The DWmegawad Club plays: Moonblood (it's our 5 year anniversary, golly!)

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP13, E3-2: The Village

 

After the relative claustrophobia of the first two episode I am really liking the more open-air quality of episode three, and this cluster of buildings doesn't disappoint as it carries on that theme.  I'll second @rdwpa's observation that this feels like an old-school city map; barring the new music and art assets, this wouldn't look out of place slotted neatly into Doom II's second episode.  The predominant aesthetic is brick and stone, with just enough modern/technological and hellish elements that both feel like they've been grafted onto something much older; there's more at work here than the familiar feel of infernal subversion.

 

The Cyberdemon makes his first appearance here on Hurt Me Plenty and higher; I like that he's optional, and also that the trigger to release him isn't particularly signposted, instead occurring as the player graps a handful of health potions and maybe considers picking up the invulnerability.  There's clearly no set point at which you're "supposed" to let him out, and the role he plays, antagonist or unwitting ally or otherwise, will depend on just when you let him out and whether or not you're prepared for him.  Assuming the player has grabbed one of the map's two plasma guns already, it may be that the simplest way to deal with him is just to grab the invulnerability right away and hose him down before its batteries run dry, but there's a lot you can do with him, or not do with him if you just want to get away from him 'til you're in a better position, and that kind of neatly matches the overall map or episode theme of "here's a playground, explore it as you please."

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP13 The Village

 

Ooh, this is a big one. Matter of fact, this reminds me of a joe-ilya city map (take it as a compliment, I actually started enjoying joe-ilya maps now, they are a lot more fun than people realize). A few interesting areas that have the IWAD feel too, the rocky valley where the exit is stands out, as do a few rooms. Quite hard to find a good speedrun route, but after finding a certain secret, getting the blue key got me all set. I also see a cyberdemon for the first time, although he was easy due to an invulnerability I just picked up. Also some more cacodemons, yet I surprisingly have not seen barons or archies yet.

[Deadwing]

Map 13: The final level doesn't really look like a village haha, but when I had the level in my head that was meant to be the initial concept lol Like you guys said, the level feels like a D2 city level, although this is more compact, while still having some openess. The initial feature for this was that I wanted it to be more ammo stricted, at least on the beginning, so the player would need to let some foes alive at the first minutes until he get enough resources. The cyberdemon was a later add (when I was placing the powerups). I hadn't decided what I would put at the bottom of the stair structure, then I saw the invi-sphere and thought, why not? It also helps because it's a pretty good change of pace, and I got impressed with how the players were creative with the cyberdemon usage.

 

That beginning got myself killed several times >.>, I do play really sloppy though.

 

[antares031]

MAP14 - Hellish Shrine
ZDoom, UV - PS, KIS(%): 100/100/100

 

The level starts with narrow, claustrophobic valley with low-tier monsters and a revenant. This valley will give you three options to proceed; use the lift to enter the flank of titular demonic fortress, jump into the pit to start your mission from the basement, or just step on the entrance with a plasma rifle. While you have lots of options to explore the area, be careful with some unexpected monster placements, like a revenant at the very beginning part that I've mentioned earlier, or a trap with several mid-tier monsters in somewhere. Not a bad level to play, but I'll never forgive those three unexpected chaingunners in the dark room with the exit door.

[Demtor]

 

 

MAP13 - "The Village"

gzDoom - UV – pistol start/no saves

 

Holy hell. A cyberdemon battle right in the middle of a rather unassuming map. I mean, there was no reason to expect that, lol. Here is an IV sphere and here is the first cyberdemon of the wad. Get to it. Just ripped that band aid right off! We haven’t even seen an Arch-Vile yet and here I am going toe to toe with a cyber D. Crazy. Had to scramble hard too as the RL is the slowest way to kill one and the IV sphere runs out shortly after I’m out of rockets. Thankfully I did a quick loop around the outside and found the PG to finish the job. Wow. Well done.

 

The drip drip, if you will, of feeding you ammo is very effective. There are tiny bits of it everywhere you go you just have to aim well so as not to waste any and look hard along your way. It’s perfect IMO as the upper tier enemies are more frequent now and running out of ammo during a fight is quite a thrill when you have to either leave them be for now as you look for more ammo or switch to a less effective weapon and dip in to that supply for the kill and hope you won’t need to take on something else ahead that blocks your progress where that ammo would’ve been better used. It’s the classic Doom mind calculations of risk vs reward on a smaller scale in this map. (I hope that makes sense.)

 

I liked the bloodfalls near the end along with the muddy water by the BK. That teleport ambush at the last switch was brutal. 2 spiders, a fatty and a cac. All instant and firing upon arrival. I dunno how these are staged to do that but it is effective as hell. Great level with good use of rocks and various bits of decoration. Good stuff.

