The DWmegawad Club plays: Estranged

[Demon of the Well]

Time to get started. UV, pistol-starts, few or no saves, etc. etc.

Map 01 -- Outpost - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets - FDA
My my, "Running from Evil" is quite a bold choice here. These days, when I'm loading up a megaWAD I've never played before and I hear this track on map 01, I immediately use IDMUS to spot-check the selections in slots 02-32 to see if I might want to use a music WAD of some sort. Since Estranged in fact uses a customized suite of tracks for its levels (primarily stock/IWAD stuff with an oddball or two in the mix, it seems), I'm just going to roll with that; I'm generally content enough to listen to the old Doom tracks for the umpteenth time provided they've been hand-chosen for each slot.

So, to go along with D_RUNNIN here we see fairly traditional map 01 fare, albeit with a bit of a twist. True to the level's undramatic name, the setting is a ship-shape military sentry station with a crusty old outbuilding up in the hills a short jaunt away, presumably a survey shed or the like for collecting samples from the highly toxic creek whittling its way through a familiar Doom planetscape of barren, rocky steppes. The overall visual aspect is unabashedly 'classic' in air, using mainly regular shapes with bits of chunky, practical detailing where convenient (mainly light fixtures and small computer consoles in this case). A lot of the visual flavor comes from the texturing and particularly the directional lighting, most noticeable as cast around bends from techlamps and similar props. The most salient feature of the installation is the complementary pair of perpendicular window-slits which frame the outer corridor, providing a ground-level view out onto the surrounding hills and an elevated perspective down on the corridor, exposing anyone who happens to be down there (read: you) to harassment from both within and without the base.

The aforementioned twist is the presence of an unhidden chainsaw a few steps away from where the game begins. Berserk-based play is fairly common in the map 01 slot (amongst others); chainsaw-based play is not common in any sense of the word, and so the invitation here is appreciated and a nice inflection on the basic formula of fighting small groups of imps and zombies. Perhaps wisely (from the standpoint of popular reception, at any rate), Foodles does not actually insist you become a chainsaw-wielding maniac; the other primary weapon is the chaingun, with the shotgun only formally found in a secret near the outbuilding (though in true classic form, on UV you can just pry one out of a sergeant's cold dead hands). This should be more than sufficient to handle the opposition, with the heaviest hitters being a somewhat oddly-placed cacodemon and a revenant skulking about near the exit. The biggest concern is probably the chaingunners hanging out in the hills around the outbuilding; trying to cautiously snipe foes away from afar here is probably likely to draw more attrition than rushing through and waiting for a better opportunity to engage them later.

Very simple, but gets the job done. The chainsaw is what sells it, I think.

Map 02 -- Waste Treatment - 100% Kills / 0% Secrets - FDA
Ye olde toxin refinery map, the 'Sewer Map' of the Doom realm (arguably even moreso than actual sewer maps, which aren't exactly rare either!). Interesting to read that some Club members have negative associations with this particular theme. Is it the greater emphasis on having to wade around through damaging liquid if one wants to achieve full completion, perhaps? If so, Foodles is apparently tuned in to what makes you twitch, as having to take leaps into the ooze, sans radsuit, in order to forge ahead is something of a theme here. I think that having to blindly dive into the main canal almost from the outset in order to worm your way deeper into the facility is an interesting choice, though I reckon the actual drop into the western sector could've used some retooling--it's apparently quite possible that the sergeant who waits down there will infinitely-tall you out of actually taking the drop for several moments, forcing you to take extra damage from the waste above on top of the free shot he likely gets. Several players commented on the switch in that part of the plant which lowers a flow-gate after you've walked across it, again requiring you to take a dip in order to move on; I had assumed that the switch had a secondary function enabling further progression down the road somewhere, but if not, I reckon it's intended not as a random jab at the player but rather as a strangely involved device for handling the herd of pinkies nearby (e.g. you run out and lower the gate and then plink at them from across the gap with total impunity). Of course, in 2016, even very unsteady players are not likely to be intimidated by a bunch of pinkies funneling through a chokepoint regardless of whether they are actually able to close or not, and so I surmise that this little setup, which is broadly reminiscent of IWAD stuff in general form, exists more as a novelty/thematic element than anything.

