The DWmegawad Club plays: Interception II

[DJVCardMaster]

For the secret BFG:
 

Spoiler

you need to shoot with an SSG the lyon wall at the opposite side of the wall that lowers (southern wall), the other way is to fall from the stairs and quickly shoot, it's a shootable switch, but I've made it hard to get just because I wanted te BFG to remain hard to get, or it would nulify the challenge this map has later on.

 

[RHhe82]

7 minutes ago, DJVCardMaster said:

For the secret BFG:
 

  Reveal hidden contents

you need to shoot with an SSG the lyon wall at the opposite side of the wall that lowers (southern wall), the other way is to fall from the stairs and quickly shoot, it's a shootable switch, but I've made it hard to get just because I wanted te BFG to remain hard to get, or it would nulify the challenge this map has later on.

 

 

Oh my, wouldn't have guessed that. It crossed my mind to

 

Spoiler

shoot at the lowering lionhead, and I think I even might possibly have thought about shooting the opposite one too, but didn't follow that plan because it looked like it couldn't be hit. Now that I tested it, SSG is the way to go... BUT! You can also hold down the chaingun while falling from top of stairs!

 

[cannonball]

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

 

This one was rather low key with the exception of a couple of fights. There are some cool looking parts but overall the textures do more of the work than the architecture. The gameplay is very door/corridor/door heavy, rather rudimentary in execution. Not much really to say on this one, a bit meh and I decided to skip the cyber at the red key because you only really have shells to deal with him and you are free to walk out of the door anyway. A shame really because the opening outdoor section suggested something more than what we got.

Edited November 16, 2021 by cannonball

[Krenium]

MAP16 - Planet Vertigo by Diego 'DJV' Villarroel

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

 

 

This map starts off with classic MAP01 'storming the base' vibes which never fails to put a smile on my face. In short order, I met several long-distance hitscanners who got in a lot of lucky hits. The map generally doesn't let up on long-range monsters and monsters will be streaming around corners for quite a while. I turned my back too long and paid the price. The map is fairly stingy with medikits and if you'd believe, it, I actually died once to attrition. I don't mind this attrition-style gameplay, as it's more or less a first for this wad.

 

However, I do generally think the entire map is about 20% too big. It just seemed a bit large without enough going on to justify the size. Besides the encounters being a tad underwrought and the room/corridor/symmetry heaviness, this map has several high points:

• Disciplined texturing - the palette looks nice and gives the map a consistent feel.
• The automap looks great - no really, take a look at it. You can clearly see a 'main' path winding through the base and the natural rock walls look absolutely lovely on the map (and in-game too).
• The lighting - I took the screenshot above because I like the way the shadows were done.
• The cyberdemon encounter is a nice touch - I ran past him and was really confused how he was gone when I came back. Only to meet him again later where he was a big help!
• The BFG secret was fun to execute.

I liked the map pretty well overall. A good choice to ease us back into the wad proper after the secret map.

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)

6 11 12 4 2 3 15 14 13 8 10 16 9 7 5 1 31

[Dragonker]

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

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * Saves

 

This map employs several styles in a very cohesive manner: you got the now-expected lunar base mixed with castle-like structures. Every room is memorable, and that's what I like the most about this entry; there're no two rooms alike. The yellow key, for example, rests in the middle of a fork between three wood structures, while the blue key and the red key sit along some cargo and on top of water, respectively. My favorite one is the dome with the 4 mancubus(es).

 

Combat feels way smoother than the previous maps thanks to the increased amount of space the player has to move around. There's some treacherous use of revenants, and you can find them positioned in several ways. There're two cyberdemons in HMP, but one is easily ignored while the other can be dispatched quickly.

 

A detail I found great is that laser screens (as I call them) are used to tell the player about new dangers or openings.

Edited November 17, 2021 by Dragonker

[DFF]

Map15:Volcanic Research by Moustachio

UV, Continuous, GZdoom, Corruption Cards 3.1 (card: Barons can grab and throw corpses).
K: 62%, S: 66% T: 14:37

I decided to skip the outdoor section, it is very fun but im a bit behind already and these corruption cards are kicking my ass. Its fine as i've throughly enjoyed this specific map quite a few times in the past.

This is always a fun map for me to come back to. I love the MIDI choice, the combat feels hectic but good, there are SOO many secrets and most are used in rather fun ways, with lots of clever map geometry exploration or running after hidden lifts. A good chunk of the map is even kept as a secret. Some people may not like this design but i've grown very fond of maps that hide extra gameplay in secrets. Kinda like the extra murder spree and toys to do so is the reward for secret hunting, not just an extra soulsphere you may not need. A bit ironic as i chose to skip this time around but i have probably gone out of my way to 100% this map a couple times before.

