The DWmegawad Club plays: Eviternity

[tmorrow]

I'm continuing to follow the custom timetable suggested by @Magnusblitz in the first post.

 

chapter: Crystalline, map11: Wanderer, by Dragonfly
uvmax, 100% k/i/s obtained

The theme of the Crystalline chapter is Icy Castles. Damn! Our marine forgot to pack his winter kit. He tried to build a snowman but he gave up after his first attempt was mowed down by a chaingunner and his second was melted by a guided missile from an ill tempered revenant.

We have a lovely mountain setting with some ice caves to traverse around a large circular ice floor. It appears that 3 keys have carelessly gone missing again and it's up to our marine to find them. The ice is slippery in places, what a surprise! There are a couple of platforming sections that might force some retries but other than that, the slippery ice doesn't pose any real danger.

The paths to the keys can be taken in any order but I'd recommend leaving the red key path until you've tracked down the secrets for a health and armor boost because it contains a nasty trap involving an archvile. The 3 secrets contain a soulsphere, megaarmor and backpack.

chapter: Crystalline, map12: Brisk, by Dragonfly
uvmax, 100% k/i/s obtained

It's time to take a trip through a monster infested ice cave and then up a lift to the entrance to a satanic building that you must enter and clear out. The encounters are starting to get more scary. Along the way we are seeing more of the newer enemies mixed in with the traditonal nasties like the archvile. The final encounter has you locked in with a couple of annihilators, astral cacodemons, nightmare demons, an archvile and some other scum.

There's one tricky secret on the map to a soulsphere that is tough to pull off and can easily sap your ammo if you aren't quick. Some of the words uttered by our marine as he kept failing this secret are not suitable for children. There's even a non official soulsphere secret you can pick up near the end.

[Afterglow]

On 3/7/2019 at 8:30 PM, Eris Falling said:

I'm not entirely clear on what Afterglow's involvement on this map actually was. I recall it being mentioned as Dragonfly built the map and then Afterglow did a detail pass, but I thought it went further than that, according to the pre-RC1 progress spreadsheet, the map was also based on some old prefabs that Afterglow provided for Eviternity and then the map was designed around those? Either way, if the Doom Wiki page has complete info, this would be the first released map with Afterglow's name on it since 2006, so that's pretty neat. Damn, 13 years... I was 8 years old :P

 

It's debatable whether my name should even be attributed to the map. Its layout and item placement are 100% Dragonfly.

 

I sent him some scraps of scraps from my otex.wad prototyping. The blinking mini-strobelight fixtures and these computer workstations came from that demo map:

 

 

Otherwise I spent an afternoon or two making minor texturing and geometry changes:

 

 

 

 

I have some other finished maps from ~1997-2006 built on the earliest version of otex.wad but they won't come out until the final otex is released. Your 8 year old self probably would have enjoyed them. I hope the 25 year old you will enjoy playing them.

Edited March 9, 2019 by Afterglow

[antares031]

21 hours ago, General Roasterock said:

I also really hope that there's a development post from Eris that's along the same length and content that the Nightmare Demon was. I'd love to hear the story of this powerful demon's creation.

 

 

I'm not a good writer, like Eris. But let me try to write a development post about this spooky cacodemon. Back in June 2018, Dragonfly suggested some ideas about the flying custom monster, such as Holy Cacodemon (same as the cacodemon, but with slightly more health, more speed, shoots an arc of caco fireballs) and Flying Mancubus, which was literally a mancubus with a jetpack. I think those ideas were pretty good, but we focused on designing Nightmare Demons back then. As you can see, Eris did a wonderful job in creating the visual of teal-colored Nightmare Demon, and all I had to do was just adjusting dehacked of MBF Helper Dog, so we could replace it to our new pinky. Like I mentioned from my previous post, I tried to implement the sprinting movement to Nightmare Demon, which ended up with disappointing results for this ground monster. But I knew that this sprinting behavior had a potential for flying monsters, since I tried to design the greatly-buffed cacodemon for one of my scrapped projects.

 

Even back in 2017, I was planning about the boom-compatible mapset, called Antaresian Legacy. This wad was going to introduce some custom monsters, such as Chaingun Elite from Struggle (speaking of which, like Eris mentioned, Former Captain from Eviternity is basically a Chaingun Elite, with greater pain chance, higher damage-per-second, and palette replacement from blue to teal), one boss-tier zombie with his flying saucer, which was capable of shooting automatic machinegun projectiles during the flight, and Babodemon, which was basically a blue-colored cacodemon with PE's eyeball. You can see the picture of those custom monsters from this post on Twitter, and the early version of dehacked writing for Babodemon from this post. While the project was cancelled, and it was merged to my other megawad project, I kept working on developing the behavior of this blueberry monster, just for fun. In the end, it had much faster sprinting velocity, much deadlier attack movements than its early version:

 

 

 

Back to August 2018, Dragonfly asked me to put more custom monsters for Eviternity. I decided to put palette-swapped Chaingun Elite, since he was the good replacement for SS soldier, who drops a clip of bullet during the death. We also discussed about the concept of replacement of Baron of Hell, which was based on one of boss monsters from Wolfenstein 3D, shooting both rockets and chaingun bullets. In the end, this one became none other than the Annihilator, thanks to the fantastic sprite replacements, designed by Xaser. :thumbsup:

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

After the discussion, we moved on to the replacement of commander keen, which was about to become more powerful cacodemon. I recorded the video of Babodemon, to demonstrate the possible behavior of our new caco. We thought that it'd be much better, if we reduce its movement speed a little bit, and change its attack movement to much lesser aggressive one. Dragonfly also suggested to use the sprite of Poe from Realm667, and we made some adjustments from the original sprite to look much better. I also decided to use the sound effects of Poe, since those sounds were quite intimidating to hear, and could work pretty good with sprinting movement.

 

To emphasize the sprinting, I adjusted the speed and the duration of its chasing movement. When it starts to sprint, it moves three times faster than its normal flight for a brief moment. And since "Chase" code pointer randomly allows the monster to go back to the first frame of attacking movement, the duration of sprinting is pretty much random, which makes the sprinting more unpredictable than usual behaviors. From the picture below, each "Chase" frame inside the blue box, #767 to #773, has a chance to go back to the "FaceTarget" frame.

 

Spoiler

 

 

In the RC1 of Eviternity, Astral Cacodemon had the same fireball shots with Babodemon; two fireballs to front, one fireball to each far-side. And many players pointed out that it's way too harsh that the player could be easily killed by one volley shot in close range. Thanks to its sprinting, it was able to get closer to the player quite easily. And its deadly DPS in close range made a synergy to give the player unfair moments quite often. For the final version, it was changed from four mancubus' fireballs to two, and added one cacodemon fireball; one caco fireball to front, one mancubus' fireball to each side. While I do miss the original attack behavior, the new attack method might be a good choice for the majority of players.

