The DWmegawad Club plays: Sunder & Countdown to Extinction

[Salt-Man Z]

The Countdown continues...

MAP03: The Database
Kinda fun. The chaingunner trap on the upper level was neat. The revenant trap in the same area maybe didn't work properly in GZDoom? The revenant appeared, but frozen with his back to me. I missed the secret; hit the exit switch before realizing that was The End.

MAP04: Tripwire
I probably wouldn't have noticed the existence of the titular tripwires had someone upthread not mentioned it: once you know they're there, they're easy to spot. I still managed to kill myself twice on this map (so far the only map I've died on) by accidentally triggering them while retreating from another enemy, and then surprise! instant arachnodeath.

MAP05: Demanufacture
This is one of those puzzle levels where, once you've solved it, you think, "How was I ever supposed to think of that?" and yet you did, and so maybe the author knew what he was doing? I know once I got to the lowest-level room and couldn't go any farther, I was stumped for a minute—but then I took a wild guess and, sure enough, I knew what to do. Good level.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP05: Demanufacture
96% kills | 3:34

Another obligatory 3d bridge (and one that, as pointed out by Getsu Fune, actually kinda ruins the map somewhat). Similar to MAP01, except this time there's more meat and a bit of a puzzle. Well, not so much a puzzle as just wild assed guessing. I had to kill the Keens in the below room with bullets, the ones in the side rooms died to barrels, weirdly.

MAP06: Time Bomb
100% kills | 1/1 secret | 1:34

After getting to the red key switch, I was hoping for some more timing puzzles, but the last puzzle is just kind of a "fuck you" insta-death punishment for pushing the wrong switch. Kinda stupid. The AV is no threat and the secret is a bit strange. Didn't like the insta-pop sergeants, nor the fact that the red door is one-way.

[Obsidian]

Getsu Fune said:

I see a jab at Ichor

Wait, what?

MAP05: As pointed out, I did kind of go a tad overboard with the lower area: I probably should have nixed the Hell Knights or something, but I digress. Not sure why the barrels didn't detonate for some people though. :/

MAP06: The first Bomb map! Personally I really don't like timed maps(MAP28 of Scythe, I'm looking at you) due to the fact that I'm not a naturally speedy player, so I used a different gimmick. For those of you crying shame at the instadeath switches, bear in mind that there is a hint hidden somewhere in the map: utilize all the things you have at your disposal and you'll find it easily. Also originally I had exploding barrels teleporting around the player, but for some reason it didn't work in some source ports.

[Salt-Man Z]

Obsidian said:

MAP05[/b]: As pointed out, I did kind of go a tad overboard with the lower area: I probably should have nixed the Hell Knights or something, but I digress.

I did play on only HMP, but I just rode the lift back up and let them all fight it out; I came back down and killed the spider at the same time that he killed the last HK.

[Obsidian]

Eh, I didn't actually put difficulty settings. :P There's only so much you can do in one hour.

[Magnusblitz]

Not sure why the barrels didn't detonate for some people though. :/

Honestly, for me it was probably because I use mouselook and purposely aimed high due to the ledge in front of me. If I keep my aim more straight, hit the barrels just fine. :)

For those of you crying shame at the instadeath switches, bear in mind that there is a hint hidden somewhere in the map: utilize all the things you have at your disposal and you'll find it easily.

I actually thought the trick was "the same switch as earlier" (since the first run-through I missed the secret), which also turns out to be the case. I have the feeling it's supposed to be the N on the minimap, though.

[ella guro]

Map04 - Tripwire: i must have missed the obvious, but i feel like there are enough lighting effects going on that are environmental that it was hard for me to pick out the tripwires before i was told they were in the map. i like the idea though. maybe a more substantial light difference or a slightly different texture on the floor and/or ceiling would make it more clearer?

Map05 - Demanufacture: i like the idea behind blowing up the four columns a lot, but that's just really not a thing i do in most Doom levels so it's not something that my mind would automatically go to. maybe making the barrels visible on one of them would help? btw i agree that the basement area is pretty sketchy from a pistol start.

