The DWmegawad Club plays: MAYhem 2020

[Biodegradable]

MAP05 - Wastewater Plant

UV | Continuous with Saves | GZDoom + Zagemod

 

This is a lovely techbase map with a very neat layout and design. I love maps that open themselves up, unfurling their mysteries as you progress with new parts of it opening at once, revealing more demons and lots of nooks and crannies all working in harmony to kill you. The more rounded shaped rooms, open conjoined layout and use of height variation made it a lot of fun to run around in. The combat is straightforward, but with a decent amount of challenge, especially from the amount of Zombies shambling about, plinking at you from just around the corner if you're not careful and how quickly the map repopulates with the progression as you collect the keys and use them with their corresponding switches. It just flows together so well and it's great, honestly. I love a good techbase map and this one is no exception. Great stuff, David.

 

  

[DFF]

MAP05: Wastewater Plant by DavidN (100% kills/100% items/100%secrets)   Deaths: 1

Blind Run|UV|Continuous|Trailblazer 1.5

 

Man what a treat. This is a cool map. Its got a lot of great details and exploration, followed with some good map structure. The tech and acid details work great in having a very creative and exploitative layout. Despite having many linked and reused sectors to maintain 20 sectors, this map does not feel repetitive, and while it is possible to get slightly lost, its never too hard to re-find your way. Combat felt good as well. Plus 3 secrets, a definite luxury in this WAD and I thought these ones were used quite well.

 

Overall, very enjoyable tech map, with fine combat and good exploration. It can feel a bit snug and confusing but overall very fun.

 

MAP35: Mystery Mayham by Hawns Braks (97% kills/100% items/100%secrets)   Deaths: 2

Blind Run|UV|Continuous|Trailblazer 1.5

 

Another rather cool map, this one is a bit longer than the previous maps i've played. I alos get a lot of Doom 1 vibes from this map, with outdoor segments that look like a less hellish E3m2, and tech corridors with hukage pools that make me thing E1M7. This map has some good tructuring and some great combat pieces. The blue key progression was kinda confusing but otherwise pretty straightforward. This map also shows some very good sector re-usage throughout to save space, as well as showing off some nice Invisible sector work with added see-through doors and cages. This map also features 0 secrets, however there are several out of the way sections filled with goodies that i'd consider non-secret "secrets", possibly to save on sector space. They don't count as secrets, but they are somewhat removed unless the players explore the map. Maybe never intended as secrets, but some kinda feel like they could easily be.

 

Overall, a very interesting map and a rather fun one. So far the best of the bonus selection. I also was wondering why the title was misspelled, but upon further inspection found it rather fitting for the WAD its in.

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

MAP05: Wastewater Plant

MAP01: Wet My Appetite

MAP04: Deep Focus

MAP35: Mystery Mayham

MAP02: Nukaged-Powered Claustrocomputer

MAP34: Mild Terror at Vacation Station

MAP33: The Desert Base

MAP03: Bubble Home Bunker

 

[kalaeth]

HMP (for real this time), no mods, continuous play, trying not to save during levels :

 

MAP05 : So, on my HMP play through I got here with only 19% health, then did a great run until the red key was right ahead of me when GZDoom crashed, at 81/92 kill, 100% health.. Of course that when I restarted I ended up dying to a chaingunner. Third time. All rainbows and lollipops and shotgun shells until I pressed the red switch and get archvilled... cigarette break. And then, finally, a good run without deaths or crashes! After getting rid of the archie went for a little trip around the map, and found the three secrets, cleared the final three imps (inside the grates) and went to the end.

All in all it's one of my favorite so far, and I love this type of SSG incidental combat .

 

death count : 2

total deaths : 7

[Roofi]

18 hours ago, Pirx said:

 

i like your reviews. what program are you using for making your map layouts?

 

Hi! I use Slade or just the doomwiki

[loveless]

prboom+, no saves, uv pistol starts  
map 5
deaths 0 

 

felt like i spent a third of my time figuring out how to get the blue key.  after that, things progressed very quickly.  everything felt very similar but this might've been due to layout.

myhm20-5-loveless.7z

[DuckReconMajor]

MAP05: Wastewater Plant

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

 

Another well laid out map with a surprising amount of variation.

Great barrel placement here. I got a Hell Knight to explode a barrel right in front of itself.

