The DWmegawad Club plays: Ancient Aliens

["JL" was too short]

I've decided I'll try this. The tipping point was reading somewhere (I think maybe in this thread) that a tuning pass had made the lower difficulties much more reasonable. That's really all it takes, since I'd obviously been intrigued by the screenshots, but all the reports of early cyberdemon turrets and such made me feel like I shouldn't bother as it wouldn't be an enjoyable experience. Glad that's changed.

MAP01-- I'd already seen most of this map in videos and such, and others have commented on it. I don't really have anything to add that anyone else hasn't already said-- the intro was very neat; the actual gameplay after the warp had a hard act to follow but was passable.

MAP02-- A map. Obviously it's very pretty, being competently laid out and done up in those custom paletted textures. Gameplay was unremarkable for the most part, but pleasantly inoffensive. Hitting the blue switch made for an exciting moment, though-- wasn't expecting that.

The hype surrounding this megawad comes across to me as trying to sell it on its setpieces (like the pyramids and flying saucers in some of the screenshots) and I haven't seen any of that in these first couple maps, with the obvious exception of the beginning of map01, so my chief reaction so far is a (hopefully illusionary and temporary) sense of disappointment. Also, while I'm loving the new palette for things like the sky and the purple stone, the neon tech-lights in this setting just aren't a hit with me.

Glad someone's using Eriance's variant sprites.

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP03 Arachnotron Arrival

"RUN, HIDE, OR DIE. THE SPIDERS NEVER STOP."

Well here's another "run from enemies" style-ordeal. You'd think that with the cyber on the first level it's something similar, and it sort of is. Except with several arachnotrons, one after another should I decide to kill them. The spiders DO stop though after you kill enough of them. Also, new sprites. Most of the level is designed with, once again, these guys directly in the center. There's only one chance to telefrag them, at the very end, so those looking to telefrag will only get one shot. The rest pretty much have to be killed normally with weapons found.

There used to be an ambush at the soul sphere. What the hell happened to it?

[Yugiboy85]

jerrysheppy said:

The hype surrounding this megawad comes across to me as trying to sell it on its setpieces (like the pyramids and flying saucers in some of the screenshots) and I haven't seen any of that in these first couple maps, with the obvious exception of the beginning of map01, so my chief reaction so far is a (hopefully illusionary and temporary) sense of disappointment. Also, while I'm loving the new palette for things like the sky and the purple stone, the neon tech-lights in this setting just aren't a hit with me.

Glad someone's using Eriance's variant sprites.

Oh, don't worry, you'll start seeing these saucers sooner than you think. Map 08 I believe is when they start to appear :D

[Steve D]

Map03 sees the Arachnotron Arrival. I never got a good look at them because basically I turned on the jets at the start and seldom stopped.

This map is a total blast. Fun fun fun from beginning to end. That Revvie-Chaingunner trap in the early going is one where I found it best to run up to the wall so the sniping Chaingunner couldn't shoot me, and then punch-out the Revvie. Indeed, since Revvies typically appeared right up in your grill or damned close to it, I used the power of Zerk far more than usual to dispatch them.

Nonetheless, I still died a few times at the Rocket Launcher traps. Perhaps that will become a theme -- first sight of Rocket launcher = dead SteveD in a matter of seconds. :D Skillsaw seems to take a special delight in devising a good challenge for that weapon.

I managed to survive the secret Soulsphere fights on the first try. Getsu said there used to be an ambush there. Does that mean there was one after you grabbed it?

The double-telefrag was more good fun. As a gimmicky, or "high concept" map, I think it did very well, bringing back the theme of a central turret first seen in Map01. This version was a lot more fun for me because no splash damage. The main fights were also much more engaging. I liked the look of this map, too, and now that I'm growing accustomed to the neon colors, I'm liking them more. The teleporters are especially cool. It puts me in mind of the old Bungie game Marathon 2, which MacHeads back in the day would always point to as having superior technology to Doom. And they were right -- there were scripted actions, better enemy AI, deep liquids -- with currents! -- freelook, teleporting items and even enemies that could drop down from above. Despite all this, I thought the game sucked ass, and the enemy animations were pathetic. Some of them moved as if they were cardboard cutouts. But one more thing the game did have was vivid colors. Compared to Doom's browns and dark greens, Marathon 2 was a psychedelic riot of color. I'm happy to see a movement afoot to bring such acid dreams to the Doom universe.

