The DWmegawad Club plays: STRAIN

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP24: Sub-Laboratory

Many of the same characteristics as previous levels (dense techbase layout dominated by close-quarter battles) but progression here is much less obtuse, and I think the overall location of the map as well as its various sub-areas are better realised. The blue door/yellow key room in particular seems to exhibit quite modern design sensibilities with its multiple levels arranged in a very 'lived-in' and functional sort of way and its clutters of machinery. Combat could be harsh at times but was generally enjoyable. The one-way teleport away from the marble atrium that opens the level suggests that we're taking a plunge into the deep end here, that the endgame is beginning.

[vdgg]

4shockblast said:

Map 23: Kills: 100%, Items: 91%, Secrets: 50%, final time: 28:15 (6 deaths) (total time 55:45) Also spent a ton of time trying to make the lift cycle from the switch in the shotgun guy area that you teleport to from the baron room at the four-way hallway and it was quite hard even with straferunning and gave me very little resources (not sure how I am actually supposed to make that because that almost certainly would have been too hard for 90s players).

To my surprise you were right, see Doomed Speed Archive Returns! Struvlmp.txt has the following passage "*) Not 100% kills due to either a bug (16 & 32) or coop optimized (23)"

[4shockblast]

vdgg said:

To my surprise you were right, see Doomed Speed Archive Returns! Struvlmp.txt has the following passage "*) Not 100% kills due to either a bug (16 & 32) or coop optimized (23)"

Cool, my statement mostly concerned casual players in the 90s (even today I think that run wouldn't be too easy for most players), but I guess even speedrunners of the time considered the run to that teleporter unfeasible. From Heretic's txt, he was aware that the older runs weren't maxes; I guess he just never reported that, though. :P

Map 24: Kills: 84%, Items: 93%, Secrets: 100%, final time: 6:29 (4 deaths) (total time around 11 minutes)

I guess we get to see that courtyard again, heh. Another fun level, although the start at first really annoyed me. Lack of ammo and not knowing where to go made things kind of frustrating for me, doesn't help that I was kind of tired while playing this, so I ended up going the same way multiple times and dying to hitscanners. Then, I decided I'd try and play differently, and a different route and more aggressive rushing through the level paid off; a number of times I got close to death, but the encounters were all pretty fun nonetheless. The area with the yellow key was particularly interesting; lots of gameplay where there are monsters surrounding me and on different heights, so I often had to make risky choices to try and find a safe spot. On the other hand, the red key area was pretty easy, though it was pretty nice to get a breather after the first part of the map. Not sure about that ending, though, that is a lot of nobles for a single room. I just ran past everything without attempting to kill it, as I didn't want to try and find a safe way to kill them as I thought I'd probably die, so I'm not sure if UV-Max plays well in that room. Visuals in some places are simple (like the hallways and the red key area), but lighting is used pretty well in this map (I also like the use of different height levels in the yellow key area).

FDA here.

[Grazza]

vdgg said:

[Map 23] has an epic feel. (Am I deceived by the music track or is it the map itself?)

It was one of two STRAIN maps that made it into my selection of "greatest 32 individual maps ever*", so you're not alone in that. Though I'm also unsure as to what effect the music had. I generally try to avoid letting something so peripheral as the music affect my assessment of a map, but this track is exceptional.

* If I were now to select "desert island maps", I would include at least one map that featured instructions for how to build a boat.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP24: Sub-Laboratory
98% kills, 2/2 secrets

And we start in that marble room again... finally get to go through the teleporter in the middle. I suppose the idea is that it's the same one and we keep revisiting it (going through different doors, then along the balcony) but I don't think that effect quite worked... might just be me, though.

