The DWmegawad Club plays: Ancient Aliens

[rehelekretep]

MAP20 - "Code" by AD_79 demo here

didnt enjoy this at all - probably my least favourite of all the maps (sorry AD_79 :( )

+ the MIDI is good

- where to start? 2 big problems i had with this map were:

(1) frequent scenarios that involve auto-aim's bias to aim towards closer ground targets, versus targets above (that may be what you would like to aim at). the problem is that when this happens it feels cheap, and reminds me im playing a game.

(2) ammo scarcity. i dont mind a bit of an ammo hunt, or having to think about weapon use, but i think it was far too strict here. when the map requires rationing out ammo to each ENEMY within each encounter, again, i think this strays into gamification/cheapness realms and its no longer enjoyable for me.

i also disliked the start - it seemed to be quite a lottery whether id survive the first arena or not, frequently being the target of 2 simultaneous homing revenant rockets, or being boxed in by the plasmagunners, and then at other times having no homing rockets fire off at all, and the plasmagunners spread themselves obligingly.

oh well, cant win them all.

[AD_79]

Yeah that's cool man, I can respect that. Regarding the tightness of the ammo, it was balanced for a lot of punching, so people who aren't super comfortable with that would probably have a bad time.

Oh and I actually quite like dickish starts : > , though this one is actually very manageable and consistent if you do it a certain way, I find.

[dew]

rehelekretep said:

the problem is that when this happens it feels cheap, and reminds me im playing a game.

Well, technically you can avoid this by playing in Eternity or Zdoom, but I'm mainly responding to express how I envy you. Doom had to work hard to grow on me and become my fav game, but it's been decades since I was able to immerse myself in it so deeply to forget about the "game aspect", heh. Doom is completely wink-wink nudge-nudge for me even during the most serious attempts at storydramaatmosphere, so I'd describe my personal approach to aaliens as "RIP AND TEAR YOUR FOURTH WALL!"

[Magnusblitz]

MAP21: Cyberbullying: After Earth
100% kills, 1/2 secrets

An interesting little level built around a common concept, that of the titular cyberdemon bully, who harasses the player until he finally gets enough weaponry at the end to take him out. Things start out with a lot of small fry - plasma troopers, imps, etc, with a few mid-level monsters here and there to spice things up until the end.

Funny enough, I actually had no difficulty with the yellow key ambush - I still had plenty of health and armor from the prior area so standing in the blood for a few seconds was no big deal, and naturally moved over to a corner in front of the cyberdemon to safely take out the other enemies. The hallway after, however, ugh. The first time I had my shotgun out and couldn't get the RL out before it was too late. The second time I was ready with the RL, but the cyberdemon didn't help, so I got spit-roasted from both sides. I basically had to keep repeating until the damn cyberdemon decided to stop banging around his cage and help out so I could shoot the other end safely at a distance without blowing myself up with my own RL. The final area gave me some trouble too as my cyber was far more intelligent than DotW's and splattered me whenever I stopped to try and take out the mancs or arachnatrons. I like the idea of the crushers as moving cover, but the overall design of the final area left things a bit crowded for my tastes.

AD_79 said:

Yeah that's cool man, I can respect that. Regarding the tightness of the ammo, it was balanced for a lot of punching, so people who aren't super comfortable with that would probably have a bad time.

I gotta say that the idea we were supposed to be punching stuff never really occurred to me (outside of a few pinkie demons here or there). There's a lot of monsters on ledges, or monsters who aren't really safe to punch (revenants, mancs, chaingunners, imp packs, etc...)

[rehelekretep]

AD_79 said:

Yeah that's cool man, I can respect that. Regarding the tightness of the ammo, it was balanced for a lot of punching, so people who aren't super comfortable with that would probably have a bad time.

