The DWmegawad Club plays: Claustrophobia 1024

dobu gabu maru · August 1, 2023

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.

sWhen 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

Note that you can vote for up to three separate nominations in a single month, and every wad must contain at least three maps each. The winning nomination must receive at least four votes for a thread to be made. Ties will be decided by RNG.

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>>>DOWNLOAD CLAUSTROPHOBIA 1024 HERE<<<

Feeling… congested? Claustrophobia 1024 is a 2009 megawad where the playable space for each map is a cramped 1024x1024 map units. To the untrained eye it might seem impossible to make a varied and distinct mapset with such a stingy limitation—but with project lead Mechadon at the helm, you better prepare for one hell of a ride!!!

Author & Maplist:

MAP01 - “The Warp Facility” by The Green Herring

MAP02 - “Return to the Darkening” by Impboy, walter confetti, Jodwin, Mechadon

MAP03 - “Break the Chain” by Jodwin

MAP04 - “Pit of Sludge” by Stewboy, Kyka

MAP05 - “Subterfuge” by Mechadon

MAP06 - “Four Square” by The Green Herring

MAP07 - “Dead In, Dead Out” by Mechadon

MAP08 - “Hex of Depression” by pcorf

MAP09 - “Bitter Sanctuary” by Kyka

MAP10 - “Mudbath” by Stewboy, Jodwin

MAP11 - “Technicfear” by pcorf

MAP12 - “Spitshine” by Fiend

MAP13 - “Assault” by Joshy

MAP14 - “Deception” by Dreadopp

MAP15 - “The Inmost Con’dens’ed” by Jimmy, Mechadon

MAP31 - “Skyscrape IV” by Jodwin

MAP32 - “Oil Rig” by Mik57, Mechadon

MAP16 - “Nocturnal Abyss” by brinks

MAP17 - “Transfer Base” by Solarn, Kyka, Jodwin

MAP18 - “Weather Station” by InsanityBringer, Kyka, Jodwin

MAP19 - “Nova Scotia Robots” by esselfortium

MAP20 - “Refinery” by dutch devil

MAP21 - “Padma” by KingKill33, Dreadopp

MAP22 - “Diminished Apparatus” by Mechadon

MAP23 - “Fear No Evil” by dutch devil

MAP24 - “Second Assault” by Spertz

MAP25 - “Cabracan 1024” by Mechadon

MAP26 - “Aura of Evil” by Butts, Joshy, Jodwin, Mechadon

MAP27 - “Hell Sewage” by Jodwin

MAP28 - “Poison Ivy” by Joshy

MAP29 - “Magnum Opus” by POTGIESSER, Mechadon

MAP30 - “Thanatophobia” by Jodwin

MAP33 - “Nil” by Mechadon

MAP34 - “**NULL**” by Mechadon

BONUS CONTENT

Claustrophobia 1024 2

Doomwiki

DSDA

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OLD THREADS

Spoiler

The DWmegawad Club Metathread

2012

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2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

brick · August 1, 2023

I had my post all ready and just waiting for the thread to appear :P

GZDoom, Boom compat, software, HNTR, blind, continuous with saves.
I've played a few of these restrictive megawads before, but surprisingly I've never played the original trendsetters (Congestion and Claustrophobia). I've had to skip several months now due to either being too busy, or not feeling like I have the stamina for a succession of long hard maps (hi PRCP2). A collections of tiny maps seems like the ideal time to come back. I'm away for almost half of the month but hopefully I can build enough buffer and keep posting even while I'm away.

MAP01 - “The Warp Facility” by The Green Herring
As an opener this does a good job of setting up what to expect from the megawad. I was actually surprised just how small 1024x1024 really is, I expected there'd be more space to move around. The map is not too claustrophobic though thanks to the open spaces on the sides. It makes nice use of elevations too, with quite a bit of up and down, it makes the map seem a bit larger than it is. TGH is a big fan of spawning shotgun guys right next to me, and I'm not, but the skill balancing is well done and there are tons of stimpacks. The arrows pointing the way are probably not necessary considering you never have to backtrack very far, but they're a cute touch and I appreciate a map that actively communicates it does not want to waste my time trying to second-guess it.

