The DWmegawad Club plays: Congestion 1024

[Pechudin]

MAP10: Gothika 1024

    We find ourselves in some medieval ruins. Feels a lot larger than it really is, and the color pallete is nice and pleasant on the eyes. The ammo balance is really tight, pistol starting it is almost mandatory to find the entrance secret shellbox and bulletbox, and the archviles need to be ignored and run past. Thankfully infighting can get rid of a lot of initial trap's enemies. Died once to the revenant and hell knights after rushing past the archviles. The SSG trap can be tricky if you get pinned, blow away the pinkies to create room to dance around the nobles. I do not understand, what is the rocket launcher for? Getting to it is almost suicide thanks to the archviles, unless you killed them, but then what do you use it on? I do not think you have enough ammo to kill them the first time you encounter them.

    All that said, it felt fairly satisfying to beat this map. Tough, but thanks to its brevity it did not feel like a slog to restart it if you died.

 

   

[Horus]

MAP10 - “Gothika 1024” by shitbag

 

Well as Pechudin forewarned, these maps aren’t pulling any punches anymore. There goes any idea of me completing this mapset saveless. As hinted this map has a gothic theme with marble and metal textures in abundance. It’s another map with a seemingly mandatory secret on pistol start, but again the location is fairly obvious so I didn’t mind.

 

This is the first map to really step up the arena combat, with two tricky skirmishes to start the map. The outdoor red/brown rock area gives a nice contrast to the rest of the map (and I liked the strewn marble bricks), but it leads the player astray as finishing off the monsters here meant I didn’t have enough ammo for the next section.

 

By the time I finished there were 8 enemies still left. Not sure what happened there, either they didn’t teleport in due to a bug or I missed them but couldn’t get back because the YK switches locked me in the outdoor area (in general not a fan of when maps lock you into the exit area and don't allow you to go back).

 

I’m not a hater of death exits but I don’t see the point in one here. The text file already recommends the player pistol starts, I think this is sufficient.

 

Map rankings:

Spoiler

Great (8/10): MAP 03, MAP 05, MAP 06, MAP 08
Good (7/10): MAP 10
Decent (6/10): MAP 01, MAP 04, MAP 09
Average (5/10): MAP 02, MAP 07

 

1 hour ago, Pechudin said:

I do not understand, what is the rocket launcher for? Getting to it is almost suicide thanks to the archviles, unless you killed them, but then what do you use it on? I do not think you have enough ammo to kill them the first time you encounter them.

 

Actually, as long as you don't screw up your straferun you can make it to the rocket launcher + ammo and make it back to the safety of the previous room before the archvile can finish its attack. I did this a few times on my playthrough

Edited December 10, 2019 by Horus

[vdgg]

27 minutes ago, Horus said:

MAP10 - “Gothika 1024” by shitbag

death exits

In PrBoom+ -complevel 9 this is not a death exit. Do you Boom compatibility on when playing with GZDoom?

 

edit. 8 monsters are indeed unkillable

Edited December 10, 2019 by vdgg

[Andromeda]

MAP09: Monday Morning (Congestion 1024)

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, HNTR-PS, no saves, 100% everything

 

The first thing I thought when I loaded this level was Rammstein, hadn't listened to their music in a while! In this level my rule of not using the pistol or the normal fist before acquiring better weapons proved tricky to enforce. While the secrets are quite bland, the shadows give a special feel to the level making it stand out in comparison to the rest of the levels so far. Combat is not too challenging though the teleporters might catch you off guard. In the last room I lost an embarrassing amount of health because I didn't let the arachnotron infight with the baron of hell, making matters much tougher than needed. Overall an aesthetically pleasing level let down by its uninspiring combat.

 

I'm going to take a page out of @DJVCardMaster's book and start ranking the levels subjectively. 

 

Levels in order of preference:

Spoiler

MAP08: A Jagged Stroll

MAP06: Departure Point

MAP02: Garden of the Descent

MAP03: Dilapidation

MAP07: Dead Small

MAP09: Monday Morning

MAP04: Outpost 1024

MAP05: Autumn in Hell

MAP01: Water Facility

Edited December 10, 2019 by Andromeda

[Horus]

14 minutes ago, vdgg said:

In PrBoom+ -complevel 9 this is not a death exit. Do you Boom compatibility on when playing with GZDoom?

 

edit. 8 monsters are indeed unkillable

 

Ah, no I had Default compatibility on. What's the difference between Boom and Boom (strict)? And out of interest any idea why it would be a death exit on GZDoom Default compat and not on Boom?

[Octillion]

MAP10 - “Gothika 1024” by shitbag., 

 

    My writing was very poor on the last two levels, I'll try to make up for it with this one. This map is gorgeous, a medieval marble structure reinforced with metal, twisted with grotesque hellish nature of it's denizens and a scarlet rocky formation piled with skulls and bones. Probably my favorite looking map so far. And boy is it brutal, if your movement isn't top notch, you'll die a lot. Adding on that, the ammo situation is the tightest so far. You better not miss at all, or you'll have to punch a few enemies. And there's no berserk here my friend, so enjoy the boxing simulation. 

