The "star wars-y" music that doesn't loop in the genome labs is actually a midi version of "the planets suite" by gustav holst, which was used as placeholder music in the original editing stage of the first star wars movie, later named "a new hope".
0:39 ZDoom moment. Love the videos man, this is one of my all time favorite wads. B.P.R.D is unfathomable. This is probably the only wad I'd ever call "melancholy". I think it's the combination of the mysterious, sad music, deep blues, and ammo starvation. Maybe the fact that B.P.R.D isn't in the Doom scene anymore. I don't know, but it is quite a sad wad. Totally unique, I love it. Map12 does suck tho
See i thought this wad was supposed to be played in continuous mode, (not pistol start). I think equinox is better designed that way. I think that was the reason for the hub levels, to show a sign of progression.
Man, you summed up my love/hate relationship with this wad perfectly. I give up each time I'm splattered by that Cyberdemon in MAP04, and yet, the few times I've gone on to beat the wad, it resonates with me so much that it's one of the first Doom mods that pop into my head. Period. Excellent art wad, but best experienced with copious amounts of saving.
What a mean WAD...I'm not a masochist...so I might be avoiding this one. Also I'm betting Saturn X is next...because that'll just be perfectly thematic for the episode number...maybe even call it episode X?
Hey, that "70's era star wars music" Is Gustav Holst's mars! One of my fav clasical pieces. This wad looks really fascinating and experimental, but I think I'll pass
Nice work man, BPRD is one of my favourite mappers and you did a great job of describing what makes his style so unique and distinct. The combination of intense artistic vision and the ridiculously uneven balance and general brokenness of his maps has always been really fascinating to me. Nobody before or since him has really done anything similar, possibly for the better.
I think BPRD is the Jerry Garcia of Doom. Hear me out on this, cause I make that comparison with the utmost respect! I once seen BPRD's maps described as "something that gives you an experience. Like a song that you either fall in love with cause it has a deep connection to you, or it sticks in your mind hating it". At the end of the day, that's an experience. I hated the Grateful Dead's music when I was younger, but as I got older, matured and my tastes in music turned, I randomly stumbled across some of their live performances and was totally blown away by some of it. Being a guitar player, I had heard people make fun of Jerry Garcia's playing style for years. The usual criticisms of "aimlessly noodling" in solos, and "playing all the wrong notes". Like you said in the Mucus Flow video, I had that same reaction to Jerry after digging into live performances - there's genius there. You can see it in BPRD's atmospheric style of levels, his MIDI's and his level design. BPRD is much the same. He polarizes the player. You'll either love or hate his work, much like how people feel about the Grateful Dead as a whole. First time you play his maps, you're probably wondering WTF, how is this guy so beloved by the community? Same reaction to anyone who calls the Grateful Dead overrated. You'll spent 20-30 minutes aimlessly running around in his levels, as if listening to those extended live jams of the Dead. Equinox is to BPRD what American Beauty is to the Dead. To those that don't like them, it's an overrated WAD or album that they won't give a second chance to. For fans, you look at it and realize there's genius there and BPRD had a uniqueness to him, much like how Jerry did. Whether you love it or hate it, the maps give you an experience. Much like how listening to the Dead jam Fire On The Mountain is an experience in itself.
3:36 "rule number 2: use the chainsaw whenever possible" Well given decino's disdain for the chainsaw, I guess that rules out him ever playing this WAD then! 😂 Also I love that shotgun sound. I'm considering extracting that out of this WAD and using it as my default.
In my opinion, compared to something like Alien Vendetta (second half), this WAD is a piece of cake. I remember actually finishing it without saves on my first try, albeat with a few deaths, whereas some of the last Alien Vendetta maps are near impossible without playing them a hungred times and memorising everything. The feeling of finishing a seemengly difficult map on your first try without dying is actually pretty wonderful, and is one of the main reasons I keep playing some of the classic Doom WADs.
I second this. I'm surprised there haven't been more levels with the AA texture set, so when I saw that pop up last year I was all over it. It's really good!
@@tjg121389 if you liked Alienated I would suggest some of the wad author's other works as well. Scattered Ashes is like Alienated but using OTEX (Eviternity) and No Monochrome. NM is based around each map have a certain color scheme. Some great stuff that together would make a fantastic megawad if all 3 WADs were played together sequentially.
@@Gurziak Scattered Ashes actually uses a texture pack called zoon-tex. Although I'm currently making a longer wad that uses OTEX, so you can look forward to playing that once I release it next year. Thanks for the shoutout :)
@@mrhondo12345 oh wow its THE man himself. I have no idea why I was thinking it was OTEX. Sorry about that. You definitely have my attention once its released.
The broken Icon of Sin effects make me wonder if there’s compatibility issues or something somewhere along the line. No notes on the levels, haven’t played this one myself.
