The DWmegawad Club plays: Doom 2 in City Only [vote now]

[cannonball]

MAP13 - "City of the Dying Sun" by Death Bear

 

This would be getting an easy A+.... But I got softlocked in the red key area. Turns out I was trying to be too clever but in a way this was an obvious symptom of a map where the author is begging you to explore and find little knooks to clamber across.

So I love the fact that you can chose to either storm through the front or sneak in through the back using the perimeter channels and natural terrain. As such you get a much lighter start and pick up supplies. The secret exit is also on this alternative path and discovering it is all you need to do because collecting all three keys raises the trench to this path. 

Despite the huge size, this actually felt quite easy to explore, there are lots of exciting fights, I am not even sure that I handled the yellow key correctly, but I made a big nope to the plasma gun and squeezed through the cacodemons using the rocket launcher. This works quite well, especially if the other rocket wielding monstrosity plays ball and takes shots at them too. The blue key is such good fun, and probably the easiest fight I have seen that uses that many archviles. The red key fight, or in particular the fight at the red key is probably the weak spot, not only that but I sequence broke the section as you can jump from the platform with the key switches and meander across the rocks to the fight, which of course skips the previous fights on the red key path, and crucially the one that opens the entrance/exit to the red key area. The fight itself is hindered by the design, you get closed in by the key and the monsters are allowed to infight significantly before you can even get in a shot. I was a little bummed out after nocliping to the rocket launcher fight on this path and subsequently had low armour that made the preceding fights a bit more deadly than they could have been.

The secret exit path was surprisingly chilled out, though I guess a leisurely stroll to the exit felt appropriate, you had after all earned it by beating the rest of the map.

 

Overall I will say something right here, this surpasses pretty much every map of this style, including the obvious inspirations that we know and love, it is a joy to explore and has some cracking fights to boot. The perfect marriage of the mysterious and all guns blazing action. A fantastic map, just resolve the soft lock issue, please.

 

Just to add an extra note/digression - @Celestin thoughts are ones that I definite agree with. It might seem very contradictory to give overwhelming praise to one massive map that is non linear and has lots to explore, but then dunk on another. When you make a big magnum opus type of map, you absolutely have to nail the setting, grabs the player from the onset and holds their attention for the entire length of the journey. Anyone can make a large map, but it takes a hard earned skill to be able to translate that into something that will remain etched in your mind for a long long time, that is what was achieved not only here, but also in the techno-scape of Map08 and the alien spaceport setting of Map10. 

 

MAP33 - "Wanted in 12 Systems" by Death Bear

 

This felt a little under-powered, the setting is clean and quite interesting, however the combat is mostly corridors with mostly low tier monsters and a few mid-tiers. The outlier here is the end fight because there are three archviles here, though you can leave at the moment where the last two arrive. 

This was a better map than the other two secret maps, but the bar is pretty low here. It's okay and I guess you can use it to decompress after the magnum opus map you traversed to reach this. 

Edited April 13, 2024 by cannonball

[Celestin]

MAP14: Tekemet Baphomet by senpaigru

 

In a way, this reminds me of MAP09. While the visuals here are solid, I think this map needed more stuff to kill, especially in the outside section. It's mostly small groups of imps and zombies that pop out from the floor and die quickly. I think the only fight I have no complaints about is the optional rocket launcher trap, where two archviles are hiding in a crowd of imps. The red key fight would have been an enjoyable one with one small change: instead of opening the next part of the arena with a button press, it could run on a timer, that way you'd have to waste no time killing enemies or risk getting overrun.

 

I assume it's again a map by a less experienced author and I'd say it's a decent one, it just need to push the player a bit more for my tastes.

[Novaseer]

Whoops, I may or may not have let myself fall a little behind.

 

MAP12 "Princes of the Wadi" by Sikreci (100% K/I/S, 13:28)

 

A mite more subdued than most of the maps that precede it, Princes of the Wadi is tightly wound, aesthetically pleasing and carries with it a foreboding atmosphere - no doubt thanks to its MIDI (congrats to Psyrus for making the first non-bespoke MIDI I shout out, by the way) and the three archviles that guard the switch that opens the exit.

 

Compared to most of the mapset, Princes of the Wadi keeps you fairly resource-starved. Health packs aren't always available, the only armour you'll find is green, and for most of the map you'll be duking it out with a chaingun and single barrel. I happen to quite like the chaingun and the map doesn't throw too many big monsters at you, so it never feels like a chore.

 

That being said, I don't know why half of the secrets are marked as such. The soulsphere and green armour secrets were piss-easy to find, and secret tagging a single medkit should be illegal.

 

That being said, it's the perfect calm before the storm that is MAP13.

 

MAP13 "City of the Dying Sun" by Death Bear (100% K/S, 70% I, 45:21, saves)

 

Holy shit.

 

Admittedly, it feels a teeny bit underhanded to praise Princes of the Wadi for its visuals and atmosphere then take it back by saying City of the Dying Sun did it so much better, but I'm gonna anyway because I have to.

 

To add to it, remember all the way back in MAP03 where I said I like absurdist slaughter rocket romps? Well, we got one right here, and as far as what I've played goes it might be second only to Eviternity II's MAP32 "Charge" in its execution.

 

And even if you ignore the gameplay, City of the Dying Sun is a treat to explore.

 

On the gameplay side of things, I love the red key route the most. With a fully loaded rocket launcher, you weave between houses as waves of fodder spawn in, then the buildings all collapse to reveal hordes of revenants, cacodemons, the works - culminating in an arena where you grab the red key, then are trapped inside a set of bars as tons of monsters spawn in and all stir up infights trying to reach you.

