The DWmegawad Club plays: Solar Struggle

E2M1 – Piazzi Spaceport by @Lorenz0

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV-Fast, Continuous, non-blind run w/saves

Piazzi Spaceport follows the same rule as Huygens Spaceport, that is getting the name from the astronomer who discovered the corresponding planet. It was an introductory map with a few large but still easy fights, at least on UV. The -fast hitscanners had been placed on every ledge and window inside the base; as soon as I entered, they attacked me from all directions, rapidly whittling down my unarmoured health. The shortage of first aid kits increased the perceived difficulty; since there were only 55% health points in the whole level, I reached the exit in a dire condition. The Shotgun Guys were carefully placed in unreachable positions, so the chaingun in the first area was going to be the weapon of choice for the whole level, unless the hidden plasma rifle was found in the recesses of the RK courtyard.

Lorenz0’s map was the only one in the second episode to feature outdoor areas, but it did not take full advantage of that privilege. I would expect Ceres to be a rocky dwarf planet instead of having muddy waters everywhere, even though the vanilla rocky flats are not among the nicest textures. The level ended in a burrow with a small hole in the floor. As I have pointed out in my RC comments, it is hard to believe that this is the only access to a large underground installation, as seen in the next maps. Piazzi Spaceport lacked a proper entrance to the base, maybe a stuck door that must be circumvented by the alternative route through the hole. In its release status the map still got the job done, but it was the weakest opener in Solar Struggle.

E1M8 - Huygen's Spaceport by ViolentBeetle: (6:17/0 Deaths)
Oh no! The train exploded or something! Thankfully, it seemed to do so after depositing us at the station with the way off this god-forsaken moon, but in order to get to it we'll have to perform our part in the E1M8 play and shoot some Barons of Hell in the face. The spooky atmosphere of this map is well done, largely in part due to the well chosen Plutonia 2 MIDI, but the dim lighting and destroyed scenery that surround you also help. I like the little details such as the jam tart that's next to one of the computers (or is it a pizza :P), and the cool lighting sequences that are present throughout the level. Obviously we all knew where this was going from the start, but I think the reveal of the baron arena with the spaceship was pretty cool in spite of that.

Like a lot of these maps, the gameplay here is serviceable, with a couple of highlights, but not outstanding. I really like that areas are repopulated after grabbing the red key when you enter them for the second time, this completely caught me off guard and was a cool moment. I also thought that the baron fight itself was excellent, with the lack of non-damaging space to move, the cacodemons providing pressure on all parts of the arena and the lost souls being very good at getting me to face-rocket myself - it's a little weird that the barons are probably the least threatening part of their own fight, but I guess that's something this shares with Phobos Anomaly too so who cares!

~~~

So Titan Terror was pretty good, and far surpassed my expectations for what an Episode 1 replacement that sticks pretty close to the original's formula (in terms of available assets at least) could be, with a mix of very solid gameplay focused maps that were entertaining to play through purely on that merit, and a lot of rather unusual and quirky maps that were entertaining to play just to see what would happen next. Hopefully Ceres Carnage keeps up this level of quality, I'm looking forward to it!

Played over a handful of sessions this weekend, so my memory will be worse than usual when trying to recall these maps...

E1M5: Mining Complex (GZDoom/HMP/continuous)

34:55 | 100% Everything

This was a fun one, cramming a lot of gameplay into what appears at first to be a relatively small footprint. Only after finally getting to the exit and then spending some time sniffing around for the last couple secrets did I stumble across the route to the alternate yellow key, and holy crap! That was quite the (completely optional) journey! Loved it.

E1M6: Visitor Center

15:20 | 100% Everything

The cozy little reception area to start out is very cute, but after that it's all run-and-gun, with numerous (always low-tier) baddies sniping you from windows and springing out of closets. It's a convoluted little maze of a map, but fortunately getting from A to B is always a quick trip, so even if it's easy to get lost in all the brown rooms and corridors, it's also hard to stay lost for very long. No real standout encounters, but this is exactly my brand of gameplay, though as previously mentioned, I probably would have enjoyed UV a tad more, as I was rarely ever in any real danger.

