kawadec Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) Map 26 - Monstrous This is one level where I was rather glad I read ahead a bit about it, at least enough to understand it was a large map and meant to be a castle of sorts; that put me into the right mindset going in. With that in mind I can say I enjoyed the exploration, and though at times the progression took a bit to figure out, it was less because things were hidden and more that there was a lot to keep a mental map of (or to check the actual map about sometimes, in order to maintain a sense of direction). I do acknowledge the attempted convenience of the teleporters that take you back to, I dunno what to call it, the red key hub? If this map was any larger or the progression more cryptic I'd be singing a different tune, but as it is I liked it well enough on a first play. Whatever that red key does will remain a mystery for this playthrough; at a certain point the exit was in front of me, so there I went. I presume the areas full of multiple baddies to kill but no switches or otherwise to get (at least that I found) might have had something to do with that particular key. Tight spaces full of Knights and Barons are especially tense with EoA-ternal, and this map deemed fit to throw a generous amount of them my way. The fact I kept backing up into a teleporter amid the most cramped fight is probably why I didn't suffer a death there, heh. Otherwise this was a pretty easy level combat-wise. On 10/29/2021 at 3:13 AM, Capellan said: I don't believe anything has 4 votes yet, so if you want there to be a November DWMC, speak up :) Expand Okay, then have a blind vote for +++Community Chest. The name alone sounds like an interesting experience. Edited October 29, 2021 by kawadec 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
Book Lord Posted October 29, 2021 On 10/29/2021 at 3:13 AM, Capellan said: I don't believe anything has 4 votes yet, so if you want there to be a November DWMC, speak up :) Expand Interception 2 received 5 votes by the first 5 voters. Community Chest (the first of the series) seems to have slowly reached the same number of votes. The alternative vote of @LadyMistDragon to Community Chest 3 is not so clear. Maybe a partial count of votes is needed. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post
Capellan Posted October 29, 2021 On 10/29/2021 at 5:12 AM, Book Lord said: Interception 2 received 5 votes by the first 5 voters. Expand Cool. Clearly I did not look back far enough. :) 0 Quote Share this post Link to post
FragsBunny Posted October 29, 2021 I have already completed Community Chest earlier with Corruption Cards, so if that gets a vote, chances are I won't be participating. Come on, give Moustachio and crew some attention! 0 Quote Share this post Link to post
Book Lord Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) On 10/29/2021 at 5:47 AM, Capellan said: Cool. Clearly I did not look back far enough. :) Expand Trying to help undecided people, this is the current situation for next month DWMC: Interception 2 6 votesCommunity Chest 5 votes (@LadyMistDragonvote not counted, since it was for Perdition's Gate with an option for Community Chest 3, unless it was an oversight)Good Morning Phobos 3 votesHexen: Beyond Heretic 3 votesOops All Techbase 3 votesWonderful Doom 3 votes WADs with 1 vote only not listed The final result is still open. Edited October 29, 2021 by Book Lord 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
fran Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) +++ Community Chest oops Edited October 29, 2021 by fran 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
SharkyChip Posted October 29, 2021 +++ Interception 2 I think I should clarify that I didn't participate on this month's thread, as I recently discovered this club exists. I've been, however, counting the days, excitedly waiting for November so I can participate on the next WAD that gets chosen. As for my vote, I have never played or seen Interception 2, and I think it'd be a fun experience to play through it 100% blind 3 Quote Share this post Link to post
