The DWmegawad Club plays: The Rebirth

[continuum.mid]

MAP08: Pump Station

Crispy Doom 5.12.0 (Debian 12), Doom II, Ultra-Violence, blind, continuous

Kills: 100%, Items: 94%, Secrets: 33%, Time: 8:36, Saves: 5

 

In some ways Pump Station is the opposite of the level it follows. It's actually somewhat well-designed visually - a techbase building with an inner courtyard and underground sewers. But the combat is so-so, mostly relying on peekaboo shooting and choosing the right weapon. All the small clusters of hitscanners are easily dispersed with the chaingun, Pinkies are easily handled by standing in a corner with the SSG, and whenever Arachnotrons and Mancubi appear there's ample cover. That doesn't make this level unfun, though - indeed, it's one of the best in the set so far, managing to momentarily transcend the "generic" feel the WAD has had up to this point.

 

Also, it has one of the best MIDIs so far!

Edited June 10, 2023 by continuum.mid

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 10: The Machine

100% kills and secrets

Time: 10:06

 

This map has my favorite layout so far in the WAD. Lots of playing with verticality here, and the circular rooms are a nice touch. This map isn't too bad on the difficulty meter. I made it harder on myself by grabbing that hidden invis before the red key fight, so it ended up taking a lot longer than normal to clear out the mancs there. The teleport ambush here with the close quarters imps is one of the more dangerous fights in the WAD so far, especially if you're like me and don't use the plasma rifle cause you forgot you had it. Chaingun is fine tho. There's a good amount of hitscan in this level, especially in the early part when you hit the giant circular hub where they can snipe you from across the room. This does make shells and bullets pretty plentiful, especially with the chaingunner trap towards the northern part of the map. There's a few teleporters that take you to the other side of the hub for more convenient traversal if you don't feel like dealing with the lift area to the north. Overall, another solid map that does feel a little better than the others so far. 

[Capellan]

MAP09 & MAP10

 

 

[Veeda Vidlak]

Back from a business trip, got a few levels to cover.

 

Map05 “The Complex”

 

Here we have a level that applies genuine pressure at the start. A platoon of chaingunners on a far ledge produces withering suppressive fire but if you go right (south) immediately and open the western door you can kill two chaingun guys and get their weapons to fight back. Unfortunately, the energy tapers off for the remainder of our stay, which is another building crawl with constrained ammo. Again, I like the layout but single shotgunning a bunch of cacos and specters after the opening feels like a step back in comparison. Also, one of the teleporters at the end unceremoniously sent me on a one-way trip to the exit switch, requiring noclip to go back for the last kill (a backtracking method should have been provided).

 

Overall not bad, though I liked Sewage and Paranoya a little more.

 

Map06 “Colossus”

 

The megasphere at the beginning gave me an ominous tingle. Upon hitting the switch it becomes apparent it’s for absorbing splash damage from cyberdemon rockets. Appreciated, if overkill. The remaining 16 enemies are all pinkies and headless zombies, presenting no threat whatsoever (same with the spider). Hit a few switches and telefrag cybie to exit in under a minute.

 

This style of map has been done better quite a few times, but it’s too short for me to have problems with it. Onto the next one.

 

Map07 “Cremation”

 

Get a move on right away or you’ll get pinned in the tunnel at the start nevermind the pinky can’t get in there. Moving on we have a solidly designed key hunt through a series of small crypts/temple structures. I do feel like the ambushes are less effective than in map03, all these pinky traps are neutralized by just leaving the room, which is the intuitive choice given how telegraphed they are. I will praise the sparse damaging floor though, which is nicely implemented to pressure your limited resources.

 

Again, ammo management is important. I have to imagine the hell noble closet past the blue door is awful without the rocket launcher, but with it I enjoyed the beatdown. Afterwards we come to the final mancubi arena which would be threatening except you can just leave (they can’t follow you into the tunnel). Gah! Don’t be afraid to try to kill the player. Maybe I’m underestimating them, but I wish this was a lock in fight (with armor provided to take hits). As is, it’s more grindy than anything.

