The DWmegawad Club plays: Eviternity

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP22 "Viscera" - Joshua O'Sullivan (100% K/100% I/33 % S):

Lovely cavern map at the start, but gets annoying when it becomes a slaughterfest on the imp ambush and the pinky ambush, luckly I had a plasma gun and a BP when I reached the last ambush.
The imp ambush was not fun by any means, I could not even find a way to exit it, so I had to IDDQD through this place, sadly. Even in god mode, I found myself stuck without ammo and having to no-clip through those annoying imps.
Not an enjoyable one for me, I found myself stuck in so many places, streches of the map are too thight for most of the encounters. The map itself is a pretty short, semi-linear 3-key hunt.
Also, I found an issue on the Pinky ambush, where you can hit the 4 switches before the walls are lowered to show them.

MAP23 "Tribulation" - Joshua O'Sullivan (102% K/66% I/0 % S):

Short, and lineal map, and actually not that hard, it could get hard at the moment you start encountering the grey cacodemons, but not that much. At the end a Cyberdemon fight, in which, circle strafing around the arena would be recommended to do.

MAP24 "Gossamer" - Brett Harrell (106% K/93% I/14 % S):

Another new mapper on the project so far, and another linear map with key progress, this one isn't that big either, but is pretty interesting, it uses some familiar texturing from the original Doom experience found in the OTEX pack. The only problem I found is that progressing through this one was a little bit confusing at times, but not that bad.
So far one of the best yet in this mapset.

MAP25 "Slave" - Joshua O'Sullivan (95% K/100% I/100 % S):

Another arena map, to end the episode. For some obvious reason, this one looks like a MAP30, in fact I even expected a behemot fight at the end, but my expectations did not succeed. This is short but good, nothing much more to say about this arena map, other than it is ten times better than map05 for example. Also, I loved the invisible bridge lowering itself to reveal the arena, amazing effect.
You can get to the exit without killing everyone here.

Death counter: 334

Spoiler

MAP15 (Perfect)
MAP32
MAP18 (Great)
MAP24
MAP21
MAP13

MAP20
MAP06
MAP04
MAP14
MAP07 
MAP10
MAP31
MAP03

MAP16
MAP23
MAP01
MAP02
MAP25 (Ok)
MAP19 

MAP08
MAP17
MAP09
MAP22
MAP05
MAP11
MAP12 (Bad)

 

Only 5 more levels to go!

Edited April 5, 2019 by DJVCardMaster

[LordEntr0py]

12 hours ago, dac said:

MAP 15 – Cryonology (Revisited)

 

For starters, I’ll agree with Demon of the Well about the music being not that great. Pseudo-Christmas, featuring-on-Geocities-personal-webzone kind of mess, a rare miss from stewboy. Of course, it does not fit this map’s style very well either; in fact it actively harms the mood, and that is a complete shame because this map is so good otherwise.

Looking back, Cryonology was my favorite map, although i didn't realise it at the time. Too captivated to form a critical opinion.

 

I wholeheartedly and respectfully disagree about the music. It does change the mood, but the ever-so-slightly off-kilter melody makes it a mockery of the pseudo-Christmas feeling.

 

It reminds us that We're in a huge wintery castle! What could be more Christmassy? Except there are demons. And the music isn't quite... right...

 

And yet, there is something Christmassy about huge cacoswarms blazing with BFG hitscan blasts beneath a beautiful icy folly, don't you think?

 

The thrill of seeing them fill the skies, the glee of the trigger press, the red, the green, and the joy of seeing them fall in droves...

 

Remember how you felt on Christmas morning as a kid? I think the clock fight took me there for a moment.

[dac]

Good writeup, even if I disagree with it. My interpretation of the castle and the icescape it is on is a lot more somber than yours - you see a twisted holiday environment, I see a cold, desolate place squatted by demons. I feel fireplaces without warmth. I read a story of peoples, living in anachronism between the old castle and the technological marvel that is the clock, or even how the secret exit feels from a different age. I imagine the tragedy: was it the demons, or was it something else entirely, a plague, running out of supplies, a house divided? No matter: the souls are restless from the new inhabitants, and respite for them is my goal.

 

I wonder how much of my impression is affected by familiarity with snowy winters. Christmas, to me, is more about light. It is the glow of lights on houses, windows and trees. It is the welcoming aura of inside. It is the glint from decorations and giftwraps. It is embraces from a family I do not see that often. It isn't strictly the colour red and the colour green. Hell it isn't strictly about colours in the first place - ask my family about how much I lament modern, digital Christmas lights, or even the complete heresy that is blue Christmas lights. Winter in general is dark and cold, like a lot of Cryonology.

[A_D_M_E_R_A_L]

I don't know if I should post this here or not, but I'm also doing this wad. I know I'm late to the party, but better late than never, right?

 

[rehelekretep]

eviternity fdas, uv pistol starts (saves)

overall a really enjoyable wad. i cant think of any maps that i didnt enjoy (aside from m30) - this is a beautiful and accomplished wad. i thought the m29 going back to the corrupted version of m01 was a great idea.

m30, the super-pinkies, and the grey cacos really brings home to me that i dont enjoy wads where the enemies are noticeably faster than the player-character. it is panic-inducing for sure, but for me it goes against the experience i want out of a doom wad, where you can think about the hordes of enemies or their positions, but you know you can rely on your speed to get you out of danger if you have the speed of thought to notice. these three enemies (especially the boss) seem to go against that, and its a common thread where i just dont enjoy such encounters!

[Crusader No Regret]

It turns out that while playing through Eviternity, I have lots of things I want to say about some of the maps.  There is a dissertation in me about map 32 that's asking to be put in text and if I'm going to go into a wall of text, might as well get those other unique thoughts about other maps out.  Going to go through mostly in map order though so map 32 will be waiting a bit.  HMP continuous with frequent saves (bordering on obsessive sometimes, cough).  GZDoom 4.2 unless stated otherwise.  Going to try to focus more on my unique experience rather than attempt to take a review tone.

 

Map 1 and 2: 100% everything

     The intro to Eviternity as it is.  Looks good, textbook gameplay, yada yada.  Not worth necroposting just to say that though.  This was the very first thing I booted up after updating my creaky old GZDoom 2.4.0.  After half an hour fiddling around with settings (dealing with overly small text, for instance), I could devote my attention to the maps.  I'd already played through these 2 maps on PrBoom+ so already familiar ground.  The GZDoom enhancements did make an impact; I only found the second secret on the first map because of them.  I happen to enjoy the rain effects on a personal level too.

 

     Oh wow, the pistol feels faster.  This is cool and the somewhat predictable gameplay frees up attention to notice other details.  "Oh, here's a one-way dropoff.  I am going to be tasked with a fight in this limited space."  I'll admit to not being mentally engaged with the gameplay in the first two maps.  There were still cool bits such as pillars rising out of formerly flat ground.  Appreciate the advance notice of a chainguneer that's growling in a lowered pit before its revealed.  I'm not expecting the set to stay that nice so this stood out.  Being a intro, it's also a good opportunity to search for secrets and get a feel for how they're hidden.