E1M7: Traffic Control

20:54 | 100% Everything

An adorable little ticketing area, complete with luggage belts and metal detectors, gives way to a boringly-symmetrical map that makes up for its relatively-uninspired geometry by just absolutely stuffing itself with monsters. Just an absolutely blast from start to finish, though the final ambush in the end-area train station that came down the stairs behind me after I had found the exit was a bit of a head-scratcher. So too were the "insta-pop" ambushes in a few rooms that were triggered such that the baddies didn't pop up until I was already literally walking on top of them (a GZDoomism, I'm sure, of being allowed to walk on monsters' heads, but then is the intended behavior that I slam into an invisible wall as a shotgunner pops up in my face? Seems both options could be avoided with a little better execution.) For some reason I quite enjoyed taking elevators up to the surface and entering the buildings there to grab the keys; that design really scratched the itch of feeling like something you're note supposed to be able to in Doom. A fine level whose highlights far outshine its weaknesses, including a waste of some good sector bathrooms. :(

E1M8: Huygens Spaceport

7:53 | 100% Kills | 100% Items | 0% Secrets

Once again we have a nice bit of continuity between maps: the train we got on to end the previous map has now crashed (or been attacked, or something.) In fact, the entire facility has been blown to bits, with craters and fires everywhere, and doors jammed in a half-open state. You have to circumnavigate the entire complex twice: once to grab the red key, and another to use it, and on the second trip shortcut doors open up, along with brand-new teleport ambushes to keep you on your toes. The final battle is a standard Baron Fight times X, made more frantic by the wealth of damaging flooring and the addition of airborne enemies to harry you. Great atmosphere for an E1 ender, and a decent take on the final fight, even if the map ends up being rather insubstantial. I never found the only secret...

On to Episode 2, in UV this time...

7 hours ago, Anarkzie said:

so I guess It's me just not being great at secret hunting.

Nah, I’m guessing your secret hunting abilities are perfectly fine - the first time I played E1M5 in beta-testing phase I must have spent almost an hour looking for the secret that led to the cavern area, and probably some more time trying to find the solution in UDB. This time I remembered there was something near the start of the map.

E2M1 - “Piazzi Spaceport” by Lorenz0

Very clean looking map with nice natural geometry and good minimalist texture use. Although that building exterior above has too much startan for my taste. What makes the combat stand out is full commitment to Chaingun gameplay. There's no Shotgun in sight and Sergeants appear in unreachable locations. It's a bold choice but it works. There is also the secret Plasma Rifle but I kept saving it for "when I really need it" and ended up not firing a shot. It's a quick and solid opener to E2.

E2M1 – Piazzi Spaceport - Nightmare! 100% Secrets

3 stimpacks and some 15-20 bonuses (you can't always spare time to collect all of those in the open as hanging around too long = losing even more HP) is just plain terrible. Armor bonus pile is effectively unreachable, you'll just lose even more HP trying. Peak "dumb luck" you can see in the demo is the shotgunner balcony just missing entirely. They can just as easily delete you instantly from full the moment you come into view.

Not much else I can say, hitscan with no recovery = obvious bad time on NM. 33 attempts, 2 deaths in front of the exit button, a few around shotgunner balcony, the vast majority resets in the RK area.

sstrgle_e2m1_nm100s_1-42.zip

E2M1 - "Piazzi Spaceport" by Lorenz0
MIDI: "Reaching Deeper" by Eris Falling
dsda-doom v0.25.6 cl3, UV, Pistol start, blind run
100% kills and secrets
Deaths: 0
Time: 7:42

You beam down from the spaceship onto a barren and muddy landscape. I didn't realize that structure at the end of E1M8 was supposed to be a UFO, but it's kind of obvious now that it's been pointed out. You have to make your way into a small brown cave to get the chaingun. Get comfortable with it, because this is the only real weapon you're going to get. While there are shotgunners in this map, they are always in an area where you won't be able to reach their shotgun. I actually like this. It's pretty rare to get a map that forces you to use nothing but that one weapon. I did get the secret plasma rifle, but there was never enough reason to use it.

