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dobu gabu maru

The DWmegawad Club plays: Plutonia

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(Crispy Doom, UV, Pistol Start, No Saves)

hc_plu08.zip

MAP08 - Realm

 

Some previous Plutonia levels have had the setup where you get a full stack of armor at the beginning and ideally get to choose which hits to tank along the way. This map, by contrast, completely lacks armor on Pistol Start, and thus takes on an entirely different tone.

Oh, you're still well-supplied with Medkits & Shell Boxes, like usual (including one very handy Full-Heal via the berserk pack in the western sewer tunnels), but that absence raises every Revenant and every Arch-Vile into a potentially-lethal threat, and that baseline of heightened danger only escalates from there due to the lethality of the traps along the way.

Realm is undeniably cruel, but I respect it. It's like an infernal machine which needs to have its gears clogged with the corpses of the fallen in order for it to be dismantled. I suppose you might call it atmospheric. (Its midi choice of The Demons From Adrian's Pen is very appropriate.)

 

I really like the introduction. The well drains once again, but this time to deposit you at the entrance to some sort of sewer facility, and getting past the Barons who guard the entrance to the main reservoir is always a fun test of agility. (Plus, if you're unlucky enough for the monster pathfinding to be really, really uncooperative, it only takes a few seconds to reroll the encounter.)
The initial battle for control of the reservoir is kind of interesting in how you can take it piecemeal and try to soften them up by approaching only one side at a time, or just immediately run up, grab the Plasma Gun, and stir up the maximum amount of trouble.

 

It's very rare that this megawad will ever make use of dark areas, but this is one of those times, and I think the approach enhances the menace of this map, working with the established uncharacteristic fragility of the player and piling on the risk of the unknown. It makes the interstitial dungeon crawls between setpieces seem scarier - in particular I have to praise the use of the quiet moment of backtracking in the eastern sewer tunnels. I still find it unnerving the way that, without any fanfare or buildup, a Revenant sprints out of the darkness towards you on the return trip.

 

The approach works just as well when amplifying the hostile mood of the western sewers' airlock chamber which leads below. You can't afford to take much damage in a single strike, but as stated before, the ample health supplies match the typical Plutonia standard of guaranteed recovery from any minor scrapes. And then you have to willingly cut yourself off from all those supplies when you take the plunge into the underground dungeon section.

 

That point-of-no-return drops you into the dramatic reveal of the blue key shrine. A dead-quiet moment of anticipation to let the player wonder just how this thing is going to kill them. Definite points for presentation & style, but the room still kind of counts as all flash and no substance since the surprise only works once, and the foreknowledge required to dismantle the trap is pretty much mandatory.

 

I'm a much bigger fan of the second underground chamber, with the zig-zag platforms rising out of the poison pool. It adds another flavor of stress since by this point the player can't afford to fall more than once or twice. Even today I just take it slow, one hop at a time, rather than risk attempting to parkour my way up in a single motion.

I also like the way the loop completes and returns you to the surface. It's a classic gag to, when the player has unlocked an important elevator, have it deliver a Revenant right in their face as one last scare before the encounter is really over and they get to proceed.

 

The exit is comically dangerous. Oh, it gets dismantled with a bit of study just as surely as the chaingunner trap did before it, but it's another example of how mean the sucker-punches can be in this megawad. There's kind of a repeat of a MAP03 trap where you're suddenly eyeball-to-eyeball with an Arch-Vile and have to dive down into cover, which is cool except for the coin flip of whether you dodge left or right. One of the teleporters delivers you comfortably into cover, and the other one just requires you to make yet another saving throw; this disorientation and "teleport sickness" could mean your end. I respect the audacity of how you can make it even more dangerous if you want to try to just slip past the monsters as they're being deployed - while I think that it's kind of cool how the lowering exit teleporter is timed to match the Arch-Vile's attack and, ideally, will release you from the level just in the nick of time, that's not the kind of risk I care to take at the end of a ten-minute map.

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MAP11: Oh, the arch-vile maze. This map can go screw itself. The maze in it's own is not bad, the start and the end of the map are pretty neat, the rest can be forgotten for me.

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Started playing this on and off myself, since Doom Launcher needs the completion of Plutonia :p Playing with Doom Expanded, the MIDI pack, and Nightfright's split hud.

 

Map 1 was pretty smooth sailing, except for the Revenant hallway that copied an area of Containment Area, that killed me a few times.

 

Map 2, I died to the lost soul swarms a few times while trying to get all the denizens of that hallway out and infighting. The invisibridge area, you can cheese the fight there with careful footwork, running back as the wall closes behind you. Then you can snipe the revs with ease.

 

Map 3, the invisibridge here didnt have its usual visual spectacle, the torches broke with Doom Expanded. The popup Archvile in your face I got lucky with; the revenant behind him shot rockets RIGHT before I reached the vile, so he popped up only to get rockets in the back. Then I positioned myself so that the revenant blasted the vile multiple times before succumbing to the vile's ire, making it quite easy to SSG the vile without damage in the coverless area.

 

Map 4, this one is always a mad dash to survive before calming down considerably. Getting rid of the noisy specters in the nukage was a pain. Being locked in with the 4/5/6? barons was the hard part. The shiny new plasma rifle wasnt too useful here.

 

Map 5 is infamous, but thanks to several playthroughs, all the surprises were lost. Sad that the wall scrolling works normally in GZDoom. Ended with 200/200, for all the good that did me in the next map.

 

Map 6, which has no barons at all. The floating cube that gives you weapons is a neat trick. Whats with all the boxes in the walls at the start? They all show on the map once you pick it up. Had fun in the barrel room, getting hell knights and cacos to kill each other. The cyberdemon helped me clean up the revenants, paid him back by SSGing him.

 

Map 7 was way way easier than I remembered, just rocketed the mancubi, plasmaed the revenants on the wall, then took out the arachnotrons outside at my leisure.

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MAP11 - "Hunted" by Dario Casali

 

My continuous playthrough a few months back ended with map 10, so the rest of the maps are going to be much more of a new experience to me, as the last time I played through the whole of Plutonia was around 15 years ago when Doom’s Collector Edition was released.

 

That being said, whilst I obviously didn’t remember the exact shape of this arch-vile maze, I definitely remembered its look and feel, thanks to how (in)famous the map is. The last map had a questionable pistol start balance, but here it seems even more questionable, with the player only given the SSG to use for the entire map. 14 archviles to kill with the SSG, 1 or 2 at a time. Not especially exciting.

 

The maze itself involves a fair amount of trial and error, but you shouldn’t be stuck for too long. It’s also entirely monotextural with practically zero decoration.

