The DWmegawad Club plays: Community Chest

[Silhouette 03]

Map12: No tomorrow-Use3D

Yeah, I didn't enjoy this one.

A test of endurance is how I'd best describe this map. A test of how long one can survive a near constant onslaught of high tier enemies and low health and ammo. The ammo and health starvation present in this map is one of my chief criticism. I am pistol starting, but I don't resources should be this scarce. Having to run back and forth, scrounging for resources is not fun in my opinion. Fighting high tier enemies with low ammo is even less fun. The progression is a bit wonky, and relies too heavily on hard to see shoot switches. This combined with the overall length(Which wouldn't be a problem if not for resources being so scarce) make for a very unpleasant experience. I don't really think this map was for me   

 

The texturing was a bit odd in some areas too, especially the green areas. I wasn't sure If I should mention this since I wondered if this was something only I saw, but @Use kindly commented and confirmed what I saw. 

 

Thanks for dropping by, Use!

Kills: 94%

Secrets: 40%

 

P.S I'm doing map 13 tomorrow. I had a look at the monster count... and noped out.

 

 

 

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP13 - Another Dead Hero - Mike "Use3D" Alfredson (86%K/82%I/0%S):

Another Dead Hero is another show of endurance by the same Use3D that made the previous map, this one,  as long as No Tomorrow, offers something significantly different in terms of gameplay, which, while flawed, with convoluted progression, keeps you up pumped enough for you not to get as bored as yesterday. MAP13 has many things to do in this map, and there is a high ratio of fire from enemies that are far away that will keep annoying you 'till death. This level, feels good to play at times, like a toxic relationship, you feel like you should keep it going, but, its difficulty, and its layout, will make you suffer and drain your escense as long as you keep it going. Surprisingly enough, it is another strong submission by a mapper coming out of nowhere, and I have to say, it's amazing that it has nothing to do with the previous one.
It's somewhat of a solid map, and, you could enjoy this, but sadly, these are not my days to play something like this, I almost skipped it.

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference: 

 

Spoiler

 

MAP11

MAP10
MAP13

MAP02
MAP03
MAP09
MAP08
MAP04
MAP01
MAP12
MAP07
MAP05

MAP06

 

I'll see if I can keep it up, Community Chest may drain you up, and I'm not going through the best things to hurt myself mentally playing wads like this.

Edited March 14, 2022 by DJVCardMaster

[RHhe82]

46 minutes ago, DJVCardMaster said:

I'll see if I can keep it up, Community Chest may drain you up, and I'm not going through the best things to hurt myself mentally playing wads like this.

 

This is precisely why I chose Hurt Me Plenty as the difficulty of choice. Should have gone with continuous play, too, but what the heck. Anyhow, each day I ask myself the same question: will I be able to keep this up for the whole month. Time (Life) is limited, there are some better wads out there I haven't played either at all, or to completion. There are a couple of lovely, sweet maps that are not endurance tests coming up sooner or later in our schedule, so today I was able to play a couple of other levels, like completing Return to Hadron E1's last two maps, and what a joy that was. Yesterday I got to play Ancient Aliens' MAP25, and what a joy that was.

 

Then again, we've made it this far. There are already a couple of clunkers behind us, we've survived several marathon maps. Surely the rest can't be that bad. Except for... possibly... I guess we'll see.

 

[Yumheart]

3 hours ago, DJVCardMaster said:

I'll see if I can keep it up, Community Chest may drain you up, and I'm not going through the best things to hurt myself mentally playing wads like this.

 

2 hours ago, RHhe82 said:

Anyhow, each day I ask myself the same question: will I be able to keep this up for the whole month.

I can highly recommend installing Winamp or smth similar and having a playlist of your favorite midis ready to play in the background. They might give you some power when you find a map to be particularly exhausting, works for me at least! When it comes down to it, staying healthy is more important than completing every map ofc, but I thought it might help :)

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 13: Another Dead Hero - Use3D

99% kills and 50% secrets

Time: 33:19

Deaths: 7

 

Use's next map has some improvements from the previous map. Ammo is more plentiful, and the big guns are provided immediately. The map is a little smaller, and took me about 10 minutes less than the last. It's a hell map, and the visual design is pretty solid. I really liked the fleshy corridor with a few mancubi in it. The fights are pretty good. I liked the rocket bait that appears when you step on a grassy platform. There's not a ton of health here, which explains my 7 deaths. There's also not a lot of rad suits for the amount of times you need to go into lava and backtrack. And this brings me to the biggest flaw of the map: its progression. Like the last map, it's a lot of hitting switches and not knowing what exactly it did. Unlike the last map where I kinda had an idea of what they did, that was not the case this time. There was a few times I hit a switch and didn't know what it did. It doesn't help that you can take either path at the beginning. I'm not sure which way is the preferred way. I'm assuming you need to take both in order to finally get the red key, but it almost seems like you can just take the west path. Idk, it's something I'd have to check on a replay since I took the east path this run. The biggest progression annoyance was pointed out in the DoD ep, which is dropping down off a ledge to a room with a few pillars you need to jump across. This switch in here opens a door in the lava, which took me a minute to figure out. I thought it lowered the bars in the upper area. Honestly, the progression is the only real problem I have with the map, but it's a relatively big problem. At least the fights are fun.

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP12: "No Tomorrow" by Use 3D

UV, pistol start, saves

100% kills, 3/5 secrets 

 

Doing this one with saves due to hearing of this one being both quite tough and quite long, and indeed the final time on the clock for me was 63 minutes. This one is an interesting mixture of sewer and techbase themes, and it looks nice in my opinion, definitely another visual highpoint here. It's another one of those obtuse layouts though, moreso than MAP10 but less so than MAP06 (although it is also a bigger map than MAP06 so you still really feel the burn). The map likes really hiding shootable switches that are needed to progress, and features some awkward backtracking.

