The DWmegawad Club plays: Sunlust

Makes me wonder if this playthrough will actually force the mighty duo to update the /idgames release, as this final upload contains a bunch of noticeable screw-ups (some of which are exclusive to it, hehe), and mr. Stephens was/is very, very, very reluctant to fix those and unleash the finalest final version on us... Push harder people!

MAP02: Down Through

Another delightfully detailed brown techbase which, on HNTR, starts to introduce more in the way of mid-tier heavy hitters: Hell knights, revenants, and one each of the arch-vile and pain elemental. The setting this time could be a fouled and out-of-order water treatment plant, or the underworks of the base the player started exploring in MAP01. Gameplay brings more in the way of ambushes this time. The natural rock areas, whether the blue key ascent in the north of the map or the purely cosmetic hanging vine chamber in the south, are really nicely done.

...

Out of idle curiosity, to what factor do we owe the size of the WAD, which is considerable as such projects go?

TheOrganGrinder said:

Out of idle curiosity, to what factor do we owe the size of the WAD, which is considerable as such projects go?

If you're talking about file size, it's particularly because almost all IWAD graphics have been reincluded because of palette modification. Technically, reincluding them was unnecessary, they would have worked fine and looked OK with the new palette without being reincluded, but Ribbiks & Danne wanted them to look as close to the original ones as possible, so they recolored all graphics to have slightly lighter red color (because the palette's red color was darker) and reincluded them. Still, lots of not-at-all-red graphics were reincluded completely unnecessarily, as I reported here.

Of course, there are also tons of custom textures, and the maps are usually very detailed and therefore big - actually, the total size of purely map lumps in Sunlust is 48.89 MB.

MAP02 - Down Through

Kills: 97% | Items: 95% | Secrets: 100%

Meh. Yes visually is good and with some nice bits of detail, but overall the map doesn't give you something really interesting. Gameplay is a bit tougher than MAP01 and with some nice ambushes.

MAP02 Down Through

Pretty easy on the easy difficulties. liked that lost soul ambush. not a fan of arch-vile ship teases though. I've seen enough of these and I know they are supposedly suspenseful, but they are just annoying now. not as bad as the apparent lack of sector tags 21 and 22, meaning two monsters cannot teleport.

MAP02 - Down Through [https://youtu.be/4gmz4FKbn_0]

Kills: 94% | Items: 100% | Secrets: 33% | Time: 5:34 | Attempts: 1

While I thought the first map was kinda 'meh', I really liked this one. The architecture and layout were top-notch, not to mention the beautiful dynamic-looking lighting. And the music was really good too IMO.
I really do like Arch-viles (as you may have guessed from my name) and think they make for some of the best combat scenarios in Doom, and I think they were utilized well in this map.
I also noticed the Arachnotron had different sounds for firing plasma, what's that all about?

ArchvileHunter said:

I also noticed the Arachnotron had different sounds for firing plasma, what's that all about?

The default plasma sound is considered obnoxious by some players, so I don't see a problem with Sunlust replacing it with more ear-pleasant one. Keep in mind that the same sound is played by Player's plasma as well as Arachnotron's plasma.

MAP02: Down Through

Pistol start

Kills: 94/94 Secrets: 3/3 Items: 22/23 Skill: 4 Deaths: 0 Saves: 0 Port: Zandronum 2.0 Time: 7:25

Another map with brown and orange colour scheme. Not too hard, even with so many Arch-Vile encounters. Secrets are mostly small buttons hidden in corners of the map. You will see a lot of this type of secrets in this megawad. I really like the music track used here. I've also noticed different plasma sound, which is way better than original one, not that loud and obnoxious.

I've also remembered that in beta version there was another area in the corridor leading to yellow key door and switch. Not sure why it's been deleted though.

MAP02

This should've been MAP01 because of the interesting opening shot.

This map is slightly harder than the first but it's still keeps it interesting and fun, for the progression and the non-linearity. There's a shotgunner ambush that I found exciting to fight.

And this map puts the SSG earlier, giving this map faster progression which I like.
The ending gives you a chance to either fall off the platform and kill the enemies with the rocket launcher or just kill a monster, push the switch and run towards the exit that looks like the one in MAP01.

joe-ilya said:

MAP02

This should've been MAP01 because of the interesting opening shot.

I'm glad that MAP01's opening view shows a spacious detailed area with a distinct color scheme, as opposed to MAP02's cramped monochromatic tunnel.

MAP02: Down Through
99% kills, 2/3 secrets

Feels like a natural continuation of last map with the same brown-and-orange color scheme and dingy metal-tech theme. Really dig those opening light fixtures, and of course there's the ultra-detailed ceiling later on. Actually found this map much easier than the first one, as all of the three Arch-Vile encounters were easy and there's not much else of note (except maybe the blue key trap). Again, most of my health got lost being taken unaware by chaingunners... starting to wonder if they've been modified since they seem quicker on the draw/more accurate, or maybe I'm just unlucky. What's up with that lone armor bonus at the end?

