Boxcutter E1 [10 Maps for Vanilla] (Scythe + Eternal Doom)

[Arsinikk]

1 hour ago, LSC Lasico said:

Ayo dude, i dunno if this is intentional, but the current version in the post replaces some chaingunners with afrits, there’s one in map01 and two in map04, where chaingunners should be. Is this intentional?

Whoops. Nope, it seemed I messed up replacing actors only in ZDoom ports. Should be fixed now.

Thanks for letting me know. That definitely was not intentional. Afrits should only be on MAP10.

 

Download Episode 1 [ZDoom Fix Update] (fixed in OP as well)

Edited November 28, 2022 by Arsinikk

[LSC Lasico]

I promised a snarky review, so here it is, weeks after this thread went comatose.

 

DISCLAIMER: all the jokes here are meant in good fun, i respect arsinikk as a person and as a mapper, most of the jokes here are aimed at the maps themselves, and those that aren’t are meant to be friendly jabs. If a joke here makes you uncomfortable just calmly tell me and i will do something about it.

 

anyway, the obligatory @Arsinikk

Spoiler

Le boxcutter review.

 

Map01: jumpstart

 

A pretty cool opener. Sets the mood immediately by assfucking the uninitiated player. I died once in this map when i first played it, and it was embarassing. Now i pretty much have a strategy that allows me to UV-MAX this map with the “kill lost soul” cheat. The is because i, as a stupid ass gzdoomer have to account for lost souls in every map, and it just so happens that this map has an out of bounds lost soul that i have no choice than to idclip towards or just straight up write /kill. 

 

As for the strategy: kill the shotguner, get the shotgun, kill the hitscanners in two shots (because they’re wimps), open the door, kill the hitscanners, get the berserk, punch out everything else.

 

Good start overall.

 

Map02: sewergator.

This map says that it is an alligator, but unless it is talking specifically about those plastic toys with teeth that you need to press or else you’ll get nommed, i don’t see how it can be an alligator.

 

But that doesn’t mean it’s bad, quite the contrary, it is cool. Once i kill the hitscanners on the other side, i make the cacodemon infight with the windowed imps because i can. I get the secret chaingun and kill everything two blocks down. I then get berserk, turn all the enemies into GUTS, and move on. The hitscanner ambush is piss easy to deal with utilizing the conveniently placed invisibility. I then press the switch and wait for stairs to rise. And i keep waiting. And i keep waiting. And i keep waiting.

 

 

 

 

The waiting experience achieves a very profound effect on my psyche, as i manage to contemplate the meaning of existence, my own problems and yada yada, and come to a logical conclusion of all these thonkers while the steps are slowly rising to the top. Almost as if symbolizing the spiritual ascension of man to a higher plane of existence. Truly a profound moment in this wip megawad. On the top is an arch vile and two imps ambush which i manage to decimate in half a minute using berserk. Again, this fight is looking like an alligator, but it is more like a masturbator, the action needed to pull it off is quick (occasionally),  easy and fun.

 

Thinking about it, the tower might represent a cock, and the process of climbing represents a sensation of gradually approaching post nut clarity as the climax approaches. Truly a work of art that can be interpreted in many thought inducing ways. I didn’t even list everything on my mind, but i think i’ll just stop here so i would not drag this spontaneous joke to the excruciating limit (fun fact: i write my reviews in one go and don’t revise them, besides basic grammar and sentence structure stuff, so whatever appears in them i came up with it on the go) (hehe “came” lmao sex funi).

 

Map03: run ‘n’ gun

 

Okay, this map is actually dangerous. First off, i fucking adore this midi, might be the best one in the pack, i believe it even might tie with my favorite Marжlem midis, those being “organic gods” and “give in (with pleasure)”, another fun fact: this wad actually made me explore this dude’s discography beyond those two songs, which were basically the only piece of music i’ve listened from him. But i digress.

 

Anyway, the first time i played this map i did a dumbass thing and just decided to shoot my way through the pinkies immediately once they appear, apparently not noticing the phrase “run” in the title. Learned the hard way.
 

Overall, a very fun map. Except the fucking shotgunner sniper horde, they are not fun, they once took fucking 60% of my health because i stumbled for a second. The “underground” section is fairly fun and the chaingunner ambush reminds me of purple rain chaingun ambush. Some mappers do have a signature don’t they?