 

Complaints of combat design aside, Cremation is good enough. A step up from the last couple maps. It’s also not a dead simple knockoff (I didn’t even realize I was on map07 the first time).

 

Map08 “Pumping Station”

 

Here we go. Pumping Station eschews the shell/bullet based ammo management game in favor of a faster-paced approach. It isn’t hard, but the freedom to unload a heavier arsenal (including a secret plasma) feels liberating. This wad doesn’t drag, but in this map I was having fun pretty much the entire time just killing things (its the simple pleasures). It’s one of the better looking maps too, so hopefully it’s a sign of overall improvement going forward.

[RHhe82]

MAP11: Teleport Center. Played on DSDA v0.26.0, UV, PS. 89/89 K, 4/4 S, 6/6 I. Comp. time 11:01

 

With a title like 'Teleport Center', I was expecting some sort of Gate to Techbase Limbo :P So, another solid map; It feels as if the maps were made in order, because with each passing map seem to be getting better. This time we're seeing some traps that resemble Plutonia: the one where you pick the key and the chaingunners are revealed behind you, along with some pinkies to ruin your day. Nothing difficult, but still.

 

Perfectly playable with pistol start, I even missed the chaingun secret at the start, and found it only after clearing the rest of the map.

 

Love the midipack music. I first heard it in Solar Struggle, but I guess this is where it comes from.
 

[Roofi]

Map 11 "Teleportation Center"

 

 

The first time I played this map on continuous, I thought this level was going to be an ordeal in pistol-start because of the narrowness of the places and the homogeneous groups of mid-tiers which destroy any opportunity for infighting. It was fortunately not the case at all ! The numerous zombies give all the ammo I needed and I further realized that punching the pinkies without the berserk is unnecessary.

 

Teleportation Center is another moody tech base but the stewboy's midi really sublimates the ambiance. I think it's my favourite midi from the pack from what I played.

Your level don't need to look like an Ancient Aliens with ton of colors in order to make your level enchanting,  stewboy's midis are good enough on their own!

 

The secrets are quite necessary here but most of them are very easy to find. Another good map.

 

Grade : B (14/20)

 

NB : I didn't talk about it in the previous maps but the silent plasma gun is.... very unsastifying to me. Fortunately, there's still the sound of the impact of the projectiles, but I get the impression that the weapon is much less powerful without the noise.

 

 

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP11 - Teleport Center (100%K/100%I/75%S):

The best one so far, feels like a TNT map, another really nice tech-base level with just a more solid layout and gameplay. You can feel gameplay starts getting a little bit more polished, as this one is pretty friendly for pistol-starts. It is also good looking compared to other levels in this mapset. It feels right to play, and overall more enjoyable than previous entries. Still rather short, but that's fine by me.

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP11

MAP05
MAP08
MAP10

MAP03
MAP04
MAP07

MAP02
MAP09
MAP01
MAP06

 

 

[DFF]

Map11: Teleport Center
K: 100 | I: 60 |S: 50
Gzdoom | Mods: Rebirth midi pack, Trailblazer 1.5, Corruption cards 5.0
Cards: Zombies fire rockes upon seeing the player, archviles get grenades, plant pods spawn random monsters

I was worried that the double zombies would mean taking the RL card would be devastating. The plant pods summon random monsters and are randomly spawned on the map, so should add some variety. I also found another wild card, as I realized a telltale sign that one is in the map if i can hear a door opening sound upon map start. There's likely a chance for one in every map but if its not close to spawn i have no way of catching it.

 

Teleportation center doesn't feel like a more modern episode closing, but is another decently laid out base assault. Standard hallmarks of crossing paths multiple times to reach different locked doors, good height variation, and decent detailing. The traps here were not all to memorable but the hordes of zaombies was proving difficult at times. The map ends with the player activating the main teleporter in a setpiece mini-arena that is nicely designed and does some good storytelling. The arch-vile appears as the guardian of EP1, but is a bit of a meek showdown as depending on the computer sequence pressed, its stuck on a ledge and easily killed.

A decent map with a good setpiece. I'm yearning for something a bit more by the 1/3rd mark though.

