The DWmegawad Club plays: Tangerine Nightmare & UAC Ultra & Realm of Shades

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP06: Collapsys

29:43 | 100% Kills | 100% Items | 60% Secrets

A very linear level. Some punchy encounters, but nothing terribly challenging, though on pistol-start that may be a different matter. (I did die once during the big pinkie ambush, tried to get cute and get around them with the SSG, and...got cornered and killed somehow? I was at full health, too.) The crusher(s) with the cybie fight at the end are probably the most memorable bit, but man it's always slightly disappointing to have cybie standing right next to a crusher and not be able to take advantage of that. And then we have the death exit... The first time I played this, I was not entirely familiar with death exits, so was afraid I had done something wrong. (I had the experience the first time I played Scythe.) I do really like how the story text explains it away immediately, falling down a trash chute and losing all your stuff LOL. Once again, we have a non-reversible teleporter that cuts off the first 2/3 of the map from backtracking. I assume the final secret was back there. That's like, what? three out of six maps so far that have done that? Still not a fan, but at least I'm not missing too much...

 

MAP07: Haymaker

2:09 | 83% Kills | 100% Items | 100% Secrets

Deader Simple. The arena is just deadly, especially if you fail to grab the blue armor early. My first attempt I managed to survive the spiders with 1% health left. And then the mancs popped up. Due to the texturing, I didn't notice the stairs to the upper level until it was too late. Once I knew about that, the next attempt much more smoothly. But then... the Haymaker(s)! This guy's a pain. I like the graphics, but his "skating" movement looks kinda weird, and makes him obnoxious to pin down. And there's two of him? (HMP must only have one?) I maybe give it a dozen absolutely futile attempts, and then noticed the exit door, so just ditched the suckers. No sense banging my head against that wall. He'll show up later, anyway (hopefully not in pairs again!)

 

MAP08: Worst Case Scenario

20:02 | 100% Everything

Some pretty brutal combat here, though it does loosen up a bit as the map progresses. I do like the layout, even though it is fairly linear. Some nice wide open areas with elevated ledges looking down. Though that made the cyber fight fairly unexciting, since I could just SSG him from the relative safety of the ledge. The Mastermind was even easier, just popping in and out from around the corner and taking SSG potshots at her. This was essentially an SSG grind the entire way (being on continuous), switching to the chaingun on rare occasions to snipe ledge dudes or try and stunlock some oncoming revenants. Pretty fun map.

[Capellan]

UACUltra MAP09

Exited this with only 81% kills, which probably gives a hint as to the fact that I wasn't really feeling it, overall. There are a lot of set-piece kind of fights where you flick a switch or step on a pressure plate and monsters pop out, with probably the most set-piece of all being the twin spiderdemons at the blue key. As may be expected when you're playing blind, this killed me a time or two as I worked out what was actually required in the room, but once I knew, it became a practically harmless encounter: you can hide until the blue key finishes lowering, and then do a quick double switch run without too much harm. It seems likely that this is the intended way to handle the fight, since killing them would be a boring chore.

 

I took the path of discretion rather than valour with the end battle, too: there was plenty of room to scamper around the cybers, release all the other monsters, and then let in-fighting keep them all occupied while I ran for the exit switch.

 

Overall, this map set is shaping up as looking great, but having a very structured gameplay that doesn't really appeal to me. I wasn't much a fan of Shaman's Device (I think that was the name) in CC4 for much the same reason. I like things a bit more loosey-goosey and freeflowing.

