The DWmegawad Club plays: TNT: Evilution

[BlondieMcFilthy]

Map 03 - Power Control

One of the things Evilution gets right in the early going - say, the whole stretch of maps from 2-9 - is that they're almost comically blood, with the liberal use of hitscanners to cut down and the odd heavier monster thrown in for effect. "Power Control" is one of those maps where it isn't necessarily spectacular to look at - though generally speaking, it is a cleanly laid out & organized map - but it's really fun to run around that 'outer circle' ringing the central part of the map and just mowing down dudes. I also dig what Demtor mentioned with how each key area kind of locks you in until you get the corresponding one to get yourself out.

Nothing spectacular, but it's good & solid.

[Spectre01]

MAP04 - “Wormhole” by Ty Halderman - D4DHF, Continuous

Anyone that played THT earlier this year will probably remember the two back-to-back maps referencing this original by Ty. It's a pretty cool concept, but the most surprising part is how 80% of the map is optional. You can simply clear the initial room, loop up and around and the exit unlocks. Otherwise, there's a collection of hallways to explore and then once more a second time in a copy of the initial map with some enemies/items mixed up. Now I didn't pay too much attention, but the parallel dimension looks pretty much the same, with the addition of an optional cave expedition filled with Cacos and Revs. Unlike THT's trap-heavy Wormhell, combat here is all incidental and without dickery. You walk forward, you shoot stuff, that sort of thing. For its time, I think this is an interesting concept map with a good midi.

[BlondieMcFilthy]

Map 04 - Wormhole

Memorable concept at the heart of the level, kind of iffy execution. I think it was a weird design choice to let the player leave essentially at the start of the level, and one that I don't think works in the level's benefit very much. I actually really love the layout of the level and the variation in monster type & placement between the 'two halves' of the map, and while the combat is incidental in nature, it's also ferociously bloody when it wants to be.

But yeah, the design decision to leave the exit essentially at the start of the level doesn't work for me. It's a great idea for a map overall but that one thing is annoying.

[NuclearPotato]

MAP03 - System Control
101% kills, 66% secrets, 2 deaths

The central courtyard in this level provides the first true challenge to overcome in TNT, in part due to a large assortment of chaingunners peppered throughout the area, but mostly due to the large amount of specters the map throws at you as a roadblock, allowing the cacos and hitscanners to sneak up on you while you're clearing out the surrounding rooms. The berserk pack placed in the room before the courtyard, therefore, is much appreciated, especially if you were stupid enough to take the hidden teleporter into the blue key room like I was. The Archvile and Mancubus both show up for the first time here, but are pretty easily dispatched (unless you decided the best way of dealing with said Archvile while holding a pack filled to the brim with shotgun shells was to try to rocket duel it in the tight confines of that particular room, which again, I did).

[Demtor]

MAP04 - “Wormhole” by Ty Halderman
gzDoom - UV – continuous/no saves

Deaths this map: 0
Deaths so far: 0





Yap, given our recent THT:Threnody play through a few months back, I am very familiar with this map's concept. “Parallel Dimension” by antares031 and “WormHell” by Z0k & Fonze did a lot to take it to another level whereas 1996 was a simpler time when an original idea like this probably did a lot more to stand out then. Now, it still holds up but it is sparse in that '96 kind of way.

Interesting note regarding the music since we just played through it; Hellbound used 7 music tracks from TNT:Evilution. All very recognizable tracks that I associate with Hellbound instead of TNT having spent a lot more time with it. I'm very glad to have Lorcan's TNT remix replacements, which are all amazing.

I found the "real" exit very early on for some reason. Didn't know that was possible. I heard a door open behind as I watched the floor fall below me, doubled back and there it was. I had to decide if I was going to attempt to 100% levels or just survive and exit/skip them. Skipping over half a level seemed very wrong to me so I decided to give it my best to see the entire map. Not to worry so much about percentages but give it my best effort.

Lots of careful and precise kills at the very start. Even managed to tap the heads of a few guys standing behind the RL. I kind of stumbled my way through the stairs areas and ended up dropping down and coming at the 6 hidden chaingun guys from behind. Forgot all about them but glad I didn't attempt it head on.

