apichatpong

It's absolutly anecdotal and it's more a trick for me to keep a link here, for my first try on this club but, due to real life stuff, I'm not able to give my daily reviews... but I had finished the two wads since June 7th, I plan to give a full review at the end of the month because these two different wads were a pleasure to play (I also plan to compare equinox continuous and equinox pistol start with "just before the exit"'s screenshots with stats... it's eloquent ! Still reading your nice reviews though !

Says the guy who made 3 heures d'agonie 2 map 27 ! ;-)

A masterpiece of drama, love, nostalgy, lyricism and melody.

First impression : the sad and monotonous textures remind an open-aired prison (does it mean something ?). The fights are really cool as well as the secret (to find, to fight, to get) Loved the small details of damaging soil, just like if Hell was always there, in that part of the world, re-emerging. There was missing textures on the column with the archvile and you can get stuck there but it may be voluntary (at least the stucking part) Couldn't finish the job as it seems that palestinians will always miss a step to get to Israel (and there may be no exit in this map... does it mean something ?)... I may try again to find a way but, that's the problem, sorry Roofi (no hard feelings), this small quickly but well thought expressive map is of the political kind... and I hate political statements in Arts.

Biowar Map 07 : Apparatus UVmax So, this is not dead simple... but it's some anti-version of it. You almost face every kind of monsters from Doom except for mancubus and arachnotron. Did I die there ? Affirmatif (no comment). You quickly get this one is tougher than first 6 maps, the big bunch of pain elementals with their buddies chaingunners (faced with 4 rockets, ssg and chaingun not fully loaded) were lethal for me. After that, apart from a try to hide from archviles behind a not high enough obstacle that ended badly, it's more predictable although ammo-killing. The challenge was welcomed but felt a bit messy and I have mixed feelings on this map. I have to say that giving you ammo just to let you meet ten spectres...in order to kill your ammo... is not the kind of move I prefer (but it's the game... and also just me not liking harassing bunches of spectres/demons)(to be precise, I might like huge bunches of pinkies (when well equiped) but this one is annoying and of a mediocre size). Yeah, toughest map so far, with some good parts, but not my favorite.

Hey ! first : with all due respect to Dragonfly, Dehydration was made by StormCatcher.77 ;) Second : don't overthink about people first impression. Finally : I totally agree with you on the greatness of this map and your four points are... on point ! On eviternity, Map 24 and 32 are also masterpieces but, the whole wad is a nice place to lose youurself !

Biowar Map 06 : Last call UVmax (from now on, I’ll stop to precise pistol start/single segment since it’s included in the notion of UVmax) This map, especially played in this club, is an experiment on relativity. And this relativity is somewhat explicit in my review of Map 05. I was speaking of some « goodbye sober day » feeling with, in mind, my far away discovery of the map (far away = 5 days ago). I died there. Much more than on the first five maps combined (something like 5 times). Especially on the puzzly first half (it took me some time to understand where and when some monsters were spawned in so : thank you chaingunners, thank you revenant etc etc). I ended it with a great sentiment of relief and the pleasure of facing a tougher map when compared to preceeding ones. I even got some kind of ammo starvation problem. (Edit : oh, and also, the ambiance sounds added to establish fear and threat work very well on blind run !) But… since I’m playing Equinox now, replaying Last call today was easy peasy (not even speaking of the pseudo ammo starvation drama). Don’t get me wrong : I dig maps where you start near the exit and have to find (and fight) your way to open it, and this one is pretty sneaky, well thought and a real pleasure to play. I felt there like inside a small tech pyramid (for the decadent ones : like a tiny and friendly version of the pyramid trap in « Asterix et Cléopâtre » and the French/Roman administration adventure in « Les douze travaux d’Astérix ») and it was genuine fun ! Baddies were more densely present, the double secrets area was neat and overall decorum was cool (after all these location twists from the first five maps, it’s interesting to get here another kind of change : it’s a new mapper and you quickly get the style differences !). But, is it difficult ? Not really. Once you know how the map works, it all go without issue. That being said, I won’t play a character that is not me : Is it a problem that this map wasn’t difficult ? NO Did I liked it ? (Hell) YEAH.

