The DWmegawad Club plays: Interception II

[FragsBunny]

Final card tally:

1. Pain elemental steals nearby items

2. Arachnotron respawn once after death

3. Hell knight turns to stone after death

4. Sergeant will steal items off the ground

5. Imps are able to fly

6. Cacodemons are always focused on players

7. Baron of Hell has a regenerating shield

8. Revenant turns to stone on death

9. Arachnotron shoves nearby entities on death

10. Cacodemon fires mancubus projectiles

11. Sergeant hunt the player in silence

12. Hell knight projectiles are partially invisible

13. Sludge rain will fall outside, slowing your movement

14. Pain elemental shoves nearby entities on death

15. Imp projectiles bounce off of walls.

31. Find Daisy before finishing the level, or else…

16. Hell knight projectiles ignore armor

17. Pain Elemental is more aggressive

18. Mancubus projectiles explode on impact

19. Players heal nearby monsters when damaged

20. Monster health totals are shuffled
21. Hell knight reflects projectiles back at you

22. Imp projectiles are partially invisible

23. Zombieman fires a cacodemon projectile on death

24. Bonus health drains over time

25. Baron of hell may teleport away if in danger

26. Mancubus can carry other monsters

27. Mancubus consumes corpses to gain health

28. Arch-vile will steal items off the ground

29. Pain elemental may teleport away when in danger
30. Baphomet spawns with a small companion

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP30 - Interception II - DFF & Moustachio (98%K/99%I/100%S): 

It's difficult not to fall in the Icon of Sin limbo, luckly, DFF and Moustachio managed to create a really interesting monster (ala Eviternity), the Baphomet, to be the host of our final map, said monster may not be a ground-breaking boss-fight, but he can pull some interesting tricks to make your fight interesting.
First of all, the build-up of the fight is gorgeous, a really good looking castle, with nothing more than goodies you'll need to get before the final fight. When entering the elevator room, you will be trapped here, forced to watch the really cool looking sequence of the Baphomet introduction. After this point, you'll be freed to proceed and kill it, but beware, as you'll have many monsters spawning from the teleporters, trying to make your task difficult. I think the problem with this fight was the cyberdemons, they are way too strong, and they can infight with the baphomet easily, aswell as tanking his arch-vile attack easily. This could end up in killing the baphomet without even touching it. Good thing is that I killed every enemy (via circle-strafing) before facing the boss, and you can completely ignore it. His attacks are easily avoidable and his AV attack only triggers seconds after you attack him directly. The fight itself is hard, as you'll need to wait for the pillars to raise until you have a nice way of hiding from his 'feedback' attack. Shoot him and quickly get behind a pillar, you'll have like a second, as his feedback AV attack is instantaneous. Yes, I do think the cyberdemons should not be there. Really enjoyable fight though.

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP28 (Excellent)

MAP11 (Great)
MAP27 

MAP06
MAP21
MAP26
MAP23
MAP10
MAP29 (Good)
MAP18
MAP17
MAP09
MAP25
MAP15

MAP05

MAP04

MAP03
MAP30 (OK)
MAP07
MAP19
MAP12 (Average)
MAP22
MAP13
MAP08

MAP02
MAP01
MAP24 (Meh)
MAP16
MAP20
MAP14
MAP31 (Bad)

 

 

[Dragonker]

MAP26 - “Sinister Teachings” by General Rainbow Bacon

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * Saves

 

The "arch-vile teleport" intro is a bad gimmick to use twice on a WAD, and this time it's not as interesting as it was on MAP11. Nevertheless, the map does a pretty good job at developing interesting combat scenarios in tight corridors. The detailing at the walls is great, though the main building (the one you start right next to) is pretty boring visually. The only annoying thing I found is the mastermind at the end—had to grab the invulnerability secret to beat it.

 

MAP27 - “Cargo Cult” by DFF

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * Saves

 

Lovely map. The blue key area felt too long. Excellent map for those who love exploration. The highlight was the "cargo" area proper. I don't know how I haven't seen something like that before

 

MAP28 - “Dr. Jones Abby’s Malediction” by galileo31dos01

 

Woof! * HMP * Continuous * Saves

 

Until the last fight, this was my 2nd favorite, but that was way too much. I went for ye olde 'iddqd' and got that done. Overall, exploration is its forte and I love all the little details and areas you can find, specially the "green" dimension. There's also interesting platforming puzzle. My main complain is that it likes to give players the finger a lot. For example, most lava areas have a teleport to get out of them, but their damage per tick is so much that you are unlikely to get to them. Nonetheless, a strong entry.

 

MAP29 - “All Fall Down” by valkiriforce

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * Saves

 

Heavy last-map vibes! Somewhat shorter than MAP28 unless you get stuck (which I did). The map starts with a sense of dark and mystery that's pretty cool, but it doesn't keep this for long.

 

MAP30 - “Guillotine” by DFF, Moustachio

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * Saves

 

The final map consists on a prep-zone and an arena. The former has some stunning visuals. Here you get weapon, ammo, and health for the final fight. The arena is where the map takes place proper: a big square with little cover where you have to face a custom monster called "Baphomet", which looks like a gray satyr (from realm667) with wings, that attacks like an arch-vile (though I didn't 'get' this attack too much) and a mancubus, and an army of demons. It's somewhat reminiscent of an astral cacodemon. Lucky me, it tried to fight against a cyberdemon and I just had to sneak behind it and blast it with the BFG.

