The DWmegawad Club plays: Urania

[baja blast rd.]

^ Votes have to be beside three plus signs or DobuBot will miss them. 

[Magnusblitz]

Why all these votes for NGM2? I just cracked it open... the first map has 300 enemies, the second has 800. MAP09 has three thousand seven hundred fucking enemies. Was this month not enough for you people? Have you no mercy?

 

+++ No Sleep for the Dead, UAC Ultra, Scythe X

 

[Nine Inch Heels]

6 minutes ago, Magnusblitz said:

the first map has 300 enemies

seems reasonable...

 

6 minutes ago, Magnusblitz said:

the second has 800

seems good too

 

6 minutes ago, Magnusblitz said:

MAP09 has three thousand seven hundred fucking enemies.

So? SOD 28 also has several thousands, people had fun with that.

 

Problem?

[Grain of Salt]

9 minutes ago, Magnusblitz said:

Was this month not enough for you people? Have you no mercy?

It's not like Urania is "hard" and NGM2 is "harder". NGM2 is fast slaughter and Urania is grindy low-density grinding (with some grinds). If the NGM2/DV2 votes win it's actually a complete change of pace.

[Deadwing]

4 hours ago, Rathori said:

I'm too busy with university stuff to finish the WAD in time, what usually happens when the month ends? Is it OK to post some reviews late? 'Cause I'd really like to finish this but I don't have that much time and, anyway, rushing through the maps to catch up with the calendar decreases review quality tremendously for me.

It's no problem, it's common for people to post late reviews :)

[NuMetalManiak]

7 hours ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

So? SOD 28 also has several thousands, people had fun with that.

 

Problem?

2938 is still less than 3700 or so. And it's not several thousands either.

 

Still keeping vote for +++2048 Unleashed (both episodes simultaneously). Would've voted Moonblood but no one wants it for some reason right now.

[rehelekretep]

+++ New Gothic Movement 2 and Deus Vult 2

[rehelekretep]

17 hours ago, dobu gabu maru said:

Hope you guys are staying strong and persevering. Since next month is busy for me, I'm gonna be a buzzkill and vote for:

 

+++ Doom 2

definitely going to vote for this for July; i want to see everyone's perspectives on it as *whispers* i dont think the maps are very good...

[galileo31dos01]

There has to be something special for those two wads for people to call them a "change of pace", when Urania (regardless of the overuse of snipers) has you always staying alert. I must be missing something so I'm going to check some videos of those wads and draw my own conclusions.

[Nine Inch Heels]

10 minutes ago, galileo31dos01 said:

There has to be something special for those two wads for people to call them a "change of pace"

They are absolutely beautiful and fast paced murderfests. XD

[Demtor]

 

MAP22 - “Sicknology”

gzDoom/BDoom - HMP – continuous/saves

 

This seems like a better version of MAP05 - “Terracotta” except with less buildings, more AV’s and a simple water maze hiding the BK. Some decent looking wirey tech areas in this episode. Interesting level change room before the YK.

 

Nothing too crazy about this one. It didn’t wow but it didn’t make me angry. Just kind of there. There was another invisible bridge for no real reason. Lots of teleporting around at one point. I laughed at the shootable door behind some of the imps in the side of the main building that brings out another AV. Perfectly dirty trick that fits Urania to a T.

 

TEERRRRIBLE music. What is this garbage? Take a 15 second fast riff and repeat it forever. The worst.

[j4rio]

+++ dv2 ng2 +++

[Demtor]

 

MAP23 - “Grossfalls”

gzDoom/BDoom - HMP – continuous/saves

 

Lots of tip toeing on edges and making calculated running jumps. It was a fairly enjoyable experience puzzling this one out. Lots of hiding from newly released enemies which led to a hilarious game of cat and mouse with revs I really enjoyed. I’m not sure if that was designed like it happened to me but it was pretty damned cool to have them running after me and catching up even after I thought I lost them. Good stuff.

 

Opening up the blue doors in the open pit area and fighting the cyberdemon in the distance for the exit was pretty fun too.

 

I laughed at this lone spider guarding the bloody RK room. Then a couple of CG’ers almost tore me apart from around the corner. Ahh!

 

The terrible music continues unfortunately. Woof. Back to back? Oh dear.

[Demtor]

 

MAP24 - “Epileptica”

gzDoom/BDoom - HMP – continuous/saves

 

This map starts with you stuck in a box only to find out that you are in fact at the center of all the action and every step you take outside is greeted by a barrage of fire from the distance so don't stand still for too long. Just run laps around the center killing everything you can before taking a breather inside and camping a few windows/doorways with a CG or RL. 

 

LOTs of that this map. Long distance aiming rockets. Pretty boring stuff actually. In true Urania fashion, things can get nutty if you don’t kill things from a distance before running in. Thankfully there are a few AV ambushes I welcomed (!!) by the time they happened to help liven things up.

 

Loved the look of the green area from below. Nice architecture. Check out the black scaring from all of the imp/manc/rev/HK fire!

 

What’s with all of the slooooooooow lifts. There are so many it’s almost comical. They are everywhere! Even the final trap room with the HK’s riding up and down as mancs and revs unload from above. I’m with @Deadwing, I noclip'ed a few of those sons of bitches just to save myself the extra time with the unnecessary hassle.

 

I got a really cool Twin Peaks vibe from the Megashpere room. Which is eerily fitting since I just started the new season (25 years?? That's crazy!!).

 

I swear I recognize the main riff in the music track from somewhere. Metallica? Pantera? Maiden? I dunno. It's not the best but at least it's not terrible like the last few.

Edited May 25, 2017 by Demtor

[Demtor]

Hah, found it. It was Iron Maiden. Fear Is The Key! Enjoy...

 

Up the Irons!

[CapnClever]

^{Chocolate Doom / HNTR|HMP|UV / Pistol Start / Saves}

MAP22: Sicknology features an expansive layout that crams most of the content in its peripherals and leaves the expanse to the crowds. After a brief but torrid start, the level branches into a number of available sections connected by a wide and mostly-devoid plane: by completing various side areas, this plane will fill with more and more enemies that make up most of the intense combat. Progression is simply a matter of exploring what can be easily explored, from key to switch to door, culminating in the central building that makes way for a final struggle. Many of the stronger weapons needed to handle this map either very out of reach or difficult to notice, though it is quite rewarding to eventually retrieve them. Ultimately, the encounters don't quite pervade the level expected of this type, but it's certainly difficult nonetheless.

 

I can only imagine trying to get through this level at any decent pace on UV without finding the BFG. Amusingly, I think the Cyberdemon actually makes the level easier by providing a useful distraction. It'd be cooler if multiple groups could be added at once, but it's hard to do so with all the ancillary locations so spread out.

[baja blast rd.]

A few days back, I was IDCLEVing around and noticed how short m26 was, so I played it and then recorded a casual follow-up playthrough. 

 

As short as it is, I think it could have been a lot more intense while still being a breather map. Part of the problem is that the massive scale of the arena makes basically every projectile monster harmless. So it's tuned more to be a pure 'leisure map', but I didn't find it so fun that way either, mostly because those ledges are a bit awkward and cleaning up the perched meat is janitorial work. It was pretty funny how I could ignore the pain elementals, which theoretically should be a 'priority threat' but are perfectly harmless because the scale is so large and the player has comfortably enough ammo even if a pain elemental gets really freaky with itself. If I were designing the map, keeping in mind that it's still meant to be a 'breather map' in the context of the mapset, I'd get rid of a bunch of the clean-up snipers and add more viles instead. It's fun having to quickly rocket them down in open space, but not really too strenuous either. 

 

 

[galileo31dos01]

3 hours ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

They are absolutely beautiful and fast paced murderfests. XD

Yeah I've just seen a couple videos, the visuals and details look really cool, the gameplay... I now understand why some don't like Urania, because here you're forced to do things slowly and have really good observation skills, and you're being constantly harassed by snipers from all angles (chaingunners mostly), and in those two wads, according to the videos, you can do things fast and that benefits UV-max fans and speedrunners, in contrast with Urania. Yep is a complete change of pace like Grain of Salt said. Still Urania is awesome 

 

NGM2's map 01 has ambushes of revenants and shotgunners and cyberdemons and archviles and mid-tiers in every single spot like wtf isn't that "grindland"??  

 

Quote

I'd get rid of a bunch of the clean-up snipers and add more viles instead

Eww no no NOOO GOD NOOOO!!

[Nine Inch Heels]

2 minutes ago, galileo31dos01 said:

NGM2's map 01 has ambushes of revenants and shotgunners and cyberdemons and archviles and mid-tiers in every single spot like wtf isn't that "grindland"??

Nope... The gameplay is fast, firepower is better....

 

NG2 map 10 is what I've played a bit recently... it has 1019 monsters on UV not counting AV revives, and I can clear it in less than 5 minutes... According to Ancalagon it can even be done in sub 4:00. That being said it's all about the gameplay.

 

Grinding is when you constantly need to look out for singular hitscans scattered around which slowly chip your health away, which slows gameplay to a crawl and forces duck+cover gameplay instead of frantic run and gun or outbursts of unbridled violence. ;-)

[rehelekretep]

1 hour ago, j4rio said:

+++ dv2 ng2 +++

is j4rio going to join the club for this month? :o

[Capellan]

8 hours ago, rehelekretep said:

*whispers* i dont think the maps are very good...

 

I agree, which is why I won't be playing, should it ever actually win the vote :)

 

Given the likely winners for June right now, I won't be playing next month either.

 

[CapnClever]

+++ The Journey

 

It's quite short and I enjoyed it enough during a race, might be a nice one for people who want to take a break.

[Spectre01]

Got folks trolling with IWAD votes again. Haven't we suffered enough with TNT? There needs to be at least a year break before you can vote for another IWAD.

[rehelekretep]

IWAD votes are not trolling - some people want to read some considered and varied opinions on the o.g. doom experience. plus, i LIKE tnt :)

[galileo31dos01]

Does anyone know any pwad (vanilla/limit-removing/boom) that uses the same or similar textures as NGM2 and DV2, but not the same gameplay style??

 

(excuse my off-topic question)

 

 

[AD_79]

1 hour ago, Spectre01 said:

Got folks trolling with IWAD votes again. Haven't we suffered enough with TNT? There needs to be at least a year break before you can vote for another IWAD.

Couple reasons for my vote:

 

-I want to see exactly how people can compare Urania to Plutonia, as from what I have seen they are almost completely unlike each other (Urania seems wayyy more inspired by TNT than Plutonia, considering the large map sizes and levels directly inspired by TNT).

-I want to look through the maps and see if there's any homages/ripoffs that the community has missed. I bet there's a few!

-I want to figure out who exactly did which map. Some deep analysis from some of the regular posters might help with that. Oh and I guess reading people's opinions on the maps and the set as a whole is cool too.

-I like Plutonia and want to replay it (in no way is Plutonia a set one suffers through, IMO). If it were to be played I would actually contribute for the whole month, in one way or another.

 

This is not trolling.

[Nine Inch Heels]

1 hour ago, galileo31dos01 said:

Does anyone know any pwad (vanilla/limit-removing/boom) that uses the same or similar textures as NGM2 and DV2, but not the same gameplay style??

 

(excuse my off-topic question)

 

 

Killer instinct, remember? :-)

 

Come on, it'll be fun... You'll learn the ways eventually. :-)

[galileo31dos01]

1 hour ago, AD_79 said:

-I want to see exactly how people can compare Urania to Plutonia, as from what I have seen they are almost completely unlike each other (Urania seems wayyy more inspired by TNT than Plutonia, considering the large map sizes and levels directly inspired by TNT).

To me, Urania seems inspired by Final Doom in its entire, game. While battles look and feel more Plutonia-ish, for example the use (and overuse) of chaingunners and revenants. On the other side, a lot of maps visually and structurally look more like TNT-ish. I really didn't feel the TNT vibes until map 14, where there is a big TNT logo somewhere. 

 

53 minutes ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

Killer instinct, remember? :-)

 

Come on, it'll be fun... You'll learn the ways eventually. :-)

Oh come on! At least a different one I can add to my to-download list? :(

 

I was already thinking of trying a few maps just to see how I get on, but that is not a style I'm a fan of...

[Nine Inch Heels]

49 minutes ago, galileo31dos01 said:

Oh come on! At least a different one I can add to my to-download list? :(

If you want to play WADs based on aesthetics, which I think is also a good way to enjoy this game if you're into that, you may want to have a look at kmxexii's reviews. He has a blog with TONS of played WADs. Here's the link.

 

Note that he does not sort them based on visuals, so you will need to look around for a bit. I'm sure you'll find something eventually, his review-blog is kind of like a goldmine. You can sort his archive by release dates, and look for wads with a more modern makeover that way. :-)

 

Alternatively, play these harder levels on a lower difficulty setting and see how it goes. UV isn't the most welcoming difficulty, because these maps more or less expect the player to familiarize her/himself intimately with them, before actually composing an entire run. It's very rewarding to do though.

Edited May 26, 2017 by Nine Inch Heels

[baja blast rd.]

4 hours ago, galileo31dos01 said:

Does anyone know any pwad (vanilla/limit-removing/boom) that uses the same or similar textures as NGM2 and DV2, but not the same gameplay style??

 

(excuse my off-topic question)

 

 

Google "deus vult site:https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/" and you'll get basically every mention of Deus Vult in text files on the idgames archives, which leads to a bunch of wads that use DV2 textures, for example.