The DWmegawad Club plays: 1000 Lines 3

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 20 - Wall of Omens by Wilou84

 

You again...the mapper who actually thought The Siege was a cool-ass map returns once again to squeeze my poor naked ass until it pops. Oh fucking god, this is gonna suck...me..(blushes)

 

ahem....we have ourselves a flooded town, Tudor textures and wood virtually everywhere though there are some curious blue closets. It all blends together into quite the gloomy package, underscored by AD_79's haunting midi. Despite the unfriendliness of the welcoming committee, the Super Shotgun and even Assault Rifle are not too far from your starting location, but it's hard to complete this section without taking damage.

 

Not too far from here is an open courtyard with the spider turrets that give the map its name. Pistol-starting, you probably shouldn't bother firing at them until you get near the end, but still, try firing at the Mancubi because the less monsters are firing at you from far away, the easier things will be. That's actually one huge advantage of this map. You can spot the most dangerous enemies from a long way off by the whole and can take steps to either stop or avoid them. But if you think the Revenants on the above ledge in the room before are annoying, just take the other teleporter adjacent to the one you arrived in to pick up a rocket launcher. Be careful though, because while you may have enough rockets for them, you shouldn't be wasting any either. Incidentally, I was quite lucky to spot the secret teleeporter to the Supercharge in the room which proves to be overlooking the final arena.

 

Some other notable fights include the moment when you press the purple switch in the same area where you killed the Revenants that were above you and a host of Pain Elementals/Cacodemons attack you from the front and some other ones attack from the sides, and a pair of Arch-viles that attack you from the left of the blue door along with some shotgunners. I was burned quite badly here and I was quite lucky to survive if truth be told.

 

The same did not hold for the final battle. Set admidst an open courtyard bearing strong resemblance to the one from Map 10, the randomly-placed Megasphere and line of rockets tells you something serious is about to go down. Hit the switch and things will seem initially quite modest for a few seconds. Gargoyles, Imps, Hell Knights, and ohnevermind, Barons of Hell all start to teleport in and fill the arena up quite quickly, along with a Cyberdemon shortly thereafter. When the wall to the right of the entrance lowers completely, Revenants and another Arch-vile pair will also be unleashed to make things even more chaotic. After being turned into charcoal twice, I finally prevailed despite my reluctance to let infighting take its toll on the Arch-viles (you have to admit that would take far too long), ran to the final switch, removed the final Arch-vile stick from my eye, and took the portal.

 

Shockingly enough, Wilou hits it out of the park yet again! Other than the whole Spider Mastermind bit in Map 11, this easily takes the crown of best maps. And it didn't totally murder me!

 

Favorite maps in order of preference

Spoiler

Map 20

Map 11

Map 07

Map 10

Map 17

Map 12

Map 32

Map 18

Map 16

Map 08

Map 02

Map 13

Map 19

Map 15

Map 14

Map 09

Map 31

Map 04

Map 06

Map 03

Map 05

Map 01

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by LadyMistDragon : reaaranging map order

[finnks13]

MAP 20 - Wall of Omens by WH-Wilhou84:
A very good finale to the Tudor episode. This is another flooded city and is definitely my favourite of this short trilogy, as the combat in this map is very fun and elevates it above most other maps so far - I expected a slaughtery finale upon seeing the map author and he delivered. I assume the title refers to the wall of arachnotrons in the main part of the level, which are incredibly oppressive for this area and you're required to make multiple quick dashes in front of them to go up lifts or press buttons and I thought this was a fun little gimmick.

 

The opening fight definitely lets you know what you're in for, though it's not too hard to get everything infighting with each other. The purple key fight is pretty challenging, the black gargoyles are used to great effect here and the arachnotron wall again provides covering fire for the cacodemons though it can also be used to take a few of them out. Didn't really care for the area after the purple lift, having to hit a switch with effectively no cover from the arachnotrons felt a bit half-baked compared to how they're used otherwise, especially since the switch is quite small.

 

The final arena puts you up against a cyberdemon and a small village worth's of hell knights and barons, as well as some black gargoyles which intercepted me a lot as I was trying to get all of the monsters into a nice circular shaped horde. The archviles that spawn after the wall lowers are quite harsh because there's not very much cover at all, so you have to hope they get distracted and start infighting, though with the volume of projectiles, this didn't prove to be too challenging and this fight was fantastic. Great finale to Episode 2.

 

Overall Thoughts on Episode 2:

I enjoyed this one much more than episode 1, I liked every single map here and I think this is due to the theme mostly - the towns and castles of episode 2 are prettier than episode 1 (on the whole), and the less cluttered visuals make these maps far easier to navigate than any of episode 1 is. The episode definitely starts stronger than it ends, I don't think this is due to the later maps being bad though, maybe the theme made these early levels stand out more. The difficulty of this episode was far lower than I was expecting, in fact outside of the secret map and map 20, I reckon Episode 1 is a more challenging set of maps.

 

The main thing I didn't like about Episode 2 is the black gargoyle enemy. While I think that a low health, flying enemy is a good idea for a custom enemy as it definitely fills a small gap in the Doom 2 roster, something about their stats or the way they're used here made them really irritating. I think if they were slightly slower or didn't fire the upgraded imp fireballs (I understand this may have just not been possible because of the limitations in DEHACKED and that's completely fine), they may have gotten on my nerves much less. Overall though, they didn't take away from this episode too much and I think Episode 2 is my favourite in the wad.

 

Overall Rankings for Episode 2:

Spoiler

(Favourite)

Map32 - Vintage Murderfest

Map14 - Bad Manor

Map13 - Viridical Mines

Map20 - Wall of Omens

Map16 - Corruption

Map15 - The Black Ramparts

Map12 - Forlorn Hope

Map19 - Gutter Waltz

Map18 - A Farewell to the Dark Ages

Map17 - Ceremony of a Thousand Stars

Map31 - Farfarout

(Least Favourite)

 

[RHhe82]

MAP20: Wall of Omens. Played on UV, pistol start. 276/276 kills, 2/2 secrets. Completion time 24:58.

