The DWmegawad Club plays: Doomer Boards Projects 26, 7, 19

[kalaeth]

MAP15 : they destroyed my property's wall! How dare they? Grabbing a rocket launcher, I go out there to enact vengeance. After killing all those that I found, I climb into another card..

 

MAP16 : I can't really describe where I am, only that as soon as I shoot my first shot, enemies start showing up : everyone wants a piece of me! And I have lot's of pieces of ammo for them. As I walk around dispersing death, all manners of thugs come to shoot at me, including a teleporting archville! After a long while wandering around and killing everything I grab the keys, port from one place to another, destroy a SMM, three cybercows and then.. I decide I won't hunt for secrets or the two remaining enemies, so it's 23 minutes 53 seconds, some 5 or 6 deaths, 99% kills, 50 % secrets.

 

(merry christmas, DWMC! I'll be back to playing somewhere next week, likely) 

[tmorrow]

map17

Sadly doomguy has become accustomed to the constant assault on his estate, the handiwork of Cyberneezer Scrooge who he has dubbed "Cyberneezer the geezer". The enemy has been stealing his xmas cards and then baiting him with them. This time he has to fight his way through cacodemons first and then the trail leads to a discarded xmas card placed outside a building the enemy has sieged up. The building is flanked by a couple of chaingunners and some pesky revenants and imps are inside, attacking when he approaches. Making short work of the enemy, doomguy gently recovers his xmas card.

map18

Doomguy has a premonition that this map is full of nasty traps. His suspicions are well founded. It's a haunted, office building from hell with diabolical middle management (i.e. archviles). Doomguy does not want to work here, not even on a short term, contractual basis. As well as many sneaky ambushes in closed in spaces, doomguy has to put on his thinking cap and solve several puzzles to progress. The first half of the map is nastier than the latter half due to the limited weaponry doomguy has to work with initially. In the latter part of the map, doomguy can pull out the big guns and make the monsters dance.

This is a map where doomguy will want to pick up the secrets if at all possible. The secret goodies include an early plasma rifle, megaarmor, soulsphere and 2 megaspheres. One of the secret areas is an optional outdoor set piece involving a fight with mancubi and cacodemons and a couple of archviles.

There are 10 archviles packed onto the map and they yearn to catch doomguy off guard. There are a lot of pillars for cover but the combination of monsters and confined space can make for some nasty fights.

The most intricate part of the map takes place indoors. The search for the keys is mostly linear but there are optional areas along the way for better weapons and secrets. There are 3 keys to find for progression, in the order yellow, red and blue. The yellow key path is short and straightforward. The red key path is longer and with more dangerous traps. The blue key pickup is easy enough once doomguy has picked up the best weaponry.

At the start of the map, doomguy can optionally tackle the super shotgun room before heading for the yellow key.

Taking the yellow door leads doomguy on a dangerous trek for the red key. The nastiest room along the way is a hit or miss archvile and chaingunner trap where doomguy has to stay on his toes. Sometimes doomguy beats the room like a total boss, other times, not so much. Further on, doomguy has some uncomfortable times in the library and along a narrow corridor to the red key.

At this point doomguy can choose between seeking out the blue key next or can instead take a teleporter that has opened up in the starting room to an optional set piece culminating in the bfg and a megasphere pickup. While optional, the rewards are highly desirable for the pistol starter and of course mandatory if doomguy is seeking 100% kills.

After the blue key pickup, doomguy can optionally head for the finale or take a detour back through the red key path to the blue switch that opens up the way to an outdoor set piece with mancubi, cacodemons and a few archviles. The rewards are excellent, much ammo and health.

The finale is a outdoor set piece in a circular arena. At last doomguy gets to discuss his issues with executive management (i.e. cybie) on the matter of the company corporate strategy (i.e. trying to kill doomguy). After the horrors doomguy has already faced on the map, the cybie fight is unlikely to cause any angst, especially if doomguy can keep his bfg blazing. There are 16 bells regularly spaced around the arena and by now, doomguy should know what to do with them. Possibly cybies stray rockets have already done much of that work. That's a laugh, when does management ever do any work?

Edited December 25, 2020 by tmorrow

[Lingyan203]

I'm just wondering if it's possible to reach the secret with the BFG? I cannot find a switch or walk somewhere to trigger it. Do I have to use an arch-vile jump to reach it? My post is at the end of this page in the link above.

[Crusader No Regret]

DBP19 continues

 

Maps 5 and 6: 100% kills, 3/4 secrets

 

  Finished with the task of shoveling the snow pile and making sure the outdoor fountain is OK, Doomguy hears monster growls.  Oh, come on.  Now they're infesting his home.  Someone's going to answer to for this.  Doomguy rushes to the upstairs storage room/study to confirm the safety of his valuables.

 

  I did clear map 6 from scratch.  Well, this includes carryover from map 5.  I can see how the map is inspired by Eternal.  This extends to stronger weapons being squirreled away in secrets.  I didn't even notice the SSG until the map was over and I was combing through the map to find missing secrets.  Sure would have helped out.  I ran low on everything besides shells.  The hellknight pair made a stronger impression given my lack of SSG.  Monster placement doesn't feel as Eternalish.  Where's the symetrical monster placement?  (grin)

  Rather than grind down the first mancubus with shotgun/chaingun, I left it to the demon pack to handle.  It's not wise to play with flamethrowers on icy surfaces.  While looking around for a means to advance, I spot Santa's sleigh off in the distance for the first time.  I didn't pick up the hint at one point and ended up finding the way forward by random torch humping.  At the end stretch, with the way forward seemingly blocked, no more wandering confused this time.  By now, the conditioning to look for bells to shoot has been completed and that's what i look for next.

  Much smoother on continuous with carryover SSG.  I did work out how to reach SSG.  Yellow key still eludes me and I gave up seeking it out.

 

Maps 7 and 8: 101% kills, 0/1 secret

 

   That last trip down memory lane sure took a while.  A surprisingly stealthy hellknight has blocked the hallway downstairs with heavy bookcases.  After venting his frustration on the demonic intruder in the spare bedroom, Doomguy remembers an unpleasant time from the past while he tosses the carcass out the window.

