The DWmegawad Club plays: Demonfear & 1000 Lines 2

[Biodegradable]

1K Lines 2: MAP05 - Corrosion and MAP06 - Wastewater Falls

HMP | Continuous with Saves | GZDoom + Final Doomer

 

StormCatcher hits the right note for me right out of the gate in MAP05 with the Terminator theme midi, that was fun. I found this map's progression gimmick with the lowering and rising sections to be really nicely done thanks to it being pretty consistent and it's not done in a way that would get irritating or tedious. It just works really well. I did feel slightly displaced after I had collected all the key, but that didn't last long. All the combat scenarios were cheeky and fun. Some good traps, but nothing too unreasonably cruel. It's good fun and I dig the design of the map too. The texture work and theming are 10/10. Like I lot of my favourite mappers, Storm's got an eye for detail and it shines here.

 

MAP06 isn't nearly as stylish, instead dark and grimey and filled with toxic nukage. The nukage is also making the combat just as toxic. Kaito's combat is gritty, mean and bearing its teeth at every encounter with nasty traps and even nastier tricks. One part killed me a good 4 times in a row! Ouch! After plenty of bellyaching, I did get through though. I think I definitely made the right move switching over to HMP, but even then, I'm still getting my arse handed to me lmao. You mappers are so cruel! Love ya though ;^)

 

 

[Liberation]

11 hours ago, Endless said:

PS: Hot damn, I know I play on Ultra-Violence, but even for UV this megawad kicks off things quite brutally right from the start.

 

As per the norm with any community project I'm in charge of, HNTR/HMP I want fairly causal.. But when it comes to UV, the mappers can go nuts as long as I don't get too many complaints from the testers :-)

 

Glad people are enjoying it so far, I really liked 1k but 1k2 imo has blown that out of the water. I think when combining the excellent mappers, the fantastic textures,@AD_79's OST and the awesome testing/feedback from the testers (that includes you Horus) then it is no surprise.

I'm looking forward to making 1k 3.. oh wait did I just say that out loud??

[kalaeth]

 

HMP, continuous and with saves whenever deemed necessary.

 

MAP05:  We start on a sort of elevated pillar with some zombieman and lone shotgunner.. I kill them all before falling down to imps and the switch that turns on the rest of the elevator and now finally we start the level. And then.. what's next? ah, I see. Lot's of interconnected walls lowering and revealing things, mostly monsters. And then I died, getting closer to the HK for a SSG blast and triggering another swarm. Let's do this again.

Step 1 : remove zombiemen and the lone shotgunner. Step 2: fall down and remove unnecessary enemies. Step 3: press button. Step 4 : kill monsters. Step.. well, y'all get the drift. Another switch, another wall going down revealing more monsters. Repeat. Eventually the red key shows itself. Also revenants. And then, after a pair of rev balls to the face, a shotgunner gets me from behind. Next try goes a bit better, since I don't just die. Pick up some rockets, another green armor and then fall into the water. Another wall that goes down and some teleporting monsters to the mix.. Walk a bit, snipe some revs from far away and then walk some more and the the walls go down and I get killed. Again. And again. And then, again. I need to figure out how to deal with that room.. Went back for health and ended up finding how to access the secret backpack and healthpacks. And then I got killed on that same room as always. Finally survived it this time! And also the next 2 walls that go down to reveal monsters! And the blue key is mine. And then I die to a manc from behind after the teleport.. Next time I got rid of the manc only to face a ville and get killed by a freshly resurected shotgunner. Next time I deal with the vile SSG style and now, another switch. And a quick run to the elevator and the yellow key is there for me to grab. Now... what? Oh, I see, right this way until a cyberdemon gets me from behind.. oh, found the blue armor secret, nice. And then I get cyberdemoned. Twice. Thrice. A couple more times and finally the cow is dead! And then a rev trap for the exit! 98% kills, 50% secrets and 25 minutes, 14 deaths. And I exited before I wanted because I didn't realize that door was the exit switch and I don't want to go back and fight the cyberdemon again.

 

death count : 33

 

Ok, I'm going to lower the difficulty, since 33 deaths in the first 5 maps is way too much, so from now on it's HNTR, continuous with saves. And I'll be playing it tomorrow since I don't have more time today. will edit the post then.

 

MAP06: lowering difficulty means I'll pistol start this one, so I start by calling the specters close to the barrels to kaboom them, before obtaining a shotgun and clearing the room. The blue armor comes at a cost, not too heavy though. And now I'm ready to face the next room, where I pistol snipe the imps from down bellow. Next room is hard but doable, thanks to the SSG but then, an arch. On my 4th try I survived the arch only to die as soon as I step outside the teleport... And another death to the arch and then another kill for me, but now the 'port trap awaits me and.. I die. Second try is a win for me, SSG got the chaingunner before he got me for once. And fuck it, a cyberdemon alone was bad but never ending teleports of HKs and barons? Yeah no. There comes a moment where you have to ask yourself "am I still having fun?" and the clear answer here is "no, not at all". I'll mark this one as a DNF.

