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The DWmegawad Club plays: Interception II

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+++ Fragport

 

One of the first megaWADs I go into back in the day. It's from 2001, so it's old. Curious to see if it holds up visually at least, cause I'm not sure. I remember it being fun at least!

 

Will think of 2 more to vote for later.

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MAP25 - The Sad Kingdom - JadingTsunami (99%K/71%I/41%S): 

Well, the Sad Kingdom itself is not Argentina, so I feel pretty disappointed about the map's name, but luckily, I'm not disappointed about the map itself, what an esoteric map we are having here, again, it makes me remember some things found in Requiem, like that room at the middle of nothingness, where the room is floating down and enemies are appearing from the void itself. This map has some fun fights and fun progression. It also has some interesting gimmicks, like that "maze" that goes up and down, and if you happen to be cheating when the walls of the maze lower, you'll be greeted by annoying hellspawn that will kill you quite easily. I enjoyed this map for the most part, not the best, by any means, but it has some nice things here and there.

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:

Spoiler

 

MAP11

MAP06
MAP21
MAP23
MAP10
MAP18
MAP17
MAP09
MAP25
MAP15

MAP05

MAP04

MAP03
MAP07
MAP19
MAP12
MAP22
MAP13
MAP08

MAP02
MAP01
MAP24
MAP16
MAP20
MAP14
MAP31

 

 

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MAP25 - “The Sad Kingdom” by JadingTsunami

 

Unfortunately for me this could very well be the worst map in the set. The start has monsters, but very little incentive to fight them as its only imps/zombiemen and a caco/PE with only the shotgun/chaingun, however the blue key cavern is a complete nightmare with revenants perched up high with you completely exposed and limited resources to properly fight back. Following this you get to an area with a tonne of pinkies and a choice of paths, at this point my only thought was to continue running and hope that I would get something useful to fight everything with. Alas the plasma gun and rocket launcher were picked up very late, I did use berserk a lot on the pinkies when I found one, which I guess was ok.

The little maze room was a neat idea, but it's execution left a lot to be desired, especially when I somehow broke it in two different ways (Cheated and the trap didn't spring, and then the trap sprung when the walls were up which should be impossible???). To be honest a gimmick like this should be fully committed to instead of a random small area that you walk through in less than a minute. Speaking of gimmicks, the yellow key room has probably given me a headache, I guess the archvile with no cover at least gave me mercy and put me out of my misery... because... archvile with no cover....

Visually, this was a mess (Texture usage all out of the place, lots of darkness, but also retina burning firewall sky box. The combat was often sluggish and the finale is a case of waiting for the BFG/red key to descend and then you win. This felt like a collection of random ideas bolted together that couldn't even be explained in the most vague of abstract terms. The fact that the sum of this added to a rather lengthy experience just made this worse. 

I'm sorry, I don't like to hate maps, especially when a lot of effort has clearly been put into it, however I just cannot explain or defend this map in any sense. 

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Map25 - The Sad Kingdom by JadingTsunami

 

First area starts off pretty tame but gets intense fast. I liked the cacodemon and pain elemental in the well. Next is the cave of mancubi and this area quickly turns into a projectile hell but if you speedrun up the cliffs you can find some respite. Past the blue bars is a nasty trap with the pinkies/specters that can box you in quick. The next area presents a forked path. I ended up going right to nab the rocket launcher and then doubling back to the left route. Lots of pinkies and pain elementals in this map, makes for a decent combo as the pinkies can shield the pain elementals from damage and then the newly spawned lost souls and pinkies can box you in and go for the kill. After tentatively exploring some of the buildings here I had already taken out about half of the monster in this map even though it feels like I had just started exploring the meat of it. Also got to love the lighting effect that was used to create the illusion of a spinning fan in the basement full of zombies. Next I went through a teleporter to a dark area with a red skybox to find the yellow key. Very fun fight, seems hectic but is manageable if you know what to expect. Probably the hardest fight came up next, the room with the raising and lowering red wall full of revenants. I didnt enjoy it much, but I found a way to cheese it. If you stand in the doorway and snipe at any enemies in the room without actually entering the room you can wait out the timer on the door so that way you can backtrack for cover once you activate the revenant monster closets. After that I was able to take out the spider mastermind EZPZ and enter the final arena to let the cyberdemon infight with everything. It’s a cool map with some difficult sections, but nothing too over the top ball busting (except perhaps the revenant maze room). Luckily the map is fairly nonlinear, so if you explore a bit you can get a ton of firepower to deal with anything that’s too dangerous.

 

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MAP25: "The Sad Kingdom" by JadingTsunami

UV, pistol start, saves

100% kills, 7/12 secrets

 

An abstract adventure map through quite a few dark and dreary landscapes. It begins unsuspectingly enough by starting you in some caves, but this gradually opens up into a map where you explore all manner of structures like a demonic library, a dark metal tech building that eventually takes you underground to a mud pit with a very cool lighting effect imitating a fan, a large and wide open grey brick set of corridors, a wooden structure that's mostly a bit non-descript but does have some very cool looking torchlight. This level definitely runs the risk of looking like somewhat of a hodgepodge, but I was able to buy into what it was selling. Each environment was pulled off very well visually to the point it's gotta be one of my favourite looking maps in the wad, and the map is also helped by its fantastic midi.