Biodegradable Posted October 29, 2021 MAP29 - The KINDa Circuit UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+ The KINDa is with smelling distance, just one penultimate map to break through to figure out what it is and blow its brains out. Things start off a bit tricky with low health from my skirmish with MAP28, but I immediately found a berserk secret so off to a good start! Much like MAP28, this one takes you full circle with its progression, repopulating almost the entire map on your return after you've grabbed the yellow skull key. It's very much playing to the beat of the same drum we've seen numerous times with its somewhat annoying sense of progression by making you backtrack to find new, random switches after you've found the key just to lower the key further so you can reach the bloody thing. Teleport ambushes are aplenty and, oh boy, a lot of hitscanners. For the penultimate map, some might find it a little lacklustre in some regard. While there's plenty of action for sure and the dearth of health theme remains present as ever, it wasn't nearly as sadistic as I was expecting, especially given the WAD's earlier propensity of no-holds-barred viciousness. It's certainly not a pushover by any means, but at the same time it doesn't really feel like a MAP29 if you know what I mean. Regardless, one has to remember that this is all from a first-timer and they've got many years ahead of them to perfect their craft. Expectations should be tempered. It's a good map. 4 Quote Share this post Link to post
dei_eldren Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) KINDa - MAP30 KINDa (HNTR, blind, continuous w/ saves): T ~10:00 Reveal hidden contents i don't generally like last maps as i find whatever's in them perfunctory and not exactly to my taste. That said, i think this level was designed in a fine way - and i really enjoyed the Cyberdemon vs. Barons of Hell match, won easily by the Barons. i died a few times when running around figuring out what to do, but after figuring it out, i liked the progression. i managed to kill the IoS with some luck, as i thought just about all my rockets missed it. Final KINDa Top Ten: Reveal hidden contents MAP26 - Monstrous MAP24 - Frontier in Situ MAP25 - Her Company MAP28 - Knock Knock MAP27 - Congo Control MAP10 - Mud and Blood MAP08 - Deux MAP12 - Monster Monopoly MAP09 - Death Delivery MAP05 - Leak MAP29 - the KINDa's Circuit MAP21 - Melancholy MAP19 - Calculator MAP20 - Monster HQ MAP17 - Naive MAP15 - Blackout MAP16 - Patino MAP23 - Bloodlove MAP06 - Cement MAP04 - Treehouse MAP07 - the UAC Project MAP02 - Hell's Cavity MAP01 - Go MAP18 - Doomsday Machine MAP13 - Blast MAP14 - Death's Dwelling MAP22 - Skin MAP11 - Her Keep MAP03 - Toxic MAP31 - Hell's Party Epilogue - In a sense same could be said of any WAD to in some respect, but still KINDa had something different about it - and in this case, its ethos ethos goes against received wisdom. i've understood that the WAD was developed basically in isolation, and then worked upon after release with guidance of some experienced mappers (at least Doomkid was named) - and i think that's the charm here. The lack of experience combined with inspiration, vision and talent seasoned after the fact with perspective of experience. And the result is still a unique unprejudiced and uncynical (what i refer to with this abstraxion, for example, is the lack of streamlining, which for me is an important part of why this WAD is so brilliant) piece of work that inevitably will get varied responses. But the thing to notice here is that no map was unanimously praised nor vilified, but virtually every map induced opposite reactions from different players. While the small-scaled maps full of cleverness and gimmickry of the start promised only a hint of what was to come, i liked KINDa from the very beginning. But slowly but surely, and sometimes in isolated spikes, the maps would grow in scope, enemy count, and difficulty (vertically rather than laterally). i gave up on my HMP run after MAP19 Calculator for two reasons - first i thought the increased mass of the enemies could make the gameplay less enjoyable, as it had on that particular level, and second, whilst my second runs were always considerably faster, the time required started increasing enough that i had a hard time keeping up. Maybe i made the wrong choice and should've just dropped my HNTR run instead - certainly in hindsight it feels like that would've been the correct decision - on the other hand, few people play on HNTR and i did enjoy it, and maybe it's good the HNTR difficulty gets used also? At any rate, the length and scope of the maps 23-29 really took me by surprise, and i liked them even more than the earlier ones. The promise of the earlier levels was only realized to its full potential when The Mighty Whoosh had the space in his use to really commit - alea iacta est - to audaciously and unapologetically of immersing the player within the framework of his designs. His style is his own, but if i am to describe it i'll say it's a mix between TNT Evilution and Eternal Doom - having extracted best of both styles, and added in his own inspired creativity, resulting in a neoclassical WAD that pulls no punches, especially what it comes to progression! Stupidity and oversights are punished... Whatever overstatements there remain can be dismissed as momentary quirks at best, no matter how frustrating they may at first seem, when put into perspective they really don't matter. i very much look forward to the promised sequel, and i hope it is quietly in the works rather than just a planned project so that it would be available for playing sooner than later (would The Mighty Whoosh wish to reveal anything about its stage of development...?)