 

Despite the layout which does put a damper on things at times, I do like this map much more than the other maps I had compared it to, because the combat has quite a bit of energy to it. There is the odd questionable moment, pistol starters playing blind are likely to be done in by a certain caco and pain elemental fight, which almost seems to serve as a check for whether you went the other way and got the plasma rifle before taking it on. You need to find one of those hidden shootable switches to go that way too, making it more unlikely that one would have gone there first. Otherwise, apart from the odd grindy moment, I found that I was consistently enjoying myself whenever I was fighting in this one. Should also mention that finding a secret in this map tends to reward you quite generously, which can ease things for you a bit.

 

If the layout of this one was less obtuse it would probably be my favourite map so far. As it stands though, it's still a decent play.

[brick]

MAP13: Another Dead Hero

Unfortunately most of the goodwill I carried over from the previous map evaporated while playing this one. It also has a lot of elements I don't like, but here they really got on my nerves. I don't think the monster count is that different from the MAP12 but the enemy composition and positioning is much trickier, the hot start is just a little too hot, and revenants keep swarming every other step. The progression is absolutely infuriating, so many switches and you almost never have any idea what they're doing, sometimes at the opposite ends of the map. The worst offender was the shootable switch, especially since after you try and it doesn't work you just start thinking there must something else then waste a ton of time trying to find some other trigger that doesn't exist. All this is made worse by backtracking being a pain, since some areas can only be accessed through one-ways or gotten out of by teleporter. I wish I had noticed Use's spoiler post earlier, it would've saved me a lot of grief.

 

MAP14: Substation

A much needed breather, this one plays fast and deadly. Starts hot and doesn't let up. Progression is completely linear and impossible to miss. I didn't particularly like it, but it's so short that it doesn't outstay its welcome.

[DavitW]

MAP14: Substation

Not much to say this time around, the whole map is basically just one big fight up a few floors and then back down. The two archviles are going to be your main problem here, if you don't kill them fast enough you'll likely run out of ammo killing all the jerks they resurrect so playing it fast and aggressive is the best approach here. It's fairly challenging but the map is short enough losing is no big deal.

cc14.zip

[RHhe82]

MAP14: Substation. DSDA v0.24, HMP-PS, 65/67 kills, 1/1 secrets. Completion time: sweet 6:48.

 

I played on HMP, and still didn't have enough ammo to deal with all the monsters. And I think I dealt with AVs as fast as possible. If only there had been a berserk pack somewhere instead of a blur sphere. Most likely I should have employed more infighting or plainly left barons and knights alive so AV didn't need go through the trouble of resurrecting them.

 

But who cares. What we have here is a short, sweet quality map with a hot, hot start. A map where author has clearly set out to do a short map, and haven't  been tricked to think map has to be a epic magnum opus. Substation to me feels like it belongs to a quality megawad in style of Plutonia. My favourite map so far, easily, despite the fact I couldn't get all the kills. This is a one I just might replay on UV.

 

The name of the map is a bit misleading in a sense that it made me expect some sort of techbase. Substation, to me, appears are a more abstract kind of Doom map.

[Poncho1]

Map14: Substation

Author: Sam Woodman (Metabolist)

 

Thank God for this: a very short map! This is definitely a moment for a quick, little level that lets the player simply plow through a 70-some of demons with the bigger guns. The map's only secret also has the WAD's first BFG, so find that and the mission mostly finishes itself. The whole thing can be described as a small build-up to the main attraction. Firstly, it's a small courtyard with Imps, Barons and sniping Mancubi and Arachnotrons. My strategy was to kill the Imps, get the Red Key, kill the snipers and continue to the Chaingunner-guarded Blue Key, where grabbing it triggers the main meat: a couple of Arch-viles who'll resurrect the fallen enemies and a ton more enemies in the opening courtyard. If you're just using the Plasma Gun, it's a bit trickier, but if you have good manoeuvring skills, you can get into the Arch-vile's cubby alcove and obtain the BFG and just destroy the hordes. As a certain YouTuber said, this is here to let you let off some steam [Bennett], and for that, I'm very thankful. For as short as it is (took me less that 3 minutes), this is one of the stronger maps so far.

[Book Lord]

MAP 14 – Substation by Sam Woodman @Metabolist

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

 

Substation was a tiny, corrupted outpost surrounded by a grassy wasteland, displaying a veritable pastiche of Doom II themes and visuals. The playable area was restricted to the structure at the centre of the level, which was packed with monsters in plain sight or ready to warp in. Doomguy was deployed near a slime fountain surrounded by Imps, and equipped with backpack, SSG and enough shells to deal with everybody in the area. The nearby RSK unlocked the Mancubus guard post but picking it up summoned a herd of Hell Nobles and a couple of Revenants. The area was narrow enough to be a proper crowd management exercise.

Spoiler

The exit door required the BSK, which was found after annihilating a wall of monster hp. Arch-Vile alert sounds could be heard behind the walls, just as if they were swearing to make my way back to the fountain as hard as they could. The level offered a Megasphere, the plasma rifle, and enough cells to break through enemy ranks, though it was not as simple as it might seem. The limited space, complete with accurate monster spawning that made sure that the Arch-Viles had bulky monsters in front of them, forced me to play aggressively. I died the first time because I thought that inundating the monsters with plasma was enough, but the first Arch-Vile proved me wrong. You must charge boldly and claim his head before the Barons line up in front of him, becoming an unbeatable wall of flesh.

Spoiler

The second Arch-Vile had Revenants as his minions and was easier to put down to rest. I had no clue about the secret, and I was sorry to miss it, as it provided the first BFG. Substation was brief but too action-packed to be called a breather; it was an injection of adrenaline after two exhausting maps, with Metabolist appearing very confident in his use of monsters. This kind of maps have become commonplace in modern PWADs, but for 2003 such an effective enemy placement, especially Barons and Arch-Viles, was futuristic, even if compared to his Alien Vendetta MAP25. It is no surprise that Woodman became one of the leading figures in the development of influential, gameplay-oriented megaWADs like Hell Revealed II and Plutonia 2.

