The DWmegawad Club plays: Plutonium: Kilimanjaro Odyssey

[Celestin]

MAP02: Abu Simbel by Doomaniac

 

With its strong Egyptian theme and a hint of extraterrestial, Abu Simbel would fit nicely into Epic, if it was scored by something more atmospheric than t.A.T.u. After all, the easiest way to make an unserious map is to make a serious map and add a silly midi.

 

The start killed me way to much time that I'm comfortable to admit and I bet it's because I was distracted with a Russian pop song in the background. Two archviles at the start seem like you can dump rockets into them, but it's easy to push them off their columns. There are also barons and imps converging at you and a group of shotgunners on top of a waterfall. The biggest threat seemed to be barons' projectiles that were easy to overlook, only to got unexpectadly hit in a back when fighting something else. Also, I had some problems with the next fight of revenants and cacodemons, as I was running low on ammo at that point and the monsters were blocking access to more shells.

 

The map eases up afterwards, turning into a switch and key hunt. I have to say, the hornless cyberdemon gave me a chuckle, he looks so goofy now, though the rocket duel with him was rather by the numbers. He makes a second appearence by the ending, this time accompanied with a couple other foes, before you can board a flying saucer and leave.

 

Abu Simbel is a decent map that, with a different midi, would work well in a more serious project.

[Anarkzie]

Map 2
This level is really the polar opposite of the first map, the areas are cramped and stuffed with enemies. I was initially scared that this was going to play like "The Mucus Flow" but I soon found the rhythm of combat. It mostly consisted of me peaking into a room saying hello and then back tracking while the demons chase me.

The visuals are gorgeous, where as the last map looked like it took place in a temple that had long since falling into ruin this level looks like it's at its peak. I wonder if doom guy travelled back in time or if this is an isolated community similar to the last Tomb Raider game.

I have to take a moment to mention how well the midi goes with this level, I absolutely loathe t.A.T.u's "All the things you said" and I'm not a fan of midi renditions of real songs in general but when it works it works, and it lent this level a light-hearted atmosphere.

Good level, I'm enjoying this wad so far.

Edited November 3 by Anarkzie

[Velonex]

Woof 14.5.0., UV, pistol start, with saves

 

MAP01: Concha

By Hunted11

Immediately the map hits with the player with some atmospheric design with a cozy estate looking place. I was so drawn to the location I was almost expecting a puzzle map but it serves a nice start to a wonderful map one to be frank. Concha knows how to get ya warmed up then throws you some nice combat encounters all to keep you interested to play more. It would be best now to mention some of the visual changes with a Black Doomguy as a stand out along with Cultist and a Blue Archvile? This map let's you know that your eyes will have a treat the further you play Plutonium: Kilimanjaro Odyssey.

When I started realizing the motifs to Congo from Plutonia's map 01 it put a smile on my face.

MAP02: Abu Simbel

By Doomaniac

Opening up the map I had to stop for a moment because I knew what the midi was and audibly laugh for a good awhile to "All the things you said". But then the map starts and it was a major skill issue for me. Past the two Archviles at the start then with the sniping Cultist really pick away with me when trying to decide if I should try and snipe them with my pistol or rush to the grab a AK-47 off a Cultist from brute forcing my way. And getting past that I suffered a ammo crunch from the Revenant Archvile room. That made me just drop it say to myself "I"ll skip this dwmegawad it was fun while I tried it".

But I got myself back up, admitted I am extremely rusty to do and this is a Plutonia wad after all so I tried it again and I appreciate the map now. Learning when to play slow but also push was a great dynamic. It sets the tone of what to expect going forward while still being very reasonable from what I imagine it may become by the end. The music soon turned into a training melody rather than one for laughs. Though I was not too focused to ignore the beautiful architecture that really felt like a stumbling on a Desert Temple in the Doom engine!

But I will have to admit the two cyberdemon duels go old fast with there being two and the cramped space. But a minor pacing issue certainly does not ruin a map. Thank you Hunted11.

[OceanMadman]

36 minutes ago, Velonex said:

Woof 14.5.0., UV, pistol start, with saves

 

MAP01: Concha

By Hunted11

Immediately the map hits with the player with some atmospheric design with a cozy estate looking place. I was so drawn to the location I was almost expecting a puzzle map but it serves a nice start to a wonderful map one to be frank. Concha knows how to get ya warmed up then throws you some nice combat encounters all to keep you interested to play more. It would be best now to mention some of the visual changes with a Black Doomguy as a stand out along with Cultist and a Blue Archvile? This map let's you know that your eyes will have a treat the further you play Plutonium: Kilimanjaro Odyssey.

When I started realizing the motifs to Congo from Plutonia's map 01 it put a smile on my face.

MAP02: Abu Simbel

By Doomaniac

Opening up the map I had to stop for a moment because I knew what the midi was and audibly laugh for a good awhile to "All the things you said". But then the map starts and it was a major skill issue for me. Past the two Archviles at the start then with the sniping Cultist really pick away with me when trying to decide if I should try and snipe them with my pistol or rush to the grab a AK-47 off a Cultist from brute forcing my way. And getting past that I suffered a ammo crunch from the Revenant Archvile room. That made me just drop it say to myself "I"ll skip this dwmegawad it was fun while I tried it".

But I got myself back up, admitted I am extremely rusty to do and this is a Plutonia wad after all so I tried it again and I appreciate the map now. Learning when to play slow but also push was a great dynamic. It sets the tone of what to expect going forward while still being very reasonable from what I imagine it may become by the end. The music soon turned into a training melody rather than one for laughs. Though I was not too focused to ignore the beautiful architecture that really felt like a stumbling on a Desert Temple in the Doom engine!

But I will have to admit the two cyberdemon duels go old fast with there being two and the cramped space. But a minor pacing issue certainly does not ruin a map. Thank you Hunted11.

Remember that you can always choose a lower difficulty anyway :). That being said, I think this map would fit better in a higher slot. The next maps are probably easier.

