The 50th DWIronman League Challenge: Hell Revealed!

[NaZa]

5 hours ago, Bdubzzz said:

Dead on Map 20 Cat 3 as I watched some streams before doing my run.

 

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Died to a baron that popped out of a floor as I was firing rockets at a vile, couldn't see anything and then the vile finished me off, pretty annoying death tbh but o well.

DWIronman-HR-Dubz.zip

Ohhhhh. I feel you... I really feel you on that one. Nasty. Really an unfair way of dying, that. 

Edited September 10, 2020 by NaZa : King of spelling I are

[John Wheel]

I'm not too good at playing without saving, but I played Hell Revealed not too long ago so I figured it could be fun. Cat 2, died on Map 05. I actually recorded a demo a week ago, but used the wrong comp level, so technically this counts as a prepared run, I guess.

john-wheel-iron-man-hell-revealed-demo.zip

[Beginner]

Category 2 demo. First dozen of maps went at (sort of) alright pace but starting at Map13/14 the progress crawled at snail's pace. It took me about 3:13:20 to reach map that's impossible on Nightmare! (18) and get killed by the reason it's impossible on Nightmare! difficulty.

[DavidN]

Filling out the bottom of the leaderboard here, I tried this for the first time and died about three quarters of the way through MAP03 in a category 1 run!

 

http://files.teamouse.net/doom/demos/dxndwi50.lmp - The demo has some dithering from me talking, it was recorded simultaneously with the stream.

 

Would love to see some ZDoom stuff played as well :)

 

 

Edited September 20, 2020 by DavidN

[DSC]

Absolutely trying not to insult anyone here, but I'm actually quite surprised to see so many die on the earlier levels. I guess its the stress from knowing about whats to come... MAPs 13, 23 and 26, man...

[Crusader No Regret]

Guess there's no reason to keep the masses waiting.  Type 2.  I've beaten this set long ago (on skill 2) and have derped around with it in the past.  More often than not with god mode but I have beaten some later maps from scratch on UV such as 11 and 20.  Thing is, I've mostly played around in the later maps and didn't spend much time in the first 10 so uhhh... memory isn't going to help me as much here.  I also haven't touched the set in the last 4 years (and it was not already on my hard drive when announced, surprise).

 

Guess who played so scrubby to nearly die on map 1?  Foreknowledge did help me remember some of the secrets at least.  Single shotgun sometimes safer on map 7.  Exited map 8 too early and my thought was "oh shit."  It might have been recoverable even with about 60% ammo and 92 health instead of the 200 I'd planned on leaving with but knocked out in Knockout without even making it to the infamous yellow key.

 

PrBoom-plus 2.5.1.4 -complevel 2

dwiron_hr_cnr.zip

[Loud Silence]

Cat 1. I forgot about map05 warning.

ironman_hr_ls.7z

[Arbys550]

Category 2. Blew myself up on map14 cause I just couldn't take any more. Plus I have to get up early tomorrow and it's getting late.

 

hellrevealedironarbys.zip

 

[SleepyVelvet]

Dead on Map05

Category 2

noisy_HR_ironman.zip

[ReaperAA]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! I got stuck

 

HRdemo.zip (Category 1 and DNF at map 7)

I was kinda enjoying the wad (more than the Memento Mori wads at least), until I came across a road block. I don't know what happened but I got stuck on Map 7. When I killed the arachnotrons on the platform with the Mega, a sector raised but I couldn't lower it again. I didn't know what to do. Disappointed.

[Arbys550]

4 hours ago, ReaperAA said:

 When I killed the arachnotrons on the platform with the Mega, a sector raised but I couldn't lower it again. I didn't know what to do. Disappointed.

 

Maybe you killed 2 arachnotrons at the same time with the RL? That would cause the sector to raise twice as much, and softlock you.

[ReaperAA]

8 hours ago, Arbys550 said:

Maybe you killed 2 arachnotrons at the same time with the RL? That would cause the sector to raise twice as much, and softlock you.

