The DWmegawad Club plays: KINDa

dobu gabu maru · October 1, 2021

What is the DWmegawad Club?

This is a place where we settle down, have a cup of tea (or drink of your choice) and take a month to play through a megawad on our own, together! Any keen observations, criticisms, or frustrated ranting about it goes here in the discussion. As long as you want to say something about what you've played, feel free to speak your mind.

Can I join?

Sure. The only rule is that you have to play at least some of the levels in our monthly megawad to contribute, but you're generally encouraged to finish the whole thing, even if you've played it before.

What levels am I allowed to post about?

Whatever day of the month it is, is the upper limit for the map you can post on. So if it’s the 6th, you may discuss up to MAP06.

Do I have to post an entry every day?

Nope, not at all. This is only for our more enthusiastic members. As long as you play through it with us you’re part of the club.

When do we vote on the next month’s megawad?

Voting begins on the 25th of the current month. Remember to add one “+++” before your vote to make it easier to count. For example:

+++ Ultimate Doom

Note that you can only nominate up to three separate wads for a single month, and the wads must contain at least three maps each. The winning wad must receive at least four votes for a thread to be made. Ties will be decided by RNG.

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>>>DOWNLOAD KINDa HERE<<<

KINDa is a one-whoosh limit-removing megawad made by TheMightyWhoosh, enhanced by the feedback of our fellow Doomers. It’s pretty neat, so get playing!

Maplist:

MAP01 - “Go”

MAP02 - “Hell’s Cavity”

MAP03 - “Toxic”

MAP04 - “Treehouse”

MAP05 - “Leak”

MAP06 - “Cement”

MAP07 - “The UAC Project”

MAP08 - “Deux”

MAP09 - “Death Delivery”

MAP10 - “Blood and Mud”

MAP11 - “Her Keep”

MAP12 - “Monster Monopoly”

MAP13 - “Blast”

MAP14 - “Death’s Dwelling”

MAP15 - “Blackout”

MAP31 - “Hell’s Party”

MAP32 - “Monster Museum”

MAP16 - “Patino”

MAP17 - “Naive”

MAP18 - “Doomsday Machine”

MAP19 - “Calculator”

MAP20 - “Monster HQ”

MAP21 - “Melancholy”

MAP22 - “Skin”

MAP23 - “Bloodlove”

MAP24 - “Frontier”

MAP25 - “Her Company”

MAP26 - “Monstrous”

MAP27 - “Congo Control”

MAP28 - “Knock Knock”

MAP29 - “The KINDa’s Circuit”

MAP30 - “KINDa”

BONUS CONTENT

TBA

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OLD THREADS

Spoiler

The DWmegawad Club Metathread

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Edited May 8, 2023 by dobu gabu maru

TJG1289 · October 1, 2021

Awesome to see this finally make the cut. I've been meaning to play it since release, so now's the time to do so!

dei_eldren · October 1, 2021

KINDa - MAP01 Go (HNTR, blind, continuous, w/ saves): K 100% (60/60), I 100% (8/8), S 100% (1/1), D 2, T 11:46

Spoiler

All i knew going into this was that it's vanilla and the work of a single author. Not sure what exactly i expected after first impression from this extremely active classic looking military base, but certainly not to face a Revenant after about a minute of play!

The beginning is hectic as heck with Imps, hitscanners and Pinkies, and said Revenant, nor did it help i missed at first the sneakily placed Chaingun in the starting room, only finding it later scrambling for ammo. While in total confusion killing the Revenant, and others, with the SG, i ran into an Imp and got my first death. Definitely not what i expected, either :D My second death came in a rather unpleasant trap, of monster closets opening on both sides with Chaingunners, when collecting a backpack! Ok, maybe it looked like a trap, but c'mon - i had been playing with 9% health a long time, and finally just had raised it to 40%... Add to that the hitscanner-heavy population, ammo and health starvation, and my enjoyment of the map was somewhat compromised. Armor also was not available for the first half of the map. No traps were present when collecting anything significant like keys or the Mega Armor...

Be that as it may, even if i don't appreciate all of the author's design choices, i did still like the map, and while the gameplay is kind of unfair, with decisive attitude it's still perfectly manageable. The layout is very smart, with two nice complex buildings interacting with the partly shared outside area through hallways and windows, and the progression is also quite clever. This map reminds me a lot of E1M1, even while not having much directly in common with it, and would've been a worthy contender, with somewhat different gameplay, for its spot - that's how good i think the map itself is. In this context, the one secret, however, was disappointing - but at least it was a little room of its own with a window.

