The DWmegawad Club plays: 25 Years on Earth

[Biodegradable]

Go, Duck, go! Much respect for your tenacity to get the Megasoulsphere. That button with the crushers... yeah, I died one too many times to the point of tedium. I have much to learn from you, mate hehe.

Edited June 27, 2020 by Biodegradable

[Andromeda]

MAP27: Press Gang (25 Years on Earth)

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

 

What to say about this level... It presents you with an unwinnable scenario (even for a fully stacked continuous player) and has you play the level the way the author intended, leaving very little room for error. In this respect I find it similar to HR2 MAP28, where it's hard to grasp the optimal strategy at first but the player gradually learns what needs to be done to beat the level successfully. After the first completion it becomes a mechanical effort, as the level's seemingly oppressive difficulty is merely a facade and no match for a well oiled strategy - as a matter of fact, after conquering the level on HNTR I gave it a try on UV and beat it on the first try.

 

The idea here is simple: each pair of doors you encounter will open automatically upon getting closer, revealing a wall of death composed of 80/120 hell knights or 120 barons of hell, depending on the skill level. Fortunately there's a switch placed between each pair of doors that shuts them permanently, saving you from unavoidable death. It's an exercise in speed and stealth - the faster and sneakier you are to get to the switch, the less likely it is for a noble to squeeze past one of the doors.

 

The goal is to successfully contain the nobles inside their room and eventually get to the control area, where you can activate a crusher to easily deal with the threat and open the doors once it's safe to retrieve the yellow key that unlocks the exit. Now that's not all there is to the level obviously, as the route to the control area is quite hazardous - mainly the crusher section and the sinking floor trap before the last pair of doors.

 

The former holds a easy to find but difficult to access secret, while the latter can very easily pressure you into inadvertently opening the doors despite not being particularly overwhelming. It's fair to say that the level is (even) better than the sum of its parts, as the noble room and the route to the control area wouldn't leave such a strong impression on my mind if they were on their own, truth be told. As it stands, it really is quite rewarding to finally reach your objective and lay revenge on the now hapless nobles, then swiftly grabbing the flattened key surrounded by blood. Unlike other players, I didn't run into softlocks since I thought for whatever reason that the switches next to the doors were decorative. Long story short, an awesome level but not for the faint of heart, as the nobles aren't really made for lovin' you :P

 

Levels in order of preference:

Spoiler

MAP27: Press Gang

MAP32: The Waiting Room

MAP09: Skulking Death

MAP17: Entrance Made

MAP06: Destination Defenestration

MAP14: Water Treatment

MAP19: Fester

MAP08: Constriction

MAP13: Caldera

MAP12: Emerald Fluid

MAP22: Power Trip

MAP11: Bloody Denial

MAP24: The Front Line

MAP18: Meat Grinder

MAP04: Wasted Luxury

MAP20: Reclamation

MAP26: Upper Management

MAP07: Rat Run

MAP05: Skyline

MAP25: Middle Management

MAP31: Holiday

MAP02: Bunker Buster

MAP15: Spaceport

MAP01: Drop Pod Excursion

MAP23: Corporate Hell

MAP21: Security Station

MAP03: Urban Renewal

MAP10: Haste Keep

MAP16: Unruly Cargo

[Snikle]

MAP27: Press Gang

I remember seeing some people complaining about map 27 in the main thread for 25YoE, but I didn’t want to read about why. Well now I know why people were complaining, although I never got too fucked up by it. Sure, at the beginning I didn’t think to hit the switch when all the HKs started pouring out, so I just avoided the area (and as such, went through the whole level with no armor…) But by the time I came out of the crusher section near the SSG, I hit the switch and shut off the hoard before any could even get out at all. The lowering room with the RL and PG was the standout fight, I just wish I had more health going into it because it killed me a bunch of times and got a little frustrating by the end. Watching the crusher kill all those hundreds of Hell Knights all at once was hilarious and amazing. I enjoyed this level, despite (or maybe because of…) its obtuse nature.

 

As for the softlock issue, well, just another reason I don't use PrBoom. 