 

   So one time, Doomguys was boxed up and shipped off as a present to the demons.  They're partying all over the section of city where he was dropped off, seemingly triggered at every turn.  The constant attacks can get weary though there are some fun setups.  Such as the gangs of imps having rooftop drinking parties.  Whatever they drink has that unfortunate (for them) side effect of being very volatile when exposed to explosions.  Such as those made by rockets, a single one breaking up each party in a messy way.

 

   There's a permastuck right at the start where it's possible to get wedged between the gift box Doomguy arrived in and the wall.  Um, oops.  From scratch, I got as far as the bell hunt before giving up, not expecting to survive whatever would be unleashed before ringing all of them.  Some of the demons partied too hard the night before and are hungover or sleepy.  Ringing all the bells scattered throughout will rouse them from their slumber and the anticipation of their gift arriving will stir them into action.  Archviles are by far the worst threats for marines who wish to survive the scene.

 

  Oh, this map was the first time I finally caught on the jingle bells replacing the teleport sound.  Somehow I didn't catch on before despite hearing it 4 times at minimum in previous maps.  Archvile ressurections account for my kill percentage.  There were 12 survivors when I left this map.  From what I hear, it's a cool fight setup I missed out on.

 

  I am really liking the creative spirit in this mapset.  All the little details that serve the premise add to the immersion factor.

[ABearInThaWoods]

Night 9

Spoiler

 

 

[Phobus]

As I'm home alone today...

 

On the ninth day of Christmas, I got from DBP:

Nine Revenants screaming,
Eight nobles knighted,
Seven project leaders,
Supercupcaketactics,
FIIIIIVE YELLOW KEEEEYS,
Four shells for shotgun,
Three glen maps,
Two hundred health,
AND A HUB MAP BY BIG OL' BILLY!

 

MAP17 - “Christmas Eve Pt. IX” by Big Ol’ Billy

Returning from our reverie at the fountain, we see Cyberneezer has shifted around to a rooftop and another of our cards has been stood up on a terrace in front of a dark building. There's some resistance, but not much - particularly for the gear we've got now!

 

MAP18 - “Xmasphobia” by Thundercunt

Thundercunt is a bit of an enigma. With the Blade Trinity-inspired username and relatively rare posting and mapping over on the Boards, the assumption is that it's a pseudonym... Although I don't know for whom. In any case, they don't turn up for every DBP, but when they do it's usually a Boom-format map (something that needs "fixing" to cl2 limit-removing) and usually very hard (something else that may get toned down, depending on the project lead). They do tend to look good and play well (if you've got the skills) and are a welcome contribution!

 

This particular map sets a dark and gloomy haunted house vibe against plentiful Christmas decorations and snowy exterior, with a manic background provided by the final boss music from Banjo-Kazooie. It's often claustrophobic and the enemies are mostly working on the level of Plutonia, with high-damaging Revenants, Chaingunners, Arch-Viles and Hell Knights making up a lot of the cast, although there's plenty of other monsters contributing, including a Cyberdemon who you take on in an arena reminiscent of the climactic fight with Venom in Spider-Man 3 (what with the bells ringing all around). If you find the secrets, which in this puzzle-progression map can be quite tricky you'll actually have a lot of extra powerups and even a BFG, so my health was up and down a lot here. It's a hard time, but I like it! It's also way more forgiving than the early drafts, where I used to habitually die over and over again on my test runs, so be glad we've sprinkled some festive generosity :P 

[Horus]

+++Plutonia

[FrancisT218]

Okay, this one's been out there long enough, so I'll join the bandwagon.

 

+++Plutonia

[tmorrow]

map19

What has Cyberneezer the geezer done now? Well, he's unleashed 2 archviles that are now running around in his maze hedge. Doomguy is not known for his patience and when he sees a bunch of cheeky imps running riot on top of his hedge and trampling it underfoot, he loses his cool and races in, rifle at the ready. To add to his ire, once into the maze, he realises that bars rise up to block him from getting back out. It seems that Cyberneezer has hacked doomguys security system and he has to find a switch to get back out. Spotting another one of his xmas cards in front of a disused switch, doomguy wonders how many others the enemy has strewn over his estate.

map20

It's time to take out the trash and there's a lot of it on this map. Doomguy doesn't know it yet but he's about to be exposed to the Krampus Anomaly. He's used to anomalies, nothing abnormal about them in his line of work. In fact, doomguy would be surprised if there was no anomaly.

Doomguy is not amused to discover that this map has no super shotgun but at least it has almost every other weapon. Doomguys spider senses are telling him that danger is everpresent here. He has to make his way up a icy hill to some huge presents and the blue key. Of course the presents are trapped with enemies.

Heading inside, doomguy collects the plasma rifle but has to first beat up an archvile with only rifle and chaingun for it. Doomguy suffers at the hands of many monsters in a series of traps in each room. He senses that the red key is not going to be an easy pickup. He's right and uses up almost all of his cells clearing out the room.

Just past the red door doomguy can softlock himself by walking through the trees to the right and dropping down onto the ice and the wrought iron fence. Probably best not to drop down there.

Doomguy has dubbed the ice pit past the red key as "the icepit of pain". There are mancubi, barons/hellknights, revenants, arachnotron and other scum lobbing a continual stream of missiles at him from the icy ledges.

Reaching a new building, doomguy enters to the start of the finale. Approaching the switch below the yellow key on a pedestal starts the final sequence. Bars block the way doomguy came in and he is locked in for some fights as a series of walls begin to lower, revealing waves of enemies. Several archviles are in the mix. With careful use of the the secrets, doomguy can chain 3 of the invulnerabilities together and wipe the room easily.

A note on the secrets. Doomguy says that if you are doing this map without the secrets, you are doing it the hard way. The 6 secrets contain a backpack, rocket launcher and rockets, invulnerability, soulsphere, megasphere, bfg and cells and backpack and invulnerability. The megasphere is a secret that is revealed by raising a pillar but that pillar will relower in the final fight if you move past the lowered walls and won't be available for the rest of the fight. The invulnerability secret requires an archvile jump and will become inaccessible if you kill all the archviles before collecting it.

