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

[dobu gabu maru]

23 minutes ago, rehelekretep said:

i dont know why i ever doubted myself

Believe in the you that believes in yourself. Roh roh fight the demons

[Demtor]

 

MAP32 - "Archives: Iron Keep"

gzDoom - UV – pistol start/one save

 

Hmm, I’ve heard this music somewhere else before. Can’t put my finger on it but I love it. Good thing too because I spent A LOT of time on this map thanks to it’s larger complexity in length and a few of my stupid deaths.

 

There was a sad time a GAD’ed myself when I meant to switch for the CG but I panicked and fat fingered the “5” instead of “4”… lol, whoops. Then there was a quick dip in the lava to look around some… didn’t find much. Yeouch.

 

I almost got through the BK trap the first time but it was too much for me. Second try I actually managed to get both Revs to fight the Cacodemon while the spider stood back turned and deaf because I hadn’t pulled the trigger yet. Then I just waited for them to finish fighting before pumping rockets up their noses.

 

OMG that Cyberdemon curtain jerk after grabbing the YK made me shit my pants. I was not ready for that! It’s okay, breath. He’s gone. I had a feeling of dread going through that yellow door once I heard his steps. I’d just spent 20 minutes meticulously going through this for like the third time… so I allowed myself a save. I am VERY glad I did that, hahaha. I didn’t see there were two of them that ported away earlier!

 

What a horrible place to fight two cybers though, damn. It was hard to figure out exactly where to dodge rockets from as those pillars don’t exactly provide perfect cover and the rock wall behind will provide splash damage from side stepped rockets. Ugh. Not a whole lot of running room and don’t forget about the death pits of lava in the corners and sides. Yikes. Hell of a finishing battle for that RK.

 

Other than those spots above, I didn’t have too much trouble. It was tricky being outdoors with rev rockets and floaters milling about. I spent a lot of time CG sniping out windows at times though and didn’t feel bad about it at all. There are a lot of distant revs, zombies and imps that if you took the time to waste them, things were a bit easier.

 

There was a moment where 4 cacodemons were floating about together. I think that constitutes a cacoswarm as far as Moonblood is concerned as that’s the most cacs I’ve seen together yet. In any case, they were a fun fight. Could have used a few more swarms IMO.

 

I liked the use of darkness in this map. It really adds to the horrific mystique of the Iron Keep and gave some areas a real basement/dungeon feel. Okay… maybe a tad too dark but still. Some of the art assets and the lighting really helped set a dark tone here. Especially effective with all of the rows of pillars at the start with the secret closets that unleashed more lost souls and shotgunners.

 

I really enjoyed exploring this one though and was glad we weren’t stuck inside for all of it as the outer rocks with trees and shrubs had a good feel and look to it. All of the spaces throughout this felt individual and had their own cool moments waiting for the player.

 

The drop from the BK door had some tough fighting down there. Teleport trickery and what not in the dark. Plus the awesome looking yellow brick walled cross columns in the water. (http://i.imgur.com/uxLRiuA.jpg) They look slick with that light pulsing!

 

The exit looks killer. Great way to cap it all off with a mix of detailing and coffin trip.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP32 Archives: Iron Keep

 

Entering this one on pistol start, ready my weapons at some point, but giving me a backpack and armor probably means I'm on a potentially long haul. And with a monster count that is ABOVE 100, it sort of makes sense. Prying a weapon from a hitscanner at the beginning of a pistol start level always leaves a sour taste in my mouth as mercy from the RNG dictates whether the damage I take ends up hurting me a lot more as a run goes on. Aside from that though, I actually get all of the essential weapons back, including the BFG for some cyber killing much later on. Moving on though, before I actually get any keys, while fighting monsters that appear basically anywhere in the map, the left side is cleared out with some difficulty.

