The DWmegawad Club plays: Claustrophobia 1024

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP27 - Hell Sewage - Jodwin (98%K/100%I/100%S):

Jodwin has definitely hit a low here, surprisingly. Just like the earlier maps in the wad, this one has Darkening textures, this map has quite a big "room-door-room" structure, with tons of hallways and some bigger areas that hold bigger encounters, everything was going fine for this map, until the second to last fight, before the blue keycard door. I do agree to the feeling voiced previously by other club members, the formula is getting quite old, and Jodwin mostly works on his "narrow corridors", this time, failing to make an enjoyable ride, in comparison to his previous maps. The problem with this room-door-room structure and the high amount of halls is that you are going to get bottlenecked by the sheer amount of enemies that spawn, added to the TWO archviles start reviving. Yes, I do think two archviles is a little bit too much for the amount of enemies you killed previously, this made the last moments of this map just annoying, and missed some points because of that. The rest of the layout and some of its battles are really fine, if you ask me, not a bad map, but it became quite meh because of the pair of archviles there.


(UV - Playthrough/PRBoom+)

Order of Preference:

 

Spoiler

 

MAP25

MAP22

MAP31
MAP20
MAP09

MAP05
MAP19
MAP16
MAP26
MAP23

MAP03
MAP07
MAP24
MAP15
MAP13
MAP12
MAP14
MAP21
MAP06
MAP18
MAP02
MAP04
MAP01
MAP17
MAP32
MAP08
MAP10
MAP11
MAP27

 

I'm seeing that, narrow corridors are not a big issue so far for entries in my 1024 project, feels like mapping has evolved a lot in ten years, and it is quite clear there are other ways to tackle mapping even in tight spaces like this one, having many of these kind of maps like the one we played today, feels quite burning to play when not done right. An overpopulation of "narrow corridors" for a 1024 wad could end up making the entire project not as enjoyable, so that's an interesting point to evaluate.

[Tiramisu]

MAP27 - Hell Sewage

 

Now that's a song I never expected to hear in a DOOM map! The rockin' zelda remix was surprisingly fitting for some demon slaying action, but the map itself was... well, I wouldn't exactly call it bad - the layout and architecture were definitely there, and the fights, while admittedly grindy at times, weren't that bad either. However, it was heavily dragged down by some questionable design choices - for one, there was far too little health until the very end, turning what could've been a fun slaughter-y escapade into a desperate session of corner camping against hitscanners at critically low health levels. There was also far too much shotgunning HKs, and while I didn't have that much trouble with the two Archviles, I can easily see how someone could run out of ammo there due to bad RNG. All in all, it's a map that I feel could've definitely used some more balancing!

Edited August 27, 2023 by sq. Tiramisu

[Klear]

A quick "I'm still alive" post - I was out of town for the weekend and now I have my hands full getting my submission for PUSS XXIX out of the door in time for the deadline. I managed to play up to map27 (though I forgot to hit record for map 26) but had no time to post write-ups. I hope to catch up in time for the finale.

[Celestin]

MAP28: Poison Ivy by Joshy

 

For the record, I've yet to play Speed of Doom, but the infamy of its 23rd map has reached me. So I expected the worst and in the end, it wasn't that bad.

 

I expected Poison Ivy to completely crush me with a lack of space and high monster density. Now, it is still a hard map, but the progression is wave-based. Press a switch, grab a key or walk to a new part and monsters start teleporting in. This gives you a pause to catch a breath and resupply before tackling the next round. The hardest part hits you early. Once the map opens up, you find yourself in a pit that quickly gets filled with imps and some tougher monsters. Once you kill all of this with only a super shotgun and drag yourself to the surrounding rocks, another cramped imps trap awaits. Pushing forward to a shack pinches you between a revenant ambush and an archvile that starts reviving dead imps, while cacodemons approach you from outside the map. This is definitely the hardest part of the map, fortunately you get a plasma rifle here, so use it well. The rest gives you a rocket launcher and more room to move, so it's much easier and the final fight against a cyberdemon that collapses the cliffs and turns the place into a pit is a fine way to cap of the map.

 

I've have a lot of fun playing this one, more than I thought I would have.

[RHhe82]

MAP28: Poison Ivy. Played on DSDA v0.26.2, UV, PS. 157/157 K, 1/1 S, 16/16 I. Comp. time 17:34

 

Fuck this map.

 

I quit at the part where the ledge is swarmed with revenants and an archvile, and from somewhere a cacocloud emerges, and thus far there hadn't been any encounter I had enjoyed one bit.

 

Then I retried some 10 hours later: This is the worst Joshy map I've ever played. It keeps on aggravating until the end. I assumed the exit switch release a plutonia of archviles, but "luckily" it was only the second most infuriating trick, a mandatory end cyberdemon, which even more infuriatingly managed to kill me a couple of times because I bumped into an infinite height cacodemon that had crept behind me. FUCK. THIS. MAP. (Sorry Joshy, I usually like your maps a lot more. For instance, Poison Ivy II is harder for sure, and I had hard time with that, too, but also I'm fairly certain I ended up enjoying it before long. Not the case here).

 

 

Week after playing, upon posting this on the forum: Maybe I was too harsh, I don't know. Maybe don't go so far as to fuck this map. But it was difficult, and definitely one of my least favourites (though not the least, but we'll talk about that later). Could be just a skill issue and frustration taking over.

[bioshockfan90]

After-the-playthrough notes: I had a lot of fun with this one, probably higher than what I ended up placing it at the very end if I could do it over again, strongly recommend anyone that did not like this map to check it out on a lower difficulty, Joshy masterfully crafted the combat in this map and on HNTR at least I felt properly challenged unlike MAP27 and it really has that 'newschool flair'. Big ups from me! :)

 

 

MAP28: Poison Ivy 

 

100K | 100I | 0S

 

This is what I expect from a challenging, ‘one-of-the-finals’ map in any megaWAD. Challenging, tense as hell, great atmosphere, hellish, and unrelenting. This is leagues more fair than MAP27 despite being just as challenging if not more from a pure combat standpoint. I did this one without saving and the Cyberdemon fight at the end had my breath shallow and my skin sweating with how close to the wire I was cutting it… thankfully, I prevailed. This is a fantastic map, and while I am a fan of the easier maps in this set and wouldn’t put it in my top 3, I have to give it its flowers for those that love a good challenge, plus the map’s just overall super well-designed and fun to play. Almost reminds me of a good Hell Revealed map in a sense. Juuust outside of the top three. 4.5 out of 5

 

MAPRANKS:

Spoiler

MAP19

MAP23

MAP20

MAP28

MAP05

MAP21

MAP16

MAP22

MAP14

MAP18

MAP15

MAP26

MAP07

MAP25

MAP01

MAP09

MAP06

MAP04

MAP13

MAP17

MAP02

MAP10

MAP24

MAP03

MAP12

MAP08

MAP27

 

 

[cannonball]

MAP28 - “Poison Ivy” by Joshy

 

This map felt a little unbalanced, it gives you a megasphere quite early on and my goodness you need to be careful to not have this chipped away because recovery items are essentially sticking plasters from this point onwards. There is a rather easy secret that provides health and a mega armour but again with this I struggled. Personally I found this to be the stronger of Joshy's maps, the map unravels in a rather neat fashion and each section feels well designed for the combat it contains. However the hitscanners at the end sequence are unnecessary as they can easily end you, also I found myself with just the SSG remaining at the yellow switch and I suffered a lot from having fluff shots where the pellets would aim for monsters behind the ones I was actually aiming at. Removing the chaingunners from the final switch wouldn't change much, but it would remove a level of annoyance of having one or more essentially nail every shot from the moment they spawn in, heck even a second archvile to the one mid way through would have been better.

To some degrees I didn't like this map, but unlike Map27 there always seemed to be a solution and it was more me than the mapper at fault. This is a solid challenge that I think others will get more joy out of, overall I think this is a good map despite my misgivings, just a case of being a little rough around the edges.  

