The DWmegawad Club plays: Rowdy Rudy's Revenge! & Rowdy Rudy II: POWERTRIP!

[DFF]

Map05: Forgotten Installation
GZDoom | Kills: 100% | Secrets: 75%

 

This is a bit more substantial of a map compared to the previous few. So far while the maps have been somewhat simple and short, they all consistently have very good map flow, with very little in terms of switch hunting or waiting, which I think works well for the campy action movie vibe the series takes on. Good map design and combat is fun. The absurdly large and barren rooms (the dark room specifically) seem like a relic from the past but it works well with the overall design of the wad and is a nice touch.
 

Spoiler

The soul + armor secret was very creative, however hiding it in an "inescapable" death pit as people probably would find it frantically trying to escape if they accidentally fell in.

 

[LVENdead]

MAP 05: Expert, Pistol start, saveless, 100% k/50% s

 

Starting this map off with a substantially higher monster count than previous ones, I was ready to do some blasting. This map manages to up the monster count while keeping alive a quality of the WAD as a whole: ammo management and weapon switching. The plasma rifle is first given to you in this map, and at first it seems like the perfect opportunity to use it to mow through the fluffed up horde numbers - but on the other hand, you know you're going to need to save it for the inevitable heavies in an ambush somewhere up ahead, and ammo of the other types isn't handed out so freely that you can just take them for granted. As a side note, I didn't realize how much I needed a RED plasma rifle until I hold the trigger down on this one. But back to my original point, I liked how often I found myself dumping about 10-15 cells into a heavy and then switching to a different weapon to finish them off. I like the idea of softening up the big boys before you take them down with a weaker weapon.

 

Nightmare imps have some effective moments in this map. The other new monsters don't really shine all that much, with most of the grunt varieties just blending in with the crowds. On the other hand, plenty of opportunities for infighting with the monster distribution. It's in this map that I noticed that the toxic caco seems to be a little more tenacious than the stock version. The pyro caco at the end was perhaps almost entirely useless, given that he was a good 50 feet away from me and trying to use his little flamethrower belch, but oh well :P 

 

Overall this map had me on my toes, but it still wasn't too tough. It certainly felt like the first "test" of the WAD, with Maps 1-4 being like little homework assignments. I'm always pleased when I hear a Lee Jackson midi in a Doom map, but this might be one of my least favorite of his. No worries though, it lends to the overall feel of this WAD.

 

MAP 06: Expert, pistol start, saveless, missed 1 kill, 0 secrets

 

Here's a Lee Jackson midi that I really like. This is the first map that has killed me multiple times. I had to figure out the ideal way to execute the beginning, which for me was dropping to grab the shotty and armor, run out into the courtyard while avoiding the various enemies, doing a lap or two to rile up infighting, and then retreating back to the start. After I allowed time for the chaos to spread around, I had a good opportunity (and a lot more ammo) to pick off the enemies there at the start. The caco variants are used as effective pressure units and are really coming into their own. Doomkid really gave me an excuse to talk shit about the pyro caco in the last map so I could eat my words while he kicked my ass at the start of this map! 

 

Also, I realized just for the first time that ALL Revenant rockets are homing rockets in this WAD. So that was nice. And giving me 70 shells and the super shotty at the END of the map? Come on man, you are too cruel!

 

Layout wise, I think I was not a big fan of the simplicity of this one. Just some bog standard "follow the path to get the key, backtrack to the locked door, rinse repeat to the exit." I think at this point I'm just starting to get a hankering for some more interesting arenas or fights with more structured use of the new monster roster. But I'm still greatly enjoying myself while I play this.

 

Loading up Map 07 and hearing "Water World" begin playing...well, I may have a fondness for Lee Jackson, but let's just say the use of Bobby Prince's track (and possibly my favorite from DN3D) really has me intrigued about what comes next...

 

 

 

 

Edited February 6, 2021 by LVENdead

[jmac]

I'm starting to realize I'm not very good at giving my thoughts on maps other than "it was good" or "it was bad". I'm going to try to make my comments more in depth than that, but they're probably going to be pretty brief for most of the maps.

 

Map 3: The Slime Trail

My least favourite of the wad. For its small size, the map is oddly confusing to me. I somehow completely missed the blue key the first time I passed by it, but I can chalk that up to me just being an idiot.

 

Map 4: The Filter

This map is really visually appealing to me. I can't quite put my finger on exactly why, though I think the pillars with water running down them play a big part. Not too much more to say about this one.

 

Map 5: Forgotten Installation

A definite step up in difficulty and size. The last big room almost got me when the zombies started teleporting into my room. This map was very generous on the plasma cells (on hard difficulty at least), and I liked having the chance to use the plasma rifle for the majority of the level. IMO, not enough maps out there allow you to use the plasma rifle so freely.

[Pechudin]

Wait, do we play "Revenge" or "POWERTRIP" first? I did not play Revenge before, so this might be a cool opportunity for blind runs. Loved Powertrip, by the way.

[Omniarch]

MAP05: Forgotten Installation - 100% / 50%

 

As others have said, this one feels like the first 'serious' map. While just as linear and visually simple as previous entries, the combat has taken a massive step up both in terms of sophistication and difficulty. The mechanical utility of the new bestiary really starts to shine through here. Despite the relatively spacious arenas, the map's modest population of beasties exert near constant pressure on the player, especially early on. This is due to both the design of the new monsters and the high degree of player exposure created by the layout.

 

The Plasma Guy in particular demonstrates his utility here, providing a more dynamic alternative to hitscan infantry that is able to exert pressure over a large space while simultaneously giving the player an opportunity to evade his projectiles.