 

A nice end.

 

Final thoughts

 

Interception II does a great job in cementing a distinctive visual style during its first half. I think the main problem is the lack of cohesiveness of the latter half. The very last maps (26-30) are a return to form but they come somewhat late because the 16-25 range feel like a slog. Its combat is a mix of Plutonia and skillsaw WADs. If it weren't for the Club, it would have played the first half only, which is great. Big thanks to @Moustachio , @DFF, @DJVCardMaster, and the others for this mapset :)

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by Dragonker

[DJVCardMaster]

Interception II - Moustachio, DFF & The Interceptors:

This is a solid mapset made by community members, where half of its development was at the same time than Akeldama, both wads share similar traits because their share similar mappers (Moustachio & DFF, along with Valkiriforce, Pegleg and even myself). The difference between Akeldama and Interception II may be the Boom compatibility of the latter. Akeldama made really good maps within its Vanilla restriction, but I feel Interception II did not get the same approach within its bigger limits. Don't get me wrong, most maps are really cool looking, and fun to play, but you can kinda notice some amateurish traits here and there, typical of the people that was novice at mapping, and decided to contribute with a map. You will notice some things like many pickups at random places (specially health/armor bonuses), unbalance of ammunition at some maps, overloads of different types of textures in the same level, creating a somewhat convoluted color pallete (More noticeable at Episodes 2 and 3). And maps that may be pretty long for the sake of it.
Talking about maps, this experience will take you some time to complete, and it's good to play just like if it was a modern Eternal Doom, many of its maps are long, sometimes puzzly, and complicated. This megawad is more about the journey, and some bits of story-telling present in the bones of every map's aesthetic.
The strongest point though, may not be a particular map or episode (MAP28 or the first episode), but rather its Soundtrack. It's safe to say I feel we kind off underrated how strong the music tracks for this wad are, I feel most tracks are taken from other wads like Ancient Aliens, but some of them are totally original, and they really help making the maps feel even more unique, and this is important, it is important to know how much powerful a song can be for a map, level or even a game itself, a trait most games nowadays have, a characteristic soundtrack (they just make random 'Opera/EPIC' songs or ambiental noise theese days, which are boring).
Maps are long, may not look as professional as other Boom mapsets for the era, but it is still a unique experience, and it has a nice soundtrack, and of course, it does not end with an IOS. There is not a single bad map (Except the secret map), most of the maps remain consistent for the most part, in a narrow between average-good line. Totally worth a play.


Best maps:
MAP28 - An amazing adventure, a solid 1-hour map with fight, secret challenges and a powerful layout, the aesthetics themselves make the map overall, you won't forget this one for good.
MAP11 - Same as MAP28, but it may feel a little less polished than MAP28, what it lacks is just a little bit more challenge, and interconnection between previously visited areas. 
MAP27 - Not as memorable as MAP11, but with a pretty refreshing gameplay after some slower paced maps, another really good journey to play, it may feel quite oldschool at the ship area itself.

Worst maps:
MAP20 - Not the best way to end an episode, this map felt a little bit empty, and its fights not as enjoyable. The layout itself felt simple, and outdated.
MAP14 - Too much overload of things with little cohesion, I did not feel this map at any point, not a bad one for sure, but not something that gave me the joy of replaying it.
MAP31 - There is only one secret map, and this is it, a narrow puzzle arena with two cyberdemons, nothing much else, sadly, our extra journey in MAP15 was all for this little map, not worthy enough.

Score: 75/100 (Good)

[cannonball]

MAP30 - “Guillotine” by DFF, Moustachio

 

Nice build up through a small keep before collecting the BFG and unveiling the final arena. The final boss was far easier than I was expecting. Simply circling the perimeter taking out hitscanners will see most of the other monsters slay themselves. Then I simply got the final boss to infight with one of the cyberdemons, applied BFG to its rear end and that was it. 

I guess this is less offensive than your typical rocket in the hole antics, but this is set up so inoffensively that it almost feels out of place to the grueling behemoths of map28 and 29.

 

Overall - This wad sort of lost its focus after you reached your own reality at map12. The first episode was very cohesive and engaging (Even if there were some differences in themes). The storytelling felt very solid and the transitions were handled excellently. After this you tended to get a mismatch of themes and map type, there are still some very good maps within the last two episodes, but they also have some proper duds and some that tend to get lost with themselves and the overall project. There are few if any short maps within this wad (Though for the most part we are not getting to Eternal doom levels here). Still is amounts for a exhausting experience when you are even playing one level a day. I think the third episode was technically better than 2, but the long slogs that were frequent here tend to bring the experience down.

This was an interesting experience and was best when it was tending to tell a strong narrative, that said there are good parts throughout this wad and it is worth playing and would probably be better on second/third playthroughs.

Score - 3/5

 

Best maps - Map10, 21 and 27 (I picked 27 over 11 by a tad).

[Dragonfly]

+++ 1k3, now that it's in final. :)

[galileo31dos01]

Thanks everyone for the feedback about 28, positive or negative I enjoyed reading all your thoughts and criticism. I might come back someday and finnish writing a dev wall-of-text, because I figured that could be rewarding to the people around here and myself, that'll be fun to do. 

