Gordon

The first Slayer Gate in Exultia, I managed to beat it... and then immediately rushed out of the room and forgot to pick up the key. So I had to go through the whole level later on and do the gate again.

MAP06 UV Pacifist in 0:08 s206p803.zip

Congratulations to all of the winners. I'll have to catch up on a lot, but Eviternity is a classic and Hell-Forged is creative and fantastic. Shotgun Symphony is a great showcase for Doom 1 difficulty, especially with the sneakily dangerous shotgunner. And of course congratulations and thanks to Jimmy for all of his work in the community. It's always been a treat hearing his stuff from Plutonia 2 to Sigil, and to me his music has become as synonymous with Doom as Bobby Prince's.

I died on MAP17. Jumped into a small pit thinking it was a secret. It was not a secret. Category 2, I knew about that part in MAP21. tvr_gordon.zip

E2M3: The Wailing Halls A super interconnected map, with multiple floors that you maneuver around to access more areas, and eventually the key needed to exit. The ending ambush of teleporting monsters puts your awareness of the map to the test, as Lost Souls and Cacos and Spectres roam around to your position and impede your movement. This ambush is the combat highlight of the map, which gives you a good amount of exploration and switch pushing to keep you invested. E2M4: Hive of the Horde There's a really strong flow to this map, continuing the sense of moving back and forth between areas, finding new paths and rooms. The packed group of pillars stands out and is a near center hub, even if it leads to some infinitely tall fun. I ended up clearing out the bottom of it and wandering around the surroundings before finding the lift up to the top floor. There’s a neat visual too, first heading to the yellow key, of the walls lowering to reveal the rockred alcoves of monsters hiding, the hellishness waiting in the ruined base. The cramped corridors and pillars share space with a couple of more spacious arenas. One of them pitting you against caged imps on each side picking at you, the other with the wall to the eventual exit lowering with an ambush of baddies. Smooth of the map too, to introduce the rocket launcher right before a bunch of lost souls come out.

I played a couple of maps from Witness of Time and sadly it didn't grab me that much (though I did appreciate the post-punk MIDIs). I'm definitely gonna give a shot to Monument though, love me some E2 tributes. Played on prBoom-plus, UV, pistol start with saves. E2M1: Rip and Tear The start of a collection of Shores of Hell maps, with all the vine-covered tech and blood pools and plain wrongness implemented in all the right ways. The combat is typical of a first map, with highlights being the trap ambush near the start and a couple of surprise Cacos. The new palette stands out immediately, making the game seem more faded, but I also liked the new sounds implemented, on the pistol and teleporter among other things. They’re a bit more subdued than what you hear in the stock game, and along with the palette it amps up the eerie atmosphere of E2. Even in a quick and fast-paced map you can feel a bit of a horror vibe, in between the sci-fi E1 and heavy metal E3. E2M2: Beta Station Where the last map had tight spaces and close quarter combat in a first-map kind of way, this one takes the same style and throws considerably more monsters your way, baring its teeth and forcing you to choose your movements wisely. The music by Jimmy has sections that sound a lot like his other track “Great Hall.”

MAP27 UV-Speed in 0:13 lv27-13s.zip

+++ Witness of Time / Monument / Unwelcome I'll play next month and give a vote to help keep it going.

Good stuff here! The one nitpick I can find is that Plutonia has 4 Spiderdemons, one each in MAPs 05, 15, 32, and 27. Interesting too that Plutonia has the lowest body count of the main IWADs by a good margin. Mostly from not bothering as much with basic fodder enemies.

I tried disturbia-gordon.zip

Died on MAP06 on the first one, when I got a little too gung ho on the cliffs. Made it to the last map on #2 before I got lost and stumbled into an alcove I couldn't escape. Whoops. ironman-gordon-vvruns.zip

Dead on MAP05. Lots of careful boring playing on my part, before dying in a very ignominious way. http://www.mediafire.com/download/a3u312u0d602hr4

Made it to E4M4. DNF because I straferan into an area that, as far as I could tell, was inescapable. http://www.mediafire.com/download/majsiz4lcaud754/Ironman_Gordon_Crusades.lmp

Dead. Made it to MAP04 before getting eaten up by chaingunners. http://www.mediafire.com/download/x5ta4mfia6ncm8q/Ironman_Gordon_Jenesis.lmp

My condolences to his family. Rest in peace, Ty. You were an immeasurable pillar of the community.