 

Map 3: 100% everything

     This is when I got hooked on the mapset.  With a more populated start, I manipulated some infights to thin out the starting area before going on an offensive.  After a mashup involving about 20-25 monsters, the mancubus in the corner emerged the survivor (and a few irrelevant ledge dwellers).  It fell to two chaingun bullets and I just cracked up.  The other big moment would be finding the supercharge secret.  I spotted the path very early and made sure to get to mostly full ammo since it looked like a one way path.  Really liked how it also provided an advantageous attack angle on another group of waiting monsters.  Such secrets are more interesting than the cubbyhole with a single medikit type of secret.  Obtaining the backpack secret was more satisfying than it would be for most.  I had played through the Alfonzone before getting around to Eviternity and there, there's may 3-5 backpacks total through all 50 maps.  Some episodes don't have one at all so there was that large contrast coming from there.  The small outdoor area with falling rain, trees, and the night sky is my favorite view in the map.  Had no trouble snapping up the plasma gun without using the nearby switch but came back for the ambush anyways because going for all kills is so habitual for me.

 

Map 4: 100% kills/secrets

     Wanted to give a shoutout to the variety in the ways the level transfers are handled.  Here, upon reaching the exit switch in the previous map, it appears to be a dead end.  The marine turns around only to have the floor descend into a deeper tunnel.  There little unspoken narrative bits give the set more personality.  It was this map I finally noticed the reduced HP of lost souls.  Sure, they were around in the previous map but all died to infights so I wasn't paying attention.  The first archvile really spooked me since I didn't see where it was coming from and got lucky it didn't fry me or ressurrect anything.  Don't know why I wondered if the megasphere secret can be reached without straferunning but I did wonder.  And that's all I have to say that hasn't already been said 3 or 4 times already.

 

Map 5: 100% everything

     Really felt the intensity ramp up here after the somewhat sparse population of the previous maps.  The nightmare demon makes its introduction and they are scary.  Baiting them into infights with mid-tier enemies is my preferred way of getting them off my tail since being pinned by them is bad news.  I actually appreciate that last trapped one at the end since it lets me get a feel for how much punishment they take.  I wasn't paying close attention when scrambling around earlier.

Edited November 17, 2019 by Crusader No Regret

[Crusader No Regret]

Onwards.  Looks like I'll be monopolizing the topic unless Salt-Man Z wants to chime in.

 

Map 6: 100% kills, 1/3 secrets

    First map that I didn't track down all the secrets.  The music in the level messed with my head when I first entered the map.  Thought i had heard it earlier in the set and was thinking "repeats already?"  Turns out I was mixing things up in my head.  I had heard it before but when it was making an appearance in the Alfonzone.  Echo chamber here when I mention that I really like the presentation of the switch effects and having surrounding machinery light up.  Gives that sense of this being a place and not just a set of rooms and corridors plunked down arbitrarily.  More Nightmare Demons to combat but most of the time, they can be evaded by retreating to uneven ground.  Most memorable encounter is the outdoor power transformer where the rocket launcher is.  It's a spectacle seeing the structure power on and then the monsters show up.  Dozens of troopers and barrels to blow them up in groups, what fun.  Another unintended parallel to the Alfonzone where Pinchy uses troopers in very large packs at times.  Oh, there are a few revenants too but who cares about them; they're not important.

 

Map 7: 100% kills and secrets

    The centerpiece would most likely be the corridor where the walls lower revealing another large pack of troopers.  Groups of barrels are around for mass gibbing.  Bring on the fireworks.  Took a few lumps here between the sheer enemy count, a few chaingunners, and the demons taking up my running room.  Not sure if there is some other way of opening up the berserk secret.  I found a vantage point where I could tag the shoot switch with SSG.

 

Map 8: 100% kills and secrets

    Music sounds familiar but I'm unable to place it.  Aggravation.  Took some lumps staying quiet to start but mostly worth it to not alert the revenant until I had a good position to pick it off from.  Did red key loop and than yellow.  Did kind of wish for more than one medikit in the segment before the slimefall climb but that's just me being obsessive.  Coming out of map 7 at 100/125, did not have that cushion I'm used to on continuous.  This is also the first map I recall being able to pre-emptively take out enemies hiding in low ground with rocket splash before they can appear.  For non ZDoom players anyways.  Me using GZDoom, too bad.  At first, I thought the soulsphere secret required a leap from the draining slime pool but there is a saner path.

[Tristan]

11 hours ago, Crusader No Regret said:

Map 8: 100% kills and secrets

    Music sounds familiar but I'm unable to place it.

 

"Gutter Penny" by Alfonzo, most notably used on Mechadon's "Fomalhaut," from THT: Threnody (MAP10).

[Crusader No Regret]

Ah.  I did try Formalhaut for Ironman but the song didn't stick.  May have had something to do with how fast I died but I also don't recall custom music as easily as I did 5 or 10 years ago.

 

Map 9: 95% kills, 5/7 secrets

    First map I didn't score all the kills in.  Didn't feel up to looking for all the secrets either and when one has access to 200/200 and full ammo, not much reward potential for doing so either.  Music again sounds familiar without being able to recognize where I've heard it before.  Textfile notes it's another Alfonzo midi so I suppose i could try to cross-reference it.  Forced nukage runs are always tense for me; thank the doom gods for saves.  The ones here are fine once I work out what to do.  The door trim on the locked doors reminded me of Metroid Prime for some odd reason, a thought I only had on this map.  Found myself entering the base with less ammo than i started with so I guess things are tight when starting from scratch.  Even more important in this case to blow up the first nightmare demon with the barrels by its starting position.  Didn't catch on that this was a guest map while playing it though it does make sense after the fact.

 

Map 10: 100% kills and secrets

    The texturing gave me a really strong Darkening 2 vibe.  I found this map excels in its sense of spectacle and even the toothless encounters are still an enjoyable sight.  Take the crusher segment for instance.  Start it up, and it crushes the barrels splattering all the hitscanners milling around them.  The spiderdemon that warps in falls victim to the same set of crushers.  There's still dangerous combat setups to be found like the invisibility trap and the rocket launcher room.  Most of the map is on the easygoing side.  The annihilator makes its debut here.  It has an intimidating bark and actually has plenty of bite too.  Rockets hurt and oh-my-god it's spraying lead at me too.  In my playthrough, both get finished off by infighting and I'm only mopping up a few imps but they are scarier when there aren't other monsters around to distract them.  I'm OK with their first appearance being so easy.  All I did was run around on the lower area to make it easier to manipulate the hordes to infight before retreating up to an elevation where they wouldn't follow me.  It was down to one annihilator and some imps and it was weakened enough for the imps to finish it off.  (or it shot a rocket into a wall and killed itself that way, I don't know).  Also wanted to give a shoutout to the crate maze.  The environmental hints really help in navigating it; just follow the... jelly stains.

 

For fighting annihilators, my preferred tactic is baiting them to infights.  If there's only a few monsters around (and thus, look like it will survive with little damage), sneak in a close range BFG blast while it's occupied.  If infighting isn't available, I find hit and run tactics with hitscan weapons the safest choice.  Being caught without anywhere to hide is deadly.

[Crusader No Regret]

Onwards to episode 3.  The snow and ice theme was one of the ones I was most curious to see the Dragonfly treatment.

