The DWmegawad Club plays: 1000 Lines Community Project

[Veinen]

Map04: Stormdrain

 

Gameplay-wise this is probably my favorite map so far with the decently hot start, a second hectic "arena" fight when you jump into the second half of the map and a couple of adequately dickish ambushes. I was a little bit surprised that the arenas weren't repopulated at all when you perform key actions, seems like there would have been some potential for even more action. Visually it's rather similar to the previous map with the light brown town theme. A bit of a medieval town kind of look when you think about it; torch lit, there's a trench and some sort of fortification-like structures.

 

Map05: Demolition Zone

 

Yeah this one definitely resembles classic Doom 2 style a lot with it's blocky large-scale architecture and detailing kept to a minimum. Has it's charms sure but it's kind of ugly at the same time. Backtracking from the YK wing doesn't seem to serve much purpose now and it could have been avoided by simply allowing the player to jump down from the window. Some light ambush on the way back would have been another option to improve the uneventful return trip. Overall it's a step down in difficulty compared to the previous map imo, the only trickier spot is the Berserk room where you are squeezed into a small space with meaty opposition. The finale is indeed a little bit lackluster as the Hell Nobles above are a little too easy to dodge. Revs would have definitely been a spicier enemy there.

 

Map06: On the Block

 

Stepping from the small back alleys and courtyards to Hellbound-esque streets this time. It's funny how this type of setting immediately tells me that at some point there's going to be a big battle in the streets and sure enough, this map is no different in that regard. The initial opposition in the streets is meaty for pistol starters but given the lack of ammo and weaponry and the monster mix is pretty clear that you're supposed to make the Arachs work for you or ignore everything until better weapons are acquired. I found the progression here a bit unintuitive; a switch at the bar in the other side of the map lowering a wall at the library had me lost for a bit but fortunately there are only so few places to check in the map. The big outdoor skirmish is definitely the highlight of the map even though it's not very difficult at all due to mixing so many different types of monsters who immediately begin to infight with each other. Like Capellan, I too enjoy Cacoswarms (with the occasional PE sprinkled in there) and this one complements well the ground level enemies here for sure. The finale is alright but mostly another infight exercise, even more so than the outdoor fight due to the shape of the arena. The SMM certainly dies on her own if you let loose the Cybers early and the Cybers are fairly easy to deal with too in such a large chamber. The Invuln is pretty much useless, I grabbed it only after everything was already dead. Poison drinks at the bar, on the other hand, are a nice touch.

 

 

FDA_1kCP_04-06.zip

[loveless]

prboom+, no saves, uv pistol starts  
map 6
deaths 1

 

this was a great, combat-oriented map.  wide open spaces permitting freedom of movement, deliberate weapon selection per encounter, and legitimate danger should the player forsake mindfulness.  the finale is easily cheesed, this could be either good or bad depending upon point of view.  there's serious potential for hard and fast play, think i'll check out what uvspeed and uvmax demos for this map look like. 

 

1kcp-6-loveless.7z

[Biodegradable]

MAP06 - On the Block

HMP | Continuous with Saves | GZDoom + Zagemod

 

Christ, this was a big finish for the first stretch. It's a pretty neat sprawling city given the 1k Lines limitation, so kudos to SiMpLeToNiUm for their creativity. Things get rather slaughtermap-ish reasonably quickly, but I found myself reasonably confident throughout most of the battles. Health and armour are plentiful and perhaps I'm also getting better as a Doomer as well, who knows. The bit with the red key's corresponding area was a little odd for me progression-wise as I felt this looming tower at the end of the map would be, well, the end of the map! Bahaha but that's the only thing that really gave me pause. Naturally the Two Stage Final Arena was the stand-out and a right challenge for me, personally. I died half a dozen times during both waves, but heavy use of infighting, running around like a man on fire and focusing on specific pesky demons like the Revenants, Pain Elemental and his Lost Soul children and letting just about everyone else kill each other worked pretty well as a strategy. I did get a bit frustrated to the point of exhaustion, so those who watch my footage will enjoy that hehe. Even managed to leave stocked up with plenty of ammo and 100% health and ammo, fully prepped for the next leg of this adventure. This one's definitely the second stand-out map of the WAD for me personally, not necessarily because I enjoyed it that much, as it was a bit exhausting, but it definitely left an impression. I also appreciate SiMpLeToNiUm for resisting to chuck an ArchVile in that final battle lmao.

