The DWmegawad Club plays: Cydonia & Arrival

[DavitW]

MAP16: Sasquatch
There's a little bit of platforming required to get through this one. Though the only jump that really poses a problem is the one required to reach the secret area that gives you a measly 2 rockets and backpack "Full" of ammo. There's not even enough ammo in this map to make use of the extended capacity from a pistol start. You have options on where to go at the beginning of this map. My suggestion is go through the big block of teleporters at the beginning so you can get a plasma rifle and useful megasphere secret. There's a hidden hallway behind none of the chaingunner cages I couldn't reach without clipping. There's a few health bonuses and a switch in there, but considering it's not marked as a secret I didn't bother looking for it for long.

 

MAP17: The Cesspools
This one starts out pretty spooky. I mean what reason could they possible have to give you the BFG as your first weapon? Thankfully it turns out to be a pretty easy going affair. The most difficult part was the final room behind the yellow key door. The archviles have a good view over the area and you also have mancubi covering both of your flanks. But saving a BFG shot or two of plasma makes it easy enough.

 

MAP18: Backlash
Careful rationing of your cells and rockets is important to get through this one. Just about every fight involves a group of revenants or archvile in some way, sometimes forcing you to deal with 2, 3, or 4 archviles at a time. There's not a whole lot of fodder to contend with here. In fact there's nothing lower than a chaingunner to be found. The final room isn't too bad with the ample supplies given to you beforehand, but it seems like there's an inescapable pit if you happen to say, get pushed off the edge by a chaingunners bullets. It wouldn't be fun at all having that happen to you after playing through the rest of this map. No, that wouldn't be fun at all.

cydonia16.zip

cydonia17.zip

cydonia18.zip

[RHhe82]

MAP20: Reaper. Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, PS. 96/96 K, 2/2 S, 20/20 I. Completion time 11:42 (on August 21st: 18:43).

 

Hoo boy! It's like... Well, I guess Reaper feels like a reasonable version of Fire & Ice to me. Something about colour scheme and monster swarming around every corner.

 

I remember really, REALLY struggling here the first time, but now that I knew how to access the secrets, I had it slightly easier. Slightly. The real dealbreaker this time was when some pesky revenants made me fall to lava, after which I scurried to the escape teleporter. That's when I accidentally telefragged the roaming cyberdemon :P Actually I wasn't sure if that was a good thing since cybie often is a worthy co-op buddy, but it did relieve a lot of pressure from my back.

 

Also this time I found out a way to cheese revenants that flood to the place chamber that's located right behind the starting spot. I had a rocket launcher at this point already (unlike on my first playthrough) and the cyberboy was waiting on the other side of the chamber, leaving revenants between his rockets and mine, unable to consistently fire missiles onto my platform.

In any case, the hardest map of Cydonia (when we exclude MAP31 as a special case as it's not easily comparable), and perhaps the best. At least TOP-3 material. Short, but punchy as heck.

 

 

MAP21: Fin. DNF :P

 

If Cydonia was a lesser and/or longer mapset, I might not have played it the second time so soon after the first one just to participate in the club. Luckily Cydonia's map are short, and quality-wise they range from good to great. Style of maps is very much to my liking, and difficulty is on the level where it challenges me, but doesn't crush me, either.

 

I also think Cydonia is a perfect example that megawad doesn't need to be 32 maps long. With 20 actual maps plus two secret ones I think Cydonia hits a sort of sweet spot. With nine extra maps plus some sort of Icon of Sin rehash there would most likely have been filler material, or maybe even worse: perfectly fine maps but me feeling so exhausted that I wouldn't enjoy them anyway.

 

A great set of maps. I see little reason to replay Plutonia anymore when we have mapsets such as Cydonia to get me back in the groove whenever I need it.

[NiGHTS108]

MAP14: Deadlock

Kills: 100%

Items: 75%

Secrets: 100%

Time: 7:03

 

Deadlock was alright, this feels like a combination of two pretty sweet Plutonia maps, that being Neurosphere and NME, but ends up being less favourable than either to me sadly. It's remarkable this is an Inmost Dens styled map that actually is in the MAP14 slot, I'll acknowledge, but outside of that I don't remember too much about Deadlock. Not many standout fights or design decisions here. I do like the Arch-Vile pop-up ambush to get to the last area, it's definitely one of the biggest, baddest, and most fun fights so far but this, for the most part, is just another Cydonia map sadly. I'm not sure if this one is well liked, but even if it was still fairly strong it's probably going pretty low on my ranking.

 

Grade: B-

Difficulty: C-

 

 

MAP15: Hatchet

Kills: 100%

Items: 100%

Secrets: 100%

Time: 10:57

I quite decently enjoyed Hatchet, not much that extremely stands out here either, but I'd consider it generally a fun and rather frantic time, especially at the beginning when you're scrambling to get away from demons, running as fast as you can to gain weapons and just barely slipping past projectiles. The map can feel a tad bit boring in between the big moments sometimes to be honest, but I may be saying that because I tried to get the secret exit which took some time (Even if it was... PRETTY creative.) The circular rooms were pretty cool, generally bringing back some of that frantic energy from the beginning, definitely helped out by the BFG's appearence. Although this one isn't the most significant map like MAP14, I'd say I had more fun with it either way.

 

Grade: B+

Difficulty: B-

 

 

MAP31: Night Terrors

Kills: 94%

Items: 60%

Secrets: 50%

Time: 5:42 

 

See, THIS and in turn MAP32 is what I want out of a secret map. Night Terrors completely sells itself on the gimmick, and the reward for deciphering its mysteries is one of this wad's most enjoyable slaughterfests, but I'll talk about that more in a bit. The gimmick here is Arch-Vile jumping, make sure to leave all of them alive as even just one of them dying will result in MAP32 becoming unobtainable. I learned that the hard way. I honestly think the puzzles are really creatively done and fun to solve, lots of "Aha!" moments when you finally figure out whatever the hell you're supposed to be doing. I'll warn you, there is a necessary rocket jump on this map, and the ending can be *kinda* frustrating to get to, but I don't think they should take away from what was otherwise a great time.

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: A+

 

 

MAP32: Get On It

Kills: 100%

Items: 100%

Secrets: 100%

Time: 8:15

 

Get On It is a Go 2 It reference. What am I supposed to say. Of course it's going high on the list (Although there is one map I'd consider just a tiny bit better. We'll get there in a bit...) This one takes a little less from its inspiration than Go 2 It ironically enough given how quick this wad is to reference other Plutonia maps in the visuals/layout etc, only a few chunks from Congo and The Gateway Of Hell to be seen here as well as vague references to the original Go 2 It with the combat (Rows of Mancubi, mobs of Chaingunners later on, Cyberdemon + Baron ending, c'mon.) There may be a few others but I didn't spot them. Anyway the map itself, I think the combat is definitely tighter and more direct than the original I noticed not really as much open space to run around, in general it's smaller and contains a higher monster density. It definitely makes it more fun, but I don't know, a part of me wishes it was just a tad longer. Maybe just one or two huge fights would seal the deal. As is, it's a Go 2 It reference I can't nitpick too much. Get On It is definitely the best so far.

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: A

 

 

MAP16: Sasquatch

Kills: 100%

Items: 84%

Secrets: 25%

Time: 7:43

 

Sasquatch was pretty neat. The first thing that comes to my memory is the extreme height variation in the opening room, more impressive than a lot of what we've seen from this already impressive wad height variation wise. The gameplay is kinda just your standard fare which... I'm kinda noticing for a few of these lately. A few highlight fights among meek and smaller encounters just to keep the action flowing. The main highlight fight in question here was the red key one, unleashing an Arch-Vile and several Pain Elementals and Revenants over more precarious footing to keep you on your toes. Just a strong, honest fight here. The ending is pretty cool, getting to show off all that height variation in the opening room on the way to the exit. Sasquatch isn't bad by any means, in fact I quite liked it, but I'm starting to notice Cydonia falling into a bit of a pattern.

