The DWmegawad Club plays: Ozonia

[dei_eldren]

MAP08 - Subterraneo I (Doom II, continuous, blind): K 100%, I 98%, S 100%, T 16:57

 

Spoiler

The first view is of an imposing temple seen from the courtyard, and it appears to be located on another island in the middle of the sea.  No enemies are evident, only the YSK is placed prominently on the ground, and it will be needed to gain entrance into the massive stone building.  Curiously, the monster count is only at 27, and even more so, picking up the key effects no reaction.  Entering the fort, there is a corridor before another large wooden door and health bonuses, but still no enemies.  The door opens up to reveal a large hall with lava flows on the floor and red hot natural stone walls, from the other far end of which a Mancubus starts his attack.  Along the sides there are some loot i collect first, but upon venturing further some Revenants teleport in, and the episode of action finally begins, and remains unexpectedly short.

 

The Mancubus was guarding a switch which opens up a way down the large hole in the middle of the hall, which is the only way forward.  i jump down to find myself surrounded in total darkness, until i fall down a little way more to a ledge, opening up a view to an even more massive grotto, with a pit of lava in the middle.  The immediate concern are two Arachnotrons in front of me, and there is some fire coming from far away too.  Over the lava pit are of course platforms to run across to all four directions.  The biggest danger are two Hierophants, who are extremely difficult to target, thanks to their unpredictable and quick movements, and just two of them are capable of asserting a lot of pressure, especially when they get close by.  There is a switch at the end of the left-side platforms guarded this time by an Imp, which opens up the gate to another black hole leading deeper underground.

 

The lowest area is a grotto with more difficult opposition, as upon falling down i was immediately assailed by Revenants and a number of Hierophants, on first try my health going down to 1% i really needed a retake.  Other than that, the exit is here, along with a teleporter back to the beginning.

 

The secrets...i had to seek for both after the fact, and found the Soulsphere along some cells first, but the second one is my biggest regret.  My mind got stuck on this linedef-sound in the first large hall, knowing where likely the secret would be, and i just spent way too much time on it.  Since it lead nowhere (i really should learn to give up on my idee fixe's after exploring all reasonable avenues) and used iddt, discovering in that inglorious manner the correct way to access it.  This is the first, and last, time i've used iddt on this WAD, and i regretted it, as the solution was perfectly reasonable (it always ends up being so, in this Megawad).  If i couldn't figure it out now, i should have left it for a later run.  The secret itself, of course, was interesting, and let's just say the rest of the enemies, as predicted, were there...  i think i used about two thirds of my video-time on the secrets :D  Talk about idee fixe...

 

Once again, Deadwing has created a map with a very strong sense of location, crafted in the same consistent and clear classical Plutoniaesque visual style as the previous ones.  The areas here are beautifully and simply adorned with torches, candelabras, and corpses, creating a sense of a place of unholy ritual, just as Satelite was given an appropriate sense of place with the dead trees and barren monotonous landscapes.  The combat was sparser than usual, but never trifling, and that's quite something with such low enemy count without using Arch-Viles and Cyberdemons, on a map even as extensive as this.  Every encounter mattered...

 

Lastly, i've been looking forward to a map i can do blind, and here it is, much sooner than i expected (i do hope that the old MAP06 has only been moved and not re-moved.)  This map is short enough to be considered a breather, i suppose, but it was great to be playing a blind map in this WAD.

 

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by dei_eldren
wy'd i write fort when it's a temple?

[TJG1289]

Deluxe/GZDoom/Eviternity/Continuous/Saves

Map 06: Altura

100% kills and secrets

Time: 14:46

Deaths: 1

 

Take the opening of map 3, replace the lava with slime, and you've got this map. Precarious platforming abound here. It's a good thing there's teleporters and goodies in the slime, plus a decent amount of rad suits, so it's not a huge deal if you fall in. We finally hit more than 100 monsters here, and we also get some Hierophants for the first time since the first level. These things are actually much more dangerous than I thought. They're pretty quick, and Deadwing likes the put them in packs. The red key fight for instance throws like 4 of them at you, and I had to deal with the mancubi that were already in this arena at the same time. How I didn't die, idk. I did die behind the red key door due to these annoyances cornering me. Plasma is the best for them, though the chaingun can potentially stunlock them too. We've got another secret fight here, with a few revs popping up when you go to grab the secret soul sphere. The blue key door fight is pretty interesting, with several mancubi showing up from alcoves, and a bunch of revs teleporting onto some platforms. Kill the revs, and normal zombies take their place. I got hit by mancubi fire a lot here. All-in-all, another solid level. Music was a little more mid-tempo, but rockin' enough.

 

Map 07: Satélite

100% kills and secrets

Time: 10:43

Deaths: 2

 

We have a mid-episode change, and now we're on an island with some ruins interspersed with a couple of standalone buildings. The caution signs around indicate that the water that's on and surrounding the islands is radioactive, so don't be on there long! The hellions are back, and are just as annoying as they were before. One of those and a lost soul sandwiched me early on, and I'm surprised I didn't die. I do think it lead to my first death, as I did go into the water to find a secret that was on my automap, and died just before getting to it. Oops. This map is pretty open-ended, with quite a few duplicates of weapons around to make going any direction worthwhile. The red key fight is a barn burner, with 2 elevated archies trying to snipe you, as arachnotrons and cacos approach. As long as you stay directly below the platform while using it for cover, you can rocket everything into oblivion with relative ease. Idk if the map uses the map 7 tags for arachnotrons, but I think they're only fought here, and may be the key to nabbing the red skull. Going through the red door in this arena drops you into the sea with a rad suit in hand, having you go around the outskirts while taking out some platformed fodder. There is a secret around here that nets you a soul sphere, so be on the lookout. The red door building back on the main island opens up the path to the exit, and to the 2nd secret, which is just a strafe jump into the other building for a bulk cell. The exit room has an actual fight this time, and does make use of the map 7 tags. Killing the mancubi here lower walls on both sides of the arena. One side has imps, the other has 2 archies. Guess which side caused death #2? I focused rockets in that side for the next attempt, and that worked. This was one of my favs of the WAD so far. Really liked the location and environmental design. The chill soundtrack was very cool, and the 2 main fights were pretty fun! Hellions are still annoying, but not as bad as last time.

