The DWmegawad Club plays: Solar Struggle

[SuyaSSS]

Played On Nugget Doom, HMP, Pistol start, with Smooth Doom MBF21 mod

 

E1M1 - “Detention Facility” by myolden

 

A nice little wad opener set in some sort of earth like place. The map is not that hard but can still give inattentive players a kick in the nut especially in that prison like area which opens a closet which reveals a bunch of shotgunners and zombiemen. The map has a lot of hitscanners right as it begins. The map looks very good which is expected from someone like myolden. The last encounter did catch me off guard. Nice map.

 

E1M2 - “Admin Offices” by Peccatum Mihzamiz

 

Noticeably much more harder and longer than the first map, E1M2 starts with you being in an empty room. You can look behind the starting place and notice something pretty cool that being a part of the 1st map which establishes a sort of continuity between these maps. The map start is quite. Best thing to do here is to take down the shotgunner, take his shotgun and kill the rest of the enemies before pressing the switch for progression. Guess what I did? Your mate pressed the switch as soon as he saw it. Before even killing the shotgunner. Thankfully, I survived this encounter which opens 2 closets with imps and pinkies and the main doors on both sides open to reveal quite a lot of zombiemen, it basically became a hitscan hell because of how much I stirred this shit up and honestly, it was kinda fun. But it did cause me to have a Mandela effect where I thought that this map had a hot start when in reality it did not.

 

This map like the previous one also relies on a lot of hitscanners but honestly, Doom 1's beastiary is so limited that they can only do so much in the early maps where you only have a shotgun. And I will prefer mowing down tons of low tier enemies over shotgunning a fucking baron. Honestly while playing through these maps I forgot that these were Doom 1 maps considering how many times I thought that I was gonna get the Super Shotgun. But, while writing this first impression, I realize how limiting of a beastiary Doom 1 has. The limited beastiary does hurt a lot but the level is still fun. Design wise it is quite non-linear and filled to the brim with little tiny doomcute. There is an office building where you get the red key with some demons working in them. I assume you are just putting those demons out of their misery by killing them.

 

Not convinced that this map is good? Well, here is something that will definitely change you opinion about this map and make it in all your's top 10 doom maps:

Spoiler

This map has a toilet encounter.

 

Anyway, the only thing I was dissapointed by was the final fight which was quite easy but this map is still undeniably fun and has a lot of charm.

 

 E1M3 - “Barracks” by Doomlust

 

Quite a nice map with some nice design. Well, compared to the previous 2 it is not that good but it is still fun in its own right. Especially that encounter after you press a switch which raises some platforms to the top and also reveals some shotgunners and imps. I was sadly unable to find the secret exit in the map. (Again I forgot that this is a Doom 1 mapset and was assuming that Map15 will have the secret exit.) The map has a lot of nice combat. 

 

RANKING:

Spoiler

1. E1M2

2. E1M1

3. E1M3

 

[Anarkzie]

Map E1M4 Mineral Processing 

I had a lot of fun replying this. The levels combines a big open map with interesting topography and structures. It's a fun map to just move around in as even though there lots of points in which you can fall off, you're never really heavily penalised, as there are a number of methods to make your way back up. The combat is easy but engaging as you're being sniped at from all kinds of directions. I've not really played many of D.Bears levels but that's something I should probably look to change. Some random notes I made:

I really like how he telegraphed the first secret with a single armour bonus on top of a crate.

Also like how in the path towards the chainsaw the craters that are out in the open have collected water while the ones that are not are dry.

The yellow key markers along the path leading to the yellow key door, is a clever way of telegraphing the way forward. I imagine this could have been very confusing other wise.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Anarkzie

[continuum.mid]

E1M4: Mineral Processing (Death Bear)
Woof 10.5.1 (Debian 12), Freedoom: Phase 1 + Antaresian Reliquary Mod, Extreme Carnage, practiced, pistol start
Kills: 100%, Items: 80%, Secrets: 71%, Time: 12:52, Save Count: 0

 

This is an excellent looking map - a base suspended above a valley with what look like rockets, or perhaps mining rigs. Half of the secrets are behind a lowering crate in the starting area, along a path that leads to a Heavy Armor, and a cliff with the Angle Grinder (Chainsaw) that triggers an ambush of Flesh Worms. I’m glad I could beat this single segment, if somewhat cheating by using a weapon pack; last time I almost did it but I gave up because I got lost looking for the red key, and now I know where it is, so the map went by much quicker. The second best fight in this map is probably the rocket launcher ambush, which I think might be optional, but it lets you use the weapon right away and it’s great fun. The best is the finale, which features a wave of Zombies, Shotgun Zombies, and Flesh Worms, followed by another wave of teleporting Zombies, that is also great rocket-throwing fun.

 

This was my favorite map in E1 when I first played it; we’ll see if that holds up - or, better yet, if there’s something to surpass it in the remaining three episodes.

