The DWMaster Endurance Tournament #3: We endure... Doom Core Delta

[Endless]

 

                                                                             All Speed. All skill. All endurance.

                                                                                       The Leaderboard

 

Previous Tournament Standings:

Spoiler

1. @Bdubzzz (Challenge winner)
2. @leodoom85 (Challenge Winner)
3. @Willy W.
4. @Peccatum Mihzamiz
5. @Droolius_Sneezer
6. @Major Arlene
7. @Pegleg
8. @Endless
9. @xvertigox
10. @Qvelax
11. @General Rainbow Bacon
12. @Pseudonaut
13. @dei_eldren

 

This month, we endure… DOOM CORE DELTA

» Download here «

 

Current Tournament Standings:

1. @Bdubzzz 129,354 (Full Run)
2. @Willy W. 127,760 (Full Run)
3. @leodoom85 125,842 (Full Run)
4. @Pseudonaut 88,574
5. @Krenium 82,600
6. @Major Arlene 61,300
7. @Endless 47,416
8. @Pegleg 37,241
9. @head_cannon 32,940

 

Doom Core is a 32-map megawad for Doom II created by Michael Jan Krizik (valkiriforce). This time around we are going to endure the updated, anniversary edition; a special treat with some more polish and extra crispy maps! Created with a vanilla/90s essence in mind, this is one-way-ticket to a colourfully hell of tech-bases, hellish zones and some other surprises like some interesting abstract designed maps, all ala glory of the 90s. Not only is it fully compatible with vanilla, but it’s also one beautifully looking classic example of passion and love. As well as pain, lots of pain. Expect some hard maps about half-way into the megawad along some fast and intense encounters.

 

Info:

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.

 

 

STANDARD COMPETITION:

·         Vanilla-compatible.

·         Use any -Complevel that works for your demo (mostly if you are going to use saves) 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: About 5 to 6 hours.

·         IWAD: DOOM2

 

THE STANDARD COMPETITION RULES:

Spoiler

1.            Any skill level is valid, this includes NM! in case a mad doomer out there is crazy enough to try it. UV Fast is also allowed! All under your own responsibility.

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 score extra points, but don’t feel obligated to find them in case you’re a first-time runner.

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.

13.          You are allowed to a second submission in case you want to improve your time/score.

 

CHALLENGE COMPETITION:

» MAP31 & MAP32 «

 

·         Vanilla-compatible.

·         Use any -Complevel that works for your demo (mostly if you are going to use saves) and/or Doom (Strict) for ZDoom source-ports.

·         We endure the secret maps: 31 & 32.

·         Estimated time to finish: About 30 to 45 minutes.

·         IWAD: DOOM2

 

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.

3.                 This should go without saying but, again, NO CHEATS.

4.                 No gameplay mods allowed.

5.                 Visual mods allowed.

6.                 No pistol starting. Only continuous.

7.                 No saves, no loading.

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

9.                 Freelook is allowed. But no jumping or crouching.

10.               Any source-port.

11.               No dynamic lights, again.

 

P L E A S E  F O L L O W   T H I S :

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, you 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.

 

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 have fun, Endurer.

 

Previous Tournaments:

Spoiler

» Master Endurance Tournament #1: The Ultimate Doom

» Master Endurance Tournament #2: Kama Sutra

Edited March 2, 2021 by Endless
Leaderboard ready.

[Peccatum Mihzamiz]

Fourth place last month! My mom is so proud I am so proud!!!! Looking forward to this month's challenge!

[leodoom85]

Hold on...both standard and challenge competitions are coming from the same wad?

Interesting.

[General Rainbow Bacon]

Okay, I'll get on this.  If I go to the secret maps on a UV run of the full wad, will it be considered a challenge run bundled with the regular?  Don't know if I'll actually do this, but just asking.

Edited February 1, 2021 by General Rainbow Bacon

[Pegleg]

7 hours ago, Endless said:

CHALLENGE COMPETITION:

» MAP31 & MAP32 «

 

·         Vanilla-compatible.

·         Use any -Complevel that works for your demo (mostly if you are going to use saves) and/or Doom (Strict) for ZDoom source-ports.

·         We endure the secret maps: 31 & 32.

·         Estimated time to finish: About 30 to 45 minutes.

·         IWAD: DOOM2

 

CHALLENGE COMPETITION RULES:

  Hide contents

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.

3.                 This should go without saying but, again, NO CHEATS.

4.                 No gameplay mods allowed.

5.                 Visual mods allowed.

6.                 No pistol starting. Only continuous.

7.                 No saves, no loading. 

 

Can you do Map 31 and Map 32 separately? That would mean pistol starting both?

