[Now on IdGames] Hellevator - 32 maps Community Project Boom Megawad

[Lemonlytical]

K, gonna start playtesting all of the maps!

[IvanDobrovski]

Is this the unofficial sequel to Going Down, Going Up?

[ViolentBeetle]

16 minutes ago, IvanDobrovski said:

Is this the unofficial sequel to Going Down, Going Up?

Not really. I only found out how Going Down works after proposing this. But you can think it is if you feel like it.

[Shawny]

Going up/down the building is not such an original idea. Not sure if Going down was first, but it sure popularized the concept.
Being truly original with a doom map/megawad in 2020 is borderline impossible.

 

So yes, it is a megawad that is similiar in concept to Going down. I finally got it to play it today
(haven´t played other than mine maps prior to release, have seen other played some of them)

and even thought it is not as memorable as Going down, it has a lot of intersting ideas, mapping and visual styles and I had (mostly) fun.

I even streamed it without commentary, though I should have checked Twitch options first... rip 5 hours of playing/testing.

[Captain Toenail]

Perhaps the Black Tower from the Master Levels was the first wad to popularise the idea of climbing a tower. That was one of my favourite levels from MaximumDoom.

 

It's definitely a mixed bag as any community project is, but I don't think there's a single bad map in this wad. Lot's of different ideas and themes yet the whole thing ties together surprisingly well imo. I'm particularly fond of the maps with the little details like the plates and computers love that stuff.

 

Anyway, a lot of these maps are quite complex in terms of voodoo scripts which means they need to be robust. So please get beta testing people :-)

[DoubleCakes]

This sounds sick! I had to check this out...

 

Even this first level is promising. It's such a comfy lobby map.

[ViolentBeetle]

First 2 levels played by @HAK3180

 

 

[akolai]

Hey. I'll just be rolling through my thoughts while playing down here. Bundling 5 maps to a reply.

MAP01: The Lobby

The short, snappy opener you look for in a megawad, with an interesting twist on the typical limited arsenal. Heading left at the start lets you disarm an ambush ahead of time, which feels good when you realise it. The elevator door doesn't close fast enough to keep you in, but whatever. Good map. 7/10

MAP02: The Cafeteria Floor
An archvile on map 2? Tasty.
The first fight is all show, no bite. It manages to be intimidating and exciting without actually being too much of a threat (that's good, by the way). The chaingun trap is another story - it's evil just because of that one rev. When the archie teleports in, the player's immediate reaction is to move left to hide, which tends to lure him behind the bar, making him more managable. The detail is also pretty ridiculous - the chairs in particular take some absolute wizardry, and I'm guessing they are specifically hidden on the automap so as to not reveal the linedef gore behind them. The secrets are well considered - not too obscure, but enough so that they feel rewarding to find. It would almost be perfect if growls couldn't be heard from the kitchen due to the close proximity of a teleporter closet. 9/10

MAP03: The Greenhouse Floor
Quick and angry.
5% of this map's inhabitants are viles. Taking them out with the basic arsenal is rather tedious, and the rockets are a secret. The one at the end can completely fuck you if he doesn't wait to zap, since you have almost nowhere to hide. Fun to play, but tedious due to the high number of revs and your limited arsenal. 6/10

