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dobu gabu maru

The DWmegawad Club plays: Doom the Way id Did (& Ultimate DTWID!)

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E3M1: Abyssal Stronghold
Interesting map similar to the original E3M1. Complete with using the pistol against the early enemies, including a spectre and cacodemon (even though you can probably avoid them and grab the shotgun first). Even after acquiring the shotgun, I decided to use the pistol against the lost souls and save the shells for later.
I think I managed to do the map without taking any damage, so it classifies as another UV-Max Reality run! Very nice! Meaning that I wasn't missing an armor pick up this time around (the only extra you get are a couple of armor and health bonuses).
Another promising start, let's hope the next maps will be just as good!

 

E3M2: City of Corpses
So far I noticed this map is inspired by various parts of E3, mostly E3M2 and E3M6 (maybe a bit of E3M3 thrown in as well). While the map overall was pretty good, I hate how a particular armor bonus was easily to miss (placed in a toxic blood pool). I had to replay the map 3-4 times, as the first two times I missed an armor bonus and had no idea where it was at that time, thus I ended up with 97% items at end of map, even after backtracking through most of it. While it still classified as an UV-Max run, I felt like I could have gotten 100% everything.
On my third attempt (after watching the YouTube video once again and realizing where that damn armor bonus was), I was successful and got 100% everything, as well as a much better time of 7:30 (compared to the initial 11-12 minutes). But then I decided to go further and try getting a better time, in the end I saved 6 seconds further, with a final time of 7:24. I feel bad that the RNG wasn't as favorable in the beginning as in my two initial runs, meaning instead of finishing all those imps with the shotgun, I had to use the pistol to finish the last few imps before getting more shells.
And then there was that dangerous part with lost souls and cacodemons in that dark room (after the blood pool part with that armor bonus I missed initially) that often caused me a lot of damage, leaving me with around 30-50% health, meaning berserk punching cacodemons was just unreliable for me, especially when the caco's melee attack did a shit ton of damage. Just couldn't consistently punch the cacodemons before taking a hit to the face, forcing me to switch to the shotgun/chaingun to finish them off.
The rest of the map was great, I don't really have anything to complain and I don't want to nitpick just because of that armor bonus missed initially. OK maybe that armor bonus could have been placed in a more visible spot but other than that, I enjoyed this more than E2M2 for instance, as it wasn't as confusing compared to that one. And no, I didn't save the "failed" demos this time around, as it would be pointless, the runs themselves were still successful and not much different from my final run, though thankfully it was the only map I had to replay in this episode. :)
Oh yeah and forgot to mention a detail. This map is featured in the third demo, so you can see parts of the map by just watching the demo in advance and know what to expect.

 

E3M3: Malebolge
Quite a tricky map, especially at start! Now this was the rare case I had to run around monsters and grab the shotgun to kill them, as you get a cacodemon and one or two imps right at start when you open the door. And then once you kill them, grab the chaingun as you have to also kill a BARON OF HELL! Then hopefully have enough ammo for the rest of the map...
Not gonna lie, I ran out of ammo early on (even if you don't miss your shots and use the right weapon) and tried to punch shotgun guys but of course it wasn't a good idea, so I ran away when got to around 50% health and found the room containing berserk (and a spectre), then things just got better, as punching was finally seen as a viable option, at least for the weaker monsters.
Even if you are careful with ammo management, keep in mind this map has you traversing toxic blood constantly, even if it does 5 damage, at least I think it did only 5 damage per second.
Some secrets were tricky to find and had me running in circles just to remember how to access certain ones, such as lowering that blue armor inside another secret.
You get the BFG first time in this map, just like the original DOOM, so you can use it for the bigger threats at the end of the level.
Leaving aside the parts with the forced liquid damage, I think this map was alright overall. Not much to complain about except the ammo being tight in beginning.

 

E3M4: Torture Chambers
And now for the painful map! I definitely remember this crusher at the start! It has gotten me before, on my very first playthrough of DTWID back then in 2012-2013! Since I was using GZDoom at that time, I could have just used crouch to escape, though maybe didn't think at that time or something. At least I haven't died in this map since then...
The original Doom had some crushers in E3M4 as well and this isn't the only crusher present in the map either, though maybe the only slow crusher, I think.
The rest of the map is fairly tricky and I definitely had to watch an YouTube video just to plan my routes. The thing I recommend first is grabbing the green armor near the start, in the left room. You may have to get past a few monsters first. Once you do that, try planning your routes and see where it is logical to go next. I suggest to then go to that room in the right, watch out for those imps and cacos! Then once done, grab the radiation suit behind that pillar, go back up, ignore the baron for now (very important to not waste your ammo!) and just explore the lava parts. Make sure you conserve the radiation suits, they are about 5 or so in the entire map but you don't want to run out of them.
Eventually you should make it through the map. I wish I could get a detailed walkthrough of this map as it's tricky to navigate and some secrets are also tricky to find. In fact, I realized I missed a couple of armor bonuses at the end (as part of one of secret areas), so I had to endure a bit of lava damage when I backtracked. The soulsphere secret at the end helped to negate some of the damage. My demo should "explain" better the walkthrough for this map anyway.
While I didn't enjoy it as much as other DTWID maps so far, I think it was ok overall. I don't really find much to nitpick about, even compared to E2M6 (my least favorite map of the megawad so far). Maybe the map could have been a bit better balanced for the pistol start.

 

E3M5: Chapel of Scorn
While I got a bit unlucky with RNG early on (getting sniped by the first few shotgun guys from far away, leaving me with around 60-70% health), things picked up later on and got in my favor. Once I got to that outside area (that looks a bit like the original Doom E3M2), I had to run around, grab ammo and dodge enemy attacks, as otherwise I wouldn't stand a chance against what was coming over me. I think I did pretty well and definitely got lucky at times, not to mention it felt satisfying to clear that entire room without taking much damage.
Halfway in the map, there is a tricky BFG secret to reach. Once you press a red switch, then you have to be quick to get to that temporary lowered teleporter or else it raises back. This took me a few minutes as I wasn't sure of the exact teleporter location. Once you do that and go through another teleporter, you get to choose between 7 teleporters. Choose the 5th one from left (or 3rd from right) and you will teleport outside with the BFG you may have seen earlier. You are also given two cell packs, so grab them as well!
The later part of the map features the return of the crushers (it won't be the last time you see them!), so be careful when navigating that area! There are a couple ambushes happening, the lost soul ambush between crushers, just stay where you are! You will be safe in the middle. The next room has varying monsters present, so carefully take them out. You may also want that soulsphere secret, which you can find where the radiation suit is placed. Then once done (and be careful of other ambushes!), you have to go back through crushers again, kill the last two barons of hell (if you found the BFG earlier, you can even kill both of them at same time with just a single shot!) and then you can now exit!
Overall, the map was great. Tricky at times, though the balance was spot on and captured the id feeling nicely.

 

E3M6: Depths
Another map with a tricky start! I remembered this map with the barrels exploding at start. On a continuous run, if you have 200% health and around 100% armor from the previous maps, you can probably survive 1-2 barrel explosions (though I never attempted to just sit at beginning and see what happens). On a pistol start, you MUST run as soon as the map begins! After watching the YouTube video in advance and memorized the quick route, I can give the following tip: As soon as you start, turn right and run as fast as you can until you drop down! You should avoid most/all of the damage! I remember on the continuous run 1.5 years ago, even after dropping down in time, I still got a barrel exploding close to me (maybe it exploded while falling down near me?). Here, I was lucky enough to get unharmed because after that you have to deal with the beginning ambush! I recommend rushing into a dark corner and killing monsters from there, you should be fine.
I still don't know what's with the barrels at beginning, it doesn't feel as the map could have been part of the original Doom, no the DOOM 2 MAP23: Barrels of Fun doesn't really count here because it was done differently.
The rest of the map, isn't too bad. You will have to get through crushers to get access to the secret exit. Oh sorry, I meant making it through the crushers to collect the blue skull key that allows access to the SECRET EXIT!
I recommend just watching my demo to see the exact steps to follow, as there is a lot to explain (like with E3M4). Basically you need to find secrets to help you, they are plentiful and some are required to access the secret exit in first place, which also counts as another secret. Not to mention the various goodies (soulsphere, blue armor, etc). And of course the radiation suit secret, that allows navigating through that poisoned crushers area! I don't remember being able to softlock yourself from getting to the secret exit (unlike E2M5), so just follow the exact steps from Doomwiki and you should be fine.
As for the rest of the map, I think it was fine. But once again, much like E2M6 and E3M4, they were my least favorite maps in the megawad so far, for feeling too "experimental" and not very id-like. Even then, I recommend going through the effort to access the secret level because it is one of the best E3 maps, you will see why.

 

E3M9: Lake of Fire
As with the rest secret maps in DTWID, this map is better than the original E3M9. The original E3M9 wasn't actually too bad, it was an interesting take on E3M1 with some surprises towards end as soon as you reach the supposed exit and find out things are different than before!
This map on the other hand, feels very similar to original DOOM E3M6. It wasn't a copy of DTWID E3M1 with different areas at end this time around.
The only things I can nitpick are the rather scarce ammo at times. At the beginning it looks like a "hot start", you are attacked from multiple directions while all you have is your shitty pistol. You have to work a bit for that shotgun (either dropped by a sergeant or somehow grabbing that one in middle of next room). I recommend creating a bit of monster infighting and also grabbing that GREEN ARMOR as soon as possible! Obviously this isn't an issue on a continuous run but now since I activated Pistol Start Mode, I might as well give some advice how to survive some maps from a pistol start...
Once you clear the rooms and finally grab the shotgun (then the chaingun, etc), you can advance with the map. There are a couple secrets that require you going through lava, so you might want to save them for later when you get the radiation suit, for example it's not worth getting that computer area map secret in that hole above toxic blood pool (which also does 20 dmg!) early on, it's better to save your health and armor for later!
I ran short on ammo at various points, it wasn't until I found the berserk, chainsaw and THEN the plasma secret that guaranteed victory for the rest of the map! Oh yeah and there's a few crushers you have to be careful with, once again! There is a room in middle of those crushers that contained the berserk and 3 demons to punch (also 3 armor bonuses), so you might want to visit that room as well to help with ammo conservation!
While there are two blue armors present in the map, they both require traversing through the lava and you are better off just saving that radiation suit and grab them at the end. Why? Because I don't recommend going through that long lava corridor to get that blue armor secret without radiation suit! Just don't try it!


Oh and I almost forgot! Two pillars didn't lower at all, both in the current PrBoom+ Pistol Start playthrough and on the continuous Chocolate Doom playthrough I did back in 2020-2021. You can see the screenshot here at Doomwiki, I'm talking about these two pillars: https://doomwiki.org/wiki/File:DTWID_E3M9_2.png
I know they contain inside two lost souls (which thankfully don't count as kills but still I wish I could access them). I did a small experiment:

In ZDoom 2.8.1, I warped to the map, used various console commands (such as FREEZE) to get to this faster without worrying about monsters and upon pressing that switch, the pillars lowered! But how come on vanilla compatible ports such as Chocolate Doom and PrBoom+, these two pillars never lower? Can anyone explain what's happening here?
The rest of the map was fine, I guess. Could have used a bit more ammo (or given the shotgun slightly earlier). Certainly one of highlights of the episode!

