The DWmegawad Club plays: Moonblood (it's our 5 year anniversary, golly!)

[Demtor]

 

MAP19 - "Obstructed Zone"

gzDoom - UV – pistol start/no save

 

Whoa, PG and a Megasphere at the start? What gives? OMG!!

 

I’m guessing the AV use isn’t going away from the last map. Damn. Might be time to start using saves if that keeps up cause this shit is getting nerve racking.

 

Speaking of, this was hard as hell to no save. I really liked the set up for the Cyberdemon battle but then the cramped imp horde guarding the BK (anyone else?) with a few revs and two AV’s who seemed to get the better of me a lot of times, really had me struggling. That is until I realized you can just step back on to the rock island at the entrance and let the rockets fly.

 

There were quite a few hard fights in this map. AHH! Alright then, who’s next? The BFG is optional I believe but it helps A LOT with all of the AV’s running around or if your like me, saved it on the cyberdemon.

 

The green marbled halls are really neat looking and I liked the blood room with the SSG.

 

The texture shift from cavernous rocks and marbled decorations to a shiny polished tech base interior was a very cool transition for an exit.

[Demtor]

 

MAP20 - "Moonblood Gateway"

gzDoom - UV – pistol start/no saves

 

Oh dear god. I must have died brutally close to 20 times trying to get a good start going. Two optional paths to take in the empty ominous starting area, a RL, a PG and a backpack. Good luck! I think I died from just about everything. It was hilarious but again every section seemed to have it’s own AV and if it didn’t at first, it would later. Ugh.

 

When I finally did start putting together a longer attempt going I took a portal beyond the RK door that threw me at the mercy of a close range rev, long range rev, imps and shotgunner imbedded in the rock face across from a chaingunner who I didn’t even notice until it was much too late. In my panic to GTFO… I pressed a switch that unleashed a PE. Whelp, great. Needless to say I came ready for that shit the second time around and handled it. That was pretty damned rough going in blind.

 

Overall this map had a cool Doom 2 vibe with it’s exploration, cute puzzles and a modern sentiment with tight ammo management. The hidden BFG was a fucking life saver after I finally found it. Especially against the duo AV’s at the end. Speaking of… pretty cool to see the bottom sky exit in this WAD. Next episode. Hell? In any case… pretty proud of this one. That was a tough bastard.

 

The Scientist.

 

Quite the interesting cast of characters at this point.

 

 

^{(* Whew, tough getting caught up from my out of town weekend wedding trip. Will try to get more done later if work allows it. *)}

[baja blast rd.]

Map 21: The Abyss

 

This is probably the spookiest map yet. There's the huge vertical scale, a stark and hostile environment with all sorts of ledges and pits. Then there's the more expansive X-Y scale too -- you can see Moonblood's typical way of creating areas, the way it uses shapes and architecture, but it's all blown up in scale by a factor of 2 or so, making it feel like the work of a malevolent force imitating the typical settings. Then there's the way the low monster density (even for the standards of Moonblood) fills, or doesn't fill I should say, those spaces. Areas feel lonely. Monsters, even the cyberdemon, feel tiny compared to the locations they are found, which makes you feel small by way of comparison. Add somewhat unconventional texture and color combinations -- Plutonia rusty brown, prominent reds, some green, a purple sky -- and add that spooky music track, reminiscent of e2m4, and you get quite a chilling atmosphere. 

 

The unforgiving gameplay is something I can manage, but coupled with how terrifying it is, I didn't want to do a video. This is a map I'll study, though, for how it creates vistas. :) 

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2017 by rdwpa

[antares031]

MAP23 - The Archipelago
ZDoom, UV - PS, KIS(%): 100/100/50

 

Remember I was talking about the lack of height differences in this wad? After the end of techbase marathon, this wad starts to show some various environmental designs. This time, we have an archipelago of hell with three major islands, and several rocks around as decorations and monster turrets. Each major island features own design and layout; a cave with dark and narrow passages, an old bunker with marble bricks and wooden structures, a small fortress with intriguing interior design. The combat goes well to support this "The Chasm-like" design, with some door ambushes; I dig that lost soul ambush in the first island. The only one major problem was the pitch-black dark area around the blue skull, but I'm glad that the level gave me a solution by itself.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP22 | E5-2: Skeleton's Gardens

80% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

I really like the layout of the map, as it feels both open and somewhat maze-like at the same time, with a pleasing theme to boot (always liked the vines). But I didn't have a ton of fun playing it, mostly due to my own fault... I missed the plasma gun, and didn't find the sneakily-hidden SSG, only finding the one given about two-thirds of the way through the map. So that meant single shotgun, chaingun, and a handful of rockets, and lots of running from enemies (or making them infight) instead of shooting, hence my sub-100% kills above. And hey, nice to have a break from AVs and PEs and see the mancs and arachnatrons make a comeback.

