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

[baja blast rd.]

I'll put my write-up here for now so no one has to scroll to a previous day to read it. Some days from now, I'll move it up and then replace this post with some pictures of baby animals so that the post isn't wasted. 

 

04: Necropolis

 

I disliked this map when I first played it, mostly because I had no idea where to go or what to do. There are lots of doors that can't be opened, and it might take a while to make any substantial progress. When I figured it out, I really liked it though. The combat is varied and can be quite exciting. Highlights for me are: (1) the packed building complex behind the silver door (nothing too intense here but I find the environment quite compelling); (2) the blue arena fight (quite a well designed arena, threats from all directions, and enjoyable imp spam); (3) almost any set piece involving the spawns, especially the descending lift fight! When I first encountered one of those, I was like 'Okay, can I stop playing now?' They are absolutely terrifying! They aren't too threatening when you figure them out. Sometimes you need to keep cool and not shoot them while they bite away (hope you aren't cornered). In arenas you can avoid them by sprinting around at full speed. They are real speedsters but not fast enough to catch you.

 

All in all, this is quite a good map, maybe even my favorite. The only thing I truly dislike is the blue armor secret dumping me off far away from where I'd actually ever want to be, which, again, is something a few of the secrets in the set have done. 

 

I did a demo the other day but a good 3-4 minutes of it was a mix of getting lost and trying to remember where to go next and backtracking for random stuff, so I wanted to redo it. This one was more to the point, but unfortunately I FORGOT a switch at the very end, and had to waste time going back for it, ugh, I'm an idiot. But at least that is at the end and you can stop watching when I clear out the blue arena if you want. 
 

 

Edited July 20, 2018 by rdwpa

[Urthar]

MAP06 Malign Masters

 

My favorite Quake map, and like all of McGee's maps built with the metal/runic set of textures, which I was looking forward to using.

 

In order to give blast immunity to the Shambler, I used the same trick Skillsaw used for the Cybruiser, and made it replace the Mastermind in Dehacked. Which meant that like Valiant, the Mastermind was now vulnerable to rocket attack. And I wondered if I could have more fun with the monster by changing it's attributes even further, essentially turning it into a bigger, meaner Archnotron.

 

In order to communicate that to the player I placed a single Mastermind at the start of the map with a rocket launcher infront of it, which is fine for a pistol start, but works less well in continous play.

 

With the initial 'warm up' section done, I set about building an area that would play to the strengths of the Archnotron and it's new mom.

 

The inspiration for that came from The Path. Hell Revealed is a quirky old mapset, but I had always loved the use of space in this particular map. And I wanted to use the same principle of running past and evading monsters early on, to grab the resources needed to go back and deal with them.

 

To get out of the lava sections, I added a pair of teleports with invisibilty spheres on them. And I liked the way they increased mobility and gave the player telefrag oppotunities to exploit. Additionally the spheres transformed the plasma streams into sprays which made chaingun rushing certain sections possible. (Edit: It certainly felt that way when I was running par times, but after making changes and retesting the map, chaingun rushing feels easier without the spray. Still, I quite like how it changes the nature of the combat for a while.)

 

So initially, the main section of the map was even more front loaded than it is now, and probably overwhelming to anyone playing defensively. I compromised on that, and placed more ammo, placed it earlier, and even placed a plasma gun for those observant or lucky enough to learn it's secret. And I replaced some of the monsters with warp-ins that would repopulate the area as the map progressed. In the end I was reasonably happy I had something that would reward an aggresive player, without overly punishing a defensive one.

 

The exit for the map proved a little problematic. I originally intended to place it behind the blue door, but I realised I hadn't really left myself enough room to build the sort of thing I wanted. So I built it somewhere else, and stuck a secret behind the door that would help players who wanted to UV-Max the map. However after watching an_mutt's and other's play throughs, I think I'll put it back there in a different form to better incorporate the expectations and logic of the map progression. I hadn't intended to make any major changes after final, but this one feels warranted.

 

And finally, the map name is of course a nod to Metal Mothers from Back to Saturn X.

 

MAP07 Elsewhere

 

Built purely for fun. I thought it might be neat to end the episode with Quake's start. If UMAPINFO had become a reality, I probably would have moved Malign Masters to this position and built another 'proper' map, incorporating Ziggurat Mayhem as a secret level rather than a bonus. But with the text screen hardcoded between maps 6 and 7, this seemed like a good place to end.