 

Anyway, dispatching the pinkies felt satisfying, if a little tedious, since most of the time i clean the map with the berserklejerk (a really obscure joke, but if you get it, you get it). And the revenant at the end actually managed to kill me the last time i played. I dunno if it means a well placed revenant or i just suck, but either way, great map.

 

Map04: depth charge.

Ima be straight with you all, ima go straight for the heart, i don’t like this map (phrase stolen from the song ren - genesis).

 

Also, i just realized, “depth charge” “death charge” because this map is centered around barrels. Very funi, very funi. Now let’s see the “depth” of this map’s gameplay and how much it “charges” me with fun. 

 

Quite honestly, i don’t like this gimmick, and it does not implement anything creative or interesting with it, like the rest of the wad does. The arch vile ambush is yet another berserk fodder, the revenant ambush has cheap chaingunners behind the player that annoy the shit out of me. However, the sea area and the final encounter arena that follows are some of the most visually appealing areas in the first few maps. This level in general is surprisingly beautiful, which is a shame, really. Also, the rocket secret is fucking bullshit, there is absolutely no tell that opening the door will lower the rocket launcher behind the FAKE FUCKING WALL YOU HAVE NO IDEA IS THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE before you inevitably lose the rocket launcher for the whole encounter. Not like it is needed very much, i cleared the final encounter through chaingun berserk and infighting. Quite honestly, this fight kind of redeems this map, but i still consider it the third most worst map in this episode (and we *will* fucking get to the first and second worst)

 

Depth charge? More like, depth of my anus.

 

Map05: shiteau

 

Shite AU, what fanfic are you writing, arsinikkuh? (Amateur joke).

 

I believe it would be fair to address that between the reviews of future maps from this  point onward and the previous maps around approximately a month passed because i forgot about this thing lmao.

 

Anyway, this might (keyword: might) be my second favorite level in this episode.

I dunno why, but i just feel joy whenever i play it. Maybe it’s because the chaingunners at the start make me think strategically and consistently manage to leave me with less than 30% health at the start of the level, forcing me to calm my gameplay down.

 

The rocket launcher ambush can be easily cheesed by just jumping off the cliff like Kratos in that one meme about the most happy japanese teenager.

 

Needless to say, the keycard puzzle is genius, albeit a little cryptic. But i managed to solve it in a relatively short timespan.

 

Also, i managed to lock the exit arch vile in place twice at this point, the last one was probably in my last playthrough, although i didn’t have time to assess it since i immediately backed down to shove suspiciously phallic rockets down his throat.

 

Awesome level, strange title. You can scold the starting chaingunners tho, they really are not gentlemanish.

 

Map06: jaded respite

 

What if i told you i managed to get a pinky stuck on one of the rising pillars? I have a screenshot of it, i believe, but i wiped my ass with it and flushed it, so i can’t find it. (Jk, im just too lazy to bring it up).

 

A pretty solid map, albeit a little bit short (i don’t know why, but out of all the short maps in this episode, this one particularly stands out to me for it’s shortness).

 

I like the beginning area since it’s just pure infighting fodder. And if you know anything about me i unironically love infighting. I also like the fact that the soulsphere is harder to get than the blue key, although that should be a fairly obvious thing.

 

The fact that one door opens two secrets by both shooting it and pressing on it is strange tbh, but i don’t mind it.

 

The arch vile ambush always scares the shit out of me, but i always manage to get out of it alive by purely using the rocket launcher. I dunno if this is luck or skill, but i never once got punished for rocketing a pain elemental, so i guess im just lucky.

 

Overall, solid map, could be a little bit less downtowny with it’s arrow thi.

 

Map 07: dead a.d.

Ugh…

 

Ima be honest, this is the absolute worst map in this set. Seemingly going against every single principle it built up to that point or will build since. It’s an arena with imps and a new and not-so-much-improved-worsened-actually spider mastermind. The secret is also needlesly obscure, because you have to shoot the dead marine wall (who in the fuck would think of that?) SPECIFICALLY WITH THE SUPER SHOTGUN (WHO IN THE FUCK WOULD THINK OF THAT?). Despite it all, It would have been a fine map.

