The DWmegawad Club plays: Speed of Doom

[Ribbiks]

as far as pacing goes, m14 feels like it would've been a nice conclusion to the cavernous E1 entries. Most notably it feels like a continuation of 04-->06-->??.

 

either way, fun spacious slaughtermap. bfg fight is tits (that grass/metal spire). YK fight is a good example of something that's easily cheesable, but gives you the option to play it straight, in the name of fun/adventurousness/what-have-you. @rdwpa re: curvy stuff: dvii - 'nuff said. Though this might've been influential with regards to the crescent offshoots that I use to separate differently-textured chunks of organic geometry.

[tourniquet]

8 minutes ago, Ribbiks said:

dvii

just as i've assumed :D

[gaspe]

MAP14: This one blows away the previous level(s). The unique midi and the cool sceneries of the map match well with the first very big fights we'll see in the wad. This is rather memorable.

[baja blast rd.]

MAP15: Descent to Core

 

I think we found map13's missing health and armor! Those supplies are the main reason I enjoyed this map. First off, the bad. The layout and monster placement both are consistently awkward: that sixpack of mancs above the steep staircase; all those arachnotrons that can clump at the door if you don't clear them out before tackling the plasma rifle route. The bosses are basically pointless, too. The mastermind is very likely to get eaten while stuck (a fact that improves the map, hilariously); otherwise it's a pointless window camp fight. (I looked very briefly at this map in GZDB before playing it, and I had to do a double take when I realized the mastermind wasn't flagged for multiplayer.) The "for emphasis" cyberdemon is a door with health, cordoned off by block lines in a spot and not interesting to fight from any position. What redeems the final archvile at the bottom of those steep, narrow steps is that with foreknowledge, you can just move down and fight it at point blank, relying on the chaingunner to distract it if necessary. It's still not good, though.

 

With map13's resource balance, all of that would have been a death sentence for fun. But since the starting area was generous, I was in the mood to play aggressively: I rushed upstairs and risked getting squeezed between all the fat rolls. Against the meat wall that materialized outside, I camped the door with great panache, instead of camping the door very cautiously. (Okay, there wasn't much to do there. :D) I fought the cyber up close, a routine 'shoot while moving slightly to dodge rockets' fight but a lot more engaging than camping it. The highlight of the map was the northern crusher area with its warp-in fight. I even liked that instapop vile (<- very odd combination of words there). This is map15, so there is a secret exit, and I'd be surprised if many people playing saveless -- other than, like, Demon of the Well -- managed to get this one on their first ever playthrough without any external tip-offs. The automap does give you a hint, but even a little bit zoomed-in, it's a nondescript weird squiggle that can very easily go unnoticed. I liked it though. The last map I played with a vilejump platform secret gave you one shot to land on a 64x64 square (flying over it wasn't enough). And the vile had to be standing within a narrow range of angles, and both you and the vile were on damaging floor. This one might be as hard to mess up as that one was to get, which is how I prefer my vilejump secrets in easier maps. 

 

3 hours ago, Ribbiks said:

as far as pacing goes, m14 feels like it would've been a nice conclusion to the cavernous E1 entries. Most notably it feels like a continuation of 04-->06-->??.

 

either way, fun spacious slaughtermap. bfg fight is tits (that grass/metal spire). YK fight is a good example of something that's easily cheesable, but gives you the option to play it straight, in the name of fun/adventurousness/what-have-you. @rdwpa re: curvy stuff: dvii - 'nuff said. Though this might've been influential with regards to the crescent offshoots that I use to separate differently-textured chunks of organic geometry.

Yeah dvii was one of the main places I thought it was from.

 

3 hours ago, Cynical said:

(Also, I agree with you on map 13 -- I think Lucifer's Tears is one of SoD's highlights, and your best map in the wad.  That open-courtyard crossfire leading to the blood-trench with the revs is so good.)

Could you write more about map13? (I don't want to argue about it -- it's just cool to read well-written contrasting opinions.) 

 

Edited April 14, 2017 by rdwpa

[Cynical]

It's been quite a while since I played it, so detail is a bit hard to come by for me, but the main thing driving Lucifer's Tears is its shape.  There's a magic to maps that facilitate evasive play (or at least evasive starts) with UT deathmatch-y layouts that loop back on themselves (this is a topic I'm hoping to go into in deeper detail on in an interview for WXR that I'll be doing tomorrow -- keep your ears open!), and we have a fantastic example of it here.  The more "contained" fights can be a mixed bag (that early mass-Sergeants pouring into a dead-end trap is poor, and there's a really squidgy "up the stairs" fight early as well, but the open courtyard with the snipers on both sides is great, and revs in a narrow trench is a classic for good reason), but running around that initial open area evading and trying to get a better position on the monsters in there is great.