 

Grade: B+

Difficulty: B-

 

 

[erzboesewicht]

MAP19: Purgatory

 

Again a difficult map, this time much larger and exploratory than those that came before. I wonder if it's linear or nonlinear, because there are two branching paths near the start, but in one I encountered a dead end so I returned back to the other one. But some elements like the SSG and RL at the yellow key hint more to a nonlinear setup. The length of course hints to "Tombstone" or "Impossible Mission", but the start has similarities to "The Death Domain". This map is very setpiece-heavy, and has a nice variety of fights, from simple circlestrafing while avoiding/killing commandos (big blood hub cavern), through a gimmick-puzzle fight with barrels and death-trap teleporters (FDA enthusiasts will hate that part, you actually have to shoot the barrels from an opposing tower to be able to reach the red key ledge), up to complex encounters with viles and chaingunners as main protagonists. The hardest fight for me was the vile duo at the blue key, but that may have been simply because I ran out of rockets which would have been really needed here (you get some of them mid-fight, but if you don't push forward from the start with the best weapon you have it's too late for rocketing, fortunately I had some plasma). I found the secrets only at the end, and they're really generous and would have changed everything, lowering the difficulty up to 2 points in my rating scale. But without them, "Purgatory" remains at the upper challenge-y end of "Plutonic" combat. Another excellent map, I'm becoming addicted to Cydonia :)

 

(Having read the other club submissions, definitely the map has a branch, but not where I thought but behind the red key encounter.)

 

Rating: 9,5/10
Difficulty: 8/10 (with secrets: 6/10)

 

MAP20: Reaper

 

A punchy, but quite short finale. While you have time to enjoy the scenery at the start (which this time visually is a bit more basic than in other Cydonia offerings, a "standard brick fortress"), once you move some meters it becomes the hottest start yet of the megawad and it took me several tries to find a foothold. After that, it wasn't that bad. I felt some parallels to Plutonia's "Twilight" in this map, mostly regarding to pacing - you get a lot of very strong powerups, including two(!) megaspheres (one even non-secret) and an early BFG, but most of the time you face constant pressure from all sides, mainly from our beloved commandos. Later, a mid-sized (but for Plutonic standards, large) revenant army, lots of spiders and a cyb join the party. Archvile placement is relatively mild, they come mostly alone and are quite rapidly disposed, one later one may have some success in resurrecting foes but may not make it too far into the corpses to cause too much trouble. Rockets are plentiful and it's fun to take down the baddies with them. The final boss of the map - and the mapset - is a lone Spider Mastermind, with some chaingunners, an AV and a revvie guarding the exit proper. A fun map, but not among my absolute favourites of the set, it's also far from being the most difficult.

 

Rating: 7/10
Difficulty: 6/10

 

MAP21: Fin

An epilogue map only consisting of a teleporter and some rocks. (no rating)

 

Final thoughts:

 

Cydonia is the closest megawad to Plutonia I played up to this date, which is no surprise as some maps were made for the Final Doom the way id (?) did project. I would rate the Plutonia-closeness of some Plut-inspired wads: (Plutonia) > Cydonia > PRCP > (Speed of Doom) > Plutonia 2 > Urania (and I still didn't play PRCP 2 and only the first 2 maps of Ozonia and Adonis). This does not mean the authors didn't came up with some fresh concepts. There are two outliers that I think the Casalis wouldn't have published in that way, of course one is the puzzle-heavy MAP31 and the other one MAP19, which has good "Plutonic" fights, but also some gimmicks like the barrels you have to shoot to not fall in a death trap I don't think they would have used. MAP05 is also a re-interpretation of the Plutonia concept, its gimmick (a long health-less stretch) would however be something I could imagine from the Casalis.

 

I enjoyed all maps of the megawad, the ratings never fell below a 6,5/10 (solid) and reach up to outstanding (10/10). The short size makes them an ideal mapset to play casually when you don't have so much time, e.g. after work, and want some good Doom action. The difficulty is very Plutonic (again, with the exception of MAP31 where the secret exit journey is significantly harder) but the progression curve is way smoother, with the hardest maps being in the stretch between MAP13 and MAP20 (with MAP04 as an "early punch" outlier).

 

I became aware of Cydonia from the "Discuss fights" thread (love these monster-placement-theory discussions) and it really delivered in the department of "well choreographed fights with (relatively) few enemies and without too trivial solutions". I also like that "unfair" techniques (death traps, in-the-face revenants, pop-up hordes, coverless archvile groups), while sometimes employed were never overused; they are more present in Plutonia but even the Casalis seemed to be aware of not making them too obnoxious. Some healthy sadism is good, but not in a way it becomes repetitive :)

 

Was there a difference between the style of both authors? I didn't look at the list until now (from reading some club submissions I got already some idea). I would second the perception I read in one of the club submissions that Scotty's maps were often a bit closer to the Casali style. While AD_79 diverted more from this basic Plutonia model, he did also provide some maps which were very homage-y, above all MAP01. Scotty initially provided a bit more punch, but it were two AD_79 maps (MAP19 and MAP31) I perceived as the hardest, but that may vary according to gameplay style.

 

Overall rating: 8,5/10
Overall difficulty: 5/10 ("Very Plutonic")
Favourite maps: MAP16, MAP18, MAP19, MAP31, MAP08 (in that order)
Least favourite: MAP01 (still firmly in "solid" territory)
Best fights: Red key in MAP16 for efficiency, pre-Yellow key in MAP18 ("the arachnotron wall") and RK in MAP19 for spectacle

Edited September 20, 2022 by erzboesewicht

[Soll]

MAP20: Reaper

Here it is. Hell’s last holdout. A palace on top of a vast sea of lava. A greeting committee will come out and welcome you when you turn the corner. Ignore them and don’t fire a shot so as not to disturb the other guests. Run towards the megasphere, grab every weapon and ammo you can along the way, then you can open fire on the pair of revenants guarding the megasphere. The closet they were in makes a good holding point to fight back the enemies approaching you, as well as hiding from the turret revenant’s missiles. The BFG door will open the walls beside it, just don’t freeze and take cover. Climbing the stairs at the archvile cage will release a pincer trap with a cyberdemon and 3 pain elementals. Take care of the meatballs first, the cyberdemon can’t hit you if you stand lower at the stairs. Standing at the BFG door area should allow you some moving space to dodge the rockets and spam BFG shots at the cyber. Hitting the switch at the soul sphere will unleash a horde of monsters coming for you from all directions. I usually save the secret megasphere for this part. Prioritise the revenants down below, the 2 pain elementals and the archvile, as well as any blocking monster. I died at this fight several times because I was being frugal with cells which allowed the revenants to corner me. The mastermind is no threat unless you’re really low on health, just ssg her or use the bfg if you still have cells left. The final ledge once again exploits player instincts to potentially lethal effects. Going near the switch will activate some long-range chaingunners atop the wall across the lava pool. If you panic-press the button, a closet with a revenant will open up behind you, and an archvile will teleport in at the exit. The button alcove will provide you with sufficient cover from all chaingunners, so snipe them from there first then you can safely hit the switch. Gun down Mr. Bones, delete the martian and you’re home free. 

 

Quite a thrilling ride, the map doesn’t lay off the energy from start to finish, while never making the fights too overwhelming. This map feels rather standard, which makes me question why it was chosen as the final map. That being said, I did enjoy it, and I find it to have high replay value as well.

 

MAP21: Fin

The particle accelerator did not take you home, but rather an oasis floating in an unknown part of hell, with nothing but the red ghastly sky as far as the eye can see. You try to fix the accelerator. With only your weapons and no tools, your chances of returning home are slim. But, at the very least, you can take a little break now...

