The DWmegawad Club plays: Whitemare & Sacrament

Sorry I've been behind in keeping up with the thread, but any consensus on next month's wad? I saw Scythe and Epic 2 mentioned earlier. I plan to be busy in Feb so no voting from me, although I can still put up the thread.

Sacrament Map 13 -- Controlled System - 100% Kills / 90% Secrets
I adore this map. Its setting is wonderfully realized; a real testament to the untapped potential for creating very pronounced atmospheres that the old stock DooM II textures still have even after all of these years--apart from the blood-moon sky (which does make a big contribution to the overall feel, granted), a few tree sprites, and some of that (in)famous TNT ivied-barbwire midtexure, Controlled System is created entirely out of stock textures, and is one of the most thematically memorable maps from its year of release. It depicts the ruins of some fairly anonymous manmade structures, perhaps on the outskirts of a fallen city--there is a power station, a part of what seems to be some kind of mining/shipping operation, a crumbling cathedral or temple of some sort, an observation deck, and more, all connected by an unusual system of transit bridges and skywalks centered around a modest open-air junction. All of this mass of manmade dereliction has been devastated by a series of cataclysms; the land around it has been variously torn by earthquakes and scorched by great rivers of molten lava, and the countryside is little more than a silent desert of ash, bereft of life either animal or vegetable. Like the rest of Sacrament, the scene takes place at night, under an evil-looking red moon, and BeeWen has taken the notion that "it's nighttime" pretty seriously, as most of the landscape is swathed in a blanket of darkness and moonshadow, with only the illumination of the lava flows and those few parts of the human structures that still have power standing out against the rest of the scene in stark contrast. It really is brilliant, I think...not everybody (probably even not most folks, I'd venture) likes for things to be as generally low on light in DooM as I do, but creations like this are a fine example of where that preference of mine comes from.

Suits me in other ways, as well. The map is quite expansive, but deceptively so at first glance--early on, in the power station segment, the environment is mostly smallscale and claustrophobic, and the progression is highly linear, which only emphasizes the sense of space and the exploratory progression style that comes to the fore once you hit the meat of the map. While the overall course to the exit remains fairly linear, it's not straightforward in nature, and there all manner of optional things to see and do (particularly if you go secret-hunting), creating the impression of a decidedly open world, albeit in microcosm.

The map fields 404 monsters on UV, and in this respect it is somewhat in keeping with the general style of Sacrament as a whole: by normal DooM standards 404 is a lot, sure, but it's a big/long map, and so they're fairly spread out, not something that most players will be unable to handle. Choreographed fights are pretty rare here; most of the combat is incidental and is based on classic tropes of monster positioning vis-a-vis terrain (e.g. chaingunners that suppress areas from vantages in the middle distance. arachnatrons that fire from long distance, imps and other basic projectile-slingers that harry you as you navigate a narrow path around one of the lava flows, etc.), although there are a few simple boss-monster setpieces, more than one of which prominently underlines the infighting mechanic. On the whole, I think the combat is more satisfying here than in most of the other Sacrament maps of similar scope, but it's difficult to make the argument that it's particularly well-defined; it's pretty evidently not the real focus, as underscored by the lost souls Hurricyclone mentioned--these monsters, which all cluster around the torture-yard area, do serve a purpose, but it's a narrative one, as opposed to one pertaining to combat (note their starting positions).

One of the most basic elements of DooM II's diegesis is that the earth has been besieged and ruined by darkness. There are many different ways to play this off, from the decidedly tongue-in-cheek to the dead serious, but whatever tack an author takes (if s/he really takes one at all) regarding this element of the setting, we typically see the earth in the process of being conquered, or immediately afterwards. Controlled System, in its serenely desolate ambience, feels like something out of a timeline where the planet falls, and is simply never rescued; a snapshot of what the world looks like years and years after becoming a suburb of Tartarus. For a game as simple as DooM is, the mood here is surprisingly poignant, and for that, Sacrament is worth the admission for this map alone.

