The DWmegawad Club plays: Avactor & Deadly Standards

[franckFRAG]

1 hour ago, Roofi said:

I change my vote

 

+++ Deadly Standards 2 (alpha) , Mayhem 2018 : Orange Edition

 

Maybe it would be better that DS2 is released in a final or RC version first.

[Walter confetti]

1 hour ago, franckFRAG said:

 

Maybe it would be better that DS2 is released in a final or RC version first.

The same I tought.

 

Anyway, i'm battled between 2 choices for the next thing to play, one is DMP 2018 (that still doesn't have a proper idgames release), the other is number 1 kill and number 1 kill the next generation... I wonder what can be better...

[Roofi]

Ok I change my vote

 

+++ ESP2

[riderr3]

+++ ESP2

E1M9
After unforgiving E1M2 and puzzling E1M3, gameplay-wise this map is like a breath of fresh air. And it is in the literal sense because we go to the surface for it.
The main sense of this map is the beginning deep in the caves with the overcoming of difficulties and the evacuation on the helipad.

The secrets here is not too hidden except soulsphere one, that was tricky.
A huge lift can transport you to four locations, the one of it is optional.

Exit door is blocked by remote bars and there are huge reinforcements of monsters via non-usable teleports. Thankfully you can pick up those plasmagun from another fallen marine.

 

Edited April 26, 2019 by riderr3

[Magnusblitz]

E1M9: To the Surface

100% kills, 5/6 secrets

 

Pretty straightforward map that increases in difficulty along with the journey moving from the bowels of the fortress up to the helipad. A couple parts were a wee bit cramped for my tastes, but I did like the texture variation and room design in general. Secrets aren't tough (except for the soulsphere that I could not figure out) but they do reward exploration. I liked the design of the end fight at the end, the switch is placed in a dangerous spot if you try to avoid the fight, and even retreating still lets the monsters flank you a bit with the double doors.

[FrancisT218]

@riderr3 MADE E1M3 and M9, if I'm not mistaken...

[Capellan]

Yep, that's certainly what the text file says.  It's generally good form to specify when you're commenting on your own stuff, IMO.

[tmorrow]

Voting on a short, sharp and sometimes deadly mapset (34 maps in all), recently released and looking for love.

 

+++ 1000 Lines CP

 

[Capellan]

Not voting this month or next as I do not expect to have much time to commit to playing.

 

[gaspe]

E1M4: A more spooky techbase with many dark parts. Visually is a bit raw and less polished compared to the other maps but it still has its charm. I liked that the switch to lower the lift to get to the exit area is in a secret, hard to miss because it's very obvious. Using the same setup of teleporting monsters twice (at the YK and at the exit door) was fine, but I woudl suggest to the author to be careful with this in future maps.

E1M5: I never played something by this author but I was rather impressed with this map. The moody music was spot on for the atmosphere of the base. There are some cool tricks used: the raising bridge in the nukage room, the RK (with a one time secret) and the soulsphere. After the blue door you can open your way to a new area that looks like a whole another map with a geometric layout of corridors. It would have been better if the teleporting monsters were more scattered and had more chances to fill the various corridors while in my run they mostly clogged all in the same spot. A very solid effort anyway.

 

+++ esp 2

[riderr3]

14 hours ago, Capellan said:

Yep, that's certainly what the text file says.  It's generally good form to specify when you're commenting on your own stuff, IMO.

I have a blob of self-criticism =)

E1M4
This map is perfectly fits E1 style. Good usage of computer panels, I'd say it uncover potential of comp textures.
Really like the light system and gradients here, that fits well with the surroundings.

The ambush at the sinister star-shaped pedestal is pretty obvious, but I have fun with it.
The one interesting fact about secret with blue armor. As a mapper myself, I say this is the neat trick when you revisit old areas and even same lines, but after certain circumstances you can find such secrets. This possible even in vanilla Doom with usage of dummy sectors.