 

FINAL COMMENTS

Cydonia is a fantastic, very well-made WAD. As said in the Cacowards, this wad is “the truest successor to Plutonia”, and I agree with that notion. Plutonia 2 and PRCP, while excellent in their own rights, do deviate from the classic Plutonia gameplay and design in their later maps, with maps larger in scale and enemy counts in the hundreds, which is not bad in itself, but what made Plutonia so popular with the community is the compact design and low body count but precise enemy placement, creating the signature arcade feel that has helped Plutonia hold up after so many years. Cydonia has managed to capture that Plutonia essence in its purest form, with the maps feeling consistent all the way through. While there are difficulty spikes, they are never too overwhelming to the point of scaring away new players (Some people might be spooked by MAP31, but it’s in the secret slot anyway so it’s more of an optional path rather than mainline progression, and I can respect the experimentation even if it doesn’t quite pan out). For new players looking for something more challenging after Plutonia, skilled players who are looking for something bite-sized to chew through, or hardcore Casali fanboys/fangirls looking for their next Plutonia fix, this WAD is highly recommended. I’d like to extend my thanks to the authors for making such a high-quality product, and a beautiful tribute to the old masters. 

 

The 20s have been quite eventful for Final Doom Fanatics, with Plutonia 3 and TNT 2 in the works at the time of writing, and PRCP 2 and Cydonia now up on the archives. There were also talks of TNT Convilution floating around, but there does not seem to be any information on that as of late, though it would be cool to see the TNTR maps that did not make the cut. I am excited to see what the community has in store for us.  

 

For now, let’s see what awaits our Arrival in the next WAD…

Edited September 20, 2022 by Soll

[Book Lord]

MAP 20 – Reaper by Alex Scott @Scotty

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

 

If this was just MAP20 and the megaWAD had another 10 levels left, I would classify it as another success for Scotty. Unfortunately, Reaper received the arduous task of wrapping up Cydonia at the peak of the player’s enjoyment, and it was not up to it. This was another punchy, well-rounded experience starting around a lava pit patrolled by several snipers which were incredibly tricky to gun down. You can single out the numerous Chaingunners to avoid being riddled with bullets, but the Revenants on the towers were out of aim. Better move on and enter the building, where additional weapons and ammo could be collected, but an eye must stay open for the closets that will constantly open behind the player.

Spoiler

The progression required both raising a bridge across the lava pit and collecting the YSK in the north. It was not obvious how to achieve that, but the small size ensured the essential triggers did not go unnoticed. The plasma rifle room contained a lonely skull switch on a ledge that released mayhem throughout the map, including a Revenant mini-horde, Arachnotrons, a roaming Arch-Vile, and a group of flyers from the structure across the lava, which unveiled the Spiderdemon early on. It was advisable to mess with that switch after raising the bridge, killing the teleporting Cyberdemon, and collecting the resources scattered around, especially for pistol starters who do not have large ammo supplies.

Spoiler

Once the Mastermind chamber was cleared, Reaper ended on a sour note, first with an annoying semicircle of faraway Commandos, followed by an Arch-Vile & Revenant combo that was easily dispatched. This was a bit anticlimactic as the end of Cydonia, considering that the rest of the level presented a good crescendo of intensity. The secrets were simple as usual, and the supplies were generous, even for pistol starters (full weapon roster and 2 Megaspheres!). Obviously, this was not designed as the end of the megaWAD, but just to be another fun chapter in an exciting Plutonia spin-off.

 

MAP 21 – Fin by Alex Scott @Scotty

 

Just a devil hive hideout for Doomguy to rest and try to repair the accelerator prototype he has been carrying around since MAP07. Cydonia ends here and his fate remains unknown.

[Andromeda]

9 hours ago, DavitW said:

MAP16: Sasquatch

 

There's a hidden hallway behind one of the chaingunner cages I couldn't reach without clipping. There's a few health bonuses and a switch in there, but considering it's not marked as a secret I didn't bother looking for it for long.

You can access that area by stepping on the plate with a candle nearby.

 

6 hours ago, Soll said:

There were also talks of TNT Convilution floating around, but there does not seem to be any information on that as of late, though it would be cool to see the TNTR maps that did not make the cut.

TNT Convilution changed name to TNT Forever and is now undergoing private beta testing.

[Soll]

36 minutes ago, Andromeda said:

TNT Convilution changed name to TNT Forever and is now undergoing private beta testing.

Oh ok I see the thread now. Nice!

[Book Lord]

Final Thoughts

 

There are not tons of megaWADs out there rooted in The Plutonia Experiment. It is not only the relative shortage of PWADs that use -complevel 4 and PLUTONIA.WAD, but also the lack of authors willing to harass and challenge the player without serving hundreds and hundreds of demons to kill, trying to mimic the stinging, somewhat teasing combat design of Dario and Milo Casali. The best emulations by the Doom community over the years concerned either the visual style of Plutonia, faithfully replicated in bigger environments with epic monster counts and mind-boggling progression (Plutonia 2, Urania), or its gameplay, reproduced with modern sensibility in larger settings (e.g., Deadwing’s Moonblood, Exomoon and Ozonia). I am playing right now the first Plutonia Revised Community Project (and took note of the brand-new sequel) which really digs the sadistic side of the IWAD, but my current impression is that mappers always wanted to get beyond Plutonia, just as if nailing its balance of great action, clean visuals, and recklessness with small- to medium-sized maps was either out of reach, or a dull form of plagiarism.

 

Cydonia was a serious attempt to arouse the same emotions as the hardest chapter of Final Doom. Amid countless nods and quotes from the IWAD, an effective way to establish a connection if used subtly as the authors did, @Scotty and @AD_79 weaved their own tale of vicious ambushes and lethal aggression, sharing a remarkable consistency in the result of their efforts, to the point I was not always sure who made the map I was playing. While the two veterans succeeded at merging their respective styles into a coherent compilation of maps, Brayden’s levels distinguished themselves for their experimental nature, trying to export Plutonia gameplay to diverse settings and layouts, while Alex usually walked on solid ground and on the Casali’s footsteps.

 

The mappers complemented each other, and their regular turnover kept the journey varied and interesting. It was impossible to dislike Scotty’s creations, as they were faithful to the style, carefully tuned, and always entertaining. He made no false steps, and he delivered blazing fights that heated up the atmosphere without taking too long to sort out. His best entries were the hottest Cydonia had in store, dangerous and unbelievably fun at the same time. However, the most memorable maps in the megaWAD came from AD_79. He worked hard to bring up something original, taking more risks that resulted in fantastic surprises (MAP08) and other fascinating levels, but occasionally causing discomfort with unusual design choices (MAP31 above all, but also MAP05 frustrated me quite a bit).

 

I played continuous on Ultra-Violence, with savegames mid-level (not during encounters to cheat the RNG or to facilitate anything). MegaWADs like Cydonia tend to be balanced for pistol starts, but I did not feel like I was accumulating excessive resources between levels. Plutonia notably lacks a difficulty curve, since the first 12 maps show plenty of dirty tricks and some are among the hardest; the authors chose a finer calibration for Cydonia, with introductory maps being easier than their IWAD counterparts and gradually changing the ratio. My skill at Doom is still average and I felt the challenge on UV fit for my level, with only a few deaths happening in the whole blind playthrough.

 

The secret department was not a prominent feature, restricted to a few sectors per map and with AD_79 generally placing more hidden stashes than Scotty. The secret MAP31 was a tough puzzle, demanding to know everything to beat it; for this reason, I gave up and pistol started MAP32, a mandatory Go 2 It homage that played well as the original, with a few surprises that were worth seeing. Switching to the music, Cydonia borrowed most of his soundtrack from plutmidi.wad and other PWADs inspired by Plutonia, all excellent choices in this context, but it curiously did not feature any tune by AD_79 himself.