I could be wrong, though, maybe the switch really is just there to troll you a bit (not something that really offends me if so, as the penalty it enacts is likely to be nothing more than one 5% nukage 'hit', if that). What's with that blursphere? It seems to exist only to make the hell knight a little more dangerous, and most of the time it's in your possession is spent shotgunning another pack of bouncing pink meathogs. Weird. Very shotgun-heavy map, incidentally, giving the trusty workhorse its proper debut after the alternative spin on map 01's weapon progression. Could not find the secret for the life of me, perhaps it contained an alternate armament of some sort (not that I'm bothered by a hearty buckshot-slinging session, mind you)?

Visuals are again clean and unostentatious, relying on lighting, texturing and scale to make an impact, rather than anything terribly architecturally elaborate. Idtech1 in its original element, you might say, with a theme that's not-so-subtly reminiscent of KDitD without containing any actual homagery or the like (note the use of "The Imp's Song" for the BGM). I think it looks good, myself--Foodles is consistently using shadows and light dropoff to accent the scenery, and the spacious (though not markedly overscaled) construction and tall ceilings of the playspace appeal to me on some fundamental level, a refreshing change after the generally much more compact/constricted stylings of Bloodstain.

Map 03 -- Survey Centre - 99% Kills / No secrets - FDA
Ah, so one of the demons near the chainsaw doesn't teleport in. That's what I figured, think I heard him futzing around behind the walls at level's close.

Out of the plant and into the polluted gulch in which it sits. The linearity of layout/progression, which is apparently one of the defining features of this mapset, is more pronounced here than in the first couple of levels, since you start your trek at point A and pass through a few different sections of the gulch before ending in another facility a click or two away. These outdoor sections feel like the formal introduction of the gameplay element of exposure to the mapset, with snipers of different types scampering around on ledges near the horizon and a rather significant lost soul presence to add a twitchy element to the proceedings. Groundlings to impede your progress are fairly rare outdoors; the complicating factor is rather the irregular terrain, often featuring peripheral footpaths around toxic pools or streams which comprise most of the actual space.

Hang back and try to snipe all this stuff out and I imagine the level's rather dry. It's entertaining enough if you take more of a gung-ho approach and opt to run around in the open in order to more quickly dispatch your foes instead, trading security for offensive efficiency. Provided you prioritize picking off the hitscanners first, I reckon this is a very playable proposition, notably compensated by the presence of a fair few more health packs than Foodles generally tends to give out (though I too have noticed his tendency to give armor a bit of a cold shoulder). I had a pretty easy time here in spite of some rather poor shooting accuracy on my part, though granted I did get really lucky at one point when I was tagged by a revenant rocket which seemed to do minimum possible damage. Best part is the second section of the gulch after the little transitional underpass, where the sniper fire is more concentrated and the footing more limited, which encourages you to try to press on into the next base, only to find that it's a little more stiffly defended than the previous one. The tail end of the map feels a mite superfluous (esp. the strange monster-trickle in the little cave with the potions and helmets), but not distractingly so or anything.

On the visual front, the author's understated approach seems to transition well enough to the development in the setting. The gulch sections are perfectly serviceable/believable in a Doom context, if a mite unremarkable on account of the dominance of dusty tan landscape. The base architecture feels a bit more worked over here, though, ala the access corridor out of the initial entry point or the sort of caged 'reception area' just beyond the ascending porch of the second facility. I actually rather like what I'm seeing, sort of reminds me of the techbases in Vile Flesh, which is an older WAD that I've a certain fondness for.

[Steve D]

rdwpa said:

I believe you are right. From the rules (which is in serious need of an editing):

ROFL!!!!! Well played, sir! :)

[Steve D]

Map04 -- After bitching about the campfest of Map03, this map makes a liar out of me because I enjoyed the living shit out of it. Just goes to show that whatever Doom "rules" exist in my head, and whatever bigotry I may have against certain map types and game concepts, it all means nothing when I encounter a map that makes me love what I should hate.

IMO the best-looking map yet, this gets off to a nice rough start. As others have said, this megawad may well be pitched to continuous play, or at least uses death exits as a way to deal with excessive ammo buildup among continuers. But certainly, facing Arachnotrons right away is fairly unusual in pistol-start maps, so that alone strengthens the idea that continuous play is encouraged.

But it's not an open and shut case, because dealing with the spider babies and their chaingunner buddies is no great hassle if you don't mind some corner-abuse. Foodles was also kind enough to provide a shield against Revvie fire at the verge of the nukage lake. Oh, if only I had jumped down into that lake right away to get the secret RL, I might not have died a kajillion times on the bridge, but getting ahead of myself, having the RL would have sucked because without it, that fight was the most exciting moment in this mapset so far, and the RL would have robbed me of all the joy and laughter that ensued.