One thing ive found that I enjoy from some of Moustachio's maps is his use of odd angled sector geometry. It often reminds me of Doom 1 maps but much prettier and more modern obviously. Its something I should work on myself since there's just a certain aesthetic about having maps with these odd angled maps that refuse to adhere to 90 degree angles, or at least prefer a more unique design. This can be seen a lot with the geometry in the first section of the map, or the "main hub" area.

The secret map also doesn't do much for me so i'll politely pass to catch up with map16. I will say though that towards mid-end of development I was working on a secret map for this WAD called Sunken Dreams which featured a gothic sort of castle, lost to time being buried under muddy water. the map featured several "sinking water" effects where the map would open up by the player lowering water. The issue this map had was I kinda pushed it off to the side, didn't have a real clear idea of how i wanted the full layout to look, and managing all those lowering sectors was a pain (especially since I wanted a "creation pool" that setup different arenas to complete for each of the 3 keys. The map was 25% complete and by the end when Moustachio took back over it was just removed as he tried to finish what i had left, but it didn't feel right. Someday I hope to rework this map somewhere. I mostly regret not finishing it only because Moustachio put a lot of work into the secret exit to reflect the theme of this map. It fit with Beamfleot's earthy setting at least. 
 

Spoiler

Lowering water effect-1
Lowering Water Effect-2
Yellow Key Cavern
Creation Pool

 

Map16: Planet Vertigo by Diego 'DJV' Villarroel

UV, Continuous, GZdoom, Corruption Cards 3.1 (card: Manc projectiles have massive knockback).
K: 93%, S: 0% T: 14:45

 

I quite like the somber and generally run-down appearance of this map. The boom effects here are subtle but appreciated. The old swinging/sliding door trick may be old but its a fun little effect i'll never really not enjoy. Some say this map doesn't have as much going for it as other maps but I think it does decently well for what the map sets out for you. Generally nice open combat with a medium sized threat to combat. The detailing present may be somewhat more subtle or smaller in scope that other maps in the wad, but the pa does not look unbalanced with its detail. Everything looks like it fits together in that sense. My only really complaint as some have shared is that the map feels a bit long for what seems like a smaller map. That and the ending fight can be cheesed since you can wait out the lowering floor with the teleporter placed for the player. Its not a biggie but otherwise its still a fairly satisfying map to play.

[FragsBunny]

MAP17: Yellow Sea (100%/93%/100%)

1.       Baron of Hell respawn once after death

2.       Hell knight projectiles weave back and forth

3.       Pain Elemental are more aggressive

 

When I saw the map name, I thought “yellow sea” meant… something else. Instead, we have the golden water, similar to Jenesis’s “Alchemy”, except the water, as I discovered, was not damaging at all. The hard choice was between card 1 and card 3; I chose the third option because I believed that by killing Pain Elementals as soon as possible I would be able to conserve more ammo when compared to respawning barons.

 

And upon starting the level, all cacodemon inside it instantly turned their attention to me. They would float all the way across the map, slowly but steadily to my location. I chose to kill most of them in the starting area – but the second area turned to be even more hectic as I immediately came under the fire of chaingunners. The main area has the biggest shit that you need to sort – large number of imps, cacos and two cyberdemons, still fairly manageable with the large space given. The trip to the gold/blood maze can be necessary to pump the health and armor up.

 

What made the progression most obscure is the fact that the blue key won’t lower itself unless you actually come close to it! Add to that the constant necessity of using teleporters to move between two minor and one major area, and you’re in quite a slog! The yellow color in this map is associated with three things – the color of water, the color of skull key, and the color of arch-fire! Despite my fair skills, I ended up being hit twice during the final arch-vile ambush. But that’s where my reserved supercharge supply came handy! Just please don’t make the key progression too obscure next time.

Edited November 17, 2021 by FragsBunny

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP31: "Beamfleot" by Moustachio

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/1 secrets

 

A nice looking forest clearing with 3 cyberdemons and 8 Commander Keens to take down. The lone secret map of the wad takes place as an odd little gimmick. You mostly only have a rocket launcher to deal with the cyberdemons, although you do gain access to a plasma rifle and some cells eventually. There was a pretty easy spot in the midway of the platforming section I could camp at to whittle down the health of the cybies with rockets and duck for cover when they fire. The plasma then made quick work of the rest of their health once I saw that it had opened. Just a simple little oddity, and a bit on the tedious side, but looks nice.

 

MAP16: "Planet Vertigo" by Diego 'DJV' Villarroel

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

Another great midi in this one. This is probably the techbase that has given me the most space vibes of the episode so far. The outdoor areas are mostly black cliffs, and the yellow key area sticks out as being more of a demonic castle theme. The layout of this one is quite symmetrical compared to most of the wad, with a fair few wide and flat cross shaped corridors being used here. I still found it fun to explore though in any case, this map hits its atmosphere quite well.

