The DWmegawad Club plays: Requiem

Revisiting Requiem

map 13: Exited on 2nd attempt, 1/1 secret
I have distant recollections of playing this with default keyboard only and had some challenges with this. There was savescumming involved. Coming back now as a mouse + keys player, it's much easier, at least on HMP. I only died because I completely failed to notice a revenant sneak up on me.

The 3d bridge effects are the top selling point of the map. So it's more likely that one doesn't notice how well the sky fits the setting, the rocking music track, no teleporting monsters, or the complete absence of hitscanners on this map. There's a SSG early enough to gameplay moves faster than map 8 at least. While there's some tight quarters combat with limited space, the main gameplay feature lies with resource management (really noticeable on UV). Individual encounters rarely are a threat, especially with foreknowledge.

There are a few minor irritants for me on this map. The chainsaw is mostly pointless with a forced berserk present so early in the map. The final area had this interesting graveyard but the last rooms add nothing to the atmosphere. This map has a high quantity of forced pickups which lead to wasting health and ammo. There's also the combat which while I find adequete, will not appeal to some players.

MAP15: Last Resort
95% kills, 5/7 secrets

If this map has one saving grace, it's the fights - there are a few in-your-face close encounters that were probably a bit bullshit in 1997, but provided a decent challenge for me that I liked. The hell knight right after the blue key (that forces the player to run into the next room with the arachnatrons and chaingunners, hope you have enough chaingun ammo), the soulsphere trap that dumps two barons on top of the player, the demon ambush, etc. Unfortunately, combat for the rest of the map is lacking - the main offender here being, as Capellan notes, the waste of the two large courtyards.

The real problem, though, is those damn hidden switches that got scifista stuck - I also had to read Capellan's tip. Yeah, those switch textures are used elsewhere in the map, but they're hidden well (especially seen through the cage) and would be more appropriate for a secret rather than needed to complete the level. And the demon swarm after emerging from the yellow door was just boring since they can't go down the stairs (and can't really be fought while they're teleporting). But oh hey, Arch-Vile secret jump... haven't seen one of those in awhile.

MAP31: Doorway to Quake
100% kills, 1/2 secrets

Tiny little Quake-ish map with a few cool tricks, perfect for a secret level. I'm a big fan of the free-floating elevator at the start, and the false room-over-room that leads to the blue key is still damn impressive, even if it does look a bit glitchy. The rest is a bit banal, but short and fine. It certainly does remind me layout-wise of E1M6 (I think) from Quake, especially the opening room and the key at the end of a lava-filled hallway.

(Actually, looking at a video of it, it does fit pretty closely)

MAP32: Bitter Herb
100% kills, 2/2 secrets

Quite strange how I remember both of these secret maps, yet none of other ones in this WAD (at least so far). Maybe someone suggested playing Doorway to Quake and I checked it out and continued to play the other secret map on a whim? Oh well.

Either way, this is a pretty forgettable map that feels like it was thrown in at the last second to fill the slot, or maybe chosen for the secret level because it didn't have enough teeth to take a standard slot. The fights are okay but nothing special (a cacoswarm with plenty of room to manuever, and an Arch-Vile ambush) but that's it - basically just one big room.

(Reading Capellan's comments, seems like I was right about 'thrown in last second to fill the slot.' Didn't expect a Peter David mention though. Small world.)

I think map15 may have killed the thread. That or everyone is off playing Valiant :)

^^^Not for me, just got stuffed with other activities, as usual. I haven't even played Map14 yet. ;)

MAP16
It's an Iikka level, and that means there's plenty of opportunities to ride lifts into the teeth of monsters that can shred you while you can't see them. This was a design quirk of his that I never much liked, as it seems like a very cheap way to create difficulty.

We kick off on the toilet for some reason. Cheap yucks, maybe? The first main section is a large brick-themed structure. Lots of fights on multiple vertical levels, which when they aren't doing That Thing I Already Complained About are pretty good. Having to keep on your toes for threats from multiple angles is good. This area also gives us our first bit of ledge-running, which will be a theme of the level.

I wasn't much impressed by the walkway area next to the water, but it leads into a fun parkour section. That eventually drops us out in a marble courtyard, where I was surprised to see a blatant HOM from a missing sector. Requiem quality control at its finest! The action's OK though, and it leads to the most over-the-top jumping sequence in the map, which I find just stupid enough to be fun.

I like the red key room of redness that comes next, but it's here that I think the level goes off the boil. The short sewer section feels like a less visually interesting re-tread of map03 and then it's "here have a megasphere" before the rather pointless pogo Baron fight.

The shuttle at the very end is neat though.

It seems like Iikka's level's often have a specific gimmick or theme: damaging floors in map03, 3D bridges in map13, parkour here, and of course the Quake map. Even map08 had something of a gimmick in its exit, though I don't remember any major gameplay themes (unless "Flick those switches! Flick them!" counts).

Overall, this isn't a bad map, but other than the parkour element, I didn't find much memorable about it.

