Community Chest 3 Released

Up to map28... this cchest is easily my favorite of the trilogy. Of course I liked some maps more than others, but I had fun playing all of them so far. Also, I haven't been bothered by the lack of a consistent theme... it just keeps the surprises coming. Hell, having two maps with similar themes right next to each other (22 and 23) almost seemed out of place compared to the rest of it. :) No complaints though, as this wad reaffirmed my amazement that I'm having so much fun playing this game after all these years.

Oh shit. cc3 is out. time to make cc an annual event.

edit: cc3 FAILS the STC test at 0:00.

rf` said:

Oh shit. cc3 is out. time to make cc an annual event.

edit: cc3 FAILS the STC test at 0:00.

Haha, blame Use3D for that one! I also don't mind the varied themes, like vile said it makes it interesting to see what the next theme will be, and each map more memorable.

myk said:

If they "play" primarily to find a theme connecting the levels, then maybe they don't like this game in the first place.

Well said Myk..Well said indeed.

I dunno, part of what makes playing a whole megawad so enjoyable for me is the idea that the levels or at least, groups of levels within the wad, might flow together in terms of theme and gradually increasing difficulty, etc. Whereas something like CC3 certainly is a blast to play, but it feels more like just a random collection of 32 great single maps as opposed to a cohesive megawad.

I just think maybe a little effort could be concentrated next time on systematically arranging the levels so that they fit better together. Maybe when people are picking map slots, instead of picking a numerical map, pick from a certain theme and have the testers/compilers decide which maps should go where as they put it together? I really think something like that would enhance the gameplay experience of the wad. Just a thought.

Kid Airbag said:

I just think maybe a little effort could be concentrated next time on systematically arranging the levels so that they fit better together. Maybe when people are picking map slots, instead of picking a numerical map, pick from a certain theme and have the testers/compilers decide which maps should go where as they put it together? I really think something like that would enhance the gameplay experience of the wad. Just a thought.

On the other hand, some people might get tired of certain themes if they are repeated too much in a row. For an example, I don't really have anything against hell themed maps but I just couldn't take too many of the more oppressive hell maps in a row, not at least without a break. Also, while I agree with gradually increasing difficulty, there should be some easier "break time" maps mixed in the bunch to break down the map set a little and add some more relaxed moments into there.

In retrospect, the difficulty arrangement could have been tweaked, perhaps. However, I usually just solved that problem myself. I played through the megawad from map01 to map30, letting gzdoom auto-save for me. Whenever I felt like I had too much of an advantage (full weapons/ammo) I just started that level from scratch and continued on.

Well, after playing and completed maps here and there (map01 to 06, and 5 or 6 here and there), I'd claim this is the best of 2007' WAD releases until now. Big, epic maps with 250+ monsters is what I like.

Off the first 6 maps, the 5th one was the best in my opinion for its atmosphere. I'll make a review to each map soon.


My only reproach would be there is not enough maps using custom textures, playing with the same textures again and again makes me bored from time to time but well that's my tastes.

I like the designs of these maps in general. It's just that there isn't as much BOOM stuff outside of scrolling textures as I would've liked. Some of the "real life" details like the offices and cabins with the Xboxes in them made me giggle seeing them in DOOM texture form.

However, my favorite maps have to be the epic 1149 monster level 29, and level 30 was the creepiest final level I've seen in a long time. I know the credits say Lee Jackson was the music for these two levels, and level 30 is from DN3D, so what game does level 29's music come from?

Abster said:

However, my favorite maps have to be the epic 1149 monster level 29, and level 30 was the creepiest final level I've seen in a long time. I know the credits say Lee Jackson was the music for these two levels, and level 30 is from DN3D, so what game does level 29's music come from?

Rise of the Triad.

Ok, and mistache was the name of the midi I was looking for. Thanks. I don't have any programs on me that can extract directly embedded midis from BOOM orientated wads.

Awesome maps, some VERY challenging ones in there.

5 stars, 2 thumbs up, gold cacoaward, etc.

udderdude said:

Awesome maps, some VERY challenging ones in there.

