Veinen

Map26: Luxor Yeah, this is a really fun map. I did remeber this being good from my last playthrough but it still managed to surprise me positively. The start could be a little more exciting but I wouldn't call roughly a minutes worth or Rev rocketing very, very tedious either. Or maybe I have different standards, who knows. The inner courtyard battle is fucking great although pretty easy with the BFG if you just think a bit before you shoot. The final area is decently designed but what I like most is the second Mastermind teleporting behind you when you let loose the Revs and Archies. Didn't kill me but it was very unexpected. Great map, top 5 material in the wad perhaps. Map27: Ammut Well, it's another good one. I think someone said this map starts slow and then just keeps escalating and escalating, and I thought that was a pretty spot on description as to what this map is all about. After the BFG is obtained it's pretty much chaos and slaughter. The double Rev curve is delicious although I do enjoy the more traditional version from AV and DVII where you must change direction at the ends. This one is just circling around and quite easy in the end. The lack of challenge in the "curve" is compensated and then some when you open the middle room. I'm getting better at controlling huge crowds and I know the correct cheesing technique, so to speak, but that fight was just trial and error for me. Chokepointing the fight seemed very hard because one of the AVs always got a hit in and then the Revs started flooding out and that's the game then, unless you're willing to grind it out. Backing down and playing it safe a bit was the solution eventually. Nice map and definitely ends on a high note.

Map22: Mummy Tomb Alright, so this is where episode 3 really starts. This is more of a slow burner though compared to what lies ahead but I think it's still a decent effort and pretty enjoyable overall. I didn't really have any memories of the map so my first attempt became a desperate one man stand against the resurrected hordes, with zero ammo no less. Gotta love taking out Arch-Viles with the help of resurrected Commandos. Speaking of Chaingunners, in this map we see the second (?) teleporting Chainer invasion of the wad; something I usually relate to Epic 2 for some reason. I know there's a few more of these coming up later but it's not like they're in every map so I don't know why it is the case. Anyway, most of the combat here is akin to the second episode and certainly not any harder. The final battle though is one I really like and an example of good Cyber placement in my opinion. It's kind of like the chaotic battle in Astral Base but instead of a square room, this one is more awkwardly shaped and this time the Cyber only brought his boniest friends along. But yeah, decent map overall with a nice ending fight to leave with a good impression. Map23: Oasis Now THIS is the map I've been waiting for. In a wad with plenty of good and great maps, it's this one that takes the cake for me personally. Just fucking awesome all around. High octane action pretty much from start to finish in a kind of very low-key slaughtermap style. You can rush or take things slow to an extent, both styles work here just as good. The main "arena" get refilled after certain side areas have been cleared so it's all the more satisfying to evade exterminating the original hellspawn roaming there until the last possible moment. Arch-Viles are being used both as turrets and the means to produce more opposition. And then there's the last AV which is a non-factor but that's the exception to the rule. Can't really pinpoint any highlight fights because it's constant goodness all around. The HK sandwich, like DoTW put it, is certainly one of the most memorable ones though heh. Great shit overall, love it. Map24: Hentiamenti This was a bit tricky actually. The large chamber area especially, you're pretty much out in the open most of the time and those damn homing missiles are very convenient in this environment. Other parts feature corridors and switch hunts, this is one the only maps that I've been totally lost in so far despite playing the wad before. Then there's the teleporting douchebag Cyber, which I managed to crush quite easily actually, that's probably the most memorable part of the map. The Mastermind's lair is the grounds of a pretty cool battle I'd say, and one that killed me a few times too. Took me a while to figure out the Keen trickery as well. Oh yeah, then there's the pyramid area, which was also pretty neat and action-packed. That teleport out of that area though, not very healthy when you're down to 3 health and no armor... Well, overall I think I liked it. The map's pretty huge and features very varied combat scenarios and styles, most of which I did enjoy. Map25: Per Nefer This was a weird one. My first exit I left with nearly half of the maps enemies left behind although having seemingly visited every main area. Second playthrough I did some more secret-hunting and eventually got the 100% kills I craved for. The decision to put so much of the map into the secrets is kind of puzzling, which I think just underlines the fact that this is a break map and also desinged by Eternal to be a break map. There are no even moderately difficult battles along the way and while there are a few traps with monsters teleporting behind you, they are not much of a problem at all. The treasure room w/ telefraggable Arch-Viles looks pretty damn neat, thank god there wasn't some huge battle to be had in that room though because those decorations would definitely be all kinds of annoying. So yeah, all in all I wasn't hugely impressed by this one but seeing as map26 is quite beastly, perhaps a break map wasn't such a bad idea at this point. Calm before the storm, so to speak.

