The DWmegawad Club plays: Zone 400

[DuckReconMajor]

MAP03: Dial - dsda-doom - skill 4 pistol start

 

Aww man. Cool arena surrounded by walls of opposition. Definitely my favorite so far.

It feels Hell Revealed-ish, in a good way. The aesthetics added to the old-school challenge feel. or maybe it's just the red BRIK walls

I managed to slide through without dying! Didn't even get the armor that I'm sure was hidden somewhere LOL

 

Spoiler

 

 

[dei_eldren]

MAP04 - Allambie (HNTR, pistol start): K 72% (?/33), I 100% (8/8), S 0% (0/0), T 4:13, D 0 - Whilst this level is also linear (to be fair, it doesn't really bother me and 400 lines is rather limiting in this regard), it certainly has the most complex, and to my liking the best, layout so far.  On my blind run i died a couple of times thanks to the Archie who finally showed up, along with the belle Pain Elemental.

 

At the start there's a few Imps to get rid of taking potshots at me from an upper cave opening.  Farther away two Revenants are running confused, but gather their thoughts enough to attack me as i start approaching them on the stone stairway, the only way forward as only other option is the YK door to the opposite direxion.  It's nice to have the SSG for the Bonies, though would've preferred also to have the regular SG for the Imps as ammo is at a premium especially at beginning.  i ended up having to pistol the other Revenant, simply because i missed a couple of shots, while taking a rocket in the face, but there's enough health in this level luckily for a mishap or two.

 

Pressing the switch they were guarding opens the cave forward, to gain the YK, placed out of reach near by, accessing which will apparently require some light platforming.  Through the cave inhabited by Imps, Sergeants and Pinkies, i arrive at the ledge from which to run to the YK over the raised pillars.  There's also a little detour in the caves to find the Berserk-pack, and it's advicable to kill the couple of Imps by a now-unaccessible switch beforehand.

 

Behind the YK door is a large room, with a raised walkway over a pool of lava.  It's quite a nice setpiece, with Imps running on the sides against glowing redhot stone, while a Pain Elemental, a Cacodemon, and a Baron, roam around the cave, and there's also an immediately available RL, which i run to grab first.  i retreated back to the door and just waited for the enemies to come to me, not minding much the fireballing Imps.  Then there's the task of raising the crossed walkway to the door at the other side, by two switches.  On my blind run i got rid of everyone, but now i focused on efficiency and not putting myself unduly in harm's way, and left them alive, focusing only on what to do with the AV behind the door.

 

i went in, shot a rocket at the Chaingunner only to next have the AV teleport away from my way, probably behind me, but as it happened, i dashed for the teleport to get away from the area!  Brilliant idea!  All i needed to do next was press the switch we saw earlier by the Imps, run towards the BK exit, while killing a few low-tiers on the way.

 

Really fun, especially when one doesn't stress about maxing it.  Unfortunately the map lacked any secrets, but the general layout does make up for it.  A bit more lighting adjustment and stuff like that would've helped set the mood, but most of my focus was on the action anyway, so it's not a big deal.  No FDA this time, but a couple of pix from my continuous blind run, instead.

 

Spoiler

 

[Capellan]

 

[Steve D]

3 hours ago, Book Lord said:

I replayed maps without -fast and noticed the firing rate looks increased a bit as well. This might be a welcome change for normal gameplay, but for -fast it changes the usual balance.

 

I'm playing on GZDoom 4.6, and I haven't noticed any changes in firing rate. Which port are you using?

[cannonball]

MAP03 - “Dial”

Lets be honest, this isn't winning any awards on the visual front. Gameplay wise, this is certainly a step up in difficulty, the start in particular is quite nasty with plenty of threats at ground level and higher up. The traps an be skipped to some degree, but there are usually means of which the monsters can cause you grief later on. The only sedate moment was the cluster of monsters beyond the blue door.  

Overall - ugly, but quite engaging to play, it kind of reminds me of my cooking.