 

    My first death on this map was the starting area. I did not expect it to have such a variety of monsters, and died indecisively on who to kill first. My approach was killing the shotgunners first, as these bastards were the most lethal here in my opinion. The chaingunner's spread helps with infighting and the caco is pretty much your meat shield here. This leaves the rev with a few health and easily taken care of. The second encounter is easier than the first, I found that the shotgunner at the top was the only irritating aspect of it. As you can't really get a good shot on him while dodging the pinkies and hell knights. I also went out of ammo here because of that decision, it was a waste of shells and I ended up punching the two imps at the top. (I wished I found that shellbox secret at the beginning.)

 

    My second death was by the arguably "cheap" chaingunners in the dark. I wanted to peek what's outside with the archvile and got served a plate full of lead. Getting back to this part was tormenting. As I died again in the starting area because of a curved 80 from the rev. (Yeah, I think I'll go with Horus here and start to save from the next map.) I noticed the rocket launcher outside, strafed to it and went back inside. However, I made a poor decision yet again. I decided to kill the vile, only to be met with another vile teleporting in. You evil, evil author... *ahem* Moving onwards, because of the wasted rockets, I went out of ammo and was forced to punch a hell knight at the yellow skull. Of course, due to my impeccable punching skills, I died. Thankfully, I was able to finish the map without dying after that.

 

    No, I definitely did not rage in this.... Not one bit at all....

                             

 

                                     ----

 

 

Death counter: 6. (One on Map02 - One on Map09 - Four on Map10.)

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP10: Gothika 1024

 

Gotta say I didn't care for this one, which is pretty enough but mercilessly tight on ammunition and crammed full of wall details that can snag the player's movement and turn a deft dodge into standing around waiting for a kiss from a revenant's rocket.  The death exit is just the icing on the cake in that respect; no matter how well you do and no matter how carefully you count your shots, finishing this ordeal delivers something that feels more like a punishment than a reward.  Most of the time I will try to meet the map author's intentions halfway when playing continuously, limiting myself to the weapons the map has provided me even if I have more health, armour, and ammunition than the designer might have intended, but this is one level where I gave up on that early and felt little shame in pumping my hoarded rockets from earlier levels into the arch-viles and their cheer section in the south-east room.

 

As previously noted, eight monsters won't teleport in, so no matter what you do you'll exit the map with a maximum of something like 85% kills: two chaingunners are in a waiting room behind a barrier that has no trigger to open it, and six shotgunners are in a waiting room behind a block that has no trigger to lower it and a teleport with no assigned destination.

[Pechudin]

57 minutes ago, TheOrganGrinder said:

As previously noted, eight monsters won't teleport in, so no matter what you do you'll exit the map with a maximum of something like 85% kills: two chaingunners are in a waiting room behind a barrier that has no trigger to open it, and six shotgunners are in a waiting room behind a block that has no trigger to lower it and a teleport with no assigned destination.

 

Oh wow, I though I did something wrong but that is quite the oversight. How did this pass testing, was the creator restricted on time as well as on mapspace?

[Havoc Crow]

MAP05: Autumn in Hell
A Hellish map which feels more somber and elegant than anything, in part thanks to the calm music. Once again, I'm pleasantly surprised by how many distinct "places" the authors are able to pack into a 1024x1024 area. Also the first Congestion 1024 map to make it to my private "best map names" list, but not the last by far.
The fights felt a bit low-key at first, but then the Arch-Vile popped up. I was taken by surprise by its teleporting away and starting to resurrect stuff. The ending was disappointing though, the exit only being guarded by a zombie.

 

MAP06: Departure Point
A remarkably nice-looking techbase map, with a lot of variety — I especially liked the outdoor area upstairs. Incidentally, that's also where I ended up dying for the first time in the mapset (a teleporting Chaingunner did me in.) The final battle against the Arch-Vile felt too easy, though, since you can just hide in a room out of his sight and he won't be able to chase you inside, making him pretty much into a sitting duck.

 

MAP07: Dead Small
AKA Dead Simple all over again. It's richly detailed, but very easy thanks to the ample cover and resources, much like the original Dead Simple. Not particularly original, but fun. I actually wasted two hours attempting to beat the UV Max speedrun record for this map. Didn't succeed though.
The first time I played, I think I was hit by a bug: the steps to the exit didn't raise properly after I killed all the Arachnotrons. Luckily the "alt exit" provided by the author (I'm guessing he also knew about the bug?) worked fine.

 

MAP08: A Jagged Stroll
Whoa, this map was a lot harder than I anticipated. I've fallen in battle here quite a few times, each time to the same foes: the Hell Knight/Baron combo that spawns down in the pit. It might seem like a simple battle at first, but don't get fooled: it's surprisingly deadly. Not just because of how little room you have: if you try and draw the hell nobles into the corridor, one of them will just teleport behind you, trapping you between the two! About the only effective way I found to kill them safely was to lure them into the small nook with the switch, then run around and kill them from the other side of the rock.
Also, there seems to be slightly too little ammo to kill everything, even if you find both secret shell caches. In particular, you might want to skip that Revenant up on the rock. Leave him be, he's pretty harmless.
The architecture here is pretty distinctive, made up of a whole lot of jutting bits, forming a rich, craggy landscape. Luckily they don't get in your way during the fights, although killing that lone imp by the first switch tends to be a little annoying. A nice map, but I don't like how grindy the fight with the two hell nobles is.

