RaRu Des2122

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Today are presented: E2M4: Hive of the Horde E2M5: Chasm Control E2M9: The End? (secret level) *** This map has two undoubted strong points: a multi-stage secret, unraveling which we will get BFG9000 (which is rare weapon in the second episode!) and a wonderful soundtrack written by @LightningBoltForever! In general, we have an obvious candidate for the best map of the episode! *** As I already wrote when I was playing through Thirty Years with Doom, I love both city maps and hellish-city maps. And it is very pity that there are not so many such maps for The Ultimate Doom. This map is a perfect exception and the second candidate for the best map of the episode. I'm starting to get a little lost... :D *** To be honest, it's a quite nondescript map compared to the previous two and all three remaining in the episode. Perhaps it can be regarded as the calm before the storm.

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EPISODE 2: Monument Ready for Blood begins! Today are presented: E2M1: Rip and Tear E2M2: Beta Station E2M3: The Wailing Halls *** As I understand it, the only change that the Monument episode has undergone is the return to it a standard color scheme? *** A more filled (both of monsters and secrets) and slightly more user-friendly version of the map with a similar name from 2002 A Doom Odyssey. However, I can say the same about all the modified versions of your maps from this megawad (especially about Obituary Written and Hell Unleashed) *** It's funny: the episode, which is a collection of some of your previous maps is eventually included in the megawad, which is also a compilation of most of your previous maps in full! But it is a very good compilation, as it is totally not felt during the game.

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E1M3, I think. Played through. Cool map! I think it can be inserted directly into the megawad in this form and it does not require any corrections. And, of course, I realized what the reference to E3M6: Mt. Erebus was just after taking both invulnerabilites :))

Some intermediate results: BEST MAPS: 1) E1M3: Main-Frame 2) E1M6: Primary Base 3) E1M8: The Grinder BEST MUSIC: 1) E1M5: "Dark Matter Anomaly" by @BattleCat 2) E1M7: "Second Wind" by @BattleCat 3) E1M8: "March of the Blue Jays" by @LightningBoltForever The playthrough of the second episode won't take long to wait!

Today are presented: E1M6: Primary Base E1M7: Laboratories E1M8: The Grinder *** There is a perfectly balanced map between the obvious and the confusing. Yes, there are places to wander for a few extra minutes or to turn to run into a dead end or understand that it is too early to get here but it does not take too much time and the level does not lose its integrity. Simply put, returning to previously visited places after some time, I did not have time to forget that I had already been here - and this feeling works on the perception of the level as a someone whole :)) *** Alas, I can't attribute all of the above to this level either. There are enough very dark places on it, it is easier to get burned in acid here and it is noticeably large, what is by no means a plus with a similar level of entanglement. In general, it was much less comfortable to play this level than the previous and next ones. *** I must say that in this megawad you managed to make all the final levels in the episodes really interesting! In many other works, they are clearly aimed exclusively at battles. That's why their artistic design suffers (it is often very simple) and fullness suffers too. In Hell's Bane we do not observe this at all and the E1M8 is a great example finish of the first episode!

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I was just going to ask you about it because there are more and more maps are ready while the same 24 of them are available for the play. I think with this speed of release of the remaining ones the build with 31 available maps will be the penultimate one :))

Today are presented: E1M9: Strategical Offensive Array (secret level) E1M4: Command Center E1M5: Chemical Processing Plant *** One of the two maps of the first episode, where we can still encounter not only visible demons but also spectres and even their number will be the same. To be honest, it would be very interesting to find out the reason for this almost full replacement *** *** Starting from this point, the remaining maps will grow noticeably in size and become more confusing and less obvious to advance. This process looks absolutely logical considering the approach to the end of the episode but it's funny that it was perceived more heavily in the first two episodes than in the last two. And by the end of the megawad, I had already played out so much that it was really a pity that there is no fifth episode :))

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Now, let's begin! Today are presented: E1M1: The Frontier E1M2: Meek E1M3: Main-Frame *** EPISODE 1: Trust the Pain to Me *** *** This map is one of the leaders in the megawad of the number of secrets and most of them form a single and closely connected chain which is a pleasure to unravel! And the secret exit found in the end looks like a really well-deserved reward for careful search.

@pcorf, Perhaps I was a little late with this question but even after a while I can't ask it: what exactly was changed in the version from October 2022 compared to the previous ones? They don't catch my eyes (even the armor bonuses and stimpack on E3M9, which are inaccessible without a noclip, remained inaccessible) but there is nowhere to read about them and even in this topic there were no details about them.

MAP09: the secret counter shows 5/6 and on the automap itself, even with iddt, only five are visible and the sixth is not displayed. What is this mysterious secret? At first I thought it was an extra secret sector or something like that but in the RC4 version, on the contrary, there are more secrets on this map. So the question remains open. MAP10: Upon the Brink of Trancendence. Doesn't the last word in the title spell like this: "TranScendence"? Or both options are appropriate?

I replayed the map in the RC4 version. Now there are six arachnotrons sitting there instead of three and they still don't want to come out. Apparently, it's about the source port.

@cannonball, I'm playing through GZDoom - maybe this could cause a problem? Oh, I'll check it.

@cannonball, those three arachnotrons don't want to teleport out from the technical area. Maybe for this I need to pick up something that didn't fit in my backpack anymore? :)) Or maybe this has already been fixed in RC4 and I missed it?

Today are presented: Chillin' Like a Villain by @MAN_WITH_GUN (from Pleasant Vibes of the Party Garage) Darkness Beneath by @Chainie (from Akeldama) *** ***

Top of the best maps: Map06: Spirit Crusher Map11: Rapture Map13: Sludge Factory Map14: Beneath Map16: Fear of the Dark Map17: Ars Moriendi Map26: Sepulchular Slaughter Map31: Powerslave Top of the best soundtracks: Map06: "Jade Empire" by @stewboy Map10: "Fire Hive" by @Jimmy Map17: "Atmosphere" by Tristan Clark Map20: "Turbulence" by Frank Klepacki Map21: "Mystified" by Tristan Clark Map24: "Mandalia Plains" by Hitoshi Sakimoto & Masaharu Iwata Map29: "Aorta" by Tristan Clark Map32: "Rotted Roots" by @Jimmy Appearance of monsters on the Ultra-Violence difficulty:

And the last part! *** Very hard ending came out! Two cyberdemons and a crowd of hellknights are pinching us from two different sides and also receive air support in the form of a pack of cacodemons and pain elementals! It's good that the cyberdemons are almost motionless, otherwise the passability of this place would be a big question... But after defeating them all we can exhale noisily with almost complete satisfaction and prepare for the last step that separates us from the victory! After that megawad I realized how beautiful Tristan Clark's music is... *** The battle with the Icon of Sin at this level is very simple but you should not delay its destruction too much because the number of monsters will increase very quickly from the beginning. Fortunately, the level is very small in size so we won't be able to postpone it for too long even if we want to :D In general, this is one of those rare maps with a functioning IoS that I liked. *** I will summarize the overall results and the traditional selection of favorites among maps and music a little later. For now I want to thank @myolden for this small and quickly completed but very beautiful, stylish and high-quality megawad! I wish you further creative achievements and I assure you that I will not limit myself to recording only the first part of Nostalgia!

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*** The most densely populated and definitely the most difficult map in the megawad. The main danger on it is revenants of whom there are a lot and from whose missiles it is not so easy to hide. This has a particularly strong effect after taking the blue key. *** Fortunately, we will get the necessary respite before the final three levels. This map is the last one in the megawad which is not inhabited by spiderdemons or cyberdemons...