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP28 - Poison Ivy - Joshy (100%K/6%I/0%S):

Another entry by Joshy that feels a bit like his work in Speed of Doom at times, in fact, a "sequel" of this map is present in said megawad for some reason(with a third edition randomly placed at PRCP), a really hard map that slowly opens up revealing more and more fights. I found it annoying at times, specially at the narrow corridors and ledges, luckly, supplies were just enough to finish everyone here. My review on this one may feel generic, but the map IS quite generic, it feels like another Congestion 1024 map. As, yet again, there is not a heavy use of new textures here, and so far, most of the "hellish" maps rely more on basic vanilla textures rather than new ones. And that's why, aesthetically I've felt a bit underwhelmed. Still, not bad at all. But I think I hated the combat more and more as time passed.

(UV - Playthrough/PRBoom+)

Order of Preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP25

MAP22

MAP31
MAP20
MAP09

MAP05
MAP19
MAP16
MAP26
MAP23

MAP03
MAP07
MAP24
MAP15
MAP13
MAP12
MAP14
MAP21
MAP06
MAP18
MAP02
MAP04
MAP01
MAP17
MAP32
MAP08
MAP28
MAP10
MAP11
MAP27

 

Poison Ivy 4, when? I bet it is going to be in Plutonia 3. 

Edited August 28, 2023 by DJVCardMaster

[rehelekretep]

map28 fda

perhaps i am in danger of falling into the 'skill-issue' bracket here with my complaining but this is so close to what i wanted from a 1024² , so allow me to explain:

many of the encounters here each have an 'annoyance' that i dont think is fun or engaging to work through. for example, the chaingunner use, it forces you to retreat and hide, and the corpses and multiple levels to the map make visibility challenging. the revenants positioned behind the fence on the way to the red key and yellow switch, making it difficult to shoot them without simply popping in and out of the little wooden house. a few tweaks here and there and this would be genuinely a blast for me to play.

[Horus]

MAP26 - “Aura of Evil” by Butts, Joshy, Jodwin, Mechadon

 

So here we are with our second and final four-person 1024 map. And we switch back to the hellish theme seen on map 23, with copious amounts of marble, metal and redrock textures (must be a dimensions map 1 reference :P). However, it follows the previous map’s hot start, with revenants and imps dotted around the rocky cliffs and a pesky archvile guarding the exit on a marble pillar, one that is annoying to deal with thanks to its turreted position, but one that must be prioritised nonetheless.

 

Following this, you enter into the marble interior, where an ambush and an incredibly loud and unpleasant teleport sequence was triggered, which was not appreciated! You can take potshots at the enemies on and above the ramparts, before needing to retrace your steps for another couple of ambushes back at the start.

 

The secret for this map, a megasphere, was incredibly overpowered, especially when the final ambush already gives you a soulsphere. Still, it was an enjoyable playthrough, and for once you got a lot more room to roam in this map (though the monster placement certainly made me use most of it!).

 

MAP27 - “Hell Sewage” by Jodwin

 

I came into this map with somewhat managed expectations - I knew nothing about how it played, but quickly skimmed the thread before playing and noticed some of you didn’t like it, and it made me curious why. After playing it, I can certainly see why, with it being a very long drawn-out affair full of samey narrow corridor ambushes. And if it had poor difficulty balance, that must have been rough.

 

And yet, I loved it! I was on the edge of my seat throughout, an adrenaline-fuelled affair (thanks in no small part to a highly energising midi!) where every fight seemed finely balanced throughout. Low on space, low ammo, low on health, low on armor – but always just enough. The restrictive space turned what would otherwise grindy affairs into exciting encounters. Not had this much fun since 1000 lines map 16. My favourite map so far and it’s not even close.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Horus

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Blind/Saves (if needed)

Map 28:  Poison Ivy - Joshy

100% kills and secrets

Time: 10:01

Deaths: 2

 

*Sees map name*

*Sees map author*

 

Heh, heh. I'm in danger.

 

I believe this is the 3rd of Joshy's Poison Ivy maps that I have played. The Doomwiki says there's 5 of these, but I only see 4 of them? (this, Speed of Doom's PRCP'S, and Resurgence's). I haven't played the final one, but I've played the other 2 back in the day when I wasn't nearly as good as I am now. I'm pretty sure I IDDQD'd the one in Speed of Doom back in the day, but I'm pretty sure I managed through the PCRP one. So I was expecting this one to be a tough cookie. And it was. It's mostly 1 open arena, but the map is constructed in a way where you still have to open up progression. This usually means raising steps to higher ledges or lowering gates. Each time you do that or grab a key baddies show up. Either they teleport in or pop up in your face. I expected the latter considering the complaints about the sequel in the Dean of Doom ep of Speed of Doom. My first death came from grabbing the red key and getting nailed from a few rev missiles, though I didn't die until the lost souls showed up a little later. The second death came after hitting the yellow switch just from constant damage all around. The cyb at the end wasn't even a threat compared to everything else that happened, especially with my continuous BFG. Overall, a tough start to the Poison Ivy series, but still quite manageable. 

[Horus]

MAP28 - “Poison Ivy” by Joshy

 

When I played Speed of Doom I wondered where the original Poison Ivy was, and here it is! When I saw the title I expected the worst, because I hated Poison Ivy II and its very oppressive nature. Fortunately, outside the aesthetic, this is nothing like its successor.

 

Much like many of the preceding maps, this map follows the formula of starting in a very small space before opening up bit by bit, with a new ambush each time. For the most part, these ambushes were fun and fair, if a little grindy in places. The only skirmish I didn’t like was the dropdown to the yellow key, which spawned chaingunners immediately behind you and down below, thanks to which it became a hindsight trap.

 

This mapset has been very shy with cyberdemons so far, but we finally see another one here…fortunately you are given adequate space and resources to deal with it.

The midi did get a bit annoying after a few loops, but aside from that and the hindsight trap, I enjoyed this one.

 

MAP29 - “Magnum Opus” by POTGIESSER, Mechadon

 

Ok, again I saw the title, and really feared the worst. One should not aim for a magnum opus 1024 map! Fortunately, yet again, it’s nowhere near as bad as I thought it might be.

 

One interesting point to note is that Potgiesser contributed to the original Congestion 1024 (also in the map 29 slot). I believe he was the only one to contribute a map to both projects.

 

The start is very oppressive, with plenty of mandatory damage, which didn’t set things off on the right foot for me. Thereafter, monster placement was cheeky (particularly the archviles, sometimes able to resurrect monsters through the thin walls), but not unfair.

 

It takes the general theme of this mapset of gradually opening up the map bit-by-bit to the extreme, constantly going side-to-side to press switches to open up small new bits of the map.

 

The secrets are basically for free if you study the automap, and are very helpful, especially the BFG – without which I probably wouldn’t have appreciated the closing encounters. Talking of which, the map ends up throwing an absolute ton of hell nobles at you…and a cyberdemon. First time round I made the mistake of killing the cyber early, before later realising that the cyber is your infighting friend, clearing many of the mini-doors with health for you!

 

Aesthetically it is very much a Congestion 1024 map, and could easily fit into the latter stages of that project - which makes sense given that the mapper worked on the original too. Also noticeable is the pentagrams and other hellish symbols on the floor throughout the interior – if I recall correctly, Potgiesser also did this with Magus. Overall, again a surprisingly fun map.

 

Next up is map 30 which I also dread because I never get on with map 30s.

[RHhe82]

MAP29: Magnum Opus. Played on DSDA v0.26.2, UV, PS. 186/186 K, 3/3 S, 4/4 I. Comp. time 19:17

 

I was in foul mood as I played this right after last day's map, but while the archviles in the first half of the map felt a bit grindy, overall I liked the simple microslaughter of this map. I feel it cleansed my palate after the ordeal. The microslaughtery end was good fun!

 

At first I liked the music -- when I was a teenager in late 90s I started delving into black metal, and Dimmu Borgir's Enthrone Darkness Triumphant was the first album I bought -- it was their most recent at the time -- and its first track, as we all know, is Mourning Palace. I guess the midi rendition here isn't that bad, but played on repeat here doesn't work that well.

[Celestin]

MAP29: Magnum Opus by POTGIESSER with edits by Mechadon

 

Magnum Opus looks fine, the marble walls feel a bit generic, but the fence that blocks access to the rest of the map, red cavern and piles of skulls for a skybox all make up for it.

