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The DWmegawad Club plays: 1000 Lines 3

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MAP03: "Lower City Grime" by Liberation

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 0/0 secrets

 

The project lead's first contribution is a nighttime city map with neat-looking neon signs and a groovy futuristic sounding midi. This one looks great, and manages to create quite an immersive landscape despite the linedef limitations. It's the second map in a row with no secrets in it too, which I can't complain too much about, I tend to be a pretty terrible secret finder.

 

The assault rifle and plasma steal the show in this one. It's a great showcase of what more you can accomplish with the perfect accuracy of the rifle on your side, mowing down weaker enemies feels so nice and easy with it. For the tougher stuff, the plasma does a great job. We do see that the cell packs now only give 50 cells instead of 100, but this level gives you quite a lot of cells to work with anyway so you don't have to feel bad about a little spray and pray if you feel things are getting too hot. The main challenge is the room with the sewage pit and the arachnotrons. The arachnotrons in the pit are pretty inconsequential, but otherwise there are some tricky monster placements in here.

 

This one was quite fun. You could argue it was a bit too generous with its ammo, but it was nice to cut loose a bit.

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MAP04 - Monument of Mars

HMP | Continuous | GZDoom

 

I don't recall having the pleasure of playing a map by Reflex17 before, so this was a fun way to experience his mapping sensibilities. This map had a bit more of a chilled-out vibe compared to the non-stop action of MAP03, at least on HMP. It's a nice breather map that's no pushover as it has a few stand-out encounters to keep your heart rate up, especially with the warehouse battle and the Caco-cloud at the end. I felt certain Reflex would be the mapper to score the first Bio pelt and kill me thanks to that wily Archie but I managed to escape him by the skin of my teeth. I wanted to try and get both secrets, but I noticed I couldn't backtrack beyond the warehouse. Fortunately, I did manage to find what was arguably the better secret in the warehouse thanks to a uniquely-coloured crate hiding a button with a soulsphere and mega-armour. Lovely!

 

 

Edited by Biodegradable

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I'm playing with GZDoom, and continuous, but I don't feel like starting over with the patch that fixes the cell clip pickups. So I'll just continue on with the original RC3. I was wondering why I was getting bullets from a cell pickup.

 

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 03: Lower City Grime - Liberation

100% kills and secrets

Time: 8:35

Deaths: 2

 

Idk what it is so far, but this WAD seems more fast paced and hectic when it comes to its fights compared to other WADs I've played recently. Maybe it has to do with the weak but powerful plasma trooper providing pressure? Maybe it's the fact that the plasma rifle gets top billing more often than the rocket launcher and SSG? Maybe it's the lack of cover throughout this map? Who knows? All I know for sure is that it's been pretty fun, and this map continues that. Even though I did die twice here, I wouldn't say this map is hard really. The only kinda tough fight is the last one that unleashes a bunch of pinkies, revs, and an arachrnotron or 2. I just ran back out the way I came during the second attempt at it and was good. The outdoor crate area just made me inadvertently awaken monsters early by running around and that ended up killing me via sneaky pain elemental. Grrr. I like the city look of this map. It's kinda Build engine-ish, but not as detailed. I like the bits of trash that is scattered around. As someone who really likes city maps in Doom that aspire to be like Duke3D and the others, this theme is going to be tough to beat in other 2 eps. But yeah. fun level, nice environmental design, nice plasma focus, and nice tune.

 

Map 04: Monuments of Mars - Reflex17

99% kills and 100% secrets

Time 8:36

 

Easier than the last few maps, this linear trek still has a couple interesting aspects to it. I'm liking the neon signs plastered around, like the one of the bar. Once again, it really enforces the city environment. The SSG is finally here, but I barely used it as the rockets and plasma did most of the dirty work in the big arenas, and the assault rifle and normal shotgun picking up the slack in the long stretches of imps and plasma troops. Also, is it just me, or does the SSG firing animation seem off? It doesn't feel right to me when I fire it for some reason. The final 2 fights in the bigger areas can be dangerous, but there's more than enough room to run around where it's not a problem. Just don't let the archies revive everything. The one in the warehouse is tougher I feel since the stacks of crates are pretty big and reduce the area you can move, while the fight after it outside can allow heavy rocket usage with no worries. Even with the poison-colored cacos roaming around. The secrets weren't too hard to find and were very nice to have. I know it's fixed, but I did find it odd that the cell clips by the hidden plasma actually contributed to my cell count while the dropped ones don't. I think this is the first map of Reflex17's I've played and it was pretty solid. I wish there was more areas to explore instead of being the Boomer-shooter version of a corridor shooter. Also, I would have liked to backtrack since I was missing a kill, but it's no big deal really. If I was missing a secret though...

