The DWmegawad Club plays: Nostalgia

[Magnusblitz]

MAP10: Creeping Death

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

Finally, some combat with teeth! Well, in the final fights in the 'basement' at least, I agree the first half is fairly dull. I do sorta like the way the level wraps around itself, but also found it a bit annoying since any time you travel into the blood you need to run all the way back around (which I ended up doing multiple times). As for the ending itself, being given a free BFG plus 200 cells is a pretty good indicator you'll want to keep it out to use it, and while I did play sorta sloppy I was armored up enough from the secrets up top to survive.

Edited March 11 by Magnusblitz

[Goody]

Let's play some catch up! Again, playing continuously on UV vs DSDA. I didn't mention this before, but I am going for all kills and secrets!

 

Map 4: Pull the Plug

Where have I played (parts) of this? There's something going on with the poison tunnels below that make me feel like I've played this exact segment before. But at this point I had not yet gotten hip to myolden's secret hiding style and ended up leaving a bunch of secrets that would have been extremely useful.

 

Map 5: Poison Godmachine

Same thing! I know I've played parts of this before. I don't think I watched the Dean of Doom on this one since I try not to watch episodes for WADs I haven't played, but it feels really recent in my memory. 

 

Map 6: Spirit Crusher

Pretty straight forward, but woof, that Ache-Vile at the end spanked me a couple of times. What worked for me was to rush through that room where it spawns in back out to the early section and turn around and take him and the rest of the monsters out. 

 

Map 7: A Fine Day to Die 

Ooh, we're starting to see some of that hellishness creep through into the visuals. That's probably one of my favorite Doom level tropes. I never get sick of it. I was expecting to see some kind of typical Dead Simple mechanic and either there wasn't or I missed it. Either way this one was a good little snack. 

 

Map 8: Neurotica

I love the way this one flowed together. I loved just darting around this map and I love how myolden places an Arch-Vile. By this point I know now to stop and look for that secret when I see purple on my map. I really appreciate how every secret so far can be access once you see it. 

 

Map 9: Bleed Me an Ocean

So far this has been my favorite map aesthetically. I love the blue and red contrasting against the dark grey. And ooh, BFG. I never used it in this level, but since I'm playing casually, I'm glad to have it. Pacing was fine on this one. That darker tech area was a hoot with all that hitscan. 

 

Map 10: Creeping Death

Stop and go pacing to it at first. Once I got underground, I was very very glad I had grabbed that BFG last level. Was able to get those Revenants right away. Other than that end room, the rest of the level was ho-hum.

[Raith138]

MAP10: Creeping Death

 

This one was pretty forgettable for me. It was all tan and blood (And I am a person who loves blood in doom maps.) and so the whole thing felt like it blended together. Also the BFG fight was incredibly underwhelming.

 

This is my first missed day D:

 

Order of Preference:

Spoiler

MAP03

MAP07

MAP09

MAP04

MAP08

MAP06

MAP05

MAP02

MAP05

MAP01

 

Edited March 11 by Raith138

[Novaseer]

MAP11 "Rapture" (100% K/I/S, 9:14)

 

Whoo baby, that's a hot start. Carving a path for yourself with just the basic shotgun until you can snag some extra firepower is surprisingly fun, even if the archvile did make me panic a little until I found the plasma rifle.

 

And there's still some bite afterwards - the red key room has you fight a lot of Revenants and an Archvile in a very cramped space whilst trying to find the switch that lowers the BFG (I escaped this area with 7 health!) and the final fight brings you your very first Cyberdemon, complete with a contingent of HKs to infight with it.

 

I could've finished about two minutes earlier, but I was looking for a secret that didn't actually exist, and didn't notice I was on 4/4. Oops. Still a good map, though.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP11 - Rapture - (100%K/75%I/75%S):

 

Things are quickly starting to spice up with a really challenging map. This is one of those where the starting room leaves little place to hide but a lot of place to roam around. Grab your gear quickly, and start killing demons. An interesting map to change things into a more challenging mapset. At the end, a challenging cyberdemon battle where I could luckly hide behind hell knights. The result could have been another if I couldn't hide from the rockets.

