The DWMaster Endurance Tournament #2: We endure... Kama Sutra

[Endless]

                                                                                     All Speed. All skill. All endurance.

                                                                                              The Leaderboard.
 

I greatly welcome all competitors to the new Endurance Tournament of the month; newcomers and hardcore players alike, thank you all for taking a part in this new endeavour, and I hope you all guys have fun!

 

And of course, congratulations to our previous tournament winners, both also Challenge winners!

 

 

1. @Rotwang
2. @Pierrot
3. @Bdubzzz

 

And all our previous tournament endurers, thanks for joining the endurance and amazing job at it! Keep playing Doom:

4. @Doomydeimos

5. @tourniquet

6. @leodoom85

7. @Arbys550

8. @Beginner

9. @Pseudonaut

10. @Suitepee

11. @head_cannon

12. @Droolius_Sneezer

13. @Qvelax

14. @Endless

15.  @Roofi (congrats for playing with mouse-only!)

16. @MxCraven

17. @Pegleg

18. @Major Arlene

19. @Yori

 

THE OBJECTIVE:

Spoiler

 

- The essence here is Endurance. A WAD is selected among the great ocean of content that Doom offers. The competitors then have to play the entirety or as long as they can to accumulate points.

For this, we’ll (I'll) calculate:

 

A.     How long it took the competitor to finish the WAD (the faster, the better).

B.     The skill level chosen.

C.     The category that the player is submitting.

D.     Total progress.

 

- There are 3 categories, just like some other DW leagues, if you need reference:

 

1.        First Run: You haven’t played this WAD nor know anything about the general layout of the levels or anything else. This is your blind run, your first dive into it.

2.      Experienced Run: You have played this WAD in its entirety a long ago or don’t remember much of the details, or have watched someone else play this WAD, to the point that you might have a considerable advantage over blind, first run players.

3.      Prepared Run: You have played, finished, practiced, learnt or even mastered this WAD. You know all the levels or most of it and can run it with expertise, giving you a clear advantage over blind, first run players.

 

- If the selected WAD has, example; 15 maps, you can and should finish all those 15 maps, BUT, you can also decide to leave your run at, let’s say 11 maps, and still be valid for submission in the competition. So, finishing the entire WAD is not needed, but recommended. The player with the most endurance is the one likely to win.

 

- In the end, whoever finishes fastest with the highest skill level and with the most finished maps will accumulate the most points and win.

 

- Along the normal WAD competition, there’s also a special Challenge WAD (or can be a special bonus map/or maps of the same WAD) that will follow the exact basic rules of UV, UV+ and NM! only, no saves, no deaths, continuous. This is a bonus and optional challenge that will score up to 5,000 points to the winner. Losers don’t get the points. This is a high risk, high reward kind of challenge. This is so some players that still crave for more can get an even higher challenge, while at the same time being a second chance to score more points. Winners of this challenge will also get a special mention on our winners’ article in the Doom Master Wadazine.

 

 

This month, we endure… Kama Sutra

» Download here «

 

This time around, we come face to face to a classic megawad made by the Gusta and method man, a pair of Czech speedrunners that made sure to leave quite the heavy legacy with a set of maps full of speed, pain and lots of violence. Very well known for its very tactical approach, tough as nails difficulty and violent flow. Kama Sutra is going to test your endurance till the max.

 

STANDARD COMPETITION:

·         Vanilla-compatible

·         -Complevel 2 for PrBoom and/or Doom (Strict) for ZDoom source-ports.

·         We endure MAP01 to MAP30. Secret levels are optional, but they do award extra points.

·         Est. first runners time to finish: 4 to 6 hours.

·         IWAD: DOOM2.WAD

 

THE STANDARD COMPETITION RULES:

Spoiler

 

·         1.      Any skill level is valid, this includes NM! UV Fast is also allowed! DO NOT CHANGE DIFFICULTY MID RUN.

·         2.      This should go without saying but, NO CHEATS OR CHECKING THE MAP IN THE EDITOR.

·         3.      No gameplay mods allowed (Brutal Doom, Final Doomer, Supercharge, etc.)

·         4.      Visual mods allowed (Fullscreen HUDs, Smooth Doom, Vanilla Essence, etc.)

·         5.      You can die as much as you like. lol

·         6.      No pistol starting. Only continuous.

·         7.      You can save up to 3 total times per map. When and where is up to you.

·         8.      You must follow the Competition indications (Which will be published depending on the WAD compatibility, requirements, source-port, etc.)