Magnusblitz said:

MAP02: Down Through
What's up with that lone armor bonus at the end?

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. Weird as hell. :D :D :D

Good to see your Miley Cyrus-loving ass back again Steve. Unfortunate to hear about the tooth infections—dental issues are the absolute worst, along with spinal injuries. Hopefully Demon will crawl out of whatever hole he's been hiding in to join us, as I've been looking forward to his colorful descriptions for this mapset.

MAP02: A pretty good map, though not one of the most remarkable from what I’ve played of the first beta. I forgot that the other thing I associate Danne with is Pain Elementals, as I forgot just how often the cheeky bastards show their ugly mug in these levels. All the action is this map is bite-sized and quaint, never being too pressing but making sure to poke you ever now and then—the lack of health can make your blunders really stand out. My favorite fight on the map was probably the AV rez party, as it’s a simple but fun encounter. Overall a solid sophomore outing for Sunlust.

gl with this folks :D. E1 is pretty straightforward, I wonder how many players will stick with it once the slaughter-esque and IMP-style gameplay becomes predominant.

Not sure if there's any interest in me blathering further about the maps (we have those little blurbs in the textfile anyhow), but ohwell..
m01: this one used to be covered in BRICK10 and METAL before we decided go with the whole orange/sun aesthetic. there's some faux-3d stuff in this map that I didn't think anyone would ever notice. this one was predominantly tested casually or in coop, so my apologies to j4 who found out that speed-routing it has a lot of annoying quirks :p

there is some cheeky shit here and there. entertainment of the mapper outranks illusory professionalism.

Demonologist said:

Makes me wonder if this playthrough will actually force the mighty duo to update the /idgames release, as this final upload contains a bunch of noticeable screw-ups (some of which are exclusive to it, hehe)

nah. a few of the bugs are humorously sloppy (the barons and HKs stuck on eachother in 30 on UV), but they're few and far between and of low-enough severity that I haven't been convinced to intervene. I'm stubbornly entrenched in the "I said it was final, so it's final" stance.

scifista42 said:

I'm glad that MAP01's opening view shows a spacious detailed area with a distinct color scheme, as opposed to MAP02's cramped monochromatic tunnel.

They are both tunnels, only MAP02 has those teleporting monsters, cool lighting and there's no useless spacing.

joe-ilya said:

They are both tunnels, only MAP02 has those teleporting monsters, cool lighting and there's no useless spacing.

Only MAP02 is a tunnel. MAP01 has a more open view of the entrance, also with the surrounding scenery behind that it's more pleasant to look.

MAP02 takes us completely indoors after the mixed first map. The chaingunners behind the really cool transparent waterfall caught me by surprise, but there was a lot of health lying around, so I didn't really have a problem. The use of the computer textures on the stairs right after the chaingunners I mentioned is something I don't think I've seen before. It looks really good. Most exciting moment: the teleporting monsters right before the exit. I tripped them, saw the PE covered by the caco, circled around, and shut him down. Weirdest: the archie phasing in and out between reviving the shotgunners. I think I've seen that once before, but I don't remember where. Great first map, though Danne. I had fun.

98% Kills 67% Secrets 0 Deaths on HMP

MAP03 - Forgotten Shrine

Kills: 100% | Items: 97% | Secrets: 40%

Change of theme, from the previous tech-like level we have this pretty level of temple/ruins. Gameplay we have some really nice moments. At the grab of the blue key there's a hard fight if you don't realize quickly how to get out from the bridge. And at the yellow key there's a pain elemental well guarded by many imps. Picking the SSG as soon as you can is relly important as it's really useful for the fight you will encounter. In this run I also found the secret room with the plasma guns which I didn't find it in my first run. The complete dark and the bright areas made a field for an interesting fight in there.

MAP03
Heavily untested map, it has that dumb soulsphere secret which opens up a bunch of shotgunners you can't evade because they're set in an open yard, a switch you can't shoot in the blue key trap unless you have an SSG, an impossible pitch black plasma gun secret to get out of. This map has really set a step back in quality right here, The rest of the map was all good, with the yellow key trap being the top encounter.
Either way, I enjoyed this map half way through. 3/5
MAP01 2/5
MAP02 4/5

After MAP03, maps just go to hell.

MAP03 Forgotten Shrine

OH MY GOD THAT MUSIC!!