[Yumheart]

Map14 "Substation" by Metabolist

Easily my favorite map so far, not necessarily for it's short runtime, but for it blowing every previous map out of the water, combat-wise. I know Sam Woodman often gets criticized for sluggish gameplay and overly generous ammo balance, but this map is definitely one of his better outings.

The cramped staging makes usually trivial fights surprisingly difficult and justifies all the heavies running around, though Metabolist went a little too heavy on the Barons. The snipers at the start are pretty effective in adding pressure and the Archie trap at the end was fun too.
Visuals are also really good, I'd consider this map to have a high level of detail even by today's standards. That said, it is much easier to execute these things on such a small scale and I wish the map would be at least a little longer, 10 minutes or so would've been perfect, I think.

Edited March 14, 2022 by Yumheart

[kalaeth]

monday. And, as always, that means it's three maps day. Let's start!

 

MAP12 - no tomorrow :

A mud flooded corridor and a single shotgunner wait's for me at the end of it. He seems to be pointing the way, so I take that door first. A chaingunner and some imps on this side of the bars, too many barrels for people with guns on the other side of the bars. They go kaboom. Up ahead, another cage with barrels and monsters, another kaboom. Onwards, I reach a big room, some chaingunners die to shotgun snipping, some imps and pinkies decide to get close enough to be kissed by the SSG, and finally a manc behind bars gets some rockets to the face. There's a switch behind bars and some stairs... I go up first, and going up locks the door behind me and releases a lot of pinkies. Up, door, SSG a pair om imps and then switch to rockets to clear the windows  and the revenant. Now.. There's a yellow key behind bars, and a switch that should operate the lifts.. Indeed it does. So up I go, have some chaingun fun, enter the corridor between chambers and run and jump.. motherf5cking AV in my face! Glad I have cells. Couple of zombies and then a manc, corridor, another manc, and a switch. It opened up a door down bellow, so there I go. This time I go up the other lift,find a cool little satanic library, then run, jump, cross some previously locked bars, ledge above the mud, kill a caco, and this is an inescapable mud pit. Yey.. Glad I had just saved.

  This time, before waking the caco, I shoot at the switch, ledge until the YK, back. With some cacokilling in between. Going back and oh f5ck, oh so many cacos! I don't mind them, it's the PE in the middle of them that annoys me. But I got rid of him wit a BFG shot. Overkill? Maybe, but I don't care. Now... There are two secrets here, that I can find no way of reaching.. so yellow door it is. I'm now on a top floor, and a manc is bellow. Plasma jump! Done. A couple specters, chaingunner on a window, open a door, cacos. Kill, back, switch, opens up the door to those cages from before where I enter, switch, exit. Same for the other one. This one opens the separation between the rooms, manc eats rockets, switch. Back to the big room, kill some cacos, open a secret wall, teleport and there's one of the secrets from before! Big room again, switch now reachable, opens up the windows for me to chaingun everything inside and hit a switch to open the door. Down some steps, another door, another close quarters manc. Radsuit, track through the mud, big room, lift with hidden rev, small nook with a fall and it leads to a plasma I don't need. Up the stairs, door. Fall into the mud and die. 

 Second attempt : rockets for everyone! Was doing good until a rocket hit something invisible right on front of me? 

 Third. Rockets, shells, plasma: a bit of it all. Then, up some stairs, switch, switch, shoot at another switch, cacos, a rev, and then a timed lift. After it, another small room with a rev and a switch... And I have absolutely no idea what it does... So I went all the way back to the start, pressed a couple switches and a wall marked yellow.. Lot's of welcome health in a secret, nice. And then I did something I maybe should have done before? I wen't not to any of the side doors but straight ahead. And it's one huge room filled with enemies. I clear it, and then.. Side door one, side door two, save, switch. It's a lift, but where? Oh before that, secret wall. And now.. Oh, let's just enter the door, grab the red key, go back, damn that's a lot of them! And now.. Secret switch! opens a wall and closes it back up and now I can't reach that secret ever more. I'm going to cheat, sorry. No cliped into the bluesphere ( whenever a secret is one time without any warning I reserve myself the right to cheat at it. I could just reload the last save but what's the difference in term of "purity"?).  

 Red key in hand, I go back, all the way to press the red switch. And it opens a door. So back towards the newly open door. Enter, kill kill, move, kill, move, switch and open the entry to a pool of mud. Stairs, door, and all this to cross some bars... Manc, spider, pinkies, another spider, a rev too far away for my rockets to target, more pinkies, and another spider. All dead, stairs, armor, down, switch. And FSK, I loaded instead of saving. Back to the red key pickup. At least this time I can do the one time secret the correct way!

 Nop. I ran too fast and didn't pick the 'sphere. This is one dickass secret. Yeah, dickass. It's a dick and an ass. Now, to cross the entire level, including some mandatory toxic mud parts, just for a switch... In case it wasn't clear, I stopped enjoying this level a while back. Ok, back to where I was. And now, what the effing F did this switch do? Ah, I see. It raised a single step. Enter the door, down the lift and I can see the end! But there are still some bars to raise. Let's hope it's not another 40 minute trek through the level to press a goddamned switch.. Now where... Oh, I see a door there. Maybe? Yes. Two HKs, a switch, back. Red switch, and OF COURSE I have to go back to the other side to press one more switch... Now.. One enemy, one secret. The secret is the door all the way back in the room with the two lifts.. I have a very strong feeling it's one of those "it opened once, it won't open again" but I'll idclip my way into it, since I've seen it open once, and then I tried everything I could to open it again. Then all the way back to the start to shoot a imp and DONE.

 

K/I/S : 100% / 100% / 100%

time : 58:57 / 4:04:34

deaths : 3 / 9

 

I won't play more now, maybe later. This level left me pissed up big time. 58 f5cking minutes! I need a cigarette. 