[Hunted11]

3 hours ago, Celestin said:

 

 

3 hours ago, Anarkzie said:

 

 

2 hours ago, Velonex said:

Thank you Hunted11.

I recently learnt about Multiquote (i'm really new in the forum so sorry for the spam yesterday). I must say that the visuals of this map are fantastic (it reminds me to Serious Sam) but i have an issue with: Mobility and the difficulty level. Doomaniac saw my map01 and considered it hard so he pushed the difficulty more.

In part is my responsability because i wanted a Doomaniac's map at the beginning 'cause it helps to the wad beauty. But it's too hard for the slot considering that the next levels are noticeably "relaxing" or at least less hard.

For those who wonder: what does it have to do this map with the previous one? Nothing. In the LORE our protagonist got slept into the elevator of "Concha" and all the things that happen here are JUST A DREAM. The whole journey continues at MAP03.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP02 - Abu Simbel - Doomaniac (99%K/100%I/100%S):

This map looks gorgeous, a really big change in every department compared to the first level. Gameplay-wise, it has some problems tho'. Most of them you will find early. Damn, that was a spicy start, while it does give you everything you need, and the mounster count is not actually that hard, those pesky hitscanners will easily drain your health without any armor. Ammo will be a bit tight until you reach that area with the revenants and the archviles. And the biggest problem here is navigation between tight places early on. After all that, the map will slowly ease out a bit, leaving you more room to breathe. Most of the map will showcase incidental combat, so, even though it is a temple, it does not host nasty traps for us, luckly.

The layout is really interesting, a desert temple full of really nice rooms to look at, I don't think I'm a fan of having a three-key door if progression is going to be linear, so I would have opened the doors locked with keys for it to be more of a "choose-your-path" kind of map. It is fine though, I had some fun with it.

I really liked the secret with the UFO, quite reminiscent to Ancient Aliens, possibly this wad being a big inspiration for this map, and some others that we may find through our way to Kilimanjaro.

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

MAP02
MAP01

Spoiler

"Concha knows how to get ya warmed up" Damn, that sounds really wrong HAHAHA

 

[Pancrasio]

You know what, I'll join too. First time participating here! Don't expect me to join too many other times though.

 

PLUTONIUM: KILIMANJARO ODYSSEY

DSDA, UV, pistol start, using saves, not caring about 100%

 

Map 01: Concha - by Hunted11

So I was actually part of the team that made this. Even though I didn't contribute much more than the one map I made, I was there from the very inception. I'm actually the one that proposed replacing the hitscanners for cultists; it kinda came about because in Gnome Hunters, made by two guys from this community, the archvile was recoloured to be an alien, so it only made sense to reuse it for this one, given the alien plotline. From there it kinda snowballed and we started using a lot of stuff from Blood (we love that game); the chaingun became the AK-47, however, the hitscanners remained unchanged, so the chaingunner sprites pictured a minigun, but dropped an AK. I found that weird so all this Blood stuff made me think about the cultists' Thompson, much closer to the pickable weapon. Their voicelines have always made me giggle as well, so it was a natural fit for Plutonium. In the end, does it fit within Doom? Not at all ajhahahha but that only makes it better for this wad. And they still make me giggle.

 

I also proposed making the protagonist black. I can't remember if he was already Mokele by that point, but he was always conceived as "some guy from Tanzania" so using the stock mugshot felt out of place, and there also were the Rowdy Rudy sprites already fully made, with full permission to use them, so we just did. We also simply liked the idea of using a black Doomguy, which isn't seen much.

 

Love the guy that interpreted the pink mancubi as "hairless". Won't stop seeing it that way now, I find it funny.

 

So, about the map itself: I think it perfectly encapsulates this wad. Great introduction. This isn't going to win any sort of award or anything, the combat is kinda lackluster, and it's kind of ugly, but that's what makes it work. It's like Congo but fucked up, and still more than just a copy of an iwad map. I've always liked the fact that Mokele essentially lives in a cave, a very fancy and decorated cave but sill just a cave. I like to think he carved it himself and stuck a door in the opening. The fact you have to use a key before going out is also a very cool detail. The generalized openness definetely gives off a "beginner mapper" vibe, and it certainly is, but it's, at the same time, something Hunted specifically likes to do, so even if he was fully experienced his maps would still be pretty vast. I respect that.

 

The rocket launcher room is a great example of how the whole homage thing works, where it takes a part of Congo and reinterprets it as a crypt, but being so weird and crude that it's still kind of abstract, despite the doomcute coffins. The red skull fight surprised me, even being a doorfight it manages to be fun. Cool map, better introduction.

 

Spoiler

Expanding on what DJV said: Silverminer, author of Plutonia 3, has played this and told us "concha" also means "cum" in Russian. So the joke is bilingual. Funny coincidence.

 

Map 02: Abu Simbel - by Doomaniac

Gotta agree with everyone here, the midi choice is hilarious. I also burst out laughing when I first played it, Doomaniac clearly knew what he was doing. I actually love when people use real songs as background music, and it helps that I really love this song.

 

The opening room may be my favourite encounter from this map, and also the best looking part of the whole map. The contrast between the first level helps to further introduce the schizophrenic manners of this adventure, where a map is either Concha, or Abu Simbel. The combat from then on is somewhat tough, requiring the player to be more careful with the way ammo is spent, but I still think it's fair enough - the rooms are far mor cramped than they look at first glance, though. The geometric archs made out of really tiny sectors are something that stuck in my mind a lot, they are really nice. I also got stuck myself in them, lol (not in a buggy, "got to idclip to get out" sort of way, to be clear).

 

I really love how each button has a little window that shows you directly which door is being opened. Not only did it help navigation, and looks cool from an aesthetic point of view, but it also enhances the feeling of being in some sort of Indiana Jones temple.

