The DWmegawad Club plays: 180 Minutes Pour Vivre

[Roofi]

Map 04 :

 

 

It's the first speedmap by @Thenuke in his mapping carrier and I can say it's a very decent level with simple but effective monsters placements.

 

I actually appreciate the shortness of this map which make it looks a lot more speedmappy (not in the bad way) that the other ones in the wad. Despite its low monster count , this level represents a certain difficult spike in the episode imo mainly because of the (very annoying) arch-vile . Also , armor and health are prettt scarce so that revenants and chaingunners may easily destroy you.

[Biodegradable]

Ah, feels great to be back playing with the club. It's like putting an old comfy and reliable pair of pants made of Doom enthusiasm. :^)

 

MAP01 - De Bronze et de Brique

HMP | Continuous Play with Saves | GZDoom + Dead Marine

 

A lovely opener that with a somewhat laid-back approach to ease us in a little, perhaps lull us into a false sense of security hehe. This map does a great job giving us an idea of the general motif we can expect from episode one of our adventure with ornate, gilded techbase textures that are really fun to gawk at. The combat takes a big backseat compared to the map's layout and design which has a neat shape to it and I even managed to find a few secrets which is also a big bonus for me since I'm generally still awful as ever at finding them most of the time. Not much more to say about it, honestly other than it's very pretty. Still, a nice first impression for the megaWAD's visual motif.

 

MAP02 - Yttrium

 

Here comes our boy Wilou to crank up the heat with an entertaining hot-start to get the blood pumping! Combat was really fun all the way through thanks to the enemy count and variety, as well as the sneaky use of teleporting ambushes and monster closets to keep you on your toes. The map's design is rather neat with an interesting use of teleporters that were thankfully not disorientating to use, so you could still track your progression easy enough which I for one appreciated. I wasn't sure how to find the secret teleporter so I could nab the soulsphere and finish off the remaining Pinkies so I had to mosey on forward without it. This map was just a lot of fun :^)

 

MAP03 - Retour sur Terre

 

A quick departure from the snazzy techbases, now we're suddenly weaving through underground caverns. Combat was challenging, but I'm honestly struggling to think of much else to say about it, honestly other than this is the introduction to the reskinned Revenant that looks live an overgrown Imp-who managed to blend into the background when you first see him-making him a bit of a pain to hit. Then the Manc who's also been reskinned with the version I'm most familiar with in Supercharge. The map overall is fine with some challenging combat and I received my first death too thanks to a sneaky chaingunner trap when backtracking through a door. But otherwise, not nearly as striking as the first two.

 

 

MAP04 - Ignominie

 

Definitely the most simplistic one thus far and also the most brief. Didn't leave much of an impression I'm sorry to say beyond the feel that the two different exit fake-outs were a tad eye-rolling. It's quite dull visually and the combat was rather humdrum with the surprise Archvile towards the end more annoying than fun because of the layout of the map making that particular combat scenario feeling awkward. I have no idea how much time mappers were actually given for this speedmapping project so I hope I'm not being to harsh or expecting too much but I'm afraid MAP04 falls pretty flat to me compared to its predecessors.

 

 

[Horus]

7 minutes ago, Biodegradable said:

 I have no idea how much time mappers were actually given for this speedmapping project

The clue is in the title :P

[Biodegradable]

Gosh darn it, Horus, you couldn't have just DM'd that to me on Discord? How embarrassing!

Edited March 4, 2021 by Biodegradable

[WH-Wilou84]

Hahaha, well a lot of these maps took way more than the titular 180 minutes to make anyway.

[Omniarch]

MAP03: Retour sur Terre (Return to Earth) by @Datacore85 - 100% / 75%

 

This map is truly excellent, with stark, moody lighting, a distinct, non-orthogonal layout and highly engaging combat.

 

Return to Earth, fittingly, sees the player descend into a subterranean facility, jam-packed with mid-tier monsters. This map marks the first appearance of the new mancubus and revenant sprites, which fit in well with the wad's general aesthetic, and especially with this map's grungy vibe.

 

This map is surprisingly attractive despite its... fecal palette. The lighting really helps with this, as does the pleasingly soft, curvy geometry. The layout is also pretty exceptional, folding in on itself in a wonderfully inter connective fashion. Its amazing that this map was made in only three hours.

