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The DWmegawad Club plays: Interception II

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MAP03, UV, continuous. All the kills, and ZERO secrets upon killing the final arachnotron.

 

I'd also say that this one was a bit more relaxed than the first two. I first died at YSK ambush (the final ambush for me aside from final skellyboys), some ten seconds after I said to myself I wouldn't have had to use saves on this one.

 

But getting waylaid by cacoswarm and arachnotrons wasn't the only problems, I was once again starving for ammo despite continuous play. This time the problem was less severe than on MAP02, but I had trick the final arachnotron to infight the final three or four cacos I had remaining there. Not a problem as such, but I was a bit frustrated to find about the secret ammo stash - that eye switch was, umm, well hidden to say the least. I had to take a look in UDB to find out about the switch. I knew there was a hidden tunnel (by the power IDDT after all the monsters were dead). This is something that might leave a sour taste in my mouth even though the map was otherwise great and fun. It leaves me with a feeling that secret is almost required for completion. I mean, sure, clearly I didn't need it, and if I had done a pistol start, I suspect I could still have completed the level with more clever ammo usage and inducing infighting, but still.

 

Missing the soulsphere secret was silly of me. I should have gotten it, I can't believe I didn't hear the lift lower until I checked the trigger in UDB.

 

As a sidenote: what are those fate card things depicted in some of the screenshots in this thread? Am I missing something?

 

Edit: Oh, totally forgot! Really liked the music, once again. The track somehow reminded me of Desk Lamp, I don't know why :-D

Edited by RHhe82 : What sweet music they make

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47 minutes ago, RHhe82 said:

As a sidenote: what are those fate card things depicted in some of the screenshots in this thread? Am I missing something?


Its an additional standalone mod called "corruption cards". its in no-way related to Interception 2, just a fun gameplay modifier.

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Map01 - Euphoria

Blind / UV-Max / Pistol start / Allowed to save every 100 kills (forbidden during fights) / GZDoom

 

I got a good first impression from this WAD just by playing the first level. Even though I'm not a big fan of the color green, it's very well used in this opening level, making very cohesive decoration.

 

From a gameplay perspective, I liked that you get the Berserk from the very start, which instantly allows you to see how powerful you can be with those fast fists. I also like that Lost Souls seem to have less health and can be killed with one shotgun shot. The combat is very well balanced in this level, as it's challenging but never overwhelming, making it a fun and welcoming opener.

 

As for the secret hunting, it was made a little easier by the automap you can find near the start. I have a feeling I'll have to be on the lookout for candles and flickery panels on the upcoming levels. I did take a while to see the shootable switch that reveals itself when you enter the starting building, however, the arena you can get to by finding the cave it opens is a lot of fun, so I do feel like it was worth the time it took to find it.

 

Oh I almost forgot the pistol has an increased rate of fire. I did take a long while to realize as I was mostly using the fists and the shotgun, but it's definitely useful and makes a great sniping tool.

 

All in all, I liked this level and I'm looking forward to see what this WAD has to offer in the upcoming levels

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Map04:That which Shall Not be Named By DMphobos

UV, Continuous, GZdoom, Corruption Cards 3.1 (card: Fast projectile cacodemons).
K: 94%, S: 60% T: 16:16

 

Faster projectiles are something I almost prefer, I find them easier to dodge when focusing on the monsters directly. After this map i am now a bit more flush with resources, even with double the imps and hordes of spectres spawning randomly (thankfully they usually appear in various pits where they are mostly harmless*

This map is just as scenic and pretty as the last map. The highlight for me is the castle architecture. Really nice marble detailing throughout the fortress with plenty of side hallways to explore, but never to the point of being too confusing to navigate. Also DMphobos uses non-90 degree geometry frequently and very neatly in this map. a small detail but refreshing when done cleanly and something i wish to improve upon myself.

I started the map plum dry on ammo, meaning i had to rush past the imp gaggle in the cave entrance and go hunting for anything i could get my hands on. By the end of the map as stated i did have a good supply, but for majority of the map i had to often run into infested rooms to grab the ammo and hide from the now angry horde. This hit-and-run gameplay was quite enjoyable and thrilling in this map, as there is lots of halls and nooks to go hide in, but the map is never too restrictive on the players movement, just the right sized hallways.

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MAP04 - That which Shall Not be Named - DMPhobos (88%K/84%I/40%S): 

Name it, I don't know who or what are you talking about...
... Another beautiful looking castle map this time entirely made by DMPhobos, and the first map made entirely by one person, this may often feel pretty long, but it feels really engaging, and in addition, this may be the first map in which you won't struggle with ammo most of the time. The fight where the RL is was the strongest point of the level, and the hardest aswell. I really like the corridors in this map aswell, really going well with the castle-like architechture. DMPhobos makes sick layouts and this is no exception. Sadly, it is his only solo contribution in the megawad.

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP04

MAP03

MAP02
MAP01

 

 

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MAP04, UV, Continuous, PrBoom+. All the kills, 80% secrets.

 

This is probably my favourite level so far, and not the least because it equips me better than the previous maps, but not so much as to allow me to waste ammo. This time I didn't get the impression that secret ammo stashes are required (although I think some of which I found helped). The visual style is very much aligned with the previous maps, I can't decide which of them is the best, but this is the one I've enjoyed the most so far. On the other hand, I'm hoping Interception will explore other visual styles sooner or later (and based on demos, this will most certainly be the case).

