this actually feels like Romero guest-authored an E4 map 

 

...unplayabley awful, apart from Scampie's. Skacky's and Pulsar's looked nice, at least the brief bits I saw. 

 

lol 

Overall I enjoyed all the maps tremendously and have a hard time picking a favorite. The most memorable is perhaps Scampie's. Some comments on the maps (with demos later)

ericw: One of the most E4 of the pack. Really damn difficult on skill 3, very entertaining and anus-clenching situations (especially on the lower floor). I even had to axe a Shambler at one point! Short and sweet.

Fifth: It indeed felt like Romero guest-authored an E4 map now that I think about it! Really enjoyed that one as well. It has some really hidden secrets. I especially liked the slight elevation differences with stairs keeping the rooms fresh, and the SNG ambush was top notch.

Pulsar: Great. I really liked the re-interpreted areas, especially E4M4's. The end fight was really really difficult but entertaining. I'd love to see it expanded even more, especially how you interpret E4M7.

Scampie: What if Sandy took acid while designing Episode 4? Excellent map with a fun twist. Had me laughing really hard, especially the end.

Skacky: Gonna comment on my own map for once. The base idea was to make a map without using Ogres nor Hell Knights at all. I had a list of things I wanted to do (start with an SSG+Quad arena, mash-up E4M6 and E4M8's pits of doom, have a healing pool, have an E4M5 retracting teleporter, have an unholy altar, etc). I also wanted to fuck with the players a bit; for instance, the first arena is better beaten by not fighting in it at all but retreating with the Quad in hand, especially when the 3 Shamblers spawn on Skills 2/3). I also wanted to blow off some steam and go crazy with the encounters, the amount of Tarbabies, the monsterjumps and the monster teleports, since most E4 maps are really over the top. I think I mostly succeeded even if the map is really fucking hard and sometimes a bit unfair.

Tens: Excellent. Loved this one, although the layout was a bit confusing and probably needed some func_walls with arrows to guide the player, spawning/despawning once you accomplish tasks, etc. Other than that it was really neat and a joy to play. I LOVED the room that went dark with Tarbabies in cages, that will stick as one of the most memorable moments in the pack.

TextFish: Enjoyable as well, if a bit unfair at times. The terracotta bit is by far the best part of the map imo, with really well designed encounters and gimmicks that kind of reminded me of E4M8.

Zwiffle: The hardest on skill 3. Loved the aesthetic, and the yellow lights against the rock look pretty cool actually. The 'Tarbaby cave' as I call it killed me several times. The hidden Tarbaby had me laughing out loud when I watched it on Daz's stream. 

I really appreciate it. It's one of my most favourite maps I've made to be honest. Making the thing is almost a blur since I bashed it together so quickly. 

All unplayabley awful, apart from Scampie's.

The highest fucking praise I'll ever get from Shambler. 

So i was preparing ox cheeks for dinner, because they are tasty and all that. Chopping veggies, dreaming.. I chopped into my finger and thumb, hell i saw the blade goin right into them.

No time to loose, ox cheeks required my attention, i spray-glued and taped my cuts, the food, the food!

Disabled like that i managed to burn my other hand with the hot oven 10 minutes after i cut myself.

Swearing like a russian sailor i did complete the meal, tasted fine.

My hands are now taped/swollen, can't even type proper at the moment.

I want to play these maps badly, what i saw on twitch.tv (erics and pulsars map i think) looked awesome and brutal.

But for now they have to wait.

All hail OTP!

Go map! 

That was one wild ride you just took me on. 

Here, this should help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx51eegLTY8 

That sounds like a very Quakey meal - both in the ingredients and in your preparation technique. 

 

Best wishes, mfx. Get well soon. 

This pack is great fun, will take me some time to beat all maps. 

Daz beat my map on skill 2. Without dying once.

Fascinating. And if you DON'T get the second Pent secret????? 

best part, food tasted fine. 

Ok, Tens' map is the most E4 of the lot. In fact, it's more E4 than E4 itself. It's pure, distilled E4 and if someone told me that it was an original map that was cut for whatever reason, then I would believe them.

Not sure about the random scaling of textures though. 

You can survive the arena without taking it. 

How the bloody 'ell does that teleport twist hack work? 

you can fuck with the "roll" of the player view angles when teleporting. I never knew that! 

Have you never played that SM map with the angled door?! 

 

That had you walking on the walls, briefly. 

I never bothered playing speedmaps. Seemed a bit of a low signal-to-noise ratio with those chaps.