 

The cyberdemon was replaced with the one from Legacy of Rust because it looks very silly. The fight against him is a bit boring, but I don't really know how I would "fix" it, the layout doesn't really permit weirder geometry or some weird gimmick, placing more enemies would be a mess, and outright removing the fight would be too harsh. So in the end I prefer the fight to be there, even if it may not be the best. After this point you get tons of ammo so combat isn't much of a problem anymore.

 

The UFO secret is lovely, and it also gave me a lot of Ancient Aliens vibes. The whole wad follows that "desert, then aliens" progression in themes, and the new arachnotron sprites help that feeling. Even then, I don't think Hunted11 himself has ever played Ancient Aliens, I should ask him. Anyways, the ending is a mad rush towards another UFO, with cool sphinxes at the start of it. Cool map, gameplay is still a little off but I'm not sure how it could be improved, the visuals are phenomenal and the midi choice is genius. Also, little fun fact, it was originally called Me suda el culo ("My Ass Sweats").

I will be stealing DJV's order of preference, as it's the superior way for making lists and rankings.

Spoiler

Order of preference

Map 02

Map 01

 

Edited November 2 by Pancrasio

[NiGHTS108]

MAP02: Abu Simbel

By Doomaniac

Kills: 80%

Items: 70%

Secrets: 0%

Time: 7:06

 

Here we have a slightly more conventional second map, with the map name and immediate visuals calling Epic II to mind, though the combat and general tone deviate from those associations. Especially the music track. I would say "All The Things She Said" is violently unfitting for this temple map, though then you play it and it weirdly works great, lmao. I find this one hardest early on, actually, the map's first few fights (particularly all the ones involving Arch-Viles) punish playing impatiently. I had a bit of a struggle with the third Arch-Vile in the map, the first indoors one especially, lol. Funny enough though gameplay wise I kinda feel like this one gets more chill as it goes on, I ended up being able to just run through the last few fights, even the ones containing Cyberdemons, who seem to have shaved recently! The visuals are indeed really nice. It's quite a shake up from MAP01's of course, but I appreciate it just as much! There's nice little things in this map too, such as how Doomaniac always makes sure you know what door has opened if you hit a switch, via the use of these nifty little windows. Quite nice layout work here overall. I don't think I quite enjoy this one as much as the first map, but I feel like I'm comparing apples and oranges saying that. This is a strong MAP02.

 

Grade: Bee

Difficulty: See Minus

 

[DJVCardMaster]

Breezing through this one!, I'm at MAP13 already, there are a series of quick maps later on that serve more as an experience rather than your casual Dooming, I won't spoil, but I might be able to play through the full secret episode later on. If you are not allergic of ugly maps aesthetic-wise, I think you'll love this mapset.

[PrinceOfBrains]

Hurt Me Plenty, saves, continuous, hella casual, no other mods in use.

 

MAP02:

Spoiler

This is the best song that could've played in this level. I got so oddly hyped hearing "All The Things She Said" that I almost forgot it was a joke song, and I was just sitting there vibing. 

 

I absolutely loved how much more cramped this map was. I can't fully articulate why, but I always respond better to Doom levels where it's a little more cramped and full of obstacles. I love weaving in and out of cover, I love luring monsters to where I currently am instead of going to them, and I love knowing I only have a little space to work with so I can plot my next move.

 

This one felt like a big adventure! It always rules when you press a switch or grab a key in an area that shows you the thing you just affected, and it was fun working my way through the temple and seeing the progress I made. Enemy placement felt super appropriate throughout the entire level - no matter what pops up, you're always able to retreat to another area to deal with it better, in-fighting is common, and ammo isn't particularly scarce, especially right before a big fight.

 

And luckily, there's a few of those! I have to admit to laughing when I saw that first Cyberdemon just...standing there, menacingly, before having to run laps around him in a wide desert alleyway. The second Cyberdemon wasn't quite so cute, but after a couple less-successful stabs at it, I remembered an important teaching from a previous Megawad Club playthrough: if it sucks, hit the bricks. I found myself frantically running past everything in that final area towards the warm, waiting arms...of a UFO's tractor beam. 

 

I've rewatched X-Files enough times to know that this isn't going to go well for me, but there's not a ton I can do about it now! Tell me of your secrets, Kilimanjaro! 

 

[Veeda Vidlak]

Map02 “Abu Simbel” by Doomaniac

 

Well, here’s a fun little difficulty spike. Our second outing puts us on the backfoot immediately with imps and barons on approach and two turret viles/elevated shotgunners pinning us down. You can play it slowly but if you do beware of your rockets knocking viles off their platforms, getting a baron rezed is a disaster. Once the viles are down fire a rocket at the shotgunners to clear most of them out. Approach the temple cautiously, there’re chaingunners in there and you don’t want their attention while the beginning area is still hot.

 

Working my way in I discovered starting ammo is at a premium. The waves of revs, pinkies greenies, and cacos chew up your shells but if you can get to the northern pillar room the cache there should solve this issue going forward. What isn’t solved is how frighteningly fragile you are… unless you find a well-hidden switch that opens a crucial megaarmor secret. If not dodge revenant rockets like your life depends on it, because it probably does. Following this we have a modest key hunt leading to a courtyard in the southeast. There we find… Aha HAHAHAHAHA!!!

 

Omigod Cybie looks hilarious without his horns. I love it. Also, as hard as he is to take seriously, this is not a trivial encounter with the lack of maneuvering room.

 

After that we move on to ANOTHER cyber in the three key switch room. This second cyber is a menace with the even more cramped terrain but you can cheese him quite easily. Just head back through the pillar room and into the northeast area. Stand on the upper walkway and he’s totes harmless, letting you disrespect Mr. Hornless however you like.

 

To finish the map we enter… A UFO! Watch out for his occupant and GG.

 

A couple things. Firstly, this temple gives me a strong Epic 2 vibe. The detailing is rich and really brings the setting to life… Even the combat reminds me of Eternal. Ace work there (seriously, this map looks really REALLY good).

