The DWmegawad Club plays: MAYhem 2020

[Horus]

Thanks to everyone who played and commented on my map! After all these months participating in the DWMC as a player, it's interesting to now be on the side of the mappers. Now most of the club have finished it, time for my write-up.

 

Map 23: Solitude Denied

 

So I knew I wanted to do MAYhem this year before it was even May, but when the theme was announced I was kinda nervous, 20 sectors! I mean I knew how to join sectors in a map, but making a whole map based on the premise sounded scary.

 

I started drafting up a map and I could see it was turning out crap so I scrapped it and did sweet FA for 2 weeks. Then finally inspiration struck as E4M1 came to mind: a map in that style sounded pretty doable with 20 sectors. So I started sketching it out, using a ‘hub + 3’ layout, a layout I like that's fairly common to my (short) mapping career so far.

 

The central hub was influenced by the starting room of E4M1, and the western path by the eastern room of E4M1. I tend to use quite a lot of different textures in my maps (which is evident enough in this map) and is kinda why the indoor parts of the northern path are more E3 than E4. Some people (outside the DWMC) mentioned the outdoor pillar section looks like Heck, that wasn't actually a conscious decision, instead coincidental/subconscious.

 

I did the rock section last, once I knew how many sectors I had left over to play around with different sector heights. For that reason, despite its relative intricacy compared to elsewhere on the map, it was actually the quickest and easiest section for me to finish.

 

It ended up being my easiest map (all four of my levels in the 64KB challenge are harder), and one of the easier levels of this megawad. This was very much deliberate, after making two pretty tough and gimmicky maps, I had a yearning to make a simple gimmick-free map that wasn’t too difficult to complete.

 

I figured a lot of maps wouldn’t have secrets in this wad so I deliberately included some in my map. My personal favourite is the backpack one, I like those kind of exploration-based secrets in maps (so plus points to all of you that found it :P).

 

Aside from the overprovision of health (I could probably cut 1/3 of the health and barely increase the difficulty lol), and wishing I had prevented the arachnotron cheese in the northern area, I’m pretty happy with how the map turned out, and I’m pretty happy with the reception it got here on the DWMC too.

 

Finally, big props to the project leader @Obsidian, who managed the project very impressively and efficiently, which certainly motivated me to finish my map and playtest everyone else's in beta as well. Looking forward to MAYhem 2021!

 

I won't be participating next month so I won't be voting, I hope 1k Lines 2 wins though as it's a fantastic megawad (especially that map).

 

[golbeeze]

Map 25

This one seemed like a slaughtermap, but I used all my super explody type weapons to make them go away, so I can't be certain. I didn't see any fancy enemies from colorful hell so it turned a probably-difficult map into an easy one.

[tmorrow]

map25

A large, open arena, with monsters that want to get intimate. There's an invulnerability you see on the catwalk. The catwalk collapses when you move onto it. The only way I was able to reach the invulnerability was with quick, accurate strafing and bumping the column it is on before the catwalk lowers too far.

The initial area contains one roaming archvile and a bunch of low tier enemies. Enemies are everywhere. Imps are shooting at you out of windows and cacodemons are laughing at you from out in the slime. The pro strat here is to run around, shooting like crazy until everything is dead.

Sadly, the monster community on this map suffers from segregation issues. The mancubi, arachnotrons and barons/hellknights guard their own skull keys, with an archvile or two leading the charge. Once you start using the 6 teleporters, you'll understand what I mean. They can be taken in any order.

• east tp - ledge with bsk, spawns an archvile and mancubi
• west tp - ledge with rsk, spawns an archvile and arachnotrons
• west toxic waste tp - ysk in the center, spawns 2 archviles and barons/hellknights
• 2 north tp's - both take you to the area with a megaarmor and a bunch of medikits
• south toxic waste tp - a non official secret soulsphere, thanks to @Horus for pointing this one out to me

[Snikle]

I feel bad about not participating this month, seeing as how I had a map in the WAD for the first time (MAP41). Of the reviews I saw of it, I got the impression it had a mixed reception, which I pretty much expected. The map took about 10 days to make (I work slow - Most of my maps take me a few months) and the gameplay I put in it is understandably divisive, being just a big 'ol clusterfuck of monsters in a compact-ish area. When I finally release my main project, that's when I'll worry more about pleasing more people than myself (but only slightly).

