The DWmegawad Club plays: 3 Heures d'Agonie 2

[Roofi]

Map 22 : Vaine Tentative

 

 

Vaine Tentative turns out to be a breath of fresh air compared to the others levels in term of difficulty. Most of the combats involve weak bestiary with some mid-tiers and you almost always have the opportunity to camp. The cyberdemon's fight represent the toughest part of the level but it's easy to survive if you know circlestrafing at least a bit. The most annoying part for me was the bloody one because pinkies located in the pits blocked me from below.

 

About the theme, I really like the combination of the rustic marble and the hi-tech computers and lamps. The aesthetics were very clean. They somewhat remind me of No rest for the living. The Quake 64's midi also conquered me. Instead of playing a simple map, I felt like accomplishing a top-secret important mission thanks to it. It also fits well with the simplicity of the map in terms of design.

 

I really his attempt at making a speedmap, definitely a small highlight in 3ha2.

 

Grade : B+

 

 

 

[TheLippyServer]

Map 22 - "Vaine Tentative" (by NilsTheRed)

This map looks solid, but that's about where my praise for this one ends. Mostly forgettable, save for the weird bit of unintuitive progression where you have to stand in the pool of blood and sink down (then get tp'd back onto damaging floor to make you take some "fuck you" chip damage), and the distasteful cyberdemon encounter near the end that makes you slowly negotiate him around a tiny switch so you can get the plasma he's standing on that's needed to kill him. I don't get that encounter at all... it's not super hard, it's just a time sink and a splash damage health tax. This isn't bad I guess, but I didn't care for it either.

 

5/10

Edited July 22, 2022 by TheLippyServer : Spelling, grammar

[kalaeth]

new day, new map.

 

MAP 22 - Vaine Tentative : 

Marble! Not an hot start! A few zombies on a ledge, steps up, switch, some monsters die? Down, door, outside, switch, f5ck, revs, switch again, it opens a door to a HK, let him follow me to the corridor to kill him better, another door, a pair of chaingunners, more doors! A small warehouse, enter door, kill cacos, save, grab the RL, kill both PEs, then fall into the not-slime fountain, cheese the outside fight, jump down, pick up resources, grab the yellow key, back to the yellow door, oh, a secret by shooting, oh nazis. Yellow door, oh no, platforming. Let's try. Done, kill the trap, pick the blue key and go back, blue door, blue sphere, spider and then mancs! Switch, and.. Oh f5ck, really? Dead. Retry, spider, mancs, cyber! Done, switch, barons, chaingunners, exit!

 

100% K/I/S, 1 death, 9 minutes and 11 seconds.

 

total : 3 hours 22 minutes and 34 seconds.

[Azure_Horror]

Map22- “Vaine Tentative” (by NilsTheRed)

Dsda-doom, UV-max, pistol start.

 

For the most part, the map felt calm and cozy. The visuals were pretty, if a bit standard. The combat was smooth. The progression was basic, but the pacing was good. One thing was bothering me, however. This is map 22! Why are the fights so easy? Where are the revenats, the archviles, the mancubi?

 

Puzzled, I opened the blue door. A super shotgun, nice! Aracnotrons, even nicer!!

 

And then... Everything finally made sense! Stepping on the platform in the SSG room sets loose four mancubi, and pressing the button on the same platform releases a cyberdemon! Now, this is a real map 22 material!

 

Mancubi can be fought separately from the cyber. Fighting 4 fat pyromaniacs in a small room can get pretty exciting, not gonna lie. But it is better to start a feud between the fatsos and the cyberdemon. While the rocket-launching machine of hate is distracted by mancubi, it is very easy to grab the plasma rifle from behind its back.

 

With plasma rifle and SSG at hand, you can duel the cyberdemon. You can also push another button and get the hell out, but where is the fun in that?

 

This is a perfect room to duel a cyberdemon. Unlike the flesh pit of Valiant map10 (“Candleclove”), the room is not too cramped. And unlike the start of Eviternity map 17 (“Segregation”), the room is not too round and spacious. The cyber room of “Vaine Tentative” is narrow enough to not feel a bit claustrophobic, but also wide enough to not feel akward. Very good, if a bit basic encounter.

 

After the cyber fight, there are two barons, two chaingunners and an exit with a computer map nearby (I greatly appreciate the convinience.)

