The DWmegawad Club plays: Urania

[Demtor]

 

MAP16 - “Rehab”

gzDoom/BDoom - UV – continuous/saves

 

This was an impressive re-visioning of the much maligned MAP22 – “Habitat” by Christopher Buteau from TNT: Revilution.

 

Lots of simple but neat looking areas that harken back to the original. Stuff like the large fake wall secret. The exit with a hidden IV sphere. Lots of water with high walls, the brick house by the exit and a sort of treatment plant that turns water in to sewage with an awesome looking cave system that hides the YK as well as secret teleports. Those slick looking caves that bled into watery tech tunnels were filled to the brim with CG’s, more mancs and multiple hordes of revs that really press you hard. That was a frantic and thrilling fight as you retreat back, back, back and then whoops, out of room.

 

I really enjoyed the circular stairway with a lot of ambush encounters during and after exploring. It was small but the encounters and fights in that space were fun.

 

I loved the sequence of events leading to the locked up megasphere. You really had to keep that PG ready if you wanted to get back out at a full 200/200.

 

Getting the mancs to fight the revs waiting around the corner was a lot of fun. As was most of the fights around this overgrown jungle area and it's caves after flipping the switch below. Ouch. Not so fast, eh?

 

I never found the BK though with only 5 of 9 secrets found. Not sure what I missed but it seemed like a lot as the wall section requiring it was very large. I didn’t want to spend more time on this one though. Almost caught up and I just wanted to keep plugging along as I will be unable to play probably until Monday again.

 

This was a bit of a slog at times with a lot of noble meat from time to time but I had a lot of fun with the varying areas and the pumping music that keeps you moving.

[Spectre01]

That's a pretty fast time for that map @Demtor! Looks like continuous is a good option for those not wanting each map to take an hour.

[riderr3]

2 hours ago, Demtor said:

 

No bugs on MAPS 31&32. 31 has switch at the same area, down in socket with chaingunners. 32 have rising switch at mancubus balcony in same area, but only if player step there.

Edited May 17, 2017 by riderr3

[galileo31dos01]

2 hours ago, Demtor said:

There was no way to flip that last switch. I spent a few minutes running around before I shrugged and noclip skipped through it. Bug?

Well in my case the switch was there and ready to be flipped, but I don't remember how it was released. 

 

2 hours ago, Demtor said:

my wake.

DAFUK? I've never seen a PE's dead corpse before! Can it be resurrected?

 

2 hours ago, Demtor said:

I don’t know why, but again I feel like this map had a bug. The RK would not lower.

Again, in my case it did lower. I've just tested it and you have missed this switch:

Spoiler

 

 

[riderr3]

1 minute ago, galileo31dos01 said:

DAFUK? I've never seen a PE's dead corpse before! Can it be resurrected?

 

 

It's a mod feature. But when I'm not looks on screenshot I thought you mean another PE resurrection!

Description in the video explains technical details.

It's very very rare, and depend on situations. Furthermore, in my next map pack, with Dehacked, I will use "free" PE's resurrection states to create animated ceiling chandelier.

[Spectre01]

17 minutes ago, galileo31dos01 said:

DAFUK? I've never seen a PE's dead corpse before! Can it be resurrected?

It can be and that's rather annoying if you're going for vanilla gameplay with some visual enhancements. One of the reasons I switched over the Smooth Doom, although maybe BeD has the option to turn off PE corpses now.

[galileo31dos01]

4 hours ago, riderr3 said:

Furthermore, in my next map pack, with Dehacked, I will use "free" PE's resurrection states to create animated ceiling chandelier.

Neptunia? 👀

 

Just kidding, may I know if it'll be vainilla/limit-removing/or boom compatible? 

[Spectre01]

MAP16 - “Rehab”

 

If the TNT logo in map14 wasn't suspicious enough, Rehab is a map strongly inspired by Evilution's Habitat map. A very bold/bizarre choice as that map is generally regarded as a pile of crap, especially in regards to visuals. Rehab is thankfully a much better map with an excellent midi choice and complex layout full of visually diverse and interesting locations. Quite a bit of the content is optional, although I managed to find all 9 secrets for the first time. Mainly, you need to find 3 teleporters which take you to some switches to unlock the exit. Very enjoyable map overall and low-pressure compared to 15 and the secret maps. A bit of a rehab, if you will.