Back to business. As I move through the corridors, enjoying the sweet MIDI, which alas is not listed in the credits, I can't help noticing how Foodles has maintained tight thematic control, but is steadily ramping-up the detail and the complexity of individual rooms. The room with the Flat14 floor is a standout. The terraced walls along the big nukage lake are superbly executed. You notice more and more curved walls in the passageways. The overall design is classy and clean, a throwback to oldskool low-detail design yet much more detailed than it seems at first glance, and very nicely lit. I'm really digging this more than I would expect in this era of showy, high-detail beauty.

I greatly enjoyed the come-back Chaingunner trap. In Idiot On Auto-pilot mode, I was on low-alert when I encountered those 4 bad boys. I was ventilated at lightning speed, but being a savescummer means I was ready for my second try, so I pulled the old Flank To Left maneuver and got rid of them, albeit at moderate cost to my health because, as rileymartin says, where's the damned armor? ;D

Foodles appears to use armor and ammo starvation as compensation for his low monster counts. It's one approach for increasing the difficulty of otherwise relatively easy encounters, along with playing SSG keep-away while tossing you a healthy supply of mid-tier enemies.

This all reached its magnificent crescendo in the Crazyass Bridge Fight. I had looked that one over and backed away from it a few times, then realized there was no way around it. I would actually have to charge across a long bridge with single-shotty and chaingun, fairly insignificant amounts of ammo, no fucking armor, less than 100% health, and somehow survive against 2 monsters with homing rockets who don't die easy, while also attempting to avoid flanking and zooming attacks by Lost Souls, harassing fire from Imps and dangerous attacks from ledge-sniping hitscanners.

Fuck yeah!!!!!

On my first attempt, I zoomed right past the Revvies, put my back to the door, and tried to dodge their rockets long enough to take one out or weaken them, grab the armor, and prevail. I did not prevail, though I came close. I tried other approaches, for example dropping onto the narrow ledges, and again almost succeeded several times, but the Lost Souls really did a number on me in that location. What finally worked was just dancing in front of the Revvies on the bridge, slipping the homers and hoping that Lost Souls blocked them with their face on the return, which actually happened a few times. I definitely got that wild and crazy Rambo feeling and was shocked when both Revvies finally collapsed and there I was, still with about 20% health. Of all the Doom maps I've played recently, this is probably the most exciting and enjoyable fight I've encountered. It was 10 tons of fun!

Wait, I forgot to mention my most hilarious deaths. Those happened when I charged straight for the armor and took double-punches to instant death. It was like running into George Foreman and Earnie Shavers simultaneously -- yes, I'm from that generation -- and every time it happened I laughed my ass off.

This fight would have been easy-peesy if I had the RL, so thank God I didn't find it until later.

It was essential for me to find the RL because I ran clean out of ammo at the blue key fight. All my bullets and all but 2 of my shells were expended on the Cacos, and then the Hell Knights appeared. Time to open a save and find some ammo quick. I saw the tunnel in the lake and went for it, and shazam!, it's noble-killing time.

All in all I loved basically everything about this map.

[Seele00TextOnly]

Map 04

This map is very difficult on pistol start. I had to do plenty of early savescumming, but maybe i'm just a weak player. I liked the scope and variety of the map. It's a daunting place that has you scared to go around every corner, across the walkway, or down the lift. Ammo and health are fairly tight ultimately, sort of feast and famine. The weapon availability is a little harsh, but i can understand wanting to hold off on the SSG for a while since it's such a crutch weapon IMHO. However without the secret RL which i found, I think the map might be nearly impossible on pistol start. Anyway the layout is consistently interesting and unpredictable; I enjoyed the map.

[NuMetalManiak]

oh dear, I'm reading some comments, not about this wad though...about...other things...

MAP04 Venom

Yep I remember this one. Feels like it could actually be a Hellbound level with this design, but man you'd be hard-pressed against those arachnotrons at the start of a pistol start, although with secret hunting a rocket launcher does the trick for now. I actually remember when that rocket box secret had nothing on it too. It's rather odd not to fight with an SSG at times, especially when the combined hitscanner/mid-tiers offer some potential strategy. And the cave itself features yet again, snipers in the distance. Nothing entirely important in the indoor areas both before and after the bridge, although it's nice to shoot rockets down a corridor. Let's go ahead and take notice that we went through 4 levels, entered a death exit, and not once found either the backpack or the super shotgun.

