The DWmegawad Club plays: Akeldama

[Snikle]

MAP11: The Glacier Base

Best map yet. I’ve said that a lot in this WAD, I know. This level had some of everything (and the texturing reflected that fact). The level was long, varied in difficulty and combat scenarios, and had a sprawling layout that led through all manner of environments. And it somehow did it all in vanilla too.

 

The start of the level had me wary, with the just-big-enough-to-not-get-back drop into the main area after I left the berserk behind due to being at 80-something percent health. Then the first cyberdemon was kind of meh, since it was just him by himself, able to get plasma’d away pretty quickly. Cybers are best when they aren’t the only thing out at a given time. The second cyber was also like this for me, but I think it might’ve just been the way I played that part, I didn’t wake him up until after the SMM above was dead? Unless killing her or getting the red key is what beams him into the area. Either way, the tepid cyber fights were the only thing I have against this level.

 

Despite the huge mazelike layout I was never lost for too long (The teleporters leading from the keys to the key doors probably helped massively), although I didn’t manage to find any of the secrets. I think the fight that hurt the most was actually the first one after walking outside the main base. There is quite a large amount of space, and I went in at close to 200/200. Nope, killed me right quick. Fun shit. The other parts of the outside area were fun too, bit heavy with lost souls and sergeants but that’s not really a problem, just an observation. Visuals were stunning at all points, even if they were a bit all over the place. I like overly complex looking things, and this scratched that itch pretty well without also being gratuitous. Amazing level.

[Doom_Dude]

MAP07: Carnage Facility

 

Playing through on UV. This one was a hard map, but not overly hard. I thought the level was going to be much harder when that vile started zapping around near the start. Overall I died about 4 times. The vile at the start killed me first as I was trying to hide behind the pillars. After that I sniped him with the shotgun from below the lift. A chaingunner got me once and I think I took a surprise rocket in the noggin one time. The mancubus trap got me once but I had enough plasma saved up so I gave them some. I found three secret areas and I kinda fell into the one with the computer map. I was glad to get the soulsphere as I really needed it at the time. The megasphere I just let it sit there until I really needed it and eventually did, plus it looked like a trap.. The level itself was actually easy to navigate although I did run about in circles a few times, but that's nothing abnormal and it wasn't frustrating or anything. I like how areas connected to previously visited places. I thought the area with the balconies and the nukage at the bottom / blue key was going to harder but then noticed the stairs and was glad. Part way through the level I was thinking, this map is pretty fun. It lived up to it's name. :)

 

One of these days, I'll catch up.

Edited July 11, 2020 by Doom_Dude

[Phobus]

MAP11: Glacier Base

Incredible map - there's always two ways to your next objective, and everything seems to loop back around nicely however you choose to go. Playing continuous on Ultra Violence didn't seem to put me too far ahead, as you get well-equipped for everything except rockets very early on, and then build up rockets not long after the dual Cyberdemon encounter. This seems like a map best taken a step at a time, as running around there's always a good risk of another Arch-Vile or tough ambush to trigger. Fortunately, I was pretty methodical and kept on top of the risks comfortably...

 

Aside from when I went outside in the middle of the map. The first warp-in early in the map put an Arachnotron in my face and the drop down was just big enough that I couldn't backtrack, but there was plenty of health in the room and space to dodge around. This ambush, outside, with the clump of Mancubi and other clump of Arachnotrons seemed to be a lot more dangerous, as I ended up with very low health despite having a blue armour and having found the secret soulsphere. I didn't die, but I was rather beaten up. The risk from chaingunners up high and far away probably discouraged me from running about more, so I stayed trapped in a corner, not far from the narrow locked door.

 

After this, advancing up through the caves, I kept in a bad way, with a few deaths conceded to the warp-in Arch-Vile and Lost Souls to the stairs, which drove me back to the Chaingunners and Arachnotrons who had warped in behind me. Still, I'm a save-scumming kind of guy, so I was prepared to dig through this. Got a bit sloppy with the Arch-Vile, but eventually beat him after a couple of dumb deaths.

