Toxic Complex

Short but sweet vanilla level, nice job for your first.

For a first map it has pretty good construction. I wasn't a huge fan of the MIDI you chose, but the extra work was greatly appreciated. 

For a first map this is pretty impressive. I could definitely identify the influence of No Rest for the Living, a mapset I really enjoy and would love to see more maps in the vein of. My main complaint for the map is that - until near the ending - pretty much all of the monsters are placed in front of the player and the gameplay consists of simply moving forwards and clearing out what's in front of you. The combat picks up slightly near the end, with the fight just after the blue key door (of the Hell Knight, along with a Revenant that teleports in just as you're getting started) is the highlight.

The layout is fine, with progression naturally looping from key pick-ups to their corresponding doors. The most exciting part of the progression is dropping down into a nukage pit near the end of the map to make your way to the blue key, although - and again I have to mention the limited gameplay here - it feels like the mapper doesn't take advantage of the player's vulnerable position when they're down in the nukage as there isn't enough exciting gameplay to raise the tension.

Aside from those complaints, I think it's pretty good! The map is quite well-made from a technical standpoint and I found the visuals to be decent enough. Wasn't a fan of the music though, unfortunately. I'd love to see the mapper play around with the visual style of No Rest for the Living and give us some more maps, with spicier gameplay and perhaps a little more space in which to play around in and explore - I definitely think this wad shows a lot of promise!

we can always take an easy, first map every now and then to ease our minds from all that hard stuff that rolls around more often. rough around the edges at points, but it plays and looks just fine, and that is what matters.

First map, huh? I'd say you succeeded - verticality, visuals, not-boring geometry, monster placement. Make us more maps. Odd music, though. Also, 36 monsters, but that's okay since they do pose certain threat.