 

And then I go secret hunting. Lava walking proved nasty considering how there was only one entrance to the southern area, where the juicy SSG resided, plus a few teleporters to a few new locations, which really made this map more nonlinear than it seems. Nice. The blue key itself was in a somewhat devious trap, while the yellow key warps out our friendly neighborhood cyberdemon, but giving the BFG is also a nice compliance. It was at the red key area that I kind of got stumped though. What bothered me about it was not the cyberdemon or any other enemies around, as the enemies were the least of my worries. I just couldn't figure out a way to get the red key itself, other than jumping straight across the possibly inescapable lava pit across where I could find the shortest gap. And of course, the metal column isn't entirely obvious when it comes to lowering the key itself too. Other than that, this level fared rather well, had more of those monsters opening closets as well as a few teleport traps for the player moreso than the monster.

 

Music sounds like the one from 50shades MAP10, although it's slightly different in sound than the one over in that wad.

[rehelekretep]

1 hour ago, dobu gabu maru said:

Believe in the you that believes in yourself. Roh roh fight the demons

 

[rehelekretep]

map31 fda

map32 fda

[Deadwing]

@rehelekretep The link for the FPA of map 15 is wrong, it's giving the file for 14 D:

 

------------------------------

I've never been really a fan of secret levels, tbh, so when I was finishing moonblood, I decided to do add some levels that I had done but it never got released (at least on /idgames haha). Anyway, I didn't know that the community actually did play or cared about them, so, while 31 is a fun level, IMO, the original level 32 was the last level of the very first eclipse (which I finished back in 2006, something there). The thing is that the level sucked really badly haha and after some people warning me (leodoom was one of them lol) days I did release a 1.1 version with a replacement, which is the current Iron Keep. Anyway...

 

MAP 31: This map is what @dobu gabu maru's said: It was an exam he made for unexperienced mappers. (like me) So, I wanted to improve myself and I made this level for the exam, which was quite a challenge haha. The three rooms dobu gabu's made is like much more detailed and robust than anything in moonblood haha, which actually create an interesting contrast, IMO. There was also some other rules, but I think the final result ended being a quite fun level, although some small balancing could be done. It finishes with an death exit, because the next level the player would need to have no weapon, but it doesn't make much sense now, and I should've removed it. It has very few changes compared with the original one (the main one is the death exit)

 

 

MAP 32: Iron Keep was a standalone level I've released last year (?). It did feature some balance change, like faster projectiles and less tanky enemies, so this version ended being quite different and harder, IMO. Ammo is tighter here, since monsters have more HP in this version, so you'll have to be more careful in what you should spend your shells. It has some sort of narrative, where the player's arrive in the fortress so he would uncover it's secrets, which end up waking up the two beasts (cyberdemons) and he has now to kill them to reach the exit which is some sort of coffin. Anyway, I wanted it to have some non-linearity which you have a more clear original path and some secundary ones that are more "hidden", so a player that would want to replay it would find new routes and new ways of approaching certain encounters. It's also the largest level of this, maybe except map 29 (which has indeed more than 100 monsters lol).

Here's the playthrought of the first map 32:
 

 

[rehelekretep]

corrected @Deadwing i dont know why im so incompetent at putting the links in :(

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP31, Archives: Dobu Gabu's Exam

 

Okay, this one here is a lot of fun, embracing Doom's capacity to present arbitrary, artificial playgrounds and just running with it, an atmosphere that's no doubt helped along by the playful music that turns what could well have been a creepy crawl through an infested techbase (it's certainly gloomy enough to have generated an aura of menace if it had tried!) into a gung-ho, guns-blazing romp.  Of note are the several loops throughout the map's layout that aren't initially obvious, to the north where the passage and stairs that complete the loop are hidden from view as the player enters it, or to the south where the loop actually builds itself as the player makes their way around it; the whole level has a sense of constant motion to it, with the player tracing a path back and forth that crosses and loops back into itself rather than demanding backtracking.

 

Hearing @dobu gabu maru's story of the map's origin is enlightening and nicely explainins the atypically detailed for @Deadwing red key room (and other elements).  Like something out of the Saw franchise, you can take one look at it and know it's going to hurt you, but progression demands that you stick your hand in and hope that you don't draw it back missing too many fingers.

