The DWmegawad Club plays: Plutonia Revisited Community Project

[SGS Man]

MAP10 – “Bloodbath” by JC

 

 

This map is a short and fun romp compared to the previous two maps. The major issue with it is probably its placement in the mapset. It’s far too easy to be placed here. It opens with a bit of a grind with the Super Shotgun (and Shotgun, just in case), but provides you with a Rocket Launcher and plenty of ammunition to boot. You clear the outside area and occasionally jump down to get more ammunition. After you raise the platform to the other side, you make your way to the blue-key area.

 

This was an interesting section as Revenants and Hell Knights ambush you in a cramped section with an inescapable pit. You take the blue key and proceed to open the blue door where a (rather poorly) hidden Arch-vile lurks about. You can now try taking the yellow-key. This section was disappointing at first, with a pretty poor Hell Knight ambush, but is immediately followed by a fun barrage of Chaingunners, attacking you from multiple directions and heights.

 

Taking the yellow-key unleashes a small army on the other building. However, this section is trivialized by the flurry of rockets and shells you can unleash from the starting building. Proceeding to take the red-key reveals another poorly placed Arch-vile. What is so disappointing is that the ambush after you pick the red-key would have been improved if the Arch-vile was a part of it. You are given so much plasma that you can basically repeat the previous process by rushing to the starting building and unleash a flurry of rockets, shells and plasma at the hapless horde. You have a few Arachnotrons here, but you can take them out if you’re fast enough. You open the red-door to another poorly placed Arch-vile. You can now proceed to the exit, and be greeted by an army of Revenants (and a poorly placed Arch-vile), that stands no chance given your supplies by this point.

 

This map is, frankly, quite well-made. However, it suffers from poor map placement as a whole. When compared to the preceding and succeeding maps it again feels a lot like MAP05 in terms of filler. That being said, I think the first third of the mapset would be better as a whole if this map (or a similar map) replaced MAP05. Regarding the secrets, they make an already easy map trivial. This is the opposite of what some previous maps suffered from. They had secrets that were borderline necessary, while this map has secrets that are pretty much useless. The low difficulty and poor map placement bring this map down, even though it has relatively few faults of its own.

Edited October 11, 2017 by SGS Man

[gaspe]

MAP10: Very short and compact level, fairly pleasant and not-outstanding. At first I was expecting this to be more difficult than how it turned out to be.

[Salt-Man Z]

1 hour ago, lirui1001 said:

Do you think this map [MAP11] is NME v2.0? No. It is actually hunted v2.0.

In fact, it was inspired by PL2's MAP11 (itself a sequel to Hunted). Ridiculously cool level.

[rehelekretep]

map09 fda

+ very atmospheric; the stage is set well with the beginning scenery + MIDI

+ good use of the central area; i liked coming back to it and seeing what was changing

+ good use of AVs, always a threat of risk-free play leading to them resurrecting a whole load of enemies, although the overstocking of shells lessened this a tad

- combat scenarios; there was some filler content (arachnotron hallways, mancubi hallways, pinky hallways) that was a chore to cut through, with no real threat, and i thought the whole RK section (aside from the rev hallway) was kinda lame with awkwardly placed HKs/cacos, and then the AV/revs popping out of the ground that i barely escaped and i thought was quite unfair.

[galileo31dos01]

MAP10: Bloodbath

Death Count: 0

 

 

Hmm, another cool map by the same author of Survive in Hell, this has to be one of my favourite maps so far (and it was in my continuous run) because it's not only considerably small and easy, but it provides an special feature which is non-damaging blood, Cipher clearly mentions it's a Casali's stapler, not every map in this pwad has harmless blood, so you better appreciate this map's forgiveness. More of the bricks texture that I like a lot, and a stained cross next to a secret, obviously something had to get dirty with all that blood. 

 

Like I said, it's an easy map for Plutonia standards, it radiates "filler" vibes but I don't care about that. You start with little grindy action, cacos gladly helped to kill some stuff, and then the first skull. This is a trap I particularly recall being too tight when I first played it months ago, it's still tight but infighting took care of the revenants (one of them was really close to win). Behind each colored door laid an archvile, I did remember that. Yellow key section, so Plutonia, don't you feel tempted to idclip and grab those chainguns? I always do and have to restrict myself lol. The red key ambush was good, I fought them from the other tower, after getting rid of the trons. The last part was rather too easy, another trio (there will be more) that teleported too early in my opinion. Perhaps an extra archvile on the exit pad (wtf am I suggesting? forget it...). 