! So - another month at the DWMWC has come to an end! As for the next month, first, seems that my perennial suggestion Wonderful Doom still isn't going to get a chance, but since again it got some votes, think i'll give it one more go next month. And again, i have to say, i echo the sentiment of FistMarine regarding Megawads already played in the Club almost ten years ago - one thing to consider it, from what i've read of older threads when wanting some reviews about WADs i was going to play, the players today are just about 100% different to who they were back then. Regardless, whatever gets chosen, even if i'm not all that excited about Community Chest, nor of Interception 2 for that matter after this, i'll participate. Thanks to everyone i was playing with - as always enjoyed reading reviews and watching you guys play! Edited October 29, 2021 by dei_eldren 7 Quote Share this post Link to post
DuckReconMajor Posted October 29, 2021 MAP29 - The Kinda's Circuit - dsda-doom - skill 4 pistol start - rewinds used then some cheats because dead Again I'm much more well equipped to face TMW's quirks and I am having a lot of fun because of it. Finding that red key under the stairs by accident felt like an accomplishment. However, through no fault of TMW, I had the "try to hit a switch when I'm dead" happen and had to restart not once but twice. The second attempt I had way more fun, knowing generally where everything is. The third attempt I really wanted to get back to where I was. I was hooked! So to get back quickly I did some IDKFA and occasionally IDDQDx2 to restore health. This actually got me right back where I was, with about the same ammo load, which worked out great. I got to finish the level and see the awesome teleport choice bit at the end. Another reminder I should've gone this one continuous. Despite that though, this does prove my suspicion that this is a mapset best played without saves, with a lot of patience, each restart giving you a fresh look at the puzzles The Mighty Woosh has laid out. If/when I come back to KINDa, I am certain I'll have a much better time with the back half. Reveal hidden contents 4 Quote Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) +++ Community Chest. (changing my previous Perdition's Gate vote). Though I suspect Map 29 will probably deserve an eight-paragraph writeup by itself, I'm not necessarily opposed to playing some shit maps, so long as they're not filled with the sorts of annoyance of something like this (which, admittedly, is quite a bit better). Edited October 30, 2021 by LadyMistDragon Clarification 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
cannonball Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) MAP29 - “The KINDa’s Circuit” This was a good effort, however it is still rather flawed. I appreciate the sense of adventure the author puts into this and there are some of the best visuals of the entire wad on offer here. The blue key room looks very nice indeed and so do the outdoor sections on the yellow key approach. However the combat is rather tame and only made difficult again by the sheer lack of health for the most part. Ironically until the final fight I had no ammo issues, however the double cyber battle left me with just a handful of bullets (I could have been better here to be fair). One complaint would be the the backtracking simply isn't worth it for the combat on offer, just a cluster of monster closets here and there and there is only one archvile, which is surprising. Overall - There is some good stuff here, but again some design decisions hold this back from being a good map as a whole. MAP30 - “KINDa” Not much to say here, I will have mention that this felt nicer than any of the IWad efforts in creating a boss map. The red key room is nothing but a joke that you can leave to its own devices. The weapons are hidden, which feels par for the course. The actual finale is relatively straightforward, nicely presented void-like arena. Not much to it, I lowered the lift twice and that was enough. Victory was mine. Whilst this isn't a stunning level, it was surprisingly light-hearted, especially considering how aggravating other parts of the megawad were. Moving on, given the two potential candidates, I will likely sit out CChest if that turns out on top. I probably should invest my time in getting some other projects over the line. Edited October 29, 2021 by cannonball 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