[Silhouette 03]

Map13: Another dead hero- Use3D

Part 2 of the endurance test.

I don't really have as much to say about this one as Map 12. It carries a lot of the flaws from the previous map such as low ammo and health though to a far lesser degree to the previous map. I still had to skip a few encounters, though. Like the previous map, it has issues with progression not being made clear to the player( especially in the red brick room where it is not made clear the platform next to the switch lowers) as well.

 

It only take an egregious amount of cussing to complete this map. 

 

Kills: 93%

Secrets: 50%

 

Map14: Substation- Metabolist

A breath of fresh air.

 

I like this map a lot. It has a short length which was much needed after the two proceeding maps. I like the mash up of textures that give a almost fractured feel to the map without feeling thematically all over the place. My only real complaints  that barons and HK's are overutilized, and ammo and health is a bit scarce towards the end. Other than that, good stuff.

 

I hope I find the secret exit in the next map. I can't wait to see what wonders/horrors await.

 

P.S I forgot to take note of my kills and secret stats.

 

Edit: To whomever changed my title: thanks for the laugh. I needed that. XD 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Silent Wolf

[finnks13]

MAP14 - Substation by Metabolist:
A welcome breather after the mammoth effort required to beat the previous two maps, Substation is a fun little arena fight and a continuation of the workout this wad is giving to the plasma gun. SSGing all the barons and hell knights that spawn in upon picking up the red key isn't worth it, not just because it's boring, since some archviles will spawn on top of all of those corpses later anyway. Despite giving out a soulsphere and a megasphere, there isn't a huge amount of health in the map which is a problem compounded by the importance of playing aggressively when the archviles spawn in or you could run out of ammo completely. I didn't find the BFG secret, but I don't think this would have improved the final fight anyway. Overall, I think this is a welcome short, action-packed interlude between two behemoths.

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

Really Liked: MAP02, MAP07
Liked: MAP04, MAP09, MAP13, MAP14
The Boring Zone: MAP03, MAP11
Didn't Like: MAP01, MAP05, MAP08, MAP12
Really Didn't Like: MAP06, MAP10

