The DWmegawad Club plays: Eternal Doom

[Ribbiks]

wtb an armond white doom-equivalent to bash major releases and discuss the post-9/11 hipster nihilism plaguing modern pwads.

[Demon of the Well]

Map 28 -- Timeslip - 105% Kills / 100% Secrets
This one's fascinating. The way it's laid out is quite different from most of what we've seen in Eternal Doom, and it's thematically somewhat of an outlier (I believe the setting here is The Far Distant Future, far beyond even the ruined earth depicted in one of the alternate endings to "Time Gate"), but I reckon it also feels like it fits in pretty well. It's also well-placed in the context of the megaWAD, being a theoretically shorter level with lots of visceral CQC action that makes for a refreshing departure from the procession of more long-winded outings that has dominated most of E3 (and most of the WAD, hell).

I do say "theoretically" shorter, though, because as we've seen from firsthand testimony it's quite possible to become lost or confused, given how fine-grain and specific each bit of actual level progression is; if you've been following along with the playthrough, you may perhaps find it hard to believe, but this is actually the most switch-heavy level in all the WAD, on top of featuring more usable sector-based computer terminals, more breakable glass (though you've very little excuse for not cluing in on these so late in this WAD, tbh), and a very small but very crucial parkour bit which is somewhat unintuitive in application--most of the railings in this map can be climbed over, as the preponderance of cacodemons floating over them early on may or may not be intended to demonstrate, but even knowing this the leap from the chaingun's perch to the RL's perch (which is simple from an athletic standpoint) is liable not to seem the intended course, given that the place is mined with forcefields which naturally seem to gate everything more conventionally. Yes, level progression here is mostly about deactivating forcefields via a welter of switches, with prominent pairs gating new wings of the complex and single switches deactivating dividing fields within each security sector. There are so many of the damned things that it's very easy to miss one in a nook somewhere and then become stranded in the intricately kaleidoscopic layout; when all's said and done, traversal in each sector is quite transparent, but when you're stuck halfway through clearing one you'll often find that the route from point A to point B can be dizzyingly convoluted, even if (and indeed, sometimes BECAUSE OF) the distance between these two points is all of 10 virtual feet. It's also not initially clear how the keys tie into things, though once you reach the point where you need to start using them the progression smooths out markedly.

All of this is somewhat ironic in that I really don't think Paul intended for this to be a puzzling map in any real capacity; I think the switch-heaviness is supposed to be primarily cinematic/narrative in nature (i.e. make you feel like you're engaging some kind of complex failsafe system or the like), and the little bits of nonstandard progression come off as physical stunts intended to purvey a sense of playful realism. The real focus is on fighting: you are given a rock-solid basic kit right from the get-go, and provided you don't get snagged you soon graduate to the SSG and RL within moments of one another, with the plasma gun optionally available if you brave a cheeky little face-to-maw with the first cyberdemon. The enemies are largely heavy hitters, with security details of revenants taking pride of place, backed up by Barons and cacos who nicely marshal the limited space and vex you with their ability to ignore the convoluted ground route, respectively. Strange as it seems to say for an Eternal Doom map, I reckon the intended to way to go here is not to overthink things, and just let the constant harassment from monsters jumping into your face from flank-side crannies or blind bends or the odd teleporter ambush send you tumbling through the welter of junctions and interchanges in a whirlwind of buckshot and bloodspray--you are bound to hit upon something you need to interact with this way, and for every switch you hit the layout becomes incrementally more freeflowing, allowing you further options for outflanking and choosing your battleground while periodically affording your enemies the same benefit, ala the last set of arch-viles who serve as a last line of defense once you finally acquire the blue card.

As aforesaid, progression is perhaps a mite too elaborate to fully suit what seems to be the level's intended purpose, but when things work out it's a lot of fun, and one of the most action-centric maps in the megaWAD, not unlike Paul's first level from much earlier on.

[T-Rex]

Ignoring the whole dispute over kuchitsu's decision-changing, I'm gonna tackle the second-last map.

Map29: Dominion (Chris Couleur)
101% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets
Time: 25:23

Back to Camelot with this map! Another mammoth castle map by Chris Couleur, and his last one too. It's just as beautiful and breathtaking like all his other maps. We also get another remix of one of the tracks used in one of the previous maps. You start in what is pretty much a large hub connected by four sections, each indicated by a key you need to collect. This time, you must find four keys in order to finish the map. Fortunately, this map isn't so convoluted, but there are a couple of puzzles you'll need to solve in order to progress. First one is to tackle the southeast corner, hit a few switches that will open up some parts of the castle including revealing several monsters, then you need to hump the grey monk mural in where the revenants appeared to make it lower halfway and reveal a switch you'll have to shoot from afar, which will make it fully lower to the red key, but watch out for the arch-vile that gets revealed as well. There are some cleverly concealed switches which will lead you to secret areas, so take a close look for visual clues. To south is yet another puzzle when you reach the central tower, you have to first lower the elevator, then just before it can raise up, hit the yellow skull switch and hurry inside. A column will be temporarily lowered, revealing an imp and the yellow key, but watch out for the arch-vile that will ambush you as soon as you're in its line of sight. Finally, at the west section beyond the yellow door, you have to hunt for some switches, and shoot at the hanging marine walls, one which will open a couple of indentions holding switches that will activate the elevators, and then another that will lower a wall at the southwest area, revealing a teleporter that will take you to the red skull switch, which will allow you to reach the red skull key. Enemies spawn everywhere as you progress, so it takes a bit of time to hunt them all, but fortunately, there's no painful backtracking. There's no major obstacles to get past inside the red skull door (now passable), it's just a hallway with some revenants which leads down to a cistern with imps and a pain elemental, and then, opening the door reveals a baron guarding the exit teleporter. Oddly enough, there's no text telling us the next map we're going to enter. Mostly straightforward for a penultimate map and there's no cyberdemons present. Still, you'll be hard pressed with the enemies that constantly pop up from all cylinders.