Intriguing for sure, i just hope the gameplay won't generally consist of constant hitscanner damage, ammo starvation and nasty traps. The kitchen sink -approach comes to mind also, but who knows, maybe this map is meant to serve as a warning to play carefully. Glad to be playing on HNTR :P

Edited October 1, 2021 by dei_eldren

Biodegradable · October 1, 2021

MAP01 - Go

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

NOW I remember this! This map used to be like 10-times harder with a shit-ton more pinkies and an Archie and fuck all ammo. Glad to see things are a lot more balanced. You're still a little starved for ammo and health, but it doesn't feel stupidly unfair like last time. The map has a short, punchy feel to it that keeps you moving all the way through, scurrying around for more ammo without eating too many buckshot sandwiches from the local shotgun chefs. MightyWoosh manages to supply just enough resources to keep you going if you don't play too carelessly. The level design has a neo-classic feel to it with its mixture of old-school layout and modern combat sensibilities. It's a fun, tense and challenging first impression that gives you a pretty good idea of what you're in for going forward. I expect the rest of WAD to be similar as the heat is slowly set to a boil.

Edited October 1, 2021 by Biodegradable

DJVCardMaster · October 1, 2021

Important to see megawads that are kinda there, like this one, it may offer a really nice experence, and show us some hidden gems of mapping here and there.

KINDa.wad - KIND a - TheMightyWhoosh:

This is every mappers dream, make a full megawad by yourself, and make it look good/promising, in this month, we will be playing a full megawad by a newcomer at mapping (As far as I'm aware of), TheMightyWhoosh, with a full set of interesting limit removing maps for us to play, every map here is tuned up from an early KINDa entry that was poor in comparison to the final expression of this mapset, both in terms of gameplay and looks, thanks to the community helping the user (and the author accepting feedback/criticism), TheMightyWhoosh manages to pull up an interesting product.
Some people say this is just like the usual classic Doom gameplay, which I like, as I tend to feel in my confort zone by playing theese.

MAP01 - Go (98%K/100%I/100%S):

Packed action in this first map with a really nice layout and weird usage of textures, I mean weird because it is not usual to see some of those textures in certain way, like that wood texture that looks way to clean for me to be using in a Doomy environment. Everything feels natural, and gameplay may be interesting right from the start, just remember to grab the chaingun at the starting room, right behind you, as it may help you on your journey, the map is harder than most MAP01's, and ammo may be just enough for the deal and little to no margin to miss bullets. You may find some mid-tier enemies roaming around that will set a standard for difficulty right from the first level.
Enjoyable, does the MAP01 job well, makes me want to play even more.

(UV Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Little disclaimer: I won't count deaths this month, as it may get used against the review to imply "map is bad because is hard/easy" which is nothing further from reality than that, also, I won't be using a manual calculator with a "+1" every time I die to keep track of my deaths, which slows down a process of playing and reviewing on times when I don't have much time. (Great, no one will know I suck at games and I died a lot at the very first level , I'm an evil genius.)

DisgruntledPorcupine · October 1, 2021

5 hours ago, dobu gabu maru said:

Ha, this is great.

Excited to play!

ViolentBeetle · October 1, 2021

MAP01: Go (UV)

The map dropped me into some kind of installation that made me think of original Doom's episode 1. The layout was mostly good and progression clear with challenge that seemed reasonable for an introduction map. No moment left an impression however, so as functional this map is, I found it somewhat forgettable.

No major problems too, a few minor that I think might've been optimized better.

Yellow key doesn't really seem to have much of a purpose since yellow door is behind it, essentially.
The final squad took too long to teleport in, they could use more destinations, probably scattered between me and the exit
It took me more than it should've to find the exit. Making monsters walk in from that direction might've helped.

Doritos420 · October 1, 2021

Hi guys, I'm back from vacationing and all finished school so I should have a bit more free time to dedicate to mapping and dooming. Looking forward to playing KindA since I've heard good things and it's on my to play list.

I'll be playing with GZDoom, Ultra Violence + saves, pistol starting each level.

