The DWmegawad Club plays: TNT: Evilution

MAP15 - “Dead Zone” by William D. Whitaker
A strange map this one, it i almost like the author build a simple base with an outer courtyard and then filled the map up with a collection of rooms all connected together with every ounce of space used. It is interesting and quite fun to play. The secrets are pretty easy to find overall.

Map09 - Stronghold by Jimmy Sieben
2 Deaths (4 total)

Maxed it!

The famous Hitscanner Holocaust isn't so bad when you play continuous and walk in with the SSG. Aside from a couple, "I'm gonna git you, sucka!" traps, it's a bit of a breeze, at least for a savescummer. My death count would have been higher if not for my habit of scumming out when my health dipped below 20 and I had Chaingunners still blasting away at me. That's how I survived the "door-after-door and then the big trap opens behind you" scenario. I had the SSG in hand, which was the wrong weapon for that fight, so I scummed out and switched to Chaingun and did the side-to side spray-fire dealie, which allowed me to get through the fight with only 2 hits scored against me. Yeah! And then I found the path to the secret Computer Map. I think I'd found about 6 secrets by then, and the only reason I maxed is thanks to that map. I also found a Medikit in a room that should have been flagged secret, but wasn't, since it was hidden behind a computer panel.

My 2 deaths were both stupid ones. First, I died to the alcove Chaingunner at the top of the stairs where you look at the red key. I went right past him and when the trap opened at the bottom of the stairs, I shot at those monsters and didn't recover in time to take out the Chaingunner right next to me. God, what a dumbass I was! :D My next death came soon after when you hit a switch that turns out to be a lift which drops you straight into the line of fire of some hitscanners and Imps. I was already at somewhat moderate health, and this encounter took me below 20. I then foolishly stepped forward and got nailed by a Chaingunner on a low wooden crate off to my right.

Surprisingly, given my fondness for hitscanner combat, I didn't find this map all that enjoyable. It was very crampy and I kept bumping into things. The layout wasn't flowy or interconnected, so there was no real worry about roamers popping up in surprising places as in KDiTD. The map was basically linear and the encounters, rather than being from multiple directions and heights, tended to be straight ahead with an occasional side or rear attack, and mostly all on one plane, again and again and again. It got monotonous. The final third of the map was also ridiculously easy, and was mostly just keeping your finger on the trigger as you shot up a stairway. ZZZZzzzzzzz. Add some typical '90s unintuitive progression plus not being pretty, and IMO you have a mediocre map.

On the plus side, at least it's vicious. I'm not sure what the design philosophy of other '90s mappers was, but I always wanted to kill the player in 3 different places on a map. Using the typical attrition/resource management approach, I used hitscanners mainly to chip away at the player until it was time to hit them with Mancs or Revvies, leading to a Chip-Chip-Boom! rhythm. I think a lot of '90s mappers didn't take hitscanners that seriously, seeing them as weak and easy to kill, whereas Nobles, Arachnotrons and Revvies were really dangerous monsters. If Adam is reading, maybe he could weigh in. Evilution is somewhat different in that, so far, the main threat is from hitscanners, so I guess this team had a different view.

One more thing is that there were some pretty decent-looking areas with nice detailing by '96 standards, especially in the final, more boring third of the map.

warning: rage ahead

MAP31 Pharoah

Steppe pyramid with zombiemen all around it, mhm. Also some snazzy textures being used. Okay, don't like how that one switch is oriented at all, but either way, I get in. The water-like area I first get in once I'm inside makes no sense for the theme and just feels like another room. The catacomb like area I go to afterwards with the spectres is quite scary, but bearable. What's not bearable is the mistake they made which made the yellow key multiplayer. You know, I'd imagine they'd put the key inside that coffin thing, but then I realize, what the fuck is it doing as a CRUSHER? That's even dumber, so I won't argue about the key placement here, but the crusher there is just the dumbest thing I've ever seen so far.

Will say though, this hall with the arachnotrons and such coming to life is pretty rad. Nice to see them come to life after clearing a section. What isn't nice is having to find the yellow switch, and then realizing you need to go back to the beginning for a teleporter to find the next area. I don't like it when I have absolutely no clue what a switch does, especially one that requires a key beforehand. Speaking of which, after the teleporter is a nice open area with combat that isn't entirely tough. Then I enter the room nearby noticing these cages and then there's not only teleporting archies all around the cages, but these shotgun guys inhabiting places behind windows, windows you can't see because they are actually fake walls. Don't do this ever! This is such a horrible fucking room! Not being able to see who's attacking you is atrocious and not fun in the slightest!

At least getting the blue key is eas-oh wait no. You have to wait for this wall to come down (with pain elementals behind it) so you can press the switch to lower it as a lift. Also there's two more arch-viles finding solace in teleporting like assholes. And again, going back to the beginning for another teleporter. This one's blue bars even open up to the fucking sky. Well at least the area I enter is a nice open playing field with some rougher mid-tier-sized combat along the way. The cacos coming out from the rocks was a very nice touch as I retrieve the red key and get the heck out of there.

