The DWmegawad Club plays: Plutonia

[kalaeth]

so, 22 here we go.

MAP 22 : I find myself in some sort of base. Enemies are after every corner I take, I decide to go outside, where a couple revenants are shooting at me from far away and a bunch of chaingunners from really close by.. Rockets for everyone! And a yellow door, so back inside it is, where I follow some tunnels, getting rid of all those pesky zombiemen with my SSG, a single HK is easily dealt with but the chaingunners, goddamnit the chainguners.

 Second go : as I approach the chaingunners I switch to the plasma gun and melt them chaingunners into nothing. How's laughing now?! AH! Switch pressed and into a room with yellow and red bars, but also a lift into a chaingunner sandwich, but I reacted fast enough. Only to fall down and get violated bu specters, revenants a spider and a baron.

 Third go : This time I snipe as much as I can from the lift, and by the time I go outside both spiders are dead as well as a PE and the baron. Then I kill the rest, press both switches and move forward, towards the yellow key, and then back to the start and now a bunch of barons show up, so that I don't feel lonely. I kill as many as my plasma allows me and then, forward to the yellow door! And I reach a no pass zone. So back and to fall into the sludge, which is non damaging because consistency can go <censured>. And then grabbing the blue key puts me, very low on health, in the middle of some pinkies who rip and tear me.

 Fourth go : A bit better I survive the pinkies, and now, the blue door. and then the mancs kill me after some terrible footwork. I deserved this one.

 Fifth go : another awful dodging job gets me dead.

 Sixth go : mancs are dead, found the rocket secret and then I die to a chaingunner... 

 Seveth go : finally survived the mancs with enough health, but again I bit a chaingun bullet.

 Eight! Ah, cleared this part, found another secret, and I moved into the new sludge area, kill some specters, press a switch, lift, shoot, switch, and... Ah, the yellow bars across the map have risen so I can press the switch which lowers the red key marked teleporter. Megasphere, red key, red door, kill specters, stairs, kill imps, press switch, open path to exit but! There's 2 secrets and 1 enemy to go... A switch behind the switch opens up secret number 3, 1 more to go.. Ah, trigger lines! And it's done! 

 7 deaths, 23 minutes 05 seconds, 100% K/S/I!

[Silhouette 03]

Map 22: Impossible mission, UV, continuous

This map was about as difficult as I remember. I... think I may need to reconsider a full playthrough.

 

This map is both cruel and unusual, the hallmarks of plutonia. A techbase and outdoors(?) themed map with some really cruel combat encounters. The traps are especially cruel. The courtyard are with the bridge that lowers is a perfect example. If someone asked me to describe this map in a cryptic way, let's just say you won't run out of chaingun ammo.... and you should probably worry about the source of said ammo.

The teleport trap in the room with the non-damaging nukage(control your urge to rant, Silhou3tte) that unleashes an army of barons and ONE(!) archvile is especially cruel..... I was honestly expecting 2 or 5 archviles to immediately instakill me, dig my grave and then proceed to urinate on my battered corpse(Did I write that? I should probably go lie down...).

 

Only 8 more maps to go.... GOD HAS FORSAKEN ME  YAY

Stats of suffering:

Kills:99%

Secrets:50%

Deaths: 8

Total archviles:99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999991²

Total people reading this post: 2(Why are you encouraging me?) 

 

 

[Pseudonaut]

Map22: UV-Max in 9:02
The encounter before the blue key is notable for how easily diffused it is with the right moves. You're trapped by a line of chaingunners facing way from you, unaware of you, and there are barrels next to each one. Shooting a barrel with the SSG will kill all the chaingunners except maybe one or two (often zero) and a lone hell knight will remain. In contrast, after grabbing the blue key, you're slowly lowered into a room with shotgunners who see you immediately and you'll probably take unavoidable damage. It's bullshit, but at least you can get it out of the way early. The path to the yellow key is another part that stands out. It's an outdoor area with pain elementals and plenty of enemies that can snipe you, including arachnotrons. If you try to grab the yellow key, the path will lower you into the water with spectres while the other enemies can still shoot at you, and it's pretty hectic if you didn't bother to kill some of those enemies before triggering the trap.

 

 

pl22stuff.zip

[purist]

12. Speed (Milo Casali)

 

Working Title "Enemies in High Places". This is quite uniquely designed in terms of mapflow. It has quite a non-linnear method of progression with optional routes, keys seemingly collectable in any order and teleporters being a prominent means of progression. The layout also incorporates a lot of height variance, which of course Milo uses to perch chaingunners in awkward places to return fire. From continous I wasted my BFGs on the cyber before taking a rocket of him to die anyway. From pistol start the early part of the level feels a little stingy with mid-tier baddies requiring a little in-fighting to keep a healty ammo balance before things soon tip in your favour resource-wise once you get a toe-hold. I made things a little more difficult for myself than necessary by not picking up the RL early doors. On second meeting with the Cyb I realised that by working your way back to the start of the level it is quite easy to find a position where he will blast his rockets harmlessly into the torch plinth whilst leaving you with an easy line of sight to take him out cheaply. I actually got a little lost in this one, which has only happened to me so far in Hunted (a literal maze) and Aztec (which also was switch heavy) - but it turned out I had missed the final switch raising the catwalk to the exit.

 

The level doesn't really suit the name speed but it was fun working my way around all the different nooks and cranies, particulary when it gave me an opportunity to get some satisfying revenge on once distance chaingunners and the uniformly wooden textures are broken up well with the different height levels, red sky and bloody flats so that it still looked nice so this gets a pass and a purist point and we keep things competitive between the Casali boys with Milo now on 4 points against Dario's 5.

