What are you playing now?

[Stabbey]

I recently played Eternal Doom. I only had to open the editor to find out what the hell I was supposed to do on like three maps! One of those was just to figure out some of the secrets, so it hardly counts.

 

I just finished Scythe (1).  On my first attempt at the WAD I hit a wall at about map 23 and stopped at Map 25. But since my first attempt I had finished Epic 2, and that helped me improve my skills so that I could get better and go farther. Even Map 26 (Fear), the big huge capital-S, slaughter map wasn't so bad, although it wasn't really that interesting, as it's BFG spam and grab invulns to snuff the triple cybers guarding the keys.

 

I put on god mode for Map 28 (Run From It) because that map was complete bullshit. My best time is something like 43 seconds. (You automatically die after 30.) Map 30 was long and took a few sessions to finish, but I did eventually UV-Max it after about 90 minutes.

[brick]

I just finished the Heretic Upstart Mapping Project. Like any community project there's a lot of variety in tone and style between maps, but it's quite an enjoyable pack. I ended up liking the gimmick maps the most (especially E1M6 with the hordes of teleporting gargoyles, and E2M6, though I did curse when after spending so much time killing the 4 maulotaurs on the platforms I discovered you can later just telefrag them), but the "normal" maps were also great fun to go through. About the only one I didn't particularly enjoy was E2M8 (sorry Beewen!) but that's more because I don't like platforming and precision jumping in FPS, it's still a well-designed map. For an "upstart" mapping project this is quite impressive.

[Zaxxon]

I think i've found a Doom 2 wad that can cause depression:

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

This is "Phobos: Relive the Nightmare" and it's from 1996. It has 9 maps and so far, after 4 maps, i kinda like it. It's simple and fast-paced... if you look past some weird design choices... like who in their right mind chose the gray sky over their mostly gray levels? It's like i'm playing a black and white edition of Doom. :D

 

EDIT: Just finished it... It turned out to be very easy on UV. It averages 50-60 monsters per level, with hardly any tough encounters. I don't mind that really, even though i play on UV, i prefer wads that land somewhere "in the middle" when it comes to difficulty. This wasn't it, but i liked the classic look of the maps quite a bit... if only it had that red sky above, it would've looked amazing.

Edited February 20, 2022 by Zaxxon

[Captain Ventris]

Been playing Moonblood for the first time. Will be following up with Exomoon and Ozonia. Really enjoying it! The levels never overstay their welcome.

[Rymante]

I've been greatly enjoying my first ever run through of Alien Vendetta with the community MIDI pack over the past couple of days.  Not quite finished yet, but I did finally get to see what all the fuss was about today with the legendary map Misri Halek.  Man what an adventure that was, the praise is well deserved & the MIDI pack has been truly excellent up to this point!

 

I have heard things get pretty savage as you near the end of this classic megawad, we'll see how I do.

[horselessheadsman]

Kinsie's infernal witchcraft/Reelism 2 took 8 hours of my life and I want them back(no I don't).

The new hub area that players return to between each stage adds a lot of character and variety to gameplay, and I can't wait to see what the

finished version looks like.

 

[brick]

I was replaying Quest for the Crystal Skulls, a Heretic was by @Captain Toenail. I played this when it came out and remember really liking it. I don't know if I enjoyed it a bit less this time, or had just forgotten that I liked some maps more than others the first time too. The idea is really cool, it's a full episode replacement that functions as a single hub. There's no cross-referencing between the maps (a la Hexen), but it's nice to be able to tackle some of them in different orders, and being able to keep all your items (except Wings) across all maps creates a very different dynamic (I usually hoard, but I found myself actually using my items more often since I didn't want to hit the max carry limit). There are some new enemies, the flying serpent took me by complete surprise the first time, the turrets are a bit annoying but don't have a lot of health, and the Dark Masters are great. The firemace is changed and I didn't like it much, it's basically a much weaker and more difficult to use alternative to Phoenix. I think the music is all new and some of it is lovely and very fitting, going from action-packed to haunting and melancholy (my favourite is the hub map theme)

 

There is only one map that I didn't like, Undercrypt, which had too many traps, too many instadeath situations (including a timed one that you may not know is timed straight away - good luck if you quicksaved too late) and too many enemies fighting in tight corridors. The other maps I found either enjoyable or simply great. The first couple are fun (the start is a bit hectic but in a good way) but I think my favourites were towards the middle. Azure Canals has a great progression with a lot of windows that subtly direct you to where you should be going after pressing switches, Dark Coast has a great haunted cliffside village vibe, and Dreadhold has a lot of contrast between tight dark corridors and bright large open spaces. I usually dislike slaughter maps, but I found myself inexplicably having a ton of fun mowing down the hordes of enemies in the secret level - I feel like I'm discovering a side of me I never knew was there! I initially found the boss a bit annoying as he pushes you back whenever you get too close, probably to prevent using the flamethrower, but once I kept my distance he wasn't too bad.