[NiGHTS108]

MAP06: Altura

 

Kills: 97%

Items: 89%

Secrets: 50%

 

If these maps are anything, they don't lie to you, neither does Altura, this is the current apex of running over high-rise platforms to go places, which is something Deadwing really likes doing, this is probably the least remarkable map so far, there's not much combat that jumps out at me except the neat Arachno-ambush that shows up to get their precious red key back, the rest of it is more dealing with heavies and chaingunners over damaging floors, again, you will see more of the Hierophant this time though, he appears in relatively large numbers sometimes, he seems only a bit stronger than a Revenant and weaker than a Mancubus, the layout and architecture of this one also reminds me of MAP03 but the visuals aren't quite so pretty, it does remind me of E2M4 from Doom I though, so that's a bonus

 

Grade: B

Difficulty: C

 

Playthrough video

Edited January 8, 2022 by NiGHTS108

[Endless]

MAP06: Altura | UV | Doom Retro

 

 

Well, well. Pretty much follows the same pattern as the previous maps. A good mixture of open areas with enclosed spaces. Lots of combat in all directions with a good variation between fights, with the major danger coming from both arachnatrons and mancubus. Not as much revenants now, at least, but still quite difficult. The map is very well designed with a charismatic blend of Plutonia with the Ozonia style. Mostly darkness all around, with a very dreadful mood. The combat follows on the same pace, althought, it can get a tad annoying from time to time. See, my problem is mostly due to the fact that some of the projectile-bases monsters act too much as snipers, meaning that they're in very far places where the autoaim of the player wont work properly, or at all. This, of course, it's no issue with players that use autoaim, but those that like to enjoy the vanilla-feel, might fiend themselves in quite the nasty situations a lot of times. Plus, there's acid all aroud so you better be careful watching where you step. I like the map, yes, but it's not exactly my favorite setting so far, but I have high since there's more episodes to come. Oh, a new demon also makes presence. It's like an afrit, but slightly more simple.

 

MAP07: Satélite | UV | Doom Retro

 

 

Really enjoyed the visuals on this one. I'm a fan of the ''floating island'' setting. It's pretty moody and the MIDI does a great job at conveying a very eerie yet calm atmosphere. Most of the map follows a simple style of visuals with a more open scenario, and the closed areas are done in the form of caverns of subterranean bases. It's quite small yet the depth makes it feel larger than it actually is. On the other hand, this is the most ''open'' map, so the progression can get a bit lost at times, since there's no clear path. The gameplay is pretty much on the same path as the previous one. One particular area, the part with the red key, was quite the bitch. Arachnatrons denying you the path and archviles denying you the cover, so pretty much a game of duck-and-shoot. A bit too much for me. The firs cavern with the red bastards was also quite challenging thanks to the little room for mobility. So, yeah, overall, 7 maps look good but can be quite tough despite the low enemy count.

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP07: Satélite (HMP/continuous/saves)

21:35 | 100% Everything

Another good one. I like how it feels very nonlinear at first, feeling your way around the cliffsides. More platforming across columns suspended over a damaging floor, but the organic theme made it even neater here. Not to strenuous a challenge here, except for the bit down at the inner crater of the island's interior with the hellions. Man, I'm starting to hate those guys. If they manage to sneak up behind you and you've got the wrong weapon armed (read: anything but the chaingun or plasma) you're basically already dead. They killed me before I saved for the first time (after exploring basically everything short of leaping into the AV lighthouse arena) so I got to play most of the map twice! The mentioned lighthouse arena I think also killed me once, I believe; I wanted to hug the base of the lighthouse to dodge the vile, but doing so made it easy for the spiders to creep up around me and kill me. The exit from the arena after grabbing the red key was pretty neat: grab a radsuit and dash basically all the way around the island again to get back on. I will say, it wasn't as fun the second time, when, after clearing out the map, I revisited the arena in order to top off my shell supply. The dash back out to the nearest lift cost me 24% health (down from 200, so, y'know, not a huge deal. But still!) Another good map, and the music was different, but gorgeous--actually reminded me of Super Castlevania IV at one point...

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP07: Satelite 

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

An intermission screen marks a bit of a visual shift here. Gone are the maps wrapped in vines, and we find ourselves, and we fine ourselves on barren cliffs in the middle of a vast expanse of water. As the signage indicates, the water all around the level is toxic, so you won't want to take a dip for extended periods without a rad suit. The midi here is a more peaceful one, has an explorative feel to it and a gorgeous sounding outro.

