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dobu gabu maru

The DWmegawad Club plays: Unholy Realms & Zone 300 (simultaneously!)

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UR MAP05

This megawad continues that ridicilous stuff again ;(
Feels like HR right now : lots of ammo lots of enemies and ambushes.
I actually wasted all my ammo when I got to the final battle of the mancubie.

Z300 MAP05

Nothing more then a simple yet linear mossy barrack.
Moving on.

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UR Map06 - "Sewage Entrypoint": The respite lasts a little more than a nanosecond until all hell breaks loose with the first step. This is a map, thanks to the great pumping music, that keeps you on your toes while the action keeps flowing. The AV reveal in the YK side was great when I first played it but is even more impressive now that I’ve learned a bunch of little Doom mechanics—the RL is less effective than the SSG here since you can target the feet with the buckshot, plus there’s a chance continuous players will kill the revs inside of the room which leads to the added challenge of having to refight them after some revives. Honestly there’s not a fight I don’t like throughout this level as they all feel tightly paced and well designed, and even the clumsy Mastermind at the end is fun to work out on the fly, especially when she creeps over to where you’re hunkered down. Great map.

Caught this HOM in Zdoom however. And some words get cut off on the story intermission screen afterwards.


Map06 - "Whispering Corridor": Strong outing by Corfiatis, definitely my favorite of these maps so far. This one was a royal pain to get through without saving for me, as my first run was the best but I didn’t dodge the last HK slimeball so I was put through the hell of failing over and over again. Everything here feels really meticulously designed, from the imps that fire down the corridor at your back, the pinkies that you have to fight through giving the chaingunners and HK time to hone in on you, the big battle in the diamond courtyard and the final cruel trap. The lack of ammo and health here really add to having weigh your options, as any slip up can cost you dearly. Excellent map!

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Right then. I spotted the missing texture in Doombuilder and fixed a couple of other little errors on my part that weren't mentioned previously. Shoddily put together. Anyways, I guess I'll fill in some thoughts on the maps played so far:

Map01 - Water Treatment

As mentioned before, this originally began as an episode rather than a megawad, but not mentioned is that I had a bit more of a high-concept idea when I first switched over to the 32-map nightmare this eventually became. What I wanted to present in the first episode (Map01-Map06) is the idea of an evacuated portion of UAC. The demons are only just now starting to take over this area. This is why all of the ambient noises via-crusher were added - the water treatment plant is still running, but no one's at the wheel.

While this is a good highlight of my mapping principles at the time - close attention to lighting with trap-o-mania gameplay, it's also a bit of an anomaly. I'd very quickly leave this atmosphere behind. That being said, this is a map that I think works well as an opener as it establishes a lot of what's to follow. I have no issues with anything here save for a couple of visual moments.

Map02 - Storage

Crates, crates, crates. I think this may have been the first time I ever used them in any capacity. It's an old idea. If anything, this map shows off just how experimental I was back in 2010. Still a relatively green mapper, I obsessed over the idea of having a bridge. Naturally, there it is. Now, I'd probably designed that room completely different these days, but I'm leaving it as it is as a reminder of just how much things done changed.

This map also features a care-free sort of approach to atmosphere. As much as I wanted to give a sense of abandonment, I also wanted to establish that this was just going to be a good time as well. Primeval's music certainly pounded that idea into the ground. The first room is from an old speedmap of mine, and I don't care what anyone says, I still like that opening trap. Decent map, but far from my favorite.

Map03 - Nukage Processing Zone

UR Trivia: the original midi for this map was "Gene Gadget Act 1" from Sonic 3D blast. Hence "Zone" being tacked on.

Again, my experimental nature shines through here. That room 'o color is a big piece of shit, but for whatever reason I haven't altered it as of this time. I'll probably do that for the final release while keeping the original version on my drive just as a reminder of "This, don't do this."

Two keys with two different concepts behind them. I will say that this map is a bit special to me in that it shows I'm starting to get a firmer grasp of how to build outdoor areas. Even if it is, on numerous occasions, a ripoff of WOS02, it features a number of 'firsts' for me. The late redesign of the final room still needs some straightening out, but nothing too serious. Another semi-decent outing to start the wad off.

Map04 - UAC Courtyard

And here it is: the map that changed the project forever.

You see, I always wanted to make a megawad, but I didn't want to try my hand at one until I felt like I could create something truly memorable. That outdoor area is that. The abstract structure of the metal overhang took a long time to construct, but once it was done, it was my proudest creation. That's changed ever since, but I still think it's one of my better-looking setpieces.