[DAZZER]

MAP14: Hellish Shrine

Time: 7:55

 

This Map felt like a Mixture of "They will Repent" (E4M5), because of the often used green marble, and "Gate to Limbo" (E3M7) because of the circle like Red Middle of the Map. The Combat in this one was quite easy compared to previous Maps. Although I believe this is the first time in the wad we fight against more then 2 Revenant's at once :) Maybe it's just me but It seems like you get alot of Pistol/Chaingun Munition but not that much Shotgun Shells. Or I am just using my Double Barrel to often :P I liked the area before the yellow keycard cause it was a pretty bug surprise when the floor loweres and all the Monsters release. Also I felt really dumb when I watched the Walkthrough for this Map after I finished it, to see how I get that Soulssphere. The thing is I allready opened one side of the Secret Walls but thought the 2 Stimpacks are allready my reward... -_-

[riderr3]

MAP16
We back to episode four. This sky in kinda familiar.
There are plasma gun at the start so I thought the level would be difficult, but most of this difficulty is the roaming chaingunners.
I spends a couple of minutes to find red key and realized I just missed the blue door. Thanks to prboom-plus colored lines.
Berserk pack are helped me when I really need medikits which are not so often in this megawad.

[Deadwing]

MAP 16 - I believe that levels with strong identity are the easier ones to name them. So, when you can't really give a good name, you might have a design problem and, looking now, map 16 is one of these. (also, map 9 also doesn't have a clear name) I think it's a solid level, but it doesn't add much to the wad except for introducing episode 4 and the Baron. We're back to the more enclosed+tech design style, although this time difficult will be somewhat harder (sometimes getting closer to Plutonia). Also, for this episode I felt the need to enlarge almost all rooms and sections and do a strong re-texturing, with a much more closer look to E2, giving this episode more identity.

 

The original level really sucked haha Mostly rooms were really simple shaped and there was a lot of door with few interconnections. I believe this level could've been replaced for something which would provide the same while retaining a stronger identity.

 

 

Edited August 16, 2017 by Deadwing

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP16 Beta Labs Reception

 

But regardless, it's a map that emulates TNT quite well. Whether or not it was inspired by TNT I wouldn't know, but an opening area that resembles Processing Area's outside zone, the hitscanners, particularly the annoying chaingunners scattered around, and heck, if I didn't know any better, the exit room pretty much is like MAP01's exit room. Quite cool, again the chaingunners can be real frustrating. Actually, I was a bit more frustrated in one particular secret more than the combat itself, which of course, remains fun.

 

Monster tally report: so far, we have not seen any spiderdemons or arch-viles in the set. MAP31 had an arch-vile but only on UV. Two barons of hell, the first of this megawad, appeared, and there would be a third one on UV in the yellow key room (which also had an interesting lift thing to boot).

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP32, Archives: Iron Keep

 

The themes we've been exploring so far get set aside here, and in their place, the player is presented with a sprawling castle squatting in the middle of a lake of lava, like something straight out of Eternal Doom.  The death exit at the end of MAP31 makes the start of this one a bit nerve-wracking for those of us used to continuous play, with the transition from an exposed exterior ledge to a gloomy interior hall with low-tier threats swarming out of the shadows all around; fortunately, there's a backpack right at the start, and weapons and health are spread quite liberally around once the player passes through that opening choke point of difficulty.  The Cyberdemon makes his second appearance here in a delightful fake-out at the yellow key; the player has just enough time, as the wall opens and the Cyberdemon is reavealed hooves-first, to go "Oh crap, should've seen that coming!" before the big bad is whisked away to play ledge defender in a later encounter.  The change of pace that the gloomy, medieval, and almost Quake-like setting provides is a welcome one, keeping the experience fresh and the player energized, and the whole diversion into the secret levels feels like a worthwhile one, with the player most likely emerging from the experience stronger and better supplied than if they'd chosen to skip the secret levels and proceed straight to MAP16 at the end of episode three.

 

MAP16, E4-1: Beta Labs Reception

 

The crimson sky, vine-choked walls, and green stone blocks of this techbase call to mind The Shores of Hell and it feels like a natural progression of the gradual infernal encroachment that was apparent in late episode two and throughout episode three; Hell's influence is growing, and with it, the deviousness of the maps and the threat to the player is steadily increasing.  The player meets the Baron of Hell for the first time, and I believe the backpacks scattered throughout this level are the first that can be found outside of the secret levels - it's a consistent pacing element, that whether you opt to explore the secret levels or not, you'll get a backpack around the midpoint of the WAD.  The layout here feels somewhat flattened, sprawling horizontally rather than either delving deep or climing high, up until the map's end when the player is conveyed to an underground chamber for a close-range brawl with some reasonably stiff infernal resistance.  It's a solid enough map, but compared to some of the preceding levels (secret or not) it's kind of unremarkable.

