Azure_Horror

Updating my votes: 10 - Ozonia 10 - Eviternity II 10 - 180 Minutes Pour Vivre 5 - Beed's attempt at a cool arsenal (weapon mod by @Beed28, link) 5 - Struggle 3 - Overboard 3 - Eviternity 1 2 - Vesper (weapon mod by @Xaser) 2 - Uprising 1 - Fractured Worlds 1 - Ray Mohawk 2 1 - Wormwood ]|[: The Horror 1 - Doom: Negative One - Beyond the experiment 1 - Plutonia Experiment Vote Explanation: 55 votes is too little, so almost all things recieved less points, than they deserve in my heart. Hardest hit pWAD - Eviternity 1 (it is very close to the top 3 in my heart, but - it already has 366 points total in this thread) and Fractured Worlds. Detailed explantions

+++ Pirate Doom 2 +++ The Lost Magic +++ Valiant (Let's Revisit the classics, 9 years later!) As an aside: What about allowing 4 or even 5 offerings per vote? For example + + + Glaive 1 & Glaive 2 & Warglaive & Glaive 3 (4 pwads, 32 maps in total)

Played some maps in a random order. Some thoughts, in no particular order: 1) I really like map 23 Surprise! (awesome showcase of berserk in Rudy 2 res pack, and a an awesome weapon variety overall) 2) Map 21 feels like Evil knock off of map 21 (which is very strange from a level progression standpoint... One would expect a more difficult level to appear later in in the mapset...). Almost total lack of healing is obnoxious even when you compare it to your (stereo-)typical Hell Revealed 2 map, nevermind something less unforgiving. And berserking + enemy sourrounding combo gets old very fast. 3) This mapset really showcases the Pump Action SSG. The original RR2: powertrip was more focused on longer-range weapons, and as a result Punp Action SSG remained in the shadow. But this is such a beastly concept for a Doom 2 weapon! Great to see it getting full spotlight. 4) The Plasma rifle is a sour spot in Rudy's arsenal. I think, it may be fun to take a page from Deadliset Demolition arsenal, and introduce DualWielded Plasma Rifles instead. Such armarment would fit Rudy very well, and it is also extremely fun to use, as the Deadliest Demolition shows!

Sadly, I've got many IRL things to attend to and I won't be able to complete the map in due time. I relenquish map 30 spot. @A2Rob, I am sorry for doing this so late in development.

Everything played on UV pistol start. Sourceport - DSDA doom, with its helpful rewinds. (grumble-grumble, map 10 has a piece of Sunlust hidden in a cellar) Maps 01-08 Nostalgia is a very solid WAD, with wonderfully-paced gameplay and beatiful visuals. And it is aptly named too - there are lots and lots of moments, where my mind was like "Hey, this section is just like in map X of WAD Y". Playing this WAD is very fun! But it is a bit hard to write a review for each and every map... They are all solid, short and to a point. And, sadly, for this reason the levels blend together in memory a bit. Not that Nostalgia in unique in this... Many parts of Scythe, Plutonia, Struggle, Alien Vendetta were also like this. Hell, even some parts of Valiant felt like this. It took 2-3 playthroughs of Valiant for me to remember and distinguish all its maps. Map 09 - “Bleed Me an Ocean” From gameplay perspective, this is a breather map. Even more weapon variety (BFG is here too!), a blue armor right from the start, and somewhat merciful monster composition (not an auto-win by any means, though). What makes this map stand out, is its non-gameplay parts. We have here many beatiful details, a nice layout to stroll around, and a brilliant music track choice. The MIDI is legendary "Brutal Schism", a track used for famous (or infamous?) Eviternity 1 map 19. Using that MIDI was a stroke of genius by @myolden, IMO. Eviternity 1 map 19 is HUGE, so using that one track for a small level may feel counter-intuitive. However, "Brutal Schism" is first and foremost a great track to simply listen over-and-over (that's why it is perfect for huge maps). And thus, it sounds wonderfully inside a detailed and a bit easier level, like “Bleed Me an Ocean”. In conclusion, while the gameplay of “Bleed Me an Ocean” is 'only just' solid, and a bit lacking in excitement, the map overall felt really outstanding for me. Other, non-gameplay parts get the spotlight instead - that's one positive trait. The map is also serves as a breather befor map 10 swithches into a higher gear once more - that' another plus. One of my favorite levels so far, a defintive highlight of the WAD for me. Map 10 - “Creeping Death” The most prominent part of “Creeping Death” is the "Mini-Sunlust Basemnt" right at the end. You drop down into the basement. The basement is a small-ish room, filled with revenants near all its walls, and a BFG in the center. The damage potential of the opposition is high, and the room already requires some finence to win. But even with the revs defeated the trial is not complete yet. There is two more waves. The second wave is easy - 2 Barons. But the second wave is hardcore - 2 archviles from two different directions, with hell knight support, and all the corpses lying around! Ouch! I sure hope, that noone forgot to pick up that secret blue armor... The finale reallys sells the map, but the other parts can be quite spicy too. In particular, “Creeping Death” happily places hitscanners left and right, and also joyfully drops yet another archvile into the big pile of demon corpses of all sizes (Revs and Mancs included). This map has some wonderful action-y gameplay, borrowing from all kind of eras of Doom mapping (including the nineties and the 2015-2020 period). A really enjoyable level to play right after map 09.

