The DWmegawad Club plays: Dimension of the Boomed & MAYhem 2016

dobu gabu maru · May 31, 2018

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

Note that you can only nominate to play three separate wads for a single month, and the wads must contain at least three maps each. These are hard limits instituted for my own sanity.

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>>>DOWNLOAD DIMENSION OF THE BOOMED HERE<<<

>>>DOWNLOAD MAYHEM 2016 HERE<<<

Looks like we’ll never be rid of MAYhem… and… Quake? This month sees us first diving into the delicious Dimension of the Boomed by Urthar, a Quake tribute so realistic that you might be surprised you can’t jump everywhere! Next is MAYhem 2016, where mappers could choose between either 160 “things” on their map, or to multiply the amount of enemies by 10 for whatever mapslot they chose. Expect a really wild set!

MAYhem 2016 will start on the 8th of this month.

Maplist for Dimension of the Boomed:

MAP01 - “Slipgate Vertigo”

MAP02 - “Blight Warf”

MAP03 - “Gibbous Grotto”

MAP04 - “Necropolis”

MAP05 - “The Witch House”

MAP06 - “Malign Masters”

MAP07 - “Elsewhere”

MAP08 - “Ziggurat Mayhem”

MAP09 - “Swim Hungry”

Author & Maplist for MAYhem 2016:

MAP01 - “Xsshsss Zone” by Tarnsman

MAP02 - “Will o’ the Wastes” by Alfonzo, Tarnsman

MAP03 - “Steel Coffin” by Angry Saint

MAP04 - “Affinity” by Jimmy

MAP05 - “Vaalbara Reborn” by Argentum

MAP06 - “Ziggurat Mayhem” by Urthar

MAP07 - “Darkvault” by Pinchy

MAP08 - “Lodi Eno Rebmun Si Ocin” by Tarnsman

MAP09 - “Blood from a Stone” by Benjogami

MAP10 - “Piston Hurricane” by Pinchy

MAP11 - “Quake Plumbing Inc.” by Breezeep

MAP12 - “Kepler Communications” by Argentum

MAP13 - “Cybercrusher” by alterworldruler

MAP14 - “Ancient Den” by an_mutt

MAP15 - “Klockwerk” by Paul Corfiatis

MAP31 - “In Death, Is Life” by Rayzik

MAP16 - “Galactic Decay” by A. Gamma

MAP17 - “Grievance” by Dragonfly

MAP18 - “Maria” by Ribbiks

MAP19 - “Seasons in the Abyss” by Remmirath, Marcaek

MAP20 - The Performance” by Alfonzo

BONUS CONTENT

Doomwiki: MAYhem 2016

DSDA: MAYhem 2016

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OLD THREADS

Spoiler

The DWmegawad Club Metathread

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Edited May 9, 2023 by dobu gabu maru

Roofi · May 31, 2018

Let's go , I will try to stay the whole month this time...

Aquila Chrysaetos · May 31, 2018

Alright! I'm excited already. Hope I can participate in this one. About DotB, since we're starting MAYhem 2016 on the 8th, does this mean we're knocking out DotB MAP08 and 09 in tandem with MAYhem 01 and 02 or multiple maps in a single day?

Just asking for clarity.

FrancisT218 · May 31, 2018

DotB Map01

First thoughts - Wait...is this simply a Dimension of the Doomed remake? Even if you don't reveal anything early by cheating, soon enough you find out it isn't.

Thankfully too, since new maps are more fun - at least good ones. Which this level is. Like any Quake episode, it is your techbase starter, though a dark underground one. It only took a few minutes to get me in love with the blending of Quake's darker, grimmer aesthetic and DooM's meatier, more action-packed gameplay. The 'married couple' works amazingly well.

It's not too easy for a first level, either. The ending is the highlight, as it seems best to just dodge the Cyber's rockets, flip the switches, and run away - repeating if necessary.

