The DWMiniwad Club plays: Remnant, Mercury Rain, Breach, Ray Mohawk's Manic Monday, Grime, and ...takes breath... Return to Daro

[Andromeda]

MAP02: The Bridge (Ray Mohawk's Manic Monday!)

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

 

I wonder if this level was inspired by Memento Mori's MAP02, also titled "The Bridge" - the chainsaw secret in particular reminds me a bit of the supercharge secret in the MM level. Anyway, at the start we can take advantage of a barrel to wipe out some enemies facing away from you, though I decided to be corteous and ignore that opportunity. Instead I took the hard route and went for the berserk to give some use to the knife, which is a lot faster than the fist it replaces.

 

Outside the starting area we can get the chaingun nearby which is really useful to clear out the hitscanner hordes quickly. I like how this level (much like the previous) encourages chaingun use by providing a large amount of bullets - it's a weapon I find myself underusing so it's good to change things up a bit sometimes. The barrels are generally placed near an heavy weapon dude which helps to take them down fast. The difficulty increases after entering the second techbase area where some teleporting monsters are deployed, presenting some danger since you have little armor. If you manage to survive this far you're rewarded with a megaarmor that makes the traps that follow it much easier. Not really sure why the red key platform is a secret and the armor/health bonuses are difficult to spot as they blend in really well, though those are the only negatives I can see. Good level, though it felt slower paced than the last.

[KickAss]

Hallo, 

Something set me offline ☹️. I don't have the time that I thought I had to play. 

MfG

[Andromeda]

MAP03: We Love Pollution (Ray Mohawk's Manic Monday!)

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

 

After two chaingun heavy levels, here's one that allows for a more prolonged use of the shotgun. I like the secret at the start, leading to a fan behind which you can see an area you'll visit later. The first half of the level features a bit of "fake non linear progression" (there's different paths to take but they all lead to the same place), something that I haven't seen very often which is a shame because it's interesting. You can get a megaarmor in the first outside area, this item coupled with the supercharge found not much later will make the rest of the level a breeze.

 

In the second techbase area there's two windows that overlook another outside area, from one of them you can shoot at a barrel gibbing a lot of zombies, always satisfying! There's a berserk secret nearby that's given away by the automap in case you want to stab some hellspawn. The final trap reveals two revenants which can be tricky to handle given the lack of obstacles to take cover from their missiles, though you can improvise and use the fodder that's also released as meatshields. The barrel inside the exit room was funny, the shotgun guy blew himself up :) In terms of looks, I feel this looks better than the first two levels, with some neat details found especially in the two outdoor areas. I also like the way the trap is set up after the blue door, I had the feeling those boxes were going to burst open and they did. I think the level was a bit too generous with ammo but I enjoyed it regardless.

[Andromeda]

MAP04: Little Oasis (Ray Mohawk's Manic Monday!)

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

 

A fairly short level, its title probably derives from that and "oasis" from the fact that it's nukage free unlike the previous one, because it's certainly not a place to chill out! At the start you're greeted with a view of a few zombies facing away from you, nearby there's a chaingun that will help to clear out this area. This is yet another level centered around chaingun use, though ammo is quite limited overall and provoking monster infighting is key to deal with some situations.

 

From the start there's two doors you can take, the left one is a lot more pistol start friendly and rewards you with a "secret" containing a backpack, supercharge/megaarmor combo and some ammo, but be careful of the enemies hiding inside the vents. The other door leads to a series of fights with lots of hitscanners, revenants and cacodemons. Fortunately there's a decent amount of space to move, but be careful because enemies can sometimes teleport behind you. I liked the partial invisibility secret, partially hidden behind a waterfall, as well as the speedrun shortcut provided by the vent in the yellow key room. The exit room provides an interesting encounter (as usual in this wad), this time it's filled with heavy weapon dudes and lost souls - you can let the zombies do the work for you, then take them down. Excellent level, very fun to play!

[Andromeda]

MAP05: Big Room Full of Baddies (Ray Mohawk's Manic Monday!)

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

 

This level reminded me a bit of Perdition's Gate MAP11. You start in a big room full of baddies, fortunately there's enough supplies to tackle them effectively without having to search for more elsewhere. After this initial wave things calm down and you can explore the surroundings as you please. Eventually you'll reach an area with a river of nukage where you can find a radiation shielding suit, a megasphere and a non blinding (thanks!) invulnerability.

 

I didn't think twice and scooped up all the items here, though the only enemies around are a few cacodemons and hitscanners. The action picks up again at the red key area but the plasma gun you've just picked up should neutralize most of the threat. The hardest trap is after you return from the yellow key area, where lots of revenants and some other midtiers, including an arch-vile are released. If you saved the invulnerability you should pick it up now to easily slaughter the monsters, otherwise you'll have to play peekaboo with the arch-vile.

