The DWmegawad Club plays: Community Chest

[Use]

Hmm, well since the two problem children are approaching and there's a new generation of Doomers around, I'll briefly talk about the background of these levels, maybe someone is interested? At this point I had been only mapping for my personal megawad. My old 90s editor began to be a problem, with the size and complexity of maps exceeding it's capability. I had also started trying source ports, and was noticing problems left behind by my junky editor. 

 

Community Chest presented a good opportunity to not only show people some maps (which I had not done at this point) but maybe learn a new editor. I knew I was dealing with old, crusty Doomers and I wanted to make something difficult, memorable, something that would leave an impression, even a bad map gets noticed. Honestly I assumed they would be ignored. When the game was released and @Erik commented in the main thread on how much he liked Map12 it was a big shock. 

 

Map12 was made mostly with WadAuthor. If I recall, the creator of the program had recently resurfaced and did a small update to it. Then he vanished again. I took to this editor quickly as it was very much like the old one in function. I also appreciated the black/dark UI colors. But it was slow, and had little in the way of ease of use. The map came along fast but I would make some changes to it. My megawad has a strict texture limitation of theme, as such I kinda went nuts using crazy Doom 2 textures. 

 

Map13 was made with Deepsea. This editor was confusing at first with a dense, redundant pile of windows and menus, but once I got used to the main drawing aspect and the shortcuts it was a much nicer method than WadAuthor. This map was very fun to make as I came up with the main idea quickly. I wanted to make a level that threatened the players movement, his greatest asset. When going the 'ideal' route, it's fairly linear. After making this map I liked the editor so much I decided to keep it to this day. I went back and made some detailing and portions of Map12 with Deepsea as well. 

 

 

Here are some hints for players encountering these monstrosities for the first time:

 

Map12

 

Try to get the red and yellow key before tackling the western portion of the map. Saves backtracking. If you're pistol starting, you may want to hit that part early for the plasma rifle, but beware of radsuits. Otherwise good luck!

Map13

 

The route forward isn't too bad if you press on and don't get sidetracked or fall into the lava. At the blood fountain, go right. Once in the red chapel, there's the way behind a pillar. Go forward hitting switches. If bars lock behind you, you're on the right track. Some doors are timed, so move quickly. Your goal is the timed door over a small jump onto a ledge near the exit room. Climb the red spiral staircase to lower the lift in front of a teleporter to return to the start. 

Now the left path is accessible from the blood fountain. Some tricky parts here, first the shootable button ahead is slightly too high, so perhaps the chaingun? The other part here that throws off players is the switch that opens the red building atop the steppes. Go forward following the candles and drop over the little ledge to a door here. If you fall from the guts-filled barrels you'll die. I've done it dozens of times. After this the way forward should be easier. Once you get the red key the rest is easy.  

Edited March 11, 2022 by Use

[Dusty_Rhodes]

@Use thanks for the context, it's always appreciated. I will say I really enjoy Map12. It's difficult, but very interesting. Definitely tied with Map14 by Sam Woodman for the most interesting visual style in the wad. The city, nature, and tech base textures are a really cool combo. Some of the fights are really clever too. I will say the secrets aren't my cup of tea however. Great level though and I can see why Alm would enjoy it. I'm not big on Map13 though, just a little too mean for my tastes. Really great visuals for DeeP though. I also didn't realize these were your first released maps. Very cool stories. It's neat seeing you and Bad Bob commenting on one of my favorite wads. I hope @Searcher (Gene Bird himself for those that don't know) has something to say as well. Maybe @Cadman does too?

[Book Lord]

MAP 12 – No Tomorrow by Mike Alfredson @Use

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

 

Use’s 20-year long career as a Doom author started with MAP12 of Community Chest. We are not talking about humble beginnings here. While some of the previous entries looked like either first attempts at serious editing or mapping extravaganza, No Tomorrow presented itself as a fully-fledged experience made of serious combat set pieces, exploration, and progression puzzles. Doom Wiki claimed that the source of inspiration was MAP12: The Factory; this was not hard to believe, since the place clearly resembled an industrial facility, with abstract vestiges of machinery now teeming with hellspawn and their demonic trickery.

 

The huge layout was exquisitely non-linear, allowing the player to get lost into its never-ending, over-sized chambers patrolled by hundreds of monsters. It was a bit questionable that such a gargantuan map could be explored in its entirety, before putting the player in front of a key-operated switch that opened a very far, red-coded door. Even if the branches were accessed in the most favourable order, as in my lucky playthrough, the abstruse progression steps made sure that a lot of backtracking and additional search were required. It took me 69 minutes to reach the exit, but a good third was wasted time.

Spoiler

It was a shame that a map that looked so good for having only stock textures, and that contained a wealth of interesting effects and situations, was destined to fall under its own heavy weight. As a continuous player, I rarely felt challenged by the combat, dying only once in the YK area when a nasty Arch-Vile was teleported behind me. I could not think quickly enough to handle him and the rest of the ambushers. The real challenge was finding the way to advance and understanding the effect of my countless actions.

Spoiler

I liked the eastern RK area, it featured classic Doom II visuals and the initial crossfire was fun to sort out. I was less fond of the huge monster teleport when I picked up said key, as I retreated to the castle-shaped intestine platform and just watched them infight. I found both secrets in this area and I especially liked the PANEL3 transition, difficult but satisfying to spot. That was my final score since the other secrets were too cryptic, and one in the YK area was permanently shut down by a random walkover line. I noticed the YK marking in a room near the start; sadly, I forgot to come back after acquiring the key.

Spoiler

The YK area was my favourite with its hefty Cacoswarm and multi-level layout. The switch to raise the walkway to the key was incredibly difficult to shoot at. I was also not sure what both keys were for, as no operable doors or switches were visible; the first one was encountered after solving the enigma of the stuck door, opened with a shootable switch concealed in a niche you can barely see from the timed windows. The red door could not just be opened: its command lever was located far away, requiring a long detour into an extensive sludge treatment section of increasing combat intensity. The last room with the twin pools was especially mean, as it sealed the player inside and forced him to walk on the surrounding ledges, interrupted by several gaps. Falling into the corrosive slurry was deadly because the only way out was an unorthodox “brick lift”. The projectile exchange with Imps and Revenants was engaging, as well as the switch progression and the flying balls ambush; conversely, the fleeting skull switch was an unwelcome trick at this stage, as my patience was already lost.

Spoiler

The end was all but near: behind the red door, another mammoth-sized section was devised only to reach a single switch that opened the exit. The lack of a shortcut from this point was especially evident, and I was baffled by the long and lifeless backtracking, which included a tricky jump to cross the small damaging pool. Reaching the exit was all but a walk in the park, requiring even more thinking and observation to open the last gates, where the keys finally found their application.

Spoiler

No Tomorrow was an ambitious map, betraying the aspiration to impress and resulting in an overwhelming, long-winded adventure. Having played shorter Use levels in Doom the way id did, I noticed a refinement and a more thoughtful scope in his recent work, though he never lost the habit of creating those awful one-time secrets. This would have been a classic masterpiece if the size had been adjusted, trimming sections that did not add much to the experience, and if the progression had been more evident, with less backtracking. In its release form, it dragged for too long to be entertaining.

