The DWmegawad Club plays: Reverie

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP10: The Tech Towers

 

I remembered the very start of Triplet II from my last playthrough of Reverie, in an "Oh, this is a familiar sight!" sort of way, but I didn't remember much of the level itself or the impression it had left on me.  This, though?  I definitely have a lingering memory here of a bad taste being left in my brain.  Let's see if my mood has changed in the intervening years or my ability to appreciate what Reverie is doing has improved.

 

...I have to say that I'm not sure all that much has changed, with the whole adventure still feeling over-long, over-large, and unfocused, a collection of structures that are individually well-crafted assembled together into a somewhat incoherent whole.  It's a city map that reminds me of nothing so much as Doom II's MAP13: Downtown scaled up and made more ferocious, with a definite (and give the title, obvious and deliberate) focus on a technological setting over the occult and horrific, but I think the larger scale works against it here, with the spaces between structures feeling not so much like city streets as spaces of gallery floor left between structural sculpture pieces at art exhibition; the pieces need that separation but the map as a whole doesn't utilise it as much more than a void in which the player can be ambushed by cacodemons and pelted with stray lead from distant hitscanners.  There's also a sense of an uneven level of detail and complexity to it, as though some ideas and sections were worked carefully into their finished state and others were rushed to their completion due to lack of time, energy, or inspiration.  Sorry, but this just doesn't work for me overall.

[galileo31dos01]

8 hours ago, Roofi said:

A fantastic level to close the first episode of Reverie.

Well, technically the episode closes after map 11. 

 

MAP11: Hello, Cybie!

UV/Pistol start/1 save

Deaths: 1

 

Despite what the title implies, this isn't the first time the player meets a cyberdemon on UV, and there are two in this map, which I honestly didn't enjoy it overall. It's a bit slow as there're a lot of shotgunners and chaingunners and very little health and ammo. It's also filled with barrels, some are pointless like the ones opposite to each other in front of the doors, and some will kill your enemies for you (also they will dumbly kill themselves). The final part is what I did like, leading one cyber out at a time seemed the best to kill them both faster, in my first run (second actually, a shotgunner sniped me before) they both went out and came to me together like a married couple. Also, in that run the exit completely failed, as the barrels killed me but not Romero's head... I swear. 

 

 

[tmorrow]

map11: Hello, Cybie!
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

A mostly straightforward map. Not a lot of health so you can't afford to make too many mistakes. The twin cybies at the end can be taken out in comfort with little risk if you aren't in a speed running hurry by kiting them back to the stairs. The computer map secret took me a bit of time to work out but the soul sphere secret was an outright gimmie. Continue mode players note the death exit at the end so you might as well use up all your ammo beforehand.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP11 Hello, Cybie!

 

Well, Rocket Dongs needs to come in at some point (he would be on other levels in higher difficulty settings but don't care to change difficulty levels for any reason nowadays), why not make it a level with his name in the title AND with another very jazzy tune. This one sounds a bit more reminiscent of a Whispers of Satan song, actually. Anyways, yet another short map, offsetting the balance between long and short maps in the early stages of Reverie. The biggest threat here are the barrels. Might as well shoot down any and every one seen. I hate how they're in front of doors. Barrels should be used for fun purposes, not scattered in obstructive places. Figuring out the red key and the secrets proved a bit difficult. The end fight isn't anything overly spectacular. You can get the BFG right next to the yellow key, which means either smash Rocket Dongs with that or have the Pink Sponge Goats of Hell soak up some infighting. Alas, a death exit, the only one in the wad though.

 

The level layout looks like a squirt gun.

[Pirx]

MAP09 - “Fracture”

 

a nice compact map, contrasting with the sprawling one before. perhaps it doesn't seem that small because it makes use of its space efficiently, with various nested rusty metal rooms and hallways. sure it's a bit simple to play on continuous. one has to play it from pistol start in order to get its full experience as a combat puzzle, which consists in working out a way around the revenant pillars and the mancubus room and get to the better weapons: the plasma rifle hidden behind the manc room, and the rl and ssg taunting one from their pillars. the map gets better when one knows it and can play it fast. the archvile exit surprised me because actually there were 2 viles, however they were so busy with reviving useless zombies that i just sneaked through. the room with the titular fracture would have been ok without the headache-inducing lighting though.

 

 

MAP10 - “The Tech Towers”

 

very tall, technological, and large... have to use some saves here because i'm still on my way through it and no idea where i'm going.