[Nine Inch Heels]

MAP04 - "Venom”

Well, the theme of being low on armour, along with scattered imps and hitscanners continues in this map, though it seems rather tame in comparison to the previous map. I also found this map to be significantly easier than the previous one. There are Pain Elementals and Mancubi to be found here, the former are best taken out with what little amount of rockets one has to spare, otherwise they'll just eat loads of ammo. The few arachnotrons barely even register, and they're also not in particularly dangerous spots.

Design wise this map stays the course with its predecessors, though we're now off to some larger cavern. Otherwise the layout is still rather compact, allowing for some good old fashioned cover shooting approaches, which is something I sure hope the coming maps will stray away from, before it gets too dull.

I was really hoping to see the SSG in this map while I was playing it, but as it turned out this level a rather short one, and the few instances in which the SSG would have shined could be solved with rockets as well.

All in all this map isn't much of a change gameplay wise, though it does have touches that I can appreciate. I'd really like a change of pace by now, rather than a change of scale- which is what has been happening the last 2-3 maps. Since this map seems to be the end of the first episode in the set, I am looking forward to some diversity now.

4/5

SteveD said:

Map04 -- After bitching about the campfest of Map03, this map makes a liar out of me because I enjoyed the living shit out of it. Just goes to show that whatever Doom "rules" exist in my head, and whatever bigotry I may have against certain map types and game concepts, it all means nothing when I encounter a map that makes me love what I should hate.

SteveD trademark caco-chaos-cover-shooter-map confirmed? :p

[Steve D]

Sure Bowb said:

MAP04 - "Venom”
SteveD trademark caco-chaos-cover-shooter-map confirmed? :p

This map is about 50 Cacos shy of even a medium load. ;) There's also no effort at denying cover or flushing players out of it. Remind me to upbraid the mapper about that. :D

[mouldy]

Ok, time to give this a go. I played a bit of it before ages ago when it first appeared but can't remember anything. UV pistol starting..

MAP01 - "Outpost”

Nice and simple opening map, a bunch of right angle corridors, some rocky outdoors and a key to collect. Seeing the chainsaw at the start I was dreading having to actually use it, but turns out there's enough ammo to blast everything regardless. A fair amount of meat on the journey, but I was running past a lot of it so it was all over fairly quickly. Old school kind of stuff, but not in a bad way.

MAP02 - "Waste Treatment”

More visually interesting and varied layout, quite an unpredictable journey. At one point I crossed a bridge and pressed a switch which made the bridge disappear, bit confusing that. Presumably it did something else that was necessary.. Anyway, yeah, fairly linear route but with enough twists and turns to keep my eyes open. Quite a lot of pinkies to chew through with the piddly shotgun.

MAP03 - "Survey Centre”

Difficulty ramped up a bit for this one, I managed to die a couple of times. Mainly cos I was playing like rambo but without any armour. Thing is, its mainly big open spaces with enemies sprinkled all over, so playing slow and steady is a bit of a drag. Death by long distance snipers and long forgotten revenant missiles. Its a cool map for running and gunning though, pretty much leads you in a single route to the exit through various scenic locations.

MAP04 - "Venom”

I'm guessing I missed a rocket launcher somewhere, I finished with 19 rockets and zero anything else. Also there was a lot of big meat to chew through with just the shotgun/chaingun. Not a big deal, just felt like a rocket launcher would have sped things up a touch. Or SSG. Surprising to see nearly all of the doom beasts already. Anyway, this was a decent map. I like the general style of these maps, how they mix old school free-form geometry with a vague sense of purpose behind the scenery. The revs across the bridge were very naughty, sitting on that armour as well. Death exit after 4 maps, interesting.

[Magnusblitz]

Should probably start playing and catch up before I leave for a week on vacation and need to catch up again anyways. UV, ZDoom, mouselook, save/reload, pistol starts.

MAP01: Outpost
100% kills, 1/2 secrets

Pretty standard old-school opener, lots of small riff-raff and a quick map. The early chainsaw is fun but also a bit of a trap for me, as I tend to play far too lazy when using it and as such, took a few caco fireballs and spent most of the level in the red on health (lack of armor makes you surprisingly vulnerable). Also realized I had left on the Doom (strict) settings which makes chainsawing things a pain in the ass, not doing that again, I don't care if you think I'm a cheater. Anyways, lots of right angles and blocky rooms and ICKWALL everywhere. It's okay.

MAP02: Waste Treatment
100% kills, 1/1 secret

Between the music, texture choice and lighting, definitely does a good job of putting me in the KDITD mood. Even the lone secret is just some health bonuses in a blinking light room. :) On the other hand, the appearance of the Doom 2 monsters/textures immediately destroys my fragile nostalgia...