[loveless]

prboom+, no saves, uv pistol starts  
map 27 

 

I WAS MADE FOR LOVIN YOU BABY YOU WERE MADE FOR LOVIN ME 

 

ok, got that out of the way.  this map was hilarious but for kind of the wrong reason.  the option of two crushers worked out well for me being a prb+ user.  otherwise, i was looking at uploading a demo that wasn't an exit, something i don't look forward to doing.  that said, first crusher hall was funny. i was dying to the slightest missteps and giggling to myself.  lowering floor fight was the second deadliest part, followed by a single instance of 5-6 barons following me into the control room.  i ended up going over posts in the last two pages due to the crusher issue. i couldn't figure out why this was softlocking, i didn't want to open the map up in gzdb without first finishing it, but i was exasperated.  all things considered, i still had a good time on this map.  i'm not always the biggest fan of gimmicks BUT i am a fan of cruelty, provided the player has access to reasonable recourse!

25years-27-loveless.7z

[golbeeze]

Map 28

This was an excellent level. My only complaint was that it ended too soon! I foresaw the walls opening in the manner they did, yet was still taken by surprise when it happened. This one definitely ranks pretty high in my mind overall, possibly my second favorite.

 

[Biodegradable]

MAP28 - Broundry 3

This was a cool one, very challenging. Phobus, you made mince-meat out of my entrails over a dozen times here. A little frustrating, but I did manage to get through it by making better use of my chaingun and rocket launcher since I had plenty of ammo to spare. I thought the way the level opened up more and more as you progressed was interesting and the overall layout and design of this map in particular I thought was really cool. I took great aesthetic pleasure in the techbase filled with lava design. It looked really glowy and cool thanks to GZDoom's lighting capabilities. This one's definitely on my personal stand-out list that I'll be sure to categorise for you properly once we've completed the megaWAD.

[ironicmoustache]

Crispy, UV, continuous.

 

MAP28

After a string of small maps that I enjoyed quite a bit and a gimmicky map that at least offered a talking point I feel like Broundry 3 is a bit, I dunno, “eh”? I’m not necessarily one for the brown foundry aesthetic, so maybe that plays a role, but I didn’t feel like this map was particularly memorable or characterful.

 

The combat, at least, is meaty and I can see how it could get very out of hand with bad luck/pistol starts, especially given the number of archviles present, but the walkways are long enough that rocket spam is pretty safe. The corner structures allow the player to break the archviles' line of sight too, so yeah. The possibility for things getting hairy is definitely there, but I thought the combat was generally quite easy to handle.

 

The Mastermind in the open-air area was a bit pointless challenge-wise, since it’s possible to just keep peeking out and sending some rockets/plasma/BFG shots its way. It's not a particularly interesting area aesthetically either.

 

It’s not a bad map at all; the progression and ways the combat encounters are kicked off are kinda interesting and it still offers up a solid chunk of shooting. It's just not as memorable—either positively or negatively—as the previous maps.

[Endless]

MAP 28: Boundry 3. Played in UV with Brutal Doom and LZDoom.

 

I don't know exactly what it is, but I've always liked maps that follow the formula of ''ends where they begin'', or constructing on that: A circuit map (if that makes sense). The design of the map forces most of the initial combats to be in remote areas, separated by a river of acid, with enough space and architecture to cover you and kill the demons patiently from the cover. This made the map feel easier at first than it is, but slowly scaled up in terms of difficulty without being too extreme. Probably the most difficult part is obviously the closed circle with the Mastermind and the final area where the plasma rifle is collected. After that, the map is quite decent, its architecture is interesting although the design itself is... normal ? Nothing out of the ordinary. To be honest, I'm lousy at reviewing maps, if it's fun it means I like it and that means there's no need to give it any more criticism (for me) because it means I've enjoyed it well enough to make it worth it. This map is fun and I've quite enjoyed the whole megawad so far.

 

[Summer Deep]

MAP28

 

An inner and outer 'circle' (of sorts), with a fair bit of symmetry thrown in. I did this without many problems in HMP continuous, though I was prevented from getting 100% kills when inadvertently sidestepping into the exit to avoid a Revenant's missile in the closing stages.

 

The map was a different proposition from a UV pistol start, at least early on. What a pig of an opening with those difficult to hit Revenants firing away at you from long range - I lost count of the number of times I had to retreat into the starting building or take cover in one of those 'sentry post' type structures. Unlike the previous reviewer, I felt that the level actually got more manageable as it progressed. The Spider Mastermind was easy meat, as is very often the case, and even if you get locked in, the doorway still gives plenty of cover. I began to get a bit concerned about the ammo situation towards the end, with 240 plasma cells available but nothing to fire them with, but then bang on cue the weapon in question turned up, and it was game over for the baddies!