[Budoka]

MAP11: Wanderer
-------------------------------

 

UV-Maxed in 20 minutes, nice. All three secrets are incredibly clever, by the way.

 

The winter creature that I am has a soft spot for this episode, and I see that the GZDoom version adds a dripping snow effect. The effect works, but it does look a bit cheap. Now, to say this isn't a very original theme for video games is an understatement. However, most aesthetic themes have been done to death anyway as such, so really it's all about the execution. As far as that's concerned, this will develop much further in the later maps, but this episode gives off a "nordic fantasy" vibe that I really enjoy. It's hard to properly describe to be honest.

 

I also love the quiet, resting atmosphere that reigns in this level, as if we were disturbing a place nobody has treaded in a long, long time. At the same time, the level can be deceptively challenging, using low-level monsters in very dangerous spots considering the limited ressources avilable for most of the map. We also get treated to one of the best Archvile setups ever created, having to circle around pillars to hide from the creature's spells while it keeps a fairly dangerous army of fodder alive and going. It's all about continuously adapting on the fly, which is the sort of gameplay that makes for some of the most tense and memorable moments in Doom.

 

The ice physics, on the other hand, I'm not really convinced by. I don't mind them particularly, but they're like... kind of inconsequential in this level ? I mean, they do make taking out some of the snipers slightly trickier, but it really isn't that hard.

 

Speaking of challenge though, we get formally introduced to our last two custom enemy types here. The Former Captain, a slightly souped up Chaingunner that shoots rapid-fire projectiles might seem superfluous at first, but I promise you they can be quite devastating. They're definitely the most boring of the custom enemies in a conceptual sense (and even then, it works), but they do their job very well.

 

The other newcomer is, of course, the Astral Cacodemon, which is my favourite monster in Eviternity, and may well dethrone Scythe II's Corrupted Marine as my favourite out of all the custom enemy types I've ever seen so far. They rush at the player in a fast, tricky strafe-like movement pattern, and spit two Mancubus fireballs along with the regular Caco lightning ball. They're aslo somewhat durable, and their charge is just as deadly as their fire. I actually love fighting these guys with mid-tier weapons (Super Shotgun, Rochet Launcher) rather than the plasma guns, so as to make sure they get at least a chance to hit me. It's just fun to keep fighting them, even more so than it is with Archviles or a well-placed group of Cyberdemons. From a mood-establishing standpoint, the comination of their freaky sound effects, otherwordly appearance and intimidating movement patterns can also be quite startling, although with enough time passing one gets used to even that.

 

I really, really like this map overall.

 

MAP12: Brisk
-------------------

 

As the much more intense midi compared to the last map clues us in, this is a style of map that we haven't yet seen in Eviternity: an entirely linear gauntlet in which it is demanded that the player survives a series of increasingly tricky fights with whatever supplies the mapmaker sees fit to distribute, with the one potential boon of that Supercharge secret that I couldn't figure out. I do enjoy this kind of level by the way, that is all about the sheer combat prowess the player can display in a restricted setup. Cheap players need not apply, "Brisk" makes no room for their kind.

 

Standout moments for me are the Caco+Archvile  combo near the beginning (the ice physics do play a bit of a role here), that pit full of Nightmare Demons and hell knights (which in all honesty might be a bit much), the next fight invovling, among other things, a very cruel interplay between an Astral Cacodemon and a Chaingunner(!), the Archive fight in the Rocket Launcher hall,and of course the final fight, pitting you up against the nastiest of the custom types in a deadly monster combination.

 

This level is short but it will make you remember it regardless: I entered it with almost perfect health and ammo resources, and came out of it almost completely drained. Also, a comment pertaining to my first playthrough: this map is absolute murder when you have to pistol start it in PrBoom+.

Edited March 9, 2019 by Budoka

[Roofi]

Map 11 : Wanderer

 

 

Let's start the winter episode which is my favourite for now . It also get significally harder with deadlier traps (it's especially the case in map 12 and the next maps).

 

This level is good but maybe the least interesting in the episode because the layout mainly consists of natural landscapes in an icy valley. I like exploring caverns , forests or even valleys but the thing I really prefer in Eviternity is the architecture. The next levels , especially map 13 and 15 are more exciting because you visit big castles. Rocky areas tend to be rather underdetailed in Eviternity imo.

 

However , the large open valley stays a notableplace in the map as well as the southern room using the middle textures trick.

 

Map 12 : Brisk

 

 

 

Yeah , I totally recall this map because it was the first time I died in Eviternity during my UV playthrough !

 

Brisk is memorable for its linearity coupled with a "rise to the top" scenario. You start near a cavern and your objective is to penetrate a small castle in order to climb up the tower located at the north. I had the bit sensation to play a snowy version of Map 04 but with a gameplay more focused on fights than exploration. Also , you will never have to go backwards so , expect a very linear progression.

 

The circular tower is by far the most noteworthy area in the map mainly due to the unexpected difficulty and the large curved staircases. Honestly , I can't really explain but I really dig stairs , especially curvy ones. The square entrance hall is good too with an another clever use of wooden middle textures. However , I found the area a bit too dark the first time I played this map. Whatever , it's still an another notable place.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP11 "Wanderer" - Joshua O'Sullivan  (100%K /98% I /33% S):

Ok, new episode, this time in some kind of icy medieval landscape, this is the first map, so I'm still not sure about this setting. This is just an icy canyon with tons of caverns and some kind of a small fortress. This is a hit or miss, and I just missed it. Didn't like this map at all, it felt boring all over the place.
Layout is just in key-hunting type of progress, there are tons of ways to tackle this map, all of which, felt uninteresting to me, and I think it's probably because of its monotonousness. I personally hated the Arch-vile room, I just had to rush him while tanking pinky hits, thanks god I was at 140% health. Also, there is a lot of ice-physics combined with some platforming here and there, which I always find as an annoying gimmick at every game, still rare on Doom custom maps. Good luck trying to avoid Revenant fireballs with that gimmick, heh.
You may have your first Astral Cacodemon encounter here, and I noticed they also alternate attacks, throwing you their mancubi attack or just a simple cacodemon fireball. Having more than one of these is more than enough to have a bad time, they are way to fast to handle, so I see them being a serious problem on open areas.
There is yet another new enemy introduced here: The former Captain, which replaces the SS Nazi, and consists of a better version of the chaingunner, which shoots the same new projectile as the Arachnotron at a faster rate. They sure look angry and are hard to deal with. The good thing is that you can see what they throw at you, they aren't hitscanners, so they are bareable on open areas, but still deadly though.