Edit:Oh bloody hell, I forgot to mention the BGM again. Stewboy provides a nice mellow track, which nowadays we often find paired with fast-paced maps. It sort of slides to the edge of your awareness while you concentrate on combat, but when you pause it always sounds nice and refreshing.

BTW, after slandering Marathon2, I decided to play about 4 maps and was really stunned by how incredibly hideous they were. Boxy architecture, hardly ever any detail, and the textures were also very grainy. Some of the enemy sprites looked better than I remembered, but their movement was still really weird, and the battles were exceptionally dull. But the good tech was there, including light beams and shadows of specific heights in open rooms, a really neat feature. And at least Marathon 2 is better than Marathon 1. Shudders!

[scifista42]

MAP03 - "Arachnotron Arrival" by skillsaw

I understood the opening phrase as a warning that I should not be trying to kill the Arachnotrons who keep teleporting from a stack every time the previous one gets killed. So, I did try to kill them anyway, and succeeded - they stopped teleporting relatively soon - what a deceit. I guess this mapset continues (and possibly escalates) the trend that "top-quality" community-made wads don't consider continuous playthroughs important enough - which I'm not a fan of. This map's style and difficulty were very similar to the previous map's ones, except that there was much more health. I've found this slightly disappointing - but otherwise, the map was generally pretty good, including interesting low-scale fights. Nothing much else to point out. 3.99/5

[dobu gabu maru]

MAP03: Heyyy this is a pretty neat idea—kinda tough too. I’m always a fan of maps that force you to abstain from killing a certain enemy, and since arachnatrons provide the best suppression fire this map can get real hairy real quick. Love all the different angles they can attack the player from too. This kind of map exemplifies why linearity isn’t a problem as long as you have interesting combat to amuse the player with the whole time.

[Aquanet]

MAP03 - Arachnotron Arrival

This map felt much larger to me than it actually is. That always impresses me, and when geometry is designed such that I forget about the simple shapes involved and am transported to a structure more out of my imagination, like a twisting path around the outside of a tower. As someone mentioned, the arach-turrets feel fairer than the cyberdemon in MAP01 because of the lack of splash damage. And there's nice tension in places when going after powerups.

I like the title screen but not the icon of the crazy-hair meme guy.

Maybe Skillsaw will follow this up with a wad about the obviously faked moon landing.

[baja blast rd.]

map03

The first really good map. I don't think it's fair to call this map gimmicky -- and CERTAINLY not map04, whose use of AVs for area denial is, like, really really standard (*confused*), but we'll get to that later -- simply because (1) when you have a very small semi-open map with central overseers that aren't there just for show, it's basically a given that they are going to exert pressure in every encounter (or close to it: the dual-manc trap is isolated), either directly raining firepower down on the battlefield or by cutting off chokepoints and the like, because the map is, you know, very small; (2) the presentation is a bit gamey with the blood message and all, but it's a fair compromise to avoid having the waste ammo and time on taking out the replenishing turrets; (3) the fights are interesting and strategically flexible in their own right, as opposed to e.g. map01's, which basically start and end with their reveals. Yeah, it's a bold and audacious concept just like map01, albeit slightly less so, but to call it a gimmick, especially pejoratively, points at a failure to understand that gimmicks are devoid of substance beyond the bells and the whistles! The bigger thing is that eternal arachnotrons used therein are pretty damn creative, not something you see in every old "competent polished map" released these days, and skillsaw's followers should aim to release more of this good stuff, instead of the same old map02-ish retreads!