 

As is par for the course for this wad, the small monster count disguises some nasty encounters. The hellions continue to be a pain, although I'm beginning to see the name of the game is to try and always be moving fast whenever they are around. The big arachnotron ambush with the archviles on the center platform is very hectic, found it safest to just use up my plasma here to kill the arachnotrons while sticking close to the platform to avoid getting zapped by the archies. The final encounter can also be tricky, featuring a bunch of mancubi with some chaingunners. Both encounters make use of the MAP07 tags as well, with the red key being accessible once the arachnotrons are gone, and the switch to activate the exit being accessible when the mancubi are gone (with another nasty double archvile surprise to go with it).

 

Another solid and well polished map.

[Book Lord]

MAP 08 – Subterrâneo I

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

 

MAP08 started in a weird way. Tall pillars with impaled humans dotted an endless sea of lava, and behind Doomguy stood the imposing entrance of a demonic fortress. The YSK was there for the taking, along with a Megaarmour and some heavy weaponry, suggesting that tougher fights lay ahead. I asked myself why the key was just in front of its door, but its purpose became clear at a later stage.

 

The hall inside the building was patrolled by a single Mancubus, though approaching him and the switch he guarded was enough to summon the largest Revenant group of the megaWAD so far. They teleported in a strange sequence, starting slowly and then abruptly filling the area, to the point that running around in circles and strafing was not a reliable approach. I might have been a bit out of focus during this combat, but I had a hard time coming out alive. Once I knew the switch opened the central pit, the only way to progress, I figured out that killing them all was not mandatory.

Spoiler

A silent teleport created the illusion of falling into a lower cavern, where Arachnotrons set up a warm welcome. This was going to be another combat set piece, this time against Hierophants while walking on tiny pillars and platforms over magma. I moved towards the only dead end, then I fell into the lava and died because I could not find a way up, since the compressed staircases did not look like such from the bottom. I realised there was a secret area that could not be accessed after reaching the central platform, and the automap revealed another one that I missed at the start, because the apparently pointless YSK shifted my attention towards the door. Too bad, let’s move on.

Spoiler

Another jump in the dark led me to a third cavern, where a large flock of Hierophants tried to kill me in cooperation with Revenants. The two monsters fought well together, especially the custom ones which were fast enough to avoid Revenant rockets and subsequent infight. I fumbled a lot, picked up a Soul Sphere to survive, but I stayed strong and prevailed. The RSK opened the exit, though a nearby teleporter caught my attention. It sent me back to start, allowing to score all the missed secrets. A short, though not trivial level offering three memorable combat scenarios, stunning visuals, clever secrets, and an unusual way to progress into new areas. Is it possible to find distinctive features in every map of a megaWAD? With Ozonia, it is.

Edited January 8, 2022 by Book Lord

[Biodegradable]

MAP08 - Subterraneo I

UV | Continuous | GZDoom with Vanilla+

 

A brief but wild journey down a rabbit hole of grief, this map chucks you into 3 different arenas with dense, spicy combat. The combination of Revs, Brainiacs and those flying legless nerds with the big fireball attacks are here to bring the pressure to a boiling point and make things uncomfortable for you. And honestly, that's about the gist of it. It's got a swanky music track too. That's all I've really got for this one. The third fight was definitely the hardest. The deadly team of Revs and Flying Nerds was a real bastard to deal with.

 

 

[kalaeth]

Didn't get a chance to play yesterday so it's two maps for one today! 

 

MAP07 - Satelite: 

It's the outside. A jump and a fail means that by the time I figure out how to reach the main playground I'm almost dead. Being swarmed by firemonkeys and lost skulls means I die. Restart, this time I'll jump right. I manage to go grab the green armor and realize that this will be another platforming heavy level. Yey. I ran into a cave to grab a heathpack, kill a specter and fall down a hole. Another firemonkey, although it seems he shoots plasma, so.. Plasmamonkey it is. A switch reveals another one of those, a path back up, snipe a fireboy with rockets, find the red key. A few spiders try to stop me but the power of the rocket is too strong. No ambush when I grab the key, so I bet I can press this switch without a problem..Oh, it's a door for a rad suit. I go for a bit of sea exploration, found the map. Once more into the sea, back to where I first died, and I find the red door. Enter, go to the secret, grab a cellpack, and trying to dodge a plasmamonkey I end up running into a archie that kills me. It's back to the start baby! Knowing what I am doing this time it's faster to reach the red door. I save here and go for the carnage! I kill teh AV from inside so I don't have to deal with him after, grab the secret, and then I stumble upon the exit. I am, however at half secrets and 9 monsters short of a 100%... *saves and goes for a walk*

 Killed most of the remaining baddies but that second secret.. I can't deem to find a way to it.. AH! Here's my bluesphere and the final enemies. Now back to the exit and done!

 

K/S/I : 100%, 95%, 100%
time (cumulative / level ) 2:01:13 / 17:12
deaths (cumulative / level ) : 7 / 2

~[map08 to be added shortly]~

[Lorenz0]

MAP07 - Satelite

 

The name suggests that this level doesn’t take place on Earth, which you wouldn’t be able to guess just by looking at the familiar rocky textures and man made buildings. However, looks can be deceiving, because the atmosphere is quite otherworldly. The music contributes to that feeling a lot, and the radioactive water is certainly not something a doomguy from Earth is used to!

 

I like how the island you move around on is structured. It’s a pretty unusual environment and I enjoy it a lot. The combat seems a bit easier than in the previous map, though I managed to get killed by the surprise hellions early and by the two archviles at the very end regardless.

 

MAP08 - Subterrâneo I

 

That’s…a lot of revenants. 