 

Combat here isn't too challenging, but a little more difficult than it looks in my experience. Health isn't terribly sparse but I still felt like I was riding low health a decent amount in this one. The monsters flow quite steadily in this map and there are a decent few hitscanner placements that are somewhat troublesome. I really liked the yellow key area for some reason, where you gradually lowered the yellow key as monsters teleported into the one end of the cross-shaped ledges as you made progress, culminating in an archvile. The final fight was also quite a fun one, just a tight and fast-paced arena to finish the map off. Take out the rockets and go crazy. There's also a cyberdemon in this map, but he was a bit of a pushover. 

 

A pretty cool level that felt somewhat chill to play, nice little palate cleanser map.

[Book Lord]

MAP 17 - Yellow Sea by DukeOfDoom

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

 

The continuous flow of tech-bases suddenly fizzles out, giving the second episode of Interception 2 a totally new look and setting. The shift was evident since the beginning on a small island in the middle of a pond, which was fed by waterfalls coming down from the surrounding crags of basaltic rock. The liquid was not water, but a bright yellow substance which was not damaging, but only an eye candy that perfectly matched the black and the brown textures used in the first and in the second area.

 

The two small lakes introduced the graphic theme beautifully, offered good weaponry to pistol starters and gave important hints for the progression. There were a couple things I did not like so much: firstly, the teleporter right in front of you at the start was annoying, since you can step into it inadvertently while fighting Revenants; secondly, the nearby area had plenty of textures referencing the BSK, but the lift to get back up on the cross-shaped structure used the same SW1WDMET texture.  My colour-coded mind refused to use it, so I had no other choice but enter the teleporter that brought me to the Yellow Sea.

Spoiler

At first, I was intimidated by the large golden basin teeming with monsters of all kinds, including a Cacoswarm, two Cyberdemons and many other creatures willing to snipe me. I improvised guerrilla tactics but chose the wrong side of the pool, finding myself pinned down by both Revenant and Cyberdemon rockets, with Cacodemons flying all around me. I did not want to use the BFG, so I died here. The second round was better, as I found a blind spot behind the round building where I could handle the pursuers, and then eliminate every other alerted demon.

Spoiler

The progression seemed straightforward, at least until I found myself into the mazy round building, ending with a silly single-use teleport line that sent me back to the starting area. I grabbed the plasma gun and finished off the ones I left behind, but how irritating this was! I backtracked to collect the treasures, only to learn it was an optional area. The north-western building was the only accessible one, but I must have missed something on my first visit. I pressed only the first of a series of many switches, very difficult to spot in a constantly moving room.

 

Once I solved that puzzle, the level took my hand and never let it go until the exit. The castle-like building in the north-east had a symmetrical layout and its scattered bonuses were a chore to collect. The BSK was eventually picked up and the YSK was found shortly after, protected by some Imps and an Arch-Vile atop a tower. This was a short but compelling fight, with little ground and cover to exploit. I was expecting a mob of Archies in the locked yellow sanctuary, so I readied the BFG I found on the central island to make short work of them.

 

@DukeOfDoom surely delivered good combat in a visually cool level, having in the large Yellow Sea its climax but reaching the best atmosphere in the smaller areas, such as the starting lakes and the eerie labyrinth where yellow suddenly turned to blood. While I am tempted to praise this map as I did for almost the whole megaWAD, I found that some weird choices marred the experience for no good reason, relegating it to a lower rank of preference than it deserved for its many qualities.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP17 - Yellow Sea - DukeOfDoom (97%K/81%I/40%S): 

Well, here we are at the first map of two, of the yellow planet, don't ask where the yellow sea came, though. This is a really simple, but nice map, it feels like an old Sandy Petersen map remade, most of his traits are there, but obviously, with that spicy newschool gameplay with abusive cacoswarms and revenant groups out there, and of course, a cyberdemon for your troubles. The map looks open, but progression may be a little bit more linear than you think. You'll start in a little temple inside a crater, with many demons and such. You'll need to come back when you get your blue key. Several tasks will lead you into the yellow sea itself. Here is when the map starts getting really interesting.
I've enjoyed this a lot, even though the map itself does look a bit primitive, this is DukeOfDoom's first and only entry to the mapset, and I guess he came at the latter part of development, he is a new mapper aswell, but seeing most of his early maps posted on some threads, he is making a significant progress at map making, and I have to say this is no exception, great map (but I raged a lot).

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

MAP11

MAP06
MAP10
MAP17
MAP09
MAP15

MAP05

MAP04

MAP03
MAP07
MAP12
MAP13
MAP08

MAP02
MAP01
MAP16
MAP14
MAP31

 

I'm really happy that MAP16 serves its main purpose of having a nice atmosphere at least, it's always a pleasure to be playing a megawad when the club suddenly stumbles upon one of my maps and we review it.