On the strategic front, every encounter requires that you act decisively, lest have your buttocks tattooed by a vicious stream of tarantula plasma; and move around the battlefield smartly, with the various safe spots representing a trade-off between safety from the arachnotrons and an increased likelihood of being cornered. But beyond that, target selection is also the name of the game. The pinkies in the first part of rocket launcher encounter can be left alive, to interfere with revenant missiles and incoming plasma during the larger second part. Leaving the first two revenants after the SSG alive and simply triggering the blue key encounter ASAP should serve the player well in minimizing damage taken: they will infight with the members of the larger encounter, and more importantly, a plasma-shielding wall of imps will be released. Granted, the map is comfortably beatable without any of this, but it's always a plus when elegant solutions like this exist for smooth play.

[Yugiboy85]

rdwpa said:

map03

The first really good map. I don't think it's fair to call this map gimmicky -- and CERTAINLY not map04

but to call it a gimmick, especially pejoratively, points at a failure to understand that gimmicks are devoid of substance beyond the bells and the whistles!

Hmm, was this by any chance directed to me?

If so, I'm sorry. I did not mean for it to come out as pejorative when I said it was a gimmicky map (I may have chosen my words badly). I did actually like the map. The best map out of the first 3 IMO.

I'm quite new to this gameplay detailing so pardon me if I'm no expert and don't know everything there is to know. I will try and pay attention next time.

["JL" was too short]

MAP03 -- I like when custom textures are used to communicate information to the player, as they are here and in CC4 MAP20-21. The eponymous gimmick of this map is well designed and balanced, IMO. The arachnotrons will obviously melt you if they get the chance, but there's no reason other than carelessness for them to peg you with more than one or two shots, if that. It's a near-optimal combination of relevance and lack of frustration. Design-wise, it feels like we're already getting back closer to the setpieces for which I expressed my frustrated anticipation in my previous post. The map itself is still relatively normal in its layout, but there's some super cool stuff going on with moving floors that, for me, prevents it from being merely what rdwpa described as "speedmappy." Good stuff. Fun to see another animal warp, though I personally would have saved those for things of more major import than just telefragging an arachnotron or two near the end of the level-- the very first map feels like the animal warp is something of major significance, literally leading the player on a journey between worlds, so from a megawad standpoint I would have used it for, say, episode beginning/ending maps or other things that transition the player from one themed cluster of maps to another. But this is just me nitpicking.

[Tristan]

MAP03: Arachnotron Arrival
Time: 03:09 (10:07) | Deaths: 0

We begin by looking at a message written in blood on the wall effectively telling us that we have to ignore the arachnotrons, and evade their fire rather than kill them. So from that, I guess I'm slightly surprised that no one has made the comparison to Valiant MAP07 yet, the two maps seem to be counterparts to each other, though having not played MAP07 of this WAD in single player yet, I'm not sure what's in store there either.
Happily however, this sort of setup isn't as disaster prone as the Valiant map; a lot of people bitched about the message being unclear in the Valiant map though I didn't have a problem with it myself, but I haven't seen anything like that here, it seems most people get it this time.
What really brought Valiant MAP07 down for me wasn't the concept itself, but in my experience it was all too easy for the mancubus to end up fighting other monsters, and eventually getting killed by them, so you still had a million arch-viles up your arse even though you didn't even slightly harm the mancubus. Bullshit.
This time, there's no danger of something like this happening. If a spider is killed, it's replaced by another, and at least on HNTR, there's no monsters that pose a remote threat to them anyway.

The faster pace of this map is certainly fun, and it's helped a lot by the choice of monster; I find arachnotrons streams are usually quite fun to manipulate, since the way you have to dodge them is a bit more erratic than other monsters due to the high rate of fire. The layout of the map is obviously designed such that the spiders can see you in most of the areas, with short breaks here and there. Didn't quite understand what was going on with the soulsphere secret, so I'm not sure if I was in there longer than I should have been, are you supposed to just wait around doing nothing? Seems like an odd design choice to me.

