The DWmegawad Club plays: Akeldama

[Andromeda]

MAP13: Toxic Disgust (Akeldama)

PrBoom+ 2.5.1.4, HNTR-PS, no saves, 100% everything

 

A love letter to Alien Vendetta's sewer levels, with some subtle Kama Sutra nods as well (like the start/exit teleporters with blue and white lights). Pretty trap heavy, but also fairly generous with supplies so that the player can sustain forward momentum. It didn't strike me as a hard level, but there were definitely some moments where I felt pretty lucky to escape unscathed, like the red key trap and the blue key corridor. The abundant teleport ambushes did a good job at keeping me alert while remaining unpredictable, which is not easy so kudos. The secret was odd - easy to find if you backtrack, otherwise you're probably going to miss it. I felt there were too many shells though, I used the super shotgun almost exclusively and exited with full shell ammo and at least six shell boxes still scattered around. Other than that, cool level.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP13 - "Toxic Disgust" -  Juza (100%K/100%I/0%S):

This is totally inspired from Alien Vendetta sewer maps, specially map14, that's the one I can recall here, in fact, it looks like an Alien Vendetta outtake.
This one has a lot of challenge, pretty harsh for pistol starters. It started off pretty well, but quickly gone worse. For starters, the map is way too cramped, and full of hitscanners, mostly packed in groups, in a "slaughtery" way. I had to start abusing the save at the first room, since I wanted my guns for this. The start is way too punishing, having to boomstick an Arch-Vile with tons of imps. Pretty unfair if you ask me.
Having to dodge Revenant fireballs on those narrow corners feels like a pain. 
The green cavern I feel could leave some mixed feelings for people, I'm not sure if I like it or not, something is off with it, gameplay here is where you would feel choked. Also, it forces you in some "Rooms" to fight with rockets, but with that little space, I don't think about doing it. Thankfully I have my plasma gun, which is a really good alternative.
For a mapper's first map, it's actually a really good one, pretty detailed if you ask me. I didn't know this was Juza's first map, but I have to recognize it really looks well detailed, at least for a novice. So I have to give him that.
This could be way better, but the entire map is a choke point, and you feel breathless trying to kill so many enemies with not that much ammo or resources.

Deaths: 19 (HMP Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

MAP10
MAP11
MAP05
MAP06
MAP04
MAP09
MAP08
MAP07
MAP03
MAP02
MAP13
MAP01
MAP12

Yes, Alien Vendetta's MAP10 is pretty similar to this map.

[DuckReconMajor]

MAP13: Toxic Disgust

prBoom+ 2.5.1.7um, skill 4, continuous with saves, no complevel specified

 

Reading others' posts beforehand I still underestimated how much AV there was in the look of this map, which I did like quite a bit here. 

The green color scheme I've liked throughout pretty much this whole wad and it got even better here.

The cave area was pretty and almost cozy, even, despite the fact I always tried to get through there as quickly as possible to avoid fire from all sides.

 

The combat, as noted, can be quite frustrating and at multiple times I considered dropping skill level or even just cheating up a beserk if that was allowed in this demo/complevel. "breathless" as DJVCardMaster stated above is a great descriptor, as many places there was nowhere to rest, until sometimes you did find a way to prevent subsequent monster waves and take them out in chunks.

The yellow key room gave me Sunder MAP02 flashbacks, this being the more sinister and claustrophobic version.

 

I will say I have never hated spectres more than I have here. Even the hitscanners I did learn to deal with and even somewhat liked the encounters in this map after a while.

But those spectres, in this dark, green environment, where things are already cramped? AAGH!

 

The secret I had an idea was there when the green waterfall started throwing fireballs at me LOL.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2020 by DuckReconMajor : video is done processing

[loveless]

prboom+, no saves, uv pistol starts  
map 13 

 

hell yeah @Juza for pounding this one out.  there's some good combat in here, even if it's a bit repetitive.  i didn't find myself having too much trouble as i quickly understood the way traps would present themselves.  i do want to point out the gratuitous use of block lines.  if there was ever a wad i could point to that used them to the point of distaste, i'd have to call out PRCP.  i feel like certain setups lend themselves to this, such as the second vile encounter outside of the spawn area.  it'd be too easy to peek in, back off a bit from the door in either direction, and wait for easy monster clumping.  i really enjoyed how that second vile set the pace for the kinds of fights we'd see.  there is little more that upsets me than perfectly free maps where there are no attempts made to ever kill the player.  the second half of the map was the highlight, from the first green room and there on out.  the presentation of the red key reminded me a bit of sunder map 3, a good ol' fashioned gaping maw.  the fight before the blue key door is a bit trivialized by having the plasma but that's earned.  dip to one side and then the other, hold a pocket with the plasma, and the revenants solve themselves.  i'm not entirely sure how i triggered that sea of pinkies by splashing a rocket into the left cubby but i'll take what i can get.  the map took four deaths and ended with a completion just shy of 20 minutes game time.  bravo, juza!

akeldama-13-loveless.7z

[Arbys550]

Map13: Toxic Disgust

 

This one is okay. It's a little cramped, as noted by everyone above, but I didn't mind that. The thing I did mind was that at some points enemies suddenly spawned pretty close to me and did some damage. The main offender was an instapop revenant that punched the shit out of me. There was also a bit where chaingunners were behind a slimefall which I didn't like. Then there was the one room where a chaingunner kept popping out and I still don't know where he came from. When I played there was a lot of glare on my screen so that's probably why I couldn't see very well.