I'd rather not field a 32 map set in a month with 28 days. Besides that, no real preference.

Sacrament map 7: All those goodies in the arena seats out of reach for so long. The red key area was easily the most memorable combat-wise with all those caged monsters creating tension and real danger of being overwhelmed. It's easier to deal with on continuous play since I opted to rush the archvile with plasma and then camp at a bottleneck to mow down the spectres. Cool secret placement too though I didn't uncover the BFG until after every monster was gone. Yeah, thanks a lot game. Though in my playthrough, I ran around provoking infighting and mancubi offed the cyber for me so the absence of BFG had minimal impact in the end.

Map 8; In contrast to others on this thread, I had no difficulty finding the exit; it seemed instinctive to suspect a previously blocked off area is the intended path.

Map 9: I really remembered the gameplay on this one. Even on continuous, I stuck with the shotguns and the rocket launcher since the map is designed around it. Minor quibble with multiple shell boxes stacked on each other in two places but not worth getting hung up on. The cyber can be handled with straight up SSG and dodging but it is easier to keep the switch by the first clump of shell boxes between it and the player and take potshots from the other side.
The architecture in the third (of four separate areas) really gave me that Eternal Doom vibe. I concur that it could be livelier by introducing new monsters while hitting the series of switches.

Crusader No Regret said:

I'd rather not field a 32 map set in a month with 28 days. Besides that, no real preference.

Hmm, we could do "Stomper", which was a Cacoward runner-up this year, one I've not played yet. It's 20-some maps, so we could opt to do a small WAD of some sort before or after it to fill out the month more, or just let the month run a bit short this time around.

Re: Scythe, I have a strong preference for Scythe II over the original (and a strong preference for the original over the portion of Scythe X that exists), but I guess I'd do either.

Demon of the Well said:

One of the most basic elements of DooM II's diegesis is that the earth has been besieged and ruined by darkness. There are many different ways to play this off, from the decidedly tongue-in-cheek to the dead serious, but whatever tack an author takes (if s/he really takes one at all) regarding this element of the setting, we typically see the earth in the process of being conquered, or immediately afterwards. Controlled System, in its serenely desolate ambience, feels like something out of a timeline where the planet falls, and is simply never rescued; a snapshot of what the world looks like years and years after becoming a suburb of Tartarus. For a game as simple as DooM is, the mood here is surprisingly poignant, and for that, Sacrament is worth the admission for this map alone.

I feel this to a T. If there was ever to be a sequel to Sacrament (besides the Doxylamine / 5till offshoots) I'd love to see more of these immense, foreboding levels.

I think I was the one to mention Scythe, and really, I'm sticking with it. The long levels in both these wads had burned me quite out, and since February is a short month, I say we should do the short levels in "skith" or it's sequel :).

And hopefully, I'll stop pronouncing it "skith" soon.

I'm a bit shamefully leaning towards Scythe just so if I do decide to join in it won't be that taxing. I haven't played Scythe II and am looking forward to that far more but next month wouldn't be a good time to start it personally. I checked out Epic 2 and it seems super rad so I'll likely pull for it in March too.

Sacrament map 10: In my continuous game, I entered with full ammo on everything except rockets (a mere 94/100) and still used most of the ammo pickups in the process of killing everything. 100% kills ended up being thwarted by a failed trigger near the end. Based on this experience, it's important to prioritize when playing from scratch. Some monsters are in places where they're highly unlikely to be a threat. Provoking infights also helps out quite a bit for having sufficient ammo to handle bigger threats. I encountered three archviles throughout with four more near the end so woe to the player with no ammo to deal with them when they appear.
I liked the layout. Plenty of areas to poke around in and secrets tend to provide some visual clue even if one or two I found by random examination. The Eternal Doom influence feels a bit strong here or maybe that's just that it takes quite a chunk of time to fully complete.

Map 11: I got curious and scouted on UV. Where the chainsaw is, there is a rocket launcher on HMP.