 

Secrets, the soulsphere is more of an add-on, blind first time players would appreciate it more (like I did once) so it's a neat secret. Same with the megaarmor. I think the invul goes perfect with the red key ambush, so you just spam rockets on the enemies faces and laugh a bit (though I found it quite late, extra 3 minutes to the tally). The midi is apparently original, but I feel like it's inspired from an iwad track, I can't recall which one right now.

 

Ammo is there for your collection, I ended the map with 584 cells and probably a few energy cells left untouched. I just never felt like using them, since I grabbed the plasma rifle after the red key ambush was dead, there's just a lot of the other types of ammunition to spend carelessly. I don't find this bad at all, I'm not the kind of player that will punish a map for being "too forgiving", you can have maps to waste your ammo recklessly and still have fun, this was an example... Also, wtf with that blur sphere?

 

Overall, the map tastes good, my rate: strawberry. 

[rehelekretep]

map10 fda

+ great contrast to 09 - fast paced and punchy.

+ cool secrets and interesting use of a small play area

+ varied combat scenarios; some lock-ins, teleporters, AVs, turrets etc.

- rev pack at the exit rock; i hate turret revs that just exist to slap you in the back of the head with a random rocket when youre not paying attention. theyre also tedious to take care of because the torch blocks rockets so i killed them in my first attempt with the CG - very boring!

- the walkway to the soulsphere secret area doesnt make any architectural sense which just looks odd and not in a good way: there's a doorway to seemingly nowhere halfway up the wall that seems to lead into the room with the chaingunner table

- lots of issues with projectiles going through walls. obviously an issue with mancubi but i had an HK/baron fireball go through as well which i thought didnt really happen outside of -fast or NM!?

[Endless]

Plutonia Revisited Community Project
MAP10: Bloodbath
HMP Difficulty, using GZDoom and Brutal Doom.
10/10/2017

 

In case of menstruation, use shotgun. I think something like this can describe this bloody map, is very compact, of a regular size, quite simple indeed, but damn, tribute to the name. Every meter I advance I have to cover myself completely with enemies, shotguns in my face, missiles every 10 seconds and blue balls out of nowhere. But hey! This is an interesting challenge, quite a variety of enemies and positioned strategically and difficult, it is not nearly impossible to say '' Nuts '', but if we are beginning to see an increase of the difficulty and that seems to me something great and adaptable , maps are becoming more and more enemies and interesting designs, I feel satisfied with the idea that they are not incredibly large maps with many riddles or roads to take, are fast maps and with enough enemies to fight, a good megawad to the moment. Jojo, little by little, and we are going for the number 10, I am excited to see the end of this incredible work.

 

Btw, the PE vibe is still there, and so far, I love it.

 

 

 

Goddamn, those secrets.

[Spectre01]

MAP11 - “Will You Be My NME?” by Darkwave0000

Meme title and intermission text aside, this is the strongest map in the set so far. Those looking for a Hunted homage may be disappointed, as this plays a lot more similar to Speedo Doom's Vile Pain rather than the former. The map itself is huge and borrows a lot of aesthetic themes from Gusta's Arch-Violence from PL2. While this map isn't as large or confusing as Gusta's, it's still massive and visually interesting within the context of the set. My completion time was ~45 minutes here. There's a good deal of non-linearity and optional exploration, which usually involves trapped power-ups and the like. Similar to Vile Pain, the combat here is not particularly difficult as long as you mind the environment and where to retreat. There are no lock-ins or setpiece encounters here. Also, this map is very dark in places on default Software Mode. Not a fan of the RL being in a secret, but I guess there's enough Plasma to go around.

[Archi]

MAP11. Time: 34:55. Kills: 100%. Secrets: 100%.

My favorite map so far and so far the strongest map in the wad. Can't say much about it, I enjoyed it and it made me feel cautious in a good way. The difficulty is perfect for this map, but some additional ammo could be useful for blind saveless playthrough.

