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dobu gabu maru

The DWmegawad Club plays: Interception (mmm, vanilla compatible!)

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Map 1 -- Excavation Site
A perfect start to the WAD. Simple and sweet installation type map with straightforward gameplay. Most of the secrets were of the same "type" (lower a wall) which made them simple to find. Plenty of action but nothing too tough for a first map. Unlike most other people so far I didn't find the traps unfair or annoying at all. Ammo balance is perfect. Good one. --4/5

Map 2 --Research Facility
Techbase time, and the gameplay picks up considerably here; thoroughly enjoyable. Two of three secrets again share a similar idea (lowering a wall from a distance) and are very very difficult to miss(!), especially the chaingun secret, as I rushed back down the stairs to face the monsters from a better spot. It's quite dark but that's okay. By accident I ran through to the RL before I got the blue key but this made the Baron/HK trap quite easy, so I don't mind. Cool map, but one thing annoyed me (as others have pointed out): once being teleported seemingly at random when entering a corridor. It was completely needless and left me momentarily disoriented. The action is violent but always fair and you are able to completely control the fights (they are never chaotic). I like where this is going. --4/5

Map 3 -- Flooded Caverns
Cavern map with a very simple and obvious progression. The fights aren't quite as good as in the first two maps -- in fact, they're sometimes a bit awkward because you're stuck with the SG (no SSG, rocket launcher is impractical except for the Caco swarm, and you get the chaingun only for the last bits). Difficulty is pretty low because you either have space to move around or can generate infighting easily. I ran out of shotgun ammo and had to choose between the pistol or the RL to kill a bunch of monsters mid-way, but I suspect that's my own fault (I'm careless with ammo sometimes). There are also no real traps at all. The secret leads to a lengthy corridor section which didn't seem to serve any real purpose.. why not just serve me the invuln right away? Easily the worst of the first three maps, but still something I'd care to play again. --3/5

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MAP04: Suddenly, revenants! Quite a small, cramped map, but never too hectic. Given that we don't have a SSG yet, the revenants never felt like they were placed unfairly (though the one behind the door got me the first time). I liked the secret at the top of the lift-door, but it was pretty obvious because why else would you have a lift-door? The stairs were a kindof neat effect too. And I liked being able to snipe stuff in the end room from the start room.

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Map03
Very easy on continuous HMP play; I started at 200/143 and ended at 175/200. Imagine it is a bit more challenging from a pistol start or on UV :)

Liked the caco fight. It was fun free-wheeling around the area and shotgunning them (I was low on bullets after the earlier PE).

This looked good (except the cement wall niches in the main chamber, where the textures looked a bit oof) and played well.


Map04
I have to deduct points for the one-way teleport to the exit. There really needs to a teleport back to the previous area. Other than that, this was a solid base level. I had fun getting the chaingunners and imps at the start to infight, and some of the fights with HKs were good. Taking on a PE with only a shotgun was interesting, but worth it for the supercharger :)

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INTERCEPTION:
Playing through this one on UV, as a consecutive run. None of that Pistol Start bollocks for me, I like racking up a stash of equipment and keeping it.
NOTE: Some almost-overwhelmingly bad impressions may come from my ramblings; don't take them the wrong way. I do appreciate the finer things in WADs, it's just that after 15+ years of incessant and/or cheap kicks to the balls while adventuring through all things Doom, I have developed an almost psychotically low tolerance for sudden traps and similar "no warning for you" bullshit, and I'm far more likely to refer to these and similar negatives in more detail when 'reviewing' stuff.

But then what would feedback be without it? Rough with the smooth, and all that shit. Anyway, on with the show.


MAP01:
Reasonably solid opening map overall, although having two Shotgun Guys teleport behind you almost immediately after opening the first door is nothing short of a dick move. Not entirely sure what the purpose of

Spoiler

that secret behind the bloodfall at the start

is either; given that there's no risk of low ammo here or ever on this map (unless you can't aim), it seems a bit backward to risk losing a possible 20% health for no good reason so early on, especially given the potential circumstances to make a shitty day even shittier if the game's RNG is set to 'cunt'.