Oh and I actually quite like dickish starts : > , though this one is actually very manageable and consistent if you do it a certain way, I find.

thanks for your response! im not very good at punching its true, although punching is a LOT easier in GZDoom - did you test in that or PrBoom? i might try re-playing in GZDoom doing a Tyson :D

i tried rushing the start, then hanging back a bit like in the video. rushing is more 'consistent' in a sense that id do it if i was speedrunning as its over and done with quickly if you get it wrong. what is your consistent method? :p

[rehelekretep]

dew said:

Well, technically you can avoid this by playing in Eternity or Zdoom, but I'm mainly responding to express how I envy you. Doom had to work hard to grow on me and become my fav game, but it's been decades since I was able to immerse myself in it so deeply to forget about the "game aspect", heh. Doom is completely wink-wink nudge-nudge for me even during the most serious attempts at storydramaatmosphere, so I'd describe my personal approach to aaliens as "RIP AND TEAR YOUR FOURTH WALL!"

well ive only been playing since February - so im not quite good enough yet (especially on UV) to walk around, relax and enjoy the scenery; im normally extremely concentrated and tied up in avoiding those bastard revenants et al :D

[rehelekretep]

Magnusblitz said:

MAP21: Cyberbullying: After Earth
The hallway after, however, ugh. The first time I had my shotgun out and couldn't get the RL out before it was too late. The second time I was ready with the RL, but the cyberdemon didn't help, so I got spit-roasted from both sides. I basically had to keep repeating until the damn cyberdemon decided to stop banging around his cage and help out so I could shoot the other end safely at a distance without blowing myself up with my own RL.

I gotta say that the idea we were supposed to be punching stuff never really occurred to me (outside of a few pinkie demons here or there). There's a lot of monsters on ledges, or monsters who aren't really safe to punch (revenants, mancs, chaingunners, imp packs, etc...)

i found a consistent strategy is to (1) get the cyber to hit the HKs nearest to him, (2) shotgun through the imps to get back outside the room, (3) mop up the survivors with cyber-baits and rockets (8:02 onwards in the video below)

you can punch revenants reasonably consistently if youre a bit practiced, mancubi a bit harder (GZdoom much easier)

[rehelekretep]

MAP21 - "Cyberbullying: Beyond Earth" by skillsaw demo here

enjoyed this - even though i think ive decided that i need some practice killing cyberdemons so they dont make me crap myself whenever i have to face one! i also had a weird unintentional trigger skip; the last arena crushers didnt activate for some reason!

+ great MIDI
+ love the interlocking design
+ use of the cyber in the small hall-way is cool
+ awesome floating neon see-through pyramids. no idea how that was done!

- last arena crushers didnt trigger :(

[AD_79]

rehelekretep said:

thanks for your response! im not very good at punching its true, although punching is a LOT easier in GZDoom - did you test in that or PrBoom? i might try re-playing in GZDoom doing a Tyson :D

i tried rushing the start, then hanging back a bit like in the video. rushing is more 'consistent' in a sense that id do it if i was speedrunning as its over and done with quickly if you get it wrong. what is your consistent method? :p

I test in PRBoom+ exclusively, heh.

Here's a lazy UV-Max that shows my strategy for getting through the start (and I guess the rest of the map as well, though this is the first time I did the barrel/vile fight this way). Basically, I like to run over, grab the chaingun. kill off all the ground-level baddies (prioritizing the hitscanners+plasmaguys), then pick up the berserk once I've done that.

[rehelekretep]

AD_79 said:

I test in PRBoom+ exclusively, heh.

Here's a lazy UV-Max that shows my strategy for getting through the start (and I guess the rest of the map as well, though this is the first time I did the barrel/vile fight this way). Basically, I like to run over, grab the chaingun. kill off all the ground-level baddies (prioritizing the hitscanners+plasmaguys), then pick up the berserk once I've done that.

awesome demo! thanks for that. i see the strategy for the opening bit, very nice. i also liked the first revenant/chaingunner sucker punch. take that!

[baja blast rd.]

rehelekretep said:

enjoyed this - even though i think ive decided that i need some practice killing cyberdemons so they dont make me crap myself whenever i have to face one!

I've practiced fighting cybers quite a bit and they still really scare me. :S

[Spectre01]

rehelekretep said:

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

Thanks for that demo Peter. That solves the mystery as to why I remember fighting a Cyber in the crusher area before. I killed him with the secret Plasma Rifle so he never teleported there!

[baja blast rd.]