 

The combat is also excellent, making use of mid-tier monsters and higher-end weaponry. The SSG and the RL work really well here, eliminating any potential sense of grindiness. There is a good mixture of incidental combat and more traditional encounters, which makes progressing through the map highly enjoyable.

 

Overall, an excellent map in every respect, especially impressive given that it was made in less the four hours. I look forward to playing more of Datacore's work going forward!

 

 

MAP04: Ignomine (Ignominy) by @Thenuke - 100% / 0%

 

Not a big fan of this one, tbh. It really feels like a speedmap, with extremely simple geometry and a general lack of polish. Still, from what I gather this is Thenuke's first speedmap, so I won't linger on my criticisms. Visually, the map is certainly unusual, with a clear grasp of lighting, and the combat is entertaining enough, though the AV at the end is a bit annoying. There just isn't much else to say about this one.

[Endless]

It's been a while since I joined the Club, so once again, I'm back! Time to play this French beauty, which I played a few months ago for the first time, but I have yet to finish. In we go!

 

| LZDoom | HMP | continous | lots of small mods/addons.

 

MAP01: De Bronze et de Brique by Arnaud Florian (Oxyde)

 

 

A small introduction to this fantastic french flavored adventure. This is a small map that introduces us to a few optional areas while giving us a clear welcome to the kind of visuals we will encounter. A nice and fun map. 3/5

 

MAP02: Yttrium by William Huber (WH-Wilou84)

 

 

Things get a little more dense and complex in this small map that makes use of a circular layout that takes us through different interconnected paths, offering a constant and entertaining progress. 4/5

 

MAP03: Retour sur Terre by Maxime Bisiaux (Datacore)

 

 

Deep level in a subway system with a multitude of secret doors, monster closets and evolving rooms. With a moody ambience and excelent lightning, this is av very lovely stroll. A slightly higher challenge but always finding a good balance with a frenetic pace. 4/5

 

MAP04: Ignominie by Thenuke - Alia Immortalis

 

 

Interesting short map and singularly simple compared to others, but with a combat that despite being somewhat modest in the full range, manages to satisfy with enough. Cute. 3/5

 

Btw, you guys may notice that I'm using a ''scoring'' system at the end, is actually not for scores but more like a: ''How much did I enjoyed this map from 0 to 5?'' thingy. I did it mostly so I could have an easier time looking for maps when I need to put them on top lists or stuff like that. It's actually quite good also for memorization!  :P

 

[Dalish]

MAP 04 - Ignominie by Thenuke
Stats: 100% Kills | 100% Items | 100% Secrets

 

Well, those fails keep coming. I died three times in this level. I consider this the proof that I'm a noob. :)

Ignominie is a rather small, straightforward, simplistic map that reminds me of Doom II's MAP 07 - Dead Simple. The difficulty is steadily rising with, once again, being forced to fight enemies in limited space. This time however, it's more about small groups of tougher monsters than big groups of hitscanners. There isn't much ammo and health laying around so you have to be patient and try to dodge every projectile and every shot you can. The revenants gave me a hard time there and when I finally killed them it was time for the shotgunners at the lift to shoot the hell out of me. The same principle as with the revenants was used later with the Hell Knights even though they were much easier to fight. With so little ammo and health, the Archvile at the end was really tough. And those respawning chaingunners! Managed to kill the last one with my last shotgun shell. I actually finished the level with 2 HP.

 

Speaking of design and esthetics, it could certainly be better but overall, it's okay since I actually quite enjoy brown textures. Finding the only secret in this level wasn't hard at all. The lighting cleverly gives it away. Maybe it should have had something different than night vision though. A plasma rifle or another box of ammo would be nice. I'd give it a solid 6-7/10. 

[Catpho]

Glad to see so many joining in so far! The CFD (French Doom Community) has been pumping out solid releases throughout the 2010s, but I've only had the pleasure of playing them thanks to some free time allotted by quarantine. I fell in love with their work and binged through pretty much their entire back catalogue, and hopefully some of you will see what i mean when this month is done :)*

I confess I've finished this mapset already but didn't get around to doing write-ups for every map (sorry @WH-Wilou84 & @Roofi D:), but I'll try to make amends! In the meanwhile, my thoughts so far are in the main release thread (MAP01-02, MAP03-08, MAP09-11).

