The DWmegawad Club plays: Ancient Aliens

[baja blast rd.]

Quick playthrough of map13, since it's short and I like it. I never bothered looking up the secrets.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/cj5caz3d2pjkm7q/aaliensrc3a_13_rdwpa_nspt.lmp

Here's how to simplify the start of map15. Do sort of like this but improve on it by keeping track of where the cyber is so you can avoid close calls. :D (You can exit out of the demo after that, I was trying to figure out where to stop recording.)

http://www.mediafire.com/download/332k48slyku3ufj/aaliensrc3a_15_rdwpa_start.lmp

[Magnusblitz]

MAP15: Wormhole Junction
99% kills, 2/2* secrets

This one just cocks back the fist and punches you in the face right away, as you'll wander into a map already filled to the brim with monsters, including a Cyberdemon and Spider Mastermind. As dobu says, it's actually not that difficult once you figure out the 'track' - though I will say the crystal staircase actually caused me quite a lot of trouble figuring out when I could or couldn't shoot through it, taking a couple rockets to the face of the stair in front of me, etc. I didn't really have any trouble with the other fights aside from running out of rockets mid-way through (had to kill all the Hell Knights near the yellow key with the SSG) and running low on rockets/cells near the end, though I had just enough BFG shots to take out the last Arch-Vile. Spent a lot of time trying to find the secrets... the V-sphere certainly would've been nice for the last fight, and I admittedly had to cheat to find the secret exit, which pissed me off since I had correctly guessed the area where it would be, just wasn't sharp-eyed enough. Ah well.

[Demon of the Well]

Map 15 -- Wormhole Junction - 104% Kills / 50% Secrets
A slaughtermap, you say? I'll believe it when I see it, says I.

.....yeeeeeah, kinda, maybe. Sorta. Another transformative arena level, this one does indeed field a monstercount only paralleled by Joshy's guest map from earlier in the set, though I reckon the most striking thing about it is not the bodycount but the technical elaborateness of the titular Junction itself, which coils in on itself like some sort of polytechnic conch shell (or a blueberry cinnamon roll, if you like), with progression handled in stages by changes in the topography of the energy field comprising the arena floor, which depending on your playstyle may also either hamstring you or create massive cheese-potential vs. the thronging monsters out there, depending on the timing of the battlefield's change. Another 3-key map, this one fits the author's established template more neatly than map 13, with an initial key gating the other two in their own distinct side-areas (which can be tackled in either order) before wrapping up with one last hurrah in the main hub. More straightforward than I was expecting--from the map's name I guess I had sort of mentally prepared myself for a setpiece-y "Limbo" sort of affair--but it mostly works, as long as you don't screw yourself with the first topographical shift.

So, yes, there are quite a lot of monsters in total, with the majority of them encountered in the central arena, but they mainly appear in neatly-portioned waves at intuitive points during level progression, and so you don't really end up facing scads and scads of them at any one time unless you are actively trying to bring such a scenario about. In terms of force strength, the initial population is probably the strongest (and the one with the most potential for wave-mixing, courtesy of the first switch to change the arena topography), while numerically the biggest influx is again a rain of imps on the elevated central walkway early on. The most important tactical consideration here actually seemed to be ammo economy, which surprised me; the total amount is judged more tightly than it may initially seem, and it's easy to get cut off from a supply point at a bad time if you're just gallivanting around thoughtlessly. The absence of a backpack seems like a very deliberate gameplay design decision in this instance, and this ammo pressure adds a bit more zest to what is probably a fairly exploitable combat space otherwise--I did a lot of the actual killing in the main arena myself this go-round (as opposed to letting infighting do a lot of it), and so by the time the final vile incursion rolled around there was little or no ammo left on the arena floor itself, meaning I had just enough BFG juice to kamikaze my way through said encounter before it could get out of hand.

The setpiece fights around the keys are as expected. Easy to appreciate them here, I think, because they tend to function a lot more consistently cleanly than the crowd combat in the central space, which gets a bit janky when monsters congregate in a dead-end or interchange point relative to how the arena floor is shaped at a given time. I really liked the YK segment here, reckon it was easily my favorite bit in the map--the appearance of the two viles to spook you into trying to bulldoze the curved southern walkway is delightfully staged, and it's neat how there's a bit of interplay between this side-area and the central junction, with ADbots and other flyers appearing at odd moments to fire from your blindside (I don't really see the point in the PEs though, considering the rails are not actually crossable). Speaking of, the secret code-red spiral to the north was the first point in Ancient Aliens where I felt that the ADbots were used in a really interesting way--surprising just how many projectiles those little bastards can release in a very short amount of time if you let them finish spinning up, maybe I'll have to start treating them with a little more respect from now on (which will probably not actually happen until the first time I inevitably explode one all of 1.5 inches from my face, to whit).

I did find the exit to "Grey Dwarf", incidentally, but couldn't find the other secret this time. Apparently it's a V-sphere? Good for the final viles, I suppose, maybe even a little OP.

[baja blast rd.]

map31

Man, I have to say, this map REALLY tickles my clit. It's sort of like if you took one of those '90s Shawn-plastered "space" maps but designed it well and then covered it in AA textures. That is to say, it conjures old-school nostalgia while being reasonably attractive, sort of like how you remembered Icarus: Alien Vanguard looking before taking another sobering look at it after a twelve-year hiatus.

The music is hot too. Kind of trippy but one particular chord progression is something I'd hear in indie pop, nice and sweet. This map is basically littered with those new monsters and archviles, always archviles plotting somewhere, going huhuhuhuhhh in the dark. I had a dicey moment where I basically ran out of ammo and those two archies cornered me in the little red-gated balcony thingy and luckily I found the 'zerk early. This is one of the maps where the particular route you choose blahblah different experience based on it blahblah you guys have heard this particular observation made like a million times already. Ammo caches are everywhere, but it's easy to end up stumbling into an encounter before you restock.

Favorite encounters: all the archy ones and all the AD head ones, especially the spamfest around the, idk, blue key, I forgot what color. That one, and the ninja arachnotron setup after it, is precisely the sort of thing a skilled '90s mapper would do: it's crude and quirky and it's quite fun. One of the things I've noticed about the AD heads is that sometimes you get a double kill with the RL or SSG, but you don't know it!!! And the other one might be still out there!!! But where is it?!?! Is it really dead?!?!?!?! It's really really spooky.