Map01 - Go

Surprisingly meaty first map, lots of enemies. Big ole brown techbase sort of deal, I dig it so far. I like the new skybox texture and the first ladder you see. The initial fight is very fun and frantic. I was able to get through it okay, but a surprise shotgunner drained a good chunk of health halfway through. Was able to take out the revenant no prob. I was able to find the secret EZPZ. The twin chaingunner closet was pretty devious as well as the teleporter trap near the end. For 1 negative thing to say, I wish the switch past the yellow key door had some sort of indication that that it opened up the last bit of courtyard. Other than that, very solid first map with a bit more teeth than what I’ve come to expect from a first level. Looking forward to more.

DuckReconMajor · October 1, 2021

MAP01 - Go - dsda-doom - skill 4 pistol start

Great skybox, aesthetic feel and gameplay. Looking forward to more.

Spoiler

Book Lord · October 1, 2021

MAP 01 – Go

Doomsday Engine, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

The only gripe I had with this starting map was that it instantly made me give up UV -fast playthrough. There were just too many hitscanners alerted at once, peeking at the windows and filling me with lead while I was looking the other way. Who cares for the Revenant and the Hell Knights? I can deal with them without the SSG, but squads of former humans and sergeants overlooking an open area and repeatedly placing perfect hits on me, was frustrating. -Fast monsters do not ask if they can pull the trigger, they do it so happily that I could not stand this part and wait to check if the WAD had more in the same vein. Since nobody tests -fast monsters, not even the mapping veterans, it was a safe bet to choose normal UV right off the bat and save myself some pain.

Spoiler

1296997358_KindaMap01_01.jpg.047fa3b4fc26835fe0b50ca6c3ed6af8.jpg

Go was quite hectic for a MAP01, even on normal UV. The feature I found unusual were the small UAC blazing doors all over the place, which enemies cannot open. They were alerted outside the starting area but could not come in, so I had to open the doors and sometimes be greeted by a point-blank shotgun blast. I found that clearing the outer yard was a cumbersome task for a first step into a new WAD, just because of the constant threat of dire shots from unseen zombies. To add difficulty to that, health was at a premium, and the generous combat armour was offered when I was almost ready for MAP02.

The visuals and detailing of the tech-base were generally well-made. I liked the way the map opened its second half but hoped to find more resistance. Probably it would have made sense to limit the monster count of the first patrol and add more in the second part, which was sedate in comparison, except for the blue switch ambush that caught me off-guard. I can play hitscanner-heavy maps with Sadistic soundtrack all day, but this was a bit rough as an opener. I hope I will not regret the choice to drop -fast monsters, because of the WAD turning KINDa gentle and soft at some point.

DSC · October 1, 2021

Execellent mapset and incredibly underrated so far. I'm very, very glad the club chose it for the new month, and I'll for sure be following the journey along. Can't wait 'till we get to MAP 26, my personal favorite!

Haruspex · October 1, 2021

I didn’t get very far last month. Let’s try this again.

MAP01: Go

UV, Pistol-Start, Saveless

Despite the name, Go is a lesson in cautious play and ammo conservation. TheMightyWoosh takes advantage of the MAP01 slot to throw a few mid-tier enemies our way before giving us the weapons to fully prepare for them. However the main threat isn’t the Hell knights, nor the revenant lurking outside, but simple resource starvation. With numerous windows peeking into the wooden base, we’re at risk of having our health slowly chipped away by hitscan fire. And careless shooting can leave a player with too little ammo to take on the teleporter ambush towards the end of the level.

Luckily, it’s a short map. So it’s hard to resent the several attempts it took me to get the rhythm down. Given the careful construction of the level, I’m fairly certain that the lack of resources isn’t negligence on behalf of the author, but an intentional challenge for the player, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what TheMightyWoosh throws at us next!

Spoiler

Go.png.92f1afc7159c04bee957c21eb9f89efe.png

cannonball · October 1, 2021

MAP01 - “Go”

Not overly sold on the texture usage here (Though I might be being a little mean here) and there are a few too many doors. Otherwise a reasonable start with plenty monsters to kill. Ammo is pretty well balanced if the intention was to make the player take care of their ammo conservation and despite the little gripes above this was pretty decent to play. The blue armour you get for free towards the end kind of nullifies the threat of the final couple of groups of monsters though.