[Spie812]

Crispy Doom - UV Pistol Start - Saves

map11

Another short little romp in the vein of map09 that serves as a breather (i guess) between the longer maps. Given the title of the level, I expected the cyberdemons to play a more important role in the level. Instead, there's just two at the very end and you get a BFG beforehand, making the cyberdemons trivial. The rest of the level is pretty good, but nothing really noteworthy.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP10: The Tech Towers

97% kills, 2/6 secrets

 

After the small MAP09 comes this sprawling map. Wasn't sure what to make of it at first, pulled between my like of adventure maps and my dislike of Downtown-style maps with individual tower/buildings and an open downstairs area. Thankfully you don't need to spend much time down below once you've found the teleporters, and following the proper path will usually deposit you near the teleporters anyways. There was a point I somehow got off the path and ended up doing things backwards, but it worked out in the end. Combat early on seemed to be some more ho-hum room clearing (especially the parts where you just need to slowly whittle down a room full of mancs) but there's a couple of good moments with surprise AVs. Overall it's certainly an admirable piece of effort, though for some reason it seems to lack that something special that makes me really enjoy it.

[gaspe]

MAP11: Nothing really special. The computer map secret was neat and the music is funny. There's no so much health around so you have to be careful about that, and the cyberdemon fight is awkward.

[Roofi]

Map 11 : Hello , Cybie !

 

 

A very cool action-oriented little map. This level is not very hard if you know at least how to dodge cyberdemons' rockets , the BFG9000 is very helpful but you have to attack closely to finish them without wasting too much ammo. Not a really hard fight in fact , but I liked the idea to make their footsteps audible before the fight , it keeps the player on stress. Nothing exceptionnal in terms of aesthetics except the room behind the blue key door. I liked the little computer and the kind of treadmill. I digged the very dynamic music used which gave me the Memento Mori vibe.  On the other side , I found the ending pretty weird. I don't know why I am supposed to die whereas this level is in continuity with the next level but it doesn't matter because I play every level on pistol start anyway.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP11: Hello, Cybie!

 

I wonder if this is going to be a thing, going forward, an alternation of sprawling, long-running maps with shorter, more focused levels like this?  This base is compact and somewhat flat-feeling, especially after the exaggerated verticality of the preceding map, and pretty crowded with meat of various tiers despite having only one-third of the population the player has just fought through to get here, with the starring role of course going to the titular, telegraphed Cyberdemon who apparently has a fondness for hanging out in a dark closet.  Overall this one felt rather "bitty" to me, with vignettes and environmental features slotted into a grid-like arrangement of largely similar rooms in a layout that doesn't have a lot of instrinsic personality and a sense that the detail is trying to cover for that uneven concept and the fragmented flow of movement through the level.  The death exit is a cheeky little surprise to end the episode and I'm curious as to just what the WAD author is going to do with the player's newly vulnerable state over the coming few levels.

[galileo31dos01]

MAP12: Armageddon Valley

UV/Pistol start/No saves

Deaths: 0

 

Short easy opening for the second episode. This indeed is going to be a thing @TheOrganGrinder, short and long maps mixed together, except the short ones won't necessarily be "breather". In this case you travel in the mines and find lots of secrets (three indoors and three outdoors). I found it smooth to play without much care, although going for the SSG as early as possible would be the best idea. The rest goes down quickly, even more with the secrets that make the level way easier. Good midi, and I liked the skybox too, gradually introducing the player to the hell of Reverie (hell as, harder gameplay, not red rocks).

 

 

[rehelekretep]

map10 fda

too long, too confusing, too much sr50 because i dont know whats going on.

reminds me of a Nicholas Monti map but not as good (sorry valkiriforce!)

Edited January 11, 2018 by rehelekretep

[rehelekretep]

map11 fda

this is a lot more fun - interesting progression and then some slightly tense (because of slightly narrow passages) bfg cyber duels at the end

[Magnusblitz]

MAP11: Hello, Cybie!

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

I appreciate the long sprawling maps being interspersed with short maps, I hope that continues... the effect is lost somewhat when playing one level per day but still nice. This one is a bitty map, featuring a lot of tiny rooms broken up by doors (usually fast ones), but adding in barrels and keeping the monsters weak helps it from feeling too much like rote room clearing. The actual cyberdemon(s) battle felt like the worst part at first, since they seemed like they just want to sit inside the dark room and play Meat Wall (and firing the BFG with a fast door bottleneck is a pain in the ass) but finally I figured you can indeed lure them out and it made it a ton easier.

[tmorrow]

map12: Armageddon Valley
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

A step down in difficulty, probably due to the death exit in the previous map and it being the episode 2 opener. Pistol starters will find this map a breeze after the last few maps, especially if you've found all of the secrets. The secret hunt occupied most of the time spent on this map.
 