@Aquila - Map07 and Map09 of DotB are just 'setpiece' levels. So there are really only seven levels to play in DotB.

Edited May 31, 2018 by FrancisT18

Rook · May 31, 2018

I'll give this one a go - I think the only previous Megawad Club sessions I'd been involved in were Vile Flesh and Epic 2, back in the heady days of 2014.

Lingyan203 · June 1, 2018

Here's my playthrough of Mayhem 2016!

Salt-Man Z · June 1, 2018

Okay, why not? I haven't played Quake in probably close to 20 years. And even then, I only played through it once. (Never figured out how to beat that blobby boss thing at the end.) Anyway, let's give 'er a run here. GZDoom/continuous/saves/keyboard-only as usual, and I'ma try it on UV for now.

MAP01: Slipgate Vertigo

22:06 | 98% Kills | 67% Items | 100% Secrets

Well, this certainly is a Quake. Already regretting my choice of UV; died three times before finally saving once. The turret cyber is an absolute pain and my first two deaths happened before I even knew he could see me. (The first was upon riding that first lift up and getting blasted in the back. The second was upon grabbing the chaingun from its little "tower" and being obliterated from long-distance.) The zombies did a number on me, too; are they any stronger than usual? Not sure if the pistol is modified any besides the sound, but I'm loving the new chaingun--except for all the real estate it takes up on onscreen while firing. Did not at all enjoy the cyber fight at the end, either: a single BFG blast is all I'm given, then it's run and around and hunt for switches in this tiny room while he first at you the whole time. I eventually killed him from the ledge above with shells and bullets, very time-consuming and dull. Otherwise, the visuals here are great, and the hectic nature of combat is generally fun. I missed 2 kills; at least one was an underwater spectre that I didn't figure was worth diving in after.

tmorrow · June 1, 2018

3 hours ago, Salt-Man Z said:

I missed 2 kills

As you say I expect those are 2 demons/spectres hiding in the green slime. You need to make full use rad suit and visit each green slime pool to find all the items and enemies. It's not really worth it because you only find health/armor bonuses and a chainsaw.

tmorrow · June 1, 2018

Dimension of the Boomed

Dimension of the Boomed is a short 9 map episode in the style of Quake, for MBF compatible source ports, by Stephen Wadsworth (aka Urthar). Map07 is a nomonster setpiece and map09 is an exitless outro. Quake textures are used and the sprites for the project were generated from several sources. Refer to the wadinfo.txt.

There are several dehacked changes to alter some existing monsters and replace others with new ones (as well as other things). Some of the important dehacked alterations:

Changed: Cyberdemon hit points 4000 -> 3000
Changed: Lost Soul hit points 100 ->75
Changed: Spider Mastermind hit points 3000 -> 2000 (wolfensteinss replacement)
New: Shambler 900 hit points (spider mastermind replacement)
New: Scrag 180 hit points (bossbrain replacement)
New: Spawn 80 hit points (commander keen replacement)
Reaction time of chaingunner changed from 8 to 16 (time from seeing player to attacking is doubled)
Max Clips: 200/400 -> 300/600
Max Cells: 300/600 -> 200/400

Urthar's Ziggurat Mayhem map also features as map06 of Mayhem 2016 that we'll have the pleasure of playing later in the month. The Mayhem 2016 version differs with the secret areas changed around a bit and without the quake enemies. Both versions are excellent fun.

As of Jun 1, 2018 the wad has not yet been released to the DoomWorld archives and is still in final release candidate testing. Refer: Dimension of the Boomed (Final Release).

map01: Slipgate Vertigo, by Urthar
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

Doom in a Quake environment. What could be better? Nothing! The first map is a techbase with several corridors and intricate connections. It is easy to get disoriented at first. At least the mobs are familiar on this first map. Is that the roar and stomp of a cyberdemon? Surely not on map01. Yep! At least cybies around here have 25% less hit points than in standard doom.