 

Offering me 22 maps of genuine Plutonia vibes paired with outstanding creative efforts, was like forcing an open door. In some cases, the levels exuded the IWAD spirit without quoting anything in special from the Casali’s legacy, so I can say that the brothers-in-arms Scotty and AD_79 went beyond my expectations. My only regret is that the megaWAD did not reach the traditional 32-map size, and that the journey ended abruptly at the peak of the player’s enjoyment. I read that some maps have aged for years before Cydonia’s release, so I think the authors did the right thing when they published what was ready in 2021; I still hope they will find the time and motivation to conceive another 10 levels, as they possess the talent and the vision to reproduce and modernise the mapping style of Dario and Milo Casali. A recommended WAD for anyone wanting to prolong and expand the experience of Plutonia without doubling the playtime.

 

Best maps:

MAP 08 – Aggrandizement AD_79

MAP 13 – Chimera by Scotty

MAP 15 – Hatchet by Scotty 

MAP 18 – Backlash by Scotty

 

Other standout maps:

MAP 07 – Fraughtification by Scotty

MAP 11 – Volcanic by AD_79

MAP 12 – Venomous by AD_79

MAP 17 – The Cesspools by Scotty

 

Special mention map:

MAP 31 – Night Terrors by @AD_79

[tmorrow]

Arrival map01

 

A large tech base as an opener. Doomguy receives a rude reception from the welcoming committee, pesky hitscanners everywhere (but not too many chaingunners). There are some archviles thrown in from time to time but ample weaponry is provided. I found this to be a funtime romp, only experiencing trouble the first time I sprung the blue key trap (we start again and get it right this time doomguy!). The path to the exit is a green slime pit cavern. If you are uvmaxing then make sure you've found 3/4 secrets before dropping into the slime since there seems to be no way to go back to the tech base part of the map after that.

[finnks13]

MAP20 - Reaper by Scotty:

7:24/9 Deaths
Scotty evidently decided that Cydonia needed to go all out for it's finale and it shows, as the level of carnage and meanness that's present here is on another level than the rest of the set. Just getting started with the level requires you to carefully unpick a crossfire of chaingunners, revenants, barons and mancubi and this isn't even the most challenging part. You'll want to get the BFG as early on as possible, it's not very well defended (only by a few imps + chaingunners) and is a huge help for the rest of the very tough ambushes. Archviles get released very often, and usually at very inoppourtune moments which keeps you on your toes.

 

You need to activate two switches to get to the yellow key and they're both very harsh. The fight on the eastern side of the map spawns a cyberdemon on the small catwalks of the main area and three pain elementals directly behind you - I didn't have much health going into this fight so I had to play near perfectly in order to survive - thankfully I can still 2-shot cybers when I need to! The fight on the west side of the map releases arachnotrons, revenants, archviles and a spider mastermind, and is probably the single hardest part of the wad - the spider will constantly be peppering you with bullets if you stand on the catwalks, and you won't have enough ammo to deal with everything the archvile resurrects unless you kill it almost immediately, which opens you up to the crossfire from the rest of the enemies. It's an excellently designed fight, and a worthy final challenge.

 

Once that's dealt with, you can open the yellow door, nuke the mastermind and the chaingunners that appear in shadow against the sky - and then deal with one final revenant and archvile duo. This is a brilliant final map, and I almost wish Scotty was willing to be this mean throughout more of the set.

 

Final Thoughts on Cydonia:

So Cydonia is Plutonia 2 in all but name, it's the closest that a "sequel" has gotten to the feeling of the original. I suspect this is because a lot of these maps were originally made for Final Doom: The Way iD Did, and so were built with the intention of trying to get as close to the Casali's maps as possible. Plutonia's visual identity and reputation for being quite hard is used as inspiration far more often than faithfully emulating the original's style and only after playing Cydonia do I realise how much I'd love to play more stuff like it. Even then, Cydonia tends to emulate the first two episodes of Plutonia much more than the final one, while Plutonia's gameplay doesn't change too much in episode 3, the maps become on the whole much longer and more about exploration and this wasn't present in Cydonia with the most expansive map being Map19.

 

Cydonia had a large hill to climb to win me over because of it's inspiration, and I must admit that I definitely remember Plutonia as being significantly better than it probably is - don't get me wrong, it's my favourite wad that was released before the current millenium but it's hard to separate my feelings for the first set of Doom maps that I truly loved playing from their actual quality. That being said, Cydonia absolutely won me over and I'm blown away by just how much fun it is, I enjoyed pretty much every map and even the couple that I didn't particularly care for seem to be big hits in the club so maybe I'm just a miserable git :P

 

Scotty's maps were harder than AD's and much more grounded in Plutonia's ideas, his most experimental level is probably Siege and even then it's main gimmick is the weapon choice at the very beginning. AD_79's maps tended to mess around with Plutonia's formula much more, such as in Hopeless, Aggrandizement and Night Terrors, though I tended to prefer his "safer" maps that weren't that experimental. Overall, I preferred Scotty's maps and that's because they're closer to the original and that appealed much more to me. I think these different author styles complemented each other very well and Cydonia definitely wouldn't be as good with just one of the two mappers here.

To anyone who loves Plutonia but hasn't had a chance to blast through Cydonia yet - you need to immediately, it's bloody fantastic.

 

Top 5 Maps:

MAP32 - Get on It
MAP20 - Reaper
MAP18 - Backlash
MAP04 - Carcinogen
MAP06 - Viper

Edited September 20, 2022 by finnks13 : small reword

[Doomy__Doom]

Wow, I procrastinated a lot. Playing without inspiration is no dice though. Back to Cydonia at least before Arrival starts lol.

 

Map 07 - Fraughtification

Dead Simple with a touch of modernity - enemies (other than the Cyber sniper, that is) feel like they are positioned in very deliberately annoying ways that make dodging awkward and render simple movement patterns inefficient, as you fail to account for projectiles from over yonder.

Map 08 - Aggrandizement

Suddenly scaled up castle. A not too demanding adventure, provided you're ok with close-quarters revs, sniper revs, mid-range revs... Did I mention Revs?
One of the traps comes with a visible -cl4 teleport bug as well - the one just past blue door, in the space before high stairs.

Map 09 - Neurotoxin

The starting stretch is probably the hardest part, as you pretty much have RL, a bit of chaingun and no SSG until a long while, as you have to do some CQ with revs/pinkies. The awkward lift ruined my run as the hell knight wandered on it and refused to get lured off, so getting past him got me scrathed twice down to 10 hp. With all the nukage around, that was not really playable.

The unkillable chaingunner gallery didn't function well - most of them died in a way unreachable for the vile. And of course we get to see teh modern design sensibility here, as you don't need to stash them rockets for the 100% kills.

Map 10 - Siege

Some pretty brutal traps and "boy sure hope you didn't go the wrong way" moments. After a couple unfortunate starts (the switch into 4 nobles isn't really survivable on blind 80/0 lol), I ended up running out of RK first, then as monsters flooded into the pool below I had the misfortune of trpping YK blocker door at 32/0. Idk how I survived YK, but I did - pretty much just had like 5 rockets left after cyber. Then I found both blue item secrets and from there it went alright.

Map 11 - Volcanic

Lots of close-quarters dance, a refreshing lack of Viles both given the slot/theme and in general. The only thing I found slightly on the unfair side is the cyber encounter - he just refused to get distracted and you don't really get much in a way of surviving even accidental splash damage on this map.

Map 12 - Venomous

For a level that gives 2 rad suits, I sure didn't spend a lot of time in the slime. Otherwise, it's a level where " expect where to run away" instincts enhance your survivability considerably, even if a couple traps try to block the way out. Found this one to be quite straightforward in "able to anticipate how next trap will work" sense. More so than the previous two, anyway. Highlight - a Manc shot noclip through ~75-ish thick wall.