[DJVCardMaster]

E1M4 - Mineral Processing - Death Bear  (94%K/61%I/71%S):

This map breaks the mold of closed rooms and opens it up in a really good manner, focusing the level's theme inside an open-pit mine, just as the level's name implies. I like the combination of caves with the tech-bases, but the best part about this map, is how open it is, while it not being a sandbox level, it offers a big chunk to explore and find secrets. For some reason I've felt like playing Spyro the Dragon, open, with linear progression, but with some stuff hanging around the level to collect. 
I did not find this one so hard to play, though, as it is not an easy task to make an open map with Ultimate Doom's bestiary without overpopulating it with hitscanners, and without the permission of using high tier enemies. The fights were well thought, anyway. 
I did not like the upbeat song though, made my journey a little bit happier, and I just need anger.

(UV Playthrough - Crispy Doom)

Order of Preference:
 

Spoiler

 

E1M4

E1M2
E1M3
E1M1
E1M9

 

 

[Ralgor]

E1M4 - "Mineral Processing" by Death Bear
MIDI: "Pistons" by James Paddock
dsda-doom v0.25.6 cl3, UV, Pistol start, blind run
100% kills and secrets
Deaths: 0
Time: 27:14

We're now in a sprawling toxic processing plant. I know, it's supposed to be processing minerals, but it seems like the output is mostly just toxins. Most of the play area is above and around a damaging lake of the stuff. We start out in one building overlooking it, and then get to cross a number of bridges going from one building or platform to another. Sometimes we get to explore some caves instead. There aren't any particularly large fights.

 

Spoiler

On the left is the area with the rocket launcher fight. On the right is a strange pylon.

I like the design and detailing here. There are rooms with crushers used in the processing of minerals. The caves and ground are very naturalistic. The minerals arrive to the area in a cargo area in the north. There's also these weird pylons scattered around. I'm not sure what they do, but they look cool.

 

Spoiler

One of the mineral processing areas. The area through the windows contains the exit.

I got pretty confused once trying to figure out where to go. I had jumped into the sludge, and climbed out of it in a different area. This meant I ended up missing some things and subsequently got lost. This was sort of my fault for leaving the path presented to me, but I couldn't help myself. That's the risk when you have a non-linear map, and ultimately I had a lot of fun exploring this space. I also liked how the secrets were hidden, and I did eventually find them all. The combat was fun, though easy.

 

Spoiler

The exit area, looking toward the where the minerals arrive.

I think this is my favorite map so far. I love these sorts of open non-linear maps with plenty of secrets. The midi is a great fit for this map too. For some reason I was expecting a Factorio reference in this map. At least I was hoping for one.

[Peccatum Mihzamiz]

I noticed several people wondering about the weapons and monsters in these first few maps. I think it might be interesting to know that besides writing down the names of all the maps in advance, Violentbeetle also specified which weapons and monsters would become accessible when. I'll write a condensed version of the rules he established here in a spoiler. I think this added a lot to the feeling of the set overall, especially in Episode One.
 

Episode 1

Spoiler

M1: Only shotgun is allowed. Zombies of both kinds and imps are the only enemies.

M2: Pinkies and Spectres are now allowed. Chaingun can be placed in a secret and shotgun in the open.

M3: Chaingun is now in the open as well. Rocket launcher is hidden in a secret as well as up to 10 rockets.

M4: Rocket launcher is now in the open.
M7: Lost souls and cacodemons are now allowed, but in small quantities.
M8: You must defeat several barons.
M9: Cacos and Lost Souls are allowed here, as well as all the weapon up to RL.

Episode 2

Spoiler

Berserks are now allowed.

M1: All monsters are allowed, except for bosses and barons.

M2: Shotgun and Chaingun in the open. 

M3: Rocket launcher is now in the open. Barons can now be encountered.

M6: Plasma is now in the open.

M9: Secret level. Plasma here is also in the open.

Episode 3

Spoiler

M1: Shotgun and chaingun are both available. All monsters except barons and bosses are allowed.

M2: Rocket launcher is now available in the open, so are barons.

M3: Plasma can be picked in a secret

M4: Plasma is now in the open

M6: BFG available in a secret.

M7: BFG in the open

M9: BFG is allowed here as well.

Episode 4

Spoiler

M2: All weapon up to and including plasma are available.

M4: BFG is now available.

Violentbeetle specified other things as well. For that I would point people to the development thread. Not going to spoil those things here.

Edited May 4, 2023 by Peccatum Mihzamiz : removed some spaces

[Alaxzandarz]

DSDA-doom, pistol-start, UV

 

e1m4:

The open-endedness works very well in this map and the way it's structured makes it very enjoyable to explore. I like the how the secrets were hidden in this map. The fights are pretty basic, but the incidential combat feels a lot more enjoyable than in the previous maps. The final fight feel quite anemic, as it has so much space and not nearly enough enemies. Good map!