 

E3M7: Inner Sanctum
Another interesting map, this one seems a bit unique compared to the usual E3 maps. The beginning part had me running in circles once I reached the the large area filled with toxic blood, until I gathered enough resources to kill the enemies, as I would often have to avoid running into them. I also ended up saving the blue armor for the end, as I thought the green armor was enough to survive, especially since you are given two green armors and two soulspheres. The secrets are a bit tricky to find (there is also a BFG secret that you only get by pressing a hidden switch near exit) and there is an apparent Dopefish Easter Egg that I don't know if I noticed so far, I only saw the Doomwiki mentioning it before and didn't take my time to find the exact location. It's an interesting detail I thought I'd mention, as I find it funny that the original Doom (and even Wolfenstein 3D, I think) didn't feature a Dopefish Easter Egg anywhere, especially compared to later id games, for example Quake 1, 2 and 3 all featured a Dopefish Easter Egg somewhere (and also other games at that time usually had a reference to Dopefish, it didn't have to be strictly an id software game to have a Dopefish reference).


The funny thing is that I didn't get the rocket launcher (it was hidden in a corner in the toxic blood, easily missed and only noticed where it was, after I rewatched the YouTube video), making me believe during recording, that rocket launcher wasn't present in the map at all, despite the fact there was ammo for it and when looking at the HUD, seeing I didn't find the RL but instead I found both Plasma and BFG, something told me I was missing something.
But despite that unfortunate RL miss (and can't be bothered to record another demo, especially since run was overall successful), I still got everything 100%.
Also another detail about the demo I recorded, you may see me sometimes (especially at end, when I was pretty much done with the map and backtracking) punching the air for no reason. Sometimes I do that for 3 seconds (if well timed), just to see DoomGuy's annoyed face on the HUD for a split-second when this happens, usually in vanilla ports. I find this amusing.
Anyway, the map overall was fun and surprisingly, wasn't as difficult as I thought it will be. Though I will say that I wasn't that good at punching demons in general (at least in vanilla ports), so I don't always take advantage of the berserk or see me poorly timing the fist. Considering how close you have to be to the demons for the attack to connect. This isn't a problem in ZDoom based ports where I can punch monsters reliably, even certain Doom 2 monsters!
Now let's go for the final map of the megawad!

 

E3M8: Core
Another interesting take on the boss map, this time on the Spider Mastermind boss battle! It was certainly unique and far more interesting than the original DOOM E3M8. Now I admit I didn't like much the original level, especially since its design was somewhat simple and rather difficult on a pistol start (which was apparently intended, as otherwise on a continuous run, the Spider was easy to take down with 2 BFG blasts) but this one gives you enough supplies to make it through. Granted, you have to be careful with the crushers to access those essential supplies (berserk, blue armor, invisibility, soulsphere) in four different parts and then once you grab those supplies, when the crusher is coming down, stay on the red platform (though note it does 5 damage if you stand on it) and during that time when elevator is rising, be careful with the barons and spider firing at you! I was lucky the barons rarely fired and they would sometimes concentrate on the spider, though I recommend getting rid of the barons first anyway, while also paying attention to the spider. With invisibility and extra health/armor, the boss is a joke (especially when compared to that Cyber in the previous episode, with his 1-hit kill rockets). When the boss is covered, switch to another side and continue blasting her with the Plasma! And then the victory is yours!
It was certainly fun and a great finale!

 

Deaths so far: 1 (E2M8)

 

E3 Times:

E3M1: 5:09
E3M2: 7:24
E3M3: 15:18
E3M4: 13:18
E3M5: 16:50
E3M6: 16:25
E3M9: 18:48
E3M7: 14:47
E3M8: 2:17

 

E3 Thoughts: Not bad! It can be seen as both as an improvement to E2 and also a slight downgrade compared to some of the E2's best maps! I think the episode overall was good and more memorable than at least half of E2 and much like with DTWID E2, some maps in DTWID E3 were a massive improvement over some of the originals. I mean like I said earlier, I didn't like certain maps in the original Doom episodes 2 and 3, especially when experiencing them for the first time back in late 2000s or so, during which I was already getting familiarized with various community megawads created for Doom 2 over the years, that were played on various Skulltag servers at that time in 2009-2010 (good times!).


So obviously after playing some of those Doom 2 megawads on various Skulltag servers, I found it disappointing when I finally got to play through Doom E2 and E3, again on some Skulltag servers, I found the maps just painfully confusing to navigate (not to mention E4 overall was just frustrating, though tolerable with being able to respawn upon death) and didn't invoke the same feelings that E1 did to me back in the late 90s, but anyway I'm getting off-topic now, so let's just say the level design in the registered/ultimate Doom didn't impress me much at that time. I know the comparison is unfair and wish I had registered/ultimate Doom as a kid but what's done is done. I am happy that nowadays I own all classic Doom games physically (as part of the book of id package I got back in late 2015 from eBay, yes the included version of Final Doom is the rare patched one), and gave Ultimate Doom a fairer chance in the last couple of years! It still didn't change my overall opinion but at least it made me appreciate more Ultimate Doom megawads and their level design overall.

 

Conclusion: Even if I didn't plan to revisit DTWID any time soon, I still had a blast with it! Some maps may not have been that great to me (E2M6, E3M4, E3M6) but I think DTWID so far succeeded at what it set to do. I realize the maps aren't meant to remake the original maps in their slots (especially when compared to something like The Ultimate NMD and Wonderful Doom), rather they were meant as what if these maps were released as the 10th map in the respective episode. I'm sorry if I didn't specify that before and ended up comparing the maps to the originals like most people did.


But despite most maps being really damn good, I also enjoyed all the extras thrown in! I am talking about the brand new intermission screens, the title pic and the credits screen, the new ENDOOM screen, the new demos recorded, the new DEH patch (for Chocolate Doom), etc. I feel like all these extras add to the megawad and make it its own identity. In general I prefer when a megawad replaces as many resources as possible, I mean in terms of the title pic, new demos recorded, possibly new status bar and new font (though these last two aren't necessary), etc. All these various changes make the megawad feel like its own Doom game, as if it was created and released by id software themselves. I know this tradition dates back around time the megawads started getting created in 1995 or so. It's always nice when I download a megawad, load it and watch new intro demos instead of no new demos playing and DoomGuy running into walls shooting randomly and dying. Obviously talking about vanilla/boom compatible megawads in general.


And on top of that, DTWID didn't disappoint as being an Alternate Universe Doom and feeling like an expansion pack released back in mid/late 90s. The levels aren't as polished as more recent community releases but despite that, DTWID succeeded at what it set out to do, as I mentioned above. I only wish that when UDTWID released a few years ago, it was merged with DTWID to have a full 4-episode replacement for Ultimate Doom, instead of having to load the wads separately.
And to end my note for now, before later today I begin UDTWID pistol starts without saves, I will say that I hope one day, DTWID gets more recognized by a wider audience. As in getting added as an official addon for Unity ports. Like I said before, I don't own Doom digitally, so I don't have access to the Unity ports, meaning there is no benefit for me if DTWID was officialized (and I generally prefer using source ports for community content anyway) but those people who own the unity Doom port on their console or even the PC, on Bethesda.net/Steam, they can benefit from having these 3 episodes (4 if they include UDTWID as well) as an official addon.


I now understand some of the authors may be missing and there may be other factors involved with DTWID not becoming an official addon but someone mentioned a while ago in a different topic, that if there are some legal problems involved with certain mappers not being present to sign the contract, why not replace those particular maps with some from active mappers' contributions from DTWID: Lost Episodes? Or something like that? Would probably be better discussing that in its own topic, as I don't like getting off-topic.

 

To not make it longer, I will see with UDTWID E4 maps later today and tomorrow, if I will be successful in completing each map from pistol start without saves or I have to give up on a few harder maps. Then I will give my overall thoughts for UDTWID E4 (not sure if also a recap for DTWID, to not repeat myself), plus voting for next month.

DTWID_Demos_E3.zip

Edited by FistMarine

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Since we are close to begin the Ultimate Doom the way id did playthrough, that I've already carried out to completion, I will only point out that the info text file says that the necessary liberty was taken to provide a proper challenge to contemporary players, and a consistent difficulty throughout the episode. 

 

Since most of you are likely to play Pistol start & with no saves, this will probably be a respectable challenge if going in blind on UV. I played continuous, with saves when I felt necessary, and I kept -fast on, a choice that I regretted on a couple of maps because it made my life miserable.

 

This is just a warning not to assume they kept the difficulty on the same level as Thy Flesh Consumed... Of course, everybody is grown up and capable of tuning the game as he/she feels appropriate.

Edited by Book Lord

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15 minutes ago, Book Lord said:

This is just a warning not to assume they kept the difficulty on the same level as Thy Flesh Consumed... Of course, everybody is grown up and capable of tuning the game as he/she feels appropriate.

 

True every word... Seems my expectations were on the naive side :D

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E3M7 - Inner Sanctum by ellmo:
A bit of a let down here I think, I remember finding this map incredibly frustrating to navigate and play from my first playthrough, but I don't know what I was thinking to be honest - the map is pretty easy to get around, and pretty easy in general. The start, as it opens up into this "what if Mt. Erebus but cave" section, is best handled by picking up the rad-suit and then running around all the blood picking up all of the supplies. Since there's not many high-tier enemies in this map at all, the shotgun being basically the only weapon you have (there is a rocket launcher too, but very little ammo for it, so I just saved it for cacos) wasn't a slog like it normally is, however this exposed a bigger problem.

 

This map doesn't really feel like a penultimate map, it's not that hard at all, the cell weapons are really hidden and the map has barely any cacodemons or barons in at all. This made the map feel like it'd fit much better in an early E3 slot. While Inferno itself went for an atmospheric penultimate map, the overwhelming opinion (as far as I can tell) of Limbo is that it's not very good so I think a more hectic map wouldn't have been particularly out of place here. I don't have much else to say about this map, it's not boring and certainly a better penultimate level than Limbo, but this could have been so much more.

 

E3M8 - Core by Processing Control:
Much like Doom itself, this megawad ends on pretty much the worst note possible. There's not much to say here - the map looks pretty cool at the beginning, but after you teleport into the middle, it reveals itself to be pretty ugly. After killing the barons, you're left waiting for walls to lower so you can then hope that auto-aim co-operates to let you hit the spiderdemon with enough plasma to kill it quickly. This map seems to have been designed to perfectly counter all the problems that people tend to have with Dis - make the Spiderdemon out of the way so it can't be killed by continuous players with a BFG easily and is not very likely to infight, and remove a lot of cover so it can be a threat.

 

In theory this is a good idea, in practice, I think this is a worse final level than Dis, and I don't say that lightly because Dis is not a good level. This map is easier than Dis because there is far more health around, and while there isn't much solid cover, you can generally run into a corner to make the spider's autoaim miss you every time. This map is incredibly tedious because when a wall raises to stop you from shooting the spiderdemon, there's often not enough time to run to the other side of the arena and bait the spiderdemon into a position where you can hit it before those walls raise too! I was left waiting for walls to lower because I was incredibly well equipped and moving made the fight more tedious. I know boss arena levels are hard to make, especially ones with a spiderdemon in, but this map feels rushed and is worse than the map it replaces.