 

I thought it was a great wad overall. The design mix of hub and Heretic makes it feel quite unique, and the puzzles are simply excellent with how they show or tell you where you should go next (I'd say it's better than the original Heretic episodes, and certainly MUCH better than E4/E5).

Edited February 25, 2022 by brick

[Fluuschoen]

Previously played DBP44: Japanese Valentines, which was kinda silly, but quite fun as well, and had some pretty nice assets. And DBP37: AUGER;ZENITH before that, which is an absolute masterpiece, it is THE cyberpunk megawad. It's not particularly hard or anything, but it's effin gorgeous, and the atmosphere level is over 9000. If you haven't tried it yet, I encourage you to do so! My all-time favourte PWAD as of now, for sure.

Playing Eviternity at the moment, on UV. I'm at level 11 now, but I was pretty furious on the previous map. Managed to get there without saves and dying for the first attempt, was a pretty smooth ride, then at the last fight in map 10 I got killed by an Annihilator, because I forgot that in Valiant, these kind of monsters shot actual rockets. >.< Nevertheless, map 10 is really nice. The snowy world that comes after that looks lovely, but the sliding ice physics are a bit annoying. Anyways, it's a great megawad so far.

[Lippeth]

Akeldama, again. First time was with PrBoom, then it was DOS and Choco, and this time it's GZDoom with all the fixin's.

 

UV, pistol start every map, I'm on map 17 and it's only slightly above my difficulty/fun threshold.

Edited February 27, 2022 by Lippeth

[PsychEyeball]

I finally managed to beat Alien Vendetta on Ultra Violence. I beat it three times now (once on HNTR, HMP and now UV) and boy the end of the WAD didn't play nice on UV. Map 29 felt worse to me somehow, with the revenant cave at the beginning giving me the hardest time in the whole episode. I feel like I reached my skill ceiling with this level pack and I doubt I'll go for anything more difficult in the future.

 

I'm relaxing with Back to Saturn X Episode 1 at the moment and what a calm palette cleanser this is. It's nice to have a WAD where you don't desperately fight for your life every second. It's also a plus that like Alien Vendetta, the maps look really cool for being vanilla-compatible. Some of these maps really make you feel like you're playing Quake at times, these are some of the nicest tech bases I've ever seen.

 

Quote

I've been greatly enjoying my first ever run through of Alien Vendetta with the community MIDI pack over the past couple of days.  Not quite finished yet, but I did finally get to see what all the fuss was about today with the legendary map Misri Halek.  Man what an adventure that was, the praise is well deserved & the MIDI pack has been truly excellent up to this point!

 

I have heard things get pretty savage as you near the end of this classic megawad, we'll see how I do.

 

@Rymante Map 25 is the point of no return. Once you reach this level, all bets are off. Alien Vendetta will no longer play nice and every level will be a challenge. Good luck.

Edited February 26, 2022 by PsychEyeball

[Rymante]

13 hours ago, PsychEyeball said:

Map 25 is the point of no return. Once you reach this level, all bets are off. Alien Vendetta will no longer play nice and every level will be a challenge. Good luck.

 

I forgot to mention I was playing on HMP (or as Alien Vendetta calls it 'GIVE ME HELL!' XD) so whilst Maps 25 thru 29 were a bit of a slog, I was able to manage OK.  Definitely had the most difficulty with Map 26 'Dark Dome' took me frickin ages to carve out a safe space for myself.  Fortunately the new MIDI pack remained awesome through out, helping me push onward ^_^

 

With that done, I have now turned my eyes to a WAD I know very little about, the Plutonia Revisited Community Project.  Decided to tackle this just to see what it's like & whilst I haven't played it, I've seen a lot of Plutonia 2 already so I figured I'd take the road less travelled so to speak.  Only played up to the start of Map 07 so far but I'm enjoying it so far.