After watching this video, i downloaded the wad and played it. I gotta say, i think it's kind of "charming", in a way. I had some fun playing it, and i don't think the maps are boring and ugly. Even so, i kinda liked map 12, the music is awesome.
just found you a while back and i love your commentary one of my favorite running gags you do is whenever a map is evil or you give it an f you show the chaos of monsters surrounding you for at least a brief moment before going back to what you were talking about i cant wait to see you take on doom 3 doom 16 and doom eternal
So I couldn't finish Equinox when I tried playing it ~2013. I wish I had made it to hub omega because *my god* that midi is amazing. Thanks for singling it out.
Found your channel a couple weeks ago and binged through all your work. Some episodes I've watched twice. I used to frequent KMX's Onemandoom blog but he took a hiatus recently. Always wanted level by level wad reviews in video form but never expected a channel of this quality. I'm also amazed by the pace you're doing this. Are you going to review partial convertions like Prirate Doom? I know it's already well known but I still think it's one of the best pieces of work done with the game. Other than that, would love to see a review of Claustrophobia 1024. One of my favorite community megawads. Also, will you review Heretic, Hexen and Strife wads?
Funny that you mention Onemandoom, I found that blog after I started this series, it's cool stuff. I downloaded Pirate Doom the other day and I think it will make an episode one day, but there's quite a line atm. Also, just Doom for now.
My quest to spam your old videos continues - I recently played Equinox for the first time and I really enjoyed myself! Having seen this video in the past it did take a little bit out of the wow factor, but I knew going in how I was going to play it - no pistol starts and no saves, which is quite the opposite of how I usually do things. Even playing continuously there are some maps in this set that seriously test your ammo conservation ability, but (I assume, anyway) it takes away the pervasiveness of the famine such that _when_ it shows up it feels more like a test of your survival skills than a restriction of your ability to play. And hey, Equinox still has a hell of a lot more ammo than Cleimos 2. BPRD was careful enough about how and where he places weapons in this wad that I'm actually led to believe his primary intent was for the wad to be played continuously, since there are KDitD-esque secrets in some maps that allow you to get powerful weapons early and then carry them into later maps to get ahead of the curve. Of course I dispensed with the no-saving rule for the final two maps, but would you believe me if I said I actually sort of enjoyed map12 up until the insanely stupid IoS portion? Parts of it are actually very smartly-built and it works great as a combat puzzle. The Archvile fight on the mountaintop platform is especially clever because if you're willing to risk going out of your way to kill them earlier then you can tread much more freely _and_ you have more cover, because there are triggers in other areas of the map that steadily decrease the amount of cover you have until that T-shirt tag is the only thing left. I think "often impressive and always intriguing" is a great way to describe Equinox as a whole. BPRD really does have a visionary quality to his work that grips you even in its weakest and most baffling moments, but when he wants to pull off a major statement, he seizes full control.
Played this map pack with Demonsteele, weirdly fitting in the later maps with a LARGE number of enemies and the weird sci-fi anime vibe. Also the lack of ammo isn't as big of a deal when the mod focuses on cutting shit up with a goofy anime sword. Fun wad at times, but not a favorite I'm going to revisit much, my opinion probably would've been a lot worse without the Demonsteele mod in play, tho.
Played the wad in GZdoom and the icon on map 12 just makes somewhat low pitched scream-like sounds. I guess you could interpret it as wind blowing maybe? Otherwise I have no idea why it sounds like that.
You should check out a mappack called Lost Civilization. You said in your Ancient Aliens video that it's rooted in doom but an adventure game at heart. This statement is even more true for Lost Civilization.
Lost Civilization is amazing. I normally don't like gigantic levels like that, but the design is impeccable. It truly does feel like you're exploring these locations. I also like the fact that you don't have to explore the whole level if you don't want to. There's usually multiples of each key in the level so you can just go in one area, find that area's key, and head off. The levels are very Build-engine-like, in the way where they really do look like real world locations. And the designs of the buildings in the levels are so good too, some of the best in Doom. I was duly impressed.
I finished Equinox the other day. I got halfway through Map 7 before I realized I should have been avoiding all the monsters I could. In one of my rage quits, I went to the wiki to find out that the creator was BPRD and when I remember that was the same person behind the Mucus Flow, that made a lot of sense. I'm glad I finished this wad but I don't think I could replay it.
Semi solution to the long elevators. Zdoom ports only. Open the console, type “bind N (or other key of choice) noclip”. This lets you toggle idclip whenever and skip those long elevators.
This is a shot in the dark, but anyone has any idea what the music on the Hub 2 section is? It's so familiar, yet I can't place it, and it's driving me nuts
Fun fact: Along with the Mucus Flow, B.P.R.D.'s resume of maps includes the nuts.wad trilogy. Edit: Whoops, didn't finish the intro before making this comment. Still, I think it's funny that B.P.R.D went from a jokey lag fest of a map to making something as treasured as the Mucus Flow. I'll have to give it a go at some point.
