The DWmegawad Club plays: Fragport

[brick]

GZDoom, Doom compat, hardware, HNTR, blind, continuous with saves.

 

MAP24 - “Balanced Chaos”
Thankfully the start of the map isn't too hostile even for continuous players walking around with single-digit health. There's a series of switches that provides a very welcome berserk before serious opposition shows up. I guess Jody died in the previous map and this is hell? Almost everything is in marble and with copious amounts of blood. Metallica is certainly fitting here. Anyway I soon get to a large 8-shaped set of hallways and stairs, which forms the central hub of the map. The red key is in a church to the south guarded by an archvile priest and his faithful imps. The eastern section was a bit annoying, there's a set order to press a series of switches but I kept going the wrong way and having to backtrack through those curvy paths. The green key there opens another door to the south leading into a pretty good-looking throne room. Firing a single shot immediately wakes up enemies that will teleport in later, so I knew to run back as soon as I got the blue key to kill the archvile before he revived everyone else. The blue door leads to a damaging blood pool with stones that can be used to cross safely, though some sink into the blood when stepped on. The calm-looking water pool in the next room made me suspicious, rightfully so when a bunch of nasties surfaced and attacked. The dark corridor that follows is spooky, especially with another surprise archvile. Suddenly Jody emerges out of this pit of darkness into a room with destroyed screens everywhere, and a door leads back into the Tech City, the contrast is striking and works really well. A couple more fights and Jody takes a rail car to the next map. I liked this one, it's a refreshing break from the style of the maps before and after.

 

MAP25 - “Arena: 11”
The map is eerily quiet on arrival. Poking around Jody finds a Medlab full of medkits, a Doctor's office with Supercharges, a Mechanic shop with blue armours, and a cute Shrink office (which, frankly, anyone called "Kill Crazy" should be using often). A doorways leads to a series of arena doors, and the map title directs us easily to the correct one; there's not much need to search anyway since it's the only door that's visibly open. Jody then gets a choice of 1 of 3 weapons, and a choice of 1 of 4 starting points, which is not very useful because there's no way to know in advance what any of the starts is like. The arena itself has good use of elevation to hide from knight fire and for cacos to sneak up on you. Getting a foothold can be tricky, I almost found myself swarmed by everything coming my way, but once they all gathered on one side I could move back and get some breathing room, and clearing them out became easy. Hunting for all the keys scattered around the arena was ok, trying to get to the switches was a bit more annoying. Pressing all of them opens a teleporter back out, where the entrance to the next arena has opened. It's a pretty quick-playing map, but I hope the next arenas shake it up a bit so the gimmick doesn't get too repetitive.

 

My votes for next month:

+++ 3 Heures d'Agonie
+++ Herian 2

+++ Operation Lightning & 007: License to Spell Doom & whatever else to get to 30 maps

[LadyMistDragon]

Well, since I'll be working all day tomorrow, I'll cast my votes now.

 

+++ Solar Struggle

+++ PUSS IX: Mapping at Warpspeed

 

I'll save my third vote for later but it's not something I really care to nominate right now (and no, it's not that wad either)

[Ralgor]

MAP25 - “Arena: 11”
dsda-doom v0.25.6 cl2, UV, Pistol start, blind run, single segment
100% kills and secrets
Using the 2003 version of Fragport

What is this exactly? You choose one weapon out of three, and enter an arena and kill everything. There's not really a narrative purpose to this that I can tell. The restriction to one weapon was annoying, and I'm really glad I chose the rocket launcher. You do get a ton more ammo for the shotgun if you choose that one instead. I can see getting cornered in this arena and dying, but it's not really that difficult with the rocket launcher. Just be careful to keep your distance and don't waste any ammo.

I didn't hate this map, but it felt kind of like a deathmatch map that had monsters added for single player. I don't think it would work out as a deathmatch map though. It's just feels completely out of place in this wad.

 

If this is supposed to be some sort of challenge I didn't feel it. I ended up completing it in my first blind run.

Grade: D

MAP25 - 6:45.57 (6:45)  K: 25/25  I: 1/2  S: 0/0

ralgor_fragport25.zip

 

Oh man, is it time for voting already? This month has flown by...