MAP04: The Archive Floor
Pre-play prediction: 3 archies [Actual count: 1]
This is where the music starts sounding a lot like Going Down.
The first hitscanner trap is solid, and takes you completely off guard, but not in the way a conventional trap does. You fully expect it, just not as extreme. The second trap is also cool, but the boxes aren't high enough to act as proper cover from the chaingunners on the right. The tipped over chairs in the first room is also a clever trick: the sector shenanigans behind upright chairs means you can't walk on top of them, which would be jarring since you can actually get above them here. Tipped chairs don't have this problem, which is why they are used here instead.
[Edit/note: I was a bit harsh around here, that one fight was just really damn annoying.]
Everything else about this level viscerally disgusts me.
All 3 secrets are shootable switches. The green pad one is relatively noticeable, the others are in borderline unnoticable spots, both with only a fraction of a switch texture visible.
The rocket launcher fight is also garbage. Rockets get caught on the ledge, meaning you have to stand right up against it (in other words, in the monsters' faces) to get your shots off. So if you can't shoot in four places at once (which you can't, especially considering the 6 revs and 4 knights, meaning you have to spend even longer on each lane), you get stuck up on your narrow ledge, where you have to shoot rockets in a really awkward way for them to do anything, and where dodging homing rev missiles is nigh on impossible due to the lack of room to maneuver in the directions that matter. The only idea I have for it is to camp on one side to lure them away from the other so you can jump down to their level and rocket them from there, but that's already thinking way too many steps ahead for the reaction-based gameplay the early levels should be going for.
It's rare that a doom level puts me in such a bad mood, but it's also rare to have such a detailed and aesthetically pleasing set of levels, and the optional extra fight was nice, at least. 4/10

MAP05: The Toxic Slime Floor
Cheered me right up after map 4 :)
It's comfort food in doom form: manageable enemy arrangements, succulent, scythable lines of zombiemen, and otherwise simple progressive action. Lovely map to play. 7/10


Looking forward to coming back once it's not dreadfully late at night.
 

Edited December 7, 2020 by akolai

[ViolentBeetle]

More videos from HAK

 

 

 

 

[akolai]

MAP06: The Surveillance Floor
A lot of sensible combat dynamics here (save for the first rev ambush). Fairly standard weapon progression, and tougher enemies only show up in threatening configurations once you have the tools to deal with them. The moshpit trickles them in fast enough to be threatening on the first try, but it's not vicious enough to keep that up (basically, it feels fair). Just a solid map all round. 7/10

MAP07: The Office Floor
Doesn't use either of its hard-coded MAP07 tags, which is probably for the best, since forcing it can ruin an otherwise good map. Any map that lets you take care of an ambush ahead of time gets my seal of approval. Really good map all round, but the fights aren't too memorable outside of the cathedral. Secrets are rewarding to find without being too obscure, or necessary for survival. 6/10

MAP08: The Criminal Floor
It's gratifying to finish, for sure. The ammo balance is really tight, and my first attempt ended with exactly no ammo stockpiled. The archie/knight trap is an incredible bait - the faint blue outline shows you where to aim for the next ambush, before surprising you with the archie. You get just enough time to hide behind the pillars before the knights block them off - in a way, it's exploiting your instincts to kite you around the room in such a way that you can generally clear it, but that still feels overwhelming. Visually a bit boring compared to the rest of the wad so far, but a good level either way. 8/10

MAP09: The Dance Floor
The gimmick fights are just amazing, first of all. The ssg carousel is a textbook example of how to introduce a new mechanic. 
The first proper vile fight feels too much like a rollercoaster - constantly flipping between highs and lows. The one thing it desperately needs is proper synchronisation. As of now, enemies spawn at a consistent time each cycle, but this changes based on when the switch is pressed. Timing the spawns to consistently occur after a switch would allow for more enemies to be piled on while remaining fair, and add actual time pressure. One minor detail, there are two switches that crush the viles right next to each other, which is kind of redundant.
(This bit onwards is now redundant. The issue has been fixed.) 7/10
[This is where it would get a 7/10, kept up by gameplay but let down by occasionally lacklustre visuals - but the map is mechanically broken. Linedef #2846 is supposed to open the blue bars - instead it slams the ceiling of its sector to the ground, making the level unbeatable. Why? NOT A FUCKING CLUE. THE SECTOR ISN'T EVEN TAGGED. THE LINE'S ACTION DOESN'T CORRESPOND TO A LOWERING CEILING. NO SECTORS APART FROM THE BARS HAVE THE LINE'S TAG. Removing this line fixes the issue (SOMEHOW), with the tradeoff that you have to press the actual bars rather than the general area in front of them. Quick note; this issue doesn't occur if you're pressed up against the bars, as the ceiling crashes down into you and bounces back up, making the level possible.
I have to give it a 1/10 in its current state, as it can be rendered impossible in a way that anyone could do without realising, and directly tied to progression. Again, 7/10 once this is fixed, and 8/10 if the rocket fight is made more visually captivating and given a more interesting shape.]