 

Now, some misc. ramblings:
MAP02: Huber has made several maps in this general Doom-1-shotgun-combat-on-steroids style. In fact, the first Wilou map that really left an impression on me was Renewed Hope from Community Chest 4. If any of you find yourselves craving more of this kind of map, i recommend checking out MAP01: Upsilon-Synth, MAP06: Processus Logique and E1M1: Phobos Inner Station

 

^{* It's not like I won't continue gushing here anyway :P}
 

[dei_eldren]

11 minutes ago, Catpho said:

Glad to see so many joining in so far! The CFD (French Doom Community) has been pumping out solid releases throughout the 2010s, but I've only had the pleasure of playing them thanks to some free time allotted by quarantine. I fell in love with their work and binged through pretty much their entire back catalogue, and hopefully some of you will see what i mean when this month is done :)

 

i definitely will be playing more of their stuff!  Thanks for the suggestions.

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

Map 04: Ignominie

 

Rather short map, but the enemies are well placed and can kill you if you're not ready, especially the arch-vile at the end, I actually got stuck at the fake exits until I heard the archi roaming around. I missed a secret

[Thenuke]

Hi, creator of MAP04 here.

Thank you for reviewing my very very modest map, that's my first speedmap and my second map ever so I wasn't that used to the editor compared to the senior mappers, that explains the shortness of it, but I tried to make it at least a bit challenging, I was going for "Plutonia on UV difficulty". (Meant it to be played on UV)
I calculated just the right amount of ammo for people to survive and even then, @WH-Wilou84 and co told me it wasn't enough! So I added some.
I'm sorry about the two fake exits, now that I think about it, I should have got rid of the second EXIT panel.
About the arch-vile, I thought I had made the stairs impossible to climb for monsters, seems like I forgot to modify some linedefs there, again, sorry.

Still, I'm glad it's not so bad according to you all, thank you.

[Doritos420]

Map04 - Ignominie

Thought the level was pretty easy up until the archville. Adding in that 1 archville in that small arena made it downright cruel. At one point I fell back into the room and had to potshot the archville as he resurrected more meat shields. Would have liked a bit of extra health pickups after that crazy fight.  Apart from that I dug the grimy tech aesthetic. For such a small map this one was the toughest so far!

 

@Thenuke Playing it for the first time I just thought you made it extra difficult for the hardcore players. Thanks for sharing your insight on how you approached the making of the map. It's always fun to get some background information.

[continuum.mid]

PrBoom-Plus 2.5.1.5 with OpenGL, UV difficulty (standard), pistol starts (most of the time), saves, any%

 

Map04 - Ignominie

A rather simple and short map, just a series of rooms with different challenging fights. The caged imps that surround you in the beginning are fun. Later on there's a battle against four Revenants in close quarters, and dodging the fireballs is basically mandatory since there are some impossible-to-dodge Shotgunners in the next room. I didn't think the Arch-vile was too much of a problem, you get enough rockets to deal with him and he spawns in an area that's fairly convenient to fire rockets at. After two fake exits, the real exit feels like it could easily be another trap. Thankfully, it was not.

[Thenuke]

1 hour ago, Doritos420 said:

Playing it for the first time I just thought you made it extra difficult for the hardcore players.

 

Well, kinda. I don't know if I'm that good as a solo player but I wanted to create a bit of challenge because I thought wads like Plutonia were a bit on the "medium difficulty" on UV whereas Doom 1 and 2 are "easy" and things like Sunlust are "hard".

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 04

 

The title translates to ignominy, I believe. Does this indicate how you'll be treated? Well, you immediately lower from the light green cube you start out in into a darkened room where the only light emits from some side rooms behind some fence-like enclosures containing imps(this has shades of that one secret area from the map Prison in TNT: Evilution that had tons of Hell Knights surrounding you. Quite a hairy level for pistol starters. Don't linger in one place for too long and don't worry too much if you waste your chaingun ammo because the level just gets harder from here. If you explore the room, you may spot some slightly odd texturing across from the blue door. This contains a yellow-lighted chamber containing light-vision goggles, which makes shooting the switches in the side rooms considerably easier. You'll need to shoot these switches if you want to acquire the blue key. A bit annoying to some, but it's easy enough to figure out.