 

[tmorrow]

map09: Counteraction Terminal
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

Another fun map, I had a different experience than @Capellan. This time we get challenged at different times by a pair of spider masterminds, a pair of cyberdemons and 2 haymakers. The map is fairly linear but monster placement is fairly good to keep you on the alert. You will want to find the secrets since the rewards are quite helpful, early rocket access and health.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP08: Worst Case Scenario

100% kill, 3/3 secrets

 

This one elicited a big yawn from me on the whole, unfortunately. The most interesting thing about it is probably that from a pistol start this plays chaingun-only for awhile, before eventually giving the single shotgun and then the super for the rest of the map. I wasn't a fan of the ammo balance though - there's just a little too few bullets at the start (I ran out on the final rev/chaingunner squad right before the single shotgun, had to use infighting), and then it's all single-shotgun until you get the super, very few bullets. And then for the rest of the map it's just SSG, with the secret plasma gun if you find it. No rockets, and very controlled drip of ammo types, not fun. Combat was pretty uninteresting throughout, probably because of being stuck with the single shotgun for so long. Neither of the bosses was very threatening either.

[Demtor]

I'm only up to map 6 of Ultra UAC but this has been pretty fun stuff so far. Straight forward stuff mostly but very well designed encounters and fun little ambushes.

[Roofi]

Map 09 : Counteraction Terminal (UAC ultra)

 

 

Difficulty : Easy

 

Things become more hostile as long as you progress in the infested base , the dramatic music indicates you that the end of this adventure approches.

 

The level is more fear than harm. It's all the same not the easiest level for sure but every fight was designed to be soft as usual. A lot of bosses reside in the base : 2 cybers demons , 2 Spiderdemons and also 2 Haymakers. Nevertheless , the 2 cybies are a piece of cake to kill thanks to spacious fight zone. The same for 2 SM , the trap looks tricky but you can easily make them infight without risking your own life. The two haymakers are not really tough monsters but the last trap could be considered as dangerous .

 

The progression is very linear , you must collect 3 keys in separated areas. Despite its linearity , I really liked the architecture which seems to be more varied in this map. The outdoors zone with lava is my personnal hit but I also enjoyed the circular room at the beginning and also the SM's room . I also like when a map bring gameplay's variations by alternating small surprising traps and imposing fights. In fact , a lot of successive little traps keep the player on stress before bosses's battles.

[Crusader No Regret]

Tangerine Nightmare map 4:

 

    Gameplay proved quite interesting in this one with a number of features that set it apart from the first 3 maps.  Before, simply having enough ammo was generally enough and the sneakiest setups were small scale skirmishes.  Here, the odds appear overwhelming from the start and it calls for more skilled maneuvers just to gain a foothold.  There's quite a bit of nuance in the opening setup.  Staying silent and baiting infights does help thin out the crowds though there is a shotgunner that will wander over who is rather persuasive about getting the player moving.  Also, while opposition appears daunting, there's very few monsters that can actively pursue so it's less difficult than it appears to gain that foothold.  Pistol starters face another element; ammo is tight to start.  There's not enough to kill off everything in sight right off so one had best prioritize what to shoot out on the climb to SSG.  I picked off most of the monsters on my continuous attempt which left a dent in my stockpile.

 

     Height variation plays a role in combat here.  Sometimes it works to your advantage; there are places where one can easily potshot a group from a higher or lower elevation (great for baiting infights).   Sometimes it ends up a handicap; having a revenant missile plug me while waiting for a lift was a thing.  There's the setpiece fights too which can be deadly on first go but are much easier with foreknowledge and using your head.  Red key ambush is the first, easy to get blocked while running for safety.  When I teleported and saw the mancubus on a platform, first time I took the schmuck bait and started firing at it right away.  Didn't realize the nearby revenants until they were punching my lights out.  Safest path through this encounter is to lure the mancubus into infighting the revenants and bumping off the archvile while they're busy.

 

     The squad of cacos and painies guarding the green key is one of the most ingenius setups I can recall seeing.  First off, there's the temptation to use rockets for quick damage which comes with the added risk of blowing oneself up on a close lost soul.  Then, there's having free reign of the map for the encounter.  However, the monsters also have free reign and they can fly so the advantage is in their court.  It's a setup that manages to be challenging even with access to the mapspace which is a welcome sight in this era of space denial.  The last pack also makes an interesting encounter.  That archvile in the pack of middleweights has the potential to mess you up.  It goes much smoother with some patience: lure it forward where it's high movement speed will carry it in front of its escorts and blow it away  After that, feel free to climb up to where the pack can't pursue and waste them at your leisure.