Decently short-sized level here, though the start can be pretty rough for pistol starters, especially if you (like I did) try to tackle the areas around the red key, which end up coughing up a soulsphere and red armor, but throw a bunch of dangerous enemies in close quarters at you with little ammo, so it's questionable whether the rewards are worth the trouble. The rainbow lost soul room to get the blue key is no piece of cake, either, but at least there's an easy-to-find secret soulsphere to take some of the bite out of it. The yellow key is an interesting design, lots of little cubbyholes and height differences that can make the hitscanners and super imps quite imposing and force the player to run around. The end is pretty boring by comparison (just stacking up nobles in a room), plus I think there's a bugged teleport since I could hear holodrones chittering in the walls but they never appeared.

[Capellan]

Map25
This is another map that has grown on me over time. I'm still not a fan of its "starve you of weapons until you have the blue key" approach – it must be a bear of a map on pistol start – but that south-western wing has quite the 'epic structure' thing going on. I'm sure it would be even more dramatic if someone did it today of course. There'd be more use of light levels and contrasting textures / details. But it has a pretty grand vision to it. I also like the 'fever dream' room once you're through the red door: the one with the sky floor and twisted door. Nicely weird.

The 'big fight' in the caverns sequence is also a highlight: a chance to cut loose with an invuln in a map set that generally has more measured combat. Visually and architecturally it's a rather dull section, though. I can imagine a 2015 tune-up of this being a much more varied and interesting locale.

Also nice to see a obvious optional section to the map again, in the big loop around the exit. I do think it could have done more to make completing that section worthwhile, though. Shifting that secret red armour near the end to be in the optional bit for instance, would make it much more mechanically attractive for continuous players. Perhaps more importantly, it would help if the optional section wasn't mostly one long corridor: if the gameplay there was more fun, people would play it just to play it.

[vdgg]

Back to MAP23 coop-only jump. I made it! Using keyboard-only, which I think is neat. Now, can I perform this consistently?

MAP25. Neutral-negative on the whole. The beginning is absolutely gorgeous, both concept and design. We have service tunnels and silver base-thingy-room with cool angles, height variations, hitscanners and holobots. Also, the structure with the key looks nice.

And then we move to ASHWALL pointless tunnels, with occasional BFG zobieman appearing here and there. I always found the rest of the map to be a chore to play through.

[ArmouredBlood]

So I knew I left for vacation without highlighting the last twitch streams I did, but I didn't realize I only did 1 STRAIN stream, so now I have to play the whole thing over again. That's cool. I'll start in like 30 minutes or so.

[purist]

24

Another cool map (three in a row now!). I agree that start area isn't very successful at tieing the E3 levels together as I imagine it was designed to. I think that problem is that, although you start there several times, none of the levels preceding the start feel as though they connect back there. I can imagine it was some sort of stipulation for some of the E3 slots and has been only half heartedly complied with. This level in particular would have been better off start in the place you teleport to.

Once we kick off I find a level more interesting to run around that the corridor heavy slime tunnels might imply. As it turns out there's not a great distance between the critical areas and corridor combat is mostly limited to lower tier foes that you can burn through if you're crass enough to carry ammo over for the previous level, as I am.

I started with the area with the lift and switch relay with the unfortunate symmetrical gameplay. I'm not sure whether this is the area said to be optional as I had not scouted out which areas were accessible before I went there and I did hit a couple of switches up the top of the lift shafts.

Next I went to the blue key area where the soul sphere proved to be a bit of a life saver. The doppleganger ambush both looked great and was hot to handle with no cover and floor space at a premium due to the nukage surround. There hasn't been a better use of the new clown faced monster in this WAD than in this setup, not by a country mile.

The yellow key area came next and I died a few times in here thanks to a demon lord getting a jump on me, a couple of poly drones wasting me before I could find our where they floated in from (I find them inexplicably difficult to spot sometimes) and a couple of ill advised slips Into the mega corrosive nukage. Ambushes are particularly cruel in the levels and cleverly introduced here too. This is helped partly became of the layers of height variation and partly due to the mid textures and nukage making the area much more open to shoot accross than walk accross.

I don't remember the red key area too well. Was this the spot with the holobots squeezed into a little room? Seeing them all trying to push out of that thin doorway reminded me of a clown car.

