The DWmegawad Club plays: 99 Ways to Die & Troopers' Playground & Talosian Incident

[dobu gabu maru]

 

What is the DWmegawad Club?

This is a place where we settle down, have a cup of tea (or drink of your choice) and take a month to play through a megawad on our own, together! Any keen observations, criticisms, or frustrated ranting about it goes here in the discussion. As long as you want to say something about what you've played, feel free to speak your mind.

 

Can I join?

Sure. The only rule is that you have to play at least some of the levels in our monthly megawad to contribute, but you're generally encouraged to finish the whole thing, even if you've played it before.

 

What levels am I allowed to post about?

Whatever day of the month it is, is the upper limit for the map you can post on. So if it’s the 6th, you may discuss up to MAP06.

 

Do I have to post an entry every day?

Nope, not at all. This is only for our more enthusiastic members. As long as you play through it with us you’re part of the club.

 

When do we vote on the next month’s megawad?

Voting begins on the 25th of the current month. Remember to add one “+++” before your vote to make it easier to count. For example:

 

+++ Ultimate Doom

----------

>>>DOWNLOAD 99 WAYS TO DIE HERE<<<

 

>>>THE TROOPERS’ PLAYGROUND<<<

 

>>>DOWNLOAD THE TALOSIAN INCIDENT HERE<<<

 

It’s a Capellan combo of classic corridor crawls! 99 Ways to Die is a three-level wad by Warren Marshall set in a brick castle with lots of angular lighting, The Troopers’ Playground is a single episode for Doom 2 made by Matthias Worch that features a brand new enemy!, and The Talosian Incident - A Requiem for Doom by The Black Star Coven is a gloomy trip out on an alien world. Let’s dive into some 90s action!

 

We start 99 Ways to Die on the 1st, The Troopers’ Playground on the 4th (MAP08 & MAP09 are played on the same day), and The Talosian Incident on the 12th.

 

Maplist for 99 Ways to Die:

MAP01

MAP02

MAP03

 

Maplist for The Troopers’ Playground:

MAP01 - “Welcome”

MAP02 - “Intrusion”

MAP03 - “Simply Dead…”

MAP04 - “Going Down”

MAP05 - “Underground Temple”

MAP06 - “Deep Down Below”

MAP07 - “Three-o-Matic”

MAP08 - “Star Control”

MAP09 - “Deliverance?”

 

Maplist and Authors for The Talosian Incident:

MAP01 - “The Transport” by John Bye

MAP02 - “Desolation” by Malcolm Sailor

MAP03 - “The Cliff Top Fort” by Dan Huff

MAP04 - “The Chapel” by John Bye

MAP05 - “The Fort - I” by John Bye

MAP06 - “The Fort - II” by John Bye

MAP07 - “The Church” by Malcolm Sailor

MAP08 - “Focus” by Ola Björling, John Bye

MAP09 - “The Palace” by John Bye

MAP10 - “Hardware” by Malcolm Sailor”

MAP11 - “Software” by Malcolm Sailor

MAP12 - “Vulcan” by Patrick Martin

MAP13 - “Get the Hell Out” by Malcolm Sailor

MAP14 - “Beneath” by Malcolm Sailor

MAP15 - “Solvent” by Brian Owens

 

MAP31 - “Inferno Revisited” by Malcolm Sailor

MAP32 - “Portals” by Malcolm Sailor

 

MAP16 - “The Canyons” by John Bye

MAP17 - “The Great Outdoors” by Malcolm Sailor”

MAP18 - “Hi Honey, I’m Home” by John Bye

 

BONUS CONTENT

FIXED version of MAP03 from 99 Ways to Die

Doomwiki: 99 Ways | Troopers’ Playground | Talosian Incident

DSDA: 99 Ways | Troopers’ Playground | Talosian Incident

Kmxexii reviews: 99 Ways | Troopers’ Playground | Talosian Incident

--------

OLD THREADS

Spoiler

The DWmegawad Club Metathread

 

2012

• BF_THUD!
• Community Chest 4
• Jenesis
• MAYhem 2012
   

2013

• Memento Mori
• Interception
• 2002: A Doom Odyssey
• Hadephobia
• Coffee Break & Fava Beans & Double Impact
• HYMN
• Stardate 20X6 & Monochrome Mapping Project
• Realm of Chaos
• Back to Saturn X E1 & Favillesco E1
• Kama Sutra
• Unholy Realms & Zone 300
• Vile Flesh
• Ultimate Doom
   