Map06 - Time Bomb: i liked this one better, at least up until the random switch-hitting. the rooms are a little more distinct from each other and the red key platform is just far enough away to where it's a little bit of challenge to get the key without being too frustrating. that said, i gotta agree with previous comments about the random sergeants and especially the randomness of the "bomb". if you're gonna insta-kill someone at least give them a clearer indication which option will not result in instant death. i get that there is a clue but it's not always obvious, esp with short levels in a fast game like Doom. maybe i'm just not much of a fan of insta-death in general though.

i like that these maps seem all short and have distinct concepts a lot (and wish more wads/megawads tried this), the concepts just feel a little bit under-executed to me so far.

[Demon of the Well]

Because it would be a bit silly to upload/post them all separately, here is an FDA pack for all 32 maps in CtE. All on UV, though apparently that's a meaningless distinction in this case. As advertised, it is an extremely short megaWAD; all the demos combined can't be much over 60-70 minutes, even with a few deaths and some screwing around. I do complete them all, no DNFs or game-ending bugs encountered or the like.

In the interest of full disclosure, I admit that I didn't expect this WAD to suit my fancy much--some folks love the hell out of teeny-tiny little one-concept hors d'oeuvre maps as a matter of principle, but I usually prefer a heartier portion--but since it wasn't going to take long I said "what the hell" and gave it a shot. On an individual level I found very few of the maps to be really strong--by virtue of being speedmaps done in very little time, many feel like fragments instead of finished ideas (although none seemed as unfinished as some of what was in 3 Heures d'agonie, the most similar mapset I've played recently), but as a whole experience it was a decent hour or so of Dooming, with the usual ups and downs one tends to expect in 32+ map WADs.

Map 01 -- Contact
There is a box. In the box are some zombies, and some smaller boxes with bored imps in them. You have a pistol and some bullets. The end.

Map 02 -- The Yard
Another box, with more zombies, but this time the imps at least pretend to care. I like the little 'going under the floor' bit better than the bridge in map 01, even though nothing actually happens there. The scrolling techwall and grates look alright to me, but that silver staircase is pretty naff.

Map 03 -- The Database
This looks a lot sharper/deeper than the two maps that preceded it, and indeed, a lot sharper than the next several maps that follow it--almost entirely a function of the lighting choices, I think, the dimmer hallways and glowing server bank make a lot of difference. That one chaingunner was a pretty sneaky idea, but he choked at game time and opted to smack my ass when he should've just been pulling the trigger, and so caught a facefull of buckshot before doing any harm.

Map 04 -- Tripwire
Not a fan of this aesthetically, but that is a cool midi. I guess the arachninjas give the map its name? I do fine against them, ironically only being hit by what is probably the least threatening of the three. Probably a good choice not to place any weapon other than the basic shotgun, on their account.

What the hell happened to that revenant rocket?

Map 05 -- Demanufacture
Yeah, I'd agree that the 3D bridge wasn't really worth it, in this one--monsters arbitrarily (to appearances) not being able to cross certain points has always looked like a minor gaffe to me (fine when it's got some kind of in-game explanation or even just serves a practical housekeeping purpose, though). I can see where the basement fight might get really nasty really quick if one doesn't think fast....or really boring if one were to decide to just try to bring the monsters up on the lift one at a time to dispose of them. Not sure how long it would've taken me to figure out that the data conduits or whatever they were needed to be fired upon--I hit the first one by accident while shooting at the pinkies.

Map 06 -- Time Bomb
Not a fan. I'm not going to try and call 'bad game design' or the like on it because I strongly suspect there's probably some kind of hint as to which switch is the correct one (watching the demo, maybe it's that the switch lowering the red card matches the correct one on the bomb?), but this didn't dawn on me while I was playing and so I got to do the same basic fight three times in a row (and then rewarded with some cursory vile-plinking when I finally hit the right one). Definitely not a fan of the intermission track BGM, either.