Version 2. I hope sky walls are now compatible with every rendering mode... Map Name: Druid Artificial Dimension Author: Azure_Horror Music: "Ghosts in The Walls" by Stuart Rynn (Rebirth MIDI pack song for map 11) Difficulty settings: Implemented. UV - somewhat merciless; HMP - somewhat merciful; HNTR - power fantasy Ports Tested: DSDA-Doom, 15 January 2023 Release Download https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/e0e5015bo2rxesm0fvn9e/30mc2_Azure_Horror_m1_v2.zip?rlkey=93cqqy19kwlryfbr7o4pxj409&dl=0

Its just occurred to me: In ancient greek mythology, "Pluto" is the name of underworld deity. - Revenants are literary the ones, who came back from the dead. - And Archviles, evil beings, who can resurrect, also have an obvious connection to the underworld. So there is a certain elegance in Reverants and Archviles being mascot monsters of Pluto-nia Experiment. (only 1 question remains - how hordes of chaingun wielding maniacs are releated to the ancient underworld myths?)

Map 27 - "Empyreal" by @DMPhobos & @Dragonfly UV, pistol start, saves, DSDA The grand battle of Myriad may have been won, but the Celestial Episode has many challenges still. The very first fight of Empyreal unleashes 2 Nightmare cacos, 2 Astral Mancubi, and 2 turret Archviles! After some time, a bunch of Revenants and some Astral Cacos join the fight. This battle includes a ‘free’ megashpere for a reason... This fight has not many monsters, but it is still a tough challenge, if one comes unprepared. Compared to the initial fight, the blue and red skulls can be obtained realtively easily. But the finale of Empyreal is a hard battle once again. Finale works as follows: (for reference - I came here without the secret BFG) First wave is roaming Hell Knights + Hell Dukes and entrenched Energy Riflemen. Soon after, Cacos of normal and astral variety begin to appear. Then an Astral Mancubus gets unleashed. This all happens on a pretty small arena, and very quickly the battlefield gets filled with monsters and projectiles alike. But the final wave is even crazier: This wave includes both an Archvile and a Necromenace. By this stage, they have so many potential targets to resurrect... Personally speaking, I think that the archvile is more deadly at this stage. First, the cover is premium in that stage of the fight; Second, all kind of monsters will do their best to chase the player right into the archvile zaps. That said, a tanky Necromenace is a scary monster too. Focusing him down in the chaotic fight is hard, and also requires some time. All this time the Necro does its best to keep resurrecting stuff - and the fight situation changes constantly. The finale showcases two things: - the full potential of Necromenace in serious battles. - the sheer explosive potential of minislaughter battles on small arenas. After the macroslaughter of Myriad, it reminds us that monster numbers alone do not mean everything... Aside from the main progression, Empyreal also has two optional (Secret) fights. Both deploy considerable numbers of Annihilators. 1) The first bonus fight is hidden in Red key subsection. This battle can be accessed by either shooting a particular switch, or by running on top of the wall after the hexagonal section. This fight awards the BFG-9000 and uses Pain Elementals to support the annihilators. 2) The second secret fight happens right after the final battle of Empyreal. Here, the bonus fight itself is its own reward. This time Annihilators appear together with Hell Dukes. The infight potential between those demons is high, so that’s a plus. However, the battle is not an autowin by any means: both Hell Dukes and Annihilators have powerful attacks, and catching one salvo too many can mean death. Compared to Myriad, Empyreal is an easier level. But compared to other 200-300 monster maps in Eviternity 2, Empyreal seems to be among the harder ones. And there is also the whole "secret fights" angle. Episode 6 seems to be related to the modern "challenge-focused combat" map genres. Gamplay-wise, we have grand slaughter, we have dedicated test-of-ability challenges, and we also have smaller-scale hardcore setpieces. Aesthetics-wise, Episode 6 does look related to the "Cosmic & Void" visual themes, which are very prominent in many challenge-focused pWADs. Map 28 - "Afterimage" by @Velvetic UV, Continuous, saves, DSDA replayed on UV, pistol start, saves, DSDA In my case, there were lots of dying in this level, even on Continuous with saves. And even more dying on pistol start replay of this map. I fully expect Afterimage single segment to be much more difficult for me, than Myriad single segment was. At first, Afterimage looked like an easier map. However there are so many things, that can go wrong… The gloves are fully off by now: there are Astral and even Nightmare cacodemons attacking from high above, there are archviles trying to resurrect everything back, there are many revenants in hard to dodge spaces. Yellow key section was really nasty on a pistol start... Rev seeker missiles, Hell Duke salvos, High-Flying Astral Cacos and Nightmare Demons – this is terrifying combination! Such different threats are very hard to track at the same time. The arena is small, the healing is limited, and there is also that one archvile which can light its flame from nearby room (Hey, sometimes that Vile comes out and joins the fight! Things can go very wrong indeed...) Final area, with the Necromenace hiding on top of a cliff, was also quite hard (even on continuous, this battle required a lot of care. Nightmare cacos getting resurrected is a terryfiyng turn of events...). In the end, this map feels like a smaller @dannebubinga & @Ribbiks map from Sunlust. Technically, there is nothing really devastating here. However, there is endless opportunity for disaster. And thus, the map requires both high performance and an ability to quickly re-improvise, in case the things start going out of control in some novel way... In the end, Afterimage is a very appropriate map for slot 28. The map frustrated me at times, but this far into the final episode nobody should expect much mercy. Episode 6 began with Myriad, after all! Map 29 - "Maelstrom" by @Dragonfly UV, pistol start, saves, DSDA replayed on UV, Continuous, saves, DSDA Compared to previous maps of Episode 6, Maelstrom has two notable traits: 1) Very non-linear structure (despite the map being rather small) 2) Heavy focus on stock Doom 2 monsters. Point 1) is self-explanatory. Maps 27 and 28 each had 2 separate key areas and one final fight in the end. Map 29 has more keys, and the respective colored key sections are often connected in unexpected ways. Point 2) works as follows: there are still many Eviternity 2 demons on Maelstrom. However all the crucial fights (both secret and non-secret ones) deploy a considerable number of Doom 2 foes. Hell knights are especially easy to note, but there are also many old-school cacos (newfanged cscodemons are still there, don't worry), nefarious reverenants, a dedicated cyberdemon setpiece, and other beasties. Specters and pinkies felt pretty underwhelming in their respectable fights: - pinkies of Maelstrom get overshadowed by both the astral caco strike team and the huuuuge pinkie flood of map 32. - specters are just SSG-yes / Rockets-no checklist. IMO, the specters would be better replaced by some mix of nightmare demons and, say, vileimps or other in-your-face threats... But other classic monster played their respective roles very well. Even on continuoius playthrough, situation did go south a few times. Revenants once again demonstrared their inherently Plutonian nature, Hell Knights marched around menacingly, and did their best to limit combat space, and clouds of old-fashioned cacodemons showed that non-mutant tomatoes also know a few tricks. In conclusion, gameplay of Maelstrom is, once again, pretty good. The map feels distinct from maps 27 and 28 due to a unique monster composition and thanks to different progression structure. But my favorite part of map 29 is the MIDI. "A Dremaless Eternity" is a very catchy and memorable tune on its own. And it also perfectly captures the feel of both the map 29 itself, and the episode 6 as the whole. Moreover, for me personally, this MIDI feels almost like the musical theme for the whole second half of Eviternity 2. Map 36 - "Kenosis" by @ukiro I played Kenosis once in rc2 version. Sadly, I don't have the time to replay it again right now. And even if I would replay it - I would require just as much time to make a proper detailed review. So I'll be super short: 1) My favorite gameplay sequence of Kenosis - the final fight. Thanks to its absolutely METAL intro sequence, that fight is another super memorable moment of Eviternity 2, not far behind the Battleship sequence from map 24, or the Grand Battle of Myriad. 2) I also really like the astral Caco+Rev+PE rocket brawl (Edit: NE rocket launcher area), and the battle against Vileimps on narrow castle wall in the Red Key section. 3) I think that Kenosis is a successful continuation of Eviternity 1 Anagnorisis. @ukiro wrote once, that idea of Anagnorisis was to make the player experience the same feeling that someone playing Doom in 1993 for the first time did experience. Kenosis, with its marble-brimstone-and-blood aesthetics, nefarious challenging setups and overwhelming scale, seems to invoke a somehat similar type of experience (Edit: for me personally, ofc): To me, playing Kenosis felt pretty close to playing those old-school grand-scale challenge maps for the first time (be it Go2it, Lake Poison, Punishr2, Fire and Ice, or Mucus Flow). So yes, Kenosis is a worthy successor to Anognorisis. BTW, Anognorisis is so grand, that there are multiple ways to develop its ideas further. For example, Eviternuty 2 Charge also feels like a successor to Anagnorisis. And I think that Kenosis ideas can also be developed in multiple unexpected directions.