 

Video:

Spoiler

It's starting to become tradition that all of my Akeldama videos have a pinky in the thumbnail.

 

Ranking:

Spoiler

Map08: Arctic Compound

Map06: Insurrection

Map07: Carnage Facility

Map02: Knights of Ilasac

Map11: The Glacier Base

Map10: Hangar Facility

Map03: Renegades

Map04: Chillwell

Map12: Urban Strike

Map13: Toxic Disgust

Map09: Winter Stronghold

Map01: The Generator

Map05: Bunker Hill

 

[Woolie Wool]

MAP14: Darkness Beneath by Chaingunner (5/5)

Skill: HMP | Time: 27:10 | Kills: 100% | Items: 99% | Secrets: 40%

After the boxy rooms and tight corridors of the previous maps, "Darkness Beneath" feels like a breath of fresh air, a sort of Thy Flesh Consumed goes newschool hell fortress with a lot more multi-level spaces, overlooks, and broad vistas than anything previously, and less likely to pin the player down with hitscanners than to harry the player hither and thither with cacodemon pursuit squads, pinky linebackers, and several archviles whose first announcement of their presence is often the tide of newly resurrected monsters pouring in from an area you thought was safe. This is compounded by the fact that, at least discounting the three secrets I missed, I found no armor on this map at all besides what I brought in with me. The arrangement of the midi is rather loud and overbearing, but the basic composition is solid. A standout map.

[Doom_Dude]

I loaded up where I saved at the end of Map07 and looked around for the 2 secrets I had missed, so go the rocket launcher and the hidden latrine. lol

 

Map08 - Arctic Compound

Interesting snowy base level. I found this one slightly easier than the previous map, tho I did get killed a few times including getting plastered trying to grab the red key with low health. I found that the demons teleporting up to that pillar in the small courtyard near the start seemed to get stuck and didn't attack., especially the mancubuseses. The map has a nice layout with fun fights. Opening the key doors was fun and I got some good infighting happening there. I was baffled where the secrets were hiding until I mumbled, 'where are the damned secrets in here' as I clicked on a wall and the plasma gun rifle was revealed. I got the other two secrets before exiting and was glad to get the soulsphere after opening the exit door. haha. Onwards we go!

 

How is it the 13th already. Gonna catch up soon.............................

[DJVCardMaster]

Thankfully my sixth sense told me to save on the right moment for a reason, I got a VPO 3 times at the same place, and pretty easily, was this checked?

Near the Blue Key grab. It's in a "heavy combat" room.

[Chainie]

33 minutes ago, DJVCardMaster said:

Thankfully my sixth sense told me to save on the right moment for a reason, I got a VPO 3 times at the same place, and pretty easily, was this checked?

Near the Blue Key grab. It's in a "heavy combat" room.

Original version of the map had a closing door to prevent player from seeing stuff which cause VPO, but door has been removed by valkiriforce for coop compatibility.
I definitely should revisit this map to fix all of problems it have.

Edited July 14, 2020 by Chainie

[head_cannon]

-Crispy Doom, UV Continuous

 

MAP05 - Bunker Hill

 

I did not enjoy this one at all. Everything was cramped, with no room to dodge and no good place to stand. It didn't feel dangerous, just awkward and unpleasant. It seemed just as awkward for the monsters: I saw several get hung up on this military base's chest-high walls and be unable to pursue me. I admit that this one is on me for playing Continuous and wanting to conserve resources, but these tight spaces made it just as frustrating trying to step around items I didn't want to waste as it was when trying to step out of the path of projectiles.

The placement of barrels in the sniper nests is something I can speak positively about, but even it's undercut by the repopulation of each nest by a second wave of Revenants: that causes situations where you have to move quite a distance before you finally have the maneuverability to nullify a homing rocket.

I find mass monster warp-ins to be lame unless the scene calls for an alarm to be raised. Taking a key or flipping a switch are actions which normally match this consequence. But the Revenants that are dropped into the corridors of the bunker seem arbitrary and unfitting.

 

MAP06 - Insurrection

 

This three-key affair is quite a large level, but it's interconnected enough that navigation wasn't a pain. I like the way that the area with the ooze pit gradually transforms as you raise new platforms & bridges out of the liquid. The section past the yellow door - brown catwalks above ooze sluiceways - was also pretty cool, but it seemed like the Hell Knights couldn't leave their ledges, and thus could be safely corner-camped at the stairways. Also, I don't know if the Computer Area Map is worth the grief it takes to reach it.

The ending had a pretty lively battle where the grassy yard is filled with Pinkies (and then Imps) and you need to be mindful about not getting surrounded, but the Revenant snipers in one building don't really contribute, and the monsters in the next building are just there to clog up the space and slow you down. Even if I find that final hallway to be a bit of anticlimactic work, I still really enjoyed the overall journey through the map.