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 10: Termination Center - Kaiser

100% kills and secrets

Time: 23:34

 

Time for a huge sprawling tech base! This one was one that I inadvertently took the right path each time. There's a lot of switches you need to hit to proceed, and I ended up finding all the switches before finding what they opened. For example, it was very nice to find all the obstructions surrounding the red key lowered when I discovered it for the first time. Even toward the beginning, I took the right path to the blue key first, and then took the other unmarked door paths that were accessible. I guess I was just lucky, limiting the amount of backtracking I had to do purely accidentally. This techbase is very nicely decorated, but the layout is a little confusing at times. Doesn't help that the opening room pulls a Tricks And Traps and has 8 different paths you can take. I'm usually constantly looking at the automap for secrets anyway, but it's still slightly confusing. Most of the combat is pretty simple incidental combat, but towards the end a lot of hell knights keep popping up. The rocket launcher is very useful for this, but the switch to lower it is further into the level, and I think the 6 hell knight ambush is the earliest you can grab it. Ammo is kind of tight throughout, as there were several times where I had around 50 shells instead of around 80+. Rockets are scarce too. I used my continuous plasma on the baron toward the end too. The ending switch puzzle wasn't really hard, and was more a time sink. I did like how the exit switch rises from the floor in the exit room. So overall, the map is a pretty fun one to explore, but could use some tightening up in the layout and maybe a more streamlined way to make progress, even if I did get lucky and do it right the first time.

 

Map 11: Mandrel - Alex Parsons

100% kills and secrets

Time: 6:03

 

After the pretty big sized tech base, we get this tiny little map that kind of reminds me of E4 or Plutonia in the looks department, but nowhere near as difficult. In fact, this map is a breeze. Cacos and a pain elemental are like the hardest enemies here, so you know this isn't going to be a challenge. There's no ambushes, expect for the one that nets you the RL which consists of a zombie in front of you, and another + a spectre behind you. Oooo, scary. Despite the lack of anything that can actually kill you, it's still a nice little jaunt. Looks nice, layout is tight. I know we got some big bois coming up, so this bite-sized map is a nice breather before we get to the maps that will eat away the time.

Edited March 13, 2022 by TJG1289

[NiGHTS108]

MAP10: Termination Center

By Kaiser

Kills: 97%

Items: 82%

Secrets: 40%

Time: 21:37

 

Ugh... Doom 64 much? Look, I'm not even imagining it, the start is LITERALLY Doom 64 MAP05, anyway, yeah Doom 64 isn't really my thing? Kaiser obviously put a lot of love and care into his work, this map is bursting at the seems with complex geometry and attention to detail, but it just does not entertain me like, at all... Most of the monster selection consists of hitscanners and boring flamethrowers so none of the fights stick out, it really seems to me Kaiser only put it there because he had to, I also don't appreciate the layout, having to hit two switches on lifts in the ceiling to progress with no visable cue is something I'm only not very mad about because I watched MtPain27's video first, and switch and key hunting can feel relatively arbitrary, this map is too long and drawn out for it to be enjoyable to me, and again I don't like Doom 64 anyway!

 

Grade: C-

Difficulty: D+

 

 

MAP11: Mandrel

By Alex Parsons

Kills: 100%

Items: 63%

Secrets: 100%

Time: 3:59

 

Alex Parsons actually drops in at a relatively convenient time here, Mandrel serves as a nice, low calorie cereal bar of a map in between the last all-you-can-eat buffet and the next two heavy 3-course meals, short, easy and lightweight, the only thing resembling a challenge is the shell-less beginning, when you find the semi-obvious Supercharge and SSG secret this level is over, you are completely indestructible, plow your way to the blue key, sprint to the exit, and I hope you were savouring that cereal bar!

 

Grade: C+

Difficulty: D-

 

 

(I'm sorry Use my main man, I do what I must)

MAP12: No Tomorrow

By Use3D

Kills: 97%

Items: 58%

Secrets: 20%

Time: 35:37

 

Oh boy... get ready for the next two hours folks... let's go and see if Sideshow Mel has any more of those legal over the counter wakeup drugs of his! The glorious masterpiece of despair and agony that is No Tomorrow is cryptic, futile and long-winded, what's the goal? Two words, PLASMA RIFLE. Get it as fast as possible, it's tucked away to the west, it is absolutely necessary for most notably the yellow key Caco showdown, I only got out alive by running my errands in the red key room and gathering *just enough* shotgun shells to deal with the remains, but it will also help your deep, deep ammo blues, Use3D places more cells than shotgun shells here, let that be a warning about this level's rusty and forgotten mechanical depths, as someone at least semi-familiar with Use3D's work, I don't think this map's progression was as agonising as it would have been if I was playing this in September or something, but it still isn't super excellent, I don't think I'll be returning to the bustling metropolis of No Tomorrow for a while...

 

Grade: D-

Difficulty: A

 

 

Edited March 12, 2022 by NiGHTS108

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP09: "Flow" by Bad Bob

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 2/4 secrets

 

We reach the 3rd of Bad Bob's map intended to play continuously with each other, but this one was much friendlier to me than the 2nd as a pistol starter. This one is part metallic techbase and part brown cave system. It doesn't look too bad, but the layout was definitely the weakest part of this one for me. It's not too rough for the first while, but once the keys start coming into play you have to do a lot of awkward back-tracking through samey looking cave areas, and it's easy to forget what's what. The map does at least offer up the odd shortcut to you, but it doesn't totally ease things. 

 

As mentioned before (and implied by me finishing this one) this is a much smoother pistol start than the previous map, owing largely to the early berserk. The first half or so of the level can be largely Tysoned with relative ease, and I found it surprisingly enjoyable to play that way too. Whatever can't be easily punched can be gunned down with shells, which you should find yourself very well stocked on if you maximize berserk usage, which will come in extra handy when you get your SSG. Health in this map is pretty sparse though and things do get a little dicey in the fight for the yellow key, quite a mean little trap for your blind playthrough as you are likely to panic-run yourself right into the escapable death-pits. The ending trap with the revenants is another rude one, but both of these were fun moments.

 

This one was alright, layout really didn't agree with me but there was some fun combat.

 

MAP10: "Termination Center" by Kaiser

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 2/5 secrets

 

To start off on a good note, the visuals in this map are probably the best in the wad so far. A classic techbase that looks slick and brings a pretty high level of detail throughout. It also has some charming moments, like the door that zips sideways and the way the exit switch raises up. As the beginning of my first sentence might imply though, this map generally did not sit well with me though. A large reason for that is this map's pervading love of switches, especially ones that don't give much clarity as to what they do until you go on an aimless scramble for a little while. There are also some puzzles here that are a bit hit or miss. I generally like speed-oriented puzzles like the blue key one, but I do get a bit aggravated when the main obstacle is Doom's wonky collision. The hidden switch in the damaging liquid lifts was a bit of a meh for me, and even gets partially rehashed at some point. The last puzzle with the raising platforms to the proper heights was cute though, I liked that one.

 

The combat in this one wasn't too bad, but it did feel a bit pedestrian. It could use a little bit more energy to its fights, with the most frantic moment coming near the beginning where the level teleports a cramped room full of fodder enemies. Even this threat can be nullified by approaching the switch to trigger the bars, waiting for them to raise, and then hitting the switch though. The rest of the combat is fine but slow, with the primary threat being relatively low resources compared to the size of the level. One thing I did find kind of interesting though was how the map sometimes eschews the use of "ambush" monsters, allowing you to enter a room from a different door and taking the threats by surprise. That was neat.