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP30: "Interception II" by DFF, Moustachio

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 0/0 secrets

 

And here we reach the final map, which is a boss map. I really enjoyed the buildup, you follow a path through a demonic fortress, a path littered with guns, ammunition, and the corpses of demons and dead marines alike. You eventually reach the lift that takes you to your final battle again the Baphomet and its hordes. In the early stages of the fight, he can mostly be ignored as you circle around the arena. He tends to get mixed up in infights with his fellow demons, so while he's distracted you can cull their numbers. Eventually 4 cyberdemons come in, and I mostly died to them and their stray rockets. The best way to kill the Baphomet I find is to let him infight the cyberdemons for a while. Don't fly too close to the sun though, because they will eventually kill him despite his massive health totals. When I felt the moment was right I came at the cyberdemons with the BFG, trying to get the tracers to only hit them and not the Baphomet, then BFG'd the Baphomet itself to death. You'll want to be pretty careful here, as the rapid fire archvile blasts the Baphomet lets off are brutal to deal with.

 

As far as boss maps go, it's a pretty fun one, and a fine end to the wad.

 

Final thoughts: This was definitely a wad that was up my alley. Longer form maps with an adventure-like quality to them tend to be a soft spot for me, and this wad definitely provides plenty of that. The combat is also overall strongly done, maybe a little heavy on the hallway shootouts at certain points, but not to the point where it became much of a problem. Whenever the wad decided to lay the monsters on thick, I was typically in for a good time. I also loved the midi selections that were made here, and the visuals were more often than not solidly done as well. The consistency of quality here was overall very high, with there rarely being a map I'd call less than decent. I do think the 2nd episode is a bit of a dip in quality from the 1st and 3rd episodes, but it still provided some strong maps. The 3rd episode is probably my favourite, just some great ideas on display there.

 

Overall, my favourite map would have to be MAP28, just a supremely memorable adventure and also the biggest challenge the set had to offer. Some honourable mentions include MAP11, another sprawling adventure that was a pleasure to get lost in, MAP06 for the nice early challenge it provided and for being a cool idea that was executed exceptionally on a visual level, MAP15 and MAP21 which were both incredible from a pure combat perspective, MAP25 which was probably the most distinctively styled map in the set and was just full of cool and memorable ideas, and MAP26 for being a nice gameplay shakeup with a lot of suspenseful combat scenarios.

 

A great job and a thank you to Moustachio, DFF, and the Interceptors. This is an awesome wad that I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing.

Edited December 1, 2021 by DisgruntledPorcupine

[dobu gabu maru]

Looks like 1000 Lines 3 is our winner for next (this?) month with a whopping 14 votes. I'll get around to making it within 24 hours.

14 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

I mean, 1k3 already won (first wad to reach 5 votes!) so meh. I edited it though....

 

It's not the first choice to reach 5 votes, it's that the winning choice needs at least 4 votes in order to get a thread made for it, just so I'm not spending time making a thread for 1-2 people.

[Book Lord]

Final Thoughts

 

Interception 2 was an instructive immersion in contemporary and limitless Doom editing. Most of the recent megaWADs I have played were self-constrained projects, featuring small levels, often starkly constructed, and could not accommodate for rambling adventures or manic detailing. At the beginning of the playthrough I was convinced that sooner or later the length of the maps would have burned me out, as my gaming time in a month is a bit too tight for extensive Doom productions.

 

My forecast came true, though not as expected: the fascinating levels on display, requiring 30 minutes on average for completion, much more for maxing out, entertained me at the point I did not feel the passing of time. I found myself wanting to play more, a fact I did not anticipate and that took me by surprise. I can only ascribe it to the high quality of the map set as a whole, offering plenty of good environments to explore, while unfolding a loose narrative conveyed by the locations. MAP28 eventually killed my enthusiasm, not because it was bad (per se it was excellent), but because it was the demanding and complex last dish of an already lavish banquet. @galileo31dos01 did not spare anything; he put all his creativity and skill to create an incredible adventure, though in my opinion it would have worked much better as a stand-alone level.

 

The megaWAD had a classic division into three episodes, resuming the storyline of Interception, the first instalment I did not play. Doomguy wakes up in a crypt in the Realm of Souls, an eerie place with many awesome castles floating in the green sky. This theme was the most successful and appealing of Interception 2, then the compelling variations of MAP10 (a grotesque cavern network in the bowels of a behemoth) and MAP11 (a sprawling tech-base suspended in the black void) introduced the scenario of second episode, which was about planet travelling. The locations were more varied, technological, sometimes involving spaceships, until the yellow planet of MAP17-18 turned the tables again with its bright colours. The third episode brought us back to the corrupted tech-bases on Earth, invaded by the armies of the Baphomet, the demon lord appearing as the final boss. The last part of a megaWAD frequently loses thematic coherence, and this one was no exception, while keeping the quality high or even improving it over the second episode.  

 

The development of Interception 2 lasted for a while and was not without uncertainty, especially when @Moustachio temporarily abandoned the project. This was not without consequences, as some maps were withdrawn in the meantime. The unfinished work was resumed and carried on by the talented @DFF, who ended up being crucial for the completion and prepared the return of the original leader. These two guys not only created the bulk of the map set with their solo efforts, but also defined its setting and carried on the visual storyline. The two leaders did a lot of touch-up and polish on other submissions, which turned out to be cohesive regardless of their different approaches to mapping. They also recovered and improved some entries (e.g., MAP02 and MAP09), turning them into successful chapters of this wonderful journey.