Edited June 8, 2018 by Urthar

[cannonball]

MAP06 - “Malign Masters”

I must admit that this map did frustrate me a lot, there are too many points where there seems to be one method of being able to live, most notably at the start (You must start out of the firing line of the beefed up spider) and the end (You need the BFG as there is no room to dodge the plasma). Otherwise the map is probably a little too thin on the big ammo as to be honest it is far more fun to be taking those beasts down with the biggest weapons rather than resorting to shells or bullets. There are some nice bits of trickery and some nods to quake design (Wind tunnels for instance). Overall this map grated with me a bit but there are some pretty cool parts within this map. The visuals again are top notch.

 

MAP07 - “Elsewhere”

It's the opening hub from Quake recreated in doom, a nice touch.

 

MAP08 - “Ziggurat Mayhem”

This was a really cool map, a similar gameplay style to the beginning of this wad though with a definite runic theme. A nice mix of encounters on show here ranging from great use of lighting to the usual mobs of weaklings. The cyber fight is probably quite tough without finding the BFG secret, though it probably wasn't helped by my keyboard starting to act up with the keys not working properly resulting in some terrible movement at times. A really good map overall.

 

MAP09 - “Swim Hungry”

Oh hello Dopefish we meet again.

 

So overall this is a great marriage of both Doom and Quake, the environment and ambience on show here is clearly the highlight of the set in my opinion, the scale of some of the maps is exceptional. The gameplay is pretty solid for the most part with some good use of boom trickery to create some interesting encounters. The great thing here is the set isn't just doom with Quake texturing, it offers far more from the implementation of quake styled monsters to using boom actions to change the environment in ways that resemble some of the favourite moments in Quake, even little things like the deep water effect add to the experience here.

Does everything click into place here? Not quite, there are some very frustrating moments and parts where you feel like you require a little bit of luck to beat some fights. It is hard to give a favourite map as I enjoyed most of them but I think map05 was probably the one I enjoyed most with its surreal setting and cool moving parts.

It is great to see mapset like this and others such as the adventures of square which really put some of the great work made in the doom community in general to good use from recreting textures from other games or creating new and exciting ones to putting some of the more advanced source ports through their paces. I wouldn't be surprised if this appears in the cacowards at the end of the year.

Edited June 7, 2018 by cannonball

[galileo31dos01]

MAP07: Elsewhere

 

A hub map, duh. Isolated, deserted, but fierce in aesthetics. I picked Hard and chose to directly pistol start what was coming. Continuous players might want to choose Easy or leave it in RNGesus' hands. I'm very curious to see what Urthar has in plans for his next project, two of the paths lead to intriguing dead ends, with floating messages = "to be continued..."

 

MAP08: Ziggurat Mayhem

 

Not much to say that others didn't, it's an accurate bonus map. Features a bit of everything in terms of combat and some interesting hazards we all know (crushers, simple platforming on lava, darkness). I've watched part of DyingCamel's stream of MAYhem 16, so I had some of foreknowledge, with the exception of secrets. It's funny how a common design structure in this map is corridors, yet the monster composition and ways to approach each section never feel dull or samey. There's pressure from more than one side, enough room to move, various weapon choices. I really enjoyed this map, perfect closure to an amazing adventure. 

 

MAP09: Swim Hungry

 

No, thank YOU for making this masterpiece :)

 

 

 

Final thoughts take a bunch of time to write, and I have yet other five(!) wads to review because lazy me. I really hope this gets to the download sections someday, this is such a work of art that can't be missed as time goes on and new threads appear, like happened with Preacher (and many more). Anyway, have all a good time with MAYhem 16! 

[FrancisT218]

DotB Level 6

 

It's you versus the spiders! This level was not close to as tight as I recall it being in Beta 3. Still it isn't too generous either and there's one fight (near the SSG) where some of your cover has been taken away since the beta. However it's a more fair map now and left me with a somewhat less sour impression though it's still my least favourite in the episode. A good bit of that is the aesthetic, which is easily the least detailed and interesting in the episode, though there's still some atmosphere given the wide open space. The room and secret beyond the silver door seem awkward; they only help you attain any stray kills you may have missed. 

 

DotB Level 7

 

It's a recreation of the start and hub level of Quake. The way different difficulties still result in different outcomes is novel though it only really matters on continuous and doesn't actually change the difficulty setting for the bonus level. Speaking of which, one of the four episode gates is not merely a preview or thank you but leads you there...

