The DWmegawad Club plays: I C H I N I C H I

[UUN4]

MAP03: Foundations

UV | Pistol start | No saves

K: 100% | I: 100% | S: 100% (yippee)

This map was kinda easy, if a bit tedious at first only because I didn't fully explore the small hallway loop at the start to find the SSG (I just rammed myself into the windows and got some shotgun shells); I cleared the yellow key room and killed a cacodemon near the yellow key door with a regular shotgun picked up from a shotgunner. After finding the SSG though, the rest of the map was smooth sailing. The chaingunner trap was a surprise, although again pretty easy due to the invulnerability you get right before it (there's even a blue key indicator which is a neat touch); even without the SSG, I imagine a mix of the chaingun and infighting would make this trap not so bad to deal with. Also, I kinda just randomly stumbled into the secret since at one point early on I was just running down the hallway loop trying to look into every entrance. Even if this map was easy, I still found it pretty fun.

[TheMightyWhoosh]

MAP03 thoughts, comments and spoilers below:

 

Spoiler

A faff map indeed - despite it being quite petite, I spent a lot of time coming back to it and changing various aspects. Not easy when you’ve limited yourself to 24 hours per map! 
 

The blue key trap was initially slightly different in that the key could be picked up immediately (rather that it being placed on the pedistool), so then it would immediately trigger the chaingunner trap without the invulnerability and was totally put there for sadistic reasons only, haha! In the end though, it was sensible to remove this and have the player not experience such frustrations. 
 

The aesthetics of the Mancubus room also changed from time to time throughout projects duration until I was happy(ish) with the skin/brick/lava combo. 

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by TheMightyWhoosh

[Celestin]

MAP03: Foundations

 

A string of mostly incidental combat. If you find a super shotgun in the starting room, you've pretty much won. There is one setpiece that is worth mentioning and that's the yellow key trap. The teleporting mass of chaingunners is amusing, as you pick up an invulnerability sphere before entering this room, but hardly a threat.
 

[Pechudin]

MAP02: Industry (UV, PS, Saveless)

The short, interconnected layout is plastered with the Sachertorte texture (the brown bit is the chocolate batter and the gray bit is some cream), and does not really offer much resistance. If you die it will be due to chip damage as health is not too abundant. I killed pretty much 90% of the map's enemies before finding the SSG. It's fine, not very notable.

 

MAP03: Foundations (UV, PS, Saveless)

The notable fight is the BK fight which is disckish (in a good way) unless you happen tos tumble into the Invulnsphere, which I was fortunate to do the first time around. Other than that, the small brick base feels polished but unremarkable.

[espilka]

MAP04 the Archives - K: 100% / S: 100% (UV, continuous)

 

The most elaborate map until now in the wad takes place in a house and its surroundings that reminds me a lot of another in KINDa (there being even an overt reference to it in one of the rooms, next to a hanged and burned corpse...)  Thus far it's been possible to get away with some sloppy gameplay, but here i was on first try punished for playing before waking up and lack of focus - the BK ambush got me, after having already died on entering the archive-rooms by the Chaingunners.  Oh well.  My second attempt was deathless (noticing the Rocket Launcher helped, too.)  There's also a mini-arena fight in the basement to finish the map off.  Along the way, there's a light progression-puzzle with the bookshelves, and a secret Megasphere (the best and deserverdly hardest until now) to protect in case the Arch-Vile ambush catches you off-guard.  The second secret took me a bit of searching to find, but not too much, as i always think something's wrong if a library-area doesn't have one!

 

Death is again watching, and now i wonder if there's something else in common with maps where he is seen peeping?

Edited November 3, 2023 by espilka

[Spectre01]

MAP04 - “The Archives”

 

A dark library theme is always a good choice when working with Doom 2's stock textures. Wood and metal is a winning visual combination and the final arena looks really good with the orange sky ceiling. Goes to show how Doom doesn't necessarily need high sector counts and micro-detailing. The bright outdoors with the red brick is much rougher on the eyes, but it's hard to make that texture work - especially when it's flood-filled. I liked the outdoor blue key fight the most, while the finale felts a bit under-cooked. There is too much space for the modest monster count and only the PE has any impact.   