 

Upon exiting this room you'll come into a small to  medium-sized outdoor area with sandstone-colored industrial walls with some decent overhead geometry and 4 chaingunners with 2 of them having questionable placement because they are located right next to the stairs, making damage from them near inevitable. Press the switch sitting at the other end of the area, and it'll lower the platform which the red key is on, allowing you to exit, but not before having to deal with a Revenant ambush. Just focus all your rockets at the pair on one side, grab the stimpacks if you need them, then dodge, weave, and shoot the other pair. Their eerie makeover really stands out in broad daylight, which seems to be Doom's default skybox...

 

Side note, I really like how this mapper locks you in a room on two separate occasions. and forces you to think. When you don't have to wander through an entire level, puzzles aren't so bad at all. I think @MtPain27 might disagree, but honestly, it's kind of cool.

 

Anyways, you open the red door near the location of the red key, kill the baron and shruggishly press the exit switch. But wait! It turns out to be fake as the area you're in lowers and you're surrounded by Sergeants. Hope you've got your chaingun out.... Once you clear this area, you find yourself in a airlock-like exit room. But wait! It's fake once again, and you see two hell knights. They'll teleport in short behind you, one usually a few seconds after the other, so run in the room they came from and grab the shells and rockets sitting in front of the half-open door to...a lab or something? Who cares, you can't reach it, so immediately head back to the room with the Sergeants and you'll probably see an Arch-vile running through the rough location of the red door. As much as you'd like to, the Hell Knights will tear you top shreds if you don't deal with them first. So you'll probably have to kill the Baron at very least again (with the shotgun if you're pistol-starting because you're not exactly blessed with rockets on the map) after you've dealt with the Arch-vile. And honestly, you'll likely have a chaingunner and possibly a revenant to deal with as well. People probably'll bitch about this, but thinking about it objectively, it's an interesting situation. I had 20 percent health upon exiting though, so make of that what you will.

 

Finally, return to this area, deal with the Manicubus and hit the switch in the hall they came from  to exit for real. I won't lie, this level felt overly short (kind of why my review was practically blow-by-blow) and it's hard not to think the fake exits were a way to stretch things out. All the same, thought and creativity obviously went into the gameplay aspects(it does rise to its title, tbh), so I've still got to praise it, despite the fact that I died more times total than in every other level so far because I have no common sense, and also because that pair of chaingunners right below you I mentioned earlier are cheap as shit!(ok, not really)

 

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by LadyMistDragon

[Thenuke]

Thank you, @LadyMistDragon. It is true I like slightly puzzle-oriented maps better. Most pwads are quite standard with just room, shoot, room, shoot, so when John Romero came back to create Sigil, I was almost in awe, he made it a little bit puzzle-oriented, I loved it and that's where I got part of the inspiration. I also like to create secrets with visual hints so they seem puzzle-like. (I didn't have the occasion to add many for this map, it is more obvious on my first big map.)

[rehelekretep]

map04 fda

this was the first one that i found a bit underwhelming. the beginning is just quite tedious, and then the vile resurrecting everything is a one-trick pony. he actually managed to come down the lift in my first attempt which was more fun but once you realise he is there its just boring waiting for him to stay still so you can rocket him. i feel bad to be rude about Thenuke; there was definitely nothing bad with the visuals or aesthetics of the map and i did enjoy the fake-fake exits!

[TJG1289]

Map04: Ignominie - Thenuke - Alia Immortalis

100% kills, no secrets. Time: 3:26

Deaths: 2

 

First deaths in this run, mainly cause I was trying to figure out the best way to take on the Revenants with the limited ammo a pistol start provides as opposed to a continuous run. I remember thinking this level wasn't much to write home about when I first played it. Very obviously a speed-map since it's so small and lightly detailed. I've only started mapping this calendar year, and I'm not sure how I would do with a 3-hour time limit, but I think I could make something like this. I would have liked some more detail here, but I realized that the shotgunner room actually has some good detail and lighting going on. Only 30 enemies, but the lack of resources actually make it pretty challenging. I ended up ignoring the Revs and Baron after grabbing the red key since I knew an Archie was just going to revive them all. By the time I was ready to go back to that room, the Archie appeared at the top of the lift, I rocketed him in his face, and only 1 Rev and the Baron was left (plus the newly revealed Mancubus). I ended up liking this map more this playthrough. When it come to my map ideas, I'm toying around with making small maps with unique concepts, so seeing a small map like this in the WAD encourages that train of thought for me.