[gaspe]

MAP08: Fits very well for a bonus map, not exactly compelling as the previous level but still good and with lots of action going on. I really liked the dark area with the shambler.

 

Overall I enjoyed this "little" episode, some moments weren't as interesting as others but this crossover of Doom and Quake is excellent from that point of view. Quite notable are the various mapping tricks and the special effects which were widely used but at the same time well incorporated into the maps and didn't feel forced.

Edited June 7, 2018 by gaspe

[DavitW]

MAP05 - The Witch House

So we got a map floating in the void here similar to the Coagula series of maps from back in the day. Falling in the void won't instantly kill you here but instead just cause damage like a hurt floor instead. It seems you actually you have to run through the void to get through the map but at least there's plenty of health and armor around to make up for it. Once you get into the main part of the map it's much more linear then the previous maps giving you several set piece battles to fight through. There definitely were some pretty ass clenching moments here such as the silver key trap and the final Switcharoo up all the steps while fighting a slew of Revenants, Imps and Lost Souls along with the appearance of an Archvile and Shambler. One annoying thing about this map to me was that many of the fights are pretty vertical, Such as the elevators with the Imps and Hell Knights up high, it was pretty annoying trying to see and shoot some of the enemies but it didn't hurt the experience too much.

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP04: Necropolis

50:49 | 99% Kills | 97% Items | 60% Secrets

Played this a few nights ago, but I need to get my thoughts down before I forget 'em. First off: wow, the massive architecture here is beyond gorgeous. I loved the eerie exploratory phase that kicks this map off. Just creepy, all those tombs and gravestones, and it all just deathly quiet like that. The hike up all those stairs to the (currently sealed) exit portal and the view it gives was so very cool. And then, hup! it's down into the catacombs and the level begins in earnest. Those Spawn effers absolutely suck, no two ways about it. By the time you can train a gun on 'em, they're right in your face, and you best hope you've got some sturdy on armor on you. That shambler/spawn elevator fight was just about the worst bit of the map. (Handily beating out the platforming crusher vile/scrag ambush.) The hardest bit, though, was the huge setpiece battle with all the imps/revs/etc. I probably took over a dozen futile attempts, before finally just staying put in the switch tower and killing what I could through the windows before hopping back down to floor level. It was all switches in this map, a little not-particularly-difficult switch hunt, as they were all pretty much obviously presented to you right there. And usually it was a simple thing to figure out what each one did. (Though again there was a teleporter or two that dropped in a very nonintuitive place.) My biggest complaint is probably just the sheer anticlimactic-ness of the ending. I had forgotten about the gold key for the longest time, and wandered around aimlessly before finally remembering where it was. Then it was just a matter of scaling the hill, only to find a room had opened containing a switch that opened the room right next to it that held the gold key, with the key used to open the door that was sitting right there. I had one monster left, but nope, no last-second ambush, just a weirdly-convoluted series of events to open the final portal. (What was the point of switch>switch>key>door, when the final 3 bits of that are all adjacent to each other?) Incredible map all the same.

Edited June 8, 2018 by Salt-Man Z

[Rook]

MAP04: Necropolis (DNF)

 

It pains me to say it, but I ultimately abandoned this map, which I found infuriating. I've had navigation problems in every map so far in this WAD but this one was often almost completely opaque to me. The visuals and fights here were as usual excellent (although the nature of Quake's muddy and monochrome textures makes navigational confusion more likely), but I just couldn't face spending more time wandering around aimlessly.

[tmorrow]

Mayhem 2016

Mayhem 2016 is part of the Mayhem series that has been running annually on DoomWorld since 2012, refer to the Doomwiki entry. It was decided by poll that the wad would use Quake 1, Darkening E2 and Malice textures and resources. The mapping development for Mayhem 2016 occurred mostly in June, 2016 (Juneheim) with the following gimmicks, rules and restrictions in place:

1. Mapslot x10 = monstercount (pre placed lost souls included in the count) OR
2. Number of Things = 160 for each difficulty, excluding player starts, camera things, multiplayer things OR
3. Map31 - has a monstercount of 31 x 100 = 3100 (intended for the slaughter fans) OR
4. Map32 - requires 16 of whichever monsters you decide to place, with the added restriction of only having 16 medkits on UV difficulty.
5. No Dead simples on map07, or icons of sin on map30.

