The DWmegawad Club plays: Micro-Slaughter Community Project & Haste

[Arwel]

MSCP map07 - Tarnished Luster by Pegleg

UV with saves between fights, 100% kills, 2 secrets, ~10 deaths, mostly in last fight

 

Warm-up fight is easy but features some unusual choices and feels authentic, just like the opening visuals. The following midlevel area is a jump in scale not only from the immediate predecessor, but from previous maps too: now we have arena packed with cyberdemons and pinkies surrounded by thick isolated corridor, guarded by hell knights and mancubi and even some irrelevant room with revenants and imps. Other than catching stray rockets from cybies I think this fight is not too hard to handle just by making sure to stay on the move. You will need to anyway, because there is a lengthy sequence of switches which aren't going to press themselves. Hell knights feel somewhat redundant and grindy considering their count and placement, but I had just enough rockets to clear them all real quick. Given the size of arena, finishing a crowd of cyberdemons is easy if you get the BFG. The last fight is full of interesting pathing and verticality, especially for people who play with freelook off. I enjoyed replaying it again and again, but I would prefer it to give player some powerups instead of opening door to previous area. Overall, nice map, which could probably benefit from more polishing. Last fight has much more potential than is currently implemented.

[finnks13]

MAP07 - Tarnished Luster by Pegleg:
DEATHS - 5
The first MSCP map that I really don't like, Tarnished Luster is a shiny, green chrome techbase that contains a couple of interesting fights, but also some of the worst cleanup I've seen since I last played Hell Revealed. The fun fights are the first chaingun and SSG fight against some imps, zombies and hell knights, and the initial part of the large pinky demon swarm. The first fight is a surprisingly fun little encounter, you have to balance taking out the zombies quickly, while making sure to dodge the hell knight's attacks. The non-cleanup part of the pinky swarm is very fun and hectic too, and is probably the best bit of the map.

 

This map falls down for me because while the initial parts of the fights are usually entertaining, it's very easy to get hold of everything and then you're left with cleanup which is not the most entertaining part of slaughter to begin with, but this map's specifically really annoying to do.  The hell knights in the pinky swarm, for example, are absolutely no threat when they're caged up and only get freed if you activate a trap that actively makes the fight harder and is out of the way so probably won't be activated by mistake, so they're just helpless and an ammo tax. There is a BFG to kill the 6 cyberdemons, however I didn't find it until after that, which left me plasmaing them to death for 2 minutes. The worst cleanup is definitely killing all of the respawning snipers in the final fight, though.

 

I really don't like the finale, it's got the elements of a good fight - a caco cloud, snipers, damaging ground to keep you moving - but it doesn't work at all. From reading everyone else's reviews, it seems the intended (and best) strategy is to push all of the switches quickly and then leave the arena and deal with the monsters from the doorway, I didn't do this personally because I didn't realise it was an option but that's not great design IMO. I didn't bother killing all the sniping mancubi and arachnotrons around the outskirts, you have to either take a load of damage from the floor or stop moving completely on one of the switch platforms to allow the autoaim to do cooperate. All of my deaths came in this fight, and I can't deny that most of them were due to frustration and trying to rush it. Not my cup of tea.

 

RANKINGS:

Spoiler

Really Liked: 
Liked: MAP01, MAP03, MAP06
Mixed Opinions: MAP02, MAP05
Boring: MAP04
Didn't Like: MAP07

 

[PeceMan]

Level 7, Tarnished Luster, by Pegleg

    Well so much for short levels. I don't think I could ever beat this level in less than 10 minutes, even if I were playing in ITYTD

 

    I think I managed to beat this one in UV. But the final fight was pretty hard. In HNTR however, if you know what you're supposed

    to do, the level is very doable. Easy even, if compared to most other levels in the wad.

 

    The moving parts are extremely visually appealing, and I love the use of technology textures. But I do get that this level's aesthetics

    probably aren't for everyone.

 

    Also, again, I don't appreciate having to fight while on damaging floors. A radiation suit would've been great.