[Thenuke]

-

Edited March 6, 2021 by Thenuke

[BoxY]

Since it's 1am in my timezone I'll get a head start.

 

map04

First map that killed me, in fact I had some kind of stroke and died like 4 times in a row to the rev closet for absolutely no reason. I have mixed feelings, it has carefully set up combat but there's something that feels maybe too staged about it (press button, receive demons), and the vile that resurrects everything and clumps it up at the lift just feels kinda grindy more than dangerous, not much to do about it but dump some rockets and hope it dies before it resurrects the baron again and wastes all your ammo. For a second map it's a great effort though, certainly people have done worse.

 

map05

I fucking loved this map, it has a simple joy-of-dooming feeling about it, and has a very homely late 90s/early 2000s kind of vanilla feeling in the styling while still looking good. The upbeat music gives it an extra bit of joie de vivre. Blasting through a big heap of low tier enemies with zerk and rockets just feels great, and it's neat that the map has no shotgun at all. The secret fight was great and gives a sneak peek at a dehacked monster that I'm sure will be annoying the hell out of me and others in future maps. Awesome.

[dei_eldren]

MAP05 - And now we arrive at the territory i've been expecting with some trepidation, the one upon which i'm most inexperienced - a slaughtermap.  Sigh.  But wait a moment, after about 4 minutes, the Mancubi and the hordes lie in collapsed heaps, and i'm still alive, feeling absolutely exhilarated.  Then we go inside, slaughter some more, and start thinking there's a point to this - it's just fun to mow down these guys and imagine you're getting actually good at Doom, while actually not getting killed and savescumming (but yeah, i just know at some point this is gonna get difficult AF and my illusion of having skills goes out the window).  A few mid-tier enemies spice up the fights here, the only real fright comes with the blue key.  After just a few minutes all seem to be dead but the counter says there's still much to kill, and secrets to find.  The only annoyance was the unannounced exit because i wandered into it by accident collecting ammo (well ok, maybe it should've not been a surprise to me, it's a legit way to create an exit, used quite often, but still...i was stupid), fortunately having saved not long before (had i not, i would've been pissed).  After finding couple secrets, i'm still perplexed as to where to find the missing demons!  Bright idea, there's been those shootable switches on every level...so i just have to hunt one down.  Yeah, thankfully it wasn't that hard to find since the player is graciously pointed towards the right window (i like those kinds of hints, especially when i figure them out).

The final battle is also satisfying as hell, my Invulnerability wears off before the end, so i get to fight seriously too with the stragglers (most annoying are the Dead Souls but that's why they're there!)  Again i like the layout, too...it's purposeful, doesn't seem artificial in any way, and compact.  Only place where i would've wanted a bit more detail, more stuff, is the final battle area - it is admittedly a bit sparse, and i would've expected a place like that to be visually just a bit striking to reward the player :P  Loved the map, the gameplay is fantastic - 8/10!  (And am still playing HMP, Continuous, Blind.)

 

i don't really take into account the fact that this's been speedmapping - and i don't need to, as for me all these levels have been as good as any, regardless of the speed at which they were made (just a bit more detail in places, but that's a minor critique and for me doesn't lessen the enjoyability and impact of these levels).  There's clever & novel ideas in each one and the feel of the game is classic with a twist of modern techniques and visuals, without it feeling like a novelty item, or 'progressive', or 'post-modern' (whilst i recognize the virtues of such endeavors, and the skill and creativity their creators possess, they are not for me). 

Edited March 5, 2021 by dei_eldren

[Roofi]

Map 05 :

 

Spoiler

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/MAP05:_Grand_Bleu_(180_Minutes_Pour_Vivre)#/media/File%3A180_Minutes_Pour_Vivre_MAP05_map.png

 

Well it's time to talk about my maps. First of all , I have to say that the secret island is kinda huge compared to main base haha.

 

Some people seem to confuse slaughter and hard map which are not always synonym. Actually , Grand Bleu has a lot of monsters but mostly low-tiers and also a lot of ammo and very rewarding secrets. I made 7 maps for this project and this one has the highest monster count (map 27 actually has 499 monsters because of a very specific gimmick). However my later maps like 08 and 14 have a lot less monsters but in counterparts , tighter items balance and more vicious traps hehe.

 

So this map can be qualified as a "slaughtermap for dummies" with a very cheery ambiance which contrasts a lot with the rusty theme of the other maps. And it was occasion to make sector trees which is a recurrent visual gimmick in my maps.