Another great arch-vile fight, with cover in just the right places, having to take it out with the vanilla shotgun.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Roofi]

Map 04 by The_Slovinator

 

 

A more compact and dangerous tribute to "The Focus". I like it! The traps are efficient, the addition of mid-tiers and height differences are a good variation.

 

Map 05 by DavidN

 

 

 A level with a very Ultimate Doom style with mid-tiers monsters of Doom 2 which become more and more numerous. Nice, the main circular room makes me strangely think of E1M4. Good use of the pipes by the way.

 

Map 36 by Joe-ilya

 

 

 Small hike in a very classical universe similar to the original IWAD. A rather easy level but some slaughterish passages sometimes a bit tough. The last trap with the arachnotrons is smart.

 

Map 37 by Impie

 

 

Sector trees, grass and rhythmic music add a real cute tropical atmosphere to this map. Memorable and I love it.

 

 

[Pechudin]

MAP05: Wastewater Plant (Kills: 100%, Secrets: 0%, Deaths: 0)

    Opening shot gave impressions of a 90s haphazardly put together techbase, but all these seemingly clashing colors work rather well together. I really liked this map, really gave the impression of a techbase in the first stages of being subverted by Hell's presence. Maybe the music could've been more twisted or eeire, but that is personal taste. Map wasn't too hard, but there were times where I could not at first figure out where the enemies are, after hearing them wake up. All in all, not too hard, although the exit Archie did give me a bit of a fright.

 

Verdict: A really good subverted techbase.

[BoxY]

MAP05: Wastewater Plant

A well made but bland map for me, as wandering around E1 style bases shooting random imps and zombiemen for 5 or 10 minutes is really not my preferred gameplay style at this point. The geometry is very well designed and combined with the liberal detail is an extremely impressive use of 20 sectors, although the use of so many different textures in such a small space tends to create a clashing mess with reds, greens and blues everywhere competing for attention so picking a dominant colour before texturing might have been a good idea. Encounter design feels mostly nonexistent, with random imps, pinkies and other weaklings spread around liberally to slow you down, waste your ammo and occasionally hitscan a few points of health off you, otherwise offering no challenge or interest. Your reward for wading through these guys is an archvile and some revenants, but in case that was too scary and intense, you can immediately clean up half the enemies with some barrels. Overall a nicely made map let down by wimpy gameplay, but I know other people do enjoy that kind of stuff and the map author was probably perfectly satisfied with it so I can't fault him personally.

[Pechudin]

Well I might as well do some of the extra ZDooM-specific maps.

 

MAP33: The Desert Base (Kills: 100%, Secrets: Forgot TBH, Deaths: 0)

    So this is obviously someone's first effort. The large rooms are barren, lifeless and sparsely populated by monsters. Still, the maps do feel very E2-ish, reminding me of E2M3 and perhaps MAP10 (this one especially with its gigantic barren rooms). The exit Archie was a bit of a surprise, but there is a RL nearby with more than enough rockets. I did like the music.

 

Verdict: It's a map. The layout was not confusing, nor was the backtracking tedious. A bit more geometry and more engaging fights would make this a fine map I think.

[Pechudin]

MAP34: Mild Terror at Vacation Station (Kills: 100%, Secrets: Undefined, Deaths: 0)

    What a cute map, it really reminded me of a more whimsical version of Bungie's Marathon, especially with that shuttle craft area. So this is some kind of resort where marines go to have a rest, on a craft in orbit? There are showers, lockers and an outdoor pool with a bar area. Lighting was a bit flat, but other than that I liked this design. Combat was incidental (perhaps we were crashing the monsters' relaxation?), nothing too special. Liked those animated textures.

 

One thing though ...  there wasn't much ammo? I played this continuous and even with the previous map's generous helping of shells and rockets I found myself with scant few rockets and plasma going into the next map. Perhaps I was to use the 'Zerk more? Not like it was close by though...

 

Verdict: A bit more ammo wouldn't hurt. Other than that, I liked it for its '90s realism' vibe and cute music.

[Pechudin]

On 9/4/2020 at 12:05 AM, guitardz said:

I would run one myself if I didn't think I'd bungle the whole thing, lol.

 

Honestly that does sound like a cool idea, a whole MYHOUSE wad.

[VanaheimRanger]

 

[Capellan]

MAP06

Very impressive design.  Making convincing natural environments in Doom is not easy; to do it with only 20 sectors and also offer a large building complex at the same time is really very clever.  Not something I would have had the patience and dedication for, I think.