I've played quite a few RPGs recently, and no other one has a more awesome soundtrack than Secret of Evermore. seriously, the music there is just so ambient that it would totally fit Doom maps like these. as for the map, the key ambushes are the highlights, as is the plasma gun secret. most everything else can be handled easily. but that Hall of Collosia music rules.

Truth be told, I was hoping this playthrough would be delayed another month or so, simply because I've got a lot of other things going on this month (and very little of it is anywhere near as cool as Sunlust, sadly). This is also why I didn't vote for anything on the 25th of last month, incidentally.

I'll still try to participate when I get a free moment, though, might as well, right? I'd planned to do some FDAs, as well, although I know that in this WAD's case eventually I'm almost certainly going to have to swallow my pride and do some -cl -1 action once the maps get really merciless, else it'll undoubtedly be X-mas before I've managed to one-shot some of them!

But first, I need to find time to finish up with Icarus....

I suppose I can chime in with some videos. I was playing on HTNR and it's about moderately difficult even in the later levels. UV however, is very rewarding.

Demon of the Well said:

Truth be told [...]

Aw, sad to hear. Keep in mind that the thread will always be here, and your comments are very welcome even if they do arrive a month or two late.

MAP02 Down Through:

Excellent map. I loved this map because it had a great balance of gameplay, difficulty and design. It was tricky in spots but never to the point where I got frustrated. I liked how some of the platforms lowered and raised as you moved through the map giving more non linearity to the map. The only thing I was confused about is the soulsphere up for grabs at the end, and the random alcove with 1 armor bonus in it, ok.

I also dig the new plasma rifle sound. I agree that the original sound is annoying as hell.

MAP02 - "Down Through" by Danne
I fairly easy brown tech styled offering here. The last trap killed me twice though overall I was rather careless in my play here which contributed to the low health I had near the end. I managed to find all 3 secrets eventually which of course gave 100% killed.
A nice, short and punchy map overall.

03: Forgotten Shrine
Now that's a tasteful usage of browns indeed. I mean, I don't have any problems with these initially as I consider myself a devoted Quake fan (hehe), but observations show that there are folks that can hardly stand the "guano-like" color scheme at times. Well, too bad for them then.
For some reason, this map reminds me of Scythe 2, namely its second to last episode. I guess it's because of its temple-like theme and the atmosphere of serene solemnity that gets constantly - yet briefly - shattered by monster threat, only to return again once it's eliminated. This music track really does this map a world of good.
Aesthetics, in turn, aren't really anything that'd evoke memories of Alm's masterpiece (it was already mentioned that Forgotten Shrine is a deviation of sorts from the previous theme, but it still relies on brown/orange dichotomy as its main design trait), and so is gameplay that's totally Ribbiks, only so far merciful enough compared to his usual MO. There's a number of ambushes that are more intimidating than they are difficult, so this map's action, while keeping it high-octane, never punches in the teeth too hard, so basically, nothing gets in the way of enjoying the atmosphere. The most memorable encounters for me are that crescent-shaped imp/pain elemental wave and the pitch black/orange secret area. Fun stuff, and lovely map overall.

MAP03: Forgotten Shrine

I like it. :) The music choice adds at atmosphere that's quiet and contemplative (rather than creepy) to this exploratory little puzzler. In terms of gameplay there are a couple of imp brawls that are delightfully frenetic out of all proportion to their threat, but most of the challenge comes from ambushes and unexpected close-quarter battles (the blue key gauntlet the player has to stick their head into is a lovely example). Overall I found this a very fun level that shows how different an environment can be created in terms of layout, atmosphere, and setting while still sticking very much within the colour theme of orange and luxuriously layered browns.

MAP03 - Forgotten Shrine [https://youtu.be/F1vGBfuZPoQ]

Kills: 70% | Items: 94% | Secrets: 20% | Time: 7:18 | Attempts: 1

I did not really like this map too much. The layout makes it hard to get from one area to another and was just confusing overall. I knew about the bullshit blue key trap, but it still took 3 SSG blasts to finally hit the switch and get out. I also ended up just running to the exit with about a dozen or so Lost Souls left alive. I'll be starting the next map from pistol start anyways so who cares? At least the atmosphere in this map is good with some fitting music and nice use of mostly brown textures.

MAP03: Forgotten Shrine

Pistol start

Kills: 111/155 Secrets: 4/5 Items: 36/38 Skill 4 Deaths: 0 Saves: 0 Port: Zandronum 2.0 Time: 7:30

I've left a good chunk of enemies alive on this map. They are probably in the last secret. Still orange-brown colour scheme, although this time it's not a techbase, but some kind of a temple. I really enjoyed fights in this map. Blue key trap is very dickish if you don't know where the switch is. Imp encounter was also executed very well. Secrets are the only bad part about this map - they are just small buttons hidden in places you probably won't even look at! Come on, you can be more creative than that!