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MAP04 - Monuments of Mars (HNTR, continuous, blind): K 98%, I 62%, S 50%, D 0, T 18:35

 

Spoiler

Another visually attractive city-map with quite a simple layout and combat (on HNTR at least.)  Because of the scarcity of opposition in the first half of the map i was expecting slaughter to begin at any point, but nay, it was all pretty harmless.  The first real encounter was in the large cargo hall, with Arachnotrons shooting from a distant ledge, and couple of Revenants running around.  Even the Arch-Vile that appeared was fun, and i never ever enjoy those fuckers.  Here i also found the first secret, Mega Armour and Soulsphere.  i did have an incident of shooting myself in the face with the RL, but i didn't die nor did i even think it necessary to reload, so no deaths this time.

 

The large outside shipping yard was nice too, especially with the cloud of reskinned Cacos that was striking to behold.  The combat here with them and the Revenants upon an elevated walkway around some industrial silos was simple but fun.  However, at the end i had only found one secret, and also had three enemies left to kill that apparently i'd missed, and i wasn't happy about not being able to go back from the cargo hall to look for them.  That's something that always irks me, and i'm sorry to say necessarily drops one point from my grade.

 

Still, apart from that, this is a decent city/techbase-map with an excellently realized layout, it's all very believable and immersive, and i wouldn't mind at all a full-sized city-map based on this, but i still hope for more complexity in design.  i like the name, but didn't notice any visual reference to theories of Richard Hoagland :D  But i did think immediately upon seeing the name that there was some similarity in design to John Carpenter's cultmovie Ghosts of Mars.

 

 

Top 1000 maps:

Spoiler

MAP02 - Tharsis Awakens - 9/10

MAP01 - Dust Devils - 7/10

MAP04 - Monuments of Mars - 5/10

MAP03 - Lower City Grime - 5/10

 

Edited by dei_eldren

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MAP04: Monuments of Mars. Pistol start, HMP, DSDA-Doom v0.21. I think 110/113 kills (DoomLauncher stats say 112/113, but that's skewed by AV), all the items and 50% secrets. Completion time 15:36

 

I think this was easier than the last two levels despite the fact we meet our first archvile in the best battle of the map. Otherwise, I guess Monuments of Mars is... well, I don't know if it's a dip in quality, but it does feel a bit lesser than the first three maps. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because it's more like string of arenas, and aside from the warehouse fight, they are not particularly exciting. Well, the cacocloud in the last one brought a smile to my face, as cacoclouds often do. Maybe my impression has to do with me assuming (because I had read previous posts earlier, so I could be mistaken) you can't backtrack to get all the secrets. I don't know.

 

The soundtrack keeps on being of quality level, much like Interception II. They don't stick to mind, but instead you're left with the impression they fit the maps well. This time the music reminded me of the good ol' 80s Miami Vice theme song.

 

Speaking of 80s, wasn't there a computer game by the name of Monuments of Mars back in the day? Or am I mixing up things?

Edited by RHhe82

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MAP 4 - Monuments of Mars by Reflex17:
A bit of a step down in intensity here bar one fight, this again shows off how well OTEX can create gorgeous city environments even with heavy restrictions on the mapper and I really like the scenery in this map - lots of concrete everywhere of various colours. The combat itself is a bit lower key than Maps 2 and 3, but that's not a bad thing inherently. I do think giving out the SSG here seems unnecessary, the amount of rockets and plasma given out here renders it basically useless and the regular shotgun and chaingun are certainly good enough to take out the less scary fights.

 

The best fight in the level is the crate warehouse. The small horde of revenants, imps and an archvile with covering fire from the arachnotrons provides a decently challenging fight especially since there isn't much health in this area. The caco-cloud outside this building was entertaining, and you have plenty of rockets to deal with it and that sneaky archvile could be incredibly mean if you trigger him before all of the cacodemons are dead. I found the plasma gun secret so I think I had a bit of an easier time here than others might, but I'm not complaining.

 

I ended the map with three revenants alive, they were just hidden behind a barrier than I expected to lower when I picked up the backpack opposite them, but it just didn't. If this is intended, I suppose that's fine, but it seemed a bit odd to me so I thought I'd mention it. Had a good time here.

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04: Monuments of Mars by Reflex17

 

aKYpU8m.png

(...I made a mistake)

 

The syrupy vaporwave synths and melodies of Digislide, combined with the vast, sparsely populated spaces and their colorful minimalism, make playing feel like floating. I loved that. At times, monsters tactically suit the openness -- revenants emitting clusters of seekers, lone-ranger archviles amid containers, big bullying cacoswarms...all suited to keeping you sprinting -- but equally as often, playing is relaxing, while still being brisk enough not to bore. A setting of this scale, especially in modern times, would naturally have double or even triple the bodycount, but "Monuments of Mars" is a great example of how to pull off retro sparseness.

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its December - which means i will almost certainly have time to play Doom, what with the holidays and all, so time to rejoin the club

 

prboom+, uv, pistol starts, saves when i start dying repeatedly!