I liked that the darker half bleeds out a little bit with it's secret entrance with flickering lights to the rock caverns. It being the only real big difference between the two halfs design wise. Lots of spooky lighted circular caves to contrast with all of the straight angles elsewhere. Also, this staircase is great. I don't know why.

I think my favorite aspect of this map, was the use of dead bodies. I remember being very confused the first time I played this. I swear I've been here before, look... I killed these guys. Didn't I? What is going on? It works so well.

Can anyone tell me what this room is for? I noclipped around for some screen shots and found it interesting with having both light and dark teleports. Was there a secret I missed? What would even be the point? My only guess would be a deathmatch thing that allows players to skip around the map.

[floatRand]

Map04 "Wormhole" (UV) - 100% kills 100% secrets

Woah, now there is a concept.
The duality is great although it was bit difficult to find the other side first.
The fights aren't much special, rather clean things, although the rocket launcher trap is rather nasty early when approaching with pistol-start, but luring spectres to use as meatshields is pretty nifty.

The midi is good, but the beginning sorta just grinds me in wrong way.

[antares031]

MAP05 - Hanger
ZDoom, UV-PS, KIS(%): 100/95/100

A techbase level with a combination of claustrophobic passages & stairs and widely opened areas. I think it was not a bad level to play. But to me, it could be better if the width of those passages were larger than current 72 ~ 80 units. Those passages are also packed with shotgun guys, imps, and of course, chaingunners. So get yourself ready to frustrate if your boomstick couldn't get the monster in a single shot from there. A soulsphere from green marble hall was worth to try; I was expecting tons of monsters, spawning from all over the place. But instead, I was enjoying the monster infighting between agitating skeletons and barons of hell. Regardless of gameplay, I kinda like the atmosphere of this level with lighting details and proper soundtrack. Evilution sure does have good soundtracks, compare to its brother wad.

[sincity2100]

Map06 - Open Season - Jimmy Seiben and Ty Halderman

This one is quite the map,backtracking in this one,I like some areas that are darker and very narrow,also the music helps creating the mood, reminds me of E1M2 from the Original Doom,although if this is the first time you play it,you could get lost,it's a little bit dozzy and it contains a switch hunt....with keys,looks a little bit tedius but I enjoyed this map nonetheless.

[Memfis]

05 - a really, really good level. The combination of dark outdoors, moody lighting, and a classic midi creates very strong and somewhat oppressive atmosphere. The detailing is almost excessive for vanilla (tons of tiny lines everywhere) but it looks great, and the action is fluid and nearly constant. Love the start sequence with walkover triggers, love the windows that you can open and close, love the mystical soulsphere temple. My UV-Max demo is available in this 2011 demopack and it's quite fast. By the way, I only now learned that there is a "super secret" computer map hidden near the circular stairs. Always learn something new when replaying iwads.

[baja blast rd.]

Cool run, Memfis.

[cannonball]

MAP04 - “Wormhole” by Ty Halderman
A novel concept for a map, but I didn't really enjoy this one from a gameplay point of view, it was a bit of a grind at times with probably too many demons for which you only really get the shotgun/chaingun to work on them, you do get an ssg in the darker realm but by then near enough everything is dead.

[gaspe]

MAP05: A very cool techbase. I never realized how compact is the layout, most of the the spaces are rather cramped but the action was really good. The most remarkable thing is probably the mood, the music is just cool and the window that it opens on the gloomy outdoor exposing us to the hitscanners is a memorable moment. I liked also the visit you can make in the mildly hellish area with the soulsphere.

[floatRand]

Map05 "Hanger" (UV) - 100% kills, 100% secrets

Bit eccentric, claustrophobic techbase. Starts from exit, and opens up with lot of hidden doors around the place. Lot of items are in unmarked secret areas, while the actual secrets are rather obvious.
Easier than 4 previous maps, surprisingly. There were some traps, but they were not really that devious.
Can't say much other things about it.

[Pirx]

Nevander said:

Here's a sweet music pack created by Lorcan that really spices up the original TNT soundtrack. It's my personal favorite, and will surely make your play-through of TNT all the more enjoyable (especially if you've played TNT before and know the MIDIs).

http://www.mediafire.com/file/sd1z8930fmar2s0/tnt-lorcan-mus.pk3

thanks a lot, i'll use this. of course, i have lots of fond memories of tnt and plutonia, since i bought that "ammo box" in 1995...

edit: the music is a bit louder than i'd prefer in-game (first notch in the menu), but you simply must listen to the intermission music.

