The DWmegawad Club plays: KINDa

[cannonball]

MAP02 - “Hell’s Cavity”

 

A nasty start here with that shotgunner trap. The rest of the map carries less threat (Though my first death of the wad occurred soon after the start as I was pelted in the back by a chaingunner I didn't spot). Some varied choices made here, the path from the start to the yellow door takes on a nice circular approach that feels positively modern, and then you get a few bits of backtracking that are somewhat older tropes in the same map. Not sure about the dominant texture, it felt a little too bright at times but otherwise the rest of the map is okay, no complaints. The ammo is very tight and I must admit one hellknight remained as I ran out of ammo at the end, given this happened at the end I suspect better play from myself would have spared this issue.

First impressions, despite the description of limit removing, this feels very late 90s in its visuals (In a good way). Generally quite basic but clean looking. There was a complaint about stock tracks and I must admit that if these maps continue as they are, the temptation to boot up the MM/MM2 music wad might get too much. 

Yeah that soulsphere does feel a little out of place, the level was over at this point.

Edited October 2, 2021 by cannonball

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP02: Hell's Cavity

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 0/2 secrets

 

The vintage Doom feel continues in this one. I prefer having non-stock music, but I'll never knock Dark Halls, I love this track. This level is a bit less open than the previous, but the layout is again not so straightforward for the level size, the key doors feel a bit oddly placed as does the exit again. Also there's a soulsphere at the end of the map, which I thought was a secret I didn't know how to access for quite a while.

 

Combatwise, the set continues to be not-so-trivial. We do get introduced to the SSG in this map which is great, but the resources continue to be tight. This map's pet monster is the chaingunner, there are some pretty well placed ones to be found here. The chaingunner squad near the end with the hell knights and imps can be pretty nasty if your health is low coming in. It's another map not intent on letting you coast by.

 

Overall my impression of this one is much the same as the first. It was a little bit harder though in my opinion.

[Capellan]

 

[Book Lord]

MAP 03 – Toxic

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

 

No Toxic Touch, just Toxic. Jokes aside, this level was obviously filled with nukage damaging floors. It had a weird start in a room surrounded by a pair of Imps and nukage, opening into a huge waste spillage basin. All of a sudden, a teleport brought me to the other side of the level. Still scratching my head, I killed two Cacodemons, identified the exit behind red bars, RSK on a pillar, and a red switch placed as distant as possible from the exit. Obviously, nukage was everywhere and Radiation Suits were present, but their number could have been higher considering the extension of hazardous floor in this map.

Spoiler

The central room had a tower in the middle and bridges to raise to the four cardinal points. There was no other option than jumping in the green slime and find the only way out, leading to a big nukage room where MAP01 memories immediately returned with a vengeance. Not only I had Imps and hitscanners shooting from elevated positions, but I must deal with Mancubi and Cacodemons, while my Radiation Suit quickly deteriorated. I darted to the north-eastern corner, free of nukage, killed the Imps, and was providentially shielded by my Caco pursuers. I embraced the shotgun and started unloading it on the Mancubi which were slowly advancing, managing to stun and kill them both before they could even attack once. Great Doom moment.

Spoiler

Except for this part, I did not enjoy the rest of the map so much. Progression was not always self-evident and backtracking without radsuit was annoying. Finding the blue key and switch was ok, but the omnipresent, unconventionally marked teleport pads were not so easy to follow. The Arachnotron trap was silly. When I completed the journey, I found myself looking at the still unreachable Blue Armour and wondering where to go next. Oh yes, the RSK I saw a long time ago: it lowered and was guarded by a Baron of Hell.

 

I spent some time trying to reach the secret area between the starting room and the rest of the map. I used IDBEHOLDR because I had no spare shielding suits for the search, and eventually found the way to raise the bridge. The automap gave a hint to reach the rocket launcher as well, suggesting that using a nukage fall as a lift was a good idea. I think the large hidden area was an interesting feature, but it should have been shown in a clear manner before sending me to the other side of the map. Toxic had its moments of glory, but overall I did not enjoy this deep immersion in nukage environment. It had an obscure progression I would rather have in levels which are more free to roam around.