Biowar Map 05 : Skybase UVmax, pistol start, single segment The big thing here was already evoked by almost everyone : backtracking. But, it didn't bother me that much since, except for the bunch of imps freed on your return to the blue door room, all the traps put on the map to make the player feel an evolution when he revisits some rooms or corridors are significant (and I must say I was close to die to the second revenant appearance after finishing the yellow door's adventure). Of course, the interconnection is not very elaborate but, the map being not that big, I never felt I was wasting my time (though, to be honest, I'm biased because I usually like backtracking). Once again on a low-key note (because, with all due respect, the artistic vision of this mapset is less delirious and powerful than BPRD's one), the attention to details here, some rooms with big tech structures, some brutal and frank changes of textures, some going-deep elevators... gave me some flavours of my distant first (cheated) playthrough of equinox and, from there, I tried to found links between Biowar and Equinox (yeah, sometimes I like Law and Order, even if it implies to force things a little bit). Well, this map has a good rhythm and all the encounters were very pleasant (with a special mention for the wing going from red key area to the end). Like in map 03, you really get a strong depth-variation feeling and, with a bit of exaggeration and the next map as target, it's like a "goodbye sober days" moment..

Biowar map 04 : The arrival UVmax, pistol start, single segment Since I’m no specialist on Doom history, I begin to really ask myself about the 90’s style. Sometimes it’s associated to really unfair (unorganized) experimentation on gameplay, sometimes to the contrary (easy levels), sometimes to the infamous mix : huge areas with low monsters count, other to primitive but really cool doomcutes… Well, I’m overplaying naive here, of course, nineties are, first of all, a land-clearing and organizing era, with the unavoidable freedom (for best and worst) of the « Arts premiers ». While playing this map, we are mostly in the doomcute/not difficult aspect of the nineties. Nevertheless, I faced my first death here because of lack of instinct in the cacodemons trap. I played the map again and went through this fight, found after that the ssg secret and then reached the end. Replaying it today, I realized that, until now, I liked the low-key approach of this mapset : you find on the four first maps a nice, though limited, variety of easy fights and traps, you also genuinely and naturally develop the desire for speedrunning and, also, you get something as important as supposedly obvious : secrets have to be unnecessary to end the map but, when you find them, they may really simplify you run. And that’s exactly what this ssg secret do : It’s not too generous (a megasphere or megaarmor) but just make you life easier and, once again, it’s mostly the purpose of basic secrets. So… all this was pretty general stuff, what about the level ? It’s a small techbase/lab you land in with your spaceship. Some wall textures really fit the scientific experiment’s atmosphere of the lab and, helped by the simple but cool cacodemons teleporting room, make this (otherwise) standard layout of a map something you want to revisit. The midi induces, with its staccato, the feel of a cold threat and, at the same time, a still numbed but very existing need for action. Another really cool map !

Regarding english lyrics, for some reasons this one song came directly to my mind... Almost gothic by Steely Dan I'm working on gospel time these days (The summer this could be the cool part of the summer) The sloe eyed creature in the reckless room she's so severe A wise child walks right out of here I'm so excited I can barely cope I'm sizzling like an isotope I'm on fire so cut me some slack First she's way gone then she comes back She's all business then she's ready to play She's almost gothic in a natural way This house of desire is built foursquare (The city the cleanest kitten in the city) When she speaks it's like the slickest song I ever heard I'm hanging on her every word As if I'm not already blazed enough She hits me with the cryptic stuff That's her style, to jerk me around First she's all feel then she cools down She's pure science with a splash of black cat She's almost gothic and I like it like that This dark place so thrilling and new It's kind of like the opposite of an aerial view Unless I'm totally wrong I hear her rap and brother it's strong I'm pretty sure that what she's telling me is mostly lies But I just stand there hypnotized I'll just have to make it work somehow I'm in the amen corner now It's called love, I spell L -you- V First she's all buzz then she's noise-free She's bubbling over then there's nothing to say She's almost gothic in a natural way She's old school then she's like young Little Eva meets the Bleecker Street brat She's almost gothic but it's better than that