It turned out that there were no takers for map32 and 21 maps were finally accepted and compiled into the final product. Due to playability problems encountered on survival servers and continuous play, the map order ended up being altered in the final product making it confusing to work out what category each map was designed for.

I'll try to indicate which category each map was designed for as we go.  The mapslot x10 monstercount category map entries are easy enough to detect with a couple of exceptions. The 160 things category is not so easy to determine. No matter how I count it in gzdoombuilder, I find it hard to get exactly 160 things for many of the submissions. Let me know if I've made any mistakes.

 

In summary I come up with:

• 12 maps for mapslot x10 = monstercount category
• 8 maps for 160 things category
• 1 map for 31 x 100 = 3100 = monstercount category

map01: XssHsss Zsss, by Tarnsman [category: mapslot x10 = monstercount = 10]
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

A mean tech base starter map for the mapset with 10 tier2+ enemies and almost no weaponry except for berserk fist. The enemies are 1 cybie, 2 archviles, 3 hell knights, 1 baron, 2 revenants and 1 mancubus. To beat the map you need to use infighting, telefragging and hand to hand berserk fist for a final cleanup.

It is clear that this mapset is not for the fainthearted. I'm not sure how many maps I will be able to uvmax, but it definitely won't be all of them.
 

[FrancisT218]

DotB Level 8

 

If to make up in part for Level 6, you could hardly ask for a nicer Runic map than what this bonus level offers. It's right up there with how earlier levels were for Medieval themes and shares the same strengths. I can think of plenty of highlights here - you start immediately in a battle, the monsters filling the outdoor area where Archviles get released at the end, that dark area with the Plasma Gun and Shambler (it really is a scary area - and dangerous too!), and the Cyberdemon which unlike Level 1 you pretty much need to endure. Secrets are again rewarding, and tremendously help out. In fact I'd go to say that if Level 6 didn't exist this could fit in fairly easily as the actual final proper level - just adding in a final fight or even making the existing one more dramatic would do the trick.

 

DotB Level 9 (and overall)

 

I was sad that's really all there is this time, because DotB was one of the best and most memorable wads I've played in a long time. I would like to see more wads, including from other authors, that mix Quake's aesthetic and atmosphere with DooM's gameplay so well - it's a formula you'd be hard pressed to go wrong with. And may the Realm of Z-Magic actually be a thing someday. For now...at least we all know that the Dopefish still lives - again!

Edited June 8, 2018 by FrancisT18

[Urthar]

Mayhem 2016 - MAP01 XssHsss Zsss - Tarnsman

HMP - Continuous - ZDoom

 

One of the fun things about making a map for Mayhem, is that you don't have to worry about serious stuff, and just throw some random ideas in and see how they play out in a one-off map. And I'm fairly certain that's what Tarnsman is doing here. The difficulty of the map is offset by it's short length, so dying multiple times isn't a burden.

 

You've got some hoops to jump through under the hostile gaze of an Archvile in a small good looking map, but all of it seems reasonably initutive apart from getting the Mancubus and Archvile to infight, which I still think is bullshit. Still, there's far nastier stuff coming up later in the WAD, so I'll count myself fortunate for the time being.

Edited June 8, 2018 by Urthar

[Catpho]

MAP04 - “Necropolis”

Darn this took a while... But worth it!

The tone of death is practically oozing in every structure, texture, shadows and sector detail (also those gargoyle props are sp00ky). A truly scary rendering of a Necropolis, as sense of fear and uncertainty lurks throughout , really shows how far has Urthar's pwad craftsmanship has gone when the effect is achieved with no monsters for a good few seconds. Combat is still varied and fresh mix of Doom+Dotb monsters+environmental obstacles, and the introduction of The Spawn couldn't have be done better. Unsettling creatures those things are, a combination of creepy clicking sounds and an appearance that just looks plain wrong (in a good way, like a lovecraft book). Their role in gameplay, going fast as heck and exploding upon death, compliments its design, kept me on my toes. Getting loss in that switch hunt does take a toll on me, but what rewarding experience i got.

(Sorry this review could have been more detailed but i'm kinda exhausted :P)

Some screenies:

  

[cannonball]

MAP01 - “Xsshsss Zone” by Tarnsman

 

So we begin with Mayhem 2016 with.... well a tyson map but unlike pretty much most of these the monster count is merely 10 and these are all mid tiers carefully placed to make the map difficult but never unfair, some of the monsters need to be manipulated into killing each other to progress further. The only monster which doesn't work is the mancubus which of course is far more difficult to punch and I had to kill him with the pistol, luckily the arch vile had roasted most of his life away by the time I faced him.