 

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by kalaeth

[Capellan]

1000 Lines CP 2 MAP07

 

Haven't played map08 yet - was busy working on something of my own :)

 

[Endless]

MAP07: Into the Dark by Philip Brown (Liberation)

LZDoom

UV

 

 

The title of the map is a perfect initial description of the type of presentation that this map contains in general. A medium size level, with a theme around what we could say ''caves'' combined with some OTEX wing tech-base. The style is simple but attractive, with a scene with lava rivers and big ceilings where it looks pretty cool. Fortunately, Lib has proven to be quite merciful with these two initial levels so this is a fresh start that welcomes us without being boring or too simple.

 

MAP08: Immortal Industry by Aleksandr M. (Dragon Hunter)

 

 

Deep inside industrial caves where rusty machines continue to push their mechanisms for the rest of eternity in the service of demons and violence. A map of magnificent proportions with excellent visuals and dark landscapes, full of evil and atmosphere. With a quite admirable design as well as a simple layout from left to right, this is a fast map with a decent challenge but amazing visuals that gift this map a good overall quality at all levels in its basic form.

[tmorrow]

map07

The second episode commences and doomguy has gone subterranean. The fights keep you on your toes with revenants and barons and the occasional archvile but overall the difficulty has been adjusted back down from the previous map. You are taken on a linear journey through a box room and then into rooms where the lava has started to take over. After locating the red key, you double back to the box room to take a lift down to a final fight in the exit area.

map08

Doomguy is lowered further into the subterranean. His path is divided. You can take a quick detour along the blue key path to score a super shotgun before tackling the longer red key path.

The red key path lowers your marine into a vast lava filled room with crushers and a rocket launcher, followed by an even larger lava room with the red key and enemies at all elevations. He has to fight his way back toward the start as new enemies spawn after picking up the key.

Armed with the red and blue keys, doomguy can work his way to the exit, only to find it guarded by a cantankerous cybie across the bridge. This fight is complicated by the tight ammo situation. You may have to venture across the bridge to make more of your plasma shots count and don't be surprised if you are reduced to super shotgun, shotgun or chaingun by the end.

Edited October 18, 2020 by tmorrow

[loveless]

yooo, i'm back.  been out with a flu(rhinovirus, tested and confirmed) and feeling good enough to play some games. 

 

prboom+, no saves, uv pistol starts  
 
map 1
deaths 0
a chill opener.  a bit on the dark side but that's okay.  had a bit of fun making as much infight as i possibly could.  

Spoiler

 

map 2
deaths 2
big ups metalcore midis. i'm also down with the chronic, chronic low health NAHMEAN.  couldn't keep a steady stack until halfway through.  bit egregious with both teleporting some hitscan behind the player and also teleporting threat AWAY from the player but nothing to entirely remove the fun.  

Spoiler

 

map 3
deaths 4
a much welcome uptick in difficulty.  the midi was bass line business and low armor amounts kept my aggression in check.

Spoiler

 

map 4
deaths 7
good to see that back-to-back sick midis is a trend.  harsh opening, harsh mid game, and same goes to the ending; all owed to ammo restriction.  making that vile kill itself at the end was a cherry on top for me, had to jam since there was no way to finish off the hell knight.  

Spoiler

 

map 5
deaths 0
good amounts of danger in almost every fight, very pleasing.  what struck me is how often i'd forget the lift textures and wander meaninglessly.  i think i spent around 6-8 of the 29 minutes this map took feeling completely lost.  

Spoiler

 

map 6
deaths 0
another rugged map, nice!  cybers in the final fight took me by surprise.  i believe my demo wouldn't be a surviving attempt if i weren't able to run away.  

Spoiler

 

map 7
deaths 1
short, sweet, and in your face.  had cool, cave vibe going that i appreciated.  map was overall a bit dark for my taste but playing in software rendering will do this.  and a big shout out to blasting myself in the face with a rocket on first attempt.  

Spoiler

 

map 8
deaths 1
the only map i can remember during my survival coop playthrough early in the summer.  lot more exploration to do for progression than i remember.  this makes sense though, i'm doing all the work instead of half.

Spoiler

 

1k lines 2 cp demos 1-8.7z

[Capellan]

1000 Lines CP 2 MAP08

 

 

[Clippy]

I never participated in one of these before but I found myself to be very interested in the concept of demon fear

 

I never heard about this before and I never watched any of the videos bio posted but when I saw how short all the maps are I thought I have to try this

 

I'm all about those short classic style maps and this collection did not disappoint

 

I have never ever played an entire 32 map set and one sitting before

 

I really like that most of the maps had about 30 or so monsters and I didn't feel the need to save on my blind run 

 

Here's the entire playthrough I did last night which I don't expect anybody to watch but either way I had a good time LOL

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by Clippy
🥴

[tmorrow]

map09

Doomguy continues through the mines, admiring the wonderful architecture in this mostly linear affair. Ammo is tight. Once you reach the lava filled room, cybie roars to life. Due to ammo constraints it helps to let cybie do most of the killing for you, he's such a show off! The megasphere allows you to comfortably take some lava damage as you circle strafe.

map10

A beautiful map with lush caverns, waterfalls and plenty of water. Large rooms. The map unfolds in a natural way as you take a linear path through the level that returns to existing areas several times adding new game play and encounters to keep the player occupied. Good fun!

[VanaheimRanger]

 

[Capellan]

1000 Lines CP2 MAPS 09 & 10

 

 

 

[Capellan]

12 hours ago, Clippy said:

I'm all about those short classic style maps and this collection did not disappoint

 

Still working my way through it.  That straferun jump you did on map31 looks like a way to shave quite some time off the current UV-speed record of 34 seconds.

