The DWmegawad Club plays: Bloodspeed

[gaspe]

MAP23 demo: Sadly Eternal isn't so active nowadays but it's nice to get something even if it's a very simple map like that. Nothing too elaborate yet it's very pleasant. The entrance of the mansion and the berserk pool looked very good. The caged cyberdemon worked well, and I liked how you have to pass really close to it a few times and the rest of the gameplay features very small encounter but that can be tricky like the av at the YSK. Of course the cyberdemon joins for a little arena battle at the end.

[Horus]

I have a lot of catching up to do…

 

L13 – Moments in Doom

Interesting map name, wonder what the inspiration behind it was. The theme for this map is a watery cave, and continues the theme of chaotic openers seen in this megawad, with the teleporter leading you to a room requiring dexterity to successfully navigate. The next room also contains tough choices for the player, with a mancubus, arachnotron and a bunch of imps firing at you from different sides. After that, the map gets easier for a while, and lulled me into a false sense of security, leading to a quick death in the BK area. This whole map is basically a bunch of ambushes that gradually increase in difficulty and scale. But each encounter is well balanced, and never seemed too hard or too easy, and rewards thoughtful use of weaponry. The BK encounter is tough but easily doable by a nimble player. The YK encounter, thanks to the generous supply of plasma, was a lot of fun. I felt though that the exit could be better placed. Having to backtrack after getting the YK felt like a waste of time. Also I would have preferred more variety in textures. But still, a good map 7.5/10

 

L14 – Temple of Hades

Whoah. This is a big step up in difficulty. The opening encounter took me a lot of tries to get through, but was made easier when I finally realized to go round to the back where all the shotgun ammo is. The YK encounter is no easier, extending the usual AV + revenants combo with pain elementals and mancubi within a closed arena, meaning using the RL is fraught with danger. So far, a great map, with the choices of monsters, textures, brightness and MIDI all complementing each other really well. And then it’s ruined at the end. The crusher on the BFG is just cheap, but what’s worse is that the final encounter can be entirely nullified by infighting, with the revenants destroying the cyberdemon before you get to it 7/10

 

L15 – Fortress of Tears

A short hell map with elements of both Thy Flesh Consumed and Inferno in its design. The hell theme has always been my favorite in Doom and I really like the texturing on this one. I also liked the blood pool trap trick leading you to the RK. In terms of action, unlike the last map it is pretty serene with nothing really troubling the player. The secret exit wasn’t too hard to find. It was interesting how it sets the scene for the secret map by teleporting you to a completely different area. With the time constraints, it seems like Chaingunner has chosen to prioritise the look of the map over the size / monster battles, and in this instance I think it pays off 8.5/10

 

L31 – Daemons of the Mind

The quirk of this map is the teleporters from the central ‘hub’ taking you to two entirely different themed areas – one much like the hub, the other a poisoned techbase in icy confines. The crusher took me by surprise but is much more lenient than the ones found on L10 and L14. Clever use of triggers here to descend the player into a pool of poison the player must quickly find a way out of. Some level of platforming required here but nothing too taxing. The only secret I found in this map is one that gives you more enemies (albeit 2 zombiemen) without giving anything in return. Also FYI @galileo31dos01 the exit on this one took me to map 32, not 16. Maybe it was updated in the latest beta. Good map but I prefer Shadowman’s first output 8/10

 

L32 – Fort Boyard

Then the quirk of this one is that it is based on a real fort hosting a TV game show of the same name. Despite being a fan of The Crystal Maze in the same genre, I never watched Fort Boyard so I don’t really know how close the layout is to the real thing. However to me it seems like the focus was more on creating a realistic fort rather on the gameplay. There’s nothing really that wrong with this map but none of it really grabbed me; the battles weren’t particularly memorable 6/10

 

L33 - !?

And finally the quirk of this one is that it’s just damn weird!! It starts normally enough with a few small fry enemies in a techbase area, but soon changes once you hit the teleporter. All manner of textures are used in rather unconventional ways, with the Banjo-Kazooie music only adding to the sense of peculiarity. Clearly a joke map, but hey it’s fun as a one-off 8/10

[galileo31dos01]

@Horus Maybe in another source port with mapinfo support or something like that, it doesn't in prb+ in the latest release available.

[Horus]

32 minutes ago, galileo31dos01 said:

@Horus Maybe in another source port with mapinfo support or something like that, it doesn't in prb+ in the latest release available.

 

Ah ok that explains it, I've been playing it on GZDoom

 

L16 - Outskirts of Hell

 

Another small map that continues the Thy Flesh Consumed theme of map 15. Health is relatively scarce on this map, which makes the hitscanners punishing if you're not careful. The bulk of the action takes place in the area leading to the RK. This area rewards the strategic player who attacks it in stages (arch vile --> imps in RL area --> barons and HKs in RK room) rather than trying to do it all at once like I did at first. Darkness is also used to good effect in this map, disguising a mini-congregation of imps that you can hear but not easily see. The way the marble and rock textures were blended together felt a little odd in parts. Decent map 7/10

[Magnusblitz]

Back to the speedmap section so should be able to catch up a bit here...