 

After that, I worked out the secret megasphere and was pretty set until the very last fight, where you teleport up behind the yellow key door and are open to a loose arc of Hell Knights and two Revenants. Finishing the map on 130/130 seemed fine, particularly as none of the four Cyberdemons or the Spider Mastermind got a hit in. I left the third secret undiscovered, as I'd been playing for quite a while already.

 

So yes, expert work with the layout and a decent challenge of UV that seemed to have a bit of a sine-wave difficulty curve. The four Zombiemen and a Demon on the way to the yellow key were definitely about as low as the challenge got, but the great use of Arachnotrons and Mancubi in the map, plus frequent Arch-Viles and Revenants meant I was always at risk. Ammo supplies seem to build and deplete well, too, which was nice. I generally felt I had the ammo to really stand and fight when I needed to, and also could "hide behind" my ammo supplies when my health was low and I didn't want to take risks. Very well done! The music was very enjoyable, too. With the soundfont I'm using, it reminded me of the ZDCMP1 main music track.

 

One negative note I have is that the texturing was perhaps a bit overdone. It seemed as though every room had four or five colours at least, and lots of variations on the theme. Whilst this helped keep the architecture clear and made rooms and structures memorable, it felt messy and chaotic in some rooms, even if other areas using the same technique with different textures looked fine, or even good!

 

EDIT: Oh yeah, shout out to the dick-move Arch-Vile that teleports in behind you when a Chaingunner pops up in front of you... In a small room... With chaingunners around the corner. I'm glad I survived the hit as I backpedalled out of there...

Edited July 11, 2020 by Phobus

[DuckReconMajor]

MAP11: The Glacier Base

prBoom+ 2.5.1.7um, skill 4, continuous with saves, no complevel specified

 

This map started out as an incredibly wild ride, which lasted for a while until many of the demons killed each other and things calmed down. Then came the many setpiece fights afterward.

In no small part due to my usual sloppy playstyle, I went into super-savescum mode and crawled along at a few HP in a couple parts. This is sometimes fun and sometimes not, this map was so varied I feel like I felt every conceivable thing throughout the duration of it. I got lost a few times but when I found the next part of the level each time it paid off in the next part which would be fun.

I also do get annoyed at the chaingunner windows, when I realize one is happening I pretty much immediately slam the F3 key.

 

Yet again I did pop doom builder open as I refused to leave the level without that megasphere.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP11: The Glacier Base

 

I find myself a bit more back-and-forth in my opinion on this map than I expected to be while playing through most of it.  It's well-designed, with a pretty open layout that, though it only lets you into specific chunks of the map sequentially, often gives you multiple routes via which you might traverse those chunks and different angles from which you might approach its challenges.  Combat is likewise nicely varied; much of the map is open enough that the monsters can mill about and get at you from unexpected directions or at least shuffle around to thwart your outflanking manoeuvres and block your progress, but there are a few significant ambushes (mostly in the south-western outdoors/cavern area of the map) and a couple of pitched battles against boss-tier monsters to provide sustained climactic notes amidst the crescendos and diminuendos of its progression.  All the parts are there for a really good map, and if I found myself liking it less toward the end I think I can only put that down to a sense that it was bloated and overlong; I feel you could probably reduce the size of the initial maze area in the north of the map, as well as cropping out the cistern area that immediately precedes the south-western oudoors/cavern expedition, without hurting the level's ability to deliver satisfaction.

Reading the comments from @Phobus above it's clear that this map plays very differently on Ultraviolence versus the lower difficulty settings; the noted frequent arch-viles that define Ultraviolence are completely absent in single-player Hurt Me Plenty.  That's a bold mapping choice, and I do appreciate the effort to deliver very different gameplay experiences in the same set of spaces and structures on different difficulty levels, so kudos to @waverider for succeeding magnificently at that.