MAP10: The Splatter Floor
Thought I'd gone a bit crazy, but no, that's three cyberdemons in a tyson map.
This is nothing but good, stupid fun. Players are unlikely to be crushed by the megasphere trap since the cybie conditions you to always be moving, and it's established ahead of time via the arachnotron that there's a crusher there, so you feel smarter for having avoided it whether or not you expected it. The raised bars present an issue in that they can block traversability for both the player and enemies. When given the choice between consistent navigation and complex pathways, this map decided to do both through teleporters and platform lowering linedefs, which I thought was just genius. The sliding door is complete magic. 8/10

Edited December 7, 2020 by akolai

[ViolentBeetle]

10 minutes ago, akolai said:

This is where it would get a 7/10, kept up by gameplay but let down by occasionally lacklustre visuals - but the map is mechanically broken. Linedef #2846 is supposed to open the blue bars - instead it slams the ceiling of its sector to the ground, making the level unbeatable. Why? NOT A FUCKING CLUE. THE SECTOR ISN'T EVEN TAGGED. THE LINE'S ACTION DOESN'T CORRESPOND TO A LOWERING CEILING. NO SECTORS APART FROM THE BARS HAVE THE LINE'S TAG. Removing this line fixes the issue (SOMEHOW), with the tradeoff that you have to press the actual bars rather than the general area in front of them. Quick note; this issue doesn't occur if you're pressed up against the bars, as the ceiling crashes down into you and bounces back up, making the level possible.

Oh yes, I guess during our internal testing everyone just rubbed into the bars first, so nobody noticed. Now that I saw this with my own eyes, I know what's up (D-action doesn't care about tags, it affects sector behind it, and "door open" means moving ceiling 8 units below lowest adjacent, which would be the bars lowered into floor.

[akolai]

makes sense...
why does this game have to have so many random mechanics?

[Dranyan]

18 hours ago, akolai said:

The detail is also pretty ridiculous - the chairs in particular take some absolute wizardry, and I'm guessing they are specifically hidden on the automap so as to not reveal the linedef gore behind them.

Well... It's not very complicated honestly. Most part of the chairs are made using flying middle textures. I learnt the trick from mouldy's Going Down. Also, i didn't assign hidden on the automap flag to those linedefs. They aren't shown on the automap simply because sectors formed by them have same floor and celling height as the surrounding sectors.

Anyway, i'm happy knowing you enjoyed the map :)

[MAN_WITH_GUN]

:v

 

 

 

[Korozive]

On 9/26/2020 at 1:07 PM, Walter confetti said:

Love in the hellivator lol

Blowing it up as i'm going down

[ViolentBeetle]

7 hours ago, akolai said:

makes sense...
why does this game have to have so many random mechanics?

Id made actions for their own need, I suppose. Doors are a common occurence and it makes sense to not have them require tags, or number of tags would grow out of control. And it makes sense for doors to not slide beyond the appropriate. And instant movement is more of a bug.

 

I also forgot to tell you - you were supposed to lure Cyberdemons into the crusher on MAP10. Seems like you missed that.

[punch you in the face man]

I can't open HELEVTOR.rar as an archive with 7-Zip, can you repackage these maps in a zip file so I can see if that works?

[akolai]

10 hours ago, ViolentBeetle said:

you were supposed to lure Cyberdemons into the crusher

Yeah I got that, not sure why I wrote what I did there but I'll just chalk it up to being tired

[ViolentBeetle]

Version 0.2 is out now. It's mostly a bugfix version.