Here's a random first exit/probably an UV-Max. I knew where the YK and the yellow "door" were so not an FDA, but that's the furthest I got in my first attempt. But yeah, the weirdest shit is an accurate description. Loved it though! Looks awesome, especially in automap heh. I also found not getting totally raped by a gggmork map a delightful surprise.

Well, here is the other demo I mentioned in the DWMC-thread. Got closer to the ten-minute barrier than I thought I could... Still slower than Tatsurd's -fast demo but ehhhh. Map14 UV-Max in 10:07 e214-1007.zip

Map19: Escape This one is pretty interesting, it feels like another break map for the longest time but things can get a little hairy at the end with the sudden Arch-Vile invasion. I didn't remember those and got ganged up on the doorway with no escape and little I could do on my first attempt. Other than that particular encounter the map is rather quiet and mostly just exploring, first in a space station and then, for some reason, we enter a very common looking earthly city. Combat is very standard for the most part with no real traps or tough encounters, until the Archie trio is introduced. Even that is quite trivial if you're expecting it but the surprise-factor can be pretty lethal if you haven't played the map before. Decent map overall. Map20: Anomaly Zone Ha, this is a very memorable map, even if only for the start. Personally I really enjoy the whole map though and it's easily in the top3 of the space episode along with DNA replicate and Astral Base. What a delightfully chaotic battle it is in the hub area, maybe not an extremely tough one but really fun nonetheless. The key-wings are pretty easy though, the most memorable probably being the dual Masterminds feat two dozen Cacos. You can pretty much lay waste with the BFG there or just make them fight eachother, both being equally easy to accomplish. The end is pretty neat too and a cool ending to the second episode. Back to ancient Egypt then! Map21: Shore Dream Uh oh, another intro map. This wasn't even that good imo, probably mostly because I just hate the Chainsaw and this map pretty much forces you to use it. Yeah... then we get some corridor crawling in the pyramid part which isn't much more exciting either. This map does aim for the atmospheric effect again and succeeds somewhat I guess, but it wasn't nearly enough to keep me very interested. Onwards.