[Demon of the Well]

Another FDAs dump, covering episodes 3 and 4 + the two secret levels.

 

After 22 levels of the game, it's becoming clearer both what to expect and what not to expect from the author (or at least from this specific mapset), and so I found myself settling into a nice autopilot groove by map 15 or so. There is something of the "double-edged sword" at work here, I think. Periodic shifts in texture scheme aside, the form/flow/pace for most of these levels is very similar and seems to have been built on some kind of set process or template, and in hindsight I'm not finding it very easy to separate them all from one another in recollection (though some do have distinguishing features, of course), and since the game is 2/3rds complete I'm less hesitant now to start levying some criticism about a certain lack of variety in the set than I might've been earlier on. While the details are far too human for any of this stuff to be mistaken as procedurally generated or anything of that sort, many maps are functionally interchangeable both within the greater mapset's progression arc and within the mini-arcs of the smaller episodes, and the same handful of core design and balance ideas are being repeated map in and map out, which I'm finding slightly wearying. There is nothing wrong per se with using a formula, mind you; just a question of how much a particular formula appeals to a particular player, and speaking for myself I've been waiting for some kind of payoff into something grander and hopefully a little less......what's the word I want here?.....let's say "uptight" in style, and at this point it seems less and less likely that's going to happen.

 

I think what's most getting to me is the overall pacing, or rather the lack of real development in this area. There is thankfully a bit more in the way of open-air content in these two episodes than in the earlier ones (mainly in E3), but all of the architecture remains small and stultifyingly squat, with a relatively high degree of interconnection which often seems less pronounced than it actually is by dint of being commonly created through the use of relatively 'hard' connectors like doors and blind lifts and dead-drops and whatnot. It feels like I've seen all of three different ceiling heights at play for most of the set ('sardine can', 'cardboard box', and 'college dorm'), and the few times there's something a little more pronounced some issues with infinitely-tall actors have cropped up to spoil the impression somewhat (see: m13 in particular, and that damned fountain-shrine place in m15).

 

This kind of construction invites a certain style of thing placement, of course, and so outside of a couple of edgier ambushes in E4 fights have for the most part all remained small/individually unremarkable CQC tussles to be conscientiously fought on a limited resource budget. One of the side-effects of this design is that, while the levels are small in terms of blueprint, they are not particularly quick to play, especially if one happens along one of the less ideal routes in the more non-linear of their number. I am not a particularly speedy player, mind, but most of these levels have taken somewhere around 15 minutes or more to complete, which is something I'd attribute mainly to the encounter style and persistent stinginess with weapons/resources rather than to any particular problems with layout or navigability (though m18's computer-annex puzzle probably took me longer than it should've, that's on me). The genre of small-yet-slow dungeon-crawl is not generally one of my personal favorites, hence my hope for something a little different to change things up.

 

I did say something about a "double-edged sword", though, and the other side of the blade here is that the mapset's core approach to level/play design--this relative austerity, this game of hard-bitten do-more-with-less dungeoneering--is being honed to be more and more effective and immersive as the game progresses. Many of my earlier complaints about nun-ish austerity being used as an excuse for very basic/non-threatening monster placement no longer fairly apply to this latest chunk of maps, and while the tension in the gameplay is still coming 95% or so in the form of the calculus of attrition (the other 5% being the threat of boobytraps) it is now legitimate tension rather than merely practical inconvenience at play, and that counts for a lot.

 

A running theme of E3 seems to have been the use of a variety of different types of shortlived kickstart, each intended to propel you into the midst of the rest of the level while seriously undersupplied, underwriting and legitimizing the need to scavenge and survive from clip to clip while trying to make wise decisions about which direction you should go next. While m15's lowering silo probably offers the greatest immediate intensity here, I felt that m14's 'caves' setup, which can very easily see you run entirely out of ammo before you even get a shotgun, was the most memorable/effective, since the compulsion to drop deeper into the unknown as a matter of survival is very strong. This kind of fight-or-flight response is exactly what you need to evoke to enliven this style of placement, making it feel immersive rather than simply contrived.