[DAZZER]

MAP15: Decaying Industries

Time: 7:18

 

After you manage to escape that (in my opinion) unfitting start for this Map you find yourself in an "Mt. Erebus" like Outdoor area with little and bigger Buildings in it. The Choosen Textures give this all again a nice surreal vibe. This Map features alot of Shotgunners or Chaingunners which can do serious Damage if you don't take them out as quick as possible. When I exited it felt like a missed tons of stuff in this Map... I just thought there would be more to do then search for some switches which will rise bridges to connect Buildings. I enjoy how much Plasma Cells this wad gives to you. Normally you get it pretty separated. Would be more Fun of course if we would have get the BFG allready ;)

[Demtor]

 

MAP16 - "Beta Labs Reception"

gzDoom - UV – pistol start/no saves

 

New episode, new sky. Looks great! Glad to see the Doom 1 mountains didn’t make a return. Not too much to say about this map. Base with some teleports and a 3 key hunt.

 

I don’t know why but going through the front door never even occurred to me, lol. I hit the zerk pack and started punching my way around to the back. No blue armor for this guy. He wants to rush in and do things the hard way... or die trying and restart the proper way with more comfortable window sniping at the enemies in the painful inner courtyard area. X_x

 

I played this one way too cautiously perhaps but mistakes in the moment seemed pretty brutal and found dying to be fairly easy given the enemy groups make up. Couple of tricky PE ambushes I didn’t enjoy much. I think I counted 3? Most of them came with friends of course, so yeah. Not easiest stuff but there was a lot of supplies laying around to recover for the most part if you did survive.

 

Some sneaky CG guys really laid in to me on this one though. Slip up a few times and you will find it much harder to recover.

 

Well look who decided to show up. Nice of you to join, jerk.

 

Liked the teleport exit to the spooky ass door.

 

Edited August 16, 2017 by Demtor

[antares031]

MAP17 - BFG Experiments
ZDoom, UV - PS, KIS(%): 100/93/66

 

I assume that the beginning part is a little homage to MAP12 of Doom 2; The Factory. It even has a soulsphere in the middle. Anyway, here's a good news for two-shots enthusiasts who have been played this one continuously; this wad finally offers you a BFG on UV. Of course, this means that the wad will throw some more threatening setups than before, like deploying a couple of arch-viles at once or a small arena that features several mid-tier monsters and an arch-vile.  And just in case: Remember the steel platform with blue circular pads from MAP09, which was totally harmless? Well, now it hurts you, just like the one from E2M2 of Ultimate Doom. Since one of my pet peeves about the level design (along with the inescapale pain sector, which this level unfortunately has one) is the inconsistency of setting a pain sector with particular floor texture, it would be much better if the floor texture was different, or there were warning signs to indicate that this platform is polluted by radiation. Other than those issues I've mentioned and the possible issue about Linedef 1529 switch, which allows you to encounter the tricky setpiece earlier than usual without a BFG, this level was enjoyable to play, in the end.

[NuclearPotato]

Had a bit of a depression attack the other week, so I'm quite a bit behind right now.  Let's start fixing that!

 

MAP08 - Sewers
99/99 kills, 1/2 secrets

Something that's starting to stand out about these pistol starts is that for as non-linear as these levels can get, there's frequently a specific path you need to take to effectively clear the level out.  That really stands out with this level, as you really need to take the path that leads to the rocket launcher first thing if you want enough ammo to clear things out (ironically, the rocket launcher itself isn't necessarily what was needed to clear the map out, it was the gentler difficulty on that path that allowed me to ammo up).  While not as tough a nut as MAP07, this map has its share of frantic ambushes, like the area you teleport into before the blue key (which actually has two to its name, if you count teleporting in under fire).  I continue to appreciate how Deadwing's paths merge back in on one another, with the central hub in this map undergoing interesting changes because of it.  That said, this was the first map where I got a bit lost (I had a brainfart after getting the red key, and spent 5 minutes trying to remember where the red door was while passing it up constantly :P ).

