The DWmegawad Club plays: Overboard & Running Late 2 & Fractured Worlds

[RHhe82]

MAP06: Rough Commute. Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, PS. 383/383 K, 4/4 S, 28/28 I. Completion time 24:37.

 

Duke Nukemesque transit system inhabited by Doom monstrosities; Despite the aesthetics being mostly brown brick fwater tunnels, I enjoyed this one more than aesthetically superior Rooftop Rampage. Then, the completion time clocked at 24 minutes, not the double of that. Somehow the hardest part for me was the initial onslaught when you first release the hordes. The end fight comes close second, although that one is shorter and by that point you'll have enough rockets and cells anyway.

 

Good fun.

[Azure_Horror]

Re: Overboard

It is hard to properly write down all my thoughts about Overboard. @mouldy does so many things in such intersting ways!

For now, I want to highlight the following three things:

1. Standard Version of Seaside Siege manages to share vibes with travel-heavy maps from Lost Civilization, of all things, despite being a quite focused combat-fest! Didn't know, that such different gameplay approaches can meet in a single level.

2. I know no other map, which has the same combat geomertry as Archi-pelago. This map is both one big open arena and a set of interconnected smaller arenas. This creates very unique gameplay.

3. NG+ Archipelago has the most engaging meme-sized archvile crowd encounter! Usually, such fights are rather one-dimensional in their gameplay (Difficulty may vary. Comapre 200 Megahurts with finales of Fractured Worlds map 02 or Ray Mohawk 2 map 19). But the Vile fight of NG+ Archipelago can be played in lots of different ways! This is great!

 

Running Late 2

DSDA-Doom, UV, pistol start, complevel 9

 

6 maps into the set, I found a reference point for describing Running Late 2: Maps from Running late 2 remind me about Vanguard and Valiant (thanks, @RHhe82 for bringing Vanguard resemblance closer to my attention.)

Interesting  trivia, though. Valiant and Vanguard are more rich in resources. Yet, the difficulty of Running Late 2 feels about the same as in @skillsaw's famous works. Seems like the battlefields have less cruel designs...

 

Map 04 Oil Rigged

Our protagonist just tries to reach his workplace! And suddenly he is on an oil rig of all places! Did some hateful entity mess with space? @A2Rob, could you please reveal the lore behind this map ? Is the Lord of Heck to blame for this? Or was it the management? :^)

 

Map has an open layout, with only a few fights in enclosed spaces. For some reason, playing this map reminded me of Valiant Yesterday's Insanity. I know that the maps are different in many ways. But Valiant map 11 still came to me mind, while I was playing Oil Rigged.

 

All, in all, Oil rigged is a fun map, with pretty diverse set of foes and good use of new monsters. The visual presentation is quite memorable too.

 

Map 05 Rooftop Rampage

Map 05 is the first truly great highlight of Running Late 2 for me. Felt like a mix of Valiant, Struggle and Ozonia. This goes both for visual themes and gameplay. Will try writing a detailed review tomorrow!

[FrancisT218]

Map05's aesthetics seem like they may have inspired one of Ozonia's themes perhaps.

 

Visually, Running Late 2 has also given me some reminders of the middle third of Joshy's 'Resurgence', although gameplay wise, it seems a lot more chill in general.

[Monsieur E]

Map05: "Rooftop Rampage"
460/460 kills, 2/4 secrets

I feel like I should've liked this map more than I do. For all intents and purposes, Rooftop Rampage is an exciting romp with a lot of well designed fights to blast through and dismantle. Get your hands on the secret BFG and you can rampage further. But well, I ended up feeling rather neutral towards the end. I think my biggest complaint is that this map feels like a pulled punch. Ultimately, I was able to easily dismantle most of the fights much too quickly and without much of a struggle. I think this general feel of disappointment coupled with the relative length of this map (took me 35 minutes in game) ended up with me feeling pretty conflicted about this map. I think so far, this is the best of the first five maps but I don't really feel that way. Bit of an anomaly this map seems to be :P. Also, I also found progression to be not the most fluid and frankly, a bunch of minutes were lost figuring out where to go after. To end this on a positive note though, this map looks really good, continuing this energetic atmosphere with the pretty texture usage, and I liked the slight fadeout effect at the bottom of the buildings indicating we're supposed to be really high up. 

Map06: "Rough Commute"  
382/383 kills, 3/4 secrets (I did find the invulnerability but never used it)

Alright, this is more up my alley. Rough Commute is a lot of fun, arming you with most of your weaponry very early on including the plasma rifle in a secret accessible from the first room. I found this crucial for disarming the beginning encounter with I found to be the hardest as particularly both revenants varieties and pinkies can end up trapping you and crush you. The following encounters were much easier I found, mostly because this map loads you with rockets to blast through the opposition. It's a lot of fun and the map feels faster paced, and even though I was confused at first, the way to access both keycards was very charming. The entire place itself feels rather sinister with the darker lighting and subterranean environment, with hell's corruption seeming through towards the map's end, my favorite being that see through area near the yellow key, but never letting go on the frantic and arcady nature of the combat, helped along by a cool and laidback ROTT MIDI which I only know through association with a bad Hell Revealed level. Related to the final area, the blue arena was both creative and a lot of fun to play. The archviles prevent you from just camping the enemies from the open area forcing you to minimize the opposition in the main blue area before taking them on, it's not too hard (did it first try) but it was pretty fun with some exciting moments of rushing for cover away from the archvile line of sight and using plasma through the opposition when it was getting cramped. Good stuff all around, definitely my favorite map of the set so far. 