 

E4 backs off on these early/defining framing encounters in favor of a few legitimately dangerous flash traps (largely involving arch-viles and revenants), but makes the overall thing balance even tighter than it has been prior, while at the same time finally starting to shift more of the workload towards heavier weapons, away from the basic shotgun, pistol and chaingun. This is naturally best exemplified by the BFG, which appears in a few of these levels and in all cases can really shift momentum in your favor at clutch moments, but only if you have the wisdom and foresight to judge how best to use its typically very limited ammo supply. Again, this is a good way of adding investment to this type of highly ascetic balancing, in contrast to simply providing very little in the way of options in the first place. That being said, I think we might be hitting a point where there's something of an actual imbalance between the scarcity of healing and the author's fondness for high/distant/blindside hitscanners, but perhaps this will even out/sort itself in the final third of the game.

 

Other comments:

Of this particular block of maps, the ones which engaged me the most were m14, m17, and m20. M14, as aforesaid, posed something of a wakeup call with its suddenly very emphasized handling of the set's ever-stingy thing balance, and I felt that the way it interconnected and framed its 'dungeon non-linearity' worked out better than in a number of the other/earlier maps, particularly with the sheer number of ways to find yourself in that underground blood/wood chamber. Apart from introducing the BFG, I felt that m17 also carried much more of a real sense of place (albeit in a still largely abstract IWAD sort of style) than almost anything prior, with its strange plaster 'labs' clustered around the dingy and oddly sinister central crossway, with an isolated server wing and a few window views out over an increasingly sickly-looking Jovian countryside. M20, similarly, really spoke to me with its atmosphere as well, carrying something of a mood of portent under its red sky (nowhere else in the set has sky been so pronounced) and persistently shadowy lighting. There's a sort of "Living End Lite" aspect to the way these last few installations are found nestled in a fiery crater (or perhaps the ground has been giving way beneath them?), and while the overall level progression here, with its binary choice of teleporters to kick things off, is really not much different from earlier maps in terms of objectives or pacing, the structural/tonal shift in the environment makes it feel quite different while you're inside of it, and sometimes that makes all the difference in the world.

 

Broadly speaking I would say that Moonblood has not been particularly good about establishing a real sense of place/location through its small and largely interchangeable tangles of geometry (though some of that impression is surely a result of my own gut prejudice about short/modestly-proportioned maps) over its first two thirds, but this is something that seems like it might be getting ready to change for the better in the final two episodes of the game.

 

Edited August 22, 2017 by Demon of the Well

[Salt-Man Z]

So, I have improved my enjoyment of this WAD 200%, not by dropping back to HMP, but by changing GZDoom's lighting mode from "software" to "standard". It kind of flattens everything out a bit, but man is it so much easier to see things. (This was made especially apparent while finishing off Ol' No Name last night.) So now I'm having fun again, yay!

 

MAP16: Beta Labs Reception

22:45 | 100% Everything

 

Mostly pretty standard fare here, your usual base crawl kind of deal. Nothing really stood out to me other than the teleports that took you into the room behind the yellow key door, letting you see the handful of baddies there through the windows but not letting you shoot them? Not sure what the point of any of that was. I should say (if I haven't) that I really enjoy the secrets in this WAD; they're usually telegraphed nicely, not necessarily in a way that makes them too easy (though I think I've found all of them thus far) but a lot of WADs I'll play through a level and not even have a clue where the secrets are. I like how these maps have a lot of little "peeks" into secret areas to get you thinking, "How can I get in there?"

 

MAP17: BFG Experiments

23:55 | 100% Everything

 

A couple of nasty battles here, namely anything involving an arch-vile. I saved my newfound BFG exclusively for those encounters. Other than that, things weren't too bad. Even the revvie horde at the beginning (which didn't end up as massive as it looked at first?) I evaded by just ducking back into the entrance room, then periodically popping open the door and launching out a steady stream of rockets. (Continuous play for the win.) The early soulsphere was nice because boy howdy did I need to start at 200% for this. Not just for being chipped away at constantly, but those vile ambushes always left me reeling from some sort of damaging, whether a rev-rocket or the couple times I took a shot from a vile. Once again, the peeks outside were lovely; really itching to get out there one of these maps.