[DAZZER]

MAP12: Mining Site

Time: 9:43

 

Finally we get a feelable setting change from Doom II Tech-Bases to Plutonia like Outdoor Maps ! I loved how this Map throws you in the action with enough Space to have Fun with the Enemies. The abstract Layouts previous Levels had fitts really good with this kinda setting. I also loved the canyon like Red Key Area even though I expected a bigger ambush than some Mancubi or Chaingunners ^^ I never had any Health or Munition Problems. So E3's beginning made me really happy :)

[Demon of the Well]

FDAs pack (skill 4) for E2, covering maps 07-11.

 

Outside of some quite bad play in m07 (which is actually from the same session as maps 01-06, to whit), most of these are fairly rote. However, map 11 is a DNF. I'm pretty sure the map broke on me--I found the small room with the two key-actuated switches open early on, and then found it closed later and was never able to re-enter (maybe a monster opened it before it was intended to open which then screwed up something later?) even after scouring the rest of the accessible part of the map repeatedly. I may well be jumping to conclusions, though (perhaps because maps seem to breaking on me a lot lately! *sniffle*); since Moonblood avowedly contains some spots of puzzling, perhaps I was just too dense to find the actually extant solution to my problem. Anyone who happens to watch the recording, please do tell me if I overlooked something.

 

Of these levels, the two that most captured my attention were m07 and m10, the former for some nice tight action and the latter for its surprisingly elaborate (esp. by 'short map' standards) high road vs. low road interchange layout. M07 scores the traditional +1000 bonus points for not being a Dead Simple map; it uses both the mancubus and the arachnatron freely, and while playing I sort of got the sense that eventually killing all of each type might have something to do with level progression (from reading other comments, evidently this is not the case?), but at no point did this conceit feel to me like a forced or hackneyed gimmick. In line with the other maps so far, the playspaces here are generally quite small, occasionally bordering on claustrophobic; both the 'tron and the 'cubo are bulky enemies that eat up a lot of playspace in addition to the blanketing effects of their projectile attacks, and that the map managed to use them both consistently well (though seldom if ever together) both as main threats in a variety of flash traps and as secondary projectile interference in others is admirable, I think. The level as a whole fields a much brisker, staccato pace than anything in the first six levels, and at the time I first played it I was pleased/relieved to see Deadwing step on the gas pedal early in the set rather than opting for the loooooong slooooooow """"classsssssiiic"""" ramp-up that the rather 'ascetic' item placement style of the first episode seemed to suggest. Also, and additional +100 bonus points for that nifty little non-standard donut effect around the placed chaingun.

 

This positive impression was not entirely sustained by following maps in the block, however. Not to sound too snarky, but m09 was a level I promptly forgot about 30 seconds after I hit the exit switch, and my main takeaway from m08 (apart from its wearing its affections for "Underhalls" on its sleeve, that is) is that the really tightfisted item placement is probably going to be sticking with us in some capacity for the duration. On an artistic/conceptual level this is as valid a design choice as any other, of course, but for the practical concerns involved in a multi-map set it's always going to be at least something of a double-edged sword, I think. At one point during m08 I think I was running into HKs and some 'tron turrets and such with something like 3 shells and 20 bullets or so (and a few rockets but no launcher to use them with at the time because of the route I'd taken, IIRC), prompting me to leave and come back later.

 

Sometimes existing on that thin an ammo margin can be really exhilarating, but for this to work there either has to be scope for a lot of free/open exploration (which is usually largely beyond the scope of modest Scythe-alikes ala this one), or there has to be inescapable pressure or some constant element of hunter/hunted going on, and outside of m07's one-off (so far) trap-fest this map (and this mapset in general) has yet to offer this; usually you're under no threat of actually being caught, and so really severe ammo drought doesn't so much stoke the survival instinct as it turns larger monsters (or larger groups of lesser monsters) into the proverbial 'doors with health' which act as simple progression obstacles in the most literal sense, also often having the side-effect of prompting to player to use austerity tactics to handle smaller/lesser fights, prolonging them without adding the extra zest of threat or flash to compensate. I also notice that while many of these layouts have some non-linearity to them, they also often have routes that are markedly 'right' and markedly 'wrong', which I feel generally doesn't work nearly as well in small/tight maps as it does in more open ones.

 

I'm not accusing them of being unbalanced (though some are definitely in the danger zone, ala m09)--I've been able to get by okay so far with some adaptive play--but the improvisational problem-solving element of taking a 'bad' route from pistol-start that one might find in something like a Petersenesque concept-laden dungeon generally doesn't have much room to shine in a little coffee break-type map, where both geometry and progression are naturally much more constrained. Interestingly, m10, which is perhaps the most open-ended of the lot in spite of its deceptively straight-line progression, seems to handle this better than the other maps do (i.e. you're guaranteed a plasma rifle by the time you need one no matter which way you go); telling that it's not as shrilly stingy with items as the others, no?

