The DWmegawad Club plays: Community Chest

[Nefelibeta]

+++Haste & Micro Slaughter Community Project

+++Uprising 

Maybe I won't have the time to play at that point but FUCK YEAH!

[Gibbon]

+++AugerZenith

Just a small vote.  I’m mostly happy with playing whatever :)

[Astronomical]

Sorry I stopped midway through, I missed a few days and I never caught up.

  On 3/25/2022 at 4:19 PM, Gibbon said:

+++AugerZenith

Just a small vote.  I’m mostly happy with playing whatever :)

Expand  

It's really good, but I have already almost finished it, worth a second play through though. 

+++Auger;Zenith 

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

Count on me for the next month, I'll finally have free time and I'm willing to participate one more time ;-)

If you don't mind, here are my suggestions/votes

 

+++Auger;Zenith

+++FreeDoom Phase 2

[Silhouette 03]

Map24: Bring evil upon thee- Torn

Unbridled catharsis.

 

This map exists for pure pleasure only, and that is pretty much the only noteworthy thing about it. You'll be mowing down mainly imps and pinkies with a few arch-viles here and there. The whole point here seems to be to give the player a sort of powertrip, rather then create a map with more elaborate encounters ( Most of the encounters are clusters of enemies, with a few exceptions). The map would not stand out all that much were it not for it's powertrip nature.

 

I Promise I'll do Map 25 today as well.

 

Kills: 100%

Secrets: 100%

 

Map25: Blood Demesne 

I wish I hadn't promised.

 

I've noticed that a lot of maps in the wad seem to become absolute slogs as they go on to long and have too little ammo and health. This map was no exception. It did have a reasonable playtime, though. As I mentioned before, Long playtimes really don't bother me all that much (except when it's padding), it's the resource starvation that makes it significantly less enjoyable. The map is just not fun to play. This is one of those " play it and you'll see what I mean" kind of maps. I can't quite describe why. I could say the that the narrow hallways and enemy placement detract from the combat, but that would not do it justice. Seeing is believing.

 

There are only five maps left to go. Why do I have the feeling that something bad is coming?

 

Kills: 62%

Secrets: 0%

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

[RHhe82]

Looking at other voters, can I change my votes a little? I'll edit my earlier post away, and instead:

 

+++Auger;Zenith (22 maps, right?) & Morbid Autumn (10 maps, both DBP sets)

+++Haste & Micro Slaughter Community Project (18 + 18 maps, but I take it some maps can be played on the same day?)

+++Cydonia & Fractured Worlds (23 maps (MAP21 is credits) + 10 maps (MAP16 is credits?) = 31 actual maps) 

 

Any one of these, and I'll sure to be in. I wouldn't mind Arceon either, but I remember three votes is maximum, and it's hard to think of ~32 map combinations.

[dac]

Might do some writings this April, so:

 

+++ Haste / Micro Slaughter Community Project (17 + 17, counting two secret maps, not counting two end/credits maps)

+++ Cydonia / Arrival

[RHhe82]

MAP25: Blood Demesne. DSDA v0.24, HMP-Continuous. 105/107 kills, 1/2 secrets. Completion time 18:34.

 

You would think that with such a "low" monster count, map wouldn't be that hard. Wrong. Blood Demesne is not going to play nice.

 

Then you would think that a compact level with a low monster count and considerable challenge, map would be enjoyable. Wrong. Blood Demesne is surprisingly tedious work.

 

And I don't know why. I honestly think I should like this one far more than I ended up doing. Somehow the first arena already rubs me the wrong way, even though the solution is so simple: run away. I was playing continuous, and I still had to leave the horde untouched (most notably the archvile, which was the source of all problems along with a couple of revenants sniping from the far side of the blood pool).

 

Moreover, Blood Demesne has some good-looking parts. Nothing fancy like more modern wads, but I think it stands out in the CC1 crowd. And still I find it hard to enjoy. Corridors are cramped, the SMM encounter is just plain stupid, and there are blood rivers with textures missing or something, I don't know, but DSDA-Doom (with hardware rendering) displayed strange HOM-effects on the floor and the ceiling at some places.

 

Naturally, the blood hurts like hell. Luckily there are plenty of rad suits lying around, but I don't know if it was my imagination or what, but medikits were hard to come by. Also, I'm not sure if I would have been able to complete this with a pistol start. I started out with a lot of supplies from the last map, and ended up with considerably less.

 

One final problem: there's a cramped room with some blood and intestine walls. The door out doesn't open, but there's a star-shaped piece of floor. I don't know what happens, but the door eventually opens by itself. Or something, I dunno.

 

TL;DR: a very mixed bag. It's a map I should like, but ultimately didn't.

[Jaccident]

Map 25: Blood Demesne

 

Clearly this is where Sigil got its idea for the name of E5M1 from. I can’t say I particularly enjoyed this one. It felt similar to hell revealed in its difficulty, and constantly felt like I had less health and less ammo than I should. My main strategy was to run away if a fight was too absurd (I have no clue how anyone would go about fighting that spider mastermind, and I particularly enjoyed shutting the cyberdemon in its room by accident by walking up some stairs), which makes it surprising that I got 88% of the kills in the map. Still, this map was uncomfortable to play, and I can’t say I enjoyed it.