Edited March 25, 2023 by Ralgor

[Horus]

May next month finally be the month that this club plays…

 

+++ Jason Wainman’s 30 Levels of Doom II

[Azure_Horror]

Votes for April

 

+++ DBP 22 Biotech is Godzilla / DBP 53 Plutonian Sunrise / Sector 666

Eclectic combo, right for an April's fool day, and the April month as a whole! Godzilla, Plutonian Morning and the first Skillsaw's WAD ? Count me in!

 

+++ Intergalactic Xenology / Lunatic / KneeDeep in KDZD

Intergalactic Xenology trilogy  and Knee Deep in KDiZD are modern WADs with notable focus on adventure. Would be fun to compare them to Fragport in particular and other Old Guard WADs in general. Lunatic is just a @skillsaw's classic, so why not play it, if it fits neatly into the schedule?

 

+++ PUSS IX: Mapping at Warpspeed

PUSS series needs some love from DWMC, I think. And Warpspeed has a humorous premise, an additional bonus for April.

Edited March 25, 2023 by Azure_Horror

[Helm]

Map 25 - Arena 11

Making a whole 32 map megawad on your own is really hard. This is map 25 of Fragport. It has 25 monsters in one titular arena, you can pick your gun before you enter the space and you go in and you kill 25 monsters, then you go to the next map. footage

 

[Book Lord]

MAP 25 – Arena: 11

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

 

The underground monorail labelled ‘XS Transport’ (maybe an English transport company from Grangemouth) brought Kill Crazy from the corrupted Monad to a restricted sector only for fighters. The combat personnel of Fragport used it for training and could choose from twenty different combat arenas. The hub hosted an infirmary with first aid kits, a ‘Mechanic’ room that contained a Combat Armour, and a ‘Doctor’ studio granting a Soul Sphere. Apparently, too much fighting caused various kinds of paranoia and mental illnesses, promptly addressed in the ‘Shrink’ office. The psychiatrist working there must have been a real clown to put that sign on the door. The soldiers’ ‘Rooms’ were sealed, and the door could not be opened.

Spoiler

For mysterious reasons, the entrance to Arena: 11 was open. The arena’s actual name was ‘The Refinery’ and the entering marine could choose between three different weapons, complete with a good ammo stock and a backpack. I choose the most powerful one: the rocket launcher. The next choice was the entrance point, which does not matter unless teleporter number 1 is chosen (the central Arachnotron is not alerted in this case). The Underhalls-inspired arena was symmetrical and expanded on two levels: the water-filled bottom populated by Hell Knights and Arachnotrons, and the upper floor from which Cacodemons were ready to drop down. I was killed on first attempt because I was a bit slow and was surrounded by infinitely-tall Cacodemons, with only a rocket launcher to fend them off. Moving swiftly and constantly ensured immediate success, and it was only a matter of time before I killed the roaming Hell Knights and collected the scattered keys, including the BK tucked away in the tunnels.

Spoiler

The exit teleporter was unlocked by means of four switches, one normal and three key-operated, that required even more time to be found. It was impressive that Arena: 11 managed to waste over 6 minutes of my time when the only noteworthy fight lasted about 1 minute. I returned to the hub, discovering that the map was already over and that another arena was now accessible. It appeared that Fragport adopted the approach of the third episode of Hell To Pay, presenting some short and punchy combat arenas. This one was pretty good, let us see the next one.

Edited March 25, 2023 by Book Lord

[Roofi]

Map 25 : "Arena 11"

 

 

After escaping the hellish parallel dimension, you took a shuttle in order to reach a sort of colosseum with many numbered arenas. It was also at that point I felt TUD was tired of making Fragport because the arena trilogy screams "I've no motivation anymore so here are three filler maps" miles away. Map 25, 26, 27 seems to be one map but divided in three parts in order to occupy more slots. Or maybe I would have preferred to have more substantial sections. The three maps can be each finished in 5 minutes or less.

 

Actually those maps arenas in the strict sense of the word but rather versatile deathmatchs maps. I come across them quite often during the endless random wad adventures.  Usually there aren't enough monsters or adventure to make them interesting playing solo, but it's always worth it. Pure deathmatch maps tend to collect dust on idgames much more.