 

The gameplay, though, is a different story. You start in a tiny room getting shelled from imps on the cliffs and zombies around you, then the map starts to open up. Just move from place to place, kill everything, open a new part of a level, rince and repeat. The map is insane with its hell nobles usage, so find a secret BFG as soon as you can. The ending feels like something from a jokewad, the map gets completely filled with hell knights, a cyberdemon can help killing them, but it's likely he'll get blocked and die, so it's your task to clear them out. I guess it was supposed to be the climax of the map, but its excess prevents it from being taken seriously.

 

I feel like this is my overall experience with Magnum Opus: it was intended to be the greatest work, but turned into a parody of itself.

[DavitW]

MAP28: Poison Ivy
This is a mostly fine map, but not one I'd typically play without save states. I put a bit of effort into this one, but still couldn't nail that deathless 100% run from start to finish. I'm more than willing to accept that loss on my record, though. After two or three tries this map starts to turn into a real tedious chore. Just like we've seen in prior maps, same encounters playing out with the same enemies in the same area over and over again. Certainly not an inevibilaty when making maps this small, but nonetheless a pitfall many mappers seem to find themselves falling into.

 

MAP29: Magnum Opus
If you're not comfortable banging it out in the pocket with Hell Knights, Barons, Archviles, and Revenants, then I can't see you enjoying this one very much. Space opens up a little bit as the map goes on, but not by much. Gameplay presents a fair challenge and the encounters are nice and varied, though there are a few occasions where the pacing of the map is dramatically slowed down by a slight overabundance of Barons and Hell Knights. The final encounter answers the age old question of who would win between a Cybderdemon and fifty or so Hell Knights, and the answer is the Hell Knights. Quiet easily, actually, I was expecting him to take a few more out before he went down. Using a wall of skulls as the skybox was quite amusing to me, and that's about all I have to say about it. A good penultimate map.

 

MAP33: Nil
Don't worry, I'm not going to forget about you, super super secret maps. Both of these maps take place on some sort of fortress structure floating in a black void. Kind of like the Coagula series of maps for Quake, if you ever played any of those. There's nearly 200 monsters (Feeling closer to 400 if you count the lost souls) here with more than enough health, ammo, and powerups to take every single one of them on. All in all, it makes for a gay old time. But please, try and cool it with the lost souls next time. They're like cockroaches too, just when you thought you got them all, another two turn up around the next corner.

 

MAP34: **NULL**
Didn't like it as much as the first one. The Cyberdemons and Spider Masterminds are just too tedious to deal with. There are crushers you can activate to help deal with them, but you might as well be turning on a massager with how useful they are. If anything, the crushers walls just get in the way of your regular bullets and plasma. The flying monsters are once again a bit out of control on this map. It makes the combat a bit chaotic when A cacodemon can pop up behind you at any moment, but when you have to pluck the last few to death with a chaingun while they're a hundred miles out into the void, it's not that enjoyable.

 

1024CLAU28.zip

1024CLAU29.zip

1024CLAU33.zip

1024CLAU34.zip

[cannonball]

MAP29 - “Magnum Opus” by POTGIESSER, Mechadon

 

The BFG was a secret??? Yep it was, but chances are you will grab this by complete accident because of the design where the fiddly switch for progression sits directly in front of the trigger linedef for said secret. 

Fair to say that acquiring the BFG turns the later stages into a power fantasy, which to be honest was fine by me because it was nice to cut lose. This map is okay, there are some quite grindy sections, where you have option but to chew down monsters with the SSG. The archvile placement leaves a lotto be desired, the earlier ones can really cause trouble, whilst later on they are trivial. The midi is very annoying too (I have never been a metal fan to be honest, I guess this was still a thing though back in the 00s). 

That said I kind of liked this map, I guess in a way I kind of dig the more old school approach which seemed to allow a but of breathing space at times, I was given a rocket launcher that actually felt safe to use in many of the fights. In a wad like this it still manages to stand out from the crowd, in some good way but also some pretty bad ways. 

Overall this was okay, a bit silly, a bit clunky but nowhere near the worst this wad has to offer and in the end there is a charm to it I just can't dislike.

[brick]

GZDoom, Boom compat, software, HNTR, blind, continuous with saves.

 

MAP28 - “Poison Ivy” by Joshy
The concept of the map is very neat: the play area starts extremely small, then every switch peels off a layer and expands it. It reminded me a bit of MAP09, the way the area expands is more straightforward here but the sector machinery is still fun to watch. I didn't like the combat as much though, even with the expanded space it manages to still feel too restrictive.

 

MAP29 - “Magnum Opus” by POTGIESSER, Mechadon
There's an interesting idea of trying to use every possible bit of space, something other maps attempted but taken to its logical extreme here. This involves a series of switches opening up the area more and more, and each time unleashing a small horde of baddies. Unfortunately I found the combat very repetitive. There are many archviles and their appearance becomes so predictable after the second one. Many of the switches unleash a monochromatic group of enemies: here's a bunch of revenants, here are some knights, this one is for the barons, and now how about some more knights... I'm not saying I found the map easy, but about halfway in you get the BFG and plenty of cell packs, and once all this opened up space fills up with hell knights, as Celestin pointed out it turns into a parody itself.

[Flyxolydian]

9 hours ago, TJG1289 said:

I believe this is the 3rd of Joshy's Poison Ivy maps that I have played. The Doomwiki says there's 5 of these, but I only see 4 of them? (this, Speed of Doom's PRCP'S, and Resurgence's).

I saw this too, and am wondering whether Darkwave's 'Poison Oak' from Resurgence is also included in the 5... can't think of any others that've been made.

[bioshockfan90]

MAP29: Magnum Opus

 

94K | ??I | 0S

 

Accidentally got out of the intermission too fast, that’s why the item count is unknown. 

 

Why wasn’t the last map titled ‘Magnum Opus’? In fact, why was this the follow-up to MAP28? It’s hard, yeah, it’s not bad, in fact I’d even go as far as to say it’s rather good; but to say this is poor placement on organization’s part is an understatement. The map isn’t even really that hard on HNTR with the abundance of ammo and health, a little bit of camping down in the trenches while you let monsters infight or fire rockets up above will have you beating this map rather easily. I really don’t understand the title of this map, why it was chosen to be AFTER map28, a couple other things, I dunno man… my brain’s just a bit fried from the culture shock I just experienced. Sure, uhh… 4 out of 5.

 

MAPRANKS:

Spoiler

MAP19

MAP23

MAP20

MAP28

MAP05

MAP21

MAP16

MAP22

MAP29

MAP14

MAP18

MAP15

MAP26

MAP07

MAP25

MAP01

MAP09

MAP06

MAP04

MAP13

MAP17

MAP02

MAP10

MAP24

MAP03

MAP12

MAP08

MAP27

 

 

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP29 - Magnum Opus - POTGIESSER (Edits by Mechadon) (100%K/I/S):

Not the MAP29 I was expecting, but I was not disappointed whatsoever. A map that is far superior at the way it plays than the way it looks, as it looks, yet again, dull, with vanilla textures, and gives you a feeling of playing Congestion. So far I'm just repeating myself, like in most of the latter maps.
It plays interestingly, as your setup is a cage in hell, and you will be slowly pressing switches to open up the area. I do have to say that battles are well staged and get progressively harder, or rather more slaughter at the end, but also they use the space really efficiently. Even though you are caged inside this complex, the latter half of this map does not feel congested enough for you to suffer with space management, I do have to say the BFG secret makes this one ten times easier though, as not only it gives you the best gun, but it also gives you another entry to the upper area that holds the exit, so if enemies are bottlenecking you from one side, you can try going for the other one. Nicely staged map.

Another interesting thing to point out about this map, is that the author only worked on two maps for Congestion 1024, and this entry (in both megawads he was in charge of MAP29), never submitting anything more to the Doom community. Another person that refused to elaborate on his projects.