 

MAP11: Spider Caves

100% kills, 1/1 secret

 

Definitely a speed map this one, not done any favors by coming right on the heels of MAP10. It's not terrible, with at least some decent theming and light work, but it's very much a quick run through very linear, very flat, and mostly brown room-door-room-door-room scenarios. The only real threat is if you try to fight the revenant in the open (since there's no cover) or can't handle a lone AV at close range with the normal shotgun. In other words, not much. Pretty forgettable.

 

MAP12: Village of the Black Sun

100% kills, 1/1 secret

 

Nice little 'city' map here, with an outdoor area to run around in before moving through the various buildings. Definitely a hot start here with a LOT of hitscanners, so you might need the RNG to fall in your favor after a few tries. Despite the weapon progression the enemies stay relatively similar throughout; I never even remembered the use the rocket launcher since there were only a couple enemies big enough to use it on. Texturing is decent, I agree with @Demon of the Well that the lighting is a bit blah. Still, pretty solid.

 

MAP13: Moments in Doom

100% kills, no map secrets

 

Another underground grotto, though this one has less of that free-standing 'city' feel like last map and is more of a large bunker set inside, with some forays into the watery cavern to look for keys. Also a lot more monster beef here, with plenty of revenants, hell knights, mancs and AVs to make your life miserable. Despite the small map size it manages to get a couple good pincer fights in. Agree with the criticisms that texture-wise it's a bit boring and the trek to the yellow door at the end is a bit anti-climatic (last map's was too, actually, so it might just be a Memfis-ism) but still a good solid map.

[Demon of the Well]

I'm still here, as well.

 

Map 20 -- Follow the Trail - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets

There's quite the contrast between this and the other maps by Dragon Hunter, which kind of underscores something @gaspehad said earlier on about Bloodspeed not seeming as patently Russian in style as older projects from that community produced in a broadly similar way, i.e. by compiling, arranging, and "polishing" or re-theming speedmaps. The two maps seen earlier in the set by this author have much more of that "on-brand" feel to them, as large, ambling and highly atmospheric adventure-style maps which look to have undergone a fair bit of aesthetic makeover, if nothing else, beyond what one would expect from a normal speedmap, hence the "polished" qualifier (though to my eye even these look slightly rougher/quicker than the analogous entries in past compilations...). This map, in comparison, while still significantly larger and more expansive in scale than many of the entries by other authors, has a much, much simpler and more focused progression, looks more like a standard Doom II map (whatever that means, right?) in a somewhat rare Doom-II-Hell flavor, and, interestingly, has significantly more focus on encounters/traps for their own sake than on a thick/enveloping atmosphere. Perhaps this is what a 'true' speedmap by Dragon Hunter looks like?

 

The title presumably refers to the cyberdemon you meet for a moment before he promptly teleports away at mapstart, making a brief cameo in at least one of the other key-wings leading off of the main spoke, before reappearing for a showdown back in the start chamber (or rather, at its mouth, filling the "churlishly camp the exit" role that many of his brethren seem to also fill in this set). Incidentally, in the few moments he was present in that other wing (the east/RK one, near the rocket launcher), he managed to be hit by a Baron's projectile thrown at me before he had actually ported in, and so spent the final battle fuming about that rather than actively participating in any way (I had somewhat smugly left the offending noble alive). So it goes.

 

As aforesaid, this seems a more fight-centric level than many of the others, and skews noticeably towards mid/upper-tier hellspawn, often appearing in pincers-traps or other reveals that have you dealing with attacks from more than one direction/angle at once. The three keys can be gotten in any order--mine was red, yellow, and then blue--and while each seems individually balanced enough to be tenable at whatever point you approach them, there does seem to be something of an 'ideal' order, more or less impossible to suss out without some foreknowledge, to the sequence; if nothing else, most players will certainly prefer the plasma rifle to the rocket launcher for the RK wing's "steps" room, only possible if it's tackled after the north/BK wing. The final battle is a larger melee in step with the finales from the author's earlier two maps, though perhaps a bit simpler overall since provoking efficient infighting is less of a to-do in this particular arena.

 

Map 21 -- Frozen Outpost - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets

Another very tiny and tidy little base-type map by Chaingunner. Like many of the author's other very small maps in this set, I found this to be pretty unremarkable in terms of overall concept, and while I wouldn't say it's particularly well-wrought or gripping as far as the conventional play experience goes, it does have a couple of interesting technical design features (which perhaps were the focus of this particular creation?). The cooler of these is the effect of the base realistically powering back on in a believably staggered, not-quite-instantaneous way after you hit the main breaker in the power-closet on the east side--very neat effect, obviously achieved through careful voodoo-scripting. On the subject of lighting, the fine-scale strobe effect inside the exit gate is also quite eye-catching, for what it's worth.