 

@DFF's contributions stood out as the most impressive, with incredible detail and complexity in both planning and execution. @Moustachio ’s work was not aimed at perfection but stroke me for the focus and consistency. With 8 full levels and credits almost everywhere, he deserves praise for wanting a sequel, then pulling out a great individual effort and finding help in the community to complete the megaWAD. I found remarkable that @General Rainbow Bacon and @valkiriforce, both veterans from Interception, were part of the team, but they were joined by many younger members of the community, who brought a bounty of fresh ideas and skilled handling of Boom effects.

 

I marvel at people pistol starting maps like these, playing without saves, and sometimes even adding game-breaking effects like Corruption Cards. I played continuous on Ultra-Violence, with savegames mid-level (not during encounters to cheat the RNG or to facilitate anything). It was a good idea to avoid -fast monsters since the beginning, because they tend to kill the fun when maps are large and long. I think playing continuous was a good choice to limit playing time and frustration; ammo was generally not plentiful, and I did not feel overstocked with resources. A full playthrough required about 19 in-game hours, which was close to the total playing time since I did not reload savegames very often and did not commit myself to max out the end-of-level tally. There are several difficult spots in the last episode, but they rarely required more than two attempts. MAP28 falls into a separate category and throws both difficulty and average map duration off balance.

 

Enjoying myself so much on Interception 2 was quite a revelation, as I usually struggle with large maps and prefer shorter adventures. The quality of the gameplay and the theme kept me engaged beyond expectation, and I wavered only when I reached MAP28. Besides that level, which I recommend playing as a stand-alone and with less time constraints as possible, the megaWAD offers many creations to be astonished at, and solid Doom gameplay with contemporary graphics and effects.

 

Best maps:

MAP 05 – Astral Castle by Moustachio

MAP 06 – What Could Go Wrong? by Big Ol Billy

MAP 11 – Slipgate Ex Nihilo by DFF

MAP 15 – Volcanic Research by Moustachio

MAP 21 – Return to Sender by A2Rob

MAP 27 – Cargo Cult by DFF

 

Other standout maps:

MAP 02 - Beyond the Living by Diego “DJV” Villarroel, Moustachio, DFF

MAP 07 – The Everlaster by Joe-Ilya

MAP 10 – Eldritch Apparitions by Moustachio

MAP 13 – Habitat Ring by Moustachio, stewboy, Pegleg, DFF

MAP 19 – Asteroid Assault by DFF

MAP 26 – Sinister Teachings by General Rainbow Bacon

 

Special mention map:

MAP 28 – Dr. Jones Abby’s Malediction by galileo31dos01

Edited December 2, 2021 by Book Lord

[DFF]

Despite the new DWMC Month already up and running, i'll add a bit of closure.

I want to thank again all the people who voted for and enjoyed playing Interception 2. It was great reading all the critiques from the commenters and I'm glad this WAD managed to get released. Sadly i didn't end up having the motivation or time to finish the WAD with everyone, but hopefully i'll find time to finish my Corruption Card run eventually.

As for map27, its a relief that majority of people were not bothered by the length of the map (especially compared to many other long bomb maps within this WAD). As MtPain27 correctly guessed, this map was a somewhat easy integration into the mapset since it was a previously unreleased map I made, or more specifically, 2 maps. It may not come as a shock (or maybe, who knows) that the boat itself and the port were actually 2 separate maps I made, and at very different points in time. The bay itself originally started off as a steel mill map I made for an unreleased WAD for my own desire. This map started off as a map from an old prefabWAD I found on Doomworld (msscraps.zip by Malcolm Sailor, released back in 2000. The map was map02 of ms2.wad. These maps were also used in Zen dynamics) which I decided to flesh out with textures, added buildings, modified paths, and whatnot. This was back in a time where i experimented with map design based on some existing structures. The boat itself was from a Birthday present WAD i made for a friend, as the boat and its interior were designed after the level "Dead Ahead" in Hotline Miami 2. I decided to splice the two maps and do some additional overhauls and building construction, and included it as a secret map. The elevator in the back of one of the secrets originally being a secret exit to Beamfleot. However we were missing a episode 3 map and thus slotted the secret map in there, and i removed the secret exit. Not much else to say but it is nice that I eventually managed to combine the two into something releasable.

[kain967]

I don't play along with everyone here (sometimes I get ahead and sometimes behind), but I love these threads for great megawad suggestions. I rarely post, but wanted to add that I love this wad and most especially the music. Whoever created it has a wonderful musical ear, something that is not always common to Doom midi composers. Have a great day and thank you for all your work.

[RHhe82]

Is it okay to keep bumping these threads after the event is complete? Because as I probably already explained enough times, due to very unfortunate circumstances I have been unable to really play Doom ever since the 17th of November, and I'm still unable to participate in full - but I'd still like to see Interception II through as much as possible during december. On the other hand, part of the fun is simultaneous commentation, not merely playing. I dunno.

 

So, MAP17: Yellow Sea. All the kills and secrets, too! Played on pistol start, UV, DSDA-Doom v0.21. Completion time 35:08.

 

Was the map easier than previous Interception installments, or does my memory play tricks on me? I don't even have my actual external keyboard I've gotten used to play with. Anyway, I really dig the yellow aesthetics: the golden liquid, golden marble. The hardest part of the map was the beginning, especially the second room with chaingunners and demons - I didn't find the berserk pack on the first attempt or two. After that it gets a bit easier: the big arena has two cybers, but they can be tricked to infight the rest of the horde. I enjoyed this part, even if I took my time circling the area, and at the end I got tired of trying to get the cacoswarm to lower onto the rocket trajectories. I was a bit worried if I was supposed to use the cybers to take care of the later hordes as well, but resources were plentiful, after all.