More experimental stuff here with the final-room trap, the reverse-teleporter, and the "solid" railing. I almost changed those until I saw the potential for utilizing them in a more unorthodox way for demoers. Honestly, I still really like this map as it's the first one I made (outside of pc_cp Map27) that I really thought clicked on every level. If I re-made the thing today, it wouldn't nearly as rectangular, but that's about it.

I'll add more in a day or two. I've come to group the first seven maps together in my head as after them, I went through a period of mapper's block that caused me to completely change my approach to mapping. They're very unique in that they're the last remnants of my original mindset.

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Unholy Realms Map06 - Sewage Entrypoint

Really fun map. The pace is fast and action constant right from the get go and boring moments are few and far between. The BK arena is great, as is the Archie placement behind the crusher walls. Only problem with him is that occasionally he resurrects ghost monsters which are virtually impossible to kill with so few rockets given. I had an attempt with the same route that I used in the vid where two ghost Revs were resurrected and followed me around everywhere I went. I still made it all the way to the exit corridor where I got surrounded by the two ghosts and the Mastermind and got killed :p Pretty fun in it's own way, I got to admit.

Speaking of which, the Mastermind is okay too in my opinion, although if you can squeeze past her to the exit corridor the fight becomes pretty trivial. The RK battle is alright but the teleporting ninja Baron(s) get really fucking annoying after a while. Visually it's pretty decent, the crusher room is cool and the vintage circular slime pit is always nice to see. I also spotted a single hanging leg high above the earthen area beyond the red bars which looked rather amusing.

Soo, I joined the dark side and tried uploading a demo to youtube. I thought the result was decent so I'll probably use that from now on. Here's the one for map06, but I upped the previous five there too if someone's interested.

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Hmm, those weekends where you actually do stuff... Just not conducive to MegaWAD clubbing. Still, I'll make up the difference!

Unholy Realms
MAP04: UAC Courtyard
Hmm, a worrying number of times when the map is clearly trying to catch the player unaware and actively kill them. This is turning into one of those mapsets where I'm anticipating a trap at every turn. The midtextures being passable was pretty cool, although a bit awkward to shoot around. Map looked nice enough and all the rest of it too. I did notice the problem I've taken this screenshot of whereby the flat above some of the red key bars is a brown metal rather than FSKY1 (visible in the top centre of the screen)

MAP05: Slime Depository
Enjoyable music, some very nice environments (others, like the green brick starting are and water/ashwall cave were a bit dull) and a sense of shit getting real. The secret SSG was very welcome, particularly with the limited rockets on the map and even more limited sensible spaces to use them. I'd suggest that using the "secret" flag on walls where you've done a multi-layer texture using a zero height sector will make the automap a bit tidier and that triggering the red key fight before it's actually possible to pick up the key isn't particularly welcome, for criticism here! Internal consistency between maps on whether nukage is damaging and if you can shoot through mid textures or not would also help, come to think of it.

MAP06: Sewage Entrypoint
HOM here, on the right-hand side of the area through the red key bars. Fast paced music and several tough arena fights are a good match, but I ran out of ammo going round the blue key side of the map (probably because I didn't do the other side first, but in a non-linear map these things do need balancing) and generally found myself running short of one supply or another. Usually my health would go as I'd have to do something stupid to make up for the ammo shortage. This then turns around at the red key pit fight, which is creative and frustrating at the same time. I'm imagining this'd be pretty easy playing continuously, but the pistol starts so far have left me feeling like these maps are a bit too keen to kill the player. I'm imagining the later episodes will be an arse ache.

Glad to see the intermission texts changed! On ZDoom some of the lines for this one go off the right hand side of the screen (in widescreen at 1440x900), but I don't think any whole words were omitted.


Zone 300
MAP04: Canyon Hub
And suddenly Doom 2 monsters appear! Those chaingunners guarding the yellow key can be pretty lethal if you're not sharp, but easy enough once you're aware. Nice little blast - I've always been pretty weak for bite-sized maps.

MAP05: Skybase 300
This felt pretty big for 300 lines - particularly as it looked reasonably ornate for the same limit as well. Interestingly, I'm getting similar vibes from UR and Zone 300 now, as they both use arena situations and teleporting monsters about out of closets to make fights more interesting, although Zone 300 is considerably less venomous in its approach. Another enjoyable little romp, although the meat grinder ending room just felt tedious.

MAP06: Whispering Corridor
Looks like a sparsely decorated Plutonia map adds a bit of kick to the game play too, compared to the previous 5 maps. The hitscanners at the start can be pretty lethal and the ambush at the end has potential to kill as well, but this still feels pretty easy so far.

The intermission text is pretty goofy, but nice to see it changed (and fitting the screen!)