 

I did use save here because the opening stretch of this level caused me a good deal of frustration. I have to admit I really didn't like the second room, with the mancubi in the pit and the murders of revenants stationed up above (plus a few hell knights). Dealing with the revenants homing missiles was a major pain and taking them out was sloggy. I actually decided to skip out on killing the revenants and come back later with the plasma, which is when I found that you can actually make things a bit easier for yourself by dipping into some of the nooks around the area. Still, this fight wasn't my cup of tea. I also found the room after kind of weird with how its teleporters acted, with monsters continuing to stagger in when I was leaving at awkward intervals. The rest of the map's combat I liked, it was often times a bit oppressive but I really have to respect the uniqueness of some of these fights. The yellow skull key fight was definitely brutal, and you'll want to go in very well stocked in health and armour. You're in a room with pitch black lighting and a moving red background that your enemies are silhouetted against, and it's honestly a pretty cool image. That archvile at the end can go to hell though.

 

Another fight worth mentioning is the raising and lowering maze room, which is another tough one that I enjoyed quite a bit. I rushed into this one with some of the invuln from the yellow key fight left over to make it a bit less painful at the start. I do love the anxiety this fight causes when the maze is lowered and suddenly you're in the sights of all the revenants and chaingunners, it's a pretty scary fight. The BFG secret was a pretty cool little shootable switch puzzle, and definitely made the mastermind a piece of cake. It also makes the final fight quite a bit easier as you don't need to wait for the BFG at the back of the room to lower and can go straight to town. I thought the "trap" of the golden liquid in the seemingly safe corners of the room causing you to go slow was kind of funny. What is it, honey?

 

I thought I wasn't going to like this map in its beginning stretch, but it turned out to be quite a trip. Definitely a map that is sure to leave an impression on the player, whether good or bad. It's not afraid to alienate people, but personally I found myself quite drawn to it.

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MAP22 - “System Corruption” by Moustachio 

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * Saves


A departure from the dark, gray-dominated landscapes from the previous map, MAP22 feels more cheerful with its prominent use of red—even the sky changed! The lots-of-barrels from the very first maps return, making an already easy map easier.

 

Overall, don't got much to say. I like the simple progression and the simple aesthetics. This is one of the few maps that really felt HMP as I had almost no trouble clearing it, which had not been true for most.

 

MAP23 - “Asbestos” by Needhealth

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * Saves


An epic map that doesn't know when to let go. I'll focus on its best feature: combat. There's a lot of blasting. A LOT. The map even begins in media res with projectiles coming from all sides while you search for the nearby SSG. So, conflict is plentiful. Yes. But also of excellent quality; lots of tricks are used to spice it up: ambushes of all types, closets, treacherous corners, LOS blocking with pillars, positioning monsters at different heights, and even some very dark rooms. How the author uses arch-viles, for example, is on a class of its own.

 

The progression, however, can be confusing, and the constant pressure can leave you out of breath quickly. I don't see how anyone can speedrun this: the map has to be played methodically, dispatching opposition as soon as it springs from earth and only advancing when that is done.

 

Overall, if you love to shoot without pause this map is for you. If you don't like relentless maps, you're out of luck.

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MAP 25 – The Sad Kingdom by JadingTsunami

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

 

The second entry by @JadingTsunami detached itself from Moonlight Escape for its fantasy atmosphere, conveyed by a great soundtrack and simple but neatly designed natural landscapes, gothic buildings in the middle of grassland, and a profuse display of hellish sorcery. The author handled this thematic change while staying faithful to the style of his previous tech-base: an assortment of environments, referencing a general setting but appearing geographically disjointed.

 

The fight in the brown cavern with an infested well in the middle was a nice opener, followed by a stretched, one-way cavern opening into a huge antrum patrolled by Imps, Revenants and Hell Knights on ledges, with Mancubi at the bottom. The waterfalls disappearing into a river of blood were just awkward and I cannot imagine how this area would have played without my carry-over rocket launcher. I guess the player must spot the barely visible steps and get up to those pesky snipers, then collect the BSK. The weapons were tucked deep into the level, so pistol starters have basically no other option than press forward, funnel or lose the attackers in the meandering tunnels, then hope to locate the supplies before running out of ammo in the middle of a hectic combat set piece.

Spoiler

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The cavern affair continued with an imposing staircase and several ambushes, chiefly involving Pinkies that enjoyed teleporting behind my back. The tunnels forked in two branches, each one leading to courtyards stuffed with enemies that ate up a lot of resources. I decided to explore the one with the wooden chapel and the dark library first. A gruesome pentagram sent me to a nightmarish room, where to earn the YSK I must fight many waves of enemy silhouettes against a FIRELAVA backdrop. I sprayed plasma at the shadows without rhyme or reason, getting constantly hit in the back. Medikits and cell packs were scattered on the floor, invisible in the total darkness, so they were picked up randomly and wastefully. The only thing I saw perfectly was the Arch-Vile, a second before he blasted me to conclude this chaotic fight. A nice idea in theory, very annoying in practice.

Spoiler

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The ordeal was followed by another devilish setup in the chapel’s sacristy, with a maze of red walls that suddenly started moving up and down, exposing me to dangerous enemies. My habits luckily include extreme caution when entering new areas, so I was able to retreat before being trapped inside with Chaingunners, Revenants and a Pain Elemental. There are switches to crush most of the enemies in the closet, but such feats are impossible to pull off on a first run. A potentially unique room turned out to be more confusing than anything, especially when I found a dead end in the sludge basement with a nice ventilator illusion. A teleporter sent me back to the tunnel fork, preventing me from missing one third of the map by entering the big cross-shaped room right away.