Rankings:

Spoiler

 

Map05
Map10
Map03

Map11
Map08
Map09

Map07
Map02
Map04
Map06
Map01 

 

 

 

Cards:

Spoiler

 

plant pods spawn random monsters
One cursed enemy grants random enhancements to enemies on death
demons shove things
former humans get grenades
Demons occasionally transform into pain.E when damaged
pinkies become fast
Zombies can turn into imps when damaged

Some Pinkies lunge at you
Imps have improved aim
Pinkies consume lesser monsters

double former humans

 

 

[Pechudin]

MAP11: Teleport Center (PS, UV No-Save)

Very grateful for ammo and a fairly easily accessible armour in this one. Most of the action happens in the side rooms and ledges overlooking the central ... storage area? Still, the map is fairly easy, barring a couple of spicy moments (the SSG Chaingunner ambush, the Arachnotron drop). The Revenant/hitscanner ambush can safely be bottlenecked into a corridor, and the final fight can also be disarmed by picking off the perched Archvile before approaching the teleporter, and only then triggering the Revenants. All in all, a breather map. Still, I almost prefer the stinginess of MAP09 compared to this, well, conventionality.

 

I guess I'm going to echo the sentiment that the maps thus far, with few exceptions, are fairly unexceptional. 6/10.

[Book Lord]

MAP 11 – Teleport Center

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

 

A rocket launcher right from the start? Finding enough ammo for it might require some exploration, but at least taking out the Arachnotrons in the central room and the map’s bulkiest inhabitants should be possible even on pistol start. A host of hitscanners patrolled the walkways and corridors of Teleport Center, and considering the backtracking in store it was a good choice to mow them down as soon as possible. The path to the east ended in the BK room, which might be deadly to the unprepared Doomguy with its Chaingunner & Pinky combo. The SSG must be earned, and improvising was unlikely.

Spoiler

I must cross the map from the east to the west, but I stopped to kill Mancubi and pick up a secret plasma rifle. More fatsos appeared before I could find the YK, and two of them almost got me while I was finishing off the Arachnotron. I backtracked to the BK chamber to access the control room with many Commandos and an easy Soul Sphere secret. The extra health and cell pack found good use in the last portion of the level, spiced up by sudden Revenant aggressions. The titular Teleport Center required me to operate the terminals to activate the machine and release the Arch-Vile inside. This ended the first episode, set in Starbase Omega2 according to the info file, and from the next map we will follow the standard Doom II progression to the corrupted city theme. The last four maps have shown considerable improvement in the design, I hope it continues in the second episode.

Spoiler

 

[cannonball]

MAP10 - “The Machine”

The circular layout certainly stands out against most of the levels so far and the combat is generally reasonable and engaging. The rocket launcher beyond the blue door suggests a fight that never comes, which is a shame.

Now I understand why this had to be done, but releasing harmless cacodemons stuck behind blocking lines to stop the player sequence breaking the map just doesn't look good in my opinion. The map however does offer a little bit of welcome flair, that is appreciated in the long run.

 

MAP11 - “Teleport Center”

A reasonable map that ends on a kind of underwhelming note. If this was the first archvile, then it might have had more meaning to it, but the first one appear at the exit of map07. The combat is generally okay with mid-tiers generally used well, but the layout requires a fair amount of backtracking that could have been avoided.

Overall this is in the better half of the maps so far, but I have yet to find anything that really stands out.

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 11: Teleport Center

100% kills and secrets

Time: 9:07

 

This map has a little more of a tense feel to it, mainly due to the lighting. There's a lot of hitscan in this map, which kinda surprised me. While the chaingun firing squad is scary, most of the rest isn't too bad, especially if you take your time and chaingun everything in the face. The blue key fight is a good ambush, with the 3 chaingunners and pinky combo. The yellow key is underwhelming tho, with just a lone arachnotron out there at first, but 2 mancs join the party after grabbing it, but they're so far apart you can take one out without worrying about the other. The few rev closets can be a little scary as well. The archie at the end would have been a cool reveal if we didn't already have one in map 7. Overall, not too bad, but nothing really remarkable outside of the lighting. 