 

...Anyway, I wanted to throw in a vote here. I said in one of the Discords that I'd try and play no matter what wins, but I don't know if I'm really in the mood for 1K lines. Same thing I said a few months ago when the first 1K lines won. I might try it anyway, but I rather go with

+++Three is a crowd

[klaymeb]

MAP25 - “Monolith” by Natural Tvventy

UV / Pistol start / GZDoom

 

Big open map, but it'll soon be full of demons. The first time around, I tried completing the map fast, running around waking up all the waves. That didn't work out too well - I see red when I hear Arch-viles, and trying to get all four (maybe five) while all the other monsters are around was futile. Waking up the waves in turns made it a lot easier. Getting the keys in any order and exploiting the teleporters to get the demons to infight is the way to go, especially from pistol start!

[kalaeth]

HMP :

(my MAP 23 post was so small that I even forgot to say that I actually ended up enjoying the map, after I understood it and how to face it, but I wrote it in one minute while dinner was getting cold :D)

 

MAP 24 : Ok, I remember this one from the beta, and that I did finish it on ITYTD so let's see if I can do it in HMP as well. Starting continuous means I already have some ammo and some armor, which will help on the initial cleaning up. My best bet will likely be a trip around the map to wake up everyone to soe infigthing and the picking up a vantage point to move from, so let's try that. Also, I found "ostego" a interesting sounding word so I check and it's the name of a state in the US, and a couple of cities, I wonder if one of those is where the name came from?

 

 Yey, a cache of rockets! Ups, an arch that came so close that I killed myself with the newfound rockets. Second try the archie didn't show up so I killed a few and saved. And then I found the arch, killed him with sweet rocket love and got splattered by the cyber immediately. Third try and the arch lies dead. quick save and let's go have some "fun". And by fun I mean being killed by the cyber trying to use of the lifts.. And the being ravaged by revenants when I do survive the lift... Couple more tries and I climbed a lift and cleared a room! Only to find out I need the yellow key to actually do anything in there. A bit more roaming and I got rocketd from behind... Trying the rev room, 2 deaths. This map needs plasma. And I hate those central cybers, there's nothing I can do about them but pray that they don't kill me while I ride the lifts.. Which just happened 4 times in a row. 5. And then the revs. And then I managed to kill all the revs and I get cybershot.

 I'm sorry, this is not my idea of fun, repeating the same thing over and over and over and over again while praying to the rng gods that the path of the cyber takes him somewhere else... Finally. A few more deaths, all to the cybers, and I'm on the path to the red key, 89 of 96 monsters dead. Red key is mine. And the blue key is just standing there. And fuck off, another cyber? In a closed room filled with revs? Going thrice.. And I got out! Only to be received by a rocket to the face..... Fuck this. I grab the key and I'm off. 93% kills, 0% secrets and 13 minutes.

 I did not enjoy this map. I ended it frustrated and annoyed and no feeling of relief or accomplishment because all I did was run away. 

 

death count : 28

total deaths : 418 (aprox)

 

MAP 25 : oh wow, I found a secret before even moving. Aand this is a very hectic start. But at least I don't see any cybers.  As usual, Ill play later, I'm still kinda bummed by the previous map.

 Ok, I'll tackle it now.

 And I die to the arch almost immediately. Next run I ported a couple for times before opening the YK and dying to the second arch.. Let's have at it again, this time after lunch. 36 monsters down ain't much but one of them is the annoying first acrh, so I've got that going for me. *save in a corner* Map decacofied, second save. 89 kills, most imps down. good. 111 dead. way too much ammo lost to auto-aim shooting walls... And then when I think it's safe to go for the YK I end up gangraped by HKs and a arch.. And again. And again. Damn HKs and HBs protect the arch and I can't kill (or even see) him but he surely can and does.

