The DWmegawad Club plays: Alien Vendetta

map08 - fde here

absolutely love this MIDI!

the opening to this map is excellent, and hints at an epic to come - slightly let down when we exit to the waterfall and see a pretty plain castle in the near distance, with some ugly water/coastal areas (matched with some crude blocking lines to stop doomguy from having a paddle). these rather ugly islands are also repeated in map09 if i recall correctly.

i really liked the blueberry/archvile well secret, which is actually interesting in that you can use the height differential to only take splash damage which is a cool thing to abuse

map also gets some plus points for my favourite use of spectres; monochrome dark rooms with lots of the translucent twerps.

the simple appearance of the keep/castle is also played out in the gameplay. you only explore one of the 4 walls in any real depth, with the rest comprising a few cubbies and the two open tower bits. this all leaves the map feeling quite basic/unfinished, like a child's version of a coastal fortress, not the real thing

all caught up!

Cynical said:

A note on AV 06 doorway marshalling:

One of the many, many genius touches in Hillside Siege is how the Tetris-block layout frequently puts you under fire from multiple angles if you even try to door-camp.

You make some very good points, and I'm sure you're right about the health/armor issue. However, I pistol-started UV and was able to employ a mix of camp and Rambo and I never ran out of ammo -- though I did have to switch weapons more often than usual -- and I was only once or twice flushed out of my camping spot, thanks to those Revs who come through a door near the blue door drop.

There is no question that the map encourages you to run if you want to set up the necessary infights and have enough ammo for later. I had enough rockets when I encountered The Hell Knight Mob to take out almost all of them before switching to SSG for the last 4 or so.

If I practiced, I could probably do a successful demo run of this map on HNTR. HMP would be rough, though, since a couple of the main fights I checked are almost as nasty on Skill 3 as on Skill 4.

Map 03: "Cargp Depot" DemonSteele Analysis
UV, 3 "HP", No saves, "pistol" start



Wow, WHAT a level! Completed it third try using regular Doom mechanics, with DemonSteele? Over an hour and a half of attempts!

Despite using DemonSteele for the past couple of months, this wad is actually teaching me new things about it every time I play. One is that the only (super) shotgun you can get is quite nerfed and not even very good at close range. I can shoot a zombieman point blank but off center a little bit and the shot will go right over his shoulder. It seems to be a super shotgun with a regular shotgun's spread, if not narrower. If I shoot a group of zombiemen, I am happy if I can get 2, and wowed if I can get 3.

This, combined with the fact that the only way I can get shells is from boxes laying around which only give 10, as well as taking 2 per shot, can make some of the encounters pretty tense. One of the good things about the small spread though is room with the 4 Revenants in every corner - even if I shoot from across the room, they take damage like it was almost point blank.

The beginning room was actually where the majority of my deaths took place (and I don't even think the revenant killed me once lol). The aforementioned lack of spread makes it so that all 5 shots are used up with only 6-7 enemies killed, leaving me ammoless with everyone shooting at me. The chaingun isn't in this mod, so it's not at starting area. I eventually was able to find a way by going in, slicing once, then causing a nice infight party in there and have them kill each other while I stood by the door to slice up anyone who wanted out of it. There was usually an imp standing at the end that I could end quickly. Nearly impossible to get through that area without getting hit. Thankfully there are 2 medkits (which restore 2HP AKA all my life) and armor which grants me 2 additional HP.

Next room with the imps on the crates is a nice little breather (and showed me that lack of accuracy with the shotgun). So I easily take them out, as well as the chaingunners (though I tend to take a hit there too). Plus two more smaller 1hp recovery stimpacks

The next room full of imps on the other side of the crate room was something that gave me a lot of trouble too. The trick to that is to go through the door, take the 4 imps to the left out via shotgun, then turn right and shoot a single shot at one of the imps to get their attention, then hide in between where the 2 stimpacks are between crates and swing away.

There will be some left over in Cacodemon room, but that place didn't really give me much trouble surprisingly.

The next interior area was pretty difficult with all of the sergeants at the top of the stairs (one super shotgun blast with original mechanics took them out.. here, took at least 6 shells). The pinkies running around were fun to slash, as always. Had to get to the bottom of the stairs though to make them easier to and so they wouldn't surround me.

The yellow key was pretty easy. Mostly some gallery shootin' for the enemies on the crates, then running between the crates and and slashing away. Shot the chaingunner then door-marshal'd all of the imps.