(UV - Playthrough/PRBoom+)

Order of Preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP25

MAP22

MAP31
MAP20
MAP09

MAP05
MAP19
MAP16
MAP26
MAP29
MAP23

MAP03
MAP07
MAP24
MAP15
MAP13
MAP12
MAP14
MAP21
MAP06
MAP18
MAP02
MAP04
MAP01
MAP17
MAP32
MAP08
MAP28
MAP10
MAP11
MAP27

 

 

[FistMarine]

NOTE: I already finished the megawad last week (including the bonus maps) and meant to post about maps 21-24 last Friday (as well as post about maps 25-28 yesterday, then the rest today) but some important things got in the way and couldn't finish the review in time. Then earlier today I decided to finish the entire review, so I will post maps 21-30 and 33-34 right here (though they are all in spoiler just in case people haven't finished MAP30 and/or the Bonus Maps yet), as well as the votes for September. Also recently got the data back from my old HDD (it's a long story) and will resume the older playthroughs I had in progress at that time, such as Deus Vult II. :)

 

Spoiler

MAP21: Padma
by KingKill33 and Dreadopp

 

The first map of the third "episode" is pretty nice and not that difficult on a continuous run. I only used the shotgun, chaingun and SSG in this map. Most fights are pretty standard, with only a few ambushes to watch out for, like the ambush involving two revenants and an arachnotron. It wasn't too bad, I stayed in the corner (not near the switch) and used the Chaingun, which was able to stun the Revenants. The Arachnotron couldn't hit me behind the cover and I walked away with minimal damage taken from two imp fireballs.

 

The Archvile at the end really wasn't that bad, since he only resurrected a few imps and a shotgunner. He never left the current room. I don't have much else to say. Overall, the map was pretty nice and somewhat relaxing on a continuous run.

 

MAP22: Diminished Apparatus
by Mechadon

 

Pretty interesting map overall. I don't know if I liked more Mechadon's earlier maps or this one but all I can say is the maps are very pretty. Gameplay is pretty decent, with mostly predictable traps. I also appreciate that the acid isn't damaging at all, so you are free to take your time when walking over it.

 

The red key trap is interesting and I took quite a bit of damage from shooting a bit too close with the Rocket Launcher but then after firing a few rockets, I grabbed two medkits and switched off to the SSG. I didn't have trouble handling this trap at all but I found weird that the author encourages you to use the RL due to how much ammo you get but I found it too risky to use due to cramped space and instead the SSG worked pretty well, plus the monsters rarely tried to overwhelm me.

 

The secrets are quite clever but I admit having to look up Doomwiki in order to solve them. They contain excellent rewards. There is also an Easter Egg that I will shortly talk about.

 

The last couple ambushes involve THREE Archviles showing up at a few points (though not all at once if I remember correctly) but having the BFG ready to deal with them was the winning move. The extra health and armor were very useful and was able to stop the madness in a timely manner, as I was left with 95 HP but no armor. Then all I had to do was backtracking to collect everything.

 

The exit room has multiple mini switches located near each other. 6/8 switches will simply exit the level and the remaining two will activate the Easter Egg. The two switches that you press to activate the Easter Egg are the first one and the sixth one. Afterwards, go to an earlier room and find a Duke3D-like switch. Then press another nearby switch (I think?) or just wait. After a while, you will see panels with a weird graphic and a Long Live Lazy text shown up. There is no real reward for doing this and doesn't affect 100% completion (the map can be finished without finding this Easter Egg) but I think it's worth checking out anyway.

 

Thanks Doomwiki for all the help! Overall, this map was pretty nice.

 

MAP23: Fear No Evil
by Dutch Devil

 

An interesting map that's inspired by the Thy Flesh Consumed levels from The Ultimate Doom. Though it does contain a few DOOM 2 monsters, so keep that in mind!

 

The first Archvile in the tower at beginning can be killed by just sniping it with the chaingun, thanks to autoaim. Of course this is useful for continuous players who don't mind firing about 150 bullets or so. Oh wait, I didn't realize I could telefrag it later. That's what I get for getting a bit too ahead. Oh well. :P

 

There are a few ambushes in this map but nothing too difficult on a continuous run, just slightly challenging because you need to analyze the priorities. Taking cover behind the walls was the strategy that I relied on when fighting the monsters.

 

Collect the Plasma, press the switch and quickly kill the teleporting Archie! Interesting that the first BFG shot didn't take him out, instead took the resurrected revenant and got blasted once, though I took him out in a timely manner. Good thing I get to keep the Blue Armor for the next level. Then managed to solve the Soulsphere secret, after pressing on that lion face and reaching the secret teleporter. That switch is located in the cave near the green armor and will also reveal the last two imps, I believe. I wondered for a bit where last two enemies were and then turned out to be two imps that seemed a bit pointless in their placement.

 

Nice map overall, though I think MAP20 was better designed than this one but it was still a pleasant map.

 

MAP24: Second Assault
by Spertz

 

Don't be fooled by the low monster count. This is a short and brutal map that may seem easy at first but then you will get surprised at how many tricks are revealed every time you do something.

 

Although I didn't have too much trouble with the Archviles (though they still managed to resurrect a few Mancubi and blast me once) thanks to playing continuously, I confess the red skull key trap got me once (despite being a classic Plutonia type of trap that I should have seen it coming) because for one thing, I experienced a little lag and the second is that I had selected the BFG in advance thinking there were going to be Barons or something but then switched to Plasma mid fight when I realized the BFG is not needed and costed me plenty of health and eventually got finished off by a chaingunner. Before I entered the room, I had 146 health and 54 armor, which equals to exactly 200 hp but even that wasn't enough to save me. Oh well, it's not that much of a problem because on the second try, I just use the Plasma in advance and do this without taking any damage.

 

As for the rest fights, it's basically about being alert when pressing a switch, entering a room or grabbing a key. You may never know what will happen next until you end up with the monsters in your face. Playing continuously allowed me to easily deal with the traps but on a pistol start, I don't think I would have been able to deal with just the Shotguns and Chaingun.

 

Overall, this map may not have been as impressive as the others and while quite annoying at times, I found it okay in the end. I didn't mind it.

 

MAP25: Cabracan 1024
by Mechadon

 

Despite the hot start, this map is not as difficult as it seems. It is moderately challenging and contains two Archviles and a few tricky parts and even a SPIDER MASTERMIND but this map shouldn't be tough at all to the continuous player.

 

The hot start is definitely the hardest part but even the pistol starter will get a Blue Armor right away, so it's not that much of a problem. Afterwards, approaching the rest rooms carefully will usually keep you out of trouble. Saving the BFG against the Archies will also make your life much easier.

 

As mentioned earlier, there is a Spider fight near the end but she can be killed with SSG just from a safe space (it takes 50 shells to do it) and allows you to concentrate on the next part much easier, as upon approaching, then you get locked inside to fight a couple more demons, including a few cacos and pain elementals coming from where the Spider was sitting. But then the doors will eventually unlock and allow you to unlock the exit which contains TWO Barons!

 

I don't have much else to say besides the map's design is great and the map is challenging enough without being frustrating. The secrets are quite clever too but the Doomwiki once again proves to be helpful in locating them. In the end, Mechadon gave us another great map.

 

MAP26: Aura of Evil
by Butts

 

Yes, that's the author's name if you are wondering! Also the map seems inspired by Scythe's third episode or at least that's what seemed to me. And despite some people's comments, I had no problem getting 100% completion. I guess some monsters can take longer to teleport or something.

 

So anyway, about this map, it seems tricky at first but it is not that hard if you pay attention to the surroundings. The hot start seems a bit discouraging at first but the continuous player doesn't have to worry too much. You just need to put the Rocket Launcher to good use, get rid of the Archvile while taking cover and also all those Imps and Revs on those platforms at start that will snipe you in the back. Once you take care of them, you just have to worry about a couple ambushes that will happen in this map.

 

I won't talk about the fights themselves but I will say that after you press the switch and enter the outside area again, the bars will prevent entering the building again. This will NOT affect the progression or the 100% completion if you got everything but it will prevent you from picking up some ammo you may have left behind. Not that big of a loss if you are playing continuously, you will most likely have large amounts of ammo anyway.

 

Also the Megasphere secret at the end is very nice but I found out you can reach the teleporter just by strafing onto it, without shooting the switch. It was only then I realized I was supposed to shoot the switch to reach it. Oh well, I decided to shoot the switch after I read about that, to get the secret as "intended". In the end, I found this map fine.

 

MAP27: Hell Sewage
by Jodwin

 

Well, I am not going to talk about the whole map but I will say that the ambushes are frequent and the combat is quite cramped. It's not a very problematic map on a continuous playthrough, especially if you try your best to avoid the damage but I am sure it is painful on a pistol start. It is recommended to save the rockets/plasma for the two Archies appearing towards the end.