Oh god, what is the cyberdemon doing floating above some sort of block of SPCDOOR textures? This just freaks me out even more and more. The final combat rush after the cyber involves loads and loads of sargeants, like that hasn't been fun before. But they're the last monsters, and when we get that breath of fresh air from finally getting through this monstrosity, there's nothing left to kill, and for the secret exit, only a matter of finding where it could be (it's really easy). But overall, fuck this map, it's yellow key bug, and the annoying as hell combat it held.

MAP32 Caribbean

Not the best job in making this kind of locale, but it'll do. Not even sure why TNTguy would need that vacation if he's like all other Doomguys, stuck perpetually battling all sorts of hellspawn. So this level has some shacks over water, which is a theme of sorts. Quite a lot of chaingunners and revenants to find here. The soul sphere room has some shotgun guys teleporting in, but it's possible to shoot them (and for them to shoot you), through that TV wall nearby. Not the last time that'll happen mind you, this shit is annoying since you expect the enemy to have teleported by now but is instead shooting you through a fake wall.

The yellow key trap is the stunning surprise, dropping us into a barrel-filled shit room with an arch-vile and an arachnotron to the side. But it is possible to avoid rather easily if you stop just before the key. Heading back outside has this side shack which needs the blue key to raise a bridge, oh and another annoying hitscanner trap where they fucking go everywhere. Onto the third building, which is somehow less memorable other than a STARTAN maze of chaingunners and the red key room. Gotta say though, these are quite typical Dario monster closets, with the most annoying enemies inside each one.

Last segment is quite clear until you open it up. Again, Dario doing his best at making tough combat scenarios. The cyberdemon had to be somewhere, but his accompaniment got in the way. Quite fun even though I camp near the cave entrances. Two things I hated about this last part. One, and again I say it, the fucking fake wall, this time with an arch-vile behind it. The other is actually opening the exit, two TIMED switches to do it. Urgh. Setting's fine, but combat flip-flops from fun slaughter to annoying at times. Dario's TNT levels were somehow more annoying than his Plutonia ones.

I join the club for some maps

Map 31 Pharaoh

Impressive map by Dario Casali. The Egyptian theme is beautifully rendered both externally and in the inner areas. The highlight room for me is the area where a blue armor is located into in a pyramidal recess next to the room where two arch-viles telport from the cages. In this map there are no areas that I don't like, they are all very well done. And then the midi is phenomenal, perfect for this map.

MAP12: Dunno if it was the over-sized room, the nonlinear nature of the map, or the Doom 2 midi that made me feel like this map could pass itself off as a Doom 2 outtake. The sewer section is perhaps the most inventive, especially as you’re running down that long tunnel and arach bullets start flying your way. I think there are some missed opportunities though—I would’ve liked to snag the baron-guarded soulsphere from the underground, and allowing the player to find some secret down there that would lead to the big SFALL pathway instead of the other way around would’ve been neat. Still, it’s pretty good map overall with a mood I was really diggin’—so far, TNT has been on a roll!

MAP13: Another good map—like how clean this one looks. I wish there were a few more rockets to clean up the bulkier enemies, but perhaps there was some more firepower in the secrets I missed. The outdoor area was pretty neat—I like the monster composition there—and I appreciate the brief option you have when you pick up both keys. It’s a clean map that I’m surprised had Ty’s name attached to it, given how relatively un-cramped all the combat was.

MAP14: I am not really into this map, but I think it does something well that most newbie mappers need to take note of—if you’re going to force the player to backtrack, at least try to make it entertaining somehow. This map could’ve had the player push their way to the red key, jump out the window and exit, but the trek back to the start was kinda fun thanks to the newly unleashed hitscanners. Besides that though, I feel the previous map handled room-by-room encounters much better, and all the damaging floor running irked me a little bit (I accidentally overlooked the rad suit in the crusher room, so it’s totally my fault). While not my favorite, I can still respect this map for what it is.

dobu gabu maru said:

MAP13: It’s a clean map that I’m surprised had Ty’s name attached to it, given how relatively un-cramped all the combat was.

Ty Halderman had almost nothing to do with the map. As you can see from his credits list below he only gives himself as having done about 5% of the work.
https://www.doomworld.com/vb/post/357008

MAP12: Crater
17:44 | 100% Everything

I do love this map, but I think it's almost all nostalgia-driven at this point. The titular outdoor area is/was such a stunning visual, but man it is kinda bland, with its solitary baron and just a couple revvies waiting around a corner. Lots of fun stuff here, but just not tied together into anything cohesive.


MAP13: Nukage Processing
21:21 | 100% Everything

This map, on the other hand, I think I enjoy more every time I play it. This time I took the secret shortcut to the outside right off the bat, which I'm not sure I'd ever done before. Lots of frenetic action everywhere. So many optional paths to take. I blitzed the cyber from outside with my plasma gun this time; I remember facing him crammed inside the room with him the last time I played. It was a lot easier this time. :) Just fantastic, overall.


