The DWmegawad Club plays: Community Chest 2

[Dusty_Rhodes]

Map05: Elixir

By RjY

played continuously in PrBoom+/UMAPINFO on Ultra Violence

 

This level is evil. This level is incompetently balanced. This level upsets me mildly. 

Elixir absolutely body slams the already somewhat inconsistent pacing of the megawad with a complete nightmare of a map. The fact that a level that is essentially three rooms with a few offshoots took me 45 minutes to play even though I've played it numerous times already is ridiculous. And I'm playing with health and ammo from the last level! You poor, poor, neglected pistol - starting bastards; RjY is making your life hell. I'm going to attempt to be fair: good things first. The lighting and shape of the cave section is very well done. It definitely makes up for the one texture used being the ugly ASHWALL variant (that my friends is what we call a backhanded compliment). I actually like the various sector tricks like the windows that you can't fire through that lower later, the table in the boss's office, the fences you can actually run on top of (as opposed to a blocking linedef flag), and the crates and bridges. That's about it, unfortunately. Everything else is a wreck. You get hardly any weapons or ammo the entire level. Some of the ambushes are nearly impossible with a just the shotgun. Let's not forget every corner is stuffed with chaingunners and shotgun guys ready to bushwhack you. In general the combat is unbelievably overblown - it seems like the level of detail for the total of three basic areas in the map was too much for the author to expand upon, so he decided instead to reuse every single sector multiple times. Yeah, RjY really got his money's worth out of each room. There's numerous instant teleport traps with genuinely hard placement and monster composition that you won't have the health or ammo to deal with. It is awful. When you finally clear the all the mobs in the factory floor, you still have to deal with the office room. Sure it looks cute, but the ambush is unbelievable. Just utter bs, anyway you slice it. After all your hard work, what are you rewarded with? The worst placed Cyberdemon in the wad. This complete bastard of a Siege Cow sits and snipes you from an advantageous angle while your stuck potshotting him through a weird corner cavern with a shotgun. This method of dickishly reusing rooms wears thin fast. Also the nice doomcute doesn't cover up the fact that these rooms are just rectangles with the green tech bases texture all over. It's not bad in and of itself, but after spending so long in it I'm getting flashbacks of it. They give me the same existential dread I got as a little kid playing really low - poly games and getting stuck on a level. Just an awful map. 

 

Map06: The View

By @Lutrov71

 

Here we go, this is one of the best early maps in CC2, certainly one of the most fun. The View features a heap of run 'n gun fun in between larger set piece fights. This tech base situated in a nukage - filled gorge is decorated nicely. It features a while lot more macro architecture than the levels we've seen previously. There's huge cliffs with metallic bases jutting out, a cascade of ASHWALL that leads to a slime pond and hanging corpses. Definitely one of the most memorable looking levels in the early part of the wad. The name of "The View" is certainly applicable, especially since you begin in an open aired cage of sorts. You get a great look at the titular view the from the start. This really makes the level memorable, it has a real sense of place. It's huge and detailed and feels like a location. Other than the looks, there's some really great fights - the Caco swarm up the elevator, the plasma gun ambush you teleport into, and finally the hillside siege (heh) at the end. Again, in between all these big fights are nice chaingun fodder zombies and imps, which really keeps the momentum up. I also really love that there's a berserk at the last fight. It's a blast to punch all the pinkies and agitating skeletons out while the zombies are infighting.

Excellent level, one of my perennial favorites.

 

There are a few bugs worth mentioning: mostly just one of secrets not working due to not being tagged. This can be fixed in PrBoom+ by having the "Linedefs w/o tags apply locally" set to yes. Also these, but they're no biggie:

Spoiler

Holy Slime Trail, Batman!

 

Small HOM

Either way, doesn't matter, this level rocks.

 

 

 

Level Ranking

Spoiler

Map06: The View

Map03: SLIGE Control

Map01: The Furnace

Map02: Coolant Platform

Map03: Deja Vu

Map05: Elixir

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by Dusty_Rhodes

[brick]

GZDoom, Boom compatibility, HNTR, blind, continuous with saves.

 

MAP05 - “Elixir” by RjY
There are things to like about this one, but there are others that I found incredibly frustrating.
The sector machinery is really good. The large machine room is a fun puzzle to unravel but I also thought it looked amazing with all the moving parts and pistons, a very tasteful use of 3D floors, very nice doomcute with the forklifts and conveyors, and the feeling that everything you do is making something happen there. Speaking of doomcute there's a bit of it elsewhere in the building, the security/reception desk is evoked very well (complete with panic button and secret weapon/armor - I thought that was a fantastic touch), the office with functioning computer (another great secret), and of course the bathrooms and their users.
Unfortunately the map overdoes some aspects, and some are plain annoying. There are a LOT of hitscanners, way too many, and mowing them down (and watching your health whittled by them...) gets tedious very quickly. The number of teleport traps is ridiculous; I don't mind the ones that repopulate so much (especially that last one) but most just put enemies right behind you; zero threat with foreknowledge or once you get the gimmick, but devastating otherwise. The tunnels are way too dark and don't add much to the map, other than another dozen hitscanners. Going around the skull poles at the end is a pointless exercise, and for some reason the first one is hit and miss, and I kept falling off without understanding why until it just worked.
Mixed feelings overall. Without some of the annoyances this would've been a fantastic map, and even as it is the good parts are memorable. It's definitely a lot more manageable on HNTR compared to the miserable time everyone else seems to have had UV (including having "only" a Spider Mastermind at the end instead of the Cyberdemon).

 

MAP06 - “The View” by Lutrov71
I like open maps, whether ones that allow you to go anywhere (as in Mt Erebus), or ones that show you where you've been and where you will end up through windows or ledges. This one looks like the former but plays like the latter, and this gives it a pretty unique flavour. It doesn't just have lots of windows; almost every point on the map opens up onto something else, if not immediately then after some sector machinery. The openness was a bit disorienting at first but I loved it once I got used to it, especially since @Lutrov71 is kind enough to ensure the openness does not come with enemies shooting at you from every direction at once. In fact I'm amazed at how careful some of the enemy placement must've been to avoid this problem. Needless to say, with this layout the architecture looks great, and there's some tasteful detailing here and there to enhance various rooms and distinguish them from each other. Progression is incredibly intuitive considering the layout, with some fun secrets (one is used quite cleverly as a shortcut). The only part of the map that felt a bit by the numbers was the succession of monster doors in the west, but it doesn't go on for long enough to be a problem. I found the map good-looking, very fun and incredibly memorable. According to one of his posts Thomas was only 12 (!) when he made the map. It's a shame he wasn't active for very long as a mapper, but here's another one whose maps I now want to check out. This is one thing both CChests have done so well, introducing me to mappers I didn't know and whose style I end up loving.