 

Unlucky for me, I found the BFG secrets at the end, when there was only the final flameboy squad left to take care of. I could have used BFG against the cybers, but as I already implied, it wouldn't have been necessary. The archies could have proven troublesome without it.

[RHhe82]

MAP18: Golden Palace. 207/207 kills and 3/3 secrets. Pistol start, UV, DSDA v0.21. Completion time 33:46.

 

More of the yellow goo aesthetics! I guess it's gold, but anyway I like it. This one feels like a companion map to the previous, and this time it's more difficult and sprawling - and a bit more cramped. One could also say Golden Palace feels a bit fuller. Once again the hardest part is the beginning, I had to try a few times before I could allow myself the first save. The second hardest part, I guess, would be the red brick area, which took me a few attempts until I found my way to sneak behind the surprise archvile.

 

I liked how the level looped around itself -- at first I retreated from the presented path and went back to the beginning of the level to look behind the other blue door, only to find myself back in the final big area with the YSK. The map was challenging (to me, at least), but not because of ammo scarcity (I still have the trauma, despite taking a forced break!). In short: I enjoyed playing this map! My only complaint would be that the end of the map had unmarked secrets I no longer had any use for: as I understand, YSK is needed for the megasphere, but when you get the YSK, there's nothing to do anymore. Also, I only got the berserk pack long after I had taken care of all the spectres, but I guess that's mostly on me.

Edited December 4, 2021 by RHhe82

[RHhe82]

MAP19: Asteroid Assault. 487/487 kills and 7/7 secrets. Pistol start, UV, DSDA v0.21. Completion time 44:26.

 

I was able to read all the comments on Doomworld, so I was looking forward to this map. It looks like this map was a bit on the divisive side, but I personally enjoyed it. Being a saving guy, the map wasn't too hard, just the first area was a bit troublesome, because I wouldn't save midfight. But damned if I don't enjoy mowing down hitscanners galore. Asteroid Assault equips you well enough, in case you need a couple of rockets or plasma shots for bigger crowds.

 

I bragged that only the beginning was hard, but that's not entirely true; towards the end of the level (after grabbing the red key) I had ran out of health items, so the hordes in the final outdoor area proved a bit difficult. I found the soul sphere secret behind another red door (if it was a secret, can't remember already) which sprang a deadly trap, but by panic and luck I survived. There had been a couple of similar surprises earlier, but secret hunting had proven fruitful, I could take care of some chaingunner squads in advance.

 

The conveyor belt section was a fun one, but by reading the earlier comments in this thread I was kind of expecting something more spectacular :P You could strafe to resist the pull of the conveyor belt, but basically if you missed your door, you had to wait a full circle, which is a mechanic I don't particularly enjoy whenever I encounter similar mechanics (I think Duke3D had something like that, and good old first-person RPG Dungeon Master and its sequel, Chaos Strikes Back). That said, Asteroid Assault's belt wasn't obnoxious, either.

 

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this one, too. I'm not sure if it's top tier material, but it's a close call. My only real sourness stems from DoomLauncher not being able to record the completion stats from DSDA-Doom, again :'(

[RHhe82]

MAP20: Moonlit Escape. I had 229/230 kills, but DSDA-Doom levelstat dump gave DoomLauncher 230/230. 6/7 secrets. UV, pistol start. Completion time 40:11.

 

I wasn't a big fan of this level - somehow Moonlit Escape felt tedious to wade through, I'm not sure why. At times, I got TNT Evilution vibes, which is not a good thing, although Moonlit Escape would be a easy top-pick in the mapset. Some of the rooms felt a bit 90s with their rectangular layout (especially the waste vat room), and the long straight waste corridor without any distinguishable features. I found the SSG quite late, and had to take care of numerous revenants and barons with a standard shotgun and chaingun.

 

Also really wasn't a fan of the lava cavern. I mean, I guess the idea of deep lava that slows you down sounds ok, but in practice I hope we don't see that too often. In the end, when I was tracking the remaining kills and secrets, I had to re-enter the cave, but didn't have enough health to survive the trek to the shore. So, confession time: resorted to IDDQD there. In my defense, that was when there was no actual level left as far as I knew.

 

But then there were good areas, small adorable details such as broken teleporter in the recreation area, the swimming pool with lanes in the same area, and especially the secret graveyard I wish I had found earlier (because of the soul sphere). Also the beginning outdoor area and the control room overlooking the portal device were good, and I liked the reactor room.

 

I sound a bit negative, but that's not to say Moonlit Escape was a bad map either, it isn't; Perhaps it's just not on par with majority of the megawad. On the other hand, it easily beats the secret level.

Edited December 6, 2021 by RHhe82

[Moustachio]

@Book Lord The title of the map is both Interception II and Guillotine, using Doom 2 MAP11 as a reference. As with the first Interception, I wanted to make the intermission screen graphic at the end of the wad say, "Interception II Finished." Kinda silly, I know, but I was obsessed with that little play-on-words. Both names are valid when talking about the wad, since I like both. My contribution to the gameplay side of things only goes so far as the designing the behavior of the Baphomet -- with input from DFF of course. The map, complete with monsters and elevator sequence, was all DFF.