 

• Fixed piece of sky where none should be on MAP08
• Fixed ceiling lowering around blue bars instead of bars raising on MAP09
• Fixed missing ding on MAP10 (Demo had to be re-recorded as a result)
• Fixed possible bug with teleport closets on MAP16 and MAP29 that could result in demons running in circles instead of teleporting
• Added custom Icon of Sin on MAP30 provided by @Captain Toenail
• The map names on intermission screens are more compact because I finally figured out how to align them properly
• A few credits adjusted to match mappers' Doomworld names rather than their Discord names

EDIT: Icon of Sin was incorrectly attributed to NeedHealth because I wrote it down wrong. The mistake still persist in CREDITS.TXT until the next version. I am silly.

Edited December 5, 2020 by ViolentBeetle

[DoubleCakes]

Maps 3 & 4 continue the wad's feeling of this world being a lived in space. These settings really come alive!

 

Map 4 amped up the enemy count a lot but didn't feel out of place compared to the maps before it. That last fight with the archvile and revenants was nasty though and my strategy was to just run out of the room and take the elevator out!

[akolai]

Back on it.
One thing I worry about with these is that I'm too hard on a level because I got unlucky, or didn't notice something, or I'm just bad (I die at least once on most levels). PLEASE cut in if that happens.

Extra point for clarity: I pistol start, saveless, UV-max levels wherever possible (exceptions are the map 4 fight which I'm still salty about and the secret exit puzzle on map 15). I've also played/beaten most levels twice to properly gather my thoughts on them.


MAP11: The Isolation Floor
Don't know how to feel about this one.
First clear took something like 5 tries, it felt like I beat it because I was playing smarter than the previous attempts.
Next time took about 4, and it felt like I only won because the level decided I could (enemies just happened to infight well, moved around in useful ways, etc.).
THIRD time felt like a bit of both.
The first bit feels like there's too much meat in such a cramped area (hitscanner bit is a cool idea, but they could have been released in more conventional ways that don't take up most of the floorspace). Rev bit is kind of mean but manageable, and I just have no idea what to think about the last room.
I can't give this a score. The combinations of ideas frankly confuse me to the point that I have no idea what to think of this map.

MAP12: The Tech Testing Floor
Felt like it ended early. Just some good, simple action, with a good secret - not required, and not too hard to find. The plasma fight shouldn't wait so long to spawn in enemies, and the chaingunner platform next to where you enter is a missed opportunity for a secret. 7/10

MAP13: The Shivering Floor

This map is here to mess with your head. The transition to corruption is sudden to the point of being jarring and unsettling, but not completely offputting. Combat escalates in intensity without going over the top. [Most] of the fights are fun and balanced. The level drops you back in your own dimension in the end, but with the corpses still around to REALLY fuck with you. The plasma is exactly what a secret should be: a helpful piece of kit, but with only enough ammo to get you out of a bind rather than clear entire fights.
I'm low-key disappointed the fireplace isn't a damaging floor.
That said, the [Spooky Bones] guarding the plasma is dumb. He's too hard to take out without pressing up against the bloodfall (aka slapping distance) or wasting all your ammo spamming blindly from a safe distance. Replacing him with a couple of imps would go a long way. He loses the map a mark. 8/10

MAP14: The Chemical Production Floor
I can only assume Don came fresh off taking a few chemicals when designing that opener. Chaingunner conveyer is so creative I can't be mad at it. The health balance is out of whack in that area though - the best you can go in with is 100 / 0, which doesn't feel like enough room for error when dealing with 4 cacos on such a restrictive platform. The lost souls in the next fight are rude, and the caco to the left is a cheap shot when you have to focus forward and don't have room to dodge its attacks if it immediately moves over your platform. The rest of the fights are pretty cool, and I LOVED getting launched into the pair of archies. Secrets aren't overpowered and are reasonably simple to find. 7/10

MAP15: The Restricted Floor
The ammo balance is too damn tight. 4 sets of shells were launched and landed in unreachable locations on the railings. I would have killed for them.
I have to praise this map for being completely non-linear regardless. Pressing the coloured buttons in the same order as you collected the keys is a great idea, but the system either isn't communicated well enough, or I'm just a twat. My first attempt at it tried that, but hit a pillar, then the button, then another pillar, etc., and I thought it was working because 1 red wall rose on each one. The fights are, for the most part, devious and feel overwhelming. Started out hating the ammo starvation but came to love the map for it. 8/10

