The DWmegawad Club plays: Base Ganymede

[cannonball]

^Just to make a note in case Khorus actually sees this, the teleport marker (Thing 205), the one from the blue key section, is not tagged for HNTR, but is for HMP/UV. This would explain why some have had issues and some haven't, as it is dependent on what difficulty you are playing as to whether that teleport works or not. Looks like a author mistake there. 

[Doritos420]

E3M4 - Cement Stronghold

Spoiler

Very much enjoyed this map. Large sprawling techbase with nonlinear pathing. I like how the whole thing was one giant donut with little areas to get the keys that sprung off of it. I found the level to have a very vertical structure which was pretty fun. I ended up getting the yellow key first, pretty small but enjoyable fight here. Next I got the red key (still not sure how to get the secret soulsphere here). This fight was probably the hardest in the level with being boxed in by barons and cacos. This room required quick use of the rocket launcher and plasma rifle to survive. Lastly I got the blue key, probably my favorite area of the level, lots of fun. I was also able to get the secret medkit here (very easy). The cyberdemon guarding the exit was a piece of cake since I had been hoarding most of my plasma ammo. Not the hardest level but I enjoyed the layout of the level and how it wrapped around itself.

 

[TheOrganGrinder]

E3M4

 

This is another fun map, reminiscent of E3M2 in its layout though not so much in either its use of nukage or its choice of textures and materials; indeed, for a level occupying a spot in what is traditionally Doom's Hell episode and following on the heels of a Hell map, the use of techbase textures and the predominance of grey and white textures lends this one more of a sterile, almost clinical feel.  There are of course nukage pools and rocky outcroppings to be found, and in a few places, intestinal textures suggest Hell's subversive presence; are they intrusions into an otherwise sturdy technological structure, or are the white and grey panels that make up so much of this level merely a facade of clinical cleanliness wrapped paper-thin around a corrupted understructure?

[DavitW]

Taking a look at episode 3 here. At first glance E3M1 looks like we might as well just started episode 1 or 2, but it soon turns into something much bigger and more difficult. E3M2 looks like it could be one of the best maps yet, but really at this point I feel like I'm just tired of this wads shit. Excessive usage of nukage (Yes, I thought that was funny.) Not enough rad suits to deal with it, pop up traps spawning enemies all around you, large groups of imps that serve little actual threat and top it all off no damn health. The same things I had little problem with in the first episode but at this point it can't sustain three entire episodes of gameplay. Of course the wad is also hurt by the more limited gameplay options brought on by the original Doom, there's really only so much you can do when the most difficult monsters you can regularly use are Cacodemons and Barons of hell.

 

I really did enjoy maps like E1M4, E2M6 and E3M2 though, and the only maps I particularly disliked were the boss maps of E1M8 and E2M8. Perhaps you could add the secret map of E2M9 in there as well although it was relatively painlessly in the end. I think this wad would probably be viewed better in many peoples eyes if it was a big episode of the best it had to offer and the rest was left out.

[dei_eldren]

E3M5 - the Secret Adobe (HNTR, Pistol start, 2nd run): K 100% (111/111), I 100% (14/14), S 100% (2/2), T ~14:00+, D 0 - My first run of this level, continuous and blind, also deathless and the few pics provided are from that run, but i also recorded a demo from pistol start, my 2nd run, so the stats are provided from that (mainly the time would be different, took some longer on my blind run).

 

The level begins with a relentless assault by dozens of Imps, Pinkies.  There is a green marble structure build into the rockface, redbrick building with an entrance to an otherwise isolated region of hell where dwells a Cyberdemon, and a wooden building that guards the exit to yet another region, which we will see in the next level.  After clearing the bloody rock-plateau from the low-tiers, i cleared the upper courtyard of the green marble building from its inhabitants, but there is a YK door, to which to key is obtained from a lower section of the same structure.  Cacodemons are prevalent here often coming to the aid of their lower-ranked brethren.  And i ran straight into one of them getting a fright, as it teleported on to my way running back to the upper section.  Too much haste can easily result in death here, and i was mainly lucky not to die in a few instances.

 

Through the YK door, there's a clever little mechanism to gain entry, and a small ambush to go with it, but the opposition here is not very bad.  The objective here is to find a switch which releases a Spider Mastermind and (i assume) opens up the red-brick building that has the teleport to go to the Cyberdemon.  There is a plasma-gun available, and enough plasma, as long as it's not wasted, to take care of the bosses.  i didn't do particularly well with the SMM but there is plenty of cover and space on the plateau to take care of her without dying.

 

The place where the Cyberdemon resides has an eerie ambience, and on top of some rocks there are his minions, Imps and zombies.  His adobe is large and offers a lot of cover, but he managed to hit me with a rocket from behind when i assumed stupidly i wasn't in his line of sight.  No matter, i survived, but didn't dare to take any risks by running too close after that, so i killed him using up all my plasma, with the provided BFG, and lastly shotgunned him to death.

To get away, there is again a little neat mechanism, to get on top of one of the rocks to teleport back.  These kinds of things really give flavour of adventure to the map, rather than it being something to just run through.

 

But all hell has now broken loose over the plateau, as dozens of enemies are now running amok over it.  Cacodemons, Pinkies and Imps. i must run around with them, then, mainly my target being to avoid losing any more precious health, and kill them safely while at it to ensure staying alive.  Ammo is starting to be a bit sparse, never was a problem on continuous play here as i had a lot of plasma coming in, but now i must scour the grounds for more.  i do miss the rocket launcher a little which i also had on my continuous run, because it would take some pressure off.  But after a while, all ends well.