UV-Max for map19. Guess my strategy for the last part.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/eeh7daga2b53ova/aaliensrc3b19_rdwpa_puvm.lmp

Anyway, the secret BFG and goodies pack make this map a lot easier.

[dobu gabu maru]

MAP21: Didn’t enjoy this one. It starves the player of ammunition similar to MAP13, but whereas that had plenty of floor space for you to dodge monsters, this is a continuous gauntlet of challenges. Bereave the player of the SSG and throw in a ton of those invisible plasma troopers and you form a really, really rude map. It works in that sense that skillsaw is the one cyberbullying the player, but it’s just not a pleasant experience... especially when you find yourself wedged between a cyber and wall of demons.

[baja blast rd.]

Map21

The progression in this one is kind of odd. Everything pre-cyber is quite light and can be blazed through with the ample health/armor, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but the cyber encounters are, uh, awkward. Strategy in the pre-crusher bit is (1) run to the cubby on the cyber's direct right (your left) and take out the stuff coming at you, hit a switch or something; (2) position yourself such that you can rocket one or two AD heads (there's a narrow angle where this is possible) w/o going anywhere near that motherfucking cyber, charge in and take out the rest of the heads, more switch-hittery; (3) very easily escape the imp/HK warp-in and deal with the AV, and then some more switch stuff. In the crusher bit, take out the trons and manc with the RL quickly, rest is easy. In other words, I'm not playing these fair! Because as other commentators have said, the geometry is way too unforgiving for that.

rileymartin said:

Thanks for that demo Peter. That solves the mystery as to why I remember fighting a Cyber in the crusher area before. I killed him with the secret Plasma Rifle so he never teleported there!

There's a secret that allows you to completely nerf basically the level's only serious challenge?! :o

[baja blast rd.]

rdwpa said:

Anyway, the secret BFG and goodies pack make this map a lot easier.

I'll elaborate on this:

None of us were fooled into thinking that big outside area was just for storytelling, right? If you poke around the scaly exterior, you'll notice that, hey, one of them is green, and the rest are red, so maybe there's something special about it.



You might also have overlooked a lift, because it's way at the back, and the UFO looks so much cooler, so you'll naturally be drawn there.



Ride the lift, press the wall, and then make sure you have your pistol ready and are focused, because this secret isn't a freebie.

[Demon of the Well]

Howard the zombieman: a tragic case of "Too Good to Use" Syndrome.

[Steve D]

Map13 -- Polychromatic Terrace.

Oh, I had so much fun on this map, because I did everything wrong, as rdwpa might say. Dobu mentioned that I like to be slaughtered whereas he prefers to be stressed to the point of almost dying, or something like that. Let's just say that my Doom Death Wish was well-satisfied here.

First, I love the look of this map. Oh my, the colors! I've always been a fan of everything psychedelic, having grown up when bands like The 13th Floor Elevators and Blue Cheer prowled the earth. My young mind was also permanently blown by the solarization effects in such films as "Head" and "2001:A Space Odyssey." So lavender star textures are right up my alley, in the same way that one of my dream cars would be a 1970 Dodge Challenger convertible in Plum Crazy Purple with a white interior. I also think mouldy made a good point when he suggested it looked like an "alien shopping center," thanks to all the scrolling runes. Skillsaw did a beautiful job with those.

My main fail in playing this map is that I didn't find the Rocket Launcher until I'd killed over 150 monsters. As a result, I was always desperately low on shells and bullets and was being repeatedly ventilated, plasma'ed, slimed, rocketed and spat to death. The AD Revvie Rocket assholes had me for lunch, as I often failed to spot them since they tend to hug walls way up high, and they didn't infight enough with the other monsters. Plasma Jagoffs were everywhere, too, and my first warning was often a plasma stream in the face. Indeed, one of the reasons I failed to grab the RL early was because every time I went to that area some plasma jagoff targeted me at about the same time as a Revvie and I had to blaze. I ended up walking around with nearly empty bandoliers but a shit-ton of rockets, and nothing to launch them with. Watching the Keleher video, I can see that if you get the RL early, this map is basically over. You can start taking out the mid-tiers, ledge snipers and Arachnotron turrets, so all the action will be in the setpiece encounters. Pete totally owned this map in his first exit video.