 

     Interesting map which allows for a variety of approaches.  Make your own danger level.

[Poncho]

Alright, since I've completed UAC Ultra (again on a continuous run), here's my review:

 

Map01: Dig (by 40oz and Super Jamie)

A nice introductory map with some neat traps and good monster placement. What I especially like is the first section, where you run on the surface of Mars. It's gives a level of depth to the map, and is one of the few instances we can see such a thing in the WAD. I like the E1M1 reference, too.

 

Map02: UAC in Exile (by 40oz and Super Jamie)

Better than the first map, mostly due to the increase in difficulty (but no bullshite traps, so it's good). On HMP and higher there's no SSG (I always play WADs on UV, for those wondering), which is bit of a ponce, but I suppose the layout works around it. The Arch-Vile is, obviously, the toughest part, and even that's not too tough. The secrets are well placed, too. If there's one thing I can criticise, it's that this map sets the trend for "mostly-grey" looking maps.

 

Map03: Sifting Adjunct (by 40oz and Super Jamie)

Not as good as the previous maps, but alright in its own way. I like how more of the map seems to open up as you progress. Also, we finally are granted an SSG. J'aime bien.

 

Map04: Pyrolysis (by 40oz and Super Jamie)

I really like the traps in this map; the onslaught of Cacodemons towards the beginning may seem overwhelming, but I found that hiding in the armour room (at least, I think it has armour) is a decent idea. The crushers can also help. However, the vat room (with the two rocket-box and two energy cell secrets) is a bit of a pain, but at least the secrets are rewarding. Traversing the crushers is actually rather simple once you understand how to go about doing it (I just position Doomguy to the side of the crushers and run straight ahead). Not too bad.

 

Map05: Hardware (by 40oz and Super Jamie)

This map has a few interesting areas, such as the freezer area and the final section. Getting the BFG is a little annoying, since you have to find four switches to raise the bars protecting said weapon. I just realised: this WAD follows the BTSX-way of introducing the BFG (by introducing it before the Plasma Rifle). The area beyond the Yellow Door is just annoying, for me anyway. Mediocre map is mediocre. [Also, I believe one of the secrets is inassessible: the switch for the BFG in the final area of the level is tagged as a secret, so it's impossible to obtain, I think].

 

Map06: Collapsys (by 40oz and Super Jamie)

The traps are certainly more frustrating this time around. Also, if I had known there was a suicide exit, I would've used the BFG a lot more. Oh well. But yes, the map is more aggravating than anything (open areas with hitscanners and Pain Elementals in said environments). The ending isn't actually too bad, not even the Cyberdemon encounter.

 

Map07: Haymaker (40oz and Super Jamie)

A nice homage to Dead Simple. We've got the usual Arachnotrons and Mancubi, but then the walls lower to reveal... the Haymaker...s? Huh. The title should really be plural, in that case (unless there's only one on the lower difficulties). Not too difficult, really. I like the red design: a break from the near-constant grey.

 

Map08: Worst Case Scenario (by 40oz)

The lack of rockets seriously damages this level, even on a continuous run, but even so, it's not awful. The secrets are well-placed (one even has the Plasma Rifle, which I guess makes up for the lack of a Rocket Launcher). The battles are easier than the previous few maps, since the areas are more open. The Cyberdemon is no trouble at all. Another very average level.

 

Map09: Counteraction Terminal (by 40oz)

The hardest and perhaps most annoying map in the WAD, if not for one single room. First of all, the pacing of the map is quite tight, but never feels bad. The traps are neat and it has some interesting scenarios, not to mention useful secrets. But then, the double Spider Mastermind room ruins the experience, especially with a Haymaker in there. If you're a 100% nut like I am (on kills and secrets, at least), it's proper invigorating, since you have to either get both Spider Masterminds to duke it out, or attempt to lure the Haymaker to infight with one of the Masterminds. The final room isn't too bad, though I did rocket myself at the exact moment the second Haymaker teleported in (I thankfully had quite a bit of health). So yeah, not the best map.