Interesting note on imps and same-monsters in demonsteele is that imps will start infighting amongst themselves even though they take no damage. Normally this would make the game easier, but since this is basically all about door-marshalling, you'll be required to run in and try to break up the fight and risk getting hit in the crossfire. This led to several hits and deaths as well.

Finally was what was supposed to be the difficult room of the level, which is the 4 revenants. Funny enough, that was one of the easier rooms in the level. It was fun playing Ring around the rosie with the blue key pillar and shooting them all until they all fell.

Doormarshalled the other imps, then pushed the switch then all hell broke loose.

The spectres are twice as fast as normal spectres and are programmed to flank your character.. this killed me so many times.. until I learned about the tiny yellow door frame where they couldn't surround me (as it's much smaller than even average doors). Took 15 minutes of practice (saving before I pushed switch) before I got it. Then once I found the trick, I replayed the stage beginning to end

After that I killed the hell knights and beat the stage.

BTW, I cheated and explored the city for a bit :)

I just saw stage 4 has over 200 enemies... good lord!

Map 08 - Beast Island

Continuing on from the last map, this one is a pretty linear journey from some ruins, through a path and into an ancient fortress across a large body of water...

This map is a bit of a mixed bag. The complaints about it being perhaps a touch linear - and more importantly, being really obvious about it with the block lines once the fortress becomes plainly visible - are well founded. The bulk of the combat is basically out in front of you until you get to said fortress, when things open up for the player, with the exception of the Revenant teleporter part - and while it's not terribly executed (there are some rather inspired traps in this map, mind you; particularly in the caves just after the waterfall) - it's a touch rote, particularly for this mapset.

What this map really succeeds at is creating a sense of mood, both through some very savvy lightning and texture choices - particularly the fortress, which really does look great even in comparison with some of the bigger adventure maps that people are about to undertake from the mapset soon enough - and via its midi choice, which gives this map a vibe and setting that's unique to its own. Basically it comes down to whether you can appreciate the map's attempt at both mood & setting enough to overlook the flaws in its gameplay & particularly monster placement. I think it picks up quite a bit once you get to that fortress, but the bits before it are a bit of a slog.

Nothing outright unenjoyable, however.. just not one of AV's absolute highlights.

Cynical said:

Blasphemy! Nukefall is great.

We'll get there soon enough, but i'm not very fond of a few.. design elements that'll show up, like the masses of Rev's behind the red key card barriers. Not to mention it uses my least favourite track from Evilution.. there's just something about it that feels vaguely 'undercooked' next to the other maps here, especially within the episode it appears in.

MAP08 Beast Island

A glimpse of goodness here. The cavern's lighting is astounding especially the green slime at the switch, and a glimpse of a castle which gets explored later also adds. The water portion also has a glowing segment, and it is basically straightforward until we reach the castle itself. The way to enter the castle seems dumb, as the switch for the front is on the backside of the castle and the teleporter leads to a secret (telefrags an arachnotron too), and not only that, but some careful sidling on the superthin ledge can lead to another secret and an alternate way into the castle. I've been studying this particular ledge, because for some reason, it's possible to bounce off for god-knows-what reason and miss the platform, and I still haven't come to a conclusion there. The welcoming cyber isn't as annoying as the other enemies on the flanks, and the interiors across the bridge only provide minimal enjoyment for me. Overall, it's straightforward, and has it's fun, but looks zany.

Map 08: Beast Island

What is this, a King Kong reference or something?

Here is a longer adventure-style map, although I'm not sure if that applies as it's completely linear with any sort of diversions being optional secret areas. The starting location is nicely detailed and looks like some sort of ruined village, complete with a fireplace in the middle of a collapsed house. Other areas don't fare as well, such as the main castle which is very blocky, and apparently full of texture misalignments. The cliff wall being the same height as the towers and flat with no height variations or any sort of detailing looks awkward too. As does the castle simply rising out of the grass texture.

Gameplay is mostly of the "shooting gallery" type with not much danger if you don't play stupid. Armour is again provided quite late, but I managed to avoid most of the damage anyway so it wasn't that necessary. The BFG is found very late and is not particularly useful unless playing continuous. I ended up killing 2 PE's, a tower party and the obligatory exit Vile with it. There's really no point of skipping the Cyberdemon or leaving him for later since you can effortlessly kill him with the Plasma Rifle beforehand.