[Antiquated]

Map 04: The Archives

(UV Continuous)

 

In the name: Yep, it definitely looks like an archive alright, with its libraries, offices, and doomcute. The quiet, bright outside gives a nice contrast to the gloomy inside, perhaps inviting people who don't know better to enter and get mauled by a gang of demons.

 

I wasn't feeling the previous maps much, they weren't bad at all but I didn't enjoy them a lot either, but this map has shown me already that that won't carry through the whole wad. A nicely detailed, intricate place for its size with fun and tense incidental combat, the use of pain elementals in the map being especially clever and good. It also has a great flow that maintains both realism and gameplay quality, and lots of fun Doomcute. I especially like the part where you use the red key to open the lift doors and then jump down the open lift shaft. 

 

In terms of specific areas, the beginning is rather tense with the high number of chaingunners with only low tier weaponry, but once you dispatch the main ones, they don't show up again. Don't rocket down the mancubi and instead save your rockets for the courtyard ambush. Finally, the final fight proves itself to be a mini Fortress of Mystery, with its caco and baron tag-team that will often lead to them infighting as you focus down the pain elemental and the lost souls it produced. Great map.

 

8.75/10

Edited November 4, 2023 by Antiquated

[Celestin]

MAP04: The Archives

 

I really like this one. It's a very cosy map, set in a recognisible place. I think it's well-paced, with two big fight spaced by exploration and incidental combat. The blue key releases a crowd in a rather confined courtyard, where you need to cut your way through or get overwhelmed. The second one is by the exit, where you enter a circle of bookshelves, press a button and they all lower, revealing the monsters that surround you. It isn't hard (as there is plenty of space to run around), but it was an intereting setup.

[TheMightyWhoosh]

MAP04 thoughts, comments and spoilers below:

 

Spoiler

This went through a few changes for sure! The section beyond the red lift door into the large circular library was a later addition that I do believe really elevated the map. 
 

Other later changes included tweaks to the mini-puzzle in the first library that allowed you to gain access outside along with adding the shortcut lift back upstairs once the blue key had been collected. These ideas all came from my wonderful beta-testers! 
 

The Doomcute reference to ‘KINDa’ in the red key room was to reflect on my lonely lockdown memories creating that mapset and the feeling of anger/frustration with the world at that time. 
 

On a lighter note - who doesn’t enjoy a library map, right? :D

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by TheMightyWhoosh

[jmac]

Probably going to continue without videos from here on out. Bandicam sucks, and apparently won't let me upload more than one video per day, making it impossible to catch up if I miss a day. Oh well. I tend to have more fun playing when I don't have to worry about trying to record anyways.

 

Map 3: Foundations

Not a big fan of this one to be honest. The fights are fine, but the weird switch-doors make traversing the central area mildly annoying. Visually, it's the least interesting map so far. I died once to the mancubus, when I fell into the lava and teleported back onto the platform just in time to take 2 fireballs to the face.

 

Map 4: Archives

This one has fun progression with some mild puzzle-solving, along with a really nice general atmosphere. The fights seem dangerous at first glance, but they're set up in a way that makes infighting very easy to trigger, so I think this was easier than map 3. The archvile startled me enough that I accidentally fell back down the exit elevator shaft, giving it time to run free and resurrect monsters. Still, it was easy enough to deal with, as it was only surrouned by low-tier monsters.

 

This is my favourite of the bunch so far.

[Pechudin]

MAP04: Archives (UV, PS, Saveless)

Amap that takes place in a hotel with a large underground library. I played this wtice so I knew to go for the SSG straight away. The only substantial fight of the map is the BK fight which can be escaped and then bottlenecked. The library fight is far too tame, the only threat is the Pain Elemental but there should be more of them. I liked the small environmental storytelling bits with the grate and the bookcase being moved after we drop into the elevator shaft, and the hanged body with "KindA" cards on the table - perhaps it shows how the mapper felt when trying to finish their first mapset @TheMightyWhoosh?