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by Summer Deep

[gaspe]

MAP28: Another okay map. I liked the idea for this theme but I don't know, it feels so underdeveloped. The pistol start was a bit tricky and the revs on the outer ring are well placed, they are hard to take down with the SG (I prefered to save the rockets for later) from the starting position and there's little cover around. The spiderdemon is a fight I didn't understand, I think that swapping it with the arachnotrons and make them appear later when you are about to reach the platform would create a more interesting fight instead of camping so much to take down the boss. The outer ring wasn't so interesting either, it's made of 4 long straight corridors and the monsters were pretty ineffective there.

[Alper002]

MAP28:Broundry 3 starts off in a very dangerous manner. It's hitscanners all around with awkward revenant rockets from far away, with health amounts that always feel too low. Once you get past that part the rest is much more managable, but still decently spicy. Had I taken that secret megasphere from last map I probably wouldn't have had as tough of a time with the map, and I'd probably have enjoyed it less as a result. Sure, it's pretty nice visually, but the early threat of death is about the only thing special going for it gameplay-wise compared to the other maps.

 

Map ratings:

Spoiler

Maps get rated on different lists (which I'll add as I deem necessary) depending on which part of the map I liked most, and the placement on said list is dependent on what I think of the map as a whole.

Maps I liked for their simplicity:
MAP26:Upper Management
MAP08:Constriction
MAP01:Drop Pod Excursion
MAP22:Power trip
MAP07:Rat Run

Maps I liked for their aesthetics(visuals & music combined):
MAP19:Fester
MAP13:Caldera
MAP17:Entrance Made
MAP02:Bunker Buster

Maps I liked for their sense of place:
MAP31:Holiday
MAP15:Spaceport
MAP16:Unruly Cargo
MAP03:Urban Renewal

Maps I liked for their creativity:
MAP27:Press Gang
MAP18:Meat Grinder
MAP06:Destination Defenestration
MAP04:Wasted Luxury

Maps I liked for their gameplay:
MAP21:Security Station
MAP11:Bloody Denial
MAP32:Waiting Room
MAP25:Middle Management
MAP24:The Front Line
MAP23:Corporate Hell
MAP28:Broundry 3
MAP05:Skyline
MAP14:Water Treatment
MAP20:Reclamation
MAP12:Emerald Fluid
MAP10:Haste Keep
MAP09:Skulking Death

 

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP28: Broundry 3

 

The level name is idiosyncratic enough that I just had had to Google it, and I guess it's a "brown foundry," the third in this vein by the same author, which is a rather more sensible etymology than "bro foundry," which is for some reason the first place that my brain went upon seeing the title of this map.

 

I want to call this an orderly sort of level, with its square layout and methodical progression; once you've weathered the initial storm of imps and hitscanners, it's very easy to piece together a mental map of your objectives, with switches here and doors there and all of it arranged along the inner or the other layers of the foundry floor, above the omnipresent hazard of an endlessly churning trough of molten metal.  It's interesting to see two "basically square" maps back-to-back at this point in the WAD, though I feel MAP27 disguises that better and has more surprises up its sleeve.  The orderly nature of this level lends a bit of a workmanlike feel to the task of playing through it; it's a competently built map but not one that's particularly exciting.

[Phobus]

Second day in a row I'm too busy to catch up properly here, but I've given the posts a good reading through, so hopefully tomorrow things settle down enough that I can catch up with the videos and demos.

 

 

I just wanted to say thanks to everybody who's gone in and dissected the MAP27 complevel 2 bugs for me. I'm pissed off with myself for obviously doing insufficient testing, pissed off with Doom for being so shit at handling it's own built-in functionality, pissed off with Crispy Doom for not being Boom-compat and just generally upset with how that turned out. I can live with people "nope"-ing out of the puzzle/challenge or thinking the map is shit - it's all taste - but the map reliably breaking because you use line actions that I've included and claim to have tested is unacceptable.

 

I guess that's a big note, although I've no idea how I resolve the issue without losing a line action and then needing to find another use of it.

 

Fuck...

 

 

I was thinking of "where to go next from here" an maybe I'll have a summary to that effect after finishing MAP30, but I've lost a lot of my appetite for any further ambitious cl2 work. The nascent idea to make a single limit-removing map that uses all non-exit line and sector actions feels about on par with quitting mapping at this point, such is the lack of appeal.

[DuckReconMajor]

I think most would agree you're being a bit hard on yourself there. You've shown plenty enough talent I'm certain you're going to find a good fix for this that's up to your standards.