[A2Rob]

6 hours ago, Azure_Horror said:

Map 04 Oil Rigged

Our protagonist just tries to reach his workplace! And suddenly he is on an oil rig of all places! Did some hateful entity mess with space? @A2Rob, could you please reveal the lore behind this map ? Is the Lord of Heck to blame for this? Or was it the management? :^)

 

It's all part of his commute mate :v On a serious note, I intentionally keep continuity throughout the wad sporadic, for no real reason other than I think it's funny going from a warehouse to an oil rig, and then a bunch of rooftops.

 

6 hours ago, FrancisT218 said:

Map05's aesthetics seem like they may have inspired one of Ozonia's themes perhaps..

 

It was actually inspired from Map24 of Ancient Aliens.

[NiGHTS108]

Okay look I'm finishing off Overboard right now because I was sick for a week and wanna move on to Running Late 2 already

 

Map The Sixth: Seaside The Siege II

 

This map is really great tbh, similar to Mouldy's best maps in Going Down it keeps a really strong feeling of tension throughout the whole map while still fuelling you with tons of epic weaponry, the sooner you get the BFG the more fun this is

 

Grade: A
Difficulty: B+

 

 

Overall thoughts

 

Overboard is sick as hell dawg, I promise to go more in depth in a top 10 wads video of 2022 coming very soon but Overboard is a blast, like just super excellent in every way, it's so freakin epic in ways nobody who hasn't played it would know, Grade A difficulty C- it was so peak

 

Spoiler

06: Seaside Siege :)
05: Archi-Pelago
03: Depth Charge
02: Skeleton Coast
01: Cruis'n UAC
04: Cacotoa

 

[baja blast rd.]

Something I was thinking about when playing "Rough Commute": 

 

Pseudorealism in Doom is sometimes associated with clunky, awkward geometry that renders gameplay impractical -- but Running Late 2 avoids that pitfall, largely by building the pseudorealism "into" streamlined, gameplay-centric abstract spaces. One of its underpinning tropes is using the sort of really abstract Vanguard-Resurgence-(Valiant-Violence*-etc.-etc-.etc-.) abstraction as a backbone to which very concrete settings, decorations, and stories are attached. Looking at the automap you can even see the Scythe-like layouts with their neat beveled-corner rectangles -- it's just the whole thing is also heavily Doomcuteified.  

 

If that were all there was to it, it would be cool, but the smartest synergy happens in maps like "Rough Commute," which doubles the idea back and uses the conceptual features for gameplay too. Examples in this map: the tram cars often have goodies in them (including secrets); you access both keys by parkouring over crates; and generally, a subway just seems like a perfect setting for monsters to spill in like rush hour commute, or maybe more like trains on schedule, and so the combat staging loosely mirrors the map theme. Other (earlier) examples are "Chinatown Beatdown's" multi-wave dojo fight and the way "Rooftop Rampage" sometimes stages battles across multiple rooftops or buildings at once (which is arcadey as hell and fits the theme). This is not a well that Running Late 2 goes to in every single map, but it's pretty clever when it does. 

 

*map04 Of Running Late 2 is a bit of a homage to Violence map03 it seems, since someone was wondering. "Oil Rigged" pretty strongly reflects the philosophy of grounding abstract layouts in concrete themes, because these "stuff floating in liquid" layouts have a long and storied history of being literally just abstract platforms and such floating in liquid. 

[Book Lord]

MAP 07 – Dead on Arrival

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Pistol Start, blind run w/saves

 

One of the most prophetic level names I have encountered, Dead on Arrival began with a forced pistol start in a hostile environment, where everybody was alerted immediately. The demons started the manhunt before Security Doomguy could orient himself and pinpoint the weapon and ammo locations. The warm welcome prompted a handful of deaths before I finally secured the rocket launcher, the SSG and enough ammo to destroy the roaming hellspawn. I also unveiled the only secret before understanding any of the landmarks and objectives of the level. 

Spoiler

That secret room was the only lopsided trait in a symmetric level design. The open layout and the strong similarities between the areas made navigation confusing and the presence of snipers extremely annoying, especially at the beginning when elevated hitscanners, Plasma Guards and Arachnotrons shot from incredible distances. A2Rob used the customary MAP07 special tags to handle the progression: when the last spider hit the ground, the RK and the BK became accessible in the western and eastern yard respectively. Collecting each one of them set loose an angry squadron led by an Arch-Vile.

Spoiler

The two locked doors contained an equal number of switches, used to summon the last wave of enemies, including a small army of Mancubi as expected. They all must fall for the exit to become accessible through tag 666, but the spread-out deployment and the presence of more Arch-Viles made sure it was not a trivial battle. Dead on Arrival was a good way to shake the megaWAD routine without resorting to slaughter, and a clever iteration of MAP07 tropes.

 

8 minutes ago, baja blast rd. said:

Pseudorealism in Doom is sometimes associated with clunky, awkward geometry that renders gameplay impractical -- but Running Late 2 avoids that pitfall, largely by building the pseudorealism "into" streamlined, gameplay-centric abstract spaces.