 

[Pirx]

MAP05 - “Corrosion” by StormCatcher

 

a wastewater plant, very interconnected, with walls that rise or lower after each completed area, giving way to more areas to explore. at the starting point, pillars with supplies are lowered every time. difficulty is not uncommon, but there are well placed enemies above the waste canals (luckily no damaging slime). a siege cow as the end boss, not difficult with all the plasma i was able to collect. i expected something like a steel mill given the terminator 2 music. whatever, i could listen to it all day.

 

 

 

MAP06 - “Wastewater Falls” by Kairo

 

darker, more waste and more corrosion than last time, with ominous glowing green lines. a central elevator acts as a hub. the last encounter is the most notable: 2 cows in a relatively small room, and they can hit those pillars on the sides and hurt you. it's possible to kill them with plasma, but just grabbing the key and running for the exit also works.

 

 

 

MAP07 - “Into the Dark” by Liberation 

 

starts with a containment area and progresses into some caves. more to the point than the previous 2 maps, offers some encounters with gangs of revenants than can be solved by circle-strafing and luring their missiles into other monsters. plus there's a large supply of rockets, i still exited with over 40 of them. no bigger surprises, and the doors are marked in an obvious red. the otex / votex rock textures are great for giving your caves detail without going overboard with sectors.

 

 

 

MAP08 - “Immortal Industry” by Dragon Hunter

 

now there's the steel mill i mentioned on map06: large-scale industrial design. pillars rise and lower. corridors carved into rock connect huge underground halls with walkways over molten material. otex shines again with riveted or perforated metal plates and warning stripes. combat is rather long-range given the large rooms and heavy on chaingun-sniping for the first half, which makes revenants farther away annoying. another exit guard cow can be skipped.

 

 

 

MAP09 - “Stone Steel” by Wolf McBeard

 

loved that melancholic music. an industrial or bunker complex with concrete and stone walls and metal supports. combat is pretty straightforward, up to a cyb in a large cave, where he's not much of a threat. one should be full of rockets and plasma at this point, so the exit archvile with his 2 imps doesn't matter. 

 

 

 

MAP10 - “Subterraqueous” by Nootrac4571

 

another hub map with the central node leading to various areas one has to clear first. mostly underground and rather linear until you return to the hub. waterfalls and some machinery. then the whole central node lowers, revealing a large cave with the teleport device at its center (or whatever it is). some revenants and an archvile are put down swiftly with rockets.  

 

 

 

MAP11 - “Deep but Not Profound” by Phobus

 

another underground facility that seems less dark due to clean, light brown / grey walls and the colorful face switches first seen in eternity. i had to cross a nukage pool twice  without a suit, but at least it doesn't do much damage. (there's a suit but it must have a secret access).plenty of imps and former humans. an ambush with revenants and 2 viles at the end, just stay above the exit and rocket them below.

[Endless]

MAP09: Stone Steel by Wolf McBeard

LZDoom

UV

 

 

I hope you have the need, the need for speed. This map provides, brothers. Fast and with a somewhat linear design but that follows a simple formula of constant combat and action on the run. Following the same subway base theme, this map has a simple but attractive design that is seen to complement a good enemy positioning strategy. The final area is pure madness and the best strategy (in my experience) is to run to the exit while killing dozens of demons at our side. Since we will have a Cyberdemon at our back, this may be easier said than done. Interestingly, there is an Arch-vile at the end, which for the first time in my life, instead of killing me, helped me reach the exit. Thank you Mr. Arch-vile

 

MAP10: Subterraqueous by Nootrac4571

 

 

Lots of shotgun ammunition to get you into this kind of subterranean oasis. A careful design and excellent detail gives as creation a quite attractive map that evokes feelings of exploration and caving, as a kind of secret paraioso at the bottom of the planet. Leaving appearances aside, this map is not only eye-catching but also biting, because that shotgun ammunition is not just for show. A good crowd of enemies awaits us under different interesting and dynamic encounters, which thanks to a good layout becomes quite entertaining and varied. A nice map quite fun and entertaining to play with in any way.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Endless

[Biodegradable]

1K Lines 2: MAP07 - The Wall, MAP08 - The Hatred, MAP09 - The Bridge and MAP10 - The Shuttle Bay

HMP | Continuous with Saves | GZDoom + Final Doomer

 

I've been pretty swamped with work recently, so I've had to play catch up here and smash through 4 maps in one sitting. I'm just going to let my video do the talking here, but all 4 of these maps were great fun with lovely progression, terrific visuals, riveting combat and none of them felt like a kick to the teeth like a lot of their predecessors. Of the 4 of them though, I will say that MAP09 is my favourite and given how @wolfmcbeard is the project lead of Deadtech, a megaWAD I've been eagerly waiting for, my expectations were reasonably high and he did not disappoint. Great stuff all around :^)

 

 

^{and yes, I accidentally cut off the bit where I press the exit button, but the video took 2 hours to render and another hour and a half to get on YouTube, so I'm not doing it again for the sake a few seconds lmao so shush!}

 

I'm also excited to play tomorrow because my boy @Phobus's map is up next!

