The DWmegawad Club plays: 1000 Lines 3

[Bridgeburner56]

5 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

Bridgeburner is actually encouraged to make far more intelligent monster placements than he otherwise might do

Bold of you to assume I ever do anything intelligent

[Book Lord]

Episode 3: Tropic Nightmare

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

 

The third episode was set on a tropical island, with an excellent variety of natural and man-made environments, both indoor and outdoor. Good texturing was key to the visual result, though modified things and mid-textures played a major role to depict the lush rainforest. The gameplay was particularly engaging, and the maps were bursting with the feel of adventure. The frequent exploration and compelling progression expedients carried on the episode smoothly, with difficulty increasing only in the last two maps (the rest was generally easier than episode 2). The flamethrower beast (Hellscorcher) was a sturdy new enemy with a powerful attack and blast damage on death, though it was rarely used in close quarters to notice that. Dehacked brought it to life from the unused “Dead lost soul” thing. I blazed through these maps and was totally amazed by Aurelius’ boss battle.

 

MAP 21 - Skull by @Lord_Z 

Yes! This is how a new episode should be introduced. A trail between the lush vegetation allowed a relatively quiet approach to a new evil sanctuary. Giving the player time to ambient themselves to a new setting, lulled by the relaxing music, was a far better choice than the all-in assault of MAP12. I enjoyed myself immensely on this small level, following its linear path into a mine and a stretched lava cavern. Two Arachnotrons were shooting from a distant ledge and a bunch of other enemies were slowly coming my way. The limited ammo forced me to camp the entrance for a while, then I dashed for the plasma rifle, which allowed conquering the cavern. At that point, the first Hellscorcher was revealed. Tough, powerful, and very slow, it was exactly the opposite of the unbearable black Gargoyle. It was nice to find both secrets and the dynamite at the ending prompted a good laugh. An encouraging opener for the third episode.

Spoiler

 

MAP 22 - Crossbones by @Dreadopp

The explosive charge opened the way to the next series of caves, in continuity with MAP21. Not sure what this level had to do with pirates or crossed bones; perhaps the huge wooden structure in the central cavern could be a stranded pirate ship. Another idea was that Doomguy was violating a shrine, belonging to cannibals using crossed bones as a tribal sign (more skulls on display, actually). Anyway, this short adventure was simply structured: visit a new section, collect a key, return to the central hub, confront new monsters, and repeat. Nothing was exceedingly difficult, but I struggled a bit with the Cyberdemon and Revenants appearing on a giant pile of skulls. I wanted to quickly dispatch the skeletons, but my rockets were invariably aimed at the Cyberdemon instead, who happily retaliated. On the other hand, the hub was large and with enough cover to manage the teleporting hosts; just grab the key and jump down, if you do not want to experience what a point-blank flamethrower can do! Not a mind-blowing masterpiece, though still a respectable and entertaining romp through verdant caverns.

Spoiler

 

MAP 23 - Exile's Path by @Misty

It started out as a breezy map, plunging you in a weird yellow liquid pool in a rocky area. The level kept on being gentle even in the next cave section, where the orange lava did the expected damage, aptly quenched by a handful of Radiation Suits which even helped me find the secret Soul Sphere (a classic). The challenge remained low even behind the purple door, provided you do not rush into things. The first Arch-Vile closet stroke a good blow on me since I was distracted by the lush landscape, featuring palms and walls literally made of leaves. The final lava pit was the real dangerous spot though, where many things could go wrong: infinitely tall Spectres could disrupt the platforming, Mancubi shot from on the exit ledge and could not be ignored, Cacodemons laid in waiting by the lava fall, and pressing on triggered a triple closet with Pain Elementals, zombies and an Arch-Vile. If you take the area slowly and pick up a radsuit first, it will turn out innocuous as most of the level. Visually pleasing and satisfying, even if the aggression seemed a bit restrained.

Spoiler

 

MAP 24 - Efflorescence by @Dragonfly

This was the first map where I really felt like a commando, carrying out a single-handed warfare against demons in a tropical forest. Dragonfly shaped an intricated rocky landscape with water pools and falls, then used a lot of vine mid-textures and plant things, transforming it in a luscious jungle. Conquering the top of the waterfall was the first part of this thrilling adventure, where shotgun and assault rifle played the major role against the elevated snipers. The blue key was protected by a swarm of Cacodemons, whose green colouration made up for a good camouflage in the woods. The second part of the level was a temple engulfed by the rainforest, which had to be conquered piece-by-piece. The ambushes and the graphic environment were always compelling, though the most troublesome enemy was an Imp sharpshooter out of auto-aim range. He hit me repeatedly, even during the Cyberdemon encounter that preceded the exit. Even though the previous maps did not let me down by any means, this one fulfilled all the promises at once: exciting exploration, jungle warfare, compelling secrets. My only complaints were the take or leave backpack secret, and the unnecessary cameo of the plasma zombies. One of the best levels of the episode.

Spoiler

 

MAP 25 - Where Lies the Strangling Fruit by @Major Arlene

Conversely, this map was strongly based upon arena fights. Instead of intricate jungle trails and forgotten temples to explore, Major Arlene dropped us in a grassland surrounded by cliffs and small caverns. Two skull keys were required to access the triangular building in the middle: one was under a trilithon defying all physics, the other was on top of the ziggurat. The closets protecting them were a bit tepid; I played as intended using only SSG and assault rifle, which were more than enough. Once inside, a teleporter sent me to an identical room in another place, maybe a star ship, or an elevated jungle installation. A one-way corridor brought me to a water reservoir, looking like a slaughter arena. One wave was triggered when entering the room, then a second, more chaotic one appeared after pushing the switch that lowered the blue skull key. This was a rare instance of myself beating an arena at first attempt, meaning that it was hectic but not terribly demanding. The hardest part was finding an alive enemy to meet the Revenant rocket train that was following me while circle-strafing. No secrets to be found here. A fun, light-hearted level that filled the infamous MAP25 slot without guts and without glory, feeling a little underdeveloped if compared to the rest.

Spoiler

 

MAP 26 - A Trail of Scorched Earth by @RonnieJamesDiner (Chester)

Since the starting point I was aware that my objective was conquering the top of the mountain, where Mancubi were shooting from the entrance of a colossal temple. As the map title aptly described, this was a linear ascent through areas flooded by hot lava, though still wrapped in luxuriant jungle. A sort of prehistoric stone lift connected the different levels of the trail and was crossed three times before reaching the summit. The proposed combat was entertaining, though still a bit relaxed. The hairiest situation happened by the blue armour secret; I was happy to figure out the hidden path to it, but I found a bit mean that the ledge sank into lava, followed by an aggressive teleport. Such ideas work better on the mandatory path, which was less surprising and manageable with my usual, careful approach. I liked the last teleport combining Pinkies and flame-throwing Hellscorchers. An outstanding map with an adventurous mood à la Indiana Jones. 

Spoiler

 

MAP 27 - Nightfall by @DMPhobos

Now I am persuaded: DMPhobos really loves Cyberdemons! He absolutely wants them to play major roles in his levels. This crepuscular map (actually, the whole episode had a night skybox) offered a very open outdoor-indoor layout, allowing to freely explore a building and its surroundings. As usual, I completed the tour with the basic weapons provided to pistol starters, so I killed the single Cyberdemon in the water pool behind with shells. Once the area was quiet, I entered the caverns to the south and stumbled upon the climax of the map, a pit where two Cyberdemons tried to smash Doomguy and everyone in between. I was proud of myself for keeping my calm through that situation, therefore I was disappointed to be nailed by a rocket coming from behind a pillar. It was my only death and reload of this map, which had more ambushes in store but nothing I have not already faced ten-fold in this WAD. The BFG was finally in my hands, even though I barely shot it once to whittle down the bosses. A nice-looking map with interesting progression and moderate challenge, barring that intense Cyberdemon encounter.

Spoiler

 

MAP 28 - Tropical Warfare by @Guardsoul

I think the previous maps exhausted the “Tropical Warfare” concept in the best possible way. This one started inside a tech-base, then the action unfolded in its outdoor surroundings. The northern caverns were interesting for the strafe run secret, then the Revenants successfully ambushed me when I opened the blue door. The backyard was larger and packed with opposition, which I lured towards the stairs and methodically gunned down, then I mopped up surviving Arachnotrons and Revenants. Three switches must be triggered to raise a bridge to the exit, where a Cyberdemon emerged from the ground for another good thrill. He was accompanied by some Revenants repopulating the area. Besides the jump scare for the faint of heart, there was nothing a Doomer should worry about. Seriously, no Hellscorchers on UV? I noticed they replace the Cyberdemon on lower skill levels. All things considered, this was an enjoyable map, though a bit low-key for the slot.

Spoiler

 

MAP 29 - Path of the Withered Vine by @Bridgeburner56

Since the third episode did not include exceedingly hard levels or sizeable slaughter setups, MAP29 must absolutely play that role. I think this inevitable duty both elevated and ruined the experience. The start featured a tough aggression, prompting fast movement but also a bit of luck in choosing the path, especially for pistol starters. I explored the lava caverns to collect all weaponry, before gaining access to a heavily guarded temple vestibule. Once the huge halls were clear, two possible paths branched out, each one leading to a key required for the inner sanctum. I tried the green key first, but I had trouble clearing that section without the BFG, so I changed my mind and went for the purple key path, consisting of several chambers with monster closets. A BFG was found there, and I wasted a lot of cells against Baron crowds and Pain Elementals, presenting myself to the following 74-Revenant group with insufficient ammo. I lured them into the lava caverns to take them out with rockets and shells, and I had barely enough to finish the job. The green key cavern required the BFG to keep the surrounding monsters at bay, again with less cells than I desired. Eventually, I entered in the last titanic arena with about 160 cells left. As I unleashed the cohorts of hell, I spotted cell packs only in the lava and behind thick enemy ranks. As I rushed for the closest ammo, I saw a switch behind the Hell Nobles; I managed to push it, run around the arena, push another switch, blast some Arch-Viles in my way and score a touchdown at the exit teleporter, regardless of the 100-monster mayhem behind me. Skipping the final slaughter was a blessing, as I was bored of counting my cells. Not an easy map, as expected, with grindy encounters and the added concern of ammo management. It carried out its job, but it did not strike me as refreshing or particularly fun to play.