[continuum.mid]

MAP09: The Depot

Crispy Doom 5.12.0 (Debian 12), Doom II, Ultra-Violence, blind, continuous

Kills: 97%, Items: 63%, Secrets: 0%, Time: 8:25, Saves: 5

 

This sewer level contains some of the more interesting action in the WAD, introducing the plasma rifle, which becomes instrumental in this map's two revenant ambushes - one in the same room as the plasma, and one guarding the yellow key. It's also full of damaging slime sections, but I think Vader does it right here - giving the player walkways with which to avoid it, and providing the bare minimum of radsuits when it is mandatory, so that you'll take some damage if you aren't fast enough but can avoid it. Aside from Revenants, this map is full of well-placed Chaingunners, and Cacodemons appear as snipers in some rooms. It's interesting how each of these maps seems to focus on three or four monsters - in this case there were Chaingunners, Revenants, and Mancubi, but no Arachnotrons, Arch-Viles, Hell Knights, or Barons.

[continuum.mid]

MAP10: The Machine

Crispy Doom 5.12.0 (Debian 12), Doom II, Ultra-Violence, blind, continuous

Kills: 99%, Items: 50%, Secrets: 0%, Time: 10:26, Saves: 0

 

The scene of the central area elevates this map right from the start. Though the invisible walls are a little frustrating, it shows more visual imagination than most of the previous maps. And the structure of The Machine, with surrounding rooms and hallways that gradually open up deeper rings of the central area, and subsequent keys, makes for great exploration. Despite being easy enough to beat without saves, The Machine's combat is consistently fun, consisting of small ambushes of Cacos, Mancubi, and fodder that keep the player moving and shooting. Early on, it's fun to snipe enemies from the other side of the central area, and the exit's three waves of ambush bring The Machine out on a high note.

 

I think I have a new favorite of the set so far. This is one map I would think is good in any WAD, whereas the previous highlights were merely reminders that this largely generic mapset has a pulse.

 

Also, I'm starting to notice the new Plasma sound; it's nice and punchy, I love it.

Edited June 11, 2023 by continuum.mid

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 11: Teleport Center (pistol-start)

 

This map wasn't really too hard, although one would be advised to save their rockets especially for the last deadly couple of waves. Really, it's expected to shotgun the Mancubi here and it isn't really too hard. The Arachnotrons in the one central room are probably best disposed of ASAP. The demon/chaingunner room is just really strange and until we noticed the super shotgun sitting in an exposed corner, seemed too much of a dice roll to bother with. Although at least we had enough plasma cells for the first Revenant ambush encountered on the way from the yellow key. We're too used to modern Doom and thusly expending ammo when we're given it. The second Revenant trap, shockingly, did not kill us, although our ammo stores were such, we had to back out before we could kill all of them. The Arch-vile at the end was not quite so easy as what some other people have said. That is a fairly swanky vanilla Doomcute machine though. Good chapter closer!

 

 

[Book Lord]

MAP 12 – Home?!

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

 

I surely would not be eager to pistol start Home?!, since the wall of Chaingunners appearing in a cage and the number of Pinkies behind the front door were not balanced for the weaponry in the first rooms, unless you find the curious way to access the secret BFG. Only ammo for a couple of shots was provided, and the extremely cramped structure of this warehouse did not allow for efficient use of the big gun. The central courtyard with two Arachnotrons, elevated Commandos, and Imps coming from multiple directions, might easily catch the player in the grips. The freebie Blue Armour deflected some damage that I inevitably sustained, but healing was not plentiful on UV. Finding the bountiful secret in the northern area should not be taken for granted in a blind run.

Spoiler

Once the courtyard and the surrounding areas had been cleared, the RK and the YK could be collected in quick succession. No traps were sprung after the pickup, and the only additional group of enemies was the Imp swarm emerging from the Berserk Pack closet. The placement of this power-up was weird, as it was granted after killing almost all Pinkies in the level. The last courtyard contained fierce resistance, but it was largely nullified by an Invulnerability secret, reminiscent of the Blur Sphere in MAP02, and by the readily accessible exit switch, easy to hit in case of trouble. Home?! received a bespoke midi composed by Vader, which along with the odd title gave this map more personality than demonstrated by its visual construction and gameplay.