Map 13 - Chimera

While running around at the start and watching stuff infight, I randomly humped the BFG wall long before I was able to see it. The act as you'd imagine defined the map thereafter, as quite a few fights that would otherwise be harder got preemptively defused. Failed to 2-shot the Cyber even though he was cooperating pretty well, so the goat's fate was sealed by a baron fireball. I imagine missing the BFG would make this a lot less of a breather level.

Map 14 - Deadlock

Completely missed the starting chaingun, but somehow survived by hanging around the corridor near blue armor cage for a while. Finding my way into the secret compensated the ammo and the armor reward got me through almost entire level. At least a rad suit is actually useful for normal progression in this one, unlike Venomous.

 

12/13/14 give off similar feeling back to back - open-ish starting area with devious snipers and sightlines to pressure you, a couple paths to follow to scavenge for ammo and armor, eventually backtracking through the center area on the way to exit. The trap setups are less evil than previous maps, or maybe I just got used to patterns over a long session. I'll stop here for today.

[NiGHTS108]

MAP17: The Cesspools

Kills: 100%

Items: 94%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 6:19

 

...
The Cesspools.
THE. Cesspools.
...
Cesspools was honestly a weird one for me, I enjoyed my time with Cesspools but effectively the moment Cesspools ended I completely forgot every encounter in Cesspools. The visuals were really strong, ironically enough it's easy for me to really like the look of sewer maps like this. The green, brown and tan colours really pop here to be quite honest. You'll get a BFG very early in this map but I'd recommend saving it for if a situation gets out of hand, which it can quite easily. Don't bother saving it for the Cyberdemon, you'll get ammo when you're up there. Honestly I wish there was a little more action to this map, it kinda just ends with this Mancubus ring when I feel it could have had a stronger closer, especially since this is one of only a few maps in this wad with a BFG. Again, I'd like Cesspools more if the combat was a bit more significant.

 

Grade: B

Difficulty: C

 

 

MAP18: Backlash

Kills: 100%

Items: 100%

Secrets: 66%

Time: 9:33

 

I'm not sure if y'all are ready to hear this, but Backlash is my favourite map in Cydonia. It doesn't start off too heavy but it grows to an amazing crescendo. This map is pretty heavy on Arch-Viles, not only is the MIDI a remix of the infamous Plutonia 2 MAP11 track, but there are 14 martians running around this jungle base. There's two main areas I really really enjoy, basically everything in the last two thirds. There's an absolutely gruesome pit of slime you'll want to tread lightly on considering you'll be lucky to have a RAD suit here, and this combined with multiple heavies, Chaingunners and potential Arch-Viles makes for a frantic encounter I wish we saw more of in this wad! The best part definitely comes at the end in something of an Abattoire reference made twice as brutal thanks to several heavy enemies and over a whole row of Chaingunners. Truly brutal stuff.

 

Grade: A

Difficulty: A

 

 

MAP19: Purgatory

Kills: 100%

Items: 85%

Secrets: 100%

Time: 10:58

 

I think I should have liked Purgatory a little more than I actually did. It's a fine map, it's cool, but something about this calm before the storm approach sorta rubs me the wrong way after how great MAP18 was. I said earlier I think Cydonia was kinda falling into a pattern, and this is probably one of the biggest offenders of that. I do like it, don't get me wrong, but as stated it really feels like we should have got something a little heavier for the penultimate slot. There are some cool moments here, like basically any time an Arch-Vile is on screen, the red cave area with the Plasma Rifle and the cool barrel room, but I don't know guys, this one didn't really do it for me too much, moving on.

 

Grade: B+

Difficulty: C-

 

 

 

MAP20: Reaper

Kills: 100%

Items: 95%

Secrets: 100%

Time: 7:03

Hmmm... Reaper... I feel kinda odd about this one too. I mean, still, it was really fun, I really like the ending where all the walls lower to open up the area and having a BFG is pretty cool, but I kinda wish it went just a little further than it actually did. A part of it doesn't really feel like a climactic ending to me, sorta just "another Cydonia map" at this point sadly. I mean, I get it, I get they wanted to make maps very much accurate to Plutonia's original ideas, but I think it's a little... too accurate here. I don't know man, I just wish we got something a bit more like Odyssey Of Noises or Tombstone right here, maybe even The Sewers, just kinda something a little bigger. I'm mainly nitpicking the wad as a whole right now, which I should do a little later on, so let's talk about the map itself, which is great! I love having the BFG here, which definitely can boost the combat as a whole pretty hard, and it makes the Spider Mastermind final boss (Who I believe is the only one in the wad?) pathetic, sure, but satisfying. I'm doing a lot of complaining in this review but honestly Reaper is one of those where everything around it kinda overshadows it. Still a good map.

 

Grade: A-

Difficulty: B-

 

 

- FINAL THOUGHTS - 

Total time: 2:35:25

 

Cydonia was honestly kind of a weird one for me in general, first, the positives. I'd definitely consider this an extremely accurate wad to the original Plutonia, which as a whole is really refreshing to play. AD_79 and Scotty make a pretty good team together and their maps contrast the other's nicely. I'd definitely recommend this wad to anyone who's caught the Plutonia bug as of late. Sadly, and this may be a result of playing this wad over 20 days, but I wish it was just a little bit more ambitious. This wad is honestly more accurate to Plutonia than Plutonia itself, and it sadly can somewhat overstay its welcome in the 32 to 20 range especially Again, as I said, I get it, but still I wish we got something at least a little bigger before the ending. Gonna be giving Cydonia a final grade of A-. In the difficulty side, I'd say it's actually somewhat easier than Plutonia, quite rarely did a map make me sweat or give too many tough scenarios. Gonna have to say a C+.
 

Whole playthrough

 

Now for the grand ranking!

 

Spoiler

18: Backlash :)
32: Get On It
31: Night Terrors
04: Carcinogen
13: Chimera
10: Siege
20: Reaper
02: Amazon
08: Aggrandizement
12: Venomous
06: Viper
19: Purgatory
15: Hatchet
16: Sasquatch
09: Neurotoxin
01: Quetzalcoatl
17: ...Cesspools
03: Ritual
07: Fraughtification
11: Volcanic
14: Deadlock
05: Hopeless

 

See you all tomorrow for Arrival!

[cannonball]

MAP20 - “Reaper” by Scotty

 

A very blunt and in your face final map that essentially could be described as a great Map20, a great episode closer before the final push. I guess in the end that is the maps only real downfall, that it doesn't feel like the end game.....

I found myself up the creek a bit because I took a lot of damage early on and opening up the rear of the map and the mass of mid-tiers caused serious grief. That period of frustration is on me, the two deaths to the mastermind (Yes that spider killed me more times that the patrolling cyberdemon) are purely on the sodding engine quirks (One the spider didn't flinch on being hit with the BFG at point blank range and shredded me, the second was even worse because the game stole most of the BFG tracers and the spider tanked two BFG blasts, again at point blank range.

Overall this was a fun and tough map to finish, just save a couple of BFG shots for the final ambush, a classic Plutonia backstab.

 

Overall;

 

Cydonia is probably the most faithful Plutonia inspired wad there is, whilst there are references littered throughout this wad, the two authors clearly made a real effort to preserve the sense of Monster efficiency and combat map layouts that made Plutonia what it was. For that Scotty and AD deserve tremendous credit, on top of that you ended up with ideas that you could clearly imagine the Casali's coming up with. The one positive, and perhaps why the wad is possibly considered a little softer than Plutonia, is that Cydonia tends to smooth over the mapping tropes that generally soured people's experience of the IWad, a small loss of difficulty is rewarded by having a much more positive experience playing this wad.