 

Secondly, this is a stern map02 in the gameplay department. In addition to the tricky start, we have (mild) resource shortages, multiple viles, chaingunner ambushes, and two cyberdemon encounters in restrictive terrain with no cell weapons. If you’re having trouble, try to find the blue armor secret near the start, it’s a game changer.

 

Overall, this wad is 2 for 2. Great map. Oh and side note, I am not familiar with the song the midi is based on so other than feeling massive tone whiplash from map01 I'm out of the loop on that one. Super catchy though

[Pancrasio]

PLUTONIUM: KILIMANJARO ODYSSEY
DSDA, UV, pistol start, using saves, not caring about 100%

Map 03: Dusty Debris - by Starman (also known as Chris).
This map feels straight out of the 2000's. Make it a bit longer and a bit more green and it could have been in Plutonia 2, I feel. It feels weird to play a short map from this author, I haven't experienced much from him but his contributions to the Hispanic Community Project are really long, and huge. This one isn't specifically "cramped" or anything but it's overall a small offering, feels like it was made under 1024 restrictions or something like that, or meant to be packaged in a little present box. The midi (which I like a lot) certainly helps that last feeling. There's some kind of strange cuteness to this map. I'm pretty sure if it had some metal music as background it would be mostly unremarkable, even though I'd still like it. But since it doesn't... I like it more. Not much more to say, aesthetics are good, gameplay is too. Probably the most ordinary level in the wad.

Order of preference:

Spoiler

Map 02
Map 03

Map 01

 

[SilverMiner]

On 11/1/2024 at 4:07 PM, DJVCardMaster said:

Fun fact: Concha means "Shell", but also means "Cunt" in Rioplatense Spanish, and yeah, you won't believe how much problems it gives to Latin American voice actors trying to translate the word "shell" thanks to us. Hehe.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Concha also means cum in Russian 

[Celestin]

MAP03: Dusty Debris by Starman

 

I don't want to be a gatekeeper who tells people what is Plutonia and what isn't, but Dusty Debris feels like the closest map to Casalis' template yet. It's compact, effective with traps and make a good use of monster placement.

 

Two things stood out for me in regards to the fights. First of all, I like the parts where the map gets flooded with spectres or lost souls, it's a fun task to try making enough room to be able to move. The other thing is the ending, where two balconies of monster attack you from both sides when you try to unlock the exit. Rockets are plentiful and if you drop down in one particular spot, you can find the plasma rifle replacement - a life leach from Blood. With a steady supply of ammo, you can defeat the mancubi and revenants that appear when you are unlocking the exit, just watch out for one last archvile.

 

Dusty Debris is a good map, probably the most serious one yet. Being a big Plutonia fan, a map that sticks to the visuals and gameplay style of the original is a fine break between the weirder stuff.

[Anarkzie]

Map 3 Dusty Debris

This level's opening sight of the gallows is very powerful. Dusty Debris looks a lot more dreary than the last two maps, I can almost feel the effects from the lack of Vitamin D, it's like its set in London. Not a fan of the midi.

Moving pass the imp congo line into the second room gives me the first true Plutonia like moment as the four Chaingunners rip me to shreds, I survive but in the confusion I'm left with little health, I die a couple of rooms later. I restart the level, now knowing what to expect of the second room, I breeze pass it while keeping 100% health. I thought the room had a weird switch puzzle, but it was just that the right hand switch was misaligned.

The lost souls usage in this map is very effective, in the room with the caged Revenant turrets they work at preventing you from easily controlling the situation. My first encounter with them had me manoeuvring behind a pillar to avoid the Revenants only to have a Lost Soul gnawing at my elbow wondering where these guys came from. Pairing the two was a great choice.

I do very well in this stage at finding the puzzles, which is something I normally suck at, I notice immediately the skull feature with the red arrows for eyes on the wall.

Skiping ahead I think the last room is the best designed room in this map, it's visually dynamic and I like the progression. This map most fealt like something from the original Plutonia, the hit the player with with an aggressive trap that will get you for sure on your first try but still a trap that has a way to avoid the punishment is very Casali.

Edited November 3 by Anarkzie

[Anarkzie]

59 minutes ago, Celestin said:

MAP03: Dusty Debris by Starman

 

I don't want to be a gatekeeper who tells people what is Plutonia and what isn't, but Dusty Debris feels like the closest map to Casalis' template yet. It's compact, effective with traps and make a good use of monster placement.

 

That was my take away too!

[Hunted11]

7 hours ago, Pancrasio said:

PLUTONIUM: KILIMANJARO ODYSSEY
DSDA, UV, pistol start, using saves, not caring about 100%

Map 03: Dusty Debris - by Starman (also known as Chris).

Order of preference:

  Reveal hidden contents

Map 02
Map 03

Map 01

 

 

2 hours ago, Celestin said:

MAP03: Dusty Debris by Starman

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Anarkzie said:

Map 3 Dusty Debris

This level's opening sight of the gallows is very powerful. Dusty Debris looks a lot more dreary than the last two maps, I can almost feel the effects from the lack of Vitamin D, it's like its set in London. Not a fan of the midi.
 

One thing you all have mentioned is the Plutonia vibe on this map. I completely agree! When Starman sent me the map i was genuinely surprised. This guy is known in my community for being a one who makes a lot of terry or jokemap (but he takes it almost personal in that area hahaha) so i was shocked for this map and when i played it for the first time i praised to him all this things you are talking: Traps, Gameplay and general aesthetics with the sky fits easily with Plutonia. That make this map one of my favourites of the project.

The only thing i said to starman is: look the theme is about abandoned or hostile temples. Then he used the best textures he could and gave a really plutonian map with correct length and gameplay imo.