 

For the most part, the map was pretty, but unremarkable. But the cyberdemon fight felt amazingly choreographed. A really well made cyber duel, and the first really claustrophobic cyber encounter in a non-secret map of the WAD.

 

Good map.

 

Map rankings

Spoiler

Great maps

map 19

map 32 and map 31

map 18

map 09 and map 06,

map 13

Really good maps

map 8

map 17

map 20 and map 03

map 15 and map 04

Good maps

map 12

map 22 and map 05

map 01

map 02

map 14 (see note 1)

Ok maps

map 07

map 21 and map 11 (see note 2)

map 10

Poor maps

map 16 (see note 2)

 

The rankings are all subjective!

 

Note 1: map 14 would go up one grade (to Really Good), if it had less grindy Cacodemon crowd at the start.

Note 2: maps 11 and 16 would go up two grades (to Really good and Good respectively), if properly strong weapons were provided.

[tonytheparrot]

(Played from a pistol-start on UV with Prboom+, saves are allowed)

Map 22: Vaine Tentative by NilsTheRed

100% kills, 80% items, 100% secrets

Time: 4:51

 

Vaine Tentative is NilsTheRed's first contribution to the series and consists of a weird, but pretty fortress that mixes a marble hell aesthetic with some tech elements. Outside of the weird theme, kickass Quake 64 midi and Wolfenstein: The New Order reference, this level is forgettable. On top of that, outside the yellow key room if you're really impatient or the surprise cyberdemon, the combat is really easy and the ambushes predictable. That said, even if this map never really stuck with me, I still enjoyed it in both of my playthroughs as it's just simple Doom fun.

 

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

Love:

Map 19

Map 31

Map 6

Map 32

Map 18

Map 3

Map 5

Really Like:

Map 12

Map 17

Map 8

Map 13

Map 21

Map 4

Map 14

Map 20

Map 7

Map 9

Like:

Map 22

Map 2

Map 1

Map 10

Mediocre:

Map 15

Dislike:

Map 11

Map 16

 

 

 

 

 

[RED77]

Map 21

A cool map. Interesting fights. Variety of locations. A little low on ammo.

Another no-secret map.

 

★★★★☆ 

[tmorrow]

game mode:  gzdoom4.8.0, uvmax, pistol starts. If a map is too hard, I'll revert to using saves and note it on that map review.

---

map23

Oxyde attempts to spiflicate poor doomguy on this brutal map. Getting a start is not easy but there are a couple of options. The starting room is sometimes safe as long as doomguy has enough weaponry and ammo to take out whatever is trying get through the doorway. He'll be forced out at least once or twice to face the chaos in the main room and pick up some more ammo before he can concentrate on picking off the more strategic targets. With enough whittling away at the enemy, he has more safe spots to move to and progress. Once the main room has been declared a safe zone, the battle is mostly won. Doomguy just has to avoid being lit up like a christmas tree by the archviles that appear near the end. Cybie wants to come out and play but Oxyde has trapped him in the small exit room. Poor cybie! It's a tough life.

There is a non official secret on the map:
 

Spoiler

The secret is near the revenant pack. One of the skull walls can be lowered for a berserk pack in a cubicle. Nothing like a 100 health upgrade, I doubt anyone is going to use the berserk to punch out enemies due to the monster composition and map layout.

 

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 22: Vaine Tentative

by Nils Vandamme (NilsTheRed)

 

Nils' first (and probably last) speedmap, this largely consists of a series of marble room though curiously there are computer consoles in one room that I saw. Maybe it's a little easy for this point in the megawad, but isn't that how many of them are? So at a certain point you come across a room with pools of liquid. Guess what happens when you walk to the end of the red one? Confrontation with a blatant Limbo homage (Nils actually did two maps for 20 Years of Doom) and general annoyance I had no time for. Although things just get worst when you reach the outside courtyard. There's a healthy amount of strategically-placed hitscanners, along with some Cacodemons and a Pain Elemental. Rocket scrounging proves important to a degree, although there's just enough Cacodemons that you'll have serious trouble in ports which retain infinite height. Not too much of note after that, the blue key room feels laughably undercooked beyond the monster closet opening right next to you, then you end up in a rectangular room that's like, Dead Simplish?? dunno, but it was my favorite part, next to the Cyberdemon battle. Although you'll probably want to wait until he's moved a bit from his corner because otherwise, you'll be rocketed when pciking up the absolutely necessary plasma rifle. Interestingly, the secret seems to refer to a contemporary gameat the time of this wad's release (the New Order), although opening it up by shooting it seemed rather illogical because of the appearance of the texture opening the way.