 

I can't say I liked this one unfortunately, there were some nice visuals but it felt too long for what it contains and the switch-hunts were not fun.

Edited March 12, 2022 by DisgruntledPorcupine

[RHhe82]

MAP12: No Tomorrow. DSDA v0.24, HMP-PS, 370/370 kills and 4/5 secrets. Completion time: 54:40.

 

At first glance No Tomorrow looks to be a good, quality map. And maybe it is, but I have a couple of qualms with it.

 

First: maybe it's me being a poor Doom player [or, in hindsight, "I chose poorly" when deciding where to go first, namely the yellow key area), but after a decent start I was starving for ammo. I was starving it some 30 minutes into the level (plus reloads) that I resorted to cheating, gave myself 50 shells two times. Sometime after obtaining the yellow and the red key, I couldn't figure out the way forward. I had pressed some switch in some TEKGREN room, but I had no idea what that did. There were two doors, other marked with red door texture, but I couldn't open neither one of them. After wondering some time around, not finding anything to make progress, so I gave up on the level. 

 

Or, as it turned out, took a break for half an hour.

 

Ok, the switch opened a sewer tunnel almost right beside it. I was just being blind. After a couple of revenants and some imps, I finally reached the plasma gun, after which my ammo problems disappear for good. I wish had come here first -- although it's hard to say, if there would still have been resource issues in the long run

 

In the end this level's too big and obtuse for me to really like it, but I'm sure No Tomorrow will appeal to many. Visually there are cool parts of the level, detail that makes this a quality level. It's just too big for me, and it has a bit too obtuse progression (for example there are mandatory shootable semi-secret switches) and obviously for pistol starters you need to know or get very lucky about the routing.

 

And then the final sin. Upon reaching the exit I was missing two monsters and two secrets. I remembered I had left a couple of barons alive in the red key area. There I found one of the missing secrets. In my automap I could also see the final secret near the YK location, but the apparent door was closed, and I couldn't find a way to open it. I searched and searched, but eventually had to give up on it. But, I was curious enough to look it up in UDB. Turned out the door is open at the start, but if you take a wrong path first, it closes off permanently and the only way to open it seems to be from the inside. Yeah, fudge you too.

 

[I played the level on the 8th of March. Now, four days later, I'll just continue a bit on one-time secrets. I do dislike them, just as I don't like the maps sometimes not having a way to backtrack to earlier parts of the level to max out kills/secrets. But then, the point of secrets is to be hard to find. In the original Doom, back in the mid 90's, there were a lot of secrets I couldn't find back then, and it was part of the charm to eventually find them on later playthroughs. But I guess that's different: back then I would replay OG levels (and I still do), whereas in 2020s there are far less time and far too many unplayed PWADs and other stuff in life to replay everything, and especially to replay a map that takes a better part of the hour or more. I guess I wouldn't mind it that much if the map was 5-10 minutes in length, but in Magnum Opuses it's really annoying].

Edited March 12, 2022 by RHhe82

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 12: No Tomorrow - Use3D

100% kills and 60% secrets

Time: 44:53

Deaths: 2 (both to damaging floors)

 

Yup, this one is big. Use3D's first of 2 levels in a row shows us a little more of what his style of mapping is, as opposed to the 2 maps of his we played last month. These maps are some the earliest of his, so it's been interesting to see how this compares to something like his E4M9 that came out just a few years ago. As a continuous player, I don't have a ton of qualms with this one, but my issues seem to be the same as others: somewhat obtuse progression, ammo drought, and one-time secrets. If I was pistol starting, I'd have a big issue with big ambush pretty much at the start of the level. Hit a switch guarded by a few zombies, get overrun with chaingunners, revs, and whatnot. Good luck doing that with barely any ammo. I was surprised by the ferocity of some of these ambushes. Grabbing the yellow key unleashes way too many cacos and pain elementals, and you might not have the ammo to deal with them. That's not to speak about the surprise archie that appears when you jump across to get to that area; not nice. Getting the red key unleashes a ton of baddies, in an area that's very inconvenient to fight them in. They get the high ground, so you have to fight up the stairs, though you can go into the alcoves nearby and bean them with rockets. Rockets are rare though, so keep that in mind. Despite watching the DoD ep on this, I missed the shootable switch to get the yellow key initially, and only saw it when I was dying from the damaging floor below it. Very hard to spot. I didn't mind the other ones in the map, but that one would be better suited for a secret. Like some others, the one time secrets are kinda annoying, but not deal breakers. The ones I did find were very rewarding. I liked the hidden yellow key door in the room of the first ambush I mentioned, and the stash of goodies helped me greatly. The rockets and mega armor were very nice, as were the backpack and goodies in the north east. The map is big, and maybe could have been leaner. The essential plasma rifle for pistol-starters I did not find until I had already killed more than 400 enemies. It probably should have appeared sooner. Despite the size of the map, I didn't find the layout that confusing. I wish the switch that raised the path to the exit lava tunnel wasn't so far out of the way, since it wasn't clear what it did initially, but I figured it must have done something back the way I came. Combat on the whole wasn't bad, even with those encounters I mentioned earlier. A few tough encounters got me to low health a few times, and the ammo drought was pretty noticeable at times. Could have used some more shells for sure. Honestly though, I kinda liked this one despite its flaws. I do think it could use some trimming and better weapon and ammo placement, but the fights were good, map looks pretty nice, and nothing made me mad. I preferred it to his E3 map from last month at least.

Edited March 12, 2022 by TJG1289

[DavitW]

MAP12: No Tomorrow

With over 400 monsters this map comes across as pretty damn ambitious and I believe the author almost had the chops to pull it off. It looks pretty good for the most part, unfortunately there are a few problems preventing it from being a truly enjoyable experience. One of the main problems was with balance, going through the left door at the start basically isn't even an option. Without the soul sphere, armor, backpack and ammo from the red key area going down the left side is almost certain to end up a futile effort. Then there's the plasma rifle. There's plasma absolutely out the ass in this map yet you don't get the plasma gun itself until what must be the final quarter of the map. Just having it a few rooms earlier like before the sewer area would have really helped this map out in my opinion.

 

Something I felt the mapper went completely overboard with was the number of enemies spawning in after you've cleared an area or made any significant progress. Take the red key for example, you already have to kill an archvile, six or so revenants, 2 arachnatrons, a mancubus, an unhealthy amount of hitscanners and more spectres than you can shake your dick at just to reach it. Did you really have to spawn in another archvile and god knows how many monsters as soon as you find it and finally achieve some peace and quiet? The yellow key area is actually even worse. First a horde of pinkies spawn in once you enter the area, then there's an archvile that spawns in behind you, then grabbing the yellow key causes a massive storm of Cacodemons and a few pain elementals to spawn in, and finally once you leave the area you find another gaggle of Hell Knights and Demons has spawned in outside. Completely unnecessary in my opinion. You really have no choice but to run away and come back to them later.

