The DWmegawad Club plays: 180 Minutes Pour Vivre

[Roofi]

Map 24 : Rêve Lucide

 

 

This map has a priori nothing to do in a third episode. Fresh grass, lively and happy music, an old house. The third episode is classically dedicated to hellish maps, but for my part, I consider it to be the episode of "otherworldly" levels in such a way that I like to make maps with a dreamlike atmosphere.

 

However, the difficulty curve doesn't drop, the monsters are always there to tear you up, even in your sweetest dreams.Map 24 , as well as the previous map 32 and the future map 27 , suffer from heavy influences from Death-Destiny's maps with deadly ambushes , tight ammo balance, semi-linear progression.... :)

 

This map doesn't have a lot of monsters (110 in UV something like that) but already shows that 180mpv is suitable for those who like to suffer at this point in the wad. The next levels will either be harder, or with a much higher number of monsters, or both.

 

[BoxY]

Slightly behind cuz I was playing some other stuff, here's map23 at least:

Not totally sure how I feel about this one, certainly at the start I wasn't having a really great time because to take 2 steps into the map you have to clean up dumbass lost souls and then grind away several really annoying turret enemies which are two of my least favourite things to do in the game, but I warmed up to it a bit more to the later fights. The hell knight/baron/imp fight was very fun, it's complete chaos in that small area, and the 2 roaming cybers that came after felt pretty rough at first, but eventually I found a semi-decent way to kill them although it's still pretty awkward and the little bits of geometry that stick out of the walls can snag your hitbox and get you killed. I wish there were some extra cells because I had to SSG the second one. The guy standing on the platform to block the exit seemed overkill though, he doesn't really do that much in the fight so I ended up just dumping rockets into him e2m8 style which was a pretty grindy way to end the map. The red detailing with dark rock textures and the general styling of the map felt pretty Sunlust inspired to me, particularly sl20, and I suspect some of the fights were inspired by that map too (like shit jumping out of narrow closets everywhere.)

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 24, UV pistol start (oh whhhyyy)

 

Finally you leave the mountains and find yourself in the demonic suburbs. A park containing a rocket launcher Roofi taunts you with until you are able to find both the red and blue keys and consequently access the teleporter that'll take you there. An area that makes me think of a basketball court, and apartment buildings abound. Unfortunately, you're about to disrupt their peaceful slumber. Please. These guys are so prepared. The Porcupine Tree song used isn't exactly like what plays at the end of E3 of Ultimate Doom, but it goes well with the theme. At the beginning, you might want to go left and take care of the Manicubi first. Then go right and deal with the mob of enemies that include an Arch-vile among their numbers. If you can, get some enemies to infight with the Cyberdemon because you really don't have lots of ammo at this stage. The progression is fairly open-ended, but expect traps for little to no reason. I think I've got to take back what I said about Roofi not being sadistic, because Arch-viles and Revenants have kind of a habit of teleporting behind you. When you grab the blue key, you'll see a Baron of Hell, but you should quickly move to the side and take care of the Arch-vile and the cannon fodder enemies Roofi was kind enough to provide for this section. The one thing that makes this bearable is that many of the stronger enemies (Barons and Arch-viles) are trapped on stationary platforms throughout so they don't completely wreck your day. Also,  he allows you to fall into the void and teleport your way out if you're so unfortunate). Map 32 is probably an overall harder level, but man, this is mean.

Edited March 24, 2021 by LadyMistDragon

[LadyMistDragon]

5 hours ago, WH-Wilou84 said:

I wanted to prevent players from fleeing the HK / Baron / Imp horde battle and then having to kill them from below (which would've been tedious and ammo would've become a concern I guess). Access to the lift is allowed again as soon as the fight ends, if my memory is to be trusted. :)
You're right, getting the BFG before the fight is a priority, but it's still doable without it.

Good luck for the remaining maps guys !

Thanks. I was afraid it was closed off permenantly. And I may have though that space was too narrow to dodge Cyberdemon rockets in.:)

[PeceMan]

Map 24

 

Fun, though tight on ammo, and full of hard fights. The music was nice.

 

This wasn't the prettiest map I've seen, but is definitely well above average.

 

Uvmaxing the map is a bit of a pain. Also, the void, while easy to avoid, is annoying, and not very pretty.

 

Also, the fights rely a bit too much on Cyberdemons and Archviles for challenge.

 

8/10.

 

 

[Azure_Horror]

4 hours ago, Roofi said:

Map 24 : Rêve Lucide

This map has a priori nothing to do in a third episode. Fresh grass, lively and happy music, an old house. The third episode is classically dedicated to hellish maps, but for my part, I consider it to be the episode of "otherworldly" levels in such a way that I like to make maps with a dreamlike atmosphere.