[riderr3]

MAP23
I called this level "rocky chasm". It consists of different type of rocks, lava and dark caves.
In my opinion lava floor should be brighter.
On the whole level scattered a lot of backpacks.
Balancing on those raising pillars needs more skill and patience.
I deal with mastermind only with SSG. There is also BFG nearby.

[Capellan]

MAP21

So my least favourite thing about Moonblood is definitely the timed switches.  When I did the door/lift combo in the western area and then realised that all that accomplished was giving me access to the next door/lift combo, I nearly gave up on the WAD right there and then.

 

But I gave it a shot and pulled it off first try (or the second, since arguably the actual first attempt was just to flick the new switch and realise what it did), so I carried on after all.

 

Low monster density but quite a lot of distant snipers here, which can be a bit frustrating since auto-aim doesn't always pick them up.

 

Got a bit stuck a couple of times, trying to work out what I was supposed to do next.  Worst case was the switch to raise the stairs to the exit, which is so tucked away as to be verging on a mandatory secret.  It doesn't quite cross the line, I think, but it's certainly not an easy spot.  Switch hunts are definitely not my thing, so I hope this isn't going to be a regular feature of later maps.

 

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP23, E5-3: The Archipelago

 

You know, the whole WAD here has generally been quite consistent in its linkages from one level into the next, the exit room of the preceding map providing the starting point for the new one, but in thie episode it's taking that design tendency and playing with it a little; at the end of Skeleton's Gardens the player is invited to descend into a small room and then into a hole in the ground, only to be popped up out of that very same hole here to discover that they're somewhere else entirely.  Space has become warped; topography can no longer be trusted.

 

So, as @antares031 mentions this is reminiscent of Doom II's MAP24: The Chasm, albeit in an outdoor setting this time; gameplay alternates between the skirting and criss-crossing of the caldera that forms the heart of the level, and the exploration of the caverns, fortresses, and facilities that burrow into its walls and into the mesas that rise from the lava below.  It's got a wide-open feel that even the preceding level's open-air antics lacked, and a decent degree of implicit guidance with the positioning of the blue door close to the start; here, then, is your goal, and there is the playground you'll have to explore in order to unlock it.  The player isn't really asked to wander back and forth too much; for all that the level is substantial in scale, it breaks down nicely into discrete segments, subcomplexes, and transitions, to be tackled in order and then left behind.  The challenge probably peaks with the "darkroom" encounter where the blue key is found; I'm rather glad there's a soul sphere available immediately following that, even if I went and squandered it before reaching the exit.

[Deadwing]

Map 23 - In this level I wanted to focus on a more linear layout with some different landscapes and settings, helping to give this a bit more of variation. This is also the biggest level of the wad (in terms of area), but actually it is a quite short one and not very tough, as long the player is aware of not falling down (there's teleports to get up, but very few). Sill, there'll be some tough encounters, especially the one in the beginning involving an archville. By the way, Archvilles are still abundant here, but they don't play big major role, so I don't think a lot of players will have problems here.

 

It is certainly one of the most straightfowards levels of this wad, which is a good thing, IMO. Still, there's always some bits of exploration, and the secrets allows to approach some encounters from different directions. I like the dark room with the light on the BK, and then the trap which is actually very simple, but creates somewhat a cool effect. The Spider Mastermind is also a cool encounter (I guess it might take some players by surprise), but it's a more cinematic things instead of a challenging one (honestly, SMM encounters usually are more cinematic than anything lol). Due to the abundancy of Revenants in the previous level, I decided to not use them here :P

 

Anyway, It's a pretty fun map for me, but players who aren't found of plataforming will definetly not like this.

 

 

Edited August 23, 2017 by Deadwing

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP23 The Archipelago

 

Another memorable map, more easily resembling Gotcha! than MAP20 with dashes of The Chasm. Looks quite nonlinear, but surprisingly was more linear than I imagined. Those monster-sound closets worked right this time too. Hardest area here was that northwest building, very devious even for the second time around. The platforming is thankfully not too annoying, and the spiderdemon coming out was a surprise too, although a run for the BFG on the far ledge would take care of this one. Actually quite easy apart from that one building otherwise.

