The DWmegawad Club plays: PUSS IX: Mapping at Warpspeed

[RHhe82]

MAP20: Archvile Arrival. Played on DSDA v0.25.6, UV, PS. 553/553 K, 2/2 S, 24/24 I. Comp. time 10:17

 

If there ever was a foreboding title, it's this one. I had been spoiled about this one, I saw a video or a stream of someone playing this map, so I knew roughly what was going on. Not that the map leaves any room for guessing. You either run or you die.

 

So... I don't know. On the other hand, Archvile Arrival is an outstanding level. On the other hand I started hating it at the part, just before the map turns into fun, where you are running thin ledges in panic under enemy fire, at that point I'm on my 8th or so savefile for the level (I scummed without shame) -- and when I ascended the pyramid, got the first invuln, it turns into a slaughter fest where I get to vent all my accumulated frustration in relatively short time, so I can't be mad at it. And for a 10 hour speedmap, it doesn't look like one a single bit.

 

So, a great map, but time attacks always infuriate me despite how top-quality map I'm playing. On the other hand, I'd rather play Archvile Arrival fifteen thousand times than touch Scythe's MAP28 with 3.04 meter pole.

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

Alright let's preface these secret maps by saying I've never played Doom 2016, and have only done one playthrough of the base Doom Eternal game (which I did enjoy!). So references in these levels will definitely be going over my head.

 

MAP31: "Lazarus Labs" by Cheesewheel

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/2 secrets

 

A mostly silvery techbase with splatters of blood and dead alien marines (nice touch by the way). There are also spinning alien vats everywhere, in case you forgot what type of wad you were playing. The level is quite long and looks pretty nice, definitely wouldn't guess it was made under a time constraint. You even have a nice hell cathedral area that you explore briefly. The midi is the first I've heard by the artist (NeilJohnRips) and it does indeed rip. Very heavy and goes a lot of different places, enjoyed it a lot. 

 

One of the lengthiest maps so far, most of the combat is linear and features a fairly large amount of hitscanners. It tends not to get too dangerous, although there are a few key fights to worry about. One happens after hitting a switch, where a bunch of hitscanners teleport all around the corridors of the area, with some hell knights and a revenant to join them. Your first instinct is to run, but hitscanners are placed near key escape routes, so a bit of deviousness there. Another highlights drops you in the middle of red-accented room, with lots of mid-tier monsters and chaingunners scattered around. I only died once in my playthroughs and it was to this fight, it can be very dangerous if you aren't ready. There's a mini-slaughter that takes place around the big red wedding cake that you may have had revenants sniping at you from. This one has a lot of revenants, hell knights, and pinkies. Here I circle-strafed around the room and used mostly rockets to take them down. The final fight gives you the plasma rifle and gives you a cyberdemon to deal with. I just hit the switch he was guarding and unleashed mobs for him to infight with, taking down the imps myself for some space.

 

This is the first Cheesewheel map I've played and it was a great time! Combat wasn't too challenging but was quite engaging.

 

MAP32: "Blood Swamps" by Muumi

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

A dusky and mostly outdoors map, with a green sky and inside purple valleys. This one almost brings Sunlust to mind at points, I think MAP28 is the one I thought of while playing this one. Contrary to the map's name, the swamps are not blood but instead a black liquid. In the distance of the central area, you see a heavenly white spire stretching up into a white hole in the sky with a blue and cloudy skybox inside of it. Super cool little effect. For music, we have the very iconic Mucus Flow midi. Can always be hyped to hear that one.

 

I'm kind of surprised I got this one saveless, I think I did have a stroke of luck in doing this. None of the fights are extremely difficult on their own, but getting them all in one go can be challenging. The initial stretch isn't too bad, although you will be met with a very Casali-esque chaingunner trap at one point. The fun starts when you get your glimpse of that white spire in the central area. There are two branching paths for you to take in any order. One of them pits you against a teleporting mob of enemies including two archviles, with the catch being that you are in a deep part of the swamp with mist coming off of the black liquid, making visibility limited. Here I just pull out the rocket launcher and hold down that trigger, trying my best to peer through cracks in the mist and spot the archies. There are spectres here too though, because of course there are. Be careful with those. You get a plasma rifle for your troubles here, but after this you aren't quite done, because you have a nasty cramped encounter to deal with. Deal with as much as you can with rockets until the pillar in the centre fully lowers down to reveal a group of the Dead Simple duo. I plasma the rest here.

 

The other path is the tougher one in my opinion, and is very cool. You follow your spirit wolf down until you are lead to a black pillar with a green flame. Then the area goes dark and a green barrier comes up around you, then the monsters come. You can go outside this green barrier texture, but doing so will greet you with deadly 20 damaging floor. So you have to do your best to take out the hordes while in the confines of this green boundary. I mostly use the plasma I get from the first encounter to deal with the monsters here. After a time limited the boundary goes away and you are free to move anywhere to take out the rest. There is another one of these fights after this, and it's even tougher. Here I take out the mancubi fast as possible when they come, but when the second wave comes up I just focus on not letting myself get suffocated. The rest can then be killed easily when the barrier goes down. Now that you have both keys, you can go back to the central area for some more mini-slaughters. The first wave, I start with the arachnotrons then rocket/plasma the rest. The second, I again kill the arachnotrons, but then I focus on the smaller foes in the ring while the two cybies infight the rest. After you survive long enough you get the BFG, and can hold fire till everything melts. The map exits with the heavenly area you were given a glimpse of earlier, and a feast of powerups. Yum!

 

Loved this map, the combat was very creative and tricky, and the visuals were awesome.

[Veeda Vidlak]

Map19 “Hiding the Secrets”

 

As Book Lord mentioned, one of the joys of community projects is the inclusion of unknown, novice, or even first-time mappers alongside veteran artists. It helps get their work viewed by a larger audience, ideally resulting in development of their craft via critique, discussion, and perhaps even collaboration (which we get some of in map29).

 

Hiding the Secrets is clearly the work of a newer mapper, it’s the only level by TheBMFG I’m aware of. Taking that into consideration, what we have here is a serviceable little skirmish that only takes a couple minutes of your time. The initial shotgun wrangle is made more interesting by the space restrictions, the trooper squad and backup guardian behind a fake wall can take a surprising amount off your megasphere, and the two vile turrets guard the rocket launcher acceptably. The second mega is superfluous, the player can be expected to win here with just one, and the clump of chaingunners at the end isn’t needed (but it was fun to wreck them with the RL so I’m glad they’re there).

 

I’ll add to the discussion on grading maps by saying this is a major reason I don’t include grades, because I certainly could. The thing is, when you have a bunch of mappers with wildly different degrees of experience, it’s incredibly unfair to judge everything using the same metric, which you have to do if using a grading system. Yes, Death Bear with his around 100 or so posted works will probably produce a better level than someone who’s made two maps ever, especially under a speedmapping restriction which will favor experienced authors further. While I will readily point out fights I don’t like (and why), I try very hard not to frame the overall map in a negative fashion. Grading will inherently do that unless I deliberately avoid giving out bad grades, which defeats the purpose.

 

So getting back to Hiding the Secrets, it’s a beginner’s effort. I’d nix the second megasphere, but otherwise it’s a reasonable encounter that could work as part of a larger map. As a full slot, it’s a break that allows TheBMFG to get something posted in a community project. Not much else to say, I’m never unhappy to see short maps when playing a megawad.

 

warpspeed19.zip

Time: 1:29    Kills: 84/84   Secrets: 0/0

Edited April 20, 2023 by Veeda Vidlak

[Klear]

Worldmap20: Archvile Arrival by Muumi (for real this time)

QuestZDoom, UV, blind, pistol start, saves
 

Spoiler

 

With a name like this, a map by Muumi, I knew it would be a doozy. I noticed the sign at the start and decided to ignore it and clear the starting room with a pistol, because the shotgun looks very trapped. As it turns out, it's close to the only thing in this map that isn't trapped.

 

I'm not going to get into details of which part was the hardest (all of them were). I have complained about the movement controls before (though I think I'm getting the hang of it) but what I haven't mentioned yet is that I also tend to have issues pressing buttons in VR. I'm not 100% how it works - whether the use action target depends on hand orientation, my gaze or combination of both (I should actually test this, along with the BFG which I'm also not quite sure of), but I tend to fumble with switches when under pressure. You may have noticed this during the end fight of world 18. Well, pushing buttons quickly is very important in this map and adds another layer of difficulty.