 

13. The Crypt (Milo Casali)

 

I don't have loads to say about the Crypt, it was kind of just there. On my continuous play I made the mistake of waking the two Hell Knights then riding the narrow lift back up so when I went back down I was clawed to death, the obvious better tactic is to run past them in the plentiful space but so many times before Plutonia has taught me that retreat tactics work best, whilst running forward into unknown territory is usually a suicide mission. In continuous play ammo and weapons are not much of a factor because the SSG is gifted from the get-go and there is a backpack along with shells aplenty. The Rev/AV fight had the potential for fun and it seems like it was designed to tempt the agressive player into staying in the arena by carrot (the RL) and stick (the revenant teleporting behind you) but it still pays off to run back to the hub to fight the skeletons alone and then come back for the turreted arch vile when he has no backup. I saw an area opened up at the same time as the exit but since I am so far behing I thought better of hanging around any longer than I needed to. No real highs or lows in this one, I noted the barons of hell were used in rather uninspired fashion and I thought the chunky architecture was cool.

 

If I was placing maps in order this would probably fall in the bottom third and it will be one of the least memorable but since it wasn't offensive in anyway I will score a purist point to the Crypt to restore parity at 5-5.

 

14. Genesis (Dario Casali)

 

I really liked this one, the most enjoyable level probably since Ghost Town and I think this handily beats it at least in terms of blood pumping action. From continuous this would be a comfortable ride except I get caught unawares by the last arch vile who sent my back to a pistol start. From here the opening is designed to force you into the fray as you are dealing with the hot start with no weaponry and must awaken a few mobs to get the SSG. Ammo balance was perfect, I always had rockets when I needed them but not enough that I felt I could waste too many. The secret supercharge is not too hard to find and gives you some breathing room. After being so close to Speed it was a bit disconcerting finding the blood here is damaging but in all honesty it wasn't much of a hinderance and forced you to play nimbly at times, most notable in my favourite fight after collecting the blur sphere. Good choice of music, classic Plutonia-style basic but solid looks, fun layout and even a good name (broadly speaking Plutonia does a good job with memorable one-word map names, I don't know why they have always just clicked with me).

 

An easy purist point for Dario who edges ahead 6-5 at close of play for tonight.

[Andromeda]

MAP22: Impossible Mission

 

Impossible Mission? Not quite, unless you're playing on solo-net ;) Anyway, this is one of the most expansive levels so far, fortunately difficulty remains reasonable for the most part. The main difficulty spike is in the yellow key area, where a bridge will collapse right when you're traversing it, leaving you without a choice but to fend off the army of spectres and a few pain elementals while avoiding hitscan attacks and projectiles from above - taking the teleporter leaves you even more exposed to hitscan fire, and if you enter the corridor near the teleporter you'll alert several revenants, making matters much worse. Thank heavens the nukage doesn't damage you :)

 

If you manage to survive you'll have to contend with two deployments of sneaky chaingunners, which can mean the end for a badly wounded player - nasty! Also of note is the red key ambush, where picking it up will see you surrounded by half a dozen barons and an arch-vile. It's easy to escape their grasp if you know what to expect, but it's a surprisingly effective setup for an unsuspecting player considering how simple it is. Overall, this is the level that best shows what Plutonia's all about in my opinion - good visuals, good pacing, good combat and yet another great MIDI (as all are from the pack, honestly).

Edited January 23, 2021 by Andromeda

[golbeeze]

Maps 22 and 23

Map 22 is ok. It isn't too hard but somehow I still managed to get killed. I didn't really care for it as it seemed rather bland.

Map 23 was interesting because I didn't really remember it. The level didn't feel like a Plutonia level for me, but it was fun. Reality attacked mid-recording so it is in two parts.

[Devalaous]

Map 22: Impossible Mission is a map I always dislike, its so 'out there' compared to the others as this techbase map in hell. I always somehow die a lot at the start too and it gives me a 'meh, do I finish the wad or not' mood due to the weariness. At least all that nukage and blood isn't toxic, for once. Also fuck that lift that drops you to be surrouded by chaingunners. The chaingun fetish the Casalis have is getting old now.

 

Map 23: Tombstone is another one of those maps thats just 'there' that I forget about every playthrough, but I dunno, its actually a fun one thats just big enough, unlike Slayer and Neurosphere which just 'end' early when youve gotten warmed up. I always get stuck before realising the blue key is in an area that ISNT locked, and the hallway in there, I ALWAYS get the revenants and nobles to infight

[Pseudonaut]

Map23: UV-Max in 10:32
An unusually large and complicated map for Plutonia, and I had some difficulty navigating at first. The the red switch for the exit is unnecessary and annoying, since there's already a red door in the way. If you head for the exit without pressing the switch (as I did), you have to walk halfway across the map and back before you can exit. This map houses one of the nastiest ambushes in Plutonia (or at least it was when I first played it), dual archviles with several revenants all at once, and cover isn't close enough for comfort. The more proficient you are with a BFG, the easier this encounter is to deal with.

 

 

pl23stuff.zip

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP22 - "Impossible Mission" - Dario Casali (100%K/I/S) - 8 deaths:

Something totally out of context for Plutonia, feels like we got teleported into Knee Deep in the Dead once more, with this great tech-base level, which, again feels totally off in comparison to other Plutonia maps, some may say the outdoor areas look Plutonia enough, and that's why it's not totally out of context. For me, this was yet again, an old Dario map, and one of those TNT rejections, as it feels more of a TNT map than a Plutonia one at times. 
What a journey, one of Plutonia's longest ones by far, and yes, not an impossible mission, but a pretty hard one, specially because combat here has some nasty chaingunners that always put you low before a big fight starts and puts you six-feet under, it has its nasty moments, the lift and outdoor area after the rocket launcher grab, the teleport inside all bruisers and the archvile, and the mancubi fight at the nukage. Other close moments are the blue key area in general, in which you'll have to proceed with big care. Not to mention, trying to get the blue keycard with low health would mostly result in death, as there are some nasty shotgunners down under in a position impossible for you to shoot them first. Long map is long, as it has many paths to take before taking the route to get the yellow key. Then, going again into the nukage plant, open the yellow bars, return, get the red key, and proceed to another outdoor area. Yes, map gets lengthier because of the insane backtrack, but it's nothing that bad, for 1996, this was huge. Talking about nukage, yet again, it does not damage you (thankfully). It always felt weird to me that you did not take nukage damage because of it in this map, but well. Maybe a bad liquid choice for Dario, I guess.
Yes I remember this map as the one that stucked every multiplayer game in survival mode, this was a carnage, online difficulty was the real deal here. The only problem may be the ammo at the end, it got scarce once I killed every single enemy before the red key grab.
It may look as one of the earlier maps made, but it's still one of the best of the mapset.