Doomguy needs to start up 4 bells in order to raise the bars to 2 lifts that take him up to a switch above. It is possible to use the switch from below without using the lifts. The switch lowers the yellow key at last. Doomguy is relieved to reach the exit alive. Taking out the trash has never been so hard.

[Andromeda]

+++ The Plutonia Experiment

[Phobus]

On the tenth day of Christmas, I got from DBP:

Ten barrels glowing,
Nine Revenants screaming,
Eight nobles knighted,
Seven project leaders,
Supercupcaketactics,
FIIIIIVE YELLOW KEEEEYS,
Four shells for shotgun,
Three glen maps,
Two hundred health,
AND A HUB MAP BY BIG OL' BILLY!

 

MAP19 - “Christmas Eve Pt. X” by Big Ol’ Billy

Having enjoyed the previous card, Doomguy's attention is now drawn to the maze at the other side of his house by Imps. Naturally, there's a couple of Arch-Viles in there, but there's also a card from dmdr...

 

MAP20 - “Krampus Anomaly” by dmdr

This map is tough. Considerably less so when you come in continuous, but there's a lot of potential for damage, especially if you don't find many secrets (and as dmdr is really good at hiding them, I still only found three, which is half of the total!) I find the exterior sections look great in this map, whilst the garish interiors, liberally plastered with festive colours and variable lighting, are a bit on the ugly side. Not unforgivably so, but just to the extent where it stands out in my mind. Combat is definitely the main thing here, though, with a lot of lock-in fights, some featuring timed waves that can be partially defanged with well-timed pickup collection and further so, with foreknowledge. For example, the red skull key battle (originally a key card, but Glen and dmdr have some major differences of opinion over the use of key cards and skull keys... Glen got the last word in), for me, is comfortably manageable if you take out the Mancubi straight away and then stand your ground at the top of the newly risen stairs, preferably liberally applying plasma to the horde below.

 

The map is the best kind of linear layout, with a snaking path allowing you to look back over where you've been, almost spiralling around the starting point. It gives the impression of being an open space that can be explored, despite going forward and back tracking being essentially your only two options (with the odd opportunity to jump much further back). After your snowy slaughter of a fairly heavy population, you step into a void-like exit path. I missed three secrets (as mentioned before) and a few enemies - some of which clearly hadn't made it out of their teleport monster closets for whatever reason. Still, it's a good map, by an author who reliably delivers, but doesn't deliver as often as some of the other DBP guys.

 

 

I won't be playing next month, so I'll not cast a vote.

[Crusader No Regret]

Maps 9 and 10: 91% kills, 6/6 secrets

 

     After a bathroom stop, Doomguy heads downstairs for a meal break.  There's a bony intruder sitting in his favorite dining chair he blasts away along with other demonic visitors.  Some carolers have perched on the fence but their singing voices are out of tune, to put it lightly.

 

     This is the first time I spot Cyberneezer snorting at me even though (when checking with IDCLEV) he's been around since map 3.  That's the sort of creativity I enjoy seeing in Doom maps and his presence does lift my spirits.  This is the last time the upstairs rooms will be accessible; Doomguy puts up a demonproof barricade to the bathroom offscreen, thus protecting his prized magazine collection.*

 

     On to the main map.  This one plays well with some mob fights that look intimidating but aren't all that difficult if you don't approach them stupidly like I do the first time.  There's also a compelling set of secrets to uncover.  In a bit of generosity, all the bells to ring are right on the path of progression.

 

     Seems that even demons can get tired of hell, ash, and brimstone and a lot of them use the icy river on this map as a vacation spot.  And I do mean a lot.  And they would love to have Doomguy on a spit roast given the enthusiasm they chase him with when they become aware of his presence.  An intimidating force but easier than it looks.  With enough ammo, one can retreat to the ice caves and bottleneck them thee.  I didn't do that though.  With deft footwork, I baited them into killing each other.  4 revenants came out on top which I finish off with rockets and SSG.

   Further in, an archvile has lit some fires in the fireplaces to bring warmth and cheer to the demons lounging inside.  It's also eager to light you on fire so don't let that happen.  There's also a wine cellar with textures that I remember from Lost Civilization.  Good memories.  There's a sneaky archvile at the end that doesn't have an easy out to deal with.  Also possible by insanity to screw oneself for the cyber by teleporting to its location without enough ammo to deal with it.  There's no ammo in its yard other than a bullet box (for ringing the bell) on HMP.  There are 200 cells in plain sight right before the teleport hence "by insanity."

 

     Uncovering the secrets was the most satisfying part of the map for me.  I'd only found one by the time the exit was open.  The map does well in teasing at areas just out of reach and I was drawn to find a way to them.  The gallery was the next discovery.  Seeing the pictures there gave a clue on what to do to open the path there.  Solved the mystery of the conspicuous candle in the wine cellar next.  With two pictures lit up, I metagamed a bit on where to search for the last one.  Guessed correctly and found it, having not picked up the hint until after the fact.  Felt so good to get those secrets checked off.  As for 91% kills, I found early on that I could pass through the courtyard with monsters waiting in the shadows without alerting them.  There was no material gain from fighting them so in a rare show of mercy from Doomguy, let them be.

 

* Doomguy;s magazines are all about guns, weapons, and other demon slaying gear.  What did you think they were about for him to value them so highly?

[Antkibo]

I swear the 25th and the 26th should be extensions of the 24th; the eve's black hole of laziness's pull is incredible.

 

MAP14: Two Sizes Two Small by Doom_RO

 

A red structure full of candy cane overlooks a mountain full of trees and snow. Christmas amenities are not yet up, but that's our job, right? MAP14 throws an array of punches one after another with short rooms full of arachnotrons, mancubuses, and revenants. Combat is tight -- while the map is not small, most zones thrive with monsters: take each step carefully or you'll get roasted. The standout encounter for me is the rocket launcher area, which you enter after a drop and are immediately met by little space and many projectiles.

 

There's not much to see, most places are open, snowy areas or ice caverns. I liked the little wooden cottage. Doom-cute? Oh hell yeah!

