The DWmegawad Club plays: Plutonia Revisited Community Project 2

[cannonball]

If it helps it may be worth breaking up the secret maps across the 15th/16th (so play maps 15/31 today and 32/16 tomorrow).

Of course my opinion is invalidated by the fact that I technically don’t have to play map32 and only need to supply a rather complicated history as to how my only submission in this set ended up here.

[Catpho]

The two secret levels are fairly demanding, and since they are kinda "bonus" in nature I think it is fine to play them at any point in the month going forward.

They are also Catpho friendly in terms of post scheduling :D

Edited July 15, 2023 by Catpho

[NuMetalManiak]

From what I remember:

 

NSAS was made with the intention of being a collaboration where I'd do one-half of a layout and send it over to an interested party to do a second half, however that may go. In the end I made a level that...was about the size of an average Plutonia level. Oops. Regardless, about 90% of the map was actually my initial doing. Archi added specifically the alternate exit, the YK subquest, and a couple of rooms at the south end, plus some gameplay balancing.

 

The main ideas were of course the dangerous hub with the archie and yes I wanted that annoyance of the resurrecting chaingunners, but after clearing out specific sections you crush one arch-vile allowing you to safely kill one chaingunner. The sewer part really does suck and I just Whispers of Satan'd it, for lack of a better term. It was the last area I finished and I didn't know what else to do (also the NE caged monster I wanted an arch-vile but I was told it would screw with speedrunners more).

 

Cheesewheel's MAP15 is really fun by the way. Also funny Himari avatar @HiMyNameIsChair

Edited July 15, 2023 by NuMetalManiak

[Celestin]

12 hours ago, Book Lord said:

“TEXT 106 325 BET”? What is this nonsense?

Probably a fucked-up DEHACKED lump. Text screens here are a mess, sometimes they show stock Plutonia messages, sometimes you have this.

[Tiramisu]

8 hours ago, cannonball said:

If it helps it may be worth breaking up the secret maps across the 15th/16th (so play maps 15/31 today and 32/16 tomorrow). 

 

No no, what are you talking about, don't you know you have to wait until the 31st and 32nd of July to discuss the secret levels???? :P

 

UV/limited saves, any%, pistol start

 

MAP15 - Ironclad

 

I really like this map - it's like a modern twist on The Twilight, similar in visuals and fast-paced gameplay, but with a completely original layout and fight design to go with it! From the moment you leave the starting corridor it's clear the map wants you to push forward, and do it fast. Each jump down surrounds you with enemies, each button opens traps on all sides, so you have no choice but to do just that - shooting rockets at targets behind doors that are still opening, rushing forward when you expect them to die instead of once they're already dead, and just in general being a badass.

 

Just so it isn't that easy, there's a few doorstops in the way - most prominently in the form of a swarm of Cacos which do their best to slow you down, and a wall of Chaingunners that you have to rocket immediately as you get near or you just die. This forces the player to really think about when to speed by and when to slow down - I eventually settled on doing a longer stop in the Mancubus room, mostly to clear out the Archviles which were tricky to get rid of later on if you left them there.

 

After the immensely fun battle against a HK/Revenant/Pinky horde in a tight, L-shaped corridor, the map slows down a bit allowing you to clear out the beginning area at your own pace. At the end there's just one more big fight, against a Cyberdemon with some assorted perched monsters all around the arena. I was super scared to go into that fight - I can handle a Cyber alone, but with Revenants and Chaingunners? No sir. The map really wants you to, though - with the entrance making it almost impossible to snipe anything from far away. So I ran in there, sprayed some plasma around, and once I (figuratively) opened my eyes - who would have thought, I did it! :DDD

 

Overall, like I said I enjoyed this one a lot, super fun map with some great rocket launcher fights!

 

Also, was it just me or did the midi sound oddly... maritime at certain moments? Sailor-like? Not that I mind, the song was great, plus because of said impression I ended up visualizing the entire stage taking place on a huge ironclad ship, which made it even cooler!

 

Plutonia memories, MAP15 (The Twilight) - I don't remember much from this map either, other than the resurrecting Chaingunners and the Spider Mastermind at the end which I skipped like a little coward baby. ;_; I didn't find the secret exit here, but I still played the secret maps after I finished the main campaign.

 

Order of Preference

 

Spoiler

 

MAP03

MAP15

MAP13

MAP12

MAP05

 

MAP07

MAP10

MAP02

MAP06

MAP14

 

MAP11

MAP08

MAP04

MAP09 

MAP01

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by sq. Tiramisu

[Catpho]

Digression: Anyone who is unfamiliar with Archi's maps should get acquainted! I mostly know him from when he switched solidly to be an action mapper, which is roughly when he released his sf2012 map. He's best known in the public imagination as the mind behind "Rush", but his back catalog reveals a mapper with considerable facility for all things bloodshed-oriented. For single releases, I recommend Angler, Pack of speed maps, Newgothic Movement 2 (with AB), but you'd be remiss if you don't check out his quality CP contributions, such as those for MAYhem 1500, Slaughterfest 3, SlaughterMAX, Flotsam, and Haste (and this list could be longer).

 

3 hours ago, NuMetalManiak said:

The sewer part really does suck

It does not. The CG + narrow safe floor space from damaging floor is a fierce and annoying combo that keeps the meat wandering in there ultra dangerous, and along with the soft timer provided by rad suit collection forces some really desperate play for reprieve, which is just the best mode to Doom.

MAP14 - “Corpseflower” by Scorpius

 

Quality detail work on this one. There is a lot of knocking on the symmetry in this thread, and I'd agree that it does to an extent hamstring combat ideas on this map, but it also gives the level a look of composed, ornamental grace. A sense of order that makes the messy components shine even brighter, as the level is a feast for interconnections and simulated contrasts, as the composited walls give rises to all sorts of angular and depth play, but grounded by the decorative symmetry and rock solid texture combos, the latter in and of itself a variety of gritty, busy, cracked things that are somehow not playing in any key louder than the other. The overall look is grim and weathered, but also strangely balletic.

 

I have little to add to what has already been said about the gunplay. Yes, the monsters are prone to take themselves out if you just run away, given the ample supplies and space resulting from awkward pathing allotted for the demons. Yes, the setpieces are fairly mild-mannered. Yes, the final fight negates itself if you wait long enough. I think the symmetry has its uses, but since Scorpius mentioned Gusta's MAP18 for PL2, then the hypothetical next iteration of Corpseflower could take inspiration from how Gusta localized the symmetrical areas instead of making it the macro layout, and also broke away when combat needed some spice. 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Catpho

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 15: Ironclad

by @Cheesewheel

 

The Aussie sensation is someone who relies more on curved landscapes and group ambushes much more so than anything that would be considered as being part of Plutonia. But he successfully adopts a conservative approach with Ironclad, successfully paying tribute to both the strongest aspects of the Twilight's layout and some parts of its combat as well, though monsters are more concentrated than that map and this is much more open as well. Capping this all off is the midi in the Plutonian Midi Pack that was written for the map this was inspired by, "Plummeting" a personal favorite from the Plutonian Midi pack for its particular combination of moods.

 

Anyways, it becomes clear we cannot stop for anything. We have at least two deaths on record in the video but honestly, going deathless isn't as inconceivable as you might think. That's despite the presence of Revenants everywhere or at least ubiquitous enough that at least some will have to die if we want to hide anywhere. Not right away though, because it'll take constant movement if we want to pick up the weapons without being killed. The most intimidating section would probably be the group of Revenants on the series of tech-ass bloodfalls, definitely staring and daring us with its brutalism.

 

Anyway, the objective is the area at the opposite end. After taking care of the expected, if notably vertical, chaingunner ledge trap, hitting a switch grants access to the red key AND unleashes my least favorite trap in the entire map! Switch between rocket and shotgun here, and thanks to a nearby Supercharge, surviving this furious display of phallic power shouldn't be too difficult. 

 

From this point, talking about the progression becomes a little pointless, since at this point, the amount of visible threats declines to a point that the challenge becomes quite lacking. This doesn't last though. After opening the yellow key door, then heading back for the secret plasma rifle and lowering its platform with a switch that wasn't too hard to find, we're lowered into a long hallway with chaingunners at the end in emulation of one of the Twilight's most memorable sections. Only there's a Cyberdemon instead of a Mastermind at the end, along with chaingunners on either side, a revenant each manning towers to the side of the exit and Mancubi in the corners! Kill all the chaingunners, probably see the Revenants die too and be utterly remorseless to the lard before plasm-ing the Cyberemond to death (hopefully). Its then little trouble to hop in the secret exit adjacent to the regular one and actually bother to readf the story for the first time (does the cut-out part reference Time of Death? meh). It was then determined to leave 31 for later in the day. Who knows if we'll bother with 32? No matter, this midi is so cool, even though it's not a favorite for reason that are hard to pinpoint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DJVCardMaster]

7 hours ago, cannonball said:

If it helps it may be worth breaking up the secret maps across the 15th/16th (so play maps 15/31 today and 32/16 tomorrow).