 

This is precisely what makes the megaWAD stand out, and a thing I am failing to mention in most of my reviews, in favour of detailed gameplay reports. Surely it won't be missing from the (already written) final summary.

[RHhe82]

2 hours ago, baja blast rd. said:

 

Pseudorealism in Doom is sometimes associated with clunky, awkward geometry that renders gameplay impractical -- but Running Late 2 avoids that pitfall, largely by building the pseudorealism "into" streamlined, gameplay-centric abstract spaces

I was thinking this, too; When I see a ”realistic” Doom map I often end up thinking of poor attempts at recreating Build-engine stuff, or otherwise clunky gameplay. I think of oldskool ”myschool.wads”.

 

Running Late indeed avoids all that, and Rough Commute is probably the clearest example of a map that could have gone wrong (for my tastes) but miraculously doesn’t. Just like Vanguard’s parking lot level or Valiant’s Engineering disaster, that work very well despite my expectations.

[RHhe82]

MAP07: Dead on Arrival. Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, PS. 134/134 K, 1/1 S, 26/26 I. Completion time 18:48.

 

It's a Dead Simple map, it doesn't bring anything substantially new to the table, but it's a solid map, DS Linedef tags or not; I suspected DS trickery, but I didn't really realize it's a big arena until quite some time into the map -- which is a good thing, Dead on Arrival doesn't feel like a "clone".

 

My only gripe with the map is that the mancubus wave feels a bit like clean-up work, and that I spent far too much time trying to look what their death triggered. I was just about to be certain the mancubus death effect had bugged out, when I stumbled on the exit teleporter almost by accident! But I guess that's on me.

[DFF]

Running Late 2: Map06 - Rough Commute
FDWL (Prboom+), UV, continuous
K: 103 | I: 96 | S: 75

I played the map last night but needed to save the review for today since the mood i was in was not right to give this map a fair review. The setting of Rough Commute is a cool one, a tram transit hub. The detail present is on par with the rest of the wad and the long railed corridors with exposed electrical boxes, benches, vending machines, and dark computer stations remind me a bit of Half Life's On A Rail. The map takes a non-linear approach again, with the option to go red or blue. The map is very wide open and as many have noted, its design is more practical than cluttered in excess detail. This makes for clean and maneuverable combat. As for the combat encounters themselves it was mostly fine. I was not a huge fan of the big initial fight. Its not that i dislike more slaughter-esque encounters, but this felt a bit like just trying to fit the space. For me it was a problem of just escaping the initial rush, then everything was easily funneled into a simple rocket path, perhaps because of how much freedom the map has. Adding some higher tier enemies as snipers in dead ends here might have helped with its simple solution.

Otherwise the combat was fairly engaging, enjoyed most of it. The secrets this time around seemed to focus more on platforming than wall hunting, a welcome change. The platforming elements in the main map's progression were a little less welcoming. These chock up at worse to minor annoyances and time sinks if done wrong. Understandably having height layered progression in a wider map like this can be tricky, but the single pole jumps were just a bit unpleasant to deal with. Also I was unprepared for the death exit's thunderous explosion. PRboom likes to layer sounds and amplify them so exploding the 10+ barrels at once was to say the least, very loud and jolting. Can't knock the map for something like that really, but i'd be lying if i said it didn't affect my mood on the map a little.

This was a fine map, with good secrets and atmosphere. The combat was not as engaging as other maps, but i'd still prefer it over some of the earlier maps.
Rankings:
 

Spoiler

Running Late 2:
MAP05 - Rooftop Rampage

MAP03 - Under Construction

MAP04 - Oil Rigged
MAP06 - Rough Commute

MAP01 - Drip
MAP02 - Chinatown Beatdown

 

Overboard:

MAP06 - Seaside Siege
MAP02 - Skeleton Coast
MAP05 - Archi-Pelago
MAP03 - Depth Charge
MAP01 - Cruisin' UAC
MAP04 - Cacotoa

 

[Book Lord]

MAP 08 – Graveyard Shift

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

I am fond of dark, menacing warehouses, and Graveyard Shift began close to one of the most accurately lit ones I have ever seen. A Romero-approved tech-base layout, with windows overlooking physically detached zones, could be navigated in almost its entirety since the beginning, as the keycards were required to access small, restricted areas that gradually completed the progression towards the exit, found in the north-eastern water pool.

Spoiler

The free roaming option surely improved the exploration, which continued without interruption for a good while, until I finally collected the YK in the south-eastern water tunnels. By then, I already knew where the doors and key-operated switches were positioned, so finding my way to the BK, then to the RK, and eventually to the RSK was automatic. The scale and the difficulty of the various combat set pieces was moderate, almost in line with TNT: Evilution, the IWAD that this map seems to take as the main source of inspiration, despite outclassing it in the visual detail and especially in the lighting.

Spoiler

The two secret areas were equally simple to find, even the old-fashioned Berserk closet that was given away by an odd texture. The damaging water in the radioactive core room behind the red door might have surprised some players, but I can read the signs on the wall and expected Hell Knights and an Arch-Vile to ambush me in that confined space, where no Radiation Suit was provided. The most dangerous situation was probably the RSK trap, quite predictable as an event, but not in the monster deployment in the nearby basins. I took a beating there, but not enough to kick the bucket just before the end of the map. Graveyard Shift worked as a breather after a stretch of combat-intense maps and provided a much-appreciated relief with its intriguing key hunt, set in a classic tech-base with a modern design signature.