 

So, I took the Super shotgun for my part, which is the comfiest weapon to use in a such temparate megawad. TUD throws you in a bland sewer with a very symetrical architecture. I had a bit fun watching the monsters infighting but that's all. Next !

 

Grade : C

 

 

[Azure_Horror]

Map 25   Arena 11

 

After the long, moody and tough maps 23 and 24 it is very nice to play a short action-focused level! More megaWADs should include shorter maps near the end of the run, it really improves the whole experience.

 

Thematically, this map may be a bit weird, but it still makes much more In-Universe sense than non-optional Laser Quest-dedicated map 17. Futuristic Combat-Simulator-Sports-Thing does look compelling for the Tech City, after all! And its quite naturall that the Hellspawn have taken over that activity too.

 

As for gameplay, it was quite fun. Few observations

- Both Chaingun and SSG have additional ammo in the arena itself (bullets appear only when selecting the Chaingun, Shells are always there). The Rocket Launcher is the most powerful option by far, but its ammo budget is limited.

- In both aesthetics and layout, the arena resembles a setpiece from Vanguard, Valiant or Running Late 2. "Press All the Switches to Exit" is staple of modern challenging WADs, be it Fractured Worlds or Ancient Aliens. And Arena 11 was made in 2001, IIRC! Talk about prophetic designs!

- The feel of the combat itself does differ from Vanguar / Valiant / Running Late 2 combats. The differnce comes from resource availability. Modernist mappers like @skillsaw or @A2Rob would place a good amount of defensive items, add some additional wepons, but also throw a much more hectic array of demons to even things out. The Ultimate Doomer opted for less over-the-top design instead. It still plays quite well, so I don't mind in the end.

 

Conclusion:

A small map? Definitely! A fun map? Absolutely! More megaWADs should include short-and-fun levels near the end of their runtime, this cannot be understated!

Edited March 25, 2023 by Azure_Horror

[SiFi270]

+++ Remain 1 + TNT: Renascence + ICAR2015

[Roofi]

+++ Remain 1 + TNT: Renascence + ICAR2015

[TJG1289]

+++ PUSS IX: Mapping at Warpspeed

 

I'm not sure about my other 2 votes at the moment, but this PUSS is great! 

 

Edit: Thought of another one:

+++ Nostalgia 

 

Edit #2:

+++ Corruption

Just started this one, and so far it's really good. Lots of awesome new MBF21 features, and the maps are tough! I'm 3 maps in, and there's already been a lot of tough encounters. 

Edited March 26, 2023 by TJG1289

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 25: Arena 11

100% kills and secrets

Time: 3:57

 

These next 3 maps take place in the same area: a battle arena. What the purpose of a battle arena is for I have no idea. Do the citizens of this artificial moon take part in something straight out of Battle Royale or The Hunger Games? Idk. But before we get to the arena, we can explore this little entry area. This part of the WAD was always the most unsettling to me. It's empty. There's no monsters, no items outside of the designated rooms, not even any marine corpses. It almost invokes that feeling of liminal spaces 20 years before I became aware of what that even is. I feel that the voodoo dolls Stephen put in his 2 Community Chest maps should be here, so we can at least make this place feel a little bit alive. At least there's some goodies in the rooms, with health, mega armor, and a soul sphere all for the taking. Then you can enter the arena. First you grab a backpack then choose the weapon you want: SSG, chaingun, or RL. I picked the RL since I had the least amount of ammo for it, and reading other posts made me believe there was more ammo for the others in the arena. If there were shells, I didn't see any. Oh well. It's just an arena filled with cacos, hell knights, and arachnotrons. You might want to get some infighting going to save ammo, but that could be tough with the various elevated areas here. Other than that, this is a short and snappy map. Just the one fight, and then it's on to the next one. 1 down, 2 to go.

[Book Lord]

MAP 26 – Arena: 16

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

 

Before taking the lift to Arena: 16, I checked the ‘Doctor’ and ‘Mechanic’ rooms. I guessed right: both the Combat Armour and the Soul Sphere had been replenished, in what I prefer to describe as a reward for curious players. The next setting was ‘The Bunker’, a maze of tunnels criss-crossing at different heights with gaps to run through. The featured enemies were Revenants, Mancubi and Barons of Hell, an assortment that ensured easy infighting opportunities both in the open areas and in the congested spaces. The keys were lost in the tunnels to the south-east, while the switches were situated in the northern chamber with the pit and in the southern rooms.

