FINAL DOOM - TNT's DEvilution | Trav Guy

Funny comments about how I haven't gotten to Plutonia yet will be featured in the Plutonia video. Make them funny.

DEvelution? what about DEVILution?

Deadlink has come out with a 1.0 release, full game video coming soon?

SomecallmeJohnny sent me here

Johnny sent me.

i like that you credit the mappers

Forgot about this expansion. What the hell, i'll give this and Plutonia a play, thank you Travis the Guy, i've watched this video a ton, some pretty fun stuff :)

Super 3D Noah’s Ark is legitimately and unironically mechanically superior to Wolf3D.

Dude, you need to try Diluvian Ultra, from what I've seen it's a lot like Viscerafest

you don't necessarily need to make a video out on it just seemed like something you'd be interested in

me coming back to trav's channel 24,100 years later to find out the plutonia video is only half-way done or something idk i've never exposed myself to plutonium

Lol we know times have gotten hard if we ever break out the master levels for review

Better than Civvie's TNT shorts.

Wow. You actually had YOUR OWN OPINIONS on these levels rather than just copy-pasting the views of everyone else. You have my respect sir

What did Marty do? 🥺

TNT is by far the best, most creative and unique of the official Doom games. The maps are interesting places to explore instead of just random geometry, and the atmosphere is unmatched.

Plutonia is the good part of final doom.
Short-ish levels, a step up in terms of combat, a much better utilization of the extended bestiary, overall more cooler design.

Into the beast belly remember's me alot of quake 2 main theme

Plutonia must so hard, it’s coming early! ;) (if you catch my meaning…)

Some 'character development' going from calling archies your least favorite enemy in the Doom 64 video four years ago to saying TNT underutilizes them. I think you should expand of why your opinion changed in plutonia vid.

You shooul try war hammer 40k boltgun it's a great game inspired by doom

I found my copy of Final Doom in the garbage. I'm serious.

Since Doom has a lot of 1990s wee babes who didn't know what they were doing, and then a lot of cynical people in more modern times who knew what they were doing and created painful things on purpose, TNT Evilution lands in this weird stratum where you can believe that they wanted to create something fun and you can be willing to stick with it through the unevenness.

We're spoiled in the 2020s to have endless examples of good map-packs, but the idea of a full 30-map replacement campaign was once a pipe dream, and I respect these early pioneers for proving that it was possible. Evilution and Memento Mori are outclassed by the 25 years of iteration that they could never anticipate, but I respect them for being the first to market.

Excuse me sir “TravGuy” I regret to inform you of the small factoid that you have not yet done a “video essay review” on the video game “DooM, the plutoniua experiment”. If this request is not fulfilled then we shall revolt.

Part 2 currently streaming behind a pay wall on Plutonia TV.

Please Let Us Taste Once... No, Immediately Asshole!

We Hunger Eternally Now!

why are you wearing the doom guy crop top

civvie clone 😂

Hey man, Plutonia called…… revenant noise

Poo-tonia.

Can’t wait for the Plutonia Experiment video 🤩

Plutonia is rad, but I Lust for Suns.

The algorithm requires engagement, Trav!

…where’s…I can’t call it Pro Plutonia…hm. Where’s Polished Plutonia?

Great video! I did my first TNT playthrough around 97 or 98 and man, this wad has always been a slog. But it was new Doom at the time, and I always loved the music.

Subbing for based Noah’s arc 3d review 🔥

"It's just like plutonia™ but free" - team TnT, June 16, 1996

Didn't you mention that you played plutonia during the TAG 1 review? Not trying to be rude or mean.

CASALIIII!

Love the series! Can we see a gunslinger lich? I played one (a lich with a level of gunslinger and a sniper rifle) and it was a lot of fun! Touch attacking with the rifle and casting spells on bullets was great.

I know I probably shouldn't be taking this video all that seriously, but I think that among all the comedy it makes enough points as a serious review for me to put y nerdy glasses on, scratch me neckbeard, prepare my 'um,actually's, and come up with a response. Plus I feel it is my sacred duty as an eternal Evilution apologist. So let's unpack all of this.

First order of business, this whole video has a bit of a strange disconnect between the introduction to the megawad and the map-by-map portion. All the comments about it being generally boring don't seem to match up with what comes later, where you show just how much creativity and unique personality went into almost every map on the project. All the bizarre ideas for progression and encounters coupled with how a lot of the authors seemed to have been mostly interested in creating a spectacle in a game that was originally made to be just a run-and-gun thing makes for a fascinating experience, if nothing else. It's not as consistent in style and execution as Plutonia, sure, but I think that's what makes it more special, the variety and the sense of never knowing what you're gonna get next should really be a driving force to keep the player going after each map.

You calling the soundtrack the most consistent part of the wad is a little odd, because, well, it's not consistent at all... which is mostly for the better. Each composer who worked on the project happens to have an incredibly distinct style (maybe except Martel, but his contribution is really funny, so it gets a pass) - Mustaine's all about simple melodies and droning synths, Sieben is all about big chords and metal-like guitars and drums, and El-Bizri is... a category completely of his own. It makes for a soundtrack to perfectly match the oddity and variety of the map pack itself.

But let's just take it map by map:

MAP01: I am completely intrigued by your comment about System Control being a solid stage "probably because it was originally meant to be a Master Level." The master levels are a can of worms of their own, but generally people regard them as being the worst official release. I like them, and your comment implies that so do you, so I hope you'll get to make a vid about them too. This map is just such a solid opener though, it's fast paced with the berserk and doesn't really throw any cheap hitscanner ambushes to slow down your rampage and force you to take things from behind the corner like what a certain supposedly superior Final Doom megawad likes to do. As for the blue door blunder, that's your source port setting. I can see from your gameplay footage that you're playing on GZDoom with compatibility flags set to default, which is not what vanilla wads are meant to be played with as it modifies a lot of quirks of the original engine in order to better suit more modern maps and gameplay mods. In vanilla you wouldn't get the missing key prompt until you'd get closer to the door, because the walk-over trigger line would eat your use input.