Deaths: 169 (UV Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)
 

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP22

MAP18
MAP12
MAP14
MAP17
MAP11
MAP04
MAP01

MAP19

MAP10
MAP03
MAP09
MAP07
MAP05
MAP02
MAP13
MAP06
MAP08
MAP21
MAP20
MAP16

 

If you thought this map was long, get ready for Tombstone, I don't think I'll play it today in time, I have bad memories of it.

[Andromeda]

MAP23: Tombstone

 

If you thought the previous level was large, wait until you see this one! This is a sprawling techbase in a similar visual style to "Impossible Mission", but with a far more complex intertwining layout and exploration centric gameplay, think "Mill" from TNT. In fact, I wonder if this is one of the TNT rejects that people were talking about earlier in the thread - if that's the case then it's baffling how such an awesome level was rejected. Anyway, "Tombstone" employs with great success what I like to call "masked linearity". It looks strongly non-linear at first sight, but the order in which you get the keys is restricted to blue->yellow->red. Actually, the only non-linear aspect of this level is the key switches that you can press in any order to unlock the exit, which hardly matters in the grand scheme of things.

 

Combat is pressing throughout but not overwhelming, with the exception of the dual arch-viles + several revenants encounter on the way to the red key - without the BFG you can either be bold and stay in the open, hoping to kill the arch-viles ASAP but with high risk to take lots of damage, or you can hold a chokepoint, which is safer but will chew through your already limited ammo and you even risk running out completely if you've been wasteful. I also like how a few deaf revenant closets open up in the hub area once you get the keys, on my first play of this level in particular I remember getting the red key and feeling all smug, only to get killed by a sneaky bony bastard :P

 

One of my favourite levels in Plutonia, simply amazing and feels surprisingly modern!

Edited January 23, 2021 by Andromeda

[Silhouette 03]

Map 23: Tombstone UV, Continuous

The name gives you some indication of what is to come...

A sprawling techbase map with some hellish influence(Hellbase, anyone?.... I'm definitely copyrighting that) that is an absolute pain to navigate, But has a good sense of flow(could I sound any more pretentious?) and pacing. The keys that open both doors and are used for switches is really irritating, though. 

The trap in the bloody courtyard was... underwhelming. Just pinkies? I was expecting a horde of revenants and five too many archviles. The trap with the revenants and two archviles got me good, though. Plutonia  now came up with the....charming.... idea of putting an archvile in a secret.... I have no words to express my disdain.

 

Fairly good map, though.... what, Were you expecting a joke or something?

 

Silhou3tte's stats:

Kills: 100%

Secrets: 80%

Deaths: 4

Wondering when I'm going to lose my mind: YES

Archvile counter: INFINITE!

 

 

 

   

[Horus]

MAP21 - "Slayer" by Milo Casali

 

Not much to say about this one other than it’s a more intense Circle of Death variant that spams many monsters into the central O. Competent but uninspiring.

 

MAP22 - "Impossible Mission" by Dario Casali

 

Supposedly part of the hell episode, but aside from the occasional hellish influences with the flesh textures, very much a techbase! Stealth Mode is a popular track of Jimmy’s, I never knew that this MIDI pack was what it was first composed for. Great track that gels with the map nicely.

 

Mostly a fun level, though I found the perched revenant usage a bit annoying and the RK battle had too many barons. Chaingunner usage was very high but that didn’t really bother me. I loved the barrel section where you can get the hell knight to blast all the chaingunners and itself to oblivion.

 

Level rankings:

Spoiler

MAP15 - "The Twilight" by Milo Casali
MAP09 - "Abattoire" by Milo Casali
MAP05 - "Ghost Town" by Milo Casali
MAP08 - "Realm" by Milo Casali
MAP07 - "Caughtyard" by Dario Casali
MAP04 - "Caged" by Dario Casali
MAP01 - "Congo" by Milo Casali
MAP22 - "Impossible Mission" by Dario Casali
MAP19 - "NME" by Milo Casali
MAP12 - "Speed" by Milo Casali
MAP13 - "The Crypt" by Milo Casali
MAP02 - "Well of Souls" by Dario Casali
MAP17 - "Compound" by Dario Casali
MAP18 - "Neurosphere" by Milo Casali
MAP10 - "Onslaught" by Dario Casali
MAP06 - "Baron's Lair" by Dario Casali
MAP03 - "Aztec" by Milo Casali
MAP11 - "Hunted" by Dario Casali
MAP16 - "The Omen" by Milo Casali
MAP14 - "Genesis" by Dario Casali
MAP31 - "Cyberden" by Dario Casali
MAP20 - "The Death Domain" by Dario Casali

 

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP23 - "Tombstone" - Milo Casali (100%K/98%I/80%S) - 6 deaths:

Another long map, another UDoom style level, with the Milo twist. Another big journey through a place that feels like an abandoned-in-hell tech base, if the previous map looks like E1, this one looks like Doom E2. I remembered this map from Multiplayer as a harder one, but is not as hard as Impossible Mission, luckly. This map is pretty big for Milo yet it looks and plays really nice, good interconnected layout with many paths to take, and many traps. Sadly Milo was mapping against time constraints, because I'm sure he could manage to pull even more maps like this, and not the ones that are pretty short (Althought good for the most part).
There are 3 switches marked with key barriers distributed all over the map, but the problem is that I never found what are they used for, as the progression is marked with key doors, maybe a secret for continuous players? (Rendered useless since there is a megasphere at the start of MAP24)

Nothing much more to say about this map, even though I think this is the best map in the entire megawad as it is for now, I felt kind of dissapointed because I remembered this one ten times harder, still it's not a walk in the park. And yes, Milo went apeshit with circle shapes. 