[Spectre01]

MAP17 - “Damned Parlours/Coffins Inc.”

 

This map seems to have second title similar to Doom 2's Circle of Death/'O' of Destruction. Short map taking place in a single building which is roughly divided into 4 sections, with a large lift in the middle. Somewhat similar to map08 in terms of it's highly claustrophobic/congested geometry and Cacos swarming outside, attacking you through the many windows in the building. The author does a good job with the small space provided through the use of lowering floors and platforming over the library shelves for the red key and other items. Health and armour are quite generous here, such as this free Megasphere. You'll probably need it though as the close-quarter combat is no joke here, especially with some nasty Vile placement supporting the usual groups of enemies. There's a secret BFG which would significantly tone down the harshest ambushes if I actually found it before clearing the map though. Cool coffin exit too which transports you into a black void before the map ends.

Edited May 18, 2017 by Spectre01

[riderr3]

11 hours ago, galileo31dos01 said:

Just kidding, may I know if it'll be vainilla/limit-removing/or boom compatible? 

Boom-compatible with dehacked stuff. No changes for original monsters behavior, but added some extra stuff. There are will be smaller maps so "Mini Urania" will be a suitable name. No tiny maps but anyway smaller than Urania's. And for sure less chaingunners and revenants, more gameplay-balanced maps.
Only 6 maps are done (the initial target is 15 maps, but probably can be extended later). Some old screenies which I posted while ago:
 

Spoiler

I'm suck at making graphics, at least I created proper M_DOOM logo.


The ridicilous idea "walls from doors", later I changed this textures.


Some textures are changed already. Like those plain metal on pillar. Also skybox is changed.


Still need to add some floor and wall textures, also boom-related stuff. Hope this not takes years, at least progress is happening.

 

Edited May 18, 2017 by riderr3

[Deadwing]

These shots look amazing, rider!

 

IDK if Mini-Urania is a good name, though. I would try another one so people won't relate it as a Urania spin-off mapset.

Edited May 18, 2017 by Deadwing

[galileo31dos01]

Yeah I second Deadwing, the shots look amazing and I can't wait to test your future maps! The title in the menu looks cool and well done, I'm not so sure about the name itself. It's not bad, don't get me wrong, but I would search for more options apart from that.

 

Quote

(the initial target is 15 maps, but probably can be extended later)

@riderr3 a 32-map megawad would be more captivating IMO

Edited May 18, 2017 by galileo31dos01

[Spectre01]

MAP18 - “BBQ HQ”

 

Another short but hard map taking place in and around a small central building. The added twist is high HP snipers, including a Cyberdemon, converging on you from above the bloody vines and all the weapons you need inside a heavily-guarded interior. There really isn't much to write about here. The one secret is a Soulsphere which can be lowered at the start and the progression goal is some simple platforming along the 2nd floor of the BBQ HQ. There are a bunch of switches to flip, which open up rooms with extra enemies and ammo as well as raise a platform to the blue key in the middle. The monster count is also as low as it gets, with a large chunk of the monsters being a horde of Imps and Spectres at the end for shits and giggles.

[Demtor]

On 5/17/2017 at 5:24 PM, riderr3 said:

No bugs on MAPS 31&32. 31 has switch at the same area, down in socket with chaingunners. 32 have rising switch at mancubus balcony in same area, but only if player step there.

Ahhh, thanks. 31, I never looked below with those CG'ers. There seemed no reason to and I just didn't look hard enough it seems. As for 32 with the Mancs on their platform, same deal almost. I took a look from outside and decided I didn't need to go up there. I never expected a switch to be hidden like that. I guess I should get into the habit of walking within every space possible instead of just assessing visually as you never know when you'll trip an invisible trigger to change things. 