[espilka]

MAP05 Metallic - K: 100% / S: 100% (UV, continuous)
 

Toughest map so far, this begins in a standard looking metallic techbase, just waiting to lower its facade to reveal halls of corruption and severe infestation of otherwordly pests.  It's an impressive effect, as first the humble starting area is revealed to be surrounded by a hellish hall with fiery blood walls and red hot stone floors contrasting nicely with the first impression.  The progression is quite complex, effected through a network of interconnected hallways in various stages of corruption and filled with demons, accessed by teleporters from a small hub.  All three keys are required, and there are two major encounters - first for the YK, which releases a cackle of Cacodemons with a couple of Pain Elementals, and for the final RK, grabbing of which opens up another corrupted area around the hallways, revealing a dozen or so of various mid-tiers. 

 

And if i was complaining about the secrets a couple of maps ago here there is a great double-secret in style of Romero yielding the Plasma Rifle.  Very beautiful and engaing level that i had some trouble with on my blind run but was able to ace this time.

Edited November 4, 2023 by espilka

[Celestin]

MAP05: Metallic

 

Metallic is a mostly linear, three-way hub that likes to put big fights around the keys. The yellow one was a huge ammo sink, I spent everything I had on the combination of cacodemons and pain elementals. Luckily, I managed to find a secret plasma rifle, hidden behind an off-textured wall. It helped a lot, especially against the red key trap, where walls lower to reveal monsters on both side of the walkway.

[UUN4]

MAP04: The Archives

UV | Pistol start | Saves not needed

K: 100% | I: 96% | S: 0%

I again didn't realize there was an SSG on this map, so for the first room with the two bookshelves you can walk on I used a shotgun on the chaingunners before leaving the barons alone; however, I quickly went back once I found it in one of the other starting rooms. This map had some instances of infighting that helped out, those being the outside courtyard area with the rocket launcher (and you can kinda bottleneck enemies with the hallway you came from) and the final circular basement area. This map was relatively laidback enough and kept me stocked just enough on ammo where I didn't really have any worry about it. Also, I like the map's aesthetics and structure (such as opening up an elevator shaft to jump down or the aforementioned bookshelves you can climb up).

Edited November 5, 2023 by UUN4

[Spectre01]

MAP05 - “Metallic”

 

The start is a bit tense with no armour and limited shells. Since resources are low, the Pain Elementals encourage a lot of retreating and cover shooting them down before they waste too much of your ammo with Lost Souls. I finished the map with quite a bit of rockets and cells, which would've been nice to have earlier on.

[brick]

MAP04 - “The Archives”
The best surprise was walking through the blue door into that cozy office with the KINDA cute signs on the table. The library/archives theme works well, complete with secret bookcases (and hidden compartments behind paintings). There are two big setpieces, first with the blue key outside when everything teleports in, I ran like an idiot past them and methodically downed them with the SSG, when I could've grabbed the RL first. The circular arena at the end is the other one, there's a bit of a cinematic feel walking into the circle as the switch rises, and pressing it lowers everything around us. Infighting certainly helped here, I only had to deal with the barons after they killed everything else. I really liked this map.

 

MAP05 - “Metallic”
I'm really enjoying those small maps! Every one so far has had one or two interesting encounters and a memorable-looking hall. Combat still uses small numbers of enemies with fun setups that are not too difficult on HNTR. This map has quite a few PEs, used well without being too obnoxious. There's some bold texturing that reminds me of KINDa, picking up the RSK opens up a striking and hellishly red side passage from which a selection of enemies emerges (while a couple of arachnotrons sneak in a few shots from the other side). There's a relatively elaborate (considering the size of the map) secret to the plasma rifle, which is done very nicely but that I only found at the end, it would've helped with that RSK fight. The wad is really growing on me.