I agree that this one has some weird design choices, like the switch that does nothing except drop the bridge (I checked) and the pointless blur sphere. Kinda wish I had brought out my chainsaw from the first level to deal with that huge pinky horde, which as others pointed out, isn't very dangerous as presented and instead just turns into a meat wall to blast through with the single shotty. The ending was a bit anticlimatic, I felt... reached the end, saw I had killed everything, and said "oh that's it?"

[Salt-Man Z]

Magnusblitz said:

[MAP02] has some weird design choices, like the switch that does nothing except drop the bridge (I checked)

What the disappearing bridge does, then, is direct to you to the teleporter that (if I recall) takes you to the high ground. I think that's actually kind of clever.

[Nine Inch Heels]

Magnusblitz said:

The ending was a bit anticlimatic, I felt... reached the end, saw I had killed everything, and said "oh that's it?"

I had this experience just about every map of this set so far, the exception being map01. Everytime I feel like I'm getting almost intimately comfortable with what the map throws at me: It's over, "See you tomorrow"...

[Benjogami]

MAP04: Venom

Continues to be solid in the same ways that map 3 was. I especially liked the pistol start opening, where the lack of weaponry and ammo encourages you to go out into the middle of it. Sometimes the arachnotrons can dick you over if they decide to charge up the hallway, but that's fun. I'm also really enjoying the non-SSG combat (although I feel like there might have been one or two in secrets that I didn't find so far). The use and number of revs, for example, is tasteful and fun with just a SG and chaingun.

The theme of the layout is nice, where you go down into the sludge inside the first base for the key, come out and go across the bridge through the cave area to another base on the other side. Simple touches like that go a long way for me.

[Spectre01]

Map 05: Dust n' Bones

Now this map is much better than the previous offerings. The forced pistol start due to the death exit puts both types of players on even ground here. Finally, you're given the SSG as the first weapon and one you'll be using for 90% of the map. There is also a Rocket Launcher that can be grabbed down in the blood river. In fact, the layout of the level reminds me a lot of the classic Counter-Strike map, de_dust (flipped for comparison). It's actually nearly identical when it comes to the overall map, down to the indoor sections, tunnels and elevation changes.

Let's talk gameplay. Right away you're forced out of your comforting spawn point by a triple Revenant ambush from behind, encouraging you to run out into uncharted territory to hunt for resources. The starting area is packed with mid-to-high tier demons, the most dangerous ones being the spiders and Mancs if you don't pay attention to where and what they're shooting at. There's a lot of freedom to move around and plenty of infighting opportunities to be had which creates a fun and dynamic encounter. Also Green Armour. Bravo Foodles, bravo! The rest of the map can be cleared in any order, although you do need to grab the red key, guarded by the Cyberdemon in the Terrorist Spawn to be able to open the exit door in Bomb Site A (might've been B in the original version?). You can also hit up tunnels to grab a Chaingun secret, although the weapon has limited use here. Checking Doombuilder, I noticed that you can telefrag the Cyberdemon from a secret I missed. Otherwise you're forced to shotgun him since he won't step off his box even if you lower it. I do question the use of Barons since they take 5-6 SSG blasts and don't really add anything exciting to the map. More Revenants would probably be better for pacing.

I also like the fleshy detailing on the wall in the Cyberdemon area and the e3m6 midi. The map is still quite Minecraft blocky but the simple aesthetic fits fine. Or maybe it's just the HD textures giving me a better impression than I otherwise would get, who knows.

[sudo459]

TBH I was kinda hoping foodles would opt for a different sort of architecture to accompany the change of locale, but meh I guess.

[Aquanet]

MAP04: Venom

Well this is a smooth beginning on continuous, if a little slow, some packs of shotgun guys and other difficulties that force you to step back and take a little cover. The blue room near the beginning with fluctuating light is a lot of fun. The heavier monsters, for the most part, are nicely spread around, although the chaingun trap shot off my knee caps as I tried to hide behind a low-hanging ceiling. Overall, this and MAP03 don't punish you immediately for charging ahead, and sometimes it's rewarded. I like the faintly Doom 1 flavor of the more mazey corridors in the base on the far side of the nukage lake. There, I ended up running past the big hell knight trap.

These tight little base maps seems to be a strength for Foodles.

