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dobu gabu maru

The DWmegawad Club plays: Plutonia

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it's that time of the day.

 

MAP 20 : And it's another hot start : chaingunner gunning at me and a rev in a cage waiting to send his rockets to my face. And then you move and a spider ir roaming the fields! After cleaning the opposition I go towards a tunnel that turns into some stairs at the press of a button and then, down I go, ready for anything.. It's imps. Imps in the sewers. Then a lift with some shotgunners behind, and a wall that I did good in pressing, secret number one : the blue armor that teased me at the start of the sewers, plus health bonus and rockets. Now, to ride the lift, kill the pinkies, press the button... And there's a chaingunner, zombiemen, shotgunners, revenant and a pair of HKs. More chaingunners! Press a semi-hidden switch, climb some stairs, grab the invisibility fast and kill the chaingunners. Now, a soulsphere is there, teasing me, but I can't yet find the way to open it up, so I go forward. For now, and it's pinkies in the sludge. Stairs, chaingunners, spiders, the yellow key! And outside, where a pair of teleporting barons are causing trouble. Kill them and a 'ville show up down there.. And revs. It ends up being they who kill me.

 Round 2 : Oh! found the way to open the supercharge! This time I got rid of all the revs before going for the blue key, killing the remaining chaingunners, shooting at a door for a not-so-secret megasphere and then, I'm ready to leave!

 1 death, exactly 10 minutes, 100% K/S/I! 

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MAP20: The Death Domain

 

Cool name. Has a fairly warm start, not as hot as the ones on MAP04 and MAP18 since it at least gives you some time to assess the surroundings, collect the plasma gun and bolt out to the sewers. Ammo is a bit scarce for a while if you don't find the very useful first secret, but not a big deal. The first lift is annoying to use, but at least it deposits you into the library area which is one of my favourite areas in Plutonia, as it features a brief if exhilarating close quarters rocket launcher fight against an assortment of demons.

 

The next room has a far more effective version of the bridge trap in MAP14, better run for that invisibility before you're turned into swiss cheese! Then we follow the boring path to the yellow key, with a predictable teleport ambush in the room connecting the two corridors. Four barons constantly teleporting try to prevent you from escaping after grabbing the key, but they're completely toothless and an absolute chore to kill - thankfully, with foreknowledge it's possible to lure them away from the teleport lines but it's no less of a stupid fight regardless.

 

Before another mostly unguarded exit, we still have to clean the revenant infested way to the blue key which can be a bit problematic due to the lack of cover. Special mention for the hell knights behind the yellow door, depending on your angle of approach they can be deadly or a wall with health. Before exiting, if you're playing continuous it's worth to try to locate two well hidden but non-secret areas in the last corridor, which contain a megasphere and lots of ammo. In short, a good level to cap off the episode.

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Map 20 was the second to last level in Final Doom on the PS1, a bit of an odd pick given it goes from Plutonia's Map 20 to Map 10.

 

It has an annoying hot start where there seems to be a new chaingunner every few seconds, while your trying to dodge arachnotron plasma AND revenant homing rockets. Things quieten down immensely after that, with the notable fights being a fight where chaingunners mow down their own friends thanks to an invisibility sphere, a teleporting baron fight where I rocketed myself FAR too many times, and a sequence where you launch into skeleton-filled trenches...if your daring. I just put them down from outside, screw revenants.

 

Shout out to the stupidest secret, the soul sphere where you need to hump the LIGHTS next to the door. Not a good secret! Im used to ballbusting hard secrets thanks to NaturalTvventy, but this is just plain unintuitive,

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MAP 20: Death domain UV, continuous 

I proudly present to you, Plutonia: Return of the King

 

This map renewed my faith in plutonia. Cruel traps, overwhelming odds, short map. Perfection.

 

The map itself has a nice layout(except for the sewer) and flows pretty well. The traps are also pretty good. The teleporting barons trap..... kindly.... contributed to the majority of my deaths. The secrets were fairly easy to find, expect for library room secret where you(for some reason) have to use the lights( I had no idea how I triggered that secret, many thanks, @Devalaous) The plutonia midi pack is actually rather relaxing, considering the carnage ensuing.