 

 

 

Ratings:

Spoiler

Maps I loved:
        Map01, Fire in your Eyes;

        Map03, Cherry Blossom

 

Maps I liked:

        Map02, Viridescent Synapse;

        Map04, Floody Hell;

        Map05 Marble in the Blood; 

        Map06 Slaughter Factory;

        Map07 Tarnished Luster

 

Maps I found Ok:

        -

Maps I didn't like:

        -

Maps I hated:

        -

 

[Alaxzandarz]

Played with pistol-starts on UV on DSDA-Doom

 

Map 07: Tarnished Luster

 

Large very shiny techbase.  I really enjoyed the second fight. It's sorta easy, but it feels very slaughtery and it has a nice amount of phases. I also like BFGing cybers. The last fight sucks, it is so not fun. The amount of snipers is just no. I rushed the switches and escaped asap. The weapons in this map wierdly just lie on the floor in unassuming places, it took a while for me to find the SSG and the rocket launcher. I actually like this map visually, don't really know why. When I first played mscp I skipped this map, but now I quite enjoy it.

 

My ranking of the maps

Spoiler

1: Cherry Blossom

2: Marble in the Blood

3: Viridescent Synapse

4: Tarnished Luster

5: Fire In Your Eyes

6: Slaughter Factory

7: Floody Hell

 

[General Roasterock]

9 hours ago, Guardsoul said:

Slaughter factory is a map that I created in slightly more than a week that is a love letter to Fink´s Slaughter Factory from Borderlands 2

You know, now that I'm seeing the screenshot, it should've been obvious, but the important bits are nearly identical. Great work on that!

[tonytheparrot]

(Played on UV with pistol starts on Prboom+, saves are allowed)

Map 7: Tarnished Luster by Pegleg

100% kills, 70% items and 100% secrets

Time: 15:39

 

This map is by far the longest map in MSCP so far, I highly doubt that it is UV-MAXable in less than 5 minutes. This map is a green techbase with an outdoor lake of acid and while the green works very well with the grey here, it doesn't look as good as the other maps for me, even if I like the cute details like the sequence happening after pressing the first switch and the weird pyramid at the center of the lake. This map contains 3 main fights and some more incidental ones, which are all supported by an excellent track composed by Primeval for Unholy Realms. After pressing the first switch, imps appear on one side and hitscanners appear on the other, before some HKs and an SSG teleport in, which is nice if the fireballers don't prevent you from taking it. After that, press the 2 switches, grab the blue key, don't miss the secret blue armor and take on the next fight, which is composed of lots of enemies on the ground, along with sniping cybers and mancubi. Both of these encouters are very fun, but unfortunately, when you grab the red key, the map goes downhill. Stealing the key lowers the cybers and teleports even more monsters that don't last very long. It is surprisingly difficult to avoid rockets here, even if a secret BFG can make the encounter more enjoyable. Finally, you get thrown into the final fight, which is sadly a pain in the ass. You get cacos blocking you around the center, annoying damaging floors, very little room to move without mutating, and a lot of sniping mancubi and arachnotrons, with the latter ones actually being replaced twice after death (I think). While killing the tomatoes is fun, clearing out the snipers is long, tedious and unfun. First of all, I think that there should be less snipers and no respawning arachnos. Second, the damaging floor should either be removed if Pegleg adds more monsters on the ground floor, or there should be a few rad suits to make the encounter less annoying. While it is still a fine map, it's annoying second half and weaker visuals compared to the rest of the wad make it my least favorite entry so far.

 

Rankings: (I changed map 5 because I placed it incorrectly and only realised today)

Spoiler

 

Love:

Map 3

Map 6

Map 2

Really like:

Map 5

Map 1

Like:

Map 4

Map 7

 

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by tonytheparrot

[RHhe82]

MAP07: Tarnished Luster. HNTR, PS, DSDA v0.24, 272/272 K, 2/2 S, 63/102 I. Completion time 19:39

 

After getting beaten several times on previous level, suddenly we get one I’m able to do straight away (albeit on HNTR) without loading a save once. Didn’t even break a sweat until the last arena, which wasn’t hard as such, but had the most potential of killing me with its damaging floor paired with wall turrets and a cacocloud.

 

I should be happy for such a breather map, but you know, I didn’t really like it. I mean, there’s nothing inherently wrong with, it’s a perfectly decent level, but somehow it felt a bit empty. Maybe it's too flat? I don't know. Despite all my struggles, all the previous maps have had their space used more or less efficiently which I’ve liked. MAP04 had most unused space, but it didn’t matter that much because it built up to be a ”heretic sort of” castle towers separated by ramparts and all. If Tarnished Luster would have used standard textures, it could almost have been a 90s wad if not for small nice details, like the pillars forming in the beginning or some of the decor in the central arena and the ziggurat at the end.

 

The music’s great, though! Somehow it reminds of a game called La-Mulana (the Steam re-release version).

