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

[cannonball]

MAP09 - “The Crate Temple 2”

The change of thematic is appreciated (If a little odd having crates in this more gothic stone theme). The combat is pretty solid, though the triple archvile reveal seems very out of place and is the biggest threat in the entire map where you could easily end up reaching it without the rocket launcher or SSG. The rest of the map is solid overall, the blue keycard fight was fun, if fairly easy to disperse. At least it avoids the circle strafe cop out solution as monsters will try to infight with those on the ledges.

 

MAP10 - “Overtime”

I have heard a lot of good things about this map before I played this was. It is fair to say that its reputation is well deserved and is by far the best map so far. Whilst being heavily linear, it takes you on a journey through the various buildings and the surrounding natural landscapes. For certain sections of the map you will be hounded by a cyberdemon that you can finally engage once the large watery section is complete and you get a plasma gun to boot. There are plenty of big fights along with some non-trivial incidental combat. Overall this doesn't put a foot wrong in my opinion.

[finnks13]

Fractured Worlds

Just in time for Christmas, we've got a nice, relaxing wad to close out the new year... right?

 

I've played the first three maps of Fractured Worlds before, but I can't remember any specific reason for stopping there so I suppose it was probably a case of death by accidental save overwriting :P

Anyway, this time I will be playing on UV (I think I can manage late-game Sunlust), from pistol starts on dsdadoom v0.25.0. I will try for 100% kills, especially since I know that Nirvana likes hiding secret fights, but I am impatient when it comes to secret hunting so I may just give up.

 

MAP01 - Tomahawk:

9:59/10 Deaths
A very aggressive opener to the wad, Tomahawk starts you in a staring match with a cyberdemon in the distance, with an archvile being sprung on you immediately as you jump out of the opening corridor. That's pretty much the theme of this map, running around small spaces, and having archviles released near you, or on a bunch of corpses you left in a previous room, you'll need to revisit any moment. I didn't mind this archvile use in this map, I'll take aggressive, mean archvile placement any day over the boring, predictable archvile use that is the norm. You can grab the BFG almost immediately, and I would highly recommend doing so, and not playing half the map without it like me :P

 

The visuals are both very unusual, yet exactly the sort of thing I would expect from this texture theme, but I think they look excellent. The palette has been altered to purge any of the colour green at all costs, and the cyans, blues and purples that make up most of the map's details look great. I am slightly less convinced about the sprite replacements, which range from "genuinely really cool" (primarily thinking of the lost souls & pain elementals here) to "a bit ugly, if I'm honest" (sorry pinky demon, or grey-ey demon I suppose!), however even the sprites that I don't like as much all contribute to the unique visual flair that this wad has so all in all, they're fine!

 

We also have the one(?) new enemy that appears in Fractured Worlds - the cyan cyberdemon (which I will be referring to from now on as the mini cyber), which functions as a regular cyberdemon but with only 1000HP. It's a good idea for a custom enemy, and this map teaches you how to nuke them up close with the BFG before you're allowed to grab the blue key. The hardest part of the map is the small trip into the void to grab the yellow key, I impressed myself by nailing the platforming to this area on the first attempt (which is a fluke, if the six attempts it took to get back are to be believed!) and getting the key itself activates a mean little ambush. The best strategy I had was to kill the mini cybers immediately, since the arena's shape didn't lend itself to getting infighting going very easily, and there's enough health and cells in here that I figured it was easier to kill the hell knights & barons myself.

 

Tomahawk is an excellent opener for the wad, my only real complaint is that the music choice got very repetitive and a bit annoying by the end of the level - it was fantastic other than that.

[Jacek Bourne]

Fractured Worlds:

Map01 Blind Playthrough 100% on UV:

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Jacek Bourne

[FrancisT218]

+++Capybara & Heartland (29 levels)

+++Community Chest 2

+++200 Line Massacre (or 100 & 200 Line Massacre's if two short maps in a day is acceptable)

Edited December 26, 2022 by FrancisT218

[Pseudonaut]

Fractured Worlds

Map01:

Harder than it looks, and I died a lot on earlier playthroughs of this map. The player is usually assailed from multiple angles, and there isn't always an easy solution to the available problems, e.g. the first archvile encounter, where the only convenient cover is blocked by pinkies (except they're not pink in this wad). There are a few moments where progressing will reveal an archvile somewhere out of sight with plenty of bodies it can resurrect, so it helps to know in advance so you can rush in with your BFG ready.