 

~~~
Since I've played a bit ahead, I figured I'd mention that the secret exit in Map15 is really well hidden (it's behind a fairly long chain of secrets in a row), so it's probably worth looking up a walkthrough if you'd like to play the secret maps.

[NiGHTS108]

MAP14: Substation

By Metabolist

Kills: 80%

Items: 33%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 2:10

 

A really jarring change of pace from the last two booming cities, Substation is a light and actually pretty fun map that doesn't waste your time! After plowing through the opening courtyard and fetching the red key, run up the base into the top deck with the plasma rifle and two Archies will follow suit, and a wonderful spotlight for the best cell-based rifle around oughtta follow, Substation is a nice little map, a fresh palate cleanser after trudging through all that mud and lava for two hours :)

 

Grade: B+

Difficulty: B

 

 

15 days left.

[kalaeth]

ok, let's try map 13 now. 

MAP 13 - Another dead hero :

Chaingunners far away greet me, chainguners from behind, shotgunners and imps also snipping at me, plus cacos.. I die to them, before I even leave the first room. It looks like I must run from here first. Ok, this next room is a bit less hectic despite the brown imps against the brown rocks. A bunch of rockets after I've cleared the clearing and can now press one of the switches. Oh, one requires the red key, so the other one it is. A swarm of imps, stairs down. HKs and hidden chaingunners, also a door almost hidden, that I open first : barrels! And chaingunners. Splosh party. Then a couple of closets with rev and plasma, HK and rockets. A pair of cacos and a switch that opens a cage with another caco and also a door. Once down there I end up falling into a teleport, taking me to a lava corridor with crushers, and at the end of it, the final room, where I can't yet open the blue exit door nor grab the red key, so I step into another teleport that takes me back to the start. I retrace my steps and end up dead to a rev I didn't even see. 

 Third life, from the clearing. Kill imps, stairs, pinkies, HKs, chaingunners, caco switch, revenants, and now.. Up the stairs, switch, lift. And I'm at the clearing from before but outside the bars. Grab a suit, enter a door. KIll the rev, kill the imps, switch, nothing happens? Oh no, ahead on the lava a door opens. Timed. yey. Inside it, imps and barrels and a pool of lava with mancubi. Ammo, a suit. I grab those, run towards the lava and get killed by a chaingun? Damn.

 4. From the caco switch. Different approach : I jump into the teleport! And die there.

 5. Caco, switch, revenants, lift, and a revenant from behind takes me down to 10%.. I die a bit after.

 6. Lift, and then run! I found the door to the exit, and then die trying to climb towards the switch.. Break. I have 11 minutes on the clock, but 35 of play.. And the computer decided to blue screen on me so, back to the same spot. 3 more deaths, no wait, 5. This part is giving me trouble.. Ok, this time I remembered the rev and saved after. Then I finally was able to clear the lava ambush, kill the revs and kill the additional mancubi. Up the stairs, now, chaingunner ledge, button, jump, door, rev, imps on cages, two stage lift puzzle, button. More revs, cacos, and stairs to the exit room where I end up dying to autoaimed rocket to the face.

 Life 13, if my count doesn't fail me : exit room went well this time, teleport back to start. And all of this was just so that another switch appeared...  Lift, shoot a switch, bridge, door, cacos, a PE across some bars, door, and now what? Oh, there's a hidden door here and now.. There's some tubes I can crossm button, cross back, jump into the lava, fight a baron and some chaingunners, switch, lift, switch, outside and I die to rev balls..

 14 - dead to a caco, outside again. 15 - rev balls. 16 - balls again. 17 - cheesed a bit to kill the PE, then died to a spider. 18 - ran all the way to the end and then fell on the lava. Got back but died immediately to a caco. 18 - cheesed as much as possible from the door, but got hit by a plasma ball as soon as I stepped a foot outside, am now at 3% life and... rev ball. 19 : cheesed again, once I stepped out there was no one alive close to the door, so then it's a snipping battle for a bit,  clear everything, save again. Now.. There's health down there, but I wonder if I'll be able to climb back up after? Only through the lava, negating pretty much all the health I gained. AH, this way. Open door, lift, manc, door, health! Lava corridor, with a free suit and a lot of pinkies and crushers, and of course, a vile. In an inescapable pit (I used fly, that was just evil), switch, teleport. Oh, it's the other crusher-pinkie tunnel, but this time I can actually reach the red key! 31 minutes and 18 deaths after I got the first key. Now, teleport back top the start, red key switch, kill the av, teleport, one round trip for ammo, drop down to pick up the blue armor, switch, blue key is up for grabs but first I must deal with the imp-losion. Now.. Oh look, I've never went there. After the first switch, I always went through the door and never saw the end of the corridor. Time to fix that. Hum. Lava cave on one side, door on the other.. Door first, manc, switch, couple revs, up, suit, lava cave, secret! Yey. And now I'm at the end, missing one secret and 7 monsters.. But I can't go back so.. Fuck it. That's it.

 

K/I/S : 97% / 100% / 50%

time : 39:26 / 4:44:01

deaths : 19 / 28

 

That's more than the double of deaths of all other maps combined... I'll leave map 14 for tomorrow. Or not.

 

Map 14 - Substation :

As soon as I shoot the first shot all hell breaks loose, but playing continuous means I have enough plasma to take care of everything the level throws at me, and thne there's a single secret invis and.. It's done.

 

K/I/S : 100% / 100% / 100%

time : 3:55 / 4:47:56

deaths : 0 / 28

 

A small little palate cleanser after two monster maps.

 

EDIT : went back and figured where the secret was quite easily, apparently the enemies I left alive were the baron from the secret and a bunch of lost souls waaay back.

Edited March 14, 2022 by kalaeth

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 14: Substation - Metabolist

100% kills and secrets

Time: 4:53

 

After the last 2 maps, it's nice to get this incredibly short and sweet map. It reminds me of the speedmaps I've been playing recently. Small and concise, this map can be a challenge for pistol-starters, but I had the ammo for it. I did try to keep it to the weapons provided, using only the SSG on the ground floor of the most part, but the red key baron ambush did make me pull out the plasma when I got cornered. You do get the plasma rifle right after hitting the red switch, and it's pretty much the weapon of choice for the rest of the map. Heading up to the blue key has you take out a bunch of enemies with it, and then some archies and co appear once you grab it. You can find a secret BFG and invis in one of the newly opened bulk cell closets, and that will make short work of the ground floor archie. Map's over, but at least we finally have the BFG! So yeah, short and sweet. Looks pretty good too. Quite enjoyable level!

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP14 - Substation - Sam "Metabolist" Woodman (100%K/100%I/0%S):

Heavy action on this map that is short and pumps you up right on the start, it's great, really short, but great, it feels like a Plutonia map, and I really loved it, it's also apreciated to have short maps like this, though. 

(HMP Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference: 

 

Spoiler

 

MAP14

MAP11

MAP10
MAP13

MAP02
MAP03
MAP09
MAP08
MAP04
MAP01
MAP12
MAP07
MAP05

MAP06

 

Yes, I think I might stop playing.

[Book Lord]

MAP 15 – Internal Reaches by Samuel Villarreal @Kaiser

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

 