Edited October 1, 2021 by cannonball

dei_eldren · October 1, 2021

KINDa - MAP02 Hell's Cavity (HNTR, blind, continuous, w/ saves): K 100% (52/52), I 100% (50/50), S 100% (2/2), D 0, T 12:29 &

HMP, continuous, w/ saves: K 100% (78/78), I 100% (50/50), S 50% (1/2), D 0, T 13:33

Spoiler

Regarding the first map, i neglected to mention that i think it's actually a better map the original opener MAP01 (design-wise, at least.) And in the same vein does the WAD continue onto the second, where we find ourselves in an outstanding base somewhere in mountains, carved largely into the rock - in some aspects this map has a lot in common with MAP04 from Skulltiverse. The pivotal area of the map is a deep central pool of water, now almost empty and inhabited by a couple of Arachnotrons, over which walkways are raised, the third one to the exit area. After emerging outside from the entrance cave, first thing i saw was a Revenant spinning madly in the distance, on the other side of the reservoir, while hearing the sounds of the yet invisible Arachnotrons. For now, the only resistance came from a few Imps.

Starting from southern side, first we journey through a system of tunnels and rooms to the northern side, and end up at the edge of a low cliff, below which is a small shallow lake upon which are some Sargeants. There are stairs leading up higher upon the rocks, next to the central water reservoir, where the Revenant is. The fight against him is quite tricky, as he's initially on higher ground and very eager, but i manage to run up to him with the Chaingun, stun him and kill him, without incident. The SSG is now available here, which would have been good against him too. i liked this encounter a lot, with environment causing the difficulty.

Then we pass the exit-area, and come to the Arachnotrons. The YSK is on a central wooden pillar, and there's a switch to raise thin walkways to it, and to the other side. But not yet to the third cave, which would lead to the exit. One of the Arachnotrons is raised up with the beam, poor thing, easy to kill, and i jump down to kill the other one. There's also some ammo to get down at the bottom, but the area is optional. Back up via a teleport (the teleport seems a somewhat pedestrian solution for return, to be honest, i would have rather used the switch-mechanism as a lift), grab the YSK key, and then through the YSK door, to the eastern part. Behind it is a cave leading to the setpiece-encounter of the map, as well as a secret Mega-Armor, which on my blind run, from which i'll continue to map02, i saved for the end. In fact, i sort of did much better on my blind run than on the video, perhaps because i was more careful, but on this recorded run i really was close to dying many times because of truly sloppy play, i was really struggling to keep focus, first with the Arachnotron and next in this encounter.

At the end of the cave is a large lowered hall half-open to the sky, with a central body of water, and wooden beams placed across the granite floor. The hall is now used as a place of torment by the demons. It's a truly impressive set for the fight for the RSK - testament to how much can be done to tell a story and create striking looking locations with minimal detailing and classical design. Grabbing the key opens up a few monster closets, with a Cacodemon, very fucking annoying Lost Souls, a few Chaingunners, and Imps and Pinkies. Chaingunners first, of course, but the Lost Souls also do some damage, making the whole scene much more chaotic than it should be. ~~Proof of my skills as a Doomer is~~ It was pure luck i didn't die here, left with all 3% health.

The RSK door is at the western side of the map. Behind it is another key encounter, as guarding the switch to raise the last walkway to the cave leading to exit, are a Hell Knight, Chaingunners, and some Imps. It's an outside area, semi-covered, and looks like a place where nocturnal unpleasant deeds take place in moonlight. There's also a modest stash of ammo and health here, accessed separately by a lift, and whilst ammo has not been lacking on HNTR, at least playing continuous, neither has there been an abundance of it. After this, there are only three enemies left, in the last cave near exit, some Imps and a Sargeant. Lastly, a secret is located here, and i didn't know how i opened it on my blind run, so on the video i finally test shooting at the wall, and it works. i must have hit it by accident earlier - but again the secrets are a minior letdown compared to the rest of the design. Proof that TheMightyWhoosh doesn't want the player dead is the boon of a Soul Sphere offered on the way to the exit, and clearly he knows what this map can do..

Just a brilliant level all around, nothing unfair or unpalatable about any of the gameplay, whilst the layout is again well thought out and executed, with everything coming together elegantly but not simply, and the progression has enough variation and quirks to keep it interesting (a small detail, for example, would be the wooden blocks preventing access to the exit which i thought were going to go down by some switch (that would be the most obvious and boring solution), but instead the exit was accessed through another cave.) i think Biodegradable summed up the style of the maps very well with the word neoclassical.

