Doom II - persian.wad - MAP02: Grouse House (Ultra-Violence 100%)

Good to see you all again, Doom friends. What we have on the menu today is something quite special: a 4-map Boom mini-wad named persian.wad by the one and only Ribbiks. For some reason when I first saw this on Doomworld, my brain didn't register that it was made by the legendary mapper so I kind of skipped over it. I usually fear his creations but the brief description of "small techbases with traditional / low difficulty gameplay (lower case g)" helped ease some of my fears and increased my interest in a playthrough of this project. I wonder what's in store for us... Basic info ---------------- IWAD: doom2.wad Difficulty: Ultra-Violence (pistol start) Map author: Zachary Stephens (aka Ribbiks) Music: "Grack in Action" by Ribbiks Port: DSDA-Doom 0.29.4 Compatibility level: 9 (Boom v 2.02) QoL mods: Colored Blood, Ultrawide Statusbar (included in wad pack) ---------------- Additional notes --------------------------- What Ribbiks achieves here is something very neat: a mini-adventure techbase where player choice feels real, in spite of this not being immediately apparent. Both the puce and chartreuse keys are required to reach the exit, and the order of operations is open. That being said, 'Grouse House' does have a preferred direction - the route towards the chartreuse key - but I did not realize this until I was essentially done with the map in my blind run. Why, you ask? Because Ribbiks, paying homage to masters of old like John Romero, proudly displays the much-desired SSG in full view inside an observation tower, encouraging you to find a way to grab it. Surprise, surprise - access to the SSG requires the chartreuse key and a bit of exploration in order to find the door to the tower. With this route, progression is much more organic and natural, with the added bonus of partially taking the sting out of that final ambush. Not directly related to the map but I found the author's comments insightful here: "While map01 was being made I was also compiling a small collection of midi files that I intended to post as a sequel to the "lov_*.mid" tracks I made a few years ago. I got the idea that this wad should function as an 'EP' for the music and thus needed to be 4 maps, one for each midi". A compelling look at the creative process for sure, and a reminder that Ribbiks is also a composer! Secret 1: 1:16 Secret 2: 2:06 Links --------- WAD: https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic... QoL mods: Colored Blood: https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic...