IronEagle Competition 9: Bloody Steel

[Pegleg]

Come one, come all! Welcome to the IronEagle Competition, an Ironman competition that is open to all comers, both veterans and newcomers, as well as everyone in between.

 

This month, IronEagle competitors will take a dip into the pond of Russian realism, by testing their mettle against Bloody Steel, released in December of 2013 by Doomworld's own @BigMemka. Big Memka was named awarded a runner-up in the 2014 Cacowards for this effort.

 

Bloody Steel is a mapset that tells the story of a secret UAC facility that was built in the abandoned town of Red Cacodemon, and the disastrous consequences of this decision. Spread across 9 maps, with a bonus map for fun, this mapset is wonderful to look at. But don't get too distracted with the visual appeal, because the gameplay is challenging throughout and will make you pay for lapses in concentration.

 

The mapset begins at Map 01. The goal for survival is Map 09. Map 10 is a bonus and can be played at any time.

 

This month's winners (for further details, see below):

UV: Bdubzzz

HMP: n/a

HNTR: Pegleg

 

The rules are unchanged from last month. Either demos or streams are permissible.

 

Rules:

The basic rule is that you submit a demo/stream played at a particular difficulty level (HNTR, HMP, or UV) and you play without saving and reloading. Further rules are below.

Spoiler

 

Submissions (except for streams, as described below) must include a demo from one of the listed available ports.

The first actual attempt must be submitted, there are no do-overs (with very few possible exceptions which I will address as they arise).

A run must be done in a singular sitting with no saves. (With room for breaks. This will be addressed below.)

If we do a WIP wad, make sure you are using the latest available version to minimize demo desync issues.

Stream and video runs are accepted if and only if a demo of the same run is provided.

Secret levels are treated as extra credit.

Freelook is allowed, but jumping and crouching must be disabled for wads that do not support them.

 

 

Accepted Ports (any of these are acceptable; there is no preference):

PRBoom+

ZDoom

GZDoom

 

Category System:

Category 1: Blind run.

This explains itself. You have no knowledge of the wad and have not played/seen it before.

Category 2: Non-blind.

If you have played the wad before and/or possess any foreknowledge, your run is non-blind. Basically, anything that is not Category 1 is Category 2.

 

I'm happy to be lenient on this, to a degree.

If you die in the first 10 seconds of the first map and you see virtually none of the mapset except the first few rooms, I'm happy to say that the playthrough you submit as your run was Blind.

If you die 10 seconds into Map 02 and then play again and go on to survive the mapset, something like that would still be Category 2.

 

Difficulty System:

You may submit a demo/stream for only one of HNTR, HMP, or UV. Choose only one, because subsequent submittals will be rejected (i.e., if you submit a HMP demo, the HNTR demo you then submit will be rejected). We're not using the 1CC rule set here.

 

Only runs from the same difficulty will be pitted against each other. Each difficulty will be graded separately. 

 

When you submit your run, please the include the following information:

• The category (1 or 2)
• The difficulty
• What map you died on (if you survived, just say so)
• How many kills you had on the map you died on
• The time elapsed when you survived/died (even if it's only approximate)
• If you completed the bonus map (Map 10)
• If you did not survive the bonus map, how many kills you had when you died

 

You may include the port you used, but that isn't necessary. You may include a commentary about the maps or details about them, if you want to (e.g., how you thought the demon rush would do you in on Map X, but it was really the circle of hitscanners on Map Y). If you do include specific information about the map, please put it in a spoiler, so that people that want a completely blind experience won't be tipped off.

 

Breaks:

Everyone gets tired. Sometimes people do better than they expected. Nature calls. Every now and then, there are family emergencies. Needing to take a break shouldn't necessarily end a promising run. However, there are some general ground rules:

Spoiler

 

• You are free to take a quick break when needed. Intermission screens, if applicable, are the best time to do this.Multiple demos cannot be accepted, barring exceptional circumstances.
  • An example would be that you can only record/stream for a certain amount of time, so you are forced to split up long demos/streams.
    • You may split up demos at death exits.
      • If you reset the map before going to the tally screen on a death exit, you must either end your run or play the map again.
      • If you die going back around, your survival of that map will count, but your run will end there.

 

 

For this mapset, since there is a bonus map, you may attempt it either before or after your run, regardless of whether you survived.

 

Attempting to max the maps is not necessary to win.

Ranking for this mapset will be determined by 1) Survival (+1 for surviving the bonus map if you did), 2) The map on which you died (+1 for surviving the bonus map if you did), 3) Total time elapsed, and 4) Total kill count in the map upon your death

 

All mods used during play must be merely cosmetic.

If you die, please wait a few seconds before quitting.

 

If you don't know how to record demos and don't want to stream, I recommend getting a launcher (such as the ZDL launcher), which may make your life easier (at least, when it comes to recording demos).

Once you have the launcher set up to find your IWAD's and ports, you can use the field at the bottom entitled "command line parameters" to record your demo with ease.

 

Template for PRBoom+:

Spoiler

-file BLDSTLP.wad -complevel 9 -skill <4> -warp 01 -record <IEBLDSTL>

 

Template for ZDoom:

Spoiler

-file BLDSTLP.wad +compatmode 6 -skill <4> +map map01 -record <IEBAUHAUS>

 

For either command line, the skill is 2 for HNTR, 3 for HMP, and 4 for UV AND IEBAUHAUS would be replaced by whatever your demo name was. Obviously, remove the angled brackets.

 

Using the ZDL launcher will allow you to select your skill directly and skip the wad selection and warp by immediately starting you in MAP01 on launch.

This wad uses complevel 9 or Boom (strict).

 

Obviously, the angular brackets indicate fields where you choose what goes there. Don't actually leave them in your command line.

 

When recording in ZDoom, double check your compatibility settings. When the compatibility is set from the cmdline, it doesn't always stick, so open the port in an IWAD map and make sure to set it to Boom (strict) to be sure the compatibility settings are correct. ZDoom will remember the settings next time you start it.

 

Happy Dooming!

 

 

 

Previous IronEagle Competitions

 

2018

Scientist 2 (Winners -- UV: leodoom85   HMP: n/a   HNTR: Liberation)

Vanguard (Winners -- UV: Bdubzzz   HMP: n/a   HNTR: Liberation)

Crumpets (Winners -- UV: NoisyVelvet   HMP: n/a   HNTR: Pegleg)

 

2019

Dark Covenant (Winners -- UV: kmc   HMP: n/a   HNTR: Pegleg)

Brood of Hatred (Winners -- UV: Bdubzzz   HMP: Crusader No Regret   HNTR: Pegleg)

Riot Control (Winners -- UV: Bdubzzz   HMP: Walter Confetti   HNTR: Pegleg)

Scimitar (Winners -- UV: Bdubzzz   HMP: Crusader No Regret   HNTR: Pegleg)

Bauhaus (Winners -- UV: vdgg   HMP: Crusader No Regret   HNTR: Pegleg)

 

Edited August 1, 2019 by Pegleg : Added links for previous months and the winners for this month.

[Bdubzzz]

Category 1 

Damn this wad was hard/long compared to the recent wads :p Dead on Map 07.. 403/1039 monsters, demo is like 3 hours 19 minutes long. Easily could of died on map 01 as i was down to 1hp I believe at one point. Also a few lucky moments as well such as being trapped by a hell knight with a blursphere and he missed me 2 times (would of been no room to dodge if i didnt have a blursphere)

Died on the bonus map to... 

Spoiler

Instant death crushers

BLDSTLP-IE-Dubz.zip

[Suitepee]

https://mega.nz/#!OUQnjSKa!Z3jVpOxhBSRuxmaVtnxxdkMutP8cPokChCuRg47lFps (my cat 2 run, died on map 2)

 

https://mega.nz/#!vZJ11YST!zngiJhYfuYpI1ujQmiclKd4uUaqyZ1BjaIDOqYzvnpE (my very quick attempt at map 10)

 

A bit annoyed to die on map 2 like that, but I wasn't expecting to survive much longer than that anyway. Bloody Steel gets more than a little dickish later on iirc.

[leodoom85]

This is yet another set that I haven't heard of...at all...

I see that these hidden gems are perfect for these sessions.

[SleepyVelvet]

Cat. 1: Dead on arrival both maps

noisy_BLDSTLP.zip

[Pegleg]

Category 2

Difficulty: HNTR

 

Dead on Map 01

Kills: 16/101

Spoiler

Getting stuck on a rock while trying to non-berserk punch a demon is not a good thing.

 

Dead on Map 10

Kills: 14/123

Spoiler

Failing to notice an arachnotron until it starts shooting at you is also not a good thing.

 

pegleg_ie_bldystl.zip

[leodoom85]

Well, well, well.......forgot this one to do just when the month is about to end. So?
Main campaign: DED at map 04 with 204 monsters thanks to agitated revenants.

Bonus: 24/123. Guess what. Revenant 2 - Me 0. Just watch the demo to see how I died.....................

 

UV, GLBoom+ 2.5.1.4, both blind gameplay. Here goes the demos.

dwie_bldstLD85.zip

[Pegleg]

Thank you to those who participated this month. Hopefully, we'll see all of you (and more) back next month!

 

Here are the final standings:

 

UV

1. Bdubzzz (6 maps, Dead on Map 07, didn't survive Map 10)

2. leodoom85 (3 maps, Dead on Map 04, didn't survive map 10)

3. Suitepee (1 map, Dead of Map 02, didn't survive Map 10)

4. NoisyVelvet (Map 01)

 

HMP

None

 

HNTR

1. Pegleg (Map 01)

[NaZa]

6 minutes ago, Pegleg said:

we'll see all of you (and more) back next month!

You have an additional runner right here, I don't know why I have been overlooking this recently. Will continue participating next month!

[dt_]

Sorry for not participating this month, but my computer really struggles with bloody steel rendering it pretty much unplayable, count me in next month though unless it's another CPU melter