MAP12 "Brisk" - Joshua O'Sullivan (100%K /98% I /100% S):

Why the fuck did the difficulty ramp up so fast? This is the first map that made me tilt so hard and I almost break my keyboard. Hell, here is where the ice mechanics shine at its best (Not really). Some really annoying encounters at the first area of the map with those ice floors. This one felt pretty slaughtery at times, it is good that you can enter to a castle and find some new architecture here, but if we talk about gameplay, it's still annoying. There was a really outrageous switch shooting area for a soulsphere, in which you needed to be really fast, and I was forced to do it since I was pretty low, in fact, the map is going to force you to get that only secret in the level. Thanks to the Doom gods there is a rocket launcher here.
The last encounter was made to actually make you feel miserable, and you end up with little to no ammo at this point, so try to make monsters infight.
There is nothing much to say about this one other than say it feels less boring to look at than the previous map, and that there is some nice fake 3d structures here and there, which is a really nice effect. Also, the map is pretty linear as usual.

Death counter: 79

Maps in order of preference:

MAP06 (Great)
MAP04
MAP07 
MAP10
MAP03
MAP01
MAP02
MAP08 (Ok)
MAP09
MAP05
MAP11
MAP12 (Bad)

This new episode is similar to the first one, but this time in winter. I didn't like this episode so far, so I hope it gets any better, and I think it will, since so much people praise this episode.

[ukiro]

33 minutes ago, DJVCardMaster said:

Death counter: 79

 

I really think you should consider playing at a lower skill level. It sounds like you're not having a good time at all and it will not get easier any time soon. Skill levels are implemented well across Eviternity so it's just as "legit" as playing on UV.

[DJVCardMaster]

37 minutes ago, ukiro said:

 

I really think you should consider playing at a lower skill level. It sounds like you're not having a good time at all and it will not get easier any time soon. Skill levels are implemented well across Eviternity so it's just as "legit" as playing on UV.

I'm enjoying it, I never play on lower difficulties, it would have less sense if difficulty is not a thing on this one. Besides, MAP04 was a really difficult one for me, same for MAP02 and MAP07, but those were likeable at least for me.
Everybody plays the game the way he wants to play it, kind of a weird suggestion, if you ask me.

[Tristan]

Not that I'm telling you how to play, but FWIW, there's a reason I prefaced my MAP11 write up with this sentence:

11 hours ago, Eris Falling said:

Right folks, the first two episodes are just a warm-up, if your skill level of choice has been giving you problems so far, now's the time to consider turning down the difficulty, this WAD is done playing around.

 

So speaking from my own experience, I tested some of these levels on all three skill settings, and my ironman standings from when I did those will reveal that in no way can I be considered a particularly skilled player, but as me and ukiro have said, this WAD's difficulty will continue to increase. I enjoy just about every map in this WAD, but not on UV - I still have some issues with rage to this day, and I had an..experience doing chapter 6 on UV where I completely ran out of ammo when no one else had had this problem, and then 28 annoyed me so much that I slammed my mouse on my desk. I haven't had a working scroll wheel since then. But I don't have a problem with either of those levels on lower settings, and for me this was the last straw for UV difficulty, it's just not worth getting worked up about this stuff, it's supposed to be fun. I have to be honest, 79 deaths by MAP12 tells me that 14, 15, 31, 32 are four maps in succession that will wear you down, and that's before we think about chapter 5 or 6. If you genuinely do find that fun then all the power to you, but the MAP12 write-up doesn't give that impression.

[VanaheimRanger]

 

[dac]

Map 11 – Wanderer

 

So, astral cacodemons.

 

After ten maps and a few posts insinuating they were dreadful killing machines, they FINALLY make their appearance here, without much fanfare. Just one, protecting the yellow key.

 

That one encounter was enough for me to decide those spawns of Lucifer should never get close to me ever again. Hard to hit, hits hard. And I’m certain they’ll be used in the most unpleasant ways in the future.

 

Anyway, we go from technology to ruins in a cold, icy world. I haven’t run this map enough to see if it’s truly freeform, but I absolutely loved this map’s flow in my first run, going from the yellow key to the blue, and getting a good overview to go for the red key that taunted me first. On HMP, the difficulty of this map was just right, with the arch-vile fight being the highlight. Even with me not realising there was an elite chaingunner until the very end.

 

Speaking of, I was familiar with those from my time with Struggle, and they’re not any different here – a bit more teal, but still the same bite. Once again, I’m sure they’ll be used in ways to maximise pain.

 

[DJVCardMaster]

1 hour ago, Eris Falling said:

Not that I'm telling you how to play, but FWIW, there's a reason I prefaced my MAP11 write up with this sentence:

 

So speaking from my own experience, I tested some of these levels on all three skill settings, and my ironman standings from when I did those will reveal that in no way can I be considered a particularly skilled player, but as me and ukiro have said, this WAD's difficulty will continue to increase. I enjoy just about every map in this WAD, but not on UV - I still have some issues with rage to this day, and I had an..experience doing chapter 6 on UV where I completely ran out of ammo when no one else had had this problem, and then 28 annoyed me so much that I slammed my mouse on my desk. I haven't had a working scroll wheel since then. But I don't have a problem with either of those levels on lower settings, and for me this was the last straw for UV difficulty, it's just not worth getting worked up about this stuff, it's supposed to be fun. I have to be honest, 79 deaths by MAP12 tells me that 14, 15, 31, 32 are four maps in succession that will wear you down, and that's before we think about chapter 5 or 6. If you genuinely do find that fun then all the power to you, but the MAP12 write-up doesn't give that impression.

I understand, but as I said, I'm still enjoying it, if I see some really serious difficulty issue just as with MAP12 or worse, I'll lower the difficulty, for now, it's just fine.

[Snikle]

11 - Wanderer

Ah, a new episode. And a new enemy, the Astral Caco. What a fucker that thing is, shootin’ off Manc balls and flying real fast and sounding like a scary… something, and it’s fucking corpse looking so similar to it’s living version that I wasted a shot half the times I walked by it. (I played this on RC1 back in December) That’s why I love it. The former captains could be fun too, reminds me of the similar ones from Struggle a few months ago. Onto the level itself, it’s a nice nonlinear three-key map in the snow. The slippery ice has potential to add to combat, but the platforming parts on the ice were bullshit. NOCLIPed across those after a while. Looking forward to the rest of this episode.