The episode ends with a death exit.

Order of Preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP09

MAP06
MAP07
MAP11

MAP05

MAP04
MAP08

MAP03
MAP02
MAP01
MAP10

 

 

[Cutman 999]

MAP11 - “Rapture” (Pistol started, 4 attempts saveless, 100% K/I/S)

 

We can feel plutonia 2's dna in this one. The beginning is just ramble quick to find good guns, while you feel everything in the map is up to kill you. Just kill the PEs that are revealed once you got the ssg and everything else becomes a cleanup party, a good one at that considering you now have good guns to take care of anything. You get the rocket launcher, an armada of imps and hell nobles come for you, remember to have taken the berserk before this fight, since the map isn't too generous with ammo at this point. About that, find the secrets, they can be the difference in some of these tough stuff, and like always, they are hidden in mischievous texturing.

 

Then fight the circle arena with a vile and other mid tiers, in here if you noticed a weird computer texture, grab the soulsphere it hiddens, since this fight without the bfg can be rather tricky, but a satisfying adrenaline rush once you manage to conquer it. Then with a bfg at the end, just fight a token cyberdemon you can manage just by letting him infight, the usual stuff.

 

Satisfying stuff to play, for ending the "episode" like this, in a death exit, rapture does a good job adding on the tension, previous maps had ambushes in mild ferocity like this one, so is expected myolden would take off the training wheels in this one.

 

9/10

[Raith138]

MAP11: Rapture

 

This is my first 100% secret map due to the secrets all being painfully obvious but in terms of gameplay it was pretty fun. The final fight definitely made me have to try harder then any other part of this wad so far, I also enjoyed the hot start but this was a huge difficulty spike. Third place for this one!

 

Order of Preference:

Spoiler

MAP03

MAP07

MAP11

MAP09

MAP04

MAP08

MAP06

MAP02

MAP05

MAP01

 

[Celestin]

MAP11: Rapture

 

The map begins with the hottest start yet, a bloody pit crawling with monsters, where more appears as you try to arm yourself. It's a hectic fight where you are constantly on a lookout for health and ammo, trying to quickly kill the pain elementals before the place gets too crowded and avoiding projectiles approaching from all sides, set to community's go-to action track: Jimmy's "Astral Dreadnought". The blue key fight that follows gives you a rocket launcher to defend against teleporting groups of imps, that one is also fine.

 

The next objective is the red key room, a locked-in arena that throws an archvile, hell knights and revenants is another energetic part that requires you to be on the move. Or pick up the BFG, which you'll want for the finale anyways - small room with a central cyberdemon and hell knights. It's easy to make them infight and finish off the cyber with a well-placed BFG blast or two. It's a great conclusion of the chapter, after several forgettable levels, it seems like Nostalgia got into its groove.
 

[Magnusblitz]

MAP11: Rapture

100% kills, 4/4 secrets

 

Definitely a sharp uptick in difficulty here, died quite a few times at the start getting my bearings - the Pain Elementals being released by grabbing the SSG is an especially devilish trap, since the last thing you want to do is let them float freely and start filling up the limited space with lost souls. Knowing where the secrets are (especially the blue armor) would probably help a lot, but I didn't find any until after clearing out most of the level. The red key lock-in is similar to some other traps we've seen, and the cyber isn't too tough with the help of the hell knights to lock him in place for some close BFG work.

 

Looks-wise, nothing to really note, as the scheme is pretty generic and still very blocky (though I did like the design of the marble bloodfalls along the outer edge). Really just here for the combat, and it's nice to see things finally getting interesting.