Would you be up to doing more story based WADs in the future? It would be cool to see stuff like Winter's Fury and A.L.T. on here. Also, in that vein, I would suggest a review on Three's A Crowd. It's a story-based vanilla megaWAD that came out this year that I don't think has gotten enough recognition. I really dig the story in it, and has some really unique maps considering it's vanilla. Though there's one level where a lot of the geometry has no textures, so that was frustrating to navigate, but that's the only flaw I can think of. The WAD also made me feel uneasy at times too, which hasn't happened while playing a Doom WAD since Unloved, but it's not really creepy. Anyway, I think that'd be a cool one to check out!
I haven't really played any of BPRD's maps myself, so I can only comment based on anecdotal evidence gathered from watching other people and yourself comment on his maps. The main point that comes to mind is that he defies Doom mapping conventions that are taken from granted by the community: Maps should be beaten with pistol starts and capable of getting 100% kills, but that is more of something that is implied upon the community because of the intermission screen rather than anything else. It's clear that in his maps he goes for the feeling dread amidst hardship and such thing can't really be done if you provide the player with all the tools they need to complete the level; that's simply paradoxical. He wants the player to survive, not thrive. That is displayed with sheer clarity through his work. With all that said: He suffers from his own hubris. Trying to swim upstream against the entirety of the Doom community can only really net the results that we witnessed. He's more of an artist than a map designer, that much is easily seen, but perhaps Doom just wasn't the adequate canvas for his work. Many other maps and mapsets are out there to challenge the player and test their wits against unfathomable odds, but not many of those feel quite as antagonistic as BPRD's work, with the forced lack of self-defense and often obligatory runs with Doom's, frankly, unrefined mechanics. Other mappers have managed time and again to portray the feeling of solitude, melancholy and despair in more palatable ways than BPRD has and I'm frankly not surprised that he's remembered as "the guy that made nuts".
BPRD might be the (insane) mastermind behind the nuts series, but from what you describe this Wad seems to be much closer in combat style to the lesser known BPRD masterpieces The Mucus Flow and Grove. Specially the gigantic architecture and stinginess with ammo are very reminiscent of The Mucus Flow to me. I hadn't heard of this one, I'm gonna give it a spin, though I'm probably gonna lose patience with UV halfway through. -As for why none of this Wad is in the 100 most memorable maps, my guess is that they didn't want to saturate it with BPRD maps, since it already has 3 of them (I don't remember if any other particular author has more than 3 maps in the list). Or maybe it just hasn't been that popular with the Doomworld community as much as Mucus, Nuts and Grove have been?- Edit: Turns out map 13 of Equinox IS in the 100 most memorable maps (No. 30)! So that's 4 BPRD maps in the list. Rewatching I noticed that you meant why map 10 isn't on the most memorable list. Now my guess is that maybe it's too similar in concept to (SPOILERS FOR DECINO WATCHERS, BE WARNED) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ map 11 of Plutonia 2, which is on the list.
Yes I'd say this wad somewhat Mucus Flow-esque. I could do a whole episode on that level alone. And it was just MAP 10 that didn't make it into Doomworld's Top 100, MAP 13 has the #30 slot.
For now I'm sticking to wads that keep Doom's gameplay and visuals mostly intact: partial conversions and replacements like Valiant and this are okay though
@@MtPain27 I think a good step further into partial conversion realm would be Antaresian Reliquary. Dehacked weapons with little other changes, gorgeous maps, and brutal (but fair!) difficulty.
If you want more weird wads, check out A.L.T. Seriously, it's very strange, but I also think it's better than this one (haven't finished it yet, but I'm having lots of fun with it so far)
@@MtPain27 You will have much to sink your teeth into with A.L.T. - one of my personal favorites. That said, if this is episode 9, Back To Saturn X Episode 1 has to be next. Hasn't it?
oh, sonic robo blast 2 also has a megawad called “equinox”! it’s closer to ancient aliens though. i don’t remember the whole plot but the final level features you, sonic the hedgehog, on a mission to kill rasputin, who has been raised from the dead as the deity of a globalist cult that’s conquered the world and sapped it of its natural resources and beauty. this is done at the behest of the hopi sun god to convince him not to destroy the world and create a new one in its place once again. it’s the type of weirdness more akin to doom than it is srb2, i could honestly talk about this for a while. maybe i should start my own show. superintendent of srb2? or maybe scholar of srb2. scribe, seer… i’ve got a lot more choices for alliteration than you do
Oh, boy, this game, I played it back in 2008 or 2009, it was a strange game to me, BPRD usually make these nasty insane maps it was no surpise since he made NUTS , I also played his Map24 from Community Chest 2 which was a living nightmare, the lack of ammunition and the horrible backtracking to get them, this map was a huge pain in the ass that sucked the energy out of me, and in the end, I had to cheat to beat the map, never play this map ever again...
Well, if you don't already have them queued up, I can't recommend Scythe, Scythe 2, and Scythe X enough. Personally I finished the second one and definitely enjoyed it. The second half of it is quite the ride, lol.
00:35 that explains the genome labs and the hangar lol Assuming you're still on your spaceship/alien binge i'm gueesing icarus: alien vanguard is next?