 

Once that's over, don't let your guard down - the previous exit rooms had some gimmick and this is no different, however there's only a few imps inside. The problem is the trap that springs to your left with a couple of skeletons to take care of, a neat way of subverting expectations. One last note for the looks, it seems a bit more detailed than the previous levels and I quite like the overall feel of the level. Overall a solid effort, my only criticism would be that the big room could've been populated with more baddies as you picked up each key, something that only happened after the red door. Oh, before I forget, the custom music of this level didn't play on my end for some reason.

[Andromeda]

MAP06: The Maw of Industry (Ray Mohawk's Manic Monday!)

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

 

Always check behind the start for secrets, you never know what you might find. In this case we get a plasma gun, a super shotgun and a megaarmor, very useful items to tackle the unforgiving outer area. There's a healthy amount of hitscanners, revenants and an arch-vile in case you thought it was a good idea to backtrack for cover, with little health to offset the damage taken. After you clear this part look around for a secret BFG9000 that will make mince meat of the opposition inside the yellow key room.

 

The red key trap is tougher, with instapop shotgun guys and revenants that will teleport around the perimeter and a sneaky heavy weapon dude will relentlessly fire at you if you let your guard down once those enemies are taken care of. The next noteworthy fight occurs at a large marble room, but it's not particularly tricky even if you go all guns blazing. After you take care of the arch-vile behind the door in this section you'll be teleported to an hellish zone with four (!) Cyberdemons on pillars.

 

Fortunately the area is decently sized and there's not many obstacles, so as long as you can keep a cool head and circlestrafe around you shouldn't have much trouble. If you take the gray teleporter here it'll teleport you to an invulnerability in the previous section, which while not essential it's useful to take down the Cyberdemons since you only have to concentrate on getting good BFG shots and not on dodging rockets for 30 seconds.

 

Cool encounter, but there's still the exit area - I won't spoil it, but let's just say it's jaw dropping ;) All in all a great level, the first half is a war of attrition with one or two nasty traps for good measure while the second is more relaxed, though more reliant on good movement and careful attacks. Just like the previous level it seems there was more attention to detail here than in the other levels, giving it a more polished look. It seems you can get softlocked at the start if you jump into the nukage, though it's not like you lose progress so I'm guessing it's intentional.

 

Final thoughts:

 

A solid set of levels, with a characteristically 90s aesthetic and level design but with a little polish that's expected from a modern release. It's not particularly challenging but the hitscanner heavy levels coupled with the abundance of bullets allow for a very satisfying run & gun gameplay style. Pistol starting these levels is not the usual "evade enemies until a weapon is found" since the pistol was replaced by a faster firing rifle and the fist by a much stronger knife - these additions should make for some fun Tyson speedruns and improve the pistol starting experience for casual players. Oh, the custom music is cool too!

[Roofi]

Grime by Death-Destiny :

 

I wrote a long french review a year ago , so I hope I translate it well :

 

 

UV Playthrough Demo

 

The first Death-Destiny map I managed to complete. It's not easy, but it only took me a few tries. Grime was released in 2008 and could be considered as a "speed-map" of Death-destiny because it was done in 3 days. Nevertheless, it has its dose of adventure thanks to its rather high difficulty as well as the very inspired theme of Scythe 2 and other wads.
 

Grime proposes a semi-linear progression since part of the adventure consists in going in two distinct zones where there are two different keys: the red and the blue. The yellow one must be acquired afterwards. Towards the beginning of the level, the player makes a pseudo-choice between a rocket launcher or a plasma gun. In reality, the plasma gun is much more advantageous because one is teleported into a confined area where there is a cyberdemon and two arch-viles. The rocket launcher is very hard or almost unusable but moreover is obtained afterwards contrary to the plasma.

 

Moreover, Grime illustrates a very recurring gimmick in the D-D maps concerning the placement of monsters. The player will often encounter monsters that turn their back on the player as if they were playing a game of hide-and-seek. In this kind of situation, you should try to take advantage of the infight, which is almost indispensable after having obtained one of the two weapons mentioned above. The difficulty remains affordable throughout the level but you have to be careful because D-D also tends to make several enemies suddenly teleport around you when you pick up a suspicious item. Ammunition and health are rather limited. You have to manipulate the cybers to do some of the work for you, and the Pain Elemental and the arch-viles have to be killed first.

Grime is rather pretty and strangely combines green and flashy red. We do find the architecture of Scythe 2 episode 3 but witho only stock textures. In the second screen, we can see neon lights on the ceiling, which is quite strange given the theme. Nevertheless, the landscape with the crosses in the background is probably the most memorable place. Moreover, the level is very horizontal because offers little variation in height except in some places. Grime is very fixated on fighting and little on exploration.

 

Having played  Disturbia by D-D, Grime is nice but is certainly not his magnum opus. In any case, I love the remix of Seiken Desentsu 3's "Intolerance" music that was used in Scythe 2's map 24. The remix is much more threatening but I can't figure out where it comes from. Maybe D-D composed it specifically for the map...