Different approach : blue key and the mancfest first. Success, so far. And then I went for the RK and ended up arachnocrushed.

Oh damn. I got rid of all the spiders but then I fell into the YK 'port and guess which fiery "friend" found me again?

 AH! found the way to get the invun, killed that goddamed arch and then spewed plasma all over the HKs and HBs until they all died (and I got out of ammo). Now, to fall down there again, resupply and go for that red key.

 Ok, got as much ammo as I can get, and the monster count tells me there are 20 spiders waiting for me and my 45 rockets..

Let's go. And a rocket to the wall, good one K. And then a regular old spiderplasma to the face. And another. I need to find out where the 'port for the health packs was.. oh, spidered from behind. Ok, full health and 3 spiders to go, I can do this! (of course, I could have just skipped this last fight but since there are no cybers in the map (a VERY welcome surprise), I want to kill all monsters). And done! Last one got the honor of being shotgunned instead of plasma/rocket-ed. And now to the exit, with 100% kills, and the secret that isn't a secret.. 17m34seconds.

 

Now this is a hard map I enjoyed. Most my deaths were my fault and there were strategies I could apply to minimize the possibility of dying.

 

death count : 10

total deaths :  428 (aprox)

Edited September 25, 2020 by kalaeth

[Biodegradable]

MAP25 - Monolith

UV | Continuous with Saves | GZDoom + Zagemod

 

Whoa, okay, that was quite a battle heh. Is this what you guys refer to as a "slaughtermap" or am I still wrong on that one? Whatever, it's a fuckton of demons attacking you from every conceivable angle, but with plenty of room to maneuver, collect resources and find ways to bottleneck the bastards and catch your breath where needed. I held out pretty well, so I'm proud of myself. I only died once along with a restart at the very beginning so I could get a better idea of the lay of the land and try and get a grasp of what I had to deal with. Zagemod's health/armour bonuses no doubt helped keep me alive, but I came close to death plenty of times be it by the hands of the demons or my own clumsiness. I think the best part of it was that, unlike other maps of this sort that is just oozing demons from every orifice at once, I didn't feel overwhelmed and was able to strategise, which I really appreciated. The map's pretty fun with all these teleporting wall things to help you get around, find cover and take out all those pesky imps sniping at you from the walls. Progression is straightforward and the map's layout is interesting and open enough to help you concentrate on annihilating your foes and ducking and weaving around projectiles by the skin of your teeth. As much as I usually don't enjoy maps with overwhelming odds, I can safely say I had a good time with this one. :^)

 

 

As for my vote for next month's megaWAD, I'll choose +++Demonfear. I was initially thinking we take on 1K Lines 2, but I'm really interested in this old megaWAD from the late 90s. It's on the 100 Best Wads of All Time and I can see a fair few club members have been aching to play it for months now, so let's throw 'em a bone.

Edited September 26, 2020 by Biodegradable

[TheNoob_Gamer]

Being the map that took pages from map16 of Doom 2, I'd say it is slaughter, but not really as you can dodge most of the combat scenarios (at least, that's what I do in the first version of the map).

[Phobus]

Next month I'll need to be more "in to" Doom for NaNoWADMo, and I was checking out some of the 10 Years of Doom recommendations not long ago, so I'll join in with Demonfear if that gets through...

 

+++ Demonfear

[kalaeth]

updated my entry with the map for today but forgot to vote, so I'll vote here:

old school, top 100 and I haven't played it? Sounds perfect. (nothing against the 1k2 but I do kinda want something a bit more oldschool)

 

+++Demonfear

Edited September 25, 2020 by kalaeth : (a wild today had ran away)

[FrancisT218]

Going to change my vote to go with momentum,, but since Demonfear is so short:

 

+++1K Lines 2 AND +++Demonfear (in tandem)

 

If the 'in tandem' doesn't catch on, then just +++1K Lines 2. Demonfear IMO is appropriate as a side entry (literally just take every day's map and add at most a few minutes on to it, lol).