 

One of the three maps in the wad that I'm a real fan of (the other two are Vile Pain and Silent Hour).

[galileo31dos01]

MAP14: Ok I before I forget, my time was: 1:25:18

Now, what I like about slaughter maps is the feeling of killing massive amounts of enemies in less than 2 minutes and then see all the corpses and walk over them like a boss. This is a case which I found myself entertained most of the time. It's very very hard to stay alive after all of the huge encounters, and I found myself dead like 15 times or more. At the beginning I was presented with the first horde of enemies. Now let's see the automap: "Enemies 0/700", oh ok, suddenly I'm in Plutonia Revisited!... That first part was easy though. Along the way, some flying balls emerged and made me suffer a little bit with ammo, especially the potatoes. Then this and that, pressed the yellow switch, and two paths were opened. Obviously I chose the wrong one, oh why... it is important to go the right one in order to kill those 2 archviles first (I'm assuming they are there from the beginning). In the blue key are, a huge horde of imps and 3 archviles appeared. How ironic is that, in three attempts, NONE of the archviles did something to me, but the imps managed to kill me everytime?? UGH ... So more enemies spawned on the other side of the bridge, that's fine, I got them to infight. Getting back to those 2 archviles mentioned before, if only I've killed them before, I wasn't expecting them and they started to resurrect all the demons and I didn't have enough ammo to deal with them again. Apart from that, that other archviles in the plasma rifle section also took a run around the bridge and started to resurrect those demons OMG STOP THAT DON'T YOU SEE I CANNOT KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!... After 5 attempts, I managed to kill everybody in the area, thank goodness there was more ammo there. What the f with that unobtainable soulsphere?? I read what @rdwpa said about that but what was the point? ... Anyway, moving on, now to press the two switches, raise the lift, pass the bridge, obviously the invulnerability sphere is there because something huge is coming. Let's grab it and- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!.... RIP my ears.

Ok, massive infighting, my cup of coffee (I don't like tea). I let them kill each other, but for some reason, the cybers killed them all and got out alive. No that was not supposed to happen, let's try again... and again... and again... and again... wtf why are they so strong??. I have to mention that after the first try, the monster counter still didn't get to 700, so there were more monsters alive. Ok last time, but in that moment I saw a tiny blue point far away on the blood, hmm. So, grabbed the invincibility, run to that place and there were two bonuses, and a teleporter. That took me to a secret area with the BFG and a lot of bulk cells. Grabbing the weapon lowered the front wall and a massive horde of spectres in the darkness came to me. Obviously I BFGed them. While I was killing them I heard a cyberdemon's death, hooray! I got back to that area and while I was trying to escape from there, the other cyberdemon died and there were still a lot, and I mean A LOT of revenants alive... how?... 

Anyway, I killed them all, and as a reward I went to that unreachable soulsphere and grabbed it using idclip because I don't care. Headed to the exit and finally breathed.

About the layout, it kinda feels like map 4 and 6 part 2. If I wanted to escape from the hordes (except the blue key one), I could, and that is what makes the map fair in my opinion. Mostly what caused troubles to me were the pain elementals, until I found a place where the lost souls cannot reach, and eventually start to fight against each other. And I totally agree that the music suits perfectly with the atmosphere. Found 2/2 secrets. Great map overall. 

Edited April 14, 2017 by galileo31dos01

[Spectre01]

MAP15 - “Descent to Core” by Joshy

And we're back to tan techbase in the style of map09. There's a rather obnoxious "hot start" here but once you get past it the rest is not too difficult. I messed up badly and got pinned by a crusher (or two) in that hallway which forced me to play very carefully for the rest of the map. Took me over 20 minutes to finish in fact but I didn't feel like dying and starting over. This may trigger some purists, but in QZDoom it's possible to Berserk punch the Mastermind to death through these windows. Very fun. Accessing the secret exit legit is very annoying and requires an Archvile-jump over a small island with a health bonus. I forgot when the Vile got triggered and he quickly ran forward and started reviving Mancs and Cacos so that really wasn't happening. I clipped over it after clearing the map and regret nothing!