 

@RHhe82 I'm happy to see you sticking with it!

 

Here are some Club members whose reviews really stuck out to me:

 

• @cannonball - Often had a much more critical take on each map, but successfully explained their point-of-view using good arguments and writing. I could always understand cannonball's perspective after reading each review.
• @FragsBunny - Completed the entire wad with Corruption Cards. What a feat of insanity. I'm impressed.
• @MtPain27 - Did an insane amount of maps for catch-up and most likely got slaughtered by 28. Still, I really enjoy the Dean's witty and descriptive evaluation.
• @Book Lord - Whose reviews stood out to me as particularly engaging. I felt like I was reading a story every time I read one of Book Lord's posts. The Hexen profile pic only intensifies those vibes. The screenshots are nice as well.
• @Krenium - Well-written critiques with screenshots(!) that are also very descriptive. I enjoyed reading Krenium's lengthy takes on each map.

 

And a huge thanks to everyone who ended up writing reviews. I'm a glutton for feedback, and they're a lot of fun to read. Enjoyed reading all of these.

 

And thanks to the Interception II Episode 3 contributors: @A2Rob, @NeedHealth, @JadingTsunami, @galileo31dos01, @General Rainbow Bacon (returning from Interception), @valkiriforce (also returning from Interception), and @DFF. Thanks as well to @Darman Macray and LewkForce for the custom level midis and @XenoNemisis for returning (as ForceTheDemo) to compose the non-stage themes expanded upon by Macray. And thanks to all the Doom players out there. There wouldn't be Doom wads without a Doom community!

[RHhe82]

MAP21: Return to Sender. Pistol start on UV. DSDA-Doom. I think I had 263/267 kills (DoomLauncher recorded 267/267) and 1/2 secrets. Comp. time 35:15 (last five spent on unsuccessfully looking for the final secret).

 

For whatever reason, the map felt like a chore from the get-go. I don't know why. Maybe because the very first part of the map is linear? When I dropped down to the blood-filled outdoor room with revenants, hell knights, spectres and cacos swarming in from all sides. I had hard time getting through that ambush, and I still don't know why. However, once I got past that, I found enjoyment in the level, and the battle for the BK and the final cyber demon arena were fun, and despite less enthusiastic first impression, I ended up enjoying the level.

 

Aesthetically this episode reminded me of the first episode of Valiant: some sort bright grey tech base, which I like - but I wonder how Interception has gradually moved from alien worlds to more, shall we say, traditional Doom. Episode 2 had lots of browner tech bases (and a couple of golden palaces), and we're still having tech bases. I'm not complaining necessarily, but I find it curious. Anyway, the map does look good, and indeed, once I got in the groove, I really enjoyed this one, as well.

Edited December 9, 2021 by RHhe82

[pampoo79]

Overall I must say really nice use of new textures, with relatively little effort you created fresh visuals from the old. The music for the maps I played is also pleasing, I wonder if its all the same artist.

 

MAP01 - “Euphoria” by NeedHealth, DFF, Moustachio, Quantum_dranger

7/10 good action, good balance. You never feel lost. Only negative: visual style maybe a bit wild, incoherent, abstract. But that's also a matter of taste. Surely well executed and never boring.

 

MAP02

- “Beyond the Living” by Diego “DJV” Villarroel, Moustachio, DFF

now this map had a feel of a jester if that makes sense (music and visuals). Very creative, similar style as previous map (same critique applies). One thing is must say though is that there are too many items. I didn't even pick everything up, I was always well equipped. After this experience I upped the difficulty to UV.

8/10

 

MAP03 - “Desecration” by Misty, DMPhobos 

bit more coherent style here, preferred this over the other maps. Now totally different than the previous map this map meant serious ammo problems - and it has lots of monsters (for my taste, I dont play slaughter maps). Which isnt bad but I mostly ran through and killed what had to be killed.

8/10

 

MAP04 - “That Which Shall Not be Named” by DMPhobos

best map so far, sometimes I just paused and look at the beautiful architecture (in the other maps too but here even more so). Awesome love for detail and also in the bigger sense interesting. Great texturing. Well, great everything. The music was also a tad more serious than the other ones, rounded off the picture.

9/10

 

looking forward to playing the other maps

[pampoo79]

MAP05 - “Astral Castle” by Moustachio

well interesting map style, very anarchistic, chaotic, like most of the maps I've played so far from this mega wad (completely different style than say 10sectors). Due to the open character of the map I ran into some ammo issues but a bit of running around fixed that. Also the music was a bit annoying. But overall very fun and interesting map.

7.5/10

 

MAP06 - “What Could Go Wrong?” by Big Ol Billy 

Wow. The ideas in this. Absolutely loved "the decision", and then the "light world" (of course I went the dark path too). And the little game of the red key escaping, absolutely hilarious. You really exhausted the technical side here. Only point of critique is the chaotic style, almost felt like textures were chosen at random, but then again thats just the style of this mega wad and I find it inspiring and never boring. I guess you guys just had a shit load of textures to chose from, an approach that's completely alien to me as I stay mostly vanilla. I should try start working that way, extending my possibilities. I realize how custom textures really upgrade the experience.

9/10

 

MAP07 - “The Everlaster” by joe-ilya 

Nice concept with the concentric map design and the Mancubus throne trigger. Due to the escalating character and the abundance of items I would have totally expected some boss monsters at the end. Overall slaughter map done right I'd say.