[SiFi270]

+++Demonfear

I've been going through the whole Top 100 for a while now and it's pretty close by anyway.

[DSC]

+++Demonfear...

...Will this finally be it?

[VanaheimRanger]

 

Wow, it looks like Demonfear might actually catch the win for next month!  I guess we will find out in a few days, lol.

[golbeeze]

+++Demonfear

 

I too have voted for this previously

[tmorrow]

map26

The carribean in a sea of damaging blood. The enemies can see you from far away and are relentless in lobbing fireballs at you. The game play is not overly threatening except for the risk of falling into the inescapable blood. The trick is to never panic and to trace out movement paths that don't intersect just in time to get hit by the slow moving missiles being thrown at you from far away.

The progression path is fairly linear. You will want to find all the secrets, they are quite helpful. Don't forget to pick up the non official megaarmor secret where the hidden revenants attack you at the red key.

The final fight has a diverse mix of enemies and you can easily retreat if in danger of being overwhelmed.

[AD_79]

+++ 1K2

 

Hoping to provide a bit of commentary on that one, depends on how busy I am next month.

[galileo31dos01]

+⁺+ Armadosia 

 

:)  

(: 

 

About my map 31, after reading and watching your feedback, I'm glad that it wasn't taken too seriously by the majority. The blatant RNG on UV some of you guys experienced is in reality me attempting to create something that I myself would still find silly fun despite some randomness. I want to believe I achieved that, again for myself, and frankly I didn't really mind if others would like the map or not. I thought however that reducing the RNG impact for lower skill settings was the way to go, and my respects for the people who used them. Outside of all of that, there's no emotive background behind the overarching idea of a vast BFG spamfest under the green foggy-looking sky, plus a final objectively most-formidable-boss-ever for the secret hunters, so this is everything I have to say. Of course a big thanks to Obsidian for the project and all the people who playtested it back then!

 

It was an oddly fun experience to shrink the sector count via carefully selecting what sectors must be merged with others, not painful at all, I'm dead serious :P

[golbeeze]

Map 26

This was a fun one. Blood everywhere, imps in cages.... Symmetry. I enjoyed this one and I think I would rank it fairly high for this wad. Nothing really stands out except for how enjoyable and fast paced it was.

 

[Soulless]

@galileo31dos01 I wont forget your map, or the name "El kukui" buddy, Its been years since I had to lower diffuculty, you made me flinch!

 

MAP 26 - Sea of Blood

It kinda reminded me "Bloodsea Keep" from Master levels which I remember fondly. I think its a beautiful layout, fantastic in a classic doom way.
Its a breather after a few violent maps, even though the final trap can get you easily if blocked. Nice one.

[Biodegradable]

MAP26 - Sea of Blood

UV | Continuous with Saves | GZDoom + Zagemod

 

Yarr! Walk the long and mazy plank of Doom, ye scurvy dog! This one was a mixed cocktail of emotions for me, bouncing between fun and irritation, mainly due to being pelted with projectiles left right and center without a great deal of room to dodge 'em which would see me falling off the edge a few times. Despite the times I got annoyed, I did have some good fun here and there. But mostly, out of anything, I respect this map a lot for its formula-shaking layout and imaginative design. It's another map that's beauty lies in its simplicity and demon placement for a good dose of cruelty. And I have to agree with my man Soulless, it does indeed feel like a nice breather after the big battle from MAP25. While this map left me a little exhausted simply by annoying me half to death at points, I greatly respect it nonetheless.