MAP31 - “101001010” by Darkwave0000

The first secret map should look familiar to anyone that played Hellbound last year as this is the original that Z86 was inspired by for the map31 slot there. This map, however, focuses entirely on the tech aesthetic without the hellish flesh textures mixed in. This visual style was a big source of inspiration for my QStrike.wad project. The thematic element also extends to the monster composition, which is made up entirely of higher-tier tech-themed demons like 'Trons, Spiders, Mancs, Cybers and a shitload of Revenants. They probably make up half or more of the almost-500 monster count. Good news is there aren't any Vile Pains here and plenty of room to move around in the outdoor sections. Using "speedrunning tactics" is very rewarding and releasing all the enemies in each of the two outdoor wings greatly speeds up the gameplay due to all the boss monsters infighting. The beginning section before you're able to grab the blue key + BFG is by far the hardest, while the rest should be smooth sailing provided you don't try to catch Cyber rockets or something. Similar to Sledge, the large amount of space provided and lack of lock-ins makes retreating for supplies always an option. There is a somewhat annoying gimmick here, which was also present in the Hellbound map, in the form of hidden Commander Keens which are needed to unlock the super secret exit. I ended up missing one of those idiots and used the good ol' IDDT "feature" to find the missing one higher up in a pillar. Also the midi is one of my favourites. Great stuff.

 

MAP32 - “The Pyramid of Death” by Joshy

I'm not going to bullshit you here, this is the hardest map in the wad. map28 is a leisurely BFG spam-fest with tons of room to move around compared to map32. If you want to do this saveless you'll need some practice and a bit of luck. I managed to get a good run going but dropped a nice save before the AV-jump invul sphere where I promptly died. Yeah, no thanks Jeff. The monster density is quite intense and I ended up hopping over to GLBoom+ for a more consistent framerate. Oh, and I love that instapop Cyber on the bridge near the start after you already kill another one on it. The visuals are rather crude with plenty of simple and boxy geometry in vein of Hell Revealed 2, which looks godawful by the way. Definitely more speedmappy than the other slaughtermaps in this wad. Also, the ending fight is a bit of a joke compared to the rest of the map, with a single Cyber blocked by a horde of useless Pinkies and some Viles that end up infighting the Mastermind on top of the Pyramid. Midi is cool though.

[Cynical]

I just did a quick run of map 13 to jog my memory.

 

A few notes:

 

1.  When I saw people mentioning using the chaingun on the giant Sergeant trap, i thought "damn, people are really over thinking this, that's never been how I did it" -- and I was right, chaingun sucks there.  Run into the room, hit the switch, and run around it counter-clockwise (which will keep you safe from Manc projectiles -- at these ranges, you can circle-strafe them counter-clockwise, but clockwise will get you hit), SSG-ing any Sergeants in your path.  The Mancs and Barons will help with the Sergeants, and the SSG will take down massed clumps of zombieflesh more efficiently than the chaingun, which can only stunlock one of them at a time anyways.

 

2.  The clump of shit on the other side of the ditch after the RK/SSG is just as graceless as I remembered.  One hell of a "door with HP".

 

3.  The key to the courtyard and the stairs is to just blitz it.  It makes the stairs play smoother, and makes the courtyard easier.  Kill the first Rev and 2 chaingunners with SSG, switch to chaingun, charge to Plasma, grab YK, and use Plasma to hose down first the Chaingunners and then the Mancs.  From there, the cleanup chaingun/shotgun/SSG is easy.

 

4.  That chaingunner in the ditch itself is really dumb and shouldn't be there.

 

5.  The fight in the main courtyard after grabbing the blue key is a perfect example of a "looping" layout making a fight tons of fun.  Fight the clump of crap from one angle, when the pressure gets tight run around and fight it from another.  Great shit.

 

It's not a perfect map (in addition to the two issues mentioned above, there's too much bumpyfloor detailing and squidgy 90 degree wall detailing which screws up movement), but it is a pretty damn good romp for the most part, unlike most of SoD.

Edited April 15, 2017 by Cynical

[rehelekretep]

map13 fda

pretty perfect example of a low hp/armour map.

AVs are a bit useless in this map.

best area is the YK; felt like i was clearing out a stronghold/entrenched position

BK area is worst; centre pedestal is sinking into the blood which looks nice but makes the whole area v. messy so best ignored when the mancubi show up.