Oof this one looks just downright mean-spirited at times. I may be willing to put myself through hell playing Plutonia and Sigil but I think I'm gonna skip this one. I do respect all of the really cool things this WAD implements... from a safe distance so I don't have to play it lol. Also if you're looking at the 100 Best WADS of all time for episode ideas, does that mean that Fava Beans might get an episode? I had a good time playing through that one but t seems kinda small for a full episode so I wonder if you'll do any double features in the future. Would also love to see you look at Deathless too as I think that one is pretty underrated. Great Video as always :)
Some of the music in this wad reminds me of Heretic. Is it using some of that music? The track playing around maps 7-9 sounds like the intermission music between maps in Heretic.
Russian Overkill is just a weapon pack so it doesn't really fit with grading maps and level design. Though if he ever decided to do a Mod Weapon Rank show it'd be perfect.
@@MRDoom12 Seems I misunderstood what you meant. But yeah any weapon pack that makes ammo less of a concern would probably make anything easier frankly
Maps were interesting, really liked architecture, but i dont like BPRD lack of ammo pickups. He do that in every map (Best way to play ie. the Mucus flow is write IDFA once at start of level 😀). Probably he isnt fan of UV max category (for me its the best way how to play Doom). I just played those map with this in my mind, so no pistol start and leaving high HP enemies alive.
My first wad I played when I got back into Doom. Recommended by TerminusEst13 when he was working on his Demonsteele mod. Don't play this with BD. Oof.
To skip the intro: 2:11
Link to Doomworld's Top 100 Most Memorable Maps in the description
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Using Holst’s original piece in map 04, Mars, the Bringer of War, instead of the Star Wars music that riffed it, gets mad respect from me.
The "star wars-y" music that doesn't loop in the genome labs is actually a midi version of "the planets suite" by gustav holst, which was used as placeholder music in the original editing stage of the first star wars movie, later named "a new hope".
We will get culture into this man if it kills us
I love this series, from episode one you've made it feel very professional. I like the calmness and format, feels like you've been doing it for years.
0:39
ZDoom moment.
Love the videos man, this is one of my all time favorite wads. B.P.R.D is unfathomable. This is probably the only wad I'd ever call "melancholy". I think it's the combination of the mysterious, sad music, deep blues, and ammo starvation. Maybe the fact that B.P.R.D isn't in the Doom scene anymore. I don't know, but it is quite a sad wad. Totally unique, I love it.
Map12 does suck tho
See i thought this wad was supposed to be played in continuous mode, (not pistol start). I think equinox is better designed that way. I think that was the reason for the hub levels, to show a sign of progression.
Man, you summed up my love/hate relationship with this wad perfectly. I give up each time I'm splattered by that Cyberdemon in MAP04, and yet, the few times I've gone on to beat the wad, it resonates with me so much that it's one of the first Doom mods that pop into my head. Period. Excellent art wad, but best experienced with copious amounts of saving.
Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense
The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (the B.P.R.D. or BPRD)
NOBODY EVER TOLD ME.
honestly, the grades for the hub levels are too low. they're supposed to be breathers from the combat, not full feature levels themselves.
I'm certain the broken sounds are only in ZDoom, because even that ungodly IoS sound you heard sounds normal in PRBoom+.
What a mean WAD...I'm not a masochist...so I might be avoiding this one.
Also I'm betting Saturn X is next...because that'll just be perfectly thematic for the episode number...maybe even call it episode X?
I vote for that. I am playing the steam version and i love it
Man, I can't wait for BTSX E3 to be released. The final version of E2 came out this August, so hopefully we'll see the E3 beta soon.
Darth dangermouse, that aged poorly
@@AJXTHEWALL It sadly did.
Hey, that "70's era star wars music" Is Gustav Holst's mars! One of my fav clasical pieces. This wad looks really fascinating and experimental, but I think I'll pass
Can't wait for Doom II Valiant
I love what you're doing on this channel. Excellent scripts, well researched work, approachable style. No fat at all. Well done.
love your outlook on this! your ability to appreciate the stuff you don't necessarily enjoy is what sets you apart from most people.
Nice work man, BPRD is one of my favourite mappers and you did a great job of describing what makes his style so unique and distinct. The combination of intense artistic vision and the ridiculously uneven balance and general brokenness of his maps has always been really fascinating to me. Nobody before or since him has really done anything similar, possibly for the better.
I think BPRD is the Jerry Garcia of Doom. Hear me out on this, cause I make that comparison with the utmost respect!
I once seen BPRD's maps described as "something that gives you an experience. Like a song that you either fall in love with cause it has a deep connection to you, or it sticks in your mind hating it". At the end of the day, that's an experience.
I hated the Grateful Dead's music when I was younger, but as I got older, matured and my tastes in music turned, I randomly stumbled across some of their live performances and was totally blown away by some of it. Being a guitar player, I had heard people make fun of Jerry Garcia's playing style for years. The usual criticisms of "aimlessly noodling" in solos, and "playing all the wrong notes". Like you said in the Mucus Flow video, I had that same reaction to Jerry after digging into live performances - there's genius there. You can see it in BPRD's atmospheric style of levels, his MIDI's and his level design.