The often-troublesome MAP15 slot was entrusted to the experienced Samuel Villareal, an old school mapper and a programmer that contributed to many important projects for the Doom community. Just as MAP10, Internal Reaches was an elaborate and rather lengthy level, boasting good detailing and many interconnections between areas. Compared to Kaiser’s first Community Chest entry this was a broader map with wide-open spaces, refraining from using cramped corridors, though it still featured many doors and multiple paths to the same destination. This created unnecessary confusion in an otherwise accessible product.

 

Just after leaving the small crate warehouse near the start, I stumbled upon the main hub, an outdoor area with two levels: the upper terraces patrolled by Imps and former humans, and the ground level with roaming Pinkies and many lion doors, most of them requiring a skull key. The only possible route was to the south, into a series of medium-sized rooms with various encounters. The first room with overcrowded cages was a bit aggravating; I first entered it through the teleporter in the hub, taking a ton of damage because of the invisible hitscanners at ground level and the gazillion Imps shooting through the gratings. I did not like this room at all, though the author firmly believed in its design and reused it later, in the worst possible way.

Spoiler

I eventually discovered the BSK and its tricky chamber, which used the crossroads arrangement again but with a better result. At first, I camped the entryway and tried to kill the Hell Knights from there, then I got bored and charged forward, triggering the double closet trap and the bars that sealed the escape route! This was an excellent set piece, very exciting. A mysterious room behind bars hinted at the secret exit, but there was still a long way to go before coming back here, and some uncalled-for complications to sort out.

Spoiler

Back to the hub, two doors were marked with blue skulls. The closest one ended immediately on a blocked bridge; the furthest one led into a small cavern area ending on a yellow door and no key in sight. I pressed a switch and asked myself: what now? It opened a teleporter in a concealed corner of the cave, which I completely neglected while backtracking. The Revenant inside did not see me as well and I found him when I returned. I went around bewildered until I re-entered that dreadful room with cages, now refilled with Chaingunners. I wanted to loot their bodies, and that was the only reason why I found the YSK in a niche.

Spoiler

I let that irritating part slide and backtracked to the yellow door, finally granting me access to the upper terraces of the hub and to the cages in the bridge room. I pressed a lot of switches, opening the way to the RSK room. The enemy forces attacked me fiercely from their closets and elevate hideouts, until I snatched the key and used it to access the exit, where a last ambush was prepared.

 

I could not bid farewell to Internal Reaches without revealing the secret exit. The automap showed me exactly where the chain of secrets started, though as with other progression steps the trigger was placed in an unrelated position, very far from the door. Knowing everything was not enough to perform the move with confidence: it was an ultimate speed challenge, that must be repeated once more to reach the secret exit. This was honestly too much; I cannot see a good reason for such an extreme concealment, it almost suppressed my will to play the secret maps. MAP15 was ok, I guess, but I remember more the awkward progression than the entertaining combat and exploration.

[Dusty_Rhodes]

Alright, another triple post, since I've been too lazy to make a real write up.

 

Map12 No Tomorrow

Played continuous on PrBoom+ in Ultra Violence

 

This first map in the wad by @Use, No Tomorrow is the best looking map by a mile, with comparatively strong action. This one took me a long time to get into, but with how many times I've played this wad, No Tomorrow has become cemented as one of my favorites. I will say the progression is tough to follow, but it matches the overall theme of the level. I will say the Caco ambush is really fun, and some of the traps are still brutal, even after multiple playthroughs. I love the sunken factory feel. The level is grimy and full of metal and mud. A light in the darkness is the yellow key secret, which is close to the start. It's very pleasing to look at and one of the most helpful secrets in the level. Another highlight is the large room with the soulsphere secret. It looks like an evil library and features a very modern feeling fight. There's Revenants and Mancubi sniping all over, while an Archvile guards the only real safe space. To keep you on your toes, Imps and Pink Demons circle around you and close in. It's very clever. The use of damaging floors feels fair as well; not as sadistic as a certain upcoming level:

Spoiler

Map25

 

But the hurt floors also aren't useless, they limit movement in a very engaging way. Good stuff Use.

 

Map13: Another Dead Hero

 

This one I'm not crazy about. The fights are just as clever and the architecture is just as nice but the progression is impenetrable and the combat is downright mean. The use of damaging floors is hard to manage, but not entirely unfair. I don't know why, maybe it's because it's right after Map12, but I've never really caught on with this one as much. Still, it does have some fun moments and interesting fights. Just doesn't vibe with me as much.

 

Map14: Substation

 

Oh yeah, this is where the wad gets good. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a lot of the earlier maps (12, 02, 10, 04, 07, 08, 09, etc.) but the run of maps from 14 to 20 is the most fun and interesting part of the wad. So, Substation: this is the first and only level in the wad by @Metabolist. Along with Map12: No Tomorrow, Substation has one of the best visual themes. It's a creative blend of BRBRICK and ZIMMER textures, with tasteful use of metallic and slime patches. The combat is very fast paced and all contained within a tiny map. There's very little health pickups, outside of spheres, that is. You get a soulsphere and a megasphere for free, make sure to use them well. The BFG secret is very useful but not needed. Just a nice pick - me - up. Really fun map and I like everything about it.

 

Stay tuned everybody, there's some really fun ones coming up.

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP13: "Another Dead Hero" by Use 3D

UV, pistol start, saves

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

The second of Use3D's giant maps brings a lava-flooded outdoor area with some rock formations, and a large building around the whole area. This one clocked me in at just under 58 minutes, so a bit over 2 hours for both of these maps combined. It's non-linear and again pretty confusing which seems like it could be a disaster in a map with so much damaging liquid and only a few radsuits, but the map does give you options to nimbly avoid taking too much damage from the liquids, whether that be small outer rims to walk on or being over to jump over most of it. The map tended to flow at a steady pace for me until about the second half, where confusion struck me in the midst of the level's big switch hunt. I'm still not 100% sure what all the switches I hit did, but eh.

 

Combatwise, this level serves up a hell of a hot start. You're given a rocket launcher and plasma rifle right from the get-go and have plenty to use them on right away, with monsters of all ilk stationed around the outdoor area ready to pepper you. It's pretty exciting but not too mean, and is perfectly doable without too much issue (especially with the large amount of medikits in the immediate area). That's generally how I felt about this map in general, in that the fights were fun but never felt too unfair, like the caco/pain elemental attack in MAP12 did. This is probably helped by the map giving you the big guns at the beginning. There is the odd awkward fight, and some strange instances of deja vu like a lot of big teleporting imp ambushes and the repeating encounter with the arachnotrons teleporting in. Wooden doors lowering to reveal 3 revenants also repeated a few times, but I thought it was a little cute as a form of foreshadowing after a while. 

 

