Crossing Acheron (UV-Max Demo)

this is the second part of dr. sleep's inferno series (the first one was here: • Dante's Gate (UV-Max D... ), and the last one that is part of a standalone wad. well technically the master levels are 21 separate wads. but you know what i mean.
in terms of appearance, this is definitely another winner. the initial church is especially nice, complete with pews, an altar, and even a baptismal font. i feel like this was the sort of thing that became much more feasible with heretic textures, but that wasn't an option yet. a lot of the level is done up in green marble but there's a lot of texture variation and lighting effects to keep things interesting. the pulsing teleporters scattered throughout the main area of the map are a small effect but a very nice touch compared to their typical static appearance.
unfortunately, in terms of actually playing the level, i feel like it's aged a lot less gracefully. there's tons of elements in the level that i feel like there's no way to uncover without using the map, and lots of walls and doors that have no clear indication that they're actually interactable. even most of the teleporters in the main hall are only for enemies and don't take you anywhere. thankfully there's a computer area map tucked away in the level, but even with that it's very difficult to track down everything and not lose track of where you can actually go. i don't usually look at the map much, and it doesn't show up in the video rendering process as it's not captured in the demo, but i spent a good amount of time trying to figure out what was what using it here. the whole red brick area is tough to find as well and is necessary for 100%, as it requires hitting a switch and then running to an unrelated area where a wall has lowered. this is supposed to be required to complete the level as it raises a bridge to the exit, but thirty years of doom wads have definitely changed how the doom community looks at levels. the first time i played the level i reached the exit by riding the pillar up and timing a straferun to the exit. this is not intended but i bet it's the sort of thing that a lot of people have thought to try these days.
crossing acheron: www.doomworld.com/idgames/lev...
get the demo: s3.yrriban.net/doom/achron22.lmp
source port used: dsda-doom 0.27.5
sound font used: arachno.sf2
flags: -complevel 2

[@Skronkidonk]

That imp ambush is such an asshole move lol. This map is a looker for sure, I love that starry sky. I'm assuming this was another Doom 1 map updated with Doom 2 monsters and the SSG?

[@Yrriban]

this was in fact an upgrade. i think my brain refused to acknowledge how rough that imp ambush was. in theory you could go get the plasma first but i don't even think that would help that much.