DemoGorgonZola

Wad: Ivano 1024 / iv1024.wad link: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/g-i/iv1024 UV-Max in 1:06,57 - iv1024-106.zip Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gOUzc3DTAE

Episodes 4-7 finished... Playtesting notes: Playthrough vids:

Hi, I played the first compilation so far, plan on playing the rest soon. :) No really major issues and maps were generally fun and enjoyable, but some playtesting notes for Ep 1-3 below... Playthrough vids below...

Hi, I played through the wad and it was super fun! :) I used GZDoom 4.5.0 with Fullscreen Statusbar for hud; SM wand starts, not blind (I checked maps beforehand and roughly* prepared). Full episode videos in the spoilered section below: Some notes on the levels... @Death Bear E1M3 "The Scorching Citadel" by United VirusX - I was a bit paranoid about ammo because I kept running out while testing, so starting area are all infight baiting; adding a bit more wouldn't hurt probably :p - one monster closet didn't open E1M6 "Upon First Gleaning the Warrent of Dawn" by Peccatum Mihzamiz - so many nice apple doomcute (hereticute?), not a single snake/Ophidian to go with the sinful garden, hmmm wink-wink E2M6 "Crystal Caverns" by Heich - easy to softlock by walking more than once in the water before the exploding pods area (I think I've seen it as reported/known issue but included for completenes) E2M8 "Cavern of Peering Sunlight" by Doomcat and Death Bear - I approached the blue key area from the other way around, monster traps are triggered by the green door not the key so it's possible to bypass them E3M3 "The First Town" by Zari - Iron Lich is stuck in a pillar indentation in the ice section behind yellow doors, killed it there but maybe it was supposed to trigger and fly out after getting the secret next to it? E3M4 "Quaff the Raven" by Peccatum Mihzamiz - apple shaped secret, no snake; beautiful Poe sector art ;) E3M9 "El Torturador" by LGmaire - I wasn't sure how to get the secret with firemace in yellow door area, decided to move on and checked later (*but after finishing, should have inspected thoroughly not just roughly beforehand), oh well it was just shootable... silly me :p E3M5 "Sinodo de Brujos" by Cacodemon187 - it turned out I pretty much played it without secrets for main playthrough and only after reaching exit went secret hunting :p - is going on the barrels for the secret the intended SM-Speed route? See bonus video below (on DSDA 0.22.2 for variety and to exclude any GZDoom shenanigans ;) ) E3M6 "Upon Grim Wings of Sorrow" by Egregor and Death Bear - stuck Disciple in the ice section, green key room (113th kill around 90 min) - skip-able bonus/final fight? E3M8 "Nevermore" by Death Bear and Egregor - cavern wall didn't open for me after D'Sparil died on GZDoom, I also checked it on DSDA and it worked fine there - love the hereticute display in the credits hall :)

Episode 5 playthroughs, maps 01-45 below... no final level, yet. I'm kind of fighting above my weight so to speak in some of the maps, especially in later parts of the wad, where I needed a bit of 'advantage' like slo-mo or rewind-scumming in some of the maps, and there were several I had to skip anyway due to lack of consistency in my gameplay. That being said, even just trying to tackle and figure them out was very fun experience. I did max the "Light Pillar...", even if wasn't able to get keys due to collision issues (mentioned also above in the thread) it was an interesting map for sure. :) Regarding the change of stbar between maps 4 and 5, I actually played a few maps of e5 first to test/try out then later returned after I committed to play the whole wad (start of e5 and e1 was with RC2.0, from e2 onwards it was with RC2.1), and was a bit lazy not wanting to rerecord. edit: added map 46 (on ITYTD, lol)

Hi, Congrats on the release, it was a herculean task of juggling that many maps but it came out great and thanks to all the mappers for the awesome levels. :) I played through almost all of the wad now and so far E1-4 are up on YT (videos below in spoilered off section), currently near the finish of E5 so last parts are coming soon.