MAP16 Escape From Chaos

this is my favorite level in the megawad. Iikka doesn't use too many tricks but he makes up for it with very interesting and ludicrous parkour-style progression, plus some puzzles. the fact that you start on top of a toilet might just be a joke, but this map provides quite the fun factor regardless. the combat is pretty serviceable with less claustrophobia than before (although it still is there). my favorite part has to be when you are going on the outside ledges around the castle, a bit before the big puzzle. The puzzle isn't too hard either, and the weird shaft thing afterward is pretty cool. visually the map is a mess, but then again, it resembles chaos and you are trying to escape from it, right?

perhaps the biggest problem that I have with this one is in the blood red area with the barons on the platform that goes up and down. the switches raise up a walkway going up north, and it's supposed to change texture and be non-damaging, but unfortunately, it still is. at least in ZDoom-ports, so I noted this as a bug on the wiki page.

Oh my, I have some catching up to do.

MAP08: The Reactor

Okay, everyone knows this map.

You start off in what seems to be jail with a shoot switch to get out, a couple sergeants, a couple imps, and a soulsphere which can be glided to, which made the start pretty easy, heh. The gameplay itself is straightforward, with some completely useless and non-threatening enemies for good measure; this includes a room filled to the brim with pinkies that you can easily chainsaw one by one while standing in the doorway of the room. The elevator part of the map is excellent, you feel like you're making progress each time you lower it. 3D bridges and things are definitely shown off in the mines areas, at one point there's a midtexture lift. I wouldn't call it a "fun" map, ammo and health are pretty limited and it forced me to play slower than I'd like to.

MAP09: Deep Down Below

Very... interesting map. Somewhat tight, but it isn't cramped like Iikka's maps. Not really much to say aside from the fact that this is Theme Change: The Map.

MAP10: The Black Gate

I've always enjoyed Orin Flaherty's maps, even MAP08 of Memento Mori which people seemed to dislike when I read through the MM Megawad club thread. Anyways, this is a fun map. The layout doesn't really make sense, and the cyberdemon is not at all threatening, but it's still an enjoyable map to play. It's also pretty short.

MAP11: Rats in the Walls

The first map in the set made by Adam Windsor (not counting the part of MAP10 he did). It's a short and fun techbase map, relatively challenging and fair. The standout moment was when the base was refilled with enemies after picking up a key, I might borrow this idea for a map :P

I think the thing that makes map11 memorable is not that I restock the level - that's been done many a time, both before and since - but that I dump you into the start room again as I do it.

MAP16: Escape From Chaos
100% kills, 2/4 secrets

I'd surmise the chaos the Doom Marine is escaping from is the one contained within his own digestive tract, because looking at the color of the liquid in the toilet he starts on, he must've had some bad sushi last night...

In any event, it's another Iikka Keranen map, and contains many of his hallmarks we've seen so far - jumbled themes switching from area to area, very linear progression, love of lifts and large height differentials between areas. Each of his level seems to have a central gimmick, and the one here seems to be use of columns and edges around pits.

I like the opening, the chainsaw is actually useful here (unlike the worthless one at the start of MAP13) - there's a lone arachnatron who's perfect for sawwing, as well as the demon horde. Ammo is also very tight at first for a pistol start, so the chainsaw is also helpful in terms of ammo conservation. The map becomes a bit of a bore after that, though, continuing the weak gameplay of highly linear hallways with only a few monsters in the player's way at any point in time, and without some of the cool architectural tricks the other maps had to distract the player.

As always, the visual theme varies dramatically - from all-brown rooms to green rooms to MAP03's sewer redux to sudden redrock hell to a ship suspended in space (??). Unfortunately this just accentuates the bland gameplay in making a totally forgettable map.

Capellan said:

I think map15 may have killed the thread. That or everyone is off playing Valiant :)

The tripling up of MAP15, MAP31 and MAP32 tends to be a big speed bump for most people during the month.

MAP14: Not really sure what this map was aiming for. 2/3rds is a labyrinth of traps while the final third is a slow slog through pinkies, barons and AVs. The trapped tunnels were… alright, nothing really special… and that’s all I can think to say regarding the map.

MAP15: Aha, nothing quite like getting stuck right in that first cage. The beginning of this map is pretty atrocious, forcing to SG too many meaty monsters. Thank goodness for Zdoom as I ran across the arachnatron heads in that terrible post-BK room. I know a lot of people prefer the purity of the original engine, but I absolutely hate infinite height for reasons like this. Only battle I liked in the map was the double baron soulsphere trap—otherwise it was hohum affair. The combat is better than the past three maps but it’s nothing stellar.

MAP31: Wow, holy cow is this a cool map. I mean yeah, it’s based off a Quake map, but the technical skill here is astounding (even if it is what Keranen is known for). I’m still absolutely blown away by that trick where you fall into the hole and there’s another room below the player. Amazing stuff.

MAP32: While Keranen lacks gameplay finesse, Windsor more than makes up for it. This is another excellent brief, bloody encounter, that has the player wrangling up a cacoswarm before having to deal with their two yellow tenants. Putting the pinkies before the AVs was a brilliant move since the player is low on rockets, and I had quite a tango with these two. It was a short-lived but volatile menage a trois *sniffle*

MAP16: An okay map. It’s not full of mechanical flair like Keranen’s other maps (it actually felt like an early map by him), but there’s far less cramped battles which made it better. I like the look of the red key room a lot, and that exit ship was pretty cool.

I have been busy this weekend and so I am slightly behind.