 

MAP09: Monday Morning
A whole lot of narrow corridors and ambushes at every turn. And I do mean every turn. Be ready to fight endless teleporting imps and shotgunners. It's annoying when a shotgunner warps in at point blank range and shoots you instantly before you even register what's happened.
At one point you're given a rocket launcher, which surprised me. It's a pretty useless weapon in such cramped locales and I stuck to the super shotgun.
It sounds like I'm complaining about this map, but it was actually fairly fun. At the end I really got in a tense situation, with a Baron cornering me and scratching me down to 5 HP. Luckily I managed to survive and use the medikits I'd managed to save up.

 

MAP10: Gothika 1024
This map really tested my patience and I gave up halfway through. Its first fault is that ammo is very scarce, so you stand a good chance of running out completely halfway through and having to punch imps like a chump.

The worst thing about the map, however, is the courtyard with the arch-vile and the revenants. You have to run through this courtyard a few times, and each time you need to pray that you won't get hit by a rev fireball or blasted by the vile. Especially when you're trying to press the yellow skull switches, which requires precision and leaves your back completely exposed. But wait, you're not completely defenseless! There's a rocket launcher provided, so you can kill the arch-vile... except then ANOTHER arch-vile will spawn immediately, as if to mock you.

Screw this map. Maybe I'll play it again after I cool down, and write a second opinion, but for now... screw it. (I did like the architecture though. Especially the tastefully curved arches in the ceiling.)

[Andromeda]

MAP10: Gothika 1024 (Congestion 1024)

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, HNTR-PS, no saves, 100% everything

 

Wow, this was a tough cookie! I think I died to almost every trap actually. After many attempts I eventually got through, though I feel like if I was to play this level again afterwards I'd probably beat it first try. The problem here is coming up with a good plan to deal with the room next to the start and the arch-vile & revenants area. The room next to the start isn't so bad, your main objective is to kill the shotgun guy ASAP and instigate infighting between the cacodemon and the revenant while you're clearing out the fodder.

 

The arch-vile & revenants area isn't so bad either, basically rush for the rocket launcher and hide from the arch-vile, then pop it and the one that spawns next with rockets and finally finish off the revenants with the chaingun. What makes matters tricky is the scarce ammo, so put it to good use. Among other things, I liked the extensive use of slowly lowering walls here. The right yellow switch that merely closes off the exits from the outside area was a neat touch as well. This was the first level in the set that required a certain degree of strategy to conquer, a trend which I'm hoping will follow in the next levels. Great level.

 

Levels in order of preference:

Spoiler

MAP08: A Jagged Stroll

MAP10: Gothika 1024

MAP06: Departure Point

MAP02: Garden of the Descent

MAP03: Dilapidation

MAP07: Dead Small

MAP09: Monday Morning

MAP04: Outpost 1024

MAP05: Autumn in Hell

MAP01: Water Facility

Edited December 24, 2019 by Andromeda

[Horus]

On 12/2/2019 at 8:51 AM, Baron Pampa said:

Next maps - I'm sorry guys, but I think I'm out for this month. I've looked and maps 9 and 10, and this mapset really isn't my style. I'll be reading through the posts and play the maps which seem nice based on the descriptions:)

 

I've played ahead to map 22 and if the maps so far haven't been your style, then I think the following maps will reinforce rather than contradict that viewpoint. That said, I still think there are some maps worth playing (32, 16, 17) 

 

On 12/10/2019 at 10:14 AM, Pechudin said:

 

Oh wow, I though I did something wrong but that is quite the oversight. How did this pass testing, was the creator restricted on time as well as on mapspace?

 

No idea on the timing/testing process (perhaps @Szymanski has some info?) but this kind of oversight can easily happen in any mapset (especially if something as big as the yellow key bug on Pharaoh can pass by)

 

20 hours ago, JudgeDeadd said:

MAP10: Gothika 1024

This map really tested my patience and I gave up halfway through. Its first fault is that ammo is very scarce, so you stand a good chance of running out completely halfway through and having to punch imps like a chump.

The worst thing about the map, however, is the courtyard with the arch-vile and the revenants. You have to run through this courtyard a few times, and each time you need to pray that you won't get hit by a rev fireball or blasted by the vile. Especially when you're trying to press the yellow skull switches, which requires precision and leaves your back completely exposed. But wait, you're not completely defenseless! There's a rocket launcher provided, so you can kill the arch-vile... except then ANOTHER arch-vile will spawn immediately, as if to mock you.

Screw this map. Maybe I'll play it again after I cool down, and write a second opinion, but for now... screw it. (I did like the architecture though. Especially the tastefully curved arches in the ceiling.)

 

Firstly, I assume you know about the secret at the start? If so, then ammo isn't really a problem if you do the level in the 'right' order, by that I mean if you clear out all the revenants and hitscanners in the outdoor area before you proceed to the next area then you probably won't have enough ammo. But if you just kill the arch viles and move on you should be fine

[Horus]

MAP11 - “Caco District” by Lutrov71

 

I expected a city-type map with cacos. I got a city-type map with cacos. Albeit in its own wooden / Plutonia-style. While of course the part the player is in is small, the map does a good impression of showing the scale of the city beyond. It’s a pretty hectic start, with the player needing to get the rocket launcher pretty fast. Ammo is scarcish but manageable if you pick your targets.