[tmorrow]

map21

Well this is both embarrassing and infuriating. Cyberneezer has hacked doomguys security system and he is now locked inside his own hedge maze. What's more, the monsters have broken into his mini chapel. He's got to lower the blue key in the middle of the maze and retrieve it. After picking up the key, the bars blocking him inside the maze are mysteriously lowered, allowing him to exit the maze, right into the arms of chaingunners and revenants between him and the chapel. Inside the chapel he sees an xmas card from the past, lying smack bang in the middle of the chapel.

map22

Doomguy starts outside Cyberneezer's house in the snow. It's high time for some good old fashioned revenge. Time to trash Cyberneezer the geezer's place and see how he likes it. Payback's a bitch. He intends to enter the premises using as much force as required. Doomguy starts by working his way along the hedge border and side of the building, looking for an entry that way. He is accosted by Cyberneezers henchmen, revenants, cacodemons and smaller enemies along the way.

Doomguy finds an unlocked garage in northwest corner of the map with a big red truck being polished by an archvile and hellknight. Doomguy trashes the garage, leaps on Cyberneezer's truck and finds a poorly concealed yellow key perched on top. He heads back around to the front of the house.

Opening the yellow door to Cybernezer's house is doomguys first mistake. He was wondering why the yellow door is so wide and high. He finds out. Right in front of him, waiting to greet him and shake him by the hand is an extremely large spider mastermind who immediately teleports behind him to prevent his escape. Immediately inside the house is the kitchen, dining room and bathroom, all full of enemies that somehow seem to have already been alerted to his presence. The trap is sprung but Cyberneezers lackeys are no match for doomguy and he makes short work of clearing the rooms before jumping on the oversized furniture. It appears that Cyberneezer doesn't like people stealing his food, his king sized refrigerator is booby trapped with revenants, imps and lost souls! Nor does he like people using his extra large bathtub which has 2 cacodemons guarding it.

Doomguy is astonished at the size of everything in Cyberneezer's house. Cyberneezer had made his instructions clear when his house was being built. The construction crew were to double all measurements. Big, big, big! Cybies are tired of banging their head on the ceiling. Spider masterminds are sick of getting stuck. If a train can drive through the house without touching the sides, then it might just be big enough. The interior decorators were given the same message. Big, big, big! Supersize the furniture. Cyberneezer had put his foot down with a vengeance. He wanted a wide screen TV!

Once doomguy heads upstairs to the bedrooms where he's locked in for the first set piece. The blue switch opens 4 rooms of enemies. Doomguy decides the best place to camp is in the barons bedroom since there's enough room for rocket play in there. He notes the nursery has 2 hellknights in cribs, confirming his long held belief that hellknights are infant barons. Some arachnotrons are guarding Cyberneezer's master bedroom where he finds the red key and revenants in the closet! Doomguy heads back down stairs.

The red door takes doomguy down into a dank cellar, probably where all the xmas cheer is stored. Doomguy senses the basement is not a safe place. Taking the final step into the basement is doomguys second mistake since that step is too high to retake the stairs. He's trapped! Cyberneezer is not in a good mood. He hates people jumping all over his custom large furniture, raiding his ice box, using his bathtub and walking on top of his shiny red truck. But none of these things compare to his fervent hatred of doomguy. Cyberneezer has enlisted the services of cybie to prevent any xmas cheer or doomguys from leaving the basement.

There's a lot to absorb and little time to do it as a hail of cybie snow covered rockets come doomguys way. Firstly, 8 crushers start up around the room that will indiscriminately crush whoever is underneath them. Secondly, there is a teleporter that anyone can take to another part of the room. Telefragging is an option but is not all that reliable and doomguy prefers to use the 5 pillars around the room to block rockets and use super shotgun. Four of the 5 pillars have swiches that reveal a bell. The bell needs to be shot to reveal another switch which in turn needs to be shot to both raise a basement step so doomguy can leave and to lower the wall to the exit.

Doomguy is so confused, there's several possible strategies to try out. Will it be "telefrag lottery" or "quick switches for a quick getaway" or "pillar peekaboo with super shotgun"? Who can think clearly with the racket of cybie fuming and stomping around? In the end doomguy decides on a super shotgun and plasma rifle medley and pillar hopping, to keep Cyberneezer guessing his next move. Doomguy is likely to take a fair amount of splash damage but no direct rocket hit as long as he executes correctly. After that he can perform the switch sequences and take a leisurely stroll to the exit, pleased in the knowledge that Cyberneezer's evil plans have been twharted once again.

The 7 secrets yield a backpack, partial invisibility, boxes of rockets, berserk pack, cellpack, medikits, soulsphere. The partial invisibility is invaluable for the SMM fight. The soulsphere isn't all that helpful for pistol starters but the other items are all around useful.

[ABearInThaWoods]

+++MAYhem2018 Orange + Purple Editions

 

Night 10

Spoiler

 

 

Night 11

Spoiler

 

 

Edited December 27, 2020 by ABearInThaWoods

[galileo31dos01]

+++ Garrulismo

[Phobus]

On the eleventh day of Christmas, I got from DBP:

Eleven hours mapping,
Ten barrels glowing,
Nine Revenants screaming,
Eight nobles knighted,
Seven project leaders,
Supercupcaketactics,
FIIIIIVE YELLOW KEEEEYS,
Four shells for shotgun,
Three glen maps,
Two hundred health,
AND A HUB MAP BY BIG OL' BILLY!

 

MAP21 - “Christmas Eve Pt. XI” by Big Ol’ Billy

Our last "normal" visit to the hub map continues the key hunt, allowing us to collect the blue skull key and then head out of the maze to a little church. The chaingunner firing squad could be a nasty surprise, and the contents of the church have damage potential, but you're so well-equipped that you should be steaming through now!

 

MAP22 - “Where Cyberneezer Hid Christmas” by joe-ilya

A joe-ilya map. However, one that's been tested and fed back on many times, leading to the core concept (a goofy Cyberdemon-scale house decked out for Christmas) shining through strongly, with quirky features like a melted snowman at the start, but a generous ammo/health balance for the player and somewhat refined game play on the initial draft. All told, this is a fun map. Fun in concept, execution and game play, although the Cyberdemon in the basement is a tricky encounter due to crushers and other obstacles guaranteeing a bit of splash damage. I was crap with my BFG and took many unnecessary deaths to get a "quick" kill in the end.