8/10

 

MAP08 - “Bermuda” by Moustachio, Pegleg

nothing much to say, very solid map. Music wasn't very fitting though.

8.5/10

[pampoo79]

MAP09 - “Belly of the Beast” by Moustachio, stewboy, Pegleg, NuclearPotato, DFF

this map does everything right, totally balanced in every aspect. At the end had a true wtf moment. Why not a 10/10, well it lacks a bit of visual consistency, of a theme, like the whole mega wad (I'm beginning to repeat myself). I liked MAP04 a little bit better.

9/10

 

MAP10 - “Eldritch Apparitions” by Moustachio

Now that's what I mean with a theme lol. Wow. Sure that this is not the "Belly of the Beast"? ;) This map would have earned some type of new enemy tbh. I'm just wondering who dumped their toxic waste barrels into these testines (there's also a candelabra)? I liked the yellow/blue key construction, among many other things.

9/10

 

MAP11 - “Slipgate Ex Nihilo” by DFF 

Wow now this is a space station! That yellow key area just wow. The use of those different tech textures to create one bigger one really creates a great sense of scale. The little rocket launcher box, great detail. Those pillars in the yellow ooze, great part (the plasma gun secret). The music also really sold this space theme well. Many many custom textures but it brings joy the eye seeing modified or vanilla original textures sprinkled in between put to best use. Really artistic map, you have talent for architecture.

10/10

[pampoo79]

MAP12 - “Deep Space Mine” by Moustachio

Ok now I got it, the wad has episodes. I excuse myself for calling out the "random" textures of the first episode. I figured it was a theme. So next space map, not as extravagant as the last, this one reminded me a bit of the original Doom, just less boring (I'm a Doom2 guy). I liked the music a lot, very catchy, almost too jolly for the game, but I could hear some space tunes in it. All in all solid.

7.5/10

 

MAP13 - “Habitat Ring” by Moustachio, stewboy, Pegleg, DFF

okay alright, now Doom has finally it's own WATER map and SNOW map on top (to my knowledge, probably old cheese to everyone else). Thinking about it I might actually understand how it's built but I wouldnt have had the idea myself. I also had a bit of an aha! moment, those are supposed to be TREES :> Part of the map reminded me of the Alien movie, other parts of Castlevania. The exit part with those coils shutting down was scary.

8/10

 

MAP14 - “Murder Mountain Mayhem” by General Rainbow Bacon, DFF

a bit of a return to the "fantasy" syndrome of episode 1 and that music was unnerving unfortunately. Felt a bit lost at times. Not a bad map but I was actually glad when I found the exit.

6.5/10

 

MAP15 - “Volcanic Research” by Moustachio

catchy music (MegaMan-esque) and some ammo problems but I managed to get through to the exit. Other than that good map

8/10. Went back through the map with noclip to decide on the rating and found that there were huge parts I hadn't been to (outside, Cyberdemon). Unfortunate.

edit: found a bug, in the overhead map it's called "liquid hot magma". Also I again couldn't find the path to the remaining areas. Am I supposed to be able to slip through here?

Edited December 12, 2021 by pampoo79

[pampoo79]

MAP16 - “Planet Vertigo” by Diego “DJV” Villarroel

now this map annoyed the fuck out of me, Chaingunners everywhere (even in pitch black holes) and very little health. Overall solid map building though but couldn't quite decide whether it wanted to be a castle or a tech base.

6.5/10

[pampoo79]

MAP17 - “Yellow Sea” by DukeOfDoom 

Hey I love yellow! The vertical glow from the ooze give this map a nice visual effect. Unfortunately I wasn't a big fan of this "getting shot by monster from kilometers away on the whole map" thing, but it's ok, you gotta mow em down eventually and then do a little searching for the keys.

7/10

 

MAP18 - “The Golden Palace” by Moustachio 

You like armor, I would have liked a fraction of those on MAP16. But what is this music?! Changing the midi device helped a bit feeling like playing Doom instead of being in a Seinfeld episode. Needed several tries for the last part packed with monsters, was not concentrating anymore due to the music, I only wished it to be over. Dude why, I played your Deep Space Mine several times the last days mostly for the awesome music which stayed with me during the day.

solid 7 minus 0.5 for the music

 

MAP19 - “Asteroid Assault” by DFF 

why the invisible wall at the beginning? Just make the player jump down from a higher ground. Music's weird again, beginning to think it must be me. I plan to enable more midi devices, fluidsynth is broken, timidity sounds most advanced so far but on some maps (like last one) I have to switch back to a more vintage sounding one which I also prefer on the classic maps. Back to this map, the music is now actually decent and I like the idea to fill it to the brim with space marines, because I tend to do the opposite. This floor lighting, genius.

And this little yellow (and red) cable too. Difficulty was quite high, I needed several tries for that conveyor belt part. I found 0% secrets. Overall far from the exceptional Slipgate Ex Nihilo but good.

7.5/10

 

I'm probably not in the right mood today.

 

Edited December 16, 2021 by pampoo79

[RHhe82]

This is progressing slower than I had hoped.

 

MAP22: System Corruption. Played on UV, pistol-start. All 252/252 kills and 4/4 secrets. Completion time 37:24. 