 

The yellow key route has probably the most lethal caco cloud I've seen in a long time - once you have the yellow key, your sole objective is to survive until those bars lower and you have room enough to breathe and kite them into a Cyberdemon.

 

The blue key route has a BFG, half a trillion arch-viles, and a Spider Mastermind whom in my playthrough was paralysed and mauled to death by two pinkies. Good job, ma'am.

 

I did have one problem, though - five monsters (a caco and four pain elementals) got stuck in their teleport closets:

 

I IDCLIPped my way to them to preserve my 100% kills.

 

That and the apparent softlock issue @cannonball had aside, though, City of the Dying Sun is a bonafide slam dunk, one of the best maps I've played to date and certainly the best of what I've played of D2ICO thus far.

 

MAP33 "Wanted in 12 Systems" by Death Bear (100% K/S, 70% I, 13:48, saves)

 

Probably could've saved myself a whole minute if I didn't needlessly backtrack to look at the skybox pyramid outside of the blue key area.

 

Wanted in 12 Systems is certainly a wind-down energy wise - with similarly rocket-based combat to MAP13 but in a lot less volume and with a lot less heavy hitters. The only fight that actually killed me was the ending - where you have to fight three archviles, several chaingunners and their HK/revenant posse with limited cover. One of my deaths was actually to a self-rocket, embarrassingly enough.

 

I feel like there isn't much to talk about, really - the visuals, whilst serviceable, don't wear the Ancient Aliens textures as well as their home turf does, and I feel like City of the Dying Sun deserved a more grandiose reward for unveiling it so.

 

I agree with the assessment that this is the best secret map so far, but I still wish it had more substance.

 

MAP14 "Takemet Baphomet" by senpaigru (100% K/S, 96% I, 16:32, saves)

 

A somewhat strange outing from what I can only assume is another inexperienced mapper, Takemet Baphomet feels far emptier than it should. Despite the large amount of space to move, many fights are small clusters of imps and/or former humans rising out of the floor, at a volume where they're no match for even the basic shotgun and chaingun.

 

That is, however, because all of the map's challenge was thrown into one singular room - the optional rocket launcher temple.

 

What I can only assume is half the map's demons come pouring out of a lowering wall, bolstered by revenants and two archviles, where seemingly the only options are to get zapped by the viles or get boxed in by imps and self-rocket. If you do carve a path to the back of the room, though, it simplifies by a lot - as now you can make use of the myriad pillars to dodge incoming fire without getting yourself stuck.

 

P.S. That automap secret might be the single most unintuitive secret I've seen in Doom, and that's coming from the person who made a lift lower when you use a zebra crossing in MAP05.

 

P.P.S. I think the title's meant to rhyme, but it, uhh, doesn't.

[Insaneprophet]

Map 13 City Of The Dying Sun by death bear

 

Gunna start with the 2 seperate softlocks. Im pretty sure cannonball already brought up how from the three key switches, if you run from the left side of their structure you can jump the crevase over to the wall at the base of the pyramid and then follow that around to drop down into the actual red key fight way to early goofing up progression and locking yourself in its arena. The other one is just a simple corner at the bottom of some steps that if you get into you cant get out of, located over kinda near the yellow key pavillion at x: -1296 y: 1280 z: 24, should be a real easy fix and was obviosly just over looked. Oh, and I was missing the same 5 kills at the end as novaseer.

 

Now on to the good stuff. This feels like the archialogical ruins of a massive ancient city that the desert sands have only recently unburied and youve stumbled upon only to find out that the civilizations downfall was catastrophic. Over run by demonic entities the populace was wiped out and forgotten to time while the hoards continued to inhabit the site awaiting unlucky victims and their chance to sweep out over the rest of mankind. Good for you, you're not a push over and niether is you're rocket launcher! This of course sits at the top of my favorites in the set, just below maps 5 and 10, but only because my computer cant fully handle it and I had to deal with alot of screen stuttering. Its in real good company though with the bulk of the other large maps. Damn, just thinking about trying to rank these hurts my head. I really like almost every one of these maps. 😀

Edited April 14, 2024 by Insaneprophet

[Insaneprophet]

Map 33: Wanted In 12 Systems by death bear

 

This was a fine map, solid in all aspects of its design and fitting in a secret slot. Makes for a good little breather but definately leaves me a little unsatisfied after the last map.  

[cannonball]

MAP14 - "Takamet Baphomet" by senpaigru

 

This map has its moments, it is a little too big in terms of space and a lot of the early parts are a little dry with the shotgun/chaingun only combat. That said the SSG chamber offers quite a bit of nuance, especially when the third section lowers to reveal two archviles that you need to juggle with the SSG. The rocket launcher optional fight is pretty good to blow off steam too. 

It is a newbie effort and the strokes are a little broad and lastly the secrets are incredibly obvious. But there is quite a bit to like and when the combat steps up, it does deliver some thrills.

[taviow]

Ahead of the 15th, I will share a few screenshots of map15's development process and talk a bit about how the map came to be and what goals I set out to achieve with it.

 

- After submitting map23, I specifically asked Myolden for a spot in the Egypt episode if one became available, because that gorgeous sky texture just demanded that I use it.

 

- This being my 2nd submission, and still burned out from the first one (map23, a much larger map than 15), my idea for this map was that it become a form of decompression for me, so I tried to take it easy during development and to deliver a smaller to average sized map.

 

- I strove to deliver combat that I find spicy but also hopefully complex and compelling, this time with a twist - avoiding the SSG entirely and focusing purely on shotgun + chaingun and RL. This idea came to be from an argument I'd seen on discord about whether the shotgun is fundamentally bad/unfun, and it drove me to try making shotgun combat that I personally found enjoyable. I'm not sure whether this goal was fully attained - after all, RL will actually be your main weapon, and you can always use the chaingun instead of the shotgun, but I didn't want to just force you to shotgun too much. What I did restrict in just about all the fights was your space, so that rockets would never be fully safe to use and you'd need to carefully consider your positioning before firing a rocket, along with rationing rockets significantly.