 

The other feature of some note is the ice, or so-called ice. Boom-ice (or ZDoom-ice, or Hexen-ice, or any kind of itdtech1-ice, really) is, regardless of how one personally feels about the value of its impact on core gameplay, generally very straightforward and easy to understand, if occasionally troublesome. The "ice" in this map, however, is of a kind I can't immediately recall having encountered before; standing on it feels somehow like being magnetized to its surface, as it seems to rapidly leech all momentum out of movement, rather than exaggerating it as one would normally expect. Bizarrely, it also seems to reverse your directional movement inputs, such that pressing whatever your 'go forward' key is causes you to move (slowly) backwards, with an analogous effect on sidestepping. Maybe it's meant to simulate not 'ice' per se, but pools of sleet/slush, which might explain some of its mud-like properties? But then, why is the effect applied to the barely snow-covered UAC floor? This makes very little sense from either a diegetic or gameplay perspective, whereas at least putting the SSG in a patch of it serves as a sort of trap. Truly strange.

 

Map 22 -- Cold Blood - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets

And yet another tiny base. This one has less of an overtly hi-tech impression, more of a shabby just-barely-futuristic industrial feel, and is situated against the backdrop of a sleepy small town or village. Kind of reminded me of the look and feel of how Gotham City tended to be portrayed in the older Batman films (particularly that second one), a gloomy and gritty post-Dickensian drearscape. Some might say it's looking a lot more "Russian", even!

 

As aforesaid, though, in core design man_with_gun's offering is well in line with many of the other set's other maps, particularly those by Chaingunner, posing a short/straightforward spate of very simplistic breach/clear gameplay that can be casually completed in well under 5 minutes. Many of the same general commentaries/criticisms apply -- there's no real height variation (though you are made to scale a fence at one point), basically all action takes place in the thresholds of tiny rooms, starkly limiting what both player and monsters can do, no real climax, and so forth.

 

For all that, though, somehow I did seem to enjoy this more than many of those other/similar maps. The detailed/depressing visual scheme really does appeal, true, but more than that the map's just a lot bloodier and feels a little meaner than many of its compatriots, with its smallfry consistently densely packed for cluster-kills (though this is predicated on finding the secret SSG, granted) and somewhat endearing (if quickly predictable) baby-bulldog tenacity in trying to ambush you at point-blank range with baddies and giving you 'quickdraw' encounters every time you ride a teleporter. Ironically, I imagine a lot of the things I like more about it than its compeers probably play into things that others will likely dislike more about it (particularly the deal with being attacked literally every time you ride a teleporter), but hey, it's short, right? Your agitation ends as quickly as my joie de vivre. :)

 

 

[Demon of the Well]

Map 23 -- Vainglory - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets

First order of business: IDMUS 13, thank you very fucking much.

 

Second order of business: Hey, it's Eternal! It lives. Great!

 

Humble and yes, again, obviously a simple speedmap with a basic forking layout comprised of mostly modest spaces of varying shape, there's nevertheless a certain je ne sais quoi to the proceedings here that leaves it feeling a bit livelier and more 'designed' than many of the other simpler maps. A cyberdemon-turret is the conceptual centerpiece here, though its level of oversight initially appears to be surprisingly limited, somewhat deceptively--you don't need to worry so much about it for the part of the progression where you're most exposed to its field of fire, yet forgetting about it while skirmishing in the transitional hallways of the side spaces, where you might easily be pushed back just a step too far, can be disastrous.

 

Eternal is an old hand as regards minimalist monster usage; even though he has in past sometimes opted to use hordes of creatures, much of his large body of work makes due with a much more reserved style of monster placement, as seen here. Many other authors past and present have similar predilections in this regard, of course, but for my money few do it as consistently well as he does. I wouldn't say that every monster is used to generate 'optimal pressure/movement generation' or anything of the sort, mind; but every creature placed does make a real contribution in the encounter in which it appears, whether as a distraction or main attacker or rear guard or whatever, and there's a carefully measured cadence of face-to-face skirmishes, obvious traps, not-so-obvious traps, and a somewhat sudden yet intuitive final battle to close on, coupled with a natural shortform weapon progression closing with a BFG for that last fight. In a sense, it's a varying, constant stream of small or even very small fights which nevertheless each have some kind definite structure to them--a lot of 'crunch' and just enough catharsis for your 5 minutes and 80 or so monsters, like a chocolate-covered Doom-flavored granola bar, if you will.

 

The visuals are the least interesting aspect of the map, incidentally, though it must be said that I'm not particularly partial to the white-on-white-on-more-white snow theme to begin with, as a general rule. The structure, architecture and lighting of most of the playspace, while eminently functional for the action it houses, is admittedly rather spartan, with a very plain texture scheme (save for the rather tacky X-mas trimmings, which we'll forgive) not doing it any particular favors. The approach to and facade of the temple or baths or whatever the place is does look nice enough, at least, and one gets the impression that a lot of the presumably limited time budget was probably spent here.

 

Map 24 -- Cyber Melter - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets

This is by Wraith, one of the less popularly heralded members of the Russian community perhaps, but nonetheless an author who can be safely relied on to produce an entertaining level with a pronounced sense of place, no matter the theme or technical/conceptual strictures. Not unlike the previous map, the level prominently features the cyberdemon, or rather a pair of them, which initially lord over the stony glen and ice-rimed geothermal station perched on its lip, cheerfully reducing any imp or stumbling ex-human or even saucy marine daring a single step askance to a fine pink mist lingering in the frosty air.