Spoiler

 

MAP 30 - False Deity by @Aurelius

What a great end to the map set. I wondered if Aurelius was allowed to cross the 1k lines border for the final map but no, this fully-fledged adventure was still within the usual restraints. A new boss, the “master of the horde” (designed by @Amuscaria for ZDoom’s Hell-Forged), was revealed since the beginning, answering to my harmless rockets with a barrage of fireballs. He was stationary with an animated sprite, so he never looked as lifeless as a standard Romero’s head. After wiping out the first horde of Imps and Revenants, the mission of finding three keys to activate a device was instantly clear. In the machinery room, flamethrower effects were simulated with two columns such as the one in MAP05; a screen must be raised in front of them to access the two wings, one at a time.

Spoiler

The blue key wing featured a twisting path suspended in the void; the player must tread it while dealing with roaming Demons and a deluge of fireballs, coming directly from the boss! My jaw dropped as soon as I realised how clever this was. Three Megaspheres were provided; I needed only one, even though I died miserably when I dropped into the final mini-slaughter arena unprepared. A player should jump down with equipped BFG and clear ideas about priorities. In the green key wing, I made my life harder by not entering fully healed, then I misunderstood the symmetrical layout. I thought both switches must be pressed, but one was enough to get up on the Cyberdemon ledge. With only one Radiation Suit on UV, there was not enough time to kill everyone while in the toxic slime. I reloaded about 20 times to get through it, but I blame it on my own blindness. The claustrophobic Cyberdemon with Arch-Viles was much easier in comparison. When the last key was acquired, it was “relatively” smooth sailing until the end. A boss with an in-built self-destruction sequence: a comical staple of many action games, though I am still trying to understand how it was achieved here. This was an extraordinarily clever, tastefully challenging, mind-blowing creation.

Spoiler

 

[NiGHTS108]

MAP30: False Deity

By Aurelius

 

Kills: 100%

Items: 63%

Secrets: 100%

Time: 11:46

 

Aurelius hits us with one last heavy hitter for the finale of 1000 Lines 3, the game is simple, the map revolves around the game's antagonist, the titular False  Deity, an immortal supercharged Mancubus, who makes his home in a giant factory crawling with demons, even including Plasma Punks and Gargoyles! After grabbing the purple key from a choir of Arch-Viles, Revenants and Imps you'll be treated to chamber number one, this cosmic blue road is lined with Pinkies but mind the great balls of fire because the False Deity still has you in his line of sight, get to the end and you'll drop into a rather tight area with Masterminds, Hell Knights, a Cyber and an Arch-Vile, play aggressively and all your troubles will go away, after that you'll head outside for a BFG blast with a lot of Imps, Arch-Viles, Masterminds, Cyberdemons and more assorted foes, to get the green key you'll have to nuke a Cyberdemon and 2 Arch-Viles in a tight area, or just make the Cyberdemon infight the Viles, and finally you'll be duking it out in the centre of the factory, the walls lower to show a lot of Pinkies, flying foes and 2 Archies on high, after you deal with all that, climb back up to the upper deck, unlock the switch, press it and it's curtain call for the 1000 Lines trilogy

 

Grade: A-

Difficulty: A

 

Playthrough video

 

- FINAL THOUGHTS -

 

So

Although I think it's easy to feel fatigue in 1KL3, this is still an excellent wad, I think Liberation did a great job with recruitment, getting in some big names to his cause, especially Ronniejamesdiner and Aurelius who made some great maps, the custom monsters, especially the Chaingunner 2000 are excellent and I feel the best aspect of 1000 Lines 3 is the great consistency, visually and gameplay wise, my final grade for 1000 Lines 3 is an A-, and as for difficulty it'll get a B-, probably no harder than The Plutonia Experiment

 

Whole playthrough

 

Now for my dean's list!

 

Spoiler

Valedictorian (best): MAP29 - Path Of The Withered Vine

Salutatorian (2nd best): MAP10 - Red Alley

Class President (hardest): MAP32 - Vintage Murderfest

And the dunce cap goes to... MAP28: Tropical Warfare.

 

We'll be seeing an honour role for 1000 Lines 3, it's composed of...

 

Spoiler

MAP03: Lower City Grine

MAP06: A Memory From Earth

MAP07: Back Alleys And Interlopers

MAP08: Concrete Avalanche

MAP11: In Kasei Valles

MAP15: The Black Ramparts

MAP18: A Farewell To The Dark Ages

MAP20: Wall Of Omens

MAP24: Efflorescence 

MAP25: Where Lies The Strangling Fruit

MAP27: Nightfall

MAP30: False Deity

 

...Ok fine here's a ranking like a normal person...

 

Spoiler

- A -

MAP29

MAP10

MAP24

 

- A- -

MAP30

MAP11

MAP18

MAP25

MAP06

MAP15

MAP20

MAP07

MAP03

MAP27

MAP08

 

- B+ -

MAP32

MAP05

MAP02

MAP17

MAP12

MAP16

 

- B -

MAP26

MAP22

MAP23

MAP19

MAP13

MAP01

 

- B- -

MAP21

MAP09

MAP14

 

- C+ -

MAP04

 

- C -

MAP31

MAP33

 

- C- -

MAP28

 

Edited December 30, 2021 by NiGHTS108

[TJG1289]

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

Map 29: Path Of The Withered Vine - Bridgeburner56

100% kills and secrets

Time: 19:02

Deaths: 8

 

Things everyone saw coming: The Bridgeburner penultimate map was going to be a tough slaughtermap. As someone who has not even though about attempting Bastion of Chaos or The Slaughter Spectrum (or even Micro-Slaughter), the only maps I've played from Bridge have been from the previous 2 1K lines sets (and Mapwich 2, being one of the few maps towards the end I could actually beat on UV without cheating since my framerate actually stayed decent during it!). I remember his map 11 from the first one being tough, but I don't remember the second one at all. I expected this one to be tough, and it did end up being tough, but I think that may had been more with how I tackled one room in particular more than anything else. Off the bat, playing continuous made the panic of seeing an archie run at me almost immediately diminish quickly as I pulled out the BFG. This opening side of the map is the jungle-y part of the map, and nets you the weapons, while dealing with a bunch of hiding monsters just waiting to attack you once they see you. The cyb in the lava just below the rocket launcher I ignored until I was able to get more cells, but it did wander back into the jungle so that was nerve-racking. I honestly can't remember if it straight up killed me after a save, or took me down very low. I'm not counting it, but it may have just killed me. The other side of the map is a temple area, where you can get a big infight party going. Hell nobles, arachnotrons, mancubi, a cyb or 2; it's all about letting them fight themselves. Once everything was dead, it's time to go down the 2 paths to the keys.

 

The green key fight was almost deathless. In fact, it pretty much was, as I died after everything died and I got the key. Before this, I have no idea how I didn't die. The monsters on the ground and lava make using rockets risky, and there's some meanly placed arachnotrons on the steps leading up to the green key. Add the mancubi up there and cacos, and you don't have any real safe areas here. I had enough health initially to save the soul sphere for later thanks to a hidden mega sphere I found just before, and it's a good thing since I really needed it after going down to ~10% health at one point. My main issue with playing slaughtermaps is I still have a tendency to save the BFG for later in the map, so it took me a while before I finally busted it out. Got rid of the spiders quickly, and that allowed for some relief. So I cleared everything out and hit the switch to lower the key. The automap showed a wall nearby could open so I had my BFG ready, but again, I don't like holding down the trigger since I want to save ammo. So at least 1 of the 3 archies behind me blasted me. I was able to kill them at <10% health, so I thought I was good. Did not know about the pain elementals that appeared on the opposite side. Got tackled by a lost soul on the way to a medkit. Boooo. Next time, I had better health after the archies, and took out the PEs.

 

Purple key path was where I died the most. I died 5 times in the first room of this temple area. I see a bunch of rockets, so I want to use them on whatever happens. It's just there's not a lot of room here. 2 walls lower with revs and knights on them. You get a few seconds to rocket a few as they lower, so I did that toward the rev wall. My final attempt just had me bust out the BFG to deal with everything once they got access to the floor. Remember, no BFG has been given in the map yet, so I think rockets are the intended method here, I just got overwhelmed too quickly. There are cells in the monster closets, so I guess plasma is the "get out of jail" card for this fight. Thankfully, on my 6th attempt, I got through it. The BFG fight is very fun, since it is a "hold fire till everything dies" type of thing. Went for the PEs first, then the rest. Bunch of ammo in the cubbies too. The archies behind a wall after hitting a switch surprised me (another death here), and so did the arachnotrons at the top by the purple key (no deaths here). Grabbing the key has walls lower in this central area with a crap ton of revs. More BFG time! I saved the megasphere here for this, so no issues here.

 

The final fight only caused me one death, and that's cause I hit the switches lowering the exit while still fighting everything. Didn't expect archies to show up when I did that, so I waited the next time. I already had enough to deal with, with the, like, 200 monsters spilling out of the walls. The lava corridors allow for escape while taking damage, but it's what I did a lot here. The switches are here too, so it's not like you can avoid it. Like you did outside, make it a giant monster infight party, BFGing to escape when necessary. Once everything died, I rushed the exit wall to BFG the archies before they could zap me.

 

Definitely my longest write-up this month, but a map this intense needed one. For a slaughtermap, this seemed a little easier than I expected, but it was still pretty challenging. Maybe I can attempt Bridgeburner's other stuff... Map looked pretty nice to boot. Maybe my fav in the set.