Trivia:
- This is the canonical continuation from MAP01 (all map02 events are part of a dream, you can see the sleeping bag at the beginning of map03)
- This map is the one that made me replace the idea of a jokewad for regular wad because i saw that could turn into something "decent". And it's funny because it cames from an author who ussually doesn't make this kind of maps
- The MIDI is from Wonderboy III: Monster Lair (Jungle Zone). One of my favourite SEGA games.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP03 - Dusty Debris - Starman (100%K/100%I/60%S):

A sweet Plutonia-esque map with a simple layout. Its difficulty will start building up until you reach the last area in the map. DAMN, this was a hard fight, or I just feel like playing stupidly. Either way, it was another nice map. I found the new plasma gun, which is a witch staff or something like that, and holy crap it feels strong... Not sure if damage tables have been altered and now it deals more damage, but I do feel stronger with it due to its cool animations. I think we all agree this is the most Plutonia-esque map so far, but we are only 3 maps in, let's see what the mapset showcases to us in the future.

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

MAP02
MAP03
MAP01

 

[Veeda Vidlak]

Map03 “Dusty Debris” by Starman

 

We’re getting quite the variety of midis so far as this groovy tune takes us through a rather old-school outing. We start out by… waking up in some gallows I think? And grab our trusty shotgun for some demon slaying. The detailing is more spartan this time but the layout is crisp and begets a quick runtime. It’s a level that plays more to the OG Plutonian ideology, particularly the combat, which makes good use of ambushes, monster placement, and getting the most out of the enemy count.

 

A few encounters stand out to me. The central chamber with the four revenant cages is fun to charge into, you can pick them off slowly but that’s boring. I find myself taking an annoying amount of damage after hitting the switch to the southeast… the lost souls, hell knights, and chaingunners are well deployed there. The standout encounter, of course, is the finale which is classic Plutonia with its use of revs and mancubi on troublesome geography. Be proactive with the rocket launcher and you can hold your ground on both sides. Otherwise, you can bail into the water which is awkward but safer.

 

Oh, and the witch doctor staff plasma gun reskin looks sweet but I’m annoyed at how much it obstructs the screen. The projectiles are oversized and I wish the skull was held lower when firing.

 

I like the positioning of this map, which gives us a more traditional doom experience after the fun in Abu Simbel. Seeing Hunter11's comment about the previous map being a dream sequence makes sense, I had a hunch that was what the continuity was going for.

 

3 for 3. I've enjoyed every map so far.

[Godzialox666]

On 11/2/2024 at 11:29 AM, Velonex said:

Woof 14.5.0., UV, pistol start, with saves

 

MAP01: Concha

By Hunted11

Immediately the map hits with the player with some atmospheric design with a cozy estate looking place. I was so drawn to the location I was almost expecting a puzzle map but it serves a nice start to a wonderful map one to be frank. Concha knows how to get ya warmed up then throws you some nice combat encounters all to keep you interested to play more. It would be best now to mention some of the visual changes with a Black Doomguy as a stand out along with Cultist and a Blue Archvile? This map let's you know that your eyes will have a treat the further you play Plutonium: Kilimanjaro Odyssey.

When I started realizing the motifs to Congo from Plutonia's map 01 it put a smile on my face.

MAP02: Abu Simbel

By Doomaniac

Opening up the map I had to stop for a moment because I knew what the midi was and audibly laugh for a good awhile to "All the things you said". But then the map starts and it was a major skill issue for me. Past the two Archviles at the start then with the sniping Cultist really pick away with me when trying to decide if I should try and snipe them with my pistol or rush to the grab a AK-47 off a Cultist from brute forcing my way. And getting past that I suffered a ammo crunch from the Revenant Archvile room. That made me just drop it say to myself "I"ll skip this dwmegawad it was fun while I tried it".

But I got myself back up, admitted I am extremely rusty to do and this is a Plutonia wad after all so I tried it again and I appreciate the map now. Learning when to play slow but also push was a great dynamic. It sets the tone of what to expect going forward while still being very reasonable from what I imagine it may become by the end. The music soon turned into a training melody rather than one for laughs. Though I was not too focused to ignore the beautiful architecture that really felt like a stumbling on a Desert Temple in the Doom engine!

But I will have to admit the two cyberdemon duels go old fast with there being two and the cramped space. But a minor pacing issue certainly does not ruin a map. Thank you Hunted11.

the blue archviles are literraly Grey Aliens, i maded the sprites for my wad "Gnome Hunters" and I added the sprites in this wad becose they are litterally aliens

[PrinceOfBrains]

Hurt Me Plenty, saves, continuous, hella casual, no other mods in use.

 

MAP03:

Spoiler

No joke, for a split-second I thought the MIDI was "One Night In Bangkok", which...after the last map could you blame me for jumping to conclusions?

 

Alright, cool spooky cavern/valley area, nice of the aliens to leave me so close to some health and ammo. Also very nice of those Imps to just stand there in a row, although I was a little disappointed in myself for not getting them all with one SSG blast. I'm slipping in my twilight years*.

 

Cool, got the imps taken care of, let's see what - OOPS, ALL HITSCANNERS! Luckily this gives me an excuse to use my AK (even if it was already a good day), and frankly that thing produces maybe the most satisfying weapon sound I've ever heard in a Doom mod, if not all of FPS history. 

 

This is one of those maps where every room has something amusing and/or challenging in a new way, and it was a lot of fun seeing them all unfold. Briefly stymied by the caged Revenants (who put them in there??), I retreat to an adjacent room that offered a lot of fun encounters - at least, it did after I found out that the big skull panels do, indeed, contain skulls. Lots of skulls.

 

The skulls vanquished, I really enjoyed figuring out how to pick apart each individual Revenant (fight smarter, not harder!). Cheesing melee attacks, bouncing around corners to trick their fireballs, fending off the unwelcome appearance of the occasional Lost Soul/Cacodemon/Spectre, etc. 

 

This sense of positioning and space control continued through the rest of the map. Each instance of combat felt fairly self-contained and gave you a lot of fun geometry and hazards to use to your advantage, whether through in-fighting, finding cover from projectiles, or just getting a Revenant stuck in a door so a couple nearby Barons can soften him up for you. 