[Capellan]

4 hours ago, Book Lord said:

is there some kind of Dehack application that increased monster speed in Zone 400?

 

Looking at the DEHACKED lump in SLADE, there are no mechanical changes evident.

[Book Lord]

1 minute ago, Capellan said:

Looking at the DEHACKED lump in SLADE, there are no mechanical changes evident.

14 minutes ago, Steve D said:

 

I'm playing on GZDoom 4.6, and I haven't noticed any changes in firing rate. Which port are you using?

I use poor old jDoom, a.k.a. Doomsday Engine. Zone 400 has been created with a GZDoom editor IIRC, but anyway, if there are no technical changes this might have something to do with the port I'm using, which is not exactly mainstream these days. Or else, I was a bit tired after a long day at work and could not endure -fast Cacodemon firing rate. :)

 

Thanks for the insight Sirs, both of you. Let's see if I can make up my mind and choose a suitable way to play this WAD. 

[King Know-Nothing]

Map 03 - Dial

 

100% Kills, Items, and Secrets. 0 Deaths.

 

With starting a cubby hole like you do in this level, I was kind of surprised to rise up and not immediately be greeted with a barrage of enemies. It was a good way to invoke a bit of tension as you pressed the switch, but a bit anti-climatic with the reveal. Honestly, though, after that I don't really have anything negative to say, because once you start moving the aggression I expected was right there. Between enemies sniping you from the windows, to the mob on top of the obstruction as well as the other side, it really pushed the idea of moving with a bit more awareness and aggression than the last two maps. I really dig the currently gradual incline of difficulty, especially with more mid-tier monsters and the ambushes which aren't unfair, but did make me bolt when I saw the walls begin to move. Though the one that really made me hall ass was when the red room went pitch black. Without even looking for what would be in there, I made my way to the door and outside. Though looking back, taking out the lost souls in there wouldn't have been terrible, but A) takings them out with them gathered at the door was easier and B) I hate super dark rooms. Plus it allowed me to take out the barons outside instead of in the dark as they slip in through the new opening.

 

I will say RNG did serve me well in this level, because I absolutely feel like I should have taken a lot more punishment from the blue key trap than I did. Managed to luck out without getting shit kicked by the mancubi. Will say, the final area did feel significantly easier monster-placement wise then some of the other areas, even with those revenants and hell barons, but it was still fun all the same. Aesthetically, aside from the interesting design of the red room, I would put it between the first and second level in rating, mostly because I've never been a huge fan of the red brick texture in such large swaths.

 

Managed to get to the secrets easily enough, which helped. Very much looking forward to getting my ass kicked as things progress.

Edited August 4, 2021 by Mr. Robutt

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP03: Dial

UV, pistol start, no saves 

100% kills, 3/3 secrets

 

We see a small shift in visual theme, being less techbase influenced and instead using predominant brick textures. Conversely to the more subdued (and still great) midi, the heat gets turned up a bit here. The beginning of the map sees you in a small arena full of mostly fodder, with a revenant overseeing the area and an arachnotron down an alcove to make your life slightly more difficult. Grabbing the yellow key gives you a slightly annoying encounter with a bunch of lost souls and two barons. This fight also takes place in the dark, but there are light amp goggles that nullfy that extra threat. I think my favourite moment though, is the ambush after you grab the blue key. Two mancubi and hordes of fodder enemies pour in from monster closets on the sides. Not overly dangerous, but a fun little moment, especially if you get the mancubis to mow down all of his buddies for you.

 

For some notes apart from the combat, I could get used to this wad hiding secrets in plain sight as someone who really sucks at secrets. The plasma secret isn't even really a secret as it is found on the most natural path you'd take. The rocket launcher is also plainly visible, but pretty tricky to jump to. And the soul sphere is found beyond a pretty easy to find teleporter after you progress a little ways into the level. I also want to point out the pretty easy sequence break this level has, with the blue key being rendered unnecessary as you can SR50 to the ledge with the backpack and medikit sitting on it from the stairs above. I wonder if it's intentional, as I'm not sure why the little window you jump through exists regardless.

