[Final release] “Hell's Bane” - an Ult Doom megawad

[RaRu Des2122]

Some intermediate results:

BEST MAPS:

 

1) E2M4: Hive of the Horde

2) E2M5: Chasm Control

3) E2M6: Smash It!

 

BEST MUSIC:

 

1) E2M2: "Looking Down the Barrel" by @wallabra

2) E2M4: "Don't Look It in the Eye" by @LightningBoltForever

3) E2M9: "Metrozipper" by @wallabra

 

 

Hell awaits us...

[Chris Hansen]

I’m glad to hear the midi composers get some recognition! It is so deserved!

[TheGreenZap]

I haven't been playing any Doom for a while, but have recently gotten the itch back. I am super excited to see this Chris, since playing Doom 1 stuff is my favorite thing to do. I'll be firing this up tonight.

[TheGreenZap]

8 hours ago, TheGreenZap said:

I haven't been playing any Doom for a while, but have recently gotten the itch back. I am super excited to see this Chris, since playing Doom 1 stuff is my favorite thing to do. I'll be firing this up tonight.

 

Ok I just had to go ahead and post again. I'm over 3 maps in and I love it! This is old school goodness at its finest! I like all of the nooks and crannies you have to find and go through. There is a lot of running and gunning which is a lot of fun. The music is killer!

I'm only on the 4th map, but if it keeps this up, it has to be an instant classic.

[RaRu Des2122]

EPISODE 3: Agonies of Damned

 

Today are presented:

E3M1: The Trickster's Behest
E3M2: Chart the Course for Carnage

E3M3: The Bloody Realms

 

***

 

 

I have already passed this map before as part of the 128kb challenge. I can say that it didn't feel complicated even then and it looks more appropriate on the E3M1 slot (especially without Warlord imps). But I definitely liked the new soundtrack (composers generally did their work very well with this and it's not very easy to make selections of the best tracks of episodes :D) more than the old one!

 

***

 

 

***

 

 

During the playing on this map, I got confused several times (especially in those moments when I was looking for secrets). Moreover, including it in the megawad did not change it in any way so I had difficulties both when it was just a single map and after that. Therefore, its move from the E3M1 to a later slot also looks quite justified.

Edited May 1, 2024 by RaRu Des2122

[RaRu Des2122]

Today are presented: 

E3M4: Obituary Written

E3M5: Twisted High

E3M6: The Remedy

 

***

 

 

A much lower amount of burning blood and lava makes this map much more comfortable for playing than it was in 2002ado (and even a half-fold increase in the number of monsters doesn't harm this feeling. However, it seemed to me that even if it was in the megawad it would not leave the E3M6 slot due to the presence of a secret exit on it but I was wrong.

 

***

 

 

***

 

 

Regarding this episode, the answer to the question about its best map is very simple for me - it is this one! The enchanting infernal blood-red and lava aesthetics, the scale of the buildings and surroundings, the overall scope and the extremely unusual way of visiting the secret level - all this is fascinating... You managed to make a masterpiece from scratch, thank you for it!

 

Does it mean that some other marine visits the Flay the Obscene level instead of us and we calmly go to No Way Back? :D

Edited May 2, 2024 by RaRu Des2122

[Chris Hansen]

Glad you enjoyed "The Remedy" and thank you for the nice words. It's a personal favourite of mine too. I loved making that level, never a dull moment. I got the idea for the secret exit one day and built it. The rest of the level is built around it subsequently. And yes, maybe our newly set free friend is the one who gets to go to another dimension where Flay the Obscene is not quite the same. Who knows... :)

[Arrowhead]

I've played most of your older backlog of maps, but for some reason I haven't gotten around to trying this out yet!

 

Love Ultimate Doom /Doom - very impressive to make a cohesive full replacement!

 

Keep up the good work! It's nice seeing massive projects like this, especially for the first game.

 

I have this loaded up in DoomLauncher, in my 'to play', so hopefully I get to that soon!

 

:)

 

 

[RaRu Des2122]

Today are presented:

E3M9: Flay the Obscene (secret level)
E3M7: No Way Back

E3M8: Death Will Be No Respite

***

 

 

A short, dynamic and slightly overpopulated map: it is very easy to get into the tightest clamp from two sides in one moment here. But I treat it rather positively because it is not inferior to many previous ones in terms of interesting gameplay and dynamism and at the same time everything fits compactly in it. It is absolutely impossible to get confused on it and it is unlikely that you can get bored in time - its size simply won't allow.