Edited April 5, 2022 by RHhe82

[Bauul]

8 minutes ago, tonytheparrot said:

This map is by far the longest map in MSCP so far, I highly doubt that it is UV-MAXable in less than 5 minutes.

 

Just to confirm, the maps were never meant to be UV-Maxable in less than 5 minutes, merely beatable.  A PAR time in Doom never necessitated 100%ing a map.

[tonytheparrot]

4 minutes ago, Bauul said:

 

Just to confirm, the maps were never meant to be UV-Maxable in less than 5 minutes, merely beatable.  A PAR time in Doom never necessitated 100%ing a map.

Oh okay, Thanks for the info! I should have guessed. (If you have never finished MSCP, don't open the spoiler)

Spoiler

Especially given the length of some maps to come, like 13, or 14 for example.

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by tonytheparrot

[NiGHTS108]

MAP07: Tarnished Luster

By Pegleg

Kills: 88%

Items: 31%

Secrets: 100%

Time: 9:49

 

Eh... I'm not sure about this map to be honest... Tarnished Luster does have a good MIDI going for it but this is probably the most questionable map in the megawad (well, excluding MAP10) Like the only fights here I really enjoy are when you get into the red key room for the first time and you meet all those Pinkies and the pretty cool chaingun moment at the start, but other than that this one makes weird choices, I have no idea what's going on with the BFG secret, I couldn't tell you how to get the red key after playing it twice, and there's at least a few strange teleporter moments, like grabbing the red key and then hitting a switch to teleport back to the main room... why? You could say it's for the teleport ambush, sure, but there's no other red key door in this map, there's practically no reason for this teleporter, oh well, maybe I'm nitpicking, I'm also not crazy for the visuals, it looks a lot more basic and unmemorable than all of what we've seen so far, but my main gripe with this level comes at the ending, if you didn't like how MAP05 handled damaging floor you sure as hell won't like this one, all this poison is a bit, say, lightly inconvenient with a cloud of Cacos over your head and more than a dozen Mancubi and Arachno snipers in the peanut gallery, if someone can do this fight without taking damage I'll be extremely impressed, juggling the huge area of damaging floor and a million projectiles in the air really just isn't fun for me, and I have no idea how you're supposed to do it without the previously mentioned odd BFG secret, even with weapon no. 7 this time, I ended up beating this one the same way I did initially by just dashing to the exit and shoving the Mancubi out of the way, while I think Tarnished Luster has its good moments, it's a bit too confused to get my seal of approval

 

Grade: C+

Difficulty: B

 

 

[Solmyr]

MSCP: MAP07 "Tarnished Luster" by Pegleg.
HMP /Pistol Start.

Kills: 100%
Items: 80%
Secrets: 100%
Time: 20:18

The map design looks minimalistic and utilitarian in contrast to the previous maps so far, and plays a lot more forgiving as well; with the exception of map 04 which will remain the easiest for the rest of the mapset. I died only 6 times and half of those deaths were in the final area which proved to be far more brutal than the previous encounters, not a big fan of having most of the floor suddenly turning into a damaging floor while getting rained on by Cacodemon, Arachnortron and Mancubus projectiles from all over the place. 

 

Since i got the BFG secret before the second slaughter encounter, the map felt easier, however, without it the map wouldn't be much harder, instead the fights would took longer to beat and there could be more close calls, specially when dealing with the massive Pinky horde encircling the player while the Cyberdemon rockets and Mancubus frieballs rained down in the largest arena before the exit area. I'm surprised that no Arch-Vile was seen on this level. IMHO this should have been MAP04.
 

I don't have much to say about this map, i find kinda pointless to break the fights down; what does this switch or that linedef does, what the surroundings are like and whatnot, because we're all playing along on this thread and we all know how the current map(s) for the day unfolded, the only differences being different approaches to beating the map, player experience, reaction time, reflexes, intuition, and previous experience with the current mapsets. 
 

Bottom line: Another breather map, but this one stays true to its mapset's theme. Combat wise is fun and forgiving but, it will punish the player if it gets too lenient. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Solmyr

[cannonball]

MAP07 - “Tarnished Luster” by Pegleg

 

Probably the easiest map so far, unfortunately the reason why it is the easiest also makes this probably the worst map so far. Sorry.