 

Don't know about map24 having nothing to do with hellish places... It can easily be interpreted as a hellish location in itself. This map, with both aesthetics and unforgiving combat, can be viewed as a mockery of rural harmony. Yes there is an old house, green grass, a clear sky, and a couple of garden sheds. But! The sky has an unnatural red color, the garden fountain has blood inside, the sheds float in the air. And all the trees around have very unnatural form. The one on the sky islands in particular looks like a gallows!

Oh, and the pastoral shepherds are half giant monsters, half unfeeling machines firing rockets at intruders!

(big thanks to @franckFRAG for calling the cyberdemon a shepherd on map 11)

 

So yeah. While personaly I saw this map as some kind of otherworldly place, like @Roofi had intended, I can easily see how it can be understood as a classic infernal location.

Edited March 24, 2021 by Azure_Horror

[TJG1289]

Map23: Anomalie Eternelle - Datacore and [WH]-Wilou84

100% kills and secrets. Time: 18:58

Deaths: 6

 

I remembered this map as being pretty devious, and its MIDI helps enforce that. This MIDI used to scare me as a little kid as it's very eerie and creepy sounding, and may be why E1M8 always made me uneasy. You know you're in for a rough time when one of the first enemies you encounter is an Archvile, so thanks for that. Doesn't help that it teleports in as you hightail it to the RL to take out the revs and mancubi in this area. This starting area is a place you go to multiple times in the playthrough, and it repopulates with monsters almost every time you return. The red rocks and terrain look pretty natural around here. 2 secrets are in this first part and aren't too hard to find, especially since a pinky comes out of one when you grab the SSG. You eventually take a lift into the demon fort and have to deal with imps from one side and hell nobles from the other. Somehow, I did not completely blow myself up with rockets, but came close. In one of the small alcoves, you can find a skull switch that telegraphs that something opened back in the starting area. You have to back that way anyway since the gargoyle switch opened up a path around there, but now you can jump into the hell portal that was behind you at the start to find a much needed BFG (and a not needed baron, plus more enemies back in the rocky area). My first death was after I grabbed the red skull key, as 2 arachnotrons appear in alcoves and a bunch of bad things teleport in, including an Archvile. 2nd death was after hitting the red switch back up the lift and getting a combo Archvile blast and a rocket in my face due to a PE-spit lost soul. An area will open up with a plasma and cells, but you'll want to use rockets once you hit the switch by it. Some caves will open with a ton of imps, a butt-load of nobles will teleport in (and 1 pain elemental), and if you run around a bit you'll find 2 stuck archies. Rocket everything that moves, while using the BFG to escape. I tried to stay back in the hallway the PE spawns in and rocket anything that comes my way. A death was here Once everything is dead, you can go to the archie room, grab all the goodies, and hit the switch there. This opens another area with some pinkies and a cybie turret, plus 2 more cybies teleport back in the hallway that the PE spawned in. Try to rush back there and BFG them close quarters, so they don't have a chance to come out of the hall and you can take them on 1 at a time. 2 deaths later, I headed in to take out the stationary one and died my last time (stupid wall). Switch here opens up the final room with a few archies that love rockets, and a fake wall with hitscan and a secret. SPEAKING OF SECRETS, the last 2 aren't worth it for pistol starts since we're pretty much at the end here. The alcove with the switch that lowers the exit teleporter has a linedef that when crossed, reveals a switch were the plasma rifle was. Quickly head back, smash it, then go back to the archvile/goodies room and find a new alcove opened. Have the BFG ready to quickly remove some imps, revs, and mancubi from existence on the other side of the teleporter. Everything's dead, and your reward is a berserk. Shoot the evil eye Sigil-style to get to another teleporter that takes you to a green armor. 

 

Overall, this was more fun than last time, and I definitely died way less. The plasma fight was a mini-slaughter that will foreshadow some future maps. Even the other smaller fights are tough as well, but there's enough health and ammo around.

[Doritos420]

Map 24 - Rêve Lucide

This map was difficult but fair I would say. Exploring the map and poking out weak spots and slowly conquering was how I managed to progress (still died though, a lot). Small but dense map where it feels like every enemy has been placed very meticulously. Like Roofi said there are not many enemies compared to some maps, but they are high tier and put to good use. Also the music made me calm down, slow down and think about what to do next. Feels like ammo is a limiting factor here so you have to pick and choose your battles wisely. Very well done map. Still very very hard but compared to Map 23 it feels a lot more doable.