 

Now, I'm not averse to saving frequently normally, much less in VR, but the issue here is that it's hard to judge what exactly is a safe place to make a save. I have to restart the map a couple of times due to this (and because using more than one slot is for weaklings with "foresight" and "common sense").

 

My favourite death is around 10:30 in the video. I felt like Wile E. Coyote for a split second there. And you know what? Not all deaths were frustrating. Being able to freely look around without any danger gave me some not-so-rare opportunities to admire the view - what I could see from the ground at least - and appretiate the map for its visuals, something that's otherwise almost impossible during normal gameplay. I liked what I saw.

 

And then the catharsis. I always liked the invuln effect, but it's so much more beautiful in VR. And when the viles blasted me all the way to the edge of the map, the black fire obscuring my vision dissipated and I saw the mass of enemies down below, with projectiles flying everywhere... There are two things about VR that just cannot be replicated with classic games - depth perception and a sense of scale. Watching my footage, yes, it's kinda pretty, but it's also a jumbled mess. In VR the scene was sublime. Defintiely a highlight.

 

A few tries later I went throug the very cool white teleportation tunnel and correctly assumed that ammo will not be an issue from here on out. This might have been the first true slaughter I played, VR or otherwise. Simply glorious. I backtracked through the level not looking for exit but for revenge and I got that in spades.

 

100% kills, time just over 6 minutes. Easy.

 

@Ralgor I originally performed the teaser vid during my first playthrough right after discovering the gimmick, but it didn't look good, so I snipped it from the footage and re-recorded it later. My Thursdays are kinda rough and I knew I won't be able to post the full writeup at midnight like I usually do, so that kinda played into the idea.

 

I started playing this wad expecting I might run into a map which I cannot handle, but so far so good. At this moment I have recorded runs up to map 23. 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Klear

[Azure_Horror]

Some more words about Map 19 (Hiding the Secrets by TheBMFG).

 

I cannot understate, how crucial are well-placed break maps! If the WAD only includes tough maps, one after another - than there is a good chance to exhaust the player in the worst possible moment. In regards to breather maps, PUSS IX has 100% surpassed Ancient Aliens! Both 3rd and 1st episodes of AA suffer from "ever rising intensity". At a first glance this is very cool, and has no downsides. But if one play on a limit of their ability, this type of difficulty curve can break the enjoyment of the WAD.

 

Hiding the Secrets is a very crucial breather level. Its placement is perfect: right after relatively tough maps 17 and 18, and right before brutal map 20. Its difficulty is also well-clibarated: the level has many opportunities for power fantasy, but monsters are powerful enough to make the victory well-earned. The use of AA custom foes is especially notable in this regard, but even an imp squad battle at the very start works like a surprisingly dynamic encounter, because it requires a lot of dodging, without any obvious "I win by default" solution.

 

In general, gameplay of Hiding the Secrets has one very notable trait:

Both Circle Stafe and Door-Camp tactics are discouraged hevily! Instead Encounters encourage either dancing-n-dodging from saide to side, or going in Guns Blazin' to clear the enemies as fast as possible and claim even more powerful guns. This approach to combat is very fun and it also trains the player for harder Ancient Aliens style-fights.

 

I want to applaud @The BMFG for providing two whole megaspheres on UV. For this particular map, this was a 100% correct design choice. The Megas really encourage playing aggressively rather than defensively. And they do not break the balance in any way, shape or form. First, Chaingunners, Stealth Aliens, Rocket Drones and Archviles all can deliver devastating amount of damage. So completely brain-dead gameplay still leaves the player in the dust. Second, leaving the map with 200 health / 200 armor is very helpful for continuous players. The next map has enough teeth to chew through these health and armor in seconds!

 

TLDR: after thinking about the Map 19 for some time, I like it even more. On its own, map 19 is simply a fun, enjoyable power fantasy. But in the context of the Mapping at Warpspeed megaWAD as a Whole, Hiding the Secrets is a crucial point if the difficulty curve! Without it, the megaWAD likely could have felt much more aggravating. Big thanks for both project leaders and @The BMFG for creating a really good slot 19 map for the WAD.

 

Arbitrary map rankings:

Spoiler

Map 11

Map 08

Map 03

Map 05

Map 31

 

Map 13

Map 17

Map 09

Map 02

Map 19

 

Map 10

Map 32

Map 01

Map 06

Map 14

 

Map 07

Map 18

Map 12

Map 15

Map 04

Map 16

- The placement of each map is my personal opinion, which depends on my personal experience.

- The rating differences are minuscule. Map quality is quite high across the board, so pinpointing exact placement for any of the map is mostly pointless.

- The placement of the maps tries to account for both the maps in isolation and the MegaWAD as the singular experience.

 

[Book Lord]

MAP 20 – Archvile Arrival by @muumi

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

 

The last full contribution by muumi was another spectacular, highly conceptual map with a gimmick at its core. In case the bloody writings on the walls were not clear enough, the stampede of 48 Arch-Viles pouring out of the first doors should convince the most stubborn players that they must run, run, run, and never stop. Many other enemies and artificial obstacles tried to get in the way, making the escape a non-trivial task. It also became evident that the Arch-Viles will not be trapped by the level geometry, because every wall and obstacle was destined to disappear as soon as Zorglo entered the next section.

Spoiler

I had trouble whenever I met more Arch-Viles blocking my advancement; not only they were placed in positions that could not be ignored lightly, but their attacks added a random element that could jeopardise an otherwise successful run. I had the most trouble with the one behind the elliptical wall that required to press a switch, and with the trio found before the last platforming path in front of the large pyramid. The maze and the smaller pyramid felt straightforward in comparison, and I passed through them with a single retry each.

 

When I reached the top of the pyramid and the spirit eagle, a wonderfully staged sequence granted Zorglo a BFG, an Invulnerability, and plenty of ammo, then released him back on top of the pyramid as the incarnation of the Angel of Death, the God of Wrath, or any other supernatural being capable of mass extermination. The surrounding gorge had turned into a flat battleground, filled by the level’s 500+ enemies that were already annihilating each other. I dispensed death trying to identify the Arch-Viles in the confused mix of sprites, while their attacks sent me up in the sky. There was a second god sphere next to the pyramid and a secret one behind it, along with heaps of ammo and Megaspheres to exterminate the horde with confidence. I was surprised to find some Stealth Plasma Aliens trapped by impassable lines on now lowered ledges, and a harmless group of Arch-Viles waiting for me just before the exit.

Spoiler

I did not like every part of the desperate run that constituted the bulk of Archvile Arrival, even though I respect the challenge for speedrunners and for anyone willing to play saveless. I surely enjoyed myself with the final slaughter because the setup filled me with rage and anticipation for the reckoning. The spiritual transformation into a killer machine was exceptional, and the overall map design was great, especially the precise layout and sector mechanics that permitted to (almost) every monster to reach the pyramid in time for the final battle. Once again, muumi stole the show.

 

5 hours ago, Ralgor said:

I feel the same way, although maybe this thread itself is a bad place for that sort of critique. I feel like we've been a bit too meta as it is. Is there a Doom-related Discord or anything that people on this forum (and especially this thread) hang out in?

 

I do not know of any DWMC-related Discord servers. I am not using Discord myself, or any chat/sharing app for what it counts. The DWMC Metathread was created for general discussion about the DWMC and is linked in the OP of each monthly event. It has been dormant since its inception, but there's nothing wrong with bumping it if we want to discuss general topics that emerge as part of the DWMC experience.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Book Lord

[Azure_Horror]

Map 20   Archvile Arrival by @muumi

 

Super short review for now (later I'll try to write a more detailed one):

- The gimmick encourages comparing the map to Ancient Aliens map 21 (Cyber-bullying: Beyond Earth).

- Cyber-bullying: Beyond Earth is (one of) my least favored maps in Ancient Aliens WAD!

- By contrast, Archvile Arrival is one of my favorites in Mapping at Warpspeed.

- A big reason fro this: Archvile Arrival is much easier to read on the run. At every moment, there is huge danger, but also there is a good idea of where to go next.