 

The resource balancing is also tight on UV, forcing the player to choose their targets carefully and avoid wasting ammo. This synergizes well with the afore-mentioned effects to create a surprisingly difficult, Plutonia-esque challenge.

 

This map also seems to confirm my suspicion that RRR is almost entirely focused on showcasing and demonstrating its new bestiary rather than creating a 'full' experience. Forgotten Installation is basically a set of arenas strung together in a linear fashion without much interplay between said arenas.

 

This is not a bad thing, of course, and said arenas are all well-designed and fun to play. Its just that there is a pervasive sense of 'lite-ness' here, in stark contrast to its rightfully acclaimed sequel. In a way, RRR feels like a proof-of-concept more than a complete piece, a very well made test run which demonstrates the strength of Doomkid's vision whilst providing a base for the full realization of said vision. That's just my best guess, of course.

 

 

MAP06: Deadly Depression - 100% / 0%

 

Similar in many ways to the last map, but with a much higher degree of interplay between the various arenas, and as a result felt a lot more satisfying to me in its progression. The relatively high degree of verticality also helps give the layout some personality.

 

Otherwise, my points about MAP05 apply here as well.

[Silhouette 03]

Map06: Deadly depression

Uh.. Doomkid.... there's a bug where your cacodemons spew Arch-vile flames.... Seriously! This is a feature?!

 

This map( on hard) introduces the flame cacodemon ,which spews flames in your general vicinity( I swear I thought I was hallucinating when I first saw this). The map's layout is relatively simple, yet simplicity seems to be the conversion's strong-suit, Occam's razor, if you will. The Arch-vile is introduced in this map.. sorry, I'm just so desensitized to Arch-viles after plutonia that seeing less than two or three in one map has become a huge shock to me.

 

Why do you hate the Caco, Doomkid? What did he ever do to you?

 

Silhouette's Stats

Kills:100%

secrets:0%

Deaths: 3

Mourning the loss of the Caco: YES!(Goddamn you, Doomkid! You messed him up! Goddamn you all to hell!- Planet of the apes, a film I have not seen but have the guts to quote)

Realization that  a alarming number of Doom maps have edgy names that sound like a linkin park song: YES   

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gaspe]

MAP06: That's an underrated DN3D track you don't hear often in pwads. This level goes back to have a simpler structure and it's centered around an arena. Nasty pistol start where you meet already a couple of fire cacos with only few shells to take them down and so pushing you to run ahead to find some ammo and directly into the main arena where you can find more weapons too but you'll also be exposed from various sides. To me it's like the map already ended when you grab the YK because what comes after that feels more like a rushed job apart that surprise av.

[MtPain27]

MAP 06: Deadly Depression

The darkest map so far in terms of lighting and tone, Deadly Depression is a pretty unforgiving pistol start: the first few rooms have more enemies than you can take on with single-digit shells and no stronger weapons, and the open air hub is pretty hectic with all the amped up troopers and both caco varieties going to town on each other. Pirouette between the projectiles, grab a rocket launcher and chaingun, and you're good to go. The yellow key trap in the next room got me because I gave too much respect to the revenant by targeting him before the hitscanners, who mowed me down. 

 

You'll meet the wad's first arch-vile right before the exit (he's got the high ground but that's what makes him a pushover) and Doomkid tries to get you with a point-blank flame caco right at the end. Better luck next time! 

 

I took a death yesterday and one this morning in this map. I'd venture to call it the hardest so far despite having half as many enemies as MAP 05. Still liking the grungy aesthetic and the dialed-back detailing: you can tell it's a cosmetic choice and not amateur work. Will we get a Dead Simple clone tomorrow? Guess we'll find out.

[Doom64hunter]

(UV, Chocolate Doom, Pistol Start)

Rowdy Rudy's Revenge MAP05 - "Forgotten Installation" by Doomkid

 

My favorite map so far, lots of action and a fun midi from Duke3D to go along with it. The map gives you plenty of resources, especially if you find the secrets, such as the hidden berserk behind the platform in the corner. Challenge is upped a bit compared to previous maps but it's still fairly low compared to the likes of megawads like Alien Vendetta or HR.

 

There's some optional areas to explore and plenty of enemies to take out this time, and we are slowly getting introduced to the more tanky enemies such as Mancubi and Barons (which I almost thought would be absent, silly me), and the Slime Caco is now a common enemy. The Plasma Rifle and SSG also get introduced here, but the latter of the two isn't really necessary to keep the gameplay flowing smoothly. Style is still classic, and you can still feel the influence from classic mods with elements like the red plasma projectiles. The big slime pit that surrounds the starting area is evil, because unless I was blind, I don't think there was a way out of it. I foolishly jumped in thinking there would be a secret down there! Other than that, the risk of dying is low.

 

Speaking of secrets, I got lucky and managed to find the switch that triggers the soulsphere and blue armor platforms to lower by complete accident. It is located next to the candle where a small gap is present to drop down to the slime pit, apparently completely invisible.

 

Also, I just noticed that some of the textures are downscaled versions of ones you'd see in "hires" texture packs. Just wanted to point that out heh.

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

 

Rowdy Rudy's Revenge MAP06 - "Deadly Depression" by Doomkid

 

Another map with a Duke3D midi. Its dark and sinister tone is very fitting for the merciless nature of the level, as from pistol start you'll face two Cacolanterns right away with almost no ammo. You'll need to quickly manouver past them, avoiding their spray of flames, in order to get enough ordnance. I ended up leaving them behind until I found the rocket launcher later on.