[loveless]

prboom+, no saves, uv pistol starts  
map 11   

 

this map fed my desires as a combat connoisseur.  set piece after set piece, not too much or too little ammo and health; it's got everything i want.  
it took four attempts to get an exit and on the final attempt, my route was different.  
first three tries, i'd go the way of blue/yellow key and die before reaching red.  
shuffled my order and oh boy it nearly cost me!  
taking the ledge with the yellow key progression switch, sniping the chaingunner real quick, and nearly being pinned to the wall by arachs got my hands sweaty.  
that final arena was....something.  holding mouse1 for deal life and letting my plasma doing the talking was the move.  
clear the revenants, spectres, then hell knights so i may focus fire the cyber from safety.  
exit time was a bit over 39 minutes.  dying to the finale would have been grinding!

akeldama-11-loveless.7z

[Woolie Wool]

MAP11: Glacier Base by Waverider (4/5)
Skill: HMP | Time: 35:19 | Kills: 97% | Items: 64% | Secrets: 0%
"Glacier Base" follows in the tradition of episode climaxes taking gameplay and architectural themes from earlier in the episode and pushing them to their limits. The boxy, icy, sometimes watery techbase sprawl of the previous maps continues, but now blown up to heroic proportions. Every corridor is a promenade, every tunnel a cavern. Mancubi and arachnotrons abound, but the huge spaces to move around in nullify most of their threat, and similarly neuters several confrontations with cyberdemons and spiderdemons in which the player has the advantages of distance and space and can simply hose the bosses down with plasma until they keel over with almost no risk. More of a threat are the hitscanners, both because the long sightlines of this map naturally work to their advantage, and because Waverider's hitscanner placement is a bit less predictable and a lot less merciful than the string of big hitscan-heavy maps preceding this one. It would have been a standout map in 1996, and is still good fun and a satisfying adventure today.

 

MAP12: Urban Strike by Complexdoomer and Valkiriforce (4/5)
Skill: HMP | Time: 18:33 | Kills: 90% | Items: 57% | Secrets: 25%
A welcome change in pace both in gameplay and visuals, "Urban Strike" trades the gray cinder blocks and grayer ice for a map set among skyscraper rooftops, draped in a mixture of grungy metal and neon tech, overlooked by an ominous red sky, that evokes early levels from Mutiny. Encounters are more complex and faster-paced than previous maps, with enemies frequently appearing behind the player, and hitscanners being used to support the meatier demons in the front of a fight rather than being vomited forth in a big wave right into the killzone of your chaingun.

[Endless]

MAP11: Glacier Base

UV, LZDoom and Brutal Doom mod.

 

We're done with this theme, now for the next one: Europe! And of course, as expected from the final part, this map has been the longest so far. It took me 27 minutes with my frantic mode and obviously without having everything at 100%, but I have to say that it was one of the most entertaining maps. It was filled to the teeth with demons and apparently the creator is a fan of placing Cyberdemons in closed areas. I'm not a big fan of that, but I still managed to get over it. For the first time I've died more than three times on a map, and guess why?

Leaving that aside, this map has also been one of the most attractive, once again we are in the snow theme, with a combination of green/brown bases and white and blue exteriors, I must say that it is a quite attractive texture work that makes me admire for a few seconds the scenery after a combat. Peace after suffering.

 

A big map full of rooms, halls, rivers, exteriors and demons until the end of the world, especially Revenants and Hellknights. It leaves a taste of victory to finish this map, and that is a great success.

 

[kawadec]

Took a crack at another three levels:

 

MAP06 - “Insurrection” by Gothic

Holy slaughterfest Batman, this map lays on thick with the baddies, especially toward the end. Fortunately ammo was never really a problem. Was glad to be done with those revenants hanging about on top of pillars. Started thinking toward the end of the level that these maps are gonna get pretty painful if the plasma rifle doesn't show up soon. And on that note...

 

MAP07 - “Carnage Facility” by valkiriforce

Saw that fire staff (this mod's plasma rifle replacement) through a small window, promptly used the boomerang to yoink it out to me. Not sorry :) Noticing a lot of occasions where groups of enemies just jump-cut into existence. Not sure if that was intentional or something broke, and it is kinda funny to watch, but I dunno, having them just pop in rather than warp in or rise from the ground or something looks a bit raw, y'know? Also seemed like there were some rooms where, aside from having demons to kill, there wasn't much other reason to go in them? Maybe they were tied to secrets in the level (maybe the ones I circumvented through the power of boomerangs).