Deaths: 175 (UV Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)
 

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

 

MAP23
MAP22

MAP18
MAP12
MAP14
MAP17
MAP11
MAP04
MAP01

MAP19

MAP10
MAP03
MAP09
MAP07
MAP05
MAP02
MAP13
MAP06
MAP08
MAP21
MAP20
MAP16

 

 

Edited January 24, 2021 by DJVCardMaster

[Shepardus]

Updates since my last post: I went back to MAP32 and recorded for a demo for it, so now I've done all the maps saveless except MAP22. Not much to add here except that spamming 35 cyberdemons in this map is pretty silly. One of the added cyberdemons is even stuck between the floor and ceiling and can't do anything! I also got through MAP22 with saves. I can't think of any strategy for the blue key room (the room with two cyberdemons and six arch-viles) that doesn't require a stupid amount of luck (making sure the enemies infight in just the right way) and setup (painstakingly taking out three of the arch-viles from outside the room). It's not quite as bad if you're not going for all kills, but you still need that infighting to work out. Anyway, moving on to...

 

MAP23 - Tombstone

UV Max (-solo-net) from pistol start

 

Quite a long and sprawling map by Plutonia standards, even more so than the previous map. This is one of several maps in Plutonia with no skill level adjustments (the others are MAP21 except for the co-op cyberdemon, MAP30, and MAP32), so I imagine players on lower difficulties are in for a rough time. The start of this map can be pretty brutal, and so is that one ambush with the arch-viles and revenants descending on the pillars, but otherwise I don't think any single section is particularly difficult. The secret with the fake teleporter that actually reveals an arch-vile is a nice touch.

 

Co-op adds a spiderdemon to the clearing just before the arch-vile/revenant ambush, and a cyberdemon to the red key room. Neither is too tough to deal with since you've got a BFG. I killed the cyberdemon from the neighboring hallway since I didn't want to deal with it in the blood pool surrounded by spectres.

[T-Rex]

Back again for the next two maps, and the homages just keep on coming!

 

Map23: Tombstone (Milo Casali)

101% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Time: 18:36

 

Dario has taken us to Phobos with the previous level, and now Milo takes us to Deimos with this one. Tombstone bears an uncanny resemblance to the maps of Doom Episode 2 The Shores of Hell, undoubtedly from the Tom Hall maps as I see traces of E2M1: Deimos Anomaly, E2M2: Containment Area, E2M4: Deimos Lab, and E2M7: Spawning Vats. If the clear Tom Hall inspirations weren't enough, Milo really went all out with the curved rooms and passageways, including circular sections scattered throughout the map, which is the standard of Tom Hall as he developed his mapping style for the latest version of the Doom alphas. But about the level itself, it's much bigger and more complex than the previous one, and the symmetry adds on to the sprawling nature as you could lose your bearings if you have no idea where to go. It's also much more difficult, honestly, because there are sneaky traps and surprises everywhere. Take, the start for example, you start in the middle of the map and enemies from both sides coming your way. While you're focusing on side, you would want to take cover as much as you can as enemies can sneak up behind you and take potshots. There's even one secret with so many rockets, and when you step on what looks like a teleporter pad, it triggers a pillar to lower down revealing an arch-vile and megasphere. There are many instances of enemies popping up without warning, like the revenants on the pillars in the area leading to the blue key, the demons and spectres rising from the blood, including a mancubus in the red key area. The most dangerous and difficult part here is the large area past the winding passage beyond the yellow key door, where after you wipe out the large group of baddies, you head for the switch to open the bars to the red key area, which causes two large pillars to lower revealing two arch-viles and a whole group of revenants. I barely survived that part, even when I saved the soul sphere and any of the two mega armours or megasphere for it, because if you're unlucky, both arch-viles can light you up, and you have those dreaded revenant homing missiles on top of that. Then, you have the red key area where you have to take out not only the mancubus, but also a group of spectres, and the only safe spots are two small platforms, one of which is the teleporter as the rest of the area is the pool of harmful blood. Taking out the most annoying enemies and large groups of monsters is a bit of a risk as there's a good chance of being blindsided by spectres or charging lost souls spawned by the pain elementals. Collect all three keys and seek out the switches marked by coloured banners, which will open the bars to the exit teleporter. That said, I really like this level, it's pretty atmospheric, the blatant Tom Hall homages bring so much nostalgia of playing Ultimate Doom, and it's so difficult that it keeps me alert for anything that could catch me off guard. There are some bullshit moments, but there's always methods to the madness, so you can employ whatever strategies suit you for these tough combat scenarios. Given that this is a techbase-like level in the Map23 slot, I couldn't help but think that maybe Yonatan Donner took inspiration from this level for Hell Revealed's Map23: Ascending to the Stars as it's kinda similar with the themes and architecture. One of the classics of Plutonia in terms of themes and sheer difficulty, and this is the second and last map to not have deathmatch starts and no difficulty adjustments to the monsters.