 

Gameplay:

Spoiler

 

 

[galileo31dos01]

@loveless I don't know if it's on my end but your thumbnails look "corrupted"

[Phobus]

@galileo31dos01 I see the same thing on his YoutTube thumbnails. Specifically the in-game footage seems really odd colours, which might be because it's halfway through a frame or something.

 

MAP06: On The Block

I'm not surprised to see something like this, given the themes and the mappers. It's a collection of big, open spaces within an urban setting, giving the player a lot of room to run around and the mapper a lot of space to flood with monsters. Of course, because you've got a lot of space and very generous supplies, you're not actually at too much risk. I found three of the secrets, but at the end of the map, with just some Lost Souls and two Cyberdemons alive, I decided I'd take my 600 cells, ignore the Invulnerability and head to the exit. Sure enough, that whole last fight was skippable. Still, I'm glad I removed most of the risk through infighting and carefully picking off the Pain Elementals first. It's an OK map, but not really my thing. I liked the music.

 

In theory, I'm equipped to steamroll through a lot of maps, but I know there's a death exit at some point, so I'll try not to be too stingy with my plasma and rockets now!

[DFF]

MAP06: On the Block by Simpletonium (100% kills/98% items/75%secrets)

Blind Run|UV|Continuous|ProjectBrutality3.0

Originally I had mixed feelings about this map, but sadly this one didn't really cut it for me. It started out strong, I liked the strong city start, and the design of the city was mostly very nice. The library was also promising as it had a very nice design/layout, monster placement was good, and usage of 0 sector height 'walls' allowed for very nice texture use. I'd say the beginning hub and the library were the high points. I do agree with some of the other reviews I saw though that this map feels like there was a lot of creativity and great texture use early on, but seems like once more of the map was made, simpletonium may have realized the line limit was getting a bit short. Granted this is just an assumption, but I can see it.

The pub was cool, but the walls were rather barren and same-y compared to the library, the yellow key felt rather tacked on as well (the fight after the yellow key was rather nice. However after looking in doombuilder, my assumptions were correct; the entire fight is skippable if you just resist pressing the switch, its unessesary). I have nothing against optional combat, but I think it works better when its optional combat within optional places of exploration. Here it just feels like "press this switch if you want more combat". I may be overly critical here since it was some nice street combat, but I think the yellow key could have been setup a lot better if the fight was supposed to be mandatory.If not, then there could have been a better setup as a secret.

The final arena kinda sucked. The mastermind got completely stuck for me (i won't count it against this map, I think it was my mods because I tried it in prboom+ and couldn't get her stuck again) but what was the main issue was the fight was cheesable by just standing outside for the most part, and then all the ammo was locked into 2 rooms which proved very troublesome as this map was getting me a little starved for ammo towards the end. This is a bit contradictory, but still feels unbalanced. Also this boss room and the exit clash hard, the weird square blood room and the exit felt very off. Again maybe too critical but the ending fight was ok, a little slaughter-y for map06 with 2 cybers and the mastermind (the invul was a +, even if in a semi-secret). it just felt like to me that I could see the energy/line limit petering out towards the end of this map, and makes it feel disjointed. It just felt like a square room filled with monsters.

Overall, is this a bad map? not at all. Does it have good combat? in my opinion yes, I just wasn't a fan of the end fight. But could some lines and details be sacrificed and put to better use, possibly making the map feel more cohesive? I do think so. Other little things to note, its probably just me, but I think the red key room in the library would look better with red banners instead of blue, and the switch in the red key room seems to only lower a single mancubus pillar in the final fight room. A rather esoteric choice, especially since the other pillar lowers from grabbing the red key, and seeing as the pillars would be helpful in that sort of fight, and they would both lower before the player ever sees them, kinda seems strange.

EDIT: Looking in doombuilder, there is one purpose for the extra fight, which is to open up the last secret (I do like seeing what I missed since it may be a while before I play this again). Personally I feel this secret is very disjointed from its trigger, I doubt i'd ever find this secret normally, possibly only by chance if I was scrounging the map for extra ammo or health. That and the rewards for this more obscure secret is a computer map and green armor, for how well hidden it is, I don't think the rewards match.

A personal suggestion as well, not a critique. The soulsphere counts for 2 secrets, one being the switch and one being the invul itself. This could probably just be one secret.