 

map14 fda

awesome map, really enjoyed it. standouts would include:

- cyber/pinkie swarm fight - makes avoiding 1 cyber hard because of the blockers

- cacoswarm. everyone loves a good cinematic cacoswarm!

- bfg room. very inventive use of lighting/spectres.

- comical rev clown-car reveal, even if i thought there must be something within the interior and got boned to death 1st try :(

only complaints would be the two shores of the lake can get clogged up and look goofy if you ignore the beach swarms and the midi sounds out of tune/pitched wrongly which is quite annoying on repeat...

Edited May 9, 2017 by rehelekretep : link to 14 fixed! :x

[paymentplan]

Damn, my post about MAP14 got eaten by the forums. Oh well.

 

It's a pretty impressive map, as others have said a logical extension from Darkwave's prior maps in the WAD. Lots of monsters to kill and lots of fights to really pick apart. I had neither the time nor patience to really appreciate every aspect of the combat in this map. I didn't manage to find the BFG, though I wish I had. Would've made things both easier and more fun.

 

The last fight with the invuln is the only thing I took issue with. I ended up just absconding from the fight altogether and letting the revs and cybers fight it out for a bit before sneaking past. 

 

I really enjoy maps like this, but usually in the last 5 maps of a WAD. Seeing a 700 monster count at MAP14 has me kind of worried for the future. I typically don't have a ton of time to spend bashing my head against harder, higher monster count stuff. We'll see how it goes, though. 

[Cynical]

31 minutes ago, rehelekretep said:

 the midi sounds out of tune/pitched wrongly which is quite annoying on repeat...

 

 

Sounds correct to me?

 

 

[Grain of Salt]

22 minutes ago, paymentplan said:

I really enjoy maps like this, but usually in the last 5 maps of a WAD. Seeing a 700 monster count at MAP14 has me kind of worried for the future.

[galileo31dos01]

So, you said I should, I did: 

 

MAP15: As soon as it started, loud arachnotron's steps began to surround me so I run away and headed to a non-safe area with shotgunners, imps, and a pain elemental, and killed them all. Yes I heard you SMM, I have to deal with your non-children first. Easily killed them all as well as the revenants on the lift. Then proceeded to flip all the switches I found on my way as well as dealing with the enemies as calmly as I could. The pinkies and revenants almost got me, but I run away outside that section and killed the arachnotrons, well one stupid pinkie managed to survive the crusher and bite me during the killing-spiders sequence. Another troubling time was the blue key obvious trap, many gunners moving so fast dodging my shots. The cyberdemon was a waste of ammo and time in my opinion, there is no possible (or safe) way to get both bosses to infight. But anyways... even though I try not to read others opinions about a map I still haven't played, I read a post that mentions the way to reach the secret exit. I kept that in mind, and said to me "you won't kill that archvile until you get to the secret, got it?", and guess what! I dumbly killed the archvile first e_e ... It was during the cyberdemon fight, I pressed that switch that released that AV and idk why I killed him ugh!... Oh well, had to use idclip. So that means, I found illegaly 2/3 secrets, and the other one in legal terms. 

I liked this map a lot, pretty cool, not too hard if you can anticipate where the enemies are going to spawn, and other stuff. Also nice map. My time was 44 minutes.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP15 Descent To Core

 

Easily the weirdest stewboy midi I've ever heard. Not a fan of it to be honest.

 

And on onset, there's quite a lot of arachnotrons right here in this hall. And then there's another wonderful spiderdemon. Even better, the blue key requires some sleuthing, for switches that is. It's a weird way of getting the key, that's a fact. Four are necessary, one is behind crushers and two others are actually in the same room, and yet it's easy to overlook these switches. Make sure not to get bored by putting in extra enemies as I am switch-hunting, of course, it works out here. Another arch-vile jump for a secret with a key attached, and I can go to the secret exit. Funny, the level is called Descent to Core, the next level is The Core, but I skip that to go on a secret level detour.

[rehelekretep]

56 minutes ago, Cynical said:

 

 

Sounds correct to me?