From a visual point of the view it is passable, however the map really struggles to nail the defining principles of combat puzzles, instead you get massively over-sized and rather flatly designed fights. The start is fine, but beyond the blue door lies a series of fights that initially seem fun but resort to a bit of a slog to clear up. The end fight is by far the worst, and the fact that you can easily escape suggests that even the author felt that this was too much. Whilst most fights just take a long time to clean up, the finale with its damaging floor just makes the ordeal much more unpleasant. For some crazy reason I actually decided to get 100% kills but honestly once all the switches are pressed, just clear the mancubi at the top of the pyramid and leave.

Given the situation, giving the BFG partway through the map instead of tucking into a secret may have been a better option, as allowing the player to plough through the monsters with it would have added an extra element of fun, though again the final room is a bit of a write off, regardless of supplies. 

 

I'm sorry about this rather ranty review, if anyone wants retribution just play Slaughterfest2012 and dish it out, because I committed pretty much all of the same faux pas in my entries there as this map did. At the end of the day it just surprises me that this map made it to the final roster in this form and wasn't held back to implement some heavy editing that it desperately needed. 

Edited April 5, 2022 by cannonball

[baja blast rd.]

1 hour ago, tonytheparrot said:

Oh okay, Thanks for the info! I should have guessed. (If you have never finished MSCP, don't open the spoiler)

   Hide contents

Especially given the length of some maps to come, like 13, or 14 for example.

 

 

What Bauul said is accurate but all the maps should also be maxable in <5 minutes too. m14 has a max record of 4:18 already, m07's 5:45 max record should have over 45 seconds to spare, and m13 already has runs of around 5:30 that aren't really grinded runs (the fastest time on DSDA isn't the record). 

[rehelekretep]

mscp01

some pretty mindless warmup. its ok - i dont think the midi fits because its hardly the most frenetic of action

 

map02

much more enjoyable - the pinkie room was the most fun

 

map03

PURPLE!

the vile-rush felt like pure luck to me. is there another strategy?

 

map04

odd. the switch to exit is delayed? i liked the last fight but wish the revs had teleported in earlier.

 

map05

the first fight is awesome. the others are cheesable. nice surprise cyber when you go back to the hub lol.

[rehelekretep]

map06

i wish i had known about the bfg secret earlier :(

 

map07

what a thoroughly odd map

[dac]

MAP 07 – Tarnished Luster (by Pegleg)

Completed 04/04/2022

 

When doing a bit of playtesting for some friends – people who are just getting into Doom mapping or game dev, some of them still teenagers – I remarked a bit of criticism that came up very often in my writeups:

 

> This map is rather flat and straightforward.

 

Mostly meaning there wasn’t a lot of vertical space usage. Stairs here, elevator there, both generally to connect rooms together. Enemies who often would be level with you, with maybe a few elevated ‘turret’ mobs. And not a lot of decorations, either from lights or textures. Coming from complete neophytes to the art, I get it, and I’m not expecting my friends outside the Doom sphere to be skillsaw on their first try. Hell, skillsaw himself wasn’t skillsaw on his first try either.

 

I was not expecting to give this criticism to a map in this project. But this is a rather flat and straightforward map, Pegleg. And that flatness and straightforwardness is to the detriment of the map as a whole.

 

The first fight is absolutely no trouble to finish since the wall of hitscans can be trivialised by hugging walls and picking off all the shotgunners in a row, then the rest of the zombies one by one. Imps and hell knights are too slow to be of any nuisance. The second part might be even worse – more monsters yes, but you are given so much space to navigate even the cyberdemons are not problematic, there’s just a lot of them on UV (and you need the secret BFG to deal). I had more trouble escaping the BFG room than anything in there. Only the third section was aggravating, and that’s just if I felt like doing an UVMAX run, otherwise flip the switches, thin the caco herd, and BFG your way to the top of the pyramid, hope for the best.

 

After the last map, this does not come close to being fulfilling.

[Maribo]

MAP07: Tarnished Luster

I really don't think this is as out of place or in need of a rework as I've seen others say in this thread. If you take these fights one by one then yeah, they're not really showing in a great amount of teeth, but if you rush through it like you're trying to beat the max run for it, then it gets a lot more appealing, imo at least. It's pretty satisfying to execute a mad dash through the main area and do the final caco swarm arena, then come back and find everything dead except a few leftover cybers and stragglers. It's not really a shining example of the best of slaughter, but it's also not even close to the worst, or even being boring. I'd call it "predictable", though, I suppose. Its biggest issue is definitely the turret monsters in the exit room, they're really annoying to clean up. The damaging floor is fine, it's only a minor problem because the turret boxes are such a pain to deal with (and have multiple enemies that will teleport in when you kill the ones in the way).