I did like that little shortcut idea though. Even if I did only bother finding it once I'd gone the long way and everything was dead. All in all, certainly a fun little runaround with only a couple of issues - other than those, it's a fair 'Evilution' difficulty for MAP01.


MAP02:
Much like MAP01, it's a good enough level but not without a glaring issue getting in the way; there's an inexcusable piece of dickery within this. Crossing some random, completely unmarked linedef and being stuffed into the midst of a pack of Hitscanners is just no fun. Ever. Even the most subtle of hints (e.g. two candles at either end of said linedef) would at least give some sort of subconscious warning, but to just say "NO FUCK YOU" and leave a player at the mercy of the RNG is just... shit.

The rest? It's not bad. The other traps and ambushes are very manageable in their environments (the stuff just before the Red Keycard looks to be more of a threat than it actually is), ammo is plentiful (although the number of Bullets may be a little too generous), and the 64-wide corridors aren't that bad; if anything they make a refreshing change from constant 128+ widths and sprawling areas in so many PWADs!

The scoring problem with the Soulsphere secret has been mentioned, so no need to go into detail there. So really, bullshit teletrap aside, it's a fine level.

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I should note that I play without savegames (or music, so I will have nothing to say about the music tracks).

Map 4 -- Medical Center
A smallish techbase. Feels like ... I dunno, something out of The Darkening maybe, but with a different, 94ish STARTAN type texturing scheme. A lot of action for such a small map, but relatively easy (easier than map 2, and much easier than map 3, but then again like I said I got in trouble in map 3 because I ran out of shotgun shells midway). The fights are staged pretty well and I was enjoying myself. The backpack/soulsphere secret was very good, I like secrets which reward people who want to explore every nook and cranny of a map. One secret I had to go back and wallhump a bit for, since it was just(?) a random piece of wall. The soulsphere secret had the same deal like people mentioned in map 2, I was able to pick it up without it registering. Nothing much to complain about, short and fun, but it's not a classic either. --3/5

Map 5 -- Rail Terminal 38
Whoa, Evilution flashback! And I mean that in the best possible sense. What a delightful map! Great metal theme. Again, the fights are never overwhelming and unfair but there are plenty of monsters. Loads of fun. I was practically bathing in ammo throughout, though (but OtOH I did find the SSG right at the start, which could almost be considered a secret. I love that you are rewarded the SSG immediately if you're attentive but still given one later on if you aren't!) Because of all the ammo and powerups/health the difficulty leans towards easy. I exited with 90 shells, 400 bullets, 20 rockets, and 100+ health. The soulsphere secret/trap was cool, I landed on the berserk and just punched the entire room. :-) The progression feels a bit strange, I ran around exploring and kept stumbling upon monsters and easy-to-find secrets.. I had killed all but a handful of monsters when I finally found the red key. There's never a clear sense of where to go, but the map is small enough not to make that a problem. This is the most enjoyable map so far. Good stuff! --4/5

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Map05 - Rail Terminal 38 by phobosdeimos1
Fun map, like the metal style. Easy to find secrets. Very easy map in retrospect. You are given the ssg straight away and that is all you will ever need. Layout and looks really do it here. Combat is ok by no real surprises.
Edit - AS william Huber says, there is a problem with the midi in pr-boom

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04 - Medical Center by Matt534Dog
Another fine map, this time in narrow corridors rather than a huge cave. I didn't find the first secret, which left me out of ammo for my main weapons up until the Blue keycard.
I agree with Kristian, the Backpack secret leading to the Supercharge was very well done. :)

On the other hand, the one-way teleporter leading to the exit is clearly a bad idea. I IDCLIPped my way out and went for the remaining secrets and monsters.

I liked the Shotgun-centered gameplay in there.