DJVCardMaster Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) MAP29 - The KINDa's Circuit (96%K/99%I/66%S): This is yet another tech-base map, but it's well constructed, and again, it gives you that "end game feel". I expected something else, something bigger in the sense rooms would not be long corridors as always, a big fight, instead we have a map that you have to traverse to its entirety, and then go back to the start when you get the yellow key. Monsters as you may expect, will fill the map again for you. On the good side, this map made me engaged, it's one of the best, but if you ask me, if tech-bases are the main theme even at the end of this megaWAD, I would have chosen the MAP25 to fill this spot. This map felt a little bit like the rest, with nothing new. This map has 3 exit pads, a non-save run can be killed here, as there are three paths to take, one leaves you to death (I did not check if it was a death exit as I quickly loaded my saved state), one is the regular exit, and one is a path that stocks you up before the final map, interesting ending to this map. But a dick move if you have a 33% of the chances to die at the very end of the level because of randomness. (UV Playthrough - PrBoom+)Order of preference: Reveal hidden contents MAP09 MAP12 MAP22 MAP27 MAP25 MAP10 MAP23MAP29 MAP08 MAP05 MAP28 MAP11 MAP01 MAP26 MAP16 MAP21 MAP20 MAP17 MAP13 MAP04 MAP06 MAP14 MAP19 MAP02 MAP24 MAP15 MAP07 MAP18 MAP03 MAP31 MAP32 (Unrated) Choose whatever you want, I2 or CC, in both cases, this time, democracy worked because I won. :grin: If you want me to tiebreak this, I'll bias myself into choosing Interception 2, as I made 1 and a half maps for that. Edited October 29, 2021 by DJVCardMaster 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
DFF Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) +++ Interception 2 haven't looked at the WAD since it released but I'd enjoy doing another playthrough with the club. Wanted to participate this month but work required extra attention this month. Edited October 29, 2021 by DFF 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted October 29, 2021 On 10/29/2021 at 2:41 PM, dei_eldren said: KINDa - MAP30 KINDa (HNTR, blind, continuous w/ saves): T ~10:00 Reveal hidden contents i don't generally like last maps as i find whatever's in them perfunctory and not exactly to my taste. That said, i think this level was designed in a fine way - and i really enjoyed the Cyberdemon vs. Barons of Hell match, won easily by the Barons. i died a few times when running around figuring out what to do, but after figuring it out, i liked the progression. i managed to kill the IoS with some luck, as i thought just about all my rockets missed it. Final KINDa Top Ten: Reveal hidden contents MAP26 - Monstrous MAP24 - Frontier in Situ MAP25 - Her Company MAP28 - Knock Knock MAP27 - Congo Control MAP10 - Mud and Blood MAP08 - Deux MAP12 - Monster Monopoly MAP09 - Death Delivery MAP05 - Leak MAP29 - the KINDa's Circuit MAP21 - Melancholy MAP19 - Calculator MAP20 - Monster HQ MAP17 - Naive MAP15 - Blackout MAP16 - Patino MAP23 - Bloodlove MAP06 - Cement MAP04 - Treehouse MAP07 - the UAC Project MAP02 - Hell's Cavity MAP01 - Go MAP18 - Doomsday Machine MAP13 - Blast MAP14 - Death's Dwelling MAP22 - Skin MAP11 - Her Keep MAP03 - Toxic MAP31 - Hell's Party And again, i have to say, i echo the sentiment of FistMarine regarding Megawads already played in the Club almost ten years ago - one thing to consider it, from what i've read of older threads when wanting some reviews about WADs i was going to play, the players today are just about 100% different to who they were back then. Expand So that's why most people are unenthused to play anything made before 2014? A little annoying...but I guess Ancient Aliens, Interception, and Sunlust are kinda (lol) a gold standard for what future wads people like. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post
dei_eldren Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) On 10/29/2021 at 7:52 PM, LadyMistDragon said: So that's why most people are unenthused to play anything made before 2014? A little annoying...but I guess Ancient Aliens, Interception, and Sunlust are kinda (lol) a gold standard for what future wads people like. Expand Yeah, i worded that ambiguously - i meant simply that the individuals playing now are different than ten years ago :D Implying that maybe a small percentage of what we play today could be what has been played before, since virtually none of the current clubbers played back then. But it's true too that more old stuff was played ten years ago than now judging from the list... as per what you say, it's not like the WADs selected in the last few months have had anything to do with the 'gold standard' (luckily for me...) but have actually been quite eclectic, so hopefully there's no principled objection in minds of majority of voters to playing something older at some point. :) Edited October 29, 2021 by dei_eldren 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