 

Rise... my child.... Rise and reclaim your title as That megawad people play because they hate themselves      as King of the IWADs

Kills:100%

Secrets:100%

Deaths: 5

Adrenaline in the blood: 100%

Wondering if "The Death Domain" has been taken as a name for a metal band: YES

 

 

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gzdoom +set compatmode 2 -iwad plutonia.wad -file plutmidi.wad jovpal.wad psxsounds.wad

 

'Neurosphere' is one of my favorite plut maps. I love chunky architecture and castle style. Making good times through these still. I think my last play-through I was at four hours or more by now. Included a preview of 'Slayer' tomorrow.

 

Screenshot_Doom_20210120_111144.png.6a976faa0d813372b40f0e42c37ebf60.pngScreenshot_Doom_20210120_111913.png.6e939f5833c3a1a2bc3bfa1990f13dec.png

Screenshot_Doom_20210120_113732.png.00bee92701f882d886d8f0a1c3b9b6f2.pngScreenshot_Doom_20210120_113827.png.832eae4cf136b812793d5328ae5e5cbe.png

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

hc_plu13.zip

MAP 13 - The Crypt

 

The highlight of the map is the opening battle, which is an evolution of the Caughtyard setup: now you have to have a close-range battle with a gang of Mancubi, and you don't get to lean on rocket spam to get you out of that tight spot. Doing the boss battle with the SSG-only is tricky, but made very much easier by a repeat of the tiny pillar trick seen in the previous map. Those torch pedestals may look inconsequential, but they're solid cover - blocking projectiles while letting your hitscan attacks through.

 

The incidental combat afterwards as you cross the temple grounds is much more chill, with the exception of the bruiser brothers waiting for you at the bottom of the elevator. It's kind of a cool setup where you have to dash right past melee range to get clear of them, but it's also a trap which harshly punishes hesitation. Freezing up and letting the goatmen block the elevator could mean getting wrecked.

 

I really dig the aesthetics here, especially the fact that this primordial site, its dolmen stones thrumming with ancient fell magicks, has control rooms with copper piping and steel valves & buttons. I'm happiest when a Doom map's appearance leans into that "blurred realities" idea, where haunted castles manifest inside bunker facilities, or when tech panels appear in tombs. So, as minimalist & understated as Plutonia is, I still find it to be really evocative of the the merging of dimensions, justifying why the place is full of guns & monsters (beyond the obvious "because it's fun").

 

I'm similarly impressed with the theatricality of the Arch-Vile's control room: with the way that the master and his minions are awakened by that infernal machine. While I like the setup where a player has to go NOPE to this scenario and bail out (into the garbage chute, flyboy!), the way it's enforced is a little unsporting. The way that a Revenant is suddenly dropped into the entrance staircase behind you is a rude sucker-punch.

 

I think it's interesting how the inner sanctum past the blue bars can be played in multiple ways. You can take the time to challenge the whole garrison (with helpful ammo boxes + a megasphere to restock once the battle is over), or you can just try to dive for the exit and leave all of that malarkey behind. There's this big elaborate battle, but I always enjoy being able to kick the hornet's nest and make a daring escape.

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MAP20 - "The Death Domain" - Dario Casali (97%K/25%I/0%S) - 12 deaths:

So this is where the Eviternity's Intermission music comes from.
This map looks and plays kinda bland, feels like a map made for TNT (Possibly a TNT rejection), or like an early map. There are many of poorly aligned vanilla textures, there is even startan here, and progression feels off from the rest of the megaWAD. The start is just a pain in the ass, so you'll have to act quick just to get into the sewers. From the sewers suddenly you get into a library, and then you proceed around all the fortress until you reach the end of it, in which you'll find this cheesy trap, yes, those teleporting barons that look dope, and can infight with revenants and arachnotrons at the start, quite possibly because you did not kill them, because you did not have any ammo. This is the big problem, low ammo. The baron balcony opens a ledge for you to jump into those "drains", I don't know how it's possible to jump over an aparently impassable line, but I think self referencing sectors do the trick here. The problem with the drain is that you get ambushed by revenants, and it is a problem, as you may choose to shot them from the outside, but trying to remove them wastes your ammo completely.
Yes, the map feels low quality, the end is just there, it exists, there is a megasphere secret in a shootable door, and another lift that gives you ammo and stock you to the next level, but it feels bland, looks bland, and plays blandly. As an "episode" ender it lacks something, and considering how big the start is, and having no boss encounters, when Milo placed a Cyberdemon on a room ten times smaller, is a big letdown. This map feels like one of those citadel maps in Doom II, and teases you a big fight is coming next, but no. Not even on the next map, but that's something for tomorrow.