Edited October 3, 2021 by Book Lord

[TheMightyWhoosh]

Hey guys! I’m absolutely thrilled that you’re playing my set of maps. It’s really interesting to see how the maps are being tackled and the feedback each map is receiving.

[Biodegradable]

Awesome to see you playing with us again, @MtPain27! Hope you're doing well, mate.

 

MAP03 - Toxic

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

 

Well, this one had me running around like an idiot. The progression's a tad cryptic and I found myself pretty much in a panic mode the entire time, running around hitting switches and grabbing radsuits which I suppose might've been the whole point! Very much felt like a mad-dash the entire time, which isn't to say it wasn't fun because the demons were once again balanced out very nicely to make it feel tense without being too unfair at all. I probably should've tried to restock on some health before leaving given the resource management bent of this WAD, but I reckon I ate most of the radsuits by the time I unlocked the exit, so I just bolted. I hope MightyWhoosh was kind enough to leave some health at the beginning of MAP04 or I'm in for a bad time lmao.

 

 

[Salt-Man Z]

Ah, cool! I remember I tried playing this when it first showed up on DW; I gave the first map about a half-dozen tries on HMP and was absolutely obliterated every time. Good to see it's been revised, and I'm excited to dive in! I'll go HMP again this time, GZDoom/continuous/saves/keyboard-only as usual.

 

MAP01: Go

6:32 | 100% Everything

This is almost as brutal as I remember from before, but it's definitely toned down a bit (considering I beat it without dying!) Still a revenant and a couple of knights, but at least there was plenty of ammo this time around. I quite enjoy the nonlinear feel of the map, and how the whole thing opens up as you progress. I never revealed the second half of the map before, and hadn't initially realized it had happened this time. KINDa neat. :)

 

MAP02: Hell's Cavity

14:11 | 100% Kills | 92% Items | 100% Secrets

I love the very start of this map. Surely every first-time mapper (myself included) has thought of the trap where you click the door/switch, and instead of opening, haha monsters! In this case it's a two-fer: not only to the sidewalls drop to reveal shotgunners, but then they immediately teleport out to you! Love it. The rest of the map was pretty neat, too, featuring a very abstract aesthetic that Doom does so well, with all of the various rooms having unique and interesting shapes. I like how the exit/start teleport has a consistent look, always nice to have that signposted. And finally the SSG! Nothing worse than being forced to single-shot a bunch of knights and pinkies (well, except for single-shotting barons and pinkies in Doom1, I guess!) I missed four items here; a couple were at the top of that one-time-(for-some-reason) lift in the western room, but I don't think that accounts for all of them.

 

MAP03: Toxic

12:30 | 100% Everything

If there's a type of level I really dislike, it's the nukage map where a limited supply of radsuits really curtails your opportunity for exploration. This one wasn't too bad, there were enough radsuits for the initial don't-quite-know-where-I'm-going journey, and one or two left over for exploration afterwards. This is the first map that killed me in the room with the mancs. (MAP02 almost got me with some nasty chaingunner traps, but I managed to survive with single-digit health.) The main knock against this map is the switch-heavy nature of it, especially early on where there's three switches just sitting there, and so of course one you hit them all at once without knowing what they did. The switch that frees the red key is a huge wait-what-did-that-switch-do moment, and the only reason I figured out was the baron guarding it yelling at me as I went retracing my steps to figure out what had opened. The double secret of blue armor and rocket launcher was pretty sneaky; I had figured that area was going to be necessary for progression, so imagine my surprise when I found the exit without managing to raise the fourth bridge! I only figured it out at the very end, but that RL would have been nice for the early goings, given the increased opposition in this one. Fun map.

[DuckReconMajor]

MAP03 - Toxic - dsda-doom - skill 4 pistol start buncha rewinds

 

I love the look of super slimy maps, and this one is no exception.

The gameplay, though, is often extremely annoying, except in certain instances. I believe this is one of those instances.

I actually have a key bound in dsda-doom to IDBEHOLD a hazmat and have no qualms using it in maps like this.