- And the finale is much better too. AA map 21 finale is an annoying crusher room. The crushers do help dealing with the cyberdemon, but they also rerstrict the players movement. By contrast, Warpspeed finale is invuln-BFG slaughter fest. The tables have turned in an instant, the player transforms from a helpless prey into an unstoppable hunter!

 

In short: by creating Archvile Arrival, @muumi managed to out-Skillsaw @skillsaw himself! In a single map concept, but still!

[Helm]

World 20 - Archvile Arrival
by Muumi

I am listening to nothing because I have to concentrate for this one. I tested the map yesterday once and saw the gimmick when I opened the first door and I was like oh boy. In the end it wasn't that painful, though I had to do some safety saving on the way. This map gives me heart palpitations so as much as I was impressed by I dread and fear it and I am glad to be done with it for the moment. These maps where you outrun archviles are deathly memorable but at what cost? Definitely grew another grey hair today. The footage tells the tale.

[Celestin]

MAP20: Archvile Arrival by Muumi

Spoiler

You are not prepared for this, I know I wasn't. Aside from monster tubes, this Egyptian temple looks like nothing. After dispatching a meak opposition in the starting room, open the door and witness the Archvile Arrival. A horde of viles will evaporate you, unless you turn around, start running and don't stop until reaching the portal on the top of the second pyramid. Meanwhile, you'll be constantly harrased by monsters in front of you, while the archviles are closing in. If you stop, you're dead. If something blocks you, you're dead. If you fail to pick up a chaingun, rocket launcher or plasma on your way, you are dead. If the AI of chaingunners by the rocket launcher is not in you favour, you're dead (this is where the majority of my deaths came from). This is one huge RNG fest. My self-imposed challenge is to not save mid-fight, so since this is essentially one large combat scenario, I intended to beat this saveless. I couldn't. I ended up saving after getting the rocket launcher, then at the top of the first pyramid and finally, after passing through the Chasm-wannabe with shit blocking your path and flame bois grilling you from the side.

 

Now it's payback time. At the top of the pyramid, your eagle spirit companion hands you a BFG, invulnerability and a megasphere. There are two more invulns nearby and enough cells to vaporise an army of a small nation, so don't hold back against the horde. They deserved it for all my deaths they caused. Once you're done, head back towards the start, while marvelling how the geometry was altered to make it easier for the enemies to reach you, kill some more viles guarding the exit and leave.

Spoiler

As I've said, I try to avoid save-scumming, but Archvile Arrival is beyond my skill level. I can acknowlegde it's clever design and catharthic cleanup, but it was brutal. I can already feel it's going to be very divisive - either a thrilling challenge with a reward for overcoming it, or a frustrating, luck-heavy shitshow. To me, this is one of the hallmarks of PUSS IX, an outstanding map I won't forget.

[Azure_Horror]

Detailed review of Map 20   Archvile Arrival by @muumi

UV, pistol start, saves; DSDA-doom, -complevel 9 

 

The premise of map 20 is extremely simple.

- There is a horde of 48 archviles.

- They chase you through the map.

- "Run, Hide or Die, never stop!"

 

The map has an absolutely insane premise, and some pretty brutal traps on the players way. But the reward at the end is well worth the price: the player gets an invuln, a BFG, and an opportunity to erase all the pesky Viles from the face of the planet.

 

Completing the map required some training, and multiple saves. However, despite that, the level felt surprisingly consistent. There is always just enough cover to hide in the last crucial moment, and there is just enough firepower to clear that one pesky demon, who is blocking your way forward. The streak of bad luck is possible, of course, but no part of this map felt truly RNG dependent.

- Chaingunner bastions near RL? 3-4 well-placed rockets solve the problem most of the time!

- An archvile near the Soulsphere stone? Often gets distracted by chasing monster, can be avoided by hiding behind Soulsphere pedestal, and can also be killed with rockets. And even in the worst case, the soulsphere provides enough health to survive one vile blast.

- The Chasm mini-section? There are convenient covers to hide from the archvile trio, so those guys are not that bad. The Hell Knight duo on the narrow path can feel insurmountable at first, but it is possible to soften them in advance from far away.

 

All in all, the gameplay of this map feels very well thought out! Hectic action from the very start till the very end. Deadly situations, but fast retries. This is much, much better than Scythe map 28, or Ancient Aliens map 21. Those two maps have pretty notable slow-paced sections before the main challenge fully begins, and those starting hurdles feel extremely annoying to get through.

 

Stylistically, Archvile Arrival follows the design of many Ancient Aliens Episode 1 levels. Many of those have one dominant threat, be it cyberdemons from maps 01 and 05, the Viles and Mancubi from map 04 or the arachnotrons from map 03. Archvile squad from Archvile Arrival plays exactly the same role. But the overall difficulty of the map is calibrated for Ancient Aliens Episode 3. This makes Archvile Arrival truly unique: among map from original AA, only map 21 (Cyberbullying: Beyond Earth) comes close in emphasizing a single enemy threat. But that map muddles the desing with a prolonged starting section. On top of that, navigation on AA map 21 is much more un-intuitive on the run. Not a pleasant thing at all in life-or-death situation. Thus, Archvile Arrival stands tall as truly unique and well-crafted experience.

[Helm]

1 hour ago, Celestin said:

Archvile Arrival is beyond my skill level

made me curious, went back and threw a few attempts at it. If I can do it I'm sure you can too :) 
edit: and if youtube can't do it vimeo will

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Helm

[continuum.mid]

World 20: Archvile Arrival (Muumi)

dsda-doom 0.25.6+dfsg-1 (Debian 12), Doom 2, Ultra-Violence, blind, pistol start, saves 

222% Kills (lol), 79% Items, 50% Secrets, 6:36

 

"Run, hide or die, █████████ never stop."

 

Wow. This might be the most anxiety-inducing Doom map I've ever played. It's another experimental Muumi joint - it lulls the player into a false sense of security by having them shotgun four fodder enemies, then open a door to reveal what is potentially the most Arch-Viles I have ever seen at once. Only one way to avoid getting zapped, and that's to run for your life. Make no compunctions about save-scumming because there are no peaceful moments in this map and every save is a mid-fight save. Muumi puts all sorts of obstacles in the way of your escape - of course, there are lots of monsters in your way, of increasing size class and population as you go along, and walls that you'll have to press a switch and wait to lower. The most frustrating part might be next to the soulsphere, when an extra Vile appears and Imps block the following hallway. I was tempted to lower a soulsphere and gain a buffer for health - bad idea, the Arch-Vile will zap you. Instead, rocket the imps as quickly as you can and keep moving forward. Eventually you'll come across a maze with where walls occasionally lower to give the Viles a line of sight on you temporarily. There's no time to even pay attention to the Spider Mastermind that appears. Just make sure to grab the plasma so you can tear through enemies faster. When I reached the first pyramid, with stairs on opposite sides, I was deeply afraid that it would take too long to climb and the Viles would catch up, but thankfully, I just barely made it. If anything, the thin, Chasm-esque walkways in the penultimate area were a reprieve, because they feature cover I can use to avoid Arch-Vile lines of sight. After that you reach the ending, an open area with a pyramid. Atop it is a teleporter that leads to the BFG, and there are at least three invuln spheres and tons of cells scattered throughout the area. This should be just enough to - FINALLY - zap all the Arch-Viles, and with them, this entire map's population. After the anxiety of the rest of this map, it's one of the most cathartic feelings a Doomer can experience. Backtrack to the start, killing any stragglers along the way, and peekaboo shoot the remaining Viles to open the exit.

 

I'm tempted to call this the best map in its set for its sheer audacity - at the very least, barring another spectacle in the final episode, it'll be "the map I remember from PUSS IX." It's absolutely bonkers stuff that words cannot match up to. Incredible.