 

The only important things I need to mention are the few points of no return. The ending where Cacodemons emerge from the pit is where the exit is located after dropping down and dealing with the Baron blocking the exit, this is the one and only point of no return, so before dropping down, completionists want to pick up everything in advance and make sure all monsters are dead (the last enemy is the Baron near the exit).

 

Then imagine my surprise when I found out a room earlier had its door blocked and couldn't collect a cluster of Armor Bonuses to get all the items. Except for the fact the cluster was located in the right side of the wall located near the door, so I could just run and bump into the wall to perform the grab glitch and grab the bonuses behind the wall, meaning I managed to get 100% everything without cheating in the end.

 

Yeah, as silly as that sounds, DoomGuy managed to grab those bonuses I didn't grab earlier (to maintain the 200% armor, since this map's health and armor supplies usually come in form of bonuses and the continuous players have the chance to maintain the extra health/armor but they must be careful to avoid picking them up when already at 200%) but never once I thought this room with the switch in middle would become inaccessible later on and I don't want to imagine what would have happened if I didn't collect the other bonuses early on in the same room, as I had already overwritten the three saves from the same map.

 

I sometimes have to question design choices like these, with a few rooms becoming randomly unavailable later on, like doors that become locked for no reason. I am usually okay with points of no return at the very end of the maps but I absolutely hate when random points in the middle of level get blocked. MAP26 was sort of an exception to this rule because it didn't prevent 100% completion but MAP15 was kinda notourious for having two things that could become unavailable later, most notably the secret exit switch and the Soulsphere. Overall, I think the map was just okay but nothing special.

 

MAP28: Poison Ivy
by Joshy

 

A quite brutal map filled with nasty traps and even a CYBERDEMON at the end! I actually managed to survive without dying until the last parts where you use the YSK to open the bars, despite getting low on health multiple times. It just kept me on my toes. :P

 

The only annoying thing is the lack of backtracking at the very end. I only died once from the Cyber but the second time managed to survive the fight with low hp, despite having many monsters firing at me. Then realized I rushed and pressed that switch fast enough, so I couldn't go up to grab the secret and the supplies anymore. So I had to load an earlier save and redo the fight and then I died five times because something wrong has to happen (stupidly accurate chaingunners, getting blocked by a Caco and then insta killed by Cybie, etc).

 

On the bright side, the Megasphere is still reachable, so for the continuous players who saved it for the end, they must plan in advance and succeed the final fights with the health and armor available at that point, then it is possible to survive without that megasphere, provided they are lucky with the damage rolls. Good luck not taking too much damage early on, though.

 

I won't talk about all fights but I will give a couple advices:
-Continuous players really want to save the Megasphere for the end, if they can manage the supplies properly.
-Health can be scarce in some cases early on (if the Megasphere is not grabbed at the right time) but the medkits can be reached later if you manage to survive until then.
-Secret MUST be obtained before pressing the EXIT switch which lowers the platforms in the map. Supplies should also be collected before pressing that switch, as there is no way back to the upper platforms.
-There is the ambush after opening the Yellow bars. Don't rush and press the exit switch like I did first time, unless you are speedrunning. Take your time and clear this mess before you are ready to press the switch. Then all left is just a few imps, cacos and the Cyberdemon himself. Just don't get blocked by the Cacos or else it's gonna be a short painful death.

 

Overall, this map was quite annoying and didn't like the point of no return at end (funny how three maps in the row did this) because I initially missed that Blue Armor + Medkits secret but luckily I had an earlier save that didn't require replaying the whole map. So it's not that big of a deal but the problem is you wouldn't know this on your first time (the previous playthrough from a decade ago doesn't count, as I didn't remember a single map and back then I never even cared about 100% completion either).

 

But the map's design was great and I enjoyed the challenge offered in this map, even if some parts were annoying, I'd say it was a pretty good map.

 

 

MAP29: Magnum Opus
by Potgiesser

 

Despite the hot start and looking intimidating at first, this isn't a very difficult map. It's actually much easier than both MAP28 and MAP30 combined and I am not joking. Though there are a few challenging parts but really seems like a straightforward mini-slaughter map and the ambushes aren't that difficult to deal with.

 

Sure, you may have to fight FIVE Archies and even a Cyber at the end but the Archies only show up one at a time and they aren't spawned into a bunch of corpses, so they can be taken slowly and safely. Only the last Archie gave me a bit of a trouble because he somehow dodged all my rockets and even managed to facerocket myself then also get blasted at same time. Ouch. But at least I survived, thanks to the medkits around, Soulsphere and Blue Armor. :P

 

The other annoying part is with the Barons. It's very boring to fight them. When I was almost done with them, I tried to rush them with BFG and started taking loads of damage, even getting surrounded by last few of them but thankfully had 50/50 left after taking them out. Then grab the last two medkits, the other SoulSphere secret and hope for the best. Two megaspheres are also found near each other, so the health and armor should be more than enough in this map. Oh and also kill whatever monsters are left behind those windows, in case you didn't before. Once ready, save, press the switch and run away!

 

The CyberDemon will show up alongside tons of imps and hell knights. You will want to make them infight, as this is the obvious solution. The Cyber eventually dies from getting cornered, I guess. I had to take the remaining knights myself. Afterwards, collect everything before exiting. Interesting that I ended up with a spare MegaSphere (thus the level is very generous with resources), though I grabbed it anyway just for full 100% completion.

 

Overall, I enjoyed this map for the most part. I expected MAP29 to be the hardest one so far but somehow ended up one of the easiest maps. It's one of those maps that feels intimidating at first but if approached correctly, it ends up being much easier. With that said, I didn't like the boring/grindy parts, like the part with the Barons. They take forever to die. And I can't imagine putting the Cyber to fight the Barons because he would die sooner and still leave you with copious amounts of Barons to kill anyway. So maybe it's better the Cybie fought the hell knights instead, as he took out more of them before he died. :P

 

 

MAP30: Thanatophobia

by Jodwin

 

Well, that was an interesting Icon of Sin fight but it wasn't much fun, to be honest. Especially the fact that on UV, two monsters get spawned at once. So you need to be very quick when solving this map or end up getting surrounded quickly.

 

At first, kill the Lost Souls in the starting room. Then wait until the platform lowers to the ground level. Kill the many imps and the Mancubi, then press the switches quickly. You are given plenty of ammo, armor and health pickups and even one megasphere and an invulnerability!

 

Yes, there is one invulnerability in this whole wad (technically two, as another one is in MAP33) and it uses the gold tint like the invulnerability artifact from Heretic. But while taking care of the monsters and then activating the switches, watch out for the cubes because you may get telefragged!

 

And yes, about half of my deaths in this map were from simply getting telefragged. Nothing hurts more than getting instantly killed at 200/200 WHILE INVULNERABLE! Yes, this actually happened to me once.

 

On top of that, I had to consult YouTube videos to figure out WTF am I supposed to do after dying like five times. I checked first an UV-Max speedrun video by Heretic (yes, that's the player's name, I wonder if that's a sign that some Heretic related content should be covered next by the DWMC). He ends up getting launched by an AV into the void area to kill the revenants and the IOS quickly.

 

I thought at first that this was the map's solution and then I checked Lingyan203's video and it appears there is an elevator in the middle that I tried getting up but it doesn't let you easily shoot, since you need to time it through a hole just like DOOM2 MAP30 and it's incredibly difficult to do, especially that you get surrounded by monsters quickly at the central elevator.

 

I realized that all those 8 or so switches I activated earlier only open that hole in the middle that I tried to fall and run through a couple times because I thought I would end up in that void area but that never worked to me, either DoomGuy doesn't make it through the gap or he is just hitting an invisible wall.

 

After a couple minutes of running through the room and trying to survive (or load game if I died), eventually an Archvile spawned. I saved on a separate slot and I hoped to get blasted over one of the sides to land into the void. It worked after 2-3 attempts and then I was able to just take the revenants and Romero's head. I really appreciate that the void isn't damaging, so you can safely walk on it. The monsters won't be bothering you either, so you only have to avoid the Skeletons' missiles and that's it.