The remainder consisting of tight noble fights that I put the NFG to work on. The final fake exit fight was particularly rough but I survived and even found the hidden trigger that let's you exit back into the main part of the map to bandage up before the next one.

Since I'm in a talkative mood this even I'll also touch on something I have noted, which is that I have found STRAIN acceptably varied considering they all follow a variation on the tech base theme. Something that other map sets can struggle with - see the complaints about BTSX being samey or the yearning for a change of scenery in the DWMC playthrough of the first episode of Doom 2 Reloaded for example. Dunno why, maybe I'm more concerned about avoiding getting lost or maybe it's the new monsters keeping things fresh.

[gaspe]

MAP25 - Main Laboratory

Kills: 98% | Items: 88% | Secrets: 57%

This is a good map. Many distinct parts with great moments of combat, but there are also some flaws.
First part from the starting room is a green corridor built aroun a big central room. The room is very tall and there are on the sides rooms with different shapes and angles and most important, each one with different height. We will starve for ammo here, but there's also a handy berserk pack. The shawn structure is quite gorgeous, as the teleport in the start room.
For second we go through some tunnels. This area is actually quite bland but the entrance with the drop in the pit is really cool. There's a really nice fight here where we can have some fun with an invul-sphere too. Balance and a possible worthy exploration of all this area suffers from the weapons storage locked by the blue key. It's kinda cool the room but just slapping in it 5 SGs, SSgs, RLs and a shit-ton of ammo seems kinda cheap.
Getting out of the underground we get into a room with a really cool pentacle on the floor. And there's another nice fight here. I believe that a monster randomly opened the door leading to the next room and waking up the monsters in there. And then it entered a bfg trooper which killed everyone in the room and letting me at 30% health. It was a really fun moment though.
Nothing so much to say for the final areas, aside that optional area with the really long corridor with imps popping up right in your face and ready to be fisted.
Ugh... Missed many secrets here...

[SoundofDoomDoors]

MAP24 defied my expectations. When someone says "sewer level," I get the urge to put it off until late at night or better yet, the next day. I even felt like playing Go 2 It more than this (simply put, I lived). Anything from the 90s that isn't Hell Revealed would be easy after that. That and carryovers are probably why I beat the map in one try. The difficult parts for me were the clownfaces (mitigated by the obvious soul sphere) and the hell lords at the end. I heard some holobots, but never tripped them. That's probably where the missing monsters were. I also didn't need the red key to leave for some reason. I think that was a bug. I flipped a red gate at the end without it if I recall correctly.

81% Kills 50% Secrets

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP24: Sub-Laboratory
20:08 | 96% Kills | 100% Items | 100% Secrets

Eh, not bad. Kind of a tired layout, the big narrow ring with various rooms off the main hub providing the required keys. I died a lot here, almost entirely in once place: in the yellow key area, first time I ran into the demon lord I backpedaled and fell into a sewage canal. Retreated to a ledge around the corner (with some much-needed medikits, else I would've mutated) and quickly hit SAVE. Ha ha, half a second later the noble rounds the bend and proceeds to pulverize me: nowhere to run, hardly enough time to switch weapons. I eventually got past it by switching to the psychic blaster and getting off two quick shots before he could fire (thanks RNG!) Speaking of the yellow key area (certainly the most interesting area of the map), the progression to get said key sure is bizarre: juuuuust shy of being able to reach the key, open a teleporter, 'port up to the beginning, head back down to the key, and suddenly (and without appearing any different) suddenly it's within easy reach? The four baddies I missed sounded like polydrones and IDDT showed them stuck in closets off the red key room; wonder if they were ever supposed to teleport out at some point? (Or perhaps they were just there to freak the player out with their sounds?)