 

Or do you have to pistol start Map 31 and find the secret exit to Map 32?

[leodoom85]

11 minutes ago, Pegleg said:

 

Can you do Map 31 and Map 32 separately? That would mean pistol starting both?

 

Or do you have to pistol start Map 31 and find the secret exit to Map 32?

My bet is to do both maps in a continuous way...probably the secret map is easy to find or the normal exit takes you straight to map 32.

 

About the wad itself, I think I've played it before.

[Endless]

2 hours ago, General Rainbow Bacon said:

Okay, I'll get on this.  If I go to the secret maps on a UV run of the full wad, will it be considered a challenge run bundled with the regular?  Don't know if I'll actually do this, but just asking.

Correct! But do please state that when submitting your run in case you know the exits and actually manage to find them.

 

32 minutes ago, Pegleg said:

 

Can you do Map 31 and Map 32 separately? That would mean pistol starting both?

 

Or do you have to pistol start Map 31 and find the secret exit to Map 32?

As stated above, if you do know where the secret exits are, you can do them continous. If not, you are allowed to pistol start both maps in a separate run. First time we do this so let's see how it goes!

[Bdubzzz]

Category 1 UV in 5:50:31 game time.

 

DWEndurance-DCV-dubz.zip

 

About the wad it self... 

Spoiler

it got very old very quickly with it's constant use of hitscan...like seriously.. 1 of the worst wads I have played when it comes to hitscan... also was a softlock on Map 24. 

Yeah that's enough Doom for 1 day, ill play the secret maps another day.

[Endless]

2 hours ago, Bdubzzz said:

Category 1 UV in 5:50:31 game time.

 

DWEndurance-DCV-dubz.zip

 

About the wad it self... 

  Hide contents

it got very old very quickly with it's constant use of hitscan...like seriously.. 1 of the worst wads I have played when it comes to hitscan... also was a softlock on Map 24. 

Yeah that's enough Doom for 1 day, ill play the secret maps another day.

 

 

Your score is as high as a kite.

[Xulgonoth]

Standard Competition: Category 1, UV, finished MAP30 at 6:44:00


Challenge competition: Category 1, UV, 44:12



Recording of the run: (excessive swearing warning once again)
Once I reached the secret levels in the standard run, I did the challenge run, which starts at 3:18:46. Successful challenge run starts at 3:38:12 and the standard run resumes at 4:23:13.

 

Spoiler

I have to agree with Bdubzzz, the overuse of hitscanners in this wad really soured the experience for me. Fortunately I didn't encounter any softlocks like he did though.

 

[Endless]

15 hours ago, Willy W. said:

Standard Competition: Category 1, UV, finished MAP30 at 6:44:00


Challenge competition: Category 1, UV, 44:12



Recording of the run: (excessive swearing warning once again)
Once I reached the secret levels in the standard run, I did the challenge run, which starts at 3:18:46. Successful challenge run starts at 3:38:12 and the standard run resumes at 4:23:13.

 

  Hide contents

I have to agree with Bdubzzz, the overuse of hitscanners in this wad really soured the experience for me. Fortunately I didn't encounter any softlocks like he did though.

 

8 hours with 41 minutes. You truly are a Master Endurer. Congrats, Willy Wanker. Your score is pretty fucking good!

 

[Krenium]

Dude, I can't believe there's a one-man vanilla megawad for Doom 2 that I haven't heard of before. I'm all about that! Needless to say, I dove right in and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it (except for MAP30).

 

dcd.zip

• Category 1
• HMP
• Completed maps 1-29 with a final time of 6:35:37.

I couldn't figure out how to get past the

Spoiler

death cubicle

in MAP30 and frankly didn't care to try.

[Xulgonoth]

9 hours ago, Endless said:

You truly are a Master Endurer.

I'm just afraid of those months when you decide to bring up something like Community Chest 1, where playing through a single level is a genuinely painful experience, or something like Zones of Fear, where the time to finish each map averages at half an hour at least.
I know wads like that are inevitably coming, and it's then when we'll see who's the real master endurer.

[Endless]

29 minutes ago, Willy W. said:

I'm just afraid of those months when you decide to bring up something like Community Chest 1, where playing through a single level is a genuinely painful experience, or something like Zones of Fear, where the time to finish each map averages at half an hour at least.
I know wads like that are inevitably coming, and it's then when we'll see who's the real master endurer.