Of course my opinion is invalidated by the fact that I technically don’t have to play map32 and only need to supply a rather complicated history as to how my only submission in this set ended up here.

I was thinking about doing that, quite a lenghty pair, stull halfway through MAP31

Edited July 15, 2023 by DJVCardMaster

[Tiramisu]

All right I split the post into two after all, for better readability! The reviews are still in spoiler tags, so they don't hog too much space in one go.

 

UV/limited saves, any%, pistol start

 

MAP31 - Steel Mill Zone
 

Spoiler

 

I have to say - the moment I read the map's name, "Steel Mill Zone", I was already suspicious. Then once I saw the word "TNT" appear on the intermission text screen, my fingers twitched above the IDCLEV keys. But I thought - what the heck, let's do this, the wad's been pretty good so far so maybe it'll be worth it.

 

Yeah, as you can probably tell I'm not a huge fan of TNT: Evilution. I never bothered to play that wad in its entirety - after bouncing back from the first few maps I only came back once to check out some of the select better stages and to laugh at Habitat. But even with that, once I entered this map I still instantly recognized some of the TNT staples in play. Gritty, industrial architecture. Sprawling, open layouts more concerned with atmosphere than fights. Hitscanners walking around in the open. Yeah, it's a TNT map all right. I even recognized the song, although I couldn't tell you if that was the original version or a remix.

 

And the stage was... surprisingly good, to be honest! After I broke it to my mind that no, we're not in Plutonia anymore, this will be a TNT stage, I actually had quite a bit of fun here. Overall the map felt like a natural evolution of TNT's style - more coherent, with more detailed architecture and better fights.

 

I feel like said architecture is the strongest point here - initially the map didn't look like much, with its blocky rooms and purposely misused textures, but once I got to the part where you look down from the bloodfall terraces onto the dark, light-dotted vista of the complex... That was probably the moment I'll remember most from the map, followed closely by the part where I walked through the monumental circular hallway with the giant crushers, and the organ part began for the first time in the song...

 

The fights were actually pretty cool as well! Once you get past the haphazard, TNT-style incidental combat, there are quite a few neat setpieces to discover. My favorite one was of course the big hallway fight with Revenants, topped off with a Cyberdemon/Archvile showdown. After it was over, I was overjoyed to find out it was in fact inside one of the central rooms all along - I always love neat loop-backs like that in maps :)

 

All that said, the map is definitely not without its flaws, either. I personally like heavy use of damaging floors - and managing radiation suits is a welcome addition, too, adding an element of soft time pressure to the whole thing. However, if you combine it with the occasionally pretty confusing progression (which seems to be an intentional nod to TNT maps lol), the player can easily reach a point where they're out of radiation suits, low on health and without a clue as to where to go. I was lucky enough to play most of the map without any major confusion, but the above happened to me at the very end, when I wasn't sure how to raise the bridge to the yellow key - so I had to save-scum my way out of the situation.

 

In general I saved/loaded a bit more than my rules would allow, but hey, if PRCP2 breaks its own rules by making me play a TNT map then I'm allowed to break my own rules too :p Besides, this is not the kind of map that's meant to be replayed a lot, really, so I think it was a good decision to be more lenient in that regard.

 

All in all, this was definitely a surprising addition to the project, made even more surprising by the fact that I actually enjoyed it. It did overstay its welcome a bit, though. At the end, my low-health Doomguy just looked tired, and I was as well.

 

 

Plutonia memories, MAP31 (Cyberden) - The Revenant swarm at the end is absolutely hilarious, you can almost picture John Cleese sitting behind a desk saying "and now for something completely different!" right before the battle begins XD

 

MAP32 - Orestruck

 

Spoiler

 

Oh yes, here's the proven antidote to TNT - some good ol' wholesale slaughter! Although it probably wasn't mindless enough for my taste - too many Archviles for that lol

 

I could not tell you how fast the map expects you to go in the initial section. I found the most success in alternating between a slow, careful advance and a mad dash for resources, causing mayhem and infighting all around me. And also. Exchanging rocket fire with a tunnel-ful of Revenants, only backing out for resources as briefly as you can so they won't advance too far. Maximizing splash damage against an encounter before your invulnerability runs out. Circle-strafing a slanted room full of Barons, trying to take out the Archvile stalking among them. This map has it all, really - and it's all great fun, through and through.

 

On my playthrough, I gave myself an extra save/load so I could fight cowardly run away from the two Cyberdemons in the yellow key fight, because my adrenaline was already reaching unhealthy levels. And then, for the explosive final battle, I just gave myself an infinite amount of retries, because I had just about enough DOOM for the day - which turned out to be a good call, as the fight was much harder than it initially looked! It might have been partially because my BFG skills are not up to par, but the huge majority of my deaths in the map were in that crazy merry-go-round of Revenants and slime. Once I finally managed to press the real exit switch, and I heard more Archviles coming in I decided to take the hint from the intermission text screen and just book it, away from this crazy place :P

 

Reiterating my first point, the map wasn't a mindless slaughter at all. In fact, I would call it the opposite of that - it might have been the most cerebral of all the stages in this wad so far. It required you to not only know how to fight, but when and where to fight as well. The many, many Archviles dotted throughout require lightning-fast reflexes and perfect target prioritization to overcome - and they will also resurrect a lot of monsters, especially near the end, requiring speed as well so you don't run low on ammo un-resurrecting them afterwards!

 

As said before even the final battle, initially looking like a simple auto-pilot circle-strafe, turned out to be quite the tough cookie - as you had to actively pick out the Archviles from the middle of the Revenant horde, all the while keeping an eye out on your radiation suit's condition and making sure you're not too far away from the backup ones when it expires. And also Pain Elementals and Chaingunner snipers on top of that, for good measure!

 

Unlike the typical slaughtermap, this one doesn't give you all that much ammo, either - I initially found it as a flaw, but came to appreciate it later. You won't always have the ammo you need, and of the correct kind for the situation, so you have to be open to improvisation, too!

 

Overall, my favorite fight was the aforementioned Baron/Archvile/Pain Elemental fight, but all the fights here were great, really. The balance between incidental and setpiece combat was on point, as well!

 

And if that weren't enough, Orestruck (Orestruck - 10/10 name even, lol) offers some very interesting visuals, too - I always love a good mine level in a game, and this one really makes it work with a mixture of industrial installations (like the giant drill!), old-school mining rails and walkways, and some nice-looking, roomy caves, all connected to the giant, imposing cavern at the center. The music choice is great as well, very fitting for an action-packed map like that!

 

Yeah, this is my favorite map from the wad so far - I don't usually play slaughtermaps, but this one just excelled at everything it set out to do, and made me feel the same way Go 2 It did when I first played it!

 

 

Plutonia memories, MAP32 (Go 2 It) - Strangely enough I don't remember this map to be all that hard. It was absolutely crazy and unlike anything I'd ever played before, but even saveless it didn't give me all too much trouble!

 

Order of Preference

 

Spoiler

 

MAP32

MAP03

MAP15

MAP13

MAP12

MAP05

 

MAP07

MAP10

MAP02

MAP06

MAP14

MAP11

 

MAP08

MAP04

MAP09 

MAP01

 

Unranked - MAP31 (sorry, I cannot compare a TNT map to Plutonia maps lol :p)

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by sq. Tiramisu

[cannonball]

MAP15 - “Ironclad” by Cheesewheel

 

Like the Twilight, the one is like blunt force trauma, at this moment I am unsure whether the blue armour secret at the start is mandatory because my goodness the placement and sheer quantity of chaingunners and revenants is insane. That said survival is possible (like in the Twilight) and quite exhilarating to achieve. For the most part the more staged encounters and solid and provide a respite from some of the spam of a certain two monster types. The only real flat moment was behind the red key door and the fight that felt like a non event. The final room is rather awkward and clearly requires the BFG secret (Pretty easy to get). I guess that is probably the biggest gripe here, some secrets felt a little too necessary to beat this one. Otherwise this ticks most of the Plutonia boxes and whilst it clearly riffs off one map, this is also deviates strongly in layout and progression and is probably better than the source material (Which was one of the stronger Plutonia maps in general).