So, we're down to the final map of Eternal Doom, and I'm sure we all know what it is. I better leave it here, and rightfully so. See you guys next time as by then, we'll be taking on the ultimate challenge...

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP29 Dominion

Couleur's last map here, and it's a grand scale one again. This time with a hub. It's a four-way, first we must find a key. Rather interestingly, we need keycards, and ONE skull key. I happen to think the sequence for getting the red key is very interesting to say the least. You're pressing switches, then press on that one Heretic texture, only to find it's not lowered all the way. So there's a shootable switch, and also a surprise archie appears directly in front.

Most of the branching paths lead to typical Couleur flair, with several enemies teleporting around the hub area to compensate for the space. The yellow key is a bit tricky, and there's a neat bit where you shoot a hanging marine, because for some reason, it's a switch. Oddly enough, a vanilla trick is used so you need to get the red skull key, because you can't exit without it.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP29: Dominion

Of the several Chris Couleur maps in this WAD, this is probably one of the most 'open,' taking the form of a cluster of distinct fortresses connected by long passages rather than the tight, space-efficient layouts of, say, MAP19 or MAP22. Both the player and the monster hordes have plenty of freedom to roam (and as the map progresses, the free-roaming population gets steadily larger) but the map feels lacking in some of the ingenuity that some of the WAD's earlier Couleur offerings possessed. It's a quite straightforward hubspoke affair in which the completion of each spoke releases a fresh batch of enemies into the hub to tangle up the player as they proceed to their next objective. In a further comparison to MAP19 it's got that same, low-key ending, letting the player catch their breath and gather their thoughts after an epic journey rather than ramping up the difficulty, intensity, and spectacle even further.

[dobu gabu maru]

MAP29: Jesus christ this melody, holy shit, could the brass do something other than repeat the same exact notes every measure? I could only stand it for 4 minutes before I had to mute it. “Death Assured” indeed.

Anyway, yay—a Couleur map! Boo, symmetrical arena walkways! The penultimate map here takes Couleur’s “final arenas” and multiplies them, gating each one with a keycard around the spokewheel hub. I stated before that they’re my least favorite parts of a Couleur map (the tricky cyber finale in MAP13 was alright tho), and he does almost nothing fun with them here. I did however, realize that part of what I enjoy about Couleur’s architecture (other than the grandiose “megacastle” design) is that his textures never seem to clash with each other. The western area is a good example of this, constructed primarily from blacks and browns but never looking dull or drab. This isn’t a favorite of mine but it’s not an offensive map either, and I’m glad it didn’t have an elongated switch hunt like MAP11 did.

Only one map left—should be simple, right?

Right?

Right?

[Ribbiks]

29: fda. really spacious. too huge. doom-bestiary-neutering huge. Only threat to life in general is player impatience. straightforward switchhunty puzzles, this guy loves his big square arenas. awful midi, idmusXX where XX is anything except 29.

the final map is nice, at least :)

[Cacowad]

Moving on...

Map 22: no puzzles until the very end? i'm impressed. Big castle thing, nice and square. The map's main attraction are the cacodemons, wich can reach you pretty much everywhere if you are not paying enough attention. The last arena was interesting, but i was not really up the task of bfging 4 cybers at the same time, while dodging all the agitated rockets and stuff, and i died several times there.

Map 23: This one is cool, as it expand the theme of a "time gate" seen a while ago, and it does decently, There are also a couple of nice secret areas wich i could not access normally (i cheated my way in after i beated it). Died once mauled by hellknigths after the red teleport secret, after escaping once the same trap (the only difference was that they were barons instead). No particular mandatory puzzles were encountered in this one.

Map 24: this is a nice weird one. The starting area is fantastic, and the way it wrap itself up until the last arena is quite nice, and i enjoyied most part of it. The last arena felt needlessly large, and could have been severely resized and rearranged to not make the outer corridors so long and samey. Somehow i didn't miss any of the hidden walk over triggers and managed to miss the red key door for 15 minutes straight, so i runned around until i stumbled upon it checking every cranny with the map. The rest was pretty straightforward.