Scratches CC1 from the list There is some process behind the selection of each month's WADs. Because of the nature of the tournament, I have a fair amount of freedom as to what kind of WADs I can select, but I still try to look for ones that I at least know have a favorable opinion and are fun to play on an continous-run. And since this is some of the first inceptions of the Master Endurance Tournaments, there's some room for... experimentation :P Hopefully you all have some good fun in this 2021 Tournament season!

[Xulgonoth]

I guess I'm just projecting my own cruelty, because if I were in charge, Hell Revealed II would already be somewhere in the first three months :D
But whether the upcoming wads are going to be unassuming like Doom Core or a little bit more experimental, I'm looking forward to seeing what you've got in the lineup, because despite my incessant whining in the recordings, I've had fun with the Tournament so far.

[Endless]

8 hours ago, Krenium said:

Dude, I can't believe there's a one-man vanilla megawad for Doom 2 that I haven't heard of before. I'm all about that! Needless to say, I dove right in and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it (except for MAP30).

 

dcd.zip

• Category 1
• HMP
• Completed maps 1-29 with a final time of 6:35:37.

I couldn't figure out how to get past the

  Reveal hidden contents

death cubicle

in MAP30 and frankly didn't care to try.

Congrats on your run! Def a feat on its own merit. So close to fully finishing the megawad. Your score is up.

[Pseudonaut]

Category 1, UV. I played through maps 1-15, 31, and 32 in 3:59:26, then quit because it's 3 AM. Wasn't planning to finish, doing a whole megawad in one sitting is a bit much for me, and this is the longest demo I've recorded. I used complevel -1 so I could save and load. For some reason the game crashed the first time I exited map15, so I used -recordfromto to continue and did the secret maps from there.

 

dwe-dcd-pseudonaut.zip

[Bdubzzz]

comp level -1 has really bad infighting for the monsters.. example a cyberdemon gets hit by an imp fireball.. The cyberdemon wont care and will keep shooting you instead. You want to use CL 9 (boom) for save/load. It probably wasn't noticeable in a wad like this though.

[Endless]

17 hours ago, Pseudonaut said:

Category 1, UV. I played through maps 1-15, 31, and 32 in 3:59:26, then quit because it's 3 AM. Wasn't planning to finish, doing a whole megawad in one sitting is a bit much for me, and this is the longest demo I've recorded. I used complevel -1 so I could save and load. For some reason the game crashed the first time I exited map15, so I used -recordfromto to continue and did the secret maps from there.

 

dwe-dcd-pseudonaut.zip

Keep that endurance mate! Congrats on the run, your score is up.

[leodoom85]

Well, I endured the whole wad. Done on GZDoom, dev version 4.6. UV skill. I was familiar with the wad since I played it months ago, so....it goes to the familiar category. And, since freelook is allowed, don't mind if I wanted to kill that stupid icon of sin quickly. Video will take too long to upload. That part will come soon.

 

In the meantime, have this image.

 

 

 

[leodoom85]

And here's the LONG video....

 

 

[Endless]

On 2/8/2021 at 6:36 PM, leodoom85 said:

And here's the LONG video....

 

 

Nicely done! Congrats on the run, hope you can still endure the rest of the year :P

Your score is up, plus some minor fixing of the scoreboard.

[leodoom85]

I forgot the secret map challenge but NOT ANYMORE!!!

Same version of GZDoom was used, category 2 because I'm quite familiar with it.

 

 

[Endless]

30 minutes ago, leodoom85 said:

I forgot the secret map challenge but NOT ANYMORE!!!

Same version of GZDoom was used, category 2 because I'm quite familiar with it.

 

 

Awesome job mate. Your score is updated! Glad to see you enjoy the pain :P

[head_cannon]

ENDhcDCD.zip

 

(Category 1 - UV - Crispy Doom)
I prefer to just record a demo & play until the first death, if that's alright. I met my end in MAP04, which makes completing MAP03 in 51:54 my final milestone.

Spoiler

The first cage trap was a great scare, making me run around frantically trying to keep the cybernetic skeletons from getting a missile lock until I was finally released. The second cage trap is serious business, though - I can't say I wasn't warned. I'm just happy that I was able to at least make it out of the cage before the Cacodemons swarmed and devoured me. I gambled on being able to force my way through to the door to escape, and didn't make it.