·         9.      Freelooks is allowed. But no jumping or crouching.

·         10.    Secret/bonus levels are optional. They do award extra points but aren't mandatory.

·         11.    Any source-port is allowed as long as it runs the WAD.

·         12.    No dynamic lights, sorry. While they look cool, they also reveal hidden/secret items.

 

 

CHALLENGE COMPETITION:

» SIGIL «

·         Limit-removing

·         -Complevel 3 for PrBoom and/or Doom (Strict) for ZDoom source-ports.

·         We endure E5M1 to E5M8. Secret levels are optional.

·         Estimated time to finish: 1 hour to about 2 hours.

·         IWAD: DOOM.WAD

 

CHALLENGE COMPETITION RULES:

Spoiler

 

·         1.      Ultra-Violence, UV Fast or NM! only. This is up to you. Better chances to get a better score with higher skills.

·         2.      Only victory allowed. You die and you lose or restart all over and endure until winning.

·         2.      This should go without saying but, again, NO CHEATS.

·         3.      No gameplay mods allowed.

·         4.      Visual mods allowed.

·         5.      No pistol starting. Only continuous.

·         6.      No saves, no loading.

·         7.      You must follow the Competition Indications (Which will be published depending on the WAD compatibility, requirements, etc.)

·         8.      Freelook is allowed. But no jumping or crouching.

·         9.      Any source-port.

·         10.    No dynamic lights, again.

 

 

COMPETITION SUBMISSION REQUIERMENTS:

·         1.      You can submit your playthrough with: YouTube videos, VODs or demos. If you do make a video, please start from the menu and show your compatibility and lightning options first.

·         2.      Indicate your Competition Category.

·         3.      Indicate your total time (the intermission screen is a requirement in your video, demo or VOD, can use a HUD addon to help with that too.)

·         4.      Indicate your skill level.

·         5.      Indicate your WAD progress, example: Finished at MAP29, or Finished the entire WAD.

.         6.      You are allowed to upload a second submission if you want to improve your score!

 

NOTE: This is the same if you participate for the Challenge Competition, but of course, total time and skill level is irrelevant.

 

NOTE 2: If you decide to not finish a full WAD, your progress will be taken into account only in your last intermission screen. Example: This means that if you play, let’s say MAP20, but just half of it and don’t finish, that progress won’t be taken into account and your score will be based on the intermission screen of MAP19.

 

Good luck and good fun, Endurer.

 

Previous Tournaments:

Spoiler

» Master Endurance Tournament #1: The Ultimate Doom

Edited January 13, 2021 by Endless
You are allowed to upload a second submission if you want to improve your score! Medals added.

[Suitepee]

An interesting follow-up to the first month for sure.

 

Alas due to one of my community regulars picking this wad for my newly created request list this year, I won't be taking part this month as I'd rather play their pick (given that Kama Sutra can apparently get difficult later on) under more casual circumstances.

 

Best of luck to everyone who takes part though! I'll be keen to make up ground in February.

Edited January 1, 2021 by Suitepee

[leodoom85]

Sigil. Category 2 run once again, in UV difficulty. GZDoom was used and changed the settings as said in the rules.

The time used was 56:32 without playing the secret level. M7 was definitely my worst performance for the run.

 

Enjoy the video.

 

PS: Probably tomorrow or sunday I'll do Kama Sutra.

Edited January 2, 2021 by leodoom85

[Pseudonaut]

Kama Sutra: Category 2, UV, dead on map04 at 23:31. I know it says saves are allowed, but I'm not sure how that would work while recording a demo, so I'm leaving it here.

 

Sigil: Category 2, UV, dead on E3M4 at 11:18 from a crusher.

 

dwm-pseudonaut.zip

[Endless]

15 hours ago, Pseudonaut said:

Kama Sutra: Category 2, UV, dead on map04 at 23:31. I know it says saves are allowed, but I'm not sure how that would work while recording a demo, so I'm leaving it here.

 

Sigil: Category 2, UV, dead on E3M4 at 11:18 from a crusher.

 

dwm-pseudonaut.zip

Good try mate, and good luck next time! Maybe trying video recording some day for saves? You could give it a go. Still, thanks for participating, your score is up!

 

16 hours ago, leodoom85 said:

Sigil. Category 2 run once again, in UV difficulty. GZDoom was used and changed the settings as said in the rules.