Max Demo: mscp07m631.zip - really good example of how much time the clean-up takes.

Speedrun stuff:

Spoiler

GrumpyCat's Pacifist in 3:40 - I truly love pacifism, don't you?

[Thelokk]

MSCP map 08 - The Three Kings by RonnieJamesDiner

HMP / 100% kills / no secrets

 

Now, this one was a tough one! Real slaughter and, probably, the first true 'combat puzzle' of the wad. Against three kings you're given the unlikeliest of allies... for a while. Their protection won't last forever, so you better hurry hitting those switches. One you get out of this predicament, the rest of the map is a mad battle for survival, while every step forward you take piles more and more enemies on top of your head. Once you reach the BFG, congratulations - you've won! Just a bit of cleanup and then you can take to homebase that sweet, sweet blue key.

Visually, this map takes the cake immediately and dethrones MAP06 as my favorite. Alright, alright, I know the marble OTEX cum vegetation thing has been overdone to death, but look at the architecture, at those struts, at those frills! Just *chef's kiss*. Combat is not the 'top of the mountain', as we say in Italy, but it's definitely a step up over the previous map. The pinky shield trick is quite clever, and I like how on lower difficulties (yes, I check those too) you're actually given some extra ordnance in the form of barrels. Very clever.

Then it's off to MAP09! Time to get spooked - and die a lot :S

 

Rankings so far:

-map08

-map06

-map04

-map01

-map02

-map03

-map05

-map07

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Thelokk

[Book Lord]

MAP 08 – The Three Kings by @RonnieJamesDiner

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, HMP, Pistol start, blind run w/saves

 

Two seconds into the map and I was aware of the identity of The Three Kings. Three Cyberdemons were visible on their “thrones” behind a cohort of Demons, that they carelessly massacred while I was doing the same to the mob of Imps in front of me. RonnieJamesDiner choreographed a series of battles along the terraces of a solemn palace made of tan marble, leading to a high body count and featuring the bosses as a looming presence at the player’s heels.

 

I died once in the first loop arena, because I pressed the button that released the Cyberdemons and was not ready for their arrival. It was required to make them hit the new batch of Pinkies and make room for escape to the next section, starting with a wall of Imps and an Arch-Vile behind. I usually scramble in front of these barriers, but here I got through without a scratch. I could have engaged the Cyberdemons with the SSG, but I was sure the intent was another, so I sprinted forward until I found a Megasphere and met a large group of Revenants. Here I saved; I was sure to die multiple times, as I was not comfortable with the homing rockets on the balcony. The BFG was provided but cells had to be conquered, so I relied on rockets for the job.

Spoiler

Eventually I pulled off a successful attempt, then I checked behind the corner to see what happened of The Three Kings, that got involved in a huge infight with the Hell Nobles. I heard the loud death sound of one of them, so I was quite shocked when I saw a fourth one shambling towards me with other survivors. This was an entertaining level requiring mandatory infighting and rapid, precise shooting to clear the way through the mobs. The architecture was imposing, even though there was not much time to admire it with the Cyberdemons never stopping their chase.

 

Time: 7:04      Deaths: 6

[Pseudonaut]

MSCP Map07:
I've got mixed feelings about this one. Yes, if you play this as slowly and cautiously as the map permits, it will be pretty boring. The middle area doesn't seem designed for that though, considering the cybers don't lower until you've spawned plenty of other stuff. When you instead rush to open everything up, the middle area turns into a nice moshpit with cyberdemon rockets flying in every direction and it's pretty fun to carve through. On the other hand, the fight at the beginning takes much longer to clean up than it does to solve, and you can't really lead those enemies toward the aforementioned moshpit in a convenient manner; one way or another, you have to go out of your way to clean them up (for max). The final arena is the main reason I won't be trying to max this faster than I already have. Much has already been said about it, and I'm just going to say I don't like it. Maybe the whole map would be fun for UV-Speed though?

 

 

Demo:

mscp07-857.zip

[RHhe82]

MAP08: The Three Kings. HNTR, PS, 385/385 K, 0/0 S, 4/4 I. Comp. time 7:40.

 

Here’s a level I’d love to get back to on less midfight saves, and/or on higher difficulty. I completed it on HNTR and with midfight saves, although I didn’t feel as if I was savescumming. Level’s beautiful and combat’s fun, nevermind that I seem to suck against cybers in areas shaped like a corridor.