12 - Brisk

Shorter map, very linear too, but still great fun. The caverns at the beginning opening up more and more, exposing monsters was cramped and intense, but not near as intense as the final fight in the exit room. That shit was hard, in a good way. I eventually won by pitting the arch-vile against the annihilator, since I didn’t want to get too close myself due to using up all the health packs. Once the annihilator was dead, the archie was an easy kill. Another solid level.

[ukiro]

4 minutes ago, Snikle said:

it’s fucking corpse looking so similar to it’s living version

 

At least this was adjusted quite extensively between RC1 and the final version—the corpse sprite is much more collapsed now.

[dac]

MAP 12 – Brisk

 

My run through this map can be defined with “Oh, forgot.” As in:

 

Oh, forgot the arch-vile can revive the zombie elites.

 

Oh, forgot the arch-vile can revive a bloody annihilator.

 

Needless to say, I came in expecting to gain newfound hatred for astral cacodemons (almost succeeded with the first one and their erratic movements while I’m sliding all over the ice), I got out cursing Dragonfly for arch-viles in the worst positions. Also realised I’m just god awful with the rocket launcher and spatial awareness and not panicking in general. The difficulty is still fine, and otherwise this was a nice map.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP11: Wanderer

 

The scenery changes again here, from the high-tech commingling of dull gunmetal, olive grab, and poured concrete to a glistening high-contrast environment of frigid ice and bleak, rime-slick stone.  It feels like a more significant transition than the earlier jump from MAP05's medieval arena to MAP06's slipgate complex, perhaps because those are both familiar Doom themes (albeit given new life by the luscious OTEX resources and the WAD's custom palette) while the frigid polar palaces of this new chapter belong more in the realms of other user-created PWAD projects or perhaps the fantasy worlds of the Hexen games.  We're in uncharted territory, cold and alone except for the dependable sidearm that is our ever-present companion.

 

I recall feeling a bit underwhelmed by this level when I first played through an earlier release candidate of Eviternity, most likely because the texture palette doesn't support this particular theme with the same breadth and variety as it does the earlier castle and techbase chapters; or, maybe it does, but that's not on display here to the same degree, with what seem instead to be endless stretches of enormously similar ice and snow textures, deployed in a way that feels somewhat lo-fi in contrast to what's come before.  The gameplay itself is certainly up to par, with the player quickly confronted with a battery of secured switches and a demand that all three keys be found before the exit can be reached.  What follows is an exploration of a frigid valley, an environment made doleful and haunting by the superb choice of music; the caverns, castle ruins, cliffs, and icy passages all hint at a story of former grandeur laid low by the passage of time and the creeping advance of a wintery clime, and the collection of the scattered keys from their places amidst this tumbled carcass of a landscape has about it the feeling of a scavenger, picking the last shreds of meat from the bones of an animal laid low by exposure and hypothermia.  Fortunately for the player, at least on Hurt Me Plenty the map is relatively generous with its resources; no lean meat here, instead there's a gluttonous bounty of arms and ammunition to feast upon as a mixed company of monsters emerges from the ice-fog to oppose your advance.  I would say that in the end it's a map that grew on me in the playing of it (though the dashes across slippery-topped pillar-paths never worked their way into my affections).

 

Also, I believe this is the first brush with the pallid Astral Cacodemon (a reference in name to the astral dreadnought of Dungeons & Dragons from which the classic cacodemon draws much of its appearance?) for those players not (un?)fortunate enough to run into them on MAP09.  Encountered in close quarters as it is here, this new addition to the bestiary doesn't get much of a chance to demonstrate the effects of its enhanced mobility upon the broader strategic picture, but its beefed-up attacks alone are enough to make it a priority target in any encounter in which it plays a part.

 

MAP12: Brisk

 

From MAP11's free-roaming gameplay and melancholy atmosphere, we come to this much more structured and certainly bloodier affair, which holds the player's hand as it half-guides, half-drags them through a sequence of locked-room set-pieces.  It's not a style of map of which I'm overly enamoured, offering less of the exploration and opportunities for larger-scale consideration of problems with which classic Doom was replete, instead challenging the player over and over with variations on the theme of limited space, limited resources, and a new configuration of monster types to tackle with the tools at hand.  At least the map has the good grace to make it clear what it's doing and how it's structured before its solitary secret presents itself; it should be clear to the player that if they want that soul sphere, they'll have to grab it now rather than later because too much forward progression will result in closed doors and barred passages denying access to that precious resource.  As a commingling of ice and medieval environments it's a nice enough rendering of a gloomy castle perched upon the edges of the frigid wastes, but the occasional technological elements, the light-strips and lift textures, diminish the clarity of the theme a little, and I felt there were certainly places where the wicked whimsy evident in much of the encounter design gave way to capricious cruelty in others.

[Tristan]

MAP12: Brisk - Dragonfly

9:26, 100% kills, 100% secrets

 

Jesus fucking christ that first astral! I don't remember encountering this guy before, perhaps I only did HNTR runs of this map, but the ice physics definitely made that fight a hell of a lot scarier, wow :D Well, I actually died to a captain shortly after this, I guess I overestimated their pain chance, and on my second attempt I realised you can just retreat back up the river to deal with that astral a bit more safely. I expect of some of us are still learning the monster at this early stage so that's a nice design feature.

 

Overall this is the most challenging level yet and it is a sure steep ramp up from MAP11. It's also Dragonfly's personal least favourite map in the set, I believe, an assessment which I wouldn't agree with myself, I mostly like it although I wouldn't rate it as highly as most of the other maps. I had a few frustrating moments here, most significantly I found the darkness of the cabin is probably a tad overdone, a captain crept up and hit me at point blank range and I had no idea he was even there, bye bye ~100 health. Really any difficulty that you get from the caves section, which are pretty hairy because you're dealing with hitscanners and mid-tiers in very slippery confined spaces is starting to prepare you for what's to come. The welcoming committee once you enter the cabin isn't so dangerous, a few spectres, captains and an archvile seems menacing on paper especially considering the darkness of the room but I found the spectres repeatedly blocked the captains, so it's just a case of keeping moving really.

