The DWmegawad Club plays: Bourgeois Megawad

[Silhouette 03]

Map25:'mazing

 Probably one of the best maps yet.

 

We're presented with a sort of round, arena-like structure. You should know the drill by now. Grab a weapon and run. Watch out for the Arch-vile, though. Your best option is to run to the SSG, use it on the revs, grab the plasma rifle and use that on the Archvile. Either way, he has to go if you want to proceed.

 

I'm especially fond of this one, mainly due to the simplicity of the layout and how nicely it all flows together. It's very square(Like some of my earlier maps), but it just works so well.

 

My stats:
kills:100%

Secrets:100%
Deaths: 0

[VoanHead]

MAP 25: 'MAZING (Crispy, UV w/ saves)

By now you know what to do on a new map of BDM, run and collect your arms. I love the layout of this map, very straightforward, monster placement is mean. The two archviles are troublesome up until you get the plasmagun. The whole berserk punching imps and revenants felt cathartic, I even left a lone baron up in the exit just so I  could Kenshiro his ass.

 

Since voting begins today, y'all mind if I pitch in the idea for this one the upcoming month?

+++Oops! All Techbase

If not we could settle for something different like Doom 2 in Spain Only :P

Edited June 25, 2021 by VoanHead

[LadyMistDragon]

+++Clandestine Castle Crashing and something else like Heartland (it doesn't really matter to me).

[Decay]

+++ Refracted Reality + Death's Dichotomy + The Slaughter Spectrum (totals 26? or 27 maps, some of which are very long). A month of colour.

 

Map25: 'mazing

 

The submission that evoked a big meh from me. The original submission had next to no colour variation and was very windy. It was a maze, really. I was unimpressed and sarcastically called it amazing. So we got the map name 'mazing. Ironically it ended up being one of the best maps for SP, though I messed up on the monster placement in the Blue Key area. I felt like the long hallway was a great way to have a beat'em up with the berserk too. The pacifist runs for this map are quite ingenious and I recommend you check them out.

[TJG1289]

+++KINDa 2.0

I haven't played this yet, but the screenshots look good, and the general response in its thread is positive, so I think it would be cool.

[Capellan]

 

[TheGreenZap]

Map25: 'Mazing

UV | GZDoom

This was Amazing!! Had to be done, haha.

Anyway, this was a really good map and goes on my list of favorites. You have to pick your spot starting out, because there are some bad dudes in each place. I went to the right and went for the Mancubis and shotgunners. Then you go a bit further and run into 3 Pain Elementals with Chaingunners mixed in. After defeating those, that gives you a little breathing room to continue. Once you fight through a couple of more Archviles among other monsters, it's Hurricane Fists time! I loved kicking the ass of Revenants, Hell Knights, Barons and the rest. This one loops around in Bourgeois DM style and it's a really fun map that ranks at the top. Two thumbs up!

Edited June 25, 2021 by TheGreenZap

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP24: Midnight Sacrifice

UV, no saves

100% kills, 1/1 secrets

 

"Run Around Like A Maniac: The Map". That at least will sum up your experience once you get going. Grab that SSG, blursphere, and megaarmour and then go to town. There is a horde of hitscanners and a spider mastermind immediately ahead which you'll need the blursphere to avoid taking too much damage from. Once the hitscanners are cleared out, rush out and grab the rocket launcher, and now is where the real fun begins.

 

This map is pretty well packed with threats throughout, so your goal off the start is to try and carve out some kind of safety with your rocket launcher. The route that worked best for me was to grab the rocket launcher, immediately fire a rocket through the cage behind the launcher to blow up some of the imps, then spring past all of the enemies (grabbing the plasma) and make your way to the room the imps were in, containing the red key lift. You can fire another rocket into the imps on the ledge on the other side of the same cage, where you came from, so that they don't bother you here. Once all of the imps in here and over there are taken care of, the room makes a pretty nice foothold for you to blast the other enemies that would threaten you in this room with rockets or whatever else the situation calls for. You can use the sides of the stairs (which contain bullet boxes to begin with) for cover if needed. For now, do not waste your time on the ledge that contains a baron and other foes, which is back the way you came from. Once you have the start sorted out, the rest of the map isn't so bad. You can take it more at your own pace and the majority of the monsters in the map will likely be dead at this point. 