[FragsBunny]

MAP30: False Deity (94%/63%/100%)

1.       Replace the Icon of Sine with a new boss

2.       Several monsters receive a random card enchantment

3.       Pain elemental haunts players briefly after death

 

The finale of this megawad is merely the continuation of the madness that started from the previous map. The titular boss does not spawn any monsters, instead just taking the role of a stationary turret. It all starts with a rocket punch against imps and revenants; following that is the central room with BFG that needs a little bit of clearance.

 

Next up is the blue key section… hello, is this a prelude to Tarnsman’s Projectile Hell?! In either case, the arena the followed it was much harder, because of shockwaves caused by dying hell knights making them telefrag me. I didn’t even realize at first that the biggest problem was the sole arch-vile, as I was distracted enough by those illusionary monsters! Definitely a case that can only be solved with BFG.

 

The green key path involved crazy battle in the nukage, among exploding monsters and barrels. Thankfully, they all were facing away from me, allowing me to find an optimal point for clearing the crowd. Once you’re done, it’s time for the push to the final switch! Of course, the big boss will not make the job for you any easier, mind the arch-vile guardians and the pack of gasballs… Just clear the crowd, lower the three bars and flip the kill switch! Two slaughtermaps in a single day already exhausted me, and I only finished this writing later. So, what can I say about this mapset?

 

It’s quite good – good enough to be loaded with Corruption Cards, if you don’t mind the MAP12 issue at the start. Like many others, you would probably throw the towel on the last two maps: but in my case, the optimal selection of cards is what helped me to complete them. Because of that particular card "Monsters explode on death" slaughter maps were easier to finish than usual, especially when dealing with revenant horde. Other cards, such as "The Chosen One" and "Rocketeer Curse" often flipped me a middle finger. As for the maps themselves, they were all well made! It is always enjoyable to play with a different texture set, especially when you do your best to keep sticking with a theme. It's hard to pick a favorite under such conditions, so let's just name MAP10, MAP32, MAP29 and MAP30!

[FragsBunny]

The Final Card Tally: 

1. Add lots of explosive barrels to the level

2. Baron of Hell gains health and damage after killing another monster

3. Imp hunt the player in silence

4. Arachnotron are able to fly

5. Add harmless illusions to the level

6. Sergeant will steal items off the ground

7. Zombieman have a regenerating shield

8. Cacodemon fires baron of hell’s projectiles

9. Nazi showes nearby entities away on death

10. Cyberdemon projectiles are partially invisible

11. Nazi has increased movement speed

12. Mancubus deals extra damage if wounded

13. One monster is cursed. It rockets around uncontrollably

14. Monsters explode violently on death

15. Cacodemon projectiles ignore armor

31. One monster is invulnerable until most monsters are slain.
32. Find Daisy before exiting the level, or else…

16. Pain elemental reflects projectiles back at you

17. Cacodemon projectiles are partially invisible

18. Hell knight no longer flinch

19. Hell knight projectiles bounce off of walls

20. Mancubus can carry other monsters

21. Mancubus may pretend to die

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

23. Cacodemons are more aggressive

24. Mancubus can invert its gravity

25. Baron of Hell respawns once after death

26. Hell knight shoves nearby entities on death
27. Arachnotron spawns with a small companion

28. One monster is cursed. It is completely invisible

29. A baron of Hell will try to assassinate you

30. Pain elemental haunts players briefly after death

[Biodegradable]

So unfortunately, The zapping machine broke for me, so I wasn't able to king the Big Bad Manc to end the map. Is he supposed to explode after you flip this switch or is there another step after that I missed? I couldn't find any more switches or paths to go to after flipping it and he was still alive, so I was just stuck staring at him with nothing to do. Is this a GZDoom-related bug perhaps? 
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[FragsBunny]

5 minutes ago, Biodegradable said:

So unfortunately, The zapping machine broke for me, so I wasn't able to king the Big Bad Manc to end the map. Is he supposed to explode after you flip this switch or is there another step after that I missed? I couldn't find any more switches or paths to go to after flipping it and he was still alive, so I was just stuck staring at him with nothing to do. Is this a GZDoom-related bug perhaps? 
 

  Hide contents

 

 

 

You did not press the key bars first.

[Biodegradable]

2 minutes ago, FragsBunny said:

You did not press the key bars first.

 

 

You mean these arrows? Are they buttons?

[DMPhobos]

11 minutes ago, Biodegradable said:

 

 

You mean these arrows? Are they buttons?

 

Spoiler

They are, you need to press them and then the switch to activate the final sequence

 

[RHhe82]

MAP30: False Deity. Played on UV-PS. Kills 323/323. (DSDA recorded 342/323, which it counted as -97%). Comp. time 23:56.

 

A little less slaughtery than the penultimate map, there's still considerable rocket and bfg-spam inbound, as is dodging enemy projectiles in cramped spaces. So... I am a bit mixed on this; On the other hand, it's not a stupid IoS fight. I mostly enjoyed the level, but man, I hated the blue twisting corridor while under Deity's fire. It's not like it's chasm-thin, but still, that and the cramped arena at the end is a prime example of why I don't bother with saveless runs.

 

But other than the blue corridor, the map is top quality considering restrictions. I understand final fights can be tricky to make it good in classic Doom, but I think I like the way it's done here: the Deity doesn't display any frustrating mechanics, it just shoots enormous barrages of mancubus missiles, and the level is basically a normal (albeit challenging and a sort of special in a way I can't quite put into words, but it's different than the rest of the levels), you collect keys and exit switches execute the enemy to put it simple. No precise aiming on moving platforms while under enemy fire sort of bs -> I do prefer this simple approach. Maybe that's because the Deity feels so much more anyway than some Romero head on a stick. Deity doesn't feel stationary, while at the same it really is a stationary turret.

*

So, that's it, then. This month I managed to actually stay in schedule! In total, 1000 Lines 3 felt like a quality megawad, and while not all maps were hits, I don't think there were any total misses either. If I were more critical of some maps, it's mostly because some minor things, and not due to any clear dips in quality or infuriatingly obnoxious design choices.

I wish I could list the maps in order of preference, but I should have started compiling list from the get-go. I best remember the later maps and some of the more hard ones: MAP11, MAP29, maybe MAP30, MAP32... Was it MAP20 that had the cyberdemon slaughter arena and arachnotron rampart? That too, then. 
 

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP29: "Path of the Withered Vine" by Bridgeburner

UV, pistol start, saves

100% kills, 2/4 secrets

 

And so we reach the penultimate map, and what a monster it is. You start in a cavern system, featuring both burgeoning plantlife and scorching lava, before being taken to a large demonic arena at the centre of the level. The side paths take you through another cave and more demonic stone architecture. The AD_79 midi here is a blistering metal track that fits the action perfectly.

 

I was frustratingly close to actually managing a saveless run of this, but I'm woefully inconsistent at the beginning fight and everything else here proved chokeable enough to snuff out any runs that made it out of the start, so I managed a run with only 1 save after completing that beginning section (including SSGing the cybie to death). I definitely found the beginning of this map, caverns with all manner of demons lurking around and placed in the nastiest areas, to be the most difficult part. I tried a few different things but just couldn't find something that worked for me consistently. The best I settled on was to grab the SSG, wake the archvile near the rocket launcher, run around the cavern system to get the plasma and soulsphere, come back to grab the rocket launcher with hopefully not too much danger near it, and just kind of wing it from there. Probably not a good strategy seeing how it still barely worked, but it was the least painful one I went with.

 

The middle fights actually aren't too bad in my opinion, but still all pose threats in their own right. The next fight in the large demonic arena, featuring a central cyberdemon starting in a lava pool, is probably the easiest. You can run around and foster infighting without too much trouble, and luckily there is plenty of health and armour in the area for you to access as needed (hopefully being saved for later). The purple key path afterward features a cramped revenant and hell knight pincer attack, and a large host of pain elementals, cacos, and barons that you thankfully get a BFG for. It culminates in a large revenant slaughter back in the central arena, which isn't too tough but satisfying as all hell. The green key path has you in a lava cave with nasty monster placements, most notably a bunch of arachnotron turrets, and ends with an ambush of archviles and pain elementals. If you've armed yourself with the BFG from the previous path and are ready to use it, you should do fine, but those arachnotron turrets can be quite nasty.

 

The final encounter features 6 cyberdemons and hordes of other enemies and caused me quite a few troubles at first, but it did get easier when I realized the hell nobles in the side walls are triggered by the switch itself, while the rest of the enemies are triggered by coming near the switch. So what I did was first trigger the initial enemies, rocket the hell scorchers as they descend and hopefully take some pain elementals with them, then once everything has lowered quickly try and take care of the pain elementals and let the rest infight. Then once things are whittled down, I hit the switch and trigger the hell nobles and let the cybies have fun with them, BFGing to create space when needed. I found the space much more manageable when the enemies were lowered in two waves like this, triggering it all at once got overwhelming quickly. Even with this strategy this fight is no joke though, the sheer number of cyberdemons means stray rockets can be quite frequent.

 

This map was just what the doctor ordered. The combat here was non-stop blazing and incredibly fun. Definitely a contender for my favourite of the wad.

[dei_eldren]

The WAD ended for me on MAP29, as about a quarter into it, having killed most of the enemies in the caves, about a hundred of them, i had to ask myself why am i doing this?  Since i wasn't having enough fun to not ask that, the only practical answer was to call it a day.  For me, it was tedious, as proper slaughter-maps always are, i suppose in the same way as shotgunning Barons is tedious to some but not for me.  And naturally, i couldn't play MAP30.  