Dobu, how do you want to handle the 2 bonus maps?

DJVCardMaster · August 2, 2023

Yes, at last, we finally play this one, it is the first time I'll be playing one of my favourite mapsets for the club (most of them were already played long before I became a DW user). It is one of the first mapsets I remember playing, and I have to say I enjoyed both 1 and 2. Never replayed Claustrophobia because I said to myself not to do it until we have to play it in the club, so I'm really happy.
I have to say Claustrophobia is miles better than Congestion in every aspect, and not only that, if you are scared to play it or burned because of how long PRCP 2 was, I'd suggest you all to give it a try, as you may breeze through several maps in one sitting. You won't regret (Or you will if you don't like short spaces to maneuver).

Clau1024 - Claustrophobia 1024 - Mechadon et al.:

A really sweet community project with mapping restrictions, forcing the player to move around a small 1024x1024 square in every single map, just like its spiritual predecessor Congestion 1024. Sadly, this project went a little bit forgotten because of the little drama it had back in its development, as the project was lead not only by Mechadon, but by Death-Destiny aswell. The latter was saving submissions for a parallel project without permission, but luckly this did not happen and Death-Destiny left the community, but sadly Mechadon had to do all the heavy work, fixing maps and managing the project all by himself. Dramas aside, the project not only finished with 34 fine maps from the community, but it quickly spawned a sequel not so long after, managed by Jodwin, after there were several submissions that did not make the cut into the first iteration. In comparison to Congestion, Claustrophobia has new graphics, color pallete and also a high bunch of new textures that will make this experience more refreshing than the original Congestion 1024.

MAP01 - The Warp Facility - The Green Herring (100%K/I/S):

The first map is as simple as a MAP01 can get, but short, really cool looking and quite iconic, yes, you may start seeing things that are going to be a bit of a problem later on, progression is quite cryptic even for maps so small like this, that shootable switch is quite difficult to see if you are not paying attention. Not the last we are going to see in the Claustrophobia catalog. Cool looking first map, definitively better than Congestion's first map. And talking about the project's father and spiritual predecesor, we can already notice there is some big quality improvement in the aesthetic-side.
The track used for this map is made by TGH aswell, and I have to say it sounds really nice, I like it.

(UV - Playthrough/PRBoom+)

Tons of nostalgia, I hope not to get driven by it as much in this playthrough.

LadyMistDragon · August 2, 2023

I won't be participating this month because 1) I saw Lingyan203's playthrough of this over a decade ago, and while.....it's fine and has around 5 maps by a later key figure in TNT 2's development @Kyka the fact is that 2) I really need a break anyway. See you on the 25th!

DFF · August 2, 2023

Map01 - The Warp Facility
K: 74 |I: 100 |S: 100 |
Gzdoom Continuous, CCards 5.0, Zero Tolerance
Cards: Add vegetation to nearby monsters, Monsters Never Infight, Monsters heal nearby monsters on death

Been a while since i've played with the Zero Tolerance weapon/monsterset but i figured it would be a more balanced pairing for the maps. Continued my corruption card inclusion since last time it I had some good fun with the cards. Nothing special here but decided to take a tough one out of the gate, making monster aggro 100% on me.

This is a very nice introduction to the set. A smart little tech outpost beset on some sulky cliffs, The Green Herring makes good use of the limited space. This felt like it was smaller than 1024 (having worked under similar limitations recently) but the reason being is that this map gives the player a lot of breathing room. The downside of many maps in this set i Imagine is that they will be either simpler or cramped. Thankfully this map is neither. Herring makes good use of returning spaces to stretch out the gameplay and even has some nice verticality. The traps were well timed with what was going on and opposition felt strong for an opener. The door traps I felt were a bit on the meaner side (especially since hitscanners in ZeroT are especially deadly, more akin to Blood's cultists in reaction and damage) but This definitely feels like a hallmark of what makes a good map in this set. A fun start with smart texturing and design to invite the player to a new megawad.