 

Beyond the red bars you can grab a soulsphere and more cells, then kill the spider mastermind for the BFG. On your way back, you'll notice the ledge that had the baron now has an archvile and some mancubi that have raised up. You can either kill him from your spot below, or go back to the teleporter and teleport up to him, hoping for a BFG opportunity. I completed this map twice, once I teleported up and he was in the perfect spot, and on the other attempt he was a bit more uncooperative so I dropped down and took him down from below (there is not a lot of cover from his zaps up where he is). After these enemies are dead, you can exit.

 

I thought this map was a little bit on the easy side once you come up with a plan for what you want to do. With that said, it was still a ton of fun.

 

MAP25: 'mazing

UV, no saves

100% kills, 1/1 secrets

 

Probably my favourite map of episode 3 so far. The visuals have a bit of a Plutonia-like quality to them, and the intense TNT midi is always a good one to hear. To start, you'll want to quickly locate the SSG and clear out the enemies near it, then turn back and kill the revenants on the ledge just down the stairs for the plasma. You'll want this to quickly take down the 3 pain elementals back the other way, because they can be a major pain in the ass if left unchecked. After this I get the rocket launcher and SSG the archvile through its cage. Then you can teleport over to the red key from where the pain elementals were.

 

Once grabbing it, the level repopulates with enemies, including another annoying archvile. It also kind of highlights the way the level plays, the area you operate in isn't too big but it gets repopulated with enemies as you progress. It's really fun to deal with the threats as they come like this. When the archvile appears, I try to immediately rocket him to death before he has a chance to zap me, but it might be safer to go back through the teleporter and deal with him from a distance. Once you go through the red key bars, you'll eventually reach the berserk pack and a tiny, cramped hallway full of imps and stimpacks. This part is just hilarious, as you are encouraged to just go buckwild with the double fists and mow down all the imps that way. It's a really good time. Grabbing the yellow key sees some revenants and imps poor into the level. After taking care of them you open the yellow bars to the blue key. This fight was a little bit anticlimactic, with the monsters guarding the key hardly seeming to be a threat. Just take them down and grab the blue key and you can leave the level through the exit door.

 

Overall this one was extremely fun, ending aside. It made great use of the limited real estate provided and was a decent challenge.

[Doomkid]

7 hours ago, Decay said:

+++ Refracted Reality + Death's Dichotomy + The Slaughter Spectrum (totals 26? or 27 maps, some of which are very long). A month of colour.

 

Map25: 'mazing

 

The submission that evoked a big meh from me. The original submission had next to no colour variation and was very windy. It was a maze, really. I was unimpressed and sarcastically called it amazing. So we got the map name 'mazing.

Decay: “I recoloured one wall to be green and flood filled it with monsters, and suddenly it was no longer a maze somehow”

 

The layout is pretty much unchanged from the 1.0 version of this map 😂

[Decay]

To be fair I changed some flats too. 'mazing how that's all it takes to be less of a maze.

[Biodegradable]

MAP26 - Demade and Dismayed

UV | GZDoom

 

Oh boy, this was a tough one. Probably the most deaths I've racked up on a map in this WAD since MAP01. Unfortunately, because I've been doing a lot of screen-recording for a recent editing job, I once again forgot to unmute my microphone, so you lot don't get to enjoy hearing my tormented agony. This map is really good. While I found it less fun and more of an endurance test, I respect it a lot as another one of those maps Decay enjoys making that increases the challenge as you journey around and the map corkscrews in on itself. Definitely one of the more challenging and memorable maps.

 

 

Edited June 26, 2021 by Biodegradable

[Silhouette 03]

Map26: Demade and Dismayed

Decay... What hast thou done?

 

This map kicked my ass in and proceeded to desecrate my corpse( an apt comparison). I died in every way possible, at the hands of almost every type of monster in that exists within this map. I even died to a zombiemen, the most pathetic of enemies.

 

Each room feels like a sadistic chess game except every time you try to think and plan some kind of strategy to survive you have someone scream in your ear at the highest pitch possible. When I finally got to the exit room, I felt like I'd played one of the longest maps in history, ending with only 5% health.

 

Decay, if you're reading this... who hurt you?