 

Yeah, i loved this level, everything about it.  Even the bosses, at this point they are to be expected.  But i also liked how they were used, not in a mean or unfair placing, but just as they classically should be.  For me this map didn't even have anything technical to complain about (and let's face it, as annoying as some of those things can be, the proof of the level is in the enjoyment of playing it, not in some technical issues ultimately.)  The secrets were on the easy and simple side, got them while going through on my first run, too, but still perfectly good and useful.  After some initial doubts, it seems Episode Three might end up being the best of the WAD, hampered mostly by what came before it as there hasn't been a single level here that i would have yet disliked.  My kind of level, 4.5/5.

 

My demo: dei-bg-e3m5.zip

 

Spoiler

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by dei_eldren

[DuckReconMajor]

E3M4- dsda-doom - skill 4 - rewind feature used (a lot)

 

Quite some heft in this one.
Yet another "all 3 keys needed in the same location" trek
Not quite as compelling as the last one. Got difficult enough to be annoying at times. But I am a fan nonetheless.
The Cyberdemon fight was kind of random. I figured killing it would show a new path I'd be too harried to notice with it stomping around. But nope.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[LadyMistDragon]

E3M4 - Gloomy Techbase

 

Well, this completely breaks from the nukage pool design of every other techbase map thus far! Granted, there's an almost nauseatingly amount of gray walls, but Khorus slips in some computer textures every now and then, but yet, it's harder to dub Khorus a one-trick pony when he decides to do things like this. Not like it's exactly slime-free, as an outdoor area in the east and another river in the blue key wing demonstrate, but it's no longer so ubiquitous as it was before. Occasional signs of corruption, such as skull pilla and flesh walls at certain point, also permeate this part of what is perhaps a most critical entry point for the demons. This also has the highest monster count of any map up to this point, 272, but it all goes by much quicker than you'd expect. Cool how the music builds.

 

The start is quite subdued, by the standards of this episode. There's a chaingun immediately to your left and some former humans to your right. If you take this route, you'll eventually run across a plasma rifle and an accompanying Cacodemon ambush you'll find you don't quite have the plasma to handle at this point. Of course, you really don't have many bullets either, and you don't get a backpack until about halfway through the map either way, so there's that.

 

The yellow key is located in an outdoor type of area with a spoke-like structure that suggests some important function. This is probably the easiest ambush to handle. The red key area, on the other hand is located in a building at the eastern end of the map, which has some shotgunners you'd better look out for upon entering. But if you either pick up the red key or try to leave by the other end, you'll trigger a nasty ambush that can certainly be evaded, but will likely come at a heavy cost. 3 Barons, probably twice as many Cacodemons, and probably several other enemies I'm forgetting about. Oh yeah, I never figured out how to get the Supercharge. I looked up how to access it online, but finding the switch in question to be all but invisible, it seemed like enough time had been wasted.

 

It'll be shortly after this that you arrive in an area with a few hitscanners that ended up killing me once since I had 6 percent health. Imps surrounding the place and annoying Spectres blocking my sight on the sergeants didn't make things any easier. Go to the other end of this room and find yourself with a line of Imps and a radiation river running to the right. If you need health at this point, there's a berserk pack that you can pick up, in addition to the other one's whose location I can't really remember.

 

Shortly after this, you'll run into an outdoor area stuffed to the brim with barrels, 3 Barons, and many other enemies, Needless to say, this was the map's best section, easily. Shooting the barrels to greatly weaken the Barons and destroy most of the other opposition is awesome when done sparingly. If you came from the eastern part of the map like me, you'll also have plenty of rockets to use on the larger baddies. More barons end up teleporting in at a certain point, and it was here, running into an adjacent hallway where I triggered a rare Baron infighting glitch, as shown by a screenshot going below this review(though maybe the nearby demon ended up felling the baron in the end). I'm pretty sure it was after I picked up the blue key though, because there are two large cells boxes next to the blue key, and I remember having quite a lot cells around this time(that was wrong, I think these two may have come from nearvy(. The sort of switch-hunting sequence where you're lowering bars to eventually access said BK, isn't really worth relating here. I also ended up getting the secret with the medkit.

 

Finally, with all three keys in hand, head down the darkened hallway with the signs of all 3 keys above it, blow the zombies to pieces with rockets, and finally, trigger an ambush with a Cacodemon and a demon or spectre. A Medkit right before the gate will restore some health, though I had over 50 at this point, plus, I would only not be pistol-staring if I had something like 25 health or below.

 

Is this the best map of episode? E3M2 probably takes that prize for now, but on the other hand, the blue key area has to be one of the most fun things in Base Ganymede, not to mention that glitch.

 

Spoiler

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by LadyMistDragon

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

E3M4

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

Here we leave hell behind for a silver and grey techbase level. The level is highly populated with 272 monsters, the most in the wad so far, but honestly it doesn't feel like it. I actually found this to be the easiest level of the episode up to this point, which may have to do with the fact the resource scarcity seems to have been dialed back here, with ammo especially feeling almost plentiful throughout most of the level's runtime. You also get access to the plasma rifle almost immediately, a bit of a rarity in this wad.

 

For combat, the level is well paced and fun, albeit not all that threatening. There is the odd hitscanner horde that is tricky to not take shots from. The yellow key room has quite a few of them, as well as a pretty surprising imp teleport ambush which brings in cacos once you walk further ahead and take the key, a well made room. The red key room is probably the biggest threat in the wad, grabbing the key causes cacos and barons to teleport into a very claustrophobic room, but as long as you do well finding and creating space for yourself you should get by without dying. I do kind of have to echo Cannonball's closing remarks, the cyberdemon fight was a little bit forgettable, with you having plenty of plasma and a lot of room to run around, and the exiting ambush was pretty anticlimactic, simply teleporting 3 cacodemons right in front of you, and not even trapping you in or anything like that.