Spoiler

An overall inoffensive experience, unless you take a rocket in the face instead of hitting the Baron between you and the shooting Revenant, Arena: 16 was a bit longer than the previous one because I wanted the monsters to infight. The plasma rifle that I choose at the beginning had enough cells to exterminate the monsters, so the map could be played faster than I did. Still, it was not very memorable, just a compact Doom fighting arena with pre-placed monsters, lacking the surprise effect of the Cacocloud on MAP25.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Book Lord

[Azure_Horror]

Map 26  Arena 16

 

Quick note: before going into arena proper, don't forget to return to the lobby and check all the offices for. Most importantly, doctor's office includes a Supercharge, and mechanic's office has a blue armor!

 

Now onto the fight itself.

The Arena: mostly corridors, notable verticality elements.

The Demons: Revenants, Mancubi, Barons

The Weapons: Chaingun / SSG / Plasma - choose one!

 

How to play the map: grab plasma + 580 cells, shoot demons until ammo goes low, resupply plasma in the big staircase room, shoot remaining demons, flip all the key switches, win. Extremely straightforward.

 

In the end, the open layout and hectic action of arena 11 feel much more fun. But maybe the problem lies with choice of opponents for Arena 16. Instead of barons, there should have been some Pain Elementals and Cacos. They would be able to take full advantage of verticality and stalk the player everywhere.

 

Conclusion: I once again applaud the decision to make 3 separate maps for 3 arenas. If Arena 16 appeared as a second fight after Arena 11, it would greatly diminish the experience of playing Arena 11! Right now, I consider each arena purely on their own terms. And this makes for more fun megaWAD experience, IMO.

[Roofi]

Map 26 : "Arena 16"

 

 

It's the second arena of the filler trilogy. I admit I'm a tad more fond of the cozy beige textures but the progression proves to be more confusing than in Arena 11. I took the Super Shotgun again.

 

I don't know if it's because of a fucked up REJECT lump, but Arena 16 represents another map where lot of monsters couldn't attack me. I litterally sawed some barons to death in order to save ammo. I noticed the monsters started to attack once there was a height difference between me and them. Weird.

 

Grade : C

 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by Roofi

[Azure_Horror]

56 minutes ago, Roofi said:

It's the second arena of the filler trilogy.

In my opinion, those Arenas feel much less filler-ish than map 18 did. Map 18 was super-generic Doom 2 - style urban map. It has super-boring brown visuals, no memorable doomcute, and boring weapon progression.

 

Arenas, as small as they are, at least look original and offer somewhat unusual combat situations. Placing each arena as its own separate map helps to emphasis their differences, at least in my opinion. Moreover, a series of short maps contrasts nicely with long journeys of maps 23 and 24.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Azure_Horror

[Celestin]

MAP26: Arena: 16

 

Same shit as MAP26, it even copies parts of the previous level. This time it's a tan maze with barons, revenants and mancubi. It's a low-effort map, so my review is also low-effort.

[Roofi]

59 minutes ago, Azure_Horror said:

In my opinion, those Arenas feel much less filler-ish than map 18 did. Map 18 was super-generic Doom 2 - style urban map. It has super-boring brown visuals, no memorable doomcute, and boring weapon progression.

 

Arenas, as small as they are, at least look original and offer somewhat unusual combat situations. Placing each arena as its own separate map helps to emphasis their differences, at least in my opinion. Moreover, a series of short maps contrasts nicely with long journeys of maps 23 and 24.

 

Actually, I don't really mind about their lenght but they feel filler-ish to me because it looks like these three arenas could easily fit on one map. Ok, there's a choice of weapons at the beginning, but I don't think that matters a lot.

 

I agree about you on Map 18. It's super-generic but I still think it's a full map with its proper sense of adventure. 

