2022 A Doom Odyssey - E3M6: Lament Configuration (UVMax 13:50)
19Source Port: GzDoom
UVMax, Pistol Start, No Saves
SoundFont Combo by @GoranObal
Executable file of the SoundFont Cover:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18OlguN5IWmHqfKeKsuNHCkYxXohZr8nS?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
2022 A Doom Odyssey on idgames: https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/131349-2022ado-released-now-on-idgames/
Map Author: Kristian Aro
Song Name: Boiling Point (Paul Corfiatis)
Difficulty: 8.5
Design: 14 (MM)
*Unofficial World Record*
(But I have recreated the run in dsda doom and it is in the archive as a real record)
"The box. You opened it. We came. Now you must come with us, taste our pleasures."
The first 3 Hellraisers are some of my favorite movies ever. There's like 11 of them total and I've seen and enjoyed all of them, but nothing beats the classics. I think I love them so much because they give me the same feeling of hardcore grungy late 80's-early 90's nostalgia that Doom does. I can't fully describe the feeling. I get the same thing with Alice in Chains which is why I like them so much too.
I could not possibly express how excited I've been to play this map. I've been anticipating it since before I started my Reloaded playthrough. While recording this I had on my Hellraiser hoodie that I've been living in all week, with Sigil shirt under that, couldn't be more ready. It did not disappoint. I think this is going to be my favorite map on the channel for a very long time. The combination of Doom and Hellraiser seems so natural. Its something I've always wanted and I never even realized it. I don't think it could've possibly been done better than this map.
Everything i said about Putrescent Dirge is true for this map too. If there was no Lament Configuration in this map and it wasn't a Hellraiser reference, I think it still would've been good enough to tie the score of M. But because it is also a reference and it is done so perfectly, that earns it an MM. It will probably be a while before I find something that deserves a score higher than that. I was thinking about making M just one score worth like 15 and let it be one tier of all amazing maps, but I think I would have a hard time justifying some maps not being scored even higher. Stuff like Maskim Xul or the Mucus Flow obviously deserve their own tier. If you have any suggestions on other ways I could score let me know.
Ok back to the map. The puzzle box itself is one of the coolest things I've ever seen in Doom. And the fact that you have to enter into it to escape this wretched place while being torn apart in the process is incredible. If you wander around Hell long enough, you'll have to come across Cenobites eventually. Theis map is their domain. A section of hell controlled by them, and they invite you to play with them. This map feels self aware. It is devious. It knows its purpose: to bring great pleasure and great pain. Playing blind it seems overwhelmingly difficult. It is incredibly open and nonlinear, the path forward is rarely obvious. This made routing the beast a huge challenge that took me several hours alone. Once it is routed, it seems less intimidating, but do not get cocky with it. Every time I was close, it would slap me in the face with something that felt out of control. I think I died to my own rockets here than in any other map. Either lost souls coming out of nowhere, or a texture I thought projectiles would pass through, or I swear it would switch me to the rocket launcher sometimes when I know I pressed the key for a different weapon. It happened so many times I started to believe the map was doing it on purpose. It was trying to drive me mad, but I enjoy the map so much and wanted to get a good run so that pleasure kept me going well into the night. My audio started crackling and the recording freezing in ways it had never done before. All sorts of problems would happen to ruin every recording right when I thought I was finally done. And this midi. Holy shit Paul, this has to be one of your best. It is simple, but devastatingly effective at building the exact atmosphere this needed. It is droning, bleak, and insanity inducing. Its what I would imagine those zombified snails hear all the time. After hearing it for hours on end, it began to put me in a sort of a trance as well. It will not leave my mind now.
My only complaint with this map is again, all the strangely placed enemies in high up windows that are easily forgot about. It forces me to include a lot of extra stops in the route.
The starting room with all the lifts is also really cool but a bit annoying to clear out. I could comment on all the other areas of the map but I am running out of space.
One again, thank you Paul and Kristian. I will surely be coming back to play again.