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP25 Main Laboratory

From one laboratory map to another, huh. the first part is annoying, you have to get the blue key via some roundabout thingy with a number of hitscanners and blood demons being roadblocks. after getting blue key, I had to backtrack to the start the long way! I was sure that this map was not speedrun friendly. the path behind the blue door leads to a hall leading to a small room, where another terminal press opens the way to the caves. the caves look like shit but have some great combat in them. Once I dash for the invuln I go mad with the NFG, then continue. the berserk fists help out a bunch as I keep going for the key.

the areas behind the red bars have a pentagram and a cargo area with a bunch of monsters. there's also the dash through the vents behind the yellow door, with a few pop-up imps that aren't fun. more or less though, this map overall felt like a reasonable one, with a few odd areas like the blue key area and the caves, but the combat in each section makes them quite fun to play through. I should mention this one map was the first one I remember there being a BFG trooper in (he's the spectre replacement apparently). I remember there being one or two in the pentagram room, and having them shoot down everyone inside for laughs.

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP25: Main Laboratory
31:56 | 98% Kills | 66% Items | 57% Secrets

Wow, that sure was a big, sprawling thing. The blue key reactor-type-thingy area was easily the most memorable, but there was still another 2/3 of the map to get through. The big underground-cavern battle was made trivial by the invul, but exploring all the side areas was obnoxiously time-consuming. The hardest part was through the red key door; after the first wave of nobles, the second took me completely by surprise. I cleaned that out and found the exit right away (or, rather, the lift to the exit) and only afterwards explored the looping, completely-unnecessary western yellow door. Once that was clean, I headed up the exit lift and was taken surprise when it actually ended the level, as I had a bunch of stuff left to find. But it was (is) late, so I didn't bother going back. I should say, the little armory was adorbs.

[Linguica]

So is next month gonna be the "obvious" choice of Sunlust, or a Ty-memorial playthrough of Icarus?

[baja blast rd.]

Would love to do those back-to-back. Sunlust first because I've been saving it for the DWMC and I'll be totally blue-balled if I have to wait another month; and Icarus afterwards, which, in addition to the memorial role, is the first megawad I have fond old memories of.

[purist]

...or a Ty memorial playthrough of Daedelus?

[Linguica]

purist said:

...or a Ty memorial playthrough of Daedelus?

There are limits, you know.

[Obsidian]

purist said:

...or a Ty memorial playthrough of Daedelus?

I started playing that about a week ago and it honestly isn't that crash-hot in terms of gameplay. Not sure it'd make a good memorial myself.

[purist]

I've never played it but noticed it was the project he'd contributed most levels to so thought it might have been more "his" than Icarus. Is it really bad?

[vespa]

Linguica said:

Ty-memorial

Voting for Memento Mori 2. Fitting name, fun WAD.


vvvvvvvvvv I realize that, nominated it simply for the fitting name.

[Capellan]

vespa said:

Voting for Memento Mori 2. Fitting name, fun WAD.

Ty had nothing to do with it, though, so it's not a good choice as a memorial for him.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP25: Main Laboratory

Some incidental combat here but the focus of the level is on set-piece encounters. The eastern 'observation room' with its numerous balconies commanding fields of fire over the core that holds the blue key feels straight out of Dark Forces; the other major encounters are the 'choke point' in the caves, the pentagram brawl with the mix of doppelgangers and nobles, and some lovely cover-intensive combat in the crate room. The caves felt to me as though they could have stood another pass to smooth out sharp corners that are both ugly and uncomfortable to navigate, but other than that, this is some pretty well-polished work for its era, and the cavern choke point encourages you to take a reckless approach but also provides enough cover for more cautious players who suspect that the dangled invulnerability sphere is a trap (it's not, but reacting to it as though it might be is a valid gameplay choice).

[Salt-Man Z]

I'd definitely join for either MM2 (which I'm currently 2/3 through, so I'd join late) or Icarus (a mapset that I always forget has absolute gems in it, because my immediate recollection is always sort of "meh" based on the first few maps.)

Either way, I'm done for the month, as I'm heading out on vacation today. I'll finish STRAIN off next month, and may or may not post the rest of my reactions here, we'll see. Take it easy, dudes.