[BoxY]

map24

I feel kinda oddly emotionless about this one. I knew what kind of gameplay it would have within 30 seconds of starting since it's using basically the same ideas as map32 except for the black monster gimmick, so I just turned half of my brain off and slowly and mechanically pushed through everything until it was done, which took a lot of focus but was also completely unsatisfying. I think the problem is partly that with turret monsters that are difficult or impossible to kill placed everywhere, no area ever feels properly cleared, which leaves the gameplay in a kind of lame state of limbo. Usually if a map has a neat atmosphere and good music it grabs my attention right away, but I felt absolutely numb to it here. I don't think I've really ever felt like this about an otherwise well made map before.

[dei_eldren]

MAP25 (HMP, Continuous, Blind) - Slaughter.  i'll just skip to the most significant part, what i think would have been about the last fight.  i made it through the encounter with the Nightwatch Cacos flying in when fighting Barons, but it took me more tries than anything before in this wad, maybe ten?  Partly that was my fault, because i was already frustrated and had in mind futility and giving up - but it was doable, just demanding every ounce of focus and up my skills in circling them, it was the first for me in such tight quarters.  (And i don't deny there was a sense of satisfaction in accomplishing it, as i realized it's not about luck at all, for which credit to Wilou84, i don't think luck is a factor in this map.)

However, after that there came still another fight, with a Heresiarch and Archvile - and i realized i'm not liking the level at all.  But at least i knew this was coming, there were warnings about the last few levels of this wad, ha-ha!  So, i'll see if there are still levels i can play, which doesn't seem likely, but you never know...perhaps not everything that comes after is yet pure slaughter?  Of the design of the level i can say nothing as in slaughter-maps there's no time or energy to look much around, except to see how things work in strictly utilitarian sense.  In all, and this is a purely subjective score, i can only give this one 3/10, 5/10.  (i returned to increase the score after remembering the sense of accomplishment.)  i think on my second run someday i'll beat this map.

Edited March 25, 2021 by dei_eldren

[ironicmoustache]

Crispy, UV, pistol starts.

 

MAP25 - Geôle Nécrosé

 

After the floating dreamscape of Roofi's MAP24, we're brought back down into the depths with another knock-about Wilou84 map. The dank texturing and grimy underground atmosphere really stood out for me compared to most of the other maps in this WAD. It isn't too challenging for most of the first third or so, characterised by methodical enemy clearing and some light circle-strafing in the opening room. The platforming segment is probably the hardest "enemy" there, haha. But, of course, it wouldn't be a third episode 180MPV map without an absolute clusterfuck encounter or two, and we're treated to two mighty fine ones here.

 

I'm not necessarily the hugest fan of large-scale slaughter, but I do like these smaller bursts of slaughter in otherwise more "traditional" levels; I enjoy approaching them like at Hotline Miami level, dying and retrying until I figure out the best, most efficient path to success. Or until I get lucky. Or both. I won't lie; seeing two turret AVs in the first encounter felt like a pretty sadistic move. But after a few tries, I figured out the best way to clear out the horde, after which the room was all about careful positioning and constant awareness of Cyberdemon rockets. I appreciated the area's design, with its lack of really safe cover and how hiding from an AV blast almost invariably opens the player up to some Heresiarch projectiles. Good stuff.

 

I really liked the Nightwatch Caco barrage. It wasn't nearly as difficult, but again, it still required a few tries to figure out the right order to do things. I rode my luck again but got through it relatively unscathed. The Heresiarch + AV final fight was weird; I don't know if it's a Crispy thing (I'd imagine not), but Heresiarchs seem not to be quite as aggressive as other monsters. I just ran back to the start of the area and took care of the AVs before shotgunning the Heresiarch down. I did it without a scratch, too, by keeping the pillar between me and it. Probably not how the fight was supposed to go, but hey.

 

All in all, plenty of fun to be had here.

 

[Biodegradable]

MAP25 - Geôle Nécrosée

HMP | Continuous Play with Saves | GZDoom + Dead Marine

 

Ooooh hoo hoo... that wily scamp Wilou's back at it again. Another solo venture, amping things up with a dreary castle filled with high stake fights and set-pieces. It's another banger for sure, I swear, this man can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. The big Nightwatch Cacocloud was probably the most devious part for me but I managed to overcome it in the third try heh. Also, finally coming across another Heresiarch who I cannot for life of me remember how long it's been since I last encountered one on this difficulty and his swagger was fly as ever lol. I enjoyed the design and layout of this map, the combat was fun and varied and it's just a good time. While not a big stand-out, it's the quality I've come to expect from Wilou. See you again at MAP29, ya scallywag. ;^P

 

 

[Roofi]

Map 25 :

 

 

 

Geôle Nécrosée is the first map in the wad using the black texture in order to create a map lost in the void. You can't see it very often compared to other maps like map 28 but you know you are in a gothic castle lost somewhere in an unknown but dangerous world.