05 - Rail Terminal 38 by phobosdeimos1
Here comes the Super Shotgun, along with larger groups of enemies. Cool stuff, albeit way too easy.
I was afraid the player could miss the SSG in the first area and then never could come back to it, but there are at least two other SSGs in the level ( and plenty of ammo ) so it's fine.

The map is non-linear, which is a welcome change from the previous ones, and its theme is rather nice. Plenty of height variation too, which is a plus.

The music doesn't loop properly when playing under PrBoom, there's a long moment of silence between the loops.

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Map05
I enjoyed this map a lot. It's pretty easy stuff, especially if you find the SSG at the start, as I did. I liked the way that new areas opened up and doubled back on themselves. Came in handy since I found a supercharge and blue armor early on, and never took them. Once I reached the exit I was able to grab those and leave with 200/200.

Difficulty on this was pretty straightforward - no particularly challenging sequences - but not boring.

There were a few minor texture alignment issues, but nothing major.

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again custom music, yeah! track in map5 was strange though, a long silent pause in between.
well, the first 5 maps are a good start. nice looking level design, difficulty (played on UV) ramps up good compared to classic style wads. no annoying design decisions so far, unlike with memento mori last month. looking forward to play more levels.

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05 - Rail Terminal 38 by phobosdeimos1

A labyrinthine metal base with heavily non-linear layout. I love these styles of maps, with their random interconnnecting corridors and secret rooms. Unfortunately this one was so non-linear that I happened to stumble on the shortest route to the exit bypassing half the map in the process. I did go back and 100% it, I guess I was just lucky to find the red key almost straight away and then the exit door shortly after - maybe a few more objectives would have helped to keep me trapped in the maze for longer. It was fun to explore though. Difficulty-wise i found it a lot easier than the previous maps, I never felt threatened in the slightest despite the mid-tier monsters and claustrophobic layout. This might be because I found the super shotgun secret at the start and a chaingun and rocket launcher soon after, the poor monsters didn't really stand a chance after that. Or it might be to do with the monster encounters being mostly on my own terms.

The music seemed to have a little break at one point, was that intentional?

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MAP03: FLOODED CAVERNS

Definitely dials down the difficulty by a large amount, as the only substantial fight is the cacos that spawn after the blue key, and even that battle is in a large, empty room. Still, I’m digging a lot of the design cues, such as the “put the reward where people can see it” secret design. While maybe not quite a “Doom the Way Id Did” level, it certain feels like one in some spots (the hallway to the blue door especially). The Invuln sphere seems almost a little silly since the level is so easy, but on the other hand, that makes it a good reward (rather than necessary for a ridiculous fight).

MAP04: MEDICAL CENTER

Not much to say about this one I didn’t say about MAP03. Very similar feel – lots of bits feel like an old id level. The texture/lighting/room design is all used well to make the different parts of the map feel different but still part of a cohesive whole. Nothing challenging here, and the map is pretty short. I think having the teleporter at the end be one-way was an oversight, though (and from a design point, kinda strange teleporting to a hallway that points back to the rest of the level). This one feels a little unfinished at the end.

Taking the first four maps as a whole (since they're similarly designed and by the same author) I'd have to say I liked #2 the most, with #1 close behind, #3 a little bit less, and #4 the least. I, at least, enjoyed the difficulty of the first two more than the easiness of the latter two.

MAP05: RAIL TERMINAL 38

I liked the interconnected-ness of it all, though the placement of the red key and the red key door/exit makes it easy to miss large parts of the level. (I did a second playthrough and burnt through the level in 1:47 with over 100/100, the SSG and a RL). Personally, I didn’t, because I completely missed the red key at the start, cleared the rest of the level, then wandered around trying to find it. Which actually coincided with the large pause in the music, making it doubly empty… I definitely was glad to find the SSG at the start, since there’s an uptick in the number of Hell Knights and Revenants to make it a lot more wanted than the last few maps. Aesthetic-wise, it’s a little bit bland, as it feels as though only three wall textures got used, all in chunks (the METAL2 area, the PIPEWALL area, and the CEMENT area). There’s a one-way staircase by the soulsphere at the north end of the map, which is a big no-no (not that big of a deal since you can easily jump off the ledge and go back around, but still).

