[Boom (-cl 9)+Extras, on IDgames!] Headless Chicken: Delicious 33 Map Boom Megawad

[Firedust]

On 12/30/2023 at 3:31 PM, Chookum said:

How poetic that battery farming practices were harming this wad.

Shame on you! You of all people should know that anything other than free range is unacceptable.

Started the final episode 6 on RC6 and all teleporter closets are working fine!
Except one. The problem is, I'm not sure which one, but it appears one of the imp closets in the final wave of map 29 erroneously teleports them to the yellow key area instead of where you actually are. WTF.

Final map to go! Will post my general thoughts once I am done!

[MoiraHeart]

I've managed to run past the second red alert on MAP14 somehow, though I'm not sure if you should fix this, I felt like I stealthed the thing, lol.

 

Got halfway through, this wad I feel like is the embodiment of modern WAD humor, and for that alone it deserves a Cacoward.

We all know that Doom comes from a time where the story was secondary to gameplay. It doesn't mean that Doom storytelling didn't evolve, though: Almost every project tries to put a spin to the classic narrative, either by simply changing the intermission text or more elaborate means.

There's one interesting trend to be observed, though: Doom stories are leaning towards a lighthearted, cartoonesque comedy. It is difficult to pinpoint where this choice is coming from. Perhaps Doom, with its dated but stylized graphics is difficult to take seriously nowadays. Maybe the trend stems from Doom's own absurd story choices (cue D_BUNNY). Maybe it's simply because the authors find Doom fun, and express this joy through equally fun stories.

Either way, Headless Chicken presents another cartoonish yet pseudo-realistic world, where the world is not at stake and Doomguy is not the hero, or the survivor, or another action guy trope, he's a guy who likes to shoot guns. Every text screen is filled with lighthearted and playful humor, with zero 90's edginess or 00's snark. The maps are filled with locales and scenarios that sound so weird to exist in Doom that you can't help but grin all throughout the experience.

Can't wait to finish the rest of the WAD and finish my thoughts!

Edited December 31, 2023 by MoiraHeart

[bnbhehe]

1 minute ago, MoiraHeart said:

I've managed to run past the second red alert on MAP14 somehow, though I'm not sure if you should fix this, I felt like I stealthed the thing, lol.

 

This happened to me before, where I skipped a linedef, on the first alert. I had to reload my save. Dunno in your case if it softlocked you, but probably breaks the remaining enemies.

[MoiraHeart]

2 minutes ago, bnbhehe said:

This happened to me before, where I skipped a linedef, on the first alert. I had to reload my save. Dunno in your case if it softlocked you, but probably breaks the remaining enemies.

I just ran to the getaway, feeling like I just stealthed a Payday 2 heist.

Edited December 31, 2023 by MoiraHeart

[Firedust]

All right, I am done!

This is a fantastic mapset! I loved the nonsensical Metal Slug-esque progression (MS 2 had village/temple => military base => alien shit, not sure if this was your inspiration) and the arcade-styled gameplay - hordes of demons to kill but you're OP af with the overstacked arsenal and a boatload of powerups at your disposal.

I feel HS is ultimately the antithesis to the surgically precise and unrelenting mapping style we've seen rise since Ribbiks trailblazed that particular branch of level design, and it's refreshing as fuck. Despite the megawad's massive size (my cumulative total hovers around the 15h mark), I never experienced an ounce of fatigue, and I think that's owing to an extraordinary variety of settings. I also think the final few levels should be on anyone's shortlist of recommendations to those wishing to try out slaughter gameplay but in an extremely forgiving setting - at least it will help them grow accustomed to fighting throngs of demons without it feeling like an insurmountable or laborious challenge.

11 out of 10, would recommend any day of the week

[NoriUrsam]

I've been trying out the wad, and I noticed an issue with level 33. It looks like all four of these closets should have opened at the same time, but only one of them emptied onto the map.

Excellent map set so far, some of the secrets are devious as hell though.