In terms of quality, it is hardly surprising to see this turning out so well, both mappers are well known and held in high esteem. Overall, I tended to feel that Scotty had the stronger set of maps pound for pound, that said AD's experimental maps added an extra dimension to this mapset, and the finished product needed both to make it work as well as it did. In a way the only real complaint is simply wanting more, or in particular to have seen either Scotty or AD_79 make a map that felt climatic to close this wad properly, but I can understand the notion of quitting while you are ahead, or stopping when the ideas dry up to some degree.

Cydonia is a must have for any casual doomer, even those who tended to shy away from Plutonia's brand of gameplay.

Overall score - 4.5/5

 

Best Map - Map18

Honourable mentions - Map07, 15, 32

 

All the other maps were at least good, if not better. 

[Monsieur E]

Map19- Purgatory by AD_79
100% kills

AD_79's final map is perhaps Cydonia's most arduous challenge, this is a map which will take the first time player to task more than its peers. Its more open ended layout coupled with its ferocity does require some planning to tackle and route. The encounters here are pretty challenging but quite enjoyable once again, I think this level has more memorable setpiece encounters as opposed to the general spontaneous action in most of the set so far, not that it is missing, the ambushes are devious but alot of fun. I think a map like this would be more rewarding on replay once you know all of its tricks, but either way, it's a whole lot of fun and one of Cydonia's best.

Map20- Reaper by Scotty
100% kills

The final map here is again another solid map, however, it doesn't quite have that finale punch, it's just another fun map. The opposition is well placed and the map is designed well, as you progress the map responds back and in particular, the pain elementals were quite a nuisance. All around this was another solid map, and a good final map.

Map21- Fin by Scotty

Neat credits map, the MIDI used fits the bookend nature of it. 


Final Thoughts

Cydonia seems like a more sequel to Plutonia than Plutonia 2 was, mostly sticking to shorter but still lethal maps with much more modest monster count to what you would see in PL2. Despite having two authors, the set manages to be quite cohesive and not deviate far too much as the levels have different authors. As others in the club noted, Scotty generally produced the more "consistent" and Plutonic of the two while AD delved more into experimentation but even then, the set as a whole was very cohesive and I'm very pleased to say that not a single map in this set felt tedious. I can't decide whose maps I prefer over the other, both AD_79 and Scotty deliver solid maps throughout. However, I do feel as if this consistency somewhat came at the detriment to wad as a whole since it never really builds up to anything per say and its final stretch, while good, nonetheless didn't feel "climatic" so to speak. While sometimes I was a bit more conservative with what I wrote in the club, I want to state here that I thoroughly enjoyed every map on offer here. Excellent work!

In terms of difficulty, I think the wad as a whole is pretty manageable with a few levels a bit harder than the rest. Nothing in the set felt too challenging but still kept me engaged throughout and wasn't a total pushover. The hardest map of the set would probably be map19 or map20.

In terms of my favorite maps, here's my top five:

5) Map08- Aggrandizement/Map04- Carcinogen
4) Map32- Get On It
3) Map19- Purgatory
2) Map18- Backlash
1) Map31- Night Terrors

Oh and, as usual, it was a lot of fun to read the writeups of the other members of the club especially since it helped me get an idea of the various Plutonia "setpieces" being referenced and provide context to some things I might have found strange as someone who hadn't played the original iwad. See you all again for Arrival :)
 

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 20: Reaper - Scotty

100% kills and secrets

Time: 10:26

 

The final map of Cydonia doesn't really feel like a final map to me. It definitely feels like an end of episode map, but not a closing map. Mainly since this isn't as grand or as tough as I was expecting. Granted, playing continuous does make this easier, as you do have to fight for the big guns in this map, with them all being spread out in line sight of baddies. That starting shotgun and chaingun isn't going to do much, especially once everything gets alerted to your presence and starts hunting you down, like the 2 barons emerging from the dark hallway. It's a good thing I had the secret soul sphere from the end of the last map, as I lost almost all of it in this initial stage, since I was just trying to figure out were all the immediate threats were. All you need to do here is grab the yellow key and also raise the pathway to the yellow door. Loads of mid-tiers will try to stop you from doing so, along with both boss monsters. Unlocking the area to the top filled with revs and the yellow key will also lower some walls behind the yellow door allowing the spider mastermind to shoot at you, while the cyb didn't show up for me until after I collected the bulk cell and backpack secret (it probably appeared when you grab the yellow key, I just didn't see any monsters until just after getting that secret). Thankfully, that little perch by the switch that raises the path to the yellow door is the best spot to take on the cyb. If it's close to you, the rockets won't get enough height to hit you, allowing you to safely plasma it to death (if you BFG it like I did, you can push it into the lava making it a tad harder to take out). Behind the yellow door is a kind of lackluster ending. 2 pinkies and a manc pop up, and that's nothing. Drop down to the yellow switch, and some chaingunner snipers show up, which is easy to eliminate. Hit the switch, and a rev appears on your platform, and an archie appears by the exit. Again, nothing too threatening, especially if you have cells left. And that's it, that's the final fight of the WAD. Kinda disappointing when looking at it from that perspective, but as a level ender, it's not really bad. That's my general feeling towards this map; it's a very solid and fun map, but I was wishing for something that felt a little more "final."

 

Map 21: Fin

I had to IDCLEV to this, as GZDoom just took me to the cast roll after map 20's intermission screen (I still have to figure out why GZDoom seems to be slightly different on this PC compared to my laptop in certain aspects, like not shwoing the map number when looking at the automap. Probably some menu settings I need to find). All that's here is a small fenced in area of blood, rocks, and the teleporter. Time to get working on that accelerator. 

 

Final Thoughts

Overall, I think this was very solid set of maps. The Plutonianess of it was pretty obvious (especially with AD_79's maps), though quite a few maps were able to forge their own identities. Combat was solid throughout, and shows you don't need hundreds of monsters in a map to create scenarios that can cause the player a scare. I do think this is easier than the original Plutonia IWAD by a considerable margin, but it has been a while since I've played it, so maybe I'm just better at the game now. My biggest complaint is that aside from map 31, none of the maps really stick out in my memory. There's nothing here that was like "oh my god, this is incredible; top-tier map" (again, aside from map 31, that one was really cool). This isn't really a bad thing, as not every WAD needs to be made of instant classics, or innovative ideas. They just need to be fun, and that's what this was. Just good, old-school, meat and potatoes fun.

 

Not sure if I feel like replaying Arrival, as much as I enjoyed it (3rd favorite WAD of last year). I'll probably pistol-start those ones, so that should be enough reason to do a replay. Plus, that map 01 is one of my favs. 

[DavitW]

9 hours ago, Andromeda said:

You can access that area by stepping on the plate with a candle nearby.

 

TNT Convilution changed name to TNT Forever and is now undergoing private beta testing.

Thanks for letting me know.

[LadyMistDragon]

( I tried to play Map 31 but I may have missed when the pillars with the health potions leading to the Imp platform to the right of the start lower because I could not figure how to use the AV jump otherwise. Everything else in this extremely dark map was just too hard to see. I do like the unsettling feel)

 

Map 32: Get On It

by Alex Scott

 

Now this is more like it! A largely outdoor map comprised of some beautiful hellified Plutonia textures, as evidenced by the vines everywhere, as well as the damaging blood pools in several locations. Talking about the combat would be tiresome, but safe to say there are Cyberdemons everywhere and is significantly harder than the original Go2It because camping is a much harder thing to get away with it. Much rewinding was required. Grab the BFG at the end of the Congo homage though, you'll need it very soon. Toward the end, you're confronted withy a a Cyberdemon in very close quarters that you're probably better off rocketing. The ending of wood, Barons and Cyberdemons is suitably epic. Rd suggests more aggressive play but I suppose bothering with two-tapping the cybies might be a bad idea. You get plenty of cell ammo, so it's nowhere near the issue you'd think. Couple with something that sounds like endboss music and this feels like a good midpoint between Plutonia and the ultra-hard crap Scotty would so in Flotsam and Abandon.