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05 - Rail Terminal 38 by phobosdeimos1

This map reeks with classic vanilla atmosphere. Loads of metal, optional areas a packs of minor threat monsters make it the sort of first episode type level that I lap up.

The secrets were all very easy to find scoring me a rare 100% and spoilt me with soulspheres. As a result the only challenge was a mildly confused trek to find the red key - but a little bit of automapping did the trick. Turned out that the exit is pretty much straight after the red door so it felt like it came to a bit of an abrupt ending. No complaints from me though.

The music was again very nice in this level but I suffered the same looping problem previously reported even in Chocolate Doom.

Good map. For some reason I get the impression that this level might make for some interesting Nightmare! demos. Not that I'll be volunteering my services to that particular cause.

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Just posting my last dev comments until MAP07:

MAP03: This was actually the last map I completed for the project. Strange, isn't it?

MAP04: The music tracks for this map and MAP02 were originally switched around, but I thought the current music track fit better for a supposed Medical Center.

Also, the music looping problem in MAP05 and the one-way tele in MAP04 will be fixed in the next update.

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Matt534Dog said:

Also, the music looping problem in MAP05 and the one-way tele in MAP04 will be fixed in the next update.


You might want to fix the one-way staircase in map05, too. It's a not a huge problem, since you can go back around another way, but it feels a bit off.

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Sorry, but I've already said in the Interception thread that I won't be making any changes to phobosdeimos1's maps in honor of his death.

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In that thread Matt also made an interesting point that that staircase could be considered a trap of some sorts. Now I like this "bug". :)

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MAP05
-Midi bug, already noted though.
-I actually like the staircase "bug". It seems intentional.
-Looking above at the posts I know why I missed some 15 monsters. Not a big deal.

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Map06

This sprawling level with lots of interconnections marks a significant spike in the challenge from the last two levels. Health seemed tight, at least until the end when I snagged the supercharge secret. Plenty of ammo, though.

Got stuck for a fair while on the yellow key, as the sprint to get it wasn't easy to spot. That and the archviles were might least favorite elements of the map.

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Map 05:
Minimalistic, sleek. A fitting DM level.
Majority of enemies consists of zombies, imps and demons, few packs of hell knights and some revenants to make your life difficult. Not that tough, but managed to die for once.

Map 06:
Goddamn how sprawling level this is, I don't know where or when I lost my senses. And some people probably get some flashbacks of Plutonia's map 15: The Twilight. You'll know when you get there.
Lots of chaingunners in this map. Awfully lot.

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Map06 - Dangerous Curves by valkiriforce
A Valkiriforce map with lots of chaingunners.... go figure :P
Great map, seems to be a blend of map15 of plutonia with some Jen Nielsen ideas thrown in. Plenty of action and I love how parts of the maps loop round to places you need to go. Tricky map too with some nice quirks like the archviles constantly reviving the imps. You can dispose of them when you finished the level. Best map of the set so far.

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Map 6 -- Dangerous Curves
In one word: tedious. This is a medium-sized stone/brick map set in an ocean. The design is clearly inspired by Jens Nielsen, with complex switch hunts, Jens' texturing scheme and one area (the RL area) that's almost a copy/paste. ;-) Even though the map isn't big it feels very long, almost dragging on towards the end. I do play rather carefully the first time playing a map, and I certainly had to here. The secrets are good (only one was difficult to find, the green armour one next to the YK) but I hesitate to think what kind of experience I'd had, had I not found the blue armour secret right away, as medikits are few and far between. You have to stick to the shotgun and chaingun for almost all of the map but thankfully the monster fauna is well adjusted for that. Ammo balance was very good, I always got more ammo just about as I was running out. Several times it felt like I ran off in some unintended direction and got lost (cleared out the path to the YK door first and had to run back, landed down at two chaingunners facing the other way in front of a closed door later on, and had only the exit Revenant left to kill after picking up the blue key). The progression felt puzzling and if you have to put arrows directing the player -- not once, but several times -- you should reconsider the layout IMHO. Several areas were opened only when passing linedefs which you don't need to pass. None of the individual fights were difficult but the gameplay is such that you have to keep focused; if you fuck up once, be prepared to play like a scared little girl for a while to bump up your health. ;-) Not a map suited to my tastes. --2/5

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Sorry I haven't had much time to play I've had to visit Dad before he moves to South Africa managed two maps atm but will do my best to catch up.