Catch up for episode 5: Map 21 - “Numb” by @Dragonfly Reading write ups by other club members helped me notice something: Map 21 really sells the idea of COLD. There are quite many snowy episodes in Doom pWADs. But Eviternity II Episode 5 really feels the coldest among them. Snowy castles from Eviternity 1 felt grim and foreboding, but also somewhat cozy and warm. The Snowy techbase from Numb feels as cold as the scenery around it. Gameplay is also impressed me: I really like how Numb employs new monsters. Finale (Annihilators + Nightmare Demons + Astral Cacos) is one of my favorite small-scale fights of Eviternity 2. Ice cave battles with Super-mancubi and Annihilators are also awesome. Together with Thaw, Numb may be my favorite map from Episode 5. Map 22 - “Inclement” by @Bauul, Dragonfly First things first: I really, really love the invulnerability brawl – it successfully combines no-risk monster stomping and some actually dangerous combat. The Invuln timings and monster compostion were calculated perfectly! Overall, Inclement is filled to the brim with constant action. The start really blurs the line between Incidental battles and Pre-set combat setpieces: the whole starting half of the map feels like one huge arena. Later parts of the map are less crazy, but they are crazy non the less: Eviternity II expanded bestiary, and Archviles roaming through already cleared areas make for memorable finale. Secret Map 35 - “Parallel” by Dragonfly Like map 34 or map 31, this secret level is relatively “normal”, rather than “crazy special”. But this not a problem to me. (In fact, map 34 is one of my favorite secret maps ever, despite its “normality”. But this is a story for another catch up) All in all, I quite like Parallel. My favorite parts and ideas: - The trick of parallel realities is very well explained, and allows for some interesting routes. Essentially, some parts of the map are Room-over-Room, but presented with cool thematic twist. - Multi-color Hellish Scenery in OTEX is awesome! I liked Eviternity 1 Hellscapes quite a bit, but they were very focused on Black+Red (Black+Magneta in some cases) color combinations. I really like how Parallel's hellish parts add orange to its scenery. - Any map with non-secret Perforator gets a "thumbs up" from me. I like this gun with all my heart, and thus I am a fan of any map, which incorporates Perforator into normal weapon progression, because the fights are made with Perforator being part of the main arsenal, rather than a bonus tool. - It also helps that Parallel reminds me of Ancient Aliens map 32. I like the whole reverse "Doom secret level theme" concept! All in all, I enjoyed playing Parallel. It is not as crazy as Charge, Catalyst or Anagnorisis. But not every secret level should be absolutely insane! Less crazy secret levels are as old as Doom 1-2 themselves - and Parallel is an awesome secret map of such type. Map 23 - “Thaw” by @DMPhobos Thaw is an awesome map. It has: - Sub-theme of "wandering", which resonates very well with Eviternity 1 Snow Episode. - A huge techbase, with layers upon layers of minor and not-so-minor monster set ups. This is like Eviternity 1 Dehydration, but without the soul-crushing despair, which makes Dehydration so infamous . - Melting Ice Walls. In fact, some of the most prominent arenas/secrets are hidden behind melting ice. This is a really creative approach to Ice Techbase theme. By the way, thanks to interconnectedness, large scale, well-crafted monster set ups around every corner, and those cool Ice-Melting arenas, this map reminds me heavily of Back To Saturn X. It is always cool to see another great pWAD Legacy expanded beyond its titular series. Episode 6, Map 26 “Myriad” by Tristan Clark, Guardsoul, Dragonfly Nostalgia time: during my first playthrough, Eviternity 1 had two ground-shattering highlights: fighting the cacoswarm setpiece in Crynology (The BFG-YK fight) and seeing the sheer grandeur of Transcendence. Map 26 of Eviternity 2 combines highlights of Transcendence and Crynology into a single whole. @Tristan, @Dragonfly, @Guardsoul, you are absolute madlads! Myriad has some parts that I am not fond of. For example, I don’t like most of the challenges that much... Endure is slow-paced and a bit RNG, Conceal is finicky, Destroy is about 2-shotting cyberdemons (I am really bad at this), Passage is all about walking and looking... However, Myriad is super-impressive nonetheless. Because of its sheer scale and sheer audacity. 750 monsters in one fight? Yes 750 monsters in one fight! (This is how many demons appear in the arena with only Endure challenge completed) Making such a fight is a Herculean task even for slaughter genre. But making such a fight approachable for more general audience – this is actually insane! Together with Temeraire, Myriad is a very strong contender for 100 more most memorable maps of all time... BTW, I did mange to 100% complete this monster single-segment. I am very bad at 2-shotting cybers, but with 400 plasma in the pocket, Destroy can be completed even without BFG! The things is, the challenges become accessible again when the Big Fight enters its final stage,. Thus, I decided to complete 5 of 6 challenges, and to leave Destroy for later.