Deaths: 161 (UV Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP18
MAP12
MAP14
MAP17
MAP11
MAP04
MAP01

MAP19

MAP10
MAP03

MAP09
MAP07
MAP05
MAP02

MAP13
MAP06
MAP08
MAP20
MAP16

 



It was a good choice to leave this map as the second to last one in the Final Doom PSX version, although the last map being Onslaught, is just random, this is a map that prepares you for something, and would have been placed better at the MAP19 slot.

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MAP20: Good map with a intriguing layout, pretty interconnected even if i can't reach some sections (mostly secrets), again good use of 3D space, hard traps like the the sludge pits that fills with revenants and the teleporting barons of hell arena, good usage on monsters placement and overall a pretty good map and a good way to finish episode 2. Again, episode 2 is filled of awesome maps, expect MAP16

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MAP20: The Death Domain

    Hot start! I died 5-7 times while practising for a saveless run, but the strategy is clear: Try to snatch as much ammo while bolting for the sewer area, jump in and grab the SSG. Hell yeah, it's time to turn the tables around on the Hell's minions! The Baron face secret was a bit odd, but a real help for later. I liked the Archvile and Hell Knight trap, how it gives you the means (the RL), but also the cramped space. High risk, high reward. Love it. If you screw up, there is always that escape chute, but remember to blow up those barrels first ...

 

    I can imagine how the next room was created. Milo (or Dario, not sure who made this) played the MAP09 of DooM II and had a "Mein Gott!" moment when the wall of Chaingunners opened up. Somehow this room is ... less lethal? If you found the Soulsphere, the Blursphere means you should not lose more than about 50 health. Weak!

 

    The Baron trap was annoying, I pressed the switch and bolted for the sewer again. After that there was the simple job of reclaiming the courtyard. Also some secrets that are useless for Pistol Starters.

 

The Video:

 

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Map20: UV-Max in 5:45
There are some good fights here, but also some unnecessary annoyances like the teleporting barons, or the nonsensical secrets. An OK map overall.

 

 

pl20stuff.zip

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MAP19 - "NME" by Milo Casali

7BB06EC3FA2C05F04A452A500685C3CA47883F8A

 

The intro is the toughest part as an absurd amount of Revenants flood the starting area. The good thing is that you get all the resources and weapons you need, including the BFG, early on and the map mellows out from there. There are still some nasty surprises, like the teleporter which spits you out in front of hitscanners and a Vile, which guarantees some damage if you're not prepping the BFG beforehand. This map also has annoying aspects like blood being inconsistently damaging or that one bridge dividing 2 inescapable pits, which I did manage to slip off. The final Cyber is not very dangerous, assuming you plasma him down and not attempt any cute BFG shenanigans. The teleporter that takes you to his alcove does not telefrag him either, so getting baited into that won't end so good.

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MAP20 - "The Death Domain" by Dario Casali

CFCE672991DE5D4737888E2B95B96AAE76441FEF

 

Not much choice given from a pistol start other than flipping the switch that lowers the stairs to the sewers. There exist 3 peculiar switch actions around the lowest staircase, which allow the player to break the stairs from below. The multi-floor lift is pretty cool, reminding me of Hellbound's map02. Bit of a nasty trap with the Vile and 2 Hell Knights followed by a fight where you want to rush the Invis. The section with 4 teleporting Barons can basically be ignored if you peak into their closets and pull them out one by one. The Revenants in the cages below are essentially useless and easily killed with rockets from ground level while being unable to fire back properly. Jumping the midtexture fence from above is some rather woke progression. There are also 2 untagged secrets: the Megasphere and Backpack. I also think the plutmidi is a bit too bleak and depressing for this map.

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Map21: UV-Max in 2:59
The layout is clearly a reference to Circle of Death, but the gameplay is different enough from that map that I see no problem with it. As soon as you spawn, plenty of enemies are already awake nearby, including (but not limited to) cacodemons, pain elementals, and chaingunners. The rocket launcher is available pretty much from the start and rockets are very abundant, as they should be. You'll probably be threatened from multiple directions whenever you're out in the open, but there are a few rooms to duck into for cover (which are fully staffed with enemies). Progressing will spawn more enemies, enough to pose some threat even if you killed everything else beforehand, at least by IWAD standards. It's action-packed from start to finish and it's one of Plutonia's best maps.