Edited January 2 by NoriUrsam
double post of images

[bnbhehe]

Issue with Map 32 - coop (unfortunately):
 

Spoiler

Those pesky arachnotrons did it again... They got stuck. And in a previous playthrough which I tested the closets they managed to teleport all of them.

level-32-00010.rar


The problem is not the size of the teleporter I think but the position. I was trying to lure them away but I could not get somehow parallel to the teleporter. Maybe that's the easiest solution to this.

 

Edited January 3 by bnbhehe

[Chookum]

Download Release Candidate 7 from Dropbox (RC7 - 6/1/24 Build - "New Year, New Chicken")

===RC6 -> RC7 CHANGES===

MAP10: Funny lift in water cistern fixed by reconnecting control sector to lift tunnel
MAP14: Light sequence for lift switch area was broken.
	First Alert Sequence moved to hitting switch to open door to red key to reduce linedef skips.
MAP21: Super Shotgun in Multiplayer moved down from lift and past trigger that makes Archviles move into the Archvile Hopper and into the rest of the map.
	It should mitigate the cheese that's possible but that area is always going to be just Two archviles teleporting in due to current encounter makeup.
MAP22: Problem Arachnotron Closet widened to double stack the buggers.
MAP23: Multiplayer final monsters closet widened further.
	Cheesing the Revenants and Cacos in the blue key area from red key combat area is permissable though.
	I will not deny good cheese - that's on me for silly design. (Fond of mozzarella myself.)
MAP24: Arachno closet wide enough to park a truck in.
	Pinkies teleport in correctly now
	Nuclear option idea: Change their radius from 128 to 112 like Skillsaw did in Valiant.
	Ramble: Why are they fatter than the mancubus anyway?

MAP32: FAT ARACHNOTRONS STILL NOT GOING SHOPPING EVERY DAY
	SO WE PUT MONEY IN THEIR LITTLE HANDS AND MADE THE THE BOX EVEN WIDER.
	(sorry these damn Arachnotrons are doing my head in)
	Yellow Key Made More Visible.
MAP33: Tag 151 changed from Lowest floor to Nearest floor to allow for barons to appear. (Found by NoriUrsam)
	That particular part of the monster closet was also widened and given a drinks machine for luck.
	Sound blocking lines modified for primary monster closet. (it was messing up the setup for some encounters)

One RC a week is a good pace to keep for bug-testing. Hopefully that's all of it squished, again, for real x_x

 

EDIT: And there's a bug in MAP26 involving the teleport destinations for the fall-in-lava telports not being tagged to appear at all times.

Edited January 7 by Chookum

[bnbhehe]

On 1/6/2024 at 10:47 AM, Chookum said:

Download Release Candidate 7 from Dropbox (RC7 - 6/1/24 Build - "New Year, New Chicken")

===RC6 -> RC7 CHANGES===

MAP10: Funny lift in water cistern fixed by reconnecting control sector to lift tunnel
MAP14: Light sequence for lift switch area was broken.
	First Alert Sequence moved to hitting switch to open door to red key to reduce linedef skips.
MAP21: Super Shotgun in Multiplayer moved down from lift and past trigger that makes Archviles move into the Archvile Hopper and into the rest of the map.
	It should mitigate the cheese that's possible but that area is always going to be just Two archviles teleporting in due to current encounter makeup.
MAP22: Problem Arachnotron Closet widened to double stack the buggers.
MAP23: Multiplayer final monsters closet widened further.
	Cheesing the Revenants and Cacos in the blue key area from red key combat area is permissable though.
	I will not deny good cheese - that's on me for silly design. (Fond of mozzarella myself.)
MAP24: Arachno closet wide enough to park a truck in.
	Pinkies teleport in correctly now
	Nuclear option idea: Change their radius from 128 to 112 like Skillsaw did in Valiant.
	Ramble: Why are they fatter than the mancubus anyway?