BPRD is much the same. He polarizes the player. You'll either love or hate his work, much like how people feel about the Grateful Dead as a whole. First time you play his maps, you're probably wondering WTF, how is this guy so beloved by the community? Same reaction to anyone who calls the Grateful Dead overrated. You'll spent 20-30 minutes aimlessly running around in his levels, as if listening to those extended live jams of the Dead.
Equinox is to BPRD what American Beauty is to the Dead. To those that don't like them, it's an overrated WAD or album that they won't give a second chance to. For fans, you look at it and realize there's genius there and BPRD had a uniqueness to him, much like how Jerry did. Whether you love it or hate it, the maps give you an experience. Much like how listening to the Dead jam Fire On The Mountain is an experience in itself.
I like the comparison: never listened to the Dead much, but your comment makes me want to
I forgot I played this until that first secret. That boat next to the cliff in the darkness stuck in my mind.
3:36 "rule number 2: use the chainsaw whenever possible"
Well given decino's disdain for the chainsaw, I guess that rules out him ever playing this WAD then! 😂
Also I love that shotgun sound. I'm considering extracting that out of this WAD and using it as my default.
Haha yeah it's not a decino-friendly wad at all. And yeah, Equinox has one of the best shotgun sound replacements I've heard.
In my opinion, compared to something like Alien Vendetta (second half), this WAD is a piece of cake. I remember actually finishing it without saves on my first try, albeat with a few deaths, whereas some of the last Alien Vendetta maps are near impossible without playing them a hungred times and memorising everything. The feeling of finishing a seemengly difficult map on your first try without dying is actually pretty wonderful, and is one of the main reasons I keep playing some of the classic Doom WADs.
My life soundtrack becomes the mucus flow every time you play it. Its really hard to get it out of your head.
Check out Alienated if you were looking for more Aliens. It uses the AA texture set.
Pretty challenging set of levels.
I second this. I'm surprised there haven't been more levels with the AA texture set, so when I saw that pop up last year I was all over it. It's really good!
@@tjg121389 if you liked Alienated I would suggest some of the wad author's other works as well. Scattered Ashes is like Alienated but using OTEX (Eviternity) and No Monochrome. NM is based around each map have a certain color scheme. Some great stuff that together would make a fantastic megawad if all 3 WADs were played together sequentially.
@@tjg121389 the AA texture set is a godsend! endlessly inspiring to work with. pairs super well with OTEX goodies, too
@@Gurziak Scattered Ashes actually uses a texture pack called zoon-tex. Although I'm currently making a longer wad that uses OTEX, so you can look forward to playing that once I release it next year. Thanks for the shoutout :)
@@mrhondo12345 oh wow its THE man himself. I have no idea why I was thinking it was OTEX. Sorry about that.
You definitely have my attention once its released.
You do really good videos man. I hope you keep making them so I can find some hidden gems!
That midi rendition of 'Mars, the Bringer of War' in map 4 reminds me of the game Mega-Lo-Mania.
The broken Icon of Sin effects make me wonder if there’s compatibility issues or something somewhere along the line. No notes on the levels, haven’t played this one myself.
That toy story 2 joke was amazing
(Also this wad looks like hell for a newbie like me)
In other words, Equinox in a nutshell. (3:50)
Fun fact, Equonox is so huge it’s first level cant run in the Unity Sourceport
I love the weirder side of Doom level design, I hope you review one of nicolas monti's wads if you've ever played any of his work.
After watching this video, i downloaded the wad and played it. I gotta say, i think it's kind of "charming", in a way. I had some fun playing it, and i don't think the maps are boring and ugly. Even so, i kinda liked map 12, the music is awesome.
just found you a while back and i love your commentary one of my favorite running gags you do is whenever a map is evil or you give it an f you show the chaos of monsters surrounding you for at least a brief moment before going back to what you were talking about i cant wait to see you take on doom 3 doom 16 and doom eternal
I actually remembered myself beating this wad but after watching this I assume I never made it past the hanger. Everything after that was news to me!
I'm looking forward to your review of Doom 2, always hyped to see a release from this channel.
So I couldn't finish Equinox when I tried playing it ~2013. I wish I had made it to hub omega because *my god* that midi is amazing. Thanks for singling it out.
Found your channel a couple weeks ago and binged through all your work. Some episodes I've watched twice. I used to frequent KMX's Onemandoom blog but he took a hiatus recently. Always wanted level by level wad reviews in video form but never expected a channel of this quality. I'm also amazed by the pace you're doing this. Are you going to review partial convertions like Prirate Doom? I know it's already well known but I still think it's one of the best pieces of work done with the game. Other than that, would love to see a review of Claustrophobia 1024. One of my favorite community megawads. Also, will you review Heretic, Hexen and Strife wads?