Spoiler

 

[finnks13]

MAP06 - Rough Commute:

12:22/1 Death
A small arena map set in a underground railway station, Rough Commute has a lot of fun to offer for it's size. The highlights are the main fights across the railway tracks, as you scramble between train cars, occasionally diving into one for cover and to resupply. As has been said before, something I really like about Running Late 2 is it's ability to use just enough doomcute to create the feeling that the map is actually set in a realistic location without that becoming a crutch and the gameplay suffering as a result. Admittedly, this does tend to mean that the doomcute in RL2 is less adorably primitive than the sort I normally really like, but it works very well in the context of the wad.

 

If I had one complaint about the map, is that the space you have to play in is so large and open, it feels like the waves could have been a bit bigger - especially the final wave in the main train station area, which is very easy & mostly consists of pinkies - though I can understand that this is map 6 and A2Rob probably didn't want to start punishing the player too badly yet. The finale takes place in a flooded area below the train tracks and starts off fairly easily, until the archviles spawn at the back of the area and start resurrecting everything, guarded by the hell knight and imps that are in the way - it's a very fun fight and a good way to end off the first section of Running Late 2.

 

MAP07 - Dead on Arrival:

7:52/0 Deaths
The only map in RL2 that I didn't particularly like on my first playthrough and that feeling was pretty much the same today, Dead on Arrival is just kinda boring. It's set in a very symmetrical, generic techbase, with small changes in texturing to try to hide that, with the main differences being the rooms with the plasma gun & SSG in are differently shaped. After you kill the firing squad of hitscanners that's present in the central area and the raised corridors overlooking all sides of the map, the map becomes very easy with plenty of health, armour & rockets to deal with anything that's thrown at you. The thing that kills the map for me is the painfully dull use of the Dead Simple tags, which aren't used to change the arena in any meaningful way and feel very tacked on. It's not a bad map, and I'm only being harsh on it because the rest of the wad is so good that this one blip stands out to me, but I felt almost nothing when completing this which is a shame.

 

^{Oh, and Into the Beast's Belly is annoying and I don't know why you'd use it instead of literally any other TNT midi :P}

[RHhe82]

MAP08: Graveyard Shift. Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, PS. 152/152 K, 2/2 S, 21/21 I. Completion time 25:34.

 

This one I enjoyed, too; Graveyard Shift is a nice and fun map. I also get the feeling it's a bit easier than MAPS05-06, it's like Running Late 2 follows an episodic nature, perhaps. Not that I mind, I don't think wads should necessarily follow linear difficulty progression.

 

In any case, the ending fight is the highlight, I kinda wished it lasted a bit longer. Also, I don't know if I should read on artistic influences, but this one felt a bit like Scythe X. Something in the green lights, night sky, meticulous lighting... I don't know.

[KickAss]

GZDooM 4.9, PB 3.0, HeXeReTiC HUD PB3 v8.3RC2e, Weapon Neural Upscale, Simple Upscaled Enemies, Destroyable Decorations Definitive Edition, Glory Kills v29b, SilentDoomguy, Flashlight, -iwad doom2.wad (ver 1.666), -skill 4 (UV), continuous play, no saves.

 

Running Late 2, MAP06 - “Rough Commute”, Strange thing happened here. I (the marine ...) have entered the level made some moves and died immediately and the map was over and I could continue to the next level. So I can tell you nothing about "Rough Commute".

 

 

[Monsieur E]

Map07: "Dead On Arrival"
134/134 kills, 1/1 secrets

I don't really feel much about this map, it's fine I guess but it's just straight up mediocre. It's an almost symmetrical layout where none of the fights stand out and barring the dead simple mechanics added in, not much else stands out either. It's a bland techbase which looks pretty on paper but pales to every other map preceding it in terms of presentation. The final mancubi cleanup borders on tedious but the sprinkling of archviles prevents me from disliking the finale too much. A totally unremarkable map overall unfortunately but at least it wasn't another dead simple clone so eh, gotta count for something.


Map08: "Graveyard Shift"
151/152 kills, 1/2 secrets

We're now back on track, map08 takes place in a lowly lit warehouse surrounded by a lake, the action here feels more freely run and gun and the entire map is basically open for you to explore, target enemies and locate progression points. I quite liked the feel of the dark warehouse bathed in moonlight and I liked the MIDI selection. Furthermore, I like the usage of the red skull as the final exit key while using the keycards for progression. My favorite bit of the map was the section with the damaging water since it felt like stepping into the core of the plant with the increase in lighting and the symbols serving as a forewarning of what's to come, topped off with a pretty straightforward but effective dance with a duo of hell knights while an archvile guards the way out. I enjoyed the fun rocket fight at the end of the map too and overall, I had a pretty good time with graveyard shift.

[KickAss]

GZDooM 4.9, PB 3.0, HeXeReTiC HUD PB3 v8.3RC2e, Weapon Neural Upscale, Simple Upscaled Enemies, Destroyable Decorations Definitive Edition, Glory Kills v29b, SilentDoomguy, Flashlight, -iwad doom2.wad (ver 1.666), -skill 4 (UV), continuous play, no saves.