 

Generally, I would be bitching about the secret now, indeed it took me a good 15 or so attempts and I feared I was going to run out of bullet ammo. It's frustratingly difficult and I'd normally be opposed to this, but in the end I find it balances out reasonably well because fuck me that soulsphere was worth it. The last fight can be pretty rough on a first go and sadly I forgot how it plays out so I died here too, of course you deal with the annihilator and pain elemental that precede the fight before you start it off. The arch-vile is only dangerous if you run away from it, rockets should be able to deal with it before it can blast you - though I had some excellent luck from PrBoom+ here where I was able to take out the AV with only three rockets. I was wrong about you, PrBoom+ :^)

The rest of the opposition is fairly straightforward on HMP with some thought given towards prioritising your targets, hitscanners will of course be a problem in a big open space like this, but the nightmare demon also makes an appearance doing what it does best by chasing you around the room trying to get in your way, gotta be careful using rockets when they're present.

 

MAP13: Pathfinder - an_mutt + Dragonfly

13:08, 98% kills, 25% secrets

 

an_mutt joins the fray as the next guest mapper out of Eviternity's 11. The design process here was often referred to as "mapping tennis," where the two authors took it in turns to add stuff to the map, bouncing the WAD file back and forth. mutt's presence is definitely noticeable here, you can see in way some of these areas are shaped that there's a bit of an aversion to orthogonal design, a characteristic one might expect from someone who has been hanging around the DTWID/BTSX gang for a good amount of time.

 

Pathfinder gives us our first proper castle map of the ice episode, with a lot of the action set indoors this time. Our ears are graced with the MIDI that is stewboy's "Polar Expedition," one of two bespoke pieces by him in the WAD, and as far as I'm aware this is the first release with new stewboy music since 2016's Ancient Aliens, so that's really cool to see him come back.

 

One thing I really appreciated about this map right from the very start is how that teleporter pad near the spawn point allows you to start clearing out a different area of the map before you would normally reach it, a specific form of non-linearity I can't say I've seen too often. The difficulty is a sure step down from MAP12, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, and it's still challenging enough that you wouldn't really want to play too carelessly here, I felt that some of the encounters look a bit more threatening than they really are, the prime example would be this one particular fight where.. well, you can imagine how I might react when presented with this sight :))))

Spoiler

Also what the fuck is up with their lower torsos from this angle? It's the most orthogonal thing in this entire map, like the top and bottom half were stitched together in MSPaint or something. I've never noticed that before.

 

But really it played out quite smoothly and while I had a few instances where I found myself with less health than I'm comfortable with, I was always able to recover ok and got through this without dying, in contrast to my three deaths on MAP12, so overall I found a lot of the combat here really quite fun, good solid action. I can't remember the secrets here but if they were anything like in MAP18 - the other Dragonmutt collaboration - they won't be so easy to figure out. Though I figured one of them is guarded by an astral, turns out you can wake that guy up by standing at the window above it - near the switches for the blue and yellow keys. Scared the shit out of me when I heard that alert sound.

 

After an easy final encounter consisting of a single annihilator, we leave the castle for a brief walk through a monsterless outdoor section and into some icy caves...

 

[General Roasterock]

MAP 11: WANDERER

The first time I played a map from this episode, I immediately made a connection to the ice levels from Pac-Man World 2. I am still shocked as to the amount of connections I've managed to make with games from my childhood. It's definitely a testament to Eviternity's theme.

If I forgot to mention the effects that GZ provides, then the snow in this map is a beautiful addition. A lot of work clearly went into making sure that the third episode gave a false sense of peace before it ramps up the usage of the new enemies. This map has a great exploration path, giving you more than enough to do to start out, and its assets are each important, being the first non-secret introduction of the Astral Cacodemon, along with another reintroduction that I will get to later. I did manage to cheat the blue key trap by just going back into the cave where I came in instead of using the hole, which made it easier to not get ambushed, and I feel that it was very easy to just walk away from a lot of the encounters and just slow down if you really wanted to. It's still a wonderful showing for a nicely painted episode.

 

Former Commandos:

The first time I saw these guys behind the wall, I couldn't help but say "Fuck, not you again" out loud. These guys were the absolute bane of my existence in Struggle, and my first thoughts is that they were just ported over, similar to how DV used the Afrit. The size of their bullet sprites didn't reflect how large the Arachnotron Plasma actor was, and I would always have a hard time gauging how far I had to move to avoid them. They can easily outdo an Astral in total damage, and they were everywhere.

Looking back though, I feel that Eviternity has them in appropriate moderation. There's the occasional segment where they're used as snipers again, but most of the time they're there just to act as a quick reaction, and can usually be put down by the weaponry the level gives you rather easily. They never mob you with enemies that take a higher priority, and the levels they're in are more forgiving with recovery from their blasts.  I really don't like saying that Antares's enemy is better in here than his own wad, but that's just a testament to the Eviternity team as a whole.

 

MAP 12: BRISK

Now this was a bit of a funky map for me. First off, this is definitely the most linear level in Eviternity, as it progresses straight from caves to a castle that seems more fitting in Episode 1. The majority of the map was good, and the Astral Cacodemons really flesh out the movement of where they were placed. That was a pretty funny secret too, as it took me multiple attempts to actually figure out the order.

The part that really got on my nerves was the ending, and it highlights exactly what I was talking about with the Annihilator's usage. The first one is fine, and it's really up to the player if they want to go ahead and kill it, only to have the vile revive it for the second wave, or bring it out into the main area to clear out one more monster. The second Annihilator however was the real pain. The only cover to protect you from the hitscan arm was the group of columns blocking the elevator (with gaps nonetheless) which you can't fully run around due to the fact that it's placed next to a wall. If the Annihilator manages to bring himself around quick enough, dead. If you focus on the Annihilator and the Arch Vile gets out, dead. It took me a couple tries to figure out that I HAD to get the infighting with the other group of enemies to work in order to escape, but for the life of me I could not get their attention long enough to dodge a stray rocket. The one time I managed to escape and work my way back through the opening that leads you to the last soulsphere (which I didn't even know existed until the run above), I just felt like I cheated, leaving all the monsters there to themselves. 

If this is the worst encounter in Eviternity, then this is a damn good wad. The only reason that I was so tired of it is because I had to play the entirety of this map so many times, and the linear nature did not help. I've made flawless runs through this map (yes, actually flawless, hitscan and all), only to take one rocket and die. I can only attribute both of these bad aspects to be mere coincidence, and one bad apple sure isn't going to ruin the whole bunch.

Edited March 10, 2019 by General Roasterock

[tmorrow]

chapter: Crystalline, map13: Pathfinder, by an_mutt, Dragonfly
uvmax, 100% k/i/s obtained

Our third collaboration sees @an_mutt pinning our marines arms while @Dragonfly goes to work with the knuckle dusters. The difficulty bar has been raised yet again. Nowhere is safe, even some of the secrets have been booby trapped. Starting out in the snow, the fight quickly moves indoors and continues on up the stairs. Finally you make it to a teleporter that takes you to the worst room and trap on the map, one containing a super shotgun sandwiched between 2 archviles. I highly recommend locating the megaarmor and one of the soulsphere secrets before tackling this room.