 

Among all Wilou's maps , I think  I enjoy this map mostly for its ambiance and aesthetics. HR2's map 17 will always be a good choice to create a creepy atmospheric hellish map. Also I really like the layout of ths map which make me doubt a lot about the fact that this map was made in 3 hours. :)

 

Also , I think , Geôle Nécrosée contains the best traps using the Heresiarch. His map 09 introduces him but he was so easy to kill with the super shotgun. Closed traps make them more dangerous, as they are often accompanied by fearsome mid-tier monsters such as viles or nightwatches.

 

But the biggest difficulty of this map is to find all the secrets without looking at the solution on doomwiki or doombuilder. I think only a die-hard Eternal Doom fan will be able to find those micro-switches.

[TJG1289]

Map24: Reve Lucide - Roofi

100% kills and secrets: Time: 16:52

Deaths: 15

 

I remember when I first played this continuous I had no idea how you'd be able to pistol-start this. The opening only gives you the shotgun family and there's a bunch of enemies just outside. There is a far-away Cybie that can act like a turret, so I figured on this playthrough to get it to infight the others in the area. 9 deaths later, I eventually got it to do that with everything, including the archies in the area. The opening is for sure the most frustrating part of the map, but it still doesn't let up. You can head to the fountain area but there's an archie there and a couple other elevated demons attacking you. But once you clear it out, it gets a little better. The path to the blue key after isn't bad, but grabbing it does spawn another archie and crew. Grabbing either key will allow you to get some goodies back at the beginning, but expect some opposition when activating them. You can now take the teleporter in the opening room to get the RL, but 2 barons and a cybie spawn in the small gated area with you, so get the cyb to rocket the barons as you escape. The red key path goes up the rocky steps and drops down to a hilly area. Another death here due to trying to get the hell knights to infight with the mancubi and failing. Getting to the top of the hill with the key spawns some enemies on the stone steps up there, plus some wandering enemies back at the cave entrance, plus a stationary archie on a teleporter. Here's where I almost screwed myself over. I charged the archie and somehow went through the teleporter. I didn't expect that. But I needed to go back to this path since I didn't grab the key. But I couldn't drop down initially, because I would just land on the demons down there and the ceiling of the cave wouldn't allow me to get off them. I died a bunch here just trying to actually hit the ground. I had to repeatedly charge the archie and teleport away to avoid his blasts and eventually, I was able to get rid of everything here. Now for the final push. Hitting the blue and red skull switches allows you to hit another one that opens an alcove with more baddies, including a 3rd cybie, plus the door in the fountain area that holds revs, plus more flying round pasta ingredients (and their spoiled black variety). Only one more death happened here via cybie, mainly since you can FINALLY get the plasma to even the odds. Rocket the revs that can't leave the exit room, plasma the cybie by the RL, and you're done.

 

I like the setting of this map a lot. It's a small quiet village with some island huts. Those huts have secrets. The one by the red skull just needs a jump to it, while the one with the cybie you'll have to wait until the plasma is revealed. You'll notice a wall with a different texture, so lower it, go through the teleporter, and telefrag that cybie. The final secret I don't think I found until this playthrough, when I noticed on the map something that looked like where a hidden switch would be in the blue skull path. Difficulty-wise, this is probably the hardest in the set with the lack of weapons at the beginning, but I like how you can get a new one with each key. There's enough health, but ammo is kinda scarce, so you'll need some infighting to happen. MIDI is nice and upbeat. Pretty good level.

[PeceMan]

Map 25

 

This is truly a baffling one...

 

We're starting to get to difficulties which stop being fun for me.

Luckily, I managed to do some cheesing in one of the fights by rocket jumping back to safety. Rocket jumping may seem like cheating, but the level didn't exactly stop me from doing it. In fact, there were plenty of areas where you could approach the fights in a more "creative", unintended way. There was a clear lack of playtesting.

 

In terms of balance, it's goodon health and ammo, and the fights are all interesting and well thought out.

The main source of difficulty is the (relatively) crammed spaces these fights take place in.

 

The map's strongpoint is it's looks. The map makes the most out of the texture set, and looks great.

 

8,5/10, Could use some gameplay tweaks.

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 25 (UV continous)

 

I could NEVER UV Max this. Just forgetting for a moment that I didn't find any of the secrets, Wilou is DONE with giving any fucks whatsoever. It's a techbase that is like, a prison, allegedly? Who cares, it's so abstract and geared toward certain kinds of gameplay, I can't really say anything else, other than I really like the light purple window/wall/computer/whatever textures that are near the end of the level, signifying extreme danger.