 

Why does this level work for me? There’s room to maneuver, but it feels somehow full. There’s no dead space as I see it. It equips the player right away. For mop-up work, BFG is provided, and there isn’t that much busywork in the end anyway — for me the cybers were still alive, but they were done with quite fast, as were the rest of the wandering hell nobles.

 

Also, the level’s short. I don’t know if this is a (necessarily) positive trait in slaughtermaps in general, but for me it works in their advantage.

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP07: "Tarnished Luster" by Pegleg

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

A wide open silvery techbase, and the longest map in the set so far. Visuals are a bit plainer than most maps so far, but they get the job done, and there are some cool moments like those pillars forming after you hit the first switch. The midi is another awesome selection, made by PRIMEVAL for the set "Unholy Realms" if I've seen correctly. It's got quite a groove to it and some great melodies, might even be my favourite midi yet.

 

The first fight is a simple warmup against mostly weak enemies with some hell knights, once the SSG teleports in you should have it under control quite easily. The second area is a very spacious octagonal room, with an outer corridor that you enter through. There are some revenants in the perimeter corridor and a room to the side where you can find a BFG in a janky secret. Once you enter that centre area though is when all hell breaks loose, cyberdemons and mancubi on pedestals, armies of pinkies, and some imps and hell knights cover the area. More waves can be triggered by locating switches located around the area, due to this you'd probably like to leave the cyberdemons alone so they can infight a bit before taking them all out at the end. This area is pretty easy due to the massive amount of space, I still have a lot of fun with it but it feels a bit like a power fantasy, especially with BFG in hand.

 

I'll have to agree with popular opinion on that last area though, it's very much a miss. You enter another large room with a structure in the middle, before the floor around the structure lowers into nukage, cacodemons pour from the structure, and mancubus + arachnotron turrets are revealed around the perimiter. This fight kind of pulls every manner of tedium out, with the damaging floor everywhere, turrets that are spread way too far apart, and repopulating arachnotron turrets. You'll want to hit all the switches to unlock the way out right away so you can easily restock and regroup whenever you need. This fight unfortunately takes quite a long time and isn't very challenging or enjoyable, so it sort of ends things on a sour note.

 

Overall not bad, I do have fun with the middle fights, but it does feel like it should be a bit more difficult and that last area definitely doesn't sit well.

Edited April 6, 2022 by DisgruntledPorcupine

[FragsBunny]

MAP08: The Three Kings (100/100/0)

1.       Hell noble projectiles ignore armor

2.       Collecting keys give monsters a random enchantment

3.       Revenant can carry other monsters

 

Rename this map “Four Kings”, cause I had a fourth cyberdemon right at the start along with the other three! As the title says, through the whole slaughter you will be constantly harassed by cyberdemons, or “kings”. The fourth one was firing at me from elevated position, and the first switch being pressed would make him come down to play! So I had to kill him with barrage of plasma first. The huge number of winged demons and imps only made my eyes go a little bit crazy… Getting out of the first area past those revenants is incredibly hard, and when the second switch is pressed, the cybers will come for you personally! Only after pressing the third switch I could retreat further, past that arch-vile.

 

The second part of encounter is no less easy. Once again, revenants would come from one side, and hell knights from the other. The recent card choices regarding hell nobles would make them into a greater threat later. Yes, I had no choice but to kill the fast-moving, homing-firing revenants first, but the normally slow-moving and dim-witted knights would grow stronger with every corpse they eat – including their own. And I still had to deal with cyberdemons behind them! The BFG is hardly an answer – rocket launcher seems to work much better, especially in those tight passages with cells – the monsters could be lured to come at me from there due to their stupid AI. But I still died a lot! And I will probably die a lot more times in further slaughters.

[tonytheparrot]

(Played on UV with pistol starts on Prboom+, saves are allowed)

Map 8: The Three Kings by RonnieJamesDiner:

100% kills, items and secrets

Time: 4:58

 