Map15 - “Last Resort” by Matthias Worch
Back when I first played Requiem, I always regarded this map as one of the strongest and most memorable in the set. On replaying it, I haven't changed my mind. I enjoy the varied locales, which contrary to Worch's map 09 are generally more open and free-flowing. The map uses two courtyards that form a hub of sorts, whilst the key doors branch off and provide more script-like play. There's a good helping of chaingunners, and several of these are used in some pretty good ambushes. Indeed some of the traps here are the most memorable in the wad; the baron teleport near the yellow skullkey and the subsequent mass demon teleport thereafter are fun and ensure some frenetic SSG/berzerk dancing is required to avoid losing too much health. What's better still, is the dramatic midi which suits the dangerous feeling provided by the traps.

I like the look of the courtyards but also the subterranean small castle surrounded by lava with the red key (although the key trap is decidedly weak). It helps that the red key 'castle' is foreshadowed and then has a long build-up to get to it. I enjoy the progression of this level. It did however take me quite a long time looking for the secret area to realise a switch had opened that granted access to the megasphere. Also I think that second demon wave at this point was unnecessary. In fact I'm going to say there are too many of these in Requiem, so far at least. Oh yeah and I also reflexively killed he archie before realising I was supposed to AV jump, so I clipped across too. This is despite the fact that I'd played this map before and made the same mistake. D'oh! :)

I never had an issue with the two shootable switches that seem to have caught out a few people; I recognised them as switches from previous maps. But I do have to agree with Capellan that the big areas went begging for a higher monster population or some kind of big teleport in ambush. Nonetheless this is a good map, with a good combination of looks, free-flowing and scripted gameplay and traps - it remains a favourite of mine.


I'll get to map31 next and see if I can catch up.

EDIT: Maps 31, 32 and 16 now played:

Map31 - “Doorway to Quake” by Iikka Keränen
Impressive remake of Door to Chthon from Quake. I liked the Quake original, and when I saw it in Doom it impressed me more. The most notable omission from the original would be the horizontal crusher corridor immediately after the drop down to the chaingunners/ogres. Remaking that in vanilla doom without something like polyobjects is understandably beyond even Iikka's capabilities. But, this detail aside, this an impressive and faithful remake, and as others have noted, is totally appropriate that Iikka should be the author of. I agree with Capellan that the secret exit was surprisingly easy to find. It's interesting how quickly it plays through, but then Doom is generally a quicker game than Quake and the original level was short too. Excellent secret level.

Map32 - “Bitter Herb” by Adam Windsor
My thoughts on first playing this was "Oh so we don't have enough maps and need a map 32, let's make a quick arena level". Capellan's reminiscing confirms the initial suspicion. Really it surprises me just how skeptical the authors had become about doom's lifespan. I appreciate hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it's interesting to hear how strong and common a point of view this had become about doom immediately before and upon Quake's launch. Props to Capellan for a nice summary of why Doom endured.

Anyway, the map is a simple little blast through a small arena. It's very simple looking, there's plenty of space and cover for the arch-viles. I did get careless and got fried by an AV because I didn't think to hit the demon wave hard enough to get to the AV's quickly and didn't make use of the cover. Not much more to say about the map, better than nothing I suppose.

Map16 - “Escape from Chaos” by Iikka Keränen
Throughout Requiem, Iikka Keränen's strength as a wad author has been the appearance, atmosphere and engine hacks. But now he runs out of compelling location ideas, and the dressing on his authoring skills comes off. This wad is notably weaker than his others in this department. Fortunately, I don't mind his brand of linear gameplay. In this case I think it's better as the encounters are less cramped. The blood fountain with the revenants and arach were amusing as I was chased around trying (and failing) to avoid a revvie rocket.

Aesthetically, this level is a grab bag, going from brick, to hell, to map03 style sewers and back to brick. Whilst the map doesn't show off engine hacks so prominently, it does demonstrate Iikka's ability and penchant to make areas very three-dimensional and intricate; he manages to wring a lot more play time out of an area with the use of running round ledges as noted by others. The puzzle element, with the pillar raising in order to make the jumps across the pit is endearing, and actually kind of cool too. Also, there are some pretty good shadow effects in this level. There were some in his previous ones (eg. map03 near the portal) but they are most prominent and common here. Ironically though, most of Iikka's lighting (like his texturing) is flat. He makes specific areas with attractively cast shadows, or nice single textures, or an impressive engine hack, but the majority of each of his levels is bland.

Anyway so whilst this one is thematically weak (random, really) compared with Iikka's other levels I still enjoy it; partly because of it's intricate progression, but also with Iikka being more liberal with the theme seems to have translated into freer less cramped gameplay which I enjoy. A slight mark down is made for the third lift in the hell section which monsters can jam up and infinite actor height makes it a waiting chore. But I agree the spaceship ending is also pretty cool. Fun level.

I know from memory that I'll be looking forward to playing Map17 quite a lot less.

Map 15 -- Last Resort - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
While somewhat spartan aesthetically, from a gameplay standpoint this is one of the most vibrant offerings in Requiem up to this point. Again, I find myself appreciating Worch's penchant for item/thing balance, and his tinkering with mechanisms and sectors is this time expressly bent towards the goal of springing a welter of varied traps on the player--you get the sense that Hell is really out to get you here, and will try any number of dirty tricks to see you dead, lending the action a certain sense of moment and urgency that's so rare in most of Requiem. Where Sambach's map 14 was a rather straightforward affair that gained most of its oomph through a steady diet of escalation and repetition, trying to cram death directly down your throat, 'Last Resort' is a more technical fighter that doesn't try to overwhelm you through sheer attrition, but rather is constantly trying for a devastating upset by pulling the rug out from under you.