 

 

pl21stuff.zip

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MAP20 - The Death Domain

UV Max (-solo-net) from pistol start

 

Hey, what's the Eviternity intermission music doing here? Oh, right...

Hot start with the arachnotrons and chaingunners. When playing from pistol start, I get the most consistent success if I ignore most of the items around the open area at first, just picking up the nearby shells and running for the stairs to the indoor area. From there I can get a super shotgun and then return for the enemies I ran past before. With the blue armor secret there's more than enough ammo (when playing -solo-net there's even more ammo there). From there, the rest of the map isn't much challenge. The fight with the teleporting barons is probably the most notable part of the map for how gimmicky it is. As with most uses of barons, it can be quite an ammo drain, but as long as you aren't missing half your rockets due to teleports, you should be fine. Progression is a bit weird in this map; I forgot for a while that you're supposed to jump the fence from the baron arena and was trying to figure out what the yellow key is for (answer: not much). I also always forget how to get the soul sphere secret (use the door frame, really?).

 

Co-op only adds a handful of extra monsters that don't significantly change the gameplay of the map, and also some extra ammo. There are two BFGs in the map, but I assume they're intended for deathmatch because both of them come very near the end of the map (one's literally next to the exit, the other in the pits you jump into from the baron arena).

 

 

MAP21 - Slayer

UV Max (-solo-net) from pistol start

 

Short but sweet map with consistent action. I can never remember how progression is supposed to work in this map, but it's small enough that it doesn't really matter. I also always forget about the hidden room with the arch-vile at the north end of the map; feels like that should be tagged as a secret. If it didn't have the arch-vile to leave me short one kill, I probably wouldn't even know about that room.

 

Co-op adds a cyberdemon to the map that teleports to the center of the ring when the arachnotron dies (interestingly, this is the only thing in the map that differs by skill level). It also adds BFGs in the long rooms at the south end where the cacodemons and pain elementals come from. I find it safest to leave the arachnotron alive until I've at least gotten the BFG, at which point the cyberdemon becomes easy to deal with. It might lead to better times, though, if you trigger the cyberdemon's appearance earlier and get some infighting from it.

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let's get this done,

MAP 21 : As soon as I teleport in, they start shooting. Who's they? Pain Elemental, chaingunners, shotgunners, imps, spiders.. A bit of most everything, actually! I run to the ledge and kill everything I can with the plasma gun, grab the soulsphere and then explore. With the central area finally cleared I go for one of the side tunnels, there's a red door I can't open yet and a teleport to some ammo. From there I jump down, get rid of a few specters and run to the lift. By the time I'm back up, a 'ville has shown up in another ledge and I use my rockets on him, using the walls as protection. After that I enter the other tunnel, into the darkness with a SSG in hand, grab the blue armor and press the switch, fall into the lava and get killed by another 'ville.

Second go : This time there is no falling down into the lava, so I go towards the other tunnel, rocket the cacos and PEs, and only then do I press the switch, a bucnh of chaingunners show up with a pair of mancs for company, and then, back to the teleporter, a path now risen. Grabbing the megasphere brings a few HKs to the rocket party. Finally the red key is mine, and the path lowers again, so I jump down, to get rid of a few specters, run to the lift, move towards the red door. Pressing the switch behind it puts a whole bunch of revenants right next to me, after gaining some space on them I rocket them to death, same for the 'ville, the HKs and some assorted imps, for variety. After that, the exit is guarded by a pair of cacos and a baron, but even after them I've got a pair of enemies to go, and I do know of at least one : the AV that killed me on my first try. So I grab as much health as possible, switch to the plasma and jump into the central blood pool, destroy the AV, grab the supercharge + rad suit, and find that the missing monster was a PE in the final blood pool.

 10 minutes 33 seconds, 1 death, 100% K/S/I.