[FistMarine]

Hello everyone! I did not join this month for the simple reason that I already played and finished the first Community Chest (PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, cl9, continuous on UV, 100% everything as much as possible) back in October/November last year, so had the megawad been chosen at that time, I would have been writing with the club. I managed to read a couple posts so far and I will continue reading the rest in the weekend, as there's a lot of interesting comments and I'm happy that something really old was chosen.

 

Right now all I can do is wish everyone good luck for MAP29, as that one is the longest and hardest map in the first Community Chest!

Without spoiling too much about maps 26-30, I will give my overall thoughts on the first CChest, based on what I remember (and watching some YouTube videos now to refresh my memory), in the spoiler:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

MAP01: Pistol Panic
A bit annoying, at least the later parts of the map. I liked the concept with having a level involving using the pistol for the most part but sadly, the Doom pistol sucks and hope that you can get your hands on something better as soon as possible! There's also some voodoo dolls present in the map, so be careful where you shoot!

 

MAP02: Nullth Precinct
Decent map and I thought it was a better opener than MAP01, although for obvious reasons the actual MAP01 wouldn't have made sense if it was put higher.

 

MAP03: Ground Floor
It was fine, I guess.

 

MAP04: Outer Base
It was fine, although visually not too appealing, mostly brown at times.

 

MAP05: The Forgotten Prison
It was ok, although very forgettable (heh). Hence the map name.

 

MAP06: Goin' Down
The author passed away, so I will just say RIP Magikal. As for the map, it was quite bad and annoying to navigate. Sadly, the author's other contribution (you know which one) is even worse.

 

MAP07: The Boardwalk
It was ok, although somewhat repetitive.

 

MAP08: Battery
It was ok.

 

MAP09: Flow
Again, it was ok, like the previous map. Considering both are sewer styled maps by the same author, they could have been even merged together into one map.

 

MAP10: Termination Central
It was pretty good, since Kaiser is known for making some great maps! Although it suffered from a weird switch puzzle at end and had some annoying traps, mostly towards end, involving teleporting a surprise knight/baron behind you.

 

MAP11: Mandrel
A fairly short and easy one, it was actually nice to have a map like this for a short break.

 

MAP12: No Tomorrow
This is the first map where I died in the megawad. The map was quite tough at times, my both deaths came from much later, with platforming on tiny ledges while dodging revenant rockets and being low on health.
There were also some secrets that would get locked later, so I had to look on Doomwiki and watch an YT video in advance, so I don't get locked out of 100%. The author is notorious for doing in this in other wads as well (DTWID E2M5 and UDTWID E4M9 being the examples I have in mind right now), which makes me wonder why does the author like doing this?

 

MAP13: Another Dead Hero
Another map that killed me twice (not surprising as it's made by same author, the title of the map also predicted I will die again). I think this map was pretty tough overall (though can't tell which one was harder from the author's two maps), mostly because of swarms of monsters and being forced to go through damaging floors at times.
I don't think there was a secret that became inaccessible later but there was a soulsphere secret that required having a radiation suit to get through the lava safely (even then, there was a chance the 20% dmg lava would hurt you).

 

MAP14: Substation
A short, very brutal action packed map! I'm surprised I did this one without dying, though it kept me on my toes at times and I remember grabbing the megasphere in the right moment to save myself from dying. I only wish I found the BFG earlier instead of after I finished the level! Not a bad map and it was an interesting change from the previous two maps!

 

MAP15: Internal Reaches
Another great map by Kaiser. Filled with secrets and some interesting traps. There was one secret that is temporary reachable (the switch can be pressed just once) that contained the blue armor inside. The secret exit is quite tricky to find and get into but thankfully this one isn't one time only, so you can take your time to explore and get to it!

 

MAP31: Mt. Chaos
Great secret map, based off Ultimate Doom E3M6. Getting to super secret level, requires shooting rockets behind normal exit teleporter, to kill the hidden Commander Keens. Then the nearby wall will open, that leads to MAP32.

 

MAP32: The Citadel
It's kinda meh. I also remember stupidly dying once near beginning when I missed the red skull key and eventually fell into inescapable acid while fighting the monsters and died. Other than some parts, this map isn't too difficult.

 

MAP16: Methods of Fear
It's fine, I guess.

 

MAP17: Infliction of Hate
Again, it was fine, although I liked it better than the previous one from same author.

 

MAP18: Sudden Death
It was fine. Some fights were pretty interesting and kept me on my toes.

 

MAP19: Monster Mansion
It was alright. The last ambush (before the room with the exit) nearly got me, I wouldn't have made it alive if I didn't have the plasma gun selected beforehand.

 

MAP20: Technodrome
Great concept, though it could have been executed better. That last part with the timed bomb at end was annoying as you have two minutes to escape (and various monsters teleport in), you can't get 100% everything (at least not all kills), maximum I remember getting 440-444 monsters killed (out of 464 total) with save-scumming. I will not count the many deaths (and voodoo doll zombie glitches) I had after completing the map safely first time, I just wanted to see how many monsters you can kill and still make it to the end safely. :P
Although now that I remember, I did have two deaths that happened in one room where you grab some ammo packs in middle and then you get surrounded by various monsters (barons, cacos and revenants), I remember this room frustrating me a bit how I died (even with 100% health and armor and BFG in hand), as the enemies keep rolling high dmg and the second time when I almost cleared that room but the last revenant's homing rocket killed me at same time (don't remember if that last revenant survived or not). On my successful third attempt, I managed to clear that room with 75% health left, so it's pretty much luck based how things will turn out.
Other than some annoying parts (and the voodoo dolls placed around the map that caused extra damage from random monsters), the map was fine and definitely one of the highlights of the megawad.

