What are you playing now?

[seed]

@Gez Glad I'm not the only one who got tired of SoD after a while, but at least the later maps got rid of the stupid monster pop-ins entirely, which I found obnoxious in the first half.

 

Might want to try Resurgence at some point if you haven't already, I found it an improvement in almost all areas over SoD.

[Gez]

There are plenty of pop-ins on MAP28.

[galileo31dos01]

Resurgence is also Joshy out of his comfort zone and inspired by his fellow mappers, impersonating a few if you can tell without reading the text file. I totally agree it's an improvement over Speed of Doom, just looks to me it's less recalled in the community, I could be wrong.

 

------------

 

Okay so, I picked Forest Swords the other day, the third project released by the Doomerboards people. These are laid-back maps you can sort of relax and listen to the awesome midis, specially the songs in maps 03 and 07 that I never heard before. They also look very nice and distinct thanks to the moss green textures and liquids, an unusual tone of green in doom maps. They get a liiiiittle hairy towards the end, just a tiny bit, so if you're looking for a wad to sit back and play maps that won't bite hard, then this is worth it.

 

And yesterday I chose The Beginning of The End part 2, thinking that it'd fine to see no double-barreled shotguns or jackass pain elementals in the open, but I'm finding it super rough and occasionally frustrating, this because it has some old got 'em traps you just die or get severely injured from the shock. The maps also are plagued with shotgunners and spectres, plus barons in confined spaces, so they definitely don't play around. I like the ideas NT had to get you out of your comfort zone, they just typically require a blind random death to know what's even happening, and in that regards I feel some could have been done less crude, like this situation, gotta sneak the red keycard with him just on it, although I believe it's possible to coax a baron to distract him, how troublesome that'd be I don't know. He's also able to shoot through fake walls, which I found out the bad way. For almost every booby or cheap trap there's a way around involving a secret, that's good I guess, though that same cyberdemon was too ugly to kill without the invul. You also have to figure when is worth to use the BFG, or punch/saw stuff, and armor is generally somewhere within reach, so this is a hard-worked wad full of surprises, well, except no skills implemented, pity if you find UV not fun. On E3M7 now.

[P41R47]

Diggin Eternal Doom by Team Eternal and Team TNT with the dehacked patch that NightFright made that adds custom text screens with proper story for this amazing megawad.
Boring?

For me, at least, not at all.

I found myself constantly searching around all the level, looking for the details and the awesome architecture. Quite awesome that this is a vanilla megawad. The music is spot on, the maps are enganging and full of surprises everywhere. An early area becomes totally open or different after some switch pressed.

 

With other mapsets i can play an entire episode of Doom 2 in one sit. But with Eternal Doom, just two levels, maybe just one. I can't stop myself from getting constantly amazed in every turn. There few megawads that gives me this awesome sense of wonder in all the maps. And this is one of those i will surely remember for a very long time.
Its fantastic!

Right now i reached Map12: Darkdome. I will surely enjoy this one a lot as the opening looks pretty promising. I heard that this map is one of the 10 best maps in the doom community. So yeah!

Eternal Doom is pure gold.

[joepallai]

Eternal Doom is just awesome, one of the wads that inspired me when I started mapping.  (Explains a lot...  ;-)

 

Currently playing Canyon by Rich Brude.   It's a puzzle map from '97 and I'm not entirely sure I like it yet...catwalks, punishing nukage, spectres in said nukage, imps and former humans sniping at you while you figure it out--and this is just the first area.    Going to have a beer and give it another go...

 

...beer didn't fix that map, though I did get much farther and may go back to it this weekend.

 

Instead I fired up BAK2HELL, an oldie but a goodie and am enjoying the hell out of this Episode 3 replacement by David Seager.   

Edited November 27, 2019 by joepallai : continued rambling

[galileo31dos01]

Finnished end2 yesterday. Highly recommended mapset if you like to be harassed for existing. I grew a little masochist after several maps, they serve for a good exercise in berserk punching or bit of sawing, careful ammo distribution, and outsmarting those violent set pieces. Things that inevitably happened from not knowing the maps were, among shotgunning a baron or five, finding the secrets either too late or after multiple deaths that some were really convenient to go further in the maps, like shortcuts or armor, if almost mandatory for me to soften some horrible parts. It is also worth pointing out, once again, that there are no skills implemented, but I guess ITYTD is always a safer option if the struggle is too much. There was one pointed I looked for HMP, only to find no differences. It's said in the text file though, right in the part I never read. I'm glad this wad exists anyways because it packs many ideas of how to approach a very violent difficulty in Doom 1, if maybe raw in parts, but on the subject of concepts they're all valid. Now I'm intrigued whether No End in Sight plays this rough on UV pistol starts, someday...