 

The gameplay on the other hand is perhaps a might tepid.  There's a lot of room to move and nothing terribly threatening to face in comparison to the large amount of ammunition on hand - this is particularly the case in continuous play of course, where you won't have to wait for an SSG or chaingun..

 

 

[Pirx]

MAP04 - “Deep Focus” by The_SloVinator

 

very nice tribute to d2m04, feels like a second part of the old underground base. same concrete walls, green panels and windows, same music. the opening requires some hide-and-seek with that arachnotron and the chaingunners. barrels may work or not, depending on the enemy. the ssg seems to be accessible only when you have raised the yellow bars, or you'll be teleported away from it. the knight + caco are doable with the sg, but one should have the ssg when the vile arrives. @Capellan is right about the revs at the exit, they should be able to move freely as one can fight them in the exit room.

 

 

 

MAP05 - “Wastewater Plant” by DavidN

 

hearing "quad machine" was a win for me. and the map excels at offering a non-linear approach, one can run around and enter a room from more than one direction, while seeing the next area, in true romero design fashion. exploring this is fun, as you can't get lost, but still seem to find something new. all in a colorful mix of tech and hell-skin. very enjoyable. 

 

the vile at the end is optional, you can just run to the exit. but there's a secret rocket launcher, and i couldn't get it despite my best efforts. turns out the door to the rl secret opens together with the (red) exit door, so i could have pressed the red door and dashed for the launcher. but at that point i had already mowed down the vile and exited, as i didn't see the secret open, the chaingun would suffice, and i'd fight him immediately rather than letting him revive everything until i came back with rockets.

 

 

 

MAP06 - “Return to Pain Manor” by Arno

 

i'm impressed what a beautiful haunted mansion was built despite little details. imps and skulls in a garden with sector trees and a blood fountain. old buildings inhabited by goats and cacos. it's this part with the goats that didn't feel suspenseful here too (despite pistol starting), as they do little more than stand in the way and eat rockets. the map however was good. if the author wanted to stick with the goats, he could have taken a more horror-like approach by making the map dark and restricting the ammo.

 

 

 

 

#############################################################

 

now to some of the extra maps:

 

 

MAP33: “The Desert Base” by Walter Confalonieri

 

those are speedmaps, right? because they look so, from seeing walter bring us a map with a very 90s flavor - large, simple open rooms with imps and others scattered around, a linear progression and a cow fight on the roof near the exit. which is skippable, as picking up the rocket launcher is, but whatever, the vile can be kept in his exit room and shot there, and the cow too, when hard times need hard men.

 

 

 

MAP34: “Wild Terror at Vacation Station” by Impie

 

the map actually says "mild terror", and this it is, a very flat, wolf3d-ish map in the style of map03 with the same beige walls floating in space, and fat guys floating around it (they later teleport on board). the opening is running around looking for weapons, and a berserk pack helps a lot as without it you'll run out of ammo. doomcute restaurant with tables and drinks (and safe distances between them it seems), nothing too risky, so indeed a mild terror for vacation.

 

 

 

 

MAP35: “Mystery Mayham” by Hawns Braks

 

picked up a chainsaw right at the start and mowed down a bunch of zombies like a maniac. a map reminiscent of udoom ep2, maybe spawning vats, with computer panels sunken in nukage. searched a while for the blue key, running through corpse-littered corridors. and gave up now, after starting the map a  second time (tbh, i'm not that patient when a map doesn't work), but the techno cubes with the blue key and the other goodies won't lower. am i doing something wrong?

 

 

 

MAP36: “Field Trip” by Joe-Ilya

 

abstract hellish, barren world like in doom2's endgame, starts easy but gets tough quick. there's one halfway hidden bfg with a single charge, but plenty of other ammo. the revenant + archvile trap gave me more of a workout (because some imps and pinkies got in the way), while the arachnotrons in the end didn't do much. best of the extra maps up to this point.

Edited September 6, 2020 by Pirx

[Horus]

39 minutes ago, Pirx said:

MAP35: “Mystery Mayham” by Hawns Braks

 

picked up a chainsaw right at the start and mowed down a bunch of zombies like a maniac. a map reminiscent of udoom ep2, maybe spawning vats, with computer panels sunken in nukage. searched a while for the blue key, running through corpse-littered corridors. and gave up now, after starting the map a  second time (tbh, i'm not that patient when a map doesn't work), but the techno cubes with the blue key and the other goodies won't lower. am i doing something wrong?