On my HMP run i've no idea why the 2nd secret, shootable wall, did not open. Wasted so much ammo on it. And i loaded once, because in the same room i let the lift go up without me, and couldn't get it back down :D Incredible how easy the Revenant i deemed tricky was to kill just sniping his bony ass with the chaingun from the ledge.

HMP 1st run:

HNTR 2nd run:

Spoiler

MAP01 - HMP: K 100%, I 100%, S 100%, D 0, T 7:33

Spoiler

Wanted to try another run on HMP, and knowing what to expect and having a strategy (helped by other people's videos), i didn't experience any annoyances of the blind run on HNTR. It's well balanced, after all.

List of five favourite maps this time:

Spoiler

2

1

Edited October 2, 2021 by dei_eldren
added HMP runs

ViolentBeetle · October 1, 2021

MAP02: Hell's Cavity (UV, Pistol-start, Blind with saves)

This map has a very interesting layout. Unfortunately the layout also contains switches behind my back, switches with uncertain functions and a pit with monsters in it where infinite height becomes debilitating. However none of it is a deal breaker. Still, I got lost a few times.

The map is remarkable permissive of escaping its ambushes which I, being short on ammo, did a lot. Perhaps I shouldn't have pistol-started? The text file doesn't give a suggestion. I ended the level with 84% kills.

In either case, a good effort. While getting lost I never felt like it's the mapper's fault.

Deaths on the level: 5 (Two of which are because of infinitely tall arachnotrons)

Deaths total: 6 (Yes, I managed to die on MAP01, I forgot the hell knight was in the room)

kalensar · October 1, 2021

Blind, Map 01, HMP, Continuous, only save from start of map, Kals Sleek Doom Mod

This was a fun little map. Died 3 times in the video I think. I kept getting this "fake ending" type of feeling after the Blue Key then that getting jumped there.... When were they going to stop? LMAO

Pretty fun first map for a blind play.

fran · October 2, 2021

MAP 01: Go

UV / Pistol start / Woof! -complevel vanilla / blind w/o saves

100% Kills / 100% Secrets / 2 attempts

I had never played this wad before and heard very lil about it, so I decided to play this month with the club!!. I die once this time in the first map :(

This was a fun map, and I like it as a first map. I feel that it's a balanced map, with a pretty enemy distribution, I expect a lot from this megawad!!

Edited October 2, 2021 by toxic.rat

Capellan · October 2, 2021

DisgruntledPorcupine · October 2, 2021

MAP01: Go

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 1/1 secrets

The wad begins with a very brown techbase, and a skybox featuring silhouettes of industrial architecture. The textures aren't so much my cup of tea, but there isn't much criticism I can give it and there are some neat little lighting subtleties here and there. The layout of the map pretty open, and can be a bit confusing at times (the exit teleporter felt a little bit strangely placed), but as a vessel for the combat it worked pretty nicely.

About the combat, while it's not a super challenging map it is actually pretty dangerous for a MAP01. The map doesn't shy away from throwing the mid-tier monsters at you, and isn't particularly liberal with resources. It's not the kind of map that's out to overwhelm you, but it's well calibrated and intent on not letting you breeze by on the thought that it's "only a MAP01". I enjoyed it.

Some mixed feelings about visuals and layout, but the gameplay was strong and I'm curious to see how it progresses from here.

Doritos420 · October 2, 2021

Map02 - Hell’s Cavity

Very rude start to the map, that shotgun trap ended up draining half of my health. Lots of sneaky monster closets with hit scanners (especially chaingunners) in this one with a very tight ammo squeeze. By the end I ended up having to punch out the remaining imps and shotgunners. If the second map is this difficult I’m starting to wonder if playing on UV+pistol start was a mistake. I ended up finding the secret backpack somehow and after poking around the level I found the megarmor once all the enemies were dead. On a positive note, I liked the consistency with the teleporter entrances and exits, and enjoyed the look and progression in this level. The last wad I played was Zone400 so seeing bigger, more intricately decorated levels is a good change of pace, even though it’s mostly vanilla textures. Also, was that a human BBQ reference in the courtyard area?

Spoiler

Screenshot_Doom_20211001_191816.png.a17b70aedadc4ee4b1765ccc9ee5e890.png

TJG1289 · October 2, 2021

Alright, let's see what TheMightyWoosh has in store for us. I believe they're fairly new to mapping, so making an entire 32-level replacement so soon is a real feat!