The time used was 56:32 without playing the secret level. M7 was definitely my worst performance for the run.

 

Enjoy the video.

 

PS: Probably tomorrow or sunday I'll do Kama Sutra.

Solid run leo! Fantastic, I'll wait for your Kama Sutra submission so I can add up your full score.

[Andromeda]

Is the challenge competition meant to be easier than the standard one? :P

[Droolius_Sneezer]

Kama Sutra

Category 1

Ultra-Violence

My endurance was finally shattered at Map 11

 

Died quite a bit, this wad has some fun nastiness in it, lots of beasties popping out to murder. I actually played it more later in the day I enjoyed it so much, will probably end up finishing it! I'll get my Sigil run done later and upload that as well.

 

 

[Endless]

45 minutes ago, Droolius_Sneezer said:

Kama Sutra

Category 1

Ultra-Violence

My endurance was finally shattered at Map 11

 

Died quite a bit, this wad has some fun nastiness in it, lots of beasties popping out to murder. I actually played it more later in the day I enjoyed it so much, will probably end up finishing it! I'll get my Sigil run done later and upload that as well.

 

 

Nice run mate! Kama Sutra is a great classic so I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy the rest of it :D

 

19 hours ago, Andromeda said:

Is the challenge competition meant to be easier than the standard one? :P

It is rather an alternative that follows the traditional rules of IronMan, which are more punishing.  :P

[General Rainbow Bacon]

Actually had a go at this one.  I forgot how fun some of these maps are.  Only went to map 07 and didn't finish it.  Runs about a half hour long.  It wasn't a blind run so I guess it's a category 2 on UV, but severely visually impaired as I haven't looked at these maps in probably 10 years.  Recorded with gzdoom version g4.5.0.  Should be a fun watch.

 

https://www.mediafire.com/file/tyitkl91xanz790/GRB_ksutra_endure.lmp/file

[Endless]

51 minutes ago, General Rainbow Bacon said:

Actually had a go at this one.  I forgot how fun some of these maps are.  Only went to map 07 and didn't finish it.  Runs about a half hour long.  It wasn't a blind run so I guess it's a category 2 on UV, but severely visually impaired as I haven't looked at these maps in probably 10 years.  Recorded with gzdoom version g4.5.0.  Should be a fun watch.

 

https://www.mediafire.com/file/tyitkl91xanz790/GRB_ksutra_endure.lmp/file

I had some problems with your demo. It seems to get desynced on the first map about two minutes in. GZDoom is usually not very demo-friendly, so maybe you could try and do a video instead, or if you wish I can still validate your run, although with the bare minimum score.

[General Rainbow Bacon]

How do I make it a video?

[Endless]

4 minutes ago, General Rainbow Bacon said:

How do I make it a video?

You could probably try and running it yourself and then just record it using any recording software, like Xbox Game Bar or Shadowplay and then uploading it to youtube. If you can't run the demo, you could restart your run and record your playthrough as you go.

 

Or as I said, I could still accept your run.

[General Rainbow Bacon]

Okay, I'll try to run it myself.  I don't have any of those recording programs.  I'll try to figure it out.

 

E: Welp.  Tried to upload it to YT, but it didn't work.  The file was too big.  Just forget this run and I'll try to make a new one before the month is up.  This time using PrBoom+

Edited January 5, 2021 by General Rainbow Bacon

[General Rainbow Bacon]

Hey.  So I've asked about how to save/load during demos and apparently you can't do it in complevel 2 (or complevel 3).  If you want to allow saving and loading you need to amend that rule or start allowing pistol starts as when you die doing a prboom+ demo you restart the map with just pistol.  Also, my original demo that I tried to play and upload to YT was 38:02 at 1600 x 1200 resolution which is apparently to big a file as of right now.  Thought you'd like this info.  

Edited January 5, 2021 by General Rainbow Bacon

[Rytrik]

On the Sigil one, it says "We endure E4M1 to E4M8. Secret levels are optional." So is Sigil not being played (E5)? Or maybe I don't understand how this works.

[Pseudonaut]

38 minutes ago, Rytrik said:

On the Sigil one, it says "We endure E4M1 to E4M8. Secret levels are optional." So is Sigil not being played (E5)? Or maybe I don't understand how this works.

 If you use SIGIL_COMPAT_v1_21.wad, then Sigil replaces E3 rather than being implemented as a fifth episode, since that won't work in PrBoom+ or many other popular source ports. "E4M1 to E4M8" is a mistake, I assume.