Take, for instance, the snap-lift the blue key rests on--you first see it and think something like "I'll bet when I take that I'm going to get locked in like at the start while something big and nasty comes out of that door over there", but no, it suddenly jets you up into an elevated hallway with a flaming skull primed to give you a self-cauterizing hickey. Not being that kind of guy (or girl) you give him some .12/00 instead of your own digits, only to arouse the hell knight lurking just around the corner, who in a heartbeat can corner and butcher you while you're still in the lift's alcove. That, boys and girls, is damn good usage of a hell noble--it's such a joy when those goatlegged bastards manage to be scary somehow. And the map is replete with assorted little diableries like this! The yellow skull's temple, for example, is essentially a big cluster of booby-traps crammed into a small area, with no two being alike--they are interesting to tackle in sequence on account of this variety, but even MORE entertaining to spring all at once, let me tell you. While I can't claim that every bit of action in the map is quality--the not-so-good noble usage that follows a minute or two after the hell knight scenario described above comes to mind--it's so full of clever barbs that I'm not inclined to care. I remember the way the two Barons in the 'cagematch' trap made me jump out of my skin on my very first playthrough, and I still get a kick out of it to this day. Worch even tries to catch you out by slyly referencing his own earlier map 04--the zombies behind kill-blinds on the hallway leading to the yellow skull's temple is a trick we saw in "Fireworks", and so should be quickly sniffed out and subdued, but when you pass back through the hall later Worch has opened up closets within the blinds with more deaf snipers in them who can easily cut you to ribbons if you don't stay frosty. Good stuff. Even several of the few encounters that play out somewhat awkwardly have redeeming qualities, like the sheer spectacle of the phasing pinky horde that bursts out of the aether in the megasphere shrine.

From a presentational standpoint, the sense of progression and 'accomplishing something' is less pronounced than in Worch's other maps because he uses changes in the environment more for the purpose of unleashing monsters than in creating your route before your eyes, and the generally larger scale and mostly flat/neutral lighting of the still largely orthogonal architecture means that a number of areas look a bit visually lifeless, with the southern courtyard and related areas being notable offenders. Still, there are enough bright spots to maintain interest, ala the foreshadowing of the red skull's keep or the presentation of the yellow skull on its plinth when you first enter its temple from below. I feel like I'm not really in a position to comment on whether certain progression mechanisms are arguably deleteriously obscure or not--I recall that the first time I ever played this map I discovered the gun-switches in the central building purely by accident, by firing the SSG at the revenants in their twin cages, and so I never ran into any obstacles on that front (none of the other stuff held me up either, e.g. the skill switch on the pedestal in then northwestern chamber)--who knows how long I might've wandered if I hadn't been lucky.

Incidentally, back when I first played Requiem I believe this map's secret exit was the first scenario I ever encountered that involved a 'mandatory' arch-vile jump, something that left quite an impression on me. While I often find myself playing devil's advocate for a host of 'taboo' design decisions (particularly in older maps), intentional arch-vile jumps are still something I myself remain somewhat cold towards, because using them requires me to curtail so much of my instinct (e.g. it errs a little too much on the side of foreknowledge for someone trying to experience a map to its fullest). Can't really complain as much about those that are intended as shortcuts or to reach easter eggs or simple bonus items, or those where the intent is blatantly telegraphed for any serviceably observant person (as in this case), which is a probably a personal sensibility I developed largely from seeing the setup in this map.

Anyway, this is good stuff. Where Iikka tries his damnedest to expand the engine's depictive possibilities, Matthias focuses his efforts on expanding the game's bag of tricks, an approach I personally find to be vastly more relatable.

Map 31 -- Door to Quake - 103% Kills / 50% Secrets
So, it's "Door to Chthon" (the penultimate level of Quake's first 'episode') recreated in the idtech1 engine. Cute. I guess.

The recreation is pretty damn faithful as far as flow goes (although there is a notable omission of at least one significant environmental hazard en route to a key, IIRC) too, and if you're smitten by the feat of engineering from a sectors/triggers standpoint I imagine this may be the most impressive of all of Keränen's Requiem maps, mostly on account of his faking of the fall into the blue armor/portal area, although I suspect this only has the full intended effect on people that recognize the specific Quake map being recreated (and perhaps the fundamental differences in capability in the two games' engines)--to a theoretical unaware observer, I imagine the seams are pretty apparent, which may even have the effect of hampering immersion more than it helps. Oddly, one aspect of the Quake level that idtech1 can match somewhat naturally is absent in the presentation, though--the dramatic shadows and light contrast that defined the Quake map (and the first Quake in general) are strangely absent here, where everything is just milquetoast.

I guess it's ironic that this plays better than many of Iikka's other maps, with a razor-thin balance of healing items and more pronounced group tactics on the monsters' part, in contrast to the long chains of one-on-one that define maps like 08 or 13. Ironic in that, in all fairness, we really have to give American McGee at least as much credit for the way it plays as Keränen, since the flow of battle and the general shape of the encounters and placements is patterned just as closely on the original as the room shapes, aesthetic, and layout themselves are. Of course, fundamental differences in the Doom and Quake bestiaries and armories mean that the two hardly play in an identical way--a chaingunner isn't really a fitting substitute for an ogre (or vice-verse), there's nothing in Quake like an arch-vile and nothing in Doom like the grenade launcher, etc.--but if you've played one of the two I reckon you know broadly what to expect in the other. Well, except for maybe the two-vile "oh shit" moment at the exit...that's pretty cheeky, I'll give Iikka credit for that.