 

Despite me finding it a bit on the easy side, I thought this was a solid map. The combat had a good pace to it and the layout was well designed.

[ElPadrecitoCholo]

I'm sorry to have disappeared for so long, too many things to do in my personal life ... but hey, I will continue now with what I have yet to deliver today.

 

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.

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E2M5:
A very interesting map, because it has a lot of decorations and things that make it look more like this place belongs to Episode 3 instead of Episode 2, but well, visually, the map is really nice, because it has well structured decorations and also has a good structure and architecture in each place you go, not to mention that the map is really long, and makes one easily feel lost between traveling from one place to another, but at the same time Less it is good to know that this map has a notorious variety of designs in each area, since a large part of these areas have different things that do not make them so repetitive or monotonous, which is very good because I really like the variety, and above all, the way each place is made is also great because you have to go in a straight direction, then make one or another turn, go up somewhere, then go down, and so on with open and closed spaces and lava floors and toxic floors. As for combat, I will say here that it is just as good, because every moment really ugly traps arise that test the Marine in survival of not dying at the hands of so many demons together, and it is that here he is very prone to finding traps which consist of teleportation or enemies appearing out of nowhere, and what is most abundant on this map are certain things, the Imps, the Hitscanners, the Cacodemons and the Barons of hell, or also the appearance of a Cyberdemon as an extra gift.

 

E2M6:
I am in my total right to say that this map is a pain in the ribs, because not only did I arrive at this place with the worst of luck, which was to end up with very low health, and on top of that there are great dangers here that if they left me with a totally sour and horrible taste in the mouth. But first let's talk about the appearance of the map, and something to mention is that this map is really interesting in the visual aspect, since as with the previous one, this map also offers a variety of areas in the sense of the decoration of walls and structures, Also, it does not confuse you at any time, since in itself, the map is not as long as it seems, and it has several open areas, from the initial area, to other areas, such as one where a Cyberdemon appears on top of a platform, but the good thing about this map is that it is not completely linear, so you can go for one thing in any order you want in case you already have a good arsenal and good health, something that I did not have in that moment, and to start the map in Pistol Start, no thanks. Now in the combat aspect, it is where the map stands out the most, because it has the largest number of opponents so far, which made me really sweat a lot trying to always keep my health up, since here they had quite a few Hitscanners, Imps, Barons of Hell, and Cacodemons, plus I don't mention the Pinkys and Lost Souls here because they don't appear as excessively as these other enemies were, or at least in the sense that they would result with greater resistance, but Well, not satisfied with that, this would also be the map with the most appearances of bosses that I have seen, being 2 Cyberdemons and 1 Spider MasterMind, anyway, the only risky thing here is to try to get to where the sphere that is enclosed is in a place with bars that require the Yellow Skull to unlock it, but otherwise, each fight is quite intense, since there are many traps in this site, quite a few I would say, all of them consisting of or in teleporting enemies to the Marine's location, but the good thing is that having all the keys, the last area that is the exit of the map is really easy to clean, so you only have to suffer a good portion and then leave there with more tranquility.

 

E2M7:
This map is really good, since it is short, short and fun, it does not have so many enemies and it is perfect to later go quickly to the final level. Things to say about this map, because throughout these following maps, they are more based on the infernal aspect, with a lot of demonic atmosphere and lava in various places, in any case, this map is quite successful, since it has very interesting, like the last part before reaching the teleporter, there are viceras on the ground and a lot of lava, and no matter where he puts his feet, the Marine will still end up burning, a bit strange idea but I am not complaining about it, and to the end the huge door at the beginning opening and then only observe darkness, really great everything. The combat does not disappoint, it is just as good here, and therefore, I did not have many problems in this regard, especially with the final area, so I can say that this was the best map I have ever enjoyed.

 

E2M8:
And we come to the last map of this episode, from the beginning it is clear to us that we must prepare for combat, although I also realized that at this level it has a secret of a sphere of invincibility, but that I have not found the way to unlock it, even so, crossing the center portal, we are already teleported directly to battle, with only 2 Cyberdemons that are on top of several inaccessible platforms, but these can be transported wherever they want, which makes the combat complicated being on the top floor, but fortunately you can go down to the ground without any risk of dying to fight the other monsters that are in that area while the Cyberdemons try to teleport in the direction of the Marine's location, but well, I'll quickly say that in visual aspect, this decent, maybe you could expect a little more from this map in architectural terms, but in any case they were not a problem or a problem aunt. And combat is the least acceptable thing to me, since it is very, very tedious having to wait for the Cyberdemons to kill them without first firing a missile against the Marine, but luckily there is enough Cell for the Plasma gun and also for the other weapons and thus manage to kill both bosses without many complications although it is very horrible to wait for them to teleport at the right time.

 

E2M9:
And to close Episode 2, here is my experience with this secret map that I could not find in E2M5, because fortunately this map is not that long, and in fact it is quite linear, and has a good structure throughout the course of the map, There is no dull moment, since each area is quite varied to avoid repetition and monotony, and the fact that the exit door to that place was at the same starting point where everything began, made the trip at least It would be quite worth it, even more so for how it turned out to be the final area with the red skull key. Regarding combat, in the same way I have no complaint here, at every moment the combat felt fresh due to the diversity of traps that existed, and because it was really obligatory to vary the weapons at all times due to the issue of ammunition, although of course This is because I did Pistol Start in this level, and having discovered the secret before, I could have finished the map much faster without so many problems because I would still have ammunition to spare for the last zone before returning to the beginning, whatever So I really enjoyed this map, and I would consider it the best Episode 2 has had so far, along with E2M7, short and entertaining, as I like it.