 

There’s another megasphere here but unlike MAP09 it actually isn’t overpowered, and is quite useful for the caco swarm and other enemies that follow.

 

Believe it or not, I got stuck on this map and had to consult youtube…I must say I didn’t envisage getting stuck on a 1024 wad. But until I consulted it I didn’t realise what exactly the switch by the arch vile did. Finally, I got the YK and the ensuing battle was pretty meaty…survived only thanks to the revenants and the mancubi infighting.

 

Map rankings:

Spoiler

Great (8/10): MAP 03, MAP 05, MAP 06, MAP 08
Good (7/10): MAP 10, MAP 11
Decent (6/10): MAP 01, MAP 04, MAP 09
Average (5/10): MAP 02, MAP 07

 

[Baron Pampa]

4 minutes ago, Horus said:

On 12/2/2019 at 2:51 PM, Baron Pampa said:

Next maps - I'm sorry guys, but I think I'm out for this month. I've looked and maps 9 and 10, and this mapset really isn't my style. I'll be reading through the posts and play the maps which seem nice based on the descriptions:)

 

I've played ahead to map 22 and if the maps so far haven't been your style, then I think the following maps will reinforce rather than contradict that viewpoint. That said, I still think there are some maps worth playing (32, 16, 17)  

Thanks for the info! I'll take a look at them and come back next month. Have fun:)

[Pechudin]

MAP11: Caco district

    Very Plutonia - esque, as someone already mentioned. Vigilance and situational awareness are a must, as enemies will shoot at you from every which way possible. Beginning is tricky, as the shotgun is quite a ways away from your starting position. There is enough ammo, which is good. I like the collapsing buildings, anyone else expected them to reveal Cyberdemons (like that one map in Going Down)?

 

    A bit too brown though.

 

   

[Havoc Crow]

6 hours ago, Horus said:

Firstly, I assume you know about the secret at the start? If so, then ammo isn't really a problem if you do the level in the 'right' order

Well no, I didn't know about the secret. That said, it doesn't seem like good design to me if a map gives you a thoroughly miserable experience unless you uncover a hidden secret. (Admittedly, "A Jagged Stroll" also had most of its necessary ammo tucked away in secrets, but then again they were obvious enough that they weren't really secret at all.)

 

MAP11: Caco District

Well, I finally gave in and started saving throughout the map. And in the end, it turned out not to be necessary. All the difficulty is front-loaded really; most problematic are the monsters in high vantage points, which (given the tiny amount of room) are hard to even see, let alone aim at. After the red key door, the rest of the map is rather easy (especially given the juicy freebie Megasphere). The starting area acts pretty well as a vantage point to get rid of the teleporting hordes, since monster-blocking lines keep it a safe spot. In fact, the final battle (once you grab the yellow key) is disappointingly easy. Even the Cacodemon swarms which occasionally pop up and try to surround you can be dispatched easily once you get the super shotgun.

 

What stumped me for a bit was the switch by the arch-vile. I couldn't figure out where the lift was and it took a lot of careful listening.

 

On the visual level, this map is a fine combination of dirt and greenery. A weird but memorable setpiece is the big building in the distance which sinks into the ground for no reason whatsoever. One annoying aspect are the titular cacodemons. They are a major nuisance... because their corpses are so friggin' big! In the cramped passages of this map, a Caco corpse in the wrong place can block your view completely.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP10 - "Gotika 1024" - Ray "Shitbag" Schmitz (85%K/100%I/100%S):

Well, I'm just starting to think that Shitbag maps were designed only for continuous players, as his previous maps had the same problem, humping walls and getting secrets to stock up some ammo, and having to play the map with a crappy arsenal. This map is way to hard since you don't get enough ammo, even on continuous play you can get out of it. In an era were ZDoom started to rise, and it actually saved your state so you die and respawn with all your saved arsenal, instead of pistol starting, I feel this would be an oversight for most mappers.
In terms of the map itself, is another Gothic styled map with weird progression and fights with medium to hard monsters.
The worst part was trying to shot the AV, since, when you kill it, another one will spawn immediately.

MAP11 - "Caco District" - Thomas "Lutrov21" Lutrov (86%K/100%I/100%S):

This is a city styled map with cramped combat focusing always on the same area, its layout is to this point, by far the best one yet. I really liked it, but is again, a really harsh map to tackle, and the part with the spawning mancubi made it even more hectic. I didn't get why all the armor bonuses next to the megasphere, as they feel rather pointless, since getting the megasphere gives you max armor. A nice map with, again, a very well placed Archvile to make your life a little bit worse.