 

Overall Thoughts on Episode 3:

In spite of my negativity in this post, I really liked episode 3. I think it's pretty inconsistent with 3 of my favourite maps in the entire wad, and also 2 of my least favourite, but I prefer that to the consistent but boring Episode 1. The maps that tended to do well here, were the ones that emulated Mt. Erebus' sandboxy style as that's my favourite map in Doom (if we're ignoring Thy Flesh Consumed), and they tended to go for the same aspects that I like about it. The main complaint I have about this episode is that the map ordering is bizarre. It seems that the music order informed the map placement more than anything else here, because you have maps like E3M3 which give out almost every weapon on the main route and were a decent challenge which set similar expectations for the later maps, but the later maps were easier and had less powerful weapons contained within. 

 

Overall Thoughts on Doom the Way id Did:

This wad is quite interesting to talk about, because as esselfortium has said in the first page of this thread, because there wasn't a very intensive study of each mapper's quirks and tendancies for their maps, the maps here are less imitations of Romero, Hall and Petersen's works but more inspired by the themes they set out and memories people have of them. I think that if you look at the wad under this light, being a throwback episode inspired by Doom, I think it's a huge success. Sure there's maps I don't like, but that's accurate to the original - overall, I definitely think I had more fun playing through this than I would have playing through Doom for the 100th time.

 

I think the Romero-inspired maps were closer to his style than the others were to theirs, but I think that comes down to familiarity with Knee Deep in the Dead, and the fact that Romero's levels are very consistent in Doom, whereas Hall and Petersen's maps have a much less set style, being far more experimental, and I'm not surprised that this was much harder to do well. I think the boss levels were a bit of a let down overall, but I don't know how I'd personally make better ones because the concept of "make a fight against a single cyberdemon, both not very difficult and interesting" seems basically impossible to me.

 

I had a good time here, and I'm glad I played it again as this was the first PWAD I played and it was fun to revisit it.

 

My 5 favourite maps were (in order):

1. E3M9 - Lake of Fire by Lutz

2. E3M6 - Depths by Phobus

3. E1M6 - Reactor Complex by hobomaster22

4. E3M2 - City of Corpses by Walter confetti, ellmo

5. E2M9 - Nebulous Origins by iori

 

Overall Rankings:

Spoiler

Really Liked - E1M6, E2M9, E3M2, E3M6, E3M9
Liked - E1M3, E1M9, E1M7, E2M3, E2M4, E2M5, E3M1, E3M3
The Boring Zone - E1M1, E1M2, E1M4, E2M1, E2M6, E2M8, E3M4, E3M7
Didn't Like - E1M5, E1M8
Really Didn't Like - E2M2, E2M7, E3M5, E3M8

 

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3 hours ago, Book Lord said:

Since we are close to begin the Ultimate Doom the way id did playthrough, that I've already carried out to completion, I will only point out that the info text file says that the necessary liberty was taken to provide a proper challenge to contemporary players, and a consistent difficulty throughout the episode. 

 

Since most of you are likely to play Pistol start & with no saves, this will probably be a respectable challenge if going in blind on UV. I played continuous, with saves when I felt necessary, and I kept -fast on, a choice that I regretted on a couple of maps because it made my life miserable.

 

This is just a warning not to assume they kept the difficulty on the same level as Thy Flesh Consumed... Of course, everybody is grown up and capable of tuning the game as he/she feels appropriate.


I was about to come here and boast that nah, it’s not difficult, maybe on par with TFC but not harder. Then I thought I’d play one level (I’m a few maps ahead of schedule), and… yeah… umm… Difficulty spikes hammered right through my palms. But more on that later this week.

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E3M7: Inner Sanctum
DOOM Retro, UV, Continuous w/saves, return of the PowerA Wireless GameCube Controller (Kyoko)
 

I love the concept of this map, and the name suits it well. It's all about breaking into an inner sanctum to collect two keycards to open up the exit. I'm personally not super fond of this being an all indoors map, an issue I had with Ore Processing, the penultimate map of the previous episode, but it's not a mark against the map itself. This is also another more open and round level, similar to Lake of Fire, so there's plenty of room throughout the exterior of the sanctum. Unlike Lake of Fire though, it doesn't feel like you're being constantly barraged with enemies. It feels a bit easier as a result. Compared to the other 2 penultimate maps, this one feels easier than E1's, but a bit more challenging than E2's. E1 had some nasty monster closets that actually caused my first death of the run. E2's was just kind of dull. This one had plenty of action packed moments, but when it comes to the exterior, it could have had more enemies pelting away at me. I also like how the interior starts opening up when you collect a keycard. It's a nice touch that makes navigation a bit easier. Also, it's always nice to see a reference to a certain fishy friend.
 

E3M8: Core

Talk about an epic set piece; a giant pentagram with the Spider Mastermind smack dab in the middle being guarded by moving walls and 5 Barons. It looks great. I can't say it plays very well though. The Barons were easy to deal with, the walls were annoying and only served to get in the way of shooting the Spider Mastermind. I get that's the point, but it doesn't make for an engaging fight in my opinion. None of this makes the Spider Mastermind any harder to deal with because it's ultimately still a pretty easy fight, just with more waiting. I liked the map's design more than I enjoyed playing it.
 

E3 was always one of my favorite gaming conventions to watch episodes in classic DOOM (even though Unholy Cathedral exists). Peterson was allowed to go absolutely nuts and created some of the most interesting levels in the game (except Unholy Cathedral). I think that this was a fine tribute overall to the surreal level designs of classic E3. Even the weakest levels were still better than Unholy Cathedral (did I mention that I don't like Unholy Cathedral?)

As a whole, I'll always look at DtWiD with rose tinted glasses, as it was the first megawad that I remember playing. I love projects like these, ones that are all about vanilla-esque throwback levels. Liberties have been taken here and there, and that's perfectly fine, because in general, it all feels pretty authentic.

And now we move onto E4. Now's where the real pain begins.

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(I'll be keeping it short today; I need to get the bit about the Ultimate midi pack for the community original soundtrack project done.

 

E3M9: Lake of Fire

 

Christopher Lutz has never made anything less than a large and complex map since at least 2005 or so. Don't expect anything half-baked entry for the E1M9 slot here! This one takes the basic Mt. Erebus concept from OG Doom and adds a greater degree of complexity and bullet hell pressure that can quite the challenge on pistol start. I didn't this time, but I've played this map twice so I know all too well the chance of Cacodemons burning you to death with their horrifically scalding electric fireballs. The amount of detail packed in everywhere is just incredibly impressive, enough to greatly muffle the id factor.. Unfortunately, I still didn't get the secret Supercharge that taunts you at one beach, but I was really rushing this one. I don't think this feels like a secret map, but that's fine.

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: C+ (if you're pistol-starting

 

E3M7: Inner Sanctum

 

Have I ever told you how much I can't stand "Waltz of the Demons?" Of course I haven't because I had no reason to bring it up, but it feels so profoundly out-of-sync with the action on screen I groan every time I start to hear it. Good thing I was listening to the utterly spectacular replacement from the Ultimate midi pack here. It's a better fit for "Gate to Limbo", clearly, but yeah, "Waltz.." is just "Enough already!"

 

So anyway, this is sort of an indoor map with large vines everywhere and surrounding the outside region of boiling blood. Still kind of a sleepy map, but at the same time, it's a completely unique take on hell that I'm most certainly here for. Ration your radsuits carefully though, things can get somewhat tricky.

 

Grade: B

Difficulty: C-

 

E3M8: Core

 

This map sucks. That is all.

 

Ok, let's elaborate. The basic concept is incredibly well staged. There is a star-shaped platform. There are Barons of Hell. And another platform on the outside of this goes down in large spaces where there are valuable rockets and other supplies. Then a Spider Mastermind sits right in the middle of all of this, the places where you can see here constantly changing, due to the constantly shifting red-brick cube surrounding her like some kind of demented Rubix cube.

 

Needless to say, I can't stand it. Running to the outside to get supplies, getting squashed, finding only 1 Supercharge, then firing plasma at the Mastermind and hoping you can move out of the way quickly enough is intrisically so aggravating and annoying, I want to scream. Respect, this isn't terribly difficult, but isn't exactly fun.

 

Grade: D+

Grade: C-

 

Do I have E3 thoughts? IT'S THE BEST. I've always loved the red-brick aesthetic of hell and anything that expands on it will never fail to impress me. The idness is minimal, on the whole, but you gotta tell yourself what Sandy's style was beyond tasteless texture choices. *badumtiss

 

 

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monday, time to catch up.

 

E3M5 - Chapel of Scorn :

Two doors, one locked by the yellow key I see right after the other door. Some stairs must be climbed, and I now see the exit as well. A room with lava and a view of outside and then I'm at the first room again, a switch raises a passage and imps teleport. Cross, switch, outside where the skulls fly on fire. A bit of exploration and I find a chapel, maybe the titular one. It's doors won't open so I go the other way to a cave I saw, and press the switch there. Despite the outside look it's nothing like a chapel inside, as such my catholic raised conscience doesn't feel so bad about killing everything inside of it as I try and find the way to the red key in the room with the spinning pillars of flesh. Armed with my red key I press the switch, opening the other door. A bridge atop the lava leads to another switch, creating some steps to climb to a teleporter, but before.. As expected! A secret in the lava. And now, 'port. Yellow key! Caco! Shotgun. A closed door and I think I see something in the blood.. I did indeed! Another secret. Open the door, kill the pinkies, press the switch, enter the other door. Go down, navigate tunnels, find a BFG outside, and a switch to open up the path to another switch, elevator up, a couple of imps show up to tell me I'm on the right path, I reached the blue door, but no blue key yet. Forward! A blusphere taunts me, and crushers crush and skulls fly and I cross the corridor, slowly and reach outside. I jump into the blood, grab the rad suit and find the entry to the secret soulsphere, go back, press switch, kill caco, find secret teleport to rockets, grab blue key. Lots of monsters pop up, I kill them all. A wall of imps waits for me after the crusher corridor and I spit some rockets at them, and now I'm at the exit. All dead but 3 secrets to go. One of them has to be the outside BFG.. The switch on the wall, it sounds as if it lowers something else... Ah ah! found it. Now to reach it on time..Done. Hum. A room full of teleports... There's one that is different.. I jump into it, a corridor with another port. Jump, outside, another port. jump, a door and I'm outside in the water with the BFG! Oh yes! Two more secrets to go.. And then I fell on the lava secret and there goes the rest of my blusphere health. a different wall hides the automap and now.. One secret left, but I see it! Done, move to the exit and, done.

 

K/I/S : 100%, 100%, 100%

time : 27:15 / 1:54:25

deaths : 0 / 3

 

E3M6 - Depths :

Barrels and vines, I can't do much here.. Ah, secret berserker to regain the life lost from the barrels and then it's jump down time. Big empty room until I try to grab the shotgun, opening the walls. Now.. Up, down or door? Hum.. Up. The blue key, just out of reach and walls that go down once more. Another door here.. I'll go through it. Rocket the caco, shotgun the imps. And now, poison and a crusher on the path to the blue key. and I die. There has to be another way, so this time I go down. A mount with the RL, more stairs down but before, a wall that opens, so I rush into it. Automap! Nice. Red key to the left.. I'll go there first. And I die to the baron. Not my day today. Third time is the charm? This time I go straight for the red key and plasma the damned baron to death, and I find the secret armor! So I save. and only after that do I go and get the automap, but end up finding the secret invis first. From there, map, and the red door room. From there, the secret bluesphere, and with that done, save again and up the stairs in the red door room, and it's the blue key after the crushers again.. But first, there's something on the other side... I'm sure I can jump this. I knew it, it had to be a rad suit. Cross the sludge+crushers, plasma the shit out of everyone, secret blue armor, blue door and secret exit! But.. I still have enemies and one secret to find, so.. Back we go! Red door time, now. A small cave, the final secret, the yellow key, teleport! And two barons at close range. Nice... BFG them. Back to the start, up the stairs, yellow door, another baron, enemies done. Back to the secret exit. 