Edited April 20, 2023 by continuum.mid

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Pistol-Start/Saves

Map 20: Archvile Arrival - Muumi

100% kills and secrets

Time: 7:28

Deaths: 4

 

Ah, I remember the first time I played this map. I expected it to be like the AA's map 3, the similarly named Arachnotron Arrival. That map has a couple of arachnotron turrets that constantly repopulate when killed. So I figured there was just going to be a lot of turreted archies around the map. What I did not expect was to open the first door of the map and be greeted with one Coachella's worth of archviles. Cue panic. What ensues is one of the most frantic maps I've played in a very long time. This is a very linear map, as the whole point is to escape. There's a few twists and turns, including a maze-like section, but all those twists open up, allowing the army of archies to constantly advance and not get caught in the map geography. And it's not like you're just running away. There's still 500 other monsters in this map, and they'll do their part to block you and prevent your escape. There's a lot big clusters of monsters that show up around corners, behind walls, etc. The hardest part of the escape is the final stretch, where you have to run along a narrow, winding path over an unescapable pit, while imps and hell knights block the path, cacos fly in, 2 cybs appear on the other side, and 3 MORE archies target you. There are a few walls to break line of sight here at least. This whole entire escape sequence is a showcase for the chaingun and plasma. All the weapons show up during the chase, but those 2 are the best as they can quickly take things out in front of you. The plasma is especially effective in the back half, allowing you to quickly carve a path in front of you. The RL is effective when you hit the switches that lowers walls that reveal hordes of imps. 

 

When I first played this map, I just assumed this was a map where trying to max it wasn't possible. I mean, you saw the sheer amount of archies this map has. So like Scythe map 28, I just assumed you needed to GTFO ASAP. But then you reach the top of the pyramid at the end of the chase, take the spirit animal warp, and get rewarded with a BFG, full ammo, a backpack (I think this is where you pick it up), and an invul, before throwing you back to the front of the pyramid with the level geometry flattening out, and all those archies conveniently arriving. This was the moment the map clicked for me, and it was GLORIOUS. Welcome to "Relieving stress: the fight". The outskirts have a ton of ammo, along with several invuls and megas (check behind the pyramid for a secret invul. I found this one in my initial playthrough before going through warp, effectively making it useless).Keep track of where the invuls are so you can grab them before the current one runs out. You can literally kill every monster in this map in this area, except for the 5 archies at the end and a few stealth troopers, and it is cathartic. I had an invul to spare this time too! I know I died a lot my first playthrough, but this time I only died 4 times. First was after the turn with a baron and an imp room. The other 3 was crossing the end chasm. Only made a few saves this time. One early on, one just after opening the wall to the final chasm, one in the wolf warp, and one just before taking out the final 5 archies stuck at the beginning/end. When all was said and done, my monster count went up to 1300 due to the archies. 

 

Overall, this is probably the best map in the WAD. In my initial short write-up in the release thread, this and Muumi's map 32 were the only 2 I mentioned explicitly, other than map 12 needing health. This map is easily the most thrilling map in set. And even though you won't really stop to take in the scenery, it's still a great looking map. Plus, this MIDI is one of the more driving tracks in the AA OST, so nice pick there. Very, very fun!

Edited April 20, 2023 by TJG1289

[BluePineapple72]

It’s the 20th, so I’ll just share a quick opinion on Map20. It’s my personal favorite map in the set, and one of the best maps to be submitted to a PUSS event on top of that. 

 

It’s fast, frantic, beautifully textured, beautifully lit, and chaotically cathartic. The terror of a constant threat at your heels and the escalating dangers facing you as the map opens up create an exhilarating experience. I’m not a big fan of huge wide open rooms with clean-up tights, but the audacity of placing 58 arch-viles in 1 room earn the grand finale. 

[Klear]

Worldmap21: Beyond by Doomcat

QuestZDoom, UV, practiced (I forgot to press record...), pistol start, saves

 

Spoiler

 

Ahh, another breather map. I mean, it's got a hot start involving dozens of enemies including hell knights and revenants and a bunch of hitscan snipers, but anything would be a breather after the last one. This map is simple in many ways, yet quite complex and non-linear. The combat is generally easy but there are challenging parts and the atmosphere is always tense. The map has a few more clever dichotomies, I'm sure of it, but I can't think of any more because I'm tired and a tiny bit drunk.

 

Some of the visuals are audacious and bombastic, like the enormous purple wall you can lower after the first fight. Sure, it's blocky and slow, but the sheer scale makes the ziggurat which appears behind it quite the sight. Being in VR probably helps - the sense of scale is crazy and the bigger the scale the better it looks. It also tanks my FPS, but that is besides the point.

 

After being given the BFG I was expecting some sort of slaughterfest either on top or behind the teleporter, but it instead takes us into catacombs more suited for shotgun and chainsaw. Groovy! I like that. These areas were a joy to explore the first time around, but around the time I got both the blue and red keys and was aware of both doors (as well as at least one more route I didn't take at that point), I ended up backtracking throughout the level, considering which way to go so I don't miss out on something. A cleaner progression would suit this part of the map better, I think. 

 

The corridors are a bit plain at times, but duh! This is a speedmap, one of - if not the largest one in the set. And where there is detailing, it's usually pretty neat, like those five scientists dissecting a zombie. Yup, that definitely isn't just one guy teleporting around (unless he's doing it very quickly). 

 

Oh, and the red door glitched out on me. I know it's supposed to open since it did without an issue in my first attempt, so I just noclipped through.

 

Finally, I enter the gigantic final arena and... well, my FPS tanks like never before whenever I look from the ziggurat towards the cybie near the exit. Having played this before, I know not to try and kill everything because with my poor ammo efficiency it just won't work out. I've tried. I linger for a while though, strafing in a giant circle, reducing the number of enemies and taking the occasional face rocket because I stopped paying attention defintiely because of the lag. No other cause.

 

 

I finally go through the exit and... what? The map is still going? This is incredible. I mean, it's just a few empty corridors and a plateau with a new beautiful UFO, but still, after all that, I was expecting the map to just end. And I'm not even mentioning the teleporters which can be used to backtrack to the previous parts of the level. Marvelous.

 

Seeing it in VR probably helps the visuals and playing it right after Archvile Avallanche probably helps the gameplay (I really needed a break), but this is undisputably a very fun map. It might anger completionists, though, maybe.

 

 

Last time I mentioned I need to do some research on the use action and the BFG - I've found out use it targeted by gaze rather than by my weapon hand, which explains my difficulties. I think I'll be doing better on this front from now on.

 

The BFG, as it turns out, was implemented wrong (the tracers originated from the point of the shot rather than current player location). I reported this on discord and before I knew it I had my hands on a fixed apk to test. It works the way it should now, and as a bonus the updated version seems to run somewhat faster, so that's awesome.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Klear

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 20: Archvile Arrival

by Muumi

 

This map KICKS ASS!

 

To explain things less emotionally, Arch-viles are perhaps the enemy from whence the most interesting combat scenarios can be crafted. Although I'm pretty sure most people prefer Revenants, how many maps that mention Revenants in the title versus those that mention Arch-viles? Revenants can certainly be used in clever ways but their primary purpose in slaughtermaps seems to be the utter pitilessness of the mapper. Arch-viles have a uniquely terrifying quality on the other hand that probably make them more unstoppable if a particularly large horde is unleashed your way.

 

As is the case here. After reading the blood text that tells us what we'll be doing dropping down and taking down a minimal bodyguard down near the shotgun, we open the door to find....a hideously large pack of Arch-viles that the meager supply of a pistol starter can't possibly take on.

 

From here it's a mad rush over a ridiculously large space, pushing switches in a couple of spots, running around a slime pit near an outdoor theater, stopped several times by a chaingunner/Mancubi combo that can easily waylay us until the Arch-viles behind us reduce us to the finest-cooked charcoal briquette possible. Dying to the enemies here is also a possibility. From here, it's outside an ancient shooting range, some Spider Masterminds, more switch-pushing including the circular climbing up a cruddy pyramid, doing our best to avoid getting waylaid, then finally, reaching the other end of the map, underscored by a pyramid with an eagle, but not before having to avoid one last Arch-vile hiding behind one of the slime pillars. Remembering the 'secret' Invulnerbility from last time, we grab it before we decide to take the plunge.

 

 

Our reward is a BFG, then afterwards, the most delightfully chaotic scene that we've seen in some time greets us! Best of all, there's plenty of ammo along with three Megaspheres that raises survival chances considerably! Go to town, kill everything, then trek back through the map, killing the stragglers before taking care of the Arch-viles that stayed behind, enterting a red cave behind them before finally exiting into a field with the ending UFO.

 

I still would say I prefer Another Glance at the Paradise, but this one is very, very close. Being powerless then powerful is one of the greatest things that can be experienced in Doom and Archvile Arrival accomplishes this in sutiable over-the-top fashion!