Spoiler

 

Edited June 12, 2023 by Book Lord

[Capellan]

MAP11 & MAP12

 

 

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP12 - Home?! (98%K/76%I/50%S):

This one was quite short, and it was not bad, but did not come without its problems, there is a BFG right next to you from the start, but don't even ask me how to get it, so we skip that one. There are TONS of optional areas in this map, and for some reason, at the end there is an I-sphere that completely nullifies the challenge of the last section of the level, for some reason. The level also ends abruptly after the street fight.
Here we can start seeing more new textures, but they appear in a shy way, one by one, every few maps or so, and Vader does not throw every single one to the mix at one moment. So the most amusing thing here is starting to be spotting new textures every time you find one. Just like watching paint dry.

Order of preference:

Spoiler

 

MAP11

MAP05
MAP08
MAP10

MAP03
MAP04
MAP12
MAP07

MAP02
MAP09
MAP01
MAP06

 

 

[Pechudin]

MAP12 - Home?! (PS, UV No-Save)

Back to that nice feeling of ammo starvation and punishment. The Chaingunner pop-up at the start put a wide grin on my face (in the "oh you cheeky bastard" sense). The two adjoining rooms hold some light opposition, but also a Mancbus ammo sink. Do NOT go into that room, as you will need 10 shells or 50 odd bullets you will expend on it. Luckily, the almost indispensable BFG is not in the Mancubus room.

 

I died 4 to 5 times on this map, mostly due to the combination of no ammo and very tight quarters. The central area is crucial for your freedom of movement, but it will be occupied by two Arachnotrons which mostly make the space inaccesible. This is where you spend one of your BFG shots. Once the Arachs are dead, head to the side room with another Arachnotron, where a crucial box of shells lies. After that it's pretty much done, any challenge that might lie there is nullified by an Invulnerability sphere. I kept it for a suspected ambush at the exit switch, but none was to be found.

 

Lore and aesthetics-wise, it seems like we are on Earth. I think we were also on Earth before (considering sewers, pump stations and brick ruins in the previous maps), but possibly in some facility far away - seems like teleportation is a viable transport option in the future.

 

Personally, I liked the map, to be precise the aspect of figuring out which fights to avoid and which to use my resources on. That being said, for those less observant (again, BFG is almost mandatory) this, I feel, will be an immensely frustrating map. I did not find the secret inside the spiral staircase until the end, at which point it was useless. Vader does not seem to mark most of his secrets with clues - often one needs to look at the automap or just keep pressing on walls hoping they will open up. Still, I enjoyed this one. 7/10.

 

EDIT: I punched out all the Pinkies without the Berserk pack to save ammo.

Edited June 12, 2023 by Pechudin

[Veeda Vidlak]

Map09 “The Depot”

 

The Depot has a superb starting area, challenging the player with dangerous hitscanners in a precarious setting. Following this is by far the hardest level yet courtesy of its vicious ammo deprivation. Do yourself a favor and open the small door to the south first to get the SSG, my blind run I didn’t do that and had to dance with a bunch of revenants with the single shotgun. Said blind run then ended when I ran out of ammo in the yellow key sewers and was unable to get up the imp infested lift leading to the exit at the end. Next attempt I looked more diligently for secrets and found a (non-secret) berserk pack which solved the ammo problem. You can use it to kill every enemy in the level with patience.

 

There is a secret rocket launcher (in the yellow key sewers) and anyone skittish at berserking everything can still get 100% kills with it. Otherwise make every shot count and try to induce some infighting. I would recommend leaving the cacos in the blue key room alone to save some shots, they can be dispatched with the RL later. I’ll also mention I’m a fan of this map’s midi, which fits its harsh nature quite well.

 

The Depot is an interesting level. It's my favorite so far because I like to see some meanness but the “YMMV” factor is assuredly the highest of the maps we've seen. At the very least, it breaks the megawad out of the “this level’s fine I guess” doldrums its been in up to this point. I find its beneficial for a megawad to have a map like this to keep ennui from setting in.