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 11: Rapture

 

Helmed by a midi that sounds awfully like "Brutal Schism" if you're not paying attention that I think Stewboy was actually responsible for, this proves in more than one way to be the hardest map presented. The aesthetic presented here is a basic blood and wood combo that still manages to throw in a couple of tech rooms on the sides, but pistol starters will be in for a rather heated time with Mancubi lurking on the pillars, Cacodemons in the courtyards, hitscanners on other pillars and assorted trash hanging around everywhere else. It's not bad once the SS is located, though one might wish for a little more avaliable ammo. Still, exploring may not be too terrible difficult unless you're using a cooked mod like me :) At some point, we find a red key and unlock a tech room with an awfully generous BFG in the middle. Unsurprisingly, an Arch-vile (Frostie) leaps out in front of us along with some Barons and Hell Knights. This specifically proves tricky because the pistol starter will have to rush out and rocket everything and in such a tight space, the chances of succeeding aren't high if playing casually.

 

The final room takes the cake though. The instant we step onto the floor, we're greeted with monster closets of Cyber-Barons on both sides with a big infernal cyberdemon in the middle. There was some trouble sparking infighting, but once it was, cybie went down like a sack of tomatoes, with a decent ammo store left over!

 

Cool map, and one that told me for the first time these Imp-looking little guys are actually zombies! I dunno what those guys wearing uniforms that throw almost purplish balls are called. Well, we death exited, but hopefully, the randomizer recognizes that trend of modern wads!

 

 

 

[cannonball]

MAP11 - “Rapture”

 

The first map so far to really grab me, okay the visuals are still at the level of solid but the combat feels much more on point and is able to sustain itself throughout the entire run time of the map. The start is chaotic, but there is enough recovery items to allow for aggressive play, there are also a cluster of secrets that are not too difficult to find. After grabbing the blue key we have the red key/BFG room, which again feels nicely calibrated, head on isn't wise so be light on your feet and find the switch to lower the BFG and toast everything in this room, the yellow key/final fight also feels nice to play with a high level of aggression, infighting  should be fairly reliable and once it starts, simply nuke everything into oblivion and leave. 

Overall and short and frenetic map that is really fun to play. Good stuff and offers hope that the second episode should deliver.

 

[Novaseer]

MAP12 "The Lion's Den" (100% K/S, 93% I, 5:25)

 

Nice short and sweet introduction to the city episode. There's some pretty chaotic encounters early on, especially if you do the same silly thing I did and don't immediately go for the SSG. Single barrelling an Arachnotron in an alcove, as it turns out, is pretty awkward.

 

The fights for the keys are rather tame in comparison, but it makes sense for this map to be easier than Rapture.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP12 - The Lion's Den- (100%K/93%I/50%S):

 

Nice city map, some short sized street you will have to roam around to get all three keys and exit. I have to say it wasn't that clear that those weird textures were actually doors. Because of that, I was stuck with a boomstick for a long while before I realized that you could open those and grab the super shotgun. Other than that, I've found no problems with this one. Maybe a bit constrained.

Order of Preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP09

MAP06
MAP07
MAP11

MAP05

MAP04
MAP08
MAP12
MAP03
MAP02
MAP01
MAP10

 

 

[Celestin]

MAP12: The Lion's Den

 

The opening shot of The Lion's Den sold the map to me. It's a city street, complete with lanes and pedestrian crossings, though a bit too narrow. Hellbound was my first thought, but the scale is much smaller and it isn't as detailed. Doesn't matter, as it also lacks that wad's signature tedium.

 

The combat is slower than in Rapture, at least initially. I guess it's to compensate for the death exit in the previous map, but I'm pistol-starting, so it makes no difference. After fending off the monsters that sit around the super shotgun, the map turns into a search for three keys. Each one gives you a rocket launcher and throws some monsters up-close. The yellow key one is the weakest, it's just three hell knights, but the blue and red ones are larger and more cramped. With all keys you can dispatch the exit-blocking baron and leave. 

 

It's a fine map, probably the first one that I'll remember from Nostalgia.