There's also some fun RL action in parts of the map, but since I'm playing with a keyboard a lot of my shots missed :( I think there was a hell knight that I needed 5 rockets to kill, and two pinkies that were very close together ended up with a rocket going straight through the tiny gap between them, boo.
And at the very end of the map, there's the really cool sequence after any unspawned spiders are crushed off-map, and the two that remain on those platforms get killed by telefrag. Arachnotrons being telefragged is already a very satisfying thing to do with their death sound, but it's been taken up a notch here because we see a welcome return of the warp tunnel from MAP01, but this time there's two of them - one for each spider - and it's not a wolf this time, instead it's a bear! Alright then!
The bear's roar is a lot less prominent sound than the wolf's howl, so it felt kind of drowned out by the music, but it still made me laugh the same as it did on the first map.

Visuals are very nice across the map, and of course the music is great. Cool stuff.

8/10

[Deleted_Account]

Playing with GZDoom, on Ultra-Violence, continuous play, keyboard+mouse, no freelook, no jumping etc.

Map 03: Arachnotron Arrival

Now this map was a battle royale, being attacked from above and below, no thanks to those arachnotrons whom insisted on spawning whenever I decided to squash them! That was pretty cheeky, but the warning at the map start became clear. Those soul spheres were a welcome sight and the acquisition of the super shotgun helped me. And onwards with the visions trips, in the first map it was a wolf, now this vision warp/trip was a bear. Another outstanding map. Ancient Aliens grabbed me from the start and has not let go in the slightest, another great map!

[Magnusblitz]

MAP03: Arachnotron Arrival
100% kills, 1/1 secret

For a map that begins with an ominous message scrawled in blood on a wall, I was expecting something more... threatening. I know it's still MAP03, but this is still pretty easy fare. The toughest fight for me was the 'two revenants covered by two chaingunner on ledges' fight early on, and that was just more annoying (to try and solve cleanly) than hard. The two arachnotron turrets are pretty easy to ignore, as they spend most of their time just walking around their little platforms instead of actually attacking. I didn't even feel the need to clean them out until I had grabbed the blue key, and lo and behold, all their replacements had already been silently murdered at that point. Also, I love bears, but I agree that the animal warp here felt a bit misplaced since there wasn't much special surrounding it.

[Tristan]

Regards the bear warp, it's easy to think about the technical side of things, as I said in my own write-up, the spiders are crushed and you telefrag the remaining two, but maybe try looking at it another way:

Killing the spiders the conventional way won't work, as there's an "infinite" number of them ready to replace their predecessors, but when you take the teleporters to kill them, they aren't replaced. So maybe the magical powers of the spirit bear has some side effect or something to ensure that once you kill those spiders, they will never be replaced :P

Maybe I'm reading into it too deeply, but that's my interpretation of it anyway.

[rehelekretep]

MAP03 - "Arachnotron Arrival" by skillsaw FDA here

now this is a FUN map!

the opening shot with the blood-scrawl is fantastic, and the reveal of the arachnotron's is cool. i must admit i read ahead so knew not to attack the arachnotrons - which may have eased me to a successful first-time exit. this map is also easier as there're less hitscanners, and even the traps give you some time to react. nevertheless there were some hairy moments (8% health for a time if i recall correctly) in my play.

+ interesting turret conceit
+ lovely MIDI
+ i really like the re-texture of the arachnotron

- this felt a lot easier than 02, but i guess that's not so important, but if it was my WAD i'd switch their places

[Steve D]

rehelekretep said:

MAP03 - "Arachnotron Arrival" by skillsaw FDA here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOjxCZTzhaU

now this is a FUN map!

Whew, that was close a couple times! Nice job getting through.

["JL" was too short]

Eris Falling said:

Regards the bear warp, it's easy to think about the technical side of things, as I said in my own write-up, the spiders are crushed and you telefrag the remaining two, but maybe try looking at it another way:

Killing the spiders the conventional way won't work, as there's an "infinite" number of them ready to replace their predecessors, but when you take the teleporters to kill them, they aren't replaced. So maybe the magical powers of the spirit bear has some side effect or something to ensure that once you kill those spiders, they will never be replaced :P

Maybe I'm reading into it too deeply, but that's my interpretation of it anyway.

Yeah, it's possible from where I stand that I just am making mistaken assumptions about what the animal warps are going to signify in this wad and I'll be able to understand the language better, so to speak, once I see some more of it in action.