5 stars, 2 thumbs up, gold cacoaward, etc.

What, nothing about mixed bags?

You're losing your sense of constructive critique :(

Aside from doom2day's 2 maps the first episode has been really nice. Looking forward to playing the rest of it.

Naan said:

I'll make a review to each map soon.

That would be awesome, I miss reviews in the style of Andy Oliveira's Visions of Doom review page, and as much of a cunt as NoPoet was, he did something similar which I enjoyed.

Belial said:

Aside from doom2day's 2 maps the first episode has been really nice. Looking forward to playing the rest of it.

I'm eager to hear your feedback!

I'm almost done playing through this mod and I've to say that I rteally liked it so far. I'm surprised about the quality in a community project like this... good job everyone!
I think my favorite map so far has to be either map12 or map19.

Lüt said:

What, nothing about mixed bags?

You're losing your sense of constructive critique :(

Meh, there wasn't anything that stood out as exceptionally crappy. There wasn't anything that made me go, "Ugh, why did they even put that in there?"

I said just that when I finished playing map20.

Why didn't you like Map20? I thought it was awesome. The music and starry sky was indeed awesome too, in my opinion.

Belial said:

I said just that when I finished playing map20.

Well you're probably not going to like MAP26 much then.

Map12 and map20 had really boring and tedious gameplay, and map20 didn't even have the custom textures, varied architecture and non-linearity that helped map12 to some extent.

Map26 was pretty good, but not as good as map25.

For me, 18 is the best map of the whole set, briliantly unlinear, I loved it! :-)
For map20 ... I liked its music ... reminds me something that I know very well :-)

I agree with Belial about map20's boring gameplay. Usually I end up killing every monster in a map, but this time I killed only about half of them, because they we're so easily skippable. I have to admit that towards the end I went out of my way to avoid the monsters just to prove myself the previous point :)

Map12 also ended up a little boring because it's so huge and the gameplay seemed somewhat aimless. It's still one of my favorite cc3 maps.

My favorite maps thus far (I'm on map24) are 1, 7, 12 and 18.

EDIT: I agree with Gusta about map18. Did anyone notice the clever way that Phobus inserted his name in the map?

Map18 is a real gem, it's not as easy as it seems to add keyed switches that require revisiting certain areas without breaking the flow of the map and making it feel artificial.

All in all the megawad as a whole isn't something I'd call a mixed bag, since there were only a precious few rotten eggs with the rest of the maps usually being of really high quality. Too bad map29 delivered the final disappointment of the wad, after map28 and seeing 29's somewhat Scythe 2 inspired looks I had expected something less squarish and copy-pasted and more creative in the monster usage department. Seeing all those archviles teleport did bring back some pl11 memories though :)

Belial said:

Too bad map29 delivered the final disappointment of the wad, after map28 and seeing 29's somewhat Scythe 2 inspired looks I had expected something less squarish and copy-pasted and more creative in the monster usage department. Seeing all those archviles teleport did bring back some pl11 memories though :)

I agree, Map29 is far too repetitive IMO, it's a fairly good map but if it wasn't so repetitive, it could've been excellent. Map30 is a completely different story though, same author, but that map definitely is one of the best Map30's I've seen in a very long time. Amazing design and feel, plain and simple.

Belial said:

Map12 and map20 had really boring and tedious gameplay, and map20 didn't even have the custom textures, varied architecture and non-linearity that helped map12 to some extent.

Map26 was pretty good, but not as good as map25.

I guess I should have followed my gut instinct when I thought "something seems off about this one." Still, I thought the part where the cacos came through the windows and the part where you fight your way out of a crater were some of my best work. I guess I just added too much fluff between them. Oh well, live and learn.

Dr. Zin said:

I guess I just added too much fluff between them. Oh well, live and learn.

Eh, I found both of your maps imaginative and interesting. Map20 felt like it was meandering in the middle sections, a little directionless at times (and I HATE the music). Map24 and Map18 are two of my favorites, Map08 and Map21 are also very well done.

Use3D said:

(and I HATE the music).

You hate Metallica? :O

Yeah, actually. Especially that song.