Biowar : Map 03, Onslaught. UVmax, pistol start, single segment. A map more in the spirit of the opening one still more adventurous (despite the small scale), also with that special feeling of having, for the slot, just enough enemies and where everything seems to be in its right place (a feeling which depends on the player unfortunatly, but it worked for me). It's a bit paradoxal since this add an "autopilot" aspect to the map that may contradict the adventurous one, but I liked it. Well placed just after a map with four easy but tight fights, it's a welcome breath of fresh air. The attention to details to make areas expressive while not overloaded, the changes of heights, the dramatic midi, all this made a pretty good map 03 !

Map 02 - Terror core UVmax pistol start Four small fights related to a central area by teleporters, that's pretty much it. Though, the lightning was quite nice and the high-tempo midi, while not the best among midis, set up a speedy mood and a desire to replay this little candy to go as fast as possible (at least for "beginners" like me). The central area design is, at first sight, OK but finding the secret enhance its quality. Among others areas, my favorites were : the blue key one for design and the red key one for combat. Two "negative" things : - it's a bit early but the quick and prononced change of atmosphere with map 01 disturb me a bit. - I don't like the new doomguy face (reminded me some french over-testosteroned heroic fantasy comics I read in the nineties that I, nowadays, deny). PS : for some reasons I'll expose, I already played the full mapset UVmax single segment between yesterday and today, though I'll be careful on my writings, only evoking maps with a slot less or equal to the date. Why i did this : - because I wanted to play the full thing then replay the daily map on date to have a bit more hindsight. - I already played Equinox one year ago with cheats, I want to finish it UV with saves now and I know that one day/one map, for this set, will be a rhythm very hard to follow for me. It's my first time here and I already don't really play by the rules... sorry for that, if there is any problem, I'll make sure next month will be legit. The positive side of this infrigement of the rules is that now I diiscovered at least two reasons to couple Biowar and Equinox, in this order.

I'm gonna try to join the club and finish the wads this month (wanted to on april but "In city only" felt too challenging for me). Operation : Biowar Map 01 : The end - UV, pistol start, all kills and secrets A nice, 90's style, opening map with only one small surprise which is the lowering to the final room. Due to this surprise I had to finish the map with pistol and then teleport back to find the (easy) secrets. I liked the opening with the doomcute spaceship in the sky and some attention to details like the exploded wall you have to go through to reach fresh air.