The techbase has several vertical levels to it with lifts and stairs to take to get to the different levels. However with cybie stomping around and firing like a loose cannon, it's hard to enjoy the stunning views from the many different vantage points. It's easier to make your way to cybie and settle his hash and then return to enjoy having a good look around at the facility.

The fights are mostly fun but you've got those damned cybie rockets to keep an eye out for at all times. They are like a rocket of Damocles hanging over your head. Cybie has an eagle eye and can shoot you through narrow openings from a long way away. How does he manage to sneak his rockets through such narrow spaces?

The secret hunt is a lot of fun with a megaarmor, soulsphere, berserk pack and some ammo to find. The megaarmor secret is very well concealed.

If you want to get full items and kills you will have to enter the green slime. There is a single rad suit on the map, so it's worth saving it for a mop up at the end after most beasties are dead.

Edited June 1, 2018 by tmorrow

baja blast rd. · June 1, 2018

3 hours ago, tmorrow said:

Stephen Wadsworth

What a name for a map designer.

01: Slipgate Vertigo

Cool map. A lot of 'typical map01-isms' -- pistol combat start, lots of zombies around, a techbase -- but even more subversions -- more extensive scale, plenty of mid-tiers, a buffed chaingun, and of course that cyb. Non-linearity is present on the macro and micro scale (note the switch behind the mancubus, which feels a bit like 'oh shit the player can fall back here' happened in the mapping process but works out anyway). The cyb towering way overhead is one of the best scenes I've seen in a while. Contra, say, Ancient Aliens 01, it makes its presence known but its role in most fights involves a latent pressure (can the cyb see me from here?) rather than a direct one. The buffed chaingun feels great to use (wonderful sound). DPS is slightly lower than the SSG (131.25 vs. 142), but in most typical Doom fights, the pain stun and lack of reload time turns out to be more advantageous than the concentrated burst of damage. It's always really cool to have a proper SSG alternative. The map leaves a good first impression.

I'll do some playthroughs, unlikely to be maxes, since hunting down every straggler isn't appealing to me. (That fight on the upper level could have gone a lot worse. :P)

FrancisT218 · June 1, 2018

The Cyber in Level 1 is a bit puzzling - given most later levels have monsters weaker than a Cyber as their final fights & they do not pose a threat over the whole level. Still this wad is rather difficult, especially without secrets, and as long as you keep moving Level 1 didn't seem harder than any others.

Rook · June 1, 2018

I must admit I've never been too fond of Quake - most of the weapons and monsters are unsatisfying to me, and the weird mash of themes always seemed like a daft compromise on id's part (I much prefer Quake II, which doesn't have these issues). To me, transplanting Doom's gameplay into the Quake aesthetic seems like a thoroughly good idea. I'll be playing in PrBoom+ on HMP.

MAP01: Slipgate Vertigo

I hear talk of a cyberdemon here, but there's apparently no such threat on HMP - there a pair of mancubi up on high, which may serve the same function. In any case, this map makes a very good first impression. It's significantly larger than I expected from a MAP01, with more in the way of higher-tier monsters. The layout and texturing are mostly very slick, although I did spend five minutes or so wandering around lost because I initially missed a critical pathway that opened up as a part of a trap.

Salt-Man Z · June 1, 2018

Oh! I didn't even realize this was an Urthar WAD! "Way Too Many Dead Guys" was phenomenal. Now I'm really looking forward to digging into the rest of DotB.

Catpho · June 1, 2018

Woot woot. Hopefully @Urthar will get it uploaded to the archives by the end of day 08!