 

Final Judgment -

Above LadyMistDragon mentioned Megawad fatigue and i think for the first time i'm experiencing that a little bit, and i'm going to try explain why, as it certainly isn't on account of the length of the maps.  Despite some of the maps scoring low for me on Mars City, there were no maps of weak design or ones that i disliked, and if anything, Tudor Times on average was even stronger in terms of gameplay and design.  While Tropic Nightmare had some standout maps, it wasn't as strong for me as its predecessors having some quality fluctuations, either because of style of play or because of design features that i thought let the maps down a little bit.  So the third episode started dragging a bit to begin with, and whilst the jungle theme works as a curiosity, i don't think it's very well suited for Doom for a length of time - just my personal opinion, too much colours isn't what Doom aesthetics are about, and excessive use not only of colour but also of realistic environments seems to me like modernization rather than bona fide Doom.  Which again as curiosity is nice for a while, but when it continues the sense of Doom starts to fade away and i could just as well be playing a modern fps or whatever, which i don't.

 

For the most part i very much enjoyed the gameplay, especially on first two episodes it balanced the modern aesthetics with its Plutoniaesque sensibility well, but the third episode did start to take a more modern approach - more streamlined, which for me also kills a lot of the fun.  i'd also like to think that i learned a lot from playing this, as has been true for all the WADs that have been played here.

 

So, all in all, i enjoyed the experience of playing through this, but for next month i yearn for something more classic.  i voted for Ozonia and am very interested in playing it, but i need to reset myself for a while playing something more oldfashioned (even if i absolutely love the maps of O that i have played and expect nothing but to love it.)  Also i agree with what Book Lord said in an earlier post regarding it, and echo the sentiment of the few people who have also noted in the past that we have been incessantly playing new WADs and it'd be time to give something older a turn.  So if Community Chest (and i know i absolutely will dislike the first map of it) doesn't win the popular vote, i'll take a break for January, and return on 25th to check on votes and cast mine.  Probably i'll nominate Wonderful Doom and Endless Torture again which seem to have about much chance of winning as Hexen :D  i'll have to check if Hell Revealed has been played by the club, but i'd guess there's zero chance it hasn't.  At any rate, if i must take a break from the club, there's a lot of classics i need to play, starting from completing Alien Vendetta and Memento Mori, a proper playthrough of HR...

 

As always, enjoyed reading everyone's reviews and watching the videos!  Happy NYE to everyone, and try keeping your demons at bay...

[Book Lord]

Final Thoughts

 

The December 2021 DWMC choice was a fresh release, receiving one last update (RC3) on the first day of the playthrough and winning a Cacoward in the customary Dec 10th ceremony. My knowledge of the community output is way too limited to comment on the given award, but I can see the commitment and broad merits of the design team. Firstly, this megaWAD was planned as a showcase for OTEX pack, using its textures not only as a graphic tool but also as a source of inspiration. Secondly, many members contributed with their custom artwork, going way beyond the typical status bar and title screen, adding even more textures, Dehack-ed things, and new enemies & weapons, borrowed from other projects and/or edited for the purpose. The new features were illustrated by steadfast team leader @Liberation in the bonus MAP34, which remains as a testament to the precise groundwork preceding the development.

 

Just as the previous chapters of the 1000 Lines series, which I have not played, the third instalment restricts the use of LINEDEFs to one thousand. The number is not exactly small, but it still limits a mapper’s expression. This is not the case of these authors, who offer a remarkable example of creativity in all fields, from combat set pieces to casual exploration, including simple puzzles, interesting secrets, and pleasing visuals in accordance with the given theme of each episode. The Dehacked changes are all appropriate and really bring the settings to life, even though I am not a fan of the black Gargoyle in the second episode.

 

I did not want a hardcore challenge, so I opted for continuous play on Ultra-Violence, with savegames mid-level (not during encounters to cheat the RNG or to facilitate anything). This is becoming my preferred way of playing, especially on recent products which are taking mouse look and nimbly movement for granted, and not consider -fast monsters as a meaningful setting. I got some pistol-start sensations by self-restraining my weapons (I used only weapons provided in each map, after acquiring them), though I noticed that the WAD was balanced enough not to make you fill overstuffed with resources, even with carry-over supplies (MAP32 threw everything off with its “vintage” pickups, which is perfectly fine for a secret level).

 

The proposed difficulty was ok, though a bit uneven: I found the third episode to be easier, if compared to the second, which was the hardest overall. The first episode had its tough moments in the last maps, which did not save monster hordes or uncomfortable situations for later. I enjoyed the third episode more than the others due to its adventurous atmosphere; this is a rare instance, considering the chronic urge to increase the difficulty towards the end of a megaWAD. In 1000 Lines 3 this phenomenon affected only MAP29 and MAP30, with opposite outcomes. While I got a bit tired of the slaughter with tight ammo of the former, the final battle was one of the most exciting boss levels I have ever played.

 

A lot of talent was involved: many were well-established mappers, all collaborating to previous 1000 Lines chapters, with a few new entries that never disappointed, most notably the French @Roofi and @WH-Wilou84, who delivered two of the hardest maps in the package. The single levels stood out or felt less distinguished depending on the author’s individual prowess, but the quality was very consistent, certifying an accurate cross-checking by the team and a successful coordination by the leader. My favourite levels are listed below, but every contributor deserves praise, especially for the variety of ideas, settings and combat solutions they put together, always keeping me engaged.

 

I think I should mention @Aurelius as the standout author, since he provided three maps full of character, along with new textures and a lot of technical support. He is no rising star, being a natural Cacoward winner since he started his career, and the extraordinary results, achieved under line limitation and vanilla restraints, are impressive as his magnum opus maps. Seeing his skill at work for the team is encouraging for the community.

 

The small size of the maps is no guarantee of short playtime: some of them required more than 30 minutes for completion, not including a thorough search for the secrets. I frequently maxed out the maps, although some hidden areas followed a logic totally out of my grasp. Secret levels were acceptable, if not my cup of tea. Another important part of the project is the original soundtrack, mingling with the visuals and gameplay in a surprising way, to the point I cannot imagine playing these maps with different music.

 

1000 Lines 3 showcased so many active, prolific, and skilled members of the Doom community at once, giving a quick panorama of the trends and current potential of vanilla-compatible design. It can be recommended to anybody who looks for a quick update to the state-of-the-art Doom mapping of 2021, while having a lot of fun in the meantime. Kudos to Liberation and to the whole design team!

 

Best maps:

MAP 06 - A Memory from Earth by Aurelius

MAP 15 - The Black Ramparts by Bauul

MAP 18 - A Farewell to the Dark Ages by antares031

MAP 24 - Efflorescence by Dragonfly

MAP 30 - False Deity by Aurelius

 

Other standout maps:

MAP 03 - Lower City Grime by Liberation

MAP 08 - Concrete Avalanche by Scotty

MAP 20 - Wall of Omens by WH-Wilou84

MAP 26 - A Trail of Scorched Earth by Chester

MAP 27 - Nightfall by DMPhobos

Edited December 30, 2021 by Book Lord

[Biodegradable]

MAP30 - False Deity

UV | Continuous | GZDoom

 

Oh man, giving Aurelius the last map was the right idea. That guy sure knows how to make a fun and interesting map that is also rife with AGONY! I came pretty close to quitting, I won't lie. I got stuck on this one unlikely part just after you collect the blue key. For whatever reason, that particular bit had me frothing at the mouth. Fortunately, I did finally manage to get through it to finish the map. Thank you @FragsBunny and @DMPhobos for that pointer on the arrows by the death switch indeed being buttons. Not sure if I ever would've figured that. Bit of a design flaw if you ask me, but I'll let the 1K Lines team decide whether they think that might need adjusting or if I'm just a brainlet :^P

 

Besides that aforementioned aggravation and button confusion, I actually had a good time with this map for the most part. The variation of trials you had to go through to collect each key was well implemented and made for some fascinating and dangerous progression. I 100% agree with @Suitepee's assertion that THIS is a really good example of how to end a megaWAD without resorting to a lame IoS fight. A new boss with a new way of dealing with him. More of that in the future, absolutely! Considering how wild the map got at times, I wasn't really able to take in the scenery as it were. I'd say much like Bridge with MAP29, Aurelius focused more on the progression and combat. That being said, the various layouts of the map really helped shape it into something cool and memorable. Good stuff, mate.

 

 

All right, now for my Top Favourite Maps in Chronological Order:

• MAP03
• MAP06
• MAP11
• MAP14
• MAP17
• MAP20
• MAP24
• MAP26
• MAP27

Incidentally, I'd say Mars City was my favourite of the 3 episodes. What can I say? I love grungy Cyberpunk aesthetics. ;^)

 

Conclusion

 

The third installment of the 1000 Lines series is definitely the best and well-deserving of the golden Caco it won this year. The team should be very proud of their accomplishment here devising an incredibly fun and well-thought out megaWAD. All three episodes were brimming with personality and thematically solid with their use of custom enemies and Ukiro's gorgeous textures. I'm really happy I got to see more of what OTEX had to offer beyond just the techbase stuff I'd seen previously, so it's a grand showcase of OTEX as well as the efforts of the dev team. While I admittedly still have a bit of trouble fully grasping the depths of the line limitation challenge that goes into these kind of WADs, I am nonetheless thoroughly awestruck and impressed with how each mapper met the task at hand to pull off their art in the face of said limitation. Aurelius's dehacked weapon set was also a terrific addition that really pushes the player to be even quicker with their fingers. I know for me personally there were quite a few times where I was racing about, quickly swapping weapons in quick succession, annihilating demons and feeling like a total badass. Such moments were just so damn awesome. 1000 Lines 3 is, without a shred of doubt, one of my absolute favourite megaWADs I played in this year. If there are no more installments after this one, then it's one hell of a way to cap off an amazing trilogy of WADs. Truly fucking brilliant, fam.