 

[Capellan]

1000 Lines CP 2 - MAPS 11 & 12

 

 

 

[tmorrow]

map11

The episode ender sees doomguy exploring the underground, on walkways and side rooms over the toxic waste. Finding the switch to raise the platform to the yellow key is the first nasty fight as revenants and mancubi suddenly appear. The other is when the exit is unlocked, revealing 2 archviles and several revenants who confront doomguy regarding his travel documents. The secrets are well worth picking up, 2 of them hiding the only 2 rad suits on the map and the other a welcome soulsphere.

map12

30 Below?! Brrrr! It's cold! The first map of the Ice Planet episode is a linear ice cave map. There are 2 standout setpieces. the first is a circle strafe for the red key, the pain elementals being the most irritating participants. The last setpiece involves cybie and company and can be mostly cheesed from the outside.

[Endless]

MAP11: Deep But Not Profound by James Cresswell (Phobus)

LZDoom

UV

 

 

Deep but not profound, that title manages to encapsulate the overall theme of this map quite well, without being too out of place or too strange. This is a somewhat short map with a fairly simple layout that manages to create a nice atmosphere, however its visual aspect is more modest and simple than the previous ones, with a slightly hotter gameplay thanks to the use of several Revenants and some Arch-viles, which are positioned in a good way so we don't feel like spam. It's a decent map.

 

MAP12: Thirty Below by Ben Taylor (Dreadopp)

 

 

From the depths of the earth we now go to the poles where the air freezes as it leaves our mouths. This is the beginning of the cold episode where we will see if things get as hot as we expect. This is a map with an extensive road but a fairly circular circuit system but with enough attractions to give it a good touch and no doubt a good challenge. Two areas in particular are quite challenging, each one of them consists of that kind of ''timed'' fight where we have to wait for the doors to open. I'm not necessarily a big fan of such a style, but I see where the charm comes from, so I can say that it's a fun map and that it works quite well to introduce us to the new episode thanks to a good understandable layout, bloody fun and nice design.

 

I actually did the craziest thing with this map. From my first attempt I tried to do it on UV Pacifist. Without touching a single enemy and only making circles I managed to win it (it took me about 3 attempts thanks to the fucking end) so I can say that it is possible to play this in pacifist without any major problem. Is that good or bad? Hard to know actually.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Endless

[VanaheimRanger]

 

[kalaeth]

HMP, lots of saves.

 

MAP07 : a short map with way too many revs but luckily also many rockets. (100% K/I/S, 7mins something)

MAP08 : Classic elevator descent into the level. Classic htscanners from behind trap. nice foundry like huge room. another classic : imps in ledges too far away for autoaim to register. Another short map that looks bigger because of the height, nice and clear progression, not too heavy on the monsters, probably my favorite so far.

100% K/S, 13m37s

MAP09 : We left the foundry and are now in some kind of underground metal base.. nop, look, more lava! No dickish traps yet, he says before getting gutted by a chaingunner. Dudes are so fat yet I miss them all the time with the SSG.. 100% K/S/I, 6m07s

MAP10 : And down we go, again. Oh cool, imp ledges that go down as we descend. Don't think I'd ever seen those. After that its a nice walk on the park, a park infested with monsters but so far, nothing too big or to annoying. And then the floor lowers, I kill everyone and the exit is just at hand! But I'm gonna see if I can find those 4 secrets.. Megasphere is done,it was actually somewhat obvious. The plasma gun was also not too hard, but I did get tricked into thinking it was harder. NEx one is a timmed one, wouldn't have found it without trigger lines displaying in automap. So now, with the chainsaw in hand I'll go and find the last one... Again timed trigger line. 100% K/S/I, 20 minutes.

 

MAP11 : We left the underground and are now back to the surface, or so it seems. And after a healthy dose of manc fire to the face I got burned by a imp. Ups. Back to start but I'll continue later.

[a few hours later] Next try is going way better! HE says until he reaches the room with the lowering pillars and gets trapped between a chaingunner and a caco.. Another attempt ends in success after the required amount of cheesing. Smart move, locking us before we face a PE. I'd have run away and rocketed at him, given the possibility. This way had to chaingun him to death. Andthem after getting fucked up by three revs I have the exit door open. And figured the soulsphere secret, and there's only one other secret to go, the rad suit in a cage, that I'm not gonna try and open so I jump into the pink and kaboom. Why the hell was I trying to get that sphere if I knew it was an episode ending? 100%K/I, 66% secrets, 14:20 seconds.

MAP12 : Into the cold! oh a chaingun! oh it's for the HK,  I see. And now, my friend, the shotgun. And my other friend, the SSG! Just in time for HK 2. And rev #1 and #2. And, oh, I see a rocket launcher! And tons of ammo! What could go wrong? Ammo collected, armor put on and now, switch. And I was fine with just about anything but the pain elemental. Fuck them. (he didn't kill me, nor did the lost souls but still, fuck them). And revenants, fuck them too. They dodge too good AND shoot homing missiles. Anyway, we are back to the start and now some shotgunners are fed shotgun lead. The irony might not land too well on them. A switch after the red door throws us into more ammo and another switch. I know where this is going. And of course. A cow. Really?! It's a episode opener! Ok, found the secret soulsphere which means there's not even a plasma gun. So the cow will be allowed to stand alive while I do a run for it.

And that's it : 98% kills, 100% secrets, 8m48s.

 

I'll be back for more t'morrow.