GZDoom/Blind/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 01 - GO

100% kills and secrets

Time: 6:32

We start off in a brown techbase of sorts. Design reminds me a lot of old school maps, where it doesn't really seem like the structures you're in have a purpose. It's just there to be there. The industrial skybox is very interesting. The black-and-white of it gives this map a kinda surreal feeling to me. When it comes to the level itself, it's actually tougher than I thought it would be. Not as tough as last month's map 01, but only gives you the shotgun and chaingun to deal with monsters that include 2 hell knights and a rev. I also saw rockets, but no rocket launcher, so either I'm blind or they're there for continuous scrubs like myself. There's not a ton of resources, so you'll want to make sure you ration ammo effectively, switching between them when needed to save some bullets and shells. You do get a backpack by the yellow skull door, but it's not like you're going to go over 200 bullets or 50 shells in this level. It is home to a chaingunner trap, which is one of 2 encounters that can mess you up. The second is when you hit the switch behind the blue skull door and 13 enemies spawn directly behind you. You should chaingun them so you can escape and not get cornered, then chaingun the chaingunner by the exit so you can grab his chaingun for more bullets to chaingun the pinkies, imps, and shotgunners that spawned. Pretty good starter to get your toes wet with. (Unrelated, but the .txt said the MIDIs are from the Doom games, so I'm not going to comment on them. I'm probably going to have something else on instead)

Map 02 - HELL'S CAVITY

100% kills and secrets

Time: 11:16

From brown base, to white caves with some fortress elements to it. Kinda surprising we have a different tone of map already. No biggie though. This one's design is a little more intriguing, with some roundaway paths to locations. That rev sniping you toward the beginning is guarding the SSG, so once you get over there, rush it. The switch gains access to the yellow key, but beware the arachnotrons in this pool area. You'll wanna go down here anyway to lower the walls for chaingunners. I like the design of the red key room. It's nice and big and has some interesting geometry to it with those random ledges around the center. Of course grabbing the key unleashes stuff, but nothing some infighting can't solve. You don't have to worry as much about rationing supplies here, but it's always nice to cause infighting to happen. I'll say that progress after the red door was kinda confusing. After taking out the hell knights, chaingunners, and imps, I hit the 2 switches that were next to each other. One opened up a path out, the other I wasn't sure what it did. The switch up by the imps caused the floor you're on to raise, but I panicked and jumped off. I saw no way to lower the floor again here. I wouldn't say this is a softlock, as I don't think you need to go up there really, there's just some small pickups. It took me a couple minutes wandering around, accidentally finding the mega armor secret in the process (I also found the backpack one instantly. Kinda figured that texture was in prime shooting location), before I noticed another ledge had raised in the pool, allowing access to the other tunnel. The soul sphere was nice, and a few enemies remained, before the same blue platform that took you away from the last level was reached, ending it. Gonna be like Plutonia with distinct ending platforms, it looks like. So yeah, most of the level was pretty solid, but I wish the progression at the end there was a little more clear.

Biodegradable · October 2, 2021

MAP02 - Hell's Cavity

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

Traversing into a rocky outpost made of wood and sandstone, this map has quite a few sneaky traps that I couldn't even be mad at. They're simple but effective and well-timed, complementing the intensity of MAP01 beautifully. Doomkid taking MightyWoosh under his wing to help with balancing is pretty evident and I love how the Kid's influence has made these opening maps challenging, but not ridiculous like they were originally by springing Archies on you when you've only got a handful of shotgun shells and fuck all health lmao. I found this map's progression slightly cryptic, but not bewildering in any degree. Just that classic cryptic like in D1 and D2 where you're not entirely sure what happened at first, then glance around to see if something's changed. I'd say the red keycard was the most memorable part of this map as it's our first taste of how the WAD may handle big arena fights. While I was still starved for health and ammo throughout the map, I didn't feel desperate or paranoid, which goes to show that the balancing with pick-ups and demon placement has had a great deal of thought and revision put into it to give you an experience that challenges you without the mapper coming across as a sadistic prick. The only moment that REALLY made me sweat was the encounter with a couple of Hellknights, three Chaingunners and a handful of sniper imps. At that point, I had to conserve what little ammo I had left and perform some evasive maneuvers. Perhaps it's too early to say right now, but I have a good feeling about this WAD.