 

Difficulty: 8/10

 

Map24: The Final Frontier (Dario Casali)

100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets

Time: 08:05

 

We are greeted with one of the two maps inspired by Doom 2's The Living End. There's a bit of a debate to who really designed this map, because for some, it would look like it's by Milo, but I do feel that it is Dario's, because the flow and progression of the map is quite similar to his earlier work Diehard, Map24 of Memento Mori, and it even has a similar staircase structure. All the same, spoiler alert, Milo has his own Living End-style map for Plutonia. This level is pretty short, but really difficult, for the start has you facing two caged arch-viles on invisible platforms, and they're situated where they can easily zap you, even if you try to hide and take cover. There are even sniper chaingunners if you decide to run to the bridge leading to the rocket launcher and some rockets. Know the secret holding a megasphere and some goodies before you start. Making your way up the first area will prove to be tough as you'll be dealing with some cacodemons and pain elementals, and there's a revenant for good measure that can snipe you unawares. When you reach the circular platform holding a couple of switches, prepare for more pain elementals, and get ready for an arch-vile when you hit one of the switches. The second chamber with the aforementioned staircase is the hardest part yet as you got a bunch of snipers, more flying enemies, and there's a baron in the staircase obstructing your path, making it easy for the cyberdemon to blast you if you're distracted. The cyberdemon is situated in a spot where he can almost launch his rockets at you anywhere, so you must be constantly watching his every move while making your way around. You'll eventually be dealing with some arch-viles and the last cloud of cacodemons and pain elementals before you go up against the cyberdemon, who will be the most formidable enemy to take down unless you know beforehand to save the invulnerability at the start for that fight, and even then, you have to be very quick and race to the cyberdemon battle after grabbing the invulnerability so you can kill him with the BFG just before the power-up wears out. The map may be short but it's really difficult due to the fact that you need to have foreknowledge of what's coming ahead so you can make use of the right items and power-ups accordingly. Even though the cyberdemon becomes less of a problem when you know to save the invulnerability, having to watch for when he attacks while forging you way around while dealing with the other enemies before you go up against him makes this one of the hardest levels in Plutonia.

 

Difficulty: 9/10

 

Two more levels done, and we're getting closer to the end of the megawad. I'll be seeing you all in the next couple of levels! Take care and have fun!

Edited January 24, 2021 by T-Rex

[Pseudonaut]

Map24: UV-Max in 5:28
A map with narrow ledges above blood floors in the vein of The Living End, comprised mainly of two large cavernous areas. The first makes you uncomfortable for a variety of reasons, like the two archvile snipers who are probably best dealt with as soon as you have the rocket launcher (which should be grabbed immediately). There's also an ambush of cacodemons and pain elementals while you're in the middle of some Doom platforming (everyone's favorite!) when a revenant already waits at your rather cramped destination. There's an invulnerability if you jump off here, but I like to save it for the second half of the map. In that second half, the most memorable feature is a distant cyberdemon by the teleporter that takes you to the exit, who will cause a lot of trouble unless you snipe him early with the plasma gun. I grab the invuln after that to rush through the next enemies while spamming rockets point blank. Pretty good map.
 

 

pl24stuff.zip

[Silhouette 03]

Map 24: The Final frontier, UV, continuous

LADYS AND GENTLEMEN! CHILDREN OF ALL AGES   PEOPLE OVER THE AGE OF 18!Go back to Malebolge, Joe Lieberman, you pedantic fascist moron) I PROUDLY PRESENT TO YOU: THE CHASM 2.0, NOW WITH MORE ARCHVILES, MORE PAIN ELEMENTALS AND EVEN MORE CHAINGUNNERS!

 

This map is about as difficult as trying to tie your tongue to a ceiling fan( I am the self proclaimed king of analogies). Hitscanners are everywhere, and the fact that you need to scramble from pathway to pathway like a mountain goat( with a SSG) doesn't make things any easier. The pain elemental and archvile ambushes are a serious pain. The final room with the cyberdemon deserves special mention, with hitscanners on either side and  a narrow walkway to boot. I also LOVE how the teleporter unlocked with the blue skull key puts you in the direct line of the cybie's fire, forcing you to strafe within 5 seconds of teleporting!

 

The Casali's could be really good at being torturers.....

 

Silhou3tte's stats(I really need to change my name...)

Kills:95%

Secrets: 58%

Willpower: 15%

No way out of this damned playthrough: YES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Walter confetti]

MAP23: A tough map from the very start, pretty similar to the previous MAP18 (and by that matter, looks like a mix between The Immost Dens and Computer Station, in terms of layout interconnection, not just of a mere homages or ripoff, making this a almost original map... and a really good one, for my tastes! Lots of monsters, lots of nasty traps, lots of action. One of the best maps again, if not the best togheter with MAP22, maybe even higher.

 

MAP24: Oh yeah, this map! One of most iconic map (at least in texture usage theme) is a The Living End tribute map with invisible cages (that one i didn't remembered them until today) a square perilous stairs that leads to the main teleport (a layout thing used in one of the 64 kb challenge maps, MAP28 iirc. Or it was MAP27?), and the most cruelest usage of enemy placement so far from MAP32, especially for the cyberdemon in the second cave. Not even joking. Another pretty cool map!

[Pechudin]

My time got eaten by another game, so I am a bit behind! This is going to be a double feature, but still one day behind ...

 

MAP22: Impossible Mission

    Not a fan of this one. Too large for my taste, and the fights are nothing to talk about. I don't think I can name a single fight I found interesting or challenging. Almost feels like it is not a Plutonia map! Perhaps this map was an earlier map in the development?

 

The Video:

Spoiler

 

 

MAP23: Tombstone

    This one is even larger! Well, the fights are better! The start is a very hot one, and I died a fair couple of times when practising. Still, it is very manageable. The map still does not feel Plutonia-like, perhaps it is the size, or perhaps it is the relatively constant monster density, contrasted with its usual spikiness. The landmark fight with the Archviles and Revenants was kind of fun, jostling around the Revenants to get a good BFG shot at the Archviles. Still, just like with the previous map I find the large size not appealing to me.

 

The Video:

Spoiler

 

 

[head_cannon]

(Crispy Doom, UV, Pistol Start, No Saves)

hc_plu15.zip

MAP15 - The Twilight

 

This is the most trolly level since the opening scene-setters. I adore it. To me it seems like an leaner, more concise evolution of Perfect Hatred's template. I will acknowledge how overwhelming the omnipresent threats can be, but will argue that all the grief it takes to learn your way around is worth it because of how drastically that recontextualizes the map once you know what's out there when you dive down into the pits and explore. The player goes from "facing insurmountable odds, pinned down by lethal threats in every direction" to "in and out in under two minutes", and that's a neat trick. The Twilight is a painful puzzle to solve, but a satisfying one regardless.