2014

• Whitemare & Sacrament
• Scythe
• Epic 2
• Whitemare 2
• Sunder & Countdown to Extinction
• Doom 2 the Way id Did
• MAYhem2048
• Stomper
• Back to Saturn X E2
• Going Down
• Rylayeh & Crimson Canyon & Azagthoth
• Serenity & Eternity & Infinity
   

2015

• Resurgence
• Requiem
• ConC.E.R.N.ed & Draft Excluder
• Doom 2 Reloaded
• Valiant
• Scythe 2
• NOVA II
• STRAIN
• Icarus: Alien Vanguard
• Sunlust
• Plutonia 2
• Revolution!
   

2016

• 50 Shades of Graytall & Erkattäññe
• Hell Revealed
• Vanguard, Hell Ground, Bloody Steel
• Eternal Doom
• Japanese Community Project
• Ancient Aliens
• Bloodstain
• Estranged
• Alien Vendetta
• THT: Threnody & No Rest for the Living
• Hellbound
• Echelon & Mutiny
   

2017

• TNT: Evilution
• TNT: Revilution
• No End in Sight
• Speed of Doom
• Urania
• Newgothic Movement II & Deus Vult II
• Slaughter Until Death & The Evil Unleashed & Obituary
• Moonblood
• Crumpets & Stardate20X7 & Rush
• Plutonia Revisited Community Project
• 3 Heures d’agonie 3
• The Darkening, The Darkening 2, & Crusades
   

2018

• Reverie
• Tangerine Nightmare & UAC Ultra & Realm of Shades
• Eternal Slumber Party
• Super Mayhem 17
   

 

Edited May 9, 2023 by dobu gabu maru

[Grain of Salt]

Tsk, posting the new thread early. Shameful.

[dobu gabu maru]

4 minutes ago, Grain of Salt said:

Tsk, posting the new thread early. Shameful.

 

It's May somewhere!

[rehelekretep]

i think ill finish off Mayhem17 and then skip this month; these wads sound a bit dull to me but ill probably read through others thoughts and might jump in if a map looks particularly pretty (◕‿◕✿)

[Capellan]

1 hour ago, dobu gabu maru said:

 

It's May somewhere!

 

Has been for 7 and a half hours, here.  Longer in @Obsidian's Land of the Long White Cloud.

 

Ironically, I may fall behind during the first week of this month, due to other commitments, but I will endeavour to catch up as soon as I can. 

[Havoc Crow]

Please note that map03 of 99ways has a bug that prevents its completion on hard difficulty (a missing teleport destination at the very end).

[Memfis]

23 minutes ago, JudgeDeadd said:

Please note that map03 of 99ways has a bug that prevents its completion on hard difficulty (a missing teleport destination at the very end).

Fixed version attached.

99ways03-fix.zip

[riderr3]

Megawad club starts turning to multiwad club. Anyways good luck to whose who will play this month!

[Capellan]

19 minutes ago, riderr3 said:

Megawad club starts turning to multiwad club.

 

"starts"?  This is the 17th time we've done multiple WADs in a month :)

[Woolie Wool]

Since we're doing a trio of corridor-shooty '90s wads, I've decided to try to challenge myself to do UV saveless pistol starts, and I'll be doing FDAs for each one. Hopefully that will give these oldies a bit more bite. 99 Ways to Die is a set I've been meaning to play since I first heard of it with the 10 Years of Doom feature in 2003, but it kept slipping my mind over and over again. Now seems like the perfect time to give it a go.

 

MAP01: DROPPING THE BROWNS OFF AT THE SWIMMING POOL

Time: 4:26 | Kills: 100% | Items: 96% | Secrets: 100% | Deaths: 0

FDA* (recorded in vanilla v1.9)

 

First impressions of this map are that it is very brown. All the walls are brown, the doors are brown, the floors and ceilings are either brown or a muddy green that might as well be brown, the sky is brown, about half the enemies are brown imps which you shoot with a brown shotgun. Quake at least had various shades of ecru, terracotta, rust, beige, taupe, and feces; Doom just has one single kind of brown, and it gets dull real quick. This is about as unimaginative a gothic theme as you can get. The textures, limited as they are, are at least well-aligned, and the gradient lighting looks pretty good, though Alien Vendetta would later do it much better. Some carpets, banners, marble trim, blood, water, something should have been added to this level to break up the blank, repetitive brownness of this wad, especially the architecture that's full of 128-high, 128-wide corridors and plain, boxy rooms. Combat is mostly trivial with the only vaguely threatening fight a gaggle of chaingunners hiding behind a (brown, of course) row of windows. The SSG is available early and the RL via a not particularly well hidden optional key; both feel gratuitous in a map so light and gentle.