[finnks13]

MAP 30 - False Deity by Aurelius:
A very good ending. I like this map much more than either of Aurelius' previous maps, and I think the idea of using a single, impossible to directly kill (I suppose if you managed to get an archvile to attack it, it would eventually die as it does have a HP value) boss monster as an ever-present threat is fantastic. The map is set in some sort of abstract tech-ruins area, but I can tell that the bulk of the work went into creating interesting gameplay, which I think was a very good choice here. The start of the map is an entertaining rocket-fueled destruction of fodder, and is followed by two key doors blocked off by a turret - finally returning from Map5.

 

I think the blue area is a really cool idea, using the boss' projectile spam attack to create a "bullet-hell" section is very creative and fun to work through. It leads into a pacifist-fight where the best strategy seems to be to let everything but the archvile wake up and kill each other, before finally dispatching the archvile and probably the cyberdemon. After this, you get to BFG a load of plasma zombies which is very fun in the same way that killing loads of imps with the rocket launcher is very fun. The green key fight, is a bit less interesting, but I can't complain too much about a good bit of BFG slaughter and the damaging floor and limited radsuits stop this from being completely brainless.

 

The final wave against the archviles feels a bit less thought through than the rest, and a bit like a crap-shoot of "spam the BFG and pray", but I managed to get lucky and survive on 5HP so that's fine. The lightning telefragging the boss is a really cool ending, and I think this is one of the best final levels I can remember playing in a megawad, and it ends the episode, and megawad on an excellent note.

 

Overall Thoughts on Episode 3:

I think this is a good set of levels, I like it more than Episode 1 and less than Episode 2 (which I think has a bit of a leg up, because I thought the theme was the most interesting of the three) and I think the use of the ambient sound props and effects was best used here, the atmosphere in the quieter levels is very chill and surprisingly immersive. I think the first few maps of the episode fall into the "yeah it's fine" zone that a lot of 1k3 maps do, but it ends very well with Maps 25-30 being (mostly!) excellent.

 

I think the custom monster here is probably the weakest of the three, it doesn't have the fast moving, high threat, low health traits that the other two monsters do, and while it's definitely less annoying than the black gargoyle, it doesn't really stand out in any of the fights it's used here and is honestly quite boring, even though the idea of a fairly bulky foe with a lengthy, deadly attack is a good one. The thing I like about it the most easily is the fact that it actually explodes during it's death animation, which I managed to consistently forget about and get caught by. 

 

Overall Rankings of Episode 3:

Spoiler

MAP29 - Path of the Withered Vine

MAP30 - False Deity

MAP26 - A Trail of Scorched Earth

MAP27 - Nightfall

MAP25 - Where Lies the Strangling Fruit

MAP21 - Skull

MAP28 - Tropical Warfare

MAP23 - Exile's Path
MAP22 - Crossbones
MAP24 - Efflorescence

 

Overall Thoughts on 1000 Lines Community Project 3:

I'm honestly finding it quite hard to sum up my thoughts on this megawad - it's undeniably well put together, very polished and I don't think there are any maps here that I would call bad. However, when put together as a whole, it just feels like it's missing something and I'm not sure what that is - while these maps are all solid and fun when playing them, I find that they blend together quite a lot, and I found it quite hard to write much about a lot of these maps. Maybe this is due to the style of level design, which feels like it's trying to conform aggressively to a fairly standard, modern style of mapping and this isn't a bad style at all, there's just not much variety - outside of the slaughtermaps that end each episode. I reckon this would be a very good mapset to show to someone who's been out of the mapping scene for a while to show what megawads have trended towards in the last few years. 

 

Maybe the reason that I feel pretty lukewarm about this mapset is that my taste in maps has changed to be a lot more to the more difficult, slaughtery end of the mapping spectrum compared to when I played the first 1000 Lines project and nowadays I just don't find maps like this as compelling as I did. I think that the difficulty curve in this megawad is very uneven - I probably found episode 2 the hardest overall, though parts of episode 1 are definitely up there, and episode 3 is definitely the easiest. I think this has to do with the more relaxed nature of the opening levels of episode 3, and I don't think this is a massive deal - but it does contribute to the sameyness I felt about a lot of the levels, because the difficulty of Map3 doesn't feel particularly different from Map23.

I think I should talk about things I really liked to close off my thoughts, as I don't want this to come across as "I don't like this mapset", because that's not true. I think the themes for all three episodes are great, and show off more of OTEX's range than a lot of previous sets using it have - Episode 2's Tudor, castle-y, dingy English village theme was my favourite, though it definitely has an advantage since I am from a dingy English town myself. The DEHACKED work here is superb, and probably deserved a cacoward by itself, even if it didn't come along with the extra maps - I have no idea how the plasma zombies dropping cells is done, and the fact that it is entirely vanilla-compatible is nuts. The soundtrack is absolutely excellent throughout, I didn't mention it very much as I liked every song and I didn't want to repeat myself too much by saying that in every write-up - my favourite song is probably the Psyrus' intermission theme, it's fantastic.

 

Overall, I would definitely say that I want to like this mapset more than I do, and I think this is just down to my personal taste being not 100% aligned with the mapper's goal and that's fine! I do think that this set deserved it's cacoward, and I did have fun while playing it, and can see why so many people really like it. Thank you to all of the mappers and musicians for making this megawad, and anyone involved in the other 1000 Lines projects, your hard work has definitely payed off.

 

My 5 Favourite Maps:

Map 29 - Path of the Withered Vine by Bridgeburner

Map 32 - Vintage Slaughterfest by Roofi

Map 14 - Bad Manor by Nootrac4571

Map 9 - Martian Midnight by DMPhobos

Map 13 - Viridical Mines by Worm

 

(Overall Map Rankings in the spoiler)

Spoiler

29, 32, 14, 9, 13, 30, 10, 26, 27, 3, 25, 12, 15, 2, 21, 7, 28, 23, 22, 4, 31, 8, 5, 1, 11, 24, 6

<-Favourite------------------------------------------------------------------------Least Favourite->

 

Overall Score: 7.3/10

 

Sorry about the wall of text, I'm looking forward to whatever's chosen for next month's club as I've really enjoyed writing about maps, while reading through other's thoughts about the same maps, even if I'm still quite a poor writer.

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 30 - False Deity by Aurelius

So it has come to this.....After fighting your way through the temple antechamber, you find yourself coming upon a generic OTEX base, far different from the temple antechamber from whence you've emerged. Here is what appears to be the group behind the latest attempt to wipe out humanity. I don't know who this Big Boss (a weapon to surpass the Icon of Sin?) or Deity is but he seemed poised to launch a technological nightmare, at least before you ruined his plans on Mars. And please take a listen to "Catalyst!" It could probably be a bit busier, however, it definitely has that driving, serious, final boss rhythm and some sign of emotional impact there somewhere.

Anyway, I won't deny this being a case of a very dread-filled finale. Two Arch-viles on an above ledge with Imps and Revenants down a path stretching in front of you calls to mind the ever-dreaded Sunlust. And sorry, I don't really know a reliable way to fight Revenants in a space like this. After dispatching the Arch-viles who would've surely turned me into a crisp otherwise and taking care of the Imps, it was basically a matter of thinning out the Revenants until I could run between them, firing some ineffectual bullets in their direction and then shooting more rockets when I found enough distance away from them. Still, some other Revenants that come down the stairs at the other end of this area if you get too close sometimes make things that much trickier. I died once here. There's also the deity who fires massive Manicubi fireballs in your direction, but he's not so hard to avoid (apart from 1 area)!

 

Once I ascended the stairs, there were also some Hell Knights and Arachnotrons to take care of. I'm not sure if you could charge in here, but that seemed to be absolutely insane, so I just waited, rocketed them and shotgunned the remainder, then used more rockets on the most non-threatening quad of Arch-viles in the world, peeking out at you from behind a barrier with plasma troopers (hey, this is a base!)!

 

There was also a Megasphere here that I never picked up which was actually fine because as it turns out, Aurelius places at least one in every section of the map. I just went on to pick up the blue key and shut down the flame turret on its respective side. Heading down the hallway to a teleporter, there was a pair of Gargoyles that happened to be guarding it. Were they the results of some dastardly experiment? They're nothing more than a nonentiety though.

 

No matter, I took the teleporter and found myself filled with dread as I gazed upon a curved blue walkway over a void that exists solely to inflict Ribbiks PTSD on those who are so foolish to explore such a treacherous location. There are several Demons here, but the real threat comes from the deity firing an absolute metric ton of fireballs, in imitation of old platformers that utilized flame as a notable obstacle. Aurelius actually placed THREE  Megaspheres at the beginning, probably on the off-chance you're knocked off, but that never happened to me. Still, my so-so skill at avoiding the flames left me with a little less than half of the health I had before.

 

Here, I came to a fenced-off region with 2 Masterminds, a Cyberdemon, a gaggle of Hell Knights and a small errant of Delinquents, along with an Arch-vile that you must again kill RIGHT AWAY. I think you have to get the Masterminds to infight with some of the Hell Knights, but on 3 occasions they filled my body with tungsten before that could happen. The 4th time, I was successful.

 

After taking the key and taking the teleport, you find yourself at the other end of the arena where the Entity resides. Identical to the start other than no Arch-vile and Plasma Troopers instead of Imps, this proved incredibly tricky since I (and I suspect many others) didn't have enough cells to just spray and pray. Which meant that the inarguable murder of Revenants behind the plasma troopers was able to kill me 3 times. There's just not enough time to fire your BFG before you're struck by far too many homing rockets to survive. I think I may have done something different the last time, but this is getting long enough.

 

So with the blue key, you can then shut down the other flame jet, head down that hall with gargoyles and emerge into a massive area of slime where Aurelius provides just enough rad suits for you to not worry so much. There are chaingunners accompanying a cyberdemon on the ledge behind you. There are Revenants in front and mobs of Imps with a Mastermind on a nearby platform and an Arch-vile, all on either side of you. Unfortunately, I didn't spot one of the Arch-viles soon enough because they would then turn me into charcoal forthwith. I wouldn't call this especially difficult though. BFGing most of the Revenants seems to be effective, and you can then avoid pretty much everything else.