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MAP21 - "Slayer" - Milo Casali (100%K/66%I/0%S) - 0 deaths:

Another classic ripoff that was pretty common in 1996, ripping of The Circle of Death. The playground is short, and not as interesting, playtime here gets extended only because of annoying monster blocks, specially all those pain elementals which are spamming all the place with lost souls, their most annoying encounter yet in Plutonia, indeed. The layout is so simple, that again somebody expects a big fight but no. Also, continuous players would be pretty packed up from last map, so this map would be kind of easy, if you are not, don't worry, there is a SSG and a PG right from the start, as well as a soulsphere. It's a grindy map, you'll take much more time removing the skulls and meatballs than running around finding an exit. Press a switch here, raise this, get the red key, get some traps, open the red door, which is a big letdown as the only thing it opens is a switch to lower the exit pillar, and there you go.
Not by any means a bad map, but totally a rushed one, specially because of the ripoff nature it has, and the thing that annoyed me the most, the red door, as it teases you there is more to take care of. Feels totally rushed, also, it is possible to get through the pillar guarding the exit because it gives you the space to do it, rendering the red key useless, at least in sourceports in which 32mu gliding is possible. Don't worry anyways, as you don't skip a big chunk of the map, as the red door is just a switch. 
Also, don't miss the last pain elemental, he is hidden behind the exit, and its placement is totally awkward.

Deaths: 161 (UV Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)
 

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP18
MAP12
MAP14
MAP17
MAP11
MAP04
MAP01

MAP19

MAP10
MAP03
MAP09
MAP07
MAP05
MAP02
MAP13
MAP06
MAP08
MAP21
MAP20
MAP16

 


Milo WTF? There is literally a Switch action to open doors with red key, why not using that and a door instead of that pillar? I thought that door contained half of the map. Sorry but I hated it.

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Map 21, 'Circle of Death but Plutonised'

 

right from the start im awkwardly fighting off a bit of everything from the starting teleporter, because the supplies near you are one-time only, and if you fall off before getting that soulsphere, no 300% for you. Had to gun down two pain elementals, lots of lost souls, many imps and zombies, and THEN snipe a arachnotron and at least one chaingunner before I could enter the main ring. DJV had the same thoughts I did; wheres the gameplay behind the red door? Instead I just got 9000001 revenants and an archvile toasting my ass from behind as I opened the door. The archvile revived but a single zombieman; poor choice of his single revive.

 

Bonus points to the 'fuck you' archvile that pops out if you fall into the central pool and lower the platform

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26 minutes ago, Devalaous said:

because the supplies near you are one-time only, and if you fall off before getting that soulsphere, no 300% for you.


They are not, you can barely run-jump from the raised platform at the east, to the SSG Pilar, that's what I did.

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MAP21: Slayer

 

One of the few levels that remains challenging whenever I revisit Plutonia, at least from a pistol start. Make sure to grab that supercharge near the start, otherwise it'll be more trouble than it's worth to collect it at a later point. There's lots of rockets and a generous amount of cells for your plasma gun, you'll need them because the limited playspace gets filled FAST with hellspawn that needs to be cleansed. Normally this would be right up my alley, but I can't help but notice the repetitiveness of the gameplay - press switch, circle gets filled with monsters, kill said monsters, repeat.

 

So yeah, a short and repetitive level, not really my cup of tea. Still, better than Circle of Death despite being half the size.

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MAP 21: Slayer UV, continuous 

Circle of death... with more pain elementals! 

 

The map itself isn't that challenging(I died once to my own splash damage....leave me alone!) since there is an abundance of ammo and health items. The abundance of pain elementals is the real issue. Fighting hordes of lost souls Thanks to Satan's turds   floating meatballs gets really monotonous really quickly( sorry for the vulgarity). None of the traps really stand out, in my opinion, and not as good as circle of death( I'm so sick of archviles). The level itself is fine, a bit repetitive in some areas, but far  from downright bad( I can pretty much say that for all of plutonia's maps... fight me).

 

A wise man once said, "give a man a chaingunner, he will shoot for a day.... but give a man a level editor and an infinite supply of monsters, he will get a respected position at valve and work for our lord and savior, (Videogame Jesus, anybody?) Gabe Newell"…

Wise words indeed.....

 

Stats:

Kills: 99%

Secrets:100%

Deaths : 1

Wondering why I'm still playing this: YES

Wondering Why you're still reading this: YES

 

 

 

 

 

 

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MAP21: Slayer

    If you manage to grab the starting weapons and break into one of the rooms, you have won the map. Well, if you don't commit suicide by and errant Lost Soul, that is. The map features way too many Pain Elementals, and the mess can get even worse if they infight. This is basically the only "hard" part of the map. There is probably about 100 rockets laying around, so don't be shy to use them. In fact, I think using it versus Pain Elementals really spices up the gameplay!

 

    Anything else? The MIDI is really nice. A meh map, cribbing from a meh DooM II source.