 

Other problems with this map included hard to find switches that are mandatory to progress in the level, secrets that activate only once, and inescapable pits in numerous areas. Thankfully things that are, for the most part, considered taboo in modern mapping. When it came to recording the demo I decided to limit myself to only 10 or so attempts. My first attempt was actually the farthest I got even if it ended in absolutely dingbat fashion.

cc12.zip

[Poncho1]

Map12: No Tomorrow

Author: Mike Alfredson (Use3D)

 

Ay ay ay... the first really big level in the WAD, and to cap it all off, the ambushes are frequently brutal and punishing. You have the choice to go left or to take out the section to the north (the right has a switch that opens up the northern area, and a secret that requires the Yellow Key, strangely). The progression is at times unbelievably cruel - the now-infamous hidden switches that must be shot in order to open doors or raise ledges. The switch to get the YK is the egregious, just barely visible and which I think most people wouldn't even realise it's a necessary component to beating the map. To me, that's just awful design: I have no other way to put it, I'm afraid. Once you know where these dumb hidden switches are, the progression improves a little, so the map becomes more an attrition of monster ambushes. The first couple of thirds are bearable: the big fight that spawns in after collecting the RK (which has a much more obvious shootable switch, so I suppose you're meant to come here first, eh?) is fun to clear out. I should also add that most of the secrets aren't too bad to find, except for the stupid one that shuts permanently if you take the wrong lift (like, really?). The path to the YK is pretty treacherous: it's a back-and-forth of switch hunting (including that goddamn super-hidden one!) that's quite tedious; this tedium's broken by some bullshit enemy spawns, none more so than an Arch-vile that teleports behind you while a Mancubus and a couple of Chaingunners appear in front. But okay, you get through that annoying ambush, shoot the idiotic switch and get the YK... and then there's the Caco/PE cloud! And now, let me remind you that if you're Pistol-starting this, you won't have bigger weapons like the Rocket Launcher or Plasma Gun. The latter is tucked deep into the western area, meaning you have to at least get the RK to access a small switch - yep, another one - that was locked behind a gate. This area to the RK switch is well and away the worst part. There's a big room with small-ish ledges overlooking a massive vat of the brown sludge that you *cannot escape from if you fall in*. Not only do you have to sweat it out with the barrage of projectiles coming from Revenants, Imps, Arachnotrons and Cacodemons, but you have to balance on these thin floors, and to make matters even worse, if you let the door close behind you, it will lock you in. I suffered a couple of extremely infuriating deaths when, in spite of all the shooting I was doing in that room, a Caco refused to wake up, and as I went to jump between two ledges, I was blocked by it, fell in and died. The ending itself is a pretty ill-conceived switch-hunt (again!?), only using very thin corridors, all in a calculated manner so that you can't dodge the Revenant rockets. I swallowed my pride here and made a mid-level save before entering the brown sludge room. This map cheats, so I "cheated" back.

Edited March 13, 2022 by Poncho1

[finnks13]

MAP12 - No Tomorrow by Use3D:

I went into this map expecting to despise it, and ended it not really sure how I felt about it. The progression is very weird, with the path leading to the yellow key and red switch being something that I would expect from actual secrets - I did have to look this up, I don't mind shootable switches for progression, but these are very hidden. There's also a lot of pressing switches which don't give much indication of what they do, which is something that I sort of expect from levels of this time, but I don't like. I really wish the plasma gun was placed earlier on in the level, as the map became so much more fun after I finally got it 3/4s into my playthrough and I think that having it a bit earlier would have allowed me to engage with some fights that I had to run away from due to lack of ammo. The large presence of damaging floors and lack of radsuits is also pretty annoying, and resources in general felt very limited, a bit more ammo and health wouldn't have hurt the level.

 

However, I think the visuals are very nice here and do a great job with just the stock Doom 2 textures, the overall feel of the map is dismal, but really well detailed and lit - it sort of reminds me of Toxic Touch from Alien Vendetta in that way (a similarly very nice looking sewer, though that map is much greyer than this one). The red key fight is pretty cool, a surprisingly large horde spawns in and with just the SSG it's pretty fun to take out. The archvile trap in the room with the big lifts is mean and I like it, and after getting the plasma gun, the final set of fights and rooms was very fun to tear through. Overall, while I didn't particularly enjoy most of my playthrough here, it's nowhere near the worst map I've played, and it's certainly not boring which made a nice change from the previous two maps. I expect with some foreknowledge of key item locations, it would make for a fun second playthrough.

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

Really Liked: MAP02, MAP07
Liked: MAP04, MAP09
The Boring Zone: MAP03, MAP11
Didn't Like: MAP01, MAP05, MAP08, MAP12
Really Didn't Like: MAP06, MAP10

 

[Book Lord]

12 hours ago, DavitW said:

inescapable pits in numerous areas.

 

5 hours ago, Poncho1 said:

There's a big room with small-ish ledges overlooking a massive vat of the brown sludge that you *cannot escape from if you fall in*

 

The YK and RK pits are, in fact, inescapable, and were probably meant to be so. You have to keep calm when you hear the monster teleport or you may fall on the way back, that was part of the challenge. The big sludge room had a badly marked lift to get out of the damaging floor, just on the right in my 4th screenshot. I called it the "brick lift", but it can get you out of the pit if you fall in and survive long enough to realise it could be operated. This does not redeem the unfriendly design of this area and of the map in general, maybe it reinforces it even more.

 

Today these choices are generally avoided in maps, but the tendency sprang from those choices being made in the past and criticised by the audience. Playing CC is like a journey back to the dawn of community projects, and an interactive WAD history lesson.

Edited March 12, 2022 by Book Lord

[Yumheart]

Map12 "No Tomorrow" by Use3D

Wow, now this is the opposite of generic or mediocre! A big, elaborate sewage facility.
From both a visual and combat perspective, this is by far the strongest offering yet. The texturing and color coordination are both on point, an aesthetic mix of brown, grey and green, fairly detailed and with enough variation to not look samey or boring. There are a lot of mid-tiers around, but you're equipped with an SSG from the start and obtain a RL early, so it's never a slog to dispose of them. Damaging liquids are also used pretty effectively to make fights more engaging.

I made a big mistake during my playthrough. I assumed that this switch, shown in the picture below, opens the door opposite to it, since they seem to be clearly associated with each other, but it also opens the other identical door in that room, a few feet away.

Spoiler

Those two doors lead to switches that unlock the way to the plasma rifle, which I knew was accessible because of how common cells were. I totally missed that at first and had collected both keys while only being in possesion of weapons 3 & 5. The YK Caco & PE cloud ultimately forced me to run away, though I stubbornly took the PEs first. This practically turned the next section of the map into survival horror, as my ammo & health were extremely low afterwards. I imagine this map is a lot more fun if you know where to get the plasma early. It felt great when I finally obtained it though, and the moments leading up to that were more tense than frustrating.

There are also some parts that I didn't enjoy. The progression can be pretty painful and unclear, I had to consult Doomwiki multiple times. That said, the environment itself was fleshed-out and moody enough to make the occasional backtracking / switch-hunting not so bad. Playing with MIDTWID2 helped a lot here, Alfonzo's "Evil on Parade" is a great accompaniment to this map.

Overall, this map is a lot better than I expected it to be.
I think I'll revisit it after this month is over and I wasn't able to say that about any other map so far.
@Use Very impressive work for using such an old editor!

Edited March 12, 2022 by Yumheart

[Jaccident]

Triple feature this time as I've been busy studying for the exams that I have next week.

 

Map 10: Termination Center

This map aims to be as annoying and confusing as humanly possible. The creator seems to think that switches are a suitable replacement for keys, and so random switches open random doors, and usually the only hint you get of which door opens is an audio cue, which isn’t completely reliable. The flow of this map is horrendous and is just a confusingly laid out switch hunt. I imagine Hexen fans probably enjoyed this, but I hated it.