 

And yes, while IOS was exploding, I double checked on the automap and I had all 90/90 kills. Though it's important to note that there were some imps behind cages that I had to double check if they were dead but eventually they all died. The IOS spawned monsters don't add to the automap stats when killed but they still inflate the kills percentage at the intermission screen.

 

A hint for completionists before performing the AV jump to kill the IOS the easy way: assuming you use PrBoom+ and not a ZDoom based port, look at the automap and you should see 84/90 kills if you got everything in the main room. The last 6 are the Revenants on the same platform where the Romero's head can be found and is sitting on a conveyor belt because he is sliding around or some weird shit like that. It's not stationary, which makes hitting him much harder, on top of the revenants easily able to snipe you.

 

Overall, despite some impressive architecture and effects, this IOS fight was a frustrating mess. I really didn't like this map at all and soured the experience of the wad a little bit. It's no surprise that many IOS maps turn out miserable, especially due to some of vanilla Doom's stupid limitations. Now on to the Bonus Maps!

 

MAP33: Nil
by Mechadon

 

Since this map is impossible to reach in normal gameplay, I just warped to it with -warp 33 and -skill 4 added as extra parameters. Don't worry about the somewhat hot start, you get the weapons quickly and the Megasphere at beginning will be a huge help after taking the damage from the Hell Knight.

 

From what I can tell, this is a cramped slaughter map. It's not too bad because there's plenty of health, armor and ammo (especially ammo) but you will get to worry a bit about health/armor towards the end, even if you use the items wisely. Due to how cramped the map is, accidental item grabs and getting hit by projectiles is very likely. Even worse if it's the Cyberdemon's rocket which is often an instant death.

 

It's also important to NOT run off the ledge or you die instantly. The first two deaths were the cause of this, on top of my PC lagging at the same time and losing control of DoomGuy until he started running by himself and committed suicide. But the rest five deaths were from various monsters in this map. I won't go into details and the progression should be pretty clear. Besides the starting sector counting as a secret, the two actual secrets in this map are the Green Armor and Invisibility that you can reach by just strafing into those platforms.

 

Oh and near the end, I didn't realize the BFG and Invulnerability appeared during the two Archies teleporting, so I had to do the fight the hard way by mostly spamming rockets and hoping for the best but the Archie didn't want to negotiate and immediately resurrected the Mancubus, which was annoying and led to about two deaths. It's only towards the end I noticed those two goodies, although the invulnerability still got some use at the groups of cacos/barons but the BFG didn't get any time to shine. Oh well, at least I finished the map with 100% health, though no armor and had only two spare medkits left in the entire map, meaning I took tons of damage after all but still managed to end up relatively well.

 

Interestingly, finishing MAP33 worked fine and leads to MAP34 with all the stuff I had upon exiting. Also what's weird is that on the automap, the map is called BETRAY, which is the name of the shitty map that was included in older console releases of DOOM II.

 

Overall, despite some really frustrating moments, this was an interesting map that I can see existing as a third secret level, at least if UMAPINFO existed back then. But what about MAP34? Is it going to be better or worse?

 

MAP34: **NULL**
by Mechadon

 

Since the progression from MAP33 to MAP34 works fine, I decided to keep my weapons and all the nice ammo I gathered. Still have 100 hp and no armor, so that means the beginning is still pretty challenging. Luckily there's four medkits at the start and a nearby Megasphere to grab when things get too tense. The BFG should also make things easier, as it's not present on this map and since I didn't use it in the previous map, it's only fitting I get to use it here. :P

 

And as for the map, it's a short arena with various monsters, as well as TWO CYBERS and TWO SPIDERS! And also a bunch of Archies teleporting in for good measure. Oh and according to Doomwiki, this map has no difficulty settings implemented, so skills 2-4 are identical.

 

You don't fight the Cybers and Spiders directly, instead you have to press a bunch of switches in the middle and they will eventually get crushed by regular crushers (not sure why they weren't slow crushers, as it takes forever to kill them with regular crushers) but they can make some great infighting against the other monsters around the arena.

 

The only problem is the cheap deaths caused by getting hit by only ONE rocket. Since you are mostly at 100% health (after the extra health gained from Megasphere runs out), you will not be able to survive a single rocket and it's already difficult to survive whatever crap gets thrown at you, so it's pretty much luck based if you survive or not. You will be lucky to make it alive to the medkits in the corners, as they are plentiful but they must be consumed with care. Also there is an additional blue armor that you can grab, provided you didn't grab it earlier (or in my case, got covered by a caco corpse and had to save-scum with 100 hp or less after the extra health and armor got consumed).

 

Unfortunately, as the Doomwiki says, 100% kills is not possible, as one archie doesn't teleport, thus 104/105 kills is the maximum possible. Also when looking at the automap, the map has no name displayed at all.

 

Overall, I didn't like this one. Annoying, buggy and frustrating. And as a final insult, you can't even finish it, as upon stepping on the exit teleporter, you just telefrag the Voodoo Doll, which makes for an anticlimatic ending.

 

I understand the fact that back then you couldn't change the hardcoded MAP15 -> MAP31 -> MAP32 -> MAP16 progression in most ports but if UMAPINFO existed back then, I can imagine MAP33 being the third secret level (maybe MAP34 as well if it was fixed) and a secret message congratulating you for finishing the bonus maps. At least I appreciate the THANKS 4 PLAYING CLAUS 1024 message on the automap and the fact there were no death exists throughout the wad.

Total Deaths: 36 (MAP07, MAP15, MAP17, MAP24, MAP28, MAP30, MAP33-MAP34)

 

Screenshots

Spoiler

 

Votes:

+++ Community Chest 3
+++ Doom 2 In Spain Only

+++ FreeDoom: Phase 1

 

Overall Thoughts: Claustrophobia 1024 is an interesting experimental wad, inspired by Congestion 1024, that contains maps restricted to a playable area of 1024x1024 map units.

 

Now I will say that it's been a long time since I played these 1024 wads but for this month I decided to jump straight to Claustrophobia 1024, seeing as this was chosen first. Before I started it, I decided to check out the joke wad Claustrophobia 64, just for the hell of it and beat it in like 10-15 minutes or so. Interesting experimental wad, nothing more.

 

As for CLAU1024, it was fun and pretty interesting at times. It wasn't perfect but in general the maps were nicely designed and challenging without being unfair with a couple exceptions towards the end. Then again, I played continuously and if I pistol started each map, I would have died a lot more times and probably hated some of the maps. Interestingly, the maps 28, 30, 33 and 34 racked up a lot of deaths. Especially the bonus maps killed me more than the rest maps combined. I am glad that until that point, I kept my deaths to a minimum.

 

I also really liked the new graphics, especially the new textures, new status bar and so on. It is clear that this wad has a lot of care put into it. Even if there are some weird maps, I think this was a fun megawad in the end and I'm glad to have revisited it after about an entire decade.

 

I also really appreciate that EVERY map (except MAP34, which is also the only unfinishable map in the whole set) can be 100%'ed in PrBoom+ (2.5.1.4, complevel 9).

 

There are no inaccessible monsters, items or secrets. Maps without any items (bonuses and powerups) will show 0% items at the intermission but that's okay. I even appreciate the fact the whole Megawad was tested properly in Boom compatible ports and wasn't tested exclusively in ZDoom, which is where the ZDoomisms can arise and ruin the experience for a wad played in source ports other than ZDoom based ports.

 

Now while I didn't care much about maps 33 and 34 (though I liked their void theme), especially the latter that has no exit and you telefrag a voodoo doll, I'm glad they were included to make the project feel more "complete". As I said earlier, MAP33 could have been a super secret map after MAP32 and maybe MAP33 being the map that rewards you with the BFG instead of MAP32, but MAP34 feels just like a bonus map in the end. As things stand currently, I can't think of a good reward upon finishing MAP33 & MAP34 if they were part of the progression (MAP34 fixed too), since finishing MAP32 is already a big reward to claim the megawad's first BFG and even a Megasphere as bonus.

 

My hope is that one day the DWMC will also select Congestion 1024 and Claustrophobia 1024 2: The Mystery of Too Many Maps, so I get to revisit them after a decade. Nothing stops me to play them soon on my own but then I won't feel like replaying them for the club, so I may have to recall memories of the maps, like I did with the first two Community Chests (still waiting for the third one to get chosen for the club) because they were chosen months after I had already beat them and I didn't feel like playing them again.