[Endless]

2 hours ago, General Rainbow Bacon said:

Hey.  So I've asked about how to save/load during demos and apparently you can't do it in complevel 2 (or complevel 3).  If you want to allow saving and loading you need to amend that rule or start allowing pistol starts as when you die doing a prboom+ demo you restart the map with just pistol.  Also, my original demo that I tried to play and upload to YT was 38:02 at 1600 x 1200 resolution which is apparently to big a file as of right now.  Thought you'd like this info.  

The demo format is a bit complicated when it comes to using the save system, so I would really recommend that you play IronMan style if you really want to go into the demo-saving route, or make a video in any source-port, although what you say that Youtube does not let you upload videos by size is probably the limit of 10 minutes right? Just ask for a confirmation and they will let you upload much longer videos.

 

1 hour ago, Rytrik said:

On the Sigil one, it says "We endure E4M1 to E4M8. Secret levels are optional." So is Sigil not being played (E5)? Or maybe I don't understand how this works.

My mistake, apologies. It is indeed E5M1 to E5M8.

[leodoom85]

Man...trying to endure Kamasutra sucks. Now I'm on map 18. I have 3 more hours to spent before going to sleep...

[leodoom85]

Well, due of some real bullshit at the exit of map 24 and managed to clear the map somehow, I quit in map 25. The video that I need to upload has 67 gb or almost 6 hours in real time. 

 

Here's the stats from the end of map 24.

[Horus]

Any reason we can’t record a demo on complevel 9 or -1 to allow saving?

[tourniquet]

The ruleset in general gives players being able to record videos a huge advantage, especially when you're allowed to save and won't be able to do it via demo. Aside the fact that i generally prefer to record demos, my PC is way too shitty for video recording/streaming, plus i don't have the time for tedious, long winded YT uploads.

Edited January 6, 2021 by tourniquet

[leodoom85]

@General Rainbow Bacon

There's a way to upload more than the default limit. First, you need to check that your account for YT/Google is verified by checking your username and stuff. Then you can check an option that lets you upload over 15 minutes in your channel account.

Also, the maximum amount for videos to upload is 128 gb or 12 hours.

[Endless]

1 hour ago, Horus said:

Any reason we can’t record a demo on complevel 9 or -1 to allow saving?

To be honest, I'm still taking over the technicalities behind the demos. I put that information in because it is the -complevel that is used to record most of the Kama Sutra demos.Yet  I want to ask, would there be a drastic change using -complevel -1 or 9 in WADs of this style? Because as long as it doesn't break anything else inside the gameplay, then I will change that.

 

1 hour ago, tourniquet said:

The ruleset in general gives players being able to record videos a huge advantage, especially when you're allowed to save and won't be able to do it via demo. Aside the fact that i generally prefer to record demos, my PC is way too shitty for video recording/streaming, plus i don't have the time for tedious, long winded YT uploads.

Yes, it was one of the dilemmas I tried to analyze at the beginning when I conceived the idea of this tournament. I looked for a lot of info on how to save in demo format and it seems to be something complicated, but if somehow you can do such a thing, then I recommend to do it in the best way. Personally I use video, but I know that most people prefer demos, so if Horus info turns out to be positive, I will change that for all the next tournaments!

[tourniquet]

6 minutes ago, Endless said:

I want to ask, would there be a drastic change using -complevel -1 or 9 in WADs of this style?

 

No, there won't be any issues.

 

7 minutes ago, Endless said:

so if Horus info turns out to be positive, I will change that for all the next tournaments!

 

Would be cool.

[Xulgonoth]

16 minutes ago, tourniquet said:

No, there won't be any issues.

Are you sure? As far as I know, one of the more significant changes complevel 9 does is allowing enemies to cross drop-offs. The very first time I played Kama Sutra it was with default GZDoom settings, because I didn't know any better, and I remember having issues with enemies falling into unreachable areas.
Then there are also the pain elemental clouds that KS likes to use, but on complevel 2, they're mitigated by the lost soul limit, which won't be there on complevel 9.

Edited January 6, 2021 by Willy W.

[tourniquet]

8 minutes ago, Willy W. said:

complevel 9 does is allowing enemies to cross drop-offs.

 

Oh well you're right, probably the only legit flaw of playing a CL2 wad in CL9, however in the end it's not a major drawback unless you wanna go for 100% kills.