 

The metal theme from Caged gets a reprise here, and I like the way it's repackaged in a sinister black & red color scheme. The level's smaller than its predecessor, but boy is it dense. There are nests of sniper monsters positioned all around the outside of the playable area, and at one point the small central hallway will get flooded with reinforcements. After leaving the safety of the start area, there'll be very little cover to be found, as it's all Abandoned Mines-style hallways with most of their length opened up into windows or actual drops into the blood pit below the stage. There is incoming fire at nearly every single place you can stand.

 

The odds start swinging back in your favor once you leave the main path - if you can get comfortable with launching yourself into certain death just to scout ahead and see what's out there, the map'll get easier and easier as more is revealed. I should however point out that, despite all the rewards that are found by exploring down in the damaging pits, there is one in particular with no way back up, which is highly questionable since the player has until that point consistently been presented with "diving into cover" as a viable plan of attack.

 

Anyway, once you start finding the secrets within secrets and are properly armed & outfitted, it's time to start tackling the two opposing wings which lie on either side of the T-shaped central intersection with the immortal Chaingunners.
One path leads to the key, the other to the switch. The key path starts out clogged, and gets significantly more clogged once all the reinforcements start waking up. It's the spot I always save the Invulnerability for, and that seems to be by design considering that there's a small hop over a ditch to get to & from the yellow key balcony. Tripping and falling in means having to warp back and losing precious Invuln time.
For me, the best case scenario is if I manage to preserve enough powerup time to be able to ignore all the various snipers on the switch path too. With enough of the initial overheal preserved, it's almost guaranteed that I'll survive the final mad dash past the guardians of the exit.

 

Speaking of which: it's such a bizarre touch how the empty sky to the north of the T intersection is replaced with a massive arena on your final journey back through. That escalation has a surreal, nightmare quality to it.

[Andromeda]

MAP24: The Final Frontier

 

The one dud in Plutonia, especially considering it follows one of the best levels in MAP23. Only one moment stands out, which is the arch-vile that's revealed near the start in a small area without cover. Other than that, the level could be devoid of enemies that I wouldn't even notice, which shows how terrible the monster placement is here. Dario also made a similar level for Memento Mori (MAP24) which wasn't much better, so I'll give him a pass since it's obvious "The Living End" homages are not his strong suit.

 

Looks good but plays awful, a disappointment.

[Devalaous]

Map 24: The Final Fuck You. One of two Living End ripoffs in the wad. This map sucks. Missable secret right at the VERY beginning of the map with no chance to get it if you don't get it in the opening moments of the map, and the rest of the map is a thousand fuck yous where the only weapons that really matter are the rocket launcher or plasma weapons. Snipers too far away to shoot at, a cyberdemon launching rockets everywhere you go, chaingunners way below sniping you, archviles too, urgh. At least the level is short.

 

Map 25: Temple of Darkness. Another one of the filler levels that I always forget about, starts off in an outdoors molten canyon area which is very different to usual Plutonia. This part reminds me of old games in general for some reason. This level has three distinct areas, and you CANNOT go back to the first two after leaving, so make sure you grab all the ammo and the backpack in the start before moving on! Also loses points for the chaingunners behind 'solid' walls trick at the end.

 

My favourite map is up next at least.

[Pseudonaut]

Map25: UV-Max in 6:12
I'm not really a fan of this one, especially for a pistol start. It's lacking health considering the amount of time you spend forcibly exposed to many hitscanners at once, and a few more rockets wouldn't hurt either. The part with the janky staircase and pain elementals was unpleasant as well. The room full of hell knights is pretty fun, but the difficulty of doing it without taking damage contributes to this map's health problems. Maybe I shouldn't have grabbed the megasphere without also grabbing the radsuit; intending to save it for later, I instead just forgot about it.

 

 

pl25stuff.zip

[kalaeth]

well, it's monday, time to catch up!

MAP 23 : Imps on either side saying hi, a BFG just lying in the floor and then chaingunners start to pop as soon as I fire the first shot. I kill all I can before leaving the room and there are revenants waiting to kill me, but I have rockets. Two tunnels filled with zombiemen connect both sides, and I clear them as well before deciding on one side to go. I pick a side with chainguners and a specter, kill those, unleash rockets to a side room until all is dead, went around and killed more, and only then did I enter a tunnel that took me away from the central room, grabbed a armor, killed cacos in a side room, and again, realized I hadn't pressed the button, realized I couldn't without the blue key, went somewhere else where I could press another switch, this time the yellow key was needed, killed a pair of pain elementals from behind some bars, and finally found a door I could open, where I died to revenants.

 Second go : got to the room faster and with more life and invisibility. Inside the room, barons, revenants, HKs. I use the BFG to clear the barons and then rockets for the remaining enemies, grab the miserable amount of health, pressed the blue switch and went towards the blue door, open it, kill cacos and a pe and a specter way too close to me with a rocket, hit a red door, return with barely no live left, and go to the other blue door,  where again, I die.

 Third go : correct blue door, kill monsters with rockets, until they run out, switch to plasma, until it runs out, die.

 Fourth to seventh try : reached a room with non-damaging blood floor where a pair of AVs pop out from some columns surrounded by revenats. Died to them several times, until I managed to BFG them without suffering too much damage, press the switch, climb some stairs, reach another blood filled room with specters and the red key. I kill the specters before jumping down and running for the key, killing the manc, grabbing the secret soulsphere, return. Found another secret, with an AV and a megasphere, go press the red switch, and then onwards towards the red door and, it's the exit! but I'm missing 2 secrets.. One is bunch of rockets, so is the other one. Both wallhumping founds.

So 7 deaths, 26m02seconds, 100% everything.

 

will play the remaining maps at another time.

 

edit : while waiting for some accesses, I'll play the next map.