 

MAP28: Broundry 3

prBoom+ 2.5.1.7um, skill 4, continuous with saves, no complevel specified

 

Thanks to TheOrganGrinder this will forever be 'Bro Foundry' in my mind.

This level was challenging and fun throughout. I've probably said this too many times already but Phobus puts Arch-viles in just the right place to create a sense of urgency without them being annoying.

The style reminded me of MAP12 Emerald Fluid in parts which I liked.

Contrary to others I like a good peek-a-boo spider fight, so I enjoyed that area too.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Biodegradable]

1 hour ago, DuckReconMajor said:

I think most would agree you're being a bit hard on yourself there. You've shown plenty enough talent I'm certain you're going to find a good fix for this that's up to your standards.

 

I concur with the Duckmaster General here, Phobus. Don't beat yourself up. This WAD has been a terrific romp and no doubt you can fix the issue. 

[Snikle]

MAP28: Boundary 3

This one had a simple layout of two rings with some stuff on the outside and some stuff on the inside. The revenants on the outer ring were annoying as hell until I was able to get the rocket launcher, playing continuous would probably have made the early part of the map more fun. No other complaints though, except for the lava usually killing me before I was able to reach (or even find) the elevators back up. Visuals were on point as usual. Mastermind was a threatless bullet sponge, but the rest of the encounters had enough teeth to make up for it. There were some really good Arch-Vile bits in this level. This map had lots of monsters in the relatively small spaces of the rings, making it fun and easy to blow up multiple ones with a single rocket. I always love doing that.

[Phobus]

Ok, I'm done feeling sorry for myself and got a little time to do some catching up tonight! I've nearly finished the videos and demos from page 17 of this thread, although I've got one or two still to go tomorrow before then catching up with this page. Thanks @DuckReconMajor and @Biodegradable for the support! Thanks also to @Demon of the Well - your lengthy demo of softlocks was a perfect demonstration of both the problem and the cause of the problem. As Doom is, fundamentally, stupid, it's not finishing crushing the Barons with that raising floor and also not hitting the ceiling because the Barons are in the way. As a result, the floor switches are stopping working, because the floor they want to affect "hasn't stopped moving yet".

 

Solutions? Well, the easy one for me is to have a known bug and put a secret yellow keycard in the control room behind that METAL texture that's already different from the others, so when that room breaks, you can still get a key and probably leave. The alternative is to remove the floor switches from that room and find a use for them elsewhere in the map set. It'll need to be somewhere with enemies that don't have much health. I'm assuming, until I get a chance to test it, that the Hell Knights do get smooshed appropriately and that room works on skills 1-3, whatever switches you press and in whatever order - in fact, that may explain why I'm so convinced I tested the map on complevel-2 - I do test the harder maps on a lower difficulty to ascertain functionality without needing to cheat, whilst also ensuring that I can beat the maps despite not using my preferred controls, resolution or physics when they're below UV.

 

I'll test and see, but I think I might end up with a UV-only key in a secret in the control room. Assuming I'm right, and the Hell Knights don't gum up the mechanism on cl2, I'll put some other goody (another backpack, for continuous players, perhaps) instead of a key.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP29: The Armoury

 

After the "looping levels" trilogy of MAP24-26 and the "basically square" pair of MAP27-28, this is a map that's almost surprising in how much it feels like a classic Doom II map aesthetically.  The gameplay is rather more on the spicy side in a few places than any of the vanilla levels, but I feel as though you could drop this into Doom II's city episode and very little of it would feel out of place.  A pretty hot start gives way to forking paths, one of which shows off the exit to you and both of which ultimately deliver you to your last opportunity to pick up the BFG before the final level of the WAD, if you have the patience for the yellow key sidequest.  It's enormously satisfying to discharge the BFG against a horde of imps and watch the bodies fly, and that alone makes it worth getting down the somewhat fiddly timing involved in getting the key.

[loveless]

prboom+, no saves, uv pistol starts  
map 28 

 

i found this to be very easy going compared to some previous maps.  the smm fight was completely free and the small closet with ssg was the only place i died.  i think there could be some more aggressive vile placement and a total removal of the rocket launcher.  there's more than enough cells and shells to tear through this map in quick order, the rocket launcher was the last weapon i grabbed.  i ended up not using it often and believe i could've gone without it entirely.