 

10 minutes ago, Willy W. said:

the lost soul limit

 

Hmm, there's actually an option in the menu to limit them to 21 but looks like it doesn't work in CL9

[Xulgonoth]

I guess there isn't really much of an advantage one would gain by playing on one of the complevels that allow saving. If anything, it would make some things more obnoxious to deal with. So maybe it should be allowed... at the runner's discretion.

But I definitely like this format of the tournament, where you're allowed any number of deaths and a limited number of saves, and it's really just about enduring for as long as possible. I didn't join the first one, because December was a bit hectic for me, but I'll probably give it a shot this month... if I find time to Doom for something like 8 hours straight, because I don't expect this magnificent beast of a megawad to take me less time than that (if I even get past some of the more annoying levels like Cyber Machine).

[dei_eldren]

Category 1, HNTR.  i endured until my first death at map03 (!), timing 27:54. 

 

Wellwell, that was stressful - quite clever level designs, very tricky-dicky, but not something i'd normally play, as i find it a bit gimmicky and manufactured (OR could be that's an excuse i tell myself because of the unrelenting stress induced by total blindness to what is coming either around the corner or worse yet straight in my face the next second!  To be honest, having slept over it, i think that's more to the point than not liking the gimmicks.  Because on the other hand, i really had fun!  Apart from the stress.  Who knows, maybe participating in these competitions will indeed in time change the way i play if i learn to handle the situations better..  Doom is obviously about self-improvement and self-discovery, folks!)

 

Idiot me goes and kills hisself against the last Revenant with his own rockets haha!  (Why in that tight space did i not use the CG i'll never know, i even knew the last shot would kill me.  Had it been regular playing, i would've simply thought nothing of my stupid death and loaded a saved game from 20secs earlier and gone on to kill it quite easily...this demand for continuous play is really educational.) But it was fun, and i exceeded my own expectations as to my endurance.  Had i not been so deflatingly killed after almost finishing a hard level i would've probably continued but i really didn't feel like going through all that again!

 

dei_kamasutra.zip

Edited January 7, 2021 by dei_eldren

[leodoom85]

And THIS is the behemoth of the video that I made for this session. Behold almost 6 hours of close calls, deaths and bullshit. Enjoy.

There are timestamp shortcuts if you check the video to avoid some trouble to watch :P

 

EDIT: Forgot to say that this run was NOT prepared. It's a category 2 run, since I played this last year. GZDoom was used with the right settings and, a maximum of 3 saves (including the autosave) were used in some maps.

Map 25 is the map that I gave up.

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by leodoom85

[Endless]

On 1/6/2021 at 2:57 PM, dei_eldren said:

Category 1, HNTR.  i endured until my first death at map03 (!), timing 27:54. 

 

Wellwell, that was stressful - quite clever level designs, very tricky-dicky, but not something i'd normally play, as i find it a bit gimmicky and manufactured (OR could be that's an excuse i tell myself because of the unrelenting stress induced by total blindness to what is coming either around the corner or worse yet straight in my face the next second!  To be honest, having slept over it, i think that's more to the point than not liking the gimmicks.  Because on the other hand, i really had fun!  Apart from the stress.  Who knows, maybe participating in these competitions will indeed in time change the way i play if i learn to handle the situations better..  Doom is obviously about self-improvement and self-discovery, folks!)

 

Idiot me goes and kills hisself against the last Revenant with his own rockets haha!  (Why in that tight space did i not use the CG i'll never know, i even knew the last shot would kill me.  Had it been regular playing, i would've simply thought nothing of my stupid death and loaded a saved game from 20secs earlier and gone on to kill it quite easily...this demand for continuous play is really educational.) But it was fun, and i exceeded my own expectations as to my endurance.  Had i not been so deflatingly killed after almost finishing a hard level i would've probably continued but i really didn't feel like going through all that again!

 

dei_kamasutra.zip

You can always try better in a second submission! But solid run, you're up!

 

1 hour ago, leodoom85 said:

And THIS is the behemoth of the video that I made for this session. Behold almost 6 hours of close calls, deaths and bullshit. Enjoy.

There are timestamp shortcuts if you check the video to avoid some trouble to watch :P

 

EDIT: Forgot to say that this run was NOT prepared. It's a category 2 run, since I played this last year. GZDoom was used with the right settings and, a maximum of 3 saves (including the autosave) were used in some maps.

Map 25 is the map that I gave up.

 

Beautiful. That was some serious endurance mate! And congrats for also winning the challenge, your score is damn high! :D