 

K/I/S : 100%, 100%, 100% 

time : 13:35 / 1:49:00

deaths : 3 / 6 

 

E3M9 - Lake of Fire :

 It's like a small town surrounded by a lake of fire! As I like to do in such levels, first I walk around killing everything else that moves, finding the rocket launcher on the way and eventually enter a vine covered house with two tentacular pillars and a switch. Next the door to the big wooden building opens and I enter. First the right side, now the left. A caco in a cage, a imp in a meat closet and now I have the blue key so now, blue door. clear the floor, up some steps, crushers. And then outside and there's a rad suit in the middle of the lava.. I grab a hold of it and use it to hunt for secrets. Back to the blue building, up some new stairs, grab the secret plasma, cross the lava chasm, open door, red brick room, switch, bridge, yellow key. Now, a secret on the lava..But I'm not that well of health.. A blue armor? A run through a lava corridor and back for a blue armor? I go back, and find the way to the soulsphere. And now I'm at the exit but there's 2 enemies and 1 secret to go...

After the blue door I find the 2 monsters left and now.. Oh. On the caco cage, of course. But it takes me way too much life, this level has some very evil and not fun at all secrets. You are supposed to be rewarded for the secrets not pay for them. 

 

K/I/S : 100% , 98% , 100%

time : 21:31 / 2:10:32

deaths : 0 / 6

 

E3M7 - Inner Sanctum :

 Nice starting room! Seeing both keys from the starting room is a cool idea. And a BFG, just as a warning that this won't be easy. A watery room leads to a big cave and I walk around it for a while killing all that moves, and then I enter a building which leads me to the red key. Going back I find one secret stash of bonus and potions, and then I press an eye to open a strange altar to a blue armor. Red bars to stock up on ammo, red door. Down, switch, blue key. Another switch.. Oh secret automap! Now.. I grab the rad suit and go for a run on the lava. Found a hole in the ground, a soulsphere, and some more goodies. A couple lost souls after, blue door. A baron, the exit. I'm 2 secrets and 4 enemies short of 100% so, back a bit. Switch, bridge, BFG! Now. One more secret, all enemies dead. It's a soulsphere..  Oh, each side of central teleport takes me to different places! Including a non-secret location with what appears to be a fish face? And the final side takes me to the soulsphere, f5ck yeah.

 

K/I/S : 100%, 95%, 100%

time : 21:15 / 2:31:47

deaths : 0 / 6

 

E3M8 - Core :

1 enemy, no secrets.. I grab the BFG, jump down. Big star-shaped room crushes the air, but as soon as I step forward I'm 'ported. And then a SMM. Couple BFG shots, couple rockets, done. Kinda anti-climatic. 

K/I/S : 100% / ?? / 100%

time : some 5 minutes? Less?

deaths : 0 / 6

 

End of the episode and end of today's maps for me. M6 was evil but M9 was worse and M8 was kinda meh. Not my favorite episode so far. Let's see how E4 behaves, starting tomorrow.

Edited by kalaeth

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E2M1: Receiving Station by Xaser Acheron

 

A good looking short map with several damaging sectors. Almost too good looking for "the way id did" standards :) I found this also to be the hardest map to date (in retrospective: also the hardest map of the episode), particularly due to the pinky trap at the blue key, supported by shotgunners and of course damaging blood (or fire?). As the maps in E1 were generally easier than the original this jump in difficulty was notable. With respect to the visual style I was almost more reminded by Plutonia than Doom E2 - but it makes also perfect sense what Xaser wrote that he had also Romero in mind. There was some cell ammo but I never found a plasma rifle - checking the wiki I saw it's present only in multiplayer. Overall, I had fun.

 

8,5/10

 

E2M2: Filtration Compound by Sarah Mancuso and Xaser Acheron

 

Very much in the vein of the original E2M2, this is an extensive interconnected complex, with several obstacles to overcome to progress. The map relies particularly on damaging floors which are sometimes mandatory. The main difference to the original E2 episode staple is that techbase elements are very limited, so it feels almost like an E3 level, with some similarities to E3M3 in particular. The monster density is low, but there is no infinite ammo nor health (at least if you don't find the secrets) so the gameplay style becomes survival-oriented. Nevertheless it is much easier than E2M1, I died only at the crusher trap in one of the last secrets. I really enjoy this kind of "reimagining" of the E2 style the map employs, and I think this could have been perfectly a Petersen/Hall collaboration. Props for the rocket/plasma choice which seemed to be the main "modern" element.

 

9/10

 

E2M3: Rec Facility by Captain Toenail

 

Another good-looking map, this time with plenty of green vines and some stylistic similarities with "Refinery", it also hosts an homage to one of E2M2's deep corridors. It is relatively easy, maybe even easier than E2M2, although I scored two deaths trying to play the start pacifist, with the shotgunners hidden in corners backed by imps being pretty dangerous without armor. The highlight of the map are the secret hunts. I didn't find the secret to the tunnel with the bonuses legitimately, only with the help of IDDT and some logic deduction.

 

7/10

 

E2M4: Mental Ward by Jacob Zuchowski

 

I don't see many similiarities to OG Doom E2M4 here. The texturing and of course, the music helps to connect both maps, but the layout is totally different, which is of course not bad at all. The combat is very light here, also much lighter than in "Deimos Lab", perhaps with the exception of the cacodemon ambush near the megaarmor/red key. But the map's main attraction is exploration, and it does this really well. One of my favourites so far. The soulsphere/RL secret combo may be one of the most difficult puzzles up to this moment in the wad if you don't stumble upon it by coincidence. I needed a hint for it.

 

9/10

 

E2M5: Deimos Command by Mike Alfredson (Use3D)

 

For the first time we get an evil "you had one chance" secret here, the Berserk/ammo cache with a door closing if you go through a specific other door. I obviously went through the wrong door and closed the secret exit forever in my first attempt. Also for the first time we see a flat maze of these which are almost a no-go in modern wadsets, but were pretty common in OG doom (in E1 of DTWID, I've completely missed them). Otherwise, the map is pretty standard E2, textures ranging between temple, wood, vines and techbase, with a big amount of damaging floors. The combat was pretty good in this one, with several scenarios which deliver some threat if you don't stay aware. The main danger are still shotgunners, but we see some larger imp groups backed by cacodemons or barons. The map is linear but not completely: after the yellow key the map opens up and you have several paths to blue key. Liked it, but for me it was not as outstanding as E2M2 and E2M4.

 

7,5/10

 

E2M6: Foundry by Gus Knezevich (Alfonzo)

 

Relatively short, but nevertheless interesting level full of gimmicks. I don't know if I had sawed barons in OG Doom :) A nice touch were also the disappearing pinkies, it seems they can be killed via a switch accessible only via a blue door where you have to cross (a little bit of) damaging lava. The zombie invasion at the end was also funny. The map is a bit "off" from the rest of the set, it feels less as a Doom1 level but more a bit like a lost predecessor of Barrels O' Fun. Maybe this one should have been E2M9. Visually it's again very close to the original E2, although I think these bonuses at the start below the metal structures look a little bit more modern. I enjoyed it, a short fun romp.

 

8,5/10

 

E2M7: Ore Processing by Brendt Pantley (Megalyth)

 

This is maybe the map of this episode which is most similar to the atmosphere and layout of the original E2, I felt similarities above all to "Command Center" (E2M5) - it is interesting however that the author, according to Doom wiki, had the style of John Romero in mind. An excellent adventure map marked even more than E2M2 by mandatory damaging floors. While the start has some "Spawning Vats" vibes, the map gives first mainly a linear path to follow, but then gradually opens up letting you more freely explore it, at the end almost without having to cross the blood or toxic floors. Generally, damaging floors and puzzles aside, it's again an easy map. After having suffered several "good at doom" moments which brought my health down to single digits, I recovered and almost made it through deathless, but I became too confident and was cornered by two pinkies in the yellow key fight (the last fight of any importance, a decent infighting spectacle by the way) and died miserably :) (Fortunately I had saved.) Great map, one of my favourites so far.

 

9,5/10

 

E2M8: Vault by Michael Fraize (Marcaek) and Sarah Mancuso

 

This is one of the boss maps which are difficult to do right "from a modern perspective". But I think this time the mappers succeeded. Instead of spicing the battle up with two or more cyberdemons, which would have droven it away from the difficulty levels "the way id did", they stuck to the original cybie-lost soul combination but made the short battle a bit more interesting, allowing the boss to teleport around, without exaggerating (i.e. going into the direction of Hell Revealed's MAP18). Lol at the multilayered tower. Some fodder enemies where also present, but they didn't constitute any threat.

 

7,5/10

 

E2M9: Nebulous Origins by Trevor Primmett

 

Again, a sprawling map with a lot of different sections with techbase and wood sections and plenty of damaging floors, but interconnection this time is more limited and the progression felt relatively linear, although you have many optional areas and side paths to explore. The most interesting element regarding combat is the addition of Lost Souls to several fights, which made them more unpredictable - bonus point for that. Again I went down to single digits health in some sections, but this time I succeeded to finish without deaths. Now for some reason I didn't feel this map so much as its neighbors. First, because it's again more a "normal level in a secret slot", but also because the texture mix here felt a bit too chaotic, with elements from almost the whole second OG Doom episode, perhaps with most similarities to E2M7 and also E2M2. Nevertheless, a good but imo not excellent map.

 

7/10


E2 Overall: I feel the team has improved here. While E1 felt often like a "remake" of the original, most E2 maps are more of a "reimagining", more like "What would Sandy and Tom have done if they designed an E2 map with *scenario X* in mind?". I really enjoyed most maps here, and I feel it is approaching the quality of D2TWID. However, this feeling may also be a bit subjective, as I always liked The Shores of Hell and its "corrupted techbase" style. Also, E2 gives more tools - a more varied texture and monster set - to the mappers, so I don't want to talk down the E1 effort.

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E4M1 Into the Grave (HMP, continuous, blind): K 100%, I 100%, S 100%, D 1 (after three starts), T 9:44

Grade: B+ / Difficulty: B-

 

Spoiler

Reimagined Thy Flesh Consumed gets quite a start.  On my first try, i didn't notice the switch masquerading as decoration, and jumped into the lava, finding the secret Blursphere and some ammo, which was of little help as there was no radsuit.  On second try, i finally noticed it, opened the door, faced down the two Cacodemons, ran out of ammo, ran forward, found the Shotgun, and got overwhelmed by the Imps.  Ok, this is not UDTWID but a rather modernized version when it comes to gameplay... the aesthetics are really very faithful and well done.  And there were more than a few nods towards Hell Beneath.

