How far have you made it in Plutonia?

[idbeholdME]

Completed several times on UV -fast. Played with saves, no pistol starts. Even though it is considered difficult in general, it is more of a cakewalk compared to some newer WADS.

(Off the top of my head Alien Vendetta map 26 is the hardest I've encountered yet. Map 30 of Plutonia 2 is disgusting too.)

[Salt-Man Z]

I've probably beaten it at least once each on HNTR/HMP/UV, continuous with saves. Only a couple of spots stick in my mind as ridiculously hard (MAP32 and the IoS notwithstanding): the bit in MAP05 with the mastermind and flanking chaingunners, and the finale of MAP09. Gah. Otherwise, it's one of my favorite sets just for its memorable architecture and layouts.

[94's the best style]

Once in HNTR continuous with saves. Now if you don't mind me, I need to make some progress in Cairo station.

[VGA]

1 hour ago, 94's the best style said:

I need to make some progress in Cairo station.

I don't get it.

[Varis Alpha]

On 2017-07-14 at 0:19 PM, Jayextee said:

 

Y'see I have it downloaded and was going to get around to it after moving house (which I have had done for a few months now) but I hear it's terribly grindy and not really as Plutonia-esque as I'd like. Hell, the other two could've done with probably shorter levels or something (even if PL2 is bae anyway).

it really, really isn't. it may look the part, but that's where the comparisons end as far as i'm concerned. really frustrating and unfun to play.

 

i am familiar with Plutonia and have finished it a couple times.  the amount of enemies can be a little mean, but it's not that bad, and i like the visual style. well, maybe apart from that weird animated wall-texture that moves around.

[Idiotinfrontofadesk]

I've beat it, but the final boss felt insane, with the huge amount of enemies and even the Cyber-demon at the middle. Not ashamed to say I used IDDQD at one point.

[Kira]

Completed all the maps on UV + pistol start + nosaves for pl/pl2/prcp. Did it a second time for pl and it was then a cakewalk. It looks like I'm bragging but it's actually a ridiculously small achievement, since we are living in a post-Sunder world where the best players out there earned their ticket to Valhalla. I mean, just give Eternal Slumber Party a shot. Or you can even go back to nochance or eaxt, and cry (note I'm mentioning wads with thought put into their gameplay, else I'd be taking bigger and pointless shortcuts).

That said I remember it being like a massive, scary wall in my beginnings and it was a very special feeling. I hope you are savoring this moment :-)

[Cipher]

A little while back, I managed to get to level 20 giving myself a save or two per level on HMP, using keyboard only. Just put it down at some point; not for being too difficult, but because I lost interest.

 

Now that I'm finally playing with a mouse, I've been going through it again on Ultra Violence without any in-level saves and am currently on Map 06. Big difference and a lot more fun with the more precise control. I adore most of the first ten maps; very clever and satisfying. I also like how relatively compact each level is, and how memorable the monster placement is; it's enough to make each level genuinely difficult while remaining achievable with some attentive playing and a few retries.

 

It basically feels like it hits a nice level of "NES Hard" (in the vein of old Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, etc.), without being a professionals-only affair.

Edited August 9, 2017 by Cipher

[Philnemba]

Play through it twice with saves on UV.

 

[Cipher]

Beat Level 9 "The Abattoire" on Ultra Violence tonight after several attempts. That might be the single greatest satisfaction I've had with a map since I started playing Doom. That ending section is nuts. My strategy was just to make sure I came out of the second-to-last fight with 200%, take out two Mancubi, and then run and gun it to the switch and the exit with the Plasma Rifle blazing. Came away with 115%. Like all the levels in the first third of the game, while hard, it's compact and exciting enough to never feel like a slog. (Which is extra important based on how often a new player is likely to have to replay them.)

 

Loving this run. Weirdly for whatever reason the large wooden section with the red and yellow keys in "Abattoire" was one I'd somehow convinced myself was in Doom II. Somehow I remembered it really well from the keyboard-only HMP attempt I started last year.

 

EDIT -- Since this is just going to be a Plutonia diary until it leaves the front page of the forums, I want to note that my satisfaction after beating Level 9 was nearly matched by getting through Level 11 in three tries without a guide. Wasn't nearly as bad as I was anticipating. It forces you to learn how to fight Arch-Viles, and I feel like I'm much better at it now. I think my tendency in the past was to always wait much longer than I needed to for their attacks to finish, and it wound up putting me in bad positions since I couldn't kill them in time. (I think I'd also overestimated their difficulty in the past because they're one of the enemies that becomes much easier when playing with a mouse instead of a keyboard; being able to quickly round corners and shoot them is huge.)

 

Navigation-wise, discovering the map's only secret and making basic use of the automap to find areas you haven't explored yet will get you through. No need to memorize the linedef triggers like I thought.

 

The pick-a-warp exit is dumb, but kind of funny in its cruelty -- I think the mapset earns an occasional joke like that. Thankfully I'd read about that in the past.

 

Basically, the only level I was really dreading wound up not being dreadful at all.

Edited August 17, 2017 by Cipher