MAP01 - “Slipgate Vertigo”

You couldn't have a finer introduction that this. In this mapset we are ditching the Doom aesthetic for grimy looking Quake, and it sure is a beauty. Now, i was less than impressed with Quake's art direction, but those bright stripes, cold brown metal is something to look at. There's also stuff like cool height variation that creates a fun layout and deep water (that doesn't feel phoned in)! Gameplay is also very fun and for a Quake mapset, surprisingly Doom-y. Hitscanners are satisfyingly slaughtered with the good ol boomstick and the shiny new chaingun (i always like new chaingun replacements that gives them a cool sprite and an even faster speed, compliments a already cool weapon). There's also some mid-tiers sprinkled around, and a towering cyberdemon that doesn't feel forced, but actually adds to the map similar to Ancient Aliens MAP01 with its subtle pressure (though quite harrowing for some people who are used to IWAD UV).

A blast to stare and shoot through.

Some screenies:

cannonball · June 1, 2018

Time for some dimension of the boomed.

MAP01 - “Slipgate Vertigo”

This was pretty darn neat, plenty of weaklings to slaughter as well as a few mid tiers and of course the cyber who can get a shot on you from various parts of the map. The aesthetics are very nicely done and the few bits of boom trickery do well to straddle the source material and its new doom surroundings. This is a rather lengthy opener but for a short episode this isn't really an issue.

FrancisT218 · June 1, 2018

DotB Level 2

We're in the medieval-ish world now. Urthar really has the aesthetic and atmosphere nailed to the wall - I must constantly remind myself it is just a DooM wad. Another homage to start - but didn't fool me this time. Two Mancubi right off the bat warn you it's already a challenging wad if you don't find some secrets - yet entirely fair especially with them. Though I was forced to do the last fight before collecting the Invulnerability secret thanks to being locked in the area, which I wasn't aware would happen! But I managed it. You also get your next little surprise from Quake at this point...

tmorrow · June 2, 2018

map02: Blight Wharf, by Urthar
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

A marvelous map with a medieval, castle/fortress vibe, with moss covered stone and metal doors. It's such a pleasure to look around Urthar's maps. There are even a few water sections to explore. At one point we are teased with a megarmor perched in the middle of a large pool of water in the central court area, only to find that it is really on a stand below the waterline guarded by several hidden cacodemons. Brilliant!

Enemy encounters are fairly low key for much of the map. Plenty of low tier fights with a sparse distribution of tier 2 enemies. The ante is upped for the fight for the gold key and finale for the exit. The final fight is a challenge if you haven't found the invulnerability secret as you face not one, but two shamblers, our first new enemy of the wad along with a bunch of riffraff that teleports in. Note you are locked in after entering the final room so pick up your invulnerability before going in!

The shambler is the new big bad in town. Think of an archvile without resurrection ability but with a sped up and more frequent blast animation and with a vicious, shredding, right hook if he gets into melee range. To take him down requires 5 super shotgun blasts, 100-150 chaingun, 10 rockets, 55-65 plasma or 1 bfg blast. Rocket launcher works surprisingly poorly against him since like cybie, he takes no splash damage from rockets. Plasma rifle/bfg is the weapon of choice but if you don't have them, then it is a tossup between super shotgun or chaingun depending on the kind of cover you have. Rocket launcher from a long way away with good cover is a viable possibility as long as you know each shot will land.

There are a whopping, 6 secrets to find. The invulnerability and bfg secrets are well worth finding to make the final battle a breeze while the others help with topping up health and ammo.

Edited June 4, 2018 by tmorrow

Rook · June 2, 2018

MAP02: Blight Wharf

A move away from techbase visuals now, towards a dingy stone complex. Surprisingly, there actually seem to be fewer powerful monsters here and more zombies and imps by way of compensation. There is a archvile "trap" at the gold key, but it seems oddly toothless to me even for MAP02. The mega-armour gag mentioned by tmorrow is clever, and there's more and interesting use of water, here too - as the map title implies.

Urthar · June 2, 2018

MAP01 Slipgate Vertigo

mapjam7.png.1ce47311a56cb0924e3eb3ea0d680ecb.png

As soon as I played Ionous's vertical nightmare of a techbase, I knew what I wanted to do with the first map in the episode. There's been some astounding maps in the Quake community in recent years, including ones by Doomworld's own Breezeep & YukiRaven, though very few episodes.

dopa.png.ab7a9e9d3b126c960934f360ded65191.png

Dimension of the Past however is an exception to that, an actual full continous episode of maps that's compatible with vanilla WinQuake.