 

Oh. Well. Actually, this one wasn't so bad. At first. There's a slightly heated start, but nothing I couldn't handle. There are a gadzillion arachnotrons I wished I knew how to handle. The final secret which I found *after* everything else was taken care of would have helped. But that's alright, they would do my bidding with some of the fights.

 

And then we get to the arena. I am man enough to admit I used midfight saves (you'll note the plural form: saves) here. Holy hell. The first wave would have been hard enough for me as it is, but then there's the second wave with revenants and archviles that I had trouble getting to infight despite them being between several rocks and hard places. I'm just astonished I still had to take care of the cyberdemon myself in the end.

 

Great level.

[ReaperAA]

MAP20: "Wall of Omens" by William Huber (WH-Wilou84)

HMP, pistol start, no saves

Kills: 215/215, Secrets: 2/2

Deaths on map = 0

Total Deaths = 15

 

The finale of episode 2 takes place in a flooded town with a lake guarded by a WALL of arachnotrons. Initially the different parts of the map are closed and you can only use teleports to get to different areas. But as the map progresses, the areas open up and you can get to different parts of the map without the teleports. The map also forces you to go through the arachnotron wall a couple times, either for pressing switches or going for lifts. Once you get the blue key, you can go to the final fight arena.

 

Before you enter the final area, make sure to get all the goodies and secrets as this is a point of no return. Both the secrets of this map are really hard to fight. One of them is behind a wall with a vnery slightly different texture, that leads to a backpack, a megasphere (soulsphere on UV) and an view of the ominous final fight area. The other secret is very very hard to find (I had to use SLADE). The secret opens a teleport (with an invulnerability in front of it) that allows us to deal with the arachnotron wall.

 

The final fight provides us lots of goodies, because as soon as you press the switch to lower the wall, a ton of bruisers (hell knights + barons), some gargoyles, a cyberdemon and a couple of platform mancubus come to the show. The wall will likely lower down before you get to kill the previous monsters. The wall reveals some revenants and gargoyles on HMP and on UV, there are also a couple archviles (in an arena with almost no cover) accompanying them.

 

Because of this fight, I didn't do saveless UV because I was kind of afraid :S. I thought to myself to either play the map saveless on HMP or with saves on UV. I ultimately went with HMP saveless. Though after playing the map on HMP, I feel like with a bit of practice (and some tasty deaths), I could have beaten the map on UV. Because I managed to beat the final fight on my first try on HMP and thankfully without much issue. Though I did make sure to save the secret megasphere. I also have a feeling that the invulnerability from the super hard-to-find secret could potentially help in the starting moments of the final fight (provided one doesn't go to fighting arachnotrons and just rush towards the final area) at the expense of not being able to UV-max the map.

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by ReaperAA

[dei_eldren]

MAP21 - Skull (HNTR, continuous, blind): K 100%, I 90%, S 100%, T 15:55

 

Spoiler

The episodic structure missing from too many Doom II sets (not that it always is a negative, either) shows its advantage here, as the change of scenery by this point is very welcome, even if i hadn't yet grown tired of the visual theme of Episode 2, either.  The map begins in a pass, with some light combat at first.  i was sure there'd be something hidden in the rushes and found the non-secret chainsaw, but missed the best chance to use it at the attack of some Pinkies later.  After a small trek there's a wooden structure built into the rock, with some nice classic caged Imps, curiously leading into a long cave with flowing rivers of lava, that leads outside to a small area carved into rock.  And its here that i had a lot of problems.  First, ammo was low, i was literally running out of everything, even finding the plasma gun, the rocket launcher and the few rockets offered, and collecting all the ammo, it was tricky to make everything suffice for the task at hand.  Far off outside of the cave are perched in elevated position two Arachnotrons that were at first useful in killing quite a bit of their comrades with friendly fire, but who in turn were a real problem to kill themselves.  Getting close was difficult, and the path on the side towards them had also Imps and Revenants to contend with, and only a couple of places to very narrowly hide from their ceaseless fire.  i think after a few tries i'd nailed it down, killed the other one from afar with the shotgun, and the second with plasma.

 

After this victory there was at least again some ammo available, and an easy secret Soulsphere.  There's a switch that opens a wooden door, and from there emerged the third custom monster of the WAD, firing several balls of fire in a direct line on each shot.  i didn't like this monster at first sight, and he's not going to grow on me.  i'd much prefer traditional Hell Knights or Barons in his place.  And i'm going to resist the temptation of referring to him by a reference to a Jerry Lee Lewis song.

 

Behind the door is a passage back to the wooden structure, where the Imp cages have now opened, containing some health and ammo, as well as a monster closet from which comes an attack of some Pinkies, plus this new enemy.  i've now killed two of them and have yet to take any damage from them.  From one of the cages is a passage to a rock-ledge outside that the Sapphire Key is upon, along with some cells.

 

Behind the Sapphire Gate is the last encounter of the map, with some Chaingunners, Revenants upon rocks, and one new enemy.  i'm dumb enough to get in close to kill it with the SSG, and he fucking deals a lot of damage!  Great balls of fire....  Nah, i really don't like him, but that's just more reason for me to keep a distance, as too close his fireblast is just too fast to dodge.  i did kill it with the SSG, but keeping myself well-covered behind the rock.

 

Very interesting map with good design and layout - i really liked the cave leading to a secluded area under the stars as a design feature, and the combat against the Arachnotrons and their minions in there was very strategic.  Both secrets i found without any effort, but at least they were there which is a positive :D  The new enemies i'm sure later on will be used in great numbers to be a true nuisance, but in my opinion they don't really fit in. 