Then of course you have the final 50/50 dilemma as to whether you end the map with 1% health or everything intact - which has no impact on the pistol start playthrough.

 

The MIDI is definitely a good one, but it feels weird not hearing the bunny song when it’s so ingrained into the identity of the level.

 

So 11 maps in and overall Milo has significantly better maps so far in my opinion (although I will say I have a much better opinion of Aztec on a continuous playthrough). Let’s see if that continues…

 

Level rankings:

Spoiler

MAP09 - "Abattoire" by Milo Casali
MAP05 - "Ghost Town" by Milo Casali
MAP08 - "Realm" by Milo Casali
MAP07 - "Caughtyard" by Dario Casali
MAP04 - "Caged" by Dario Casali
MAP01 - "Congo" by Milo Casali
MAP02 - "Well of Souls" by Dario Casali
MAP10 - "Onslaught" by Dario Casali
MAP06 - "Baron's Lair" by Dario Casali
MAP03 - "Aztec" by Milo Casali
MAP11 - "Hunted" by Dario Casali

 

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This is it, this will be the time i'll finally beat this wad, in UV, this time I won't ragequit this.

plutonia.wad "The Plutonia Experiment":

Ahh, Doom for Doom masters, one of the most painful gaming experiences that would put those cringy new age games like Dark Souls or Bloodborne to shame, hard games were those from the old ages, and for good reasons. And no, this is not a trial and error wad, those are the new ones, and that's why I don't like them. I prefer games like this. I feel like a boomer saying those words, but hard games were the old ones.
Also, what a pleasure to play this with plutmidi.wad, thanks to the community for this.

MAP01 - "Congo" - Milo Casali (100%K/0%I/100%S) - 2 deaths:

The best MAP01 in IWAD history, period. Great setup, looks and a layout that has nothing to envy to ID's IWADs. Yes, it is as hard as it is good, painfully hard, and you'll have to know were to go first, so you can dominate this map. TWO ARCH VILES IN THE FIRST MAP, this is nuts, at least at the time we were playing this, also, several Revenants and Mancubi, and the actual worst of them all, chaingunners.
The RL room is the most painful one, at least if you want to get the weapon itself. This map copies some architechture from Ultimate Doom's best map, E2M2, like the "crate room" and the Rocket Launcher room, at least in a "pocket" style, and get used to it, because the Casali brothers like to do this a lot, they even rip themselves, but hey, they crafted this mapset in 8 months, so it is Ok.
The map itself gives you a glimpse that this is no kid's playground around here. Yes, we give you rockets, a backpack and a SSG, but this is not by any means making your journey a walk in the park.
The game right from the start makes you use the rockets at all times, be sure to waste them all on big fights, even if you have no space to maneuver.

MAP02 - "Well of Souls" - Dario Casali (94%K/100%I/0%S) - 5 deaths:

A similar map in looks, making you feel that you are in some kind of jungle temple or something, for some reason, a switch lowers the water levels. Your journey starts here, and you have many ways to take, every way will fuck you up hardly. Try finding the one that suits you the best. The map has crushers, hell bruisers, and tons of traps, good temple setup, but even more painful than the previous map. Almost reaching the end you will encounter one of the MOST PAINFUL SETPIECES OF GAMING HISTORY. The well of souls, this fearsome well has several revenants and cacodemons sniping you from far away, and a seemingly unreacheable ledge at the other side of the well. This is the first encounter of a "invisible" bridge in IWADs, a sweet old Doom engine trick, and one that's getting used a lot in Plutonia. Trying to get out of this painful place is a stressful experience,  and this is the place were gamers ragequit Plutonia and say "This is not for me, I'm not a true gamer". This or you switch difficulty to easy. The problem is you get jailed in this place, as when you try to get the armor, the walls raise and enclose you. Making this pain worse, little to no place to dodge bullets, and you'll have to rush to melee range and kill the revenants, hit the switch and return. You can cheat the game by walking slowly, triggering the linedef and inmediately getting back, then you can open the wall from behind (Coop/DM accessibility), still, trying to snipe Revs without rockets, is not going to make this any easier. Also, the invisible bridge is, forgive the redundancy, invisible, and you don't know where it is, so you'll have to shoot this carefully placed computer panel, to raise some wood planks that kind of tell you, where the actual bridge is. 
It's a really good strategy to rush for the crusher room, since most enemies will start infighting or chasing you into their deaths, so free ammo when you return here, but no matter how much you master this map, the Well part will fuck you up.
Also, you may get pretty low on ammo, another thing to despise this map's difficulty.

I can say the well is the hardest part in the game (Ultra-Violence), because of how early in the game is, and how unforgiving it is. And yes, this is one of the most painfully difficult situations you will encounter in gaming, try to name something worse, I'll wait.


Deaths: 7 (UV Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)
 

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

MAP01
MAP02


I see many people did not ragequit after The Well, so this is good.

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MAP10 - Onslaught

UV-Max (-solo-net) from pistol start

 

Like MAP05, this map revels in traps and chaingunner firing squads. The beginning puts both together with its chaingunners hiding behind trap doors (and also the chaingunner that starts right behind you like an executioner). After that you're chased into an arena littered with high-tier enemies with insufficient firepower to deal with them. Run past that and you're besieged by endlessly-respawning chaingunners on either side, and if you try to run past that you get a baron in your face, and if you make it past that, you're instantly surrounded by pinkies. The sewer section is a bit of a breather, but after you exit you've got arch-viles resurrecting whatever enemies you took down before, but at least now you've got the firepower to deal with them. After that there isn't much left to challenge the player, but Dario still throws a few curveballs in the final section, notably going as far as to teleport the baron closer to you, boxing you in and maybe providing a jumpscare. It's traps all the way through, and while none are quite as nerve-wracking as the previous map's final room, I think it's overall a more consistently-paced and exciting experience.

 

Funnily enough, there's a single zombieman in this map, placed behind the red face switch. Perhaps even funnier than that is that it's removed on ITYTD/HNTR difficulty, as if that makes such a huge difference. Hey, maybe do something about all those chaingunners?