 

The Video:

 

 

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

hc_plu14.zip

MAP 14 - Genesis

 

The act of leaving the central starting area and going for the SuperShotgun kicks off a harrowing opening battle. You start off attacked from every direction, under fire from monsters positioned in sniper towers above and sewers below, and it takes some doing to clear a path to the Rocket Launcher and Green Armor and get fully underway.

I think the iron lattice in the central garden area looks cool, and the metal struts along the western bridge have a novel look too. In general I think this haunted industrial facility has a cohesive visual style, and the compact size & distinct architecture keeps things from getting monotonous.

 

I really like the setpiece battle that unlocks the yellow key, where you have to walk all the way out on that platform before you learn what kind of battle you've signed up for and what the room's final form will be. A Doom trap is all about the setup & punchline, and having the room significantly transform like that makes for an effective payoff. It's really fun to play, too, with an interesting tension between the need for cover and the need for space.

 

The level's final challenge is the duo of Arch-Viles which warp in immediately after that battle. While these minibosses have been the subject of dramatic reveals in setpiece encounters in previous maps, here they're entirely stealthy - nothing seems amiss at first until the calm of a backtracking session suddenly falls away when the player hears the sounds of corpses being reanimated and realizes what's happened.

Ammo is a bit tight in this level, and this final encounter has a risk of getting out of hand, but I kind of dig the heightened danger this creates - even if I have to admit that it'd be more convenient if I could spam rockets during more encounters instead of saving them for critical moments. I appreciate how a player can go exploring and find overheals to give them better odds against these fights, even if it stings a little to be given a large cell pack in the Blue Armor secret when there's no gun to fire it from.

 

That barrel barrier which blows up the hapless zombies past the yellow door is a silly thing.

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MAP21: A very hard and challenging map that doesn't play with you with the heavy monster usage and waves of Pain Elemental and Archviles that teleports in the arena (or appear from a trap room when you push , heavily inspired by circle of death. Good map, pretty unforgiving, strong episode starter. Why adding another red sky it is always beyond me... Is this megawad just "hell" maps, expect the first 11 maps? Also, thinking about it, maps after MAP04 starts to have some hellish parts in it, so we are in some sort of literal "Hell on Earth" from all the time?

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Here we are at the home stretch of Plutonia. Up to this point we've seen some maps make homages to the classic Doom and Doom 2 maps, but for the third episode? It's rip-off city as the majority of the levels will lift from the two games. Maps like Caged, The Twilight and Neurosphere were a premonition of things to come.

 

Map21: Slayer (Milo Casali)

100% kills, 100% items, 0% secrets

Time: 08:32

 

The starter of the final episode greets us with a blatant rip-off of Doom 2's Map11: Circle of Death, only that is smaller and really nasty as it immediately starts off with a bunch of enemies ready to attack. Pain elementals will come forward to spawn Lost Souls, spectres traverse the low ground areas on the level, and you got hitscanners and imps patrolling the ring, including some sniper chaingunners perched on the upper ledges in the middle and an arachnotron right on the centre platform. Beware, because there's an arch-vile tucked in an alcove where you collect the red key, and he can wreak havoc on you if you're not careful. First order of affair is to clear out the main playing area, including taking out the spectres so they won't obstruct your movement. Next, you'll be doing some switch hunting, first one to open the bars to the next switch which will raise the ground in the south section, making a path to the red key. Making progress will cause enemies to spawn, with the first switch setting loose some pain elementals and cacodemons, and reaching the next switch spawns in a bunch of hitscanners, imps and mancubi. Making your way to the red key will spawn hell knights, and grabbing the key will lower the ground back to its normal level. With the red key, you can open the red key door, but that will spawn the last wave of enemies, ranging from hell knights, revenants, and among them an arch-vile. Hit the final switch to reveal the path to the exit teleporter, which is guarded by a baron that pops out of the ground and cacodemons, including a pain elemental. Don't forget to search for a switch in the central blood pool for a non-official secret area holding a soul sphere, a radiation suit and also an arch-vile. Short map, but it's going to go down hard on you. Like Well of Souls and The Omen, this level has no secrets, though that aforementioned alcove should have been one.