The trap where you get trapped in a room with a bunch of hitscanners was annoying, alongside waiting for far too long. The switch puzzle with the lift for the blue key was rather infuriating, although the switch puzzle at the end was an actually enjoyable puzzle with a nice “aha” moment. The switch hunt for the red key is the worst part of the map, and brought my play time for the map to over half an hour because I missed a teleporter. This map’s layout is confusing, and I hope there’s nothing else like it in the megawad.

 

Map 11: Mandrel

This map was a lot of fun! A short, refreshing map with a very kind soulsphere secret. The large amounts of hitscanners annoyed me a bit but that’s more likely thanks to Termination Center putting me in a bad mood than any fault of the map. Definitely one of the better maps in the set, I enjoyed this one.

 

Map 12: No Tomorrow

My main problem with this map is that it just. keeps. going. Which is a shame, because I would struggle to mention a single part of this map that is bad or even mediocre. There are all sorts of fun things, like the pinky trap that doesn’t work too well because pinkies don’t know how stairs work, which is more funny than bad, or an exceedingly rude archvile ambush that I absolutely love, followed by a hilariously precise switch puzzle. I don’t know how many cacos is too many, but one of the many traps in this map goes past that number. I spent far more time than I should have trying to rocket jump to sequence break a secret, but I’d say it was worth it. There are all sorts of traps in this map, but they are all fair traps, and when you beat them, you feel like you’ve earned it. I don’t usually notice detailing that much, but the architecture in this map has a wonderful, grand feeling to it. However, I would have been satisfied if the map ended after getting both keys, instead of going on an insane detour to get into a pit you see near the start of the level. However, it is a testament to the incredible design of this map that I never actually needed my automap, which can’t be said for many other maps in this set. However, I do feel sorry for anyone who plays this without saving, and I’m very glad I accidentally tackled this in what is essentially the perfect order. All in all, I don’t know how to feel about this map, as while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I’ve also never been more relieved to see an exit sign. (For reference, this map took me just under 40 minutes of in-game time)

I also think you lot would find it funny that I went into this expecting to spent maybe 30 minutes on these maps, and it turned out to be closer to 2 hours lmfao

Edited March 12, 2022 by Jaccident

[erzboesewicht]

MAP12: No Tomorrow by Mike Alfredson (Use3D)

 

Switch hunt, the map. (Or Barrels O' Fun 2 Epic Edition?) A big techbase-factory complex (according to the wiki inspired by Doom2's Factory, but much bigger) which opens up veeery slowly while you're searching in every corridor and tunnel for switches. The monster population of more than 400 on UV would suggest slaughtery gameplay, but nothing of this is found here, it plays more like a late Eternal Doom level, just without the medieval stuff. However, it's a good idea to play this map first with saves, if you're not a doom god; most of the map is easy incidental combat but some ambushes are quite deadly, and there are several inescapable pits - and lots of barrels, which may work in your favour or not. Also two of the secrets are of the "one time" category, which this author seems to love (see his DTWiD/UDTWiD levels which were played by the club last month). One of them is almost impossible to find if you don't know the map.

 

At the start you're given two optional paths which lead to the yellow and red key. I chose first the left (yellow key) one, which seems first a bit milder (the right one, I learnt later, contains a pretty fierce chaingunner-centric ambush at the start, although it's cheesable) but its big problem is that you'll find an armor very late if you don't find a certain secret asap. So you will be vulnerable on your switch hunt which is picked with dangers. The ledge run before the yellow key, where you have to "race" against a vile, mancubi and revenants (or take them out slowly and boringly), and the section after the sewers before the red door switch, are the main reasons why I'm giving it such a high difficulty rating. There are a lot of pinkies in this level, but I found no berserk or chainsaw to deal with them, so they're working as ammo sinks, and ammo and above all health and armor are rationed. The puzzles aren't that difficult but sometimes you'll be searching a bit for that essential switch, like near the yellow key. The ambushes at the keys are fun but easy, but don't make the same error than me and try to escape cowardly the Caco/Pain Elemental swarm, chances are that they'll fill an essential room with lost souls (I needed to waste a lot of health and ammo to clear that part later) ...

 

Difficulty: 7/10
Rating: 7/10

 

Pistol start, UV, prboom-plus, occasional saves in bigger maps. Difficulty scale (approx.): 1 = Doom E1M1, 3 = Doom E1M4 or E3M2, 5 = Doom2 MAP29, 7 = Plutonia MAP15, 10 = Sunlust MAP15 and above

Edited March 12, 2022 by erzboesewicht

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP12 - No Tomorrow - Mike "Use3D" Alfredson (87%K/99%I/100%S):

I don't know where to start, but hey, talking about starting, this is the first entry that kick-started Use3D's mapping carreer, and, even though I will anticipate, this is a heavily flawed map, it is a great way to start. This map is so long and convoluted that it would make Drake O'Brien get a run for his money. It starts really fine, but it starts getting heavier and heavier, let me tell you, this map is not for everybody, as it has really nice battles from the start, that will make this map worthy, but my problem here is that, you have so many ways to tackle it, in convoluted ways, you won't know what you are actually doing, just randomly roaming around the layout hitting switches (That are often hidden..) and doing wild tricks to get around the level. It is painful at times, my main concern is just the progression itself. Again, I don't know what I need to do in order to beat this, why are these keys for? Some locked rooms feel optional at times, and another big problem is, both ammo balance, and the several death pits you will encounter, specially previous to get both colored keys. The level starts turning annoying as it goes forever, pulling out dumb progression tricks to make it even longer, and that's why I consider it flawed, just mindless at times.
Still it is impressive that Use's first published work is this, it seems like quite a big map for a novice, and let me tell you, it gives me the same vibes KINDa gave to me. A newcomer pulling similar maps with similar gameplay and progression. This is often a good sign for a mapper, as he has the ideas, but those are scrambled, and the mapper should arrange them in order to pull out a really solid map. Not bad, flawed, and painful aswell, it was the map that made me rage-quit back in the day... Two times. I've never played anything after MAP12 in my life.

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference: 
 

Spoiler

 

MAP11

MAP10

MAP02
MAP03
MAP09
MAP08
MAP04
MAP01
MAP12
MAP07
MAP05

MAP06

 

 

[Crusader No Regret]

map 12

 

    Like E2M5 in DTWid, this map has a secret that becomes permanently blocked off when walking over a certain linedef.  The stakes may not be as high as it's not closing off a secret exit, but it still has the power to frustrate and aggravate.  I was tilted the first time I realized this.  Though it will hopefully become clear where to not go after the first attempt or two at this map.

 

   Turns out both maps have the same author.  If there was such a thing as a patron diety of the megaWAD club, it would be entertained at our expense for having chosen sets two months in a row with missable secrets.

 

     It will probably take more than a few attempts to come out on top of this map if being stubborn about doing this without saves.  Health is at a premium, which is exasorbated by the amount of damaging ground to cover and limited radsuit protection.  Even after routing the map, there's still those many small patches of ooze that will nip away at your already limited health supplies.  Speaking of routing, I feel this is one of those maps where choosing a path where one has enough ammo to deal with the resistance encountered is part of the learning experience.  Even if it involves more backtracking than plowing through an area until done.