 

 

→Again, the video that contains it all: 

 

(By the way, I would recommend that you watch the full video, try to make it as less boring as possible in some areas, because it really took me too long to play all this, even more because of E2M6, but hey, you will understand why, heh)

 

 

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Episode 3, get ready because it's your turn...

[cannonball]

E3M5 - This was ummm..... really easy

Space, space everywhere, plenty of room to run around, inviting infighting here and there. The yellow key has no trap whatsoever, just walk in and take it. The Mastermind is relatively straightforward to dispatch if you use cover effectively. The red key area is pretty neat to look at, but after so long dealing with fights without even a sniff of the BFG, it was a real surprise to see one here as frankly this fight could be dealt with fine without it. The end horde is a bit of a joke again because of the sheer amount of space in the main area.

I don't quite know how to feel about this one, it is certainly a breather compared to previous maps and nothing rubbed me up the wrong way. If this was the intention then great, but I can't help but feel like a huge playing space was made with no real method of using it to create a proper threat.

[Khorus]

Very neat to see my old wad being given a bit of stage time again, thanks to dobu gabu maru and those who voted. I'm also grateful to everyone who took their time to play, and those sharing their thoughts :) Sorry for those who came across any map issues.

I'm recovering from a lung infection with coughing muscle strains which has lasted over a month now, so unfortunately I haven't had the state of mind to keep up with the thread and post any thoughts etc. I hope to have time/energy to answer some of the questions and throw bits of info out there in a couple of days.

 

On 7/21/2021 at 8:45 AM, LadyMistDragon said:

ADAM YOU FUCKING WANKER, ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GONNA USE SLIME INSTEAD OF BLOOD FOR THE FLOOR JUST BECAUSE THE LATTER ISN'T NORMALLY DAMAGING? FEED MY EYES, JUST GO AHEAD AND SEW THEM SHUT.

 

Are people allowed to author bash in here? This person actually liked the map so I can assume they're joking, but using my real name and capslocking obscenities isn't exactly welcoming.

[Doritos420]

@Khorus Thanks for taking the time to post. It's always great to hear some of the behind the scenes info on wad creation. Hope you are feeling better soon.

 

E3M5 - Valley of Blood

Spoiler

Fun map, not too challenging or long compared to the previous, despite featuring 2 boss monsters. The initial valley area is pretty neat I was surprised there was no big monster trap after gathering the first key (I like how its sort of a 2 story structure you get to explore here), then upon backtracking you get a cacodemon that spawns right in front of your face (another one of Khorus’ tricks!). The part that surprised me the most was probably the instant elevator that shoots you up into a room full of imps and shotgunners. Very startling. The area that was standout for me was the cyberdemon area, looked fantastic and was a blast to use the BFG. I really liked how the shadows were cast from the giant pillars. Very cool looking room. Also I found the secrets to be pretty easy in this one.

[Book Lord]

E3M5

Doomsday Engine, UV-Fast, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

The previous level was an excellent diversion, but the setting was soon back to hellish marble & wood buildings, nestled in SP_ROCK and ROCKRED landscape. The demons lay in waiting just outside the starting cave, ready to charge from two directions and possibly box me in. There was a nice pressure by Pinkies and Lost Souls swarming in full force, with hitscanners and Imps ready to hit me if I stuck my head out. I can see a pistol start being troublesome here, with only a chaingun and a box of bullets at hand. I guess the best strategy would be running out and lose the pursuers in the extensive, harmless blood lake ahead, while picking up some extra bullets, but with those trigger-happy hitscanners on UV -fast it was a little on the dangerous side.

Spoiler

Once the surroundings were clear, I entered the marble building on the left, acquiring a lightly guarded YSK. I was still asking myself what was wrong with the usual ambush, when I fell for an elaborate trap, involving a single Cacodemon who suddenly teleported in an area I secured before. I checked it in Doom Builder and was surprised by the clever idea of combining sector lowering, a lift and a forced path. Totally unpredictable. Beyond the yellow door, an unfriendly instantaneous elevator had me immediately surrounded by enemies, arranged in such a way that only plasma gun was quick enough to dispatch them and sustain an acceptable damage. The lonely Baron of Hell appearing by a switch was less of a threat and I killed it with the shotgun.

Spoiler

The Spiderdemon coming out of the newly revealed area did not surprise me; I was astonished she was all alone. Some flying sidekicks would have made the combat less trivial, since I just camped the three pillars for cover and shot at her large hitbox. However, two small buildings were in sight, one clearly marked as the exit and requiring RSK, the other hosting a teleporter.

Spoiler

The destination had the first BFG 9000 on UV immediately in front of the player, a good incentive to move quickly before knowing what was going on. I was inside an imposing ring of metal columns, encircled in total darkness, with Cacodemons flying all around, a Cyberdemon in the centre and two platforms with Imp firing squads. I found it to be rather easy to evade the attacks in such an open space. Infighting was so effective that I barely felt the urge to use the new weapon. I enjoyed the atmosphere more than the gameplay. That place seemed out of space and time, more like a dream than a tangible environment. The BFG and the RSK were real though, and I returned to the blood lake with both.

Spoiler

The finale showcased an assorted horde teleporting in the area before the exit. Again, the chance to outrun them in the blood lake was easily exploited, with a monster blocking line in the south-eastern area making things even simpler. The variety of monsters ensured strong infighting on UV -fast and the BFG made short work of the clustered monsters. Since the most powerful weapon had been given with ammo to spare, the author could have risked being more brutal with monster placement, and especially by sealing off the empty portion of the lake. This was a missed opportunity to achieve another great level, considering the interesting visuals and progression. It is still way above average, the first part featuring better gameplay than the second, regardless of monster count.

