The DWIronman League dies to: Suspended in Dusk & Bauhaus

May, 2024

^{once again, credit for the pics to onemandoom.}

> The yearly standings

> The Ironman Discord Server

Standard Leaderboard

1. [2] SURVIVED (1:34:26): Asbadagba
2. [1] SURVIVED (1:55:35): Bertt91
3. [2] SURVIVED (2:04:54): ArchvileHunter
4. [2] SURVIVED (2:06:31): Napeyear
5. [2] SURVIVED (2:10:57): joe-ilya
6. [2] SURVIVED (2:17:32): NaZa
7. [2] SURVIVED (2:19:50): LadyMistDragon
8. [1] SURVIVED (2:39:20): Vince Vega
9. [2] SURVIVED (2:41:10): Suitepee
10. [1] SURVIVED (2:41:32): Vytaan
11. [1] SURVIVED (2:49:51): Beginner
12. [2] SURVIVED (3:13:47): Andromeda
13. [1] 7 maps: dt_
14. [1] 6 maps: RedBoule
15. [1] 6 maps: JackDBS
16. [2] 5 maps: suzerduzer
17. [1] 5 maps: signaturereverie
18. [2] 5 maps: head_cannon
19. [2] 5 maps: Austinado
20. [1] 4 maps: Doomy__Doom
21. [1] 4 maps: SCF
22. [1] 4 maps: SilentD00mer
23. [1] 4 maps: ByRntStarOEI
24. [2] 4 maps: Pseudonaut
25. [2] 4 maps: RjY
26. [1] 3 maps: PBeGood
27. [1] 3 maps: ClumsyCryptid
28. [2] 3 maps: Horus
29. [1] 2 maps: Li'l devil
30. [1] 2 maps: SleepyVelvet
31. [2] 1 map: Shepardus
32. [2] 1 map: Radial (DNF)
33. [2] 0 maps: Pegleg

Prepared Leaderboard

1. ...

What is the Doomworld Ironman League?

The DWIronman League is a monthly competition in which participants aim to survive for as many levels as possible in the given map set, preferably in one sitting. Click the spoiler tag at the bottom of the post for a detailed list of rules. Players of all levels of ability are welcome. It could change the way you play Doom!

In May 2024 the DWIronman League revives a practice that has not been used since October 2021 - multi-set features! And what a feature this month - we have Suspended in Dusk (-complevel 2) by the late Espi, and Bauhaus (-complevel 9) by @didy. Why did I pair these two relatively easy sets together? Both sets rely heavily on architecture to deliver gameplay, and aren't exactly too harrowing. After all, Deus Vult 2 should be followed up by something a bit more approachable - I expect a quite high survival rate this month (on par with February?), in contrast to the prior one. Both sets won Cacowards. One might find the older Suspended in Dusk a bit boring, but I feel gameplay wasn't its point. Its point was to push the vanilla Doom 2 (yes, that plays in vanilla) engine to its limits, which it managed with insane architecture and design, and it's not like there is no gameplay. Bauhaus, likewise, has architecture and design as its main focus, but has more modern gameplay, which should be more than engaging for the average player. Ironeagle had an 80% survival rate, though all of the players were more-or-less veterans, so it's hard to say whether that represented the general populace well.

Also, Mayhem 16 and 17 were in contention for this month, yes, but Mayhem 16 has an... interesting first level (and an unforgiving Ribbiks level later on), while Mayhem 17 becomes quite exquisite on MAP05 and then just has potential to go in another direction on MAP11. Shame, because that set would be a blast to play otherwise... Maybe next year.

Essential Info

• Doom II (doom2.wad) 
• Compatibility level 2 (SiD) or 9 (Bauhaus), or "Doom (strict)" / "Boom (strict)" for ZDoom derivative ports.
• 4 + 4 maps
• Time estimate (total, if survival): 1.5 h - 3.5 h (around 1 h for Bauhaus and 2 h for SiD, being conservative)
• The first maps of either sets aren't pushovers.

> Download Suspended in Dusk

> Download Bauhaus

prboom-plus.exe -iwad doom2.wad -file sid.wad -complevel 2 -skill 4 -record demo_name.lmp -warp

prboom-plus.exe -iwad doom2.wad -file bauhaus.wad -complevel 9 -skill 4 -record demo_name.lmp -warp

Rules:

Previous threads:

Suspended in Dusk

Died on map 1. 10/119 kills.

Played on Chocolate Doom.
 

Bauhaus

Died on map 3. Map 2 exit time: 17:51. Total time before map 2 exit: 25:06.

Played on Woof.

