Azazel's Second Descent 32 map One Man Megawad now on IDgames

[Doom Guncaster K]

 

Part 2 of Chapter 3!!  Map12's name/title for some reason is identical to Map07, yet it has a very different character and layout.  Most of the fights are indoors with limited space to maneuver; the player might notice that the encounters occurred in small rooms pretty often.  I really like the indoor layout such as the library-like section and the final arena fight.  I managed to cast the spell "Corpseblast" that I rarely use for dealing small amounts of enemies and it works quite decent for its AOE damage.  It's not as hefty as Apocalypse though, enough for cleaning mobs in the earlier stage.  When I reached the yellow skull door room, I didn't know that I should interact with the locked door of the final arena in order to make monsters spawn in at the first time.  It took me a bit to figure out unexpectedly, yet I still enjoy this map. 

 

Map13 was really a nightmare in the beginning.  There are lots of spooky boys and hell-knight/Barrons of hell serve as a firing squad.  The player will soon face tons of incoming projectiles from every direction once he/she steps out of the starting room.  Due to the performance issue, I've got to "nuke" at the start for a quick fix.  The outdoor areas are still stunning to view and the section of the cave is also a good place to reintroduce Chapter 1's feature.  The nuke beginning might kill the fun of the fight at the start, though the latter game seems to be ok so I keep proceeding into the final part of Chapter 3.

 

The map layout of Chapter 3 seems to be medieval-ish and I'm really into it.   Chapter 3's maps are aesthetically beautiful!  Thanks for your great work!

[Doom Guncaster K]

 

Hello there!!  The last part of Chapter 3 (Orange Marble theme) is here! The structures on map14 seem to be a medieval style with a refined layout. The garden/outdoor is also neat with a great load of enemy settings, especially the fight for obtaining the yellow skull key; watching the path filled with the hordes spawned in somewhat drives me crazy lol Map15 also has a good load of sectors to adventure. Though it's getting tight with lots of CQBs. The final fight is facing a good amount of legions in a big arena, but the maneuverable space will be filled with monsters and getting harder to move around. Due to the performance issue that was caused by the great number of projectiles, I teleported out of the ring and dealt with the battle in an alternative way. There are also a group of custom monsters "arachno-something-queens" set as boss-tier enemies. With the EXTREMESPHERE offered that activates the dual-wield feature, mowing down all of them is just as easy as eating chicken burritos.  Since I run out of time to find the way to reach the switch that lowers the pillow for entering the secret exit, I took advantage of the spell "Darkpath" for access.

 

May you all have a great holidays & happy new year! Stay tuned cause’ we're heading to the secret level: Map31 - "Unknown Stardate" and Map32 - "Frostbite".

Edited December 28, 2022 by K_krimson painkekk
Have a great holidays & Happy new year!

[i suck at nicknames]

holy crap those skyboxes look gorgeous

[Nihlith]

I played the first three levels. The soundscape was awesome, all three tracks were fun and really added to the mood. Each map was gorgeously decorated with a beautiful sky and textures that were very easy on the eyes. The levels seem polished and very well put together. The feeling of fighting in poor visibility through caves and ruins not only infested with hell spawn but fully reclaimed by the jungle was novel and difficult to deal with. I had a lot of fun in the first two maps. I had a lot of difficulty with the third map and the archvile ambushes. I fought 5 archvile ambushes in this level, the three that triggered when I picked up the keys felt like more luck than skill as the poor visibility and complex geometry of where they take place makes planning moves difficult. It was more like blind panic. In the end I had to duck out because dinner was on and I needed to end the session so I couldn't gave the fifth ambush the best treatment I could have. Still, I wonder if K_krimson painkekk might have a better idea playing through these levels with a power mod on. Getting serial stomped in the third level is concerning when you're looking at a wad with thirty two maps. I feel dirty saying it, but I might try again on a lower difficulty.

 

   

[Doom Guncaster K]

 

 

I sometimes do play Doom normally, I'm not going to run fully vanilla though I respect purists and enjoy their skillful gameplay.