 

The start gives the player the choice of either going slowly and triggering each trap door one by one, or rushing through and releasing the enemies all at once. When playing co-op/solo-net, however, you've got an additional problem:

 

firingsquad.png.95bb587222418afe9d5cbf686254b696.png

 

This is what greets you at the start of the map. Nine additional chaingunners scattered around the starting arena, in addition to the chaingunner and shotgunner that were already there and all the chaingunners behind the trap doors. Surviving this is largely a matter of RNG, so grab that partial invisibility and pray that the chaingunners shoot each other more than they shoot you. Even if you survive, you'll probably be low on health before opening a single trapdoor, and will be forced to drain valuable medikits that would have come in handy later. As much as I have a soft spot for dumb unbalanced stuff (or else I wouldn't be doing this solo-net playthrough in the first place), this is a bit too RNG-reliant for my taste. After that comes the other big addition to this map, a cyberdemon roaming the main arena. This cyberdemon can be a big pain (especially when exiting the sewer section and passing through that trench in the ground, since it has a tendency to camp on the other side), but it's also useful for infighting with the other demons when you don't have enough firepower to deal with them otherwise. Other additions to the map are two revenants outside the sewer section, one extra mancubus in the outdoor area, and a couple extra hell knights in the sewer section. On the plus side, you get an early rocket launcher, which isn't useful at first because it doesn't come with any extra ammo, but is very useful in the sewer section against the hell knights, especially if you didn't do the early super shotgun skip. There's also a BFG tucked away in the sewer section, which is useful against the arch-viles and pain elementals later.

 

I think I died on this map more than on any of the previous maps, the vast majority of runs ending before the sewer section. I insisted on completing a run without the super shotgun skip, which surely contributed to this. The SSG skip makes things significantly easier not only by giving you a super shotgun and a lot of ammo for it, but also giving you a safe place to hide and let the enemies bunch up, making them ripe for infighting with the cyberdemon. Getting the SSG also makes it viable to kill the cyberdemon before entering the sewer section, preventing it from causing trouble upon exiting that section. The strategy I used for completing the map without the SSG skip was to hurry with the initial partial invisibility into the sewer section (without the partial invisibility the chaingunner trap before can easily tear you to shreds, I once got killed from 100HP in the time it took to run across the area and grab the rockets on one side), then rely on rockets to get past the hell knights (chaingun if not playing solo-net), but there were still plenty of times when mancubus fireballs or cyberdemon rockets would do me in. If you can reach the sewers safely, you're most of the way there.

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Map11: That Plutonia map everyone knows

This is the map I (and probably most people) remember the most. A maze full of Archviles, sweet. I like how you first see them through the grate and they instantly teleport away when you exit that little start room. Thankfully I remembered the secret switch, which when you press it, it tells you where to go, making navigating the map way easier. Anyways, it's a classic. Coming up, Plutonia's second episode!

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Seems I forgot to update my manual Plutonia save. Since GZDoom overwrites auto and quicksaves, I found out I need to either do map 5 6 and 7 again, or skip to 8 to continue. Bah.

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MAP11 - Hunted

UV Max (-solo-net) from pistol start (minus the arch-viles in the "bad" exit)

 

This is one of the most notorious maps in Plutonia, and for good reason - there's nothing quite like it. Even Plutonia 2's MAP11, "Arch-Violence," while a fine map in its own right, doesn't capture the feeling of playing this map. I skipped the Plutonia MIDI Pack for this map; sorry Lippeth, your MIDI is nice and all, but it can't match D_BUNNY in conveying that feeling of something being terribly wrong.

 

What makes this map unique to me is that it feels very "dynamic" - you're never quite sure where you'll run into an arch-vile (or two), and as a result it feels almost as if they're intelligent actors playing hide and seek with you (though it's not clear who's hiding from whom). The "saminess" of the maze is in fact a benefit. "Well-designed" maps tend to have distinct setpieces where certain things are expected to happen, but this map is essentially one big setpiece (notwithstanding the ending). There are a couple of arch-viles that are set to ambush you in fixed locations, but for the most part one part of the map is the same as any other part, which means there could be an arch-vile there. The flatness of the map also allows the arch-viles to roam freely. Combine this with the speed of arch-viles and the confusing door triggers, and you've got a recipe for unpredictable monster movement that forces you to be on your guard at all times. I love it.

 

Interestingly, the one secret in this map doesn't provide any powerups or resources, but is purely a navigational aid. It's a neat concept but I don't find it all that useful here.

 

Co-op adds five more arch-viles to the map. It also adds a regular shotgun, a chaingun, and a rocket launcher, presumably for deathmatch purposes, but you're still going to mainly use the super shotgun since there's no ammo placed for the other weapons. The extra arch-viles makes it more likely that you'll run into two or three arch-viles at once, and you may run into ammo problems trying to kill them all (I actually had to use the chaingun and rocket launcher a bit before stumbling onto a box of shells), but otherwise the map plays pretty much the same.

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Map11: Three demos in this zip. UV-Max in 4:24 (no damage), NM100S in 1:45 (pacifist, no damage), and UV-Tyson in 7:23.
I had more fun with this one than expected. Since everything looks the same, learning a route takes more effort than usual, but I found it rewarding. I think this map has its intended effect more with a player who is still afraid of archviles and gets lost in the maze. Otherwise, you still might run into some uncomfortable situations even after multiple consecutive attempts just because the viles' positions are so unpredictable, and you're likely to run into more than one at a time, perhaps even surrounded by four. I somehow escaped such a situation in the nightmare demo (I think two of them were blocked by a door).

 

pl11stuff.zip

 

 

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it's monday, which means time to play 3 map in a row! 

 

MAP 09 : There are bodies in the ground and specters hanging around. Only one way to go, and as soon as I step into the SSGm the floor goes down and I am greeted by a pair of pinkies, after which I pass into a room with a teleporter. Another pinkie infected room, with rockets and plasma as goodies. I press one of the buttons and the room is suddenly filled with monsters. I get hit by a pair of rev balls before even realizing what is happening and I'm dead. Second try, I press the switches on a different order and clear the room. Oh, found the invulnerability! Too late though, so I move to the blue door, snipe a few chaingunners and a manc, and the game freezes immediately after saving : lucky. Press the switch, walk the plank, fall down to grab the health and it was a trap : as soon as I teleport back up a pair of chaingunners show up behind me. Ended up with more health, because the trap had another medkit but the 30 so % armor I had is gone. Walk the plank again, open the door and imps! Kill them all, ave, grab the key... No trap? ok. Yellow door : more imps and specters, and the red key. Grabbing it releases chaingunners and more specters. Killing those I open the blue door and somehow kill myself while shooting at the AV. Second try, I kill the chaingunners and specters, find a not-secret secret, and walk back, plasma in hand, to kill the AV and the imps. Stepping into the exit teleport, I find my self surrounded by imps and a lone caco. Moving forward, a ton of chaingunners in the distance get rocketed to death. Also in the menu are a few imps to be sniped, and then, a imp show up on my face, I dodge both his fireball and the HKs plasma ball and fall into a super damaging floor : near instant death. Before returning there I go on a road trip in search of secrets! The soulsphere is where I suspected there would be a secret but it seems that only through wall humping, since I don't see any difference between that pillar and the rest. The next secret is useless since I have both my SSG and my health full, so after that I proceed to the last room. There I put my plasma gun to good use and clear all enemies. It would seem that there is no turning back, so I help myself to the green armor, health and ammo and step into the exit!