 

  Defeat is likely to come at the hands of attrition.  Or so I thought until I read others' writeups.  My memory didn't hang on to the "gotcha" encounters.  This map caught my interest enough to try to beat it back in the day though I used saves liberally and after learning the layout so I could reach rockets and plasma as soon as they are available..  The ammo situation I dealt with by infight baiting.  That and doing it on HMP.

[PeceMan]

Level 11, Mandrel

 

So many hitscanners... 
And it has some softlocks, too

 

But if you're ready for what it has in store, then the level is actually very easy.

 

The level looks alright, plays alright. A perfect 8.

 

 

 

 

 

Level 12, No Tomorrow

I think the best way to summarize my feelings towards this level is: The level is almost enjoyable.

 

Don't get me wrong, the level is not enjoyable, I did not like it, and I wouldn't play it again. But it is really close to being good.

 

Gameplay is fun for the most part, and the aesthetics are perfectly nice. The level is better at these two than a lot of the other maps we've seen so far in CChest.

 

The problem is the progression, which is absolutely terrible. So many switches located in werid locations, which open weird doors, and it's never, ever, clear where you're meant to go.

 

The level really tested my patience. And I'm not really a patient person.

[Yumheart]

Map13 "Another Dead Hero" by Use3D

I didn't like this map as much as No Tomorrow, despite it being a lot easier. The visuals are still high-quality, I really like the blend of marble, techbase and rocky cliffs here, but the combat felt considerably weaker and lower-impact than map12, which brought the map down for me.
The beginning is good, with it's relentless sniper usage and - again - an essential weapon missing at first, this time it's the SSG. I was able to acquire it pretty early on though, and the map didn't put up much of a fight afterwards.

Progression continues to be rather obtuse, with a lot of non-obvious button presses, which had me running around in circles a lot. This map is also probably a lot more fun on a replay, but I don't feel as compelled to come back to this one as I do for No Tomorrow, mostly because of there was less substance here, combat-wise.
Don't get me wrong, this is, imo, still a cut above for CC, it just doesn't hold up to map12.

Edited March 13, 2022 by Yumheart

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP11: "Mandrel" by Alex Parsons

UV, pistol start, no saves 

100% kills, 1/1 secrets

 

A pretty ordinary looking brown, green, and black outpost with some outdoor areas. Judging from this map and their last, I get the impression Alex Parsons enjoys compact architecture with lots of turns. The outdoor areas do open things up a bit but there is a prevailing sense of smallness throughout the map. Not necessarily a bad thing on its own, just a pattern that I see. After the last two maps (and from what I hear, before the next two), I welcome the smaller and more easily digestible feel that this one provides.

 

The start of this one can be a bit hectic from a pistol start, you don't have much to defend yourself with and there are several enemies beelining towards you in this cramped area. Not to mention some hitscanners in the side window, including a chaingunner. I found it best to do what I can with the helpful barrels lying around, and then rush out once they're exhausted. The outdoor area is a bit safer because of its comparative openness, albeit with still a decent few threats to take care of. I actually quite liked this beginning stretch, although I'm thinking it doesn't really scale to a continuous experience so well. The map does kind of fizzle out by the end though, once these beginning areas are through with the rest of the map feels like it dials things back, and once you get the SSG very little can stop you.

 

I thought this one was pretty good, visuals are a bit dull and the ending doesn't really keep momentum going, but I quite enjoyed the beginning stretch. Plus the shortness of this one is a nice breather.

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 12: No Tomorrow by Mike "Use3d" Alfredson

Music: "Inside the Devil's Lungs" by JD Herrera from TNT Midi Pack

Played continuously, with JPCP class from Final Doomer wad.

 

First off, let's just say I was incredibly impressed with the use of textures. The balance displayed between techbase and natural environments is much appreciated. In some ways, it's almost Use's best utilization of vines in any Map thus far.

 

Combat certainly kept me on my toes, with the most notable fights coming when the yellow key was acquired which causes an incredibly large and nasty swarm of Pain Elementals almost the instant I stepped outside the yellow key room. Pistol starters will probably find this fight far too grindy, but continuous can probably handle it with a decent ammo backlog. But please, whatever you do FIND the plasma rifle, which I believe is in a sort of storage shed inside a chamber with a Mancubus inside. It makes the ending bit easier to handle since your lack of room to avoid projectiles will be less of a factor with the rapid-fire death instrument. Not to mention the Arch-vile that appears behind when you've taken a few steps into the hallway with the yellow key making the use of rockets a very unwise move. Then there's also a chaingunner in front, making this one of the trickiest fights easily.

 

But occasionally, you'll run into some rather questionable enemy placement, such as the Revenant trio in the computer bank room leading to the red key who will probably waste the foolish player who stumbles in unawares. Though you can rocket them from safety from a secret closet located across the central room that they are both in. There was at least one case where a Pain Elemental was stuffed almost harmlessly in a side room and I came across at least one case of something similar.

 

The final switch puzzle stretched things out for much longer than they had to go. Fighting some Barons/Revenants, running back and jumping onto a ledge I hadn't bothered looking for to hit more switches and fight off the same enemies above after dropping to said ledge I'd already explored was profoundly annoying, to the point I was close to swearing off completing the map. But knowing what the next map isn't all that much different, I pressed on.

 

The last major progression bugaboo was my fault though. I spent upwards of 20 minutes going through the entire map to find a way for a certain door at the west end of the slime pit to open before I eventually stumbled upon a switch probably revealed by other actions which then opens the door as well as some conveniently-placed observation windows containing enemies. The shootable switches aren't all that bad when you know what to look for, though sticking one of them behind some vines was probably not the smartest decision.

 

But I overall enjoyed it all the same. Finding 4 out of 5 secrets (other than the one with the health potions that will be closed off permanently if you happen to take the southern lift first)) It was far more fun to explore than Termination Center, which was just kind of a "push switch, open this thing somewhere else, whereas I found it easier to intuit what was activated by switches even when it wasn't obvious (sole exception being the  switch revealing switch mentioned in last paragraph, but to be honest, it's something I should've seen in the first few times I was in that room). Not to mention the base was very much in conception something similar to Control Center from Goldeneye in how techbase and naturalistic environments are melded together into something that's actually fairly organic, all things considered. I loved the little astroturf fields in two specific spot, and that Supercharge secret near the beginning requiring the yellow key was such a lovely and cinematic location, superior to a similar place in the next map, which, spoiler alert, I prefer.

 

Two little notes "Inside the Devil's Lungs" is the absolutely perfect and natural complement to this map, with Alfonzo Midtwid midi proving a little too sleepy for the constant and frequent action displayed here, and I just LOVE the JPCP class, janky weapons and all. They are cool to see!

 

 

 

Edited March 13, 2022 by LadyMistDragon

[DavitW]

MAP13: Another Dead Hero

Two behemoths by the same author placed back to back in the wad. It's a quality map with an aesthetic that I really enjoyed but some of the same old problems rear their ugly heads again. As expected progress through the level comes across as very non-intuitive and obtuse. Nothing comes easy in this map, you can't just walk up to a door and press use to open it. No, you have to flip a switch and run 2 rooms over in 1.2 seconds before the door closes just so you can hit another switch that does God knows what on the other side of the map. And there's another inescapable pit as well that might not actually be inescapable, but the lava does an absolutely absurd 20% damage that chances are you're dead before you can find a way out. I started to really pussyfoot it towards the end of this one, but it still resulted in a fruitless effort as I ended up dying to a random revenant.

cc13.zip

[RHhe82]

MAP13: Another Dead Hero. DSDA v0.24, HMP-PS, 346/346 kills, 2/2 secrets. Completion time 39:52.