The sea cove wowed me what with getting a glimpse from afar long before reaching it and looks decent up close as well. Having a ship parked there makes a neat thematic touch.
The really long lift seems stupid. The associated ambush can rot. It sics an archvile with hellknights and chaingunners in an area with no cover. Dealing with it either eats up rockets/cells or takes a lot of patience (retreat far away and the archviles eventually die from stray attacks and splash damage). No heavy weapons are available on UV from scratch so what the hell?
Gripes aside, the low ammo makes for an interesting trek. There's not enough to kill everything when playing from scratch without utilizing infights so choose battles wisely. Playing continuous, I ended up with a net loss of 30-40 rockets before the loooong lift and that was with using ammo conservation tactics (though I was also going for 100% kills. Unlike map 10, I achieve it). It's very possible to not trigger the ambush before the big lift as well, handy for honest attempts when not caring about 100% kills.

100% kills on UV is probably not really doable without mad skills and a lot of patience. HMP Max is somewhat more doable. It will still take patience and likely involves skipping some monsters to come back later after the lift ambush has been cleaned out. (those chaingunners are a large source of ammo) I did a separate cheating scouting run from scratch on HMP and prior to the point of no return, I had around 200 bullets and zero shells and rockets with everything up to that point dead.

Map 12: First thing that comes to mind is a rewarding feeling from locating secrets. The second thing that comes to mind is the atmosphere. The low light creates the occasional bit of (intentional) difficulty where the darkness conceals attackers. Interesting bit of teasing with out of reach areas appearing throughout and then going through them in quick succession.

Map 13: Excellent atmosphere, just wow. Very fitting music selection. Not much to add that hasn't already been said. First time I played, I missed the backpack for the longest time.

^Right, Crusader's post there underscores just how much the gameplay balance on Azamael's maps changed between the first release and the final version. I'm going to have to see if I can find that old version again, frankly I think it's superior to the final version....there's 'balancing', and then there's 'adulteration', and this was certainly a case of the latter.


Scythe this month and Epic 2 in March sounds good to me.

MAP13: Controlled Sytem
83% kills, 4/10 secrets

Although I don't love this map as much as Demon does, I think he does a good job of capturing it's good points. Aesthetically it IS very nice - a large, sprawling man-made structure with lots to look at and enjoy, set among a very still-seeming blackened lava landscape. The ambiance is strong, and the music is perfect for it. It's also got that perfect mix of "this seems like something humans would make" with "but I have no idea what it really is supposed to be" design that Doom was perfect for. Overall, I think it's a little too dark in spots, but it's pretty damn good.

Though there's 484 monsters on UV, it's definitely an exploratory map more like MAP02 than a normal Doom map. Things are pretty easy for the most part, though there's a few spots where the difficulty spikes suddenly (such as the double Mastermind area). The other complaint is that its often not clear where to go; there are definitely a few switch hunts or "oh, this opened up now, I have no idea which switch did this" moment. I found a secret that let me access the red key fairly early on, then found the blue key (which I'm not sure is even needed to exit), then the yellow key last. By the time I found the yellow key, the level was mostly cleared/explored, so it felt a bit anti-climatic. Still, the foreboding ambiance is pretty nice.

After skimming Demon’s comments on MAP13, it prompted me to revisit the mapset just so I can see what exactly he’s gushing about.

MAP06: Not much to say regarding this one. I can tell it’d be a vastly different beast if I had tried to pistol start it, but as it stood on continuous it was a pretty straight forward and clean experience. There are some nice structures here, but the indirect layout got me pretty lost.

MAP07: Really like the song on this track; it’s unconventional for a Doom map but has a nice pace to it that keeps you fighting. The arena here looks stellar but plays by the numbers as circle strafing takes care of nearly every single fight (that AV that comes in later graciously breaks up the pace). I didn’t really enjoy the side arenas too much as none of them felt like they really challenged me either, although the “double star” one can get extremely nasty if the AV stays around too long. Good use of the MAP07 tag, but otherwise not much to gawk at here.