 

map01 secrets were tantalising without being frustrating. its not often i bother collecting secrets on map01 after everything is dead.

map02 this layout was more confusing than the size of the faciltity has any right to be. maybe im just navigationally-inept

map03 first ramp up in difficulty. revs + these new plasma dudes create most of the problems. im enjoying how the dehacked work forces you to prioritise differently in certain fights.

map04 very retro-style map. the cacocloud made me laugh. vile-surprise also was enjoyable.

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MAP04 - “Monument of Mars” by reflex17

 

A much easier map compared to the previous two. This did feel a little empty and underdeveloped though. The large amounts of space should mean that even the beefier fights are relatively straightforward to handle. In fact I would say that the start is probably the hardest when you are resource scarce and the plasma guys are probably the most likely monster to encounter. 

In the end this felt like it was lacking something, the greys and browns tended to blur together to make something quite homogeneous that made the visuals seem underwhelming and again the combat felt like a step down in quality. I know that maps don't have to get progressively hard but still it felt easier and less compelling at the same time. The archviles are a welcome touch, the cacoswarm however gets the award for being one of the most ineffective cacoswarms of all time, no threat whatsoever given the space on offer.

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Map04 - Monuments of Mars by reflex17

Surprisingly easy map, very straightforward progression in this one, but still lots of fun all the same. Great locales and great sense of adventure. My favorite location was probably the large warehouse area with the revenants, imps and arachnotrons. Also we finally get to use the super shotgun in this map. Very interesting how you don’t get the assault rifle in this one (or at least I didn’t, I’m not sure if it’s in one of the secrets), so I was constantly switching between shotgun and pistol which made for more engaging combat despite having less crazy fights than what we’ve seen previously. Not my favorite so far but definitely fun.

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Map 04 - Monument of Mars by reflex17

 

Someone stealing DBP names here? This is the first of maybe half a dozen maps created by people you've probably never heard of, apart from those who've played lots of ASS sets (definitely not me). Even more linear than Map 03, but hardly less competent and solid. Despite being easier, it might be better.

 

The start here is not so hot ( a couple of scattered Imps), though again, well-placed plasma troopers will catch the unaware first time player (read: me) off-guard. The shotgun's sitting near the lift though, so you have few excuses. Yet, I had few excuses playing as horribly as I did, up til the point where I found the first secret (yay for secrets!) and acquired the plasma rifle (and some after that but we'll get there). 

 

Still I was grateful for the plasma rifle all the same. Despite what another poster said above, you're overloaded but not exactly swimming in ammo (shell boxes are scattered, for one). Enemies are probably spaced out more than they need to be but c'mon, it's only Map 04. All the same, when you enter an alley and come upon some Imps on the right near a backpack, you're well-advised to watch your step, as three Revenants appear here. You're once again lacking an assault rifle, so don't think situation was really intended to be easy. I did survive this somehow though.

 

After another open area consisting of Imps on both sides, you enter a warehouse. Head out onto the main floor and you'll see Archnotrons firing at you from the other end some 50 feet away. The rockets and vast amount of rockets seem quite tempting (I do think reflex may have gone just slightly overboard here) but you'll soon be attacked by several other foes including Revenants which will chew up if you get too distracted by the Archnotrons, though you should probably try to kill at least 1 or 2 of the latter whilst moving around, lest you get turned into a giant crisp. Of course, there's also the Arch-vile that seemingly appears out of nowhere. While I manged to prevent them from hurting me, I could definitely see someone turning into Doomguy marshmallow if they are caught off-guard. The second secret is located by pressing a green crate to reveal a console which opens an empty room with a megaarmor and Supercharge. This really isn't overloading you too much for the final fight.

 

You step outside, see some Revenants firing at you from a raised surface and several hitscan enemies. Now I'd almost prefer more of a bite here, were it not for the fact that a giant swarm of Cacodemons conspires to descend on your location, raining fiery electric hell down on your sorry ass. The Arch-vile behind the crate is almost a joke compared to them, although perhaps we should be actually running out of rockets here. No matter though, they were dealt with and I exited with one enemy left somewhere.

 

This would definitely be my favorite so far if some fights had slightly more teeth to them. As it is, there are a decent variety of situations here.

Edited by LadyMistDragon

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MAP04: "Monuments of Mars" by Reflex17

UV, pistol start, no saves

97% kills, 0/2 secrets

 

A bit of a thematic continuation of the previous map, with the city and the neon lights, but we see some presumably Martian sands covering parts of the level this time, and the spaces in which you manoeuvre are quite a bit more wide open here. Also while the previous level had you taken through more techy buildings, this one is a bit less techy and takes you through some kind of warehouse. The midi is another very strong one, really digging the soundtrack of the wad so far.