 

Overall, it's inoffensive but it's so bland a design that it couldn't really offend you even if it wanted to. I hope the other two maps are a lot better than this.

 

*not actually my first run of the map, my original demo desynced and I had to re-record. I also missed about half the map the first time around, so it's probably for the best.

 

E: fuck it's not actually the first yet...but it is in Europe! And at this point I'm sick of being an American.

Edited May 1, 2018 by Woolie Wool

[Salt-Man Z]

Oh cool, there's a repacked version of TTP? Yay, I can play in GZDoom instead of having to suffer through GLBoom! (Sorry, guys, I've gotten so used to the "feel" of GZDoom that I just can't transition to PR/GLBoom well at all.)

 

99 Ways to Die I've played a couple of times, all within the last 10 years, and been largely unimpressed. I'm sure at the time it was a revelation, but there's very little to recommend it nowadays. On the other hand, it's only 3 maps that blow by incredibly fast, and there's nothing really bad about them, so why not?

 

MAP01

7:37 | 100% Everything

Supposedly the lighting is the big draw for these maps, and I can see the work is there, but it's generally so washed out it's hard to appreciate, even with gamma off and trying software mode. Architecturally, this level's fine, but the only bit of combat that made me sweat at all was the stairwell chaingunners that would start perforating me from just the right angle that I couldn't see who was shooting me. The biggest offender to gameplay is that the exit is just there, with like, a pinky guarding it. I stumbled on it 4 minutes in. Took me two more minutes to mop up and find the last couple secrets, and then another minute to top off my ammo and head back to the exit. I assuming this was meant for continuous play (I have to assume most WADs of this age are, really) mainly because the detours to acquire the rocket launcher and blue armor don't really do much good for this level. Once you get the SSG early on, that's more than enough to get by, and there's ample ammo lying around. My favorite bit was probably the blue armor room with the two skylights, that was relatively neat.

[Magnusblitz]

99 Ways to Die

 

MAP01

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

For something with a name like "99 ways to die" this map has pretty few threats, I think the only thing that will remotely catch people by surprise are the chaingunners in the windows since they're mostly hidden by the midtextures. As others noted, it's very brown in that horrible late-90s way, and while the texture usage is actually a relatively nice blend, it's still very brown. I agree with @Salt-Man Z that the lighting work is undercut by how washed out everything is, more contrast would've helped immensely. The layout is also a bit strange - the exit switch can be flipped within 20 seconds if you choose, or you can grab the yellow key and return to the rest of the map and grab the hilariously overpowered weapon and powerups which immediately vanish if you're pistol starting. Also for some reason the start is tagged secret even though there's a real secret later on.

[yakfak]

sorta wanna gush about the exquisite 90s bullshit that map03 of talos springs on teh player

it's like... almost every weird old map with unmarked mandatory secret doors is ass but this one rules and I have a hard time explaining why

the map is totally austere in decoration and the monster placement seems neutral and random

fairly sure you can lock yourself out of getting one of the keycards and there are multiple teleporters and fiddly little keydoors

but it's still one of the first maps i think about, when i think about doom

 

it might be because of the BROWN1 and that you spend so much time outdoors that the whole level feels like you're outside a real level, in a secret, Doom 1 style

a contextual thing about where the map belongs standing separate from its flow and gameplay teaches me to think differently about the map

i get the same feeling from the map that I get when I play daggerfall visiting a major random dungeon which happens to have its blocks arranged in a way that's both hostile and confusing to the player

 

pretend I posted this on may 14th

 

[Spectre01]

99 Ways To Die (Purist Boom+, Pistol Starts, No Saves)

MAP01 FDA (do people watch these?): 99WTD01-S01-FDA-524.zip

It's a largely monotextured, brown brick castle. Seemed a bit bright, even on default Software gamma, so it didn't look like the atmospheric contrast was really there. Gameplay is an inoffensive serving of shooting dudes in front of you. No traps or surprises to speak of. Thankfully, there is no 90's BS of "where is the armour/weapons?" happening so far, with essential resources acquired early on. I grabbed the RL after killing everything, which didn't make it useful within the scope of the map. Neither was that one plasma cell pack. I assume most players would play through something this short continuously anyway. And finally: is your refrigerator D_RUNNIN? Better catch it!