 

doom22.png.01f0b63e2e7def8087204aa39d51442e.png

 

At any rate, on third attempt i got an idea for strategy which worked, after noticing the Cacodemons teleport elsewhere if i let them come inside, and got going properly.  The opposition is large for first map, over 60, and used to exert a lot of pressure, with sniping Shotgunners being quite numerous.  My only death in fact, apart from jumping into an inescapable pit of lava on a lark just to make sure there's nothing, came from one i didn't see high upon a cliff.  Cacodemons were also used very well, without being in overt abundance, and i've never seen before three Cacodemons in the exit room!  

 

doom23.png.b43ed89e094df4da4a1da8c1fd6a63da.png

 

E4M1 is the map i'm most familiar with from TFC, having played it couple more times than the rest - and i must confess i've only played the OG only through once.  The first map, for one reason or another, a few more times, and i thought this was visually extremely faithful, and believable as a different Id-made version.  The progression and the layout are engaging, giving that punchy sense of an episode starter together with enough substance to be more than an excuse for introduction (or combat).  For the rest of the maps, i'll be watching playthroughs of the OG before playing them.

 

doom24.png.903019fa0116aa5d318d26666768aaa5.png

 

The second secret was indicated both in the map and by texturing, and i was pleased it was a fake wall and not a secret door, so as not to take any more needless damage from the lava - there was a couple of short sprints through lava necessary without a radsuit, of which in the map there were three.  The secret was also the only way to return to the first half of the map to collect whatever goodies might have been left behind.  But i have literally never been so thankful for a Berserk-pack as here.  Seems to me health will not be abundant in this episode, because this map could have actually justified even a Soulsphere.

 

doom21.png.302ecbde9f95abe582e37723135db25b.png

 

Was totally unprepared for what was facing me in Into the Grave, but the map can't really be faulted, and i adjusted soon enough.  But if the difficulty-hike will be similar in later maps, i might start complaining - after all, the first enemies in the OG are Shotgunners, and to this map we are greeted by Cacodemons.  By the way, i can't help but associate the name of the map with some King Diamond song from Conspiracy era, the opening track of the album being At the Graves :D  And that's not the case with Hell Beneath.  

 

 

Who's Who

Spoiler

Thy Flesh Consumed

E4M1 - Into the Grave - B+ / B-

 

Inferno

E3M1 - Abyssal Stronghold - 10+/10

E3M3 - Malebolge - 10+/10

E3M9 - Lake of Fire - 10+/10

E3M2 - City of Corpses - 10/10

E3M4 - Torture Chambers - 9.5/10

E3M8 - Core - B / C+

E3M7 - Inner Sanctum - B- / C

E3M5 - Chapel of Scorn - 9/10

E3M6 - Depths - 9/10

 

Shores of Hell

E2M6 - Foundry - 10+/10

E2M1 - Receiving Station - 9.5/10

E2M4 - Mental Ward - 9.5/10

E2M7 - Ore Processing - 9/10

E2M3 - Rec Facility - 9/10

E2M2 - Filtration Compound - 9/10

E2M5 - Deimos Command - 8/10 (2-point penalty for design choices)

E2M8 - Vault - 6.5/10

 

Knee-Deep in the Dead

E1M7 - Logic Core - 10/10

E1M9 - Excavation Site - 9.5/10

E1M5 - Engineering Bay - 9.5/10

E1M6 - Reactor Complex - 9/10

E1M2 - Military Bunker - 8.5/10

E1M4 - Treatment Plant - 8/10

E1M3 - Fuel Synthesis - 8/10

E1M8 - Transport Facility - 8/10

E1M1 - Communications Bridge - 7/10

 

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Hmm... something I just realized: I have no idea where the "[map] is in the style of [author]" blurbs on the wiki come from. They've been there since the very earliest version of the articles, but I can't find any sort of authoritative source for 'em -- we didn't specify which authors we were emulating in the textfile, and the old herokuapp map submission site doesn't explicitly list it either for a few maps I checked. May have to ask @Marn if he remembers.

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E3M7: Inner Sanctum
By Ellmo

 

Kills: 79%
Items: 42%
Secrets: 50%
Time: 6:09

 

Oh thank GOD it's not Limbo again! This map feels like a merger of Limbo and Mt. Erebus, and also contains one of 2 BFGs in DTWID I again couldn't find!!! The map is underground, rather than chillin' under the Hell sun like the original, and I think the MVP here, similar to at least a few DTWID maps, is the layout, I always like maps that let you see keys immediately so it's cool and satisfying when you wrap back around to them, with fights, this map can get a little tense at times when Lost Souls are bursting from the walls but nothing else should give you too much trouble, can be a bit difficult if you let it though, if there's one thing this map disappointed me on it's that there's no non-secret BFG? Are you kidding? E3M7 guys c'mon

 

Grade: B
Difficulty: C

 

 

E3M8: Core
By ProcessingControl

 

Kills: ?
Items: ?
Secrets: ?
Time: ?

 

Believe it or not, I actually like this map! Sure, hitting the Mastermind is a bit of a pain, and the Barons can get kinda obnoxious, but I don't care! This map is much more creative and enjoyable to me than any of the other boss battle maps so far, ammo is tight and running for health is risky, it's not the best map I've ever played, but it's nice to see the mostly meek and insubstantial Inferno go out with a bang!

 

Grade: B+
Difficulty: C+

 

 

Let's save the final thoughts and ranking until after E4, shall we?

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E4M1 – Into the Grave by @Pavera 

Doomsday Engine, UV-Fast, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

My determination to attempt a UV-fast blind playthrough of Ultimate Doom the way id did faltered in the first moments of Into the Grave. Yeah, the grave is exactly where I am heading, if I am supposed to deal with these hosts of enemies in tight spaces, surrounded by lava, confusing monster teleport lines, and without the comfort of a proper ammo supply. However, after trying various approaches resulting in my demise, I came up with the right blitzkrieg strategy to snatch the shotgun and the shells, gearing up for the reckoning with the horde of fireball shooters (Imps and Cacodemons).

Spoiler

1775661508_UDtwIdE4M1_01.jpg.a8b13d30dcb77b78a19880876683fba1.jpg

I was not done with everyone yet when the Shotgun Guys started to teleport everywhere. Hell Beneath with -fast monsters was brutal, as it sent a gang of Sergeants against a pistol-starting Doomguy without many options to escape. That scene of Into the Grave made me feel the same despair as American McGee’s E4 opener, a sense of dread and vexation in front of the inevitable pain caused by trigger-happy zombies. This happened twice, as another squad of Shotgunners was deployed at a later stage and in a super-nasty position, when I was forced to drop into the lava to proceed. The slowly teleporting Imps on floor level were equally devious, as they popped up behind me and killed me mercilessly while I was trying to enter the BSK cavern, full to the brim with hellspawn.

Spoiler

2057889354_UDtwIdE4M1_02.jpg.36e6b964dfa5a63dea647cb693b9a462.jpg

The “fireproof wood” walkway to the exit reserved a devilish Lost Soul twin closet. I must say that my worst fears came true when approaching this contemporary map set on the highest skill level and with -fast monsters. I found the fake wall secret allowing to return to the first area and to pick up an essential Berserk pack, as I survived the flying skulls with 1% health. The plethora of rockets inside the blue door did not bode well, but as I saw that the exit room barely contained a Cyberdemon, I politely declined to fight him with rockets in that unsuitable space. With a swift move that was easy to perform and replicate (I did it 4 times to see if he could get me once), I fooled Mr. Cyber and pressed the exit switch behind him. I do not bother getting 100% kills with the meagre supplies of OG E4M1, and this contemporary iteration was no exception. A rough and ruthless start with a hefty monster count, extraordinarily harsh with -fast monsters, it showcased many nods to John Romero maps of Ultimate Doom while updating the challenge. Excellent work from Pavera.

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E3M4: Torture Chambers

 

Coming on the heels of Malebolge, I feel this one delivers a greater sense of authenticity along with no shortage of fun, at the expense of maybe hewing a bit too close to direct IWAD homages in some of its areas.  There's something of both Hell Keep and House of Pain in the map's demonic DNA, and the lava tunnels can't help but call to mind Limbo's sewer of blood even if that section of the map is strictly optional here.  Combat is fairly low-key for the most part, although that's an impression that's surely shaped by the fact that I'm playing continuously and not worrying so much about ammunition and other supplies; maybe there aren't enough bullets, shells, rockets, and cells to comfortable handle this dungeon's denizens if playing from a pistol start, but I did feel as I was making my way through the level that some encounters were choreographed so as to be skippable, with plenty of room to dance around if you don't have the weapons, the supplies, or simply the patience to deal with Cacodemons and Barons of Hell in the numbers in which they're encountered here.

 

More threatening are the map's environmental hazards; from crushers to damaging floors to explosive barrels tucked away in dark corners just waiting for a stray shotgun blast or burst from a chaingun to set them off, there's a lot here that isn't a monster that's still perfectly capable of wrecking your day.  Radiation suits are the currency with which you buy time to explore, and there's enough of them to mostly let you see everything the map has to offer without more than scorching your toes a little, but they represent a constantly ticking clock that will keep you moving just as surely as any prowling demon or incoming fireball.  Oddly enough I found what I consider to be the map's more complicated secret areas pretty promptly, but was running back and forth for longer than I like to admit hunting for a final secret that turned out to be a closet full of medikits, indicated by a misaligned wall texture - they don't come more simple than that, although I'm a bit back-and-forth on whether I consider hiding the linedefs that make up that closet to reduce the utility of the computer area map fair play or dirty pool; you've always got the option of not putting in a computer area map if you want your players to use their eyes only, after all.

 

E3M5: Chapel of Scorn

 

This is another occasion on which I find myself saying both "I really enjoyed this level," and "this feels more like it belongs to Thy Flesh Consumed than Inferno," as though a level that looks good and plays well can't be a part of Inferno, which really isn't my intention.  Upon reflection, I feel as though what defines E3 and separates it from E4 is a sense of the experimental, that after one episode of techbases and another of increasingly corrupted techbases, the player's journey through Hell isn't just a matter of adopting a new texture palette but also of experimenting with new ideas in gameplay and environment design; by the time E4 rolls around, in the post-Doom II era, the collective experience of the design team includes looking back on those experiments, determining which worked and which did not, and incorporating that lesson and others into an overall more polished set of maps.

 

"More polished" is the biggest thing that jumps out at me about the experience of playing this map; I can point to maybe three or four different Inferno maps from which it feels like it's drawing inspiration and borrowing elements, but those inspirations and elements are deftly rendered with greater sophistication, complexity, and subtlety here.  The overall layout consists of a pair of infernal chapels separated by a small outdoors area reminiscent of a red-hued Slough of Despair; you'll start off in the foyer of the larger shrine (I think of this as the northern or green chapel) but with the lion's share of the building locked away behind the yellow door, progression will take you outdoors and into the other, smaller temple before you finally make your way back via a rather circuitous route ending with a teleporter.  I do like that both the yellow and red keys are presented on elevated balconies, in plain sight but out of reach, and that you have to work your way around to them from behind; it's the kind of deliberate objective-setting that the original IWAD levels can be a bit hit-or-miss on.  I also enjoy the extent to which the map author has made each of the two shrines distinct from the other, and filled them both with traps, ambushes, and memorable rooms, all without straying from the aesthetic of the episode overall or the level in particular, and the consistency of the internal masonry throughout is what makes locations like the SLADWALL undercroft/crypt or the lava tunnels to really shine as departures from the dominant theme.