[Pirx]

16 hours ago, Magnusblitz said:

MAP10: The Tech Towers

97% kills, 2/6 secrets

 

After the small MAP09 comes this sprawling map. Wasn't sure what to make of it at first, pulled between my like of adventure maps and my dislike of Downtown-style maps with individual tower/buildings and an open downstairs area. 

 

quoting this because i found that we often have similar opinions on maps, or notice the same things. i'm generally torn when playing large city maps like this one: on one hand it's cool that the map gives me this feeling of adventure and lets me go where i want, on the other that's the difficulty with it, because i spent much more time running around and wondering where to go next rather than fighting. also used saves because my pathfinding algorithm is still crap.  building something huge like this is certainly an effort that deserves praise, however it was a bit too vertical imo, and that's with mouselook. lots of concrete grey here. the city maps in memento mori and requiem that tech towers have been compared to were more colorful. the better fights were in the buildings, where rooms were remarkably cramped sometimes, while the many arachnotrons  on the ground were a hassle only when they shot at me from so far away that i couldn't hear them firing.

 

 

MAP11 - “Hello, Cybie!”

 

seems an earlier map visually, a base with some rooms in simple shapes, without much polish. fun ssg work though, and infighting between the revs and arachnotrons outside the base. had an oh shit momenthearing the cyb's footsteps behind the door at the end of the catwalk - now that would have been unfair if he was right in my face when i opened the door, right? luckily, there's enough cell ammo and even a bfg behind a tree. opened the door, two-shot the cyber. wait, there's another one in the dark? two-shot that one too. which went very smooth, considering that i was pretty low on health and a bit of blast damage would have been my end. so, i stepped into what was a death exit, i found out. and i just picked up a bfg...

so, overall an entertaining first episode.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP12 Armageddon Valley

 

This map breaks a tradition of alternative long and short maps for a bit by being a short map in front of a short map. Very basic for the most part, only got a shotgun and chaingun, the strongest enemies to find are cacos (at least on this setting). But geez, SIX secrets for such a short map? I remember being stumped on at least half of them. The clues are very subtle though. And this MIDI sounds like it would fit an actual doom metal thing.

[Spie812]

crispy - uv pistol starts - saves

map12

You crash your spaceship or something conveniently next to a mineshaft. What follows next is a whole bunch of claustrophobic tunnels. The level is short enough that it hadn't started irritating me by the time I finished. The level does have an open area near the end if that counts for anything.

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP10: The Tech Towers

59:08 | 100% Kills | 100% Items | 66% Secrets

 

Ah, this map. I didn't particularly like it the first time; I'm kinda torn on it now. On the one hand, it is pretty cool. On the other hand: soooo much wandering around wondering, "What do I do now?" On the gripping hand, I think I fared a lot better this time around, even though I didn't really remember any of the particulars. It seems pretty clear to me (and has for a while, but this map really brings it home) that even though this is billed as a vanilla WAD, it really is intended to use freelook. Nowhere is that clearer than the northeastern tower complex, which practically requires looking at your toes to navigate (or even notice) the various descending levels. And there's a lot of mandatory stuff tucked away in obscure corners, some of it signposted by the ridiculous floor-arrows, but much that's not. And when you get lost, or lose your footing and fall, there's a lot of floor to cover to make your way back to an elevator or teleporter (or at the least the one you want.) I did like the thought behind the bank of teleporters to take you to the keyed doors, but it would have been better in, say, the center of the map, not tucked away in the farthest corner (particularly difficult to reach once you've raised the x-shaped walkways.) I'm trying to come up with a part of the level that I really enjoyed, but all I can think to do is find fault with just about every bit. (The most obnoxious part was easily the yellow keycard arena, which killed me soooo many times.) And that's too bad; I do think that on the whole I liked it, but let's just say that playing this one two times in five years seems like enough.

 

 

MAP11: Hello, Cybie!

13:14 | 100% Everything

 

This one is a lot of fun, though. Barring the cybie(s!), who atomized me the very first split-second I opened their door. Everything up 'til then was a blast, though. A compact base full of tricksy little rooms stuffed with mostly lower-tier dudes ripe for just blasting through. Great stuff.