Edited October 2, 2021 by Biodegradable

Capellan · October 2, 2021

Book Lord · October 2, 2021

MAP 02 – Hell’s Cavity

Doomsday Engine, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves

After some more Shotgunner nonsense, the level registered a step down in harshness if compared to Go. The map was built around a water pool surrounded by cave areas, where a linear path allowed to pick up the YK and RK in succession, with some inane backtracking required to reach the red door and open the way to the exit. The free Soul Sphere given when the map was about to end suggested that pistol start was not the author's intended way of playing.

Spoiler

2049198697_KindaMap02_01.jpg.3b762f2acffe8fb133b72f803f76fca3.jpg

Arachnotrons were introduced as noisy but unthreatening foes in the water pit. One of them even got stuck when I raised the thin walkways to the YK. Plenty of Chaingunners were used in the monster closets, but their placement was much less problematic than the elevated hitscanners in the open yard of MAP01. My favourite encounter was the RK ambush: a mixed group of monsters tried to surround me in a big room, and prioritising the Commandos was key to success. This was the finest environment in the level, which looked ok in the other areas, but less hellish than its name would suggest. Both western and eastern far end of the map featured a dead end with some pickups, the first one had even a lift that can be raised and jumped off from, thus preventing the upper area from being reached again. These areas were odd, but all things considered Hell’s Cavity fitted MAP02 slot properly.

Spoiler

214146721_KindaMap02_02.jpg.0b7bdb2163d629096670773ca990c25f.jpg

Haruspex · October 2, 2021

MAP02: Hell’s Cavity

UV, Pistol-Start, Saveless

This map struck me as easier than the previous one, perhaps because the enemies here are better behaved. They’re polite enough to wait patiently in ambush instead of attacking us in a mad crossfire as they did in MAP01. Moreover, most of the traps are gentle. Rarely does the author bottle us in, and enemy counts are consistently small.

TheMightyWhoosh is also more generous with the resources, but only slightly. We have to fight for the super shotgun, and, even once we obtain it, shells are never plentiful. But it certainly helps make short work of the Hell knights, cacos, and arachnotrons dotted around the caverns.

It’s a fun, short-and-sweet level which hides its linearity by threading its route through a watery ~~cavern~~ cavity. And it’s competently made. But MAP01 left more of an impression on me.

Spoiler

1337196739_HellsTeeth.png.e8ea61d10fadcb15362540a7474e67c4.png

Hell needs to get its teeth checked

Ranking from favourite to least favourite:

Spoiler

MAP01: Go

MAP02: Hell’s Cavity

Edited October 5, 2021 by Haruspex
Spelling

DJVCardMaster · October 2, 2021

MAP02 - Hell's Cavity (96%K/90%I/100%S):

I struggled a bit with this one because of the low ammo, it's easy to pass by the encounters on bigger areas, only caring about hitscanners. Layout itself feels like I'm playing through Plutonia's MAP02 for a reason. Again, texture choices are pretty strange than usual, I do not remember this gray wall texture used somewhere in Doom 2, is it a custom texture? Feels new but at the same time not. Again, avoiding most encounters in big areas, and only caring for hitscanners or imps will be your best choice, as ammo here is lacking, and you will struggle at the very end of the map. Resources in general are sparce, as there isn't that much health either, the only big chunk of health would be a soulsphere sitting there at the middle of the map, also a hard to miss secret with a blue armor, I don't think you can complete this map without grabbing it, as it is heavy on hitscanners.
The start may be harsh but once you get to steal one shotgun the deal is closed. I feel, in contrary to others, that this map was more difficult for me than the first one, possibly because I can't seem to manage resources well. Still, it was less intense than the previous level.

(UV Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:

Spoiler

MAP01
MAP02

DuckReconMajor · October 2, 2021

MAP02 - Hell's Cavity - dsda-doom - skill 4 pistol start

Yet again looks great, with good music choice. Wandering around a spooky mountainside outpost.

Tight ammo balance which led to 'punchy' gameplay (sorry)

The switch to raise the paths toward the yellow key were (probably intentionally) hard to find

Spoiler

fran · October 2, 2021

MAP 02: Hell's Cavity

UV / Pistol Start / Woof! -complevel vanilla / blind w/o saves

100% Kills / 100% Secrets / 3 attempts

In certain moments i sensed a poor ammo balance, but probably this was probably for a bad gamethrough :( So far i've liked this megawad, but i would prefered it with another music (i'm already a lil bored of the stock music from doom in pwads)

Edited October 2, 2021 by toxic.rat

MtPain27 · October 2, 2021

All maps played from pistol start, UV, saves allowed, going for 100% kills, using ZDoom.