 

My stats:
Kills:100%

Secrets:100%( I went back for the soulsphere)

Deaths: Infinite

 

 

Edited June 26, 2021 by Silent Wolf

[Decay]

Map26: Demade and Dismayed

 

aka aeon22: Decayed and Conquered

 

Large thematic departure here. This was one of the first maps converted for the project. I debated on putting this in E1, for thematic reasons, but opted to shimmy it to E3. Probably for the best since it is a bit harder than the E1 maps. I personally don't think it's too difficult and in hindsight I would've made the traps a bit harder but alas, it turned out alright. There was a lot of open space and stairs/corridors/lifts to change from the DM version to the SP version, and the routing turned out decently with the corkscrew/turn in on itself method so I can't complain too much.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rehelekretep]

map23 fda - the cyber arena is just nasty, weird geometry, the invuln you have to hit the switch, for then wait. after my first gung-ho approach was unsuccessful i played it safe.

map24 fda - fun romp. the vile can be inadvertently cheesed by noping back through the teleporter.

map25 fda - really like the concept of this map, and its fun to play as well. the viles are pretty neutered though.

map26 fda - lot more teeth to this. both viles were scary! i liked how the progression was basically all the way up and around the central structure.

[VoanHead]

MAP 26:DEMADE AND DISMAYED

Jesus Christ this was fucking brutal. By far the most deaths I've racked up in this entire megawad. So much so that I have nothing to say except commend whoever made this had some damn devilish monster placement. I died more times to the arachnotron's plasmafire than anything good lord. I like how the beginning area sends an archvile right after you when you flip the switch, while in the moment of not having that much on you except a shotgun and it's double-barreled brother. Not to mention that you'll have to deal with the swarm of pinkies that will come over and bite ya. BDM is no longer pulling its punches, and you better be ready for the smackdown.

Edited June 26, 2021 by VoanHead

[Capellan]

 

[TheGreenZap]

MAP26 - Demade and Dismayed

GZDoom | UV

It's a pretty cool map. I like the old tattered look of the original map. This one can get hairy that's for sure. After taking down the Cyber, which I thought I was not going to have enough ammo, but I used what was left in my rifle to finish him off, I didn't have too much trouble with the first Archvile. I used the chainsaw and went straight through the pinkies right to him. Working my through I came to the other larger area with the lift and grabbed the plasma and ran out to gather myself and got around that area. When I got to the red key and the Revenants followed by the Archvile came out, they got me. But when I took them on the second time, I ran right by the Archvile all the way to the Red door and went and grabbed rockets and was able to take out the Archvile. Nice little map with some bite.

[Capellan]

+++KINDa 2.0

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP26: Demade and Dismayed

UV, no saves

100% kills, 2/2 secrets(!)

 

One of the most hostile maps in the megawad so far, this one features 117 monsters which is the largest count since MAP15. It begins unsuspectingly enough with no hot start, but simply stepping into the courtyard ahead presents you with quite a problem. Imps line the perimeter of the arena atop the walls, while the closest ledge to your right has some arachnotrons. There is a large number of revenants on the closest ledge to your left and most importantly, there's a cyberdemon standing down near your level, in the corner of it all. Start by picking off the imps on the wall visible from your entrance cubby using your rifle, switching to shotgun if you run out of ammo. The arachnotrons on the ledge can be relatively cheesed with the shotgun, as they often find it quite difficult to hit you from their angle, while you have a pretty easy time with it. Now it's time for the cybie.

 

In my initial successful run I got really lucky he got into a tussle with the revenants while I was rushing to the armour near him and eliminated pretty much all of them, making killing him with the plasma a cinch and saving me a ton of ammo disposing of the revenants. However, I attempted to replicate this scenario in my post-run walk through the level and found it difficult to replicate safely. In the end, I found just non-stop spraying of the plasma and keeping constant motion around the courtyard to be a relatively sound approach that would usually result in me usually not taking too much damage, so this works best from what I found. With the cyberdemon gone, you can easily take care of the other imps, sniping them with the shotgun and being careful to stay out of the line of sight of the revenants. After this, comes probably the most threatening archvile encounter in the wad so far.

 

Rush to the SSG the cyberdemon was standing on top of, then quickly hit the switch behind it to open the gates. Now sprint to the gate and grab the rocket launcher and all the rockets, and ignore the hitscanners that are there and run the other way back to your starting position (alternatively you can blast them once with your SSG while you are in transit to the rocket launcher as well). A horde of pinkies have begun teleporting in, and an archvile will teleport among them. Try to rocket the archvile to death as quickly as you can, blasting any pinkies that get in your way, and using the starting area as cover if he tries to zap you. There is nothing to stop him from running into your starting cubby to corner you, so you'll want to make sure he dies as quickly as possible. After he dies, chainsaw the remaining pinkies as this level gets quite tight on ammo. You can now shotgun the zombiemen that are starting to infest the courtyard and rocket the revenants to death (try to save several rockets, though).