 

While some similar tactics apply to the final room, it absolutely ups the ante. There's enough in the room to deal with already, without you pressing buttons to release even more jerks into the environment. After a few tries, I realized my solution was right in front of me, so I hurled myself into the pool and picked everyone off with bazookas! This worked...mostly, until I remembered how Arch-Vile's projectiles work, but hey, I got it figured out eventually. 

 

I was honestly kinda surprised that teleporter was the end of the map! I think a lot of the other WADs I'd been playing lately had conditioned me to assume that, as soon as it looks like the end is in sight, there's at least one more thing that sucks waiting for you, which was not the case here!

 

Nothing in this map sucked at all in fact, and I absolutely loved the pacing and geometry it offered me. Thanks for dropping me somewhere fun, aliens!

 

[Velonex]

Woof 14.5.0, UV, pistol start, no saves

 

MAP03: Dusty Debris

 

I must say right off the bat, what a Plutonia feeling map in all the right ways. With the small locations that feels very believe in the Doom engine to the combat making you really think with your lack of space but far from unfair. And what a BOP of a midi. I am struggling to add more to say since I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and quite frankly would rather play the map right now than write about it, which I can already see myself coming back to this map for when I want a fast hit of why this wad is cool.

 

Stuff to complain out, hmmm oh yeah in the Hell Knight and Revenant ambush that guards the rocket launcher the Cultist up top are blocked by an invisible wall so you cannot snipe them first thing in the encounter.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP04 - Axis Force vs Homicide - Godzialox666 (97%K/100%I/84%S):

Seems like we appeared inside an old nazi jail or fortress in the middle of Africa, and seems like, in this timeline, some of them were refugeeing in the middle of this continent after the war. Interesting lore.

The map is quite simple, and it presents some usage of silent TPs in order to simulate foors over floors. The map is quite straight-forward and simple in terms of combat, we see yet another reskin of enemies. This time, the SS soldier got revamped. Nothing new to the table in terms of gameplay though. I did enjoy trying to search for secrets, something nicely done here by Godzialox, makes trying to search for the secret exit something a little bit more enjoyable. Still said exit is near the end, so nothing to worry if you missed something reaching the last area of the map.

MAP33 - Fachoda Vamos Por Ti - Godzialox666 (100%K/92%I/100%S):

THIS is cursed level design. A map that has a lot of cursed tricks, textures, and overall feeling. Everything that Godzialox could put from his twisted mind will be here. Some things just feel like a fever dream. Unconventional texturing, occasional fights, the appearance of a joke weapon, the voodoo doll, which is a pistol that does not use any bullets, that may be good for saving ammo killing some hitscanners in sniping position, but overall, it is a joke gun. Talking about voodoo dolls, there is a troll switch that will crush a voodoo doll in that cabin area, making you start all over again if you press the wrong switch.
 

Full of unconventional Doom level design, like switch teleport actions, and weird texture choices, like that texture from the Mereana Mordegard Glesgorv creepypasta, you know, that dumb Youtube Creepypasta of a photo of a guy in red that allegedly made people gouge their eyes out and mail them to Youtube.
 

Yes, a cursed trip indeed.

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

MAP02
MAP03
MAP01
MAP04
MAP33

I feel like these two maps had thrown me an ancient curse.

[SilverMiner]

1 hour ago, DJVCardMaster said:

Full of unconventional Doom level design, like switch teleport actions, and weird texture choices, like that texture from the Mereana Mordegard Glesgorv creepypasta, you know, that dumb Youtube Creepypasta of a photo of a guy in red that allegedly made people gouge their eyes out and mail them to Youtube.

It was cool to see this meme in a wad, oh yeah

[Godzialox666]

2 hours ago, DJVCardMaster said:

MAP04 - Axis Force vs Homicide - Godzialox666 (97%K/100%I/84%S):

Seems like we appeared inside an old nazi jail or fortress in the middle of Africa, and seems like, in this timeline, some of them were refugeeing in the middle of this continent after the war. Interesting lore.

The map is quite simple, and it presents some usage of silent TPs in order to simulate foors over floors. The map is quite straight-forward and simple in terms of combat, we see yet another reskin of enemies. This time, the SS soldier got revamped. Nothing new to the table in terms of gameplay though. I did enjoy trying to search for secrets, something nicely done here by Godzialox, makes trying to search for the secret exit something a little bit more enjoyable. Still said exit is near the end, so nothing to worry if you missed something reaching the last area of the map.

MAP33 - Fachoda Vamos Por Ti - Godzialox666 (100%K/92%I/100%S):

THIS is cursed level design. A map that has a lot of cursed tricks, textures, and overall feeling. Everything that Godzialox could put from his twisted mind will be here. Some things just feel like a fever dream. Unconventional texturing, occasional fights, the appearance of a joke weapon, the voodoo doll, which is a pistol that does not use any bullets, that may be good for saving ammo killing some hitscanners in sniping position, but overall, it is a joke gun. Talking about voodoo dolls, there is a troll switch that will crush a voodoo doll in that cabin area, making you start all over again if you press the wrong switch.
 

Full of unconventional Doom level design, like switch teleport actions, and weird texture choices, like that texture from the Mereana Mordegard Glesgorv creepypasta, you know, that dumb Youtube Creepypasta of a photo of a guy in red that allegedly made people gouge their eyes out and mail them to Youtube.
 

Yes, a cursed trip indeed.

Order of preference:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

MAP02
MAP03
MAP01
MAP04
MAP33

I feel like these two maps had thrown me an ancient curse.

good review of my both maps, also, you talk about mostly the first part of Fachoda, did you enjoy the "other" part (after the mereana mordegar glesgorv teleport)?