[Azure_Horror]

Map 06 The View by Lutrov71

UV, DSDA-Doom, pistol start complevel 9

Mod: Antaresian Reliquary Resoursce Pack

 

The View felt like a modern map. In particular, it reminded me of Eviternity map 17, map 06, map 07, and Tangerine Nightmare map 06. The fights in The View felt much more refined than the battles from Community Chest 4, nevermind previous Community Chest 2 maps! And all this was achieved in 2004, with zero custom assets!

 

I also want to second @brick's observations about opennes of the map. From almost any point on the map, you see lots of different places, including both already visited areas and ones you are yet to reach. Despite that, the map progression is singposted very well. During my blind playthrough, I never felt lost on this map! Cannot say the same about maps 02, 03, 04 or 05... To top things off, the map does "there-and-back-again" progression better than map 05!

 

Weapon variety is also solid. Maybe there is too much SSG, but other weapons also get their time in the limelight. I like that alot. Antaresian Reliquary Resourse Pack includes a great plasma gun replacement, and The View allowed me to use that amazing gun!

 

There is a bugged secret (something being Zdoom-only, as often the case for maps from that era), but it is does not break the map in any way. This my favorite map so far!

 

Map rankings (Draft)

Spoiler

Map 06 The View     by Lutrov71

Map 04 Deja Vu     by GeneBird

Map 03 Slidge Control     by The Flange Peddler

Map 01 The Furnance     by Erik Alm

Map 02 Coolant Platfrom  &  Map 05 Elixir    (by iori and RjY respectively)

 

Gotta say, so far Community Chest 2 greatly surpasses me expectations!

Edited January 6, 2023 by Azure_Horror

[Doomy__Doom]

MAP06 - The View

 

A timely palette cleanser in form of a neat limit-removing map. The combat goes up a notch, throwing more mid-tiers, awkward sniping Revenants and open layouts. Nice as it is, I can't help but feel bits missed opportunity here - some spaces are a bit too empty for the enemy count, and the final trek downhill could decidedly use some sandwich action in place of sequentally opening mixed crowd doors followed by 3 rockets clearing half the... uhh... garage? Small closets are nice and all to make the place feel populated naturally, but they fall flat where a crowd is required. Similarly, the arachnohorde at the end could be so impactful were the player pressured into it from the hilltop.

 

The broken secret is unfortunate, but hey, even iwads had some. At least continuos players can still AVJ to the megasphere.

[Yumheart]

map04 "Deja-Vu" by Gene Bird
The first, somewhat infamous Gene Bird map in the set.
I don't mind a bit of corridor-shooting, but it's not enough to carry a map for ~14 minutes or more, and this map unfortunately doesn't have any interesting set pieces to break up the incidental combat, with the exception of the admittedly fun ambush in the slime room. The teleport ambushes in particular stood out as being constructed rather ineffectively, usually just a handful of monsters dribbling in to "punish" key seekers.
The layout is linear and flat aside from the pair of marble rooms in the beginning. To me it seems like the map author just kinda put down whatever came to their mind instead of planning the map out beforehand (not saying that's the wrong way to do it, but it's usually the cause for that kind of design), this is supported by the visual inconsistency between different areas. Nothing in this struck me as outright bad, but Deja-Vu is probably the weakest map so far and would've greatly benefited from more interconnectivity and / or traps to punctuate the experience.

map05 "Elixir" by RjY
Surprisingly, this wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be. In fact, thanks to foreknowledge and me save-scumming the hell out of it, I'd say this map is decently fun. Health is incredibly scarce here and I can totally see how a blind player would find it very hard to progress after the hitscanner-stuffed opening section, I think I had a single medikit left when I exited. Ammo, on the other hand turned out to be not much of a problem: I used infighting where it seemed feasible, payed attention not to waste my shots, berserked occasionally and left with plenty of bullets and shells to spare.
I like this map's merging of earthy, brown cavers with a factory theme and Mark Klem's "Galaxy" (remember, I'm using MMMUS.wad) definitely made the map feel less oppressive and more like an interesting challenge to tackle.

map06 "The View" by Lutrov71
This was fun map! Starting the player off in a cage like this, being able to look outdoors with little obstructions is a cool idea, feels like it's one step above windows allowing the player to look outside. I imagine this is where the map got it's name from. You're overstocked with ammo and health from the start and the fights feel uncaring and spontaneous in a good way. This, and the general spaciousness of the map make it feel like comfort gaming. I also appreciate how the map keeps you on your toes, the chaingunner rise-up by the slime pit and the Baron / HK pop-up when you come out of a dark tunnel really got me. The final fight is also great fun, just a bunch of baddies infighting in a wide-open lane, supported by a lot of fodder.
The View clearly isn't expert work, but it's full of ideas and not afraid to take risks, my favorite along with map01 so far.

[E.M.]

MAP06 - “The View” by Lutrov71

DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start

 

In stark contrast to the previous map, this one is lots of fun. It's another delightful techbase romp with some lovely detailing. Some of the fights are pretty easy to camp, but were engaging nonetheless. My favorite part is the ending where you're running down a hill and monster closets open up. I like to run around and get them all to infight. Unfortunately, due to a developer oversight, two secrets are unobtainable without a ZDoom-based port.

[Somniac]

MAP06 - The View - Lutrov71

(Pistol-start, UV, and it turns out I'm not using Woof!, but DSDA - long day lol)

2 secrets found

 

It's clearly been some time since I last touched CC2, as I didn't remember this one. I am once again, exhausted, this time owing to random insomnia instead of foolhardily doing Elixir when I should really have been asleep. As such, I didn't play that well and had 3 or 4 deaths here. I did settle into a groove eventually. All the same, this map is a very welcome respite from the cramped and merciless onslaught of its predecessor, with much more freedom of movement, encounter navigation and infighting potential. Shotgunners and Chaingunners may be a problem, but there's a decent quantity of health and ammo and the author is more than generous with weapons, giving you the SSG and Chaingun in rapid succession, and the Plasma not long after that. I have no idea where I picked up the rocker launcher, but it was there. 