Man, This level is an absolute joyride. I am not very familiar with RJD's work outside of a few Community Projects, but from what I have seen and played, he knows how to create fun and memorable Doom maps, and this one is a perfect example. The gimmick of this map, which is not very subtly hinted at in the title is that the 3 cyberdemons reign over this domain, and they are really determind to punish you for trespassing (and accessorily the murder of over 400 of their friends). On the visual aspect, it is one of the least complex ones so far in the texture usage, but it's architecture is breathtaking, which is an approach that works very well, especially for an egyptian themed map. The map starts with an encouter in which you must SSG imps while the pharaohs shoot at a wall of pinkies that protects you, but that wall doesn't last forever, so hurry up! Then, pinkies are replaced by helpless revenants who guard a switch that reveals a wall of pinkies and teleports the 3 kings behind you. This ambush is suprisingly tricky as the pigs do a great job of blocking you and camping will get you killed by the Giants. After an incidental imp encounter, the best fight of the map is ready to be triggered. Hell Knights, barons and the 3 mean leaders on one side, revenants on the other and lots of rockets. What makes it even more fun is that there is a BFG behind the revenants. Personally, I like to let the hell nobles and the missile launching egyptians infight while I kill the revenants to make some space, run behind them, and finish off every demon daring to challenge me with the BFG. Then, when nobody comes anymore, I finish the stragglers that got stuck, including the 3 mechanically augmented egyptians and exit. This final fight is by far the best room in MSCP yet, I love it to death and it's pretty clever. Even if it's true that a lot can go sideways in this map, rushing to finish it before the 5-minute mark is incredibly satisfying, and even if you don't, I can promise that you will still love it, and have I mentioned that one of my favorite Jimmy midis, Sunset Over Babylon is playing in the background?

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

 

Love:

Map 8

Map 3

Map 6

Map 2

Really like:

Map 5

Map 1

Like:

Map 4

Map 7

 

 

[Pseudonaut]

MSCP Map08:
Great map, not much to complain about. Trying to get it under 5 minutes is a lot of fun. Not a sandbox like map06, but still has some freedom to move around and decide how you'll manipulate the enemies into killing each other. Bad infighting is a bitch if you want all the kills, though.
 

 

mscp08-431.zip

[finnks13]

MAP08 - The Three Kings by RonnieJamesDiner:

DEATHS - 3
This map is great, it's got a cool concept, fun gameplay and excellent visuals. The only thing I can think to criticize it about, is that I think the MIDI selection could have been a bit more creative - don't get me wrong, Sunset over Babylon is a great track, but it's used very often. The map's visuals are probably the most Sunder-ish that this mapset goes for, it captures that same slightly eerie feeling of being in a building designed by, and for, beings much larger than yourself.

 

The gimmick of the map is the three cyberdemons and they're a present threat throughout the map. You start by being on a timer to SSG enough imps before the cyberdemons work their way through the pinky meat shield. There's then more imps and a switch that unleashes some revenants, and causes the cybers to teleport to your platform. The easiest thing here, I found, was to lure out the revenant horde and then dodge past the cyberddemons to let them infight with everything that was left. There's a large wave of hell knights and revenants, and pushing through the revenants allow you to grab the BFG and blue key. Picking up the blue key spawns in even more revenants which require a fair amount of finesse to dodge as space is very limited, and there's not too much cell ammo in the map so you'll still have to rely on rockets. Fantastic little map, easily my favourite in the set.

 

RANKINGS:

Spoiler

Really Liked: MAP08
Liked: MAP01, MAP03, MAP06
Mixed Opinions: MAP02, MAP05
Boring: MAP04
Didn't Like: MAP07

 

[RonnieJamesDiner]

Some random facts about map08 of MSCP:

 

- Every single time I tested this map during development, I listened to Lamb of God's Resurrection Man. The album had just been released about a month or two prior to working on this, I was really digging it, and when I realized Resurrection Man was exactly 5 minutes long (Bauuls 'target length' for each map), I thought ahh perfect, I can use this to measure my timing. I cannot see or play this map without thinking of that song now.

 

- The name of the fourth Cyberdemon is Jeff. If I'm remembering correctly, it was Rainne who named him during Bridge's playtesting stream, giving us the more complete and appropriate map title, "The Three Kings, and Jeff".

 

- The visual inspiration for this map actually began with Ukiro's release of OTEX v1.1, which was released mere weeks before this project kicked off, and came with several brand new textures including the SWTCHM0 tan marble switches with the colored gems. I just really wanted to use those switches, which meant creating some kind of tan marble map. I then did my best effort to imitate Insane_Gazebo's "superstructure" style (which is harder than I realized).  

[kalaeth]

MAP 08 - The Three Kings :

A ton of imps, a ton of pinkies, at least two cybers, and that's just the opening shot! Oh, three cybers. I guessed as much by the name. Only a SSG to start.. On shot to wake everyone up, wait for the cybers to kill most the pinkies, switch, rockets and a barrage of revs plus the cyberrockets get me.