 

Secrets are mostly rewards for climbing about on all of the Doom-cute sector constructs, although observant players may notice a free soulsphere right at the end if they don't rush to exit too quickly, which I think is a nice parting gift at this late stage. From six-to-seven years ago, joe has come a long way. This map is rough and ready, and not his best work to date, but it definitely showed a positive direction of travel from the hundreds of rushed, low-effort maps he made in his first few years as a mapper. It goes to show what cumulative experience can do for you, especially when you're getting shouted at for bad decisions and are sort-of willing to make adjustments after the arguments!

[Crusader No Regret]

Maps 11 and 12: 100% kills, no map secrets

 

    Can't even eat in peace.  An Archvile is setting fires in the kitchen and Doomguy goes to put them, and it, out.  Christmas card from the Doomer boards that was on top of the fridge is still intact.

 

     When I tried map 12 from scratch without saves, I got to the red door and was roasted by the archviles beyond.  There's lots of chances for using infights to reduce the monster ranks.  I gunned down the first spider mastermind (after baiting it into taking out most of the ledge imps) before I learned it could be crushed.  Playing with saves let me discover easier strategies that I missed while playing blind.  The first dropoff is easier to handle by alerting only one revenant and wrangling it into taking out a few monsters before going on an offensive.

    There are the fun moments like the caco crusher and the large numbers of spider masterminds used. (thinning them out through infighting is highly recommended).  But this map feels like it's missing that Christmassy touch somehow.  I was disappointed that there were no bells to ring; it's more than the absence of bells though.  I concur, this map would fit better with DBP7.

[tmorrow]

map23

Worst xmas ever! Now doomguy has been locked in his chapel and has to discover how to get out. There seems to be some noises coming from his mini clocktower. The time is still frozen at midnight. Taking the lift up, doomguy hears a lot of "bah, humbug" sounds that seem to be coming from 6 mysterious large crates strewn around his clocktower, glowing in the moonlight. It's quite perplexing. Doomguy was not expecting any deliveries. He notices a strange looking portal that wasn't there before and beside it, Cyberneezer's clothes and top hat. Tentatively, doomguy takes a deep breath and steps into the portal ...

map24

Doomguy appears on a central, circular platform in an arena, next to a rotating clock pedestal just in time to see cybie teleporting away. To the din of "bah, humbug" echoing out, santas, demons and imps make pests of themselves as doomguy picks up the ammo and weaponry and drinks in his hostile surroundings. There are 3 megaspheres on pillars and that's good, they can be picked up as required. There are cacodemons and imps outside and that's bad, doomguy better get rid of them sooner than later.

Doomguy can dispense of the intial room of enemies lofting missiles at him and then take some time to concentrate on what's going on off in the distance. In 3 directions, doomguy observes that a wall will periodically lower and a hideous Cyberneezer visage appears. Behind the visage are a stack of barrels that are just begging to be rocketed. Exploding the barrels results in icon of sin death sound being heard and immediate reprisals as an archvile and support team of monsters spawn on the central platform in retaliation. After clearing the wave of enemies, doomguy can move on to one of the other 2 directions and repeat the exercise to the death sounds of 2 other icons of sin.

One wave consists of an archvile, revenants and tier 1 enemies. Another wave is worse with an archvile and lots of pain elementals. However, the third wave is the worst, since an archvile appears with friends and the rotating clock pedestal in the middle rises to reveal cybie standing on a red square plate. An annular section of the central platform begins moving up and down as doomguy goes into full damage control, running round and round.

After killing cybie and any other enemies remaining, doomguy can step on the red plate to crush 4 offmap icons of sin and end the map victorious! Yay! Doomguy can at last return to his estate once again, only this time it will be to peace and tranquility, where he can relax and enjoy xmas. He's certain that this time Cyberneezer and the mean monsters have learned their lesson at last.

[ABearInThaWoods]

Night 12

Spoiler

 

 

 

[golbeeze]

+++Garrulismo

[Phobus]

On the twelfth day of Christmas I got from DBP:
Twelve monthly projects
Eleven hours mapping,
Ten barrels glowing,
Nine Revenants screaming,
Eight nobles knighted,
Seven project leaders,
Supercupcaketactics,
FIIIIIVE YELLOW KEEEEYS,
Four shells for shotgun,
Three glen maps,
Two hundred health,
AND A HUB MAP BY BIG OL' BILLY!

 

It's a Big Ol' Billy triple threat today, so that we can wrap up.

 

MAP23 - “Christmas Eve Pt. XII” by Big Ol’ Billy

The music has changed (a little creepier!) and night has turned to an inky black void. The clocktower is looking ominous and, once you're upstairs, you can see Cyberneezer has shed his outfit. Finally, the confrontation is afoot!

 

MAP24 - “Realm of the Christmas Time” by Big Ol’ Billy

We've stepped into time itself now - naturally, it's infested with demons. Cyberneezer seems to have hidden himself within the fabric of time, but fortunately shooting his gloating face with a rocket when it appears in each of the three locations around your central arena will flush him out.

 

There's quite a lot of monster-activated lift action going on here, adding an element of randomization, but you're effectively just in a highly exposed arena, with plenty of Cacodemons around the outside, three targets that aren't always on display and enemies you can't see that are firing at you from the void. They get wiped out by the explosions that ensue when you shoot at the Cyberneezer faces, and some enemies teleport in with you in the middle in exchange. Blowing up all three releases a Cyberdemon, who in turn triggers a lift action by walking around the central point, making BFG action a lot harder and you a lot more likely to take splash damage. Even with three megaspheres around the outside on little switch-activated platforms, death is a decent risk. Once the Cyb is down, you've won and can cross where he was to trigger an IoS explosion and end the map! Well done you, you've saved Christmas and rediscovered your festive cheer.

 

MAP25 - “Christmas Morning” by Big Ol’ Billy

The hub map is a bit more upbeat now, and presents (ammo, health, armour and weapons) are scattered all around. We're all credited, we festive Krew, but if you're in the mood, this map does harbour a bit of a secret.