[Pirx]

gzdoom, uv, pistol starts.



MAP01 - "The Ancient Navajo Wolf Warp" by skillsaw

you smoke a pipe, and boom, you're in native american territory invaded by demons. the "wolf warp" is a really entertaining tunnel view of wolves, bisons, eagles and whatever animal you see during teleporting, neat effect to use in doom. the warp spits you out at speed, right in front of a turret cyberdemon, who can be used to smash various small critters that appear later for comical effect. i like the new palette with its striking turquoise and magenta, which gives the maps an otherworldly appearance. the map is small but does away with map01 conventions like firing pistol at imps, it can be played risky and fast. the cyber can be telefragged. i guess i've found another quick map i can play for warming up ;)



MAP02 - "Sanctum of the Wastes" by skillsaw

a more conventional map, the kind of compact, interwoven shape skillsaw uses in his opening maps to get more playing space out of a small area. those damn shotgunners were my biggest peeve, they were thrown into the mix whenever i thought that berserking everything would be a good idea, and they (plus imps and others) come in several waves to keep you on your toes. nice soulsphere secret. the custom textures are bright and eye-catching and can make those glowing orb switches less obvious. the custom mancubus is introduced, covered in spikes and chains. i agree that all enemies could have been turned into "necro" versions, but that's quite bit of work.



MAP03 - "Arachnotron Arrival" by skillsaw

speaking of necromantic enemies, the skulls & spikes arachnotron looks better imo than the goofy vanilla version. three of them are placed as turrets, so you'll be running between them, for cover, and to get them infight with everything else, as the concept of the map. i trust those who say the spiders can't be killed conventionally because they respawn, so i didn't try... but as eris falling said the power of the spirit bear might keep them dead forever, that's very much like prey, the game where you play that cherokee guy tommy who has to use the powers of his ancestors. anyway, the opposition isn't formidable, but the presence of those arachnotrons is a serious handicap - but also the key to get away from several ambushes.



MAP04 - "Bad Medicine Men" by skillsaw

..which would be the archviles who start to torch you right from the start. this is a map where you have to play aggressively, as you're either seen by the viles, or in range of a few mancubi in cages. again, pretty much everything you touch triggers a teleport that brings a few baddies, of which many revenants. i used mostly berserk on them (not just because, but also to stay close to them and out of the view of the viles). in fact, that zerk pack was my best weapon through the whole map, since i discovered the ssg late, somewhere up near a few imps iirc. i even punched those turret mancs to death (just beat them, do left-right-left when they're about to shoot and beat them again) before discovering that i was supposed to telefrag them with the power of the bison. so overall a very action-laden map, great fun to charge through.

btw, superb music by stewboy, i even bought that album.

[Spectre01]

Map 04

Now this is a tough map where you need to think and play fast to survive. Not only are you threatened by 2 Archviles, but there are also Mancubi on each side which are very happy to toast you with their fireballs. Oh, and you'll be using a regular shotgun and berserk for most of the map so best of luck! Lots of close encounters here with Revenants that really test how well you can channel your pro-boxer to knock 'em out. I like that you're provided with 2 green armours because my first one broke rather quickly. I thought the barrel mechanic to kill the Viles was quite fun and we encounter another new animal warp to kill the Fatsos.

I'm a pretty big fan of short, hard maps with low monster counts. A lot of the time they end up being more challenging and less time wasting than your usual slaughterfest. Also, another great track by Stewboy which I also loved hearing in Map 04 of Sunlust.

scifista42 said:

I guess this mapset continues (and possibly escalates) the trend that "top-quality" community-made wads don't consider continuous playthroughs important enough - which I'm not a fan of.

Skillsaw did mention that continuous play is perfectly fine for this wad if that's your thing. Valiant played fine with it as well. I guess a possible change could be to make a hidden Archvile resurrect the spiders so you can't "cheese" the main mechanic by starting with your previous arsenal. Map 15 in Plutonia did something like that with infinitely respawning Chaingunners.