MAP32: FAT ARACHNOTRONS STILL NOT GOING SHOPPING EVERY DAY
	SO WE PUT MONEY IN THEIR LITTLE HANDS AND MADE THE THE BOX EVEN WIDER.
	(sorry these damn Arachnotrons are doing my head in)
	Yellow Key Made More Visible.
MAP33: Tag 151 changed from Lowest floor to Nearest floor to allow for barons to appear. (Found by NoriUrsam)
	That particular part of the monster closet was also widened and given a drinks machine for luck.
	Sound blocking lines modified for primary monster closet. (it was messing up the setup for some encounters)

One RC a week is a good pace to keep for bug-testing. Hopefully that's all of it squished, again, for real x_x

 

EDIT: And there's a bug in MAP26 involving the teleport destinations for the fall-in-lava telports not being tagged to appear at all times.

Great - I re-recorded maps 32, 20-24 and 14 on coop DSDA. All looks smooth.

There still looks to be in an issue with map 21 though:

Spoiler

The super shotgun doesn't exist at all now in coop but 2 times in single player. (left is single, right is coop). 


Also those cacos on coop are still stuck:


I will try to see if I can UV-max it anyway with splash damage for the extra challenge ;) 

Edit:



Yellow key can still be grabbed without going for the red door area.

After I record again map 21, 33, and from 28-30 I will write my experience and thoughts of the wad. :) 

EDIT: Ok map21 is a bit extreme on -coop_spawns without the SSG :D I will still try though.

Edited January 8 by bnbhehe

[bnbhehe]

Finally done with Map 21. After a lot of attempts and since the beginning is kinda of a slog without the SSG and those stuck cacos, I managed to UV+ 100 %. it. 

HEADLESS_CHICKEN_RC7_COOP_SPAWNS.rar

 

Some thoughts on the whole wad, since I've been following it's progress & fruition for like a year. ( tl;dr; loved it, play it people :D ). 
Since it's a lot I wanna say I will try to go by episodes mostly, wrapping in spoilers the map descriptions.

Episode 1:

Nice visuals, starts bright and shiny, throwing you into the action directly. Saying that playing this wad is reminiscent of playing an arcade game will be repetitive but I will repeat it myself. In addition, any appreciation of Metal Slug & Sonic Adventure is highly welcome :).
 

Spoiler

• Best Map - Map 1-2: Due to the soundtrack, the running & gunning around and the zombieman arena for just getting some steam off.
• Best Map Coop - Map 1-5: The multiplayer spidedemon spices things up in this village level, making you avoid the main arena for cover. Also the constant dread of danger keeps the blood pumping.
• Worst Map Coop - Map 1-6: Those extra pain elementals on coop made this map insanely frustrating due to the lack of SSG in the beginning. Dying after the beginning of this map felt really stupid in some attempts.

Episode 2:

Following the continuity and motif of the first episode, the temple themed episode starts showing that Headless Chicken is not going to be a fairly easy WAD. Even if the levels with arena based fights might be doable, 1 mistake can sent you off to the start quickly, especially if you are single segmenting this wad. Also I cannot praise more the design for map 2-2, a nice ancient city level. And I love city levels.

 

Spoiler

• Best Map - Map 2-6: Like again the arena theme here, the fact also that in the first fight you need to strategize to get this done as easily as possible to proceed and not get scammed in the 2nd fight makes it more than just a pure slaughter and "circle-strafe till everything dies" situation.
• Best Map Coop - Map 2 - 3: Extra enemies, specifically the cacodemons in blue area, make this map keeping you on constant alert, since the arenas are cramped and you wanna move around when is time to leave but monsters can still follow you around due to the open space of the map. Made it quite challenging.
• Worst Map: Map 2-2: Even though I praised the visuals there's something about this level's combat that I didn't like. It felt like a bit of just filler fights, running around and killing things along the way, without any real sense of danger in some spots. Maybe I also felt like that because as a segment of Map31,it's the exact opposite where anything can kill you anytime.