 

Also, on the subject of me, it's really weird how everytime in this set so far where I've broke down and started
using saves, I managed to clear the level from that point, without the saves.  Must be the added confidence boost
helping out.

 

MAP09 - Delta Labs Industrial Research
85/85 kills, 2/3 secrets

So this level was kinda a grind, not gonna lie.  Probably my least favorite level in the set so far.  This was mostly due to one area near the end, a fairly painful jog across nukage to hit a timed switch to open a door.  Said door had several hitscanners, a revenant, and a lost soul behind it in close quarters, making it difficult to begin with.  Missing the door to enter just makes things worse, especially if the rad suit you get beforehand has worn out, as mine did trying to find my way back up.  The area is also incredibly dark unless you found the hidden goggles and managed to keep them up until that section, making navigation that much more tricky.

 

The rest of the level fares a bit better.  It feels a bit more flexable in how to approach it from pistol start, though not by much due to the high amount of hitscanners pecking away at you from the start.  It took me several tries before I managed to get a foothold in the level, eventually carving out the optional yellow key area at the start for a base.  Let me tell you, the ammo and weapons behind the yellow doors are certainly not optional.  Pain Elementals are annoyingly common in this level, along with a heavy dose of Arachnotrons and Revenants, and you'll want as much plasma and chaingun ammo as possible to deal with them all quick.  For all my complaining about the back half of that section earlier, the PE and Spectre ambush around the nukage pit was actually my favorite encounter in the level, due to how frantic things got post ambush.

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP15: Decaying Industries

26:50 | 100% Everything

 

Yeah, that cold (hot?) open is pretty brutal. I actually started with like 180% from the last map, and was almost immediately whittled down to like 50%. Once I got outside things didn't improve much. I ran around for a while trying to clear out what I could until I was killed by invisible sergeants (probably the ones hiding in that one cave.) Second time around I was ready and didn't even get hit once (okay, maybe once?) in the opening room. A lot of fun, this one. I absolutely love how the map continually transformed. The secret exit was pretty easy to find; I like how the secret teleporter was hinted at by those two health bonuses: "I can get those bonuses if I straferun over--hey now, where does this go?" Great stuff.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP15 | E3-4: Decaying Industries

100% kills, 4/4 secrets

 

Fun opener here, just gimme a rocket launcher and have at it. Helps to know where the hitscanners are to take out first, though. After that it's a bit of a city map, which I tend to not like (too much getting shot from far away) and it didn't help that, as usual, I went the 'wrong' path and missed the SSG until I had 2/3rds of the map cleared out. Final fight was a bit underwhelming, especially as an episode ender. Spent a bit of time just looking for secrets at the end.

 

MAP31: Dobu Gabu's Exam

100% kills, 2/3 secrets

 

Oh hey I remember this! The opening room at least, from Dobu's "here are some rooms, find interesting ways to connect them" thread. Can't remember which other parts pre-existed (apparently it's the red key room and the exit room). Aside from that, it's pretty similar to the other stuff in this WAD - some inter-connected level design, some blind drops, hitscanners in cubby holes while mid-tier monsters get up and close, tight ammo balance. Thematically it's a bit all over the place but that's fine.

[riderr3]

MAP17
First part of map is looks like hub with panel textures, but design of other parts is kinda messy.
Also here are crushers between pillars like MAP10, needs advanced platforming.
Archviles first time is appeared on this level, along with groups of revenants.
Found soulsphere secret when searching of medikits.
Exit is not marked, pity.

[baja blast rd.]

Map 16: Beta Labs Reception
 

This is one of the rare maps so far where some there is some element of mandatory berserking in most routes; shells and bullets are in short supply. Lots of points for the berserk + plasma rifle start. You get all the set's typical weapons in short order, for that matter, except the rocket launcher, so it's another map where you get a lot of choice, just with ammo a lot tighter than usual. Adding to the quirkiness there is a blue armor in one room (and no other armor until later). It's easy to miss early if you go straight to the SSG and inwards from there.