However, the hazmat suits were plentiful and I felt it actually added to the gameplay, and didn't end up needing it.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[MtPain27]

MAP 03: Toxic

Yikes, you'll definitely need to play this one twice, especially if you're bouncing between megawads and forget that this one is kinda tight on ammo and medical supplies. First thing you're going to want to do is grab a rad suit, leap into the schmutz to the left of the revenant, look through the bars and shoot the switch to raise a bridge to boney boy and the megaarmor he's guarding. The rocket launcher can be accessed by pressing the slimefall on the left where he is (a truly bizarre choice of interactable wall). Without explosives, you'll need to rely heavily on infighting and make every single shell count to 100% the map. Oh, and don't forget about the two imps at the start, once you teleport away, they're unreachable for good :(...my final kill percentage on second playthrough was 98%.

 

I can't fault the visuals here, Toxic is a clean-cut, classically minded slimebase with a Chasm-esque complexion, and I didn't have too much of an issue with pathfinding, but I found myself having to guard crumbs of health and mentally earmark rad suit locations because I spent half of my first playthrough essentially attempting a reality run: seriously man, where's the health? Doom as survival horror can be a compelling concept, of course there are many examples where scarcity builds tension effectively, but when large chunks of a map tax your health for simply existing in the wrong spot, I think the recovery item placement should be more friendly. After all, this is only MAP 03.

 

Just to make my biases public: TheMightyWhoosh's ascetic map design philosophy doesn't quite agree with me so far, my favorite maps tend to offer a lot more leeway and make more noise. I'm interested to see if the later maps lighten up or double down. 

 

 

A typical day in Toxic

 

 

I need someone who looks at me the way Doomguy's looking at those shotguns. 

 

[Doritos420]

Happy to see @TheMightyWhoosh in the thread. It's always fun to hear some developer commentary.

 

Map03 - Toxic

This one was a doozy. Very intricate map layout with this one. Again a very tight ammo squeeze. By the end I beat the level by punching out the hell baron. Very stingy with health pickups as well. I did enjoy the ticking clock element with the rad suits, encouraging you to try and rush through areas before it runs out. I ended up beating the map with all but the first two imps alive, since I initially ran past them and couldn’t find a way back. I also didn’t find any of the secrets this time around. One thing I really disliked was that in order to progress you need to flip the switch in the middle of the island area, but the switch is so small it can easily be overlooked (when I initially found it I thought it was a secret). I enjoyed the map but it wasn’t my favorite. I’m expecting this wad to be fairly difficult if this is how we are starting out. We’ll see how far I make it on UV, but I may need to dial down the difficulty as we go.

[FragsBunny]

What's up, folks? Starting from now, FragsBunny is officially entering the DWplay club! KINDA is rather bland name for a megawad, but with proper modifications, any WAD would be fun to play. My own version of playthrough will be different from others, cause I will be playing with Corruption Cards 3.0 enabled! Hardcore setting - a permanent card choice on every map! Without further ado, let's start with the first three maps!

 

MAP01: GO (100%/100%/100%)
1.    All chaingunners are increased by one.
2.    Revenant spawns with a small companion.
3.    Sergeants are always focused on players.

The opening map in Whoosh’s set evokes the classic Doom2 style of gameplay. The Mighty Whoosh is quite generous with supplies for continuous players – you get the first 2 guns early on, and even a backpack and easily accessible megaarmor! He also teases us with 4 rockets in the nukage. The sole secret in map rather pales in comparison with free offerings that you’re given early on. If I were the mapper, I would have placed the backpack or blue armor in the secret location.

Ammo-wise and health-wise, you still need to be careful – while you can pick the chaingun right from the start, most of the ammo needs to be collected from slain zombies. I lost a fair amount of health to “focusing” shotgunners and was at 51% before I finally found my way to blue armor. There is also a close-range teleport ambush that occurs after you hit the switch behind the blue door – it’s better to have the chaingun ready or be quick to rush out of the congested space in the open.

