The DWmegawad Club plays: Interception II

[Doritos420]

@DJVCardMaster Thanks for sharing, may have to use that one.

[RHhe82]

8 hours ago, Moustachio said:

Wow, didn’t expect to see this thread! As I’m reading through the comments, I’m getting a feel for who’s into it and who’s not so hot on it. It’s very interesting to read so far!

 

I’ll do my absolute best to keep up with the thread and provide any insights on how things went behind the scenes, similar to what @DFF is doing (and beating me to the punch at!).

 

DFF made a great point earlier as well. There are longer maps on average in here, but I still recommend checking them out. There are great maps tucked into the back half that merit not being overlooked.

I feel I need to clarify my muddled post (english not being my primary language) that came off a bit more critical than intended; I did enjoy the first map :-D

 

And I started playing MAP02 in the evening, but got interrupted. So far UV seems appropriate for me: definitely challenging, but not impossible. Ammo starvation is real for me, but for that I cannot (completely!) blame the map designer(s).

 

Moreover: really love soundtrack on both MAP01 and MAP02.

[Book Lord]

MAP 03 – Desecration by Misty, DMPhobos

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

A rather nice cave-fortress level, this one started off with an onslaught of enemies and not much ammo to deal with them. Pistol starters should probably ignore the Imps and Arachnotrons and press on, heading to the big courtyard upstairs where better weaponry is available, and deal with the opposition there. Bars raised to lock me in that area until I acquired the BSK, but I found the ambushes to be very manageable by retreating close to the key cage.

Spoiler

Once inside the fortress, I spent a lot of time to initiate infighting among the numerous demons lurking around the slime fall, then I went south and cleared the YSK area, before being able to pick it up. The RSK was found in the northern terrace and was protected by a Cacodemon cloud and a mixed monster closet. A Boom trick teleported the key to the pentagram at the elliptical nexus of the map.

Spoiler

At the top of the fall, I soon reached the exit area, unlocked by both keys on display, and followed the path to the YSK area. I loved its maze-like layout, with those weird angles and strange window interconnections. The ambush protecting the key was dangerous because I jumped down to the courtyard, founding myself locked in with a looming group of Cacodemons, Pinkies and Arachnotrons on the ground, and that nasty chaingunner on a rock. The same ambush could be faced safely by hiding inside the structure and using the windows for cover.

Spoiler

The secrets were hard to uncover, and I left the map with 0%. The Soul Sphere was in sight, but the triggering linedef was placed in a weird position to hear the lift sound. The one with Berserk and a lot of ammo was not hinted at all, and I was amazed that it offered an alternative route into the fortress, without the need for though still requiring the BSK. Easier than MAP02, I found this one to be less chaotic and more focused on set pieces. Very enjoyable, for many reasons, though I am a bit worried by the time spent on a MAP03 (29 mins).

Edited November 3, 2021 by Book Lord
Corrected wrong statement about alternative secret route

[FragsBunny]

MAP02: Beyond the Living (99%/100%/83%)

1.       Cacodemon may pretend to die

2.       Arachnotron respawn once after death

3.       Lost soul spawn with a small companion

 

Neither card choice was pleasant, since they all force me to waste ammo on more monsters, but I came fresh from my MAP01 berserk run. MAP02 quickly proves to be quite a challenge, on par with KINDa’s final leg. Ammo management is quite difficult here, especially for pistol starters, so make sure every barrel count – quite a number of those things are scattered around. As for respawning arachnotrons, I just used my newly found chainsaw while dealing with then one-on-one.

 

Although there are more health supplies compared to KINDa, the difficulty increase makes up for it, especially on Ultra-Violence – there are no less than five arch-viles, one of which spawns after picking the mega-sphere, regardless of how you grab it (arch-vile jump or secret teleporter). The secrets themselves are very rewarding in amount of protection they offer (supercharge, two mega-armors, invulnerability and megasphere).

 

The library area has a nasty hitscanner ambush which is best managed with rocket launcher, allowing you to easily create a chain of barrel explosions to swiftly gib the firing squad. The secret invulnerability by itself is best saved for the section after a blue door, where one arch-vile spawns behind you as you enter the area, and another reveals itself along with a pain elemental after pressing a switch. I dare you to finish this map without picking any of those secrets! That being said, I found only 5 secrets out of 6, which is still a bit higher compared to my previous runs on this level. Still, feels rather bland without that berserk boost!

