IronEagle Competition 10: The Brotherhood of Ruin

[Pegleg]

Welcome, once again, to the IronEagle Competition, the Ironman challenge that welcomes all skill levels. If this is your first time, or you've been here for many months, we're glad to have you here.

 

Last month, we dipped a toe into the pond of Russian realism with Bloody Steel. This month, we're going in a different direction, exploring ruins and temples from the early part of the millennium. This month, IronEagle competitors will challenge themselves against The Brotherhood of Ruin by Kristian "Nebula" Aro. Doomworld named this mapset one of the Top 10 WADs of 2003, despite the set having been completed in late 2001, owing to its submission to idgames in February, 2003.

 

Regardless of whether you want to call this a wad from 2001 or 2003, it was still named as one of the best for good reason. The Brotherhood of Ruin takes the player on a tour of ruins and overgrown temples filled with twisting passages, high cliffs, and lava, all taking place against the backdrop of a blood-red sky. Areas in the maps alternate between claustrophobic and open, providing players with room to move, but remaining cramped enough to force you to remain on your toes. The texturing is unique and the encounters are well thought out.

 

The mapset begins at Map 01. The goal for survival is Map 07 (despite the text file reporting that there are 11 maps, there are actually only 7 in the set).

 

This month's winners (for further details, see below):

UV: leodoom85

HMP: n/a

HNTR: Pegleg

 

The rules are unchanged from last month. Either demos or streams are permissible.

 

Rules:

The basic rule is that you submit a demo/stream played at a particular difficulty level (HNTR, HMP, or UV) and you play without saving and reloading. Further rules are below.

Spoiler

Submissions (except for streams, as described below) must include a demo from one of the listed available ports.

The first actual attempt must be submitted, there are no do-overs (with very few possible exceptions which I will address as they arise).

A run must be done in a singular sitting with no saves. (With room for breaks. This will be addressed below.)

If we do a WIP wad, make sure you are using the latest available version to minimize demo desync issues.

Stream and video runs are accepted if and only if a demo of the same run is provided.

Secret levels are treated as extra credit.

Freelook is allowed, but jumping and crouching must be disabled for wads that do not support them.

 

Accepted Ports (any of these are acceptable; there is no preference):

PRBoom+

ZDoom

GZDoom

 

Category System:

• Category 1: Blind run.
  • This explains itself. You have no knowledge of the wad and have not played/seen it before.
• Category 2: Non-blind.
  • If you have played the wad before and/or possess any foreknowledge, your run is non-blind. Basically, anything that is not Category 1 is Category 2.

 

I'm happy to be lenient on this, to a degree.

If you die in the first 10 seconds of the first map and you see virtually none of the mapset except the first few rooms, I'm happy to say that the playthrough you submit as your run was Blind.

If you die 10 seconds into Map 02 and then play again and go on to survive the mapset, something like that would still be Category 2.

 

Difficulty System:

You may submit a demo/stream for only one of HNTR, HMP, or UV. Choose only one, because subsequent submittals will be rejected (i.e., if you submit a HMP demo, the HNTR demo you then submit will be rejected). We're not using the 1CC rule set here.

 

Only runs from the same difficulty will be pitted against each other. Each difficulty will be graded separately. 

 

When you submit your run, please the include the following information:

• The category (1 or 2)
• The difficulty
• What map you died on (if you survived, just say so)
• How many kills you had on the map you died on
• The time elapsed when you survived/died (even if it's only approximate)

 

You may include the port you used, but that isn't necessary. You may include a commentary about the maps or details about them, if you want to (e.g., how you thought the demon rush would do you in on Map X, but it was really the circle of hitscanners on Map Y). If you do include specific information about the map, please put it in a spoiler, so that people that want a completely blind experience won't be tipped off.

 

Breaks:

Everyone gets tired. Sometimes people do better than they expected. Nature calls. Every now and then, there are family emergencies. Needing to take a break shouldn't necessarily end a promising run. However, there are some general ground rules:

Spoiler

• You are free to take a quick break when needed. Intermission screens, if applicable, are the best time to do this.Multiple demos cannot be accepted, barring exceptional circumstances.
  • An example would be that you can only record/stream for a certain amount of time, so you are forced to split up long demos/streams.
    • You may split up demos at death exits.
• If you reset the map before going to the tally screen on a death exit, you must either end your run or play the map again.
• If you die going back around, your survival of that map will count, but your run will end there.

 

Attempting to max the maps is not necessary to win.

Ranking for this mapset will be determined by 1) Survival, 2) The map on which you died, 3) Total time elapsed, and 4) Total kill count in the map upon your death

 

All mods used during play must be merely cosmetic.

If you die, please wait a few seconds before quitting.

 

If you don't know how to record demos and don't want to stream, I recommend getting a launcher (such as the ZDL launcher), which may make your life easier (at least, when it comes to recording demos).