 

After this came an area where you have to fight 2 Arch-viles and a Cyberdemon. Yes, you can make them infight, but personally, it just seems like the Cyberdemon will turn you to guts before you can manage. Pick up the last key and teleport to the last fight!

 

So the central area with the entity will now have opened, and a gaggle of delinquents and a pack of Cacos will have appeared from behind you, alon with a massive group of Demons, Imps and an Arch-vile at the far end, along with some Hell Knights. Despite some cruddy aiming, the Arch-vile went down fairly quickly. That's not the last one of the map. Head back to the area with the computers and Arch-vile station that connects both sides of the courtyard and you'll find two Arch-viles with some resurrected enemies. Everything went down fairly easily though, due to me having more rockets at that stage than any mortal should be allowed to have.

 

At this stage, I was a touch puzzled at the switch with the key-coloured bars. This switch is, as always, not doing a damned thing. At some point, ot ocurred to me press the key bars themselves. Upon this, the resulting electricity ran through the weak spots in the entity's armour causing them to explode into a bloody mess, which you know, is exactly how you'd expect him to die(and you can't tell me no one who plays this won't have Quake Episode 1 ending flasbacks, lol).

 

Soooooo long, however, I thought this map needed it's due. I read this wasn't an Icon of Sin map and that made me happier than you could probably imagine. Can you really think that big bad was a painting on a wall that could be destroyed by shooting at their exposed brain? How stupid. (btw, putting 'war' twice in the end story text is such a comeon moment).  However, I really have to get out of here soon. I should have my final thoughts posted later today (and they're gonna be a little longer this time).

Edited December 31, 2021 by LadyMistDragon

[LadyMistDragon]

Final Thoughts

 

I've indicated it before, but seeing a megawad whose entire premise is restricting the size of one's maps to a certain size has never been attractive in any way to me. Whether it was projects like 10 Sectors, Congestion 1024 or Zone 300, I never felt compelled to play any of them. There was Claustrophobia 1024, of course, but decided I'd no need to play it after watching Lingyan203's playthrough of it about 10 years ago. But after having played Zone 400 and Skulltiverse, I became a little bit more open to the idea of checking them out. When I saw 1000 Lines 3 would be this month's choice, I was like "ok" and looked at the thread and saw there was actually an original soundtrack. In retrospect, I'm not surprised that they were able to assemble a soundtrack of largely original songs given who some of their friends are. But long story short, serious consideration given to presentation and quality of life that I don't believe was quite a priority in the older days really helped win me over, to the extent I can view this as highly deserving of its Cacoward.

 

The first reason for this is the slightly modified weapon system. You can now switch your guns near instantly, which for sloppy movers like me can make all the difference against a murder of Revenants. Pistol and Shotgun are both speeded up, which is quite a minor issue on the whole but contributes heavily to making the action flow nice and smooth with hardly any hiccups. But the best part is the replacement of the popcorn chaingun with an assault rifle. With a considerably faster rate of fire, there's a far higher chance of causing the boney ones at the very least to flinch.

 

Next is the splitting up of the megawad into 3 distinct episodes. Apparently, it's less than what existed in the previous iterations of 1klines. While I haven't bothered asking @Liberation why it was decided to go with 3 themes, perhaps it was meant to bolster thematic strength somehow. These themes manage to be typical, yet fairly unique in the specfics. Episode 1 takes place on Mars in a future where there's been at least some settlement, Episode 2 features a sort of modified Heretic aesthetic meets OTEX of Tudor England, while Episode 3 plunges you into a watery and wonderful jungle (ok, I guess that's Paradise, but the vibe's just different and mostly gloomier).

 

As if to bolster the character of each episode, they each receive a custom monster. Episode 1 has a plasma trooper which calls to mind those from Ancient Aliens with their tendency to rain rapid fire hell on your person despite their fragility. Episode 2 has a black gargoyle whose main job is to be annoying from what I can tell, while Episode 3 features a sort of new experiment called a Hellscorcher that was not utilized so well for the most part, to be honest. They still manage to convey the idea of there being different operations occurring in each time period, though under the aegis of the Entity that loves the jungle (or something, idk what goes through the minds of these things).

 

Finally is the soundtrack. I won't say too much here for certain reasons, but safe to say a masterful job was done composing music for the maps that either went with their respective episode's themes(Maps 12, 04, 24, 08 for instance), or else conveyed certain moods such as oppressiveness, raw aggressiveness, depression, and general doubt.

 

Now I feel I should spend some time talking about some of my favorite maps. Let me first say that unlike Skulltiverse (which objectively had 1-4 maps that were certainly lacking), I truly felt there to be no weak maps, apart from maybe 33.

 

False Deity by @Aurelius

 

Honestly, this is about as strong a conclusion as you could possibly get without going into some sort of Scythe-esque mass slaughter territory. Yes, it's a little bit ridiculous that the main guy is just going to sit around in a place where he could be electrocuted thanks to his oh-so-convenient resting place. But the action is about as compelling and thrilling as I could hope a final map can get, without sliding into "God Machine" territory or something. Close enough to that scale to make you feel in serious danger (cue Ralph Wiggum GIF here), yet just accessible enough to allow a relatively bad player on to complete it with enough persistence, this one gets a top rating from me.

 

Path of the Withered Vine by @Bridgeburner56

 

I attempted to play Bastion of Chaos not so long ago but quit after roughly an hour of total play time because it was threatening to murder my computer (and it still hasn't recovered to be perfectly honest). I was frankly quite wary of this one at first because of the somewhat open structure a la No Chance, a map which I could only stand to play on HNTR because believe it or not, there are people who don't want to deal with strong monsters in literally every direction. However, thanks to the weapon modding and monster placement that is more intended to make you think than mad, this ends up as a fitting Map 29. It's all quite grim though and "Fear Not The Withering of our World" only underscore this strong feeling. Only one fight really drives the point home, though not the final fight. Speaking of the final fight, the spectacle of the Hellscorchers/Pain Elementals/Hell nobles going at it with more Cyberdemons than you could possibly shake your moneymaker at (ok, 5, geez) should go down as one of the most memorable moments of the megawad. I'd would've probably enjoyed it a lot more if it wasn't a Map 29 set admist some maps with rather inconsistent difficulty.

 

In Kasei Valles by @Aurelius

 

It was only recently that I found out "On the Outer" wasn't actually made for 1k3. It was personally quite shocking to me because this one of the best marriages of music and mood in the megawad imo. Think, you've reached the heart of the demonic incursion, find yourself coming upon many, many strong monsters, yet know full well there's far, far more ahead. Highly intelligent and deadly monster placement that's probably meant to echo early Sunlust, the strong use of verticality and an incredibly difficult-to-access BFG amidst the gloomy sky really add to this being an interesting place. I haven't gotten into the incredibly chaotic battle involving the Spider Mastermind and several Revenants that will likely turn her into a bloody hamburger. A particular Cyberdemon that has the ability to fire at you from pretty much everywhere. Than of course the infamous ending which seems to hint at the time period right before murdering you. While environmental storytelling mostly falls by the wayside in the 3rd episode, never is it as strong as it is here.

 

Where Lies the Strangling Fruit by @Major Arlene

 

I feel that in most megawads, there are just those maps that provide pure, simple fun. Map 25 certainly fits the bill here. In a way, it's not uncomparable to Map 10 in the fun aspect. The difference is in how it ultimately chooses to bring on the pain. The key traps were both fun and provided some decent challenge. The Arch-vile/rev placement behind the first 2 key doors was brillant. Then there were the cacos floating through the Castlevania-esque windows like ever-so-much non Medusa Heads. Finally, there was the somewhat easy circle-strafe two wave battle at the end. I think there may have been some light Map 30 foreshadowing with its techy appearance. And while the ending was fairly quiet, it was also perfect in a large sense

 

A Trail of Scorched Earth by @RonnieJamesDiner

 

I did not give this map its due in my post (and I'm not about to give it now either) but the fact remains I love the concept. You start in something that I suppose is a lava crater, and find yourself ascending through a forested canyons, pushing switches to activate lifts all the while as you're watching your step to deal with Ronnie's nasty enemy placement, until you finally reach the top ridge with several Manicubi firing down from the summit. You may not want to kill all of them, and really, that proves to be the whole intent with an intmidatingly large Demon mob with several Hellscorchers herding them to your location. I'd have to replay this one again, but oh man, it was soooo good.

 

Total deaths (not counting Map 32) 42

 

Final map rankings

 

Map 30

Map 20

Map 11

Map 29

Maps 25 & 26 (I would give 26 the edge, but I'm a little meh on rocketing Demon mobs

Map 10

Map 27

Map 17

Map 24

Map 07

Map 18

Map 16

Map 32

Map 08

Map 02

Map 12

Map 19

Map 14

Map 28

Map 13

Map 19

Map 15

Map 09

Map 31

Map 23

Map 04

Map 06

Map 03

Map 22

Map 05

Map 21

Map 01

Map 33

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by LadyMistDragon

[TJG1289]

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

Map 30: False Deity - Aurelius

100% kills and secrets

Time: 11:54

Deaths: 4

 

We end the WAD with the return of Aurelius, providing a light slaughtermap that doesn't make things too difficult as long as you pay attention to what you need to do. Oddly enough, I didn't pay enough attention at the beginning so idr if a RL was there or not, but my continuous play got me one, so I used that immediately. Getting rid of the archies first, then the imp and rev horde. You may have seen the final boss of the WAD while chilling at the start; a monster that looks a lot like Cyber Mancubus to me. You can't damage it directly (at least according to the other posts here since I didn't try), so you need to grab the 3 keys to electrocute it do death. You grab the BFG pretty early, so that will be very helpful. A lot of this map can be BFG spam. Especially after grabbing this first key, just hold it down to get rid of everything. Using the key will turn off a flamethrower, allowing access to a side path (and 2 of the 4 gargoyles in the map). This first path has the CM boss continuously firing at you from afar as you traverse a long winding path with pinkies. At the end, you fling yourself onto a small platform filled with enemies, including 2 masterminds and a cyb, while 2 archies target you one at a time. I had most of my deaths on this platform, since I didn't want to kill the masterminds early since they do wonders for infighting. Grab the key, and deactivate the other flamethrower. This path puts you in a toxic jungle location with another pair of SMs and a cyb, plus more annoyances. Grab the actual useful partial invis, and cause dissention! In order to get back out of here, you'll have to take on 2 archies and a cyb in a very, VERY enclosed space. Hope you can 2-shot a cyb quickly! One final horde back at the beginning, with the CM boss fully in view is BFG time. Hit the switch behind him, and head back up to the switches, hit the colored ones first then the final, to electrocute it to death and finish the WAD! Super-fun final map, that thankfully wasn't another IoS. Very solid ending to the WAD, and to the trilogy!