Map 25: I'm starting to like this Flyn guy, most of the time the puzzles are clever and feel like actual puzzles, not just some random switch hunt passed as puzzle.
I'm starting to really like the "escape the room" scenario and it was a "pleasant" surprise when i stepped into the diablo security room and got teleported away when i immidiatly backed off seeing the baron... on the second attempt it went smoother.
About th yellow key... i tryed to press it, cuddle it, insult it, running around thinking i missed a switch (and finding an optional arch vile in the mean time)... one thing i didn't thinked about was to shoot it, and guess what i needed to do. Ugh.
Everything went smooth from there, and the introduction to the next map is cool, but the map alone took me 1:15:17 and near the end i was exausted.
Regarding monster placement, as previous maps were caco citys, this one is for revenants and chaingunners: tight spaces, gun-height tables and awkward pillars were the real killers here

[gaspe]

MAP29 - Dominion

Another big castle level by Couleur. There are some really cool things in the architecture. In particular I like how in few places there are views of the surrounding scenery. Combats are not very different from the other maps, sometimes the places may feel a bit lonely but overall it was allright. Nice touch also to make the cacos to come out from the towers. Cool level overall. For sure the area after the yellow door and bride after the red door are retaken in ED IV, but maybe there are other areas in this level that had the same fate.

[Varis Alpha]

hope you guys enjoy the final level of Eternal Doom is all i'll say. :p

[Crusader No Regret]

Map 26:

Mostly like this one. There's a sense of humor that lessons the sting of uncoverngout how to progress. This is one of the maps where I caved and resorted to outside sources to solve. Can easily picture people getting stuck by the progression. There are some tricky combat setups too such as a weaponless start (get infights going), an archvile pack where brute force is not the best way to go (especially from scratch), narrow pathways in Eterniville City Park, and a dark cave with a few monsters lurking below.

Finding the switches to raise the path to the park (which is also a point of no return in the map) proves mostly tricky. I've managed to get stuck even after that due to forgetting to shoot the sign ("Definitely no fun. Nothing that starts with F", hahaha) Also, while touring the map recently, I found a possible permastuck. What?

It really the smaller details that make the experience. Though some seem to be gimmicky for the sake of being gimmicky (BFG room), things such as the campsite (complete with a former camper's backpack), light humor, the rocket armor testing facility, variable control sector, and other creative usage of the engine make this a memorable map for me.

Just thought of this: clearing the path to the yellow door then booking it with the invulnerability so that the player is still invulnerable when dropping into the "surrounded by chaingunners" surprise ambush. Want to see if this can be done fast enough.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP30: Excalibur

...Welp, that was a thing.

First, the good: in many ways this is reminiscent of the WAD's earlier offering of MAP12: Darkdome (by a different map author(, set as it is in a vast and sprawling cathedral filled with puzzles and its fair share of Hell-spawned horrors - though the monster population here is relatively sparse, and many of them seem included to serve a specific function rather than to contribute much by way of ambulatory threat, leaving the cavernous proportions of the map feeling rather empty for much of the player's trek through it. Much of the action takes place in much tighter confines, however, casting the player as a "rat in the walls," peeling back the veneer of grandeur that suffuses the fortress to wallow in the corruption beneath.

The less-good... there are a few too many switches without readily apparent effects, and the map's author is far too enamoured of lifts and doors that don't look like lifts or doors, inviting some wall-pushing or map-scouring as the player tries to figure out which part of this particular puzzle box can be twisted or shifted to open the way to the next. For the final map of the WAD, it seems to revel in its obtuseness, which, combined will the slower pace of combat and of action in general, makes me feel this this would be more at home in the middle of the level flow rather than providing a climactic crowning experience to the story.

[punnyone]

Map 29 - Dominion - 93% Kills, 100% Secrets.

Our penultimate map in the set takes us once again back in time to the dark ages. By now, it is quite easy to spot a Couleur map, and this one certainly carries his trademarks: Expansive environment, natural yet still colorful texturing, and a balance between arena combat and corridor crawls.

Dominion is a very spacious level, which centers around a central hub, with spoked hallways surrounding it. There are also four separate areas, each containing a key. (We have an extra red keycard in this map). Some of the best looking areas include the fiery cacodemon tower, and the rather moody-lit room just before the blue key.

Couleur seems to have taken a few pages out of Bob Evans' book in terms of cryptic secrets and switches. Who else would have you shooting a hanging marine to unlock an area, or hitting random switch panels to access a secret?

What also makes this level a bit unique is that it seems to almost be done in reverse, I.E: The starting room looks more like a typical final room, and the rather dull looking ending rooms look more like starting points. Perhaps that's just me, but I've always found it makes the level more interesting.

The biggest nitpick I have with the map is the overuse of enemies repopulating previous areas. Now, normally this isn't a problem as in many Couleur maps, you have to traverse these areas again so it prevents boredom. Here, enemies repopulate just about the entire main hub, and because of this area's size, it can be a pain to achieve 100% kills. In fact, this was my main gripe with Couleur's Eternal Doom IV levels, one of which recycled just a bit too much of Dominion.

Overall, Dominion may not be the most original Couleur level in the set, but it does contain some nice looking areas, and a few new surprises to keep it interesting.

...Now...Onto Excalibur...