AN interesting map, it certainly didn't bug me as much as it could have done, a good use of 10 monsters.

[FrancisT218]

Mayhem 2016 Level 1

 

After a brief glance, I was expecting a very short and trivial opener. Well you do get the short part of that but not exactly the trivial part! It is good that this moor gimmicky gameplay is limited to a vey small level as that doesn't give it time to get old or wear out. 

 

For this wad, I'm also sharing my first playthrough  (which is a blind one) of each level. So here it is for this map, with one death to the Archvile I had to punch out:

 

Edited June 8, 2018 by FrancisT18

[tmorrow]

map02: Will o' the Wastes, by Alfonzo & Tarnsman [category: 160 things]
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

A fortress map built into the rock with a pleasant layout. The monster placement allows for some easy movement between areas although you may not want to stir up too much trouble before thinning out the monsters. You are provided with a generous supply of rockets for your rocket launcher pickup so you have more of a fighting chance than you did on map01.

There is one secret on the map that gives you a bfg and some ammo for it. I was only able to obtain the secret by using an archvile jump. Fortunately there is quite a bit of health and armor strewn around to survive the archvile blast. I'm not sure if there is another way to get the secret.

Edited June 9, 2018 by tmorrow

[Catpho]

lol still at dotb

MAP05 - “The Witch House”

Now this is a surreal change of pace. Out with the lifeless brown halls and in with the void. Really cool opening with the view of the "house" (... within a house apparently, from the ending of the last map) .All the glowing orbs floating around makes the surrounding darkness feel oddly mystical despite the sinister name and the general bleakness of everything preceding. Most of the gameplay is found indoors, with three different set-pieces: imps with lifts, a cage lock in with monsters of all tiers bullying you and finally revenants on stairs (Guest-starring a shambler). While i myself would like to explore the Quake-Doom locals with a bit more freedom to roam, at least these encounters are handled nicely. They seem to involve movement limitation in one way or another, and the roughness of your experience will depend on how many weapons you have missed (on my first pistol start, i got mauled by demons during the sliver key fight while a bunch of potentially useful bullets just laugh in my dumb face). But nothing out of hand if you have been playing the last 4 levels.

Quality and intense level. Though where's the witch?

Some screenies:

 

Edited June 9, 2018 by Catpho

[Catpho]

MAP06 - “Malign Masters”

Boss time! The big baddies here are archanotrons and Spider masterminds who now have ditched lame chainguns in favor of even faster plasma rife. After a "coincidental practice ground", you are then thrusted right into the web weaved of hot plasma death, and how you spend your arsenal of rockets and bullets will decide your fate (and also if you chose to pick up the invis sphere or not, because i'm pretty sure that's a trap in disguise). It creates really cool combat scenarios, showing how efficient thing placement distinguishes a good map from a bad map. Architecture is fittingly grand, and when combined with the gameplay? A cinematic level that end this chapter on a high note.

Some screenies:

[Catpho]

MAP07 - “Elsewhere”

Neat idea, but that leaves me with a question: where will the journey conclude? Will it be pit of vanilla (mmm)? Or the place of Risen3d? Ugh, this will bug me.

One screenie:

MAP08 - “Ziggurat Mayhem”

I think i'll wait until day 15 :)

MAP09 - “Swim Hungry”

=

 

[FrancisT218]

Mayhem 2016 Level 2

 

Even with all the rockets, I found ammo here anything but generous. In fact I ended up just bolting past the last few fights and all those Archviles. I hope I'll survive at least one level blind without a death, but this one certainly was not it. Anyways as for the map itself it is a decent mid sized level with mostly Quake textures though unfortunately the distinct Quake atmosphere that made DotB so special isn't in here; what you get here is more just DooM with Quake textures. 

 

 

[cannonball]

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

The ammo starvation makes this map pretty harsh, not really my cup of tea with some of the moster placement and composition. Still it wasn't a bad map overall. The blue key was the clear highlight with the monsters used effectively but not in an overly harsh manner with the archviles shielded by spectres which makes clearing the fight more difficult than just the AV pair. I skipped the fights towards the end simply because I was short on ammo.

