Doomed Speed Demos Archive
<http://www.doomworld.com/sda/doom_sda.htm>

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LMP Title               : Seren_na
Game                    : Doom/Ultimate Doom
Executable              : Doom.exe v1.9
PWAD                    : Serenity.wad by Bjorn Hermans and Holger 
                          Nathrath
Map Level(s)            : E3M1-E3M8
Options                 : maps E3M1-E3M5 done with "-fast"
Type                    : Ultra Violence Max
Multiplayer Mode        : solo
Author                  : Never_Again
Email Address           : tpoppins@juno.com
Misc. Author Info       : There is no dark side of the moon, really.
                          Matter o'fact it's *all* dark.
Recorded on             : PIII-850 /Razer Boomslang 2000 + Keyboard
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Serenity was one of the first (along with Forest.wad by Jean-Serge Gagnon) 
WADs I played upon completion of Doom's four episodes. I recall playing 
it and one of its sequels, Eternity, at least twice each. Mike Toliver's 
set of excellent demos inspired me to do this classic Doom episode in a 
somewhat less cautious manner than the originals :-).

The levels didn't seem to hard when I first played them years ago 
(ca.'97), so I decided a set of Grandmaster-style demos (i.e. with -fast) 
would be fairly easy now. 
I was wrong! Everything went pretty smooth up to E3M5, where I ran into 
some serious difficulties. It turns out that playing each of these 
relatively easy levels from scratch was considerably more challenging 
than using saves between every map, as I used to. I did manage E3M5 
and am positive that I could do E3M6 this way as well; but the desire 
to get this set ot the door prevailed and for the rest of the episode 
(E3M6,E3M7,E3M8) I dispensed with the -fast switch, hehe.

Overall, a very nice set of maps, a true classic of the early days; a 
couple of bus or not (see below). The challenge the levels present with 
the -fast option served to further increase my respect for the authors. 
Good job guys!

E3M1 "A Warm Welcome"   5:12
A nice level, with simple yet impressive architecture that characterizes 
the rest of the episode. Little design features like oval skylights are 
done very tastefully and contribute immensely to the overall "Serenity 
feel".
On UV, you hardly notice the opposition; however, with the -fast option 
this map is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, a Demon and a Spectre placed 
too close get stuck and can't teleport to the battlefield, thus rendering 
100% kills on UV an impossible dream :-(.

E3M2 "Doom - The Movie" 4:14
Hmm, I don't remember seeing anything like that in "Aliens", but a very 
nice level still. Very compact,yet with a few things to do. Watch out 
for the secret walkway that bridges the gap to the grey brick pillar in 
the exit room. You have to walk slowly over it, preferably more than once; 
otherwise you might not be credited with "finding" this last secret!

E3M3 "R You Lonesome?"  6:16
Easy and fun!

E3M4 "All The Marbles"  8:13
This level would be great if not for the secrets bugs galore. There are 
four areas that you physically cannot walk over, tagged as secrets. One 
of them is the teleport pad to the Imps' backyard and the red key. Doh! 
But nothing prevents you from claiming your well deserved 100% kills, so 
that's no biggie :).

E3M5 "Dungeons Of The Dark" 12:14
Your trusty handgun and a shotgun are pretty much all you get here. 
Oh yeah, there is a rocket launcher too; but you better save those precious
seven rox "for close encounters", hehe. An excellent level, a total blast 
from start to finish!

E3M6 "I'm Here. I'm There. Stairs Are Everywhere" 10:07
Perhaps I chickened out on this one switching to the regular speed UV, but 
facing off the Cacos and Imps down the long and narrow corridors is a big 
PITA in the -fast mode. Plus you have to drop down this deep shaft on top 
of a bunch of Imps and Troopers which makes the survival rather problematic 
in any scenario, much less in the -fast mode ... Okay, so maybe I just suck :).
Tons of fun here, though.

E3M7 "Big Time" 14:36
Nice decorations! I suppose, the authors thoughtfully placed the Invul and 
Invisibility this way just to piss off all those who start to think at that 
point that these maps are too easy, hehe. But you can't get 100% secrets 
either, because once again a teleporter sector (the one next to the Supercharge)
is tagged as a secret. Oh well, can't have everything I guess.

E3M8 "Church of The Poisoned Minds" 11:45
I have to say: wow! After all these years, even after playing the eye-candy laden 
Quake 2 and Unreal I still spooge over those stained glass windows. Go fire up 
jDoom and see them for yourself.
The only drawback is that it can be kind of hard to nail every Imp lurking behind 
those beauties. You're not required to kill everything here but I'm pretty sure 
I got my 100% fill of both kills and secrets. Training for this map, I even went 
through it with jDoom with IDDTIDDT on, watching the kill/secret counter a few 
times, just to make sure I know what I'm doing :-).

E3M9
There's no secret level in this epsiode, but as the authors say in the readme:
"You won't miss it" hehe.