 

Edited October 21, 2020 by kalaeth

[Biodegradable]

1K Lines 2: MAP11 - Deep But Not Profound and MAP12 - Thirty Below

HMP | Continuous with Saves | GZDoom + Final Doomer

 

I was eager to play this one and it did not disappoint. Phobus brings us a sturdy techbase that's quite wide in scope in some cases, but also very much contained in others. I loved the open-ended exploration and progression, there was even a nifty little puzzle with lifts at one point that you had to get the timing of just right. Combat encounters were densely-populated but well measured. It's the kind of numbers that make it a challenge without feeling completely overwhelmed as I tend to feel in bigger slaughtermap-style ambushes. The map is short, sharp and straight-to-the-point which is Phobus's bread and butter that he's very much nailed down to a science. It's just great fun and I really enjoyed it.

 

Stepping into the second and rather chilly episode, we've got snow! I do hope this theme isn't quickly lost as the episode goes along. The first episode's techbase theme was excellently-consistent. Anywhoo, the map itself is a bit of all right. All of its big combat set pieces are obviously signposted, but that certainly doesn't rob them of their charm or challenge. I had a good time with this one as those pesky bone boys got me all worked up as they tend to do and the final fight was a bit tricky and took a couple of tries to get the upperhand of. I'd say its combat is its strongest aspect as everything else was all right but perhaps could've had more personality in regards to how the map looks and flows.

 

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Biodegradable

[Capellan]

1000 Lines CP 2 - MAPS 13 & 14

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Capellan

[tmorrow]

map13

So the temperature has warmed to an icy Zero Degrees. Doomguy has more ice caves to explore. This one has a steady opposition right throughout with an archvile being released every so often to keep the player on his toes. The 2 key paths can be taken in either order.

map14

The temperature continues to rise. There are fewer icy areas and more water areas to be seen. Lava areas start to appear. I enjoyed the trip through the lava filled room with the rising and lowering lifts.

The main difficulty on this map is the ammo scarcity for the pistol starter. I was forced to go to extreme lengths to cause infighting. The pain elementals that appear cause the most frustration with their incessant lost soul production causing you to use up even more precious ammo.

[kalaeth]

so, ITYTD, since HNTR was still killing me too much.

 

MAP 13: I was gonna joke that we went from minus to zero but tmorrow already did that, so onto the playing:

Two mancs in the first room.. I pity the pistol starters. And then a room of hitscanners, a trek outside until the YK trap, and what an evil trap. Next room, a swarm fo cacos with a measure of imps, for taste. Red key tarp is less nasty, thankfully. But it's followed by an arch, because of course. All that is missing is a cyberdemon, but it's just a bunch of revs. So, a couple of HKs and a Baron to finish the level. I'm gonna do a quick trip around to find the secret.. And that's it. Follow the blood, 9m39s, 100% K/S/I. Short map with a lot of punch.

 

MAP14 : Ah, hitscanners, now that's a more traditional welcome. And it's still cold outside. And hitscannery. And the the water rose! I have to wonder if the water rising and the Pain Elemental suddenly showing up are some kind of metaphor for the global warming thing? "as the waters rise, pain is increased" or so... And then a warm and cozy lava cavern. You's think our doom guy would enjoy the feeling of hot lava with all that cold outside but no, he complains a lot whenever he falls there. On a second run he decides to skip the "fall into lava" bit, grabs the blue armor , quickly removes the bonefucker and the firefucker from existence and only then proceeds further into the map. Oh, cleverly hidden switch. One secret down. And then a trio of tomatoballs. Lift  up, a few more low lives, and trigger a few cacos, rev and imps trap. Knowing it was coming on my second attempt, I just ran back and rockets unto them! A spider, and back inside the base. Kill rev, kill HK, press switch to open back door into the start of the level where a berserk awaits us behind the entry door, a new spin on a old classic.

 100% everything, 11m06 seconds and that's all she* wrote for today.

 

*no, I do not use she/her pronouns while referring to my self it's a reference to a old TV serie. 

[Biodegradable]

1K Lines 2: MAP13 - Zero Degrees and MAP14 - Negelida

HMP | Continuous with Saves | GZDoom + Final Doomer

 

Man, the WAD's bearing its teeth again because these two maps gave me a good pummeling. Lord Z starts things off with a humbling and chilling dose of measured cruelty with some nasty combat lightly frosted with generous health bonuses. Two different archvile encounters were particularly mean given the relatively open areas I came across them in. Very cruel hehe. It was surprisingly short, but certainly left an impression. I rather liked it despite it giving me a bit of a hard time.

 

I think this might be either the third or possibly fourth Worm map I've played now and they have a knack of medium-sized maps with intense combat and they well and truly prove that here. Keeping with the snowy theme, Worm manages to sneak in some caves and lava into the mix to shake things up further. I found this one more challenging than its predecessor as one bit nailed me three times in a row. I also think I somehow sequence broke that area as well as I got stuck at one point and had to go back to a previous save and take a different route. Not really sure what the point of that lava area, really. Anyways, both maps are pretty mean and are not to be trifled with hehe.

