The DWmegawad Club plays: Akeldama

[DJVCardMaster]

So I'll give my final thoughts:

Akeldama - Valkiriforce et al.:

A Vanilla megaWAD that combines both classic style of gameplay, as seen on Requiem, Memento Mori 2, Alien Vendetta, with new quirks from newer megaWADs at times, mixing things from both eras of oldschool and newschool of Doom mapping, to make yet another mapset destined to be in the "classic megaWADs" club. It serves its purpose pretty well, it is a good compilation of community maps, where few of them are bad, and there are several good/great ones. 
My concerns here is that, even though maps as standalone are mostly good, the progression and map order here is a big concern, none of those maps follow a certain "timeline" or episodic feature in between themselves, you may have a snowy complex at start, then suddenly it changes into a city complex without snow, then snow again, then hell, then techbases, then snow, then city, then hell and we finish with a city/techbase map. I feel like some maps tried to give some kind of continuity to the mapset, but most of them failed, map order here is one of the issues, some maps like MAP06 could have taken places like the MAP14 slot, or MAP14 could have been at the MAP25 slot, or also MAP29 could have been earlier, moving maps from the 26th to 28th higher up on the list, etc. Valkiriforce tried to help with this with his maps, but then, yet again, Valkiriforce made a snow map, then a city map, then a snow map, then a city map, a hellish techbase map, and then two techbases with a canyon-like style. So he is also guilty of breaking continuity aswell. I feel this kind of broken continuity damaged the experience a little bit.
Another concern here is some cases of "frankenstein mapping" where two or more mappers work on a map by having different ideas, there are several maps that are collabs, and you can clearly notice them, at some point, gameplay/aesthetics change pretty suddenly in between maps (MAP01/MAP19/MAP20 are clear examples). This I find weird, not bad precisely, but it kind of breaks the flow.

Music was the only  thing I did not like/care, mostly because most music choices where random, or tracks weren't as memorable.
Akeldama is going to be at the "classical maps spot" with all those big said megaWADs, as the younger sibling. I recommend this? Yes, totally, specially if you don't like outdated maps, this is more of a refreshing experience.

Best maps:
MAP17 - Excellent job at interconnection in between areas, progression and combat, a map that you'll probably like to replay, great layout.
MAP14 - Another good example of good combat, layout and specially style, one of the few totally "hellish" maps, if not the only one, that serves pretty well as a change of pace, right at the middle of this wad. Tied places with MAP17 as they are equally good on their own sense. MAP14 is also the better looking.
MAP15 - Great ambience, the skybox does the job pretty well here, progression may be a little bit convoluted, but it does not hurt the experience that much. Pretty fun gameplay.

Worst maps:
MAP20 - Combining two authors, one making one of his early jobs, and another experienced one, we have the worst case of frankenstein mapping here, both parts of the map that may have been enjoyable if separated, but joined together, they don't work  well. A map that tries too  hard on  being complex and long.
MAP12 - Simple layout, boring looking, boring gameplay, serves the purpose of giving you a break from the previous long map.
MAP32 - Good layout, poor excecution, it's a slaughter map, its gameplay made me laugh of ridiculousness at some point and I enjoyed that, if that was its goal, it won, nonetheless, the end result is not something I would replay, but there is not much concern, as it is a super-secret map, so it's excusable.

As a mapper myself working on one and a half maps, I really enjoyed taking part in this, a new experience for me, coming from only making maps for myself, to be part of a bigger megaWAD, and specially the type of megaWAD I like. If Akeldama II is someday in the works, I will, without a doubt, take part again, this time making something better, as I've set the bar too low at least for my maps. So I hope for an Akeldama sequel in the near future. 

Score: 71/100 (Good)

[loveless]

video for map 30 

 

[DuckReconMajor]

Oof, that is the last time I try to render a 32-map demo in prboom+ software!

Now that I know I can -warp in viddump, I will go back to just merging the mkv's at the end of the month.

Even YouTube rejected my 128GB monstrosity, so it's here in 2 parts

 

As has been mentioned there was a pretty distinct theme at the start of this wad that seemed to get left by the wayside as maps went on.

Near the end, it seemed to take on an almost anti-theme, hopping from one reality to another in such quick succession took on its own feel.

Recurring sights like the snow were very welcome and I wish we could've seen more of it.

I know the green bricks probably aren't a hit with everyone, but i loved them and as i'd stated before it gave those maps a Zelda 2 dungeon feel, which i always will welcome.

The middle maps seemed to be a slog, but as I'd mentioned before I think it's just part of the nature of being halfway through a megawad, and having to play multiple maps a day when these maps are at their longest can take a toll. I know that's a pacing issue though and I'll try to slow down in future months.

 

MAP31 i still consider one of my favorite maps ever and I will very likely take more trips to it in the future.

Too many other mentions to count as I did like every map in this set. MAP02, MAP29, MAP30, MAP24, MAP15, MAP11, MAP01, hell i'm just listing all the maps at this point.

 

 

[mArt1And00m3r11339]

Here's a couple of streams in case anyone has missed.

Akeldama maps 8 - 10 on my Zandronum server: https://youtu.be/47LCdtNHq4Y

Akeldama maps 12 and 13 on my Zandronum server: https://youtu.be/jeOAT-pyg4M

[mArt1And00m3r11339]

Alright trash kickers, I have a new live stream up on YouTube. It is maps 14 through 17 from Akeldama. I included a link to my Paypal so that the ones who wish to donate me money and missed my live stream can donate. It's another great way to earn more revenue on YouTube (I've relied on Super Chats in my previous live streams).

 

[mArt1And00m3r11339]

I have map 19 from Akeldama with Complex Doom on my server completed. I included a link in the description to my Paypal in case someone wants to help out with revenue on my YouTube page but missed the live stream. #idsoftware

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yups2pO5ulA

[mArt1And00m3r11339]

I have level 18 up. I also have maps 21 and 22 on my channel (those were live streamed).

 

[mArt1And00m3r11339]

I have maps 1 through 4 (as well as some others) from Akeldama up.

Level 1: https://youtu.be/CwVevvt5QjM

Level 2: https://youtu.be/dMyF3VhxDMs

Level 3: https://youtu.be/41aeY39A6WU

Level 4: https://youtu.be/tQHBd0eZHEM