 

Another solid starter map. Excited to see how this wad plays as the heat gets turned up further.

[Thrustpeak]

UV | Pistol Start | Crispy Doom

 

MAP04: Allambie

 

The somber midi, plutonia-like aesthetic, SSG, and revenant trio to start it off screamed to prepare for a Casaliesque, chaingunner-infested brand of evil, but it never really came. The large room housing cacos, imps, a pain elemental, and baron looked like something you would see out of Final Doom's more popular half, but—with an absence of hitscanners or reason to not just hang by the door—it was more plutonia-lite than plutonia-like. In the following room the archvile was almost easy to miss. Faster than a shot can be fired, off he went—teleported to the room behind—and (if not for his trademark cackle alerting to his presence) a step through the teleporter would have avoided the confrontation. The battle for the blue key was the kind of trap encounter that had been expected from the start, but the danger was easily circumvented by dropping down and funneling them through the doorway. While it wasn't the difficulty spike my initial impression had me believing, I feel like this—as well as the previous map—is the warmup for what to expect. Sooner or later there won't be an easy escape route after you grab a key. Gameplay aside, this was my favorite looking map yet (maybe i'm a sucker for plutonia), and I think this may be my favorite midi so far. 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by Thrustpeak

[Fairen]

Map 4: Allambie - UV

 

I can see the start of this map being rough on pistol-start—only a super shotgun with sixteen shells against three revenants, with no health/armour pickups. Most of the map is fine, with one major exception, that being the garbage room through the yellow door. About five cacodemons spaced around the room, with a pain elemental at the far end, with a narrow walkway over lava being patrolled by a baron and four ledges of sniper-imps around the room. The combination of little maneuvering room, the full-circle of fire upon you, the baron's high durability, and the pain elemental being a constant annoyance as long as you're in sight means the only smart way to approach this room is to stand outside the door and wait for everything come to you, lest you get peppered with fireballs and swarmed with lost souls. At which point you snipe the imps before pressing a bunch of switches—no enemies pop in along the way. Just a terrible room that brings down the map, given that the rest of the map goes by fairly quickly.

[pcorf]

MAP04 was originally a 30 minute speedmap but I decided to touch it up and complete it for Zone 400 since the 30 minute speedmap poject was forgotten about. It was certainly no pretty map. All the other maps were made especially for Zone 400. The music track is named Swamps of Bislig. Bislig is a place in the Philippines with tons of tropical jungle environment.

Edited August 4, 2021 by pcorf

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP04 - "Allambie" (100%K/100%I/0%S):

Yet another twist with a Plutonia-styled jungle map, a style that I have seen before from Pcorf, great map, feels bigger than it is, and I think for now, that it's the idea with this mapset, not wasting a single linedef. It gets the job done with nice fights and setpieces. You can cheese the basin area with the doors nearby, but other than that, I don't find any problems with this map, looks and plays great, I really liked this one, maybe I'm biased because of the Plutonia aesthetics. Due to said similarities, I expected an Arch-Vile, those expectations were right, but again, you can easily cheese it with the doors.
 

Deaths: 2 (UV Continuous/Chocolate Doom)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP04

MAP02
MAP03
MAP01

 

I enjoyed this one a lot more than the first 3, despite it being a speedmap.

[Biodegradable]

MAP04 - Allambie

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

 

Pcorf decided to gives a little bit of a breather... sort of hehe. That is to say that this map is a step back on the intensity from the last one, allowing us to pace ourselves a bit between each combat scenario rather than making things feel like they're all happening at once. According to The Wise Elder Doomer, Steve though, this is a ruse and I should prepare for Pcorf's hidden sense of cruelty. Fortunately for me, this map felt like a bit of a breeze in all honesty and I had a good time with it. Despite its more Plutonia-esque visuals, this map wasn't really vicious. The big fight in the big cross-section was good fun, though I got infighting to do some of the leg work for me and was able to hang-out by the door. The surprise Vile was a nice touch, though I got lucky and he got a big discombobulated on the platform, allowing me to take pot-shots at him from my rocket launcher. I'd say the blue skullkey trap was the most surprising element.