[Andromeda]

Fun fact: "No Chance", also by Death-Destiny was the first file I downloaded from /idgames back in 2009. Back then I didn't think much of it, then again I hadn't completed any of the IWADs in any difficulty so I couldn't clear 10% of it on ITYTD. Let's see how Grime goes given that my "Doom skills" have vastly improved since then.

 

Grime

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

 

Just by looking around in the first room we can immediately detect the influences, particularly the meatier levels in Scythe 2's fourth episode and Alien Vendetta's final four levels. The texturing is really neat, it somehow manages to capture the look of all its influences (at least the ones I've played, haven't touched the CC series yet) while remaining cohesive - it's not an easy feat to do that and still look gorgeous using mostly stock textures!

 

Another thing that's noticeable throughout the level is that enemies frequently appear with their backs turned to you, so that you can strategize the best way to deal with them (a design decision that was also used in SWTW last month). Not that it makes the encounters any easier, as the monsters are deployed in a really clever way and apply a lot of pressure even if you take it slowly like I did. Supply balance is really well done, the powerups seemed to appear right when I needed them and the ammo given in each area was generally what I had spent to kill the monsters that were guarding it.

 

I'll list a few moments that caught my attention, not that most of the others were any less well done. First, the fight at the start with imps and hitscanners (shotgun guys and heavy weapon dudes), with a pain elemental behind you and an arch-vile guarding the spots you can take cover in - it's not particularly difficult but teaches you that there won't be much room for camping in this level, you have to be constantly on the move and assess what enemies need to be killed first in order to get more breathing room (as an example, the arch-viles tend to be pretty low priority targets as there's often cover to dodge their attacks or they're placed on pillars where they can't move much, in stark contrast with the usual belief that they're the #1 target every time).

 

Then we get to choose a weapon we'll use to tackle the next encounter, either the plasma gun or the rocket launcher. I went for the plasma gun because it's my emergency weapon of choice but I guess most players would take the rocket launcher since it's more effective, not that you have to live with that choice since the other weapon can be obtained very soon afterwards. The red key trap is another interesting moment, it spawns a Cyberdemon behind you.

 

I figured something was up because it would be a pretty dull battle so I only dodged rockets without attacking and eventually the walls to the sides opened up, revealing a lot of monsters on the left side and a way to a previous area on the other, now populated with a Spiderdemon. Have to say though, both of the Spiderdemon encounters were a bit disappointing since the other monsters got them stuck really easily, scratching/punching the poor things to death, leaving them no chance to retaliate.

 

I think the first Spiderdemon got stuck in all my three attempts that reached that point and the second got stuck in the first attempt out of three. There's a cool invisible stairway that is built after pressing the yellow switch, also visible are the big black crosses that feature prominently in Plutonium Winds (it's clear darkreaver was inspired by D-D's work) making for a very foreboding vista. The most challenging fight in the level has to be the last one, with a Cyberdemon and a decent number of revenants and heavy weapon dudes - I died twice here, the first I rushed for the supercharge as I fisted the air and suddenly the Cyberdemon teleported in front of me, the second I didn't react quickly enough and let myself get surrounded.

 

It's actually not that bad once you know what to do and having the BFG9000 really helps. Not too impressed with the three arch-viles before the exit since they're merely sitting ducks, not sure what's the point. Other than that though, a consistently great level. It's quite challenging but never frustrating and by my fourth attempt where I finally completed the level the encounters were becoming second nature to me, I was losing very little health in each fight. Still enjoyed every second though!

Edited April 14, 2020 by Andromeda

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

Mercury Rain
UV, saveless, ZDoom 2.8.1
Demo

I really enjoyed this, it satisfied that part of me that wants more classic style ZDoom maps.
Like rd said, the ZDoom specific features don't define the experience, rather they augment it. Care is taken for a bit of old ZDoom style detail, but it is done with care.
The layout, as expected from Jimmy, is highly interconnected and easy to navigate, new areas are visible behind forcefields, objectives are quickly and clearly established, so the player is never short on direction.

A very slight sector color gives the map a bit of a sickly greenish tint, fitting for the swamp/marsh setting. This is very subtle, and makes it easy to mistake map-wide sector coloring for a slightly altered palette.

The gameplay is fairly vanilla style, for the most part, intermittent combat sprinkled roughly evenly throughout, where the shotguns and chaingun will see the most work.

It's clear to me that the most work was put into making this place feel like a real location, with the rain falling through sky windows and creeping into every crevice, sector detailing for extra depth, but not so much as to be visually noisy, and various chokepoints locking major regions away from the others.

I have to echo rd's sentiment about the plasma rifle setpiece, eight cacodemons is rather disappointing, I would personally have preferred some extra fodder thrown in, maybe a couple mid-tiers, to give the "containment breach" some proper weight.