E5M2 in particular was a major influence in the texture scheme I used.

DQM01V02.png.13961208ec3e2c5a2483fcb10519d44f.png

The mapping started with the central hub of the map. Two big vertical spaces connected by smaller section of similar tall proportions. And I liked the idea that there could be monsters that would fire from one side of the map to the other through this section.

DQM01V03.png.bda16476c370165fd584f2dab3ef20c0.png

So now, the basic shape is beginning to take form, and I'm experimenting with some detailing ideas. I don't really know how any of this will connect up yet, but I want lots of path ways and rooms that over look into other sections of the map.

DQM01V05.png.c2add66f7d4c2c580c63d5ee9f7b0164.png

And now I have a Cyberdemon, and his arena is positioned so it looks down these pathways and gives him lines of fire into earlier parts of the map.

DQM01V06.png.1af1ecf6dd3d16c31726d0554154f5fe.png

The first of the stairwells appears. With all this vertical stuff going on, I need ways to get the player from one elevation to another, and they can't all be lifts, but how do I make stairwells interesting?

DQM01V08.png.7a18bdd03215bd036109d369b3c23de0.png

Pondering my next step, I goof off and build an E1M1 hommage.

DQM01V10.png.6d9657963a7f9a497ac5fc9575e53af3.png

Here comes stairwell number two, and I get the start of the map connected in. And at this point I've got a fairly good idea of how the level as a whole should play, it's just a matter of connecting stuff up and getting down and dirty with the detailing.

DQM01V11.png.b73bd824d306fdb973e9de4fb90e80d7.png

At this point the shape of what has already been build determines what comes next, and the map starts to build itself to an extent.

DQM01V14.png.e3d3c5ea24377633a947bb66ac0c8085.png

Most of the monsters and stuff are in now, I just need to get the player up to the Cyber's den. The level is basically a revenge story. Some big bully was giving you a hard time at the start of the map, but now you're all geared up and ready to KICK HIS ASS! Wait, there's a map in Alien Vendetta just like this you say? No, it's the merest coincidence I assure you.

DQM01V23.png.76a971e5a89bfd21c68ab017c6711070.png

Opps, better add an exit. I liked the idea of positioning it so it was visible from the start of the map, and placed higher than everything else you could look down at the end with perhaps a sense of accomplishment.

There would be a lot of further testing and tweaking after this, but at this point the level was basically done.

Edited June 3, 2018 by Urthar

cannonball · June 2, 2018

MAP02 - “Blight Warf”

Like the previous map there is a homage at the start and a few extra bits thrown in from time to time. The map is very much in the style of Castle of the Damned and again this texture usage look lovely in the doom environment. This didn't feel any harder than the previous map but was fun to play right through to the end. I completely bodged the ending fight, nice to see a shambler used in this wad.

Salt-Man Z · June 2, 2018

MAP02: Blight Wharf

26:05 | 100% Everything

What a blast. The castle-ish aesthetic is very cool. The layout and combat, mixed with the ambient music and animated sky, put me in mind of something like UAC Ultra by way of Doom64. A fairly prosaic start, with the deep water catching me off guard (again.) After an initial scare with the sunken cacoswarm, which led to me running for my life back to the entry room, things settled down a bit after that. Mostly chaingun fun with some single-shotty action. The SSG is here, which is good to have, but mostly I saved it for crowd control, and one of the shamblers at the end (once I ran out of rockets.) The BFG secret was easy-peasy, but was nice to have for the vile. Speaking of the shamblers, those suckas be nasty. It's like a more wicked version of the vile's attack, which sucks, and their initial appearance led to my only death. (Luckily I had saved just before opening the Big Ominous Door, as one does.) I didn't notice last map that nobles and cacos have "corrected" blood splatters, but I'm always a huge fan of that little touch. The secrets were a lot of fun, too. More like this, please!