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Zone 300: Map 6 - UV, pistol start

I did not like this map very much. Once again we had a tough opening that drops you health down to around 25% and you are stuck there for the rest of the map. The far off chaingunners were particularly annoying because of the low health. Other than that there was nothing really noteworthy.

With this map we get the return of many wasted lines, such as the 2 switches & pillars right at the start. So far these maps don't really use the 300 lines limit in very interesting ways, like we saw in some 100 lines maps.

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Z300 Map 07:
Oh, hey, it's a Dead Simple clone. I long for the day when mappers will stop making these. Dead Simple was new and fresh... 20 years ago. I'm tired of it now.

I thought the Cyberdemon was a clever twist... until I realized that he couldn't move from his little shed, meaning he can't actually shoot about 90% of the playfield. Epic fail.

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Map07 - "Passage Underground"
This map was err... easy
This map only provided a bit of threat towards the end. The yellow key imps just feel like a time sink here as you can happily move around them. The mancubi fight was ok. The blue key can be cheesed by the lift. The end fight with the rising nukage was pretty cool.
The megasphere secret is by far the most frustrating secret I have ever encountered, unless there is some esy way of getting it which doesn't involve walking round a windy narrow platform (the word narrow is an understatement here)
It's an ok map which still uses some of the dead simple gimmicks but it is used more as a regular trap feature than a map gimmick.

Map07 - "Heavyweight"
Unfortunately if the cyber was freely able to venture into the courtyard there would have been a "the cyber can roam freely and I can move around him and exit without risking a singe hit, epic fail". Considering the cyber is revealed after killing everything else anyway I see little reason for him to able to hit every point in the map and it's simple a 1 on 1 fight.
Not much to say here, this map is pretty easy and frankly the blue armour should have been reduced to a green as that would have raised the stake, the cyber still results in a one hit kill anyway.
It's pretty fun to play though the map seems rather toned down with the extensive amount of recovery items.

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Where's All the Data? is joined by Jimmy (thirdway through the first part) for this month's streamthrough of Zone 300. We spend almost the entire time talking about the project in depth (before falling apart at the end and arguing over the nature of science, brain states after death, and teleportation theory), making this episode the most interesting and revealing yet. Controversial opinions abound for the best part of 2 hours! Tune in!

Part 1 = http://www.twitch.tv/st_alfonzo/c/3046565 (map01 - 13)
Part 2 = http://www.twitch.tv/st_alfonzo/c/3046582 (map13 - 29)
Part 3 = http://www.twitch.tv/st_alfonzo/c/3046589 (map30 - 32)

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MAP07 Passage Underground

*Regular Run*

Welp, backtracking to get the PG that I somehow pass by, and also a berserk in front of me? Good. Let's have fun shall we? Neat stuff: imps ambush when I lower the YK, the pentagram with the mancubi lowering the RK, the demon ambush which is fun for berserk practice, and the final sewage battle which can be marred down by the forces of monster infighting. Pretty cool overall. Final Time 5:18.

*Reality Run*

The hitscanners in the big sewage area would be handled carefully; same with the imp ambush that comes with the YK. My biggest problem were the revenants after the blue bars and on the columns, jerks like them don't know when to stand still. Sewage battle still handled by infighting and dodging. Unfortunately one kill was missed, a hellknight flagged on easy whose teleport closet had no tags. Final Time 6:40.

MAP07 Heavyweight

*Regular Run*

Haha I love it when imps get in the way of the mancubi. This was almost a typical MAP07 stub but no arachnotrons. Guarding the exit was a cyber, but I found he can never leave the exit, which may have been a problem if I wanted to get past him, but I'm more adept at killing the guy. Final Time 1:55.

*Reality Run*

This was laughably easy. Only four monster total, two mancubi in the arena, and in place of the cyber, two barons. Breezed through it, but not before stocking up on supplies. Final Time 1:12.

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cannonball said:

The megasphere secret is by far the most frustrating secret I have ever encountered

I'm pretty sure you're doing it the hard way because I thought shooting the switch was the most frustrating thing about that secret :p

Unholy Realms Map07: Passage Underground

Well, this was alright I suppose. It's rather easy actually compared to the previous map and while there's nothing really wrong with the combat, it just wasn't as appealing as in previous maps. Definitely liked the BK ambush with HKs and Pinkies and while the finale can be easily turned into a infight-show, it was still pretty entertaining. Not really a fan of Spectres in darkness though and I'm not sure if I like the stationary Revs that lower from the ceiling when you press the blue switch. Yeah I got hit there a fair bit but they're still pretty non-threatening like that and felt like a waste of ammo to kill. Perhaps letting them roam freely would be a good choice, although killing them wouldn't really be any harder if you use the strategy I did. Visuals are pretty good, especially liked the pentagram and cross floor decorations here as well as the corridors beyond the red laser bars.

