The DWmegawad Club plays: KINDa

[Biodegradable]

MAP27 - Congo Control

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

 

A sprawling techbase made out of rock, stone and mud, this map brings back that more neo-classic feel I'd been missing for the last couple of maps. Progression is a little bit more straightforward, though Whoosh can't help himself and make things still a little obtuse at times. Obtaining the red skull was especially troubling. I ended up taking a lap around practically the entire map before realising you had to press two numbered consoles (without switches even) in order to lower it enough to reach it. A pretty inadvisable move and I doubt I was the only one who got confused by it, especially with how often our man makes us jump through a fair amount of hoops just to collect them. Mind you, that was the only I didn't like about this map. It's otherwise an engaging romp with fun combat and some interesting set pieces. If only I could figure out that soulsphere secret. It's probably a hidden teleporter or something hehe.

 

 

[Book Lord]

37 minutes ago, Biodegradable said:

If only I could figure out that soulsphere secret. It's probably a hidden teleporter or something hehe.

 

By the RK operated switch, you can climb on the surrounding wall (parapet), follow it and jump down to the Soul Sphere. This type of secret was not so common in Kinda.

[Pechudin]

I haven't played this month (and looking at previous months I have far too many unfinished Megawad Clubs...), but I'd like to second

 

+++Good Morning Phobos

 

I playtested it and can vouch for it. A pretty good overall experience.

[DuckReconMajor]

 

On 10/22/2021 at 7:07 AM, Andromeda said:

I agree, have been playing along with the club (despite not posting) and having a blast so far! Short, challenging, resource-starved levels - just how I like them.

 

I had a feeling you'd like this mapset, hope to hear more of your thoughts this month.

 

MAP27 - Congo Control - dsda-doom - skill 4 pistol start with many rewinds

 

I think it actually clicked for me this time! The stuff KINDa tries to do, coalescing into one awesome map. Definitely my favorite so far.

By now I know better than to wait until I'm low on health to do some rewinds, so I played conservatively in that regard.

I also kept my nose buried in the automap as much as I could.

Some scenes here have incredible lighting.

The fight at the end after blue key door was really fun

 

I actually didn't have issue with the red key because after MAP32 I learned to go on a grunting and punching spree when there are no monsters around.

When I heard the key lower I did feel that chill of "wow i got lucky there that would've taken me two hours" lol

 

Spoiler

 

 

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP27 - Congo Control (89%K/94%I/40%S):

Another KINDa large map, this one though, feels less empty, this is just TNT gameplay yet again, I quite enjoyed this map although there is way too much "circling around". Oh, and if you love chaingunners, this is chaingunner's paradise, as every single trap from start to finish is full of them. Again, there is one of those "last room" traps you can skip by just jumping to the exit pad, as the last chaingunners take way too long to teleport into the room.
One of the most solid ones so far, yet, we have techbases this far on the megaWAD and no new things, feels like this map and all the tech-base ones this far could have suit better the maps between the 12nd and 20th slot. Placement is what lowers some points for me, still a good one.

(UV Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:
 

Spoiler

 

MAP09
MAP12
MAP22
MAP27
MAP25
MAP10
MAP23
MAP08

MAP05
MAP11

MAP01
MAP26
MAP16
MAP21
MAP20
MAP17
MAP13
MAP04
MAP06
MAP14
MAP19
MAP02
MAP24
MAP15
MAP07
MAP18
MAP03
MAP31

MAP32 (Unrated)

 

 

[Doritos420]

Map27 - Congo Control

Once you figure out how to get the red key ends up being a pretty fun level. I do have to say though the teleporting chaingunner traps are fucking ruthless. Beginning was simple enough, on pistol start there were enough early hitscanners that by the time you get to the mid tier enemies I had enough ammo to take them on (though the initial pain elemental really surprised me). I do like the doom cute sort of aesthetics on display in this level (all the control panels and the prison areas), speaking of control panels though it took me forever to get the red key. I noticed the panels labelled #1 and #2 but for some reason it didn’t allow me to interact with it (I think I might have been standing overtop of the linedef instead of infront of it, so it didn’t trigger) so I ended up wasting a bunch of time running around getting frustrated (ended up getting all of the secrets though). After I finally got the red key the rest of the level was breezy by comparison. I liked the tunnel to get to the blue key, that was a fun touch. Also the rocket launcher trap was pretty fun. I liked the map, but wish the red key buttons were a bit more fine tuned, or you could always use a normal switch.

[FistMarine]

Regarding MAP21 megasphere, great to know it was intended to be picked up that way! Anyway, the progress of today:

 

MAP27: Congo Control
Probably one of the better maps in the whole megawad. The design is nice and the only main difficulty comes from those teleporting chaingunners at some points into the map. You should have no problem dealing with them as long as you stay alert.
The only tricky part I found was actually getting the red skull key, which made me initially stuck but after pressing on those computer panels, the red key eventually became accessible and after that, it went smooth with finding the yellow and blue skull keys immediately after.
The chaingunner traps at end aren't too bad if you pay attention and are quick enough to kill them with chaingun/plasma. I managed to clear the last part without taking damage, feel pretty happy about how that went, considering things could have went wrong at any time.
There's five secrets to find and they are mostly easy to find. I found 3 secrets by myself (megasphere and invulnerability), while the last two (soulsphere and invisibility) I found when I was done with the map. Well technically the soulsphere I have seen earlier but didn't bother getting it since I reached the end of map with 150% health and armor and never felt the need to refill health (other than the bonuses) until I was done with the map. The invulnerability got a little use by saving it for what was behind the blue key door, not sure what was the best place to use it considering there wasn't any part I found deadly, so I appreciate that invulnerability was still a bit useful.

How to access the secrets:
Megasphere (secrets 1 and 2) - In the room where you will find the rocket launcher and activate a trap, look for an evil eye decoration, open the nearby wall, inside you will find a caco corpse and a switch (this counts as first secret), pressing the switch will unlock a nearby place containing a megasphere (secret 2). The megasphere is best saved for the end of map (assuming continuous playthrough)
Invulnerability (secret 3) - In one of the tech rooms (close to where you will find the red skull key), press on one of the panels/walls and you will find an invulnerability inside.
Invisibility (secret 4) - Press the tree (where you will find berserk and activate a switch that spawns a bunch of chaingunners) to find invisibility inside, look for the dead marine corpse to position yourself and access the secret from the correct side or check the automap, it should give the solution.
Soulsphere (secret 5) - Near the red key switch, climb on those ledges to get high enough and then "jump" into the platform where soulsphere sits.
The best part is that I ended up the level fully maxed (I have waited for this moment since many maps ago) and feel very prepared for the upcoming maps, so at this point absolutely nothing stands in my way!
Fun map. I enjoyed this one.