[DAZZER]

MAP20:  Moonblood Gateway

Time: 9:46

 

This one is a big open Map with Tech Base's surrounded by damaging Lava. The further you come to the End the more connects to previous areas. At the beginning it gives you the choice, choosing one of 2 Teleporters leading to 2 different Places in the Map. There are hard situations on small plattforms with Pain Elementals or Archviles. I wouldn't say it was to hard... I don't like the fact that there are pits you can't escape :/ Also that killed my Interest to explore the Map after I found the exit. Im pretty sure that is what this Map wanted at the end though... Good things were the Munition and Health balance :) There always was a good middle

[Demtor]

 

MAP21 - "The Abyss"

gzDoom - UV – pistol start/saves

 

Okay, time to start saving. Sparingly though. That way I can still feel good about myself when I manage to survive a nasty encounter on my first try. (Gotta keep that Doom ego satisfied.)

 

I was on the fence before about saving with smaller maps but this asshat rocket-cow turret can go fuck itself. I pictured my attempts to get past him like a Doom/Super Meat Boy mash up. Too bad I couldn’t watch the total attempts replay after finally making it up the elevator like in SMB. I can picture tons of dead green marine bodies splattering and flying in almost every direction at almost the same time. Not sure if I missed a secret cache of ammo or a BFG somewhere to take him out but whatevs.

 

Some really cool designs here though. Spooky lighting and damage floors below. Lots of vertical use and a few nice looking stairs and stuff.

 

The start on the rock lava steps was kind of a neat choice and I really enjoyed running around the first area trying to avoid a spider and fatty right off the bat.

 

The larger spaces felt a lot like when the later half of the original Doom 2 maps would spread out and have these open areas you slowly explored.

 

I tried to rush through the seemingly benign switch puzzle room and failed hard. Should've know better, heh.

 

The final damage floor area was a well designed challenge with those double AV’s hiding in the corner who get you running out in to the open arms of the rest of the baddies on the other side. Nicely done.

[antares031]

MAP24 - Hanging Fortress
ZDoom, UV - PS, KIS(%): 100/100/100

 

Here we have a fortress, hanging above the sky for some reason. The level starts from a small arena with a few mancubi and other monsters around, but you will get an access to the fortress with interesting non-linear layout sooner or later. While you're moving around, be sure to grab some essential arsenals first, like SSG and BFG, before you step on the suspicious spot with any skull key. The yellow skull is located at another "The Chasm-inspired" platform, which was pretty reasonable to fight at least. The red skull one was unexpected, but at least I had a BFG to perform two-shots. The blue keycard one was a piece of cake, since there's one powerup that you can't miss to help you out (or even two if you find the secret). In overall, it's another memorable level, and the episode 5 is not disappointing me at all...... except some inescapable pits. Damn.

[Demtor]

 

MAP22 - "Skeleton's Gardens"

gzDoom - UV – pistol start/saves

 

Hah, loved it. Being lowered in to the open view of the garden maze from above was excellent. I don’t know what it was but my first attempt I just ran, ran, ran and then died. I couldn’t find a safe spot to breath! Where are the weapons? Ahh!! Where’s the ammo!? Fun stuff with lots of hiding baddies that rush out of their hiding spots. Especially around the BK.

 

I danced with a lot of revs in this one. The name I suppose is on the nose in that regard. Seemed like every time I came across one, he had a buddy or two with him. Glad it wasn’t all a tight maze as there were some open spots to run around in. Was happy to have found the SSG. Even more thrilled when I figured out how to get the PG as every secret I found had plasma ammo taunting me.

 

It took me longer than I’d like to admit to find that damned RK. I could see it from below but putting the pieces together was a bit of a head scratcher. Very happy to have finally figured it out.

 

The exit was an interesting bit. All in all, I liked it. Almost like an open walled maze with the vines. Different.

[Demtor]

 

MAP23 - "The Archipelago"

gzDoom - UV – pistol start/saves

 

Watch your step! LOTS of lava, yikes. I think the first enemy I was confronted with was a manc. Damn! Standing on a tight ledge with just a pistol, staring down a big fatty… not a good start. Lots of precise panic to begin with here. I liked the use of cacodemons around the first AV who scared the bejeezuz out of me. It was hilarious when I stumbled across the SSG just as I ran for my life… right off the edge of the cliff, lol. I appreciated being able to find it regardless of the direction you chose at the start. Thumbs up.

 

There was an awesome visual inside one of the mountainous caves that was accented with a cramped AV and a baron fight. There was some good use of lost souls in the dark that was cool too. The darker BK area was a pain but I found the secret back entrance to take out everyone from above, so that was nice.