 

 

Top 1000 maps in four sets

Spoiler

Episode 1

MAP11 - in Kasei Valles - 9/10

MAP06 - a Memory from Earth - 9/10

MAP02 - Tharsis Awakens - 9/10

MAP10 - Red Alley - 9/10 

MAP07 - Back Alleys and Interlopers - 9/10

MAP05 - Martian Vista - 8/10

MAP01 - Dust Devils - 7/10

MAP04 - Monuments of Mars - 5/10

MAP03 - Lower City Grime - 5/10

MAP09 - Martian Midnight - 5/10

MAP08 - Concrete Avalanche - 5/10

Episode 2

MAP16 - Corruption - 9.5/10

MAP13 - Viridical Mines - 9.5/10

MAP15 - the Black Ramparts - 9.5/10

MAP20 - Wall of Omens - 9/10

MAP18 - Farewell to the Dark Ages - 9/10

MAP14 - Bad Manor - 9/10

MAP17 - Ceremony of a Thousand Stars - 9/10

MAP12 - Forlorn Hope - 9/10

MAP19 - Gutter Waltz - 8/10

 

Episode 3

MAP21 - Skull - 9/10

 

Come Together

MAP16 - Corruption - 9.5/10

MAP13 - Viridical Mines - 9.5/10

MAP15 - the Black Ramparts - 9.5/10

MAP11 - in Kasei Valles - 9/10

MAP20 - Wall of Omens - 9/10

MAP06 - a Memory from Earth - 9/10

MAP02 - Tharsis Awakens - 9/10

MAP18 - Farewell to the Dark Ages - 9/10

MAP14 - Bad Manor - 9/10

MAP17 - Ceremony of a Thousand Stars - 9/10

MAP21 - Skull - 9/10

MAP12 - Forlorn Hope - 9/10

MAP10 - Red Alley - 9/10 

MAP07 - Back Alleys and Interlopers - 9/10

MAP19 - Gutter Waltz - 9/10

MAP05 - Martian Vista - 8/10

MAP01 - Dust Devils - 7/10

MAP31 - Farfarout - 7/10

MAP04 - Monuments of Mars - 5/10

MAP03 - Lower City Grime - 5/10

MAP09 - Martian Midnight - 5/10

MAP08 - Concrete Avalanche - 5/10

 

[cannonball]

MAP18 - “A Farewell to the Dark Ages” by antares031

This is exactly what I expected from Antares031 given previous works I have played. There really isn't much to talk about here, a good layout that is compact and flows well. Solid monster placement and challenging but not over the top fights. The big fight with the Amethyst key was comfortably beaten on the second attempt. I am not so sure about the fight behind the purple door - I don't think it added anything to the map. 

Still a very good map overall.

 

MAP19 - “Gutter Waltz” by Dac

This one was surprisingly easy (I don't whether I just got a lucky break here) but I didn't suffer a single death. The map plays well enough and is for the most part sold. The combat tended to be made easier by being able to escape some of the harder fights, also given the spectrum of monsters on offer the plasma gun is probably the best tool for suppression fire. Perhaps this could have been made better by adding a rocket launcher and leaning on that a little more because as it is I always had enough cells from when I picked up the plasma gun to see me through.

Again though, this is a solid effort.

 

MAP20 - “Wall of Omens” by WH-Wilou84

That's a lot of spiders!!!

Yeah the difficulty ramps up here, but perhaps not as high as I thought it might. The "Wall of Omens" really make you need to time a couple of elevators just right to avoid being melted by said wall. That said I do wish that the wall was a more of a general threat, but also easier to get rid off (I know there is a secret that I suspect does the job here). However the rest of the map is pretty top notch. The ending fight is challenging but leans more on the fun side, though the two released archviles can cause havoc. 

Overall I thought this was a great final map for the episode.

 

Episode 2  thoughts, after the solid first episode I wasn't sure what to expect, but if anything I thought the "Tudor" episode was better. Despite the thematic remaining quite similar throughout, I thought the authors really made a good effort to stamp their own person authority on their own creations, as such we got a good variety of maps.

Favourites for me - Probably Map12 and 17. That said there were a couple of others that I enjoyed a lot.

 

[TJG1289]

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

Map 19: Gutter Waltz - Dac

100% kills and secrets

Time: 11:39

 

This is a nice linear stroll through a quaint Tudor town that just happens to be filled with demons. Also, the gargoyle locals that live in the apartments aren't really taking a shine to you either and will attack you when they go to open their windows to let some fresh air in. I don't really have a lot to say about this one as it's pretty simple design wise, but it's still fun. I was not expecting the ambush when you return to the start area coming from the west side, so that was cool. The two archies in the final battle were mean since it's in the opening area again, so they'll just resurrect all the imps and revs from earlier. I liked the secret-within-a-secret area with a ton of goodies. The third secret I figured was there based on the automap showing a weird hall by a windowed chaingunner, but it took me a minute to figure out there's a ledge right under it I could walk on. Fun, breezy level!