[tmorrow]

As pointed out 99ways has a map breaking bug on UV but fortunately has a 1 byte fix on thing45, @Memfis has generously provided a fix. Note the megasphere secret on map03 still won't register (sector too small) so only 1/2 secrets is possible.

 

A note for zdoom users with TTP (repackaged). While the repackaged TTP works perfectly for latest prboom, glboom and gzdoom, it does not work for zdoom2.8.1. The Evil Trooper starts skinned correctly but when firing, turns into the wolfensteinss enemy. I believe the incorrect behavior is due to zdoom's limited support for DeHackeEd patch format 6 only. Fortunately there is a trivial fix by hand editing the DEH file. I'm confident the fix is correct since I tested the new patch file under all 9 of the top prboom+ demos on doomedsda and they all played back perfectly. To reiterate, this fix is ONLY needed for zdoom users.

1. Modify the ttp.deh file by altering the first line v2.3 -> v3.0 and the 6th line or patch format from 5 -> 6.
2. Now simply load both ttp.wad and your altered ttp.deh when you start your zdoom.
3. Enjoy being chaingunned to death by the Evil Trooper - Yay!

[Roofi]

Game configuration : DOSBOX , no save , pistol start  , Ultra-violence

 

 

99WTD map01 :

 

Difficulty : Very Easy

 

DEMO

 

The first map takes place in a little monochrome brown castle invaded by small almost inoffensive monsters. Like old wads do , the very eccentric music of "Entryway" fits very well with the medieval theme and helps you to feel as a courageous knight !

 

As mentionned before , there is no particular challenge in this level. Two blue armors can be found while the strongest enemy in the level is the chaingunner ! One of them can be found in the "goodies room" which is accessible once you got the yellow skull key (It's a nice concept). It could have been better if the yellow key was hidden in a secret because giving a Rocket launcher , a soulsphere and a blue armor is maybe too generous for a first level imo. :) The level was very fun after all and explains pretty well the gimmick.

 

The aesthetics are the highlight of this level. The textures' alignement is clean and light degradations break the monotony. I also liked the carved sword indicating the direction at the entrance. The layout is really square but the architecture looks very inspired. I enjoyed exploring the little fort.

 

 

[tmorrow]

54 minutes ago, Spectre01 said:

MAP01 FDA (do people watch these?): 99WTD01-S01-FDA-524.zip

 

I enjoy all the FDA's posted for DWMC. Too bad there isn't a download counter so you can see how many times it has been downloaded. I thought we used to have such a counter.

[Spectre01]

16 minutes ago, tmorrow said:

I thought we used to have such a counter.

Yeah, there definitely was one in the demo forum at least.

[tmorrow]

map01: by Warren Marshall
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

Damn, the King has let the kingdom go to the dogs. And guess who gets to cleanup the mess. Yep, our battle hardened marine. Fortunately the 4 rotten archviles that are running the place into the ground are not on this map. You'll meet them for some lengthy negotiations in the next 2 maps.

You start outside on the grass. The outer halls of the Kings domain must be in that building in front of you. Time to kick some monster ass.

Marshall explains to us in the text file how keys are used in his maps. There are no blue keys, yellow keys lead to tougher optional content but can be quite rewarding and red keys are for progression.

We have a fairly simple map layout for the opening map. I hope you love the color brown because there is quite a lot of it around. The enemies are mostly low tier and aren't that threatening except for an occasional chain gunner that might surprise you.

The shotgun and the super shotgun are provided fairly quickly. The yellow key will allow you to get a rocket launcher after you've beaten the hardest enemies on the map, a couple of revenants and a cacodemon, i.e. after you no longer need the rocket launcher!

[TheOrganGrinder]

All right, let's do this.  ZDoom, Hurt Me Plenty, continuous, with saves.

 

99 Ways to Die

 

MAP01: (no title)

 

Cool castle, bro!