Well, this was much better, although this playthrough was quite uncomfortable, since this was my first time playing and recording on Woof and it turned out my setup was pretty bad.

lildevil_bauhaus.zip

lildevil_sid.zip

@NaZa: The correct complevel for each wad is listed twice in the post, but just to avoid any confusion: the essential info section only mentions complevel 2.

Suspended in Dusk

Category: 1

Dead on: Map01

Kills: 13/119

Bauhaus

Category: 1

Survived in 60:28

DWIL_24-05-SCF.zip

Thank you, SCF. Amended.

Anyway, 2/4 runs so far died to the very first trap of SiD, yet went on to MAP03 of, or survive, Bauhaus. I will be adding a disclaimer about it in the OP - it doesn't get much worse than that (a few spots here and there but nothing major), and upon my survey, I glossed over MAP01 relying on my playthrough of the first map three years ago, having instead played 3 minutes of MAP04, forgetting about the enemy if you run away. 

Also, as it's pretty much the very first actual encounter of the entire set, I'm inclined to put up for debate granting a redo, as in my opinion never has a first encounter had so much killing potential in Ironman. However, category 2 runners would likely be aware of it - though I hadn't remembered - and some more cautious runners maybe wouldn't escape straight forward from the big room in that situation. I'm not sure what to do. Do share your thoughts.

Either way, here's my Suspended in Dusk cat 2 run - survived in 1:22:26. I hadn't ever fully played this set. I've surveyed a negligible portion of MAP04 yesterday prior to choosing it, as well as playing MAP01 in like 2017-18 for my YT channel (which never got uploaded cuz I was a bad player and died to the red key """trap"""), and then in 2020, due to Ironman survey then. I dare say I didn't remember anything except a few ceiling details in the hallways. Was a brilliant journey and it was almost signed off with an incredibly beautiful death on the literal final encounter. Still have no idea how I hung on with 2 HP there. Bauhaus run will come tomorrow.

24 minutes ago, NaZa said:

Also, as it's pretty much the very first actual encounter of the entire set, I'm inclined to put up for debate granting a redo, as in my opinion never has a first encounter had so much killing potential in Ironman. However, category 2 runners would likely be aware of it - though I hadn't remembered - and some more cautious runners maybe wouldn't escape straight forward from the big room in that situation. I'm not sure what to do. Do share your thoughts.

Well, probably not up to me to decide. Of course in my interests would be to get a retry, but it would technically give a slight advantage (then again, as if category 2 runs aren't at much higher advantage themselves).

Tbh, I watched demos from one Ironman before I joined, Loveless, I believe, and a lot of people died to the very first encounter, and so did I when I tried it for myself, so isn't it normal?

32 minutes ago, NaZa said:

However, category 2 runners would likely be aware of it - though I hadn't remembered

Honestly I think it's not particularly unfair, just a way to jolt awake players who think they'll sleepwalk through the set. That said I did take the side paths first which put me at an advantage, even though I didn't remember that situation (and very little overall from my playthrough of SiD a while ago). I don't really have a strong opinion on the matter though.

38 minutes ago, Li'l devil said:

Well, probably not up to me to decide. Of course in my interests would be to get a retry, but it would technically give a slight advantage (then again, as if category 2 runs aren't at much higher advantage themselves).

21 minutes ago, Andromeda said:

Honestly I think it's not particularly unfair, just a way to jolt awake players who think they'll sleepwalk through the set. That said I did take the side paths first which put me at an advantage, even though I didn't remember that situation (and very little overall from my playthrough of SiD a while ago). I don't really have a strong opinion on the matter though.

Fair enough. OP amended again just to warn MAP01 isn't a pushover instead of the analytics of the battle.

Yay, these should be fun. Always wanted to play Suspended in Dark.

I don't think a redo is necessary either, it's not like I was playing carelessly because I was expecting an easier wad.

Suspended in Dusk

Category: 2

Survived in 1:39:25

Bauhaus

Category: 2

Survived in 1:34:22

I remembered SiD being easier than it actually was, and Bauhaus the opposite - funny how that works.

im_andromeda_sid-bauhaus.zip

First time joining one of these events, my first submission is of Suspended in Dusk. SiD is one of my favorite WADs of all time of which I've beaten a dozen times over the span of 10 or so years, therefore I have a great deal of familiarity with it, though I haven't touched it in about 2 years. Here is my standard submission, category two (let me know if I'm formatting this correctly). I will attempt Bauhaus sometime tomorrow or whenever I get the chance (never played it before nor heard of it until reading this thread! I expect my submission to be way worse than my survival of SiD) Also, just so I'm doing this correctly, on my 'Prepared' attempt am I allowed infinite attempts to survive the WAD and get as many secrets/kills? Or is it just one attempt after studying the WAD and looking through it on the editor?