 

Map 11: 94% kills, 2/3 secrets

     Winter wonderland with a gentle snowfall.  Let's see how far I can go without saving and holy crap, where's the health?  Died a number of times poking around without finding any health since it only shows up after advancing on the paths for the keys.  There was also the time I died because of a hellknight ice skating right up to my face.  With all the snow and ice, it makes sense for there to be ice physics at play.  Even with the overall difficulty going up, I'm still able to find some cheese tactics through trial and error.  The warp-in after using the keys is easier to handle by retreating to the upper level.  Still got to dodge mancubus shots and the shotgunners can still hit me but the demons are no longer a threat and they help out by taking out shotgunners since I'm not really able to get a good firing angle up there.  Giving a shout out to one particular secret: "Hm, possible permastuck...  Well just saved so I'll go test it and ... oh hey, secret."  Still some missing enemies when the path to the exit was clear.  Retraced my steps through the level but didn't trigger them and chose to move on.

 

    Crossing the ice platforms is my only complaint about the first 15 maps.  This is not helped by not hitting a switch to raise a bridge earlier so I ended up making the crossing twice.  Makes it a pain to return to retrieve any supplies on that path.  I had other frustrating moments but those are of the self-inflicted sort.  Only one (subjective) flaw out of 15 maps is really damn good.

 

   Last two new enemies debut here.  Former captains I absolutely do not want at close range and I tend to get nicked if I try to dodge on reaction; gotta keep moving.  I used chaingun mostly on individual captains thought hit and run with shotgun may have been superior.  One-shotting them with SSG is also viable and may be worth the overkill.  If farther away and mostly immobile, I may use the pistol for its accuracy.  (good job, keeping the pistol from being obsolete.  For distant captains that move around a lot, my preferred weapon is a cacodemon. (if available)  Groups get a rocket or two for faster kills.

 

  Astral cacodemons get the strongest "augh, keep it away" treatment.  If one is unlucky, they'll stick to the marine like glue.  For single ones, I favored hit and run with SSG.  No real need to chase them generally, they'll charge in close of their own volition.  They zigzag so much that I don't trust trying to land hits with projectile weaponry.  Groups are highly deadly and I'll break out the BFG if I have it.

 

Map 12: 100% kills, 0/1 secret

 

    Entering the temple appears to be a point of no return.  Some scary setups here though there are easy solutions to some of them.  When the ground lowers into a den of nightmare demons, the safest way out is running for the ice platform.  Nothing really can climb up there and it's a lot easier to take them out with your preferred firepower.  The first archvile in the temple is made easier by quickly backpedalling from the switch that lowers part of the raised area.  Since it's deaf, ducking where it can't see me and taking out demon and chaingunner lets me deal with the archvile with fewer other enemies about.  The archie at the end is in prime position to freak people out by reviving an annihilator.  Unless one pins it in its chamber and SSGs it down.  Or berserk punch; I didn't think to try it, a missed opportunity.  Could not figure out how to proceed in the sequence of shoot switches (for the secret) after the third one.  Resorted to cheats to figure out the sequence, therefore I'm not giving myself credit for the secret.  Even if I could do it once I learned the pattern.

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 13: 100% kills, 3/4 secrets

    So the lift out of the temple in the previous map leads to... I'm not really sure.  First impression was some kind of lodging.  There's carpet, a grove out in the back, a frozen fountain, even a storage room.  Not sure where guests would have stayed though.

 

     There's a teleport near the start that leads to the back where the grove is.  Tried it out but between getting shot up by chaingunners and not being to see through the trees very well yet with monsters able to shoot through them, gave up on the back entry and decided I'm better off going through the front.  Didn't realize the true purpose of the teleporter until much later.  The storage room with the two archviles and SSG was a memorable setup.  Had a plan and it only took a few attempts to execute it.  I'd aimed to use rockets to take out at least one quickly but ended up getting both before the next wave of monsters made their entry.  Experienced what happens when an astral caco catches me unaware; lost about 80 health and armor before I realized what was taking shots at me from afar.  Two of them had been cooperative about attacking one at a time when there was a barrier to keep them from closing to point blank.  There were more than two in play though, heh. 

 

    Megaarmor secret is really rewarding.  It's not just the item; it's also how it lets the player take out some enemies early and also provides an advantageous attack position for a later fight (if found early enough).  Didn't work out how to reach that one soulsphere sitting just out of reach.  Did find the other soulsphere which, with the megaarmor secret, let me enter the next map with 200/200.  Which I welcomed because...

 

Map 14; 100% kills, 3/4 secrets

 

    the next one opens with the hottest start yet.  The most dangerous enemies to me are faraway chaingunner and any perched captains.  After that, there's shotgunners and revenants.  Only when the chaingunner and any actve captains were downed did I feel safe enough to use a save to avoid redoing everything.  Doing the opening with just 100/100 would have been a lot scarier.  There's an extensive icy section though it never felt unfair.  This map is when things sometimes got busy enough that my computer had trouble keeping up.  Particularly rough in the red key brawl when there's so much happening.

 

  I heard there was a BFG but that's the one secret I didn't find.  Could have really gone for one; was really feeling the pain when the archvile showed up at the red key arena.  That one was tough to overcome.  In retrospect, should have used SSG rather than plasma on that one.  So many fails where it got distracted mid-attack and I ended up drawing its attention again with plasma spray and getting fried.  Keeping revenants around in the blue key brawl may not have been the best of ideas.  On one hand, they are useful in distracting the mancubi.  On the other hand, they really get in the way when it comes to dealing with the archvile and make it less likely to survive long enough to reach the mancubi.  Would have been smarter to aggressively take out most of the enemy waves (cacodemons are good at dueling captains though) but no.  I had to be stubborn and foolish.

 

  Trivia: It is possible to reach the exit without opening any of the connecting gates.  Does require taking the map in a certain order but every important progression area is reachable.  I don't think there's any reward for doing so; just found an interesting curiosity.

[Dragonfly]

58 minutes ago, Crusader No Regret said:

I heard there was a BFG but that's the one secret I didn't find.  Could have really gone for one; was really feeling the pain when the archvile showed up at the red key arena.  That one was tough to overcome. 

 

Interestingly, the BFG secret required the red key to open it. :P

 

I've been really enjoying your write ups so far!

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 15: 100% kills and secrets

     Got a lot to say about this one; hope I remember to cover everything.  And if not, there's always post edits.  The pacing here reminded me of the first map of Hellcore 2.0 in ways: stretches with very few monsters and sometimes none punctuated by eruptions of violence.  The maps also present some amazing views.  The biggest difference is that this map gives enough weapons and ammo to fight those eruptions of violence.  The music feels like a combo of touristy and Christmassy which works out for me.  This map is a sight to behold even in -nomonsters.

 

     The big showpiece fight is the clock arena of course.  The combat leading up to it, while still a workout, functions more as appetizers for this main course.  I feel inclined to draw attention to the long, quiet stretch that leads up to clock arena itself.  After being dunked by the yellow switch, the path forward is completely devoid of monster resistance.  It was longer for me because I had run back to replenish ammo before dropping in.  A contrast to the guarding force of the yellow key in the shrine.  Only took me a few tries to find a strategy that satisfied the infight maniac within me.  Kind of an exploit so I'm putting it in spoiler tags.