 

Activate all of the credits (pressing them, doors near them or walking through them lowers a pair of little pillars near each graphic) and a flood of enemies will spawn. ABearInThaWoods has a great video of him beating it in one take and I'd recommend you'd watch that if you're not up to finding it or beating it yourself! I didn't fancy it, and now I'm done for the month, and the year...

[kalaeth]

back for a few mre maps! 

 

MAP17 : As soon as I return to town I pick up a pair of keys, go home to check if everything is ok, and then I'm back into the cold streets, now devoid of monsters, to try and find the next card. Well, mostly devoid of monsters. After taking care of the small numbers of monsters in the plaza I reach an old building and the card!

 

MAP18 : I'm inside some old building, and surrounded by imps and shotunners. Gettin rid of them I enter a door where chaingunners wait for me. Kill them open another door, this time it's revenants and a lonely pinky. Another door and an archie. Also, the yellow key. And a secret plasma gun plus ammo. Another door and teleporting revs. It's the final room but I'm missing the blue key. I go back, to the yellow door I found earlier, and there's a rev from the front and an HK from behind. No door now, just another room with chainguners. And more chainguners, and then press a button and get killed by said chaingunners plus another archville.

Back to the start. Knowing what to expect means I reach the yellow door way faster and without loosing so much health. Moving on wards, more chaingunners! more revenants! More archville! A soulsphere! And then, we move! More revs! A HK, cacos!The red key! And then a jump into another room where enemies start plopping and I keep shooting! After grabbing the BFG I return to where I was. Another chaingunner and I', back to the final room, where HKs show up, I reach a fireplace and oh look, another archville. Now, the blue key. Final room, open the blue door and it's a teleport.. To a cyber! BFG blast him to death, all the bells are jingling so I return. But I am a secret and 13 monsters low.. There was a blue switch I had missed, hitting it and I get, as a secret bonus, a mini arena with mancubi and cacos. and not one but two archivlles! And then, as a parting gift, a soulsphere. So, 1 death, 100% K&S, 16 minutes 58 seconds.

 

MAP19 : Back to town, there's a manc on the roof! And imps on the trimmed edges of what looks like a maze. Entering it, more imps, shotunners and an archvile. Or two. Press a switch and the card is there for me to grab it and jump into another xmas adventure!

 

MAP20 : Back to the icy outsides I am, first I go back, remove the pinkies, kill the imps and the cacos, up the stairs and let's go find monsters to kill! Grabbing the blue key next to the blue door, I enter. Two switches and a lift, a set of stairs and the red key. A shit ton of teleporting enemies after, I open the red door and I'm back to outside where a bunch of enemies kill me. Back to start.

 As usual, knowing what to do makes the path faster, and after getting there I take the BFG approach. Finding a secret invun I just go on a rocket rampage, and then I return to find whatever it was I missed (it was mostly ammo). Pressing the switch that should lower the yellow key instead starts the walls. The start to fall, releasing enemies Third wave brings a pair of archvilles but my BFG game is too strong for them. Fourth and final wave brings an invun and tons of them that I keep BFG blasting until all is silent but the ringing of the bells. I restock on ammo and press the switch, a lift to another switch that finally lowers the key! Up the lift, couple HKs and a manc, down the stairs and the exit is here. I am however, low on secrets so a quick tour around the map is in order.. A shootable switch opens up a cave with a soulsphere, back in the blue door a pillar has a backpack, next room has a secret lava tunnel with a (now useless) rad suit and a bit of jumping reveals a small cave with more ammo but I can't find the final secret, he says before noticing a different face to shoot at, making the secret behind the boxes the only one I couldn't reach legally (maybe archville jumping was necessary?). So, 1 death, 27 minutes and 28 seconds after I get 100% K/S/I.

 

MAP21 : I'm feeling it! The xmas cheer! Pressing the other switch I lower the blue key, and enter the chapel where the next card is...

 

MAP22 : Cyberneezer's ugly face greets me, standing tall in front of the remains of a snowman. Revenants, cacos and a swarm of pinkies all try to stop me, but I have room for rockets! Going back I climb into the remains of the snowman to reach a backpack. Going forward I use an archville to get stuck in a secret invisibility, jump back and find the switch that lowers the bar blocking me. Also, the yellow key. Going back and opening the yellow gate I get shredded into tiny bits by the SMM..

 Restart! This time i leave the invis for the SMM and deal with it without a scratch, and that's me inside, throwin' rockets at everything that moves and somethings that don't but get in the way. Inside the gigantic kitchen there is ammo a plenty for the BFG, and I grab it all before moving the living room where the same sappy xmas movie is playing on the TV. Shooting some barrel proves to be the trick to reach a secret berserker! The giant bathroom is disgusting. Going back to the kitchen I notice I had forgotten the freezer so I open it and inside it's a switch. Now. Up or down? Always go left, up it is! The master bedroom has the red key, the rest monsters and ammo. Going back I realize I would have needed the red key anyway, so glad I went up first. Opening the garage reveals the santa sleigh outside and a secret soulsphere, but first, I go down the stairs and.. surprise! It's a cow. Some 5 attempts later I manage to telefrag him, press all the switches and shoot the bell. One missing enemy turns out to be a caco. I kill him and now I'm ready to leave!

Several deaths, 100% K/S/I and 11 minutes and 33 seconds I'm done.

 

Oh, two more to go!

 

MAP 23 : The town is deserted, so I go to the tower. Taking a deep breath I jump into the gears! 

 

MAP 24 : As soon as I reach the realm of xmas time, a cow greets me and jumps away. Then I shoot at everything for a while and then the map finishes. Can't tell statistics since I wasn't expecting the end and didn't read them

 

MAP 25 : it's christmas morning and there's presents everywhere! I walk around to read the credits and let the xmas cheer inundate my heart! 

I wasn't really buying the mapset at start but it became way better as it went along. As always, a good delivery by the DBP! 

Edited December 28, 2020 by kalaeth

[tmorrow]

map25

Doomguy appears near his clocktower after teleporting from the map spawn. The good news is that he has access to his entire estate at last and that there are 12 map credit billboards that can be read. Players can decide for themselves whether to simply enjoy the credits and call it a day or optionally tackle a very difficult slaughter map that is initiated by using the 12th credit board to spawn enemies onto the map. So much for Cyberneezer and his cohorts learning their lesson. They don't learn very fast! It's no surprise that that doomguy elects the option to release the monster horde! He really can't help himself. Killing monsters is in his blood.