Map 01 - Excavation site
Kills - 100%
Items - 96%
Secrets - 60%

A very nice starting map with a very good layout and some very nice monster teleport tricks (I especially liked the knight of hell switch room) noticed a sergeant was stuck in a wall just a minor little bug however.

Map 02 - Research Facility
Kills - 97%
items - 93%
Secrets - 0%

I had a little difficulty pistol starting this map so I'm afraid I had to start from a save and play with the weapons I got from the previous. Quite a nice map with some nice traps (especially the one near the beginning that teleports you to the red door). Overall a fairly decent map with some ideas but some places feel a bit bland to me (outside area with cement) also, I encountered a partial invisibilty secret that wasn't tagged and some places were fairly dark (more my fault because I was using GZDoom). Overall, quite a nice little map with very good gameplay.

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MAP06 - DANGEROUS CURVES

Hmm, it was alright. There's a ton of switches (almost too much, lots of switches where just a door or normal lift would've sufficed) but it's not too much of a switch hunt since all of the objects are placed close together. I liked the map at the start but near the end it started to get a little boring... just nothing too interesting to set it apart, I think. Just lots of mowing down chaingunners in close quarter hallways and hitting a bunch of switches.

Kristian Ronge said: The design is clearly inspired by Jens Nielsen, with complex switch hunts, Jens' texturing scheme and one area (the RL area) that's almost a copy/paste. ;-)


I noticed this too... I said to myself, didn't I just see this Rocket Launcher area in another level? Sure enough, it's straight outta MAP28 from Memento Mori. A bit of a coincidence to be playing a 1996 WAD right before this one, but there it is.

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map 6
wow really nice map. very narrow design but all the interactive elements were interesting. also it was entertaining I had the problem to wander around a lot since you could go in any direction at the beginning just to be lost in a dead end because you're missing the right key. the last couple of minutes I already killed all the enemies on the map and was only tring to find the exit. btw nice trick with the reviving imps.

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06 - Dangerous Curves by valkiriforce
For a map named "Dangerous Curves", I was certainly expecting more curvaceous and intriguing shapes. :p
Yeah, so, many 90° angles, 64-unit tall rooms, narrow corridors and a ton of switches here, but it was mostly enjoyable. I liked how clever the layout was, but I guess it will certainly be confusing for many people ( even with the arrows on the floor ). The mixed themes worked together pretty well, my favorite part being the METAL* / lava section.

The gameplay felt solid and straight out of a classic 90's megawad, although some variation in the many Chaingunner closets would've been appreciated. The ammo balance was okay, provided you don't waste some on the reviving Imps. On the other hand, some more health would have been cool, particularly with all said Chaingunners around.

The teleporter which is revealed when you take the Blue keycard is a nice touch. :)
I couldn't imagine myself navigating the now-empty map for like the 4th time.
( Or maybe open some closets again, to spice things up ? )

As I said, valkiri, you have a clever way of designing convoluted layouts. Maybe just don't overdo it with too many "useless" switches. :)

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06 - Dangerous Curves by valkiriforce

After a pretty harsh pistol start I really enjoyed this map. Like the previous one it had a lot of non-linearity and mysterious switches and secret doors galore, but this time the going was a bit more measured - traps were more tricky and navigation was more of a puzzle. Getting the yellow key stumped me for ages, as did the rocket launcher, and in the end I left one secret and one monster behind. I was tempted to delve back into it but getting from one side of the map to the other is a convaluted affair which put me off going back in to wall hump. I had to save mid way for the first time, this map was that long that I didn't fancy starting again after 20 minutes of progress. And I found the going a bit tougher, mainly due to the bastard start and lots of chaingunner ambushes. But also there was no SSG here, which I found made it much more of an adventure - monsters that are mainly SSG fodder become a bit more threatening with just the shotgun/chaingun, and the layout gave lots of opportunity for close combat.