Spoiler

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The unexplored buildings in the second courtyard held many locations with nice textures and lighting, connected in haphazard ways and constantly forcing me to fight enemies from weird angles. I missed the 4-step BFG secret just as I missed the others, all belonging to the cryptic variety. The Spider Mastermind was involved in a comical stall with a chaingunner, which allowed me to get past them and grind bovine meat in the nearby areas. The Cyberdemon fight in the last room, preceded by an intimate Bruiser Brothers encounter in a cubicle, was ok and possibly one of the best staged combats. The simplistic construction of certain areas, contrasted by the good detail of others, and the widespread weirdness you would not expect in a 2020 map set, do not weigh so heavily to categorise The Sad Kingdom as a bad entry, nevertheless they make it seem detached, following its own rules, and not fully harmonised with the rest of Interception 2.

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MAP26: Sinister Teachings (100%/97%/66%)

1.       Mancubus can carry other monsters

2.       Add a Cyberdemon somewhere in the level

3.       Hell knight has a small companion

 

A smaller map, but with even nastier ambushes. It feels like every major encounter related to progression has to include an arch-vile or two! The blue key encounter was a case where killing chaingunners was much harder than killing arch-vile that came with them. The yellow key library has a case of claustrophopic encounters that culminated with all walls opening at once, making me into a shootable target and unleashing yet another arch-vile. Eventually I just rushed to a pillar where arch-vile was, killed him, and from that cover killed the rest.

 

The red key is another seemingly impossible encounter where 3 archviles spawn from the front, shooters from the sides, 2 pain elementals in corners and two mancubi carriers below. I retreated to where the green armor when then, while still trying to stay in the cover, killed pain elementals as quickly as possible, then showered the arch-viles and entourage from cover with rockets. I managed to find the BFG and soul sphere/megaarmor secrets, which gave me ample resources to break through the final leg of the map.

 

The elevator sequence is a fine example of choosing right weapons at a right time – rockets against revenants, plasma against reflecting hell knights and the BFG against arch-viles. The area that comes after the elevator must be tackles slow and steady, or you’ll die under a hail of chaingunner bullets. Unfortunately, you will them have to deal with two more arch-viles and pain elementals!

 

The final sequence with megasphere pickup was less threatening that I expected. Just a bunch of revenants that can’t be resurrected and some arch-viles. Then there is a sequence with Spiderdemons, best handled with BFG shots – otherwise you will be left with no cover if you take too long in fighting them! Challenging level, but much easier to digest compared to previous three!

interception map26.jpg

Edited by FragsBunny

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MAP 26 - Sinister Teachings by General Rainbow Bacon:


This shorter map is set in some cursed caverns and while it has some fairly rough moments (basically all of the mid section), the start and end of the map are pretty great. I think the setting is fun, and the low monster count and high concentration of archvile certainly makes the map all the more spooky. The blood seeping through the cracks on the stone floor texture was a really nice detail too and I think this map nails the atmosphere (thanks in part to the midi).

 

The initial fight with berserk against some pinkies and other monsters was a fun start to the level and I think it worked well, though the energy sags for a bit after this fight as I did not enjoy the library area and the caves immediately following them. Giving out a megasphere before the yellow key fight felt as though you weren't sure how to balance that fight given the complete lack of immediate cover after pressing the switch with an archvile behind some meat shields - this stood out as unusually clunky, compared to a lot of the rest of the megawad which is why I've mentioned it.

 

I liked the short elevator fight and I'm very glad I found the BFG secret for the red key fight as that would have been pretty rough without it. The chaingunner cave was fun, and trying to take out the archviles and pain elementals before they ruined everything was a very good moment. Shame I found the invulnerability as that made the final archvile and revenant swarm comical and took the wind out of the sails of the spider masterminds near the exit. I replayed these fights without the invulnerability and they were very good. I especially thought that the lowering cover in the spider mastermind fight was a very creative use of that monster and it ended the map on a good note.

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MAP26 - Sinister Teachings - General Rainbow Bacon (100%K/74%I/33%S): 

Ok, this one is a really interesting setpiece, it is a short map in comparison to most of this mapset, but there are some interesting things here that will make the gameplay engaging. There are several traps that look scarier than they actually are, you will find this map quite difficult at times, but mostly because you are fighting several enemies inside narrow corridors. The bookcase labyrinth that later reveals that it's actually a cage, a nice setpiece, and also the different parts of the map connecting with each other. I enjoyed this one for sure, a redemption from MAP14 by the same author, for sure, this one acomplished more by doing less.

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:

Spoiler

 

MAP11

MAP06
MAP21
MAP26
MAP23
MAP10
MAP18
MAP17
MAP09
MAP25
MAP15

MAP05

MAP04

MAP03
MAP07
MAP19
MAP12
MAP22
MAP13
MAP08

MAP02
MAP01
MAP24
MAP16
MAP20
MAP14
MAP31

 


i think the next two maps are pretty long, so save yourself some time before you play those.