 

I'm a kind of casual player though here are my tips for survival on Map03:

 

1. Set archville as the No.1 priority to neutralize as soon as possible.

 

2. Conserve ammo for Plasma Rifle for the last arena fight when 3 switches interacted; pull out your Plasma Rifle and gun your way out of swarms and blast archiville's face once you spot its appearance.

 

3. Armor, Soulsphere,... Items in secrets are quite handy for survival. It's highly recommended to find them all and grab everything you can to stay alive.
 

Going one-punch with berserk pack for the insta-gib is also a way, but it's quite risky, especially when mobs keep swarming into the small room where it's hard to maneuver freely; it is not the better option than gun-blazing from my view.  I personally prefer to keep that berserk pack there for emergency healing later.  However, if you're really good at the hand-to-hand battle and it works for you, then go for it.  In this run, I saved some gun juice for Minigun (the Plasma Rifle replacement from Final Doomer).  I started mowing down mobs and storming to archie boy as soon as I spotted its appearance. The first attempt didn't go as I expected, though I still got it nailed later and survived.

 

 

I'm using Final Doomer v3.3 on GZDoom 4.7.1 in this run. I guess that Final Doomer is not categorized as a Power-Fantasy mod as I usually play with.  I hope my little tips could help you through there, @Nihlith.

 

On 12/30/2022 at 3:41 AM, Nihlith said:

I played the first three levels. The soundscape was awesome, all three tracks were fun and really added to the mood. Each map was gorgeously decorated with a beautiful sky and textures that were very easy on the eyes. The levels seem polished and very well put together. The feeling of fighting in poor visibility through caves and ruins not only infested with hell spawn but fully reclaimed by the jungle was novel and difficult to deal with. I had a lot of fun in the first two maps. I had a lot of difficulty with the third map and the archvile ambushes. I fought 5 archvile ambushes in this level, the three that triggered when I picked up the keys felt like more luck than skill as the poor visibility and complex geometry of where they take place makes planning moves difficult. It was more like blind panic. In the end I had to duck out because dinner was on and I needed to end the session so I couldn't gave the fifth ambush the best treatment I could have. Still, I wonder if K_krimson painkekk might have a better idea playing through these levels with a power mod on. Getting serial stomped in the third level is concerning when you're looking at a wad with thirty two maps. I feel dirty saying it, but I might try again on a lower difficulty.

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by K_krimson painkekk
Happy New Year ！

[Doom Guncaster K]

 

 

 

Here are 2 secret maps from Azazel's Second Descent. Map31 - Unknown Stardate is a heavy-blue color theme map with a beautiful skybox in yellow, white, and light-blue mixed. There are lots of close-quarters slaughter parties in the building. Even in the larger hall, the space will be filled with when the hordes spawned in and it could be pretty challenging to move freely. To access the secret exit for Map32, the player will need to search several switches and interact with all of them for lowering the bar to access the secret exit later in the final arena. The final arena is menacing with almost little proper cover at all. I was cheesing some easy shots at the very beginning in order to reduce a certain amount of firing squad for the performance issue. There are some monsters that got blown out of the ring so I have to roll around and make sure the final cleansing has been done properly before hitting the exit.

 

Map32 - Frostbite is a white, blue, and grey colored winter theme map. The scale is large with a frozen plain in the center served with a few platforms and buildings in corners. The layout is simple and it's atmospherically neat. Though the enemies are scattering all over the place that might take a while to secure all the kills, so I spammed homing bullets and slugs that I rarely use in most of my gameplay videos. The final fight in the frozen plain was chaotic, though there are 2 invulnerability spheres spared in this run (1 from the secret) that makes it easier to survival thanks to Bloodbath Giraffe’s kindness. The dead exit at the end basically shares the same concept as the end of Map25 in Scythe 2 which has the player suicide and lose all the gear collected for a "fresh restart" to the next chapter...However, that kind of malevolence would never be the case for the mad dragon！！

 

Next time, we're heading to the crimson Blood theme - Chapter 4, thanks for watching & have a great holiday!