MAP14: Steel Works
18:36 | 99% Kills | 92% Items | 50% Secrets | 1 Death (7 total)

Ugh, this one. The theme always makes me think of a certain Hexen map. Anyway, it's mostly fun, but the damaging floors coupled with a severe lack of radsuits is irksome. I died once here trying to get back from under a crusher, and didn't make it. The lava-floor pillar-maze was obnoxious, and I got through that with like 7% health, only to trigger the red key hitscanner ambush. I miraculously survived that, but man would it have been difficult to put some health on either side of that maze? I missed two secrets here; one was off the stairway near the red key; I've never figured out how to access that. The way the map repopulated on the trip back was very cool, though. Credit where credit's due. (But I still have to shake my head at the yellow key just laying around in the start area. The heck?)


MAP15: Dead Zone
26:01 | 98% Kills | 100% Items | 100% Secrets | 1 Death (8 total)

I like this one. Very freewheeling and nonlinear. I love how you can tackle the base any which way you want. I typically roam around it and pick off everything I can from the outside before venturing in. This time around, I was strafing around firing rockets at a mob of imps, and caught myself on a corner as I fired. WHOOPS, dead. I love all the secrets packed so tightly in; most of them are easy enough to spot by misaligned textures. Others with perfectly aligned textures were either just guesses or gleaned from the automap. The secret exit took a while to suss out; I'm guessing that once all the other secrets are found, that one opens? I found my last secret (the pinkie with armor bonuses) and only after that saw the color-coded teleport-line show up on my automap (right by the berserk that I was saving for later.) Missed two baddies; not sure where they would have been, but since the secrets exit wasn't marked (and I'm not saving) I hit it assuming it would open the secret exit door. But no. Fun map, though.

MAP16 - Deepest Reaches
ZDoom, UV-PS, KIS(%): 100/100/75

This level takes place in dark, brown canyon. Once again, Evilution did a good job in putting proper custom soundtrack into the level. I really liked the atmosphere of this level with this soundtrack, Blood Jungle. The layout of the level was pretty good enough to visualize the canyon area with freely-drawn lines, although the angle of some lines are questionable. One thing I didn't like about the design of canyon was a huge height difference between some areas. Sure, the name of this level is Deepest Reaches. But it makes the speed of progression slow whenever you take lifts. The monster placement was pretty basic, but not bad. The secret design was good enough to make the player to explore the level since it always gives you a hint around the secret, including that plasma rifle room with misaligned texture. But then again, I missed the BFG secret behind the wall with false texture, how could I miss that one?? :S And speaking of secret, I wonder why the red skull room was not flagged as a secret, despite its cryptic progression. While the gameplay was just okay, or even mediocre, this level gets the score from me with its environmental design and a good choice for background music.

Map10 – Redemption by Tom Mustaine
0 Deaths (4 total)

As with the previous map, this one is probably much more fun and challenging from pistol start. I almost died in the very first nasty trap – Chaingunners, Sergeants and Imps on one side, a Hell Knight behind you. I didn't realize the HK was there and thought something was shooting me through the windows. I scummed out at 10% health and started over. As is common with this type of trap, once you know the gimmick it's easy to beat. I simply tripped the trigger line and ran outside, and then encouraged infighting so that the HK killed almost everything for me.

For continuers, this was literally the only dangerous point in the map. Every other trap was either too lightweight – the Blue Armor Imp trap up above by the red-key door – or it fired off too early, allowing you to back away and surgically destroy the opposition. The Blue Armor trap was a 2-part disaster, because it's easy to kill the Imps with SSG, and then the baddies that get released below you mostly infight themselves to death, allowing you to jump out the window and finish off the survivors with ease. The 3-stage yellow key fight is another misfire. Just walk down the stairs to alert the Revvies, then back up and let the Arachnotrons kill them for you, and then SSG the spiders from the top of the stairs. After that, the PEs and Cacos are easily dealt with by dodging and shooting around the pillars, and the final warp-in monsters can mostly be fought right from the yellow key platform, but instead I ran past the Baron since I didn't want to stake my health on my dodging abilities.

This brought up a problem endemic to the mapset – stairs too steep and too narrow front-to-back for the monsters to pursue you. This encourages fleeing and door-camping for the easy win, and I made the most of those opportunities. This is a common mapping error that almost everyone makes. Personally, I nowadays prefer to make stairs 8 units high and at least 32 front-to-back, though 64 is even better. This allows monsters to pursue the player with virtually no slowdown.

The 5 secrets in one area is yet another common and amusing mistake. It happens when someone makes a secret area, then puts in other sectors within that one – stairs, usually, as in this case – and each new sector retains the secret flag. That happened in the Doom IWAD as well, and is a sign of poor quality control that should have been caught in playtesting.

On the plus side, this map had some nice structures, especially the Tekwal hallways with Support3 detailing. Again, the QC work was absent because a high percentage of the Support3 beams had misaligned textures. This problem was seen in light strips as well. The old editors could adjust textures on the X and Y-axis, so you could align textures if you wanted to. It was a PITA, because you had to adjust, render, and then play the map to get it right, again and again and again, but it could be done.

All in all, a map that shows some promise but comes off as poorly executed.

Map 31 - Pharaoh - Dario Casali

Pyramids!!! BEST MAP EVER!!!