 

 

[Monsieur E]

Alright, time for Fractured Worlds. UV with saves allowed, going for 100% kills, dsda-doom complevel-9.

Fractured Worlds
By Nirvana

Map01: "Tomahawk"
115/115 kills, 3/3 secrets

This wad had been advertised as late sunlust in regards to difficulty, which is made apparent from the first map itself. The beginning room is deceivingly simple, health is at a premium against enemies who can deal serious damage and picking up the available weapons will let loose heavier opposition. The room due to its interconnected layout helps you go around easily with the chaingunners and an arachnotron proving to be obstacles in completing the circuit. Due to the open nature of this area, you can route it in various ways after recognizing the triggers opening ambushes to figure out your preferred route. Of course, archviles will be deployed in the central room to complicate situations resurrecting the monsters who are in few in number but fierce. The BFG, the most powerful weapon arguably has the worst trigger effect since it wakes up the two archviles in the central room. Once you've cleared out this opening section, you continue further into this cyan world.

I love the color palette swaps for the textures with vibrant cyans contrasting the voids and the muted metallic bases. Unfortunately, I really do not like the color changes for the pinkies and barons, they honestly look pretty ugly. On the other hand, I love the lost soul's new cyan flame and the distinction between Cyber Sr. and Cyber Jr. is pretty cool. Regarding the Cyber Jr., I maintain that they are perhaps the best custom doom enemy implemented and they flourish here in this map, working as glass canons. I like how their introductions promotes you to attempt one-shotting them and to note the decrease in HP from the original. Because they don't tank as much damage as Cyberdemons, they can utilized in more dynamic situations which is highlighted well in the yellow key fight. 

The yellow fight arena is another fun fight. First off, it looks really good as this cyan shrine standing above a pitch dark void with the only means of access being through a platforming segment which I'm ambivalent towards, not the biggest platforming fan truth be told. The fight forces you to duel 3 teal cyberdemons on damaging floor while hell nobles stand atop the flanking stairs and revenant turrets fire at you. It's pretty fun to pull off and offers you a megasphere if things get too rough. 

If I had one complaint in this map, it would be the damaging floors. This map isn't the nicest with health and considering parts of the map mandated progression via damaging floors which might also have resources you'd like to save for later when you need them, forcing you to travel through them again taking damage, and there are sections with lifts as the progression gate which I wouldn't mind but this is on damaging floors. The map did offer me to rad suits so I think this will not be noticeable on any second playthrough.

But the BYR colored keys are not all! Hidden in a secret is a pink key, which in another secret hides a little natural room with pink highlights, bringing to mind some of the first few 20x6 maps. The resources here, on UV including a soulsphere, are guarded by an optional fight which is more bark than bite if you have your hands on the BFG. It's not much but the secret key hunt was a fun sidequest on its own and the room looks pretty.

Tomahawk overall was a pretty strong first impression, a beautiful techbase with sharp combat, and is a strong invitation from the fractured worlds.

Regarding my votes:
+++Plutonia Revisited 2
+++Community Chest 2
+++Capybara and Heartland

And, it's almost the 25th here so merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone!

Edited December 24, 2022 by Monsieur E
votes

[Azure_Horror]

+++ Doom Negative One: Beyond the Experiment* & Hydrosphere & Sucker Punch

December was dedicated to 3 cacoward winners from years 2020, 2021 and 2022.

So why not dedicate January to 3 "more from year 2020/21/22" cacoward runner ups?

 

- Hydrosphere is from 22 more for 2022 list.

- Sucker Punch is from 21 more for 2021 list.

- Doom Negative One is from A Tout of Community Activities for 2020. Two years ago, this intriguing community project was undergoing bugfixes, but in 2022 all the fixes were finalized. Nowadays, this MegaWAD is complete and ready to be played.

 

*I note that Doom Negative One: Beyond the Experiment is a full 35-level mapset.

But it is... Strange, and its levels get longer in the second half.

So I suggest the following unusual approach: the DWMw Club would play only maps 01 to 15,  secret maps 31, 32, 33, and the final boss map 30. Those maps will provide enough variety, and short punchy maps from Hydrosphere & Sucker Punch will balance the longer levels from Doom Neagtive One.