10 minutes 32 seconds, 100% everything and 3 deaths.

 

MAP 10 : Oh come on! That's not even remotely fair. A chaingunner right next to me? I was saving! got me fromm 100% H/A to 28% H / 64% A in a second! Good, I die so I can restart. Immediate side step, curve, shoot. Perfect. Now, the blue skull is just there, for grabs, so I knew it was an obvious trap even before I grabbed it. The invisibility helps, but I allowed it to expire before reaching the blue key and releasing the final two chaingunners so I could have done it better. Oh, and a pair of cacos. Opening the blue bars leads me into another trap, and this time I die. Again. Next try went better, and knowing there would be a spider behind me, I arm the rocket launcher and trigger the trap, run back and dispense rocket pain to spider and revs alike. After that another chaingunner trap, because of course. And only after dealing with that do I go and grab the yellow skull.. Oh, I can't. So, it's the door next to the trap then, from which a baron comes. Plasma, kill him, and the switch is a instant lift that puts a specter on my face. At least the same sludge that was ultra-damaging on the last level isn't here. But the pinkie's byte left me at 7% health and things aren't looking good for me. Medikit! 30% health now. Trigger the HKs, run back and rocket them, proceed with care. A secret give me a bit more health and rockets, and more health next brings me back to 100%. new switch. There's a blue armor I can't lower (yet?) and then another trap! Surprise! Here we go again, but now I know the AVs will be there. Better, also, another secret! Grabbing the yellow skull gives me more fodder for the plasma, and now I can open that door. No opposition, nor when I grab the red key, so now to press that switch, open the path to the exit, plasma shotgunners a HK and a BH to death and I would be ready if not for the missing secret and enemy... Ah, chaingunner was still alive, and the blue armor was easier than suspected to grab.

Onwards to the exit! 100% K/S/I, 11m47, 4 deaths

 

(we now bring you a word from our sponsors while lunch is had)

 

MAP 11: Ok, here we go! A back pack, a bunch of caged AVs, ready to teleport from there to wherever they can annoy me more, I bet. And yes, as soon as I operate the switch they 'port away, but one of them had time enough to hit me once.. Oh, it's this map. If there's one map that was burnt into the minds of everyone who played Plutonia it has to be this on. Not much to describe, so I'll just report on AV deaths and my own deaths.

1 - 1st AV dead, 2nd but I'm really low on health.. 1st death. Retry from the start.

2 - Ok, no cheap shots on the starting room, that's good. 1st and 2nd AV dead, not as good as it could have been because one came from behind while I was killing the other. 3rd one but I'm really damaged again. 4th one. Death.

3 - Death. Two AVs and no where to run.

4 - Finally, 1st AV dead and no health loss, save. 2nd. 3rd. Still at full health. Yellow key and 4th. And death. Got stuck in the corner and the AV showed no mercy.

5 - 5th AV, and a secret switch. 6th! 7th! Yellow switch found. Still kinda unsure what te secret switch did, maybe it was those weird markers in the floor? 8th! And the red key. And now, the 'port. And.. What now? I got the BFG and there are two exits, but I'm still short on enemies... Oh, I see. One kills you, one doesn't.

I take the non-killing one and that's 11m29s, 4 deaths, 66% kills, 100% secrets and items.

 

That's it for the day.

 

 

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Time to tackle the two maps to close the first episode of Plutonia! Let's go!

 

Map10: Onslaught (Dario Casali)

104% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Time: 07:02

 

Plutonia is one sadistic bastard, and it certainly ratchets it up with this evil level. Right from the start you have chaingunner facing you and he will do massive damage if you don't act quickly. On pistol start, it's worse as you have to run and kill a shotgunner so you can have a better weapon to take out the chaingunner. Things don't get any calmer however, for as soon as you grab the blue key, prepare for a nasty ambush with chaingunners and cacodemons coming out of opened alcoves. Luckily, with the partial invisibility, the chaingunners will misfire at times and can hurt each other for an infight, but it's also a double-edged sword as the cacodemons can be unpredictable, so be very careful. With the blue key, you can open the door and hit the switch to open the bars, but get ready for a wall to open revealing revenants. Don't be too distracted though, as behind you a wall opens from where you start revealing an arachnotron. Prepare for some taking cover and firing your shots while fending off against the enemies on continuous play, otherwise, run like hell onward to your left while evading the revenants, including some mancubi and sniper chaingunners, but another lethal part awaits as you'll see a door ahead, but running to it opens ledges holding chaingunners and when you open the door, you'll be greeted by a baron. You have to coax him out, but be wary of the chaingunners, and if you haven't killed them, there are the revenants and mancubi coming towards you. This is a point where you really need to carve out a path without taking too much damage so you can get the baron out of the room and race inside to hit the switch before you get killed. You'll be quickly lowered to what looks like a sewage network, but there's pinkies waiting for you, so get ready to kill them pronto. You must now have a safe foothold for a while as the next section is just traversing the sewers taking out some shotgunners, spectres and hell knights, but once you return to the surface and hit the switch that lowers the yellow key, prepare for hell as two archviles will spawn, one right on the yellow and the other in the control room filled with chaingunners, and they can see you almost anywhere, Grabbing the yellow key will also spawn more nasties, including hell knights, revenants, pain elementals and imps. Immediately wipe out the enemies in the outdoor area while being mindful of the arch-vile and chaingunners inside. Then once they're dead, you can enter the yellow key door to deal with the remaining enemies and obtain the red key. Everything else is fairly calm up to the end, with the exception of a couple of ambushes at the end where you deal with shotgunners, hell knights and a baron. This is a very tough level and it pulls no punches, but it's pretty good.  