 

Overall, while a bit of a slow burn, I really enjoyed this experience, and I would like to see more like it.

[Walter confetti]

Ray Mohawk Manic Monday

Played the first 3 maps, literally a love letter for the 90s era of Partial Conversion and such stuff in graphical, musical and even mapping style! I really like this style, it makes me fell nostalgic! BTW here's a little talk about the maps played so far:

 

MAP01: A introduction to the episode, set's into a little tropical village with some hellish fortress in the middle that contains the exit door, search for the keys, unlock the various map zones and go to the hell castle to save the princess for fighting the hell invasion at it's source! Or it is?

The movie / band posters are a pretty awesome touch!

 

MAP02: After a hellish castle do you expect to reach a hell place aren't you? Instead you are inside this techbase place mostly looking to a level from "knee-deep in the dead" (including a look-a-like E1M4 room) builded around a rocky canyon with a waterfall, is a pretty straight-forward and fast map with lots of action in it.

 

MAP03: Another techbase place that kinda resembles some sort of factory, this time a little bigger than the previous map and more harder too, it also explains the evil plans of the demonic invasion of today's beach episode: filling the ocean of nuclear waste! What a cruel bastards are them! Anyway, about gameplay and fell, is pretty much similar of MAP02 as difficulty curve and layout (including a E1M2 homage), only more open and larger this time. Also it uses the worst midi i've heard from quite some time, not a fan of it, sorry Doomkid.

 

Maps so far are pretty cool and fun! I hope of don't take too much time for ending it!

[Walter confetti]

Ray Mohawk Manic Monday

 

MAP04: This map is pretty interesting, not a big one but with a interesting fight in it, consisting of a long hallway surrounded by windows that are been locked from mid-textures with two rooms around (one computer room and one large outdoor section) filled of chaingunners, revenants and other baddies! For the rest this map is a medium sized affair sets in a oasis techbase that didn't have any of nukage leaking from the factory in the map above... is really of oasis of peace, almost! Overall, another cool map with a fancy, wacky track.

 

MAP05: A big room full of baddies indeed! This map is a little hard and the style make me remind of Hangar (for the zigzag bridges) and Underhalls (the prisons doors made of SHAWN2 pillars), with a heavy influence from 90s aesthetics, maybe squadron 247? However, this map by doomkid in layout term is nothing really intricate or hard, maybe a little bit more intricate of the other levels so far, but nothing really complex; however the strong point of this map is the item placement and the monster usage including that neat trick with the red key door and waves of demons coming out when you open the door. A pretty good map overall, but no wacky music expect of the stock one. Felt a little bit disappointed by this (sad_face_reacts.tff)

 

MAP06: The final map is sets into a metal factory where the seas are made of waste, hell fortress is again in the middle of the action and all hell is breaking loose! (That makes me think that the next time we could play that mapset too)Overall, the map difficulty is pretty similar to the previous, only with more arch-viles (yay). This time, when you enter in the castle, you have to deal with the hardest part of the map and even a hell section with 4 damn cyberdemons  and almost enough ammo to defeat them. Also that section is pretty hard to navigate. I pretty enjoyed the music! What is it from? Overall, a pretty good final battle, maybe a little hard for how the maps tread us so far...

 

A really enjoyable and fun short episode to pass 40 minutes (i finished it in 48:50 minutes, actually) blasting some demons in a unusual theme for Doom maps made of really good classic style maps!

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

Return to Daro
UV, pistol starts, saveless, ZDoom 2.8.1 (default compatibility mode)

 

MAP01
A short, interconnected map, if you've never played STRAIN, like myself, this will be a way to ease into some of the changes.

There are several secrets scattered about to encourage exploration, and this works nicely with the rather nonlinear layout. Combat is primarily incidental, with the only real setpieces being the group of super imps and the red card ambush.

The shotgun and chaingun get all the use here, which is perfectly fine given the population of entirely low tier enemies makes for a kinetic, E1 style experience.

I did more running around than I needed to, but I'd attribute that to me forgetting what switch does what and searching around the map for the progression I'd already found.

 

MAP02

I found this map a bit confusing, which is somewhat ironic given how linear it is. The objective is to get the blue card, which is established well, and there's a red skull that also needs to be found, but I stumbled on that by luck. The exit appears to open after the red skull door is opened, but I can't say for sure as after that's opened, miniature cyberdemons teleport in and force the player to act quickly, and I ran into the main hallway.

I like the idea of the opening rooms, and I might use it myself in a future map. There's a lot of potential to build a puzzle map around this idea, and squirrel away a lot of secrets.

I don't like the layout like the previous one, but I found myself running around far more than was necessary looking for progression after opening the red skull.

 

MAP03

I got tired of this map and ultimately skipped it, I like its idea, of going to another world to open progression in the real world, but the combat did not do it for me, much like the previous map.