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UR map 07

Bloody excellent map. Design, lighting and music, everything really comes together here to create a brooding atmosphere. Resources are very well thought out, every fight seems to be orchestrated as to what weaponry is available and what space you can use. I found the yellow key shortcut, though it doesn't really cut out anything you'll end up dealing with later. I didn't find SSG, don't know if there is one but it really makes it better without, especially that archvile fight (if you used up all your plasma like I did). Even with the megasphere I ended up using every scrap of health. Top notch.

300 map 07

Fairly simple mancubus arena with a cyber boss finale. I'm guessing the cyber was blocked in that tunnel as he wouldn't come out - suppose thats to stop people running for the exit, but I couldn't help wondering what the fight would have been like if he came out in the open. As it is he's a bit of a sitting duck. The starting room also gives a bit of breathing space while dealing with the mancs, if I was a sadistic mapper I'd have closed that off after you leave it, but what the hell, its only map 7 so no need to make things too hard.

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UR MAP07: Passage Underground
I believe TVTropes would call this one the "Cerebus Level" or something along those lines. Darker, with more ominous music and a more obvious sense of Hell moving in. Some good encounters here, particularly on moving platforms. Also possibly the first map I've found all the secrets on! I felt my lack of SSG might have been to my detriment, but, TBH, it'd have made some encounters very easy compared to how I had to choose between the shotgun and berserk fist for dealing with spectre/demon and imp fights.


Z300 MAP07: Heavyweight
A pretty tough Mancubus/Imp encounter followed by an easy Cyberdemon battle. This map has finally persuaded me that automatically switching weapons in Doom on first pickup is a PITA, so I've deactivated it in ZDoom now. Probably the first map in the set to obviously feel like it was size-limited in spite of the visuals.

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UR Map07 - "Passage Underground": A spooky underground system that luckily isn’t a Dead Simple knockoff. Traps are still in play here although you’re given a little breathing room now and then, with the yellow key door surprise being my favorite. There’s some nice arenas here and the map ends when it should. Only thing I wish I found was the SSG as the final wave of baddies was a bit too meaty for my diet.

Z300 Map07 - "Heavyweight": This is a clever little map that goes by quickly. It has one central arena that you have to carve a safe corner out of and then it’s smooth sailing from there. The cyber fight is at least a nice change of pace but a bit toothless if you hang around the outside of the door. Still though, I’m always a fan of arena battles.

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Think I may just contribute some stuff for this about my music for Unholy Realms, seeing as there's a good portion of you who for some reason enjoy it x)

Map01 "On a Mission"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vhwlewBNUw

Simple bass lead tune inspired by E1M2 (original placeholder music). The map was a bit dark and steady paced and I thought a simple, dark, steady rhythm would be well fitting, something to help set the tone and pace for the map. E1M2 was a bit happy, I thought, so using a more of a Phrygian minor scale would work better. Following the typical blues chord progression style of classic Doom, nothing too special and unique.

Map02 "The Pinky Shuffle"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCDdrFByO4E

A more action packed rock track I thought fitting for a Chainsaw-Berserk based map. Since there is a decent amount of Pinky in this map, I thought the title was fitting (the song also using a sort of "shuffle" rhythm with its triplets), the title also being slight inspired by the "Curly Shuffle" I was listening to a lot at the time hehe. Kept it simple with the blues chord progression. Again, nothing spectacular in my opinion.

Map03 "Frag Fest"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VEFBhPBbT4

The name says it all, lots of baddies to kill this time around. Inspired by the original Sonic music the map had, I gave it a more upbeat but still energetic melody. I also "Bobby Princed" the guitar riff from Gravity Kill's "Blame" song. x) I rarely use the slap bass in my music so I suppose this is a bit unique in that way. It was hard choosing a proper drum kit for this song, though, as I didn't like how the 2 dance kits sounded in the default GM set. I just settled with a Room / Standard kit and doubled the 2 kick drum samples. One of the better tracks of this WAD in my opinion.

Map04 "Alien World"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmJ2zdXvhAo

Simple ambient track based off of a very similar TNT song, as many have pointed out. I liked the idea of making a square lead sound more like an ambient pad sound. Simple, slow, dark, nothing much else to say about this track. Since I'm using an Electric Kit for the drums, it may sound different per computer, so I suppose each person will have their own experience hehe.