 

 

MAP12: Armageddon Valley

17:11 | 100% Kills | 96% Items | 83% Secrets

 

Hunh. I didn't remember this at all when I first ventured out of my crashed ship (those hanging security monitors might be the coolest bit of the WAD), but once I got into the caves I remembered this one. It's weird, that part at least feels like something that came out of Icarus or Requiem, and the crashed ship puts me in mind of something...Dystopia 3, maybe? Anyway, this isn't the first map in this set where VF does the thing with branching corridors where a random switch opens a previous dead-end in a distant tunnel (heck, the entire blue key hunt in MAP10 was that, writ large.) Not a fan of that style of play, certainly not when used to excess. Otherwise, this one's pretty fun, though those early chaingunners tried to ruin it for me right off the bat. (Peek my head outside = suddenly down to 40% health!) I did miss one secret, no idea where. The last one I found was entirely pointless, being nothing more than a shortcut to an empty cliff overlooking the final area. (Okay, looking at the wiki, apparently it telefrags a monster there if you haven't already killed it. Still: Lame.) And the exit room is like the weirdest decision of all: a pitch black little box with apparently only one wall that ends the level? What was the idea there? I was going to say I won't complain much, but, uh, I just wrote all that ^ doing so... But I did enjoy this more than not. The next map is what I remember being one of my favorites from last time. Can't wait.

Edited January 12, 2018 by Salt-Man Z

[Ozku]

Map09: Fracture

With pistol start the gameplay on this map changes up a bit. You are facing higher tier enemies and your and have to find the secret rocket launcher and ssg to realistically deal with them all. Trying to rush the exit will lead to a nasty surprise in the form of two archviles. I enjoyed the gameplay here.

 

Map10: The Tech Towers

I was waiting for this level. The main feature here is a gigantic area with tall towers that connect to each other. The progression takes place inside these towers, not paying attention on what you're doing can lead you to lose the track of the level quite easily. Most of the fighting takes place in quite cramped rooms and corridors. The map makes good use of these small spaces to make them feel larger than they actually are. Exploring the level reveals some extra ammo and a plasma rifle that becomes a necessity when dealing with archviles and revenants in these tight rooms.

 

I really liked this map, it is one of the most memorable levels in the wad for me.

 

Map11: Hello, Cybie!

I love me some doom furniture (that treadmill!). Gameplay wise this level is nothing spectacular, rooms filled with trash enemies with couple higher tier enemies to spice things up. The level is quite short too, which is good because it's real feature are the two cybies near the exit (hope you know how to 2-shot one). It's a nice fast level to end the first episode.

 

Map12: Armageddon Valley

You start in a crashed spaceship of some sort which was quite cool way to show how you got in here. This short level takes place in a small cave system, at some point two archviles teleport in different parts of level to brighten up your day. Can't really complain about this level, it's quite surprising to see 6 secrets in such a short map though.

[gaspe]

MAP12: A sinister start for the episode, you are in the place where the previous map ended and when go out you discover that you were in a sort of aircraft that has crashed on a bleak mountainous area near a mine. It's packed with so many secrets despite it's a small level.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP12: Armageddon Valley

 

So, this one's a pretty cool setting, with the crashed and ruined spaceship and the obvious gouge it's left in the walls and the floor of the creater in which it's come to rest, and then a little tangle of caves and ruins, hinting at ancient mysteries and buried secrets that the demons are excavating and putting to use.  The death exit/fresh start is perhaps defanged a little by the ease with which the player can quickly reassemble the greater part of their arsenal, though there are certainly early moments of vulnerability thanks to the sergeants that patrol the crash site; it's easy to suffer a rather greivous wound from a shotgun blast at uncomfortably close range if your attention strays for even a moment.  Most of the meat of the level, though, comes from the hunt for secrets, of which there are plenty to be found of varying difficulties and levels of utility; if you're playing on continuous, these can mean the difference between facing the next level's challenges in tip-top condition, or finding yourself just about hanging on, a little bloodied and raggedy.  I like it!

[Roofi]

Map 12 : Armageddon Valley

 

 

 

 

A cute little level which reminds me a lot of Dystopia 3 because we start in a sort of broken down vehicle right in the middle of a canyon. We must explore this canyon by using a very narrow underground mine. The level is not hard at all , the SSG is overpowered and important secrets are not really hard to find. This map has a good adventure side despite its size , I would liked a slighlty bigger map to be honest but whatever.

[tmorrow]

map13: Stronghold Earth
zdoom2.8.1, uvmax, pistol start, no saves, first time played

The map is complicated by the fact that ammo is scarce early on and that the outside requires rock hopping over damaging floor where you can easily fall down. There are plenty of hit scanners to make your life hell. Most switches are remote so it is hard to keep track of where to go and what to do next. All traps are avoidable once you've memorised them though, so that's a good thing. Once you manage to reach the top of the main structure there is ample ammo and the map gets easier. Note there is an unofficial secret in the northeast of the map (look for a blue candle) with a megaarmor and some health bonuses.
 