Map 07 -- Retribution
Another example of why you should always check the door you apparently came in from. I accidentally cheat vs. the arachnatron, and not-so-accidentally cheat vs. the caco duo. Decent deployment of the mancubi at the end, though, I feel one of the problems of so many Dead Simple riffs is that most of them feel compelled to treat most of the fatsos as stationary turrets, which are far less satisfying to fight/kill than those that can actually move around with the player. Gotta say, that sunny blue sky + ashwall is one ugly combo, but it didn't strike me blind so I'll just move on.

[plums]

Sunder MAP04: Great theme here, the crushers were a lot of fun to dodge around and lure enemies into. It felt almost like a puzzle map at times, as I would almost never die in the middle of fighting a horde - I would die a few times at the start, until I figured out a strategy, and then got through it in one go, at least for the most part. Open spaces and lots of supplies meant even in the face of a lot of monsters, I never felt too confined. The imp room was a bit of an exception, throwing several hundred of them at you at once, but wasn't too bad once I stopped trying to ration my plasma rifle ammo. On the other hand some encounters could be beaten without firing a single shot, which was odd but enjoyable nonetheless. I'm sure people playing for speed in UV-Max demos wouldn't do it that way, but it's nice that that option is there.


Countdown to Extinction
MAP05: One of the harder earlier maps, but also quite exploitable thanks to the lift and 3D bridge. It is a bit tricky from pistol start, but OTOH if you play continuous you might start this map without enough health to survive the basement anyhow. The position of the keen/barrels is quite clever, since you're almost guaranteed to shoot one by accident even if you don't realize that that's the goal, which should clue you in to shooting the rest.

MAP06: Yes, the bomb device is a pain if you don't pick up the clue - I have a feeling many people wouldn't check the automap for a level like this. Regardless, short maps like this are where you can get away with doing that kind of thing. I really like the red key switch, it's the kind of thing that might confuse people in a larger map but with such a small playing area, there's only so many options, so I bet most people will figure it out.

Demon of the Well said:

What the hell happened to that revenant rocket?

That's bizarre. I watched it with a 3rd person camera (numpad 0 twice) in PrBoom+ a few times, it looks like it does a really sharp turn right before it circles around the corner of the pillar and just disappears. Like it suddenly spiralled into a vortex or something. Weird! Post it in the misc demos thread maybe?

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP07 Retribution

First, an arachnotron in close space. But I jinxed the trap and stayed above him. Then, cacos. Then, mancubi in EXTREME close quarters. It's somehow just another MAP07 though except the arachnotron was easy. Don't care for the sky either. Kinda grinding so far this mapset.

MAP08 Vietnow

YAY RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

Really though, I'm not really sure what to say for this. it's pretty ordinary overall for a map. Maybe I'm just losing some steam as again, it just feels boring having to kill everything with just a shotgun and chaingun. Hopefully there's better action to come.

[Obsidian]

MAP07: Yeah, not one of the better ones. Also, somehow Plums managed to get a Pacifist run of this map, which still mystifies me to this day.

MAP08: Go RATM, eh? Bulls on Parade is still my favourite song, but that map name's taken. :P I think I did decent with this one, even without a central gimmick holding it up. Also I still lament the lack of a MIDI of Roll Right that doesn't sound like ass: I was so amped to make a map with it and I found squat.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP07: Retribution
100% kills | 1/1 secret | 2:24

Meh. Fairly bland Dead Simple map. The start is somewhat interesting (though also easy, I instinctually backed up at the start, making the arachnatron a piece of cake). Then pop a few cacos and then dance around killing the mancubi. I agree, the sky isn't that great looking.

MAP08: Vietnow
91% kills | 2:29

I know these are one-hour maps so I shouldn't be expecting too much, but after seeing the relatively large cargo area I was hoping for something a bit meatier. Again, I agree that just having the normal shotgun and chaingun is getting a bit boring.

[plums]

Obsidian said:

Also, somehow Plums managed to get a Pacifist run of this map, which still mystifies me to this day.

Of all the pacifist runs I did for CtE, this was actually the easiest I think!

I should really update that demo pack for the final version of the wad, and post it.