 

- I completely avoided slaughter style encounters. I'd already submitted a slaughter map to the wad, and I didn't want to just repeat myself on my 2nd submission, so I balanced these fights in such a manner as to use the monsters I placed as effectively as possible.

 

- The big 4-way staircase was the first thing I built for the map and I guess it was the result of some doodling and then it simply happened. Upon building this structure, it made sense to place those cyber snipers, as such those were the first 4 monsters placed in the map. This placement was instrumental in defining what the map would ultimately turn out to be. Suffice it to say that almost every building and fight made after that was built in consideration that these guys will always be aiming at you from their perches.

 

- The BFG finale has you taking your revenge on these guys who sniped you across the entire map. The Arachnotrons after the final fight admittedly don't do anything, but I needed them placed as part of the setup that teleports the cybers away from their sniping spots and into the arena where you fight them.

 

- The fight with the backpack might be the hardest in the entire map, that's why it's optional. That said you can easily cheese this by doing it after you've obtained the BFG. I'm still contemplating whether to leave this as it is, or else what (if anything) to do about it.

 

Enough rambling, here's some screenshots:

 

Oldest screenshots of the map I've got:

 

 

 

 

 

Originally I didn't intend for the central area to be covered by a large building. I resisted making this change for as long as possible, because I didn't want to lose this opening shot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the fountain area uncovered, the map was just completely insane because there wasn't a single safe spot across the entire outside area, and I wanted the player to have one in order to be able to properly explore and notice where the key switches were located. Not only that but there were 4 cybers shooting at you constantly. The map was so difficult that I could barely even stand it myself. With that building placed in the center of the map, you always have "only" 2 cybers to contend with at any given time.

 

Ultimately I'm quite happy with how it turned out. It has a mean streak to it for sure, but I'm confident that each area can be beat fairly while also requiring a lot of positional awareness from the player since you have to keep track of where the Cybers are. Delivering the kind of experience that tests your skills to some extent is a goal of mine and something that I personally look for in the maps I play. And with that said, I think this is all I can remember :P

Edited April 15, 2024 by taviow

[Novaseer]

MAP15 "Sunlit Promenade" by taviow (100% K/S, 87% I, 23:59, saves)

 

As it turns out, combat based on the lighter weapons ended up being something of a theme in the Egypt episode.

 

Sunlit Promenade has quite the hot start - you're faced by a chaingunner and shooting him will wake up several revenants, mancubi, cyberdemon turrets and an archvile. Trying to escape wakes up two more mancubi that block your path, so be careful that the cybie turrets don't get you whilst you whittle them down.

 

That advice goes for most of the map - as those four cybie turrets are always watching. If you stand still, you're gonna get rocketed.

 

Unlike the finales for the last two episodes, Sunlit Promenade is fairly light on the enemy count, but taviow makes you feel each and every single one. The combat is constantly constricting, giving you little space to use your precious few rockets. The finale teleports those four cyberdemons into the central sanctum as you grab a BFG and megasphere - which killed me far more times than I care to admit because I suck balls at Cyberdemon two-shotting.

 

Of course, it goes without saying that Sunlit Promenade also looks awesome, but the way the map's designed you won't have much opportunity to take in the sights.

[Celestin]

MAP15: Sunlit Promenade by taviow

 

So this is a write-up I've made before reading taviow's comments about the map. While I mostly stand by what I've originally wrote, I now understand the lack of SSG was a deliberate choice.

 

With a monster count below 200 and cheerful name, I expected a breezy playthrough, instead from the very start I was presented with a brutal map that feature some of the most dickish enemy placement I've seen.

 

Let's start from the very begining. A tiny room with revenants and mancubi, in a full view of two cyberdemon sentries. You want to leave this awful room? Here's an archvile, pain elemental and pinkies that clog the space even more. The exits are blocked by mancubi, which is one of taviow's favourite trick that is repeated later. To deal with it, you have a shotgun, chaingun and not enough rockets. Okay, let's say you managed to clear this place and exit. This is followed by the second most aggravating part of the map: a ride down on a narrow elevator, while two revenants spawn and the aforementioned cyberdemons fire at you. With infinitely tall explosions, it's very easy to take unwanted damage, even to a point of death.

 

Down on the ground you finally realise what you've got yourself into. Four cyberdemons overlook the whole map, so it's very easy to catch a rocket if you aren't on the constant move or be aware of your surroundings, a lot of hitscanners that contribute to the chip damage and giving enemies a lot of mobility, so they can wander from different parts of the level and surprise you when you don't expect them. The three weapons you get from the start are all you get (besides the BFG at the end) and rockets aren't in large supplies. The main star are the three keys you need to obtain to open the exit. The blue one requires you to scale a network of stairs and survive fights in narrow corridors, only to jump into a hole with pinkies, mancubi and archvile. There's very little room to move, but using rockets to take out the vile and finishing the rest with a shotgun, I was able to survive this on my first attempt. The red key route has two nasty fights that once again put you in the view of cyberdemons, while you have to fight revenants at first, then chaingunners and archviles. 

