Titan 1024 (TITA1024.WAD)

It feels like a long time ago but, back in 2014, the author of the Titan series pointed me toward his then recent entry: Titan 1024, a sort of re-imagining of the then ten-year old levels within the 1024 limit. I said that I would do one better and play both the original as well as Titan 2 before checking out TITA1024. Well, after six and a half years, here we are! Sorry for the wait, Ixnatifual. Titan 1024 is a ten-level episode for Doom II to be played in GZDoom. It was originally released in 2012, some three and a half years after his last publication. The author notes that jumping is acceptable, but crouching is forbidden. The number of situations where the former comes up is... not big, but try not to forget that it's an option.

Rasmussen included a plot for this little gaiden. It's a tongue-in-cheek retelling of the story behind the original Titan with the author poking fun at the typical PWAD story tropes. The serially incompetent UAC, monitoring interplanetary activity, noted a change in one of Saturn's moons. The internal temperature of the titular Titan was rising. Not one to leave anomalies alone if it might mean a questionable scientific advancement, they constructed facilities on the satellite with the intent to discern how it could be manipulated to their benefit. The corporation eventually loses contact with the moonbase and you're sent to investigate.

For the uninitiated, 1024 is a restraint for the author that limits the playing area - the space that the player is allowed to both move and survive in - to a unit grid of 1024 x 1024. It took off as people were making chunks of map for Exquisite Corpse and still generates the occasional megaWAD. The size limitation by its very nature tends toward a highly congested and claustrophobic style of combat. Any "interesting" layout that approaches a more traditional map involves a lot of barriers to player movement and the average room will not give you much space to dodge in. There are no limits as to where monsters can exist so they are free to stand outside the playing area's periphery and lob projectiles at you.

If all this sounds like an unappealing basis for a mapset then, well, you will probably want to sit Titan 1024 out. It's a pretty good and fun example of the genre though the difficulty understated compared to my memories of Congestion 1024 (admittedly nearly ten years old). The biggest issue I think is the opener, "Storage Compartments" (MAP01), which drags like Hell due to an insistence on kicking things off with pistol- (and maybe chainsaw-) exclusive combat. The other authorial indulgence is "Hidden Complex" (MAP10) as its assemblage of tiny teleporter coffins is meant to be explored entirely at random. At least, I was never able to identify a method of reliably teleporting to one given location from another.

A couple of these maps are in the other logical end of 1024 style: if making a normally navigable layout seems uncomfortable, then make it an arena-style map and use teleporters to meter out the encounter. "Belly of the Beast" (MAP05) is the first for you to encounter and it's a pretty light introduction, Cyberdemon topper notwithstanding. "Nexus" (MAP09) is a fitting finale and while it's never as insane as Jesper's "The Nexus" from the original Titan, let alone "Coliseum of the Damned" from Titan 2, it still has its share of sharp shocks. I'm mostly thinking of the two time-release arch-viles but while those made up my single greatest hang-up I could have easily been splattered by a rocket from a Cyber-Baron.

Oh, yeah. The series used a handful of custom monsters ranging from chainsaw zombies to winged Lords of Heresy but Titan 1024 limits the applicants to a scant two. The mini-Cybies only appear in the final three levels, I think, but you generally have either the room to dodge or some level of adequate cover. The Hectebus appears in a stacked final encounter but you have a solid piece of cover for their super plasma spray and their elevated position makes it almost comically easy to run in and then away. I wasn't excited at the prospect of running into any custom monsters in 1024-style levels but Ixnatifual has made it a relatively painless endeavor.

The rest of the levels are actually pretty good. They don't abuse teleporter spawns to draw out gameplay to epic map-length proportions and very few of them use monsters that attack from outside the confines of the map. I would say that "Pit of Peril" (MAP08) does a fantastic job of the latter as it uses cacodemons on one side of the map to draw your attention outside and foreshadow the end-of-level ambush. Which doesn't even attack from there, really! "Healer's Cavern" (MAP06) is a wicked cool granite-and-battlement level with multiple tiers that uses fliers in a natural fashion to make for a couple of organic-feeling fights. I also liked a few of the scripted battles in "Theatre of Pain" (MAP07), my favorite being a two-front imp invasion backed by a couple of Barons.