Edited May 19, 2017 by Demtor

[CapnClever]

Played these a few days back at this point but I'll try my best to review:

 

^{Chocolate Doom / HNTR|HMP|UV / Pistol Start / Saves}

MAP14: AVC Zone has some interesting ideas at play, but the general procession of the mapset overshadows them for the most part. The beginning is especially odd as a stopgap to entice the player with a gimmick that then is entirely ignored: I liked it and wish there'd been more. (That AVC apparently stands for "Arch-Vile Crusher" makes it all the odder.) Progression is interesting in that quite a bit of the map can be handled in different ways, and the duplicate weapons make this fairly reliable to do even from a pistol start, though the final blue switch is fairly awkward. The major setpiece here is the section leading to the red key, involving a complicated array of monster entries through a compact but not-quite squished arena: it's challenging, especially to tackle early, but well-orchestrated. The same cannot quite be said of the rest of fights, with primarily static placement to get through in due time, though the teleporters near the yellow key at least keep the player on guard. The ending is simply a wall to get through and the trap doesn't quite deliver on urgency.

 

Really shouldn't have, but it took me a good 15-20 minutes to find (or re-find, since I likely saw it at the beginning) that dang blue switch. It's cool how levels interweave their entirety, but sometimes it does make it awfully difficult to remember where everything is. (Keeping in mind that Chocolate Doom's automap doesn't let you mark keyed linedefs, of course.)

 

^{Chocolate Doom / HNTR|HMP|UV / Pistol Start / Saves}

MAP15: Haunt of Eater is probably the first map to really push the player forward, but the path is as mired as ever. Gathering together a launch pad is where the level really shines, as the level scatters materials around in a frenetic chaos from which the player must keep their wits to begin through the progression itself. Speaking of, getting through the map from there is holed up in side areas and is significantly less chaotic, returning to the more straight-forward and measured approach seen in this mapset (though still containing some powerful opposition). The final ambush is quite difficult, though it can be handled from a different angle to simplify matters. The secret exit is a difficult timing but pretty easy to figure out (perhaps easier than most progression in other maps).

 

Pretty fun, all things considered, though the blue key section is a little too forceful. Took a little time to realize that, yes, the red switches have nothing to do with a red key.

 

Urania Retrospective: First Half

 

If I had to sum up my experience thus in one word, it'd probably be "exhausting". In a sentence, it'd be more like "meticulous and careful play is encouraged". Trying to dig deep into a level early is exceptionally difficult, if not impossible, and so the general pace of levels is slow indeed. This isn't by itself a point against the mapset, but when it's combined with expansive layouts the result is that each level is its own massive wall to overcome, making it a very grueling experience to attempt all at once. If anything, the DWMC's schedule to roughly handle maps one-per-day probably helps this playthrough, as there's plenty of time to rest up in-between: by contrast, going through levels one after another in quick succession would likely cause undue stress and fatigue to most players expecting the usual fare.

 

There's a obvious challenge-minded approach to both the encounters and the progression at work in Urania, though it's at a lateral distinction from, say, slaughtermaps or puzzle maps. The setpieces are relatively few, and the differences between hub and spoke are often abolished: instead, everything kind of flows into itself, leading to a somewhat uniform but uniquely interwoven form. This often leads to situations where much of levels can be completed before beginning progression, though if one knows what one is doing it can be handled in the opposite manner. No matter the exact circumstance, however, it's important to take each battle carefully, and examine each room just as carefully, or else the map will take much longer than it ought to.

 

Personally, this isn't my cup of tea. I tend to like having a definite sense of accomplishment as I go, whether that be the result of finishing a section of a map or the map itself. Urania, on the other hand, gives off the impression of each map acting as its own jigsaw puzzle: the first piece is as important as the last, and many have to be correctly assembled (sometimes disconnected from each other) before you get a sense of the bigger picture, until at last everything comes together. It's a very different way to go about playing Doom, one I'm not used to: this said, I'm not so sure it's being handled that well even for those who might like it, and there are a number of repetitive themes at work. Still got another half to get through, however, and a lot can change between now and then.

[Deadwing]

After the epic level 16, we get two shorter levels.