Map32 UV-Max in 4:04 e232-404.zip

Map16: DNA Replicate Damn, that was pretty intense. I did remember this being one of the standouts of the alien episode and after todays playthrough I still think so. The design is a bit strange in that it's basically just corridors after corridors but it feels very open and free-flowing. The style is also largely monotonous but I think it fits the cyberpunk-ish atmosphere very well. One major contributor for the atmosphere is of course the really good and fitting midi. I love the gameplay here too. Starts pretty slowly and you can take the approach of killing everything you see but at some point you'll probably see yourself with very low supplies and a wall of Nobles closing in. I don't really mind the ammo starvation here since infights are easily provoked and there is more than adequate space to maneuver around the hordes you are not equipped to kill yet. Things get pretty intense in the later parts when Arch-Viles are introduced, first in the main corridor areas where they undo your killings if you don't act quick, and a little later on in the dickishly cruel BFG ambush. That's probably the only part that can be considered hard without a sound strategy and it's the only part that legitimately got me a few times today. Ending is a few Cybers for a good show but they are pretty non-threatening since you can take them on one at a time. Great map overall though. This did require a certain state of mind for me to play though and I only got around to it today. I tried this days ago but my lackadaisical style got me nowhere so I skipped this one and played some of the next maps instead. Glad I got my shit together and managed to play more composed today because it is a very good map and an enjoyable experience. Map17: Hologram Well, I'm not sure about this one. It's not offensive or anything and I remember liking it a few days ago but I'm having troubles remembering any significant highlights so I guess it's not that memorable of a map. Visual style changes heavily yet again, this time it's some kind of brown wood-like weirdness everywhere along with the generic alien metal textures we've seen before. It doesn't look half bad and the variety helps in contrast with the egyptian themes which offer little changes from map to map in regards of texturing and such. Combat here is pretty damn easy actually. Traps are usually just one or two middleweights that are able to get the first punch or scratch in while you're surprised but not much else. The highlight battle is the one for the YK with three Archies and a whole bunch of space nazis. There's hardly a way to avoid damage but the odds of survival are very high if you just stay composed and ignore the Archies completely for a while. Lot of secrets too but they are easily spotted as always. I was a bit surprised to find the BFG in my second playthorugh because I didn't really feel like there would be much use of such a weapon of mass destruction in a low-difficulty map like this. Well, this was a bit of a break map I suppose. Not the most memorable map in the set but a quality map in it's own right. It's not like break maps can't be memorable though, like map18 proves. Map18: Gunman Yeah, this was neat. Not because of amazingly clever combat or convoluted layout, no; but because it's an epic adventure accompanied by an extremely awesome music track! Like others have said, the map is a poster-boy for linearity and generic combat but the yet again completely changed style and atmosphere created are pretty unique and captivating in my opinion. There is truly not much to say about the map itself because it's so atmosphere-driven. I enjoyed it but I can see how some can be a little disappointed about the actual gameplay content.

That's right, I punched an Arch-Vile to death. Without the berserk pack. And I thought it was too easy :p It's just a major exploit (cornering him into the little hole he first appears in, that is) I randomly found while recording and not really even a problem per se since your average player probably doesn't even notice the possibility. Just though it was pretty funny and if nothing else it makes Tyson-speedruns a walk in the park heh.

Will do, or if not that particular demo then something faster :) And thanks for the advice DoTW, that sounds like the better solution to be honest. I do occasionally try to mimic my "FDA-style" but it seems to require a conscious effort to keep myself from slipping into my overdrive mode. Just gotta keep chugging and it'll probably become an automatic style of play when not speedrunning. Anyways Map15: Astral Base Woah, such a sudden change into this Vrack/DVII space station style, although like DoTW mentioned it is slightly less detailed and complex. I love that particular style so I have no problem with this however and this is definitely one of my favorite maps in episode 2. Gameplay is still very much Eternal though, with smaller cannon fodder hidden behind every corner, middleweights being used in teleport traps and closets and the token set piece battle as a finale. Aside from the big finale, the other large scale battle in the outdoors area was also a good one. I enjoyed stirring infights there and likewise in the finale where I stubbornly insisted on releasing everything at once and testing my limits like that. I did use a save before that so dying once or twice wasn't a very big deal though. I feel stupid for not figuring out the secret exit even though I didn't really bother thinking about it for too long. Great map overall imo. Map31: Osirion Yes, this is an obvious homage to a certain famous Alien Vendetta map. Everything about it really somehow reminds you of Misri Halek, from the labyrinthine tombs of the early parts, to the super annoying stairwell Cyber and the climb to the mountaintop. I don't if I really liked it that much though, there were a few interesting combat scenarios but overall I didn't think it was too exciting. Ammo was a bit scarce for the most part which wasn't really to my liking today. The battle at the regular exit is indeed fun although I think trying to lure the Cybers to take out everything in the room was a bit too much I could handle heh. Eventually I succeeded but it took an another strategic save beforehand not to ragequit after the first death.

Immolation has two kind of significant problems you may want to look at: 1) If the player presses the switches that lower the RK pillar too quickly, the thing doesn't lower all the way 2) Arch-Vile punching See demo for both. Neat maps most of these you've made, I've got FDAs for all but I'll post them later in a package.