Deaths: 19

Maps in order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP09
MAP05
MAP11
MAP06

MAP08
MAP04
MAP03
MAP02
MAP01
MAP10
MAP07

 

 

[Andromeda]

MAP11: Caco District (Congestion 1024)

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, HNTR-PS, no saves, 100% everything

 

The title is accurate to a T, given the presence of a high number of cacodemons and the apartments seen outside the playing area remind me a bit of Plutonia MAP29 if it was compressed to a 1024x1024 size. At the start it can be a bit tricky to gain a foothold but the megaarmor provided helps matters immensely. The traps that are triggered throughout the level are not exactly difficult but they're no pushover either, so you have to be careful. The switch by the two heavy weapon dudes looks useless, but it actually reveals a (even more useless since you can easily get there from the windows in the yellow bars' hallway) lift to the next switch. The collapsing apartments looked really cool yet it's a really simple effect to create. Also of note is the large amount of shortcuts in this level - in fact, you can finish this level in 20 seconds or less via a tricky strafejump and a fairly easy rocket jump. All in all, a good level with satisfying combat and some neat aesthetic touches.

 

Levels in order of preference:

Spoiler

MAP08: A Jagged Stroll

MAP10: Gothika 1024

MAP06: Departure Point

MAP11: Caco District

MAP02: Garden of the Descent

MAP03: Dilapidation

MAP07: Dead Small

MAP09: Monday Morning

MAP04: Outpost 1024

MAP05: Autumn in Hell

MAP01: Water Facility

Edited December 24, 2019 by Andromeda

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP11: Caco District

 

I've commented positively on the level of detail squeezed into many of these maps, but I think this map and the preceding one represent the point where that does more harm to my enjoyment of these levels than good, all these fiddly little bits of nothing important for my ankles and shoulders to get snagged on as I scramble my way about.  I feel as though this one tries to cram too much gameplay into too little space, with areas re-used endlessly as you stagger from one switch to the next and too many different objects, structures, and textures jostling their way into your field of view; it's intense, but I'm not sure it's a good kind of intensity, and the close quarters of the map, even by the standards of this WAD, and the tendency of the numerous cacodemons to float in from unexpected angles and convince the vertical auto-aim that what you really want to do is pump a rocket into a tomato just off the top of your screen at point-blank range, combine to turn the rocket launcher into more of a sick joke than a useful part of your arsenal.

 

MAP12: Warehouse # 667

 

The Neighbour of the Beast?

 

We're back to a techbase aesthetic here, with a map that's somewhere more generous about giving the player a sense of control than the preceding couple; it's busy enough to keep you on your toes, but there are opportunities to catch your breath before it turns everything on its head again.  I died a bunch of times to the tunnel of teleporting meat leading to the blue key, before settling on diving as quickly as possible back into the little cubby with the blue door and hunkering down with my freshly acquired super shotgun as the least painful way to grind through that particular situation.

[Horus]

3 hours ago, JudgeDeadd said:

Well no, I didn't know about the secret. That said, it doesn't seem like good design to me if a map gives you a thoroughly miserable experience unless you uncover a hidden secret. (Admittedly, "A Jagged Stroll" also had most of its necessary ammo tucked away in secrets, but then again they were obvious enough that they weren't really secret at all.)

 

Good point, I agree it is bad design. In this case though I found it on my first playthrough (spoiler below) so didn't impact my impression of the map

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

[Horus]

MAP12 - “Warehouse 667” by shitbag

 

So now we return to the techbases seen in the first few maps, though this map is more of a UAC crate warehouse theme. As seen in other maps, the secrets come in the form of ammo/weaponry to help you get through a low-ammo map.

 

The passage to the BK is fairly high intensity, took me a few tries before I realized the best course of action is to stick to the BK corridor rather than backtracking to the starting area (although TheOrganGrinder's approach seems like an equally good idea). Later on, is a particular nasty chaingunner trap that nearly cost me all my health.

 

Through the next section is a crate platforming section. The arch vile can easily be cheesed through the gaps between the pillars/bars.

 

Map rankings:

Spoiler

Great (8/10): MAP 03, MAP 05, MAP 06, MAP08
Good (7/10): MAP 10, MAP 11, MAP 12
Decent (6/10): MAP 01, MAP 04, MAP 09
Average (5/10): MAP 02, MAP 07

 

[Octillion]

MAP11 - “Caco District” by Lutrov71.

 

    A city map? Wonderful. Wait... Why is it so bumpy...? Yeah, I don't mind vertical details, but I think it's over done here. Other than that, it's decent looking. Didn't mind that it was brown everywhere. (I think if the liquid was water instead of slime, it would have given it a better look.)

 

    Boy oh boy, what a start. Already being hitscanned by multiple shotgunners from the front and projectiles from every angle. The vertical details actually makes your movement worse here, as you can get hit by a rev rocket or a hell knight fireball without much control over doomguy. The archvile placement was really good, you're pretty much cornered like a rat till you take him out. I liked the cacoswarm idea, I didn't like it being used twice though. Using the same idea on a small map kinda makes it lose it's charm. The mancubi teleport was the worst part for me, almost impossible to dodge these guys here. In conclusion, I died twice here. One from the second cacoswarm, the other from the mancubi.

 

 

MAP12 - “Warehouse 667” by shitbag.