Progression on this map involves finding switches that cleverly unlock new areas for exploration. It took me a few tries to find the right places to make a stand and fight. Don't mimic my marine and get rocketed in the back by the final enemy on the map. I can't recall the words that were uttered at that time. I'm sure it was something like "Good show Annihilator, well played"! Our marine refuses to discuss the matter.  I managed to get my revenge and a uvmax on my next attempt, the annihilator did not like plasma to the face!

On a map consisting of 7 archviles, 6 astral cacodemons and a host of other bad eggs, you'll want to obtain all 4 secrets if you can. The rewards include 2 soulspheres, a megaarmor and some extra ammo.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP13 "Pathfinder" - James Collins and Joshua O'Sullivan (101%K /96% I /25% S):

A new mapper makes his appearance on this map, and as with the other guest mappers, this map feels part of the rest, in fact, an_mutt and Dragonfly here, managed to make a really nice map similar to MAP04, in the sense you have to get through into the fortress. So far my favourite one. Starts of being pretty simple, and then it gets really hard on the blue key ambush, so I died most of the times there. 
Hell, those grey cacos sure are scary, and a pain to deal with them. At the end, where you pressed both the YK and BK switches, they start stalking you all over the castle.
There are two ways to enter this structure, the second way is via a blue teleporter. Here you are not going to get any progress, although you may find a PG and a green armor, so you can get back and deal with the first ambush. Its really nice how both areas connect making the map really open. Well, I have to say, connecting already visited areas is now a staple on this megaWad, and this is, I think, the most likeable aspect of it so far, being able to reach the same area in multiple ways and doing progress at the same time, not so many wads can acomplish this. 

Death counter: 100

Maps in order of preference:

MAP13 (Great)
MAP06
MAP04
MAP07 
MAP10
MAP03
MAP01
MAP02
MAP08 (Ok)
MAP09
MAP05
MAP11
MAP12 (Bad)

It seems the next map is going to be a cavern one, just like MAP02, maybe?

Edited March 11, 2019 by DJVCardMaster

[Budoka]

MAP13: Pathfinder feat. an_mutt
-----------------------------------

 

A fun adventure exploring a small winter fortress. I also noticed that portal in the starting area on my first palythrough, and deciding to avoid it back then didn't go well (this time it did). It's true that it lets you take out some enemies earlier than necessary, and also leads to the only easily accessible armor early on. However, this time around, after I reached the exit and went back to look for secrets, I found out that its true purpose is to prevent the player from falling victim to a softlock. I ended up needing all of one secret to finish this level on UV, coming out of it not in ideal shape, but still much better off than I was at the end of the previous map.

 

It's also true that there are a lot of high-tier enemies in this level, but but they're so wisely spread out that I hadn't really noticed it myself. Well, save perhaps for that late trap involving four Astral Cacodemons, which I didn't even remember was a thing. We also get a remix of the Archvile fight from MAP11 here, this time beginning with two Archviles at once, then unleahsing the fodder, then a delayed third Archvile, then some more fodder. Oddly enough, it feels easier this time around, although it still works. Enemy placement in general here is extremely well thought-out from start to end, although there are a few setups where the player can just get a little too lucky. For one, I personally wouldn't have made those monsters from the Pain Elemental trap inactive until the player gets close, it makes kiting them all much too convenient. I think it would have been better to have them alerted at the same time as the PE and create some chaos.

 

Side note, that mapping process of passing the ball between the two authors until both are satisfied seems like a very efficient work method, and in fact, I think this map dethrones allprevious candidates yet as best level of the megawad up to this point.

 

...Not for long, however.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP13: Pathfinder

 

So, @an_mutt had a hand in this map.  What do I think of when I hear @an_mutt's name?  Oh, right NOVA II and its MAP15, Crumbling Necropolis.  What an awesome level that was!  But what an exhausting level it was, too, epic in its scope and intense in its action and meticulous in its intricacy; and so, I find myself wondering, are we coming up on a similar set of experiences in this map?

 

This is no Crumbling Necropolis, but although it's more modest in scale, the same ingenuity of gameplay is on display here, and I feel like drawing a further parallel between the two maps in that they're both a masterful commingling of artificial structures and natural landscapes, the construction of one embedded in the setting of the other.  Now, in this case it's a castle rather than a crumbling industrial facility, and the landscape is a snowy boreal forest rather than a series of flooded canyons, but I'm definitely feeling the similarity there.  The castle itself is a delight to explore, platforms shifting to change its layout in quite dramatic ways and open up new connections, the most significant of which is probably the red-locked switch and the following sequence of gates and platforms that expand and change the stairwell-turned-encounter-space in various ways; the whole of it wonderfully engineered to turn loose wave upon wave of fresh enemies upon you as you slowly work your way out from the centre of the puzzle box.  I was wondering about the teleporters in opposite corners of the map initially, since it's certainly convenient at first to be able to hop from one end of the landscape to the other but not strictly necessary when you can just walk between the two locations without much effort; it's only toward the very end of the map that their necessity becomes clear.  I also rather taken by the fact that the exit is reached by a passage that you can see at the start of the map, and the barrier sealing that passage is right in the castle's central chamber, giving a sense of coming full circle and returning to familiar territory as you depart the castle after slaying its denizens and claiming its treasures for your own.

[Snikle]

13 - Pathfinder

This is probably one of my favorite maps so far. Perfect length, good hard fights, some great spots for gratuitous infighting, and of course good design and visuals. The area behind the red switch was probably the best, being a small set of linked rooms yielding both the other two keys along with some fun fighting. The part after opening the red-yellow locked area wasn’t as good, but it was still a nice set of areas to kill some shit. I like how the maps are getting progressively harder, but I hear the next map might just wreck the difficulty curve a bit, being Antares and all. Looking forward to it.

[VanaheimRanger]

 

[dac]

MAP 13 – Pathfinder

 

After completing this map, I went and checked for who did the music because its style felt a bit familiar – specifically, it reminded me of the music in Ancient Aliens’s “Culture Shock”. Turns out it’s a new stewboy release! I’ll trust Eris once again and say it’s nice to see him active once more.