 

Grade: A

lmd_pussIX20.zip

Edited April 21, 2023 by LadyMistDragon

[RHhe82]

MAP21: Beyond. Played on DSDA v0.25.6, UV, PS. 494/494 K, 3/3 S, 131/145 I. Comp. time 28:08

 

I had seen this one too earlier. No matter. It reminds me a bit of Another Glance at Paradise, which is not a bad thing. The early parts look a bit basic, but I'm digging the pyramid valley fight. Once again it's not intricate or anything, but simple excess you are empowered to take care of is always fun for me.

 

I don't have that much to say - I guess there's a certain feel of speedmappiness to this (which, I guess, comes down to bit basic shapes and simple texturing), but that feels like a trivial observation. Good map, fun map, love the soundtrack.

Edited April 21, 2023 by RHhe82

[Ralgor]

MAP21 - "Beyond" by Doomcat, Son of Death Bear
dsda-doom v0.25.6 cl9, UV, Pistol start, blind run, single segment
100% kills and secrets

This map is quite a bit longer than the last few maps, but isn't too difficult. The progression is a bit confusing in places, and the secrets are fairly well hidden.

The map fires off with a hot start. You're in a deep pit, and are surrounded by numerous enemies. You have to run around and collect some weapons while getting your bearings and dodging projectiles. It's not too difficult if you keep moving. You hit the switch at the end and a giant wall lowers revealing a ziggurat. I was expecting more resistance here, but didn't get much.

 

Spoiler

The opening pit

 

Spoiler

Some sort of alien autopsy

Entering the teleporter at the top, you end up in a series of caves and brown rooms that must the interior of the ziggurat. The progression here is just a bit confusing. Eventually you come out into a giant open area full of monsters that is the main fight of the map. It features three sniping cyberdemons, another ziggurat full of mid-tiers, and an unholy number of guardians teleporting in to the center. Like the first fight, you just have to keep moving around the ziggurat and you'll win eventually.

 

Spoiler

That's a lot of flying spinning skulls

There does seem to be a problem that some monsters won't teleport very quickly, and so if you want 100% kills you might have to backtrack to kill any stragglers. The waterfall secret is actually pretty well done, especially since it has another secret inside of it that you can see from the top of the ziggurat. If you know about the secret ahead of time you can telefrag one of the cyberdemons pretty quickly.

I liked how this map looks, and it was perfectly placed after the last map. You can take your time and relax while you play this one.

MAP21 - 30:36.69 (30:36)  K: 494/494  I: 142/145  S: 3/3

ralgor_pussixmaw21.zip

[Veeda Vidlak]

Map20 “Archvile Arrival”

 

I was curious how the club would view my favorite level in Mapping at Warpspeed. I won’t deny I’m pleased to see the reception.

 

Disembark and step forward to view a rather unnerving proclamation… the “run, hide, or die the spiders never stop” sign from AA, with “the spiders” cut off. What does that mean? Well, fuck around jump down and find out. We have what initially looks like a standard beginning but open the door and… yeah, we all saw this coming. The first time I played this map I couldn’t see and got vaporized on the spot. I don’t know how many viles are here (Book Lord says 48) but we aren’t beating them with the single shotgun. So we have to do the only thing we can do.

 

With a quick U-turn it’s time to go sprinting through an obstacle course of monsters, switches, and basic platforming with Vinesauce Joel’s night terrors hot on our heels. There’s a lot going on but you HAVE to keep moving, Muumi lowers walls and does other tricks to ensure the vile horde is mere seconds behind you. Derping around for pretty much any length of time means we’re done for. The enemy positions and the time crunch you’re under is borderline hardcore, there is no margin for error. I’d say the most dangerous area is where you pick up the rocket launcher, there are two chaingunner arrays, a switch that slowly lowers the path forward, and a vile followed by a stream of imps blockading your escape.

 

Those who make it to the end find a winding walkway over an inescapable death pit serving as the final obstacle. Three archviles are released to the left to ensure our failure, to say the least of the horrorshow coming from behind. It looks insane but there is a consistent way to make it through. Use the bastions dotting the walkway to take cover from the viles, dashing between them like in Revilution’s map16. Once across sprint up the pyramid into the outstretched wings of your spirit eagle, it’s time to turn the tables.

 

We go through our epic transformation sequence and return in our avatar state. BFG, tons of ammo, invulnerable, with three more invul spheres in the area (one behind the pyramid). Oh hell yes, you can just imagine the terror on the archviles’ faces as they watch zorglo float down, eyes aglow, winged, and sporting a blank expression as he primes the BFG. This powertrip slaughterfest is without exaggeration one of the most satisfying conclusions to a level I can recall. Do note that it is still possible to die here, make sure you aren’t getting ping-ponged by vile flames when needing to reach another invul.

 

If I compiled a list of my favorite maps of all time, this one would get in somewhere. As others have said, the wicked delight I get from slaughtering the fiends who tormented me the whole level is amazing. Add in the setup, narrative, craftsmanship, and sense of sheer panic during the obstacle course speedrun and we have a masterpiece. Muumi is absolutely killing it in this wad.

 

warpspeed20.zip

Time: 6:27    Kills: 553/553   Secrets: 2/2

Grrrr, I had a shot at five but it took me a good minute thirty to find two wusses cowering in the corners of the level.

Edited April 21, 2023 by Veeda Vidlak
Forgot to link demo

[Book Lord]

MAP 21 – Beyond by Doomcat, Son of Death Bear

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

 

Let us see what Doomcat has planned to usher us in the third episode. I am guilty as anybody for looking at the level stats before starting, and a monster count of 494 was not exactly what I would choose to get acquainted with a new author. The ‘Son of Death Bear’ is a loyal supporter of PUSS series, and I am not aware of him working on many other projects. The first area hosted one of the hottest starts in Mapping at Warpspeed, using a large welcome committee, hitscanners that took cheap shots on the player, and an open layout that required Zorglo to climb on the surrounding staircase to find weapons and ammo. Curiously enough, every piece of equipment was obtained right away, including the BFG, and I was ready for full-on slaughter when I saw that oversized tech wall lowering.

Spoiler

To my surprise, it was only a screen hiding a truncated pyramid and a scant flock of flying demons. Pinkies patrolled a teleport pad, supposedly sending me inside the edifice. At that point, Beyond made a U-turn and started working as a surreal, mostly bizarre level. The stone chambers were full of weak monsters appearing in random ways, sometimes when expected (e.g.: SSG ambush), sometimes just sneaking behind me. The Berserk Pack overlooking the magenta pool and the exit building was a trap, dropping me in a damaging pit to fight Spectres and to contemplate a secret Soul Sphere that required the RSK. The enemies in the BSK chamber left their closets or appeared on the return path to prevent my retreat, so equipping plasma rifle was a good idea. Nothing happened when I opened the key vault and collected it.

Spoiler

The extensive network of caverns, seen from a hole in a previous chamber, was a time-consuming trek to collect bonuses, and possibly find the trapped RSK for the above-mentioned secret. Sector 322 failed to toss me into the enormous area beyond the blue door, a lost world big enough to contain a pyramid, hills, lakes, and three flying discs. The place was already full of elevated monsters and the ground was swarmed by teleporting creatures after my arrival. Killing everything could be done safely thanks to the available space, but it took forever. Compare this slow slaughter with the hyper-powered vendetta at the end of MAP20, or even with the less elaborate pyramid battle of MAP12, and you get plenty of reasons to distinguish a great arena from a less good one. Killing non-static elevated monsters consumes a lot of time, and in this case three were Cyberdemons! One of them could be telefragged if the elaborate secret leading to the Combat Armour was found, but you cannot look at the automap while they are shooting at you.

Spoiler

Doomcat designed a large, imposing environment with some unconventional ideas and nice sector art, including BluePineapple72’s zodiac-powered UFO that was difficult to see without mouse look. Not everything worked as intended: four enemies remained stuck in their conveyor belt closets, preventing me from scoring 100% kills; there was a soft-lock pit next to the secret Soul Sphere; and honestly 30 minutes for the blind playthrough sounded excessive. For being a 10-hour speedmap, Beyond was large and elaborate, a bit too much for its own good. To be enjoyable as its first area, the large arena fight should be scaled down, and some boring sections like the caves should be trimmed. It has not much sense though, as it would distort the map’s nature and require as much work as rebuilding it from scratch. Just keep it smaller next time, and you’ll get a top-notch speedmap with these fundamentals.