 

MAP31 - “Steel Mill Zone” by Joshy

 

This is certainly a map that you really need to be in the mood for, the map is very intricate and offers a lot of routes to proceed (Kind of like Dead Zone), and offers a lot of damaging blood and crushers (Steel Works). The map looks absolutely stunning with a great use of height and scale. The combat goes along fine for the most part, though there are a few fights where clearly the player will be taken down first time and then survive the next without a scratch. I must confess that the only time I struggled to proceed was actually heading the exit (I collected the blue key last), there is a fork where there is the route to the red key/exit and the other to the blue/yellow keys (But I am not sure it is that simple). There are some big fights in this map, all the fights that grant you keys are really good and push the player without being over the top (Good for a longer map as x tier fights would be too much).

Overall I guess because I navigated this fairly well, then I didn't suffer from as much fatigue as others had, this is a really good map that is very much suited to being in the secret map slot. The only fights I disliked were the one with the short platforming section where I got nailed several times, the other was the walkway fight were you get a mix of chaingunners and flyers rising from nearby pillars (This was beaten on the second attempt by pushing into the following room).

 

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP15 - Ironclad - Cheesewheel (100%K/100%I/80%S):

This is another one I would call Plutonia+, as it is, just in the same vein as MAP12, a map that, resembles an original Plutonia map in some form, with new textures, while heatening things in terms of difficulty. This time, we have our mandatory metal-themed map, just like Caged, or the original MAP15 from Plutonia. In the same vein as the latter, Cheesewheel offers us a gameplay in which, there is no space to breathe, as every enemy is bombarding you from everywhere, and you will need to act fast, in order to eliminate every single threat. Searching for secrets is somewhat mandatory, as your health/ammo will be always depleating with ease. Luckly, most of them are not that hard to find. I could not find a way to get the plasma rifle, though, and the BFG I've just got because of backtracking a little bit, sadly after the last fight. Said fight is not as hard as I expected, as the hard moment ends when you decide to remove all the chaingunners from the playground, after that, you can maneuver doing "boomerang" movements around the arena to make the revs and mancubi fight with the cyberdemon, while wasting your ammo on the bigger threat. Normally, a map like this would serve a main function: making me angry, and it did! just like Eggboy's map, but I enjoyed this one a little bit more in terms of gameplay. Still, MAP12 wins in terms of visuals, as you will get bored of all the metal textures overpopulating this one. The secret exit is not even tagged as secret, and it is not hard to find, but I found weird and not good looking that the exit signs go all the way up, in a "beginner's first map" way.

MAP31 - Steel Mill Zone - Joshy (100%K/75%I/33%S):

I see the name and I say, "Oh god, please not a long-ass TNT map" and that's what I've got, a long-ass TNT/Plutonia-styled map. I get the idea behind the secret map, an ode to TNT, so the concept is right there. Phew, Drake O'Brien would be proud of Joshy's work here, as this is indeed, a LOONG ASS TNT map. You don't know where to go, there are some keys here and there, you won't know where to go to get them, and then, good luck roaming around for 5 more minutes to find the exit if you got all the keys. I'm going to be honest, I did not enjoy this ride, because of all the damaging floors, with a really good supply of radsuits, but still, annoying at times, as everything you have to do, you will need to do it quickly. Apart from that, gameplay is pretty much like one of those long maps in TNT, hitscanners shooting you from the other side of the world and annoyingly lowering your health as if it were hornets slowly attacking you one by one. Arachnotrons are at their best, as they will do the same, but packed in a way there is little to no chance to hide. Same with revenants. The first minutes of my playthrough was me trying to roam around switch-hunting ala TNT style, mowing down enemies to slowly make my way through the open areas. God knows what some of the switches do, but if you see them, hit them I guess. After all that, the map became somewhat enjoyable, as there weren't any pesky snipes around, so I could proceed with some encounters, that were really well scripted for the most part. You won't know how to proceed until you proceed, that's what I can say about it, incidental progression. The last area was somewhat of a letdown, as I expected a big last fight, but I was dissapointed, but at the same time, grateful, as the last enemies were some dumb skeletons guarding the only exit pad that will mandatorily send you to the super-secret map. I'm grateful just because I did not have to waste another 3 more minutes with another fight, but meh, you kind off expect that after all that madness. I did not enjoy it mostly because of time, but if you are a person with a good amount of time, you can indeed have a blast. Denying this is a good map will be quite a mistake of my part. A great effort by an already great mapper, that likes to make this type of maps (See: Speed of Doom). And I'm guessing this is also a Plutonia 3 map that did not make the cut, for sure.

(UV - Playthrough/PRBoom+)

Order of Preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP11

MAP07

MAP05
MAP15
MAP31
MAP08

MAP01
MAP09
MAP12
MAP02
MAP03
MAP14
MAP13
MAP04

MAP10 (Ranked apart from the rest/own maps)
MAP06 

 

 

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 31: Steel Mill Zone

 

Well, deleted some nonsense accidentally. Here are some of the most imporant bits.

Streptypical Joshy complete with damage floors and ruthless placement.

 

Kind of feels like TNT. Unfortunately, this map felt a little more like a chore as a 

 

Beginning is hardest because of Mancubi and Arachnotrons, also the pinkies from everywhere. Grabbing the rocket launcher won't save us, since heading into the middle just brings us chaingunners and Pinkies. But after that, it's not a constant fight for survival.

 

There are some Arch-vile  pairs, with the first one encountered (near the red key) being laughably useless. Well, maybe the one at the end of the long hallway wasn't completely useless. The Revenant/chaingunners bonanza's intense!

 

There's a Cyberdemon at the blue key which is only tricky because of somewhat limited plasma ammo and an Arch-vile that might distract us.

 

The nicely climatic series of encounters leading to the yellow key was a cool capping off, although less cool was the journey across the map to the YK door,

 

The exit's a little unclear but basically, we've got to jump into the machinery in the middle and we're taken straight to the exit to Map 32. Honestly, I might play that later. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Celestin]

MAP16: Ifrit's Lair by Doomlust

Spoiler

The mapper's handle sounded a bit familiar and indeed, they made E1M3: Barracks from Solar Struggle, a map that, while not bad, suffered greatly from its placement in the wad and project's restrictions. This is why I'm glad Doomlust managed to deliver a great map here, which is a welcomed break after the pair of secret giants.

 

The map starts in front of the titular lair, a crypt with a hefty dose of burning lava. You are given a shotgun at the start, but it's no match for the monsters here. There's a rocket launcher nearby, but it releases chaingunners around you and drops an archvile that's likely to start reviving the fodder you've just killed. Good trap, very Plutonia-like. From this point, you have two routes to take. You can either go east, straight for the blue key, or drop into lava canals in the west, arm yourself with a super shotgun and plasma rifle and gain a rear entry to the blue key arena. Wherever you go first, I love the blue key fight. It's a delightfully chaotic battle in a canyon, filled with snipers, flyers that deny your movement, infighting ground troops and new monsters popping up wherever you go. Also, look for a shootable switch near the key, it lowers a BFG which is really, really helpful later. The red key building holds several smaller fights, which are easy to handle, as the enemies here are stationary, but a cyberdemon-archvile couple that appears in the canyon is a bigger problem. That's where the BFG comes in handy.

Spoiler

With the red key in hand, it's time for the western part, but there's honestly little to write here. Not that it's bad, just the map has already passed its peak and the rest feels like a wind-down. Just save cells for archviles or cramped rooms and you should make it with little issues. This is especially true for the exit, protected by pairs of archviles and barons. 

 

I like this one. A reasonable killcount of around 200 enemies, a nice balance between traps and larger fights and some flexibility with the routing makes for a relaxing experience that I needed at this point of the wad.

[finnks13]

MAP15 - Ironclad by Cheesewheel:

9:34/7 Deaths
Inspired by one of Plutonia's best & most iconic maps, Ironclad is a pretty much perfect The Twilight homage. I'm not sure if this came before or after Map13, though I do like it when homages to maps share the same slot in the wad so this being picked for this slot makes sense to me. Cheesewheel is a mapper who's become one of my favourites recently, I had a great time playing his megawad Uprising with the club and last years' Malevolence is also an incredibly solid and fun episode, so it's no surprise I had a great time here. Ironclad feels very reminiscent of it's inspiration, but it definitely has it's own identity as you'll be spending most of your time inside the blood itself and fairly little on catwalks above it.