[Ribbiks]

30: fda. Holy cow, where do I even start. I think my fda is like... 2 hours long? This was nearly a perfect puzzle map for me, it's probably the most puzzly a map could be that I'd still have the ability/patience to finish. I only ever went a few minutes without uncovering the next hint of where to go next, I think. There were lots of different directions to explore, so I only rarely felt like I was banging my head against the walls. After so much playtime I don't remember all of what I wanted to say, but here's some misc bits and pieces:
- plenty of "really?? that's how we progress?" moments, getting to the YK area was probably the most egregious. Some of the progressions were really neat, I think my favorite was getting to the YK, with the elevator that suddenly goes to a much lower level than before.
- I do like though how you get into a lot of the areas organically, by climbing on map geometry, etc. I'll reiterate it's always exciting to feel like you're breaking something and have it end up being a viable route.
- I thought I was breaking the map for the longest time by SR50'ing into the mud pit areas, turns out there was a secret switch to get there at any time, go figure.
- Similarly, I spent a bit of time getting the perfect jump into the BK area, before realizing there was a secret switch that raised a lift to it.. bah.
- BK rev fight was nice. Died there a couple times because I suck.
- I think this map needs more megaspheres.
- The final room was a photo-finish, managed to get the final rocket into romero's face whilest getting decimated. I'm really bad at IoS fights so I'm slightly proud of beating that on a single try (not that it would've mattered, playing with saves and all that..)

Glad I played through this wad, it was a nice contrast to the type of stuff I normally prefer playing. Went into it with the intention of having a good time, which to me meant setting aside a couple hours at a time for the larger maps, and having some good beer on hand for the inevitable lapses of headscratching and automap inspecting :p. Cool wad, has me at least somewhat motivated to explore some of these ideas in my own maps.

Favorite maps: 12, 30, 20, 04. basically Bob Evans is a cool dude, and Sverre has a knack for engrossing adventure maps :)

[baja blast rd.]

Ribbiks said:

Cool wad, has me at least somewhat motivated to explore some of these ideas in my own maps.

[valkiriforce]

Personally, I really love MAP30 and at times found it addictive to play for all the route possibilities. Kinda makes me wish there were more levels out there that use the Eternal Doom textures and have that same level of thinking and ingenuity. I also made a video of it showing the necessary routes for beating the level for anyone who is otherwise stumped or curious enough about it.

[Demon of the Well]

Map 29 -- Dominion - 102% Kills / 100% Secrets
Hmmm....well, by this point I guess I've made it pretty clear that I enjoy Chris Couleur's maps, generally speaking. While I was playing "Dominion", though, I couldn't help but get the impression that I was seeing the runt of the litter, which is a shame considering the mapslot it occupies (or is the notion that the last 2-3 'regular' levels of the game ought to essentially be its conceptual culmination considered cliché these days?). And yes, for the record, I don't like this music track either, ended up using IDMUS 22, I believe.

Writ large, all of the usual Couleurisms apply here. The setting is an abstract medieval megastructure of some sort, something like a humongous tabernacle or a majestically wrongheaded castle comprised almost entirely of battlements and martial causeways that lead to nothing but more of the same. Structures are tall, spaces are vast--vaster than usual, even, especially as far as long corridors and lateral distances are concerned--and the automap has the characteristic 'stained glass' look to it courtesy of the author's tendencies towards symmetry and sector-lighting which mirrors 'ceiling' detail. Some part of the stately grandeur captured in maps like "Warheros" or "The Seeker" can be found here, for sure, but all things considered this definitely looks to be an older work, probably of about the same vintage as "Forlorn Fortress." It certainly has the same heavily symmetrical design sensibility to it, anyway; indeed, the layout is essentially a collection of discrete, symmetrical modules bundled together with little more than baling wire, and progression occurs in a completely linear hubspoke fashion, though the sheer size of the central module almost captures a feaux-exploratory flavor in the early going until you stumble on the section with the first key. As with all of Couleur's maps, it's not hard on the eyes, and there are striking bits of scenery here and there (most notably the flaming tower near a waterfall off of the northwesterly leg), but in practical terms it's both much flatter than maps 19 or 24 and far less intricately interwoven than map 22, and so in practice it ends up not feeling as engaging to explore, especially considering the prominence of symmetry as a design element.

Doesn't play quite as well as I might've hoped, either. It's pretty much a fact of life with Couleur that the overscaled spaces in concert with the relatively light monster population are going to preclude any sustained sense genuine of urgency, of course, but for several of his previous maps I've made the argument that they have the potential to be a lot less desolate/more engaging than they may initially appear to a modern eye. Given the vastness of space, that seems like it ought to work here too, right? Well....having the loose familiarity with this map's floorplan that I do, it seemed intuitive to run around like a headless chicken and let a giant mob build up in the central space (it is the locus of pretty much all of Couleur's trademark monster repopulation scheme in this case), but in practice that didn't end up panning out very well--you spend so much time in each of the key-locked wings that almost inevitably by the time you're ready to leave most of the monsters you ditched earlier on will have caught up and congregated around the one and only door into the area (which they cannot open, of course), leading to nothing but a series of simple and brief chokepoint slaughters, which don't field anywhere near the bodycount they'd need to in order to begin to seem exhilarating.