One section inside the castle involves jumping down to some Imps and Mancubus. They gathered quite nicely below the ledge there so I'm wondering how infinite height ports handle that section. Accessing the left tower is also a bit tricky and requires running across an almost invisible tiny ledge along the wall. I quite like this map though and the midi is nice.

MAP08 Beast Island
Here we found the first medieval atmosphere map of AV
I really like this map, the gameplay its not so fun but the music and the environment kept you in the level. Dont forget that we are talking about an ancient wad, so if you play this years ago u may were amazed.
The fortress or castle and the cyberdemon fight are the good thing here.
I approve this
4/5 stars

MAP08: Beast Island
33:38 | 100% Everything

This is a pretty good adventure map. Linear, yeah, but a great (and memorable) sense of place. Quibbles would be the impassable coasts and the way the "ocean" itself cuts off after just a short ways (highly noticeable from atop the waterfalls.) Maybe the worst bit was the unintuitive teleporter "climb" up the cliffside. The fortress at the end, man, by the time I got there I was low on ammo and hurting, and the hitscanners around every corner were just brutal. Couple of surprise archies in this map, too, some of which I handled well, some I...didn't.

You're going to have a hell of a time on some of the later maps using DemonSteele, souio. Best of luck to you!

Map 08 -- Beast Island - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
What's the music here? Feels like I've heard it in a lot of other PWADs since. Not unlike the great majority of AV's other tracks in that regard, I suppose, but I don't recognize the source with this one.

Anyway, coming off of the Club's playthrough for August, I was struck by how much this seemed like something that would be quite at home conceptually in Estranged, presenting a sort of scenic nature-hike (albeit a rather perilous one) along a very set path, terminating in an old stone barbican crouching on a tide-plane on the western side of the island (presumably we've technically been on 'Beast Island' since arriving at the gatehouse in map 07). While it shows some age, again most notably in the somewhat crude shaping of its natural terrain, in many ways it's much more detailed and nuanced as a setting than anything seen in Estranged, featuring some light/unobtrusive representationalism in its opening and closing stages (the desolate ruins of a tiny hamlet where the level begins and the uninviting keep itself, respectively), and conducted with a certain eye for the dramatic, showing the barbican from afar just before Vendettaguy begins the trek through mountains, streams and caves which will eventually deposit him on its doorstep.

In general I would say it's aesthetically tasteful, if very much an 'of its time' sort of creation--the outdoor lighting scheme is quite simplistic (though once again it at least uses a gentle 'early evening' floodfill which works well with the engine's simulated contrast, as opposed to something brighter/flatter), but more care is taken in the cave segments via flickering torchlight and other bits of polish. Texture variety is somewhat limited, but what's there is well-chosen, save perhaps the use of the nukage-stained vat texture to roughly approximate grassy dirt on the edges of the streams outdoors. As I think I mentioned last month, I've been playing Doom long enough that the issue of of texture tiling/repetition over huge surfaces is not generally something that it occurs to me to be concerned about, so the somewhat 'lo-fi' look of the mountainsides visible at various points here doesn't detract much from the presentation for me (ditto the somewhat close horizon of the sea, I suppose). I do think the barbican could probably have benefited significantly from having a bit more purely cosmetc detail (particularly on its exterior faces), but I reckon it's still presentable enough as is, with its inset crenelations and functionally vague iron gate-arch adding some needed locational flavor.

In terms of conceptual robustness, I think "Beast Island" has its heart in the right place. Many levels of this type are content to offer a somewhat anonymous stream of enemies complemented by the occasional pricklier killzone en route to the final destination (again, see Estranged, for example), but here Jan and Anders have peppered the route with a host of varying encounter types or mini-concepts, which helps each stage of the journey feel more significant rather than like practical or purely diegetic padding--there is the bum-rush that ensues as soon as the game begins in the ruined village, the potentially nasty snare in the watery caves which punishes cowardice/panic, the whimsical because-it's-magic revenant-telefragging climb up the second cliffside, the tricksier and trappier nature of the barbican interior, and so on. Some of these ideas are more interesting than others, true, but the commitment to encounter variety in what is rather a concise level with a mostly very simple progression/flow scheme is something that's admirable, I think, then and now.