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MAP26 - “Sinister Teachings” by General Rainbow Bacon

 

A mixed bag, but considerably better than Map14 by the same author. This one is fairly short in respect to the megawad as a whole, it is also pretty cramped. This means you really need to be careful with monster placement for this to really work and overall this is where the mixed bag element comes in. The opening skirmish is pretty fun as you need to use berserk to good effect here. Not sure about how the blue key was gathered, it felt a little wonky. The fight after picking up the blue is cramped and a little terrifying.

The library section is to me the dud part of the map, it doesn't quite work, progress is a little irritating and the lowering of the bookcases revealed a fight that never killed me, it didn't quite work as you can hold station by the switch and the archvile doesn't really bother you. Anyway back to more cramped caverns before probably the biggest fight for the red key. Again some parts work and some don't, the perched mancubi can be safely killed at ground level without too much hassle, the following fight with three archviles and lots of other stuff was fun to deal with, again you can use the ground level to improve your odds again. 

Beyond this, we have a lift section that was pretty neat and a rather nasty cavern section. That opens up the final set of fights and the exit, to be honest this also didn't quite work for me, the first wave is a back to the wall and fire rockets job where you need a little luck with the archviles and the mastermind fight is one that has an interesting design, however I simply used the invulnerability secret to quash both these fights.

Anyway this only tackles the combat, which again I will state had good and bad parts, however I will say that the ambiance for this map was very good along with the visuals. You also got this sense of paranoia in some parts of the map, which is intentional by the plentiful number of times that a floor will lower or a door will open without seemingly doing anything other than walking down a set corridor or cave. Overall I think this was a solid effort and I am glad after the rather sour time I had yesterday.

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MAP 26 – Sinister Teachings by General Rainbow Bacon

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

 

In case someone was missing proper and unmistakably Doom-ish infernal visuals, @General Rainbow Bacon’s last submission surely fits the bill. Sinister Teachings was a short but substantial adventure in the depths of an unholy sanctuary, with creepy lighting, blasphemous imagery, and an ominous soundtrack, strongly contributing to the ambiance. Since the beginning Arch-Viles were laughing behind the walls, promising to appear in due time for the reckoning with Doomguy.

Spoiler

1090737213_Interception2Map26_01.jpg.de140d325427f7a8f74ce0f981f9fc94.jpg

Many burrows and tunnels must be explored in this dark corner of the Earth. The first was a disquieting corridor with light shenanigans and a Baron teleporting behind a rather unequipped pistol starter, who should run for the shotgun and Berserk pack to stand a chance. Gargoyle faces opened and more monsters swarmed the corridor; after an intense fight the BSK was mine. The exploration continued in a mazy library, which suddenly transformed itself in an open room with gratings and almost no cover from the new wave of enemies, featuring an Arch-Vile. I always like when areas mutate shape and function; here it was especially well done. The YSK opened the way to a network of caverns, showcasing buried slaughter chambers and a two-stage bars unlocking procedure, eventually leading to a dimensional gate and to a completely different location.

 

Surprisingly enough, the new area was a tech-base installation in a canyon, guarded by some zombies and a few high rank demons. I reached the upper level and spotted a free Soul Sphere in front of the RSK, with plenty of ammunition littering the floors. Something looked extremely wrong, especially that bright white canvas behind what seemed to be a cross… Three Arch-Viles popped out of the floor in front of me, chaingunners emerged from the sides and a lot of heavyweights teleported in, blocking all directions. The aggression was mean, but in a positive way; I needed two attempts to get things right.

Spoiler

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I found the BFG in a secret reached by strafe jumping, asking myself if it was too late to put the weapon to real use. I could not be more wrong, since further Sinister Teachings were in store, the first being a slow elevator revealing enemies along the way. The second was a basaltic cavern brimming with chaingunners, culminating with the simultaneous appearance of Pain Elementals and Arch-Viles between scattered Commando corpses.

Spoiler

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An Invulnerability was gifted for the last streak, but I was a bit too slow to take full advantage out of it. The power-up served me well against the gang of Revenants & Arch-Viles, but it vanished in the last square arena, where I must resist the point-blank gunfire of a Spiderdemon until a slow lift revealed the exit. This was an interesting way to use the cumbersome boss: the pillars maliciously disappeared as I covered behind them, so I must be quick with the BFG, considering that on UV the Mastermind even gets a replacement. This map was small and rough, looked consistently good, and it offered plenty of entertaining battles. It ranks highly within the third episode of Interception 2.

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Comeback train time...

 

MAP 14: Mountain Mayhem

Dark, rugged, and sprawling, and chaotic. It’s been two weeks since I actually played Mountain Mayhem, but those four words are an apt summary of my notes for this map. The texturing is a little haphazard in this one, which is to say General Rainbow Bacon and DFF make strong but irregular choices throughout, it’s an orgy of color, flesh, and metal in some places. I remember the blue key fight with the arch-vile being a nice little switcheroo, denying you the key and serving up a big fight instead (the viles that flood the building downstairs are also pretty nasty), but the cyberdemon behind the yellow door was no bueno. The red key cave-in and chaingunner circle of pain was a neat, if slightly mean, set piece, and but it felt nice to clear this one despite its prodigious length and valkiriforce-esque hyperactivity aesthetics-wise. I do think the MIDI was a little out of place, too much of a hard rock edge for a synth-pop/electronica style megawad like this.