 

   

Spoiler

My approach relies on staying silent for an extended time.  Upon taking the key.  I booked it up onto the cliffs to the small alcove with an invisibility.  Started off ducking in and out of sight to stir up infights with the ground pounders while not leaving myself open too much for captains.  When the cacodemons start appearing, the time to leave draws near.  Right about this time, monsters will pour out of the caves to flush out anyone who tries hiding on the ledges.  At this point, I took the invisibility and dropped down to ground level.  Tempting as it is to terminate pain elementals right now, I didn't. (I'd tried a few times but got overrun by large crowds that got alerted.  This is a sacred space; no shooting in the clock shrine.)  Mostly tried to stay near the clock to herd the enemies there and provide plenty of monsters to occupy the cyber but sometimes I'd dash away for a bit to put distance between me and hitscanners/captains.  Worked surprisingly well for survival.  Only after the path leading out opens up and the crowds thinned out some do I take out any remaining pain elementals.  The other invisibility is there to provide protection from hitscanners.  Since the cacoswarm has been effectively split by my actions (or inactions, if you want to see it that way). it's much easier to avoid being swarmed while luring them over for cyberdemon playtime.  The cyberdemon does succumb to cacos and once the ledges are clear of other monsters, I gun down the surviving cacos with 4 BFG shots and some rockets.

 

  Now i'm tempted to play this map again with Xmas Doom loaded because of the sprite replacement for the cacodemon.  A silly thought to go with the Chrismas vibe.  Really like the teleporter that lets one return to the clock shrine after leaving.  It's too majestic a sight to have it closed off for the rest of the map.  Also, ammo restock location.

 

  Not overly difficult due to my cheese tactics (with a side benefit of better framerate from not as many active monsters; that helped too).  I had more trouble with the ambush by the red key.  Smaller space, reduced visibility from trees, and astral cacos.  I eventually track down all the secrets.  The secret exit is the first one I found.  Along with it, I experience a new level of pain because of an annihilator in an area without cover.  If it doesn't infight with the nearby mancubi fast, its gun arm shreds me.  Some secrets I spotted on the automap long before I discovered how to reach them.  The computer map was quite an "ah, ha" moment when I sniffed out the path.  One in particular I had spotted on the automap since the start and had traveled through hallways all around it while it dangled out of reach.  Eventually found a way in and splat.  Oh so this is the optional fight some other posters had mentioned.

 

    Found a winning strategy mostly by accident and trial and error.  Upon entering, first priority is to nuke the archvile.  When the hallways open up, make a run for the courtyard with the map's first green armor.  Have that BFG ready in case an astral caco closes in on the way there.  Once there, deal with any pursuers as you see fit.  This ended up splitting the horde that gets unleashed; the other portion collects by the yellow key switch.  This is the hardest combat setup on the map by a distinct margin.

 

    I agree its a loss that going to the secret exit misses out on the amazing view that going to the normal exit provides.  There's a courtesy teleporter there thankfully so one can have both without being required to load a save.  Good thing that there are no enemies on the path to the normal exit; even then my framerate was lagging heavily.  Yet another thing this map does better than its loose Hellcore counterpart: more of the viewable area is reachable.

 

    Because of how the secret levels are setup, maybe it would have been better to complete the main set and take on the secret maps as a separate mission.  It's a quite time-consuming quest.  Finish off the lone nightmare demon up on the ledges at the clock shrine (had completely forgotten about it) and it's off to the secret exit, just because.

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 31: 100% kills, 2/3 secrets

 

    A quiet opening.  I'll just take a peek around at what I can before choosing a path and "hissss.."  Oh damn it all.  It's a Skillsaw map; of course it's not going to let me creep around, is it?  Cue made scramble to gain that initial foothold.

 

    Having made my way through Ancient Aliens already (again about 6 months or so after it was picked for the Megawad club), I experienced Skillsaw burnout that I haven't fully recovered from.  So I'm less tickled than most would be to find out the author of this one.  I'm expecting a road lined with corpses by the time it's over, ideally the monsters and not mine.

 

  The portal which leads out is seen very early on.  Dangling out of reach, it taunts the player to "come and get me."  The path to the first key is long and twisty.  It also goes through the most visually interesting part of the complex: a desert very much like the first episode of Ancient Aliens.  There are no spirit animals to help out this time.  There's some opportunities for easy infighting which might be worth taking to thin out the monster population.  Fewer faraway snipers reduces the chances of freak deaths from being blindsided by them while dealing with something else.  The vile that starts in front of a cave got my twisted sense of humor going.  Nicknamed the "cave vile", it was content to play with matches in front of its adobe until the player comes lumbering by.  Outraged by having its zen state disturbed, it turns hostile.  Evil setup with the plasma rifle there; dropping a surprise on anyone who thought they were clever to avoid the pit fight there.

 

  Mostly staged encounters in the later portion of the map though some have interesting twists.  There one small chamber where the monsters cannot step on the lift used to enter it.  Possible oversight but allows for an alternate strategy.  The rest of the complex after obtaining the red key doesn't appear to have quite the amount of care that was lavished on the desert segment.  I'm picturing Skillsaw experiencing some creative burnout but that's just my speculation.

 

  Cyberdemo on platform was methodical once I worked out what to do.  Get ground forces dead one way or another, take out mancubi, cyber last.  The pit fight beyond the blue key door was beyond me.  It uses masses of troopers like an Alfonzone map except they're brought into a much smaller space.  Then there's the archviles and an annihilator for anyone who lives that long.  I wussed out and looked up the secret but I'm not giving myself credit for it.  I guess I could have gotten through with Eris' strategy; maybe another time.

 

  Not sure how anyone would do the yellow key brawl without about 100 cells.  Scouting it out beforehand, my idea of hitting the release switch and booking it out early failed to work.  It got too congested too quick.  So tucked myself in what appeared to be a defensible corner with plasma rifle out, point at enemy, hold fire, and pray.  I was willing to accept some damage and then I proceed to not take any two attempts in a row.  In another twist of the knife, the first key door the player passes by is the last one that is accessible.  The final bit of resistance should be no trouble for anyone able to make it this far.  Off to the next map, which is a massive undertaking both to finish and to write what I plan to about it.

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 32: 99% kills, 10/13 secrets

    This is a humongous map that would probably be right at home in the never completed Eternal Doom 4.  Both in scope and in playtime.  I logged about 6 hours not counting reloads.  With so many route choices and connections, I find it easiest to share the path I completed the map in and put any thoughts I have about each area when I get to them.  While I'll split things up by the order I conquered them in, I'd often poke around and partially explore other areas between such conquests which I won't bother mentioning for the most part.  There are some things I noticed that don't fit into one specific region.

 

- There appears to be at least two entrances to just about every area and sometimes more.  Sometimes, I wouldn't notice a pathway until after passing by a few times and daring to poke around there.

- Secrets feel really secret.  I don't think there's a single "bump random wall" secret to be found and certainly not the ones I triggered.

- Having played Darkening 2 and being familiar with its resource balance, it's a bit of a headtrip how much more plentiful health and ammo are.  Once one clears the path to a stash anyways.

- Brown imps are hard to see against brown rock.  Irritating.

- There are some helpful environmental hints.  There a secret or two I found because of a well placed health bonus and one secret path I wouldn't have tried had I not seen an enemy moving through it.  Ammo placement can be a hint on what to use for an upcoming fight though I don't always catch on.

