Firedust

Booted up RC5! Loving the synthwave city visuals in episode 3. Will edit this post for bugs pertinent to the aforementioned build. Also, did anyone else get jumpscared by that hare photograph after dropping down the vent in 3-2? I nearly shat myself there.

I am done! Apologies for the double post. Only found one bug, it's in the post above. Got a few thoughts to share on your recent output. First of all, congrats on the silver cacoward for Solve Et Coagula! Very well deserved, it was an excellent e2 replacement. BTW I reported a couple bugs in that thread, but you never replied to me. Hopefully, you'll get around to fixing them eventually, should only take you a few minutes :) Secondly, I'd like to talk about this particular episode a bit more in depth. You know, I've been following your output since the first Favillesco episode (still a huge fan of all four), and I've religiously played everything you've put out (except the 1994 project episode, those sprites ahaha). It was a real thrill to watch you experiment with various facets of gameplay - RL-heavy mapsets (Mano Laikas), borderline Ribbiks-tier encounters, secret-heavy maps, etc. In terms of combat, Silurian is what you'd expect from a slightly harder E1 replacement on UV with an occasional cyb added in to keep things spicy. Visually, this is one of your most polished works, hands down. There were practically no texture misalignments, everything looked super coherent, and the alpha texture pack in tandem with gloomy lighting and cosmic void sky (in the darker levels especially, just look at E1M7) evoked a perpertual sense of dread - perfect for a 3-hour horror-adjacent Doom experience. And this time around, map areas occasionally look like actual places that serve some kind of purpose - without ever venturing beyond the classic Doom abstractness of course. Not sure how much of a fan you are of this episode yourself, but to me, this is comfortably a top 4 monti release. I would be very interested in hearing about how you rank your own work, because personally, I have loved pretty much everything you've done except a couple episodes to which I'll get in a moment. Which ones did you enjoy mapping the most? IMO Rupture was probably the true lowpoint of your mapping career - texturing was uncreatively monotonous, a lot of encounters were ostentatiously/pointlessly super mean and just plain not fun, level navigation was confusing because of how samey everything looked - I just didn't enjoy it a lot. Then KDI2023 came along, and that was an improvement, albeit a minor one. The whole barrel gimmick wore off very quickly for me and episode fatigue kicked in a few maps into the set. Luckily the level layouts were great, but once again texturing wasn't on the same level as in your previous outings - Cyberpunx, Enceladus, Doom Island, 60 secrets, you name it. It seemed you lacked your usual focus. The true highlight was e1m8 there, because it was a huge outlier. That level was awesome. Thankfully, afterwards, you made one hell of a comeback with Solve Et Coagula, a rollercoaster of an e2 with the monti mapping tropes I've come to adore. So yeah, thanks for making this fantastic episode, excited for more from you in the future!

I don't necessarily think it was a problem, people bail out of projects all the time, but I do wish you had made a skip map for that slot :)

Wasn't there a Doomium 1 with one missing map and that slot never got filled, so you just go to abandoned mines if you're playing continuous?

OP's question is puzzling at best. If you don't like a couple songs on an album you otherwise enjoy, surely you'll just listen to the tracks you like anyway, right? Megawads are obviously significantly more time consuming in that regard, so if I don't get any enjoyment out of the wad within the first 5-7 maps, I will likely drop it (hasn't happened that often to be honest). Personally, I would ask what maps elevate a megawad/mapset from the great to desert island status. Like, you know, some wads are superb from start to finish but they never hit that 'I will replay this religiously every year' mark for me - this is just down to personal preference obviously. Also, I agree with Devalaous, CatEoE is a must playthrough at least for one occasion for any doomer. I remember back when I just discovered this community, I decided to try out the classics first (MM, MM2, Requiem) and then moved to the CC series, and oh boy did that map fuck with my brain. It seamlessly commingled an overwhelming sense of dreary hopelessness with an elicitation of mind-shattering awe of grandeur, the likes of which I had never experienced before. I suppose contemporary players' mileage may vary to a much greater degree, because we've been REALLY spoilt for choice with maps comprised of impending macrostructures since the arrival of the almighty Sunder, but I do suggest everyone at least give it a fair shake regardless.

I've only got two maps to go! EDIT: Welp, E1M7 is gargantuan and I fucking love it lmao BTW is this the mapset that you had been teasing a few years ago? Or am I mixing things up? EDIT 2: E1M8, berserk secret. The staircase ceiling is too low making it impossible to get out of the alcove.

Hello, friend! Started my playthrough of Silurian. If you aren't in any rush to upload it to idgames, just wait till I'm done - I shouldn't take too long anyway :) Beat the first map, and the first thing that astounded me was how surprisingly uncharacteristic it was for your mapping style! Some doomcute planes, air traffic controller room, very tidy visuals! Loved the use of alpha resources! Will edit this post if I run into any bugs.

Just wrapped up the first two episodes. You will find the few bugs I encountered during my playthrough in my post above. I absolutely love how unhinged episode 2 was on coop difficulty. Mapping style reminds me a lot of the early Serious Sam games. All that's really missing is the dickish singular health bonus secrets. All in all, fantastic work so far. Should I wait for RC5 before starting Episode 3? EDIT: Seeing as how you're planning to drop RC5 this week, I guess I'll just wait :)

Started playthrough on Nuggets of Many difficulty. Absolutely loving the metal slug sound effects and announcements lmao If you don't mind me asking, which levels have secret exits in them? Also, I REALLY appreciate you adding 100% kills and secrets prompts, very useful! Will edit this post for bugs. EDIT: Map 1-3, one of the barons here is stuck and useless https://prnt.sc/9lTJBK5PVxWs EDIT 2: Map 1-6, this teleporter closet doesn't work as intended https://prnt.sc/XWiWrlDQfeuf Because of the fast scrolling floors the second row of monsters has no chance of teleporting in. Playing in GZDoom 4.11.3. EDIT 3: Map 2-3, the monster teleporters in north west and north east wings activate way before the player drops into the respective pits, which makes both traps (at least the parts before pressing the switches to raise the stairs) very cheesable. EDIT 4: Map 2-5, these teleporter closets don't always work as intended https://prnt.sc/GhkZHCD61SMr I had to redo this fight twice, because monsters would get stuck, unable to move backwards or forwards, and not teleport in.

All done! Thanks @Vaeros and team for such a phenomenal piece of Doom art. Loved the expanded monster roster and reskinned Hellsing-esque arsenal! That silver caco is most certainly well deserved. You will find the little bugs I encountered during my playthrough in my post above! Looking forward to /vr's next grand Doom undertaking!

Alright, just wrapped this up. Once again, a stellar job! Can't believe you finished another megawad in only a month. Very impressive variety of settings this time around too. Hopefully, a sequel next year? ;)

Well shit lol

Beat maps 1-15+31 and this has been great as expected so far. Loving the callbacks to The Lost Magic, like the tower or the dilapidated amalgam of the predecessor's city levels. Couldn't for the life of me figure out how to lower the yellow key bars. Looked at the editor, still made no sense (I did try crossing the tagged linedef by the normal exit, bars didn't lower).

Started my playthrough and just wanted to confirm something - do you actually get the BFG replacement in the first map of the megawad or is GZDoom spazzing out lmao

omg so many B0S clan members in one project ALT 2 confirmed? ;)