Played more conventionally, fighting monsters as you go along, didn't suit me either--in earlier maps the layouts were richer and afforded more room for improvisation, but here it's largely mirrored hallway fights, unfortunately with largely mirrored thing-placement as well, and this absence of 'emergent' possibilities makes the wholesale lack of pressure more of an issue. One gets the sense the map is supposed to be a sort of challenging test of endurance (and perhaps it was, by period standards); big monsters are everywhere, and while ammo is plentiful, healing and armor are both surprisingly scarce (IIRC the latter is found almost exclusively in secrets). In practice, though, the emptiness that some players complained of in Couleur's earlier maps really impressed itself upon me here; the last 'major' challenge sees arch-viles released into the central area at the conclusion of the map, but it's so big and they're so far apart and the corpses are spread so thin on the ground that it hardly matters. What happened to the cyberdemon finale, huh? Perhaps worst of all, when all's said and done the map ends with all the fanfare of a wet fart, making all of the song and dance involved in getting the red skull seem like a waste.

More disappointing than I had remembered, I'm afraid. Chris can definitely do better than this.

[antares031]

MAP30 - Excalibur
ZDoom, UV - Pistol Start, KIS(%): 89*/90/100

Two confessions here. I heavily relied on the walkthough of this map on Doomwiki and the video playthrough by Lingyan203. Otherwise, I couldn't find every secret areas, or even couldn't beat the level at all. Second confession is I used one cheat code to endure the boredom, and that was IDMUS. So I listened to every soundtracks, from MAP01 to MAP32, while I was looking for another switches hidden behind somewhere. And now about this level... You know how I was disappointed about the MAP20, right? Well, how could I know that there's even worse level by the same author? This level is the giant "Fuck You." to anyone who tries to finish the Eternal Doom. And I dare you to play it without any foreknowledge. Certainly you'll eventually beat the level one day, but you'll be frustrated by cryptic, tedious switch hunting, and the most complex layout and progression in this wad. Not to mention that the size of map is so huge that it takes a long time to navigate the map. To make it even worse, I was out of rockets during the final combat against Icon of Sin. But thank god, I was able to hit the boss with plasma rifle. Once again, sorry if my language is too offensive. But this is another good example of how NOT to design a level. To be honest, this is one of the worst doom levels I've played in my life, along with some troll WADs.


In Conclusion

Eternal Doom is undeniably one of the most remarkable megawads from mid-90s, thanks to its unique medieval theme with beautiful custom textures. And it's still has a good influence on modern pwads. Just imagine that how many pwads have quoted the texture from this wad. Regardless of its theme, some levels are really fun and enjoyable to beat, and It's honestly hard to believe that some levels are from mid-90s since the quality of the map is absolutely phenomenal even if you bring the standard of level design nowadays. But of course, there's no perfect wad in this universe, and some levels are boring, or even atrocious to play, thanks to the awful switch huntings and cryptic puzzles. Still, as I said before, it is arguably one of the most remarkable megawads from 20 years ago, and it'll leave its eternal reputation, either good way or bad way, to Doom Community.



The best level: MAP22, MAP28 (tied)
Honorable mention(good): MAP12, MAP19

The worst level: MAP30
Honorable mention(bad): MAP14, MAP20

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP30 Excalibur

Bob Evans' final map and the last of Eternal Doom. Yep, he goes all out puzzler on us again, but here, I was quite skeptical. Only 59 monsters on ITYTD? I was sure there is a whole lot more on higher settings, perhaps I should have played this wad on that instead. Some linedef magic needs to work to even get around to beating this. One notable thing is to skirt next to a fence, go out into the water, and find a switch BEHIND A FAKE WALL. Others, include finding the bent rail, wallhugging, and pressing on the rusted wall to push it aside. A rather scary bit happens when you unintentionally telefrag a pain elemental, as this is MAP30 and monsters can telefrag you if you're not careful. A very hard to find switch unlocks the way to the yellow key as well. Evans makes it seem like you can easily get a key, and then fool you the right then, taking a long and completely out of the ordinary route to get said key. And yes, the concept of keycards and skull keys being different is in effect in this map. The keycards are needed to get the skull keys. The fights are very very slim in this map, and the Icon of Sin here is honestly a joke.

Total Time: 5:07:09. What was yours?

[T-Rex]

This is it. The final map of Eternal Doom, and boy is it gonna be one helluva level. All those complex and obtuse puzzlers we've seen throughout the mapset? Well, this is just the beginning. Well, I better get this going, it's now or never.

Map30: Excalibur (Bob Evans)
100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets
Time: 35:43