 

At this point I've went for the tower with caged archviles, thinking this is where the yellow key is located. This is the most aggravating part of the map. Have fun dancing around a pillar, attacking respawning archviles that stand on the columns outside, hope a lost soul doesn't catch your rockets and just pray you don't get sniped by a cyberdemon behind your back. When I saw this wasn't even a mandatory part and it gave me a backpack instead, something broke in me. Good news is, the rest isn't that hard. The yellow key fight is cramped as all hell (with arachnotrons and mancubi at first, then replaced with hell nobles and pinkies for round two) and made me wish there was a super shotgun here, but circle-strafing and rocket spam helped me with getting through. The ending, which gives you a BFG, megasphere and spawns three cyberdemons in a small locked box on top of a pyramid (with fourth waiting outside) is pretty much a power fantasy at this point.

 

This was definitely made to be a challenge and Sunlit Promenade succeeds in that regard. I can already tell this one is going to be controversial and personally I didn't have that much fun here, but I'd say making a map this hostile is a form of art that taviow mastered. By the way, I like how the ancient ruins are completely surrounded by a contemporary city. It gives the map this transitional feeling, like you've made your way through the ancient city into a new place and new chapter.

[cannonball]

MAP15 - "Sunlit Promenade" by taviow

 

This one is nasty, however many complaints that  could have with this would be entirely hypocritical (HF2 Map15 is arguably even worse that this). 

The big sour point is the optional backpack segment, tough luck if those archviles decide to all count low numbers in their chase states because you will be barbecued with no hope of being saved, I know that the premise is still essentially the cybers can one shot you at any time, but for an optional area that contains the hardest fight, I might suggest a little more slack. The rest wasn't so bad, the blue key section effectively guarantees that you will probably tank a hit from the archvile, but that is what the soulsphere is for, it isn't too bad. The yellow key when it is unveiled is probably the best fight overall, the tight space and deployment of enemies is solid, the red key isn't too bad where you have to survive the two wings exposed to rocket fire, the revenant/caco one being the nastiest (The double archvile isn't difficult, again garner enough recovery items and you can safely tank an archvile blast. The final fight is good fun, just draw the cybers into the centre and careful movement/BFG placement to kill these swiftly.

Now aside from the backpack area, the final cleanup felt rather slow, yes I could have spent the remaining cells on the guard tower spiders but it still felt like wasted time. I can't help feeling that there could be a more elegant solution that could be deployed once the exit is available, at ground level the spiders are hardly a threat.

 

This map does enough to feel like an episode closer but will probably rub some the wrong way, there is also a "Missed a spot" moment in regards to the sky transfers, it is right by the exit.

[Insaneprophet]

Map 14: Takamet Baphomet by senpaigru

 

We find ourselves in a pristine temple district dedicated to evil dieties and while demonic entities have been summoned through diabolic rites, in the battle for your soul, as they try to take your life, they dont have a prayer. I quite enjoyed this one. Everything felt a little more simplified, combat, layout, design, but I really liked the clean visuals and had a lot of fun with the straight forward fights. Maybe its egypt maps, maybe its city egypt maps, but Im really in the zone with this episode. 😝

[Celestin]

MAP16: Ex Nihilo by myolden

 

The theme of Episode 4, "Underground City" is an interesting one, I think you can do a lot with a general idea like this. In his third episode opener, myolden created an ancient ruin in the middle of a giant cavern (I like the skybox here, what even are thos glimmering points? Bioluminescent insects?).

 

Combat-wise, there are two distinct parts here. First is the search for keys and guns, combining fluid enemy movement and a handful of more deliberate traps. I wouldn't call the resource balance here "stingy", but you'll likely run out of ammo if you try taking things slowly - this kind of push has always been a design choice I enjoy. If you advance forward, you should be well stocked with ammo and deal with the fights here. The second part, after collecting red and yellow keys, hands you a BFG and a megasphere to take on a teleporting mass of monsters. There are several monster-only teleporters in the centre, which transport monsters to the perimeter of the arena, so be careful with rockets. Once they are dead, four archviles try to restart the battle, but they should be no problem if you still have cells.

 

Another quick (for D2ICO standards, meaning it took me about 15 minutes) map that I enjoyed. Once again, I'm excited to see where the chapter goes.

[Novaseer]

MAP16 "Ex Nihilo" by myolden (100% K/I/S, 13:31, saves)

 

Just for transparency, my playtesting ended at MAP15. From here on out, I'm 100% blind.

 

Another brisk opener from myolden, Ex Nihilo is pretty tight on resources - I was under 50% health for much of the map (thanks 80 damage rev rockets and my own shit-ass reflexes) and even ran out of ammo at one point - though you do get a berserk and I managed to find two shell boxes before that became a problem.

 

The red key is pretty devious - you dip into a pit filled with revenants and mancubi, ascend the cliff-face to reach a switch that lowers the key only to have two arch-viles restart the party - if you were as short on rockets as I was, it's quite the jolt. Comparatively, the yellow key is a simple process of killing turrets and parkouring your way up to it (don't worry, I use the term 'parkour' loosely, we're not talking Ribbiks here).

 

The rocket and plasma are barred behind traps, though they're not that bad. The rocket has you fight five or so revs in a recessed pit, but there's more than enough room to manoeuvre, and the plasma sandwiches you between a horde of imps and two mancubi, but it's easy to squeak past the mancs and use them as cover.

 

The final fight is where myolden bet all his chips, though - you load up on a BFG and megasphere, hop into a pit, and what I think is over a hundred imps, several revenants and hell knights, and even two arch-viles teleport in all around you. Monster-only teleports litter the centre to bring the demons back to the edges - which I will admit through only a small amount of self-rocket salt is real damn creative. Once you're done with those, pressing the switch will lower the blue key you need to exit alongside spawning in four more archviles, though if you have more than a few BFG shots left you're golden.

 

Like in MAP11, myolden sets the stage for the underground episode well. I probably won't count it among my favourites once all is said and done, but it's still fun, well-crafted and serves its map slot excellently.

