Simulacrum RC2 | 32 MBF21 maps by muumi and myolden

[TJG1289]

You had me at "Simulacrum is a set of 32 maps in MBF21 format by muumi and myolden."

 

Seriously tho, you 2 are some of my favorite mappers out there currently. Some of the most creative maps I've played in a while have been by you guys, so seeing a full collab megawad from you two makes this an instant play. Even if I am suffering a bit of Doom burnout, this will make that take a backseat. Very excited to try it!

[TJG1289]

Ok, played the first 10 maps on UV continuous. As expected, these are all excellent. Already a challenge from the second map on, imo. Love the distinct visuals for each map, and the color combos all mesh well so far. There's been quite a few fights that have given me trouble already, so I'm scared to see what comes later. The part of MAP09 with the caco cloud took me a ton of attempts until I realized what I needed to do on that one. Very clever set-up there, and there had already been a lot of clever set-ups so far. The whole red key tower in I think it was MAP04 was another highlight with how that area unfolded in multiple stages providing unique layouts and monster combos. Soundtrack has been great too so far. I'm definitely excited to see where the rest of this goes! I was going to do MAP11 tonight, but then I saw the kill count and was like "I don't have time for this now." But yeah, this is incredibly high quality stuff on pretty much every level.

[myolden]

Hey folks, just a quick bump to announce that we've updated the wad to RC2. Just some small fixes and balancing tweaks. Thanks to everyone for the kind comments, we are glad you're enjoying the set!

[Novaseer]

Just made it through MAP11. Spectacle abound, some absolutely monolithic slaughter fights whilst never feeling outside of my mortal capabilities. And, just like the rest of the set so far, looks like a million bucks. Incredible map.

[SleepyVelvet]

Solid maps, thanks for sharing.  Here's FDAs for 1-6.  I found most of the secrets.  Gonna go back for the soulsphere on 06 and take a break before continuing.

noisy_Simulacrum_RC2_m1-6_hntr.zip

 

Gonna go back for the soulsphere on 06

edit: ahh yiss yiss, how did I not see that switch.  of course. *nods*

Edited June 11 by SleepyVelvet

[Hebonky]

These mancubi in map20 are completely stuck

Spoiler

 

[Michael63]

Started to play. It seems to be a very promising megawad!

[galileo31dos01]

I've been playing this sporadically and I'm enjoying my time. I feel like both individual mapping expressions mix so swiftly with each other, like peanut butter and chocolate. And the art style of both is incredibly attractive to my eyes, from the choice of colour combinations to the little doomcute things, and most specially for all the out-of-bounds scenery. And then the gameplay is as advertised, challenging and exciting. And... you probably wouldn't expect a comment on this particular thing, but I personally love it when there're are random hidden bonus pickups on places you wouldn't need to be (e.g. map 04). That adds points to enjoyment lol.

 

Some few observations:

 

Spoiler

03

- You can land on the lake around the structures by hoping over sector 230 from the secret soulsphere ledge, and I believe there is no return once you do that. I even got mildly disappointed that there wasn't anything hidden, even one health potion would have been lovely lol. 

 

06

- This is interesting. That switch over there is straight up invisible from literally every angle you can stand and I checked them all (unless you can show me a spot where it does become visible). Is that on purpose? I actually found it via UDB, such a tantalizing soulsphere!

- I might suggest offering an armor pickup (honestly, blue) for the final area, mainly for cushion against something that, given the setup, can end up in random disaster. For example, I entered with 100/101, blue armor from the secret, and first time managed to nearly get everything clear, barely got hit (lucky try) but did soak a lot of lava. I went to BFG a cyberdemon that was onto a hell knight in the middle, and this teleported behind me where the cyberdemon turned back and hit me instead. I'm sure I would have survived that if I had some armor left cause I was around full health thanks to a soulsphere. Bad luck yes but point stands. I think if you leave that earlier secret armor for last you may be at lesser risk, and if that's intentional in the balance then, fair enough. 

 

Edited June 11 by galileo31dos01

[SleepyVelvet]

Maps 07-15 - noisy_Simulacrum_RC2_m7-15.zip

I played some on cl9 but nothing broke... Look forward to the rest.

[SleepyVelvet]

Here's the rest.  I played each map until I exploded, which happened a lot.  I usually got at least 5 mins into each map though.

noisy_Simulacrum_RC2_m16-32.zip

If you watch these (you shouldn't, dear lord), you'll see some very interesting mouse movement.  My mouse occasionally has a mind of its own.  I dunno if it's years of weird Logitech driver stuff tripping over themselves;  battery dying (I recharged and cleaned it, so huh...);  optical sensor or USB receiver not being jittery;  trackball goop (not to be confused with keyboard goop);  Or poltergeists.  I think it might be poltergeists.  If so, I'm afraid all my (very prestigious) demos on DSDA will have to be marked TAS if this is the case...

 

Anyways, That was a solid set, excellent even.  Most maps were comfortably short, but there were at least several chonkers in there, more so the deeper you get into the WAD.  Extremely fun slaughter content back-to-back-to-back... or is it "combat puzzles", whichever one is politically correct.  There was enough splash of engaging gameplay variety between them all for sure, and all felt fair.  I wasn't insta killed for falling into pits, which is nice.  I enjoyed finding the 1-3 secrets in each map - usually it was "find that one shoot switch" kinda stuff but even that didn't get old.  The weird trippy astral voodoo visuals rocks.  I didn't get to see exactly 100% of it all but I might revisit a couple maps when this hits idgames archive.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP20: Linedef 19937 has the same action as the switch nearby (5245). Not game-breaking but interesting.

 

I now want a megawad based off of what MAP24 is.

 

EDIT: Like with the Doomium II thread, I will mention that monsters telefragging each other on MAP30 can be a problem, especially in the last battle there.

Edited June 13 by NuMetalManiak

[Michael63]

Perhaps a little "floor mistake" (water) in MAP 02. I will not hurry with this megawad (completed 4 levels in UV), but it seems valuable for playing it from the beginning up to the end.

 

[StorkGreen]

Super small mistake on map04 (classic software mode moment)

Spoiler

 

Excellent mapset btw :)

[FlamingoGasoline]

I'm playing through this and am currently at map 20. Holy hell it's one of the best map sets I've played but godamn I never expected a myolden map to be this hard. This is like the pina collada WAD but on steroids

[ProfBloom]

Played through the first 12 maps tonight, loving it so far.  Gorgeous maps, great combat, and things don't drag despite high kill counts.  Nice and zesty, too!  Can't wait to play more!

[JackDBS]

Really like the color palette. Can I use it for my own project?

[myolden]

2 minutes ago, JackDBS said:

Really like the color palette. Can I use it for my own project?

 

Yeah, go for it.