Map05 "Rip & Tear"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jym3NkGEy4A

The very first track I made for this WAD. Often compared to Reverie's Map01 theme, "Let's Go!," this song was actually made before that track and was inspired by White Zombie a little bit. Fast paced and action packed rock tune, felt fitting for an equally action packed map. I'm not very good with lead guitar, I don't think, so the solos sound a bit jonty to me but oh well. x)

Map06 "Hoedown From Hell"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1nKZwwM750

More of that typical fast paced MIDI rock music, this time "Bobby Princing" a guitar riff from one of Ministry's classic songs. I couldn't think of a better title for it at the time, but I was on a Whose Line Is It Anyway? kick and Ryan Styles always makes a big deal about hoedowns so I just used that as the basis for it, hehe. Also gave it a slight hillbilly touch to it using the banjo and fiddle. :3

Map07 "World Underground"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iel2IuyjrYQ

A slow, dark, ambientish track setting the tone for the 2nd episode of UR as it sorta steps away from the more generic rock tunes. Despite it not being rock, the melody and bassline were sorta taken from Slayer's "Live Undead" track. Name somewhat inspired by Tom Waits and the fact that the map is called Passage Underground, hehe. Not really much to say about this track, it was pretty simple.

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UR Map 07 -- Passage Underground - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
Not a Dead Simple map! +10,000 bonus points.

This is a more evenly-paced, atmospheric affair, emphasized immediately by the dour, repetitive music track (sort of had a Duke3D E2 vibe, I thought). The opening area with its security lasers blocking off one of the drainage tunnels immediately reminded me of map 03 of Requiem (dig the cheeky plasma rifle secret, by the way), but the map's really not anything like that, with a lot more open space and a subtle sort of the much-vaunted 'looping layout.' Like many of these early UR maps, shapes/architecture still tend to be noticeably on the boxy side, but I felt this was more interesting aesthetically than most of the previous maps, largely a result of lots of dim/shadowy areas (including one sudden blackout) and gritty green brick/filthy metal color scheme. There are also some mostly-subtle instances of infernal seepage in the decor here and there (a gargoyle faceplate switch, some marble portraits, etc.), suggesting that the inevitable collision of realities is beginning again. Bring it on, I say.

In play terms, this feels pretty similar to 'Sewage Entrypoint' in that it's heavily skewed towards setpiece battles and traps, with little in the way of incidental combat. As in a couple of the previous maps, the main junction chamber features several distinctly different battles at different stages of the level's progression, including a gratuitous imp horde that poses very little danger and was clearly included mainly to up the amount of bloodshed (read: purely for fun)--which I applaud. One of the map 07 specials actually is used here as a piece of the progression, making a short 'miniboss' encounter out of a small group of mancubi (incidentally, I believe this is this enemy's first appearance in UR), which I've got no beef with, as it avoids the standard abstract/symmetrical mini-arena trope ala Dead Simple (+666 bonus points etc.). My favorite encounter, and the one which most nearly killed me, was the specter-spamming blackout trap with the demonic crest on the floor. At the outset I simply fled the specters back up the recently-activated lift and felt quite clever until the walls of the blue key room flew open and unleashed more hellspawn on me...even this wouldn't have been much of a problem, really, except the specters started making it up the lift in ones and twos before I had time to clear out all of the knights--surprisingly pressuring!

There are some other oddities that give the map character, as well. The most pronounced in terms of actual gameplay is that there is no SSG (uh, unless I missed one somewhere), which makes many encounters significantly more dangerous than they otherwise would be (for example, the blackout trap mentioned above). This is not something I personally have any problem with. Indeed, I'd like to see more Doom II maps that either don't have an SSG or only supply one late in the proceedings. Secondly, I kind of like the way the lone arch-vile is more of a psychological than an actual threat--after first seeing him, I kept hearing his laugh, and I was scared he was going to teleport into the main chamber and revive a ton of the dead monsters there...but no, he eventually appears by himself on a lift later on, when he's half-forgotten and really not even remotely threatening. The actual battle was anticlimactic, sure, but I like the way Snakes played with my (and presumably others') expectations, here. Finally, something that's mostly just plain 'weird' as opposed to 'charmingly weird', but near the end of the map when I went over to look at the computer console with the 'Locked' readout, a gibbed imp casually teleported next to me for no apparent reason. I'm still a bit nonplussed about what that was supposed to be....jump-scare? Hint to 'use' the console in order to progress, maybe?

Quite liked this one. It's often said that an interesting layout is the hallmark of a fun map, and while that's largely true, this map shows that layout isn't everything--it's mostly more boxes and corridors, but the fight/trap design is imaginative enough that one hardly notices while playing. And, forgive me if I've already harped on this enough, but it's NOT a Dead Simple map. Rejoice! However....