Rankings:

Spoiler

Map01

Cards:

Spoiler

Monsters never infight

RED77 · August 2, 2023

Since these are just short maps I think I have time to give it a spin, so let's try this.

MAP01 - “The Warp Facility” by The Green Herring
Difficulty: HMP
TIME: 3:28
KILLS: 100%
SECRET:100%
ITEMS: 100%

Sweet little map. Sure it likes those hitscan-embush. Very useful secret in this context.
Being Arrows a taboo (or at least a hot topic) in the community, I'm glad they use them here and I like how they were implemented.

Not much more to say
★★★★☆

TJG1289 · August 2, 2023

I'll jump in tomorrow with the first 2 maps. I don't think I've played this WAD, but there's a few cramped maps that I'm picturing that could be from this. I guess I'll see if any of them pop up here.

bioshockfan90 · August 2, 2023

Haven't participated in one of these since NEIS, might as well hop back in. Might've tried to play this in the past, maybe I'm confusing it with another 1024 megaWAD.

GZDoom, pistol starts HNTR saveless unless it gets to be a real slog.

MAP01: The Warp Facility

100K | 100I | 0S

Fun little linear "back-and-forth" romp with the odd gimmick of relatively-big-by-map01-standards waves of teleporting hitscanners. You're armed with a shotgun and it doesn't get too bad, except for sarges that teleport behind you if you're trying to play it a bit too loosey-goosey. I didn't even know there was a shootable switch to progress at the very beginning, just kinda hit it by accident whilst trying to kill an enemy. Had I not figured that out I probably would've been stuck for a lot longer. I like the arrows that indicate where to go, makes it feel very simple and "go here, you're on a set path". Couldn't find the secret, assume it was down in the muck. I like the custom textures but it doesn't excite me that much.

All said, not a bad MAP01 given the constraints. It feels as fleshed out as any Doom map I've played, and since it's map01 there's really no feeling of constraint because map01s are typically pretty small and light on the monster load.

4.0 flat out of 5

MAPRANKS: (top-to-bottom, best-to-worst)

MAP01: The Warp Facility

Snikle · August 2, 2023

MAP01: The Warp Facility (HMP)

Been a while since I did the DWMC, even longer since I finished the month’s WAD. Seeing as how I joined a similarly restricted community project recently, I figured this could be a good one to join in on, for inspiration. Inspiration in the loosest terms of course, I already have an idea and general layout for the map, I just wanna see little tricks and how the size-restricted gameplay feels.

For an opener, I enjoyed this quite a bit. The map opens with the exit right in the second room, in the center of the map, but blocked off by pillars. Lots of shotgunners, always fun to turn into mash, same goes for zombiemen (which there were less of). A solitary chaingunner to give you a fight got the weapon right before another horde of shotties warps in. Lots of teleporting monsters today, a cluster at every turn. With the small size of the maps, it makes sense that most monsters aren’t in place from the beginning. Lots of areas will get reused in clever ways, I presume. Speaking of, I liked the arrows that appeared partway through that showed which direction was correct in this twisty linear through of a square area. Sadly I did not manage to find the secret without resorting to less than desirable means of IDDT.

Edited August 2, 2023 by Snikle

DJVCardMaster · August 2, 2023

I do have to mention, I'm managing the Constriction: 1024 project and Snikle, Red and DFF are working on it, I'm also happy to announce Kyka, who submitted about 6 entries between Claustrophobia 1 and 2, is working on a map for it after his hiatus since TNT: Revilution, so it is great that mappers can replay this banger and get some inspiration for said project, that was one of the ideas aswell. We already have 17 maps finished (Needs proper testing though) and I have to say maps are looking great so far.

Lingyan203 · August 2, 2023

Playthrough of Claustrophobia 1024

Playthrough of Claustrophobia 2

bioshockfan90 · August 2, 2023

Got a good amount of writeups done last night. Don't wanna be lacking if I burn out or some maps take me a while to beat. That and days where I want to do other stuff. That being said, here's MAP02!