 

Spoiler

The computer platform with the green armor on top lowers when you press against it - it also lowers the sector with the blue key on top at the same time

 

[Endless]

MAP05: Wastewater Plant by DavidN

LZDoom

HMP

 

 

Much detailed and with some interesting level design, The whole layout is one big circle that allows for multiple paths and room connected with fluid combat in mind. I like those overhead pipes adn the whole tech-base style done well. Some really simple texture work but done extremely well to become attractive, mostly thanks to the great use of the color/texture palette. Not incredible hard from the get go, but it does get tricky by the end where my best advice is to just run. That sounds cowardly. You know what? Rip and tear.

[golbeeze]

Maps 05 and 06

Map 05 was a lot of fun with loads of fast action. I was temporarily lost in progression as I didn't remember where I saw the red key.

 

Map 06 was somewhat disappointing. It looked great and had lots of wide open areas, but nothing to fill those areas. It felt as though a large scale battle could have unfolded at some point.

 

[RottingZombie]

Map05 was decent. It seems like a step up in the aesthetics department. I liked the combat too. I accidentally fell into the exit fighting the last monsters so I reloaded to see if I could find secrets. I could not.

 

 

[kalaeth]

HMP (for real this time), no mods, continuous play, trying not to save during levels :

 

MAP06 : LOVE the dom cute trees! Decided to chainsaw some imps, which was a bad idea that got me down to 1% health but luckily there is some health outside, and then I cheesed the couple knights and pinkies fight so that when the cacoswarm arrived inside the church I had enough life (and rockets) to deal with it. The entire church+graveyard+mausoleum complex is so pretty (and big!) it could be a level all by it self. Rocketed the archie from the door, SSged the rest of the monsters and now the exit is right there but I'm gonna go try and find the missing secret and monster. Secret found, monster... not so much (i IDDT  and found that it was a lost soul, lost in the graveyard), so 98% kills, 100% secrets. Really pretty level, not much of a challenge though.

 

death count : 0! 

total deaths : 7

[VanaheimRanger]

 

[BoxY]

MAP06: Return to Pain Manor

A neat map with a slow and slightly grindy pace. The stock texture trees are truly inspired and worth instant kudos. Ammo and supplies are spread out very thinly in various little corners which pushes you through the map, waking everything up and causing a nice mess. Chainsawing all the random lost souls and pinkies outside is pretty boring but seems necessary to save supplies. The barons in the main hall I'm even less of a fan of, they're mostly there to just get in the way and bait you into wasting your precious rockets. I killed a couple and got bored and left to go progress the map, and if I knew better I would have left them all and had them kill the cacos that come out of the walls. In the exit room a pinkie survived a direct rocket hit and nearly got me blasted, maybe the first time it's ever happened to me up close. In the end I spent just over 10 minutes on this small map, mostly because I spent more time guessing whether to spend ammo than shooting. If I played again I'd probably be more aggressive in waking everything up and cut the time in half, but in the end it was still a fun experience.

[Walter confetti]

Actually my map is more inspired from Alpha Doom design more than the straight 1994 maps traits that you all people found out

[Biodegradable]

MAP06 - Return to Pain Manor

UV | Continuous with Saves | GZDoom + Zagemod

 

Having a tough time thinking of much to say about this one. The design and layout of the map is really cool and I very much echo Kaeleth and BoxY's sentiments regarding the DoomCute trees, they're really neat. The map is really cool to look at but unfortunately it falls flat with progression and combat. It didn't feel all that challenging, more tedious than fun aside from that one part with surprise Cacocloud, which can always be a bit of fun circle-strafing my beloved grinning meatball boys. But otherwise, yeah, bit lacking. I also felt the map was a bit under-utilised as well. I feel like more could've been done as some of the rooms felt both sprawling but also really empty and it feels like lost potential, especially given the atmosphere of the map as a demonic graveyard/crypt. Could've done with a few monster closets, like having some Revenants pop out of the walls in the mausoleums with the coffins, along with some Lost Souls. I reckon that would've been a more purposeful use of the little blighters, rather than having them floating around the outside areas like pesky bony birds. So yeah, very pretty to look at but not all that much fun to play, I'm sorry.

 

 

[Pirx]

11 hours ago, Horus said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

The computer platform with the green armor on top lowers when you press against it - it also lowers the sector with the blue key on top at the same time

 

 

thanks, that helped  ;)

 

i had been pressing on the wrong side of the computer column (the blue side), and not right on the panel... duh.