[Helm]

World 21 - Beyond
by Doomcat

I am back on my playlist bullshit, this time it's Smokescreen

This one has us beam down in the centre of a wide, round ravine where we can't even see the sky. Elevated perimeter peppered with mid tier taunts us while we circlestrafe to get our bearings. We eventually capture the higher ground and get a plasma rifle and then a rocket launcher for our bravery. Returning to ground level we can rocket everything slowly and studiously as we do a wide loop to carry an ever increasing revenant missile payload. Thus the pace of this map by Doomcat is established. Large, chaotic arenas that put an emphasis on consistency of execution and methodical play. However, there *is* a BFG just sitting there at the top of the horseshoe, you absolute madlad, go for it and then perhaps do this opening arena faster, Doomcat put the option there for you.

Once we pacify the landing pad canyon we collect our BFG the slow way and we lift the only switch that drops a huge blue wall that was segmenting our canyon from the side of a carved-out ziggurat. Up the stairs we go, finally glimpsing at the porous, trypophobic sky... good choice.

We teleport through the top pad of the ziggurat in what looks like a low ceiling temple network with a little bit of a breather fight against some small fry to occupy our mind while we get our bearings again. I fall down a toxic purple goop trap chasing a berserk, but make it back up alive. The map is playful and I do appreciate the change from open arena to a little linear encounter design before we open up again. 

We go through the ancient temple and get a very late SSG (I didn't get any secrets so there might be early stashes) but nothing to complain about when you're running around with a 0 day bfg and plasma rifle anyway. A minor tangle with some stealth marines nets us a blue key. My music went to a song about 'the Curse of Imhotep' which was very apropos to the theming of this part of the map.

Doomcat put a little 3 panel vista to 3 different skybox textures, clearly as fascinated as most of us have been with the gorgeous skybox choices in the AA asset pack :)

The temple breaks out to a cavernous hewn cave, we get a bit of environmental storytelling which is always good to contextualize our ingress. Beautiful clear pools of liquid casting bright light to their ceilings as well as candles illuminate the caves. We pick up health potions in the water, simulating doomguy taking a nice cleansing dip and drink, for now we exit into the final arena of the map!

One of the biggest and most imposing open spaces in the map set so far, only damaged in my eyes by the fact that it is fullbright all the way. But if this was made by Doomcat in 10 hours I can only congratulate and encourage and say they did better than I ever could do in a million yrs. So that's some balanced commentary re: lighting opportunities.

In this huge arena there is a ziggurat target obviously, there are cyberdemons sniping from 3 locations towards centre, there's every kind of monster (besides archviles, notably) making an appearance but the big problem is the endless deluge of hover skulls in the middle of the arena. Obviously we're decked out enough to eventually thin the herd but this takes a lot of patience and circlestrafing, I don't think there's many safer ways to approach. 

Eventually we loop our way to the top of the ziggurat, flip the switch for the exit and then realize with dread that if we want to do the full cleanup it'll involve either hunting for secrets under cyberdemon sniper fire, or perhaps Zorg will have to scrounge for all remaining ammo and do long range bfg shots on 3 different cybers... all that at this point just to to say Zorg did it. Decided to get a green hoof on, instead. 

First exiters don't deserve to give a lot of feedback because doom maps deserve replays and a deeper relation, so I won't go into too much detail about the cleanup perspectives because in the more important level to me it's worth stating: no mapper *has* to make a map for me, and certainly no mapper *has* to make a map maxable at all for me or make cleanup fun for me. A map could be anything, exit switch negotiable as far as I'm concerned. So it's more a note on whether the runner felt inspired to max and whether the mapper wants to incentivize that or not. The experience was exhilarating and memorable regardless of stats.

Zooming one whole level higher: if the mapper in question is young and this is some of their first stuff, I want to hit the fundamentals and applaud the mapper for putting together a cohesive and intentional design concept from beginning to end that is fun to play , challenging in precise ways and produces so much reflection for the user. Many people in the video-games industry toil for decades and are never graced with the skill, wisdom or providence to create something that another user has immediate fun playing. 

I really really enjoyed the map, it was a good challenge, too. Wish I had found a secret or two organically, perhaps. I will replay this one on my own time, I think this whole mapset warrants replays down the line. footage

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 21: Beyond

by Doomcat, Son of @Death Bear

 

Doomcat (along with Unicorn Skull, Daughter of Death Bear much less frequently) are names that pop up sometimes in PUSS since Speed Squared. Since Death Bear is a little too young to have kids old enough to make maps as good as what's here, probably, they're probably more like aliases created for the purposes of not seeming quite as prolific as he actually is, as well as map concepts that are perhaps a little less standardized than his average maps.

 

And that's the case here. A desert map with a healthy sprinkling of temples and a notable conservative color approach, this nevertheless does its best to impress with its scale, which is married with somewhat maz-y corridors to construct this.

 

At or near the beginning, we come into a large circular ravine with hell knights and Revenants on the ledges and pinkies and Imps below. Don't stop moving here because that would be a bad idea. Thankfully, it doesn't take too long to find the required weapons.

 

The temple then, is a somewhat tense but ultimately desultory jaunt through a temple where we end up missing the Super Shotgun for a bit due to the confusing layout. There's a location where the location opens into an open area of poison with pinkies on the bottom and Revenants and Imps inside the utilities building across from us. Rocketing them is probably ill-advised since they can be killed later anyway. At some point, we lower the barrier around the blue key, then wander into some underground tunnels, one of which leads the red key, sitting next to a group of scientists investigation the corpse of a human that'd been previously possessed. Perhaps we are getting close to earth at this point! Though there is a little double-pronged trap right before we get there but rocketing them, then chaingunning is enough for them.

 

After this, we don't bother going back to the redkey bars spotted earlier and instead, head to the end of corridor with the blue door, open it, and plunge from a non-backtrackable passageway into one of the most beautifully chaotic end fights presented thus far. While we still prefer Another Glance at the Paradise, there's a wonderful beauty to the monster activity here, perfectly earning the map 20 midi from AA ("Roof", although perhaps it's 19's midi, it's been a while). When there's as many monsters as there are here with as many rapid-fire attacks, their movement almost takes on a fascinating dance-like quality that marries particularly well to the Ancient Aliens themes.

 

Anyways, Guardians are constantly teleporting into the central collection of pools, there are 4 Cyberdemons on each of differently and non-symmetrically-aligned pillars whilst Mancubi and hell Knights fire on from the pyramid here, with Arachnotrons bringing up the rear and a likely toothless Spider Mastermind. Despite finding the secret behind the waterfall that opens the teleporter to kill a Cyberdemon fairly quickly, one of them kills us while we're trying to draw the bead on some guardians. No matter, a rewind later and running out of ammo, we climb the pyramid, push the switch, climb it again and realize we don't immediately access the exit, then turn back toward the exit sign to exit that way!

 

Some narrow if mildly cinematic corridors then curve around to the final mountain with our teleporter out of here, but not before reaching a room with a small collection of teleporters each taking us to different sections of the map, just in case we missed any secrets! Like the Supercharge on the pillar in the lake of poison mentioned earlier that counts as a secret, though the required key is very much non-secret. Then we finally return to the exit knoll and teleport whilst surrounded by buffalo symbols, probably hinting at...something

 

I wouldn't really call this among my personal favorites. It's better than Alien Tarturus but the corridors are a drag and the combat pacing, while technically constant, isn't really the most consistent throughout. The ending does lift it significantly, but perhaps not enough.

lmd_pussIX21.zip

[Celestin]

MAP21: Beyond by Doomcat

Spoiler

A large scale of this map hints it's a work of a less experienced mapper, so I won't be too harsh. The two main fights of the map (the hot start and the pyramid valley) are both set in gigantic arenas, so even though you're getting shelled from every direction, I didn't find it that hard to dodge. The details are fine and the second large arena is only outdone by Another Glance in terms of cosiness, however despite almost 500 monsters to kill (most of which are guardians in the second arena), it all feels vacant and overscaled. Also, having to kill 2 out of 3 turret cyberdemons yourself was just awkward. 