 

MAP 15: Volcanic Research/Liquid Hot Magma

Easily the most Interception II map of Interception II so far, even more so than Slipgate Ex Nihilo, this secret-stuffed volcano base has a lot to unpack. Scored by a slam-dunk cut from the Revolution! MIDI pack by Jimmy Paddock, Moustachio’s MAP 15 will play very differently person to person depending on whether you can track down certain secrets, and your enjoyment of it also heavily depends on how much of it you are willing to explore. I snagged an early plasma gun and actually found the automap all on my own, but I still found myself dogged by ammo trouble, forced to chainsaw my way out of more than one scrape, and I had to look up the way to access the lengthy secret outro...goddamn missing candlestick. The most memorable fight for me was the corridor with all the mucky muck and the arch-vile, after which Moustachio kindly offers you a secret invuln, and the normal exit ending was also pretty exciting, but the secret exit pathway brings it home for me: the hectic throng of enemies, trailing revenant missiles, and the roaming cyberdemon was a great adrenaline shot. I highly recommend 100%-ing this map, despite its great length. Once again, this map exceeds forty-five minutes of playtime for first timers.

 

MAP 31: Beamfleot

Cybers, barrels, rockets and Keens. I kinda like this map despite the bizarre premise and the extreme gimmickry of the gameplay here. I think Moustachio actually should have left out the plasma and gone all-in on the rocket dueling. Dodging and dishing rockets in such hazardous and cramped quarters makes you a better player! I saw some negative reception for this one while scrolling through the thread, not sure why. It’s a secret map, folks, what do you expect?

 

MAP 16: Planet Vertigo

This nighttime techbase is unfortunately one of the more forgettable entries in intercep2.wad so far for me. The mysterious and often inspired visual touches can’t save the overridingly average gameplay, though I will point out my specific fondness for the computer screen that goes from red to green and opens a soul sphere secret, the handsome chapel room, and the red coils peeking in at you from the dark recesses. I also liked the BFG secret, which makes you shoot a flashing lion switch as you’re falling: it’s the kind of secret that I always suspect is there, but never is.

 

MAP 17: Yellow Sea

Lots of cool moments in this one: Yellow Sea takes no prisoners right from the start, shunting you into a flurry of firefights, though a teleporter, and into the main arena with a golden splash, where it will be in your best interests to clean up all the monsters you can before progressing, especially the hell knight doormen, who will backstab you as soon as you take the yellow teleporter. The charnel house maze scene is pretty sweet; I should have seen the revenant ambush coming from a mile away, but it took me by surprise. Don’t forget to backtrack to the first area for extra ammo if you got knocked off the platform like I did at the beginning. Overall, Yellow Sea is a nice little jaunt, not quite as short or explosive as people made it out to be, but the arch-vile party at the end and the color coordination are pleasing in their own way.

 

652910795_Screenshot(182).png.c0b3c5230b856cf336fbc26363d38330.png

 

MAP 18: The Golden Palace

Genuinely breezy and pleasant, The Golden Palace continues the yellow theme of the previous map, and despite its pointed arch-vile placement, doesn’t bring nearly as much heat as most of E2. I loved the scene pictured below of the golden falls in this cavern, with the metallic veins in the wall and the high contrast lighting. I also loved finding the library secret, follow the candles and they’ll lead you right to a BFG, which I incidentally forgot I had and never used...you won’t really need it. The hardest room in the map, where you’ll get the yellow key, is totally neutered by an invulnerability, which I believe should have been left out on UV. Except for the conspicuous monster window dressing, this room is a total afterthought.

 

Screenshot (183).png

 

MAP 19: Asteroid Assault

Holy hell, this one was fun! Not exactly the opening statement you’d expect to see for a writeup about a map with 475 hitscanners in it (and nothing else), but DFF managed to pull a rabbit out of his hat with Asteroid Assault: it’s explosive, full of memorable and amusing details, and much more concise than you’d expect. The zooming zombies on their conveyor belt are a laugh, the extra-bloody library fine reclamation is a blast, especially with the secret invuln, and I love the way DFF makes you feel like you’re skirting around the base in secret as you snipe piles of shotgunners, chaingunners, and pistoleros sidelong through windows and surreptitious passageways. I’m not sure how I opened the red key exactly, but the progression kind of figures itself out as long as you’re following the sounds of heavy breathing. I think two of the secrets could have been less obscure: the one in the Crater hallway where you randomly press a wall and it takes you to a room full of chaingunners was too much, and the one where you press a computer panel to reveal some hitscanners in the walls was straight out of TNTR MAP 24 (yes, the one by valkiriforce). The final bloody shootout was a big score, as was the excellent Viscra Maelstrom MIDI. All in all, one of my favorite maps in the megawad, if not my favorite. Oh, and I almost forgot that tank! Delightful!