[Pechudin]

41 minutes ago, Veeda Vidlak said:

At the very least, it breaks the megawad out of the “this level’s fine I guess” doldrums its been in up to this point.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. This gives it some uniqueness, even if the uniqueness is completely self-imposed by the player. I guess It's kinda like a less-stringent Tyson or Pacifist challenge, in the sense that they can transform an otherwise okay map into an interesting experience.

Edited June 12, 2023 by Pechudin

[RHhe82]

MAP12: Home!?. Played on DSDA v0.26.0, UV, PS. 75/75 K, 4/4 S, 43/43 I. Comp. time 14:27

 

Playing blind, this one is interesting with a pistol start. At first I was really trying to conserve the ammo by chaingun-sniping and punching pinkies and imps without berserk pack. I'm not sure what reveals the berserk pack, but it's situated in an awful place. If I had known how to get the BFG from the get go, it'd been easier. The said BFG secret I find stupid: you need to walk over some crate. Not that it's difficult, but I stumbled across it by pure accident when looking for secrets, because the arachnotrons were still there and I had almost no ammo.

 

I tried replaying the map, knowing what I know, and managed to reduce completion time to 6:44.

[Celestin]

MAP12: Home?!

Spoiler

I only enjoyed this map because I decided to play it again with a knowledge where the secrets are. My first run was a disaster. I was constantly running low on health and ammo, resorting to punching pinkies with no berserk and leaving arachnotrons in the courtyard alive. Had my story ended here, I would have torn this map to shreads. However, before quitting, I've looked up what secret had I been missing. A bit of searching and it turns out the BFG in the starting room is accessible after all.

 

So I replayed the map, went for the BFG as soon as I could and used to to kill the arachnotrons that patrolled the coutryard. With them out of the way, it was much easier to move around and I had more shells and bullets for the rest. Suffice to say, I was surprised how smoothly this run went.

 

So yeah, it wasn't as hard as MAP09, just expecting foreknowledge from pistol-starters. Maybe that's the whole point, I'll see if I am willing to give other maps another chance.

[Roofi]

Map 12 : Home?!

 

 

A rather unremarkable opener for the second episode. The usage of mancubus and arachnotrons is rather clumsy due to the lack of open areas and the ammo is rare another time. Actually, ammo is here and there is an available berserk but are not directly detectable. I punched several demons without the berserk because I forgot where the power-up was for instance. Fortunately, contrary to "The Depot", the hostility toward pistol-starting just makes the things more tedious here.

 

Overall, I think the subtle introduction to the urban aesthetics with the new textures and the hellish red sky are what grabbed my attention the most here. And, thank you for the BFG !

 

Grade : B-  (12/20)

 

 

 

[Veeda Vidlak]

Map10 “The Machine”

 

The Machine is based around a terraced, circular pit and carries a slightly higher monster count than we’ve been getting. We get a break from our ammo famine safari so enjoy it while you can. I’m a big fan of the view from the upper rings of the structure, enough to overlook the force fields preventing early access to the bottom. Navigating around the level is also pretty interesting and I continue to be impressed by Vader’s map layouts.

 

Combatwise, the map is a fun romp. The ambushes are getting better again, the imp assault at the yellow key being the standout encounter for me. The limited plasma ammo permits blowing through one or two fights without effort, with the aforementioned imp attack probably being the best use of it. I will say giving the rocket launcher right before a fake exit drop is pretty rude but with the megaarmor you should be able to tank the coming facerocket if you hit the switch with it still out.

 

This is a good one. It does a lot of things right and is probably one of the levels I’ll remember when looking back on The Rebirth.

[cannonball]

MAP12 - “Home?!”

 

The supplies issue is nowhere near as bad as map09, helped by the fact that you can often grab the chaingun from at least one of the dudes in the BFG secret (Which happened here). Overall this map feels fairly comfy and a couple of the beefier monsters can be distracted or just left until the end when you can grab a rocket launcher that feels like it was placed in a not very helpful position.

