Invictus (INVICTUS.WAD)

INVICTUS

by Rex Claussen

Wow, it's been a long time since I've played me some Claussen maps. Pre-Invictus, Rex made a ton of levels including a series of partial and total conversions (A Hex On You, Phoenix Rising, Paranoia, Temple of the Ancients, The Darkest Hour). Along the way, while I imagine The Darkest Hour was about a month away from being released, Claussen participated in DoomCenter's E1 Mapping Contest in 2001. His entry, "Invictus" (E1M6), was a break from form in a variety of ways. It included no copy and pasted geometry from his previous levels and tended toward more abstract level geometry based in OG Doom's aesthetic compared to, say, the more Quake II- or Half-Life-esque base and office designs.

Invictus didn't win, but Claussen venturing out of his comfort zone was apparently a big moment for him, prompting an essay called "Ten Good Reasons to Build an E1 Style Level". He eventually uploaded this one to /idgames in early 2002, maybe after realizing that no one was going to upload the compiled E1CONTEST megaWAD. The standalone version of Invictus is an E1M7 replacement that should play back in any source port. It was originally in E1M6's contest slot, likely because it was anonymized and compiled for Romero to play. It fits a little better in E1M7 as it superficially resembles "Computer Station" in its design elements.

The title of this map is Latin for "unconquered", more or less. This is not the first level published by Rex that uses a Latin title. His debut release was named Quo Vadis, aka PUGILIST, the phrase more or less translating to “Where are you going?”, originating from a Christian tradition where Saint Peter encounters the revived Jesus Christ as he attempts to escape crucifixion. The encounter prompts Peter to return to Rome where he is crucified, upside-down, the symbolism of which has been co-opted for Satanic imagery in all sorts of media. I am now realizing that Quo Vadis may be a scholarly, sneaky reference. There is a church that exists where Christians traditionally understand the meeting between Peter and Jesus to occur, The Church of Domine Quo Vadis. The first map in PUGILIST primarily contains a church, and its windows are cut out as St. Peter’s crosses.

"Invictus" is also the title of a poem by William Ernest Henley. An anonymous /idgames commentator (I think this style of comment / review has since been claimed by Effingham Huffnagel?) points out that it was used as US domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh’s final statement prior to his execution. McVeigh was responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing, the final death toll of which reached 168 victims. Two more eerie details: 1) The UV monster count of Invictus is 8 shy of the Oklahoma bombing at 160. 2) McVeigh was executed on June 11, 2001, one month before the E1 Contest kicked off in July of 2001. To be clear, I am not implying that Rex was paying tribute to McVeigh’s memory. Based on what character Rex has sprinkled about himself online, I’m inclined to believe that he is NOT a white nationalist sympathizer. I’m also not suggesting that Invictus is meant to be a tribute to the victims of the Oklahoma bombing.

"Invictus" was written from the perspective of a man with only one leg who was facing the prospect of having his other, remaining leg removed. It has been used for inspiration by a variety of individuals who suffered under adversity, whether they were Civil Rights advocates or believed themselves to be justified in murdering 168 people, 19 of whom were children, and wounding countless more both physically and psychologically. As a cheeky person, I could see Rex titling Invictus with the knowledge that vanilla mapping was not exactly his forte, having primarily crafted levels in ZDoom (not to mention a dearth of then-produced E1 levels), and he was submitting this to a contest that was going to be judged by John Romero. I don’t know if anyone in the contest knew who was making maps for it, but a lot of great E1 tribute maps came out prior to the DoomCenter E1 Contest. I’m still kind of amazed that the winning contest entry is Jeffrey Crenshaw’s only known map.

As to whether "Invictus" fits within the context of the map's action, the encounter design and item placement of this level is not at all accommodating to the player. Typical E1 gunplay involves a ton of shotgun guys which is potentially Hell on your health but it means that you are rarely wanting for shells, with the player almost kicking guns aside as you stroll through the hallways. The placement of shotgun zombies is very deliberate with an eye toward controlling early ammo access. This map is full of and frontloaded with imps, demons, and spectres, ready to sponge up what ammo you can find. There are both a Berserk pack and a chainsaw available for players to jump down to and they'll help save ammo or, in the case of spectres in the dark, health and potentially time. HMP and HNTR don't really change the amount of available ammo but cut out a significant amount of monsters, with HNTR and ITYTD even including a shotgun pickup, so they're worth checking out for a less oppressive E1 experience.

From a map view, Claussen's level looks more like an E1M1 on steroids, like a really chunky ray gun. You start out at the farthest western point and have three potential paths to choose, two of which are fraught with peril. You aren't going to find a weapon anytime soon on HMP and UV taking the middle or southern paths, and the southern one is through toxic waste, virtually requiring the secret enviro suit in order for you to fully investigate it. The path of least resistance is the northern fork, through a "Nuclear Station" (E1M2)-derived bunker. Here you can pry a weapon from the hands of a shotgun zombie, grab the box of shells from behind the imp ledge, and then start working in earnest.

I like the design of the base. As mentioned, it's nominally E1M7-ish with its multiple paths connected by windows and the southern nukage wing, but it also has some obvious E1M2 overtures with the shotgun guy bunker and a wide outdoor area with a chaingun pickup. It's a cerebral level in that it's a little tricky to navigate with its use of windows and sawtooths. Claussen requires you to raise a bridge by flipping a series of switches near windows that let you look into the large, settling-pond like room that dominates the eastern part of the map. The nukage track is technically optional apart from being an alternate route that allows you to secure the Berserk powerup prior to acquiring the blue key, which is a neat touch.

Invictus is too quirky to be an E1 forgery. I love little moments like the passage around the southern sawtooth that looks into the nukage tunnel, or the blue key tech shrine, but it feels more like an amalgam of E1 and E2 design principles to me, not that this is a bad thing. On the contrary! I wish that Claussen had made more OG Doom levels like this instead of the less adventurous Claussified remakes of Phobos Revisited, Deimos: Slight Return, and Infernos. As it stands, I'm interested in his Wicked series, given that he appears to been inspired to take a break from his quaint mini-TCs to make something resembling more classic Doom II PWAD design.

If you like slightly weird Doom maps garnished with a few homages then give Invictus a shot. That is, if you haven't already played it as part of DoomCenter's E1 Contest compilation. Here's looking forward to the next run of Claussen levels!

OUT OF THE NIGHT THAT COVERS ME,

BLACK AS THE PIT FROM POLE TO POLE,

I THANK WHATEVER GODS MAY BE

FOR MY UNCONQUERABLE SOUL.

IN THE FELL CLUTCH OF CIRCUMSTANCE

I HAVE NOT WINCED NOR CRIED ALOUD.

UNDER THE BLUDGEONINGS OF CHANCE

MY HEAD IS BLOODY, BUT UNBOWED.

IT MATTERS NOT HOW STRAIT THE GATE,

HOW CHARGED WITH PUNISHMENTS THE SCROLL,

I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE,

I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MY SOUL.