 

MAP07 - Carnage Facility

 

Another massive level, with tons of places to go. There are many rooms that will play out in vastly different ways depending on which way you enter from. There are two directions you can go whose paths conclude in a Plasma Gun, and the multiple paths to the yellow key all conclude in a nasty close-quarters trap which is defused by that gun. Hope you find one before you find the other, or your run may come to an abrupt end.

The lowering-floor trap room was awesome, both in the versatility of ways to go once you're in the thick of it and in the sheer surprise (although I did spoil the surprise for myself when I saw a dying Cacodemon fall through the floor when shot down).

The Arch-Vile makes a dramatic entrance, first as a sniper that zones you out of the entrance hall from its cage, and later as a close-quarters brawl. That whole blue key pit is really cool, with the exception of the big pile of Pinky Demons who clog up the entrance to the pit. It certainly enforces fighting instead of fleeing, but the nose-to-nose fight is already urgent & fun. The cleanup process to reopen that hall is not.

The security checkpoint hallway that kept releasing Chaingunners and setting off explosions was weird as hell, but novel, and I liked how the anticlimax of it dumping you out back at the start incites an exclamation of "Wait, that can't be all of it," and of course it is not.

[Endless]

MAP13: Toxic Disgust

UV, LZDoom with Brutal Doom mod.

 

That was pretty toxic. I liked the premise of this map. A leap forward compared to the simplicity of the previous one and the theme of cities. I'm not saying it's super complex but it certainly has a little more design than the last one.

 

As the name suggests, this map is full of acid, right up to the top. It's not extremely important for the mechanics of the game but it plays a more fundamental role in terms of the level theme. Huge vanilla sensations no doubt, these last two maps have done a great job of it by evoking the use of standard textures and more particularly simple designs.

 

Fast, intense, more difficult than the previous one but surmountable, without being extreme, although it has a particular area full of Pinkies and Hellknights that I had to replan about two times, the kind of area that would probably kill you by going in blindly at first. Sailing through the toxic rivers reminded me of those times playing LoL, good times, I think.

 

Perhaps a small complaint I can make is the fact that I don't see a kind of continuity in the latest maps. The first ones complied with it by showing us a fairly straightforward theme, but I guess these ones take a bit more liberties; of course, it's something to be expected considering that it's a community effort, but to be honest it's a simple minimal complaint that doesn't affect at all the general qualification of the megawad (at least for me.) So far, it's still a fascinating work that really manages to transcend a combination of ''vanilla'' with a bit of modernism. ''Transcend'' is such a cliché word, innit?

 

[galileo31dos01]

- Falling behind is never a good thing.

 

[BigMacDavis]

 

 

08 

 

This one was fine, generally. The simplicity of the layout resembles map 06, in that there's room-door-room connectivity with mostly incidental meat shields and skirmishes, but with better advantages. It's got the usual bulk of hitscanners sprinkled in rooms how Akeldama has stapled already, accompanied by other non-hitscan bodies with the same freedom as zombies to move around, check for windows, get a bite on your cheeks when you least expect it, and few turreted stuff too. What's good is the layout allows monsters to roam and appear from different sides depending on what entryway you take - worth noticing that these entrances are wide enough that even mancubi can get outdoors -, so this alone feels well defined in the first half, kudos to DJV.  

 

The second half, past the RK door, I didn't care much up until one part previous to the last cargo room of arachnotrons, but that was product of my bad memory as I forced myself to camp from safety some of those ambushes with hitscanners in the way, which wasn't always necessary. The YK path overdid the teleport ambush imo. There was one pinky horde emerging from water (pinky sirens?) that was a dud, let me tell you with brutal honesty. But then the next huge room was pretty fine, and so the arachnotrons later, and the very last horde, though I could swear there used to be an archvile in a beta release, hmm, not that it changed anything. 

 

Additional comments (rd-ing it up): 

 

- In the RK fight, you can either kill the imps and ignore the revs, or viceversa, though both groups don't cooperate together quite effectively if at all. I think the key platform could have lowered and, idk, some lost souls instead of imps. Akeldama has dumped a few hairy traps before so...

 

- Yeah there's the thicc crate that I kept overlooking, I think it's always neat to leave your mark in maps.

 

- The archvile telefrag is a bit of a nonevent that I'm okay with, simply because not all archviles need to be attention whores every time :)

 

- Chainsaw secret was my last secret, in spite of clearly remembering a chainsaw in the map :(

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP14 - "Darkness Beneath" -  ChaingunnerX (100%K/94%I/80%S):

Well, what a pity for those who decided to end their playthrough on the previous map, honestly, because this map was period the best individual experience. You would argue that from the start of the second "episode" theme has not been defined yet, first a city, then a sewer, then a "Thy Flesh Consumed" map right from nowhere. Which feels like a Sigil outtake. But nonetheless, this was a great map. This level is certainly big, just as MAP07, a little bit bigger, but not as much as MAP11, which served more of a "episode finale". Feels like maps from now on are going to be the size of at least MAP06 constantly, as we are getting closer to the half of the megaWAD. The map presents constant balanced combat everywhere, with tons of resources, and a lot of detail even for Vanilla standards, as with some Alien Vendetta maps, this map could produce some VPO's just as those that happened to me 3 times in my playthrough, mostly at the same spot. But it's amazing that there is not a single (common) instance of VPO's apart from that spot that changed because of multiplayer changes.
Certainly challenging but in the way I really like, that's why. I'm also a sucker for well designed Thy Flesh Consumed maps.
I can feel the pain the mapper has suffered on making that 3D Bridge at the basin, it can easily get transmited to me.