This map is not meant to be beaten. Big Ol' Billy and Catpho have confirmed you aren't supposed to survive this map, it's designed to prevent you from reaching the iwad maps following, not having a map exit. Of course doomguy is not going let the invasion on his estate go unchallenged. He wonders if his estates insurance policy is current, he can't remember when he last paid a premium. Further, he's not certain whether his contract covers damage from Cyberneezers or monster hordes.

When the enemies start spawning onto the map, they spawn with a vengeance. They don't spawn all at once, but in a steady, near unstoppable stream of pure evil. A whopping 1135 of them spawn. There are 49 archviles leading the charge, lighting doomguy up like a christmas tree. The archviles are escorted by 49 chaingunners and 343 of their hitscanning cousins, the wolfensteinss. Even the skies are not safe, with 150 cacodemons lobbing missiles from the air. Heat seeking rockets from 196 revenants home in on doomguy wherever he runs. There are 98 hellknights to block doomguys escape and 5 cybies roar and stomp all around the estate, causing their usual chaos.  Finally, bringing up the rear are 245 imps that don't want to miss out on beating up doomguy.

It turns out that ample weapons, ammunition, health and armor have been provided to give doomguy a sporting chance on this difficult map. With some decent routing to take advantage of the 5 megaspheres and invulnerabilities on the map, doomguy can beat the odds and beat the map. Doomguys reconnaisance of his estate reveals that 2 of the invulnerabilities are in the hedge maze, another behind a nearby building, one is in his house and the other just ouside the northwest side of his house. Doomguy also notes the 5 megasphere locations and stashes of ammo, particularly cells and rockets.

Doomguy doesn't like to dwell on his failures, let's just say there were quite a few of them, a few hours worth in fact before he managed to uvmax the map. The rng on this map is off the charts and it can take several tries before doomguy gets favorable rolls and the monsters "line up" to his satisfaction. His successful strategy went like this. Divide the fight up into the shorter "5 invuln chain" phase and the longer "mopup" phase. In both phases, the focus is the archviles, ignoring almost everything else unless it gets in the way. Except for the archviles and cacoswarm and a handful of revenants and hellknights, all the other enemies tend to perish without any help from doomguy.

During the critical "5 invuln chain" phase, doomguy uses the invulnerabilies to fight into, through, and out of his house and the same for his hedge maze. Any spare invuln time can be used on archviles outside but near those 2 areas or along the path to the cell stashes when he needs ammo refreshes. He is careful to note where archviles have appeared in elevated positions, the clock tower, balcony of the house, the middle of the lake and the building south of there. They will be priority targets in the next phase. The most common causes of failure for doomguy in this phase are:

1. Not reaching the next invulerability due to being blasted or blocked.
2. Running out of cells due to poor cell management and bfg overuse.
3. Not taking out enough archviles due to bad rng, bad aim or poor play.

During the mopup phase, dispensing of the remaining archviles is paramount. Efficient bfg/rocket usage, avoiding archvile retaliation and keeping ammo topped up are key. Several circuits of doomguys estate are required to thin the archviles to less than a handful. Much can go wrong, the main one being archvile blasts. After the archviles are gone, the focus shifts to more rocket use (cells are running out) and taking out the cacoswarm and revenants. At this point doomguy can swap to super shotgun for effective close up work and chaingun for distant work as the rockets start to run low. Finally, doomguy can snipe most enemies in the house through the windows before daring to reenter to take out the last of them.

Doomguy is ecstatic to have beaten back Cyberneezer Scrooge and his monster horde invasion. Fancy resorting to such mean tricks and overwhelming numbers. They better not try again next xmas. If they do, he'll be ready for them. He is dreaming of a heavy duty bfg turret and tripwire based security system. Each bfg turret will have 360 degree rotational aim and 90 degree horizontal to vertical elevation aim. Turrets will be placed with redundant overlap to maximise crossfire. Concealed, hair trigger tripwires will be placed throughout the estate. There are several kinks in the plan to work out of course. The postman may regret the next time he tries to deliver xmas cards to the estate.

Unfortunately, evil never rests and the monsters are no doubt concocting future plans of their own against doomguy. Doomguy is considering his next holiday vacation. He hears that xmas in Australia is quite a bit different. A trip to Down Under next xmas for bbq's, cricket and a summer in the sun, surf and sand might be exactly what he needs.

Doomguy wishes everyone a Happy New Year!

Edited December 28, 2020 by tmorrow : fixed some spelling and grammar

[Antkibo]

MAP16 - “Christmas Tree Mountain” by Scrangus McBrickdad, glenzinho

 

I think this one gets the prize for first impressions. The very moment you zone in you are awe-struck by the immensity of what's ahead. Of course, the actual playable zone is much smaller, but a big part of level design is how to convey more than what you can actually see. Nonetheless, there are many secrets to discover and some freedom on which path to take first. It gets five stars on presentation.

 

There's no time for gazing at the start, though -- the map is relentless. The very first shot activates a trap that can be mortal if you let yourself get trapped. Further in, chaingunners and projectiles start to come from nowhere, so you must keep running until you secure a hold. From here on, fights get easier, but some, like the garden maze with the two arch-viles, can be pretty disorienting. The end fight is a nice present -- be sure to grab the secret invulnerability sphere!

 

If there's one thing I would like to point out, however, is that the blue key trap was very confusing. Not only you had to shoot the bells, but also the red switch, I assume? I don't know exactly what activated it; I reloaded several times and my shots would sometimes turn it on and sometimes not. Easily, the worst part of a great map.

[Crusader No Regret]

Still catching up on writeups.

 

Maps 13 and 14: 100% kills and secrets  Item% isn't important but I finished at about 60%

 

    Doomguy hears sounds coming from the basement and goes to investigate, shotgun in hand.  Demons of course, vandalizing the place.  It brings back memories of a time where he cleaned out a different group of housewrecking demons.