Seriously,I found this hidden gym when I was a kid,and this map just made my day, an Egyptian Civilization, a Pyramid,what more you can ask from this map?

It starts off with a pyramid and almost all the weapons and ammo you need to enter the pyramid,I like the idea that you don't find any ammo or weapons in the pyramid,then you enter the Giant hall that has 6 Arachnatrons that can't see you yet,and I like how when you enter each room, a door opens and 2 Arachnatrons see you and try to kill you, there are some puzzles that you need to figure out how to do these puzzles in order to advance,there are also some traps that includes Archviles as well.

One of the most inspiring spots in this map is the Giant crate area with the red key, as you're surrounded by different types of powerful monsters including Revenants from above, Mancubs and some Arachnatrons, and we can add one single Zombieman and a horde of Cacodemons,so you need to cause all of them to infight , also the hectic fight against a Cyberdemon on a Pedestal "with a techdoor texture!!" a really cool fight.

The final segment is you take down a horde of Shotgunners with a rocket launcher is delicious , you go to the final area where the original exit is infront of you,head left to get a massive items goodies,there lies the secret exit to the super secret map.

This map's gameplay maybe at a good scale,but the level design,the music and the atmosphere made this map a really excellent map, this is my favorite map in the whole game for that, excellent job.

Map 32 - Caribbean - Dario Casali

This one is an underrated map, and I don't talk too much about it, while the design of the Caribbean's outdoor is okay, I think the gameplay is really great, it's hard, it's a Casaliesc gameplay in their traps as well, the traps that contains Revenants,Hell Knights and Mancubus, it's really good and really challenging,the final segment is where I died thanks to my recklessness dealing with the Cyberdemon, the secrets are somehow easy to find,but it's not bad, ,the way to approach the exit is very tricky and it's annoying sometimes ,very good map overall.

back to the right path again with our regular walkthrough.

So now we come to the secret levels, both of which are by Dario Casali.

Map31: Pharaoh (Dario Casali)
100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets
Time: 13:36

This is quite a unique setting that we've never seen in a Doom wad back then. It's an Egyptian-themed map where the action takes place inside of a pyramid. When I first played this map, I got stuck because of how the yellow key cannot be found in the normal TNT wad, which resulted me in resorting to cheats. Now that I'm using the patch wad for this map, I can be able to do this legit. The start starts off quite generously as there's a pair of "tombs" (I believe?) that when you hit the switches on, they lower, revealing weapons, ammo, armour, and health. You need to find the switch which opens the entrance to the pyramid, and there's the great hall with some Egyptian murals and frozen arachnotrons (two of each awake after doing some progress). First thing, you have to go to the southeast tunnel which takes you down to a water chamber with revenants and hell knights, then flip the switch to reveal some stairs up to a teleporter which takes you to a separate cavern area. You'll fine the yellow key (in the bugfix patch) in a lit chamber. If you plan to grab the health potions when you hit the hidden switch exposing them, proceed carefully and quickly since going for them triggers a crusher. With the yellow key, you can open the thick yellow bar blocking the switch which reveals a teleporter at the starting area. This part's tricky, but what I do is use the BFG on the revenants on the soul sphere pool, blast the mancubus with rockets, and then chaingun away at the shotgunners, including taking care of an arachnotron so it won't be a bother later on. Then I heal up the highest as possible before getting the soul sphere and grabbing the mega armour as you'll need them for the arch-viles that appear in the east chamber. Make sure you have eliminated the sniper shotgunners there before maxing your health and armour. You then have to eliminate some pain elementals then race for the lowered walls in the main hall which act as elevators to get on the pillar where the blue key is. Have the BFG ready for the arch-viles that teleport in. Ready the rocket launcher for the mancubi and sniper revenants in the second outdoor area, then later on the arachnotrons when you hit the switch that reveals the red key pillar with stairs going up to it. After eliminating the cacodemons and hitting more switches, make sure to have as much health and armour as possible and stock up on supplies held in two more "tombs" for the cyberdemon that is floating over a now raised block. The ending has you going up to a revealed megasphere, but save it for after you kill all the shotgunners, hit the switches, and then you reach the end. The secret exit isn't hard to find either. So that's Pharaoh, a really intriguing and beautifully made map (obvious as it's by Dario Casali), though exactly why id Software and Team TNT didn't fix the yellow key bug problem in the first place is beyond me.