My demo is a horror movie, it could be considered a fda, since I only remember the very beginning of it. The only time I actually had to pause and look for secrets was the Mastermind fight, because I literally lost all of my ammo there.

prcp_arch_11.zip

[Obsidian]

MAP11 - Will You Be My NME?

 

So I like Arch-Viles. I like their appearance, I like their sounds and I like their mechanics. It reanimates the dead and its death scream is sampled from a little girl screaming "Why!?", what's not to love? It's a rare creature that can turn the gameplay and tone of Doom completely on its head and in my opinion that's exactly what the Arch-Vile does.

 

Consequently I love MAP11 of Plutonia, which uses nothing but Arch-Viles. The ever-present idling sound of their approach coupled with the irresponsibly sinister music and the twisting maze makes for a delightfully evil experience and forces you to be constantly on your toes for fear of being blasted into the sky with your pants ablaze. Not the prettiest of maps, certainly, but one that conveys its message nonetheless.

 

And consequently again, I love MAP11 of Plutonia 2. It may seem like a lackluster ambition to simply take a map from Plutonia and "make it better", but I'll be darned if they didn't run with it and run with it fine. The maze became a labyrinth, beautiful and deadly with its ever-present sentinels, while the gameplay was turned up by more than a few notches to make the most of its new sprawling playground. And all within vanilla compatibility! It still remains one of my favourite maps, no matter how many times it kills me.

 

Which brings us to here. Unlike its predecessors, MAP11 of this particular project is not solely Arch-Viles and therefore can't possibly hold a candle to those fine examples I espoused earlier, right? Strangely, no: I'm confident in saying that this map is definitely my favourite in the set thus far and has a good chance of staying that way all the way through. What this map gets is that it isn't just the Arch-Viles: it's the threat of the Arch-Viles. Dormant Archies are placed all over the map, keeping watch over some of the various goodies placed around and daring you to reach out and take 'em. And what happens if you do? They teleport away, leaving no indication as to when you'll see them next. I think the map truly shines once it hangs that sword of Damocles over you, making you cautious and frightful instead of the gun-toting titan you are in all the other maps. Besides that, there's a hearty helping of Revenants and chaingunners for that Plutonia twist and the rest is Mancubi and imps, with some Spider Masterminds and Arachnotrons to round things out at the end. I'd say that for the most part they're placed well, although some of the chaingunner placement bugged me a little: the most annoying would be the towers leading to the key in the northwestern corner, as it's likely that you won't notice them until your health points start ticking down. Better hope your health isn't too low.

 

So that's the gameplay, but what about the level itself? While Plutonia had a maze and Plutonia 2 went for a labyrinth, Plutonia Revisited sports a citadel: towering architecture, oppressive shadows and winding passages galore, all lovingly textured in shades of green and brown. Personally I love the Plutonia textures and this level was an absolute treat to wander through. And again, vanilla compatibility! It's amazing what some people can do with the original engine: how they make the textures do the work of making things look purdy while still staying within the constraints. It's something I strive to do with my work, so definitely points for that.

 

So yeah, I liked this map a lot: any quibbles I may have are insignificant in the face of the overall experience and I had an absolute ball playing through it. Only time will tell if any other maps in here can top it.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP11: Will You Be My NME?

 

I'm pretty sure this is the biggest, fiercest, and most fiendish map of the WAD so far, as befits a level in the episode-ending MAP11 slot, and though it namedrops Plutonia's MAP19, it's actually more reminiscent of Plutonia 2's MAP11.  The scale is very different, though; instead of a twisty and often claustrophobic labyrinth, this is a sprawling layout of cavernous hallways and canals, vast reservoirs of blood and cathedrals of pain, an environment that even in its quieter moments hints not just at the lithe arch-violence that can rapidly slither their way through its confines and convolutions, but also the hordes of shambling, Hell-spawned meat to which its roomier proportions might play host.  And play host they do, as the action heats up; there's a solid and enjoyable variety of enemies on display here, from the familiar Plutonia chaingun snipers and revenant gangs to walking walls of mancubi, a pair of Spider Masterminds guarding the final approach to the exit, and, yes, the gaggle of teleporting arch-viles who are all too happy to ruin the player's day at strategic points in the map's progression.