 

In the end, I enjoyed Claustrophobia 1024 for the most part and I am glad to have revisited it after all these years, giving it a proper conclusion. I wasn't sure what to vote for the next month but ended up throwing random votes. I don't expect any of these to win and next month I may end up busier that I may not even participate.

 

Regardless of what wins the next month's choice, I hope to continue to be part of DWMC, provided the wad doesn't end up being too long. This month's wad was much shorter and I was able to finish/review it in a timely manner, so it depends a lot what gets chosen. But I will try to participate anyway even if I don't finish in time.

 

It's been fun to read everyone's thoughts on the maps (still catching up reading all posts on last two pages or so), even though I don't feel a few maps were well balanced on a pistol start according to a couple posts I've read but playing the maps continuously I had plenty of fun and I would urge people to play continuously if it's their FIRST TIME playing the wad. Even better if the player finishes a level with as much health/armor/ammo as possible (getting 100% everything in each level is also very rewarding), so the next levels will turn out much more fun when DoomGuy has the tools needed to deal with the surprise ambushes and such, to even the odds.

 

Have a nice day!

 

EDIT: Various fixes.

Edited August 29, 2023 by FistMarine

[Horus]

2 hours ago, FistMarine said:

My hope is that one day the DWMC will also select Congestion 1024

 

The DWMC played Congestion 1024 back in December 2019 (https://www.doomworld.com/vb/thread/110509), and the club doesn't repeat mapsets that have already been played.

Here is a doomwiki link I find useful that lists all the past iterations: https://doomwiki.org/wiki/The_DWmegawad_Club

 

[Horus]

MAP30 - “Thanatophobia” by Jodwin

 

No.

 

Spoiler

In all seriousness, it's an IoS map. That's all you need to know :P

 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Horus

[rehelekretep]

map29 fda

this is basically what i wanted map28 to be lol

one (and only) critique - what are the tower-demons outside of the arena adding to this? seems like their annoyance plus the possibility of boom-ing them off the ledges (as happened with a rev) is not worth the hassle of placing them.

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Blind/Saves (if needed)

Map 29: Magnum Opus - POTGIESSER w/ edits by Mechadon

100% kills and secrets

Time: 10:07

Deaths: 1

 

First off, my death came almost immediately since I came in here with 60% health and got hit by the shotgunner and outside imps. Once I reloaded and took out the shotgunner immediately, I was fine for the rest of the map. 

 

I have a feeling this map name is a little tounge-in-cheek, since idk how you could create a magnum opus with these limitations. I guess POTGIESSER tried by making this one of the more slaughtery maps in the set. This is another map in the "maps that unfold" category. Each switch opens up the walls allowing more areas to explore. The map also gets taller the more it opens up, so there's a lot of stairs and enemies firing down on you. Revs and nobles appear a lot in this map, and there was a decent amount of archies too. As the map opens, more weapons get added, but I feel like they're added too late for the pistol-starter. Some of these waves just have so many enemies in them, it can be a grind to take them out with the SSG or using anything but the BFG. The BFG is here, but it's in a secret. It was also the only secret I didn't find before the end of the map, naturally. The other 2 give you some nice soul spheres. The final enemy waves are the most tedious. You have one that's all barons, so that's an ammo sink, and then you have the final fight. It appears to just be a cyb and a few imps, but then enough hell knights to fill Montana teleport in as it goes. I just let the BFG rip, switching to the RL once the cyb was gone, but even then I wasted 50 rockets and 40 shells on the rest of the hell knights. Easily one of the grindiest fights of the WAD so far, and it's not even a tough one. In fact, a lot of this map isn't really hard since you can use the height differences to avoid attacks. It's just kind of a chore. At least it has some really cool floor designs! 

[Horus]

Final Thoughts

 

Before I get into the wad itself, I must say it has been great returning to the DWMC after a long break, even if it consumed more time than I expected given how small the maps are (spent almost as much time on writeups as gameplay!). It has been interesting reading everyone else's write-ups and differing opinions. I doubt I’ll be back every month, but more on a selective basis when the wad chosen particularly appeals.

 

And now to Claustrophobia 1024. As I mentioned in my first comment, I played this a few years ago shortly after playing Congestion 1024 with the DWMC, and rage-quit half-way through. But I wasn’t quite satisfied with stopping there for good, and the DWMC gave me an opportunity to replay it, this time to the end, and I’m glad I finished it, especially as on balance I had more fun with its latter half.

 

When one compares it to Congestion 1024, it’s clear that the mappers in this project pushed the restriction to its limit more than its predecessor. Especially Mechadon who clearly put a lot of effort into all of their maps, and Jodwin with their secret map, who created as close to a non-linear adventure as you can possibly get with a 1024 map.

 

However, just because they pushed it more to the limit, doesn’t mean it was always better - rather it sometimes felt like pushing the boundaries made the map worse. However, hits outnumbered misses overall.

 

Another difference to its predecessor was the custom texture pack, which definitely gave it a significant visual edge. However, the texture pack seemed very weighted towards techbase textures – as a result, there were few maps outside of that theme – and when they did exist, they used stock textures (most notably the hell maps).

 

A similarity however was the inconsistency of gameplay, with fun fights sandwiched between grindy fights and unfair fights. Again, here I tended to enjoy myself most in its latter part, where combat was more challenging but also less grindy. Unfortunately, like many megawads, it ended with a whimper. Ultimately, an enjoyable if inconsistent mapset.

 

Final map rankings:

Spoiler

MAP27
MAP17
MAP33
MAP22
MAP5
MAP1
MAP24
MAP20
MAP25
MAP28
MAP29
MAP14
MAP34
MAP12
MAP26
MAP6
MAP9
MAP19
MAP2
MAP7
MAP18
MAP13
MAP23
MAP4
MAP31
MAP3
MAP10
MAP8
MAP11
MAP16
MAP21
MAP15
MAP32
MAP30

 

[DFF]

I played map27 a while ago, and while it was a rather frustrating map that I cheated out of, never got around to posting mainly due to a busier schedule.

 

Map27 - Hell Sewage
K: 77 |I: 85 |S: 100 |

Gzdoom UV Continuous, CCards 5.0

Imps deal more damage when damaged

 

I godmode-ed out of this map after the yellow key switch since by that point the map had become unplayable. While the design certainly contributed to the issue (glad to hear the stuffed corridors and lack of ammo was not exclusively a problem for me) i got reamed by the compounding cards. Zombiemen can revive whole rooms of demons, all revenants spawn with a micro buddy, and can stich together two demon corpses to form a new one with the combined health of both. This map was overstuffed and understocked which with these factors left me with no health despite by best intentions. The cards where too overwhelming.

Hell Sewage is a rather unappetizing name that happens to be for an unappetizing map. Despite all my card woes I tried to like this map a bit. However the rather monotonous color choices and uninteresting hallways left a lot to be desired. If there was a cardinal sin of this map, it would probably be that the entire map is mostly the same funky hallways repeated and backtracked on, all the while the map is completely stuffed with mid to high tier enemies as well as hits canners galore. The traps feel rather mean if only because of the limited space. I ran out of ammo a few times in this map. I mostly blame this on the Corruption Cards but sounds like it was an issue for vanilla players as well. This map does little to make fun use of the space, with gameplay being mostly indoors, on level terrain, and without much in the way of memorable design.

When the space is limited, a map I feel needs to do something rather novel, interesting, or impressive to capture the player. This just didn't hit any of those.

 

Map28 - Poison Ivy
K: 100 |I: 100 |S: 0 |

Gzdoom UV Continuous, CCards 5.0

Pinkies are partially invisible

This map was unfortunately also too difficult with the current card set, however this one I opted to play without the cards since this seemed a lot more doable (and interesting) than map27.