25years-28-loveless.zip

[Pirx]

MAP26 - “Upper Management”

 

another short and punchy map with a doom2 library aesthetic and some techbase in the end. a series of tight spaces joined by corridors, and ending in a trap which i survived only with the help of a caco that got hit by one of these chainguinners in the walls (i had expected the wall behind me to rise as i flipped the switch, but not the bastards hidden sideways in the wall).
exit is a bit weird though, first a baron stuck in a door, then you fall into a sky-blue hole.

 

 

MAP27 - “Press Gang”

 

oh well. it was pretty obvious how one would get rid of that baron army in the end, and which way leads to that goal. it's just that crushers are a headache for me, and not just when they land on my head. 

 

 

MAP28 - “Broundry 3”

 

this circle of death foundry theme is fun. after you kill those fucking revenants on the outer ring, who keep bombarding you while you're clearing the inner ring, where you start. that's basically the map. but pistol starters don't have much available to take on the revs and have to dodge their missiles while fighting whatever rabble there is on the inner ring. the few rockets one has in the beginning can miss, and sniping them with sh + cg is slow, but doable. finally, a load of weaklings spawn on the outer ring and are blown up with rockets in comical fashion (i usually load the mark v's bolognese mod too). continue on the outer ring then. there's a spider to kill by simply hiding behind a pillar and ssg it. after this the fun starts. pain elementals vs rockets, and 2 or 3 viles to keep the pressure up since they would revive everything. the exit becomes available after the last wave.

 

 

>>> as for voting, i see it's between akeldama and 3 is a crowd? i'll take a look at both before saying anything.

[Pirx]

34 minutes ago, TheOrganGrinder said:

  A pretty hot start gives way to forking paths, one of which shows off the exit to you and both of which ultimately deliver you to your last opportunity to pick up the BFG before the final level of the WAD, if you have the patience for the yellow key sidequest.  It's enormously satisfying to discharge the BFG against a horde of imps and watch the bodies fly, and that alone makes it worth getting down the somewhat fiddly timing involved in getting the key.

 

 

ok. i have to look again, since i managed to straferun over the bridge to the exit, and yeah, that bfg was supposed to be picked up in some way. 

[golbeeze]

Map 29

I enjoyed this map a lot, but I missed something big. I didn't have the yellow skull key and missed 66 kills. I have no idea where or how. I jumped to the exit platform first, but then went back and figured out how to raise the platform to reach it. Either way, I still missed a lot and I wasn't going out of my way to do the minimum. Also, I definitely needed to backtrack for that final rocket pickup...>.>

I may not be around for a while, so my map 30 post might be a long time coming. Also, not sure if I'll have enough time to partake in the July wad, but could make it around the halfway point?

[Endless]

1 hour ago, TheOrganGrinder said:

MAP29: The Armoury

 

After the "looping levels" trilogy of MAP24-26 and the "basically square" pair of MAP27-28, this is a map that's almost surprising in how much it feels like a classic Doom II map aesthetically.  The gameplay is rather more on the spicy side in a few places than any of the vanilla levels, but I feel as though you could drop this into Doom II's city episode and very little of it would feel out of place.  A pretty hot start gives way to forking paths, one of which shows off the exit to you and both of which ultimately deliver you to your last opportunity to pick up the BFG before the final level of the WAD, if you have the patience for the yellow key sidequest.  It's enormously satisfying to discharge the BFG against a horde of imps and watch the bodies fly, and that alone makes it worth getting down the somewhat fiddly timing involved in getting the key.

Quote

discharge the BFG

I was wondering when this baby was going to make an appearance! You guys seem to be ahead of me by 1 day so I kind like the little tips and spoilers every now and then.

[Biodegradable]

MAP29 - The Armoury

A much more straight-forward map compared to the last few but doesn't stray too far away from MAP28 in terms of level progression. Came close to killing me at one stage, but this was the first one in a while where I lived! Bahaha. Not much else to say. I tried to do some secret hunting before I left as I noticed the last batch of enemies appear to be hidden away behind a door with the BFG. I was able to find one secret, but unfortunately it wasn't the yellow skull key. I think I spent close to an extra 2 mins trying to find it, but it's boring HMFing every single panel of wall trying to find it, so I'm bravely traipsing forward unto the final frontier without the BFG knowing full well Phobus is going to bring me quite the epic battle for MAP30. Wish me luck! :P

[Magnusblitz]

Ugh, swamped with work and fell way behind. Not because I haven't been enjoying playing this!