[FragsBunny]

MAP03: Desecration (99%/97%/50%)

1.       Hell knight turns to stone after death

2.       Add wrath sentries that fire arachotron projectiles

3.       Zombieman may become an immobile respawning sentry

 

I decided to ignore the first two arachnotrons on high ledges and give up on my 100% kill ratio since I knew from my previous experience that ammo would be quite a problem in this level. In fact, if you really want to conserve your ammo, try to ignore those ledge snipers or make monsters to infight with each other, like I did – especially true for the blue key area. Pistol starters are in much worse position – there is no chainsaw or berserk pack, and chaingunners tend to tease you from inaccessible areas.

 

A lot of grinding involved cacodemon spawns – one near the area where you make the red key accessible and the other after you pick the yellow key. The area with red key is especially tough – you have a lot of free space to move around but it’s tough to find a good position to take them down. As for yellow key ambush… I recommend you not to drop down after picking the key, but to kill the cacos from a safe place first.

 

In the end, despite my best attempts to preserve ammo, I ended up carrying less compared to what I had at the start. Overall, the level did not provide me a strong impression compared to other two, but I did manage to find that soul sphere before finishing it.

[Moustachio]

5 hours ago, Book Lord said:

The one with Berserk and a lot of ammo was not hinted at all, and I was amazed that it offered an alternative route into the fortress, without the need for BSK.

Great write-up overall, really fun to read! I did want to comment on this point because this may be an example of some cross-port trickery going on. The Berserk secret is indeed hinted at, but with some Boom effects. The switch that opens the berserk shortcut is hidden behind some transparent lava, which is a really cool effect but it might be broken on some rendering options. I’m curious if that’s what happened here because it seems to have made an otherwise neat secret harder to find.

[Doritos420]

Map03 - Desecration by Misty, DMPhobos

Sick map. I liked how you get the blue key to enter the main chamber, starts off very linear but then opens way up. At the beginning it seems a bit daunting but I actually killed the first arachnotron with nothing but the pistol. The blue key chamber acts as a good warmup to the craziness that is past the blue door. Very beautiful landscapes full of green toxic slime and a ton of enemies. The map lets you really run around in the second half. The brick structure that housed the yellow key was very cool, but at one point I unleashed the caco swarm and they basically trapped me inside while I was running dangerously low on ammo (I guess I didn’t pick up enough outside the building). Very nerve wracking but I was able to make it out okay. The red key was a bit easier to get. Didn’t find any secrets this time. Fun map, though it feels like the easiest so far.

[MtPain27]

MAP 02: Beyond the Living

Phew, you guys weren't kidding, this is a long MAP 02. Billowed above the clouds on the winged notes of stewboy's MIDI, Beyond the Living is a lovely jade-colored monastery of some sort, packed with action, secrets, and over 250 monsters. It starts hot and, once again, squeezes your ammo somewhat, but I'm impressed with how much energy this map packs into even the most insignificant hallway shootouts. The explosive debut of the rocket launcher, the teleporting arch-vile attacks in the latter half, and the fight with the monsters on the levitating blocks outside (pictured) are all memorable, calling skillsaw to mind once again. The secrets are pretty buried, I only found two, but it felt good to uncover them, especially the mismatched eye switch in the library...I could have picked a better use for that invuln, I must say.

 

I like the jittery chainsaw and found it was more effective than usual against cacodemons and even arch-viles if you're very, very desperate, and I wanted to point out that the stock green marble texture was really well incorporated here: all it takes is a little black-and-white tile floor and some vines hanging from the ceiling to make it feel fresh again. Even if I don't finish this wad for the DWMC, I will definitely complete it in my spare time: Interception II's vibe is really in sync with my tastes so far.

 

[Book Lord]

1 hour ago, Moustachio said:

Great write-up overall, really fun to read! I did want to comment on this point because this may be an example of some cross-port trickery going on. The Berserk secret is indeed hinted at, but with some Boom effects. The switch that opens the berserk shortcut is hidden behind some transparent lava, which is a really cool effect but it might be broken on some rendering options. I’m curious if that’s what happened here because it seems to have made an otherwise neat secret harder to find. 

 

Oh, no broken effect I guess, just that the eye switch was very difficult to spot and that the secret passage was not hinted by some environmental oddity to encourage searching for a way to open it. Moreover, I noticed that the switch opening the alternative route required the BSK, so you cannot skip it entirely as I wrote (thus the amendment to the write-up).