 

    A storehouse tech-facility from the looks of it. The secrets are a dead giveaway here, easily spotted and a necessity to kill everything. I may have gotten a bit lucky here, as infighting occurred frequently. Didn't find anything particularly annoying in the map, it acts it's way as a cool down from the last two maps. One of the things that I enjoy in any megawad, is the breather maps in the middle of hard ones. Keeps things less stressful for the player.

 

 

Going to put the death counter in the spoiler now, as it's getting rather big now.

 

Death Counter:-

                              

Spoiler

8. (One on Map02 - One on Map09 - Four on Map10 - Two on Map11.)

    

I think I'll join the rankings of maps as well now.

 

Rankings:-

 

Spoiler

8/10 - (Maps 6, 8, 9)

7/10 - (Maps 3, 10, 12)

6/10 - (Maps 1, 5, 7, 11)

5/10 - (Maps 2, 4)

 

[Pechudin]

MAP12: Warehouse #667

    This would've made for a good Dead Simple map name (because of the 666/667 tags). Blue Key fight can be tricky depending on how you react, as some monsters teleport into the warehouse area. I retreated and had to maneuver around cacos and pinkies. Thankfully, the monsters remaining in the BK hall infought. Chaingunner trap can be a bastard, but I knew it was there. Cheesed the Archvile trought the grates. I forgot about the teleport to the starting area and almost died to the Caco + Pain Elemental combo.

 

    Visually, It has a nice level of detail and features the same vent design I loved in MAP03, which makes sense since it's the same author. This realistic design reminds me of some levels in Hellbound (albeit on a much smaller scale).

[Andromeda]

MAP12: Warehouse 667 (Congestion 1024)

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, HNTR-PS, no saves, 100% everything

 

Here comes a bit of a breather level, though it's not much easier than the previous ones. Health and ammo starvation is the name of the game here and really amps up the difficulty, giving little room to mistakes. As usual, excellent detailing, I especially like the broken switch and the jammed door next to it by the entrance of the second crate room. The meat corridor on the way to the blue key is interesting, thankfully most of the monsters teleport away and can't ambush you from behind, leaving you alone while dueling the baron of hell (the bastard killed me once after somehow surviving seven close range super shotgun blasts).

 

The platforming bit is the highlight of the level to me, it's really fun to dash from crate to crate while avoiding crossfire from the snipers. Then there's a cool mindfuck moment once you reach the exit room where you're teleported to the starting area, but at first it feels like a whole different section. The areas that follow are repopulated as well, giving you something to do as you rush for the exit again. Great level, with a little blemish that is the terrible arch-vile placement.

 

Levels in order of preference:

Spoiler

MAP08: A Jagged Stroll

MAP12: Warehouse 667

MAP10: Gothika 1024

MAP06: Departure Point

MAP11: Caco District

MAP02: Garden of the Descent

MAP03: Dilapidation

MAP07: Dead Small

MAP09: Monday Morning

MAP04: Outpost 1024

MAP05: Autumn in Hell

MAP01: Water Facility

Edited December 24, 2019 by Andromeda

[obake]

MAP09 - “Monday Morning” by Psyren

Super impressive design. Just look at those ceilings! Perhaps the most confined of the maps thus far.

 

MAP10 - “Gothika 1024” by shitbag

Love the look. Like the first half a lot. The second half needs more ammo.

 

MAP11 - “Caco District” by Lutrov71

Great name. Best way to describe the map is "organized chaos". Cacos indeed do play a large part.

 

Only issue I had was that the Megasphere was right in front of a switch. I was still able to hit the switch, and save the MS for later, but still a bit annoying.

 

Of all of the maps, this has perhaps the most impressive atmosphere, being in a city with buildings that lower every so often.

[Havoc Crow]

MAP12: Warehouse 667

Lemme guess... UAC thought that having a warehouse numbered #666 would be courting disaster, so they renumbered it, but it got attacked by demons anyway. Anyway, this is a breezy, relaxed map with no particularly tough fights. About the only danger was the chaingunner ambushing me from behind. The final battle with the arch-vile is easily cheesed, since he's stuck behind a switch. At the end you're teleported back to the start for one last low-key scuffle, which felt a bit like an artificial way to lengthen the map's lifespan.

Jumping across crates was a little tedious (and at one point I got stuck behind a crate). The visuals have plenty of neat touches, such as the ventilation duct in the corner of the north-western computer room, or the crate propping up the door.

[erzboesewicht]

I always wanted to be part of this club, and even if I started late, Congestion 1024 is probably still the easiest way to enter it :) I had begun Plutonium Winds last month but as I had started very late and from the second map on this wad already shows some teeth, I quickly fell behind.

 

Pistol starts, UV, prboom-plus, saves only if there are grindy/annoying parts (which I don't really expect in this megawad).

 

MAP01: Water Facility

 

Very simple, and very squary map. I liked the red lamps, otherwise it was just ok. Almost everything is basically inside one single room. I ran around in the water for some time until I found the switch, but then it was over very fast. The megaarmor secret felt a bit misplaced, as it comes so late that it's of importance for continuous players only (4/10).