 

This map is relatively straightforward, containing 3 big fights, each one triggering as you go deeper into the cave. The first one gave me the most trouble, as the revenants can easily overwhelm you if you’re not careful, though circle strafing can alleviate some of the pressure. The reason why I found this fight hard is also the biggest problem I have with the map - the secret I found next to the spawn area is inescapable. You cannot go back to the starting room, which meant that I had to beat the entire map without picking up the blue armor at the start, since I jumped down into the secret first. I think this is something that should be fixed. Players usually don’t expect secrets to be inescapable after all.

 

I have no issues other than that though. The map is pretty cool, with the silent teleporters and exciting ambushes. And the midi is once again very fitting. Much more epic than usual, just how the combat is more hectic than usual.

[Deadwing]

8 - That level is honestly a complicated one lol It's conception came when I was building E2/3. At some point I thought that it would be cool to have shorter monsterless maps followed by a longer more epic ones, with the goal to give more variety to the wad. So that's where I decided to create these pair of maps: In E1, we have Subterraneo I and II. In E2, we have Citadela I and II and in E3 the original goal was to have Mecanismo I and II. Also, each episode initial map was meant to be monsterless, with the initial concept of Ozonia (map 1), map 12 and map 21.

 

However, as time passed on, the scope of the project kept getting bigger. Also, I felt that it would be cool to see some guest maps done by community members, as an inspiration I got from both AA and Eviternity, and I was also enjoying quite a lot the resources gathered to create the wad, so I wanted to see other mappers using their creativity in it. Even further, this wad would have more variety as new mappers would definitely give new DNA. So Subterraneo II, Citadela II, map 32 and map 28 became guest mappers, where I was able to have the great collaborations of Lorenz0, riderr3, antares031 and A2Rob, respectively. For the old Subterraneo II and Citadela II, I had only sketches and I hadn't done anything on Doom Builder, and Mecanismo I was a short map that was scrapped after A2Rob accepted my request :D

 

The thing is, as the development progressed, I felt that these short maps lacked too much substance, and the only one that would feature enemies was initially map 21. So, this the reason I decided to add enemies to them, and I like much more that way haha. Still, for map 8, the initial concept only featured one dive into the underground, with the mid section (platforming against hellions) added later.

 

The map, however, was very easy, with the first section only featuring 4 revenants + 2 hellions, and the final with only 2 hierophants. After several complaints and feedback from the testers, I felt that both the 1st and 3rd setpieces needed to be more interesting, which was what I tried to do. The 3rd ended being a bit too chaotic for my tastes, but I still like it. The 1st, however, well, I don't like it, it feels I could've done something much better, but everything I tried ended either being resolved to either in-fighting or circle-strafing. I couldn't do very big changes too because the detailing process was already done too. In the final version, you can still circle strafe, but it won't be easy to do anymore >.< Still, the revs looks quite ugly and a bit lazy tbh haha

 

There are some things I like about this map, such as the silly key grab in the beginning (I'll make sure the secret is returnable, though, @Lorenzo) and the middle section with the platforming, but eeeh... there was a better map hidden there somewhere, IMO.

 

The MIDI is nice, but its original intention was for a later map, so I feel something a bit more spooky could have been used too

[kalaeth]

MAP08 - Subterrâneo I aka "underground I": 

Outside, and a yellow key up for grabs. Nothing bad can come of me running over there and picking it up, right? Oh, it's actually for free! Inside we go, down the stairs and a manc is looking away from me. Ah, let's see how he likes rockets to the face, shall we? Well.. He liked them so much that he called a few revs to party with us. I indulge them and now I need to grab all the health around the arena since they decided to pay me in kind.. Oh. I can't go back outside.. Down the hole it is then. And spiders are there, waiting for me. More platforming. And a pair of djins caught me unaware... Death number 1. Back to the start, and this time I'm actually glad for it, since I can now go for the first secret. But, that means I missed the blue armor and the yellow key.. Evil. Well, I'm inside now, time to fall down the hole. Snipe the imps, plasmate the djins, press a switch.. And another hole, since I can't go back and check that second secret I can see. Survived the rev+djin ambush, de-manc the zone, kill a spider, press a switch, platform to the red key and 'port back to the top, yey! Grabbing what I missed I jump down the hole and now.. Where is that secret entry? Ah! in the lava, ofc. blueshpere and let's jump down yet again. Both keys in hand, both secrets found, time to save. And then realize 

I've just reached the exit.

 

K/S/I : 100%, 98%, 100%
time (cumulative / level ) 2:08:51 / 7:37

deaths (cumulative / level ) : 8 / 1

 

a short little breather of a level, good. More tomorrow!

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP08 - Subterrâneo I (100%K/98%I/100%S):

Wow, was that it? Our underground adventure is just starting but, with a snack of a map, that can last for less than two minutes even if you are going for 100% completion. It's short, but it is lovely, I really like the simulation of rooms over rooms when falling into those rabbit holes. The map presents itself into three arenas, with teleporting monsters and a good showcase of the new bestiary here, but nothing much more to comment about this, it ends as soon as you think it is starting. Makes sense though, as it is the first of maybe two or three levels, hence the I at the name, which, by the way, it means "underground".

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP05

MAP03
MAP04
MAP02
MAP06
MAP07
MAP08
MAP01

 

 

[Pseudonaut]

Map08 FDA (0 deaths)

oz08FDA741.zip

This demo was recorded in RC2, and my demos for the remaining maps will be as well unless a new version of the wad comes out.