At the last teleport ambush I hid in the closet, like the one from E1M6:Central Processing where doors is closing behind you.
I've not afraid to go at the dark nukage room, and got my reward - a computer area map, though realized that I already visited all areas. I wished there are few more secrets on this map.

E1M5
There are many poison signs, so you have been warned for possible inescapable pits.

Really like the soulsphere secret, that tiny button. You also need to get there very fast until second door is closed.
After getting the soulsphere, I've a bit lost, and realized that blue key is actually been inside those pillar.

Here I can also note how the red key trap works: the floor going up instead of going down (like in usual cases).
I had a lot of saved rockets to deal with the cacos. A lot of fake exits here, and in the last one they almost got me.
 

Edited April 27, 2019 by riderr3

[Salt-Man Z]

E1M3: Main Reckon Facility

36:11 | 100% Everything

Whoo, it's like a mini-Urania map! Exhausting and puzzling, all in such a small footprint! I initially was not thrilled with the path to the yellow key: I assumed it required a mandatory straferun out the window onto the ramparts, which I accomplished after a half-dozen attempts. Only later, upon my final bout of secret-hunting, did I find the switch to raise the path to the ramparts! My yellow key grab also contributed to thinking I had maybe broken the map sequence, since I found the exit before I even found the blue key. Ha! turned out the blue key was a secret, but what could it lead to? I was not expecting the secret exit for whatever reason. (Somehow I can never remember where the default Doom1 secret exits are located.) Overall, super-fun map. Combat was constant, but I was never really in danger of dying; even though I started the map at 20% health, carrying over the changun and shotgun was a big help. I loved infiltrating the interior base, and all the secret ways in and out. Oh, and my guess would be it's supposed to be "Recon Facility" but who knows? (I mean, okay, riderr3 knows.)

[Magicana]

E1M2 - “Janus Complex” by Capellan

 

A really nasty level - I mean that in the best possible sense. Lots of different paths you can take, lots of hitscanners - I didn't have too much trouble with it, but I also wasn't pistol starting. I don't know how the pistol starters did it - I felt very ammo starved for parts of the map. I am also very wasteful though, so a better player would have been fine.

 

This one had a really banging tune to it as well. Had a very thrash-metal vibe to it, but couldn't pick the song.

 

 

E1M3 - “Main Reckon Facility” by riderr3

 

I spent the whole map thinking about Dio. The music choice was inspired.

 

Pretty solid level, but again I'm doing my E1 complaint of outside maps - I'm all about those techbases, baby.

 

No end of level picture because I was so excited at finding the secret exit I went past without screenshotting it.

 

E1M9 - “To the Surface” by riderr3

 

Another ferocious level. I went into it with pretty high health and armor, and got smacked down pretty quick. I really liked the lift with the different progression points - Reminds me of another .wad (Whose name I've forgotten) which incorporated the same idea in a larger scale. It's a fantastic progression system. Really enjoyed this level.

 

 

E1M4 - “Research Station” by The_SloVinator

 

Another very solid level. I loved the red star in the acid as a nice little throwback to E1M9 of the original - Letting me know that shit was going to happen when I grabbed the nearby yellow key. This map was the closest I've come to 100% of a map - Just missed ONE pesky enemy somewhere.

 

[Capellan]

37 minutes ago, Magicana said:

E1M2 - “Janus Complex” by Capellan

This one had a really banging tune to it as well. Had a very thrash-metal vibe to it, but couldn't pick the song.

 

It's by @PRIMEVAL

[gaspe]

E1M6: This one has a good atmosphere too. The visuals are almost monochrome with grey as main color used almost everywhere and some other colors here and there to not make things look too stale. I liked the start with the classic "shoot the switch behind the bars". Lots of hitscanners and the map isn't generous with the health, the only secret is a green armor that is pretty much a must have in this situation.

[Salt-Man Z]

E1M9: To the Surface

19:39 | 100% Everything

The nukeage at the start made me pretty nervous, but it's only a tiny little section with more than enough radsuits (and without any real branches to wander off along, even.) It's just the prologue to a compact little base, that's still pretty maze-y despite its small size, given lots of one-way doors, etc. Then you ride the big elevator room up To The Surface where you face a sizeable mob of foes. Nothing terribly threatening if you're all kitted out to start, and even if you get whittled down a bit, you can still retreat back down to replenish. Good stuff from riderr3, again.