 

 

lmd_cydonia32.zip

[Book Lord]

Time to start playing & commenting Arrival!

 

MAP 01 – Waste Abandonment

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

 

Waste Abandonment did not suffer from the typical MAP01 syndrome, affecting the mappers who try to keep it small and easy regardless of the shrewd Doomers populating the scene. Still, it felt like it suffered from the opposite affection: @Pavera wanted a fully-fledged experience from the very start, handing almost the complete weapon roster to the player, using two keycards, and sporting one of the highest monster counts of the megaWAD, including not less than 12 Arch-Viles on UV (a number reached only on MAP09). There was a lot of fodder as well, largely hitscanners destined to blow up with the barrels or to fall prey of Doomguy’s deadly arsenal.

Spoiler

The first part took place inside a large, intricate tech-base: after mowing down dozens of zombies, the RK was found in the southern room, guarded by the first Revenants and an Arch-Vile. Behind the matching locked door, a hazardous nukage section led me to a rather generic switch, which should not be missed as it opened the way forward. After a small horde of critters failed to trap me, I spotted the BK, but a long trip through claustrophobic tunnels was required to reach it. The author made sure that the enemy alert sounds could be heard, so I was not surprised by the hyperbolic swarm of 6 Arch-Viles appearing when I picked up that key.

Spoiler

The blue door led out of the Waste Abandonment facility. The way to the last ROCK5 segment was blocked by an army of zombies, the first of many featured in Arrival. I do not particularly enjoy killing these large clusters of low tiers, unless the map falls under the “hitscanner hell” archetype. The rest of the canyon was not very different, adding more former humans, Revenants, and Arch-Viles to an already depleted formula. There was nothing wrong with anything proposed in this ambitious opener, and the technical execution was masterful under all aspects. I was not entertained as expected though, due to the redundancy of certain solutions, the abuse of hitscanners, Revenants and Arch-Viles, with other monsters relegated to a time-wasting role. I even missed every secret, confirming their existence was not hinted at all and that I wanted the level to end. I hope the design will get more varied as we proceed, and that the author will gradually need less room and enemies to get to the point.

Edited September 20, 2022 by Book Lord

[DavitW]

MAP19: Purgatory
The biggest challenge yet serves as the penultimate map of the wad. Three difficult fights here all centered around getting the three keys needed to complete the level. There were a few things that confused me here before I realized how non-linear this level was, like the yellow key door that takes you back to the blue key area and a seemingly unnecessary archvile and demon trap in the yellow key room. Turns out you can actually teleport to either side of the room. The red key room was rather clever if I say so myself, and I miraculously managed to solve the puzzle first time through without nuking myself on the barrels. The fight here is probably the easiest of the level, but it's still no joke. I would recommend the secret Invul sphere handed out before that fight for the blue key trap instead. The monsters come out at a relentless place and it's easy to get overwhelmed in the tight space down there. The yellow key room was the most difficult fight of the three, with hell knights, revenants, a pain elemental, and chaingunners shooting at you from the ledges up high. You can die in a heartbeat here if you get caught out.

 

MAP20: Reaper
A map taking place in a ruined city, just like Plutonia's Map 29, and in both cases it's a welcome change in scenery. The whole map takes place in a rather small area, but it's filled with enemies and more and more of them keep pouring in as you make progress. Just about every switch you press or item you obtain triggers a trap of some sort, with most in this level using revenants, archviles, and pain elementals in lethal combinations. I'm sure you get the idea at this point. There's difficult cyberdemon fight and a rather harmless spider mastermind, players in a blind run may find themselves triggering their arrival before it's convenient. Such as after grabbing the plasma rifle and megaspheres about. The final fight was a bit underwhelming here if it was meant to top off the entire wad. It's just an archvile stuck on a platform and a number of chaingunners off in the distance, all of it rendered almost completely harmless by hiding in the switch alcoves that are just big enough to fit in.

 

I'm not too big on wads that seem to get their entire mileage solely out of archvile traps and revenant spam, but despite the fact Cydonia is just that, I enjoyed this wad immensely. There's not a single bad map here, maybe a few duds, but certainly no worse than that. The short and compact nature of the maps was perhaps the best feature of this wad. Most maps could be completed in under 10 minutes, filled with thoughtful combat and clever traps that never let things get stale for long. Not to mention how good most of the maps look, nothing here is exactly breath taking, but it almost everything is aesthetically pleasing.

 

Highlights: MAP04, MAP05, MAP15, MAP18, MAP20, MAP32

Lowlights: MAP13, MAP14, MAP31 will probably bring out some strong opinions in some.

cydonia19.zip

cydonia20.zip

[Pseudonaut]

Map19 (4 deaths, DNF):
Died near the end after walking into a teleporter that instantly killed me. Yes, I died to the same teleporter on an earlier attempt, and assumed that some of the barrels on the ground floor were what killed me. It turns out the teleport destination is upstairs and there were some still-intact barrels there. I guess this is what I get for playing Doom blind and saveless, but it's still bullshit.

 

Map20 (No deaths):

Had a close call at the beginning, but it went smoothly after that.

 

Overall, Cydonia is a solid wad, and as others have said, it feels more Plutonia-like than any other Plutonia wad I've played.

 

Best maps: 31, 32, 18

Hardest: 31

 

Demos:

cy19-20.zip

Edited September 23, 2022 by Pseudonaut

[RHhe82]

ARRIVAL

 

MAP01: Waste Abandonement. Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, pistol start (evidently). 305/305 K, 4/4 S, 133/141 I. Completion time 23:06

 

The map already feels longer than Cydonia, but also very familiar. For a moment I was thinking there was a similar area in some map I have played previously somewhere, and as the level went on, I was certain I was replaying a map I have already played. BUT WHERE?*

 

The map isn't ribbiksy hard, but somehow I'd just facerocket myself against archviles, and especially *the* archvile ambush proved to be, shall we say, problematic. I still don't know how to best deal with it -- this time I retreated away from the spawning archies to the nukage pool and dealt with them from there, but I think I got a bit lucky there.

 

Really liked the music!

 

 

[* I started Arrival earlier in September, which is also when I wrote the above capsule review, and found out only very recently that I had a save of Arrival in GZDoom, dating back to August 2021 :-O Apparently it was one of the very first pwads I downloaded and played even a bit when I got back to Dooming. Only Going Down and Scythe had earlier saves there.)

[cannonball]

MAP01 - “Waste Abandonment”

 

Well this far grander than anything seen in Cydonia, that said the much larger monster count goes down fairly swiftly, thank to many of them being fodder with the bigger weapons handed readily and if you are short there were always a load of barrels lying around.

I don't know whether it was just me, but I felt the map was strongest at the beginning, the red key ambush is a real shock given it is a map01 and whilst there are other big traps, they seemed to fall under the category of using the hose to extinguish archviles trope where there greater number is neutered always by the a large genocide of fodder directly preceeding them.

The visuals are solid, kind of like your more expansive maps from the 2000s era, but where the gameplay felt more focused and grounded. In a way it felt like a USE3D map but with the major kinks ironed out. The map feels like a mix of old and new and makes for a comfortable fit.

Overall it is ambitious and certainly makes an impression, though at times I don't think the gameplay made the perfect dismount. No real complaints or aggravations though. As others will already know, I think the midi used here is awesome.

[brick]

I've been away for most of the month, and rather than try and race to catch up on Cydonia at the risk of ruining my enjoyment, I decided to skip it for now and just play Arrival. As usual I'm on HNTR blind continuous with saves.