 

MAP28: Knock Knock
Who's there? 6 cacodemons! I know the joke was kinda lame, though I had to make that joke anyway. :P
Those six cacos show up at beginning after you shoot that switch behind you. Then you will be able to progress through the map, as most of the doors should now open. As usual, most encounters are fairly easy to handle, with a few interesting traps that happen later in map.
There's four secrets to find, three of which I found during the level, the last one (blue armor) which I noticed earlier, I saved for the end for obvious reasons. The nearby located soulsphere doesn't count as a secret (though it might as well), however I recommend to be careful when grabbing it because it's guarded by four chaingunners!
Secrets guide:
1) BFG - Located close to where you would find the Rocket Launcher. You have to make a run (to where you go to grab the red key) and then come back to find the BFG platform temporary lowered. You have to be quick to reach it, if you don't get in time, just keep trying.
2) Backpack - It's located inside a cage with imps, however I don't remember the exact procedure to reach the secret, I guess either pushing one of the walls or the place opens while progressing in the level. It's easy to find/get anyway.
3) Super shotgun - In the room with the evil eye decoration (where imps, demons, knight and baron get unleashed), push one of the fire walls to find a SSG with shells inside.
4) Blue Armor - In the room containing a soulsphere and a switch mandatory for progression, you will notice a blue armor. Carefully walk on the ledge and you should get it.
Overall, it was a pretty interesting map. Don't have much to say about it, it was fine. I'm saving the energy to write about the remaining maps.

Speaking of which, there's only two maps left and after checking the automap at start of MAP29, it seems it has over 300 monsters present on UV difficulty, so I have a feeling it will be another long map. Won't matter too much since tomorrow I should finish with the megawad. Then I will decide with votes for the next month.

 

Deaths so far: 1 (MAP25)

Spoiler

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by FistMarine

[dei_eldren]

KINDa - MAP28 Knock Knock (HNTR, blind, continuous w/ saves): K 100% (116/116), I 100% (33/33), S 100% (4/4), T 38:20

 

Spoiler

This map looks and plays a lot like a cross between a map in Si666il and Thy Flesh Consumed with its complex and often confined spaces and unique & striking hellish visuals from the former meeting with the commencing neoclassicism of the latter.  At least on HNTR the combat is much more challenging than in the last few levels, without the gameplay giving an inch either on the complexity of progression.  Cacodemons were used to great effect in the start, even if they were only four in number, having them come in from different fronts always adds a little pressure.  There was another Cacodemon attack soon later in a small room, as monster closets opened behind my back and four of them emerged upon me.  i took ridiculous amount of damage being unprepared, and blasted them off with the BFG.

 

 

The RK gave me some trouble, but again self-induced.  i looked for solution for too long in the western side, while having neglected a whole area in the other building.  It turned out to be a very interesting one - with changing architecture, an ambush which i dealt with the BFG, and ultimately revealing switches to solve the mystery of the RK.  Except, not so fast, bozo - don't you ever learn?!  There was one more new switch to find.  i found it in a small walled outside-section where earlier i had found the Soul Sphere, resulting in a multi-front Chaingunner ambush, and me losing immediately about 40% of the Soul Sphere.  Upon pressing the switch this time, there was yet another ambush, of teleporting Hell Knights and hitscanners in the distance.

 

 

Behind the RK door is a switch to open up the path to the apparent exit-room, but also a lot of enemies spawn on the starting outside area between the buildings, with especially dangerous two Revenants running atop the wall at both ends.  My health went down to 16%, but with three more secrets to find i was confident about restoring it before exitting.  The only secret i had found so far was the backpack in the pathway between the bars.

 

The Mega Armor had one of those crafty thin ledges that are hard to see to get to, and i only realized it before i had concluded there's no connexion to its location from anywhere else.  The last two were marked in the map, but the other one - hiding a BFG - being particularly devious, i noticed it quite soon but upon inspection thought it was nothing.  i later found it by accident as i came to it fast enough after crossing a linedef out of sight to see it open.  The fourth one is easily found by studying at the map, in the southern wall of the eastermost room, where the switches were.

 

What took me a long time was the wrong scent, as i noticed some structure indicated in the map behind the northern wall of the outside area, and for a long time believed it was connected to the final BFG secret.  i in fact gave up on it, and went for the exit at one point, only to discover it was a fake one, and the structure behind the wall i'd noticed belonging to the proper exit.  After this i decided to give one more chance for myself to find the secret, and as recounted above by luck found it.

 

 

In summary, another fantastic map.  It has absolutely never happened before that my favourite maps in a WAD would be in late 20s slots.  Unfortunately, i was not able to restore my health even near 100%, so the start of the penultimate map might be tricky - but, i will make a point not to get stuck on the RK!

 

 

Kind of Top Ten:

Spoiler

MAP26 - Monstrous

MAP24 - Frontier in Situ

MAP25 - Her Company

MAP28 - Knock Knock

MAP27 - Congo Control

MAP10 - Mud and Blood

MAP08 - Deux

MAP12 - Monster Monopoly

MAP09 - Death Delivery

MAP05 - Leak

MAP21 - Melancholy

MAP19 - Calculator

MAP20 - Monster HQ

MAP17 - Naive

MAP15 - Blackout

MAP16 - Patino

MAP23 - Bloodlove

MAP06 - Cement

MAP04 - Treehouse

MAP07 - the UAC Project

MAP02 - Hell's Cavity

MAP01 - Go

MAP18 - Doomsday Machine

MAP13 - Blast

MAP14 - Death's Dwelling

MAP22 - Skin

MAP11 - Her Keep

MAP03 - Toxic

MAP31 - Hell's Party

 

[TheMightyWhoosh]

10 minutes ago, dei_eldren said:

KINDa - MAP28 Knock Knock (HNTR, blind, continuous w/ saves): K 100% (116/116), I 100% (33/33), S 100% (4/4), T 38:20

 

  Reveal hidden contents

This map looks and plays a lot like a cross between a map in Si666il and Thy Flesh Consumed with its complex and often confined spaces and unique & striking hellish visuals from the former meeting with the commencing neoclassicism of the latter.  At least on HNTR the combat is much more challenging than in the last few levels, without the gameplay giving an inch either on the complexity of progression.  Cacodemons were used to great effect in the start, even if they were only four in number, having them come in from different fronts always adds a little pressure.  There was another Cacodemon attack soon later in a small room, as monster closets opened behind my back and four of them emerged upon me.  i took ridiculous amount of damage being unprepared, and blasted them off with the BFG.

 

 

The RK gave me some trouble, but again self-induced.  i looked for solution for too long in the western side, while having neglected a whole area in the other building.  It turned out to be a very interesting one - with changing architecture, an ambush which i dealt with the BFG, and ultimately revealing switches to solve the mystery of the RK.  Except, not so fast, bozo - don't you ever learn?!  There was one more new switch to find.  i found it in a small walled outside-section where earlier i had found the Soul Sphere, resulting in a multi-front Chaingunner ambush, and me losing immediately about 40% of the Soul Sphere.  Upon pressing the switch this time, there was yet another ambush, of teleporting Hell Knights and hitscanners in the distance.

 

 

Behind the RK door is a switch to open up the path to the apparent exit-room, but also a lot of enemies spawn on the starting outside area between the buildings, with especially dangerous two Revenants running atop the wall at both ends.  My health went down to 16%, but with three more secrets to find i was confident about restoring it before exitting.  The only secret i had found so far was the backpack in the pathway between the bars.

 

The Mega Armor had one of those crafty thin ledges that are hard to see to get to, and i only realized it before i had concluded there's no connexion to its location from anywhere else.  The last two were marked in the map, but the other one - hiding a BFG - being particularly devious, i noticed it quite soon but upon inspection thought it was nothing.  i later found it by accident as i came to it fast enough after crossing a linedef out of sight to see it open.  The fourth one is easily found by studying at the map, in the southern wall of the eastermost room, where the switches were.

 

What took me a long time was the wrong scent, as i noticed some structure indicated in the map behind the northern wall of the outside area, and for a long time believed it was connected to the final BFG secret.  i in fact gave up on it, and went for the exit at one point, only to discover it was a fake one, and the structure behind the wall i'd noticed belonging to the proper exit.  After this i decided to give one more chance for myself to find the secret, and as recounted above by luck found it.