 

It doesn't get any easier from here. You'll be shot at from all sides in the central area, particularly by the plasma marines. Luckily, they are prone to cause infighting with cacodemons, which takes away some of the pressure. Next, moving into the slime corridor, you need to take out some snipers from the top ledge and make sure your health doesn't drop too low for the ambush waiting for you on top. It involves a Revenant and his platoon of imps, chaingunners and green-blooded rifle cultists -- who will almost certainly immediately turn on each other as they attempt to open fire on you.

 

After this I got a bit confused, as the hidden switch temporarily opens both a path to the soulsphere and the way to go back, which took me a second to realize. More revenants and cacos are waiting for you on the way to the yellow key door -- where the first Hellknight of the wad is waiting for us. I think they might be an endangered species in this wad's universe.

 

Then, just when you think the map is over -- BOOM -- you get jumpscared by an Archvile back at the start of the map. It's amazing how much this one enemy changes how you think about a mapset -- when I think about megawads like BTSX 2, you are always afraid of picking up the next keycard, as it may cause an army of Viles and Revenants to start pouring in. In Rudy's Revenge this feeling has been mostly absent, which is definitely owed to the fact that the new roster of enemies contains mostly low-HP enemies taking the place of the usual damage sponges. You are never really afraid of a massive swarm of Mancubi or Barons appearing right under your nose, giving the mod a very relaxed, Doom 1 kind of feeling. Combined with the style of the levels, this definitely was intended.

 

But as soon as the Archvile left that teleporter, that feeling of safety suddenly disappeared. I am looking forward to tomorrow's map, it uses one of my favorite Duke 3D tracks, and I'm curious whether the challenge will keep ramping up. We're getting closer to that hell portal after all.

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

ROWDY RUDY'S REVENGE MAP06: Deadly Depression (Hard difficulty)

Results: 100% kills, 90% Items and 0% secrets.

 

Cool map, we meet the fire cacodemon (a rather cool enemy, I really want to know how the heck he did it). You have the chance of getting a rocket launcher and there's plenty of health. WELL PLACED ARCHVILE and the trap at the end took me for surprise. Sadly I coudn't find the secret (I saw a berserk, but I couldn't grab it)

 

9/10. Fun map, can be a little confusing. But not that hard

[Krenium]

I hope you guys don't mind if I join a bit late. First six days incoming...

 

MAP01 - Hidden Compound by Doomkid

PrBoom+ / Expert / Pistol start / Saves

 

 

Gameplay:

Spoiler

 

 

First off, I just want to say that I appreciate the backstory for this partial conversion. I'm coming into this thing rearing to avenge my poor deceased brother. Secondly, I'm a total sucker for MAP01s where you're 'storming the base' so to speak. There's just something about them that gets me amped up for the rest of the wad. This opener has that, and more; it serves double duty as a way to introduce the many changes we can expect going forward.

 

The beginning of the map forces us to become familiar with the bayonet, which I must say is incredibly satisfying to use. The sound when you jab someone with it is delightful. The new imps with the gangly limbs and cyclops eyes look menacing. I like their new swirly fireballs. Soon we are also introduced to a partially invisible imp variant that seems faster than normal imps. These guys are tough to see, especially in numbers. It is a small mercy that they infight with regular imps. (Coincidentally, I couldn't find an entry for them in the bestiary, so I'll call them invisible imps.)

 

Soon we must figure out how to infiltrate the base while under light fire from a lone cultist up on a ridge, and once we do, we are tasked with wresting the new repeater rifle from some guys in the lobby. You'd think an ex-marine like Rudy might come a little better prepared for a firefight, but I digress! The new gun is a powerful replacement for the pistol, doing more than twice as much damage and perfectly accurate according to the readme. This elevates the weapon into legitimacy along with the rest of the weapons.

 

All in all, a great first map that doesn't overwhelm the player with new things, but dangles enough of them to garner a lot of interest in what's to come. Most of the textures are familiar and yet fresh, eliciting the feeling of being in some sort of Doom parallel dimension.

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)
1

 

MAP02 - Arbitrary Base by Doomkid
PrBoom+ / Expert / Pistol start / Saves

 

 

Gameplay:

Spoiler

 

 

This map is not pulling its punches. It starts off fairly benign but slowly layers in extra sources of danger until the map's signature encounter where you are teleported deep into a room you probably only wanted to dip your toes in. The cultists and other enemies here will quickly rip you to shreds unless you find some cover quickly. Later on we are introduced to three new enemies: the blind pinky, the toxicacodemon, and the aptly-named plasma guy. (As an aside, I love their helmets. They remind me of deep sea divers!) It will be interesting to see these guys used to greater effect in future maps but for now, they are fairly toothless in small numbers.

 

The map looks great with its tan and green color scheme and attention to lighting contrast. Its sole secret offers an alternative way to tackle the cultist room on a second playthrough which is always nice to see. It was much harder than the previous map so I am a little scared to see what MAP03 has in store.

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)
1 2

 

MAP03 - The Slime Trail by Doomkid
PrBoom+ / Expert / Pistol start / Saves

 

 

Gameplay:

Spoiler

 

 

We're starting to get gameplay with a more consistent bite to it now. And we're seeing a lot more plasma guys and toxicacos thrown into the mix. It's a lot of fun to get plasma guys to infight with everybody, even if they tend to make short work of them. I failed to mention this earlier, but I really like the new shotgun sounds. And the double chainsaw looks cool as all hell.