- Ran into laggy framerate at times on this map on GZDoom.  I think it would be OK in PrBoom though.

 

Haven't decided if I'll do one big mega post or split it up.  There's a lot of territory to cover.  I feels there's four arcs in the map flow.  Gaining an initial foothold, where one acquires enough weapons and ammo to venture into unclaimed territory, finding the keys, raising the path to the monolith, and then the ascent to the tower where the final battle takes place.

 

  after the initial runup where I get a few kills by luring troopers into imp fireballs, the first path choice comes up.  It is effective at directing me towards the purple building (which everyone calls the pink building but it looks purple to me).  Going down the path the arachnotron is on isn't attractive with only a shotgun and 17 shells and leaping into the lava and scaling the cliffs looks ugly too.  I don't have the resources to deal with nightmare demons and the climb is too exposed.  So purple building it is.  I'm able to obtain most of the weapons soon after though not that much ammo yet so still got to be choosy about what I use it on.  I did spot the rocket launcher there though took detours into the caves (for the computer map and my first armor), and the orange hexagon structure in the center (there's cells in the center) before engaging in the battle that ensues upon unlocking the rocket launcher.  Was here for a while.  Maybe it would have been better to release the cacodemons to help with the massive swarm or lost souls.  About 294 total on HMP if my count is correct.  Not helping matters was that some portions of the room had a line of sight for faraway mancubi and got burned a number of times in failed attempts.  Without going into detail, I'll leave it at that I made this much harder than I needed to.  Maybe this could be easier by claiming more territory beforehand but I wanted that rocket launcher now.  Before charging off to the next destination, oh hey that's a swank looking backpack I can reach now.  There's also that annihilator perfectly placed to blast anyone running directly at it without checking the corners first.

 

Next area I cleared was the orange hexagon structure in the center.  Tried the inside fight a few times and failed miserably.  So I ended up opting to clear out the "peanut gallery" (cliffs populated by dozens of imps) and the outer walkway first.  The imps i could reach anyways, which is most of them.  It thinned out the population enough that I was able to fight off revenants inside to my liking.  Didn't realize there were crushers for the archviles until after I'd shot them dead.  Also realized after the fact that the map was nudging me to use plasma on the advancing revenants whereas I toughed it out with rockets and SSG.

 

Decided to deal with all those mancubi taking potshots at me from afar and being a source of grief.  Stumbled across the ammo cache in the process and raised the pillar bridge.  Yeah, I didn't find it until quite late.  Don't anticipate any more ammo issues for the rest of the map.  Part of me thinks it would make more sense to spread it out in the map a bit more but given how the orange building is an optional destination anyways (other than opening up some pathways), not wholly convinced.  Spotted that BFG from afar which I wanted.  Studying the automap, looked like access would be through the red building so that settled the itinerary for me.  Blooper: Somehow the nightmare demons had found there way to the other side of the building (by he peanut gallery) by the time I traversed the outer walkway.  Let the legions of ledge snipers distract them so I could take them out one at a time.

 

  Before then, I did the fight for the blue key.  I had already started the sequence of events to open up the chamber and leaving it unfinished would have kept nagging at me (as it is one of the few areas with one way in).  So tried it out without BFG.  Feel good about this one because I read what to do correctly.  Only 1-2 reloads because of trying to use rockets on cacodemons in that small space.  The nightmare demons effectively telegraphed what approach to use: find a defensible alcove to tuck into and plasma any demons that approach.  Of course, the alcove I would pick happened to be occupied; well played.  It's a simple fight in practice but was still an adrenaline rush.  I pity anyone who wastes too much plasma on the other monsters earlier.

    I did spot the archvile lurking around a corner after that battle first.  Played enough maps that I'm wary for such surprises.

 

To be continued...

Edited November 28, 2019 by Crusader No Regret

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 32 continued:

 

    On to the red building in pursuit of that BFG I saw earlier.  Opted to go across the pillar bridge as my entry point.  I had tried the serpentine path but misdodged at the guardian cyber and got blown to bits.  Guess I got lucky to find a path to the red key without entering the "mosh pit" in the center of the building.  It was fairly easy to deal with; the cacodemons floated up to my level separating themselves from the other enemies.  Grabbed BFG though chose to stay a little longer to clean out some more of the monsters.  This is where I finally triggered a secret.  (The first one I found was the megasphere on a lava fall but I didn't have need for it to hadn't triggered it yet.)  Had a funny moment while manipulating infights: an astral caco got pinned and chewed up by nightmare demons.

 

    Yellow key was the next completed milestone.  Kind of blundered around the map some more before choosing to enter through the one way drop in the back.  The home of "that" archvile fight: sure to be memorable to anyone who experiences it.  Cool bit of detail with the power lines connecting the switch to everything it affects.  It's quite spooky seeing the windows pop open while the archviles are milling about.  As a mere mortal and not using god mode, this was a tense encounter for me since if my positioning hiding behind the pillars was off, fried.  Eventually managed to get through, take my keycard, and discover only after this was over that I could have climbed out the same way i came in the whole time.  Cue eyeroll, that was a moment.

 

    I guess I could have gone in the teal building long ago but only got around to it with all the keys in my possession.  Area does have that Darkening 2 vibe previously seen in map 10.  Took the entrance by the pillar bridge and just made my way through one setup at a time.  Some tricky encounters (completely misguessed the demon ambush) and some easy taking potshots through windows and small gaps.  Felt sneaky going around the back and clearing out some enemies early (defanging a later encounter as a result).  Faraway monsters on the tar cliffs made their presence known too and there don't seem to be any nearby cacodemons to flush them out.  Couldn't get a good line of fire on the army of troopers so they thinned themselves out almost exclusively through infighting.

 

  Triggered secrets #2 and 3 within fairly quick succession.  Something just clicked and I made a sidetrip, finding a few more before returning to the teal building.  The other structure, in addition to having a Darkening 2 look, has a portion which looks like it was transplanted from there.  Even if it isn't that mix of upper walkways with gaps to hop over lower passages had that feel.  Opened up the connection to the red building while there to facilitate the mop-up phase.  There was also that one annihilator in the sewer that refused to cooperate with eating a close range BFG blast so fell back to SSG hit and run.

 

  Since the ascent up the tar cliffs are a soft point of no return, I decided a mop up was in order.  I had found the path up to the cliffs by the serpentine path on a scouting trip but only got around to that segment during mop-up.  Which I ended up coming from the other direction anyways.  There's that one megasphere that sits out of reach that felt so good to find the path to.  Took a lot of attempts to make that last jump.  Had a finny outtake while cleaning out the red building.  Trying to aim rockets at enemies below me, shot the floor instead and jumped up to the elevation which normally requires raising the steps.  Might as well see what's up here.  (fried by archviles  Reload)  ZDoom physics.  The cyber which had killed me before was easier to handle from the other side.  Sneak in a BFG shot while its finishing off the mancubus that also appears there, then finish it off with some plasma hit and hide.  In the yellow zone, there's this one switch that should have been obvious but I missed it anyways from earlier.  Opened up the paths there even if I don't need them anymore.  Hmm, there doesn't seem to be a red key door anywhere, unlike the others which open up alternate pathways.  But the red building holds a BFG so maybe that balances things out.  Preserved enough items that I could go into the ascent with 200/200 and full ammo.  9/13 secrets found at this point and I've been at this map long enough to not lose sleep over the others.