This first area is almost vacant of monsters. Beyond the mud (on Ceres? Interesting choice.) is a flat grey tech-base, and inside is where you'll start meeting resistance. Well, sort of... this map is pretty easy. There is a lack of health, but if you're just playing on normal UV it should be enough. Clearing out the other outside area and the tech-base itself won't take long, and then you'll be in a dim brown cavern. And then you're done.

This map was a nice introduction to Ceres, but I can't say it's memorable. The outside areas are well done, and the tech-base is decent. The one secret was hidden well. Ultimately there just isn't much to this map. I did enjoy playing it though.

Episode 2:

E2M1 - Piazzi Spaceport - Lorenz0 (100%K/I/S):

Nothing too complex for our new episode, I really dig this one, a moon-like landscape, starting from where we left in E1M8, with the same space-ship  bringing us a little bit closer to the earth, now into Ceres, which is a small dwarf planet in the middle of the asteroid belt. Tech-bases are still here, but now those are mixed with said moon-like landscape. A really nice aesthetic that makes me remember Lunatic a little bit. But let's wait for the next episode to talk about the moon.
As expected, gameplay ramps up a little bit in comparison to E1M1, as all regular monsters except bosses are allowed, so there are some cacodemons making your journey through M1 hard. Be sure to explore those caves, as you will find the plasma gun, a plasma gun that will nullify your challenge. But I'd suggest you to save it for later maps, though.
Nothing too memorable here, aside from the views of the outside, that go well with the skybox, everything feels like TNT: Evilution.
 

Order of Preference:

E2M1: Piazzi Spaceport. Played on DSDA v0.25.6, UV, PS. 89/89 K, 1/1 S, 44/44 I. Comp. time 5:31

Dude, where's my shotgun! At least there's a plasma rifle, stashed in a secret, although it's only there to alleviate some of the workload of mowing down enemies with a chaingun. Piazzi Spaceport is a decent episode opener, perhaps a bit 90s-like, and somewhat easier that what we've seen lately -- although I welcome non-linear difficulty curves; not every map needs to be a harsh gauntlet, which I believe was the intention anyway.

The soundtrack here is curious; it's half gloomy (reminds me of some Heretic tracks or even Alone in the Dark), and then there's a part that's more like some heavy metal track (so much so that I'm half-certain I've heard it before in some metal song).

An okay map.

E2M1: Piazzi Spaceport by Lorenz0

Episode 2, titled Ceres Carnage, opens with a 5 minutes caves/techbase hybrid. Unless you find a secret plasma rifle in the red key area, the only weapon the map gives is a chaingun. Not that this matters, as most of the opposition still consists of zombies, imps and pinkies (though cacodemons are here as well and the plasma speeds up the killing process). There are two larger fights, one after lowering the red key and another right after passing through the red door, but none is particularly challenging. 

I am aware Solar Struggle is a thought-out project and starting a new chapter with a lower-impact map than the ending of the previous one is an age-old trope, it's just Piazzi Spaceport in my opinion offers little to compensate. It's a linear map with a simple layout, little detailing and a single secret that feels more like it was required by the project lead. It is a functional map, but it feels like a cut below the standard Episode 1 set, E1M1 especially. I think it's a fair comparison. At least the midi, a "Blood Jungle" remix from TNT: Revilution, is good - I really like the soundtrack of that wad.

DSDA-doom, pistol-start, UV

e2m1

No shotguns! Hell yeah! I definitely prefere chainguncentric gameplay over shotgunning. The rocky outdoors are rendered in a very nice detail. The map is overall very atmospheric and the music fits it well. I don't really like how the secret is hidden, maybe there is more to it, but to me it just seemed like a missalligned texture. I wish the traps had a bit more bite to them, but this works very well for an episode opening. Nice map.