 

 

In summary, another fantastic map.  It has absolutely never happened before that my favourite maps in a WAD would be in late 20s slots.  Unfortunately, i was not able to restore my health even near 100%, so the start of the penultimate map might be tricky - but, i will make a point not to get stuck on the RK!

 

I really like the architectural merits of this map. My only gripe with it now is:

 

Spoiler

The ‘second’ switch to lower the red key with the teleporting Hell Knights is totally unnecessary and complicates progression.  

 

[dei_eldren]

51 minutes ago, TheMightyWhoosh said:

I really like the architectural merits of this map. My only gripe with it now is:

 

  Hide contents

The ‘second’ switch to lower the red key with the teleporting Hell Knights is totally unnecessary and complicates progression.  

 

 

i liked the ambush though. :)  It made it worth that place being used twice.

[Veinen]

Map22: Skin video

 

I don't think anyone who has been reading my commentary will find it surprising that I liked this map a lot. It's essentially an arena map where you have two objectives: 1) unleash everything and 2) lay waste. The free Megasphere helps a ton with the latter and this is such a short map anyway that risky tactics can be deployed without putting crazy amounts of time into getting a good demo done. Like one might imagine, getting shit killed effectively is quite luck-based in the end although of course there are some basic things to consider like try to use the rockets against bigger groups instead of Pinkies / Spectres that are everywhere. I don't mind the AV turret but he's tough to hit sometimes if he doesn't stop and target you and it's easy to waste precious ammo against the guy. Not much else to this really, really fun to blast through and a welcome breather map after a bunch of longer ones (and before map23 which was extremely frustrating in my blind playthrough). Visuals and automap gave me some Hell Revealed map07 flashbacks initially but fortunately it's nothing of that kind gameplay-wise. 

[cannonball]

MAP27 - “Congo Control”

 

This wasn't as bad as Map26, but not by much.

Progression is a little better here, just a snag with the red key progression, once this is grabbed then the other keys and the exit follow quickly. Still the obtuseness of the red key will leave you stumped for quite a while. Now this map is dominated by teleporting chaingunner traps, these were quite frankly horrible to deal with. The mechanics are clunky and unreliable and they have a habit of spawning everywhere, as such there is a strong chance that you will get surprised by one of these after a certain point of the map. There isn't really a strategy to deal with this and as such it comes down to finding a spot where they will tend to cluster together and then mow them down.

Honestly, remove the ridiculous number of chaingunners (replace with mix of other monsters) and the stupid red key progression and you would have a reasonable map, alas yet again strange ideology 'kinda' ruins this one.

[Book Lord]

MAP 28 – Knock Knock

Doomsday Engine, UV-fast, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

A courtyard with six doors, all sealed. I had a look around and found a switch that cannot be activated by pushing (extremely weird, since it looks like a hand-operated one), so I punched it. Knock Knock! The doors opened and 6 Cacodemons were in for the kill. An amusing fight on -fast and continuous play, a frantic run into a random direction for pistol starters, hoping for the better. Finding the necessary weapons and ammunition in the side areas would not be easy with the strong opposition encountered everywhere. The door closest to the switch is surely the intended way to go since it leads to decent basic supplies and then to the plasma rifle.

 

Knock Knock was not built on random and casual ideas; unlike other entries in Kinda, it appeared constructed on a solid gameplay rationale, mixing a proper amount of incidental combat with valid ambushes and tough battles. The visuals were extremely nice, detailed vanilla mapping at its finest. There were foolish architectures and odd interconnections between the areas, and I loved how the western and the eastern sections had been graphically distinguished from each other. The former alternated a classic hellish wood and marble, ending with a natural amphitheatre of white rock teeming with Imps. Clearing this section was useful because it offered plenty of weaponry, including a secret BFG, but the RK was unlocked elsewhere. There was also a blue skull switch that should not be missed for progression.

Spoiler

The eastern portion was even more original with its round columns, resembling a ruined temple with tech-base injections. FIREMAG1, RROCK6, and other weird patterns brisked up the brown texturing, accompanying the player in the short journey through strangely interconnected rooms. The presence of windows made lonely hitscanners quite deadly, but also the planned ambushes left nothing to be desired. I enjoyed the room transformation at the first gargoyle switch, it required swift reaction to survive and the handful of zombies in the newly revealed room added pressure to the fight. I found an inglorious death when I pushed the second gargoyle and was eviscerated by a Hell Knight I did not see coming. He was too -fast for my slow reaction.

Spoiler

I liked how the map repopulated the hub courtyard at every progression step. Not only it was entertaining to fight more hostile creatures there, but it also offered an implicit confirmation that I was on the right path. The final wave after entering the red door included an Arch-Vile, spawned in an area with corpses to raise. One of the better uses of this enemy in the entire megaWAD. The fake exit was also a nice idea, a good trap for players that think they could just leave as in many of the previous levels.

Spoiler

Knock Knock showed an increased maturity and expertise by the author. I found the monster placement to be thoughtful and effective. The geometric patterns on the ceiling, the modelling of spaces, and the choice of textures were proficient and noteworthy. Both the mandatory puzzles and the secret areas were engaging. I can hardly find something to complain about, so I am glad to affirm this was an excellent Doom level.

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/Blind/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 26 - MONSTROUS 

99% kills and 83% secrets

Time: 36:50

Deaths: 1

 

Monstrous is right. This is easily the biggest map of the WAD so far, though you can cut your time in half if you do what I did and sequence break the map. I grabbed the yellow key early. There's a lift down to a room with 2 stimpacks that has a small wall that looks into the yellow key room. I jumped off the lift, landed on the small wall, and continued on to the platform the yellow key was on. Given the progression this WAD normally does, I wasn't entirely sure if this was intended or not. Given the fact that I opened the exit with less than half the kills after going through the yellow door, I took that as a "nope". This is another map where the normal progression just amounts to "wander around aimlessly hitting switches, while keeping note of bars blocking progress and the location of keys." I managed to hit several switches before finding the bars they lowered, but the bars leading to the switch lowering the blue key I found beforehand, so when I hit a switch that I had no idea what they did, I headed back there to find them lowered. Finally going into the blue key door area and taking care of the 4 barons that lead back out to the cyb area, I noticed the yellow key platform had lowered, fully confirming my jump to it earlier was a sequence break. Speaking of the cyb, it's what caused my death early in the map, as it sniped me as I was waiting to go up the lift overlooking this area. I was able to find all but 1 secret, which was the soul sphere one. I'm assuming the 4 candle switches / arachnotron battle opened up the one secret with a switch, that then opens the BFG/red key/megaspehre secret. I had one monster not teleport in as well. Even though the map was big, I didn't really get lost that often. Whenever I teleported back to the hub area where the BFG secret is, I kept getting turned around, but that was about it for navigation problems. Combat is pretty easy for the most part. I'm kinda confliced on this map. It may be a little too big, but it's not really frustrating.

Edited October 27, 2021 by TJG1289

[LadyMistDragon]

Well, I really needed the break(though the newstuff guide has kept me quite busy indeed, not to mention another article I might do). But I've also been following this and it's quite apparent I made the correct decision to skip this (yeesh). Unfortunately, the average length of a Good Morning Phobos map is a little bit long. What's more, this would be the 4th month in a row that a wad released in the past five years was done. It's time to shake things up a little.