 

That being said, I was pleased to find that the author is apparently a plasma rifle fan. In sharp contrast to the handling of the RL in all maps except 07 (indeed, the handling of the chaingun in most maps so far, and occasionally even of the shotguns), when you find a PR you can usually feel safe to actually use it on things without fretting too overly much about whether or not you're optimizing ammo usage--there have always been enough cell charges to fuel at least a couple of pray-and-spray-athons (or some utility usage + a single pray-and-spray-athon, you get the idea), but never so much to trivialize the majority of the action in the levels where it appears. To some extent this is still often founded on taking the 'right' route, as aforesaid, but it's what I'd call a positive trend regardless.

 

Thematically, again I'm not really blown away here, though again the work remains solid and comfortably ensconced in its unostentatious idiom. The episode starts out looking like it's going to follow the OG Doom E1/Phobos theme with a somewhat intuitive progression to a Doom II/starbase theme (really underscored by the "Underhalls" flavor of m08 as aforesaid), though by the end the obvious IWAD reference points have dissolved into an eclectic-tech patois more reminiscent of classic megaWADs of yesteryear. I've always been more inclined towards more macabre or low-tech themes myself, but it seems that may be precisely the direction the next episode is heading in. We shall see!

[Magnusblitz]

38 minutes ago, Demon of the Well said:

However, map 11 is a DNF. I'm pretty sure the map broke on me--I found the small room with the two key-actuated switches open early on, and then found it closed later and was never able to re-enter (maybe a monster opened it before it was intended to open which then screwed up something later?) even after scouring the rest of the accessible part of the map repeatedly.

 

Looking at it in DB, the front is a D1 Stay Open while the inside of the door is a DR. So I suppose you opened it and a monster later wandered in and closed it (or possibly even from the outside, not sure if it's thin enough).

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP12: Mining Site

27:04 | 100% Everything

 

Onward to Episode 3, and hey, I really loved this level. Crazy hectic start (so much so that I didn't save at the beginning like I usually do, I had to reload from my "save just before exiting" MAP11 save. Anyway, things were nice and frantic for a few minutes, and then I was able to clear some space and methodically pick everything else apart. Dropping down into the green area was a nice surprise. (Four ways in! And I took the SSG trap.) Just a lot of fun exploring the tunnels and then the spider trap at the nuke pool was really cool. I was surprised that I was able to get both keys as quickly as I did and get back to the exit, leaving much of the western end unexplored (including the northern and southern tunnel networks). I was maybe expecting a little more there there, but what I got was a blast.

 

MAP13: The Village

18:39 | 100% Everything

 

Ugh. I got about 2/3 through this one, then got pinned in the library ambush: stuck between the manc and a spectre with the wrong gun equipped. Dead. And upon reloading realized I hadn't saved at all, so there was 10 minutes wasted. I may have yelled, "Are you kidding me?" and then gone upstairs to fix dinner. :) The second time around, with my plasma at the ready (and also, um, just running away as soon as I heard spawning) that trap was a piece of cake. Go figure. I liked this level quite a bit, too. The cyberdemon was cheeky; I had climbed up to the invul, heard the stomping, and was like, "Is that what I think it is?" I figured he was on the other side of the wall, but no, he was right on top of me! Fortunately, the invul made taking him out a piece of cake (both times.) I liked the secrets a lot in this one; finding them, that is, not necessarily the rewards (which, as a continuous player, is pretty par for the course.) Good stuff.

[riderr3]

MAP14
Cave tunnels leads to dark marble/stone hideout. In my opinion as map author, making a good cave area is more time consuming.
As always, there are hitscanners behind the corners and couple of roamers.  
After reaching final door I realised I have only blue key, then going back and some revenant closets is opened in different parts of map.
I expected ambush near the yellow key - the place looked very empty.
Did not find the way to reach soulsphere.
Also at the exit I returned for getting shells and armor.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP14, E3-3: Hellish Shrine

 

I found this one interesting primarily for its inversion of the usual Doom arrangement of themes; instead of a techbase with knots of infernal infestation festering in its heart, you've got a largely Hellish/occult-themed environment that, once you peel it back, exposes small technological sectors that are themselves the subersive elements.  The music's nicely creepy too, combining the overall feel of They're Going to Get You from Doom'd E2M4 with a degree of playfulness more characteristic of Doom II's music selection.