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

MAP03: Town Square

Map04: Stormdrain

MAP01: Ebb

MAP06: On the Block

MAP05: Demolition Zone
MAP02: Flow

 

Edited August 6, 2020 by DFF

[loveless]

2 hours ago, galileo31dos01 said:

@loveless I don't know if it's on my end but your thumbnails look "corrupted"

it's YouTube picking fantastic frames for thumbnails and I don't care to change them lol

[loveless]

1 hour ago, Phobus said:

@galileo31dos01 I see the same thing on his YoutTube thumbnails. Specifically the in-game footage seems really odd colours, which might be because it's halfway through a frame or something.

 

I'm using the palette from TOTG.

[NaZa]

I was going to join in quite enthusiastically for this one, even done my writeups for the first four maps, but the power outlet my extension cable (also PC) is connected to seems to have been causing power outages in the house, so I'm out of PC for a few days. Either way, I've played the first nine maps before, so I remember what's in them enough to write on my trusty phone.

 

MAP01: Ebb (Lord_Z) 

Not a bad first map. I am not a large fan of how the indoor area between the Manc and the Arachnotron outside areas was handled, but it's relatively minor. Quite generous for a first map, weapon-wise, but it offsets that well with the more-dangerous enemy roster. There aren't many difficult traps, though; most are easily telegraphed. Standout would likely be the chaingunner duet after obtaining the keycard (accompanied by a Manc and demons), and the secret shortly after. The map in visuals was quite gray indoors but more brown outdoors which was a nice contrast, helps it stick out a bit more. All in all, quite a good map and I enjoy how it's connected to the following map. 

 

MAP02: Flow (Dreadopp) 

I forgot to mention I played the four maps both continuously and pistol start to see how the balance is. I hadn't died on this map on either recent attempt, although I came close. First encounter is quite tricky, even with carryovers, as the trap is more surprising than the previous map's - quite deadly too, if you don't make a run for it. The bridge encounter with the dual Arachnotrons is a bit of a bitch move I thought, if one dies and the other just keeps sniping you, but it's not a problem... However, there's the final encounter. When you know about it, you camp in the switch area while the teleporting monsters make their way towards you... But if you don't know, you'll likely learn about it quite quickly and harshly. Especially as you barely have enough rockets if you don't find one secret, and barely enough health if you don't find the other. Visuals are top notch, especially the later larger area with the bridge. Both secrets aren't too easy to get to but you can find them on your first try. The interconnection with MAP01, when you know about it, makes both maps feel like a cohesive whole. All in all, another decent map I enjoyed playing. 

[VanaheimRanger]

 

[DuckReconMajor]

1 hour ago, loveless said:

it's YouTube picking fantastic frames for thumbnails and I don't care to change them lol

lol most of the time for me it sees a teleport and says 'ooh green!' and makes that the thumbnail

 

MAP06: On The Block

glBoom+ 2.5.1.7um, skill 4, pistol starts with saves, no complevel specified

 

Another great example of how a city level should look. Demons prowling the street fighting each other is a great Hell on Earth vibe.

The bar area was neat, you'll definitely get surrounded here (as I did) if you're not careful.

Big, spacious areas, like the street and the dimly-lit library, were nice surprises I wasn't expecting from a wad like this.

The archvile fight was hard without anything more than a shotgun, but i got it eventually. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP06 - "On The Block" - SiMpLeToNiUm (100%K/99%I/75%S):

See Sandy? It wasn't that difficult to make your map look like a city street with low specs.
The author makes honour to his name by making a really simple map, that looks really nice outdoors. The map is actually underdetailed, and has a pretty basic layout, you can spot this is some mapping-novice job at times by looking at the layout and texture usage. This looks like Sandy could have made it (Also that Sandy learnt how to make a propper city landscape in Doom II).
The map is just a cacoswarm type of slaughter map, it's actually some kind of arena map, with your big bossfight when you get the yellow key, and a monster invasion going on the streets.
My problem here is that you rely way too much on infighting, as there is so little ammo at the start that you don't have any other option. Even on continuous I had problems as I ended the previous map with low ammo. Gameplay is pretty simple with some switch hunts and leaves you straight into the action.
There is a surprising instance where the blur sphere works, at the Mastermind building, is you are brave enough you can grab it, avoiding all the damage she can deal to you, on an actually well placed spot to be dangerous. I managed to get the sphere and get straight into her face and destroy her with rockets.
Then a Cyberdemon appears guarding the exit, so you have to take him down aswell.
Overall is a simple map, with low detail, ammo hungry and clearly made by a novice, but I actually enjoyed it, despise it being grindy at some points. There are some really good things and bad things here, mostly good ones.
The exit area screams Sandy Petersen's name.