 

This was a lot of fun, even if I somehow walked right past the plasma gun on my first circuit of the map despite the ever-increasing sense that I'd missed it as more and more energy cells were dribbled out; the chaingun and super shotgun were kept well-supplied enough for my purposes even if it made some encounters a more panicked prospect than would otherwise have been the case.  I left with one secret as yet unfound (as big and architecturally intricate as it is, this feels like a map that discourages an exhaustive search of previously cleared sectors in search of missed secrets) which, upon popping it open in the editor, turned out to be the rocket launcher in the yellow key's cathedral; again, a tool that would have been a welcome addition to my kit but wasn't murderous in my lack of it.  Something about the scale of the map, its constant height variation and the presence of windows and ledges and the disappearance of its ceilings into the pervasive gloom, creates a terrific atmosphere of menace; you're always, it feels, no more than one shadowy corner or misplaced step away from the arch-viles and other fiends lurking at the edges of your awareness suddenly being thrown right in your face.  Possibly the best map of the WAD so far, in my estimation.

[Cipher]

Map 11: "Will You Be My NME?" by Darkwave0000

PrBoom+, UV, Carry-over (from map 10), No saves

 

That midi tho.

 

This level is full of impressive architecture, fun gameplay, and clever ideas. A version of "Hunted" where you're forced to spawn the Arch-Viles yourself as you pick up items throughout the level? That's really, really great, and the presentation here is stellar. I like every bit of combat on its own. (Also, props for including two non-turret Masterminds that actually manage to be engaging and threatening!)

 

I only have one real gripe with this level, but unfortunately it's one that's rather central to how it plays. I mentioned at the end of my last post that this map is fucking insane from a pistol-start. It's too long, and with Arch-Viles mixed in among other mid-tier enemies, ammo can easily wind up feeling low with a bad resurrection or two (which is very, very possible in some spots).  And believe me, I tried. Many times. Each loss can mean up to 30 minutes of lost effort. Just check out the 40-minute times here from veteran players. It's a suitably Herculean effort on its own, but it's a bit much for level 11 in a megawad. I generally feel it might be too much for a megawad at all. 

 

I finally got through this for the thread playthrough by applying my minimal pistol-start route to a continuous run just to have it over with. I like it enough to want to complete it from pistol-start eventually, but I'd still be stuck on it if that were the case. Again, this is a serious time sink.

 

I will throw out one gameplay-related caveat, on that note. Much as I like the encounters and overall conceit here, coupled with the length some of them are frustratingly inconsistent. That's probably a result of mixing Arch-Viles in among mid-tier enemies in this frequency to begin with, but for an early example: After grabbing the blue key, if you don't kill the first Arch-Vile in time, which somewhat depends on him being generous with his movements and not, say, running back and forth in the doorway, as happened to me once or twice, a second will walk down the stairs to join him (though the timing on this also feels random). If you get both of them hemming you in on the pillars, it's much more difficult to survive unscathed, and there's quite a long start from scratch down the drain. The double-Arch-Vile trap by the second Soul Sphere (you're basically required to trigger the Plasma Gun trap from a pistol-start) is another frustration point, and it's followed by a third who's very likely to resurrect the Mancubus he shares a room with to chew through ammo. Though not consistently. There are a lot of little luck-based things that can go wrong here, with high penalties, and the sunk time due to the length of the level is just a bit much. People will undoubtedly point to longer levels with the same kind of taxing monster movement-dependent design, and that's fine, but this isn't Scythe map 30 or a slaughter or something designed to present that kind of hyper-niche level of challenge. At least I don't think it is. Basically, it hurts to see that amount of time tossed away by what seems like bad luck.

 

I like this level and would still probably be trying to conquer it from scratch if not for the club schedule, but I have some misgivings here and there. It feels weird to say a map could be a little more forgiving, but at slot 11 in a megawad, I feel this one could be, at least with regard to time. The thought of a meager fourteen Arch-Viles in a maze with nothing to resurrect starts to feel breezy and quaint. If this were just a bit shorter, I'd love it.

 

Plutonia homages:

 

• None, but wouldn't it have been cool if the original had a level that was nothing but Arch-Viles?

 

The shameful tally:

(20 minutes. On continuous! For 55% kills!)

 

Next: Dis Velocity

 

Edit -- I do wish everyone would continue to specify difficulty, pistol-start vs. continuous, and saves or no saves, because I feel like those matter a greatly in contextualizing comments. Would that be an unreasonable thing to build into the opening posts for club threads?