 

I did like the choice of music, "Atmosphere" from TNT:R. Other than that, a pretty weak map. I have a feeling Doomcat, impressed by the scale of some previous maps (especially those by muumi), tried to match their spectacle. My honest advice how to improve the future works would be to limit the scope and focus more on combat.

[continuum.mid]

World 21: Beyond (Doomcat, Son of Death Bear)

dsda-doom 0.25.6+dfsg-1 (Debian 12), Doom 2, Ultra-Violence, blind, pistol start, saves 

96% Kills, 93% Items, 93% Secrets, 26:13

 

Getting major "Worf, Son of Mogh" vibes from this mapper's name, for some reason.

 

Anyway, Beyond is an epic, or at least trying to be - a series of rather dramatic fights in open spaces. Getting through the first battle - a group of skeletons, Hell Knights, and hitscanners in a big room surrounded by rock slopes - was the part I had the most trouble with, as it requires dodging a LOT of Revenant missiles while, and I made mistakes more often than I was expecting. But, like all big fights in this map, the tiniest bit of practice trivializes it - you just need good movement to dodge and eliminate the tracers. Take out the hitscan turrets, the Knights will take care of the Revs, and then it's just rockets and plasma from there. After a button lowers a wall at painfully slow speeds, plasma (or BFG) the Pain Elemental and Cacos, and berserk-punch the demons guarding the teleporter to the rest of the map. There are several skirmishes in this Egyptian temple area and the connected cave which are, again, very easy on second try if not first. Just avoid the damaging slime, go for the SSG early, and if you take too much damage there's a very easy-to-find soul sphere secret after collecting the red key. You can even deal with some Revs and Pinkies guarding the exit early!

 

The sheer spectacle of the final fight is what I'll remember this map for, even if it isn't very hard. There's a massive crowd of Guardians, three perched Cyberdemons, a Mastermind, and Doom 2 enemies on consecutive levels of a pyramid. There's plenty of space to run around and few obstacles, so even masses of Revenant tracers won't be any threat, and by the time the monsters are done infighting, what remains is either remarkably easy to dodge or low-hanging plasma and BFG fodder. But it's still really fun to watch. I also like the exit UFO.

 

This is another map that sacrifices detail and good looks in favor of scale and spectacle, and I think I prefer the shorter but more detailed maps. But it's still very charming and fun.

[Death Bear]

2 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

Map 21: Beyond

by Doomcat, Son of @Death Bear

 

Doomcat (along with Unicorn Skull, Daughter of Death Bear much less frequently) are names that pop up sometimes in PUSS since Speed Squared. Since Death Bear is a little too young to have kids old enough to make maps as good as what's here, probably, they're probably more like aliases created for the purposes of not seeming quite as prolific as he actually is, as well as map concepts that are perhaps a little less standardized than his average maps.

This comment was humorous, and does a discredit to what we do. So for you, and anyone who read that statement, I can set the record straight on this.

 

I’ve spoiled it as it is “inside information” and I planned to save most of that for the end, in case anyone is interested in just playing maps and doesn’t care about my response to this statement.

 

For anyone with constructive feedback for a budding young level designer’s work, know I’ve appreciated it as I share it with Doomcat.
 

Spoiler

I’m old enough to have an adult kid, actually. I understand this may be an impression, (with as many times as you said “probably”), but for someone who has followed me considerably more than I’d probably like, I’m surprised you’d make that assumption. The great thing about my situation is that I’ve sat down and had time to share what I’ve done with my kids and teach them as I learn. And as they are interested in mapping, we’ve sat down and made maps together. We’ve been doing it since before Speed Squared. Hell, Doomcat’s been mapping since shortly after I started in late 2019. Even the earliest attempt I made at making a mapset in 2020 was usually use sitting around, me putting down lines, and them adding input. Brilliant kids. There’s things even my 9 year old son has taught me!

 

I don’t need an alias for not seeming prolific. I don’t know why anyone would do that for making it seem like I don’t make as many maps as I do. If I make a map by myself, I put my name on it. If I collab, I share the credit. “Wrecking Rainbow” was a notable exception that I was upfront with Blue about, and probably should attach my name to, even if it wasn’t any of my own design or design choices.
 

If a map is not typical Death Bear fare but I designed and made it, I put my name on it. I experiment, try new things, and build off what I’ve done in the past. If it’s not intense, if it’s unconventional for me, if it’s the same old damn thing I’m comfortable with…I put my name on it.
 

In the case of “Beyond”, I was very hands off in terms of touching the editor while it was being built. I played it after and fixed bugs at the very end. He made the the initial map design, I gave him multiple suggestions for helping it flow a bit better, and help him think through some early developmental problems he had. He built it with his hands. It was my idea to add the mini warp room at the end. This would not have been my choice of a map, though it obviously shares some of my quirks. But I suppose helping my nine year old son by lending suggestions based on my own understanding of level design would result in that.

 

I help encourage my kids’ interest in video games and being creative…I’m not sure I can see any benefit to making maps and telling everyone “Look! My kid did this!” if they didn’t so I looked like I didn’t map as often as I do. I’m just a proud dad who is thrilled to have an interest that my kids share. There are some days they want to map and ask to, when we can’t! That’s awesome to me!

 

Part of what makes PUSS series great is it’s meant for everyone, and to encourage learning and growth. It’s the center of what we do. Not sure why you’d think anything else, for someone who follows us and plays them vigorously. But you do you, I guess.

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Pistol-Start/Saves

Map 21: Beyond - Doomcat, Son of Death Bear

98% kills and 100% secrets

Time: 21:03

 

When I first saw the name of the mapper, I didn't take it literally. I didn't actually think Doomcat was Death Bear's son. I just assumed it was a friend that Death Bear brought in to the Doom community, or someone else who was so inspired by Death Bear's maps, that he became his protégé. But then someone left some constructive criticism for the map in the release thread, and Death Bear said he'd pass it along to his 11 year-old son. So yeah, Doomcat IS REALLY his son! What great father/son bonding! When I was Doomcat's age, I made a Duke Nukem 3D map with help from my dad who had made his own. I haven't seen my map since the late 90s/early 00s, but I remember it being very amateurish and obviously designed by a kid. Basic shapes and textures would open into weirdly scribbled rooms with new textures that clashed with the previous ones. Very basic level progression, rooms were basically empty with monsters placed willy-nilly. I can think of so many ways to improve that map. Doomcat's map that he made at the same age I made mine is infinitely better!

 

First off, we've got a hot start. We're in a valley filled with revs and hell knights up on the upper ledges, with a few hitscan and cacos to boot. You get the chaingun easily, but the rocket launcher and plasma are on the ledges, so you'll need to dodge the mid-tiers to get to them. Hitting the switch at the end lowers the giant wall here, revealing a few cacos and a pain elemental, and a pyramid. Climb to the top to grab both a chainsaw and a berserk to deal with some pinkies. Next up, we teleport to a mostly indoor area that's mostly incidental combat; something that's nice to see other than just big arena fights. You can finally grab both shotguns here (the SSG being boobytrapped) and there's a nice little megasphere towards the beginning as well. I didn't end up grabbing it since I had enough health and armor and found enough pickups along the way where I didn't need to backtrack for it. You only need the blue key to progress, and you'll find it pretty close to this entrance, with some small ambushes. The red key can also be found on a side path, and that can be used for a secret soul sphere. The blue door features the marquee fight: a giant outdoor battle with 3 sniping cybs, a pyramid full of baddies, and a giant teleporting in mess of stuff. You have more than enough room to run around, but cleaning up a few of the cybs can be annoying. The only dangerous part of this to me was climbing the pyramid, since it's hard to hit the enemies on the highest level from the ground, so you need to climb up to hit them, which usually resulted in me taking a rev rocket immediately upon greeting. A waterfall here has a switch behind it, lowering another waterfall to reveal a secret teleporter that allows you to telefrag one of the cybs. Make a tough jump from here to get the other secret, a mega armor and rockets. The top of the pyramid opens the bars by the exit sign, and from there we have a long trek to a teleporter that puts you in the exit UFO area. I had 6 enemies left, as is looks like they didn't teleport in. Overall, this was a very solid map. Looks pretty nice, had good texturing, played pretty well, and has a good MIDI pick. I wish I could have made something this good at their age!