Funny that you mention Onemandoom, I found that blog after I started this series, it's cool stuff. I downloaded Pirate Doom the other day and I think it will make an episode one day, but there's quite a line atm. Also, just Doom for now.
Pretty nice video! You don't see this types of videos on doom wads often. That's worth a dub for me, keep it up!
let it be known that this was the first non-commercial Doom wad that had a level in it that got an F
My quest to spam your old videos continues - I recently played Equinox for the first time and I really enjoyed myself! Having seen this video in the past it did take a little bit out of the wow factor, but I knew going in how I was going to play it - no pistol starts and no saves, which is quite the opposite of how I usually do things. Even playing continuously there are some maps in this set that seriously test your ammo conservation ability, but (I assume, anyway) it takes away the pervasiveness of the famine such that _when_ it shows up it feels more like a test of your survival skills than a restriction of your ability to play.
And hey, Equinox still has a hell of a lot more ammo than Cleimos 2.
BPRD was careful enough about how and where he places weapons in this wad that I'm actually led to believe his primary intent was for the wad to be played continuously, since there are KDitD-esque secrets in some maps that allow you to get powerful weapons early and then carry them into later maps to get ahead of the curve.
Of course I dispensed with the no-saving rule for the final two maps, but would you believe me if I said I actually sort of enjoyed map12 up until the insanely stupid IoS portion? Parts of it are actually very smartly-built and it works great as a combat puzzle. The Archvile fight on the mountaintop platform is especially clever because if you're willing to risk going out of your way to kill them earlier then you can tread much more freely _and_ you have more cover, because there are triggers in other areas of the map that steadily decrease the amount of cover you have until that T-shirt tag is the only thing left.
I think "often impressive and always intriguing" is a great way to describe Equinox as a whole. BPRD really does have a visionary quality to his work that grips you even in its weakest and most baffling moments, but when he wants to pull off a major statement, he seizes full control.
Played this map pack with Demonsteele, weirdly fitting in the later maps with a LARGE number of enemies and the weird sci-fi anime vibe. Also the lack of ammo isn't as big of a deal when the mod focuses on cutting shit up with a goofy anime sword. Fun wad at times, but not a favorite I'm going to revisit much, my opinion probably would've been a lot worse without the Demonsteele mod in play, tho.
Played the wad in GZdoom and the icon on map 12 just makes somewhat low pitched scream-like sounds. I guess you could interpret it as wind blowing maybe? Otherwise I have no idea why it sounds like that.
You should check out a mappack called Lost Civilization. You said in your Ancient Aliens video that it's rooted in doom but an adventure game at heart. This statement is even more true for Lost Civilization.
Lost Civilization is amazing. I normally don't like gigantic levels like that, but the design is impeccable. It truly does feel like you're exploring these locations. I also like the fact that you don't have to explore the whole level if you don't want to. There's usually multiples of each key in the level so you can just go in one area, find that area's key, and head off. The levels are very Build-engine-like, in the way where they really do look like real world locations. And the designs of the buildings in the levels are so good too, some of the best in Doom. I was duly impressed.
This guy is like Terry and Doomguy2000. You never know what to expect from him!
Yeah, except B.P.R.D. is actually *good*
I finished Equinox the other day. I got halfway through Map 7 before I realized I should have been avoiding all the monsters I could. In one of my rage quits, I went to the wiki to find out that the creator was BPRD and when I remember that was the same person behind the Mucus Flow, that made a lot of sense. I'm glad I finished this wad but I don't think I could replay it.
It's been years since I played this one, quite an original WAD IMO
I love this episode, this is where I found your channel from after all! I have yet to give Equinox a go but fuckuinox sounds like it would be painful.
Oh yes, this one! The biggest thing I know this wad for are its massive maps later on and lack of ammo.
Of course one would confuse Mars from Holst's Planet Suite with Star Wars music!
Almost like the wad was intended for play without pistol start for each level.
Wonder what ever happened to BPRD?
Semi solution to the long elevators. Zdoom ports only. Open the console, type “bind N (or other key of choice) noclip”. This lets you toggle idclip whenever and skip those long elevators.
This is a shot in the dark, but anyone has any idea what the music on the Hub 2 section is? It's so familiar, yet I can't place it, and it's driving me nuts
That Space Lava looks very... organic.
Fun fact: Along with the Mucus Flow, B.P.R.D.'s resume of maps includes the nuts.wad trilogy.
Edit: Whoops, didn't finish the intro before making this comment. Still, I think it's funny that B.P.R.D went from a jokey lag fest of a map to making something as treasured as the Mucus Flow. I'll have to give it a go at some point.
10:55 There's never enough cowbell.
MAXIMUM COWBELL
the track kinda goes hard tbh
NUTS.WAD is slapstick comedy, and Equinox sounds like dark comedy.