 

I didn't find all the secrets, and this time I chose not to spend 15 minutes humping walls and resorting to UDB -- but my impression is that this time the secrets were intuitive, listening to lift sounds and looking at the automap helped enough.

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MAP04 - “That Which Shall Not be Named” by DMPhobos

 

Not much really to say here, I was not expecting to have such a glut of plasma early on and was not expecting the cyber at the end given it is Map04. However this was a very fun, albeit quite chilled out map to play. This map allows you to get away with some quite stupid decisions, none more so than myself rushing all the way to the wall below the yellow key and still managing to scramble back for the SSG I managed to miss without being killed.

Visuals are lovely, the map flows well enough too and would play very swiftly despite its large size if you know where everything is. I cannot offer much criticism for this one. 

Oddly, I had more than enough ammo to kill the cyberdemon, though the telefrag is a nice touch I guess.

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GZDoom/UV/Pistol-Start/Saves

Map 04: That Which Shall Not Be Named - DMPhobos

100% kills and 80% secrets

Time: 23:43

 

Idk why, but there's a map in Mapwhich 2 this reminds me of, and I don't remember which map specifically this reminds me of. Really helpful, I know. This opening also reminds me of a level in Running Late 2 as well. All of this is probably unintentional. ANYWAY, this map is pretty fun. I know I ended up taking a different route through this one than last time, not grabbing the rocket launcher until I had explored everything I could before going through the yellow door. I was concerned not having the RL would be an issue for the yellow key fight, but the revs played nice while I SSG'd the crap out of them. You get the plasma here too, which helps with the lower barons and cacos. The level looks very nice, and the MIDI helps set the mood. I forgot you could telefrag the cybie, but thankfully I didn't try to kill it normally. I saw the teleporter and just kinda assumed I was going to instantly kill it. Other than the cybie sniping you through a window, the map's not too difficult. Decent amount of health and ammo, plus some nice secrets like the soul sphere. Another very solid map!

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MAP 05 – Astral Castle by Moustachio

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

After a streak of noteworthy levels, @Moustachio comes up with the first map of a broad scope. Astral Castle started hot and rough, inside a building with too many windows to safely hide from the besiegers, which were mostly mid tiers and former humans. I struggled a bit checking all the corners until the last hitscanner lay dead, then found my way to the outside and started assessing the place I was in.

 

The magnificent panorama featured several imposing fortifications, built on islands floating in the green sky and connected by bridges or suspended rocky pillars. They could be seen as different parts of the same castle, but each one stood out for its unique texture pattern, helping the player find his bearings. I picked up the SSG and stirred a hornets' nest, which pinned me down for a while by the red and blue bars, sealing the exit building. This was the only moment I did not enjoy, mostly because of hitscanners targeting me from afar or out of my sight.

Spoiler

1822177654_Interception2Map05_01.jpg.3c4a9a28e1ee2f8c3b5aac0a2e274ff5.jpg

The sandbox arrangement allowed to explore the map in total freedom, questing for the two skull keys. I went north first and into buildings aptly marked by blue torches, from which several demons had been shooting since the beginning. A couple ambushes was set up along the way, including an awkward Arch-Vile that materialised while I was platforming, in the perfect position to resurrect some annoying zombies. His two brethren down the hallway killed me mercilessly, as I was totally surprised by their appearance and reacted poorly. The BSK was on a narrow ledge overlooking the start area and a bridge leading back to it, but I took the hidden detour to the Soul Sphere instead, scoring my only secret of the level. I dismissed the Radiation Suit I saw before, and the plasma gun was tucked away in a place no one would visit, unless he used the suit or the Invulnerability to safely tread the skies. Maybe on the next run.

Spoiler

484617078_Interception2Map05_02.jpg.1e4a004e7854020096bfb22731543b6c.jpg

The southern building had red markings and several blood fountains, so it obviously hosted the RSK. A substantial garrison of Imps, hitscanners and a few heavyweights tried to stop my advance. They almost succeeded on top of the twin elevators, where I could hug a Mancubus for how close it came to me. As for the Arch-Vile, he was sneaky but did not catch me off-guard this time. The RSK was granted after a clunky procedure involving three switches and enemy teleports, but I remained outside and understood little of the happenings. A Mancubus got stuck on top of a raising wall.

Spoiler

316419102_Interception2Map05_03.jpg.89975ce0420a8be3df651dca034526dc.jpg

With both keys in hand, I faced the last wave of monsters before leaving. Astral Castle depicted a fabulous fortress in the clouds, made excellent use of verticality for its combat scenarios, and offered many recesses to explore outside the progression paths, which were subtly but clearly signposted. All these qualities make up a great level, in my book.

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MAP01 - "Euphoria" by NeedHealth, DFF, Moustachio, and Quantum_dranger

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * No saves

 

Heavy STRAIN vibes! Every WAD that has a quick pistol and double fists gets one star in my book. Now then, I like the corrupted tech-base theme and the way the colors—green, pinky red, and gray—interplay. Personally, I find the green marble textures ugly, but they feel pretty nice here; the new sky helps a lot. My favorite area was the castle-like corridor with the white and lime tiles: imposing and surreal.