[RHhe82]

I've been keeping on playing Ancient Aliens, and it looks I've hit a point where I kind of getting done with it. MAP23 (Trinary Temple) was an okay level, but so big I got fatigued from the get-go, and now while I appreciate very steep visual change in MAP24 (Culture Shock), I'm finding it hard to keep enthusiasm up. I played the start of the level, but  at the first sight of a tight spot - climbing up to some tower that overlooks a Hexen's Winnowing Hall bell, and the player getting in the imp crossfire, I wanted to quit. Perhaps I need a break from Ancient Aliens or Doom, I don't know.

 

Coincidentally, this was also the spot where in Valiant I first got the feeling of wishing this was over. Sometime after MAP20, but before MAP25 that starts the moon episode (that singlehandedly invigorated me and kept me happy during the rest of Valiant). Makes me think that perhaps there should be more 20-level megawads.

[Thelokk]

After long pondering and restocking on vaseline, I finally tackled Sunder. Up to MAP09 at the moment, and it's everything I was told it was going to be - both in a good and a bad way. Still not sure how I feel about it, considering also that - especially taking into account Insane_Gazebo's later output - some of the early maps are really rough and unpolished. MAP1 through 5 could probably use a 'remaster' once they're done with the whole thing. 

[Captain Ventris]

On 2/23/2022 at 5:44 PM, Rymante said:

I've been greatly enjoying my first ever run through of Alien Vendetta with the community MIDI pack over the past couple of days.  Not quite finished yet, but I did finally get to see what all the fuss was about today with the legendary map Misri Halek.  Man what an adventure that was, the praise is well deserved & the MIDI pack has been truly excellent up to this point!

 

I have heard things get pretty savage as you near the end of this classic megawad, we'll see how I do.

DARKDOME. Such a map, sheesh.

Edited February 27, 2022 by Captain Ventris

[Captain POLAND]

I just finished the Master Levels for Doom 2 and started Sigil.

[BerserkerNoir]

Refracted Reality
The Aesthetic is just 10/10

[FEZ_GG]

I've been working on Scythe over the last several days.  I breezed through Map 1-10 in an hour, while Maps 11-20, 31 & 32 took me about 2 hours.  I'm not opposed to short and sweet levels, but the first half of Scythe is a little too bare for my liking.  Fortunately the game picked up at Map 15, and since then I've been having a great time.  Maps 21-28 gave me a bit of a struggle, but they never felt impossible.  Playing Eviternity and the Micro-Slaughter Community Project probably bumped up my skill level enough for those levels.  I didn't mind Run From It either, probably because I do speedrun other games and playing this way felt fairly natural.  Unfortunately I wasn't a fan of Map 29.  It doesn't feel like a Scythe map, and the 2 opening Archviles were a pain to deal with.  In hindsight, with how much time I spend in buildings I probably didn't need to worry about them at the start, but that did sour my enjoyment, and the rest of the level didn't make up for it.  Maps 21-29 took 2 1/2 hours total.  Just got Map 30 left, and I'm saving that beast for tomorrow.

Edited March 2, 2022 by FEZ_GG
typo'd 'opposed' to 'supposed'

[Zaxxon]

I'm a bit burnt out of playing quality megawads... i think i need something more casual and out of the ordinary, so i decided to explore the uncanny valley of mid-90's shovelwares. That's something completely new to me, and i have to say, it is a lot of fun, because they're so unpredictable. It's like gambling, with the chances stacked against you, because most of these wads are subpar, but every now and then you might stumble upon a surprising gem. Still, it's a lot of fun exploring most of these maps, even the ugly ones in a "so bad it's good" kind of way. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2022 by Zaxxon

[Captain Ventris]

After Moonblood, I’m now playing Exomoon. It looks really nice and has a good vibe. I’m enjoying it!

[Lizardcommando]

I just finished playing Ozonia. Overall, an amazing megawad. That soundtrack is really good too.

[CoolerDoomeR]

I recently played PSX-Doom TC and levels are so dark, so i just passed 2 levels only.

[Fluuschoen]

On 1/1/2022 at 8:09 PM, aika said:

I finally beat (saveless uv max) Fire and Ice!

 

I did all the other Scythe maps in 2020, but for the MAP30 I switched to HMP. It's been on my mind to do it on UV and today I finally sat down and did it. What a beast of a level. After a megawad that's mostly pretty easy, the final level is harder than most Hell Revealed levels :D I think a lot of the difficulty comes from the fact that the map is so exhausting. At some point you get careless and eat a rocket, which almost killed me at the very end of the run.