Edited March 26, 2023 by Roofi

[Helm]

Map 25b   

Same thing, went with plasma rifle, got that reappearing sphere and mega, went in with enough ammo to take out a couple dozen revs and barons and a few mancs, flipped all the switches, left the map. Not much going on right now. f

Map 25c

This one has a cyberdemon, archviles and a spider but you can get a BFG and the reappearing sphere and mega, so whatever. The switches didn't work so I noclipped through. Moving on. f

Edited March 26, 2023 by Helm

[Ralgor]

MAP26 - “Arena: 16”
dsda-doom v0.25.6 cl2, UV, Pistol start, blind run, single segment
100% kills and secrets
Using the 2003 version of Fragport

Just another weapon-starved arena map. I definitely don't like this. It's not even particularly interesting since it just uses the same shtick from the last map. I wouldn't exactly call this a filler map, but it abandons the features of the wad I like most in favor of some generic arena combat. If we're going to do generic arena combat, it needs to be more difficult. The only reason this map took multiple attempts is due to me not knowing where the ammo resupply was, so I thought I was out of ammo. This caused me to perform some high-risk activities like punching barons in tight corners that got me killed. Once I figured out where the resupply was, I was able to complete the arena.

Grade: D

MAP26 - 6:55.37 (6:55)  K: 21/21  I: 2/2  S: 0/0

ralgor_fragport26.zip

 

 

Votes

+++ Remain 1 + TNT: Renascence + ICAR2015
+++ PUSS IX: Mapping at Warpspeed
+++ Literalism / Liminal Doom

[Ralgor]

4 hours ago, Helm said:

This one has a cyberdemon, archviles and a spider but you can get a BFG and the reappearing sphere and mega, so whatever. The switches didn't work so I noclipped through. Moving on. f

 

You missed two of the switches needed, but the ones you hit definitely worked. :) Although you do need the keys before the colored switches, so maybe you hit them before you had the key and didn't realize?

 

Not that I blame you. You had all of the keys and killed everything... switch hunting at that point is a waste of time...

[Book Lord]

I am unsure about what to pick for April, it seems that the most sensible choice for my taste would be the 3 titles from Eternal's immense production.

 

I am still in time for voting those; for now I will drop a vote for two more recent works:

+++ Nostalgia

+++ Solar Struggle

Edited March 26, 2023 by Book Lord

[Endless]

Been actually playing Fragport this past days and while I'm way behind to post daily reviews, I've had some fun reading the comments here and enjoying the maps myself. Fragport has a very interesting design and its semi-realistic emulation as well as large levels with tons of empty space, make it feel more grandiose than it actually is. The isle and beach maps were my favorites. They had a very unique vibe that feels very moody with its rather rustic yet effective evocations of real landscapes. Really wasn't a fan of the maze maps tho, and in general, some of the levels feel more larger than they should, and the layout isn't always the most simple to navigate.

 

As for the next vote:

 

+++ Morior Invictus

+++ 1994 Tune-up Community Project

+++ Wonderful Doom

[Crusader No Regret]

+++ Biowar and Hellcore 2.0  (30 maps total + 1 credits map)

[continuum.mid]

Gonna plan on rejoining next month, in the meantime:

 

+++ Perdition's Gate

+++ Nostalgia

+++ Freedoom: Phase 1

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 26: Arena 16

100% kills and secrets

Time: 6:13

 

Before you go back up the lift, check back in the other rooms in the arena to grab another soul sphere and mega armor. Nice. Like last map, you get to pick 1 of 3 weapons, but the RL has been replaced with the plasma rifle. I picked the SSG this time cause I needed the ammo. This arena is a very tan one, filled with narrow passages, and occupied by revs, barons, and mancubi. I actually think this one is easier than the last, as you can easily peek-a-boo everything here. And this time, I saw shell boxes in the arena, which helped. Nothing too much to say about this. It's just an arena. 

[DFF]

The Arena Series:

 

i'm going through all of these because of their shorter length. The setup to these maps looks nice, with a fun railport entrance and several adjoining rooms to the combat arena. I do agree that having some more storybuilding into why we are running the gantlet of the Moon's arena network would be greatly beneficial, but what we are given will suffice. i think the idea of having these maps is a lot more narratively palatable of a 'wildcard' setting inclusion as opposed to map24, but they are short and... inoffensive maps. I hate to call them 'filler maps' but the fact that they lack secrets alone and are rather similar in structure (not to mention lacking in different challenges like the secret maps) show they do feel that way. Between each arena the armory and doctor's quarters restock, which also feels lazily copied since there is no sign of anyone restocking said rooms. Anyways, onto the challenges...