I have a couple of niggles with this map: firstly that start - I found it was pretty much down to luck how much health i got away with after peashooting the hitscanners with my pistol while escaping from the caco which teleports in behind you as you try to get a shotgun off a corpse, and a chaingunner somewhere is filling you with lead. Maybe I was doing it wrong, but it took a bit of trial and error. And secondly, there is a bit where chaingunners are shooting you through windows but you can't see them because they are totally concealed by the lower part of the grating mid-texture. I don't think anyone likes being shot by invisible monsters..

Other than that I had a great time. Really nice design and complexity. And I think I saw a doomguy out fishing in his canoe.

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I'm on MAP06 but I can't reach the yellow key. Seems like I'm not the only person that has struggled. Can someone give me a hint? I didn't notice any switches nearby and I have the Computer Map so I can see there's not other route into that room...

So far I've not really enjoyed this level - my least favourite so far. Although I appreciate the layout is interesting it feels as though the map has been artificially lengthened by switch hunts - kind of like the problem some 1024 maps had but on a slightly larger scale. I also have to second the opinion on the arrows. If you're having to give such blunt visual clues you're going wrong with the mapflow somewhere.

Other than the search for the yellow key and other navigational struggles I've not had any difficulties. I've come into the map with the advantage of being well stocked and finishing with much of my soulsphere left from the previous map. I quite like how valkiriforce predominately uses zombies, imps and demons to populate the level and only throws mid tier monsters at you strategically. It shows maturity in thing placement.

The brick theme is feeling a little overdone but that may be just because I've been running around it for so long as I did previously think the low ceilings, metal details, surrounding ocean and smart lighting gave it a good atmosphere.

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purist said:
I'm on MAP06 but I can't reach the yellow key. Seems like I'm not the only person that has struggled. Can someone give me a hint?

Spoiler

You get into the yellow key area from the corridor to the west. The opening is only accessible while a lift (which you enter from the south) is down. Run north and turn right before the lift rises.

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MAP03:
Pros:
No cheap shit.
Cons:
Not particularly exciting.

Not explicitly bad, and in some ways it's good to have a slightly more relaxed map after two relatively engaging maps before it, but there was never any sense of danger or risk here at all (although this isn't necessarily a bad thing; 32 maps of intense firefights would just as easily become dull). One horrible gripe is the location of that MegaArmour. Please, please, never put items like this directly in the way of progression. I know it's the first one of the WAD, but not everyone is greedy and/or in need -- placing a valauable item like this in an almost unavoidable position is a big no-no, unless we're never coming back this way again (which in some ways is another no-no altogether).

Also, you might want to do something about these guys:



In other news, I got the Invulnerability... after killing everything. This is entirely my own fault of course; I should look a bit more thoroughly for secrets before I clean the place out in future.


MAP04:
A short map indeed, almost reminiscient of Demonfear in its brevity. And... what's this?! Oh wow! Exceptional use of the infamous GRAYTALL texture!

Now everything was fine up to a point... but Sector Tag 12 is null. I couldn't get out of the exit (I found it too early), so I had to IDCLIP myself back into the fray in order to experience everything ('everything' being the remaining Hellspawn through the smaller Blue Door). A small bug, but a very unwelcome one.


MAP05:
At last, that weapon which I consider OP; the Super Shotgun (oh god I found it too early)!

You can really tell that this isn't a solo effort, as the design and flow is of a completely different flavour. The only real issue here is that it's way too lenient with Health supplies, almost spitting out Soulspheres for no practical reason.

A slight reduction in this absurd generosity would be an improvement; other than that it's very TNT in appearance/approach.

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