 

Gameplay-wise, most of the tension comes from the sheer number of imps and hitscanners, while other types are used sparingly here and there. You get a Berserk at the start, giving you more options on how to approach fights, which is nice. Overall, a strong opener.

 

Edited by Dragonker

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MAP02 - “Beyond the Living” by Diego “DJV” Villarroel, Moustachio, DFF

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * No saves

 

Excellent. From the very start this map evokes a sense of grandeur—you know that this floating castle has a lot to show off. The very first seconds are the most hectic: you find yourself besieged on all sides by hitscanners and must decide your course quickly. I went head on and braved the Arch-vile first; the SSG is well worth it. Just take care with those barrels!

 

The music track is awesome. It feels like a Zelda's overworld theme, which complements the non-linearity of the map and the diversity of its locales; there's a garden, a rampart, a library, and even a room with a big candelabrum in the middle (opera room, anyone?). What really brings them together is the fact that most areas are open to each other or to the sky, so there's never this feeling of a patchwork world. And, speaking of aesthetics, I would dub this one Plutonia-esque castle: lots of gray stone but also wood and vines. There's great attention to detail everywhere—I love how the ceilings turned out.

 

On the gameplay side, both movement and progression feel very smooth: key areas are interconnected as if to minimize backtracking. Combat is pretty similar to the previous map with few monsters put to the best use on tight corridors. To win you must use what little space you get to your advantage and avoid blasting yourself with a rocket in the process.

 

良い!

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MAP04: "That Which Shall Not Be Named" by DMPhobos

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/5 secrets

 

The first solo effort, we are back in a fortress suspended in the green void, but here we have a more wide open and expansive take than what we saw in MAP02. The visuals continue to be on point in this one too, it is quite a nice looking level. The ammo squeeze is lightened up quite a bit in this map from the previous ones, you won't be bursting at the seams but you have plenty of ammo to work with here. Coupled with the generally open layouts in this one, this map gives you quite a lot of leeway and feels a little easier than the last couple in my opinion.

 

Combatwise this one was fun. I think my favourite area was the one where you get the rocket launcher, with its arachnotron turrets, pain elemental, and miniature caco-cloud. One of the more dangerous moments of the map and the area is fun to run around. This is where I found my 1 secret and it was totally accidental, while dashing away from the chaos I ran myself right off the edge of the arena but luckily stumbled into the teleporter that takes you to the secret in the process. There's also a cyberdemon surprise here, but I barely even felt his presence before telefragging him. I happened to run myself pretty much straight to the teleporter after awakening him, so I consider myself a bit lucky for that.

 

Very nice level. I continue to be rather impressed with the visuals and layouts in this wad. I'm excited to see the future maps, especially when we get to the really big ones.

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I'll leave some comments about both map03 and map04

 

The first map i contributed was map04 (That which shall not be named), at the time this was made with a map09 slot in mind, but it ended up being moved to map04 after some time. I was still more into gzdoom mapping at the time and this was the first boom format map i've made. After completing the map i moved on to other projects and after many months later of mapping and developing a personal style i decided to go back to my submission and rework some areas and remove most of the doors to make it more fast paced (compare the first draft here, to the final map and you can see a big chunk remade at the center that imo, made all the difference in how the first half of the map played), despite that rework it still has some 'early mapping' years feel to me when i play it and has a lot of "i wouldn't do that anymore" moments, that said, it's not a bad map and im proud of making it. It was mostly influenced by franckFRAG's map (map19) on the first interception (it was cited as an example for the theme of the episode), which has a great layout and was quite fun to play (even if it doesnt show the influence heh). As for the name, well the credit goes to Moustachio on that, since i didn't came up with a name for it, and went nameless for a long time, until Moustachio suggested the name, which i guess is very fitting considering how i never named it heh.

My contribution to map03 came much later, Misty asked for some help to finish the map on the discord server and i voluntered to finish it. When i received the map, it had about 2/3 done of what ended up on the final map (see here and compare to the final map), my main contribution was making the last area, and making it loop back a bit to the middle of the map to make it feel a bit interconnected and also improve some of the visuals of the map, after that we went back and forth a bit polishing the map until we finished it. As misty's mentioned the first draft we submitted was a bit bigger than the final version, but we had to delete some areas and tone it down a bit after receiving some feedback. I think the end result is pretty good and i enjoyed working with misty on this map, tho i see this more as a Misty map i helped to complete, rather than a full collaboration between the 2 of us. Funny enough, many months after working on this map, we got to work on a full collaboration between the 2 of us for mapwich 2 where we took advantage of each other mapping styles

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35 minutes ago, DMPhobos said:

Funny enough, many months after working on this map, we got to work on a full collaboration between the 2 of us for mapwich 2 where we took advantage of each other mapping styles

 

You know how I said your map 4 reminded me of a map from Mapwich 2? After looking at the screenshots in the thread, it turns out it reminded me of yours! No wonder! Lol

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I realised I didn't mention this in my first post, so I think it's important to say that all of these write ups are from a completely blind playthrough, after one run-through of the map and I write them immediately after finishing the map (though I do slightly edit them when pasting in here if I'm wrong about some stuff). 