 

MAP21: Avenger
A long and annoying map, some annoying traps, few unreachable secrets (at least in PrBoom+, there would be two unreachable secrets) and some parts almost killed me. Ammo was getting tight at times too. The author also did maps 23 and 27 of the megawad!

 

MAP22: Future Grave
Another nice, short and easy map. Design is decent. A much needed break from the longer maps.

 

MAP23: Blood Runners
It was better than the author's previous MAP21, that's for sure. Some secrets were annoying to get into, like the ones from that crates room.

 

MAP24: Bring Evil Upon Thee
Nice map! I think I remember doing this map without taking any damage at all (very much needed due to lack of armor/powerups in this level, so you can keep the 200 health and armor from previous map to the next map where you will actually need them!), maybe only the last imp from exit room may have hit me and that's it. The map is otherwise easy, as the enemies are mostly put in predictable positions.
Interestingly, as others have pointed out and according to Doomwiki.org, there is another copy of this map included in the wad file, which contains an extra Cyberdemon in the exit room, although sadly we can't play that separate version, would have been interesting to check it out for the sake of extra challenge.
As there are no items (besides a backpack that DOESN'T count as an item), you can only have 0% items at end of level. The only secret included is the exit room, so you can get 100% secrets at least.

 

MAP25: Blood Demesne
Very annoying map that I barely remember surviving at times! I also remember two cacodemons that seemed unkillable/unreachable at first (in the room where you fight with the cyberdemon), they can only be killed with rocket splash damage, which was very difficult to time it, at least on one of the cacos, as you needed to aim the rocket while falling to hit that and let rocket's splash damage take him out. I only found these cacos with help of IDDT, which I very rarely use (and if I do, I quit game to reset the cheat, then start and load the game again). :P
Oh and as Doomwiki mentions, you can grab the blue skull key by just bumping into the pillar, which is what I did by accident.

 

MAP26: Breakout
Another great map by Kaiser! Challenging at times and quite fun!

 

MAP27: Afterlife
And now for another long map by the same mapper that brought us MAP21 and MAP23, this one is also quite difficult at times.

 

MAP28: Necrophobia
It was alright, just another map by Gene Bird. I think it was one of the easier maps in the megawad and the fights weren't too difficult if approached carefully.

 

MAP29: Citadel at the Edge of Eternity
This is the infamous MAP29. It has exactly 1337 monsters! I had to consult a couple YT videos to complete this map and get 100% everything, as it was very confusing and difficult at times. I remember dying about 30 times in it (I stopped counting the deaths at one point and think 30 is an accurate number), it was very brutal and had me low on health/ammo at times, even though I'm being very resourceful! Some ambushes were pure bullshit and some secrets were annoying to get. And then the last part of the map where there are two points of no return, the part behind blue door (you can't open the door from inside that building!) and the very last arena fight. I'm so glad I had a backup save before that blue door, as it turned out when I got to the exit, I was missing two enemies, which turned out to be two hell knights stuck somewhere in front of one of those many doors much earlier, as if that sector didn't raise completely and after finding them with cheats (IDCLIP and IDDT, then quitting game to reset cheats) and loading the backup save, I went back and somehow killed them with rocket splash damage by firing at a nearby wall. And then had to redo the last part of the level (behind blue door) twice because I think first time some monster didn't teleport, so for other completionists out there, I advice checking that last room a few times for teleporting imps, before going into final teleporter. Oh and that last part required wallrunning to get to that elevator in time, after pressing the switch. I recommend having backup save slots, just in case something goes wrong in this level, as it's very annoying, confusing, difficult and long!!!
Good luck, you will need it!

 

MAP30: Evil Itself
The final level, somewhat disappointing, much easier than the previous map. You shouldn't have trouble completing it!

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Total Deaths: 37 (MAP12, MAP13, MAP32, MAP20, MAP29)

 

Final Thoughts: Community Chest is a mixed bag. There are some good and impressive maps in there but most of them are unremarkable, they haven't aged well and aren't really worth playing nowadays. On top of that, some maps suffer from glitches, have no way to get 100% everything (due to unreachable monsters or secrets or whatever), etc.

 

The next Community Chests are much better, although even the second one has its stinkers (I have finished the second one in January and remember some awful maps), I can't comment on CC3 and CC4 as it's been nearly a decade since I played them last time and that was with gameplay mods. It will be a while before I revisit them in PrBoom+.

 

My votes for next month:

 

+++ Arrival
+++ Auger;Zenith
+++ Hexen: Beyond Heretic

Hope that I can join next month, regardless of what wins. Have a nice weekend!