 

I may have missed a rad suit before the path to the elevator -- that jaunt took quite a bit of health away right before a difficult fight and I'm not sure I'm a fan of that. Right around here we kill our first tough chaingunner (that's what they're called, as opposed to weak chaingunners) to obtain our first chaingun. I'm a fan of the sprites for this; as everything else in the wad so far it looks awesome. Soon after you'll take a blind elevator right into a gaggle of enemies which includes an introduction to RPG zombies. These guys fire revenant missiles and have quite a bit of HP, but luckily a high pain chance as well.

 

I'm a fan of the progression to get the red key. Nothing quite happens exactly how you're expecting, with side walls dropping down to reveal more enemies when you expect the red key drop instead. However I'm not a fan of the door that looks like a wall. It's kind of marked with torches and indentation, but I still didn't realize it was a door until I had killed myself in an inescabaple pit of sludge while looking for the way forward.

 

All in all though, I enjoyed this map's gameplay enough that it's my favorite map of the wad so far.

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)
3 1 2

 

MAP04 - The Filter by Doomkid
PrBoom+ / Expert / Pistol start / Saves

 

"So that's where the stains come from..."

 

Gameplay:

Spoiler

 

 

I haven't mentioned it before now, but I appreciate the continuity between maps. Sometimes it's just a simple room, but others it's an entire scene. The beginning of this map once again requires us to stab a lone shotgun guy and swipe his gun. You're immediately caught in a crossfire between the main room and a hallway full of guys taking potshots at you through a window, which requires you to make some interesting decisions already. I like the shadows spilling into the starting area from the main room here.

 

I'm a sucker for brown and blue color schemes, so naturally I like the way this map looks. It has a pretty simple layout; maybe the simplest we've seen so far, but the main area is repopulated a couple times as you make your way back and forth, which is always a nice touch. I like the mix of water and nukage happening here. It seems the nukage is being filtered out (hence the name of the map) and leaving behind pure water. Perhaps we are headed into more polluted territory soon.

 

In short order we are introduced to a terrifying sight: the flame caco. I didn't dare get anywhere near it, as I read that it's monstrous up close. There's a rocket launcher if you're brave enough to run past it, but I wasn't, so I was rewarded with plinking away at it with lesser arms.

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)
3 1 2 4

 

MAP05 - Forgotten Installation by Doomkid
PrBoom+ / Expert / Pistol start / Saves

 

 

Gameplay:

Spoiler

 

 

This is a pretty tough pistol start. It's easy to blow all your ammo on that opening gaggle of plasma guys and then leave yourself a bit stranded. Still, if you manage to establish a foothold, you'll be blessed with a plasma gun and quite a bit of ammo to use it. You'll need it. This map has beefed up the opposition considerably as well as its size and complexity.

 

Forgotten Installation will take you through several beautiful rooms filled to the brim with danger before looping back to the starting area. I like how the map progressively opens up in kind of a spiral shape until you pick up the red key. Probably my favorite part of the map is that really dark storage area place. Menacing! Especially the invisible imps, who are impossible to see, and your only hope is to shoot at where the fireballs are coming from.

 

This map has given me an appreciation of the plasma guys, who I now believe are extremely well-designed. There is enough of a gap between their projectiles that you can weave back and forth through the stream with a bit of timing. They now show up frequently and in large groups. If you can manage to get them to infight with meatier demons (such as mancubii), they can often win!

 

This is my favorite map yet, and pushed me to my limits. I suspect I'll start dying in maps to follow.

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)
5 3 1 2 4

 

MAP06 - Deadly Depression by Doomkid
PrBoom+ / Expert / Pistol start / Saves

 

 

Gameplay:

Spoiler

 

 

Did I mention I would start dying soon? I was right! (But only once...!)

 

With a name like Deadly Depression, you know it's got to be good. And turns out, it is! On pistol start, this map is designed to push you out into the courtyard, because you don't have enough ammo to take out a pair of flame cacos who threaten to block you in. Once out in the courtyard, all hell breaks loose but you can also build an arsenal to carve out a foothold for yourself.

 

There are a few more deadly surprises in store, but nothing quite so threatening as the opening. This map has another simple layout, featuring a circular courtyard with various rooms surrounding it. I think the fountain in the center and also the first room with the crates are visually pleasing, even if the map is a tad plain otherwise.

 

Also, thank you from the bottom of my heart for not placing the archvile where it threatens to resurrect flame cacos.

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)
5 3 6 1 2 4

[DFF]

Map06: Deadly Depression
GZDoom | Kills: 100% | Secrets: 100%

 

This was definitely a bit of a difficulty tweak. Much better usage of the new monsters to compliment their strengths, with flame cacos pushing the player back while plasmaMen have the time to try and snipe the player. Died a few times but overall a much chunkier map for combat. The switch controlled doors were a bit confusing at first, but not too terrible of a detour. The consistent base theme in RRR is getting a bit same-y, but the maps are different enough that its still decently fresh, and I think its better than a bunch of loose variety maps. 

 

Having played half of RRR I also agree with Omniarch that this feels like a conceptual WAD for the dehacked work which feels very nice when you think of RRudy:Powertrip as a sequel that improves on the successful concept. Something that becomes apparent in the changes we will see in Powertrip, where duplicate monsters like the chaingunners and imps are either changed or replaced to make a more complete and varied bestiary.

So far been enjoying it, and I think my appreciation for the second WAD has grown since i've played the first.

[Valhen]

MAP07 - "Smells Like Sulfur"

 

A nice map that isn't a Dead Simple clone^*. Judging by the text screen and textures, we seem to be entering the "hell" portion of the wad. Like the other maps, the layout is made in such a way you loop around it, which is nice. I didn't find it as difficult as the other maps, though I died to an Archvile because of a Mancubus that wouldn't let me go through the lift and take cover. Overall, a pretty cool map. Also, looking at the map in DB, it seems that I missed a bfg. Dang it.