MAP 24 : two AVs right at the start, close enough to get rocketed, luckily. Killing them I can move into the side tunnels to grab more rockets and now, to climb those little stairs, grab stuff, kill cacos, teleport, kill a PE outside, a chaingunner at the door, run towards the megasphere, plasma another pain e. to death, press switches, kill the 'porting 'ville, walk over and.. that's a cybercow. And revenants and mancubi?! And a chaingunner from behind, of course. Also, a caco! So I unload rockets towards the small fry first and then move over to the cow, killing him. Then I fall into the lava, discover a switch, go back up, die to a bunch of chaingunners..

Second go  : I go back for health, find a not-so-secret souslphere + invis, fail trying to climb the stairs I did perfectly on my first try, finally reach where I was, kill the remaining chaingunners, go down, kill the surprise AV, go back up, grab the blue key, go back to the blue switch, kill the new AV, press the switch, enter the teleport, get distracted and nearly dead, kill the cacos and PEs with a BFG, and I can now exit, but life is really short and there are 5 secrets to find! Found a easy one, had already glimpesed it before, inside that one, another and I think I'll leave bellow 100% everything 'cause my free time is up.

 1 death, 15m07 seconds, 100% K, 71% Secrets.

Edited January 25, 2021 by kalaeth

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP24 - "The Final Frontier" - Dario Casali (?) (100%K/100%I/71%S) - 4 deaths:

The Final Frontier would be a good name for a MAP29, but it's not, in fact, it is a Doom II MAP29 copy, another classic Doom map that gets ripped off referenced. The Living End was another map that people copied over and over and over back in 1996. Plutonia was not the exception, in fact, this is not the only time we are seeing one of theese.
The map itself is nothing other-worldish, I can recall this as a Milo map, because circles, but Dario made a similar map for Memento Mori, with a copypaste section of a ledge staircase, so maybe that's why. Still, it stacks you a lot. As you have two archviles right at the start, luckly caged in mid air. Other than that, the only interesting part is the cyberdemon, which, you can kill him so easily if you are stacked and find the sweet spot into the blood pits, after getting the radsuit, you can start shooting from the bottom, you may barely hit his head, but he won't hurt you as their missiles get autoaimed into the ground, but watch out for mancubi and the always annoying chaingunner snipers at the southernmost part. It's short, and we have a better version of it two maps later, kind of an uninteresting map.

Deaths: 179 (UV Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)
 

Order of preference:

Spoiler

 

MAP23
MAP22

MAP18
MAP12
MAP14
MAP17
MAP11
MAP04
MAP01

MAP19

MAP10
MAP03
MAP09
MAP07
MAP05
MAP02
MAP13
MAP06
MAP24
MAP08
MAP21
MAP20
MAP16

 

 

[Silhouette 03]

Map 25: The temple of darkness, UV, continuous

Sometimes I forget that this map exists....

 

I have no idea why, because I really like this map, The textures( I'm fairly sure there are new ones in this map, don't know why they chose to showcase them in the last few maps) look surprisingly good considering the age of the megawad and the combat is also really good. The boat(?) on the fiery lake(sounds like an album name) is especially cool. There aren't many traps worth mentioning. The red skull key trap is pretty good, with the floor disappearing trick and the mancubi. The "staircase" over the fiery lake( another potential album name) as @Pseudonaut mentioned in his post is a pain and dodging projectiles really isn't fun. Every megawad( no matter what quality) has some filler maps, though this map is pretty good, in that regard. If you can make what others would call a "filler map" good, you know you're a good mapper.

 

I am not looking forward to Anti-Christ...

Kills:98%

Secrets: 100%

Fear and loathing: 94%

Fear of map 27: 10000000000000000000000000000000000%

    

 

 

[Andromeda]

MAP25: The Temple of Darkness

 

A level that I dread going back to, but end up actually having some fun with it somehow. You start under fire by half a dozen shotgunners (surprised it isn't chaingunners for a change), so you have to act quickly and locate the nearby weapons to dispatch the threat. Make sure to collect all the goodies before entering the sky teleporter because you can't return to this area later. The next section is cleverly designed, with a handful of nobles to deal with in a very cramped room - it's not easy either to ignore them, because the four switches that open up the exit are well concealed. Again, make sure you don't leave anything behind in this area before teleporting out because you'll be unable to backtrack.

 

Now we are in the hub area, where you're immediately greeted by half a dozen zombiemen behind you and other hitscanners to your left. The best move here is to go to the right, which is a safe spot and will give you some time to plot your next moves. Then the level kinda goes into a lull until it's time to grab the red key, where a cinematic sequence happens - half of the narrow "isthmus" connecting the red key spot to the hub area crumbles, forcing you to dive into the lava. It's a bit cheap if you're unable to find the radiation suit, considering it's not obvious at first how to escape the lava, but memorable nonetheless (although the chaingunner behind a fake wall can fuck off). Teleporting out of the lava puts you in the line of fire of six chaingunners right behind you, the level's last attempt to kill you and a dick move which I approve of :P

 

A step up in quality after the previous level despite a few flaws.

[Walter confetti]

MAP25: A filler map sets in this "meaty" (is it meat? it looks like it...) canyon that i think is the heart of the demon hive, that also includes wood panels(?) and a human-like building (??) that leads to a episode 1 techbase from a exit like sky hole in the floor(???), solve a kinda cryptic puzzle to move to another building and returning back to the meat canyon.

This part is the more juicy in enemies usage, even if this map doesn't have that much and to be that hard (expect a ambush attack made by a group of chaingunners), you have just to walk around, hit switches, reveal new structures and reach the exit. Ah yes, you can't return back to the previous once you enter the designed "final teleport" you find, if not by cheating via idclip.

 

Not a great map, only the abstract design is noteworthy.