 

MAP 5 - Astral Castle by Moustachio:


Another very cool, fun map. I really liked the mess of castles of the green voidscape, I thought it looked very interesting from the outside, if a little messy. While the map is pretty freeform with its progression, I didn't find this map difficult to navigate around - some of the teleporters surprised me with where they sent me but this wasn't an issue - I expect this is because of the different texturing schemes and colours the different areas of the map use.

 

This was the first map that I felt was a decent challenge, with the hectic opening after coming out of the initial fortress. I liked the horde of imps and revenants that spawn in after grabbing the SSG, it really forced me to move and try to find some slightly safer ground and this first part was definitely my favourite part of the map. I didn't appreciate the arachnotron teleporting in behind me when I teleported up to the platform with the soulsphere secret, but it only got me once so it's not too much of a big deal! I preferred the blue key path to the red one, I thought the pain elemental ambushes were nicely placed and caught me off guard each time. The double archvile attack in this area really gave me some trouble as I didn't have many shells and rockets going into the fight - I eventually decided to go back and find some more shells and this was another enjoyable fight.

 

I thought the map dragged a bit in the red brick castle as it was mostly killing fodder monsters in halls, but the red key puzzle itself was interesting and took me a bit to figure out - it might not have intended to be a puzzle, I might just be extremely unobservant! I wasn't able to find any secrets in this map, which was the first time this happened in my playthrough, but I felt pretty well stocked with weapons and health in spite of that. I had a good time with this map, I think the increased focus on verticality in the fights and progression made it stand out from the other maps so far.

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Map05 - Astral Castle by Moustachio

Very detailed map in this one with a lot of routes open right away. I fear I ended up using my rockets too early in the level to snipe at mancubu and arachnotrons so by the time the archvilles appeared I had barely any rockets left. Luckily in the one hallway where 2 of them ambush you there are lots of pillars to hide behind. Fun level, felt like the combat was the hardest at the very beginning due to enemies and cacodemons shooting at you from far away. Lots of nooks and crannies to explore, I only ended up finding 1 secret though (a rad suit, lame).

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MAP03 - “Desecration” by Misty, DMPhobos

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * No saves

 

Had a nasty bug playing this on Woof!: the red key didn't teleport to its place after hitting the switch. Of course, I didn't know what was supposed to happen, but appending -complevel 9 fixed it.

 

MAP03 is quite open, unlike the previous two maps, and a bit easier too, as the monster count hasn't grow as your space to move has. Its looks remind me of a mix of Valiant's second and third episodes, but with slime waterfalls instead of blood ones. Overall, I think more contrasting colors would have been nice: there's too much of dark colors.

 

Combat is mostly avoiding projectiles this time, though there're some nasty chaingunners here and there. Movement feels nice with environmental hazards and pits giving it some depth. The track is pretty nice; it has been a great music selection so far.

 

MAP04 - “That Which Shall Not be Named” by DMPhobos

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * Saves

 

I think that "That Which Shall Not Be Named" is "ammo starvation" because that's the name of the game here. Only at the very end I got enough to be comfortable. I even used rockets on shotgunners and finished a revenant with punches just to squeeze a bit more. On aesthetics, we return to the floating castle theme, but there's one aspect I like very much: this time you can drop down to the void, where there're some little islands made of flesh that contain some vital medikits. A small but significant detail.

 

Gameplay-wise, I love how dangerous the arachnotrons feel here: you got few bullets to spare and those fuckers are pretty far away on their little pillars rising the tension big time. There're only... four or so, I believe? Well, each one gives you hell. Besides them, we see cacodemon swarms for the first time, and they're very, very good at creeping out of nowhere.

 

This is the first difficulty spike (for me) and a very good challenge.

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MAP05: Astral Castle (99%/99%/100%)

1.       Several monsters receive a random card enchantment

2.       Pain elemental bleeds lethal acid

3.       Imps are able to fly

 

Let’s break the balance of Interception II by giving imps some wings! And the next map, Astral Castle, can clearly demonstrate how one single Tier 1 card can change the flow of a level on a whole. Instead of taking potshots at those various imp snipers scattered across the battlements, I was forced to fend off a whole flock of them right from the start! And the previous card with respawning arachnotrons did not not make things any easier for me either.

 

Once you get yourself some breathing space to think (which might be harder if you are dealing with imp snipers instead), you can go either for blue key or red key. Make sure to grab the backpack first if you haven’t done so in previous level! Taking down those snipers from far location will cost you ammo which pistol starters might not have enough – in that case, you have to come at them close and personal! There are also some arch-viles for you to deal with, and on the way to the blue key you encounter two of them at once! I, for myself, used much more rockets than this map would normally allow…

 

The red key area requires to fight in more convoluted locations before finally coming to skull switch mini-puzzle that needs to be solved in order to make the key accessible. Assuming that you can deal with teleporting harassers first. With both keys in hand, a straightforward path to exit lies ahead. This is one of the few examples where a certain card makes a level more enjoyable than it usually would be! And I managed to find all secrets this time, though I did not bother wasting ammo on respawned arachnotrons.

interception map05.jpg

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MAP05 - Astral Castle - Moustachio (100%K/94%I/0%S): 

An even better map than the previous one and so far it keeps getting better, the views of this pretty open playground are just as good as it can get. Gameplay here may be a little bit more convoluted than some of the previous maps, as you may have a more open space. The map revolves around key hunting in a really big area. This map may have again, an ammo shortage, making this level a little bit more difficult than the previous one. Encounters in the buildings are cramped and using the rockets for the enemies which are harder to deal with (arch-viles or sniping arachnotrons) will be your bet. 
So far in terms of views this map stands out the most, and this is much to say considering every single map so far stood out in this department.