 

I liked having to somehow connect the larger islands multiple times over. Challenging not only with finding the switch to raise the bridges but also struggling to cross them without getting blasted.

 

GREAT use of the SMM. Loved stumbling upon the quiet area before she jumps you too. Looks great. Just enough cover and lots of mancs and a spider to help get things going. She went down hard with a lot of SSG blasts. No sweat. Oh yaaaaa, that BFG would have been useful too I suppose. Forgot it was just hanging out in plain sight before.

 

I interior of the end building shifts the texture and theme a bit. Always enjoyable to see that done from an ending flavor.

[DAZZER]

MAP21:  The Abyss

Time: 15:04

 

Can't really tell what this Episode's main Aim is. In this Map you are in an gigantic Aztec Temple with lots of ways to go and a lot of Lifts to call. If your lucky you go in the right direcion and find the Blue Key early in the Map and not infront of the Blue door where you would have to go all the way back... I just realised at this point that this wad doesn't give you to much rockets... there always is a fair balance. Not like other Munition though. You get alot of Chainguns and boxes of ammo but it isn't to hard running out of shotgun shells. On the other Hand you get alot of Plasma cells :) It's easy to get lost in this Map. To get the Yellow Key you had to press switches in the correct order which wasn't to bad but the 2 Archviles were evil -_- So I think this is the Point were the Maps go bigger and bigger 

[Magnusblitz]

MAP23 | E5-3: The Archipelago

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

I definitely am liking seeing the author try some new things here, away from what was an identifiable standard setup in the first half of the WAD of flat, low-ceiling non-linear bases. This one spreads the areas out on some islands in a lava sea, with the progression being in locating the switch that raises the bridges to the next section. I found it to be quite a bit easier than a bunch of the maps previous, perhaps suggesting that the author's usual balance isn't quite as honed for this setup. Though I do appreciate the lack of revenants, they'd just be annoying as shit on the thin bridges here. I actually found the SMM setup to be quite weak unfortunately, as it was far too easy to just run past everything to grab the BFG, and then slowly work back with plenty of cover. The monsters in this section seem to be placed somewhat randomly, with lots of guys in cages that aren't very dangerous given their sight lines.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP24 | E5-4: Hanging Fortress

100% kills, 1/3 secrets

 

Which brings us to this map, which is a return to the earlier style, which I would say is a bit unfortunate. The opening is a nice fight, and you can certainly choose a few different approaches at the start, but after that it feels very similar to the early stuff and doesn't do anything new or interesting. The cyber fight here is even more constrained and annoying than the one in MAP21, ammo is tight, and there's still plenty of chaingunners in windows and lost souls sitting in pits ready to make your life miserable. Even the final room feels similar to MAP21 as well. And the 'theme' of the map didn't do much for me... you can barely see the sky, it's an ugly one at that, and one that doesn't quite work as a floor IMO. With a different texturing scheme this easily could've been one of the techbase maps.

[DAZZER]

MAP22: Skeleton's Gardens

Time: 12:57

 

This could be 1:1 a Plutonia Map haha :) When I first walked into the "garden" I was very confused and didn't know where to start. I cleared every area except the one where you find the Blue Key... unlucky me. Finding the Red Key wasn't that hard for me. I believe this is the first Map where people with an Revenant Phobia began to sweat. I like fighting against them and always had enough Rockets or Plasma to do so :). In this Map are pretty much allignment bugs ^^ is it possible "Deadwing" wanted to complete this Map as fast as possible haha ? So a big, open very nice Map with excellent Gameplay (if you like Revenants) :)

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP24, E5-4: Hanging Fortress

 

This one is a much more conventionally Moonblood-ish map, albeit one set in a fusion of Hell and techbase themes suspended over an endless and mercifully inaccessible void.  After the preceding few levels, that comes as a bit of a... well, disappointment is too harsh a term, it's not as though what the WAD does when it gets going is unsatisfying, but I've enjoyed the variety that this episode has provided so far and this feels like it represents a step backward from that.  On the other hand, the Cyberdemon and the Spider Mastermind come out to play here without much in the way of fanfare, deployed competently and casually to thwart the player's progress in the red and blue key annexes.  Though if there's one thing that really made me jump, it's the Baron of Hell lurking in the shadows near the teleporter to the first secret areas; I stuck my head in there and was treated to his bellowing right in my ear which sent me scrambling for cover at the far end of the hall.  I'm not sure the secret blur sphere serves much of a purpose, since the hearby invulnerability is a more potent tool in dealing with the Spider Mastermind and the pair of arch-viles guarding the blue key.  Overall this one is competent but doesn't do a lot to stand out from the rest of the WAD.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP24 Hanging Fortress