Titan 1024 is a re-imagination of the original campaign but some of the levels survived the transition more intact than others. If you've recently played the 2004 material then a couple of tributes will stand out but "Research Lab" made the best showing out of anything as far as its ideas being condensed down to a microcosm. The original Titan is garish in spots by today's standards, though. Rasmussen's detailing and architecture in these levels is pretty freakin' cool; I'd love to see a Titan 3 with this style, even granting that the author declared a dearth of ideas. While it might have been intellectually symmetrical to try to wrap something like "Warp Point" into a 1024 grid with any amount of fidelity it would have been ugly as sin and probably not any fun to play. "Mining Operation" (MAP03) is so much more satisfying, two cacodemons piled into the exit room notwithstanding.

This set is a good exhibition of the 1024 limitation. It isn't afraid to put pressure on the player but its rarely unrelenting and on a few occasions ("Pit of Peril") I actually forgot the material size of the levels that I was playing. If Ixnatifual declares himself done on the editor's side, well, it's a fine swan song to go out on, especially since so much of his material - Titan 2 in particular - was dominated by slaughter and -lite combat. If you like fast and somewhat challenging gameplay and don't mind cramped quarters or rubbing elbows with demons then give Titan 1024 a shot.

TITAN 1024

by Jesper Krag "Ixnatifual" Rasmussen

Storage Compartments

MAP01

You definitely feel the 1024 in this one but it feels natural. The cramped confines naturally lend themselves to a warehouse and "compartment" suggests the smaller, partitioned rooms. The original aspects aren't so recognizable to me but I did sort of remember the oversight balcony with the switch and security camera. As far as combat, this is an immense slog with the pistol vs. numerous zombies as well as imps and a handful of demons. There's more than enough ammo to kill everything - particularly if you can figure out the chainsaw secret - but it'll take awhile. The enforced pistol lends to the claustrophobic character of the map, especially when you're tracking monsters on multiple fronts. Or, for that matter, the enormity of the red key ambush.

MAP02

Command Tower

"Top Floor" was way too stringy and DoomCute to truly align with Ixnatifual's vision for Titan 1024. That said, this level makes a pretty decent tower on its own, as opposed to the Baron / Hell knight showdown area in the original. The penultimate fight - a lights-out battle against spectres and a Hell knight - is a good surprise scavenged from the original Titan. On glancing through, it's cool to see the imp worship altar similarly retained... alongside its explosive secret. This level plays more like a regular outing thanks to an early shotgun pickup. The player is likely to feel constrained, though, when handling the corner pocket of Hell knights and demonkin. Or, for that matter, the specters and goatman in the darkness. You're not toting a lot of firepower but if you decipher the Berserk secret then you'll pack a punch.

Mining Operation

MAP03

This map bears almost no relation to Titan's original, "Warp Point". That was a long, sprawling campaign through lunar topography and narrow, winding caves. "Operation" starts out at the facility entrance and has different west / east paths that end opposed sawtooth drops into the central red key area. There's a lot of pistol action, especially if you want to save some of your shells for the bigger baddies. None of the fights feel quite as congested as "Command Tower" but I was a little concerned at the mini-cacodemon swarm on the east side. The rocket launcher trap could have been more menacing but ZDoom's blur sphere behavior sort of took all the air out. Fun, if a little long-winded. Not a fan of the two cacodemons packed into the exit closet, though.

MAP04

Research Lab

One of the few things about Titan's techbases levels that I can remember with any clarity are these tube-shaped tunnels. You start out in one of these so it was immediately successful in evoking the original. After a cursory glance at "Experimental Labs" I think that this is the must fully realized 1024-style conversion so far. Virtually every bit of this is a thematic echo of something from 2004, whether it's the cool cross-shaped light pillars or flooded storage room. Rasmussen even works in the outdoor area and its horde of imps. "Research" knocks it up a notch in the encounter department due to the inclusion of chaingunners and a couple of brusque revenant ambushes. Ammo feels tight at the beginning but you'll be fairly well off by the time that you have to slog through the lost soul / cacodemon invasion. The secret exit is a pretty clever setup. He's a fool to do your dirty work!