The layout is built in a big square, and progression tends to be locked away behind teleporters. The combat in these areas is hit or miss for me, an archvile in a bloodfall hallway where the cover is hidden behind some falls, requiring a slow mode of play or a bit of trial and error, or invisible flying monsters that fire rev missiles.

The big set piece comes in a grey concrete room, and was not a high point for me. There are too few rockets for my tastes to deal with everything effectively, so it ultimately ended in an SSG workout.

 

MAP04

This map is a really strange one, it's a giant arena designed for you to use STRAIN's ultimate weapon to your heart's content. It's a fun, easy monster slaughtering ground, though do take care, the weapon can just as easily kill you as the monsters.
There isn't much I have to say about it beyond that.

It's a sound wad, the first map is easily my favorite, with the interconnected layout and clean progression and kinetic gameplay.

While I did not very much like the latter two maps, my criticism of them is primarily based on my taste in gameplay.

Worth a playthrough if you have about a half hour.

[Walter confetti]

Breach

 

What a beautiful map, really. I didn't see such a love for over-detailing from... Knee Deep in Zdoom and other maps from that age? Really, the map eye-candy and micro-detailing is at that level.

This is a techbase with some hell / void segments that appears out of nowhere via teleporting by surprise in a copycat of the room / segment where you are, the layout is kinda intricate and interesting to explore (i didn't find a way to get all the secrets in this map, including some parts like the chaingun at the first room and others), it blends a vanilla, classic style with real 3D sectors in the void areas. And it's all made using only stock textures, kudos! 

 

I though difficulty was hard (like, really hard. I was expecting some type of slaughtermap), but is a pretty challenging map, nothing extremely complex, just fighting against a series of low / mid tier enemies (hardest monsters you can find here is the arch-vile at the end of the map), but the tight usage of health and the clever usage of the horde of enemies you have to battle are really good.

 

I found myself lost quite a few times going around the yellow key door area, not knowing where to go, but after a few minutes i found out the way to pass over to the next stage. I finished this map in 34 minutes, is a really good map, worth the play!

[Horus]

Grime

 

Well I wasn't going to play this, being put off by the hard difficulty tag, then I decided to play it on HNTR saveless. Well I managed four attempts before I decided to leave it there. It clearly showed where the deficiencies in my Doom skill lie. The cyberdemon. Every single one of my deaths was down to a cyberdemon. Twice the earlier cyberdemon, twice the later one. I just panic whenever one appears and do something stupid lol. I love playing saveless, until I die lol. Anyway, my fourth attempt had only 5 monsters unkilled so that was close enough for me.

 

Anyway, the map itself. A very red map that aesthetically isn't a million miles away from Scythe's later levels, one of the more notable differences here was that poison is the liquid of choice. A blend I've never really been too convinced by, but I think Death-Destiny does it better than most in this map. Encounters are well balanced and structured, the revenant being the common link in most of the battles, but not massed revenants (at least on HNTR). The one misstep I thought was the avoidable big battle triggered by picking up the berserk pack - not really worth the effort. The 'pick one' choice at the start was a cool concept - was an easy choice for me, plasma gun everytime. The rocket launcher would've been a suicide rocket death waiting to happen lol.

 

Overall, this was an enjoyable map. Not a huge fan of savescum / loadscum so glad I chose HNTR. Maybe I add at least a couple saves in there though next time :P

 

I've never played STRAIN, so skipping Return to Daro this month.

 

On 4/14/2020 at 6:38 PM, Andromeda said:

so I only dodged rockets without attacking

 

Why didn't I think of this! Two of my deaths was my attacks obscuring my vision of the cyber rocket lol

[Baron Pampa]

Breach

 

Not much to add to previous reviews - map looks great, feels good and shooting is fairly easy. Overally I've enjoyed my ~40 minutes with it. If I could enhance one thing it would be the soundtrack - it could use more length.

[Roofi]

I will just vote for one map for the next month :

 

+++ Abyssion

[Horus]

+++ wow.wad

+++ Miasma

+++ Mutabor

+++ Jade Earth

+++ Lunatic (5 maps)

+++ 60 Secrets (6 maps)

[Andromeda]

I used some of my free time for the past few days to play through STRAIN for the first time and I quite enjoyed it. Some really clever level design considering its age and the progression was not as obscure as I was led to believe (then again I completed Eternal Doom without much trouble either). The bestiary and weapon changes were a bit hit and miss, but overall I felt they complemented the levels well. Let's see what Return to Daro brings to the table!

 

MAP01: Landing Zone (Return to Daro)

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

 

While STRAIN introduced the new monsters gradually over the course of the megawad, since Return to Daro is only a handful of levels long it makes sense that two of the additions to the bestiary appear already in the first level (the class II imp and the doppleganger, as well as the beefed up demon and the reskinned heavy weapon dude). The class II imp (which replaces the arachnotron) has more bark than bite, though its first appearance is always memorable for the shock factor - it's a shame that its astonishing movement speed clashes with the slow attack.