******

Z300 Map 07 -- Heavyweight - 100% Kills / No secrets
....I can't avoid taking my medicine forever, it seems. Indeed, this most certainly is a Dead Simple map, albeit without all of the trimmings (no arachnatrons here, only mancubi), but otherwise in a very traditional style--symmetrical, open-sky, various parts of your kit scattered about everywhere, monsters placed to attack from several sides at once, etc. 'Dead Simple Redux' is probably one of the genres of map of which I am least fond, but I didn't really mind this one so much....to tell the truth, I think I was just unreasonably entertained by being able to cross from one side of the arena to the other via the jump in the middle. Oh yes, the twist is a cyberdemon guarding the exit. Contrary to what some others have said, he actually CAN come through the tunnel out into the main area, but is likely to be coy about it instead, a result of his size/Doom's pathing AI. It's just as well....if he does come out, he's actually less threatening rather than moreso, since it's easy to exploit the high ground and damage him with impunity in this scenario. Kind of like the music track, it goes well with this exceptionally arcade-y style of map.

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Zone 300: Map 7 - UV, pistol start

Yup, this is a simple map, dead simple. But it comes with a shocking twist! No Arachnotrons! :O

This was an okay map that keeps with the dead simple formula, but has a fight with a cyberdemon instead of arachnotrons for a finale. The cyber fight was pretty easy because he wouldn't come out of the hallway. I didn't see as much waste with the 300 lines here as I did with some of the other level.

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Zone 300 MAP06: Whispering Corridor

Well, there's a corridor, though it's also the only part of the map without a main fight (maybe that's why it's whispering?). I really like the design at the start, as the imps above and behind make the player want to move forward, setting off the first trap. The blue key area is a decent fight, though I'm not sure what the point of the teleport monster lines on two of the corners is. I guess Pcorf felt it was necessary to avoid the player getting too hemmed in. The revenant trap at the end is devilish - I actually noticed it the first time, but found nowhere to dodge and ate 4 rockets almost immediately and died. Decent little map. My favorite map so far. 4/5

Zone 300 MAP07: Heavyweight

I don't mind a Dead Simple clone as long as it's fun and adds a bit of spice to the gameplay, and I think the vertical design helps it succeed on both counts. Lots of fun blasting with the SSG and then dropping off a ledge to avoid fireballs. The Cyberdemon battle is a bit of a letdown, but I agree letting him roam would invite running past too easily. (I ran by him anyways JUST BECAUSE I COULD). 3/5

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The reason I made Cyberdemon in MAP07 not come out because you could easily run straight to the exit if he did come out and with Arachnotrons the raising floor tagged 667 can be inconsistent. This is one of the few perfectly mirror imaged symmetrical maps in Zone 300 that's if you imagine a horizontal line from east to west from the player 1 start to the exit. Map should play well in DM and there is a DM start in the exit area that lowers the tag 666 from behind.

And also you find the levels easy because I am not a very skilled player.

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UR MAP06: Sewage Entrypoint

Yup, definitely see why others say this is a fun map. Lots of good fights here, with no clunkers except maybe the Spider Mastermind at the end - I ran by her, as I didn't feel like I had enough ammo/health to really try taking her on with limited cover. I LOVE the yellow key fight with the Arch-Vile and the raising/lowering barriers. The soundtrack really does pump and made me race through the level more frantically than I normally would... also a good touch using the spectres in an area the player will be wearing a radsuit, making them nearly impossible to see (in software ZDoom, at least). The red key battle is tough but not too tough, with the teleporting monsters making using the RL very risky. Not really sure what the point of the last switch is, though. But overall, good stuff. 4/5

UR MAP07: Passage Underground

This one, on the other hand, has much more sinister and slow music, and I played much more slowly and carefully. Especially hearing the AV in the walls early on... more of a return to the trappy nature of earlier levels than battle setpieces, but that's fine. Lots of multiple angle traps here, including a deadly silent one after the red bars and a really sinister one at the end with the surprise spectre. Nice visuals, especially the large main room at the start. Not a fan of one-way exit areas, but I'll let it slide. Another concern is that the revenants on the columns in the main area (after the blue switch) seemed to not want to leave the columns. 4/5

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Zone 300's map 07 cyberdemon really can leave the exit room if you give him enough time. I swear!