Spoiler

 

[LadyMistDragon]

E2M5 - Loch Blood

 

You star off in an indoor-area with flesh textures suggestive of something important happening not too far from here, a chaingun and two different paths. The right upward path takes you to a ledge with Imps, a plasma rifle, and the yellow key door at the other end. The left one takes you to a large open blood pool with one lowerable flesh pillar with a medkit which counts as a secret, some crimson rock mounts towards the far right end and  a truckload of enemies which seriously taxes the ammo available to you. There are a few shotgun guys thrown into the mix, but finding them can be tricky. And Lost Souls flying at you from a vast distance is just annoying. Continue into the marble building at the far right end, pick up the yellow key, and head to the yellow key door. Behind the yellow key door, press a switch on the right and be prepared to unload plasma for a highly close-quarters ambush. While you may losr half your health here, you'll quickly pick up more, though you may wish you has access to the nearby megarmor you also saw from the other section earlier. You can also reach the second secret by hopping to a nearby ledge with plasma. Eventually, you'll reach a switch in a flesh-covered chamber containing many cells, along with a Baron of Hell that teleports behind you when you get near it.

 

The switch lowers that wall of pea-soup green on the left end of the outdoor area, revealing an entirely solitary and non-threatening spider mastermind who's so far away that avoiding her fire by hiding behind the various structures/formations is really little trouble. Resist the temptation to use the plasma rifle on the groups of Imps and hitscanners on the ledges in the surrounding buildings because you may notice that killing them brings the dead enemy count to maybe half. Take a teleporter in the bulding on the right with that demon target symbol above it and prepare to face down a Cyberdemon and several Imps and Cacodemons in a pillared locale surrounded by shadow that usually telegraphs 'very bad news.' But you're only facing Doom 1 monsters here, so that's not quite the case. Still, you don't have so much room to move around that you'll have little trouble. Keep the Cacodemons off you, let the baddies infight when necessary, and then, finally pick up the red key which you need to exit. Return to the outdoor courtyard, fight off the last major ambush without having to use up too much non-plasma ammo hopefully, and head into the very solemn wood building whilst killing some more enemies to exit.

 

Much easier than the previous few maps, despite the presence of a few strong encounters. Khorus mostly avoids the pop-up ambushes in this map and settles for some predictable but essentially decent encounters. The visual aspects were really the strongest aspect though, and this felt like deliberate difficulty sliding. I dunno if that's a good thing necessarily, but you can't please everyone. I can still say this Mr. Freeze track could probably not be used here.

 

[DuckReconMajor]

E3M5 - dsda-doom - skill 4 - rewind feature used

 

I liked the dark room a lot. Arenas that take place in ethereal nowhere are always super neat to me. Also I don't know if it was how the room was set up but a lot of caco vs cyberdemon infighting happened which was really cool.

The 'hell in space' aesthetic seen in the start of the level is very pleasing to the eye. Mine at least.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[LadyMistDragon]

14 hours ago, Khorus said:

Very neat to see my old wad being given a bit of stage time again, thanks to dobu gabu maru and those who voted. I'm also grateful to everyone who took their time to play, and those sharing their thoughts :) Sorry for those who came across any map issues.

I'm recovering from a lung infection with coughing muscle strains which has lasted over a month now, so unfortunately I haven't had the state of mind to keep up with the thread and post any thoughts etc. I hope to have time/energy to answer some of the questions and throw bits of info out there in a couple of days.

 

 

Are people allowed to author bash in here? This person actually liked the map so I can assume they're joking, but using my real name and capslocking obscenities isn't exactly welcoming.

First sorry to hear of your infection. The truth was, I'd thought you quit mapmaking, if not stepped away from the community entirely. It's nice to hear you're still around.

 

Yes, repetitive design doesn't really bother me as long as it's done with strong use of architecture and combat ot match. I was exaggerating my own emotional tendencies with regards to other things for comedic effect. It's been over a decade since I was in the UK, so I may have forgot folks there are a little more sensitive to many things. Then again, people find my tactlessness quite striking anyway.

Edited July 24, 2021 by LadyMistDragon

[Thrustpeak]

UV | Continuous w/ Saves | Crispy Doom

 

E3M5
Finally the BFG makes an appearance! Oddly, I was expecting a bit of a tougher encounter to accompany it (such a spacious room), but I can appreciate a fight trivialized by the final weapons first appearance. It makes it feel powerful. The real dangers came early via the yellow key door and a switch just after it. Elevated into a room of hitscanners, imps and lost souls—I did not come out unscathed. A sinister trap the likes of which I would love to see more of. Being so quickly thrown into that room it was almost as if I was the pop-in monster to them. That one room aside, I've felt an odd sense of reversing difficulty progression this episode with most maps feeling easier than the one that preceded it. Perhaps a byproduct of becoming more armed, but—with BFG now in hand—I would not mind seeing the difficulty really begin to ramp up leading to the finale.  

[dei_eldren]

E3M6 - Secluded Corner (HNTR, continuous, blind): K 100% (110/110), I 0% (0/1), S 100% (2/2), T 14:40, D 0 - Immediately i love the layout - a secluded area surrounded by bloody rockface, at the center an open space of rocky soil at the edge of which is a pit of lava, and i find myself on a higher ledge, with the Imps in front, at a corner of a structure that's again build on the side of the surrounding rock.  On lower level by the lava pool are hitscanners, so from the start i am in the crossfire, and more enemies keep pouring in from another open building.  Taking some damage is unavoidable, and fortunately there are some stimpacks scattered around, so with some luck getting rid of the opposition is swift enough not to take lethal amount of damage.  There's also a Chaingun and good amount of ammo for it.  Obviously this part was much easier on continuous than on my pistol start attempt.