 

 

+++ Number One Kill & Number One Kill the Next Genration

Two mapsets from the 1997, which, according to Doomwiki, were compared to Plutonia Experiment and Hell Revealed in their heyday.

 

 

+++ Mapping at Warpspeed

It is Ancient Aliens, but also community project, and it was made in 2022! People like to discuss mapping lineages in Doom. Well, now we can say that we gone well beyond Scythe-likes and Plutonias: we have an Ancient Aliens lineage too!

Edited December 25, 2022 by Azure_Horror

[cannonball]

More Running Late 2;

 

MAP11 - “Break Room”

This one is fine, but I must confess that this became a bit of a blur because there have been a fair number of techbases so far. The blue key (Crate Maze) and the final section are the highlights here. It is a perfectly serviceable map but is outshone by some other maps in this set.

PS - The start is probably the hardest section for me - I don't fancy my chances against those melee only skeletons.

 

MAP12 - “Un-Employed”

This one really wants to be showstopper, it doesn't quite make it in my view. The opening moments and pushing into the streets is a real adrenaline rush that hasn't been felt so far. There are issues with this map though. 

I managed to hit all the early switches whilst leaving a lot of monsters behind, thus allowing access to the keys early on. However the blue and red keys really drag themselves out. The blue key at least has that rooftop vibe and some decent fights, the red key really started to drag badly with the "Hit switch - small fight - repeat" gag. The yellow key is shorter but offered very little resistance (I used around half of the ammo in there). 

The final fight is more bark than bite, there is an invulnerability for finish off the cybers that could cause a real problem given the architecture. In fairness it is good clean fun I guess.

Overall this was a good map, but it felt a little bloated for its own good, quicker and more organic key progression and allowing more monsters to spill into the open area would have done this map some good. That said this took less time than I thought it would.

 

MAP13 - “Need a Vacation”

Not really a surprise (Given the sign in the tram station near the exit said "Chinatown"), but a nice nod to the earlier map. There isn't really much to say here, you get exit through the sewer used in Map02 by acquiring a slightly hidden red key and avoid any combat whatsoever. The other involves a BFG only fight that simply is what it is. Good for blowing off steam I guess.

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by cannonball

[tonytheparrot]

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

 

Map 31: Heavy Press

104% kills, 86% items and 100% secrets

Time: 7:11

Heavy Press feels a lot like a DM map, with it's interconnected layout, keys mostly being unprotected and laying on the floor and lack of doors, but I think it's actually a really fun map. The fluid layout allows you to roam free and the encounters are pretty entertaining, especially the revenant ambush for the blue key and the final suprise arch-vile fight.

Map 32: Supply Closet

102% kills, 90% items, 0% secrets

Time: 11:11

Even if I have not mentioned it that much, one of A2Rob's obvious main inspirations throughout this megawad is Resurgence, and this map is the one that embraces this influence the most. Obviously inspired by Map 17 from that wad, Supply Closet contains few encounters compared to it's run time, but all of them are packed with enemies including hordes of revs, hitscanners, imps or hell nobles, who might also be helped by mancubi, pain elementals and even a cyberdemon for the yellow key fight. Thankfully, the map is full of supplies and heavy weaponry, making these fights still really manageable. Also, that final sequence in which you teleport into the "parallel version of the map" and face an army of martians is really memorable and a perfect way to end the map and the megawad

 

Map 16: Thanks For Playing:

Not much to say here, it's a simple credits map.

 

Final RL2 Time: 3:11:11

Final RL2 Rankings:

Spoiler

 

Love:

Map 5

Map 6

Map 32

Map 12

Map 13

Really Like:

Map 10

Map 31

Map 9

Map 14

Map 4

Map 11

Map 7

Map 2

Like:

Map 3

Mediocre:

Map 1

Dislike:

Map 8

Simple Ending map:

Map 15

Map 16

 

I will sadly not be playing Fractured Worlds, I played Map 1 and did not enjoy it at all. Then, seeing the size of the other maps completely turned me away from it. Sorry everyone and especially Nirvana. I will post my final thoughts on RL2 and Overboard later, just not before the 26th.