 

Compared to the preceding maps of this episode, the environment here doesn't feel as fleshed-out and fully-realised; I didn't get the same sense of how the various spaces of the level fit together into a complete and coherent whole.  On the other hand, the action is nicely meaty, with lots of repopulation via closets and teleporters to keep the map lively in the face of the most determined efforts at depopulation.  I didn't get the soul sphere secret and that soured me on it a little; I think I figured out how you're supposed to get it (opening the secret passage, triggering the lift, then dashing back via the secret passage and the hairpin stairs before the soul sphere's platform has a chance to elevate again) but couldn't quite get the timing down, though maybe I'm going about it the wrong way after all.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP14 Hellish Shrine

 

The cave system. An easy to create type of layout for Doom mapmakers, yet most of the time it's just interconnectivity along with a few dead ends with monsters, pickups, you name it. But that's just the first part of the map, and the only weak point in my opinion. Everything else was damn well strong enough to make me say this was my favorite map in the set so far. The level like the ones before it have the strange set of nonlinearity in its layout. This level actually reminded me of D2INO's The Inmost Dens, coincidentally both share the same mapslot. There's another one of those monster-openable traps again, but the yellow key area was one of the more prominent ones. Especially in figuring out the secret soul sphere, which required another secret in a much more creative manner. Getting three platforms to reach the yellow key was one thing too, but having the floor take me down was another thing. One fun trap to fall into, I gotta say. And one fun, creamy layout to go with it. Best level so far for me.

 

No arch-viles yet though. This mapset is much like Requiem and Memento Mori II in how it waits until later levels to introduce this enemy. No barons either, real strange, but we'll be seeing both soon.

[DAZZER]

MAP13: The Village

Time: 10:12

 

This Map is great and clearly my favourite until now ! At the start I thought this is going to be a normal Castle Map... I was so wrong... This Map features awesome surrealistic "Hell on Earth" like Constructions in cool, open Outdoor Areas. The Red Marble Staircase for example which lead to an Invulnerability and an challenging Cyberdemon Fight. I also liked how in the second Building the Red Marble inside walls break the ongoing brown tint. It seemed like everything is connected together and no corners or areas were "wasted". Another Surprise was the green rock area at the End. I couldn't see it before and so was amazed to Fight in another Setting in this Map. The Scythe 1 vibe is strong here ! All supported by another fitting MIDI Track. Deadwing did an amazing Job here and I hope to see more like this :)

[baja blast rd.]

Map 14: Hellish Shrine

In retrospect, one effect the overhaul of the first two episodes did was homogenize much of Moonblood. Back when I first played this, the set's most common method of handling encounter design and non-linearity was still relatively fresh to me at roughly this point, and I appreciated it, but now I'd say that many of the last several maps -- despite the variety that is present -- are have distinct similarities that stand out as such and break immersion somewhat. Ironically, maps with less linearity and simpler layouts would actually work as change-ups. The start of this one can be considered a change-up too. Knotted ultra-claustrophobic cave tunnels haven't really been used this way before for combat. It's pretty fun and can become quite scary if you wake up too many monsters and get hemmed in. The action is the map overall is quite satisfying as well -- ammo continues to be divided up well among the SSG, RL, and PR. The maps have been short so far. Tropiness would be a much larger problem if the levels were twice as large.

 

The chaingunners in the blue key area weren't liking pacifist attempts, so I went for a UV-Speed.

 

 

[antares031]

MAP15 - Decaying Industries
ZDoom, UV - PS, KIS(%): 100/100/100

 

What a rough start for pistol starters with a single rocket launcher. After you managed to survive from the opening setpiece, here we have an opened outside area with several structures around. Not to mention that this area is populated by monsters and hitscanners...... god, I hate those hitscanners in random places. No matter how many health items you pick, those annoying shotgun guys and chaingunners from nowhere will make your face cover with blood. It's recommended to play slowly for first-try players because of this, and make sure to grab a SSG from a wooden building. And yes, this level contains a secret exit, and you won't have much trouble to find it if you're observant enough to find a computer map and two health bonus pickups.

 

MAP31 - Archives: Dobu Gabu's Exam
ZDoom, UV - PS, KIS(%): 100/100/66

 

Welcome back to techbase, I guess? It's a medium-sized non-linear level where you start at the center of the layout. You may spend a few lives to figure out your favorable route first, and notice the locations of those hitscanners to take down asap. While each room has their own texture scheme with the same amount of attention to decorate around, there is one techbase room, which is extraordinarily detailed than any other places in this wad so far. I assume that the name of this level is based on this highly-detailed proving ground. But don't worry, the exam is not that hard to pass. :D What an interesting concept for a secret level.