 

MAP31: Holiday

100% kills, 1/1 secret

 

Cute map. I had read about the 30 second timer here, so that helped clue me and probably removed some possible frustration, but I will say that the secret is pretty well signposted with the custom "SPA" sign in view of the start, and it's a short map, so unless you save over your save game from the start of the map it's not a big deal, as far as one-time secrets go. I think more dangerous is that the secret exit is merely a walk-in instead of a switch (as the exits have usually been) so its possible to exit by mistake before finishing everything up.

 

MAP32: The Waiting Room

100% kills, 1/1 secret

 

Decent arena map... I think it's actually pretty well designed in terms of size and layout. There's just enough room to run around, but still small enough to feel pressured and in dangerous of being cornered. Good mix of enemies too, though I said there wasn't a final wave of AVs. The walk-over exit is again easy to hit by mistake. Not sure what opens up the BFG, if it's just a slow timer or something else triggers it, but it didn't open until everything was dead so no use unless you're on continuous. The lack of blue armor really stood out here, it's easy to forget how much more dangerous everything is without it.

 

MAP16: Unruly Cargo

100% kills, no map secrets

 

"We Built This City" is, on its own inherent merits, silly, and it's even sillier as a Doom MIDI. :P

 

Are we supposed to be on the ship from MAP15? If so, kind of a weird transition getting there by jumping into a slime pit, as opposed to like a fuel line or a cargo box or something, and one clearly going into the ship instead of the other way. Oh hey, shiny Megasphere, what was I complaining about again?

 

Anyways, this has a ton of monster meat packed into tiny spaces, and with so many doors that this is basically DSDROPN.WAV: THE MAP. Lots of nice detail, though a lot of it is similar to MAP31, which feels a bit repetitive since it was only two maps ago. I do agree with @Demon of the Well that the end is fun; simply crashing the ship in a very Doom Slayer-ish way.

 

MAP17: Entrance Made

100% kills, 1/1 secret

 

Great music track here to get things going on the ground again. The jump at the start with the explosions was odd, not sure what that's supposed to signify. This one felt like a very sharp upswing in difficulty with the double AV pincer early on - gotta play it aggressively I think and hope you can corner one AV without the other getting you from behind. After the fight I found the switch that lowers the center pillar, which I suppose is intended to be used as a shield while the monsters infight, but I'm not sure I could make it work.

 

This one is a bit strangely paced, with most of the monsters being placed in a few set-based encounters, with almost no monsters in-between. I saved the berserk and blue armor for later on, grabbing them right before exiting, and I didn't find any shortcut back which was rather annoying (especially the water chamber with the lifting center).

 

MAP18: Meat Grinder

100% kills, 2/5 secrets

 

Bigger map here, and back to the monsters being mostly lying in wait. The texturing scheme is a bit all over the place, but it feels like @Phobus was having fun here, smacking down a bunch of meat and flesh stuff in a variety of ways. It felt a bit like MAP12 where there are a few sections that feel much larger (and therefore emptier) than they need to be, like the sludge pool with the Cyberdemon and the hallway the SMM ends up in, but they do help provide some nice architectural variety. Progression was a wee bit confusing here, as it took me quite awhile to figure out the blue key left (I assume you need to approach from the south, and going over the red line from the east purposely stops it?) and the yellow key section has a fair amount of "what did that switch do?" Fun map on the whole though.

[Alper002]

@Phobus I have another potential suggestion for a crusher fix. Self-referencing sectors can cause crushers to be more damaging. This means you could stack a load of self-referencing sectors ontop of each other, and then also have dummy sectors for them so they lower properly to the ground with the floor lowering switch. This'll make both forms of crusher extra damaging, but the floor crusher won't have to get stuck anymore. Helps that the source ports where this trick doesn't work is where it's not causing softlocks anyway!

 

Whoa! a rock tune I have a greater than vague familiarity with!!

Had I not read the thread I would've gone through MAP29:The Armoury without a BFG in hand. Good on you for providing some imps to use said BFG at once you get it, cause otherwise it would've been pretty boring to just get it. The map itself is fine, but nothing particularly special, at least to me. There's technically some forced damage with the damaging floors(from what I can tell), but it's such a mild case that it's not really a problem. I may have gone in with slightly higher expectations than I suppose I should've had.

 

Map ratings:

Spoiler

Maps get rated on different lists (which I'll add as I deem necessary) depending on which part of the map I liked most, and the placement on said list is dependent on what I think of the map as a whole.