Anyway, really cool map, nice change of pace too, certainly more than makes up for the elevator music of early episode 2.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP31: Grey Dwarf

Oof. There's nothing especially dwarf-like about the scale of this particular offering, though it does provide the more maze-like gameplay I was whining about in my thoughts on MAP15 - I guess that's the kind of thing you'll find as a secret level in a WAD whose main level progression consists of more open battlefields. There's a lot that I liked about this, from the pervasive gloom of the haunted, drifting craft through which the player ventures, to the intricate map of twisting ducts and channels interspersed with glowing nodules of technological functionality like the electronic organs of a metal body, to the low throb of the background music and its contrast with the higher-pitched electronic and percussive effects that had the hairs on the back of my neck rising in anticipation of the next frantic encounter. Monster population is relatively light for the scale and intricacy of the map; I found the super secret exit, but left at 115/117 kills and a mere 5/13 secrets, so I'm sure I'll be revisiting this at some point in the future. I like the presentation of the exits as a deliberate and visible choice; you're given the option of taking the conventional exit and returning to the standard progression of levels, but the super secret exit is right there, for you to work your way toward if you've got the patience. Nicely done indeed.

[Spectre01]

Map 31

I was honestly hoping for a Cyberwar 7734 sequel with stars.mid playing in the background but this map is still cool. I don't think I've played any maps by Stewboy before and this one certainly differs a great deal from the maps done by skillsaw. This one's a heavy exploration/secret hunting map set on a space station, but with a more realistic metallic look to it. Almost felt like one of the Duke3D E2 maps. I found 10 or 11 out of the 13 secrets and played for over 45 minutes. The difficulty is quite relaxing compared to the rest of the wad but still packs some nasty close range Drone ambushes as well as a little slaughterfest in a large computer area. Grabbing the BFG secret is really nice and if you explore well enough you'll be full on cells and rockets so ammo won't be an issue.

The midi was quite chill too and fit really well.

Map 32

The second secret map is what looks like a Hell map that's been infiltrated by aliens! This is as standard Doom as this wad gets when it comes to aesthetics with a large temple decorated with skulls and rivers of blood flowing through scorched cavers. Big fan of the sky and black rock texture, good stuff. The map itself is very small, similar to the earlier episode 1 levels. The very first encounter is quite overwhelming with double Archviles and company getting right in your face. The best way to handle it is to Archvile-jump right back up to the starting area and use the cover there to take down the enemies in the temple. The Hell Knight + Drone + Spider ambush at the yellow(?) key can be lethal as well since the Knights block any attempts at bailing out and the darn teleporters below take you to the middle of the bridge in scratching range. I just spammed rockets, trying to take out the Drones as quickly as possible while using the HK's as meat shields from the spiders. Honourable mention goes to the final Revenant horde which appears from all the exits in the main room. I ran to the right and up the stairs where the switch is and used that as a foothold to take cover and fight the skeletons from one angle. The Megasphere there was very useful too.

I didn't find either of the two secrets despite, in my opinion, thoroughly exploring and humping every conspicuous looking wall.

[Magnusblitz]

MAP31: Grey Dwarf
98% kills, 6/13 secrets

I do enjoy that a few 'guest spots' were given throughout, as while I definitely enjoy skillsaw, I also enjoy variation, and this map delivers that in spades. Stewboy's architecture is much more of the large, blocky variety, though it quickly becomes impressive once you open up the minimap and realize most of the map is basically tilted at a 45 degree angle. It's also a long, exploration-filled map, a far cry from Skillsaw's general arena-based locales. There's a crap ton of secrets, though thankfully the ones I found let me access the super secret map. Push those computer panels!

Things do look a bit sparse in areas, I think due to the large 'macro-architecture' design which tends to have large walls/columns with only one texture splayed across it. But combined with the dim light setting, it actually helps give it a unique feel, like some sort of alien mausoleum. Some good fights here (especially the blue key one) but I did feel that some of the Arch-Vile placement felt a bit lazy, and midway through I was missing chaingun ammo, which made fighting the plasma troopers a bit of a pain in the ass. Still, fun map.

[mouldy]

MAP16 - "Leave Your Sol Behind" by skillsaw

Bloody fantastic map, love it. Zipping around the galaxy in my flying saucer, visiting strange new worlds. Its amazing how just having that simple purpose and motivation can elevate a map, to feel like you are doing something beyond just fighting waves of enemies, even if that is ultimately what you are doing. And the visuals are so damn gorgeous with the light and shadows. Hoping to see some more of this type of thing.

[dobu gabu maru]

MAP16: Heeyyyy, a map that actually furthers the space theme we have goin' on. It starts off humbly enough, with a pretty clever raising lightbridge to take you around the arena, but what makes the map remarkable is the intestellar travel. Each planet has its own look and some tricky fights, with the ice planet being my favorite for its harsh but fair design (and good use of arachs to block player movement). The last fight is a bit timid in comparison, but since the rest of the map is pretty relentless (would've liked 1-2 medikits on lava planet) it was a good spot to end the map. Hope to see more creativity like this!

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP16 Leave Your Sol Behind

No it wasn't a lightbridge too far, but the beginning is a pretty tense outing with several monsters all around while I raise the lightbridge ring. Pretty setpiece-like for the most part, although the one with several hell knights was certainly more annoying than it was worth. Past that area, we use the UFO continuously as transport, hitting the alien buttons to our next destinations. Earthen icy temple is next. Apart from a secret encounter with a couple of arch-viles and those floating things, not too memorable. The next destination, IS HELL! Well, figuratively. Imps are sniping as usual but the sinkhole reveals some semi-slaughter gameplay involving radiation suits. The last section is back in the very first theme, with cybers on turrets, urgh, but the key is to fight all the lackeys that come in while using spirit animal teleports (yep, all the ones) to telefrag those turrets. And I got an invulnerability to ensure success. Man, that was a themebender.

[baja blast rd.]

Music rankings so far.

Map02
Map04
Map31
Map10

[baja blast rd.]