What I disliked about this map were the obvious elements of it having an older skeleton: namely two of the mandatory key doors are somewhat out of the way and easy to miss or forget about. Might as well get in the habit of marking them on the automap.

 

I was surprised Deadwing thought this episode was the worst, however. Visually it's a step down from episode 3, but the gameplay steps it up a notch in intensity. So it depends on what you are looking for.

 

Map 17: BFG Experiments

 

Yes, we finally get the BFG! This is what I was talking about with intensity -- the fight that unlocks the exit (some revenants, barons, and an archvile) is legitimately a dangerous fight unless you are well stocked for it. Action elsewhere is also harsher across the board than in episode 3, like with the early harsh use of sniping hitscanners and the ammo restriction (particularly if you aren't able or willing to get two archviles with one BFG shot). 

 

I didn't like the crusher sequence, mostly because those aren't my thing. So I was wondering if there was another way to beat the map (not involving linedef skipping the crushers), and in fact there is. ;) In a way I'm glad it was there. The alternate approach is not necessarily a lot easier, and requires planning to do in a simple way, which is quite fun. At the very end you can just run past monsters, especially if you have enough health to tank another vile hit, but those fights are fun so I stuck around.

 

 

 

 

[Deadwing]

MAP 17 - This level is somewhat similar to the previous one, although this has a stronger identity: The factory texture-set makes an appearance here (I didn't related the layout to the level itself until @antares031 pointed out haha - it is definetly similar), and the BFG and archvilles are introduced here. It is a quite tough level if the player isn't too much careful, although things actually get really serious in the next level from on.

 

I like the main setpieces here, but I think the main concept could've been better, it just feel like another underground-enclosed somewhat tech again (this time with more hellish textures). The crusher thing definetly could've been replaced for something more interesting, although this is the thing people will remember lol But a "wait" mechanic doesn't really work well with Doom, so it's not surprising that on one liked it, and now I don't like it much too. Then some peripherical areas doesn't add much, like the death pit and the damaging texture antares pointed out.

 

Still, the thing that negatively surprised me it was how many players struggled to find the red key and reach progress. This map is actually one of the most linear of the set, but it actually has some confuse progression, at least for most players. After you grab the Blue Key, you have three doors to access, where one of them you have to go through the crushers and get the RK, and another one where you will use the RK. The thing is that many players did miss that door that would lead to the crushers and would wander around for several minutes (like +5 minutes) until they would find it. But this is not the whole thing: to reach the exit, you need to get the RK to activate a switch which will open the exit door, but also you'll need to press another switch in the area (which will activate the "teleport setpiece" to lower the bars). If you usually look around everything, this probably won't be a problem, but I've seen lots of players getting easily lost, so, this is where you'll need some navigation and explorations skill. (and it will only get worse until MAP26 lol)

 

@rdwpa, I didn't know that trick, awesome! With this, the BK actually gets optional, and then you can skip most of the level D:

I didn't have enough time to upload the original level, but I'll do it later today. It hasn't changed that much, though haha

Edited August 17, 2017 by Deadwing

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP17 BFG Experiments

 

An additional BFG would be nice to have at this stage, and a bit of sneak would help too, as this one has quite a chaingunner problem like the last map. But more importantly, getting the BFG gives us a monster we haven't seen for 18 maps so far, arch-viles! Two of them here. It's been a long time. Cover is less than adequate, so quickness with the BFG is a must. Everything else seems rather standard, the four-way intersection at the start with many blue doors dictating where to go, an interesting teleport trap in one of the northeast rooms, and the crusher segment towards the red key; this particular area is more of a timing time sink than anything, having to wait for the pattern to line up and then just gun it. Not too bad of a map overall. The worst thing here has to be that two energy cell secret, drove me real mad with that.