 

Like others have said, there's a nice open feel to this map with titular views of where you've been and will be, and cool setpeices like nukage pipes (which make for convenient cover) and the big crosses with hanging corpses. The final stretch can be somewhat neutered by opening the closets once at a time, or you can go ham and let them all out. I was a bit stumped on how to get down to the switch with the soulsphere to open the bars to allow access to the next switch to lower the red key, thinking that maybe something had broken, until I realised that you can just hop over those poles. I enjoyed seeing how long I could tint the screen for by grabbing all the health and armour bonuses in the opening room. 

 

Another solid one, approachable but still with its share of challenges. Only real criticism is that a big pack of Arachnos in fairly open space is not the best penultimate encounter, IMO. 

Edited January 6, 2023 by Somniac

[Poncho1]

Map05: Elixir

Author: Rob Young (RjY)

 

How ironic is it that a map taking place at a health factory has a significant lack of that particular item? And that's not even the only issue, really. The map is essentially made up of two distinct areas: a mostly-large cavernous area filled to capacity mostly with hitscanners, and a severely cramped industrious factory whose one true link to the caves is that it too is crammed with monsters. The caves suffer not just from a lack of cover, but also a lack of lighting, so when you're running down one of the two branching tunnels towards the SSG, be prepared for a completely bullshit trap involving two sets of Spectre teeth. Also, I'd like to throw in how dickish it was to place the Berserk - itself a source of health, and which, if you're Pistol-starting, you *absolutely* must rely on if you want ammo - on 20-damaging lava. All of this is a little tolerable with infighting, but it's in the techbase where things really get irritating. After leaving the lobby, you're spit-roasted between a gaggle of Revenants and other demons with an adjacent corridor of hitscanners; the Plasma Gun from the previous map helped out, but again, if you're Pistol-starting, no such luck. After that, the rest of the map just begins throwing even beefier enemies at you, with little in the way of health and ammo distribution (even if you include the nigh-mandatory secrets that include a Mega-Armour and a Rocket Launcher). If the map ended with the Arachnotron-corridor and some Berserk punching of Barons in the main cavern, I might have given it the benefit of the doubt, but parking a Cyberdemon right at the exit with *no* means of avoiding it by slipping to the exit (owing to the use of items as obstruction) makes for an incredibly sour way to round things out. Even with continuous play, you really have to rely on Tyson and infighting techniques, otherwise you'll hit a brick wall with that Cyberdemon. The great attention to detail in the factory (especially by mid-2000s standards) is admirable, I'll give you that, but the seemingly-trollish methods of gameplay courtesy of the mapmaker only make for a frustrating experience that some give a pass due to being difficult (a kind of "git gud" sort of praise). Well, even if it were placed later, it wouldn't be much better.

 

Map06: The View

Author: Thomas Lutrov (Lutrov71)

 

Now this is what I'm talking about: a slimey mountain-based techbase with indoor and outdoor scenes of action that actually flow together rather nicely, mostly since unlike last time there's enough room to manoeuvre about, and enough supplies to deal with each situation. The only truly annoying bit is retrieving the Red Key, what with the distant Revenants and sneaky pit-bound Cacodemons: the silver barriers are also something of a nuisance due to their deceptive nature, since you can actually jump over some into the damaging nukage. Thankfully, things improve, climaxing with a fun - if rather easy - scene of semi-slaughter that a few Rockets and a lot of Berserk punching should be able to handle. Points off for the poor secrets (in PrBoom, a certain condition with the linedefs has to be applied) that can leave unknowing players with a grand total of 60%, but here I'll let it slide when the gameplay itself is pretty engaging.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Poncho1

[finnks13]

MAP06 - The View by Lutrov71:

12:46/2 Deaths
After the previous map, pretty much anything would be a fun-filled thrill ride, but The View absolutely stands on it's own as genuinely pretty good. I think this mostly comes from, well, The View itself as pretty much every wall in the central structure lets you look out at the large fields and canyons that are beyond them - and the great thing about this map is that you'll eventually get to go outside to all of those places. The sense of exploration would be enough to make this map a standout, but it's actually really fun too. Lutrov71 chucks a lot of enemies at you, but you're normally very well equipped with rockets & plasma for the heavier fights, but the SSG is plenty powerful for the legions of imps & zombies that await you. There are a fair few pop-up monster traps that I wasn't as fond of, but they're relatively rare and you tend to have cover to rush for in these cases so I don't think it's a massive deal.

 

My favourite part of the map comes right at the end, you've got just over 100 monsters left to kill and running down the hills opens up container after container filled with all manner of foes. Now while you can play this carefully and sensibly by opening each one at a time, it's much more fun to just run down the hill, open them all at once and watch the fireworks that follow. Getting to the bottom of the hill will also let some arachnotrons in to join the fun, and eventually you'll be able to deal with the remaining enemies with the rockets that you'll have left over. It's a great spectacle, and a fantastic ending to a fantastic level.

 

The View is an excellent map, with fun combat and great visual design that sells the sense of place that you're in. The fact that Lutrov71 was 11 years old when he made this map, if the doomwiki is to be believed, makes me even more impressed because it does not seem like the work of an amateur at all.

[Andromeda]

17 hours ago, brick said:

MAP05 - “Elixir” by RjY

 

It's definitely a lot more manageable on HNTR compared to the miserable time everyone else seems to have had UV (including having "only" a Spider Mastermind at the end instead of the Cyberdemon).

Honestly, glad he switched the Spiderdemon with the Cyberdemon on UV - the former would be an absolute chore to deal with (at least from a pistol start), while with the latter you have the option to get near it for an engaging close quarters fight, or simply skip it with some quick moves.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Andromeda

[LSC Lasico]

I’d like to preface this by saying that community chest 2 was my first pwad ever, so not only am i positively buased towards it, i also brought a certain gimmick to these reviews that i’m going to explain later.

You may ask “what in the fuckity name of rngesus is this kind of first wad?” I am going to say that the reason i decided that this is gonna be my first pwad is fairly obvious. There was a map that charmed just from the description of a person who is infatuated with it. Couple it with a fact that i have been obsessed with a certain midi. That lead to me saying “fuck skill i’m going for that high art”. And so it was that this wad was my first pwad ever.

Now what about the gimmick?

You see, i’m a sort of a kind of a imaginative guy, and seeing all these unique maps kinda got my imagination rolling and i couldn’t stop myself from writing plot and lore for this wad. So i’m going to mix the reviews and my headcannon of each map. Sometimes (most of the times) the lore is bigger than the review, but i’ve never considered myself a good reviewer, so i guess that’s granted.

anyway… less a go!
 