 

 

[Endless]

MAP13: Zero Degrees by Lord Z

LZDoom

UV

 

 

May the cold pierce our bones because now hell is a little bit different. This is a nice map with a similar style to the previous one, in the sense that it is a medium size map that goes through a simple progression system based on getting two keys that close a circuit. The enemies are in excellent position to offer an interesting challenge in all game modes, taking into account that the number is more balanced towards a hierarchical form in the sense that there are a lot of low tiers and a group of mid tiers that work as support units, as well as a pair Arch-viles to warm up from this terrible cold. Good map, quite fun in my opinion and with modest visuals that work well under its own.

 

MAP14: Negelida by Worm318

 

 

With good variety and a decent but solid size, this is a frenetic map that offers plenty of entertainment thanks to a good and varied style of game that progresses well; never getting lost and always surprising. The challenge remains hard, but stable, with no real unfair or annoying moments. The variety of the map is something that I always find attractive, and it fulfils such functions by offering both indoor and outdoor varied, from lava rivers in deep caves to the main theme of frozen lands. It's a good map that entertains with good durability, good layout and attractive design.

[Capellan]

1000 Lines CP 2 - MAPS 15 & 31

 

 

 

[Pirx]

MAP12 - “Thirty Below” by Dreadopp

 

we've teleported to ice planet now, and i appreciate the fact that "gliding on ice" boom trick is used here. the ice maps are thematically very close to each other, contrasting between ice caves and dark metal corridors linking them. we start with an archvile ambush at the first link and get to a large cavern with a pillar holding a key. circling the pillar and firing at the mob that teleports in works. last step is a cyb vs everyone else fight before the exit, and several rocket boxes make it easy to eliminate everyone else.

 

 

 

MAP13 - “Zero Degrees” by Lord_Z

 

had to run past those mancs and shotgunners in the opening and make use of infighting as long as i lacked better weapons, but the map is made with this tactic in mind. spiders vs cacos and then the free for all after the yellow key pickup works great. the map gives enough rockets to put down the archviles @ red key and central arena. the final group of goats doesn't pressure one much.

 

 

 

MAP14 - “Negelida” by Worm

 

a map to explore that reminds of tnt, even starting with that strange music from tnt map14. we get weapons from zombies, de-imp some beautifully frozen outdoor platforms. there a gaggle of chaingunners (and a backpack behind them, the tech panel has a secret switch). the archvile is rather tame. then the section with the rising triangular platforms, also seemingly taken out of old wads. i enjoyed the slower pace of this map after the constant search for infights of the previous one.

 

 

 

MAP15 - “Abstract Thoughts” by DMPHobos

 

rather quiet start, you're exploring icy caves with imps, cacos and revenants here and there, until the "two towers" fight which i found surprisingly difficult, even with the plasma gun and the soulsphere given before, because those viles high up can see you unless you're really close to their towers, and the rabble will get in the way as you try to shoot them down from there. then, a bridge rises, and another fight with the same pattern starts, although with only one archvile, but a lot of cacos to push you out of cover. and the secret exit is at the other yellow door, and guess what, another tower. loved the music.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Pirx

[tmorrow]

map15

An ice and steel fortress and a difficult map. There are several switches that raise and lower walls that are quite clever. The secret exit is only accessible if you use the secret yellow door entrance behind the start.

The first difficult fight is the setpiece after picking up the blue key. There are 2 archviles, high up on wide columns that can move quite freely and are very hard to hit. Meanwhile, the enemy mix at ground level involves pain elementals and floating enemies as well as roaming hellknights and demons, making rocket use fairly risky and dangerous.

Fighting your way through the secret path involves some nasty ambushes as well. I enjoyed the hunt for the secret exit.

map31

A stunning tech base, both lovely and brutal. Great use of lighting. The drop down from the start into a room full of meaty creatures sets the pace. Each new area seems be guarded by an archvile or two, so beware. Clever switches open and unlock news areas by raising or lowering walls. Cybie eagerly awaits for your arrival at the final encounter and wants you to hurry up and get there so he can kick your ass and rocket you into oblivion. Note there is only one exit, that to the super secret map32.

map32

Aurelius has created a wonderful map. The map is a masterpiece of puzzles that are unique to the Doom environment, engines and AI. The puzzles are difficult to solve, but once solved, most of them can be executed easily enough. Not so the combat. You have to change your usual approach to engaging the enemy and the fights are quite challenging. Ammo is extremely tight for the pistol starter.

My first UV exit on this map required lots of saves, reloads and pondering over a day. Subsequent playthroughs were much shorter with less saves. Some of the fights got easier, discovering new strategies but a uvmax is still way out of reach for me.

The map layout is not all that complicated, being mostly split into the south and north halves. You start in the south and have limited mobility until you can reach the north at which point you get to start to explore the vertical space and contemplate its puzzles, which introduces complexity. you can enable lifts that allows for even more mobility at which point movement becomes far easier and mistakes less costly. There are also 4 teleporters to unlock as well. You will not be surprised to learn that the lifts and teleporters feature in the solution in tricky and unexpected ways.

Backtracking is painful and time consuming early on. Until the lifts and teleporters have been unlocked, every mistake and fall requires you to repeat steps to return to where you were. Saves and loads help out here.

You need to understand and master 4 core puzzle elements in order to beat this map. These 4 elements need to be used in concert. These are listed below with spoilers followed by an outright walkthrough spoiler.

Soundproof Sectors

 

Players only need to solve the soundproof sector puzzle once to be able to reach the "I give up" button that provides and early exit to the map. You can use this at almost any point if you've had enough. Those playing continuous and don't wish to spend a lot of time on the map should appreciate this button!
 