Edited January 4, 2023 by K_krimson painkekk

[Bryan T]

I just finished this and I gotta say, this is seriously impressive. Some of these levels are massive and the detailing is spot on. Must've taken a long time.

First part here.

[Bloodbath Giraffe]

@Bryan T I love the video thanks for the play through. The build time on this on this was about 3 years

[Doom Guncaster K]

 

Chapter 4. This blood theme seems to be redder than Chapter 2.

 

Map16 - The Bell Tolls For Thee is 12/10 atmospherically awesome! The first map of each chapter appears to catch my eyeball from the beginning and got me digging into the journey further than expected. The fight at the bloody wasteland intensifies gradually yet has more room to move around. A building with 4-dimensional gates at the center of the wasteland soon shifts the combat style immediately. The dimensional gates will lead the player knee-deep into 4 CQB sections where the keys are heavily guarded by mobs. The fights get more intense so brace yourself whilst proceeding.

 

Map17 - Eternal Suffering visually looks like an open area however, the maneuverable space will soon be crowded by mobs and the area will be locked and limited as fights begin. I have to teleport outside of the boundaries to secure the kills. For instance, flying tomatoes are hiding outside the arena, and I ain't no time waiting for them to come at me. At 18:43 a Cyberdemon was unintentionally blown out of the ring so I've got to fly out of the arena to finish the kill. I didn't notice how hilarious it was until I started working on editing stuff.

 

The blood moon in the sky makes the whole scenario looks more demonic which really has me in the mood of slaughtering mobs.

[tmorrow]

Where is the map30 exit? It supposedly leads to map33. I can't seem to locate this exit even when looking in UDB. Any help appreciated. Cheers.

[Bloodbath Giraffe]

@tmorrow

 

The Exit to map 30 is located to the right when you go through the main gain. It has 4 lowering wall that lower after you defeat the boss. Hope you enjoyed playing the Wad

[tmorrow]

Many thanks. Old age and poor eyesight is catching up to me! The old teleport to a room full of barrels with the icon of sin - an old favorite.

 

This wad is incredible. I can see a huge amount of effort went in to it. I'm amazed you could produce something this epic after only one other map project. Congratulations and thanks.

[Doom Guncaster K]

 

 

The last part of Chapter 4 "Blood.

 

Map18 - Blood Islands is another atmospherically excellent map from my view. The map is separated into several sections, each containing intense CQB fights. As paired with some visually enhancing mods, it just looks more phenomenal. I really like that the player could have a glance at the torches on the other islands through several angles...and the blood moon skybox, of course. The secrets are well hidden. Due to the fact that I ran out of time for recording, I used the spell "Darkpath" again to have quick access to the second secret. I feel that the custom monsters are seen more often here. They are unique and well-placed for overall balance. Map19 - Unending Nightmare leads the player to move into the facility. The floor however is still covered with blood. Unexpected ambushes from the very beginning show that no matter whether it's indoor or outdoor, it's always no mercy for the player - get ready to fight at every corner or get wrecked!! The crushing pillows added some fun and dangerous element when engaged. Dynamic lighting is still a good trait to enjoy. As the chaotic battle royal started at around 12:39, the player got surrounded by mobs. It's like being slapped in the face menacingly. However, if the player could manage to survive, he/she may be able to have a break to enjoy the peaceful silence while seeing the blood moon in the sky and the awesome lighting decoration in the arena.

 

Map20 - Blood of Purification is the last map, the end of Chapter 4. It contains more intensive fights and more kills. It requires the player to execute decent movement and infighting trigger skills. It's more challenging than the previous 4 maps, though once the player finds the secrets and manages the resource properly, it will at least alleviate the stress of survival. Megaspheres and Invulnerability are really handy for tight situations, so it's highly recommended to find them all.

[Doom Guncaster K]

 

 

The first part of Chapter 5 (Nukage).