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 12: Lions' Den

 

Since "Factory" was such a garbage level, Myolden crafts what's probably more of a generic industrial district. And for a guy who hasn't been wandering so far from the IWAD tropes, this actually feels quite close to a real place in spots. And no arrows on the ground to bitch about, haters! The Super shotgun can be found early on so it makes dealing with the enemy numbers not such a huge deal. Although there's windows everywhere with hitscanners ready to take a pot shot at us so it's not exactly smooth-sailing. All the key traps are pretty darned respectable and in an Ozonia-esque twist, have a rocket launcher, no matter which path is taken. Finding the secrets was stupidly easy, and it's a good thing too because the Legion mod decided to stick a Boss Baron at the exit that ate up literally all of our fucking ammo. I liked it better when they made Cyber-Barons infight near the yellow key. There's not exactly tons of ammo on the map, kind of a problem when monsters attack more aggressively in a tighter space than their IWAD counterparts.

 

 

 

[Raith138]

MAP12: Lion's Den

 

I really liked this map. There was doomcute in a couple of places along with fun combat. I got the SSG near the end which is a bit frustrating. It would have been better if it was placed in an obvious spot. It also suffers a little from having only 90 degree corners. May be a me thing though.

 

Order of Preference:

 

Spoiler

MAP03

MAP07

MAP12

MAP11

MAP09

MAP04

MAP08

MAP06

MAP02

MAP10

MAP05

MAP01

 

[cannonball]

MAP12 - “The Lion’s Den”

 

The map is surprisingly comfy for a city map and that works to its advantage somewhat, the layout is a three key hunt affair to open up the exit, the map moves forwards well enough, though a couple of little oddities include those metal doors that are quite easy to miss as doors and that picking up the blue armour is actually mandatory for progression (Monster closest houses the lift to the yellow key). 

Overall though this was a solid start to the city episode, though the baron in the exit is a point lost, sorry.

 

[Magnusblitz]

MAP12: The Lion's Den

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

A decently punchy opening for the city theme, though with wonky scale - the streets are tiny, but the one recognizable Doomcute living room is decently sized. The other areas eschew realism and are the typical abstract Doom design. The flow of combat is probably heavily affected by the route you take - I found the SSG first and then the blue key, without grabbing the chaingun or any armor first, which led me to a lot of cat-and-mouse gameplay early on to avoid taking any hits. The exit baron almost feels like the author is trying to make disappointing endings on purpose...

 

Interesting choice of music, apparently it's a track from a Sega Genesis game I'm unfamiliar with (Comix Zone), but the riff reminded me a lot of the opening to "Hiding the Secrets" (E1M9/E3M9)... so, good choice for nostalgia without just using the actual Doom track.

Edited March 13 by Magnusblitz

[Novaseer]

MAP13 "Sludge Factory" (100% K/I/S, 6:44)

 

Another pretty fun one. The combat once you enter the main building is a little bit hectic, with enemies springing out of nukage and all sorts whenever you try to go anywhere. It's not particularly lethal, though, and once the carnage has settled you can grab two secrets which trivialise most of the rest of the map.

 

The area behind the red key door is simple, but fun. Who knew that chucking a rocket into a bunch of hitscanners and barrels would be such a blast? ...well, I already did from Eviternity II MAP32, and I'm not complaining now.

 

The secret plasma makes quick work of the surprise archvile at the end - I hardly even needed to take cover.

 

In regards to the visuals, there's some pretty neat doomcute on display, which is appreciated after how spartan the first episode could get at points.

[cannonball]

MAP13 - “Sludge Factory”

 

The visuals are nice, the combat is okay but for me this was a pretty unremarkable map. There are a couple of fun moments like the crowd of hitscanners/barrels room, but most of the traps are quickly trivialised by either light footwork or easy to find secrets. There really isn't a lot left to say, it passes in a couple of minutes without any major gripes.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP13 - Sludge Factory - (100%K/I/S):

 

Hey, that's the name of an Alice in Chains song!