 

MAP08 - “Arctic Compound” by Diego ‘DJV’ Villarroel, valkiriforce

Hot damn, love the music in this one. Some really enjoyable encounters in this one, too; layout made for some fights that were more run n' gun than the last two maps. Favorite has to be the yellow door room; felt good to zip around in there, melting mancubi with the fire staff and picking off cacos with the SSG. Got a bit lost partway through, due to mistaking a snowy area beyond a lift to be a backtrack to the start of the level; eventually pulled up the map and figured it out. Other than that this experience was a delight.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Pseudonaut]

Map12: FDA including 1 death, no exit.

 

I eventually finished the map with saves. There were a lot of wandering, unpredictable hitscanners (especially chaingunners), often sneaking up on me while I was trying to deal with hell knights and revenants, so the fights are definitely dangerous.

 

As with 10 and 11, there's nothing obviously wrong with it, but I didn't enjoy it much. Actually it seems like one of the better levels so far, but I'm starting to think I'm just tired of this wad, and it isn't really for me. I'm gonna stop playing for now.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP11 - "The Glacier Base" - Mattias "Waverider" Johansson (100%K/98%I/66%S):

Lot to say about this map, what a journey we have here, as a propper episode finale, here we have a map by the guy behind the second part of "MAP01". Remember the first map had two totally different zones? Well the second one was made by Waverider, and yes, you'll find tons of similarities in between both maps. I think in fact, that this looks like a reprise of MAP01, and that's really nice, as it serves perfectly as an episode finale.
What I don't like is the texture choices here, it's all over the place, feeling totally exagerated how much a wall can change its textures. As some said, the map can feel pretty confusing as you won't notice often you are not in the same place as before.
Finally we have some kind of proper boss fights here, right at the start, specially with the cyberdemon (cyberdemons in UV), and all those big rooms and fights full of mid/high tier enemies. What is strange is that there is not a single instance of AV's in this map if you play it in HMP. Map is still challenging by the way, but the lack of them is something. Guarding the RK you will find what Decino would define as "F tier Spiderdemon positioning". As you have one mastermind pretty high up on a pillar, which you can kill pretty easily if you plasma spam her from the bottom of the pit. Talking about plasma, there is a lot of plasma rifle-action here, as you'll find one at the start of the first fight, and a lot of plasma cells thrown all over the place.
The map is a big maze specially before the first key grab.
Again I love the transition from techbase to the outside, better made than in MAP01, but still feeling like a reprise of said map.
The ending felt kinda weird, an enemy, in this case a mancubi, which is a Cyberdemon in UV, is guarding the exit teleporter, and can snipe you from a long distance. Then you have a switch at the middle, that only serves the purpose of lowering the lift so you can go back. Yes, weird progression on that last bit, I did not undestand why the lift didn't lower from the other side and you have to tp to the outside.

Deaths: 16 (HMP Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

MAP10
MAP11
MAP05
MAP06
MAP04
MAP09
MAP08
MAP07
MAP03
MAP02
MAP01

Again, cases in which you would find an AV in HMP are rare. I think I only encountered 3 or 4.

Edited July 12, 2020 by DJVCardMaster

[Biodegradable]

MAP12 - Urban Strike

HMP | Continuous Play with Saves | Running on GZDoom + Hellrider

 

This was another really fun one combat-wise. Densely packed with demons with teleporting trickery and sneaky monster closets that kept me on my toes and would nail me in my second death for this megaWAD. Feels very much coming off the heels of MAP10 as the heat continues to be turned up as I found myself close to death on multiple occasions. My secret finding ability is still woeful, though there is a funny moment that folks who watch my footage will probably get a kick out of regarding that. Thematically, this map seems of have more in common with MAP02 and MAP08 in that more industrial kind of vibe with its layout and texture work as opposed to the snowy medieval aesthetic the majority of the megaWAD has been presenting to us thus far. So, while it does share a more drab theme like those ones, it more than makes up for it with its balls-to-the-wall combat and overall flow that kept things action-packed and engaging.