Eris Falling said:

What really brought Valiant MAP07 down for me wasn't the concept itself, but in my experience it was all too easy for the mancubus to end up fighting other monsters, and eventually getting killed by them, so you still had a million arch-viles up your arse even though you didn't even slightly harm the mancubus. Bullshit.

I think that part made the map more interesting. If the goal was just to ignore the Manc then the Archvile trap is never a real threat. Instead, you have to be aware and quickly take out any monsters trying to infight with him. The point of the map is not "ignore the Mancubus" but rather "protect the Mancubus" until you flip that switch near the end.

[Demon of the Well]

Map 03 -- Arachnatron Arrival - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
Hmm. The opening scene's pretty ominous, I guess. A mind-shattered survivor writing in his own blood on the wall may be a bit of a cliché, but it's not something I see as offputtingly game-y in a Doom context (that's more the realm of big tacky floating sector-arrows to show you where you're supposed to go next, and the like, IMO). And where have I heard this music track before? "Underwater Explosions", maybe? Does that mean I get to hear "Drilling By Night" again later? That one never seems to get old for me.

Reckon it's pretty hard to miss the fact that this level uses a very similar base concept to what was seen in map 01, both odd and interesting to see it repeated so openly so soon. Perhaps the game's three episodes will feature thematic elements that go beyond the realm of texture set and (presumably) escalating difficulty? Now, naturally this probably doesn't quite make the same impact that seeing a cyberdemon instants after a psychedelic reality-warp mere seconds into map 01 does, but for all that I think it's a better map at the end of the day. While my gut reaction to map 01 was and still remains generally positive, comparing it with this conceptually similar map seems to draw out that, for all its novelty, it in some ways appears to be hamstrung a bit by conventional map 01 design precepts, i.e. being tiny and featuring extremely simplistic and mostly non-pressuring fights, which keeps the cyb from being quite as much of a star as he might've otherwise been.

In effect, whereas map 01's cyber-turret ends up functioning mainly as a 'for emphasis' spot-actor and perhaps a device for generating amusing rocketcam moments involving the other assorted dimwits milling about, here the twin spiderlings (let's call them Sean and Eugene) can and will prove to be far more of a factor over the course of the level's short (but eventful) duration. Speaking purely about the issue of cover and firing lanes, there is a lot more nuance to the way the action is framed here: generally, Sean covers the southern half of the map from his vantage point, while Eugene (the more introverted brother) covers the north, but there are a few tricksy spots where their fields of fire either overlap or pan out in such a way that the farther spider will be able to hit you from a strange angle which may not be readily apparent if you aren't constantly alert. This makes for a level where the core concept--that is, the streams of magenta plasma blasts scorching the ruin's walls as they relentlessly harry you--remains in play at almost all times, despite the fact that the architecture is flush with all kinds of good solid cover points at almost every step of the way; an interesting new facet of Skillsaw's penchant for creating gameplay that is at once both legitimately pressuring yet accommodating and accessible. Of course, it's the unsung enemies congregating on and around the peripheral pathways that will likely be responsible (directly or indirectly) for the vast majority of the pelts harvested here, as they have a way of either occupying the spot where you want/need to be to get out of the spiders' fields of fire or trying to pile on and smother you when you happen to make it into one of said cubbies. Tons of healing and other resources around to help you out, though, including an early combat armor and a 'free' soulsphere with a somewhat janky access method. Using the rocket launcher efficiently to liquefy certain juicy enemy clumps at prime moments will also heavily swing the odds in several fights in your favor, which Skillsaw plays up via his characteristic tendency for conspicuously supplying you with single rocket pickups moments before they'll come in handy.

Strange to see a concept repeat so soon, as I said (though I suppose projectile showers are already kinda established as Skillsaw's Thing at this point, in fairness), but a good map nonetheless.

[scifista42]

rileymartin said:

[MAP03] I guess a possible change could be to make a hidden Archvile resurrect the spiders so you can't "cheese" the main mechanic by starting with your previous arsenal.

Agreed, I would have preferred that. If the problem was that there wasn't enough space to hide an Archvile, they could have used a custom DEHACKED-based "monster" who would be invisible and invulnerable but could resurrect monsters.