 

Running Late 2, MAP07 - “Dead on Arrival”

 

 

[tonytheparrot]

I know I am starting very late again, but i will now be able to post every day, and I decided to post 2 maps a day until I catch up.

 

RL2 is another wad I never got around to play, but i am really excited as I only heard praise about it and really enjoyed A2Rob's Nova 3 submissions. Again, all maps are gonna be played on Prboom+ from a pistol start on UV with saves.

 

Map 1: Drip

100% kills, 92% items, 100% secrets

Time: 7:31

Outside of the cool midi and introduction of the melee-only revenant, Drip is just a by-the-numbers opener with 2 secrets, less than 100 monsters and no fights worth mentioning. At least it looks pretty nice

 

Map 2: Chinatown Beatdown

100% kills, 97% items and 100%secrets

Time: 8:28

Chinatown Beatdown is, as the name implies, a tyson map taking place in Chinatown, which looks really convincing thanks to it's posters, restaurant and even Lo Wang's dojo. Since we're still early on, A2Rob's fights are really easy, with the only one presenting a hint of challenge being the one in the dojo with the waves of imps, pinkies, zombies and melee revs. The rest of the level is still pretty entertaining despite the low difficulty and I really like the atmosphere created by the Duke midi. Beatdown concludes with a fun encounter that introduces the plasma zombie, an enemy that A2Rob seems to really love.

 

RL2 Rankings:

Spoiler

 

Really Like:

Map 2

Mediocre:

Map 1

 

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by tonytheparrot

[finnks13]

MAP08 - Graveyard Shift:

16:14/1 Death
A slower-paced, more exploration & atmosphere focused map than really anything that's come before, I quite like Graveyard Shift as it's a nice break from the chaos of the previous maps. You can go nearly everywhere in the level from the beginning, though certain areas are more helpful to explore early than others. Jumping down into the water immediately nets you an SSG, but you'll be without a chaingun for a while, and the high density of imps & zombies make the SSG feel a bit overkill, whereas going to the crate room first will allow you to get a chaingun very early from a chaingunner, but will require clearing most of the area to get the high-up SSG. I like how your choice of where to go at the start of the level very obviously and meaningfully changes how you play the map, even if it only lasts for the first couple of minutes.

 

Eventually, you'll make it outside which I really wasn't expecting, and was a nice change in scenery from the dark techbase interior. There's a fun little area where the water is painful due to exposed wires giving you an electric shock through it (or something lol) and I like how this is suggested to the player with more than just the "DANGER" textures on the wall. My main problem with this map is it's progression, the way to get the keys isn't very obvious and the blue door, which you have to go through is tucked away in a corner that is very easy to overlook. The finale loads you up with rockets and sets a small horde on you which is very fun to take out. Overall, this is a different experience to most of Running Late 2, but that definitely works in it's favour.

[RHhe82]

MAP09: The Crate Temple (II?). Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, PS. 226/226 K, 2/2 S, 29/33 I. Completion time 32:33.

 

Dang this place looks beautiful and feels dangerous. Once you hop off the safe space of starting chamber, it's ceaseless action for quite some time until you can catch your breath next time. I had it hard for not spotting the SSG at the blood altar near the start, and not spotting the much-needed rocket launcher on the cliff.

 

For quite a while I felt very lost here for not finding those two weapons, since of the steps for progression meant release a squad of archviles at me. When the weapon situation was resolved, I was having real fun. A second playthrough would go much smoother up to that point.

 

The highlight here is the blue key arena fight. I mean, surely we have seen similar setups in other wads, an arena with some more enemies perched on the walls surrounding it. I was amazed to have survived on the first try, despite playing with the rocket launcher at very unfortunate times.

 

Great map, probably my favourite so far.

Edited December 18, 2022 by RHhe82

[Book Lord]

MAP 09 – The Crate Temple 2

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

I was not surprised to find out that this level looked like a temple, just full of crates piled everywhere with no rhyme or reason. Despite sharing some visual elements with MAP08, it marked a strong thematic transition from the urban, realistic environments of Running Late 2 to briefly embrace a fantasy atmosphere. The Crate Temple 2 was also a spiritual sequel to MAP02 of the first Running Late, which used a similar mix of stone, marble, water, and shipping boxes, though in a much more confined environment.

Spoiler

The layout was sandbox-like and could be explored almost completely from the start. Pistol starters must be quick to secure the SSG on the bloody altar to the east and the rocket launcher in the cavern to the south-west. Ammo was not a concern, since it was scattered everywhere, but there were plenty of tough monsters in the surrounding waters, Cacodemons floating from the edge of the map towards the centre, and a mob of Revenants in the eastern brick building, protecting a backpack and a Soul Sphere secret that I easily uncovered. The rocket launcher cavern hid the entrance to the second secret, but I found it much later.

Spoiler

The YSK and RSK were required to access the BSK and could be retrieved in any order. The YSK was reached after clearing the southern network of towers and raising the bridge to the one closest to the temple, which allowed jumping on the crate with the key. The other skull was obtained through a more dangerous quest, starting from a button in the north-western corner that triggered a nasty triple Arch-Vile attack, then returning to the central building to steal the RSK from a group of assorted Revenants. The BSK ambush was predictable in that dead end and required pumping rockets while trapped by Revenants and Chaingunners, a setup that I have seen before in A2Rob levels.