 

 

yeah its correct; just sounds horrible :x

[Demon of the Well]

Map 11 -- Transcension - 101% Kills / 100% Secrets

One of the smallest and shortest of a generally small/short lot, this one always struck me as being an oddly undramatic selection for its mapslot (just before a text scrawl, though in fairness the 'story' placards in SoD tend to be very dry even by Doom's standards), though I suppose there's nothing inherently wrong with that. Kicking off with an arch-vile in your face and chaingun commandos in little murderholes to keep you from freely leveraging the corners of the cross-shaped junction while you hurry to unload your sawn-off into Slim's smug countenance, what first appears to be a dramatically cramped outing in actual fact turns out to be spatially dominated by an open grassy yard split by an L-shaped slime moat, probably the largest space seen in a Joshy map to this point. And yet, this is somewhat misleading.....the yard is largely barren of action (and, uh, terrain features), with the great majority of the monsters encamped in the caves or the little ruined fort buildings (including the one you began in), or mincing about on the battlements--the space allows you to move around freely, sure, but the great majority of the actual combat is deceptively limited in scope.

 

The lion's share of the fighting occurs in the small knot of caves to the north, essentially a staccato string of insta-pop and fast-closet shenanigans playing out in an entirely linear sequence, terminating in the acquisition of the YSK. This in turn grants access to the RSK, and another focused linear jaunt through a second cave and along the battlements to lower the sluice granting access to the exit portal (which is, strangely, entirely unguarded by any sort of stinger encounter, a very rare thing in this WAD)--basically, in progression terms this level is a tricksy kickstart encounter followed by a couple of meat-clogged corridors; the yard and the 'micro sandbox' possibilities it seems to offer are essentially non-entities as gameplay elements, which is disappointing. Not entirely without charm--as others have said, you can collide the small cacoswarm and some of the other later encounters if you really put your mind to it, and it's hard not to smile when you're invited to gratuitously plasma-saw through the insta-popping battery of imps which appears on the narrow battlement as a feeble attempt to prevent you from reaching the crucial switch--but ultimately not one of the stronger maps.

 

Map 12 -- The Meat Grinder - 103% Kills / 100% Secrets

Evidently another of the earlier Darkwave maps (chronologically, I mean), in terms of pacing and gameplay this is again comprised largely of a steady trickle of smaller/more conventional encounters, with traps in the obvious places and a more or less traditional 1-level weapon/difficulty progression. The opening encounter, again seeing you arriving in the midst of a large mixed group of enemies who all just so happen to have their backs turned, may actually be the biggest fight in the level of terms of pure numbers, though the plentiful space, piles of shotshells, and ease with which infighting almost immediately erupts make it a largely pressure-light and empowering affair, which holds true for most of the rest of the map as well. Thing balance underscores this generally leisurely feel (though I suppose it's probably a bit more stern if you don't find any of the secrets); don't be afraid to immediately use whatever supplies and munitions you come across at earliest opportunity, as there's no need to save for a rainy day here. I ended up never using the secret plasma rifle because the map ended before I saw a good use for it, for example, though I suppose my fondness for the RL when there's plenty of ammo for it probably has a lot to do with that.

 

The level as a whole is of course named for the red key setpiece, which is a fairly simple two-front ambush made memorable by its highly elaborate staging, which sees ranks of hellspawn emerging from the curtains of cascading blood bracing the arena on two sides, as the Grinder itself rumbles into life and begins to cycle interminably, cancelling the evasive power of the central space and requiring you to make some carefully timed passes under it in order to avoid being hemmed in by the enemy. Again, provided you act decisively and immediately trot out your heavier weapons, this is not actually a particularly harrowing encounter, and stakes are fairly low: even if you happen to get caught under the Grinder, it's just a standard-cyle crusher, and doesn't really inflict all that much damage provided you've got some armor of some sort. Moving around enough will also, naturally, see the Grinder eliminate most of the slower, tankier enemies for you in due course (Barons, cacos, etc.), and arch-viles are conspicuously absent during the encounter, which in hindsight I would actually consider to be something of a missed opportunity. Still, though....cool spectacle, right? Note also the aforementioned plasma rifle secret in this area, accessible by passing through the curtains of blood from which your enemies emerge, taking you to an infernal pocket-dimension with the weapon perched on a rise before a massive lavafall (which is also the same place where the monsters began, though this is not likely obvious by the time you arrive there).