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Pistol-Start/Saves

E1M4: Mineral Processing - Death Bear

100% kills and secrets

Time: 14:51

 

This was the map I was thinking was in this WAD, but wasn't 100% positive. Glad I was right, cause this one is a blast! It's a little weird playing a WAD that only has 1 Death Bear map, considering last month had 7.09 of them. This map is Death Bear when he's allowed to take his time. We're in a compound that appears to really be processing toxins, considering all the sludge. Another map with more than 200 enemies, and given that it's mostly zombies and imps, that means we're going to have a good time mowing them down the the chaingun. This refinery is pretty open, with enemies able to snipe you from afar immediately from the get-go. There's something about this layout that's just fun. Since we're on elevated platforms, our movement in this area is limited unless you want to fall onto damaging floors, but running around on these walkways is fun. There's 7 secrets in this map, and you can get 3 of them almost immediately, which will give you rockets, a mega armor, a chainsaw, and a backpack. Lots of useful goodies to start off the level. Raising a path to the facility itself isn't too far into the cavern wall. Inside, there's a few working pistons, making this map feel like the building we're traversing through actually has a purpose. We don't stay inside long before leaving to explore the rest of the outdoor area. We need to collect both the blue and red keys before we can continue on inside. The blue key is in one of the buildings above the toxic waste, and the red key is in the carved out rocky area. You can jump down around this area to find a rocket launcher below where the yellow door is. This of course triggers a teleport ambush which is no match for even the chaingun. Taking the path through the caverns by the red key takes you to a switch that lowers the lift with rockets, which is a very easy to find secret. I'd say the secret rockets by the blue key are the hardest secret to find, since the switch to open it is on the pillar in the corner of the room which you have to walk behind to find. The soul sphere behind the blue door could also be hard to find, but that sector has a strobe light effect that draws you to it. That secret does send in a wave of imps, another of which will teleport in when you lower the yellow key nearby. The final area is a good spot to let the rocket launcher do the work with both waves of teleporting enemies. It's a little overkill since we're still just dealing with E1 enemies here, but I'm pistol-starting and this is a big open area, so might as well waste the rockets. Overall, this is a super fun map, and looks really good! The MIDI pick here sounds very videogame-y, which I like. Probably the most fun map so far. And considering it's 1 of 2 maps I actually could picture from this WAD, it's really a standout.

[Doomy__Doom]

E1M5 - Mining Complex - Nightmare! (scenic route) + NM100S

 

The mining is indeed quite complex. A quite nonlinear level with a variety of possibilities - go straight and skip the whole map, go straight and explore slime area, take the secret route and pivot into BK area by means of a window, commit to the secret path...

 

The first viable path I found was the "commit to the secret route" option - it involves a cave filled with darkness, spectres and lost souls - which can and will kill you, even if my demo makes it look way easier than it is. You have to carry out at least something in the ballpark of 150/100, which in conjuction with CG and RL will carry through the BK->RK->exit sequence. The long wait for the lift can be used to backtrack for the spare supercharge, even if it comes with extra spectral risks.

 

From there however I didn't find enough health to make RK->back through YD->center->radsuit->???->exit work for 100s. By radsuit you're going to be far too worn down, same as if you just go straight for that secret first with neither guns nor armor.

 

20 attempts, over half as usual were quick resets around the starting area (damage or slipped on the ledge). Otherwise, it's mostly deaths or effective "I'll run out around RK but let's see how it plays out" deaths in the cave.

 

sstrgle_e1m5_nm_3-31-57_cave_route.zip

 

After that I took another look and stumbled onto the "skip everything" option neatly hidden in plain sight, and that's when 100s clicked - visit the secret route but don't commit to the cave, return to start and now there's enough HP to make the radsuit detour. 1 attempt, this route is about as safe as it gets - just don't wake up all the pinkies in the ending before reaching red door, which is a concern for the first route just as much.

 

sstrgle_e1m5_nm100s_1-51-77.zip

[RataUnderground]

E1M9 - Excavation Site 
Late Night Person
 

Spoiler

 

At first, Excavation site is not too concerned with us knowing where we are or what we are doing, but it takes very little time to express it effectively within its raw and abstract style. Behind you a closed door, on the sides greytall with its distinctive red stripe and in front of you a couple of monsters examining the wall with interest. Catch their attention with the starting gun and turn right, and without further ado you will find yourself in an important room to understand the geography of this excavation, as it not only acts as a foyer, but the simple view of the courtyard is enough to show us brown rocks and sky, setting the tone of the place.
The tonic of this map are the traps and ambushes. Not overly dangerous, but they are organized in such a way as to mark points of tension. Advance along the only available route, find an ambush and a card, return to the hub and repeat again, this time getting into the guts of the excavation machinery.
The second half of the map is when you leave the initial area and descend to the courtyard to get knee-deep in mud. Again an ambush, this time with flying tomatoes and a bunch of tanned demons, and later the main course: A lockdown in a circular room and a growing rotating kebab of demons teleporting to the center. Something smelled fishy to me as soon as I saw the scene, so my weapon switch to rocket launcher was instantaneous and I gave a good account of myself.
Finally, when I didn't expect any more surprises and I was heading for the exit, two more ambushes. This time in a narrow room that almost forced me to reset the map.