Edited October 11, 2017 by Cipher

[baja blast rd.]

I play on UV, pistol-starts. In the interest of time, I usually play maps for the club above a certain length with some saves, but most of my play is not for the club. 

 

Map 11 

I don't have a lot about this map to say that hasn't been said, so I'll keep it pretty short. Fun overall. As I played it, the design style felt familiar in some ways, and it was unsurprising to learn it was a Darkwave map. 

 

Here's a pacifist run by Memfis.  

 

 

Edited October 11, 2017 by rdwpa

[Paul977]

UV,  pistol-start, saveless for Cypher

 

Map 11, Will you be my NME ?

 

Top stuff map here, imo. A scary setting and a disturbing midi, plus great visuals and architecture, put this map among my favorites of the set. Knowing the map well, I managed to complete it on my first try (31:xx) this time but my first playthroughs of this map were nightmeres: like said by lirui the key here is to know where the arch-viles teleport, once you know that, you can manage the ammo (which is low here compared to map 09) well. Overall an awesome map, gameplay-wise I changed my mind and I now prefer Vile Pain (SoD map 10) over this, but the mood and visuals of this level are almost unmatched in this megawad

Edited October 11, 2017 by Paul977

[gaspe]

MAP11: It's a very good map on its own, and this is the most ambitious work of the set so far. I was a bit disappointed initially to see how much this borrowed from Plutonia 2 MAP11 but I started to like it more as I progressed. It does a good job on putting tension on you without beign too overwhelming.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP11: Will You Be My NME?

98% kills, 0/3 secrets

 

Given the name I thought it was going to be an NME homage (thankfully it isn't) and then I was going to say it's an interesting new spin on Hunted, though it's really a homage to Arch-Violence from Plutonia 2, which I hadn't played before (looks like I stopped playing right before that level in the DWMC playthrough). While I like Hunted (and Arch-Violence, having now played it) a lot, I didn't like this one as much. Scaling up the architecture is impressive, but the gameplay felt awfully repetitive to me. Not just the AVs... but pretty 90% of the map felt like "take out chaingunner snipers, walk into a room to get the mancs and revs infighting, then trigger the AV and kill it" repeated room by room. Whereas Hunted had the interesting maze layout and Arch-Violence has some very nicely unique areas (especially the upside-down area), this one pretty much shows off everything it has architecturally in the first minute. The Spiderminds inject some much-needed variety into the end, but then another problem caught up with me, lack of supplies. I killed the first one with 6% health remaining so got to kill the second one by sitting back at the end of the hallway throwing plasma and ducking out whenever it looked at me.

 

[SGS Man]

MAP11 – “Will you be my NME?” by Darkwave000

 

 

This map occupies the map position of Plutonia’s “Hunted”. However, it is clearly inspired by Plutonia 2’s “Arch-Violence” (and, apparently, Speed of Doom’s “Vile Pain”, although I haven’t played Speed of Doom yet). Regardless of the source of inspiration, this map is probably the best map so far. One noticeable difference is that this map replaces “Arch-Violence’s” labyrinthine design with architecture akin to that of a citadel.

 

The map is downright ruthless for pistol-starts. There’s just enough ammunition to go around though. The opening, where you get some weapons, constantly uses ambushes against you. I found the Chaingunner and Revenant ambush near the Chaingun, Super Shotgun and Backpack area to be quite fun. The Chaingun is ideal to eliminate the Chaingunners, while the Super Shotgun helps clear the Revenants out faster. Whichever one you pick, you have to move quickly to grab the other one (the backpack is not required immediately, but helps in the long run).

 

You proceed to obtain a Soulsphere where you are ambushed by a Mancubus and Chaingunners (and Revenants off in the distance). You push your way to the blue-key area, clearing all the Revenants and Chaingunners that stand in your way. When you pick the blue-key up, the first batch of Arch-viles is released into the citadel. You push your way back out, clearing the first few Arch-viles, and you proceed to enter the rest of the map.

