Let's Play Doom: Lunatic! (Image Intensive)

[Makensha]

Yes! Doom as in one of the founders of the FPS! People are still making levels for it! In fact, it has the largest collection of fan made content of any game in history (18 years old might have something to do with that).

Lunatic is a 5 map episode made in 2011 with one of the most expansive stories ever.

Spoiler

The moon's orbit was slowed due to a headon collision with a giant ball of demons.
Escape the moon before it crashes into the Earth!

Deep.

But we're here for the gameplay, not the story. I'll be playing on Hurt Me Plenty (Medium) and I'll be posting the end level screenshot and how many times I died at the end of each level. This is a blind play through, so I genuinely don't know how long it will take me to complete the five levels.

Let's get started!
Level 1: One Small Step...

Spoiler

Very first moment of very first level. Things start quickly. You may notice that the sprites don't look like Doom. That's because I'm running on FreeDoom, a WAD anyone can download and use to play community made Doom maps without having to buy the original Doom. Good if you want to try before becoming invested or are just plain broke.

Something I immediately noticed was the amount of ammo Lunatic gives you. Just enough to get by with perhaps a little surplus. Making sure to hit with every shot is important.

I'm coming upon a large open area where I'll be spending the next couple minutes.

Something I really love about Doom is making your enemies kill each other. I have a feeling I'll be using this mechanic a lot.

Note the amount of ammo I have. Also, I'm pretty sure the USA flag on the moon does not have a pole quite that long.

Shotgun zombies. I hate shotgun zombies. Most projectiles can be dodged, but shotgun have a short animation time, hit you instantly, and hardly ever miss. Chaingunners are even worse.

I don't think my complaint about the flag's proportions are the least of my realism concerns. My early suspicion about ammo is also confirmed by now.

Totally not a trap.

The doors close and I'm stuck in the area with a dozen mobs spawning in in rapid succession.

Death #1. Good thing I remembered to save my progress... D'oh.
Let's try that again.

Grabbed the chain gun immediately this time and just kept firing. Worked out well enough.

This game involves hitting a lot of these.

I managed to manipulate most the dead monsters in this picture to fight amongst themselves. Barely pulled the trigger.

Level 1 complete!

Death Total: 1
Short, action packed, and challenging without being frustrating. Kudos on the level design too.

Hope you enjoyed level 1. I should be posting the next level within a few days.

[Grif]

Might I suggest posting a map overview at times? Will give us a sense of how the map looks like than just from screenshots alone.

The FreeDoom sprites definitely looks weird though.

[Makensha]

I've played with FreeDoom so long that I think the normal sprites look weird.

Yeah, I will definitely try to include maps showing my route. I am still pretty new to this, so I am definitely looking on ways to improve.

The reason I chose Lunatic was because it was short and would give me room to experiment since I do not have the pressure of having 32 levels to post.

[Makensha]

Chapter 2: Space Weapon Research

Spoiler

The last level took me down a shaft. Thankfully, all the enemies here are looking away from me. Go go stealth mechanics! Kinda. I take out the shotgun guy first because I hate shotgun zombies.

I pretty much run out of ammo on these two guys. 3 pistol shots left.

Thankfully there are additional supplies nearby.

That square in the center is where I've been this whole time. That passage off to the West is inaccessible by way of locked door.

This door, which is on the eastern side, does open up.

Did I ever mention this game involves a lot of shooting? It does.

A lot.

Yeah, I went into a trap. Walked down a slim corridor and got bombarded by flying heads at point blank. Almost made it out alive, but not quite. Death #1. Good thing I remembered to save my progress...

That door I showed earlier opens up to this area. The very north tip is where I died.

More button pressing! This takes me back to the center room. Alas, this also involves spawning a bunch of guys from in front and behind me...

Death #2 Let us try that again.

Ended up strafing around a huge mob of enemies and eventually took them out. But this is just getting warmed up.


This key will let me into the southern area.

This game makes sure you know that there is a trap ahead, and then makes you walk into it.


Death #3. The platform dropped into a large room full of Nazis. No, that is really what they're called. They also have plasma machine guns. Yeah, death is swift.


I clear the room on attempt #2 and climb back up to the center room...

Where I pretty much immediately die to a Nazi. These guys only need two or three seconds of fire to kill you.

Now entering the western and final portion of this map.


That is the exit. So now I just need to find the yellow key.

The final room. Forgot to take a picture of the map, but this is at the western most end. Lots of carnage, but I have plenty of walls to maneuver around.