 

Now you can venture into the cavern past the gate and pick off the shotgunners with the regular shotgun. Next, I like to turn the corner and alert the chaingunners, SSGing them as they get closer. Then grab one of the chainguns to pick off the shotgunners above on this ledge. A bunch of revenants will be revealed in the above window, but ignore them as they will soak up your ammo, which you will need for the next part. Get the rocket launcher ready and open the door ahead, you will notice a BFG in a small alcove to the left with cacos above it. Fire some rockets into the cacos to hopefully knock them back so they don't block you with their infinite height and grab the BFG. Seek out the pain elemental as quick as you can and give him an up close BFG shot to kill him. I like to fire one more BFG blast into the imps if there are still a bunch left over, and if there are not I use it on the revenants atop the soulsphere ledge. Start SSGing the remaining cacos to death, then ready the chainsaw and activate the lift, chainsawing any spectres in your way. 

 

There are a lot of enemies in this room on the ledges above, as you've likely noticed. Luckily for you, they tend to infight a lot, so feel free to abuse this. For whatever is left afterward, make do with whatever ammo you have left to clear them out, but save a BFG blast from the cells you grab up here. Also be sure to grab the soulsphere for health. Go straight down along the curve to the mancubus and kill him, then stock up on some more ammo. Now go down the marble-floored hallway to get the red key, and return to find an archvile and some enemies. Perform a well placed BFG blast to one-hit kill the archvile and hopefully take some of his buddies with him. Then get rid of any stragglers and exit.

 

My longest writeup yet here, as I found that when the cyberdemon doesn't start fighting with the revenants, the few rockets that you end up expending on the revenants can be pretty transformative to the level experience, causing you to need to take a lot more care with ammo rationing. The hardest map of the set so far for me, but a very good one with some pretty deep gameplay.

Edited June 27, 2021 by DisgruntledPorcupine

[Biodegradable]

MAP27 - Discommodius

UV | GZDoom

 

Oh my God, this map was a ball-ache. I really like its progression, but goddamn was it MEAN! Who hurt you, Decay? WHO HURT YOU!?!?! Definitely one of the toughest and most infuriating maps for sure. Just straight-up nasty. Decay, you are a bastard mate. ;^) :^P I can't say anything else because I was desperate to leave that torture chamber as quickly as possible.

 

 

Edited June 27, 2021 by Biodegradable

[dei_eldren]

Better late than never!  Missed the start of this as was on a hiatus from here (for some obscure reason...).  Also had had some trouble with this set on HMP earlier.  So i finally got around to trying HNTR after kindly having been hinted the difficulty settings are properly done on this one. :P  Won't be doing my customary detailed reviews, as these maps are quite short and sweet.  Am playing basically blind, even if i watched Coincidente play these maps couple months ago on UV, i have no recollection how anything is or goes.

 

Map01-06 (HNTR, PrBoom+), played on one sitting this morning:

The layouts and designs are very cohesive and compact, like bite-sized combat-puzzles, which i've never played before.  Also pretty much new to me is the playing style of running around collecting weapons in enemy crossfire.  The first couple of maps were perhaps easier, but maps 03-06 ramped up the difficulty somewhat, remaining on the same level.  Only real trouble i had so far was the Cyberdemon on map06, as i had used a good portion of available plasma for the AV and Revs in another room (that's what the rockets were for, obviously), thinking i could run past the Cybie...which proved if not impossible, at least impracticable enough, to not be very nice gameplay even if i managed to get through the Blue bars.  No complaints about health and ammo, they are on HNTR more than generous. :)  Very nice, to be continued...

 

My Prboom+ gives an error message ever since ending of map03 after intermission screen when loading the next level - something about ZONEID.  So am gonna try switch to Crispy Doom next.

Edited June 27, 2021 by dei_eldren

[dei_eldren]

My votes for next month:

+++ Mass Extinction by Nicolas M.

+++ Erkattäññe by Nicolas M.

 

And i'll leave one vote open to support someone else's suggestion later.