 

The outdoor terrain is more expansive, more height-varied, and generally more complex than in any of the cyber/turret-centric maps seen previously, offering more cover but also more prolonged periods of exposure to their relentless shelling, featuring a number of pushes across an open space into different sections of the facility or areas of the surrounding hills, several of which are closely contested by smaller enemies. After an initial bottleneck in the opening moments, the level also features a path-split after returning from the isolated little mill, which is interesting both because it can basically invert the order you play the middle leg of the level in, and because it's not explicitly telegraphed as a split per se, but rather something to be spotted by the sharp-eyed or the lucky, with a decidedly whimsical conceit of teleporters concealed inside of hollow trees. The split can also afford you additional options for how to deal with the pair of cybies, allowing you to amass enough weaponry to engage them in an artillery-duel at a distance, or opting to leave them for a more conventional (and more dramatic) brawl at the end, after their high ground has been melted.

 

The interior of the southern building, comprised of a conspicuously bland demi-maze of dark hallways (edit: evidently they're not even dark, mostly, the presence of a nearby pair of light amp goggles rather mislead me in this on my playthrough) is a marked blemish on the map's otherwise generally fun character, not quite brief enough for me to handwave it away as 'simply nothing' given how many monsters are staged inside little caged cubbies in its walls and such, needlessly elongating the clear. Given my known biases I'm inclined to blame speedmapping (TM) for this, but one could just as well argue that a key point of effective speedmapping is knowing when not to spend space/time on needless chaff or fluff like this, I suppose! Fortunately the building's not a wash, as it also houses a neat little bit of environmental storytelling, presumably lending the map its name.

[gaspe]

MAP24 demo: We have seen the turret-cyberdemon already a few times in this wad, but wee could see some different approaches to to it and while the former were built in very closed spaces the cybies from a giant tree will guard the paths required to progress that are built around the main spacious outdoor area. There's a techbase split in 2 parts (one at north and one at south), and there's a couple of buildings that stick out oddly on the supposedly tech theme that predominate the map: the starting castle and the wooden Rl building. Reactivating the machine that melts the snow, I guess, was nice touch; and it comes after a dark maze. For the end the cybers will be joined by many other enemies for a bigger battle, it was easy to cheese it a bit if you stay above and alert as much enemies as possible and start the infight.

[Capellan]

+++Nanopineapple

Let's do a NaNoWADMo WAD in NaNoWADMo month.

[Horus]

L17 - Hell Sunrise

 

Another one in the Thy Flesh Consumed vein, with a mix of marble, blood and rock textures throughout, and the iconic orange sky; but I feel like the textures are better blended together than on the previous map. I played this map a bit tipsy so not on my best form - the caged revenant got me twice in a row. I encountered a bug on this map. I was trapped by one of floating skull rocks by the large brown tree on the southeastern part of the map and had to use IDCLIP to extract myself. This is one of those rare maps where one of the keys is optional and is unlocked by a secret - unfortunately I didn't find it, but I like the concept of a secret key. This map is pretty much solely imps and hitscanners. However a fair bunch of them are chaingunners so I had to be careful and hold back a bit 7.5/10

 

L18 – Demonic Bloodpool

 

Now we have a map that stays with the hellish theme but instead uses textures I recognise from OTEX. It makes a nice change from the previous maps (though I do love Thy Flesh Consumed) and allows for some neat effects including flowing lava. The map does not really threaten the player until towards the end, where there is a raised cyberdemon surrounded by imps and a couple of HKs and revenants. I was initially frustrated at seeing a cyberdemon without the ammo to properly tackle it – luckily, it is actually killed via telefragging 7/10

 

L19 – Pale Disease

 

A bit of a step up in difficulty from the previous few maps (though nothing troubling L14), with a hard-to-reach arch vile and other surrounding medium-tier enemies forcing a run-for-cover approach at the start. This map became more enjoyable once you finished off said arch vile and transported to the BK area, with more closer-fought battles that don't resort to sniping. I thought I recognised Duke Nukem music here, indeed @Demon of the Well confirmed my thoughts. These last few maps haven't been amongst the mapset's best in terms of gameplay but they have been pretty good visually 7/10

 

+++NDCP1
+++Alienated & Mayhem 2019

Edited September 27, 2019 by Horus

[Magnusblitz]

MAP14: Temple of Hades

100% kills, no map secrets

 

Back to the tiny and cramped here, but plenty of angry high-tier monsters in this one to rip you apart. The first area took me about 3-4 tries, first to figure out where the ammo was and then figuring out just how to navigate the close-range revenants. The yellow key fight is decent too, especially the use of the pain elementals which will float around in the tall ceiling and make using the rocket launcher a poor decision. To be honest, I chickened out and took out the fliers from the yellow key cubby hole before jumping down to deal with the rest. There's a little bit of weirdness in this room too with being able to hit the switch upstairs to get to the key or take the elevator... maybe some sort of failsafe? The last fight is a bit of a misfire with the infighting, crusher AND BFG making things a bit too simple.