 

 

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

Map 20: Wall Of Omens - WH-Wilou84

100% kills and 50% secrets

Time: 14:32

 

The episodes are supposed to end with a challenge, so as soon as I saw who made this one, I chuckled to myself, "I'm in danger." I remember our time earlier this year playing 180 Minutes and I remember how tough Wilou could be. Thankfully, this map didn't kick my shit in! Mostly since I'm a continuous scrub who whipped out the BFG way too many times here (mostly during the final battle tho). First off, we get a not so nice opener that's pretty hot. Once we get past that and up to the town square, we're shown a wall of arachnotrons. Is the titular wall? Idk, but there's sure a ton of spiders here. I figured there must be an easier way for me to deal with them then rocketing, assault rifling, and BFGing them from the water. At least, the one secret I found did teleport you over there with an invul handy, so you could grab a bunch of rockets, but all the spiders were already dead by this point, so thanks for the ammo? Most of the normal traps in this map weren't too bad. Chaingunner wall = rocket fodder. Flying baddies = plasma fodder. Another chaingunner wall that was a little closer than the last one = BFG fodder. So by the time I opened the blue doors and dealt with the 2 archies behind it, the only real threats so far had been the hot start and the spider wall. But as soon as I hit the bottom of the lift and saw a big arena, I knew I was in for it. First of all, I could see a soul sphere up above, and I'm assuming it's the secret I missed. Thankfully, there's a megasphere down here, and a mega armor plus medkits. This is nice, especially when the swarm of hell nobles start coming in. There's a TON of them, in addition to some gargoyles and a cyb that teleports and stays in one particular spot of the arena. I think there may have been cacos too? Idr. This all happens when you hit the switch down here, and that switch's main purpose is to lower a wall right next to it. When that lowers, revs and 2 archies join the party. You want the cyb to infight with as many things as possible so you don't have to worry about being blocked as much. I used the BFG liberally here, but I don't think there is one in the map normally, so if you're pistol starting, you really want that cyb to help, and focus on plasmaing the gargoyles since they're fast and can really block you. Once that's done, kill the trapped archie in front of another switch, then jump through the portal to end the episode. It's a tough map, but it's not really that bad.

 

Overall, I think I liked this ep more than the first. The Tudor aesthetics looked really nice, and the MIDI selections fit that environment pretty well. The gargoyles are really annoying, but are weak enough where it wasn't too much of a drag dealing with them. I don't know if this was any harder than the first ep. It may have been a slight tad easier. So far, there have been no maps I've disliked! Looking forward to ep 3.

[rehelekretep]

dumping to try and catch up!

 

map09 fda

map10 fda

map11 fda got completely confused by how to leave the opening arena and had to quit out and watch a video in this thread! switched to cl-1 here to use saves

map11 lol

map11 (fda) actually completed map with saves, mostly blind

map12 fda

map13 fda

map14 fda

[Doritos420]

Map20 - Wall of Omens by WH-Wilou84

I had a moment of apprehension when I saw that WH was doing the last level of the episode. I like his maps, but some of them can be extremely difficult. Luckily this one wasn’t too bad. The hardest part is dealing with the giant wall of arachnotrons in this map. Very fun level with some intense fights. I especially like the end arena. It may seem tough at first but once all the flying gargoyles are killed it’s not too bad. This is another level that has a lot of looping architecture, I really had fun with it. There’s a lot of room to maneuver and plentiful ammo. I especially liked the secret where you can get behind the wall of arachnotrons and take most of them down before the invulnerability wears off. I couldn’;t find the other secret, but still managed to get 100% of the kills, very well done map.

 

Episode Thoughts - In terms of difficulty I would say Map 18 was the hardest (excluding map 32). Each map felt fresh and unique in this episode which is pretty amazing. I tried to list out some favorites  but ended up with most of the episode included.

 

Probably going to take a short break from playing, me and my wife just got a new puppy dog so we have our hands full. I hope to catch back up during Christmas break though.

[NiGHTS108]

MAP21: Skull

By Lord_Z

 

Kills: 100%

Items: 85%

Secrets: 50%

Time: 6:17

 

Skull is a pretty simple and enjoyable experience, I like the visuals, especially the greenery and lava chasm, I'm a huge nature fan in Doom, there's virtually nothing special about Skull except for the new monster introduction, the Chaingunner 2000 (Or that's what I'm calling it) They're a mechanical blend of a Chaingunner and a Hell Knight and is much scarier, both in terms of appearance and offensive capabilities, they're great infighters so take advantage of them, however they don't take too many hits, probably between a Pinky and a Cacodemon, I'm especially interested to see how the mappers up to bat will use them as they're probably more interesting than Plasma Punks and Gargoyles, Skull is a fine start to the final act of 1000 Lines 3

 

Grade: B-

Difficulty: B-

 

Playthrough video

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP20: "Wall of Omens" by WH-Wilou84

UV, pistol start, no saves 

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

And so we reach the final map of the Tudor episode, a large manor-esque sort of building with more watery ground to cover. This one keeps the vegetation and farm animals we've seen a lot of to a minimum, which makes the level stick out a bit tonally and feel a bit colder and more typical Doom. The AD_79 midi is also a tense one, and fits an episode closer quite well.

 

This level really gave me a hard time for quite a while. The action is fast, the flow of monsters steady, and the ambushes frequent. After a few runs I did start to be able to get through everything up until the final fight relatively easily though. I can't not mention the wall of arachnotrons, probably the level's most defining factor. We've seen a level exert constant pressure with a cyberdemon in MAP15, but this level chooses to accomplish this with ledges packed with (by my count) 24 arachnotrons that oversee a portion of the level. It's a hell of an intimidating sight, and I love it. I also had to look at UDB to find the secret that allows you to easily take care of them, because the arachnotrons have a surprising defense mechanism where the clamour of their mechanical legs made too much noise for me to be able to hear the switch opening up. I also expected the way you take care of them to be crushers or something, so it was neat and novel to see you just get invuln and a bunch of rockets so you can go crazy on them.

 

The final encounter took me a fair few attempts. The biggest threat here is not the cyberdemon, the hordes of hell nobles, or even the archies at the end. No, the cyberdemon wishes his rockets were as much a threat to me as my own here... The gargoyles in this fight always seemed to pop out right in front of my view while I was letting rockets fly, causing me to take unfortunate facerockets. Also those pillars around the center of the arena also attracted some facerockets. My plan ended up being to seek out and plasma most of the gargoyles before using the rockets, and then the rest was up to me to not blow myself up. Quite a fun fight in any case, and a great way to close out the episode.