Deaths: 19 (HMP Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

MAP14
MAP10
MAP11
MAP05
MAP06
MAP04
MAP09
MAP08
MAP07
MAP03
MAP02
MAP13
MAP01
MAP12

Sadly I'm starting to quicksave, this was a sixth sense thing because I was scared of dying, but seconds after I got the Visplane Overflow.

Edited July 15, 2020 by DJVCardMaster

[ironicmoustache]

Between a dead computer and being hired to price up a metric ton of prog rock records for a new record store, I haven't really been able to play any Doom until now. Finally got my PC back up and running a few days ago, and workload has lightened a bit, so it's time to play catch-up.

 

Crispy, UV, pistol starts, and quicksaves. I try not to savescum but I am partial to an occasional quicksave here and there.

 

MAP01

My mind still expects small first maps for whatever reason, so the scale of the opening vista caught me by surprise and clued me in to the fact that this wasn’t going to be a quick Entryway style romp. Fun map and definitely offered up more challenge than I was expecting. Was never in any real danger, but there was definitely a lot of meaty combat and good use of teleporting enemies. Some nice architecture too, although the opening area takes the cake for me in that regard. Not necessarily a spectacular level, but as an opening map, it's quite a statement of intent I think.

 

MAP02

Intimidating start with the hell knights but thankfully they teleported away. A good bit of environmental storytelling too, ties into the map’s name. Solid map otherwise, nothing spectacular architecturally but the combat is pretty intense and the HKs never get too roadblock-y, especially since the player really only has the shotgun when pistol starting. The lift down with the HK and spectres was a tense moment. I expected the exit ambush but still got hit for a decent chunk of damage haha. Was glad I found the soulsphere secret.

 

MAP03

I liked the broken-up floor in the opening slime room. I thought it was a nice touch, even if it distracted me just enough that I got shredded by the two chaingunners on the ledge above. Was happy to see the SSG make its debut this early on, and even happier to see that the combat, with its waves of lower-tier enemies, seemed to have been designed specifically to make use of the SSG particularly satisfying. A lot of great moments in this map, I thought: the blue key room ambush; the narrow pinkie walkway with the cacos rising up from the pit; and the open area with the hell knight and zombies. The map kept me on my toes throughout and it was a lot of fun. I liked the tight kinda-secret-but-kinda-not series of corridors and small rooms leading off from the pinkie/caco room back to the start, especially since it seemed to have been created with the sole purpose of giving the player a chance to see how many low-tier enemies they can mow down with a single SSG blast. Just enough ammo to make it not feel like a waste of resources, too. Really nice touch there.

MAP04
Now this one is a bit of a doozy. I thought the layout was quite superb, with the path choices dictating not just the challenge you face but also your first upgrade past the standard shotgun. Died in the berserk and chaingun rooms a couple of times each before managing to execute the chaingun arena properly (at least, properly enough to not die, which is about my standard). The layout felt a bit confusing at first but it all fell into place quite deliciously as I looped back towards the start. The moment I "got" the layout was quite a satisfying moment. Real good combat, great challenge, and an impressive layout; what else do you really need? Ok, it's not necessarily the most architecturally stunning map you'll ever see, but I thought it conveyed the feeling of a mountain base really well without any extraneous aesthetic fluff. Great map, this one.

Edited July 14, 2020 by ironicmoustache

[Biodegradable]

MAP14 - Darkness Beneath

HMP | Continuous Play with Saves | Running on GZDoom + Hellrider

 

Now this was a fun one, both aesthetically and gameplay-wise. I had a blast exploring this wonderfully inter-connected map with its radical height variations, spooky inside sectors and large outdoor areas. This one very much felt like I was storming a satanic fortress and fucking up all the demon's shit. Quite a few moments that had me going, "Whoa, what the?!" which is always fun and blasting through large hordes of enemies was exhilarating. Nothing felt predictable or boring or disappointing in any way, shape or form. It was just a really solid experience from beginning to end. I thoroughly enjoyed this map, so big props to Chaingunner as I think this might be my favourite map of the megaWAD so far in every aspect. Consider this entry my postcard to my loved ones from my vacation in Hell. 10/10, would murder demons and drink their blood here again.

 

Gameplay footage:

Spoiler

 

 

Edited July 14, 2020 by Biodegradable

[Deadwing]

14: Episode 2 maps has been quite varied with the themes. 12 was a very modern greeny techbase. 13 a dungeon, and 14 is a hellish fortress, at least for most of it. 14 is also another very large map which a mostly linear progression, although some areas have pretty big hubs and it will definitely satisfy the non-linearity fans like me.

 

The combat is pretty straighfoward and challenging, but nothing much different from what we've seen previously. Also, it share some similar problems from the previous levels, such as clash of textures: Although most of the level is hell, you will find green bricks, red bricks, brown bricks, wood, metal and industrial/tech. And you might get lost if you don't see that switch hidden in the dark that triggers the enemies in that teleporter area (If I'm not mistaken), or the red key (although that one is very well signaled).