So, in a nutshell, again it's more Keränen--more concerned with trying to mould Doom into something that doesn't come naturally to it than in reveling in Doom for Doom's sake, a questionable choice of priorities for something that was supposed to be the game's grand swansong, I must say. It may not be the most iconic map in Requiem, but it is by far the most illustrative of the contemporary community's preoccupations and outlook for the game's future.

Forgot about the soulsphere secret in this one until it was too late, incidentally. Guess I don't have Quake seared into my synapses to quite the same degree as Doom.

Map 32 -- Bitter Herb - 115% Kills / 100% Secrets
"Too tiny/simplistic/straightforward for my liking."

That's going to be a sentiment you'll hear from me again before Requiem is through, no doubt. There's not a lot for me to say about this--it's an easy battle against a group of cacodemons in a comfortably large, flat (and somewhat sparsely decorated) space, and then a solid usage of a couple of arch-viles before a flaccid PCorf Baron encounter at the exit. Ammo balance is very reasonable--plenty of it to comfortably take care of business, especially if you get the second secret with the shells that Adam shoehorned in, but never so much that it insults you, with a similar balance for the health pickups. Visually, it can probably be fairly described as both 'clean' and 'a bit bland'--certainly not going to hurt your eyes, but there's nothing really interesting to look at either (I do like the way the cacos rise from behind the bounding walls rather than teleporting in, though).

It's hard to feel particularly offended by any of the design choices here, but I feel very little enthusiasm for anything on offer, either. While my general sentiment towards Requiem is 'hasn't aged well/seems a bit bodged together', a function of certain preoccupations many of its maps evince, in this particular map's case I suspect the lukewarm impression elides as much or more from changes in myself as a player as anything else--I've never been predisposed towards tiny maps, but there was a point in time where the UV action here might've challenged me enough to add interest....but that time is long past, and the map's sheer brevity and humble presentation mean that it can't muster any other experiential aspect beyond the momentary distraction of the combat to compensate--no real atmosphere, no sense of progression or adventure or exploration, the like. Were some of these elements present, I suspect I would find the action a lot more satisfactory (since it's competently conducted, if light/straightforward) but they're not, and so I don't. Does that make any sense?

I can't say it's a fundamentally bad map, but it has very little to offer me to hold my interest. Maybe I'm short-shrifting it a bit because it's in slot 32, as well....being in a slot where we have been largely conditioned to expect something quirky or extravagant probably reflects unkindly on its almost exaggeratedly humble presentation, and by contemporary standards this may not be a reasonable expectation (MM1 at least had pretty 'normal' secret levels, for instance), although there are some really old mapsets that do seem to follow that 'secret levels should be weird' convention.

I laughed every time I read an account of killing the AV on map 15 before using it to reach the secret exit as the textfile specifically warns the player to not kill all the monsters if they want to reach the secret exit.

Revisiting Requiem
map 14: exited on 3rd attempt, 5/5 secrets
I distinctly remember the tight ammo balance. The berserk at the start is necessary for offense on UV though one can get by without it on HMP. It's a long way to some armor so the hitscanners and other assorted hellspawn pose a threat through attrition. I enjoy those multi-stage secrets like the sequence of switches to hit to reach the plasma rifle. The danger with the final resistance at the exit portal is lessened by the ability to retreat into the teleporter. This is a spot to have a few rockets. If the archvile attacks quickly, it's simple to pump a few rockets at it before retreating into the teleporter. 1 or 2 salves will take it out and speed up final cleanup. Secrets do have subtle hints though I went by memorization to find them.

Map15 - “Last Resort” by Matthias Worch

Discouraging, unintuitive map, visually and gameplay-wise average at most. 2/5

Map31 - “Doorway to Quake” by Iikka Keränen

Recreation of a Quake map. Neither the aesthetics, nor the gameplay were particularly awesome, though. 2/5

Map32 - “Bitter Herb” by Adam Windsor

I've just rushed through. Looked okay, but the gameplay was uninspired, seemingly lazily done. I do realize that it's a 1997 map. Still, 1/5. A super secret map should have been better.

Map16 - “Escape from Chaos” by Iikka Keränen

Now this was something good! The kind of oldschool maps I like. Despite heavily orthogonal architecture and linear progression, it wasn't short of fun and ideas. Climbing ledges and platforming over the nukage in particular. Imperfect aesthetics, but whatever, I didn't mind. I liked the map for what it was. 4.5/5

Capellan said:

I think map15 may have killed the thread. That or everyone is off playing Valiant :)

For me, I was already behind a map, and it was the weekend (and when I got on the computer, I'd rather play than post.) So this is what I did with my weekend:

MAP13: Town of the Dead
So, I went ahead and recorded my first demo for this level (I forgot to set a complevel, but I don't think I've ever touched the PRBoom+ comp settings.) This was actually my third attempt: my first was just poking around in GZDoom for a minute or so to see what was what. My second was in GLBoom+ to get myself acclimated to the (noticeably different) feel of that port: I was killed by the revenant that appears after stepping onto the blue key porch. By the time I did my demo, I wasn't playing my best: I played some spots way too cautiously, and others I was wastefully reckless. I made the mistake of ignoring the post-YK baron, and he ended up killing me later. Blah. Then I switched back to GZDoom and finished the level. A couple of observations:

• OpenGL doesn't play nice with all that sector trickery! In GZDoom, the first bridge was busted (sky showing underneath where slime should be) but the third bridge (that you walk underneath after lowering the gate) worked fine. In GLBoom+, the first bridge was fine, and the third was busted. Oddly, I can't think of any other instance where GZDoom choked on a 3D (or fake 3D) bridge.
• You'll also notice in the demo that I got stuck trying to cross the second bridge. That was obnoxious. (Also not a problem in GZDoom.)
• Boo pistol-starts. I can see why people enjoy the challenge, but it's definitely not my jam.