 

what followed was a "slough of despair" type outer area which i had to navigate while watching out for rockets from a siege cow playing turret, until i dropped down into a bunker with goat boys, got the plasma gun there and cowardly shot said cow from afar.

 

unfortunately, gameplay didn'T seem as inspired as before: there were like 3 successive green armors which didn't add much, and said goats everywhere with enough space so they weren't a threat. meanwhile, more critters teleported into the base and bunched up behind the door to the outer area for a turkey shoot.

 

overall, an ok tribute to the original maps. 

Edited September 6, 2020 by Pirx

[klaymeb]

MAP06 - “Return to Pain Manor” by Arno

UV / Pistol start / GZDoom

 

There's not a lot to write home about regarding the combat on this map. The monster composition is what it is, but there's so much room in the map that there's never a time where it becomes challenging, and unfortunately it never really gets interesting either. 

 

I'm not a big fan of DoomCute, but I appreciate what Arno was going for. The execution is a bit clunky, and I felt so small in some areas; especially by the well at the entrance. The trees are neat, though! There's an impressive amount of real estate in these 20 sectors, and the locations themselves are well-designed, if a bit too big.

 

It's a fun little map, that could have used a lot more monsters!

 

 

[DuckReconMajor]

MAP06 - Return to Pain Manor

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

 

An outdoor section with ZIMMER trees pretty much guarantees I'm going to be a fan. This is followed by a really cool torn up hellish cathedral. 

Not sure if the limitations of this project bring out so many incredible ideas or if there's a ton of other stuff like this I just haven't played yet.

I didn't get the notice about the combat being easy and I died a few times.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[RottingZombie]

Wow, map06 blew me away with it's atmosphere and theme. It almost felt like I was in a different game. Like some kind of first-person castlevania. It had 'realistic' structures like a well and church furniture that didn't look awful. The trees, even though super simple, were very effective in transporting me into the world. I'd love to see more in this style. I was happy it wasn't a monster-packed slaughter fest; it helped sell the moody theme.

 

 

[DFF]

MAP06: Return to Pain Manor by Arno (100% kills/66% items/66%secrets)   Deaths: 0

Blind Run|UV|Continuous|Trailblazer 1.5

 

This is a cool map indeed, a nice old chapel and house nestled away in the forest. The trees are a cool touch that remind me a bit of Ghouls Forest to be frank, and at first the chapel itself seemed to only be moderately detailed, but upon auto-map inspection, this place is a very finely detailed piece with lots of intricate walls. A good example of compensating for the lack of sectors by putting a lot of effort in the areas you do have free reign on. It is a very pretty map with a nice atmosphere.

The combat however was rather tame, as others have said. It does feel like the scale and the size of the place is weirdly off, as you'll see small dining rooms or pews with super massive fireplaces and vistas. This is accompanied by not bad combat, but very empty combat. Not a lot of traps and re-population, and nothing was really a major threat in this map. This could add to the atmosphere of an empty and forgotten monument, but also comes off as relaxing but drab gameplay, with more than ample room to out maneuver the small assortment of caco's and barons. Secrets here were fair, but bonus points for having them nonetheless.

 

Overall, a map that goes all out of visual representation, but ends up feeling more like a set piece than a battlefield or a stronghold of demon slaughter. This map would feel much better with a little extra meat, and if it were placed in between some harder maps as a relaxing breather. Being map05 it just comes off as mild at best.

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

MAP05: Wastewater Plant

MAP01: Wet My Appetite

MAP04: Deep Focus

MAP06: Return to Pain Manor

MAP35: Mystery Mayham

MAP02: Nukaged-Powered Claustrocomputer

MAP34: Mild Terror at Vacation Station

MAP33: The Desert Base

MAP03: Bubble Home Bunker

 

[Capellan]

MAP07

Well it's not a Dead Simple clone, though Mancs and 'trons do both appear.

 

The gimmick here is that there are a bunch of lifts that are all the same sector, with many switches to activate them,. but you can only get to a few of them from each switch.  So you flick a switch, enter a new area, find another switch that lefts you get to the next zone, and so forth.  It's not bad, overall, though it does make for quite a lot of turreted enemies.

 

With a little luck, it's possible to lure the cyber to teleport downstairs while you're riding the elevator up, which means you can then ignore him.  I managed to pull that off on my second attempt, and was quite pleased with myself for it :)

 

Visually it is a bit bland, and there are some Y-alignment issues, but it's overall a decent stab at engaging with the limitation.