 

This one was a bit of a mixed bag for me combatwise personally. For the highlight, I definitely like the warehouse the best. The plasma zombies and revenants form quite an effective tag-team in this warehouse and it's an exciting fight. A lot of the rest of the map feels a bit too spacious for the threats that are present though. The green caco-cloud at the end was cool, but a bit neutralized by the amount of ground you're given to run around, although the archvile tucked behind some boxes did give me a bit of a surprise. I also could not for the life of me figure out how to kill those 3 revenants hiding behind the wall near the backpack, so I was not able to get 100% kills like I try to do in every map. Also, not sure if I missed something, but I wasn't able to backtrack at a few points in the level, which I'm not a fan of.

 

This one wasn't bad, but would have liked to see some of the big spaces be more populated. I did like the visuals though, the sands were a nice pairing with the city.

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MAP05: Martian Vista

By Walter

 

Kills: 95%

Items: 0%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 6:34

 

Picking it up from his flunked Micro Slaughter submission, Walter delivers a soft and rather cozy plunge through Martian Vista, it's no more difficult than MAP04 but I love the layout and new monster introduction (Which I'm gonna call the Flame Pillar for convenience) it's an (I think?) indestructible pillar that impresses with its DeHackEd, I'm not sure how this is done in vanilla, especially the transparency, if Bauul or Liberation is reading this then quote me man I'd love to hear how it was done, anyway, Walter's combat is serviceable but the star of the show is his layout, everything is pleasantly interconnected in a way that makes it nice to explore, a stark contrast from MAP03, I like the big fodder ambush at the purple key and the start's lovely doomcute cafe at the edge of the universe, Martian Vista is a quick, innocent plunge, exactly what a community project map should be

  

Grade: B+
Difficulty: D+

 

Playthrough video

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MAP05 - Martian Vista

HMP | Continuous | GZDoom

 

We begin with what looks like a chill-out lounge complete with a bar and plenty of booze to steal. It's a rather hitscanner-heavy affair which makes me wonder if Walter had zombieman enthusiast, Smeghammer consult on the demon placement hehe. We're also introduced to what might be a recurring fixture in later maps: A weird lamp thing that throws out random fireballs all over the joint. Thankfully, it wasn't too hard to maneuver around. The layout of the map is kind of like a TARDIS in the sense that it feels small, but has many interlocked nooks and crannies, tight corridors and lifts. Walter makes use of every little corner in his signature compact mapping style as we smash through it. It's cute and good fun.

 

 

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MAP04: Monument of Mars (100%/62%/50%)

1.       Arachnotron may become an immobile, self-ressurecting sentry

2.       Sergeant slides around when moving

3.       Arachnotron are able to fly

 

I happened to finish a DBP01 of the same name two months earlier... Can’t believe that this is still 1000 lines restricted map, because of its size! And Mars is supposed to be a red planet, so why I have not seen shaded of red yet? That being said, in spite of being so large, this map is quite low on monster density and uses rather constrained bestiary – primarily imps, plasma troopers and some revenants. The warehouse area turned to be quite harder than it normally does – not only I had to dodge revenant rockets, but also arachnotron plasma, as those flying bastards kept constantly intruding on my personal space. The final outdoor area is no less hectic – while dealing with revenant snipers and cacodemon cloud, I also was nearly ambushed by a sneakily placed arch-vile. Still, with the powerful weapon and plenty of ammo (not to mention barrels), this is another easy map to breeze as long as you do not catch a rocket in the face. At least I found a secret to buff my health and armor up for the next level!

1000 lines map04.jpg

Edited by FragsBunny

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MAP05: Martial Vista (100%/100%/100%)

1.       Imp fires triple projectiles

2.       Add harmless illusions to the level

3.       Demon can carry other monsters

 

I think I may have lost too much health and armor trying to blast my way through this level. Part of the unnecessary damage I took was due to barrels, hitscanner ambushes and a new fireball-spewing orb. I broke myself through that room, only to find out that it could be skipped the other way around!

 

The harmless illusions card now works even smoother than it was compared to previous versions of the mode. Similar to “Barrels of Fun”, it spawns illusions on the fly, sometimes even in front of me, making it easier for me to distinguish them. It also encouraged me to use automatic weapons more often to sweep the illisions away, and the barrels in that hatter help even further! As for the level itself, it uses all three keys in spite of its compact size. I was not too fond of teleport hitcanner ambushes, but I managed them somehow despite losing my armor earlier.

 

I reached the sole secret sector by strafe-running through the window, yet I could not reach the megasphere from there. As it turned out, I needed to push a switch to lower it. Eventually I found the legit way of reaching the secret… which involved that fireball room again! I wonder, how many future levels would take advantage of that new prop? There has to be a puzzle level involving those in this WAD, right?

