Doom Speed Demo Archive
https://dsdarchive.com/
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> iwad       |  DOOM2
> pwad       |  Stardate 20x7
> filename   |  sd20x7.wad
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> map        |  MAP09
> title      |  Do You Believe?
> skill      |  4
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> category   |  UV-Max
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> exe        |  DSDA-Doom [0.29.4]
> complevel  |  9
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> time       |  29:12
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> runner     |  Touchdown
> date       |  24.09.26
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> notes      |  302 attempts

                Maxing this level was a journey. Similarily to Magnus - 20x6 finale - most of this map
                is very consistent and managable. In fact the first 18min of it are probably the most 
                reliably beatable parts of 20x7, which is surprising. And much like with Magnus the difficulty
                skyrockets into the stratosphere when you get the the two-part finale. This is where
                the main challange of maxing this comes from - you need to play for 18min to even attempt
                the hard parts.

                I would say that RNG plays a significant part during the finale, especially with the Revenant
                staircase. The correct strategy is obvious enough. But if you get bad luck when trying to push
                through the swarm - taking a lot of damage from skeletons and getting targeted by the Viles
                on the middle tower - then you're 100% dead as there's nothing you can do to redeem the situation.
                
                I don't like the actual finale. It's not fun and pretty much all deaths come from running into
                a stray Cyberdemon rocket flying from the other end of the room. It's really difficult to decide
                how to handle this area once the hitscanners arrive. There's not enough ammo and insta-gib deaths
                are just waiting to happen at every turn. You have to stay in one of the wings for as long as possible
                but you will have to push out eventually. And doing that is just asking for trouble. Still that doesn't
                detract from the satisfaction of destroying that blasted crystal.

                Definitely one of the hardest levels I've maxed to date.


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