 

Currently this WAD has been giving me Bourgeois MegaWAD vibes. Not in the same sense with Bourg's intensity, but in a more general sense regarding short, well-crafted maps that're a ton of fun. Really enjoying myself thus far. :^)

 

 

[Lorenz0]

MAP03 - Dial / GZDoom / UV / Continuous

 

I like the compact layout in this one. The spiral staircase leading to the red key is pretty cool, and I can say the same for the dark room afterwards.

The placement of the night vision goggles is good, though I have to say that powerup lasts way too long. Everything stays bright and ugly long after you

leave the dark room.
Most of the combat in this map was pretty good, except the revenant and imps on top of those 64x64 blocks in the main open area, which seemed a bit too

tedious to kill without the rocket launcher, so I didn't. I can also say the same for the barons throughout the whole map. I pretty much think all of them

should just be hellknights, to reduce boredom.
I also got two secrets accidentally - the plasma and the soulsphere. I don't know what triggered those to open tbh. The plasma came in handy, because I

noticed the ammo gets really tight. I'm saying that while playing continuous, so pistol starting seems like an uptake in challenge.
Btw this map contains my favorite midi in the wad so far. It's very atmospheric.

 

MAP04 - Allambie

 

The visuals in this one are more basic than ever, but still servicable I suppose. The gameplay was enjoyable though. It seems like the author wanted to

focus on combat in tight spaces, and managed to do it succesfully I'd say. The big room behind the yellow key door has to be the hardest setpiece in the

wad so far. It easily killed me the first time I tried it. I found the right strategy to be running into the room to quickly dispatch the pain elemental,

jumping down to the lava teleporter if I ever get cornered, backing off through the door to kill the baron from safety, and ignoring most of the imps, while running from switch to switch.

[Pseudonaut]

map04: FDA in 5:18 (no deaths this time)

z404fda-518.zip

 

Very straightforward map. The fight behind the yellow door is easily the best part of the map, and a player who knows what's coming can immediately grab the rocket launcher and rockets, take out the pain elemental with them, then deal with the rest. I didn't know what was coming, so I paid for my recklessness (or my hesitance, depending on your perspective) with most of my health before retreating. Even just cleaning up the imp snipers afterward while dodging their projectiles from multiple angles was enjoyable.

 

On a different note, an absence of secrets in a map is underrated. Not that I don't appreciate good secrets, but I like having all my options in plain view, especially if unlocking some of the secrets might require humping walls at random because its location is indicated by some feature I didn't notice.

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/Blind/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 04 - ALLAMBIE

100% kills and secrets

Time: 4:41

Deaths: 1

 

You know, I was doing so good in this map. I hadn't taken a single point of damage through the first part. I SSG'd the 3 revs at the top of the stairs easily, and even got one to fight some imps. I hit the switch up by the revs to raise a walkway to the imps, took out the hitscan and imps around the corner, and nabbed the yellow key. I thought, "maybe I can no-damage this map."

 

Then I opened the yellow key door.

 

That room is surprisingly difficult. You have 4 corners with sniping imps, several cacos, a pain elemental, and a baron, all over a pretty narrow passage that if you fall off, you're in some lava. Unfortunately, the pain elemental ended up infighting something and spit out a ton of lost souls, the baron liked to stay in the middle of the path, and I seemed to get hit by every lost soul that spawned. So there's my first death of the playthrough. Upon respawn, the PE ended up infighting again, but this time it was something behind it so any lost souls were spawning away from me, so I was able to rocket it easily. Still got rammed by every lost soul that spawned though (man I suck at dodging those). But one the PE was taken care of, it's a lot easier to manage, especially if you camp the yellow door. Eventually you can raise a few more walkways through the lava to enter the door at the opposite end to find the first archvile. This one behaved pretty nicely for me. It didn't resurrect any of the fresh hitscan corpses I just laid to waste before it teleported out into the lava room. It only resurrected one caco out there, ate the 2 remaining rockets I had, and didn't resurrect anything when it came to visit me in its starting area while I SSG'd him. From there, the teleporter takes you to the ledge just above the blue key. Hit the switch to make the platform wider, jump to it, grab it, and immeditely blast the rev in the monster closet at point-blank range, then retreat before the imps and hitscan retaliate. After you take them out, you've got all the kills, so enter the blue key exit room and leave.