Edited March 25, 2022 by FistMarine

[Poncho1]

Map25: Blood Demesne

Author: Will Hackney (Archvile46)

 

One of the dreaded maps of the WAD. I'd had my fair share of difficulty from some of the previous maps, but those were generally of a navigational nature, or more awkward than hard. So far into this mapset, this one outdoes both of Use3D's levels in terms of difficulty. I'm on the opinion that this wasn't playtested thoroughly. If it were the case, then it shows: tons of claustrophobic action involving Barons, Revenants, Arch-viles and even a Cyberdemon in the southern shrine area, and in between these clumsy battles are tight passageways marked with damaging blood. The Rad suits are not plentiful, considering how slow a lot of the fights are, so chances are you'll only use the suit's potential for a good 15 seconds before spending the rest of non-damaging floors doing battle with an annoying swarm of monsters. However, if this map was indeed made the way it was, to me it makes it be irresponsibly vicious. The open area right at the start is a real pain, because if the enemies don't behave, they'll simply block and scratch you to death. I should also mention that there's Revenant snipers in the back, and also an Arch-vile in this first fight, all with no real cover. Lucky infighting will save you a lot of health. Speaking of, I dunno if it was just me, but there's a bit of a shortage. Sure, there're a couple of Supercharges, but they feel more like band-aids that don't add a whole lot, especially with the aforementioned damaging floors that're peppered throughout the level, so you'll be getting hurt constantly. I also felt that there was some ammo shortages: now, I'm on a continuous run, something I balance out by making as few saves mid-level as possible, whilst also going for 100%, but even then the map sapped away at my resources, even when I was doing as asked. Once again, as with Use3D's maps, I mid-level saved before entering the shrine in the south section because I got really impatient with the opening and the other wide-open area with the Arachnotrons, more Revenant snipers, and Spider Mastermind. The best part probably is the shrine: it looks kinda nice and the Arch-vile on the stairs is a neat touch, though I question why a Cyberdemon had to be in a small room with even more damaging floors, and there're also two Cacodemons in pits that never seem to be able to escape them. Naturally, every WAD needs a level that really snaps the player out of their sleep, but I found this one's waking call to be rude. A couple extra Rad suits and some more cover would've gone a long way.

 

+++ Sector 666

+++ Aeternum

 

Dunno about any other suggestions, those 2 would make up maybe half a month.

Edited March 25, 2022 by Poncho1

[NiGHTS108]

  On 3/25/2022 at 3:53 PM, PeceMan said:

Question
 

Can I vote for a wad which contains maps made by me?

 

The wad contains 30 maps, 2 of which are mine

Expand  

 

Yeah don't sweat it we've had at least one person vote for a megawad they almost entirely made here

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 25: Blood Demense - Archvile46

99% kills and 50% secrets

Time: 17:26

Deaths: 6 

 

Well this one is hard. I can't imagine trying to pistol-start this one, since the opening is filled with hot blood, barons, revs, imps, chaingunners, and an archie, plus no weapons. Fun. There's not a lot of health either. I grabbed the soul sphere behind the spider mastermind with only 5% health (I had more when I ran onto the boiling blood it was over). This is its biggest drawback, as you're fighting for your life often, just scraping by, and trying to consolidate as much health as possible. Its second biggest drawback is the lack of rad suits. At one point, you have to go into a small blood tunnel into a room with 2 barons, in order to hit a switch. My first time through it, I had <20 health by the time the barons were done with me, so I wasn't able to make it back through the tunnel. Another death I had was falling through a well with 3 cacos in it, 2 of which below me that I didn't see, and then I got bit by a pinky while trying to deal with the tomatoes. My other 4 deaths came from trying to 2-shot the cyb, but doing that on the blood pool's stairs is very difficult. Aesthetically, this map looks pretty nice. Nice detailing going on all throughout, but you'll be dealing with barons too much to notice a lot. There is a little bit of ammo deprivation, but it wasn't as bad as a couple of the previous levels. I don't think you can backtrack through the map once you raise the blood level. I think that's where the secret I missed was, but it didn't look like I could go back. I can definitely see why a lot of people would not like this map, but it's tolerable in a continuous playthrough. There's a lot of hard hitters and a lack of health, so it drags the quality down quite a bit.

[LadyMistDragon]

+++ Ray Mohawk: Ray's Manic Monday and Ray Mohawk 2: Ray Rides Again.

 

if Auger; Zenith wins as it looks it's going to, let me cast a vote for +++Fractured Worlds. I'm not sure I'll have time at the beginning of the month, but maybe later on, though it's still doubtful

[NiGHTS108]

MAP25: Blood Demesne

By Archvile46

Kills: 78%

Items: 40%
Secrets: 0%

Time: 9:28

 

Holy fuckin hell... Blood Demesne is the (2nd, you'll see.) biggest sneak attack in this megawad, it is absolutely brutal, a trench of damaging blood that will never fail to wear and tear at you, my two suggestions, 1. Kill the Arch-Vile in the starting room ASAP, the less Archies alive here the better and it'll help you while exiting, 2. DON'T (Do not.) [Refrain from.] {Avoid.} MISS THE CHAINSAW. It will save you ammo you're not prepared to live without, save your health and armour religiously here, it's almost all in wimpy scraps across the map, the main challenge isn't the marble citadel or back yard Mastermind, it's all in tiptoeing over the remains of the fallen and a lot of chainsawing, it absolutely earns the flamin' Mark Klem track too, it's the only MIDI I know that can please this beast, I respect maps like this that pound me into the ground, but unfortunately truth be told, this one is the icon of Community Chest's clumsiness, inconsistence and untested-ness, it is WAY WAY WAY out of place here

 

Grade: C+

Difficulty: X-

 

 

4 days left.