Hidden Complex

MAP10

Umm. This level is a teleporter maze for the BFG but I have no idea how it is navigated apart from sheer determination. I feel like each of the teleporters takes you to a specific destination the first time it's used and adds it to a random pool to be used later. Or maybe it's always random and it only seems like a specific location since you start out not seeing any of them. This makes it especially annoying for those occasions where you feel forced to back out, like the Hell knight room with the blue armor. Given the tight confines and enemy placement this is bound to happen the first time you see many of these teleporter coffins. Finding the BFG is king since you will want it to splat the several Barons that guard the keys.

MAP05

Belly of the Beast

This is a basically faithful boss-style level using the texture scheme of "Substructure". The stepped teleporter pad depressions may reference the original's long and tall staircases. The map takes a moment to wind up as you clear the zombies and then move on to the Barons. Hitscanners are about as immediately exciting as the level gets, even with the Cyberdemon arriving on center deck. It could get tense in a hot minute, though, if you get hung up on any of the lower-tier beasties that arrive via the corner alcoves. Most importantly, you get the combat shotgun! How neat is that?

Healer's Cavern

MAP06

"Healer's Pass" was a super-long and linear tunnel crawl that eventually spat you into a basic but DoomCute keep with an arch-vile lord. The cavern itself is your starting point and occupies something like 5% of the map. The rest of the level is a tiered network of battlements and towers. I dig the brick and metal architecture; Rasmussen has executed a great look. Combat requires a tactical approach as the opposition is heavily entrenched. The windows are staffed with hitscanners and you never know when something like a pain elemental is going to pop up. There are a couple of memorable invasions to send you running to the cavern. The first will be for cover when you're under an aerial assault. The second after waking up the master of the keep.

MAP07

Theatre of Pain

Here is another instance where there is barely any relation between Titan 1024 and the original's slot beyond the marble scheme. "Theater" was a sprawling Pandemonium, though, with features like a library, an infernal cathedral, and pools full of moaning souls. Well, I guess that one pit wall has a few bookcases on it! This level refuses to take any of your bullshit. The narrow outer ring gives demons a great way to sneak up on you as you explore and perform the initial clear. The first teleport ambush - in the central area - has a ruthless efficiency that prohibits simply snagging the combat shotgun and darting out. Some of the level's massive bodycount is due to a disarming finale of plain zombimen but there are plenty of meaty invasions to fight through. I really liked the imp / Baron encounter on the plasma gun steps.

Pit of Peril

MAP08

Like MAP07 there is virtually no obvious overlap between this and Titan's original, "Bloodthirst". The one thing that sticks out is a cute descending elevator that's a callback to the massive gravel-bottom well. It's otherwise successful as a fully-realized 1024 level. The teleporter ambushes aren't all that oppressive and Rasmussen uses extraneous areas to get you involved outside the playing area. I really like the finale since it gives you a taste of what's coming before the horde starts to teleport down your throat. There are a lot of cool fights, here, even if the western trench is just lobbing rockets down the hallway at an army of Hell nobles. That is, until you run out of explosives. You get some sweet revenge with a fully-powered plasma gun. It's probably not the ideal weapon for pillar-dancing with the dang Cyber-Baron, though. Fun stuff.

MAP09

Nexus

Maintaining the general spirit of Titan's original level while also continuing to further the Hellish subterranean theme. Where 2004 had a giant marble pyramid in the crossfires of four enormous gates, though, 2012 tightens things up. The four portals are still in the playing area so all of the ensuing invasions have some level of immediacy since monsters do not have to ford city-sized topography. You have a couple of balconies, too, and as you fight on they get a few replacement waves, one of which carries some immediacy. I'm sure that the Hectebuses are dangerous as bosses in this setup but I saved my invul since I knew that they were coming. I was less prepared for the thoroughly sneaky couple of arch-viles that arrive during the Baron wave. If anything is likely to terminate your run then it's these guys. Or, uh, the pell-mell lost soul cloud that's left over when you kill the pain elementals while the next wave begins. Not my favorite boss level but not bad altogether.

UNSHRINKABLE