 

I'm a bit mixed here. Part of me wants to praise Another Dead Hero, because the layout and trouble the mapper must have gone through is commendable. There nothing overly obnoxious here on display, but... But the level is a bit long, you revisit old places several times, there are inescapable death pits. It gets a bit tedious before long. For instance there is the one annoyingly narrow red brick spiral staircase you need to (at least I think you need to, even if you know exactly what to do) traverse several times, and even the first time isn't that fun. Backpack is withheld until almost the end, which annoyed me a bit.

 

On the other hand, there's fun to be had, level feels mostly quality work with inventive layout, varied texture work. The length doesn't get so much on my nerves as some Evilution levels, or the previous map for that matter. So... I guess it's okay? It is okay. Still, I hope the levels won't get much longer than this or that we'd have a handful of shorter levels. Pretty please?

[brick]

MAP11: Mandrel

This is the perfect use of a breather map, between 2 much larger and much more exhausting maps. This one goes by fast. I really like how the map coils on itself and you the way windows always show you a previous or future area, but in a way that ensures you're not getting shredded by enemies that you can't fight back. It really gives the map a sense of everything being connected and cohesive. I liked this kind of design in the maps the late Callum Guy Oliver would make, but they were already present here and cranked up to the max. Very fun map.

 

MAP12: No Tomorrow

I think my feelings echo Peceman's: this map is almost enjoyable. With how long it took me to complete, with how often I got stuck, or flipped a switch and ran around trying to find what changed, or felt the solution was complete bullshit (looking at you, shootable switch that is barely visible behind a midtexture), or the sheer amount of goddamn backtracking, I should be angry and annoyed and frustrated. But the map has so much good about it too, I feel a bit stuck in the middle. A lot of the architecture is very cool and memorable despite not really using any particularly impressive tricks, it's just really well done. Texture usage is fascinating, with choices that feel as if they should clash but somehow don't, giving a rather unique feel of an old abandoned techbase overrun by plant growth and vines. The caco clouds should've eventually become annoying but somehow don't. In fact the hundreds and hundreds of enemies should by all rights have made this tedious and grindy, but I actually had fun mowing the hordes until almost the end. Part of me wants to say the map would've been superb if it had just dialed back the excesses a bit, but maybe it would've instead been completely unremarkable. It's as if I'm almost reluctant to admit I really like the map because it has so many elements that I usually don't like, but they somehow work for me here.

Edited March 13, 2022 by brick

[Book Lord]

MAP 13 – Another Dead Hero by Mike Alfredson @Use

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

 

Use seemed to prefer map names that communicate the intent to kick the player’s ass. After surviving the overwhelming length of No Tomorrow and reaching the unanticipated next day, I came under Another Dead Hero, another map excelling for complexity, size, and high monster count. However, I enjoyed myself better this time, as the nature of the challenges was more my cup of tea. Its worst drawback was its position right after the first map by Mike Alfredson. A wise megaWAD compiler should have separated them without thinking twice.

Spoiler

The pistol starter was equipped with the strongest firepower, since the hot start demanded a prompt and powerful reaction against Cacodemons, Arachnotrons, and countless snipers that populated the central hub. The thorn in the side were the Chaingunners behind the starting point, as they were impossible to see once downstairs, but they always seemed to get a chance to aim. I spent the first minutes clearing every creature in sight, apart from a couple of Imps too far away for my autoaim, then I began exploring this red and beige pseudo-urban map. It appears that ours truly was long since familiar with the texture scheme of his Ultimate Doom the way id did secret map, Terror.

Spoiler

Besides the uniformity of colours, Another Dead Hero displayed top-notch visuals and construction. The environments were all nice to look at and used Doom II textures competently, creating a faithful reimagining of the abstract factories and towns from the OG, just with more detail and harder combat. The two secrets were accessible from the western wing: finding them was easier than following the long-winded, mandatory progression.

Spoiler

And that is where the problem lies. The map was lengthy, it never seemed to end. Its challenges were balanced, the ammo was right for the scope, its puzzles were straightforward without being trivial, but it lasted forever. There were only two keys to collect, but once the player got hold of the RSK, acquiring the BK and reaching the exit was a mere formality. The path to the first key required to visit the entire level, flick dozens of switches, and kill hundreds of monsters. After 45 minutes of non-stop massacre and switch hunting, I was killing Mancubi on autopilot and pressing everything in sight, then I entered a lava corridor full of slow crushers. It was the exact replica of a similar stretch I endured before, on multiple times, but this was supposed to be longer and trickier. I was squeezed by the very last crusher in front of the Hell Knight. That was my second death in Another Dead Hero, a sign that my spirit had been crushed more than the poor Doomguy.

Spoiler

The harmless horde of Imps and Mancubi, teleporting in the blood fountain just to be mercilessly rocketed by a fed-up player, was the cathartic moment I needed after this prolonged challenge. The second entry by Use was significantly better than the first map, showing a mapping confidence that was not common among the contributors to Community Chest. It was a bit oppressive with its length and endless challenges, so it is still a map that requires to be in the right mood for replaying.

[NiGHTS108]

MAP13: Another Dead Hero

By Use3D

Kills: 88%

Items: 88%

Secrets: 100%

Time: 26:07

 

You may jump for joy finding a rocket launcher and plasma rifle waiting for you at the start but you're outta luck my friend! The companion piece to No Tomorrow, Another Dead Hero is another bleak, punishing and extensive delve into a Use3D crumbling metropolis, thankfully I don't believe this one to be quite as punishing as its sister, ammo deprivation isn't as much of a problem but don't fret as you've still got a whole cavalcade of vague notions of stuff to do! There's a lot of simply annoying things here, such as randomly teleporting back to the lava corridor with the crushers when crossing a seemingly irrelevant teleporter, and being forced to slowly edge your way up a spiral staircase multiple times to lower a lift and get where you want to go, there's multiple doors that lock behind you, and to this day I have no idea what the south east room with the Vile and Caco's switch does! I just kinda pressed on it and walked around for 314 hours until I found where to go, once again I don't believe this was as painful as if I was playing it being unaware of Use3D's work, but I still cannot recommend unfortunately

 

Grade: D

Difficulty: B+

 

 

16 days left.

Edited March 13, 2022 by NiGHTS108

[finnks13]

MAP13 - Another Dead Hero by Use3D:
Honestly? I thought this map was pretty great. Like Use3D's other map, this is a very large map with peculiar progression that is far harsher on the player that you would expect from an exploration focused map. The visuals are again, very nice however I think the texture choice here is much more garish, with the bright red bricks everywhere being a choice I don't think 100% works. I do like the city overflowing with lava aesthetic in general though. I generally found where to go, but the corridor leading to the SP_HOT building took me nearly 10 minutes to find which was something I'd have preferred to not have to do. I don't particularly appreciate most of the teleporters sending you to the same random corridor, it feels quite unnecessary, and I ended up just reloading whenever this happened to me.

