Spectre01

MAP07 - “Apparatus” by Chris Harbin Hey, not bad! The layout is dead simple, flat, and visually unappealing, but there are some interesting gameplay surprises. The three Pain Elementals on both sides were most unexpected, though their ambush flag makes it so you don't have to alert all of them at once. Grabbing the BFG makes the Mastermind trivial, and you need it out for the following trap with the two caged Viles. Nice to hear that classic Memento Mori midi too.

MAP06 - “Last Call” by John Bishop The narrow hallways are lame, but aside from that this map is pretty good. The combat, when it's not happening in a 64 unit wide staircase, is more engaging than in the previous maps. There are more mid-tier monsters and plenty of cell ammo in the secrets. The roaming enemies that get teleported in also make the incidental encounters more dynamic. Visuals are good as well. It's very brown, but there is moody lighting and some nice bits of decorative detailing.

MAP05 - “Skybase” by Chris Harbin After some very quick maps with small monster counts, we arrive at something more sizeable. The main issue here is the backtracking. It's like the author intentionally placed the keys as far as possible from their corresponding doors. And the layout isn't very interconnected, so you can't really cut across or take shortcuts to get back quicker. Combat continues to be low-energy. It's still mostly fodder, despite the early SSG, and there's no real pressure unless you play sloppy and take hitscanner damage. It's really lacking when it comes to traps or interesting setups. At least Revenants make their appearance, who are more engaging to dodge than the basic projectile monsters. The visuals are generally good for the time, and I like the use of that animated flat pictured above.

MAP04 - “The Arrival” by Chris Harbin Visually, this reminds me of various Team TNT maps but significantly more cramped. That's the biggest issue with this level. There isn't much room to move around for you or the enemies, so the incidental combat turns into a shooting gallery where you pick off hitscanners from behind cover. Now, that can be interesting in more complex environments, but these rooms are very simple and there's little challenge here. On the positive side, I like the visuals in the starting room and the implication that the player landed the ship through the opening above. The new textures like the map and the animated one with the Imp are also a nice touch.

MAP03 - “Onslaught” by Chris Harbin This one is surprisingly dark for an outdoor map, and I had to turn up the gamma slightly for playability reasons. The combat is very straightforward. You shoot stuff in front of you and progress to the next area. These larger and more open maps tend to have some turret monsters placed along cliffs, but everything here is fought at ground level, which makes it less interesting. The final trap could've been something, but the way it triggers just encourages holding fire on the Chaingun from the hallway. Using the water flat as a waterfall also looks unnatural.

MAP02 - “Terror Core” by Chris Harbin This one is three micro-encounters in rather bland locations. You warp into a cramped area, fight a small group of enemies, and leave with the key. Pretty lame after the solid introduction in map01, but it's short and inoffensive. I do like the secret where you have to run off the teleporter to get over the barrier.

Never played either of this month's wads so I'll give it a go. DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Starts. MAP01 - “The End” by Chris Harbin I like the presentation here, despite the combat playing like a typical map01. The ship outside the starting area, new assets, and sound effects as you make your way through the base are pretty cool for a 90s wad.

MAP03 - "Waffle Town" by Amiga Angel, taviow A major step up in size from the first two maps, this is an interesting level with a mix of cool stuff and some really questionable design decisions. The scale is certainly impressive, though it would probably look better with taller buildings like in map02. The ones here are only about four stories tall, which makes the overall size less imposing. I really like the micro-detailing, from the tanks and other vehicles in the streets to the various Doomcute apartments. The computer room with the keyboards lighting up is especially neat. The indoor setpiece fights are also fun, with my favourite being the volleyball stadium with the lowering Imps and Revenants. I do have some major criticism. The map is way too bright outdoors and it looks like you're playing with permanent Light Amp Goggles. The fullbright looks awful since there is no contrast or any distance-based diminishing lighting. Bright outdoor maps can work, like Valiant's Moon episode which had an outdoor brightness of 240, but that was contrasted by 128 directional shadows. This map being 256 everywhere just makes it look unfinished. I suggest changing it to 192 or lower and with more sector variation, i.e. darker under the trees. There are also some unusually bland looking buildings and monotextured outdoor areas that look unfinished. I realize that the linedef count is already straining performance but several areas could use more attention. This nukage on the border also doesn't look quite right. MAP31 - "Traces to Nowhere" by Captain Murphy An obvious remake of Suburbs that's even more basic in the visual department and feels smaller in scale. Rather than having one massive (by '94 standards) fight after grabbing the key, this map spreads out the teleport traps and ends up being less memorable. It's alright as an homage in the secret slot.