Suspended in Dusk

Survived on UV in 1:04:42

Played on dsda-doom complevel 2

-----------------------

MAP01: 7:43 UV-MAX
MAP02: 11:14 UV-MAX
MAP03: 33:40 100% Kills - 3/5 Secrets
MAP04: 11:33 UV-MAX

-----------------------

Demo link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pn-2T7w32rELly6Mj4LiC3v1QqXRCcNN/view?usp=sharing

Also my first time joining one of these.

Suspended In Dusk - Category 1

UV, died on MAP02. Total survival time of 19:28.
Played in GZDoom with doom (strict) compatibility.

9 hours ago, Napeyear said:

Also, just so I'm doing this correctly, on my 'Prepared' attempt am I allowed infinite attempts to survive the WAD and get as many secrets/kills? Or is it just one attempt after studying the WAD and looking through it on the editor?

It would be closer to the latter - you can practice and play the set as many times as you want before recording, but once you declare your run starts now, that's your one and only prepared submission.

Either way, survived Bauhaus (cat 2) in 55:07. Here it is. I've played this set to its completion relatively recently as Ironman practice (I tend to do a choice of Ironman/Ironeagle sets at random points each year to see whether I've improved). What else is there to say? Groovy set. Even though the survival rate is very high on it so far, there's a lot of "oh shit!" moments in my run - admirably, almost died to MAP01 because I decided to run 'n' gun in pursuit of Joe's time. After a moment where two revenant missiles trimmed my hair to a buzz cut, I decided it wasn't worth it, but got within two minutes of the time nonetheless. Leaderboard comes tomorrow as I'm out of my free time for today.

Bauhaus - Category 1 Standard Submission

Survived on UV in 1:01:49

Played on dsda-doom complevel 9

Really cool WAD! Surprised I never heard or played this one before, but I didn't really keep up to date with the Doom community in the mid 2010s so I can see how it flew under my radar. I really liked the architecture and the music selection. The difficulty was a nice step up from SiD (granted I've played SiD quite a bit, but modern map design is a cool change of pace) and I owe my survival to just being really careful and expecting to get wrecked anytime I picked up something or flicked a switch. I almost died to the first revenant in MAP01, and got lucky dodging its homing missiles on the staircase. MAP04 made me feel so confused, and I walked by the last switches a dozen times before I finally exited the level. The cyberdemon near the end of MAP04 was quite the surprise especially when your running on 3 hours of sleep, and I'm shocked I walked out of that fight with as much health as I did. You can actually see him idling when you creep around the corner so I did see it coming, but I didn't think I would be fighting it from below. Couldn't find the last 2 monsters (I'm sure one of them was an IoS since I heard it earlier in the level) but overall a lot of tight encounters that made me play carefully. Though once I had a megaarmor and at the end of MAP03 and many supercharges throughout MAP04, It was smooth sailing for the most part.

Demo link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mkl3HCWJs7MLT7jvBT5Dtdmb9m0f8D9d/view?usp=sharing

By the way, for anyone doing Bauhaus on PrBoom+ and not recording a demo on the proper complevel (probably nobody, but just in case), make sure that "Use passes thru all special lines" is set to no (Options -> General, 7th page under "Compatibility with common mapping errors") otherwise MAP02 will break.

Category 1 demos.

Suspended in Dusk: survived in 1:36:16

Bauhaus: survived in 1:13:35

https://youtu.be/A07SRJvWdrg

Category 2-ish runs on both wads (I was more familiar with Bauhaus than Suspended in Dusk, but I had played both before in the past).

Survived Suspended in Dusk with a time of 1:33:44.

Survived Bauhaus with a time of 1:06:26.

It's been a while since I participated in an Ironman.

Both Demos are category 1.

Suspended in Dusk - Survived in 1:09:09

Bauhaus - Survived in 55:45

Total time 2:04:54

The progression here seemed more challenging than the combat. SiD was more traditionally labyrinthine, and I struggled a bit with navigation at times. Bauhaus was more obtuse in it's design, and I felt stumped about what to do on a few occasions. If you know the maps well, you could probably blaze through these.

Category 2 (might as well be 1 when it comes to literally anything remembered beyond the existence of certain areas; I never made it past Map 03

Suspended in Dusk - Survived: 1:17:38

I once again had a serious stroke of bad luck near the end. 

Bauhaus

Category 1

Survived in 1:02:12

The last map is definitely hairier but things are probably fine if one takes their time, sneaky chaingunners and the like regardless. Those small platforms confused me for a bit and there was actually one platform I thought would never come down again.

lmd_sid11738.zip

lmd_bauhaus.zip

Sus in Dusk
Category: 1
Dead on: Map 03
Time of death: 56:24
Kills: 267/384

Demo:  dwiron_24-05_dd.zip

I competely missed the SSG on map 3, struggled with making progress and, eventually, ammo. To put the icing on the cake I got complevel 2'd. I thought IronEagle's offering had a messy progression, but this is an outright maze with occasional "screw you, should've first taken Y path instead to open progression first" showing.

