to you. If you want to play it safe then dart around and hit the 4 switches to release cybie and friends and then run to the outside corridor and wait for the enemies to sort themselves out. If on the other hand you want a true uvmax, it is best to make sure cybie survives until the end by culling out the riff raff for a one on one cybie vs marine showdown because the show is over once cybie leaves the stage.

[TheOrganGrinder]

E2M7: A Place of Sin

 

As with E2M9, this one marks something of a sideways step out of the WAD's succession of progressively-corrupted techbases into a more thoroughly infernal aesthetic; the music is that of E3M3 Pandemonium and that's honestly about the atmosphere that the level itself conjures.  It's a map that starts you off in a hot situation that can rapidly spiral out of control as you flail around looking for a safe spot from which to start dissecting the combat encounter you've been presented with, and there are similarly intense moments later on as you go to collect the blue key and in the (optional) wing behind the red door; in between these larger-scale combats, you're fed a steady stream of lesser encounters to keep you busy, with some repeated motifs in the layout and encounter design that soon allow you to anticipate just what the map has in store for you in terms of filler.  As with the author's other maps, there are several hidden areas within the level's structure that aren't actually flagged as secrets, and the BFG 9000 that's finally offered to you in the map's solitary flagged secret area can be used to neatly defang some of the map's more dangerous encounters.

[Pirx]

5 hours ago, Magnusblitz said:

 

It seemed strange to me too for the longest time, since I felt it was perfectly logical to play with savefiles and through each continuous episode. But Sandy Petersen said all of the level testing was done from a pistol start so the IWAD levels were balanced around it, and the demos in the game are always pistol starts. Might be that the speedrunners led to pistol starting becoming the default?

 

I thought exactly the same... back in the 90s, continuous play was the norm for me. I saw the game as an adventure which accounted for the stuff I picked up on the previous maps, so skipping it seemed kind of silly. But then I noticed how speedrunners still beat the map with much less equipment than I had, while I got toasted if I attempted the same.  I changed my approach thanks to the demos of Donner & Co.  Obviously, the demo scene had its influence on map design, and pistol starting made people better players. 

 

As to Salt-Man Z's question, you didn't  need cheat codes, you started doom from the Dos prompt and added -warp 29 or whatever map, so this was a bit obscure perhaps due to this command line nature, but the standard for the day.

Edited February 27, 2019 by Pirx

[gaspe]

E2M8: It's time for the boss map of the episode. Before going for the final battle against the cyberdemon we have to find the 3 keys with a little quest that is split on 2 wings made of pipes and nukage, linked to the central hub where we have to do some back and forth before unlocking the door to the final arena. The fight with the cyberdemon is in a rather akward place with a ring and an inner cross section, all made with corridors that are spacious enough. There you have also some cacos and barons that you can use to weaken the cyberdemon, you can go to find the plasmagun while it's busy with infighting. All in all this was a very good boss map.

 

The Classic Episode was pretty good overall but I'm not sure if I like it more than Dawn of the Dead. The Classic Episode was a bit an improvement visually, and it has less homage-y stuff. I also liked the gameplay direction of verging more in the realms of E2/E3 where cacos, lost souls and barons are prominent enemies. Though that didn't go so well with the ammo balance sometimes as the shortage of rockets (and the absence of cells) lead to have to rely mostly on the SG which wasn't so engaging.

[Magnusblitz]

E2M8: Evil Refinery

100% kills, 1/1 secret

 

The final map is also the sole map by Baker and Traversd, and right off the bat I notice those aesthetically pleasing (to me, at least) staircases everywhere. Bit of an interesting design decision to have the side wings walled off by red doors but reachable by teleport only at first - I don't think there's much of a gameplay effect by having the doors openable later but I like it. The fights are pretty good for the most part, though I was a little sour in the east wing when I jumped down only to be rewarded with a baron, an unmarked locked door and nowhere else to go. Like a lot of the other maps in this level set there's a bit too much shotgun action for the bigger monsters, as the RL and PG aren't given until the final boss fight. Still, good finish on the whole.