 

MAP02: Garden of the Descent

 

This kind of verticality was exactly what I expected from the megawad. Nice ambush at the blue key, the HKs had to kill me so I got aware of their presence. In contrast, the revenant wasn't too annoying as you can simply ignore him (if you keep moving) and later kill him from behind the wall structure. I managed to get out of ammo at the end because I got into a disadvantageous position with respect to the archvile, who didn't want to attack me but instead kept resurrecting corpses between me and him until I had only my bare fists left and decided to simply escape. A second run was necessary to max the map. Overall, a nice and surprisingly engaging little map. There is one annoying bug: you can get hardlocked between two pillars if you fall down from them (7/10).

 

MAP03: Dilapidation

 

As others wrote, a miniature Doom level, widely resembling E1 but with some nice detailing - above all I liked the cables in the second room. It really feels bigger than it it is. For a pistol starter the beginning ambush with the spectres was the most annoying one, but after the chaingunner trap in the second room the map becomes very easy. Above all the final ambush behind the yellow door with the two separate monster closets was a bit underwhelming and anticlimactic, but that's ok for a MAP03 I guess. Again, a very late armor powerup. (8/10)

 

MAP04: Outpost 1024

 

Another E1-like techbase miniature with a 3D floor as aesthetic highlight. I liked the double switches (in contrast to others, it seems, but I'm also an Eternal Doom fan) which gave it a little puzzle-map feeling. The combat was very easy, I only lost health at the start with the hitscanners. A miniature cacoswarm is probably the standout encounter, I guess they can corner you if you're not wary. I didn't like the monster blocking line at the door above, because it impedes the revenants to get to the central area, so you're totally safe there. Also, the end was underwhelming again. (6/10)

 

MAP05: Autumn in Hell

 

A couple of brownish rooms surrounding a small damaging floor, which costed me more health than necessary because I ran around there for some seconds without seeing the lift to the red key and got also some shots from the hidden sargeant. Otherwise the first two thirds are easy, the start is crying "Pacifist!" to you :) An arch-vile finally brings a bit of threat because there is no SSG, so it's easy for him to teleport away and resurrect some monsters before you kill him. But as all other monsters were weaklings, this actually wasn't enough to put me in danger despite of my low health. The map isn't too ugly and makes good use of the limited space, like MAP03, but combat-wise it is not entirely my cup of tea. I liked the secret with the lift. (6/10)

 

MAP06: Departure Point

 

Mid-tier enemies dominate this map and made it at least a little bit threatening, as the ammo supply isn't too generous here. The cramped outdoor area makes it difficult to escape revenant rockets if you play too sloppy, and thus can make the only skeleton lethal. A baron makes his appearance near the blue key, but he only matters as a bulletsponge. The final archvile nicely kept resurrecting shotgunners and thus provided me a bit of ammo to finish him and max the map. As we already have seen several times there's absolutely no threat at the exit proper. Not really a map I will remember forever, but at least the space management is good here. (6/10)

 

MAP07: Dead Small

 

Finally, some more deaths! The first part of this very simple Dead Simple clone is surprisingly threatening because of the cramped space, where almost the whole square is reachable for the mancubis' fireballs. The wandering fatsos could surprise me several times. But once I cleared half of the room the rest wasn't too bad. The arachnotrons were easy as you get a rocket launcher and a plasma gun to finish them fastly. The hardest map so far, bonus point for that, otherwise it's of below-average quality for me. (5/10)

 

Comments MAP01 to 07: Like the WAD so far, it's perfect for a casual playthrough if you don't have much time. My favourite so far was MAP03, while the hardest of the first pre-Dead-Small maps (if one really can talk about "hardness" so far) was MAP02, so the difficulty progression is a bit odd (above all because MAP04 and 05 are so easy). MAP07 works well as a miniboss map but otherwise is pretty forgettable.

Edited December 13, 2019 by erzboesewicht

[Octillion]

MAP13 - “The Focus II” by DoomedAce.

 

    I like the details here, lower area felt like a boiler room with all the pipes. The game play though... hmm... While I enjoyed the tight combat at the beginning, I didn't like that that I had to shotgun a baron in this space. (I know you can get the SSG first if you go left instead of right, but a 50/50 choice that affects the gameplay like that is a negative in my book.) This of course depleted all the ammo I had, and resulted in some frustration in the end of the map. The two hell knights that teleport in the lower room followed by three chaingunners near the exit was just death for me. All of that because I went right instead of left. Conclusion, A good map with a minor flaw that resulted in a bad experience.

 

Death Counter:-     

Spoiler

9. (One on Map02 - One on Map09 - Four on Map10 - Two on Map11 - One on Map13.)

 

Rankings:-        

Spoiler

8/10 - (Maps 6, 8, 9)

7/10 - (Maps 3, 10, 12)

6/10 - (Maps 1, 5, 7, 11)

5/10 - (Maps 2, 4, 13)

 

[Andromeda]

MAP13: The Focus II (Congestion 1024)

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, HNTR-PS, no saves, 100% everything

 

This level, as the name implies, is a reimagining of Doom II MAP04. The combat is simple and largely not threatening, just kill the hitscanners, imps and the occasional hell knight as they appear. Accessing the blue key may stump some players as you have to use a computer terminal to make progress, it's a rather common trope but not immediately obvious. If you pay attention to the detail in the maze area you'll probably guess another key will be revealed here later on. The sliding doors are a neat touch. After this the level takes a turn for the worse, with lots of aggravating backtracking. A level of two halves in my opinion, the first one is great and the other mediocre.