Demon of the Well said:

Map 14 -- Blazing Boulevard - 103% Kills / 100% Secrets
The music selection here is somewhat emblematic of the experience I'm having with some of Stewboy's newer tracks here in Ancient Aliens--very laid-back/chilled-out early stage and string usage that I quite like (goes well with the custom sky here), but as the track builds and emphasizes the keys more pointedly with each of their three (?) appearances, the attendant shift in mood towards something more rapturously warm and fuzzy loses me. Just a personal taste thing, that, of course, but I reckon the presence of these pronounced mood shifts within the span of what are mostly still rather concise compositions is the main point of interest/departure when comparing them with his older/more traditionally driving stuff, and an interesting contrast with the generally straightforward arcade projectile-fest maps they accompany. My personal allergy to feel-good tunes notwithstanding, I'm hoping for a similarly developing exercise in sad bastardry further on down the line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KifeOPZJJSs

GOAT Doom music

[dobu gabu maru]

MAP13 has my favorite tune thus far, dunno if I'll find anything that beats it.

[SoundofDoomDoors]

MAP16: Leave Your Sol Behind
95% Kills 0% Secrets

At first, I wondered why I'd want to raise the light bridge in the first area using the switches on the side. Progressing in the map made it apparent. Another thing I liked was MAP32's sky returning on one of the planets. The sky whizzing past as you fly from area to area was great too. In fact, alongside MAP15's opening mayhem, the UFO travel here is the most memorable part of the wad so far for me. Good job skillsaw! I was waiting for some archviles to storm the UFO when I was in transit, but it never happened (Knock on wood. It'll happen later I bet).

[baja blast rd.]

map32

Cool map. Aesthetically this kind of feels like an AD_79 map, which is an odd realization because skillsaw is a big AD_79 influence and not vice versa, but yeah, the stark red-and-white-and-black color scheme and the rocky setting and the particular Skillsawian structures used all feel like something he'd do. Skillsaw's themes tend to either be more polychromatic or use brown as a secondary color when they aren't.

Also appearing in this map are two devices I occasionally use in my own levels, funnily enough. :D The push-forward at the start with viles and AD heads, encouraging you to poke a hole and dive into any number of incidental scrums outside. (This one was cheesable with a simple (accidental!) AV jump, however.) Also the delayed traps, where an originally inert trigger in an ostensibly safe, cleared area is then activated, allowing the trap to spring. (The latter is one of the many devices I'm surprised more people don't use -- it's fun.)

[Spectre01]

Map 16

Really cool map where, as the name suggests, you eventually leave the solar system behind in a UFO after fighting through one more alien space station. The visual effect of traveling between planets is very neat and each one comes with it's own sky texture to make the locations feel highly distinct. The map gives you plenty of rockets and plasma, and few bullets and shells in comparison, which lets you really go to town on the enemies. The difficulty is not as high as map 15 or 10, but the last encounter did get me killed when I was teleported in the middle of a Hell Knight scratch session after telefragging the 3rd Cyberdemon. I really like the large blue sun on the final planet, which looks like where we're staying for the next couple of maps.

[KBlaney]

Map 31: Played this one from a pistol start since I missed the secret exit. This is a pretty nice adventure map that really opens up and intertwines with itself. The influence of Aliens is apparent here which is neat since that little bit of influence on the original Doom is often forgotten (even in official IWADs after Knee-Deep it seems). The stealth zombies are a constant threat here based on their distinctive idle sound coming from ever wall and hallway. It is really reminiscent of the Alien's omnipresent hiss in the movie of the same name. Excellent job with this. In fact, I'd really love to play a whole episode of these kinds of levels.

Map 32: Oh that Yellow Key trap was rather devious. My trick, eventually, was to chaingun my way through the imps as fast as possible so I'm hopefully near the top by the time the spiders figure out what is going on and then double back around to get the key once all the monsters are dead. I'm not a fan of this kind of trap as it really requires knowing that the trap is going to happen ahead of time to not get killed by it and it takes advantage of an issue with the standard Doom settings (autoaim won't aim up from that far away). As a result, and otherwise great map (which maybe doesn't fit the WAD's theme) sticks out in my brain because of a single bit of unfairness. Some what humorously, I think switching this map with Map 32 from Valiant would make both better fits for each WAD. (Although I supposed you'd have to do it with the Vaccinated Edition.)

Map 16: Although this level starts out rather boring with a circular level that you gradually raise, it gets more interesting later on and pulls a neat trick with the Doom engine. That is, it makes you think that you are getting keys to pilot your ship further and further along including an ice planet and a fire planet. I struggled a bit with the fire planet's ambush at the switch largely because of the huge pain floor. Took a few tries to learn where all the rad suits were so that the floor wouldn't slowly burn me to death. The final scene of the level has 4 cyberdemon telefrags which correspond in a sort of joke way to the 4 animal “spirit guides” you've encountered (as the interstitial text explains). UV players might be getting tired of the cyberdemon telefrags at this point but this is the biggest one we've seen yet and, if memory serves, the first we've seen on HNTR.

[Demon of the Well]

Map 31 -- Grey Dwarf - 104% Kills / 92% Secrets
Something quite different here. I have played a number of maps by Stewboy before, and while one can certainly see the kinship that this level shares with them (e.g. the tendency towards very simple, neutral-color texture schemes), I reckon "Grey Dwarf" is easily the most ambitious and fully fleshed-out piece of mapping he has released to date (unless there's some gem I don't know about). Other players have characterized the map as having an air of the oldschool about it, and I do agree to a significant extent, though there is definitely an element of carefully stark aesthetic for the sake of it at play here that readily identifies it as the work of a modern author. That said, while carousing through it I found I was most reminded somehow of Polygon Base by Rick Lipsey, though the approach to monster usage is quite different between the two.

At a little over 200 monsters populating a rather extensive playspace, "Grey Dwarf" fields a drastically different sense of pacing from any level in the set that has preceded it. In terms of sheer volume, overall combat comes off as light, maybe even on the leisurely side, though players still not comfortable with the ADbots and the stealth troopers may heartily disagree, as both feature prominently, with the latter making a bid for being the level's default opponent, rather than the imps which teem over so many of Skillsaw's maps. I suppose that saying the combat is mostly incidental in nature wouldn't exactly be incorrect, but I don't think this description quite captures the flavor of things here.....with the notable exception of the BK showdown, most fights are small and simple, but in the context of the environment and its somewhat grim air of somnolence, most have a sense of deliberateness to them in one way or another. Be it the use of visibility handicap vs. the stealth troopers in shadowy underhalls as well as the specters approaching from a distance in the long green access corridor, or the repeated conceit of middleweight monsters who lurk directly behind a door and then insta-port behind you as soon as you open it, most encounters have a small quirk or angle to them that elevates them a bit above the level of a basic see/shoot in a hallway, and well-played, that, as this is a level comprised chiefly of hallways (well, and ducts and slime-tunnels and the like, you know).

