It's been about two months. During this time two creations managed to get from the list of notes to the release + one interesting work from DBP came out. Experiments with color reproduction and palette in the gaming industry have been and are being conducted throughout its existence. It did not bypass Doom either, where minimalism, in recent years usually represented by a combination of two to four primary colors, began as a bold experiment, like
Stardate 20X6, which gradually passed into the category of ordinary elements. As something becomes habitual, something more radical is required for the subsequent "border shift". Probably, to some extent, this idea was guided by the authors of the first of the four wads under consideration.
127. Sepia (2023).
https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/1 ... f21-sepia/
Screenshots:
https://www.old-games.ru/forum/attachme ... pg.288232/
https://www.old-games.ru/forum/attachme ... pg.288231/
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https://www.old-games.ru/forum/attachme ... ng.288294/
https://www.old-games.ru/forum/attachme ... ng.288332/
Wad has 34 (4 slots are occupied by secret one and 2 goes for epilogue) levels, divided into 4 main episodes + a short 5th one as the finale, the color gram of which is represented mainly by one color - brown, divided into shades, from light to dark. To some extent this makes it related to the previously reviewed noir
Rainy Days In Casablanca.
Settings and features:
* GzDoom 4.10.0, UV difficulty. The author strongly recommends using
DSDA-Doom, because there may be bugs in Gz, although in general, as far as I can tell, with the exception of the M33 and M18, there are no serious problems with compatibility, and I personally don’t see the point in making an exception because of one wad.
The intermission text screens bear no actual meaning, but they do mark the levels that have the said secret exits.
* When picking up secrets you can hear a combination of Morse code. It is also used in screens between episodes.
* A large number of enemies, especially on later maps.
* Mostly in the first third there are minefields, which are deadly to enter. Both for the hero and enemies.
* On the M13 you can hear tunes referring to Darkwing Duck (NES) and, I thought, Mortal Kombat. There are other references in wad as well.
* Hardcore.
* Later maps show structural elements similar to the mentioned Stardate 20X6.
* It takes ~ 9-10 hours to complete (taking into account the wanderings on M34 and the fact that M18 and M33 will be skipped).
Secret levels.
M7 -> M31. Approximately at the beginning of the level out of reach there is a little noticeable switch. Shooting it will unlock the ability to eventually progress to a secret level.
M11 -> M32. The secret passage is hidden behind the painting, on the left side of the main exit. Initially, it does not open.
Petyan:
The painting is the secret exit, you have to just go into it once the switch is pressed. The switch is on the side of the painting in front of the secret exit. The switch is really small, so it's a bit hard to notice.
According to the author a barely noticeable switch on the painting itself is needed to open the exit. In addition to that on the map I found another one, but I didn’t figure out what he was responsible for. M32, as a result, did not make it to the recording, but, however, the map is not particularly remarkable - a circle full of imps, who will be assisted from afar by archs, then cyberdemons will also be added.
https://www.old-games.ru/forum/attachme ... ng.288294/
M17 -> M33. There are several hidden switches. Part you just need to find, to access one you first need to make a shot in a faint niche, a couple will require a rocket jump. As a result, not far from the main exit, on the left, steps will appear.
Petyan:
Unfortunately i don't think i can find a good way to optimize or improve performance for gzdoom on this map - at some point it was extremely laggy on DSDA as well, so i think i and brendon squeezed everything we could to optimize the map. It's rather sad for me to say, but you'll probably have to skip it - or swap to DSDA, but i understand that it's not very convinient to just randomly swap ports between maps.
The location of the switches, as well as the exit to M33 itself, are shown in the video, but it was not possible to wander around the map itself - 14226 enemies are located on it. When loading performance drops to 1-2 FPS.
Petyan:
I suspect the reason for the lag might be the complex behind-the-scenes voodoo setup to ensure that different weapons teleport different enemies in.
The map has 21 different routes, which is all insured by boom mechanics, so i'm 100% sure it just overloads GZDoom. Can't really tell what is the exact issue, but will add it to the "known bugs" section.
A similar problem exists on the M18.
M26 -> M34. On the platform you can see the "red" skull. You can get it with a properly placed rocket jump. It will also let you avoid a very non-trivial last fight with a huge amount of archives.
Pros:
+ Unusual style, to match the old film, in the second half of the wad is also combined with surreal landscapes.
+ Musical accompaniment. Classical melodies, ambient, something reminiscent of old demo videos, like those made by the demoscene.
+ M11 - "The Ballroom".
+ M13 - "Objection!". First, there is a choice. Kill the "innocent" zombie, or ignore him and go to the teleport. In the first case a tough skirmish awaits with a large number of enemies, and in the second, a clash with a group of archviles, which will be very problematic to escape from.
+ M15 - "Surpematism". The first level in surreal-abstract style.
+ M19 - "Castle Jam".
+ M26 - "Triality".
+ M28 - "The Lost Colors".
https://www.old-games.ru/forum/attachme ... ng.288332/
+ M34 - "Fool's Valley". The most patient and capable players will be able to play chess and mahjong with two archs. In case of victory they give bonuses, such as, for example, a megasphere. On video #4, ~3:14:00 and ~4:12:00 respectively. The key card to access the secrets can be obtained in two places. In a kind of slot machine, where it can disappear at the same time, or is guaranteed from a platform with a cyberdemon, it will not be easy to take the one from him in the latter case.
https://www.old-games.ru/forum/attachme ... ng.288394/
On the way to mahjong there is a moment that is not obvious, against the background of all other similar segments. It seemed to me that the moment shown in the screenshot cannot be passed without a jump, but according to
Ravendesk it's still possible:
To exit the level it is enough to find 2 of 3 skulls. The video shows all of them.
Contras:
* Not a small percentage of maps relies on tough skirmishes with a large number of enemies in spacious locations, be it caves or somewhere else. Sometimes such a combination looks quite successful, but at the same time there are levels where the locations themselves are unremarkable and the idea of pushing doomguy with an armada of creatures for the nth time does not generally look fresh or interesting.
* There are a large number of platform elements. If those are alien to you, and especially annoying, then you should pass by. There are not just a lot of them here, they are combined with difficult battles, and M34, same as it's confusing secrets, is completely tied to this mechanic.