 

It should go without saying but the combo of the colour matched liquid and sky with the dark metal surroundings just looks fantastic, and the custom textures in the wad elevate it to a new level - just having a flat that matches the metal surroundings adds a lot. It's not slouch in the combat department, feeling like one of the most plutonia maps in the set with the complete lack of mercy it throws chaingunners, revenants & archviles at you. The chaingunners especially can absolutely cut you down, and are the large reason why I died so much but they never felt bullshit. The ambushes mostly fall into one another, making the map feel like one massive fight and making it a little hard to pick out "best moments" but the highlights for me were probably the large fight in the north-east section of the map, and the finale against one more horde of chaingunners and a cyberdemon. The secret exit's mercifully easy to find, and with that we're off to Map31.

 

Overall, Ironclad is absolutely fantastic, it's layout and combat lend themselves perfectly to fast-paced, fun action and I had an excellent time playing it.

 

~~~
Since the text screens in this wad are messed up (I could've sworn I saw a lot of people playing the release candidates, did they all just mash the spacebar through them :P), here's what it says for those who couldn't be arsed to edit the DEHACKED lump:

Spoiler

MAP 15 -> 31:

"What? How did you get here? You must have eyes like a hawk... or you cheated. You better not have cheated to find this! Oh well, it's not like we could've stopped you. Here's a one-way ticket to a Plutonian secret map. Or is it a TNT map? I can't tell. Either way, it won't be so easy.."

 

MAP 31 -> 32:

"Congratulations you have reached the super secret level. You have stumbled upon an old mining site where the UAC used to source materials for their experiments. What mysteries await below the surface? Probably the location of the key to leave this place. What's the worst that could happen? It is old and abandoned... Right?"

~~~

 

MAP31 - Steel Mill Zone by Joshy:

27:47/7 Deaths
Oh no.

 

Oh noooooooooooooooooo.

 

So to start, a little ramble. I was playing the TNT 2 beta a couple of months ago, and the rabbit hole of looking through it's development history lead me to the TNT: Forever thread in which a list of "Maps that will not appear in this project in any way, shape, or form" is present, and in that list is a map called "Steel Mill" by Joshy that was apparently going to be reused in Plutonia 3. I laughed a lot when I read this because while it's kinda cute to reference Plutonia's sibling in the secret slots I guess, there's absolutely nothing alike between the two wads beyond the fact that they happened to be sold together, and so it's inclusion feels like a pretty big misunderstanding of why someone would want to play a wad like this in the first place. I assume this is the same map as that, and after it's rejection from pl3, this rather feels like Joshy had a map lying around that he really quite liked but didn't know what to do with it, and so it was bunged in the Map31 slot of PRCP2. I won't bore you with another rant about how I think it's a missed oppourtunity to not bother being anything like Plutonia in a wad like this, but can you really blame the particpants if this is the standard the project lead was setting?

 

I assume from the title, that this is meant to be a combination between TNT's Steelworks and Mill and I can definitely see the influence of them both. The former in the damaging blood everywhere, and fairly common use of crushers and the latter in the completely aimless progression. Yeahhhh, this is another PRCP2 behemoth and unlike the other two this map is an absolute nightmare to navigate. Everything looks the same and the large amount of height variations and midtexture rails that let you see to other areas but don't let you go there make this map a maze. This might be because of the route I happened to take through the map, not getting the keys until right at the end, I felt completely aimless throughout, like I was just continuing to kill demons in the hopes that I would stumble into something that would make it seem like I'd made some progress, since you don't even see the three key door that blocks the exit unless you happen to stumble on it and this didn't make the map that much fun to play.

 

The music doesn't help, Legion of the Lost is a fantastic tune and this remix of it does not do it for me unfortunately - it's not a bad remix, and definitely one of the better ones in the TNT MIDI pack but it still feels like more and more stuff was added to the song in an attempt to make it sound epic and the feeling of somber rage created by the original's mournful piano melody over the gradually building accompaniment is lost in that process. The fact that this is going to be the song playing over the monster cast call, as the last piece of music to remember the wad by is, well, frustrating.

 

The everpresence of damaging floor is made less horrendous by the large amount of radsuits that are available thankfully, and I've always liked Joshy's combat so the incidental gameplay is actually pretty good, with traps that spring on you every so often to keep you on your toes, but it seems like you're always under fire from somewhere and this makes it a little exhausting, but entertaining in the same way as a lot of Resurgence, which this map reminds me of quite a lot. In fact if the mazey, aimless progression wasn't present, I'd have thought this was an unused map from it. My favourite part of the map was the blue key fight, it's tight, tough and the archvile is placed in just such a mean spot, but it's incredibly fun to tackle. The other two key ambushes are a little weaker, and it is odd that the map kind of ends with no fanfare as you go through the exit door to the teleporter as it meant that the last couple of minutes in the map were spent simply looking for a way back to the exit door but I suppose that's inevitable with a large, non-linear map like this.

 

Overall, I kinda hate that a TNT homage found it's way into my Plutonia wad, but this map's main problem is it's layout & progression and frankly I'd have preferred to kill some cyberdemons in a small courtyard.

 

MAP32 - Orestruck by Cannonball:

23:36/3 Deaths
Map32 in a Plutonia wad is the one I am always the most excited for. Go 2 It is my favourite map in the original (because I like throwing large green balls of death at stuff, I'm only human ok) and it's a tradition in every sequel to build on it and twist Entryway into a new, more horrible slaughtermap. Orestruck is not that. I will admit, I upset myself with this one as I'd convinced myself that this large mine would lead us deeper and deeper until we'd uncover the plutonia-fied Entryway stairs and have a cool final showdown in there, but I can't hold my silly daydreams against a really cool map. To start, I absolutely love this MIDI, it's just so energetic and happy, while sounding a little mysterious and it's what I've written most of these write-ups listening to. The visual design of the cave and the structures built into it is fantastic and I really love the scale of everything.

 

The combat is not much like Plutonia, since it's on a much larger scale than even the largest Plutonia 2 maps, but frankly I'm beyond caring at this point and it's fun anyway so that's good. With maps like this that have a lot of enemies, but not much opposition directly in your way (or at least large enough spaces to run around them), I often find playing incredibly aggressively is the most rewarding and fun way to tackle them. In this map, rushing immediately to the northern section of the map and ignoring the large horde of guys in the opening room rewards you with a BFG (or at least a Gotcha! trap that gives you a BFG and then lets you back out to grab that BFG that baited you in the first place) before you've even got an SSG and at this point you can just go nuts.

 

I do think that cannonball's "big" fights here can often feel a little samey in setup, as there's a lot of "Kill the Archviles -> Win" but the "Win" part of that is usually difficult enough that this only starts to be noticable and bother me as we're getting to the end of the level, and it'd be wrong to say that I didn't enjoy them. I think my favourite part of the map is when the water level in the central area lowers and you're left with a mountain of enemies to climb in the pit you've got stuck in, but more importantly up the top on the catwalks - I was very glad that I saved an invulnerability for this! The only blemish on this map for me is that it's ending is a bit of a dud, you go back out to the starting area to find that it's become infested with enemies, but said starting area is a flat circle so you can deal with the infestation by holding the A key which was a bit lame. I don't think this arena or the idea of going back to a worse version of where you spawned in is a bad one, but perhaps a teleport ambush with a small horde of archviles could have been a more effective finale. Not a big deal though.

 

Overall, Orestruck is great. It was a little disappointing for it to not be specifically a "Go 2 It", but it definitely meets the slaughter criteria for the super secret slot, and it's tons of fun.

 

But what do the teleportals look like?????????

Spoiler

MAP15 - 7/10. They're too bright mate

 

 

MAP31 - 10/10. Hurray!

 

 

MAP32 - 7/10. Too bright yet again :(

 

 

[HiMyNameIsChair]

MAP15: Ironclad by Cheesewheel

 

(Played on DSDA, 100% Kill, 100% Secrets, Also I forgot to record the completion time, whoops...!)

From the opening frame, Cheesewheel lets you know exactly what you're in for, using Bucket's "Plummeting"  From the Plutonia MIDI Pack, to really inject a sense of adrenaline into the map~! I'd also wager it's to signify that it's a Twilight homage.

 

Ironclad is fittingly punishing given its inspiration, with a blistering start that's sure to have you cosplaying as Swiss cheese. But if you can stay quick on your feet, and survive the initial Archvile encounter down in the pits, then you've survived the worst of it really. I actually appreciate that Cheesewheel gives you plasma upfront, as a sort of hint that the plasma rifle can be grabbed from the get-go via a hidden switch. Beyond the initial archie encounter, a large ambush before you cycle back to the start is maybe the next hardest encounter, as being slow on your feet is likely to get you pinned.

 

After a bit of clean-up, and collecting some keys you'll have a showdown with a Seigecow and his angry entourage. it's definitely gonna get first-timers killed but as long as you pick your targets and act fast, you'll make it out alive.