As progress is made, arch-viles begin to assert themselves as the Dwarf's apex predators, repeatedly appearing in close proximity and often from the blindside, encounters which seem mainly intended to startle and intimidate rather than to be difficult/complicated to actually contend with in terms of breaking line-of-sight and such. Again, though I actually found the ADbots to be level's biggest threats--they appear in a handful of legitimately mean-spirited claustrophobic dogpile traps at a few points throughout progression, which could easily end a run if the player is too complacent, in contrast to the slow simmer of most of the rest of the action. That is probably one of the level's most interesting (if subtle) qualities--here, fights themselves give the impression of being arranged mainly with an eye towards serving the level's generally low-key yet vaguely uneasy atmosphere, as opposed to the more commonly encountered atmospheric tack of simply alternating dead air with sudden surges of action.

There are a welter of secrets to be found, as well, the vast majority of which are actuated in one way or another by interacting with one of the computer displays found all through the environment. There doesn't seem to be any kind of consistent visual convention as to which ones are interactive and which aren't, but so many of them will have some effect that trying them all doesn't usually feel like a chore, also interesting that there seem to be at least a couple of these which appear to do literally nothing but unleash a few extra monsters. I was eventually able to find 12 of the 13 flagged secrets (betcha the one I missed is probably really early in the level), as well as a few hidden bulk cell caches which seemed like they very reasonably could have been flagged secret, finally finding the sneakily concealed YK in order to reach the secret exit to map 32 near the end of the run. Very Romero-an, that--many of the choice goodies are visually advertised in some way, with the task of figuring out how to actually reach them left to the player's wherewithal.

Cool map. A huge departure from Skillsaw's style, for sure, but this is part of what lends it emphasis in the context of the set. A clever choice for slot 31, I suspect that in most other sets it would likely find itself in slot 15.

[Demon of the Well]

Map 32 -- Ossuarium Exoterre - 106% Kills / 100% Secrets
a.k.a. "Skillsaw felt like making a Hell map in a megaWAD that doesn't use Hell as a setting."

The visual theme here would seem to be the foundation of its home in the map 32 slot, as in all other respects it feels like it could easily fit in one of the main progression midgame slots (not that this is necessarily a bad thing, mind you). Smartassery aside, I suppose there's no particular reason to assume that the setting here is actually Hell per se (the missing 15/31/32 intermission texts are conspicuous in their absence here); could just as well be some sort of alien charnel house perched in the steppes of a desolate sun-scorched planet, which come to think of it would be a cute little nod/wink to other media if the somewhat Nostromo-esque air of map 31 is indeed not entirely coincidental. In more practical terms, my impression here was that this looked very much like something from the 'Abattoir' episode of Valiant with an extra helping of fire and brimstone on the side, blood-rivers and railed crag-perched terraces built out of the little gore-grimed bricks that the author seems to have a special fondness for and all. Very cool music track as well, sounds like a slightly revamped version of one I've heard somewhere before, most likely in Resurgence or perhaps somewhere in BTSX. (Edit: apparently it was in Interception...?)

The order of the day for combat here is ambushes. The level is mined with them throughout, as well as being conspicuously bookended by a pair of them in the charnel house's entry chamber, the first of which is very easy to see coming but nevertheless effective for kickstarting the action, and the second of which caught me genuinely by surprise to the point that I must've panicked for a moment, though the actual barb turned out not to be as sharp or as ruthless as I had feared. In broad form most of the same general ingredients which comprise many other Skillsaw maps are once again at play here, but I felt that this one was particularly nicely blended and paced. You still get your designed one-off encounters around the skull keys and such (the main 'flavor' element in both of these being the presence of out-of-reach arachnatrons hosing down the battlefield and generally complicating matters), but these aside, there seems to be a smoother, more organic flow between many of the fights which is a little trickier for the player to recognize in advance, in contrast to the more segmented 'as advertised' setpieces of several earlier maps. The initial ambush which forces you to blaze forwards under heavy pressure into either the otherwise incidental action of the blood-steppe area or the inner chambers of the charnel house is a prime example of this, of course, but I was more struck by the use of repeated ambushes framed in new ways as the player retraverses previously cleared areas, which potentially repeats that same initial feat later in the proceedings, no easy feat. And man, that last ambush. I really jumped! Another factor in this is that while monster incursions are still often tied to important pickups such as weapons and the like, that these items are placed more 'casually' in the environment in this case (most notably the red key) also helps to change the pace a bit in contrast to the more regimented, sequential progression of earlier setpiece-heavy maps.

One other little facet that struck me is that the real benefit of the two secrets here is not so much the items they contain but rather that they can significantly change the complexion of the designed fights for the yellow and blue skull keys if you find them in time--in one case finding the secret allows you to remove the arachnatron who would otherwise blanket the battlefield in plasma bolts from afar (i.e. well out of range of your own weapons), and in the other you can actually out-and-out cheese much of the fight from within the secret sector itself, albeit at the cost of a significant visual impairment and/or general shame. Seems like a small thing, I guess, but Skillsaw has not heretofore tended to use secrets in this way (apart from the occasional telefrag, I suppose), so these caught my eye.

Another enjoyable map, even if as KBlaney says it kinda seems like Skillsaw 'switched the bassinets', so to speak, when this map and its counterpart in slot 32 of Valiant were delivered. :D

["JL" was too short]

Ended up looking up the spoiler for the MAP15 secret exit and found, to my chagrin, that it was in a place that I'd looked around because I was sure it was a prime location for the secret exit trigger... just hadn't quite snagged my eye on it, I guess. Ah well.

MAP31 - Not really a fan of most of the design here, sadly; the idea of a dimly lit, abandoned/run-down(?) space station is a cool one, but in practice this seems to have all the normal sterility of a gray/silver/muted accent color space base aesthetic without even the normal dose of relief provided by AA's wilder colors. There's a few neon lights and magenta lava and such, but mostly it's vastly more drab than usual. And yes, I'm aware of the irony of me complaining about this after also complaining about the use of the neon... can't seem to please me, eh? The texture scheme had an indirect impact on the gameplay for me as well, as I got lost often in hallways that often looked same-y to me. Combat was fine but there weren't any encounters I'll write home about or anything.