 

The map opens up immensely and is fairly non-linear (although not as much as MAP06). Gameplay-wise, most of the blood-filled areas follow a similar structure. If you see a useful pick-up (say a Soulsphere or a Plasma Rifle), expect to be ambushed by Revenants, Chaingunners and Mancubi (and Arch-viles). If you are finding your way through the sprawling complex, expect to be ambushed by Revenants, Chaingunners and Mancubi (and Arch-viles). If you pick either remaining key up, expect to be ambushed by Revenants, Chaingunners and Mancubi (and Arch-viles). However, despite the similar army compositions, the map manages to make these encounters engaging by employing enjoyable monster placement. In one of my many attempts, I had to punch an Arch-vile to death!

 

After you survive the key-grabs, you proceed to the final section of the map, which basically swarms all areas with Arachnotrons. The Arch-vile usage here is quite interesting as there is a long corridor leading to the exit with limited cover and plenty of Arch-viles to blast you. The exit greets you with one of the better placements of Spider Masterminds I have seen. You have to use the Imps as meat-shields and try to force infighting as the Mastermind blocks the switch giving you access to the exit.

 

This map has several fantastic attributes. One notable trait is the sheer grandeur of the Arch-vile introductions compared to “Hunted” and “Arch-Violence”. This map opens up “Arch-Violence” and allows the Arch-viles to use the rest of their skillset by adding legions of other monsters. Regarding the secrets, they were quite helpful, although the Rocket Launcher might have been better as a non-secret weapon. As a whole, I feel that the map is easily one of the most ambitious of this mapset, rivaling the maps in Plutonia 2.

 

There is, however, one comment I must make regarding how “Hunted” influenced “Arch-Violence” and “Will you be my NME?”. In terms of gameplay and aesthetics, both maps hold up remarkably well in those regards. However, I find the atmosphere of the two maps to be noticeably different from that of “Hunted”. The MIDIs used in both maps evoke a sense of dread, while the MIDIs for “Hunted” (Both “Sweet Little Dead Bunny” from the official release and “Always Watching” from the Plutonia Midi Pack) evoke a sense of urgency and absurdity. The mere fact that a level in DOOM (a game that combines Hell and Science Fiction) manages to feel so refreshingly absurd makes me find “Hunted” to be one of the most memorable maps I have played. With that said, I wish there were more maps that were inspired by “Hunted’s” absurdity while maintaining its tight gameplay.

[bioshockfan90]

7 minutes ago, SGS Man said:

With that said, I wish there were more maps that were inspired by “Hunted’s” absurdity while maintaining its tight gameplay.

The archvile maps in Skillsaw's stuff tends to be great. (12 Angry Archviles, etc...)

[SGS Man]

4 minutes ago, bioshockfan90 said:

The archvile maps in Skillsaw's stuff tends to be great. (12 Angry Archviles, etc...)

Oh yeah, I loved those maps. I played Valiant and Vanguard way before attempting Plutonia seriously, so I saw those maps before playing "Hunted". Yet even after playing them I somehow find "Hunted" to carry a unique atmosphere. I know all this talk about 'atmosphere' is very subjective though. I'll try to explain my thoughts better.

 

I think "Hunted" sticks out in my mind because of how self-contained it feels. All the other Arch-vile based maps I've played seem well paced in their mapsets, while "Hunted" is such a jarring map that it doesn't really fit in any mapset I can think of, yet it would improve any mapset it is placed in.  I don't even think "Hunted" fits all that well in Plutonia, yet Plutonia would be worse off without it.

[Tristan]

32 minutes ago, bioshockfan90 said:

The archvile maps in Skillsaw's stuff tends to be great.

The one in Valiant was great. Great buildup with them suddenly appearing then just as quickly disappearing again as you make your way to that castle or whatever it was. The arch-vile is my least favourite monster in Doom, but this map was perfect for them - no other monster could've fit that well, IMO.

[Cynical]

Am I the only person who really hates the Arch-Vile map in Valiant?  So many setpieces, so few of them actually work correctly (really, the only ones that do are the opening where the new barons are introduced and the one with the rising and falling pillars). 

[galileo31dos01]

MAP11: Will You Be My NME?

UV, pistol start, saves

Death Count: a minimum of 6

 

 

Playing a hardish map when you're mood is negative is not recommendable. This is a case of a map I had more fun the first time than a second time (today). Darkwave's contribution is a Hunted/Vile Pain remix in the style of Arch-Violence, only less lengthy. It actually looks quite good and creepy, and manages to be perfectly long enough to be immersed into the vile maze without falling into repetition, aside from a few things I'm going to specify later.