 

Also, shoutout to Cheesewheel for not making their secret exit a pain to find.

 

On the visual end, Ironclad is quite stunning, wearing its metal & blood-heavy aesthetic well~!

 

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

Overall, a solid tribute to a great Plutonia map, the traps are deadly, the fights are tight & snappy, the layout is compact, efficient, and makes for a pretty fast playtime, and that's a great quality to have for a 32-level map pack.

 

Grade: A-

 

Order of Preference 

 

Spoiler

MAP11

MAP06

MAP10

MAP05

MAP15

MAP01

MAP08

MAP12

MAP03

MAP07

MAP14

MAP13

MAP02

MAP04

MAP09

guess I'll figure out when to do my 31/32 write-ups later. maybe I'll do 31 later tonight and then 32 tomorrow.

[HiMyNameIsChair]

13 hours ago, NuMetalManiak said:

From what I remember:

 

NSAS was made with the intention of being a collaboration where I'd do one-half of a layout and send it over to an interested party to do a second half, however that may go. In the end I made a level that...was about the size of an average Plutonia level. Oops. Regardless, about 90% of the map was actually my initial doing. Archi added specifically the alternate exit, the YK subquest, and a couple of rooms at the south end, plus some gameplay balancing.

 

The main ideas were of course the dangerous hub with the archie and yes I wanted that annoyance of the resurrecting chaingunners, but after clearing out specific sections you crush one arch-vile allowing you to safely kill one chaingunner. The sewer part really does suck and I just Whispers of Satan'd it, for lack of a better term. It was the last area I finished and I didn't know what else to do (also the NE caged monster I wanted an arch-vile but I was told it would screw with speedrunners more).

 

Cheesewheel's MAP15 is really fun by the way. Also funny Himari avatar @HiMyNameIsChair

 

Oh! Thank you~! TBH, I did not expect anyone here to know where my PFP character was from! I guess Precure and Doom fans have more overlap than I thought... go figure!

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP32 - Orestruck - Cannonball (99%K/97%I/33%S):

As stated previously, one would expect a depravation of the original Doom or Doom 2 MAP01's, or something similar, turning it into a slaughter map, it is a book move, Plutonia 1 and 2 did it, most Plutonia-styled projects do it, even the first PRCP, but surprisingly, Cannonball not only decides to throw everything out of the window, but also decides to throw everything related to Plutonia, except for the texture pack at some points. As usual, the author delivers us a fine BIG and solid map full of space to maneuver, intricate layouts, with really enjoyable setpieces. The first area has nothing to offer at start, but we will come back to there later. The main area of the map is some kind of mineshaft overpopulated by monsters in every single corner or direction, the place is BIG, just like in MAP08, with even more verticality, making us feel not only small, but helpless, as from the moment you get teleported into this area, you will not have a single moment to breathe, in a similar way to MAP15. It is indeed a slaughter map, though, but it is well scripted at times, although I would say most fights become very samey the more you play through, consisting mostly of killing several arch-viles guarded by troops of revenants. Rage inducing, for sure. Gameplay is just late Sunlust in my books, following the line of other Sunlusty maps such as MAP12. The map uses the same circular, empty arena from the start, to give us the last battle. Quite a hard one, as you are basically on a timer, because your radsuit is depleting constantly, and you will have just enough time to eliminate every monster before your radsuits run out. Same with the cyberdemon fight, sadly, it is just skippable, as you can easily exit after pressing a switch, without even caring about those two inoffensive archviles that  escort the cyberdemon. I decided to kill them, still, no 100% monsters because I have skipped the cyberdemon couple before the yellow key, just because I was low on ammo, one of my only concerns about this map at some point, but that is just me wasting ammo because I actually don't like slaughtermaps.

MAP16 - Ifrit's Lair- Doomlust (100%K/I/S):

This map reminded me a lot to The Crypt in some areas, with a similar entrance or gameplay choices here and there. The entire level works as a little adventure to the lair itself. It is full of poping monsters to the point it becomes a little unfun. You can at times spot some amateurish quality takes here and there in this map, like some areas that feel somewhat copy-pasted, but luckly this does not break gameplay as much. It feels at times like an oldschool Plutonia map, looking at the uglier Dario's maps like the mentioned MAP13 and MAP25, so I'll have to give it that for making this feel more like the original product. The best this map has to offer though is the natural landscapes, pretty well designed in my books, at times making me feel like I'm playing Valiant (so much so that I missclicked my savefile and savescummed over my Valiant save, oh well, my bad I guess). Nothing else of interest to talk about the Ifrit's Lair.

(UV - Playthrough/PRBoom+)

Order of Preference:

Spoiler

 

MAP11

MAP07

MAP05
MAP32
MAP15
MAP31
MAP08

MAP01
MAP09
MAP12
MAP02
MAP03
MAP14
MAP16
MAP13
MAP04

MAP10 (Ranked apart from the rest/own maps)
MAP06 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by DJVCardMaster

[TJG1289]

I ended up being out of the house all day today, so I'm coming to these maps late. I haven't started them as I type this, but I see map 31 may be a long one. Here's hoping these don't take me too long...

 

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 15: Ironclad - Cheesewheel

100% kills and secrets

Time: 10:17

Deaths: 3

 

This is easily the most intense map in the WAD so far. Cheesewheel does not let up on the accelerator for the entire duration of the map. As soon as you step outside you're in view of way too many chaingunners and revs, and once you fire, cacos will start heading your way. No matter where you run, there's going to be something waiting for you around a corner. And it's usually going to be chaingunners or revs. I lost the soul sphere's health boost very quickly. You can find 3 secrets in this first area, which net you a mega armor, plasma rifle, and a backpack. That armor is for sure the most important. Once you clear out everything in this first room, we can get our bearings a bit. This is textured very much like Plutonia's Map15, Twilight, and has its feel in its combat as well, but I also feel elements of Map 12, Speed, mainly since there's a lot of blood to traverse through. Despite the map's intensity, only 1 fight in the map actually killed me, and that was the one with the mancs and singular rev. Died twice to the mancs, managed to just barely survive on the third, only to run straight into the archie in the next room and get roasted. I almost died in the next fight after that in the blood moat, but I managed to hold on with about 28% health. From here the ambushes aren't as intense, usually just some shotgunners and/or revs popping out from behind walls, until you hit the final room. You get a megasphere and rockets (and a BFG if you check around a corner before heading into the arena), which should help with the mancs, chaingunners, revs, and cyb blocking the exit. It's not that bad really. Make sure to hit use on the one blue torch to open the secret exit. Overall, this was an exhilarating map and easily one of the WAD's highlights!

 

Map 31: Steel Mill Zone - Joshy

100% kills and 0% secrets (I had to look them all up on the wiki, so I'm not counting them)

Time: 38:32

Deaths: 6

 

Well that was a doozy. Unfortunately, despite having "Zone" in the title, this is not a Sonic influenced stage, as far as I'm aware. Instead, it's a TNT one? Didn't see that coming. I'm kinda surprised that Joshy picked Mill to reinterpret here, mainly since I'm under the impression that that map isn't fondly remembered by most people. Though honestly, this map and it's influence don't really have that much in common. This one is a lot meaner. Mainly since a lot of this map has you traverse across damaging blood. No matter where you go, there's blood to go through. There's more than enough rad suits sprinkled around (40 of them), but there's still a good chance you'll have one run out while in the middle of something. This level is completely non-linear, as you just need to find the 3 keys to unlock the exit. Like any well-designed non-linear map, you can find the good weapons in several different spots in the map, with there being 3 SSGs, and 2 RLs and plasma rifles. Getting the keys is no easy feat. Each one will have you hit switches to open up areas and deal with whatever evil Joshy has stored there. A lot of these encounters aren't anything to shake a stick at. Most of them are going to be a fight for your life. Surprisingly, my 6 deaths only came from 2 different rooms. The first death came toward the center of the map, in the one room that reminds me the most of Mill. It's the room with 3 revs behind a grate, a few hitscan spread around, and a trap with an archie sandwich in a long corridor. I didn't get to the archie trap before I got 2-shot by the revs. The other 5 deaths all came from the room southwest of there, with 3 revs sniping you from a balcony, 3 hell knights on a broken path over blood you need to travel on to get to a door on the west wall where some chaingunners and a manc will walk through. This room was incredibly frustrating for me for some reason. It seemed like no matter where else I went, I would get smacked upside the face by some sort of projectile. The revs aren't really in auto-aim distance either, so that didn't help. Talk about annoying. Thankfully, the rest of the map didn't kill me, but it sure came close a few times. Here's a few traps that almost got me: 