 

  Decided to try to do the ascent in one go, unlike the rest of the map where I'd been saving liberally.  Those captains are in some evil positions and all but one of my deaths were to them.  The last one being a time where I reached the abandoned structure and died to something inside of it.  Just needed to be more evasive on the way up since captain shots come so fast, I can't rely on audio cues.  Some earlier failures were to having a hard time finding the path forward since I was giving so much attention to not getting shot up by the captains.  Eventually succeeded with 100/12.  Which is fine because of a forced megasphere before dropping into the final battlefield.

 

  Mash up some mancubi (and try to get two per BFG shot by aiming the ball at a farther manc while melting a close one with tracers).  Following that is an exercise in hellknight herding which is most dangerous at they warp in before they've been herded towards the center.  Revenant roundup follows and practice from Alien Vendetta and Deus Vult's revenant curves gets put to use here.  Of course I used saves between waves using a mix of BFG, rockets, and SSG to not deplete any one ammo supply too much.  One more to go to unlock the exit and it's by far the meanest fight of the bunch and the map in general.

 

  The cyberdemon cha-cha closes out the guardians of the final arena and it kicked my butt over and over and over again.  I can handle two cybers in that enclosed space but getting to that point is the kicker.  Starting things off beat up adds to the tension.  Felt it important to deal with the archviles fast.  The ensuing chaos tested my ability to avoid cyber rockets by feel as there was one usually out of view at any given moment.  Turns out I am able to but not particularly consistently and for long enough.  There are times where I reloaded because of picking up something that I didn't want to yet too.  There are also failures where I moved badly, found my path blocked, and either died right there or because it slowed me down enough for an offscreen rocket to catch me.  So while I worked out the how quickly enough, actually doing it took many attempts (not as many as Speed of Doom's map 30 without the silent trick though still a lot).

 

When I finally emerged victorious, the monster counter showed a single survivor.  That 99% kills is more like 99.99%.  I did take the courtesy lift out but only to top off my ammo and health.  Let the lone survivor (probably tied to a powerup I never picked up) bear witness to the carnage wrought here.  Perhaps a happy accident but it is possible to run on the sides of the last structure and avoid a lava trek to the teleporters there.  Finished the map having picked up every bullet box while leaving lots of rocket ammo behind.  An odd finish; turns out I could have used the heavy weapons more.  Had a feeling of loss when it came time to depart the map due to the effort involved in conquering it.  It's an interesting landscape and a vast journey.  It does evoke the feel of a magnum opus and whether I ever play this map again or not, felt accomplishment from experiencing this map.  This also brings my account of my experience to a stopping point.  Roughly the same real-time timespan has passed putting these words down as had elapsed between when I started the map and when I finished.  How coincidental.

Edited December 7, 2019 by Crusader No Regret

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 16: 100% kills and secrets

 

    On it's own, I don't find this map all that remarkable.  Coming after 4 extensive maps though, something this straightforward and quick is more welcomed.  Going all in on the teal, I see.  Not much to say about my trek through this one.  I had my carryover armory but chose not to use plasma since there's none on the map.  The one archvile on HMP was not a problem since I lowered the yellow key last and its pathing kept it on the platform with the key pedestals.  So I had an easy time picking it off, being plinked by faraway chaingunners gave me more grief.  Wonder if there's a different method to access the soulsphere secret. 

Spoiler

I got it because I was looking at the height difference, noticed the nearby stairway at the start, tried to glide across, and made it after a few attempts.

  Guess i could look up a speedrun though it may be it uses the same method I did.

 

Map 17: 100% kills and secrets

 

     The starting chamber is sure distinctive with all those eyes watching and the darkness.  Got the Yukari Yakumo vibe (Touhou) from it; a simple color change would make the connection even stronger.  There is plasma here though I only used BFG for the cyber and archviles.  The two big fights in the wings aren't that rough on HMP.  I tried the west wing without the exploit just to see and won with little trouble.  All it takes is getting the revenants distracted so they aren't invading your personal space all at once.  The other important action on both sides is dealing with the chaingunners one way or another.  Didn't find the secrets until I was just about done.  Found the east side first than had a brainstorm to solve the puzzle for the west secret.

 

 

Edited December 5, 2019 by Crusader No Regret

[Magicana]

1 hour ago, Crusader No Regret said:

Map 16: 100% kills and secrets

 

    On it's own, I don't find this map all that remarkable.  Coming after 4 extensive maps though, something this straightforward and quick is more welcomed. 

 

My problem with Map16 is that I played it after 31 and 32. Not having to pistol start it, and after those two amazing maps, it was always going to be a let down.

[Horus]

Conversely, I found map 16 to be a welcome relief after the marathon efforts of level 32. I also loved the teal colour scheme of that 4th episode.

 

I appreciated level 32 as a construct, but it was so big and so non-linear I spent most of it aimlessly wondering where to go / what to do next

[Magicana]

2 hours ago, Horus said:

Conversely, I found map 16 to be a welcome relief after the marathon efforts of level 32. I also loved the teal colour scheme of that 4th episode.

 

I appreciated level 32 as a construct, but it was so big and so non-linear I spent most of it aimlessly wondering where to go / what to do next

 

I don't mean to imply it's a bad map, because it isn't, just that any map after those giants was always going to struggle. I also didn't restrict myself weapon wise like Crusader did, which made it significantly easier than it should have been.

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 18: 100% kills and secrets

 

     This felt like the hottest start yet.  Nightmare demons, hitscanners both near and far, and a few mid-tiers who relish an opportunity to catch a dozing marine.  31 may have the more frantic opening but the player is still in control over the moment the first monster is alerted.  Felt really exposed until I could claim some territory.  I'd dropped a save about 25% of the way through and then planned on doing some scouting to route my radsuit usage.  Somehow that scouting mission turned into obtaining all the keys and reaching the exit without more saves or reloads.  I'll admit surviving the bulk in one go has inflated my liking of this map.  (even if I did choose to reload and redo everything)  This maps plays that well.  With a good chunk of the map outdoors, it's visually pleasing as well.  The teal sky really makes a showing here.  The large trees are used tastefully too; there's a grove of them bordering some parts and the area is inaccessible and not used for combat so they don't interfere with visibility.  That yellow key annihilator is a chump, folks.  I retreated to the upper level and plinked at it with shotgun/chaingun.  It couldn't angle a rocket at me and I ducked out of sight whenever it fired one to evade its gun arm.  Fun setup.  Also really like the music track in ways I'm not quite able to express in words, wanted to give a shoutout somewhere.

 

  Exploration and secrets stand out here.  There's a reward for exploring that I don't recall seeing that often: taking out monsters that are waiting to be sprung in traps early.  I missed most of the secrets in my scouting mission but was more observant the next time around.  Really interesting how interconnected some of them are where reaching some of them involves finding a different secret first.  Solving the riddle of the BFG was the last thing I accomplished on this map before calling it complete.  Reading other posts, I'd heard about how tricky it was to reach.  Not that I needed it since I had carryover but it still caught my curiosity.  At 6/8 secrets found, might have left without it.  However, in the process of making a final search and triggering secret #7 (which I had found but forgot to trigger it), had that moment of "what if I try this...  oh."