 

MAP15: Fortress of Tears

100% kills, no map secrets

 

Another quick and tiny one here, in the vein of the wooden E4 theme. Only 36 monsters on UV, almost all of which are small fry, with a caco and couple hell knights and all single shotgun/chaingun play... so pretty quick to blast through, so quick you might forget to even look for the secret exit. Visually it's nice but maybe a little too busy, especially on some of the wall designs, but I suppose it does help disguise a somewhat simple map.

[Demon of the Well]

Map 25 -- Hermans Rest - 115% Kills / 100% Secrets

This one's a lark, feels like it would have been right at home in Pinchy's Alfonzone from last year. For such a relatively small playspace, this seems to field the highest density of more powerful monsters of any map we've seen thus far in the set (with a really notable skew towards the oft-overlooked arachnatron in particular), and as soon as you leave the relative safety of the odd/abstract central "garage" it's very easy to be fried by curtains of plasma bolts or decimated by salvos of homing missiles if you don't stay in constant motion; yet, while it's certainly not Salad Days like quite a few of the tiny little bases which dominated the early and middle parts of the set, it's also much more loose and empowering than it is oppressive, since you've basically got a sort of impromptu racetrack to run around in, and your primary weapons are the rocket launcher and plasma rifle--the only bullets you get are the 50 you start with, and there is no buckshot of any kind.

 

Two keys are needed to open the exit (which is also plugged with a stopper of rotten tomatoes as a final failsafe), each being located in a short dead-end run on opposite sides of the lot. These are blatantly traps, of course. Of course! But they're designed to be run away from with relative ease, the catch being that doing so can bite you in the ass if you've been doing a little too much running and not quite enough killing, since the addition of arch-viles to the monster mash plus the accumulation of chirruping arachnid gangs at key 'lane-change' points can elevate things from 'fast-paced' to 'frantic' in short order. The thing balance is very well judged and plays off briskly against most of the likely gamut of player and monster movements; your route is most often determined by the need to seek more ammo on the fly, and each new pocket of it has an attendant cost of waking up a few more creatures, requiring you to balance face-off fights with eluding or beating back the mob already following you. It's practically begging you to have a good time, and I reckon it's on you if you're too tactically conservative to do so!

 

If I've a criticism, it's that the steep, narrow staircase leading up to the blue key's gallery prevents the trio of arch-viles up there from ever realistically making it down to the main track, which feels like a missed opportunity or miscalculation--there's the possibility of them nuking you from the windows while you're running part of the southern stretch, yes, but it's a fairly remote opportunity (imps tend to jostle madly for space here as well), and so this is a trap that's essentially meaningless within 5 seconds of springing, unless you're quite slow on the uptake.  Nevertheless, an enjoyable short map, much more engaging to my taste than any Kiddie Menu Basecrawl could hope to be.

[Demon of the Well]

For October, I suggest playing the following:

 

1. Alienated (10 maps)

2. MAYhem 2019 (I'm told this is in the neighborhood of 20 maps)

 

C'mon guys. C'mon guys.

 

Guys. C'mon.

 

C'mon!!

 

Guys...?

 

(Edit: for Dobu: +++ Alienated & Mayhem2019)

[gaspe]

MAP25 demo: Looked allright but it's very annoying and not funny to play with no ammo or health in sight. The midi feels so random for the fast paced action that happens.

[galileo31dos01]

Sorry DOTW, my vote goes for +++ NDCP, nothing halloween-ish in it :x

[Demon of the Well]

Halloween is THE TOPS okay

 

*shakes fist impotently*

[baja blast rd.]

Jason Wainman's 30 Levels of Doom 2 will probably run away with the vote this month, so in the interest of spirited competition, I'll vote for 

 

+++ Alienated & Mayhem2019

[Nine Inch Heels]

+++mayhem2019

+++ RJ_SLAB

+++ RJSLOTH

[Roofi]

+++ Hell Revealed 2

[Horus]

L20 – Follow the Trail

 

Cyberdemon at the start this time…except not for long as it teleports out, leaving you with a bunch of hitscanners immediately at the start. The design is interesting with 4 raised alcoves at the corners of the starting arena, 3 with a key and the other containing the exit. Getting the BK is relatively trivial, the YK is a bit harder with a battle in the outdoor area of the map to navigate first. This battle was quite fun and the area visually striking. The RK is hardest, with the Arachnotron spawning behind catching me out a couple of times. The cyberdemon also quickly passes by to say hello. Then once you have all 3 keys, the map becomes slaughter-lite, with a variety of spawning monsters quickly filling the starting arena. The revenant rockets were pretty hard to dodge and caused my downfall numerous times. At the end I’m not sure the Cyberdemon really added anything – with only a narrow corridor for it to wander, it was easy to finish off, and the lost souls at the end seemed like a bit of an afterthought. But the rest of the map was pretty neat 8/10

 

L21 – Frozen Hideout

 