 

Hmm...I actually do not remember this one. But from the name we are obviously delving into what is obviously a hanging fortress, in the sky, and with lava! There's even a few Chasm-like catwalks to make the experience even more, hanging I guess. Pretty hard, a monster count of 100 or so means that more meat is to be fried. A good majority are the hitscanners again, nasty! We also have the key ambushes for the yellow and red keys, the latter is one that throws a cyberdemon. No real special tricks as far as puzzles or secrets goes, but getting an invulnerability proved especially useful for the blue key area, against two flanking arch-viles, some revenants, and yet another spiderdemon. This one took awhile but was well worth it for the fun factor.

[Demtor]

 

MAP24 - "Hanging Fortress"

gzDoom - UV – pistol start/saves

 

Kind of a cool concept. Brings in a lot of neat visuals with it’s theme but doesn’t get caught up in itself too much.

 

The starting area was pretty fun running circles around. Speaking of running circles, getting down and dirty in the mud towards the exit was a blast. I also liked how the back area loops up and around the top as well so when the CG’ers come in they kind of spread out whilst I did my thing with the revs and everyone else. Really good stuff there.

 

Most of the map those involved getting to every key. Each had there own unique challenge and setting.

 

The YK involved a balancing act over a lava flow with ambushing enemies a foot.

 

The RK involved a quick and deadly detour below while up top you’re free to grab the key but beware of the stealthy cow guardian once you do.

 

Finally the BK was the craziest of all with a SMM looming in the background. Clowns to the left of me and jokers to the right. There I was. Stuck in the middle. Thankfully there was an IV sphere in the middle of the blue stepped drop down across from the secret invisibility sphere.

 

The overall layout was also a little more complex then most maps I think. I dunno, maybe I just wasn’t having luck as I didn’t even notice the side area with the BFG until after the RK cyberdemon put me down. Grrr. I had to replay things over a few times and never seemed to really settle on a clear path. I just barreled through things blindly, going on instinct mostly.

[antares031]

MAP25 - Helltown
ZDoom, UV - PS, KIS(%): 100/100/66

 

An open-world style level that allows you to move around, and figure out how to beat the level under one significant threat: A cyberdemon that teleports between three designated platforms. But before you leave, if you're playing pistol start, make sure to grab a SSG at the starting point first by pressing the button. Back to the problematic cyberdemon; No, you can't telefrag it, so pray to the RNGesus to let there be as many monster infightings as possible first, and grab your plasma guns and cells. Alternatively, you may grab the BFG after you get the blue skull, but keep in mind that there's another tricky part to pass before you get the BFG. Anyway, I basically liked the design of this level, except the cyberdemon. I understand the concept of its placement to make the gameplay more intense, but it only made me to spam quicksave button more frequently while I'm exploring the level building by building. Well, it was the end of episo... oh, nevermind. There's one more level to beat.

[rehelekretep]

map21 fda

nasty little map! some berserk stylings (21 and all...) but not essential. did enjoy myself but a little bit directionless for me

 

map22 fda

i didnt really like the boxy/orthogonal look here, especially with the midtextures which look ugly imo. the gameplay is ok but a bit too much chasing revs around corridors

 

map23 fda

the lava is the most dangerous enemy here >.<

 

map24 fda

my favourite of the 2x maps; you can run around but none of the approaches feel unfair, lots of cool scenarios. only bad thing was i got stuck somewhere and couldnt see a way out but thats probably my crap navigational skills rather than a mapping error as such.

 

 

[Capellan]

It's the 25th here, so ..

 

 

+++ 99 Ways to Die, The Trooper's Playground, The Talosian Incident

[Spectre01]

Hipsters unite! +++A.L.T. for an arthouse experience.

[Scotty]

Last nomination i'll do for this brilliant trio of smaller mapsets:

 

+++ No Sleep for the Dead, UAC Ultra, Scythe X

[baja blast rd.]

+++ Stardate 20x7, Crumpets, Rush