 

Next i cleared the open part of the wooden structure in front, some Lost Souls, Demons and Cacodemons, arriving at a hall in which the YK is required, and also the normal exit is found along the way, requiring the RK.  There is a little trap which can be lethal if health is low, going inside the red brick structure, as Imps attack from behind, emerging from monster closets.  i've learned in this WAD at a mere sound of something opening to look behind and dash back, and i'm sure that reflex saved my life here.

Inside is a dark room of considerable design, where the YK is guarded by Lost Souls, Imps and hitscanners.  There is also some precious health and ammo, and a Rocket Launcher.  It's a slight surprise there is no ambush when grabbing the YK, but this level does not need it, not at this point, the lack only serves to build up the dread.

 

Back to open the YK bars, there is a Plasma Gun, indicating something serious is about to take place, and pressing the switch, there appears a Baron, along with some Sergeants.  This however is not the difficult part, as a corridor was also opened up, into near darkness, and soon i hear the hissing of woken up Cacodemons.  This is scary as fuck, as i can barely see anything, and they are low behind a metal fence of some sort, with not much else but their horns showing most of the time.  i could go forward to get to the dark open space where they are, but there are also far away Imps on higher ground shooting their projectiles, so i mostly do my best to kill them from the narrow corridor.  Their fireballs are hard to predict and evade, and i take quite a lot of hits, but kill them with plasma and some rockets, which is also dangerous as it'd be easy to blow myself up here. 

When they are dead, i come to a pool of lava, at far side of which are Imps firing at me, with the RK, and some other items.  The killcounter shows still dozens of enemies to kill, so it's likely something will happen upon taking the RK.  Sure enough, a couple dozen Imps teleports in, but at least i have plasma to kill them quickly.  On the way back, there are still some more hitscanners, as another monster closet has opened up, to make sure there's victory is not presumed in this corner of hell.  The last enemies to emerge are two more Barons, for whom i have enough rockets, but killing of whom isn't entirely without danger in the somewhat treacherous space...

 

The secret exit is easy to find like before, whilst the first secret is wholly traditional, and i found it first because of necessity rather than just trying to max secrets.

 

Another absolutely fantastic level with beautiful visuals, and an interesting layout seamlessly joining together differing elements, alternating between elements like structures and nature, and brick and wood buildings, with ease, all blending together harmoniously and organically.  All brought together by Khorus' trademark design elements in this WAD, the brutalist rusty iron beams.  The combat is pretty rough, really challenging at times, and i think all the elements here were used to their potential.  Classic gameplay, and i think a classic map!  John Romero's Greatest Megawad ever, Si666il was again not far from my thoughts, and it just shows that to my taste Khorus has considerable talent in design of both combat and aesthetics, and truly, the Cacodemon fight in darkness could have been directly out of Si666il, or possibly the whole RK section.  i've no idea what this level will be like on UV, but i hope people who found E3M5 on the easy side will find this more of a challenge, because it certainly was on HNTR - yet not back to the unfairness of some earlier levels in Episodes 1 and 2 - but i'm still thinking i should have played Episode 3 on HMP, had i known how it will  be.  Anyway, fully deserved 4.5/5.

 

Here's a demo of my pistol start run of the map... i'm not gonna say what happened at the end, it was a bit embarrassing, very typical of me, but because of that i wasn't willing to play it immediately anew: dei-bg-e3m6.zip (just watched it myself, and i had totally erased from my mind having died close to the start and starting anew, ha-ha!)

 

Spoiler

 

Edited July 24, 2021 by dei_eldren

[TJG1289]

E3M4

(UV/Continuous/Saves)

100% kills and 50% secrets

Time: 19:08

 

I was a little concerned coming into this map with only 29% health, but thankfully there's a decent amount of health in this one, including a berserk by the red key. Before I get to that, this is probably my fav level so far. Back to a tech base, but this one is very metallic, which is a nice look. This level is non-linear like the last, and I went in a clockwise fashion, with the key order being blue, red, and yellow. Either way you go from the start, you'll find a plasma, which is very useful for the cybie that teleports in front of the yellow door once you grab the blue key. One of the easier cybie fights in the WAD, and easily the weakest key trap of the map. The red key's berserk makes it seem like it will be a pinkie trap, but it's actually an imp, caco, and baron one, so save some cells so you can escape this room and come back with a height advantage. There's a Soul Sphere here in a secret, but I couldn't figure out how to get it ( I just looked it up and I don't think I would have found that). The yellow key room is a 2-part ambush after clearing out the initial crowd. Pinkies and imps teleport in, which immediately made me regret taking out the rocket launcher (which is by the red key room), and then cacos show up once you actually grab it. The ending is kinda disappointing since it's just a mess of hitscan and some specters, with a 3 caco chaser after hitting the final 2 switches. Super fun map, and probably my favorite visually so far.