Edited November 17, 2021 by DJVCardMaster

[finnks13]

MAP 17 - Yellow Sea by DukeofDoom:

Out of nowhere, we're treated to a yellow and black themed arena map. I really wasn't expecting anything like this after the previous 5 maps so I'm a bit confused about the lore of why we're here - I guess this isn't a techbase episode like I presumed. This map seems to be less focused about creating a sprawling layout to explore than the previous ones and more about chucking you into an arena with loads of enemies and letting you pick your way through it - it's the adrenaline shot I think this set needed at this point.

 

Aesthetically, I really like this map - strong, bright yellows contrasted against the rest of the dark scenery looks excellent and while it's not the most varied map visuals-wise, I appreciate when someone is able to stick to a theme. The first couple of arenas are fun short combat puzzles, with the player having very limited rockets to kill the revenants surrounding the spawn in the first one and the second one is even more limited on ammo initially, having to quickly take out the sniping chaingunners before moving on. Having a teleporter right in front of the player start seems a bit of a weird choice as you can just warp away from the first area and miss out on all of the (very necessary) ammo, weapons and berserk powerup.

 

The best part of the level is the initial surge into the final area with 2(!) cyberdemons in one room with a horde of approaching cacodemons from the outer edges. This first little bit was great, having to rush and pick up ammo while try to get the cyberdemons and cacos to infight to create some space was more of an involved challenge than anything else thus far. The yellow key fight was also pretty good, featuring the challenge of trying to balance on the small platform, creating space by killing imps and hosing the archvile with plasma. I must admit, the parts of the level outside of these fights wasn't that interesting being quite mazey and with some slightly annoying elements (the cross shaped building near the top of the map comes to mind here), but that's not enough to take away from the rest of this map.

[cannonball]

MAP17 - “Yellow Sea” by DukeOfDoom

 

A flawed but ultimately very fun map and a definite (And welcome) change of pace from the previous cluster of levels.

I don't know why but I am certainly fond of the Sandy-esque approach (albeit better looking i general). It also resulted in encounters at times that were not quite prepared for and as such you can end up in trouble quite quickly in places. The castle building you teleport into after the fight with the invulnerability is one example where you get sandwiched between a clump of demons and an archvile and whatever might be wanting to enter the building from the rear. The yellow key fight is simple but effective in execution where the correct strategy is to get the fight over with but you are at serious risk of falling off the tower and being presented with a hard to reach archvile that can zap you from almost anywhere. The yellow key is a real jump scare with several archviles, however I lucked out as they were all almost immediately distracted by the two still roaming cyberdemons and as such took no deaths here.

There are some issues, the progression is a little whack and as such you can sometimes ponder what the heck is going on, also the optional maze is pure garbage. However as a cohesive map, it is pretty compelling, offers thrills, oppressive encounters but always gives you options as to proceed. The cybers here appear early and are quite often useful to your progression or saving valuable ammo. Probably my favourite map of the episode so far.

[DJVCardMaster]

4 hours ago, finnks13 said:

I guess this isn't a techbase episode like I presumed. 

It is the "space travel" episode, actually.

Edited November 17, 2021 by DJVCardMaster

[Doritos420]

Map17 - Yellow Sea by DukeOfDoom

 

This one gave me strong Mt. Erebus vibes. Pretty fun level, I liked the beginning area where you get the rocket launcher first to take out the revenants. The wide open space was pretty crazy, luckily the cacodemon cloud kept the cyberdemons busy with infighting while I could progress through the map. As for the progression I totally forgot where to go once I picked up the blue key and wandered around a bit trying to find what to do. Other than that one hiccup it was surprisingly clear where to go and what to do despite the wide openness of the level. One thing I really liked was the 4 archvilles guarding the teleporter to the exit. Very intense when the yellow water comes up and traps you inside with them. Luckily at that point in the level you should have a lot of firepower to take them out.

[Dragonker]

MAP17 - “Yellow Sea” by DukeOfDoom 

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * Saves

 

A surprising map, indeed, both thematic and combat-wise. The map's namesake, the golden water, steals the show here, creating a distinct identity for "Yellow Water" from the get-go. The layout and gameplay are a stark contrast to previous entries: instead of exploring castles or space stations we're sent to deal with an onslaught of demons coming from all sides on big, semi-circular "outdoor" areas. Within each one, you must venture inside several structures to progress.

 

The progression is not locked only by keys but also by access to several teleporters. The constant jumping is quite disorienting, especially at the start, where you must react quickly to four or so chaingunners while pinkies try to surround you. Then you meet the cyberdemon. All within the very first minute. As is with these kind of maps, it becomes easier as it wears on.

 

Be prepared for some curve balls. Besides the chaingunners "fuck you" gesture, the last battle is against some arch-viles in a sequence both awesome and treacherous.

