2002 A Doom Odyssey - E4M7: Odious Grounds (UVMax 9:30)

Channel:

Devour Inc 2

Subscribers:

197

Published on October 14, 2023 9:00:19 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwdCn97HG9k

Game:

Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994)

Duration: 9:46

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3

Source Port: GzDoom
UVMax, Pistol Start, No Saves
SoundFont Combo by @GoranObal
Executable file of the SoundFont Cover:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hebyW30K1XDDMIErellfVi2C1-ipMkKP?usp=drive_link
ZDoom Hud addon: https://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?t=60356
Doom II Minor Sprite Fixing Project: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/graphics/sprfix20
2002 A Doom Odyssey - 10th Anniversary Edition on idgames: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/Ports/megawads/2002ad10
Map Author: Christian Hansen
Song Name: Hot Ash (Paul Corfiatis)
Difficulty: 7.5
Design: 7

Wow, way harder than I remember it. A heavy reminder that there is a serious difference when playing any wad saveless than with saves. Absolutely one of the hardest maps I've beaten. I took a long time deliberating this difficulty score, but a 7.5 feels right, considering the score is based on how hard I think it is to get a saveless exit while going at a reasonable-fast pace. Not necessary difficulty of speedrun, but difficulty of beating with a speedrun-style of gameplay. That being said, this is a nightmare to speed run for many reasons. Most of which revolve around the fact that you need to be incredibly precise and optimized to get a clear at all. I stopped caring about getting a good time with this after a while. I just wanted to beat it (I am happy with the time I got though).
In this map, every single piece of ammo and every single point of health has to be accounted for. There is a razor thin margin for error. If you don't believe me with how optimized this has to be, look at the world record run. Memphis kills the last baron with his final shotgun shell, and exits with no ammo left. I knew I wouldn't be able to reach that degree of optimization, so I instead shifted my strategy towards getting that first baron to kill as many cacodemons as possible. On a few attempts I got him to kill 3 or 4, but 2 seems to save enough shells to add a little bit of comfort for the rest of the level. Enough shells to give the option to pick off some enemies early or kill some pesky lost souls that threaten to screw you over. The map is so tight that there's only a few places rockets can be used, so they feel like less of a necessity, but I still recommend at least trying to optimize some splash damage out of them. The room with the red key I used a trick to flip the switch from a lower floor, but it is quite easy and I'll probably continue to do it on casual playthroughs since that room is annoying. The second to last room I probably spend too much time waiting in. I was really hoping for more infighting that didn't really happen, but was too nervous to just run out there and risk being pinned. The most deadly room of all however, is the very last one. Having 2 barons on that tiny platform is so incredibly mean. It offers you every way to completely ruin the run from a tiny mistake. If you didn't bring enough ammo, you're screwed and you'll be forced to punch them without berserk. If your movement isn't perfect, you'll be cornered or be blasted off the platform. If you fall off the platform you have to waste a lot of time getting back there, and if you evade too far forward you'll exit the map prematurely. I did every one of those things at some point in my 50 attempts before this one. I had one where I traded my last rocket with a baron projectile from the final baron and we both died. It is one of the only maps I've had to give up on for a night just because I couldn't bear to play it anymore. I dare you to go try this yourself, and then tell me Odyssey is easy. I've seen this wad placed in the "very easy" category of a lot of tier lists and I question if they bothered to play episode 4.
I would say this is the hardest map in Odyssey, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.. there's still one more map that might top this..

Almost forgot to mention this midi. "Hot Ash" is just as unassuming but deeply evil as this map itself. It has been in my head all week. I don't know what it is about that droning flute noise but it feels like a warning that bad things happen here and you don't want any part of it.

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