 

MAP32 - Archives: Iron Keep
ZDoom, UV - PS, KIS(%): 100/100/100

 

The super secret levels offers you not a techbase or suburb areas, but an unknown rocky ancient fortress on the lake of lava. Before I compliment this level, let me mention two flaws of this one; they are still in my personal perspective, mind you. First of all, there are too many dark areas, which have only brightness of 112, inside of the fortress. So enjoy yourself getting wrecked by shotgun guys and chaingunners from the darkness. Second of all, there are several pain sectors that you cannot escape, like a lava pit around the blue skull key, or around the arena for the boss fight. And one of my pet peeves about the level design is the inescapable hazardous pit that doesn't give you a second chance. But other than those problems I've mentioned, this level was interesting and enjoyable to play. It was worth to spend about 25 minutes to beat this level on UV-Perfect.

[baja blast rd.]

Map 15: Decaying Industries

 

Speaking of variety. This one has a distinct feel from the preceding levels in many ways. One is the presence of a single open area you can fight a variety of monsters in (mostly snipers perched on rocks and in the buildings, although there are some roamers). Another is the lack of keys and the general way progression is prosecuted -- it's very much about dynamic stairs and bridges, which lends it a character somewhat unlike most of the other levels. There are some trademark 'small numbers of low- and mid-tiers of many species' fights in small areas with cover, but some of the fights use larger numbers of monsters, or more irregularly shaped areas, or only a few species of monsters. The start is quite cool -- an engaging fight if you choose not to run but more importantly, if you decide to stick it out and fight, the best approach is to start by jumping off the ledge while firing a rocket in mid-air into a chaingunner. Feels badass. I also liked the arachnotron fight at the end. Calculating movement patterns on the fly against overlapping 'trons is also fun. The weapon/ammo distribution is pretty typical for recent maps, a good mix of SSG/CG/RL/PR, where you only really need two of the SSG/RL/PR trio and have enough ammo for the RL and PR to let loose every once in a while.

 

Pacifist here was really easy. ;) 

 

 

[Demtor]

 

MAP14 - "Hellish Shrine"

gzDoom - UV – pistol start/no saves

 

Plodding but brutal. Spooky music compliments the mood. I dropped my guard a few times too many the first few plays. Dead via chip shots and rev rockets. Knew I was in for it with the rough start in the caves but once I managed to survive that with a nice armor pick up (the only one?) things became an even more grizzly affair with all the revs ambushing or wandering from afar, shotgunners hiding around corners and chaingunners mixed in with others ambushes. If you take your time and be careful, it's not so bad but things can spiral out of control if you aren’t. Especially with fattys at close range and a few HK’s here and there. 

 

I liked it but it was too short IMO. Especially the beginning with it’s optional paths. It was good, I just want a little bit more is all. The open courtyard was neat and the marbled halls were a good mix of varying spaces. The ending tech area was pretty fun but tense with only the tiny candelabra pillar to circle around and use for cover.

 

The exit is a teleporter. Hmm, is that the first we’ve seen of one like that? Pretty cool the way things are being drawn out thematically with little touches like the textures used and holding back use of the entire bestiary. Where are those barons and archies at?

[Deadwing]

Map 14 - For this level, I wanted to run away a bit of the room-to-room layout, which was quite common in the previous levels and I wanted to try some sort of interconnected corridors, with that courtyard as the main checkpoint. I don't like much that song, but it's based on E2M4 midi, which was a quite remarkable level for me, so I wanted to create a similar song with that "spooky" feeling.

 

The level was supposed to be some sort of tech-base that was almost overrun by the hell forces, so lots of blood and hell structures, with few tech-bases areas here and there. Gameplay-wise, that would be where I would introduce the revenant in the moonblood 1.0 haha, but thankfully I did it much earlier. It is a quite fun level, IMO, and while it is claustrophobic, it feels different from the levels of the earlier episodes. My favorite part is the revenent which gets released after you grab the blue key, where the player knows they're arriving because of their noises, but they don't know where. 

 

I don't think it is a very difficult level, though, but getting a weapon on the start is challenging.  Also, the chaingunners barrage can be quite mortal if you rush to them haha After watching @rdwpa's speedrun, I tried to do a pacifist play on zdoom, and the only way I found to pass through the barrage was to let some in-fighting happen. Also, opening the exit door in the first arrival also helps avoid taking damage in the second-one. D: TBH, I never thought much about speedrunning when mapping haha It is really impressive these playthroughts! I didn't believe the video's lenght when rdwpa posted the level 15 video, until I saw it and... ooh right lol (I won't fixing this lol)

 

Somehow I was able to get the BK in my playthrough, which never happened before to me lol (and I saw some players spending some minutes trying to get it)

 

 

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP14: Hellish Shrine

19:44 | 100% Everything

 

I liked the start of this one a lot, with the overgrown tunnels. Then we have another bit like MAP12, where there are 3 ways into the next section: a blind drop, a shorter (but still one-way) drop, and a lift. I took the second option, eventually winding my way around to the others. This was a pretty brutal level; most of the ambushes (minus any key grabs) caught me totally unprepared. I felt good about surviving (barely) the one where the floor drops down into a manc ambush, but didn't fare as well in later ones. In particular, the initial fight in the exit room did me in 3-4 times. Funny thing with the yellow key: I managed to grab it raising only 2 of the 3 platforms and straferunning over; when I found the third switch up top and saw it raise the 3rd platform, I was briefly very confused. Only later did I figure out how you were supposed to get the switch in the first place. And the soulsphere secret drove me absolutely crazy: I probably tried 20+ times to make that dash (keyboard-only) but came up short so many times. (Watching the video above, it's like you do it so leisurely! What gives?)