 

Map10: Skagway (by 40oz and Super Jamie)

From the worst... to the best! Yes, Skagway takes the position of best map in the WAD. First of all, it plays what I think is the true version of "Astral Dreadnought" (seriously, listen to this version of the track, then Map05 of Tangerine Nightmare: you WILL notice the difference). The monster and secret placements are all great, and we finally - oh, so finally! - leave the grey base to the red surface of Mars once again! The enemies are numerous, but fun to fight against, given the large amount of ammo for both the Rocket Launcher and the plasma weapons. The final arena is perhaps the hardest part (and I did get hit by a Cyberdemon; lived, thankfully), but you'll only really get hit if you're not concentrating. So yeah: good gameplay, good amount of ammo and the good version of the used track.

 

[I think I'm actually getting a bit ahead of everybody by reviewing this next map, but I'm impatient, so forgive me please].

 

Map11: Sick (by 40oz)

Honestly, the toughest part is the first arena. The five-Baron trap isn't too tough, but if, like me, you flipped all three switches at once, there'll be three Arch-Viles appearing in quite succession. Don't know if I was lucky or what, but I think I was only blasted once. The second part, involving Cacodemons, Imps and a few Chaingunners, is easy-peasy. The final room just involves keeping on the move, and once the Haymaker is dead, it's easy. I like the fact that you have to shoot the fleshy strings to open up the gate to the final boss, but sadly, it's WAAAAAAAAY too easy. I think Baron fireballs would've been better than Imp fireballs.

 

Map12: Credits (by 40oz and Super Jamie)

Just a credits level. Nice design and credit scrolling.

 

To sum-up, UAC Ultra has its fair share of good maps, but it's bogged down by a rather drab and redundant theme (very grey techbases). Don't get me wrong, I like a good techbase WAD (BTSX-E1 is a fantastic WAD that is 95% techbase), but here it's so monochrome. The gameplay sort of redeems it, but not by much sadly.

 

The Enjoyable Maps: 01, 02, 03, 04, 07, 10, 11, (12)

 

The Not-So-Enjoyable Maps: 05, 06, 08, 09

 

My final rating for UAC Ultra is a 2.5 / 4. Above-average, but I'd only recommend it if you want something quick to play through.

Edited February 18, 2018 by Poncho

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP09 Counteraction Terminal

 

Mini-hub map. Mostly small confines, although we see much more fruitful encounters just like every other map in the set. The yellow lava here, I wonder if Tangerine Nightmare took that lava. Most of these key paths are quite small overall, but we've got some nice enemies to take down. One haymaker seems fine enough, but get ready to fight two faces of the chaingun as the blue key lowers. The final fight SHOULD'VE BEEN DONE BETTER because the good majority of monsters don't teleport on any difficulty setting other than UV. I only fought two Rocket Dongs and a whole slew of imps.

[Catpho]

1 hour ago, Poncho said:

Review

Hey poncho,how did you know who made which level?

[Poncho]

52 minutes ago, Catpho said:

Hey poncho,how did you know who made which level?

Just what the DoomWiki said. If Super Jamie was mentioned in the "trivia" section of each map, I added his name.

[Roofi]

Map 10 : Skagway (UAC ultra)

 

 

Difficulty : Hard

 

Woah , what an awesome slaughter map , it was fun and unexpectedly difficult. The previous level was clearly the calm before the storm. Indeed , the high ammount of ennemies (nearly 400 monsters) and the lenght make the level a great penultimate one. The progression reminds me of HR2's map 29 "Hell cauldron" but in an easier version. The music makes me think of tasty Orange juice from a tangerine hell. Yep , this level proves again that "Astral Dreadnought" is an awesome track but overused. However , as previoulsy said , the sonority is not exactly the same.