Map32: Caribbean (Dario Casali)
100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets
Time: 11:51

Here is yet another Casali secret level, and boy, is it a really fun one. Much like how Pharaoh is set in Egypt, this map is set in, well, the Caribbean, and you have to fight your way through some wooden houses floating on water. This is obviously a Casali map as it uses their peculiar monster placement of revenant and chaingunner squads. In fact, this map has a significant number of mid-high tier monsters, and there's some really nasty traps and ambushes, so this is certainly not going to be easy. I won't go much into the gameplay, though, as that would be saved for a later map. You have the wooden houses which is loaded with monsters and goodies, then when you grab the blue key, you have to activate the locked door of the eastern house halfway to hit switch the raises the bridge. Watch out for the mancubi and revenants as you reach the the other side. The next house has you facing chaingunners, pain elementals, and other nasties, in the east tunnel area and the west sludge pit once you locate the switch the open the door leading to it. Collect the red key and, surprise, you see more of the map beyond up north. This part is the toughest and most frantic. Be sure to grab the megasphere, but not before taking care of a hidden revenant, hit the switch, and prepare for a massive slaughter showdown with revenants, hell knights, mancubi and the cyberdemon. Best approach is to have them infight so that the cyberdemon will be weakened or killed, then BFG the bastards sky high. Mind that hidden arch-vile too. Finally, you have the rather tricky and annoying switch race to the exit, which requires some really fast and precise timing. Overall, Caribbean is tough as nails, but a lot of fun. I don't mean to boast, but I've got past that big fight unscathed! 200% health and armour intact! Hahaha!

So that's the secret levels. They were pretty tough, both being Dario Casali and all, but thankfully not as close to being as brutal as Plutonia. We're past the halfway mark of TNT, and so far, we've seen some really good maps and excellent gameplay. It could only get even better the further we go... right? See you all next time in the regular levels.

Map 11 – Storage Facility by Dean Johnson
Maxed, 0 Deaths (4 total)

Strong visuals here, perhaps the best so far. Nice opening area with fences and guard towers, and thanks to distant hitscanners this was the map's high point in difficulty. One thing I wonder is why the TNT texture designers put spinning tapes on the mainframe computers. That's so 8 million years ago. ;D

The crate maze was pretty cool. As a general rule, I don’t like crate mazes, but this one was enjoyable to explore. It was dead easy, though, and I was never in any danger. Chaingun was the preferred weapon for picking off high snipers. The RL came in handy for that clusterfuck with an Archie, some Revvies and a bunch of hitscanners and Imps. Maybe I just got lucky in terms of where I was when monsters teleported in, but I was able to fade all these jagoffs by shooting between high crates. I think I got hit by one piece of buckshot. I've hardly ever had such an easy time.

I've played this map before, and at that time I got really confused by the layout, whereas this time it seemed I never missed a turn. Weird.

I didn't get the outdoor Megasphere because Archie jumps never occur to me, and besides, as soon as an Archie appears I attack it with maximum aggression. I put this one away with rockets in one quick hurry.

I'm surprised this map didn't have HOM problems because there's a lot of 2s lines in the crate rooms.

I usually don't like linedef timing tricks like the one here to get the second Megasphere, but for some reason this one caught my fancy. Leaving the map at 200/200 also put me in a good mood, but no more predictions of invincibility. Once was enough. :D

No love for the MIDI.

So once again, I'm just not feeling it for the encounter design, or lack thereof. I really need to be pressured a lot more than this to have a good time. I want the bullies to smack me around and steal my lunch money. These maps are way too easy on continuous and now I'm bummed-out because Map01 gave me the RL right at the end, which is a huge clue that this is a continuous mapset. I also didn't want to run into any balance disasters like Requiem, but enough is enough. I'll pistol-start the next map because continuous is boring me to death.

antares031 said:

MAP16 - Deepest Reaches

did you miss the secret exit? or did you forget :p

MAP16 Deepest Reaches

Takes its title well. Very fun level involving some ugly ASHWALL textures at first. And sequence breaking with secrets is fun on occasion, like here when I get the yellow key earlier than intended. The trip through the red hellish section was all bumpy, and I didn't like the large pit that was so far down. Eventually I head back to the starting point to go as planned. The wooden library section has this annoying wall reveal, then I go through the waterways. Could never understand why the blue key was where it was though. The marble area behind the yellow door was fun. Getting the red key was kind of a bad puzzle but doable without a whole lot of hassle. Overall, I liked it.

T-Rex said:

why id Software and Team TNT didn't fix the yellow key bug problem in the first place is beyond me.

I don't know, I think they informed ID about the bug and then ID software ignored the bug and released it anyway! that was enraging!

MAP31: Very memorable map. The exotic and orignal setting, the music, there are also many mysterious things here and there (the yellow key area, the dormant arachnotrons, the floating cyberdemon) that set the tone and really create a sense of wonder the first time you see them. I was rather surprised when I discovered that it was made by Dario Casali, the gameplay relies a lot more on tougher monster yes, but it's very tame compared to Plutonia maps.

MAP31 - “Pharaoh” by Dario Casali
gzDoom - UV – continuous/no saves




Deaths this map: 0
Deaths so far: 0

After our Alien Vendetta playthrough I fired this map up for a little Egyptian context so this one is still a little fresh in my mind... and still disliked it. I get that it's incredibly unique in theme, design and texture use but the puzzles and various rooms you explore are not fun and it takes a lot of back and forth trekking to figure out.

I think that the big area where you flip switches to drop large areas of dirt, were meant to be some sort of detonated explosive excavation dig sight. That kind of thing seems really corny to me. Something like that should be in a Duke Nukem 3D map with explosions and silliness. Not a Doom map.

Also, the platform the Cyberdemon hangs out on was buggy as hell for me which is unfortunate. He should be free to roam IMO. Not elevated for easy targeting. Funniest part was the shotgun guy spam. It's hilarious to me for some reason.