 

MAP17: This one is probably a lot harder on piston start than in continuous. It took me a while to think a proper strategy so I could get rid off the arch-ville and let everything else kill themselves haha. I guess this is a 2048 map, so everything is quite cramped and full of monsters. But unlike map 07, after you grab the SS the level becomes quite fun but still challeging, because rrider keeps throwing monsters in the other half of the map and you'll have to be careful to not get surprised. 

 

7.5/10

 

MAP18: Another small one. A lot more fun for pistol starting haha Anyway, the sniper cyberdemon was cool and a surprise. I also liked the need to get in to get the weapons and resources, so you'll need to move a lot and deal with the shitstorm after everything wakes up haha It's the smallest level of the wad. I think both map 17 and 16 could've been into episode 1, since they feel a lot compact, but in other hand, it's good to have shorter levels after an big epic one.

 

8/10

Edited May 20, 2017 by Deadwing

[Spectre01]

MAP19 - “Seedling Consortium”

 

What the heck is a Seedling Consortium? This tree growing room here? Anyway, this is another TNT-inspired (please, no more!) map referencing Evilution's map15: Dead Zone. Of course, as with Rehab prior, this map is a lot larger and more intricate than the original. It also gave me a rather hard time as the traps and opposition becomes a lot more vicious. There are lots of beefy enemies to fight and plenty of Viles which appear at the worst of times to resurrect what you've killed. The 2 that appear in the starting room early on can easily screw you over combined with Nobles and Revenants when all you're rocking is an SSG. Thankfully, there is plenty of rocket and cell ammo to the point where I used the Plasma Gun more than the SSG. Obtaining the PR and RL is no joke as it forces you outside which is an extremely deadly war zone with every type of enemy, including a Mastermind, positioned for maximum threat. It's very easy to get absolutely bukkake'd by projectiles from all directions as you step out with your measly green armour and 100 HP. There are some pretty cool visuals, like this lovely room and the usual variety is present here. Although this is a lot more of a standard techbase as far as Urania maps go. Along with Viles, plenty of Pain Elementals roam outside and appear along with mixed groups of enemies, such as during the final battle where a large group of everything pours out of the exit room.

[Rathori]

Map 14: AVC Zone

^{(UV continuous with saves)}

Time: 1:24:06
K/I/S: 99%/96/80%
Deaths & reloads: 0

 

So, there an Archie in every corner, right? I got out my BFG, rushed in to make the first kill and back to cover, realised the other Archies were locked into their corners and switched to SSG. I fired two shots into another Archie before retreating backwards into an alcove in the centre pillar, only to hear the Archies scream in pain. I took a peak out of my cover and saw that the poor bastards were being crushed to their deaths. That was rather disappointing, having the kills taken away from me like this. I fooled around with the crusher switches a bit and went on to the rest of the level.

 

Which turned out to be another one with a very frustrating progression. Once again, it took me forever to get the first key. I've killed everything I could find, stuck my nose in every corner of the map; at one point I got so desperate I did a glide in the warehouse area only to find there weren't any keys or switches there. Who knows how much longer it would have taken if I haven't seen someone's screenshot of the RK in this thread, which, somehow, reminded me of an area I left for later and completely forgot it even existed, said area having a switch required for progression towards YK.

 

It didn't take long to raise the stairs back to the starting room and figure out the jump into the waste area where a Cyberdemon was waiting patiently while I cleaned out the enemies outside of his hiding place and finally pressed the switch. As it is usual for such huge fights with multitude of different enemies, infighting did occur, and, BFG in hands, I rushed in to take a free shot on the Cybie who turned his back to me while rocketing some unlucky demons who aggroed him... And barely got off with my life because the very moment I discharged my BFG the Cyber turned around and shot a rocket in my face point-blank. Left with barely 20% HP, I retreated to the entry point of the area, switched to PG, and, very carefully, eliminated both the Cyber and his minions.

 

So, this map's starting are turned out to be a bit of disappointment, because I walked onto the crashed-activating switch by sheer accident. At this point I thought that, having survived the starting area, it would be a shame to die later in the level. So I played carefully, determined to beat the map without dying, in which quest I ultimately succeeded. Thankfully, most of the areas favour progressive approach, rather than rushing in, and monster placement is rather predictable or otherwise easy to deal with, and safe places are available in which to take cover from enemy fire.