Good map, keeps the wad experience fresh, although the final ambush is definitely a bit bullshit.

 

 

@Doomy__Doom , I congratulate you on your creativity. You are the first person, at least that I know of, who has found the entry to the window path that allows you to skip the whole map. Great demos! : )

[Capellan]

E1M3 & E1M4 (because yep, I forgot to even look for the secret map)

 

 

[cannonball]

E1M4 - “Mineral Processing” by Death Bear

 

By far the most fleshed out map so far, and overall it was an enjoyable experience, the visuals and sense of place are solid and the gameplay is pretty decent overall. The map isn't too difficult but the fights tend to pass fairly swiftly and you should have enough resources to easily deal with everything in a timely manner. This is probably my favourite map so far.

[RataUnderground]

Some curiosities about E1M5: 
 

Spoiler

- This map was going to have a Black Sabbath midi, "Paranoid", which Sandwedge seemed to enjoy quite a lot xD. Finally it was changed for a Jimmy Paddock midi "The Antrax Solution" by Varis Alpha, because it was decided not to bother the streamers with possible copyright complaints. 
-This map contains illegal monsters (the lost souls), but they were essential for the secret zone, so Violent allowed them.
-My goal from the beginning was to create a strong sense of adventure, with very distinctive areas, jumping through windows, interconnectivity... The most notable feature of the map, the secret cavern, is intended to be an unconventional and optional inclusion that serves as a reward only to those who really like to explore and find hidden areas on the maps, apart from giving some environmental narrative to the mining complex.
-For some reason, no one sees that the items in the nukage area are fully available to anyone who wants to pick them up because they seem to be behind a locked fence, which is something I find very funny.
-Nobody understood my failed attemp at "doomcute", coping, pasting and resizing the map to create the area model with the obstacle in red color. Sad.
-This was the last Doom map my friend, John Wheel, played. He liked it. May he rest in peace.

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by RataUnderground

[ViolentBeetle]

14 minutes ago, RataUnderground said:

-Nobody understood my failed attemp at "doomcute", coping, pasting and resizing the map to create the area model with the obstacle in red color. Sad.

I noticed it, eventually.

[Salt-Man Z]

E1M4: Mineral Processing (GZDoom/HMP/continuous)

30:41 | 100% Kills | 98% Items | 85% Secrets

On the one hand, I started this map immediately getting my health whittled down due to far-off snipers, and spent a few minutes at 35% before running into any healing packs. But once the initial gaggle of imps and shotgunners was dealt with, and I had picked up the secret soulsphere, the combat in this map was a breeze, bordering on too easy. The finale itself was a major disappointment: hit a switch, and wait as a bunch of low-tier chaff is funneled at you for easy pickings. (And I did so using just my shotgun and chaingun, completely ignoring the launcher and million rockets the map handed out.) What a waste of a very large, imposing arena! I will definitely be moving up to UV for the next episode, though I'm guessing it wouldn't have changed the ending to this map much. (Heck, if I have time, maybe I'll run through this one again on UV, just to see!) Anyway, I really dug the map otherwise. Looks great, nonstop run-and-gun action is my jam. The map itself flows...okay; to be honest, I initially found myself getting lost among the samey-looking elevated ramps for a bit. I did manage to miss a single secret with (I assume) the last item in it; I think at least 2/3 of my playtime was searching for it after finding the exit. I have to assume I missed yet another of those tiny switches (I found two of them.) Oh, and I absolutely love this MIDI, one of my favorites by Jimmy!

[LadyMistDragon]

E1M4: Mineral Processing

by @Death Bear

 

Hmm, not exactly the sort of map that one would picture from a Death Bear of death. Like, there's so much room! And the threat of snipers is ultimately quite minimal as enemies hiding behind crates have a higher degree of threat. But though the sniper count could've been a little higher (short of increasing the amount of monster window dressing at least), that makes it all the better to explore.

 

I'm not sure if Death Bear is someone that can be accused of emphasizing sense of place normally, but this map absolutely shines in that category. From all the little caves on the sides, to all the little bits of machinery that are obviously 'processing' rooms and lovingly-lined with red, and finally, the massive refining field at the end with the conveyor belt in the middle like certain locations my dad would go sometimes to drop landfill material off or also like a lumber mill which is something I also recognize. Perhaps it's natural then that the illusion of non-linearity exists to a point, though the yellow key can only be acquired after getting both the yellow and red key. Speaking of which, the trim in the tunnel leading to the yellow door actually looks quite nice!

 

There is also the secrets, which are probably not as hard as I'm making it out with my sleepy gameplay. But to be fair, I couldn't possibly guess the crate blocking the cache of ammo in the piston room before the BK door could only be lowered on one side. Certainly doesn't excuse missing the first crate secret the first time. Another unofficial secret is the ledge behind the starting location accessed by one of the winding tunnels we can see at the first location we can turn left which also conceals around 3 official secrets. There is a chainsaw on a ledge behind some rocks that also spawns a pinkie trap that we could've handled with our chaingun but um, we didn't. Speaking of which, we missed the chaingun entirely until we had the blue key. Not like it matters too much though: enemies are ultimately quite scattered and by the time Death Bear starts using teleport traps to help spice things up, we've more than enough rockets to take care of said traps. With the aid of nearby barrels, they can be wiped out even more effectively.