Map01: the furnace by erik alm

A perfect little opener. Short, punchy and creative. It is also nicely detailed. That’s the shit you’d expect from eric alm. It also has an incredibly good and suiting midi. I just like it a lot.

 

I like to think that this map is a base that harnesses the hell power from the hell rift in our reality (the hole with two hellknights) to process it and give energy to humanity. The base is called “the furnace” and it is the inciting incident of the adventure which is represented by community chest 2. When the doomguy presses the switch, he is taken to map 02…

 

Map 02 coolant platform by Iori

The coolant platform serves a sort of stabilizer to the furnace. You see, harnessing the energy from hell obviously produces a lot of heat and waste. And coolant platform cools the furnace and cleans it’s processing waste. The green goo in this case could be the coolant used for stabilizing the furnace.

 

I absolutely adore this map. Especially it’s texturing. Like, literally, after every fight is over, i like to stop for a moment to just… admire the texture work done here. It is truly spectacular for a tech base. I also love the occasional trigger work done here. Especially the beginning. The way it changes after every switch press is chef’s kiss.

From the downsides, the fights are kind of boring and dont pose much of a threat and two secrets are uninspired misaligned walls and one is way too obscure. But those flaws are easily made up by the sheer power of the map’s architecture.

 

Map03: slige control by the flange peddler.

Pressing the switch at the end of the map02, the player descends further into another part of the mountain where the complex is located. There is stored the super computer by the name of SLIGE. Which controls the whole facility. 

It also apparently uses the coolant produced by the coolant platform, as shown by one of the broken pipes leaking it in the map. Economic usage of resources amirite?

Unfortunately, it has been overrun by demons and is slowly getting corrupted. As player approaches the SLIGE control, the AI begs to deactivate it before the demons corrupt it to the very core.

The outside are contains a complex four switch lock to get the admin red key.

 

Anyway, another map with gorgeous texturing, now coupled with good gameplay! This map actually makes me strategize my route through it to maximize my chances of survival. Do i go into the safer area with the zombies or do i go into the more dangerous windowed area with shotgunners and chaingunners in hopes of getting the ssg and a boat load of ammo?

This map’s pacing is greatly aided by it’s circular layout, which IMHO is one of the best types of layout there is. Good job The flang- oh, uhm, i mean SLIGE. 

 

Map04: deja vu by gene bird.

The exit of map03 is the switch to turn off SLIGE. But the demonic corruption is already significant enough to resist shutdown. So the player connects himself to SLIGE directly and attempts to get rid of the demonic corruption on programming level. This map is the linear net of SLIGE’s code and database being slowly overtaken by the demonic corruption. It being SLIGE’s database, therefore it’s “memory” is the reason for the name “deja vu” since SLIGE AI remembers all these places you’re visiting. 

The map ends with a switch that activates the deactivated antivirus, and it kills the remaining corruption in SLIGE’s code, as signified by the icon of sin’s death sound.

 

Quite honestly, this map is pretty cool brainless sag action. The setups are generic and amateur but still fun as fuck. This map severely lacks in detailing and drags for way too long, but despite that i still have a blast playing it, but nothing more.

 

Map 05: elixir be Rjy.

So, the AI has given the player some coordinates, they lead to yet another base hidden deep within a gulch. The player arrives there and is given some resources at the point of his arrival by SLIGE. The base is a health potion manufacturing plant, which drains the source of magical water in the cave to produce potions. Judging from the state of the pond, the water is running out, that’s why there relatively not that much healing items. They’re running out of resources. This base is heavily fortified by demons for unknown reasons, and some form of anomaly close nearby causes some massive rifts in reality, which constantly teleport demons through unseen wormholes…

Be careful, a dangerous beast lurks nearby, and could easily be attracted by the sounds of guns, claws and death…

 

This might sound controversial, but i fucking love this map. It is tense, it is relatively goodly detailed, and i love when the same areas are used of multiple encounters. Every second i’m playing it, i’m on the edge of my seat, inching through this cursed plant trying to conserve my ammo for the showdown while trying to survive. This map is exhausting, but i mean it in a good way. Every encounter is a slow and steady grind through berserk, infighting and ammo + health management. And i love that. The final cyberdemon showdown is a test on multiple levels. A test of your ammo management up until this point, a stress test, and a nerve control test, to not slip and make one potentially fatal mistake. I also love the storytelling this map gives a lot.

Overall, this map is a standout, i won’t play it again soon, but i sure as hell love it.

 

Map06: the view by Lustrov71

Escaping the cursed elixir facility, the player goes through the small tunnel and sees a teleport into another part of the facility. Entering it, they find themselves in a giant complex in another part of the gulch. This base is non descriptive and more than anything seems like some sort of hangar. The view is nice here though. It also has a lot of toxic green goo which the UAC uses as coolant, probably that’s it’s natural source and this facility also harnesses it? 

 

This map is also banging. I especially like it’s scale. And the fights are fast paced and action packed. Especially that final fight when you open all the doors. It’s natural vistas can be stunning sometimes, and the secret placement is occasionally clever (especially the megasphere secret). Although i don’t like some of it’s texturing flubs, and combat can feel boring sometimes. But despite that this map is still fun and cool to look at.

 

Edited January 7, 2023 by LSC Lasico

[Dusty_Rhodes]

1 hour ago, LSC Lasico said:

Great additions to the topic 

Man I dig this. I love CC2 and the whole series (1 and 2 being my favorites though) and I've always liked the idea of adding a story and canon to the wad. I've never really written one myself, but CC2 really feels like a journey to play through. I love the wad and I'm excited to see where you take the narrative. 

[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.

 

MAP04 - “Deja Vu” by Gene Bird

 

 

[Thelokk]

MAP07: To Hell and Back by The Flange Peddler

DSDA / UV /100% kills / 100% secrets

 

Hey, at least it's not a Dead Simple clone... for the most part. 

The longest and most involved map by far, just like... that thing in MAP05, 'To Hell and Back' is roughly divided in two parts: a large, extremely detailed techbase three fourths, and then a little final excursion into MARBLE hell, where the Dead Simple part kicks in.

I enjoyed this map a lot, though I found the ammo progression not always balanced to the best - sometimes I'd be starved, some other times I'd be swimming in ammo (I pistol start). The techbase part looks great, but it suffers a bit of 'Vrack syndrome': everything sort of looks the same, and it gets kinda hard to navigate after a while, even with the readily available automap. The secrets range from the awesomely telegraphed and accessed (hello PG) to the rather silly (hello random secret pain sector. Remember to clean up your maps, kids!).