 

This one ends the episode very nicely. It's dangerous and intense, had a blast with it.

 

Episode 2 thoughts: Visually I think I liked the theme of episode 1 a bit more overall, but the combat is more consistently strong in this episode I find. A lot of solid maps to be found here. The difficulty was also a bit more consistent in this episode too, although I think the high points of the difficulty were probably a bit comparable. My favourite maps of the episode would have to be MAP13, MAP18, and MAP20, although as I said there were very strong maps this episode as a whole.

[Biodegradable]

MAP21 - Skull

UV | Continuous | GZDoom

 

We begin our third episode in the jungle with the gruesome twosome, Doom mapping brothers Lord Z and Dreadopp for the first two maps. Lord Z's up first and gives us an intriguing map that decides to play possum with us at first, only offering a handful of low tier demons to play with before dropping some Chaingunners, Revs, Brainiacs, Fat Boys and a new edition to the beastiary: A Hell noble in a diving suit wielding a flamethrower. I think I'll just nickname them "Pyros". Ammo's in short supply at first, but Z provides just enough at any given point to keep you fighting back as long as you're not careless. He also thought he was being clever hiding the chainsaw in a bush, but I found it! I also found a Soulsphere, which was nice. The first, more open area was probably the hairiest encounter due to the number of Revs, Imps and a few pesky Lost Souls that I had to thwart with nothing but my regular shotgun and assault rifle being bled empty and then stumbled across the plasma rifle in a mad dash to find more ammo. It's a nicer, softer intro compared to the first map of the second episode, I feel. That's not to say the map doesn't have teeth, but at the same time it doesn't overwhelm you right out of the gate either.

 

 

[cannonball]

MAP21 - “Skull” by Lord_Z

 

I feel a little nonchalant about this one. There isn't anything particularly bad about this (Well except maybe that long straight mine track that have some pretty useless arachnotrons. Ironically the poor usage of spiders is completely reversed by the pair up by the switch at the top of the cavern, these provide excellent pressure and are also fun to abuse for infighting. 

The rest of the map is a more of the straight shooting, the new monster looks interesting but is never really given the opportunity to make an impression (They appear, I gun them down). The entire final stretch is very easy, plenty of cover and everything is either perched that can be killed by rockets, or comes straight at you.

In the end I think the map suffers due to the layout, it is pretty much a straight rail shooter that loops around for the key and then you leave, the best point comes when you have monsters placed to optimise their strengths. As such the big lava cavern is the highlight here.

[finnks13]

MAP 21 - Skull by Lord_Z:
A pretty short, simple opener to episode 3, this map definitely feels like an introduction of the tropical jungle theme of the episode, moreso than a combat showcase, and it nails the atmosphere perfectly. The ambient sounds are placed very well and really add to the atmosphere as does the lush textures and plant props put in the map. I would almost go as far to say that the first couple of rooms are the nicest looking parts of the whole megawad so far.

 

Gameplay wise, it's not anything to write home about. A lot of the action feels like it would belong in Episode 1, though there isn't any non-secret armour in the map, which does spice things up. I didn't really like the lava cave section, there's not really any incentive to go in there as all the monsters bar the arachnotrons will come to the door and since the arachnotrons have such a good sniping spot on you (and because I had almost ran out of ammo at this point), waiting by the door and letting the arachnotrons shoot all of the other enemies in the back seems like a too-obvious solution to the fight.

 

The final custom enemy, a flamethrower demon is interesting, it reminds me of the pyro knights from Valiant in it's stats and function (around the hardiness of a hell knight, with a flaming attack that rapidly shoots out in short bursts) and seems fine, though I really don't like the sprite chosen for the monster. Overall though, this map is a nice cozy introduction to the jungle.

[ReaperAA]

MAP21: "Skull" by Lord_Z

UV, pistol start, no saves

Kills: 77/77, Secrets: 2/2

Deaths on map = 1

Total Deaths = 16

 

The starting map of the 3rd episode is nice introduction to the tropical theme of the episode. The combat is fairly straightforward and the progression is quite linear. As with the 1st and the 2nd episodes, this episode also introduces us to a new custom enemy, the Hell Scorcher (yes, that's what they are called based on reading the Decorate file in the wad). But for sake of simplicity, I will call them Pyros. These guys have around same size, speed and health as hell knights, but have far more firepower. Their fire projectile stream is enough to kill a 100 health doomguy to cooked meat in a single volley. And apart from this, when you kill them, they explode and do damage to nearby stuff like a barrel, which makes them a little bit more dangerous when in close range. Fortunately, they are easy to deal at long range and they projectiles also dissipate after a certain range, meaning they have limited range.

 

As for the map itself, the combat is fairly straightforward and the progression is quite linear. The map is honestly easier than the starting map of episode 2. It sucks that I died on such an easy map, but that is completely my own fault as I was trying to get some infighting going in the lava cavern area to save ammo (instead I ate some juicy RNG damage plasma + rev rocket :D). 2nd attempt went smooth and I ended the map with near 200/200 health and armor because of the 2 easy to find secrets in the lava cavern. One being the soulsphere and the other secret providing a megaarmor and SSG which is in the closet room where the first 2 hell scorchers of the wad reside.

 

MAP22: "Crossbones" by Dreadopp

UV, pistol start, no saves

Kills: 124/124, Secrets: 1/1

Deaths on map = 0

Total Deaths = 16

 

I like that this map starts where the previous map ends, which is a nice touch. The map takes us through some natural cave-like areas, with a ship also residing there. The map makes us go through some different light setpiece combat, with the most notable being the one involving the cyberdemon. Overall a slight step up from the first map but still fairly easy and forgiving, with the exception of the 2 fights that occur after grabbing each key (blind players might get spooked by the pyros that spawn in the area where we pick up the keys).