 

  I feel this is a standout map.  Though I expect it will be less memorable since it shares the spotlight with 9, 10, and the bigger and bolder 14, 15, 31, 32 and some others yet to come.  A neat bit of gameplay trivia: charging straight at the blue key may be easier than taking it cautious.  Give it a try.

 

     While I didn't think of it while playing, where would map 16 and 17 fit in the overall structure if this was all one location?  Is the sky just an illusion?  Inconsistency.  (superficial nitpick mode here)

Edited December 11, 2019 by Crusader No Regret

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 19; 100% kills, 3/4 secrets

 

     The other Eviternity map infamous for being really, really, long.  I made it through though it may have been based more on persistence than anything else.  My first thought about it is that it didn't have nearly enough cool moments for its length.  The wild goose chase to reach the red key went on really long and I'll admit to feeling weary about it.  Even taking into account my naturally slow pace (6 hours on map 32 is more like 3 for anyone other than me), I was silently going "oh come on now"

 

    Gameplay-wise, it felt much like a BtSX map in its monster placement and overall pacing.  Well, maybe 2-3 BtSX maps.  Being one of the few maps to not have a connection to the previous or successive map narratively (10 is the other example so far and it's an episode ender) feeds this impression more.  I get the impression the map is intending to push the player forward.  Felt somewhat heavy-handed to me; I counted 16 one way drops or teleporters where one cannot backtrack to the previous location without making forward progress first.  Some detours longer than others; some are really short.  Space restriction is employed quite often.  Some setups I enjoyed, other encounters felt more like busywork.  Mileage will vary.

 

    Unless the one secret I didn't locate has it, I didn't find any megaarmor on the map.  Had preserved enough armor bonuses that I went into the next map with 193 armor anyways though it is at 1/3 damage reduction rather than the 1/2 I'll typically maintain in a continuous playthrough (frequent save/loads will do that, cough).  The very last monsters I killed were the ones sprung by the very first chaingun.  Playing continuous, I didn't need it so had passed on picking it up.  Then the map progressed and I didn't know if I'd be able to return.  Would have left without it were it not for a handy passage that allowed return to the starting area.

 

     Felt really clever in that one segment where one drops down in nukage after a runup in a nukage tunnel.  It's probably quite possible to fight it out down there but I found the easiest way for me to handle that area is to rush for the lift.  Take it up and provoke the monsters in the nukage to infight while safely out of reach.  The puzzle with the crushers is another highlight as a means of providing a momentary breather from the combat.  There is a logic to which switch will start up each crusher if I stopped one in a bad place (which I did several times) so felt good about noticing that pattern.  Timed run to the berserk secret is a neat feature.  The multi-annihilator setup by the rocket launcher plays right into my natural infight heavy playstyle so it was an enjoyable encounter.  (I barely noticed their presence and they all fell to gangbangs from other monsters)

 

     That one annihilator that teleports behind the player is a pace killer (after using the red key and opening the entrance to the north facility)  The area is wide open so escaping the reach of its gun entails diving off the sides.  Either sides entails a long trek to retrace your steps (and deal with the annihilator in a more favorable location).  This is the only criticism I have about monster placement (HMP); anything else falls under "I don't like it." and not worth mentioning.

[tmorrow]

5 hours ago, Crusader No Regret said:

Unless the one secret I didn't locate has it, I didn't find any megaarmor on the map.

 

Spoiler

Yes, one of the secrets does have a megaarmor on map19.

 

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 20; 100% kills, 4/5 secrets

 

    Kind of prefer the teal from the earlier maps of the episode over the red.  Though this is more because I've seen so much of the red brick over the years than any fault of the map.  It does function as an intermediate style transition before the next episode.  Went red key first than blue just out of which path I chose to charge down first.  Shot out the cyberdemon before realizing it was a telefrag setup.  Being continuous, it did mean I exited with less cells than I entered the map with (completionist twitch).

 

  In the large crescent corridor, I was expecting the walls to lower and violence to erupt in a similar and larger scale version of map 7's main encounter.  The map successfully subverts my expectations by not lowering the walls at the same time and the first encounter there being smaller scale.  Past the blue doors, wow that's a lot of rocket boxes.  It's an environmental hint of how a future encounter is meant to be handled.

 

     It took an embarassingly long time to work out how to reach the first green armor on the map.  Not that i was hurting for it coming in with 193 but it was reachable long before I noticed how.  The path leading to the secret soulsphere wowed me, so atmospheric for something that could have been treated as an afterthought.

 

Map 21: 100% kills, 3/4 secrets

 

    An early encounter I got away with baiting infights and ducking in and out of sight.  This lulled me into a false sense of security.  "Heh, no problem" goes my internal monologue.  Then the map gets rougher and slaps me around for my complacency.  There's that revenant, up on its lookout point where I can't target it (still don't use mouselook).  There's also the brawl where the plasma rifle is found with its large number of monsters and no rockets for crowd control.  Some setups are easier if taken slower though.  That one archvile with demon escorts is memorable.  Fortunately for me, the demons can be lured away separately.

 

    Being so inclined to rely on infighting, I don't feel the resource tightness as much though I do notice.  Could have just evaded that last cyber but chose to take it out.  Had about 120 cells left after it (the last monster to fall) went down.  Eh, it's OK.  Had a blooper with the cyberdemon where I misdodged and a rocket vaporized me.  The amount of airtime as my corpse went flying off the stairs was so funny, I couldn't get frustrated over this death.

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 22: 100% kills, 2/3 secrets

 

     I had all 3 keys with about a third of the monster population killed.  Honestly could have left right then and there but completionism drove me to do the fight that I skipped.  Since I'd already sniffed out how the triggers in the red key area worked, I triggered the warp-in without getting locked in and then rushed over to a cushy window to watch who would win between over 100 imps and 4 hellknights.  I consider it a feature rather than a bug that it's possible to sneak in and out with the red key without triggering the fight there.  Unlikely that an FDA will sniff out the trick either.  Out of curiosity, I attempted to softlock the red key area by hitting the release switches before tripping the lock-in though it looks like the construction is solid.  Nice work, testing team.

 

    Blue key fight is a fun one.  I did SSG on pinkies first before finishing off the sturdier nightmare demons; that worked well for me to not get pinned.  Yellow key is the hard one but some luck with the monster pathing had the ground archvile get separated from the other monsters there and I was able to down all three before the next batch showed up.  Not on the first try, mind you; this took a few reloads though only a few.

 

     had an ominous feeling when I found a secret path and it led to a one way drop.  Came in expecting an ambush but it was simply the path to the plasma rifle.  The purple areas are the most striking.  Haven't encountered anything like it, not even in Ancient Aliens or Stardate20x6.  The red ones will feel more familiar to seasoned doomers; they're similar enough to IWAD textures or red and gray in other mapsets to trigger that feeling of familiarity.