A classic example of why I surrender so many pelts in maps is the AV/Plasma Jagoff battle on the yellow key path. When I was dropped in front of Archie, I tried to back away, but was instantly flanked and plasma'ed by the jagoffs. My health was not high and I had close to zero armor, and dodging the plasma clowns when you only use the keypad for movement is not easy, especially when there's 3 of them. So the next time I figured I'd pain-chance the Archie with my SSG and everything would be fine -- except it wasn't. It took me 8 tries to pain-chance him well enough to kill him and have enough health left over to survive against the plasma boys. I was really surprised it took so long to pain-chance Archie, and I had to do a lot more radical maneuvering than I'm accustomed to in order to break contact and force him to reset. On three occasions I died from plasma immediately after killing him. I wasn't frustrated, though. I knew I'd win in the end by simply being stubborn, but it serves to illustrate how I often elect to stand there and slug it out rather than race off to find cover or change the fight situation. Eh, it's okay by me, as long as I'm having fun.

And fun I had. Nothing like a big arena crowded with grounds forces and overhead snipers to make the juices flow. The biggest danger was the Plasma Jagoffs, followed closely by the AD Revvie Rocket Assholes, then the Arachnotrons and the Revvies. Skillsaw earns Mean Points by using Plasma Jagoffs as high ledge snipers. Cruel. And the Imp Horde ending made me think of that damned setpiece in Serious Sam when you're trapped in a room with a horde of exploding frogs. This was still quite the adventure on HNTR, too.

I didn't plan a separate HNTR run, but I thought I'd just check out the start, then ended up doing it all. The major differences on HNTR include getting a Plasma Gun and Cell Charge Pack right before the AV/Plasma Jagoff fight, which makes it super-easy, and a BFG instead of the PG in the red door sequence. The Imp Horde was still quite spectacular on HNTR and the map was well-populated with enemies. Prior knowledge allowed me to grab the RL early and start depopulating the joint, but I still managed to die after jumping off the yellow key platform and getting a little cocky in that crowd of monsters down below.

Stewboy's BGM was great, as it was in the previous map. The music in this episode is more jumpy and aggressive than in E1, which suits me perfectly. Overall, a really fun map.

[Magnusblitz]

rdwpa said:

I'll elaborate on this:

Am I just being massively wooshed on this?

[TheOrganGrinder]

MAP22: Acerola-Orion

...what, no Heart-Under-Blade?

This is a big level that consists extensively of a series of balconies, ledges, and catwalks surrounding (and eventually crossing) a central reservoir of lilac slime - there are some points where you duck deeper into the surrounding structures, and that's often where the larger fights take place, but for much of the running time you're constrained by a yawning drop on one side that makes movement hazardous even as it exposes you to fire from distant turrets and snipers. If not for the alien environment and ruin/temple elements this would feel like an return to the well-trod territory of toxin refineries and chemical plants that is a Doom staple; instead, the incorporation of those elements add a refreshing air of mystery. Standout architectural elements are the teleporter 'bridges' of sequenced gates, and the hedge-maze that turns into the floor of a greater arena battle once the player reaches its heart.

[baja blast rd.]

I just stumbled across this UV-Speed for Valiant map27 and it's amazing.

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

Especially love how it goes places it the player really shouldn't go.

[rehelekretep]

Magnusblitz said:

Am I just being massively wooshed on this?

whooshed to the max im afraid; i was gullible enough to check it out.

there is a weird three column structure out the back of the map though; with a teleporter flat at the base of one of the columns but its got a HOM and seems inert

[rehelekretep]

rdwpa said:

I just stumbled across this UV-Speed for Valiant map27 and it's amazing.

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

Especially love how it goes places it the player really shouldn't go.

that is incredible! i counted 3 archviles jumps (including a double or triple jump on the last one)

on another note krankdud has managed to make doom look as bad as ive seen on a youtube video. very high contrast and flat colours. eugh!

[NuMetalManiak]

Magnusblitz said:

Am I just being massively wooshed on this?