MAP02: Return To The Darkening

100K | 81I | 0S

Heh, I get it! It’s got similar texturing and has that dark techbase feeling. More of the arrows, although I feel they aren’t used as cleverly here and a lot more sparse. Not much to write about, really - just go here, hit a switch, monsters teleport in, you kill them, move on to the next ambush, rinse repeat. Not bad, but nothing that really gets me going. As fun of a little reference/throwback map this is, it’s just a simple techbase map. It could be bad, sure; but it’s just not that exciting. 3.8 out of 5.

MAPRANKS:

Spoiler

MAP01

MAP02

RED77 · August 2, 2023

MAP02 - “Return to the Darkening” by Impboy, walter confetti, Jodwin, Mechadon
Difficulty: HMP
TIME: 11:24
KILLS: 100%
SECRET:100%
ITEMS: 100%

I think this map is a step up on the visual front.
Combat-wise, it's ok. I was not expecting that final ambush. Well done.
Now, I spend like 8 minutes trying to find how to access those secrets. And I have to IDDT them.
MAN! That hint was obscure, not a big fan.

★★★☆☆

RHhe82 · August 2, 2023

Okay, I'll jump in for now -- I'm not sure if I'm able to be around for the entire month, but as the maps should be short, and this one's been on my "to be played"-list for a while now, so why not.

*

MAP01: The Warp Facility. Played on DSDA v0.26.2, UV, PS. 40/40 K, 1/1 S, 11/11 I. Comp. time 2:50 (1st) & 1:35 (2nd)

I immediatly remember having played at least this first map sometime last year. Somehow I remembered there being revenants, but I guess my memory doesn't serve. Anyway, nice cliffside techbase opener with a little backtracking and area repopulation to maximize spatial efficiency. Map is easy enough (I also remembered ammo scarcity, but that either was quite far from the truth), I even played it twice to get a better time. Good start, love the shortness.

*

MAP02: Return to the Darkening. Played on DSDA v0.26.2, UV, PS. 39/39 K, 2/2 S, 16/16 I. Comp. time 2:36

I had played this one, too, and I guess this is where my memories of revenants came from. Provoked by another thread on Doomworld, I insisted playing saveless, had my butt kicked at the end without having found the secret(s) at first, but as soon as I figured to open the secret (I don't know if we're supposed to spot the secret wall somehow), everything became easier: rocket launcher and soul sphere helps a lot.

Another great techbase that at first (seeing the outside area with some sort of boat) feels bigger than 1024x1024. I love attention to detail - the wall lights are constructed from several smaller sectors giving that modern feel, when even for small levels authors go through the trouble of proper decoration.

Klear · August 2, 2023

This is gonna be fun. I'm planning to play with Voxel Doom 2, but ~~it seems QZD needs to be patched a bit before it works. Hopefully it will be working by tomorrow.~~ I installed wrong version. Voxels coming from map03 onward.

I'll start out with UV, pistol start, see how it goes. I might be a little rusty, so I'm using a rifle provided by the VR weapon pack I'm using as a replacement for pistol. Everyday I stray further from vanilla...

From what I've seen so far this wad should be just lovely. Lack of space means a lot of opportunities to lean behind corners, small map size means it runs on standalone VR without any issue and the audio doesn't get desynced a lot in my footage, something which has been forcing me to spend a lot of time in post-processing. At least the first two vids I can just plop onto youtube.

MAP01 - “The Warp Facility” by @The Green Herring

QuestZDoom, UV, blind, saves

I love how the map looks. Actually I fell love with the graphics even before - when I saw the font in the menus, but the level itself doesn't disappoint. There are a few nasty ambushes, but nothing I couldn't handle. I think playing in VR actually gives me quite a few advantages here which is nice. I'm sure that will change as the wad progresses.

MAP02 - “Return to the Darkening” by @Impboy4, @Walter confetti, @Jodwin, @Mechadon

QuestZDoom, UV, blind, saves

Oh dear lord there's revenants. I've forgotten how I hate those things. I managed to dance around the first one's missiles without an issue, so I may not be as rusty as I feared. The second one... I never knew what hit me. But that's why I play with saves. I especially like the detailing on this map - leaky pipes, slightly rotated crates and that one red 3D button look gorgeous in VR.