 

So yeah, that yellow key door room was tough, but the rest was alright. I liked the Plutonia design of the level. MIDI is my favorite so far. It's a pretty laid-back, chill affair here. 

[Capellan]

 

[dei_eldren]

MAP05 - South (HMP, pistol start): K 93% (?/61), I 94% (?/31), S 100% (1/1), T 7:45, D 0 - On my blind HNTR-run i didn't die a single time here, but again the map was so good to play i wanted to try it on HMP.  Even the starting Pinkies, with the SSG with just the right amount of ammo if not a single shot is missed, aren't a trifle, any inaccuracy or slowness and it's easy to get encircled by them, as i did once in the surprisingly small space with those demons running amok.  Obviously, being careless with the four Chaingunners behind the door and facing them with a pistol is deadly, and either killed me or got my health so low it was meaningless to continue, a couple of times.  Then there's the Bruiser Brothers, who aren't really a problem, but taking a hit or two in the narrow corridor isn't exactly difficult if they fire inconveniently.

Then there's a few more Chaingunners, but this time we have the CG too for them.  But the real block was the ambush after pressing the switch, when two Revenants and two Barons came.  i'm not total stranger to shotgunning Revenants, but somehow this setup proved tricky, and even in my successful run, documented in the demo below, i managed to take a rocket to the face (my most embarrassing moment, other than that, i did pretty well in that demo.)  They killed me on a couple of attempts.  So my demo is something like seventh or eighth attempt on HMP.  But after this fight, i didn't die anymore.

i did cheese out the final encounter, and just ran for the exit, as i had wasted my rockets on Barons a minute earlier, and didn't have plasma, which i had used on the Revenants and others behind the YK door.  i should have probably done them with the rockets, and shotgunned the Barons instead, saving the plasma for the finale.  But thing is, i didn't wanna risk getting killed by Cacodemons or whatever else there was at the end of quite a nice run.

 

Definitely difficult on pistol start, the whole affair was quite simple with carry-over heavier weaponry.  All the levels so far have been fun to play, but this was perhaps my favourite yet.  The layout was pretty complex and sort of non-linear, just like map04 in fact, and had a few nice little tricks that were appreciated, as well as a cool secret.  The combat is definitely hotting up, and requires quite a bit of accuracy or soon becomes unforgiving, while one can't even complain that there'd not be enough health or ammo, particularly if the secret is found.   

 

Recording of my successful HMP-run: dei-z400-map05-hmp.zip

Edited August 4, 2021 by dei_eldren

[cannonball]

MAP04 - “Allambie”

A more relaxed map, no issues apart from the area behind the yellow door. It wasn't an overly inviting area to dash in, so I chose to camp at the door and kill everything on the central platform or airborne. The rest of the combat is fine and the visuals are solid, everyone likes that plutonia jungle theme.

[DuckReconMajor]

MAP04: Allambie - dsda-doom - skill 4 pistol start

 

Easier than yesterday's, but with the overgrown vine aesthetics I love.  A lot of fun opportunities to weave and dodge through monsters, though I agree with something I read yesterday, that the surprise monsters that appear after grabbing a key should block you in a bit more.

That's certainly something I never expected to feel, but I almost feel bad running past them, they're so out of the way. Are demons happy or sad when I ignore them?