 

The doppleganger works similarly to the lost soul it replaces, but before charging it either throws an fireball or executes a melee attack like the imp - these changes seem pointless but it can be really threatening in cramped areas. About the level, it's a fairly short techbase populated mostly by E1 enemies which are really satisfying to kill with the sawed-off (shotgun replacement that fires faster). It's noticeable some care went into the texturing as the STRAIN textures blend in well with the stock ones, the level looks good on the whole.

 

There's eight secrets, some are easier to find than others and I particularly liked the five secret chain by the yellow key area. One of the secrets rewards you with some cells which will undoubtedly be useful for continuous players. The class II imp was really well introduced and will catch some players off guard, the doppleganger less so as it won't even have time to showcase its new abilities before it dies. Overall, a solid opener that flows well and serves as a good introduction to the STRAIN experience.

[FrancisT218]

+++Horus but change wow (lolololololol) to abyssion...

[Walter confetti]

++++The Sky May Be

++++Galaxia

++++60 secrets

++++Syringe

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by Walter confetti

[Pegleg]

9 hours ago, FrancisT18 said:

+++Horus but change wow (lolololololol) to abyssion...

 

Include them both. I would love to see the write-ups for wow.wad and Abyssion is a well-made map (although tougher than my usual taste). Of course, you played Grime this month, so you may avoid Death-Destiny for a bit.

 

Some other potential additions to the list:

 

+++ Uplink (3 maps)

+++ Aeternum (3 maps)

+++ Demons of Problematique 1 or 2 (5 maps each)

+++ Obsidian's 30 Minute Maps (6 maps, but all made in 30 minutes)
+++ XXXI Cybersky (1 map)

[galileo31dos01]

12 minutes ago, Pegleg said:

Of course, you played Grime this month, so you may avoid Death-Destiny for a bit.

 

I'm afraid I disagree :p

[Rince-wind]

+++Inn-escapable

Edited April 27, 2020 by Rince-wind : Wasn't paying attention at the amount of maps on the first suggestion

[Andromeda]

MAP02: The Forsaken Below (Return to Daro)

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

 

One thing that was underwhelming in STRAIN was the poor implementation of puzzles - they were often devoid of hints and susceptible to bruteforcing, making them rather unfun to solve (fortunately there weren't many). This level is an attempt to correct that impression and it's certainly successful. After we press the switch that lowers the lift at the start, we're faced with a switch in front of us and four health bonuses sitting on a weird floor texture to our left.

 

While it's not immediately apparent what the switch does, picking up the bonuses closes the doors nearby. If we press the switch again all the doors open and now it's obvious what we're meant to do. After getting the red key there's a spot where progression is a bit counterintuitive but since the level is short it shouldn't be a showstopper. Given that this is a conceptual level the monster count is naturally lower than in the previous, but it ends up being harder.

 

By the end of the level I had been avoiding the beefier monsters since there had to be a super shotgun somewhere and when I finally found it lots of enemies started spawning in - these and the others I'd left alive made for an overwhelming combo that almost got me killed! Very nasty trap that combines perfectly the strong points of hell knights, heavy weapon dudes and holobots (the pain elemental replacement, works like a flying revenant but moves much slower, is more fragile and its missiles are slower - a dangerous enemy if used well).

 

The secrets are another highlight of this level - two of them should be easy to find for most players and reward you with the NFG, which works like the plasma gun but deals much more damage (though ammo for it is quite limited). The others require some attention to details, one is slightly counterintuitive and has a megaarmor (which gives 300% armor instead of 200%), the other one I'll spoil a bit - very clever usage of a texture to show the solution of a puzzle, just excellent! In terms of looks this might have somewhat monotonous texturing but I feel it works well in the spirit of the level. All in all, it's a level that won't appeal to everyone but I personally think it's great!

Edited April 27, 2020 by Andromeda

[Andromeda]

MAP03: Strange Visions (Return to Daro)

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

 

After the previous puzzle level, here we have a more traditional effort. The start is a bit weird, you teleport to a floating platform where you have to shoot a few switches to lower the pillars on the platform. Interestingly, the pillars in the first room also lower as a result, leading the player to think that the platform is situated directly above the starting position, a neat touch. After dropping down to the floor below we reach a seemingly closed off hub section, save for a teleporter tucked away beyond a small passage.

 

This teleporter brings us to a similar hub area but with a grotesque look (like TNT MAP04), where we can find the switch that's required to progress in the previous section. Unlike what it might look at first sight there won't be much backtracking involved, since further visits to the "evil" hub are optional. Most of the level consists of run & gun action, with cleverly placed heavy weapon dudes that will deplete your health surprisingly fast - I found the secret megasphere yet was back to 100/100 in barely two minutes.