 

In Chapter 5, the greenage color would be the leading tone, and all maps contain nukage (the damaging green floor). While using Liquid Texture Pack 6.0, the visual effect seems to be upscaled to another level and phenomenal.

 

Map21 - Illogical Flesh Realm This is the first map to kick-start another whole new chapter. Fast collecting gear is always the No.1 priority for a fresh new start. Rocket Launcher, Plasma Rifle... You name it, the big guns all lying close to the player. Though there are multiple CQB deathmatches while gearing up, so beware at every single corner. 2 secrets provided soulsphere and armor are really handy to boost up HP and AP, so don't forget to grab 'em all. It's a somewhat short, yet pretty classical arena-heavy map from my view.

 

Map22 - Demonic Executioners This map is large compared to the previous one and has 2 main sections. It seems to be a wide-open area but there are several lines that forcefully change the rules of engagement as triggered. Watch out for the enemies' projectiles while crossing the toxic liquid. As the player cleared the first main sections and then entered the latter part of the game, the fights get even more intense with lots of horde-slaying parties awaiting ahead. There are 2 megaspheres hidden in the secrets respectively for recharging HP and AP, so don't miss the small switches on the wall for access.

 

The layout of these 2 maps is good-looking and well-decorated.  Map21 is compact, neat, and classic.  Map22 got me lagged several times by its larger map scale and the high kill count, yet it's still a beautiful map worth running at least once.  I really like Map22's transition between 2 main areas and has its own unique trait respectively.  These maps are really fun to play, much appreciated and can't wait for reaching the next map!

[Doom Guncaster K]

 

 

The second part of Chapter 5 (Nukage).

 

 

In Chapter 5, the greenage color would be the leading tone, and all maps contain nukage (the damaging green floor). While using Liquid Texture Pack 6.0, the visual effect seems to be upscaled to another level and phenomenal.

 

 

Map23 - Toxic Temple is a classic medium-scale slaughter map that contains several CQB arena fights and platforming. High enemy density in the small room makes the situation go tight quite easily. Looking for the hidden switches for items in secrets could be handy after consecutive tough fights. I accidentally blasted several imps out of the ring and they were wandering around outside of the map (inaccessible area), so I nuked the map for saving time and fast up to the next level. Most of the platforming sections are simple, just need to look out for enemies' incoming projectiles. There are several rad suits for protection from toxic liquid so make sure to collect them before the battles begin.

 

Map24 - Mistakes of the Unknown is quite similar to Map23, yet with more space to maneuver. The hordes as always spawn fast once the line got triggered. Fortunately, ammunition and supplies are sufficient enough for the player to replenish and recharge during the walkthrough. The 2 hidden switches in the corners contain items for resupply. It's always recommended to collect them all since as the game progress, the arena fights get more chaotic. At this point, the game gets closer to the end, so expect more intense horde-sweeping for the incoming maps in the future episode of this walkthrough series.

 

[Doom Guncaster K]

 

 

The last part of Chapter 5 (Nukage).

 

Map25 - Canyon of Purification is the hugest map I've played in Azazel's Second Descent. As the specific theme of Chapter 5, this grand canyon also contains a tremendous amount of damaging floor. Fortunately, the fights mostly occur on the platform unless the player falls off from the high ground. The enemies in arenas have a mixed combination of custom monsters and the higher tier ones like tons of barons, hell knights, archivilles, and cyberdemons. As the game progress to the end of the chapter toward the last chapter, this kind of ferally intense battle is quite a usual thing. Secrets are easy to find and there also have items that are really helpful for facing the legions of mobs such as Soul sphere, Megasphere, and Invulnerability. Grab them all and keep on pushing forward!!