 

I appreciate having the big guns given out right at the start, it let me engage with the many ambushes in the map much more than in Map12 where I had to play very carefully and run away a lot, whereas here I was very well supplied on cells and rockets which allowed me to play more aggressively. I think there could have been a couple more radsuits dotted around the place because I ran out and I was being pretty careful with them. The main thing I didn't like about the map was the finale, which sets you up with 400 cells, a blue armour and 20 rockets to fight about 40 imps and a few mancubi, it's a pretty lame way to end the map and there's cooler fights all throughout the level. I liked this one, it's fun and (when you're going the right direction!) action packed.

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

Really Liked: MAP02, MAP07
Liked: MAP04, MAP09, MAP13
The Boring Zone: MAP03, MAP11
Didn't Like: MAP01, MAP05, MAP08, MAP12
Really Didn't Like: MAP06, MAP10

 

[Poncho1]

Map13: Another Dead Hero

Author: Mike Alfredson (Use3D)

 

I must be in the minority, because I actually found this much more difficult and confusing than Map12. Use3D's nice enough to give you the Rocket Launcher and Plasma Gun right at the start... in the middle of a hailstorm of Arachnotron and Chaingun fire, Revenant rockets and Imp and Mancubus fireballs. The only way you can really go at the start it to the right into a cavernous area, and then either go to a crusher hallway that takes you to the [locked] exit that's strangely annoying to traverse (and naturally, the crushers are of the slow variety, meaning you'll die no matter what if you get caught underneath them), or go into a red-brick hellish section that's filled with Imps, Chaingunners and a few Revenants. You'll eventually want to go to the red area first, then get to a large lava-filled room with Arachnotrons, Revenants and Imps. So, either you camp in the cramped entry to this arena, or use a Rad Suit to instigate infighting. Either way, you'll probably lose loads of health anyway. Then you'll need to get past the Chaingunners and enter an area that locks you in. Then it's a somewhat cool fight in a cramped area with Revenants in each corner like Plutonia's Map09, and then an Arch-vile when exploiting the "hugging-wall" strat seems to work. If memory serves me correctly, this is all to get the Red Key? And after that, I got terribly lost, so I'll give you some examples of my utter frustration with this: the aforementioned crushers are irritating as fuck; having to scale a super-thin ledge to reach a switch for a simple lift is, I'm sorry, just stupid; the area to the left is accessed via a very slow lift, and there's a switch you need to shoot. It's out in the open, but the first few times I got there, no matter what I did - SSG or Chaingun - the switch wouldn't do fuck-all, even when I clearly hit it, so that too was extremely frustrating. Once you get to the leftmost area, the ambush - involving Pinkies, a couple of PEs, Revenants, Hell Knights and Barons - is by far the most fun part, and I rather enjoyed it, for what little that means when the rest pissed me off. Afterwards, you traverse some narrow hallways and teleport to even more crushers, obtain the Blue Key, with which I could *finally* exit. Somehow even more exhausting than the last map. What confuses me the most is why this had to directly follow the previous map: having two consecutive big, time-consuming levels back-to-back is tiring and does nothing to help a WAD's sense of pacing. Oy...

[erzboesewicht]

MAP13: Another Dead Hero by Mike Alfredson (Use3D)

 

Another large adventure map from Use3D with a high monster population (almost 400 on UV), this time with a hot start. I liked this one even more than its predecessor, it may be my favourite from the megawad until now. In contrast to MAP12 it is often fast-paced, giving you good weapons from the start on, and trying to push the player forward with big gaps between safe spaces, although near the end it becomes slower again. It has some interesting twists, like teleporters which seems to simply serve to escape from a damaging floor but bring you into a completely different area. That of course makes it a little bit more difficult for orientation but when you're 20% through you should be navigating smoothly.

 

An obstacle for exploration are the damaging floors, but  there are generally enough radsuits, although some of them are hidden in the crusher tunnels and other locations not so convenient for tackling some lava passages; above all in the section with the timed doors you'll probably suffer if you don't activate the sequence correctly the first time. Even if this is another somewhat Eternal-Doom-esque map, it has only two secrets (seemingly this time all are freely accessible without "one time" limitation), one of them being the SSG with a nasty closeup ambush. Combat-wise, a lot of the monster population are imps in teleport ambushes, which are fun and easy. More danger comes from chaingunners and arachnotrons sniping you from far away or in ambushes, and the single most nasty situation is probably the one where two revenants and a chaingunner overlook an inescapable (?) pit at the switch which opens the mysterious door below the western side building. Difficulty-wise it's similar to MAP12, in line with the hardest IWAD maps but still far away from really difficult play. Visually the map is very attractive, with interesting architecture, naturalistic cliffs and a good-looking flesh-hell/brick mix.

 

Difficulty: 7/10
Rating: 9,5/10

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 13: Another Dead Hero by Mike "Used3D" Alfredson

Music: "Hey there, Moonbeam" by Cammy & Lippeth from Tnt Midi Pack

Played continuously with JPCP class from Final Doomer

 

It's something of an abstract location (probably no more so than Mike's last map) but this was probably a more inhabited area at one time, assuming that these aren't just temple ruins. I quite like the garishness of the colours here and this place has quite a solid structure to it, though certainly still confusing in spots, from one persepective probably more than Map 12. Pulling moves in a certain part of the map containing the red key like having a couple of red towers with stairs the exact same shade of dark red is probably not one of the most intuitive things you can do for a player.

 

There was also the fact that a certain series of rooms critical for progression because of a switch at the end (this area is sort of hidden by a structure and leads to a indoor and lava-filled room I had to beat a retreat initially from due to the copious amounts of revenants and Mancubi in quite a tight area) I ended up finding more ammo of course, but I had forgotten just where this place was at that point. Corridor could have really been more visible. A shootable switch in a room not too far away will lower a pillar in the very same room the corridor leading to the room above is containing a Baron and an Arch-vile. The teleport on top of the lowered pillar will take you to a caged room toward the far end of the map behind the pyramid. containing some valuable supplies and also a massive collection of Revenants and Pinkies. You'll definitely want the armour here though, as it's really the only way you'll be able to survive a trip through a darkened lava cavern to pick up a trollish Supercharge that will probably be almost completely useless if you somehow manage to not have a rad suit. Very poorly planned.

 

I know Mt. Pain was complaining about verticality here but the specfic place he was referring to honestly did not seem like that big a deal. The subsequent door containing some lava-filled flesh pilars and some Revenants was kind of annoying (there were also enemies behind me firing in my direction) but it seemed natural if you're at leadt thinking not to drop off ledges. The real problem came not so long after when I entered the pyramid, pushed the switch at the far end and subsequently fought off the beasties emerging from their cages before proceeding to wander the entire map for 15 minutes before realizing a gateway in the area I'd just fought in had a gate open at the other end. Teleporters leading to the lava-filled corridors near the red key (also containing crushers) makes sense if you stop and think about it, although I'm not sure it wouldn't be confusing to anyone else.

 

This map's main flaw really comes down to the lack of rad suits. It's a little hard to ration them out in an appropriate manner if you don't know where to go.

 

Otherwise combat was pretty good, there was a cool bit with some Archanotrons in the area of the lava below the exit door. I actually liked the large Imp mob that teleports into what I call the central shrine area or that place just below the slopes where you acquire the blue key. And despite the limited amount of Arch-viles here, they really manage to leave an impression when they are used.

 

Another note, I really like how both this map and the last one end in cavernous holes because it seems like quite a nice touch.