Map24 Second Assault - few waves mid/heavy monsters within somewhat small arena, classic cramped gameplay; would be hard in pistol-start, neutered with continuous but felt okay, standard but enjoyable Map25 Cabracan 1024 - nice hot start and further fights down the line don't disappoint either; good looking, very detailed even in distant less visible areas; Map26 Aura of Evil - another hot start, this time with a bit slaughterish inclinations, a smallish keep and a courtyard Map27 Hell Sewage - ah, back to corridors, very nice even if brown :) I like its flow, jam-packed with enemies, monster closets and monsters teleporting in for repopulation keep you on the edge, archies help to keep tension, too Map28 Poison Ivy - gradually climbing and unleashing progressively deadlier waves of enemies, very effective usage of monster types - even the lewer tier ones like imp, and geometry - a little too effective even (cutouts in walls/pillars are just enough to be sniped, feels very oppressive in such small arena; overall it's not bad, in fact it's very well made, just felt like a chore at times; used saves with this one Map29 Magnum Opus - technically it's "gradually climbing and unleashing progressively deadlier waves of enemies" again but this time with open me up structure starting with tiny area and with walls lowering down to eventually give more and more space; mowing down the monsters felt very good in this map Map30 Thanatophobia - the amount of switches required to reveal progression to IoS is a bit overkill, and that's an IoS... with a moving Romero... oh, boy... perhaps I got lucky but I nailed him relatively quickly (and without save-scumming mid fights), so maybe not that bad I guess; overall it's not the worst I've seen (not even the worst with a moving Romero, lol) and the arena itself is frantic but manageable so a careful thumbs up Playthrough video:

Map16 Nocturnal Abyss - stylistically falls well in the void theme of maps 33 and 34 (another reason play all secret levels together in one go), though a lot easier in comparision, overall a nice smallish base but it doesn't feel that cramped Map17 Transfer Base - back to the cramped corridors jam-packed with enemies, this time in a normal/hellish switcheroo looping not the unfolding variety; some gnarly but enjoyable traps Map18 Weather Station - solid if standard gameplay, nice detailing Map19 Nova Scotia Robots - kind of a breather for, feels very chilled out in continuous play (even if restraining to lower tier weaponry) but fun and good looking Map20 Refinery - nice looping with good detailed scenery, uses unreachable monster filled areas to overcome the 1024 limit and seem bigger than it is to good effect Map21 Padma - okay map, nothing special but a few good ambushes Map22 Diminished Apparatus - this map... feels like a deliberate magnum opus pulling all the stops and to great effect; intricate looping layout with detailed surroundings and very solid encounters that feel even slaughterish at points but the map provides means to deal with them so it's not overwhelming; it's long but doesn't overstay it's welcome; also good luck finding the easter egg on first try unassisted, hehe Map23 Fear No Evil - good looking castle-like structure, with a 'once more unto the breach' feel playthrough video:

I'm a bit of a fan of such restricted wads and played of lot of similar ones (down to 64 units even), but since I didn't tackle this one yet, it a good opportunity to both step into the Club - hello everyone! - and play the wad with a bit more insight and reflection than usually :) Played on GZDoom 4.5.0 (Boom Strict), skill UV, unmodded except for hud, continuous, mostly saveless, maps played twice - first run blind/prep to check where stuff is, with aid of map/editor if needed), second run practiced (these ones are on vids). Map01 The Warp Facility - rude hitscan ambushes on blind, if you know they're coming not that bad but still can make swiss cheese in short time, otherwise nice little looping map ...also, look: arrows (we will be back to arrows later :) ) Map02 Return to the Darkening - short but solid, good composition of monsters in ambushes Map03 Break the Chain - could ignore the berserk since I had ammo from previous maps and this changed the dynamic a lot but it's always fun to just gun stuff (since I'm playing continuous this applies to some extent to all next maps, too); road to blue key a bit unintuitive at first but obvious in hind sight/hinted with ammo so relatively easy to stumble on it Map04 Pit of Sludge - a bit... brown but nice layout, trying to offset lack of space with verticality Map05 Subterfuge 1024 - very good visuals, both architecture and colors, as well as combat, feels grander Map06 Four Square - kind of basic premise but mostly works; used a save mid-level, the encounters get somewhat nasty and it's a bit too easy to get stuck on geometry and catch a projectile of a face full of buckshot IMO Map07 Dead In, Dead Out - at this map size this feels like a proper slaughter, especially at the beginning but still enjoyable; saved before second phase because I'm paranoid and the hot start is downright oppressive (took a few tries to set a foothold) :) Map08 Hex of Depression - nice breather after map07, just solid shooting monsters; despite browning theme nice usage of contrast and light gradients Map09 Bitter Sanctuary - an open-me-up layout while a bit maze-y in part not obnoxious with it, last part really spicy without plasma Map10 Mudbath - brown/tan but not drab and clearly visible and this is good, combat-wise not too hard (plenty of opportunity for pot-shots and cheesing though openings), except for the exit room (also, it's possible to accidentally exit the level without killing last enemies, if it a bug of feature is up in the air, depending on your goals 100%-ing or not) Map11 Technicfear - lighting on the pillars is nice, otherwise kind of meh and finishing off that cyber is a bit tedious; without supplies from previous maps ammo could be an issue, too Map12 Spitshine - well detailed and with solid encounters Map13 Assault - enjoyable encounters and good looking, feels like a believable water pump station... that's run over with demons Map14 Deception - rev overdose a bit, hehe; aesthetically ok Map15 The Inmost Con'dens'ed - mosly fine but some fights are quite nasty, like the berserk teleport or chaingunner ambush at the end; secret exit locked off with a switch available only at start and blocked sections are a downside, very blind-unfriendly Map31 Skyscrape IV - lot's of monsters, lots of stuff to do, good visuals and aspects of non-linearity - author boasts 24 routes, it's good but the sheer amount of going back and forth can be tiresome - on the verge of overstaying its welcome, at least no one can really get lost due to arrows, so your millage may vary with it; used saves in this one ...and finally, once more the arrows, spoilered section contains my thoughts upon them here ;) Map32 Oil Rig - all cybers can be pretty much cheesed with peekaboo- or pot-shotted through gaps, nobles on the other hand felt like they had laser guided fireballs, especially on the stairs (or maybe I was just unlucky) otherwise it's solid if a bit drab looking level; used save mid-level Map33 Nil - long with slowly sections opening more and more complex fights in an arena in the void - looks and combat like in its inspiration from Congestion 1024 Nullspace Junior, oppressive; played with saves Map34 **NULL** - well, that's a doozy, joke wad or not but I kind of liked it... even if got splattered countless times with rockets; eventually decided to deal with the sniper spiders and cybers early since I had weapons and ammo for it (having to wait for the crushers wasn't fun), caco/PE clouds were the next big threat as they can easily overwhelm - BFG helped (and exit can be polarizing not gonna lie) playthrough vids for maps 01-15, 31-34: note about progression:

map 90 UV-Max 9:42 jf290m942.zip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4jXUHjyFEo

Playlist of my playthrough of "PUSS XXV: Lunacy" (currently as of July 7th there's 6 maps, I'm releasing them 3 a day every other day up to August 2nd when the journey ends) - link... @Death Bear Additionally, I run across a few cases of missing monsters, twice monsters didn't teleport from monster closet (MAP15 and MAP34), and one curious case of a Rev that got MIA during a fight (got stuck inside a pillar), details - screenshots and a vid in the "spoilered" section below.

-

Occasionally? To paraphrase a classic "You gotta pump those numbers up. Those are rookie numbers in this cheesing!" :p But yeah, guilty as charged, cheesing is life. While some maps are really best done "as intended" and yoloing a fight sometimes actually is the best approach, very often finding those little exploits is as fun as the main gameplay. Now comes the 'don't play a wad just once' mantra, too, because experiencing it on first try/blind is very different than later knowledgeable/prepared plays... and it comes up with cheesing as well, and in both ways - either exploit the living hell out of it to survive, or test new fun ways to dealing with fights. Cheesing in blind may also be considered just outsmarting/fooling the mapper and some don't like it from this perspective (and often curb such attempts if caught in playtesting), but railroading the player in a fight - do as I wish or bust - is not the best approach to it IMO... Leaving some margin of freedom to handle stuff is good practice, but of course each player and/mapper may have different opinion of how much is enough.

Happy birthday 4shock!!

speaking of... https://clips.twitch.tv/BloodyImportantNeanderthalCclamChamp-qKKPkNtTcpx95fqe ;)