 

Map25_Canyon of Purification also contains the specific mapping features from the previous 4 chapters. Vain on the ceiling in the caves, indoor structures, and the dynamic lighting. If there's no monster there, it could be an enjoyable tour. Map25_Canyon of Purification took me about 28 + minutes to finish the map with the power-fantasy mod like Guncaster, so I guess it could be longer like around 45 minutes + ~ 1 hour + in vanilla gameplay. As to the spell, Flamewaves has some footage showing its high DPS potential. As the player acquired the mask and/or got the mechamaker set in hands, casting Flamewaves will summon a great firewall that burns down foes within a blink of an eye. It causes multiple ticks in a very short time like the Firewall spell from Sorceress in Diablo II. It looks quite phenomenal and it works pretty well against ground units/stationary targets. The only downside of the hyper version of Flamewaves is that it might not work effectively against fast-moving targets and/or flying units.

 

 

I ditched EVP monsters in this episode because the universal adapter and the monster pack drastically kill the performance, especially on this kind of big-scale map with 1K+ kills. Though the run seems no different except for the custom sprites from the monster pack. LegenDoomLite is still on for more spicy stuff, and that's it. I might switch back to EVP from the next map again if my potato could handle the run properly. Until then, have a good one, and take it easy！

[Doom Guncaster K]

 

The beginning of the last Chapter - Lava.

 

In Chapter 6, the yellow/orange damaging floor/liquid would be set as the main color tone to the end. All maps in chapter 6 contain lava (the damaging yellow liquid). While using Liquid Texture Pack 6.0, the visual effect seems to be upscaled to the next level and phenomenal.

 

Map26_Metallic Inferno is the last starter map in the final chapter of Azzazel's Second Descent. The layout seems to be simple and neat. I really like the outdoor section where some decorative architecture in a wild. With the mod "Universal Map Enhancement" and the fire spells from Doom mod "Guncaster", I could light those dead trees on fire!! The enemy placement is quite evil since the custom monsters appear pretty often in most of the fights. Prepare for ambushes at every corner since the custom baron of hell might sneak behind you and does some heavy scratch!

 

Map27_Flesh Furnace The 1K+ kills says it all that this map is the "actual" slaughterfest from the very beginning. The scale of Map27_Flesh Furnace is large and it separates into multiple sections for 3 keys arena, starting section, and the main area, in and out. Mind your feet since there are a couple of "lite" platforming parts in the main area. Once the player falls down to the lava, it seems to have no way to go back in one piece. The 3 key sections are tricky. 1 has timing and platforming with lava (the damaging floor), and the other 2 are pure slaughter parties. The main area (the outdoor part before entering the facility) also has a certain amount of enemies for the ambush. Fortunately,, there have an Invulnerability sphere and armor in the secret spots and it could be found quite easily. Collecting them all would be handy to deal with mobs. As the player obtained 3 keys and entered the facility, the fights get even more chaotic inside. Keep an eye on the corner because there is a switch for the last secret where it contains a soulsphere for survival.

 

In order to fit in the scenarios that are filled with lava, I swapped my go-to spells for the fire ones (Flamewave and Skullfire). Both the firewall and the meteor visual effect are looking great and work efficiently in certain killing kinds of situations.

 

Due to the compatibility and performance issue, I decided to finish Azzazel's Second Descent with vanilla monsters from now on. It won't change the gameplay that much at all, just the vanilla monsters. Grab some snacky-snack and have a good time!

[Doom Guncaster K]

 

 

Heading toward the end of the last Chapter - Lava.

 

 

In Chapter 6, the yellow/orange damaging floor/liquid would be set as the main color tone to the end. All maps in chapter 6 contain lava (the damaging yellow liquid). While using Liquid Texture Pack 6.0, the visual effect seems to be upscaled to the next level and phenomenal.

 

 

Map28_Conflagration of Souls The 2-level layout confused me, yet it's not hard to figure out the way to the end. The map scale is small though the engagements in this map are pretty brutal; the player will face 2 more cyberdemons with mobs in most of the fights. Hordes are as always swarming all over the place once the line is triggered. The switches for the secrets are hidden well, just need a bit more patience to look around the corner for collecting items. I jumped out of the rings several times for securing kills, and the reinforcement keep spawning in, that was crazy!