I defied my usual stupidity and managed to find the exit to MAP32 on my own, which was good as I wouldn't have wanted to miss it from the looks of things.

[baja blast rd.]

map16

Best map yet (on paper -- I had more fun with a few others). It actually has stuff in it other than sleekly designed spaceshippy areas and UFOs. Even though the fire and ice planet are a bit lo-fi, not such a wide variety in texture use, no real attempt to use the extra-playspace areas to create a greater sense of depth, it's still a very welcome change of scenery.

Part one: Kind of dull, honestly. Ammo gets somewhat sparse early on. The light bridges are once again quite disorienting to fight on. I'm cautious with the RL because I don't want to blow myself up on the void. I think sections like these are best served by forgoing RL play altogether, because it's not a fun sort of challenge . . . it feels unsettling in a bad way, and the foregrounded "engine limitation metagame" aspect breaks immersion. It would certainly feel bullshitty if I blew myself up. Really enjoyed progression itself however. There's basically no point before the big HK warp-in where RL use is essential (for any other reason than ammo conservation), so I think reducing the monster count elsewhere and putting more of the focus on SSG/CG use would be nice.

Part two: Fun stuff. It's an old-fashioned brawl. The abandoned streets are crowded with demonic rabblerousers. That ginormous cluster of chaingunners got an actual laugh out of me. That AD head in the dark hallway is deviously placed.

Part three: Quite straightforward but tense and enjoyable radsuit play. Let's not make the lazy comparison to Vanguard's second hell map! Okay fine, it's not such a reach. The red key area is filled to the brim with hell knights and mancs, like they're having an orgy or something.

Part four: One of the more creative set pieces we've seen in a while, and now the map01 cyber actually feels like it fits in. Quite fun. One unavoidable downside is that cybers can kill you if you telefrag them while they happen to be shooting a rocket at something else. Also seems like you can very easily end up teleporting back into a cluster of monsters that flat-out wreck you no matter what you do.

Maps like map14 and map15 are nice and all but feel like stubs compared to this. Memfis has said this a number of times, but it's kind of eh when the entirety of a map is set in a single "samey" location. Maps don't even really have to be medium-sized or big to have variety: map11 is a good example of that.

Demon of the Well said:

readily identifies it as the work of a modern author

Hey, I said it was moderny. More like Demon of the Well, I'll just ignore that rdwpa said this. Ba-dum-tish.

[Tristan]

MAP32: Ossuarium Exoterre
Time: 09:03 (02:26:07) | Deaths: 0 (13)

Sweet, Hell Jung- ah yes that's right.
I'm still not used to the renaming of this track, but anyway, it's nice to hear it again, and it's good that both this and the real Hell Jungle are included in the same WAD, makes the whole thing a bit simpler.

Not sure how I got out of this one without dying, to be honest. Two situations where I was left with under 5 health, and both of these times I had more monsters after me, including archviles, revenants and plasmagunners. And there were some pretty close calls elsewhere, such as the yellow key fight, and the revenants that ambush you as you make your way to the exit. Basically, this map isn't as easy as my zero death count would suggest. There's a good number of fights here that are pretty difficult in themselves, but there's some pretty nice bundles of health scattered throughout the map. A reasonable amount of medikits given out, and also a megasphere, which was more than welcome when I only had 1 health :p

Plasmagunners are definitely starting to show up in bigger swarms now, and they're getting more dangerous because of it, but still the chaingun reigns supreme over them. A monster that can prove such a large threat via partial invisibility, high speed, high damage, and yet be killed so easily makes them feel a bit like they're playing the same role as chaingunners, and dare I say it, doing a better job.
And perhaps that's the intention, because just where are the chaingunners in this WAD? It's just struck me, they're still found in places, but even on a per-map basis, the numbers are much lower than what we're accustomed to with most PWADs. In a mapping community where Plutonia was a big influence, I guess we also could apply the same thoughts to revenants, which probably aren't as versatile as the ADs.
I'm not sure if all of this is just down to HNTR, but I'm sure that, having played other WADs on this difficulty, Ancient Aliens is exhibiting a real lack of chaingunners and revenants, with the two custom monsters kind of doing their job for them, and probably on the whole, doing it better. An interesting approach to enhancing gameplay, and very well implemented IMO.

Visually, it's again worthy of its place as a secret map, as it's completely unlike anything else we've seen so far. I think I remember seeing something like this in one of the later E2 maps, so not sure if this will be entirely unique in the WAD, but it's very possible I'm just misremembering. I agree that it feels a bit like skillsaw imitating AD_79, and that's kinda funny since it's usually the other way around. Bonus point for the WAD having an actual AD_79 map as well later on. I wonder if there's a possible deliberate imitation going on here like Resurgence's secret maps.

I read the comparisons to Valiant MAP32, and realised I couldn't remember a single thing about the map, and then I looked on Doom Wiki for it's map name and then I remembered. Yeah, it almost feels like they're the wrong way around, with the ancient alien temple being in Valiant and not in Ancient Aliens, but considering the gimmick of the Valiant map, all I can think is "thank fuck they weren't the other way around," because otherwise I'd have just played that map again and had to put up with those damn stealth monsters. INVISIBLE ARCHVILES!
Also we've seen plenty of ancient temples in this WAD already, and a secret map should really deviate from something you'd find in the normal maps.

All in all, Ossuarium Exoterre is - like Grey Dwarf - suited to its place in the secret maps, I don't think there'd be much place for either map in the main set, purely down to the aesthetics. Gameplay wise, MAP31 wasn't as up to snuff as the rest of the WAD, but MAP32 is for sure. A damn sight better than its Valiant counterpart too.

8/10

[Steve D]

Wow, I am so far behind!

Map09, The Nectar Flow, is by Joshy and is in many ways more up my Big Architecture alley than the previous bite-sized maps were.

This is really a great big Banana Split dessert of architecture for me. Lots of nice touches and cool shapes everywhere. Very colorful, too, though I agree with others who chided the use of silver textures, which IMO clashed with the overall theme.