 

Map11: Hunted (Dario Casali)

77% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Time: 10:15

 

Ugh, this is such a horrible level. The concept of a maze filled with arch-viles is quite intriguing and it is what became inspiration of Plutonia 2's Arch-Violence and Hell Revealed's Map27: Cyberpunk, with the cyberdemon (or baron) maze, but in terms of level design, it leaves a lot to be desired. It's drab, it's ugly, and it's so samey. You get nothing but a super shotgun and the ammo and backpack to take on the arch-viles, which isn't so much of problem when you know how to take advantage of the delay in their attacks so you can take cover around the corners. Stunning those firebrands is somewhat satisfying whenever it happens, but at times it can work against you when you're trying to take cover after taking your shots and the arch-vile continues chasing after you. That's the least of my gripes with the map. The thing that kills it is the linedef triggers that open the doors. Granted, once you know which linedef triggers which door, you can blitz through the map, but even so, it takes a lot of guesswork and you could be wandering aimlessly for ages trying to find progress. There is a hidden switch that lowers certain floor sectors showing lights to indicate a path, especially to the keys, but they can only do much, and speaking of the keys, as expected they won't be easy to find unless you remember where they are after playing Plutonia plenty of times, but I'm not a fan of how the switches open the bars from the other side, meaning you have to traverse through the maze again to find your way to the other switch to open the other bars, both of which lead to the teleporter to the exit area, and that makes this map such a chore to play through. Thankfully, you get a berserk pack to heal up if you've taken damage from the arch-viles, but try to avoid letting them land a hit on you, especially if you have armour as this map gives you none of that. The ending has you running up to some health potions and finally the BFG9000 which you'll be needing for many of the upcoming maps. There are two exit teleporters, the one to the left ends the map, while the right takes you to a box surrounded by arch-viles that will incinerate you until your health is below 10% in which by then the map ends. I don't bother going for 100% kills as firstly, it's virtually impossible to pull off even with the BFG. Second, the fact of that matter makes getting 100% kills not even worth it in the first place, and third I rather keep my health and remaining armour intact for the next level. At least in Plutonia 2's Map11, it's mandatory to lose your health to all those arch-viles at the ending dark area. Sorry, guys, but Hunted is my least favourite map in Plutonia. Dario Casali may be a legendary mapper from the 90s era of Doom, but he really made a stinker with this level. The delivery of the concept is very clunky at best, the design looks so dour, and having to backtrack with the key switches is not fun and such a cruel prank, which combine all the tedium of traversing the maze twice or more after playing hide-and-seek with the arch-viles makes it such a drag. Least I kinda see the idea of having Doom's Sweet Little Dead Bunny being played for this level.

 

So, the first episode starts off quite mercilessly, giving you quite a whipping if you don't know what you're in for, but presents very well the intense challenge of Plutonia as a whole and is fun once you're familiar with it. Too bad the episode had to have such a lacklustre time-wasting finish. I expect we'll get better maps as we go on, though. I'll be seeing you guys again later on for the next few maps. Have a good evening!

Edited by T-Rex

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MAP11: Hunted

 

Disclaimer: I detest mazes. No, wait, let me retract that statement - I detest mazes than can't be solved using the good old "stick to the left wall" rule, of which this level is one example. Somehow I happen to love it regardless, because everything else is top-notch and a clear cut case of "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". First off, the presentation: you start in a dark and gory room, to your right four coffins with a marine corpse on top of one of them, to your left about a dozen arch-viles behind a wire fence that seem oblivious to your presence.

 

That is, until the noise caused by pressing the switch alerts them and they magically disappear without a trace. You exit the starting room armed with your trusty SSG, knowing that they're lurking somewhere since you can hear them and the unnerving sound of doors opening/closing... After some head scratching you figure out the mechanism that opens the doors and take the plunge deep into the maze. Later on while you're wandering around aimlessly you uncover a dark truth: there's no health/armor items to be found, which means almost no room for mistakes when fighting the arch-viles (at least from a pistol-start)!

 

Then the level throws two evil curveballs at you: finding a key will teleport an arch-vile behind you, and locating the respective switch opens the way to the exit... on the other side of the maze! Dario is a jerk :P Surviving this nightmare treats you with a nice, airy courtyard with a BFG for the taking, along with two exit teleporters. The level has one more card up its sleeve - picking the left teleporter exits the level normally, choosing the right one "rewards" you with swift death at the hands of four arch-viles in a room with no cover. The latter does count as a survival, but you're left badly wounded for one of the hardest levels in Plutonia if you're playing continuously.

 

A harrowing experience on your first time, it loses that effect on subsequent playthroughs which is why I end up liking the music from the MIDI pack more, as it's more engaging despite being less scary. This level is probably the easiest in Plutonia if you're experienced in fighting arch-viles, although somehow I always get hit once despite never actually dying. The doors that open with walkover triggers are a brilliant decision, since they prevent camping and can be opened by the arch-viles, making the monsters' movement even more unpredictable. 

 

As much as I like "Hunted" it's not perfect, I have thought of two things that could make it even better in my perspective. The first would be to make the left exit teleporter bring you to a copy of the death room of the other teleporter, but without the damaging floor, the arch-viles facing away from you and a switch in front to crush the arch-viles in both rooms, ensuring you could get 100% kills once you stepped off the teleport destination to exit the level. The second one is very wacky and would only work on Nightmare now that I think of it, but here goes anyway: having a secret teleporter behind the start, possibly opened by an elusive button on the coffin with the dead marine on top so that it's not found accidentally by a first time player, that leads to a square room outside the map but close to the maze with a handful of caged arch-viles and an invulnerability - the idea would be to have all the arch-viles attacking you at the same time so that you could arch-vile jump to the top of the maze walls and go to the exit from there, which would trigger a crusher to kill both these caged arch-viles and the ones at the start that haven't been alerted yet.

 

One of the most memorable levels in Plutonia and my personal favourite.

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Map 11: Hunted UV, continuous

 

This is it, ladies and gentlemen, the true face of plutonia.... a labyrinthine maze filled with archviles, and the only weapon(with enough ammo in the level) at your disposal is the super shotgun(did anybody else notice that the box of shotgun shells near the coffins respawns once you pick it up?).

 

As a maze it isn't that bad(every single Wolf 3D level is worse), but it isn't navigating the level that's the problem. It's the inhabitants of the maze that should be your primary concern as well as the level's.... gimmick. The gimmick being that walking over certain linedefs with a doorstop texture(this is the mapper in me talking) opens a specific door in the maze. This presents me with two distinct problems. The first being that you need to figure out which linedef opens which door. The second problem is keeping track of your enemy's position, and making sure they don't corner you or block off your escape (which contributed to the majority of my deaths). The secret in the level helps with navigation by signposting where switches and the two keys are.

This is honestly one of my favorite levels in plutonia, just for how evil it is, trapping the player in a maze with one of the most powerful enemies in the entire game. the map also teaches you how to better handle archviles as an enemy and using cover and tactical retreats to your advantage. The plutonia midi pack track for this level, "always watching" by Lippeth, is the best track in the entire pack in my opinion. Good stuff.

 

After you reach the end of the maze you're rewarded with the BFG 9000, as a consolation prize for enduring the pain and heightened blood levels that the maze caused. The exit presents you with two choices, one will cause you to immediately exit, the other causing you to teleport into a room with enemies that you only have a few seconds to kill before you exit. Why....?

 

If you'll excuse me, I have to try and stop the archvile noises from haunting my dreams.