 

I missed one secret and one monster (a pinky, by the sound of it), but I really, REALLY wanted to get off that map.

 

Map 15: Haunt of Eater

^{(UV continuous with saves)}

Time: 1:04:45
K/I/S: 103%/97%/100%
Deaths & reloads: 10

 

I tried to play it calm and rational and to manage my ammo, and got overwhelmed and dead really quickly as a result. Then I got out my PG and just blasted the hell out of everything in the starting area, giving myself some breathing room and a safe place to start clearing out the rest of the level from.

 

This map is, essentially, a turret fest, some of the turrets being slightly mobile, and some of them being out of your reach for quite a while, and some being, essentially, invincible due to being rezzed by hidden archies almost immediately. They did, however, come in handy when dealing with the Spiderdemon, whom I, armed with my newfound knowledge of how enemies' hitscan attacks aim works, tried to use to kill the mancubi below it. It did, sort of, work, except the mancubi were completely useless due to coming too close to the wall and shooting it instead of Spiderdemon, who was eventually killed by the appropriately named revenants who kept, well, revenanting, i.e. coming back from the dead, and resuming their barrage of rockets. Eventually, the Archies are borrowed from the revenants to fight you in other parts of the map, so you can kill all the revs eventually if you want to.

 

The lava pit fight was quite intense, as well as red stone cave area, where one wrong step puts you into much, much more trouble than you already were in. I owe at least 3 or 4 deaths to that particular area.

 

Typically, progression was rather obscure, and that red switch is essentially a secret. I was quite surprised to find a mandatory progression piece in such place, and I can imagine people being quite mad if they didn't think to try opening that wall, in addition to being unable to complete the level, of course.

 

Finding the secret exit was kinda hard at first, but it's easy once you think of that every switch has to do something around the map.

Edited May 21, 2017 by Rathori

[galileo31dos01]

@Rathori I believe that the red switches are not mandatory, if I'm not wrong they serve you to open a teleport so you can be teleported right on the final platform. But when I played that map I used the lift instead, while trying not to be rocket-ed in my back, and later found out about the teleporter. 

[Rathori]

Map 31: Chaingun Alley
^{(UV continuous with saves)}
Time: 1:10:11
K/I/S: 102%/100%/100%
Deaths & reloads: 6

 

Kind of a fun map with, as the name implies, loads of chaingunners. The map is separated into five sectors, each of which has its own theme and a switch that you have to activate in order to reach the exit. Due to abundance of hitscanners, some fights can get quite tricky and there are lots of roamers that use the fact that each two areas that are next to each other have multiple passages between them to fill your back full of bullets.

 

There are two rather tricky-to-find switches, but otherwise progression is not very confusing. Also, it seems there is no way to exit to level 16 rather than 32, so if you can't handle slaughter you'd be better off skipping both secret levels.

 

Map 32: After Effect
^{(UV continuous with saves)}
Time: 40:51
K/I/S: 118%/100%/100%
Deaths & reloads: 15

 

It's slaughter time! I died A LOT in the very beginning before I found the megasphere secret and just rocketed everything coming my way from of there. It gets much easier afterwards, especially since the map is full of powerful pickups such as supercharge and blue armour. There isn't all that much BFG ammo, but rockets, shells and bullets are in abundance too.

 

As usual, progression is rather obscure and secrets are easier to find than progression stuff.

[Rathori]

@galileo31dos01 I thought that teleporter was the only way to get up there, and that the lift only raises once you get on the platform. At least I'm sure the lift was lowered when I went into the red switch room. But anyway, it's Urania, so I'm not surprised I didn't quite understand the progression.

[Deadwing]

Map19: This is a pretty cool level which also remembered the TNT one (but IMO this one is a lot better). You start in the center of the level and then can explore by many different ways reaching outside, which doesn't have as many monsters as inside (at least on HMP), but it is much more dangerous with hard-to-hit revenants and a mastermind. The progression is quite cool, which some urania-style obtuse elements, like requiring to press a switch to access an area locked by a key, but it's not hard at all to find that switch. I guess I let the mastermind alive though haha. Pretty fun level to play at pistol start too. It will take a while to get all weapons (especially rocket launcher), but this will force you to take some more risky decisions.