 

Finally, even if I won't come back for next month, here are my votes:

+++100 and 200 Line Massacre

+++Journey To Hell 2

+++ Number One Kill and Number One Kill The Next Generation

Edited December 24, 2022 by tonytheparrot

[NiGHTS108]

+++ Capybara & Heartland

+++ Community Chest 2

+++100 + 200 Line Massacre

Edited December 26, 2022 by NiGHTS108

[Roofi]

+++200 Line Massacre (or 100 & 200 Line Massacre's if two short maps in a day is acceptable)

+++ Doom 2 In Spain Only

+++ Fragport

[Endless]

Want to join the club next month, so I'd like to vote!

 

+++ Plutonia Revisited Community Project 2

[LadyMistDragon]

Sigh.... didn't expect everyone to just jump the gun.

 

 

+++Solar Struggle

+++Doom 2 in Spain Only 

 

 

 

 

 

[RHhe82]

MAP02: Midnight Tengu. Played on DSDA v0.24, HMP, PS. 387/387 K, 4/4 S, 42/44 I. Completion time 52:22.

 

Another great one. I remember not quite struggling with this one HNTR, but I certainly remembered this being harder overall, and not just the real hairy parts like the sandwich tunnel or the cool secret garden fight. (I quite like the idea of rewarding the player with a secret fight instead of mere bonus ammo or a soulsphere, which are fine as such, but this way there's a feeling of additional content given to a diligent player).

 

The completion time is quite long, partly because there were spots where I'd spend time inciting infight, for instance early in the level there's an archvile (I guess the first one). I was really under the impression there was gonna be ammo starvation, but I guess I just played poorly on HNTR?

 

I was really surprised to have survived the first big fight, where you get the plasma rifle, on the first try this time (though I made safety-saves). The subsequent fight took a few more tries - though I remembered it being harder, which is also true for the fight down the stairs, where you need to do a little platforming and fight a couple of mancubi, cloud of cacos and pain elementals and a murder of revenants. The sandwich tunnel was a beast. I can't remember if there was something different from HNTR, but difficult it was.

Edited December 25, 2022 by RHhe82

[RHhe82]

Oh, and this time I swear I'm gonna have a month off from the club, so I wanna see you play through

 

+++Solar Struggle

+++Doom 2 in Spain Only

+++ Community Chest 2

Edited December 27, 2022 by RHhe82
Added CC2, because some of you want it, I don't :P

[Pseudonaut]

Fractured Worlds
Map02:
The recording below was my first time playing the map, though not entirely blind because I watched part of a stream SoBad did, particularly from the "bowling alley fight" onwards. For the most part, it felt like a chill map to me, with some notable exceptions.

 

The fight at 16:50 in the video is intimidating, but by some fluke I was able to survive it on the first attempt.

 

The fight at 31:45 gave me some trouble, probably because I played quasi-pacifist on some of my attempts at it, and jumping down is perhaps not the greatest idea (though there is a ledge that can help circumvent the "infinite height" issue). Seems like a good idea to kill pinkies to make space, but otherwise let enemies infight for the most part.

 

In the platforming fight (41:50), I mistakenly treated the teal cyber like it was a full-health cyber and tried to avoid it while dealing with everything else. I eventually settled for a "strat" where I slammed into the revenants, pressed the switch, and miraculously escaped the room. Judging by David Asaad's video, it's better to kill the cyb right away and stay on his platform, a strat for which he credits Daerik.

 

The bowling alley fight (52:20) is hard enough that I spent over half an hour grinding just to finish it without saving mid-fight. Quite a nasty setup, but it's cool to watch cybers infight with other cybers.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't find any of the secrets until after recording. The secret megasphere can be grabbed with either an AVJ or a really precise SR50 jump, and I chose the latter.

 

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by Pseudonaut

[RHhe82]

4 minutes ago, Pseudonaut said:

Unfortunately, I didn't find any of the secrets until after recording. The secret megasphere can be grabbed with either an AVJ or a really precise SR50 jump, and I chose the latter.

 

I wonder if I'm thinking of the same Megasphere here, the one between the starting garden and the other garden slaughter played on two levels (the one where you also access the bowling alley fight"). Because on my first playthrough on HNTR I spent a lot, and I say a lot of time trying to reach it, trying to perform a very precise jump with no luck. After much work I eventually found a tiny-weeny blue switch by the waterfall across the megasphere cage. And that switch is there on HMP, as well. I wonder, it could very well be that the switch is inaccessible on UV and thus forces you to employ these "advanced" mechanics. It wouldn't surprise me; it is obvious Nirvana has thought hard about the difficulties, not just adjusted available resources and the number of enemies.