 

The highlights of the level are when the action quietens down, giving way to short atmospheric scenes (hence the title). The sequence before the exit in particular is quite trippy, my favourite moment. Secrets are relatively easy to find, though most of them are related to the "evil" hub and thus easy to miss the first time around, unless the player realizes that what happens in the "main" hub is mirrored on the other. If you find all the secrets you're rewarded with the psychic blaster, the BFG9000 replacement that consumes three rockets per shot instead of 40 cells.

 

Its projectile is invisible like the spectre and deals damage similar to the BFG, though the tracers were replaced by splash damage. It's perhaps the most underwhelming weapon change in STRAIN but it's quite effective against nobles. This level also introduces two new enemies, the polydrone (Spiderdemon replacement, like a flying heavy weapon dude that explodes upon death and its flaming corpse also deals damage if you stand on it) and the invisible holobot (revenant replacement). Their appearances aren't too dangerous since they're deployed alone, probably meant to let the player know they exist. Other than this small blemish it's an excellent level, very quirky!

[Andromeda]

MAP04: Bloodbath (Return to Daro)

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

 

A very short and easy "boss" level, marking the introduction of the demon lord (mancubus replacement) - the most dangerous enemy in STRAIN with 1400HP and a very powerful attack consisting of a cluster of fast noble fireballs. While I found the level underwhelming in terms of combat, especially with the two secret invulnerabilities, it's still fun to practice using the double berserk fists (very powerful) and the psychic blaster which is a devastating weapon in the right conditions as shown by vdgg in his UV Max demo. Not much more to say, I like the looks but I find it a less inspired effort compared to the previous levels.

 

Final thoughts:

 

Sort of a STRAIN remaster, with levels that are more adapted to modern players. The bestiary and weapon changes are used well, though I didn't get to see the Cyberdemon Jr (Cyberdemon replacement that's a lot smaller, more fragile and fires one rocket at a time instead of three) since it doesn't appear at all on HNTR. Another new monster that isn't used in any of the levels on any skill level is the BFG trooper (spectre replacement) which behaves exactly like the zombieman but is armed with a BFG9000 instead. I think both of these monsters could've been placed in the final level to make it an hectic free for all. Other than this small complaint I think it's a solid set of levels - if you've never played through STRAIN and are interested in checking it out, this is a nice appetizer. On the other hand if you've already played and enjoyed it, it's still worth checking out Return to Daro for a modern take on the STRAIN experience.

[galileo31dos01]

I figured it'd be, ironic(?) for a lack of a proper word, if I didn't write down a few brief paragraphs for the two selections I recommended last month, and then I played the others as well except Doomkid's wad due to lack of time (sorry Doomkid :x). For the most part I share similar thoughts and feelings of everyone who commented here, so minimally I can provide videos of the wads covered. 

 

Remnant

UV, GLBoom+ 2.5.1.4. cl9

 

Two points that I agree wholeheartedly:

 

- One is that this is a fucking beautiful work of art. Thing is, I hadn't played anything lengthy that uses otex, so both a magnum opus and a new texture pack in the same context was a lot to process. And the gameplay is great as well, shows that the mapper understands enemy usage, hitscanners mostly, while leaving some room for curiosity, like what else can he create with timer-centric or secret setups. My very first playthrough took an hour and a half, because I took the secret hunt very seriously. 

- Two, there could have been a megasphere in the big reveal plus flying cows or whatever they're called. On my first time there, I was running around sporadically shooting BFG, when one second to another I got killed, and there was one of those things under the green flash of the teleportation. Normally when custom monsters are given little to 0 tics of attack frames, it messes with reflexes, practically leaves at least me unable to react if it appears around a corner, like plasma marines in mayhem purple or the cybruisers from SiH. But these appear in a huge area so the only really awkward moment is when they teleport. That they are easily pushed miles away is weird too. 

 

A shame that the map suffered massive slowdowns outdoors in Crispy because my laptop's old, since that's not usual for me. The only other map that has lagged horribly was Hellbound map 29, nothing else since then. GLBoom+ on OpenGL wasn't exempt from a little lag outside, but it was almost unbearable by the big spiral section, particularly at the many chaingunners. Good thing that videos run smoothly regardless of the renderer. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Mercury Rain

UV, ZDoom 2.8.1

 

It's a pretty cool little adventure, neat colours and effects, the action is fun, secrets are good (did the backpack require legit jumping? o.O), Jimmy nailed it.