This ice episode opener is very short, and as such there’s not a whole lot to say about it. Most of the enemies are low-tier and come from the starting building. Getting out of that area is just a case of opening a few doors and pressing a few switches, before you get to the outdoors where some harder enemies appear. The mancubus is easy enough to tackle, but the HK came as a big surprise and almost killed me. The cacodemon isn’t easy either. It was nice that the ice acted as such here and caused the player to slide. The frosted windows at the start were also pretty cool 7/10

 

L22 – Cold Blood

 

This one is very stingy on health – most of it this map I was under 20% health. But in this case it actually worked to the map’s benefit – really ratcheting up the tension as you make your way through the dark, icy base, and forcing some very conservative play. The triggers were a little confusing on this one – it took me a while to work out you could escape up the crates out of the first part of the base for example. The map is well detailed, particularly the window into the outside area with snowy trees and a waterfall (guess it’s not so cold that it iced over!), though I’m not sure about the use of tech textures in a base that otherwise has an older feel. Other than the confusion about where to go next in a couple of places, this was a fun map 8/10

[Horus]

L23 – Vainglory

 

The early maps in this megawad tended towards vanilla; vanilla this most certainly is not. After a brief and simple excursion through the snowy outdoors, the player is led to indoors to what at first seems like an empty area. Then an archvile suddenly appears – it took me by complete surprise but fortunately the height differentials in the room provide cover. The berserk secret also spawns a bunch of demons – again it came as a shock, though that’s probably partly because GZDoom gives me a bit of a delay when finding secrets. Then in the next room is a cyberdemon which the player is ill-equipped to kill so I didn’t even try. Instead it was a matter of deftly making way through the rooms without falling foul of the rockets. It led to me taking a more gung-ho approach to the map than I normally do. Then the final area is all set up with Christmas lights! Santa gifts the player a return of the cyberdemon plus a horde of HKs and revenants. Fortunately this time the player IS well-equipped to deal with the situation with a handy BFG. This was pretty good, one of the best so far 8.5/10

 

L24 – Cyber Melter

 

Of course I hear a cyberdemon as soon as I start this map. If there’s one thing I’m learning about the Russian community from playing this megawad, it’s that they love their cyberdemons. The approach is different depending on whether you pistol started or played continuous. I fall into the latter camp so was able to finish off the two cybers with my remaining plasma from the last map. This map does tension brilliantly. There is an almost pitch black indoor area, with the only coming from flickering alcoves populated by imps and hitscanners. Also hidden in the darkness are spectres, revenants and mancubi. The night vision goggles came in handy to clear up the rest of the area. Then once you’re at the other side there is another outdoor area containing a switch, lowering two areas I was convinced would be two more cyberdemons…it ended up being nothing, sneaky! I had not saved and was very fortunate not to die in the final BK battle, surviving it with 1% health. Two negatives: I had returned to the BK door expecting something nice like a soulsphere or mega-armor. Turns it was a BFG. Well thanks, I killed all the enemies already, and already had a BFG from the last map. Secondly, the BK pillar taking ages to raise is trolling. But these are minor points, and don’t detract that much from what is otherwise an excellent map 8.5/10

 

L25 – Hermans Rest

 

I actually enjoyed this one, but felt like it would have been frustrating to pistol start, so I can see why @gaspe might have found it annoying. This is a fast-paced map set in a cold town. It starts innocently enough but once you reach the main outdoor area it’s monster central, the arachnotrons and sheer weight of imps do not make it easy. This part of the battle was pretty fun, because as mentioned by @Demon of the Well, each stockpile of provisions comes with it more enemies. Though afterwards the RK and BK traps are pretty predictable, you know what’s coming and beat a hasty retreat. As such they are simpler affairs 8/10

 

The fact that this is a speedmap compilation made catching up pretty easy!

Edited September 26, 2019 by Horus

[XenoNemisis]

Hey all, so I was gonna play through this earlier but I didn't have time since I've been playing a lot of megawads all at once (going for playing all Cacoaward wads year by year and most of which I've played at least up until about 2011). Probably too late to do a playthrough I imagine so in case I'll just say that I'll do another vote for Hell Revealed 2. I think I'll still play this wad since I'm interested in anything. I'm on full Doom Binge mode hahaha.

 

 

[gaspe]

MAP26 demo: I remember this , a Downtown-esque level with the theme of bricks and snow and a cyberdemon that roams the streets. I guess I was a bit too harsh on my first comments back then. I still think that visually it's rather monotonous and it would have helped the level to get a little visual overhaul after, nothing too drastic as it is allright now. This was made all in the limited hours of the session that, it tries to tackle something with a bigger scope and it succeeded in that. For a 4 hours map this is a remarkable effort.