Edited November 3, 2021 by Book Lord

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP03 - Desecration - Misty & DMPhobos (99%K/81%I/0%S): 

A beautiful natural landscape here, there are not so many maps by Misty out there, but most of them try to replicate natural landscapes like this, and I can say the author is really good at those. This is one of the maps I remember the most while playtesting, I really like most of the setups, and fights overall. It goes really well with the skybox aswell. 
I fancy this map over the previous ones, as I feel less tight because of the layout, it's just good to run and gun at this kind of maps. In addition, it felt like a breath of air after two action packed maps, this one may be a little bit easier than maps 1 and 2.

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

MAP03

MAP02
MAP01

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by DJVCardMaster

[finnks13]

MAP 3 - Desecration by Misty and DMPhobos:
Was not a big fan of this map unfortunately, I found it to be rather frustrating due to how little ammo I was able to find, and that really soured my opinion of the map.

 

The visuals were really nice, the cave area especially looked excellent. I always find it very impressive when people are able to create natural looking areas and landscapes, and I think this is one of the best ones I have seen in a while - I still hate that nukage texture though! I thought the initial fight in the cave area after opening the blue door was entertaining as it was the only time the lack of ammo made the map more engaging for me as I had to run to gain some ground on the monsters with advantageous positions while finding some more weapons and ammo. I enjoyed the yellow key fight quite a lot too with the caco-cloud and arachnotrons, thought that was a good ambush as I had to push past the caco cloud to not get destroyed by the plasma fire. I also enjoyed the MIDI in this map, though I might stop mentioning this as I've liked every song so far!

 

I thought the opening area and the red key fights had far too much space for the monsters there (though I did like the teleporting red key, fun use of boom features), I know it's not meant to be too challenging being Map3, but a slightly smaller arena would have definitely helped to make those fights more engaging while not making them too much more challenging.

 

The main issue I had with this level is (as I have said) the lack of ammo I was able to find, from reading the rest of your comments it seems I overlooked a secret with a berserk pack and a large ammo cache which makes the trouble I had even more infuriating as I think I would have overall had a pretty positive impression of the map if I was able to find that! I ran out of ammo multiple times during the level, sometimes it was exciting as I had to scramble to find some but it became annoying quickly and I completely ran out by the end and had to non-berserk punch 4 revenants at the exit in order to get 100% kills (which was unnecessary I admit). I don't think I play particularly recklessly with ammo so this stood out to me.

 

Sorry to be so negative, though it does seem like I'm in the minority with this map so far.

Edited November 3, 2021 by finnks13
didn't paste the last line of my reply

[RHhe82]

Completed MAP02! Still UV, continuous, 233/233 kills but only 5/6 secrets.

 

Indeed, I decided to play it continuous even though I've recently been very much into pistol-starting maps. It's either that, or else I need to switch to lower difficulties, because I was starving for ammo in this one. I guess that's on me though; I figured I need to clear the ramparts near BSK, wasting some ammo there and thus making the YSK area that much more painful, because then I needed to retreat in search of ammo and medikits - and that's despite having saved considerable ammo from MAP01! That's the one real issue I've had so far - but I suppose that's not faulty design, I'm just discovering what sort of things I like in maps and what I don't. On the other hand, I suppose a second playthrough would be much easier, even on pistol start. At least I'd be wise enough to spare the outdoor area imps and mancubi until the end.

 

Visually the map (just like MAP01) was gorgeous, I like the alien feel to it, and the scarce resources notwithstanding, I enjoy it.

 

I wonder what that final secret was. I got the Megasphere near the start, found the blue armor near YSK, and the other blue armor near the start (this was the last secret I found with only the final group of revenants and AV left), the invulnsphere and some fifth secret (I guess the teleport in the demon face room near BSK, can't remember what was hidden there).

[DFF]

4 minutes ago, RHhe82 said:

I wonder what that final secret was. I got the Megasphere near the start, found the blue armor near YSK, and the other blue armor near the start (this was the last secret I found with only the final group of revenants and AV left), the invulnsphere and some fifth secret (I guess the teleport in the demon face room near BSK, can't remember what was hidden there).

there's a secret ammo room near the YSK, in the same central room where the blue armor and the switch was is a candle secret.