 

I died once in this map because of a stray rocket at the end. A big gap of difficulty separates the Base part and the crater sections. The beginning looks very straightforwad with some tougher traps here and there but serious things begin when you fall in the hellish crater. The first thing is the fact that you must always wear a radsuit in the crater in order to not lose your health ,  so that you are forced to hurry. Secondly , a lot of powerful monsters populate the rocky zone,
you are likely to take more damage and I don't think I saw any armor except the blue one at the beginning. A BFG was generously given so that the crater constitutes the funniest part of the level. In contrast , the tech base's parts are quite boring because of lack of difficulty.

 

I rated this map as "hard" because of the last trap. In reality , killing two cyberdemons and arachnotrons seem not to be a big challenge when you have a BFG in your hands. However , the cybies tend to replicate to the spiders' attacks so that it can be very easy to be hit by a stray rocket. Killing infighting monsters could sometimes be as dangerous as killing monsters with an invisibility sphere. Also , ammo and health are quite scarce in the last arena , make sure to conserve enough cells before engaging the last fight.

 

In general , the architecture was enough to make the adventure exciting from the beginning to the end. I don't think the last map will be as awesome.

[Catpho]

Im so slacking off this thing,might not make it :P

Better wait until realm of shades then,i havent played that yet.

Ps:Btw,is 40oz banned? I saw that on his profile.

[tmorrow]

map10: Skagway
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

A tougher, longer map than the earlier and in my opinion one of the best in the wad. Roughly two thirds of the map is in the high radiation canyon with damaging floor with rad suits placed along the way so as to keep you blasting away, staying on the move and planning when to top up your next rad suit. There are enough rad suits to avoid the floor damage but you can't linger. Two of the secrets are in the radiation and so you'll have to plan to pick them up as well along the way.

The final fight is with arachnotrons and 2 cyberdemons in a large tiered arena. There is quite a bit of room to run, so it isn't that difficult.

[rehelekretep]

sorry to interrupt the UAC Ultra talk, here are all my FDAs from tn.wad, i meant to post them with the 10th map but forgot:

tn fda pack

[Roofi]

Map 11 : Sick (UAC ultra)

You are tired of your adventure , the heat of hell makes you sick in the long run. Do not give up , the end is near !

 

 

Difficulty : Easy

 

The final level was ridiculously easy compared to the previous one. The first viles represent a little challenge but all the rest is finishable hands down. The layout shows very well the linearity of the level , you have to survive in three sections before reaching the final boss. Killing the ultimate monster was maybe one the easiest thing you have to do in UAC ultra , the original Icon of sin was way trickier. Its attacks are pathetically weak , they are equivalen to a static imp on very fast mode .Needless to say that dodging imp's fireballs is not a hard task but on the other hand this boss reminds me a lot of bosses from Contra games. I love the way it shoots projectiles from its mouth but it has a very limited firerange so that it attack only if you are in front of him. In all cases , I liked how we acess in its body to destroy its heart. I took some minutes before understanding how to remove barriers (you must shoot on red membranes) , I also liked the design of the boss in general. A boss modeled this way remains more in the memories than a classical IOS on a wall. 40oz and Superjamie transcribed very well the monster drawn by chronoteeth and Slug in a DOOM wad.

 

Spoiler

 

However , one thing that I found pretty weird is the fact that the music of the final map is also used for intermission. I enjoy the track but it becomes repetitive over time and inedequate for the situation....

Map 12 : The end (UAc ultra)

 

 

Difficulty : /

You pilot slowly but surely your spaceship from your confortable seat. You just want to clear your mind , contemplate the stars and also read the flying credits.. You just finished UAC Ultra , well done but what next? The last boss was just a minion of the real enemy.