[Insaneprophet]

Map 15: Sunlit Promenade by taviow

 

"I hate it, I hate it so much... fl.. flames, flames on the side of my face"

Jokes aside, I really didnt have a good time with this one. I can appreciate it, and at a different time in a different place, I could probably kind of get into the challenge presented here. But as it was, I had just woken up in the middle of the night with my whole body in pain from an overly difficult and long day of work yesterday. This map was the Doom equivilant of how I was feeling and my sleep deprived brain didnt welcome the death, reload, death, reload cycle. I will say that everything about this map is gorgeous and brilliantly concieved, it does make a great episode finale but I cheesed as much as I could and ran away as soon as or often as possible but made sure to go back at the end and clean everything up, as well as give the backpack fight a good dozen tries, but in the end I am just happy to be getting on with the mapset. 😝

Edited April 16, 2024 by Insaneprophet

[Insaneprophet]

Map 16: Ex Nihilo by myolden

 

I am caught back up! And what a joyfull map to do it with! My olden really hits the brakes on difficulty after the last map and makes this episode start with a guns blazing, rip roaring, full speed ahead, hell of a good time romp! This is how one decompresses after the pressure cooker we were in last map and we make it out without even the slightest hint of getting the bends. I ran through this level like a mad man waking up everything and just killing stuff here and there before finally letting everything die down and figuring out the key progression. That is not my normal play style and I dont necessarily recomend it as I finished with 14% health, 8% armor, 0 bullets, 47 shells, 2 rockets, 11 cells, and 100% kills items and secrets with nothing laying around anywhere, but it does work. I think I may just start over and play more methodical as I generally prefer to do, just to see how it turns out. I would say that is a sign of a successful map though, accomodating to various play types and fun no matter how you do it. But that is Myoldens signature and now that he has reset the megawad I am ready for more city maps. Bring em on! 😝

Edited April 16, 2024 by Insaneprophet

[cannonball]

MAP16 - "Ex Nihilo" by myolden

 

Another Myolden map to start and it is another good one. The grungy bricks work well against the underground locale and there is another offsets to spice the visuals up. The combat is pretty much on point too, tougher than Map11 but nothing overwhelming, though I will say that you need to save cells in the final fight because running out before hitting that switch is going to leave you pretty screwed. 

Not much else to say, this was another good one.

[Insaneprophet]

Map 17: Colossal Wreck by weird sandwich

 

This is what Ive come here for! A massive cavern that was once inhabited by an unknown race that built a fortress capital deep inside the earth and now holds only the ghosts of the past and monsterous creatures intent on your demise. I would say that there is a hot start but truely it will be a hot hour and a half play through. Everywhere you go is hotly contested and finding a safe spot is going to be the least of your worries as fighting for your life and getting rid of distant snipers will occupy most of your time. When incedental enemies are almost cleaned out a new teleporting wave is always just around the next corner and dont think the interiors of buildings will be any better, they are all filled to max capacity, ready and willing to defend their haunting grounds. I was truely entralled and immersed the entire time and didnt even notice how long I spent exploring I was having so much fun. I finished with 2 secrets left to find and will happily go play again and try to find them. I also did find 3 or 4 spots with texture missallignments which was kind of surprising as there are so so many different texrures around, used in so many different ways, in such a gigantic level and the author built everything almost perfectly. If wierd sandwich is interested I can explain exactly where they are and he can fix them up but whether he does or doesnt this is still a master work. 😝

Edited April 17, 2024 by Insaneprophet

[Novaseer]

MAP17 "Colossal Wreck" by Weird Sandwich (100% K/S, 98% I, 42:59, saves)

 

And people complained about MY map's turrets...

 

Colossal Wreck is probably the closest any non-slaughter map comes to a bullet hell game - at any time, you're being peppered with plasma from arachnotrons, fireballs from hell knights and mancubi, and trailing at least two revenant rockets. I will confess to being a little frustrated at the beginning due to this, the rather small supply of health in the outside area, and the fact that you're kept to a single barrel and chaingun until you pass through the walls, but I'd imagine successive runs where I know where the weapons are would be less stifling in this regard.

 

One thing that did irk me and can't be explained away by my skill issue, however, is the seemingly random impassable lines in said outside area. At least six times I tried to path into one, got blocked, and ate a missile because of it. If Weird Sandwich wants to maintain the current play space, I'd suggest sinking the unreachable bits of water to more obviously convey the message of "no, you can't go here".

 

And after playing through the red key fight, I'm surprised that the BFG is secret. I can't imagine pulling that off with just plasma - though that might once again be my skill issue calling.

 

Good map, even if I wasn't exactly prepared for such a behemoth in the MAP17 slot.

 

P.S. @dobu gabu maru can you please update the OP with the proper map ordering? By the looks of it, the main post is still using the RC2 listings where Silent Submergence is MAP20 and MAP19 is unavailable.

[Celestin]

MAP17: Colossal Wreck by Weird Sandwich

 

I have no complaints about how the map looks and feels. The ruins of an ancient city look impressive and gloomy at the same time, with the colisseum being a truly memorable setpiece. Now, for the gameplay, it's a different story.

 

Going into Colossal Wreck blind was a harsh experience. There's a ton of tough monsters roaming around, arachnotron turrets (literally - they man sentry towers on the wall around the city) pelt you with plasma and if you don't know where the guns are, you'll likely have to use scavenged guns. It took a while to more or less clear the start and the streets, only when entering deeper into the map I found a pyramid with a super shotgun on the top and further exploration lead me to a stash of rockets that I could use to obtain the yellow key. It locks you in a small amphitheatre and spawns two waves of revenants, followed by a pair of archviles. The blue key is in a network of marble tunnels, this one wasn't the best with all the barons around, though if you find a secret invuln, you can run into the crowd with a rocket launcher and finish this quickly.