E2M1: Piazzi Spaceport (Lorenz0)

Woof 10.5.1 (Debian 12), Freedoom: Phase 1, Extreme Carnage, blind, pistol start

Kills: 92%, Items: 93%, Secrets: 0%, Time: 5:02, Save Count: 0

Our hero has escaped to the dwarf planet Ceres in hopes of finding something to give him an edge against the demons. I'm conflicted on this episode opener. I love spectacular open spaces in maps, and the spaceship made of sectors in the opening area is a nice touch that reminds me of Ancient Aliens and PUSS IX, but the design of this map is decidedly not Skillsaw. The combat is pretty much chaingun-only - in fact, the only shotgunners in this map are perched so as to make it impossible to pick up their weapons. It's also very easy to run out of ammo if you aren't cowardly and willing to punch out enemies Berserk-less. (Or if you don't find the plasma secret - which I didn't.) I opted to focus on the hitscanners and anything blocking my way, but even after picking up as much ammo as I can, when I got to the final room I was completely out of ammo and had to cut my losses and just press the exit switch.

The scenery looks grand, but very brown, and the combat is meh. The Blood Jungle remix is neat, though.

E2M1 - “Piazzi Spaceport” by Lorenz0

A rather soft map in terms of the combat, a careful player should be through this without a fuss, however the health is somewhat lacking, perhaps there could have been a little more pop to the gameplay in that regards (A little more threat and maybe some barrels).

Other than that, the mood and setting are top notch, the interiors are clean and tidy and the natural environment is about as good as the best we have seen so far and the midi choice sits snug as a glove. 

Personally I would rate this around the same as Titan's opener, a good scene setter.

Just for fun, I went through E2M1 again on normal UV. I made sure to 100% everything. This time I made sure to only use the chaingun and nothing else. I ended up leaving the map with 186 bullets left over, and I didn't have 100% accuracy. I also managed to finish it without taking any damage whatsoever, but that was as much luck as anything.

It really seems that there is plenty of ammo on the map. I wonder if people are missing some of the clip pickups... some of them are hard to see.

GZDoom/UV/Pistol-Start/Saves

E2M1: Piazzi Spaceport - Lorenz0

100% kills and secrets

Time: 5:26

I am always up for a new Lorenz0 map. His WADs Alientated and Perpetual Powers are both very good. Both are fun and visually pleasing. Those WADs are targeted to more advanced soureports, so this limit-removing map doesn't have all the bells and whistles those maps did. I kinda miss them. This is a fine opening map. There's nothing really amazing or notable about it; it's just a solid E2 opener. It sets the scene nicely, with a nice starry skybox and muted MIDI. You only get the chaingun freely here, with the plasma in a secret. There are shotgunners, but they're placed in areas that are inaccessible to the player. Cacos are here now, and they're the biggest bullet sponges. I wouldn't say there's an ammo drought here, but there isn't as much as you would think. You should still have some left over at the end, especially if you found the plasma. I don't think there's anything here that could be constituted as a threat, except maybe the red key and red door fights, but that's more to the amount of demons you have to mow down more than anything. I don't think I fell under 80% health at all. Overall, this is a fine opening map with a nice nighttime atmosphere that gets us acquainted with this ep's theming. 

E1M4: Mineral Processing (Death Bear)

For some reason this map always manages to disorient me so I end up taking a few extra turns. But it's visually very neat, represents the theme well and is very solid from a combat standpoint. Oh, also I love this midi. Its perfect.
I've never been able to figure out how to get the soulsphere in the compactor room >:(
 

E2M1: Piazzi Spaceport

by @Lorenz0

Bland. Thanks to all shotgunners being turrets, this is nothing more than a chaingun grind against literally everything, which includes 4 Cacodemons. Although the cave with the plasma rifle with a hidden nook was kind of a nice secret, there's little ammo for, in seeming adherence to the original guidelines. Basically, just plasma a few of the Cacos regardless of their location and that's its only use. It was nice to see the opening UFO (are you really Zorglo Blazkowicz?) and the exit cave, but ammo got very tight at the end. I guess its not unlike the original Deimos Anomaly in that aspect.

E2M2 - “Storage Complex” by Wavy

QuestZDoom, UV, blind, continuous, saves

E2M1 - Piazzi Spaceport by Lorenz0:

4:30/0 Deaths
A very underwhelming opening to Episode 2, Piazzi Spaceport is standard-fare ExM1 to a fault and is therefore incredibly boring. The only thing of note I can think to write about is the slightly unusual weapon progression in that you're given just the chaingun to deal with the monsters, but because most of the enemies here are zombiemen & imps, this makes the map incredibly easy. Even the few cacodemons, pinkies & lost souls that are present do very little to spice up the combat. I do like the cozy visuals (it's a shame we won't see this sky any more) and the continuity of the spaceship from E1M8 is cool but it feels rather small for a "spaceport" and I don't really feel like the MIDI fits. I didn't hate this map for what it's worth, it's fine, but that's it really.