 

Deaths:2(honestly expected there to be more)

Kills: 77%

Secrets: 100%

Number of archviles that tasted the bite of my boomstick: too freaking many!

 Number of archviles that I want to see in  future maps, as well as  the chances of that happening:0  

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You know, I never played the MAP11 trough before, but this was great fun. Well, until all the Archies were dead, then it turned into "LEMME OUT PLEASE".

 

*Let me in meme banging on Red Key bars from the wrong side*

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MAP03 - "Aztec" - Milo Casali (100%K/I/S) - 5 deaths:

This fancy circle shaped tunnels may look good on the automap, but they aren't as good to traverse as they look. You can snap into walls constantly, prohibiting the player to navigate in a fluent way. The level is a key hunt, you won't notice it until the end, as you have to choose between two paths on the courtyard next to the start, I really like how the map is presented, as it starts calmly, but you know things are going to get heavy, specially when you dig into the tunnels. Both ways lead to death, so choose your poison.
One tunnel sends you at the end of a Aztec(?) temple, where there is yet another invisible bridge o'Doom, this time marked with some torches for you to notice. Here is our first big battle, here is the blue skull. The other tunnel is heading through a "hidden" passage where the red skull is, but it is a narrow place, and you have to face not only chaingunners and bruisers, but also an Arch-vile. This last tunnel also leads to the exit, where the two "key" teleports are.
At the end there is an annoying pit in which, if you are not careful, you can fall into nukage death, right at the sides of the exit teleport. This is just annoying, and it is not the first time it happens, this is not fair, Milo.

MAP04 - "Caged" - Dario Casali (100%K/I/S) - 12 deaths:

Seems you commited some interdimensional fellonies and you get sent to a prison, here you are about to get gangbanged by all the hellish prisoners you find. This map is yet another pain to deal with, as it is narrow and has few places to hide/rest. The map is clearly based on "The Abandoned Mines" from Doom 2, and that's why I fancy it that much. In fact the central layout feels like a copy and paste. Bad thing here is than can fell a little bit confusing at times, and progression is sometimes sickening. Finding a good strategy here is difficult, and having the ability to deal with enemies in narrow place even more. 
Even though there are lots of medikits around the place, it is not enough to sustain all the damage. There is hellfire everywhere. Seems like nowadays mappers took many notes from maps like this. Still, pretty enjoyable, but I feel I'm going to get bald by the time we reach MAP11.


Deaths: 34 (UV Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)
 

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP04

MAP01
MAP03
MAP02

 



Is it only me that I return to Plutonia only to die even more times than in previous playthroughs?

Edited by DJVCardMaster

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MAP12 - "Speed" by Milo Casali

 

This isn’t one to start on 1% health, that’s for sure. It pulls no punches, with imps appearing as soon as you move out of the starting spot in the grassy exterior, and the very red bloody interior full of dangers. Aesthetically, it’s almost as monotextural as the previous map (blood + wood plastered everywhere), but much like the rest of Plutonia, there’s not much time to admire any scenery anyway because of how regularly you’re engaged in combat.

 

This level does have a cyber, but like Baron’s Lair it’s not the map’s biggest threat, which instead comes mainly from the perched chaingunners (of course!), which can be hard to pick off without them taking you out first.

 

The two secrets are pretty much in plain sight, I was surprised when I got the first of them because I assumed I was following normal progression. There’s a constant teleporting arch vile trap that’s more irritating than challenging, though tbh it’s the only real gripe I have with the combat in this level.

 

As for the MIDI, it’s a very high-tempo track to match the intensity of the action of the map - almost too intense for my liking. It is interesting to hear the track in-game for the first time though, I’ve always associated it as the ‘sound of Suitepee getting a Twitch sub’ lol.

 

Level rankings:

Spoiler

MAP09 - "Abattoire" by Milo Casali
MAP05 - "Ghost Town" by Milo Casali
MAP08 - "Realm" by Milo Casali
MAP07 - "Caughtyard" by Dario Casali
MAP04 - "Caged" by Dario Casali
MAP01 - "Congo" by Milo Casali
MAP12 - "Speed" by Milo Casali
MAP02 - "Well of Souls" by Dario Casali
MAP10 - "Onslaught" by Dario Casali
MAP06 - "Baron's Lair" by Dario Casali
MAP03 - "Aztec" by Milo Casali
MAP11 - "Hunted" by Dario Casali

 

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(Crispy Doom, UV, Pistol Start, No Saves)

hc_plu09.zip

MAP09 - Abattoire

 

The scattered bodies of those who came before litter the entrance, and it's pretty gnarly how so many corpses have been sewn into some sort of magic altar which empowers the teleporter you came in on. The grotesque imagery is really strong in the entrance hall, and in the meatgrinder room which follows as well.

 

I really like the battle in that meatgrinder room, and how there's a variety of weapons available and approaches one can take. I have an appreciation for the utter chaos of the big monster mash in the center and how the elevated switch platform functions as a way to safely detonate Revenant missiles, but I think the room is still just as fun when you don't save the supply cache for later and instead immediately take its Invulnerability & peace out, leaving all the violent flesh generated by the machine to impotently wail and gnash its teeth since you're never coming back.

 

The opposite wing of the level, past the blue door, is mostly incidental combat, and isn't as crazy as the two main setpiece battles. The far end of this cavernous room houses two small key shrines which function mostly as an ammo tax you have to pay. It's not the most exciting thing to camp the door and remove the clog, but I respect how they function as a way to draw the player's attention while the next wave of monsters (back on the other side of the bridge) wakes up & advances.

 

Even if the gameplay of those two rooms isn't particularly noteworthy, there are things I like about them. The yellow key is stored in an outdoor "gallows" section which stands out by being the only time you'll see daylight besides the small skylight in the ceiling of the entrance hall, and the red key room next door has a classic monster-closet guarding it which conceals a pretty solidly-designed secret.

 

Once you're finally ready to open the colored bars and proceed to the finale, it's the narrow catwalks around the exit platform that steal the show, but I do appreciate how the first encounter after the teleporter dramatically lowers the welcoming committee into frame. It gives the player a brief moment to get their bearings and understand what they're up against before the monsters close in, and it also functions quite well when you're trying to just punch through to get to the main event.

 

-

 

Jesus christ, that final arena...

 

Many setpieces in this megawad have allowances like "you can spend the time & shells to grind the monsters down from a distance if you'd rather not" or "you can study & understand how to cleanly bypass the danger, or at least escape it promptly". No such variance here. It's just hard.