Global Opinion of the wad :

To begin , the wad is really cool , an unique ambiance , awesome aesthectics despite repetitivity , a very accessible difficulty... Some levels bored me a bit to be honest because of the easiness. That's why this episode is appropriate for a not experienced player contrary to Tangerine Nightmare which ended with really tough or complex levels. The difficuly doesn't exceed Iwads , I even found DOom 2 harder than this. It uses the boom format but everything stay pretty close to Doom. There are new monsters in fact , but they are reasonably used. The first levels were quite random in my opinion , but levels become more memorable as long as you progress in the wad , the tenth map is my favourite by far and it's also the hardest.

 

Favourite maps : 10 , 09 , 05

 

[Magnusblitz]

MAP09: Counteraction Terminal

100% kills, 2/4 secrets

 

This one started out a lot like the last map and I got worried, but thankfully in the middle (red key area) is got going with opening up a lot of enemy closets and doing a nice job refilling earlier areas. I was just looking for a nice foothold and ended up setting off a lot of traps, which was actually fun. The first boss fight with the spiders and haymaker was a bit annoying, I really wanted to get some infighting going so I settled eventually for blocking the teleport of one spider, waking up the other, getting it to shoot at me then moving out of the way so it would hit the other spider once it teleported in... bit game-y for my tastes, but eh. The double cyber fight, moving ahead to just hit the switch and let out the imps/haymaker was a lot more fun to get going.

 

Couple of weird design bits... for a wad that has had a lot of sense of place, who the hell puts a weird double-lock cylinder containing a key in front of a key door? Also, I just now noticed the sky from MAP07 onward has just been circuitry... supposed to show we're way down in the base bowels or something?

 

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP10 Skagway

 

There's that song again. And welcome to the ultimate linear crawl, fighting progressively harder beasts as we scale through the base, to the red scenery, then back to the base before the final area. The appetizer here is a monster-cramped base segment. The REAL meat shows its stride at the red expanses in the map, and good luck with the radsuits, since almost the entire area is tested positive toxic. And there's gonna be loads of rockets flying around, especially at hell knight and baron hordes. Look out for those window cacos, as well as the late arrival lost souls. All this before the next base area. I ran into some trouble with hitscanners after the red key, and the arch-duo afterwards can involve some nasty hiding and seeking. The ending though, one can easily say it should be more epic than this, but who cares? Just kill the arachontrons, go switch hunting, take the Rocket Dongs out while your precious exit lowers. With this much space, it's not that hard, and it really doesn't need to be harder. It's good to know that if you're full, you really don't want more to fill.

[Capellan]

UAC map 11 is not supposed to be posted until tomorrow, folks, and map 12 the day after.

 

[Crusader No Regret]

Tangerine Nightmare map 5: Orange Juice

 

     Best mapname to mapset theme correlation, so how does it play?  DotW's description of an amusement park thrill ride fits here and for me, this also feels like Star Wars Trilogy arcade in how the path twists and turns and loops back upon itself.  Also similar to Star Wars Trilogy arcade is how some of the encounters get overwhelming fast and overall difficulty.  It's almost like the demons see the marine as an orange to be squeezed.  Music sounded familiar but took a while to place.  As has been pointed out, the track is also used in UAC Ultra's Skagway.  Somewhat ironic since that set is on the table for this month.

 

    First real test is the chaingun room.  Infight fanatic that I am, I gave up on that idea and blew away several imps as well as the pain elemental myself to clear out some space.  The demon rush with the spider support is the next trouble spot.  This took some trial and error but once I found an approach that kept me alive and healthy, it feels replicable in a no saves attempt.  The red key mob, as other players have written, is the roughest of them all.  This may well be past my skill level without saves.  I did find a safe approach but even that's not 100% reliable.  Snap up the key and make a run for the teleporter that opened up on the lower level and long time ago.  Take a shot or two at the archvile on the way, might as well weaken it.  From the chaingun chamber, it's simple to position oneself where revenant missiles won't reach you and the monsters pathing makes it highly unlikely that any monsters will walk into the teleport.  From here, it's like shooting fish ravenous pihrana in a barrel.  Just got to squeeze past some teleporting monsters to reach the safe zone and they have a good chance of blocking the path.  There's also the time cost in going around most of the map again though that probably won't concern anyone who goes for this approach.