E2M1 & E2M2

E2M2 - "Storage Complex" by Wavy
MIDI: "The Demons From Adrian's Pen remix" by Jay Reichard
dsda-doom v0.25.6 cl3, UV, Pistol start, blind run
100% kills and secrets
Deaths: 0
Time: 26:07

You start out in a small little storage area carved into the rock. Making your way out into the complex you will find that it is heavily hell-corrupted. There are many red cracks in the ground, and blood and lava has spilled out everywhere. I assume those liquids are foreign, since I can't imagine someone storing things next to lava on purpose. And besides, neither liquid is normally found on Ceres. What follows is a nice adventure through this mostly-abstract storage complex. Only a few areas really look like a storage complex, but that's hell's influence for you I guess. You eventually will loop all of the way back around to the start, which means you can search the whole map for secrets if you want.

There is a computer map, but the secrets can still be tricky to find. There's one particular skull switch that you have to shoot that I had to look in the map editor to figure out. I managed to figure out the rest without assistance though, but it took me a while. I kept expecting to find a rocket launcher or plasma rifle in a secret, since this map gives you ammo for both weapons, but neither were to be found. Some of the items eluded me, but I wasn't really trying to get them all anyway.

I really like the detailing and interconnectedness of this map. It also had a couple good fights, although after the initial encounters I didn't find it to be particularly difficult. It's still a fun map with plenty of atmosphere, detailing, and variety.

Something I've forgotten to mention in the past is the intermission screens. In episode 1, we were moving around the surface of Titan, but this time, we're moving downward toward the core of Ceres. I really like this context, and even the simple representation shown in these screens adds a lot to the episodes.

E2M2 – Storage Complex by @Wavy

DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV-Fast, Continuous, non-blind run w/saves

Curiously repeating the history of E1M2, Storage Complex had a troubled genesis that delayed its submission due to personal issues and a subsequent lack of focus. I am glad Wavy did not give up his slot, because his map was a great addition to Solar Struggle and a successful Containment Area homage. The remix of The Demons from Adrian's Pen as a soundtrack emphasised this even more. While keeping the layout small and compact, it recreated the Deimos atmosphere with a contemporary vibe, including enough detail to make it feel like a real place. The corrupted warehouse with cracks on the floor, and the platforming on crates required for progression in the first area were good. The idle conveyor belt found in several areas was a nice realistic explanation for the piles of crates, and the lighting was very accurate.

The tech-base areas were often integrated with natural caverns, feeling part of the manmade complex but also a bit weird, just as if they appeared later or had been altered by demonic corruption. The combat was not too demanding, and it consisted of frontal opposition and relatively small closets on the way to the BSK and then in the largest warehouse. The door leading out of it was stuck and must be opened with a switch on an elevated control room. Entering said room added further corruption marks to the place, and flipping the switch released a flock of Lost Souls nearby and several enemies in the large room, requiring a thorough check for hidden snipers. It was also the occasion to score the secrets I missed in the area. Storage Complex had six secret sectors and every one of them was satisfying to uncover.

The level loop ended with a tense section on a rising conveyor belt, zigzagging through a very dark cavern with lava on the floor and only a few hellish elements as light sources. It brought me back to start, just to collect the RK and the YK in quick succession. The RK was only an excuse to attack me with a single Cacodemon, and it might have been avoided. More backtracking was necessary to reach the yellow door and the exit, but once again I took the opportunity to complete the secret hunt with the second Soul Sphere. This beautiful map was worth the long wait, and it was great to be one of the first to playtest it.

I hope I'm not butting in or derailing the thread, but I just want to say thanks to everyone who's played my map! Glad yous enjoyed it!

6 hours ago, Book Lord said:

This beautiful map was worth the long wait, and it was great to be one of the first to playtest it.