[ella guro]

Map07 - “Retribution": aesthetically i kinda liked this map. i like the first room, at least. also didn't mind the sky as much as other people seemed to. the trap may be a little easy since it's obvious what's coming - probably could get away with a few arachnotrons. i also literally got trapped because i ran out of ammo from UV pistol start and was stuck with a mancubus on a ledge. might have been nice to put one more ammo box in there, considering i didn't have this problem on any other map so far. =)

Map08 - “Vietnow": after dying a couple of times i just skipped the revenants and chaingunners since there isn't a lot of incentive to kill them beyond 100% kills. i actually liked the cargo area more than the outside area, but this map kinda seemed to lack a coherent concept. not terrible, but not memorable either.

Map09 - “Portality": i actually dug this one quite a bit. there's one concept that's given enough time to be expanded upon while still remaining short. i didn't mind the random teleporter trap towards the end because at least you can either stay on the teleporters or fight the monsters without dying. i also like having the choice to fight the pain elementals at the end with the berserk pack or not. my only major complaint is the map is aesthetically bland.

Map10 - “Technophage": i don't mind the demons & rockets concept and i liked the progression of switches to the exit, but i really think the space given to fight the demons was too small. even when i got through them i was still taking a lot of damage from the rockets because i didn't have enough space to fire them in. and then because of that it was even more difficult to fight the revenants & everything else in such an enclosed space. i would've at least liked a super shotgun or something for the second round of enemies. or a larger arena.

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP06: Time Bomb
Not bad. I managed not to get blown up (by the bomb anyway.) I played it just this afternoon, but all I can remember is the archie at the end.

MAP07: Retribution
I actually kinda liked this one. Like others, I instinctively backpedaled when the floor dropped out, so picking off the spider was easy. Climbing into the corners of the room to get the ammo afterwards was a little awkward, though. The mancubi killed me a number of times; that was a tough fight for me, but a fair one. It didn't even dawn on me until I'd beaten it that those were the "four demons" mentioned in the text earlier, and that that was supposed to have been a "boss map" or sorts. Works for me.

MAP08: Vietnow
Trench warfare! I thought the concept was pretty neat. Frustratingly, every time I'd try to dodge a revenant rocket by dropping into a trench, it would circle around and nail me from above. Attempts to rush the revenants just resulted in the chaingunners taking me down. Eventually, I settled on rushing to the door, then backing off carefully and sniping the snipers off one by one. The interior battle was far less memorable.

MAP09: Portality
Slightly confusing at first, but amusing once I figured out what was going on. I had a PE follow me through the teleporter and get stuck in the wall. Another map where I hit the exit switch not realizing it was the end.

MAP10: Technophage
I actually picked off the imps first, then punched all the demons to death through the bars. So I got to save all (and use almost all) my ammo for the final room. Another awkward 3-D bridge; this one allowed me to easily take out the vile from underneath. The bad news is, I'm starting map 11 (playing continuous) with just a handful of bullets left. Eep.

Plums said:

It is a bit tricky from pistol start, but OTOH if you play continuous you might start this map without enough health to survive the basement anyhow.

That's a nice balance I've found here that I haven't noticed in a lot of other megawads. Yeah, I carry all my guns, but a lot of the time I'm starting a level around half-health. I kinda dig how that's working out.

[Demon of the Well]

Map 08 -- Vietnow
Man, that starting area is also ugly as hell, just like the end of map 07. Suggests that apparently CtE is a continuous narrative, though, which doesn't really come through prior to this. The only hazardous things here are the two distant chaingunners in the building facade (well, that and maybe getting infinitely-tall'd trying to leap the trenches); the indoor area is much easier on the eyes but is otherwise very rote, almost feels like Obsidian is going out of his way to play nice since it's only map 08 and all.

Map 09 -- Portality
Had to watch my own demo to remember anything about this one. While the thought of looking at the automap for a clue never entered my head back in map 06, it was my first instinct upon being presented with the choice of four pads a ways into this one. Using the map I see that only one of the pads is actually a teleporter; finishing with 51% kills does leave me wondering what would've happened if I'd picked one of the others, instead. The heavy slant towards pump-action shotgun and chaingun seems to be wearing on some folks, but I think that only having the shotgun is the only thing that makes the two pain elementals at the end here work--the mouth of the closet is too wide to just block them in, and of course there are two, so you actually have to have a real fight with them.