 

The only secret involves a soulsphere and it can be found in the area with the zigzag area with big forest trees.

 

Since some other people are doing this, so I decided to give rating to the maps (from favorite to least favorite for each episode):

Quote

Episode 3
Map22

Map21

Episode 2

Map18

Map17

Map19
Map14
Map15

Map20
Map16
Map12
Map13

Map32

Map31

Episode 1

Map11

Map06

Map10

Map08
Map07

Map03
Map01
Map02

Map09

Map04

Map05

 

[dei_eldren]

MAP22 - Crossbones (HNTR, continuous, blind): K 98%, I 98%, S 100%, T 16:15

 

Spoiler

This map is a large-scale trek through caves, wooden structures merged with natural surroundings, and walkways over deep ravines, all gathered around a central area used as an arena for no less than three major fights each bringing an increase in difficulty until the last one has a lot of Hell Knights and two Mancubi firing from the elevated central flat.  Not that difficult on HNTR, but enjoyable.  i also liked the fights against Cacodemons and Hell Knights upon the high pathways, with Imps giving support.  There was a fun scene when a Caco and HK decided to duel, but unfortunately the HK won that one.

 

The last route behind the Sapphire Door upon a ledge around a deep water basin has also Hell Knights, but upon the central ziggurath appeared the Cyberdemon.  Carelessly i took a hit from him, but having found the secret Soulsphere in the previous path was able to continue comfortably enough.  There was a lot of plasma around but in interest of saving it, and not risk any unnecessary deaths i left him behind.

 

Also a mention for the ambush of four Revenants in the wooden structure leading to that area - before them, there was one of those new enemies but fighting them in the narrow hallway made up for it.  So i really enjoyed the combat in this one, and i don't remember dying once, but i might have...

 

Very fun level, and somehow similar to Skull.  The layout was a simple one, but executed and used very well, and sort of looks neoclassical with its oldschool visual design combined with new textures.

 

 

Top 1000 maps in four sets

Spoiler

Episode 1

MAP11 - in Kasei Valles - 9/10

MAP06 - a Memory from Earth - 9/10

MAP02 - Tharsis Awakens - 9/10

MAP10 - Red Alley - 9/10 

MAP07 - Back Alleys and Interlopers - 9/10

MAP05 - Martian Vista - 8/10

MAP01 - Dust Devils - 7/10

MAP04 - Monuments of Mars - 5/10

MAP03 - Lower City Grime - 5/10

MAP09 - Martian Midnight - 5/10

MAP08 - Concrete Avalanche - 5/10

Episode 2

MAP16 - Corruption - 9.5/10

MAP13 - Viridical Mines - 9.5/10

MAP15 - the Black Ramparts - 9.5/10

MAP20 - Wall of Omens - 9/10

MAP18 - Farewell to the Dark Ages - 9/10

MAP14 - Bad Manor - 9/10

MAP17 - Ceremony of a Thousand Stars - 9/10

MAP12 - Forlorn Hope - 9/10

MAP19 - Gutter Waltz - 8/10

 

Episode 3

MAP21 - Skull - 9/10

MAP22 - Crossbones - 8.5/10

 

Come Together

MAP16 - Corruption - 9.5/10

MAP13 - Viridical Mines - 9.5/10

MAP15 - the Black Ramparts - 9.5/10

MAP11 - in Kasei Valles - 9/10

MAP20 - Wall of Omens - 9/10

MAP06 - a Memory from Earth - 9/10

MAP02 - Tharsis Awakens - 9/10

MAP18 - Farewell to the Dark Ages - 9/10

MAP14 - Bad Manor - 9/10

MAP17 - Ceremony of a Thousand Stars - 9/10

MAP21 - Skull - 9/10

MAP12 - Forlorn Hope - 9/10

MAP10 - Red Alley - 9/10 

MAP07 - Back Alleys and Interlopers - 9/10

MAP22 - Crossbones - 8.5/10

MAP19 - Gutter Waltz - 9/10

MAP05 - Martian Vista - 8/10

MAP01 - Dust Devils - 7/10

MAP31 - Farfarout - 7/10

MAP04 - Monuments of Mars - 5/10

MAP03 - Lower City Grime - 5/10

MAP09 - Martian Midnight - 5/10

MAP08 - Concrete Avalanche - 5/10

 

[RHhe82]

MAP21: Skull. Played on UV, pistol start. 77/77 kills, 2/2 secrets. Completion time 13:01.

 

And then for something more chill! We arrive in a jungle with a cute wooden boat. I think I dig the style, jungle with wooden buildings and mine shafts with railroad tracks and rocky lava caverns. I'm glad this one wasn't going to manhandle me brutally, but serve as an introduction to new setting and the new enemy: flamethrower guy. At first I thought it was the metal baron of hell I've seen in some pwads (Valiant and/or Eviternity?). I don't know if I like the new enemy -- I guess it's okay, at least their movement feels more intuitive than the erratic flying imps :P

 

Highlight of the map is the lava cavern fight. After MAP20 it feels like a breeze, but still I enjoyed it, there are infighting possibilities and the cavern itself looks cool (or, rather, more on the hot side).

[TJG1289]

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

Map 21: Skull - Lord_Z

100% kills and secrets

Time: 9:17

Deaths: 1

 

Episode 3 looks to be Jungle based, and this first level looks pretty nice. Nice use of vegetation makes the environments look natural. There's also some nice water areas, and the lava cavern. The map is pretty linear and you only need to find the blue key to exit. Ammo is kinda tight, and this was noticeable when going to the lava cavern. I couldn't really stay at the entrance and snipe everything. I needed to rush in to find the plasma, and then rush the 2 arachnotrons that were annoying me. The switch up here opens a door featuring this episode's new enemy, a cybernetic humanoid with a flamethrower. It's very similar to the pyro knight from Valliant, and those flames pack a punch. They're about as strong as a hell knight too, so 3 rockets will take care of it. Not much else to say, but it's a pretty simple ep opener. The only reason I died is cause I got scammed by a rev missile by the blue door. This little valley to the exit has like 6 perched revs, some loose chaingunners, and 3 flamethrowers. Seems dangerous, but it's not really. 