 

That's not really the worst part of the level. That comes when you hit a switch that opens one wall containing a Cyberdemon hanging out in space guarded by an Arch-vile pair, along with several chaingunners and Revenants. And on the other side, there are Demons and Two Hersiarchs. I died upwards of 20-23 times, and I have no problem admitting it. I'm REALLY bad at moving in narrow spaces. Unlike that one infamous location in Map 19 though, you're not necessarily going to get cut to pieces by the Cyberdemon for apparently no reason. Near the end,  I got one of the Hersirachs to infight with the Cyberdemon. He did not make it, but I decided killing the Cyberdemon would be too tedious, so I didn't stick around(oh come on, he was weak!). Good thing because it took 8 minutes for the Heresiarchs to die.

 

I didn't really like dealing with the Archanotron turrets in the platforming area, but that wasn't as bad as the two Arch-viles on the ledges in the second to the last room. No, the worst part was dealing with the Nightmare Caco swarm that attacks you beforehand in the same room whilst you have to dodge 4 Barons of Hell. I died around 10 times before I realized that maybe I'd have better chance of success if I could handle taking rocket damage. I only died one other time. And because this game is cheeky as all hell, you'll encounter pinkies and chaingunners in the exit room that you'll hopefully be able to blast to pieces with rockets. I had 5 percent health, so I consider myself lucky. Why is is that Hell Revealed II music literally rolls off me.

[Doritos420]

Map 25 - Geôle Nécrosée

Man am I sweaty after that one. Some very intense battles, but I played this level over the course of 2 sittings so it didn’t seem so bad. First arena fight was really hard, especially with that archville that can zap you from across the arena. Next part that gave me trouble was the area with the pinkies, revenants holy cow that was a hard one. Luckily I was able to escape then come back once everyone was done infighting and finish things off, then there was the last big fight the nightwatch cacao cloud. I felt like I went through that like 20 times before I beat it. Finally survived with about 40 health after that the ending was pretty easy, even after the double archville and Heresiarch attack. By the end I was down to 17 health and the chaingunners showed up, luckily there was plenty of cover. Another absolute scorcher from WH-Wilou84! Still think it was way easier than Map 23.

 

Map 26 - Monument en Béton

This was so much fun! I really enjoyed this one. Great change of pace from claustrophobic death traps. Wide open arenas and plasma ammo as far as the eye can see! Still not too easy though, there’s a ton of archvilles to keep you on your toes.  The highlight for me with the one large area you’re dropped into with a cyberdemon and surrounded by tons of imps, hell knights and barons. Having them infight as you dodge all the rockets, such a blast. Tons of craziness and I think the largest enemy count in the wad so far. It was so fun I went through it again for a speedrun.

[WH-Wilou84]

9 hours ago, PeceMan said:

Luckily, I managed to do some cheesing in one of the fights by rocket jumping back to safety. Rocket jumping may seem like cheating, but the level didn't exactly stop me from doing it. [...] There was a clear lack of playtesting.

Heh, well these maps have been created with vanilla Doom gameplay in mind. Jumping is disabled in ZMAPINFO IIRC.

Apologies if the level wasn't that fun for you :)

[Endless]

MAP22: Une Journée en Enfer by Nemo06

A subway fortress with tight corridors and personal combat. A map that is fast in its progress and with a satisfying flow that delivers entertaining, fast and balanced combat in a simple way. 3/5

 

MAP23: Anomalie Eternelle by Maxime Bisiaux (Datacore) and William Huber (WH-Wilou84)

With Sign of Evil in the background, we can quickly know that this map is coming to give us a good taste of blood. Tight, bloody and red, the corridors force us to constantly backtrack and seek shelter, while monster closets pop up where we least expect them, including a brutal one at the end. 3/5

 

MAP24: Rêve Lucide by Alexis Jeanson (Roofi)

A floating island in an ocean of red clouds. With a more earth-like style and colors that remind me slightly of Plutonia, this map makes use of an excellent combat and exploration dynamic while keeping it relatively simple. Nice and fun, as well as challenging at times. 4/5

 

MAP25: Geôle Nécrosée by William Huber (WH-Wilou84)

Massive and colorful, as well as dark and spooky from time to time; a large map with tough and hard combat. Different encounters form an entertaining and varied progression, as well as solid visuals of great magnitude. 4/5

 

MAP26: Monument en Béton by Darkwave0000

A square map with a simple layout that takes us through a variety of encounters at different points. Combat is entertaining and dynamic, as well as rewarding and satisfying. 4/5

[Biodegradable]

MAP26 - Monument en Béton

HMP | Continuous Play with Saves | GZDoom + Dead Marine

 