[Pechudin]

MAP05: Metallic (UV, PS, Saveless)

The PE YK trap did me in once, since enough health can be lost there to make hitscan a threat in the following rooms. Other than the texture theme, this map has nothing of the huge spaces of the TNT's MAP08.

[Antiquated]

MAP 05: Metallic (UV Pistol Start 100%)

 

In the name: Well, it's metallic alright. It seems to be a possessed tech base, although it's very hard to tell what exactly said tech base was in the first place, very videogamey for sure. (Not a bad thing)

 

Maybe it's just the fact that my mood feels rather strange right now, but this level didn't really grab me. The beginning was interesting, but after that point both the layout and the fights started to feel a bit odd to me, not bad, just odd. Standout example for me is the fight with the arachnotrons and hell knights for the red key which just ended up playing very jankily to me and turned into a decent bit of lift camping with monsters getting stuck on the lift to the teleporter (although me not noticing that I got the rocket launcher also played the part). The detailing serves its job though quite well, especially the outside section was a cool reveal, and I like the head peeking at you from the secret.

 

Personal score on first playthrough: 7/10

Edited November 5, 2023 by Antiquated

[TheMightyWhoosh]

MAP05 thoughts, comments and spoilers below: 

 

Spoiler

This map was very much inspired by TNTs MAP08, but on a much smaller scale and with added hell seeping out the cracks… 

 

I’ve never really been 100% happy with this map and I did consider ditching it on more than one occasion. The aesthetics are sound; however the red key trap… that went through a lot of changes and I still wonder if I’m happy with it. Mappers can be their own worst critic for sure. Seeing the positive feedback here though shows that perhaps it isn’t such a shabby map after all! 

 

The optional blue key grab and blue key secret was an E1M3 inspiration, as I always thought a door requiring a key but hidden in a secret was a pretty nifty idea. 

 

Edited November 5, 2023 by TheMightyWhoosh

[UUN4]

MAP05: Metallic

UV | Pistol start | Saves not needed

K: 100% | I: 83% | S: 100%

It was a nice change of pace to immediately start with the SSG, and it felt nice to pop the arachnotron at the start with it. The chaingunners next the starting room got me the first time since I got teleported out before I saw their room open, but after that it was fine. I was also able to take care of the revenant behind the bars of the blue key room, which made it easier when I got to his hallway; speaking of the blue key room, I ended up not getting it and its associated secret plasma gun until the end of the level because I didn't think to walk on the small side ledges to reach the blue key, but I at least went down the stairs for the berserk, rocket launcher, and backpack. When I had grabbed the yellow skull, it opened up the walls to reveal some cacodemons and pain elementals; I killed the pain elementals and left everyone else to their devices to kill each other. Even without the plasma gun, the rocket launcher and SSG were enough to get me through the remainder of the encounters like the red skull room (rocket launcher helped with the arachnotrons outside). I had fun with this map.

[espilka]

MAP06 the Host - K: 100% / S: 100% (UV, continuous)

 

This time we find ourselves in a vast open fiery grotto with a roaming Cyberdemon and rare damaging lava, with a badly ruined techbase at one end.  Got caught once by an errant rocket (restarted for deathless run), and the Cyberdemon is most likely best be taken down quickly as one runs around the area trying to figure out and effect the cool progression (i like the demonic teleport to the central area, the entrance into what's left of the techbase) - there are plenty of rockets and even a Megasphere for that purpose.  Plenty of Revenants, some Arachnotrons and many others, the place is quite threatening, but still that rocket from the other end of the map (or thereabouts) is the only time i got killed on my two runs.  Am near-certain the Cybie wasn't roaming around quite as freely in the first released version of the map.