Map 25 - “Boreas” by @Dragonfly My winning strat on UV pistol start for no-Save win was: This is a tough level to describe... After much deliberation, I think I'll call this level a Bossfight Against a Squad of Annoying Scoundrels. The setup is very well executed from technical perspective: - Imp horde for a warmup. - A small excursion around the boss arena. - Phase 1: fight against a lone Necromenace. - Phase 2: with Necromenace dead, a bunch of monsters appear all over the arena. - Phase 3: the second Necromenace joins the fray, and starts its Necro-Menacing antics: its summoned ghost showcase their ability to resurrect enemies. - Phase 4: with second Necromenace dead, an exit bridge appears, but one archvile and a herd of pinkies (and their NM cousins) charge forth from exit room. This is a well crafted, multi-phase bossfight. On a continuous playthrough, it is not too hard to win the fight first try, thanks to all the plasma and defensive items from map 24 (nevermind a potential secret BFG from map 24, or even a Perforator from map 35). On a pistol start, the fight will most likely require multiple tries, because each new phase introduces vicious complications to the battle, and resources are considerably limited. Still, retrying is quick, the MIDI is energetic, so trying again is fun. For the most part... The devil is in the details: so many potential loses come from seemingly craven demon tactics! - There is a chance of falling from arena and dying this way. - The summoned ghosts are such facerocket bait, that even Lost Souls shudder in disgust. - Optimal weapon seems to be Plasma Rifle, but depleting its ammo too early makes phase 3 really tough. - Ghosts in Phase 3 resurrect Chaingunners, Shotgunners and Revenants behind the player back. Necromenace itself can unxepctedly deal a notable chunk of damage, thanks to its extremely fast energy shots. Sudden appearance of High-DPS minions makes damage even more unpredictable. Very painful proposition, due to limited healing... - Archvile + Minimal Cover + Very few HP left after phase 3 = high chance of death in the very start of phase 4. If the player enters phase 4 heavily wounded - than the Vile is perfectly positioned to either finish the player right on the spot, or to overwhelm the player with another wave of resurrected monsters. Dying to any of the above things has a chance to feel cheap. Do you see, how many of those "potentially cheap" deaths are there? There is a very good chance that the player will feel sour about at least one of their loses. As a result, the level can leave a mixed impression, and the Necromenace can feel like a relatively weak, but very craven, cowardly and annoying Boss-type monster. If this is OK (Demons may indeed be craven, after all!) - then the level is perfectly well executed. My personal conclusion: - Personally, I think that map 10 setup, with the cyber swapped for a Necromenace or two (second one roaming around), would be a much better demonstration of the new monster's abilities. - Still, from a technical standpoint, map 25 is a very well-crafted bossfight. 10/10 - However, many particular elements of this fight leave a sour taste in my mouth. - If the level feeling a bit divisive and nefarious is not a problem for Eviternity II team - then everything is executed perfectly. - But if the intention was to make an epic-feeling boss fight to conclude an epic-feeling Episode 5 - then there may be some room for adjustment.