Maps I liked for their simplicity:
MAP26:Upper Management
MAP08:Constriction
MAP01:Drop Pod Excursion
MAP22:Power trip
MAP07:Rat Run

Maps I liked for their aesthetics(visuals & music combined):
MAP19:Fester
MAP13:Caldera
MAP17:Entrance Made
MAP02:Bunker Buster

Maps I liked for their sense of place:
MAP31:Holiday
MAP15:Spaceport
MAP16:Unruly Cargo
MAP03:Urban Renewal

Maps I liked for their creativity:
MAP27:Press Gang
MAP18:Meat Grinder
MAP06:Destination Defenestration
MAP04:Wasted Luxury

Maps I liked for their gameplay:
MAP21:Security Station
MAP11:Bloody Denial
MAP32:Waiting Room
MAP25:Middle Management
MAP24:The Front Line
MAP23:Corporate Hell
MAP29:The Armoury
MAP28:Broundry 3
MAP05:Skyline
MAP14:Water Treatment
MAP20:Reclamation
MAP12:Emerald Fluid
MAP10:Haste Keep
MAP09:Skulking Death

 

[ironicmoustache]

Crispy, UV, continuous.

 

MAP29

This is more like it. Immediately liked the texturing and mood much more here compared to the previous two maps. I kinda agree with @TheOrganGrinder, there's definitely a not-insignificant Doom II vibe here, which isn't unwelcome. I did like the progression here, with the branching paths and overall structure doing well to create the feeling of some sort of industrial complex. Guess the name makes sense then. I liked the process of raising the platforms to reach the exit, too.

 

The combat does indeed have some spice to it. Monster selection isn't necessarily as threatening as the previous map but I thought the positioning of the enemies felt more dangerous and meant that I couldn't just zone out and blast through the map (at least, not all the parts). I liked the dark maze behind the red map, although I feel like the way to progress that particular maze section could have been made slightly more obvious. Maybe with a more noticeable visual indicator? But I guess more thorough players would’ve found it at the first attempt, I'm just a bit of a slacker haha. The archvile was a nice surprise but also not really threatening, given the amount of cover available.

 

I couldn’t quite figure out the yellow key secret, although I did at least correctly guess where it was. I had the BFG anyway, so yeah. Truthfully, I wasn’t in the mood to spend too much time figuring it out, being the penultimate level and all; was somewhat excited to see what MAP30 had in store and to end the WAD.

[Endless]

MAP29: The Armoury. Played in UV with Brutal Doom and LZDoom.

 

That switch... haha.

Probably one of my favorite maps so far. I'm glad to know that the penultimate one offers a final chance to get the BFG, and this time I'm not giving up! Patience bears sweet fruit if sought with wisdom.

 

Following the same ''short but intense'' theme, the map brings a simple but effective layout that is fed up with well-positioned enemies. This is one of those maps that makes you truly appreciate the quality of the selection and position of the demons within the game. The first area is the most difficult one without a doubt, the ambush and the little maneuverability make it a real bloody neck. After that, the map makes strong use of dark corridors which, personally, I am a big fan of (especially since I started using LZDoom in light Doom mode.) With three secrets this time, they are pretty easy to find, except for the last one which is right under our noses without us noticing. Good thinking, Phobus. I think it was the only map where I got 100% but it was also one of the longest ones (because of my need for BFG). Map 30 on the way and I'm anxious to know what the final test will be.

Without a doubt I can say that it has been one of the most fun and solid megawads I have tried this year. Bloody fun.

 

 

[Deadwing]

26: Another breather for the episode 3. This one felt like it could have its ideas developed a little bit further, though. I loved the textures utilized, but the level ended before I knew it. As others said, it's another one that has the exit in the very beginning of the map too.

 

27: Loved this one. You'll probably die a few times before knowing how to deal with the gimmick, but this felt really unique and fun, especially crushing all these barons lmao. I understand why some people didn't enjoy it, but it was one of my favorite maps from E3. Pretty fun level overally.

 

28: Cool level with a strong concept. The MM didn't gave much pressure but I'm okay with that. Some Arch-villes can be a lot harder to deal with. It's not a very long level but it doesn't need to be, IMO.

 

29: This one felt a lot more shorter and unhellish than I was expecting it to be. Not a bad level at all, with a secret BFG that I wasn't able to get lol But for this slot I was expecting something like map 18 but more hellish. Anyway, it's still a very solid map.

 

Map preference:

 

18, 21, 17, 11, 14, 3, 28, 27 24, 20, 19, 22, 13, 6, 26, 12, 25, 29 8, 23, 16, 5, 15, 9, 10, 2, 4, 1, 7

[Phobus]

Hooray, I've caught up and watched everything! A couple of stray observations:

 

@golbeeze No worries if you can't post the final map because you're busy. I've had the most reason to be invested here and I've had to take multiple days out and then catch back up.