 

E1M4: Research Station

16:33 | 100% Everything

A relatively sprawling, dark and oppressive base that has an empty kind of feel too it, but also features a couple of massive 'port-in ambushes at the key pickups. The exit area has two routes in, which was a little odd; I took the path that wasn't the red door, and thought I had come across a secret area, but wait that's an exit and we've already a secret map? Anyway, another solid adventure outing.

 

E1M5: Third Moon Lab

Another smallish techbase, this feels somehow more intimate and confining. Lots of paths to travel and interconnectivity, even though you start out in a kind of stretched-out take on the three-key hub. The blue key felt a little obscure, since there didn't seem to be any signposting that, "Hey, a key's going to show up here eventually, so check back later." The final area of the map swerves off into a new theme, and adds a little but of punch to the end. Fun, but maybe not terribly memorable.

[Magnusblitz]

E1M4: Research Station

100% kills, 3/4 secrets

 

Starts off as a dimly-lit gloomy base, which I like, though it gets pretty action-packed by the end with all the ambush warp-in fights. Solid level, and had a good IWAD feel to it in places (really like the opening few rooms, especially the ride up to the shotgun). Looks like the lone secret I missed opens an alternate path to the exit for speedrunning I guess, I returned back the other way to clear out the enemies and never opened it up. Weirdly the computer map isn't marked a secret.

 

 

[Salt-Man Z]

E1M6: Inner Port

12:52 | 100% Everything

A fairly simple little base, but it feels longer than it is because you have to jump back and forth between two areas a number of times to access the keys. Monsters keep getting repopulated, so it's at least never boring. I was surprised that it ended immediately after the red door.

 

E1M7: Eden Log

27:51 | 100% Kills | 100% Items | 50% Secrets

I absolutely loved the circular architecture on display here, and the scale of it all was really impressive, to the point where it almost felt underpopulated at times. The most questionable bit was the flesh tunnel (though the drop down was neat and unexpected!) where you fight to the end of the tunnel to hit a switch, then walk back to the entrance to hit another switch, then back a third time to exit via the newly-released lift--three times back and forth, with nothing to fight for the last two; so what was the point?. But I loved the red key room with the crates and the fights that took place there, and the circular stairs up to the red door was another fantastic visual. There was so much ammo lying around, I actually took the time to kill the Mastermind with my shotgun (easy to do when she's elevated where her chaingun can't hit me, but because her hitbox is taller than she is, I can just fire away to my heart's content.) Of course, only after killing her and proceeding further did I find out that I could have activated a crusher to kill her--but isn't that how it always works?

 

[Magnusblitz]

E1M5: Third Moon Lab

100% kills, 3/6 secrets

 

Decent map, I liked the way a lot of the architecture looked, starting with being able to see a lot of key doors at the start. There's a few IWAD-style feeling areas but as the map continues it starts to feel more modernly detailed, but in a nice way. The going is pretty constant for the most part (though I really liked the red key trap) until the end which feels like a suitable climax, architecture-wise, but as an actual fight was a bit boring since it's far too easy to get everything trapped on the sides in the small choke points. Really needed some reworking so the monsters could flank better I think. I had no trouble with the blue key but that was only because I felt the room was a bit conspicuous by its lack of anything inside, but I can see why a lot of people might forget to check there.

[Magicana]

E1M5: Third Moon Lab

 

I really enjoyed this map. The music is very atmospheric, the map very much felt like an E1 map, it just hit all the boxes for me. There was a constant feeling of danger - I felt like I was waking up monsters every 2-3 steps I took. Very nice map.