 

At first, I thought it was mildly challenging, or quite relaxed map even if there were some scenes where one couldn't rest that easy. However, the real challenge begins after getting the red key and entering the lava filled area. At least for my skills that was quite challenging, because you couldn't just snipe away enemies one at a time, but you had to enter and expose yourself to enemy projectiles, especially to revenant missiles and cyberdemon rockets. And then there were hitscanners.

 

Yes, I indeed liked the map. Somehow the beginning of the level reminded me of Plutonia and somehow I even got Alien Vendetta vibes, even though I have only completed first five maps of it. I don't know why. The soundtrack was good, too, and even funnier association: it reminded me of Rockstar's game of the yesteryear, Bully.

[RHhe82]

MAP23: Asbestos. Played on UV-PS. Kills 532/538, 5/5 secrets. Completion time 67:48.

 

The level took ages to complete. Mostly it is fun enough, mowing down enemy forces. There are no dastardly encounters, a handful of death squadrons for sure (especially the one with the rocket launcher on star pedestal), a couple of ammo sink cyberdemons (although most of them could be weakened by infighting).

 

I don't know, I kinda liked the map, but on the other hand I didn't too excited by it? Perhaps it's because the level felt kinda standard Doom fare instead of presenting the foreign vistas of Interception? On the third hand, there were lots doom-cutesy stuff, mud floors dripping down the floor drains. On the fourth hand, level progression felt a bit directionless, I just wandered into different and whenever I felt like it, switched to somewhere else. On the fifth hand, that's not necessarily a bad thing, it just makes it hard to form a coherent picture of the map. Decent level, even if I felt a bit mixed by it. I guess it outstays its welcome: by 60 minute mark I could reach exit, by 65 minute mark I had found the rest of the secrets (the final rocket launcher was a bit random). Six enemies were left intact somewhere, couldn't hunt them down. Reading other comments, I take it some failed to teleport in?

[NeedHealth]

Thanks for playing my map23. I actually consider it my worst map and I asked it to be removed from the rooster, as I fell into the time sink trap and spent one and a half month on it. Somehow that got lost on the way. Not much more to say. As for map 01 i was asked to amend quantums inital attempt and I made a large part of his map the deathmatch arena. I havn't checked if it is still left in the final map, otherwise almost nothing but his name remains. I made map 01 at a time when I still made race track levels which shows.

[RHhe82]

2 minutes ago, NeedHealth said:

Thanks for playing my map23. I actually consider it my worst map and I asked it to be removed from the rooster, as I fell into the time sink trap and spent one and a half month on it. Somehow that got lost on the way. Not much more to say. As for map 01 i was asked to amend quantums inital attempt and I made a large part of his map the deathmatch arena. I havn't checked if it is still left in the final map, otherwise almost nothing but his name remains. I made map 01 at a time when I still made race track levels which shows.

 

If it's the worst you have on offer, you have things going pretty great ;-) Because on the sixth hand, there was nothing that rubbed me the wrong way, either. With the 1000 Lines 3 club I'm getting bad vibes with token cyberdemons, but the cybies in your map don't feel that way, because you can wither them down with other enemies.

[NeedHealth]

1 hour ago, RHhe82 said:

 

If it's the worst you have on offer, you have things going pretty great ;-) Because on the sixth hand, there was nothing that rubbed me the wrong way, either. With the 1000 Lines 3 club I'm getting bad vibes with token cyberdemons, but the cybies in your map don't feel that way, because you can wither them down with other enemies.

Thank you and I always try to place anything from a a hell knight to stronger monsters in a position where those can infight to take the edge of the health.

Edited December 27, 2021 by NeedHealth

[RHhe82]

Still bumping this thread, sorryaboutthat...

 

MAP24: Terracotta. Played on UV-PS, 211/211 kills and 3/5 secrets. Completion time 38:15.

 

Here's a hot start for a pistol start. I took me several tries to make it past the beginning. It's not like it's mean or anything... but the hitscanners and the distinct lack of resources makes it hard. When the first wall is lowered, you could dive deep into the valley guarded by a cyberdemon and assortment of other sniping and hitscanning enemies. With a little bit of infighting, you finally get to contemplate on your next action. Even so, action is pretty much non-stop, and sooner or later you start running out of ammo again. Finding secrets would have helped -- I missed two of them, and the telefrag secret I only found last, after I had killed the cybie with the remaining ammo. Some box of rockets I could have used long ago against pesky revenants on cliffs.

 

I don't know, once again there's nothing inherently wrong with the map, it's good in fact, I just found it hard to get excited. I don't mind the challenge (had to save quite often, though), a map has to be challenging in order to be fun, but somehow the fun factor is missing here. The layout is great, I especially liked the circular arena on the other side of the valley with arachnotrons and mancubi.

 

EDIT: avoiding one bump :P

 

MAP25: The Sad Kingdom. Played on UV-PS. 349/350 kills and 8/12 secrets. Completion time 46:44.

 

Okay, here's a level with the desired fun factor! Sad Kingdom also feels like a bit friendlier, but there were some hard parts. Especially the hell elevator. Well, I guess not hard, but it took me a couple of tries. Then there was the final fight where I could have used a nearby invulnerability sphere (although I'm not sure if it would have lasted long enough). BFG would have also helped, but I couldn't figure out how to obtain the early BFG. The one after the final fight was next to useless when pistol starting. The starting area looks a bit modest, although to be fair the revenant/mancubus cavern is too hot a place to appreciate the murky vistas.

 

Special shoutout to the rotating fan!

Edited December 28, 2021 by RHhe82
MAP25