MAP(-1): The Basement
Wolfenstein remake. Not much to say. Shoot a bunch of paintings of King Nazi for very valuable secrets.
{The top left of Sector #202 has a pinky and spectre which both spawn on the 'hard' difficulty, which then can't move, making 100% kills impossible.}
The level is otherwise kind of unremarkable. 5/10

MAP(-2): The Subbasement
Very cool. It's a good short one, a decent bit easier than the rest or the set, so it gets you hyped to get back to the main levels. I would've preferred a cyberdemon as the last enemy but whatever. It has the most 'organic' scenery you're gonna get in an industrialised skyscraper. It's done really well and gives the map an amazing atmosphere. The fights are easier, as mentioned, but never boring. The way archies are spawned in with only an audio indicator is panic inducing in just the right way to be exciting.
The best case scenario for a level is that it feels threatening but never is - the player feels as if they've overcome a great challenge, achieving a proportional sense of accomplishment, while simultaneously having fun by getting away with mistakes (or not making any in the first place). It's a hard balance to strike but this map does it fairly well. Spending so long at high health somewhat broke the illusion. Removing the secrets (or making the items non-secret and making the level deadlier) would have brought this to a whole new level. 9/10

Edited December 6, 2020 by akolai

[Caleb13]

Ah, such clever concept, I really like how the central elevator ties to the final fight in MAP30. However. I encountered quite a few bugs, some on them game-breaking, I played on UV in GZdoom 4.5.0:

 

MAP06: aren't sectors 592 and 594 supposed to be secret?

 

MAP08: misaligned texture on linedefs 80 and 205. Sector 16 shouldn't be secret.

 

MAP09: it seems linedefs 2352 and 2806 that crush the archviles are duplicate. Isn't the soulsphere supposed to be secret?

 

MAP10: it's not technically a bug, but the central crusher causes noticeable framerate drops, at least in GZdoom 4.5.0. It's probably because it generates so many blood sprites. Could this be changed so the crusher generates fewer "hits", but with higher damage?

 

MAP21: one imp never teleported from sector 211, it permanently oscillated between linedefs 1323 and 1324, even after I killed it.

 

MAP23: I enountered a game-breaking bug: I jumped from sector 156 down towards the main lift, but I couldn't get back up, sector 23 blocked me. IMO there should be some mechanism to crush or kill the two cyberdemons, there are not enough radsuits (and ammo) to kill them regularly. And health is very tight in this map, considering the nasty traps.

 

MAP24: isn't sector 293 supposed to be secret?

 

MAP26: two imps never teleported from sector 846 and one revenant from 848. They got stuck at linedefs 3770 and 3776 where the moving floors move at opposite directions. When I noclipped there and activated them, they teleported out after a while.

 

MAP28: there is a game-breaking bug concerning the central elevator bars (sector 626). When I finished the last fight, I didn't immediately exit the level and the bars closed again, with no way to reopen them. Probably the easiest fix would be to make the doll 422 move in a loop.

 

MAP31: somehow I managed to break the sequence that enables MAP32. The big arrow near the elevator points down, but the elevator still goes up to MAP16. Maybe it happened because I pressed the final switch (linedef 3995) twice? I'm attaching a screenshot with doll status and I can also provide GZdoom 4.5.0 save file. It worked fine when I restarted the map.

 

[ViolentBeetle]

14 minutes ago, Caleb13 said:

MAP10: it's not technically a bug, but the central crusher causes noticeable framerate drops, at least in GZdoom 4.5.0. It's probably because it generates so many blood sprites. Could this be changed so the crusher generates fewer "hits", but with higher damage?

I don't think it's possible to regulate the damage done by crushers. Slowing it down might be more trouble than it worth. zDoom isn't well-optimized (Or more specifically optimizes for mod support not vanilla productivity), which is partially why we targeted PrBoom+

 

16 minutes ago, Caleb13 said:

MAP31: somehow I managed to break the sequence that enables MAP32. The big arrow near the elevator points down, but the elevator still goes up to MAP16. Maybe it happened because I pressed the final switch (linedef 3995) twice? I'm attaching a screenshot with doll status and I can also provide GZdoom 4.5.0 save file. It worked fine when I restarted the map.