 

And voting? Wherever the wind blows with this month for me, but I am giving my two cents and saying

+++ Judgement

+++ Micro-Slaughter/Haste

Edited March 28, 2022 by NiGHTS108
Deducted my Auger;Zenith vote, slaughter forever!

[Book Lord]

MAP 26 – Breakout by Samuel Villareal @Kaiser

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

 

While browsing the Doomworld forums, I noticed that a few people use the word “hellbase” as a short form for corrupted tech-base, but I think the term could suit a specific map subcategory. This last submission by Samuel Villareal had a proper tech-base layout, featuring artificial lighting, machinery, and computer terminals, but its walls were deliberately covered with marble and other hellish textures. It did not look like a human facility swallowed by dark magic and demonic corruption; it resembled a tech-base constructed by demons for their own purposes, using their favourite materials and ornaments.

  Reveal hidden contents

The visual department was sleek and detailed, as seen in previous Kaiser maps and possibly even more pleasing. A pistol start looked possible, even though the SSG and the chainsaw were heavily guarded. The map size and the length of the paths were extended even further and unfolded nicely for the most part, as the action was engaging, with a lot of fodder to mow down and well-organised set pieces in correspondence of crucial equipment and relevant progression steps. In fact, it was impossible to deviate from the intended path, which was confusing only because it was extremely long. I often had doubts about the direction I was taking, so I thoroughly explored every area before moving on, to make sure I did not overlook something important.

 

This approach led me through the first checkpoint and inside a chamber with the RK, unreachable for the moment. Breakout made good use of windows to connect the indoor and the outdoor sections, adding pressure from the monsters outside but also opportunities for infighting. Seeing a location did not mean that it was close at hand; quite the opposite, certain places were reached through lengthy and mysterious paths. From the RK room I went down a staircase and into a courtyard, split in two by a toxic slime river, then I proceeded westwards through the only door. Thankfully the Commandos below the impaled humans had largely been killed by angry Cacodemons, or else traversing the courtyard would have been painful.

  Reveal hidden contents

After a series of mandatory encounters and traps, one supposed to handle the rocket launcher to pistol starters, I arrived in a room with a 3D bridge crossing a moat. The yellow door at the other side was the exit, but there was no other option except going to the left and through a long series of rooms and hallways full of enemies. I eventually reached a big open ground with bulky monsters popping out of the earth, just to hilariously stop at the bottom of the staircase, where savage infighting ensued. There was a cavern at the other side of the outdoor area, and inside it a teleporter.

 

It led to the “scene of the crime”. Combat was prolonged and repetitive at times, but so far navigating Breakout had been straightforward. All of a sudden, Samuel Villareal decided to screw up his good work and put the player in front of extremely counter-intuitive progression. The destination was a room with marble pillars, a second teleporter, and a skull switch. I pressed the switch first and was greeted by bovine growls. A group of Hell Nobles tried to surround me in a narrow environment, making up for a good combat set piece. When they were dead, I entered the teleporter just to be savagely ambushed by other enemies. I barely made it through, just to learn I had been sent to the other side of the level, in front of an unreachable YSK, and no direction to go but backwards into the gate.

  Reveal hidden contents

At that point, I received an illumination that cannot be taken for granted: the switch seemed to have no purpose except releasing Hell Nobles, so there must be something more to it. I remembered an irritating choice by Kaiser in MAP10, so I checked all lifts for hidden switches, and there it was! I pressed it and registered absolutely nothing. I uselessly checked the YSK area, then I took the long way back. I saw the RK had become accessible and tried to get back to it; I was scratching my head because a shortcut would have been the least the author could do for a player that found that concealed switch. Nope, I must walk all the way back, find myself stuck by a door for 3 minutes, until I discovered the door command tucked away in a balcony. That was the respect shown to the players in 2003.

  Reveal hidden contents

Once I obtained the RK, all mysteries had been solved. I entered the easternmost part of the level, I stormed the library with disproportionate fury, and eventually I collected the YSK. I rushed for the exit, impatient to end my long stay in this level, but had to stop again because of a missing step. I remembered there was a second yellow door on the map, and I was shocked to learn that it was mandatory instead of optional. Maybe this map could use a bit more backtracking, Sam?

 

There was more: the automap revealed a hidden area with a NIͶ logo in the first courtyard, but it opened thanks to a walkover line just in front of the exit teleporter. Now tell me how anybody is supposed to discover it during play. Seeing the E4M1 tribute and gain the complimentary Megasphere required either IDCLIP or a check with the editor, so why arrange it in the first place? For half an hour I thought this could be one of the best maps in Community Chest, but it turned out to be just fool’s gold. Now I really need a Breakout from wretched progression ideas.

[brick]

MAP25: Blood Demesne

I sure hope you like killing barons with the SSG over 10% damage floor, because there's a lot of this happening. The map gives you lots of rockets and very little room to actually use them (unless you save them all for the Spider I guess). There are some utterly weird thing placements; the blue armor is nice for continuous, but the berserk behind the exit is utterly baffling. I wasn't a big fan of the map overall. On Easy it's not too hard but it still feels mean. Killer music track though.