Episode 3:

City episode, yay!!! Coming mostly from Duke3D as a childhood favorite FPS, whenever I see good designed city levels in doom I can only drool. Each map having some theme and continuity adds up to the spice of the episode, especially the gallery episode with the map tricks, visuals and tactical espionage ;)
 

Spoiler

• Best Map - Map 3-3: Short, slick, go in kill everything, pick up the secret key, go out. Nice ambushes at the end. Amazing indoor design. Nothing else.
• Best Map Coop Map 3-5: Shooting an entire demon neighborhood? Rocketing the imps playground? Playing tag with the extra Cybies? Absolutely savage. Also like that each key fight has some different ambush/gimmick.
• *Worst* Map - Map 3-4: Again this might be a bias regarding coop, hence the quotes. This map kicked my ass so hard on coop that I literally stopped my demos for like a week. The beginning is really rough with the extra enemies pouring from everywhere and cleaning them up can take like a 20' progress, so it would be stupid to die after you open the bridge. Then again, my funeral, I decided to record single segments. Still love the last fight though and the constant feeling of danger.

Secret levels:
 

Spoiler

• Best Map both single & coop - Map A-2 (Kill) The Mall: Being a big city landmark itself, I loved it. Might be 2nd favorite in the whole WAD. Even if it felt too big or a bit of a slog with the cleanup, due to the design is not really difficult to lure and cleanup all remaining enemies easily. Maybe those outdoor kamikazes can be easily missed though. Played this multiple times and is also one of the maps that is probably easier on coop due to the piggybacking of invulnerabilities, but still so satisfying running around carelessly and massacring everything that moves.
• Worst Map - Map A-1 Barfly: My problem here is not the revisiting or recycling of existing arenas, that's a welcome recycle of a level especially when upping up the encounters and making minor changes. Maybe the problem for me here was more that some arenas (e.g. the first one and 2nd) can take too long due to lack of weapons, so dying after that can be a bit frustrating.

Episode 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Sq1Nr58hM

The space missions for me might be the weakest due to their escalated difficulty and being considerably large (especially 4-5), so single segmenting them took a toll on me. I did like the aesthetics and especially of map 4-6, like it when we leave tech bases behind for a while :). 
 

Spoiler

• Best Map - Map 4-1: My favourite map in the WAD for the obvious reasons. The gimmick of the moving train, the arcade style, the combat, everything. That invulnerability secret also which needs careful platforming, frustrating as it may be it rewards you for the upcoming fight.
• Best Map coop - Map 4-5: Long sure. But the extra enemies and the constant moving of them around the map again spikes the difficulty. Also in coop, being careful of the invulnerabilities make the map rather easy, maybe easier than single player.
• Worst Map - Map 4-3: Hate it with a passion (and not because it's still broken in Coop since this is an RC still). The beginning is kinda of a slog till you get some bigger guns. Last fight kicked me so freaking hard in single player. I understand this being reminiscent of maps like 14 Angrier ARchviles & Sunlust's map 29, it has nice gimmicks. But there were some parts that really screw you over and is not a short level. I admire it's pure evilness, never again :D

Finally Episode 5: Heck

Time to wrap this up and bring the fight to their home again. The Heck levels do not joke around. Thrown directly again into the action in Heckwood and finishing this wad with a satisfying grin on your face with Map 30 music and it's constant purifying slaughter, recalling quite the adventure through the whole WAD.

 

Spoiler

• Best Map - Map 5-7: Punch out with demons once again ? Sure. Bringing back memories from Going Down's Indigestion. Just lure enemies around also in the traps for satisfactory crushing. :)
• Best Map coop - Map 5-1: Heck city level? Heck yeah! Also on single player felt harder due to lack of ammo and the extra cyber on coop made it a bit more spicy.
• Worst Map - Map 5-4: Maybe this one kicks your butt a bit hard on single player, due to the lack of radiation suits if you're not careful, the open space of the level that lets cacos roam around & ammo starvation if you're really careless. Especially the invulnerability in the end is necessary to finish the level, which is something you need to know beforehand.