 

The two mirrored ammo caches are the key to survival here. Hunkering down in one means that, unlike the normal "360 degrees of incoming fire on a narrow catwalk" hell of this encounter, only the two opposite corners are any danger. I respect how the limited maneuverability in those niches means that, when regarding those two opposite corners, either one or the other is going to have line-of-sight to you no matter what you do, and the dance of frequently & rapidly switching sides to nullify the incoming projectiles is actually kind of cool, even if it ultimately means just treading water instead of actually advancing the encounter.

 

While it's possible to detonate rockets right below the Chaingunners & Mancubi to put them down a bit more safely, there's no such luck with the Revenants above. The ones on the far end of the chamber are out of autoaim range, and even when you get close enough to hit one, they tend to move around erratically and dodge a fair number of the attacks you launch as you run by on that narrow path.

In the end, I'm faced with the choice to try to run out, nail the jump to the necessary switch, and get back alive all in one hyper-dangerous sequence, or to make multiple runs in and out of cover while hoping to eventually land enough hits on the Revenants, which is more of an attrition scenario.

I decided on the first approach, and I think it worked out. I had to put in a practice session or two in order to get somewhat consistent results in that final difficulty spike (this map took more attempts than anything else on the megawad's main path), but eventually I had refamiliarized myself with it enough that I wasn't constantly falling off, and then all I needed was to be blessed with some gentle damage rolls in order to win through.

 

I wonder how inclined the average Continuous player would be to reject a hard-won triumph and reload just because they ended up low on HP when all was said and done. My assumption is that most people would be happy to take whatever victory they can get rather than repeating the encounter multiple times in order to try to preserve as much of that Megaarmor as possible. Even in a mode that cares about long-term resource-management, I think that this encounter would have people inclined to want to put it behind them, just barely scrape by, and try to make up the difference with the starting supplies of the next level.

 

Boy, I hope that the start room of the next map is kind to arriving players...

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Day 11 ~ Maps 10 and 11 ~ DSDA Doom/PRBoom+ 2.5.1.5 ~ UV-Max ~ NM100s ~ Pistol start ~ Midi pack

 

MAP10

Demos - pl map10.zip

UV - 0 deaths: Wow. I always say it, once you hear the start of Doomkid’s “Denied” you know that something is gonna go down. Something serious. Everywhere you go, traps will open up. Monsters will surprise you. I worked on getting a demo together that does not use ANY skips whatsoever. So no early SSG, no convenient linedef skips, no fancy jumps, only suffering and ammo starvation is allowed. This is certainly the hardest map in the first episode, even if it took just one try.  I always loved the look of this map.

NM - 84 deaths: Oof. It is so brutal. There are two linedef skips I recommend that ANY average nutcase wishing to tackle Plutonia NM100s uses. One for the revenant closet, and the other for the chaingunner gallery. Fun fact, if you skip the line for the chaingunners, 2 archviles that normally teleport in will stay asleep for you. They are good at ending runs. But, it’s only practical to skip the chaingunners if you skip the revenants first. I use a neat little jump to get an early plasma gun. Just set up some pixels with the super shotgun and SR50. Quite the intense map.

 

MAP11

Demos - pl map11.zip

UV - 3 deaths: Learn how to navigate the maze if you want to avoid dying at all. The archies will gather up in pairs of two around the map, so knowing where to find them helps a ton. Not much else to say.

NM - 5 deaths: There is a handy little momentum skip you can use at the start to prevent most of the archviles from waking up, thanks to Zero Master. I don’t use it though :D otherwise the map would be absolutely trivial. Make sure you know the maze before attempting this run.

Edited by Starduster

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Map12: Speed

 

This is the first map of the second episode, and oh boy, does it start tough. A Cyberdemon, tons of Revenants(wait, that is every Plutonia map minus map11), and Archviles. I died a bunch because I made a ton of stupid mistakes. Aside from that, the level looks really nice, and I like how it flows. Pretty good map.

Also, I didn't mention this for all the previous maps, but I have to say, the midi pack is GREAT. I love every single track of this pack. Like the AVGN once said: "Why is the music so fucking awesome?!".

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Maps 11 and 12

I used to enjoy Hunted. I couldn't be bothered to try this time around. There was a time when I was familiar enough with the maze that I could probably give a somewhat competitive speedrun of it. Now I'd rather noclip to the exit.

I hate map 12 though. I normally don't play it. I'm actually a bit surprised I went through it this time. This is absolutely one of my "Nope!" maps. I definitely had an easier time than normal due to the mods, no question. I guess that is what got me through it.

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Map11 was meh, wasn't that impressed the first time I played it, but at least it was easier this time. I just get lost a lot. Map12 is probably getting skipped since I know I'll get lost trying to figure it out. I'll play a few more Perdition's Gate levels instead as I wait for the 13th.

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MAP05 - "Ghost Town" - Milo Casali (100%K/I/S) - 3 deaths:

Our first of 3 consecutive "boss maps". Strangely enough, Milo did not supply us as much as his previous maps here, the start may be a tricky one while pistol starting, and you should prefer to avoid barons and revenants at the start, getting all items is even trickier, since you need to go to both ledges to get everything while dodging revenant punches. Luckly, there is a lot of place to hide in this map. Again, two paths branching for you to take, one of them has the blue key required for you to exit the level, so getting to the courtyard with the actual boss fight is recommended. This is what YouTuber Decino would recall as "Tier S" Spider Mastermind. Possibly the best Spiderdemon fight in the entire IWAD catalog, with tons of chaingunners and arachnotrons guarding the site. You can rush towards the key if you are brave enough, but beware of the door that opens and reveals Revenants from behind you. High-risk, high-reward if you manage to survive, as all revenants will probably start infighting with the Mastermind. To deal with her, you should use the walls that separate the inner courtyard with the outside area and start avoiding her barrage.
The other branching path has some bruisers and AV's, if you have enough ammo from before this part will become easy task to deal with.
Short map, but it kinda serves as a boss fight, I don't tend to like arena maps by the way, also, I hate that the starting room can't be accessible when you exit.


MAP06 - "Baron's Lair" - Dario Casali (100%K/I/S) - 1 death:

Our second boss-map, because one is not enough, Dario here gives you the Milo's treatment of supplying you 'till you can't carry more. The map is a hub with only one path to take and unlockable room by unlockable room. Simple enough. First room is some kind of well inside a sewer system, there is a balcony at the sides where you can see one of the rooms from behind and spot some demons, sadly, Dario has made some Doom Engine sorcery to avoid you to cheese them. The second one has a really nice wooden "brick" texture and is filled with barrels for you to use, I really like the ladder Dario has made here. There is a pit where you can have a fight with barons, but beware of the barrels that can backstab you if you are not carefull enough. The next room before the fight is the least interesting one. Some kind of a familiar "hellish-city" environment we had already seen in Doom 2 later levels. You can cheese the enemies by quickly shooting inside the room, exiting before the door goes down and kill most of them from outside. The last one has a boss fight with a cyberdemon, yes, it is already MAP06 and we already have encounters with the two boss enemies in Doom's beastiary. But first you have a starter plate before the fight, and you'll have to take down the revenants first. You can try and avoid killing the cyberdemon by rushing two times to the switches at the pillars, but this is not by any means recommended.
So far my least favourite map.