 

E3M6: Depths

 

I love the contrast between the preceding level and this one: from an environment that's embedded and well-realised within as much of an "outdoors" as Hell can offer to one that's effectively anonymised by its generally subterrannean nature, from an orderly presentation of chapels and crypts to a chaotic Hell of steep stairways, random angles, and ever-changing materials where little is orthogonal and nothing is symmetrical, you couldn't ask for a more aggressively different pair of levels within the overall theme of the project.  I enjoy the hot start, with the player carefully picking their way past explosive barrels only to break into a scramble when a hidden trigger sets off a chain of explosions, and the fact that the last barrel can get knocked down into the room below to catch a player who thought they'd made it to safety and dithered at the bottom of the chute is a wonderfully cheeky touch.  From there, the player has a few different choices as to how they might want to approach this intractable tangle of stairs, chambers, and passages that puts me in mind of nothing so much as E3M3: Pandemonium by way of Frank Gehry.

 

I probably bled more health to the denizens of this map than on any other level in this episode, which I'm inclined to blame at least in part on knowingly sloppy play but should be credited just as much to the map author's good use of monsters in combat encounters throughout the level; I felt constantly pressured but never overwhelmed, putting the difficulty here right in the sweet spot for me.  The most memorable encounters were probably the shotgun and chaingun traps toward the start of the level, and the "Phobos Anomaly redux" confrontation with paired Barons of Hell, lurching forth from their sarcophagi once the player has the yellow key in hand and is ready to sprint for the exit.  I ended up finding the secret exit with maybe 80-some kills out of 113 on the clock, but I stuck around to clear the place out and track down the remaining secrets; I could have sworn I'd checked all the pillars in the blood sump room (that kind of setup clearly telegraphs "find the odd one out,") quite early in the map's running time, but evidently not closely enough, as the partial invisibility down there was the last of the map's nine secrets that I eventually uncovered.

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E4M1: Into the Grave

For the beginning of episode 4 this one felt pretty unremarkable. I mean it starts off by spawning a large group of 30 or so monsters and ends with a Cyberdemon fight but something about it just felt underwhelming to me. Unlike the original map there's plenty of ammo to go around, though health can easily get scarce if you're not careful or take a few unlucky hits. Best save a rad suit for the Cyberdemon fight at the end to give you a bit more room to maneuver in the lava nearby.

e4m1.zip

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E4M1: Into the Groove Grave
DOOM Retro, UV, Continuous w/saves, return of the DualShock 4 (Sayaka)
 

And so begins the delightfully devilish levels of E4. This is a punishing level that almost requires ammo conservation at the start. Enemy infighting is a must for the beginning pathway. Once you almost reach the top you suddenly get bombarded with teleporting shotgunners. I'm thankful I remembered the last time I played this level so I could dodge most of them; I wouldn't say I escaped unscathed, I had at least 70 percent health to spare. You drop down a shaft only to be bombarded with even more enemies, it's nuts. At this point you'll probably have plenty of shotgun shells anyways so dealing with enemies is still a pain because of the lava and the tight pathways leading to the blue key. Thankfully I remembered about the nastiest surprise this level had to offer, so I was able to avoid the ending surprise completely and just ended the level. Much like the intro to classic E4, I tried to get through this as quickly as possible because the longer I stick around, the worse the pain becomes. A brutal start to a brutal episode.

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Part 1 E3 (UV, pistol starts, prboom-plus)

 

E3M1: Abyssal Stronghold by Jacob Zuchowski

 

With the introduction to "Inferno" we return to "remake" territory. Visually and combat-wise the map is very close to the original E3M1, with the exception of the last part which was embellished with a longer underground part extended with an easy switch puzzle. The map is easier as "Hell Keep", because the ammo starvation lasts only for a short time, with less emphasis on evasion/infighting. Inoffensive and looks nice, but in my eyes not really that great, I would have liked more of the teeth of the original, or a looser reinterpretation.

 

6/10

 

E3M2: City of Corpses by Walter Confalonieri (daimon) and Jacob Zuchowski

 

E3M2 again is more free in its interpretation of "Inferno", I hope this continues this way. More than a city, we have here a small hellish village besides a river of lava, a scenario which wasn't explored in the original Doom 1. The map also feels very different from "Slough of Despair" and "Mt. Erebus" (maybe except some of the buildings near the end), it is less a sandbox than a rather linear affair, with some verticality in the form of "hellish hills" which guide the player. The low monster population is mostly concentrated in certain areas, and where they are roaming around more freely there is plenty of space between them. Damaging floors, crossfire from afar and some temporary ammo starvation are the tools to put a little bit of pressure on the player, and at the start, which hosts homages to "Pandemonium" and "House of Pain", you have to be a bit on your toes. But overall I still consider it one of the easiest maps in the whole WAD because there is almost always a lot of space to run around. Pretty nice and fun.

 

8,5/10

 

E3M3: Malebolge by Icytux

 

A really malicious pistol start, where due to ammo starvation you have basically two options: try to incite infighting and/or run away, with both options made complicated by damaging floors. But once you get a foothold (I needed four attempts for the first part, then no more deaths), basically after you find the red key (which is useful to freely run around in the map), it's not that bad - 10 secrets, including a BFG, will ensure that you'll leave the map completely overpowered if you explore a bit. I found all secrets although at the BFG secret I ran around the area where I assumed it was, trying to trigger something, and it somehow worked, for the logic I had to consult the wiki - re-visiting I observed a (likely) hint with an usage of a texture misalignment I never stumbled upon in other WADs. Some other secrets, like the tower with a switch which lowers a soulsphere in a similar one, are also really cool. Overall, I had a lot of fun here, but I don't see much "idness" in this map, it seems almost Plutonia inspired with its trap-oriented gameplay, although maybe there are some parallels with "Slough of Despair" with all the hidey-holes with spectres and pinkies.

 

8/10

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E3M9: "Lake of Fire" by Lutz

UV with Corruption Cards, no saves

100% kills, 3/6 secrets

 

Card: Demons have a regenerating shield

 

This one is very Mt. Erebus influenced but without the wacky fireblu buildings, although the texture does make a cameo lining some teleporters and being above the entrance portal. Like the Doom map, this one has you traveling between a few structures in the middle of a walled in lake of hellslime. Definitely one of the more prominent influences from a specific map that we've seen so far. Ammo did feel a little tight at points, but I ended up exiting with a fair amount by the ending.

 

This is the heaviest populated map in a while with 194 monsters, and their presence can be felt a decent bit. It's a map that doesn't feel like you cover a crazy amount of ground, but the fights are a bit more densely packed than most of what we've seen, and there are actually some pretty dangerous placements like the chainsaw surrounded by caged hitscanners. The card this time places a white shield around pinkies and spectres. The shield will go down the first time the monster would take damage, be it be from a pistol shot or the full brunt of a shotgun blast (every pellet is absorbed). This level actually felt quite hectic with all the cards at work, the lost souls were very efficient in their corpse-tossing and a found myself taking burn damage from the imps and cacos a lot more than previously. Humerously, I also noticed that the sliding zombies will slide right into any pits that they are coming towards.

 

Fun little Mt. Erebus tribute, felt like it was definitely one of the trickier maps we've seen.

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E4M1 - Into the Grave

 

Honestly, I'll just drop grading after this because I don't really like it that much

 

Ultimate Doom: The Way Id Did kicks off with this blistering opener from minor mapping god Walker "Pavera" Wright, who's justly remembered for his D2:WID and Back to Saturn X contributions, not to mention the minor megawad Arrival that was built off the corpses of older maps. Fully aware of his slot, Pavera turned in this tense and sometime explosive tribute to Hell Beneath, though taking place at night, utilizing duller color schemes and more extensive use of verticality which really comes to the fore when you reach the top of the wooden structure? And ammo is quite limited early on, so you may want to leave at least one of the Cacodemons in the opening tunnel alive until you can get some more shells. It's not necessary, but the stairs leading up here are stuffed with Imps and it's very easy to end up spending more shots than you want. The Cacos will teleport to the top here anyway, along with around 4 Shotgun guys, so you might be able to get some infighting going between the Imps and possibly other cacodemons before the shotgunners chew you to pieces. At least it didn't take too long to reach the secret corner with the Berserk Pack. And please pick up the shotgun box here because it'll make your life a lot easier.

 

Anyway, once you push the switch in front of the rocket launcher, the ground here lowers down into another lava-filled cave, with a couple of other shotgunners below the ledge in front of you and a Cacodemon. Head through the lava to the right, navigate a nasty gauntlet of Imps, Demons and Cacodemons and grab the Blue Key at the other end of this area. This will allow you to open the blue door at a wooden structure at the other end. I believe this is where some Lost Soul closets open up and potentially end your run since there's basically no more health left. The room here has several boxes of rockets along with a switch which opens a nearby door containing a Cyberdemon which you're probably supposed to shoot with the rocket launcher. But I'm quite a bad shot. I still killed him but it took every rocket I had.

 

And this right here is why UtwId is unjustly ignored. Utilizing some E4 aesthetics to deliver an experience both less rough and more fun the original maps, I can't see why there haven't been more demos submitted for many of these maps.

 

Grade: A-

Difficulty: C+

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E4M1: Into the Grave. DSDA v0.24, UV-PS, no saves! 100% kills and secrets. Deaths: numerous. Completion time 7:27.

 

So, we're into the unknown territory for me. Thy Flesh Consumed is my favourite episode out of the originals, so I had high expectations for UDtWiD -- and I'm happy to say I now also have high hopes, because the first map on the offer was a winner! It embodies the visual outlook of E4 with lots of wood, white rock. Into the Grave doesn't look like Hell Beneath, but rather Perfect Hatred but with more outdoory setting.

 

It's also notably harder than anything we've faced before. I think the monster density is the highest so far, and it's mostly cacodemons, shotgunners and imps added with a couple of extras.

I said I'd drop the saveless playing, but I did complete this one without saves after a couple of practice runs. I won't bother counting my deaths any longer, because I will save (or rewind) by default, and from now on these saveless plays will be an exception anyway, because I suspect the unlike in original E4, here difficulty curve will be ascending rather than descending (or sawline) like in the original.

 

One thing I could have done without: The Cyberdemon behind the final door. The level plays so good until the end, and then there is this bunghole that's a chore to kill, and that can off you with a single hit, especially if you are low on health and your rad suit has ran out the last one is behind the bull.

 

Demo's attached. I don't care to look for the WR UV-MAX time, but even I could improve on the time a bit -- I spent time at the start trying to get Cacos to infight imps. Later on I spend too much time in the lava lake looking for ammo boxes that ain't there - it's just that in my first attempts I suffered from ammo starvation, and didn't realize that by the latter half of the ammo wouldn't be an issue.

 

rhhe82_udtwid-e4m1_dsda-doom_udtwid.zip

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I love the new episode smell in the morning! (although it's in the afternoon and m computer has no mechanism to dispense odor)

As before, I'll keep the deaths (6) and restart the timer. I'll play in HNTR again.

 

 

E4M1 - 4-1 Hell Beneath :

I've played this map before... Strange. Oh, I see. I forgot to get the ultimate DTWID. Ups. 