Map25: Arena 11 - UV, FDWL, Continuous

K: 100 | I: 50 | S: 100

 

Good use of high and low ground, this flows decently well for the limited space. Enemies are cacos, hell knights, and aracnotrons. The spiders do well to close up important chokepoints in the water maze. The caco swarm is a good idea for the elevated platforms but they tend to bunch up and die too easily. I chose SSG for efficiency and with the tight spaces i think this was correct. the RL likely would apply too much splash and idk if the chaingun is completable with those heavyweights, likely minus points for inferior path options and not knowing ahead of time. the pipe corridors sucked but were short. Overall not bad but bland.

 

Map26: Arena 16 - UV, FDWL, Continuous

K: 100 | I: 50 | S: 100

Visually a bit more interesting than the last, and better to explore. Enemies: revs, barons, mancs. Weapon choice: Plasma (too easy). I liked the strobing lights here and the multi-leveled crossing paths worked well to create a 3-d maze. didn't feel frustrating to navigate and had good room to move. Maybe a bit on the easier side but not enough to be boring. Barrels were nice but often placed in useless out-of-the-way spots so little help there. Better than 11.
 

Map27: Arena 18 - UV, FDWL, Continuous

K: 100 | I: 100 | S: 100

Conceptually, the most interesting of the 3. A desolate subterranean facility and the MTWIDD track really sets the ambient and horrid tone. the combat however is the easiest of the 3. Eight arch viles, spider momma and rocket papa. The viles are crammed in hallways so they either die quickly or fry you for free. Grabbing any weapon likely will kill these easily. As for spider and cyber, grabbing anything but the BFG makes this fight a bit more annoying. Easy but annoying. the switches are hard to find and likely will take some searching. Also if you miss the black switch you likely will be lost and wondering where to go to exit. funny enough all the exterior rooms lock once entering the arena but not the weapon choices, meaning selection is a ruined concept for continuous play. Overall probably the worst of the three.

The arena series is very forgettable and I recall back in the day literally skipping these maps. Their core concept was executed simply but ultimately poorly since the selection aspect, while cool, breaks the other 3 in continuous since you can go back and grab the other options (and ammo). this likely would have been a better concept if combined into one map with 3 or 4 arenas to tackle, maybe having the option to grab a new weapon after completing each arena but locking off the others until completing a challenge. Being able to pre-view the arena from invisible window walls could be a fun addition as well. I think this has some potential with refinement to be a standout MAP in the set, but currently they are 3 forgettable filler slots, where i likely spent more time typing about them than playing. Oh well. They all rank about the same place as a group so those three really could be one, but with the slot difference being my preference in arena.

Rankings:

Spoiler

Map21
Map16

Map13

Map15

Map20

Map19

Map11

Map01

Map22

Map17

Map06
Map05

Map03

Map18

Map08

Map23

Map10

Map09

Map26
Map25

Map27

Map12
Map02

Map07

Map14

Map04
Map24

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by DFF

[LadyMistDragon]

Dear god, this megawad just took the largest shit....

 

But all scatalogical comments aside, it's hard not to think of the three arenas as only being in the megawad because Stephen had no more ideas for a tech complex and essentially decided to either throw in some deathmatch maps or else, split what would have been one map into three. I get it and I won't complain too much but the disappointment is quite profound indeed.

 

Map 25: Arena 11

 

Although the first impression would not let you know what mediocrity waits in store to entrap us! The train station is nice and spacious and so is the space surrounding the facilities here! There are 'rooms' (a locked section) a "shrink" which sort of looks like how we'd expect it to in a tech environment, a Mechanic office with Blue Armor, and a medical office with medkits and a doctor's office with a Soulsphere.

 

But this is where the interesting bits end. So there's a long hallway with doors for several arenas, with only one being open. Things don't seem too bad at first: we get a pick of one of 3 particular weapons, then we go to town! 

 

The main issue is that this is easily the best of the three arenas! Think a sort of maze-like industrial area where the maze is at the bottom and we're assaulted by Revenants, Cacodemons, and one other kind of enemy with an unfortunately limited ammo supply. Then we have to find keys and hit switches, even though absolutely nothing feels explored or lived in. The combat was a fair time, but being deposited into the same region after exiting was stupid....and it only gets stupider.