I was much less thrilled with the gameplay. I have nothing against 600+ monsters in bigass maps, but the use of deep darkness to hide large numbers of snipers at the start was, while cool to look at, annoying to me since it made targeting difficult. This was especially true in the double-AV red key fight, where the room was lit at 112. The biggest problem I had was seeing one of the Archies, much less keeping track of the other as I tried to use the inadequate cover. After numerous deaths, I finally managed to SSG them. I would have loved a BFG in that fight, but it seems that's only available on Skill 1 & 2, where it's given away for free fairly early. Skill 4 only had a Plasma Gun very deviously hidden in a secret area, which I never found while playing. Compliments to Joshy on the way he constructed it, and to the players who found it. I did find the other 2 secrets.

Before I go further, I watched parts of the Keleher video, and the place was very brightly lit. I wonder if that's the way he has his gamma set, or is it something that happened in the uploading process? I played on GZDoom Dark with Gamma 0, so I didn't help my cause when it came to seeing those early snipers, but it sure makes maps with good lighting look spooky and ominous. I did a short check in PrBoom, which I also have set to Gamma 0, and it seemed every bit as dark as GZDoom. BTW, nice strategic move at the yellow key fight, Mr. Keleher. Definitely takes the sting out of those damned PEs that caused me so much trouble.

Gameplay was divided between fairly trivial mass encounters punctuated by vicious key traps. The mass encounters had the potential to be trudge-fests, for example the big room -- Sector 375 -- that had so many Imps, and which serves ultimately as the front yard for the blue key extravaganza, was one where I found myself blasting away from above -- Sector 96 -- at a bunch of Imps down in the purple liquid -- loved the purple liquid! It was tedious shootage, IMO. The big Imp trap at the Green Armor did have a sort of tongue-in-cheek quality to it, since all you had to do was jump across and casually rocket the horde, but again it was a bit tedious. The Cyb trap was a fairly obvious, yet ominous set-up, and again might have been something of a joke, since this was a trivial encounter against a Cyb and a horde of enemies -- almost all of whom the Cyb killed for me -- which prefaced one of the map's toughest fights against a mere 2 Archies! :D I'm positive this was a deliberate joke by the mapper.

The Archie fight, aside from being fairly dickish, also had the dodgy feature of forcing the player to find what amounts to a secret door in order to leave. Granted, it was very well marked, and was not flagged secret on the map. For players who frequently use the automap, no big deal. I hardly ever use the automap and didn't need it here. I also used this this door to scoot out of there after I grabbed the red key, rather than engage in close quarters combat -- in pitch darkness -- against Revvies. I just left them behind and never came back. However, Joshy also forced the player to locate a secret path to the yellow key. Again, if you use the automap, you can see that there's something behind the waterfall. I didn't. I walked through because I had been puzzling out the path to what I presumed was a secret Soulsphere, and it seemed to me that the waterfall was suspicious. Nonetheless, I think this is a very dodgy move, sort of adding a forced puzzle element, and as long-time readers know, I'm all too well aware of the potential cost in forcing players to find a secret door in order to exit the level. It was a noob error on my part, one a fair number of noob mappers make, it seems, as they try to add artificial difficulty to a map. Joshy is obviously no noob, but even though I figured it out with no problem, and while I agree with DotW that it was reasonably apparent, I still think it's a black mark against the map.

So let's scoot to the end. This is where I discovered that the choices you make can have dire consequences. When presented with the Mastermind and 4 Archies, I chose not to close them, but instead to engage in a long range artillery barrage and rocket them to death. This emptied out my entire store of rockets, so I faced the giant horde at the blue key with only the 50 or so rockets available at the scene, quite literally "not enough by half," as it turned out. :D Many pelts were surrendered as I tried to work a scheme where I dodged a bit past the nobles to rocket the Pinkies in hopes that I'd clear enough space to provoke infights between the Revvies and Nobles. Obviously, the trap was designed to prevent that, and to ensure that a high percentage of Revvies would make it to the end, at least against keyboarders like me. In the Keleher Video, the estimable Mr. Keleher had closed on the Mastermind and used the SSG, so he had about 100 rockets, which makes the horde battle trivial.

What I did in the end was take out the Nobles and Pinkies and squeeze past the Revvies -- took about 3 tries -- and now I found myself with a big Revvie horde and no heavy weapons for their expeditious destruction. On top of that, I was a bit annoyed at this point, and from sheer stubborn bitterness, I decided to kill them all. So what did I do? I visited good old Sector 96 again, and after they bunched up down below I chaingunned them all to oblivion. As you might imagine, this was both time-consuming and tedious. Then it was a short SSG battle with Archie at the end where I pain-chanced his ugly ass on the first try, and the bloody thing was finally over.

In the end, this was a beautiful map, skillfully constructed, which I didn't enjoy playing. As DotW and others have mentioned, the Block Monster lines were flat-out weird in a map of such scope. A lot of the fights featured the player on the ground against hordes on their plane and slightly above, which were not really that interesting in their construction. Annoyances like the obtuse progression and the potential for fights to devolve into lengthy, enervating camp-fests made this another misfire for me.

One could say I would have enjoyed the map more on HNTR, but aside from a couple encounters, this map was really no problem. Put another way, after you've already killed 460 monsters is a terrible time to discover that maybe HNTR would have been a better option. ;D Having played it, if I played it again, merely avoiding some of my first-time mistakes would make life much better, but as a general rule I don't replay maps, so, for better or worse, I have to call it like I see it on this play.

[rehelekretep]

MAP15 - "Wormhole Junction" by skillsaw demo here

hectic opening! i enjoyed this map but my chief complaint is i think it rewards slow, boring, methodical play too much. i dont know how this could be improved...

+ lovely MIDI
+ return of the sinkhole mechanic is pretty cool

- teleporter to get out of the central courtyard (where the first neon stair switch is) could be better signposted - i fell in and thought id have to IDCLIP out!
- RK trap is highly dependent on RNG; chaingunners & especially mancubi are very fickle whether they notice you or not - in my demo neither the mancubi or chaingunners had a chance to fire at me, but in previous attempts i had them all fire simultaneously and wipe me out
- i think there's too much health on this map - my last count was 4 blueberries (thx rdwpa!) and 3(?) mega-spheres. conversely, there could be more ammo. perhaps this was a balancing attempt; less ammo, more health/armour?

[rehelekretep]

[Tristan]

MAP16: Leave Your Sol Behind
Time: 14:37 (02:40:44) | Deaths: 1 (14)

Oh the puns. Having fallen behind a tad, a lot of people have already written about this map, and they seem to all talk pretty highly of it, so the bar has been set high. I remember this map from TNS, so I'm already pretty excited to play this for myself, knowing what's ahead.