 

With that, I present my nominations.

 

+++ Perdition's Gate. If playing this necessitates a link to warez, than we can go with +++Community Chest 3 I guess, but it's hard to seen when else one might play this. northvanistan would be happy, and at any rate, narratives a la Icarus are always welcome.

+++Hexen

+++Wonderful Doom

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP26: Monstrous

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 5/6 secrets**

 

Ah, here comes the big boy map. It's easy for a big map to fall flat, but often times big ones end up being my favourites (shoutout to MAP19 of Eviternity, possibly my all-time favourite map). This one is a mammoth stone fortress with some hellish flavour. It's as labyrinthine as you'd expect from a KINDa map, and it's best to practice KINDa-style gameplay when you're playing this one. Avoid being wasteful with ammo as much as you can, and since the level gives you a berserk use it as much as you are comfortable. The ammo squeeze is felt for a bit, but it lifted as the level went on for me. Big shoutout to the switch-hunt secret, which rewards you very handsomely with a BFG, megasphere, auto-map, the red key which allows you to crush the map's cyberdemon, and more goodies.

 

The combat in this one doesn't really seek to wow you with flash, instead being sparsely populated with monsters to give the fortress a desolate feel as Whoosh had mentioned. But the monster placements get the job done anyway. Getting 100% kills in this map was tough as expected with a map so expansive. What held me up was the blue key (did not see that portal open up), and I actually had to cheat to get the arachnotron unleashed by the soulsphere (hence the asterisks). Couldn't crack that secret for the life of me. These are both optional, but what's not is the yellow skull key which is also a puzzle to grab in itself, requiring you to jump off a nearby lift while it is partially raised. Wasn't too big on that one. 

 

Overall a pretty solid map, despite 100% kills being a bit confusing to get. Monstrous yes, but not a monstrosity. I will do maps 27 and 28 tomorrow, don't have the time to do another map at this moment.

[Biodegradable]

MAP28 - Knock Knock

UV | Continuous | GZDoom and Vanilla+

 

Ah, this was a fun one. Honestly, this map felt rather generous at points, even going so far as to just give you a soulsphere rather than have it be a secret. Granted, it's a trap, but a welcoming one in my opinion lol. While it gets particularly mean towards the end, this map felt more like it belong as one of the maps at the start, perhaps MAP05 or something along them lines given how familiar in layout and scope it feels, along with its somewhat more generous output of supplies. Mind you, it's certainly not a breather map by any means. It will keep you on your toes throughout with many teleport ambushes as you progress. While it falls just shy of getting on my favourite maps list, I do respect this one. Tis a good map, fam. ;^)

 

 

[DuckReconMajor]

MAP28 - Knock Knock - dsda-doom - skill 4 pistol start with many rewinds

 

This one was more frustrating than yesterday's, but still good

I gave in and went to Doom builder a couple times, though it was my fault I still fail to get in the habit of marking switches I can't access yet in the automap. The bars over the one switch lifted and I had forgotten about it.

The gray accents that slide down along with the lifts are a fantastic touch.

The kinda is probably not happy i used a door to get out instead of the designated blue teleport pad

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Doritos420]

Map28 - Knock Knock

This level was a ton of fun. Very tense beginning with waking up all the cacodemons (especially if you’re just starting with the pistol). After that it turns out pretty non linear with all the doors you can explore. I ended up getting the chaingun, plasma rifle and then the rocket launcher and BFG last. Progression wasn’t too convoluted since we only had to gather 1 key and it didn’t feel too complex to check back into previous areas. I actually liked backtracking and unlocking something new only to find monsters repopulating areas I had already cleared out. Feels like the detailing on this level is on point as well with the brick walls that are falling apart. The ending with the archville and revenants was a fun chance to whip out the BFG and I also enjoyed the surprise exit and the end. Great job.

[FragsBunny]

MAP28: Knock Knock (100%/98%/60%)

1.       Barons of hell no longer flinch

2.       Revenant fires a mancubus projectile on death

3.       One monster is cursed. It is completely invisible

 

“Knock knock! Who’s there?”

“HISSSSS!” the cacodemons reply in answer. Pistol starters might panic a little upon seeing them; hitting the switch opens the doors with few shotgun guys, and from there you can explore the map in any order. Typical of Whoosh, hitting a switch near the location of the red key open up the bars for different switch in another corner of the map. Then you need to press few more switches to get the red key… but the tricks do not stop from here. I don't remember how long it was since I played a megawad that made me to spend time searching for the right switches in many levels.

 

I lost a lot of health to revenants ambushing me due to slowing rain. Another card caused them to teleport them somewhere else on the map – and they ambushed me so good that I was left with 32% health at the end of the map. Another nasty surprise came with the exit portal, with instead unleashed a small ambush of imps. The real exit this time was a switch instead of a portal.

 

Generally, this map still make you starve for health – the freebie soulsphere comes with chaingunner ambush, and you might lose some bonus if you’re not careful. The mega-armor, which is easy to get, also helps. I also found the BFG – but I had neither time nor the determination to search for the 4th secret. I missed a megasphere in MAP27… let’s hope I did not miss another. Geez, 32% health! How I can get past the penultimate map?

[FragsBunny]

MAP29: The Kinda Circuit (100%/98%/100%)

1.       Cacodemons haunt players briefly after death

2.       Zombieman fires a arachnotron projectile on death

3.       Cyberdemon deals extra damage if wounded

Spoiler

 

The drawback of starting a map with 32% health was quickly negated by the secret berserk pack that I managed to grab. As I stared to explore the level, it turned to be much larger than I initially expected. I thought that it only requires a yellow key to get through. As it turned out, the path to the yellow key was long and thorned, with occasional steps back for a typical switch hunt. Enemies will constantly try to ambush you when given the chance (watch out for the surprise arch-vile!)

 

There were moments where my health was getting low, but! I kept pressing on towards the yellow key, knowing that I’ll get the megasphere as my reward. And that I have to fight against a cyberdemon soon, thanks to the card spoiler. Upon finally picking the yellow key… I had to take a long way back to start, with another set of monster ambushes awaiting me! By the time I reached the yellow door, I lost half of the mega-sphere bonus. But I knew that the worst had yet to start, so I saved right after that.

 

Remember the card that caused monsters to move faster when they open doors? Turned out the nearby cyberdemons were affected too! I had to fight two cyberdemons with increased movement speed and increased damage. And I only had enough BFG ammo to kill one under such conditions. It took me three tries to kill them, but sheesh! 29 cards, and I made it this far. One final trick was still left in Whoosh’s sleeve. There were three exit teleporters! But upon checking the auto-map, I instantly found out the correct one. I don’t want to think what would happed if I had stepped into wrong teleporter…

 

 

[DJVCardMaster]

MAP28 - Knock Knock (100%K/I/S):

TheMightyWhoosh fails to deliver a non-convoluted layout yet again, so far the only thing we can do is enjoy, this map was more "hellish" or "end-gamey" as some of the previous ones, and it had at times a really nice architechture. Luckly this one was more enjoyable, although again, there is much circling around, and just like some of the previous maps, you put me a SSG in a secret, this makes the map way too hard to deal if you are pistol starting. And I have to repeat myself here, I'm trying to play and evaluate this mapset without having in consideration pistol-starting at this point.
Sadly I had to check out where the switch to lower the red key is, yes it's at the other side of the level, this broke my patience. It was a solid level nonetheless.