With all of the tricks and traps, secret passage ways and hidden tombs an Egyptian pyramid might hold... that's how you're going to hide the secret exit? *eyeroll*

MAP32 - “Caribbean” by Dario Casali
gzDoom - UV – continuous/no saves


Unique looking bungalo map with lots of water and vines. Lots of action inside and eventually out side as well. I don't remember ever playing this one.

Deaths this map: 1
Deaths so far: 1

Finally my first death! It happened so fast, I was shocked. Here I thought I had the battle well in hand but that damned Cyberdemon did me in with a rocket that was hiding behind a mancubi flame barrage so I never saw it coming. I was busy shotgunning a few Revs from the side, then I zigged right, was zagging left in between the flame volley and then, BAM!! One rocket to the head, dead. Instantly. I swear I had 100 health and above 100 armor too but who knows. It took a moment to register that I actually died as I clicked through to the autosave in confusion. Unreal. Oh well. I guess I was asking for more of a challenge and finally got it.

There were a few times before that final fight that I almost bit the dust as well.

First: The surprisingly large number of Revs inside. For some reason I had it stuck in my head I could dodge rockets from 3 revs. I took two to the side of the head before I realized I better back off before I went down. Later on in that same area there are more Revs with HKs are let loose in the same area (I think it has to do with the BK switch) but God help you if you ran past them to get that armor... fuuuuck! I didn't expect there to be that many in such a small space. Most of these maps haven't been that mean yet. Well played.

Second: The AV that teleported behind me in the tight brown water area. I paniced badly and ran head first into 4 spectres. Bad move. No real cover there either if he decided to follow... which he did. I took an firey blast while getting chomped on and somehow still managed to kill them all. Stumbled away, spitting blood with like 35 health. Whew.


So anyways... basically playing this map twice. Once with my continuous (formerly) unstoppable run and now with my pistol. Thankfully this map has all of the weapons with plenty of armor pick ups. The only secret I missed was the one with the backpack. Go figure. How the invisible wall at the end of the map with a Rev and a megasphere doesn't count as a secret, I'll never know.

Going through the map again with the foreknowledge of what to expect made things considerably easier. Gearing up for the final fight again was a fun experience. Not this time, damn it! I was a bit wreckless up close but still somehow overly cautious with my strafing around this time as I slipped down from the ledge and almost Good At Doom'ed myself with my RL. Eyes wide, holding my breath right there. Whew. I did not want to play this map again! I BFG'ed the Cyberdemon shortly after that finally getting everyone else taken care of. Took a rocket blast from some of the infighting unfortunately. Had to use all of the med kits laying around. All in all, I'm sure I could've done better but oh well. It's over now.

But THEN, some hidden AV jacked me good from no where. I couldn't hear him at all and didn't react quick enough. Ouch. So, I'm sitting at 20 some health, desperately looking for a health secret when I stumble through a wall and am staring point black at a REV. AAAHHHH! I scrambled backwards faster than I have ever before and killed him from afar with my last few rockets. Megasphere!!! Sweet. Picked up a few more rockets and ran away from the hidden AV's fire lock on. Took me a couple guesses before I figured out where the AV was and unloaded on that stupid green granite demon face plate. Final trick of the switches for the exit and mission accomplished. Whew. I applaud this map's efforts to kill me with dickery. Challenge met and conquered.

Wanted to mention the red door view from the window. It is the best looking visual in the map almost except there is a strange thing where the other half of the map is invisible until you flip some switch somewhere or perhaps collect the RK, then the other half is visible. Odd. The soulsphere room is close second for most visually appealing part of this stellar map.

MAP32: Not as striking as MAP31, which imo really grabs the spotlight among the secret maps of Evilution, but it was a fun level to play. Feels a lot more like Plutonia and it's the hardest map so far. I love how you can see the final area only after you pick the red key.

MAP17 - Processing Area
ZDoom, UV-PS, KIS(%): 100/100/100

Man, I don't know why, but those chaingunners all over the place almost made me to think about the nightmare from Plutonia, damn those fatty fothermuckers with auto sniper. That being said, it's highly recommended to grab a blursphere at the start to move around the level, if you can find it. The overall design of this level is pretty simple; a BROWNGRN station with rectangular plan, comprising a lobby with marble fountain, a courtyard & two backyards, and long corridors, etc. The progression is pretty simple; you find the key, open the valid keycard door and you'll immediately find the other key for the next room, grab the key and confront the monsters from the other side. Do it one more time and you'll beat the level. In the end, this level was nothing too special to play, but it was just okay for me... except those hitscanners, sigh. But then again, at least this level can have a bonus point for providing several blurspheres; one of the best ways to deal with hitscanners.

rehelekretep said:

did you miss the secret exit? or did you forget :p

If you're looking for my reviews about secret levels, there you go.