 

MAP03 - “Steel Coffin” by Angry Saint

Okay I really didn't like this map, the ambush near the chaingun is beyond horrid and you are relying on pure luck to survive given you are being sniped on whilst going forward and back are blocked by monsters. The monsters after the blue key I simply ran past as I couldn't really be bothered after the sourness of the progression to the blue key. Sorry.

Edited June 10, 2018 by cannonball

[Catpho]

Onward to "Quake in theme only", aka "Mayhem16"

MAP01 - “Xsshsss Zsss” by Tarnsman

Hilariously brutal starting map, should be expected if you know Tarnsman's level design career well. 10 monster sounds like a joke, but you won't be laughing when its filled with monsters like revenants, hell knights, barons, mancubi and of course archviles, and the map's architecture makes you completely exposed to them! To best them, be sure to know your way with the art of fist fighting and footwork, cuz there's no ammo besides a berserk box. Accompanying it is some beautiful work done to height variation, layout and texturing. A very unusual opening, but that makes it all the more endearing.

Some screenies:

 

 

Edited June 13, 2018 by Catpho
Zone?

[Rook]

I've belatedly polished off Dimension of the Boomed, but will only briefly comment on the sunstantive maps for I move on to get clobbered by Mayhem 2016. Note that sadly I did resort to some, erm, assistance (cheats) for MAP05 and MAP06. In summary I'd say that this is an extremely well-made mapset with excellent visuals. I did have very real issues with navigation and confusing progression - to me there are too many teleporters that drop players off in unintuitive or unwanted locations, and too many switches without obvious effects. As I said in a previous post I think that Quake's textures have major implications for visual clearness because they're just so monochrome and muddy.

 

MAP05: The Witch House 

The music for this map isn't witch house at all - which is inexplicable, really. Still, void-like exterior and interior alike are as beautiful as I have come to expect from this WAD. It wasn't initially clear to me how important it was to explore the exterior thoroughly, and I somehow appear to have missed the rocket launcher altogether which put the hair-raising stair-raising section beyond my abilities.

 

MAP06: Malign Masters

Frankly I just didn't really get how to approach this map despite various attempts. After the first few spiders I was just getting repeatedly incinerated by plasma without ever really figuring out where to go.

 

MAP08: Ziggurat Mayhem

I had a much better time with this map, which is definitely one of my favourites in the WAD alongside MAP01. The exterior area near the exit may be the most attractive in the whole mapset, and the battles are hard but fair. Once I'd survived the opening few rooms, I had a relatively manageable and very enjoyable ride to the end, cyberdemon included. Great stuff.

[Magnusblitz]

I fully intend to play Dimension of the Boomed, but given that I fell behind, I'll just start off with Mayhem 2016:

 

MAP01: Xsshsss Zone

100% kills, no map secrets

 

Maybe 'xsshsss' is supposed to be the sound I make after I get blasted by the AV or ripped apart because the hell knight decided to get stuck on the stupid lift with me for the umpteenth time. I admittedly didn't like this one all that much, but I think that's mainly just because I'm not really a fan of trial-and-error 'play it repeatedly until you figure out how to beat it' type gameplay (in Doom at least). The aesthetic also didn't do much for me either. I won't begrudge it too much since I think it accomplishes its goal, just not my cup of tea.

 

MAP02: Will o' the Wastes

100% kills, 0/1 secret

 

A more standard affair, and I concur with @FrancisT18 that it feels like a modern Doom map with Quake textures applied rather than trying to ape any actual Quake layout (not a bad thing, just noting it). Ammo is indeed scarce and at the midpoint I found myself using shells when I should've been using rockets because I needed those shells for the indoor fights. Thankfully there's a berserk pack provided. I'm a big fan of the fight near the blue key with the surprise AV/spectre pincer, that one was a lot of fun. The next couple of AVs, not as much since ammo starvation can really come into play there and too much time is wasted valiantly hoping for some infighting. I dig the automap look with all the off-kilter diagonals.

Edited June 10, 2018 by Magnusblitz

[Urthar]

Mayhem 2016 - MAP02 Will o' the Wastes - Alfonzo & Tarnsman

HMP - Continuous - ZDoom

 

At first glance the textures in this map appear to have applied as if they were wallpaper, but upon closer inspection it becomes clear that thought has gone into treating them as materials with actual thickness and structure. It just that the overall scheme mixes those materials into a deliberate collage of contrasting materials. However taken on it's own merits it is effective in creating a vibrant environment, (which is no mean feat when using the muted hues of the Quake palette.) And a lot of that is down to the lighting, which is handled very, very well indeed.

