DBP65: Sanguine Holy Land

 

DBP65: Sanguine Holy Land | DBP65.WAD

Doomer Boards

Plenty has been said about the Doomer Boards, that illiberal, anarchic last bastion of the Doom community’s misfits, but however you might feel about them or the idea that the Doomer Boards Projects are intended to whitewash their reputation, there’s no denying that the DBP series has been a showcase for some real talent. With nearly 70 releases across six years, DBP has earned a reputation for bite-sized, uniquely-themed (sometimes bordering on partial conversion) episodes. Not everything can reach the dizzying heights of AUGER;ZENITH or Zeppelin Armada, but one thing’s for sure: there’s always something new around the corner every month or so.

Take Sanguine Holy Land, for instance. For the sixty-fifth entry in the series, project leader BiZ wrote the following prompt: “ornate marble shrines and blood sacrifices.” The folks at Doomer Boards certainly delivered. While in terms of actual styling, Sanguine’s texture set is yet another variant on the well-loved gothic theme, this one leans towards a delightfully contrasting red/black/gold/white color scheme. The end result is quite striking: sprawling temple complexes against a blood-red sky and a deep red autumn theme, like a much more stylistic version of earlier DBP Morbid Autumn.

(Disclaimer: I played through this using the excellent Walpurgis, playing as the Crusader with Dimensional Instability mode turned off and using the Merciless Monsters mod which replaces the vanilla monsters with tougher, more fantasy-themed variants, as well as Flashlight++ 9.1 with the Lamp preset. I did watch a vanilla playthrough on Youtube to get a better sense of how the wad plays on its own.)

DBP veteran BiZ (also known as AskYourDrAboutUVFast) is in charge as the project lead this time, contributing three out of the fourteen maps (all of which include the interesting feature of a desiccated corpse that calls you “guv’nor.”) Other DBP regulars include Sergey “SilverMiner” Burow, CittyKat112 who has grown tremendously as a mapper since Havoc in Creation, thehockster, and Rancid Sam (who seems to like Puella Magi Madoka Magica if the automap art on MAP11 I found is any indication.) We also have maps by relative newcomers suzerduzer, derblanca, RastaManGames (who had quite the lengthy resume even before signing on with DBP), Async Unicorn, and Shiroi.

While DBPs have traditionally been a bit uneven — they are, after all, glorified speedmapping events — Sanguine is a very solid play. With thirteen maps plus a credits map, it’s a bit of a longer episode than usual for the Doomer Boards; most of the maps lean very much into the high quality we’ve come to expect from projects like this, though SilverMiner’s maps are more abstract, straying away from the gothic temples and castles to manifest as more of a sort of red Plutonia. I don’t think there’s any real stinkers in this map at all, in spite of some technical issues that might be due to my setup (doors not opening when they should.)

If you’re playing straight vanilla, the monster roster is basically the same as ever, but with some cool changes. The spiderdemon has been replaced with another, weaker cyberdemon, this one with gold guts rather than red. (This might be why I kept running into issues with Merciless Monsters’ cybie replacements getting stuck.) The zombieman and shotgun guy have had hooded reskins, the cacodemon is more of a gold color, and so on. It’s well-fitting with the bloody gothic theme.

I had fun with Sanguine Holy Land. I wouldn’t go as far as to say this is my favorite DBP, but if you’re looking for a different spin on the gothic theme, with some fun choices for music, you could do worse. It’s a bloody good time.

 

 

 

get it on Doomworld

 

 

 

MAP01: Bloody Pulpit

BiZ

BiZ gets us started with a quick map in a temple of sorts. You're in trouble pretty much from the first shot, with lots of bullshit lurking the corridors and storerooms. It's not too tough though, even the nasty switch trap that is deliberately telegraphed to you should be old hat to a veteran. No, it's the secret outdoor courtyard that really puts the spice in this opener.

MAP02: Thief of Fire

suzerduzer

A darker, more gothic map in some kind of castle. Excellent use of light and shadow, but the cramped conditions don't make for particularly big setpiece fights. That's okay, though, sometimes you want a more dungeon crawlery vibe, and "Thief of Fire" certainly is that. And it's not totally devoid of setpiece fights anyway, as the yellow key encounter shows. Fun choice of music.

MAP03: The Guest

derblanca

A short, mostly linear map with a touch of atmosphere and some nasty encounters. There's not a whole lot to say about it, though I appreciate the fireplace in the first room. Dropping two cybies into cramped quarters with no real way to escape in the map's closing minutes is some amateur shit, though, and very not befitting of the overall intermission-y vibe of the map. Interesting way of exit.

MAP04: Sonar

Sergey "SilverMiner" Burow

You could be forgiven for thinking this was a red Plutonia map because it's a bit of a red Plutonia map, at least aesthetically. It's an abstract complex of buildings set on the edge of a sea of blood; revenants are a regular encounter (as are plenty of imps) and the red forest around the area tends to be a popular spot for teleporting monsters. Oh, and there's a Plutonia teleport exit. Visually I don't think it's terribly interesting, very generically old-school abstract. Gameplay wise it's got a few fun bits, like the finale ambush, but overall it just feels rushed.