 

MAP26: Breakout

I'm not sure if I dislike this one even more than MAP10, it's certainly a big step down from Kaiser's previous MAP15. The map abuses the same couple of tricks over and over. Every single switch triggers an ambush. Every single baron will immediately teleport behind you. Every open area has a couple of chaingunners way way in the back who will continually shoot at you while you try to deal with other things. The repetitiveness gets tiresome very quickly, but this is a large map and so it just drags on. The layout of the map isn't too confusing, but progression is designed in parts to maximize backtracking, and when the map coils on itself so much that's a LOT of backtracking. The worst offender by far is the red key, which will require you to run back and forth across the entire spiral of the map several times. To make matters worse one of the switches required to reach the key is better hidden than 3 of the secrets combined (as for that 4th and last secret, the less said about it the better), and you don't even get any indication of what it does, requiring even more traipsing back and forth. The rest of the progression is thankfully less obscure, but this part left a sour taste.

[RHhe82]

MAP26: Breakout. DSDA v0.24, HMP-Cont. 317/317 kills, 3/4 secrets. Completion time 37:41.

 

I almost loved this map. In fact, at the end, I still dig it, I think it's the best of Kaiser's outings in the megawad. Towards the beginning of the level I was considering this to be (among) the best map(s) so far, but it kinda stumbles on its own magnum opus-ity. The map looks great in any case, that I almost wouldn't mind the length of it, but towards the end there's some obtuse progression ahead, and by that I mean the lowering Baron/Hell Knight pillars, one of which hides a necessary switch. That took a long time for me to find. A long time.

 

It's also at that point when the backtracking begins. Unless I missed some much needed shortcut, you have to go back through major parts of the level for the red key, and (if I remember right) the yellow key, and one final time when you need to raise some stairs in the exit room. Damn it Kaiser, you were doing so well, but the latter half seriously sours the map that would otherwise have been so good!

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP23: "Blood Runners" by Sphagne

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 9/12 secrets

 

Sphagne's second map features the second non-Doom II midi of the set, it's a bit repetitive in sound but sounds pretty nice. There is a long silence before looping, but might help to lessen the repetitive feel a little, haha. This is another lengthy map, but it felt a lot kinder than Sphagne's previous effort. The layout is still not completely clear, but it's not nearly as unintuitive as MAP21, and I was able to find my way along without much effort for much of the runtime. Much of my time was spent hunting down the last kills which were hidden in secret areas at the beginning of the map, which I needed to enlist the help of UDB for as the one with the spectres and megasphere was especially obscure. I also had to kill some time getting the cell weapons, which require awkward walking jumps to access.

 

I was surprised that I got through this one without saves after only a death or two. The ammo balance in this one feels much kinder than MAP21, which I suspect is due to the level stocking you up for the closing cyberdemon just in case you didn't get the cell weapons. If I didn't get those cell weapons I imagine the battle with the cyberdemon could have been very tight. Even with them, using the BFG on the cybie is pretty awkward, there doesn't really appear to be a good place to stand to get good hits on him safely. You can lure him outside of his building, but his large size prevents him from navigating out to the open area. Combat was generally pretty decent here, although there were a few areas that were a bit sloggy, like the large mass of hell nobles in the southern area, and the crate area containing a few too many imps in its cubby-holes for my tastes.

 

I thought this was a marked improvement over this mapper's previous effort, I enjoyed it overall.

Edited March 26, 2022 by DisgruntledPorcupine

[NiGHTS108]

MAP26: Breakout

By Kaiser

Kills: 94%

Items: 77%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 21:03

 

Perhaps the happiest I'll ever be to see Kaiser's name after the heart attack of last map, Breakout is one last ornately detailed labyrinth, this one probably looks his best, he balances the marble and tech base elements surprisingly well, and it's also his most exciting map, several relatively large scale fights, sure, they're not EXCELLENT fights, but I appreciate shit to blow up while I haggle my way through here, but even so this map is still quite a bit too much for me with all the switches and odd progression choices at times, I don't appreciate the door that requires a bit of a hidden switch to open, and also the ceiling switch that opens the red key isn't great, and it's hard to know it opens the red key cage too, overall though? Yeah, it's fine

 

Grade: B-

Difficulty: B-

 

 

3 days left.

[Poncho1]

Map26: Breakout

Author: Samuel Villarreal (Kaiser)

 

As @Book Lord mentioned, this indeed could be classified as "hellbase". Usually, mixes of Hell and techbase tend to be very haphazard (even Sandy Petersen, a mapper I admire a lot, was somewhat guilty of this). However, Kaiser seams these elements together in such a way that it really feels natural. As with his previous maps, the detailing is pretty good, whether it be an outdoor area between the two indoor sections with a nukage river passing through. As it to be expected with Kaiser though, the pacing can be somewhat sluggish. The gameplay is, once again, of a largely incidental nature. I wouldn't say that there's much in the way of traps, just enemies dotted around the map. Getting the Red Key's a bit of a head-scratcher. I watched the Dean of Doom video a few weeks before this month began, and while I have my disagreements with his opinions at times (especially with some of the Master Levels), his critiques for this map's RK scenario is pretty bang on: you literally go through the map, to the point where it feels like you can't continue, so you simply backtrack to the RK and it's open. Yep, Kaiser's backtracking bollocks is back. The confusing progression again dampens this map's pacing. I also hate the Megasphere secret: who'd know that it opens just by getting really close to the exit and backtracking (again!) to the outdoors nukage river area? With all that said, I must say that I liked this one better than his previous two offerings. There's a certain atmosphere in this mix of marble Hell and tech, and the combat, while nothing special, wasn't Termination Center [sic] levels of dull. I'd say this was acceptable.