 

 

 

 

 

lmd_3ha2_22.zip

[finnks13]

MAP22 - Vaine Tentative by NilstheRed:

6:46/0 Deaths
This map is significantly easier than anything for a while, but I don't mind the break - it's nice to feel well equipped for once. This map employs a hell-techbase aesthetic, with many computer panels adorning the green marble walls, and while they look very vanilla, the visuals are my favourite bit of this map.  The combat is pretty bland throughout, but it's never awful or not fun. The cyberdemon one-on-one at the end is pretty good, as the room size and ammo provided is almost perfect for an encounter like this, it's not too small so you're taking splash damage all the time, but not too big that the encounter becomes boring (something a lot of mappers could learn from!) and it ends the map on a pretty good note. Not the most memorable map, but a fine entry in the wad.

[RHhe82]

MAP22: Vaine Tentative. 77/77 K, 1/1 S. Completion time 12:05.

 

It's a perfectly competent map until the final stretch when amateurishness slaps the player in the face of roadblock Cyberdemon and a couple of walking doors of hell behind 64 pixel wide (I think, didn't check) corridors that leave a taste with hint of sour.
 

[cannonball]

MAP21 - “Diabolic Patterns” by Memfis

A bit of a false narrative in terms of choosing your heavy weapon. I didn't really have many ammo issues once both weapons were acquired. This map is fine, plenty of archviles, probably used a little too liberally in the sense they always come in the singular form. The yellow key fight is the toughest by far, in the end I rushed the archie with the plasma gun ad hoped the revenant wouldn't punch me up the rear. 

It's an ok map overall.

 

MAP22 - “Vaine Tentative” by NilsTheRed

This one is visually okay, but honestly that is about as good as this review is going to get. This one is very corridor heavy and everything comes in a straight line. Combat ranges from rather dull to some quite horrible scenarios. The yellow key is a disaster in terms of how it pans out, first the entrance to the area is basically secret worthy, then below the deadliest moment is the narrow corridor with spectres, they caused one of my two deaths here. The second death was rocket damage due to a spider tanking 4 rockets. The exit out of the yellow key area teleports you onto a damaging floor, also not good. The blue key is fine I guess and I don't mind the cyber fight to be honest. The barons are an awful choice and means another slog before reaching the exit. 

It isn't the worst map in the set, but it ranks pretty low down.

[Monsieur E]

Map22- Vaine Tentative by NilsTheRed
100% kills

I like the visuals on display here, a cool union of green marble hell and techbase, it looks pretty good. The rocket launcher fight is decent too but, to be honest, everything else is procedural and just not really enjoyable. The bloody corridor with spectres was a pain in the ass, especially since a couple of tomatos kept flying into it but I kind of liked the way you entered it to the contrary even though it definitely feels more secret-like. Not much else to say, just kind of an unremarkable map. The Wolfenstein TNO secret was pretty neat as a time capsule of sorts though.
 

Although to end on a positive note, I want to mention that I quite liked Nils' map in 3HA3 and enjoyed it quite a bit. :)

[Book Lord]

MAP 23 – Enceinte Infernale by Arnaud Florian @Oxyde

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

A tiny but action-packed level, Enceinte Infernale took place inside the marble walls of a hellish palace. The small size might have simplified things, but again Oxyde did a great work with texturing and encounter design. Getting out of the starting chamber was the biggest challenge in store for a pistol starter, considering the number of enemies ready to attack from various angles. After shooting down the Pain Elementals, the Arch-Vile was the main concern, but he could be killed only after the Commandos and Hell Knight on the left. The room to the north contained a Mancubus and a cage full of Revenants, hilariously trapped inside by monster blocking lines. I could not realise the purpose of those lines: they made all monsters on the way to the BSK quite ineffective, as they could not follow Doomguy anywhere.

Spoiler

The Arachnotrons with PE & Caco support spawned after the BSK pickup were not so difficult, and I instinctively gained control of the northern room to fight back from there. The Arch-Vile & Hell Knight surge after pressing the blue switch freaked me out, but I kept my cool and sent a few rockets their way. The Cyberdemon in the exit room was just a big wall of meat that shot rockets, blocking an easy escape, and forcing me to deal with the rest first. Once the violence died down, I collected the generous goodies in the secrets. The gargoyle face trigger was subtle, I liked it. Oxyde did not disappoint, but I slightly preferred the broader scope and exploratory feel of MAP08.  