Trap! Trap! Trap!

Death #4. The room fills with Rocket Launcher Zombies. All those walls suddenly become places to get hit with shrapnel.

Wish I could show where on the map I am right now, but I forgot to take the picture. After clearing the zombie rocket room, I climbed a side passage that opened up above and a little to the west of the exit. This picture was taken immediately after grabbing the yellow key.

Bam. Exit opened. Level 2 over.

Deaths:4

Definitely harder than the first. The Nazis were unexpected and I'd hate to run into them in an open space. Still a lot of fun, and the ammo was even tighter.

Tried to make a bit more cohesive. Hope you enjoyed!

[danzibr]

Man oh man this brings back the memories. Not that I played that exact version of Doom, but the format and graphics. Mmm, good times.

[Grif]

Just downloaded the wad myself to see the map(s) for myself. Here's a few screenies of the same map in good ole' DooM II sprites. Also in HMP difficulty.

Using ZDoom 2.5.0 and the Doom2 IWad.

Spoiler

The map isn't that hard, but ammo management is indeed tight. Lucky for us, the zerk kit comes in handy. (by my standards, speaking from a guy who cleared Hell Revealed on HMP. My brother would probably find it laughable, having cleared both HR and HR2 on Ultra-Violence.)

[Makensha]

I will never claim I am good at this game, because I am not.

The ammo tightness drastically becomes more lenient on the third level. Actually, the third level is overall more like Serious Sam than anything.

I'll put the Let's Play together tomorrow. It involves me dying. A lot.

One of the reasons I am doing this is to remind people that Doom still exists and that the modding community is still delivering strong content for it.

[Grif]

Heh. Now I'm tempted to suggest a few monster hell maps just to see how you handle those.

Or if you want something off-the-park, I got those as well.

Cyber-Dreams. Heh heh heh.

[Makensha]

Originally Posted by Grif

Or if you want something off-the-park, I got those as well.

Cyber-Dreams. Heh heh heh.

I've played it. Think I got to level 6 or so. I'll finish eventually, along with the other 700 mb of Doom Wads I have sitting on my computer.

This chapter was originally longer than the first two combined. I decided I would try a different approach.

Level 3: Rocket Zone

Spoiler

Since there is not much to say about the path I take, here it is. First I kill a bunch of monsters in the southern section, then grab the yellow key from the south-west section I then move to the north section where the red and blue keys are. There is a building in the north section where the exit is.

Like in the first, level, we're back on the moon's surface. And also like the first level, the action starts immediately.

The ammo tightness of the first two levels?

Not so much. I was swimming in rocket ammo for most of the level.






The areas are really open...







... and loaded with traps.

I die.















I actually forgot to take pictures of around 10 deaths because I was restarting to fast.


Alas, I persevere and finish it.

Deaths: 26+

Design wise, I felt that this one was weaker than the previous two. It also was significantly harder and more Serious Sam-ish. Still enjoyed it.

Chapter 4 might take a while to finish...

[Grif]

Ouch. That looked like it was quite the painful run.

Perhaps Hell Revealed isn't your cup of tea.

(I actually only actively played and completed some of the older WADs, some of which are excellent for their day. I'm guessing maps nowadays feature slopes and newer PrBoom features.)

[Makensha]

Totally did not go into procrastination mode this weeked. Feel my sarcasm.

In case you are wondering why I have all keys in a few pictures before actually attaining them, that is because I am trying to give you an idea of what the map looks like instead of just showing you a map with one room I have cleared looks like.

Level 4: Super Lunarcomputer

Spoiler

The level starts me out in a large room with surrounded by monsters all facing away from me. I first attempt to run for a corridor where I can kill them as they funnel in. I die (#1) and restart. The next attempt I immediately nuke down the red skeleton in the third picture, wipe out the nazis, and then use the nazi starting area for defense as I take out the room.

I started in the center-east room, and am forced to north-west...


...where I die (#2).

But perseverance triumphs! that switch opens up the north-east portion of the map.

It also spawns loads of monster between me and said opened area.


Among various switches, I find a plasma rifle in this area! Yay! Just one more weapon to find (the BFG is on map 5, and boy do they make you use it).

And I die (#4) trying to hit one of those aforementioned switches.

Trying to hit this switch, actually. Surely, there are no traps to be sprung by hitting this switch.