[Pseudonaut]

6 minutes ago, RHhe82 said:

 

I wonder if I'm thinking of the same Megasphere here, the one between the starting garden and the other garden slaughter played on two levels (the one where you also access the bowling alley fight"). Because on my first playthrough on HNTR I spent a lot, and I say a lot of time trying to reach it, trying to perform a very precise jump with no luck. After much work I eventually found a tiny-weeny blue switch by the waterfall across the megasphere cage. And that switch is there on HMP, as well. I wonder, it could very well be that the switch is inaccessible on UV and thus forces you to employ these "advanced" mechanics. It wouldn't surprise me; it is obvious Nirvana has thought hard about the difficulties, not just adjusted available resources and the number of enemies.

 

I just checked. The switch you described is there on HMP, but absent on UV, as you thought. Makes sense.

[Book Lord]

MAP 02 – Midnight Tengu by @Nirvana

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, HMP, Pistol start, blind run w/saves

 

As expected, the size and ambition of MAP02 went hand in hand with the sleek visuals and the geometric complexity. Midnight Tengu increased the combat intensity, the pleasing looks of the various arenas, and the overall length, lasting three times the duration of MAP01. The start was in an octagonal courtyard, inside a garden encircled by water and lurking enemies. This was the hub connecting the various areas of the map, which were about to open as the adventure unfolded from one spicy encounter to the next.

 

After the short tour of a sewage area, showing an unreachable YK, the southern portion became accessible. It was a large chamber with a water pool, ledges full of snipers, two ziggurat structures and a transparent waterfall, hiding a teal Cyberdemon and a mob of Revenants. The CK (cyan key replacing the RSK) was collected there but leaving the area was not possible without overcoming a bigger set piece, happening just after finding the plasma rifle and triggering a lot of enemies. Infighting ruled and a few niches could be exploited to find provisional safety.

Spoiler

This was not the case of the next arena. It was a large outside area on two levels, the upper one patrolled by a regular Cyberdemon and Revenant snipers, and the lower one about to be swarmed by all sorts of baddies: Hell Knights, Imps, Demons, Arachnotrons, and even Arch-Viles and teal Cyberdemons. Multiple monster teleport lines between the areas, marked by a red light, quickly turned the situation into a chaotic mess, where firing rockets was risky and continuous movement was the only option. At some point I must drop from the upper to the lower level and avoid the cyan light on the floor that sent me back up. This was a tricky setup where all the conditions must be known to make the right choices.

Spoiler

I liked the room connecting the courtyard to the previous sewer: at the end of a platforming sequence on inescapable floor, I was ambushed by Mancubi, a swarm of flying balls, and Revenants. HMP allowed to charge the nearby fatsos and conquer their position, which was better than strafe-running in reverse and end up trapped between skeletons, Pain Elementals, and Cacodemons. UV had a different monster setup that prevented this strategy. The YK could now be retrieved in the sewers, after eliminating an Arch-Vile nest and the supporting Barons of Hell with a shiny black hide.

 

I spent some time remembering where the YK was required, but I eventually returned to the northern garden, where I dropped down into a long wooden tunnel with frozen enemies that gave away half of Nirvana’s intentions. The other half became clear after pressing the switch, revealing the rest of the tunnel filled with Hell Nobles and teal Cyberdemons, who could infight with their blue counterparts if provoked. I am not that good at dodging so many rockets at the same time and overcoming this required the most attempts of the whole map.

Spoiler

The end was not far away, but there was a glorious Arch-Vile spam to sort with the BFG, followed by a dead end where you get trapped with Chaingunners, Mancubi, and lumbering Cyberdemons. I found zero secrets during the search for the exit, and I was only able to discover the purple-operated switch with my additional efforts. The editor showed how to access the PK hidden room, the Berserk Pack, and the Megasphere. They were all too cryptic for me, but I do not regret missing the bonus fight, as I had enough combat for this day. Midnight Tengu looked superb and was full of creative, challenging combat; unfortunately, it felt lengthy and already too demanding for my skill and patience.

[Azure_Horror]

Re: Running Late 2

(I guess I am Late with my write ups... Oh, the Irony)

 

As I said earlier, I found a good reference point to describe Running Late 2 in a short sentence: Maps from Running late 2 remind me about Vanguard and Valiant (once again, thanks, @RHhe82, for bringing Vanguard resemblance closer to my attention.) The are also some Resurganece vibes too, but to me they feel less prominent.