I particularly liked the greenish tint trick in the hell section - can someone please explain? I'm stupid and I don't get how it was done. I'm assuming it has something to do with all the untextured YELMAP midtex? In general I wish the Peddler had done something more with the hellish section, but no biggie.

The final baron right before the exit switch is the sort of bs that can sour a map. I conquered your stuff, let me bask in the walk of glory, don't put a random, pointless, unthreatening wall of meat right before the exit...

Edited January 7, 2023 by Thelokk

[Azure_Horror]

Map 07 To Hell and Back by The Flange Peddler

UV, DSDA-Doom, pistol start, complevel 9

Mod: Bourgeois Guns

 

This level takes place in a big techbase with an active Hell Portal. Finishing the map requires going to Hell and back. Hence the map name! Traveling in infernal dimension and futuristic tech bases is a staple of Doom. Yet such dimensional jumps almost always occur inbetween levels. To Hell and Back is an exception.

 

The map is painstakingly detailed, and uses a lot of Boom trickery: looping conveyor belts to move supplies, weird visual trickery to create an illusion of walking on top of movable blocks, conveyor-based monster closets and even custom pallettes for parts of the level. From the technical and expressive standpoints, this level is pretty amazing, especially for 2004. But how does it play? Lets see...

 

The base is very interconnected, and there are multiple routes possible. So far so good. However, different locations look similar, and the layout is not very intuitive to navigate. Moreover, there is no visual difference between switch-locked and normal doors. In addition, openning some pathes will close other passeges. So losing your way is pretty much guaranteed. Luckily, wandering aimlessly feels OK: the combat is neither grindy, nor too deadly, and the visuals are beautiful. Inside techbase, there are 4 main flavours of fights: Revenants, Hell knights, Hitscanners or Imps+Pinkies. The fights are pretty basic, but the different combat types are delibirately varied. The combat is fun even with SSG and Chaingun only.

 

Ammo situation is unpredictable. Sometimes you get full coffers for all your guns, but sometimes you shoot a Hell Knight with a chaingun, because your SSG have run dry. To balance the ammo, The Flange Peddler gave us a chainsaw. The chainsaw is placed close to the start - hence I decided to sneak some additional fun. To do this, I added the Bourgeois Guns mod. In this mod, chainsaw is a tricky but very efficient weapon. Even Hell Knights are valid targets for a mighty two-bladed saw! Exapnded weapon variety is delicious!

 

Behind the hell portal lies the main arena of the map. It starts with some initial clean up, and transitions to Dead Simple-styled Mancubus-Archnotron brawl. With unique visuals and few minor tricks scattered around, this combat encounter felt fun and memorable (but why is it always archviles?). However, there is a big blunder inside that encounter: some mancubi may fail to teleport! This is a huge deal, because clearing all the mancs is required! So yeah, not a pleasant sight. But Boom magic does have its shortcomings... With Hell Dimension conquered, there is one final hell knight Baron jumpscare near the exit, and the map is won. Yay!

 

Conclusion: Even in 2023, To Hell and Back is pretty impressive. But is it fun? I think yes, but it could have been more fun! In this day and age, 2022 WAD Knee Deep in Knee Deep In Zdoom offers more refined gameplay with similar highlights and vibes (But with a heavily customised monster roster! Beware, if you don't like such things!). The mancubus softlock bug of To Hell and Back is not a pretty sight, but for a 2004 map it can be excused. The confusing navigation is a minor flaw, but by no means it is a deal breaker. In the end the map is more than fine with some Outstanding highlights!

 

Map rankings

Spoiler

Map 06 The View     by Lutrov71

Map 04 Deja Vu     by GeneBird

Map 03 Slidge Control     by The Flange Peddler

Map 07 To Hell and Back     by The Flange Peddler

Map 01 The Furnance     by Erik Alm

Map 02 Coolant Platfrom     by iori

Map 05 Elixir    by RjY

 

Mediocore (Average) maps: None!

Bad maps: None!

 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Azure_Horror
Strictly speaking, barons are not hell knights

[Doomy__Doom]

Map 07 - To Hell and Back

 

Finally, a serious stab at boom feature usage. We have monster closets that avoid contrived enforced wake-up via sound, windows that aren't self-referencing sectors, a custom colormap for hell section, and even our first timed lock-in scenario.

 

The level starts off with a rude shotgunner straight on a blockmap line lulling you into a false sense of security - a highly detailed techbase with some simple front to back peekaboo combat, the only concerning point being relative spareness of health. Eventually you get lost in corridors - everything being [over]detalied with computer panels reduces distinctive features of individual spaces far too much.

 

Deep into the level, someone dropped their Revenant box. Every major pickup or switch is followed without fail by bony bastards appearing out of thin air. Given the absence of blue armor, any mishandling can prove fatal. 6% health just before hell teleporter and painful attempts at remembering where I left medkits quickly lead me to a quick iddt/idclip-driven solution - sorry, not sorry, I'll take 1 minute instead of 10 and move on to the fun part with the base picked clean and only 61/11. Fortunately, there's a green armor refill, although in the context of aracho/manc battlefield with a lot of getting stuck prospects, that's still pretty harsh (even on lower difficulties, there is still no blue armor).

 

I should also note I ran pretty dry on ammo - going down with some of the secret plasma which ended up being wasted on spectres (no, I didn't take the 'saw), like 4 shells and rockets. Fortunately, there was enough replenishment. RSK battle is all about not getting stuck.

 

... and then we get a good old sinnermatic Baron spook at the end.

 

2 hours ago, Azure_Horror said:

This is a huge deal, because clearing all the mancs is required! So yeah, not a pleasant sight. But Boom magic does have its shortcomings...

Amusingly, both mancubi closets are potential softlocks. The one that teleports 4 mancs around RSK initally is simply missing the teleport action on the linedef that's supposed to loop mancubi, and the trio going into the center can fail if the center is occupied at the same time as the looping spot.

[Nefelibeta]

Map05 Elixir

 

Spoiler

 

Pretty fun actually, don't the sufficient amount of shells and bullets in the first area bait you into wasting them. And you'd better learn how to punch a few barons and revenants (or a cyberdemon if you don't want to spend too much time waiting for things to infight) I very liked the tiny platform that you can hop on if you want to escape the ambush in the cage area. The extreme amount of corridor shooting does get old at some point, but I personally enjoys ammo starvations very much, so this worked for me. I have abosulutely no excuses for the two barons that pop up on the table, though. It's very much pointless except for annoying you and asking you to spend 3 more minutes punching them out.