 Hum.. This time I open up a path through the imps, press the switch and turn back. This seems to be the intend way. I still die, but.. Third try. Second switch teleports the cybers, and I get rocketed from the back. Fourth time, I try to go back after the second switch but get mowed down by pinkies and revs. This next try I reached the third switch, the flame boy and the imps, pass them by and then get killed by the second wave of revs. Sixth : I reached far enough to spy with my little eye the BFG and the blue skull key. Seventh : same, but still dead to the revs.. Oh, to have a plasma gun here. (Ok, I do, but I'm trying to play fair. So, no mid-level saves, no using weapons I haven't yet gotten in the level). Another try, another death there. 2 more deaths before reaching the AV, then a death to the AV and then! I got to the BFG. Mop up time? Almost! There was only one more cyber alive (Although I'm pretty sire I killed 3?), and I ran out of cells and was down to 2% health.. The splash from a rocket got me. This time it was my fault, I allowed the cyber to stomp me.

 Ok, took a lunch break and I'm gonna have another go at it. A lot of more goes at it.. I can't even reach the fire boy! Ok, finally reached the BFG again, and this time I'm certain. There's 4 cybers! The name of the map is the THREE. Can't these mappers count?? 

 Ironically enough, first time I save after reaching the BFG, I end up killing everything! Got lucky and for the first time the plebes got to kill a king, so I only ahd to deal with 2 and a half.

 

 100% K/I/S, time 04:28 / 59:41

 

This map was a rush. A bit frustrating at times but that's more on me and my skill than on the map.

[General Roasterock]

MAP08: The Three Kings (and Jeff)

MSCP08.zip

  What a fantastic presentation. The Three Kings is the best way I've seen a combat puzzle handled in this WAD so far.

  The environment is gorgeous. The ancient stone temple makes the somewhat simple navigable platforms sit right at home, the overgrowth adds character everywhere, and the switches moving huge blocks at a time really makes it feel like an ancient colossus. The skybox giving the illusion of high altitude is just the cherry on top. 

  The combat is brilliant, the pinkies acting as a timed barrier for the Cyber rockets is incredibly fresh by comparison to most slaughter. It gives you just a little bit more than you'd like to handle initially, keeping the player moving forward constantly. The only prickly part for me was the first Revenant wave, and I attribute that more to not understanding the best way to use the Cyberdemons to my advantage there. Everything from there on out is big guns vs big demons, a delightful spectacle.

  I wish I had more to say, but the map does its best to not bloat itself with unnecessity to the point where there's limited discussion. However, this is a really good thing for a project like this, it wastes no time giving you fun, education, and a piece of legend.

 

Power Rankings:

1. The Three Kings
2. Cherry Blossom
3. Slaughter Factory
4. Fire In Your Eyes
5. Marble In The Blood
6. Viridescent Synapse
7. Floody Hell
8. Tarnished Luster

Edited April 6, 2022 by General Roasterock

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

Gotta catch up ;-)

Wad Name: Micro Slaughter Community Project
Port: Nugget Doom v.1.8.0
Skill: ITYTD
Continuous with saves

Map 05: Oh boy, this was fun, the first arena wasn't super special but I must say I did like the architecture of it. The second arena was my favorite, the gimmick is very creative and really adds another dimension to the combat. The maps is generous with ammo and health so I didn't have much (if any) problems. 9/10

 

Map 06: Brutally fun. We got Ice physics, something you don't often see in boom maps. The first bits of the map were hard though, the cacos almost cornered me, but I managed to kill em and proceed. The archvile placement was clever I must say, really well placed. The music was fantastic too, it'd be something I'd hear at the final boss fight of any game. 9/10

 

Map 07: This one almost got me. The beggining is quite easy, just a few histcanners and imps. Once I went through the blue door and saw the giant arena with no monsters I thought "Oh man, this is going to get messy" but no, it went fine, didn't need the invul. sphere. The final fight... eh, didn't like it to be honest. The mancubi and arachnotron placement was really annoying and, you know, the fact that you have to walk in warrow ledges to not take damage while dodging all those projectiles... I think that it wasn't implemented correctly like in map 05. 7/10

 

Map 08 (First death + 3 more): I like this one, I really do, the visuals are very appealing to me, and, while I died 4 times, the map was fun to play. This map reminded me how much I hate revenants though. 8/10

 

Scores so far: 

Spoiler

Map 01: 9/10

Map 02: 8/10

Map 03: 9/10

Map 04: 8/10

Map 05: 9/10

Map 06: 9/10

Map 07: 7/10

Map 08: 8/10