 

I've played a smattering of valkiriforce's maps before, from PRCP to Interception to Akeldama, and I respect how prolific this artist is, even if what he makes doesn't always appeal to me. The texturing & lighting is always top-notch, and the monster placement is always entertaining, but it often feels overstuffed & fatiguing, like 10 pounds of Doom in a 5-pound bag. In particular, this set seemed to have a large amount of the dreaded "I wonder what that switch did; I guess I'll go double-check everything" to it. So, as a TNT tribute, it's a great success. :P

[Bdubzzz]

Category 1 Challenge run maps. The biggest part of the challenge was not quitting map 31 since I was lost for about 20 minutes+. :p

 

DWEndurance-DCV-bonus-dubz.zip

[Endless]

On 2/16/2021 at 8:53 PM, head_cannon said:



ENDhcDCD.zip

 

(Category 1 - UV - Crispy Doom)
I prefer to just record a demo & play until the first death, if that's alright. I met my end in MAP04, which makes completing MAP03 in 51:54 my final milestone.

  Hide contents

The first cage trap was a great scare, making me run around frantically trying to keep the cybernetic skeletons from getting a missile lock until I was finally released. The second cage trap is serious business, though - I can't say I wasn't warned. I'm just happy that I was able to at least make it out of the cage before the Cacodemons swarmed and devoured me. I gambled on being able to force my way through to the door to escape, and didn't make it.

 

I've played a smattering of valkiriforce's maps before, from PRCP to Interception to Akeldama, and I respect how prolific this artist is, even if what he makes doesn't always appeal to me. The texturing & lighting is always top-notch, and the monster placement is always entertaining, but it often feels overstuffed & fatiguing, like 10 pounds of Doom in a 5-pound bag. In particular, this set seemed to have a large amount of the dreaded "I wonder what that switch did; I guess I'll go double-check everything" to it. So, as a TNT tribute, it's a great success. :P

No problem at all finishing your run at your first death! Welcome to the endurance and congrats.

 

5 hours ago, Bdubzzz said:

Category 1 Challenge run maps. The biggest part of the challenge was not quitting map 31 since I was lost for about 20 minutes+. :p

 

DWEndurance-DCV-bonus-dubz.zip

Damn nice, mate! Your score has been updated. Congrats.

[Xulgonoth]

Damn, and here I thought I could win this one. I'll get you someday, Bdubzzz :P

[Pegleg]

Here is my submission for the main run. I played this early Sunday morning (starting in the wee hours when it was still dark).

 

Category: 1

Difficulty: HNTR

Dead on: Map 10

Kills: 149/150 (yes, I fell at the hands of the last enemy in that map)

Time: 2:54:05 (that's the time I had written down, I may be off by a few seconds as to when I died)

Recorded with: PrBoom+ v. 2.5.1.4

 

endur_pegleg_dcd.lmp.zip

 

I logged about 4 hours of actual time when I finally died in Map 10. After dying during my mad dash to what I hoped was the exit switch, I considered replaying the last quarter of Map 10, especially since I would (in theory) know where to go, instead of wandering around, like I had done the first time. But I was getting to the point where I had to get some sleep to be productive the next day. There were moments through the 1st third of this mapset that were fine, but there were other maps where the progression just seemed confusing (at least to me) and I spent time frustratedly wandering around. In general, I thought the maps had enough health and ammo so I didn't feel constantly in mortal danger of dying, and the enemies were reasonably placed. Ambushes and traps were fine. Some of the secrets were straightforward, others were not. Had I not spent as much time wandering around (from what I recall, I was clocking in close to 1 hour by the start of Map 04), I would probably have found the set more enjoyable. Overall, not bad, but not something I would want to sit and slog through in one or two sittings.

 

Here is my submission for the challenge run. I pistol started both maps separately, because that's how I interpreted your message. I just played them tonight.

 

Map 31

Category: 1

Difficulty: UV

Kills: 33/236

Time: 1:49

Recorded with: PrBoom+ v. 2.5.1.4

 

Map 32

Category: 1

Difficulty: UV

Kills: 6/426

Time: 0:06

Recorded with: PrBoom+ v. 2.5.1.4

 

endur_pegleg_dcd31and32.zip

 

Map 31 was reasonable. That was an interesting way to start the map, and the first combat portion was was fairly open, but coming in well armored, healthy, and with some ammo helped it, and it wasn't too bad. I did not particularly enjoy Map 32. My second run was even worse than the first (this submission is my first attempt), and I tried it a few more times to see if I could figure something out. I figured a bit out, but it ultimately didn't help very much. However, that is one thing I like about the challenge portion of this content: they're likely not going to be a big investment in my time.

[Endless]

@Pegleg Congratulations on your run! Interesting to see how the perception of the WAD changes depending on the skill level. For what I've seen, this is quite the tough beast on UV.

 

And double congrats on finishing the Challenge! Quite the run with 4 hours, must have been cool watching the sunset rise alongside some Doom :D