Oh man, this one was a doozy. I knew I was in trouble when I saw Darkwave's name appear under the map title. MtPain27's favourite mapper, notorious for his beautifully-crafted levels with intense slaughter-based combat. Makes me wonder if my friend @Bridgeburner56 studied this fella's work at all hehe. Anyhoo, as expect, this map is quite striking with its large setpieces and, naturally, wiped the floor with me thanks to its combat. Surprisingly though, not every encounter belted me into next week and Darkwave was quite generous with health and ammo, maybe a little too generous for HMP. Regardless though, it was only the final area that gave me trouble and I think that mostly came down to me playing a little poorly. While I'm nowhere near as skilled as others, I like to think I'm a decent Doomer, but for whatever reason at this area I was doing badly even by my standards, lol. I don't know, maybe I'm just a bit tired today. I can't say I enjoyed this map, but I think it's a decent introduction for me to Darkwave's style. Mind you, MtPain27 himself might think otherwise and I'm curious to know what he thinks of this one.

 

 

[ironicmoustache]

Crispy, UV, pistol starts.

 

MAP26 - Monument en Béton

 

Coming from the tight, punishing slaughter encounters of MAP25, Darkwave0000's sole offering was a breath of fresh air, giving the player more than enough space in most of the encounters to run rings around the opposition. Had a few aborted attempts at tackling the opening room, but once I found my footing the map generally went quite well. 

 

The big middle encounter did me in a few times before I remembered that alerting enemies by rubbing up against them doesn't wake others up. So, ever willing to cheese a fight in order to get through unscathed, I woke a few imps up, dashed for the Arachnotron cubby, and hid in there while the enemies tore themselves to bits. Cheap? Yeah, a bit, but Darkwave could've easily blocked it off like Wilou did with the elevator switch in MAP23, so yeah.

 

The final fight and ascent was quite a rush. I enjoyed running laps around the central structure, blasting everything in sight with the Plasma Rifle, desperately trying to get rid of the AVs at the start. The Cybers weren't really that much of a threat given how big of a target for stray projectiles they were, and the starting corridor seemed to have been designed expressly as a safe space to dodge rockets and spam them down with plasma fire. Very fun map, and surprisingly generous with movement space and supplies.

[Roofi]

Map 26 :

 

 

Despite his superb levels for the Speed of Doom project, I must admit that I was never really a fan of his contributions to the 3 Hours of Agony trilogy. The maps had good layouts but the grandeur of the maps was in my opinion quite artificial with the basic tech scenery being quite repetitive. 

 

I have to say I like what he did for 180mpv, a level that turns out to be a rusty tech base but with a linear progression.The level is consequently much shorter but straight to the point. From a speedrun point of view, this map is particularly enjoyable to finish in uv-max.

 

I really like how the plasma gun is our main weapon and the RL completely absent. Like many Darkwave maps, infighting is a necessary gameplay element with cyberdemons clearing hordes of low-tier/mid-tier monsters.

 

I wish Darkwave had done something other than a tech-base to be honest, but that's made up for by the ambient darkness.

 

[PeceMan]

9 hours ago, WH-Wilou84 said:

Apologies if the level wasn't that fun for you :)

NEVER apologize for not conforming to other people's taste

 

Edit: You can apologize, but only apologize if the result wasn't up to YOUR standards

[MtPain27]

**Two things: 1) MAP 24-26 is the best run of levels in 180MPV so far, in my opinion, and 2) MAP 24 contains a lengthy digression on Porcupine Tree, which you should feel free to skip. Frankly, I could entertain an entire thread's worth of discussion on that band...

 

MAP 24: Reve Lucide

 

Porcupine Tree! Oh man, I dedicated years of my life to listening to those guys. Lightbulb Sun is an underappreciated album, I think it and Stupid Dream tend to get overlooked by the prog-metal fans that PT acquired with In Absentia, Deadwing, and Fear of a Blank Planet, and dismissed by the folks who enjoy their digressive psychedelic albums of the 90s. Personally I love the band's art pop phase: Stupid Dream is an album I can still listen to (almost) all the way through today, and Lightbulb Sun contains some of my old favorites: Shesmovedon, The Rest Will Flow, Russia on Ice, Feel So Low, and of course, the title track. I was absolutely floored to find a PT MIDI in a Doom map. I think of Porcupine Tree as a pretty niche interest to begin with, and to see them intersect with Doom was a rare pleasure. Thank you, @Roofi (Now that I think of it, I should have known you were a fan just by looking at your profile pic, man!).

 

Oh yeah, I guess there's a map to talk about here too...