[Jaccident]

Map 26: Breakout

It’s a shame that my first impression of Kaiser’s mapping was Termination Centre because his other maps haven’t been as terrible. This one was one I actually quite enjoyed, with my only problems being the horrendous backtracking required for the red key, and the teleporter traps where you get teleported into a bunch of chaingunners (which is bullshit). Other than that, this map was very good fun, and mostly flowed really well.

 

I have a lot of really important exams coming up and will be spending April studying for them, so I won't be participating for the next month or two (or 3). Still, this has been a really fun experience, and I've found it has been a good way to inject a bit of doom into my daily routine. I probably shouldn't vote for anything if I'm not joining in, so this is more just a general thanks to everyone!

[Deadwing]

+++Uprising

[PeceMan]

  On 3/25/2022 at 10:36 PM, NiGHTS108 said:

Yeah don't sweat it

Expand  

Dope

 

+++3x3 Take Too (30 maps, only 3 flats, 3 wall textures and 3 enemy types per map, Boom Compatible)

[finnks13]

MAP26 - Breakout by Kaiser:
Kaiser's final contribution to Community Chest is decent, it's probably the best of his three maps, but I still don't love it. It's a very lovingly detailed hell fortress, with nice looking natural landscapes outside, and intricate technology inside. These visuals are great, and I think it's the nicest looking of Kaiser's maps (though I do like hell-themed maps the most out of the three themes he attempts). The gameplay is about on par with Infernal Reaches, seeming more there because it has to be rather than being designed around it, though it focuses more on powerful weaponry and larger scale fights which I think helps to make the combat more enjoyable. 

 

This map definitely goes on for too long, I appreciate that the layout is complex and you want to show off how interconnected it can be, but there are some parts that just drag. The progression is also a bit odd at points, with the barriers blocking you off from the red key just lowering randomly at some point, which feels very arbitrary. I think the large outdoor battle against mancubi, arachnotrons and pinkies was my favourite part of the map - you're given a lot of rockets and cells and can just go nuts, it's my favourite part of Kaiser's maps in CC1 (and CC2, if I'm being honest). Overall, another well detailed, solid map from Kaiser.

 

RANKINGS:

  Reveal hidden contents

Really Liked: MAP02, MAP07, MAP17, MAP21
Liked: MAP04, MAP09, MAP13, MAP14, MAP31, MAP16, MAP18, MAP23
The Boring Zone: MAP03, MAP11, MAP15, MAP32, MAP19, MAP24, MAP26
Didn't Like: MAP01, MAP05, MAP08, MAP12, MAP20, MAP22
Really Didn't Like: MAP06, MAP10, MAP25

 

~~~

 

  On 3/24/2022 at 4:37 PM, LadyMistDragon said:

Wait, what server could this be? Some larger one I somehow have missed?

Expand  

Forgot to mention this yesterday, sorry! I think @Dusty_Rhodes is talking about the NaNoWADMo discord server, which has remained surprisingly active even though the NaNoWADMo 2021 itself was in last October. If you'd like the link for it then I'd be happy to send it to you.

[Roofi]

+++ Pizza Steve

[PeceMan]

Level 26, Breakout
    I played like half of the level, but then I had to leave to do some chores. And while doing said chores, I was quietly thinking to myself about all

    the praise I would write about this level. All the good things the level had done, and all the fun I was having.

 

    But then I came back, and had to play through the rest of the level. 

 

 

    Holy shit. What the fuck is up with that red keycard. 

 

    That part of the progression had some serious "never been play-tested" energy.

 

 

    This here is pretty much a perfect summary of the level: 
    Almost a perfect 5/5. Almost every mistake could be overlooked when compared to all the map's strengths. Almost. 

 

    There were one or two annoying design decisions that were so bad, that they brought down the entire quality of the level. 

 

    And once you're done playing the level, the one or two terrible sections are the only things you will remember.

 

 

 

Ratings:

  Reveal hidden contents

Five Stars:        
            02 Nullth Precinct; 18 Sudden Death

 

Four Stars:            
            04 Outer Base; 05 The Forgotten Prison; 07 The Boardwalk; 08 Battery; 10 Termination Center; 11 Mandrel; 14 Substation; 

            20 Technodrome; 22 Future Grave; 26 Breakout

 

Three Stars:        
            01 Pistol Panic; 03 Ground Floor; 09 Flow; 13 Another Dead Hero; 15 Infernal Reaches; 16 Methods of Fear; 17 Inflictions of Hate;

            32 The Citadel; 21 Avenger; 23 Blood Runners

 

Two Stars:        
            12 No Tomorrow; 31 Mt. Chaos; 24 Bring Evil Upon Thee; 25 Blood Demesne

 

One Star:    
            06 Goin' Down; 19 Monster Mansion

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by PeceMan
Had to look up how to spell "decisions"

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 23: Hey, I recognize this MIDI.  Heard in in heroes2.wad from about 1996.  And since heroes2 is an unauthorized compilation of custom maps (and an amount of map jank comparable to CChest itself but that's a topic for another place) without anything original to its name, the MIDI itself must be even older.  Maybe one of the '90s WADs deep divers could offer more insight to where the music is first used.

 

As for the map itself, I still remember the crate warehouse.  The high amount of verticality and sniping monsters too high to target from the ground and how awkward it is to fully explore.  Map overall is relaxing enough on HMP that I lasted quite a while without saves.  Don't remember if I reached the exit, gave up after getting lost, or died in a careless manner.

 

Map 25: So I often loaded up the Memento Mori 2 music WAD when derping around with CChest.  Makes no difference in this map as the track matches.  This one was not fun from pistol start.  I don't think I made it past the third room or so thanks to all the damage floors and scarce resources.  I have run through it on god mode and didn't like what I found.  Lots more damage floors to traverse and the map pushes the player to rush to avoid running out of radsuit time.  Not a style of gameplay I enjoy and the forced damage floors have their way of discouraging exploration.  Scarce resources throughout encourages infighting which is not a fun situation when a radsuit is ticking away.  I have no memory of the infinite height nonsense but the other aspects are enough to give this one a big "ugh, yuck."

 

+++ Biowar and HellCore 2.0

+++ Eternal Doom 4 and Legacy of Heroes  (only 17 maps combined but some maps are gargantuam, going to need multiple days to finish those behemoths)

[LadyMistDragon]

  On 3/26/2022 at 5:44 PM, finnks13 said:

 

RANKINGS:

  Reveal hidden contents

Really Liked: MAP02, MAP07, MAP17, MAP21
Liked: MAP04, MAP09, MAP13, MAP14, MAP31, MAP16, MAP18, MAP23
The Boring Zone: MAP03, MAP11, MAP15, MAP32, MAP19, MAP24, MAP26
Didn't Like: MAP01, MAP05, MAP08, MAP12, MAP20, MAP22
Really Didn't Like: MAP06, MAP10, MAP25

 