 

You can unlock the colisseum with either keys and it holds the red skull that is needed to exit. I strongly advise getting a secret BFG before this, as what follows is the largest fight of the map. A wave of cacodemons, spectating monsters and four cyberdemons raining fireballs and missiles at you, lost souls arriving in the least opportunate moments and two archviles to watch out for. I enjoyed this fight greatly, though that two cyberdemons on the top are best ignored if you don't care for all kills, they are awkward to kill if you ask me. The map concludes by teleporting in a mastermind and cacodemons in a rather small room, so use your remaining cells and exit.

 

While not as hostile as MAP32, Colossal Wreck is also a map that I think would play much better when you know where to go early. The quality of its visuals make it more likely to be replayed, though keep in mind it's also a much longer map that can get grindy - I'd personally put more rockets early, but I understand what Weird Sandwich was going for.

[cannonball]

MAP17 - "Colossal Wreck" by Weird Sandwich

 

I wanted to like this one, because it has a lot of things to like, the open-worldness and the fact you can go for either the yellow or blue key to access the red key that is required to finish the map. However the gameplay was sluggish, grindy and at times not very fun at all. The start has you working with the shotgun/chaingun until you get a better weapon, unfortunately these are well guarded. The blue key is easier to get, but a longer, grindier sequence to get whilst the yellow key is a simple fight that looks cool and can be cheesed by using the corner cover. The red key is pretty awful and yes the secret BFG looks almost mandatory to give incentive to kill everything in here, simply put I didn't want to kill four cybers in an awkward arena or take out one by one from the sides. I have to be tempted to say that the BFG should be presented in this room and as such the secret is a reward to make the earlier sections easier. Now after a couple of attempts I did escape, but seriously this area isn't fun despite a lot of cool transformations.

In the end this one ended up a disappointment, if only for the fact that this clearly had the potential to be a real highlight, but at the moment at least the combat lets this one down a little.

[Novaseer]

MAP18 "Reservoir of Muck" by pro-rc (100% K/I/S, 13:50, saves)

 

Remember MAP04 "CBM City"? This is him now. Feel old yet?

 

As my silly joke suggests, Reservoir of Muck is very similar in scope and combat philosophy to MAP04. A big arena with a couple of buildings, jam packed with several hundred monsters who are all gonna infight each other, with keys somewhat randomly strewn about.

 

Reservoir of Muck is tighter on health and armour than CBM City, though, and has its weapons on somewhat of a tighter leash. I hadn't thrown a single attack until about five minutes in, and that was a berserk punch to get rid of an annoying pinky. Once I had the rocket launcher, I began clean up, ate a few 80 damage rev missiles (probably could've beaten the map saveless if not for that) and what do you know? There's about 10 enemies left of 300.

 

Despite all of this, I'll say that Reservoir of Muck is actually easier, and that is for one simple reason. No arch-viles.

 

Reservoir of Muck's one secret holds a switch to lower the bars guarding the secret exit. Somehow, the first time I got said secret, I missed this switch, delaying me by about two minutes.

 

A breather map after MAP17 was just what the doctor ordered, though.

 

MAP34 "Bricked Up" by BluePineapple72 (100% K, 62% I, 66% S, 28:56)

 

When I IDCLEVed to pistol start, I accidentally jumped to MAP13. Make of that what you will.

 

It's weirdly amusing to me that the hottest start yet is courtesy of the damn LEGO level. Cyberdemons and Spider Masterminds roam these plastic streets, and good luck finding any weapon better than the SSG without being flattened by one.

 

I did, however, really like the prison sequence - being able to see all the demons in their cages, then flicking the switch and watching as they all get opened up.

 

Keeping in theme with my dumb ass not being able to find shit, I have no idea how you get that super-secret. I was looking for about six minutes straight (at which point the final fight had mostly destroyed itself trying to hit me through the windows) then the MIDI drove me insane so I gave up. Even iddt didn't help.

 

It's definitely taken more in earnest than maps like Obama Hamburger 2, and has more substance than maps like Traces to Nowhere or Wanted In 12 Systems, but... I still don't think I'm a fan of this one.

[Insaneprophet]

Map 18: Reservoir Of Muck by pro-rc

 

One city block, one arena, one fight, one purpose, kill em all. Ive had fun with this, not my favorite map or map type but just so simple minded that Ive played through it over a dozen time now. Doing everything from waking everything up as fast as possibe to going as slow and steady as I can to letting infighting see how little I have to kill to taking everything on guns blazing. The 300+ demons are contained in such a small space that this level doesnt take long to finish and it really just feels like a playground where we are playing a game of tag and you're IT. 😝

Edited April 18, 2024 by Insaneprophet

[Insaneprophet]

Map 34: Bricked Up by bluepineapple72

 

Very very fitting as a secret map and not to shabby to play either. The start had me a little worried but really you just need to jump in and get past the shock value to begin feeling comfortable here. Plenty of ammo, health and guns are given to take care of everything in a pretty laid back atmosphere. Two little bugs I found, in the cell at (x:1993 y:-2545 z:48) the bed is missing a texture and homing out and at (x:1560 y:1772 z:-72) there is a small medkit half inside the wall. The lego world is something I think I could definately dig playing a whole wad of, maybe I'll have to go dig up the one I'm sure has already been made but for now Im still relishing in the plethora of different styles of city maps being offered up in this megawad. 😝

 

Just found a goofy texture thing, the 2 switches in the bottom corner cells look funky on their right sides, left sides are what I figure you meant to do. At (x:1832 y:-3576 z:48) there is a full med pack imbedded in the end of the bed in a cell. A few cells over has a medkit in a bed, alot of them are hanging halfway in the air in cells. Methinks some speedmapping mentality went into this build. Im not bitching, just trying to find the invuln secret and finding EVERYTHING but...

