What are you playing now?

[kmxexii]

Finally finished PRCP. It was everything I expected it to be... And more! There were only a few instances of difficulty being tedious rather than exciting, and the mixture of flat-out homages and original material was quite nice. Moving on to Hanging Gardens and then the Russian Sacrament.

[gun_psycho]

I finished up a few UDoom Episodes, and I recently conquered the first two of the DTWID episodes. (I started at the secret levels, though, as I was really in no mood to try to find ways to get every last secret)

[darkreaver]

Just played through Disturbia again. Probably my favorite map ever created. D-D <3

[printz]

I just played the maps by Holger Nathrath (co-author of Serenity/Eternity/Infinity wads) from the cancelled Eternity TC. All I've got to say is that while I'm mostly bored of vanilla-compatible realistic maps (which are quite intuitive to design), I really love vanilla-compatible abstract maps which really only focus on tactics and combat. For comparison in this category you'd also get any map from the Master Levels. Here are example screenshots:

[kmxexii]

printz said:

I just played the maps by Holger Nathrath (co-author of Serenity/Eternity/Infinity wads) from the cancelled Eternity TC. All I've got to say is that while I'm mostly bored of vanilla-compatible realistic maps (which are quite intuitive to design), I really love vanilla-compatible abstract maps which really only focus on tactics and combat. For comparison in this category you'd also get any map from the Master Levels. Here are example screenshots:

Huh; that second shot looks suspiciously like a map Nathrath gave to Sam Woodman for his failed megaWAD. Looking forward to playing the remnants of the Eternity TC, though. I'm disappointed Hermans and Nathrath never finished their Serenity IV work. I'm sure it would still be talked about today.

[darkreaver]

Played through Grime, yet another greeeeat map by D-D

[kmxexii]

Hanging Gardens: Very fun; I would have played a whole mess of this kind of material. Never played with gore mods before so the changes felt pretty novel.

Sacrament: I'm sad to see how badly this got panned in the archives and whatnot, though it looks like the 1.1 update is holding at a respectable 3.5 stars. It's definitely unlike most of the stuff I've played to this point. The maps are highly atmospheric, favoring exploration. Some have a story-like quality while a few (Wraith's maps and Dragon's "Arena") would put your average Doomer more at home. I sympathize with the weapon replacements, though. They just seem so dull and lifeless compared to Doom's stock graphics (and messing with the interplay of the demon and the SSG is a cardinal sin in my book).

[hex11]

System Vices, an old vanilla TC from 1996. It's weird, very atmospheric, and full of puzzles. I was stuck on MAP05 for the longest time until I figured out that there's a monster you're not supposed to kill immediately (I won't mention which one, hehe). Anyway, it's a lot of fun and easily as good as School Doom, Alien TC, and Hacx.

[kmxexii]

hex11 said:

System Vices, an old vanilla TC from 1996. It's weird, very atmospheric, and full of puzzles. I was stuck on MAP05 for the longest time until I figured out that there's a monster you're not supposed to kill immediately (I won't mention which one, hehe). Anyway, it's a lot of fun and easily as good as School Doom, Alien TC, and Hacx.

Never heard of it before. Sounds like my thing, though! Gotta check that out.

[Birdbrain]

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[BilboHicks]

just finished phobos revisited, a fun remix E1 replacement. Well recommended.

[Grazza]

hex11 said:

System Vices, an old vanilla TC from 1996. It's weird, very atmospheric, and full of puzzles. I was stuck on MAP05 for the longest time until I figured out that there's a monster you're not supposed to kill immediately (I won't mention which one, hehe).

If you're referring to the forcefield door near the start/exit, then I was never too sure what the author's intention was there (I suppose I could have simply asked Bob...). Yes, you can allow a monster to assist, but you can also simply barge through the forcefield without any assistance. That's what I did in my Nightmare demo. But yes, awesome wad.

[kmxexii]

Icebound: First Heretic PWAD I've ever played, and what a level! Very cool fights and attrition-style gameplay. Use of voodoo-doll "scripts" was astounding, particularly in the phoenix rod room. Also, I only found one out of seven secrets! I highly recommend it.

[elic]

Over a week ago I finally finished Community Chest 1. Map29 was a lot harder than I thought it would be. It was difficult enough that I had to use about 10 saves, when usually I play with none. It's still a cool map, and its certainly a lot better than the same author's Map06. The biggest flaw was the cryptic progression in some places (especially that wall running part).

After that I went through the Rebirth in about 3 days (Cchest took nearly 3 months :P) Overall I think it was a decent megawad. The first 3rd was pretty meh, but as I got further the level designs became much more creative.

Next I played Dutch Devil's Riot Control, a 4 level wad using Quake textures. The maps were great individually, but I thought they became too repetitive when played together, probably because nearly every single fucking texture and flat used was brown.

I'm currently on MAP14 Memento Mori II. It's been okay so far, but most of the levels felt more amateurish and bland than the maps in the first wad.

[gun_psycho]

@Processingcontrol - Major kudos for finally beating Map29 of CC1.

Speaking of what I'm playing now, I'm back on Scoredoom, tackling Eviltech with the add-on pack. So far, I'm in Map05, and I gotta say, the levels definitely remind me of DTWID, only the secrets aren't such a pain in the ass to get. (within the par time limits of the map, anyway.)