 

Structurally, this is very much a Doom map, with the sort of non-orthgonal layout that would risk Vis-Leak-Hell in Quake, but I don't think the authors had any intention of creating anything other than a Doom map, while having some fun with it. Fun's important, I highly recommend having fun when you map, or you tend to stop.

 

The highlight of the map is probably the Archvile/Baron/Spectre trap. It's not often I think, 'hmm better kill the Baron first,' when confronted with any encounter that includes an Archvile, so well played gentlemen. But I tend to like any map that lets me play with rockets this much.

 

In summary: Explosive with a chance of gibs. Fisticuffs later. Good.

Edited June 10, 2018 by Urthar

[tmorrow]

map03: Steel Coffin, by Angry Saint [category: mapslot x10 = monstercount = 60, designed for map06, seems to be 1 monster short]
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

You start on the helipad outside a techbase facility. There are plenty of green slime sectors around to steer clear of, although there seems to be a lift available to get out of most of them. The real danger though is the traps that are sprung on you in several of the rooms as you progress. The only break you get on this map is that the the monster count is one shy of the intended 60.

You face the worst trap on the way to the blue key where you enter a walkway and the door locks behind you, a mancubus spawns in front and several revenants behind, while a bunch of chaingunners appear on an upper ledge over the green slime. If enough chaingunners focus you or the mancubus blocks your path to the switch to open the way out, your run is over. A mean trap.

All of the other traps can be managed fairly easily, although the exit trap can be problematic depending on how the archvile behaves.

You will want to pick up the secret since it will ultimately arm you with a rocket launcher with 7 shots if you've picked up all the ammo. While you can collect the secret early in the map, it's better to wait until you access a rad suit beforehand.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP03: Steel Coffin

100% kills, 1/1 secret

 

Out of Quake 1 gothic slipgate weirdness and into Quake 2 Strogg techbase land. This one has a few tough traps, some which are signposted with corpse piles, but I had a lot of trouble with just the first main room - revs + manc + skinny pathways over slime is not a good combo. Best just to run from it and come back later, I found. Same with the first real bridge trap... I found it easiest just to run ahead, slip by Mr. Mancubus and hightail it out of there. I found myself confused as to what the switch in the backpack secret did, apparently that's what lowers the RL, which will prove very useful for the last fight.

 

Overall a solid if perhaps a bit blocky level, some nicely toothy combat.

[FrancisT218]

Mayhem 2016 Level 3

 

I recognize most of the textures here from an old Ultimate DooM megawad Vengeance, still not a familiar wad here on the DWMC however. The looks and aesthetics are decent here, and it's definitely some kind of base but it didn't remind me of either the opening levels of Quake nor of Quake II.

 

You have basically three very tough fights here: the second room, the Chaingun room, and behind the blue door. They look potentially unfair but with some luck each becomes doable (usually getting some monsters to infight but with the Chaingun it's more important the Mancubus goes into a spot where you can sneak past it into a safer room). It would be tough to do without saves, however, because in each case, getting the desired behavior is at least somewhat luck based & if the monsters behave in an undesired manner, you'll probably die. The last fight isn't as hard if you just picked up the RL and all rockets available for it. 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2018 by FrancisT18

[Rook]

Mayhem 2016

MAP01: XssHsss Zsss

 

Having braced myself for a real meatgrinder, I was pleasantly relieved by the manageable difficulty of this map (at least on HMP). The real kink is that monsters behave a little oddly because of the way they are hemmed in for the map to work - for example, I had real trouble beating the mancubus to death at the end because of its erratic movement. This map is a great example of Tarnsman's remarkable economy, using no more lines than neccesary and very often making each one serve multiple purposes at the same time time: decoration is geometry, and vice-versa. As a result the map is really quite attractive despite (or maybe because of) having few lines.

[tmorrow]

map04: Affinity, by Jimmy [category: 160 things]
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

Jimmy gives us an open, non linear map with plenty of rad suits and pain sectors to keep our marine on his toes. A good mix of enemies has been brewed for the occasion. There's plenty of hitscanners and revenant fireballs to keep you fired up as well as unwanted floaters wandering in when and where you least expect them. A good range of weapons are provided so you have quite a bit of choice. Chainsaw, berserk fist, super shotgun, chaingun and rocket launcher should all be early pickups. The secrets are well worth finding, 2 soul spheres and some ammo are your rewards.