 

Didn't realize before that there was a distinct progression (of corruption) through the first six maps all roughly similar in size (perhaps meant to be the first episode?), whilst there's an equally distinct change in style from the next one.  Two secrets, a leap of faith and a fake wall.  At least i didn't notice the peeping skull here, but there is a lot going on and it is possible i missed him.

[jmac]

Map 5: Metallic

 

A short, fun, energetic map. The combat has some bite to it, but is still staying fairly easy. It was cool finding the secret blue door. I always like when secrets have substance to them.

 

Probably my second favourite at this point, after map 4.

[_goofyguy]

MAP03 - Foundations

Fun map! Wide variety of mobs, very interesting hub design. SSG finally appears in this level, which is great, altough it is in a very out of sight spot which i suspect most people wont find. Aesthetics are reeally nice, like the original doom with a little more emphasis on lighting, which I love.

MAP04 - The Archviles Archives

Archvile finally appears, as a little mini boss before the final section, though he's on his own. The whole map seems to take place in some sort of mansion with a library, an office with pieces of paper that say 'kinda' on them, and a basement. Fun little level with a little puzzle involving pushing buttons and rushing over to the temporarily opened section.

[Antiquated]

MAP 06: The Host (UV Pistol Start)

 

In the name: Whilst The 'Host' likely refers to the UAC Tech-Base that has been completely overtaken and surrounded by hell, I like to imagine it refers to the cyberdemon who welcomes you to his abode.

 

Well, starting off with a cyberdemon being the first monster alerted is fun. It proves very easy to miss the SSG and the massive amount of shotgun ammo in the dark corner right at the start, which can make the beginning a bit scarier than it needs to be. For the most part however, I find that this map gives you supplies that for the most part completely outweigh the threat level, unless you fight the cyberdemon, with the scariest encounter outside of it being a mancubi and arachnotron which are easy to peek-a-boo shoot with an RL. When I went through the exit teleporter from the Lab Section, I ended up getting immediately shot in the face by the Cyberdemon without time to react, so I guess the massive amount of supplies were useful. it was also strangely difficult to find the opened path to the exit without using the automap, but maybe that's the intention.

 

Overall, the map's gameplay is pretty fun and it is nice looking, but the showering of supplies and the occasional jankiness lessen the impact for sure to me. The intermission screen has me intrigued, wondering if the next level will be a Hunted-style thing, but it is in the Dead Simple slot so...

Personal rating from first playthrough: 6.75/10

Edited November 6, 2023 by Antiquated

[TheMightyWhoosh]

MAP06 thoughts, comments and spoilers below:

 

Spoiler

This changed a fair bit from the initial release to the latest, adding in a few more rocky walls as the level felt a little too sparse and open. I also lessened the dominating red glow, changing some of the floor texture to a more grey, rocky-looking aesthetic. 
 

The UAC base section of the map also went through visual changes here and there each time I revisited the map. 
 

I am proud of the look and feel of the final cave room that houses the exit teleporter, especially when the player completely missees the Lost Souls laying dormant there and they then end up sneaking behind you! :-)

 

[UUN4]

MAP06: The Host

UV | Pistol start | Saves not needed

K: 100% | I: 40% | S: 50%

The beginning ended up being a little scary since I missed the SSG in the corner of the room as well as the 2 radsuits; finding the rocket launcher made things manageable though, especially regarding the cyberdemon (which was definitely a surprise when starting the map). However, I initially missed the switch to the next part of the map so it wasn't until a few minutes after killing everything and wandering around in the first area that I stumbled upon it; I think I managed to find the SSG by then as well. With the surplus of shells and rockets the level gives you (on top of the blue armor should you need it after using up the megasphere), clearing the rest of the level was pretty easy (made a bit tedious by the many lost souls popped by the SSG, enough so that I thought there was a pain elemental somewhere for a bit). Also, if I didn't have a backpack by the time I left the first area and hop into the teleporter, the 5-backpack secret probably would been more helpful for me; it at least gave me a few more rockets to work with. Also, that text screen is a little ominous.