• The switch that lowered the floor and revealed 3 archies that started reviving the chaingunners you just killed.
• the cyb/archie combo guarding the blue key
• The crushers in the northernmost part of the map that have you deal with a variety of demons at the same time that
• the pain elemental/chaingunner/hell knight soirée close to the yellow key area
• The outdoor l-shaped walkway on the west side with chaingunners/flyers/and more

All of the above got me good, but didn't get me all the way (closest was the blue key fight which got me down to 8%). Definitely some good fights, but the map just kinda drags along. It's very intricate and has a well designed layout that has multiple paths to a few destinations, but it's a very daunting map on a blind playthrough. I wouldn't say it's frustrating, but there's a lot of annoyances to it, mostly with the damaging floor. I think if I were to replay this one I'd have a better time with it, but as it stands now, it's a little too long in the tooth. Plus, the secrets are very, VERY well-hidden. Most don't even have a clue or a hint to them. I had to look every single one up, and most of them have some pretty good stuff in them, which would have been very useful if I had actually found them before getting to the exit and double-backing. Though I'm not sure how useful the hidden invul is in relation to where it's located. So overall, it's easy to tell that there was a lot of care put into this map, but it's not a very friendly map on an initial playthrough. The constant damaging floor is more of an annoyance than a threat, but it still weighs on you as you play. I'm sure I'd enjoy this more if/when the next time I play through it.

[KickAss]

GZDooM 4.10, PB 3.0, HeXeReTiC HUD PB3 v8.3RC2e, Weapon Neural Upscale, Destroyable Decorations Definitive Edition, Glory Kills v29b, SilentDoomguy, Flashlight, -iwad doom2.wad (ver 1.666), -skill 4 (UV), continuous play, no saves.

 

MAP10 - “Natural Selection” by DJV

 

MAP11 - “Plutonium Rust” by Eternal

I did not recognized that I had spend over an complete hour playing that map. This level was really challenging but still enjoyable.

 

MAP12 - “Close Encounters” by Egg Boy

[Book Lord]

MAP 16 – Ifrit's Lair by @Doomlust

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

 

Looks like I and Doomlust had an appointment at PRCP 2 after mentioning his contribution in the Solar Struggle DWMC playthrough. I gave Ifrit’s Lair a quick glance at the time to compare it with his E1M3: Barracks, which was a rather small and simple level. We are entering Plutonia 2 territory here: the sprawling size and the increasing monster quota left no room for Casali tributes but made way for a harsh pistol start where the player must fight hard for their weapons. The rocket launcher trap was vicious, releasing point-blank Chaingunners and moving the Arch-Vile from the lava basement to the bottom of the lift. It might turn out easier if you find the weird secret backpacks and Berserk nearby.

Spoiler

There were two paths leaving the starting area, the eastern one leading into a craggy wasteland, and the western one plunging into a less-inviting lava crater. The player needed the RSK to fully advance to the west, so going east first might save some time. Keeping an eye for elevated hitscanner snipers was interesting, but to properly fight the mid-tier enemies on the ground the SSG must be claimed from its monument as soon as possible. Pop-up monsters appeared when approaching both the Blue Armour and the BSK, which was not very far from the door it opened. The way to the RSK contained a few ambushes that were easily countered with rockets, the most dangerous one being a duo of Mancubi shooting from behind a MWALL4_T texture.

 

The Megasphere secret was very easy and generous, but I had acquired no cell weapon to use against the Cyberdemon that awaited in the wasteland, accompanied by an Arch-Vile. The secret BFG was destined to remain on its ledge, and the plasma rifle was in the eastern path, so I must trick the boss to kill the healer for me and slowly vanquish him with the SSG. I explored the area near the exit, triggering a rather unexpected Revenant & Arch-Vile group, but I had no YSK so I must direct myself to the west. The lava pit surrounded a tall brown fortress that contained the YSK and more frontal opposition, along with a few set pieces and ambushes that consumed time and ammo, without being overly dangerous.

Spoiler

This could be said for the entire Ifrit’s Lair: once you get past the hardships of the pistol start and find a couple of secrets, the map’s difficulty lower considerably and failure depends more on player’s exhaustion than the actual threat. The Baron and Arch-Vile duos in the exit room were a perfect example of an easy situation that might go wrong because you are tired of methodically killing monsters. The music choice, a track from the videogame Tales of Phantasia that might have inspired the map itself, was a bit too loud and contributed to the exhaustion. I liked the overall visual presentation of this map, even though I had my gripes with the unorthodox placement of green vines above lava. The long play time, the backtracking through cleared areas, the lava section leading to the plasma gun and the “waterfall lift” to the secret Soul Sphere were also a bit hard to swallow. An average map, I guess, but if every entry in the second half of PRCP 2 takes this long, I might have some problems completing the playthrough.

[plums]

I've been slacking off on writing here, as usual, but I wanted to mention that @tatsurd-cacocaco has UV-max runs for all PRCP2 maps on his youtube, fun to watch after beating a map:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPS72SsBha3YfXjR6UCiEimDt93OnkVYn

 

They're not on DSDA for whatever reason, so if you were looking there for max runs you wouldn't find any.

[Endless]

MAP14: Corpseflower

Small but a little to confusing due to is very symmetrical layout. I must admit it feels like a part of the map was designed carefully and detailed, and then the rest was just copy pasted to make up for the space. I don't mind it that much, but it is noticeable and at times it reminded me of a deathmatch map more than a SP one. The first area is probably the most confusing one as you try to find where to go, but once you get the first key, things get a little more logical. Still, not a fan of this one due to the boxy style and rather obtuse progression.

 

 

MAP15: Ironclad

Probably the smallest map so far, clocking at around 1.2k linedefs. It is rather simple and minimalist in pretty much every way. It also feels like the "least" Plutonia map of them all so far, at least when it comes to visuals.The rather dark and abstract style reminds me more of the modern slaughtermap scene than anything else, which isn't a bad thing per se. I don't really have much complaints about this map other than its positioning. It feels very off from the rest of the levels, in pretty much every way, it just doesn't seem to fit with the overall theme.

 

 

MAP16: Ifrit's Lair

A large yet simple to navigate map that embraces landscape visuals with some fantastically designed exteriors that look pretty damn good. The brown theme is a highlight here, working very well with the generally overgrown "ruin" vibe while also sustaining a spicy gameplay filled with tons of enemies, and some nasty traps. A really good and fun map. Wasn't fan of the backtracking between different bases, but the scenery makes it worth it.

 

[cannonball]

MAP16 - “Ifrit’s Lair” by Doomlust

 

The rocket launcher was a little too easy to miss, especially as it is a pretty essential weapon to have. The plasma gun can be obtained from going along either route (If you prepare to go out of your way), but essentially one path is pointless because you need the red key - which requires you getting the blue key and then use thatto get the red key. The map has a little too much fodder to snipe of the ledges, many are a little pointless if you ask me. In the end monsters tend to be under-utilised, archviles perched and essentailly non threats, clusters of monsters you can run away from (Including the cyberdemon that you can simply skip because the area he spawns is one you never need to return to. The finale isn't much to speak of either and I had found the BFG secret and had plenty of cells. 

Overall, the visuals were generally decent (Though the textures are doing a lot of heavy lifting here, which is fine as many wads do utilise good texture usage), but ultimate I found this map to be a little dull, not a bad map but rather forgettable overall.

 

Map32 - General waffle

 

So Orestruck (Yes this is a pun) was the third map I submitted to PRCP2, the first was a map I had cut from the early stages of "Atomic" as the map felt a little out of place. Not long after submitting this Joshy got in contact and offered to take the map for the still in development Plutonia 3 as he was looking for some shorter maps to break up some of the submissions that were already well into development. The second map was an older map that was from the period when Demonic Deviation came out and was donated after giving it a lick of Plutonia paint, this map is also now marked to be in Plutonia 3. Finally I made Orestruck, which did remain in this project.

So it has been noted that the map deviates strongly from the typical super secret map of a Plutonia related PWad, the main reason for this was firstly no-one opted to make a map in this vein, and secondly my map was not supposed to end up in the Map32 slot and was penciled in for the Map20 slot. The idea of the map subtly references Map26 of Doom 2 (The metal structures and wooden pier in the central area are clues along with the baron heavy trap beyond the blue key door). Initially the map was supposed to be an episode 2 closer, hence the rather strong thematic shifts and elements, but it became apparent that the map was going a little out of control in terms of the size. Instead of scrapping the central structure and starting again, I decided to roll with it with the emphasis of making the map play as quickly as possible. After a couple of weeks I submitted the first draft with the caveat that I was fine if Joshy rejected the map due to the size. In the end Joshy decided it would work for the Map32 slot. As such I made the map a little tougher on the player, unfortunately without resorting to remaking some fights I decided to sprinkle archviles here and there (Hence the impressions some have got from this map).