TheOrganGrinder · June 2, 2018

2 hours ago, Urthar said:

Opps, better add an exit. I liked the idea of positioning it so it was visible from the start of the map, and placed higher than everything else you could look down at the end with perhaps a sense of accomplishment.

Real-world commitments are going to have me a few days late to the start of this month's DWMC sets, but I want to jump on this right now and state that I think this is a really cool and really engaging thing to do as part of level design.

rehelekretep · June 2, 2018

what complevel is this if playing in pr/glboom?

im guessing 11 but wanted to make sure

Edited June 2, 2018 by rehelekretep

galileo31dos01 · June 2, 2018

Perfect time to commit to this wad. GLBoom+ 2.5.1.4. complevel 11, Hard, Continuous combined with a pistol start mindset blah blah no BFG/RL-zerging at the start, and if I have enough patience then real pistol starts for demos. I'll play all maps between today and tomorrow, or the next day depending on my times.

MAP01: Slipgate Vertigo

This being like translating Quake to Doom language should be a fresh experience for me, since I've never played the first edition of Quake. I dig the atmosphere, sort of non-linearity, and music. Gameplay gave me all sort of positive vibes: sped-up chaingun, monster composition leading to incidental combat, various weapons, kinda like in Valiant. About the cyberdemon, it gets his points for being up there observing the action. It's 2018 people! we all are supposed to know that monster from horns to paws, you're only required your attention and it'll be fine (; . Besides, it can die in one well placed BFG shot, assuming no crap rng or blockmap bug gets in the way.

Maxing the map can be a pain, an imp or a trooper left behind might hid themselves, because that's what baddies do. In order to kill everything and grab every item, aside from examining every corner, you'll need to drop yourself in the toxic. There's a radsuit in one of the pits, which comes in handy to kill those spectres.

I recorded a demo (dotb_01.zip), but it looks very messy, too much horrendous RNG with the shotgun since chaingun ammo isn't infinite, and I didn't get to replicate the one shot at the end that I got in my first playthrough. Whatever, it's not going to make it into the playlist for Youtube (x

DavitW · June 2, 2018

Okay, I'm back to play the first 2 maps of Dimension of the Boomed here. And just for the record i'm playing prboom+, Pistol starts, Keyboard only on Ultra-Violence. Trying not to use save states for now but that may change later on.

MAP01 - Slipgate Vertigo

We start out with a recreation of the starting room of The Slipgate Complex seen in the original quake, but it soon turns into a map of its own. The textures and lighting with the overall atmosphere here is really quite excellent, and the gameplay has a bit of quake style to it while still obviously feeling like doom. This wad lays on the difficulty pretty much right out the starting gate, With 184 monsters on this map including a Cyberdemon and a handful of Mancubis and Revenants among the hordes of zombies and imps along with a few intense fights like the area with the invisibility sphere. To go with that it's quite a bit longer and more complex then you'd typically see in an opening map but i still felt the whole thing was relatively intuitive with a clear sense of direction throughout most the map. Overall a good way to start off the episode.

MAP02 - Blight Warf

In typical quake fashion we find ourselves in quakeworld after going through a techbase opener and once again this map recreates the starting room of the original map before going into a new level. This maps starts out a bit intense but overall i found it a bit easier than the first map with what seemed like fewer tough monsters. Ammo and health could get a big tight from a pistol start but if you look around there's plenty to be found, of course the secrets help out as well. The invulnerability secret would likely be best saved for the fight at the end with the 2 Shamblers. The Shamblers aren't too hard on their own, Acting vaguely similar to how they did in Quake but the horde of weaker enemies with them makes the fight a bit of a challenge.

tmorrow · June 2, 2018

2 hours ago, rehelekretep said:

what complevel is this if playing in pr/glboom?

im guessing 11 but wanted to make sure

you've got it right. My understanding is complevel11 for MBF compatibility in prboom+.