UR Map 08 -- Research Complex Beta - 105% Kills / 100% Secrets
A note for Snakes, in case it's relevant: the automap refers to this area as 'Research Point Beta' rather than 'Research Complex Beta.' Hardly very important, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

The ghostly BGM (actually my favorite track thus far) and interesting opening shot say a lot about this map. The area's starkly anonymous corporate title belies the strange and anomalous goings-on that now characterize it; if Hell's influence was creeping through in subtle ways in the underground passage that led us to this point, there is very little subtlety to its intrusion upon our reality here: there are strange power failures, a voracious rash of living tissue bursts from the ductwork, and blood wells up through the pores of the earth itself, turning what must've been a fairly nondescript brick/mortar military base into a diseased shell. The cloudy white sky, softly insistent BGM, utilitarian materials, and festering Hell-blight combine to create a rather interesting sort of 'Deimos-on-Phobos-via-Plutonia' atmosphere, unusual to say the least. In some places the look of the level is actually a bit garish, again due to some untoward Rainbow-molestation in some of the tech textures and light strips, but in a way this almost works with the sort of diseased and unnatural look the map shoots for.....emphasis 'almost.'

Combat here's a bit more basic and less scripted/detailed than in some of the other recent maps. Once again, a large main space that the player revisits several times is used for a different battle at each juncture, that being the clearing in front of the complex's main entrance. These are all very simple--just a few monsters over flat ground each time, with only the arch-vile requiring anything resembling tactical thinking--but I still prefer the space being reused to not being reused, I guess. While they're not as much of a theme as in the previous map, there are still some traps to contend with as well, but most of them aren't particularly dangerous, either because they afford you a comfortable amount of space for dealing with, are easy to see coming, or both, ala the large trap with various nobles near the eastern exit-barrier switch. My favorite part was actually the little vignette with the mesh fence, the mancubus, and some pinkies--easily-handed, but witty nevertheless.

So, the combat itself's not as intense or detailed as in some of the other maps, but it's not entirely without teeth. No deaths for me yet, although I did end up using most all of the very generous amount of healing available in the main yard. Overall I don't really mind the step down in intensity, since this is clearly a map with a more atmospheric thrust, and it delivers in that aspect.

Edit: That one little bit of ceiling-meat that twitches periodically....haha, man, I love that.

******

Z300 Map 08 -- Waste Disposal Plant - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
This one's not bad, although I feel it fizzles in its second half. It's essentially a couple of Corfboxes with little doodads hanging off the sides, separated by a re-locked access door. The two boxes feel largely unrelated to one another, and since the second half is a pretty flat round of yard-clearing/corridor shooting (including more trademark Z300 Brand Carnivorous Bologna (TM) crammed into the tiny exit chamber to make sure the player's jowls get their requisite exercise), I feel it could have simply been cut, and the map would've been better for it. The first area's not half bad, like I said, with some pretty good monster placement, including an all-too-rare instance of what I would personally consider to be good Baron usage (he blocks your path at a time where the ammo investment required to kill him is probably asking a little too much, and so you must use your wits for a bit to bypass him). I like the largescale dual imp closets that flank the starting point, too--when all's said and done there's really quite a lot of bloodshed in this one fairly small area, giving this one small segment more of a feeling of depth than the majority of the other maps thus far have offered in entirety.

I guess I may be 'damning with faint praise' a bit in intimating that a map made with a 300 line restriction has a noticeable content/filler dichotomy, but those are the breaks.

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Z300 Map 08:
The start of this one is probably the most dangerous part; if you're not on point, it's easy to end up at about 15 health, which could very well kill you later (it did me on my first attempt).

Unlike Demon of the Well, I had plenty of ammo to take down the Baron, but that's probably because I wasn't too bothered by the Revenant or Imp snipers, and didn't feel the need to kill any of them, aside from the Revenant when I got up to the Red Key platform.

I like the idea behind box #2, but the execution left something to be desired. The SSG and Pain Elemental thrown in as an incentive to go in and play aggressive early in an area with Arachnotrons and Chaingunners is a neat idea, but the Pain Elemental is just not enough, and he doesn't aggro easily enough. You can still chokepoint this safely without worrying about the entire world turning into Lost Souls. Another Pain Elemental two was probably needed here. I also *really* wish that the exit corridors had something more effective in them. Two Viles in each one of those would really spice up these maps nicely, especially if some meat was put in convenient places near the exit.

EDIT:

A note for Snakes, in case it's relevant: the automap refers to this area as 'Research Point Beta' rather than 'Research Complex Beta.' Hardly very important, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

This happens a lot in Unholy Realms, heh.

