Kill 'Em All! (final version)

[cambreaKer]

i couldn't think of a better name for this but here it is, my new wad, now go kill 'em all!

 

tested with prboom+ (v2.5.1.4) and gzdoom (v3.6.0.0)

 

map designed for any limit-removing port

 

Spoiler

old 1.0 "too many shellz" version

download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/0jim22ucyu1eayc/kea.zip/file

 

old 1.1 version

download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/x42my7s3aggw18d/keaup.zip/file

 

download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/ex4g3ixlruz0k3g/kea1.1b.zip/file

/idgames download: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/j-l/kea

 

jumping and crouching not allowed

 

 screenies:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2019 by cambreaKer

[Juza]

Played a bit of it through Delta Touch. Killed 95 monsters and found 1 secret. It's fun and its looks are pretty good too. Though I don't think the midi fit at all - so far the map was surely slower paced than the midi implied it would be. I think I found at max 5 box of shells, I had my SSG ammo almost maxed nearly all the time, and maybe only 3 stimpacks. The map might not be on the harder side (at least from the bit I played) but it could use more health packs. Imo a Chaingun would fit more nicely than a SSG, since most of the enemies I had encountered so far were only low tier demons. But so far it's pretty good. Expect a full review tomorrow. Also, this door doesn't look quite nice.

[bonnie]

Review for v1.0:

Spoiler

I gave it a quick playthrough on -complevel 9 to be safe since you forgot to mention the format of the map (the most important piece of information)!!!

 

Anyways, pretty fun level with nice visuals, pretty lighting, pretty good texture variation + texture detailing + sector furniture, a beautiful library, an ending that reminds me of Hell To Pay, and unplayable scenery outside the map, which is a great touch friend. The midi is definitely a little too fast paced for the level, but you could probably get away with it, it's a pretty nice track. c:

Map was definitely on the easy side, and while that isn't a reason to dislike a map, it made some areas feel a little empty. Adding either fodder enemies to fill the gaps or decorative things such as candles, gore, trees, etc. are good ways to alleviate something like this, especially since you had that marine decoration. You could try replacing other decorations with some custom ones and really give the map that extra pizzazz!! I also both liked and disliked the fact that in most cases, if an area seemed accessible it was, although not one of those times did actually reaching said areas yield any reward for me. Rewarding that type of exploration is often a good idea if you're going to allow it.

 

Other issues:

• Absolutely comical overabundance of ammo with a whopping 336 shells across all difficulties (340 if you include the secret backpack), and none even being secret.  You don't need to give players a box of shells around every corner friend, I assure you that they won't need it. I would normally suggest changing every box into just 4 shells, but I honestly think that might still be too many shells in this case. Just start there (plus greatly reducing bullets+plasma and adding some fodder or higher-tier enemies) and see how it changes the gameplay, if at all. Please note that I didn't even find the chaingun, plasma rifle, or BFG (which is super overkill for this map) secrets, yet that I was still swimming in cells and bullets and pretty well off with my essentially infinite SSG ammo.
• Pacing is pretty slow. The map overall felt kinda like Vile Flesh, which is good if you like Vile Flesh, but I personally thought Vile Flesh was fairly boring in terms of pacing. Your map starts off pretty well, but it never actually starts to pick up, which a lot of people will dislike considering how long the level is.
• I wasn't a huge fan of the use of ASHWALL as a fill-in for destroyed stuff, it doesn't clash well with most textures, but that's mostly just preference.
• I must have just been confused, but there was a giant death pit partway through the map that at first appears to be progression until you drop down and are just... stuck. Surely this isn't actually what you intended, because that would be extremely bad.
• In the same vein, you have some setups with little nukage passage ways that seem pointless as first, enticing players in, only for them to find out that 1. they are indeed pointless and 2. they're suddenly standing on a max damage floor.
• chaingun secret is pretty obscure
• blue key door is unmarked
• MIDBARS at the blue key only have the midtexture applied to one side

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Overall an easy albeit lengthy map with a fun and well put together visual style/theme that struggles with ammo and pacing. I've never given a map a serious thought-out rating, so I'm gonna try right now.