 

Yeah maybe that might have happened as I did use the RL on those 2 arachnotrons.

[Crusader No Regret]

Prepared attempt:  Exited map 13 and decided to cash out.  The gametime is over 4 hours and that doesn't count breaks I took after 9 and 11.  Nearly half the running time is from maps 11 and 13, both of which took nearly an hour each.

 

9 went much better coming in with full bullets/shells and 200/200.  Punched out some revenants anyways, stirred up infighting when it was convenient to do so and left with the same amount of ammo I came in with.

10 has a time consuming detour but I did it anyways to have 600 cells going into the next map.

11 is long and I wanted to preserve cells for future maps so lots more plinking away at barons and archviles with shells.

12 I already know where I wanted to use the invisiblity.

13 felt good to win considering I never cleared it in one go in practice.  Came in with 200/140 which was more than my practice save but was down to 0 armor before reaching the end of the second room.  Still opted to provoke infights to thin out the mancubi pack in the courtyard but it is also very risky.  Played it very safe after that up until the dreaded blue key trap.  Made it out alive with the key (thanks to a dirty trick) and came close to throwing away my victory in a dumbbell manner.  The manner which I handle the last revenant horde... it's cheeky but took way too long getting it going and I doubt anyone else would approach it the way I did.  Cut it close to disaster multiple times during the map.

hrprepmovie_cnr.zip

[Pegleg]

Category 2 (I played this earlier this year, albeit not on UV, but still, Category 2.)

Dead on Map 01

Kills: 8/69

Time: 0:58

 

dwi_pegleg_hr_cat2.zip

 

(It was better than my performance on 2017 Collection, as least).

 

I didn't have high hopes for getting far into this set, but I did figure I would make it a bit farther. That's a fair enough thought, I think. Oh well. Ultimately, my lack of aggression against the first wave led to me being effectively trapped in the first room and running out of ammo. Poor dodging, and some unlucky hits from the initial hitscanners, didn't do me any favors, either.

In a second run, just to see if being more aggressive at the beginning would lead to a longer run, I found out that it did. I made it all the way to 22 kills on Map 01. The bright side to being bad at Doom is that my Ironman runs tend to not last very long, so they're generally not an onerous investment in time.

 

I really don't have a whole lot to say about Hell Revealed. The first room is nice to look at, but the rest of the first level isn't anything special aesthetically. That being said, the map's purpose isn't to be pretty; rather, it is to be effective at delivering enemies in volume to the player, which is tends to accomplish. Are there several hundred monsters in the first map? No, but that's not unreasonable, given that it is Map 01. 

[UncleTito]

Category 3, Prepared. I had never been a huge fan of HR since I'm a relatively young/new player here, and HR always felt like a "you had to be there to like it" kind of thing. Like, I get that it has to be held in respect, but there's a lot of better and more balanced challenge mapsets out there right now, and I couldn't be bothered to take on some of the stuff like Map08 or Map13 on pistol start, not so much because of the straight-up difficulty but rather because of the grindy nature of it.

 

The first 10 maps, I recall, were made the first, and really do give off a "babby's first doom map" kind of vibe, I mean I get it, it feels cool, homebrew, and visually I can at least say that the textures are pegged on correctly, and the lighting doesn't look too bad. Just, after the N-th SSG'd baron the novelty does wear off for me. 

So, you see me rushing through some maps, then taking my sweet ass time to max the maps I had less of a fresh memory on, and vehemently disrespecting some map setpieces, like the map12 SSG Baron spam. Before making an attempt, I fast-forwarded thru some speedruns and decino vids to check out the secrets and route since I remember getting lost in trash like Map05

 

Spoiler

I zone out a bit after the first hour and completely mess up on map14. Kind of forgot where to go and just decided to run around whittling everything down with an SSG while I figure out where the heck to go. Ended up splattered on the side fence. Oh well, better luck next month.