[baja blast rd.]

map05

Fun map, not coincidentally the first where the SSG is handed out! :D Imaginative setups. The push forward at the beginning is sly because most of us are going to trigger it by picking up the SSG instead of first turning around to grab the shellbox. The majority of the level is one of those semi-open messes of various projectile monsters that I like. No real set pieces at all but it's still a design scheme that can put serious pressure on the player due to smartly used chokepoints. That is, the monsters don't funnel to the chokepoints ineffectually, but rather the player has to withstand a barrage of firepower to get through them, and they make retreat non-trivial. Here though it's not so rough: there's an early (!) green armor and some medkits and stuff.

The open areas are contrasted with a couple of tighter ones, and it would have been nice to see the barons deployed more dickishly around there, like Keith, the infamous baron from the Crusades ironman challenge. There's a chaingun secret, which is, idk, not so useful given the glut of shells; maybe it's there for continuous I guess. It's probably more useful if anything for introducing the pattern that can be used to find the telefrag secret.

The cyber refuses to budge from its platform, which is an interesting decision, meaning you can't set it loose and have a quicker and safer SSG fight. SSG-ing it from below risks blast damage, and the other alternative as far as actual combat goes is plinking away at it with the pea shotgun. Rockets are there too, but most of them aren't easy to grab completely safely with the cyber still around, so it seems like they exist for continuous play.

Here's a silly playthrough. lol that rev on the stairs bitchslapped me. Also screw that imp that stole my kill.

[Nine Inch Heels]

MAP05 - Dust N Bones

Oh, this was a reeeaally good one! Pretty much the change of pace that I was hoping for. For what it's worth, I have not been so happy to see the SSG in a long time, which made me trigger 3 revs in that small starting room. Love, love, love it! The rough start got me in the right mood to rambo through the cleverly placed mid-tier opposition that dominates the parts of this map.

This map had a really nice dynamic feel to it, due to its interconnecting layouts, and there's also a cyberdemon turret guarding the key, which in my case ended as a long distance rocket-off, because I was sticking to the SSG basically all the time, and ended up with nearly 50 rockets including the ones located near the cybie.

Visually this map feels very solid, eventhough the detailing isn't done in overly complicated fashion, it gets the job done nicely. So far this set has managed to prove that less isn't necessarily more, but less is more often than not still pretty good, if done corectly.

Thus far I am under the impression that the set is designed to deliver different experiences on an episode to episode basis, by presenting compact maps in a sophisticated manner. I am really intrigued to see more of that.

4.5 / 5

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP05 Dust N' Bones

Holy I had no idea how tough this was until I played on this difficulty. Sure, we finally get the SSG, but not only are shells literally the only thing this level would provide, all those tiered monsters are there to fuck you up sideways, backwards, forwards, upwards, whatever. The gameplay is carefully accommodated for this layout, to the point where your slowest, yet most damaging guns, the rocket launcher and SSG, get balanced treatment for this nonlinear map. Apart from getting bumrushed right out of the opening room, the fearsome demons appear in a lot of areas on the map. The secret chaingun is of minimal help here, and the cyberdemon fight is quite obviously a standout, although everything EXCEPT the cyber is the annoyance here. The cyber himself is prone to a telefrag secret, if you can find it.

I imagine if the Ironman League gets to playing this mapset, this map would fuck them up hard.

[Nine Inch Heels]

Getsu Fune said:

MAP05 Dust N' Bones

I imagine if the Ironman League gets to playing this mapset, this map would fuck them up hard.

I would imagine some people might be getting crushed hard, but seeing as I made it through on UV on my first attempt (and I'm not even close to considering myself as "gud"), I'm pretty confident that, for players of Ribbiks' caliber, this is more of a small, spicey snack. I had quite a few close calls here for sure, though, and I loved every last moment of it.

[Steve D]

Map05 brings the hammer down!

I'll pat myself on the back for seeing the telltale signs of future savagery all the way back in Map01. Foodles gave the game away in certain subtle ways and now the promise is fulfilled.

This is a very exciting map. Once again, Foodles makes a liar out of me. After I made a comment about how he didn't flush players out of cover, the very start of this map shouts, "Fuck you, campers! Howzabout a bunch of Revvies right behind you!"

Okay, so Pelt #1 was sacrificed just moments into the proceedings. ;D At least I grabbed the shellbox first.

So now I find myself in my element, a savescumming keyboarder with minimal skill, running around and dying my way to victory, just the way I like it. It's the nature of maps like this to be front-loaded, and most of my deaths occurred in the early going. I made a mistake by ducking into the corridors, which kinda boxed me in with Revvies and Lost Souls pursuing me like grim reapers. After awhile, I took advantage of the more open areas to start some infights, found the rocket launcher and then the green armor. Once I had the armor, I was able to depopulate the map sequentially. It's amazing what a difference that armor made.