[Magnusblitz]

MAP14 | E3-3: Hellish Shrine

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

Another mad dash for a pistol start, ended up running all the way to the SSG before stopping to clear stuff out. Nothing very difficult in this level, but a decent amount of monster closets filled with a handful of mid-tier enemies, so there's some stuff that's fun to drop rockets and plasma on. Like Salt-Man Z I also only hit two of the three platforms at first in the yellow key area. Overall a short but sweet level.

[riderr3]

MAP15
In the starting room there is a secret window probably leading to secret room but I have not been there.
After I comes to the outside, many shotgunners starts shoot at me from windows and balconies. Where is medikits when I need them? Mostly small medikits I've seen.
Near the normal exit door I accidentally fall to lava pit and there is no way out. But after this I remembered that is MAP15 and I found secret exit later.
No keys on this map. At least I've not found any.

MAP31
At the start I was shot by shotgunner instantly.
Can not say what this map resembles, probably another interconnected monster hideout.
There is a fence through which you can pass (a bug or not?).
And finally a backpack here, even three!
Red key ambush kinda tough.
The appeared pain elementals forced me to find a safe place.
Normal exit is actually leads to MAP32, judging by intermission text.

MAP32
So I lost all equipment after MAP31, that is surprising. But at least backpack is provided in starting area.
This map featured many new textures (from Hexen or something?).Tough difficulty, but mostly I not complain.
Overall I like this map theme - buildings between lava with a pinch of rocks. It's like a breath of fresh air after those tech-bases.
BFG is provided to deal the cyberdemon, but I used plasma gun for this.

[Deadwing]

Map 15 - Another quite fun level. The start feels tough, which may demand some tries, but after you figure out what is happening, things become easier, IMO. Then you have two ways to get outside and get to experiment some freedom. In my case, I was just running around and killing first the hitscanners scattered around, which feels very relaxing. In my playthrough, I was only worried about saving until I hit the 7 minutes mark haha. There's also 4 armors in this level and some health, so you'll be fine taking some damage, as long it's not too much.

 

My idea for this level was to create some sort of linear-non-linear keyless progressions (if that makes sense haha). You have the 5 building and then the sandbox area that connects them. I wanted to create a setpiece for each of these buildings, and then give a proper weapon in each of the routes (which is actually 2 and it merges in the building with the marble texture). The hardest setup is the teleport one before the staircase raises up, IMO, where you'll fight 4 (?) revenants and a sergeant which will want to annoy you (or the skelletons haha) as much he wants. You can also simply get out, though, but I never felt doing it (also same happened with some players).

 

The rising staircase is somewhat weird, but in the end I found it amusing. Some players, focused on the revenants battle, don't notice them rising up, and after killing the foes, they don't know where to go, so they end spending several minutes wandering around, getting a lot frustrated. I should've find a way to make it clear where you need to go I guess, maybe adding a switch which would display an arrow in the ground with 255 lighting? 
 

Overall episode 4 thoughts: I think this episode was a nice breath after the saturation we get of tech-bases in episode 1 and 2. The layouts are also different and more organic, which I guess shows a bit of evolution when I get to conceive a map concept, theme and its setups. This makes me wonder if I should've started this with entirely new levels, instead of remixing the old ones, but I guess it is too late for these questions lol Regardless, I love all the levels here and I believe they're better than the next ones (episode 4) to come, where 16-19 are (heavily) remixed ones. Difficult will be rising again, so lets see how things will behave D:

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP15 Decaying Industries

 

We have yet another city-style layout with this one, with a nasty drop start compounded with a nasty racing secret and proper usage of monsters to keep on the toes. The many other buildings have other things in them too, and monsters are in just about every nook and cranny that this level has. Yikes. Impressive as it is, it's also quite easy to get lost in this one, or at least figuring out how to get basically everything. The open-roof structure was of particular notice. How am I supposed to get the health bonuses? Where did that lost soul teleport to when I shot him? These questions end up getting answered once I figured it out, a secret that opens up the secret exit. And the secret exit itself is rather plainly but not so plainly hidden in the normal exit room. There's a sense of wonder permeating with this particular map, I gotta say.