 

That being said, if you're going to try it out, beware of the last map, E3M8. All I will say is that the spider mastermind hit a record of player-kills in one map, the archvile holds the first place in Deus Vult map 2 and Tangerine Nightmare map 10, and in general, basically, while the second place is now tied between the SMM and the revenant. Holy fuck dude, that map was something I'll never forget :(

 

Onto Epic 2 again, possibly one favourite of mine that I have yet to confirm. Was going to play HR2 but, I don't think it'll win the megawad club :X

[vdgg]

7 hours ago, galileo31dos01 said:

Finnished end2 yesterday.

I absolutely loved this episode for how creative UD monsters setups were. The neverending wave at the start of E3M7 comes to my mind immediately, although I find E3M6 to be the best overall. About the cyber at the key in E3M5: yes, the safe way is to lure a baron, though it's a bit tricky as well. You're right about the secrets, for example the same map has a very useful BFG. And E3M8: it sucks, but Revved "solved it" for max, check it there and also NT's reply a few posts below:

 

 

I'm probably in the absolute minority, but for me    end2 > neis ep.4 > neis ep.3 > neis ep.2 > end1 ep.1 > end1 ep.2 > neis ep.1

[Magicana]

I've picked up Sunder again, and finally managed to beat Map06!

 

 

This map really made me its bitch. Warning: I'm Australian and the video contains foul language (Even for an Australian)

[galileo31dos01]

@vdgg Here's the thing, while normally solving maps on my own terms is my number one preference, there's always the 1% of times a map could make me feel impotent enough to go search for someone else's solution. Prior to E3M8 I urged to watch a demo that told me where was that bit of progression I couldn't see in E3M7, a short hole in a hallway you can go through, but I misinterpreted its purpose. And then for the final map, I think it's unique in a way, voodoo dolls included IN the puzzle rather than out of view for mechanical intentions as most usual. I have both available demos downloaded, but only checked Revved's as it was the shortest. While it's undeniable the high skills of control they managed in the demo, even there were some lucky moments there, by being forced to stay partially invisible in front of cyberdemons, and even the spiderdemons could have been somehow accurate given the close proximity, like it happened to me about every time until the winning shot. I stuck to the infighting route and begged the monsters to behave, I tried Revved's way many times too but, well what I said above, worked until rng slapped me. I guess if one doesn't care about 100% kills, the spiders can be executed in a conservative way, but that's not a fun conclusion in my eyes. Regardless, @NaturalTvventy's style in doom 1 is pure gold, and I wonder if there's like an "end3" but in episode 4, unless NEIS was his last work.

[NaturalTvventy]

13 hours ago, galileo31dos01 said:

I wonder if there's like an "end3" but in episode 4, unless NEIS was his last work.

The first map I made after a long hiatus was Awakening in the e4m1 spot. Next came Industrial Zone, e4m2, which drew some criticism and never got finished. The original plan was to make a ZDoom end3. Feeling the need to prove my vanilla cred I jumped on DTWID which morphed into NEIS. Now I feel I’ve spent too much time in my comfort zone of UDoom and am mapping for ZDOOM II with Bad Religion, Boom Stick in the Mud, and Toxic Containment. Maybe once I complete a 9 map ZDOOM II project I’ll want to make a Boom end3. Love the conversation and support - it’s what keeps me mapping.

[P41R47]

1 hour ago, NaturalTvventy said:

The first map I made after a long hiatus was Awakening in the e4m1 spot. Next came Industrial Zone, e4m2, which drew some criticism and never got finished. The original plan was to make a ZDoom end3. Feeling the need to prove my vanilla cred I jumped on DTWID which morphed into NEIS. Now I feel I’ve spent too much time in my comfort zone of UDoom and am mapping for ZDOOM II with Bad Religion, Boom Stick in the Mud, and Toxic Containment. Maybe once I complete a 9 map ZDOOM II project I’ll want to make a Boom end3. Love the conversation and support - it’s what keeps me mapping.

Your work is truly inspiring, pal.
Glad to hear you are enjoying mapping for different projects.
Hope you can deliver some good maps if you ever take again the idea of continue with end3.wad and maybe a end4.wad.
Cheers!

[joepallai]

Yesterday I played Lost Temple by @Phobus and it's a nice puzzle map that turns into some really well thought out combat situations.   Great atmosphere and layout.  It did require save scumming on my part to prevent do-overs on the earlier puzzles but after that I really liked it and will look into his other stuff after playing this.  