[Celestin]

MAP04: Axis Forces vs Homicide by Godzialox666

 

Breaking out of a prison cell, it quickly turns out the player has been apprehended by Nazis (they wear black uniforms now and call me a "spy", but act the same). The AK-47 is right in front of you, it's a perfect gun to mow down hitscanners in mostly narrow halls. It seems to me there's something off-putting about the map, thanks to clashing textures (Plutonia, tech and Wolf3d stuff placed right next to one another) and claustrophobia.

 

There's one tricky fight in a library, which feature several tankier monsters in a very, very small room, with an archvile waiting just behind the door. Beating this rewards the player with the red key, which can be used to exit the bunker and step outside. It gave me a huge Epic vibes, specifically to its second map - it has the same theme of an ancient ruin occupied by a military force, complete with a sector tank. I like it a lot, it's an aesthetic choice that isn't common. A visit in a nearby caves unlock the regular exit and a switch on the tank that leads to the secret one. 

 

This is a fun action map, propelled by a rocking soundtrack (I swear I've heard this track somewhere, but I have no idea where). 

 

MAP33: Fachoda Vamos por Ti by Godzialox666

 

I have no fucking clue what's going on. The map starts in a crypt, that I understand. Then, however, you leave this place and outside you can see a ring of Hitler's portraits and a a photo of some guy (I thought it was SOMEMONG at first, but it seems to be an old creepypasta photo). This is where I walked under a floating cube and a voodoo doll (from Blood) appeared in my hands. I don't know if this thing is broken or was intended to be a sort of joke weapon, but it seem to completely mess up with your shells supply. Like, when I picked up a box of shells, the ammo counter displayed -63 and I couldn't use a shotgun. Since this thing fires a weak hitscan attack, it's not worth a hassle. Just use rockets and shells instead to kill the horde of cacodemons.

 

When I entered the building here, I accidentally pressed a wrong switch and got killed via a voodoo doll. Fun. It gets better, I promise, but at the same time even more strange. After a tight fight with chaingunners and a pair of archviles, you are placed with a BFG in a wide open room, against a mob lead by a cyberdemon. Then you are lead through a trippy conveyor to a building marked with "No trespassing" sign, only to find yourself in a field of cloning vats from Equinox, all under an alien sky - this is a stage of another big fight where the BFG can quickly eliminate the archviles and you are left with taking care of the stragglers. The map ends with you hijacking the flying saucer, killing its crew and landing back somewhere else. 

 

I feel like the whole map is one big in-joke, a collection of references I'm not familiar with. The map is a fever dream where stuff happens with no rhyme or reason, but I think that's a part of its charm. 

[DJVCardMaster]

32 minutes ago, Godzialox666 said:

good review of my both maps, also, you talk about mostly the first part of Fachoda, did you enjoy the "other" part (after the mereana mordegar glesgorv teleport)?

I think I felt like the middle part of the map (Exploring the temple) was the best part, the start and the end were not my cup of tea in terms of combat. The UFO ship was interesting and it felt like that Duke3D map where the ship has non-euclidean geometry, but combat felt a bit lackluster IMO.

[Anarkzie]

Map 4 Axis Forces vs Homicide 

by Godzialox666

I'm in prison, my life of crime finally caught up to me. Moving around I'm struck by the cool design on the floor over to the right. Godzialox666 is flexing on us with his mapping skills.

Opening the secret right next to it, reveals some excellent story telling, simply positioning the the Nazis in the way the author did with the dead Imps sprites does a great job of conveying what just happened. Talking of sprites, the new Nazi(Neo Nazis?) sprite looks great. I never understand why the SS wore blue overalls, they just looked like maintenance guys with guns.

There's fantastic little touches all over the level, a crack in the stairs after leaving your cage was cool. I also loved the design of the lava pit a little later. The tank towards the end of the level is another mapping achievement.

This level has some of the best texturing I've seen using the Wolf assets, they don't tend to gel well with Doom textures normally, with that said parts of this level look bad, it's an odd mixture of really good with some faults here and there. Some of the silent teleporters have different textures at their location from their destination which causes continuity problems, these are mostly minor though and I don't think I would have noticed if I were playing this out side of this club.

The level overall has a great adventure feel taking influence(I'm guessing here) from Indiana Jones. It nail's this to perfection(if that was what it was trying to achieve, once again I'm guessing). I enjoyed the combat but theres nothing out of the ordinary to mention about it, it's good.

[Pancrasio]

PLUTONIUM: KILIMANJARO ODYSSEY
DSDA, UV, pistol start, using saves, not caring about 100%

 

Map 04 - Axis Forces VS. Homicide - by Godzialox

Nazis! Yes, that is the main novelty of this map. Since this was a jokewad at the beginning, it was expected to see them used fairly regularly. Godzialox was kind of bugged out by the blue colouring of the SS troopers, since they are supposed to use characteristically black uniforms. We got these sprites from somewhere to remedy that, and as a bonus they speak proper German (or they are supposed to, I don't speak that language). The humour is still there with their death sound, however (I love it, personally). So it enabled us to use them as part of the regular monster rotation, and in turn, inspired this whole map.

 

We start in a little prison with an AK-47. There's some really nice sector work with the black sun in the floor, I'm surprised it never showed any problems with slimetrails during development. Layout is fairly linear and combat is very simple, but fun enough. Most of it is sustained by the SS death sound, for me. The most intense section of the map is the library. Fat enemies in a small place tend to work effectively, and in this case are also fun. Then an archvile appears and you have to be careful, otherwise he'll revive the hell knight, painfully. You walk a bit more and a revenant teleports behind you, in typical Godzialox fashion (see map 6 of HCP to get more instances of this "godzialism"). Secrets around this area feel good to find. There's some sort of little pistons in one of them, a nice detail.

 

After getting out of the bunker, the standout moment of the map comes: a sector tank! It looks cool as hell. To me, it's the most beautiful thing Godzialox has made out of sectors, so far. The natural terrain looks very pretty too, definetely the best part of the map visuals-wise. Get inside a cave and watch them making plans... Apparently they colaborate with cultists, given their presence, too. If you head to the right after going up again, you can see a small opening, which takes you to the secret exit. Cool map, fighting against nazis in a regular level isn't seen much. But yet again, this is not a regular mapset to begin with...