 

MAP31 Archives: Dobu Gabu's Exam

 

A map with the sole purpose of doing...something to dobu gabu maru or something like that. I actually do not know, but this is a seemingly plain level given its gameplay. Not much to say other than watch out for the hitscanners. And the mancubus. Actually, both. Don't forget about the lava too. And it seems that going to this particular map makes us locked in for the secret exit, as I never found a normal exit, instead a completely inconspicuous death exit that makes next to no sense. No need for a berserk pack when you are not gonna use it either.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP15, E3-4: Decaying Industries

 

This one's a big, free-form, and fairly open playground with a lot of switches to throw and moving parts to juggle; the open layout and increasing degrees of interconnection are what save the level and make "What did that switch do?" a question that's easily answered rather than a source of frustration.  There's a secret near the start that I feel is pretty clever, requiring both problem-solving skills and a some agility to access, though the latter isn't quite as strict as the soul sphere secret in the preceding map unless I was really misreading the intended means of getting it.  Unfortunately for me, there was enough to keep me elsewhere in the map that this secret was actually the last of the four that I found; the computer map within ended up being a bit useless to me at that point.

 

It's also a map that embraces the player's movement capacity and the sheer artificiality of how Doom can treat vertical spaces; there are plenty of vertical drops into hostile territory and mad dashes across gaps and between bridges, and getting to the secrets (and the secret level) demands some degree of explicitly not treating the map as a real place to be navigated in a conventional fashion.  I think this map makes the most extensive use of lava that we've seen so far, and there are plenty of damaging floors that the player's asked to skip across, though a fairly generous supply of radiation suits will allow most players to blunt the worst of this threat.  Good atmosphere, fun navigation, combat that's engaging and varied... yeah, this is all around a good map and a solid exhibition of the WAD's overall stylistic strengths.

 

I'll probably be coming back to the secret levels later in the day.

[rehelekretep]

ive fallen behind on my write-ups so im just going to drop these here as i cant face watching and typing up all of them >.<

 

map12 fda

map13 fda

map14 fda

map15 fda

 

do we do 31/32 today also?

Edited August 15, 2017 by rehelekretep : 'falled' is not a real word >.<

[Demtor]

 

MAP15 - "Decaying Industries"

gzDoom - UV – pistol start/no saves

 

Hahaha, god damn. To sum up my first 30 seconds of this map, oh shit, ouch, ow, oh god, ouch, crap, ouch, ow ow ow. Ah... hell. My second attempt I rocketed the closest shotgun guy, jumped off the platform and ran through the door as fast as possible. LoLz, fuck that starting area!

 

Then it was time to embrace the pain outside. Desperate for ammo I basically ran around like crazy trying to stay alive and struggling to keep things under control. It didn’t last long,heh. Finding some secrets next time around made it easier.

 

I really liked the look of the red lava against those rocks. With the red and beige bricks and the dark brown metal base it all fits together really well. Mix a little more brown with some marbled green and it still looks great. Just about every angle of that outer area is visually pleasing to me. All complimented with the orange sky.

 

Jumping off the central column to the top of the marbled wall was kind of a cool way to hide the secret exit as its possible to see it before knowing how to raise the bridge in order to reach it. Good stuff.

 

The placement of the spiders and lost souls in that last area is really well done. The angles and provided cover matches their offense perfectly. Speaking of well placed… AHH! That was a scare, lol.

 

The Miners.

 

Hmm, cool ideas. I like the story. Looking forward to laying them all out and reading them one by one at the end of this.

[Demtor]

 

 

 

MAP31 - "Archives: Dobu Gabu's Exam"

gzDoom - UV – pistol start/no saves

 

Huh, inside joke name for this it seems. Not sure of the exact meaning but it is a pretty painful map and some of the Dobu creations I’ve played shared that aspect. I died probably the most on this map. One time I had a good run going where I ran out of ammo and had to attempt to punch a shotgunner… it didn’t go well. Probably wasted a bit too much ammo on the PE duo that came out to play. Painful indeed.

 

Every time I died though I learned a little bit more about this layout and where I wanted try going to first on my next attempt. It was a lot of fun getting better and better with each play as it felt like a new level every time. The Revs seemed to be a reoccurring threat in every area though. Either hiding behind corners or coming out of closets. Especially in the dark when I had to fight them for the PG. Tense moment there. Well done.

 

The purple colored sky change is cool. Especially against a blue and white with a splash of brownish grey. Some of the vines mixed in the tech areas are a cool touch too.

 

The RK metal contraption just looks painful even before I stepped foot in it. Very cool way to convey a sense of dread with it’s design before unveiling the painful trap that would soon surround it. I liked that there were dead marine bodies kind of here and there too. Added a sense of death being everpresent.