MAP16: This one thematically stands out compared to the previous (regular) maps, at the point that you can almost argue that it doesn't fit so much in this slot as suddenly there's this trek through natural caves and canyons with few bits of hellish influence whereas so far we have seen only techbases or man-made structures. My favourite thing about this map is how you take a rather long descent to find the marble temple and the blue key, as you are discovering something that should remain hidden. The exit area with the altar was kinda cool, and I liked the red key puzzle. The most exciting moment in the combats was in the wooden area, after that basically nothing happens but the gameplay was suitable enough.

Map 32 Caribbean

Another great map by Dario Casali, thematically simple in the outside but very well done, especially in the internal of the building that contains the blue and the yellow keys. Rather brutal level focused on the use of clever teleport ambushes and monster closets. Very good final area with a satisfying combat in a nice scenery.

Map12 – Crater by Jim Lowell
Maxed, 0 Deaths

So I switch to UV pistol-start in this map and it's no problem. I accidentally played the map twice, because the first time I forgot that I had last launched in Easy to check something in another map, so my first run was on HNTR. Oops! I thought the map was godawful on HNTR, since it was mostly unattractive and offered very boring, easy encounters. My UV playthrough benefitted from knowing the layout, except insofar as I never found the SSG until practically the end of my second run. That said, aside from the extra tedium of taking out more Barons with single shotty, the map didn't improve much on UV. The encounters were still easy and boring, but the extra monsters gave me more of a workout. Thumbs-up for the Soulsphere trap, the single highlight in both runs. I also liked the use of extreme darkness and bright light in the Modwall maze. The descending lift bringing you a visit from Archie himself was a decent jump scare. Also like the low ceilings and sky in the sewer tunnels, and the play of light down there.

Big negatives included the bland ugliness in most of the map, how every battle was right in front of you with few opportunities to get flanked by monsters, and the hideous crater itself. Further points deducted for violating the Floor Texture Rule near the RL and the widespread absence of border textures where two different textures meet. And let's not forget the Arachnotron shooting through a fake wall. This is what mappers do when they can't develop good encounters and try to get cheap kills instead.

So far, Human BBQ remains my favorite map, with Hanger next and Stronghold in 3rd place. I can guarantee that I will never play Crater again.

MAP15: Aw hell yeah, a Citadel-esque map! I love the feeling of exploring one giant outpost while under pressure from all angles, and this map mostly succeeds in that (had it been made today, there would probably be more bulky enemies down on the ground floor. I still have no idea how to access the secret exit, but that doesn’t really bother me—the asymmetrical layout and multiple entrances into the compound are positively delectable, and had the AV warp in occurred before I jetted off for the exit, I would dare to call this map perfect. But as it stands now, it’s just really, really good.

MAP31: Our first (and only?) real adventure map of the set has echoes of Eternal Doom in it, being a switch flipping, brain scratching romp through a scenic location. Honestly I think I’ve had enough “90s adventure” to last me a lifetime so I’ll just conclude this summary by saying the map has some clever ideas in it, but it that doesn't mean it's a riveting playthrough.

Also lol at the chaingunners behind midtextures—perhaps I should be glad I’m not playing Plutonia?

MAP32: Boy am I a dumb-dumb—I got real pissy at the map since I was halfway through it and had yet to see an SSG, and then returned to the start for one of the most obvious “secrets” in the level. After that I wound up actually enjoying Caribbean more than I thought I would—the general “browness” of the level and opening a door to reveal two chaingunner cages on both sides of the hallway kinda dampened my spirit, but at least the map closed on a pretty good fight. You get a decent variety of things to do (outdoor scuffles, cramped corridor crawls, nasty soulsphere/mega armor traps) in a setting that’s tonally consistent, so I definitely prefer this to MAP31... even if Egypt is arguably the more fascinating map.

Map13 – Nukage Facility by Brian Kidby & Ty Halderman
Maxed, 2 Deaths (6 total)

Okay, here's my new favorite. Loved this map. So nice and clean with good texture usage, good shapes, and good alignment, especially the ceiling lights over the nukage pit. They actually line up in the angled section. There were no obvious gross errors in texture alignment anywhere, the use of border textures was excellent, the lighting was good, the outside area with its terraced rock looked great and the interior areas were well-staged. This is as good as maps got in '96, and levels of this quality were quite rare in my experience. This one is so good it could pass for a moderate-detail retro map of today. I honestly never get tired of maps that look like this. So obviously I consider it a tragedy that Mr. Kidby made only 1 map for this project. I want more Kidby maps!

Gameplay was totally fun for me as Kidby did hitscanner combat the right way, with decent mixes of ground-level riffraff along with overhead snipers to keep the player turning and on edge. I liked the use of ledge snipers in the open area and the clever way they teleported from one ledge to another.

In common with other players, I also liked the open-and-shut windows, even though they were never useful to me, as they were in Hanger.

The yellow key area was really cool with the teleporting Sergeants. The sudden appearance of the PE guarding the red key was alarming since I had very few bullets and I had to take it out with single shotty.