Reading your whole review made me almost shed a tear. Thank you, and thank you for playtesting it when I first released it! o7

10 hours ago, Ralgor said:

I really like the detailing and interconnectedness of this map.

13 hours ago, Klear said:

I like the (stopped) conveyor belt that's running through the level only to loop on itself in the end. It doesn't feel like it while playing at first, but the map is actually quite compact and pleasingly connected to itself.

Thank yous! The interconnected design was what I was trying to go for, and my inspiration came mostly from Quake's level design. I often found those maps to be the most satisfying to play and fun to progress though.

Also interesting to hear your thoughts on playing my map in VR Klear!

E2M2 - “Storage Complex” by Wavy

This is a solid interpretation of the classic, and fan-favourite, Containment Area from Doom 1. Storage Complex is large and very diverse when it comes to visual themes. Each location introduces either new textures or different type of geometry. Proponents of visual cohesion may not like this, but it's part of the charm of Containment Area as well, which introduces marble and tech after the initial crate maze. Speaking of crates, 3D navigation is fully realized by being able to climb the boxes, similar to TNT's map11. I also like the overall darker lighting in this level, which adds a greater sense of danger as you navigate around each corner. Gameplay is a standard mix of Shotgun and Chaingun swapping based on ammo. There is a Chainsaw/Berserk, but they aren't nearly as useful as in Containment Area since this map's enemies like to appear on top of boxes and otherwise out of melee range.

Cool map. This tech wall is probably my favourite bit of detailing for how simple but effective it looks.

E2M2 - Storage Complex

Doable on NM but not going to grind it. The beginning section with crates is a massive problem, as respawns block pathing and you essentially have a single shot at getting up the crates, hitting the switch (without getting obliterated by shotgunner next to it :) and pulling off the jump out. Which might I add is randomly difficult for no reason whatsoever. The brown crate is so easy to bump into when you're in a hurry (blur secret imps and respawns at the bottom have a field day if you stay there even for 2 seconds). It takes me >10 attempts to get out of starting section (mostly unlucky respawns, even if you delay the imp under the switch intentionally), so into the "maybe sometime" pile it goes.

If you can get out and get past the trippy conveyor belt props and crusher with armor trap (imps from the starting area can all hit you easily), you can take it slow and get to the chaingun. Preserving health here is most important, although in practice won't go well a lot of the time. Armed with the chaingun, secret blue armor and soulsphere at BK, it's feasible to get to the crate area in a decent shape, although once again one-way doors make it a lot harder.

In crate area you can relax a bit and gather health from faraway corners or berserk if needed, cleaning up lost souls is not a bad idea either. Can't recommend the backpack secret, you really need all the armor you can scrounge up for the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt is best cleaned up as you go, too much hitscam otherwise. You likely want to stunlock the caco while riding together down the lift, green armor and bullet box on it are essential for the final stretch.

Up in the red key alcove you can chill and clear the imps in the starting platfrom. You'll need them dead either way, if you just run past they'll pile up by the door. Shoot the caco, grab the key, get out and good luck navigating awkward props on the conveyor belt once again while being shot from all directions. Dive into the teleporter immediately to your right as you enter the belt cave to skip all of it, strafe right to make something hit the most likely respawned pinky in the exit corridor and get out.

One thing I'd like to mention irrespective of skill setting - the conveyor belt secret doesn't jive with me at all. Not because it's hard to find, but because it's completely out of place in the map's flow. Every other secret in the level can be obtained while going forward. The map is essentially linear until you complete the conveyor belt, and the eye switch is only opened once you do that, at which point you'll be remembering the red door at the start and probably going there. Effectively it's available after the map's done and dusted, instead of being a useful boon for the ending part. It's not bad to make the optional path, but actual rewards could just be in the secret sector itself alongside a Caco and a couple imps or something, with the eye switch just being opened with a more obscure angle (like from far right on the first conveyor belt from YD side).

On 5/7/2023 at 11:41 PM, Book Lord said:

 

Lorenz0’s map was the only one in the second episode to feature outdoor areas, but it did not take full advantage of that privilege. I would expect Ceres to be a rocky dwarf planet instead of having muddy waters everywhere, even though the vanilla rocky flats are not among the nicest textures. 