[TheLippyServer]

MAP23 - “Enceinte Infernale” (by Oxyde)

Holy cow, this one packs a whollop from pistol start, and it's not even close to how mean Oxyde can get. (*cough* ominous foreshadowing *cough*) My first time through I ran out of ammo on the exit cyberdemon and had to doomwiki which wall I failed to hump to get to the secret plasma alcove, then had to make the strafe run to it with the added pressure of said cybie lobbing rockets at me. My second time around I deliberately skipped the secrets, and I barely scraped through with enough - but man was it a close shave. Pistol starters who get unlucky with Pain Elemental and Archie secret service soaking up rounds may find the ammo balance to be a bit tight for their liking. That said, the level looks gorgeous, the action is white hot all the way through, the ending cyberdemon actually serves a logistical purpose, and the challenge the map presents makes it satisfying to 100%.

 

8/10

Edited July 23, 2022 by TheLippyServer : Clarification

[Thelokk]

MAP23 - Enceinte Infernale by Oxide

HMP / 100% kills / 2 secrets found

 

Do you like the design of the starting room? is it comfy? good, because that's where you'll be for about 3/4 of the map. Dash out for some ammo, retreat to the start room, peekaboo everything, rise and repeat - this is the map in a nutshell. Such a shame, because the map is compact but very well designed, with a nice marble theme-meets-wood. Still, the seemingly threatening gameplay can be cheesed to a degree that I'm kind of surprised it made the cut at all - even the few times you need to get out of the shadows you can simply hide behind the next checkpoint and dispatch everything from there. Same once you get to the blue key- why would you stay perched up, when you can simply dash down, back into the starting room and just chill there?

A wasted opportunity.

[Azure_Horror]

Map23 - “Enceinte Infernale” (by Oxyde)

Dsda-doom, UV-max, pistol start.

 

“Enceinte Infernale” presents quite a serious challenge. The map revolves around entrenched monsters, hence a lot of blocking lines. The hell spawn are mostly stationary, but they can shoot through most of the map. Moreover, the monsters guard each other. Whenever Doomguy decides to focus one entrenched group of the baddies, he exposes his back or his flanks to another bunch of demons.

 

Beating the map feels like a sudoku puzzle, or a crossword.

 

The archvile, which observes the central area of the map, is the most obnoxious threat. There are three ways of dealing with this archie.

Method 1. Clear the main area, and snipe the archvile with chaingun.

Method 2. Fight your way to the archvile balcony, and dispatch the flameboi with SSG.

Method 3. Quickly get the rocket launcher, at put it to work.

I prefer method 3, because it is the fastest one, and also leaves me with the rocket launcher. This approach has one main obstacle: the archvile will try to zap the doomguy, while doomguy is riding the lift on the west side of the map. To avoid the flames, doomguy must hide on the north-western corner of the lift.

 

Method 3 works as follows:

Exit the starting room, ignore everything, grab SSG, go to the lift, clear the chaingunners from the lift, hide from flames in north-estern corner of the lift platform, reach rocket launcher room.

That’s the main trick.

After that, there are still many obstacles – monsters before the rocket launcher, pain elementals, who can throw lost souls through blocking lines, a second archvile, which ambushes the player around the RL, an entrenched revenant crowd. But the entrenched revenant crowd can be ignored, and everything else can be destroyed.

The main task at this point is to get the rocket launcher + about 8 rockets, and go take revenge on that pesky archvile near the start. With archvile dead, the map opens up considerably. From now on, the player has multiple paths to victory. The victory won’t be easy, however. There are more pain elementals, more archviles, and even a cyberdemon on this map.

 

I think, that “Enceinte Infernale” is best described as a mini-version of “Fire and Ice” (Scythe map 30). Like “Fire and Ice”, “Enceinte Infernale” has pretty high monster density, and many entrenched monsters. Both “Enceinte Infernale” and “Fire and Ice” can be taken slowly. However, the player needs to fight a lot, before they can claim a convenient safe spot*.

* Starting area of “Enceinte Infernale” appears perfectly safe at a first glance. But if you get stuck there with two pain elementals, you risk losing a lot of health.

 

“Enceinte Infernale” was frustrating at times, but in the end it was an engaging and interesting challenge.