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 21 - Skull by Lord_Z

 

Welcome to the 3rd episode of 1000 Lines 3, the final installment of the 1000 Lines series! Let us hope this will be a worthy adieu(I kid, I'm 100 percent certain no one's shit the bed or anything)! Starting us off is a pair of maps by Lord_Z and Dreadopp whom I believe have both been around forever but who just recently released an awesome and Doomcute sort of Christmas map titled "A One Rabbit Open Slay."

 

As an introduction to the themes of "Tropic Nightmare," this does a supreme job. Palm fronds, hanging vines, swirling waterfalls and reeds can be found pretty much everywhere, featuring a sort of sweeping rocky outdoor style not unlike that in "AOROS" The lava pit area with the switch to open the way to the blue key at the far end is probably the highlight though.

 

Now the combat on the other hand.....while it's ok this isn't as in-your-face as "Forlorn Hope," the issue lies in the fact that this is actually a good deal easier than some of the opening maps. Fights are basically nothing to speak of and while the lava cavern entrance managed to drain my bullets with the sheer amount of Lost Souls and Revenants that attacked, it wasn't like there was any choice other than turtling. Even the Supercharge (and probably the Megaarmour concealed in some bushes) are almost stupidly easy to find. It should be pointed out that this episode's custom enemy the Hellscorcher is also introduced. They have roughly the health of a Hell Knight and shoot a column of flame in your direction that doesn't travel infinitely. Even at the end, though, they don't provide a huge threat in this map.

 

No fight really stands out here, I have to say. Ok, the Chaingunners (and possibly a Revenant) were deadly enough to slice off much of my Supercharge health from earlier, but much of that was bad luck more than anything. At least it's harder to complain about the window dressing Revenants when you can mostly avoid them by backing off and heading around a corner behind you. If there was a challenge here though, it was the dearth of rockets provided to you in this map. Hint: don't use them on the Imp cages surrounding the mine tracks and you'll probably be in better shape.

 

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by LadyMistDragon

[NiGHTS108]

MAP22: Crossbones

By Dreadopp

 

Kills: 100%

Items: 60%

Secrets: 100%

Time: 7:40

 

What feels like the easiest map in quite a while, Crossbones, as well as its other half, both feel somewhat irrelevant, it's probably easier than a lot of the episode 2 maps but to be fair we ARE still just getting started, I like the pirate ship with the Arch-Vile who drops in during the blue key, it's a creative use of the sails but the rest of the map goes down quite easy, I'm not sure why but when I went up the blue key hill a second time because I didn't know where to go for a few seconds, quite a few Cacodemons teleported in, I'm not entirely sure if this a bug or not but I thought I'd mention it anyway, the path to the green key features a relatively non-threatening Cyberdemon, just circle strafe and hold down the plasma gun to win, hit the button on the sails of the ship to open the exit, footnote the visuals are still lovely, I like this whole cosmic forest thing going on

 

Grade: B

Difficulty: C+

 

Playthrough video

Edited December 22, 2021 by NiGHTS108

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP21: "Skull" by Lord_Z

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

Here we reach episode 3, titled "Tropic Nightmare", and a map that serves as a superb introduction in the visual department. You start off in some dense foliage with the sounds of chirping animals playing, and later go through some cliff areas, a wooden building, and a cavern full of lava. Quite an eclectic level visually, but each environment is handled nicely. Definitely leaves me looking forward to how the rest of the episode is going to pull off the theme.

 

The combat here is kept pretty lowkey, definitely feeling a lot like an introductory map. Not a lot of threatening moments, and you're given rockets and plasma so anything threatening-looking can be dispatched pretty quickly. You do meet the new monster of the third episode here, the hellscorcher. When I first laid eyes on them I was scared they were going to be absolute tanks with their metal armour and bulky frame, but luckily they seem to have about as much health as a hell knight or mancubus, so not too bad. I didn't manage to take any hits from them in my run, but I tested out their damage in my postmortem runthrough of the level and while their individual fireballs don't do a ton, getting hit by a rapid-fire burst of them has the potential to instantly fry you. Will have to be careful with these guys.

 

A chill map. Visuals are awesome, combat is easy but not boring.

Edited December 22, 2021 by DisgruntledPorcupine : spelling

[Doritos420]

Map 21 - Skull by Lord_Z

Fun intro map. Love the ambient jungle noises, really adds the feeling that it's a real place. Great use of foliage in the beginning area to hide the pistol soldiers and make it a tad more difficult. I liked the doomcute mining tunnel. The hardest part for me was the underground lava valley area with the arachnotrons perched up high and the revenants hiding in the corners. As you try to close the distance with the arachnotrons the revenants aggro and come after you, led to a fun combat encounter. Also we get to see the new enemy in action, I got too close to one after killing it and got singed. I managed to find both secrets in this one. Really like how at the ending you are exploding open a new area, very Duke Nukem style.

[Biodegradable]

MAP22 - Crossbones

UV | Continuous | GZDoom

 

Crossbones... Skull... AHA I see what you did there! Right, so it's the other brother, Dreadopp's turn and things are getting spicy now. Teleport ambushes on the regular as we traverse through two dividing paths that circle back to the centre with a new ambush after each key collection. The music wails with wind instrumentation that gives me Rainbow Road from Mario Kart 64 vibes as we tackle invading Caco-Clouds and surprise Boners along with Hell Knights/Pyros and Mancs while a surprising lack of hitscanners beyond the few at the beginning. The Boner Library was the most memorable aspect, I suppose. Texture work was spot on and progression was nice and straightforward. Not much else to say.