[Rince-wind]

+++ XUMP

+++ 300minvr

+++ Doomworld Mega Project 2012

[Horus]

L26 – Lord of the City

 

And now we upgrade from town to city. Naturally, that comes with a cyberdemon, the lord of this city. It’s there right as you spawn, and initially you can’t engage, just dodge (not too hard given the map’s expanse) as you make your way round the different buildings one-by-one, and as you do so, release the enclosed hordes, that also come with it the necessary ammo to actually kill the cyberdemon.  Most of the map is fairly easy, but the final battle is hard, mainly due to the massed revenant + archvile combo prevalent in the slaughter and slaughter-lite scene. Most of the action wasn’t particularly memorable (and in the case of the BK room, just annoying), and it’s naturally staggered by the theme of the map. But what really does a downer on it for me was the MIDI, which was just earsplitting, even more so than the Symphony of Darox. 4/10

[Demon of the Well]

Map 26 -- Lord of the City - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets

A simple wintry city map by Shadowman, with an almost-medieval theme vaguely reminiscent of the classic Mordeth--everything's made of stone and iron and wood, save for the flickering techlamp 'streetlights.' Rather plain-looking (the aforementioned Mordeth, several epochs older, pays more attention to fundamentals like lighting/etc.), but functional enough. At a cursory examination (which you're free to make in person as soon as the map begins) it appears to be an old-fashioned sandbox map ala "Downtown" or such, but in reality it's not--every building is mandatory, and they are visited in a rigidly fixed order, as gated by key-locked or mechanically-locked doors, the odd teleporter, etc.

 

The titular Lord is the cyberdemon who not-so-warmly greets you from the outset, who unlike so many of his brethren elsewhere in the set is free to roam, and is presumably intended to act as your best frenemy for the duration of your stay within the city limits. Indeed, the most entertaining and efficient way to play is surely to not fight anything that appears outside of a building yourself, and just let him sweep the streets at his leisure; there's very little risk of hitting an infinitely-tall roadblock or anything of the sort, save for one potentially awkward slow-opening exit out of the first building you teleport into. Naturally, playing this way carries some risk, as the simplistic grid-pattern of city blocks allows the cyberdemon relatively easy access to long, unobstructed angles of sight on you which can prove dangerous whenever you're trying to first enter a new building (they all have a welcoming party of some kind in the foyer), but I reckon really is the way to go, and the best contrast with the straightforward shoot/loots which fill the interiors. Alternatively, there's plenty of healing and ammo meted out in sizable doses every time you open a new building (not all Shadowman maps follow the Hellfire pattern of balance!), and cybie can be readily dispatched as soon as the SSG shows up for the first time, but.....where's the fun in that?

 

The lack of any real openness in the progression perhaps undercuts the potential of the city-style layout somewhat, but rushing progression to let a smallscale riot of sorts develop outside is entertaining enough, and it is good to see a speedmap with a little more content to it vs. the many extremely brief base-dips which have preceded it in the running order.

 

Map 27 -- The Edge of Reason - 91% Kills / No secrets

I quite liked this one, for the most part. While small, it's tightly-conducted (again, for the most part), offers a lot of action that satisfyingly scales up in scope over its short duration, and makes the most of its handful of gameplay ideas, as opposed to treating being small/short/quickly-produced as the only real idea it needs. Similar to a number of the preceding maps, the central gameplay feature at first seems to be the presence of a turret-cyb which controls the clifftop clearing; you don't actually spend all that much time out there, but it can easily blast you to smithereens through any number of uncanny angles if you don't stay constantly alert while trying to fight your way into the enclaves carved into the cliffside, similar to Eternal's use of the cyb in m23. However, very little of the level's action actually revolves around this setup, and this first(!) cyberdemon ends up being unexpectedly (or I didn't expect it, anyway) telefragged as the preamble to the level's real conclusion, a more conventional BFG vs. rocket-arm showdown with a second cyb who somewhat (melo)dramatically Kool-Aid-Mans his way through the cliffside.

 

Between dancing with these two unkindly fellows, there's a lot of concentrated bloodletting to be had in the interior reaches as well; the cozy library-cave is the domain of a pair of very trickily-placed arch-viles, one of whom has you buckshot-sledgehammering your way through his burly bodyguards while trying to avoid eye contact at chatting distance, and the other who'll do his best to spook you into dropping back down to the foyer, right into the path of a rocket from the turret-cyb who has probably by now slipped to the fringe of your immediate awareness (or so he hopes).

 

As something of a bonus, the final duel is apparently supposed to be spectated by a crowd of cacodemons, and it's here that I have to add my "for the most part" caveat--there's a cluster of them perched atop a rock formation off to the east of the map, which can only see (and fire at) you if camp on the soulsphere outcrop after teleporting there. They are out of your autoaim range, and apparently unable to access teleport lines which would introduce them to the fight proper. The same is true of the similar group to the west, though these are at least in range of your (and the cyb's) weapons. The cluster of imps to the far north work as intended--they port into the library-cave as the player takes the red skullkey.

 

Even with the malfunction (or I assume it is), though, this is a briskly-paced and quite enjoyable outing, and continues the broadly stronger showing in design we've seen from this last episode vs. the earlier two.