[antares031]

Demtor said:

Can anyone tell me what this room is for? I noclipped around for some screen shots and found it interesting with having both light and dark teleports. Was there a secret I missed? What would even be the point? My only guess would be a deathmatch thing that allows players to skip around the map.

Right, that room allows deathmatch players to choose between two different dimensions from the start. Although I think it would be much better if there was a third dimension exclusively for deathmatch game, since hopping between two dimensions with a single wormhole is not a preferable design for deathmatch level to me.

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP03: Power Control
14:46 | 92% Kills | 100% Items | 100% Secrets

Not one of my favorites. The titular power station itself is a memorable affair, but I'm not a fan of all those teleporters. Lots of hitscanners; good thing I started with 200% and full ammo. A couple of revenants here made me jump, but the WAD's first archie was pretty toothless, contained as he was. I did take a bad rev rocket or two, and was hurting pretty bad by the time I made it to the exit; fortunately, there was enough health laying around the rest of the map to top myself off before I left. Unfortunately, I couldn't get back to the starting section of the map, as the 8 kills I missed were hidden there in a trap I never sprang because I didn't need the ammo that was being used as bait...


MAP04: Wormhole
14:33 | 100% Everything | 2 Deaths

I cleaned out the front rooms and looped around to the exit switch in 1:42. That always struck me as a weird design decision. The "dark world" exit switch warps you back to the real switch in the end, so why not have the exit blocked off until that point? Still, this map is an absolute classic. I've been avoiding saves throughout this play, and died twice here: both times in the light world, of all things. Suffice to say third time was the charm, and I definitely took the dark world side of things veeery carefully when I did make it there. Funny story: in the dark world basement, a revenant somehow took the elevator down to the portal room, so to ensure max kills, (once I figured out where he had gone) I had to head down after him. Talk about unnerving! My two favorite bits here, beyond just the general concept, which is great, are the rocket launcher/chaingunner trap in the starting area, which is fun, and the "portal" bars, which are very, very cool.


MAP05: Hanger
16:10 | 100% Everything

One of my favorites. Love everything here. Coming down the control room stairs to find an array of chaingunners blitzing you through the windows across the way, only to discover you can hit the switch and close the windows is a very fun moment. The claustrophobic base loaded with low-tier baddies and chock-full of secrets is great. Biggest scare (though not difficult to deal with) was the swarm of revvies released after grabbing the soulsphere in that neat underground baron room. If I had a complaint, it would be that the blue door is tucked out of the way and not at all memorable, and if it wasn't for the color-coded automap doors, I would have been stumped for a bit where to go next. Great map.

[Demtor]

MAP05 - “Hanger” by Jim Dethlefsen
gzDoom - UV – continuous/no saves

Deaths this map: 0
Deaths so far: 0



The beginning is kind of funny. Staring at the red door exit with nothing else visually evident. You just kind of start tripping triggers here and there until finally the map spits you out into the control tower. The raising and lowering shutter on the window was a nice touch. The time spent hugging the door frame and picking off those hitscanners one by one made for a slightly tedious experience.

The tight hallways with lots of lights are what I remembered most about this one. Lots of closet reveal ambushes. I got blasted by a few shotgun guys point blank which ended up being the hardest part of this entire level oddly enough. Not a whole lot of challenge here other than the quick draw encounters. I saw on the wiki that maps 1 through 6 are considered to be the "experimental labs" levels. The look of the BK area well was detailed as such and is noteworthy of both it's look and ambush design.

The underneath passage to the soulsphere shrine was a nice departure from the rest of this map. I am starting to feel very clean in these sterilized tech environments. Looking forward to the hell stuff.

The most head scratchily useless part of this map were the Barons that come out from their two holding rooms in the dark courtyard. They were easily bypassed and killing them was completely unnecessary and kind of silly I thought.

[Memfis]

Thanks rdwpa!