 

 

Map29_Azazel's Descent Into Madness Here we are, the title screen background is from the very beginning of the map. This map's scale is large and the enemy placement is no mercy to the player who'd come this far! The wide corridors seem to be a decent place to hold and engage the incoming mobs but soon will be locked in the limited space. The player could expect to see that Azazel has been preparing lots of his minions for the "welcome parties" here. Not the most chaotic one I've seen so far, yet it's still a challenging map in this wad. I really like the "surprise" features that lower the walls, locking down the corridors and revealing mobs swarming at once. The decorative stuff like the lighting floor and the torch arrangements truly draw my attention and make the map more atmospherically awesome before reaching the end of the wad.

 

I quite enjoyed these 2 maps since the fights get more intense one after another and it's pretty decent to demonstrate my all-time favorite Doom weapon mod Guncaster. I adopted "Hammersmite" and "Skullfire" on map28, and switched back to my favorite lightning spells - "Thunderstruck" and "Sigil" for killing efficiency.

 

 

Azazel's big showdown is waiting ahead. I'll finish him for good.
 

[Doom Guncaster K]

 

 

 

"Azazel wrecked humanity and now it's time to make him pay for it."

 

"This is it. Azazel won't leave here alive!"

 

Map30_Azazel's Second Descent

The last map of the WAD. The scale is small to medium, though it contains 500-600+ kills all in the final arena. This map also has the specific features from the previous 6 chapters (Caves, Red Techbase, Orange Marble, Blood, Nukage, and Lava) in each corner that make the overall view look pretty tight and neat. Combat is colossal chaotic. Azazel, as the final boss of the WAD, has Diabolist (the custom red archville) skin with agile movement speed and several aggressive attacks. With his minions and the custom monsters, the situation might be unfolded swiftly. I somehow woke him up unintentionally, which made him start rolling and attacking while in an invulnerable state. Fortunately, Cygnis' beefy arsenal - Augur, has the almighty stopping power to falter Azazel a bit and ignore its "God Mode". I was luckily witnessing one of Azazel's amazing spells before the last shot got landed.

 

 

With the "Power Fantasy" doom mod like Guncaster, the run didn't encounter any issues until the mid-game; FPS drop down severely that forcing me to ditch the custom monster pack. I thought that the game might get boring. However, custom monsters like Aracnorb Queen, Archon of Hell, Cybruiser, and Diabolist really spice things up quite well. This is another reason why I like Azazel's Second Descent as the game progress.

 

 

Most of the maps and features in Azazel's Second Descent are really characteristic and atmospherically phenomenal from my view. I think you really have a good sense of aesthetic design; there are nice scenes that are worth the player to slow down and have some enjoyable sightseeing experience. As a slaughter-lite mega WAD, it's earned its place in my heart.

 

The walkthrough took a bit longer than I expected though I do enjoy the journey and have lots of good time both on playing and editing stuff. I'm glad that I didn't drop it off and got the job done eventually. 

 

Thank you, Bloodbath Giraffe, for making this beautiful Doom wad.

 

Also, I thank you all for visiting my channel and watching!

 

=)

Edited March 21, 2023 by K_krimson painkekk

[mattstru]

This WAD looks promising! Glad I stumbled upon this; I'll have to give this a shot at some point soon.

[Bloodbath Giraffe]

@K_krimson painkekk

 

I cant thanks you enough for the entertaining play though. Watching other people play the maps I create and have fun makes it all worth doing. I'm glad you had a good time and finished it and yeah seven and a half hours it pretty long. I believe a twitch streamer finished it and it was about 20 hours including deaths. I think I spend more time on the detail and atmosphere of the levels then the actual layout and fights. Also spend lots of time just figuring out how to do a lot of stuff and before this I  only ever release a stand alone map. It hard to tell, but on the last map Azazel has given the archviles a new power that is specific to map 30. I will for sure watch your next play though so keep up the good work.