[galileo31dos01]

MAP13: Stronghold Earth

UV/Pistol start/2 saves

Deaths: 1

 

I had some memories of this one feeling bigger than it actually is. Mostly fun and a few things I found unpleasant. While the map isn't hard per se, it starts with an intruder in your house (how the hell he passed through the door?!), and some roamers outside. It's important to find any armor before investigating past the platforms, preferably the green armor near the exit boat, as there're many hitscanners and other monsters of varied sizes waiting on the other side. I found progression to be confusing at times, specially when looking for the blue key, I didn't want to start all over but you can see me lost in my video. That would be the only unpleasant part, because the rest was entertaining for me. There's a blue armor and bonuses hidden in front of a blue torch, they don't count as a secret and that's something I've seen in many old megawads. Anyway, nothing else to point out, I guess everyone else at this point will be expecting a short map after this one :P

 

 

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP13 Stronghold Earth

 

I don't like this map. It's another quite long one, and actually took longer for me to beat than MAP08 or MAP10. Reason I don't like it? Chaingunners, what else? These guys are on the canyons and buildings and whatever else they can find, shooting without me knowing. Especially terrible when you are on the thin rocks, where it's easy to fall. Seems quite non-linear for a level otherwise, but a few things may hiccup the progression. Gotta find a shootable switch for one door, and also raise two platforms to reach the red key. Oh yeah, and get the blue key whenever you could too, but there's a bit of back-and-forth there. Also lowering the red and blue bars would take a bit of patience as well. Luckily, there's much better weapons to use against the bigger monsters, and aside from chaingunners, hell knights were quite common sights too. Eh, I just don't like those chaingunners. A sleeper of a map otherwise.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP12: Armageddon Valley

100% kills, 3/6 secrets

 

I like the music track, but feel it's a bit wasted on this map, which isn't nearly intimidating enough and rather short. The only real difficulty came early on since I went down the SSG path last (of course), and even then it was more feeling the grind of single-shotgunning two hell knights and chainsawing the two arch-viles than any actual threat. And while I probably wouldn't've thought of it except for Memfis asking about it, but having all the monsters be deaf contributes a lot I feel to the placidness of the combat, since a lot of encounters can be easily dealt with simply by creeping forward, then activating and killing the monsters one-by-one. I actually did this by accident on both the blue key and the pain elemental near the end. I do dig some of the detailing though, like that half-buried pillar.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP13: Stronghold Earth

 

So I've complained about some of the earlier large levels in Revereie (MAP08 and MAP10) but I really liked this one, with its more consistent theme and more comfortable scale that never quite succumbs to the temptation toward hostile and obstructive vastness that characterised my experience with The Tech Towers.  The environment lies somewhere between typical city and castle themes, emphasising each more strongly than the other in separate parts of the map in a way that's pleasingly reminiscent of childhood combinations of LEGO sets and themes, all of it set in an inhospitable rocky wilderness and backed by a music track that reminds me of the moodier sections of the Rise of the Triad soundtrack.  It works rather well as a combination, atmospheric but not oppressive.

 

Gameplay is pretty well balanced, with perhaps a few more distant chaingunners than I'd care for but a generally entertaining mix of different monster and encounter types and a feeling of the initiative shifting back and forth between the player and the monstrous hordes in different sections of the map.  For a big map with some 200+ monsters on Hurt Me Plenty it's not outrageous with its provision of high-powered items, with a single soul sphere and suit of blue armour inviting use or hoarding depending on the player's own tastes; I'll admit a certain curiosit as to why the blue armour wasn't flagged as a secret, and indeed, given its scale and population this is a map where a mere one secret (compared to the six of the much smaller preceding map) feels like either different standards of secrecy were applied fom map to map, or this was pushed out the door before a perhaps-beneficial pass through the editor to add more in the way of hidden areas and bonuses.  That's a minor complaint, though, in what I otherwise found to be one of the WAD's strongest maps so far.

[Paul977]

Stronghold Earth is one of the best map of the set for me with cool midi, atmosphere, setting and good fun gameplay

[gaspe]

MAP13: The music is very moody and the outdoors are rather dark giving a feeling that something bad is happening, or has happened which it hits when you reach the canyon with the rock platforms and ruins that emerge from the burning rocks. By contrast the north-west corner with the 2 towers guarding the sea is a peaceful place. The main part of the level is the intricate quest to get the red key in the castle-like building. The ending sequence with the "boat trip" to the tiny island was neat.