Deaths: 38 (UV Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)
 

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP04

MAP01
MAP03
MAP05
MAP02
MAP06

 


There is yet another "boss-map" to take next, I'll try to catch up for MAP13 or 14.

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Used cheats to plow through 5 and 6 again till the final room of Map 6 (cyberdemon fight) then did the 'easy' Map 7 again proper. Generally came out with the same general level of health and armour, which is good since Realm and Abbatoir afterward have NO armour at all (minus a few measly bonuses, and a mega-armour in the final room of map 10)

 

Realm has the neat little underground segment, where I cheesed the chaingunner ambush on the green area by charging at the first spawn spot with the plasma rifle ready, and sitting there taking intermittent bursts at the chaingunners spawning in on the only remaining unblocked spot. Thank god for teleporting safety protocols that the enemies follow, but you dont!

 

Abbatoir was shorter than I remembered, but its definitely fun to rocket up all those dudes in the meat room coming out of the grinders, while invincible. The starting room had a bugged torch too in one of the walls, kept wondering if there was an unflagged secret or monster in there. The last room is terrible though and makes me weep for people that insist on NEVER SAVING, EVER. I died like, 20 times there from the total lack of cover + revenants/mancubi in EVERY corner, plus the fact I slipped into the inescapable nukage too many times to count. I cant imagine doing the level over and over and over hoping to get to that one point and NOT die again. I have finite time in this world and im not spending time doing THAT >.>

 

Onslaught is rightfully the final level of Final Doom on the PS1, and I never did beat it legitimately on there. On PC you have the asshole behind you at the start, constant ambushes, at LEAST three archviles, and some of them are hidden in the walls for the very first 'resurrecting chaingunner' trick. Why couldnt it have been zombiemen, annoying flies that you need to decide if they need to be swatted, or weather their annoyance? There IS a zombieman on this map in a hilarious place though. The final big ambush after getting the yellow key, I ended up hiding in the red key room after plasmaing the AV in there, and I had to thin the horde outside with 2% health and no armour. Whoops. Good thing there was all those medikits in the tunnels, and that unused mega armour..

 

Went into Hunted with a good supply of rockets, and found it easier than ever before; except that time I found four archviles in a mob and ate at least one blast from them. I cant seem to kill the four AVs in the fuck you room, so im probably just gonna save myself some time and kill them in the console.

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MAP11: Hunted

    I enjoyed this map. Late in the evening, I decided to do a recording, not really expecting to beat the map. Instead, I had some pretty good luck with Archviles never coming at me in groups larger than two. With that element of luck and good usage of corners, all the Archviles in the maze were quickly disposed of. The drudge of figuring out where to go next was not as fun. As I am doing pistol start, I took the right teleporter for the memes and bagged another 2 Viles with the BFG.

 

    Oh, and the music is fantastic.

 

The Video: (A bit mumbly, I am in a new room, and am still figuring out the new microphone).

 

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ok, let's go, with SPEED! 

 

MAP 12 : As soon as I step out of the teleporter, imps raise up from the ground. I kill them all and enter the door, ready to cause pain to all those who oppose me. A lone chaingunner, imps and shotgunners say hi. Two paths, plasma on the right, rocket on the left. I grab the RL and use it on the AV who is waiting to snipe me with fire from afar. With him dead I fall down and use my assault riffle to fill everything with holes, before climbing up, grabbing the skull and keep on climbing up the stairs. I jump into the teleporter and find myself even higher, get rid of a caco and then get thrown down by the baron. Falling on the other side, the AV gets a hit on me but he didn't laugh for long. Low on health I jump down and then grab the lift up, picking up a pair of much needed medikits. I pick one teleporter that brings me to a secret blue armor, and then lose most of my health to a pair of rev rockets to the face. Killing them I go and grab the blue skull, and then I'm 'ported to somewhere where AVs, several, surround and fry me. Death count : 1. 

 Back to where I picked the blue armor, this time I will be ready for the revs and the AVs. I manage to kill them all and survive, barely. I jump down, grab health and more ammo for the plasma gun, open the door, press the switch, teleport, kill the shotgunners and chaingunners in the ledge, remove the revs, get shredded from the distance, remove those as well with some nice pistol work and press the switch that opens another switch that I press again to raise the floor. Another rev, another switch. Press, more floor goes up and a teleport that just leads me nowhere useful. I go back, I still haven't picked up the red key. I do it now, open the red switch, get rid of the final AV, grab a BFG and press another switch that will open up the way to the exit. Now, I 'm 1 secret short so I'll do a quick lap around.. I know where the secret is, but it will require a teleport.. Oh, I think I haven't used this one yet. Oh yeah, that's the one! And so, properly soulsphered I run to the exit and it's done!

1 death, 19 minutes and 45 seconds, 100% K/S!

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Map12: UV-Max in 8:16. I'm not doing anymore nightmare runs for now.
Distant chaingunner snipers are the main feature here, while resources are scarce enough to encourage a more cautious playstyle, which is a little weird for a map called "Speed". The cyberdemon is easily killed by standing in the right spot where he can't hit you, then spamming plasma. There's also an ambush with teleporting archviles like in map07, except there are two at once this time, and it's still pretty simple to deal with. The hardest part is the final area, which is wide open with several distant chaingunners from multiple angles who are difficult to kill quickly, while revenants (also distant) attack. Pressing the next switch spawns more revenants and an archvile, and cover is hard to find unless you retreat into the long corridor you came from. One of Plutonia's most difficult maps overall.

 

pl12stuff.zip

 

 

Edited by Pseudonaut : forgot the demo

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Untitled3.png

 

All caught up now.

 

Speed was bullshit, especially since I did it starting at 1% health and no armour; just HAD to get 100% kills in Hunted the Legit way. There wasnnt really much speedy about this map, except maybe me running back down the hall to dodge chaingunners to preserve my meager health. I kept thinking the cyberdemon hada killswitch in the level somewhere, but nope, had to kill him normally. The teleporting archviles trap was neat.

 

Also props to Eris Falling and his midi for this level

 

The Crypt is one of those levels thats just...there. It gets points for looking different than everything else so far I guess, but its over so fast. Has a hot start with enemies behind you just like Onslaught, so youve been warned.

 

Next up is Genesis, but im gonna do other things for a while, so I can play more than just one map at a time.

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