I had fallen behind yet again. I think it would be best to speak about the Battleship In The Room ASAP. Map 24 - “Temeraire” by @antares031 UV, pistol start, saves 1) Playthrough 1 When I was playing Eviternity II rc1 in 2023, I played Episode 5 on continuous. Even with Perforator Gun at hand, Temeraire was a difficult map. But also a fun one! 2) Playthrough 2 Today I replayed the map from a pistol start. And the map felt notably less enjoyable than on my previous playthrough. I was constantly running out of ammo, while all kinds of Astral Cacodemons, NM Demons and Vileimps were getting in my way. It was extremely frustrating: when I needed close combat weapons, I was forced to rely on rockets. As a result, I constantly ran out of rockets for rocked-focused situations... I did manage to complete the map, but the gameplay felt kinda clunky during all that... 3) Map Highlights: The map has four major setpieces: 1) Yellow Skull Key fight: a big arena with all kinds of crafty monsters, including vileimps, 2 cybers and quite a number of archviles. This is a really fun battle, IMO: the combination of different monsters is able to threaten the player all over the arena, despite the arena itself being quite big. Also, this is the only fight in Eviternity Duology, which combines cyberdemons, astral cacos, and more traditional Doom midtiers. 2) Red Skull Key fight: lots of different monster types, all appearing in a small storage room. As long as the player can run around the arena, the monsters keep distracting each other. So the winning strat feels very boring from both Spectacle and Doom Fight perspective: just focus on running around until you win. Of course, some monster will get in your, so you better to have a Plasma Rifle or BFG at the ready. An Archvile, Pain Eles, and Astral Cacos can be really nasty in this cramped arena. Still, in the end the fight strategy is very straightforward. And thus this battle feels kinda forgettable for a setpiece of its caliber... 3) Blue Skull Key Fight: this is a real whirlwind of different monsters! Memorizing monster waves and timings required multiple tries. But in the end, finding effective movement patterns and optimizing rocket launcher DPS was very fun here. And unlike RSK fight, most monsters ususally try to chase the Doomguy instead of fighting among themselves... 4) HMS Temeraire Setpiece: HMS Temeraire is a battleship. It is huge (because battleship). It is also quite detailed. A doomcute large-scale battleship is real sight to behold... But it is more than eye-candy: the final battle finds the player facing against a crowd of ~50 cyberdemons! At first, this appears as a completete overkill. But the fight is quite winnable: with correct approach, it is possible to dodge all the rockets, and dispactch the closest cyberdemon. After that, the player can teleport onto the battleship itself. After that Doomguy is able to fire the Battleship Cannons! Those cannons will annihilate all the cyberdemons, and the explosion will also leave a huge crater, with the exit inside! What a spectacular way to finish a FPS map! 4) Incidental combat and smaller setpieces: On this map, incidental combat is quite deadly, but also somewhat boring. Ditto for the smaller arena battles (Keycard fights). In the end, smaller fights distracted me from the main fights of the map, while also eating through my resources. Usually, I tend to like the smaller battles on @antares031's maps. But not on Temeraire. I think that Alpha Scropii Supercluster from Antaresian Reliqaury is a superior take on the concept of Huge Adventure Map with Epic Grand Battles and Fun Smaller Encounters... 5) Conclusion, and alternative gameplay strategy for playthrough 3: I have my reservations about Temeraire. Yet still, it is a really great map nonetheless. Moreover, Temeraire can also be played like Fire and Ice from Scythe: avoiding annoying battles is a valid approach here. Such strategy helped me to minimize boring combats and reach the most fun setpieces ASAP. So I found the map quite enjoyable after the third playtrough. Temeraire is not my most favorite map of Eviternity II, but it is still a really, really good level. And the battleship sequence is arguably one of the most epic moments in Doom pWADs, period!