06 - oh yeah. You listen to this midi and you immediately understand why Evilution is remembered for its atmosphere. When I played TNT as a kid, I was so absorbed into this level that I actually thought the lava area has 3D floors. Back then it seemed really grand and impressive with its multi-layer structure. Nowadays I find "Open Season" less exciting due to the scarcity of engaging fights, as well as some backtracking that was probably unnecessary. I can still appreciate the barrel placement and the fact that you're given a whole bunch of rockets.

[sincity2100]

Map 07 - Prison - Andrew Dowswell

This is where the gameplay picks up for the difficulty, open areas where you get shot from everyone,it starts becoming harder where you teleport from the beginning to the outside to see yourself get attacked from every corner, by almost every momster type you encounter, I also had the most dangerous part in the level, the actual prison area with the red key in it,without the invunrability sphere,you're pretty much dead,make sure you pick it up one way or another before you get in,although the design is plain,the gameplay and the difficulty make up for it.

[sincity2100]

Map 08 - Metal - John Minadeo

Oh, how can I describe this one, apperantly mapping structure wasn't the mapper's best suit, most of this map design is bland,oversized, yet the gameplay is enjoyable for the most part, the best part was the large hexagon area with each of them has a switch for a lift, I think tha mapper's best suit is the traps and the teleports in this map, espicially the big hexagon area into the west, the most boring part are the switches that presses the lifts up, it could be handled better,I won't say this is one of the worst map I played because I have been worse than that "The Chasm" "Sewers from the XBOX version" this map is Okay at best,and it doesn't hinder my enjoyment of the game whatsoever.

[Memfis]

Hey sincity, I think you're going a little too fast. :) At the moment it is the 5th/6th depending on where you are, so you shouldn't be posting about maps after Map06 yet.

[cannonball]

MAP05 - “Hanger” by Jim Dethlefsen

This one definitely has a charm to it, quite cramped at times with some odd design decisions, the only real complaint is the poor use of barons I guess, the navigation was fine after a little guesswork at the start. The snipers in the central room/outdoor area is rather devious but a cute little bit of design with the windows which you can close when you get there.

[sincity2100]

Memfis said:

Hey sincity, I think you're going a little too fast. :) At the moment it is the 5th/6th depending on where you are, so you shouldn't be posting about maps after Map06 yet.

I played final doom a lot,so I have a strong memory how to operate with these maps.I spend hours playing them.

[Demtor]

From the OP

What levels am I allowed to post about?
Whatever day of the month it is, is the upper limit for the map you can post on. So if it's the 6th, you may discuss up to MAP06.

[gaspe]

MAP06: Another gloomy techbase, and with a very fitting song. Somehow I liked that the level is a bit desolated, it fits with the mood of the map. In particular I like the starting area with the tan metal textures. Overall the level is very simple, with few areas to explore, the most interesting thing is the reactor area with the different tiers.

[Pirx]

i played final doom for the first time soon after it came out, in summer 1996, so my impressions of it (both halves) are still colored by the nostalgia of a time when shooters were new and revolutionary. on a then new pentium 166, keyboard only, continuous and savescumming. i'll go with gzdoom, uv and pistol starts now, and a slightly faster pc and a mouse.



MAP01 - “System Control” by Tom Mustaine

"iconic tyson map" indeed, it has always been one of my favorite warm-up maps (which mostly have a berserk pack somewhere).
sure the typical easy map01 might be overdone today, but back then it was the norm for quality megawads, and for an opener map, it's surely a good map in the style of doom2 base.
and i remember the siege cow in the backyard in coop of course, how one angered it while the other valiantly went for the switch.



MAP02 - “Human BBQ” by John Wakelin

named after the opening scene, a victim roasted in a fire. there are plenty of hitscanners around, including some chaingunners on the ledge with the imps in the room with the backpack in deep water (nice trick, but why in the water?) and, with only a chaingun and a shotgun, action can get a bit hectic. then the jump from the balcony onto the stairs and the secret door to the soulsphere, those were things that made the map distinctive to me. the baron telefrag club is the only part i still don't like, newer remembered the correct order of switches when i only wanted that ssg.



MAP03 - “Power Control” by Robin Patenall, John Minadeo

a ring-shaped corridor surrounding a central structure with teleports and a key, and acting as a hubspoke to the locked doors. the ring and the outer area are guarded by some chaingunners that gave me much trouble back then. now i enjoyed gibbing everything in the ring with the ssg (found officially here) and berserking as much as possible. our first archvile here, but he doesn't do much in the room he's locked in.