(UV Playthrough - PrBoom+)

Order of preference:

 

Spoiler

 

MAP09
MAP12
MAP22
MAP27
MAP25
MAP10
MAP23
MAP08

MAP05
MAP28
MAP11

MAP01
MAP26
MAP16
MAP21
MAP20
MAP17
MAP13
MAP04
MAP06
MAP14
MAP19
MAP02
MAP24
MAP15
MAP07
MAP18

MAP03
MAP31

MAP32 (Unrated)

 

[dei_eldren]

 

KINDa - MAP29 the KINDa's Circuit (HNTR, blind, continuous w/ saves): K 97% (222/227), I 99% (104/105), S 100% (3/3), T 57:22

 

Spoiler

Does this mean at the end, provided he fails to stop us, we are going to learn what/who KINDa is, perhaps even see his irritation and anger?  i have to admit, i'm curious.

 

Some people have complained about the placing of maps, i don't mind so much as there's no apparent cohesive episodic theme to begin with, but at least this map was in its rightful place.  Maybe this wasn't the longest of them all, but the quasi-linear meandering trek and back through the myriad sections of a techbase really felt like the last leg of a journey.  At first i was surprised that there was no teleport or a shortcut to help me get back to the YSK door, but it felt appropriate, going back through the familiar tricky hallways filled again with rather heavy opposition.  i used up most of my Megasphere, but was also happy to collect all the items i had left behind.  In the end, the Cyberdemons scared me, until i discovered the teleport and was happy to find out i didn't need to first of all battle them, but also didn't need to waste my hard-saved plasma.  i had had to use quite a lot of it also on especially Pain Elementals and Lost Souls, that were copious especially in the ambushes on the way back after getting the YSK, but also in few other instances, such as the entering of the BSK room, it was the most practical way to manage the encounter.

 

As usual in this WAD, there was quite a lot of creative combinations and uses of textures - such as the maze with fireblu inlays and blue light edges - interspersed with very classic designs. 

 

 

 

 

i found two of the secrets while playing, both of which were hinted on the automap.  First was about ten seconds into the game, a berserk-back

which was extremely useful for me, having only about 30% health.  The second was the BFG in the outside area seen from the fireblu-hallway, and this one had a little trick to pry it open.  Third one i'd missed, but found it quickly after the fact - some rockets and health guarded by a Chaingunner behind a wall marked also in the automap in the hall towards the end of the map, with the very large door opened by two switches.

 

The linearity of the map was broken a few times by need to look for switches, and only at one time i was at a loss and it took me a few minutes to find progression, when the path leading to the BSK room was blocked by bars close to a nukage area with caged Revenants, and later a join Cacodemon-Pain Elemental attack.  Think i backtracked all the way in my confusion, but in fact the solution was much closer in a place i'd just visited before - but that's on me, i have no idea why i didn't re-check the correct place first.

 

Once again, fantastic map.  i enjoyed all of it, also the backtracking and confusion, and considering the size it didn't even take as long as it could have.  The secrets were much easier on this one, though, which was i'm sure a kindness KINDa now regrets.  Oh,  the three exits, ha-ha!  Caveat emptor...  i took the middle one first (........), and probably my best idea in the whole map was to try the others just in case :D  Of course, very possible the choice ends up being superfluous, and the whole thing is a cruel joke by KINDa!

 

 

Pt2:

Spoiler

 

 

Kind of Top Ten:

Spoiler

MAP26 - Monstrous

MAP24 - Frontier in Situ

MAP25 - Her Company

MAP28 - Knock Knock

MAP27 - Congo Control

MAP10 - Mud and Blood

MAP08 - Deux

MAP12 - Monster Monopoly

MAP09 - Death Delivery

MAP05 - Leak

MAP29 - the KINDa's Circuit

MAP21 - Melancholy

MAP19 - Calculator

MAP20 - Monster HQ

MAP17 - Naive

MAP15 - Blackout

MAP16 - Patino

MAP23 - Bloodlove

MAP06 - Cement

MAP04 - Treehouse

MAP07 - the UAC Project

MAP02 - Hell's Cavity

MAP01 - Go

MAP18 - Doomsday Machine

MAP13 - Blast

MAP14 - Death's Dwelling

MAP22 - Skin

MAP11 - Her Keep

MAP03 - Toxic

MAP31 - Hell's Party

 

[FragsBunny]

MAP30: Kinda (35%/100%/0%)

Spoiler

 

1.       Replace Icon of Sin with a new boss

2.       Cyberdemon is more aggressive

3.       Arch-vile shoves nearby entities on death

 

Icon of Sin, Cyberdemon, Arch-vile – those card spoilers gave me a though on what KINDa is. But the Mighty Whoosh is the type to break all expectations, am I right?

Before stepping into one of the two teleporters, I managed to find and grab all the weapons the were generously offered. Upon entering the right portal, I immediately teleported in from of the Icon of KINDA. I did not see any clue aside from encountering the arch-vile in the back of the Icon. The teleporter right near it took me back to the hub, so I entered the second portal, and encounter two cyberdemons. Which, for some stupid reasons, immediately teleported behind the newly revealed baron horde, which for another stupid reason was facing their backs to me.

 

I ignored the immediate slaughter of the cybers and grabbed the red key. By the time I returned to face the Icon, there were many enemies around it, but I believe that the encounter with Icon would’ve been easier if I had stepped into the left teleporter first. While BFG ammo is plenty, I don’t remember getting enough rocket ammo on this map, but the RPG still managed to get its job done.

 

And so… The KINDA is finally down! But… what’s this? The mapper promises a sequel?! Why not? A sequel just for us DWmegawad club folks – because this mappack became notable only thanks to us! Well, what can I say? Just let the community to decide if it does come out! As this is the first map-pack of my joining the club, I don’t mind seeing another one from The Mighty Whoosh! Just paint it in CC4 or OTEX pack next time!

 

 

 

Final Corruption Card Tally:

Spoiler

 

1. Sergeants are always focused on players.

2. Player heals nearby monsters when damaged

3. Zombiemen picks up and throw dead monsters

4. Arch-vile can leap at their prey

5. Monsters gain a speed boost when they open doors

6. Imp gains health and damage after killing another monster

7. Mancubus are always focused on players

8. Mancubus turns to stone on death

9. Mancubus respawns once after death

10. Cacodemons are always focused on players

11. Baron of Hell showes nearby entities on death
12. Arachnotron projectiles are partially invisible

13. Arch-vile have a regenerating shield

14. Sludge rain will fall outside, slowing your movement

15. Arachnotron fires baron of Hell projectiles

31. Hell knight receives damage one second later

16. Imp projectiles traves twice as fast

17. Demon fires a baron of hell projectile on death

18. Mancubi are able to fly

19. Revenant may teleport away if in danger

20. Baron of hell the throws a chain of 3 projectiles

21. Baron of hell projectiles travel twice as fast

22. Arch-vile will steal items off the ground

23. Pain elemental have a regenerating shield

24. Arch-vile deals extra damage if wounded

25. Hell knights are always focused on players

26. Cacodemons no longer flinch

27. Chickens will appear. Avoid killing them at all costs

28. Barons of hell no longer flinch

29. Cyberdemon deals extra damage if wounded

30. Arch-vile shoves nearby entities on death

 

 

Edited October 28, 2021 by FragsBunny

[FistMarine]