Deaths: 4 (HMP Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP04

MAP03
MAP06
MAP05

MAP01
MAP02

 

I'm on MAP12 at the moment, and I can't wait to talk about certain map I've played, It left me impressed, you'll see in the next couple of days.

Edited August 6, 2020 by DJVCardMaster

[Summer Deep]

MAP 06

 

As this is the final map of the opening episode, the scale and intensity of the encounters are correspondingly greater. I quite enjoyed this, and got through it in UV continuous without any saves, though it was a close call in the end. The best battle is the one in the great hall at the end: the Spider Mastermind died to infighting before I'd even entered the building, and there wasn't much mopping up to do. Then it was the Cyberdemons of course - thought I had cover from them in the 'armoury' room, but got the shock of my life when one of them walked in there and almost finished me off. Escaped out into the street with 6% health, and then somehow managed to kill both of them from there, while risking getting a rocket in my face every time I opened the door. Only got the invuln afterwards, I suppose it was of some use in getting over the damaging floor en route to the exit.

 

 

MAP07

 

Had the impression that this must have been inspired, either consciously or subconsciously, by Romero's The Abandoned Mines from the IWAD. Not bad overall - I was a bit annoyed by the room with the Spectres and the Archviles. Sure you need a fair bit of skill to get out in one piece, but it's mainly down to luck - if the gaps don't open up pretty quickly in the right places, you're toast! The Cyberdemon fight wasn't as tough as it might have been: you get an escape route, but you might as well try to plasma it to death on the spot, as otherwise it remains a big threat after you leave its den. AV at the end, but it's not one of the more lethal ones.

 

Edited August 7, 2020 by Summer Deep

[galileo31dos01]

1 hour ago, DuckReconMajor said:

lol most of the time for me it sees a teleport and says 'ooh green!' and makes that the thumbnail

 

Same here, or pinkies, always one of three predetermined screenshots is a pinky selfie, a baron, or green flash. Youtube seems to have a thing going on for both green and pink.

 

Quote

it's YouTube picking fantastic frames for thumbnails and I don't care to change them lol

 

@loveless Yeah manually taking good screenshots is tedious sometimes, at least for us who don't do like Guitardz :p

[Summer Deep]

1 hour ago, DJVCardMaster said:

I'm on MAP12 at the moment, and I can't wait to talk about certain map I've played, It left me impressed, you'll see in the next couple of days.

 

 

I'm guessing you're referring to MAP10. I was impressed by it anyway!

[VanaheimRanger]

2 hours ago, galileo31dos01 said:

@loveless Yeah manually taking good screenshots is tedious sometimes, at least for us who don't do like Guitardz :p

I spend a lot of time stealing just the right graphics lmps from the wad I'm playing to make them perfect, whenever there are graphics to steal.

 

Also, I see that it likes to use teleports, BFG blasts, plasma sprites, pinkies in your face, and the menu screen often as auto thumbs.  I don't think it has anything to do with color, I believe it picks up things that stay in frame for a suspended time.  In Doom the player is constantly moving, so the only real consistent frames are the things like I mentioned.  In games with lots of cinematic cutscenes and dialogue I have noticed it likes to pick up on shots of people's faces while they are speaking.  Examples from my other, non-Doom, channel where I care less about views:

 

 

BONUS: Auto-thumbs from some of my scheduled Memento Mori videos that I haven't uploaded custom thumbs for yet:

Edited August 7, 2020 by guitardz

[Krenium]

MAP07 - Ground Beneath by Aquila Chrysaetos

PrBoom+ / HMP / Continuous and pistol start

 

Screenshot:

Spoiler

 

This map begins with your life in mortal danger and that won't change until you punch through to the rocket launcher and mop up the remaining cacodemons and imps. Aesthetically, this is the first map in the hellish city episode and while I see the hellish, I don't see the city. Ground Beneath is simple and small, with most of the action taking place in a central area split into quadrants.