 

Regardless, the progression is pretty cool, and you'll find yourself returning to older areas but with new access with as walls opening or jumping through cliffs. Also, the MIDI is awesome.

 

MAP Preference

 

10, 4, 5, 9, 12, 11, 7, 14, 1, 8, 3, 13, 2, 6

[valkiriforce]

13 hours ago, DJVCardMaster said:

Thankfully my sixth sense told me to save on the right moment for a reason, I got a VPO 3 times at the same place, and pretty easily, was this checked?

Near the Blue Key grab. It's in a "heavy combat" room.

I think the mistake I made here is I made it so the door can be opened again if a player happens to be on the wrong side of it, but it shuts again should the player drop into the pit. However, if you open it and navigate back the other way after opening that area up, the door remains open which exposes more of the map. I figured the door was there for the reason of avoiding a VPO so I tried to respect that while also making the map possible to finish in co-op, but that small backtracking detail slipped my mind.

 

I just checked the map again, and it's worse than I thought - I accidentally put action 106 (WR Door Open Stay (fast)) instead of action 107 (WR Door Close Stay (fast)) yikes, so I guess it never shut in the first place. Strongly considering an update here.

[Phobus]

MAP14: Darkness Beneath

I played this map pissed off with the pointlessness of my working day (in some kind of twist of fate, the meetings and busywork dragged on sufficiently that they actually lost me the chance to do some slightly worthwhile training) and suffering a mild headache. I also am getting used to a new gaming mouse that, even on it's lowest setting, is more sensitive than my old one that's died. Obviously a lot of mitigating factors here to excuse a negative frame of mind...

 

Saying all of that, this map is pretty good. It looks nice, has a great, lengthy, varied MIDI, has a pretty open layout and doesn't suffer from the bullshit traps that have marred some of the other maps in this set. My one issue here is that I spent a large amount of time on this map chewing through shotgun shells on enemies that either posed no threat (Demons and Spectres that couldn't get to me, for the most part) or little threat (almost everything else). I found four of the five secrets, and was playing continuously anyway, so I guess I didn't help the map out any, but aside from early on, where I took a fair few hits somewhat unnecessarily, I was pretty safe. The four Arch-Viles were all pretty easily dispatched and can't think of a single moment where I wasn't basically just processing my way through on autopilot. I think the monster count is the issue here - there's well over 300 enemies on startup, and probably 150 of those are just taking up space and costing you ammo. The way the weapons are measured out, the SSG is very much your main weapon, with the single barrel useful for picking off imps and zombies (or going after stuff at a longer range).

 

I'm torn between saying "this map would've been better with half of the enemies, but used more dangerously" and saying "it's a nice breather, but probably a bit too time-consuming".

 

Positive mention for the platforming over the winding stairway and various elements of faux-3D. The latter is very period-appropriate.

[DuckReconMajor]

Just learned you can do -warp on demo playback and viddump to jump to the desired level in the demo! instead of guessing at -skipsec multiple times as I'd been doing.

Thank you @entryway or whoever added all this functionality I'm still learning.

 

MAP14 - Darkness Beneath

prBoom+ 2.5.1.7um, skill 4, continuous with saves, no complevel specified

 

I said i'd stop saying this but these levels just refuse to stop looking great.

This one I definitely felt a heavy Sigil influence, and when I saw the red cracks on the ground it seemed to be very intentional, but I could be off on that.

The red sky didn't fit earlier, but in that little rampart area at the start of this map I just sat and stared for a while it looked so good. So yes I do like this sky, just when it's not clashing with the map.

 

I actually found all the secrets without assistance! which felt good. As Woolie Wool mentioned, there's hardly any armor outside the blue suit you get in a secret, so I was very happy to get that. With the secret goodies the difficulty of this map was just right for me.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Snikle]

MAP13: Toxic Disgust

Not really feeling this one as much. Felt way too “switchy” and there were a lot of tiny corridors and a LOT of chaingunners. It was worst during the beginning parts, where it was just “go into room, hit switch, kill chaingunners, go out of room,” and it got better once we entered the green areas. Now I did really enjoy the look of the green areas. I always like bright green in Doom, and these areas had more going for them gameplay-wise as well. The red-key ambush wasn’t too special, just an archie before and a few HKs after, but the yellow key one was pretty interesting with its HK ring and specters on the ground. I hope the next levels give me more of the green and less of the cramped chaingunner-hives. Not a bad level by any means, I’m sure Plutonia lovers will enjoy this (Is that an unfair generalization? I’ve never played Plutonia.), it just wasn’t the best for me.

 

MAP14:Darkness Beneath

This one felt like a real “classical” hell, in that the texturing felt very much like a ‘90s hell map. I always like that gray rock texture that looks like broken glass (not sure what it’s actually called, but it’s around a lot in the map). The layout here was large, complex, and hard to wrap my mind around at points because of how it looped back on itself in a few strange ways. I’m not even sure how linear or nonlinear the level actually is. I feel like the map has strong replay value for the layout alone. The combat here was better than the previous map although there were still a few annoyingly-placed chaingunners running around, particularly near the start. It took a little longer than I would have liked to give me an SSG, but during replays I’d know to go for the secret one (and blue armor!) in the main cavern, which I didn’t fund until the end during this playthrough. There were a couple points during this level where I experienced some ammo woes, the worst of which being down in the semicircular tunnels between the large cavern and the blue door where I ran out of everything except rockets while a pinky was inches from my face. I know most people hate it, and I usually do too, but thank God for the RL “safety” for once. Too bad I had to punch it without a berserk. I found 2 of the secrets, the SSG one I mentioned earlier and also a soulsphere one near the blue key. Another cool level, I had some grievances with it but I still found it to be pretty good. And I always enjoy the classic hell theme.