 

8.5/10

 

Map 20: I think that was the strongest level from episode 2. It's linear in the beginning and you get all the keys quite early, but then you have to press a switch in each of the areas locked by the keys. I liked this kind of narrative. Each room has very specific elements too (and a color scheme corresponding to the key color). I think my favorite one was the blue key area, where I decided to just run in that big circular room and release everything, creating a big mess which was awesome because the cyberdemon got released and I didn't have to land a shot to kill it haha Red Key area is pretty cool too, with some intricate layout to reach the switch. Oh yeah, this level's MIDI is one of my favorites so far.

 

9.25/10

Edited May 20, 2017 by Deadwing

[Spectre01]

MAP20 - “Lost Pendulum”

 

Quite the epic 3-key map to end the 2nd episode. There's a bit of a Killer Colours theme going on here, with each of the key areas using textures reflecting the colour of the key. The blue rock cavern is especially cool and the best place to hit up ASAP for that sweet BFG. A bit of a mini-slaughter fight there with a Cyber, 2 Viles, Cacos and other stuff as the walls come down and the arena opens up. I did the yellow key maze second, with rather low health too after screwing up somewhere, which made it quite tense with all the snipers around there. The red key area is the most intricate, as you navigate through a network of flesh tunnels with multiple tiers thanks to the corpse lifts. Not as difficult as map19 before and more lenient regarding the threat level. Still died a few times which kept it interesting.

[Rathori]

Map 16: Rehab

^{(UV continuous with saves)}

Time: 48:48
K/I/S: 103%/66%/77%
Deaths and reloads: 5

 

A level with an interesting layout and some intense corridor-crawling, spiced up by roamers and overwhelming revenant ambushes. I literally struggled to survive at some points when my shells, cells and rockets ran out - the map is rather tight on ammo. The progression is clear, although I'm a bit confused by why there are two teleports that both take you to the exit room.

 

Map 17: Coffins Inc.

^{(UV continuous with saves)}

Time: 30:44
K/I/S: 106%/100%/75%
Deaths and reloads: 3

 

Very tight map with lots of obstacles and mostly narrow spaces for manoeuvring, making use of rocket launcher rather dangerous, although the Barons and the Archies make using it hard to avoid. There are a few moments when an Archie is being released into a room full of corpses, forcing you to hunt it down ASAP in order to avoid having to kill them all over again. There are also at least two tomato festivals that force you to fight A LOT of cacodemons in confined spaces.

 

The progression is very clear, and you can even exit without pulling one of the red switches. I'm not sure if it requires a glide, but I entered and exited the exit chamber easily with one of the bars still lowered (I decided to go back and push that last switch in case something interesting would happen).

 

This map also felt somewhat tight on ammo, although not as much as the Rehab.

Edited May 21, 2017 by Rathori

[Rathori]

Map 18: BBQ HQ
^{(UV continuous with saves)}
Time: 12:11
K/I/S: 78%/0%/0%
Deaths and reloads: 1

 

Surprisingly short map in arena style. Apart from a few signature hitscanner nests, this map doesn't feel Urania-esque at all: there is just one hollow building surrounded by a wall, no roamers, no crazy switch/key hunt, no pretty much anything outstanding about it, which, I guess, makes it stand out from the rest of the maps in this WAD. I also exited kind of abruptly, only realising I ran through an exit when the intermission screen suddenly appeared.

 

I died once by an unexpected rocket of a freshly spawned Cyberdemon, who is otherwise harmless if you're aware of its presence, but there's hardly any challenge to the map, this is the easiest of the WAD and it doesn't really feel like a part of it. I guess it might be different from pistol start, but I didn't really keep track of weapon pick-ups.