 

Spoiler

 

 

[LadyMistDragon]

UV - Pistol start

 

Map 04 - Alliambe

 

This one is quite short, featuring something of a underground jungle theme. The music here is really good. Starts out (and really continues that way) a little jazz/action movie-y before entering more emotionally complex territory.

 

The start is the most difficult area of the map. At the top of the ledge in front of you is a trio of Revenants with only a Super Shotgun to handle them if you choose to stand and fight. A chaingun hangs on the ledge to your left, taunting you. You'll probably have greater success if you just run in, hit the switch and run out, the trouble being that there's still a decent chance of being blocked in by the Revenants. I ended up re-loading once because I ran too low on ammo, and I also ended up dying once as well because using a super shotgun in multiple Revenants just plain sucks.

 

Anyways, the switch mentioned above will open a passage with some fairly non-threatening enemies, at the end of which is the yellow key and the chaingun trolling you earlier. Maybe this is when you're supposed to kill the Revenants? It does throw off the ammo balance somewhat though, especially as soon as you step behind the yellow door, you'll be confronted by a Pain Elemental and enough Cacodemons that you'll curse the dearth of bullets most virulently (I used the SS on most of the Cacos at least one time each). Speaking of which, surrounding this pit are Imps in inaccessible side rooms. And this really sucks if you're prone to wasting ammo. I guess you can spend a rocket or two on them, but they are fairly scattered There's also the Baron in the middle, but he's not really too much trouble. The Arch-vile that teleported into the back hallway after the end of this switch nonsense was dispatched easy-peasy despite having maybe 2 rockets to spare at this point. At a certain point, you come upon a switch which raises the blue key platform. Acquiring this triggers a trap directly in front of it inside the first hallway mentioned. After the nonsense of the yellow door room, it felt fun to blast the enemies to bits with the 2 rockets on hand, though I could have been more careful. Thankfully, there were no nonsense meat corridors at the end, so it all ended quite well.

 

While it can't quite be called a breather map despite the low enemy count because of many of the combat situations presented, it does feel like a way to transition between one section of the wad and the next. Will that remain the case? Who knows?

Edited August 4, 2021 by LadyMistDragon

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP04: Allambie

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 0/0 secrets

 

Vines and brown bricks are the textures that adorn this map, definitely my favourite looking of the levels so far. The more detailed textures definitely play nice with the limitations of the wad, helping the level have the illusion of looking less blocky than the previous maps. Despite sporting the lowest monster count in the wad so far with 52 enemies, it's also definitely a step up in difficulty from the first 3 levels, owing entirely to two encounters.

 

The first problem encounter is the one beyond the yellow door, which features a narrow ledge above hell slime with a baron of hell walking on it while cacos and a pain elemental fly around the room, and imps are placed on vantage points in the corners of the room Plutonia-style. The room gives you a rocket launcher with only a few rockets, and in my opinion the best course of action was to try and quickly rocket the pain elemental (disobeying general principle), and use any left overs to fire a rocket to the imp corners. If the pain elemental is left alone she can cover the room with lost souls quickly, especially because with all the projectiles flying around it tends to be dragged into an infight pretty easily, so hiding outside of the room won't alleviate that. Once the pain elemental is down, the rest of the mid-tier enemies can be taken down from the doorway for safety, and the imps with some nice dodging around the room.

 

The second tough encounter is the archvile that teleports back into the very same room at the end of the level. First of all, there is not a lot of cover from his zaps to be found in this level, you'll have to try and take care of the last enemies and run back quickly before he leaves the yellow door room if you went to take him down safely from the sides of the doorway. The second predicament is that you tend to be running low on ammo by the end of this level, so him resurrecting enemies can be bad news, especially the baron. Luckily you do get a berserk pack in this level so punching them isn't too tall of an order, but it can be an annoyance if he reaches too many corpses.

 

Solid map, and a bit of a challenge too! Was very Plutonia to me, both because of the yellow door encounter and the visual theme of the level.