Overall, I didn't really enjoy the level (in either port): it was basically a corridor shooter with high-tier baddies showing up in your face constantly. No fun.

MAP14: The Portal
Again, not a fan of the "Surprise! Demon in your face!" corridor action. But the nukage walk was fine, and I actually liked the second half of the level quite a bit.

MAP15: Last Resort
Now, this level I like. It has its problems: Thankfully I remembered the practically-hidden shootable switches from my previous playthrough. The post-yellow-door demon swarm (penned in by the monster-blocking lines) was laughable, and the mostly-empty courtyards are disappointing. But the cavern section was great: that supercharge/double baron trap was diabolical (oddly, I always instinctively dodge to the left when they appear, putting them between me and the escape switch.) The last time I played this level, I didn't even know that archvile jumps were a thing, so I clipped to MAP31; this time, I didn't mess around: I saw the archie, I let him jump me, and I exited.

MAP31: Doorway to Quake
I lied above when I said I couldn't think over another case of GZDoom choking on sector trickery: the over/under room here doesn't work at all: the floor isn't visible from above, and the ceiling isn't visible from below. (Also there's an invisible wall between the walkway snipers and the inner area.) I had to pull up PRBoom+ to see it in action, and it was cool when working properly. As were the sliding doors (which I assume were achieved with insta-doors, a la MAP03?) Anyway, a short but reasonably fun level, with that final double-archie trap a real pants-crapper. I found the supercharge secret, but don't know how: it was just sitting there open. And I had to IDDT to find the secret exit: "Oh, just open that shadowed wall? Lame."

MAP17
Another map where I got stuck for a time due to my own sloppiness in exploring, and also a map where I seem to have managed to miss the entire western section of the level (I never activated linedef 476). I think both of these can be traced back to a slight sense of disengagement with the map. Because while there's nothing obviously wrong with this level, it lacks a certain something. At least part of it is that I didn't some across anything that made me stop and go 'cool!', either visually or in terms of action. The looks and fights were competent, but nothing more, really.

I did feel the level had a couple of fairly obtuse moments – moments where I just humped walls on specd and discovered not a secret but the actual way forward. Also, the grey and modwall section was rather dull, visually.

This one never really got out of first gear, for me – a problem symptomised by the exit room, where you face two spectres (actually imps in HMP, but most of you guys are on UV) in a wide open space. Why bother with such a perfunctory end game at all?

MAP17 Dens Of Iniquity

I never really did like Michael Rapp's levels too much. this one is more or less a big level with a lot of variety into it. in fact, the blue and yellow keys are in totally different places depending on the difficulty setting chosen, which changes the pace of the gameplay quite considerably. because of this, a lot of areas could be deemed as optional. my walkthrough for this level was certainly a nightmare because of that. the blue key is in a different place on ITYTD and HNTR while the yellow key is in a different place on UV and NM. most of the other places are more or less optional, and my walkthrough tries to cover for it. combat-wise, it's actually a pretty light level.

Map11: Rats In The Walls

Pretty nice map for sure. A lot of baddies in a relatively small map but most of them are small fry so didn't feel like a grind at all. It's not completely non-threatening either since hitscanners have a strong presence and they can snipe you from surprising angles. Looks pretty good and stylish and I didn't mind the progression either. Also liked the hints that showed the secrets: leaky pipe, active teleporter etc. Clever. Good map definitely, one of the best ones yet.

Map12: Militant Reprisal

Bit of a strange one. A shitload of secrets, one very memorable yet absolutely horrible area (yes, the dark room) and a generally very confusing progression. Gameplay wasn't anything special and I really don't even remember much of it other than the pitch black death trap garbage. Also don't get the walk-through walls in that one spot, why even have those there?

Map13: Town of The Dead

Well, it looks nice and I remember being very impressed by all the 3D bridge shenanigans when I first played it. Even now I found the architecture pretty impressive but sadly gameplay is rather subpar. Really cramped spaces in all of the buildings so combat is very dry for the most part. The more open areas aren't exactly used well either as it's usually just a few lonely Mancs or such patrolling the "streets".

Map14: The Portal

I really enjoyed this. The texture combinations and overall visuals are very appealing I think and gameplay is actually quite good. Sure, it's the poster boy for othogonality but I didn't really mind or even notice it much when playing. Secrets can be a bit hard to find since they require backtracking a bit but I remembered some of them from watching xit vono's NM100S attempt on youtube some time ago. Pretty random but I guess it made an impression heh.