Unfortunately, where execution is concerned, there are a number of problems which are too serious and too persistent to simply be glossed over. Most of these stem in one way or another from assorted z-axis snafus. I've played AV many times before, and so I generally remembered where I needed to dash quickly forward (or NOT immediately move forward at all despite all indications to the contrary, conversely) in order to avoid/preclude infinitely-tall shenanigans like the teleporting imps in the caves or some of the blind-lift/blind drop fuckery in the keep interior; even when you possess detailed foreknowledge of where these issues occur, though, you often have little recourse but to either A) allow them to entirely kill the pace of the game as you pick and prod away at them in the name of safety or B) suffer a dice-rolled amount of crass collateral as a sort of in-game tax for keeping things moving at a reasonably brisk pace. Far from being one of AV's harder levels, the item/resource balance in this map is nevertheless non-trivial (especially in its later stages, and especially if you were unable to locate certain earlier secrets), and it can be extremely frustrating to fall behind the curve as a result of scenario design which in some cases seems to callously ignore or even exploit the realities of simulation limitations--I speak from experience!

On the whole, though, I think "Beast Island" is a respectable level well suited to its position in the running order, something that doesn't really have airs of stealing the show but which has its own distinct identity different from the maps immediately surrounding.

MAP05: Crimson Tide
100% kills, 1/1 secret

Small level, but still relatively packed despite the sub-100 monster count. I've never had the boner for the Inmost Dens aesthetic that apparently a lot of people have since it's so heavily replicated, but it still looks nice (especially dig the columns in the yellow key area). I also like that the layout took me to all the color doors before finding any of the keys. For my money, the ambushes early on are the toughest ones; the last ones are a bit anti-climatic (two chaingunners for the last key?) though I liked the cheeky last chaingunner... I heard him in the walls, thinking it might be a failed teleport or sniper I missed, only to get blasted in the back.

MAP06: Hillside Siege
100% kills, 3/3 secrets

Oh hey, I remember this one. I adore the pistol start here, great way of making something challenging with a low amount of enemies and only a couple snipers (I think there's only one manc and 2-3 revenants inside?) As the map progresses, it starts to rely a bit too heavily on "here's a big meaty group of nobles/revs/mancs" but thankfully nothing too grossly much of a grind. Had to do some searching for the cyber telefrag, and twice he immediately knocked me off, but the third time it took. Weirdly the arrow there on the minimap doesn't seem to point to the real secret. It's a very linear map, but I think the way it winds around the level keeps it interesting, though again the end gets a bit weird since you're repeating areas, solely because you can hear monsters in them.

Demon of the Well said:

Map 08 -- Beast Island - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
What's the music here? Feels like I've heard it in a lot of other PWADs since. Not unlike the great majority of AV's other tracks in that regard, I suppose, but I don't recognize the source with this one.

That track is called Huline Temple from Lands of Lore 2. I'm not too familiar with the game, just only saw the name of the track in the Doom Wiki. It was also used in one of the maps from the Japanese Community Project megawad.

It's funny to see the reviews of Beast Island; I seem to recall that, in years now past, it was considered one of the wad's best maps, owing to its aesthetics and atmosphere.

I've never felt that strongly about it one way or the other, myself. It's certainly not one of my favorites -- even within the first episode, I like 2, 4, 6, 9, and 10 quite a bit more -- but it doesn't offend me, either (unlike another perennial favorite in years gone by that you'll be getting to in a few days that does one thing that drives me batshit nuts).

map08: I can easily look past the linearity and at times ugly design choices in this map (especially the coast/ocean and mountains surrounding the "castle"). The music and setting really makes this a cool adventure (a linear one) map imo. The gameplay has its flaws in several places, but Im going to let it slide (hey, actually, Im going to let the gameplay slide in MOST maps in AV).

Its really obvious that the map originally were two different maps stitched together (really old ones too, the first half being a '98 effort, and the castle itself being a '96 effort), but hey thats cool. Its like different areas within a map, like different areas within Might & Magic or Skyrim etc, just on a much smaller scale lol. The Ruins, The Slimy Caves, The Watery Caves, The Canyon, The Castle etc. Quite the opposite of Crimson Tide, which is basically just The Castle for all the map.

Dont know what to sum it up as really. I have always liked the map, even when recognizing all its flaws, I still like it.