1000 lines map05.jpg

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MAP04: "Monuments of Mars" by Reflex17

UV, pistol start, no saves

Kills: 110/113, Secrets: 2/2

Deaths on map = 0

Total Deaths = 0

 

A definite step down in difficulty and intensity compared to the last 2 maps. While I personally would have preferred the map to have more bite and intensity, the lower monster count, coupled with city aesthetics, does make the map more atmospheric. Still, I do think that indoor areas of the starting buildings (the one where there is plasma gun secret and the one that has a lift to take us to lift top) were too barren and empty in terms of both aesthetic details and enemies.  Thankfully, the intensity does somewhat pick up when we enter the warehouse and then leave the warehouse for the final fight of the map, even if these fights are still pretty easy (and even easier if you discover the soulsphere + megaarmor secret in the warehouse).

 

Overall, the map feels like a pre-2000 custom Duke3D map, which considering the vanilla Doom and 1000 lines restriction, is pretty good, but does rank lower than maps 2 and 3 in my book.

 

MAP05: "Martial Vista" by Walter Confetti

UV, pistol start, no saves

Kills: 131/131, Secrets: 1/1

Deaths on map = 0

Total Deaths = 0

 

The map starts us in a nice looking lounge/bar area, occupied with low tier enemies to mow down. Sadly, the map doesn't do much from beyond here. While the map has nice interconnected layout, the combat is serviceable and the corridors are basic (though thankfully at least the aesthetics are improved from the previous RC versions).

 

The only interesting part is the one that involves getting the secret. Once you get the blue key, from there, drop down to the flame tower area. You will see a teleporter open that takes you to the secret outdoor area. Although not hard to avoid the flame shots, it is at least interesting to see the flame tower being used an obstacle to reach the secret.

 

While it is not a terrible map, it is almost certainly the weakest map of the wad in my eyes.

Edited by ReaperAA

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9 hours ago, NiGHTS108 said:

I'm not sure how this is done in vanilla, especially the transparency, if Bauul or Liberation is reading this then quote me man I'd love to hear how it was done,

 

It uses the boss cube spawner code pointers with the boss cube targets, much like D2 map30. So it will spawn fireballs at each target spot at random.

 

It was originally intended for scripting actually, something I wanted to try out. However with the linetypes being awkward in regards to what can trigger what in vanilla, this idea wasn't used. And the flame tower just became a thing for mappers to use, you won't see it again till alot later on.

If you check out map34, you will see the "scripting" idea in action, it is perfectly possible to have a door needing 3 switches to open for example, but keeping the door open needs more hacks etc etc.

For map05/RC3, I did add 2 extra target points behind the wall, just so it was abit easier to dodge.

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MAP05: Martian Vista. Played on UV, pistol start, DSDA v0.21. 131/131 kills and 1/1 secrets, completion time 18:37.

 

First of all, I accidentally booted the map on UV. I realized my mistake right away, but decided to stick with it. Actually, I may have played MAP04 on UV by accident, too, but I can't be certain. Anyway, I think that's for the best; While Martian Vista doesn't quite match with MAP02 and MAP03, I still had fun with it, and I believe it's partly because having a bit more challenge. At least here "slaughter gameplay" was very welcome, as was the assault rifle from the get-go. I liked the fight in the small outside area where you get the purple key best.

 

The map layout was simple enough to accommodate to restriction, but the starting lounge still felt cutesy. OTEX textures make vanilla-like levels feel fresh (alongside with the dehacked magic).

 

The flame turret was a surprising addition. I was a bit disappointed I couldn't destroy it, but on the other hand that'd made the turret useless, I suppose. That said, I'm glad to read we're not meeting them too often - I felt that avoiding the fireballs was a bit dependant on luck, they were so fast.

 

Unfortunately I often find the secrets last, it also happened this time. Could have used the backpack earlier. Oh well.

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MAP 5 - Martian Vista by Walter:


Another decent map, Martian Vista is a map that starts off in a bar area, but quickly turns into a more standard techbase. I'd have honestly preferred if the map committed to the hotel/resturant theme - but I'm not sure if that'd fit with the rest of the episode so far. I think I managed to strafe-run out to the secret megasphere early from the table as I jumped out and found myself unable to press the button that lowers the megasphere which was a bit sad - did get a backpack out of it I guess.

 

The rest of the map is a bit of a maze and I had some trouble navigating it, as in spite of its smallness, all the key doors are available to you immediately and I was struggling to find the first key! The turret room was a bit odd, I hope these don't show up very often as I expect they could get incredibly annoying - though I've finished the first two episodes at this point and not seen any others, which kind of brings up more questions about why it's here than it answers! The best fight was probably the purple key fight on the balcony outdoors - it's a more interesting than most of the fights in the map and I like killing fodder with rockets. I also liked the green key fight, fun workout for the chaingun.

 

I also noticed in this map that the imps and cacodemons seem to shoot the same projectile as each other, not sure if this has buffed the imp or nerfed the cacodemon so I guess I'll figure it out when an imp kills me way quicker than I was expecting. This map is fine, but feels slightly out of place in the episode (not visually mind you, it's definitely up to the standards set by the rest of the megawad) as if it was made before the rest of the mapping team decided to go for a more challenge focused, slaughter-y approach - the break is appreciated but I reckon this would have fit better on the Map2 slot.