[Thrustpeak]

UV | Pistol Start | Crispy Doom

 

MAP05: South

 

Another great midi, another plutonia inspired look, exactly enough ammunition for the SSG to clear the pinkies and force use of the pistol to claim a chaingun—this map, more than any yet, signaled ammos ending abundance. By the second duo of hellknights it was running dangerously low, but a quick dash past them found enough to return to finish the job. Soon after came a berserk pack, and—despite more than full HP—the potential ammo conservation it could bring made it seem worth nabbing sooner rather than later.  After punching through the imps the secret rocket launcher was in sight and some wallhumping eventually revealed the path. From that point, while never having a big surplus of ammo, there was always just enough to gun through all the monsters. So far, each map has been more enjoyable than the last, and—if it continues this slow burn on cranking up the challenge—it will have a nice difficulty curve.

 

The lift only momentarily spared them from my fists. 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2021 by Thrustpeak

[Fairen]

Map 5: South - UV

 

This map's pretty straightforward. Kill pinkies, chaingunner ambush (kind of a cheap trap if you were to pistol-start and use up your shotgun ammo on the pinkies, imo), then progress linearly through switches and key doors. Monsters are pretty consistently where you expect them to be. Not much to say about this one, really; it's fine.

[Biodegradable]

MAP05 - South

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

 

The overall layout and progression of thise one was curious and it complements its predecessor MAP04 rather well in some respects well. In that regard though, it's a bit of a step back in complexity, offering a bit more of a boxy room experience, but not absolutely square and there's plenty of height variation going on to make sure the map doesn't feel flat at any point. It's probably the cutest map so far and I had a good time with it. The old-school flavour continues to prove tasty and the fun meter keeps filling up.

 

 

Edited August 5, 2021 by Biodegradable

[Lorenz0]

MAP05 - South / GZDoom / UV / Continuous

 

I'm not going to mince words, this was by far the worst map in the set so far.

The combat in this map is very amateurish. 90% of the time, enemies come at you in a straight line and provide basically zero challenge, only grind. The best (worst) example of this is right beyond the yellow door. I can't believe that a competent mapper can chuck so many mid tier monsters behind a door and call it a job well done. There's really not many things in Doom more boring than door combat.

At least the visuals hold up, so that counts for something. And the layout, while linear, is pretty elegant.

[Book Lord]

I have to catch up with the others, so please forgive this long post and the one that will follow:

 

MAP 01 – Coombe

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

 

This was a good-looking and not frivolous first level, which nicely set the mood for the WAD. I played sloppily on my first run and found a shameful death by the gun of a former human. The Sergeant trio from the previous room caught me from behind and landed a couple of devastating blows. They were the less predictable trap from Coombe, which featured more rooms to clear and monsters in closets but was not capable of surprising me again.

 

The soundtrack of Zone 400 has been designed by the same author, so it probably mingles well with the theme and gameplay of the levels. This uses a slower tempo than the typical opener music, maybe suggesting this is not a map, and a WAD, where you can rush into things. I will not comment on music unless I find it special or inadequate for some reason.

 

A good map to begin with, looking forward to more substantially designed ones.

Spoiler

 

MAP 02 – Tait

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

 

This map made me give up my original plan of pistol starting Zone 400 on UV -fast. The entity of ambushes was threatening enough, and I felt no urge to cope with tight ammo & health balance as well. This map used some nukage pools with overabundant radiation suits, but they were placed in the least comfortable positions. There was an easily accessible secret SSG in the first area, but it required some damage to be taken either from the poison or from the hitscanners guarding the radsuits.

 

The second nukage basin was encircled by Imp snipers, but Cacodemons were placed in a way that causing an infight was no trifle. The linear path eventually led to the ledge with RK and to a rather big Cacoswarm ambush. I replayed the encounter many times because I took too much damage for ever progressing. The hazardous environment and the limited movement space made jumping into the slime the only viable approach. I wish I had noticed the glaring secret with RL and other useful stuff a bit earlier.