 

The plasma gun secret area appears to be broken in PrBoom+ due to Z-fighting. It was really easy to find and I'm guessing it wasn't supposed to be. Just as well, since without plasma, the blue key ambush would be far too RNG.

 

While I appreciate the combat here has been carefully balanced, the high difficulty and lack of space isn't really my thing. The map isn't too much to look at. The only extraneous detailing I noticed was inside the blue key monster closet. The cyberdemon and final archvile are not only skippable, but you are heavily encouraged to do so. I guess that might be intentional.

 

Overall, the simplicity of the architecture, lack of freedom, nearly mandatory secret, and heavy iwad influence just didn't do it for me.

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)

3 5 4 1 2 6 7

Edited August 7, 2020 by Krenium

[Horus]

MAP07 - “Ground Beneath” by Aquila Chrysaetos

 

I knew as soon as I saw the mapper name to expect a difficulty spike here, and so indeed there was one. I do think this is easier than Aquila's 1k2 map, however. A very hot start here with all the imps, and it can take a few deaths to work out what to do (especially since it isn't immediately obvious which door is the non-keyed one, unless you consult your automap which isn't advisable with all those imp balls). Eventually I made my way to the right door and the secret the other side of it. And in case it wasn't already immediately obvious from the opening area and MIDI, here it leaves you in no doubt as to which IWAD map this is based off (Abandoned Mines). And it's here, and in the path in the lava room after the YK door, that I think the map follows the IWAD level a little too closely, offering more or less the same monsters and traps. 

 

After picking up the plasma gun, I was finally in a position to clear out the opening area. Shortly after is what I think is the map's best gameplay sequence, the trap involving a series of demons, imps and two archviles. Difficult but not impossible, I just about survived on my first try (as Krenium mentioned, the plasma gun probably bailed me out there).

 

The map concludes with a cyber in a very enclosed space that you basically forced to skip, I didn't have enough ammo to kill it, perhaps the other secret which I missed contained said ammo. The lone archvile at the end is more threatening than your usual exit lone archvile trope, but nonetheless much more doable without skipping than the cyber.

[Capellan]

MAP07

Well it's not a Dead Simple remake, at least!

 

Very much a set piece based design with a series of tactical puzzles to solve (or ignore, as I did the cacodemons and cyberdemon - the former served admirably to distract the latter).  That's not really my jam, but it's a decent enough example of the form, I guess.

 

 

[Endless]

MAP 06: On The Block

LZDoom + UV

We're going downtown boys! Welcome to the city block. Population: Lots of demons. Main problem: Too many demons. Solution: Many shotguns. This map is completely themed within what a city is. The tall buildings and the wide streets. Quite interesting to admire just for the novelty of traveling through realistic places.

 

It also works decently well when it comes to gameplay. The architecture may not look so amazing to the naked eye but at least it's kind of nice to see buildings that look more realistic than those in Doom 2 and have a good combination of enemy use. The positioning is quite solid and even offers a few surprises that can take us by surprise. Perhaps a little too surprising. The final combat area rises too sharply. It will make you say: ''Well that scalated quickly.''

 

After that, it's pretty fun, without being too exaggerated either in its layout or in its presentation, it manages to be decent enough. The use of the 1k lines can be seen as a bit wasted, since they are used in many decorative areas that in the end don't bring too much essence. Chairs, for example. It reminds me a lot of the vanilla maps of the 90s, a good idea that doesnt translate to well if you are limited by 1k lines.

[Biodegradable]

MAP07 - Ground Beneath

HMP | Continuous with Saves | GZDoom + Zagemod

 

Okay, um, I think "Owch!" very much sums it up for me. Turning the heat up in this kind of narrow corridor like set-up, completely surrounded by Caco's, Imps and Hitscanners on all sides right out of the gate with little to no cover thanks to all the barred windows, Aquila is all too eager to channel their inner Romero and kick the player right in the teeth. Little to no wiggle room to maneuver well had me eating a lot of projectiles and made mincemeat out of me quite a few times. This map is... oooh, this map is just... hmmmm... ACK! It's very clever, very mean and I hated it lmao. Not in the sense that it's a bad map or that I didn't have fun, because I did. It's just... oooh, that Aquila's a real bastard hehe

 

Gameplay:

Spoiler

 

 

[loveless]

prboom+, no saves, uv pistol starts  
map 7
deaths 7

 

first map in the wad to make me loudly yell FUCK upon death, bravo aquila!  another fine piece of arena combat bits with a hot start.  i was genuinely excited to progress after clearing the opening every attempt and cheesing the cyberdemon was my reward for perseverance.  