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

MAP05

MAP04

MAP03

MAP02
MAP01

 

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My contributions to MAP01 and MAP02 were less pronounced in comparison to the other mappers that worked on them, so there wasn't a whole lot for me to add on them. With the first map, a lot of the look came about from NeedHealth and DFF. Quantum_dranger provided the very first draft of MAP01, which would eventually become the base for what would become the chaingun secret. My biggest contribution to the first couple levels was a large portion of the gameplay in MAP02, particularly around the yellow key area. I did a lot of the detailing on and added a few secrets to that map as well. Across the first two maps, I also did a lot of ammo rebalancing, especially on UV.

 

MAP03 and MAP04 went largely untouched on my end aside from being shifted around in the map order. These maps were dynamite when they came in. MAP03 in particular started opening my eyes to voodoo doll scripting, a hugely important aspect of Boom mapping.

 

Now, with all that having been said, MAP05: Astral Castle is my first solo contribution to the wad, and it's also the first map that was finished for the wad back in 2018. I believe this predates MAP26, which General Rainbow Bacon submitted around the same time. The biggest challenge for me was getting the look of the map right and combining it with good gameplay. Trying this sort of hodge-podge aesthetic was a tall order for me, as I was much less experienced when I started my first draft. This was both my first limit-removing level and my first Boom level, and I wanted to make something that couldn't come close to running in vanilla, so I really went wild with the openness. Later on I would go back and revise the map with some serious gameplay edits, including adding the plasma gun secret among others. I still find it a little amusing that this map made it all the way to the finish. A few revisions and some luck played a part in that, I believe.

 

One more small piece of MAP05 trivia: for the longest time, the MAP02 midi was attached to this level, which was also the first custom midi submitted for the project I believe, courtesy of stewboy. I eventually found the song to be more fitting for MAP02, and I chose a different track for MAP05.

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Not a good megawad to have to play catch-up on, so here we go:

 

MAP 03: Desecration

Based on its solemn title, I wouldn't have expected Desecration to be the most welcoming map in the megawad so far. Conditioned by the first two maps' low tolerance for thriftless ammo expenditure, I played this one carefully and had a ball with it, pulling the trigger only when necessary and keeping the pistol in play for its accuracy and low rate of fire. Lots of these fights can be knocked out with patient circlestrafing, the mancubi, revs, spiders, and cacos will do a number on each other and the surrounding chaff, so let them squabble before you go to town. The visuals throughout this map are lovely, my favorite area was the pavilion with a view of the slimefalls (pictured below), reminded me of an alien tourist attraction. Greenstone, if you will. Let's keep this brief, since I'm a few days behind: suffice to say the extraplanetary setting, loose, open combat, and constant scenic variety continue to appeal and impress.

 

790173546_Screenshot(155).png.d6c75f86eb56a4c76cec045a0f3a8beb.png

 

MAP 04: That Which Shall Not Be Named

I'm starting to instinctively run away from big fights and non-fodder monsters on account of wanting to save ammo, but all that really accomplished here was a logjam of monsters at the top of a flight of stairs. This is another alien temple, more subdued than MAP 02 and 03, which offers plenty of opportunities to backtrack and play around with routing. I got a little lost right before the yellow key, which was my fault: I pulled up two rooms away from it, said, "I'll come back and finish this in a second," and ten minutes later went, "Ah shit, I knew I forgot something."

 

I carried around a fully loaded plasma rifle for much longer than I should have, but the end result was I had more than enough cells in my pack to dust the cyberdemon at the end -- I knew the Int2 folks would introduce him early! I know you can telefrag him, but I actually don't think it's worth it: if you duck into the seemingly-safe hallway, the windows snap open and pinkies pounce on you, giving the cyber a clear shot at you and the barrels sitting next to you. That got me good, once. I had enough ammo to wipe the cybie, amble through the hallway, and spam plasma into the remaining enemies, so I figure that taking out the cyberturret first is an easier way to save health, if you've got the supplies. Overall, this is another nice level, with some great Eris Falling music to accompany your aimless wanderings.

 

MAP 05: Astral Castle

One of the best maps so far in terms of connectedness and sandboxiness, Astral Castle cranks up the pressure right from the start, ushering you out of the start room with imps and a chaingunner as soon as you go outside. Moustachio doesn't screw around; you get everything except the plasma and BFG right off the bat here, and a backpack too, thank god. Unfortunately, you won't really need it. Ammo is short again...sigh. 