~~~

 

Forgot to mention this yesterday, sorry! I think @Dusty_Rhodes is talking about the NaNoWADMo discord server, which has remained surprisingly active even though the NaNoWADMo 2021 itself was in last October. If you'd like the link for it then I'd be happy to send it to you.

Expand  

 

Sure, go ahead.:)

  On 3/26/2022 at 6:18 PM, Roofi said:

+++ Pizza Steve

Expand  

Troll

 

As the bollocks are now over, on to today's map!

 

Map 26: Breakout by Samuel "Kaiser" Villarreal

Played from pistol-start with the Whitemare class from Final Doomer.

 

This map is just a hop and a skip away from being a runaway favorite of the mod. Kaiser mixes some techbase textures in with what is of a more predominantly hellish theme in a map that's undeniably fun to explore. For instance, I really like the hallway with a grate over some lava There's less sniping here than in the Internal Reaches, but it's overall a more difficult map, and possibly as difficult as Andy Leaver's maps, due to Kaiser's increased willingness to insert strong enemies that are more of an impediment in a manner comparable to something like Dark Entries from Doom 64. It wasn't until finnks who's not even English if I recall correctly that I finally understood what people mean when they say the combat has to be there because it doesn't serve the design of the map for the most part.

 

Still, I would have to disagree, at least in part because if you're approaching the outdoor courtyard with the chaingunner mob from the path above the river, you'll also come between them and a rude, yet notable Cacodemon mob coming at you for the left. It took a few tries to get through here to the door at the other end, behind which was a Pain Elemental. Yep, shit just got real for a few seconds.

 

Now, regardless of how well the later maps harmonize with the hellish skyline (25, 26, and 29 especially), that doesn't change the fact that some truly baffling progression choices were made. Specifically, I'm referring to the fact that you have a stupidly lengthy backtrack before you after you pick up the red key, which isn't the easiest to find at the outset. So lengthy in fact, that I refused to believe it for probably 12 minutes. Part of that is that I'd stopped halfway through the past day for unrelated reasons, so I'd forgot about the door.

 

There's also the two separate yellow doors that both must be entered for reasons that no one care about. The Megasphere secret that opens when you get right next to the exit is similar to other secrets that have appeared in other Doom maps. It's rather bad, but some people don't want you to discover all secrets the first time. Who am I kidding, it's stupid.

 

It says something about Community Chest that this is still one of the better maps, despite some serious flaws. I was almost going to play Community Chest 2 because Mt. Pain never really got into the progression of Kaiser's map from that set in a specific sense, but now....I'll just settle for his stuff that doesn't belong to a Community project. That definitely doesn't include his earliest works like DSV-I either, (I did try Blackness though and...yeah, you'll have to cheat and edit the lump info if you want to play it correctly.

[RHhe82]

Okay, it's already sunday in Finland and I happen to be at my laptop this late when I should already be asleep, so I might just as well post today's musings. I'll get back to the reasons me being up late in a couple of days, wink-effing-wink.

 

MAP27: Afterlife. DSDA v0.24, HMP-Cont., 221/221 kills, 5/5 secrets. Completion time 39:49.

 

Ugh. There's another 40 minutes of life, wasted. Well, it's not like Afterlife is an abomination of an level or anything of the sort, but it just draaaaaaaaaaaags on and on and on. There are over 200 monsters on HMP, and it still feels empty. There are some acceptable spots, like the boat in the pool of blood, but that's the best I can say. Most of this is just miserable, depressing and dull.

 

I don't know if the progression can be called obtuse, but at times I wasn't quite sure what some buttons accomplished and where I should have gone. I don't feel like I was "stuck" at any point, if that's a positive.

 

Hopefully the next level is a short one.

Edited March 26, 2022 by RHhe82