Edited August 2, 2023 by Klear

Celestin · August 2, 2023

Woof!, -cl9, pistol-start with saves, blind

If you were tired after PRCP 2's later maps, here's something smaller. Claustrophobia 1024 is one of a series of community projects that restricts the playing area - I personally haven't played a wad of this type, so I'm intrigued how it will go.

MAP01: The Warp Facility by The Green Herring

The width and lenght are limited, but nobody said anything about height.

The Warp Facility is a short corridor, set in the middle of a deep rocky pit. The opposition consists of mostly imps and hitscanners, which are deadly in a place this cramped. Probably the most noteworthy thing about this map is the new set of textures, including a set of arrows that points you to the next objective. It's a nice touch, but is it really needed in a map of this size?

Not a bad start.

MAP02: Return to the Darkening by Impboy, with edits by Walter Confetti, Jodwin, Mechadon

A moody techbase with a bit more monster veriety (pinkies and spectres join in, plus a token revenant), but still little threat. The two traps are a high point, the first one is in the red key room, it squeezes you between two groups of monsters where you have only a shotgun to defend. The second one is a teleport ambush after you open the red key door (this is where the revenant appears). I have to mention a pair of secrets here, they are hard to find unless you hump everything and unhelpful. A rocket launcher in a map this tight feels like a hazard and the computer area map is utterly useless.

Still, it was fun to blaze through this. Return to the Darkening is rich with details, which successfully distract from its petite size and the action isn't bad.

DJVCardMaster · August 2, 2023

MAP02 - Return to the Darkening - Impboy (Edits by Walter Confetti, Jodwin & Mechadon) (100%K/87%I/0%S):

Oof, this map passed through many hands for some reason, way too much for a map so small!. Considering how short it is, I suspect the map was quite underdetailed to be accepted at its first inception, judging by the amount of overdetail it has, as it looks really nice for a small-sized stuff. A shorter entry but harder than yesterday's one. Luckly keeping up with similar dark tech-base visuals. The map is cool, but has nothing too interesting to show off. Maybe its secret areas, which I always forget how to find for some reason. Try to find them as you may get a rocket launcher for your troubles and the map will become quite trivial.

(UV - Playthrough/PRBoom+)

Order of Preference:

Spoiler

MAP02
MAP01

Snikle · August 2, 2023

MAP02 - Return to the Darkening (HMP)

An excellent view out the back of the starting room, be sure not to miss it. A pretty reminder that the unplayable area can be far outside the confines of 1024. Kill a single shotgunner in the curved hall behind, and marvel at the cool techy details when you’re done. Took some damage in the next room, with the neat light fixture and a few locked doors, one by a red key and one that just didn’t open. There was also one that did, which led to another larger room with crates and more monsters. Hitting a switch here opens the non-keyed door in the room before. The visuals in this map are excellent so far.

The next room has the arrows again, pointing to the red key-on-a-stick and a chainsaw. I chainsawed a chaingunner to get the better chain weapon, then perforated everything else left in the room. Red key in hand, the exit is yours to be had. The 2 secrets are both found in the same sequence, a computer map/supercharge, and the rocket launcher. I did not find them until after everything was long dead. Maybe the next map will end my secret dry spell. Hopefully it won’t end my death-free spell.

TJG1289 · August 2, 2023

So while there are a few small and cramped maps that I can recall playing, I don't think any of them are from this WAD. Whatever I'm thinking of probably came out after this, as 2009 seems a bit early for me to have played whatever it is I'm trying to recall. Again, this wasn't a Cacoward winner, so I most likely missed this one back in the day. Should be interesting to see what these mappers do with a limited space. Not sure if the small maps will amount to much in terms of write-ups, tho. Also, I think I'm going to try to not save as much as I normally do. Didn't come to this decision until after beating the first map without saves first-try.