 

As a side note, the title is an inside joke. The first half of it is obvious, but the second one isn't. I won't tell you what it means, how evil of me.

 

Map 33: Fachoda vamos por ti - by Godzialox

This is where shit starts to get strange. At least unofficially. Originally this one was map 5, right after Axis Forces, but it was deemed too weird to go that early in the map rotation. It was always seen kind of as the brother of the previous one, so they had to go together somehow: thanks to umapinfo it was thrown out as a super secret map separate to other secret episodes. Its first version was actually shorter, lacking about half of what it is now, because Godzialox decided to extend it after hiding it. That also explains why the background music is comprised of two separate midis, made by bands that have nothing to do with eachother: one represents one half of the map and the other one, well, the other half. Bold choice, but it is the sort of thing that makes Godzialox' work interesting to discuss. I find really funny how you haven't even finished one part of the map and the second song starts playing, then you get to the second section of the whole thing and the first song replays again.

 

So yeah, about those halves. We start in a very standard underground temple, there's a fight after some stairs but it can be cheesed quite easliy. Then, you teleport (godzialism) and take an unusually long elevator ride... This is your sign, weirdness comes ahead. A tense fight with a pain elemental and then some archviles ensues before you can finally go outside, and there you see God and the Heavens. Whatever texture wherever, whenever. It's beautiful. There's also the first apparition of Mereanna. Believe it or not, that guy is going to be relevant later on. Combat is all over the place, a cloud of cacos, some hitscanners, then a fucking monster spawner with a cyberdemon and, and, and... Madness! There's also a troll button. Sweet. You'd have to be crazy to play Plutonium without saves anyways, so it's not that bad. I love the green satyre-face sky.

 

You get the yellow skull (was it? Can't remember), open the door after a lot of revenants appear, yeah sure, then telefrag a cyberdemon, yeah sure, and take a Mereanna teleporter (godzialism). This is where the extended section kicks in. My memory of this map is kind of nebulous, and it isn't helped by its schizophrenic nature, so I honestly can't remember if the Equinox scene or the UFO one comes first. I'll asume UFO... You kinda circle around a huge one, entering some rooms in the center to press buttons to open the doors on the periphery, with some new teleporting (godzialism) monsters. It's like playing Ancient Aliens with alzheimer. After that (asuming I'm remembering things properly) we get to two pyramids, with lots of cloning tanks between them, and a fuck ton of arachnotrons. We press all buttons and monsters start teleporting (godzialism) in, including archviles, but we get rid of them pretty easily with the Blood staff we get there.

 

We enter the other pyramid and there comes a little passage with a forking path, but honestly I can't seem to remember what one of them was. The relevant one takes us to a nice open area with stairs, and then morphs them in a really cool little sequence via silent teleporters, something Godzialox was experimenting with already in map 07 of Gnome Hunters. There was a scene with mancubi and revenants in a small flesh room (not too sure about that) and then we get to the end of the map, with yet another cyberdemon in a little altar. This one was trippy, but that's expected given its super secret status.

 

So before leaving for today, I want to talk a bit about the two new weapons introduced, because I didn't manage to do it before. The wad is set in Africa so the idea was that these weapons would use tribal magic. I agree, the Blood staff doesn't let you see shit, and I find it kinda funny... Believe or not, in the alpha and beta versions it was even worse, it lighted up laser beams from its eyes and they took the middle third of the screen and maybe a bit more, it was insane. But the skull and its new projectiles look cool as all hell. Then there's the voodoo doll... We actually tried to make it an useful weapon ajaahahah. It doesn't waste bullets and it is always accurate, not only in the first shot, as to emulate a voodoo doll. But it's so damn slow, and there's always a surplus of ammo in this wad... So what's the point? But no one uses the chainsaw anyways, and messing with it further felt kinda scary, given how volatile dehacked becomes when you modify ammo types, for some reason... So it was a complete afterthought. Fun novelty though.

 

So that's it for Fachoda. Enjoyable map, I like it. I find it hard to rate it against Axis Forces, they could be tied for me.

 

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

Map 02

Map 03

Map 04

Map 33

Map 01

 

Edited November 4 by Pancrasio

[Godzialox666]

2 hours ago, Anarkzie said:

Map 4 Axis Forces vs Homicide 

by Godzialox666

I'm in prison, my life of crime finally caught up to me. Moving around I'm struck by the cool design on the floor over to the right. Godzialox666 is flexing on us with his mapping skills.

Opening the secret right next to it, reveals some excellent story telling, simply positioning the the Nazis in the way the author did with the dead Imps sprites does a great job of conveying what just happened. Talking of sprites, the new Nazi(Neo Nazis?) sprite looks great. I never understand why the SS wore blue overalls, they just looked like maintenance guys with guns.

There's fantastic little touches all over the level, a crack in the stairs after leaving your cage was cool. I also loved the design of the lava pit a little later. The tank towards the end of the level is another mapping achievement.

This level has some of the best texturing I've seen using the Wolf assets, they don't tend to gel well with Doom textures normally, with that said parts of this level look bad, it's an odd mixture of really good with some faults here and there. Some of the silent teleporters have different textures at their location from their destination which causes continuity problems, these are mostly minor though and I don't think I would have noticed if I were playing this out side of this club.

The level overall has a great adventure feel taking influence(I'm guessing here) from Indiana Jones. It nail's this to perfection(if that was what it was trying to achieve, once again I'm guessing). I enjoyed the combat but theres nothing out of the ordinary to mention about it, it's good.

Nice! for that map i wanted to use SS soldiers but i was saying Why they are blue, and then i changed it, I added for this wad a lot of the new sprites and the nazis are one of them.
I recommend you go to the secret exit to see my map 33 tmb. Good review!