 

Cinematics seem to have been something of a focus for the map, come to think of it, perhaps as an alternate means of communicating spectacle which the author more commonly achieves through scale and vista, and perhaps more viscerally through hordes of enemies. You arrive in the map via a brief (and somewhat queasy) dimension-slip sequence, and entering the main hub greets you with the distinctive sight of a markedly sparsely-populated clockwise-ascending ring of cupolas overlooking a deep central pit with something below; the goal of the level is to drop into this pit, achieved after deactivating the Grinder complex with the red key (note the metal shutters on the cupolas all slamming shut, suggesting that the whole works is shutting down); the bottom is a fairly nondescript desolate garden of sorts, which opens out into a larger expanse of caves for one last (and again, leisurely) fight. The silent teleportation line separating this area from the 'main' level is almost seamless in implementation due to clever placement, and conveniently drives the illusion of full 3D space in that it allows Darkwave to position the wings of the last arena 'under' the floorplan of the main level above.

 

Map 13 -- Lucifer's Tears - 102% Kills / 100% Secrets

Always figured this for a riff on "Crimson Tide" (AV m05), though apparently the inspiration is even more source in this case, citing "Neurosphere" from Plutonia. This is a genre Joshy will return to later in his mapping career, and in much grander scale and scope; here, as with most of his SoD maps, it's a compact, highly condensed take on the blood/mortar fort theme, with the blood existing as a canal and small pool or two surrounded by stone fortifications, as opposed to a fort surrounded by a sea of blood. Aesthetically, it's an inherently cool theme (IMO), and one of Joshy's more elaborate offerings thus far, with stylish metal-rimmed votive candle nooks, fine gratings and bars, a 'weeping' marble relief (a true PWAD classic trope) and distinctive wooden buttresses in the central yard/pool area which double as partial cover during exchanges in the area. The BGM selection is, conspicuously, a stock track ("Waiting for Romero to Play"), and the only one in the set if memory serves. Perhaps a bit of a jarring shift, in some regards, though I would say it's really not far out of step with the 1-2-1-2 stylistic alternations which are such a fundamental feature of the project.

 

This is a level defined almost entirely by its offbeat and somewhat awkward thing-balance--Joshy's account of having made many of these maps during a difficult period of his life seems to shine through in spades here, with gameplay heavily dominated by an element of attrition, driven by a preponderance of hitscannery in the early going and nettlesome crossfires later on, all in the context of tight spaces featuring little healing and literally no armor beyond a few odd helmets picked up and summarily lost/forgotten about in the first few moments. Ammo supply is adequate to the point where you don't really need to strategize heavily with your spending in that regard (the initial berserk pack is clearly intended more as a healing resource than as a weapon, as others have observed), though over-relying on the SSG as a long-range weapon (i.e. because you hesitated and got stonewalled out of the YK courtyard, for example) may sabotage a certain type of player, and the plasma gun with its limited ammo supply is pretty obviously purpose-placed for the specter/revenant pincer in the blood-channel. There is a hidden rocket launcher, but it's available so late in the running that it never really shines, and the tight/attrition-heavy framing of the play, where every hit you take is a serious issue, is not really amenable to 'conducting' the action even with detailed foreknowledge, and so most fights are by necessity undramatic in execution, leaving the whole feeling something of a slight buzzkill. Most memorable bit, by far, has got to be the SSG's placement, which is joyfully blatant trolling on the author's part, as it is far and away the worst of your available firearms to use during the RK ambush which follows moments later.

 

Meanspirited and passive-aggressive without truly going overboard, this is nevertheless a map that strikes me as being a little too dour and grumpy for its own good--austerity-driven maps generally need a bit more of a deliberate pacing and more room for subtle tactical variations, and this is not really convincing in that regard, again likely because it's so densely-packed.

[NecrumWarrior]

MAP13: Lucifer's Tears

Kills: 100%

Items: 96%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 15:26

 

1. Fuck this map

 

B. The shotgunner sequence was not fun at all. I attempted a strategy suggested above and it pretty much just got me killed.

 

-The music sounds familiar, but I can't quite place it.

 

2. Fuck this map

 

I recorded a demo for this one but I don't feel like bothering to post it. Not because I think I sucked at it, just because I feel dead inside from how much I hate this map.

[The Bandit]

16 minutes ago, NecrumWarrior said:

MAP13: Lucifer's Tears

Kills: 100%

Items: 96%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 15:26

 

1. Fuck this map

 

B. The shotgunner sequence was not fun at all. I attempted a strategy suggested above and it pretty much just got me killed.

 

-The music sounds familiar, but I can't quite place it.