 

Today I played The Warlock's Hearth by @Khorus and this was an incredible map that had me scrambling around with 15% health most of the time; with large periods of time being below 3% health.   (I was down to 1% health for a few minutes in the area leading to the plasma gun and get two potions and a health pack then get hit with a rocket and am back down to 3% health--extremely tense situations here on HMP)(don't get me wrong, I loved it).   Ammo proves to be tight, I skipped the final encounter after dealing with the cyberdemon and just ran for the exit.   (I had 4 shells and 16 cells left at 13% health and 21% armor, no way I was going to deal with anything after that).   Secrets were difficult to find, I only found 3 out of 10.   Highly recommended.

[Phobus]

@joepallai - thanks for the shout out! I can't believe I'm being mentioned in the same post as Khorus! If you're a ZDoom player, my Persephone series of "best of" volumes is probably the easiest way to get my back catalogue in one go. The only things that are fresher are Mini Doom and the 6-map demo of Doom II: 25 Years on Earth. Keep an eye out for the full release of that, whatever your preferred port is! I'm keen to finish that this month, and it's a limit-removing megaWAD.

[joepallai]

@Phobus  I'll give those a play through during Christmas vacation and look forward to Doom2: 25 Years on Earth.    

 

I am becoming less of a purist when it comes to playing Doom and have been using GZDoom and Zandronum for a lot of my playing lately; still prefer the graininess of the original but it's just becoming easier to run everything through those programs now.   Who knows, in another 10 years I might pine for the days of Original GZDoom vs the new-fangled Doom VR 2.5D port...

[NaturalTvventy]

I'm checking out @Lutz's PAR again. His work with metallic midtextures has always been impressive. The fact that he pulled it off prior to visual mode blows me away (lots of math was involved I assume). I've always been hesitant to use midtextures on two-sided walls because the 2D textures in a 3D space break emersion for me. But he pulls it off so well that I've decided to dive into it for my next map, completely ripping off his style (hardly the first time I've "drawn inspiration" from his work - see NEIS e3m7 and Chris's Inferno).

 

Just the start of my own midtexture madness:

 

I don't dare revisit his work on Caverns of Darkness - it's so good I'll just become crippled with feelings of inferiority.

[joepallai]

Playing @Jimmy 's "Deathless" for the first time.   I am really liking how easy this is right now (6th map into 1st episode)--a nice change of pace with (so far) smaller and easier levels to just plow through.   It's making for a nice break.  

[Horus]

On 11/14/2019 at 6:09 PM, Horus said:

Map 32 of Eviternity takes forever, because not only does it have a huge monster count, it is also very much non-linear, inevitably leading to a lot of retreading of worn ground whilst you work out what to do next

 

I have been replaying Scythe 2 (been quite a number of years since I last played it and my memory of it is not that great at all), just got up to the jungle episode (lol). Prefer the first 20 levels of Scythe 2 to the first 20 of Scythe, have a feeling that will be more than offset by the last 10 levels.

 

Having a couple of weeks’ break from Doom before I tackle those

 

Completed Scythe 2. I dreaded the jungle episode, but to be honest it wasn't nearly as hard as I remembered. Gaia's Temple is actually pretty easy for a slaughtermap, a fun BFG blaster. The hell episode was definitely hard though, I really struggled with the Tyson combat of map 26, and I also found map 27 really hard. The final 3 maps were easier by comparison. Overall, I prefer Scythe 2 to Scythe. A really fun mapset to this day, and one that was clearly influential to the big projects of this decade

 

Top 3 maps:

L17: Canyon of Blood

L19: Withering Away

L8: Graverobbers

 

 

[galileo31dos01]

Revisiting Hell Revealed 2, and attempting to make demos, technically UV-maxes but without the speedrun part, so casual runs I guess. It's going very well, compared to what I expected, the only maps I had troubles were 04, due to the av-jump secret thingy, and on a lesser note 10, mainly failing on one particular telefrag, those who know the map will get it. On map 13 currently, probably going again for a conservative start, I found a way to kill the wild archviles on map 12 that uses infinite height for advantage and probably looks cheesy on the demo, but uh with that many running outside I gave a fuck. 

[joepallai]

revisiting 666epis by Steve Timson  

 

The 2nd map of this set was always inspiring to me with its hellish atmosphere, a barrel trick that seems highly influential and the author's approach to secrets within the level set. One of the great '94 wads.   

[sincity2100]

I just finished TNT Revilution last week, I enjoyed the game despite some setbacks, I may plan to replay the game sometime...

 

Right now I'm taking a break preparing for next year where I take on Eviternity..