Map 28 by Darkwave0000, UV, pistol start, with saves,, all kills and secrets. So… I won’t get into much details on my run since, as already said, the map is quite linear. « En gros » : 1 - circling around the first wave of monsters, focusing on pain elementals and making all the guys infight. Let say that I played too safely this first round, going around and around way too much time because of fear… I have to admit it. I killed this first wave on first try… well, not really… first try of this strategy to be precise. It took me some time to find it. First runs were mostly panic run&gun, trying to find the right way. 2 - did better on the second wave, mostly with the same strategy. 3 - after discovering these strategies, my first death (of many) came with the plasma gun fight but, not because of archviles, no, because of the snipping arachnos from the corridor leading to secret BFG. After some tries, I decided to first kill the arachnos and it was easy : you can trigger almost all the imps and mancubus then go back, let the arachnos kill everyone, then, « calmly » chaingun the spiders (calmly between « . » because some chaingunners show themselves from the RL/nuckage arena). 4 - Then, took me two-three tries to get the plasma. 5 - After that, I went to get the RL, got it without much difficulties because, and it’s one constant from this map, even if you always get archviles, cybers and pain elementals on arenas, even if archviles may be difficult to kill because they have a tendency to stay in the middle of monsters melee, the infighting help a lot, the cybers help a lot, and you have : huge room to travel and lot of ammo ! That being said, the arenas are more and more difficult. 6 - Blue key arena, more or less the same strategy but the baddies appearing from the sides made the victory more difficult. My first success was poor and I did better on following tries. 7 - the BFG secret : I really feared this « two cybers, two archviles, imps in cramped place » fight from my cheating run… but it wasn’t so difficult. It doesn’t mean I didn’t die, but beat it quite quickly and retried it with success. Of course, it was a bit messy, a mix of slalom and rush, but it worked. 8 - Then, direction : red key area. First, the antechamber fight… maybe the easiest from the map. Got it on first try and the archvile wasn’t very threatening. 9 - non threatening archvile, something you can’t say for the ones in the red key arena. Of course they have the politeness of being stuck but, they are numerous and they block your way in an arena less ample than the other ones. Even though, it didn’t took me 100 tries to beat the fight. 10 - post red key door fight : second most difficult one. In fact, to be honest, most difficult one. It’s easily here that I died the most because of multiple running archviles with the bad habit to stay surrounded by huge amount of HKs. I also did it again and again because, in the end, regarding my reloads, it was not about being killed but to kill everyone without receiving a single missile because I wasn’t really high on health/armor and planned to be conservative with the soul sphere/mega armor/ megasphere of the big boy fight. 11 - You then have to do a small fight to lower bfg/megasphere on the big boy fight central area, at first I tried to BFG the revenants and quickly run to avoid archviles zapping and to kill arachnos and mancubus, always died with revenants missiles. Then I realized the blocking archviles weren’t, in fact, blocking anything so, after pressing the switch, I ran directly in their direction, passed them and hide in the big room to kill the monsters safely. 12 - Big boy fight : I first went on the huge room next to the exit to kill, as much as possible, some baddies, went bad on three tries… then I decided to went back to the post red door area, it was chaotic, it was BFG spamming, it was messy but it ended well ! And even better than I thought because, this fight is composed of three huge areas, quite identical, all with spiderdemon guarding soulsphere, all with flying bastards, all with Cyberdemons and revenants… while fighting in the red door area and while monsters were beginning to all became corpses there, I was sure that a still big lot of monsters were waiting for me on other rooms (infighting or doing something else)… in fact, almost all of them went to see me in the red door wing and, after cleaning it, only some lost souls were remaining ! So, before the ending fight, I was left with one soulsphere near a spiderdemon corpse, another one just before last arena, and an armor. 13 - last fight : died once because of archviles before deciding to run directly near the switch opening the exit and safely bfg the whole bunch of them. Finished the cyber with ssg and bye bye baby ! This map is not my favorite from the wad but it’s an excellent one. I totally understand why it’s considered the most difficult for uvmaxers, but when, as TimeofDeath said, you are a « filthy casual using save/load » like me (no hard feeling, I like trve gatekeepers), no : map 27, 26 and, even, 19 are more difficult. Once again, you always have lot of rooms to move, lot of ammo and soul spheres/mega armors + one megasphere. I’m pretty sure this map would have been a great standalone but I really liked it to be in this specific megawad, very different from other maps still non-secret one. The midi is moody, atmospheric, threatening and melancholic, the architecture is grandiose (still vanilla), the whole thing is chaos and… I like infighting in big fights (I’m also a bit lazy). I guess this map is more a slaughter map for beginners (once again, I don’t consider single segmenting) than a really hardcore one but I’m very happy that I beat it !!! Map 29 by JCDorne, UV, pistol start, with saves, all secrets : As already said, this map first feels like a very welcome breather after 26-27-28 but it’s a really ammo-tight one and after using way to much ammo on the baron between crushers, I didn’t have enough bullets/shells/rockets to kill the yellow key archviles/respawned revenants and the exit archvile. So, it was the first map I didn’t ended with all kills. It’s a tiny threatening hellish map, with a rightly chosen slot, I liked it and it was, maybe, the best one from JCD in this wad ! Map 30 by JCD, cheat. The way to reach the IoS is top notch, bravo, but I don’t like IoS (especially when I can’t easily see where I have to shoot my rockets). Next : "Bilan du wad". Then I non-randomly decided to play 180 minutes pour vivre. Beat map 1 to 8 yesterday. Starts great ! More details to come !

I'm sorry but : This looks like a unique community project.