 

Still, perhaps we're finally starting to see the pickup of difficulty hinted by the last map. Although this might be mostly easier unless RNG doesn't go your way.

 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by LadyMistDragon

[Ralgor]

This is technically a bit early for me to be posting this... but E1M5 is already being discussed, so...

 

E1M5 - "Mining Complex" by RataUnderground
MIDI: "The Antrax Solution" by Varis Alpha
dsda-doom v0.25.6 cl3, UV, Pistol start, blind run
100% kills and secrets
Deaths: 0
Time: 32:13

 

Wow! This is an expansive map! It's also convoluted and confusing. I don't really mind this, since it gave me a half hour of exploration. It was also a bit more difficult than the previous maps. There were a few mass teleportation events that drove me to near death.

 

Spoiler

The nukage area near where I almost died.

The fight that nearly killed me was the one near the first soulsphere (near the nukage). Approaching the switch releases a bunch of monsters all along the path you took to get here. I retreated as I usually do, but I kept running into more and more resistance. It took me a bit to get my footing and drive the onslaught back. Ultimately this opens the path to the yellow key.

On grabbing the yellow key, I dropped down to kill the pinkie, and teleported back to the start of the map. Then that's when I decided to check the waterfalls... and turns out both are secrets. But one is way, WAY bigger than the other.  In fact it has a secret within a secret with a megaarmor. But then there's another secret inside THAT secret with a soulsphere, leading to a massive and dark cavern filled with lost souls and specters. If I didn't come into this with so much health and armor this would have been a real problem. The lift and end lowers VEEERY slowly which gave the lost souls time to put me under serious pressure. I just didn't have the ammo to kill everything so I was hoping to skip it for now. This ended up being one of the most fun parts of the level for me.

 

Spoiler

Spooky!

But now I was in a part of the level I hadn't visited yet, and I wasn't sure how to proceed. I let myself get lost at this point. There was a switch here with what looked like a scale model of the level that was attempting to tell me what the switch did, but I couldn't make heads or tails of what it was. Mainly due to being distracted by demons while it moved. Still, I appreciate the effort.

 

Spoiler

The scale model of the map is on the left.

I eventually figured things out, did some more secret hunting to find the last secret and monsters, and exited (admittedly after like 10 minutes doing that last step). This was a really fun adventure. It's not the best looking necessarily but the combat was pretty great, and that with just the Doom 1 roster. I like the somewhat confusing layout, it really makes me really think about where I'm going. I'm not sure whether I like this map or the last map better, since they are both pretty awesome.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Ralgor

[Bugslide]

DSDA-Doom 25.6, UV, pistol start, blind then speedrun

E1M4: Mineral Processing by Death Bear

Pretty fun map, though I think it could use a little more signposting. There were a few times during my playthrough that I got lost for a few seconds, but for the most part it's easy enough to follow. Something about the way this map uses groups of enemies makes me always miss one or two of them and get shot in the back for it. Mineral Processing isn't as dangerous as Excavation Site was, but it does have a few teeth to it, like the fight around the rocket launcher. I also like the visuals and the midi. Having 3 secrets all attached to one trigger is a little strange, idk why it isn't just considered 1 big secret but whatever. I haven't played any community projects like this before, so maybe this is how it always is, but its cool to see/feel the difference in mapping styles from map to map. The way each author constructs fights has been noticeably different, at least to me. 

Speed routing was a great time. This is the first map that's given me the "Phew I finished.... I can do better than that" feeling that I get when speedrunning other games, to the point that I'm still not satisfied with the time I got. The nonlinear design of the map meant that I spent a good bit of time thinking about what order was best to grab things in, and how to get there. Heck, I even looked into learning how to SR50 just to try a skip I saw. I wasn't able to do it, but I think it's possible to grab the blue key and jump straight to the walkway up to the blue door. If any of y'all have good movement, give it a try and let me know how it goes.

sstruge1m4-144.zip

[finnks13]

E1M4 - Mineral Processing by Death Bear:

11:07/0 Deaths
I think Mineral Processing is pretty great, and it definitely feels the most refined of the maps we've played so far. It's a pretty expansive map, with a wide-open layout that allows you to explore around before actually going to the progression. I think it's very pretty visually, and considering 90% of the rock walls use ASHWALL7 that's a pretty big compliment - maybe that texture's not entirely beyond saving! The buildings and catwalks all look nicely detailed, but not overly so and the small machines (that I suppose do the mineral processing) are a really nice touch that make the level feel much more alive than you'd expect.