In hindsight I was considering whether to axe some of the fights (especially around the yellow key) but I struggled to come up with a compelling reason to remove the yellow key fight or to not flood the central area with monsters before the player returned to the surface. The final fight was always planned and was always going to take place with the start area consumed by nukage. I think in the end this fight turned out okay (The cyber's primary use was to aid in clean up rather than be a major threat to the player). 

I still don't know whether it was the right call to keep this map in this project, though I feel better after playing through the maps properly (During the testing phase I think I must have picked up many of the shorter maps and hence felt my entry was more out of place than it actually was). I hope people weren't too worn out from the experience. I promise my submissions that will hopefully be in the final release of PL3 will be much more concise and less exhausting than this effort.

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 32: Orestruck - Cannonball

100% kills and secrets

Time: 26:58

Deaths: 4-6 (idr exactly)

 

It's expected that a Plutonia-based WAD would have a Map 32 that is basically a super-tough version of another IWAD map, or something to that effect. Not this time. Cannonball instead gives us a trip to a giant cavern just teeming with evil meanies. He has already mentioned in this thread that the map doesn't really adhere to the Plutonia standards, and I can see that. It's a huge map, and a lot of the ambushes take place in big areas you can run around freely in. But like I've said before, I'm not expecting these maps to be strictly Plutonia. I just want fun. And thankfully, this map is pretty fun! Even though this map doesn't reference an older map overtly, it does keep one aspect of a Plutonia map 32, and that's the slaughter aspect. Granted, it's not one giant slaughterfest, but there's enough encounters here where it can turn into one. The very first fight of the map takes place in the center hub and it's one giant slaughter party (that you can around around in and cause infighting). The invul here helps with that too, but I would recommend saving that for when you grab the yellow key (I accidentally grabbed it cause a corpse was blocking my view of it when there was no monsters in the area). The map is linear, and the keys are heavily guarded. My first death came from the red key fight, as there were way too many archies (3 on my level and 2 below). A few more came from just before grabbing the yellow key, when a bevy of hell knights and a couple archies appear behind lowered walls, flyers teleport in, plus a cyb. 2 more deaths came from after clearing this out and grabbing the yellow key, as the water in front of you lowers revealing a hell knight and rev pool, with 2 archies, all while more revs and flyers show up back above on the edges, and even more archies are waiting to approach from a lowering wall by the entrance to this cavern. Focus on archies and pain elementals with the BFG first, and if that invul's still there, grab it. There's also the secret invul that's pretty easy to find, but I saved it for the ending (all 3 secrets were pretty easy to find. The megapshere one can only be found once the water lowers just fyi). The final fight takes you to a nukage-filled version of the outside starting area, but infested with baddies. Doesn't look like much until you get around the center structure and see the 20,000 revs there (and 2 archies). I'm glad I used the invul here (tho I did still die on my first attempt). Rush the archies and pain elementals again, and keep an eye on your rad suit running out. Hitting the yellow switch doesn't lower the yellow bars, but does release a cyb that would have been useful for cleanup if I hadn't already killed everything. Hitting the switch that actually does lower the bars, also opens a teleporter back down guarded by 2 archies. Toast them before the start reving things. Overall, this was a pretty fun one! Big encounters with lots of danger to them. Map looks really great too. The cavern environment has a good amount of detail to it.

 

Map 16: Ifrit's Lair - Doomlust

100% kills and secrets

Time: 23:14

Deaths: 5

 

Honestly, I wasn't really feeling this one. Texture-wise, this one felt nothing like Plutonia to me, and more like something closer to an Egypt map or something. That's not a big deal, but the constant sniping chaingunners in both big outdoor areas were really getting to me. Add in the fact that I had more malfunctioning rad suits than I have ever had in my entire life while traversing the lava. Seriously, I counted 8 times I got damage through the leaky rad suit. I rarely get that period! I'm glad for the hidden soul sphere here, but I wasted it almost immediately cause I had no armor. This map just had a lot of little annoyances that ultimately soured my opinion on the map. Idk if it's all the map's fault (the leaky rad suits definitely aren't), but the heavy sniping hitscan and surprisingly dangerous fights in tight quarters made this one not that great for me. 

[Book Lord]

1 hour ago, cannonball said:

MAP16 - “Ifrit’s Lair” by Doomlust

 

The rocket launcher was a little too easy to miss, especially as it is a pretty essential weapon to have. The plasma gun can be obtained from going along either route (If you prepare to go out of your way)

 

How can you obtain the plasma gun if you go to the canyon area first? There is only one copy of the weapon and its ledge is accessible only through the volcanic caverns from the western lava pit. Am I missing something?

 

1 hour ago, cannonball said:

I still don't know whether it was the right call to keep this map in this project, though I feel better after playing through the maps properly (During the testing phase I think I must have picked up many of the shorter maps and hence felt my entry was more out of place than it actually was). I hope people weren't too worn out from the experience. I promise my submissions that will hopefully be in the final release of PL3 will be much more concise and less exhausting than this effort.

I agree with your conclusion that Orestruck does not feel out of place in PRCP 2, considering that most of the following maps have a comparable play time. It was an entertaining map that did not waste the player's time, and definitely not "the hardest". Seeing how PRCP 2 has turned out, despite Joshy's recommendation to not make large maps, to contain the monster number under 200, etc..., is a bit of a letdown. I found that the first PRCP became a slog in the second half, with every author wanting to impress the audience with large maps and no breathers, and I hoped this was noticed and prevented this time. Most PRCP 2 entries are really good maps on their own, but hey, the length is a bit excessive for the intensity (20 minutes for shorter maps where you are constantly assaulted, 30+ minutes for more exploratory maps) and there is almost no breather. This lack of equilibrium ruins the experience of blind continuous play in my opinion, and makes this megaWAD a more suitable choice for speedrunning and pistol starting one map at a time.

 

MAP 17 – The Wolf Hour by @sincity2100

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

 

After a streak of long and sometimes demanding levels, I welcomed a second entry from Sincity2100. I enjoyed Azure Ambition and the same could be said for The Wolf Hour, where the size and the aggressiveness of the encounters was amped up as expected at this point of the megaWAD. Fighting against the zombies in the starting room, instead of running quickly out of it, costed me my maxed-out stats from the previous map. Weapons were not very far from the large ring forming the level hub, but they were all guarded by monster closets and teleport traps. The main threat was the faraway Cyberdemon though, whose rockets hit me with unbelievable precision while I was outrunning the angry crowd at my heels.

Spoiler

A rather generic brick tech-base corrupted by blood, originating from the hollow eyes of MWALL5_T panels visible to the outside, it contained plenty of outdated Poison signs, since no floor in this level was hazardous. The north-western path could be taken before picking up the rocket launcher and plasma gun, which would be a huge mistake considering the horde of monsters that popped up right before reaching the RK ledge. The secret BFG was beyond my understanding, as I am not normally checking computer panels for the presence of vines, but my sixth sense helped me find a bountiful compartment with Berserk, Megasphere, and Invulnerability, which I used to overcome the RK battle. Every time a key was picked up, the hub was repopulated with new enemies, the BK wave being the heaviest in store. In case the situation gets out of hand, there was a second Invulnerability in a “secret” that required only shooting at the button inside the cage.

Spoiler

The two keys were used in the eastern hall to unlock a teleport pad to the YK area. The author likes to brutally attack players that land on teleport destinations, because the Chaingunners and the Arachnotrons out of view can kill Doomguy in seconds if he does not move out of the way. The area contained a non-secret BFG and ended with an Arch-Vile resurrecting the Arachnotrons indefinitely, unless put down to rest. The yellow door granted a free pass to the outer side of the tech-base, where the Cyberdemon could be finally engaged, along with a bunch of other enemies. There was enough room to avoid being hit and cause infighting, and ammo was way more than required. The Wolf Hour did not last an hour like the secret maps or half an hour as most of the second episode maps; it delivered good action without wasting my time with backtracking or pointless combat. For these reasons, it felt more like a contemporary map without any specific ties with Plutonia 2 and PRCP, except for the textures in use. Sincity2100 did a good job with this, and it kept my playthrough afloat for a while.

[cannonball]

12 minutes ago, Book Lord said:

 

How can you obtain the plasma gun if you go to the canyon area first? There is only one copy of the weapon and its ledge is accessible only through the volcanic caverns from the western lava pit. Am I missing something?