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MAP05 - Martian Vista (HNTR, continuous, blind): K 100%, I 100%, S 100%, D 0, T 15:58

 

Spoiler

i just knew it was going to be my kind of a map when it opens up in a bar..  Really nice.  Only, once again, seeing the distant Megasphere i was convinced this was going to be slaughter, haha.  Nothing of the sort, however, but instead it turned out to be a vanillaesque operation in a rather abstract techbase, with some rather unique visuals and details.  The layout is more complex than the previous two maps, and the map has a lot of interconnectedness, and doesn't feel linear at all - certainly not a simple set route from point A to point B.  On HNTR, the combat between the ambushes was much more threatening and varied, but still the dehacked weapons take some of the possible sting out of the encounters with low-tiers.  Particularly noticeable this is in the ambushes for the keys, where there's no real danger whatsoever as the weapons are simply too fast, no matter how many enemies teleport in, even if with standard weaponry there'd actually be some danger, and one might in fact need plasma, for example.  It also has to be said the progression was somewhat obscure, it was by pure luck that i got the Green Key lowered quite quickly as i had no idea what to do or where to go to lower it, and another key had a totally different kind of switch to lower it, and i don't think this was really meant to be a switch-hunt type of map.

 

i'm glad i went to get the one secret at the end, having noticed the lowering teleport in the room with the fireball-firing guard-machine.  i had forgotten about the Megasphere at this point, and almost thought not to go check the secret out.  For me easily the best map since Tharsis Awakens, but whilst it's nice (for a change) to be playing a WAD where you know it's not going to take an hour to finish a map (as sometimes such sets are nice, too), i would have preferred a bit more length.  But, it is what it is, the concept is set, and we have to be content ourselves with that.

 

 

Top 1000 maps:

Spoiler

MAP02 - Tharsis Awakens - 9/10

MAP05 - Martian Vista - 8/10

MAP01 - Dust Devils - 7/10

MAP04 - Monuments of Mars - 5/10

MAP03 - Lower City Grime - 5/10

 

Edited by dei_eldren

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Map05 - Martian Vista by Walter

A fun simple little techbase with lots of interconnectedness. The beginning restaurant/bar area was probably my favorite part, very memorable. Not much really to say about the rest of the base. I liked how a lot of the key rooms could have 2 ways to enter.  Wasn't too thrilled when there was (what felt like) the exact same teleporting monster trap two times in the level guarding over the keys. It was fun, but a little repetitive having them occur so close together. The fireball spitting orb felt a little out of place being in a techbase and all (I imagine they will be more plentiful in episode 2).

Spoiler

I do like how if you make it past it you can get to the secret area, guarded over by hit scanners, very surprising, took a big chunk of my health away, but luckily there was a nice megasphere as a reward. 

 

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16 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

Someone stealing DBP names here?


No, it's a reference to the 1991 game designed by Todd Replogle. I used to make Mars levels for Duke3d and I've had this in mind for a title since around 2007 or so, I was unaware that it's been used in other Doom projects.

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All maps played with: GLBOOM-Plus, pistol start, UV difficulty

 

MAP02 - “Tharsis Awakens” by Dragonfly and Eris Falling

 

Tharsis Awakens is a techbase map. The base, presumably, is located in Tharsis region of Mars. Compared to map 01, the spaces are much more open on Tharsis Awakens. Despite wide open spaces, every inch of the map feels like it matters.

 

The map has surprisingly strong opposition for map02 slot. Encounters include revenants, barons, mancubi, and even an archvile in the room with other scary monsters. The cherry on top is the revenant crowd in the final fight. But your arsenal is also very potent: you are provided with assault rifle, plasma gun and rocket launcher, while combat shotgun serves as a sidearm. Combat on Tharsis Awakens is unusual: most of the fights involve small groups of monsters in big open spaces. There are exceptions, of course: the small plasmaguy ambush near the blue key, the plasmaguy army, and the final fight. But, even in case of low monster density, the fights can get surprisingly vicious. This is a testament to both good monster placement and good map geometry.

 

BTW, the soulsphere fight sold me on plasma troopers. They are more than just low-hp arachnotrons: they are also small and quiet. Thus, you never know, if some stray plasmaguys are hunting for you.

 

Overall, this map has memorable combat and wonderful layout. Even without monsters, it is to just walk around and admire the scenery. The skybox complements the map design very well, showing that the tech base is pretty close to Mars City. Like Elysium (map 29 of Eviternity), this map by Dragonfly and Eris Falling feels like an adventure and has both strong visuals and gameplay.

 

BTW, that arachnotron on a rock is adorable. Luckily, the relative emptiness of surrounding cliffs saves you from the wrath of that watchful spider.