 

Gameplay is, well it's true that if you don't know the exact position and time the archviles will teleport, you're going to be screwed several times. I didn't remember all of the cases, so I died a few times, and got hit in the least nice ways (e.g. not seeing shit and failing to cover). It's Hunted-like because of the archviles, it's Vile Pain-like because of the presence of other monsters whether as company or incidental meetings (excluding pain elementals), and it's Arch-Violence-like because it's, violent and archies will teleport by crossing certain linedefs (apart form visuals). First of all, the good part is that you're never locked in, so there's always place and time to retreat, this is similar to it's cousin maps (H and A-V). The bad comes with companion, ergo revenants and chaingunners. One of the problems I faced with those snipers is autoaim failure, I don't why but autoaim simply did not aim to the chaingunners in their alcoves. Less usage of sniper chaingunners would have been better. Another problem is, in both the red key and yellow key parts, I got screwed a lot of times by, being targeted by the archies from every single point, and in addition having revenants around. Too bad I didn't enjoy those parts, and also didn't find a good strategy other than killing the archies in their cubicles and snipe like a coward. Aside from those situations, the rest was quite enjoyable, I liked how grabbing an item will release the archviles that then will teleport later. One of the things I remember from my continuous first run was skipping the plasma rifle, which turned the map way easier but longer. I also liked the presence of multiple spiders at the end, probably the easiest part of the map since there's plenty of space to maneuver. At the end, one archie teleported behind me in a corridor, with a señora guarding the exit, how am I suppose to not get hit by that archvile having the spider hurting my back???

 

Ammo is a bit short, and I would have liked a few more non-secret rockets to complement the shortage of cells in the maze, killing many archviles with a SSG isn't my cup of coffee, and plasma is better used against pesky boneheads, but also against archviles and it didn't feel good to spend too much on them knowing there're two SMMs at the end. I would change some boxes of bullets with energy cells, since it's the least useful type of ammunition yet there are a lot of bullets to collect. This is all my opinion mmmkay? 

 

Secrets, apart from the powerful rocket launchers, the soulsphere near the exit was a good addition, if I hadn't grabbed it I'd probably wouldn't have tanked a hit from the last archvile and saved me from backtracking for health... Nice midi, fits perfectly.

 

Overall, the map is good, one of the bests in the set, but admit that without foreknowledge it could be very frustrating. I'm rating this map picante.

Edited October 12, 2017 by galileo31dos01

[galileo31dos01]

13 hours ago, Cipher said:

It's a suitably Herculean effort on its own, but it's a bit much for level 11 in a megawad. I generally feel it might be too much for a megawad at all. 

Wait until you get to map 15, which took me two hours blind, and 32, and if I recall correctly the entire episode 3. But hey, some of them are really good maps, just incredibly lengthy/mazy on a first run. 

[bioshockfan90]

MAP11: Will You Be My NME?, by Darkwave0000|19:55|96% kills|

 

 

It's a giant, sprawling map with great aesthetics and the first time in this mapset I can say they pulled off using the AV well. In fact, this is PRCP's take on "Hunted". Felt nice to play, can't say I share the sentiment of having barely any ammo however. Always felt like I had enough. That being said, some of the AVs in this map can appear and will appear out of nowhere and destroy you. But if you can just stay aware and always be ready to take cover, you're not gonna be in any real harm throughout the map. Shoutouts to 2 random spider masterminds that add nothing to the map!

 

 

still the best one in the set so far tho >>

[Endless]

Plutonia Revisited Community Project
MAP11: Will You Be My NME?
HMP Difficulty, using GZDoom and Brutal Doom.
10/11/2017

 

Arch Vile. Yes, quite. I was hoping that just like the map 11 of PE, here I had some other encounters against Arch-Viles, and so far this is the map I found most, these bastard things difficult, but they are not impossible to kill , in fact, the number we face is usually quite reasonable, of course there are many, but we never face more than 3 at the same time. There are a lot of enemies, almost all distributed in a tactical and safe way, many ambushes more than direct combat, the items are well positioned, in fact, despite having a large number of enemies, I had no big problem, there were always some place where I could restore the damage. In itself, the map is not my favorites, in fact I was bored somewhat. The real challenge of this map for me was to have the patience to run it, it's huge! Pretty red too, I think they blew the blood, or whatever it is that liquid. I'm not very fan of this map, it was passable.