 

[gaspe]

E1M7: I don't know, I appreciate the effort of trying to go with such a big scale and there were few things that I liked visually but this map fails to be really impressive and what is more glaring is how the place is empty. This is worsened by the linear progression and, above all, the basic gameplay. It throws too much meat at the player: mobs of imps, cacos and barons that aren't threatening and the RL comes late. I don't understand either the purpose of the spiderdemon that was poorly placed, luckily I activated the crusher before wasting time to shoot at it.

[riderr3]

E1M6
Does this map contain more secret areas except the green armor after nukage corridor? I remember suspicious ventilation grate which marked as white line on automap, though the statistics show 100% of secrets.

The map is mostly indoor, and only one window showing the phobos sky. A few barons appeared here, and I have less problem with them, rather than with low-tiers.

What I like in this map is the opening and the brown bars which imitated opened hatch. Also gray walls looking good with those white computers.

E1M7
I kinda like this non-usual shapes and texture usage, so much scenic areas. This map is long but linear and ambushes here is pretty obvious - the pop-ups and teleports. I think this type of maps will best work with Doom 2 rather than Doom 1.

Not expected SMM here but it's kinda easy to deal with, just watch those who coming to you on lower path.

The "exit sky pit" showing the cut part of sky here.
I have mixed feelings about this map, although I think mostly positive.
 

Edited April 29, 2019 by riderr3

[dac]

E1M3 – Main Reckon Facility

Saves : 0 + 0 = 0

 

Compared to E1M2? This map was a complete breeze. Only the main building presented a certain menace, thanks to the close quarter scuffles, and I spent more time trying to find my way through the map than actually being inconvenienced by demons. The red key part was an egregious one, passing by the ledge accessing it multiple times before it registered I should go there in the first place. Compared to it all, the secret exit was easy to find.

 

 

E1M9 – To The Surface

Saves : 0 + 0 = 0

 

Well that’s a simple goal, it seems: get to the surface. In reality, I got stuck on the elevator until I realised the big door didn’t work like the other big doors previously seen, and could be opened by using them directly.

 

...Yeah, not the brightest. At least the final fight was a good one.

 

 

E1M4 – Research Station

Saves : 0 + 0 = 0

 

Other than the backdoor secrets, not a fan of that one. Teleport ambushes were used often, but all of them could be easily cheesed by sidestepping or worse, just firing into the crowd. Or simply running away.

 

At some point I wonder if I should up the difficulty because somehow, the maps are getting easier – well, easier than E1M2 and the beginning of E1M1. Keeping it on HMP for now, not sure what to expect from the rest of this set.

[Pirx]

On 4/23/2019 at 12:04 PM, Eradrop said:

Thank for playing my wad, I guess its too massive for most of the players and its totally fine, got some things to work on thanks to the posts here.

goodluck for the my partner wad "deadly standarts".

 

Chiming in here to say that I really like avactor, its art with the mesoamerican stuff and the skulls everywhere gives it something unique... it's quite unfortunate that I'm busy and didn't even finish eviternity to this point, never mind avactor. my new 240 hz monitor is still unused (as if I could buy skill, lol). So instead of reviews,  just a thumbs up from me now for making this wad, it's something every doomer should try. The maps are massive, sure, normally I avoid saving where I can, but here it has its use.

[Magnusblitz]

E1M6: The Inner Port

100% kills, 1/1 secret

 

Decent map, plays pretty linearly but I like some of the details to give it the sense of place (such as the open midtex grate leading into the circuitry where the blue key is). Some of the architectural design is a bit strange, like having the area with the blue switch and red door connected to the opening area but effectively cut off because the dividing wall is so high you can't even see into/over it. Also the red door exit was a bit anticlimatic but after last map's double fakeout exits maybe that's fine.

 

E1M7: Eden Log

100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

Another pretty linear map, though this one definitely sticks out after six maps of hewing pretty close to the IWAD scale/architecture. Instead we get vast chambers full of curves upon curves. I do agree with @gaspe that I think it's a bit self-defeating in that the large areas don't play well and feel a bit empty. Luckily I did find the secret RL early on, as the map probably would've felt like a bit of a drag without it. The SMM was a bit of a surprise but you're likely to activate the crusher without even intending to.