The switch was supposed to be repeatable to switch between going up and going down. The arrow must have broken and need revision.

 

Can't comment on the rest of feedback right now, will have to take a look.

[Captain Toenail]

31 minutes ago, Caleb13 said:

but the central crusher causes noticeable framerate drops, at least in GZdoom 4.5.0

 

Thanks for noting this. I will see if it is possible to trim out a few more crushing sectors here.

[Caleb13]

25 minutes ago, ViolentBeetle said:

The switch was supposed to be repeatable to switch between going up and going down. The arrow must have broken and need revision.

 

I tried the save and it's definitely broken, I can't switch the direction. The arrow is stuck at "down", but the lift goes up.

 

Edit: I'm attaching the save anyway.

Broken MAP31.zip

[Caleb13]

Oh, I almost forgot, GZdoom reports some geometry errors, although they probably won't be anyting serious:

Spoiler

MAP02 - 2. The Cafeteria Floor

Line 1090 has no first side.
Line 4624 has no first side.
Line 4725 has no first side.
Line 4726 has no first side.
Line 4727 has no first side.
Line 4728 has no first side.
Line 4729 has no first side.
Line 4730 has no first side.
Line 4731 has no first side.
Line 4732 has no first side.
Line 4733 has no first side.
Line 4734 has no first side.
Line 1090's right edge is unconnected
Line 4624's right edge is unconnected
Line 4728's right edge is unconnected
Line 4729's right edge is unconnected
Line 4730's right edge is unconnected
Line 4733's right edge is unconnected
Line 4734's right edge is unconnected

 

----------------------------------------

MAP09 - 9. The Dance Floor

Line 1463 has no first side.

 

----------------------------------------

MAP14 - 14. The Chemical Production Floor

Line 244 has no first side.
Line 596 has no first side.
Line 597 has no first side.
Line 598 has no first side.
Line 599 has no first side.
Line 600 has no first side.
Line 1451 has no first side.
Line 1470 has no first side.
Line 244's right edge is unconnected
Line 596's right edge is unconnected
Line 597's right edge is unconnected
Line 598's right edge is unconnected
Line 599's right edge is unconnected
Line 600's right edge is unconnected
Line 1451's right edge is unconnected
Line 1470's right edge is unconnected

 

-----------------------

MAP21 - 21. The Custodian Floor

Line 1248 has no first side.
Line 1519 has no first side.
Line 1520 has no first side.
Line 1522 has no first side.
Line 1523 has no first side.
Line 1524 has no first side.
Line 1525 has no first side.
Line 1526 has no first side.
Line 1527 has no first side.
Line 1528 has no first side.
Line 1248's right edge is unconnected
Line 1522's right edge is unconnected
Line 1523's right edge is unconnected
Line 1524's right edge is unconnected
Line 1525's right edge is unconnected
Line 1526's right edge is unconnected
Line 1528's right edge is unconnected

 

----------------------------------------

MAP30 - The Roof

Line 974 has no first side.
Line 1373 has no first side.
Line 1374 has no first side.
Line 1375 has no first side.
Line 974's right edge is unconnected
Line 1373's right edge is unconnected
Line 1374's right edge is unconnected
Line 1375's right edge is unconnected

 

 

[HAK3180]

On 12/3/2020 at 2:58 AM, ViolentBeetle said:

First 2 levels played by @HAK3180

 

I'm up to the first 20 now, if anyone is interested. Search through the forum topic or use my table of contents.

[ViolentBeetle]

5 minutes ago, Caleb13 said:

Oh, I almost forgot, GZdoom reports some geometry errors, although they probably won't be anyting serious:

Those seem to be linedefs placed outside the map, for one reason or another, such as scroller effects and signature. None of them should cause issues

[Shawny]

Quote

MAP26: two imps never teleported from sector 846 and one revenant from 848. They got stuck at linedefs 3770 and 3776 where the moving floors move at opposite directions. When I noclipped there and activated them, they teleported out after a while.