Map08: There's a beautiful atmosphere here, and the music is perfect for the level. It's very linear but it does it rather well, and while the gameplay doesn't have something that really stands out it's plenty of small/cute ideas. The setting is probably the best thing of the map. It's look a bit rough but I guess it's due to the vanilla constraints, you will see something similar on MAP11 ashwall mountains. It doesn't need so much details though, the castle sure doesn't look gorgeous but it goes well with the little ruins and the overall simple look of the map.

MAP09 - Castle Gardens
ZDoom, UV - Pistol Start, KIS(%): 100/100/100

This is the first level that we encounter, created by none other than late Kim André Malde, the author of MAP20 "Misri Halek". Of course he participated in creating MAP03, but this is the first level designed by himself alone. It's basically an intro level of the next underground dungeon, but it has a nice layout as a small fortress. The combat is not bad, and secrets are well-placed with acceptable hints, making you to explore the whole level carefully. While the fortress has simple architectural details, the entrance of dungeon beyond the red key door has some eye-pleasing details, including lighting. The blue key trap was pretty predictable, and was just a perfect monster infighting simulator, featuring a chaingunner squadron. In overall, this level not an outstanding masterpiece. But in the end, it was enjoyable to play.

Map09
Well, this map sure likes its finicky secrets. There’s a single-access only one, plus two ‘flick the switch and then hunt for the lift it lowered’ ones. The second of which, for some reason, doesn’t just gives you goodies but teleports you most of the way back to the map to get loot from there. Seems excessively convoluted, to me.

What’s not convoluted is the gameplay, which is pretty straightforward and uninspired stuff. The most entertaining moments come from a couple of situations where the demons and zombies are likely to inflight a lot. The rest of the time it’s mostly woodchopping exercises. Especially the low row of demons on the eastern side of the map, or the tedious succession of ‘block monstered’ HKs on the way to the exit.

Another one of the ‘disappointing’ column.

map09 - 98% kills/ 28% secrets - fde here

great ominous MIDI as we assault this fortress; an opening slightly spoiled by infinite height shenanigans if you try and peek over the two blood moats and get pinned by pinkies.

the map picks up from there with some interesting interconnected areas (these being the now unkept gardens) forcing you to keep checking corners and switching weaponry. the bloodfall fountain is a lovely touch (not sure why its damaging though?), and some especially neat lighting, noticeable particularly around the fire-pit pagoda area.

the tiny lift secret is really annoying; i can only imagine how aggravating it must be if you were going for a uv-max run!

after finding the RK (with a nice outlook over the starting area) we enter the castle proper, with a rather comical pinkie corridor, another reminder of HR

again, there's another ineffective archvile placement in the library corridor (just after the baron trap)

finally, the detailing in the slime labyrinth is a neat touch; crumbling walls and cracking floors revealing the nukage around the tunnels.

decent map - i had fun playing it, a quick 100 monster or so to get your teeth into.

map09

I really enjoyed this map. There is a single monster placement dud (pit spectres, meh), but basically everything else is well placed for many of the combat styles I like, and although much of the combat is frontal and of the meat-clearing variety, it's the kind I like: with the SSG, and with the opportunity to do it up close and personal. (You can think of that as the analog of what cyberdemons released one by one are to TimeOfDeath.) In fact there is a bit too much shell ammo, including the odd double stack atop the caco stairs. It's kind of funny that none of the secrets include a backpack. :)

The visuals are quite strong. The aesthetic is very much in the classic mold that relies on shape, texture combinations, and fine-grained nuances over impressive architecture. Most of the rooms and even hallways have at least one distinguishing feature of some sort, and it's usually a well designed one. I loved the twisted facade of the castle, the spiral of bookshelves casting their shadows, the arches (heh) in the archvile room, and the rocky debris in the hell knight tunnels with the accompanying wall hole. There is even a boat!!! If there is any criticism, it's that the majority of room shapes in the central area of the castle are simple rectangles. But the good parts left a strong impression on me, so I'll forgive the poorer ones.

Here is a video with all secrets, and two spectres left alive in defiance :).

09: Nice opening shot, but not feeling that MIDI. Layout mostly consists of corridors and separated rooms, which isn't really interesting. Lighting is really good though, and some rooms has surprisingly very detailed environments. Still, it is my least favorite level so far: Battles consists of grinding and door/cover fights. 5/10

Map 09 - Castle Gardens

A moody opening sets the tone for this map, which is the player penetrating the outer areas of a fortress to enter its innermost sanctums.