 

Haha, when I first saw MAP30, I thought: EFF THIS. I don't have the PATIENCE for this kind of slaughterfest. Went with a speedrun tactic, and fortunately didn't have to try too many times to succeed. Was glad it was over. : D

[brick]

14 hours ago, CoolerDoomeR said:

I recently played PSX-Doom TC and levels are so dark, so i just passed 2 levels only.

I'm guessing you mean fenderc01's TC. If that's the case, were you using the latest version 2.135? Someone will hopefully correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I understand lighting in the PSX renderer is very different from PC, so running map conversions as-is in a PC port using software renderer results in everything being much darker than it is on the PSX itself. Other TCs of PSX Doom (I know GEC does, and I think CE as well?) get around this by forcing the OpenGL renderer then using a custom lightmode that renders light levels much brighter, thereby approximating the original PSX.

 

There's ways around the problem using fenderc01's TC too. You could switch to OpenGL (or Vulkan) and use a brighter lightmode than one you'd normally have for PC maps (I found in the past that the Doom Legacy lightmode, while not designed for this, works reasonably well). Another much better option if you want to use software renderer is to look in the mods folder that comes with the TC, there's a file called PSXBMAP.pk3, load this after PSXDOOM.pk3. PSXBMAP contains all the map files with the light levels adjusted to brighter using an algorithm, again to approximate the original PSX renderer.

Edited March 10, 2022 by brick

[Captain Ventris]

Doing my first ever Chocolate Doom run of Ultimate Doom. The moodiness of 320x240 is real and makes everything feel so much more claustrophobic. Very cool to see it as it originally would have played.

[PeterMoro]

Skyrim anniversary edition on XboxSeriesX. It's fun if you can shrug off the bugs. 

[brick]

This took some time but I finally finished playing through the 9 original episodes made for H!Zone. It's a bit of a roller-coaster as the quality is all over the place from episode to episode and sometimes even between consecutive maps. Still there's a lot of good fun to be had. Some maps stink, most are ok, but some are really great. There's a conscious attempt at visual continuity to have the end match the beginning of the next, usually across all the maps in an episode but sometimes even from one episode to the next. There's a lot of experimentation and cool tricks, like attempts to mimic silent teleporters, ladders, deep water, fake 3D corridors (just lifts and rising/lowering walls), though some maps are quite buggy and can break a bit too easily. Maps quality is very variable, progression is sometimes plain awful, but some are really good, and there are a few interesting concept maps, including one that relies entirely on flying around all the time. Difficulty is uneven, an episode will have long grindy maps and be followed by one that whizzes past with very short maps.

 

I want to extend a big, big thank you to @NightFright for compiling all the episodes into a playable format and fixing the plethora of bugs and broken triggers to make every single map completable, I don't think the compilation would be playable without his work. You can find the fixed version here. It's worth checking out overall, and maybe just skipping a map or episode that seems tedious.

[Lila Feuer]

I recently regrabbed NBlood and copied over the relevant files it wants from my copy of Fresh Supply, and I get a message at the top left of the screen at all times saying "NO DC". Anyone have any idea what that means and how to get rid of it?

E: OK I figured that out I just wish I knew why rebinding capslock to take sceeenshots is such a task for this source port, I'm not running it through steam, so.

E2: Lol thought this was regular video games thread at a glance, anyway I bound Q to screens and NBlood will take anywhere from 1 to 2 to sometimes 3 shots with one tap, but I guess it's cool for action moments.

Edited March 19, 2022 by Lila Feuer

[Captain POLAND]

Just finished Sigil, started Phobos Mission Control and am going to do some other John Romero levels (Tech Gone Bad and One Humanity, which I bought earlier).

[Lewonx]

Currently playing through Valiant and occasionally trying to beat Rush map 12.

[brick]

I've been playing through old mid-90s Heretic wads.

 

Recant. Everyone knows the late John Anderson for his Inferno series, not everyone may know he has a single Heretic level to his name. I don't think it was as groundbreaking as Inferno, and the limited Heretic textures make it perhaps harder for Anderson to let the aesthetics shine, but it's still good fun.

 

The Subterranean River by Keith Phipps. I don't even know why I had this wad stored, Phipps's name doesn't even ring a bell, but I'm glad I did! It's a really fun map with quite a bit of thematic variety and some very nice architecture, moreso for 1995.

 

The Indespensible T_DUNN. Fun map, though IMO not as memorable as traversd's later outings.