I love the character portrait expression when he is getting hit. I crack up whenever I see it. Not such a good thing to do when focusing on dodging 10+ projectiles.

And the totally not a trap I mentioned earlier claims my life (#5).
\
With many a switches thwacked and many a traps sprung, I now have the yellow key and can get into the west and south-west portions of the map.

Lots of cramped corridor shoot-outs.

Spot the monster coming to kill me!

Spot the blobs monsters coming to kill me!

Took a moment to admire the architecture of our future moon base. I wonder what is in the tubes...

TrapTrapTrapTrapTrapTrapTrap

Wait, just one monster that was there already? Not a trap? Well that is... unusual. I think this is the first time that something was not a trap.

So far I have cleared everything on this map shown except for their two western-most hallways, which totally will not fill with monsters when I am halfway down.



Nope, no monsters here. They are technically alien demons according to the story. I should probably correct my language before some real monsters take me to court for slander.

I deal with being surrounded by monsters by making a run for it the way I came. As they come at me I am able to pick them off fairly effectively.

I will probably never know how to get this secret. The author is just being mean now.

Have I mentioned that the plasma rifle is really effective? Because it really is.

How nice of the monsters aliens to line up when they died so I could take this picture.

I am now in that south-west corner about to pull a trigger.

This trigger, at the very center south of the previously mentioned room. Rest assured, this is a trap.

This is a sprung trap. At the point of this picture, I had actually already cleared most of the aliens.

After a bit of wandering I find a side path that opened up that goes to a teleporter...

...which takes to a ventilation shaft...

...which takes me to the red key and creates a bridge to the red door...

...which takes me to a bunch of aliens guarding the blue key...

...at which point I grab the totally not going to spawn a bunch of monsters the instant I grab it blue key...

...at which point a bunch of monsters starting spawning back in that first room I started in...

...which gets me killed (#6)...


...twice (#7)...


...thrice (#8)...

...and that is it. Level cleared. I walk over to the blue door, unlock it, and level over.


Deaths: 8

Not nearly as horrible as level 3. A lot of fun, and allowed me to play to my strength (having lots of cover). Just one level left...

I am having lots of fun attempting to complete the last level, so I really do not know when the chapter will be done.

[Makensha]

This is it!

Level 5: The Final Countdown

Spoiler

What time is it?



Lock 'n load, its the final battle.

The switch is far enough that you can not actually press it, but it will activate if you shoot it.

This is the final portal. Once I step through, it will not stop until the last alien demon is dead.

The teleporter drops me into a large circle that is closed off. 10 waves of monsters pour in, a new area opening up every few waves until the entire circle, the outer areas, and the center are all revealed.





Super Happy BFG time.





There was a lot of carnage.

Here it is. The exit.

As I stand on the exit, it starts to lift into the air.

Back to Earth I go... riding on the nose of a rocket.


And now for a death montage!




















Deaths: 20+

Well that was fun. Glad I did this, but not sure if I want to do another. Hope you enjoyed it!

157 Images
60+ Deaths
1 Week Production Time
1:07:23 Canon Completion Time (Does not include times where I died)

[Whoracle]

I liked it. Made me dig up my (original) copy of DooM and replay it.

I'd say if it wasn't too tedious and you've got the spare time, go for another one.

[Makensha]

So I have decided to do a second Doom WAD. This time I will let the viewers decide from three choices. If, you know, someone actually votes.

Double Impact: An area 1 replacement focusing on large area battles. The authors are known for making quality multiplayer maps.

Epic 2: Really big maps. 32 really big maps. Epic 1 is my second favorite map pack, so I am willing to go through 32 levels of Let's Play only for its sequel.

Grove: Supposed to be one of the best WADS ever. Also used to give people lag problems (was released in 2004, note). Do not know much more than that.

If no one votes... I'll just abandon the project for a bit.

[Grif]

Damn, none which I played before and therefore could give no opinion.

Uh... Grove?

I haven't heard of this before, but it has been a long, long, long time since I dipped my toes in DoomWorld. (It used to be the best WAD ever was the Community Chest and its various iterations.)

[Comet]

Give Grove a try.

[Makensha]

Well, Grove is certainly atmospheric. It also is really dark. Like, it hurts my eyes just to play the map. Which is a shame, because this map genuinely gave me a few good scares. It has a lot of charm, but I just can't justify straining my eyes anymore to finish that map. I'm also going into finals, so time is not exactly swamping me. I will start a fresh Let's Play soon, but for now I will give it a rest.