Map 10 -- Technophage
I thought map 03 looked nice, but I think this was the first map in the set where the gameplay interested me--the opening bit with the demons and the RL is simple, but clever, and then you get to move around a bit more than previous maps tended to require in order to avoid being pegged by any of the assholes up on the ledges (that the cacodemons can cross from one half of the chamber to the other is a nice touch). Love that RotT track, too, bonus points there.

[Obsidian]

MAP09: One of these days I'll build on the idea I used here. Also I had to use STARTAN at least once so it didn't feel left out.

MAP10: The music from this reminds me so much of "Nobody Told Me About Id": I'd just like to put that out there. I made this one not long after I saw a comment ClonedPickle made abut how much he hated octagon-shaped maps, so THIS ONE'S FOR YOU PICKLE! Teehee. Also it looks pretty spiffy, which is always good.

[plums]

Sunder MAP05: Platforming, switch-hunting, death pits. I like any of those in moderation, but it's a bit frustrating here, because of how prevalent they are in this map. Make one slip-up and you're dead, and you'll get plenty of chances to do so, since you might not even know where to go in the branch of land masses.

It's a shame too, because aesthetically this map is fantastic, a very creative and awe-inspiring outing. It feels about as alien and surreal as anything I've seen in Doom that still plays well. Previous maps have evoked a sense of strangeness, but this is the first in the set that I feel is really otherworldly, and I love it. But the constant threat of falling to your doom just spoils it a little for me.

Combat is quite good, though as other people have mentioned the randomness from Pain Elementals is a bit annoying. In fact the safe way to play it is to just hide behind a wall and wait for them to come to you, but that's rather boring.

Last complaint: why no v-tiling sky? :P


Countdown to Extinction
MAP07: Easy and short map, but a fun concept. It can be a little hard to do from pistol start, because ammo is so tight. The first time I played this, my instinct wasn't to run away from the switch, but towards the blue key, though I didn't quite make it on my first try. But it turns out a pacifist run of this map is quite easy.

Bugfixer trivia: In Vanilla Doom, "raise by shortest texture" actions (which is what the 667 sector tag does) interpret "no texture" as being AASHITTY, meaning sectors will only raise 64 units. Because the other side of those pillars in this map are meant to be untextured, so that they're covered by flat bleeding before you hit the first switch, I suggested to Obsidian to just edit the AASHITTY texture to be 128 px high. This fixed this problem, as well as a few others on other maps where ZDoom's behaviour differs from vanilla.

MAP08: A simple trench warfare map. Not much to say about it, I didn't find it ugly or anything, but not overly memorable either. Hope you like AVs in your exit doors, because there's a lot more of that coming...

MAP09: Perhaps the blandest looking map in the wad. It plays fine, the teleporting gimmick is a bit underused though. I don't mind the shotgun/chaingun focused gameplay, 9 maps in really isn't very long in this wad.

MAP10: Definitely one of the most interesting maps gameplay-wise. Also one of the hardest to pacifist, of the ones where I succeeded. One of my failed attempts made it as DEMO1 in the wad. There's actually many ways to handle that opening room, and the combat that follows is nice and varied too. My only complaint is that what often happens is that you kill everything off first, and then you go about hitting all the switches with no resistance except maybe an archvile. It's still fun though.

Bugfixer trivia: the columns that lock the demons away from you were originally all 16x16. But this caused VPOs in vanilla at the very end, and after my continual prodding, I convinced Obsidian to make the whole wad vanilla-compatible.

[NuMetalManiak]

hmm, RATM and Megadeth references (the title of the WAD is the name of one of their albums!).

MAP09 Portality

That first portal is a slight red herring. And there's more tricks and traps to go by here. I had to do a few clinchers to get by this somewhat rough map, including telefragging a hellknight. The "pick the correct teleporter" thing is neat to a tee. Unfortunately, I'm still bored at the grinding action I'm going through because I'm only hitting enemies with chaingun, shotgun, and fist. Give me another weapon dammit!