 

Gameplay footage:

Spoiler

 

 

[Phobus]

MAP12: Urban Strike

I spotted this texturing error, in amongst the general chaos that was the texturing of this map:

 

Saying that, generally speaking the map looked alright - much like the last one, a lot of textures (or colours) are used in each area to create more of a visual "busy-ness", which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Unlike the last map, I would say the music wasn't all that great either. Not bad, but nothing to get excited about.

 

That's probably the sum of my "constructive" feedback here. I enjoyed the map, and didn't mind the big step down in early difficulty. In fact, I quite appreciated it! Of course, things do pick back up as the map progresses. I had a strange handicap, playing this one rather tired after staying up late speed-mapping last night. I didn't feel like I was playing badly, but I was making a lot of unforced errors and taking damage that I often didn't need to. The secret blue armour I found in particular did not last long! That secret was also my only death of the map, on my first attempt at it. Fortunately I'd saved not long before finding it, as it was quite unexpected. The biggest surprise was how effective the Baron was at shutting off my retreat from the two warped-in Revenants down the 64-unit gap between the crates and the wall. Clearly a good use for them!

 

Speaking of secrets, I appreciated the nested and chained nature of the secrets I did find (I got 5/8, but one of those was a "double dinger", where the ceiling detail counted as a separate secret) - the one by the green armour was a great example, as it allows you to defuse a trap, pick up some more supplies and leads to another secret that is basically a whole optional area.

 

Not too much more to say here, as my thoughts are rather disorganised. It's fun, has a nice variety of environments and is a solid layout, presenting us with a couple of doors through to some of the next segments in the progression, although not indulging in the same non-linear approach to battles as the previous map.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP12: Urban Strike

 

This one brings a change of setting and a similarly significant change of pace, feeling much more "steady" in its deployment of enemy forces and the staging of its gameplay spaces than the more frantic, chaotic, and fast-paced gameplay into which the player was dropped in each new cluster or node of the preceding map.  The variety is quite welcome, and though the overall style is a bit more subdued here, I think in doing so it's better able to differentiate its various areas than MAP11's interiors which tended to be a bit too bright and jumbled full of different textures for each part of the complex to develop its own character.  It's also a good example of a map in which secrets are rewarding to find in and of themselves, new areas opening up and new interconnections becoming apparent quite apart from the material rewards they deliver.  If this is an indication of things to come in this episode/cluster then I'm definitely looking forward to the maps ahead.

[Snikle]

MAP12: Urban Strike

Amazing urban-themed level here. Again I was surprised this worked in vanilla. I very much enjoyed the use of green textures in some parts of the level, really made the visuals pop. Combat here was fun throughout, the only part that grated on me a bit was the large crate-filled courtyard between the two buildings. Lots of long-range hitscanners running around out there. All these levels so far had sort of a “TNT” feel to them, just pulled off more competently. I found 6 of the 8 secrets, all though many of them were chained together at various points. For example, finding the secret room with the plasma rifle also allowed you to get the (separate) secret blue armor. I also found a secret soulsphere in that same building, so I left in pretty good shape after getting the red key (which was surprisingly the only key in the level), but that all got drained back down out in that large courtyard again, thanks to a bunch of chaingunners and hell knights teleporting in. I didn’t find the large secret chain in the green armor room near the start of the level until I had nearly finished and noticed I never went into that room to begin with. Another great level, interested to see what else is in store for me.

[Andromeda]

MAP12: Urban Strike (Akeldama)

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, HNTR-PS, no saves, 100% everything

 

We kick off the second episode with this rather quirky level situated in a city. The start can be quite tricky with several roaming hitscanners that will try to shoot you from every angle, especially if you enter the crate area in the centre where it's surprisingly difficult to take cover. This hublike section also houses 5 out of 8 secrets (3 of them chained) that also reward you with an opportunity to kill some of the last enemies early and take a gander at the surrounding buildings, besides providing supplies.

 

Next we have an outdoor bit with a helipad and some midtiers, easily dealt with by using the newly acquired SSG. The following building is where the bulk of the level takes place. First we have some cool barrel action, then we traverse a few more rooms infested with hitscanners to find the red key tucked in a teleport closet for some reason. Don't forget to collect the last 3 secrets, all located nearby. Time to backtrack, dealing with traps that have triggered along the way and culminating in a well timed teleport ambush in the outside area that I wasn't expecting - not very hard to deal with though considering the monsters only spawn in front of you. There's not much more to the level, just a couple of traps that you can skip if you want. A serviceable level, nothing memorable but does its job well.