 

MAP03 - “Lower City Grime” by Liberation

 

We are back in the city proper. This map has both the bleak cityscape from map 01 and dynamic combat from map 02. At the very start, you are greeted by a two pairs of plasma troopers, scattered around the starting area. The flanking or sniping plasma troopers will be your headache until almost the very end of the map.

 

Compared to maps 01 and 02, Lower City Grime gives the enemies much more advantageous positions. Many encounters threaten the player from multiple directions. Good tactics is required to defeat the enemies. The fights are mostly built around assault rifle and plasmagun. Both wepons provide strong DPS and great stunlocking potential, and thus can be used somewhat interchangeably. The assault rifle is hitscan and seems superior at stunlocking enemies, while plasma provides more damage. It looks like the plasma gun reigns supreme at chaotic brawls. On the other hand, the assault rifle is definitely better at sniping and firing from cover. The lack of visual clutter is another strong trait of assault rifle.

 

The combat on this map is best described by the saying "from frying pan into the fire". The whole map is an escalation of hectic encounters, with almost each new fight being more vicious than the last. The culmination of the map is the fight in the little control room, where you are flanked by pinkies, revenants and two arachnotrons. Hope have mastered the art of close-quarters plasma combat! Alternatively,  you can prepare your trusty assault rifle and rush the far away archnotrons down, opening the combat space considerably. The choice is yours, but you must be decisive.

 

The thing I like the most about the Lower City Grime, is the constant action. The whole second part of the map can be approached as one big and hectic combat encounter which last till the very end of the map!

 

MAP04 - Monument of Mars by Reflex17

 

This is a more chill, less claustrophobic city map. The streets here may be wider, and the walls may be of a less dark color, but we are still in the cyberpunk domain.

At first, the starting area looks very quiet. But do not be deceived! There are some imps nearby, and, more importantly there are plasma troopers lurking around. The encounter loop of 'everything is quiet' – 'there are some monsters' – 'there are also bigger, meaner monsters' happens in many different parts of the map.

 

The pistol starters, be warned: there are no assault rifle on this map. After maps 01-03, the abscence of slot 4 weapon is felt very strongly. This is especially noticeable due to big, relatively open combat spaces.

 

The large combat spaces are the main treat of Monument of Mars. The most memorable encounter is the warehouse battle. The warehouse is huge, and has huge guts stacks of crates. Between those crates, there are revenants and plasma troopers. The large obstacles together with wide passages between them allow the monsters to dip in and out of cover. The fight is complicated by a roaming archvile and a bunch of archnotrons laying supressing fire.

 

Compared to maps 01, 02 and 03, map 04 feels a bit less polished, but it is still very fun. Like map 02, it provides surprisingly engaging combat in wide open spaces. And this combat feels very fun, even with the absence of the assault rifle!

 

MAP05 - “Martian Vista” by Walter

 

Pretty interesting beginning: we start in some kind of bar. Typically, such setting implies talking with bar regulars and staff in search of information and/or news. But this is doom, so everyone is eager to shoot us! Oh well...

 

Despite the unusual beginning area, this level looks like the most stereotypically Doom-ish map of the first episode. We will explore the rooms of this techbase bar in search of keys and secret areas. This is a fun little doom map with unusual setting, but without any major twists on Doom gameplay formula.

 

What else can I say? Oh, I remember! This bar has a flooded basement with some weird lamp thing. The 'lamp' sprays damaging fireballs everywhere! Pretty funny prop, unless you need to get something from that flooded basement...

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Playing catch-up, for probably not the first time this month:

 

MAP03 - “Lower city grime” by Liberation

 

My favourite map so far, if the last two maps had a more 'suburban' feel, the sense of scale in this map makes it feel more urban, in the thick of the city. It has a hot start and doesn't really let go from there, without ever feeling too much. Great pairing of MIDI and map, the music notably added to the tension and thrill of the fights in my playthrough.

 

MAP04 - “Monument of Mars” by reflex17

 

Another map with a grand sense of scale, even more so than the last map. However the combat felt significantly less threatening than its predecessor, with the notable exception of the rev/arachnotron indoor battle, that very nearly killed me twice. Less convinced of the pairing of MIDI and map here, I felt like it might have blended more with a less bleak aesthetic than the Mars City theme (like an AA/lunar theme) - but admittedly I am far from a musical expert.

 

MAP05 - “Martian Vista” by Walter

 

The breather didn't last long, back we are to high-octane action. My favourite fight was the purple key one where you can splash the low tiers with rockets as they teleport in. Otherwise the map was okay without really grabbing me, though the interconnected layout helped keep things a bit more interesting, and allows you to try approaching enemies from a different angle if you die. I think the megasphere secret is a bit OP (soulsphere would be better imo), especially as it's a simple secret to find. There were some seemingly random lines hidden from the automap in the south-west section, which confused me a little, as if they hid a secret (they didn't).