I got it, and to think I had considered questioning its hinting as being a mistake, I will now stop scrutinizing your cration 😀

Edited April 18, 2024 by Insaneprophet

[Celestin]

MAP18: Reservoir of Muck by PRO-RC

 

I have to say, this is a kind of map I expected more from this megawad. One that is flat (though PRO-RC adds a second level that alleviate this to a degree), square and minimalist in detailing. One thing this one has going for over other rookie works is a brisk nature of the combat. While 300 monsters is a respectable number, after the first 5 minutes, it was down to stragglers and imp snipers. The map is loaded with rockets and cells, the guns aren't hidden particularly well and the monsters tend to clump together, so in no time I was running horseshoes in the titular slime canal and firing rockets into crowds. 

 

Truth be told, it probably took me longer to figure out how to access the secret exit. I got all three keys (which I think spawn more monsters, but they joined the crowd, so I'm not sure what exactly was added) and spotted a switch by the secret megasphere. Turns out there's a teleport behind a couch in a nearby building, so I could unlock the way to MAP34.

 

The map itself is okay, but I especially appreciate it as a breather after the last one.

 

MAP34: Bricked Up by BluePineapple72

 

I think this is the hardest start yet, as you emerge from a box in a narrow alley, immediately surrounded by tanky monsters. This is just nasty. Even when you manage to squeeze your way out, there are many enemies here, including a mastermind and a cyberdemon. When I ran through a black tunnel to another part of the map, I could finally take a look what I was dealing with.

 

I've complained about chunky city maps before, but using LEGO bricks as textures is a genius move. The colourful textures mesh so well with coarse detailing and basic doomcute, with midtex trees that nail the idea of an old set of bricks you and the monsters were somehow transported to. Probably my sole complaint would be the skybox, I get what it was going for, but I just don't think it looks good.

 

Anyway, once you escape from the opening fight, the map gets substantially easier. You should get a rocket launcher and plasma if you visit houses around the map, at this point you can start killing stuff. Personally, I wasted too much time baiting a cyberdemon to kill everything that wanders the streets, including a horde of barons that hide in one building (the mastermind died earlier, BTW). The two standout moments of the wad are a pair of prison fights. The first one has a central cyberdemon, while he is crushed later, I killed him with a BFG, as the place is already cramped enough. The second one is a maze of cells that releases monsters as you try to reach the red key. As for the final fight, you can just sit by the red key, relax and watch 3 cyberdemons decimate a mass of hell knights plus some archvile support. Overall, the best secret map of the set yet, I'd presonally eased up the start a bit, but once this is survived, Bricked Up offers unique visuals and a great dose of action.

[cannonball]

MAP18 - "Reservoir of Muck" by PRO-RC

This one is a very different beast compared to the last level. To be honest slavering the entire map in essentially one texture is not really a winner, but it looks okay on the most part. The combat is pretty open ended and actually quite easy, it is worth noting that you can get two of the keys without firing the shot and only the red requires effort. I managed to find the rocket launcher and plasma gun and in all honesty that is all you require (I found the SSG very late and never needed it). The map is fun and a good decompression after the previous map. The secret exit requires essentially beating the map (Or at least obtaining all of the keys and finding the not very secret switch near the megasphere secret.

 

MAP34 - "Bricked Up" by BluePineapple72

I really wanted to like this map, but unfortunately there are design elements that don't really work. Now for the most part the first two thirds of the map are fine, okay the gameplay is at times straight out of the Hell revealed or even Jens Nielsen brand (The cyber in one of the houses for instance), but it is serviceable and I was able to get monsters to infight here and there. The issues begin essentially when you enter the jail, first of all the cells tend to hinder monster movement to the point where the fight here is very simple, then comes the big splurge after grabbing the red key, well you can just camp here and the cybers will do most of the work, given the compatability in play here this should be avoidable (Or at the very least the cacos should be able to pose a reasonable threat because cheesing the big fight feels like a no brainer. 

Oddly the map starts very stingy on just about everything, yet after the half way point you are given a glut of just about everything, in the end the map feels uneven and the city design seems to hinder a rather combat-focused map to its detriment, that said I will rate this above the other secret maps so far, it offers something different and does offer a fair amount of bite whilst not being parody level unfair. However the map is flawed in its current state.

[Insaneprophet]

Map 19: Silent Submergence by jacacaca

 

I really dont enjoy being completely negative so I'll be brief and I didnt actually hate this level. Its a large cave with the crumbling ruins of a couple of buildings... not really a city. There are about as many incedental demons around as actual fights of which there are 4 or 5, so your pretty much alone here. The red key is a fun battle, the yellow key is ok, as long as youve gone and gotten the rocket launcher first, and the blue key is an acceptable, if not akward fight, as long as youve picked up the plasma, then the end fight is indeed a fight. Again I did not hate this map, they cant all be my favorite ever, but I didnt particularly find it memorable and dont think it quite fit the theme but maybe theres supposed to be an atmosphere or something here that just goes over my head. 😝

[Novaseer]

MAP19 "Silent Submergence" by jacacaca (100% K/I/S, 15:50, saves)

 

More so an atmosphere map than anything, Silent Submergence has serviceable visuals, some neat doomcute details (like punching a door so hard it flies to the other side of the room and knocks over a berserk), a sprinkling of incidental demons so sparse it makes the non-optional areas of MAP09 "A City Now?" and MAP14 "Takemet Baphomet" look like slaughtermaps...