Edited November 18, 2021 by Dragonker

[Krenium]

MAP17 - Yellow Sea by DukeOfDoom

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

 

 

This map takes a sharp departure from the relative realism of the previous maps and dumps us in an abstract zone full of yellow liquid. The color scheme is unusual and fun to look at. Most of all, this map is *fun*. I think I may have had more fun here than any of the other maps, though I'd be hard-pressed to explain exactly why. I think it might be the mix of giant main infighting battle with ambushes that take place inside various buildings dotting the landscape and smaller zones reachable only by teleporters. I enjoyed the feeling of teleporting around to disparate areas yet having the feeling of connection as well, as evidenced by cacodemons who can float from one area to another.

 

The map features some entertaining platforming and plenty of opportunity to punch out some demons with the amped up berserk. Only thing I don't really like about this map is some of the secrets fall flat, being largely 'press this obvious wall' sometimes in a symmetrical fashion. I also don't like how difficult the archvile ambush is without the BFG secret -- I tried engaging them with plasma 7-8 times before giving up and searching for the BFG, which makes the encounter pretty easy. The BFG secret also feels unrewarding.

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)

6 11 12 4 2 17 3 15 14 13 8 10 16 9 7 5 1 31

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP17: "Yellow Sea" by DukeOfDoom

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 2/5 secrets

 

Our travels see us taken away from the techbases and into a more abstract landscape flooded in yellow liquid. Yellow and black are the predominant colours used in this one and it looks quite nice. The map is divided into two smaller areas each with a central structure and some black cliffs, and then one larger area which takes the form of a flooded town area and is where you'll spend most of your time. It's a much more open map than most of what we've seen recently, and it's a nice change of pace.

 

Suitably to the more open layout, the combat here is a lot looser particularly in the larger area. Things still tighten up from time to time inside the level's buildings, but most of the enemies are outside in the wide open area, which includes two cyberdemons that you can cause infighting with and relatively easily dispatch with the plasma when you're done with them. This one actually felt a bit easy, there is one potentially threatening fight that is neutralized by giving you a free invulnerability, which is a little bit overkill in my opinion. The last 4 archviles are a bit of a challenge though and you'll want to make sure you're stocked for health and armour before releasing them, it can be quite tough to avoid damage from them. Otherwise though, the level gives you a lot of freedom of movement and the times you are restricted are mostly not too challenging.

 

Even if a bit easy, this was quite a fun little arena-style map, and the abstract visuals were pulled off exceptionally.

[Doritos420]

Map18 - The Golden Palace by Moustachio

 

Really enjoyed this one. Cool music and great look to the level. The beginning area is pretty unforgiving shoving an archville and a couple of revenants at you right away. I really liked the area past the blue doors with all the lava, very hectic fight here. I liked how you can approach this area from different doors, one way giving you a handy invulnerability sphere. Surprisingly I was able to find all the secrets as well in this level. One nitpick I would say is that the ending room is a bit of a letdown, just have to kill a few hitscanners & an imp past the yellow door to progress.

[Moustachio]

On 11/16/2021 at 6:47 PM, DFF said:

I will say though that towards mid-end of development I was working on a secret map for this WAD called Sunken Dreams which featured a gothic sort of castle, lost to time being buried under muddy water. the map featured several "sinking water" effects where the map would open up by the player lowering water. The issue this map had was I kinda pushed it off to the side, didn't have a real clear idea of how i wanted the full layout to look, and managing all those lowering sectors was a pain (especially since I wanted a "creation pool" that setup different arenas to complete for each of the 3 keys. The map was 25% complete and by the end when Moustachio took back over it was just removed as he tried to finish what i had left, but it didn't feel right. Someday I hope to rework this map somewhere.

 

Oh my goodness, I remember that. That level was turning out to be really cool actually, with the slime lowering to provide a few interesting elevator challenges. I'd love to see you finish it up someday, somehow.

[RHhe82]

It looks like I have to withdraw from this club for some time due to unforeseen real life events. I hope to get back to Interception II, but I’m not quite sure when.

[DFF]

Map17: Yellow Sea by Duke of Doom

UV, Continuous, GZdoom, Corruption Cards 3.1 (card: look at L.souls too long burns).
K: 90%, S: 80% T: 9:57

Its only as I am typing that i remembered i completely forgot to even enter the maze building, oh well.
Yellow sea is a delightfully lovely map by Duke of Doom that used the very odd but unique yellow liquid textures with some rather gothic and industrial keeps. If i recall duke of Doom described the idea as an overrun port of sorts on this yellow planet.
I did do a little work on this map but much less than something like Map14 or Map02. I added the the rocky borders of the starting area, re-detailed the outer wall, and streamlined a little bit of the inter-building progression but aside from that this map was very fine as-is.

aside from the unique visuals, this map does quite well to keep its implementation open and relatively simple. Upon teleporting into the main area its intentions are made very clear: There's a bunch of baddies to kill, there's plenty of resources to snag, and there's some buildings to go explore. Straightforward and accessible. The arena gives plenty of freedom to move so players can easily kill the initial invasion of demons, or ignore them and hit up the buildings instead. The teleporting does get a tad confusing at times but as long as you go with the flow its pretty enjoyable and expedites backtracking.