Map 09 - “Quetzalcoatl” by @Dragonfly Okay, to make review a bit longer, and less bland, I will list a handful of observations: - There are really many ways to go on this map. Non-linearity is everywhere, both in side-areas, and main progression. However, no mater the route you choose, it feels like a One-True-Way-To-Progress-Naturally. Quetzalcoatl manages to combine strongest parts of non-linear and linear approaches to structure. This is great! - Many parts of the map, especially the cave sections, heavily remind me of Trinary Temple from Ancient Aliens. But without all the time-consuming walking! - On the other hand, a central hub + many sideareas to explore + architecture together remind me of Dare to Fly Where Eagles Soar, also from Ancient Aliens. But to be completely fair, I struggle to find good worlds to describe Quetzalcoatl. It is an amazing level! Quetzalcoatl is a really high-quality map, with lots of miniature side-areas, many different routes to proceed, an actual secret exit to map 32, and cool-looking sections both above-ground and inside the caves. Really, really wonderful map, but hard to talk about. I prefer to play it, rather than write texts about it . . . Map 32 - “Charge” by @Tristan Clark & @Guardsoul All things considered, this is my favorite map of Eviternity II. Period. Charge is bets described as Lost Civilization meets Angnorisis! This in itself is quite an achievement! Charge also serves as a great demonstration of MBF-21 instakill floors, which slay both the player and the demons! The map also has a bit of Meta-Videogame-y stuff, with Red Key secret teleporters and related elements... That’s in short. This map deserves a longer review, and I hope I’ll be able to write one eventually. It is my favorite map of the WAD, after all… Map 10 - “Incinerate” by Dragonfly Incinerate is a miniature symmetrical boss map, happy to flood the player with all kinds of funny nonsense. The map introduces a new foe: Astral Mancubus. This behemoth is beefy and has impressive firepower. Its three different attack types look gorgeous, and showcase the insane potential of MBF-21 expanded mod capabilities. Aside from new Mancubi, Incinerate also has Astral Cacos, Annihilators, Astral Spider, a Cyber, and a silly hitscanner crowd near the very end. Visuals are perfectly calibrated to the gameplay. The gameplay-focused symmetrical arena structure looks like a natural development of Episode 2 themes, like a hybrid between map 06 and the subterrain sections of map 09. Good map. One thing I must add: that this map would have been a really badass introduction for the Necromancer monster (in place of the cyberdemon)... But that’s a story for another day. We’ll get there in less than two weeks. Map 11 - “Titan” by Guardsoul Facerocket is the worst kind of rocket. Sadly, Titan gives ample opportunities to facerocket oneself: lots of specters, plenty of archviles, plenty of lost souls and pain elementals, many other big monsters. This means that rocket launcher firepower is mandatory, but opportunities to misfire a rocket are everywhere… Ouch. That’s my primary impression about the gameplay on Titan. To be fair, the fights are quite diverse and action-packed. But facerocket threat is present in almost every major encounter, and thus it lingers in my memory the most. But from thematic and artistic perspective, Titan is immaculate. Concrete Fortresses and Scenic Natural Beauty may seem like an odd things to combine. But Titan mixes them in a very compelling way. And even more: - Natural parts of the map are great and unforgettable in themselves. - Concrete parts of the map are also great and unforgettable in themselves. - And they also made to fit together! Natural cliffs and concrete cliffs both look stunning, like one is a development of the other! This map really sells the Episode 3 theme. Such a brilliant entry! Map 12 - “Collapse” by Dragonfly A shorter level, and a twist for those of us, who look for spoilers in the monster counter. The map starts from a series of ambushes, proceeds to a series of localized fights, and finally rebuilds itself into one big arena brawl. Most of the 300-something monsters are imps. They flood the map at the final stage. Thus, the map is much less beefy than the monster counter may suggest. In general, this map likes to re-build itself by lowering all kinds of walls. It also has quite mean Annihilator set ups in smaller arenas. And the 4 cyberdemon turrets at the end cause an great deal of mayhem. I think, structurally this map ressembles smaller levels from @mouldy's Going Down the most. However, the artstyle and music selection employed differs considerably from Mouldy’s designs, and thus Collapse feels very different from Going Down, despite its structural similarities. One last thing: Collapse, being a shorter map, is a perfect change of pace after rather big map 11. It really helps the WAD to fit together.