14 - one of my least favorite maps here, it's just tight corridors and stuff. Very uninspiring and I agree with vdgg concerning the marble textures. But what interests me about it is that this is the only Requiem level that still doesn't have a Nightmare speedrun for it. Maybe one day...
15 - now this is excellent. I appreciate all cool trigger sequences like the start with that shootable switch, imo such map interaction is very satisfying. The white cave is perhaps my favorite part. Great music too.
31 - beautiful and impressive, even though not that interesting from the gameplay perspective. Has a very fun speedrun route I used on my birthday (16th February) exactly 4 years ago: http://doomedsda.us/lmps/765/2/rq31s036.zip
32 - I think the only thing that stands out about this level in my mind is the "rest in pieces" sign.
16 - for some reason I kinda like it when Doom maps start on a toilet. I once made a map like that too. This is a good adventure level that keeps entertaining you with new visual themes and tricks. My favorite part is of course the platform control room but the ending is cool too.

Map14 – The Portal by Eric Sambach – Kills – 100, Items – 97, Secret – 80. End Health – 117, Armor 71. Death Count – 2

I totally hated this map. I'll disagree with my esteemed comrades who enjoyed it, because to me it was the antithesis of Doom fun. First, it's a pancake-flat Wolfenstein maze. Second, it's linear, yet it has unintuitive progression, requiring backtracking to a fairly extreme extent. I reached the exit only to discover I didn't have the blue key. I had to open the map in DB2 in order to discover that this was, yes, basically a SteveD Map09 of Realm of Chaos bit of silliness, where you have to find a secret panel to press a switch to reveal a staircase to the blue key. I'll give Sambach props for one thing, you can at least figure it out from the automap, whereas I put a secret flag on my door. Either way, this is just dumb cheap difficulty. That's why I did it, and that's why Sambach did it, and if no one else is going to call him on it, I'll be happy to step up and do it. Bad, Eric, bad!

And then there's the “action.” Pretty much the same as an Iikka map, bunches of enemies in front of you in narrow corridors. Yay. This really plays to the strengths of a savescumming keyboarder, because forewarned by Magnus and others of the tight ammo, I punched every Pinky I could reach and, in spite of pistol-starting on UV, I ended the map with 92 bullets, 17 shells and 26 plasma cells! wOOt! ;)

There was only one trap of consequence, the totally jagoffy Baron/Chaingunner trap that killed me on the first try. Every other “trap” was easily backed-out of, leading to casual SSGing of HKs. What Adam called a “jag off” move (ahem, that's jagoff, friend Adam, Pittsburgers will be so upset with you! – with 2 Revvies walking through a fake wall was, indeed, exactly what he said it was. Never have liked fake wall tricks. But again, it's easily defused by backing away. I could have SSGed them, but with a sexy new Rocket Launcher, I drew them to the corner, ran backwards and rocketed them as they turned. Yep, boring as hell. ;D

This map was a camping spectacular. I decided to provoke infights between the Imps and Cacos in the nukage, and this became even more of a time-wasting chore when the Revvies appeared. Given that I wasn't overflowing with ammo at this point, I ran back and forth from the yellow door to the nukage entrance. Amazingly, I was never hit, and all the Cacos were killed by Revvies, who I then camped from the nukage entrance door.

At this point, I had already decided the map was offensively bad. An absolute poster child for what I believe a mapper should not do.

Then there was the blue key camp-fest. First, you go up stairs, kill a few Sergeants, and then you have 3 Arachnotrons behind cages to your left, and some hitscanners firing through windows to your right. My jaw literally dropped. I'm thinking, “You've gotta be kidding me.” What am I supposed to do aside from SSGing the spiders with corner abuse. This is gameplay? This is encounter design? You've gotta be kidding me! But wait, there's more. Howzabout Archies in cages overlooking a hallway you have to traverse. Unbelievable. So I rocket the first and then hold down the trigger on the single-shotty for the next. This is horribad. How can it be anything else? I suppose I could Rambo this and run into the courtyard to be swarmed by Pinkies and Barons while under fire from Archies, or I could run up the stairs in the building, assuming I've survived long enough, and start plinking everything from above. Like that would be better. You've gotta be kidding me. Pure speed-bump gameplay in my book. Super boring.

The exit is another campfest, only when the Archie shows up, part of the camping process involves dodging in and out of the teleporter. I decided to plasma the Archie, then rocket a Revvie and single-shotty the rest, using corner-abuse tactics, natch.

A very strong contender for my least favorite map of the set thus far.

Map17 - “Dens of Iniquity” by Michael Rapp

Good map. It's extensive, exploratory and even somewhat atmospheric, with that nice music track. Visuals were thoroughly okay for an old wad, close to IWAD-esque style, and no particular part stood out as ugly for me. Some parts were interesting by their mere structure, even if simple (and often symmetrical). Gameplay was relatively easy, but fun. I never knew when to expect chaingunners, their presence kept me on toes, while I didn't feel like they were horribly overused or anything, they were just relatively frequent. All in all, good experience. 4/5

SteveD said:

2 Revvies walking through a fake wall was, indeed, exactly what he said it was. Never have liked fake wall tricks. But again, it's easily defused by backing away.

See, my problem here (and it killed me at least twice, I think) was that the revvies didn't appear until after I'd whipped around the corner, and by the time I knew a trap had been sprung, they were already launching rockets at my back. So yeah, that coupled with the chaingunner trap you mentioned got a big No Thanks from me.