I decided to pick the card that has the least effect on the balance of the map. While more chaingunners would means more bullets, I already experienced Doom Core Delta, so… Funny enough, I did not encounter a revenant in my playthrough, but… I heard an explosion of those barrels )
 

[FragsBunny]

MAP02: Hell’s Cavity (100%/98%/100%)

1.       Player heals nearby monsters when damaged

2.       Lost soul fires a revenant missile on death

3.       Lost soul bleeds lethal acid.

 

The Mighty Whoosh keeps staying true to his generosity by placing the SSG in his second map while also reminding us to watch our health and ammo. After grabbing the SSG, I happily jumped down to buckshot the arachnotrons, but also noticed that the two props do not actually provide a cover against their plasma fire.

 

The combat felt normal but with the chosen card killing those chaingunners with their weapon gotten more difficult as they could heal themselves with every successful hit against me. I managed the red key ambush just fine, but the fight behind the red key door took me down to 22%, with my megaarmor still at 95%. I was afraid that I would waste my time searching for a secret passage to that soul sphere, but it turned to be in a open non-secret location on the way to the exit.

 

The two secrets, as I later discovered, contained… a backpack and mega-armor, respectively. How is that for you – to place them in the open in MAP01 and then in secrets at MAP02? What were you thinking, creator?

 

As for the card choice, both lost soul cards were a big no-no. That would make pain elementals in the future even bigger pain to deal with!

Edited October 4, 2021 by FragsBunny

[FragsBunny]

MAP03: Toxic (94%/96%/100%)

1.       Cacodemons reflect projectiles

2.       Zombiemen picks up and throw dead monsters

3.       Chaingunners have small companion

 

On this map, I felt ammo-hungry and health-hungry more than the other two. Had to switch to regular shotgun on occasion. I completed the map on a second try, but even then, there were moments where I was low on health, no ammo, and in a desperate need in searching of another rad suit. The map itself is mostly a switch hunt where about 50% percent of available surface is covered in toxic nukage. There are plenty of rad suits, but even then, you still need to be careful on which one you need to choose next for your next 60 seconds of relative freedom, especially when you’re always low on ammo.

 

The revenant on the other side was a big tease – during the whole playthrough of the map, I could not allow myself to waste my ammo on that pesky sniper. In the end, I ended up making him infight against the baron after I grabbed the red key. By the time I found the secret mega-armor and rocket launcher, the majority of the opposition was already dead. A tough run, especially considering my current card choices. I wish for Whoosh to give me a chainsaw…

 

Current cards on my playthrough:

1. Sergeants are always focused on players.

2. Player heals nearby monsters when damaged

3. Zombiemen picks up and throw dead monsters

Edited October 3, 2021 by FragsBunny

[xdarkmasterx]

22 minutes ago, MtPain27 said:

I need someone who looks at me the way Doomguy's looking at those shotguns.

 

If it makes you feel any better, I wear the same expression whenever I replay Mt.Pain

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by xdarkmasterx

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP03 - Toxic (90%K/100%I/0%S):

Uh,  I have some big mixed feelings about this map,  and I can't seem to feel which one is better, this one or the previous one. For starters, it looks the best out of the three maps we've played, but still, has some big ammo/resources problem. You can avoid some fights, but you'll have to be quick enough to  jump into nukage with a rad-suit and find a way through. This is another problem, I don't like to blindly dive into nukage pits or killing floors, but, it is manageable, as there are plenty of rad-suits for you to get. My final concern would be progression, the map is pretty convoluted, and you will be passing through the same area many times without noticing you are doing some progress. Then you remember that you need the red key, and suddenly you go to check at the start if you can grab it. Get the key, exit the map. Pretty confusing.

(UV Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

MAP01
MAP02
MAP03

Wow I've noticed MTPain27 is reviewing, spoiler for the next Dean of Doom episode? 🤔

Edited October 3, 2021 by DJVCardMaster

[TheMightyWhoosh]

4 hours ago, Doritos420 said:

Happy to see @TheMightyWhoosh in the thread. It's always fun to hear some developer commentary.

Thanks mate. I’ll most probably post my thoughts and views of the project at the end, once everybody has explored the entire megawad. I’m happy to answer any questions from anybody along the way, though! 
 