Everything so far is played with: UV difficulty, DSDA-Doom (outdated release?), Rewinds and saves welcome, Pistol Start This my second playthrough of Eviternity 2. Map 05 - “Departure” by @Velvetic & @Dragonfly Thematically, Departure is a farewell to both Eviternity II Episode 1 and Eviternity I Episode 6. No wonder that this map starts with the famous temple structure from Eviternity I Heliopolis! Fights vary greatly in scope between tiny skirmishes, and some quite explosive arenas. The archviles appear quite casually now, often with not that much cover in sight. There is also the first cyberdemon fight of the WAD (with two cybers, to make things interesting), and a new, improved Astral Archnotron variant. And even smaller wights can be quite vicious. My personal bane is that one astral cacodemon on top of the spiral staircase. It always manages to blindside me and land a full point-blank salvo! Plasma Rifle arena is also quite deadly, but it is a full-sized arena at least, does not feel so bad losing there... But no matter where on the map I go, there is lots of background details to see. Despite modest size and linear path forward, the level really feels like a huge, sprawling area to explore. And both those visuals and this gameplay really remind me of Struggle maps. Before checking the author's signatures, I was sure that @antares031 was invilved in making this map. But I digress. Departure is the perfect finale for the Heavenly Residence of Archangelus sub-section of Eviternity duology. And in the context of Eviternity II, it offers yet another setpping stone to the crazy stuf which will come later... Map 06 - “Rite” by @an_mutt Episode 2 begins with a tyson-esque exploration of some temple ruins. The theme of this episodes seems to be Mesoamerica. To me personally, it also feels weirdly Egyptian... Something about OTEX textures and their deployment in Episode 2 has a subtle, but notable Egyptian connotation... But no mater which pyramids and ancient cities we are exploring right now, they do feel properly grand and ancient. Rite in particular is a dungeon crawl through some dark and deviously interconnected subterrain corridors. Weapons and ammo are limited, especially without secrets, but rocket launcher is notably present. Gotta say, Pistol + Berserk + Rockets is a very under-utilized weapon set in Doom pWADs... Glad that An_mutt created a map dedicated to this weapon set! My favorite part of the whole experience is the rocket duel right before the exit. The player needs to cross a lava chasm using a set of raised columns. However, on the opposite side of the bridge, there is an Annihilator, armed with its signature Rocket Cannon and a novel Energy Machinegun. Fighting an annihillator across the chasm is quite tense, especially on a limited resource budget... Map 07 - “Sovereign” by @DMPhobos Lost Civilization is a good phrase to describe ancient cities with pyramids in them. But Lost Civilization is also a megawad, famous for its expansive and detailed maps. Sovereign unites everything under one single rule: here we have detailed expansive map set in ancient Mesoamerican (and maybe also a bit Egyptian) city. That's a huge cool experience, and a nice contrast to both claustrophobic map 06 and smaller-scale levels from Withered Episode. To me, Sovereign felt somewhat like a Serious Sam level. Something from Babylonian Espidode of TSE, to be precise. Shooting monster hordes in ancient cities is a Serious Sam staple, after all! Eviternity + Serious Sam TSE sounds a bit strange at first, but they seem to fit together quite well... Map 08 - “Oblation” by @Bri I think that I should play more maps by Bri. Oblation is a nice unique part of Episode 2, and Freya is definitely one of the best maps I played in a long while. (But Freya will be discussed later, on the 16th of January) Oblation heavily reminds me about @skillsaw's work. Small-to-medium Ancient Aliens maps, and the "Coast to coast..." from BtSX3 are the closest points in comparison. Explosive fights are abundant, and they tend to have that memorable Skillsaw-esque bite in them. Last figght with its squad of roaming archviles, and many custom monster is arguably the deadliest fight in the WAD yet. The artistic side of things is also top-notch. It is beautiful, memorable, and also resonates well with the gameplay. All in all, this is yet another great map. It works like a bit of a breather between grander maps 07 and 09, yet it also escalates the gameplay further, offering new and expanded fights to test the player's prowess.

I am sorry for being behind a bit. A different 20-years old game received a huge Fan-made Mod on 31_12_2023, and it distracted me from Eviternity II. As they say, "When it rains, it pours!". Never thought that this saying applies to breathtaking fan-made content, yet here we are... Map 03 - “Sonder” by @Dragonfly Another really awesome MIDI. But it is more subtle than "End of the line". I loved the soundtrack for map 02 almost in instant. "Spider Waltz" from map 03 didn't felt so striking at first. But in the end, "Spider Waltz" feels like The MIDI not only for map 03, but for the whole episode 01! It has a right mix of sadness, grandness, wonder, and mystery to resonate with all levels from this Episode. Maps 01 and 02 had very notable "Grey Realm between Light an Dark" visual aesthetics. Sonder is a bit different: its aesthetics is not Grey, but Colorful instead. There is strong emphasis on lush greens. But those greens are also contrasted with Hellish Flesh-walls. In the end, this is also "A Realm between Light an Dark", but rendered in a different way: Cosmic Autumn instead of Cosmic Grey. Structurally, Sonder strongly reminds me about Heliopolis, map 27 of Eviternity 1. Once again, there is a big patch of natural scenery with twisted passages and minor ambushes. And all this nature connects a set of dedicated "challenge areas", which house more dangerous encounters inside them. To complete the map, a full set of challenge areas must be cleared. But there are two big differences between 2018-19 Heliopolis and 2023-24 Sonder: - firstly, the Sonder is much smaller in scale. Map of different scales play differently, obviously! - secondly, there is two different sets of challenges to exit the map on Sonder. Set 1 - completing all Fell Heart fights unlocks a big arena in the center, and clearing this arena leads to exit. Set 2 - activating 4 switches connected to 4 secrets rises a Heliopolis-styled stairs, which lead to the Secret Exit. The player may chose whatever set of tasks they prefer. Map 31 - “Redshift” by @Afterglow & Dragonfly Here is the first secret level. Praised be UMAPINFO for enabling custom WAD progression in many different source-ports! Aesthetically, Redshift is a brownish-red techbase with bright-green pools of Nukage. This is a tried and true visual design for FPS levels! It also can be seen as a twist on the SupernaturalAutumn Sub-theme of Maps 03, 04 and 05. Rusty-looking steel beams emphasise "It is time for everything to change around here", just like the Autumn leaves, or red-and-yellow-and brown natural colors do. Gameplay-wise, Redshift is dedicated to firing big super-weapons at the unruly hellspawn. The new Perforator Gun is the main treat here, but good old BFG-9000 can also be found and readily deployed. The level has all kinds of demons to test the guns against. I will describe Perforator later, because I want to make a dedicated post about custom deHacked in episodes 1 and 2 of Eviternuty. For now, I will only say that perforator feels like a cross between normal Railgun-style FPS weapon and the SiegeMode Alt-fire for Doom 2016 Gauss Cannon. Map 04 - “Engulfed” by @Velvetic & Dragonfly Arguably, Engulfed does not include any ground-shattering moments. But this is not the problem at all, I think. Engulfed is a set of extremely high-quality pieces - and this an absolutely valid way to construct a great level. From the very beginning to the very end, I had a lot of fun playing this level. The monster variation is really great: if I am not forgetting anyone, than this level uses all low- and mid tier monsters from both Doom 2 roster and previous Eviternity 2 levels. Zombieman, Biting-Demons of all kinds, Archviles, Barons, Annihilators - everyone is here. In the grand scheme of all things in Eviternity II, Engulfed brilliantly passes one crucial threshold. Any WAD which starts with easy-going minor skirmishes and aims for grander battles later on has to pass that threshold somehow. I am, of course, talking about wide-spread Revenant deployment. Small maps with too many revenants are bound to feel vicious, at the very least in good old Plutonian way. Grand maps without Revenant squads are risking to feel lacking. (This does not mean, that one cannot make a grand map without Rev crowds, however! One can make even a Plutonia-style grand map without revs in any major fights! See Ozonia map27 by @Deadwing, if you don't believe me. But usually Revs are too useful a tool for a mapmaker to abandon in high-challenge levels) Basically, any WAD with high-variety difficulty curve is bound to have a moment, when revenants become a common foe. And it is better to not feel too cruel, because revs are tanky, tricky, mobile and also have high damage! Engulfed acts as the dedicated mass-rev introduction for Eviternity 2. Revs are rather commonplace here. But they have company: Pain Elementals, Mancubi, an Annihilator, Hitscan squads... And map geometry of Engulfed seems to make dodging Guided Missiles easier. So revs feel like just another hellspawn variation rather than a dedicated "Ruin-Your-Day-Specialists". Map 03 - “Sonder”, Map 04 - “Engulfed”, Map 31 - “Redshift” - all three are awesome maps, each with its own unique traits. I think, I prefer map 02 a bit more, but those three maps are great too.