Edited May 21, 2017 by Rathori

[Spectre01]

MAP21 - “Plutosaurus”

 

The start of Urania's 3rd episode packs no punches as you start out with a measly Chaingun against overwhelming opposition. Quite a bit of symmetry to the design of the 2 hub areas which then branch of into their own distinct sections. My favourite location is the brown brick city, reminding me of Plutonia's map29. The detailing in the main area is also pretty damn cool, with the small pyramids housing Hell Knight and Revenant snipers. Gameplay remains tough throughout and ammo starvation is definitely a factor during the first half. Also, everyone's favourite midi is back again.

Edited May 22, 2017 by Spectre01

[Deadwing]

MAP21: Yeah, that MIDI again lol The level itself is pretty good, though, and quite hard if you try to pistol start. It will take a while until you feel secure to take down all these non-hitscan snipers, which will force you to get out of safe spots. Anyway, the layout is pretty good. There's some symmetry, like Spectre said, but some areas have enough difference. The city area was indeed pretty good, with some moody shadows and interesting setpieces. I also like the green area where you grab the BK. On the negative side, I found progress too much obtuse again: I had to look on Doom Builder to discover what to do after pressing the BK switch (which leads you to the initial area). Apparently you need to press a switch which lowers a floor on the other half of the level, so you can lower RK plataform. I would never figure this out hehe I think it would be much better if that floor was instead a BK-locked door.

 

Anyway, really fun level, would have been my favorite one if it had different MIDI and a bit less obtuse progression.

 

8,75/10

Edited May 22, 2017 by Deadwing

[CapnClever]

Time to play a little catch-up! Forgive the length: I will try to be more frequent from here on.

 

^{Chocolate Doom / HNTR|UV / Pistol Start / Saves}

MAP31: Chaingun Alley displays a pattern of one steps forward, two steps back, but counters it with brevity. The level as a whole is effectively divided into five sections, each their own challenge, and the resources ramp up over time alongside. Though it's on the relatively small side, each section requires careful management to progress through unharmed, and many of the elements found in previous maps are in full force. In most cases, completion of either entering the next area or opening the way to it will produce a fresh set of enemies from an earlier area, which ought to be backtracked to avoid chaos. Finding progression is more straight-forward than usual, and the automap outright explains what is to be done, though only expect this possibility when heading back to fight the latest retro-horde. As with Plutonia, the map directly transfers from the super-secret.

 

A lot of turrets here, but since the level's extremely linear at least you can focus on them. Pretty cool action in the start (even if the turrets there exhibit the usual frustration) but slows down fast.

 

^{Chocolate Doom / UV / Pistol Start / Saves}

MAP32: After-Effect is an obvious retelling of Go 2 It, though swapping out the original's bombastic narration for something more tangential. There are some additional references (Doom1 E1M2 and Plutonia MAP01, though I'm pretty sure there are more), and the level plays relatively simple with progression so as to allow the player to focus on combat. All weapons are immediately available, but ammo is tight throughout and the same can be said of health and armor. "Relentless" would be appropriate to sum up the overall encounters, as each key-grab introduces its own wrench into the gearworks, resurrecting corpses amidst the spewing of fresh bodies. It takes quite a bit of time and patience to clear up new situations as they appear, and the last challenge is different only in that there's room to breathe between enemies.

 

I ended up skipping the other difficulties when I realized that progression was probably just "kill enemies and then find the switch", and also when I noticed that HNTR was providing less ammo than UV at the start, so not much point in scouting it out. One too many baron blobs in this map, I think: most of the fighting was a combination of sticking it out in a couple useful holes (there's one near the blue door, monster-blocking linedef and all) and getting the infights to propagate. Final major fight was pretty cool, even if I was upset at just how many layers were poised after it. ("Just let me finish the map already!")

 

^{Chocolate Doom / HNTR|HMP|UV / Pistol Start / Saves}

MAP16: Rehab takes on the appearance of TNT's Habitat, though it is significantly less habitable (for the player, anyway). Non-linearity is the name of the game here, as the map introduces two completely different routes to exit; unlocking the barrier on the exit itself is a shared requirement and sends the player hunting across the whole regardless. Getting started is exceptionally difficult, and knowing how to proceed harder still, especially with monsters filling each crevice to the brim. Those who are familiar with the density of the original Habitat will find this iteration much more hostile, and usage of plasma can be early but must be sought out. While the level can be explored at leisure when fully equipped (and there are many places to explore, here) the exit is available rather quickly once a route is established.