 

Well hello there Arch-Vile you cheeky bastard. I see you! Ya. There you are! Come taste this PG and tell me what you think. Heh. Kind of a sad intro for him but a good surprise none the less.

 

The Marine.

[antares031]

MAP16 - Beta Labs Reception
ZDoom, UV - PS, KIS(%): 100/100/100

 

Here we have a STAR techbase with several areas with marble textures. To sum up the environmental design of this one, it's like a proper combination of episode one and two from Ultimate Doom. Not to mention that, again, the layout is pretty good as a "non-linear medium-sized level" (I should count how many times I've written those words for this wad so far). The gameplay, however, is totally different from the original game, thanks to chaingunners and revenants around. The opening setpiece is also something different than usual; you start with a plasma rifle and a berserk around. Speaking of berserk pack, there are not that much health kits around to replenish your health, so be careful with those chaingunners, trying to snipe you from afar. Thankfully, this level offers you a mega armor, just beyond the door near the starting point. In overall, it's not a bad start for the fourth episode, and the wad is definitely getting more "challenging".

[dobu gabu maru]

2 hours ago, rehelekretep said:

do we do 31/32 today also?

For a 32-map megawad, both secret levels are always played 15th.

 

MAP11: Nifty pistol start. Love that as soon as you open the door you want to run down the perched chaingunner, but doing so angers a PE and a messload of demons that wade their way through the level towards you. There’s a lot of good monster placement in this map that pushes you to move forward, and no matter how cautious you are there’s always something around the corner to chip away at your health. Luckily there’s plenty of armor so nothing feels “cheap”, and once again the ammo is balanced equally towards light and heavy weapons. A good base crawl.

 

MAP12: Boy howdy E3 bares its fangs early. Once you lose your health in this map you never get it back, and since you’re fighting out in the open most of the time it’s really easy to lose vitality bit by bit. I liked how it opened, the weapon placement, the amount of ways to traverse it… just wish the map was a little more lenient. Well, at least from this point on I know to be a bit more careful and frugal with my saves.

 

MAP13: Fared much better in this one. There was a bit of an ammo drought at the start until I woke the cyber up and was able to steal his cache of rockets. It was fun trying to avoid him while I ran through the rest of the map, only wanting to reduce him to metal stumps once I was sure no one was left. I was surprised how many corners he could get around; I shouldn’t expect anything less from Deadwing, master of “surprise, a cacodemon can fit through this window!” Good map—certainly leaves a better impression than MAP12.

 

MAP14: Lol what a start—you take two steps forward, see a revenant to your left, and are forced “nope!” your way down the right path and through the level. The first bit is a mad dash around the map as you keep your eyes peeled for weapons, slowly grabbing everything you can spot until you can hold your own in a corner somewhere. Due to the brevity, nonlinearity, and fierceness of the map it’s definitely one of my favorites so far—I like the soulsphere secret and the final battle quite a bit too.

 

MAP15: Hot starts seem to be the most common feature of Moonblood. This map harkened back to MAP12’s health shortage, punishing the player with a few too many hitscanners as soon as they emerge from the metal murder box. Due to the open space, number of monsters, and that there’s rockets and health in damaging sectors, I think it’s a bit too brutal without knowing the ins & outs of the town, so it’s definitely a step down from MAP14.

 

MAP31:

 

5 hours ago, NuMetalManiak said:

A map with the sole purpose of doing...something to dobu gabu maru or something like that.

For those that don't know, a while back I made a thread called "Dobu Gabu Maru's Mapping Exam", where I made a map for aspiring mappers to expand off of. This map consistent of the starting room, exit room, and the red key room, with no monsters, health, or ammo placed in them. The goal was for a mapper to connect these 3 areas without adjusting the height or position they're located at, pushing for them to learn how to make a nonlinear, vertical, & interconnected layout. The thread was relatively unsuccessful—I think I only got 1-2 submissions, and one of them was from Deadwing. He PM'd me to request permission to use the map for his project, letting me play his edit to the map. The funniest and most apparent thing is that Deadwing clearly knew how to make an excellent layout already, so his contribution was fairly unnecessary; it was kinda like college art student showing up to paint with highschoolers. Still, he got to make a fun map that serves as a bonus b-side for Moonblood, so I'm glad the project survived in some form.

 

As for the map itself, I don't have too many comments; the only thing I wish is that the player could easily access the teleporter that takes them to the northern complex, as it's a one-way trip currently (some steps that lead up the the tele would be nice). I like the drop to the AV battle quite a bit.

[rehelekretep]

18 minutes ago, dobu gabu maru said:

For a 32-map megawad, both secret levels are always played 15th.

i dont know why i ever doubted myself