DJVCardMaster Posted October 29, 2021 The thing is, we are KINDa running out of old-styled megawads, CC maybe one of the last few that we have, we have also options like Eternal Doom but, every map takes hours to complete. We will have to dig out weird megawads from the depths of the idgames database. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) On 10/29/2021 at 8:10 PM, dei_eldren said: But it's true too that more old stuff was played ten years ago than now judging from the list... as per what you say, it's not like the WADs selected in the last few months have had anything to do with the 'gold standard' (luckily for me...) but have actually been quite eclectic, so hopefully there's no principled objection in minds of majority of voters to playing something older at some point. :) Expand I was sort of saying that people these days are probably more into wads that are influenced by those, but I can say that KINDa (and perhaps Zone 400 too, never change Pcorf!) feel rather out of time regarding how much spit and polish is applied to them. Skulltiverse however... has this combo of high monster density that largely doesn't turn into slaughter that feels post-2013 at the very least. On 10/29/2021 at 8:41 PM, DJVCardMaster said: The thing is, we are KINDa running out of old-styled megawads, CC maybe one of the last few that we have, we have also options like Eternal Doom but, every map takes hours to complete. We will have to dig out weird megawads from the depths of the idgames database. Expand We've already done Eternal Doom, dobu gabu maru decided to pull a fast one around 2016 or so.:) I might have suggested New Doom Community Project but Doom_dude is working on remastering that right now, so maybe in March? And incidentally, I can think of some other megawads that have received zero attention, trouble being they're almost all modern. Edited October 29, 2021 by LadyMistDragon 3 Quote Share this post Link to post
dei_eldren Posted October 29, 2021 On 10/29/2021 at 8:46 PM, LadyMistDragon said: I was sort of saying that people these days are probably more into wads that are influenced by those, but I can say that KINDa (and perhaps Zone 400 too, never change Pcorf!) feel rather out of time regarding how much spit and polish is applied to them. Skulltiverse however... has this combo of high monster density that largely doesn't turn into slaughter that feels post-2013 at the very least. Expand You may be right, i just meant that i've participated in the club now for the past seven months (only didn't participate with Heretic), and i don't really detect a preference for Sunlust/AA style, in the votes or in the nominees. Kinda sad Base Ganymede turned people off from playing Doom I WADs for time being (if it did, i don't know, but it's possible/likely considering the reaction to it - people even quitting in the middle). i didn't actually realize what DJCCardMaster said, that CC would be an old-styled Megawad - means my impression was wrong - and though i didn't vote for it, i'm kinda (oh not again!) hoping it would win on that merit. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) Yeah, there's something of a dichotomy between modernist stuff, like Bourgeoisie Megawad, 180 Minutes Por Vivre, and Rowdy Rudy's and 'vanilla' wads like KINDa and Doom Zero, I've noticed. It just looks like going back to last year, the megawad length Cacoward winners, along with Akeldama and one other project released that year that they are representative of modern trends (well, 25 Years on Earth looks a bit like a Doom Zero situation, but you know what I mean). It looks like only 3 megawads that came out before 3 years ago were played, 1000 Lines and Mayhem 2020 being farily firmly planted in modern-style gameplay. Edit: And before anyone points it out, I know Rowdy Rudy's is essentially influenced by certain old-school games. I'm referring to its gameplay within the Doom context, or a less grindy slaughter-lite of sorts. Edited October 29, 2021 by LadyMistDragon 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
DFF Posted October 29, 2021 Tbh I'd love to replay some of the old and gold megawads with the club. The first 3 community chests were some of the first non-official megawads I played along with WADs like cyberdreams and Fragport, the latter a WAD I'd love to replay, especially since I think it's getting a community midi update like TNT and Requiem (I think). I'd vote for CChest or Fragport, but Im very biased towards Int2 for next month. If CChest wins tho I'd also be pleased. 5 Quote Share this post Link to post