[finnks13]

MAP 18 - The Golden Palace by Moustachio:

We're treated to another map in the short intermission of "cool yellow and black castles" in the techbase episode, though it does have a bit more variety than the previous map as we're also treated to a lot of red in this map too which looks really nice with the rest of the yellow and black scenery. This map feels more "at home" in Interception 2 than Yellow Sea, as it fits better with the rest of the set than the previous one gameplay wise.

 

I enjoyed the opening fight to the map, it's rather hectic and features an archvile right from the offset who can harass you until you're able to take him with rockets (unless you get lucky like I did and the archvile focuses more on failing to attack a revenant than me!) and there's a fair amount of far-away hitscanners in this opening room too, forcing you to confront them. Admittedly, the map takes a bit of a slower turn after this initial adrenaline rush, but I don't think that's a bad thing. What is a bad thing is this episode's continuing obsession with tight corridors at odd angles. I appreciate that they look cool and that building maps off the main grid is more difficult, but they're still incredibly irritating to move through - at least there's less combat in them than the previous few maps.

 

I also liked the final large fight, setting you off with an invulnerability to allow you clear space while making the enemies spread out and attack in a manner that it's impossible to complete the entire thing within the duration of the power up. I do wish there were a few more rockets to make the process of sniping the turret mancubi a little bit less of a pain, but I get that this may have imbalanced the fight. I thought the music in this level seemed a bit out of place, the bombastic bassline and trumpet make it sound more like a song from Donkey Kong Country Returns than something to accompany exploring an alien castle of some sort, but I did like the song, even if I did find it a bit unfitting. Overall, this map is a pretty good time.

[Book Lord]

MAP 18 - The Golden Palace by Moustachio

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

 

The yellow planet theme was carried on seamlessly from MAP17 with The Golden Palace, a fortress made of red and yellow marble where a lot of golden liquid flowed freely or was processed by indecipherable alien machinery. The previous level introduced us properly to the colour palette, but here it was woven into more complex patterns and sector architecture, creating a pleasurable environment to slay some hellspawn.

 

The start required assaulting the palace from the outside and finding the only way in, since the others are unlocked by keys found elsewhere. Pistol starters should not linger by the entrance for too long because the place is heavily guarded, and they need the weapons to repel the opposition. As usual, @Moustachio applied a constant pressure throughout the map, which featured moderately dangerous ambushes but never let me fully relax. Just to provide an example, an Arch-Vile came out as soon as I picked up the rocket launcher.

Spoiler

Once more, the fortress was entered from the back door, crossing a natural cavern with buttery falls, then up again through an ornate section containing a library with a nice chain of secrets. After a short corridor shooting sequence, the BSK was mine and a blue door was near, so I retraced my steps to it, winding up into a large outdoor plant patrolled by a significant number of Mancubi, Arachnotrons, Cacodemons and Pain Elementals. I spent a lot of rockets here, and eventually I was able to take the conveyor belt into the teleporter. I was disoriented at first since I did not see what the switch had opened, then I recalled a stuck door I saw before, which led to the YSK terrace.

Spoiler

At that point, players who are keen observers, and not simpletons like me, might notice that the Invulnerability could be reached from the YSK by jumping on the pillars, giving a purpose to the second blue door as a shortcut to the exit. I backtracked all the long way around instead, bumping into two traps that were activated when I picked up the BSK, the Arch-Vile one being particularly vicious. I thought the god sphere could find some use in the exit area, but I was wrong. I realised this nuance only when I rechecked the map in the editor, and my opinion was further improved by this clever shortcut. Another successful entry from the inventor of the Interception franchise.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP18 - The Golden Palace - Moustachio (99%K/95%I/0%S): 

Ah yes, the map with the golden showers, this map was at the MAP12 slot, and it had a different start, you were in a space-ship, and then you teleported into this place, sadly, this idea got scrapped. Also, this map was the previous map to what is now Planet Vertigo. Now this map has a totally different sense as it follows the previous map with similar traits, those being the golden lakes, or the "outer-planet" temples. Gameplay here is really fun, although you may not like those shinny colors as much, so the looks of this map I guess would be pretty mixed depending of the color-pallete tastes of the person. I always liked this map, and I like it specially because it gives you a better "space travel" vibe than just having regular tech-bases. I think one of the problems with this episode is that we kind off missed the spot of the "Space-travel" a little bit.

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP11

MAP06
MAP10
MAP18
MAP17
MAP09
MAP15

MAP05

MAP04

MAP03
MAP07
MAP12
MAP13
MAP08

MAP02
MAP01
MAP16
MAP14
MAP31

 

 

[cannonball]

MAP18 - “The Golden Palace” by Moustachio

 

I am not sure how I feel about this one. It starts pretty hot and the golden marble is certainly a conversation starter (I don't know whether I like it but that won't be a plus/minus point on this review). 