 

1870201250_Screenshot(185).png.5c62ce8783886f79d95a694cb9ddb51e.png

 

MAP 20: Moonlit Escape

Ugh, not a great way to end the episode. Like NOVA III’s 21st map, Moonlit Escape labels areas on its automap and showcases some affable Doomcute scenery, but its action is flat and it makes a couple of questionable decisions: the giant fire cavern offers you an invulnerability to traverse its high-friction deep lava (ick), but you only get one crack at nabbing it. The platforms sink, and if you can’t slip past the three imps in time, the invuln and the extra cell ammo across the lava pond is lost to you for good (essentially). There are also some practically unreachable cacos in there, one of which I missed out on killing, and for some reason JadingTsunami elects to lock the player out of the complex once they acquire all the keys, making them leave through the trash chute. Rude. Make sure to get the BFG from the locker room (watch out for the baron party in there) and save a few cells to make short work of the arachnid/vile ending, which I cheaped out from the candlelit tunnel because I had 20 cells and no rockets left. I really liked the red and blue reactor room, swimming pool, and the one door which was jammed at an angle (pictured), but the action and progression were less than fun.

 

671694959_Screenshot(189).png.a94f03da13286b7b216a3a3352e8e20e.png

 

All in all, a very strange middle episode: I’m not entirely sure what they have in common except for the prevalence of space bases and nighttime setting. I preferred the placid greens of episode one, to be honest, though DFF’s work and Moustachio’s volcano base map and Golden Palace were highlights.  

 

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MAP 27 – Cargo Cult by DFF

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

 

Cargo Cult was another astonishing contribution by @DFF, a long but enjoyable experience through a microcosm of Doomcute creations. The depiction of a seaport with its loading bay, warehouses, offices, harbour, and a full-scale cargo ship was fascinating, filled with countless little details, and just too impressive to miss a Cacoward mention, in case Slipgate Ex Nihilo was not enough. Not only it was successful at creating a complex and realistic environment, a truly great achievement within the engine boundaries, but it crowned the effort with solid gameplay and an ambitious storytelling experience.

Spoiler

1164269616_Interception2Map27_01.jpg.d025daa8e929dcdb779fbd78f952d519.jpg

The first part took place on solid ground, inside and outside the port buildings, featuring a lot of storage areas, power stations, machinery rooms, and control towers. Progression was straightforward, I never felt lost regardless of the sheer size of the area. The big ship was my destination, the colours guided my search and the unlocking procedures, firstly through the central building, then into the northern computer station and warehouse, holding the YK. Hellspawn constantly accompanied the exploration with small and large-scale ambushes, nothing standing out as particularly devious, just a constant pressure required to keep a continuous player amused. Ammo and weapons seemed well-balanced for a pistol start too.

 

Once I arrived in front of the big crane, a teleport pad sent me on board. The ship deck was covered by crates and boxes of various sizes, visually striking and very effective for the gameplay, though a bit preposterous. A ship should be loaded with bigger and tidier containers, or else some of the load would fall outboard during navigation. Behind the high wall of crates, I finally saw the bridge with a Baron of Hell at the helm. I wiped out the demonic crew and descended into the ship’s lower decks.

Spoiler

240238895_Interception2Map27_02.jpg.57b5e179d87a2170795fbf5edc544a2a.jpg

The reproduction of real locations continued with the crew’s quarters, a meat processing area with refrigerating rooms, and the machine rooms, where the BK was finally retrieved after reactivating the engine. A secret blue switch awarded me with a Cyberdemon battle in the narrow hallways of the ship, granting access to the stern and to a secret Combat Armour. The author confessed his fondness for cramped Cyberdemon fights, though here it was way more manageable than on MAP14.

 

The way back to the blue switch was spiced up by a small cloud of flying monsters spawning on the ship’s prow, then by a Spiderdemon appearing on each one of the two possible return paths. I did not miss the opportunity to make them infight before opening the exit. Even though I found 63% of secrets, I still missed many of them, including the bountiful one in the toilet.

Spoiler

1458557227_Interception2Map27_03.jpg.0a28e41a8a3b9636371656fb43be51fc.jpg

This was without question a must-see map of Interception 2 and another exquisite work by @DFF, demonstrating once more what could be accomplished by outstanding creativity and strong commitment to accuracy. Combat was even more entertaining than in his other works, though the last stretch of ship lasted a bit too much and barely avoided turning into a drag. I was expecting to find something obscure and horrifying in the belly of the vessel, like a satanic shrine or something else that explained the title Cargo Cult. Nothing like that had been planned though, and in my opinion this jeopardised the map’s narrative. This was only a minor stain on a Doom editing masterpiece.

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MAP26: "Sinister Teachings" by General Rainbow Bacon

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 3/3 secrets

 

General Rainbow Bacon is back with a vengeance in this one. This map sticks out as less grand in scope than much of the megawad, but gives you more than its fair share of challenges. The bulk of this map takes place in dark caverns with demonic flavours, but there are some other aspects like a library, a slightly techy section, and marble temples. The midi selection here is definitely one of the subtler ones in the wad, but it works well for the atmosphere. 

 

Space is the name of the game in this map, as you'll rarely feel comfortable with the space given in this map's encounters. You'll often feel either cramped or wanting for cover throughout this one, and it makes the relatively small number of monsters all the more threatening. None of the fights in this one are overly difficult by themselves, but almost all of them have that little bit of potential to go wrong that keeps you on your toes. The toughest point of the map is the battle for the red skull key, which took me a fair few practice trials to figure out. The best non-cheese method for me was to rocket the hitscanners in one of the nearby lowering closets, and use that little bit of wall between you and the lower area as cover from the archviles, and then rocket them as quickly as you can. Often times the hitscanners on the other end will distract them which can be a great aid. I did specify non-cheese because I did have a run where I inched forward so that the archviles did not raise but everything else triggered. I was able to then kill everything else and then hit the wall near the hidden archvile lift with rockets to kill them with splash damage.