 

MAP01 - “Waste Abandonment”
The one thing I don't like is the way difficulties are balanced, the map relies almost entirely on archvile numbers for balance, and there are very few differences between HNTR and HMP Apparently there are more differences between difficulties than I had realized, even if subtle, relying on item placement as much (or more) than on enemy counts. Otherwise this is a very promising start. It's strange seeing stock textures being used first in very predictable ways and then progressively less so, with some beautiful architectures and vistas. I think the palette helps bring out unusual hues from the familiar graphics, the end result looks beautiful. Enemy count is high but most go down quickly, though there are some surprises (including the triple-archviles). Progression is relatively straightforward but still gives a good sense of exploring and poking around the corners of the map, and the secrets are quite fun to find (including one that I missed). The soundtrack is absolutely superb and helps bring out a unique atmosphere.

Edited September 22, 2022 by brick

[finnks13]

MAP01 - Waste Abandonment:

13:33/0 Deaths

What an explosive opener! After playing Cydonia, it feels weird to tear through so much fodder again, but I always enjoy that so I won't complain. We're in a fairly standard techbase setting, though the visuals are given a great level of care and detail - apart from the skies, everything here is a vanilla texture but it doesn't feel that way. This is helped by the custom palette, which I looks like the 32in24-15tex palette with the lighter, less saturated blues and slightly grittier reds and greens. I also love the MIDI, it's propulsive but also tentative and it makes me feel like I'm exploring some unknown territory.

 

The various areas of the map are fun to fight in, well balanced arenas - generally there's some fodder let loose around the place, though in great enough numbers that you have to engage them with care, and a tougher ambush spawns in later. This isn't always the case, which helps the map to not become predictable. Unusually for Map01, many of the fights here are not trivial at all and can absolutely kill the player, but they're not overwhelmingly difficult - just enough to make you very on edge where you're actually given a lot of leeway with how you can engage with them. The standout fight is for the blue key, which begins with you getting a plasma gun along with a disconcertingly high amount of cellpacks - you're then confronted with six(!) archviles at once which leaves the door open for all manner of chaos to come.

 

After this, and a short slaughter of zombiemen, we head into a canyon which is filled with more imps, zombies and archviles! One small let down for the combat is that the archviles started to become very predicatble, they lose their scare factor if they're in each major fight playing the same role, but I didn't mind it in this map because it is unusual to have so many of them in a Map01 in the first place. Outside of a couple of moments where I was confused by the progression, which mostly happened around the blue key area, the pace of the map didn't falter - it was fast and incredibly fun throughout. Overall, it's a great opener to the wad and I hope it can keep up this very high standard.

[tmorrow]

Arrival map02

 

Saltstone Sanctuary is also known as "Bedrock Deadlock" on the automap. You start in a quarry. Almost half of the fighting takes place in and around the quarry. Once doomguy start hunting for the keys, the archviles start coming out to play. You can hear a lot of them through the walls as well as a familiar stomping sound of an impatient cybie, keen to start rocketing his arch enemy dooomguy.

 

The yellow key is a straightforward find. The red key isn't as forthcoming. There are 3 different paths that meander to near the red key but only one of them allows you to lower its platform for collection with some archvile resistance. Its plain sailing after that to the blue key and a very easy cybie encounter on the way to the exit.

Edited September 22, 2022 by tmorrow

[baja blast rd.]

6 hours ago, brick said:

The one thing I don't like is the way difficulties are balanced, the map relies almost entirely on archvile numbers for balance, and there are very few differences between HNTR and HMP.

 

Monster count is really misleading sometimes. HNTR has 63% the (monster) HP of UV, and HMP has 77% the HP of UV. I think that's a pretty reasonable difference. (Fewer viles also means a lower rez %, which also slightly increases the disparity beyond that.)

Also HNTR has a blue armor that HMP doesn't. Since healing is so abundant, the blue armor is more powerful than a soulsphere, and that's for free where HMP just has a green armor that can be worn out well before the next green armor pickup.

 

It seems like people would be more willing to use HNTR and HMP if more wads implemented difficulty settings like that map does, subtle but significant changes that preserve much of what makes the higher difficulties what they are.

[Book Lord]

MAP 02 – Saltstone Sanctuary

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

 

Saltstone Sanctuary was a notable improvement from MAP01. Not only the action got immediately hectic, as Doomguy was welcomed by a good chunk of the level population right from the start, but it also unfolded through shorter paths that were easier to find and follow. The beginning was a majestic sight: the watery bottom of a wide chasm, girdled by tall cliffs of white stone teeming with shooters. A cloud of Cacodemons would converge on the player if he tried to camp the entrance. The Arachnotrons were deadly in their locations and conquering the top of the cliff felt like a real accomplishment.

Spoiler

A couple of optional areas were worth exploring to collect good weapons, especially if pistol starting, and to clear monsters that might cause annoyance later. The YK awaited on the highest reachable platform around the chasm, requiring a long trek through a vicious Revenant and Arch-Vile bottleneck. The way to the top was littered with health & armour bonuses, a distinctive trait of @Pavera maps that I do not really enjoy, as gathering them eats up a lot of time and some might escape the attention.

 

The small room behind the yellow door was eerily silent and empty. Getting close to the Evil Eye sent me to a scary trap that surrounded me with former humans while unleashing Revenants on my back. I took a rocket, but RNG was gentle this time. The RK was in sight, beyond a water pool with an out-of-sight Arch-Vile. The trigger that lowered the key platform was on top of the cliff, so once the player jumped down to fight the healer, he must then do a lot of backtracking to recover the key.

Spoiler

The red door contained a very short section that led to the BK, not without another attack involving two Hell Knights and a Chaingunner in a tight space, very easy to get wrong on the first attempt. The final Cyberdemon guarding the exit was more a waste of time than a real challenge, considering that ammo was not an issue and the empty map had plenty of places to hide from his rockets. I had a great time with Saltstone Sanctuary and having almost half the monster count of MAP01 did not detract from the length or the intensity of the experience.  

[cannonball]

MAP02 - “Saltstone Sanctuary”

 

This is possibly one of the most front loaded maps I have seen in quite some time. It is perfectly possible to have close to 95% of the monsters killed before picking up the yellow key. The only moment of issue was confronting 3 archviles on the way to the yellow key and ended up running out of rockets (Some of the revenants suffered n awful fate of dying 4 or 5 times before the final archvile was put down). Once the yellow key is grabbed then frankly the level rolls over and you simply need to collect the red, then blue keys and leave. In all honesty the map felt incomplete to the point where you would expect some nasty ambushes for the remaining keys that never came, I left with an absolute glut of ammo thanks to the optional areas and plenty of health and armour. In the end the final thought was "Is that all?".

In the end this promised much more, but to put it crudely, the map blew its load too early. The final third to half of the map has little or no opposition and unfortunately that has stuck in my mind more than the hot start did, I would also add that I wasn't overly in love with the visuals, but that is more a personal thing wished for a little more colour to compliment the grey rock that dominates the landscape. 

[RHhe82]

MAP02: Saltstone Sanctuary -- or Bedrock Deadlock according to automap. Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, pistol start. 165/165 K, 0/0 S, 117/122 I. Completion time 20:26.

 

I sometimes hear statements like being so bored with stock textures that they avoid such maps. I get that, but then they'd miss sets like these. I don't think I've seen any custom texture so far, and according to the text file, there aren't any except for the skies.

 

That said, I really find broad spaces such as valleys with sniping revvies, arachnotrons and especially lost souls irritating. I always have trouble with them, blood pressure pumps up a notch whenever a surprise rev rocket hits me or I can't evade it because a surprise lost soul has blocked my path.

 

That aside, a good map. I admire how the place is actually small(ish) but as it loops in on itself, it feels bigger - but not so much that I'd get lost in it. I especially liked the archvile squad in the high ground cavern. It kinda feels excessive, but it's actually not. It makes the encounter feel less like a chore, more threatening and fun.

 

The end cyberdemon I didn't care for. It just feels like a chore to be completed at the end. Luckily Pavera equips you well, and the fight takes place on the cliffs where there is space. I wish it appeared earlier and/or with a crowd, so the player could incite a little infighting or have a more grand ending.