Yeah, everything is happening and on top of that I just can't help myself and I have to try to speedrun every goddamn map... I'm having a hard time just casual playing wads that I'm familiar with, it's a baggage that comes with the speedrunning habits I guess. Maybe I should change to -fast for casual playing or something? Map14: Orion's Belt I quite enjoyed this adventurous affair. Very slow and linear start with all that ledge climbing and such but the visuals are pretty damn nice and offer some more variety. After you reach a shrine on top of a mountain of sorts, you're offered some pseudo freedom in three different portal choices. Not like you don't have to visit them all though, and I think it's probably best you go where the SSG is first. The Mancs and HK infight party is probably the most interesting fight in the map, although easily handled like all battles here. Four Cybers at the end... big whoopee, the invuln is more than enough to finish them off. But yeah, like I said first, I have some serious problems and just had to max this one too but god damn is Tatsurd-Cacocacos -fast fast or what. His -fast demos are a good comparison for my regular maxing abilities and I can't even get close to the ten minute mark, 10:46 being my best so far. And now because randomness is fun: Map32: The Harbour This is another one I enjoyed, probably mostly because I once again had my "speedrunners hat", like Erwin here called it, was firmly stuck on my head while playing. Small and compact level with rather questionable yet strangely appealing gameplay when I went for the fast max. You get stuck in every fucking palm tree and wooden pillar in the undersized mines, and what a pleasant surprise it is when the Cyber decides to follow you to the YK lighthouse or whatever that is supposed to be. Still, coming up with your own strategies and timesavers is what makes average maps like this good and enjoyable for players like myself. I'll probably try to submit something for this in the demo forums too at some point. Got 4:08 with one Chaingunner missing so there's my motivation too haha. Haven't played maps15 and 31 fully yet so later on those. My favorite maps have yet to come so I'd be kicking myself in the head hard if I can't reach that far into the wad heh.

Map25 max in 3:33 Whopping two seconds better than my previous entry... but I simply cannot do this any faster, not with this route at least. I think I got like three or four 3:35s so I'll take the two seconds though. ur25-333.zip

So much going on that it's been impossible to keep up... Map11: The Tower I think this is a great map. The original The Tower in Epic is even better but that map one is of the most memorable maps I've played so it isn't much of a slight to this one to call this a bit lesser. The first impression of the map is very striking, a massive ominous black tower looming over the desert. And that music track, I fucking love it and it fits better than perfectly in the setting. Combat is kind of mild throughout but encounters pop up constantly so things don't really get boring at any point. The tomb area with the Mastermind has an interesting and not a very working design in most of the time, but it actually is pretty effective if you're oblivious of the teleporting hordes and the AV. If you let them spread out, they're everywhere and things might get a little hairy. There's a clever "trap" in the RL room too when infinite tallness is on. It's clearly designed so that you can deliver splash damage to possible antagonists below but it's something not everyone might "get" first time around. The tower part is a pretty short affair and it's probably what mostly sets the two Towers of Epic/Epic2 apart the most. But yeah, awesome map and a good finale for the first episode of Epic 2. Map12: Alien Ship This is a similar map to map01 in my opinion, a relatively low-key adventurous affair with the purpose of introducing the player to all the new alien stuff we'll be seeing in episode 2. And I do think it does that quite well all in all, but it's a bit problematic to have an "introductory" map as a map12... Difficulty is pretty much on par with the majority of the maps in ep1 so it isn't really a huge drop in that sense though. The stealth troopers are a cool replacement enemy and good addition to the alien theme. Truly not much to say about the gameplay since the map is mostly about the adventure and atmosphere. Decent level, but better maps await around the corner. Map13: Mebius I largely agree with Magnusblitz in regards to this one. Aesthetically it's pretty nice but the gameplay design, while perhaps a good idea in theory, just doesn't work very well in this environment. The Arch-Viles are totally harmless when there's corners and doors everywhere to hide behind, I just replayed it and I think I only took damage in the soulsphere secret area 'cause I had 200 health and picking up a soulsphere at that point seemed like a total waste so I didn't really even try to hide much.