 

^{* I actually like Dead Simple styled maps and I don't care what anybody says :)}

 

^{EDIT 1: also after I published this post DW got slow again. Did my post break it? ;-;}

^{EDIT 2: Seems to be fine now.}

Edited February 7, 2021 by Valhen : Edit 1: Dw going slow again Edit 2: not anymore.

[golbeeze]

Map 04

This was a short one but the action was good. New weapon and new enemy! That fire caco was scary stuff! I didn't have much trouble with anything, though. I did forget to search for secrets. The one switch with all the infantry was possibly the biggest threat of the level.

[LVENdead]

MAP 07: Expert, pistol start, saveless, 94% k, 50% s

 

I should have known those demon maggots booby trapped the UAC! The Water World track always makes me think of a struggle. It's not exactly a heavy song, but it has an elevated pace, and it elicits this feeling of trying to claw your way out of something. So it was a perfect fit for this frantic map. Damn this one was tough, it took me about 10 solid tries to get a good start. Once again, I found it best to just grab the guns and start running past the monsters. Every attempt where I tried to whittle my way through the pyro cacos and grunts ended in total failure, but I had the most luck grabbing the SSG, blasting at least one rocket guy, and getting up the lift as fast as possible. There were a couple BS areas where enemies could congregate right at the base of something I needed to jump off from, making it very difficult to shoot at or see or really do anything other than guess that I'd killed enough of them. At least two of my deaths were to the plasma troops at the drop right below the plasma gun pickup. Not a big fan of that, but I imagine it's more a fault of Doom's AI than any specific intent of Doomkid's to design the area that way.
 

The squeeze of ammo scarcity really starts to hurt in this map. The new monsters all have a moment to shine as well. Everything you've been overlooking as "not as bad as I was anticipating" comes back to haunt you. Specifically, the plasma gunners I talked shit about a few posts ago kicked my ass multiple times. The pyro cacos are tanky and relentless. Even the nightmare imps manage to catch you off guard. This is certainly the first map that undoubtedly justifies the alterations to the monster roster beyond the conceit of "it's cool and different." It also firmly entrenches the WAD in its scarce resource gameplay flavor. By now, you're either in or out, and there are no more concession to be made to those on the fence. 

 

Visually, I like the dark ominous skybox, and that's about all that stands out. The visuals otherwise manage to continue to get by on the novelty of the textures, but not much effort has been made across the WAD as a whole to do anything distinct or inspiring; it's almost entirely serviceable. Again, this isn't always a bad thing, not every map needs to be Technicolor Antichrist Box, but when so much effort has gone into shaking up the vanilla formulas in the bestiary, weapons, and textures, it's surprising that the architectural design doesn't really want to poke its head out of the 90s. But hey, I'm just looking for things to critique at this point. 

 

This map has the teeth I've been looking for in this WAD. It put me in my place and made me respect all the things I was getting cocky about.

 

EDIT: Just wanted to add that I was highly pleased to see these boys having a gaff

Spoiler

 

 

[Silhouette 03]

Map07: Smells like Sulphur

Never in my entire life have I run for a chaingun this fast....

 

The difficulty in this map is insane. Low on ammo, health and filled with hitscanners and every assortment of enemy replacement. The fire Cacos are back and in greater numbers. Rowdy Rudy! is finally showing me what it is capable of. There aren't many traps in the map, but the way enemies are placed make the majority of combat challenging. I especially... appreciate... the lift that reveals a group of chain-gunners, a Mancubus AND an Arch-vile. Some might call this excessive, but after plutonia, Hell revealed( which I did not finish... there's only so much pain and frustration a person can take) and Alien: Vendetta( I'm not a fan of slaughter-maps... and the lack of actual theme continuity) I don't know what excessive is anymore...

 

Smell that? Smells like suffering....

 

Silhouette's Stats:

Kills:92%

Secrets: 0%( I can feel you judging me through this computer screen.. )

Deaths: 5

Number of time jaw dropped due to difficulty : 7

Wondering why the arch-vile doesn't spawn more Arch-Viles : YES( Now that, poor unfortunate soul who subjects themselves to the torture of reading this thread, is excessive!)

 

 

 

   

Edited February 7, 2021 by Silhou3tte

[Doom64hunter]

(UV, Chocolate Doom, Pistol Start)

Rowdy Rudy's Revenge MAP07 - "Smells Like Sulfur" by Doomkid

 

The beginning area of this map killed me more times than I care to admit. Like in the previous, you need to fight two Cacolanterns with little resources, but here you are practically surrounded by hitscanners, lost souls, homing missile zombies and imps while doing so. The next difficult section is the drop down to the small platform. The imps will almost certainly block you and claw you to death if you rush in, and if they don't get you, the plasma marines certainly will, so you need to carefully try to cause infighting or take them out before daring to jump down.

 

The blue key secret is easily missable, as I didn't expect the platform to just behave like an elevator would. Running back through the blue key door, you'll find a secret BFG, but watch out for the Archvile that gets alerted while doing so. The first time I got onto the BFG platform I also received a Visplane overflow error, however this didn't happen the second time around. This secret also gets closed if you proceed to the red key, so be sure to backtrack for it. If you don't get the BFG, then you should skip the imps wandering around on the top platform, otherwise you'll likely run out of ammo for the Mancubus fight. (come to think of it, do the Mancubi even trigger anything on this level?)