 

By the way. Valiant, Vanguard and some levels of Resurgence are more rich in resources. Yet, the difficulty of Running Late 2 feels almost exactly on par, maybe slightly below the three above mantioned WADs. Combat of Running Alte is less cruel, it seems.

 

Running Late 2

Map 05 Rooftop Rampage

DSDA-Doom, UV, pistol start, complevel 9

 

Starting with map 04, the maps became... Bigger. They are both more spacious and have more stuff in them. As I said before, map 05 is felt like a mix of Valiant, Struggle and Ozonia. Valiant vibes are obvious for all running late 2 levels. But what about Ozonia and Struggle flavors?

 

First things first:

Struggle resemblance arises from interconnected tech-base rooms with a lot of minor variations. And Ozonia flavor comes from some visual themes. We see a lot of structures high above the land in front of red sky in the evening (or in early morning?). But it goes even further: Red keycard subsection has notable Ozonia gameplay vibes, as well as the most Ozonia-like visuals. In contrast, the bigger arenas of yellow key section felt very reminiscent of Struggle gameplay. The fight for Megasphere secret, however, once again reminded me of Ozonia.

 

The different areas of the map are all connected to one central hub. Each important step of the journey (like keys or secret BFG) summons a fresh wave of enemies to the hub, with a lot of variety in opponents.

 

I may not be a biggest fan of Valiant (still like the WAD a lot, though), but I adore Ozonia and Struggle. And Rooftop Rampage manages to integrate all three flavors in one, not super-big map, while also bringing some tricks of its own! Thus, I realy liked Rooftop Rampage.

 

Map 06 Rough Commute

DSDA-Doom, UV, pistol start, complevel 9

 

Other club members already listed most notable things about this map. It is a wonderful level, which combines lots of doomcute with top notch run-and gun gameplay. Seamless combo of Doomcute and gameplay is always joy to find.

 

I only want to add one thing: this map super-cool use of Doom platform-running mechanics.

- Carefully spaced boxes look purely decorative from down below, and do not impede movement at all.

- However, those boxes are crucial for progression: climbing on top of them leads to keys!

- The fact that you can to climb the boxes reveals itself naturally after you clear the sideareas.

This is a great dual purpose design: the boxes add to doomcute, while serving an importnat gameplay purpose. BTW, no sr40 required! With good running start, every single bit of platforming can be done with good old forward movement! This is looks unbelivable, given the wide gaps between platforms, but it is true!

 

Map 07 Dead on Arrival

DSDA-Doom, UV, pistol start, complevel 9

 

Many slot 07 maps emphasize the unique mancubus/arachnotron boss actions, which were used in an original Dead Simple from Doom 2. Dead on Arrival is no exception in this regard. But it goes beyond mere mechanics and also follows the spirit of Doom 2 Dead Simple.

 

Like Dead Simple, Dead on Arrival is one big combat zone with some obstacles inside. The projectiles can fly quite far, so finding a good peaceful spot is tricky, unless the monster crowds are thinned a little. But Dead on Arrival is not a retread of Doom 2 map 07– it is a notably more expansive map, and it also has a lot of monster variety: pain elementals, hitscanners, revs, archviles – all those critters inhabit some corners of the map. On top of that, Dead on Arrival includes a mandatory pistol start – the Security Doomguy needs to gather supplies even on continuous!

 

In total, this is a very good map 07, and a very good level overall. Funnily enough, this particular map could have been implemented without map 07-specific mechanics at all. The arachnoton part of progression can be recreated by placing hard-to-reach switches behind some of the spiders, and the mancubus part can be re-adapted by making exit very hard to reach under enemy fire.

 

Re: Fractured worlds

I am planning to play maps 01 and 02 on HNTR, HMP, and UV to compare the experience, and after that I am likely to settle on either HNTR or even IaTYTD for the rest of the maps. I played about 40% of the WAD on UV already, and right now I am not in the mood to finish that particular challnge, even with liberal use of saves.

 

On 12/25/2022 at 1:24 AM, tonytheparrot said:

I will sadly not be playing Fractured Worlds, I played Map 1 and did not enjoy it at all. Then, seeing the size of the other maps completely turned me away from it. Sorry everyone and especially Nirvana. I will post my final thoughts on RL2 and Overboard later, just not before the 26th.