 

  Some more resistance before the end, nothing quite as lethal as the red key but things can easily go sour with the archvile by the plasma gun.  Cyber is mostly a non-issue though it may reach a lucky firing angle to tag the player (which would be a disheartening way to lose after coming so far).  Incidentally, this is the part most like an amusement park thrill ride: scary on the surface but little real danger as long as you keep your limbs inside the cart.  On my own playthrough, the last secret I found is actually the first to become available, which I found amusing.  I believe it does become inaccessible at the very last steps of the map, something that might trip up a 100%er.

Edited February 28, 2018 by Crusader No Regret

[Magnusblitz]

MAP10: Skagway

99% kills, 3/4 secrets

 

After a lot of runtime being spent on shotgun/chaingun action, it's nice to finally have a map that will provide you with plenty of rockets and cells and just let you go to town. The start and end points indoors play pretty forgettably, with lots of 'turn corner, shoot monsters, turn next corner, shoot monsters' design, but the meat of the map is the long run through the radioactive surface with plenty of hellspawn in the way. It's a big long linear path, but the radiation damage keeps you moving. The very last bit is outdoors but doesn't damage, but the arachnatrons and cybers will keep you wary enough. That structure looks pretty cool at the end too.

[baja blast rd.]

34 minutes ago, Capellan said:

UAC map 11 is not supposed to be posted until tomorrow, folks, and map 12 the day after.

 

It was already the 11th day for map11 in Europe and further East. map12 of UAC Ultra is a pure outro/credits map with no gameplay, so giving it a dedicated day was an oversight that isn't consistent with how DWMC treats maps of that sort. 

 

Edit: @Capellan Heh you're right -- I could have sworn it was the 19th yesterday. 

 

Edited February 19, 2018 by rdwpa

[Capellan]

3 minutes ago, rdwpa said:

It was already the 11th in Europe and further East. map12 of UAC Ultra is a pure outro/credits map with no gameplay, so giving it a dedicated day was an oversight that isn't consistent with how DWMC treats maps of that sort. 

 

UAC started on the 10th not the 1st. It is not yet the 20th anywhere. I would know. I'm in New Zealand right now so you are all behind me :-)

[Capellan]

UACUltra MAP10

Slaughter's not generally my thing, and this map does nothing to buck that trend.  Slogged through to the end, but can't join the general chorus of praise as it's really not my cup of tea.

 

Probably would have been better if I'd been able to play this map on my desktop, too - certainly would have been more comfortable, as the place I am in doesn't really have a good computer desk, and I had to hunch over my laptop so much that my back is a little sore right now :-)

 

[Poncho]

Probably won't be doing Realm of Senses, since it's really not my kind of Doom WAD.

[gaspe]

MAP09: The weapon progression was better than the previous map, with more staged fights but it was a nice change actually. I liked the outer RK part and I also enjoyed the BK fight and the ending slaughter battle that is easy to deal with it and you can also skip it if you don't want to bother to kill everything.

[tmorrow]

Wrapping up UAC Ultra today (20th) with map11. Map12 is just a credits room. I guess we start Realm of Shades tomorrow, a day earlier than scheduled because I think it was overlooked that map12 is only a credits map.

 

map11: Sick
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

A final map with a difference, fortunately not an icon of sin map. The mappers have come up with a new boss called the Chimaira, a mountain of flesh with tentacles that you meet at the end.

The most dangerous part of the map is probably the area where you release each of the 3 archviles, one at a time. Fortunately there is cover once you know where the spawns occur when you trigger each switch.

The final room is a lot less dangerous than it could be. You go in topped with a megasphere and can easily tank the haymaker that is skateboarding toward you to begin with. After that you can take care of the surrounding enemies. Finally you can take on the Chimaira that is a lot easier than it looks!
 

map12: The End
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

 

A tiny, inescapable, one room credits map, not much else to say about it.