 

The lava pit actually has an unorthodox method of getting out of it. If you happen to fall in, you need to press use on every wall to slowly raise the platform. This can also be done from above to get an extra medkit.

 

A short map if you know what you need to do. As expected, it continues the difficulty increase. The next taunts us with a dormant cyberdemon through a window so we are sure to see that curve go up even further.

[RottingZombie]

On 2/6/2021 at 12:24 AM, jmac said:

I'm starting to realize I'm not very good at giving my thoughts on maps other than "it was good" or "it was bad". I'm going to try to make my comments more in depth than that, but they're probably going to be pretty brief for most of the maps.

 

No problem! I'm the same way. Don't feel pressured to fluff it up :) Hell sometimes I play along and never comment once in these things.

[gaspe]

MAP07: Things get more hellish and the tech elements of the theme are mostly gone now. A bit too much barebones in some places, not that it deviates from the style of the previous maps as the simplicity was very prominent from the start of the wad but here there's the feel that some places are being too empty. I also missed the secret BK initially, I just went ahead and searched for possible clues or a hidden switch instead of doing the most obvious thing, but when I figure it out it was too late since the BFG was already locked. The BFG is more a reward for continuous players to carry it for the next map since this level doesn't have situations where it would be really needed. The stinginess of health and ammo gets also more pronounced and again the pistol start that doesn't give you much time to breath.

[Krenium]

MAP07 - Smells Like Sulfur by Doomkid
PrBoom+ / Expert / Pistol start / Saves

 

"A common sight in Smells Like Sulfur."

 

Gameplay:

Spoiler

 

 

This map is a giant leap forward in difficulty. I feel this map straight up didn't have enough ammunition in the first half. You basically don't have enough ammunition for everything until you reach the blue key, and simply running past everything doesn't work either. It seems you're forced to surgically remove key targets, all while herding monsters around so that you can traverse certain areas without getting ripped to shreds. In the meantime, you'll be pelted from all directions by rockets, plasma orbs, fireballs, and bullets by enemies in hard-to-reach-places. This was truly a cruel gauntlet and I lost track of my deaths.

 

On the plus side, it has an interesting design that perfectly facilitates its design goals and looks quite good for the most part. I think  the cement texture used in many of the interior areas looks kind of rough; more like a rock texture. The BFG secret entails an interesting tradeoff -- to reach it, you'll need to awaken an archvile. If you've already done some work on demons in the area, the vile will quickly undo it. I'm not sure the tradeoff was worth it in my case. It would be interesting to try not taking the BFG, or else ignoring the monsters in the area altogether.

 

With just a bit more ammo near the start this map could have been one of my favorites, but as is I don't enjoy the brutal pistol start.

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)
5 3 6 1 2 4 7

[DFF]

Map07: Smells like Sulfur
GZDoom | Kills: 100% | Secrets: 100%

 

At first I was very on the fence about the DN3D tracks but they worked quite well with their maps, especially this one with the ironic "water world" used for a map about fire and brimstone. As many have noted the difficulty here is much higher than the previous, however considering this is the 3rd to last map for RRR I'd expect as much. The setting of the map is rather memorable especially against the previous maps, for some reason the map design reminding me a tiny bit of ROTT, possibly because of the rockier base textures mixed with plentiful lava vats.

The plasmaGuys are also much deadlier here, where its easy to forget about them, giving them the time to start pelting the player. This mixed with revenant homing missiles and flame cacos pushing the player the player is forced to prioritize targets many times, all good stuff in my book. My only concern with the map is the blue key secret. Its a secret that is rendered mostly useless if you grab the red key first, and I didn't find it for a while since all the imps on the ledge it was on covered it up. Not sure how'd id do it differently, but I had to reload an earlier save and look around a bit to find it.

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

ROWDY RUDY'S REVENGE! MAP:08 Smells like sulfur (HARD Difficulty)

Results: 98% kills, 100% Items & secrets

 

We get a tricky map, with a BFG, the start can leave you with no health (I must say I almost died) if you're not careful, a nasty archvile, took me a while to kill it. I saw how a chaingunner beat the shit out of a flame caco, that can tell you they're the most dangerous and need to die first. Well hidden blue key, it was kinda hard to spot with all the dead imps. I don't know how I missed a kill, kinda weird. But, good map, a little hard but doable. 9/10

[MtPain27]

MAP 07: Smells Like Sulfur

Sweet Jesus, that's an uptick in difficulty. Smells Like Sulfur is a dramatic departure from the toxic techbases of the first act, with its fiery sky, burnt-out scenery, and punishing action. Doomkid's been teaching you the basics so far, introducing new monsters and weapons deliberately, but this map is your first exam. 

 

The first room asks the question, "Are you sure you want to pistol start?" giving you a hundred bullets, a super shotgun, and a swift kick in the teeth: pairs of plasma troopers, weak chaingunners, shotgunners, cultists, RPG guys, flame cacos, and lost souls will kick up a shitstorm, while imps and super imps chuck fireballs from the peanut gallery. I admit, except for these daily posts I haven't been keeping up with Doom playing lately but I died way more than I expected to. There's another outdoor fight later on with a mess of chaingunners, more snipers, and a concoction of cacos that raked me over the coals, and taking the elevator up to the arch-vile room without having backtracked with the secret blue key for the BFG is rolling the dice with your life. I only found that on my second playthrough, so it's possible to survive without it, but probably not without cells: it's a clusterfuck.

 

Wow, that was hard. Like, a lot harder than everything that's come before. I've tallied maybe five or six deaths across this first week, but probably took twice as many as that today. I think that's a combination of me needing to brush up and Doomkid having mashed the gas.