For now, I played map 01 on all three difficulties and started map 02 on HNTR. So far, HNTR Fractured Worlds  feels pretty comparable to Cydonia or Ozonia on UV. Basically, refined modern Plutonia-esque combat. HNTR playthrough may happen to be a rewarding experince for people, who do not enjoy Fractured Worlds on more challenging settings. (That's me right now, for example. I would abandon any thought of playing UV Midnight Tengu, if I did not complete this map during summer)

Edited December 27, 2022 by Azure_Horror
Re-phrased 1st section

[Horus]

11 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

Sigh.... didn't expect everyone to just jump the gun.

Well, OP says voting starts on the 25th, but doesn’t specify on which timezone…and when they voted it might have already been the 25th in ANZ :P Probably the best way to do it because otherwise the US is always the last to vote

[cannonball]

Finishing Running Late 2;

 

MAP14 - “The End”

I don't know whether this is the intention or whether the Queen midi is there for cheese value only. But the song name is fitting for a map that represents the end but actually isn't in terms of the extra content below. 

As for the map itself, not much to it and to be honest this is one of the easiest maps in the wad, you can circle the perimeter and clobber the teleporting monsters with rockets and make sure to move around enough to not get flanked by the imps from the other corners. The archviles are not real problem given the cover. It serves its purpose I guess as a map.

 

MAP15 - “...”

The end... but it is not....

 

MAP31 - “Heavy Press”

A perfectly serviceable map, more compact than most maps in the set. I did struggle to find the blue key because the switch to open it up blends in with the other textures a bit too well. The exit fake-out is one of the nastiest moments in the set in my opinion purely because I had no rockets at this point so had to tank some damage.

MAP32 - “Supply Closet”

A very dark map with lots of slaughter-lite fights. Again the first one with the revenants can really catch you out and shooting the singular imp is a bad idea as this gives the skeletons the jump on you. The red key was probably the least entertaining as I BFG'ed the mancubi in the nearby closets and camped in their space, the yellow key is fun as hell and seems to be a challenge of how much you can gib with rockets/BFG.

Overall a fun map, if a little too dark in places.

 

MAP16 - “The End for Real”

It is this time.

 

Overall thoughts;

 

Running Late 2 is a very solid set of levels, the maps are built to a consistent quality and standard and for the most part my only real complaints would be that there gameplay is a little "Switch-heavy" and a few maps seem to exist to pad the set out a little in my opinion. 

Overall score - 4/5 - Unlike most wads this doesn't really have a series of peaks and troughs, rather a steady line of quality, the early maps were generally my least favourite but that is more due to the wad easing you into the mechanics.

Best map - Map10 (Honorable mentions to Map04 and Map12).

[RHhe82]

4 hours ago, Azure_Horror said:

So far, HNTR Fractured Worlds  feels pretty comparable to Cydonia or Ozonia on UV. Basically, refined modern Plutonia-esque combat. HNTR playthrough may happen to be a rewarding experince for people, who do not enjoy Fractured Worlds on more challenging settings

Without getting ahead of the schedule too much, I’ll be contemplating switching to HNTR for the next couple of days, and when I finally do that on MAP05, I end up having a much better experience, because clearly even HMP is still somewhat above my skills. But more on that later.

 

in any case, if someone is put off because UV or even HMP are too miserable experience, I urge to give HNTR a go. Maybe that won’t help, but it helped me without taking away too much from a certain ambience of challenge.

Edited December 25, 2022 by RHhe82

[tonytheparrot]

3 hours ago, Azure_Horror said:

I am planning to play maps 01 and 02 on HNTR, HMP, and UV to compare the experience, and after that I am likely to settle on either HNTR or even IaTYTD for the rest of the maps. I played about 40% of the WAD on UV already, and right now I am not in the mood to finish that particular challnge, even with liberal use of saves.

 

For now, I played map 01 on all three difficulties and started map 02 on HNTR. So far, HNTR Fractured Worlds  feels pretty comparable to Cydonia or Ozonia on UV. Basically, refined modern Plutonia-esque combat. HNTR playthrough may happen to be a rewarding experince for people, who do not enjoy Fractured Worlds on more challenging settings. (That's me right now, for example. I would abandon any thought of playing UV Midnight Tengu, if I did not complete this map during summer)

I will give it a try this evening both on HMP and HNTR, but I can't guarantee that this will change my mind about not playing FW as it seems to be far from the kind of doom wads that interest me.