Kim Andre Malde's maps tend to be the ones that jump out at a first time player when going through AV, because he had a very particular and recognizable style. His maps are generally linear, but in his hands it works because he had a very strong grasp of textural arrangement and, most importantly, knowing how to frame that with exceptional lighting choices. That isn't to say that the only thing he knew how to do was aesthetics, however; while his maps were linear, he also had a strong feel for monster placement & overall satisfying combat.

Which isn't saying that the other authors didn't have particular styles of their own, because they obviously did, but there's something about Malde's approach that instantly leaves an impression.

Mind you, this is probably his weakest map in the set, though certainly still above average. The only two issues I have with monster placement here are the spectres in the blood moat, as some others have noted, and the Mancubus trap that is triggered when you get the rocket launcher; not because it's hard but because it's really easy to just duck into a side hallway and then plink away with impunity at them. Despite those two moments, the fighting in this level is still engaging even if the bulk of it is corridor cleaning. I don't mind the 'finnicky secrets' myself, as when combined with the general sense of lighting & mood, it gives the impression that you're exploring something rather cryptic.

So yeah, I really appreciate this map a lot, despite some of its flaws.

Map08 – Beast Island by Jan Endre Jansen and Anders Johnsen

Not a fan of this one. I even disliked that gaseous Medieval MIDI. ;D

I thought the outside areas were ugly, with dreadful texture mismatches, especially in the opening courtyard where you have perhaps the worst use ever of BRICKLIT.

I hated the impassable lines on the coast. Even back in the '90s it was traditional to let players walk out in the water for a certain distance before using impassable lines. By placing them right at the water's edge, all suspension of disbelief is lost. Well, it was lost when looking out from a high cave and seeing a right-angled horizon about a football field away, complete with a tiling sky texture. Are you kidding me? I'm not giving a "Well, it's old" pass on this. We knew better back in '96 than to do this stuff, and here we have a megawad from 2002. How did this happen? The only reason I can think of is that if you walk out in the water, then turn and look back, it becomes HOM City.

I well understand the issues we had with HOMs and VPOs back then, and how, without Choco Render Limits and Visplane Explorer, you sorta had to guess where the problem was. So I'm not going to ding the mappers over the uniform height of the cliffs and such, because if you terrace those things you might get bit in the ass by Doom2.exe when you run it. But as for the weird horizon problems, the best artistic decision is to stay within the limits of your tools and not do things that are guaranteed to look ridiculous.

You look at this map and then look at Hillside Siege and frankly, they look like they ought to be in different megawads. Hillside Siege looks like a map that came through a time-warp from 2009 and Beast Island looks like a map from '95 or '96, so you get the past and the future in one megawad.

This isn't to say that there are no good visuals at all. The caves were the best part, and Anders Johnsen once again provides his patented cast gradient lighting. The castle courtyard wasn't bad, either, and the crenellated walls looked very good.

The gameplay was dickish, and built on a base of ammo starvation. Sort of survivalist, you might say. I can honestly say that I did admire some of the dick moves, because merciless, unsmiling fuckery against the player is necessary to some degree in order to create a good playing experience. We all know this ain't Sunday School. The Imps that teleport right next to you in the cave was my favorite dick move. Absolutely brilliant. I tipped my hat in respect. Unfortunately, the pace of gameplay was quite slow thanks to the constant lack of ammo and armor and scant health. This caused a fair amount of deaths on my part, including quality deaths like the one where you run along that super-narrow ledge on the castle. I did that and thought I'd be slick by leaping into the courtyard rather than face certain death from the Imp horde. Imagine my surprise when I ended up cliff-diving into a pool of inescapable lava! I actually laughed my ass off when that happened. That's what I get for eating Dumbass Pills.

The blind drops were groan-inducing and made me feel thankful for playing in GZDoom. Then there was the noble horde outside the fortress when I was low on ammo. The Cyb and exit Archie each killed me once. The Cyb caught me racing for a Medikit – good design, IMO – and the Archie caught me when I walked unawares in front of the open exit door. Dumbass Pills ftw! :D

This is a map I will definitely never play again.