After the really dangerous Mancs, Arachnotrons and Revvies were cleared, the map started to sprout everyone's favorite bullet sponges, Hell Nobles, and gameplay slowed tremendously. I agree with rdwpa that more Revvies would be better. Far more dangerous to the player and they don't take as much ammo to kill.

So the map started as all-out war but gradually seemed to offer peace talks as the air slowly went out of the balloon, ending with a turret Cyb guarding the red key. I suppose the declining pressure is due to the map being a true run-and-gun adventure with 100% incidental combat. A few traps could have strengthened the gameplay, but the flowy, interconnected design might present some difficulties there unless effort was put into covering all escape routes. What was there was certainly enough to get adrenaline shooting through my veins.

rdwpa said:

map05Here's a silly playthrough. lol that rev on the stairs bitchslapped me. Also screw that imp that stole my kill.

Yeah, that sneaky Imp! Very nicely played. As I may have said before, to you and certainly to others, if I had your skill as a player, my maps would cause permanent emotional damge. :D

[Benjogami]

MAP05: Dust n' Bones

Oh man this level is fun. My only complaint is the boring cyberdemon fight. Otherwise this fast-paced, open, and rather short level is a welcome change of pace to go with the change in setting. Good midi choice too.

I think even the barons are good choices. They're not very threatening and they ask to be ignored as you fight other stuff and go into new areas, and because of the open layout they can wander around freely to sneak up on you, so you have to keep checking your back.

And then, similar to the start of map 4, the pressure to go out and get ammo forces the player to go out and get into it. Here, though, the openness of the layout makes that sort of fun last for a good chunk of the level.

[mouldy]

MAP05 - "Dust N Bones”

Thats quite the change of scenery, straight into the hell castle on map05. And a cyber. Pretty deadly map, but loads of options for dealing with it, along with all the tools you need for clearing the place out. The cyber fight was a little strange, I didn't have enough rockets to take him out, but I had enough chaingun ammo, and a torch I could stand safely behind. Curious to see where this wad is going, dropping its trousers this early.

[Aquanet]

MAP05: Dust n Bones

This really is an anti-camping level as there are crossfires set up in many of the more narrow and quiet areas. As in MAP03, charging into the open seems to work best. The monster ranks are tough but still somewhat restrained: After the opening room, Foodles goes light on the revenants, and instead you face mostly Hell Knights, mancubuses, arachs and the occasional baron, which I ran around, keeping the pressure lighter. I also ran around the back of the cyber to get the key without killing him, usually that sort of thing never works for me. Visually, it's solid, and the layout is very good, but the thing placement brings it home for me. What I mostly remember is enemies wandering through the level, not clumps or squads that I assaulted in specific rooms.

[Spectre01]

Map 06: Razor

A short map with a low enemy count of 66, one of which was a Chaingunner I somehow missed. The beginning is interesting from Pistol Start since you have to Chainsaw quite a few enemies, including a Cacodemon and Pain Elemental, supported by a bunch of Imps and Demons. Not hard, but something different that continuous players with their glorious SSG will miss out on. You get the double-barrel boomstick very early again, guarded by a spider and some Imps. I don't know how well it works in PRBoom+, but in Zandronum it was easy to stunlock the 'Tron with the Chainsaw before grabbing the SSG. The rest of the map is very vanilla, with perhaps the first Archvile of the wad being the only real surprise. The green armour is once again not provided, but rather acquired through a jumping puzzle in a secret area. No bueno Foodles, no bueno. I'm not feeling this passion for keeping the player at 100HP and 0AR here. I didn't get secret #2 but it seems to let you skip a few enemies and teleports you right to the exit, but at what cost? Seems a bit pointless.

Overall, this map is just okay. There are some white caverns and a red final outpost in addition to the previous green marble, but the texture selection and detailing is still very rudimentary.

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP05: Dust N Bones
13:28 | 100% Everything

So, uh, here we go I guess? Dang. I think I went through over half a dozen lives before making it past the 30-second mark. Running around, pumping the SSG, trying to keep moving lest I die, and then bam! two hits or so and I'm toast. Wow. Eventually I was able to carve out some space and set up camp in the tunnels. (And save, because that's enough of that.) From there it wasn't too bad, and was actually a bit of fun, if just a little tedious clearing out all that meat with the SSG. I saved my rockets for cybie, and then felt like a chump when I discovered the secret telefrag immediately afterwards. Ah, well. Good map, it's just getting that initial foothold is a pain.