 

Map Rankings

Spoiler

 

Great maps

map 19

map 32 and map 31

map 18

map 09 and map 06,

map 13

Really good maps

map 8

map 17

map 20 and map 03

map 23

map 15 and map 04

Good maps

map 12

map 05

map 22

map 01

map 02

map 14 (see note 1)

Ok maps

map 07

map 21 and map 11 (see note 2)

map 10

Poor maps

map 16 (see note 2)

 

The rankings are all subjective!

 

Note 1: map 14 would go up one grade (to Really Good), if it had less grindy Cacodemon crowd at the start.

Note 2: maps 11 and 16 would go up two grades (to Really good and Good respectively), if properly strong weapons were provided.

 

 

42 minutes ago, Thelokk said:

Still, the seemingly threatening gameplay can be cheesed to a degree that I'm kind of surprised it made the cut at all - even the few times you need to get out of the shadows you can simply hide behind the next checkpoint and dispatch everything from there.

 

In my experience, the same approach works with “Fire and Ice” from Scythe. You grab SSG, grab RL, grab BFG, grab invuln, clear the Revenant-Vile ambush on the side stairs leading up from the lava - and voila! You have all the important weapons and a very good hiding spot on the stairs. After that, the whole map can be slowly dismantled.

 

The crucial diffirence between “Enceinte Infernale” and “Fire and Ice” is map size. Slow approach on “Enceinte Infernale” takes less than 30 minutes. Slow approach on “Fire and Ice” requires at least 2 hours. The player needs a very strong frame of mind to maintain good awareness for 2-3 hours straight, and not bubmle into a bunch of damaging projectiles flying from a far away.

Edited July 23, 2022 by Azure_Horror : grammar

[RHhe82]

MAP23: Enceinte Infernale. 88/88 K, 3/3 S. Completion time 13:19.

 

Ouch! This one's mean. I feel overwhelmed at the start and for quite a while indeed, but that maybe because of less fortunate routing, making me miss the rocket launcher for a long time. After finding it I quite enjoyed this little beast, but... there - just - had - to - be - a - final - road - block - cyber - demon. Luckily spawning AV's didn't resurrect and consume too much of my precious ammo, or I would have been a sour boy.
 

[tonytheparrot]

(Played from a pistol-start on UV with Prboom+, saves are allowed)

Map 23: Enceinte Infernale by Arnaud "Oxyde" Florian

126% kills, 66% items, 100% secrets

Time: 5:23

 

Oxyde's Enceinte Infernale is one of the most fun and fast-paced maps in the 3 Heures trilogy. Despite fitting in a square of 2048 map units per side and not even containing 100 monsters, this level will make you run like a lunatic right from the start, forcing you to dodge lost souls, spectres, chaingun fire and revenant missiles  while hiding from arch-vile surveillance. Thankfully, most of the enemies are stationary, making hiding from them easier, even if you shouldn't get too cocky as most of them have a view on the entire central area. On top of that, Enceinte Infernale is very well detailed, it's marble aesthetic works perfectly with the checkerboard floor and it's Duke 3D track is a perfect fit. Overall, I can't ask for much more in a Doom map, fun as hell gameplay, great music and excellent visuals, especially for being made in almost 3 hours.

 

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

Love:

Map 19

Map 23

Map 31

Map 6

Map 32

Map 18

Map 3

Map 5

Really Like:

Map 12

Map 17

Map 8

Map 13

Map 21

Map 4

Map 14

Map 20

Map 7

Map 9

Like:

Map 22

Map 2

Map 1

Map 10

Mediocre:

Map 15

Dislike:

Map 11

Map 16

 

 

[Biodegradable]

MAP22: Vaine Tentative

UV | Continuous | GZDoom

 

A green-marble techbase that works as a breather of sorts after the intensity of MAP21. There's nothing too challenging going on, but it's a nicely-made map where we can chill a bit. Visually it's very nice and I liked how the progression flowed. Things get a little bit spicer towards the very end, but it's nothing a reasonably-experienced Doomer can handle unless they get careless. So yeah, it's a bit of a doddle, but that's not necessarily a bad thing unless you're one of those masochistic players who need things cranked up to 11 constantly. Not amazing, but not awful and a little bit more significant than a, "Meh" so it's... fine? Yeah, let's go with that. It's fine.