Overall this on the whole felt rather comfy, but there are a couple of clunkier moments. The thematic whilst not deviating too much from episode 1 does give enough distinction thanks to the new sky. 

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 12: Home?!

100% kills and secrets

Time: 6:25

 

This is a pretty modest ep starter. I'll be honest, the only part of this map that has any danger to it is the chaingunner trap in the opening room. Everything else is easypeezy, especially with the BFG those chaingunners were guarding. While finding the secret was incredibly easy, I did like how it was implemented because it's not too obvious. Use the BFG on the arachnotrons at the bottom of lift going into the courtyard, and you're golden. There's a few more mancs and spiders later on, but that's about it for midtiers. It's fodder the rest of the way out. The hidden invul at the end is pointless. There is no fight in this map where having that is helpful, especially in that final room. Heck, the invis worked well for me in that room cause I got to rocket the arachnotron before it noticed me. Overall, this was an ok ep starter. Nothing challenging at all, and the BFG and power-ups just reinforce that. 

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 12: Home? (continuous)

 

I was in a convo on Discord, but I mean, this is the same bland stuff, only meaner. It's possible I would've found the BFG sooner I suppose, but there are reason I didn't pistol-start. The secrets seemed random and under no circumstances is this anything but a generic techbase. Final courtyard is nice, and I guess it being open-ended is fine. Good midi too.

 

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by LadyMistDragon

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP13 - Condemned Streets (100%K/I/S):

Oh, I had to mute the music since D_RUNNIN, and also I don't like to load an additional file to have the MIDI pack, so....
This one may be the hardest one yet,  not only because of ammo, but because it is actually difficult. The setup is similar to the previous level, which involved somewhat of a city area. This time, the map is a little bit more open in spaces. Snipers here are just hell, this is why I think this one is quite difficult. I did not get interested with this one, as the ammount of brown textures here, combined with that sky-box makes me feel quite bored. There is an annoying cyberdemon you should choose to pass-by, and not be dumb like me that tried many times to kill it. 
Again, as with MAP12, there is lots of optional stuff, specially at the end, which, you have the exit switch already served to you, but you can decide to do more fights to get an automap, some goodies to 100% this level, and be fully or partially stocked for the next level. I like optional stuff when it is well done, I don't think this peaks my interest that much. At least I got stacked for MAP14, and this is a clear indication this was not suited for pistol-starting.


Order of preference:

Spoiler

MAP11

MAP05
MAP08
MAP10

MAP03
MAP04
MAP12
MAP07
MAP13

MAP02
MAP09
MAP01
MAP06

 

I'll be honest with you guys I don't even know how to rate most of the maps, since most of them are at the same level.

[Book Lord]

MAP 13 – Condemned Streets

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

 

The scale of the second episode remained small even with the battle shifting to Earth’s Condemned Streets. The level featured two outdoor areas with buildings full of windows and Imps behind MIDBRONZ, an everlasting trope, and paved roads oddly ending on brick walls, fountains, or the building themselves. The wide vistas allowed to appreciate the vividness of the urban sky, but Doomguy must keep an eye on Chaingunners popping up on elevated spots. A short trip to the warehouse on the left was recommended for pistol starters since it contained the SSG and other useful stuff. The rocket launcher was behind the wooden door, but Revenants were ready to attack as well.

Spoiler

After a short trip to a storage room to flip a switch, I entered a small patio with several monsters and a Cyberdemon roaring in a water pit. When I collected the BK and the complimentary BFG, I was sure the boss would emerge and attack me as soon as I opened the door. I three-shot him and proceeded towards the north-eastern building with the YK. The swarm of Arachnotrons appearing in the streets was not a problem with the collected rockets and cells, and the same could be said for any resistance in the back alley before the exit. The library concealed valuable goodies, including a Megasphere, but the Revenant ambush caught me well as I was expecting the central bookcases to lower, not the corners. Condemned Streets was a bit too short, but the gameplay was fine and straightforward. There was just enough detail to mask the boxy forms of the buildings and make them less abstract. A solid city map with a few interesting surprises.

Spoiler

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by Book Lord