 

Map06 The View

 

Spoiler

 

Everything in this map felt messy. The monster placements, the texture usages, the layout. I really don't know how to describe the map without simply slapping "90s" onto the map. Expect to see metal slabs stick out from the dirt, lights being part of the mountains, computer panels replacing walls, and COMPBLU, sliver flat, brick textures on a single freaking sector. The gameplay, yet again, reminds me of Evilution with its seemingly randomly placed health and monsters in overly large and empty squares. The cliffside finale is cool of course, and the caco bridge fight has some pretty inspired set-ups (As seen in the screenshot) But why does the mapper feel the urge to let player either run away from everything or grind down mid-tiers and gunners that pose no threat at all in front of them with SSG for minutes just to reach them? Nobody will ever know.

 

Map07 To Hell And Back

 

Spoiler

 

First thing first, even by today's standards, this map's visuals are very refined and beautiful. And the shapes and interconnectivity(is that even a real word?) of the layout felt extremely modern. The gameplay is fairly basic, in the earth section, there are only low-tiers, hell knights and maybe a baron or two. All of the revenants are spawned through teleporters, supposedly indicating they come from hell or something. Personally I wouldn't sacrifice gameplay for the sake of backstory or lore, though. The scroll floor usages here are definitely worth mentioning. Used for hiding ammo, health and even a key inside, which you will need to be on time to get is something that you won't usually see. Actually asking players to catch things on scroll floor seems like a idea that come straight from Going Down or something, I would like to see that idea expanded in a future map to be honest. Dead-Simple rematch in hell section is cool as well. Even if the gameplay isn't my favourite, you can't possibly deny the amount of efforts put into the map, and how good it is for 2004.

 

Obligatory Abtrary Ranking:

Spoiler

cool:

Map05 Elixir

Map07 To Hell And Back

ok:

Map01 Furnance

Map06 The View

nothing special:

Map02 Coolant Platform

Map03 Slige Control

meh:

Map04 Deja vu

 

[finnks13]

MAP07 - To Hell and Back by The Flange Peddler:

18:51/1 Death
I feel rather conflicted on this one, while it's obvious a ton of work has gone into the map's visual design, with the progression from techbase to hell fortress and back being seemingly intended to be a showstopping event, the map isn't particularly fun to play due to navigation issues and gameplay that feels like an afterthought more than anything else. While every room is very highly detailed with tons of little touches that I imagine must have taken absolutely bloody ages to do, every room in this map looks very similar to one another because the details look the same, even if the main wall texture in each room is completely different. This level of detail is still pretty impressive, and having to do it with 2003/4-era editors must have been a complete pain, so I appreciate the effort put into them, even if it's not really my cup of tea. 

 

I found myself getting lost quite a lot, remembering that I'd seen key locked switches earlier in the map, but not where they were, and once I found them they don't do anything obvious - though my main problem this time was finding the progression to get to the red key. I did like that you have to stumble into the blue key as it makes it's way through the base on the conveyors, it's a fun little touch and a really cool use of boom features. There's a couple of decent traps, the claustrophobic red key ambush and the fight spilling out of the hell portal are entertaining enough, but the incidental combat is procedural at best, and laughably tedious at worst. This could be mostly forgiven if the event that the map spends it's whole runtime building to - the bit in hell - was fantastic. But when you get there, you realise you have been duped because this was actually building to Dead Simple all along! This isn't the worst dead simple clone I've ever played, but it feels like a bit of a let-down compared to what could have been here. The "piss filter" (as I apparently decided to call it) that covers the screen in this section is also a very odd choice, because it just makes this part of the map look worse the rest of it.

 

To Hell and Back is almost fantastic, as despite the fact that the visuals are absolutely there, every other aspect of the map feels rather lacking. And that's a shame because I'm impressed by just how much effort must have been put into it, but at the end of the day, I didn't enjoy myself very much.