 

If not for the fucking bullshit that us the second wave.

 

Arsinikkuh

ARSINIKKUH

THE FUCK ARE THESE POSes?

 

i swear to fuck those marines are using, because no undrugged person can be this fucking fast and hectic.

 

So, they spawn into the arena, and if you don’t react IMMEDIATELY, you will get fried on the spot. So you have to somehow run around and pray to rngesus that these surprisingly fat fuck won’t block your way and fucking roast you literally (they do be probably roasting you when you ded tho, although considering how good they are from quality stand point, they probably don’t know anything beyond “your mom”). Then you run in circles, rocketing everything until you either die or get blessed by the above rngesus. And you can’t even *hit* them consistently.

 

Overall, an awful and bland level and i will NOT play it more than the two times i already wasted on it.

 

Map 08: cryptic

Okay, from purely combat challenge standpoint, this is the hardest map in the set. Every ambush is deadly and requires a plan. I manage to beat it relatively consistently but it still kicks my ass occasionally.

 

I adore it’s aesthetic, especially the wooden door that actually opens like a door at the beginning.

 

The secret berserk is kinda too cryptic (im gonna drop my ba-dum-tsss out of the window). The elevator ambush is way too rng dependent in my opinion, but still a good one. 

 

Forcing the player to pick up a chainsaw is kind of a dick move to all the chainsaw haters out there.

 

The chaingunner ambush can be easily dealt with by just peekabooing everything.

 

The monster blocked revenant looks goofy tbh, like it can’t leave that one comfy shade spot and would rather die in it than actually serve as an opposition (i can respect that, maybe we can be bros with that revenants)

 

But the goofiest of them all is the arch vile, which i always, without fail, manage to kill by leg shooting it while the seal is locked. Lazy, i know, but very funny.

 

Overall, great map, and a good palette cleanser after map 07.

 

Map09: timeweaver

This is the absolute best map in this set and i will die on this hill.

 

I absolutely love everything about this map. It’s midi choice, it’s atmosphere. The interconnectivity for fucks sake. Everything has been done to perfection.

 

I love the fact that “digging” actually makes a useful hole in the cliffs in other times.

 

I love that raising the water in the past raises the water in the future.

 

All that funny stuff like this. I absolutely love it.

 

And the places aesthetically look the best out of this whole wad.

 

My only gripe is that the floor raising switch in -1B years ago has too obscure of a function, but other than that the level is perfect.

 

Oh, and i also forget about the “secret” blue armor in -1245 years and only remember about it when the 1 missing kill is displayed on my automap.

 

Also, it would have been funny if blowing up the barrel in the present will remove the invulnerability 5 years later.

 

That’s it, i don’t have much to say. This is my favorite map and i will love it to the end if my doom career.

 

Map10: the new lords

I, as a partial scythe enjoyer, immediately braced for disappointment. And the amount of disappointment i received did not disappoint. 

 

Coming after the best map in the set we have the second worst map in the set. A whiplash indeed.

 

To be fair, this level is only placed so low because it is just forgettable, and not absolutely fucking terrible.

 

Just go in, grab the berserk, circle strafe and shoot.

 

Done.

 

Map11: thanks for playing

 

I know that this is not a serious map, but im gonna comment on it anyway.

 

“Do not shoot the computer!” Don’t mind if i do. 

 

proceeds to chaingun every lost soul until 2 ammo

 

proceeds to punch out every single lost soul left

 

idclip out of borders because the monster closet broke and 3 lost souls consistently don’t teleport

 

savescum shoots the button because kept missing my last two shoots abd had to load up the save multiple times to successfully shoot the button

 

Oh look, a supershotgun that i don’t need!

 

The end.

 

Before i wrap up, i have a request for you arsinikk.

 

PLEASE make a map that uses “give in (with pleasure)” as it’s midi for this megawad. It and organic gods are my favorite marжlem midis and it would be cool if you could use give in (and organic gods, if you could, but that midi is already used in jade earth so…).

 

Of course, i won’t force you to, and i will still love this wad (if the future maps are good) if you don’t do that, but it would be really poggers if you did.

 

Summary:

Boxcutter is an awesome wad which uses it’s inspirations perfectly. It has unique and cool visuals, great encounters and genius puzzles. Oh, and also timeweaver, that level can fucking solo a wad imo.