Nope, it ain't real at all on my version. But now that...nevermind I'm not gonna say it.

MAP22 Acerola-Orion

Considerably bigger, but depending on how it plays for certain players, not necessarily tougher. For much of the first part of the level until past the yellow barricade are the snipers the more annoying of things, especially one particular arachnotron. A few more snipers later, there are some fun hard fights, such as the one with the megasphere in the northwest, and it's a waiting one for the record. The final area was quite nice too, except I personally don't like those mancubi up there. Also took me awhile to realize I needed to find those four switches.

[SoundofDoomDoors]

MAP22: Acerola Orion (Esselfortium)

100% Kills 0% Secrets

I liked it. Crossing the sludge pit and climbing the far side reminded me of the living end. The incidental combat seemed a little more dense monster placement-wise compared to skillsaw's levels. I didn't see the cover from the last two archviles until after I had killed everything. I just kept shooting them with the plasma rifle until they died. A few pain states kept me alive there.

[baja blast rd.]

map22

Yeah man this is a legit cool map in terms of progression ideas and layout design, with various cinematic frills like energy warps and platforms suddenly raising from below. The overall aesthetic of the map makes me think of an agglomeration of Yoshitoshi Abe works for some reason. Dunno. I like it. The lighting is particularly strong.

Gameplay is decent too. Ms. Sl4tm is probably best known for gentler gameplay (cue discussion on BTSX's campability), but yeah, this one clearly packs more of a punch. Incidental placements are quite ledge-heavy, positioned both to rain projectiles across the map and levy localized crossfire on the bridges, but the more thorny placements can be methodically cleared out, except the revs, which are better off just ignored. (Speaking of that, the two viles with revs on the ledge first visible early on, idk, that one is a headscratcher. They are never really much of a threat and easily cleared out with rockets when you get there. Every time I looked over, the archies were killing and then resurrecting revs that happened to hit them, which was quite amusing.) Set pieces tend to throw lots of monsters in your face with a delayed reveal or two, and some of the broadside traps do the same, hey, one of my preferences. The two-vile + PE warp-in pre-YK doesn't quite work. The viles are never much of a threat. They might resurrect a manc or two but whatever. Mostly a time sink. And that pain elemental. :O :@ :(



*resets soon after the sky is practically littered with the wayward PE's progeny*

I'm not sure if the post-BK set piece really needs a megasphere (as opposed to a soulsphere + GA or something).



Mmmmm, tasty. I appreciate the generosity because I'm not sure there was any armor later on, and I ended up getting to the specterfied end with lots of rockets, and not much else. The circuit right before the exit is awkward; a few times one of those bony fuckers would teleport directly on my butt, without me having any way of anticipating it. Also the mini-encounter with the two imps and the pinky in which the pinky warps behind the player made me laugh. Kind of cheesy, imo. :)

[rehelekretep]

what resolution are you playing at? and why what seems like 4:3 ratio? :D

[Tristan]

rdwpa said:

Sl4tm

Oh wow, I've been saying it wrong this whole time..

[mouldy]

MAP22 - "Acerola-Orion" by esselfortium

Switching to updated version of the wad so had to say goodbye to all my weapons. This map is fairly generous as pistol starts go though, gives you all the tools you need to get killing stuff. Its a long wiggly walk around the cliff edges of a wonderous alien city, where death awaits in the form of long range snipers and open wall/falling floor traps. Its a picturesque journey, feels like a bit of a theme park ride at times. I had some annoying deaths along the way, its not rambo friendly this one, so had to go a bit slow and steady. But somehow I survived the final battle even after taking at least a couple of archvile hits. Nice map.

[KBlaney]

Map 22: Finally enough ammo... oh, not as much health (at the beginning)? I guess we can't have everything. The critical path of this level is pretty well thought out. However, the circular maze bit at the end felt a little superfluous. I was really thinking there was going to be a huge slaughter upon getting to the middle there but the only major threat was the archvile with no cover. Maybe there is on higher difficulties?

By the way, @70sscifiart tweeted this recently:
https://twitter.com/70sscifiart/status/745061979866402816
Kind of cool just how much it seems to reflect on the design of Ancient Aliens.