 

This red voidscape level takes no prisoners. After five minutes of tentative poking and prodding, I was about ready to throw in the towel. You've got a bevy of arch-vile-led monster parties primed for attack from the very start if you fire a shot, a cyberdemon shelling you from afar, most of the paths are blocked by mancubi, and if you skirt past them to the red key, you'll find yourself surrounded by revenants, hell knights, and chaingunners, your escape routes cut off by more teleporting foes, including yet another archie. It's definitely a rough start, but the key to your survival is infighting, and the little island next to the red key. Ammo is capital-T Tight, but you should be able to take cover and kill everything from there, grab the key, and coerce the monsters at the start into infighting before you teleport back (they like to collect, conveniently, right next to the cyberdemon). 

 

The second half of the map is a blur: you get the red key, hit several colored switches, and get inundated with cyberdemons, arch-viles, nightwatch cacos, and pain elementals. Find the plasma, run around, and try to let them come to you...I have no idea how I survived it. I missed the rocket launcher teleporter until the end (you'll be greeted by a cyber and a baron in there, take heed), but I thankfully I hardly needed it. I was also lucky to find the secret that let me telefrag the first cyberdemon, saving me ammo. I really enjoyed this one: it's brutal, but fair, and the MIDI doesn't hurt either (though the melody misses the high notes, and some pitch bends are missing, just saying)!

 

MAP 25: Geole Necrosee

 

Off to a great start! Geole Necrosee is probably my favorite map by WH so far, it kicks off with a thrilling shootout that I somehow survived first try despite the lurking nightwatch cacos and free-roaming arch-vile. After the adrenaline wore off a little, I got a moment to admire the Stardate 20X6-eqsue visuals (whose influence I confirmed in the text file), with bright neon colors accenting the rugged earthy tones and rusted metal tech. There's also that platforming section...yuck.

 

The double Heresiarch/revenant/chaingunner/pinkie fight with onlooking AVs and a cyberdemon was a bitch and half, but probably the best use of the custom boss I've seen so far. Whether or not they're actually that dangerous, TWO projectile-vomiting juggernauts simply cannot be ignored, which creates a real conflict of interest when you're trying to cope with so many chaingunners and revenants and hungry pinkies. I do think the viles were a bit overkill, but ultimately I did prevail with single digit deaths (in that room). Tremendous fight. The nightwatch cacodemons get a starring role in the last room, which was again very Ribbiksian: dispense with four barons before a troop of dark cacos creep over the partition in front of you...thank god for the pillar in the middle of the room. The second half of the fight sets a Heresiarch and two annoying arch-viles on you, but knock out the AVs and the Heresiarch is toast...I've said it before and I'll say it again, he's so slow.

 

To recap, this map is gorgeous and the fights are high-concept and exciting. I had to look up the secrets because wow are they hidden carefully; I wish WH hadn't hid four monsters in them, but that's my only complaint here. 

 

MAP 26: Monument en Beton

 

What a rush! I was looking forward to this one, Darkwave0000 is in my top three favorite Doom mappers, and "More" is in my top three favorite TNT Evilution tracks. It's a match made in heaven. I actually played this level a week or two ago because I couldn't wait, and all I have to say is, "holy shit." Having freshly finished Speed of Doom for the third time, I'm well acquainted with Darkwave's visual signature and favorite kinds of fights, but this map bowled me over completely. It's admittedly short on detail compared to a lot of maps in this set and most of his lavish SOD contributions, but it's got an undertow of dread and mystery, and ladles on every bit of punishment promised by the silence of its shadowy halls. 

 

You can circlestrafe and infight through the opening, but be careful not to let arch-viles pin you outside when you press the switch that reveals the cyberdemon: two of them will show up in the first room and resurrect the mancubi there ad nauseum. Try to use the chaingun in this room because it's completely useless otherwise. Before you drop down to the next big room TAKE NOTE: YOU WON'T GET A ROCKET LAUNCHER IN THIS MAP. One of Darkwave's quirks is that he sometimes just doesn't give you certain weapons, like the shotgun, but in Monument en Breton, it's not an oversight, it's a design decision. What I admire most about this map is its calibration for plasma-only combat. Not only does it work from a gameplay perspective, it also escalates the tension to unbelievable heights in the latter stages; the plasma rifle is, by design, a panic button weapon, and due to its lack of splash damage, can only do so much against crowds of non-fodder monsters. At its core, it's a defensive weapon, or best suited to 1v1 battles with boss monsters, which makes your reliance on it all the more nail-biting against such prodigious numbers. 

 

The two mega-fights in the second half are the main attractions here: the massive slime room, with its army of imps, multiple cyberdemons, sniping mancubi, arachnotrons, hell knights, and two guard towers wrapped in crushers, periodically exposing revenants and arch-viles, will swallow you whole if you approach it with offense in mind. My strategy, which worked on my first try today, is to blast through the right side of the imps, skirt around the guard tower while it's lowered, and duck into the cove with the arachnotron and hit the switch that opens a wall of chaingunners along the backside of the arena. Then, all you have to do is wait for the cybers to eviscerate everything, pop out and kill the arch-viles carefully, and then get the cybers to crush themselves. It's a thing of beauty.