 

 

[Deadwing]

18 -Another great map with really nice level of detailing and odd angles everywhere. It's a bit hard to know where you are, but it's a great map to navigate and not too hard too, thankfully the main setpiece was a bit forgiving to me! I think I heard that MIDI in another wad, btw haha

 

19 - A surprising crowded map given how short it is. It's also not very hard despite killing me twice in 2 of the 3 main setpieces. It's also really detailed and gave me a strong european feel. MIDI was also fantastic, as expected.

 

Videos from maps 16 to 19 soon

[Deadwing]

 

 

[FragsBunny]

MAP21: Skull (100%/97%/100%)

1.       One monster is cursed. Killing it duplicates nearby monsters

2.       Mancubus may pretend to die

3.       Chaingunner receives damage one second later

 

This is another level where RNG start to hate me to some extend. Normally, this level is not that difficult, but there is a narrow mine corridor being patrolled by two arachnotrons, one of which had invincibility boost. This forced me to get past the monster while trying to avoid plasma balls. I ended up in even worse area – a lava cave, whose entire exterior is being overseen by two arachnotron snipers! Due to numerous lost souls swarming around and everything exploding on death, I couldn’t get a clear shot at those long range-bastards until I got close enough! And the previously mentioned invincible spider, now firing at me from the side of the entrance, is making things even worse! Took me several tries to clear that leg!

 

If not for those setbacks, I would have finished this map in one go. To my annoyance, I had to pass through that corridor more than once, having to deal with another bunch of monsters before getting the beeline for the key. At least there is a new monster being introduced, a flamethrower cyborg demon (one of which even got the boost from rocketeer curse). And unlike gargoyles, those beasts can be affected by cards too, such as monster explosion card. It won’t be too long until a card for one of them pops out!

[FragsBunny]

MAP22: Crossbones (98%/96%/100%)

1.       Arch-vile gains health and damage after killing another monster

2.       Cacodemon spawns with a small companion

3.       Hell knight fires bullets instead

 

Yarr! Dreadopp continue the theme left behind by his partner LordZ, which is not a surprise, considering that both authored the two installments of Intergalactic Xenology. In this case, the level is built around some kind of derelict pirate ship. There are a lot of open spaces in this map – both around the ship and in the surrounding caverns, which need to be explored for the blue and green key. Each key pickup triggers an ambush of various enemies around the ship, and the flamethrower demon is sneakily teleported right in the alcove with the key itself. Don’t get yourself burned!

 

Probably the only claustrophobic fight you would encounter is the revenant ambush near the plasma rifle. The second cavern has a surprise Cyberdemon overseer, which I ultimately decided was not worth wasting plasma to kill, even though there was no way to telefrag him in the end. Short, but not so sweet – might leave a bitter aftertaste!

[cannonball]

MAP22 - “Crossbones” by Dreadopp

Those zombies really are deaf, how could you not notice a large explosion???

This one was even more laid back than the previous one. I am surprised to see a map that in my opinion has stronger visuals/theme than the gameplay. I like the derelict pirate ship and the palette used here is very pleasing on the eye. However a lot of the fights are very easy or can be skipped entirely, as such I wonder whether a lot of the mid-tiers and cyberdemon are even worth their place here. The fights when you get both keys are probably the most challenging, mostly because the highest threat is on the ship that you need to get board to progress. The revenant cluster is cakewalk if you have a few spare rockets.

Despite the rather undercooked gameplay, I do confess to liking this map. Also it is nice to see a pair of maps physically bolted together like this. 

[finnks13]

MAP 22 - Crossbones by Dreadopp:
Leading directly on from Map21 (this is a really cool effect and come to think of it, didn't Lord_Z and Dreadopp do this in 1000 Lines 1 too?) in both name and location, the most interesting part about Crossbones is the connection with the previous map as the map itself is pretty dull. The visuals here especially feel very constrained by the 1000 line limit, while there are some cool parts such as the broken pirate ship and the dynamite at the start, it doesn't quite work, but I'm sure getting them to this level within the limit was probably pretty challenging, so I don't think this is a massive issue.

 

There is one pretty fun fight, the cyberdemon ambush before the green key, dodging the cyberdemon's rockets is entertaining and there's enough opposition on the ledges so it's not completely dull (though you definitely could have gotten away with twice as many I reckon), the lock in helps this fight, and I wish this was used a bit more often in this map.

 

The flamethrower demons are really good at sparking infighting and this makes the final ambush pretty much free - if you just stay down on the ground level for a bit, the flamethrower demon can't help but fry most of the imps and hell knights leaving you free to deal with the archviles. Overall, this map is basically fine, but is sort of overshadowed by how neat the connection between it and the previous map is.

[Deadwing]

https://youtu.be/ba9gfANCxwk

 

20 - Brutal map, but really fun, especially for being an episode closer. The wall of Arachnotron was cruel too haha, but a nice gimmick. That final setpiece, though, no idea how I'll be able to handle the two arch-villes. In my last try, or I did run into the exit or I would get crushed! Hardest map for the set and a great one!

 

21 - Time for a new episode, back for lower ties enemies :D Oh, interesting flamethrower new enemy! As for the map itself, it wasn't much my style. Most fights were unidirectional through chokepoints and visually it wasn't that interesting, it's very spacious and a bit flat.

 

22 - This one I liked more, still spacious, but with more height variation and the huge trees made this a quite unique experience (felt like that planet from star wars with huge trees, or a Spyro 1 map). Gameplay wise was also more interesting, and it got quite intense in the end too!