 

1kcp-7-loveless.7z

[NaZa]

MAP03: Town Square (Liberation) 

The opening of this map is just so satisfying playing continuously, with the former humans. The map isn't all too challenging otherwise, even if there's an arch vile, though there is a rather challenging setup midway through the map, after the lift behind the red door, where you have to adapt to the new environment quite quickly. I barely hung on to life there while pistol starting - didn't think I'd live through it. The second red door stumped me playing continuously as just being a chaingunner closet, but pistol starting made me appreciate it due to handing you the chaingun. Visually, the city theme is quite well presented in this map, probably the best in the maps so far, as the others were more water treatment bases like others suggested. Bonus points for using Perdition's Gate Soundtrack from what I remember. Certainly one of the better episode 1 maps. 

 

MAP04: The Stormdrain (Bauul) 

This map dives a bit more into difficult territory with the standout being two limited space ambushes with increasing opposition (imps and demons vs revenants, imps and lost souls). The start is quite a surprise as it's not your casual start but a "hot-start", and on pistol starts it can become quite overbearing. Hitscanners in houses and long sniping imps are quite difficult to deal with immediately. However, the map only builds up on the rough opening, with other traps such as a far away arachnotron sniping you from behind, a jump landing you in an area infested with revenants and a drop down into a very, very narrow area with three revenants, including other monsters. I'm not sure from what height the secret switch should be activated - on continuous play I was able to SSG from another secret, but on pistol starting I had to jump down and shoot it mid flight. Other secrets were easier to get but of course not as rewarding as the grand prize. I really had fun playing this map, even if it was a bit more difficult than the preceding maps. 

 

The maps coming up I don't remember quite clearly (except MAP08, for unknown reasons) but I'll try to replay them on a different computer or at least watch videos. I remember 06 and 07 quite well, having died on 07 in a bit of a one-life attempt, but 05 seems to be a tabula rasa in my head. 

[tmorrow]

11 hours ago, Summer Deep said:

I was a bit annoyed by the room with the Spectres and the Archviles. Sure you need a fair bit of skill to get out in one piece, but it's mainly down to luck - if the gaps don't open up pretty quickly in the right places, you're toast!

 

The blue key room trap is nasty and highly subject to rng if you stay. There is a reliable way that doesn't require much skill to get out of the room though that almost always works.
 

Spoiler

Back into the cage corner nearest the blue key and trigger. Aim rockets to the left of the pillar. Start shooting before you run over the key and move through the key and left side of the pillar. Three or four rocket shots will blast a hole through the imps/spectres to the teleporter and you'll be whisked away to safety before being blasted. Taking the enemy out from the walkway through the bars is inefficient but safer. It's the wimps way but it works almost every time.

 

As you point out, you can bail on the close, risky, cybie challenge and take him out from a distance too (with some care).

 

Kudos to @Aquila Chrysaetos for a really great map, the first of 4 map submissions for the project.

 

[Biodegradable]

MAP08 - Gateway

HMP | Continuous with Saves | GZDoom + Zagemod

 

This is a nice one. Feels quaint and even a little old-school but it's a welcome breather after being pummeled by MAP07. It almost feels like a Doom 2 map with its sparse, yet intricate layout and it even has some fireblue to boot! Not much of a challenge besides a sizable fight at the end, complete with two ArchViles, but it's fun and intriguing in its design for me. Had some great use of decorative torture stuff to make things feel appropriately Hellish. One thing to note that stood out to me a bit was a teleporter that was marked with the yellow skull key icon. I thought I needed the key in order for the teleporter to work, only for it to bring me to the yellow skull door. Considering how quaint the map is, I thought that was a bit weirdly misleading and ultimately unnecessary. That's the only quibble I have with it though. Otherwise, it's a perfectly fine map.

 

Gameplay:
 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited August 8, 2020 by Biodegradable

[DFF]

MAP07: Ground Beneath by Aquila Chrysaethos (100% kills/92% items/100%secrets)

Blind Run|UV|Continuous|ProjectBrutality3.0

 

Man, I really liked this one. This really feels like a doom 2 map, giving me an Abandoned mines meets caged. I like the concept of starting in a central lift and having the branching areas, something that was done well in the early IWADS and plutonia 2, but rarely elsewhere as far as I've seen.