 

E3M5

100% kills and secrets

Time: 9:39

 

Back to hell already, with a surprisingly big level with not much in it. There's only a few fights in it, with a giant outside area that doesn't use its size to its potential. I was able to chaingun everything on ground level without leaving the starting cavern, then went up to the ledge to grab the plasma. Heading into the main building to the right of the start to grab the yellow key was very easy, and there was no teleport trap when grabbing it. True a caco teleports in back at the beginning, but that's nothing. A instant lift behind the yellow door is a nice trap, but nothing the chaingun can't fix. The room with the eye switch has a bunch of bulk cells, which helps with the baron that teleports behind you. Hitting the switch will lower the wall in the outdoor area with a Spider Mastermind, which is super easy to take care of with the plasma and using the pillars for cover. Heading through the teleporter at the other end sends you to a void area with imps, cacos, a cybie, and the BFG. I grabbed it, waited for the cybie to infight, and 2 shotted it with it. Grabbing the red key and teleporting out will take you back, with enemies now teleporting in, but they'll be so spread out that it's not a threat at all. A very easy level.

[cannonball]

E3M6 - This one is fairly short in size and actually another rather straightforward one to beat. The compact layout at the very least gives the monsters a little more threst and care must be taken at times to remove troublesome lost souls. The red key teleport ambush is more of a doomguy power play than an actual life threatening situation as you can dispose of them with either rockets or plasma. 

A pretty fun map both to casually play or speedrun, though I am not sure why a map that again is on the easy side is at this point of the journey.

Just a note - Whilst there are two secrets, in reality finding the first will land you the second one and of course the secret exit.

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

E3M5

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

And just like that we're back in hell. Marble and red fortresses, cliffs, blood, and gory textures define this map, a wide open hellscape with a few small structures. Despite its open nature the level is a linear one, which can make navigation a little bit weird but it's not too bad in that department. Visually the level is appealing as usual in this wad, I especially like the shadowy arena with the cyberdemon encounter, and the main outdoor area is pretty nice too.

 

As for the combat, this map definitely felt like a breather. It only contains 131 monsters and goes by rather quickly. Most of the encounters are pretty simple, the sudden baron ambush is preceded by you getting a wealth of cells, and you go outside to a spiderdemon that has plenty of cover and with more than enough cells left over in your clip to take care of her. The only real memorable fight in the level is the cyberdemon fight in the aforementioned shadowy arena. He is joined by roaming cacos, and imps and zombiemen on the platforms above. You get a BFG for this fight though which isn't really needed but hey, it's fun to finally be able to BFG something. The rest of the level is pretty easy, with the placements not really being a threat, especially given the generally spacious nature of the level.

 

All-in-all, an okay level. Felt like a bit of a break.

[Thrustpeak]

UV | Continuous w/ Saves | Crispy Doom 

 

E3M6

While I had a lot of fun playing this map, my thoughts mirror @cannonball's in that it feels a bit strange for a map so easy to appear so late. I don't think there was any encounter this map where I felt like my life was truly on the line (especially while packing a BFG from continuous play). The imps at the red key seem intimidating when they first show up, but with all the weapons—as well as a good amount of space to react—I believe they could easily be dispatched in multiple ways. My weapon of choice for them was the BFG and it was the most satisfying usage of it yet. This time I remembered to find the secret exit so next up is E3M9. 

 

  

[TheOrganGrinder]

E3M5

 

This episode has tended toward exploration-driven layouts in the vein of classic Doom levels but bigger and more ferocious; we divert a little from that here into a map that brings more in the way of pitched battles and arena-style combat.  The change of pace is refreshing, given all the complaining I've being doing about the WAD's somewhat repetitive progression within each episode and lack of variety, and the player is well-equipped to face down the Spider Mastermind at the midpoint of the map and the Cyberdemon that rules the red key arena; I'm satisfied to finally have my hands on the BFG, though I could have sworn that I picked up a chainsaw in a previous map yet found it missing from my inventory here.  The red key arena is probably the most dramatic and striking scene and the one that deviates most significantly from stock Doom themes, an isolated island of murky illumination in the middle of a black void, with light radiating from a pillar of scorching-hot rock and metal pillars carving sharp-edged shadows from it, all contributing to a memorable battlefield for your duel with the Cyberdemon and his rabble of followers.

 

E3M6

 

We're mostly back to a classic sort of layout here, well-realised and toothier than you'd see in Inferno for sure, although there is an arena battle to be had when you grab the red key, with hordes of imps pouring in and assailing your elevated position across a moat of lava - very much a "have fun storming the castle!" sort of moment there.  Both of the marked secrets are tied in to accessing the secret level, one indicating the switch that opens the path to the secret exit and the other indicating the passage to that exit itself - I don't think it's possible to get out of that passage once the little barrier pops up behind you so maybe that's something players should be wary of.  It's pretty brief and oddly enough feels easier than much of E2 or the earlier maps within E3; to some extent that's a product of continuous play and having a fat stockpile of weapons, ammunition, and armour, but even so the combat gameplay feels like it's calculated to feel fast-paced and immediately engaging more than tense and harrowing.  Not a complaint, just an observation, and I'm looking forward to what surprises might be in store on the secret level.

[LadyMistDragon]

E3M6 - Infernal Warehouse

 

The truth is that I'm at loss for what exactly this location's supposed to be. You start in a sort of courtyard area with crimson brick everywhere and some lava pools and you later enter into some close-quarters places with red brick and marble, and even a large darkened cave at one point. The music's ok, but let's just get this out.

 

So you have to deal with a hot start yet again. The secret exit sits to your left on a white marble ledge. There are Imps nearby on your right  and former humans below with a chaingun fronting a lava pool. Run into the indoor passage to the side to get a chaingun but you'll probably run into a demon or two . If you keep going this way, you may find you're not finding much that'll replenish your ammo, which is a shame, but then again, I basically just ran forward. In either case, you'll eventually come across yellow key bars. You'll have to first head to the wooden passage with the combat armor visible if you flip around about 90 degrees. Head down this passage and you'll come across a chamber with Lost Souls coming at you from the sides and a pillar with a gaggle of sergeants guarding a rocket launcher which does not oddly enough trigger a trap The yellow key is on a ledge at the left end of the room.