MAP10 Technophage

Oh that's better, a rocket launcher. Well, not really. Other than the pinky flanks at the beginning it's still not enough to warrant much danger or excitement. The balcony imps on my side were annoying. On the other end, some mancubi, cacos, zombiemen, and revs on the balcony. I don't think revenants placed on higher grounds than Doomguy are much of a threat, since their rockets go over my head all the time. The archie in the middle is a sitting duck too. My real enemy in the map are the doors. Those doors are annoying to contend with when firing rockets at mancubi or shotgun shells at the archie.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP09: Portality
100% kills | 1/1 secret | 3:34

Woo, portals! With a name like that, I was hoping for a bit more puzzle-ly use of them, but sadly, that's not the case. I do like four-teleporter room though, and the last teleporter is actually useful against the pain elementals (putting it between you and them and letting the lost souls go away).

MAP10: Technophage
100% kills | 1:46

Hmm. Yeah, it's nice to finally have the RL, but the rest of the map is pretty blah. First time around, I managed to clear everything out but only had bullets remaining, opened the central door, and got killed by the AV because I didn't realize he was above me (at first I thought he was inside the computer column behind a fake wall or something). Weirdly enough, that seems to be the only place he can hit you... once you get to the top floor, he just runs around in place harmlessly. Another victim of the 3D Bridge. So far, I think the 3D bridge maps have been the most disappointing - I'm not sure if it's because they limit the level design, or because they take too long to make, or what.

The rest of the map is okay, nothing special. The biggest enemies here are 1) running out of ammo and 2) accidentally hitting a pinkie or door with the rocket.

[Obsidian]

Getsu Fune said:

hmm, RATM and Megadeth references (the title of the WAD is the name of one of their albums!).

The name of MAP05 is also the name of the second album by Fear Factory. Bang yer head!

[plums]

Sunder MAP06: Okay, ow.

There is one spot at the start of the map, a small nook in the wall opposite the lift that takes you to the spider mastermind, that is essentially safe. A lone hell knight or revenant might walk up there, but otherwise you can sit there for quite a while without anything being able to hit you. And that's exactly what I did for the first half of the map, poking my head out for a few frames to get some infighting going, going back into hiding until it sounded like it had stopped, and then repeating. Not particularly fun, but it was the only way I could get through that brutal first section.

Most of Sunder's maps previously have been made up of very segmented encounters, but the whole start of this is really just a big clusterfuck of pain. I'll have to watch some demos to see how it's supposed to be done, because I don't really see any other non-cowardly options than "hope for the best."

Once that bit was done, nothing was too bad, and the gameplay felt more segmented like other maps. That bit with the teleporting viles and hell knights near the end (not the room with the invulnerabilities) was painful, but if you know what's coming it's easy enough to take the first one out immediately and with some luck the others won't be too much of a problem.

Anyhow I cheesed through this one so much that I don't feel much accomplishment at all, more like "thank god that's over with." From the sounds of it, moving forward things won't be that dense or hard.

[plums]

Countdown to Extinction
MAP11: I really like this map, it's short and to the point but still feels (relatively) substantial. The "multiple switches in any order" gimmick is something you'll see in the future, unfortunately it's a bit bug-prone later on. No problems here though. Get a rocket launcher and then go out with a bang!

Also FIREBLU forever!


BTW, pacifist demos for numerous CtE maps, finally updated if anyone cares:
http://www.doomworld.com/vb/post/1269558

didierbertrand has a few UV speed demos a few posts up from that one, too.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP11 The Vortex

Oh finally I get a chainsaw, but only to kill about four spectres as an elevator descends. A lot of rockets await me, along with many monsters and many switches. Very Hell-Revealed style this one is, if the music wasn't convincing otherwise. Arena is pretty tight that infighting is still going to be a problem; the wide-ass arachnotrons prove that. And the end teleporter, it's one of THOSE mapsets isn't it?