[LVENdead]

MAP 08: Expert, pistol start, saveless, 100% k, 66% s

 

Alright then. You were complaining about not getting to shoot enough, so with this map, I hope you're ready to put up or shut up. Damn was it tough, and I took a very fair share of deaths before I got it together. The progression includes cycling back to old areas multiple times, and with each new iteration, the stakes raise with deadlier enemies spawning. As usual, infighting is the best tool at your disposal, but this time it's not to mitigate a lack of ammunition, but more to just be able to manage the heat. Aggression is rewarded as often as it is punished, and you'll need the wherewithal to know which is warranted room to room. By the end, you're stocked with heavy ammo and you'll be challenged to use it. The double archie + cybie enclosure that taunts you the whole map ended up being perhaps way more manageable than it had any right to be on my winning run. What I didn't expect was the SECOND archie + cybie trap guarding the exit. The former, I had located the BFG secret and managed to DPS down the major threats. The latter, I relied on the infighting + archie rezzing the barons until cybie # 2 took him out, and then pitifully shot him with the chaingun in between the bars. What do you want from me, I'm trying to do this without saving!

 

Overall, I was much more engaged with this map from top to bottom. The combat is brutal but punchy, with a plethora of both deadly enemies and ammo to fight back against them. The layout was very interesting, with an adroitly economical use of space and re-treading, and the adventure was never short on surprises.

 

This map is easily the best of the bunch so far. 

[Valhen]

MAP08 - "Creeping Descent"

 

This map is a huge step up in difficulty compared to the previous maps. Nasty traps and tons of high tier baddies, including two Cyberdemons and tons of Archviles. The combat was my favorite part. The encounters were pretty well designed, and I generally had a lot of fun. About the level itself, looking at the textures it turns out I was right, we are reaching the "hell" portion of the wad. Most of the map consists of rock/flesh/wood textures, which looks pretty nice. I really liked that intestine scrolling wall in the blue skull room, thought it looked pretty cool. Probably my favorite level in the wad so far. Also, at the end, the Cyberdemon got stuck between the enemies while infighting, and they actually finished him off. Neat.  

Spoiler

 

Edited February 8, 2021 by Valhen

[Doom64hunter]

(UV, Chocolate Doom, Pistol Start)

Rowdy Rudy's Revenge MAP08 - "Creeping Descent" by Doomkid

 

You're going to have to act to get out of this map alive. The Duke midis take a break in favor of one midified from Command&Conquer, which I'm sure I've heard in some coop mod before when playing ZDaemon all those years ago. Very nostalgic, for me at least.

 

The first thing you'll notice is 2 Archviles and a Cyberdemon staring at you from a window, warning you that this map will not mess around. Pistol starting is less difficult here than in Map07 as you are given a shotgun, chaingun and a rocket launcher right away, along with armor and plenty of bullets, so resource scarcity isn't an issue you'll be dealing with. There are also two Berserks so you'll be doing fine on health for the most part as well.

 

The techbase style has now completely disappeared and we are now full on in hellish territory, including FIREBLU caves, wooden structures, stone fortresses and fleshwalls with cages and lava pools all about. There is still as many UAC personell here as ever however, so you'll have to keep watching out for hitscanners, plasma guys and those damn homing missile marines. The pinkies are rather ineffective as they can't leave the slime pool, but the Revenant that teleports in did get the jump on me. And those chaingunners in the wooden corridor killed me 2 times because I was being careless.

 

Things start to heat up properly once you get the red key. If you miss the hidden BFG and Invulnerability, things are likely to be a lot more dicey as you'll need to deal with the hidden Mancubi and Revenants while standing in damaging slime. Unfortunately the invul ran out before I got to the first Cyber, although the Archviles decided to rush ahead without alerting the Cyber itself, allowing me to take them out in peace. Before entering the teleporter, take out the Imps from afar -- otherwise you're going to be turned into mincemeat by their claws.

 

The final obstacle of the map is another Cyberdemon, this time stuck behind bars however. With the invisibility powerup, he'll almost certainly fire into the pillars and anger the Barons and Archvile stuck there with him. In my case I got lucky and the Cyber managed to get stuck in the corner while the Baron gave him a thorough spanking.

 

Overall my new favorite map so far. It gives you a fair challenge that keeps you on your toes, without being frustrating.

 

Entering the next level, I suddenly realized which coop map pack the music was reminding me of -- Drown in Blood! The iconic music of the first map from DiB surely means that the final 2 levels will get even more serious.

[kalaeth]

there's a deadly depression ahead, it's monday after all..

MAP 06 : I teleported into a room with some imps and a big window outside where enemies shoot at me. A quick jump down, grab armor and ammo and open a door and hello flame caco, the new friend. Also, a small pool of sludge, just to remind me I'm on hostile territory : even the floor hates me! Open another door and find myself outside, where a toxic caco shows up, I shoot rockets and reach the other side, back inside, more sludge. As soon as I approach the yellow key, the walls fall and enemies show up : I shoot at them. Several times. Then there are two switches, one lowers a secret berserker outside, the other seems to open a door that leads me to the megasphere. After that it's back outside in into the yellow door : imps, plasma dudes and a rev. A switch brings down the blue key, which leads back to the start, where a blue door waits for me. Guarded by an AV that nearly kills me! A quick tour outside to pick some health and back at the door where another flame caco and a chaingunner try to roast me : I roast them instead in flames of plasma, go back outside for the remaining health and 10m44s after entering I leave, with 0 deaths, 100% K/S/I.

 

Now it smells of sulfur.. Mondays are indeed hell.