 

I like that you can tackle the map in a pretty open-ended manner at the start, either rushing straight for the objectives if you know where they are, or taking it slower to gather supplies before taking on the fairly large ambushes. This did backfire a little for me since I managed to completely miss the chaingun despite it being *right* at the start of the level, but finding it halfway through was more of a "oh, neat" feeling than a "aw shit" since the level thankfully is mostly imps & zombies. The ending ambush is a bit of a let-down, an arena that large deserves a bigger horde of baddies right? I suppose it's E1M4 so you don't want to murder the player with a slaughtery horde of death yet :P

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

E1M3: "Barracks" by Doomlust

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 4/4 secrets

 

A feisty little map by a mapper whose work I am playing for the first time, with again no shortage of neat little details. You have a little exercise area, a rather grim scene past the red key door, and the rocket launcher secret seems to hint at some kind of accident with a big cartoonish explosion mark in the ground. Got a chuckle out of me. This map has quite a lot of shotgunners, which means good things for your shell count but can mean bad things for your health. While I never died, I was riding low health for a decent bit of this map so I had to play more carefully at points. There are some nice bits of action like when you open up the blue room with the invisosphere, and you'll have a mean little ambush of pinkies and imps when dipping into the cremation chamber for that yellow key. The secret exit would have taken me an eternity to find were it not for the automap telegraphing it with a suspicious white line. Enjoyed this one.

 

E1M9: "Excavation Site" by Late Night Person

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 3/3 secrets

 

Our first secret map starts off in a vintage looking techbase, before taking us outside into some caves where a demonic ritual appears to have taken place. Entering the nukage hall greets us with our first cacodemon creeping just around the corner, sure to give some players a nasty surprise. Creeping around the nukage (or wading through it if you find the secret rad suit) you'll get the blue key, which takes us into a small crusher room for the yellow key so we can head outside into the excavated caves. There's a little slaughter on a pentagram here which is quite easy with rocket launcher in hand, but is good messy fun (and also introduces the lost soul). The second big horde of monsters past the red key door is a bit more dangerous since there isn't enough space to merely circlestrafe. I wasn't too huge on the first half of this one, combat felt a bit utilitarian apart from the caco surprise, but starting from the pentagram are some of the more fun encounters we've had so far. Overall decent map.

[Book Lord]

E1M5 – Mining Complex by @RataUnderground

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

 

Titan Terror featured many good maps, showing elaborate vanilla visuals and interesting gameplay, if you consider we are still in the first episode and that it is supposed to be easy and accessible for everyone. Mining Complex was the first submission that struck me for being quite original, going against the mainstream to take bold design choices that confused me quite a bit during beta playtesting. RataUnderground brought us to a strange tech-base built around a dam, using the planet water reserves to produce energy for the mining activities.

 

The map can be completed by following two separate paths, and @Doomy__Doom just demonstrated there is even a speedrunning shortcut to make it straight to the RK and leave. The standard route could be accessed by following the only way out of the starting area, that ends with a teleport pad surrounded by damaging slime. The destination was a separate section full of snipers, roaming creatures, and teleport traps, which I could not beat on UV-fast without resorting to my carryover rocket launcher. The player was supposed to follow the path until he found the exit behind a red door, then the only option was to press a switch that released a mayhem of cheetah Pinkies and Imps. A Soul Sphere was provided, but it was not enough to survive with basic weapons. The author placed many boxes of rockets there, but a pistol starter cannot have the matching weapon at this stage. I remember this fight to be fierce but not so difficult on normal UV.

Spoiler

When I finally entered the teleport pad, I was sent on top of a rocky cliff to collect the YK and jump directly behind the door it was supposed to open. From there, the BK could be retrieved on an outdoor terrace, used to open the nearby door leading in a control room with a scale model of the map. The switch summoned more Imps and opened the way forward, which eventually led me to the RK and to the exit. The route was dotted with closet ambushes and monsters attacking from awkward angles, including Imps behind a waterfall.

 

There was a second way to complete the map, requiring 3 out of the map’s total 5 secrets. Both waterfalls in the starting area could be lowered like lifts, revealing two small areas with a few bonuses. Pressing use on a misaligned ASHWALL, walking through a solid metal grid, following a thin ledge to finally access a huge secret area, were above my sixth sense skills on the first playthrough. However, taking that path was the only way to max out Mining Complex, and would have been the optimal route to beat the map on UV-fast pistol start. It granted a Combat Armour (another one was in the nukage section secret), then I fell in the deep chasm under the dam and found a hidden lift, leading up and then down again into a cave section. I missed the non-secret backpack and ammo as usual, along with the Spectres tied to that pickup, so I exited the map with only 97% kills and items.

Spoiler

The dark, oversized cavern populated by Lost Souls and Spectres was a nerve-wracking moment, a test of patience and awareness considering the extra speed of the barely visible enemies. The never-ending lift at the end should have been accelerated a bit, but at the top I was rewarded with lots of ammo and weapons, including the rocket launcher. A second YK was retrieved in the process and allowed to resume the standard progression without visiting the nukage section and triggering the chaotic ambush, giving a concrete advantage to the player who discovered this path. Mining Complex was still a bit rough around the edges, though I liked its unconventional design, and the alternative route through the secrets.