[Jacek Bourne]

My Blind Playthrough of map02 on UV:

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Jacek Bourne

[brick]

5 hours ago, RHhe82 said:

in any case, if someone is put off because UV or even HMP are too miserable experience, I urge to give HNTR a go. Maybe that won’t help, but it helped me without taking away too much from a certain ambience of challenge.

Even the easier difficulties have quite a high skill ceiling I think. I went straight to ITYTD without even thinking about anything higher, and I still had a miserable time with it. Even cheating barely helped as other non-combat elements got in the way. I'm not sure I would call this Plutonia-esque, it's far too modern for this (and unfortunately an almost comprehensive compilation of everything I dislike about modern mapping). It's a shame, I had to skip the first wads of the month due to time constraints and was really looking forward to playing FW, but it's clearly not for me.

 

Do I still get to vote despite not participating this month?

+++ Doom 2 in spain only

+++ Number One Kill & Number One Kill Extra & Number One Kill The Next Generation

+++ Community Chest 2

 

I almost voted Capybara & Heartland, as I'd love to see the Club play the latter, but I played it myself for ER/IA earlier this year and am not sure I'm ready for a replay even though I loved some of the maps and the general atmosphere (and the music!).

Edited December 25, 2022 by brick

[SiFi270]

+++Number One Kill, Number One Kill Extra, Number One Kill TNG

[LadyMistDragon]

+++ Mapping at Warpspeed

[Azure_Horror]

2 hours ago, brick said:

Do I still get to vote despite not participating this month?

Of course you do! Everyone does!

 

2 hours ago, brick said:

Even the easier difficulties have quite a high skill ceiling I think. I went straight to ITYTD without even thinking about anything higher, and I still had a miserable time with it. Even cheating barely helped as other non-combat elements got in the way.

You mean skill floor, I think. (IIRC, floor = you need this much skill; ceiling = you may use this much skill, if you want, and it will get you something useful)

As for the non-combat elements - you mean platforming? Or something else?

Because platforming on HNTR maps 01 and 02 feels very reasonable so far. It should take some time to get used to, but it is not too horrible on those difficulties. It does not go beyond Blue Key jump on map 23 of Down the Drain, for example. And it also offers retries! (That said, HMP and above platforming does get a bit too finicky for my taste. Worse still, even on HMP, you get no retry teleporters anymore! Frankly speaking, this feels a bit overkill to me. Time and HP loss to damaging floor is a penalty enough, in my opinion. And people who want the most challenge would chose UV anyway.)

 

2 hours ago, brick said:

I'm not sure I would call this Plutonia-esque, it's far too modern for this (and unfortunately an almost comprehensive compilation of everything I dislike about modern mapping). It's a shame, I had to skip the first wads of the month due to time constraints and was really looking forward to playing FW, but it's clearly not for me.

I would gladly read about modern mapping shortcomings, and how they appear in Fractured Worlds! In fact, I also have some complaints about the WAD, and I am curious, if anyone else felt in a similar way.

My two persistent complaints:

- Too much hell noble hug-fest fights, and too much hug-fest fights in general. It was fun in the end of Tomahawk. It got a little sus during Midnight Tengu mainline progression. It began getting on my nerves during Midnight Tengu secret fight. But during map 03, it felt outright stale!

- I won't deny that interconnectivity of the maps is outright mindblowing. However, it does not impact gameplay that much. Maps 02 and 03 could have been cut into two or three smaller maps each, without much trouble. And personally, I would indeed prefer more smaller maps in place of few bigger ones. (Of course, bigger maps are also cool. I am just sharing my opinion, not trying to prescribe an Ultimate Mapping Standard (tm)! )

Edited December 25, 2022 by Azure_Horror

[RHhe82]

22 minutes ago, Azure_Horror said:

 

2 hours ago, brick said:

I'm not sure I would call this Plutonia-esque, it's far too modern for this (and unfortunately an almost comprehensive compilation of everything I dislike about modern mapping). It's a shame, I had to skip the first wads of the month due to time constraints and was really looking forward to playing FW, but it's clearly not for me.

I would gladly read about modern mapping shortcomings, and how they appear in Fractured Worlds!

Me too! I mean I seem to like modern maps, and FW too, although there’s gonna be a few complaints when we get to MAP04

(and to lesser extent MAP05) from me.