MAP04 - “Wormhole” by Ty Halderman

ty's concept of a mirrored map that has been, um, mirrored in several others, like, naturally, 2 maps in threnody. i didn't realize what happened when the map was new to me, just wondered how suddenly the map looked more decayed and sinister. also pretty naturally rounded cave and those bookshelves with the souls.

however it's rather easy if you bring your ssg and rl from map03, but a pain to play through from pistol start conventionally, with just a chaingun and a shotgun. you have to skip to the mirror exit and pick up ssg & rl. i forgot that, barely got away alive from the library with a shotty and finally stumbled upon what i needed so much.

great music. tnt has some really good tracks, like those in wormhole, hanger and pharaoh.



MAP05 - “Hanger” by Jim Dethlefsen

now that's a bigger map that starts to deliver the "adventure" experience: it takes time to get around and backtrack, and how i could close the wall as a shield from the chaingunners on the opposite ledge was a welcome discovery. this is the map where the first imp always flies over the railing. i would have preferred having less narrow corridors with imps in them though. some fights where one can simply walk away, like at the soulsphere in the cave, and when you get back from the chaingunner ledge, 2 barons in the open.

[antares031]

MAP06 - Open Season
ZDoom, UV-PS, KIS(%): 100/100/100

Another techbase level from the mid-90s with three architectural designs; rough metallic panels, clean stainless steel, and white STARGR concrete walls. The layout is not that complicated except the circulation of colored key doors, and the combat is acceptable combination of many hitscanners and some mid-tier monsters around the level(this level only has 79 monsters on UV, mind you.). And once again, the soundtrack boosts the experience of gameplay with the overall atmosphere of this level. This level is short, but it's one of memorable levels from the first episode of Evilution.

[Devalaous]

http://www.arachnosoft.com/main/soundfont.php?id=arachno-finaldoom-tntevilution-music-pack

Dont forget this alternative music pack from NightFright. I prefer this one to Lorcan's pack.

[Steve D]

Map03 - Power Control by Robin Patenall and John Minadeo

Not too great, not too bad. This map is another stop on the Hitscanner Holocaust Round-up, and it's possible to play it badly, like I did on my first go, when I backed into a teleporter in the ring section and got sent into the red key structure. I got chewed up pretty good because I kept stumbling into more teleports and getting thrust into the little guard towers, where I became targeted by Chaingunners from everywhere. I wasn't close to dying, but I decided to restart the map anyway because I was playing like a jagoff. On the next go, I raced into the open courtyard and surgically picked off anything whose head poked above a window. I didn't use the Zerk much because every time a Spectre came down the stairs it had a Sergeant behind it, so why punch it out only to get a shotgun blast in the face? To hell with the fist, how you like my SSG! I missed 1 monster and 1 secret in this map, had reasonable fun.

Map04 - Wormhole by Ty Halderman

Lots of good and not-so-good in this one. Good is the brilliant concept, bad is all the mazes. Gameplay is fast and furious at the start and in the second swing through the opening area on the other side of the wormhole, but other than that it's a trudgy, bludgeoning affair with lots of nobles in narrow hallways. Playing continuous looks better and better thanks to having the boomstick for those pesky ammo-sponges. Care is necessary, however, as aggressive use of Lost Souls can distract you from greater dangers, and there's hitscanners in abundance to blast away your health. The seemingly pointless cave sequence is another place to lose health for no good reason. I notice that one of the maps in TNT:Revilution copies this one quite faithfully. Also worth noting is the excellent, driving MIDI.

Map05 - Hanger by Jim Dethlefsen

My first death happened here. It was the 2 Chaingunners emerging from a closet behind me as I approached the blue key room who took me out. By then, I was already weakened a bit from several skirmishes against hitscanners, so off to the morgue I went.

The opening seems to have inspired a variation on a theme in Map04 of Sunlust. Overall, I found this map fun and clever with wicked use of hitscanners and nifty tricks like the window shutters that you can send back up to keep the long-range hitscanners from tearing you to pieces. The light strips on the stairs were copied by my partner Phantom T. Mac in a map for the Team Mapping Project that I still tinker with, so I reckon that usage can be considered iconic to some extent.