This one was good, felt like the issues with MAP12 were brushed up on a bit. The layout is still a bit much for my tastes, but this was still probably one of the most enjoyable maps in the set for me.

 

MAP14: "Substation" by Metabolist

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/1 secrets

 

A much shorter map, but no breather if your heart has anything to say about it. This map takes place in a very compact grassy area with brown cliff and building textures, and it's very pleasing to the eyes. The goal is to get the red key, blast your way through hordes to the blue key, and then blast your way through more hordes to the exit. Simple as it gets.

 

This one is non-stop action for its short runtime, any bit of progress made will face you with a large host of monsters to deal with in this cramped level. Pistol starters aiming to get 100% kills will want to find that secret BFG, as without it the final stretch of this one can be incredibly frustrating to complete without wasting all of your ammunition. There are a lot of high-HP monsters in this map, as well as 2 archviles to resurrect them, so ammo gets very sensitive very quickly depending on what the archies do.

 

Solid short one. Without the secret it can be a bit exhausting, but I liked this one a lot in any case.

Edited March 15, 2022 by DisgruntledPorcupine

[DavitW]

MAP15: Internal Reaches

With a name like Internal Reaches I was expecting a hell themed level, like some sort of badass cave filled with blood and corpses. Instead we get this map which is just kind of brown. I'm not sure what the theme would really be considered here, maybe some sort of fortress in the middle of the city? It comes across as rather plain to me. Not particularly challenging and nothing stood out as looking particularly good. On the other hand there's no major flaws to be found either. A completely fair map that was a bit underwhelming, although I might have had my expectations too high after the last few maps.

cc15.zip

[brick]

MAP15: Internal Reaches

I liked this one a lot more than Kaiser's previous map. Progression is not as annoying, there are many switches but it's usually a lot more obvious what they do. Lots of secrets, some quite fun to figure out. I had to cheat to get the secret exit, there's no way I could go fast enough no matter how I tried, even with straferunning. I have mixed feelings about 2 maps being locked behind a very difficult skill check, but it doesn't bother me so much when it's not required for progress. Very good map.

 

MAP31: Mt. Chaos

A fun concept map, befitting the secret slot. I like the way the map opens up, from unlocking access to some buildings, then accessing the top tier, and finally getting all the keys. The yellow key was a fun surprise and I had fun dealing with the aftermath. The secret exit is quite clever, I got suspicious when looking at the automap but didn't immediately figure out what to do. Really good fun overall and quite short.

 

MAP32: The Citadel

Another Gene Bird map, I didn't like it as much as his one earlier in the wad. It's another concept map, which again fits the secret slot. The beginning gives a strong Catacombs deja vu, the rest of the map is a succession of set pieces. They're not bad in and of themselves but they don't seem to really string together coherently. I didn't love the map, but it's also not very long and the themes change quite quickly, which helps keep things fresh.

Edited March 15, 2022 by brick

[RHhe82]

MAP15: Internal Reaches. DSDA v0.24, HMP-PS, legit 286/295 kills, 3/11 secrets, completion time approximately 35-40 minutes. After IDDT'ing and extensive wiki research, 295/295 kills, 11/11 secrets, and completion time 54:02.

 

Sigh. On the other hand Internal Reaches is, I guess, a decent level; it's brown, and not overly interesting. If you don't care about maxing, it's only a long level. But trying to search for them all, it's gonna take time, and some of the secrets are very, *very* cryptic to find. Anyone who finds them all without guides or anything, congratulations, you're one hell of a Sherlock.

 

Yeah, fine mood turns sour when you find about the secrets. A couple of them are very obtuse "cross some linedefs and without any hint or nudge in the right direction, run to a specific place to find a hidden passage". Then there is a fake wall teleporter. And some very hard to spot misaligned textures.

 

So, a mixed bag for me, but the obtuse secrets aside, mixedbagginess comes mainly for the stretched length. Otherwise it's great. So, basically like the two USE3D maps: good stuff that's marred by insistence on scale and confusing progression when going for 100%.

 

 

MAP31: Mt. Chaos. DSDA v0.24, HMP-PS, 84/84 kills, 3/3 secrets. Completion time: very sweet 11:06.

 

As soon as I saw the map name, I got very anxious. Then I saw the kill count, and anxiety lifted a bit. Then I played the level and anxiety was gone.

Not that Mt. Chaos is the best of the bunch of CC1, but just like MAP14 this one feels very much like a much needed respite. A map that's short, fun enough, and has no or very little rage-inducing ("oldsk00l") elements. Moreover, with all its fireblu aesthetics, it curiously feels like a secret map. Mt. Chaos looks at the same time peculiar and Mt. Erebus (-> only now do I realize that the map title was referencing E3M6 and not Evilution's marathon ordeal).

 

At times Mt. Chaos does feel a bit unpolished, although I'm not sure why. On the other hand that's part of the charm, here, and it works precisely because we're basically given one small arena with a couple of sub-arenas. My only real complaint is the blue key room with the lifts. It's not hard, it looks interesting, but I'm not in the fan club of the perpetual motion lifts. A small grief here, to be sure, but still. With a map as reasonably sized as this, small grievances are forgiven.

 

One last thing: if I hadn't watched Dean of Doom episode, I probably wouldn't have found the super secret exit.

 

MAP32: The Citadel. DSDA v0.24, HMP-PS, 381/381 kills, 3/3 secrets (one found thru IDDT, though). Completion time 26:24.

 

The kill count triggers a stress reaction in me, but when all is said and done, The Citadel is a harmless level that could have been fun, but is mostly sedated and visually amateurish romp. The level took 26 minutes to finish, but unlike some of the preceding levels, there were no replays of difficult sections or reloads when desperately searching for some switches hidden better than the holy grail in the Last Crusade. Quite the opposite: The Citadel is more or less a linear string of corridors and smaller arenas filled with monsters you take on by SSG, for which there is plenty of ammo, at least on HMP.

 

It's just that it's not very exciting, and that the level is, shall we say, not very pretty. It almost feels like Gene Bird made this map long, long before making MAP07, which is far superior to this one. But credit where credit is due: The Citadel doesn't overstay its welcome... by much.

[Book Lord]

MAP 31 – Mt. Chaos by Simon Broadhead @Volte

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

 