 

@loveless A fair few players didn't get the plasma rifle until much later in their play, but did stumble across the rocket launcher early on. It keeps the map open-ended to have both and allows a bit more choice in how to handle the bigger fights... Although the map is quite plasma-centric.

 

@Alper002 I think the lowering action might be an issue with self-raising sectors, but it's a good idea that might solve my problem, so I'll give it a try on my bug-fixing spree in a couple of days!

 

 

MAP26: Upper Management

The finale in the set of four corporate maps is quite an easy one. From a pistol start your biggest concern is the ammo getting tight, and playing continuous you've basically got nothing to fear, unless you get caught in a crusher early on or don't react to the final ambush quickly enough and get caught out in the open.

 

I've already discussed the usage of one-time actions and the Thing-based difficulty filter for the crushers, so I'll not retread that ground. This map holds the last Three Days Grace MIDI, picked more because it's a bit sober and low-key, like the map itself. The corridors of power are a little underwhelming, with just some wood and a hint of carpet to say this is where the big-shots hang out... When they're not elsewhere.

 

From here, you drop into the guts of the building process...

 

MAP27: Press Gang

This map is probably one of the quickest ways to kill 120 Barons of Hell. Assuming you're not trusting me to make a complevel 2 puzzle map that actually works, anyway.

 

The idea here came from the available line actions, and the "disco" KISS MIDI came from me having seen them live very recently. Plus, it's cheeky, a little silly (just like the map) and probably won't show up in many other WADs, whilst I imagine some of the MIDIs in this set wouldn't feel like bad choices for more "normal" maps. Hell, "Replica" and "Big Gun" definitely have been in other WADs, and I've used some of the In Flames, Chimaira and Three Days Grace choices for speed maps already.

 

Anyway, I got the secret megasphere early and then let a few too many Barons out near the end, so lost most of that trying to beat them back with the BFG whilst the doors closed. It's been nice seeing players better than me beat this level (when it works), as I've picked up a few hints on how to best navigate the crushers for the secret and seen some very impressive damage avoidance in the rocket launcher/plasma rifle room.

 

I guess I'll be making changes significant enough to warrant re-recording both the demo for this and the one for MAP15. Still, I'm determined to archive this in a reliably beatable state, and that means fixing bugs.

 

MAP28: "Bro Foundry" 3

Heh - that tickled me, @TheOrganGrinder. It is indeed a "brown foundry", which originated as my attempt at making a foundry reminiscent of the one in Alien 3 (by way of Alien vs Predator 2) for one of the early Abyssal Speedmapping Sessions. Broundry 2 is in the Doomworld Mega Project from 2018, but was only meant to be the first part of something bigger.

 

The theme of lava and brown metal, combined with threats from across a channel stayed intact, but I upped the map size a bit from the speed map origins and had the challenge be commensurate with the map slot. I did have to tone this down a bit from my first draft, as the Revenants on the outside were originally more numerous and made progression basically impossible (for me). I'm surprised nobody complained about the lava pit by the Spider Mastermind being inescapable - I've just checked, and I never put in a way out, so falling in must be just as rare as I anticipated. The walkover line actions for the opening door around the outside of the Mastermind platform are what stopped me doing it, although I could probably work something out if required.

 

Likewise, I never saw anybody get the secret for this map, so I had to remind myself of what and where it was. Turns out there's a backpack hidden behind a crate in the little warehouse room - there's a lowly puddle of blood to indicate the line where the action is and no clues on the automap. Perhaps a bit obtuse, especially as this is the last one before MAP30, but at least the map has a secret...

 

In my play through I generally got through alright, cheesing things with the BFG where I'd been reminded of dangerous traps by your videos and demos! This map is the one that actually makes use of the "light start blinking" walk-over action, not MAP05. I'd say it could be used a lot more inventively, but it makes for a nasty trap in that basement,

 

So after the machinery and processing of MAP27, we're in the depths of a metal works for MAP28. Next up is an Armoury, housing a decent weapon to grab if you didn't hang around in MAP32... Assuming you made it there to begin with. Thematically, this mixture of industrial themes, following on from the office stuff, does gel with the story, I'd say - the demons are hard at work building the MAP30 tower, and it's up to us to get there and stop them, after all!

Edited June 29, 2020 by Phobus