[antares031]

MAP18 - Hidden in the Dungeon
ZDoom, UV - PS, KIS(%): 100/100/66

 

The darkness, that bothered me from MAP32, bothered me again at the very beginning. Thankfully I managed to grab a night vision goggle from the secret area, after I died one time by a homing missile. As a non-linear level, this one offers you several options to proceed, and the placement of mid-tier monsters urges you to move around to grab some supplies, rather than staying at the narrow corridor. The difficulty definitely feels harder than before, especially because of those arch-viles behind monster closets, waiting to surprise you. Even the last fight in front of the exit was a surprising one, so make sure to use your BFG effectively for those critical situations. One thing that I didn't like was a switch that opens the route to the time-based lift, line 913, since you need to repeat the sequence over again, if the doors are closed because you are interrupted by monsters.

[DAZZER]

MAP16: Beta Labs Reception

Time: 11:59

 

This Map loves the Plasmarifle and for that I love the Map. In some Situations here like the Room with the 2 Switches it just feels like this was made for having fun with Plasma. That would explain why you get it right at the start and cells all over the Map :) Between this Situations you again fight most of the time against Hitscanners... especially Chaingunners. Finding the three Keys wasn't a big Problem. I really liked the Ending Room cause when the elevator lowers slow and you hear the Baron of hell roar I was just trying to find the Plasmarifle with my sweating Hands ^^

 

 

Edited August 17, 2017 by DAZZER

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP17, E4-2: BFG Experiments

 

I've appreciated the steady pace at which this WAD has apportioned new weapons, powerups, and monsters, attaching a dramatic significance to each rather than treating them as familiar toys to be freely played with, but it's nice to finally get one's hands on the BFG (if played on Ultraviolence - those of us playing continuously on Hurt Me Plenty or below wer given one around the middle of MAP32), even if it's introduced amidst a delightfully frantic ambush.  I was left with a rather mixed overall opinion of this one; it's got some fun encounters, but after the open spaces of episode three and the dramatically different styles presented by the secret levels, this return to claustrophobic corridor-crawling feels like a regression and a let-down, and the callbacks to Doom's E2M7 and Doom II's MAP12 stand out in a way that feels artificial and distracting.  Nor did I care for the sheer number of annoyingly-placed chaingunners here.  Moving on, then.

[rehelekretep]

map16 fda

map17 fda

[Deadwing]

Here's the video of the original BFG Experiments:

 

 

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP31: Archives: Dobu Gabu's Exam

25:58 | 100% Everything

 

Yay finally a backpack! Oh look, a death exit. Thanks a bunch. :| Seriously, though, this one was a lot of fun. I went north first, 'ported my way around, and every now and then I'd pop out a door and find myself somewhere familiar: "Oh, I could've just gone this way to begin with!" I had a fair bit of trouble with the fights here. The revvies in the darkened plasma gun room were a pain. Actually, revenants in the dark was a pain in general. And I have had precisely zero luck with mancs in this WAD, I don't know what my issue has been. (I've also recently become completely incompetent at weapon-switching, too, often hitting pistol when I want shotgun, or worse: rocket launcher when I want plasma.) Anyway, I liked the oft-looping layout quite a bit. I do vaguely remember dobu's mapping challenge thread from however long ago. That does explain the impressive-but-out-of-place look of the red key room, which looks far more formidable than it ended up being. One bug (?) I found is that you can run right through the bars in the central courtyard from the inside. (Screenshot attached.) The exit had me fooled for a bit; I assumed it was the regular one, and spent some time searching for the secret exit before looking at the automap again and (thanks to my ZDoom map colors) finally noticing the teleport line in front of the switch. I was not expecting it to kill me, though. :)

[Magnusblitz]

MAP32 | Archives: Iron Keep

97% kills, 3/5 secrets

 

I assume given the name this is another one of Deadwing's old maps thrown in to fill out the secret map slots, though I'd say it feels very much in line with his other work so far, minus tying in thematically. Lots of open space, lots of windows and snipers, multiple paths, etc. The ammo shortage really started getting to me (especially as I spent, yet again, too much time without the SSG...turning into a broken record here) but I admit that it does a good job of making every shell box or medkit feel special, so, good work there. Loved the double cyber reveal and eventual fight, though I disliked the actual room as it took me far too long to figure out I could hop the chasm and lower the column to get the red key.

 

I like the music, too - Unreal track if I'm not mistaken. Not as big of a fan of the custom textures, though I think the level would've looked quite cool wrapped up in Heretic or Hexen ones.