To be fair Doom hardly ever features realistic outdoor sections. There were bodies of water in the last chapter, which took place on Titan, a moon so cold that it has lakes of methane. Methane exists as a gas on our planet.

Not to mention that the official first chapter of Doom used a mountain range from Asia to represent Deimos.

E1M8 - Huygens Spaceport 
by ViolentBeetle

the midi is "End is Nigh" by Jamie Robertson

ViolentBeetle put this whole thing together as I understand it, so extra thank you. You thought of it, and now we get to play it. It is very kind to share creativity for free.

We start looked at the busted sector machinery of our ride, we have arrived at Huygens Spaceport. Even the light pulses around the opening shot/area, in conjunction with the expertly chosen midi are enough to settle an atmosphere. To bust out of our little shuttle that carried us here we have to punch or shoot away some rubble, which sets nearby imps upon us.

I quickly dash through darkened techway corridors to yoink a shotgun from a corpse, it's hard to take the space in, it's quite dark and low ceiling, but it's pockmarked with regular intervals of blood red details that point all the way down the hallway to a locked red room that visibly holds the red key inside it. I note there is a vent with a lost soul in there and understand I'll be probably coming through there to get the key and out, not the other way around. The map has excellently signposted to me all this information while maintaining its stealthy atmosphere.

This place has been overrun by demons for some time. Security doors breached, demons have been allowed to nest and bring their spectres about... pools of blood and gore line corridors opened up by industrial spaces of opaque function... where there are unchewed remnants of human activity its only shambling zombies cordoned off behind metal grating and locked doors... this place is the first one in this set that captures that forlorn and ongoing realization that you are going backwards through a place that was once for humans but no longer, you are going towards the heart of the matter, it's not them wondering out to you. 

Ammo is a bit sparse in here so I bump some extra shotguns where I left some shotgunners dead behind a metal railing, simulating that desperate reach between the holes to reach that ammo in an action movie. Then I do that duct crawl we were talking about but it sprawls out to a few different options. The interconnectivity of sightlines telling you a story about what the meanings of the spaces are and where you should go is top notch in this map. I have no criticism or insight because I cannot map as well as this, but I have just enough relevant experience to feel it when a map is doing stuff.

From the duct sprawl we come through to a brown atrium control centre space with some central compartments housing two chainguns and the ceiling has a framed sector window that has been breached. Perhaps this is where the demons crawled through initially, as we see right below an impact point of sorts. Now I have a machine gun ho ho ho and then I notice one of  the two terminals, the one where a poor man left a slice of sector pizza right there... that user's pizza cutter and some additional goodies are never far by their side it seems.

A little more vent crawling later we loop around to the red key, open the door from the inside as predicted and reorient ourselves to the main path. Infestation reinforcements teleport in, doors that were once stuck ajar open up completely, the station shows its second wave of resistance to ingress.  There's a cool little setpiece with some cacodemons and window imps, then a startling teleport trap with a lot of lost souls... these small encounters aren't meant it kill you, nothing in here besides the final encounter is. That the mapper understands the difference between challenging difficulty to find the fun versus just spooky little attrition encounters that are meant to spice up an adventure path until the climax. They will deliver you at the end fight in some state of repair, given the soulsphere and RL incoming. 

The final fight is a very good end to the episode. We fight the oblivatory baron squad around what looks like a flying saucer. This is our ride out, but not before the baron fight! we have the ammo for it, the extra enemies mix up the layout in a fun way, the barons are made confrontational enough just because of the circular hurtfloor around the fight... I quite enjoyed this not just as one encounter but as the culmination of the experience of playing this whole map blind - and surviving it. It carries with it the air of 7 more levels I managed to clear without eating shit, I know, we're not playing Sunlust, but instead of finding a way of devaluing my good feeling instead I'll commend any and all other survivors of the first episode! 