FDA for Black Books. Watch for laughs. Only now because I sucked so hard it wasn't even funny. Died total five times by: 1. Manc fireball clipping 2. Just plain suckage 3. Owned by a Lost Soul 4. Ragedeath, apologies 5. Another crappy player sighting As for the map: well there's the hard way and the cheesy way in each fight, the cheesy ways being displayed in the FDA. I do like the trap dynamics otherwise, it's a shame they can be cheesed so badly. The HK and the Manc felt a bit redundant since they add little else than slabs of meat to pump ten shells into (oh the irony, I know...) though. I think the "finale" would also be improved vastly if you had simply eliminated the possibility of cheesing it by releasing the Arch-Viles after the player has already teleported into the library. A neat little speedmap overall.

FDA for Black Books, see link above for the thread. blackbooks_fda_veinen.zip

FDA Watch for laughs. I played with complevel 2 (or if that wasn't the problem then something else must have gone terribly wrong) so the Spider Mastermind ambush is "slightly" dysfunctional. But what an exciting battle it is when I do get the gate open! :D

Map08: Karnak Temple This is alright. Doesn't really have any highlight moments but it's consistently decent and enjoyable throughout. The lowering pillars room is pretty funky in a good way, it's very standard combat but something makes it quite appealing to me. The secrets in the bridge-wing are nicely designed and I remember having problems finding the way to the soulsphere in the past but not this time. Finale is pretty good but those respawining Chainers are kind of stupid and sadly we'll see more of that later too. Map09: Mystery Ehh, it's decent I guess. Again nothing overly memorable but nothing really bad either. The RL trap is what it is and I did die once due to not remembering where to shoot. I don't really dislike it but I can see why most would since it's admittedly pretty dickish. The penultimate room is indeed pretty fun although not that threatening when all is said and done. Map10: Goldmine This is a fine one! Layout mostly consists of corridors, like a mine logically would (though it's not really even a mine...), but it's non-linear and offers multiple ways to advance. Of course you eventually visit every location but freedom or the illusion of it never hurts. I guess the route and the ability to locate secrets means a lot here since you can easily end up in wrong places pretty underequipped if you don't visit the RK area as soon as possible and/or get the RL. But yeah, when I got a good grasp of where to go and what to do it became pretty damn fun. The last AV is quite the asshole from an UV-maxers point of view though since you have pretty much no choice but to run at him, cross your fingers and hope he doesn't take you out heh.

Map10 UV-Max in 8:02 e210-802.zip

Map05: Abu Gurab Like the open design and how the map loops back to the central area multiple times. Combat is pretty fun although not super challenging, the treasure chamber being the most memorable spot. Fun map. The music is indeed way too loud though. Map06: Revived Bones This is a decent one as well, althought way more corridorific than the previous level. Layout is rather complex actually and if you take the wrong turn at the start you may end up in some trouble. I just recently did a random maxrun for this map so I know the map like the back of my hand and thus had no problems at any point. But there are a few surprise ambushes that could do some damage if you're caught unawares, the final trap with an AV duo for one. Map07: Hell Guard A fairly straightforward standard Map07 is what this is. Kill some non-threatening Mancs while getting harassed by very annoying Chainers, followed by a circlestrafing exercise with a bunch of Arachs. The finale with Arch-Viles is the most interesting part of the map since the cover provided is kind of awkward. Not exactly the highlight of the set.

Map04: Sarcophagus Hmm, mixed feelings about this. On the other hand, there's a bit of a storyline here with the aesthetic progression from cramped dusty tombs to this gigantic chamber. This aspect of the map I did like, felt like a journey. Also the alcove with the soulsphere and daylight shining through was a nice touch. Gameplay isn't sadly much to write home about though, minor encounter after another which can be handled with ease. The Imp ambush in the chamber area is probably the most memorable "battle". Mastermind is a non-factor unless you somehow run out of ammo completely (obviously]. A little step down in quality overall I'd say, still fairly enjoyable because of the aesthetical factors though.