 

My personal thoughts..

 

Map01 - Very cool opener! I discovered the credits room first through decino, and I really like the visuals here. Just looking at it shows how much work and love went into this project, and that is what I tend to appreciate a lot with any media. I can't be bothered to punch out all the pinkies, so I just run for it.

Map02 - Nothing too exciting, HR is just getting warmed up. The room with the two rockets and flashing lights looks kinda cool, I suppose. The enemy roster feels kind of same-y.

Map03 - Oh god. This chunk of HR I absolutely dread. 64 unit wide hallways filled with barons and hitscanner trash. I can't bring myself to say anything positive about these next few maps. The number of times you have to go up that lift over and over...

Map04 - I like the opening here, kinda picturesque. Teases you with a BFG, and cells, but no way to pick it up, not even an Archie to jump on it. Yonatan you tease. Overall, I don't mind this map too much. Short and sweet.

Map05 - Eugh... more corridors, more stuff you probably heard a million times about HR and HR related memes.

Map06 - I take my sweet time cleaning the monsters here. So many barons...

Map07 - My least favorite Dead Simple clone. It's ugly, it's tedious, it's got way too many arachnotrons, and I couldn't be bothered killing the mastermind. I was seriously considering turning the game speed UP just so this map would get out of my face even quicker.

Map08 - kinda cool concept for the time I suppose, the optional fights give absolutely nothing other than more monsters to kill. I ignore most monsters and slam the exit button

Map09 - Another cool concept, eh execution kinda thing for me. I like the forcefield texture. I spend some time shooting the monsters, makes me feel ecstatic doing it in this map in particular after maxing it pistol start a couple of times. There's something cathartic about just ripping thru imps with the invuln orb on.

Map10 - Some cool stuff to look at, but again a bit grindy and claustrophobic for my tastes. The final fight I just peace out. I notice that a lot of maps you can just very easily book it for the exit.

Map11 - Everyone almost unanimously agrees that this is where shit hits the fan. First BFG, not one, not two, but THREE Cyberdemons, one of which I couldn't give the time of my day. The visuals are a bit barebones, but this is standard fare for HR I suppose. If it has anything going for it, all textures look properly aligned and pegged. I like this map, tho I get zapped like a 400 IQ player a couple of times, and have an extremely close call where I clearly shouldn't have been caught in. I remember dying a bunch on my first playthrough in the final stretch, so I take my time here.

Map12 - Great Halls of.. eh? I skip the last fight entirely.

Map13 - Hoo boy. This is where I deploy the decino strat of whittling down everything with the SSG while circlestrafing ad nauseaum. I remember having a hard time with this map pistol start, so I bide my time chewing through the first two rooms with the SSG. The famous blue key fight, I don't find all that bad on continuous play. You have your BFG, you have some rockets left. I do notice that I trigger the door closing before actually triggering the closet, but I decide watching me stand there for 30 seconds is not that fun. I have some trouble with the really cruel Archie-revenant closet. 

Map14 - This is after I took a break, went to take a dump, decided to get some food, go to the gym.. I come back and I'm like "ohhh man, I don't remember this map at all". It's not one of my faves, reminds me of Doom 2's city levels too much. Lots of nasty Martians, Shotgun and RL guarded by some truly dickish traps.. on a usual playthrough this is one of the few later levels that I skip. I get distracted by a revenant and get splattered by a rocket outside of my tunnel vision.

 

 

 

hrironman_UncleTito.zip

Final time: 1:20:something

Edited September 28, 2020 by UncleTito

[Daerik]

Cat 2, seen a bit of it here and there.

Died on Map 18 at 2h41m34s - daerik_ironman_hr.zip

 

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/755363720

 

Interesting choice for the ironman. Definitely felt like a perpetual slog.

[Pegleg]

Here is my Category 2 submission.

 

This is my Category 3 submission.

 

Dead on Map 03.