Holy shit! This map is fucking long! I mean, this took me about 35 minutes compared to the other levels I've beaten! It is also hard as balls too! This is by far the longest and most difficult map in the entire megawad! There's so many puzzles so obtuse, so cryptic, and so confusing, that many first-time players will be lost and have no clue on where they're supposed to go. This is perhaps the biggest and most complex map in Eternal Doom. Imagine Darkdome, Silures, and Jim Flynn's maps all mixed in a blender, then multiply the confusion factor up to 50, and you get this map. Essentially, it's an enormous medieval fortress, but there's so many hidden passages you need to uncover and there's a lot switches that are so cleverly hidden that you really need to pay close attention to your surroundings and notice anything peculiar. Sometimes, there's no indication that there's hidden switches. The map is basically one gigantic Rubik's cube, and it goes on and on and on. There's even SIX keys you have to find. Three keycards, and three skull keys. Yes, Inter-Base also had six keys, but the thing is that all six of them are spread out, and you'll be wandering aimlessly trying to find all of them. There's also going to be a lot of backtracking. There's even one instance that you see a blue key (northeast wing), but just as you approach it, it disappears, and you have to search elsewhere for it. Luckily, when you have all six keys, all six switches to the portal taking you to the end are together. I've played this map a few times, and even though I may have managed to figure out where to go and what to do, I still have trouble trying to remember everything and have to rely on playthroughs on YouTube to know the solutions. I've noticed that TimeOfDeath managed to UV-Max this map in 17:10! That is really an astonishing feat! I'll give my thoughts on some of the highlights in the map. You have cyberdemons, one of which guards the yellow skull key in the northwest wing, and you got another guarding the switch which allows you to finally reach the blue keycard, and there's also one in the final arena. You also have six arch-viles inside glass cases that awaken as you hit each key switch, and you can try to BFG them before they teleport all over the fortress. You also have to make sure to use your ammo wisely, and I've pretty much used almost every weapon in my arsenal, and you also have to make sure that what ammo you have left is what you have, because as you as you step into the portal, you can't go back. You'll also need to use the elevators to shoot at the faces to kill the hidden Commander Keens so that Romero's head will be exposed. Silures may have been confusing, and so was Beginner's End and No Parking, but this map really takes the cake, and it's Bob Evans's most intricate map he had ever designed. Nevertheless, this is still a really good map, the design is well thought-out, the architecture is amazing, and of course in terms of gameplay, it is really a climactic finish. So glad it's over, though, and it's the end of Eternal Doom. To anyone new to this megawad, I wish you good luck when you're up to this beast. You're really gonna need it. This map will really test your skill and patience, not to mention your sanity.

Just to add more, there's two bonus wads for Eternal Doom, but I won't make a detailed analysis on them. I'm just going to give a brief overview of them. The first, Cybersweeper by Jim Flynn, is a nice map that is basically Minesweeper with Cyberdemons. The second one, Credits by Dia and Ty Halderman, is just a small romp through a medieval-style map while checking out all the creators, demo players, and testers involved. No monsters to kill, and the ending, well I don't want to spoil that. It's also the original Map27 in Eternal Doom's second release. The music track that goes with it is a medley of some of the best tracks in the megawad.

Now that I got all that out of that, I shall give my final thoughts on the megawad, my rating for it in a scale out of 10, and what are my personal favourites.

To this day, Eternal Doom still is one of my most favourite megawads, and it's high up in my top 10 list. I really liked how it gives a fresh new look to Doom, thanks to the new textures (albeit with some ripped from Heretic, Hexen, and Quake) and the new statusbar. The level design as a whole is remarkable. I mean, there's no way anybody could have done that back in 1996 and 1997. It's just so far ahead of its time, and I could see it as being an inspiration for Alien Vendetta in that sense. The levels may be huge and full of obtuse puzzles, but the visuals and architecture in many of the maps really make them fun to go through. There were a few stinkers, but otherwise, this is a really good mapset. Rich Nagel's soundtrack, although they may be short for the maps, most were actually quite catchy and awesome. Sadly, Eternal Doom IV is unlikely to ever be finished, given the imminent shutdown of the Team TNT website. We can only hope that one day, Team Eternal might make a comeback and try to revive its development so it can be finished. Believe it or not, it was Eternal Doom that made me curious to check out what else the authors have made. I might post a list of all the idgames releases for each author for those who are curious and want to check them out.

In summary, Eternal Doom is a masterpiece. There's a lot of talented mappers invovled, and it still manages to hold up to this day. But just like with Hell Revealed, it's an acquired taste. Either you love it or you hate it. I of course love it as it has that feel of adventure in many of the maps. It's hard for me to decide my top 10 favourite maps, so I'll just talk about my favourite mappers. Top one, to me, is Jim Flynn (really love his freewheeling, surrealistic style, very addicting), followed by Sverre Kvernmo (legendary and gorgeous maps), then Chris Couleur (epic castles) and Paul Schmitz (pretty much the bridge between Jim Flynn and Sverre Kvernmo). Honourable mentions go to Alex Mayberry, Adam Landefeld, and Bob Evans.

For the final score for Eternal Doom, I give this a 9/10. Beautiful mapset (for most part), and high-replay value, if you can get past the puzzlers, of course. A pretty epic and ambitious megawad that is still a classic to this day. Thank you Team Eternal and Team TNT.

Well, that wraps it all up for Eternal Doom. I'm glad to participate in the club for this megawad, and it was great to relive the experience like with many other Doom megawads I've been playing for the past 12 years. It seems likely the DWMC will be playing the Japanese Community Project. I plan to wait for the final release of the megawad, so I'll be skipping on this, much as I wanted to check out the megawad. See you guys next time, maybe when the group plays Alien Vendetta. Take care and best of luck with the next megawad you guys will be playing.

[dobu gabu maru]

MAP30: A gorgeous, imposing stronghold is our final destination, and sadly this is where I bow out. I’m not as resilient as kmxexii or Ribbiks, as I spent 10 minutes wandering around this monster before debating whether or not to peek at a walkthrough. I chose another option though, the best one I could—watch the TimeofDeath UVmax demo—and boy am I glad I didn’t give this a serious attempt. I still think it’s a super impressive map with some great architecture and lighting, but I’m just not in the mood to get painfully lost after MAP20’s debacle.