Also, reading the Doomwiki on this, I'm surprised to hear that this WAD is the reason Death-Destiny quit the Doom community. Huh.

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Blind/Saves (if needed)

Map 01: The Warp Facility - The Green Herring

100% kills and secrets

Time: 2:18

Nice little tech-base in a small canyon here. I'm really liking the textures being used in this WAD. At first I thought I'd be able to beat this without taking damage, but then I got hit by a shotgunner I couldn't see on the return trip back. That return trip is a nice touch to make the map feel longer. You have to hit a switch outside then return back to the start to get to the red key area. Arrows point you back so you know that's the gameplan. Only have hitscan and imps to deal with, but there's quite a few times where hitscan teleport in directly behind you and light you up. The hidden green armor was much appreciated for this. Not too bad of a start to the WAD! Has just the right amount of zest.

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Blind/Saves (if needed)

Map 02: Return to the Darkening - Impboy, walter confetti, Jodwin, Mechadon

100% kills and secrets

Time: 3:34

I'm afraid to ask why a map this small needed to be edited by 3 other people after its main author was done with it. Was it for detailing? Cause I don't see anything that could have had any technical issues. If it was for detailing, it worked cause this map looks nice too! The pinky family and revs are added to the monster lineup here, and so is the rocket launcher. Finding the RL was kinda weird and I think I did it more in accident than on purpose. The red key causes a tight ambush that the chainsaw/chaingun works wonders on. The surprise shotgunner/spectre combo at the end works well too. Another solid map.

Edited August 2, 2023 by TJG1289

cannonball · August 2, 2023

MAP01 - “The Warp Facility” by The Green Herring

Short and very linear, the couple of warp ins by certain doors are a little annoying as you immediately get shot from behind by hitscanners. I like how the author tried to use the space, though in a way this needed a little more fleshing out in terms of the architecture of the central building. It isn't a bad map overall and pretty easy.

MAP02 - “Return to the Darkening” by Impboy, walter confetti, Jodwin, Mechadon

Well this one did kill me, again (And I suspect I will say this time and time again) there are some rather obnoxious ambushes that can easily stuff the player over. Not much else to say, this felt a little more structured and the visuals are very nice for what was there. So overall this was probably slightly better than map01.

Klear · August 2, 2023

MAP03 - “Break the Chain” by @Jodwin

QuestZDoom, UV, blind, saves

The berserk pack at the start made my kinda afraid, as melee in VR just doesn't work too reliably. I tried to use it when I could but still ran out of ammo by the end of the map. It was manageable though, except for the duo of hell knights are the end. Screw that! I just ran past them.

The centrepiece of this short outing was the room with the conveyor belt. I liked how it looked. Reminded me of Duke 3D. I didn't like how it immediately teleported you up when you walked on it, though. It kinda ruined the illusion for me. Other than that a solid map for sure.

DFF · August 3, 2023

Map02 - Return to the Darkening
K: 100 |I: 100 |S: 100 |
Gzdoom Continuous, CCards 5.0, Zero Tolerance
Cards: Zombiemen become enraged when low health, Imps can climb walls, Imps fire explosive projectiles

A rather smartly dressed base greets the player in Map02. this map feels like there is more to do than map01 but that comes at a cost of more cramped corridors. Combat is compact, punchy, and mostly non-constrictive. Some ambushes tend to be more rude due to the limited space but nothing frustratingly so. The map almost overindulges in detail. Its enough that it helps you forget about the limited space, but anything more would feel excessive. I appreciate having two secrets in such a confined space, but the second switch secret didn't feel like a secret at all, and probably would have been better as one secret. Overall a decent map, but loses points from me since it doesn't do much to make the space feel any bigger than what is presented (aside from the tiny window at the start)

Rankings:

Spoiler

Map01
Map02

Cards:

Spoiler

Imps fire explosive projectiles
Monsters never infight

brick · August 3, 2023

GZDoom, Boom compat, software, HNTR, blind, continuous with saves.