Combat was fun, definitely some tricky moments to overcome which I enjoy. The arch + demon trap for the blue key (I think) was a good one, but tough.

Secrets were not the hardest to find, but still designed very well, one adds optional gameplay and a plasma rifle, and the other if spotted requires the player to do at least a little bit of thinking to get to. Both are very enjoyable.

The map, like a doom 2 map, is not very detailed by todays standards, and the texture choice at times seems to change a lot as warped demon realities tend to do (we see wood, metal, brick, rock, and base textures all within the same screen), but none of this I see a fault in. I even find it has charm, it wouldn't feel like an older doom map without it.

 

great fun stuff.

Rankings:

Spoiler

MAP03: Town Square

MAP07: Ground Beneath

Map04: Stormdrain

MAP01: Ebb

MAP06: On the Block

MAP05: Demolition Zone
MAP02: Flow

 

[VanaheimRanger]

 

Reading other write-ups on this has made me realize a difference between those who play without saves and those who use mid-saves.  As a saver I didn't find the map all that bad, but I can definitely see how it could be quite the challenge for someone who plays saveless.  Good job with this map, Aquila.  I was expecting some manc and arachnotron tricks but if there were any I didn't catch them.

[NaZa]

Managed to play these few coming up. 

 

MAP05: Demolition Zone (Garbage)

I had forgotten about this map fully, until I've seen the opening area, when I remembered most of it. It's an okay map. Not particularly pretty and stingy on ammo but there's a few relatively tricky setups around it, most notably the HK lift scenario. There's not much else to it. The encounter where you get the first key is quite tricky if you're not quick on the trigger - you'll likely get cornered. The lift behind the first locked door is a bit glitched, I think the button sector also has the tag. I enjoyed the cacodemon trap that followed, but they were locked in ineffective corner cubbies. The red key trap had me rocket my hair due to Cacos, and the ending area I didn't feel was particularly effective with its usage of faraway Barons and HKs. Playing continuously I assume it's much easier because you have a full backpack of ammo. I am not a large fan of this map but it's a nice breatherish map for the map coming up. 

 

MAP06: On The Block (SiMpLeToNiUm)

This map is quite a great one. I have a hard time believing it uses 1000 or less lines (although it's quite evident in the final area) - the detail is quite great, especially around the library. I died at the penultimate encounter which I predicted anyway. Pistol starting is a bit rude. I cleared the library before the super shotgun area, so I was severely down on ammo for a few minutes... Other than that, playing the map is immense fun - especially when you get the yellow key - every encounter immediately after is super fun, even if they're horde encounters for the most time, which you might know I'm not a huge fan of. Visuals are also quite well made - as others pointed out, it has the feel like How Doom II Cities Should've Been Made. There's, however, a lot of DoomCute stuff in the library and that one northern bar, which makes you think whether it should've been used in the final area. The final cyberdemons I am not sure whether you are supposed to make them infight with the teleporting horde or the spider mastermind - but they seem to be effective at both. I do think having both enemy "phalanxes" present there at the same time (ie rushing for the switches) is a bit too much even for the super skilled players though. 

 

MAP07: Ground Beneath (Aquila Chrysaetos)

It's difficult to find the right words for this map. It feels like Abandoned Mines but Claustrophobic. I like challenging maps but I'm not a fan of such claustrophobic settings. The Cyberdemon setup is a bit too cramped for my taste, even if I'm a fan of SSGing Cybers. I don't think there was too much ammo which is good because it adds the challenge (although I still think there was a shortage, especially at the end). Didn't seem like a hellcity map but it does have a uniqueness ij the somewhat abstract theme the Abandoned Mines carried. The standout encounter is quite clearly the spectre/imp/AV one - I choose to rocket the spectres three to four times and then barge in with plasma - it's super fun that way. I can't say I'm loving this map but it's a perfectly okay endeavor noticeably revolving around the final two encounters. I liked how each quadrant had a different liquid. 

 

MAP08: Gateway (NaZa)

As the dev for this map, I feel like I should provide a bit backstory to this map. 