MAP02: Are we not gonna talk about how very Plutonia this map is in its style of gameplay? The way it's packed with hitscanners at every corner and on every ledge at the distance means that you really need to play this map a lot more methodically and carefully than an average TNT map. I'm not too fond of it as a result, but I'd think it would get more appreciation from the average Plutonia fan. Though that secret telefragging area is one of the examples of strange and interesting ideas littered throughout the megawad, so that section is pretty cool.

MAP03: This was probably made with deathmatch in mind, but I still think the central structure makes for a pretty memorable set piece. You're right that the first arch-vile of the wad is pretty underwhelming, but is it really something that could be called a trend? This was made around the time people were still terrified of this enemy and he doesn't appear in every level like he would in more modern wads, but from this point on, whenever most arch-viles appear, they're in spots where they can take you by surprise or do some resurrectng shenanigans.

MAP04: When I was playing Evilution for the first time, this is the map that got me hooked. Exactly because everything about it is just so bizarre, it makes for a strange atmosphere of you being in an alien location rather than a Doom map. The anxious music, the weirdness of the exit right at the start, almost like the level itself is warning you to not venture deeper into its dark hallways. It's just really, really cool. And as for the automap ruining the immersion, well... it's a limitation that's hard to get around. I recently made a map with a similar gimmick and my solution had to be just hiding the entire automap, which I don't think most people would consider to be a cool move. Though the funny thing is that most people mowadays play with source port options that let them see a textured overlay on the automap that reveals everything the author wanted to hide anyway, so really, doing anything in regards with the automap as a Doom mapper is just pulling a Sysiphus.

MAp05: Evilution is really on a roll with this stage. I think this perfectly examplifies the sort of old-school FPS level design that requires at least some basic navigational skills and that requires you to remember specific areas to revisit once you have the proper key. I like this style, I think it's a crying shame it has fallen out of fashion. I'm not sure why you think the side areas would need to be mandatory if they have something cool in them though, exploration is a huge part of this old style of level design and optional areas are just a part of that. But once again, this map is filled with so many strange and interesting ideas, the opening sidecorridors at the start, the windows you need to keep closing in order to not get sniped, the puzzle-like room with lowering platforms that you complained about... It's a lot of creativity on display in a relativel small and tightly packed map.

MAp06: Well, the door that opens up with the yellow switch does have the yellow lights around it to signify what opens it. Does there need to be much more to it? Again, it's the old-school level design where you don't really get objective markers to guide you around. But even then, this level is so small that you'll find the way around eventually no matter what. But I'll concede that the switch hunt here that I think is meant to add to the atmosphere has pretty diminishing returns, because you don't really tend to encounter anything new as you're backtracking for the switches. Still, it's a fun enough map and I especially like the detail that one of the switches does absolutely nothing for you as the player, it just turns on the giant machinery.

MAP07: The MIDI is by El-Bizri. Please don't use the Fandom wiki, it's filled with incoplete information and occasional things that are just plain wrong (case in point, some of the map author credits in this video are incorrect or incomplete - specifically maps 03, 09, 13, 18 and 19). There was a whole event years ago where basically everyone who genuinely cared about maintaining a proper site left for Doomwiki because they were fed up with Fandom caring more about shoving ads down everyone's throat instead of providing a good service. I don't know about "needless padding" in these maps, I think most of the more open maps in Evilution use that size pretty well, it makes the places feel a bit more immersive, especially in contrast with the more crammed hallways that you will usually find in the same maps. And it's not like more space in these maps means more time that the player has to spend gunning down enemies, it's usually the opposite and it tend to be easier to just run past them. And yeah, the titular prison is yet another cool unusual set piece, even if you use the invulnerability for it, because it's pretty hard to kill all the hell nobles before it runs out, so you'll probably still be threatened from multiple sides when the inverted vision goes dark and you find yourself vulnerable again.

MAP08: I'm surprised how quickly you brush this level off, this is one of the more notorious TNT maps, mainly because of the ever-present long-distance hitscanners sniping you across the whole giant room in every encounter. I can't say I have much to defend it with, but hey, at least it's kinda like Plutonia again.

MAP09: This map feels... really misrepresented in this video. Stronghold is one of the best maps in any commercially released wad, it's Jimmy Sieben making what's really just a decent layout and then packing it with hundreds of fodder enemies to mow down in droves and then respewn from closets to repopulate the hallways, it's probably the most hectic and fast paced maps in the entire megawad and it's amazing. I'm not sure why not show any of it.

MAP10: Yeah, i forget this map even exists, you get a pass on this one...

MAP11: Not going for the secret megasphere, I see. Shame, but I can somewhat understand, it's a bit of an awkward arch-vile jump. But yeah, this is like a lesser version of Stronghold, so your comment about having fun is pretty warranted.

MAP12: I think this is the map everyone points to when listing all the flaws of TNT. Yeah, big open empty areas, strange hallways that lead to nothing, all of that stuff. Granted, this map does get a little tedious with just how much you need to walk in order to get all the kills and secrets, but it's really kind of an oulier. And I still like the atmosphere of the empty crater and its in-built facility under the starry sky. And the use of arachnotrons in the underground waterways is pretty clever too.

Oh boy i sure hope this is a plutonia video and not a tnt one.

funny comment about plutonia experiment

It’s funny I actually own the big box version of Final DOOM lol. Can’t wait for the review of Plutonia, which I also think is the better half.