If anyone else is using GZDoom, I found a way to approximate the Invulnerability colormap in the port. In Display Options, turn on Custom Inverse Map, then set the Dark colour to R140 G60 B0, and the Light colour to black (R0 G0 B0). It's not perfect, but it looks pretty close to how the custom colormap looks in DSDA-Doom and Eternity. I tried using these values to create the same effect in Decorate (with Powerup.Colormap) but nothing I did worked, the effect looked completely different.
^{(All I want for Christmas is for GZDoom software renderer to read the invulnerability from the colormap and Boom lumps)}

MAP02 - “Return to the Darkening” by Impboy, walter confetti, Jodwin, Mechadon
I don't remember much of The Darkening so I'm not sure what the map is referencing. Instead of sending you back and forth and across like the first map, here there's that central hub and you do the rooms one at a time. Combat here is a bit more straightforward, less teleporting shotgun guys and more open door see enemies, or push switch to unleash monster closet (though the teleporting demons at the end did take me surprise, and took a good bite before I reacted). I like that the combat on HNTR is so chill, I like megawads that really care for making the easy difficulty accessible to anyone.

MAP03 - “Break the Chain” by Jodwin
Doomcute in a 1024 map, now there's a surprise! Boom specials also make an appearance as part of the immediate gameplay and not just background scripting, with the conveyors and silent teleporter to get the blue key. There's some lovely sector lighting, in general I quite liked the map's visuals. I think this is also the first map so far where everything (not just the player area) is restricted to 1024, and so the map gets creative with lowering floors for ambushes instead of relying on teleporting in everything. The Hell Knight behind the exit was a fun surprise, I think you can also just draw him out and run past hime if you don't feel like berserk-punching him to death. I really enjoyed the map.

I almost always play with autorun on because otherwise I have the run key almost continuously pressed, but the maps are so small that I now have it always off and only rarely run. It's interesting to see how an ingrained habit is changed by the way a wad is designed.

DavitW · August 3, 2023

The original Congestion 1024 was one of the first Doom wads I ever played back in 2007 or so. Such a nostalgic wad for me. I'll be attempting 100% demos on every map, played through using PrBoom+ on Ultra-Violence.

MAP01: The Warp Facility
Expect to be surrounded by hitscanners whenever you open a door in this map. It would be annoying, but this map would be piss easy without them so I'm not complaining too much. I like the aesthetic of this map quite a bit, and it's got a good flow to it.

MAP02: Return to the Darkening
The Darkening was another classic episode from back in the day. The secret here is fine. I was expecting to jump through an invisible wall off the crates, but it's just a regular push wall instead. If you find one secret, you're going to find the other one as well. Not sure why they didn't just make them one secret instead. The biggest challenge is saved for last here, with a slightly bullshit trap at the red key door and a revenant to top it all off.

MAP03: Break the Chain
I assume you were supposed to sing "Break the Chain" to the melody from this midi, though I admittedly expected a Fleetwood Mac reference at first. Guess what? We have Tyson gameplay here, but this map is more Michael Spinks than it is Evander Holyfield. You might have to bust out the pistol here when shotgun shells are low and enemies are out of reach, but the only real challenge here is the 2 hell Knights at the very end. It took me a moment to find the blue key switch by the red door, but other than that the map was well designed, including what I assume were some fancy editing tricks with the conveyer belt.

1024CLAU01.zip

1024CLAU02.zip

1024CLAU03.zip

bioshockfan90 · August 3, 2023

MAP03: Break The Chain

96K | 100I | 100S

Okay, you can tell there’s a feeling of congestion finally with map03, and it’s not too bad given that the map has clear divided sections and progression, but the route to the blue key is a tad confusing and it’s not really a true Tyson map if you have imps up on a ledge shooting at you and a lost soul (on the difficulty I’m playing on, anyway) that almost necessitate using the pistol unless you’re hardcore enough. Ho-hum. Downward spiral and all that, plus not as pretty looking as the prior 2 maps. Still playable and I like that they’re trying to keep it fresh with a Tyson gimmick 3 maps in, so I have to give it some credit. 3.6 out of 5.