However I must admit that the general interior was not so great. This is probably the easiest map of the episode so far in so far that I didn't even come close to dying here. The provision of health and armour is probably too forgiving here and at times the layout and monster placement seems to encourage a more caution approach (In stark contrast to the previous map). The Yellow key area was a little bit of a pain, you have snipers that are hard to hit and quite often find it hard to hit you back, I suspect their positions need to be lowered somewhat to be more effective. Also given the size of the area the playing conditions are too cramped. There are a few clever tricks in here but nothing to really write home about and the ending is very underwhelming, and sums it up by being the only part of the map that is dominated by stock brown brick :P

There was also a strange glitch after I picked up the yellow key, several of the interior sections were flickering (Is this deliberate), however all the liquid floors seemed to change texture to a plain yellow before flickering back. I played this with DSDA doom by the way.

Overall, this felt like a missed opportunity to me, a lot of opening promise that never felt truly backed up by the rest of the map.

 

[Krenium]

MAP18 - Golden Palace by Moustachio

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

 

 

This map has a pretty interesting hot start. If you spot the rocket launcher and go for it immediately like I did the first time, you'll wake up an archvile who will make your life very difficult. I got annihilated, and my second attempt I went down into the yellow liquid to find enough firepower to dispatch the imps and revenants without waking the arcvhile, so I could later take him on alone. This was probably the trickiest encounter in the entire map. There are several tricky encounters, but not the sort that spring stuff on you; the kind where there are snipers on ledges covering each other and monsters hidden at the trickiest of angles.

 

This map is weird. The color scheme is weird. The architecture is weird. The enemy placement is weird. The progression is weird. That yellow liquid is weird. And yet, I enjoyed my time thoroughly here. I think my favorite place in the map is pictured in the screenshot above. It's a really curvy hallway overlooked by some ledges filled with snipers you will be able to reach later. It's just interesting to look at and traverse. This part of the map made me think I was playing Descent. If I had to offer any criticism about this map, it would be that resources are too plentiful. It would have been interesting to have more of an 'attrition' style of gameplay I think, even if just a bit.

 

This map employs almost no ambushes at all, instead relying on tricky placement. I like to see this because it's harder to do well and we don't see it done this well very often. The map is generally linear but it does criss-cross back over itself a few times, generally opening some part of the room up to reveal more monsters. This is a nice way to spice things up as you re-tread old areas. Definitely one of the most unique maps we've seen in the wad, and with this Moustachio really shows the range of maps they can produce. I liked it quite a bit. Well done!

 

Map ranking (favorite -> least)

6 11 12 4 2 17 3 15 18 14 13 8 10 16 9 7 5 1 31

 

Edited November 18, 2021 by Krenium

[Moustachio]

MAP18: The Golden Palace.

 

I may have mistakenly called this MAP19 at some point. This map took me a while to finish, but a lot of it remained the same throughout development. Originally, there was a small intro where you teleport down from your spaceship, but it was even more claustrophobic than the already claustrophibic bits of the map, and it was a bit of a lackluster start. What ultimately made me remove it though was a neat skybox texture that I employed to make it look as if you were peering out over the yellow planet horizon. It looked awful in GL ports though, and I wasn't savvy enough to implement a 3D skybox at the time. I'm lucky that DukeOfDoom used the yellow liquid texture as the base for the last map because it segued perfectly into this one, which was mapped earlier. I feel as if I should have swapped the two around, since DukeOfDoom's map is a bit more difficult. The music track is one of those moments where I have to laugh at myself a little bit. I think at one point I found it to be a nice change of pace, and it's still a fine track. If it were me today though, I would either pick something a little more atmospheric or something a little more metal. The main theme of this map was to create an alien palace on a planet made of gold, and the gold is being harvested by the UAC (ever the bastards). The crazy geometry and color choices are definitely staples of my earlier work. I think it worked with MAP05 since it was in the void, but here in space, it might be a little overboard with all the non-orthogonal walls. Some of the interior is definitely a bit cramped for my playstyle now. For the second ever map I started for the project, however, I'm pretty pleased with it still.

 

DFF's second solo map comes tomorrow, and it's one I'm looking forward to hearing the opinions on. We'll return briefly to the asteroid techbase theme, but with some twists to the formula. After that, it's JadingTsunami's MAP20, and we'll be back on Earth in no time for Episode 3.

 

2 hours ago, cannonball said:

There was also a strange glitch after I picked up the yellow key, several of the interior sections were flickering (Is this deliberate), however all the liquid floors seemed to change texture to a plain yellow before flickering back. I played this with DSDA doom by the way.

That's bizarre. I played this through on DSDA-Doom just the other day and I didn't spot any glitches like that (although I did spot a fat slime trail in the yellow slimefall room). There's only a handful of flickering lights, but not so many in the interior. I haven't seen the liquid floor glitch either. I played on Software mode though, maybe it's an OpenGL glitch. Couldn't replicate it in either mode though.