 

MAP23: Enceinte Infernale

 

Oxyde returns with another thrilling map that, while a fair bit smaller and simpler in layout, will still pack a punch. It ramps up the difficulty one may have felt was lacking in MAP22, though it also kind of neuters itself with its odd use of block lines that the player can easily exploit, so perhaps calling it challenging might be a little too charitable? Unexperienced players will likely receive a bollocking for a bit, but more experienced players will likely make good use of the block lines to nullify the demonic threat. Honestly, the biggest challenge for me was the third secret I could figure out. I wouldn't say this map is a let-down after the previous Oxyde map, but I will admit I expected something a little better. It's still good fun in its own way, but if you loved MAP08 as much as I did, you might feel a bit underwhelmed. It's very striking visually but it's all bark with little bite thanks to the misguided use of block lines. Not sure what Oxyde was thinking there.

 

 

[Monsieur E]

Map23- Enceinte Infernale by Oxyde 
100% kills
 

Holy hell this one hits like a truck. Not a single monster is wasted here, everything seems deliberately designed to cut your throat. Backing up a bit, this one visually looks really good, particularly with the chessboard tiles being a good complement to the green marble and brown textures. However, you won't have much time to take in the scenery because this level doesn't give you any moment to sit down. 
 

The starting setup is lethal, you obviously can't stay in the main room because of the snipers taking potshots at you at every instant alongside their archvile captain. In addition, there are pain elementals who make it their mission to suffocate the air with lost souls, often because they end up infighting with one of the several snipers surrounding you. To deal with all of these, you're given your super shotgun and chaingun, both with limited ammo so I found that it's not a viable strategy to camp. 
 

As @Azure_Horror pointed out above, there are only three methods plausible of which I'd concur that the RL method is the ideal one as the ambush that guards it is easy to dismantle. In addition, it allows you to clean up with the revenant cage with the added bonus of likely triggering an infight with the mancubus who's disposed off pretty easily. With the RL in hand, get rid of that damned archvile and now comes the blue key.
 

The blue key fight is the hardest in the entire level, due to a quartet of pain elementals compromising your mobility as well as the lost souls gradually chipping down your health and you can't move towards any health packs because of the cloud of lost souls, quite a pain. In addition, there's a swarm of cacodemons alongside a trio of arachnotrons to watch out for, the bionic spiders in particular also block your mobility; oh and there's also an archvile which spawns but I consistently was able to immediately dispose of him with rockets. I may sound like I didn't enjoy it but, much like the level itself, it's like a puzzle you gotta solve and it's quite enjoyable challenge.
 

The final bit of the level summons a trio of archviles which is certainly a pain especially if you don't have many rockets left but I did find a way to make this much easier. Firstly, straferun to collect the supercharge out in the closet and then archvile jump onto the other closet which has a cell pack and rocket boxes on it. They aren't a whole lot but they're enough to purge at least two of them and if you kept your plasma ammo handy, enough to make the cyberdemon a joke. Clean up the final dummy archvile and you're done with the level.
 

This might be in contention for my favorite level yet; while it does have a luck aspect to it, its compactness and short run time make up for it in my opinion and it's very enjoyable to play. It's like a doom level equivalent of a puzzle and finding the right strategies and pulling it off is very satisfying. Loved this one. 

Edited July 23, 2022 by Monsieur E : fixed a bit of weird phrasing and I also forgot about Map21 in my comment about green marble :p

[RED77]

Map 22

 

A clever and well-put-together map.
I'm not a fan of cyberdemons in small rooms, but I'll say this one feels right, but I can say exactly why.
The automap at the end leads to a secret, and you have to back track, but that's ok.

I like this map.
 

★★★★☆ 

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 23: Enciente Infernale

by Arnaud Florent @Oxyde

 

Oxyde brings this megawad a badly-needed dose of energy with this compact, tight, and deadly offering. You'll definitely want to head to the other end of the courtyard as soon as possible if you want to survive and from that point, killing the Imps and Mancubi here should hopefully be doable. From this point, thelokk is mostly correct in saying that the fights can essentially be cheesed, but you don't get lots of ammo, especially if you can't access the cell secret like me, so the Arch-viles/Pain Elementals are really great at adding tension. The Arch-vile placement especially has shades of something from Trilethal and the last battle of Etat 'd Emergencie from 180 Minutes Por Vivre, released 6 years later. It's just enough to almost despair, yet low enough to perfectly complement the minimal resources you're given. Gladly for me, one of the Arch-viles was killed by a group of Revenants they'd resurrected earlier. I could not evade the rockets of the Cyberdemon for all the luck though. And naturally, there was one last Arch-vile to poke you in the eye before exiting. Almost the best map thus far. Action never lets up and there's no sleeping til Brooklyn here boiiii.

lmd_3ha2_23.zip

[Roofi]

Map 23 : Enceinte Infernale

 

 

The two things I remember the most in that map are the black and white checkerboard floor and the condensed layout. Because of its compacity, I feel like playing a Franckfrag's map but with Oxyde's mapping style.