MAP06: Razor
13:25 | 100% Kills | 100% Items | 50% Secrets

This one's more my speed. Looks great, too. That frigging vile caught me the first time through, caught me in the open where I got pinned between a couple of lost souls. (Those things—lost souls—are just the worst, aren't they? Way too fast, and overpowered in both health and attack strength. I hates them.) Anyway, I enjoyed this one when I wasn't chasing lost souls around, or walking right into a revenant in a narrow tunnel (happened a bit last map, too.) Thank Foodles for the berserk at the end, too, otherwise I'd be entering MAP07 at 5%, which, uh, doesn't seem like the best odds the way these levels are progressing...

[Steve D]

Map06

Wasn't fond of this one. Chainsawing through Caco, Imps and Pain Elemental was the best part. I took advantage of the opportunity to chainsaw a Revvie at the blood tunnel opening after first taking out one of them with the SSG. Savescummed until I got the second without taking a hit. It was practice, since I could've got 'im with the SSG, so don't hate. ;D

The Archie was a nice surprise. Luckily I killed enough of the Lost Souls to be able to SSG the bastard without much trouble.

Other than that, this map was underwhelming, though again Foodles sticks to his theme and makes the most of his simple architecture, so the look stays nice, clean and classy.

I didn't find any of the secrets until I clipped at the end and figured out how to get the Green Armor.

Salt-Man Z said:

MAP05: Dust N Bones
(Those things—lost souls—are just the worst, aren't they? Way too fast, and overpowered in both health and attack strength. I hates them.)

Noooooooo! ;) Lost Souls are the best. A good way to liven up a slow map is to replace every Baron with 6 Lost Souls. It turns a boring beatdown into a chaotic melee. Trust me, it works!

[NuMetalManiak]

Lost souls are the funniest monsters in the game. I'll say it again and again but watching them ram into each other is hilarious, they are my favorite enemy ever.

MAP06 Razor

I'd much rather prefer this as the episode opener rather than MAP05, as it's got some interesting usage of the chainsaw right at the beginning, with the SSG not long after. Plus it's a lot slower-going than other things and fuck I just like slow starts. It's straightforward overall and mostly-oriented around SSG usage, with some chaingun usage with several boxes of ammo lying around. One particular secret at the end functions as a speedrun shortcut, maybe.

[mouldy]

MAP06 - "Razor”

Kind of a forgettable map which is basically going from A to B killing occasional monsters on the way. None of it is particularly challenging, and while the route does snake around the various hell-buildings it all feels a bit on-rails. I guess being brief is a plus, but it adds to the feeling of filler material.

[baja blast rd.]

map06

This might be the least "prickly" map yet. You do have to use the chainsaw a bit, and armor is withheld unless you find the secret, but for the most part the dangerous bits are the inverse of prickly -- they are the "in your face" sort of mean that I prefer. SSG with a lot of shells + monster deployments that are well suited to the SSG + low monster count is a winning formula.

The first foray outside really drives home that this mapset isn't prioritizing continuous play. The arachnatron and his imp buds completely blocked the way out, and I ended up waiting for the apathetic chaingunner to finally assist me in taking it out.

The aesthetics really work for me. It evokes Doom 1 without really alluding to anything in it in particular -- red brick, marble, white rock, low ceilings, e4 sky. I would actually live here, assuming the blood were fruit punch and there weren't any flies around to gather in it, and of course no monsters.

About those flaming skulls: they are some of my favorite enemies to hate in casual play. I'm pretty sure that a given lost soul gets more hits in on me on average than most individual mid-tier monsters, because I'm bad at fighting them. Lost souls absolutely suck in UV-max runs though. Screaming melodramatic nuisances.

[Seele00TextOnly]

Map 05

The multiple arenas with catacombs between them setup really works. This map like the previous one is very difficult at the start IMO, but it's also fun darting around and getting ambushed like that by the revenants. Having to take on a cyberdemon at the end to get the red key felt a bit rough for this early in a megawad but it wasn't exactly the toughest thing ever either. Odd choice of a secret being a chaingun, when by then i'd already killed the chaingunners and took their weapon. Pretty cool map.

Map 06

Alright some sweet chainsaw action to kick things off! Sawwed through just about everything including the archvile. Layout was fairly interesting, i liked the cavern crawling. But the map was really, really short. And the difficulty was a substantial drop off from the previous map. Sort of strange like that. Not much more to say about this one, honestly.