Edited July 12, 2020 by Andromeda

[DuckReconMajor]

MAP12: Urban Strike

prBoom+ 2.5.1.7um, skill 4, continuous with saves, no complevel specified

 

Great level. I'm not a huge fan of this new sky so far, and it clashes a lot with the return of my favorite green bricks, but it'll do.

Barrel-assisted destruction seems to be a motif of this wad and I have been enjoying it a lot.

I actually managed to find most of the secrets without assistance which added to the fun.

Even on continuous this map was pretty tight on ammo, though I never got too close to completely running out.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Pirx]

played a bit in advance and trying now to remember map details. some stood out, while there were sprawling ones i had to revisit because they were getting mixed up in my mind.

 

 

MAP06 - “Insurrection” by Gothic

 

reminded me of oldschhol maps from memento mori or requiem. looks like them in its predominantly brown colors, plays like them, with enemies placed mostly in front of the player so they rarely get him out of his comfort zone. maybe minus the imp slaughter in the end, the classic mappers weren't that evil iirc.

 

 

MAP07 - “Carnage Facility” by valkiriforce

 

this one offers more carnage, duh. far more. chaingunners by the dozen. one better skips the av fight in the beginning. the map if often a clashing mix of textures and offers sprawling, interconnected sections. plays better when you know it already, imo. funny part with the exploding zombies at the megasphere. on the other hand, the troll move with the teleport onto the pinkies after getting the blue key wasn't amusing. exited with barely 20% or so secrets because looking for them took too long.

 

 

 

MAP08 - “Arctic Compound” by Diego ‘DJV’ Villarroel, valkiriforce

 

@Woolie Wool, i should have posted that earlier because those were exactly the maps that arctic compound reminded me of, mm & requiem maps by möller or worch. the door leading to the rk section with the hks and revs was a bit off, a wooden door that doesn't open, but with a metallic lift under it? gameplay was rather relaxed, bigger groups of mid-tiers in each of the rooms with the large doors, but then, just showing my face and leaving them alone with their spat cleared often half of them.

 

 

 

MAP09 - “Winter Stronghold” by The Mysterious Moustachio

 

a classic hub with paths to the sections of the map. some running is required in the beginning to evade enemies and get weapons, after that it doesn't get really threatening. at least, it seems that the map favors a slower approach without much running and gunning, like in the north-east part with the crates, or the imp island hopping. not so spectacular but efficient. found it a nice map with a sense of adventure.

 

 

 

MAP10 - “Hangar Facility” by valkiriforce, The Mysterious Moustachio

 

a map with some large, partly empty spaces, and with the trucks at the end it would have indeed fitted evilution. i liked these big, underdetailed spaces, perhaps for nostalgia? you don't see them often in modern wads. gameplay is ok in the beginning, due to chaingunners and revenants here and there, but after crossing that bridge, the big boxy rooms with nobles, revs, and then that spider boss were an exercise in infighting and predictable. crossing the bridge was hilarious though, as the mancubus blasted all imps off it, and then i tried shooting the barrels on the other side, only to end up with 3 well preserved barrels, and a pile of dead hellspawn around.

 

 

 

MAP11 - “The Glacier Base” by waverider

 

@Biodegradable: that pistol, lol. blows imps away like it's a sniper rifle.

now that is partly your startan & co base, partly icy outdoor, has plenty of enemies and adequate amounts of ammo from the very beginning, so it's no big deal to promptly gun down the 2 siege cows in the first hall, and everything that follows. iirc the only dangerous encounter was the vile + rev party in the ice cave where you come out of the teleporter. the rest was often, dodge a bit and spam plasma at them, especially the big hall with the spider on a column. i too think the authors got a bit arried away with adding rooms to this sprawling map. i ended up running through hall after hall littered with corpses and no idea where to go next, so i had to navigate using the automap. well, when i exited, it still felt like an adventure and an achievement. i guess this one plays better when one knows it already. 