 

Difficulty: 7/10

 

Map22: Impossible Mission (Dario Casali)

100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Time: 12:59

 

Knee-Deep in Plutonia is more like it. The first thing you'll notice is that the level is very reminiscent of Doom's Episode 1 Knee-Deep in the Dead, right down to the techbase themes, the architecture, and even Romero-style secrets. The Plutonia textures don't make much of an appearance, except for the outdoor areas. That said, true to level's name, though not impossible, it's another surly bastard with all the typical traps and opposition you see in Plutonia. Chaingunner squads lurk around the base, some of which appear from fake walls, though oddly enough, it makes the map more reminiscent to Knee-Deep in the Dead with all the hitscanners to gun down. The level also gives its share of tougher monsters to face, like barons, mancubi, arachnotrons and revenants, and there are some really dangerous spots you have to watch out for, like the first outdoor area where the path to the yellow key sinks, and you got shotgunners, revenants, arachnotrons and a baron to take out, including spectres on the nukage pools. And speaking of nukage pools, none of them hurt you, which is very odd, but given that there are no radiation suits to be found, I'll let it pass. After hitting the switch to raise the path to the yellow key and collecting it, hit the switch next to the revenant-guarded teleporter to lower the elevator back. Exploring the large nukage area will reveal some mancubi when you explore the first tunnel, so be ready for them, and when you hit the switch that lowers the teleporter to the red key, prepare for a dangerous trap, for stepping on the teleporter will raise floors on the red key platform, revealing barons, hell knights and arch-viles. Immediately jump off, take cover, and attack, killing the arch-vile first. The last outdoor area is a jaunt against some spectres, revenants and few imps guarding the switch that opens the door to the exit teleporter. So far, this is a rather long and large map, and it's a rather difficult one, though not an impossible mission. One of the strongest levels in Plutonia, even if it doesn't use its textures all too frequently like in the majority of the maps. I like it, and the Episode 1 homage makes it quite a pretty good, solid level.

 

Difficulty: 8/10

 

The first two levels of the third episode are kicking it with the homages, but we'll be seeing more of them as we progress. Until the next couple of levels, see you then!

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MAP22: Oh boy, this map! This map is really good, reminds me a sort of tech version of "The spirit world" with a lots of great choices in detailing and designing, but together with a great layout comes also a great difficulty, almost at the level of the previous map, especially at the outdoor zone that leads to the yellow key. Amazing design, amazing fights, really good stuff. One of the best if not the best map so far, just too hard and punishing sometimes.

Talking about punishing...

doom2-006.png

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3 hours ago, Walter confetti said:

Is this megawad just "hell" maps, expect the first 11 maps?

Yep. According to Doomwiki's episode breakdown, maps01-11 are on Earth, 12-20 are regular Hell, and 21-30 are the Devil Hive, which is why the E3 sky is like a layer of flesh.

 

MAP21 - "Slayer" by Milo Casali

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Alright, whereas Neurosphere can get away with being heavily inspired by The Inmost Dens, this is a rather blatant Circle of Death rip-off remix. It's smaller than Romero's classic but also significantly more difficult. What I found works best at the start is grabbing the items on the ledge by the spawn and then running into the room past the red door. From there, it's safe enough to start clearing out all the threats. The cage also protects you from getting annoyed by Lost Souls, since there are plenty of Pain Elementals.

 

There are a ton of stacked rocket boxes and I easily hit the 100 cap from a pistol start. You also get a Blue Armour, Megasphere, and Soulsphere in what's essentially an untagged secret with a Vile. Whenever enemies would flood in, I'd just unload rockets on their teleport destination and it mostly worked out fine. I kept feeling paranoid about a Cyberdemon spawning on the central platform but that was in PRCP. There is a questionable Pain Elemental in the blood behind the exit that makes him easy to miss as you finish the map. Also, the new midi is fantastic.

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gzdoom +set compatmode 2 -iwad plutonia.wad -file plutmidi.wad jovpal.wad psxsounds.wad

 

Forgot to find secret level, so i pistol started Cyberden.

 

Screenshot_Doom_20210120_120714.png.a2f5f50431925d6ba6666aa661655ab0.png

 

Map32 is another story. Can't remember if I've beaten it, so I'll give it a go when i feel up to it.

 

Back to continuous save...