 

This is definitely not a beginner's megawad on UV, the fight pictured below gave me a serious headache. The northern keep is guarded by mancubi, revenants, a chaingunner, and some really annoying specters, and it springs a caco/PE trap when you approach. I don't recommend only having a box of bullets and three rockets for this. The arch-vile usage in this map is also pretty high key. The one tucked away in the red key building spooked me, the lookout AV in the blue key building is a pain to deal with if you're short on ammo (but he'll manufacture shells for you if you keep killing the sergeant next to him), and the last rush of three at once is crazy...this is MAP 05, right? Astral Castle would only get more fun on replay, but it makes kind of a stern first impression.

 

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I would like to mention. I'm not sure if the early ammo starvation is entirely my fault, but its most likely partially my fault having never balanced ammo for both a continuous full megaWAD and pistol starting the some 2-3 years ago I started working on this. During this part of my mapping career I had the idea in my head that if you aimed to have the player end the level with 5-10% excess ammo, then continuous play would be balanced for at best up to map 20 ish and worst map 10, at which point shells become almost infinite and players would have a couple spare rockets, bullets, or cells between levels. This may have caused some of the early maps to be a bit bone dry, and map01 especially since the idea was to use the berserk somewhat generously. I swear i playtest all these changes multiple times, but I may have been a tad too strict in some places. I forget how much of that was my doing, but if any i apologize for the added difficulty of ammo management.

 

Map05: Astral Castle By Moustachio

UV, Continuous, GZdoom, Corruption Cards 3.1 (card: One marked demon horizontally inverts the level).
K: 98%, S: 50% T: 15:43

This map was a bit of a hard nut for me, mainly because of the corruption cards but also because of me making some riskier plays that chewed into health reserves. several deaths occured but thankfully i had plenty of ammo from the last map so that was not a huge concern save for rockets.

 

As moustachio said this map was kinda the prototype to the lost soul realm design being one of the first maps submitted, which I find apparent having worked and played all the later maps. This map features a lot more void-esque floating architecture as well as many floating, cracked island and visually different keeps to explore. This map to me feels very quintessentially "broken and disjointedly cobbled back together". This phrase does not sound very nice or like a compliment, but considering the theme of the episode (and that this map is quite pretty in every regard) I hope it comes off as one of the higher compliments i could give this map for the design. Its open, it flows well, and every area feels familiar but ultimately unique. I especially liked the red key building as the red brick mixed with the black cobblestone was a small but very interesting color choice, one that stands out to me very greatly.

Gameplay wise i was running on 1-15% health for about half the map, dying at least 25 times to a bad save and some far distance hitscanners. This of course was avoidable once i save-scummed literal 1 shotgunner snipers, and backtracked the map and found ample medkits hidden in pockets of the map. This alone is a kinda annoying but greatly rewarding design choice, as lots of health is scattered in out of sight or little segments of the map, not too hard to find that its a hindrance, but enough to get the player to really explore the map and discover every detail.

The final room to the exit contained the aformentioned marked demon, that being a pain elemental which I had to kill, and being the end was not the worst risk. Man, its funny how one simple thing like inverting the horizontal access just throws everything off. Everything from map geometry to sprites were flipped (thankfully not controls) and all it takes is for doom sprites to be flipped to make a very familiar game feel very alien. An almost fitting effect for this twisted alternate dimension. I'm glad i picked this card as it added to my experience. I can't wait for the next map, easily one of my favorites in the WAD.

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MAP05: Astral Castle. UV, continuous, blind, PrBoom+. 248/248 kills, but only 2/4 secrets, of which only one (some seemingly random radsuit on the way to BSK) I found while playing the level, and the soul sphere near the start of the level (but obtainable only after BSK, as far as I know) I found right after I had gotten all the kills and started looking for secrets.

 

Completion time was, once again, some 30 minutes in, with 5 more when I searched for the soulsphere secret solution and one final remaining shotgunner on the high ramparts of the castle. And once again such a gorgeous level. Because I'm playing continuous, this is the point where ammo starvation stops being an issue (for the time being); On the contrary, at the exit I had quite a surplus of ammo. Perhaps pistol starting the level would have been a viable option this time, although in the beginning there were some troublesome encounters with cacos and arachnotrons and whatnots, and by the archvile double feature I was glad I had surplus rockets and cells. Soundtrack keeps on giving me good vibes, I can't decide which of the tracks so far would be my favourite, they're all so good.

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7 hours ago, DFF said:

I would like to mention. I'm not sure if the early ammo starvation is entirely my fault, but its most likely partially my fault having never balanced ammo for both a continuous full megaWAD and pistol starting the some 2-3 years ago I started working on this.


It was a learning experience, and I do certainly share the blame myself in this aspect. However, it’s quite interesting to see different players end up with different ammo balances at the end of each map. I wonder if we can draw a correlation between first time players on UV and ammo starvation, as MtPain27 alluded to.

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MAP05 - Astral Castle by Moustachio

PrBoom+ / Hurt Me Plenty / Pistol start / Saves / Demo

 

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Remember back in my first writeup when I pondered whether mappers would make harder pistol starts because of the buffed weapons? Yeah. This map right here. It's got enough of that pistol start energy for the entire wad. You start out in a building completely surrounded on all sides by all sorts of nastiness, including distant hit scanners. Every inch of ground you claim will be hard-fought, as ambushes will plague your every step.