Spoiler

The map has strict rules on where you can engage the enemy. Look at the pretty pink regions on the map. These indicate soundproof sectors. A pink area on the floor means it's a place you can attack with any of your weapons without waking up the map and suffering an almost immediate agonising death to archviles. You will see 9 of these regions around the map. Many times you will need to kite enemies to where you can take them out from a soundproof region.

There is a room in the west with 3 doors leading into it and where you meet the maps first cybie. The 3 doors have a pink border, indicating that you can fire away with impunity inside the room without incurring archvile wrath.

Finally, there is a room in the southeast, beyond cybie's moshpit that is marked with the same soundproofing. It's safe to fire in there too.

The Catwalk

There is a catwalk that is controlled by up and down elevator switches. There is an up/down pair in the south and a special down switch located high up on the map with a unique purpose. The up switch raises the catwalk to 4 different heights. The down switch lowers the catwalk back to the floor.
 

Spoiler

A solution requires performing tasks with the catwalk at each of its 4 heights, pretty much in that order. Initially you only have time to set the catwalk to height 1. Once the lifts have been enabled, you can set the catwalk to any height with ease. Lifts can get you to the catwalk at heights 1-3 but only a teleporter and blue key will get you to the catwalk at height 4.

At height 1, the catwalk can be used to:

• find a chaingun on a ledge.
• reach some rooms that enable the northern lift switch.
• raise the catwalk access lift permanently, so it can put you onto the catwalk at heights 1-3. i.e. a lift upgrade!

At height 2, the catwalk can be used to:

• reach the room unlocking the 3rd teleporter and access to cybies moshpit.
• find a backpack on a ledge.

At height 3, the catwalk can be used to:

• Access to the green hexagon switch and 2nd lower catwalk switch. These are used to raise the orange revenant lift. The revenants need to be at this new height to draw the moshpit cybies aggro.

At height 4, the catwalk can be used to:

• reach the secret sector and the "true" map exit.
• reach a cellpack, 4 boxes of rockets, a computer area map and the bfg.

 

The Lifts

There are 3 lifts with associated puzzles that that are important to beating the map. The first is the lift the 2 revenants are standing on in the middle of the map. The second is the catwalk access lift lowered by a switch in the north. The third is a lift in the south that has an archvile patiently waiting on it.
 

Spoiler

The orange revenant lift starts off as an obstacle that can be lowered, allowing the player to get to the north side of the map. Later, the revenant lift needs to be in its raised position to solve the moshpit cybie puzzle.

Setting up the catwalk access lift was described earlier. In addition, this lift is important for progression. It is used to gain access to some health bonuses, shells and rockets on the way to a monster platform above cybie2, guarding a switch that enables access to 2 connected teleporters in the south. This in turn leads to the rocket launcher and the unlocking of a third teleporter.

The archvile lift is enabled by a switch in the southeast. As well as bringing the archvile into play to solve a puzzle, this lift offers the only way to get to the catwalk access lift at heights 2-3. It also makes it much easier to move throughout the map and reach the teleporters.

Revenant Homing Rockets?

There are 2 revenants on an orange lift that seriously impede movement between the south and north halves of the map. Paradoxically, these revenants are the only way you can get from south to north until you've unlocked a lift later on. These 2 revenants play an important role in 3 progression puzzles.
 

Spoiler

You need the revenant homing rockets to solve 3 puzzles, so don't kill them until they have served their purpose. There's an offmap pool of revenants that will replace any of the ones you kill anyway. Just give them a gentle nudge to wake them up.

The first puzzle. In the south is what looks like a red ladder with 3 rungs. Make sure the catwalk is at ground level or it will block the homing rockets. Lead a revenant homing rocket through the rungs to lower the revenant lift briefly. Race for the lift, raising the catwalk to height 1 along the way and bridge the gap before the lift rises again. At a later point you may have to do this again, depending on how perfect your play is.

The second puzzle. There's a second red ladder that can be reached by lowering the catwalk access lift and running onto the catwalk at height 1. Lead a revenant homing rocket from the northern switch, past the lowered wall and over to red ladder2. A switch is revealed when you finally succeed, use it to raise the catwalk access lift to a higher position. This is probably the hardest puzzle to execute.

The third puzzle. You have to first raise the orange lift the revenants are on and have uncovered cybie3 guarding a progression switch and a soulsphere. He is in a tiny area that I call the moshpit. Lead a revenant homing rocket to the southwest teleporter and then across to the southeast teleporter and then on to collide with a very cantankerous cybie, minding his own business. Once he is aggro'ed you can use the switch in the moshpit to progress.