 

Oxyde has an old-school way to create difficult maps. This statement come from the many "block monsters" lines which make the monsters a lot less efficient than they should be. These lines indicate that the monsters have been placed to fulfil a specific role, but in return the player can easily cheese. It reminds me of what was done in old wads like HR or Kama Sutra. In Enceinte Infernale,  these lines are used so much that it become comical.  There was really no need to block the last cyberdemon.

 

Overall, I like this map. Not the best from Oxyde but the aesthetics look polished and really classic mainly because of the checkboard floor I mentioned above. The music of Duke Nukem is a perfect match for the tension created by the various traps.

 

Grade : B

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by Roofi

[cannonball]

MAP23 - “Enceinte Infernale” by Oxyde

The placement of the rocket launcher could certainly be classed as mean, that said there probably isn't an issue with this. The best part of this map is the start and essentially covers the main area of the map. This map has a real issue with block monster lines to the point where it makes the combat goofy at best, the rocket launcher corridor is the most noticeable until the ending.

The sequence after pressing the switch behind the blue door is quite simply awful, the stationary cyberdemon, the archviles that appear on the ledge, it just feels like a way to drag the map out in the worst way possible. The archvile on the exit teleporter is the cherry on top of that excrement sundae. 

There are things to like here, but some very questionable design decisions really bring this map down.

[brick]

MAP21 - “Diabolic Patterns” by Memfis
I found some of the combat design annoying (it's Plutonia-inspired so that might be it) but overall didn't dislike the map. It also looks beautiful, impressively so for the 3 hours. It's a bit too dark (maybe because I'm playing on a sunny day) but the lighting is otherwise very nice, the map is quite atmospheric as a result, helped by the music.

 

MAP22 - “Vaine Tentative” by NilsTheRed
I was really enjoying this one until near the end, but the mancubus/cyberdemon room followed by the barons in nukage soured me on it a bit. I still like it overall, but I thought it spiked a bit too much, especially with how little room you have to maneuver in both cases.

 

MAP23 - “Enceinte Infernale” by Oxyde
This one has some interesting ideas but I didn't like the execution. Too many PEs, and too many revenants and archviles on higher ledges that make it a pain to deal with them. The block monster lines make it worse, especially when they're far back enough to shoot you when you can barely see them (never mind hit them). The idea that most of the combat occurs in that central area could be cool but most of the ambushes felt cheap, and the last one was just weird with the cyberdemon stuck behind another block monster line.

[tmorrow]

game mode:  gzdoom4.8.0, uvmax, pistol starts. If a map is too hard, I'll revert to using saves and note it on that map review.

---

map24

A facility of blood floors, red brick and some wood. No pain sectors. It's a journey out and return map with enemies being repopulated for more fights. Ammo is a bit tight unless you locate the berserk secret, especially when you have to get through some barons and ultimately cybie at the end. Poor cybie is a sad victim to poor aiming AI and can easily be cheesed using either of the 2 stairs in the end room. Doomguy isn't complaining, he likes it that way, less rockets to the face.

[NiGHTS108]

MAP16: Vile Sombre

By JC Dorne

Kills: 85%

Items: 92%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 5:28

 

Vile Sombre is a weird one to be honest, it's probably the map I feel most divided on in the wad. It's a Franck styled smaller map with his trademark very direct combat and flow, but man the ammo and Arch-Vile usage here is such a bummer... Really forget about most of the map because the real offender comes when you open the exit and, like, 5 or 6 bloodthirsty Arch-Viles swarm the map looking to keep the combat going at a point when you'll be lucky to have any rockets left if you do intend to actually use them in a map with several heavies even before this point. It sucks too because I do actually partly enjoy this map prior to this moment even if I'd still rather have more ammo than not. This map is above JC Dorne's first submission for me but I'm still not into it. Ranked below Generator Of Death.