Map02: Voodoo Yeah, this felt like a more traditional styled shooter. Ammo is rather tight but finding the secrets helps a lot in that regard, especially the berserk pack. And if you payed attention in map01, the secrets wont even be very hard to find. The secret are one part I really like about this whole wad actually, they are generally very rewarding and logically reached so secret hunting doesn't feel like a chore at all. Gameplay in this one is decent, though I think the AV introduction could be a bit better than this lone closet encounter we have here. Map03: Black Magic Quite easily the best map of the first three. Visuals have some more variety and the map is perhaps a bit more open too. The layout and how it wraps around to the opening area a couple of times is aspect I liked here. Gameplay is pretty interesting as well and we begin to see some potentially lethal traps thrown in the mix. As opposed to map02, the AV here was much more effectively placed. I didn't remember that guy at all and he kind of surpised me in the SSG/RK stairs, but I had found the RL secret earlier so he couldn't do any damage. Fun map indeed.

Epic 2, oh yes. A personal all time top5 favourite wad by one of my favorite mappers, so this will definitely be good. I should finish my Scythe commentary too but better start this to prevent falling hopelessly behind immediately. I'll be playing on Glboom+ with UV pistol starts and no saves. Map01: Entrance And here we go. An introductory piece to the wad yes, but quite different from your usual map01. The custom sounds are great imo and the egyptian style is awesome as always. The gameplay is what really sets this apart from the usual opener maps as this is, like already stated by Demonologist and scifista, somewhat exploratory in nature and doesn't rely on small time opposition around evey corner to keep the player busy. Instead we already meet Revenants and Hell Knights, not in particularly difficult situations but they are middleweights on map01 nevertheless. The Pinkie horde perhaps requires knowledge of the berserk packs location to effectively clear and not turn it into SG slogfest but that's only a minor complaint. Neat start overall.

Found a problem in map07: The secret is impossible to trigger in prboom, most likely because of the sector type changing shenanigans included which deletes the secret flag of the sector. See the Secret-article in doom.wikia for reference. The metal wall in front of the soulsphere alcove is completely unnecessary too since the player, barring a linedef skip, will not even know it has been there by the time you'll make it to that point. It would only be a matter of removing the tag 8 actions/adjusting the secret sector's floor height and nothing would be lost from a players point of view.

Map26: Fear One of the most memorable maps in the wad, not because it's particularly amazing but because the gameplay is very different compared to other maps in the wad. It's basically just a gigantic BFG-spam and you're doing it wrong if any other weapon is even fired during the battles. Despite the slaughter-styled design, it's not avery difficult map at all due to shitloads of ammo and powerups just waiting to be consumed lay everywhere around the map. Fun and relaxing massacre, I approve. Map27: Terror Another break map of a sorts, though the difficulty doesn't drop that much. It's not full red so that's something at least. Pretty enjoyable anyway, other than the bullshit forced invisibility against three Cybers stuff at the end. Map28: Run From IT Hehe, this is an interesting idea. I didn't really mind this that much this time around but I do remember having a million attemps at it when I first played the wad. Even though I haven't really played this more than any other map in the wad, I have memorized the route pretty well and can very consistently exit without troubles. But yeah, I can see why this is disliked heh.

Yes, linedef skipping is a very real phenomenon and pretty common too based on my experiences. It can break maps but I can't remember any cases where I could not finish because of it. With teleport linedefs you can put multiple of them in a row to prevent this since the chances of skipping more than one are small but I don't know if that can be applied here though. I guess you could put a wall or metal bars or something with the same tag 667 in front of the teleporter, so that you can't even enter the teleport to the final area without triggering the reset linedef? I'll repeat that I know jack shit about mapping but that at least sounds possible to build. I do understand that this is not really a huge flaw and it isn't even supposed to happen, so it's probably okay like that for 99% of the players and only the very few unfortunate ones get to suffer the annoyance of getting stuck with the exit in sight.