[Misty]

I guess one being one of contributors to this set I should leave some comments. Back in the day, I was still sort of new mapper, trying to find my own style and gameplay. I was more focused in environment rather than gameplay, that reflects to this map. Everything went well until I hit sort of roadblock and I decided to ask some help in interception 2 server, DMPhobos was one of people who decided to give me helping hand and added other side with some visual improvements along the way. Level originally was much bigger and more spacious, but some testers told us to scale down and tone down gameplay, so we did much as we could without sacrificing bits we liked.

I'm aware of those pointed things - these days I would scale down and put more thoughts how level flows, with more adjustments and other bits in places I created. Despite of all people mentioned negative things, I treat this contribution as one of milestones in my path. Maybe one day I'll provide couple of outtakes from unfinished levels which were supposed occupy map03 for this project, but I can't promised then and how long it will take.

 

[cannonball]

MAP03 - “Desecration” by Misty, DMPhobos

 

Well this is a first for me, this will technically count as a DNF. 

I will potentially need to adjust the default start-up for DSDA doom as simply loading this up on the launcher resulted in the red key getting stuck, however in boom compatibility the key teleports fine. As such I ended up 4 monsters short and unable to exit. That is my fault though this is a rare occurrence that you need to be extremely strict on compatibility for mapsets like these. Whoops....

 

So the map itself, I found this to be easier than the previous levels, I don't know whether I took heed of comments above me but I found that a little bit of infighting that can be easily provoked enabled me to have sufficient ammo for the entire map. In general this felt fairly laid back again, the lack of chaingunners meant that you biggest source of losing health was the modest sprinkling of mid-tiers throughout the map, and with no archviles then you have little to fear of foes coming back from the grave.

This was pretty fun and good looking yet again, I can see the parts DMPhobos does given the shapes and structures of some of the interior areas than resemble other works. This would probably be the best map so far on a second playthrough as you get ample opportunity to rush around and tackle monsters at your own pace.

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Pistol-Start/Saves

Map 03: Desecration - Misty & DMPhobos

100% kills and 50% secrets

Time: 19:32

 

This is one that I enjoyed more this time, and it's 100% because I pistol-started it. The ammo starvation is real, folks. Thankfully, I never ran out, but I did just have barely enough to scrape by. Health was at a premium too, but there is a soul sphere secret that I remembered how to get (still never figured out the second one). This lack of resources made fights a little more interesting, especially at the beginning when I'm running head-first into areas looking for weapons. I saved rockets for mancubi and the yellow key ambush, as there's a lot of caco to deal with there. I don't know why, but I find the first big area with the SSG to be "meh". I think I'm expecting more enemies here. In its current size, a little too big. I like the red key ambush, and how the key teleports back to the center of the slime gorge, and the two-sided ambush works pretty well. The slime gorge area in general looks pretty nice, with its rocky environment working quite well with the color palate and green sky. It is easier than the last two maps (no archies), but it's still pretty fun to go through. Also, I haven't mentioned it before, but the MIDIs have been pretty solid. With this and the previous map's MIDIs done by Stewboy, that's to be expected. 

Edited November 3, 2021 by TJG1289
MIDI talk

[DJVCardMaster]

I should mention that I can't wait to review the magnum opus from DFF at MAP11, needless to say, save some time to play this one, as it is lenghty, I would say as lenghty as THT:T MAP10.
I think it's one of the highlights of Interception II, but be sure to save some time for it as you may not beat it in one sitting.

[TJG1289]

43 minutes ago, DJVCardMaster said:

I should mention that I can't wait to review the magnum opus from DFF at MAP11, needless to say, save some time to play this one, as it is lenghty, I would say as lenghty as THT:T MAP10.
I think it's one of the highlights of Interception II, but be sure to save some time for it as you may not beat it in one sitting.

 

I agree 100%. This map took me over an hour my first time playing it, probably more. That being said, it's my favorite map in the WAD.

[Krenium]

MAP03 - Desecration by Misty and DMPhobos (with edits by galileo31dos01)

PrBoom+ / Hurt Me Plenty / Pistol start / Saves / Demo

 

 

This map starts off by surrounding you with a horde of imps on ledges (and arachnotrons in UV I hear) encouraging the pistol starter to get a move on. Soon enough you'll find yourself in a generously spacious arena battle. I like how spacious this map is. It feels more adventurey/exploratory and suitably subdued for a MAP03 slot. That's not to say it doesn't have its challenges. The battle after obtaining the rocket launcher comes to mind. (By the way, the little alcove the rocket launcher is in looks cool as heck! I think it's my favorite aesthetic detail of the map.)