Urthar · June 2, 2018

3 hours ago, rehelekretep said:

what complevel is this if playing in pr/glboom?

im guessing 11 but wanted to make sure

Yeah, I recorded the demos and set par times in comp 11. (Though normally I just play in default.)

Edited June 2, 2018 by Urthar

galileo31dos01 · June 2, 2018

MAP02: Blight Warf

Exploration underwater, that's the highlight for me. Last time I saw something like this in a non-ZDoom wad was in The Brotherhood of Ruin, but here in DOTB you get secrets and some important goodies. Of course, the overall gameplay pace was more of the same pleasant, comfortable incidental combat featuring low-tiers and a few revs and mancs. My fluffy fellows are introduced, along with the archvile in a low-key situation, lost souls that sometimes will go down in one SG shot OMG WHAT A SENSATION, hell knights with a strong voice (you got me there Urthar!), and shamblers in a cinematic boss-ish context. I'll keep my thoughts in spoilers just because:

Spoiler

I liked these last guys, not sure why the occupy the slot of the momma brain but I have yet to see more of these guys in action, considering anti-splash damage and "boss" loud sound effects. Their attack is similar to the archvile's, way weaker and in a shorter period of preparation, thus making it important to have cover nearby but not always a life or death decision. Another thing is that they don't push you as far away as an archvile would do. One last thing, they look creepy xd

Once again, in love with the atmosphere, the non-linearity in regards to resources and secrets, the ambient music and the all the customary stuff. I have now a satisfying demo for map 01 and a funny FDA for map 02, both direct to my playlist which I'll post tomorrow if anyone wants to see them.

tmorrow · June 3, 2018

map03: Gibbous Grotto, by Urthar
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

We are treated to a wonderful underground series of caverns or grottoes interspersed with some walkways and buildings or structures of some sort. Once again Urthar makes excellent use of lighting and decorations to build the atmosphere. The fights are starting to get a little tougher with 3 shambler encounters, one with an archvile as well after collecting the silver key. Our second enemies makes an appearance, the scrag.

The scrag is more of a nuisance than anything else. He behaves like a floating imp, shooting the ocassional fireball. With only 180 hit points you can take him down with almost any weapon easily enough, even chainsaw or berserk fist. A well placed super shotgun polishes the scrag of in one blast.

There is a fair amount of non linearity on the map but you have to collect the keys in the order gold, then silver before opening the way to the exit.

There are 2 traps to watch out for, the first after collecting the silver key and the second when using the silver key on a switch in the northern building. Either trap can be fatal if you aren't ready.

Once again the switch hunt is excellent fun and rewarding. The payoff for finding them yields a soulsphere, megaarmor, 2 bfg's, a berserk pack, and some ammo.

I have noticed that these maps are without a backpack. Looking ahead there appears to be only one backpack in the entire set, in map06. There a lot more ammo management required than I'm used to. There's a lot of backtracking for ammo and tiptoeing around it so as not to pick it up too early. Being locked into an area and running out of ammo is annoying when you've got plenty of ammo outside that you didn't pick up at the time due to the low non backpack limits. Clips and cells are so much of a problem, but it's diabolical for shells. I can't count the number of times I've been on 30+ shells and run across a box of shells.

FrancisT218 · June 3, 2018

DotB Level 3

A dark and atmospheric underground level with a mixture of caves and rooms. Only again, nails the Quake atmosphere perfectly. The Scrag is introduced here but isn't too hard to deal with. Both keys have a higher tier fight around them, as does use of the silver key. However there is a solution for each of these three fights to make it a good bit easier (and a hint, if you find an Invulnerability, don't be in any hurry to grab it too soon). Still it's an appropriate challenge and another very nice map for the second of the three medieval-type maps.

Edited June 3, 2018 by FrancisT18

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