Edit: I made it to Map12, but I'm taking a break for now. Seeing that from Map12 onward, I'm gonna be in for several one-hour-long maps in a row.

[kmxexii]

1994 Tune-up: very fun megaWAD. Lots of great tune-ups from the contributors, mostly tending toward techbases, but a fair number of fortresses as well. I particularly enjoyed Travers Dunne's works (and the concept behind the secret levels). It's interesting to see where each member varied on the idea of a tune-up, especially when comparing the maps side to side.

Doxylamine Moon: Overdose - Same layout as the original from Sacrament, but with some major additions, including way more enemies, but still low enough in population to keep the city feeling eerie. The enemy placement echoes the open map style, giving a decidedly different bent to the action as opposed to your standard Doom map. I liked it, but I doubt the additiona would make the people who hated it feel any better about it.

[Birdbrain]

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[Megamur]

printz said:

I just played the maps by Holger Nathrath (co-author of Serenity/Eternity/Infinity wads) from the cancelled Eternity TC. All I've got to say is that while I'm mostly bored of vanilla-compatible realistic maps (which are quite intuitive to design), I really love vanilla-compatible abstract maps which really only focus on tactics and combat. For comparison in this category you'd also get any map from the Master Levels. Here are example screenshots:

How odd. Just looking at those, I thought to myself, "Those remind me of Serenity levels." I guess Nathrath just has a style about him. :)

Currently halfway through the full, 32-map version of Jenesis. I need to figure out what other WADs Jimmy Paddock composed music for. Great stuff!

[Capellan]

Just played through all four eps of the UltDoom IWAD, and am now up to level 8 of the Doom2 IWAD. It's nice to visit old friends again :)

[kmxexii]

Call of the Apostate: very good Heretic mapset which toward the end kind of brings to mind Hell Revealed lite. Lots of great, epic architecture, plus the two final boss fights were quite great. It fell a little flat in some spots, mainly when the encounters turn into laborious circle-strafing (E3M3 boss fight) but I had a lot of fun.

Also played Where Serpents Ever Dwell, another Heretic map, but smaller and a bit trickier. Very good, though it takes a while for you to get comfortable ammo-wise.

[Vordakk]

kmxexii said:

Call of the Apostate...

Wow, thanks for the kind words! If you like that, you might like my other Heretic map, Dark Deity's Bastion.

[elic]

Now on Map23 of mm2. The level quality really went up after Map13; everything from Map14 and onwards (with the exception of Map20 and maybe Map32) has been great. So far Map22 is my favorite; a huge grey techbase with great challenging gameplay. Map 19 is in a close second though.

gun_psycho said:

@Processingcontrol - Major kudos for finally beating Map29 of CC1.

Thanks. Usually I feel disappointed in myself whenever I have to use saves, but that map's so damn long and hard that I even feel proud even using 10. :)

And yes, I know that sentence is massive "THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!111111111" bait.

[Pirx]

i've been in a mood for some ultimate doom lately: played through DTWID and NMDU. now going for 1994 tune-up.

[chexwarrior]

Well I finished Eternally Yours which I enjoyed immensely and now I'm playing The Darkening 2 -which is awesome, I can't believe I never played this before.

[Janizdreg]

Just finished playing through Scythe 2 in co-op. It took us almost a year, playing one session of a few maps every month. It was a big and highly enjoyable challenge to tackle through with a mate, highly recommended.

[elic]

Finished Memento Mori 2; I'm thinking of doing a TC or PC next.

[DeathevokatioN]

Played through Hexen and had a great time, those sadistic death traps and ledges really add to it's charm. Nice break away from Doom.

Now onto Map07 of Alien Vendetta.

[cannonball]

I've been playing Eviltech and a few others just casually, still trying to do maxes for 2002 a doom odyssey and should probably start playing vile flesh casually as it's next on my demo list.

[Ixnatifual]

gun_psycho said:

I just finished up the zdoom community map project. The final boss wasn't too bad because he was weak to splash damage.

Edit: I'm now in map07 of Titan, and those old hectebi are getting annoying REALLY quickly.

Edit 2: I finally finished up Titan, and good riddance to those hectebi.

Edit 3: Currently playing Titan 2. Just when I thought I escaped those hectebi for good... well, though they've been given 3000 more hp, which is WAY too much, they at least don't pump out fireballs like crazy here.

What the hell? There's only Hectebi in the final map of Titan (map09). There's only one Hectebus in Titan 2. I gave it more health so it would still feel a bit like a boss fight.

[kmxexii]

Riot Control: Excellent minisode w/ Quake textures and showcase of DD's talents. I just wish the base interiors had as much character as the non-base areas! MAP03 and 04 are my favorites.

Reverie: Doom Core 2.0, but with generally smaller maps and I daresay harder gameplay. Well polished and with some real eye-poppers (like "Sleeping Spirits"). It'll be fun to see where Valkiriforce goes from here.

Phil's Infested Compound: Neat little Plutonia MAP17 homage that was fun to play. I can see why it didn't make PRCP but glad it made its way to the archives. That BFG fight is a little brutal, though.

Marine's Folly: A MAP14 replacement that uses the same texture scheme. This was pretty fun to explore. I dunno if Mike and Chris will team up again in the future, but I wouldn't mind seeing more stuff in this vein.