 

My meager Doom skills were barely enough to complete the map with ~6 deaths in half an hour on HMP. The nice thing about this map is that it offers a lot of freedom in how you approach it. Maybe too much freedom for a first-time playthrough. On subsequent playthroughs, you may remember the location of some integral items as well as have a better idea of what strategies might work. For instance, I came to the conclusion eventually that playing it safe is your best bet at first, but then it's best to make a hail mary for one of the surrounding buildings and try to gain a foothold there about the time you defeat the first or second ambush.

 

The layout of the map is quite intricate, being a series of fortifications on floating landmasses connected in interesting ways. And although the map's aesthetics are perhaps a bit frenetic (for my tastes), there's no denying that they are crafted by a professional. You certainly won't find them lacking. Ammo starvation vexed me but only in the first half because I wasn't bold enough to stake an early claim on one of the edges. It would have been even less of an issue had I found the berserk near the red key early on.

 

Most of the archies were very well-placed. Kudos for that. The music was a good chunk of the reason why I didn't mind dying so much. Great selection. In summary, I found Astral Castle to be punishing in a way that forces you to strategize. That's the good kind of punishing. And everything else about it is good enough to keep you coming back long enough to succeed. I commend Moustachio for crafting such a unique experience.

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)

4 2 3 5 1

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GZDoom/UV/Pistol-Start/Saves

Map 05: Astral Castle - Moustachio

100% kills and 75% secrets

Time: 26:07

 

The first solo outing from our team leader isn't here to play nice, as it's a toughie. I'm seeing some talk about ammo starvation amongst first time players of this megawad. As a 2nd time player, but first time pistol-starter, I can say there is some definite ammo starvation going on toward the first half of this map. I almost ran out of ammo as I was heading to the northern buildings and had cacos and a pain elemental spawn behind me. But once I started getting keys, it let up a bit. I had over 300 bullets at one point, and maybe maxed out at 60 shells. Rockets are rare, so use on biggies like archies or snipers like some arachnotrons and revs. I remember this map killed me a bunch the first time I played it, and even with that past experience, I'm surprised I only died the once. I came close a lot, but only 1 death. That initial fight once you get out of the starting building is tough, as the elevation can make it hard to navigate, sending you into the void pits below, and there's also some decorations like trees that get in the way. There's a lot of enemies, and not a lot of cover, so it's a tricky dance you have to do to stay alive. Thankfully, the MIDI in this map is nice and serene, and the visual design is gorgeous. The red brick against the green of this ep pops out very nicely. I found 3 of the 4 secrets (do I have to archie-jump to that soul sphere?), though I found 2 of them after everything was dead, making their invuls and plasma useless. Man, that plasma stash would have been very nice in the blue key area with those archies. My first playthrough of this left a sorta sour taste in my mouth cause of how many times I died to it, but this time I enjoyed it! Lack of cover outside makes for a more frantic playstyle. 

 

I could do map 6 now as it's the 6th, but I want to play something else instead since I know this one took me a while to get though too. I'm looking forward to revisiting it as it's by one of my fav mappers of the last couple years. 

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MAP05: "Astral Castle" by Moustachio

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 2/4 secrets

 

This take on the green sky castle is a more open sandbox one, and it looks like some hellish textures are creeping their way in too. This one has a healthy sense of grandness and adventure to it. Beginning as a narrow hallway shootout with hitscanners, the map very quickly opens up into a non-linear hunt for the red and blue skull keys. Go down their subsequent paths and obtain them, then you can unlock the path to the exit teleporter. I really like the layout of the outdoor area, with some health pickups and whatnot hidden in little nooks and around corners, and the side platforms you can jump to for more goodies. Very neat area that's fun to explore.

 

This is definitely the most difficult map so far for me. Health and ammo felt dialed back again, with me finding myself ammo-less a couple times getting through the start. Speaking of the start, getting started is probably the hardest part of this map. The outdoor area has quite a few enemies stationed around, including some hitscanners, and cover is very sparse. Things get a little easier if you find the megaarmour (which is not a secret, but is easy to miss when you're running around), but without it the limited resources and dangerous outdoor area can be quite an obstacle. Once you get to the key paths things are a bit easier, although by no means safe. There are some tricky archvile placements to be found, and I felt like I was riding low health for a sizable portion of the map.

 

Great map, was nice and spacious and I had a lot of fun exploring it.

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Map06: What Could Go Wrong By Big Ol Billy

UV, Continuous, GZdoom, Corruption Cards 3.1 (card: Zombiemen can spawn in packs).
K: 90%, S: 80% T: 30:00

The zombiemen keep getting buffed, which is really going to be my downfall much later on when I get to one of my maps... but thats for far later in the month.