Maps are starting to feel a little bit longer, luckly, not at spicy as the end of the previous episode, yet. We can clearly see that difficulty stopped in a middle ground for a bit. I wouldn't say this map was that remarkable, I don't like that red brick texture, burns my eyes a bit. That was a bit of a dealbreaker for me.

Order of Preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP09

MAP06
MAP07
MAP11

MAP05

MAP04
MAP08
MAP12
MAP03
MAP02
MAP01
MAP13
MAP10

 

 

Edited March 16 by DJVCardMaster

[Celestin]

MAP13: Sludge Factory

 

I'm surprised about the change in visuals from the first 11 maps. Nostalgia started with non-descript techbases, but E2 seems to go more towards realistic design. A year ago, when we were playing Fragport I've said that wad had a solid idea behind it, but an inexperienced mapper failed to realise it fully and it would have been great when someone with a better grasp on combat and overall design. Well, I feel like this is the closest to that hypotetical Fragport remake. It's the similiar kind of chunky detailing and clear sense of progression that I enjoyed in Stephen Clark's megawad, but with much more engaging gameplay.

 

After clearing the courtyard and the interior of the titular Sludge Factory (both felt somewhat cramped in a way that makes you moving around to avoid attacks), your job is to search the place in a linear fashion. The visual aspect is the map's strongest suit. The place, while oddly small, feels like it was built with purpose. There's an office area (complete with desks and computers) and a barrel storage. It's not hard, especially with a secret plasma rifle, but I don't think this was the main point of the map - the sense of place is. 

[Magnusblitz]

MAP13: Sludge Factory

100% kills, 3/3 secrets

 

This one felt more similar to the opening episode in its combat design, with enemies mostly appearing in front of the player (and even a rather now-obvious wall-lowering ambush by the red key). The first room inside the factory probably has the most danger if you move around too much while scoping it out (especially if you trigger the sludge pool cacos early) but nothing really challenging here. As others said, it really seems like the main draw here is the doomcute visuals, though I did appreciate getting to splatter all the poor assembly line zombie workers too.

Edited March 13 by Magnusblitz

[LadyMistDragon]

Map 13: Sludge Factory

 

The most dangerous part might be the beginning and the rush to the Super Shotgun. While mid-tiers are stacked pretty healthily around, we can mostly run around everything, in an even better display of Doomcute than what has been seen thus far. The red key trap is at least interesting though since the Hell Knights in the other room are unlikely to be spotted until it's too late because it's not like the opposition here can withstand more than a few rocket launcher blasts. It did take a fair bit of time to get the plasma rifle though when the method to acquire it is just to push nearby box.

 

 

Edited March 14 by LadyMistDragon

[Raith138]

MAP13: Sludge Factory

 

I am liking where this episode is heading. The doomcute here was really well made the layout was good and combat was fun even though a little bit too easy. The plasma gun secret (which I may have done the wrong way) was a little bit annoying because the angle was tight. Otherwise, an amazing map. First place for this one!

 

Order of Preference:

Spoiler

MAP13

MAP03

MAP07

MAP12

MAP11

MAP09

MAP04

MAP08

MAP06

MAP02

MAP10

MAP05

MAP01

 

[Magnusblitz]

4 hours ago, Raith138 said:

The plasma gun secret (which I may have done the wrong way) was a little bit annoying because the angle was tight.

 

Heh, I tried about 10 times when I first saw it, failed, and figured maybe there was a different way to get it. After returning back to that room I tried it again and got it first try, go figure.

[Novaseer]

MAP14 "Beneath" (100% K/I/S, 5:27)

 

Had my... third? death here. That over by the blue door is an EVIL place to put an archvile when one's on 50% health.

 

I really do like the early section of the map, though. All the heavy equipment (maybe sans the secret plasma) is just out of reach, and grabbing them typically involves unleashing several mid-tiers. Unfortunately it generally devolves into "equip super shotgun, hold left click" later on in the map.