 

2. Fuck this map

 

I recorded a demo for this one but I don't feel like bothering to post it. Not because I think I sucked at it, just because I feel dead inside from how much I hate this map.

Agreed.  It's a long, drawn out map that is an absolute beotch to complete...especially UV-Max.  Some maps just become tedious and not fun.  This is one of them.  I've made it up to about Map20 or so of SOD UV-Max/pistol start so far.  Haven't beat map 32 yet.  That's tough.  Came so close.

[DAZZER]

MAP15: Descent to Core
Time - 12:33

 

This Level throws you again right in the action... and I love it ! it's challenging with these Arachnotrons but not impossible with the pillars in the room ^^ I also like the whole Layout in the Map. In the middle of the Map you have this cage with a switch leading to the exit. But to open the cage you have to activate other switches in rooms around first :) This is another Tech style Map but feels better then the ones before. It's more open and has really good monster placement. There's always enough munition and you get a good amount of armor ^^ The only thing i would criticize are the end stairs... It looks cheap and ugly :/

[rehelekretep]

so who's 'playing' 32 then? absolutely infuriating level; worse than av32

[Spectre01]

21 minutes ago, rehelekretep said:

so who's 'playing' 32 then? absolutely infuriating level; worse than av32

But av32 was a great map. :( By 'playing' do you mean doing a saveless UV-Max of it? Once you get past the start and successfully AV-grab the invul the rest is relatively mild in comparison. I'm not really into grinding maps though so I'll probably pass the saveless bravado on this one. Even BlooditeKrypto took multiple attempts in his savless SoD stream last year and he's a very good player.

[baja blast rd.]

MAP31: 101001010

 

This looks amazing, but I wasn't in the mood for it today. The problem is the pressure is far too low for it to be viscerally exciting (I could feel myself nodding off), but it's not generous enough with cell ammo for it to work well as a pure BFG spam map. I think I would have liked it if it had 5x the amount of cells and maybe a hundred or so archviles. That sounds like a joke but I'm not even kidding. In many places this looks like a precursor to some stuff in Sunlust. The proto-Ribbiks curves™ are there, and if you replace an asset or two here, a sky there, you get something with the same overall feel. Cool stuff.

 

MAP32: The Pyramid of Death

 

I would have really liked this map if it ended shortly after the northern section with all the viles and the invul jump. The gasbag swarm right after this feels really miscalculated and basically ruins the map. They can't path over because of the infinitely tall baron polyobject in the way, so it's just tedious clearance for a few minutes. That soured me greatly on the additional minutes of clean-up that followed, and the final set piece was okay but not anywhere near enough to make up for it.

 

But before that, it was fun stuff. It's probably 'unfair' in that if RNG screws you over in certain places you have no hope, but with basic BFG spam techniques, it's not so hard to get a run going at the cost of some deaths and then 'win' the northern section, after which the map becomes just a test of patience, without too much danger left. On balance I think this map is uglier than map31 (the purely functional playspace around the start is quite bland), but it also has this stunning vista, which is among my favorite in the set up to this point.

 

[baja blast rd.]

Heretic, a skilled player, has some FDAs for SoD hosted on DSDA. The death counts can serve as a general proxy for how hard maps are, which can be useful for those who want to continue playing without saves on all maps but the most lethal. 

 

Spoiler

Game:      Doom 2
Pwad:      SOD.wad (Speed of Doom [version 17.03.2010])
          http://mekworx.phenomer.net/mekastuff/wads/SOH/SOD.zip
Category:  UV-FDA
Exe:       PrBoom-Plus 2.5.0.7 -complevel 9