Spoiler

The third skull key granted access to the round, red walled arena that could not be missed in the northern part of The Crate Temple 2. The teleport ambush happening inside was intense and carefully directed by voodoo dolls, as monsters of various sorts appeared in precise waves. The omnipresent crates offered an invaluable cover to survive the chaos, especially when hitscanners were thrown in the mix and Pain Elementals appeared for the grand finale. The BK, necessary to unlock the exit teleporter, was the prize. One last, amazing surprise awaited Security Doomguy at the centre of the map: the demons moved around crates to block the entrances and inside the building Arch-Viles were resurrecting corpses with alacrity. I beamed at the author’s inventiveness for that turn of events, and I turned a blind eye on the open window that permitted to easily snipe most of the newcomers. This was one of the best levels of Running Late 2, visually pleasing and full of compelling action.

[DFF]

Im off a few days, and with the mini-wad structure im not exactly certain what maps i should be up to by this point off the top of my head so here's two of them.

Running Late 2: Map07 - Dead On Arrival
FDWL (Prboom+), UV, continuous
K: 105 | I: 100 | S: 100

A sadly generic, repetitive, and forgettable experience as some map07s tend to be. The detailing is of standard quality, and the combat feels mostly well balanced (albeit health gets rather skimpy if not monitored closely), but the map kinda screams generic. Its some sort of bricky techbase with the feel of industry, however nothing specifically stands out here. Its also the eventual lame culmination of the two-key non linear system this WAD loves to employ. There is a red and blue key, however unlike previous maps, their location, acquisition, and traps are basically carbon copied except for some monster layout which is the marginal Band-Aid for something that goes from an interesting gimmick/gameplay focus into something redundant and unnecessary. The one thing that stood out to me with this map was that it was creative enough to at least inverse the Map07 gimmicks, where you kill the aracs for progression before the mancs.

Despite the harsh criticism this is a well designed map, but it lacks the seasoning to be interesting. Serviceable and inoffensive. The one secret also was not enough to satisfy my exploration craving.

Running Late 2: Map08 - Graveyard Shift
FDWL (Prboom+), UV, continuous
K: 100 | I: 100 | S: 100

Thankfully map08 picks up with a more upbeat but moody setting. I love the nighttime storage facility vibe, and the MIDI feels like a great choice for the atmosphere, going for more action oriented than the maybe more expected sinister or horror themed. The map scarcely doles out resources, so i had to run headfirst through a large portion of the map before being able to find a safe moment, struggling to control either health and or ammo. The areas have much more distinct designs here which helps with progression and assists in keeping me from getting lost. The traps are decently varied and engaging, the variance of water canals and outdoor sections are a welcomed addition, and while a bit annoying, the electrified water room was a small but cool setpiece. 

The map despite the varied design was still sometimes confusing to navigate at times; the map is almost too dark for its own good in some areas. The only other real complaint though was finding a small handful of misaligned or discolored crates, but for a dark cratemap its not terribly surprising.

Rankings:

Spoiler

Running Late 2:
MAP05 - Rooftop Rampage

MAP03 - Under Construction

MAP04 - Oil Rigged
MAP08 - Graveyard Shift
MAP06 - Rough Commute

MAP01 - Drip
MAP02 - Chinatown Beatdown
MAP07 - Dead on Arrival

 

Overboard:

MAP06 - Seaside Siege
MAP02 - Skeleton Coast
MAP05 - Archi-Pelago
MAP03 - Depth Charge
MAP01 - Cruisin' UAC
MAP04 - Cacotoa

 

 

[tonytheparrot]

(Played from a pistol-start on Prboom+, saves are allowed)

 

Map 3: Under Construction

100% kills, 100% items, 50% secrets

Time: 9:07

Helped by another Duke Nukem midi, Under Construction is another atmospheric and slower-paced map that keeps the difficulty very low. Just like in Chinatown Beatdown, the fights don't really make a long-lasting impression outside of 2 : the melee revenant attack next to the blue key and the teleport ambush before getting the red key followed by another fight with a baron, a PE, 2 cacos and 3 revs when you grab it. However, this level shows a greater attention to detail than the previous maps, with the chewed up pillars, walls and the broken door being especially pretty. Under Construction is just a simple, but solid map.

 

Map 4: Oil Rigged

100% kills, 73% items, 50% secrets

Time: 9:40

Oil Rigged is notably more open than the previous maps, taking place in a wide open body of water where an operation was conducted (with it's objective being very subtely hinted at in the title) I have to say that I love the beginning of this map as running away from foes desperately looking for guns and ammo (with some of them like the SSG even being booby trapped) is exhilirating. However, I feel like the level runs out of steam after the start and that the combat goes back to being just fine outside of the ambush in the crusher room with the teleporting imps, which is really good fun. While it's still my favorite map so far, I feel like Oil Rigged could have used it's large main area very effectively, but it didn't do it to it's full potential outside of the beginning.

RL2 Rankings:

Spoiler

 

Really Like:

Map 4

Map 2

Like:

Map 3

Mediocre:

Map 1

 

 

[Book Lord]

MAP 10 – Overtime

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

Security Doomguy must be seriously running late: he had not yet arrived at the office and still the next chapter was considered Overtime. Walking down a motorway was not exactly a speedy transfer, especially when demons repeatedly get in the way. As soon as he emerged from the tunnel, he was greeted by a distant Cyberdemon on a tower, dominating a large chicane interrupted by roadblocks. The curious trait of this map was the extreme, and honestly inexplicable, dichotomy between the areas on the left and on the right side of the road. The north-eastern half was a rocky desert, complete with cactuses and bovine skulls; the south-western half was filled with water, and I interpreted it as a concrete dam.