 

***

 

 

And immediately we get the biggest map not only in the episode but perhaps in the entire megawad. But the funny thing is, like the previous one, it didn't seem confusing to me at all - on the contrary, it was rather linear. The much difficult things were finding secrets (especially one with the soulsphere) and shooting all three quickly closing buttons for raising the second half of the bridge the first time. At first, there was not enough reaction to quickly turn around to where the next one opened  :D

 

***

 

 

A short and fierce battle with the spiderdemon worthily crowns the third episode! Of course, without the BFG9000 I would have been messing with him even longer but somehow it has long been the case that I do not drop weapons that I took earlier and I very rarely play every map with a pistol-start.

 

It's funny that the most densely populated map in the megawad is directly adjacent to the least populated one.

Edited May 2, 2024 by RaRu Des2122

[RaRu Des2122]

Some intermediate results:

 

BEST MAPS:

 

1) E3M6: The Remedy

2) E3M7: No Way Back

3) E3M9: Flay the Obscene

 

BEST MUSIC:

 

1) E3M2: "Aquatic Nightmare" by @Crunchynut44

2) E3M5: "After Hours" by @LightningBoltForever (I can't help myself but I like your third soundtrack out of the three I've met!)
3) E3M6: "The Awaiting Tempest" by @Korp

 

 

Only the episode "Mortal Misery" left. But as for me, the title of the episode is not very suitable because it seemed to me simpler than the second and the third...

Edited May 3, 2024 by RaRu Des2122

[RaRu Des2122]

EPISODE 4: MORTAL MISERY

 

Today are presented: 

 

E4M1: The Blessed Hex

E4M2: Hell Unleashed

E4M9: Good Vibrations (secret level)

 

***

 

 

Of all the maps here that I've been played so far, this one has undergone the biggest changes.

 

***

 

 

Although the revision is not so great here, it is still there: how much more comfortable it has become to play on this map! Just an order of magnitude compared to the original from 2002 A Doom Odyssey!

 

***

 

 

Interestingly, this map (like E4M1) was originally released for Doom II but then it was redesigned for the first part. In this regard, I have a question: @Chris Hansen, have you thought about making the second part of Hell's Bane by collecting the pack of maps made for Doom II? It seems to me that there is quite enough material for it and it may turn out well in the end because the first part turned out to be very high-quality!

[Chris Hansen]

It could be fun I guess. But I don’t want to be known as the guy who just re-releases old shit all the time. And I’ve done it a fair bit already. You know, like those old rock bands that just keep releasing remastered greatest hits that no one asked for just because they need the money. Also, compiling a megawad is hard and time consuming and I’m not sure I’ve got the stamina to do it again.

Edited May 4, 2024 by Chris Hansen

[RaRu Des2122]

Today are presented:

E4M3: Disreputable Stronghold
E4M4: High'n'Low
E4M5: Indomitable Haunt

***

 

 

Unlike the E3M4 and E4M2, I didn't notice much difference with the original megawad. Unless there are more monsters and the secret with the megaarmor is visited in a slightly more obvious way.

 

***

 

 

There are cool secrets on this map (I like to climb rocks and find some inconspicuous paths and stairs in the process of searching for them) and the yellow key is taken in a rather funny way. This place seemed much more complicated to me from the beginning due to the fact that I believed that only one specific chain of teleports leads to the key but it turned out that everything is much simpler and you just need to choose the right one :D

 

***

 

 

I think one of the reasons for the unprecedented feeling of lightness during the passage of the fourth episode is that most of its maps are quite short compared to those that we played in the second and third. Especially this one, which feels even shorter compared to the original.

[RaRu Des2122]

Today are presented: 

E4M6: Odious Grounds

E4M7: Bond of Hatred

E4M8: Deus in Absentia

 

***

 

 

***

 

 

***

 

 

A great final map and it's not easy to wish for the best! The final battle is quite hot but most of the monsters can simply be infighted against each other after that survivors can be easily finished off: there are enough free space for maneuvers. And the ending with moving to such a quiet and peaceful place as the cockpit of a spaceship (and most importantly, with alive Daisy!) especially by about the same teleportation that was at the end of the first episode and ended badly for us, surprised me at all! A wonderful ending to a great megawad!
 