 

Map 26: Arena 16

 

Guess what, we can go back and get more supplies!! Oh, who carrres?? This time, we get 3 different weapons, (plasma is our choice) than have to navigate some rather tight and fairly generic corridors that admittedly still have some TUD flair but with the most laughable combat on the face of the earth. It's very easy to keep the baron and mancubi off us. The little semicircular blue-walled pit room was kind of nice, but finding the switches was a complete and laughable waste of time.

 

You know what, I actually really liked Azure Horror's second choice. I can't do the multi-wad nomination for shit but +++Biotech is Godzilla, Plutonian Sunrise, and Sector666!

 

@Endless Morior Invictius seems a little slow at first.....but I really liked the first maps by King Know Nothing and puncher_sponge! i haven't got past there yet.

 

---

 

 

lmd_fragport25.zip

lmd_fragport26.zip

Edited March 27, 2023 by LadyMistDragon

[Veeda Vidlak]

Map24 “Balanced Chaos”

 

We get a dramatic shift in setting with Balanced Chaos, which is a marble hell cathedral that wouldn’t look out of place last month. What happened at the end of Monad to get us here is up to interpretation imo. Did we just injure ourselves falling here? Is this a dream sequence? Are we in a parallel world? I think its the first option, but who knows.

 

We start in a dungeon with some gnarly ambiance thanks to the flayed or disfigured corpses. There are some switches here that open a berserk and security armor which are critical for continuous players (and would have helped on my fast attempts, I didn’t notice the final switch until after I’d recorded). Continue forward to enter a capacious chamber consisting of two large impassible cavities surrounded by walkways. There are lots of imps, demons, and some cacos here, with the sniping imps obscured in darkness being quite a pain to clear out.

 

Key weapons (plasma and SSG) are in the west rooms and the red key is in a chapel to the south (good encounter). With it we can head east, and I’d go to the northeast red door first to save time. The winding marble halls behind the other door lead to another large, open room with damaging nukage that reminds me of #1Kill’s E2M5. I do not like this place. The switch sequence sends us gallivanting through the halls multiple times and the cacos are the usual Fragport time sinks. Then after we spend way too much time getting the green key the walls back in the hallways open up to reveal monsters that aren’t as dangerous as they probably should be.

 

This underwhelming map now delivers a swift kick in the balls with its blue key section. We have to grind our way up a staircase, then grind our way up a number of marble tiers with an archvile throne at the top. Grabbing the blue key releases some enemies at the bottom of the staircase, including two viles that resurrect the corpses left there. Slogging through this shit is awful, there is almost no cover on the stairs, so you have to either door camp for ages or run down there and pray for cooperative vile ai. This is also the point the map's ammo famine properties will probably start to manifest. If you get here with few rockets and cells then sucks to be you and if you have to use all those to take the viles out then it sucks to be you in a couple minutes.

 

We finish with a slow-playing hopscotch session followed by a return to the Monad (points for strong continuity here). There are two revenant pockets and the second one has a pair of viles, so you’d better have found the secret BFG in the hopscotch room and you’d better still have cells to use it. 

 

Balanced Chaos has a “let’s try something different” vibe to it yielding questionable results. The hell architecture looks impressive but the layout breaks my pedometer, with the green key area being especially bad. The combat is also uneven. There are some good encounters but also a real stinker at the blue key and I found the ammo deprivation to be a firm negative this time around. On the whole, I did not enjoy this level, it’s very draggy and the fights are closer to pulling teeth than adrenaline rushes. I don't hate it, it takes a lot for me to actually hate a map, but if I was making a rankings or grading list this one would be in the bottom five.

 

Fast Monsters: My worst experience with fast so far. Just about every section is an ordeal and you have to watch your ammo the whole time or it becomes unwinnable. If this level had shown up back in the teens I'd probably have given up on fast, but at 24 my motivation to see it through to the end overcame two soul-crushing deaths to the final monsters (trust me on needing to save your cells).

fragport24_fast.zip

 

Also, votes

+++ PUSS IX: Mapping at Warpspeed

+++ Literalism / Liminal Doom

+++ Plutonia Revisited Community Project 2