The ammo balance was really tight and I wish a Zerk had been available earlier so I could have punched out the Pinkies and Spectres and saved some shells for the Cyb and the exit fight. By the time I reached the exit in that lovely room past the blue-key door, I had already died once to the Cyb when I backed away from a Spectre on an outside ledge and teleported back into Cybie's line of fire. The Spectre followed me and blocked the teleport long enough for me to take a rocket upside the head. I then opened a save, grabbed the SSG and Invuln on the second go, and went right after the Cyb, but as I ran low on ammo I decided to save what was left for the exit. And what a fight that was! I love the cinematic at the end when the nobles start coming down the lift. I had killed everything except the final Baron when I ran super-low on ammo. I could have snuck past him and run to the exit, but now I had the Computer Map and I decided I should find the 2 secrets I'd missed. 1 of them happened to be at the start, meaning I'd have to run past the Cyb to reach it. Risky, but I decided to go for it, and was both surprised and horrified when the room turned out to be populated with Chaingunners and Sergeants. I ran completely out of ammo fighting them and took out the last Chaingunner with the Chainsaw. That was one of the most exciting fights in the map.

I collected some health and ammo here, and then in the area where you teleport to the ledges. With a fair number of shells, and knowing I had the Cyb wounded, I decided to try for max kills and died because I zigged when I should have zagged. On the next go I finished him off and went to the exit to deal with the Baron. I had 2 shells left after I killed him, and maybe 14 bullets, plus 20 useless cells.

For me, the only real negative to the map is that it's a hub, and as a result it's very linear and lacks a flowy layout, thus putting to rest any hope for roamers or multiple avenues to attack an area. However, the combat is very nicely pitched for my skill level, which made this a total blast to play. The driving MIDI is a perfect compliment to the action and overall, this is a flat-out excellent map.

MAP31: Pharaoh
20:18 | 100% Everything | 2 Deaths (10 total)

And this is why I play with saves. Gah. First death came after picking up the blue, when I got pinned between the tag-team archies. Second death occurred at the soulsphere cistern, when, having already gotten this far, I decided I'd save time by just charging in, whereupon I lost my footing and fell into the little spider pit and was immediately vaporized. Half an hour (-ish) wasted is just not fun. So I determined I'd go back to saving. And I did. And didn't wind up needing them anyway.

Classic map, and the missing yellow key is like the classic cock-up. When I last played TNT a couple years ago, it was actually the first time I'd ever gotten any further in this level, after what? 17 years? (Also the first time I'd every played MAP32, but we'll get to that in a bit.) Anyway, it's a very cool level. Excepting the cyberdemon, which looks absolutely ridiculous in (my version of) GZDoom, as he float in the air over a raised platform covered with door textures. Probably the only real dangerous encounter in the map is the double-vile pincer in the main hall, just because of the room they have to move around. (By contrast, the earlier encounter with a similar pair can be easily handled by camping the doorway.) My favorite bit is probably using my BFG to just obliterate the over-the-top waves of shotgunners at the end.

MAP17 Processing Area

The poor man's Computer Station? Emphasizes on window-based combat, so the hitscan slaggers got to go quick. With them out of the way, the rest of this isn't hard at all. The barrels in the blue key room help out there, while the invulnerability in the red key room makes the resulting ambush a non-challenge. The real challenge are those secrets, but the rewards are more than worth it.

MAP16 - “Deepest Reaches” by Andre Arsenault
gzDoom - UV – continuous/no saves





Deaths this map: 0
Deaths so far: 1

This is map more my style. A spooky journey with all kinds of different colored torches, dirt walls, evil bleeding sacrifices on an altar underneath a reverse cross, caves systems opening up to a hellish decorum leading to a marbled feasting hall complete with weird side room and a secret dark ambush area that allows access to the big pay off via the RSK.

The music is track, Blood Jungle, is very moody and helps set the proper tone. The wood section, RSK altar and marbled feasting area all had pretty decent sized fights I enjoyed. The rest of the map is mostly exploring and having smaller encounters here and there. A good mix of both does well together.

I loved the long verticality used in the upper caves area design and it's lifts. Some of the water detailing is really neat and I liked the BK at the bottom as if having floated to the end. I'm sure the stalactite is very unique for it's time. Now it's almost a quaint oddity.

The night sky texture really works well with this map too. Espcially with the YSK in the star pattern. Even a small thing like the stairs drop down reveal to the exit was a treat. Don't miss the flickering light sectors around these torches either.

So many small details and unique choices. Loved it all. Apparently the only Doom map Andre Aresenault ever did? Huh. Impressive.

SteveD said:

Map09 - Stronghold by Jimmy Sieben

And then I found the path to the secret Computer Map. I think I'd found about 6 secrets by then, and the only reason I maxed is thanks to that map.

Easily the most useful Computer Map pickup this Wad. I love it when they are actually useful and not just an afterthought.

Getsu Fune said:

MAP31 Pharoah

Oh god, what is the cyberdemon doing floating above some sort of block of SPCDOOR textures? This just freaks me out even more and more.

Salt-Man Z said:

MAP31: Pharaoh

Anyway, it's a very cool level. Excepting the cyberdemon, which looks absolutely ridiculous in (my version of) GZDoom, as he float in the air over a raised platform covered with door textures.

See, I was wondering if it was just my version that was buggy or perhaps things weren't playing well with my gzdoom settings. Is this by design? If so. What... in the...??