 

Map 33 (pistol-start): Terminal Transit - Wolf McBeard

100% kills and secrets

Time: 3:49

 

Told you I'd get to this after the main WAD since I'd have to pistol start. I'm not entirely sure why this is a secret map; maybe it's similar to how Plutonia 2 has the map 33 just because it could? It's a very simple map all things considered; from the fights, to the texturing. You only get the shotgun (plus the secret assault rifle), so there's nothing that dangerous at all. The outside area with a bunch of cacos, hitscan, plasma troopers, and random gargoyles in a techbase is the hardest part, but the AR is nearby so grab that and you're good. Other than that, nothing else really worth noting. Would be a decent starting level.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

 

Honestly, I'm kind of feeling the same way finnks13 did in his conclusion post. The maps have all been fine, and there's none that have been straight up bad, but for the most part there's not a ton of memorable maps that don't just run together. There's something missing in these maps to really get them to stand out to me, and I'm not sure exactly what it is. Maybe I've just been spoiled by all the incredibly detailed WADs of late that can disguise basic combat with Doomcute and awesome looking structures. Maybe it's just a lot of the maps are just similar to their approaches and combat scenarios? The maps I'm remembering the most without looking back at other posts are ones with interesting arenas (like the secret fight in the level with all the crushers), or an unique concept (like map 15's perilous skinny paths with a cyb turret). The harder maps are the ones I enjoyed the most, as they added a nice shot of energy. I think my favorite part of the WAD gameplay-wise is the changes to the arsenal and monsters. The pistol and assault riffle are very nice additions, and I honestly would not mind seeing them implemented in more WADs. The new monsters I can take or leave, but they didn't determent the experience. I think my favorite episode was the Tudor one, surprisingly. I think the maps in that used the textures and new objects like the wildlife very well. It probably had the most maps in it that I really liked. The soundtrack was great, and the tracks all fit with the environments pretty well for the most part. 

 

So overall, I'd give this a 3.5 out of 5. Pretty fun, but a decent amount of maps kind of blended together. There's something missing that I can't pin down, but it's probably just all personal preference. No bad maps at least. The episode themes are nice, the additions were cool, and the soundtrack was great. Probably not in my top 10 WADs of the year, but I can totally see why it got a Cacoward. 

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP30: "False Deity" by Aurelius

UV, pistol start, no saves 

100% kills, 0/0 secrets 

 

And so we've reached the end, in the form of a techbase akin to episode 1's theme. When I first saw this I was kind of hoping for a reprise of all 3 themes or something, but it does nicely as is.  This map eschews an Icon of Sin and instead gives you a boss monster, who you don't actually have to deal damage to yourself. The boss is a large mancubus decked out in metal armour, and he will constantly spray huge barrages of manc fireballs in your direction when he sees you. You will spend much of the level trying to avoid his fire while you make your way to the end, where you pull a switch that zaps him to death.

 

The initial stretch of the level gives you a hallway full of imps and revenants to slaughter, before making your way to the switch room. The switch to fry the mancubus requires all 3 keys to unlock, and you'll be spending the rest of the level obtaining them. The purple key is shortly ahead, and is guarded by an ambush of hell knights and arachnotrons, with one dangerous archvile and 4 not-so-dangerous ones that are stuck in a pit at the back of the room. You also get to see the fire pillars again in this fight, which I totally forgot existed (and fun fact, the game crashes if you IDCLIP into one, found this during my postmortem of the level). Triggering a key switch will close a door in front of the pillar so you can safely pass by it to the portal for the blue key, which pits you in an interesting situation where you must follow a mazy ledge as the cybermancubus bombards you with fireballs. You can avoid damage by carefully manipulating its fire, but it gets more and more difficult to do as you near the end and get closer to it. The fight at the end of this path was the one I had the most trouble with in the level, with my success largely depending on whether the spiderdemons die to my 3 initial BFG blasts (my attempts to kill them with infighting were dodgy at best). If they drop, the rest is still a challenge, but much more doable. After this fight teleport out and be greeted by an army of plasma zombies and more revenants, rocket the plasma zombies fast enough and you should be safe.

 

In my experience the difficulty of this one was pretty weighted towards the initial half, I generally had a much easier time with the latter half of this one. The green key fight looks very intimidating, but honestly tended to go pretty smoothly for me. I BFG'd my way through the imps and archvile to one end of the area, and rocketed/BFG'd the rest of the pit enemies from there. The spiderdemons and cyberdemon are not too bad to take care of from there onward, and the spiderdemons often infight the arachnotrons for you in my experience. The closer quarters fight afterwards with two archies and a cyberdemon was quite annoying though, probably the toughest moment of the back half. The final fight opens up the starting area, as cacos and pain elementals ambush you from the sides, and the cybermancubus sits above a bit of pinkies. BFG the flying enemies at the start, and carefully rocket the archviles. The pinkies can't move out of the central area so they aren't much of a threat and can be taken care of pretty easily. Blast your way back up to the switch room through some archviles and whatever they resurrected, and fry the cybermancubus to end the map.

 

Great closer to the megawad. Suitably challenging and not an Icon of Sin, which is always a plus.

 

Final thoughts: I'll start off with my episode 3 thoughts as I've done blurbs on each episode. This was probably my favourite episode visually of the megawad, although episode 1 is quite close by. I don't think any map in this episode made the 1000 line limitation obvious, and the mappers all did an exemplary job with the limits here, with MAP24 being possibly my favourite looking map in the set. I do think the difficulty curve was a little odd, with the episode sticking out in my mind as actually being quite a bit easier than the previous episode in the initial stretch, before throwing the tough stuff at you in the final two. It's not a huge deal though since I for the most part like to judge the maps in a vacuum, and the easier ones still felt pretty enjoyable and looked great.

 

Overall thoughts on the wad are definitely positive. The versatility of experiences made out of 1000 linedefs and vanilla compatibility limitations is quite remarkable, and really one of those things that makes you realize how great Doom is. There's also quite a lot of identity and uniqueness to each episode on a visual level too, which I appreciated, especially enjoyed the cyberpunk flavours of episode 1 and the lush greens and well-lit caves of episode 3. I liked the plasma zombie and hellscorcher as custom enemies, the gargoyles I'm a bit less positive on. I do think they fit an archetype of a pesky flying enemy with low health, but I don't think it's an archetype I particularly enjoy. 

 

My favourite maps would have to be:

MAP29: Just super fun and slaughtery action, and perhaps also the peak of the megawad in difficulty (tough to pick between this one and MAP32).

MAP11: The episode 1 closer, really liked how the fights in this one demand a little bit of dissection from the player to learn.

MAP20: Very enjoyable map from start to finish, with a hell of a final fight. Also shoutout to that damned arachnotron wall, I hate it as much as I love it.

MAP27: I loved the flow of the layout of this one, just a lot of fun to run and gun around in. Cool and creative encounter near the end with the center archviles too.

MAP18: Another nice run and gun style layout, albeit a bit more closed. The purple key ambush is one of the best fights in the wad.

 

Overall, liked this one a lot! I haven't played the other wads in the trilogy yet but should definitely take a look at them sometime.

[ReaperAA]

MAP30: “False Deity” by Aurelius

HMP, pistol start, no saves

Kills: 233/233, Secrets: 0/0

Deaths on map = 1

Total Deaths = 19

 

We have reached the end. The source of all evil... is a big invincible cyber-mancubus thingy that fires like 8 or 10 mancubus projectiles in a volley. The boss acts more like a stationary turret than an actual boss. But still, compared to the Icon of Sin, this is much more preferable in my eyes.

 

Map30 puts us in a techbase similar to those in Episode 1 (are we are back at Mars now?). Right of the bat, we are given all the goodies and has archvile(s) on a platform and a hallway of imps/revenants, all having their back turned against you. Prioritize the archvile(s) and then take out revs/imps to make it to the central part of the map. Here you will get the BFG and also across 3 colored arrow bars/buttons and a switch alongside. You objective is to obtain the 3 keys to activate the arrow bars. Once you activate all the arrow bars, you can activate the switch which will kill the final boss. Each of the keys will make you go through various traps and arenas.

 

I have to agree with DisgruntledPorcupine that the difficulty of this map is very front loaded. Nothing wrong with that of course. The part where you have to have to walk on the narrow blue path in the void with the boss firing the barrage of mancubus projectiles is the most memorable part of the map and the part where I finally started respecting the boss monster. This part and the fight at the end of the blue path are the hardest part of the map (this fight is where I died). For that fight, focus on first killing the 2 revenants on the right platform (1 archvile on UV) with BFG and then kill the SMMs and pain elementals before killing the rest. After that fight, you are teleported to the starting area of the map with another path that reveals a ton of plasma zombies and revenants. Use rockets liberally to kill them and fill your cell ammo.