An apology to all those with frustrations at the ammo starvation. It was intentional, along with the obscure secrets and the occasional “What did this switch do?” scenario. It’s how I like to play, so this has most certainly translated into my map making. 
 

EDIT: Ammo-deprivation should become less of an issue as you progress through the maps… 

Edited October 3, 2021 by TheMightyWhoosh

[Haruspex]

MAP03: Toxic

UV, Pistol-start, Saveless

 

So it’s called Toxic and there’s green gunk raining down the walls. Looks like we’re facing nukage!

But just as we’ve accepted the fate of Doomguy’s socks and jumped into the acidic abyss, we find ourselves teleported halfway across the map to a much friendlier looking starting location. There’s even a super shotgun at hand and a few radiation suits lying around to save us some pain.

 

From thereon, most of the enemy compositions aren’t too difficult in themselves, but TheMightyWhoosh keeps us on our toes with the river of green ooze. We’re under constant pressure to keep moving to the next radsuit. If you get too hung up on exploring one area, you’re not going to have a good time, but I found that once I started going with the (green, oozing) flow, it’s actually a pretty fun level. The only thing I’d fault it for is the lack of ammo. I don’t know whether I would have even been able to kill every enemy without finding the secret.

 

Usually I’m not the biggest fan of damaging floors, but I had fun figuring this one out, so I’m going to rank it 1st so far. I won’t even deduct any marks for the missed opportunity to play MIDI Britney Spears.

 

Screenshot:

Spoiler

The UAC are sticklers for safety: They place a warning sign every few feet so their workers can know when they’re melting to death.

 

Ranking from favourite to least favourite:

Spoiler

MAP03: Toxic

MAP01: Go

MAP02: Hell’s Cavity

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by Haruspex
Spelling

[Book Lord]

1 hour ago, TheMightyWhoosh said:

Thanks mate. I’ll most probably post my thoughts and views of the project at the end, once everybody has explored the entire megawad. I’m happy to answer any questions from anybody along the way, though! 
 

An apology to all those with frustrations at the ammo starvation. It was intentional, along with the obscure secrets and the occasional “What did this switch do?” scenario. It’s how I like to play, so this has most certainly translated into my map making. 

 

There is one question: did you balance the game for pistol start or continuous play? Reading through the lines above it seems the ammo starvation pistol starters are experiencing is intentional, but why did you place the free power-ups at the end of MAP01/02 (blue armour and soul sphere respectively)? 

 

The secret ones on MAP03/04 (RL + blue armour and Megasphere) are quite difficult to find early on and tend to be left for the final secret hunting. At least they can find a different use on non-blind playthroughs. Still I cannot make up my mind about your target way of playing.

[fran]

1 hour ago, TheMightyWhoosh said:

An apology to all those with frustrations at the ammo starvation.

 

I forgive you, but only after having suffered a lot with MAP03 on pistol start :(

[cannonball]

MAP03 - “Toxic”

 

Okay, this one has some genuine problems.

Firstly there are two pairs of cacodemons that are frankly placed poorly, in both instances they are trapped and are essentially there to snipe the player. Now given that yet again the ammo is sparse I did not have enough ammo to kill them, so I left them.

Secondly the health is also very sparse, now oddly unlike others, I was okay with the radsuit distribution, however there are a lot of nasty hitscanner placements that can whittle away your health, as such I was underneath 50% for most of the map.

Thirdly a significant amount of progression is achieved from having to search through the nukage-filled lower sections of the map that are not the most easily signposted. Luckily I am of a curious mind and also move around quick enough to not use up all the radsuits.

Honestly, I didn't like this one. It is certainly on the mean side and offers little reward in its difficulty. Now a quick check in doombuilder revealed that in the first three maps, none of these contained a berserk or a chainsaw (Even as a secret), now seriously whilst ammo starvation is a genuine route to create difficulty, you can offer the player the choice of either berserk or even the chainsaw to allow the player to conserve their resources and it will make the maps generally more fun to play.