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UR Map08 - "Research Complex Beta"
Certainly some hellish feeling to the maps now, reminds me a little of hadephobia and the explosion of blood and spaghetti :P
This map feels eerie and quiet at times, but still there is some decent threat from the many traps here. I enjoyed this one a lot. Short and sweet, and I guess fleshy too :P

Zone 300 Map08 - "Waste Disposal Plant"
This was a fun little romp to be honest. The first half of the map is certainly the most challenging. Trying to punch through the crowds and try and get to the better weapons is certainly difficult but not impossible as my uv max shows. I return later to blow way the remaining enemies with my much larger arsenal which is fun.
The exit room has a lot to be desired though.

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Unholy Realms Map08: Research Complex Beta

I fucking love this. It's so fun to max: decently challenging, a few different route options and you can play this really aggressively. The best part is probably the SSG fight, had I not lost almost all my health with that Chaingunner I'd have released the Revs asap and enjoyed the chaos. And the speedrunning trick possibilities, they're cool as hell. They're mainly for suicidal maniacs since it's incredibly hard to string together a run but they're there and they're very tempting. Here's a failed attempt where I get both keys in under a minute but get killed shortly after by the helper Archie. A pain state would have saved me but no such luck this time. The first jump is pretty awkward due to monsters being able to block you but it's getting past the Archie with low health at that point that is probably the hardest part of that route. Would have loved to include that early RK grab to the maxrun since it gains access to the SSG early but somehow the run with that route ended up slower and way sloppier so this will do.

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MAP08 Research Complex Beta

*Regular Run*

Well this wasn't so bad a level, run past enemies in the open areas, get both keys, deal with the ones who teleport in. Hitscanners being stupid and shooting other monsters makes things easier. Not much in traps though, other than keys. That flesh thing that kept going up and down next to the RL, which made door open/close noises, was weirding me the fuck out though. The archvile kept resurrecting the hellknights and revenants, so I redid this run and lured those guys closer to the west side instead to avoid them being resurrected. Final Time 4:08.

*Reality RUn*

Nothing special again, snipe at hitscanners, stay behind doors, etc. The trap in the southeast part of the map was probably the most cumbersome bit, but not by much since the mancubus infights with the hellknights often. Final Time 5:26.

MAP08 Waste Disposal Plant

*Regular Run*

Feels like a Twilight-Zone map. I played badly at the beginning and got my ass kicked. But that's not all, the arachnotron yard had one very annoying pain elemental, which I had a problem since I was trying to conserve my ammo. The secrets at least were generous, but here's a level that has frustrated me quite a bit in Zone 300 for once. Final Time 2:56.

*Reality Run*

Well at least this more careful approach wasn't so bad. Again, arachnotron yard was hard to deal with. Kill the arachnotrons, take out the chaingunners on the sides. But I tend to forget about stray imp fireballs all the time here. Final Time 2:50.

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Unholy Realms MAP06 - "Sewage Entrypoint"

I really enjoy the fast pace of these maps! The map structure, the thought-out encounters, and also the music, I feel all of this is somehow pushing me to play aggressive, and it's so satisfying. The first encounter actually killed me even though I already knew what will happen - I was low on health when entering the level, I admit. Layout of this map is relatively simple, but I find it genius in its simplicity. Good use of AVs and Mastermind. Also I have to say, I admire that unusual sort of teleport encounters/traps such as Stardate 20X6 MAP02, or the RK trap in this particular level - you know what I'm talking about. It was performed pretty well.


Zone 300 MAP06 - "Whispering corridor"

I like this map, as it provides just the level of challenge I enjoy the most. Which means, there is a challenge in various forms (I was dying the first time I played it), but all managable, even though I entered the level with quite low health. Looking nice too - the map already has its specific style (Plutonia-like), which is good, that it's not just random themes. I already got used to the 'short-ness' of these maps. It's all OK, you are at least satisfied when you see your quick progress. :) Again, good music. I know I may be saying essentially the same (or similar) about each of the maps, but don't get me wrong, this wad doesn't get same-y or boring for me at all, I keep enjoying it.

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Alfonzo said:

Where's All the Data? is joined by Jimmy (thirdway through the first part) for this month's streamthrough of Zone 300. We spend almost the entire time talking about the project in depth (before falling apart at the end and arguing over the nature of science, brain states after death, and teleportation theory)


Teleportation Theory you're still wrong about.

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More UR music talk from the musician hehe x)

Map08 "A Requiem in Dm"



Slow, peaceful orchestrated track similar to that of E1M5. Not as dark as other songs in this episode of UR, but still sets the atmosphere pretty well I think. It actually combines two different melodies from two songs by two industrial / aggrotech artists hehe. If you can figure them out, then you get a free cookie. Harmonizing the melody was pretty fun to do, it can make anything sound pretty. Overall, just another average piece from me.

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