 

Final rating:

0/10

False advertising: can not use box cutter as a weapon.

Anyway, i’m done, goodnight, ima fina go to the land of dreans.

[thelamp]

Not sure why I remembered that I was gonna play this and never did, but I'm glad I did remember because these short snappy maps were fun! I'm sure the next five will be just as enjoyable!

 

[thelamp]

 

[Large Cat]

I played through what's available so far, and I'm excited to see what we get with the next two episodes! The concept of scythifying other wads is a great one, and I'm considering doing it myself for Lost Civ.

 

Some general thoughts: I think you generally blended obtuse progression and quick action well; these small maps seem to help facilitate puzzles not being a pain. The secrets were all very findable; whatever I missed the first time through, I found almost right away on a second pass (except the weird MAP08 route). The weird part for me were the Mark Klem MIDI's, which sort of inserted a third vibe into the mix that I didn't know how to feel about. Just an observation. Difficulty-wise, this is a touch above original Scythe, but not by that much. I'll be interested to see if you try for the mounting difficulty approach with each episode.

 

I recorded FDA's for each map, if you want to see how wrong I am approaching your encounters.

boxcttr_lc.zip

I'll also provide brief comments about each map. I think my favorites were MAP06 and MAP09, while my least favorites were MAP07 and MAP10.

Spoiler

MAP01

• This is a fine opener, mixing light combat with minimal puzzle elements.

MAP02

• Not much to say here, other than that I missed the secrets due to falling in the moat right away. Maybe there was a way back up that I missed.

MAP03

• The initial run was a neat concept, even if it wasn't dangerous at all.
• The monster-blocking lines in this map were odd to me, letting me camp in very safe areas.

MAP04

• I was a big fan of the final big encounter in this map.
• The initial lock-in is basically a gimme, since the barrels instantly snuff out all threats.
• Progression was tricky here because the red key was only for backtracking, but the console flat is just under eye level, making it hard to notice in what feels like an artificial way to me. Luckily, the small map sizes tend to save these issues.

MAP05

• The beginning is not nearly as hard as I made it look. I was obsessed with "optimizing" by picking up berserk as late as possible, but you can definitely just be fine by picking it up right away.
• The final archvile is easily paralyzed, which you may or may not want to allow.
• The encounter after the platform hopping is bound to be cheesed with how it is set up.

MAP06

• The beginning encounter was a good one, and the light puzzle here fits in naturally.
• The rocket launcher fight will likely annoy people given the spectres, but I found it manageable.

MAP07

• This map felt like it devolved into circle-strafe, so it was one of the least interesting combat scenarios.
• This is a rather rude intro for your plasma guys, putting them up close and surrounding you.
• I'm interested to see the puzzle potential for plasma mastermind.

MAP08

• The combat here taps into what annoys me about traps in Eternal Doom: close-up ambushes that are likely to kill you if you have the wrong weapon out or trap yourself in the wrong corner.
• The fight following the red key feels like it's best solved with the very static strategy of running back out of the room.

MAP09

• As I said, this is my favorite map in the set.
• While the puzzles here are done really well, the pacing of this map will grind to a halt compared to what we've seen before. If it's possible, I would suggest making this a secret map (though maybe that doesn't fit with your plan).
• You jumpscared me with a potential softlock with the rising pillars up to the RL/radsuit alcove.
• I really like the lava run as a progression puzzle, but I can easily see how people who don't know you might get the wrong idea. My initial thought was that you intended for me to grab the armor and soulsphere so that I could run through with 200/100 being enough to survive the run, but that seemed like something you would hate, so I just figured there must be a safer solution.

MAP10

• I'm not terribly excited to see afrits in the lineup here, and this arena really doesn't change that opinion for me.
• This one was huge on circle-strafe, like MAP07, to avoid getting cornered or homing-missiled.
• If the secret is just berserk, I'm not sure how I could get any use out of it in this arena.
• The scrolling pillar's texture doesn't tile at all, which was oddly conspicuous to me.

Hopefully this provides some insight. Looking forward to future episodes, though no promises on demos if you crank up the challenge to late Scythe 2 levels.

[thelamp]

This map really is the best in the set so far! Glad I went back and beat it!