[TheMightyWhoosh]

1 hour ago, Book Lord said:

 

There is one question: did you balance the game for pistol start or continuous play? Reading through the lines above it seems the ammo starvation pistol starters are experiencing is intentional, but why did you place the free power-ups at the end of MAP01/02 (blue armour and soul sphere respectively)? 

 

The secret ones on MAP03/04 (RL + blue armour and Megasphere) are quite difficult to find early on and tend to be left for the final secret hunting. At least they can find a different use on non-blind playthroughs. Still I cannot make up my mind about your target way of playing.

The maps were play-tested from both a pistol start and continuous play; however continuous play is the intended way to play, which is why you’ll sometimes find power-ups and the such towards them end of some maps. The idea was also a case of the more you replay the maps, the more you discover in terms of secrets, such as the secrets you’ve mentioned. 

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/Blind/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 03 - TOXIC

100% kills and secrets

Time: 10:13

Deaths: 1

 

Another completely different location for this map. The title is very literal, as we're in some kind of toxic disposal facility. There's slime everywhere, and that's the biggest threat here. It's how I got my first death after all. There are a decent amount of rad suits in the map, but you may have to replay the map (or die) in order to use them effectively. Mancubi and barons make their first appearances here, with several mancubi posing the second biggest threat in the map. Being careful is paramount here, as there's barely any health in this map. Resources have already been scarce in this WAD, but it's really noticeable here. I can see this being a very blind-unfriendly map that improves over multiple playthroughs, but honestly, I enjoyed it! I think the layout of the map was better than the last 2 maps, and the timed rad suits make for more frantic gameplay. You can also find the first rocket launcher of the WAD in the second secret, but I didn't get to either secret until everything was dead. To better use it in this map, as soon as you see the secret mega armor guarded by a rev and crew, head down the slime to the left of it, and shoot the switch on the other side of the bars. It raises a platform to the armor. Then check the slimefall to the right to lower it and reveal a teleporter to the RL. Maybe that can be used to get rid of the odd cacos here. There's no big fight here, but the incidental combat/slime is more than enough challenge here. So yeah, overall, it was pretty good. Could use more health, but as The MightyWoosh said, that's the type of way they like to play, so I'll have to adapt as well. Nothing wrong with that!

[dei_eldren]

KINDa - MAP04 Treehouse (HMP, continuous w/ saves): K 101% (67/67), I 95% (23/24), S 0% (0/1), D 1, T 18:57

 

Spoiler

The start of the map is a network of room and hallways, forming roughly a square and starting room being 'inside' its main perimeter, opening up one section at a time.  The first view in front of the player is four zombiemen in the distance with their backs turned.  i killed them with the RL after couple of botched attempts - i think i was in shock over my ammo situation. Opening up next are rooms with Sargeants, Chaingunners, a Baron and a fucking Arch-Vile, who didn't manage to kill me, but i damaged myself with a rocket so badly i had to reload - and this counts as my only death on this map.  Each room also had some ammo and health, allowing me to recover to a decent state from the ravages of Toxic.  This western side of the quasi-maze is now opened up, and there is also a small enclosed yard, with some Imps caged along the wall.  Once again the design is very inventive and smart, and it's fun and interesting to play through.

 

From here leads a hallway to the eastern side of the maze, eventually going through a few more similar rooms.  The SSG is available in one side room, guarded by some Imps that attacked me unawares in the hallway, giving me a terrible fright.  Now the whole network is open, and the final room has a switch to operate an elevator by which to go down to a little outside area guarded by four Chaingunners in an alcove, and where one is immediately attacked by a Pinky and a Spectre.  There are also found two teleports, to passageways below the level of the main area, both seen by now from the rooms on both sides of the elevator, thru openings near the floor.