[dobu gabu maru]

I'm going to be pulling for Sunlust every month until it gets picked, but I wouldn't mind an Icarus playthrough to honor Ty with.

[Capellan]

Map26
Not a fan of this one. Very boxy, very set piece focused, very cheap trap at the end. About the only one of the set pieces I like is the southern section, with the two mini-cybers. There's enough going on there that the fight becomes a bit more freeform than most of the map's "action".

From pistol start I guess the lack of shotgun ammo would make this feel a bit different to the norm: there'll be mostly chaingun and psychic blaster action for much of its length. Pity the latter weapon is kind of rubbish. Have fun pistol-and-punching the HK if you go the wrong way to begin with, too.

[Varis Alpha]

Obsidian said:

I started playing that about a week ago and it honestly isn't that crash-hot in terms of gameplay. Not sure it'd make a good memorial myself.

it also doesn't have the more obvious 32-map limit, but goes for a set of Hexen-style hubs, so it'd be really weird to play.

[mouldy]

MAP24 - “Sub-Laboratory” by Anthony Czerwonka

Annoyingly stringent health and ammo makes pistol start a bit of a chore, where not a single bullet can be wasted and a single hit from a shotgunner can ruin your day. And 9 times out of 10 its a shotgunner you can't even see. Can't say I had fun with this one. There was a niggly lift puzzle secret that was a bit of a pain, I figured I was going to end up with less health and ammo after doing it than I had already, so left it. But then when I found the red key stuck up on a platform I figured maybe I had to do something back there to lower it. But it turns out you just have to do a running bump against the pillar to grab the key. Still, good job I did get that red armour for the exit room which is quite vicious. I very nearly survived it the first time, but on the second go I found I could run back out the room and shoot through the doorway. I do get the feeling I'd be having more fun with this wad playing continuous, but this map was mainly a pain from lack of armour I think.

[purist]

25

This was a proper grind! The first section in which the blue key is found was decent and looked grand. Gameplay mainly involved picking off zombies and imps from long range but it was possible to find yourself in cross fire in the process.

By the second section I had been quite wasteful with ammo and found myself scavenging ammo pick ups from zombie carcasses whilst I was almost in reality mode thanks to scant health and armour. I had to edge through but it was still pretty fun with the trippy pentagram room being a highlight.

The worst area for me was the caverns during which my progress ground to a crawl, having to bezerk fast imps and cacos with around 10% health and then saving if I survived. I think I failed to make the most of the invul, I went wild enjoying a brief window of time without having to concern myself with health for a change when the dust settled I still had 3 nobles to clear up and after this I was scavenging for bullets to kill a minister of pain amongst other things.

Glad to see the end of this one I'm afraid to say. If I'd not enjoyed the previous 3 so much I might not have bothered to even finish.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP25: Main Laboratory
98% kills, 4/7 secrets

The start to this one is horribly difficult from pistol start, to the point where I was wondering if it was made before the decision to remove the starting pistol ammo, or just didn't care. That said, I then found that I had missed the free beserk pack, so that would've helped. Still, it's pretty difficult, with lots of dangerous enemies (hitscanners, fast imps, hell nobles), not much room to manuever and very little ammo. I probably died around 15 times trying to get through this section from scratch. At purist says, this felt like playing on reality mode (I learned that an imp fireball can indeed do 24 points of damage!)

After that, though, the player can access the armory and weapons/ammo won't be an issue for the rest of the map. The ashwall caverns area is pretty dull, with maybe the exception of the great meeting hall room, which is still pretty easy given the v-sphere (but fun to just blast everything). The pentagram room is a bit weird, I wasn't a fan of the fight repeating itself since it's not especially interesting (easy to create infighting with the grey nobles, and plenty of room to circle-strafe). Then a bit more room-clearing before the end (including a completely optional area, lets you get the NFG, and some insta-pop imps, I guess).

Overall not a great map... the first part feels way too difficult (but looks good), the rest of the map looks meh but plays better.