[Endless]

MAP14: Darkness Beneath

UV, LZDoom and Brutal Doom mod.

 

I really enjoyed this map. The design is fantastic, big and straightforward enough to understand which path you have to take, which means that in the 20 minutes it took me to finish it I didn't miss a single one and was in a constant battle for supremacy in search of the keys.

 

Pretty cool, I'd say. The aspect that makes me admire this map in itself is its design, not only because its a vanilla map, quite a lot, but it is also one that remimded me a lot of one of my favorite map of all times. Alien Vendetta Map 11, a huge green marble fortress that left me with my mouth open when I first enjoyed it.

This map made me feel that sensation again, although in a smaller way, lighter you could say. The taste was always there but the map is not so fascinating or so giant, but it did give me the necessary emotion to say that this has been one of my favorites of Akeldama. The placement of the monsters, the traps and the challenge is much higher than in the previous map, to the point that the Pinkies and Archies ambush was quite challenging as well as entertaining. Of course, I can see that the map can be a bit tiring in a sense since it constantly throws demons at us without giving us a break, but after the combat we can admire the certain beauty and the true touch that the author gave to the creation of this particular map.

I don't know, I just liked it a lot, maybe my glasses are too tight but the very idea of seeing green marble makes me cry.
The only complaint I would have, the only negative factor is the fact that the final key is in an area all the way to the bottom of the map, and after that there is no teleport. Call me lazy, but I hate having to go through the entire empty map just to get to the exit. Still, great map.

[Suitepee]

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/676923209 = maps 1-8.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/677835937 = maps 9-15.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/678801093 = maps 31,32 and 16-24.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/679718400 = maps 25-30.

 

I won't post any spoilers, but I wasn't expecting quite so many long maps throughout Akeldama to be honest. A few more short maps would have been nice, but overall the quality was good.

[loveless]

prboom+, no saves, uv pistol starts  
map 14 

 

my least favorite map in the wad and probably the weakest map thus far.  lots of good doom1 references here and opportunities for set pieces. unfortunately, they're spread thinly across hallways and areas of frontal combat. step forward, shoot, step forward, shoot, rinse and repeat.  the most interesting fight in the map, after red key where rocket boxes are surrounded by potions, is another victim to frontal combat.  step forward, step back, free spam through the door as monsters are forced to exit single file.  the other interesting fight would be before blue key, the water pool room with two large teleporters and serious pinkie reinforcements with a vile for support.  dipping back around a corner and spamming rockets/plasma makes quick work of this.  given the length of this map, i am glad it only took one attempt. not sure i'd have the patience for a second try.

akeldama-14-loveless.7z 

 

after some thought, i decided to add a few notes here.  i understand that this post is pretty negative and rather pointed with it's criticism.  threads like this are exactly the place for things of this nature but i feel i'm a bit aggressive.  there were several things i enjoyed about this map regarding visuals.  i had thoughts i wanted to elaborate on regarding doom1 vibes and how late the ssg appears(along with mid tiers) if we're not counting the early ssg nab in a secret.  the bridge was actually well done, it served a purpose beyond simply existing in a classic-styled wad/map.  there's more to pay attention to vertically than i was willing to initially give credit.  the room with the perched arach and pinkie/imp rush with opposite facing hitscan was pretty cool, save for the fully lit UAC texture.  for this map, i took more screenshots as notes to myself than i normally do.  i had taken 9 screenshots, most maps i only take 2-3.

Edited July 15, 2020 by loveless : additional afterthoughts

[Woolie Wool]

MAP15: Breaching the Source by gaspe (5/5)

Skill: HMP | Time: 20:16 | Kills: 92% | Items: 42% | Secrets: 57%

The title implies a movement towards some narrative climax, but there's none of that here, just a damn good map by one of my favorite authors, whose The Legacy of Heroes blew me away the moment I played it. While not as luxuriant a visual feast as Legacy of Heroes or gaspe's map20 from TNT: Revilution, "Breaching the Source" looks good, and with its extensive use of angled and curved walls and spaces-within-spaces, is probably the most architecturally interesting map so far of the whole set. The encounter design gets a bit more pointed here, often denying the player retreat, while the sprawling layout feels like an Eternal Doom-ish puzzle (perhaps with some help from the excellent midi by pcorf) yet somehow you get where you're supposed to go anyway without even trying (with the exception of a couple of switches with obscure effects). My favorite moment was the final major fight in which you are forced to rush into a pit of nukage, grab an invul, and have 30 seconds to deal with both a cyberdemon and a horde of pinkies and revenants with supporting trash or you're completely boned, as there is no radsuit and it's almost impossible to escape splash damage with the maneuvering room provided.