 

@Caleb13Fixed, as not too savy scripter/tech mapper I did quite a few errors in the monster closets. The problem occured if monster didn´t have space to teleport and monster loop that should have been a safetly mechanism to prevent that was missing a teleport destination. I added those, changed and fixed the loop. It now work proper.

Much appriciated your feedback.

 

Quote

Replacing him with a couple of imps would go a long way.

@akolaiThere is an imp on easy (1,2). Other 2 (skill 3/4,5) have revs, I wanted something more beefy on higher skill settings to prevent player from finding the secret by encouraging the player to skip the monster behind the bloodfall. I was thinking about a hell knight, but that would make infighting with revs in the monster closet possible (which I didn´t want). I would need to change the revs too. But fair enough, I knew that section is kinda BS and I decided to keep it.

 

Also I wanted to say changing the score system from x/5 to x/10 much better represents the review. I enjoy your reviews much more now.

[akolai]

Thanks @Shawny. My main issue with the rev is that he's pushed right up against the bloodfall. Even moving him back a bit would make him less annoying to deal with.

The x/10 switch was mostly because I didn't have enough flexibility around the higher ranks (map 2 was better than 1, but wasn't perfect, so it's a 4/5 --> map 1 is a 3/5 - but it felt like it deserved more than a 3/5. I started using 3.5/5 but realised it was just x/10 with extra steps.)


MAP16: The Temple Floor
The SSG felt like it should have been trapped. Something about the positioning, architecture and regular shotgun right in front of it make it feel like a letdown when the game just lets you have it. The rocket launcher does what it should: make fights easier without being completely required - that way you make the map harder but not impossible by wasting rockets. The library section where walls raise to reveal enemies is timed perfectly to dump a vile in your face as you finish (seriously, both times he teleported in AS I was firing my last shot on the baron). Generally interesting combat, but not too memorable. 6/10

MAP17: The Sewage Control Floor
Max, you've redeemed yourself.
It's a war of attrition in the form of a doom map. You have one big arena that gets reused a few times, stacked with health packs, but it can get strained across your three visits. There are also some side rooms. The rev fight is panic-inducing but never deadly, the archie barrel trap is satisfying, and Max had the sense to not put any enemies in the cramped as shit yellow card room. The finale is dramatic as all hell, with the cyberdemon seen from the start now firing from his podium (definitely better than if he'd been teleported down - the distance gives you ample time to free yourself if you get stuck). In the last two arenas, you only barely have enough room to skirt the edge, which makes it feel more intense. It's hard to describe, but it just feels amazing to play.
I do have a few issues, though. The map floods you with ammo, so I never felt the danger. You also can't backtrack for the secret (as far as I can tell).
It's almost a masterpiece. 9/10

MAP18: The Castle Floor
This one's... wierd. It's basic, it's cramped, it's boring. There's barely any combat to speak of. The traps are predictable, the layout is boxy, there's rarely more than two enemies in a room, the decor is bland, and there's an archvile that literally can't move that you crush with a switch.
There's nothing interesting happening in here. It's not a bad level, but it's not giving me a reason to play it. 4/10

MAP19: The Sprawling Floor
Surprise cybie saves this map from mediocrity. There's otherwise not too much about this map that sticks in your head. The secrets are easy to find (although the backpack is almost useless in such a small level). Unremarkable, and kinda fun. 5/10

MAP20: The Molten Floor
The start just isn't fun. The idea of being surrounded on all sides works when you have room to dodge - here, you're stuck in a corridor loop that's 4 doomguys wide, being sniped by hitscanners and with your view obstructed by an obnoxious cage.
Other than that... it's certainly a level. There are a few setpiece fights that aren't particularly interesting beyond novelty. The trick of slamming down some viles at the end of the level is getting old, and it's not great here due to the aforementioned cage, but there are small bits of geometry you can take cover behind, which gives the fight an interesting dynamic. 6/10