MAP29: The KINDA's Circuit
Another long map! Thankfully it's the second longest map of the whole megawad (after MAP26, which was the longest), after that, MAP30 is very short by comparison!
Anyway, MAP29 is fairly tricky at times with some chaingunner traps, crushers (don't worry it's only 3 of them in one place and they are easy to get past), a surprise archvile and TWO cyberdemons as the level's boss battle, this makes MAP29 one of the most difficult maps in the entire megawad.
Thankfully, if you approach the encounters carefully (and be a bit lucky as well with the RNG), you shouldn't have problems solving this map.
I had taken a bit of damage early on from some surprise chaingunners (and even some shotgunners that were sniping me from meters away), eventually getting as low as 50% health when the archvile showed up and blasted me once. I needed to backtrack to get health and all I could find was a bunch of stimpacks (and that medkit in lava I didn't feel like grabbing at that time) to recover most of my health.
The good news is after that point, I hadn't taken much damage in the next few rooms and I eventually stumbled upon a hidden Soulsphere in lava (guarded by two shotgunners) and that was enough to help me throughout the whole map, along with replacing my blue armor with the green one when it was nearly gone.
What I didn't anticipate is that there are TWO megaspheres present in the map, the one that appears near yellow skull key (that can be seen through windows at beginning) I ended up saving for nothing. Though I will immediately explain why.
Getting the blue skull key earlier was a bit strange. You have to shoot that switch that unlocks a switch in one of earlier rooms and THEN you go back to see blue skull key is now available? I feel like this switch hunt is a bit unnecessary at times.
The mancubi spawned AFTER I pressed that second switch and they were just up there waiting for me. Thankfully taking them down with shotgun/SSG isn't too difficult since you can just wait there down at elevator and kill them carefully without taking damage but wouldn't have been better if they spawned upon grabbing the blue skull key, to add extra challenge?
The rest of the map wasn't bad, the hardest part was obviously the end with TWO cybers, though thankfully I got lucky with taking them down with BFG (and finishing second one with SSG, to prevent wasting too many cells), minimal splash damage from one rockets and I'm happy about that. Oh and had to backtrack to find the last few enemies in a room I missed earlier (I did that before I took the cybers down, since I ended up exploring the level again to make sure I didn't miss anything).
Once you reach the end and kill the last zombieman, you are presented with THREE exit choices. I will not spoil which one is correct (though source ports may help when you check the automap, even Crispy Doom helped show which is the exit), although they all end the map. The marine corpse may also help pointing to the right one.
One of them is a trap and sends you to a Sector 11 type (similar to Doom E1M8) that drains you of health/armor until 10% and starts next level in a poor state (not recommended)
One of other two is a secret teleporter that rewards you with another megasphere and extra ammo, which is the best choice and finally, the remaining teleporter is just the exit.
Completionists may want the secret teleporter to get 100% everything, though note once you do that, there is NO WAY BACK! You can still backtrack to the rest of the map from the three exits room, so I advice you to collect everything before you step into the exit if you want 100% everything!

Secrets guide:
1) Berserk pack in the starting room (check one of those walls)
2) BFG + Cell pack + Backpack in the courtyard where some enemies were present (press that door that leads to courtyard, then turn around, press that switch quickly and now you can access the courtyard)
3) At later part in map (after the room where you got the soulsphere secret), where you killed those spawned lost souls, press on a wall to kill a chaingunner, go down the lift and kill that arachnotron and some imps on ledges. Forgot exactly what secret contained, I guess a rocket box.

Only found the third secret myself, rest were with help of the cheating I did in ZDoom. Because I won't spent forever finding secrets in Crispy in normal gameplay, the map already took me over an hour to complete (though the extra 5-10 minutes were from backtracking and figuring out to get the BFG secret)

Overall, the level was fine and a great challenge to prove yourself worthy to face the final boss but I think some of the switches to progress, felt unnecessary, it felt like it extended the map's length for no reason.

 

MAP30: KINDA
Since someone already posted about MAP30, I might as well post about it too and finish with the wad.

SPOILER ALERT: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Spoiler

 

Here it is! The final level! Thankfully it's rather short and has 39 enemies on UV skill. I wonder what those enemies might be? Also one secret and NO items? Interesting. That means there are no berserk, invisibility, soulsphere, megasphere or invulnerabilities present! Don't worry, things aren't too hard, you will just miss 100% items at the end of the level in classic ports.
OK I admit I took a quick look in ZDoom just to find that secret before starting (it is easy to find, in the room before you teleport to the IOS battle, contains multiple backpacks in one place) and after that, I just planned my routes.
When you start the level, first go straight ahead. Collect the weapons. Press both the left and right switches. Go to the teleporter marked by two columns.
Go straight and approach/press that wall, press the switch and run back. TWO CYBERS will appear and there will also be many barons with their backs turned at you. The cybers will teleport right behind barons. You know exactly what to do, I won't explain further.
Funnily enough, the two cybers were eventually killed by barons and I had to take the remaining 10 or so barons myself with rockets (should have used BFG since there were FOUR cell packs waiting for you). I suppose speedrunners can ignore this part and just grab the red skull key but for completionists, you gotta get everything!
So yeah, once done, get red skull key, go back, go to the other teleporter marked by those bloody piles of skulls, grab the backpack secret in your left in one of cages, save.
A teleporter will get revealed. It sends you to the FINAL ROOM! Go behind the IOS, kill that archvile with a well timed BFG blast or rockets/plasma, grab the other item (forgot what was, cell pack or backpack) (also grab the blue armor if pistol starting, should greatly help you, otherwise ignore it if playing continuous as you should already have 200% health and armor), immediately access the red door, press the switch (that lowers the pillar) and teleport.
Now you have to shoot rockets while minding those spawning monsters. One time I aimed the rocket to that imp and hurt myself while elevator was going up, it's ok, I didn't take too much damage, considering I entered the last part with 200% health and armor and was more than enough to survive this battle that didn't last too long, since I have learned to time shooting the IOS correctly (most of the time).
Repeat a few times and done!

Congratulations! You have defeated KINDA and have finished another Doom 2 megawad!

 

 

Deaths so far: 1 (MAP25)

 

Overall: Kinda has been an interesting megawad that turned out to be MUCH BETTER than I expected. I didn't have too many expectations and after getting frustrated at the Skulltiverse megawad, which had some INSANELY difficult maps that really got on my nerves (especially near the end), I already told to myself "Oh, not another modern Doom 2 megawad!" and expected Kinda to be difficult as well.
After getting past that awful MAP03 and continued playing after two weeks break, I got positively surprised at the level design, especially later levels. There were some REALLY GOOD maps throughout and they got the sweet balance for me (on a continuous UV playthrough, they were pretty much perfect), although I will admit the levels didn't WOW me as the higher quality Doom 2 megawads/releases.

To me it was just another Doom 2 megawad. I had fun playing through this one, even if I haven't voted for it last month (due to reason mentioned above). I haven't heard of KINDA outside of people nominating in the previous DW Megawad club topics, eventually KINDA got chosen and I had to check it out after all.
So although the balance was good on UV continuous (especially when 100%-ing the maps), reading other people's comments made me think the maps weren't designed from a pistol start perspective. I'm no DoomGod and I know there's people who can play a lot better than me even on a pistol start playthrough but to me instead of torturing myself, I find a casual UV continuous playthrough (100% everything, with frequent saving and carefully advancing most encounters) quite relaxing.
The megawad didn't throw anything too crazy at me (except in some places) and besides MAP25 crushers getting me once (damn, so close to complete the whole megawad without dying!), I got very lucky at times. So even if I had died more times in other maps, I wouldn't have been disappointed. I usually learn from mistakes and do better next time.