MAP 01: Go

First thing you'll want to do is make a 180 and grab the chaingun: it'll greatly simplify the hitscannery start. Even with the chaingun in hand, you don't get a lot of leeway in this map health-wise. I count less than 100 points of recovery items, and that megaarmor comes too late to make much of a difference. The map itself is vanilla flavored but nicely color-coordinated: I like the industrial sky and the open ceilings, and appreciate how the map unpeels itself as you progress. It's been awhile since I've played a level that used "Sadistic," so that was kind of nice.

MAP 02: Hell's Cavity

This one is insistently Plutonic: the malicious sextuplet of shotgunners at the start, the little pocket ambushes with hitscanners, the omnipresent chaingunners, "Dark Halls"...it would fit right into something like PRCP. I think this one is a little easier than MAP 01 but the ammo balance is really tight: I had to punch the last shotgunner to death, and no, you don't get a berserk or a chainsaw. I hid in the corner with the two imps for the red key fight, it's hard to avoid damage from the chaingunners in the open, but they're liable to infight the cacos if you poke your head out and run away. Not a bad map: again, I don't know what the deal is with the late powerups, I definitely didn't need that soul sphere at the end. PS: Check out this stimpack in the wall.

dei_eldren · October 2, 2021

KINDa - MAP03 Toxic (HNTR, blind, continuous, w/ saves): K 98% (70/72), I 85% (24/28), S 0% (0/1), D ~5, T 12:20

Spoiler

Seeing all that nukage i was quickly overcome with dread over the type this map would be, and it turned out to be exactly as i feared - obscure progression and confusing labyrinthine layout in radsuit-hell. Add to that the worst ammo starvation yet, especially on HMP, and the hitscanner fuckery combined with used up radsuits chipping away health constantly. On HMP i have no idea how i could have killed everybody - ok ok, i guess by using barrels and shit like that but let's say i was preoccupied with more pressing matters, such as looking for the next fucking switch to press, or what the hell did that switch do and where, or do i have enough health to run there without a radsuit, oh my, i have zero bullets and shells... and, where in the fuckety fuck is that Chaingunner firing from this time???

And i played through this twice :D But, i don't know if i had had the will to finish this blind on HMP, i doubt it, so my blind HNTR run helped immensely. Could be i just need to up my game - i guess i could have guessed, on a good day, the last switch without many enemies left would most likely release the RSK. i'm sure other clubbers enjoyed this more than i did. And however this was, having played the next one already, can say it was as good as the first two maps :)

Don't think i'll upload my HMP run for this, it's nothing to see.

PS: This is the most scathing review i've written in my seven months of participating in DWMWC, and definitely no offense to author meant with any of my comments. i was watching my own playthrough and started seeing how some of it comes together, but there's still too much obscure hunting for keys, switches, and ways forward, for a level like this, to my taste anyway. The way everything combines is type of gameplay that i just don't enjoy at all, and especially on blind run it is for me annoying to go through, and even on my 2nd run, on HMP, i didn't quite remember everything because of the chaos compounding on the obscurity. i think nukage-levels are always a difficult task to balance. The level design isn't bad, i just found it really frustrating to play. From purely design-perspective, it's a good and expertly executed map. :) A third run of the map would probably be ok.

Five favourite maps:

Spoiler

2

1

2

PPS: Seeing Capellan's video, he obviously has much better map-sense and experience than i, but i wish i had had the sense to go back after pressing the first three switches in the nukage, and not continue to the big nukage-filled room full of enemies. He got lost too, not knowing what the switches did, but he handled the situation much better, knowing when to kill enemies and when to leave them behind (even if he still also ran out of ammo). Intuitition maybe? Anyway, learned a lot from watching his run, i hope.

With my extensive editing (my first version before posting was much more negative, undeservedly so) i ended up saying nothing very clearly, but Book Lord managed to say basically what i should have clarified in summary - obscure progression is not always bad in itself, in fact i often enjoy it as long as there's a feeling of it making sense, but works better in levels where there's freedom to explore. (Looking at it now, admittedly my gameplay was a total wreck - the progression is too obscure, but not overly frustrating, unless you have a hangover-headache and paying attention is actually painful :P )

Edited October 3, 2021 by dei_eldren

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