 

Levels in order of preference:

Spoiler

MAP08: A Jagged Stroll

MAP12: Warehouse 667

MAP10: Gothika 1024

MAP06: Departure Point

MAP11: Caco District

MAP02: Garden of the Descent

MAP03: Dilapidation

MAP07: Dead Small

MAP09: Monday Morning

MAP04: Outpost 1024

MAP13: The Focus II

MAP05: Autumn in Hell

MAP01: Water Facility

[erzboesewicht]

Still behind, as things are getting tougher.

 

MAP08: A Jagged Stroll

 

A beautiful outdoor location in a rocky area which makes very good use of the limited space. Well, I was just complaining about the easy exit battles (or the complete lack thereof) - here I got a nice, challenging one :) As many have noted, this map is a significant jump in difficulty, even compared to MAP07. The rugged terrain and the scarce ammo make the ambush after the tunnel pretty lethal, which stars a baron and a pain elemental, both will do everything to make maxing the map difficult. It took me a save to figure out a way to make the monsters infight without losing too much health. However, with preknowledge, simply surviving and reaching the exit isn't that hard, even for pistol starters. In my opinion, verticality in this map is a little bit exaggerated, as it's difficult to see some enemies while you descend. Otherwise, a great map. (8/10)

 

MAP09: Monday Morning

 

Haha, that music. This level is again a bit easier, more in the line with MAP07, but with a higher monster count. We are inside a brown brick building now. Most encounters are cramped corridor fights with hell-knights and imps, with some rooms providing the main setpieces, featuring also some barons, cacos and revenants. In almost every fight you will get ambushed from both sides, so be wary. It was a bit like a miniature version of some "Going Down" maps (particularly the two staircase levels). Again, a very good use of the available space, and combat-wise probably my favourite until now. (9/10)

 

MAP10: Gothika 1024

 

A nicely interconnected level in a semi-destroyed hellish castle with an open space at the end. You first have to take a lap and eventually you'll return to the starting room to grab the yellow key. Gameplay is tough, in a Plutoniesque trap style, where often high precision is necessary and ammo is pretty short. If you want to max the map, the secret is mandatory and you have to use all shots well, because in the last courtyard you'll have to deal with two viles with only a couple of rockets as ammo pickups. However, preknowledge helps here - after having panicked and ran around like a headless chicken in the first attempts to deal with that final ambush and got blasted several times, I discovered there is actually more cover than I expected at a first glance. Overall a very engaging experience. I actually needed to practice a bit until I beat it saveless - by far the most lethal encounter is the second major ambush at the SSG with HKs, hitscanners, demons and spectres. I "solved" the combat puzzle trying to take out the weaklings first (if the RNG allowed me to do so), so they couldn't corner me.

 

One comment: In theory there are 57 monsters in UV, but I only saw 49 so I got only 85% kills. Using IDDT it seems the missing ones are already dead and in an unaccessible place. No bug report in the wiki also. (8/10)

Edited December 14, 2019 by erzboesewicht

[Horus]

MAP13 - “The Focus II” by DoomedAce

 

This map fits everything into 1024x1024. Not just the player space, but the monster spawners too. And the player space, bar one room to the east, is a series of 64 unit long corridors seemed designed to bring as much length to the map as possible. Add in the zero secrets, low brightness, hitscanners and hell nobles and you have a frustrating map that’s slow to play. There's also areas less than 64 units wide due to texture/sector decorations which slow the player down.

 

Then in the BK room you have a bunch of revenant snipers that add nothing but time taken to complete the map. Same with the revenant trapped in the rails (more on that later...). Grabbing the YK requires retreading the same ground and the same enemies.

 

And then you return to the BK room only to be faced with an arch vile that you can’t freaking kill (or at least, my shots weren’t dealing it any damage). So I just ignored it. The final section is another area exactly like that in the first half of the map, and ends with a final fuck you chaingunner trap.

 

For me, the worst map so far by a mile. A shame, because some of the preceding maps worked very well with the limited space and made for some very fun to play maps.

 

 

MAP14 - “House of Shadows” by Psyren

 

Jeez another 64 unit corridor shooter, if the rest of the mapset is going to be like this then it really isn't looking good... You start with the berserk and I initially used it on the hitscanners, but soon you realise that ammo is abundant and it’s a safer best just to mow them down with the shotgun.

 

It’s a very samey map that despite its high monster count is fairly simple except for a couple of close skirmishes with hell nobles. It’s monotextural and lacks the detail of the other maps in the set. The low brightness throughout further enhances this impression.

 

The blursphere hitscanner fight was enjoyable, I will say that. But then we are back to 64 unit corridor shooter and a couple of annoying crushers to boot. Overall, not a terrible map, but not a fun one either.

 

Map rankings:

Spoiler

Great (8/10): MAP 03, MAP 05, MAP 06, MAP 08
Good (7/10): MAP 10, MAP 11, MAP 12
Decent (6/10): MAP 01, MAP 04, MAP 09
Average (5/10): MAP 02, MAP 07
Below-Average (4/10): MAP 14
Awful (2/10): MAP 13