I am also not usually a critical person, I appreciate in general the custom maps/mods by the community that I play for my favorite games and as a one man megawad, I think KINDA succeeds without any problem. Bonus points for EVERY level being able to get 100% everything in all categories! MAP30 was only exception with no items present in the map, which causes vanilla ports to only score 0% in that category. This is not necessary a problem with the map, although there could have been an item placed somewhere in the map, maybe a berserk at start to help poor people who chose the wrong exit at end of MAP29 or maybe a Soulsphere to go along that Blue Armor in the IOS room, considering the blue armor is only half effective when the player has only 100% health (in a pistol start) and even on a continuous run, if I had lost more health, the new blue armor wouldn't have helped at all, due to how Doom's armor works, you will have situations where taking odd damage (example 25 damage) splits the damage between health and armor, with health taking priority, so you may end dead slightly before the armor reaches 0. But like I said, on a continuous run with megaspheres from previous map, it was no problem to enter that room with 200% both.

 

However, to give a bit of criticism, the only things I can criticize is:
1) Being forced to go through damaging floors - This only happens in some levels but the earliest and most significant example is MAP03. Almost the whole level requires traversing through acid with limited rad suits and resources in general, not enough ammo and health packs. Entering the map with 200% health and armor GREATLY helped but even then you will run short on resources. The rest maps that had damaging floors weren't that bad and you are much better supplied in later levels than at beginning, so they aren't that much of an issue. And the best thing is most (if not all?) damaging floors only did 5 damage, so this is rather forgiving, especially when compared to mappers in general who tend to use 20 damage floors and those even have a rare chance to hurt you even with radiation suit on, which is a Doom feature that was a bit unnecessary (IMO) and can make the difference between life and death in very difficult maps where health and armor are scarce.
2) Switches sometimes being in hard to find/reach places - I don't mind hidden switches, especially if they unlock secret areas. But sometimes it seemed like the switches were added to extend the length of the megawad, sometimes a bit negatively. I don't mind as much as other people do but sometimes I just wanted to finish the map. The fact the maps weren't too long, allowed me to catch up rather quickly with completing a few maps daily (except the weekend break I usually do) and felt a lot better to talk about a map that most people are playing on that day, as opposed to talking about a map that everyone finished 10 days earlier. However, much like with the above critique, it is only half-critique. This means the following:

With maps not being too long and not having too many hidden switches or damaging floors, I can somewhat forgive and I can only think at the positives.

To me the megawad was great to play, sort of a hidden gem, but nothing that really wowed me. The megawad felt IWAD inspired at times, which was nice and I appreciate the fact it was also tested in Crispy Doom and fully working. Controversial opinion incoming: I generally dislike when mappers test vanilla/limit-removing wads only in ZDoom, forcing the use of a ZDoom family port, considering most modern wads disable jumping and crouching in ZDoom ports, this only limits the effectiveness of the source port for me.

I generally like playing ZDoom wads only in ZDoom family ports and with mouselook, jumping and crouching all enabled. Had this megawad only been tested in ZDoom, I would be forced to use ZDoom and then only take advantage of mouselook (jumping and crouching are disabled in this wad), as well as the better collision (when punching/chainsawing monsters, etc). But the experience would be generally the same and to me it is far more exciting to play a vanilla/limit-removing wad in a more classic source port and get the intended experience that author wanted. The only reason why I loaded the wad in ZDoom sometimes, was to find secrets faster, as ZDoom otherwise is an excellent source port but it just doesn't have the same vanilla feeling to me. Thus, I prefer to use more classic ports in general, like Chocolate, Crispy, Eternity and PrBoom+
Just my 2 cents. I don't want to start an argument about source ports or anything, so I will stop here with the review.
I enjoyed my time with the megawad and I'm looking forward to the SEQUEL! That was announced on the text screen.

 

Votes for the next month:

+++ Community Chest
+++ Hexen: Beyond Heretic
+++ Wonderful Doom

 

Thanks to LadyMistDragon, I finally decided and went back with exact choices I did previous month. Yes, I know that Hexen is unlikely to win for example (I will keep voting for Hexen for next few months too) but MAYBE there is a chance Community Chest will win.
I checked the other megawads (I'm only familiar with Interception II because I played first Interception back in 2013 in ZDoom with a gameplay mod and only remember how maps 19 and 29 were broken, thankfully they were fixed in last 2020 update and intend to replay that one, this time with a more classic port) and they all seem to have long maps, so I would advice to be careful with choosing what to vote. People in general don't like long maps from what I noticed. Additionally, this also makes it harder to catch up if left behind for a couple of maps.

I would have also appreciated to return to something older, it's been only newer Doom 2 megawads for the last few months and I don't think it would have been too bad to have something older get played for once. And I know there have been some REALLY cool megawads (or even other IWADS) that have been played throughout the years, this makes me wish I joined the forums earlier, even then since I registered last year, I regret missing on Plutonia earlier this year and whatever other cool stuff I wanted to participate in. I take it that it's impossible for the club to choose a megawad already played, even if it was played back in 2012, right?

On top of what I said, there have been months where multiple episodes got chosen to be played instead of a full megawad. It might help add a bit of variety and I wouldn't mind if near future (maybe December?), besides an Ultimate Doom/Doom 2 episode gets chosen, a Heretic episode and/or a Hexen hub gets thrown into the mix as well. That would be a great idea and also add enough variety to keep things fresh.

 

Regardless of other people's opinions on what I said and whatever megawad wins for November, I still hope to be part of the club and end up 100%-ing another megawad (whether old or new), just to add on my list of completed wads and share my thoughts with others. I think I will join later in the month, as usual. I just feel more comfortable to play and write about multiple maps at once. I only hope I can catch up before the month is over. Depending when I feel starting another Doom 2 megawad (Doom 2 is my favorite Doom game after all). :P

 

Have a nice day everyone!

 

EDIT: Added MAP30 text into spoiler.

Spoiler

 

Edited October 28, 2021 by FistMarine

[cannonball]

MAP28 - “Knock Knock”

 

Or bang bang if you decide to ruin the pun by shooting the switch with the pistol.....

A lot of work to get that red key, again I just wish that progression can be simplified to a point where you don't have to spend a significant amount of time searching for a switch that randomly revealed itself at some point. Still at least the more compact layout means you are spending less time lost. I am not sure how this would play without the secrets as again you get an easy blue armour and the BFG lift is one of those that will lower at random if anything crosses the trigger linedef, as such it is essentially a freebie. That said this was a pretty well presented level, the combat though was fairly casual with a couple of teleport ambushes that can suck away your health.

A passable map.

[TJG1289]

GZDoom/Blind/UV/Continuous/Saves

Map 27 - CONGO CONTROL

100% kills secrets

Time: 23:54

 

This level's pretty big, but it's nowhere near as bad as the previous map, and it's pretty fun! I really enjoyed this one. Mainly since there's multiple fights that are actual threats! They're all chaingunner ambushes, but hey, at least those are panic inducing. The first one is the scariest, since you don't see it coming in this small area with a big tree. Not a lot of cover as the spawn on both sides of it, so spray and pray with your chaingun or plasma. The berserk here made me think it was going to be a pinky fight, but NOPE. There's also a hidden partial invis in the tree, that naturally I didn't find until after. Thankfully, I did find the megasphere secret before this and didn't need it, so I went back to grab that. There's 3 more chaingun ambushes like this after, but they're much easier as you don't have to enter the room they spawn in for 2 of them, so you take them out a lot more easily. I don't think progression was that obtuse here, but I did read TMW's post about the chaingunner corpses covering the red key graphics during the second chaingunner ambush, so I was looking out for that. Yellow and blue keys were super simple to grab. General design of the map I think was pretty good! Yeah, I liked this one a bit.