 

[dac]

E1M5 – Third Moon Lab

Saves : 0 + 0 = 0

 

Speaking of difficulty, the beginning of this map was quite hard. Imps, a demon and some zombies in a cramped area, ready to cut you in a corner. Yes you could attack them from the starting area but what’s the fun in that?

 

Other highlights include the soulsphere secret and, well, I think I broke the final fight a bit. See, you can activate the switch unlocking the exit without triggering that one line activating all the teleporters, and even then I saw a few teleporters simply not working. Put a damper on what would have been an exciting fight otherwise.

 

 

E1M6 – The Inner Port

Saves : 0 + 0 = 0

 

That was a weird map. We get an early rocket launcher, immediately have to use it on a baron, then it’s like its creator forgot all about it or simply didn’t want to use it more. Difficulty wise, it isn’t that hard up until the blue section and it warping in a fuckton of shotgunners. Didn’t die on that one, but got dangerously low a bunch of times. Architecture seems scattered, with plenty of backtracking where there could simply be a shortcut. But I guess that’s what new monster closets are for.

 

 

---

 

 

+++ ESP 2

[Salt-Man Z]

E2M8: Obliterate Anomalies

32:05 | 100% Kills | 47% Items | 50% Secrets

Well, if anyone had complaints about these levels being too easy, they're in luck here! The good news: the first section, leading into the interior chamber and its wings, is absolutely gorgeous. And a ton of fun. Finding out how to leave was difficult, though, given the red key switch is mostly unmarked and just a closed pink eye switch (looking like all the pink flesh everywhere) buried within a wall. I say "mostly unmarked", because it is marked, but it's a puzzle in a place that absolutely doesn't need it ("In the red-and-pink room, look for the red switch markings to lead you to the pink switch buried in the red wall!") and the only way I figured it out in the first place was GZDoom highlighting the switch for me. (I get it now, of course.) Once outside, the visuals remain stellar, but the combat devolves into absolute bullshit: half a dozen cybers, and like 100 cacos and lost souls swarming you on a platform that's damaging floors except for an obnoxiously-bumpy inner ring. (And that's after the "just far enough apart to not be easy" collapsing parkour imp platforms.) At least you get a BFG for the final fight, but even then you're only given cells in little packs of 20. I didn't keep count of my deaths, but I have to imagine it was well over 30. I almost ragequit a couple of times, but I did finally manage to clean everything out. The last cyberdemon was killed via chaingun (cells and rockets depleted) and I had a whopping 2% health left. I figured with my luck there'd be a mandatory nuke run to the exit. A fitting battle for the finale, but it really was a ridiculous jump in difficulty from everything that had come before.

[dac]

E1M7 – Eden Log

Saves : 0 + 0 = 0

 

Quote

“this is what happens when you play too much with the "draw curve mode" in GZdoom Builder”

 

And still, the crates are crates, cubic and square. Cowardice, I say.

 

I’ll have to agree with @gaspe with how these vast spaces do not play well with the gameplay, and how it all feel empty more than anything else. Found the secret rocket launcher by complete accident, and it definitely helped make it all flow better. The spiderdemon fight was neat, mostly in how it limited space to deal with the barons, but the crusher was activated by complete accident.

 

 

E1M8 – Obliterate Anomalies

Saves : 0 + 0 = 0

 

Zero saves, final fight done in one shot.

 

How in the everliving fuck did I manage that? Three cyberdemons, a giant cacodemon swarm, a few lost souls, panicking while parkouring the imp platforms, a lot of damage floors and a cramped playing space... Yeah, there’s a lot of health, a radsuit and a BFG to play with, but I should have died twelve times on that fight alone. I did have a certain paranoia with using rockets and finished stragglers with the shotgun, but in the end it was a 100% monster count. Still, what a stressful map.

 

Otherwise, this map is an ill fit with the rest of this episode. For one, it’s a significantly prettier map than anything we’ve seen so far, sometimes to its detriment – red key switch, anyone? It’s also noticeably harder than even E1M2, and more slaughter-ish. An enjoyable change of pace, even if my sole death of the map was me picking the wrong hole to hide in the red key area. Ending on a good note, even if said note is a miracle.