Edited November 18, 2021 by Moustachio

[Dragonker]

MAP18 - “The Golden Palace” by Moustachio

 

Woof! * HMP * Pistol start * Saves

 

Quite hard for me to summarize this one as it's quite intricate. "The Golden Palace" cranked up the yellow from the previous map to 11 and went for a more traditional explore-complex progression.

 

Like a fellow DOOMer said above, this map is weird. It's fun, but it's like those videos with seizure warnings: lots of yellow/red stuff happening quickly; most corridors are pretty tight so you are constantly moving from zone to zone, and textures can change drastically on short notice.

 

Overall, an acceptable entry that'll test your reaction time above all.

[Book Lord]

MAP 19 – Asteroid Assault by DFF

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

 

The second full contribution by @DFF was based upon a hit or miss concept: Doomguy in Rambo’s clothes carrying a one-man attack against a tech-base, defended by a veritable army of almost 500 former humans. There were many differences between Asteroid Assault and Stronghold, the TNT:Evilution map that is considered the archetype of the hitscanner hell: firstly, the opposition consisted of 100% zombies, with other enemies appearing only as corpses; secondly, the action often took place in bigger and wide open areas; thirdly, the visual detailing was amazing beyond expectations; lastly, plenty of Boom tricks spiced up the difficulty, sometimes to the point of being unfair.

Spoiler

I am a fan of this kind of levels, and I had a good time fighting my way through this one. There are lots of cute things to see on the go: the huge hallway with TEKDARK1 moving bullet screens à la MAP04: The Focus, the marvellous computer lab, the satellite dish, the tank in the war zone tunnel, the warehouse with the conveyor belt circuit, the orbiting satellite, the security tower, the anachronistic library, the spaceship launch bay at the end. These landmarks conveyed both the idea of being on an asteroid and of storming a heavily guarded fortress, making this tech-base stand out from its endless peers.

Spoiler

There were two keys to collect: the YK in the library and the RK in the warehouse. Both were needed to exit, and their possession gave total freedom of exploration, including the access to convenient teleport shortcuts. The map was rather big, and the ample choice of paths disoriented me at times. For example, I skipped the library at first passage because I thought it was a yellow locked door. I had so many paths to check that I saved it for later, happening to find the RK first. Foreknowledge may improve the experience and allow for optimised routes to be taken.

Spoiler

Combat was rough and taxing for health, as expected. The author was walking on thin ice when he decided to fill Asteroid Assault with glass cannons: most of the time he delivered chaotic and funny action, thanks to effective use of closets, barrels, and teleports; sadly, in some cases he reached high peaks of annoyance. The start might be the worst one, whether you are pistol starting or not. The zombies teleporting on the encompassing rocks had a good line of sight and no reliable cover was available; moreover, the invisible and unjustified blocking line on the tunnel cut my hopes of escaping a premature death. The entrance to the computer lab, the first loop on the conveyor belt, and the warehouse teleport trap left me barely standing, as too many hitscanners were firing at me, often unseen, far away or from unpredictable angles.

 

Besides the overstretched nature of combat, which left me a bit exhausted and impaired my will to search for the numerous missing secrets, Asteroid Assault was another memorable level by @DFF. This mapper has the unique ability to impart a strong identity to his creations, pursuing the realistic representation of environments and their details with impressive devotion. No matter if someone likes the gameplay or not, he will surely remember his maps for this only reason.

Edited November 19, 2021 by Book Lord
Fixed image broken links

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP18: "The Golden Palace" by Moustachio

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/3 secrets

 

As the name somewhat suggests, we see somewhat of a continuation of the theme seen in the last map. Yellow/gold is a dominant colour again, but we see a lot of red complementing it this time. The map is also more interior based, taking place inside and around the titular palace, which also has some cave sections inside of it. The midi is also a fun one, definitely a change of pace from more serious sounding midis, going in the direction of a funk/fusion influenced track with lots of jazz organ. I didn't mind the choice to be honest, it wasn't too unfitting for me and it gave the map sort of a standout vibe.

 

The map kicks off with quite a hot start that can go south in a lot of ways. The palace's outer area is lined with lots of hitscanners, revenants, and other foes, and an archvile even joins the party when you go for the rocket launcher. Once you've taken care of the outdoor enemies though, the map feels like it slows down quite a bit. The interior is a lot more tightly packed, but the threats aren't too dire and the map felt quite generous with all manner of resources. The action does pick up again back past the blue key door though, where you're back outside and faced with more hitscanners and revenants, only this time you also have pain elementals, another archie, and quite a few of each of the Dead Simple duo to worry about. This area is also a little bit awkward to fight in which makes things tougher.

 

Good level despite the lull in the middle. I dig the usage of the yellow/gold quite a bit again in this map.