 

It's a pretty straightforward map. Looking at the recording, I'm surprised I didn't notice the secret in the starting area. I like the little stairs for getting out of the lava, feels a lot better than waiting for a lift.

 

 

[dei_eldren]

MAP09 - Subterraneo II (Doom II, continuous, blind): K 104%, I 100%, S 100%, T 21:21

 

Spoiler

Ozonia has already shown itself to be one of the most multi-faceted yet thematic wads in existence, but still this second take on a concept is interesting and welcome.  The map begins inside a lava-filled temple somewhere in the middle of toxic sea, around and through which the player traverses.  The first thing i noted was the increased enemy count, and i suppose it's as good an indicator as any of the guest mapper, Lorenz0.  The start seems innocuous enough, creeping through quiet fire-lit corridors, but the first actual fight, initiated with a switch to open a door, gives a good example of what this level is about.  On Doom II the previous map was on the easier side, but this does make up for it.

 

As the door opens, there comes an attack of Imps and Hell Knight, along with both Hierophant and Hellion.  i died ingloriously on my first attempt, falling into the pit of lava and simply giving up, but am ready with plasma on the second.  Going outside the door is an extremely plutoniaesque moment, as at first everything seems peaceful with only some Imps and zombieman, but soon enough Chaingunners and a Mancubus teleport into the turrets rising from the pool of water next to the pathway along the templewall.  It's an annoyingly tricky fight. 

 

There's also an extensive grotto with a lake of lava and platforming, as well as mandatory unshielded runs through it.  As regards that, my only complaint that after the secret Soulsphere a route would have been nice to have simply back into the hallway from which it is first seen, as i had to drop down to lava and take the long route back - but that's a small thing and doesn't really matter much.  There's a small slaughterish scene against hordes of Imps, but it is the three Hellions that crown it.  i mutter something about the fight first on my video (being prejudiced against slaughtery combat...), but in fact that was just me lamenting about my poor performance, needing three attempts to get through it.  The Hellions are fucking fast and deadly...  The last fight, to open the exit gate, features sargeants and an Arch-Vile, and this also took me two attempts.

 

This map by Lorenz0 is a good fit for the WAD, and i really liked it, putting aside my own frustration - and going through the maps of the old version of Ozonia blind, there was also sometimes a good deal of frustration.  Subterraneo II is visually very much in similar style to Deadwing's maps, while gameplay is just slightly different, yet still decidedly in style of Plutonia.  The progression is pretty linear as in that there's always only one place to go, but there's nothing wrong with that in maps like this, that one must also traverse through areas already visited - for me it always breaks sense of linearity giving more of a sense of adventure.  The progression works well, i liked the use of the grotto as a sort of a hub, and the return from there to the beginning area.

 

The next map is Aranha...

 

 

[TJG1289]

Deluxe/GZDoom/Eviternity/Continuous/Saves

Map 08: Subterrâneo I

100% kills and secrets

Time: 6:22

Deaths: 1

 

Well this was surprisingly short. UV has just over 50 monsters to deal with, though a lot of them are revs. I'm betting around half of the them are revs. You fight most of them in the first big ambush of the level, but before that, there's a secret ledge just below the start that takes you to a plasma and a hellion fight. This is the only time you get cells in the map, as the rest of the map is mostly rocket-based. I find it interesting that you can skip the yellow door by taking this secret route, but it's not like you're missing anything other than a few health bonuses. It is kinda weird how the yellow skull is right there with the door for it right behind it. Anyway, like I mentioned earlier, the first ambush is around 2 revs teleporting in. I died here the first time, but the second time I hit the switch the lone mancubus was guarding, and that lowered the walls around the crater, so it made rocketing the revs easier. Jumping down the hole causes you to land in front of 2 arachnotrons, so rocket away. A few imps are around this lava pit with platforming, plus a secret soul sphere if you jump into the lava nearby this starting ledge. A few hierophants make the presence in this area, and I used the plasma on them. Another crater to jump into, and that gets you a final ambush that is basically a mix of the previous 2. You can see the hierophants, the revs teleport in. As risky as it is, rockets are still the best bet. There is a soul sphere here to help. A spider guarding a switch and 2 mancubi are all that's left before getting to the exit. Short-and-sweet, but still pretty fun. Nice atmospheric tune as well.

[NiGHTS108]

MAP07: Satelite

 

Kills: 81%

Items: 66%

Secrets: 0%

 

All things considered honestly I didn't really like Satelite, it's all down to one thing, I can't stand the Hellions in this map, although they're easy to kill they also got me a number of times in this map and it got kinda frustrating quickly, especially since so many of the fights are spiked with them... I also wasn't really wild about the Arch-Vile usage in this map at the red key fight, I don't really feel like they add a whole bunch to the encounter, and finally I didn't like the ending room either, I skipped the 2 Arch-Viles because I was down to only bullets, maybe you'll have better luck though, however what I do like is the mid-episode change of theme from swampy sinking techbase to more of a chilled out seaside mountain range, also I found a bug in this map! Falling behind this here tree after you get the red key will get you stuck, had to use IDCLIP to get out of it... Oh well...

 

Grade: C+

Difficulty: B-

 

Playthrough video

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 08 - Subterraneo I

 

 

I like the piano tune here. It goes with the shadows of the caves. While you start outside, you quickly find yourself inside a series of caverns filled with lava.