 

Grade: C

Difficulty: B

 

 

MAP17: Infiltraction

By Ch0ww

Kills: 100%

Items: 100%

Secrets: 100%

Time: 6:09

 

You know I think Ch0ww is secretly 3ha2's biggest winner! I mean this map isn't amazing or anything but I think he's come a long way from Crash. Infiltraction is a pretty nice and well rounded quarry map with some pleasant fights and texturing. Frankly I could end the review there, there's really not too much more to it. The texturing, MIDI and especially early rocket launcher secret give me Hell Revealed flashbacks, but thankfully this map is way kinder than anything under that name. I'm not wild about the ending and you could argue the early RL secret is a little mean for something so necessary, but I like this one a lot. Ranked just above Entraxe.

 

Grade: B+

Difficulty: B-

 

 

MAP18: Somewhere In The Slime Ocean

By Plut

Kills: 92%

Items: 100%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 3:15

 

Another nice map here, even if probably one of the smallest maps in the whole wad. It's not very complicated. Most of the action takes place in the first area which likes to teleport in numerous Arch-Viles however they come in waves and you've got ammo and cover aplenty, so I wouldn't say they're too scary. After you get out of that feisty trap you'll be confronted against numerous pop-up monsters, (which if you've played Speed Of Doom shouldn't be a surprise) and a miniature outpost and that's it! I'll admit this grade is carried quite a bit by the visual splendour even if the map is a little simple, but as a whole I like it a lot, going above Sombre Angoisse.

 

Grade: B+

Difficulty: C-

 

 

MAP19: Brexin

By [WH]-Wilou84

Kills: 93%

Items: 83%

Secrets: 0%
Time: 9:06

 

Not too long after Dextromethorphane is another one of my favourites in the wad! I honestly didn't notice until now but Wilou really is just landing hit after hit! Brexin feels quite a bit like Micro-Slaughter, mostly with the cold, sleek and simple layout that finds wonderful reuse for multiple fights. And, of course, the fights themselves which naturally all hit like a truck. Naturally most of the appeal is in those but I must say how well the layout compliments the deep, inky blues and dark metal greys Wilou paints with in this map. That's basically it to this one, just a strong lineup of big league fights with big league weaponry. I'm an easy guy to please sometimes. Top of the list so far, maps like these pull speedy community projects together.

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: A

 

 

[Book Lord]

MAP 24 – Supplice Claustrophobe by Maxime Bisiaux @Datacore85

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

This was an infernal level dominated by the red colour, whose start reminded a bit of MAP25: Bloodfalls. Besides the somewhat restrained difficulty, I found this level to be quite unnerving at times. I pressed a lot of switches that lowered walls, sometimes with a few monsters behind, sometimes with just the way forward. Alerted hellspawn could be heard in the background because their hideout was behind a blood fall in one of the main passages, and sometimes monsters appeared behind me without warning. At first, I scratched my head, then I realised these were intentional features to build up tension.   

Spoiler

The strained atmosphere was more fake than real, as most encounters were easy. Weaponry and ammo were enough, and the Hell Noble trap by the RSK was sorted with the plasma rifle. The exit area featured another Cyberdemon in a tiny yard, but this time there was a ledge from which I killed the boss with impunity. There was also a BFG tucked in a non-secret corner, and a useless (on continuous play) secret Berserk in the starting room. I appreciated the effort to create an eerie and unsettling level, but the time constraint somehow prevented Datacore85 from designing memorable encounters as in his previous contributions.

[Biodegradable]

MAP24: Supplice Claustraphobe

UV | Continuous | GZDoom

 

Here's a map that I feel was a leap forward for Datacore in the sense of what would become a recurring theme in his later work: A bloodsoaked, crimson Hell held together with viscera, bone and mechanical steel. The combat may be weak, but the thematic touch, the curious shifting of space in its progression and eerie atmosphere would be something that would stick with 'em for years to come afterwards. Datacore's imagination and willingness to explore still shines through, even if the execution is a little wonky. As someone who started playing their later work, I cannot help but deeply admire this mapper's humble roots and seeing how much they've grown since is awesome. I don't have much else to say here, but this map does remind me to be excited for Datacore's Flesharmonic project.

 

 

[RED77]

Map 23

 

This is a map that I want to love, but I just can't.

Here's the problem.
For me, if you pistol start this map it's Too much, but if you are on a continuous play it's too little. 
The design of the map it's what I like the most. And the secrets were super useful.

But I can't get rid of that bitter taste. 

 

★★☆☆☆