dei_eldren Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) On 10/29/2021 at 9:30 PM, LadyMistDragon said: Yeah, there's something of a dichotomy between modernist stuff, like Bourgeoisie Megawad, 180 Minutes Por Vivre, and Rowdy Rudy's and 'vanilla' wads like KINDa and Doom Zero, I've noticed. It just looks like going back to last year, the megawad length Cacoward winners, along with Akeldama and one other project released that year that they are representative of modern trends (well, 25 Years on Earth looks a bit like a Doom Zero situation, but you know what I mean). It looks like only 3 megawads that came out before 3 years ago were played, 1000 Lines and Mayhem 2020 being farily firmly planted in modern-style gameplay. Edit: And before anyone points it out, I know Rowdy Rudy's is essentially influenced by certain old-school games. I'm referring to its gameplay within the Doom context, or a less grindy slaughter-lite of sorts. Expand i had a look at the stuff played in last couple years and ... of course you're right. :) Which means i've been quite lucky past few months, which i didn't realize, in terms of the style. It's actually very interesting and to be honest i didn't quite know Sunlust/AA were responsible for a trend. Also, if Intercept2 wins i might not be able/willing to finish it :D Edited October 29, 2021 by dei_eldren 3 Quote Share this post Link to post
Doritos420 Posted October 30, 2021 Map29 - The KINDa’s Circuit Favorite level in the whole set! Loved this one, fast paced run and gun action and then you go through it backwards with additional monsters unlocked. At first I was a bit nervous seeing the huge monster count, thinking that it would be a slog of a map to get through, but I was so wrong. Excellent map, definitely a worthy successor to the Map 29 slot. I ended up finding the 2 out of the 3 secrets (berserk and the one behind the painting). Such a fun level, very linear but still great, loved being able to use of shortcuts too, especially when running backwards through the facility. At first when I reached the key and the way was shut, I was like “does he really expect me to go through this whole huge area backwards” but it was very fun and not drawn out, especially made more interesting with new enemies thrown into the mix. Also I found the ammo balancing a lot more fair to pistol starters this time around. The double cyberdemon boss fight at the end was pretty tricky as I didn’t realize there were two until I was getting gibbed. The ending is a little strange though. I ended up saving before the exit teleporters to see what each one does. Not sure if there was some sort of clue but it seems like one zapps you right to the last level, one gives you a bunch of goodies the prepare you for the last one and one will kill you so you’re forced to pistol start the last map (not that it matters for me). Weird end to the level but I dig it. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
TJG1289 Posted October 30, 2021 On 10/29/2021 at 10:09 PM, DFF said: Fragport Expand I almost voted for that instead of Uprising. It too was one of the first WADs I ever got into, after playing The Ultimate Doomer's Super Sonic Doom first. I've always wondered how it holds up, cause while I liked it, I feel like there's not a lot of visual variety, and a lot of big open areas. I always liked its attempt at more realistic level design though, in a Build engine-like way. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post
Biodegradable Posted October 30, 2021 MAP30 - KINDa UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+ I won't lie, the KINDa being revealed to just be the Icon of Sin was a tad disappointing, but oh well. I do like how my curiosity would immediately serve me well as I was able to find the red skull key to access the lift pretty quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly? I finished it in record time, if only because I can't stomach playing an IoS fight the traditional way because I find it tedious and just mouse-looked the bastard to death. I've little else to say about this map, honestly, so I won't beat around the bush and look for things to bullshit about. It's an IoS fight... meh. Anywho, here's my Top Favourite Maps in Chronological Order: MAP02 MAP04 MAP05 MAP08 MAP16 MAP19 MAP25 Conclusion KINDa is a curious, somewhat adorable and strangely compelling megaWAD. Made in isolation with no connection to the greater community, TheMightyWhoosh came out of nowhere and quietly dropped the original version into the idgames Archive. With every chance of it being lost in the burgeoning archive, it was discovered by Bryan T in September of last year and piqued many people's curiosity, including my own. It was a bit rough around the edges and unbalanced, but thanks to the aid and guidance of P41R47 and Doomkid, it has shaped into a pretty decent megaWAD that anyone can enjoy. Its cryptic progression, stingy use of health and teleporting ambushes manages