MAP05: Into the Frying Pan

CittyKat112

CittyKat112 has come a long way since the rather simple "Assault on Demon Fortress" in Havoc in Creation. "Into the Frying Pan" is an appropriately named little complex built around a successive series of nasty fights, most of which lock you in. The map even politely warns you via floating text that an upcoming encounter is difficult and you won't be able to escape until you've prevailed. In practice this is a bit of a fakeout, the fight itself being not terribly difficult. The revenant invasion in the toxic swamp, however...

MAP06: Breaking and Entering

CittyKat112

Following on directly from the previous map (and you can even turn around and explore the previous level's final room) -- CittyKatt112 gives us a shorter, leaner, less meaner map. While there are still some high-energy moments (the outdoor fight, for instance) it's overall less demanding than its predecessor, while still looking pretty good.

MAP07: Holy Molly Cathedral

RastaManGames

A more traditional DBP map: short, not terribly complex, aesthetically pleasing. Composed of a large chapel with an outer courtyard, a kitchen, and torture chamber, "Holy Molly Cathedral" is mostly an exercise in relatively light pressure, where large groups of enemies pour into the area as you gather keys and throw switches. The cyberdemons who show up when you grab one of the keys are the biggest threat, but there's nothing that says you can't just run back out into the courtyard for safety. Simple but fun microslaughter.

MAP08: Lentus

SilverMiner

SilverMiner returns for another more abstract kind of map with a somewhat low monster count. This one's significantly more closed in with an atmospheric opening in an empty cavern before moving on to a small ruins complex. Most of the combat is incidental or has the enemies on ledges, but the finale has the bulk of the monsters pouring into a relatively open space with more coming up behind you. Better looking and better playing than "Sonar."

MAP09: Gallows Eve

thehockster

First, an upfront disclaimer: For whatever reason, a door with the 666 tag refused to open at the end of the map and I don't know why, forcing me to noclip. This also happened to me on maps 11 and 14. Beyond that, this is a straightforward runic map with a lot of treasure boxes and tormented corpses, with a big key fight as well as a couple cybies to deal with in the final area. Pretty fun map for what it was.

MAP10: The Ominous Church

Async Unicorn

Relative Doom mapping newcomer Async Unicorn gives us an atmospheric church and nearby graveyard, complete with tombs to raid and a bit of a hot start. The church itself is nicely designed on the exterior with a sector-based sloping roof (the Doom community: doing slopes the old-school way since 1997.) While the interior is mostly generic gothic/runic marble, the exterior and the catacomb are really nice looking. Some fun encounters, such as the graveyard coming alive with bullshit on your way out of the catacombs.

MAP11: Try the Wine

Rancid Sam

Someone on the Doomworld release thread compared the later levels to Thief and Rancid Sam's map certainly has the aesthetic and vibe down, with the opening room being a peaceful fireside respite and the monster count being pretty low. You are of course encouraged to try the wine, which opens up the rest of the level for you, a sprawling gothic mansion with a crumbling ceiling and monsters lurking the forgotten library and ruined courtyard. If you're clever enough to find the appropriate key you'll get a chance to fight "Cyberdemon Junior" though the side jaunt doesn't seem to be that much of a threat at least with Walpurgis. Really liked this one.

MAP12: Laceration Forest

Shiroi

Don't let the high enemy count fool you -- this is a relatively uncomplicated slaughter map set amongst watery (bloody?) gothic follies. The opener has you gathering two old-fashioned keys made out of midtextures (so not the gemstone keys common to this mapset) which each trigger a fight. You then unlock a door at the end of the bridge by the start, beyond which are several huge crowds of mostly trash mobs but a cybie too. From here on out it's mostly big crowds of bullshit until you're in the final area, when the map calms down a bit. Fun map from Shiroi.

MAP13: Primrose Path

BiZ

I don't know how BiZ does it. "Primrose Path" is the centerpiece of Sanguine Holy Land, a sprawling complex absolutely chockablock with bullshit coming at you from every angle to the tune of a rocking rendition of Castlevania's "Vampire Killer." From taking long-distance potshots across broad vistas to clearing out interiors you're going to be busy for a while, especially once the heavy hitters start showing up. The map is divided into blood and gold and your job is to find at least one key -- though if you're very clever, you've found the hint about what you get if you use both. Cool twist on the finale, with a choice of skipping a big fight similar to Deadly Ritual and Havoc in Creation.

MAP14: Sanguine Holy Land

BiZ

The credits map is a quick n' dirty little brawl with a bunch of cybies followed by an encounter with treasure just out of reach. Not much else to talk about, but a good way to wind down an excellent mapset.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-june<3

So still, so dark all over Europe
And the rainbow rises here
In the western sky, the kill to show for

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