 

What can I even say about the last fight? It's a metal corridor with three hundred monsters: roaming cybers, four or five arch-viles on the ground and two or three more above you, masses of revenants and hell knights, blockages around every turn, projectiles screaming all around you, and stocking not nearly as much health as you may have been expecting. If this isn't one of 180MPV's most hardcore fights, then it's definitely the most frantic, my god, I don't think I blinked in five minutes during my first encounter with this room...a heartrending work of splattering genius. I've said enough: this is my favorite map in the set so far.

[Roofi]

Hey @MtPain27 , yes Porcupine Tree midis are so rad ! :)

 

I would like to make a hard dark atmospheric map with "Blackest Eyes" or a strange surreal grassy map with "Last Chance To Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled " someday.

 

I used Lightbulb Sun for this map. There was a time when I wanted to use "Trains" but the midi was not working in vanilla.

 

I made a map using "Fear of the Blank Planet" but it's not released yet. :)

[MtPain27]

11 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

I knew I was in trouble when I saw Darkwave's name appear under the map title. MtPain27's favourite mapper, notorious for his beautifully-crafted levels with intense slaughter-based combat. 

 

Darkwave makes my top three, but #1 is definitely skillsaw!

[TJG1289]

Map25: Geole Necrosse - [WH]-Wilou86

100% kills and secrets. Time: 25:10

Deaths: 9

 

Another pretty fun and challenging map. First arena looks intimidating cause of it's size, but there's not much down there when the swarm comes in, so just run around and get some good infighting done. The switch behind the mancubus reveals a new path plus 2 dark cacos, and my first death was from me strafing into a wall and getting the full blast from one of them. After going through some halls with some minor inconveniences, you get to the biggest and hardest fight of them all. A switch lowers 2 walls. One to the side with 2 Heresiarchs and pinkies and one in front of you with a metric butt-ton of chaingunners and revs, with some archie and cybie turrets to boot. Hello another 6 deaths, as I try to get as many things to infight as possible while getting out of sight of archies and plasmaing anything that corners me. Eventually, you'll be able to hit a switch revealing a pain elemental and another switch, which opens up 2 alcoves, one with the red skull and one with a teleporter back the beginning. I took the teleporter before grabbing the red key, so I could come back and maybe get a height advantage over what remaining enemies are there (the archies are at perfect far away rocket level up here!). Next up, we head to the upper area of the first arena, where some mancubi, revs, hell knights, and shotgunners are. Check the side of one of the alcoves to see a little button on a ledge. Activate it to open up a secret teleporter that telefrags the cybie and takes you to a hidden Soul Sphere. The path to the yellow skull features some platforming, but fall into the slime to find a hidden blue armor. Once up at the yellow skull, 3 archies will appear: one teleports back to where you were to revive some chumps, and the other 2 stay with you, just to welcome your rockets to their faces. Definitely one of the easier areas in the map. Head back to the yellow skull switch to lower the floor with some baddies and open a path back to the Heresiarch area. Here's where the final secret is, and it's kind of obtuse. There's an incredibly hard to see switch in the passage without the teleporter toward the left side. Hit it, then hightail it back to the teleporter that takes you to the beginning. Then hightail it back to just before you drop down and quickly hit the now revealed switch on the right before it gets hidden again. This opens up an alcove back by the teleporter with a Soul Sphere. You may not need it as the final room gives you a Megasphere, but you can try to save it, as 4 barons and the most dark cacos in one swarm so far start to make your life terrible. Then a Heresiarch and 2 archies on the elevated sides of the room come in. My final deaths were from the archies since it's pretty hard to find cover if both are attacking and the Heresiarch is too.

 

Overall, a pretty good map. Didn't give me as much trouble as before. I like seeing the purple Otex textures making an appearance here. MIDI didn't really do much for me. 

[TJG1289]

16 minutes ago, MtPain27 said:

 

Darkwave makes my top three, but #1 is definitely skillsaw!

So who's the third?

[TJG1289]

And sorry for the 3rd post in a row, but it seems like voting started on next month's WAD, so I figured I'd start that:

+++ Happy

[Omniarch]

28 minutes ago, MtPain27 said:

 

Darkwave makes my top three, but #1 is definitely skillsaw!

Wow, who knew...

 

Simp ;)

 

Seriously, though, who doesn't have skillsaw in their top five. The man's a veritable institution.

 

Edit: question, who's your second favourite then? Or do your A's speak for themselves...

Edited March 26, 2021 by Omniarch