[HIB]

MAP 01
Great opener. That Cyberdemon really scared me on my first try.
MAP 02
Really enjoyed this one. Mancubus pit killed me like 2 times before I played it well. Great music and visuals so far.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP04: Bad Medicine Men

I don't know if this is actually the largest map so far, but dropping the player right in the middle of its central arena from the get-go seems to emphasise its scale; rather than creeping in from a secure bolt-hole (or struggling to escape from a dead end) at one side of the map, you're instead thrust into the midst of your enemies, to figure out where to go, what to do, and where breathing space might be found while under fire. The crannies, elevated walkways, and key-locked doors of the map make this feel like a more complex proposition than it really is, with the blue key in plain sight and available to be grabbed right from the start. Combat feels a bit more organic here than the careful set-ups of prior maps, and once again the frugal player comfortable in their dodging talents is presented with the opportunity to telefrag the map's static turret monsters toward the end of the proceedings.

[Yugiboy85]

Map 04 - "Bad Medicine Men" (Skillsaw) - UV-MAX (kills/secrets)

This map is tricky, yet tons of fun once you figured out a route for it :D

I like to go straight to the first armor and then imediately drop down to the pool of water (I think it has the blue key in it), grab that key and play the waiting/dodging game until the stairs rise up (stay behind those 2 pillars as much as possible to avoid getting blasted by the 2 AV turrets that basically overwatch the entire map). Once them stairs have risen, imediately enter the teleporter and you will get a soulsphere (noice). Quickly grab the shotgun on the right and the berserk on the right (that last one is up to you if you wanna conserve health I guess).

You should be at full health pretty easilly before you grab the sousphere but if not, quickly grab the medkits on the side of each pillars in the blue key pool.

The rest of the map, after that hectic opening is, not as tricky as I thought it would be but, it does revolve arround a little luck (mainly the section right after the yellow door) where, if you aren't having any luck, the archvile will most likely blast you from the stairs. You also do have to play rather aggressively if you want to maximise your survival chances. One mistep could signify the end.

Don't waste your ammo on the archviles (unless you really want to), the way you kill them is much simpler (once you reach one of the higher grounds, barrels will appear arround the viles, shoot them and voila. Repeat for the second vile).

I did get both secrets (one was quite useful actually as it allowed you to telefrag the manc turets. Yeah, I forgot to mention but there are also mancubus turrets in the level). The second one was also a nice addition (a soulsphere) but, you are also greeted by a revenant + shotgunner as soon as you grab it. I like to punch the rev in the face (you should have the berserk by then).

Aestetics wise, the map looks nice, like the maps before it. It stays true to the now recurring egyptian/aztec theme that the first levels had, all the while mixing in the wad's trademark neon lights to make it more, collorful looking and I guess, alien like :D

Overall, a very fun map. Probably my favorite one so far (alongside map 03) but, again, I don't think it's a groundbreaking one. Having played the wad before I started the club, I can tell that the wad really pics up once map 07-08 hit.

[mouldy]

Ok, time to catch up and join in. I already hacked through the first episode, but it was such a frenzied rush that I can't remember much of it. Pistol starts and plenty of saves...

MAP01 - "The Ancient Navajo Wolf Warp" by skillsaw

Love the little prologue scene. This map dumps you straight into the action and introduces a very fast and loose gameplay style, in fact it pretty much forces it with that cyber turret. You can't stand still, so keep moving and shooting and dodging and stumbling into traps and new areas. For me this is exactly how I like to play doom, and hopefully this is setting a precedent for the rest of the wad.

MAP02 - "Sanctum of the Wastes" by skillsaw

Deadly stuff. Lots of suprise traps, in fact nearly everything seems to come with free monsters. The revs in particular were causing me a pain, with no armour and only shotgun to whittle them down. Nice use of secret candles.