 

Desecration features a convincing natural landscape with the beginnings of a base carved into its extremities. I enjoyed the look and feel of the hallways (like the one pictured above) that snake around the place. However, I felt there was a bit of wasted potential here, as it didn't feel like they were part of a real place or something more important than hallways. Gameplaywise, I enjoy the freedom this map offers in your approach. There are two or three arenas, but several more battles where you are free to roam the map. At first, I felt like being cautious, taking it one step at a time, but I eventually decided to herd some monsters around the place and it just flows really well like that.

 

This definitely gets my thumbs up. It features refreshingly different gameplay and visuals from the previous two maps, though no less engaging or beautiful. The length of the map is right where I hope it would be for a wad like this. The music didn't clash with the experience at all. Just all around solid, polished, and entertaining. Well done to the mappers. By the way, that final gaggle of revenants got me *good*. I was fully expecting to waltz right out of the map instead. Amusing for sure.

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)

2 3 1

Edited November 4, 2021 by Krenium
add map ranking

[DFF]

Map03: Desecration By Misty and DMphobos

UV, Continuous, GZdoom, Corruption Cards 3.1 (card: double imps!).
K: 89%, S: 100% T: 10:39

Im not sure what i expected picking a card that said "for every imp there will be 1 more" I should have expected double the imps because thats exactly what I got. Thankfully this map is both spacious and features a majority of them on isolated cliff faces. I did run out of ammo and had to chainsaw the last revenants, but i'll choc that up to mostly having to fight double the imps.

As others have said this is a rather large and somewhat relaxed map, having a very enchanting MIDI that fits the overgrown but beautiful acid caves. Generally beautiful and calming is not tied with the setting of "acid caves" but in a twisted dimension where acid lakes and caves are the normal i'd equate this to similarly earthy lagoon. Im always a fan of non-linear maps and this map is no exception, with many branching paths that feel equally weighted in terms of monsters and ammo. The detailing feels very organic and as many have said, Misty does a very good job with natural scenery.

I only died a couple times but overall was not too bad, the open spaces definitely allowed me to pick and choose my fights, as well as run away for more ammo or health. Its nice that this map had DMphobos assist with it because map04 is also by him, and the design of the castle like architecture of the yellow skull area in map03 is very similar to map04. Very much feels like going for the caverns surrounding a fortress into the fortress itself (that and the exit/start pair together too, but more on that for the next review). One feature I really enjoy in WADs is tied exits/entrances which i tried to accommodate where i could in maps I tweaked.(I had not touched map03 or map04 so props to those mappers), i enjoy the feeling of tied/semi-connected progress, feels very natural to me.

Edited November 3, 2021 by DFF

[FrancisT218]

19 hours ago, DJVCardMaster said:

I should mention that I can't wait to review the magnum opus from DFF at MAP11, needless to say, save some time to play this one, as it is lenghty, I would say as lenghty as THT:T MAP10.
I think it's one of the highlights of Interception II, but be sure to save some time for it as you may not beat it in one sitting.

I'm not going to be doing a write up of the levels, but do want to add that I found highlights to be: Map04 by DMPhobos, Map06 by Big ol' Billy, Map07 by joe ilya, Map10 by Moustachio, and all three main maps (11, 19, 27) by DFF. Yes, 11 is long! But @galileo31dos01's 28 takes the cake by and far as the biggest.

 

I've not yet played about a third of the levels in the wad.

Edited November 4, 2021 by FrancisT218
Fixed numbering

[Book Lord]

MAP 04 – That Which Shall Not be Named by DMPhobos

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

@DMPhobos was credited in MAP03 as well, but this time he was alone at the helm for a level bearing quite a foreboding name. After beginning in a somewhat ordinary cave, the scenery evolved into a rocky scenario cut in half by a blood river, which could not be crossed. There was no choice but to take the backdoor to a nice castle of stone, whose weird architecture and meandering rooms kept me wandering for a while.

 

The exploration was relaxed but with no dull moments, thanks to the good incidental combat and several traps by the crucial items. The fortress had a non-linear layout with unusual connections between the areas; I was never at loss, though. Be it a distant place seen through the windows or a presumptive secret to unveil, there was always a trail to follow and no progression switches to seek. The YSK was far but readily attainable, preceded by a Revenant guard house holding the plasma rifle. I did not jump down after taking said key, but I took the long way around and spent a lot of time trying to make Barons and Cacodemons infight. I was not entirely successful, but it was good fun. I could have left them to their doom as well.