 

The beginning is very quiet. You're allowed to take the key without any traps. Enough of one to where I would end up dropping to the ledge on the left, which provides an alternate way in where you've also got to content with some Hellions. With little ammo or room, this proved quite challenging to get through unscathed. The large fight with the Revenants not so long after this wasn't especially difficult, though they were successful in whittling off some of my health.

 

The next room was a little bit easier, although I didn't have the rockets for the Arachnotrons here. Thankfully, there are some not too far away, and you'll need them to keep the Hierophants from becoming too much of a menace. While they move quickly enough to be a serious threat that's not easy to kill, rockets are useful in scattereding them somewhat at the very least. Here, you can also grab a computer map on a platform that's for some reason secret.

 

Finally, you have the last fight. Not as many Revenants as the last one but you're sandwiched a group of them and Hierophants in a way that proves to be more dangerous than the first ambush. You may not need the Supercharge here necessarily, but my still somewhat-sloppu aiming made it necessary.

 

Nothing to report on after that, no sneaky Arch-viles lurking at the exit or anything. I did have 5 rockets left, which made Mancubi cleanup that much easier.

 

 

[Lorenz0]

MAP09 - Subterrâneo II

 

So this is my map. I made it more than a year ago and it was my first time working with boom, as I’m usually a udmf guy. I think the map turned out decently, but I kinda regret I wasn’t able to do more with it. 

 

The layout turned out to be more linear than I would’ve liked, since there’s only one area that contains more than one path, which is the big cave. All the fights are also pretty simple, made from basic line actions, due to my unfamiliarity with boom. The one with Hellions on the left side of the cave will probably give players trouble, but the rest is really not that hard.

 

Still, I think the map flows fairly well despite some imperfections. The cave section is my favorite both gameplay-wise and visually. The level most likely fits well into the megawad, but I just feel like I should’ve been more ambitious and made something more creative and distinctive. Oh well.

[FragsBunny]

MAP07: Satelite (100%/91%/100%)

1.       Demon may pretend to die

2.       Sergeant bleeds lethal acid

3.       Monster starting positions are shuffled

 

Regardless of my honest efforts to avoid myself being hit, it still feels like I am playing Dark Souls instead of Doom, as most of encounters require me to die at least once in order to properly learn then. Don’t be fooled by the blue color of water – the “poison” sign tells it all. Early parts of the level require a little bit of platforming hop before you get the first key. Make sure to kill those two arch-vile from afar before dropping down! The arachnotron ambush turned to be not quite hard, as I quickly used the available cover to take them down.

The worst encounters usually involves arch-viles and hellions – particularly because of the latter’s quick movements and reactions. Maybe, because of my usual relaxed attitude, my reaction speed has somewhat dropped as the result. As such, I tend to finish most encounters with minimal number of actions per minute in order to keep my cool. The exit encounter, though, almost caught me off guard. As soon as you kill the mancubi, two arch-viles join in, with only a middle pillar to serve as a good cover! Good thing one of them was distracted by a cacodemon…

 

MAP08: Subterraneo I (90%/66%/50%)

1.       Imp no longer flinch

2.       A gang of mancubus may appear

3.       Imp turns to stone on death

 

Even just having 200% health and armor at the start is not enough to survive this trek! In an unusual start, you pick the yellow key and open the yellow door. From there on, there are 3 arenas that needs to be survived. The first arena involves many revenants, and circle-strafing them is very difficult because they tend to teleport right on your way. I chose to kill them from the switch position, as taking minor damage from lava was more preferable rather than being punched or face-rocketed.

The blind drop down had me deal with two arachontrons (plus there is another in the secret room). The big challenge was fighting multiple hierophants with little place to maneuver, but again, the best position to handle then was right near the switch.

The final arena had more hierophants facing away from me. While I started to think how to handle them, another batch of revenants started to teleport in. I did not fire a single shot until I circlestrafed them in a single cluster, and swiftly killing them along with the rest. The harsh journey down to Hell only just started, though…

 

MAP09: Subterraneo II (100%/100%/100%)

1.       Revenant are more aggressive

2.       Sergeant can invert is gravity

3.       One monster is cursed. It explodes into a miniature army

 

I’m not sure how this level can be called “subterranean” if there is a surface section that needs to be traversed. In either case, this is another compact level, with several ambushes placed at various progression points. The rocket launcher ambush was fine, but I survived the ambush on the way to the red key only thanks to the secret soul sphere, as those hellions made things difficult for me once again! Other encounters were more straight forward, if not a little bit awkward because of those shotgun guys walking upside down (and their silence enchantment makes them even trickier to deal with!)

[Book Lord]

MAP 09 – Subterrâneo II by @Lorenz0

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

 

The first level by a guest mapper, this one began exactly where the previous one ended, with the exit switch pressed and the closed door now open. I always like continuity between maps, it helps the game feel like a real adventure. Subterrâneo II was the first break from Deadwing’s style and it showed, not due to quality issues, since Lorenz0 did a great job with the visuals and the atmosphere, but because the encounters played differently.

 

This largely underground level featured twice the monsters of Subterrâneo I, but many of them were Imps and former humans, which have been used sparingly so far. The ambushes involved large numbers of monsters, often clustered in mobs making the use of rockets especially devastating. While the ranks were thinned quickly, the author managed to put up a good challenge, especially by properly exploiting the new bestiary.

 

Not very far into the level, I stumbled upon the only outdoor area, which was a large water basin with four imposing towers emerging from it. They were wrapped in brick and metal textures, though they looked good, and the brightness of this area contrasted well with the dim interiors. The exit required the YSK, so I moved on and found myself in a pincer trap between Hierophants and a bunch of low tiers. Rockets ripped through the frontal group, behind which another large cavern was visible, then I turned around and faced the flying torsos. An easy Soul Sphere secret was within reach, but I saved it for later.