At the end we learn

You have defeated the ambush set by Elite Bruiser Squad and seized control of a short ranged ship parked at the spaceport. But your great escape is not yet a success. The demons that attacked titan were just a vanguard of a system wide invasion and one look at the sensors shows hell's armies rapidly advancing from somewhere in the Inner Planets. Having no change to outrun them in this ship, you plot course towards the asteroid belt. You heard rumors of a secret research base inside Ceres, where you might find some means of a long range teleportation. Failing that, at least you'll face the demons on your on terms 

I loved this one, it's all I could ask for for a closer of a first episode of a udoom community set. All the way down from midi to final fight, pleasingly cohesive. Footage

1 hour ago, Anarkzie said:

 

To be fair Doom hardly ever features realistic outdoor sections. There were bodies of water in the last chapter, which took place on Titan, a moon so cold that it has lakes of methane. Methane exists as a gas on our planet.

 

Not to mention that the official first chapter of Doom used a mountain range from Asia to represent Deimos.

My comment related to outdoor sections was not about realism, it was more about the underdeveloped outdoor element. The RK area was the only one to feature an interesting layout with caverns and the secret, and it was very short. You barely get a view of Ceres mountains in this map. The author could have expanded that part a bit more. The result is not a bad or weak map, only a modest opener if compared to the other M1s.

The muddy waters in my opinion were chosen to break the rocky vanilla flats and improve visual variety, but they do not represent anything in particular. There is probably underground water on Ceres, which is a very cold planet where recent observation show phenomena of cryovolcanism. There should not be a molten liquid core inside it, despite what will be displayed in the next maps, as the mass is too small. I do not expect a Doom map to give a realistic representation of anything, but I appreciate when the mapper gives it a try.

Talking about realism, I think the exit hole and the lack of a proper entrance to the tech-base felt more strange than anything else. The Ceres research centre was a secret installation, but the entrance of a big underground complex cannot be so small. The thought struck me after playing the next few maps of the episode, a blind player will not feel like that at the end of E2M1.

E2M2: Storage Complex by Wavy

What started as a fun shootout in an underground warehouse, ended with 10 minutes of running around the map, searching for the way out. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Storage Complex takes a couple of cues from Containment Area, mainly the crate mazes and some remix of its midi. The combat is mostly incidental, with the fight on a conveyor belt in a dark cave over a lake of lava being the best part. The secrets are fun to find, aside from the obvious crate platforming, there are shootable switches that rewards observant players.

So, everything was fine until I found the red key and couldn't proceed further. After walking around like an idiot, I made my way to the starting room, killed a cacodemon and found the red door. There was only one thing behind it, the yellow key that opens the exit. This is a pointless padding. It brings nothing to the map and the whole level would flow much better if the red key was removed and replaced with the yellow one.

E2M2 is the first map in Solar Struggle that I found frustrating. It's a shame, as frustration came from a single thing that could have easily be streamlined during beta-testing and the rest of the map is solid.

E2M2 - Storage Complex - Wavy (98%K/95%I/50%S):

Here is the biggest map yet, and it exceeded the average maptime by a lot. This is crate-maze galore, 20 minutes inside a level greatly inspired by E2 aesthetics with an artistic touch like cracked walls or floors, just like Romero's new maps. The crate mazes are good references to the original E2M2. I've felt at times like this was a DTWID submission that got rejected, because it has so many traits tan can be compared to Doom E2. This is also the hardest map so far, specially at start, and specially while pistol-starting, as I had a painful time trying to find a shotgun and enough bullets to make my way into this map. Not even the automap I've found helped me to get all the secrets here, as there is so much to do, that you may get lost. Layout-wise is superior to E1M6 by just a little bit. But the E1 combat here and the difficulty just makes it a better level. The level being called Storage Complex and being a E2M2... It just needed some crate-mazes, it also has some conveyor belts that are stopped, giving the impression of life before death at this storage facility. Good ideas here and there, although it really feels claustrophobic, that is the feel that a map without a single encounter of a skybox gives me. I've never played a Wavy map before, in fact, I think he is kind of new at mapping, but I have to say it is a great effort by him. Not going to say anything about the yellow key, as making something big would have made this level quite longer. So, the conveyor belt that connects to the start of the level is a great and welcome addition, just to reach said key faster.
 

Order of Preference:

My review was all over the place today, I can't think in English because I have just woken up.