to carve out a name for itself that you won't quickly forget. Admittedly, it was a bit of a mixed experience for me overall. Some maps were good, some left me feeling a little limp and others were downright annoying. However, I can't imagine how unexpected and intimidating the experience must have been for Whoosh to make a megaWAD by yourself and not expect much, only for it to take the interest of some veteran Doomers and even be played by the DWMC. So, having this month's newbie mapper take all of our reactions and feedback on the chin with gusto is truly commendable. I for one see a lot of potential in their mapping career thanks to their brimming imagination, understanding of Doom engine mechanics and the determination to take everyone's feedback on board and build upon their skills. KINDa might not be the best megaWAD I've ever played, but I respect both it and its author immensely. I hope to see Whoosh flourish in the mapping scene, joining various community projects, speedmapping sessions and other solo-made releases for years to come. 6 Quote Share this post Link to post
DFF Posted October 30, 2021 On 10/30/2021 at 3:48 AM, TJG1289 said: I almost voted for that instead of Uprising. It too was one of the first WADs I ever got into, after playing The Ultimate Doomer's Super Sonic Doom first. I've always wondered how it holds up, cause while I liked it, I feel like there's not a lot of visual variety, and a lot of big open areas. I always liked its attempt at more realistic level design though, in a Build engine-like way. Expand Super sonic doom was another really fun WAD, been a long time since I touched that. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
TJG1289 Posted October 30, 2021 GZDoom/Blind/UV/Continuous/Saves Map 29 - THE KINDA'S CIRCUIT 100% kills and 66% secrets Time: 34:03 The penultimate level is one of the highlights of the WAD, as it's a fairly linear romp through a wide variety of scenes. The texture usage in this one gives the feel of going through a "greatest hits" of the areas we've been before, as there's tech base, toxic tunnels, brick forts, hellish outposts, and more, all in one connected area. I like this concept quite a bit, and it didn't feel disjointed at all. I really liked the look of the one area that uses a scrolling fireblu. Progression is mostly clear, with some typical KINDa shenanigans making you backtrack for a few newly opened rooms with a switch (or the red key but that was a backtrack of like 20 feet). The goal is to get to the yellow key and megaspehre you see behind you at the start. Grabbing them requires you to backtrack through the entire level, dealing with newly opened monster closets. Health is at a premium for the most part in the map, so you'll have to rely on the megasphere to get you home. The final fight is 2 cybies in the center area, which isn't too bad as long as you can corral one out of the way so you can 2-shot the other easily. When you finally reach the exit, you see 3 of them. The right one exits normally. The middle leads you to a death exit. The left one gives you a buncha goodies before letting you exit. Take that one, continuous players! Overall, the linear nature of this one made it pretty fun. Decent enemy usage (the archie almost got me), and the backtrack to the end was a fun challenge trying to keep the megasphere as much as possible. Map 30: KINDA IoS% kills and 100% secrets Time: 3:22 The final map is an interesting one, as while it is mostly a IoS map, there's an odd variation of the baron/cyb room from Tricks and Traps here too. It doesn't really serve much of a purpose, as it's not a threat at all, and there's a ton of cells in this area too. The cybs can also get cornered really easily here, as they only took out 6 barons before dying. The IoS needs the red key to lower the pillar to shoot the brain, so take the left path to the red key room first (make sure to stop in the center to grab all the guns too). It's an old-fashioned IoS, so you'll need to time some rockets while riding a lift. Easy-peasy. FINAL THOUGHTS I've nominated this WAD for the club a few times before, so I'm glad we got a chance to play it. It's always an incredible feat when someone comes out of nowhere and drops a full 32-level megawad as one of their first (if not first) public offerings. I tip my hat to TheMightyWoosh for being able to accomplish such a feat. As for my feelings toward it, it's very uneven. Progression is the biggest problem, as there are many, many times where it's not clear what a switch did, or where you need to go, or that you basically have to find what in most other WADs would be a secret in order to progress. The worst of these being shooting the 4 gargoyle faces behind a bloodfall in map 32. There's also a stingy amount of health and ammo, which didn't bother me