 

Now for the map itself, a fortress in the cold snow, a collaborative effort between an_mutt and Dragonfly throwing a map back and forth. As was noted by others, this is a definitely less orthogonal map than the others, although I didn’t realise it until looking at the minimap. But like the previous map, arch-viles are plenty and well placed, astral cacos are still scary but becoming more manageable as I get more experience with them. Of note, the double arch-vile fight on HMP is like, a souped up version of the similar fight in map 11, although it’s not as scary if you know what you’re doing.

 

On a different note, that one bloody, gory corridor got me twice. First scaring me enough to not get the plasma gun at the end, and when you unlock the red key and spawn one lone pain elemental (shooting it and waking up all the released demons).

[Roofi]

Map 13 - Pathfinder

 

 

Yeah , this map rocks and has a stunning layout. However , I will be quick because it's late and I must go to bed. Maybe one of the best levels from the snow episode because has more architecture than natural landscapes. Map 14 was too cavernous and arena-focused in opinion for instance. I didn't play Map 15 yet but it's sure I will not be disappointed.

 

So here is a list of memorables parts/events :

 

- The outdoors with the trees surrounded with bonus items.

- The big half-circle shaped stairs located in the southern part of the map where we will be trapped with bars.

- The square room with red carpet which is a kind of HUB.

- The timed trap with the two arch-viles where the SSG is.

- The creepy corridor where some corpses lie as well as a multiplayer only SM.

 

Edited March 10, 2019 by Roofi

[Magnusblitz]

Falling behind already...

 

MAP10: Creation

100% kills, 1/3 secrets

 

So, the episode ender, but unlike the first episode it's basically a full level unto itself. I got the 'power up the level to reach the exit' theme much quicker than MAP06's, though it's also more straightforward here (each one opening up the next quadrant, rather than being a non-linear quest). The start was frantic with a lot of angles of attack for the monsters, but once you clear out the initial area it's pretty easy going for the most part, which the enemies generally being in front of you and only appearing in small groups. I was a little surprised when the SMM (anticipated once heard at the beginning) wasn't really a boss fight as the crushers were going immediately, but that just led me to being caught by surprise by the Annihilator and immediately eating a rocket, heh. They seem to not be too sturdy and can infight, so just by retreating a bit and letting them mingle they mostly finished themselves off (whether that was actually targeting each other or just blowing themselves up on their own splash, I'm not sure). I do like that it has two separate attacks, so it'll be interesting to see how that works in other fights.

[Xaser]

I'm a couple of days late for MAP10, but I figure I may as well add some Annihilator behind-the-scenes to augment @antares031's post. I did the sprite edits, so sit back and enjoy some pretend-artist commentary. :P

 

Way back, the monster was meant to resemble the Baron a lot more. The earliest concepts I can find are these unfinished edits by @Dragonfly, based on Ben2k9's Cyber Baron from R667:

 

 

Since these weren't finished, Vader's Terminator sprites got used as a placeholder when antares DEHACKED the monsters up. Interestingly, the enemy was a lot wider & taller back then, so the sprites were scaled up in a not-so-flattering way -- not that it mattered much as they were only ever meant to be placeholders in the first place. The Terminator's cool, but it's kinda already an established creature and IMO it made sense to go with something new.

 

Somewhere along the line, Dragonfly ended up jimmying together an alternative concept based on Eriance's Cybruiser; rather than splice 'em with the Chaingunner sprites, he opted for yoinking the Terminator's gun and struck gold:

 

 

I saw this and was like "Yep, this is perfect." So I got to hackin' on things. Here's the version I did for RC1, followed by some post-edits for RC2 (darker arm), Because Gifs:

 

 

The front frame of the final result is almost exactly the same as Dragonfly's, and I'm kinda surprised at how well the sprite edits snapped into place -- although if you look closely, you can tell that the Terminator was drawn on top of the Cybruiser to begin with (Vader credits it officially, somewhere), so maybe it's not so strange after all. :P

 

Even though it's a frankensprite, I'm pretty darn happy with it. Most of the frames are direct splices of the Cybruiser and Terminator, but the chaingun firing pose is something I put together myself from the bruiser's melee attack frames and a lot of custom gun positioning. I really like the effect, how he swings the cannon arm back as a sort of counterbalance while sticking both barrels in your gut. Hope you weren't using that.

 

The RC2 version adds a sort of Strogg-y metal spine to try and logically explain where the ammo belt comes from, and the chaingun arm is edited to look like some sort of synthetic biomechanical attachment, mounted at the shoulder. For some reason I always imagined that's what the original Cybruiser sprite was trying to go for, even if the back of the sprites betrayed the intentions. Artistic liberties (or oopsies), I guess. :P

 

Finally, here's a few more unused concepts I had lying around:

 

 

The left one's hard to see, but the contrast is tuned up (the body's a bit more white). I'm rather fond of the horn edit, but for some reason I decided not to go with that design -- probably just because it's more stuff to do, and pretending to be an artist is hard. :P

That's all, I think. Recommence absolutely loathing these guys. ;)

Edited March 11, 2019 by Xaser

[Demon of the Well]

Map 11 -- Wanderer - 103% Kills / 100% Secrets - FDA, 0 deaths (skill 4)

Oh-ho-ho-ho! Whitemare! Scythe m29/30! H2HXmas (probably not)! As I recall, it was when shots from this "Crystalline" episode started showing up that the excitement for this project really began to build. This is interesting, as snowy landscapes tend to look all more or less the same in idtech1, whether using something as simple as recolored stock assets or some new hotness (coldness) ala OTEX, and speaking strictly of the topography this is still true here. What distinguishes Eviternity's take on the theme are the splashes of color everywhere, most notably the crisp-looking blue spruce trees, but also the banners and pennants hung from the mysterious brick ruins set into the mountainside, not dissimilar in aspect to the castles seen in the first episode, but looking older/more ancient in the context of this episode's "timeline", if you will.

 

Another iteration of the three-key scavenger hunt progression scheme, progression in "Wanderer" breaks down into three distinct/discrete legs (one for each key), which appear to all be accessible from the outset and approachable in any order. The position of each key is cleverly visually telegraphed long before you can actually reach it (granted, you need sharp eyes to spot the blue key in its cupola from across the canyon at mapstart) to underscore this theme, but which path actually leads to which key is not always clear, lending the progression/traversal an uncanny, circuitous flavor while for the most part remaining individually linear and easy to follow. Exploring off the beaten path a bit is key to locating the secrets, but otherwise jaunts outside of each leg are largely uneventful.