 

 

 

MAP12 - “Urban Strike” by complexDoomer, valkiriforce

 

this was a good one. starts with a crate maze with a corridor around it - actually, how i ran around it first and over the chaingunners in my way reminded me of clearing that corridor around map03 of tnt. looking for secrets pays off. there are several ambushes with enemies suddenly coming out of closets or teleporting in your back, something you have to be aware of. the fun starts when you return to the courtyard with the crates, and lots of baddies spawn. i ran around them, taunted them, killing just the occasional shotgunners, and was left with 3 knights standing. this was the main attraction. the rest was cleaning out some more rooms (the brown one with the shotgunners in closets), pressing a switch, while flicking my mouse to turn just in case it was an ambush again... wait the map ended? that was unexpected  ;)

 

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by Pirx

[Deadwing]

12: pretty fun map. I thought it would be a larger map, but actually the quest for thr rk is most of it. The secrets here were really cool to find because they were filled with enemies. So cool that one of the screens shots I saw in the thread was actually from a secret area.

 

Anyway, this bring a very distinct visual, although still techbase but with red sky and without snow. The level of detailing is high and cool with the green lighting. I'm curious to see what the next maps will bring us.

 

MAP Preference

 

10, 4, 5, 9, 12, 11, 7, 1, 8, 3, 2, 6

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP12 - "Urban Strike" -  ComplexDoomer & Michael Jan "Valkiriforce" Krizik (90%K/70%I/37%S):

A rather simplistic map here, with the name taken from an old classic Sega Genesis game. I did not like it, the stiking green colors here were something that I could never dig off, also the texturing work overall was unappealing. The starting room is pretty similar from the one at the middle of my map (MAP24) which we'll talk about it later, but bigger. It was possibly based of on TNT MAP03 anyway. Combat here and finding secrets were the things that I liked about this map. But apart from that, progression was too simple, you go back and fort through the same place without any additional paths or things like that. I also really like the changes made by Valkiriforce, the city buildings at the outside room, which look kinda amazing in comparison to the rest of the map. This map before was even more simple before in alpha.
Not that bad but I feel it felt in comparison to the rest of the maps. Obviously is an episode starter, so the idea was making it a little bit more simple.

Deaths: 17 (HMP Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

MAP10
MAP11
MAP05
MAP06
MAP04
MAP09
MAP08
MAP07
MAP03
MAP02
MAP01
MAP12

I'm feeling I'm the only one who did not dig this by the way.

[Woolie Wool]

MAP13: Toxic Disgust by Juza (4/5)

Skill: HMP | Time: 20:24 | Kills: 99% | Items: 100% | Secrets: 0%

 

If the previous map was a bit green, its greenness is vastly overshadowed by "Toxic Disgust", which uses some Alien Vendetta textures to bathe most of the map in verdant hues. However, don't take this green for environmental friendliness, as the majority of the map has you navigating tunnels and caverns choked with toxic nukage, though, in one of the most annoying level design tropes in all of Doomdom, only most of the nukage is damaging, with the yellow key room having non-damaging nukage. Both to the noodly McGee-ish layout and the abundance of toxic green goo, maneuvering space is limited, a problem compounded by many encounters spawning in monsters directly behind the player. Still, quick reactions and a cool head will see most players to the end with relatively little trouble. After a string of dud midis from other musicians, AD_79 turns in a somber, brooding piece that is one of the wad's standouts.

[Endless]

MAP12: Urban Strike

UV, LZDoom and Brutal Doom mod.

 

Europe looks a lot like the US to me. But the map! Yeah, this time it had a much simpler design without to much of a complex layaout. Pretty linear in comparison to the others but still very fun. The difficulty is much lower compared to map 11, as expected, but I'm pretty sure this will get harder. Overall, not a lot to say, it was good, decent enough, but nothing extreme for me. Probably the most vanilla so far.

[golbeeze]

Well, I played through 11 levels and decided I had enough of the wad. I don't care for the style and I wasn't enjoying it. I'll try again next month.