Spoiler

The RSK was concealed but a switch behind the yellow door soon revealed it. The Mancubi & Revenants ambush was easy to evade and the two monster groups annihilated themselves almost without my help. I wandered a bit, since I forgot where I saw the red door, then climbed the way up to a terrace overlooking the starting area. New monsters appeared on the other side of the moat and the switch to raise the bridge was finally within reach. Quite a useless operation since I could jump to the other side of the river from that terrace.

Spoiler

I did not expect one third of the level to lie behind that huge portal, but That Which Shall Not be Named was still missing in action. The mysterious individual was the first Cyberdemon of the megaWAD, who appeared as I blazed through the courtyard trying to make the Mancubi infight with others. I forced myself to hold on and refrain from wasting ammo on him: I was right, since he could be telefragged, after surviving the Pinky-infested portico and the last trapped room, which was gentle enough. I found 100% secrets and good entertainment in this map.

Edited November 4, 2021 by Book Lord

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP03: "Desecration" by Misty, DMPhobos

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

Another great stewboy midi and a nice cliffy landscape. This might be my favourite level visually of the first 3, although the 2nd map comes close I just love the natural landscape of this one, with the highlight being just past the blue key door where you get some great looking nukage falls among the cliffs. I failed to locate the secret containing the berserk in this one, and the resulting level was quite resource-starved because of it, both for health and ammo. I finished the level with only 24 bullets, and even those I had to backtrack and locate as I ran out of ammo to finish off the remaining couple of revenants. 

 

Without the berserk secret, you'll want to really abuse infighting in this one. Luckily this isn't too hard to do, the level has a decent few mancubi which are great tools for just that, but it can cause things to slow down somewhat. I still did enjoy myself, but I think I slightly prefer the pace of play of the first two maps. One thing I did really like though is the way things were laid out once you are past the blue key door, with the branching paths that intertwine in a rather neat way via going up the slimefalls and through the stone fortress. Very cool stuff.

 

Another good one, although I might like it a bit less than the first two. Still looks gorgeous though.

[GoneAway]

3 hours ago, cannonball said:

I will potentially need to adjust the default start-up for DSDA doom as simply loading this up on the launcher resulted in the red key getting stuck, however in boom compatibility the key teleports fine. As such I ended up 4 monsters short and unable to exit. That is my fault though this is a rare occurrence that you need to be extremely strict on compatibility for mapsets like these. Whoops....

The next release is going to apply compatibility toggles automatically for known issues, so hopefully this won't be a concern in the long term. At least, this one won't happen to the next person :^)

[DFF]

@FrancisT218 just fyi some maps got re-arranged closer to release and my map16 became map19

[Doritos420]

Map04 - That Which Shall Not be Named by DMPhobos

Bravo, great level. Very wide open and expansive with lots of interconnection too. Really liked the battles up on the walls near the yellow key. Also the feeling of satisfaction when you reveal the red key or raise the bridge to the blood river were great. Combat was fairly straightforward, but the mix of up close enemies and far off ones to snipe kept me switching weapons back and fourth a lot and kept me engaged. I really enjoyed the cyberdemon fight. My first instinct was to run around and circle strafe to encourage some infighting, but that actually opens up more monster closets and then eventually traps you in a room with a bunch of imps, pinkies and a hell knight. After making it through there you get a chance to telefrag the cyberdemon, such a fun fight. I was able to find all the secrets in this one as well. Great job.

[finnks13]

MAP 4 - That Which Shall Not be Named by DMPhobos:

Great map. I played this immediately after the first three maps so it was nice to actually have an excess of ammo for once! The layout was very nice, looped back around in places I was not expecting. I liked the first inside area, leading around to the yellow key fight with the plasma gun ambush which is probably my favourite fight in the map. It was the first fight in the wad so far to make me sweat a bit. I love the two ammo cache secrets which were hidden in accessible parts of the scenery, I always really love secrets like that as it makes the map feel more alive. The map directed me pretty well, though I did get a bit lost looking for the yellow key door, but I think that was because I was focussing on finding the rocket launcher so it's not a big deal. The fight around the rocket launcher was also pretty enjoyable and I liked the blue armour secret in this area too.