 

I ended up in the wasteland/canyon area first. There is a lift that goes down to the yellow key door where the plasma gun is seen on the upper ledge, however that ledge is reachable as the apparent wall is actually some very narrow steps that can be climbed. I only found the lava cavern later on when I went in the direction of the red key door. Unfortunately I ground through the blue key section with only the SSG/Chaingun in hand before spotting the lift to find the yellow door and plasma gun, which soured the experience somewhat.

Edited July 16, 2023 by cannonball

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 16: Ifrit's Lair

by @Doomlust

 

This is the first time I've come across a "Tales of Phantasia" midi in a Doom wad, which easily contains one of the strongest soundtracks in the Tales series (Tales of Destiny is unfortunately more typical). "Mines of Morlia" is probably better, but the midi here more than fits!

 

I recognized Doomlust from Solar Struggle naturally. I'll admit not necessarily knowing how much better they could do without the tight texture restrictions, but the answer turns out to be quite a lot! The structure is a fairly typical one for an essentially linear map with the illusion of nonlinearity. But the difference is how the design melds with the red sky. It's a temple of sorts, if the first blood pool in the middle, the architecture of the buildings we can actually see, and the little shrine or two we find every so often are any indication. Although only one location exists that could be called "Doomcute," the artistic direction more than works for what's presented here.

 

But of course, the majority of the map takes place in natural landscapes with pools of lava seemingly everywhere, in caverns and in front of temples, although there is a large natural field that seems to have been carved out a long time ago from all the gaps which can be found. This location is also quite dangerous with hitscanners and Imps firing from seemingly every available ledge while Mancubi and Hell Knights harass us on the valley floor. Then later, we'll return and be confronted by an Arch-vile and Cyberdemon.

 

This leads me to another observation made about this map: it's really rather right on ammo, and as one might expect, we were wailing and gnashing our teeth at all the rocket boxes with no rocket launcher in sight. Well, it turns out one can be found in the bunker near the beginning. Ammo's still pretty sparing but that was still a relief.

 

Otherwise, combat is basically some fairly unchallenging incidental stuff, with the exception perhaps of a chaingunner trap inside the main temple and ducking there isn't hard. There are also Revenants and Arch-viles in several places but not engaging directly with them proved easy enough since this really isn't like the last map, despite several obvious moments.

 

For instance, Doomlust decides to be dickish at the exit and place a Baron and two Arch-viles directly inside. At this point, we were running low on health and becoming more conscious of the time, so after several fumbled rewinds, we reached the exit. 

 

It's very funny, the video lasts 35 minutes but I barely noticed the time, which is kind of interesting for a map that is slightly above average at best. Maybe just the midi and lots of work going into this map?

 

 

 

 

[HiMyNameIsChair]

MAP31: Steel Mill Zone by @Joshy

 

(Played on DSDA, UV Pistolstart.103% Kills, 33% Secrets. Completion time: 39:39)

 

And here we arrive at project lead Joshy Sealy's solo contribution to the set: A grand, somber, and deeply atmospheric map, partnered with TrialD and Cammy's track, "Soulsweeper" which pivots from being mournful and melancholic, to uplifting, pushing you along as you trudge through the dark titanic halls.

 

If I had to guess, it's likely an homage to Dario Casalli & Ty Halderman's TNT MAP18:Mill, and maybe Robin Patenall's MAP14:Steelworks which feels fitting given the lineage of mappers that Joshy draws influence from.

 

I'm intimately familiar with Joshy's work since Speed of Doom is quite literally one of my all-time favorite mapsets~! Joshy has evolved a lot since those days, and his work here more closely resembles his work on Resurgence, or even some of his BTSX work, showcasing a mapper who has matured and grown over many years, and is now stretching his creative muscles, tackling a kind of map he wouldn't have attempted back in the SoD days.

And by god what a map it is...! Steel Mill Zone, is expertly crafted, from the awe-inspiring opening sight of the megastructure, shrouded in darkness... while lights flicker in the distance. The sense of scale on display here is truly impressive, from the massive crushers rhythmically pounding away, imposing molten furnaces, the central column, standing tall among a lake of blood, the multiple, monolithic structures, interconnected and making you feel small by comparison, this pipe dispensing what seems like an endless supply of blood, and so many arena's... ready to have their floors painted red. 

 

Spoiler

Speaking of atmosphere... Joshy i have to really praise you on this one thing specifically: You're light gradients here are *perfect*~! The way they spread out across the floor and wall, the angle,  and how you gradually lower the brightness at the edges. I would dare to say... Even the master himself, Kim Andre Malde, would even be impressed, well done~!

 

Spoiler

 

In general,  Joshy really gave his lighting special attention, with his massive halls, cast in eternal darkness, making the long shadows, stretching over its halls even more prominent. it makes for an incredibly imposing map.

 

Spoiler

 

The only major issue I have with the map, is the layout & progression. It is definitely a bit difficult to navigate and get around, with a lot of doors, bars, and sections closed off by switches you have to find and events you have to do in a certain order. honestly, I could not tell you what the order of operations for this map is , I genuinely do not remember what switches I pressed, and in what order.

Admittedly, the amount of hurtfloor here is a bit excessive, but in a rare display of extreme generosity, Joshy bestows on you an *obscene* amount of Rad suits,: 40 in total~! it is the most benevolent i think I've ever seen him, and i appreciate that~!

The opening minutes are really hectic as Joshy hands you a shotgun, chaingun, and berserk to cut your way to a lifesaving blur sphere, but the arachnotrons will need something a bit bigger, and their sheer numbers mean managing your sightlines is going to become a challenge. Thankfully, Joshy does leave a rocket launcher nearby. But outside of that, you are on your own, and it's up to you to sniff out the supplies you need.

On the combat side in general... actually, this is very funny, because, during my playthrough at first, i thought it was one of the easier Joshy maps I've played and thought "damn... Joshy went soft on me"... and then I hit a switch, the floor lowered and dropped me in a room with 3 archviles and i just had a laugh as they roasted me alive and thought "THEEERE HE IS~!  there's Mr Poison Ivy~!". While initially a bit more subdued than his other work, Joshy makes you wait for his most insidious traps. Make no mistake, it's still very much a Josh Sealy joint, give him enough time... and he will remind you!

I think the fight that had my number the most was an encounter on the west side bridge, where crossing a lindef pops up hellknights to block you, along with perches chaingunners supported by pain elementals and caco's. it's a mean fight, but it's exactly the kind of razors edge setpiece I'd expect from one of the Casalli's and Erik Alm's greatest disciples.

The massive fight on the east end is a clear setpiece, a massive brawl with pinkies, revenants, and pain elementals while an archvile and his supporting chaingunners wait for you to enter their line of sight, forcing you to be wary of your position.

I'm less enthusiastic about a fight near the center of the map, where you have to clear hell knights off a walkway, while skeletons fire missiles at you from above. felt like it killed the flow a bit.

This is a really hard map to grade... I deeply admire the amount of care Joshy poured into this homage, and it really does show, but the layout and progression do hurt it a little bit.

I definitely still enjoyed my time with it, and if nothing else, it's one of the nicest-looking maps I've ever gotten hopelessly lost in. Still a solid map... but It could have been better. 

 

Grade: B-
 

Order of Preference

 

Spoiler

MAP11

MAP06

MAP10

MAP05

MAP15

MAP01

MAP08

MAP12

MAP03

MAP31

MAP07

MAP14

MAP13

MAP02

MAP04

MAP09

 

Ahhhh noooo... I forgot to check for screenshots that were out of place again~! well.. can't really fix that in the edit... could not tell you why deleting it does nothing, just gonna spoiler that and move on.

Spoiler

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by HiMyNameIsChair

[plums]

On 7/12/2023 at 9:54 PM, finnks13 said:

Is this joke still funny? Was it ever funny?

Don't know how far you are but I am especially looking forward to your reactions to some of the maps in the 20s, that do some unconventional things with entrances and exits.

[DJVCardMaster]

It's fun that everyone mentioned that MAP31 is a Mill and Steel Works homage, but nobody pointed out that is based on MAP15: Dead Zone from TNT aswell, hence the open areas and sandbox-esque nature.


And yes, Book Lord is right. Sadly most of the latter maps are just trying to show off with behemot sized levels. Most of them taking more than half-hour to complete, and that's just a shame, that's why I'm rushing as much as I can through levels until MAP22. Have in mind that Tatsurd's UV-Max speedruns for some maps are over 10-minutes or more.

MAP24 is going to be hell for us, short map players. 

Luckly the club has already played through Eternal Doom long time ago, and we will never have to play that one. I don't want to sit 2 hours for a month just to play Doom. But I'm afraid some of the following PRCP maps are going to be something like that.