Edited July 15, 2020 by Woolie Wool

[Biodegradable]

MAP15 - Breaching the Source

HMP | Continuous Play with Saves | Running on GZDoom + Hellrider

 

Man, this one kept things tense for me. Not sure if I was playing a little sloppy or just unlucky in some places (I'll let the veteran players among you decide) but I was on low health a lot of the time, killing me twice. Got a little frustrated trying to get more health and failing to because the the high density of enemies, but on the upside the tension does make things engaging and fun in the wacky contrast we all tend to enjoy when we're playing a game. I think this is one of the memorable techbase maps as the layout and design definitely stood out to me among the others for its more intricately-shaped corridors and rooms, as well as a more diverse use of verticality. It's just got a lot of touches that give it personality that I personally appreciate. I did spot a second exit, but I got distracted later and forgot about it, so I guess I dip out on one of the secret levels. I had a tough time, but a fun time. Lovely work @gaspe   

 

Gameplay footage:

Spoiler

 

 

[Pixel Fiend]

 

Screenshots

 

Spoiler

 

 

Map 15, my favourite from Akeldama so far. I'm incredibly fond of this map. It's pretty and fun to play from start to finish. I didn't get lost a single time. Each area is thoughtfully made and memorable, such the beginning in the open, the revenant fight around the brain or the ones in screenshots above. But most importantly it's got atmosphere, which I often fail to feel on Doom maps.

Edited July 15, 2020 by <<Rewind

[Deadwing]

15: 15 brings us back to the tech environment, although this time it's an industrial zone almost taken by the hell forces. The level also marks a shift in how the monsters are placed: Instead of a casual enemy placement we've seen in the previous maps, here you'll fight less enemies but in a much more dangerous position. It took me a while to adapt my playstyle to be more aware of the surroudings, and because of that I got myself dead a lot of times in the early sections lol

 

Regardless, the map has also a strong sense of interconnection and lots of areas are definitely remarkable: The opening area, the main "generator" room with several revenants standing in the other side, the crusher in the central area where 4 revenants waits for you in the tiny tunnel and the finale with an invencibility and a Cyberdemon reveal. In that area, I wish I had woken up the revenants earlier to take advantage of in-fighting lol

 

Anyway, one of the strongest maps so far in this wad, with the perfect size, monster placement and environment work.

 

MAP Preference

 

15, 10, 4, 5, 9, 12, 11, 7, 14, 1, 8, 3, 13, 2, 6

[ironicmoustache]

Crispy, UV, pistol starts, saving.

 

MAP05

Picks up where the last map left off in very general aesthetic/locale terms and kicks the bloodiness factor up a notch. The assault on the titular bunker is a frantic, dangerous, and tough one: enemies come at you from all sides, including from up above and all the (occasionally nasty) gun slits, with the latter reinforcing the bunker theme (and hitting the player over the head with it, albeit to good effect). Heavy use of repopulation via teleports too, including of some less-obvious areas (like the imp sniper cages). Never a moment’s rest in that regard. I was constantly kept on edge, constantly moving, and it was a satisfying rush clearing out the level and making mincemeat out of all the teleporting monsters. The level toes the fine line—for me, at least—of never really letting up and stringing heavy encounter one after another without feeling frustrating or unfair. Pretty good trick, that. My favourite map so far.

 

MAP06

What Insurrection lacks in visual/architectural flair—it’s utilitarian, coupled with a slight sense of disjointedness with regards to the texturing—it makes up for with an interesting layout, high enemy numbers, and feel-good bloodshed. A lot of lower-tier enemies to blast through, with encounters—environment and enemy placement—offering a decent challenge while mostly managing to avoid edging too far into “slog” territory. Good use of imps: I found both the rock-and-slime section as well as the imp and revenant wave towards the end of the level particularly memorable. Another encounter I enjoyed was the blue key room, with the spectres and pain elementals (and attendant lost souls). I didn’t discover all the secrets, but the ones that I did find felt pretty substantial and useful. The berserk room was a bit dicey, what with the spectres and elevated hitscanners, while the room with the rocket launcher satisfied both the ever-present desire to chunk through pinkies up close with the SSG before offering a relatively safe—yet satisfying—slit which allows the player to spam rockets to take care of the revenant horde (and spamming rockets is always fun). It did feel perhaps a wee bit too long, but every time such a thought floated into my mind it was quickly dispelled by a new chunk of enemies to blast through (and not die to). Another solid and enjoyable map, and an enjoyable retro-ish throwback.

 

MAP07

Now, this was a kick in the teeth. A complex, somewhat-labyrinthine office/tech complex with a ton of hitscanners and some nastily-used higher tier enemies. Corner-peeking is the name of the game for a lot of the earlier parts of the map, and it’s still pretty unforgiving even when approached that way. It never lets up, but the balance of enemies does perhaps move a bit away from hitscanners as the level goes on. (Trivial zombieman exit room notwithstanding; was that a cheeky nod to the hitscanner-heavy nature of the level by closing out with a bunch of non-threatening ones?) Chaingunner usage is pretty lethal throughout though, but the author managed to stay far enough away from making things feel unfair, at least for my tastes.