MAP 07 : The lift takes me to an outside area where all kinds of enemies are shooting at me. I do a run around the courtyard to kill all that moves before anything else. As the kill count reaches 30 death I start looking at possibles ways to go : a door : locked with blue key. Blue keyed bars. A fall into the arms of some plasma dudes takes away most my health, but I still live. A switch opens a 'porter, and I jump into it : more plasma dudes, a lift into a shitload of imps, and a door outside where I die to rockets or rev rockets, or plasma or even, gasp, imp fireballs.

Second go : secret blue key! nice. Which leads to secret BFG! Outside again, BFG into their faces and then mop up with the chaingun and die to a revenant I didn't see before.

Third go : BFG + plasma + rockets and finally cleared the ledge! And then I fell down into the lava and died.

Number 4 : Cleared the ledge but a lost soul killed me after. Really me? A Lost soul? Have I no shame? 

fifth : Ok, some off the window snipping, RL for the rev, and SSG for the lost souls and done. Go inside, grab the 2 part megasphere, plasma the fire cacos, plasma the chaingunners, grab the red skull, run across the lava, kill the imps and done! 

8m46s, 4 deaths, 100% K/I/S.

 

and now a creeping decent unto today's last map.

MAP 08 : Pinkies on the sludge to my left, an archville on my right.. Kill pinkes and hoodies on the courtyard, grab soulsphere and ammo, enter the door : hoodies, shotgunners, chaingunners of light and hard variety, a rev and imps, of visible and invisible persuasion. A berserk, a switch and welcome yellow key! A secret invun, I enter the yellow door guns blazing! Grab the megasphere after the killing, find a not really secret SSG, and up the stairs we go, shower a HK with plasma, clear the cages of imps, shotgunners and I think also hoodies, hard to tell under the red plasma. Kill revenants and lost souls, another HK, grab the blue skull, and down the lift I go, outside again. A rev and some HKs eat rockets, and it's back inside to kill a baron and enter the blue door to outside :  a bunch of hoodies, a manc, a rev, I spit plasma on them all. Up, switch, up, kill, jump, kill, switch, use a invunerabilty to no effect, jump into the sludge river, plasma revs to death, another invinc, use that to enter the red bars, kill all, jump outside, get rid of AV, up again, press switch, teleport, oh fuck another AV? die. Back to the blue door... 

second go, I die in the sludge river. Third go, much better, this time I was able to use the secret invun to clear the river, and the next one to clear the AV and the red bar zone. Now to jump into the 'porter... Kill the AV and the HKs and imps with some BFG, allow the barons and the cyber to remove plenty of each other's healt and only then do I press the switch and finish it up.. Or, even better, since the cow can't hit me from behind the bars I just SSG his face, grab ammo, a soulsphere and a blue armor, open the door, plasma the remaining monsters and exit!

 

That's 15m12s, 2 deaths and 100% Kills, Secrets, 92% items.

 

[gaspe]

MAP08: The new variants of ROCK* textures are quite ugly tbh. I was a bit surprised of the big step up in difficulty made by this map and the tougher monsters of the bestiary get more used if until now the weaker monsters did most of the job though at least the ammo won't be a big problem in this level and almost everytime you have to chance to retreat to tackle a sudden trap or to clean a room. The invuln. secret is very interesting and you can also already pick it before the YK but it seems a waste to use to open your open to the BSK. You are more likely to notice it when you pick that soulsphere and it's more handy to use it either when going to pick the RSK or save it for the first cyberdemon.

[Silhouette 03]

Map08: Creeping Descent

This is probably my favorite map so far....

 

The map begins with a hot start, though you are fortunate enough to be armed with a shotgun, chaingun( I requisitioned one from the.. uh.."neighbors".. they were very friendly) and SSG in the starting courtyard and the wooden building. The aesthetic of the map, outdoor areas mixed with hell reminds me a lot of plutonia's maps. I especially enjoy the introduction of  the hellish atmosphere, one of my favorite type of maps. I'd also like to point out the amount of resources given to the player is a perfect balance, given the difficulty and the abundance of higher tier enemies you'll be facing

 

The final area was certainly... interesting. I killed the arch-vile and saw that a cyberdemon, an Arch-vile and a few barons were stuck in a caged area. Fortunately, the cyberdemon was unable to attack me and his fellow brothers-in-arms proceeded to gang up on him. Watching those demons beat up something much stronger than him was truly inspirational and an apt metaphor for life: We all have our own cyberdemons in life, we just need to be stronger than them. Inspiring stuff.

 

Why do I have the funny feeling that the next map is going to be really difficult? 

 

 

Silhouette's Stats:

Kills: 100%
secrets: 66%

Deaths: 1

Wondering when this mapset is going to go all "Plutonia" on me: YES

Number of 90's jokes I have stored for this very occasion : 57

 

     

 

 

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

ROWDY RUDY'S REVENGE MAP:08 CREEPING DESCENT (HARD DIFFICULTY)

Results: 100% kills, 96% items & 100% secrets

 

Though map, we have a hot start where I died once, I actually got lost until I realized there was a door next to the starting teleporter. My second death occured when going through the yellow door, cause there's a lot of hitscanners, my third and last death happened when fighting the cyberdemon (well, I had a partial invisibility on, so yeah, silly me) And very well placed traps, like when you grab the plasma gun. I suggest you save one invulnerability for the last area, if you want to spam the bfg cuz you get a lot of cells. Though map, but once you learn the path and what to do, it's cool. Not to mention the cool midi. Masterpiece, I died three times (that's four deaths so far) but it was awesome. 10/10, loved it.