Once you have the launcher set up to find your IWAD's and ports, you can use the field at the bottom entitled "command line parameters" to record your demo with ease.

 

Template for PRBoom+:

Spoiler

-file ruinbros.wad -complevel 9 -skill <x> -warp 01 -record <IEruinbros>

 

Template for ZDoom:

Spoiler

-file ruinbros.wad +compatmode 6 -skill <x> +map map01 -record <IEruinbros>

 

For either command line, x = 2 for HNTR, x = 3 for HMP, and x = 4 for UV. Also IEruinbros would be replaced by whatever the name of your demo is.

Obviously, remove the angled brackets.

 

Using the ZDL launcher will allow you to select your skill directly and skip the wad selection and warp by immediately starting you in MAP01 on launch.

This wad uses complevel 9 or Boom (strict).

 

When recording in ZDoom, double check your compatibility settings. When the compatibility is set from the cmdline, it doesn't always stick, so open the port in an IWAD map and make sure to set it to Boom (strict) to be sure the compatibility settings are correct. ZDoom will remember the settings next time you start it.

 

Happy Dooming!

 

 

 

Previous IronEagle Competitions

 

2018

Scientist 2 (Winners -- UV: leodoom85   HMP: n/a   HNTR: Liberation)

Vanguard (Winners -- UV: Bdubzzz   HMP: n/a   HNTR: Liberation)

Crumpets (Winners -- UV: NoisyVelvet   HMP: n/a   HNTR: Pegleg)

 

2019

Dark Covenant (Winners -- UV: kmc   HMP: n/a   HNTR: Pegleg)

Brood of Hatred (Winners -- UV: Bdubzzz   HMP: Crusader No Regret   HNTR: Pegleg)

Riot Control (Winners -- UV: Bdubzzz   HMP: Walter Confetti   HNTR: Pegleg)

Scimitar (Winners -- UV: Bdubzzz   HMP: Crusader No Regret   HNTR: Pegleg)

Bauhaus (Winners -- UV: vdgg   HMP: Crusader No Regret   HNTR: Pegleg)

Bloody Steel (Winners -- UV: Bdubzzz   HMP: n/a   HNTR: Pegleg)

Edited September 1, 2019 by Pegleg
Added links and winners.

[Bdubzzz]

Category 1 Survived in 2:32:08 - well after the dwironman I got some breakfast then sat down to attempt the iron eagle, another survival with very close to dieing on Map 02.. idk if I missed ammo or what but the chainsaw got the job done.

 

IEruinbros-dubz.zip

[Suitepee]

https://mega.nz/#!iIw1zC7A!4XAvzpjjW_sHc-PZkWCJk3iJMyBTHIbyH7B-_U0Mqlo

 

Category 1 on UV, died on map 1. Wasn't much of a run to be honest.

[SleepyVelvet]

I fell in the soup.  Map 01. (cat 1)

noisy_RUINBROS.zip

 

Keep it up, everyone.

[leodoom85]

Survived the trials of the brotherhood of Ruin. Blind gameplay, done in 2:17:12, GLBoom+ 2.5.1.4

Wow....looks like I missed such a classic man...and I like maps that feature ancient civilization themes. I had such tough moments like the cybie fights and, I was ALMOST out of ammo. So, the trusty chainsaw was the MVP of that moment...GG.

 

The demo is here: dwie_ruibroLD85.zip

[Pegleg]

Dead on Map 01.

Difficulty: HNTR

Category: 2

Kills: 57/74

Total Time: 9:16

Recorded in: PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4

 

pegleg_ie_ruinbros.zip

 

Starting out with a 39% shotgun blast to the face is always a rough way to get going. Even had I not had that rather rude welcome, I would've been surprised to make it much further than I did. Nevertheless, I enjoyed myself.

[NaZa]

Forgot to share mine, category 1 on UV. After managing to survive with 8 HP for some time on MAP02 after three Barons in the tiniest environment I've ever seen, I got myself together and had 100/200 two minutes later. Unfortunately a Mancubus fireball pushed me into a seemingly inescapable pit. I guess August hates me.

ironeagle10_naza.zip

Edited August 24, 2019 by NaZa

[dt_]

Made it to map04, stepped out of time dancing with a cyber

 

 

Forgot to hold off briefly before quitting, was very close to the end of 04 though

 

UV cat1

[Pegleg]

Thank you to everyone who participated and took on the Brotherhood of Ruin this month! I hope to see you all back next month, and bring some friends.

 

Without further ado, here are the standings for this month.

 

UV

1. leodoom85 (Survived)

2. bdubzzz (Survived)

3. _dt (Map 04)

4. Naza (Map 02)

5. Suitepee (Map 01)

6. NoisyVelvet (Map 01)

 

HMP

None

 

HNTR

1. Pegleg (Map 01)

Edited September 1, 2019 by Pegleg