Again these above thoughts are subjective, and don't take the "worst" maps as a bad take, it's just for comparison. I am not a good doom player in the end and still haven't played a lot of stuff around that people deem good or bad.

To wrap this up, it's the dorkiness & carefree style of Headless Chicken that really put a smile on my face after playing it  3 times probably :) Good job @Chookum, hope you get a good rest after wrapping this up and looking forward for more epic stuff.

Go play this wad people. 
 

Edited January 10 by bnbhehe

[unraveler]

Umm, Are those "unknown texture" massages are suppose to be here?

 

[bnbhehe]

level_1-1_2-6-fail.rar

My D2ALL UV max attempt, I died at the end of episode 2, at 2-6 final fight :/ I will probably record each episode separately, after all they are death exits for each :)


 

On 1/10/2024 at 10:04 PM, unraveler said:

Umm, Are those "unknown texture" massages are suppose to be here?

 

I Also get this, no issue so far with it though.

[Chookum]

Download Release Candidate 8 from Dropbox (RC8 - 14/1/24 Build - "Plucking Bugs, Still")

MAP13: A little more signposting to point the player to the office that raises the bridge
	PS: Meanor discovered it is possible to SR50 to the area the bridge leads to.
	I'll leave it in since the game seems to account for it without issue.
MAP21: Fixed supershotguns at the start (what an oversight)
	Have confirmed it's possible to rocket-jump yourself into where the Yellow Key is.
		Addressed with more block lines.
	Multiplayer cacodemons on the bridge between the landing area and science station moved.
		(I couldn't find a way to get them to rise to meet me.)
	More rockets here and there earlier in Multiplayer to break the slog.
MAP26: Fixed lava teleports - the destinations were multiplayer only for silly reasons.
MAP27: Sound prop fixed to fix penultimate encounter by not ruining the surprise of dozens of explodey dudes.
MAP29: Found the cause for the imps teleporting into the yellow area during the final fight.
SWITCHES: Following switch pairs removed (They're part of AA-Tex, perhaps from LupinxKassman's update to the textures, but not used in HC since it's based off the 2020 version of AA-TEX.)
	P_InitSwitchList: unknown texture SW1MEGA/SW2MEGA
	P_InitSwitchList: unknown texture SW1GOTH/SW2GOTH
	P_InitSwitchList: unknown texture SW1STRTL/SW2STRTL
	P_InitSwitchList: unknown texture SW1STRPU/SW2STRPU
	P_InitSwitchList: unknown texture SW1STRMG/SW2STRMG
	P_InitSwitchList: unknown texture SW1STROG/SW2STROG
	P_InitSwitchList: unknown texture SW1STRRD/SW2STRRD
	P_InitSwitchList: unknown texture SW1STRGN/SW2STRGN
	P_InitSwitchList: unknown texture SW1STRBL/SW2STRBL
COMMNTRY: See for yourself.

Once again and always, I thank you all for your feedback and support in this chicken flavoured journey.

 

 

Edited January 14 by Chookum
wrong date

[bnbhehe]

Ready for idgames! :)

UV-Max coop on all maps, checked previous RCs - no desyncing (besides the re-takes ofc) HEADLESS_CHICKEN_RC8_COOP_SPAWNS.rar

P.s. I cheesed map21 because I was bored to do it again properly... And map29 I did the same trick as the previous time ;) Check the demo out to find what I mean if you'd like 

Edited January 14 by bnbhehe

[Chookum]

3 minutes ago, bnbhehe said:

Ready for idgames! :)

Since this is my first submission to IDGames I'm going to have to check if there's anything I need to do special for submission since I'm unfamiliar with the process.

 

Technically I'm reusing ID Assets through using AA-Tex and having to palette-convert everything but I'm sure an exception exists for AA-Tex somehow.