Expectations met. I take back what I said about the techbase theme being taken as far as it can go, since this is sufficient proof that I had it wrong. This is a map that divides into four distinct sections, and only two of these are really using that techbase theme, but the first in particular does take things a bit further.

The centrepiece of the opening area is the neon lightbridge, which has a really neat travelling light effect, which I didn't find disorientating myself. Combat here is decent, it's still predominantly doable with just the rocket launcher, and I'm still having fun with that. The fights aren't particularly difficult, but this being quite a journey of a map - as you could possibly infer from a 250+ monster count - it's clear that things haven't really started yet. This first area is all about raising the lightbridge high enough to be able to get to the blue UFO, once again, ominously floating in the sky. It's funny how just the mere sight of them can be pretty exciting, perhaps because in most cases we're able to board them and there's usually something interesting going on that's linked to it. Not sure I've played a WAD which has ever done something like that with recurring visual elements; it's usually something simple, like the Plutonia start/exit pads.

The UFO is empty, so the time spent inside it divides the sections of these maps further. They're almost like playable cutscenes in this regard, which might not be for everyone, but I really like how it brings about short breaks between the fighting in the various areas.
So we press one of the switches at the control pad, and lo and behold, the image of that lovely space sky texture we've seen in previous maps disappears, and is replaced by an animated texture that simulates the UFO travelling through hyperspace, so it's taking the concept introduced by the space-moon transition in MAP11, and going further with it by making it into an apparently smooth journey, which was the only thing I said could be an improvement on the idea when we saw it the first time.

Judging by the image that appears on the display, the first destination is Europa. Seems like this is the intention, since it's correct in using the ice theme. This area takes on the appearance of an old settlement built with bricks. It looks like a neat little tribute to Violent Night, Holy Shite, skillsaw's map from 32in24-14, which used the same textures. Combat toughens up a bit here, but with rockets, it's all still very manageable. Some creepy AD placement going on here though, which is cool.
Ultimately, we're after the blue key here, and I was actually a bit surprised there was no ambush after taking it. The idea of having keys like this feels like a Doomification of having to refuel the UFO, and that's pretty nifty.

If that's the case though, the UFO must run out of fuel quite often, because we leave Europa, and the next destination is...ah, Hell. Well I guess this is the later E2 map I was talking about in my MAP32 write-up, but looking at it now, this is a very different style of Hell to what was on display there. This is very much the more traditional lava and obsidian everywhere, with little in the way of artificial structures. So many imps up on those ledges to fire rockets in to, loved that. Some plasmagunners were also up there and were very easy to miss in the hubbub of other monsters both on the ledges or even on the ground, so though they were few, they still had their use.
Then the area pulls a MAP06/14 on us and undergoes a massive transformation as the entire thing rapidly collapses into a pool of molten rock. A spectacular thing to watch from the inside, though I have mixed feelings on the gameplay that follows because then there was the panic of "WHERE'S THE RADSUIT!?"
There's three in all I think, but they're not placed in ways that you'll easily see them, especially with the large volume of monsters that are up your arse in this part. Annoyingly obscure, or beneficial to gameplay by means of additional pressure? I'm undecided. Ultimately I survived so I'm not too bothered by it. Again all the monsters can be taken out pretty quickly with rockets, though there's enough of them that surviving here isn't so straightforward as it has been so far in the map. Actually, I'd say this is probably the most difficult fight in the map, because what comes next only looks difficult.

So we get the red key, and return once more to the UFO. The final destination is a deep purple planet - without the appropriate soundtrack :V - which of course is pretty striking because it's not a colour you see often in Doom. I don't think this shade of purple has appeared at all yet, and since it's presumably going to be the dominant look of the next few maps, it's likely to be a refreshing aesthetic after all the bright stuff we've seen so far in this episode.
The fight here is focussed on the four cyberdemons around the edge. It almost feels obvious they're supposed to be telefragged, because fighting them directly included with everything else that appears in the building itself...on HNTR that would be a difficulty leap that is borderline insanity. Wait telefragging monsters, that means...
Yes, as was hinted by the story text at the end of Episode 1, there were more animal warps to be had in Ancient Aliens and here they are, all four spirit animals return to assist you, with one for each cyberdemon. Excellent, I do like continuity! Also I never saw whichever animal it was in MAP04 (the bison?) so it was cool to see that for the first time here as well. I died on my first go here because the centre of the building got completely swamped with all the monsters, wasn't expecting that many. I had the BFG ready on the second go and it was trivial like this. The invulnerability is a nice touch for anyone who didn't have the BFG, though I wonder if it's there on higher difficulties.

A very good map, definitely very high on the list so far, and possibly will be in the overall top 5. Whether it beats MAP10 - my current favourite - I'm not sure, but either way, excellent map.

9/10

[Spectre01]

Eris Falling said:

just where are the chaingunners in this WAD?

Spoiler: They're all hanging out in map 20-something which is an absolute hitscan nightmare.

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP32: Ossuarium Exoterre

"Hellish castle overlooking a river of blood" is fairly standard as Doom themes go (and the attached ossuary is a nice touch) but it's a radical departure from what we've seen in this WAD so far, even though the gameplay is pretty much what the player has come to expect once you peel back the red paint and sweep away the bones. There's a pleasant open quality to the layout that offsets the rather more gruesome elements of the theme; you can all but hear the charnel-scented winds moan as they bluster their way through narrow portals and around twisted rocky spires. Other than that, this is a fairly standard compact key hunt that maintains a more consistently intense pace than the sprawling, winding gloom of MAP31 - a diversion in aesthetics rather than gameplay, before the player returns to the main progression of levels.

MAP16: Leave Your Sol Behind

And back we come to the WAD's main theme, this time incarnate in some kind of orbital docking complex, above one pylon of which the now-familiar glowing saucer beckons. There's something about the colour combination, the pulsing lights and neon strips, the distant columns and gaps through which a star-drenched void beckons, that makes the opening section here seem more complicated an environment than it really is, though the switches everywhere, with only vague hints as to their purpose until the elevated portions of the complex start to rise into place, also contribute to that sense that you're meddling with mechanisms beyond your comprehension.