 

All kidding aside this is a pleasant castle romp with all of its old-school hallmarks proudly on display, from the way the armoury beyond the yellow door is both totally optional and filled with supplies completely without regard for level balance, to the "floating" quality of the turret balcony in the far east of the map that, in a map of this vintage, surely can't be a deliberately surrealistic element.  Amusing points are given for the chaingunners partially walled into their cubbies in the wall above the quarter-circle stairway, who, if they could do more than snarl, would no doubt be wailing "For the love of God, Montressor!" even as they unleash withering fire from their cells.  It's all nicely atmospheric for its era, and charming in its lack of pretension.  Onward!

[gaspe]

99 Ways to Die

 

MAP01: It's not bad but it's unimpressive, the starting courtyard looks good though. I agree with the others about the lighting, it's well done in some points but it doesn't have enough contrast. I liked that there are a couple of optional areas to visit at least.

[rehelekretep]

2 hours ago, Spectre01 said:

Yeah, there definitely was one in the demo forum at least.

if you go to your profile in the top right of the page, click your name, then click on My Attachments you can see everything you have posted and how many times it was clicked on :)

[Walter confetti]

Played 99 ways to die and Talosian very long ago, I remember they're pretty good!

[Pirx]

1 hour ago, Walter confetti said:

Played 99 ways to die and Talosian very long ago, I remember they're pretty good!

 

So do I.  Was pretty impressed by Talosian back then. Hope this doesn't change now  ;)

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP01

 

Actually too bad, I really want to like this but can't. When your wad title is 99 Ways to Die, I expect more ways than this. Here, we get a secret at the start, a few shotgun guys at the building entrance with imps to the sides. Later on a few chaingunners behind cages, including a big one in a secret area. Also the yellow key is quite close to the exit, although the map doesn't need a yellow key to exit. This is one of those times where a locked area ought to be a secret due to the RL being inside the room beyond the yellow door and it all being optional. And overall, the level is pretty ordinary. It's a price to pay for a first map in 99Ways. At least ordinary levels are good levels.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

First time joining DWMC (at least officially), but let's jump to it.

 

MAP01

GZDoom 2.4.0, continuous run, manual saves, UV

Short, sweet map, good way to ease into the adventure, but as stated several times before, it's far easier than its name suggests. Architecture was nice, if monotonous, and the optional locked area is one of my personal favorite little mechanics. I found myself sticking to the single shotgun and chaingun over the SSG mostly, given the low threat level present. All together, the level was nice, but it left quite a bit to be desired.

[rehelekretep]

welcome @Aquila Chrysaetos !

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

Thank you, @rehelekretep ; I was, for lack of a better term, a lurker last month, but I did play Mayhem17 with you guys and did enjoy myself, even if I did, admittedly, have to cheat at the end. I decided to formally be part of it today.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP02

100% kills, 1/1 "secret"

 

This one can be frustrating on UV pistol start, because it clearly isn't designed for it - no weapons at the start. Going for the yellow key likely gets you boxed in by the spectres, jumping through the windows towards the exit gives you ammo but no weapons (unless you pilfer a chaingun from one of the troopers). I settled for sneaking past the spectres into dark area behind them, where you can get the RL/SSG/PG, just gotta be nimble and avoid monsters (especially on the lift, which can be a pain). Once you gear up it's quite similar to last map - an optional yellow key that leads to some more (unneeded) rockets and a soulsphere, as well as some revenant/caco/lost soul guards, or you can proceed to the exit. There's an AV "ambush" at the end but you might not even notice him since he spawns a ways back, kinda strange. Still overly brown and boxy, but I did dig the 'bridge' in the SSG/PG room.

[Woolie Wool]

MAP02: WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?

Time: 8:28 | Kills: 105% | Items: 100% | Secrets 100% | Deaths: 5

FDA attached, recorded in vanilla v1.9.

 

The lighting gimmick has lost its novelty. The layout still feels like a mediocre Wolf3D level. This has a quite difficult beginning from a pistol start, requiring you to slip past three spectres (the route is marked with a glowing arrow that is very difficult to see in vanilla), and then manage to kill a number of enemies in quite close quarters with the rocket launcher without blowing yourself up. I, of course, eventually got through it with the cheesiest solution possible.  After you get the SSG and deal with your very precarious situation when you grab said SSG, the rest of the map is pure routine. The archvile encounter at the end is a piece of cake, with the archvile having only imps to resurrect and being very easy to corner-camp. A very blah level.

99WAYS2.zip