MAP08: A nice, bloody map that kept up a good pace which is a welcome change from the stop and go nature of MAP07. Nothing stood out to me that I feel needs mentioning, although Archi did a great job in following the theme of the bleak, deserted city overrun with nasties. The music track however felt more fitting for something like a credits theme as it gives a sense of overcoming the odds, which this map didn’t necessarily elicit.

MAP09: Fantastic atmosphere here—I’ve always had a soft spot for stone mazes swathed with vines. The first half or so of the map was really fun to play through, with a notably fun cyberdemon fight (that I shamefully ruined most of thanks to the easily spotted invul), but the floating stone prison area did feel inconsistent regarding the mapset. I mean it did have similar textures and everything, but you go from two neat caged garden mazes to this inexplicable structure containing penned revenants and… I guess it wasn’t to my liking. That went on longer than I wanted it to, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first half.

MAP10: This was a… strange one. Large, sprawling and quite unorthodox design at play here, with countless stairs and many odd angles all over the place. There weren’t any major fights per se as the wide space allows for more free-form encounters, so there wasn’t much to do outside look at the chaotic scenery. It’s definitely unique, but a little too unorganized for my tastes.

MAP11: I liked this more than Azamael’s other map, but I’m still not digging his style. It reminds me somewhat of Vile Flesh in that I’m intrigued by the design but playing it feels more like a chore due to (mostly) thoughtless enemy placement (or perhaps the layout doesn’t lend well to enemy placement in the first place). I do have to say though, the view of the outside from one of the harbors in the cavern is absolutely breathtaking. It’s strange that seeing such blocky, crudely colored grandeur can evoke a response from me akin to viewing Witcher 3 footage for the first time.

MAP12: Fantastic map! A dark, gloomy complex filled to the brim with some pretty nasty encounters! Visuals were superb and I enjoyed getting lost in this metallic behemoth, dying more on this map than throughout the entire wad. The only thing I really dislike, which has been consistent throughout Sacrament, is the liberal use of specters in the dark. To me they’re nothing more than annoying speed bumps that force you to fire randomly in dark rooms or just take damage if you’re not quick enough to know they’re in your way. It feels cheap to me, like a chaingunner that pops up behind you after you go through a teleporter. Otherwise though, I really had a blast with this one and enjoyed the beating it dished out.

MAP13: I can definitely see the appeal here. Massive, expansive space that you have to climb around in while taking out what little remains of hell’s forces, traversing the terrain in order to figure out where to go. This pairs wonderfully with MAP02 in taking the eerily quiet path and making the player feel alone despite the 400-odd monsters prowling around. While it is certainly the strongest themed map in the set, it was a damn confusing thing to navigate. This could conversely be seen as a pro towards it, as a massive abandoned control point wouldn’t have consecutively linear tunnels, but I think there should’ve been the option to collect the three keys in any order instead of sectioning each one off with the need for another. It was a strong experience otherwise.

Overall, Sacrament is a very peculiar type of mapset that tends to focus on abandonment and desolation, even if there are quite a few maps within that disregard either of those things. It’s certainly worth a look if you’re big on setting in Doom, but the gameplay honesetly left me wanting. MAP02 and MAP12 were my favorites, with probably MAP01 and MAP04 at the bottom.

Only posting to say that this club play is what got me to finish out Sacrament. I started it a number of months ago, and loved it, but got stuck on MAP10; I couldn't figure out where to go after a few hours, and eventually gave up. This post inspired me to pull it back up again. I loaded MAP10 in DoomBuilder and discovered that I never walked over the tripline that opens the entire southwest section. Poor mapping, right there. Other than that, though, I loved this set. I'm currently about 3/4 of the way through the last map, which has easily made my top 10 list, just on "wow" factor alone.

Hi, sorry for the bump. If anyone is still curious about the V1.0 version of Azamael's maps (like I was for a long time), they can be found at the old DSDA.