 

I'll also highlight the final stretch of the map. You get quite a staggering amount of resources and then are greeted with a relatively easy hallway of revenants and archviles, where you can just back up and let rockets fly to your heart's content (or if you want to make it even easier, the secret invulnerability beforehand is nice). This almost feels like a bit of a troll though, because what you'll really want all those cells and megasphere for is the ensuing double spiderdemon encounter, where you are forced to use small pillars that gradually lower as cover. I found this one quite tricky without the secret BFG. If you do get the secret BFG though, you can pretty easily make mincemeat. Still this fight was creative and quite hard without that secret.

 

This one was a lot of fun. The combat style was pretty different from lots of what we've seen so far here, but it was pulled off well.

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Interception, as awesome as it looked, broke me with its size and complexity at MAP05.

So,

+++ 1000 lines

Because it seems like something I should be able to finish.

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Personally I was thinking that I would be unlikely to participate next month. That said 1000 lines CP 3 would probably be short enough that I could catch up in blocks from the days I inevitably are doing other things.

+++ 1000 Lines CP 3

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I don’t know what this 1000 Lines thing is (although it doesn’t take a genius to guess), but considering I’m still unable to carry on with Interception 2 (and I do intend to play it to the end as soon as I can) and because there are inevitably off-days in December, it sounds like something I might be able to attend to.

 

So, joining the band wagon,

 

+++ 1000 Lines CP 3

 

Edit: Oh, there’s the 1k3 thread. I can be so blind. Looking forward to this, if it gets chosen.

Edited by RHhe82

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MAP27 - “Cargo Cult” by DFF

 

This is almost a great map, spoiled somewhat by the bloat at the end of the map. The start is a fantastic open planned mass of chaos, a continuing theme of this map is that the outdoor sections and much more fun than the interiors. Despite finding only one secret, I had plenty of ammo for the majority of this map. The repeated scraps around the outside of the main building are a lot of fun to cut down with rockets and plasma. The interiors are a lot slower but felt somewhat more compelling than others experienced so far. The top of the cargo ship is also a lot of fun, even with the slower pace thanks to the mass of hitscanners present, this area is definitely a case of going all in with the "Cargo" element.

However the interior of the ship is certainly less compelling and rather flat in comparison to the rest of the map. It also takes a fair amount of time to navigate and after the blue key is acquired, you then have to backtrack a long way to use the blue key to access the exit. I understand the idea behind doing this, exploring the inside of a ship and in fairness it is done very well with tasteful amounts of doomcute. However I don't think it adds anything to the experience of a map that is very compelling and action packed.

In terms of placement, I think this is as good as Map11, despite the bloat towards the end. 

Edited by cannonball

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Map26 - Sinister Teachings by General Rainbow Bacon

 

Definite step up in difficulty with this one. Very spooky start to the level. Its very disconcerting playing the whole level with archvilles purring in the background. Luckily you get a berserk pack early here so you can lean on your mitts if ammo gets low. The traps in this one are pretty ruthless. The library area is pretty hard to begin with thanks to the narrow space between the book cases. And then you spring the trap and its absolutely diabolical. I enjoyed exploring the caves afterwards, gives a bit of a break from the archviles.

 

Next up was the red keycard room, the trap here is one of the hardest so far, 3 archvilles spawning right on top of you! I basically chose the cowards way and retreated back to the entrance and abused the teleporter to take out the 3 archvilles before venturing out further (found the bfg once everything else was dead). I really liked the elevator fight past the red door.

 

Next is chaingunner cave (I actually really liked this, forces you to take your time), and then there’s another archville ambush.

 

Then there’s the final battles. A tunnel of revenants and more archvilles (if you’re lucky and find the invulnerability sphere this fight should be EZ PZ). Then you face off against 2 spider masterminds! I really liked the map and the difficulty, except for the library area since the book cases were too narrow. Other than that, some grade A traps in this one, very intense.

 

Map27 - Cargo Cult by DFF

 

This map was so fun! One of the best city maps I ever played. Really enjoyed it. Doomcute galore and great fights to boot. Really amazing detail, even having clipboards and papers littering the ground! Also a ton of secrets, this map was a joy to explore and find all the cool details. The landmarks also make progression very straightforward.

 

The beginning area was great clearing out the streets and exploring the central building. The boat part was also very fun. I liked the use of the silent teleport to simulate going below deck. The details here were also great; the revenant in the toilet made me laugh, and then you get to the cargo hold where it looks like the demons are stuffing human guts into the boxes (yuck!).  BTW the fights in this room were very fun.

 

After getting the blue key you then you have to come back the way you came fighting off more demons along the way. At the end I still had some monsters left that I hadn't killed and decided to go secret hunting. There were a few lost souls and then when I returned to inside the ship there was a cyberdemon (when did he come out, I guess it was a slow teleport maybe?). Fighting him here was actually pretty tricky due to the cramped quarters.

 

The ammo in the map was very plentiful, especially since you can get the berserk early on. The secrets were also fun to hunt down (I ended up getting 7/11 my first time through). Fantastic map, makes me want to step up my mapping game.