MAP02 - "Simple Complex" by thiccyosh Whereas the visuals and layout of the first map were very much a Doom city, map02 seems a lot more Build (or more specifically Duke 3D) with its scale, textures, and realistic detailing. I found the flesh nightmare "hard mode" area almost right away, which appears to add additional Archviles and some other enemies to the fights. Most of them are not too bad, though I call bullshit on getting zapped behind here in the water fight. A single Radsuit for the following slime section is also a bit tight for anyone exploring for the first time. The rooftop encounter is the most challenging, but the two Viles on the buildings across are a chore to remove. The main fight there is nicely chaotic and reminds me of Going Down.

I like a good city map. Due to their often non-linear nature, they can be a fun open world to explore. They also tend to be on the longer side and are likely to feature a weapons hunt at the start, which I don't always enjoy. Hopefully this wad has a good mix of gameplay and themes to differentiate the maps. DSDA-Doom, UV, and pistol starts with saves. MAP01 - "Hellions on Parade" by moyolden Nice animated sky. Pretty big map for an opener, focusing largely on small traps and encounters around points of interest. The Plasma Rifle feels like the most important pickup as it trivializes the majority of the fights. Since the map is non-linear, I can see it being hard to balance the difficulty as you never know what weapons the player picked up previously before heading into a fight. In my case, I cleared the Chaingun area last right before heading for the exit.

map04: Pull the Plug I like the item balance in this map. Nukage levels can get annoying with Radsuit placement, but it felt like I had a new one available as the original was running out. The Chaingun was also useful since it's possible to run out of shells using only the SSG. Plenty of rockets too, which is always fun. I wasn't expecting this wad to pull out an Archvile this early, but there he is.

map03: Illuminatus Bait the Imps to kill the starting Shotgunners and you're good to go. The initial area is the most engaging as you're pursued by two Cacos while surrounded by other enemies. I don't think the SSG is necessary since you get an RL first for the mid-tiers. Nice to have but some extra rockets would have the same effect.

I haven't played Nostalgia, or the sequel, but I'm expecting classic gameplay with more polished visuals and less obtuse layouts. DSDA-Doom and Pistol Starts. map01: Dragonaut I have grown to like simple early maps with only basic enemies and weapons. Especially in a full megawad where you expect an escalation of difficulty. Visuals are nice and clean and all three secrets were intuitive to find. map02: Under the Surface Inspired by Underhalls but with mid-tier enemies and less Shotgunners. No real risk of dying, especially when you're at 200/200 from the secrets.

MAP06 - “Splatterhouse” by Steve Duff When I see a vanilla map with over 400 monsters, it's either a behemoth of classic gameplay or there is one huge fight. The latter is the case here, with the blue key unlocking a ton of resources and some slaughter outside. There is enough space to run around and provoke infighting, though the Zombiemen give a reason to shoot back. This level is a massive improvement over the previous maps in nearly every way. The non-linear layout and architecture are significantly more interesting than some of the boxy rooms connected by tight hallways in the maps before. The one thing holding this map back is the late placement of the SSG, which makes the start rather slow.

MAP05 - “Mission Control” by Slava Pestov Interesting start with the group of Sergeants and barrels. Good thing there's a Berserk right after because I was at 30% HP from that fight, since I didn't get the crate secret right away. Similar to the previous map, there is a lot of low-tier fodder to mow down with the Chaingun. It would've been nice to get the RL earlier against the mid-tiers, since there isn't much left to kill once you get it before the Mastermind. The boss itself doesn't do much stuck on that platform, and killing it is peaking with the SSG from behind a pillar. Not a big fan of the visuals or layout in this one. The walls are usually the same pipe or Startan texture across the entire room and geometry is minimal.