Map: Total: Last:  Ds:  K/S:   
01    4:21   4:16   0  100/50
02   14:14   7:42   1  100/40  -skipsec 388
03    6:38   6:31   0   98/66
04   16:32  15:37   1  100/100 -skipsec 50
05   15:44  15:39   0  100/100
06   21:04  18:00   2   84/42  -skipsec 178
07   26:50   9:16   3  101/100 -skipsec 1048
08   13:48  13:40   0  114/66  !
09   13:30  13:25   0  114/100
10   16:16  16:11   0  103/80
11   19:49  19:42   0  106/50
12   24:14  13:46   1  102/80  -skipsec 621
13   18:27   9:28   2  100/0   -skipsec 533
14   36:37  30:50   1   80/50  -skipsec 338
15   20:33  20:27   0  102/0   !
16   28:09  10:01   3  100/100 -skipsec 1081
17   10:38  10:33   0  100/0
18   64:37  23:14   7  102/80  -skipsec 2477
19   17:48  14:31   1  101/100 -skipsec 192
20   33:34  33:29   0  104/75  !
21   19:19  19:12   0  100/100
22   15:09  15:03   0  103/66
23   36:29  24:50  12  109/100 -skipsec 694
24   44:11  17:35   4  102/71  -skipsec 1589
25   31:17  12:47   2  113/100 -skipsec 1107
26   34:14  34:08   0  103/25  !
27   44:41  32:22   7  101/33  -skipsec 732
28   40:05  38:19   1   99/0   -skipsec 100
29   60:54  33:03  13  100/100 -skipsec 1662
30    8:01   3:03   3  157/100 -skipsec 292
31   23:02  22:57   0   98/75  !
32   45:00  22:04  15  101/100 -skipsec 1372
33   65:32   9:29  10  106/75  -skipsec 3356

Nikolay "Heretic" Kamnev
evildoomer@mail.ru
 

 

Joshy wins the pelt battle 55-24, not including map33. 

 

11 hours ago, rehelekretep said:

map13 fda

pretty perfect example of a low hp/armour map.

AVs are a bit useless in this map.

best area is the YK; felt like i was clearing out a stronghold/entrenched position

BK area is worst; centre pedestal is sinking into the blood which looks nice but makes the whole area v. messy so best ignored when the mancubi show up.

 

map14 fda

awesome map, really enjoyed it. standouts would include:

- cyber/pinkie swarm fight - makes avoiding 1 cyber hard because of the blockers

- cacoswarm. everyone loves a good cinematic cacoswarm!

- bfg room. very inventive use of lighting/spectres.

- comical rev clown-car reveal, even if i thought there must be something within the interior and got boned to death 1st try :(

only complaints would be the two shores of the lake can get clogged up and look goofy if you ignore the beach swarms and the midi sounds out of tune/pitched wrongly which is quite annoying on repeat...

More like clown garage! Your links are the same btw.

 

Edited April 15, 2017 by rdwpa

[Spectre01]

@rehelekretep Dammit Peter, you wasted 45 minutes of my time forcing me to do a map32 max! 20-something minutes and I play like absolute crap after clearing the flyer swarm. Enjoy!

sod32_S01_UVMax.zip

[rehelekretep]

1 hour ago, Spectre01 said:

But av32 was a great map. :( By 'playing' do you mean doing a saveless UV-Max of it? Once you get past the start and successfully AV-grab the invul the rest is relatively mild in comparison. I'm not really into grinding maps though so I'll probably pass the saveless bravado on this one. Even BlooditeKrypto took multiple attempts in his savless SoD stream last year and he's a very good player.

D: we'll have to disagree about av32 :p

im trying to no-save but its just grinding as there are so many points where youre just relying on RNG to help you out along the start of the map:

- enough barons hitting you in a crossfire to wipe out your health; mixed with:

- revs failing to infight with the cybers so youre stuck waiting and/or rushing the cages and hoping 20 rockets dont hit you at once

- HKs blocking you or pushing you and/or multiple archviles pushing you away from the invuln.

 

youre right (rdwpa & riley) in that once you get past the BK point it should be easier (watched the uv-max on DSDA by Rizera and it really calms down) but i think any map where a well-worked tactic isnt consistent past say, 50% of attempts is just mindless and not fun any more

 

of course i might just be garbage at doom ;D

[rehelekretep]

@Spectre01 is that in prboom+? :)

[Spectre01]

@rehelekretep Yes, GLBoom+ -cl 9 with all the purist mechanics I'm not a fan of. ;)

[rehelekretep]

map32 fda

well after moaning like a whiny baby i did it in 22:45

still a shit map D:

Edited May 9, 2017 by rehelekretep

[rehelekretep]

23 minutes ago, Spectre01 said:

@rehelekretep Yes, GLBoom+ -cl 9 with all the purist mechanics I'm not a fan of. ;)

heh. i just tried to watch it and unfortunately the free-look made me simultaneously queasy and made me keep ducking my chin down towards my chest :D

does anyone know why free-look players always look slightly lower than the standard height? its something ive noticed in the few demos/videos ive seen...

[rehelekretep]

49 minutes ago, rdwpa said:

More like clown garage! Your links are the same btw.

 

thanks! fixed :)