Overall Comments

A thoroughly enjoyable wad. The earlier maps are in some ways harder than the later ones since they feature a lot of claustrophobic, in your face traps with mid tier enemies while the later maps provide more room to fight. The map layouts are excellent and the mappers make the most of the grimey, tech base theme with their custom textures.

Favourite Maps

• map05 - a great official and non official secret hunt
• map10 - a map that keeps you on your toes

Most Difficult Maps

• map10 - it's easy to go down in the high radiation canyon area despite the ample rad suits
• map03 - being tag teamed by a pair of very upset archviles

[Tristan]

Just for laughs, here's a crowded survival server on the UAC Ultra credits map - the last time it was played in ZDaemon TNS. Didn't you guys know? There's a lot more to it than just that small room!

 

[Pirx]

18 hours ago, Magnusblitz said:

MAP10: Skagway

99% kills, 3/4 secrets

 

After a lot of runtime being spent on shotgun/chaingun action, it's nice to finally have a map that will provide you with plenty of rockets and cells and just let you go to town. 

 

 

which was about time. and it surprised me, as nothing in the beginning (shooting imps off columns with the shotgun) hinted at the quantity i was about to meet in the canyon. so much, in fact, that smooth doom's frame rate tanked in the crater and i had to restart without the mod

(i'm digressing here, but it eats way too much computing power for spraying monster bits around, while newer engines like quake3 take less of a hit in similar scenarios... is that because of doom being, well, an ancient program?)

 

so i played again and thought that it would be better to just blaze through the canyon as long as the rad suit holds, but then those were so plentiful, along with the ammo, that i had time to kill everything that moved, and i have to say i thoroughly enjoyed the romp. excellent change of pace after all that cleaning corridors with the shotgun. and indeed that antenna thing in the end looks really nice, plus it provides an arena where one can move freely and, with all those cells found so far, eat cyber for dinner  ;)

 

 

 

MAP11 - “Sick”

 

the start is annoying tbh. first circling a herd of goats until they're dead, then these viles and assorted rabble spawned by each switch. luckily you find cover behind the pillars nearby, and the vile seems to charge at you mostly instead of staying behind and reviving the rabble, which would turn the fight into a protracted mess. so yeah, one can stay up close and hope to get him to infight, or stun him enough with the ssg. but that's a bit too rng-dependant for my taste. anyway, the armor found at the start helps.

 

the rest is pretty standard. the haymaker looks even sillier than before because he has more space to skate around, well, he's dispatched easily with all the ordnance around. the final boss, the chimaera, is basically just an icon that doesn't spawn monsters. instead it just shoots a stream of imp balls. which are, guess what, easily dodged. so you unload into its throat until it's dead. it would have really benefited from having a more powerful attack. too bad, because it looks cool and original enough, an ugly brownish and fleshy creature reminiscent of quake's shub-niggurath.

 

 

 

MAP12 - “The End”

 

so you're in your ship on your way home, and have a panel showing the doom book cover, and one bluescreen. heh. amusing little credits map.

it seems that the activity here has dropped somewhat after the excellent tangerine nightmare, that has set the bar really high. uacultra looks drab in comparison, but that's the wad's concept, and it proves that making a wad even with all those grey textures is possible. the maps have a doom3 look to them. the corridor cleaning and the unfitting haymaker were less interesting to me, but i enjoyed some maps, especially 05 and 10.

 

 

 

 

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP09: Counteraction Terminal

29:22 | 100% Everything

This one's fun, and it throws a lot of stuff at you. My favorite bit is the southwestern outdoor jaunt, which remains (to me) one of the most memorable areas of the WAD. The big horseshoe is as well (memorable, that is) though it was a heckuva lot easier for me this go-round; the Haymaker, who gave me trouble before, I hardly even noticed he got taken out by the cybers so quickly. Likewise in the blue key room, where I fought him for a bit before the spiders appeared and did my dirty work for me. (The way that blue key room transforms is as cool as it is unexpected.)