Spoiler

After getting the first glimpse of the desert area, the progression led me to the water basin below the dam, where the previously seen Cyberdemon was involved as a turret in the RK fight, which was quite manageable. The key granted access to the upper level of the desert, eventually reaching a depressed area with a couple loading platforms, and many more teleport pads. Soon a large group of Boxer Revenants emerged and started chasing me everywhere, but I shot more rockets than they could handle. The Arch-Vile trio could not do much more to ruin my day, as well as the numerous pop-up monsters on the way to the BK. Finding the secrets was another story, as I had to forfeit them all. The triggers were concealed very well, and the Soul Sphere access route was under my nose, but I always looked the wrong way.

Spoiler

The BK allowed me to reach the top of the dam and look to the other side, after dealing with a spicy closet trap. Water extended as far as the eye could see, but I was confined by railings that made me feel like a fish in a breeding farm. The area offered various surprise encounters and ambushes, but nothing that really stood out or posed a real threat. I even lost some time finding a SW1GRAY that was not in plain sight and forced me to go back and forth through previously seen areas.

 

Thankfully, this bland streak was redeemed by an exciting finale. It started with an attempt to trap me between two fires (Demons and Hell Knights) and continued with the deployment of bosses. The motorway could not be left since barriers had been raised, and the cells needed to kill the two Cyberdemons were stored near the equally essential YK. The first time I just snatched the key under their nose and made a run for the exit, only to find a Spider Mastermind that forced me to retreat and dodge more rockets. The secret BFG would have come in handy to wipe out these heavyweights, but I missed it and forced myself to use only plasma rifle. The Spiderdemon eventually angered one of the Cybers and gave me time to kill the other and then finish off the survivor of the Gotcha! revival. I liked the realistic visual achievements in Overtime more than the tentative, not very incisive combat design, which had a few highlights dispersed in a bulk of casual encounters.

[NiGHTS108]

- Running Late 2 -

 

MAP01: Drip

Kills: 87%

Items: 77%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 5:39

 

A kinda disappointingly basic opener for a wad called Running Late 2, Drip is a decent little tech base and not much more. The Resurgence/Scythe II inspiration is apparent from the word "go", lots of gradient lighting and an overall vibe of authenticity in this map which we'll continue to see built on over the course of this wad. Drip ends with the introduction of the Boxer Revenant, who lost their drip but without it, are able to punch faster than ever. It's easy to be caught off guard with them so be prepared.

 

Grade: B-

Difficulty: D-

 

 

MAP02: Chinatown Beatdown

Kills: 96%

Items: 84%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 7:46

 

This map (along with the *BEAUTIFUL* difficulty select) is the introduction to Running Late 2's delightful wordplay. In this map I really appreciate A2Rob's commitment to the name. He's not lying, this really is a beatdown in Chinatown. As you traverse the terrific foreign textures you'll be working with your hands a lot, as you don't get a whole lot of ammo. I'll admit I only like this map to the degree I do because of A2Rob's commitment, I just can't get over the flurry of neon signs and even Chinese UAC crates that reside in this map. It's all lovely attention to detail that really appeals to me, and is overall a great example of an early Tyson map that isn't boring.

 

Grade: A-

Difficulty: C-

 

 

[KickAss]

GZDooM 4.9, PB 3.0, HeXeReTiC HUD PB3 v8.3RC2e, Weapon Neural Upscale, Simple Upscaled Enemies, Destroyable Decorations Definitive Edition, Glory Kills v29b, SilentDoomguy, Flashlight, -iwad doom2.wad (ver 1.666), -skill 4 (UV), continuous play, no saves.

 

Running Late 2, MAP08 - “Graveyard Shift”

 

 

[RHhe82]

MAP10: Overtime. Played on DSDA v0.24, UV, PS. 298/298 K, 3/3 S, 88/88 I. Completion time 44:04.

 

Another great one, although the first cyberdemon got on my nerves. Once it's dead pressure eases for a very short while until you're once again sandwiched by hell nobles, all sorts of mid-tier foes on the dam (or something) and cyberdemon duo on the other end, progress warrants penalty in the form of spider mastermind. It's a fun map that reminds me slightly bit of first episode of Ancient Aliens, mostly due to the desert areas.

 

I wish I had found the BFG earlier.

[finnks13]

MAP09 - The Crate Temple II:

14:40/3 Deaths
Like the previous map, The Crate Temple II is a very successful combination of Running Late 2's driving combat with a sandbox layout. The visuals take a break from the modern cities and techbases that dominate the rest of the wad, to instead present us with a temple in a natural landscape. Obviously, the UAC had to get the mitts on some part of the map, and they appear to have used it as a dumping ground for various crap - hence the crates everywhere. The unique visuals (for the wad) really help this map to stand out from the others and I think they look fantastic. The mysterious and energetic choice of MIDI (that admittedly brings back many bad memories from the map it's sourced from) really brings the map together and was a fantastic pick.