 

Map 23: 100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

    The automap view in the first chamber I immediately associated with the Triforce though this pulsing purple setting isn't the sort of place Hyrule's holy relic would reside.  For whatever reason, I found the double annihilator ambush memorable even though it's not the first time they've shown up more than one at a time.  Maybe it's because they're not accompanied by other monsters this time.  Immediate instinct was infight baiting and they obliged and killed each other.  Didn't find the megasphere secret until after everything was dead and only found the other because I saw purple lines on the automap.  Didn't trigger it though, was already at 200/200 and decided I didn't need the 1 rocket and 20 cells from the backpack there.  Got totally spooked by a monster that hasn't made an appearance in a while.

Edited December 16, 2019 by Crusader No Regret

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 24: 100% kills, 4/7 secrets

 

    I don't seem to regard this map that highly but it's for reasons that have nothing to do with the map itself.  I felt that the heaven chapter was within striking distance and my unconscious saw this as an obstruction in the way.  It's very much worth a revisit with a more open mindset though.  And when it came to actually playing the map, any impatience showed up only in not spending as much effort looking for secrets.  Besides, it's not like going through this map is a requirement; monkey brain was being bratty, that's all.

 

    I noticed that the start will play differently from scratch since tight ammo leaves little spare to pick off the various ledge roamers at first.  The rising floor is one of the more memorable locations in its presentation.  Feels like the autoscrolling sections in Castlevania 3 in its timing though without the frustrating platforming.  There was this one part where I could hear something as I walked over a line but could not trace its location for the longest time.  Drove me nuts at the time.  Opened up a lucrative secret area so rewarding to solve that mystery.  The setup by the (non-secret) plasma rifle is a cool one.  Imps pouring out of the shadow just inviting to be splattered by rockets.  Cacodemons descending from above.  There's also just enough space for an infighting approach to work with some intentional herding for those so inclined (raises hand).  The cacodemons were the survivors of that mashup.  One of the few other secrets I found was the invulnerability.  Because I never bothered to grab either one in map 32, this was the first time I got to see the spiffy new palette the mod uses.  Worth seeing at least once; white, black, and grey is so outdated. (grin)

Edited December 17, 2019 by Crusader No Regret
one more setpiece to give a shoutout to

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 25: 100% kills, no map secrets

 

# of enemies on the map (HMP): 181

# of enemies I killed directly: 2

 

Doing it this way is the most fun for me.  The two cybers proved themselves as king of the hill, until I introduced them to a fully loaded BFG.  I'm not sure I would have done much better with a more aggressive approach.  The cacoswarm is more consistently survivable by blasting a few out of the way i guess.  It was pretty much a continuous scramble to stay alive as staying still was an invitation for a cyber rocket or any homing missiles to catch up.

 

  As one continuous battle, what could have been a very plain arena map is elevated by the presentation.  The lead-up before the combat portion kicks off adds a nice amount of foreshadowing and tension.  There's a very ominous mood in the opening. Quite memorable.  Also one of the fastest maps in the set.  It will be over quickly one way or another, success or failure.  May be the only map I had a completion time of under 10 minutes.  (Map 1 clocked in about 11; I was going through that slow)

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 26: 100% kills, 7/7 secrets

 

     The heaven episode is the first one that caught my attention when I was previewing Eviternity.  Having played DF-Nightlife and seeing what Dragonfly did with neon, I was anticipating what could be made from this particular theme.  It's not the sort of thing that is used as a setting very often in Doom creations.  Side note: In Saga Frontier, Hell looks like fluffy cloud heaven.  So that would be one narrative reason for demons to be in a heaven environment.  Somewhat inclined to look up a gameplay video to have an image for mental comparison.  Anyways, with OTEX out, the door is wide open for someone to make a map that references that interpretation.

 

     Riding an elevator up into the heaven realm, we see grandiose white architecture, verdant green plains, clear waters, hellish looking tower...  You, helltower.  You are ruining the mood.  The progression is great in that the goal is to cut the chains holding the helltower in this plane.  The switches are logically placed and of course, there is the sight of it sinking beneath the clouds.  The pink sky isn't as visually obstructive though some may connect it with Hell Revealed E2 sky.  I didn't even notice the sky change until I read others' accounts and specifically looked for it.

 

    Area effect weapons, large hordes of monsters, sounds like a setup similar to a Deus Vult 2 map.  Thing placement far surpasses that map in my biased opinion.  This one gives out the arsenal sooner along with berserk, which is useful for stragglers.  I prefer berserk for lone revenants in this map as their size makes landing rockets tricky and BFG feels too wasteful for singles.  Didn't feel like there was enough ammo for many missed shots despite my tendency towards infighting.  Astral cacos are quite tricky to fight with this arsenal as lining up shots if they're zipping around is a task and berserk isn't suited for them at all.  There's all sorts of route options in this with most areas having multiple ways in and out.  Had some sneaky moments where I could goad hordes into infights without dropping to their level.  Being able to hide out on a bridge while revenants thinned out their imp escorts felt especially sneaky.

 

    The west side may be 100% optional but damn if I didn't feel compelled to explore there just for the sights (and the 100% kill ratio).  Wow, this map sets the bar for heaven themed maps really high.  I have that feeling it's a contender for That One Map that people will be talking about 10 years from now.  It also sets a tough standard for the following maps to live up to.

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 27: 100% kills and secrets

 

     Progression reminded me a lot of Dues Vult 2's Unholy Cathedral though this map is a more compact experience.  Even with carryover, I set a priority on recovering all the weapons for my arsenal.  Even the plasma rifle, which I still prefer for nightmare demons over BFG if they're on the same plane as me.  That first warp-in can be camped from the starting area with carryover but I didn't bother.  An unmarked secret allows one to delay or outright skip one of the map's ambushes if one so wishes.  Spooky moment with the archvile and a cyber though it's not too tough to get the cyber to hurt the archvile.  That last spider mastermind functions both as an exit guardian and a signal that the player has activated all the switches to open the exit in case one loses track.

 

    On it's own, the map still doesn't evoke heaven to me; looks more like Greek or Roman architecture.  I'm no architecture scholar so take this perspective with a grain of salt, so they say.  I don't know if there's anyone who played this map before 26 (by IDCLEVing around and going with what draws one in) though I think such a person would look on this one more favoraably than someone who came from the previous map.  Not only is this map one of the few not connected to the ones surrounding it, it has the misfortune to come after the jaw-dropping 26 and to not look particularly "heavenly" in an episode that specifically advertises it.  Independent of such expectations, I find it a perfectly fine map, particularly well suited to those who like the idea behind the progression.

 

Map 28: 100% kills and secrets

 

     Don't recall anyone mentioning it but the shape of the automap fits the heaven theme of the chapter.  Straightforward arena map with a straightforward gimmick otherwise.  Trigger one encounter, mop it up completely, move on to next until done.  I picture this one being made when there was a deadline approaching and expanding upon it wouldn't have been a priority.  Though i admit any kind of expansion would compromise the automap gimmick.  Because the fights are split up instead of one continuous brawl, I killed a few more monsters directly than map 25: somewhere around 8-10.

Edited December 27, 2019 by Crusader No Regret
map 28 writeup is short, might as well sneak it in

[tmorrow]

9 hours ago, Crusader No Regret said:

On it's own, the map still doesn't evoke heaven to me; looks more like Greek or Roman architecture

 

I agree. But I believe at least some of those structures were built as a celebration and thanks to their gods. The Greek temples were though to be residences for the ancient Greek gods. The link to heaven is pretty strong I think when you look at it that way.