MAP12 Wayward

Well according to the text, my weapons were scattered around me, so it's kinda like UAC Ultra storywise. But I'm missing my chainsaw and rocket launcher. Oh well. This map reminds me of Khorus Speedy Shit or whatever. Up the mountain killing imps and running from the mancubus until the red ruined area with some teleporting monsters. Let's just say I didn't see the archvile coming. So I went back and killed the mancubus before luring archie to where the dead shotgun guys were to get more ammo than I can bargain for. The climb for the blue key was terrific, and the revenants guarding the exit proved claustrophobic. The one thing I really hate here though, is that stupid perpetual lift. Fuck that thing.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP11: The Vortex
100% kills | 3:21

Yeah, one of the better maps so far. The spectres teleport in a bit slowly (I had one teleport in after the door locked behind me). But the chainsaw/rocket launcher combo is a good one, especially with these enemies. Hardest part is probably the second wave, with the chaingunners. Got a bit careless and fell under 10 health, but managed to pull through.

MAP12: Wayward
100% kills | 2:52

Aww, where'd Mr. Rocket Launcher go? Oh well, back to the old shotgun/chaingun combo... first part of the map is pretty boring, but the AV is actually pretty dangerous and tough in that small area.

[plums]

CtE MAP12: Not too hard if you know what's coming. If you don't, that AV can spell trouble if he gets pinned behind a hell knight. Having played this wad a few times now, I feel like a bunch of the early CtE maps suffer just a little by trying to keep to a lower E1-tier difficulty, but things really start to pick up from this point. And don't worry, you'll get some real weapons soon!

Love this music, even though I've never played any Crash Bandicoot games.

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP11: Vortex
Oh dear, a shootable switch and no ammo? As previously mentioned, I'm playing continuous, and after the last map I only had 8 bullets left. I used the chaingun to hit the two early switches (stupidly using 4 bullets), but man, it would have been real easy to run out of ammo entirely and be forever stuck in that entryway. The next room was a challenge, especially (as others mentioned) the wave with chaingunners. I actually made a run for the portal early in one attempt, but it killed me, and GZDoom restarted me from my save. Did I hit the spacebar too early? If I had waited half a second longer, would I have gone to MAP12?

MAP12: Wayward
Speaking of which, I think this is my favorite map so far. The starting outdoor area just felt like Doom to me. The climb to the blue key was fantastic, and the archvile fight was fun. (I also lured him out ran like a little girl back to an earlier portion of the map, where I could hide under the cliffside, and he could revive shotgunners to replenish my ammo.)

[plums]

Salt-Man Z said:

Oh dear, a shootable switch and no ammo?

You can punch those switches, if you need to.

[Obsidian]

MAP11: A nice little arena-style battle to polish off the first episode. And yes, I put in a suicide exit: I like to control the player as much as possible. >:-D

MAP12: As soon as I finished making this map I knew exactly what music and sky to use: if I had more time, I'd have it raining in the whole map just to set the mood. Also, someone really needs to send Plums a copy of the first Crash Bandicoot.

[dobu gabu maru]

Fell behind, but the nice thing about these maps is you can catch up in ten minutes

MAP05: Obsidian sure likes his 3d bridges. Had fun with this one namely due to the tightly-packed arach room that you had to utilize infighting to beat... also "shoot the tek pillars" is a neat touch too. But how can you use the name "Demanufacture" but fail to use a Fear Factory midi? Shame, 0/10.

MAP06: Another good map, mainly because I feel like I have to pay more attention than just scoot through the left. Didn't catch the trick with the insta death switches so of course I blew myself up.

MAP07: A brief, bloody map. I felt like the inside area was more gimmicky than fun to play in, but at least the miniature manc enclosure gave me a bit of a sweat.

MAP08: You could ignore quite a few enemies and still finish this one, so it wasn't my favorite.

MAP09: I really liked the telepad activating the floor as a lift--clever stuff. Unfortunate that the manc couldn't get his large ass out of that monster closet so I had to slaughter his back up before I dealt with him. Fine map otherwise.

MAP10: Alright now we're talking. A gimmick map I can get behind: don't blow yourself up. Failed twice but found my way once the second half of the level was clear... good work on keeping the ammo tight.