As a fan of Struggle, 180 Minutes pour Vivre, Ozonia, and Eviternity, I am obligated to to do my best and try to write reviews for the club this month! Especially considering the fact, that Eviternity II is a huge milestone for Doom mapping, even greater than Eviternity I was. So here it goes... Map 01 - “Elysium” by @Tristan Clark Eviternity II begins where Eviternity I ended. The Fallen Light Archangelus is defeated, and his realm, already twisted by dark forces, withers away and decays. Now Doomguy needs to backtrack through final levels of Eviternity 1 to see, what to do next, and check if some other Cosmic Entity have became totally consumed by pride, or something like that... This map is a love letter and a farewell to the "Elysium Trilogy" - maps 28-30 of first Eviternity. @Tristan have brought back elements of his original vision for Eviternity I map 29, and decoded to focus the map on contemplation and atmosphere, with combat being rare. There is exactly one fight and one monster on map 01. However, it is quite a audacious fight: Doomguy needs to defeat an Astral Cacodemon with only a pistol! Astral Cacos are mascots of Eviternity, they are fast, unpredictable, and deal huge damage. Luckily, the Astral Cacodemon on map 01 has nerfed HP, and ~20 bullets can do the trick. Overall, this map perfectly sets up the tone for the WAD. All the pretty visuals from Eviternity 1 are here - but the combat will be even crazier, with new monsters deployed much more freely. For me, this map brings back memories of "plot-focused" parts of @Deadwing's Ozonia (maps 01, 02, 11, 20, 21). Those Ozonia maps are focused more on sense of place and the World, than on gameplay in itself. Nevertheless, they are happy to deliver some extremely focused combat encounters to underline the overall experience. Eviternity 2 map 01 works in a similar way for me! Map 02 - “Vestige” by @Bauul, @Dragonfly After leaving Elysium, Doomguy senses a trail of yet another Cosmic Force gone rogue and upsetting the balance of the universe... Well, Doomguy's work description reads something like "agent of eternal vengeance", so this Cosmic Force is gonna be toast! But first, Doomguy must find a dimensional rift to get away from the withered Heaven Realm, which was a throne of Archangelus. If there is a realm of Light, and the realm of Dark, than maybe there is also a realm of Grey, of Twilight somewhere between Light and Dark... Imagining such realm is easy. But painting it, giving it a compelling form in art - this is much harder. But Dragonfly and Baull succeeded in this task! “Vestige” is a perfect image for both Corrupted Heaven/Ruins of Paradise and Purgatory dimensions. Combat here is rather merciful, with main focus on chip damage from zombies/lost souls. Yet, there are some scary signs of things to come: - The yellow key ambush starts the player completely surrounded by about 20 foes. - And the very end of the map drops a trio of Nightmare Demons, another Eviternity 1 custom fiends. Luckily, those guys are nothing more than Pinkies, but bigger and Teal. Still, in Eviternity 1 they were used less aggressively... The music in Eviternity II is always phenomenal. But on “Vestige”, the track is perfect even by Eviternity II standards. Rarely do you hear a tune, which sounds both somber and upbeat at the same time... Yet End of the Line by @Tristan is exactly like that! Maps 01 and 02 are very good at setting the stage for the rest of Eviternity 2. They do not tax the player too heavily, but a few scary moments are present in there. This is a few stepping blocks for the crazyness, which will be happening in the later levels...