 

Edited June 27, 2021 by dei_eldren

[Silhouette 03]

Map27: Discommodious( I have no idea how to spell this , please don't judge me) 

Probably worth a google search.

 

Another map with ample teeth to spare, with some nasty encounters thrown around here and there. The first of which is the arch-vile encounter in the starting area. Open areas with very little to no cover is a nice way to screw the player over. The final fight near the exit is probably one of my favourite fights, since it captures what makes the megawad's combat so great. Fast, frantic and unrelenting.

 

Progression and layout is fairly similar to episode 1 and the majority of Episode 2. I do like none of the areas feel separate, despite the use of teleporters. 

 

 

Props to... *checks map credits*… Decay?! Seriously man, were you having a bad day or something?

 

My stats:

Kills:100%

Secrets: 100%
Deaths: 10

[Andromeda]

17 minutes ago, dei_eldren said:

My votes for next month:

+++ Mass Extinction by Nicolas M.

+++ Erkattäññe by Nicolas M.

 

And i'll leave one vote open to support someone else's suggestion later.

 

Erkattanne has already been covered by the club.

 

+++ Mass Extinction

[dei_eldren]

Map07-11 (HNTR, Crispy Doom):

Map07 begins in a large open arena surrounded by a perimeter of enemies on all sides, and since ammo and health on first run seemed scant, it gave me a lot of trouble, since going inside only made things worse!  Obviously i was misprioritizing things, as after succeeding on my first run, i took a second try, when things looked much less menacing.

Map08 was somewhat easier to assess as running forward was the only option i could think of and it worked, allowing me to establish a central position for myself from which to proceed.  Map09 began in a similar fashion, but had much difficulty killing the Revs on the ledge when coming to the open area.

Map10 is my favourite so far, as it gave me no trouble at all and i didn't die a single time :D  Map11 had a similar feel to it, and the ending was quite a powertrip just BFG'ing the hordes.  The Cyberdemon gave me my only deaths on this level, as it took me a few tries to kill, wanting to do it properly and not running around and hiding.

 

The double-bladed chainsaw is about the funniest thing i've ever seen in Doom, but damn it's effective - i love it!  Similarly, i'm not into altered weapons so much but in this context the pistol-replacement works really well.  The alterations really balance the maps instead of just making them play faster.

Edited June 27, 2021 by dei_eldren

[Zirtonic]

+++ Running Late 

+++ Running Late 2

+++ Atomic (the recent Cannonball set)

 

If we treat the secret levels in RL2 as separate entries (instead of posting the day of MAP15 like usual) this would come out to 31 levels.

[Decay]

Map27: Discommodius

aka aeon01: Vanish

 

The map name is a synonym for "embarassing", as I vastly prefer the original map look but alas it came out alright I guess.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

So I actually straight up forgot to put any available HP in the first 3/4 of the map. That is not map design, I just overlooked it and only realized when I started doing speed runs. People who play tested the wad said at first this map was too easy, so I increased the difficulty and forgot to add HP to complement that. Maybe my logic at the time was "now it's harder, they don't need HP". Anyway, it is what it is. This map is totally a run killer (sitting at slot 27 is a true bastard for D2all attempts or even E3 runs) and I found very difficult on pacifist though there were some great runs done. In DM I think the map flows very well and layout-wise I'm happy how it turned out. The first monster closet was originally demons only, and it was made very sloppily, so when I changed some to skinnier monsters, they can slip out before they are supposed to. The lock in trap is a little wonky as well and could've been executed better, but alas. New to vanilla traps.

 

Fun fact: on the previous map, you can shoot plasma through the wall and escape without a death exit. So you can stock on all the weapons prior to entering this level at the cost of HP, but I've found that having the rockets, plasma, and even bfg goes a long way.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Decay

[golbeeze]

+++ KINDa 2.0

[Capellan]

 

[VoanHead]

MAP 27:DISCOMMODIUS (Crispy, UV w/ saves)

Another mean boi we got here. Plus another semi-ish hot start, not the part with the hitscanners, the ones where an archvile and several other beefier baddies spawn in. Luckily, there's a teleporter that'll send you somewhere else where you can collect a rocket launcher and deal with some mancubi. Once that's dealt with, you can peekaboo shoot the archvile until he's dead and deal with his company. The room with the perched cybie and other baddies was just meh if you ask me, but the final part was golden with the large influx of baddies. Overall, not a bad map.