Now yes,

 

E4M1 - Into the Grave :

A room with a chaingun and a green armor, a few imps across a sea of lava and a switch... The switch gives us a caco on the other side of a door. The caco dies and imps show up and bullets end, so I run past them to grab a shotgun, go back, kill them, move forward. Go up, kill kill kill, maim maim destroy, and now there's a switch and also a radsuit. I'll grab the suit and go for the secret in the lava, next to the start. Done. Now, RL, switch. Of course, now I've used up my radsuit but it's a short run to safer ground. I decide to go for the stairs, and there, next to the exit are two radsuits. I grab one, and go for the cave and accidentally find a secret while dropping to grab rockets with a teleport to the berserker. Now cave, blue key, both secrets found so, back. Open blue door, press switch, kill caco, use the remaining radsuit to go back for health, and exit.

A small intro to the final episode, decent and doable. 

 

K/I/S : 100% , 100% , 100%

time : 7:39 / 7:39

deaths : 0 / 6

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I have turned off fast monsters for this episode, after reading the text file and @Book Lord's post, it seems like it'd be needlessly frustrating and I don't really fancy that. I probably could have managed up to E4M4 before throwing in the towel, but I think that changing mid-episode would be weird.

 

~~~

 

E4M1 - Into the Grave by Pavera:
A rather tame start to the episode (though that may just be the lack of fast monsters talking), this map definitely feels a bit too fair to be a Romero E4 map. The start is probably the hardest part, with only a chaingun to kill two cacodemons, you have to run past them into a load of imps and shotgunners to grab more ammo and a shotgun. After that, there are a few mean shotgunner ambushes that would have been rather mean, were it not very easy to grab a rad-suit and jump into the lava, grabbing loads of goodies and being able to exploit the auto-aim to kill them very easily.

 

I didn't like the cyberdemon at the end very much, you've got plenty of rockets to kill him with, and since you're fighting him in a very long corridor, he poses very little threat unless you stop paying attention. I suppose a cyberdemon encounter does make sense to end a Romero-inspired E4 map, so I won't hold it against the map. I think it looks great, the orange sky goes very well with the white caverns and lava, and the wooden buildings are very well done too. Overall, a decent opener, probably the 2nd best of the 4 I've played this month.

 

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E4M2 Vile Affections (HMP, continuous, blind): K 100%, I 72%, S 75%, D 2, T around 46mins

Grade: B- / Difficulty: C

 

Spoiler

i neglected to mention in my last review that Into the Grave actually reminded me of Romero's style, more than of the opener of the OG.  Which is a bit ironic, as this one doesn't have much in common with Perfect Hatred.  Not that it should of necessity, nor is it relevant as per the quality.

 

On this map we find ourselves in some sort of structure of green marble and oak, with a small courtyard.  The opposition is similar to the previous mission, and surprisingly Barons are not present yet  The most threat comes from hitscanners sniping from unseen places, such as their attack from behind when grabbing the BK, that got me down to 3% health.  But my one death by an enemy came after teleportation from an unseen Invy-Pinky, and the other one was an inglorious fall into an inescapable pit of lava.

 

The secrets were tough, even if when watching back my video i noticed i had accidentally found the first one, without noticing, in the first few seconds of playing.  At any rate, i spent a long time looking for them, coming up with a couple of schemes to get to the Soulsphere, but failing both.  So on my first attempt, i only got one secret, finding the first one for real later on.  But i returned after a little break, because i'd figured at least the secret exit would most likely be accessed by taking a teleporter from a different direxion... Well, it was a great idea that didn't work, which was very vexing.  So, i gave in and did iddt.  D'oh!  i thought i had humped the wall that opened up to the Soulsphere, but apparently had been uncommitted.  The Soulsphere room had a switch, which i'd tried to find a place to shoot at earlier, which opened up the door to the secret exit.  At least iddt did not help me in uncovering that one, but after a wild goose chase for the secret at the north-western part, i went to check if that conspicuous face at the wall would have anything to do with anything - and so was able to reach what i most wanted.  But i have a feeling the NW secret area would have had something highly desirable, as it was so difficult to access and had a nice room built for it.

 

Somewhat of a surprising decrease in difficulty on HMP, easier than the harder maps on E3.  But the layout is good, and the visuals flawless and authentic, only could have used a little bit more spice in the combat-dep.

 

The name of this map would have been perfect for a Mutiilation song (...and/or for a title of my love life :D)  And if i ever write black metal lyrics again, i am going to use this name.  It's so inspiring i already started sketching a poem in style of Mutiilation, ha-ha!

 

 

Pt2 with more search for the secrets:

Spoiler

 

 

Who's Who

Spoiler

Thy Flesh Consumed

E4M1 - Into the Grave - B / B-

E4M2 - Vile Affections - B- / C

 

Inferno

E3M1 - Abyssal Stronghold - 10+/10

E3M3 - Malebolge - 10+/10

E3M9 - Lake of Fire - 10+/10

E3M2 - City of Corpses - 10/10

E3M4 - Torture Chambers - 9.5/10

E3M8 - Core - B / C+

E3M7 - Inner Sanctum - B- / C

E3M5 - Chapel of Scorn - 9/10

E3M6 - Depths - 9/10

 

Shores of Hell

E2M6 - Foundry - 10+/10

E2M1 - Receiving Station - 9.5/10

E2M4 - Mental Ward - 9.5/10

E2M7 - Ore Processing - 9/10

E2M3 - Rec Facility - 9/10

E2M2 - Filtration Compound - 9/10

E2M5 - Deimos Command - 8/10 (2-point penalty for design choices)

E2M8 - Vault - 6.5/10

 

Knee-Deep in the Dead

E1M7 - Logic Core - 10/10

E1M9 - Excavation Site - 9.5/10

E1M5 - Engineering Bay - 9.5/10

E1M6 - Reactor Complex - 9/10

E1M2 - Military Bunker - 8.5/10

E1M4 - Treatment Plant - 8/10

E1M3 - Fuel Synthesis - 8/10

E1M8 - Transport Facility - 8/10

E1M1 - Communications Bridge - 7/10

 

Edited by dei_eldren

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E4M1: Into The Grave

By Pavera

 

Kills: 100%

Items: 3%

Secrets: 50%

Time: 3:57

 

Holy hell revealed! What a way to start an episode! I was a little disappointed at first on seeing health and armor items almost immediately but Into The Grave isn't disappointed so far, a highlight of the month easily, it's got your teleporting shotgunners, the iconic wood, white rock and lava, aesthetic, and most importantly, the hardest map ye- okay let's quit beating around the bush, my favourite part of the level was obviously the Cyberdemon, c'mon, I'm the Ribbiks fan who votes for Haste every month, I may be overreacting on this map because of it being the first remotely ambitious map in the megawad, having the Cyberdemon in not E2M8, but even though I knew what to expect with DTWID it doesn’t make me not excited for the fight, also the path to the blue key with the Cacodemons was pretty cool I guess, and the shotgunners at the start can be pretty cool and menacing, either way, this map gets a big thumbs up and a warm hug from me!

 

Grade: A-

Difficulty: B-

 

 

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E3M6 - Depths - James "Phobus" Cresswell *Sandy Petersen* (100%K/100%I/86%S):

Ahh, I remember hating this one because it is so cramped, it screams Sandy Petersen, one of the most fun maps you would have here in DTWID, you will either love it, or hate it, or both at the same time, such as me. It has gimmicky traits like the barrels at the start, which is quite a cheap move, something you would clearly see in a Petersen's map. The map's layout, though cramped, is great, as you circle around some clausthrophobic cave just like if you were doing some cave exploration, like those nasty YT videos of the "Hell Hole". Sneaking inside the depths of this level feels like something more from E2 rather than E3, it does not give that E3 impression as much as it gives from E2. The search for the secret was quite creative, as secret finding in this map was quite intricate. The usual different-color torches in the walls that reference a switch, it's quite a neat idea, already overused by community, and although I don't recall it from any of ID maps, I can feel it being used in some alternate universe from Sandy. Great map, but's also one of the hardest.

IDness ratio: 4/5

E3M9 - Lake of Fire - Christopher Lutz *Sandy Petersen* (96%K/91%I/50%S):


Great secret map, the best one so far, one that actually feels like a secret map, and also has for me, the best ID feel of the entire mapset so far, I think the IDness ratio here is the highest. The map, at the start, feels quite similar to Mt. Erebus, but at the same time, it's not quite like it, as, it may be open, but it is not as sandboxy as you may expect. There are some mixtures in the outside, from both Slough of Despair, and Mt. Erebus, while mixing the inner parts of the southernmost fortress from Limbo, House of Pain, and even some Pandemonium. This one is the one that represents ID and Sandy Petersen the most, as it has traits from most of the original Inferno levels, but it does not do it mish-mashing different rooms from different maps, the level feels quite cohesive with its theme, without jumping directly into something different. Really well crafted map, and it does give that "secret level" feeling we were hoping for, as the previous two secret maps, were quite disappointing in that regard. Not only that, but it does not sacrify the gameplay. I feel this was one of the hardest levels, so hard, ammo was not enough, and I had to pass by some enemies or secrets, as resources here were pretty scarce. Lovely job by Mr. Lutz.

IDness ratio: 5/5


(UV Playthrough - Crispy Doom)

Order of Preference:

 

Spoiler

 

E3M3
E3M6
E3M9

E2M6

E1M4
E3M5
E2M7
E1M7
E3M4
E2M1
E3M2
E2M9
E2M2
E1M5
E1M6
E3M1

E1M3
E2M4

E1M2
E1M8
E1M1
E1M9
E2M8
E2M5
E2M3

 




Had some rough days, so I'm trying to catch up.

 

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GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

E3M7: Inner Sanctum - ellmo

100% kills and 75% secrets

Time: 16:31

Card: Sergeant takes damage one second later

 

Now this is a proper penultimate map! This takes the explorative nature of the IWAD's E3M6, and places it in a white marble cave, that kind of reminds me more of E4, or even SIGIL. Most of the map has you on the outskirts of this central fortress, looking for ways to access its other areas. Inside, it's kinda cramped, but you'll mostly deal with pinkies and lower, though a baron is behind the red door. That one had the resurrecting curse, which was very inconvenient. There's a pit in the damaging blood that the ground kind of points too that contains 2 bulk cells, that surprisingly wasn't a secret. The only secret I didn't figure out was the soul sphere, but no big deal. Grabbing each key will lower some walls in the center, allowing for easy access back outside, and also unleashes a lot of either pinkies or lost souls. The berserk in one of the imp islands makes this no big deal, and the lost souls all got stuck in the mega armor room, allowing easy shotgunning. Make sure to look for a switch just before exiting to grab the BFG. Overall, pretty fun map. Much better than the IWAD map in this slot, and the exploration is fun. The map is a nice big size too, which fits this slot. Combat's not hard, but that feels pretty id-like. 

 

E3M8: Core - ProcessingControl

?% kills and secrets

Time: ?

Card: Mastermind is replaced by a new boss

Deaths due to new boss: 3

 

This is a very simple map, that honestly isn't as cool looking as the original. This takes place in a pretty ho-hum cavern, that's in a star shape. A few barons are around, and I'm assuming the SM is in the center pillar, taking shots at you when the walls are not blocking its line of sight. Normally, this would just be a case of BFG a few times and it dies. For me and CC however, we get Mecha-Romero. Mecha-Romero is much more agile, has multiple attacks, a chaingun that's not hitscan, but very dangerous, can jump and ground pound, and he can teleport closer to you. To make matters worse, once he hits half health, he gains a shield, and starts summoning baddies IoS style. Health and ammo in this area are off the star platform, but the ceilings are crushers, so you need to make sure you go at the right time. The lift to get back up also damages you. Also, the lava in the center I'm pretty sure is an inescapable pit, but I have jump enabled. If it wasn't for the new boss, the environment would probably be the only challenge here. Kind of a weak ending. A little more tough, but doesn't have the memorability of the og.

 