 

The quest for the final key takes you to another arena filled with radiation and a variety of different enemies to boot. Though Aurelius provides you a healthy amount of cell ammo to be able to fight them. Don't hesitate to use BFG here. When you get to the green key room, there is an archvile (2 on UV) and a cyberdemon. Kill viles first and then use the pillar as cover and use the BFG tracers to kill the cyberdemon. Once you get the key and get to the starting area, you will have to fight some pain elementals and also have to fight the pinkies + platform archviles around the boss. You can camp at the starting area and kill the pain elementals with BFG and then just carefully and easily dispatch the pinkies/archviles from cover. Once that is done, press the switch hiding behind the boss platform to reopen the switch area and kill the archviles and other remaining forces and then watch as the boss is now completely helpless against you. Press all the arrow bars and the killswitch and then watch as the boss gets fried.

 

Overall, this level was a fantastic way to end the wad on a high note. Bonus points for not using the Icon of Sin. This and Map29 are pretty much tied for my favorite map of this episode.

 

Map rating (from favorite to least favorite for each episode):

Spoiler

Episode 3

Map30

Map29

Map26

Map24

Map27

Map28
Map22

Map21

Map23

Map25

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

 

 

 

I will post my final thoughts in a few moments.

[ReaperAA]

Thoughts on the wad

Before I played the map for the first time, I was a bit sceptical about it because I, like LadyMistDragon, am also not generally a fan of projects with deliberate mapping size/detailing restrictions. That and 1000 Lines 2 (whose few maps I gave a shot last year) also didn't interest me much back then. But the screenshots I saw in the project thread made me a bit curious. Needless to say that after giving the wad a shot, I almost immediately fell in love with it, to a point where I decided to play it again (and UV pistol start most of the maps, except for a select few on HMP) for the DWMegawad Club. I think the big reason I liked the wad is because of the themes. The themes of the first 2 episodes are especially I would love to see explored more (and without vanilla/1000 line restriction).

 

Unlike some people here, I don't mind the difficulty of this wad either. It felt harder than Plutonia as a whole, but not by a huge margin. Kind of around similar difficulty to Eviternity, which is my sweet spot for difficulty (I am not into full slaughter wads). I do have to agree that maps of Episode 3 (other than maps 27, 29 and 30) are overall easier than Episode 2 maps, although still harder than Episode 1 maps. I don't mind this either as I much prefer slight ups-and-downs in difficulty over a constant linear/exponential rise in difficulty. Breather maps are necessary to break the action, which unfortunately some wad authors don't realise.

 

I also love the dehacked changes to the weapons. I love the assault rifle because of its power/accuracy and its ability to stunlock revenants is beauty. The fast weapon switching is also lovely. In fact, I have said this before and I will say this again, more wads should have fast weapon switching. I am not much sold on the Hell Scorchers (although they do somewhat remind me of the Pyro knights from Valiant), but I like the plasma zombies and love those fast little bastards (black gargoyles).  

 

Episode 1 vs 2 vs 3

I really liked all 3 episodes. Episode 3 might be the overall weakest episode, but that is mainly because of the first few maps. The episode picks up around midway point and the ending 2 maps are fantastic (arguably my 2 favorite maps of the wad as of this writing).

 

Between Episode 1 and 2, it is a tough call. Episode 2 has the most consistent quality and has the best of the 3 custom enemies of the wad. All of the maps in Episode 2 are at least pretty good. The tudor theme of OTEX is also something I hadn't seen explored to this extent before (not even in Eviternity). Episode 1 on the other hand has the most variance in quality between maps. But despite the variable quality, I have a soft spot for it because I am huge fan of Cyberpunk aesthetics. So, for me, Episode 1 slightly manages to be on top.

 

Top 3 Mappers of the wad

Aurelius comes at top for me (I am not even counting his dehacked contributions here). All 3 of his maps are fantastic from technical, aesthetical and gameplay point. Map11 in particular makes me question how such a map is even possible in vanilla AND within 1000 lines.

 

I would put Ronnie James Diner at 2nd place. Both of his maps have a really nice sense of adventure and while they are not the most challenging maps, they do have their hairy moments (3 archviles fight on Map07 and the final pinky/hell scorcher fight in Map26).

 

3rd would have to be BridgeBurner. He may have made only one map, but its a masterpiece of a map in my opinion. A rare occasion where I love a slaughtermap.

 

Of course, pretty much all of the contributors have done a great job with their maps, graphics and music contributions. I would like to say congratulations to all of you guys for making the wad. And last, but not the least, thank you to Liberation for leading this fantastic megawad.

 

Final words

All in all, this is easily my 2nd favorite wad of 2021 (after Heartland) and also, as of this date, one of my top 10 favorite wads.

Edited December 31, 2021 by ReaperAA

[Deadwing]

26 - That was a fantastic map! Huge sense of scale and very adventurous! I loved scaling up through the island/mountain/forest and going through the same structure several times but at different heights. I died several times, but it's not a very hard map, IMO, although the monster placement was definitely very efficient. The MIDI was awesome too, very fitting for the map with this more exploratory and calmy instruments (even though it featured really nice guitars!)

 

 

27 - Another great map with a fantastic MIDI! My favorite part was the 2 cyberdemons battle which was surprisingly tough and gave me a lot of deaths haha The limited space + the amount of smaller enemies helped a lot to keep things heated, with some occasional in-fighting actually giving this a bit more challenging. As for the theme, it's a very cool jungle + ruins theme with some freedom to explore. Lots of odd-angled walls, so it was harder for me to locate myself, but I didn't get lost anytime.

 

 

28 - That was a nice change of pace, if I'm not mistaken it's the second map that mixes tech and jungle in this set so far! It's a short and sweet map with a gorgerous MIDI. I really loved that sequencer with the reverb that keeps going through most of the song (which is in 5/4, if i'm not mistaken). The map is also not very hard and the Cyber scare at the end wasn't enough to pull me off from the exit switch :D Really cool open area with nice detailing, some acid walking and switches to find so you can access the exit.

 

 

[Deadwing]

29 - Holy hell! That was intense! I'm not really very used to slaughtermaps, and while I died a lot of times, it wasn't that hard and definitely more on the fun side for me in that kind of map. It had also 506 monsters which isn't much too. The MIDI was also really intense and enhanced the moody of the map. The fights on the dark area were my favorites :D

 

 

[Deadwing]

30 - A great closer to a great WAD, IMO. I had no idea how I would fight that final enemy, but I kept going until I got all the 3 keys and then he was dead haha

Honestly not a bad idea for a final boss which IMO is so hard to come with good and fresh ideas. The core of Doom gameplay is here and the map is really intense, definitely harder than what my skillset can provide haha The blue path was kinda annoying, but a nice change of pace for something some bullet hell. Thankfully the other setpieces were more standard-like.

 

31 - A very relaxing level with only 11 enemies that was still able to get a death from me >.< It's a really great map that focus on atmosphere, with all the darkness and sound effects, allied with this minimal soundtrack that even gives this a hub-like feeling. Thankfully, finding the path for the secret exit wasn't too hard for me, especially when I suck at finding secrets.

 

32 - Holy fuck, that was hard and intense, way too hard and intense for me lmao Definitely the hardest map from the set, where every bit of my poor skillset was challenged and I really did perform poorly. I have no idea what I was meant to do with the final battle, so my strategy at the end was to run at the exit trying to lure the wave of enemies to the wrong side so I could have some space. Definitely a map worth for the slot 32, and while it's definitely not my style, as a one-go thing I think it worked pretty well and it tells me I'm still not ready for slaughtermaps haha

 

 

 

[Deadwing]

Final Thoughts

 

I think that was a really great experience. It's a wad that definitely caught my attention due to the size restriction, since I'm not currently in the mood for mapsets that are way too big, but the themes choosen were also all really cool and very creative. After seeing that it got a Cacoward, and after being selected for the DWM Club, it thought it was my chance to give it a try.

 

Also, usually I don't enjoy much community projects, since they end up being either mixed-bags or just a collection of maps that really lacks a consistent group of ideas. Normally what we get are 32 maps where each one shares a really different style from each author, and as for a "megawad" experience, for me, it can feel distracting. However, neither of them happen here, IMO, as the consistency is great, and the authors were really skilled to make most maps look really good even given the restriction of 1k lines. Also, all the maps were definitely great quality-wise. I might not have enjoyed much one or another, but it's far from being an actual bad map, IMO. 

 

The difficult was 95% in my sweet spot too, which definitely made me enjoy this more. It's definitely harder than plutonia and closer to Eviternity, but even the harder maps are short enough so you don't get too much tired of the intense setpieces. Also, there was a lot of breathing maps, so pacing was really great and I was able to play a set of 2 or 3 maps in a short playthrough time.

 

The 3 new enemies were really refreshing, although I feel there were some potential for their use that IMO are still hidden, so I'd like to see them more in future projects, especially the fire thrower one that could have been used more in setpieces with movement restriction and in a larger quantity. Also, it would have also been cool to see them interacting more with each other. I know this would "kill" one of the design principles for this project, which was to have one new enemy for each theme, but in the other hand, it's a lot of potential that could've been used more often, IMO.

 

The OTEX pack also really helped a lot giving this a refreshing air and each theme was really nice, especially when it started to merge with other sub-themes, such as jungle + tech for the third episode.

 

At last, the MIDI selection was really, really fantastic, with so many sleak tunes and it is definitely part of the 1k lines 3 identity! It's even hard to make any list when I enjoyed literally everything. It was really nice to see the name and author of the MIDI in the map name too! (not sure if it was done before too!)

 

1k lines 3 was a really great and awesome megawad, full of fresh ideas and it is really consistent considering it is a community project. It's an amazing project that was released in a year of really other great stuff, and I'm grateful I was able to play it

Edited January 4, 2022 by Deadwing