This map should feel rather cathartic for the ammo hungry as this map well supplies the player for the carnage they plan to deal. Its not a brutal map by any means but all the fights are very well designed and there is a good medium pressure throughout the whole map. Visuals are literally top notch in my book. Lots of very little intricate details that sell me on this wonderfully hellish cavern that (for the secret hungry) is split between heaven and hell, with an alternate blessed version of the map located somewhere on earth, and the cursed grounds stuck in the dimension of lost souls. Little details from the architecture to the recurring sigils on the walls, from health dispensers to ghoulish magic trickery surrounding the red skull key. While minor the health time secret and mappers mark is probably my favorite little detail. So many quirky and unique book effects packed into a map that begs the player to explore. I love every bit of it and easily one my favorites from this set.

a lot of fun to play and replay, even the weirdly grotesque fleshopoid wall demons you see near the red key inspired me to create the hulking behemoth in map09 (which at the time was an official round-robin map set for map 07 I believe, at one point this map was right before or after that map so it made sense for me). I did however skip the hell circuit this run and just did the blessed path for the red skull, was running low on health and thats the one section I don't care so much for. its fine but dodging projectiles and hitscanners on a figure 8 after having played the whole rest of the map was a bit too taxing for my tastes right now. Still a wonderfully fun map and honestly one I need to take more inspiration from when making boom maps.

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Map06: What Could Go Wrong. UV, Continuous, PrBoom+. All the kills, and 4/5 secrets. Once again about half an hour.

 

Wow. This map's a change of scenery, and in my books, ramps up the difficulty. I don't know if ammo starvation is an issue, since continuous play provided me with plenty of surplus ammo. Might as well, I feel I would have opted to lower difficulty before the map was over. It's also easily my favourite so far, with the visual detail and boom tricks. I know the rotating "Sigil Eyes" is just a scrolling floor (at least that's my guess) but damned if I wasn't astonished at first (mind you, I have far less experience on pwads than an average forum member).

 

Despite continuous play, I tried the start room on pistol start, thinking it was just a hot start and the rest of the level wouldn't be that difficult. Can't tell where I got that impression, as I was crushingly proven wrong before finding the first key. Aside from stunning visuals, the map employs the core philosophy of TNT's Wormhole with "alternate dimensions".

 

My sourness rose only at the end, when I had basically completed the level, and I tried to get all the kills - I hated the sniping revenants and chaingunners at the end, and I also hated the timed switch run in the same area (I suck at precise strafe-running and I'd always get stuck at the end with the awkward final stone steps up to the teleporter, and then, when I got the megasphere, I still left with less health. I guess the switch run secret would have helped me immensely with the effing snipers).

 

But even so, my favourite so far. Is there are commentated demo of someone doing UV-MAX pistol start run of this?

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MAP 06 – What Could Go Wrong? by Big Ol Billy

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

If MAP05 impressed me for its architecture, this one completely blew me away with its emphatic display of Boom effects, bold use of colours, chaotic combat set pieces, clever puzzles, concealed mysteries, and most of all, the captivating narrative interwoven with the environment. There were so many novelties for me that I was walking around the map in awe like a child entering a toy store for the first time. I looked for information about @Big Ol Billy, a prolific author contributing to all Doom Board Projects since 2018, and I was surprised that his stellar work (I endorse @rd.’s choice of words) only earned him a mention in Cacowards 2020 Special Features. This proves that the community output has reached quality levels that were unimaginable for me, but also that there are more worthy mappers than awards to give.

Spoiler

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Coming to What Could Go Wrong?, this rather compact map started in a sanguine hall, whose vibrant colours and wild action immediately set the mood for a great experience. The place looked corrupted by evil spirits and infernal machinery was at work, pumping blood at incredible speed through the western halls. I cleared everything in sight, picked up the BK, then went eastwards down that marvellous staircase with Cacos & PEs trapped inside force fields. I was expecting them to come alive as soon as I approached the switch, but the deployed forces surpassed my assumptions. I thought I could make the monsters infight by darting upwards; unfortunately, they overwhelmed me instead. At the second attempt, I did not press the switch and used the YK pillar as a cover, pounding the assailants with rockets.

Spoiler

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The key-operated switches in the starting room opened a new chamber with an Arch-Vile, leading to a tunnel where the RSK was flickering. A dizzy gate sent me to a green room with an Arch-Vile in the middle and yellow gates leading to a similar room, but with blue colours and different monster assortment. The coloured rooms were part of an easy but satisfying puzzle that eventually earned me the RSK, sitting under the gaze of an unspeakable alien creature.

Spoiler

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The Y section ended either with a white cross or a red pentagram. The choice was obvious for me, so I went left and was back to the same location as before, but in a past time, when it was a luscious garden with a library holding knowledge now lost to the demonic invasion. It seemed a tranquil place, then I opened the big lion door, releasing a Cyberdemon and a lot of baddies. I uncovered the secluded library and the author’s signature chamber, but the Megasphere remained out of reach and even Doom Builder did not shed light about that secret.

Spoiler

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I returned to the hellish present and unlocked the exit, leaving with incomplete stats. I had a great time, and I am looking forward to replaying this level in the future; however, I was not so eager to max out the map because of that punishing section laying behind the red pentagram by the RSK. It drops you in a lava basin surrounded by nasty snipers that are very difficult to target, but they proficiently hit you while climbing the platforms to the gothic building. With a speedrunner feat you can telefrag them in chain; go figure it out on your first run! If you press on, you’ll end up on a wall of Hell Knights. Nothing that skilful play cannot overcome, but still a high risk/low reward situation you would rather skip. The location was optional though, so no real complaints about it. What Could Go Wrong? was an amazing concept and execution, and it redefined my ideas about Boom editing potential. Awesome to say the least.

Edited by Book Lord

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