Edited May 4, 2023 by Book Lord

[Spectre01]

E1M5 - “Mining Complex” by RataUnderground

 

I have mixed feeling about this map. On the positive side, I like most of the gameplay and the traps have some bite and thought put into them. For instance, enemies are unleashed both around the player and in previously cleared sections so you can't just run back. That's cool. I also like the contrast between the bright outdoors and significantly darker interiors. On the other hand, this map looks quite rough. Texture alignment seems non-existent and some of the geometry is rather bizarre. Why does this section of the wall lower and why can you pass through that midtexture? Feels very early 90s. Also, the giant secret cave has way too many Lost Souls and I cleared the map without 5 enemies teleporting in. Yeah, I think this one needed a bit of QA before release. The midi is a banger though. 

[RataUnderground]

5 minutes ago, Spectre01 said:

Texture alignment seems non-existent and some of the geometry is rather bizarre. Why does this section of the wall lower and why can you pass through that midtexture? Feels very early 90s. Also, the giant secret cave has way too many Lost Souls and I cleared the map without 5 enemies teleporting in. Yeah, I think this one needed a bit of QA before release. The midi is a banger though. 

What can I say, I'm afraid I've always been a bit sloppy lining everything up to make it look perfect. It's actually one of the things I most want to strive to improve.
On the other hand, hey, I totally stand by my 90s choices!
 

Spoiler

As for the five enemies, it's because you didn't step on the area where they spawn I think. (You have to jump off the cliff that would normally take you to the cavern door, but in the direction of the waterfall. There are some hidden items in that area.)

 

[Book Lord]

I think it's good to have a rough map in the set and one that strives more to be special than to be polished. While not the best map of the first episode, Mining Complex is surely the most interesting one.

26 minutes ago, Spectre01 said:

I cleared the map without 5 enemies teleporting in.

11 minutes ago, RataUnderground said:

Spoiler

As for the five enemies, it's because you didn't step on the area where they spawn I think. (You have to jump off the cliff that would normally take you to the cavern door, but in the direction of the waterfall. There are some hidden items in that area.)

 

The problem is that the resources (backpack + ammo) that should draw a player on that cliff and then to trigger the monster teleport are hidden from sight. I think I suggested you to make them more visible, since they tend to be missed even by non-blind players.

 

However, this is not a map where people should worry about maxing everything. It is possible, but it requires full knowledge.

[RHhe82]

E1M5: Mining Complex. Played on DSDA v0.25.6, UV, PS. 208/208 K, 5/5 S, 68/69 I. Comp. time 19:44

 

This one I remember well from playtesting because of certain frustrations. Good things first, though: the map itself is yet another outstanding piece: it feels long, but not in an "outstaying its welcome"-kind of way. The combat is challenging for a E1 map, I died here once and had to restart for a single segment run.

 

I remembered that, too, but I also remember spending AGES here trying to find all the secrets. This time I had a rough sketch of where they are, but of course I'd miss the most obtuse of them all that stands in your way to two of the secrets. At least this time I didn't spend half an hour trying to strafejump to the ledge below the blue armor in vain :-D 

 

The second elusive secret is a whole another area, a dark cavern with some floor lights and lost souls lighting your way. And spectres, of course. I actually don't like this area that much -- it looks cool (despite being almost completely dark), for sure, but taking care of the lost souls and spectres feels like busywork. I guess this is one occasion for UV-MAX tendencies get in your way. I guess one should just ignore the lost souls until the end of the cavern and fight the spectres and soulsies from there as you wait for the platform to lower.

 

Other than that: good map, and I do like the fact that it's built with interconnections in mind, I always love when that's accomplished.

[continuum.mid]

E1M5: Mining Complex (RataUnderground)
Woof 10.5.1 (Debian 12), Freedoom: Phase 1 + Antaresian Reliquary Mod, Extreme Carnage, practiced, pistol start
Kills: 89%, Items: 46%, Secrets: 0%, Time: 10:51, Save Count: 5

 

This was my least favorite map in E1 when I first played it, owing to its abstract layout and higher difficulty compared to the other maps. It’s even harder on Anta-Mod, thanks to the higher damage dealt by the zombie projectiles. On replay, though, I can appreciate the fun factor, as Mining Complex is full of fights that are quite literally explosive.

 

The challenge begins right away in the first room, where there’s little space to dodge the numerous Shotgunners in the lake, or Zombiemen on the battlmeents. The walkway filled with barrels and Serpentipedes, with Shotgunners and more serpents sniping from alcoves, is quite fun; get to the barrels quickly and they’ll take care of most of the foes, but you’ll still have to shoot quite a few. More frustrating (but still enjoyable) is the Flesh Worm/Stealth Worm sandwich in the room with the overdrive sphere (soulsphere), where rockets are necessary but it's quite easy to damage oneself. And it’s not at all hard to navigate - every time I got lost I quickly found my way again, and as soon as I found the red key I was able to exit in seconds.