 

Map 28 - KNOCK KNOCK

100% kills and 75% secrets

Time: 19:07

 

I was expecting to find some SS guards the entire time I was playing this for some reason. I only found this map to be ok, since there's a lot of criss-crossing the map for switches. I did like the visual design of it, as some of this stone base was coming apart, which looked pretty cool. We get some patented KINDa progression here, as when you hit the switch to reveal a baron, hell knight, and assorted annoyances, you find 2 gargoyle switches. I assume this allows access to the red key on the opposite side of the map, and it does, but the red key is still on a raised platform. I spent some time wandering around this area looking for something to lower it, before heading back to the 2 gargoyle switches and looking around there. I have no idea why you'd head back down to the soul sphere / chaingunner trap area, but there's a new alcove here with another switch that does lower the key. Also spawns monsters, but what else is new. Other than that, kinda standard fare. Though the exit teleporter is a trick! I was wondering where those last 2 monsters were. Felt weird ending the level with an exit switch.

[Book Lord]

MAP 29 – The KINDa’s Circuit

Doomsday Engine, UV-fast, Continuous, blind run w/saves

 

The last regular level of Kinda was a revelation, a hidden gem that alone was worth the admission fee. It surprised me that I liked such a long and linear level, but I felt the action to be entertaining and the advancement to be fluid and straightforward, except on a single occasion, leading to a climactic finale. The setting was another corrupted tech-base, extraordinarily large but curiously arranged as a twisting and convoluted path, allowing for no deviation, and offering no alternative routes or optional areas to explore, except for the always copious secrets. The objectives were presented in a clear manner since the starting room: a yellow door (the normal door before it should be removed for additional clarity), the YSK in a dark room nearby, and a courtyard with a large round structure, visible through the windows during the first portion of the level.

 

The exploration unfolded itself into a variety of environments, which were much more abstract in their function than the tech-bases of the first episode. The common trait was that everything looked great, with appropriate lighting and enough detail to make every area unique. The RSK was hidden in a pit not far from its door and was not a problem, even if a bit out of sight. The BSK was another story, since it required shooting a switch that did not look shootable, then backtrack and find a tiny open closet in a strange position. I was at loss for a while because I targeted the switch and for some reason it did not flip, so I must look in Doom Builder to get past that section. That was the only stumbling block I found; the rest of progression was naturally achieved after a thorough search of each area.

Spoiler

 

 

 

The KINDa’s Circuit was a round-trip to the YSK and back to the start, with the return journey dotted with new closets and ambushes in previously cleared sections. There were no hard encounters if approached carefully; the entrance in the round BSK computer room was rough at first glance, but also perfect for a BFG shot if the arrangement was known beforehand. On -fast, I was gunned down in seconds, since my health was low and the plasma gun was not devastating enough to stop 10 simultaneously shooting hitscanners.

Spoiler

Once reached, the YSK activated a nice scenic effect: the windows to the central section were shut, creating much anticipation for what was going on. The cluster of monsters outside the key room was self-explanatory: I must retrace my steps to the yellow door and fight many fresh forces from hell. As typical, hitscanners posed the main threat, especially a trio of Commandos that surrounded me thanks to a teleport line, and the mob waiting in the room above them.

Spoiler

The closed windows obscured the inner courtyard, which hosted a battle against two Cyberdemons. I liked the suspenseful backtracking more than the final combat, but the level was not finished yet. A huge and empty exit area, guarded by a lonely former human that for once was no bait, presented a choice between three teleporters. If the dead player should be understood as a hint, like in Hunted, here it was a misleading one, since it was placed close to the best choice that geared up the player for MAP30. Other options were an immediate exit and a painful Sector Effect 11 to send Doomguy to the final map in pitiful condition. Pistol starters should not care for the outcome, which was another nod to continuous players.

 

This MAP29 possessed all the qualities of Kinda (exploration, puzzles, secrets, nice tech-base visuals, good corridor shooting), without featuring too much of the drawbacks and reaching a genuine Final Doom atmosphere. Combat was less engaging than MAP28, but still well-organised in small set pieces. In my opinion, the best long map in the set.

[DisgruntledPorcupine]

MAP27: Congo Control

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 2/5 secrets

 

Part jungle aesthetic and part techbase. I quite liked the look of this one all-around, the jungle parts were nice to look at and the techbases were some of the techiest in the wad (just the way I like 'em). It's another pretty long one, although not to the degree of MAP26. A lot of the time I took was also spent figuring out how to get my first key. Totally overlooked the method of lowering the red key, I tend to assume that computer panels that are situated that low are to be ignored. 

 

The combat wasn't too challenging in this one. Ammo starvation is present, but quite manageable. I'm not sure how I felt with the repeated usage of those staggered teleporting chaingunner ambushes, they did provide the biggest threats in the level but I would have liked to see a bit more variation here. As a funny little aside, I was stuck on 89% kills for a long time and spent a great deal looking for secrets that might hold the remaining enemies. I eventually gave up and IDDT'd and saw that there was a chaingunner ambush that didn't get triggered just beyond the blue key door! I think what happened was I fired all my shots to kill the enemies in there from outside the room so the chaingunners didn't hear me. They were easily triggered when I fired a shot inside the room. So funny little mishap there.

 

One of the nicest looking levels in the wad. Could have done with a bit more variance in challenges as I said, but still a decent level.

 

MAP28: Knock Knock

UV, pistol start, no saves

100% kills, 3/4 secrets

 

A brown brick demonic fortress. This one felt like the most flattering pistol start in the wad so far. The dash away from the opening caco ambush when you only have the pistol to defend yourself is a pretty neat transformation, and it's a level that really strikes a good balance with its ammo numbers, never feeling too restrictive but also needing some care to not be wasteful. I do have one small bone to pick with the layout, being that I wish you could just grab the red key after finding out how to open the doors to it rather than having to go find another switch to lower it, not to mention said switch is almost as far as it could possibly be from the red key. It took me quite a while to find it and I'm still not sure what opened it up as it was closed when I was first in that area for the soulsphere. Apart from this misstep though, I enjoyed the layout and its nonlinearity.

 

Combatwise it's a little simple for something this late in the wad, but it's not a total joke. There are some dangerous as ever hitscan placements, and it feels like the mid-tier demons are more plentiful than in most of the wad too. I actually only had shotgun and chaingun ammo left-over for the (almost) final encounter with the archvile and the revenants, so that ended up being a bit close, but pretty easy to deal with with patience. Also, we finally see a fake exit in this level! The blue portals that mark the end of each level is just a trap here, lowering a couple imps and opening the way to a switch that ends the level. I wish this trap were more dangerous, it's pretty hard to get killed by it unless you just take your hands off the keyboard after stepping on, but it was a funny moment.

 

I liked this one a fair bit, one of the better maps in the wad so far in my opinion. 

[Capellan]

I don't believe anything has 4 votes yet, so if you want there to be a November DWMC, speak up :)