The Outright Spoiler
 

Spoiler

1. Stand in the soundproof region and kill the 3 blocking imps. Enter next room.
2. Touch the 2 blocking imps and lead them to the soundproof region and take them out. Enter the next area and use the switch to open the way to red ladder1.
3. Touch one of the revenants and lead one of their homing rockets to ladder1. Run for the revenants orange lowered lift, raising the catwalk to height 1 along the way and bridge the gap into the northern room.
4. Take the lift, bump the enemies and cause infighting. Get revenants to kill the hellknight or take a more active role and use the nearby soundproof region. Use the switch to open the way into a soundproof room.
5. Use the switches and take out the demons and imps. Use the next switches and touch cybie1 and get him to rocket the barons. Once infighting ensues, blast your way through the blocking hellknight to exit the room.
6. Follow the catwalk to pickup the chaingun and then follow it to a pair of soundproof regions, one guarded by an invisible hellknight, the other a revenant. With demons coming from behind, pickup the super shotgun, nudge the hellknight and revenant and then use the soundproof regions to take out the enemies. Use the switch to open the way forward. Kill the hellknights that enter using soundproofing. You now have access to the catwalk access lift switch aka the northern switch.
7. Wait for a revenant homing rocket to approach. Use the northern switch and lead the rocket past the lowered lift onto the catwalk at height 1 and over to red ladder2. Use the revealed switch to raise the catwalk access lift to a higher position. This is the hardest puzzle to execute on the map and may cost time retracing steps for a retry.
8. Reuse the northern switch (via cybie1's room) and take the lift to the top. Follow the health bonus bread crumbs, pickup the shells and rockets and drop onto the platform with the soundproof region and take out the imps and hellknights first, then the lone mancubus.
9. Run onto cybie2's ledge with the 2 pillars, berserk pack and soundproof region. Lower the wall to reveal 3 archviles. Take out the 3 archviles, one at a time if possible and then use the teleporter they were guarding to telefrag cybie. Use the switch to lower the southeast and southwest teleporters.
10. Drop to the floor and redo step 3 to get to the northern switch again. Get to the southwest teleporter (where the lone mancubus was) and teleport to the southeast. Use the soundproof regions to take out the demons and imps.
11. Use the next switch to enable and raise the lift with an archvile on it and open the next room with a hellknight. Cause infighting between the two and wait for the archvile to win. Run into the hellknight room and collect the rocket launcher and return to a soundproof region and kill the archvile.
12. Drop to the floor and set the catwalk to height 2. Take the archvile lift back up. Use the teleporter to get onto the catwalk and pick up a backpack. Now return though the teleporters to the rocket launcher room. The switch there opens a door you can see through the bars. Run and take the teleporter and follow the catwalk to enter the new room before the door closes. Nudge the demon blocking the switch and use it. Use the soundproof areas to take out the 2 demons and 2 archviles that are in hot pursuit. A third teleporter has also been lowered. Approach the east wall to reveal cybie3 in his moshpit, guarding a soulsphere and a progression switch.
13. Drop to the floor and raise the catwalk to height 3. Take the archvile lift up and use the teleporter and return to the northern switch. Use it to get onto the catwalk access lift and ride it up. Follow the catwalk around to an alcove with a down switch and a green switch. Select your chaingun. Use the down switch, then the green switch and run onto the lowering catwalk, through the southwest teleporter and into the 3rd teleporter that will place you on a raised soundproof column. Shoot the skull switch revealed in the distance. Drop onto the soundproof sector below and take out the hellknight that has chased you. The orange revenant lift is now raised.
14. Lead a homing revenant rocket to near the southwest teleporter and then past the southeast teleporter all the way to cybie3, in his moshpit. Use the switch to lower the nearby wall and pickup the soulsphere while you are waiting. Enter the soundproof room. Take out the cacodemons and demons. Use the switch to enable the nearby lift and ride it up. Use both switches, one to enable the lift outside and the other to allow you to get out of the cage. Note that a bunch of offmap revenants get crushed during this step.
15. Take the new lift up and collect the red key and plasma rifle. Note the blue door nearby that you will use later. Also hear the sound of offmap cybies biting the dust. Make your way to the red door in the north via the 3rd teleporter.
16. Enter the soundproof region to the sound of cybie1 stomping above. Stealth isn't required but makes a hard fight much easier. Notice you are safe right below cybies perch as long as you keep an eye on the archvile behind the enemies facing away from you to the west. You aren't safe from the trickle of imps coming in so you will need to stay on the move. Try to get cybie to hit the revenants on the back wall so they infight and free up the switch. Use it to lower the room teleporter on the west wall. Next try to get cybie to rocket some of the enemies to the west until several enemies are trying to get at him below his perch. Go to the blue door, select plasma rifle and blast a hole in the imps to the west to let out the archvile and kill him. At this point you can kill the moving enemies in the room below cybie and should be left with 2 sleeping archviles behind the west side columns that you can take out one at a time. Collect the megasphere and take the teleporter.
17. Use the archvile switch and smile as 288 archviles are crushed to death. Use the other switch to lower the blue key. There should now be only 4 enemies left on the map, the 2 revenants on the orange lift and cybie1 and cybie3. Raise the catwalk to height 4 and return to where you picked up the red key and take the blue door. Follow the catwalk and pick up the cells, rockets and computer area map along the way to the exit room, registering the maps single secret. Pickup the bfg and go kill the remaining 4 enemies and then return to the exit room and end the map.

map16

A lovely tech base that is half protected from the ice. The pistol starter only gets to use shotgun, super shotgun and chaingun against several mid tier foes, mainly revenants and mancubi. Naturally, there are fair number of hitscanners that will try and sneak up on you when you least expect it. Those playing continuous may have an easier time of it.

The keys are accessed through suitably colored teleporters to new regions that get connected up with the main facility. Each one ends in an encounter involving an archvile, the enemies take their work seriously around here.

Edited October 22, 2020 by tmorrow