I will summarize the overall results related to statistics and the best maps and soundtracks a bit later... And here are the ones that relate specifically to the Mortal Misery episode:

BEST MAPS: 

 

1) E4M2: Hell Unleashed

2) E4M4: High'n'Low

3) E4M8: Deus in Absentia

 

BEST MUSIC:

 

1) E4M1: "Xazozwag" by @Korp

2) E4M5: "Galvanise" by @Crunchynut44

3) E4M8: "Invite the Apocalypse" by @MFG38

Edited May 6, 2024 by RaRu Des2122

[RaRu Des2122]

And now it's time to sum up the overall results!

 

I think it is not entirely correct to choose only one map out of all thirty-six as the best because the megawad is divided into four episodes. So I'll pick one map from each episode and do the same with the soundtracks. Here are my favorites:

Episode 1: Trust the Pain to Me

- Best map: E1M8: The Grinder

- Best music: E1M3: "Relinquished Command" by @BattleCat

 

Episode 2: Ready for Blood

- Best map: E2M5: Chasm Control

- Best music: E2M4: "Don't Look It in the Eye" by @LightningBoltForever

 

Episode 3: Agonies of the Damned

- Best map: E3M6: The Remedy

- Best music: E3M2: "Aquatic Nightmare" by @Crunchynut44

 

Episode 4: Mortal Misery

- Best map: E4M8: Deus in Absentia

- Best music: E4M1: "Xazozwag" by @Korp

 

***

 

 

1) The bestiary of the first episode is almost standard for the first Doom. Spectres here are relatively rare: only on the secret and final maps and nowhere else.

 

2) Only imps and cacodemons appear on all maps of the second episode, the rest are missing once or twice (not counting bosses, of course). This is mainly observed again on the final and secret maps. Unless the Baron of Hell doesn't appear on E2M1 but in the case of all other monsters, this works.

 

3) In the third episode, an incomplete set of ordinary monsters can only be found on the last map.

 

4) If it weren't the lack of spectres on E4M7, we could say that in the fourth episode all eight types of ordinary monsters are present on all nine maps.

 

5) Spiderdemons and cyberdemons are very rare guests in this megawad and they can really be considered as boss monsters.

 

***

 

 

As you can see, the number of monsters and secrets on each episode is extremely even and stable. And the whole megawad feels exactly like this: the quality of the map doesn't slip and doesn't disappoint throughout the entire playthrough. If I found out that this is a compilation of recycled maps that have been released for 20 years, mostly alone and practically unrelated to each other, I I would hardly have believed it :D This means that @Chris Hansen and his team coped with their task perfectly and I thank you all for the pleasure!

[Chris Hansen]

Thank you so much for all the videos, comments and nerdy statistics! It’s been a pleasure following your progress.

[rita remton]

after several weeks on and off playing this megawad (playing roughly 1 map per day), i finally got to finish this behemoth. this is a simply gorgeous vanilla-looking map with near perfect map flow - the pathways guide the player to its objectives to the point i rarely ever need to use the automap to find my way. and the gameplay? chef's kiss! from the mapset's difficulty, traps, transitions of rooms from one form to another, to monster placements using mainly low to mid tier monsters - just sublime! and going through the entire full megawad did not feel draggy one bit! anyway, a more concise form of my summary could be found [here]. good luck! :)

[Chris Hansen]

Thank you for all the support and love for my project, @rita remton! I am humbled by your praise and very happy to hear that you were having a good time with Hell’s Bane. Sounds like you had an experience that was close to what I had hoped for.

Edited June 6, 2024 by Chris Hansen

[TMMMS]

i played e1m7 today but i cant get to the megaarmor secret for some reason

 

i watched the following video but i dont get how the secret wall is opened

 

 

[RaRu Des2122]

@TMMMS, time 1:53 - you need to shoot to a vent immediately after the yellow door. Go through the door, turn around and you will see it. It will open after the shot and you can use the button behind it to get to the megaarmor.

 

Perhaps you were misled by the fact that I opened the secret at the beginning of the level but visited it and took the armor only at the very end.