 

[Horus]

L27 – The Edge of Reason

 

The player starts stuck in ice and has to shoot it to break free. A brief trip through a cavern soon gives way to the outdoors, where we are greeted with some imps and…wait for it…a cyberdemon! Next is the library area, which, at least initially, is probably the best bit of the map. Chaingunners perch dangerously on top of the ledges whilst you also have enemies down below. Then grabbing the RK causes a whole bunch of enemies to spawn back where you came from…but not where you are now, so you can finish them off at your leisure. Then the map turns into a switch sequence, where if you mess up or fall off you have to start again. The archvile is put in a place where unless you’re prepared for it (I wasn’t), you’ll have to fall off and redo the whole sequence again. Frustrating. Then at the end you’re teleported three times, picking a soulsphere up along the way, before reaching the platform that contained the first cyberdemon, which triggers the reveal of the second. There’s plasma ammo on said platform that if you miss, you need to do the whole sequence again to reach… Thing placement on this map is odd, especially at the end when there’s a mass of cacodemons on top of the ice to the distance…they are totally non-threatening to the player and don’t block the exit – which must be the missing teleport triggers that @galileo31dos01 was referring to. But on the positive side, visually this level is amongst the best in the whole set 6/10

[Demon of the Well]

Map 28 -- Captured - 99% Kills / No secrets

 

3 seconds in and you betcha ass it's time for some IDMUS13 pally-man.

 

That aside, this was my favorite of the maps from Shadowman to feature in Bloodspeed, definitely. That timeless PWAD conceit of starting in an almost adorably badly-made birdcage (with a pistol that nobody bothered to cop for....reasons....inviting speculation about a whole new facet of the marine's resourcefulness) soon spills out into a rollicking little snow-holiday taking place largely outdoors, in the fresh and frosty air.

 

There are demons in them thar hills, of course (of course!); the majority of who will spring forth from drift and dale in a series of high-ground ambushes of ever-growing size and desperation as you schlepp farther and farther out of bounds. They're a motley bunch, with a notable skew towards flyers (pain elementals are almost guaranteed to spawn lots of souls in this one), and while they do together represent one of the largest attack forces seen in the WAD to this point, there's plenty of space and plenty of ammo to fight them with, and so for most players this should read as more fun/relaxing than hectic or stressful. In keeping with the running theme of the past several winter-maps, a cyberdemon also features prominently in proceedings, this time serving as your jailer. As in m26 prior, you can (and should) take him along with you as a playmate for as long as you're able, but again, he can also be dispatched before the level is half over, provided you've the presence of mind to save at least 80 cells after getting the plasma gun for that BFG you likely got at the start.

 

Enjoyable map; though simple in intent, like many of the E3 maps it feels a lot more concept-complete than the earlier stuff. It also gave me the impression that there might be a story behind it, beyond the simple jailbreak narrative implied in the proceedings themselves, I mean--what with the Star Wars music and all, maybe it's a redrafted/converted Dark Forces map or somesuch? Certainly looks/feels the part.

 

Issue: the last 3-4 arachnatrons (sequentially) in the map seldom/never teleport out, due to undersized closet/destination conflicts.

[gaspe]

MAP27 demo: Very solid with a clear idea of what it wants to do and a nice execution. Tricky part the RSK trap with the imps teleporting on the stairway and the surprise you get on the area above, but you can use the cybie to wipe the barons and the av.

 

MAP28 demo: I remember this one :D the Star Wars music makes it very funny. I like how the cyberdemon at first is a threat but later you can use as help against the bigger hordes, and nice idea to use many gasbags so relying on the infight isn't so straightforward and later you are equipped to discard the giant bull (be sure to not to miss the BFG at the start), or unlike I did you can let it live as the it can't reach the exit area. I wanted to report too that some monsters aren't able to teleport inside the map.

[Horus]

L28 – Captured

 

The player starts this one literally captured in a cage, until you shoot a switch, which rather tackily causes the player to instantaneously drop out of the cage. Then there’s a cyberdemon battle right from the off, which really doesn’t seem necessary (in defense of this megawad’s proliferation of cyberdemons, most of the ones in the last few levels are actually justified in their place and add something to the level. This one does not). Then you get released into the expanse. The grey, grey expanse, interspersed by some grey, grey buildings. Encounters with enemies start sporadic and mild. Then once you get to the soulsphere it ramps up, with a variety of immediately spawning monsters, which can be challenging if you get stuck in the melee. Also ammo is scarce enough to force you to use all the weapons at your disposal (save the pistol). Once you get the BK and return to the open there is one last arena type battle. Which if I’m honest seemed to me to just be a random mixture of things without too much reason behind it.

The soundtrack behind this one is from Star Wars. Which I guess makes sense if this level is meant to be an emulation of an ice planet from Star Wars like Hoth. It’s not the best quality though and comes off a tad irritating. Not a fan of this level unfortunately 3.5/10

 

I wrote the above before @Demon of the Well and @gaspe posted so interesting to compare with their thoughts. They both led the cyberdemon into the main outdoors area, and granted he would have helped as a dispatcher of the hordes. As a continuous player I had enough ammo from L27 to kill him from the off. And DOTW said this was his favorite Shadowman level, for me, this shades Lord of the City as my worst Shadowman level. Which is a shame as I thought his first level, Outer Base, was awesome, and 28 levels in remains my favorite level of the whole megawad so far. And gaspe makes a good point on the plethora of cacos and elementals reducing scope of infighting (plus the fact that the monsters spawned pretty spaced out), though with all the lost souls about it did end up extending the battle for a bit longer than I'd like.