 

Return to the courtyard, enter the other building and come across an indoor room with a pool and some sort of red-flaming windows on the walled sides. Behind the longer one is a berserk pack which you might need after the various Lost Soul attacks. Go into the next room, go behind the yellow bars and hit the switch whist acquiring a plasma rifle and you'll see a Baron of Hell teleport in. You can rocket him, but you probably won't. To the right of the ledge, a darkened passageway will have opened. You may notice there are some head symbols on the left. The one in the middle hides a secret chamber that has a cool thing and a switch I think activates the platform in front of the secret exit. I'd initially forgotten this before I got to the end and remembered what map this was. Continuing from that, you'll enter a cave with a Cacodemon quad and Imps on a ledge at other end of the room with the red key, which opens the regular exit.

 

After picking up the red key, the coolest ambush in the map occurs when Imps start teleporting in like jackrabbits, giving you prime opportunity to lob rockets in their direction. Unlike many other maps, you can use most of them without worrying too much! You will have to move and plasma the rest eventually. Leaving the room, you'll find another passage has opened. The vast amount of ammo boxes tells you "Huge threat," and when you get to them, you'll be set upon by shotgunners and Barons of Hell. The density is rather suggestive of something from an earlier map, but then, it's not really difficult.

 

 

[DuckReconMajor]

E3M6 - dsda-doom - skill 4 - rewind feature used

 

A tight map with good ammo balance. Unlike the Slough map, this one was about as far away from Erebus as you can be heh
You know the poo is about to go down when you're handed a plasma gun. And indeed it was. I managed to snake my way through all the new Barons and fodder that appeared to slither out the red door.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[dei_eldren]

E3M9 - Tender Flesh (HNTR, continuous, blind): K 100% (45/45), I 100% (12/12), S 100% (1/1), T 7:35, D 0 - Short but very sweet.  Immediate attack of all the low-tiers, along with Lost Souls, presents not much problem when going in overpowered on continuous, but more so on pistol start, when on offer are only the Chaingun, and a little later, the Shotgun, plus a secret Rocket Launcher, which by the time it can be found will be a mere convenience to pick out the last couple groups in the final room, and not a large help, and very little health scattered throughout the complex.

 

Mobility is the key in the first room as there is serious crossfire, and some Lost Souls, and i quickly went into the available cave to see how to approach the situation, where there were more shotgunners and Lost Souls, and teleport-in Imps, but also the possibility of dealing with everyone more methodically, as is my usual MO.  Task is first to find the YK, to gain access inside the small wooden structure from which the exit gate can be opened.  By the door is a small but deadly ambush of Imps and Sergeants from monster closets, and without quick reflexes at the sound to dart back with low health death would be very quick, one shotgun blast at close range could easily do it.  The caves are made of flesh, guts and blood, decorated with some obscure artistic carvings on the fleshy wall of the main hall, and the corpses that hang from its ceiling.  

 

For me, this works like a charm as a secret level; a neat little idea that doesn't require fleshing out into a full-sized map, and might lose its poignancy in the process.  i do like Khorus' take on secret levels, even if is entirely non-standard.  Loved it, 4/5.

 

Again, demo of my second run on pistol start, considerably faster than going in blind, but i think finding the secret took a couple minutes (though if your eye catches the wall the right way it's pretty clearly marked): dei-bg-e3m9.zip

 

Spoiler

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by dei_eldren

[Doritos420]

E3M6 - Hell Zone

Spoiler

Pretty standard looking hell map, still had fun with it though. The beginning area rampage was great. The standout area was the red skull key room though with the army of imps that spawn in. If you try to retreat you’re greeted with more enemies waiting for you. I was able to find all the secrets
(even the berserk) this time after poking around a bit. Was a bit surprised with how short this map was, 2 short maps in a row. I’m not complaining though. Makes me wonder if maybe at this point in making the WAD Khorus just wanted to finish the thing. Not sure though since I don't know if he made the maps in order. All in all though I enjoyed it, especially with the groovy music. So far to me E3 is my favorite out of all of them. 

[Thrustpeak]

UV | Continuous w/ Saves | Crispy Doom 

 

E3M9

A hot start that transitioned into me tearing through the map with guns blazing. A cool map that I wish was a bit longer. I gave it a second playthrough from a pistol start, and it feels like this was a more intended experience. Going in there with the full arsenal at my disposal seemed a bit excessive. The brevity shouldn't have come as a shock as that has been the trend with each of the secret maps, but I believe this may have been the shortest yet. 

[Biodegradable]

Welp, it's the 25th on my planet, so it's time to vote for my nominees for next month. As I said before, I've got two newly released megaWADs for you guys to consider. They are +++Zone 400 and +++Demonic Destruction. The former is made by pcorf and is a sequel to his Zone 300 megaWAD with the central gimmick being that he limited himself to only 400 linedefs per map which means short, sharp and spicy maps. People are already raving about it, so it sounds like a good time. The latter is by a newcomer, mxbobbie and strikes me as a visual reinterpretation of Doom 2 with an emphasis on the "Hell on Earth" part with more city landscapes.

 

Both WADs have garnered a fair amount of positive buzz, so I'd love to play either of them. I'll leave it up to the rest of you and what else gets nominated. See you next month!

[dei_eldren]

+++ Mass Extinction (am gonna delay playing this for a few months in case it would get enough support here sometime)

+++ Wonderful Doom

+++ Demonic Destruction