^^^Yeah, that reminds me, a line I thought of putting in my review was, "These traps can be dangerous if you zoom through the hallways like it was the Indianopolis Speedway." ;) I got a little cautious after that Baron trap, which I should mention was my favorite thing in the level. Unless you're putting incidental combat in as a breather, it's always good to get at the player, and with a Baron jump-scare to hold your attention while the massed fury of 5 Chaingunners rips you to shreds, I gotta say, that was an awesome trap. That's what I call "Good jagoff." I know some players will say it requires pre-knowledge, but given the sedate gameplay of the megawad so far, I was hungry for a really good dick-move.

Remember that hallway trap with the 3 HKs? That was just bad trigger placement. It opened at the near end of the closet, so I backed up. If the trap had been triggered right towards the end, or even a little bit past the HK closet, it could have put slower-moving players like me in real danger.

BTW, I liked the MIDI.

I honestly don't remember the blue key thing SteveD complained about. But I did play the level nearly two weeks ago now. Will have to look into it in DB2 tonight.

The switch is in the checkerboard-marble area, behind a panel that's full white (rather than alternating white/green squares). I admit that when I hit the panel I thought I happened upon a secret, and by the time I got the blue key forgot that the whole area was behind a 'secret.' So, guess I can't totally blame Steve (especially since other people found those switches in MAP15 that I couldn't find).

MAP17: Dens of Inequity
100% kills, 1/1 secret

A pretty long map, especially for Requiem. Like Capellan, I too got stuck, though I was eventually able to find my way without resorting to opening up the map editor. Had trouble finding the yellow key because I never hit the 'door' (hidden as a wall) that lowers to that area - yeah, I noticed the closet opened, but I figured it was just a monster closet and didn't think to go wallhump the inside of it. Ah well.

I definitely get an IWAD feel from this, though two different ones. The first half feels a bit like a Romero E1 map, with lots of windows and monsters shooting from ledges and such (though it lacks some of the other hallmarks), and the latter part feels more like the abstract areas that characterized Doom 2. This might be in part due to the texturing as well - lots of STARTAN and computers in the first section, more bricks and such in the second (and the MODWALL section in-between).

The map can be difficult due to the overall lack of health/armor, and those chaingunners can keep you on their toes. Unfortunately, the rest of the map is a cakewalk - four cacodemons far away for the yellow key ambush and two spectres (?) at the end are just underwhelming. Still, a decent map with plenty to explore.

I finished the level without using the map editor, but I always open them in DB2 while writing my comments ... which is the when I noticed the section I'd missed :-)

Map17 - “Dens of Iniquity” by Michael Rapp
Along with map05 and 12, this level is one of the Requiem maps I didn't enjoy when I first played the megawad. My complaint for this one, as with map12 is that the progression is too obtuse. Upon replaying it now, I'm sorry to say that I still feel the same about it. The progression is more or less ok up until you need to get the yellow key, at which point I missed a stupid switch on the other side of a pillar and thus spent 20 minutes wandering around the map aimlessly, cursing Michael Rapp.

The action is modest, with the map using several fairly static encounters with chaingunners and mid-level monsters. There were a few okayish traps, and I suppose the archie was used ok. I suppose that the way the route wraps around the earlier part with the horse-shoe shaped balcony after the revenant lift is kkind of clever, but all of this is marred by the horrible, unintuitive, switch-hunty progression. To avoid trying to place the blame too much on this though, the progression also effectively depends on unmarked secrets, with the lift walls that need to be pressed. This is surely a cardinal sin in such a legendary megawad. Doom is many things, but what it is not is aimlessly wandering wondering what you're supposed to be doing. For good clever technical progression give me a Worch, Moller or Iikka map please. This one is as aimless and wandery as it's texturing. Thumbs down.

MAP32: Bitter Herb
So, this is the first time I've ever played this map. It, uh...well, it's a map, I guess? The cacoswarm was more obnoxious than threatening. The demon-shielded archies were a pain, but the clever part was 'porting all those imps in behind you as the archie threat made its appearance. Still an entirely forgettable map.

MAP16: Escape from Chaos
A fun, albeit linear, adventure map. Some cool architecture if nothing spectacular (love that sewer section, though), and of course the spaceship ending is neato. I like the part where you duck into the tunnel in the wall, then fall down and end up above where you entered. Took me a second to realize what had happened. :)

MAP17: Dens of Iniquity
Haven't played this yet, but I saw everyone's comments, so when it loaded up, I tooled around for half a minute or so. Oh yeah, this one: I got stuck here the first time, too. Looking forward to that. :\

Capellan said:

I honestly don't remember the blue key thing SteveD complained about. But I did play the level nearly two weeks ago now. Will have to look into it in DB2 tonight.

It's right by the teleporter with the Exit sign above it, after the Hell Knight trap. You look into one room and see the teleporter with the odd blue-keyish texture, and on the other side is a square alcove with nothing in it, no visible switch or door or anything, so naturally I took the teleporter. You don't need a blue key to take a teleporter, after all. When I encountered the blue door and had no key -- meaning I killed the Chaingunners ahead of schedule and thus did not trigger any teleporting Revvies, assuming that's how it worked -- I went back and looked all over Hell's half-acre for that damned blue key -- everywhere except that alcove with the bare walls. I'm not a major user of the automap, BTW.

I suppose that since a lot of y'all played this before, you may have remembered this nonsense. Hey, I did it in my very first map -- which so far only the unfortunate DotW has seen ;D -- hiding a key in a secret area. Yeah, that's the way to make the player's progression fun, hiding mandatory keys in secret areas! Maybe we should all start doing it again, and I'll make sure to flag the relevant linedef secret, to make it even more fun. ;)