[LadyMistDragon]

2 hours ago, Death Bear said:

 

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In the case of “Beyond”, I was very hands off in terms of touching the editor while it was being built. I played it after and fixed bugs at the very end. He made the the initial map design, I gave him multiple suggestions for helping it flow a bit better, and help him think through some early developmental problems he had. He built it with his hands. It was my idea to add the mini warp room at the end. This would not have been my choice of a map, though it obviously shares some of my quirks. But I suppose helping my nine year old son by lending suggestions based on my own understanding of level design would result in that.

 

 

I think I understand. He made the initial map design and you provided feedback with regards to flow and other things. I knew he couldn't be  too much older than nine (maybe 11 or 12) because of your own age (like 33 or 4)  But thanks for clarifying! Also, very impressive, really! I know I'd have given up within 10 minutes personally, but there's plenty of other creative pursuits that feel more intuitive to me probably

Edited April 21, 2023 by LadyMistDragon

[Book Lord]

MAP 22 – Passions Like Fire by @BluePineapple72

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

 

Passions Like Fire was the first of four astrology maps that Bluepineapple72 made ‘to impress someone he had a crush on’. While his loved one is shrouded in mystery, at least we got a beautiful lava fortress to admire, alternating vibrant red and orange inserts with dark brown and grey stone. Breaking off from the encirclement of zombies and many other mid-tier creatures was not easy, especially if you retreat downstairs just to bump into an Arch-Vile. You know I did exactly that. Staying on top of the hill and holding the ground under the zodiac-propelled spaceship was rough, but better than wandering in a random direction just to fall prey of the map’s non-linear challenges.

 

The level featured three separate challenges that could be accessed in any order and from various directions. Each one included a platform with a useful item and a zodiac symbol matching the ones on the flying disc: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. There was also a dim cavern with a hazardous pond, a Combat Armour, and a trapped bulk cell. This was the only optional encounter, and it was where I headed first, after dying once to the nearby Aries chamber. Revenants and Stealth Aliens ambushed me on the purple water, and I escaped with only a little more health than I had before. Finding one of the two secret Megaspheres or the BFG would have helped, but they were a bit too hidden to be searched under duress.

Spoiler

After eliminating the roaming monsters, I chose to tackle the Sagittarius fight first. The location was an arrow-shaped translucent platform where Sergeants teleported on ledges, Imps and Hell Knights tried to hinder my movement but were hit by the Arachnotron, sweeping the arena from the other side. This was the easiest one, as opposed to the Leo challenge that gave me a hard time. Once the rocket launcher was picked up, a closet full of Alien Guardians and Pain Elementals opened above my head, and a group of two Barons and two Arch-Viles descended from the staircase. No matter how efficiently I killed the flyers, the spawned Lost Souls always managed to harass me when I concentrated on the AVs, biting, blocking my run for cover and causing face rocketing. The corners of the arena were damaging and caused further panic, and ammo was not plentiful. This was hard as nails; I cannot tell how I managed to survive after 4-5 attempts. Fights like this one require analysis and more practice to be beaten consistently.

Spoiler

I knew what to expect from the Aries fight, since the Arch-Vile killed me on the first exploratory attempt. Picking up the Berserk Pack opened closets with Pinkies and Revenants, but it’s better to refrain from using fists and run for the rocket launchers instead. This became obvious once the Cyberdemon and the Arch-Vile joined the fray with their minions. The first wave should be killed deep in their alcoves, or else they might get in the way or be resurrected as meat shields for the healer. Once the boss had bitten the dust, Passions Like Fire was almost over. There was only a mildly awkward strafe run through the raised zodiac pillars, leading to the exit UFO. A good map with an interesting non-linear structure, I found some of its challenges a little too harsh and in-your-face to take on at leisure. The difficulty might vary a lot depending on the chosen order, and on the discovered secrets.

[Klear]

Mapworld22: Passions Like Fire by BluePineapple72

QuestZDoom, UV, blind, pistol start, saves

 

Spoiler

 

Another hot start! Well, I do get to consider my options before all hell breaks loose, but I fumble it almost immediately trying to quietly grab soulsphere, fall into lava, somehow take down an archie only to die to a revenant ambush. I still think I did relatively well all things considered. I might have to bind a walk button. In theory an analog stick gives me the ability to walk at exactly the speed I want, but I'm not very good at analog controls. I think I need VR controllers with WSAD buttons.

 

Second attempt starts much the same way, except I die a lot faster. Time for some cheese, which is going to be a recurring theme in this map. This time I don't shoot and just search for shelter, managing to get the drop on the arch-vile while being safe from everything but the cacos. Not much space to maneuvre though, so I brute-force the vile and take him down on my third attempt when I get the needed pain state. From there I can start to slowly chip away at the remains of the starting ambush. I don't do a very good job of that, but the plateau is eventually mine. Next order of business is more cheese.

 

Not willing to face the revenants again so soon, I instead start to remove enemies from the other side, abusing my 6DoF freelook to shoot at some hilariously squished imps and arachnotrons. Jumping down and strafing them to death would have been an option, but I'm very low on health, and I don't want to trigger any unexpected traps. Turns out the map doesn't really have any nasty surprises, just... nasty things. But you can see them coming. Well, what I can see coming is a big red box with a vile inside, so I go right instead. Health replenished, but ammo is starting to be dangerously low. There's a bit of a rhythm where I'm constantly trading ammo for health or health for ammo, never having an abundance of both. 

 

Winning a hard-fought battle for rocket launcher, I return to the laughing red box and just as I'm about to enter the next arena, I decide it's time for more cheese. Returning to the ledge overlooking the area, I shoot rockets through the open top of the box until I heard the vile death sound. And then some. Apparently a baron died too. I accept the damage from a rocket I shoot into a wall as penance and return to the arena. I expect more enemies to spawn, but certainly not a whole bunch of pain elementals. I can't even imagine how deaths I'd take here if the box behind my back contained more than a mortally wounded baron.

 

Next I finally face the revenants, an encounter which I've built up in my head as a terrible obstacle, but which I pass with no damage taken. I should have gone here  and picked up the megaarmour sooner =/

 

Onto the last fight, which starts out in chaos as revenants and demons chase me in cramped quarters and then casually adds another vile and a cyberdemon in the middle, why not? Well, I've got the tools to deal with it, though the demons do a great job getting in my way. I take some unnecessary deaths even when there's only the cybie to deal with, as I find it hard to track his movements behind the obstacle, but it's not a big problem. A big problem is still ahead of me - platforming.

 

You might notice that after failing my first attempt and before I quicksave, I pull out my rocket launcher AKA the hot quickload. I make good use of it multiple times. Maybe I need a run button rather than walk button.

 

This is another map where the difficulty is a lot higher than what I'd like to see when playing in VR, but I've quite enjoyed it nontheless. A big part is the visuals - for a relatively compact map there's a lot of visual variety, with natural caverns, brown ancient structures, high-tech holographic platforms and a sort of tech station, and everything nicely blends into its neighbouring regions so you almost don't notice the scenery has changed. In fact, I think this might be the best-looking map in the wad, though to be fair I've got a terrible headache today and as such I can't really remember anything before the Archvile Avalanche. It's definitely up there though.

 

 

 

 

[Celestin]

MAP22: Passions Like Fire by BluePineapple72

Spoiler

Project lead BluePineapple72 brings an open, interlocking map with three challenges, each marked by a zodiac symbol, linked together by incidental encounters. BTSX E2 midi is surprising fitting, as Passions Like Fire reminds me a bit of some non-linear maps from that wad, but in a much, much more compact and concise way. It looks good too, mixing Egyptian temple aesthetic with lava and blood-red sky.

 

Just like in the BTSX epics, you can play it any way you want, with only exit being locked out. The goal is to beat three fights, each of them will raise pillar, allowing you to cross the sea of lava and reaching the saucer. I first stumbled into Aries room, with pinkies and revenants, later joined by an archvile and a cyberdemon. This is probably the hardest fight of the map, especially if you haven't stocked on cells before. Sagittarius arena came second, it locked me with pain elementals and guardians in the front and a pair of archviles in the back. I was accidentally zapped by one and managed to jump over the bars, cheesing this room completely. The last one was Leo, a walkway with teleporting hell knights, shotgunners' balconies and arachnotron sniper. I've found a secret BFG before this fight, so it was the easiest part.

 

Overall, a good map - varied, pretty and replayable.