 

~~~

 

7 hours ago, Thelokk said:

I particularly liked the greenish tint trick in the hell section - can someone please explain? I'm stupid and I don't get how it was done. I'm assuming it has something to do with all the untextured YELMAP midtex?

I'm pretty sure it'll be using the boom action 242 "Create Fake Floor & Ceiling", which lets you transfer custom colourmaps to sectors along with sector heights. The YELMAP would be a custom COLORMAP lump which would be placed as the upper, mid or lower texture of the line doing the transferring depending on where you want the colourmap to be applied to (upper is above the fake ceiling, mid is between the ceiling & floor, lower is below the fake floor iirc). The reason this isn't used too often is probably because it's a pain in the arse to add since you have to manually add it for every different set of floor & ceiling heights you want to transfer to.

[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.

 

MAP05 - “Elixir” by RjY, found some "HOM"'s in this one

 

 

[E.M.]

MAP07 - “To Hell and Back” by The Flange Peddler

DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start

 

The Flange Peddler went out of his way to impress the player with this map. It's full of nifty Boom tricks and intricate detailing. The problem is that the detailing is so complex that it's hard to tell where you need to go. The combat isn't all that great either. The place is full of hitscanners, so you'll be camping and doorfighting a lot. The revenant teleport traps also get annoying after a while. The ending is a let down. It's just another Dead Simple rehash. I also don't like the piss filter they put over the Hell section. I know the map author tried to make it look surreal and otherworldly, but to me, it just looks like everything got covered in piss. Oh, and good luck finding all the secrets without a walkthrough.

[SuyaSSS]

Well, this month will be very busy for me so don't expect much from me in terms of participation. However, I did complete the first map. (and considering the average reception to CC2 not looking forward for rest of the maps.) so here are some first thoughts.

 

MAP01: The Furnace

By Erik Alm

 

Although I died multiple times in this map it never felt like it was the maps fault. (Except the underground hell knight area. I think that's the only problem I had with this map.) So, if you couldn't tell I really like this map, enough to complete this map without saves, I don't know what could. It's action packed and plain fun. It is also quite short. The map also looks very good even having some brightness changes in front of lights.

Edited January 7, 2023 by SuyaSS

[Somniac]

MAP07 - To Hell and Back - The Flange Peddler

Pistol-start, UV, DSDA

1 secret

 

You there, follow that blue key! Now this one I, do remember. Popping with rich detail that borders on over-the-top, but never goes too far. Boom features abound, with scrollers conveniently sending a few bits of ammo by at moments I felt I needed some. I felt the interior could have done with some more moody darkness in places, but I'm not complaining as it just looks so good. The wiki tells me that Doom Builder appeared sometime around this WAD, which may explain the detailing. The combat was largely very satisfying, just the right level of challenge with a few tense moments where I got pinned by Revenants.

 

The layout flows really nicely, steadily opening up as you gather keys (though telegraphing isn't always fully obvious), and rarely getting too confusing despite how visually busy the map is. The "power up" sequence of the flesh gateway was just delicious to behold. So cool. Go through the gateway to emerge into a dingy, subterranean hell where we satisfy the MAP07 requirements with a fun arena fight. The archvile at the end of it got me once or twice, thanks to not having quite enough ammo for SSG. On the finishing attempt, he somehow got stuck on the end of the bridge, and I popped him off into the pit below with one hit from the Chaingun. A funny moment, I wish I got it on video. 

 

A fun, visually impressive and satisfyingly challenging map, the best so far in the WAD for me. 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Somniac

[Veeda Vidlak]

Map 6: The View (GZoom, complevel 9, UV pistol start)

 

The megawad recovers nicely with an excellent outing by Lutrov. Right away you’re treated a nice view of outer areas you’ll get to visit later on. This is a mapping style I’ve always been on board with, as it gives the player a glimpse of where they’ll be going, which is satisfying once they finally get there.

 

The View does a lot of things well. It gives you plenty of resources (kudos to whoever selected the map order for putting this after Elixir), the layout feels satisfying to move and fight through, there are meatier enemies for you to kill, and despite a hefty monsters count, the level plays pretty briskly. The open nature of the map really works here. You have a lot of room to move and can leave enemies for later or engage them immediately, a freedom I appreciate. Lutrov is also kind enough not to flood an open map with hitscanners, keeping their numbers reasonable and skewed towards the beginning. A minor downside is that many of the fights feel empty but the author appears to have noticed this given how the level finishes.

 

But what I like most about this map is the step up in artillery from the previous five. I’m given heavier weapons! And enough ammo to let loose with them!! Not only that, but Lutrov provides you a wonderful opportunity to do so. At the end you run down a large ramp with four garages, each of which opens up when you pass it, unleashing a deluge of pinkies, imps, revenants, and chaingunners. At the bottom a bunch of spiders pop up as well, presumably to keep the player from running for the exit. But why would I? After being forced to use the super shotgun to kill the last like 700 enemies this donnybrook is a godsend. A nice mass of monsters to take out your frustration with Elixir on. I’d say its a standout example of a palette cleanser, but The View is too strong a level to get pigeonholed into that role. It’s just a good old school slaughter. Fancy? No… but it doesn’t need to be.

 

It's a shame one of the secrets doesn’t work properly in most ports (two if you don’t want to archvile jump) but at least its right at the end. Things like that are forgivable if the level is fun to play, and this one definitely is. Well done.

 

Map 7: To Hell and Back (GZoom, complevel 9, UV pistol start)

 

I gotta say, I’m really liking this wad’s variety so far. After a strong map 6, we get a second level by the Flange Peddler that clearly had a lot of effort put into it. The detailing of this techbase is superb, the plethora of boom features are legitimately immersive, and the premise (activating a portal to hell so you can retrieve the key needed to leave) is interesting and set up rather well.

 

The gameplay is from what I can tell reasonably calibrated. Ammo is well balanced, requiring some restraint from the player lest they run out at an inopportune time. I know this can rankle some players but unlike Elixir, I find this scarcity well-designed, balancing resource management with, ya know, not being a fucking sadist. There are a lot of hitscanners which can help refill your guns and you get a chainsaw early you can use on demons and imps if needed. The secrets are kinda wack, however. For such an intricate level, a bit more time should have been put into polishing.

 

Unfortunately this level has problems that hold it back, the first of which being that it’s aggravating to navigate. It suffers considerably from “techbase sameness” and its circuitous design makes it a bit of chore to find where to go. The blue key dropping onto the conveyer belt is a really cool boom effect, but I could see it seriously frustrating a player who doesn’t watch where it goes… possibly because they’re distracted by the revenants that teleport in, demanding their immediate attention. And speaking of which, the revenant duo ambushes are pretty nasty in general, given how snug the areas they occur in are. I think the level could do with a tich more health given how much a bad hit could set the player back. That said, I do like the flood of skelingtons that jumps out of the hell portal once it opens. It’s a good thematic fight and you can retreat if you’re feeling overwhelmed.

 

Another issue is the letdown of a finale. About 75% of the level is moving about the base and setting up the machinery to open the portal. The Flange Peddler does a wonderful job building tension with his level design and visual effects, culminating in a creepy teleport sequence to an ominous yellowish-green tinted marble hell. You clear out the initial enemies, hit the dusty switch, and the red skull key is revealed. And then, with an overwhelming sense of dread, you grab the dark artifact you came for and are confronted with the horror of… a dead simple remake.

 

 

 

This is one of the bigger anticlimaxes I’ve seen in my doom travels. It doesn’t kill the level or anything like that, but it definitely neuters it and makes all the buildup feel kind of like a joke. When it comes right down to it, To Hell and Back is a pretty good level but also an aggravating missed opportunity. I think it could have been a standout but fell short on its gameplay and finish.