Then you're taken on a series of interstellar jaunts, across ice and fire and steel planets until you're deposited back amidst the alien colours and architecture that have become, ironically, the least alien and most familiar environment you're likely to encounter, for a bloody brawl with a quarter of cyberdemons and their rocket-fodder minions. The callback to the earlier spirit animal warps, the vision quest that comprised most of the WAD's first episode, is a nice touch; this is a strange trip we're on, a surreal journey through space and state of mind, but it's not incoherent or disjointed, just deliciously weird.

I think I liked the narrative of the interstellar journey more than its application; the ice planet in particular doesn't feel as well-developed an environment as the rest of the WAD presents, like it's not up to the same standards of design; blame that on the limited texture selection I suppose, though the stark shadows that hint at an atmosphere-less world or moon under the baleful light of a cold sun are a striking touch. The lava planet harkens back to MAP06 (with the twist that the sinkhole you're dumped into burns your feet) and steps up the pace and intensity nicely. I missed a bunch of monsters and also the secret which (it turns out) is on the ice planet; it didn't seem like there was a way to retrace the steps of your interstellar voyage, but maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough.

MAP17: Daylight Under a Dark Sol

There's a shift away from neon brightness and garish colours to a darker set of tones here, basalt grey and a deep, sinister purple that perfectly match the creepier tone set by the music; things just got real, though the high-tech gleam of the space station maps earlier in the episode isn't absent entirely. There's a real sense of the hostility to the proceedings as you pick your way across the rocky purple landscape of the alien planet, avoiding the magenta lava pools that glow to the left and right beneath your course, skirting all the while around the perimeter of the cathedral-like structure that dominates the centre of the map; the overall feel of it is both ancient and alien. There isn't a lot in the gameplay that we haven't seen before, more a sense that the player is being led steadily on, that the WAD's nastiest tricks are yet to come and that deceit is being layered upon deceit - any sense of familiarity is an artificial and deliberate attempt to breed contempt.

[Tristan]

rileymartin said:

Spoiler: They're all hanging out in map 20-something which is an absolute hitscan nightmare.

Damn. I was hoping this WAD would steer clear of that.
--
Anyway, all caught up now, and I think this is the furthest I've ever got in a DWMC playthrough. I don't think I made it beyond Valiant MAP16 when we played that, so things are looking good. This could be the one!

MAP17: Daylight Under A Dark Sol
Time: 09:00 (02:49:44) | Deaths: 0 (14)

So, the question in the story text after MAP16 asks is this place the origin of the aliens? Well, it certainly looks that way. This is the first proper map to use the new location following the rather brief introduction at the end of the previous map. It rivals Ribbiks' Stardate WADs in its purpleness, where it is without a doubt, the dominant colour of this planet. The rocks are a very dark shade, which looks awesome, and all around there are pools of a bright/fluorescent purple liquid which ooze from massive cracks in the clifs, forming large liquidfalls. Some unusual alien concoction, I'm sure! Now I think about it while writing this, it reminds me a bit of the purple liquid in the last map of Duke3D E4, though fortunately it's nowhere near as damaging.

The architecture of the non-natural structures here do seem rather alien, in that some parts look kind of similar to real-life architecture from medieval times (thinking of those huge arches visible from the start point), and even seen in the first episode of this very WAD, but where those are made of stone, these are made - quite bizarrely - of materials we'd expect to see in techbases and the like. There's even computer panels built into the walls, and of course, neon lights everywhere.
Maybe I'm just clutching at straws here, but upon seeing those archways I thought it looked a bit like Valiant MAP09 (the one with the archviles) and because of that I'm wondering if it's just coincedence that there were quite a few archviles in this map - when there really haven't been many at all so far on HNTR - or if this really is a very subtle tribute to the Valiant map. It's probably just me reading too much into it, but it feels like a cool throwback regardless.

Gameplay is significantly easier than MAP16, and like MAP14, everything feels just that little too easy, although this is probably easier than even 14. So if that was the calm before the storm that was MAP15, then I think there's reason to fear MAP18. Having seen it in TNS already, I bet I'm going to have a very rough time there, but we'll save that for tomorrows write-up. £5 says I die at least 10 times in that map D:
The gameplay is a mix of *\o/* INCIDENTAL COMBAT *\o/* and *\o/* SETPIECES *\o/* but even the *\o/* SETPIECES *\o/* are pretty easy to deal with. The one exception to this is the wave of monsters approaching from both sides at the yellow key area, but I only had trouble there because I used the rocket launcher (naturally). A continuous player could beat this easily with the BFG, though that could really be said about any of the large fights in the last several maps and personally I think it's less fun to use the BFG unless I'm up against cyberdemons, spiderdemons, several archviles, or I'm just in a really tight spot and it serves as a panic weapon to escape. Actually I'm pretty much permanently at full cell ammo.

As I said though, I do bring out the BFG for cyberdemons to deal with them quickly, and there were two here. The first one initially confused me because I heard the moo and yet couldn't see it, turned out he was a long way behind, and I wasn't far away from getting a rocket in the back because of that, heh. I guess he can be killed from afar, though I don't know if there's sufficient supplies from a pistol start to do that. I decided to evade it until I could get close enough to use the BFG, which made for a more interesting experience; constantly making sure I was out of line of sight and there were no rockets that I could potentially run into at times. When the time came I nearly fucked it up by trying to do the two-shot trick, which I still haven't got the hang of apparently, so I guess I'm going back to Chillax MAP32 for more practice at some point.

The final two fights seemed a bit subdue, what with the megasphere given out and the large open space, since it's just a case of getting the cyber to fight the barons and then shooting him with the BFG at point blank range, then cleaning up the plasmagunners that appear by the exit door that's revealed just after, but the easiness is in keeping with the rest of the map, so overall it makes more sense as a calm before the second storm that will be MAP18. I actually feel slightly intimidated by the prospect of what's to come, so I'd say the map is doing a pretty good job of evoking that feeling just by it's large spaces without the difficult gameplay you'd expect to come with that. Nevertheless, I'm not one to complain about easiness unless it's to the point of boredom, and I certainly get bored here. Good map, and a very nice music track too, possibly another favourite there.

8/10

[NuMetalManiak]

MAP17 Daylight Under A Dark Sol

Well it certainly is darker, but it's more of the same. Big teleport ambush after the health bonus road, I'll say that. A lot of optional stuff to get for helping my survival, like jumping for the BFG and such. Red key fight wasn't too bad, and the ending can catch me unawares with those invisible soldiers. A little bored after this map.