 

 

[Spectre01]

MAP12 - “Velocity” by Kira

A rather blatant Speed homage, occupying the same map12 slot and using the same midi. I enjoyed the gameplay here after realizing both the Cybers can be telefragged, instead of blowing all my ammo trying to kill them. It's a short level and both secrets are quite easy to find. The BFG features a familiar trap with Viles repeatedly teleporting. The ending encounter would be better with some type of lock-in, because as things stand, you can easily run past everything and then pick stuff off that doesn't die to infighting.

[Spie812]

Map12 'Velocity'

Glboom-Plus - UV Pistol Start - Saves

A nice little "Speed" inspired map that definitely puts an attempt into mimicking the style and gameplay of the original, and in that respect I think it succeeds. It features a lot of fast movement and dodging various projectiles. chaingunners were a constant pain in the neck until they're all dead so in my opinion it's best to get rid of them first. I did find the cacodemon/pain elemental swarm to be rather irritating with infinite height, especially when they are still too high to aim at very well. However, that fight goes by pretty quickly. The next memorable fight is the teleporting arch viles, which I forget what map they are an homage to but they fit in here rather nicely. The ending battle I ended up just running past because I kept getting killed by either the arch viles or the spiderdemon (I couldn't focus on both at once.)

 

Overall this map is a good homage to speed and a pretty good map in its own right.

[Cipher]

Finally beat map 11 from a pistol start. It helped to realize I didn't need to collect the Plasma Gun until my second trip back to the main area, before heading into the final section.

 

The unpredictable nature of the two Arch-Viles in the blue key area actually started to really frustrate me this time. (You can just run upstairs if the second one comes out early, but then you're likely dealing with a few Revenant resurrections and it's just a bad way to start; can't figure out what if anything changes their behavior.)

 

Probably going to fall a bit behind from this point on, as I don't think I'll be finishing map 12 tonight.

 

 

@Spie812 "The next memorable fight is the teleporting arch viles, which I forget what map they are an homage to but they fit in here rather nicely."

 

That's also from "Speed."

[Obsidian]

MAP12 - Velocity:

 

Oh golly gee willikers, I wonder what this map was inspired by. 8-D

 

I vaguely remember Speed from the original Plutonia: I recall it being an alright map but not much beyond that, so I don't really have a steady basis for comparison. So I guess I'm judging this one by its own merits! *Rolls neck*

 

I can tell right off the bat that this is a map focused on gameplay: the decoration's alright and the architecture's nice, but it's there to serve the gameplay. And I can respect that, especially when it works. Looking back I don't even think the map was all that long, focusing itself into only a few vicious encounters you have to navigate. I like how the Partial Invisibility is actually utilized in this map against the Spider Mastermind and zooming around the Cyberdemon arena taking potshots at the Cacodemons was an absolute blast. That said...I do take issue with the final area of this map: all this buildup and structuring and then the final fight is just monsters vomited into a random plateau, with almost no cover. Did I mention the second Spider Mastermind and the 2 Arch-Viles? I've heard that you can run past the whole affair, but I do my best to be thorough and cautious so I ended up dying quite a few times in this area. It's a bit of a pisser and the only reason I beat it is because I managed to trigger the teleport ambush without dropping off the ledge. It's a shame, the rest of the map is pretty solid and for it to be soured at the end is quite the shame.

 

Ah well, on with the show.

[baja blast rd.]

 

44 minutes ago, Cipher said:

Finally beat map 11 from a pistol start. It helped to realize I didn't need to collect the Plasma Gun until my second trip back to the main area, before heading into the final section.

 

The unpredictable nature of the two Arch-Viles in the blue key area actually started to really frustrate me this time. (You can just run upstairs if the second one comes out early, but then you're likely dealing with a few Revenant resurrections and it's just a bad way to start; can't figure out what if anything changes their behavior.)

Revs can be killed off to the side where they won't get rezzed. Other viles don't seem to be able to path into the room effectively if you stay at the back at first -- even getting a third vile (the one outside left unkilled) doesn't seem to pose much of an objective threat this way.