MAP03 - "Arachnotron Arrival" by skillsaw

Similar mechanic to the first map, keep moving or find cover. Health goes down pretty fast on these maps, but it is dished out quite generously as well. Glad to finally get my hands on the SSG, if only I wasn't playing pistol starts.. seeing the medkits at the exit each time tempts me to play continuous. I haven't mentioned the visuals much as it probably goes without saying, but they are very cool. A bit gaudy perhaps, but that goes with the whole hallucinatory theme, and I get the feeling its not a wad that takes itself too seriously.

MAP04 - "Bad Medicine Men" by skillsaw

Were there any weapons here beyond the shotgun? I didn't find any, and while I understand that is kind of crucial to the concept of leaving the turrets alive to hassle you, it does make the general progress a bit of a grind. I'm thinking I might switch to continuous play, just to keep things more fast and fun. I'm assuming there is a death exit at the end of each episode anyhow. Minor moaning aside, its a cool map. I always like small maps that re-use their space well.

[NuMetalManiak]

no Steve there really was an ambush at that soulsphere, I remember it very well, now it seems that all the enemies that were in that area were removed after RC1.

MAP04 Bad Medicine Man

Welp, here's saw up to the old routine again, with sniper enemies around the player and a few big caged monsters that can, if needed, be taken out via telefrag. But that takes awhile, so I use my chaingun at the best of times, while scrambling for keys and such. The fun parts are with the key towers, which get a sole arch-vile after some progression, but then there's loads of barrels that come in for an easy kill on that jokester. I like it when enemies teleport to a spot I'm gonna go next too. And yes, the lion's guide me to telefrag those freaks, once I find the respective (and easy) secret. Rather interesting how MAP04 in both this and Sunlust have the same track. I hate turrets.

[rehelekretep]

MAP04 - "Bad Medicine Men" by skillsaw FDA here

continuing the area denial theme, archviles have joined the party. i really enjoyed this map, again - as the relatively simple arena is spiced up by having to constantly avoid the archviles LOS and the mancubi rockets.

ammo is also relatively scarce, which encourages weapon switching and berserk use - is there any map that isnt improved with the addition of a berserk pack?

+ i appreciate the area of denial design
+ this is one of my favourite MIDIs, originally heard it in Sunlust and so glad to hear it again
+ i LOVE punching revenants in the FACE! :D

- infinite height is quite annoying in this map, especially when going for the archvile guarded keys - luckily its not as bad as - for example - Hell Revealed 11, as you can remove the archviles before trying to hop over the gaps

for some of those not liking the 'staged' encounters, i wonder if they enjoyed the more free-form combat on offer here?

[baja blast rd.]

Here's a UV-max for map03 (2:34). The arachnotron opened fire right as I entered the RL area, but the rest of that went smoothly.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/caa7510dyga5pm8/aaliensrc3a_03_rdwpa_uvmax_234.lmp

[Deleted_Account]

Playing with GZDoom, on Ultra-Violence, continuous play, keyboard+mouse, no freelook, no jumping etc.

Map 04: Bad Medicine Men

Right off the bat I was set on fire and sent flying into the air by a friendly neighborhood Archvile. To my dismay, he had a friend who also started working his magic on me. I ran like a madman being sniped from nearly every direction and found myself tripping over into a pool of water where a blue key taunted me. Thinking quick I hid behind the pillars as my attackers continued their onslaught.

Another stellar map! Short but brutal, you really need to get going as soon as it starts otherwise you're going to have a lousy day. I absolutely love this level. Skillsaw seems to have a unique style that works really well. The only other project of his that I have played was Valiant, and that was super. I'll have to take a look into what other levels he has made.

[baja blast rd.]

The_Trigger said:

Hmm, was this by any chance directed to me?

If so, I'm sorry. I did not mean for it to come out as pejorative when I said it was a gimmicky map (I may have chosen my words badly). I did actually like the map. The best map out of the first 3 IMO.

I'm quite new to this gameplay detailing so pardon me if I'm no expert and don't know everything there is to know. I will try and pay attention next time.

Not just at you, or people in the thread. It's one of those communityisms.

And sorry, I didn't intend to be mean. Use of the word "gimmick" on DW is a pet peeve of mine, since the connotations always seem negative.