 

Screenshot_Doom_20210121_221553.png.606281d22d646e435c091d982a6c2020.pngScreenshot_Doom_20210121_221729.png.4c5f0f2441ac70535c1618ae41ff8755.pngScreenshot_Doom_20210121_223344.png.c7de30f13b826461cccad2840bac7174.png

 

Slayer and Impossible mission were both fun. Preference goes to Slayer for it's cheek-clenching action. Impossible Mission ... I did the same thing I always do, I cheat-press the switch behind yellow bars, then take the teleporter and roam until I realize I've confused myself. Then I try to back up and follow the intended sequence. Got it in 17 minutes.

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9 hours ago, Spectre01 said:

I kept feeling paranoid about a Cyberdemon spawning on the central platform but that was in PRCP.

Play with co-op monsters and validate your paranoia! Now that you mention it, I wonder whether that cyberdemon is an intentional reference to the co-op cyberdemon in Plutonia.

 

I managed to clear MAP19 with -solo-net, so I'll do an actual writeup for it now.

 

MAP19 - NME

UV Max (-solo-net) from pistol start

 

The start, but not much else, closely resembles E2M1. This map revolves around its teleport traps, both the kind where enemies teleport to you and the kind where you teleport to the enemies. The teleporter in the darkness beyond the yellow door is quite cheeky; the first time you approach it, the game will surprise you by teleporting you before you actually reach the teleport pad (and, perhaps more importantly, before you reach the medikits by the teleporter), but should you return there, the early teleport will be gone and the teleporter will work "normally." The cyberdemon (the one that's present in single-player) is difficult to take out efficiently, but not so much if you accept wasted time and/or ammo.

 

Co-op adds some extra weapon placements that don't make much difference (you can get the rocket launcher a little earlier I guess) and two pain elementals that also don't make a difference (along the walkway leading to the exit). And then there are the eight arch-viles guarding the exit room, and two cyberdemons placed in the most inconvenient locations possible (screenshots in my earlier post here). While dealing with the arch-viles is pretty standard BFG fare, the cyberdemons demand some strategizing. I managed to telefrag the first cyberdemon (the one in the E2M1-inspired area), but if you don't want to try your luck at that, other strategies are to get the super shotgun and retreat to the plasma nest where you can shoot the cyberdemon through the windows, or collect the BFG and use that against the cyberdemon (it's easier if you don't shoot from the start of the level until you get the BFG to avoid setting off the teleport traps, and of course this means less BFG to use elsewhere). The second cyberdemon is largely luck-based to me; I already have trouble with cyberdemons in cramped spaces as it is, and this setup also comes with a teleport entrance that freezes you in place for a fraction of a second and an arch-vile making sure you can't see what's going on. One alternative to spray-and-pray BFG is to back out of the room through the teleporter as soon as possible, only remaining long enough to deal BFG tracer damage. The other enemies (not the cyberdemon) can follow you through that teleporter so you can deal with the arch-vile separately from the cyberdemon. You can repeat the short peeks into the room however many times it takes to kill the cyberdemon, but sometimes when I tried it the cyberdemon would fire at me the moment I teleported into the room, giving me no chance of survival. Suffice it to say that this is a very sadistic place to place a cyberdemon.

 

Video:

Spoiler

 

 

 

MAP22: Impossible Mission

 

It's not called "Impossible Mission" for nothing...

Spoiler

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Believe it or not, the cyberdemons are actually not the problem here. The problem is what you don't see:

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An arch-vile is concealed within each nukage pillar, for a total of six arch-viles in a room with no cover (the pillars don't block line of sight). They're all facing away from you when you enter the room, so they don't zap you immediately, but as soon as you fire a shot or move far enough into the room, good luck. You can kill up to three of the arch-viles from outside, though the angles are awkward for the autoaim, but even three is still pretty bad. On the plus side, if you can make it through the room once you're rewarded with a BFG, but this is the only BFG, so from a pistol start you won't be able to get the BFG first and then tackle the room with the enemies still asleep. The walls around the arch-viles keep the cyberdemons far enough away that the arch-viles don't kill themselves infighting with the cyberdemons, so if you wait long enough they can kill the cyberdemons for you.

 

Some other highlights:

 

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A hot start courtesy of the Casali brothers' favorite monster.

 

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A spider mastermind. Would be scary if, you know, spiderdemons were actually a threat.

 

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We held a large Plutonia Nightmare 1-life survival coop session on ZDaemon back in 2016, a lot of maps were pretty tough but 19 and 22 were absolutely insane, Ancalagon basically carried us the whole way and even then it was hours of attempts that went into those two maps alone. Kudos for tackling solo-net!

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