Salt-Man Z

Replaying this on UV, and only just realizing I never got around to playing E4 before. Great stuff all around. I never did figure out that E1M6 secret. Also, that yellow key is unobtainable, right? So I'm guessing the author's just teasing you with it...

Since this popped up in my notifications again, I went ahead and replayed MAP33 for the first time since the E3 release (when it was MAP31, if I recall.) What a blast. God, I love this WAD.

Yeah, this is definitely a fun, underrated WAD. I've thought about nominating it for the monthly DWMC playthrough before, just never gotten around to it. (And I haven't really been particularly active around these parts for a year-plus...)

Nice. Kama Sutra followup? I'm still on DBP40 at the moment, so it'll be awhile before I get to this. Favorite mapping series, easy.

This looks FANTASTIC.

Playing this with the current GZDoom (4.11.3) and when I kill the Spiderdemon in the tower in MAP09, nothing happens; no teleporter lowers, and I'm stuck. (Just checked, and my previous version 4.8.2 has the same problem.) Never mind, figured it out. (That was extremely well-hidden...)

My son (now 18 years old) has really gotten into making MIDI music the past year or so. He just dropped a new EP the other day that I'm really proud of, so thought I'd drop it here: https://alexhawks.bandcamp.com/album/sword-songs

Sacrament and Whitemare 2 also both immediately popped into my head: Sacrament, only because of MAP10: the first time I played it, I got completely stuck and about gave up on the WAD. You grab the yellow key from a little gazebo-like structure, but while there are four exits to the gazebo, only one of them has the tripwire that not only opens the teleporter to get you out of that area of the map, but another tripwire that opens a random wall elsewhere in the map, allowing for progression. It's a really dumb setup, but I otherwise really like both the map and the WAD. Whitemare 2 was also a ton of fun, but one of the early maps is broken (there's a door that's supposed to open, but doesn't, stopping progression cold) and then there's MAP20: Gloominarch's Realm, this big ridiculous monster of a map that not only doesn't mesh with the rest of the WAD, but is a totally unfun slog.

Out of curiosity, are there titles for the new music tracks?

While it's still nearish the front page, I just wanna say that Stomper (unfinished as it is) remains one of my all-time favorite WADs. (I did try Slipgate once upon a time, but bounced right off of it.) Sad that it will likely never see a finished release, but glad that at least a playable version exists (PITA though those last two maps may be!)

Exomoon 2 when? ;)

Knocked out two WADs this weekend (rest of the family was gone, so I could just play games as much as I wanted!) Auger;Zenith by DBP was great, I'd love to see that texture pack used again. Even the weaker maps were really punched-up by the visuals alone. Definitely worthy of its Cacoward, but I'm not sure it would even make my Top 10 DBPs. (Don't ask me what they'd be.) Cyberpunx by Nic Monti was also really good, but the end fight is positively indefensible: you face off with a Cyberdemon and a slow-drip of heavies teleporting in, including more than a couple ill-timed arch-viles. Oh, and the way to exit is to ride a narrow-lipped, very slow, and very high lift up to the exit switch. Almost impossible, you say? Well, what if we also threw out the game's contract with the player and made the cyberdemon invincible without signposting it in any way? I still love Monti's mapping--his creativity and use of verticality are unparalleled--but I'm getting really tired of how mean his levels have gotten...

Played over a handful of sessions this weekend, so my memory will be worse than usual when trying to recall these maps... E1M5: Mining Complex (GZDoom/HMP/continuous) 34:55 | 100% Everything This was a fun one, cramming a lot of gameplay into what appears at first to be a relatively small footprint. Only after finally getting to the exit and then spending some time sniffing around for the last couple secrets did I stumble across the route to the alternate yellow key, and holy crap! That was quite the (completely optional) journey! Loved it. E1M6: Visitor Center 15:20 | 100% Everything The cozy little reception area to start out is very cute, but after that it's all run-and-gun, with numerous (always low-tier) baddies sniping you from windows and springing out of closets. It's a convoluted little maze of a map, but fortunately getting from A to B is always a quick trip, so even if it's easy to get lost in all the brown rooms and corridors, it's also hard to stay lost for very long. No real standout encounters, but this is exactly my brand of gameplay, though as previously mentioned, I probably would have enjoyed UV a tad more, as I was rarely ever in any real danger. E1M7: Traffic Control 20:54 | 100% Everything An adorable little ticketing area, complete with luggage belts and metal detectors, gives way to a boringly-symmetrical map that makes up for its relatively-uninspired geometry by just absolutely stuffing itself with monsters. Just an absolutely blast from start to finish, though the final ambush in the end-area train station that came down the stairs behind me after I had found the exit was a bit of a head-scratcher. So too were the "insta-pop" ambushes in a few rooms that were triggered such that the baddies didn't pop up until I was already literally walking on top of them (a GZDoomism, I'm sure, of being allowed to walk on monsters' heads, but then is the intended behavior that I slam into an invisible wall as a shotgunner pops up in my face? Seems both options could be avoided with a little better execution.) For some reason I quite enjoyed taking elevators up to the surface and entering the buildings there to grab the keys; that design really scratched the itch of feeling like something you're note supposed to be able to in Doom. A fine level whose highlights far outshine its weaknesses, including a waste of some good sector bathrooms. :( E1M8: Huygens Spaceport 7:53 | 100% Kills | 100% Items | 0% Secrets Once again we have a nice bit of continuity between maps: the train we got on to end the previous map has now crashed (or been attacked, or something.) In fact, the entire facility has been blown to bits, with craters and fires everywhere, and doors jammed in a half-open state. You have to circumnavigate the entire complex twice: once to grab the red key, and another to use it, and on the second trip shortcut doors open up, along with brand-new teleport ambushes to keep you on your toes. The final battle is a standard Baron Fight times X, made more frantic by the wealth of damaging flooring and the addition of airborne enemies to harry you. Great atmosphere for an E1 ender, and a decent take on the final fight, even if the map ends up being rather insubstantial. I never found the only secret... On to Episode 2, in UV this time...

E1M4: Mineral Processing (GZDoom/HMP/continuous) 30:41 | 100% Kills | 98% Items | 85% Secrets On the one hand, I started this map immediately getting my health whittled down due to far-off snipers, and spent a few minutes at 35% before running into any healing packs. But once the initial gaggle of imps and shotgunners was dealt with, and I had picked up the secret soulsphere, the combat in this map was a breeze, bordering on too easy. The finale itself was a major disappointment: hit a switch, and wait as a bunch of low-tier chaff is funneled at you for easy pickings. (And I did so using just my shotgun and chaingun, completely ignoring the launcher and million rockets the map handed out.) What a waste of a very large, imposing arena! I will definitely be moving up to UV for the next episode, though I'm guessing it wouldn't have changed the ending to this map much. (Heck, if I have time, maybe I'll run through this one again on UV, just to see!) Anyway, I really dug the map otherwise. Looks great, nonstop run-and-gun action is my jam. The map itself flows...okay; to be honest, I initially found myself getting lost among the samey-looking elevated ramps for a bit. I did manage to miss a single secret with (I assume) the last item in it; I think at least 2/3 of my playtime was searching for it after finding the exit. I have to assume I missed yet another of those tiny switches (I found two of them.) Oh, and I absolutely love this MIDI, one of my favorites by Jimmy!