 

After the red door lay a streak of hallways filled with frontal opposition. Nothing was simple with -fast monsters, especially those “in your face” Demons. For a “dead” meat corridor, this was bustling with life. I liked this map gameplay-wise, still I found it a bit too hostile for an early map, probably due to my -fast proclivities.

Spoiler

 

MAP 03 – Dial

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

 

I cannot say I liked the textures of the main hub; those bricks are too Wolf3D-ish to look good anywhere in Doom, but the sight of the impaled humans from the top of the central structure had a heinous kind of charm. This map was remarkable for a series of vicious design choices, which really gave me a hard time playing with -fast monsters.

Spoiler

The start had to be approached carefully, because many hitscanners in elevated positions could take cheap shots at me, not mentioning the Pinkies running amok. Continuous play allowed me to clear the area and pick up the available ammo, then I went for the red door. The large room hosted the YK and a nasty trap combining darkness, three Lost Soul closets and two Barons coming from a new opening. Cacodemons and the first Pain Elemental were released as well, in case the player had thought the door was a safe flight direction. Not bad for a MAP03 ambush, it really showed the best of intentions by @pcorf. I died once, but with foreknowledge and Light Amplification Visor things were a lot easier.

Spoiler

I had no doubt the BK had another trap with monster closets opening, but I was bewildered by the number of hitscanners. Standing there was impracticable with -fast , as I learned by biting the dust a second time. Jumping down the steep staircases was a better idea, since infighting wiped out everything more efficiently than my attacks.

 

The last area could have been accessed without BK, if only I could strafe-jump with confidence. It was a bit on the relaxed side, considering what has been proposed so far. The sombre music made a huge contrast with the frantic combat going on; I did not find it appropriate to be honest. I enjoyed the wicked aggression, but it was a bit mean for a third map slot.

Edited August 5, 2021 by Book Lord

[Book Lord]

MAP 04 – Allambie

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

 

The start was a bit difficult since I had Imps above my head and three Revenants upstairs in the opposite direction. Infighting could help but was all but easy to initiate. SSG did the rest and the path to YSK was soon cleared.

Spoiler

I did not like the big lava room. The first time I opened the yellow door I provoked a messy infight and the Pain Elemental filled the room with Lost Souls, to the point I was killed before I could stop him. On the second attempt, I just retreated by the door and set my foot inside only to kill the surrounding Imps. The following switch pushing felt mechanical and unnecessary.

Spoiler

The texture choices came directly from Plutonia and maybe this encouraged the first use of the Arch-Vile. It teleported just above a Caco corpse, whose resurrection caused both monsters to become stuck in that position. Maybe there are wrong settings in my port, but I am sure the author sent the AV there because of the high chance of fallen monsters by the door. However, the best moment was the BSK pickup, with a blitz ambush by an assorted group of enemies. Very Plutonian and entertaining, even though the size and the complexity were a bit on the lower side of the scale.

 

MAP 05 – South

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

 

I imagine a troublesome pistol start with all those Pinkies and Chaingunners, and just enough ammo to kill them, provided you do not miss a single shot. I am no fan of close quarters with -fast Demons, but I enjoyed every other challenge this map had in store. The secret was fascinating, offering not only extra weaponry but the opportunity to clear a room early on.

 

The map layout kept opening and transforming itself, granting access to the visible skull keys and side areas. Every morph and entrance to a new area made sure the player was attacked at once, even though this might be related to my speed settings. Better check those corners all along, I would say.

 

Progression was extremely linear, but I found it engaging and satisfying most of the time. I only felt a bit confused by the blue-marked lever, which required no BSK and was needed to acquire that key instead. The marking acted more as a deception than as a hint. A visually refined level, enjoyable under many aspects.

Spoiler

Edited August 5, 2021 by Book Lord

[rehelekretep]

map03 fda

map04 fda

map05 fda

 

still enjoying these maps, a little undercooked at times. i keep expecting viles or revenants or a cyber!