Edited November 6, 2023 by UUN4

[Celestin]

MAP06: The Host

 

I like how the map looks: a large lava cavern with a hint of some industrial installation. Like a research base inside a volcano or a geothermal plant. 

 

Now, it's very clear that Ichinichi is heavily inspired by TNT: Evilution, so it was a matter of time before my most dreaded quirk of that wad appears. I'm talking about large areas with sparse monster placement, like in, say, Crater or (especially) the ending of Central Processing. When I see a space this big with a handful of enemies that you can run past undisturbed plus a cyberdemon that you'll likely have to circle-strafe to death, the only thing left is a sigh of resignation. It's not a challenge, neither an atmosphere builder, nor a fun romp, just a tedious part of a map. 

 

The rest of the map is unremarkable, mostly taking out basic monsters or single, toughter ones. Visuals aside, this is the weakest map so far.

[espilka]

MAP07 Bay 7 - K: 100% / S: 100% (UV, continuous)

 

The map has a dramatic start of first requiring teleportation into the unknown, and then walls coming down around you to reveal the installation where the action takes place.  Immediately on offer is the Plasma Rifle (in front of a window through which our companion is again peeping), and next two more walls in front descend to show off what's really quite unique about the map: the use of an Arachnotron and a Mancubus as bona fide switches, sleeping for now in their little alcoves, waiting to be woken up to fulfill their roles of being killed for sake of raising a stair each.  Cruel and impressive.

 

This is achieved by acquiring two keys, of which the BK is guarded by two Arch-Viles in a crate storage, and the YK by the Spidermummy herself and her entourage in a grassy outside area.  There's an easy secret Blursphere for the latter, which i took way too early, as i missed a vital step in releasing the fight for the YK and ran around wearing it out before realizing it.  The second secret is the Soulsphere, which i grabbed after another switch-hunt to end the map with.  Before the YK fight i also somehow facerocketed myself making things a bit tense, as lack of Blursphere and health meant i could be killed quite quickly, but managed the fight from the flanking walkaway. 

 

The map essentially progresses through a roundtrip around the installation (which looks really good from outside with its brutalist architecture) with some trickery along the way.  The two Archies were for me the most worrying part, but there's enough cover to likely survive the encounter if not something going horribly wrong.  i think i survived the map also on my blind HMP run.

Edited November 7, 2023 by espilka
typo

[brick]

MAP06 - “The Host”
In case I had any doubts, this would've confirmed my suspicion that this wad and KINDa are made by the same person. The red rocks architecture looks very nice but it's really the marriage between the red and the base that I found striking, it's such a good take on corrupted techbase and just like in KINDa it's the kind of contrast that is almost excessive, but instead manages to look incredibly good. The biggest troublemaker is the Cyberdemon, I heard him as soon as I fired a shot but I admit I didn't expect him to run up to me so quickly. There's a RL nearby though, and once he's disposed of the rest of the map is easier despite the highest monster count yet. I think this map also has the most involved switch hunt yet but it's very well laid out. I loved this map, for a speedmap it has a good sense of exploration despite the moderate size.

 

MAP07 - “Bay 7”
Back to a more typical looking techbase and smaller enemy count. The start room affords a nice view of the map across a sea of lava. The level proper begins in plain view of the exit, unreachable for now, a mancubus and an arachnotron, both in stasis. It's obvious this is a MAP07 setup, but there's still originality in the way it's implemented, including having to activate each one with a different key and that the tags can be triggered in any order. The blue key is in the warehouse area and getting it unleashes two archviles. I panicked when going after them but they didn't cause too much resurrection damage. The yellow key is guarded by a big Spider, I made her infight but ultimately downing her with the plasma rifle was easy, not to mention the secret blur sphere definitely helps.

[_goofyguy]

MAP05 - Metallic

The map certainly starts out that way, before giving way to a much more demonic areas. A more linear level with a little backtracking. Ambushes from lowering walls, which certainly is different from the standard teleporter ambush. Short and relatively easy.