Kills: 30/89

Time: 15:47

 

dwi_pegleg_hr_cat3.zip

 

It did a little bit better than the last time. Not as good as my farthest practice run, but definitely better than my first attempt (although that wasn't a high bar to meet). I didn't get much farther in my practice runs, so I am generally happy with this attempt.

 

My opinion from the last post holds--this mapset isn't meant to be pretty. To be clear, Hell Revealed is not ugly. It's a perfectly fine use of textures, but aesthetically-pleasing texture usage isn't the main focus. The purpose of this mapset is to deliver monsters into smaller, but adequate spaces, with an aim to kill the player. The ammo and health are sufficient, at least in the early levels. Overall, not too bad, except for a few times you get dropped into the middle of a small gaggle of monsters in a relatively tight space. Still, given the overall goal of the set, that's no so surprising. Even then, there's usually some health nearby so if you can survive that brief onslaught, you can recover a bit quite quickly thereafter.

[RjY]

dead on map11 after 42:39 (intermission) / 52:23 (total)

MAP01  EXIT    24/69   45    8/9  1/1  1:16+12   1:16
MAP02  EXIT   51/112   61   3/15  1/1  3:24+21   4:40
MAP03  EXIT    89/89    0  21/21  2/2  4:41+28   9:21
MAP04  EXIT    66/77   11   5/14  1/1  2:01+13  11:22
MAP05  EXIT    95/95    0    3/3  1/1  5:17+33  16:39
MAP06  EXIT  125/125    0  13/13  2/2  7:49+28  24:28
MAP07  EXIT    46/47    1    2/2  2/2  5:03+22  29:31
MAP08  EXIT   96/145   49    2/3  3/3  4:04+22  33:35
MAP09  EXIT   97/317  220   8/17  0/3  3:23+03  36:58
MAP10  EXIT   72/102   30    2/3  1/1  5:41+32  42:39
MAP11  DEAD  102/300  200  13/14  3/4  9:20+04  42:39

Everyone knows Hell Revealed. It's one of the classic nineties megawads, and the fifth most recorded wad on DSDA* - only the IWADs are more popular. Although it seems to have fallen out of favour in modern times. I know it very well, to the extent that I decided I could be less cautious than usual, and not bother killing everything.

I had hoped to finish map12 which is the last "easy" map (relatively). After that, it's nothing but the maps which give the wad its reputation. (In that regard, map11, and to a lesser extent map09, seem out of order.)

The glide on map02 is the first one I ever saw, before that I didn't know 32-unit gaps were traversable. I also death-exited on map09; it avoided a horde, and map10 is a "breather" like map12 would have been, where I could get most of my inventory back, so I felt the risk was worth it.

However on map11 I went too far: I left the first cyberdemon stomping around the base of the archvile towers. I could have left it in its pit, but I raised it deliberately, to help with infighting. But having done that I should have dealt with it. I did not consider that it could stand right under the place where you run over a gap to reach the red door. It blocked the jump, then blew me up in falling.

 

____

^{* the old DSDA, I can't find the equivalent page on the new one}

[dt_]

On 9/3/2020 at 10:32 AM, NaZa said:

BEFORE I FORGET: There's a softlock on MAP05. Near the end of a level there's a plasma rifle. Do not jump on it while the floor is raising up, because to my knowledge, you cannot lower it back down from the level below. Once you make it up there, proceeding further will start lowering the floor back down, and with a well timed jump, you could get the plasma rifle.

 

Will put it into the OP.

Just played it and did exactly as you described not to.  Then went and re pressed the switch that lowered it initially and it re lowered it no probs

 

Edit: just read over the thread again and this is common knowledge

[Vince Vega]

Lord forgive me. I did it again.

I lost myself in the middle of nowhere, between bars, SuicideGirls and interviews for a job of my dream, and miss this month too.

I'm returning to my habitat in a few days, so I'll do an entry for the next month at the very beginning, I promise.