[loveless]

prboom+, no saves, uv pistol starts  
map 12 

 

bit of a shorter one, a nice change of pace from yesterday.  strafing gaps is always fun and doing it twice is worth it.  automap and soulsphere early on is never unwelcome.  blue hall secret leading to the warehouse fight was unexpectedly cramped.  this is where my only death took place, i found myself sandwiched between a baron and a caco near the ceiling.  the secret fight and hall behind the spawn was pretty fun.  it always pays to be mindful as seas of hitscan and nearby barrels is never a winning combination for the player.  the following bit where you spam plasma at the tele is good, too.  never hurts to keep a few cells on hand.  i'll admit this is probably my sloppiest demo so far.  it was 110F today, i do not have air conditioning, and i'm more or less sitting in a vortex made by fans.  it was a constant battle between paying attention and fiddling with my hair.

akeldama-12-loveless.7z

[Biodegradable]

MAP13 - Toxic Disgust

HMP | Continuous Play with Saves | Running on GZDoom + Hellrider

 

Creepy, cramped and so, so green. Tight corridor action to be found throughout this one with sneaky hidden monster closets, teleporting ambushes from behind and surprise chaingunners and an overwhelming abundance of Hell Knights. This map has taught me to hate those green cowmen, grr. While I tanked a lot of damage because of how tight and densely packed with enemies the place is, I managed to hold my own. While I did get a little annoyed at one point, it was all in good fun in the end. Definitely one to remember among the more unique maps that Akeldama has brought us. Don't really have much else to say other than it kind of reminded me of the part in Conker's Bad Fur Day where you're wandering around inside the giant stone dinosaur's snot-encrusted nose.

 

Gameplay footage:

Spoiler

 

 

[Deadwing]

13: Yup, cramped indeed, and very green. Some nice small setpieces here too as well as a lot, lot of hitscanners to kill. I found myself needing more health in the first section until I got to the green cave and it became easier due to the focus on mid-tiers/projectile enemies. This map is very different from everything we've seen so far in this wad, reminding me of some dungeon crawlers from AV but with more interesting layout and enemies placement.

 

MAP Preference

 

10, 4, 5, 9, 12, 11, 7, 1, 8, 3, 13, 2, 6

Edited July 13, 2020 by Deadwing

[Phobus]

MAP13: Toxic Disgust

I didn't like this one. It's cramped, choked with hitscanners in many parts and seems fixated on warping enemies in close to and/or behind you. The fact that a lot of random parts were trapped or triggered ambushes as well as every key objective reminded me of why I lost interest in community output a few years ago, and also put me in mind of why tightly "scripting" (or more "choreographing") a map is a lot easier to make unenjoyable than just giving the player some space and freedom.

 

Still, it's a lot more cohesively textured than the last two maps, and the green cave bit was pretty nice to look at, even if it remained the same functionally as the rest of the map.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP13: Toxic Disgust

 

Annnd we're done here, see you guys next month.

[Arbys550]

I fell behind again because of another camping trip.

 

Map10: Hangar Facility

It was pretty good. I liked the canyon area. Also rare footage of imps infighting with each other at the beginning.

 

Map11: The Glacier Base

This one was really long and had some hard moments. I didn't like one part where an archvile randomly teleported behind me and killed me.

 

Map12: Urban Strike

I thought it was okay. I don't really remember anything that happened in this map.

 

Videos:

Spoiler

 

 

Ranking:

Spoiler

Map08: Arctic Compound

Map06: Insurrection

Map07: Carnage Facility

Map02: Knights of Ilasac

Map11: The Glacier Base

Map10: Hangar Facility

Map03: Renegades

Map04: Chillwell

Map12: Urban Strike

Map09: Winter Stronghold

Map01: The Generator

Map05: Bunker Hill

 

Edited July 13, 2020 by Arbys550

[Juza]

Thanks a lot for the feedback on MAP13; it was one of the first levels I ever made. It really brings a smile to my face and means a lot to me that people are commenting on it.

 

I worked on the first half of MAP20, it's just more of the same gameplay as MAP13. Pretty bad, in comparison to valkiriforce's half, which absolutely rocks and saves the map imo.

Edited July 13, 2020 by Juza