I put in cat 1 - I've read the unspoilered (please do so next time!!!) posts about some kind of trap, but it didn't help any more than the official "not a pushover" info.

Suspended in Dusk
Category: 1 Survived
Time: 56:03
I never heard or played this wad, but I loved the atmosphere, design and fights.
I had a hard time on map 4 with low health, but when I got health, I calmed down and survived. 

Bauhaus
Category: 1 Survived
Time: 59:32

Like the previous wad, I had not played or seen it either, I loved the music, and the route of the maps too. In the last one I lost a lot of time looking for the exit.

dwironman_bertt91_SiD.zip

dwironman_bertt91_bahaus.zip

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xttucx648pprpsx4s8vue/dtsid.lmp?rlkey=wf7g6y8wndborbmf7t3hs423w&st=39h39h3u&dl=1

SID cat 2, I managed to get rinsed on m4, just wasn't concentrating and an archvile appeared

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ooqs9s3mpixy8jyktjz9w/dtbauhaus.lmp?rlkey=e1kqmvx6eq4k8q7kq498t7sqi&st=1mei63xw&dl=1

Bauhaus, cat 2 survival in just over an hour.  Like someone said before, I remember this being tons harder than it actually is.  Couple of shit in the pants moments but nothing too massive.  Just remembering where to go, like in SID above, is almost as hard as any challenge put forth by the monsters

Suspended in Dusk
Category: 1
Death: Map 03
Time of death: 48:29
Kills: 335/384

RedBoule_DWIronman_may2024_01.zip

Bauhaus
Category: 1 
Survived
Time: 53:37

RedBoule_DWIronman_may2024_02.zip

Suspended in Dusk
Category: 1 UV
Total time: 45:30
Death: MAP02 at 25:30 with 106/111 kills
 

Nicely detail wad with large maps that are somewhat a pain to navigate. Nothing too difficult except for the gotcha moments here and there. I started playing rather sluggish towards the end of map 2 due to me unable to find where to go next, and when I finally did, got caught by a hell knight claw since I wasn't fully paying attention.

Bauhaus
Category: 1 UV
Total time: 97:30
Death: MAP04 at 40:40 with 269/275 kills    (Strange that the last 3 Iron league maps I've submitted had deaths when I was about to finish the level)

Neat wad with nice abstract detail. Can't believe I haven't played this before as I'm a big fan of the author's Monster hunter wad (The first wad a played that got me back into playing doom some years ago). Was getting kinda tired and lost on the final map and ended up getting popped by a revenant missile which I didn't see coming due to a corpse blocking the view. Great wad though!

Both included in zip:

BSSidBauh.zip

Suspended in Dusk

Cat: 2

Dead: Map 02

Bayhaus

Cat1

Survived (finaly)

Both Category 2

Suspended in Dusk

Died Map 4

Kills: 3/94

Bauhaus

Died Map 1

Kills: 41/53

0horus_ironman_2024_05a.zip

0horus_ironman_2024_05b.zip

SID survived in 88 minutes, Bauhaus survived in 70 minutes :>

TBH I don't enjoy such confusing level design with seldom low-tiers. Lots of backtracking and hunting some barely noticeable hints, dunno :s

There were some interesting moments in both WADs though, but in general, not my sort of coffee.

The SID demo has a fight with a Cyber having 1 percent health :D

Category I, never played any of them.

dvvsidbh.zip

Suspended in Dusk

Category 1

Died: Map 02

pbe_sid.lmp.zip

Bauhaus

Category 1

Died: Map 03

pbe_bauhaus.lmp.zip

Suspended in Dusk

Category: 1

Survived in 94:52

vytaanDWIronman_SiD.zip

Bauhaus

Category: 1

Survived in 66:40

vytaanDWIronman_bauhaus.zip

Bauhaus

Category: 1

Died on: Map03

Time of death: 29:52 or 18:59 (see below)

Demo: dwiron_24-05_bauhaus_dd.zip

I was not recording a strict mode demo (textured automap is my hill to die on, like vertical aim/non-infinite height to some others) and fat-fingered my rewind key at 18:59. I opted to continue since it only goes back 1 second and I don't think I've dodged anything projectile-wise there, but if the chair wants to be strict about it, 18:59 would be the end of a legal run.

Either way, this was much more "sensible-mazy" compared to SID. I got lucky with some of the switch hunting, but lack of prolonged linear sections for questionable progress left a much better impression.