 

They really didn't want me getting that super shotty early, but by golly I did it anyway: map's just way too slow to start without it (and not enough rockets to satisfy big damage for a while). I think my UV attempt ended with 47% kills, and all-time low% for Urania! Some of the monster globs were annoying, but the freedom in path-taking made them a lot more tolerable. Of note: the HNTR attempt involved no plasma gun for the entire map, with even the BFG gathered first.

 

^{Chocolate Doom / HNTR|HMP|UV / Pistol Start / Saves}

MAP17: Coffins Inc. (Damned Parlours on the automap) explores a specific concept here and there but piles on filler in between. The layout is incredibly compact and expects mobile cover gameplay most of the time, with the general progression straight-forward if only because of very little room to hide it. The display piece, from what I gather, is the use of archviles dangerously resurrecting, and so several rooms must be handled to circumvent this possibility: because of the ammo scarcity, allowing more than 100% of monsters to exist is simply not an option. By contrast, the final room's setup practically forces this upon the player, though some careful strategy leads to victory. Unfortunately, these set pieces are layered between heavy quantities of typical Urania thoroughness, and so much of the conveyance is lost.

 

I honestly don't know what's expected when the southwest room descends: virtually no way to hit the arch-vile from above, absolutely zero cover once inside. I suppose you could tackle it aggressively with a BFG, but from a pistol start I had no choice but to skip the non-Cacodemon group entirely. Doesn't help that the sheer volume makes it hard to even go down there in the first place (infinite height an' all that). Getting outside was pretty cool, but the extra placement of enemies was unwelcome.

 

^{Chocolate Doom / HNTR|HMP|UV / Pistol Start / Saves}

MAP18: BBQ HQ is a short map featuring a complex encounter. In fact, therein contains nearly 100% turret enemies, but with the double-layered positioning and frantic action required this isn't a point against it. Progression is simply a matter of clearing the inner turrets, finding the switches, and grabbing the one key needed to end the map. While taking down the innermost group is not easy with the intermittent threat of the outer one, it can be done either patiently or aggressively, and with the level this short either case doesn't take all that long. Certainly, this level is a handy breather (and what do you know, another nine levels later).

 

I would've preferred less spongey enemies blocking switches (perhaps switches could be pressed in order and cause new blockers to teleport in) but overall this one played quite enjoyably from start to finish. It's a map that knows what it wants and does it in a quick sentence's worth of space.

 

^{Chocolate Doom / HNTR|HMP|UV / Pistol Start / Saves}

MAP19: Seedling Consortium is a complicated play on TNT's Dead Zone, and aside from the occasional spam it flows rather well. The start is just a dash of Tricks and Traps, with a number of progression doors and worrisome others, though once one gets started it's easy to realize that nothing is particularly safe anyway (hint: a mad dash to NE might save your life). Finding keys is at the luxurious pace of killing a ton of enemies until found, and avoiding the outside is a safe bet most of the time, if necessary at other times. The exit is blocked off by a trifecta of barricades and removed per-key, so everything will eventually have to be completed, although collecting the rocket launcher following the red key is certainly helpful for the rest.

 

HNTR threw me a curveball by placing a megasphere atop a teleport location, and I'd assumed in my HMP playthrough that it'd be there, but nope! Not that anyone else would ever run into that, just thought it was amusing. Also at one point I'd gained a pair of archviles I absolutely wasn't expecting, so that was nice. A few corridors sans health and I'd say this one fits among the most playful of the set.

 

[galileo31dos01]

@CapnClever there is a BFG 9000 in map17, it's in a secret outside the building

[CapnClever]

I see it now. Figures: it's hard to search for secrets when you're avoiding killing enemies on account of worrying if you'll have enough ammo to finish the level (a very justified worry given the scarcity in the level proper). I didn't even explore that section on the outside because it would've meant potentially dealing with another 3 mancubi. Good to know the level is quite maxable from pistol start tho'.