[3saster]

Just finished Sunlust in its entirety for the first time. All I can say is, WHY THE HELL DID I NOT PLAY THIS EARLIER??? This is easily one of the finest mapsets I've ever played, period. The visuals are top-notch, the fights are incredibly varied and imaginative, and outside of the last level, the maps are not super long, so you have lots of freedom to experiment with different strategies, and it avoids burnout. Perhaps the most impressive thing is that it can actually keep it up for 32 maps! I thought Sunlust would eventually run out of ideas by the end, but nope! Up to and including the last map continues to keep throwing new encounters and ideas at the player, and it continues to impress. The was recently a "All killer no filler" thread, and if any mapset manages to pull off 32 maps with not even a hint of filler, it would be Sunlust.

 

If there is one minor thing I will complain about, it's that large fights are hidden in certain maps in secrets. It feels odd when you reach the exit and you are still missing 200 monsters... that being said, it's not a big deal, because you can almost always revisit the entire level, and use the Doomwiki the find where the fights are. I also had a couple minor problems in GZDoom (couldn't open the yellow bars in MAP21; BFG would not come down the waterfall in MAP24), so I will investigate and see if perhaps some level compatibility is necessary.

The quality of the levels are so high that it's pretty much impossible to pick out a favorite. The coolest fight is perhaps the famous archvile carousel in MAP29, but not by a huge margin; the encounters are just so well done and creative throughout the entire wad. Visually though, my favourite is perhaps MAP28; I adore the giant green spire. I also played it on HMP saveless pistol starts (though I used saves on the the last level for its sheer length), and didn't find it nearly as hard as I thought it would be. A look on youtube shows that while nearly every fight on HMP is still largely in the spirit of the UV fights, many of the UV fights are considerably harsher (and on MAP30, it seems one of the fights is UV only). I will definitely be checking this out on UV in the future!

[Misty]

Currently, I'm playing New Doom community project 2. It's quite interesting, but there are some questionable choices in design and encounters. Plenty of monster trap teleports are damn unreliable and some places are buggy. You can hear in set "hey, let's be done with this already and put it in archives". I hope to finish this in couple of days and move to Strange Aeons. 

[Pablo_Doom_Guy]

On a 100% run of Doom 64 for Doom 2 with  Doom 64 weapon sprites by @TheNoob_Gamer 

[seed]

KDIZD.

 

Pretty nice re-imagining, but I wish some sprites were better, some of the new Imps and their projectiles look noticeably rougher than the others, and also why so many Imp types to begin with?

 

Z1M4 was also a bit of a pain in the ass with the excessive backtracking, but I didn't mind anything else apart from these things. Some things I initially hated, such as the new SSG have even managed to grow on me.

[seed]

@Xaser's Dead. wads.

 

I must admit, this stuff is among the most creative I've seen yet, that nightmarish atmosphere, amazing arsenal, and enemies are top notch. Loved the cyberpunk vibe too, and a rather neat-looking palette. But damn, I wish those Cacos weren't in Dead.air, that's one of the most disgusting and revolting sprites I've seen so far - but considering the atmosphere, perhaps that was exactly the point.

 

I sure hope it won a Cacoward or something back when it first came out, if not, it screams underrated for sure.

 

E: Took my own advice and just checked the 2015 and 2016 Cacowards. Dead.wire was part of them, but .air not, which is baffling.

[Firedust]

1 hour ago, seed said:

@Xaser's Dead. wads.

 

I must admit, this stuff is among the most creative I've seen yet, that nightmarish atmosphere, amazing arsenal, and enemies are top notch. Loved the cyberpunk vibe too, and a rather neat-looking palette. But damn, I wish those Cacos weren't in Dead.air, that's one of the most disgusting and revolting sprites I've seen so far - but considering the atmosphere, perhaps that was exactly the point.

 

I sure hope it won a Cacoward or something back when it first came out, if not, it screams underrated for sure.

 

E: Took my own advice and just checked the 2015 and 2016 Cacowards. Dead.wire was part of them, but .air not, which is baffling.

I've always wondered whether he intentionally recreated a similar arena in dead.air (final battle) and last btsx e2 map (secret area with spider demons, revs and arachnotrons).

[FrancisT218]

.air got an award in 2017 @seed

 

Released too late in 2016 I think.

[seed]

10 minutes ago, FrancisT18 said:

.air got an award in 2017 @seed

 

Released too late in 2016 I think.

 

Ah yes, you're right, just checked 2017 too.

 

Good, it deserved one for sure :) .

[P41R47]

I will start H2H Xmas coupled with Doomxmas.wad for christmas themed resources right now, and with @NightFright fix that add the unofficial fix for map14 and dehacked work for the maps and custom story, just to get in mood for Christmass :D
 

Edited December 25, 2019 by P41R47

[kknot5889]

A few maps into E4 of Moonblood. Solid wad overall. Some really fantastic map design.