 

...and the red key fight.

 

I personally think the openness of the map works against it quite a lot - the quiet anticipation for the big fight is so much less when you trigger said big fight 5 minutes in and everything afterwards feels like a letdown, but it's a spectacle.

 

Personally, though, I feel like you should need the blue or yellow keys to access the red key area, to lend it some more gravitas.

 

The last minute change to map ordering saves this map from being a total dud - Silent Submergence would not be a worthy episode ender, but it's a good map to have in the set for variety. I just wish 'bad' pathing wouldn't fuck with its suspense.

[Celestin]

I'm dropping out of the wad, I got to MAP24 and it's just one huge and difficult map after another huge and difficult one. It's been a while since I quitted a wad before completing it, but Doom 2 In City Only is an exhausting experience that simply isn't fun at this point. Some of the maps I've played were entertaining, some where truly impressive, but it's better to cut my loses than force myself to get through something I don't enjoy. Hope you guys have more fun than I did, I'll be posting the write-ups about maps 19-23 (+35)in the coming days, but this is where my involvement would end. See you next month, I hope whatever is chosen will be easier to stomach.

 

MAP19: Silent Submergence by JacaCaca

 

This is a highly atmospheric map, set in gloomy ruins of an underground town. The atmosphere and the sense of decay (with broken walls everywhere you go) is definitely the strongest aspect, though it doesn't mean the combat is lacking. Aside from a handful of enemies in the town itself, it's basically three fights that protect the skulls. I started with the yellow one, inside what's left of a library. Here, you need to fight a group of hell knights and pinkies while avoiding a pair of archviles. The blue one drops a bridge you are crossing and sends cacodemons and an archvile. 

 

As for the red key, it's a rather large fight in a spacious cavern which wouldn't be that hard itself, however the monster composition is mean. Spectres are deployed on the first line, making it hard to use rockets without blowing yourself up. After several attempts, I managed to cut through the crowd and started running in circles. If you find this one overwhelming, I'm delighted to say it's completely optional - you only need blue and yellow keys to leave. Just save some rockets and cells for the revenants mob that try to stop you from exiting.

 

When I think about it, Silent Submergence isn't that long of a map, the fights end pretty quickly, but for some reason it took me 20 minutes to finish. I think it's because I spent a while trying to figure out how to get to the blue key, in the hindsight, it wasn't that hard, but for some reason I kept missing a rotunda with one of the coolest mapping tricks I've seen in a while. Forget the swinging doors, here you can kick the door and see it flying across the room. My bet it's a series of instantly raising and lowering sectors, but it took me by surprise when I saw it. Nevertheless, it's a good map, definitely the high point when it comes to the vibe of the place.

[cannonball]

MAP19 - "Silent Submergence" by JacaCaca

 

A very quiet map with some very violent episodes, most notably the red key fight. I ended up in the yellow key segment and struggled to the point where killing the viles was enough and returned later for the hell knights. The red key I visited next and this fight is the standout fight, a mass of mid-tiers couples with imps that you can circle the arena until the mancubi move onto dry land, then it is a case of using the mancubi as meat shields and blasting everything away with rockets/plasma. The blue key is the most low key affair, though the door that flies away is a neat little trick. After that there is the exit trick where a mass of revenants will descend on you.

This map has some thrills, however it also feels a little clunky and doesn't quite manage to draw you in enough to cell the more horror elements. Not a bad effort though and the run time is fairly short once you know what to do.

Edited April 19, 2024 by cannonball

[Celestin]

MAP20: A Wilted Clover's Lullaby by eater29

 

After several hours that felt like repeatedly trying to hit a brick wall with my head hoping to finally break through, I can confidently say I lack skills to enjoy this map. A Wilted Clover's Lullaby is a series of claustrophobic fights, where you need to know how to handle rocket launcher in cramped spaces. The pacing doesn't do the map any favour, which is one thing I'm going to complain about. I could handle the extreme difficulty of the fights, but there's hardy any breather between them. You've survived a suffocating fight with hell nobles on the floor and revenants on a ledge above? Well, here's a confined arena with revenants, archviles and chaingunners behind your back. Beat this and you have another small room, this time the usual revenants are reinforced by pain elementals and a bloody cyberdemon. This whole section grants you one of the three keys (blue one, if I'm not mistaken), which are needed to unlock the exit. The other two are similiarly relentless, stringing one fight after another.

 

With all three keys you can brace yourself for the single hardest setpiece of the map: the yellow key fight. It's a massive slaughter in a cross-shaped arena that sends waves of imps, pinkies and revenants from two sides, a horde of hell nobles from third and two cyberdemons from fourth. I have nothing to say here, I kept dying over and over until I started to save mid-fight. Who cares this fight finally hands you a BFG, the monster density was completely insane. In the end, I just think I was lucky and survived this somehow. Round two released a wave of archviles, but that didn't feel special. If you want, you can head to the exit now, just survive the final fight, yet another suffocating slaughter, which I save-scummed my way through because it was the second day playing this map and I was just tired.

 

If you still want more, there are two keys left that weren't that tough, as the BFG helps a lot with cramped fights. This unlocks "not the exit", an optional floating arena that quickly gets filled with imps, cacodemons and cyberdemons, with sniping arachnotrons added because why the hell not. There's a ton of cells in the middle, but I ran out of them when there were only cyberdemons left. I had to escape, resupply and after returning I still had to finish off three cybers with a chaingun. Your reward for beating this is an automap, secret hunters will appreciate this one, as there are a lot of them to find.

 

Despite its awesome visuals that brings Ribbiks to mind, I can't say it was a time well spent. More experienced players will likely appreciate this map more, I just felt too exhausted to feel anything.