 

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Also I think I'll join the bandwagon and cast my vote for:

 

+++ 1000 Lines CP 3

 

I was considering taking a break from the club to catch up on some other games (Demon's Souls, Doom Eternal and the new Quake Episode), but with such short maps I think I'll be able to fit it in. Plus its just so much fun playing along with everybody!

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MAP27 - Cargo Cult - DFF (99%K/83%I/54%S): 

Well, another really big map, just as MAP11, but with many Doomcute traits, and this time, our journey takes place in some kind of bay, a great city map we are having here. This map divides itself into two sections, firts, the bay itself, with many buildings and a city-like structure, the other section, is the cargo ship, this one, when you get inside, will give you a TNT throwback in terms of gameplay, maybe some Icarus throwback aswell. As DFF likes to do, there is several secrets to find, and there are many weapons to reload ammo here and there. This one is nearly as good as MAP11, but not as long, although it took me 40 minutes to beat, counting deaths and such.
I always liked the idea of a map inside a cargo ship, you don't see this theme getting used that much, it's an interesting take, that GTA San Andreas mission or that CS:GO map comes into my mind when looking into this map.
The gameplay here and the fights are pretty grindy, and you are receiving fire from every angle, as the map is pretty open at the streets, the interiors are just your average Interception II experience. DFF comes with his, always-grindy, gameplay here and gives us yet another blast to play through.

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

 

MAP11
MAP27

MAP06
MAP21
MAP26
MAP23
MAP10
MAP18
MAP17
MAP09
MAP25
MAP15

MAP05

MAP04

MAP03
MAP07
MAP19
MAP12
MAP22
MAP13
MAP08

MAP02
MAP01
MAP24
MAP16
MAP20
MAP14
MAP31

 

 

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MAP27: Cargo Cult (99%/95%/73%)

1.       Cacodemon fires bullets instead

2.       Mancubus consumes corpses to gain health

3.       Collecting keys gives monsters a random buff

 

+++Boaty McBoatwad

 

No, I’m serious! Just by seeing this map alone, I want to see more maps that feature more boats like this one! Granted, half of the map’s action takes place on ground level but still! Lots of good things to explore! While the level is quite big, ammo is plentiful, and so is health, and I came with nearly full ammo supply from previous map. It also does not make me to run around like a headless chicken like in MAP24 or throw cheese-bite-able fights.

 

Then being said, almost every encounter in the level was more or less manageable, given the abundance of ammo. The few things I did not like was the opening teleport to the titular cargo boat, where I have to take cover and fire rockets at health-boosted zombies. There was also a case where I accidentally clipped off the boat in the water while searching for secrets and had to use a cheat to get back. The encounters inside the boat were more hectic, given the cramped space, especially in the meat room, where I had no choice but to use the BFG in order to prevent being cornered by beefy imps.

 

The return trip to surface level was greeted by Cyberdemon, but I just skimmed past him right into opened mega-armor secret. Back at the cargo bay, I almost got myself boxed by numerous flyers, cause of those stupid boxes that I cannot normally jump over! The farewell party is just 2 Spiderdemons and some arachnotrons which for some odd reason locked themselves by new raised bars, making their plasma harmless until the blue switch is pressed. By the moment, the exit room is already behind you, and unless you’re gunning for more secrets, there is hardly any need to finish off the stragglers. I found 8 secrets out of 11, but could not find a way to reach the BFG. Still, I think I used too much cells and rockets here, not sure if my current ammo supply would be enough to survive the magnum opus.

interception map27.jpg

Edited by FragsBunny

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MAP 27 - Cargo Cult by DFF:


This is a very fun map, set in a shipyard for the first half and on(!) a cargo ship for the second half. I remembered reading that this used to be Map32 before being pushed to this slot and I can see that this feels very 'secret map'-y, with the more aggressive combat (this is probably only the second map so far that the SSG was not generally my weapon of choice, the other being Map21) and the very good attempt at making a realistic area.

 

I liked the first two large outdoor fights, the first is more of a scramble to get weaponry before being overwhelmed by pinkies and cacodemons, and the second fight after pressing a switch releases an archvile to all those monsters you just killed along with loads of others. The fight just before teleporting onto the ship was also fun, though it caught me off guard and I had to cower behind a computer panel hoping to BFG the horde before their pathing allowed them to get to me!

 

The section actually set on the ship is brilliant, I thought the mother of all crate mazes was hilarious and the doomcute on the lower decks of the ship was adorable - DFF's maps in Interception 2 seem to indicate a love for doomcute as they all feature it to a degree, though this is the most obvious use of it! Unfortunately, the blue key fight in the ship was a bit wimpy and I was hoping for a slight more grandiose ending than an arachnotron in a small room, but that didn't spoil the level. I really enjoyed myself here even though the map was quite long - it took me around 25 minutes, but it certainly didn't feel that long.

 

I did manage to find a few bugs, I've taken screenshots of the first two since you mentioned about doing an update soon:
- Softlocked myself in the yellow key room after wondering if you could climb the crates (was looking for secrets and found this instead!)

Spoiler

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- Managed to get out of bounds of the ship by jumping from a crate on the side nearest the shore to the railing and discovering that it was not impassable.

Spoiler

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- Missing texture in the baron room on ship, right side of the left window, it's one of the support textures.
 

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My 2nd vote:

 

+++ 1000 Lines CP 3

 

I did enjoy the first 2, and it seems like a lot of people want to play this as well!

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