E3 was pretty solid. Might be the most id-like of the eps, with only a couple of maps not having that id feel. A few maps could have felt a little more hellish, but gameplay was pretty consistent overall. M5 and M9 might be the overall highlights of the WAD in terms of level design. 

 

For the WAD overall, it was pretty good. There's only so much a map author can do if they're trying to emulate the original designers, but they did a pretty solid job overall. While some maps were more id than others, the overall product works pretty well. I think this WAD's sequel does a better overall job at replicating id than this does, but this is a solid starting point. That being said, idk if many of these maps are better than the IWAD's, but there are a few for sure. At least, they're on par with them.

 

E3 CC list: 

One monster is cursed. Killing it will resurrect nearby monsters

Barons are partially invisible

Cacodemons shove nearby entities on death

Imp may haunt player after death

Pinky may pretend to die

Zombie Man fires a baron projectile on death

Baron slides around while moving

Sergeant takes damage one second later

Mastermind is replaced by a new boss

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E3M7 - Inner Sanctum - Ellmo *Sandy Petersen* (100%K/I/S):

The finale of Inferno in our alternate universe feels quite a lot like Mt. Erebus, but underground. Inner Sanctum has great vibes from some of the late E3 maps of Doom, specially Mt. Erebus, and also Limbo, a map that does not have any single pocket of sky texture in it, giving an eeire feeling of you getting locked in a nasty place. The caves outside the main level, feel quite complex for an original ID map, it barely scores a 5 here, I don't know what you think about this map, could this level be on the original game? 
The map servers as a good closer, as it is quite a big level, comparable to the always long M7 levels you may find both in the original Doom and DTWID. Great level in terms of setup and layout, it is quite fun to traverse the sanctum and try to find secrets at the boundaries of this giant cave, with the help of a lonely radsuit for your troubles. The search for the BFG comes right before the end if you find that hidden switch in the dark. This will do wonders for you if you did not have it before for the final fight at M8. This map has some great personality, being one of the best maps you will find here, Ellmo knows how to carry this mapset, and I'm thankful for his work at DTWID. Imagining this in the original game would have been a joy.

IDness ratio: 5/5

E3M8 - Core  - Eli "ProcessingControl" Cohen *Sandy Petersen*:

This is the core, something inside a big hellish cave, great setup for a final fight, it could have been ten times better if the finale of the original Doom was like this. The setup is great just because of the crushers outside, and the walls going up and down, guarding the Spider Mastermind from attacks, making it harder to hit. This has its disadvantage, as the spider cannot hit you aswell. There are some powerups in the arena, far away from the main star platform, and some barons guarding the spider aswell. There is an humongous crusher outside the star platform. The map gives a feeling of a mechanism so big, that it even makes it a bit overwhelming to have a little Spider Demon at the middle, maybe, forcing the programmers to change its behaviour for an alternative universe where ID did something like this. Nothing to do in that regard, but it is a good fight, way better than the original.

IDness ratio: 5/5


(UV Playthrough - Crispy Doom)

Order of Preference:
 

Spoiler

 

E3M3
E3M7
E3M6
E3M9

E2M6

E1M4
E3M5
E2M7
E1M7
E3M4
E2M1
E3M2
E2M9
E2M2
E1M5
E1M6
E3M1

E1M3
E2M4

E1M2
E1M8
E3M8
E1M1
E1M9
E2M8
E2M5
E2M3

 

 


E3 Thoughts:

Probably the mapset's best episode, and a great finale for this alternative universe.  I feel E1 was more ID-like than this Inferno, but still, mappers here gave a great impression of this last episode, in my opinion, making it actually better than the original product. You can see some traits of mappers putting a little bit more care to Inferno maps in comparison to the real E3, making this a bit more personalized than expected, as you may remember Inferno's visuals more crude, and less polished. Most of its maps where quite fun, having 4 maps at the top spot of my list. Let's see how the 4th episode, made some years later than DTWID, can carry this row of good maps, and if it can also keep it up with the IDness.


Great thing we changed the schelude a little bit so we can enjoy E4, which I never played in comparison to DTWID, which I've played it for the third time, in this month. Let's see what it has.
 

 

Edited by DJVCardMaster

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E4M2 – Vile Affections by @RottKing

Doomsday Engine, UV-Fast, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

Small map, big pain. I cannot find better words to summarise my experience with Vile Affections. Even if there were no Arch-Viles, RottKing devised a full assortment of troublesome situations, capable of driving crazy a blind, UV-fast player. No matter if the first thing I found was the rocket launcher secret, I had to be cautious while roaming this map. Shotgun guys were everywhere, shooting from higher positions and sometimes impossible to see; I cannot tell how much health I sacrificed to their infallible barrels. I was constantly at 35% or lower, with no chance to improve considering the limited first aid kits laying around.

Spoiler

1520921192_UDtwIdE4M2_01.jpg.da153cd9a6ed66af5a6cd03bdb6bc7a0.jpg

The geometries and level construction replicated the style of American McGee, especially the niches with torches and the ban of obstructive things, resulting in desolate yards and corridors. Thankfully the level was small, otherwise I might have wandered for a long time before finding the unmarked lift close to the unreachable BSK. The wooden room was only the start of the painful quest for the key, that saw me suffering ambushes involving those annoying Sergeants, always placed at the worst possible angles. The journey culminated with a teleport in a room with a Lost Soul in front of me, and three behind. Guess who was killed there.

 

The area behind the blue door was an exquisite creation to induce pain and anguish in -fast players. A square guard post in the middle with Imps, Shotgunners in every corner, and Lost Souls emerging from the lava moat in total silence. The short corridor with the door was even worse, hosting a Cacodemon & Imp sandwich with no space to handle it. I had no choice but to drop into the 20% damage lava and ride up at the bridge, fighting from the surrounding ledge. My health was at 7% when I found the hidden Soul Sphere.

Spoiler

1711799541_UDtwIdE4M2_02.jpg.fef0e301fc67272784b5582e97544094.jpg

There were no major threats on the way to the exit, except the customary deadly pit. I was so happy to have 100% health again that I left without checking what the switch in the Soul Sphere secret did. Distracted by the constant threats, I eventually forgot this map had the secret exit to E4M9 and remembered it only at the end of E4M3. John Romero designed a cryptic secret exit in Perfect Hatred as well, when compared to the first three episodes, placing it out of sight. The author did the same here, though in a more extreme manner. I noticed the odd STONGARG face in an otherwise pointless room, but I was too exhausted to check it again. I ascribe it to the -fast monsters setting, but Vile Affections harassed me from the beginning to the end. It provided a proper challenge in some places, while feeling a gratuitous tease in others. Probably I would have liked it better at normal speed, though I still think this was not an enjoyable level.

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E4M9 – Terror by @Use

Doomsday Engine, UV-Fast, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

Use3D is the only contributor to Doom the way id did that returned for the 4th episode, while not partaking in Doom II the way id did. His task was to emulate Tim Willits and his remarkable secret level Fear, which he glaringly quoted in Terror’s layout and visuals. While the structure might feel similar to OG E4M9, the size was considerably larger, as well as the monster count, and the aesthetics were improved with generous strokes of red, to grant this place a hellish feel. The symmetry was also eliminated, as well as the possibility to travel quickly from one side to the other by means of teleporters.

Spoiler

1811806358_UDtwIdE4M9_01.jpg.53f839a483ce54d057dda91a78945f6b.jpg

The path to the exit was strictly guided, almost on rails. From the starting yard I dropped into the surrounding water moat and entered the corrupted tech-base from the back door. Big mobs of Imps, Demons, and Sergeants confronted me all the way to the north, until a teleporter brought me to the opposite side of the level. I left the room quickly as I was under suppression fire from the large central area, just to meet a Baron of Hell and other angry monsters in an appealing room with an apse, showcasing all the available MARBFACes. In every direction I found big groups of monsters, making up for rather grindy combat. The northern room with the water pit and the lifts contained an obnoxious amount of Lost Souls, while the southern area was teeming with Imps, but at least rewarded me with the YSK.

Spoiler

1744657748_UDtwIdE4M9_02.jpg.a0eb1118805b0e3971bb51e8a49e3536.jpg

Opening the door seen at the start and fighting my way through the central areas was not enough to reach the exit. A row of bars blocked the way forward, and the switch to operate them was accessed through a second yellow door I forgot to check in the north-western room. It could have been the opportunity to revisit areas for missing secrets, though they required a keen spirit of observation. The backpack was stored where looking for a secret was very unlikely. The BFG was completely hidden from sight behind one of the apse’s effigies, and the secret door trigger was of the obscure kind. Last, but not for importance, the Soul Sphere was accessed through a one-time lift that I unwittingly activated a long time before, when I jumped on the thin walkway with the Blur Sphere that paid homage to the ones by Willits.

Spoiler

492112087_UDtwIdE4M9_03.jpg.64c04cf3058b94174f041c75de931423.jpg

A secret level that was worth visiting, bearing close resemblance to Fear but improving both its looks and gameplay, it offered entertaining moments but also a lot of monsters to kill for no good purpose. There were valuable prizes for continuous players, though I was unable to find them. Considering the recent experience with Deimos Command, creating complicated secrets that disable themselves during play must be a habit of the author. He could have been more liberal with the bonuses; Terror was a secret level, after all, and I gained only a Megaarmour while still missing cell weapons. Good entry, but a bit stingy.

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GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

E4M1: Into The Grave - Pavera

100% kills and secrets

Time: 6:15

Card: Cyberdemon can carry other monsters

 

Thank you card for spoiling that surprise. Though the crap ton of rockets with only 1 monster remaining is kind of a giveaway.

 

8 years after DtwID was released, a replacement for TFC comes out. With it, we have only a few returning mappers, with most of them being new to Doom 1's replacements. We've got Pavera up first, who not only does a good job at replicating the E4 style, but does it in a way that totally feels like his work too. The first thing I thought of while looking around was, "Well this reminds me of Arrival." The second thing was, "There's way too many enemies here and I have no ammo." This opening part I think is harder and more intense than anything we've seen so far this month. You have to press forward in order to grab the shotgun, and if you want more ammo, you keep going, but this triggers a shotgunner trap. What I did after triggering that was grab the rad suit and jump into the lava. There's a secret by the start which has some rockets and a blur sphere, which is actually kinda useful here. Hopefully, the shotgunners, imps, and cacos infight a bit while you shotgun or chaingun them to death. There's a rocket launcher up by the switch, but I'd save the rockets. You can shotgun and chaingun everything in the map with ammo to spare. Also, you can find a secret berserk by the blue door. Taking the path past the switch is much easier and laid back, even if there's some lava traversal. Grab one rad suit by the blue door, and take the lava path to the blue key. Grab the other rad suit once you come back, and get ready for an ol' fashioned rocket duel with a cyb. You can lure it out and take care of it from the relative safety and openness of the lava. This was a very strong start to the ep! Pretty challenging; may be harder than the original, but at least this has some health. Very fun opening room, and a cyb battle that makes you use rockets is something I don't see very often anymore. Very nice!

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