Overall, when Eternal Doom hits its stride it really shines. There’s a good amount of variety here that will certainly please someone playing it, but unfortunately it’s a huge mixed pack, which is likely to cause some to stumble and stop. I think the setting remains fabulous, but was less enthused with it going on for almost 32-straight maps, especially since many of the maps had the same general theme and structure (gothic switch hunts). Couleur remains my favorite mapper from the set with Kvernmo close behind, though I greatly respect Evans for his massive, terrifying puzzle aberrations. Eternal Doom isn’t as intimidating as I thought it’d be, but there are definitely some parts that could’ve been streamlined and simplified to make them more… palatable. Plus, as I’ve stated before, long maps require a specific structure to make my time with them enjoyable, and none of those features were really present here.

It’s not bad—I’m glad I got to play it to see what it’s all about myself—but I can’t see myself being in a mood to replay it… ever.

Favorites: MAP19, MAP28

Least favorites: MAP14, MAP25/26

Thanks to everyone for sticking through with it; I'm honestly surprised at how high Eternal Doom's turnout was given that there was nary a peep for it beforehand.

Getsu Fune said:

Total Time: 5:07:09. What was yours?

Somewhere around 14 hours I think... and that's before trying MAP30 blind.

[antares031]

Getsu Fune said:

Total Time: 5:07:09. What was yours?

An hour and 28 minutes and 29 seconds for MAP30 alone, which took the longest time to beat. I've just sum up the total time from the screenshots I took after I finished each levels, and it was 15:47:55.

[T-Rex]

Getsu Fune said:

Total Time: 5:07:09. What was yours?

Let's see, summing up the time it took to beat all the maps, my total is 9:01:59.

[NuMetalManiak]

To be fair, I was on continuous and I meticulously studied the layouts of the maps by watching the demos for every map in Eternal Doom, which is why I'm so damn good at getting times. The exception was MAP30, which I usually pass since I'm always having bad luck with monster spawners, here, the real trouble was getting to the spawner itself, as it's the only map in the set I cannot do under at least 20 minutes. Every other one for me I can get below the 20-minute mark, sometimes under 10 minutes for the much shorter maps. anyways Eternal Doom is fun. I didn't suffer as much in this megawad except maybe the odd area here and there in MAP27 (that map really bores me).

Favorites: Kvernmo's maps, MAP11, MAP28
Least Favorites: MAP25, MAP27, MAP31-32.
Favorite music tracks: MAP11, MAP12, MAP14, MAP32, MAP16, MAP19, MAP22, MAP23
Least favorite music tracks: All of the ones on Jim Flynn's levels.

[Naan]

MAP28 was one of my earlier favorites when I started playing Eternal Doom due to its engaging nature and its layout.

MAP29 was Couleur's try on hub style levels. It looks like most of his offerings were different designs he tried out while staying on a medieval setting. Some of them were successful (MAP22!), but MAP29 was just a fine map and I agree with DotW analysis here.

Having replayed MAP30 yesterday (and died to revenants after having unlocked blue keycard), I do feel it's a huge improvement to MAP20 from the same author. First, we have a true medieval setting akin to MAP09 and MAP12, the fights are way more manageable on pistol start (even if I failed to find SSG which would have helped me a lot), and the map was open enough so if I stumbled on some puzzle I could go advance elsewhere and go back after (unlike Jim Flynn's levels, being too linear for this), just like how Ribbiks described its playthough, progression is way smoother than what I could remember and what people could say before actually replaying it. I also like it a lot that, given it's the last map, there is like no medpacks at all, only spheres as health powerups, which is logical since medpacks are a thing of the modern world after all (well, there's still rockets, bullets and so on, but anyway).


Favorites : MAP22, MAP08, MAP04, MAP12
Honorable mentions : MAP30, MAP28, MAP03
Least favorites : The MAP16-17-18 arc of short maps.

[Crusader No Regret]

My 32 map completion time (from years ago) clocked in at over 25 hours. Yes, I am slow when playing casually. Don't think I'll replay the whole set like that again; around map 22 or so, I felt worn out and was ready for it to be over.

More quick bits:

Map 27: Yawn. Well the lab is kind of cool looking but the map doesn't really stick out for me. And the combat from pistol start is unlikely to win fans; there are 4 or so barons to grind through or evade with only shotgun, chaingun, and maybe berserk. On HMP! One of them clogs a narrow passage too so evasion is mostly out and there are some more before SSG becomes available.

What I mostly remember this map for is dying in the slime trying to acquire the blue key. This stumped me for awhile until I solved the puzzle to access the goods nearby.

Map 28: Revisiting it, I got stuck for a while due to "missing a not-really-hidden switch." Still not entirely sure of the sequence to open the way to the exit or if the red key is required at all though I did stumble my way through eventually.

Map 29: The most memorable thing about this map for me is how much of it gets recycled in Eternal Doom IV. Uh-oh.

[gaspe]

MAP30 - Excalibur

It's kinda appropriate that the last map of this wad has really hard puzzles. Bob Evans sets a giant castle full of riddles topped with some tough encounters too, though it isn't so much populated. The cyberdemon far away that can shoot at you was a cool thing. The western section feels a bit deserted, most of the fights are taken in the eastern section which I took as first route. I didn't remember exactly everything but aside a couple of things I could solve all on my own. The IoS batte itself is really easy, but tbh was the best thing to put after a very long journey like this one.