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MAP05 - “Martian Vista” by Walter

 

This one is pretty fun, more combat and loops around itself well enough. The turret is an unusual choice but hey if it works in Quake then it earns a pass. The fights are engaging, albeit not too difficult. The biggest issue I guess is that you can skip most the to key based fights as you are free to leave the rooms where you pick said keys up. That said I chose to stay and had fun cleaning up each one.

The one secret is essentially impossible to miss, thanks for the maximum health/armour. 

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MAP05: "Martian Vista" by Walter

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/1 secrets

 

A more confined setting this time, we have a small techbase with that has a pretty heavy population of hitscanners. I love the titular vista that you see at the start of the map, there are chairs and tables on a grassy looking ground with a nice view overlooking the starry sky. I also enjoy the skylights found in a few other rooms, gives the map that pervading spacy feel. The lower area is covered in orange rock that I definitely avoided for a bit because I thought it was lava, until I noticed that it doesn't move.

 

This one was a bit easier in my opinion, but as mentioned before there are quite a few hitscanners (along with their plasma cohorts) here to be careful about. If you didn't notice them creeping around outside the vista at the beginning of the map, the hitscanners that greet you when you teleport into the map's secret can give you a bit of a rude surprise. There are also teleport ambushes with quite a few hitscanners when you are getting the green and purple keys. The green key fight is another great display of the assault rifle's effectiveness, while the purple one is likely the most challenging fight found here. Still, I was able to camp in the nook where the switch was found and mow down the monsters coming out of one spawn destination with the assault rifle before directing my attention to the other spawner. If you just run out into the fray into this fight it can get a little dicey.

 

A relatively friendly map, but I found it quite fun and it looks awesome.

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MAP03: Lower City Grime - Liberation

At last we enter the litter-strewn outskirts of Mars City. Here, project lead Liberation picks up where Aquila left off, taking the Martian industrial theme and giving it a brutalist touch. Giant, mono-textured orthogonal structures are the order of the day here, implicative of a sort of banal hypermodernity gradually giving way to urban decay. Or something to that effect.

 

aaXNMMl.png

 

Mechanically, Lower City Grime is short and linear, bearing a degree of resemblance to the shooting galleries of latter-day FPS titles. That is not to say the map is dull, far from it. The unusually early provision of the Plasma Rifle combined with numerous and fodder-heavy opposition gives the player an abundance of targets to shoot at all times, while the map’s sizable garrison of strategically-placed Plasma Guys keeps them on their toes. Additionally, while Liberation never coerces the player into taking an aggressive stance, the relatively spacious layout combined with the above factors strongly encourages reckless play.

 

xvZt7f6.png

 

Psyrus’ “Isosceles” plays into this as well with its thrumming beat, while simultaneously reinforcing the map’s cyberpunk-inspired aesthetic.

 

MAP04: Monument of Mars - reflex17

Reflex17’s take on Mars is decidedly cleaner than Liberation’s, though no less brutalist. To be frank, the linecount restriction really shows here: beyond the well-composed opening area which calls to mind a (mostly) clean office complex, the vast, flat-lit utility areas beyond that point are simply rather dull to behold, although on the upside they do certainly imply a sense of place, even though the presentation is ultimately insufficient to induce the feeling fully.

 

BfTnCW8.png

Said opening area.

 

On the combat front, the trusty Plasma Guy once again demonstrates its worth by shaping the player’s movement through the map’s otherwise-underpopulated arenas, providing a constant source of pressure. Revenants, Arachnotrons and the occasional Archvile are also employed to mitigate this effect, to varying results. The map’s saving grace is the early provision of the rocket launcher, which adds an additional layer of engagement via shot-optimization to spice up the otherwise rather stale combat.

 

Psyrus’ “Digislide” is definitely the most distinctive element of the experience: a groovy, thrumming piece that makes the action just that crucial bit more pleasurable.

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GZDoom (pre-cell clip fix)/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 05: Martian Vista - Walter

100% kills and secrets

Time: 8:54

 

We've got a pretty chill map here all things considered. This area has some vista elements to it, like the dining room that you start in, but why there's a fire turret nearby, I have no idea. That doesn't seem like a very "vista" element. I'm trying to remember if I actually found a plasma rifle here, or if I just used the one I already had, so because of that, this map is the first in a while to not focus too heavily on that weapon. In fact, it's focused mostly on the assault rifle and SSG, since the RL doesn't show up until toward the end. The map is mostly close quarters anyway, and there's not a lot of heavies to worry about, so these munitions will suffice. I got to the secret area the wrong way. I was able to jump out the window off of one of the dining tables. While this did net me the secret, I couldn't actually get the megasphere since there's a switch on an elevated area. Thankfully, the intended way to get to this area is actually pretty easy to find, so it wasn't that big a deal. The most dangerous fight is probably the green key fight, since hitscan teleport in and there's no cover other than meat shields. The purple (is it purple? I forgor) key fight is similar, but there's an alcove you can hide in and the RL is here. Pretty fun and simple level.

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