Spoiler

I found the YK (why not a skull?) in the deepest reaches of the big lava cave, though the only way out was through a red door. The RK was on sight to avoid feeling lost, but reaching it required getting through the hardest ambush in store. It was largely telegraphed, though finding myself trapped in a hall with Imps, Spectres, and Hellions was troublesome. The chances to face rocket yourself were at the highest, but SSG was not enough to handle the crowd. I died and reloaded, getting better results once I knew what came out of each closet. Rocketing some of the Hellions beforehand was needed to avoid the unbearable chaos they brought. This was the first encounter that threw them in the middle of other creatures and showed their potential.

Spoiler

Smaller traps sprang on the way back to the exit, culminating with a traditional Arch-Vile & Shotgunner closet. As I said at the beginning, Subterrâneo II had less efficient monster use if compared to the bulk of Ozonia, but it was a needed break from Deadwing’s tight combat. Lorenz0 did a wonderful job with his well-designed fights in less detailed, though still pleasing locations.

Edited January 9, 2022 by Book Lord

[Endless]

MAP08: Subterraneo | UV | Doom Retro

 

An imposing fortress welcomes us to this new map. Big in its design but following the same simple premise. The map contains some difficult combat that can really challenge the patience of the most impatient, like me. On the other hand, the design is succulent and the way in which it expands little by little to open a great subway base is quite attractive.

 

I noticed that the rails at the beginning of the level cause damage, is this on purpose? It feels odd.

 

MAP09: Subterraneo II | UV | Doom Retro

 

After some bombastic deaths at the end of MAP08, it was time to start the new one, and this time by Alfonzo. A pretty comfy and sprawling map that revolves perfectly around the cavern theme. It follows a more traditional gameplay style but can still quite quick your ass from time to time. I liked it.

 

Oh dear, I should limit my word count, this is off the charts!

[Pechudin]

I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but in MAP07 there is a bloodpool which DOES NOT HURT BUT WATER DOES. In my mind that was a Plutonia reference, intentional or unintentional.

[Biodegradable]

MAP09 - Subterrâneo II

UV | Continuous| GZDoom with Vanilla+

 

And here we have the first of the guest maps with Lorenz0. It's a cute and fun map with a few cheeky traps, but it also feels like a slight breather map. Not too much of a breather mind you, the map does have some teeth, it just doesn't bite too often. It has a quiet pace to it that heats up by the end with a couple of densely-populated traps and a fair bit of use from the custom demons. Probably the shortest map of the episode as well. Honestly, I'm grasping at straws here. It's a good little map, but it kind of lacks any memorable set pieces or moments. It's fine.

 

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by Biodegradable

[kalaeth]

MAP09 - Subterrâneo II aka "underground II": 

 

We go deeper into the caves! I kinda forgot I was playing for this so I didn't take notes until I reached a room with a imp+chaingunner ambush, with a touch of djinn. Very gratifying to rocket launch all of that to gibs. After the door I rocket snipe a pair of HKs and pistol snipe a pair of imps. The bluesphere visible in the room before must be reachable from here.. Ah! there it is. But now.. I must walk on lava.A short trek through lava and a couple of chaingunners show up to try and reduce my health, but they don't. The revenant however takes a big chunk of the bluesphere. And then the ambush fucks over the rest. That's a lot of plasma monkeys! Ok, done, red key in hand I platform over the lava to find the next target and pause for food. Back with a full stomach and ready to unleash rockets on the denizens of hell! Back to the start of the room, jump to grab a rad-suit and a berserker, elevator up and now what.. Oh fuck, AV got me good. I still had some leftover health so I backtracked to pick it up and now into the mouth of the tunnel I go and.. Revenants, ofc. Grab the YK and imps, chaingunners and cacos. I'm low on health and about to press the yellow switch. No more enemies or secrets left, so I go to the exit, 24% health no armor and almost no rockets.

 

K/S/I : 100%, 100%, 100%
time (cumulative / level ) 2:24:09 / 15:18

deaths (cumulative / level ) : 8 / 0

 

[Pseudonaut]

Map09 FDA (0 deaths)

oz09.zip

 

Another straightforward map, and this time I actually found the secrets. The chaingunners in the outdoor area are troublesome, seems the only option is to run to the next area and hope they don't kill you. The soulsphere looks like you should be able to bump it, I don't know why it doesn't work. Facerocket at 6:09.

 

 

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP08 - Subterrâneo II - Lorenz0 (100%K/97%I/0%S):

Our first guest map in Ozonia, a map that you can clearly notice is not made by deadwing, as the progression is quite different, it was already different in the last map, but now, it is a totally different approach to gameplay. As Lorenz0 said previously, this is his first map in Boom/MBF, and you can quite notice it, as there are some traits of not using conveyor belts that much. This map in comparison to others, is totally linear, and does not have the interconnectivity the previous maps had, but it tries to implement it as much as it can, it is welcome to see another kind of map as you may get boring of getting much of the same even if it is good, still, it was not a map that blew my mind, and, because of the name, and the previous map, I expected something bigger or more interesting than the final product
The map itself is quite hard for pistol-starters, but fairly easy if you have your arsenal from previous maps, I decided to play it two times because of that, and the differences are quite big enough.