MAPRANKS:

Spoiler

MAP01

MAP02

MAP03

RED77 · August 3, 2023

MAP03 - “Break the Chain” by Jodwin
Difficulty: HMP
TIME: 4:54
KILLS: 100%
SECRET:100%
ITEMS: 100%

A little more cramped but I really dig how it unfolds with progression.
Feels a little easier than the previous one, tho.
Plus... no secrets.

★★★☆☆

RHhe82 · August 3, 2023

MAP03: Break the Chain. Played on DSDA v0.26.2, UV, PS. 49/49 K, 0/0 S, 10/10 I. Comp. time 5:03

Techbase tyson map. I like it, although it does feel visually a bit more boring than the first two maps. Still, I like, there's an interesting small factory area with conveyor belt and boomy silent teleporter thing. I guess the cacodemon is the only one that really needs to be shotgunned; I spared the ammo and used some on hell knights at the end, too.

KickAss · August 3, 2023

GZDooM 4.10, PB 3.0, HeXeReTiC HUD PB3 v8.3RC2e, Glory Kills v29b, SilentDoomguy, Flashlight, -iwad doom2.wad (ver 1.666), -skill 4 (UV), continuous play, no saves.

Hell yes the DWMegawadclub is back for good again with a super tiny megawad that my machine hopefully can handle better than the game from the last month.

MAP01 - “The Warp Facility” by The Green Herring

93140899_map01dwm082023.jpg.41fc8b9654367e6c3ea66a0ce6bebb7b.jpg

MAP02 - “Return to the Darkening” by Impboy, walter confetti, Jodwin, Mechadon

793534109_map02dwm082023.jpg.742db5acc90511c1c350a23a763f91f8.jpg

I don't know why I didn't found no secrets in this map ... .

MAP03 - “Break the Chain” by Jodwin

773251656_map03dwm082023.jpg.e08550e00da50a2e95e383a8670f2d9c.jpg

Of course the look and feel of the maps is really cramped but it is fun to play so far. Happy fraggin' !

continuum.mid · August 3, 2023

Dammit, missed August 1st! I also might have started on this WAD before, but lost the save file. Thankfully these 1024 maps usually don't take long to complete (or to write about). That's why I voted for it back in June.

Playing on Woof 10.5.1 + Freedoom Phase 2, Ultra-Violence, pistol start

MAP01: The Warp Facility (The Green Herring)

A cool looking iron techbase in the mountains. Beat it first try, though a couple of hitscanner ambushes nearly killed me. Good warmup level, nice and easy and sets the tone.

MAP02: Return to the Darkening (Impboy)

Continuing the visual style of the last map, which reminds me a bit of TNT: Revilution; maybe they're using the same texture pack? The ambushes are a little tougher this time, with Revenants thrown into the mix. I'm a little embarrassed that this took me 4 attempts, should've gotten it first try but I've been away from Doom for a couple months.

MAP03: Break the Chain (Jodwin)

I interpret this setting to be a UAC ammo factory. Most of this map follows the Tyson gameplay style. There's a shotgun, but only enough ammo for a few strategic uses. I'm terrible at melee combat in vanilla Doom, so it's a surprise that it only took me two attempts to beat this - though I did have to skip the final fight with the two Hell Knights; after one hit I was at 4% health and just decided to run for the nearby exit. In general, beating this map seems to rely on wise usage of the fists, pistol, and shotgun.

Snikle · August 3, 2023

MAP03 - Break the Chain (HMP)

Quick punchy opener starting in a tiny room with a berserk and an imp visible through the window. A hallway zombie lies between the two of you, but he’s facing away and easily gibbed by roided-up doomguy fists. Then I died a bunch of times, mainly because I can’t punch for shit and the imps got me down to 5% health and then I saved like a moron. There’s only 2 stimpacks in the map I think, at least there were after I got whittled down. Visuals were pleasantly beige, with enough computer panels and techy interludes to keep from boredom. The silent teleporter conveyor belt was interesting, it doesn’t pop you out anywhere you’d expect given the direction you leave/come from, but it’s cool.

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The DWmegawad Club plays: Claustrophobia 1024

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