 

As you might tell from the music and opening shot, it's a clear homage to Mt Erebus. Indeed; the map was originally destined to be a part of Infernew, and was constructed around E3M6 due to there not being a lot, if any, such maps in the project at the time. I also intended it to be a miniboss map, hence the final setup. However, after only getting a single no as the entire feedback from the project leader, my map was promptly rejected, and I was free to repurpose it for this project - like some advised me to. I don't regret that decision.

 

This is one of the few maps which I've finished rather quickly, barring speedmaps. The whole opening "city" was visualized and roughly created in one day, and I finished the map another day. It originally also included DM only hallways out-of-map for intended Infernew DM compatibility - it'd shut out some areas where players could camp - but due to line preservation, I'd deleted it. Same with the stairs in the blue key tower which became a lift.

 

Another important inspiration for this map was Nilla Doom MAP02 - or at least its usage of dikes, which I found an interesting concept. I managed to create a building shorter than the surrounding sky, which I'm kinda proud of, considering it's vanilla. Otherwise, fully Mt Erebus. Not only in visual, but there's some "experimental" gameplay moments, like the teleporting entrance to the building which takes you by surprise. In case you don't enter, another teleporter takes you there, so beware. One of the main criticism I had gotten for the map in dev cycle was that the outside was way too sparsely populated, and I've remedied the problem a bit but in retrospect, I could've added some teleporting Cacos in as I had a couple of lines left. 

 

The final arena, it's by far the most memorable setup in the map. I'm not fully sure how I've come to the conclusion to use archviles and moving walls, but it worked quite well and I left it in. I also don't remember adding HKs and revenants to it, but maybe I did and just forgot as I last updated the map in Dec '18 or so. There's also a change in arsenal in the approach - HNTR gives you a BFG, and I'm not sure, but I think HMP gives you a rocket launcher and a dozen rockets. On UV it stays a fully SSG battle, which makes it quite tense, especially if your invulnerability (provided you actually get it) runs out prematurely. I've balanced it painstakingly to make it fun enough when it was just imps and AVs but the new setup I'm not so sure about. [Come to think of it, I use a lot of Imp/AV setups in my recent maps.] Platform lower timing also took quite a lot of time. There's a funny scene in MP when a Cyberdemon appears on it, and in hindsight that wasn't a clever choice. My only gripe would be how you (afaik) can't backtrack after the final area, but it's too late to amend that now, isn't it! 

 

The tower in the middle is also a landmark, especially as you can see the invuln from afar, making you ask yourself how to find it. @Biodegradable raises an interesting point - if you stumble upon the teleport before you get the yellow skull, it's above the ground and inaccessible. Getting the skull unleashes the horde of Imps and Spectres, but it also lowers the teleporter. A bit useless, but when the whole tower was a secret, it definitely felt less confusing. The arrow there mostly points at "you'll need it for the area succeeding yellow skull" vibes, that it's necessary and only if you have the skull should you grab it (makes mkst sense playing on UV). Also, the switch after the yellow skull trap opens the door out as it closes in on the player. 

 

So yeah, I regard it as one of my better maps. Ironically, because it was more oriented towards E3 than my usual style. It felt like mapping out of my comfort zone and that's probably why it feels so rewarding to see it turned out alright - in my eyes, at least. 

Edited August 7, 2020 by NaZa

[DuckReconMajor]

MAP07: Ground Beneath

glBoom+ 2.5.1.7um, skill 4, pistol starts with saves, no complevel specified

 

I agree with guitardz, being able to save in the demo greatly increased the fun in have, especially in crazy, action packed levels like this.

It's like an Abandoned Mines with an Episode 4 urgency to it. Great stuff.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Endless]

MAP07: Ground Beneath

LZDoom + UV

 

A pretty tight map compared to the rest. Kind of like a central hub where we have to pick up the keys. The beginning reminds me of a map... I think it was TNT, my fish memory doesn't help. Anyway, this is a very small map that focuses more on offering a challenge through claustrophobic encounters with little maneuverability and many enemies. Fortunately this is rewarded with enough items to survive the encounter. It's practically a big box with a lot of stuff thrown in. The final area with the Cyberdemon can be totally avoidable if we know how to move well, but otherwise, I wouldn't recommend fighting it in such a small room. Oh, the archie at the end is also one of those typical demons that actually only forces you to run towards the exit. All in all, a decent map with nothing remarkable but its narrow design.

Edited August 7, 2020 by Endless