 

Fun was my only goal while making the map. Actually, my favourite part is the huge fight at the super secret island. In general , I really think that the invulnerability spheres is a very underrated item for creating fun situations. There is sometimes nothing better than killing powerful monsters with an overpowered power-up. Also designing a level around the rocket-launcher was an easy way to create a fast-paced gameplay.

 

Also I tried to create a non orthogonal layout. I'm pretty proud of the little circular section hiding the blue key. However , it's  still visually very classic. I struggled with the vanilla limits because of the very open outdoors areas 

 

 

[Omniarch]

MAP05: Grand Bleu (Big Blue) by @Roofi - 100% / 100%

 

Damn, this map is fun!

 

Fun, easy, slaughter-lite gameplay is somewhat underrated, in my opinion. Sometimes, one just wants to sit back, relax and gib some chaff-tier beasties. This map embodies that desire. That is not to say the combat is completely trivial: you will still have to manage resources, positioning and targets if you want to come out alive.

 

That doesn't change the fact that this map is clearly aiming to be fun rather than challenging. I'd go so far as to call it joyful, with the cosy seaside look, the Sonic-esque midi (the text file tells me it is from a Genesis game by the name of 'Air Buster', a rough contemporary of the 'Blue Blur') and the wide open play-space.

 

The secrets were also a nice addition, giving me a reason to stick around after splattering the horde of hapless Zombiemen guarding the exit. The secret island is a particularly fun encounter, which introduces the Nightmare Cacodemon, one of the wad's two new beasties. It didn't do much to distinguish itself just yet, but only time will tell in that regard.

 

Overall, a very entertaining and joyful slaughter-lite experience, impressively polished and fleshed out for a speedmap. I look forward to playing Roofi's future entries!

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

Map 05: Grand Bleu

 

 

I enjoyed this map, short, nice midi, I got my bullets max. I will admit that I got a little nervous after getting so many rockets. But, yeah, rather easy. I missed three secrets (I suck at loooking for secrets)

[Dalish]

MAP05 - Grand Bleu by Roofi
Stats: 100% Kills | 85% Items | 50% Secrets

 

Grand Bleau is a small slaughter map. I really don't have that much to say about the map. It's fun and entertaining from the start to finish, the soundtrack is cool. Some, however, may consider it a bit too easy, but maybe it's supposed to be like that since the previous MAP 03 and MAP 04 were quite challenging. It also introduces the new modified cacodemon who shoots mancubus-like projectiles with a high rate of fire in one of the secrets. You won't have trouble dealing with him hough because of the invulnerability sphere. The secrets are well made. I found two of them and there are four in total. 

Didn't leave a big impression but it was fun nevertheless. I'm looking forward to seeing the second modified demon.

[continuum.mid]

Map05 - Grand Bleu

PRBoom-Plus with OpenGL, UV, carryovers from Map04, saveless, any%

 

Confession time: normally I pistol start by playing through a level saveless until I die, and saving then. That works because I'm a pretty bad Doom player, so I expect to die at least once on each level after Map01. Problem is, I managed to beat Map05 in a single segment on my first attempt. Maybe I should start using idclev instead.

 

Anyway, this was a really fun level. Gives you a Berserk and Green Armor right away, and a rocket launcher not long after, so you can start blowing up hordes of imps and demons. Always a good time. There's a new DeHackEd monster, who I'm calling the Sorcerer because I'm too lazy to check what its actual name is. It doesn't pose much of a threat in this level but I can tell it will get really nasty later on.

[Biodegradable]

MAP05 - Grand Bleu

HMP | Continuous Play with Saves | GZDoom + Dead Marine

 

So this one was a nice change of pace after the intense start with Roofi providing us with a fun platter of low-tier demons to splatter. Funny enough though, my natural Dooming instincts took over and had me mowing most of them down with my chaingun and SSG and stockpiling all the delicious rocket ammo rather than using them on the majority of the hordes as our dear mapper intended lol. Regardless, it's a good bit of fun though oddly enough I left with only killing approximately 75% of the population, so I'm not sure where the rest of them were hiding. On the day I replay the WAD in my own time, I'm going to have to explore every nook and cranny to find 'em. Especially since northivanastan talks about a unique demon I didn't encounter which is a little disappointing, but I'll hopefully meet it soon enough. As for the map itself, the layout and detail are cool and I especially thought the consistent use of a blue trim going on around the inside of the building was a unique touch. This map's a nice breather before the next map, I expect, turns the heat back up.