What we get with Poison Ivy is a very verdant hell ruins that acts as a tiered arena. This I feel is a very nice way of putting a lot of gameplay in the limited space as the ramping difficulty pairs well with the concept of the map slowly opening up, granting more room, ammo, and spectacle. For the most part each level of the arena was well managed. Towards the end the chaingunner placement got a bit annoying but nothing felt too overwhelming. However the combat felt a bit stunted in two specific departments: the health and the stone room in the western part of the room. Health is given out rather sparingly in this map, which is fine, but given the over 200 monsters this means that any chip of damage taken is precious. Its not unworkable but definitely puts the burden of caution on the player, which then leads to the stone room which for a majority of the fighting serves as a cheese-able hidey hole, where the revenants and snipers can be removed with very little threat due to the mostly enclosed structure. Having the limited health at least for me also encouraged using that area rather than trying to run around the arena. Granted its one viable strategy but something to consider.

The final cyber fight was very novel having the arena sink into the mud, forcing the player into either CQB arena combat or fighting the imps for keeping the upper ground. This map reminded me a lot of map07, which was another arena focused map. While map07 had better flow and control of hidey holes so the player can't escape the heat, this map presented more interesting challenges to fight and was a lot more dynamic with its layout and monster dispersion. Overall a challenging and fun map. Also was definitely not expecting Grinder from Red Alert, a fitting track for maybe the higher pace action but a bit funky given the setting.

 

Rankings:

Spoiler

 

Map22
Map31

Map15

Map20

Map26
Map06

Map05

Map21

Map28

Map25

Map12

Map17

Map24

Map07

Map18

Map16

Map19
Map08

Map23

Map14

Map03

Map02

Map10

Map09

Map01

Map04

Map11

Map32

Map27

 

DNR: map13

Cards:

Spoiler

 

Demons are partially invisible

Imps deal extra damaged if wounded

Revenants can stitch together corpses to make new demons

Lowers flinch chance of monsters

Adds an extra Cacodemon to the level

Revenants spawn with a mini-revenant
Aracnotrons cannot be damaged when infighting
Zombies throw pumpkin bombs
Zombies throw viles of toxic gas
Aracnotrons never infight
Cacodemons attack with a burst of 3 projectiles
Pain Elementals summon enemies on death
Runes will spawn on walls that shoot periodic fireballs

Zombiemen throw bottles that revive enemies

 

 

[cannonball]

MAP30 - “Thanatophobia” by Jodwin

 

I could write a ranting essay about this one, but it can be summed up by the fact that the demos for this map literally violate the 1024 rule by archvile jumping through the Mancubi turret positions that Jodwin forgot to mark as impassable and as such can get a direct shot at Romero's head whilst being out of bounds.

Nothing else needs to be said here, it isn't enough to be playing the whole catch the lift game but there is every chance that when you reach the lift that a certain head will be in a unreachable position when the lift raises due to the fact that the head is constantly moving. It is a novel idea in some ways but ultimately the cherry or top of excrement sundae presented to you. 

Fair to say here that this was a DNF run.

 

I will hopefully play Maps33/34 later today.

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by cannonball

[RHhe82]

MAP30: Thanatophobia. Played on DSDA v0.26.2, UV, PS. 81/90 K, 0/0 S, 2/2 I. Comp. time 3:28

 

You know, fuck this map too. It's a clusterfuck, I don't even know what I am supposed to do -- I mean, I see the stupid Romero head sliding on a conveyor belt, but auto-aim doesn't track it. Am I supposed to somehow trick the enemies infight with it or what?

 

The next day (after playing maps 33 & 34) I returned it, realized the red switch dropped a lift. With severe savescumming a lot I managed to get five hits in total at the romero head, and yet it survived. With the cells wasted, arena becoming impossible to survive for seconds, I idclipped to the fucking ledge and discharged the rest of the rockets in furious rage. There, so I cheated, I basically DNF'd, whatever, I don't need this sort of garbage in my life. Anyway, that's why I'm putting completion stats up there, when in truth, when my soul finally enters Hell Keep to spend the eternity there, and Daisy hops to greet me there, I'll gladly admit that I never actually finished Claustrophobia 1024.

 

Arena looked decent, though. Great even.

 

(And I suppose, when I calm down, I could be more lenient, and I have to admit it's a take on IoS I haven't seen before -- but I really don't even like the casual IoS fights, and honestly this just raises the annoyance factor to some greater than 1 power.)

 

*

 

MAP33: Nil. Played on DSDA v0.26.2, UV, PS. 195/195 K, 3/3 S, 209/209 I. Comp. time 23:15

 

I wonder why this was left as a warp-only bonus map, it looks good, it plays fun, although at this point I'm just shamelessly savescumming, burnt by some of the later maps. I ended up completing this before MAP30, and kept wishing this had been the final map; it's epic enough, just add a final little something and voilá. Still, a small palate cleanser, this one too. I dig the aesthetics, reminds me of nightsky castle levels of Sunlust, and that's always a good thing. Did there have to be so many lost souls?

 

*

 

MAP34: *NULL*. Played on DSDA v0.26.2, UV, PS. 104/105 K, 0/0 S, 1/1 I. Comp. time 14:20*

 

So, you can't finish this level? Gotcha. I guess it's not a bad arena slaughter, even though I didn't have much fun it. If you go in guns blazing, you're gonna die: cybies and SMMs hurt you at all sides, and towards the end of the arena round there's gonna be many archviles. So, when I realized you can activate crushers, the map became a waiting game: clear one section of enemies at a time, wait in hiding while the fast crusher take their time to crush cybies/spideys one at a time, and when the final barrier is lowered, be ready for the archviles, preferably have them between your pre-fired rockets and the final cybie rockets.

 

And after that you realize the exit portal is just gonna end in gibs, and you don't technically finish the map. Also, the final archvile didn't bother teleporting in - I could hear him after entering the death exit.

 

^{* (So, to get the stats straight, I used DSDA-Doom console command *level.exit*. Technically DNF'd, but here (unlike on map30) I feel I deserve the end tally :-D}

 

*

 

As a conclusion: I mostly liked this month's wad, and to be fair, none of the maps were badly made compared to the others -- quality was consistently good. A couple of times I felt the mapper needlessly withheld better weapons; here and there were instances of tedious progression, like SSGing Cybers, but in hindsight, nothing too tedious. It's only the final stretch of the maps whose design philosophies did not sit well with me at all, and only a few maps in that regard, too.

 

Perhaps towards the end I also started finding the gimmick bit worn out. I'm sure there are still great kilobyte-sized maps to be played, but many of them are cramped affairs, and because mappers don't like to make it easy for the player, we're bound to be in for teleport-repopulation affairs or faraway window dressings before long.

 

But, after all's said and done, 'twas a positive experience. It's the 20th of August as I'm writing this, and I'm thinking I should seek out more Mechadon maps, maybe some others as well I'm not so familiar with.

Edited August 30, 2023 by RHhe82

[cannonball]

Well I decided to get through the two bonus maps before going to work....

 

MAP33 - “Nil” by Mechadon

 

I don't know whether this is a salt in the wounds moment because honestly this is one of the best maps in this wad and it is crazy to think that this was bumped into a bonus map slot, the map offers plenty of space (for a 1024 map), plenty of satisfying set pieces that challenge but never overwhelm the player. This felt like a mix of the arena battle of Map 07 and the more cramped elements of Mechadon's other maps. The only issue for me was firstly the final wave felt like overkill giving me the BFG/Invulnerability etc because the double archvile isn't that much of a big deal, especially as the first warps right in front of you and is immediately distracted by trying to resurrect stuff and the second is placed by the exit that didn't have many corpses to raise. The other minor thing is that Mechadon really should have put in some monster blocking lines to stop cacodemons floating off into the ether, I was sat twiddling my thumbs waiting for the two final cacos to return to the playable map space.

This was not only one of Mechadon's best maps, but one of the best in the set, coupled with a theme unique to the rest of the wad, this should have really been placed in the main roster.

 

MAP34 - “**NULL**” by Mechadon

 

I didn't really try too hard here and in the end essentially cheated to see how things panned out, but of the one live attempt I did do, I found that the biggest issue was that you can be easily crowded out by Cacos and lost souls to the point where the map become unplayable, in the end giving the BFG essentially trivialises the whole thing so that really isn't a solution unless you go heavy on rockets and keep cells limited. This felt like a lower effort credits map, but I will hand this a reasonable pass because it isn't just a empty box and I feel that some would get enjoyment out of this one.

 

Final thoughts later....