What is your favourite episode 4 level?

[eulo]

Go E4M6! Beat the cramped speedmap built in 5 minutes.

[Maximum Matt]

I thought I was cool being able to 100% this on UV from a pistol start in around 10 mins... then I saw a goddamn Tyson run in under three.

[Mystic 256]

E4M6 is my favorite, Ive always liked how this map looked, its almost cathedralike, and is very enjoyable map

 

while E4M2 is probably my least favorite, i always found that map very poorly designed and its probably the most difficult map in episode 4 but more for annoying reasons that good ones

[DoomSpud]

On 6/18/2019 at 9:09 PM, Salahmander2 said:

Against Thee Wickedly, I had an absolute soft spot for how it starts rocky and then next thing, you come across a fortress of sorts. Really amazed me.

 

A theme I'm exploring in my current WAD... slow trudging through rock canyons and then "oh nice, a fortress hidden deep in a chasm..."

*Knock knock*

[Solmyr]

E4M2

[Maximum Matt]

1 hour ago, Mystic 256 said:

E4M6 is my favorite, Ive always liked how this map looked, its almost cathedralike

The platform structure with the cyberdemon that is revealed at the end is just so Epic. It's like he's literally looking down over his kingdom and his subjects.  

And then when you kill him, the bars open and you escape. Classic.

[pcorf]

Romero's maps!

 

E4M6 is the best one = beautiful!

Edited June 28, 2019 by pcorf

[Nekr0s1s]

Top 3:

1st - Against Thee Wickedly

2nd - Fear

3rd - Sever the Wicked

[Borax Man]

My least favourite episode.  Too much brown and feels out of place.

E4M5 has some nice visual design, so I'll vote for that.

 

E4M4 is kind of fun, especially deathmatch.

[peach freak]

E4M2, I find enjoyment in blasting everything with the Plasma Gun you pick up in the level, which you're given plenty of ammo to do so.

 

My least favorite? Might be E4M5. The level just feels boring, and the design and textures of the level are the same from start to finish.

[Maximum Matt]

Used to HAAAAAAAAATE E4M5 because of all the green marble and oppressive atmosphere, but now I kinda appreciate it, love the green/red contrast theme (apparently the two most clashing colors) and the windows to newer areas - but still dumb that you only need one of the three keys to exit though 

[CyberDreams]

As much as i love Romero's map's, i still have to go with E4M7: And Hell Followed as my favorite of the bunch. I mean, it is a Dr Sleep map after all ;)

 

Also, as hard as the first map is (E4M1: Hell Beneath), i still like it a lot as well.

Edited July 3, 2019 by CyberDreams

[Maximum Matt]

Sure, I bump old threads, I don't give a shit.

*slowly cracks neck and shoulders, Bruce Lee-style*

Without a doubt the most unfair IWAD map, Hell Beneath is simply a brutal episode opener.  Cramped, low on ammo, no health or armor, five goddamn barons, painful secrets, this joint is hell.  You can actually get trapped in the alcove with the blue key if you aren't careful (the first of a bunch of mistakes in this episode, indicating the rushed nature of this project).  Unless you are a strafegod, you'll more than likely enter the next level battered and bruised, and are actually better off if you just kill yourself and restart with just a pistol.  

Speaking of the next level, Perfect Hatred is the next level.  An utter masterpiece of Romeronicity, the opening vista is stunning - you can see clear to the exit, and must figure out your way.  Stuffed with badguys, including a ton of cacos swarming the main room and a dozen (!!!!!!) barons.  I can't remember how I finished this bastard before I knew of the BFG grab.  The non-secret secret switch that raises a platform in the main room (to simply make things easier for you ) is on goddamn point.  The staircase to the final area under an open sky, with its blue key pillar blocking the way, is beautiful.  The combo of wood-and-metal and marble goes well with the lava, and the white stone specter zone kicks some ass. The surprise cyberdemon, the secret way of killing him, and the secret exit connected to this is exquisite.  (Its seriously took me ages to find that one, even when noclipping around the level, as the room itself is so small).  Can't say enough about this one.

The opening invuln slaught of Sever The Wicked is quite wicked.  This is where the yellow afternoon sky comes into it's own, in my opinion.  I would very much like to know if there was any communication between mappers about continuity between levels, as the staircase/ramp things over the lava seem to echo those of the previous level.  Very interesting structures, and inside the main building really does give the feeling of a multi-level structure.  Unfortunately, it contains a certain amount of bullshit, like the infamous secret sector staircase (try saying that three times fast), the secrets inside some torches, the button that lowers a wall that needs to be raised first, the rocket outside the play area, an imp stuck in the wall, and the diagonal walls at the north of the map that feel 'bumpy' when you slide your ass against it (seriously, how come?). A sign of things to come.  Also, I don't like teleporting directly in front of a specter.  