 

     I have a crack theory that Doomguy doesn't age like regular humans.  For 27 years, he's kept in peak demon-slaying physical condition.  A gift from some nameless god maybe for being a valuable weapon (to them) for beating back the forces of hell.  Anyhow, Doomguy's trip to Romania was responding to a distress call from a family while they were spending a vacation in their mountain cabin.  As he enjoys crushing demons, he volunteered for the job.  He arrives to find a locked fortress.  Better go look for the key to enter.  In the journey, he finds plenty of entrenched demons but no sign of the family who sent the distress call.  Somehow, Santa found time in his schedule to pick up Doomguy in his sleigh.  Doomguy needs to ring the four bells in the region so Santa knows where to find him.  He also clears the area of entrenched demons so the sleigh can safely land for pickup.

 

     When I tried this from scratch, health didn't seem that plentiful.  It's around but in the early going at least, it's in the form of 1% bonuses.  So I got worn down in the initial foray.  Saw an ominous looking drop.  How do you think it turned out going down at 3 health?

    Coming in with 200/200 on continuous takes away the stress factor.  The first drop-in I won with an unexpected approach.  After multiple failed attempts, I found the safest area was around the archvile platform.  Would have shot up the chaingunner but it died to something before I got a clear line of fire.  No complaints there.  With all the ducking and covering I was doing, the archvile took out 2 arachnotrons and various other riff-raff before I had a moment to attack it.

   Lots of infight baiting to be had beyond the red door.  Such as the ambush at the non-secret plasma rifle or the pack of elves before that that I funneled away from the entrance to the building they appeared in.  The second drop-in setup is less deadly than the first.  No archvile and a couple of elves instead of a chaingunner.  I had chaingun ready to stop close ranged hitscan pain but other baited lots of infights and all I needed to take out were two arachnotrons and a lost soul before climbing up the stairs to another large batch of monsters lying in wait.  One more ambush on the way to the exit that I think is meant to be tricky and dangerous.  I retreated to the red door and door camped them.  One caco eventually found its way around to creep up on me from behind but by then, the crowd was thinned out.

   Another satisfying batch of secrets to uncover.  I wasn't too good at spotting texture hints, instead stopping long enough to think about how areas were connected and finding them that way.  Didn't find bersek until I spotted it from the other side while exploring.  The mix of trees and caves make for a nice-looking area to roam through and the cabin got my imagination going.

[Antkibo]

So the end comes to everything that's nice... everything that's good.

 

MAP18 - “Xmasphobia” by Thundercunt

 

Xmasphobia is the most cohesive map on the set theme-wise. I consider the sombre mix of wood, brick, and ice as the theme of this WAD, in contrast with the more cheerful DBP07, which used high contrast colors left and right. In this sense, this entry is the most "Home Alone"-like of them all. The use of lighting and of small rooms full of pillars really sets the theme of an evil mansion.

 

Combat-wise, prepare for a good dose of close-quarters combat. Arch-viles and revenants really shine here. There's a lot of in-your-face teleports that spice up what would otherwise be straight-up monster placement.

 

MAP20 - “Krampus Anomaly” by dmdr

 

Keep your plasma close and your rockets closer, Krampus Anomaly is all about strafing and heavy weaponry. Theme-wise, it's nothing out of ordinary -- its approach is combat first and visuals second. But hey, there are lots of interesting situations for those of us that like to crack combat puzzles.

 

I kept hitting a wall on the last fight until I noticed the free invulnerability sphere -- make sure to grab it! Once you do, throw rockets like a madman; they're better on tight groups than plasma shots.

 

MAP22 - “Where Cyberneezer Hid Christmas” by joe-ilya

 

First things first: the very start reminds me of one of the last DBP26 maps (the one that ends with a fight against two cyberdemons). Now, then, where do we start? This is one of the finest maps on the set. If I had to highlight one aspect it would be its great amount of details; you get some beds and chairs, a sled, an oven, a sofa, etc.

 

But even leaving that aside, the map is just great fun: the music track is exciting, there's plenty of nice, but not overwhelming, action, and many secrets. Also, the oversized aspect of (mostly) everything makes for an endearing map that serves as the climax, theme-wise, of this mapset.

 

My standout encounter is without doubt the Cyberdemon-with-crushers room. Very original.

 

MAP24 - “Realm of the Christmas Time” by Big Ol’ Billy

 

I didn't catch it at first, but this is a Icon of Sin level, and also much more understandable than the original; you can see barrels at the distance, and you just get the desire to shoot at them -- which is exactly what you need to win. After each "section" you destroy, more monsters teleport in. This goes on until you shoot the last one, which prompts Cyberneezer and its crew to make their appearance. From there on the idea is simple: keep strafing and pray for the demons to kill themselves. Then, kill Cyberneezer and recover the stolen Christmas!

 

This map makes great contrast from the others on the set: it's beautifully simple and sports surrealist scenery. The difficulty hits a sweet spot -- not too hard, not too easy.

Overall, a great end to Cyberneezer's story.

 

MAP25 - “Christmas Morning” by Big Ol’ Billy (and all other hub maps)

 

Alas! All that's good must come to an end. I am of few words, and commenting each hub map would have amounted to a single line each, so I'll comment my overall opinion here.

 

Texture-wise, the map is intricate and detailed. When I played the very first entry, it reminded me of the first one of DBP07. Of course, the craft of the team has gone way beyond since the former Christmas' project, and the attention to detail on the hub is good proof of that.

 

The way it changes from map to map gives consistency to all the WAD's aspects, and pushes the player to continue until the end. My favorites were the 23th and 25th maps because they changed both the music and the daytime. The latter also being a proper send-off. Until the next year!

[Walter confetti]

+++ Doom 2 Reloaded

[Capellan]

@Walter confetti we played that in 2015 :)

 

As best I can tell, nothing has 4 votes yet.

[ABearInThaWoods]

Night 13/Christmas Morning

 

As @Phobus mentioned this is a single life playthrough with no saves aside from one just before activating the fight. This video also features my rendition of Phobus' 12 days of Doom-mas. 

 

This was an amazing set of maps and a very fun series of videos to make. It also opened the door to me making my own maps, which has been a very fun thing to learn. Everyone did a great job with this thread, we'll see you in 2021.

 

Spoiler