 

The layout seemed pretty nonlinear and figuring things out was fun, but also a bit frustrating. One thing about the layout is that there are just so many places to go that I found it was easy for me to forget exploring this offshoot or that path because I kept getting distracted by the next area, or hallway, etc. Missed the early-ish backpack because of this, and having that would ]have helped me around the midpoint of the level where I ran quite a bit short on ammo. That said, it was quite a rush, trying to eke out space and dodge madly in tight corridors in an attempt to conserve ammo. The second half(-ish) was a lot kinder in terms of resources so it was a bit more relaxing, but the opposition never let up so it never became a walk in the park. I do feel like things could have used a bit more signposting (especially figuring out the yellow key). That said, I might also be somewhat less-attuned to these things than other players, so it might just be me.

 

Mancubus room was a hell of a surprise and I’m glad I hoarded plasma ammo; got lucky with their movement and managed to just circle the edges of the room and spamming plasma at the mancubi. It was a butt-clench moment for sure but I survived pretty handily. Interesting that the snow theme reappears at the exit; it makes the last map feel a bit out of place thematically.

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP15 - "Breaching the Source" -  Gaspe (100%K/I/S):

Back again into a Techbase map from hell, this one, has a really "iconic" view of the building. Ok, so another "base infiltration" kind of thing.
The map resembles a lot of The Shores of Hell in both texturing, layout and combat, with an obvious "Doom II" thing into it. And I have to say this map has really nice secrets and interconnectivity. You feel always in constant alert of the enemies that can appear, and you often feel the need to go fast, specially on the "nukage" parts of the level.
There are some inconsistences in both damaging floors and progression however, some floors damage you, but others don't, there are parts where water does damage you, and also the green floor that guards the BFG. Also, FINALLY A BFG.
In terms of progression, I often found myself humping walls to exit some rooms or to progress. For example, on the east side, where the nukage canal ends, I had to hump walls because I found no exit from that pit, and that was a little bit annoying. Same if you get locked into the chainsaw room. I also found myself roaming around the map on the part where I needed to find the blue key, for ten minutes or so, but other than that, I was fine with this map.
The secret exit room is also something a little bit trivial, as a random teleporter gets lowered at the middle of the map, without a good texture that shows you that floor is suspicious, trying to find it, I was roaming around again and randomly teleported to the final room.
I really like when maps don't force you to exit at the end without letting you find the secret exit. I was totally afraid of that when I was on the normal exit room, locked, but luckly I could exit it anyways and continue with my search.
I have to say is a really good map, and I get why is the favorite of most of the people as it is for now, maybe I'm a little bit biased for MAP14, but this one sure is one of the best so far. Luckly MAP14 and MAP15 are good boosters to keep people entertained for more, as some of you may have been a little bit dissapointed with MAP12/13.

Deaths: 22 (HMP Playthrough - Chocolate Doom)

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

MAP14
MAP15
MAP10
MAP11
MAP05
MAP06
MAP04
MAP09
MAP08
MAP07
MAP03
MAP02
MAP13
MAP01
MAP12

Secret exit taken, I have already played MAP31, so I will comment on both secret maps when I finish MAP32 later. As it is for MAP15, possibly the best so far in general.

[Phobus]

MAP15: Breaching the Source

Another shit day, another good map to ease my pain!

 

Although this didn't really ease my pain much, as, on UV at least, there's several situations that are likely to kill you first time unless you luck into the safe/ideal approach to the challenge/ambush rather quickly. The Arch-Vile and two Chaingunners appearing behind me in the little narrow corridors section were definitely the main culprit, and I died there after taking the first AV hit and deciding that I wanted to come at it again from my recent save with that foreknowledge. I did do myself over once or twice - in particular, teleporting into a secret before clearing the Revenants out of it from below, thus leaving myself in a 64x64 box with a load of Revenants pounding on me until they were dead. Fortunately I had plenty of health and blue armour...

 

I think this map looks great (in particular, early on with the great usage of bloody variants of METAL2 to make the scene more foreboding, but there's lots of good detail throughut), and the MIDI gets good eventually, but I think the layout is the real star of the show. I've become reasonably familiar with gaspe's work, as he maps for DBPs fairly often, so I had some expectations of tricky secrets and generally intimate encounters, with a high difficulty. I got all of that, but was still impressed with the way the secrets are integrated into the main areas of progression as optional areas, ledges and views through windows. The map in general does a lot of unexpected things (how did those three Revenants get behind the blue skull door? I watched it close and there was nothing there...) and you find yourself on the other side of bars that you'd assumed you were questing to open at least once, which is very refreshing and clever, but the way the secrets are approached is always interesting. I've no idea what secret I missed or where it is, but the other six (including the secret exit) were a joy to uncover.

 

A special mention to monster counts here - this map is a great example of how to be damaging with less, whilst also (mostly) giving the player a bit of time and sporting chance to take on the Arch-Viles, Revenants and Cyberdemon, yet still making most of the less obviously dangerous enemies count too. The little flood of Zombiemen before the biggest fight was funny, but my approach to using the Invulnerability in conjunction with melee-range battling the Cyberdemon in a rocket duel was great fun and a strategy I knew could go horribly wrong. I got lucky and escaped before I became vulnerable again (to a tight dead end...) and managed to finish him off with the plasma rifle before my poor positioning could catch me out.

 

So yes, a good map! I'll give MAP31 a go tomorrow, as it's looking pretty big. I may have to fall behind until the weekend if work doesn't ease off.