TMD2003

It has recently occurred to me that, technically, JPCP map 27 violates my own rules because the hunting the Keens is required to open the gate to the end of the level - it doesn't lead to a secret. However, it is much more likely that a Keen hunt will reveal a secret area, whether or not it's marked as "official" (Plutonia 2's isn't, for instance), so I'll be prepared to let those like JPCP27 off the hook. Doom 2 In City Only's map 28: Village And Void certainly fits all the criteria I had for a Keen hunt, and I've now fully analysed it. It isn't half hard, though! On to Zone 300...

Right, well... I am using GZDoom - I've never used anything else (apart from a Hexen WAD back in the day that required a different source port that made all the graphics look like there was Vaseline smeared all over the screen and with more JPEG distortion than in the "intentionally terrible" secret map 32 in this WAD). I was using 4.7.1 until map 10 of this WAD caused it to crash, and I've upgraded to 4.12.1 to make it work. Those steps that Archvile Hunter showed aren't there at all, although there's a pattern for them on the floor with IDDT on. Had they been there I'd have seen that route easily because... Any time I see "straferun" in the wiki I consider it legitimate to assign a jump key. If I wanted to get my fingers in a tangle and require nanosecond-perfect timing, even to find obscure secrets, let alone complete the map properly, I'd have stuck with Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy and all the hacks of both games. Purists... deal with it (and if you knew how I've played through this map I'd expect more fuses to be blown than if one of these cities had its electrical work done by Bodgitt & Scarpir Electrical Contractors). I'm not trying to be some kind of "Doom God" - I don't have thousands of hours to spare and I've put 17 hours into this WAD on the timer, and that doesn't include the hundreds of times I've had to save and reload which most likely brings that time to more than a day. That's more than enough blasting action for me. So, now, I can return to the Keen Hunt thread and try the next suggestion...

I've been playing my way through this, noting all the secrets and how to get them, and... ...are you watching, Eater29? You've just reserved your own personal circle of Hell for the devious, devious positioning of one of the secrets in map 20. Better hope you've got enough ammo with you, because I'm sending in 100,000 revenants to deal with you for this! Without revealing too much, it's this one, which anyone else who has been tearing their hair out will identify in no time... I've mostly been playing this WAD for the Keen hunt in map 28 - I signed up for this forum just to ask about those, and sure enough, it was exactly what I was looking for. I have a concern that the map isn't possible without defining a jump key, and somewhere on this thread or the "WAD club" thread there are instructions not to do that, but I see no way of getting over the Icon Of Sin pillars in the middle of the map without it, among many other examples. If the jump key is legit for this map, so be it. So that sent me to map 36 - and for the first time on this entire WAD, I am completely stumped. There's a structure to the northwest of the map which I've found absolutely no legitimate way to get to, even though it's got monsters in it, and items to pick up. Whether or not I have a jump key defined, it's automatically disabled in this map, which might be deliberate.

Looking good already. If I was ever going to be a WAD builder - which I'm not, I'm about 30 years behind the curve - I'd always put one Keen in every map, even if it's just for decoration. There's a cathedral-esque one-level WAD out there somewhere that has one hanging from the ceiling above the door, and I've long since lost track of what it was. I tend to compile these lists at the same time as looking for Officially Awesome Music. @Cammy - you may be pleased to know that three of the music tracks in the first 15+2 maps (1, 9, 15) made this list.

Those of you with your fingers on the pulse of Doom II WADs might be able to add to this one. For the past few years, when I've decided on a bit of Dooming, I always find myself drawn to the WADs that have some kind of "hunt the Commander Keens" embedded in there somewhere, so I thought I'd make a list. Note that this does NOT include the original Grosse, or any other map where the Keens are all in plain sight and there's no challenge involved in finding them - such as Map 32 of the recent(ish) Realm Of Chaos: 25th Anniversary Edition (with 11 Keens) or the original 1996 version (with only two). There are others I would discount, such as where there's one hidden Keen used as an event trigger (example: Speed of Doom, map 27, Hais Temple - the hidden Keen spits out of a wall when killed and reveals an energy cell pack). I'm looking for maps where hunting the Keens is (a) not entirely obvious and (b) optional, in that it's to open a secret bonus area, or the exits to maps 31/32. I have six so far: - Plutonia 2, map 29: Ticket To Eternity - Speed of Doom, map 31: 1010011010 - Hellbound, map 31: Diabolus Ex Machina - Japanese Community Project, map 15: Nandeyanen - Japanese Community Project, map 27: A Resplendent Emerald Green (although the automap reveals all the locations for this one...) - FreeDoom Phase 2, map 11: Infinite Plain (where the Keen shows up as an alien in a red jar) I'll be interested to know how many more there are.