I think I also need to run a check to cut down on any unused textures and the like for release, but SLADE's version this function is highly destructive and tends to make collateral damage.

[NightFright]

Fixed Auron's widescreen statusbar by adjusting the transitions to the widescreen area (and also preserving the right edge of the original bar).

 

Images below show new (top) vs old (bottom).

 

hdlschkn_uwide.zip

Edited January 20 by NightFright

[Chookum]

Download Release Candidate 9 from Dropbox (RC9 - 28/1/24 Build - "Ticking That Box")

Two tiny bug fixes before I move onto One Bite More and other projects.

===RC8 -> RC9 CHANGES===
MAP06 - A little more ammo added if you don't feel like infighting.
MAP18 - BACK switch fixed by making teleport destination not multiplayer only

I'm currently in the process of resubmitting this to IDGames Archive. Fingers crossed...

 

EDIT: Well blow me down with a feather! It's on IDGames archive too!

Download from IDGames Archive (RC9)

 

EDIT 2: RC9 is now actually contained in RC9 (it contained RC8). This mistake has since been corrected and I'll seek to amend the IDGames entry too.

Edited January 28 by Chookum
I checked and there it was. + Uh oh! File mixup!

[SportsterV90]

Killing all monsters in this area, unfortunately softlocked here. Platform left not razing.

RC9 GZD 4.11.3

Edited January 28 by SportsterV90

[bnbhehe]

4 hours ago, SportsterV90 said:

Killing all monsters in this area, unfortunately softlocked here. Platform left not razing.

RC9 GZD 4.11.3

Spoiler

Did you press use on the light column in the top of the pyramid in the other room? that raises the lift.

 

[SportsterV90]

Of course, battle on this area is begіns by "using" this column.

[bnbhehe]

1 hour ago, SportsterV90 said:

Of course, battle on this area is begіns by "using" this column.

Yeah you are right. Do you need maybe to set the complevel to boom, if not? I am not using gzdoom but never had issues

Edit: just tested latest gzdoom version (built from master cuz i am on linux) and it works fine with compatibility default.

Edited January 28 by bnbhehe

[Chookum]

10 hours ago, SportsterV90 said:

Killing all monsters in this area, unfortunately softlocked here. Platform left not razing.

RC9 GZD 4.11.3

If you hit the switch before the elevator raised, it may have prevented it from rising correctly with the voodoo that makes the map work in the background.

 

Meanwhile I can confirm IDGames have received RC9. All's well there.

 

This is where I'll hang my hat up - on Headless Chicken's Boom maps.

Keep an eye out for One Bite More in the future, a GZDoom Expansion. When it's ready to play, it'll have its own thread.

[SportsterV90]

7 hours ago, Chookum said:

If you hit the switch before the elevator raised, it may have prevented it from rising correctly with the voodoo that makes the map work in the background.

 

Thank You for respond! Seems to be this is it.

[bnbhehe]

On 1/29/2024 at 4:09 AM, Chookum said:

If you hit the switch before the elevator raised, it may have prevented it from rising correctly with the voodoo that makes the map work in the background.

 

Meanwhile I can confirm IDGames have received RC9. All's well there.

 

This is where I'll hang my hat up - on Headless Chicken's Boom maps.

Keep an eye out for One Bite More in the future, a GZDoom Expansion. When it's ready to play, it'll have its own thread.

Looking forward to your next work.

With that I also upload again all the coop demos which are synced with the idgames version hdls_demos.zip 

Edited January 30 by bnbhehe

[Clippy]

I finally had a chance to dive back into this and wow what an adventure

 

I always admire the colorfulness that you add to Doom but this time you went above and beyond this is the most beautiful map to look at while playing

 

I didn't care for the red area even though it's my favorite colour the steps and Stuff felt kind of awkward to fight in but the other areas were awesome especially the blue area and that insane final fight scene setup overall had a great time 

 

 

Edited March 26 by Clippy

[maxmanium]

Are we approaching release?