 

The main gameplay "gimmick" that's being used here are morphing environments that are reused and altered for different fights. The yellow key area & fight is a highlight in this regard, as the gaps you've been jumping across are filled in with bridges, locking you in the arena in a very natural way as monsters mob you from all angles - it's excellent. A surprising thing is the lack of plasma gun, which I only realised when going back over the level - the pace is certainly kept up enough that I didn't mind this at all. This is definitely the point where Running Late 2 starts to actively try to kill the player, the fight in the south-east building where four archviles emerge from a lowering pillar where you have very little cover available is a memorable "oh shit!" moment, as is the incredibly claustrophobic red key fight. Fantastic map.

 

MAP10 - Overtime: 

20:10/5 Deaths
Overtime is the culmination of Running Late 2's obsession with turning abstract combat arenas into realistic locations, being set on a large dam and the reservoir & desert surrounding it. It's another very unique setting, and the map uses the setting to create some interesting gameplay scenarios that make sense in the surroundings - such as the bridge over the dam being incredibly claustrophobic and impossible to escape. The cyberdemon on the other dam has a very good view over most of the map, and I would highly recommend SSGing him to oblivion when you get up close to him in the red key fight, as he can really ruin your day in the later parts of the map. We also get the best usage of the melee revenants yet, with the small horde that attacks you in a canyon - the are genuinely terrifying in this large a number because of how quick they are, and it is very easy to get overwhelmed at first unless you're being very aggressive with the rocket launcher.

 

I'm sure the secret BFG would have been helpful for the reservoir section and the finale, but thankfully it's more of a case of "nice to have" than "mandatory for progression" with the difficulty of finding it being rewarded by the player having a much easier time in the final parts of the map. The final fight on the dam is very fun, a bunch of hell knights teleport in behind you, forcing you outside onto the dam, where around 50 pinkies, spectres & melee revenants await to block you in, bite you to death and allow the two cyberdemons to get free pot-shots on you. If you're able to push past the cyberdemons and let a spider mastermind distract one of the cybers by reenacting Gotcha! for the umpteenth time, then it's not too difficult to take out the other cyberdemon and the winner of the intense battle for the ages - besides, I always enjoy sitting back and watching a mastermind & cyberdemon have a brawl. While I'm not sure if Overtime is the best map in the wad (I've not made up my mind on that yet), if someone wanted to play one map in Running Late 2 and no other, it should absolutely be this one.

[Book Lord]

MAP 11 – Break Room

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

Our Stakhanovite protagonist arrived close to his workplace, but instead of the much-coveted office he entered the living quarters of the employees. After escaping the first room with Boxer Revenants looking for Tyson action, he found himself in a corridor surrounding the staff canteen and leading to more side areas, including what could be a wellness centre with pools. Finding the linear way through the large Break Room was not difficult, as the direction to follow was clear and signposted with key-operated switches in visible places, coupled with events that drew the player attention towards the achieved progression steps.

Spoiler

The only accessible area was the room with water pools, where pistol starters collect the rocket launcher and then trigger room transformations with closets opening and water level changing at high speed. The relatively light combat routine continued in the nearby tech rooms leading up to the YK. In this area I found my one and only secret that offered an early glimpse on the path to the final room, and a Soul Sphere guarded by some monsters. The switches to access the plasma rifle and the second Soul Sphere in the canteen were both too hidden for me to find them during regular play.

Spoiler

The YK granted access to the cafeteria, where the RK was visible on one of the tables but would be reached only later. This place was finely decorated with effective custom textures, such as drink dispensers, menus, and a Doomcute kitchen holding the teleporter to the next area with the BK. It was a dimly lit, underground warehouse with crates stored in unsafe ways; A2Rob surely likes these arrangements a lot and he is quite skilled at making them interesting. The player must pay attention to the hidden platforming route over crates that led to the inaccessible western section, where a switch released a larger ambush. Some monsters came from a distant closet; checking their origin was required to find the last switch that revealed the BK and the last guardians.

Spoiler

Getting the RK seemed easy at first, but a nasty trap was devised to protect it. The last table lowered before I could grab the key, and I must take care of the teleporting enemies and the three Arch-Viles, emerging from three different directions. Finding the switch to lower the RK table was the only slightly obscure moment of Break Room, since it was placed in the furthest Arch-Vile closet that might easily escape the player’s attention.

 

Security Doomguy got the full assortment of keycards and could operate the lift to the upper floors and to the last, arena-like room that used another of the author’s favourite tricks: the slow-lowering lift with monsters teleporting during the descent. Thankfully only Imps and zombies materialised before reaching the bottom, where Barons and Cacodemons joined the party. The grand finale was an Arch-Vile squad tossed in the middle of the former battlefield, and some supporting Revenants. It was quite a rough conclusion for such a long map, and I surely would have pulled out the BFG, if only I had acquired one. No need for nit-picking though; Break Room was an exciting series of encounters and discoveries, deserving even higher praise as it was totally indoor, and it resorted only to a couple of thematic and graphic variations. It still kept me engaged for the whole time; therefore, I think it was another big highlight of Running Late 2.

Edited December 20, 2022 by Book Lord

[Deadwing]

About map 05 of Running Late, the "fog" was already there before I started thinking using on Ozonia :P (so I think it was actually the other way around)

It's definitely a fantastic map!

Edited December 20, 2022 by Deadwing