Great show! can't wait for Hell Revealed 1 and 2. And Scythe 2
Would you be up to doing more story based WADs in the future? It would be cool to see stuff like Winter's Fury and A.L.T. on here. Also, in that vein, I would suggest a review on Three's A Crowd. It's a story-based vanilla megaWAD that came out this year that I don't think has gotten enough recognition. I really dig the story in it, and has some really unique maps considering it's vanilla. Though there's one level where a lot of the geometry has no textures, so that was frustrating to navigate, but that's the only flaw I can think of. The WAD also made me feel uneasy at times too, which hasn't happened while playing a Doom WAD since Unloved, but it's not really creepy. Anyway, I think that'd be a cool one to check out!
UA-cam recommended me to your video, and i actually liked it
I always view the hub maps as more akin to something like BTSX’s Get Out Of My Stations maps instead of an actual challenge
Hello there.
Ohhhhhh no wayyyyy lmao
the nuts dot wad part of the video hurt me severely
the lag was just insane
5:50 I’m pretty sure that’s an arrangement of Mars, the Bringer of War
I always love when people call Holst "Star Wars". John Williams ripped off The Planets without reservation.
Mmm, meaty sound effects! Kinda feels like a good mappack for op mods, like the guncaster xD
I prefer the machine-gun of Valiant me because the rip the enemy very fast and the sound
Perfect
And the pistol for it, too
i just found your channel, loved the vid, subscribing right now
LMAO this dude just called Holst's "Mars" "star warsy music". 🤣 Never change.
I haven't really played any of BPRD's maps myself, so I can only comment based on anecdotal evidence gathered from watching other people and yourself comment on his maps. The main point that comes to mind is that he defies Doom mapping conventions that are taken from granted by the community: Maps should be beaten with pistol starts and capable of getting 100% kills, but that is more of something that is implied upon the community because of the intermission screen rather than anything else. It's clear that in his maps he goes for the feeling dread amidst hardship and such thing can't really be done if you provide the player with all the tools they need to complete the level; that's simply paradoxical. He wants the player to survive, not thrive. That is displayed with sheer clarity through his work.
With all that said: He suffers from his own hubris. Trying to swim upstream against the entirety of the Doom community can only really net the results that we witnessed. He's more of an artist than a map designer, that much is easily seen, but perhaps Doom just wasn't the adequate canvas for his work. Many other maps and mapsets are out there to challenge the player and test their wits against unfathomable odds, but not many of those feel quite as antagonistic as BPRD's work, with the forced lack of self-defense and often obligatory runs with Doom's, frankly, unrefined mechanics. Other mappers have managed time and again to portray the feeling of solitude, melancholy and despair in more palatable ways than BPRD has and I'm frankly not surprised that he's remembered as "the guy that made nuts".
There's a wad that just came out like yesterday called elementalism, it's a pain.
BPRD might be the (insane) mastermind behind the nuts series, but from what you describe this Wad seems to be much closer in combat style to the lesser known BPRD masterpieces The Mucus Flow and Grove. Specially the gigantic architecture and stinginess with ammo are very reminiscent of The Mucus Flow to me. I hadn't heard of this one, I'm gonna give it a spin, though I'm probably gonna lose patience with UV halfway through.
-As for why none of this Wad is in the 100 most memorable maps, my guess is that they didn't want to saturate it with BPRD maps, since it already has 3 of them (I don't remember if any other particular author has more than 3 maps in the list). Or maybe it just hasn't been that popular with the Doomworld community as much as Mucus, Nuts and Grove have been?-
Edit: Turns out map 13 of Equinox IS in the 100 most memorable maps (No. 30)! So that's 4 BPRD maps in the list. Rewatching I noticed that you meant why map 10 isn't on the most memorable list. Now my guess is that maybe it's too similar in concept to (SPOILERS FOR DECINO WATCHERS, BE WARNED) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ map 11 of Plutonia 2, which is on the list.
Yes I'd say this wad somewhat Mucus Flow-esque. I could do a whole episode on that level alone. And it was just MAP 10 that didn't make it into Doomworld's Top 100, MAP 13 has the #30 slot.
@@MtPain27 Yeah, I was checking the list and noticed that before seeing your reply. Also, I'm totally behind a Mucus Flow episode of Dean of Doom 🤩️!
this looks cool. gotta love those early adventure maps. If I play, I'm defiantly not doing pistol starts though. lol
Let's see - some lesser known wads for the list!
Japanese Community Project
Akeldama
TNT Revilution
All on my list
Have you heard of Scythe and Scythe 2? I would love to see it on this series!
Oh yes, those are on my list.
Nice to see one of these that didn't make me want to play the WAD in question, haha. Thanks! If you're looking for suggestions: Going Down
I ran into this one in highschool (2004-2008) gave up after a map or two.. cause holy hell i was not prepared.
man...i love this show
can you do hell forged? from what i´ve seen is pretty underated
I second this but I'm not sure if he does maps with modded weapons and stuff like that.
For now I'm sticking to wads that keep Doom's gameplay and visuals mostly intact: partial conversions and replacements like Valiant and this are okay though
the reviews rocks no matter what nwn
@@MtPain27 I think a good step further into partial conversion realm would be Antaresian Reliquary. Dehacked weapons with little other changes, gorgeous maps, and brutal (but fair!) difficulty.