 

I'm enjoying the theme of 'castle set around a green void' that these first few maps have, it's quite refreshing to have these castles not set in a black, endless void for a change. I thought the red screen tint effect when walking through the bloodfalls in the first area was a really cool detail, which I wouldn't have thought of doing myself, I'm not entirely sure how this is done though it must be a bit of a pain as I would expect it to crop up more if it was easy - the only other wad I remember seeing this effect in is Community Chest 2.

 

I thought the cyberdemon fight was interesting, with some cool ideas such as the barrels lining the walls which would blow up from the splash damage as well as the pinkies to block you, though it wasn't much of a threat - again it's Map4, I'm not expecting slaughter. It was very appreciated that the cyberdemon could be telefragged, I expected to have to plasma and SSG it to death as I had plenty of ammo to spare at the end of the map.

 

I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I'm enjoying this so far, I'm normally not a massive fan of large, more exploration heavy maps - but the combat in most of these maps so far has made it much more engaging for me than they normally would be.

[Krenium]

MAP04 - That Which Shall Not Be Named by DMPhobos

PrBoom+ / Hurt Me Plenty / Pistol start / Saves / Demo

 

 

This map features so much jaw-dropping beauty that it was difficult to decide where to screenshot it for this writeup. Needless to say, I am highly impressed by the intricate architecture, sweeping vistas, and winding passages. And with hardly any large-scale symmetry to boot (a personal preference of mine). This is the longest map yet with plenty to explore. It could be considered the first epic adventure of the wad contained within a single map.

 

The map's gameplay is notable for its (relative) avoidance of ambushes and set pieces in favor of clever incidental combat. I found the area near the opening with the SSG to be especially tricky — those mancubi kept sneaking up on me! This is the first map I really felt the ammunition crunch, even when going out of my way to cause infighting. There were multiple times I ran out and had no choice but to press ahead in search of more ammunition. This led to some very fun situations I wouldn't normally be in. The map rewarded my searches each time. This is also the first time a map's secrets felt so rewarding and necessary, though that could be my sloppy play. I only found two of them, but the soul sphere was a godsend.

 

I thought the closing set piece with the cyberdemon was quite fun. The dwindling cover, the barrels and pinkies/spectres really combine to cause a lot of tension and get the blood pumping. At this point I personally didn't have enough ammunition to engage the cyberdemon directly; a consequence of pistol-starting and a well-designed map (and perhaps getting only 2/5 secrets). Nevertheless, I pressed on and was rewarded with a cyberdemon telefrag. That's always satisfying. The music track is just as epic as the map and complements it perfectly (to my ears).

 

All in all, it's a fantastic map and I'm sad to see that it's DMPhobos' final contribution to the wad.

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)

4 2 3 1

[FrancisT218]

11 hours ago, DFF said:

@FrancisT218 just fyi some maps got re-arranged closer to release and my map16 became map19

Oh thanks, that was a careless overlook on my part. Even when I did remember some of the other rearrangements, no less. Going to fix :)

Edited November 4, 2021 by FrancisT218

[FragsBunny]

MAP04: That Which Shall Not Be Named (100%/96%/80%)

1.       Demon shoves nearby entities away on death

2.       Sergeant will steal items off the ground

3.       Baron of Hell respawns once after death

 

This map, after my previous experience, now feels like a walk in the park. After grabbing the SGG and using it to deal with mancubi, you can choose which way you want to explore first – the rocket launcher area with usual flyer ambush, or head towards the area where plasma gun and yellow key are. Oh, and upon finding the berserk, I chose to fist fight against those revenants, even though it costed me some health and armor. Thankfully, I found both the soul sphere and the mega armor.

 

Each key pickup triggers its own ambush – cacos and barons after picking the yellow key (with your high ground advantage if you did not jump down), then revs and mancubi after grabbing the red key. First-time guys might get themselves startled be those ambushes but the experienced should figure out what to expect.

 

The cyberdemon set-up is simple and devious. Upon your attempt to evade him though the corridors with barrels the windows suddenly open, giving the mini-boss a chance to take some potshots against you. Watch out for those pinkies and barrel explosions! You may want to blow up the barrels on the pathway beforehand. On my original walkthrough I just barraged the Cyber with plasma before heading through those corridors. On my current walkthrough, I just braved myself through and finally telefragged him. Again, I was missing one secret after getting the level done, but I do appreciate the backpack that I found.