 

Perhaps as a natural extension of this type of progression scheme, here the majority of the combat encounters play out in a more controlled/choreographed way than what has been the norm in the set so far, most notably the indoor setpiece protecting the red key, where an arch-vile and a bevy of imps/demons attack from all sides in a small, closed space, tasking the player with killing the mobs in immediate self-defense while staying on the move and using the room's support pillars to avoid the vile's spell attack until such time as there's an opening to put its lights out. Other encounters are less obviously framed as setpiece events, but no less telegraphed in their way, taking the form of close-range ambushes at the other two keys (which most players will expect), including the formal introduction of the astral cacodemon (which is still pretty easy to contain in this case) in the YK ambush, and a casual introduction of the 'Former Captain' en route to the RK (I barely registered these guys mentally until the next map). Incidental action is light and mostly limited to the central canyon, and seems to serve mainly just to fill the space, ala the smattering of monsters which appear once all three key-switches have been activated (agree about the imps on the lower platforms here, by the by, these are entirely useless/superfluous), one of the inevitable challenges of choosing gameplay for an area primarily meant to serve as a striking vista.

 

Map 12 -- Brisk - 103% Kills / 100% Secrets - FDA, 0 deaths

Interesting! I was wondering whether we'd see something like this, and when (telling that this is apparently its author's least favorite map in the set, perhaps). If the progression/layout in m11 just prior had the natural tendency to neck the action down into more tight/focused encounters, the scheme here is unabashedly a totally linear series of discrete encounters, each tailored to apply pressure and prioritization concerns in its particular locale, and with a set/by no means indulgent regimen of weapons and resources supplied which emphasizes evasion and situation management rather than setting the player up as a tank (given that this is only the second map in the episode, the difference between pistol-start and continuous play doesn't seem like it's particularly pronounced either, at least not on UV).

 

The encounters themselves, each taking place in in a relatively small space as they do, are all on the brief side, and levy very short but nonetheless dangerous 'kill windows' in their opening moments, where you'll be torn apart if you don't move skillfully and quickly eliminate key targets. Most of these I found pretty easy to 'read' once it became clear what the level's design focus is, and most encounters can be handily nipped in the bud with a bit of insight or foreknowledge (i.e. killing the vile in the last fight immediately rather than allowing him to flush you back), but even so the action is not trivial, due to a noticeably limited supply of healing, esp. without the secret and super-secret (??) soulspheres. I felt that the ambush by a squad of Captains and pack of specters at the RL was perhaps the most devious, both because the trigger for the encounter was staged much farther up than I had predicted, and because the Captains in that particular formation could very easily kill you from full health/armor in just a second or two if you get caught up on a specter or such.

 

The method for reaching the 'official' secret soulsphere is quite memorable, incidentally, if surprisingly fiddly--for some players I imagine the cost in ammo required to complete the sequence may be so great that the final reward is tantamount to fool's gold! How does one reach the other sphere, I wonder? Vile-jump, surely (IIRC you don't lose access to the upper ledge via the stairway once the last part collapses/vile appears), but is there a more elegant way?

 

This is a relatively humble beginning as regards the general style, but IMO very welcome to see, nonetheless, suggesting that Eviternity has some sharp teeth lurking somewhere in its immaculately pretty face.

[Pirx]

bit of catching up here as usual  ;)

 

nice to see so many people participate, this wad is amazing so far.

 

 

MAP03 - "Drain" by Dragonfly

 

a dark castle, something rather brown in quake's elder world style, can be played in several ways due to its interconnected design. you get a plasma gun with some ammo, and a secret ssg, but i found both late due to the route i took, i much of the time i was sniping hell knights and pinkies with the shotgun, and one chaingun i took from its previous owner. the exit is in sight behind a chain-link fence, but takes some pinkie slaughtering to reach (the only part that wasn't quite suspenseful as the pinkies were running around like chicken with no support troops). enjoyable architecture and sectret-hunting here.

 

 

 

MAP04 - "Regicide" by Jimmy and Dragonfly

 

a "storm the castle" type map, where, after a brief fight outside, you enter said castle with its rich, red and golden emblems and dark cellars. i felt that the secret megasphere was more than immediately needed against the various mid-tier enemies. i like the bolt-like plasma shot of the arachnotron, however. several trips in and out the castle are needed to find the 3 keys, all for the exit, the last one being the red, found in a beautiful library, and that's where i lost much time looking for a way to access the teleport leading here. 2 archies at the exit, but not much of a threat as they can't revive anything if you don't let them out. and that throne miniature is sweet, lol.

 

 

 

MAP05 - "Demon" by Dragonfly

 

an arena type map where you fight monsters coming in waves. including the new teal demon, a sped up, tougher pinkie. he's fast but not to the point of looking silly as nightmare pinkies do. i didn't find him significantly more of a threat alone, but working together with other critters he can cut off the player quite fast. luckily, this arena allows the player to fight from the stairs. an entertaining but, although a bit more simple and square than those before.

 

 

CHAPTER II: Automation

 

MAP06: "Reconnect" by Dragonfly

 

and here we leave ancient places and warp into techbase land. a somewhat decayed, grungy techbase, much more to my taste than the shiny and new ones. as for it being completely non-linear, i watched dotw's fda afterwards i found that he went a very different route, yet we finished the map rather safely. some visual effects are stunning for such an old game, like the warp into the golden portal from map05 and the "face" switches. are these custom-made for eviternity or part of the otex resources?

 

 

MAP07: "Facilitate" by Dragonfly

 

nothing in the style of traditional map07s, as we had an arena in map05 already. instead, this is another very btsx-looking techbase, lots of brown metal, arches under an orange sky, also reminiscent of quake2. some sneaky shotgunners hiding in the dark (my gzdoom appears much darker than prboom, if i want to keep the atmosphere and avoid making it overly bright), a few setups where a gallery of imps in the distance can be used for creating infights. the highlight is obviously the barrel zombie massacre. i blew up only the first 2 groups of barrels and the chaingunners behind must have done the rest, anyway, the whole thing turned into a pile of gibs of epic proportions. hilarity!

 

 

 

MAP08: "Stench" by Dragonfly

 

another non-linear map, a kind of waste disposal facility (hence stench i guess), although at some point my path back was blocked by rising pillars. i dont know if that revenant at the start is supposed to be shotgun-sniped, but he's too annoying for any other solution. did the part with the staircase first, that was rather easy and the caco / knight at the exit is infight fodder. the other part with climbing around the waste pool (and finding a megasphere and a berserk) was more exploratory, combined with a relaxing track. however you have to keep an eye on chaingunners appearing in some distance while imps or cacos are distracting you (by far the biggest threat i found). as for the arrow sign, yeah it's a bit blunt, but as i said before, my screen is rather dark, so that was a welcome hint in the end. 

 

Edited March 11, 2019 by Pirx