This is my favourite wad (it's also for this that I choose to use its texture for my first wad). I love pretty much everything of this wad, even though I recognize that it has a few moments where it isn't really at its best (most notably the maps 10-14-32). The soundtrack has some really cool pieces but the idea of using the same themes in different ways is a bit overdone here. The levels stand up very well even today, and I can only imagine how much this was mindblowing when it came out.

[punnyone]

Map 30 - Excalibur - 96% Kills, 100% Secrets.

And I though I'd written enough notes in tandem with my "No Parking" playthough...I think I wrote a whole book's worth here! Bob Evans' Excalibur is both famous and infamous. It is a massive castle, with gorgeous architecture and a design so snake-like, that just about every space is taken up with something. It is also a massive headache for first time players, especially those who hate puzzle maps.

My first many times playing through this wad, I could never solve this properly and usually gave up. Even back in the day, I always ended up missing out on something and just eventually cheating my way to the boss brain. Today marked my first time actually solving it all the way through, with 100% secrets too!...but what a bumpy ride that was!

Right from the start, the visuals are stunning. This level is like the larger, more convoluted brother of Darkdome. Both are "Breach the castle" maps, and both contain awesome visuals and design all the way through. There are only 94 enemies on hmp, but just like "Timeslip", each one is set up in such a way that the encounters feel unique. Can't deny though that there are times when the map is quite empty, especially when you have to run around frequently.

The map can roughly be divided into three quadrants: The left, middle, and right. Each contains a keycard and a skullkey, six total. You need the keycards to activate the keycard switches, which allow access to the skull keys. You need all six keys to eventually access the timegate to the boss brain arena. Along the way, there are so many switches, hidden passages, and cryptic puzzles, that you may easily start to lose track of where you are, and what switches you have pressed.

I mentioned earlier how in the past I could never solve this level properly. In fact, back in the day I never even managed to collect a single key. There are three VERY hidden areas that allow access to the key areas: A slightly bent railing (gains access to the bottom left areas), a run across a fenced in ledge (the upper right rooms), and an EXTREMELY cryptically hidden switch that lies behind a fake wall (give you access to the central rooms and the eventual exit. All three of these are mandatory for progression, but they are so well hidden, that I can easily see why others give up so easily.

The actual final battle, which feels a bit tacked on to be honest, feels much tamer than some of the other fights in this set. Just a cyberdemon (an invuln sphere makes this a piece of cake), two "Keen" switches, and a few rockets into the exposed boss brain. And then that's it!

Overall, while there is no doubt that Excalibur is a frustrating and at times, unfair map. There is also no denying that it is quite an impressive work of art that, once you managed to crack all of its secrets, becomes a rather enjoyable trip. But oh boy does it take a while for that to happen.


Final Time - 14:22:04 (1:26:22 alone just for Excalibur!)


....but wait...there's more!!!

Map 33 - Cybersweeper.

Just a fun gimmick map, especially for those who love minesweeper. There are weapons lockers in case you manage to release a cyberdemon. For those who win, you get to telefrag each of them at the end of the game. Fun stuff, although the replay value is rather low.

Map 34 - Credits.

A cute credits map, with Jim Flynn-esque text showing what each creator contributed. There is even a minor key hunt and a rather funny ending. I wonder how this map looked back when it was the original closer map for Eternal Doom 1 & 2, and there were less names in the credits list. Love the music melody as well.

Final Thoughts

I have in the past named Eternal Doom as my favorite wad of all time. In some ways, I still stand by this message. It was the first custom wad I have ever played, It is what eventually led me to Doomworld, and it still holds up to this day.

Sure, some maps haven't aged well, (Maps 10,14,32). And some maps to this day can frustrate me (All of the Flynn/Evans maps). Yet there is such a high level of quality. My personal favorites are Maps 12, 26, 28, and 31. Each of these maps are unique, and each have an epic feel.

It is quite saddening that this DWMC playthrough occured after Ty's lifetime. I would have loved to hear his own recollections and memories of this wad. We are lucky that Soundblock stopped by to share his memories of Eternal Doom. It is also quite sad that this megawad's intended sequel, Return From Oblivion, is practically destined to remain in oblivion. I personally would love to see the right crew take the reins and turn Eternal Doom IV into a hand-picked community project to see its completion come to fruition!

All in all, while my favorite current megawad is shaping up to be the BTSX series, I will always look forward to the next time I get to relive Eternal Doom...where it all began for me.

[Lingyan203]

pizzabob18 said:

Final Time - 14:22:04 (1:26:22 alone just for Excalibur!)

Nice! Not a bad time for a normal player for both map30 and the entire wad!

[Kira]

pizzabob18 said:

Fun stuff, although the replay value is rather low.

See that RANCY.EXE bundled with the wad? It randomizes the placements, hence giving an infinite replay value to the map. Too bad it isn't as easy to use now than at the time for most users.

There was also an utility to change skies, based on your computer's internal clock if you wanted to BTW.

The Eternal team didn't joke around when delivering this.