@@Matt534Dog It looks like a good one! Will probably add to my list in the future once I play it.
If you want more weird wads, check out A.L.T. Seriously, it's very strange, but I also think it's better than this one (haven't finished it yet, but I'm having lots of fun with it so far)
André Paluzzi I like the buzz around that one; I’ll probably play it at some point
@@MtPain27 You will have much to sink your teeth into with A.L.T. - one of my personal favorites. That said, if this is episode 9, Back To Saturn X Episode 1 has to be next. Hasn't it?
oh, sonic robo blast 2 also has a megawad called “equinox”! it’s closer to ancient aliens though. i don’t remember the whole plot but the final level features you, sonic the hedgehog, on a mission to kill rasputin, who has been raised from the dead as the deity of a globalist cult that’s conquered the world and sapped it of its natural resources and beauty. this is done at the behest of the hopi sun god to convince him not to destroy the world and create a new one in its place once again. it’s the type of weirdness more akin to doom than it is srb2, i could honestly talk about this for a while. maybe i should start my own show. superintendent of srb2? or maybe scholar of srb2. scribe, seer… i’ve got a lot more choices for alliteration than you do
If you shoot the picture in the secret room at the beginning another secret opens up.
I had no idea, that's awesome!
Oh, boy, this game, I played it back in 2008 or 2009, it was a strange game to me, BPRD usually make these nasty insane maps it was no surpise since he made NUTS , I also played his Map24 from Community Chest 2 which was a living nightmare, the lack of ammunition and the horrible backtracking to get them, this map was a huge pain in the ass that sucked the energy out of me, and in the end, I had to cheat to beat the map, never play this map ever again...
Well, if you don't already have them queued up, I can't recommend Scythe, Scythe 2, and Scythe X enough. Personally I finished the second one and definitely enjoyed it. The second half of it is quite the ride, lol.
00:35 that explains the genome labs and the hangar lol
Assuming you're still on your spaceship/alien binge i'm gueesing icarus: alien vanguard is next?
Oof this one looks just downright mean-spirited at times. I may be willing to put myself through hell playing Plutonia and Sigil but I think I'm gonna skip this one. I do respect all of the really cool things this WAD implements... from a safe distance so I don't have to play it lol.
Also if you're looking at the 100 Best WADS of all time for episode ideas, does that mean that Fava Beans might get an episode? I had a good time playing through that one but t seems kinda small for a full episode so I wonder if you'll do any double features in the future.
Would also love to see you look at Deathless too as I think that one is pretty underrated.
Great Video as always :)
I once tried Equinox with Hideous Destructor. That was a mistake...but it was kinda fun
0:00 Hello, Mr. Pain!
Some of the music in this wad reminds me of Heretic. Is it using some of that music? The track playing around maps 7-9 sounds like the intermission music between maps in Heretic.
HUB Omega doesn't have enough cowbell
One thing is sure. BPRD can be one mean son of a gun
Hey there, wondering if you are planning to cover Freedom Phase 1 or 2
For me it's awesome so it gets
A+
that chaingun sounds a lot like the one from Doom64
Russian Overkill would be great here!
Russian Overkill is just a weapon pack so it doesn't really fit with grading maps and level design. Though if he ever decided to do a Mod Weapon Rank show it'd be perfect.
Well yeah, but to be able to get closer to 100% kills you could use some weapons that don't use ammo.
@@MRDoom12 Seems I misunderstood what you meant. But yeah any weapon pack that makes ammo less of a concern would probably make anything easier frankly
This is a wad I’m defo scared to try
keep the good content :)
Good vid, but still waiting for the Going Down review😔
Hi mom...
I'm still killing monsters.
@@darthdangermouse1453 Yeah I'm bringing a few guns, why you ask?
I'd call MAP12 Kritikal Bypass.
This wad is pretty mean, but I definitely respect the creativity at play in it.
what if it's just that most of these levels aren't meant to be 100%ed?
So in hindsight, what's worse: map 12 here or literally any map from Gene Bird's body of work?
MAP 12 is pretty bad. Gene's maps look worse but this map plays worse than most of his.
Maps were interesting, really liked architecture, but i dont like BPRD lack of ammo pickups. He do that in every map (Best way to play ie. the Mucus flow is write IDFA once at start of level 😀). Probably he isnt fan of UV max category (for me its the best way how to play Doom). I just played those map with this in my mind, so no pistol start and leaving high HP enemies alive.
I find it baffling that one would put the effort of making big maps with custom textures and what not and not be arsed with giving those maps a name.
Doom wiki postulates that they do have names and that a mistake was probably made somewhere.
@@MtPain27 That makes a tad more sense
could you do a review on MM.WAD or MM2.WAD?
Someday!
My first wad I played when I got back into Doom. Recommended by TerminusEst13 when he was working on his Demonsteele mod. Don't play this with BD. Oof.