 

 

[ironicmoustache]

Missed a whole bunch of DWMCs (proper pluralisation? haha) due to Life™ but I'm happy to be back going through another megaWAD with everyone else. 

 

As usual, playing on Crispy Doom, UV, and pistol starts. I save from time to time but am trying to get into the habit of restarting maps, as opposed to reloading, when I die.

 

MAP01 - De Bronze et de Brique

Nice and quick starting map. Solid layout and I liked the atmosphere, what with the texturing, skybox, and open areas outside. I enjoyed having to do most of the work with the pistol and chaingun. Perfectly-chosen level name, too. Couldn’t quite figure out what the shoot switch did.

 

MAP02 - Yttrium

Enemy numbers ramped up quite significantly here and I quite enjoyed it. Not so many enemies as to make dodging—and my subpar attempts to get infighting going on—impossible, but enough to keep me on my toes. Solid techbase vibe to proceedings here.

 

MAP03 - Retour sur Terre

Really liked the dank, cramped feeling here. Another climb in challenge, although not as big of a leap as between the first two maps. Enemy placement and the level layout kept me on my toes throughout, although the turret revenants did lead to some slightly tedious peek-a-boo chaingun tapping. Found a bunch of RL ammo (including the ones in the secret along with the berzerk pack) but didn’t find the RL itself.

 

MAP04 - Ignominie

Not necessarily hard, but did lead to my first deaths as I just derped when dealing with the revenants on more than one occasion. Also found myself restarting once because I just didn’t feel like taking potshots at the AV and resurrected monsters with nothing but a shotgun. The weakest map of the set thus far, although it still has a certain… charm in its aesthetic and the challenge/annoyance it offers up with a much smaller number of enemies compared to previous maps.

 

MAP05 - Grand Bleu

Fun little slaughter-lite map. Made a few mistakes in the opening moments which nearly led to a death but managed to survive and revel in the ever-enjoyable act of splattering low-tier demons with the RL. Playing on pistol start made for the interesting challenge of avoiding gibbing myself with splash damage; managed it reasonably well, all things considered. Was very satisfying mowing through the horde of zombiemen at the exit door. Like Biodegradable, I missed the new DeHackEd monster and about 25% of the monster population. Didn't look hard enough, of course. Might replay it before MAP06.

Edited March 5, 2021 by ironicmoustache

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 05 - UV and Pistol-starting (for now)

 

Ok, the title is a damn lie. What isn't, however is how energetic and upbeat the utilized obscure Genesis/Mega Drive track is, with the visage of the yellow sky standing out in as much living color as can be featured in normal limit-removing Doom ports (not much, lol). You start out what seems to be the back of some government installation initially, with generic techbase textures not really fitting with the yellow schematics established this far. The nearby berserk pack is some interesting telegraphing, imo, mainly because I was guessing what the initial challenge could be. After taking care of the welcoming committee (other than maybe the imps on the dirt hillock or whatever it is), the switch sitting next to the door I never figured out how to open lowers a wall, revealing some Hell Knights sitting on a ledge and some more enemies, along with a rocket launcher. Step onto the surface with the rocket launcher and the fun begins! More walls lower, and you realize from the presence of boxes you're actually at a port facility! You won't get a shotgun for the rest of the level, just a rocket launcher to take care of the hordes of largely low-tier enemies in your way. This remains the case as you enter the warehouse and progress through it. Just be careful of the linedef near the blue key and prepare to run out of the room. Some sneakily-placed chaingunners near the exit might give you some trouble, but they shouldn't be too much trouble. Have fun reducing the  masses of zhombies to bloody chunks and exit the level through the Quake-esque portal. The only secret I discovered was the ledge where the hell knight pair resides and that was successfully pressing a nearby console which lowers a crate.  Hey, the design's pretty abstract.... And yes, I missed 25 percent of the kills because wall-humping inside the warehouse got me nowhere and I thought running outside to hit a wall near the blue-paneled door near the start was a waste of time (my memory's already fading, but I think I checked to see if the blue switch opened it. Speaking of, why did there have to be a pillar and not some textures surrounding the switch. that was weird).