 

@cambreaKer edit - some notes on v1.1:

I'd personally say the ammo balance improved but you need to redistribute the ammo better. There's a weird spike in ammo at the end and a bit of an ammo choke near the middle (although I didn't run out of ammo despite exclusively using the SSG and CG), so maybe cutting back 100-200 cells, 100 bullets, 20-40 shells, and then trying to more evenly distribute the shells across the map would serve the balance really well. I however also agree that some of the secrets feel almost necessary (it's definitely possible without, just very grindy and requires half-decent aim), although introducing a non-secret chaingun earlier in the map was a pretty good change. If you'd like to keep a secret weapon, I'd suggest reintroducing the BFG in a more intuitive puzzle-like secret now that the map is more grindy (it was overkill before when there was little to use it on and it was in a fairly easy to find secret).

 

As for parts being "ugly" I guess the only part I didn't like visually or spatially was the area in the screenshot above. I didn't think it was ugly, but the side areas are a little cramped. The only thing I thought was ugly was the ashwall, which I already mentioned in my previous review.

 

Updated score for v1.1:

-1 for ammo, -0.5 for pacing compounded with length, -0.75 for slight grindiness, +0.25 for nice lighting and out of bounds scenery early on:

|𝟟.𝟝/𝟙𝟘|

Edited December 30, 2018 by bonnie : changed score, added notes for v1.1

[cambreaKer]

Thanks for your opinion on my map, i will update the map and remove some of the issues.

[cambreaKer]

1.1 update released, download it here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/x42my7s3aggw18d/keaup.zip/file

[Juza]

Played v1.1. It was pretty fun. I died for the Archviles. 

 

The ammo balance worsened and mid-level I found myself out of ammo and having to run past some enemies. It seems you're stingy with the weapons too, making the most necessary ones secret. I imagine taking out those HKs and Barons would be pretty tedious if I hadn't found the (secret) Plasma Rifle. Some of the secrets feel necessary; they shouldn't be secrets nor hidden.

 

The looks are decent, nothing eye-candy, but some areas are straight up ugly and along with others, could use more. Some of the texture choices were quite poor.

 

The most fun part was mowing down the low-tiers with the (secret) Chaingun.

I also feel like mentioning that the difficulty scaling is, or would be on point, had you given me more ammo. I think an earlier RL in the arena with the few Hell Knights and Baron would be nice too.

 

6.5/10.

[cambreaKer]

new 1.1b update, https://www.mediafire.com/file/ex4g3ixlruz0k3g/kea1.1b.zip/file

[cambreaKer]

some feedback would be appreciated

[Juza]

Just played it until the library part, then I didn't know what to do and where to go.

Map was pretty easy. Some of the later fights were pretty basic and not challenging at all, as they were composed of:

Open door > Monsters immediately alerted > Snipe monsters before entering the new room and/or monsters kill each other.

Again, all the criticism from my previous comment persists, except you kinda fixed the ammo problem. Now I have much more ammo than necessary. But it's better to have more than not enough. The map is still pretty fun but, again, some fights felt dull.

 

[cambreaKer]

8 minutes ago, Juza said:

Just played it until the library part, then I didn't know what to do and where to go.

You have to find a switch (it's near a blue torch) that lowers the bookcase on the upper floor in the area.

[Juza]

I forgot to mention, I jumped on the buildings and then realized I had missed the switch (changing it to somewhere easier to see would be nice), then I realized I didn't need to flip it anyway.

[cambreaKer]

Updated the map, it's the same filename, but i fixed the "players being able to jump onto the buildings" issue described above my post.

[cambreaKer]

KEA is now available on the /idgames archive, link here: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/j-l/kea