 

i first take the western one, and the most dangerous fight of the map is here, at the end of a long flight of stairs downwards.  Outside the treehouse, is an area with hell of a lot of Imps, Pinkies, Chaingunners, and a Mancube.  i botch the fight totally, my rockets launched from the doorway kill very few, and i take a lot of hits, losing most of my health, before getting fed up and charging to the open like a maniac.  There's serious crossfire from the Imps along the perimeter behind a fence, the Mancubus is still alive, there's one more Chaingunner, and Pinkies are running wildly around, but somehow i manage to survive it, just running amok with the Pinkies, and luckily not taking too many hits any more.  Of course, i should have done it again properly, but... there's a Megasphere visible!  Except, there's very little other health on the level, and that secret is not so readily obtained.

 

Anyway, back to the teleportation room via lift, taking me to the alcove where the Chaingunners were, and there finally is the RSK.  The other teleport takes me to a similar flight of bloody stairs on the eastern side, leading to a room where a Chaingunner guards a RSK switch.  This switch most likely opens up the exit-area at the southern side of the quasi-maze.  A teleport sends me back to the starting room.  Then there's one more fight left, and in my condition with only 12% health left it's dangerous indeed, with a couple of Revenants, some Imps and Lost Souls.  Somehow i'm lucky and manage it without much damage, not getting any homing missiles, and after collecting the few health bonuses around, am back at 11% with all enemies dead.... yeah.

 

There's the secret left, and the map seems to have a clear hint for how it's obtained, as one hallway has a short green line on the wall indicating a teleport.  For the life of me, i can't figure out how to open it.  i can't find a switch, a linedef, nor does it respond to shooting or humping.  It reminds me of the secret in MAP02 with a shootable wall, that i couldn't for some reason open, but hopefully this is not the case here but instead i just can't find the right solution.  Before playing MAP05 on HMP i absolutely need that Megasphere, and i'd appreciate if someone either gave me a clue for it or mentioned it in their review.  i'd much rather that than cheat :/

 

This map is truly wonderful, i liked everything about it - the inventiveness of its design, the layout, the progression, the combat, the texturing, and the effective understated visuals, such as the impaled corpses in the corners of the quasi-maze, or the blood flowing down the stairs outside - there's so many things.  Somehow the name is apt, too, the highest floor being like the crown of a humongous tree.

 

i also played this on HNTR, having an easier beginning thanks to my condition being much better.

 

 

Four favourites:

Spoiler

MAP04 - Treehouse

MAP02 - Hell's Cavity

MAP01 - Go

MAP03 - Toxic

 

[Book Lord]

MAP 04 – Treehouse

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

 

A rather small map, Treehouse possibly claims that the action takes place in a rather big playhouse built in a tree. The actual representation was a series of small rooms and closets connected by rivers of blood, with the enemies always appearing in front of the player for a while. The first tour consisted of uninteresting cubicles holding former humans, sergeants, commandos, and suddenly a Baron of Hell and an Arch-Vile. Pistol starters will have to kill them with rockets in a narrow space, since the SSG is awarded only later. I found this whole part not so interesting to play on continuous.

Spoiler

Doomsday Engine apparently remembered my habits and disregarded the settings, since the monsters were clearly acting -fast. I welcomed the change since this map had not much to offer in the challenge department on UV continuous play. After lowering the elevator near the start, an awkward situation with chaingunners in front and Pinkies on the ground was presented. I just retreated above and killed everyone methodically, exploiting the minimal provided cover.

Spoiler

The large courtyard leading to the RSK packed a decent opposition but begged me to camp the entrance until only the surrounding Imps were left. A Megasphere was in sight in a hidden chamber which I entered only later, after losing a while searching everywhere, since the effects of the red switch took place on the other side of the map. Thankfully, Treehouse was small enough for the clueless search to be brief. Visually the map was ok, even though a bit off-topic for a tree house, I only hope this kind of progression will not be extended to larger levels later on. The gameplay seemed to count on low ammo for the challenge.

 

[Capellan]

 

 

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP03: Toxic

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 2/2 secrets

 

As far as vanilla aesthetics go, I do tend to be keen on toxic slime. This level is no different, and is definitely my favourite looking one so far, although I like to think it's not only my own biases showing but also it just being the best from an architecture standpoint as well. The area where you first encounter some mancubi is a good example, I dig the way this room looks with its central structure. 