 

 

[RottingZombie]

+++1k Lines 2 Community Project

[tmorrow]

map27

A short but nasty map. After killing the archvile and hitting the first switch, the revenant and hellknight swarms appear, backed up by cybie. Make sure to collect the megaarmor in the northern corner at the lava edge beforehand. I managed to make it work by moving back to the start to give the center of mass enough time to come forward before you run to the second switch which can be used for temporary cover from rev rockets before cycling again. At that point the reduced enemies make movement much easier.

There is some simple platforming to reach the final arena, but it's over an inescapable pit of lava which of course raises your anxiety.

The final fight consists of a round room with a handful of barons/hellknights. Circle strafe wins the day with a minor twist, since you start in the middle of the pack, you have to look for an opening as they converge on you and get to the outside before starting the circling.

[RottingZombie]

Not much to say other than I enjoyed catching up on these three after a long work week, and I have started the Bonus maps.

 

 

 

[VanaheimRanger]

 

[golbeeze]

Map 27

This was an interesting map. It looks like a tough one and probably would be. I trolled this level hard though because I had a #8 weapon that can hit through walls. So I trashed a mob before they could attack me... I regret nothing!

 

[dac]

+++ Demonfear

[loveless]

prboom+, no saves, uv pistol starts  

map 25
deaths 6

wow, what a ride.  i didn't take much consideration into figuring out a good route. grab a suit, make sure i've got ammo, and drag everything toward the slime pit.  not trying to deal with dodging projectiles while dispatching the viles.  the end was a bit slim on ammo but it turned out fine, found a backpack i hadn't grabbed early on. 

Spoiler

 

 

map 26 

deaths 4

it took me a bit to realize the safest approach: push through to the ssg and hold up in the rocket room.  easy enough to run a few circles to take out whatever got stuck on a decoration or pillar.  the ending was pretty fun, a small maze run with some switches and unexpected appearances. 

Spoiler

 

 

map 27

deaths 4

my favorite map so far.  played and felt like a sunder/abandon man, a real pleasure.  quick combat puzzles, small bit of platforming to the end; clean and smooth.

Spoiler

 

mayhem 2020 demos 25-26-27.7z

[Biodegradable]

MAP27 - Nepal Bird Massacre

UV | Continuous with Saves | GZDoom + Zagemod

 

The atmosphere in this one alone is delicious. The stark black and red contrast with the eerie music, oh it touches me on a visceral level. My kind of shit, fam. Anyways, enough drooling, how's it play? Fairly decent. Honestly, it fell slightly short of expectations because of it's rather dreary atmosphere and access to a lot of supplies lead me to believe this would be another tough one with a heap of bastards to kill, but there's only 100 of 'em total. Fortunately for me, I had plenty of plasma and rockets saved over from MAP25, so I was able to murder everything pretty quickly. Slightly disappointed with how short it is and its progression and combat is nothing to write home about. The atmosphere alone had me all giddy about it but fell flat in every other regard. So yeah, visually lovely but content-wise it's a tad lame, I'm sorry to say. I would love to see Danlex make another map with this kind of texture/theme with more to play with if he's into the idea. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for him regarding future works as I am intrigued by the style alone.

 

 

[klaymeb]

MAP26 - “Sea of Blood” by sajbear666

UV / Pistol start / GZDoom

The first part of the map plays more like a bullet hell shooter, with all the imps around that you can't really dodge, because of the inescapable pits everywhere. I was really annoyed with the first u-turn in the map, so I started SR40'ing over the first gap, ran for the SSG. Cleared the room with the rocket launcher and got control of the situation from there. The end was really cool! 

 

MAP27 - “Nepal Bird Massacre” by Danlex

UV / Pistol start / GZDoom

I love the look of this map! Surreal with striking contrasts is almost always a hit with me :) The fighting escalates real fast! The Revenant/Cyberdemon/Barons wave is great; I had a lot of fun figuring out that one. The final part with the parkour, into a room that's obviously a trap was great. I kept expecting another wave, and could have done with one more fight after the circular room :D Perhaps one of my favourite maps in the WAD.