I feared a Mt. Pain homage when I entered the secret level, then I saw plenty of FIREBLU and heaved a sigh of relief. This was inspired by Mt. Erebus instead, being a sandbox map with several buildings surrounded by a lake of lava. The panorama was unfortunately much less appealing than the OG Doom map, mostly because of the box-shaped design of the buildings, and of the custom Episode 3 sky, the only one that was modified for Community Chest and that made its debut on the secret slots. Those pixelated peaks against a blurry red background did not leave a good visual impression.

Spoiler

The fight to gain control of the level was probably the most interesting part, even though there was plenty of cover to exploit and ammo to sustain the shotguns, which were all that was needed for the involved rabble. One of the wooden edifices contained a plasma gun and two Barons of Hell to waste all cells on; the other presented a light puzzle to obtain the RSK, required to reach the northern part of the sandbox. The poor lined-up Cacodemons were kept inside their closet by repeated SSG blasts.

 

The BSK was inside the ROCK2 building, which displayed a confusing arrangement of moving pillars. I blinked my eyes, then noticed there was nothing to worry about, just get up to the key, then get down. A pointless setup, considering how many lines the author must draw to obtain those round shapes. He could have spent that time to detail the outside of the buildings, instead of making them just square. I forgot to mention the Arch-Vile and the Hell Nobles popping out during progression, but they were just formalities.

Spoiler

I suspected a contemporary Boom trick when I saw the YSK disappear and reappear at ground level, but it was just a scam to divert the attention from final horde of 62 monsters, slowly teleporting for the grand finale. The main danger came from the stragglers, especially Shotgun Guys who took ages to walk over the teleport lines. They appeared behind me when I believed I could focus on the helpless demons below, who ended up infighting instead of shooting at me.

 

The secrets were hard to find, and I naturally guessed only the rocket launcher. The Soul Sphere was completely invisible, so nobody would look for it, especially since the activating switch lay in the middle of lava and no Radiation Suits were given. The super-secret exit was even worse; the automap spoiled the position of the door, but how would anybody try to kill a hidden Commander Keen, shooting multiple rockets through an invisible wall? Thanks for the explanation, Doom Wiki. The level was entertaining overall, but the quality was indeed below average.

[Book Lord]

MAP 32 – The Citadel by Gene Bird @Searcher

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

 

While it might be influenced by “The Ultimate Challenge” as a soundtrack, the super-secret level felt like playing a super-grindy version of Wolfenstein 3D. But let’s proceed in an orderly fashion: Doomguy started in a room with torches that he might remember seeing in MAP22: The Catacombs, including the green torch trick. Enemies were on the other side and ready to fight among themselves, in a scene that will be performed countless times thanks to the haphazard enemy placement by Gene Bird.

Spoiler

Once in the big courtyard I was greeted by a barrage of fireballs from faraway enemies. The open area was a premium example of graphic ugliness: barren and featureless, even the bridges raised to cross the slime river were oddly incomplete. Inside the fortress, behold the longest and most purposeless corridors to date, packed with hundreds and hundreds of shotgun fodder, which I was supposed to exterminate without rhyme or reason. The flatness of the level did not help at all, and only a few teleport lines, along with closet traps, were devised to alleviate the futile frontal assault. If only there was plenty of rockets to quickly dispatch the crowds, this could have resulted in some mindless fun, but the predominance of shells suggested that the author intended this to be as heavy-going as it got.

Spoiler

In the western section, the sightseeing tour of The Citadel continued in a sort of execution yard with wooden buildings, then inside the kitchen where a human BBQ was prepared for a feast. The last outdoor area vaguely resembled a temple, a classic demonic construction that must be assaulted frontally. It was hard to find a good reason for the existence of the BSK, but also of the other two keys. The map would have played the same without them. The obligatory presence of all three keys, and the insertion of such a slog in the super-secret slot, testify that sensibilities and design choices have changed radically in 20 years. At least, there was a Soul Sphere in the exit room, a well-deserved boon that you do not always find in contemporary map sets. Just like The Boardwalk, this was one of the first Blind Alley maps. The next two entries by Gene Bird are dated 2003 and will surely show some refinement over these basic levels.

Spoiler

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Book Lord

[RHhe82]

39 minutes ago, Book Lord said:

I feared a Mt. Pain homage when I entered the secret level, then I saw plenty of FIREBLU and heaved a sigh of relief.

 

Lol, I had the exact same reaction. I wonder what does it tell and of whom that the immediate association to a map title starting with "Mt." is not Erebus, the very iconic and memorable Doom 1 level, but instead that mastodon of a level, Mt. Pain.

[Book Lord]

17 minutes ago, RHhe82 said:

 

Lol, I had the exact same reaction. I wonder what does it tell and of whom that the immediate association to a map title starting with "Mt." is not Erebus, the very iconic and memorable Doom 1 level, but instead that mastodon of a level, Mt. Pain.

I think it is an unconscious mental link between words. If a map is called Mt. Hades, Mt. Abaddon, or Mt. Sheol, our brain probably links it to Mt. Erebus. If it is called Mt. Chaos, Mt. Fear, Mt. Death and the like, it triggers the Mt. Pain association.

 

Curiously, Ross Island in the Antarctica features a dormant volcano called Mt. Terror, not far from the active Mt. Erebus. Despite that geographical fact, a map called Mt. Terror will be associated with Mt. Pain for the reason above.

Edited March 15, 2022 by Book Lord

[Silhouette 03]

Map15: infernal reaches-Kaizer

Second times the charm.

 

Kaizer's second offering for CC was to me a lot more enjoyable than their first. Progression is definitely better and it is made clear to the player where they must go and what they must do, provided that they were paying attention of course. The fights are better structured and a few of them bested me a handful of times. I only have  main complaint. It is the ammo and health being tight for the majority of the map, which is becoming a reoccurring theme throughout the wad. I don't know why

 

D_Runnin haunts my dreams.

 

Kills: 95%

Secrets: 82%

 

Map31: Mt. Chaos

FIREBLU! Also, custom music!

 

 Let's get one thing out of the way: this map is not associated with Mt. Pain, rather the best map of episode 3( in my opinion) in Doom. I haven't played through all of TNT ( I stopped around Habitat) so I have no idea what you were all dreading. Anyway, this is a nice homage to to Mt. Erebus, with plenty of FIREBLU to go around. The combat feels good overall and the progression is relatively straightforward. The super secret exit is really obscure, though.

Not much I can say, really

 

I should really finish TNT sometime.

Kills: 82%

Secrets:0%

 

PS. I'm using the Doom wiki to find these exits as they are extremely hard to find.

 

Map32: The Citadel

Gene Bird's second offering.

 

No disrespect to the author, but I found Gene Bird's second submission to be rather unremarkable. A lot of the hallway feel needlessly big and empty. They only seem to make the map bigger than it needs to be. The combat feels fine for the most part, though the encounters themselves aren't by any means well structured. There's very little else I can say.

 

We're halfway through the megawad now. Hopefully the next fifteen maps are smooth sailing. 

Kills: 100%
Secrets: 33%