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP05

MAP03
MAP04
MAP02
MAP06
MAP07
MAP08
MAP09
MAP01

 

 

[dei_eldren]

MAP10 - Aranha (Doom II, continuous, deblind): K 100%, I 100%, S 0%, T 16:16

 

Spoiler

So, having played this only once before, my first attempt now was riddled with difficulty of getting through the Spider Mastermind room - first few tries going for figuring out what to do again, which direxion to go, and when one can go there, but i was so unhappy of the whole run subsequent that i decided to give it another try.  That didn't go anywhere, as after about five tries (this time on pistol start because i'd overwritten the first save, but it really didn't make any difference) i just got enough of the SMM and thought i'll just leave it, won't even upload a video for this one.  Later on, decided to try again, which is the run on this video.  But suffice to say, i'm not a fan of the teleporting aranha.

 

Anyway, on this run, i got through on second try - i don't know, maybe i decided i need to be more active or maybe i was just lucky, really not sure.  After that, it's actually a fun map with a route circling the SMM arena, with areas towards the outer ring.  The opposition is very tough, with devious ambushes and Revenants attacking from front and back, while hunting for switches and keys.  The progression is pretty complicated on a blind run, and i'm glad i still semi-remembered how to get the RK, because on first run long ago it took me a while to realize.

 

Even without the SMM arena it's probably the toughest map so far, and i would really like to be able to say that that part is terrible, unfair, and sadistic, but it's really not totally so.  Losing health, even a substantial amount, at the start is inevitable, i think, but in the end the right strategy will shift the odds in the player's favour.  Problem is though, that in my opinion there's too much to figure out under the fire from the Spiderdemon to have any chance until after many tries - but maybe that's just me, i don't know.  

 

Other than that, it's a cool map, totally new in concept and design for me, and my feelings about the whole are truly mixed.  i really feel i'd need more experience to make up my mind about it.  But it was nice to get through, even with some dignity left.

 

 

[Book Lord]

MAP 10 – Aranha

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

 

With such a title, a Spider Mastermind was a guaranteed attraction of Aranha. On the other hand, I did not expect to be teleported right before her chaingun within the first seconds, in an arena surrounded by lava and with minimal cover. The readily available Soul Sphere and security armour should have made the bell ring in my head, but whatever. I scrambled a bit due to the frequently warping boss and the way too slow Cacodemons, until they angered the Spiderdemon and offered me the opportunity to unleash a storm of rockets on her back. A hectic start, but monster count promised more action.

Spoiler

The surrounding moat was even more dangerous than the arena. A lot of Revenants and Arch-Viles waited to converge on me as soon as I jumped down. I died a couple of times before finding a suitable spot to make a stand against their onslaught. I completed the exploration of the area, killing every monster I met with the abundant supply of rockets. All keys were needed to complete the level: the RSK was quite easy to acquire, while the traps protecting the YK were of the meanest kind. The sudden sinking of the floor, with a Revenant and Barons screaming their battle cries in my ears, scared the living daylights out of me. I ran away from them, only to find more Revenants, so I turned back, and there was an Arch-Vile. I killed them all but cannot relate exactly how.

Spoiler

The purpose of those keys was to access the BSK, which opened the exit. After blowing up some Imps with barrels, I entered the teleporter, picked up the key, and met 8 freshly released Hellions in the moat. They found me in fractions of a second, prompting the use of plasma rifle to keep them at bay. Before leaving, I uncovered the only secret of the map, leading outside the building and to a Soul Sphere, guarded by 6 Revenants. I fought them worrying that my Radiation Suit might run out, but the magma stone floor was not damaging.

 

The exit was in a big, empty valley full of blood and countless skulls, an ominous vista to close the level and to carry on the narrative. Was a mass grave the destination of the “humanity evacuation”? I am intrigued to see where the story brings us to, and considering the perfect balance of combat, visuals, and exploration delivered by Ozonia, it is going to be a fantastic adventure.

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 09: Subterraneo 2 by Lorenz0

 

I really like it when someone melds a basic funk-groove to this sort of mainstream jazz-fusion.

 

I haven't played Perpetual Powers at all, yet, I think Lorenz0 is someone who tends to lean on larger numbers to a degree while still keeping combat at least as authentically Plutonian as oh, Plutonia 2 or something like that. Despite the vast numbers of nasty traps contained herein however, the sadism is fairly limited, at least so far as you not having monsters pop up in your face largely.

 

It does help make up the largely uninspired visual design, beyond the water towers that dominate the only outdoor couryard here. People can easily suffer death by Chaingunner here after being weakened by the pincer of a hierophant/hellion pair when you push the switch that opens the door out here. That trap alone was responsible for all of my deaths. The Hellions especially are becoming quite the nasty monster in Lorenz0s hands, like in that hallway that screams 'trap' from every mouth and pore. My survival here was purely due to luck.

 

In comparison, the YK trap is far easier to handle, despite the presence of Chaingunners when you enter far enough in, and later on, a few Revenants who must've had a boll before going to the party because they're late!

 

Naturally, the concluding ambush (featuring several Shotgun Guys and an Arch-vile) felt somewhat underwhelming but that's pretty much how you should end the map. Speaking of, I basically located the Supercharge secret because I decided to glance at my map. I would've spotted the ledge which leads, but there's tons of light here.

 

Still, it's probably around my 4th favorite map at this point. The fights are potentially a little harsh, but that's mainly due to the use of the custom monsters here. We'll probably see uses even deadlier later, but that might just be the differing philosophy of Lorenz0.