[Monsieur E]

Map06: "The View"
By Lutrov71, 276/276 kills, 1/5 secrets, 13:21

After the travesty of Elixir, Map06 offers a good rebound. Taking place in a surprisingly well detailed mountain techbase of some sort, with pretty lighting and a layout which while rather open feels compact by linking parts of the map together which you only initially see.

The combat isn't anything special, the monster density is high and it's mostly super shotgun combat; but it's all very pleasant and keeps the map's momentum running. The standout encounter would be the final run down the hills unleashing the four monster cabins all at once and force a big infight party, if only for the spectacle. Otherwise, it's a pretty laidback map. 

Map07: "To Hell And Back"
By The Flange Peddler, 201/201 kills, 1/4 secrets, 16:00

I wanted to like this map more than I ended up liking, it's obviously richly detailed, carefully constructed, has an interesting premise, and uses some cool boom tricks; all that for a map from 2004. The base uses vanilla starbase textures to their greatest potential and I love how the map showcases the direct result of pressing buttons through windows.

But the combat here is pretty boring, it's mostly fighting against low tiers with a shotgun and later a super shotgun for half of its runtime, later dropping in a few hell knights. Arguably the best encounters in the map involve teleport ambushes with revenants for how they're dropped in unexpectedly in tight spaces. The hell portion is also just another dead simple which I am not fond of, although I like the filter added for the unique feeling. 

I think I had less of an issue with navigation around this map as a result of the automap, except I really would've liked if the interactable doors were signposted better rather than just running looking for doors I can open among others which are blocked by some sort of switch or are accessible from the other side. It's not a bad map by any means, but I think it could have been better.

 

[Devalaous]

Map 6 - This is good shit, but it does feel like our first magnum opus syndrome map. Took me forever to beat, but unlike the previous map I had fun doing so. Set up huuuuge infights at multiple points too. The broken secret didn't really affect me, noclip exists to bypass errors like that. Still got 100/100/100 as a result.

 

Map 7 - This is really good with a clear sense of place and purpose. I liked silly little things like the conveyor belts and dropping a key on one of them. Wandered blind a bit though, but thats just because im dumb. One secret is semi-broke and a pain to get. I really liked the trip to hell with the visual effects and then Hell itself having that dark yellow tint; it even affected my graphics mod, which usually doesn't play nice with such things. Honestly, I didnt even realise I was playing a Dead Simple till the hell monsters were revealed to be mancs and arachs

 

Map 8 - After a cool map like Map 7, seeing 'Gene Bird' is a downer that undoubtedly amplifies the negative reception his maps get. That said, once this map gets started, I actually had a LOT of fun with it, and it felt more like a traditional Doom 2 map. First BFG here too, and I used the shit out of it in the ambush by it, afterall, thats what it was there for. Probably my favourite of his maps so far, counting the CC1 maps.

 

I'm tied up in lots of other games atm, including some with timed seasonal events, so I'll probably stick to posting small bursts of maps. I'm not the type to write an essay on each and every map anyway.

[Anarkzie]

The View

 

Best of the bunch so far. It's placement elevated the fun I had from it immensely. It kind of reminds me of how amazing Obama seemed after having 8 years of Bush. A tech base set in the mountains with walls that you can see your surroundings from, this is such a simple premise that I'm surprised I've not seen it done more often. The combat is good and the journey you take is an interesting one, first seeing areas through the cage walls and then being able to actually set foot outside. Cool

 

To Hell and Back

 

The Flange that this guy is peddling just keeps getting better and better. I actually remember this level being a bit of an ordeal but I actually loved it this this time around. The combat was good throughout and the visuals were as good as his last level, it's just that this levels now makes that one seem redundant. This one is quite the epic, with slight puzzle elements that I liked. The final hell sections functioned as a cool crescendo to the whole affair. Good stuff.

 

Question, how was the Hell filter pulled off?

 

The Pit

 

It's really jarring going from gourmet Flange to this. I'll say this, the opening room is one of the most odd structures I've seen in a Doom map. The combat was pretty intense but I found it very boring. I'm not much a fan of sequels to Doom wads As they almost always end up just being an exercise in plagiarism but I think a wad based on Gene Bird maps would be a cool project as his maps always have something memorable about them in this case it's the start room and the lift. Anyway just a thought I had.

Edited January 8, 2023 by Anarkzie
Added stuff

[brick]

GZDoom, Boom compatibility, HNTR, blind, continuous with saves.

 

MAP07 - “To Hell and Back” by The Flange Peddler
If Ian's previous map showed hints of cinematic flair, this one goes all-out. The title hints at a story, and it's told quite well and completely non-verbally. The facility's facade is well done, but the inside is full of detailing, computer panels and screens everywhere, and there's a very good choice of textures to give the sense of damage to the walls and that something has gone very wrong. Interestingly, it seems I did not have any of the navigation problems others have experienced. On the contrary, I found navigating the map extremely intuitive. In fact, the layout could've easily tipped towards confusion and it was quite a feat that it didn't, and I attributed this in part to the way the windows helped me navigate by making everything seem connected and showing what switches were doing. The Boom scripting is smooth and it's fun watching the map rearrange itself, especially since every switch press makes a distinctive sound, with a short pause, followed by stuff starting to happen. This often involves teleporting enemies, but not all the time, and the maybe-maybe not kept me on your toes and prevented the gimmick from getting too predictable. I think one of the most humorous and clever bits was watching the blue keycard platform go down, turning around... and just seeing the key leisurely pass by on one of the conveyors. The progression to get each key is fun and well done, and as I said I really like the use of so many windows. The hell gate looks good, and the special effect as you go through is really cool. Hell itself is not what I expected, but it fits an Ultimate Doom E4 aesthetic, and the fight is quite frantic, especially since it does not end when I thought it did and the little gotcha at the end took me by surprise. I really enjoyed this one.

 

MAP08 - “The Pit” by Gene Bird
I realized since writing my thoughts on MAP04 that Gene Bird is not only still around on Doomworld, but has even been visiting this thread. @Searcher I hope you've been well! Wish you all the best, and thank you for all the fun maps!
This one is more fun than MAP04 but IMO still not as good as his best ones. There's certainly a better sense of cohesion thanks to the titular pit, but there are still some oddities, like each secret being tagged at multiple sectors for some reason, one of them being an almost exact replica of a later "normal" area, that big starting room being completely disconnected from the rest of the level, and the one that I got stuck on, the blue switch being unlabelled and easy to miss with the way the pit floor works. Otherwise the map flows smoothly and is over quickly, and some of the rooms look nice. Finnks13  was referring to another of Gene's map but I think it also fits this one: "uncomplicated fun".

[E.M.]

MAP08 - “The Pit” by Gene Bird

DSDA-Doom, UV, Pistol Start

 

Okay, this one is legitimately bad. The layout and detailing are simplistic even by 1995 standards, the monster placement feels random, the combat is boring and easy to cheese with doorfighting, and it's full of bad ideas that will lead to cheap deaths. The most notable example is the titular pit. There are monsters at the bottom who are awoken by sound. As soon as they hear you shooting, they'll start crowding around the ledge. You'll either be blocked by them entirely or you'll jump down, get surrounded, and die in seconds. I had to cheese that by shooting rockets at the wall and killing them with splash damage. On the positive side, Gene Bird is generous with the ammo and he gives you a BFG that will make short work of the large crowds in the later half of the level. It's also of higher quality than most of the trash that pollutes the idGames Archive.

[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.

 

MAP06 - “The View” by Lutrov71

 

 

[Azure_Horror]

I am afraid to ask this, but why so many people like to call out Dead Simple fights as being underwhelming?

 

I mean, it is true that mancubi-arachno arenas are very unoriginal. However, small-scale Hell-Noble - Revenant fights are also unoriginal. So what's the deal with Arachno-Mancubi fights on map 07 ?