[Chookum]

Just now, maxmanium said:

Are we approaching release?

It has been released on IDgames for a couple of months now. I uploaded RC9 to IDGames and will leave it there - I accepted that I cannot tinker with it forever.

 

I may do an RC10 and upload it over the current IDGames release with the co-release of One Bite More once that's done if anything seriously breaking arises, but based on what I've seen aside from some of my own amateur mistakes things are good.

 

Wait, what's One Bite More? It's another episode of Headless Chicken that's GZDoom exclusive, goes full UDMF (yes, a game of Doom can have Boom format maps and UDMF format maps working in concert, I don't know how it can handle this so well either but the same behaviour is present throughout RAMP), and slots right into the original Wad. Observe:

 

 

 

 

UDMF has "clicked" for me and I'm very glad to have the experience of a Megawad in Boom under my belt before leaping into all the bells and whistles that UDMF can offer me. I'll post more videos and screenshots as this develops.

[maxmanium]

Sorry, I thought the RC9 tag meant still in development.

[Large Cat]

I just finished MAP30 of this a couple days ago. I've come away with a bewildering opinion of Headless Chicken: while I've concluded that it's categorically not my bag, I enjoyed it greatly nonetheless. Those two facts together point to how well-constructed this wad is, pulling me in despite not being the sort of gameplay that I typically prefer.

 

I think this wad speaks to a type of player out there whose outlets are limited: players who enjoy the trappings associated with modern/2010's slaughter wads except for the difficulty. There must be players out there interested in mowing down hordes of demons within a lovingly crafted macroscopic landscape, yet find the long line of Sunder descendants uninviting in their difficulty. Headless Chicken feels as though it speaks exactly to these people, removing the exacting requirements that come with slaughter maps.

 

Let's talk about gameplay, which is the primary turn-off for me but will many players' jam, I suspect. I'm a masochist and enjoy having my ass handed to me several times on my path to victory. I know Chookum is thoroughly not that; Chookum is fundamentally nice and wants the player to feel powerful, never constricted or choked. Movement space and ammo provisions are beyond plentiful, and lock-ins are all but non-existent. The only real hint of potential cruelty comes in my favorite map, 4-6, where the player isn't simply given freedom to roam the whole map when a new fight pops up. Even at the map's peak difficulty in episode 5,  Chookum is still thoroughly lenient, with each map providing several extra soulspheres, megaarmors, and megaspheres over their runtime. Any time a fight appears that you might see in a challenge wad, you can bet an invulnerability is lurking to hold your hand through the worst of it. Oddly enough, these invuln fights feel the most "tuned" and are enjoyable to tackle without any powerups; typically, fights are not so fine-tuned, which I believe to be intentional, allowing the player plenty of room for mistakes or "incorrect" strategy.

Visually, the maps are all evocative with their bright colors and active geometry. Generally, the atmospheres are pleasant, inviting, memorable, and often cheeky, with plenty of doomcute or installations that bring to mind realistic settings and objects. To my taste, scenery is rather on the blocky side, with hyperactive coloring, and if you care deeply about features like thorough use of transition textures, many areas will rub you the wrong way visually. If you're more concerned about the general feel of the areas, though, you'll be thoroughly entranced by what you see, with great shifting rainbows of terrain and broad vistas to savor. No matter what, I recommend playing with OpenGL rendering, which seems to have been targetted primarily over software.

 

There is plenty to be talked about through this wad, but the main takeaway is this: this wad is modern slaughter for players who don't want their butts kicked. If you see another challenge release here, you may be disappointed by how quickly fights buckle and how overprepared you are. But if you like what you see in slaughter but always feel like such wads are trying to push you away or antagonize you needlessly, Headless Chicken will be the wad you've been searching for.

[Clippy]

Epic finale filled with crazy Cosmic beautiful arenas over the top action and a really fun crazy ending with a surprise there too that was great that was a great time