[purist]

15. Twilight (Milo Casali)

 

This was the point where I abandoned any plan of pistol starting in favour of having the slightest chance on completing Plutonia by the end of the month (it still isn't going to happen but it will at least happen sooner). This level felt like running head first into a meat grinder and hoping to somehow come out the other end. Aesthetically it was similar to caged but there was very little nuance over what was a very rudimentary cross shaped layout. I am not sure what the correct tactic is for killing the mastermind but I ran past a couple of times to work it out before realising this was getting walloped by a revenant and just hid behind a pillar for a minute or two until it died. I then took one final dash to the exit and didn't look back. The exit showed the secret exit through the bars but I can live without playing Cyberden or Go 2 It and there was apparently no way out so I will move onto MAP16 instead.

 

I can't bring myself to shell over a purist point for this one. I like the idea of a kamikaze level where standing still is death so you have to plough forward but there was just no real thrill to this. Either I made it to a safe spot and could wipe out anything coming my way with rockets or I died and took another mad dash. I don't think pain elementals were a good pick for this sort of map and I feel like I lucked out from a frustrating end with that mastermind too. I imagine the resurrected chaingunners will annoy some players but in this sort of map where there is no intention to stick around or kill everything they didn't bother me all that much and probably served their purpose in encouraging players to play fast. I got a nagging feeling that there is a fun way to play this but having read the wiki walkthrough it apparently really is that basic. Maybe the deadline was looming when Milo sat down to make this one.

 

16. The Omen (Milo Casali)

 

Another rather basic map but a considerably more enjoyable one. This level throughs some bigs mobs at you but arms you well too. I started this level with the megasphere from Twilight still intact and played like I didn't want any of it. Firstly due to my biggest gripe with the level, which was an assumption that nukage would damage (I should've known better 16 maps in) and secondly because I decided to play like I was sexually attracted to homing missiles. Never mind, I could afford a lot of mistakes and actually finished the level without a death, which has become a rare feat since the end of episode one. The level has you running back and forth over a nice looking landscape collecting the three keys. The BFG is handed to you and there are a several fun spots to make good use of it (thinning out the teleporting revenant horde, outdrawing archviles popping up at the yellow key, a satisfying assualt an the hitscanners on the moving platforms). I used it to make short work of the cheeky arch vile that teleports to the revs I wasted earlier too.

 

Not a special map but a lot of fun and enough character that will no doubt lodge it fondly in my memory. Milo redeems himself here so I will award him a purist point and even the scores once again at 6 all.

 

17. Compound (Dario Casali)

 

This seemed strangely easy. Despite being non-damaging in The Omen, I think the damaging nukage works well at least in the first half of the map. It encourages you to play aggressively enough to get to the rad suit and then make as much progress as possible before it wears out. I just think Dario could have done more with this concept to challenge the player as it was a simple start. There was a similar missed opportunity with the yellow key later, I was certain something was going to jump me at the end but the only trick was the barrells that will block your jumps if you didn't explode them. I like the use of the hashtag structure to navigate the early part of the map and whilst there was not a lot of imagination in the fights it was brief enough not to offend.

 

If there is a lesson here it is that you don't need to break any new ground with a map, as long as it doesn't bore or frustrate me you will earn yourself a pass and a purist point from me, which means Dario meekly re-takes the lead 7-6.

 

18. Neurosphere (Milo Casali)

 

When Final Doom the Way id Did was in production I thought the assertions that the Casili's basically just ripped off huge chunks of IWADs was an exageration but it is readily apparent in this level - even to the untrained eye. Milo homages the Inmost Dens for another basic map in terms of combat, other than the hot start, which I really liked. I feel like I am in a stretch of maps where the Casali's were under pressure to deliver maps so were not particularly inspired as there is not really much noteworthy to say here.

 

Whilst the couple of maps had enough to keep me interested, this one was a miss for me. It largely lacked both exciting action and interesting quirks and any credit for artistic flair should be re-directed to American McGee. I honestly found it a little dull, which is a disparagement not ususally directed at Plutonia maps.

Edited January 25, 2021 by purist

[head_cannon]

(Crispy Doom, UV, Pistol Start, No Saves)

hc_plu16.zip

MAP16 - The Omen

 

The defining feature of this small map is the automatically cycling lift which separates the northern starting section from the southern section with the blue-key gazebo. It's relevant right off the bat, since if you can catch it on its first cycle and take on the baddies from the southern area instead, you save yourself the grief of being stuck in a crossfire with zombies shooting from one side and skeletons from the other. And I think it's cool how you need to make sure to time the key grab correctly so that you're on the other side of the choke point when the giant horde of demons starts teleporting in.

 

There's a scary amount of Revenants in this map, especially considering how fragile the player is here. Even with their numbers throttled by the cycling of the lift, things can still go sideways real fast. I find this kind of "glass cannon" gameplay to be exciting when it's presented with this kind of brevity - the small size and short runtime works in Plutonia's favor whenever it's making things this risky.

 

This level reuses the "two Arch-Viles appear when you're backtracking with the key" setup from MAP14, except that this time you're equipped with the heavy ordnance that can dispatch them quickly... which is good, since surviving a hit isn't guaranteed. We're back in the realm of "Revenants and Arch-Viles can two-shot you" again, and it's important to strike quickly and precisely.

Incidentally, I think it's interesting how you can spend the Soulsphere on the blue key's horde battle, the yellow key's Arch-Vile battle, or the zombie battle at the end, depending on which is giving you the hardest time.

 

-

 

The BFG9000 is a really cool weapon, but it's also an inscrutable arcane mess since parts of the process are invisible to someone who doesn't know what they're looking for. So I appreciate how The Omen provides a hell of an ultraviolent tutorial for how tracers work. A literal wall of hitscanners in front of you? Just grab the blue armor, stand your ground, and shout "NO U" back to them as the energy shotgun does its thing, reducing the whole crowd to chunky salsa over the course of 2 or 3 blasts.

 

What a shame that you have to steal the cells from the red key trap in order to make the DPS plan viable. It's a little dishonorable to just grab the only important item (the pack of 200 cells) and leave without letting the guardians in, but since the player can just hop from one of those automatic pedestals into the teleporter, it's a viable strategy. A little cheesy I suppose, but I think it's fair game when the map was already a combat puzzle to be solved to begin with.