[dt_]

Ultra late, but here's the run (cat 2)

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gko0639o5wgdg5p/dthr.lmp?dl=1

 

I've played so little of HR, but remembered parts of map03 and 4, like the unreachable (for me at least) BFG

 

Really rushed through and got melted at the start of 07

[head_cannon]

hc_hr.zip

Category 1, Dead in Map12. I let a passage get blocked off by an Arch-Vile + his regenerating goatmen bodyguards, and went scrounging for health. One medpack I found ended up being a trap, dropping me into an encounter where I was in danger of being surrounded & overwhelmed by Pain Elementals. Charging forward to seek cover, I found a lava pit instead.

 

This WAD has quite the reputation, and I'm glad I finally gave it a go. There was fun to be had, but it got hella grindy at parts.

[Endless]

I did not participate in this month's challenge, but I look forward to the next one! This time I will :P

[Suitepee]

So about that 51st Ironman.....

[Loud Silence]

I'm waiting for next one too. Shotgun Symphony would be a great WAD to die to.

[WH-Wilou84]

Is everything okay, @NaZa ?

[seed]

On 9/2/2020 at 10:35 PM, NaZa said:

There's also something I'd ask you to consider.

As you know, for a while now, there's been a sort of "final" version of ZDoom: ZDoom 2.8.1. I was wondering whether I should allow runners to submit ZDoom demos using that stable version. Why is this a question? Because that way, we could broaden the scope of Ironman to also include WADs compatible with ZDoom. Food for thought.

 

Not sort of, but I'm only now noticing this part.

 

My two cents on this: I would say that yes, it should be permitted now that that version is locked in place forever, maybe even the latest DRD Team autobuild from before it ceased development, I see no issues there.

 

Good question however, is everything okay Naza? I think you know why we're asking.

[NaZa]

Board updated after, uh... too long. Now, officially, congratulations @Roofi on your second victory this year! At almost seven hours this is comfortably the longest winning run (yet, to my knowledge) and, in a set like Hell Revealed, it's incredible you managed to stay concentrated for that long. Mad props. This guy called NaZa seems to be 2nd and @Bdubzzz managed to sneak into third despite one of the most cruel Ironman deaths so far; would've been this month's had Beginner not snuffed it in an insanely unfortunate way as well.

 

You might be wondering why Wilou's MAP24 survival is not second. Upon inspecting the demo, it desyncs after the Cyberdemon telefrag on MAP18. No other demo (that made it through that, so basically only Roofi, Bdubzzz and myself) desynced like that. It might be a different setting setup, like with Beginner in TVR when an intercepts overflow happened on MAP21 but not on Beginner's end because emulation had been turned off. I've kept it as a MAP18 desync but @WH-Wilou84 if you still have the demo by any chance, can you check if it desyncs on your end and, if not, can you somehow showcase how to make it run on my end? Thank you. I use prB+ 2.5.1.4.

[Andromeda]

2 hours ago, NaZa said:

You might be wondering why Wilou's MAP24 survival is not second. Upon inspecting the demo, it desyncs after the Cyberdemon telefrag on MAP18. No other demo (that made it through that, so basically only Roofi, Bdubzzz and myself) desynced like that. It might be a different setting setup, like with Beginner in TVR when an intercepts overflow happened on MAP21 but not on Beginner's end because emulation had been turned off. I've kept it as a MAP18 desync but @WH-Wilou84 if you still have the demo by any chance, can you check if it desyncs on your end and, if not, can you somehow showcase how to make it run on my end? Thank you. I use prB+ 2.5.1.4.

Looks like Wilou simply had spechits overflow emulation disabled. Likewise, disabling it on your end should make the demo play back properly.

[NaZa]

1 hour ago, Andromeda said:

Looks like Wilou simply had spechits overflow emulation disabled. Likewise, disabling it on your end should make the demo play back properly.

Oh! Thank you very much, I had tried that but I don't think I had reset the engine. Wilou's ranking will be updated shortly. Good job on 2nd place!!!