In common with other reviewers, I found the Baron usage baffling, but I guess the idea was to battle them in the dark and risk taking a hit in the low visibility. By contrast, I really enjoyed the staging for the Soulsphere battle. I'm not sure this is the first map to use this oft-imitated setup, but Dethlefsen did a nice job with it. I also find the blue key room memorable enough to have recognized it after all these years, though that might be the result of someone aping it in TNT:Revilution. ;)

Nice, slow tension MIDI helps keep things moving. It's a shame this is Dethlefsen's only map in the set, because IMO it's one of the best so far.

[T-Rex]

Whoa, I seem to be far behind. Well, gonna catch up right now. I'm not going to worry about doing one map per day, just as much as I can manage.

Map03: Power Control (Robin Patenall/John Minadeo)
100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets
Time: 06:14

After a non-techbase map that is Human BBQ, we get a techbase map that uses very much the same kind of texture scheme as Doom 2 Map04: The Focus. There's more tougher enemies, but they are thankfully more manageable than in the previous (though those revenants can be a pain sometimes). Mancubi are introduced including an arch-vile, but they're pretty easy to dispose of. Nice touch on how the main area, the titular power control has you going around a circular hub each leading to locked doors, where you need to collect the keys (with the red one being inside the central area). The teleporters aren't really hard to figure out. Nicely done and fun map, all in all. This one of the few maps in TNT that only uses stock Doom 2 music than the new soundtrack packed in the wad.

Map04: Wormhole (Ty Halderman)
100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets
Time: 10:57

I like the concept behind this map, though in my opinion, in terms of how it was executed, it would have been better off as a secret level. To start, the gimmick of this map is that there's two identical areas, and by finding the "wormhole" rift hidden up north, you'll be transported to a corrupted version of the map, where there's tougher monsters lurking. I like that, it's like the starting area's Episode 1 themed while the other area is Episode 2 themed. The only difference is that the corrupted area has a cavern to the northeast and that the exit is fake for it transports you in front the real exit which is in the starting area. It's optional to find the wormhole and explore the corrupted area, unless you're going for 100% of everything. My advise is to take care when chipping off enemies in the narrow halls as some like hell knights and revenants can cause serious injuries. Thankfully, it's still a pretty easy map. I strongly suggest when dealing with the arch-vile in the corrupted area is to shoot rockets through the window from the left side, cause trying to take him on up close is very risky. Awesome map.

Map05: Hanger (Jim Dethlefsen)
100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets
Time: 08:22

Strange how this map is called "Hanger" and not "Hangar." Anyway, it's another techbase map, but this is a rather claustrophobic one. Even so, it's a well-made map, has really interesting design, and the challenge is mostly easy. The start has you facing the exit, but you can't get in yet as you obviously don't have the red key, essentially being a joke of sorts. You have to get up to the computer panels in a certain order so you can progress. When you reach the control room, the windows open showing the outdoor area of the hangar. You can close the windows so that you won't get sniped by the hitscanners. The highlight of the map is an optional large chamber to the north with marble faces and a soul sphere. It can be tricky, though, because you have two barons and as soon as you snag the soul sphere, two pairs of revenants emerge from their hidden cubbies. Fortunately, you can instigate an infight with them to make things easier. Lots of areas open up as you discover and obtain items, many of which are monster closets, so be on guard.

Map06: Open Season (Jimmy Sieben/Ty Halderman)
100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets
Time: 06:19

Up to this point, this is the most polished of the techbase maps in TNT. Pretty short, but there's a lot of backtracking to do. Using the chaingunner helps to mow down some of the hitscanner snipers from the upper levels. The computer sections of the map remind me a lot of John Romero's mapping style of Episode 1. I like how in the large room with the lava and pistons which you'll activate later on, there's different levels. The cacodemon ambush once you grab the yellow key and kill the revealed chaingunner may surprise many, but it's not difficult to take down, especially when you have your radiation so you can wade on the lava and not traverse the catwalk as you kill them. Thank goodness for the soul sphere secret near the red key, since you'll need it to take out the arch vile that stands on the exit platform. Really solid map and lots of fun in spite of the backtracking.

So this caps off the first episode, and next we are entering the military complex. But for now, time for me to take a break. See you next time.