 

I was hesitant to make a demo because then I'd have to convert it to video somehow and my laptop is too wrecked and outdated to do the thing. But I did one anyways, then shamelessly asked for assistance, to which rdwpa gently accepted to record a video for me (thank you again c:). I only changed the aspect ratio to 16:9, via one of those free programs that don't demand much. Imagine that if I recorded the video on my own it'd have to be 320x200 max to avoid lag and the sound would seem like a bunch of bees inside a toaster. Nobody needs that.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Breach

UV, Crispy Doom

 

Yeah these selections are high quality (;

 

The visuals man, hnnggg, that hard work for such higher than high level of detailing is beyond me, while keeping the geometry as diverse as possible, pleasure to my eyes. Gameplay is fitting, couldn't be more fitting to be honest. It manages to be consistently smooth, as one would perhaps not expect when the detailing is so elaborate it'd get intrusive for the flow, but that's not a failure here. That's quite the achievement imo. I'm only curious as to what would be the other half of the whole map Viggles planned before hitting the limits. Hopefully that comes to light someday, like the other episodes of Nihility, I'm still waiting :x

 

BTW, in the final ambush, I had no idea the other archvile was attacking too. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Grime

UV, GLBoom+ 2.5.1.4. cl9

 

My experience wasn't all fresh as I watched Ribbiks demo before more than once (which was too fine not to emulate in parts). D-D maps are a territory that I vaguely explored in the past, yeah a shame, and I reckon the dr2008 maps were the mixture that introduced me to his very stylistic design, in good and bad ways. One of the maps excluded armor things, which for me was a painful experience I could have avoided had I dialed down to HMP, but I was stupid stubborn. Another was cramped as fuck, but pretty fun, and I think there was a Quake-ish full-on-SSG earlier map in it too that I somewhat enjoyed. So thank goodness you are given armor on UV here. 

 

Excellent challenge I must say, this careful monster usage for maximum threat and gorgeous simplistic visual theme are what make it inspiring in many ways. You can cut the map in pieces and deal with each at a time, or mix up fights at your own risk. There's variety in how enemies are introduced, either instantly popping up from the ground, unusual that I didn't mind those, or facing to the wall or to the horizon, nowadays a commonly adopted and adapted trope in challenge maps like SoD, darkwave's, Ribbiks, etc, and of course by me, someday :)

 

All things considered, it's a difficulty that doesn't restrict audience imo, because it forgives fatal mistakes apparently (literally watch my video, it's the perfect proof for nonsensical "how am I still alive?!"). If I have to pick a monster that mocked me the most, obviating archviles, is the mancubus. Four mancs in a mixed salad was quite a lot to take with SSG, including random clipped fireballs. I read that skills were implemented so there's no excuse to skip this beauty. 

 

Nitpicks: inconvenient (and annoying) weapon autoswitch at the start, and probably some obtrusive stalagmites below my FOV. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Return to Daro

UV, Crispy Doom

 

When I think of good puzzles in Doom maps, Ryath first comes to my mind. He just has the creativity to make gimmicky/non-traditional concepts within the limits of vanilla, which to me serves as inspiration. STRAIN resources apparently have almost no usage outside of this wad, if none that I know, probably because the graphics are very much of the era (I certainly don't understand what some textures are supposed to represent), the new weapons can be hard to decode, and the bestiary is full of glass canons, I can't believe the miniature cyber isn't a popular custom enemy for non-serious thematic episodes, being the cute baby that it is. 

 

But anyways, Return to Daro could be your perfect throwback to your childhood, a modern take on a somewhat outdated megawad, or simply an hour of enjoyment with some mental exercise in between. 

 

In this recent playthrough I learned, plus random thoughts:

 

- The solution to the floor puzzle in map 02, that I brute forced a year ago, hehe

- Cybabies are easy to punch, with little HP they die quickly :D

- Polydrones and cybabies were largely underused even on UV. Also polydrones are great enemies, they would be even greater if they shot SMM hitscan.

- Again, so full of glass canons that I think STRAIN, along with Ancient Aliens, may have the best custom bestiary.

- The black penis weapon is hard. Strange to me, I could have handled it better...

- Too little usage of the NFG, while I guess the safety pin is the annoying part of it.

- Rapid shotgun is an upgrade from "no" to "well..."

- BFG troopers are conspicuously absent, I didn't really think of that before.

 

I'll be uploading the rest of the maps every night, for now only the first demo is public.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

oof I'm tired

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by galileo31dos01

[Aurelius]

@galileo31dos01
 

Thanks for the review and playthrough, will watch it when I have time! And I'm glad you liked the map even beyond all the performance issues.

 

Your points are very valid. I was aware of the performance issues to an extent, but was somewhat inexperienced in properly guiding players to best options with regards to source ports. I wasn't even aware of GLBoom+ back then, and I didn't test it much with PrBoom+ since I had mouse issues with it. This is definitely something I will take into account in any future maps I make.

 

Megasphere or two would've been pretty good in the Cardinal fight. You can do pretty well just patching over health around the edges, but there's still only green armor to spare and the Cardinals do have a tendency of catching you off guard - especially when there's a lot of them. Having played more slaughter/challenge maps now I am a bit more aware of the kind of QoL features one could include in these sets without making it any less challenging where it matters.