 

From a gameplay standpoint, well I can't speak for people playing continuously but this one really puts the squeeze on you from pistol start. Finding both secrets, if only because the first contains the second which holds the rocket launcher, is definitely ideal here and doing so is not an easy task when you consider the whole level is covered in slime and you only have so many radsuits, so your exploration time is limited. With the rocket launcher and megaarmour in tow this one gets much easier, although you'll still have to mind your health. The hitscanner placements in this level can get pretty nasty, and obviously you'll always need to take care with the radsuits.

 

I wasn't sure how I felt about the level playing it, but I think it's pretty good. I'm often left unsure how to feel on these nukage heavy levels because they can be unfriendly to a blind playthrough, but I found myself having a good time when I knew what was going on.

 

Edited October 4, 2021 by DisgruntledPorcupine
spelling error

[Salt-Man Z]

MAP04: Treehouse (HMP/continuous)

10:11 | 100% Everything

Can't say this one did much for me. It wasn't bad per se, but it was literally just a series of small square rooms linked by narrow hallways. Approach room, take out opposition, hit switch, look for newly-opened hallway, repeat. The large outdoor area was very nice to look at, but couldn't really be entered without camping the doorway first. Honestly had more of a 90s WAD feel to it than anything in the set so far.

[FragsBunny]

MAP04: Treehouse (100%/100%/100%)

1.       Arch-vile will try to dodge your attacks

2.       Arch-vile can leap at their prey

3.       You will be attacked by the Torment Corps!

 

The card interface spoiled the presence of an arch-vile on the map, and to make matters worse, all three cards given to me were high tier cards! I could not pick the Torment Corps card, knowing my lack on ammo on past maps, so I picked the second card, despite knowing that one day I would risk blowing myself with a rocket on an Arch-Vile in the future.

 

Despite my fears, this map was more generous with weapon and ammo. The combat was mostly in tight corridors with some occasional courtyards. I killed the lone Baron with SSG and the arch-vile with rocket launcher (though ideally it should have been done the other way around). Majority of the hitscanners were killed with potshots behind the corners. Oddly enough, I found some monsters facing me with their backs, which only made them easier to kill.

 

The secret megasphere ensured my better preparation for the next map. But to place it as early as MAP04… yeah, we know that Whoosh is a big newcomer when it comes to mapping ;) Took me some time to find the exit passage after hitting the red switch.

[Haruspex]

MAP04: Treehouse

UV, Pistol-start, Saveless

 

I’m going to be harsh with this one.

 

I was intrigued by Treehouse at first—Doom isn’t exactly known for its leafy environments—but this level is just too constrained.

 

Which is a shame because I really do like the theming. The hedge maze soaked with blood is a striking image. But Doom is always at its best when the player has room to move around, and these claustrophobic tunnels just don’t provide much of a challenge.

 

Even the arch-vile isn’t a threat. Nestled between the leaves, it’s easy to break his line-of-sight. And with no backup, he’s a sitting duck. Maybe that’s intentional. We’re still in the early phases of the megawad after all. But he felt misused—especially on UV.

 

The arena could have alleviated the claustrophobia, but unfortunately it seems to reward taking potshots from outside instead of diving in. Which is sad because it’s actually got a pretty cool design.

 

I’m going to have to put this map last in my ranking so far. It’s just less engaging than the others imo. But with 32 map slots to fill, any single-author megawad is going to have some filler here and there. And I can see there is a fun concept behind this level even if it’s not quite what I wish it was.

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

This blood feature really adds a certain vim to the UAC botanical gardens.

 

 

Ranking from favourite to least favourite:

Spoiler

 

MAP03: Toxic

MAP01: Go

MAP02: Hell’s Cavity

MAP04: Treehouse

 

 

[Biodegradable]

MAP04 - Treehouse

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

 

Oh boy, this one was rather fun. I usually don't like mazes, but this isn't quite a maze. It's one of those coy little maps that opens up more over time and you dawdle about press random switches to reveal more switches. It kept me on my toes thanks to the brief ambushes with every press as more walls came down to reveal new areas and new surprises. It's a more quirky affair with a lot of character. I quite like it. :^)