 

 

Post Mortem

Saves : 0

 

Really uneven. It opens well, ends well, but overall seems like it was lacking one or two polishing passes and good direction to bring everyone up to speed. The uneven part is amplified by the difficulty, peaking at E1M2 before staying dormant until the final map. Still did everything with no saves, but it got a bit close a few times.

 

 

Favourite Maps

 

E1M2 – Janus Complex

Yes, I’m putting @Capellan’s health-starved beast in here. Evil, but memorable in the end.

 

E1M8 – Obliterate Anomalies

Should I had upped the difficulty to UV? Before this map, yes. After this map, turns out I made the right choice. An unfitting map, but a good conclusion otherwise.

Edited April 30, 2019 by dac

[Spectre01]

I'll comment on my map since @Salt-Man Z and @dac played it already.

 

The goal was to make an action-focused finale that's different from what's usually encountered in other E1 homage episodes and Ultimate Doom maps I've played. In this case, creating some medium to large scale encounters, which stack up to the modern standard of difficulty, without going full-blown slaughter. Somewhat tricky to pull-off in Doom 1 due to how limited the enemy variety is. I didn't have many examples to draw on, but e1m9 and e4m6 of No End in Sight were probably the biggest influences. Mostly the former due to the emphasis on shredding groups of low-tier enemies with the Chaingun. I'm also a big fan of environmental hazards which encourage you to watch your step, and earlier iterations had significantly more pain sectors in the main building (all those red cracks) and the lava outside was inescapable. This was toned down after some saveless testing, especially when platforming over the lava rocks could trigger a game over with one misstep. There is also enough ammo to basically just use the Chaingun and rockets until the boss fight, depending on the threat, if you grab the right secrets. There is one that requires the player to kill all Barons to trigger the special map tag, lowering the marble goat cube to the left of the exit from the main building. For some reason, that wasn't always triggering in ZDoom, so activating the tiny lift allowed access as well. And yes, the red key switch ended up being in a bad spot from watching a couple of playthroughs from others. :P 

 

I had a lot of fun with the final fight, which is undoubtedly the toughest part of the map. I've never been a fan of fighting a few Barons in e1m8 maps, and since a Mastermind was used previously, a step up to Cyberdemons felt like an appropriate escalation. I initially had two Cyberdemons, one teleporting out of each tower, but didn't feel like that was really clicking. It became possible to spam them down with the BFG before the flyers ended up being an extra threat. Limiting ammo and forcing precise BFG shots wasn't that fun and would break on continuous play. Excluding the BFG and limiting the player to plasma would take a while to kill both Cybers, or encourage playing the infighting simulator which I generally try to avoid in my maps. It's also the reason for not deploying any other ground enemies, as Pinkies or Barons would just end up being meat shields, while flyers are harder to bait into infighting. The exact number of Cybers and Cacos was settled at 4 and 75, respectively, which felt like the right amount for threat and monster density. The Cybers are also given the KeenDie flag, which opens the eye door in the exit tower upon their death.

 

Considering the step up in difficulty, a "Walkthrough-Max" demo (by me) was included in the project .zip, showing how to grab all the secrets/items as well as finish the map without dying. I uploaded it to youtube as well for anyone interested at the "intended" way to play it:

Spoiler

 

  Cheers!

Edited April 30, 2019 by Spectre01

[Magicana]

E1M6 - “The Inner Port” by mrthejoshmon

 

Really loved the music on this one - Real creepy vibe, for some reason I got a Sunlust vibe from it.

 

Map played through just fine, nothing too good/bad to say about it - It occupies its slot in the Episode just fine, but doesn't stand out for the right or wrong reasons.

 

 

 

E1M7 - “Eden Log” by Angry Saint

 

This map felt really big and really empty. Was pretty neat seeing the Spider Mastermind, and I'm infinitely relieved that there was a way to crush her.