 

Mining Complex may not have the same level of realistic detail and atmosphere as its neighbors, but it’s nice to have a combat focused map every once in a while in such an atmosphere focused WAD.

 

P.S. For what it's worth, I did notice the mini map replica revealing the result of a switch being pressed, and I appreciate it!

[Helm]

E1M4 - Mineral Processing
by Death Bear

the midi is "Pistons" by James Paddock 

This is the kind of ultimate doom map I generally dread. Suspended on high ledges, parsing hitscan and fireballs from a distance, if you fall into the water you will take damage. These maps put me on edge to begin with and I had quite a harrowing health misadventure that I incrementally recover from. My no deaths streak continues, and slow, methodical play continues to be rewarded with a bevy of well placed secrets. Glad to have made it out alive. I would do blow by blow but lack of time doesn't allow, and in this case the footage tells the tale.

[Celestin]

E1M5: Mining Complex by RataUnderground

Spoiler

Mining Complex is another nukage-filled industrial installation, stuffed with hitscanners, imps and pinkies. There are tons of enemies, mostly teleporting out of nowhere or hiding in monster closets. I was having fun, but then something happened. Something, that elevatem Mining Complex from good to fucking brilliant.

 

I got killed. Well, more precisely I was surprised by a pinky trap by the exit door and fired a rocket too close to a crowd. Regardless, I haven't been saving since E1M1, so I restarted from the beginning. This is where I discovered the secrets in the starting room. You can lower the waterfalls on your left and right side, both contain secret areas, but the one on the left leads to a completely different path to the exit. It leads through the outskirt of the map and one really cool setpiece: a huge cave full of lost souls and some spectres.

 

This is a great concept and was executed well, though it also makes the map longer if you want to get all the kills. Nevertheless, I admire pulling this off.

[Bugslide]

DSDA-Doom 25.6, UV, pistol start, blind then speedrun

E1M5: Mining Complex by RataUnderground, Music: The Antrax Solution by Varis Alpha

This is my favorite map so far (though I feel like I've said something similar for every map...). The combat is great, much more deadly than the previous maps. Special shout out to the Soulsphere fight; on my first go around, I kept trying to run away and create space, only to keep finding more and more monsters lmao. The crowd of imps at the slime walkway was fun too. I think this map managed to kill me 3-4 times, certainly more than any of the other maps. Also, the midi is insane, I've never heard anything from Varis Alpha before, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for them from now on. I don't even know what else to say other than good job, this whole map is just incredibly fun to play. 

So fun to play, in fact, that I feel almost bad for how big of a skip I found. Who needs all these challenging fights and key hunting when you can just crash through a window and break the map entirely? Skimming through what others have said, it looks like @Doomy__Doom found it as well, so maybe I'm not as creative as I think haha. However, not going for secrets (or playing on nightmare) allowed me to slash the map time to a ridiculous degree. My first full playthrough took around 7 minutes, through considering I died a few times, it was probably closer to 15 minutes or more. After only 10 attempts, I got my UV-Speed time down to 16 seconds. 

sstruge1m5-16.zip

[Doomy__Doom]

E1M6 - Visitor Center - Nightmare! 100% secrets

 

This one is a little rough. 23 attempts, or rather 11+12 as I opted to hang back and reexamine my approach. Right off the bat we have to hold on to the trigger and do some footwork to make imp walls passable. Blessed be 2 medkits at the start, because every bit of HP is necessary in the next part.

 

We have to cruise past a point-blank shotgunner next, still holding fire (figuring that out cost me the first 11 attempts), grab the chaingun, skirt around the linedef for bookshelf ambush to lower area saturation, pray to not get deleted while passing by a window with another shotgunner+2 zombies combo and stuff ourselves in a specific spot by the door.

 

Here is why we had to hold fire - the row of zombiemen behind bookshelves would otherwise be all over the room causing pain to our limited health and time. There are barely enough seconds on the clock to kill all hitscanners and stuff self into the exit room - the imps from stairs are coming, as are respawns. Next into the RK office, grab the blessing in form of partial invisibility, essential RL and leave the way we came.

 

Past another door (which helpfully shuts itself immediately upon entry) we can heal up a little more with a medkit and a stimpack by secret gargoyle, lower BK, finally obtain blue armor and do some more footwork - trip the "W1 door close" line which, thankfully, disarms even if the door is already closed, open it up with blue switch up the ramp and leave.

 

Then the last secret which can do a number on health if imp fireballs aren't accounted for, and into the YK lockdown. Prefire rockets for spectres and try to grab another two while hitting the switch and not getting obliterated by imps point blank. Staying longer to kill them can backfire just the same - flimsy bars barely do anything to protect you from outside and partial invis will be down at this point.

 

Last but not least is the trek back to exit - lots of stuff blocking doorways and the upper area is heavily repopulated, while passing by the green armor releases a few extra imps behind enforcing lack of immediate safety. Should be just barely enough rockets to make space.

 

sstrgle_e1m6_nm100s_1-55-60.zip