And this is the point where the episode shits itself, with Unruly Evil, a comparatively piss-easy and objectively boring and bland-ass excuse of a level.  Seriously, why is this one here? Again, more glitches, mainly baddies stuck in walls and together (and that weird error where the specters in the closets can jam three of the four pillars blocking the exit), and has an unnecessary secret teleporter that is accessed by wall-humping thin air.  Baffling why this level was included.  I will give it one point for using the Phobos Lab theme song, though.

We are back into the evil shit with They Will Repent, a very ominous joint indeed.  As I've said before, it's pretty stupid to have three keys and three key doors but are able to bypass two of them - another example of, y'know, not thinking things through fully.  Probably too many lost souls, but then again I always think that.  

Against Thee Wickedly is the greatest level in the Ultimate Doom, and if you disagree with me, you are wrong.  Thematically linked with Romero's other opus, this also deals with dancing around tall structures above lava, a very scary building that reveals itself as it progresses, and of course another cyberdemon.  Seriously, this one is the shit.  Built around a novel concept (central teleporter tower that takes you to a different part of the level, dependent on which side you take it) this encourages experimentation, but is still unforgiving.  The red and yellow skull pillars gives a subtle hint on how to make the final battle easier.  And if you don't know it, good luck jumping around the platforms dodging rockets - the cyber has a perfect vantage point to take you out, and on UV, there ain't no armor at all, so you're gonna feel that splash damage.  Exhilarating.  The marble walls REEK of atmosphere.  Take out those cacos, or they might end up behind you.  Several opportunities to snipe off enemies before you get near them, very nice.  Great contrast between the structure's right angles and the surrounding rocky area's jaggedness.  I can't believe I never noticed the dm-only room next to the cyber room until recently.  Take out the cyber, then look back at the kingdom he ruled over, and yell like Arnie in Predator.  Love the corpses here too.  Finally, there was a special tag built into this map slot to open the bars to the exit upon the cyber's death (have there been any PWADs that use this?).  Masterpiece.   

And then we come to square-ass And Hell Followed, competent but way easier, again only one of the three keys in the level are needed, love the insta-imp ambush in that dark room, that pillar room with the cacos behind it is breathtaking, and of course the final outside area slaughtfest is wicked, but overall this one is kinda average, has a couple of unobtainable secrets, has a button that doesn't animate when flipped, has a couple more unnecessary switches, an exit you don't need to raise the bridge or even the button itself to access, and of course, the third cyberdemon of the episode (!!!!!!!) being neutered by some protective barriers, two invulns and a shit-ton of plasma ammo.  C'mon man. 

Unto The Cruel is infamous for the epic zombie slaughter at the start.  Very nice looking but way too easy, thanks to the overabundance of supplies before the inevitable spider smackdown.  This is the only map in Ultimate Doom (apart from Unruly Evil) with a 'falling into the sky' type exit, something which (as with the Doom II levels with this phenomenon) I find to be utterly fascinating. And then you find out that Doomguy is a fatass.

Fear is the only level in Thy Flesh Consumed not named after a quote in some overrated fictional book.  This is actually my favorite secret level in Doom I, as it's just an unapologetic, symmetrical slaughtfest.  Techbase textures are very welcome here, as is the water.  Feels very much like a repurposed DM map.  

So yeah, like, go play it

[insertwackynamehere]

2 hours ago, Maximum Matt said:

This is the only map in Ultimate Doom (apart from Unruly Evil) with a 'falling into the sky' type exit, something which (as with the Doom II levels with this phenomenon) I find to be utterly fascinating.

 

I was actually going to respond in defense of Unruly Evil how atmospheric I always felt it was with its orange sky, vistas, and ultimately jumping into the sky. It always tripped me out too, the sky on the floor thing. And I think the level showcases the afternoon sky as well as M3.

[vanilla_d00m]

I learned something new when I beat E4M2.  No matter how confusing the map looks from the front/side/end whatever, you will adapt to it as long as you keep playing.  I voted E4M2 for my new doom lessons. 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by vanilla_d00m

[DarkScythe13]

I actually really like E4M4 for a number of reasons. It feels like a nice short break from the other larger more difficult levels; it's a breather. It also reuses E1M5's music which I have grown to really like. It's on the short side in length and it's a shame it wasn't expanded upon. E4M7 is also pretty good IMO. I like the overall design of it and it's another one that I kind of wish was further expanded upon though.