too much, but it is noticeable in a few maps. Playing through continuous makes it easier in that case. I kinda like and don't like the non-cohesiveness of the map themes. One map you're in a base, next one you're in a temple or something. I guess I'm so used to megaWADs having a cohesive feel to them where this was kinda annoying at first, but I stopped paying attention to it quickly. The difficulty was easier than I expected, with the hardest maps being toward the beginning of the WAD. I didn't really die too often in my playthrough on UV (we'll ignore map 32), even with the lack of ammo and heavy hitscan presence. I wish there was more usage of mid-tier monsters throughout. Maps looked fine, no qualms there. Stock MIDIs worked fine too. And generally, the maps themselves were fine. Fun to play even with its flaws. I guess I'd give this a 3/5. It was good, but there's some design choices that I don't really find all too fun. One cannot say this isn't a cohesive vision though, as TMW's mapping style is pretty distinctive cause of those choices. I respect the hell out of this WAD, and I think his mapping skills will only improve from here. The ending text teases a sequel, and I'll play it if it appears! Looking forward to seeing what's next, cause this did show a lot of promise. On 10/30/2021 at 4:42 AM, DFF said: Super sonic doom was another really fun WAD, been a long time since I touched that. Expand I replayed it a few years ago with the Quake Champions mod. Still pretty fun! Though this was an updated version of the WAD for GZDoom, as the original was designed for a specific version of ZDoom, and I had some issues with scripting not working 100%. Idk how much the gameplay mod effected that, if any. Though I still enjoy it a lot! 5 Quote Share this post Link to post
DJVCardMaster Posted October 30, 2021 On 10/30/2021 at 4:42 AM, DFF said: Super sonic doom was another really fun WAD, been a long time since I touched that. Expand It was an authentic banger, sadly most of its levels are pretty long 1 Quote Share this post Link to post
dobu gabu maru Posted October 30, 2021 Interception 2 is at 8 votes Community Chest is at 7 votes Please try to get your votes in if you haven't so there's no last minute upsets :P 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
Book Lord Posted October 30, 2021 MAP 30 - KINDa Doomsday Engine, UV-fast, Continuous, blind run w/saves A classic Doom marble sanctuary was home to the final confrontation with the cosmic horror called KINDa, whose true name cannot be uttered by humans. An extremely traditional Icon of Sin ending, possibly more straightforward than OG Doom II, was preceded by a short & puzzling preamble, which could bring to completely different impressions depending on which way was taken in the first room. Firstly, a pistol starter will not find any weapons unless he naturally treats the MARBFACE behind the altar as a regular door. The chamber inside held the full weapon roster and no extra ammo. There were not many resources to collect in the whole map, only a good supply of cells, about 4 rockets, and 11 backpacks, 10 of them tucked behind props and easy to miss. As for the teleporter pads, the left one should be chosen first since it led to the RSK, essential to beat the final boss. It was guarded by a herd of Barons of Hell ready to infight with a pair of Cyberdemons, a comic sketch we have watched a lot since 1994. The chamber in which the battle took place looked good, and it was funny to see the Cybers fighting back-to-back. They lost though; 36 -fast Bruisers were too much even for them. Reveal hidden contents The right teleporter brought me to an intermission passage, giving me the opportunity to change my mind before dropping me in front of the Icon of Sin. The monster spawner was immediately activated; I fled behind it, meeting an Arch-Vile that took 2 BFG blasts to die. He guarded the way back to the previous part of the level, as well as the red door containing a switch and a gate. The switch operated the usual lift in front of the demon spitter and the teleporter conveniently dropped me in the shooting position. Reveal hidden contents Performing the task with mouse look was trivial, so I disabled it to tackle the proper challenge. It took me 4 lift rides to place 2 rockets inside the brain. Pistol starters missing the 10 backpacks would not have this margin for error. Moreover, players awakening the monster spawner without the RSK, will have to backtrack and find it while the boss area fills with monsters. These radical design decisions typically do not add charm to the Icon of Sin fight; they only make it more frustrating. I was lucky to follow the correct sequence at first try, which spared me some headaches while defeating the KINDa. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.