 

The doomcute here is even stronger than earlier in the episode, which is of course appreciated. And bonus points for the optional red key. Optional keys are fun.

[Celestin]

MAP14: Beneath

 

Back on the streets, this time the map leads you into a subway station. The train here acts as a hub of sorts, it's doors lead to different parts of the map. I recommend checking out the other city block (the one with basketball court), there's a rocket launcher here and a hidden red key, which unlocks the BFG between carriages. It's easy to find, especially with a computer area map, and while not required, it will help with fights inside the train or a red key trap. It takes place in a cave right behind the tunnel's wall, it releases imps and revenants.

 

Aside from the midi (I love "Drilling by Night", but it's one of those tracks that are connected to a single map and feel wrong used elsewhere), there's little to dislike here. It's a quick map with some adorable visuals.

[HiMyNameIsChair]

Oh wow i let myself fall behind, lets fix that!

 

Map07: A Fine Day To Die (UV Pistol Start, played on DSDA. 100% Kills / 100% secrets, Time: 5:08) 

 

 

Pretty solid map. Has a good high-energy start, we get the beginnings of the corrupted tech aesthetic that becomes a running theme in Nostalgia and cleverly masks the use of the special slot 7 trigger. Energy sags a bit after the initial start, but overall, good map.

 

Grade: B-

 

 

MAP08: Neurotica (UV Pistol Start, played on DSDA. 100% Kills / 100% secrets, Time: 6:53)

 

 

Love the start of this one. It may be one of the more chaotic scrambles for guns in early Nostalgia + some more limiting spaces and monster placements to boot. Myolden really leans into the fleshier parts of Doom's texture set and it works wonderfully here. The energy here stays pretty bouncy throughout and ends on a nice Archvile tango. My only nitpick is the rocket launcher is maybe a bit tucked away, but that's a minor quibble. Fun map, always enjoy myself with this one.

 

Grade: B+  

 

MAP09: Bleed Me an Ocean (UV Pistol Start, played on DSDA. 100% Kills / 50% secrets, Time: 7:12)

 

 

I'm never excited to play this one when I get to it. Starts strong, but loses a lot of energy as it goes on. Missed the BFG secret this time around, but TBH Myolden doesn't pit you against anything that warrants its use. Perfectly ok map. love some of the geometry here, but not a favorite sadly.

 

Grade: C+

 

 

MAP10: Creeping Death (UV Pistol Start, played on DSDA. 100% Kills / 100% secrets, Time: 5:58)

 

 

A map that wears Plutonia on its sleeve with its choice of blood, brown, wood, and green~! Also packs a light bite with a tightly packs skeleton ambush around the rocket launcher, a baron that can clog up movement options in the main arena, an archvile interjection, and plenty of heavies roaming around.

 

Unlike the last map the BFG actually gets some use here with a gang of boney bois ready to jump you and a double archvile date flanked by hell knights.

 

Takes a little bit to get going but once you're in gear it's good fun. solid map~!

 

Grade: B

 

Order of Preference

 

Spoiler

MAP04:Pull the Plug

MAP08: Neurotica

MAP06: Spirit Crusher

MAP03: Illuminatus

MAP10: Creeping Death

Map07: A Fine Day To Die

MAP05: Poison Godmachine

MAP02: Under the Surface

MAP01: Dragonaut

MAP09: Bleed Me an Ocean

 

[cannonball]

MAP14 - “Beneath”

 

A little subway station breaks up the dominant visual motif of Maps12-14, it is a nice little station but because of this you are a lot more restricted in terms of combat. There is one really nasty gotcha moment when you open the blue key door, otherwise the map isn't too difficult to beat and a couple of monsters that are more of a chore to kill than being an actual threat. The other side of the tracks offers the rocket launcher and a secret you don't want to miss out on. Overall another map that isn't too bad with lots of nice details.