Capellan said:

Map09
What’s not convoluted is the gameplay, which is pretty straightforward and uninspired stuff. The most entertaining moments come from a couple of situations where the demons and zombies are likely to inflight a lot. The rest of the time it’s mostly woodchopping exercises. Especially the low row of demons on the eastern side of the map, or the tedious succession of ‘block monstered’ HKs on the way to the exit.

im 100% agree with that, this is the second castle map that appears in AV and it doesnt have anything special.
But my favorite part is the room where the blue key is in and the midi fits.
I give 2,5/5 stars, the map desing is not bad and have good lighting game.

Map 09 -- Castle Gardens - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
The first of Kim Malde's AV contributions, "Castle Gardens" is also reputedly one of the oldest maps in the set, beginning its life in the mid-90s. Like "Beast Island" before it, it certainly shows its age when one looks at it now, though I reckon it probably showed some age even in 2002, in the sense that it's not hard to see that this is an old, perhaps exploratory piece that received a number of facelifts through the years. Comprised of a couple of barren yards positioned at the center of a circuit of peripheral halls and chambers, the presumed 'gardens' themselves are long dead, and all that flourishes here now is evil. We never do see the alleged castle from the nomenclature, incidentally....perhaps it crumbled to rubble long ago?

The layout is quite flat and presents itself as a linked series of isolated rooms (i.e. almost no visual interconnection and only limited physical connection between areas), with a consistently squidgy/squashed physical scale throughout. There's not a whole lot of opportunity for architecture or flow to inform the character of the playspace under these conditions, and so here the task of communicating setting and mood rests mostly with cosmetic/surface detail, expressed in a variety of ways. Throughout, we see Malde's characteristic care taken with sector-lighting (which is most striking where it spills through doorways), but beyond this each area has its own particular bit of cosmetic window-dressing to help carry/disguise the simplistic structure--there are the custom midtextures used to simulate rivulets of poison seeping down the walls from above in the northerly tunnel section, the strangely alluring warped shaping of the outer wall facade, the little skiff in the bay to the northwest, the conspicuously elaborate descending porch-throughway between the first yard and the central garden, the bizarre crabbed iron 'pillars' in the arch-vile's chamber, and so on. Of these, I most like the stylish stack arrangement of the bookshelves in the library, myself. While a number of these features may be pleasant enough individually, though, there's an overriding impression that the level is something of a padded 'kitchen sink' proposition visually (which is a fairly common occurrence in levels that have little real vibrancy to their core structures), and to complete the impression of a rather old map with a number of fresher coats of paint applied to it, there are also a handful of outright visual errors--most noticeable to me are the failure of perspective if you look through the aforementioned porch from east to west, and some gross pegging issues involving the hidden door which spills out near the blue armor vest. Arguably, though, the whimsically piecemeal and not entirely immaculate presentation could be said to have its own quirky charm, a taste of AV's own heritage in the midst of what was at the time a very modern presentation.

Gameplay's almost entirely about salvos of buckshot and close quarters tangling with beasts great and small--nothing particularly stylish, though other than the somewhat ungainly outro vs. trails of mostly static hell knights in tight tunnels it mostly manages to avoid feeling too untowardly janitorial in flavor, something floorplans of this type often have some trouble with. The close quarters generally don't engender much actual danger per se, since you can usually retreat if you feel the need; the compact spacing mostly asserts itself through some mild inconveniences that may prompt you to overthink things. There's a rocket launcher in the smaller subsidiary garden, for instance, but unless you really know the level well it likely doesn't get as much use as one might assume, since the environment and possible routes make efficient usage of explosives something of a to-do. The hidden BFG's a nicer convenience if you can find it, at least--good for the Baron-trio ambush beyond the red-locked gate, with a couple of bonus blasts to drop as you see fit. The secret-hunting aspect is probably the most robust element of the proceedings, incidentally, and shows a lot of variety considering the small space in which the whole shebang is staged. The hidden blursphere is legitimately useful, by the by, not at all common in WADs of this age. :D

MAP05: Crimson Tide

A fun nugget.

MAP06: Hillside Siege

On further reflection, I probably would have enjoyed this more on HMP. Still nothing can steal my joy when it comes to climbing the scenery to access the red key. I love climbing the background.

MAP07: Showdown

I found moving around in the manc arena super awkward because the floor segments are too steep to ascend, and the arena is in a squarish shape. The arachs outside were pretty challenging to rush with the ssg, given the narrow space. Not a level that adds greatly to the complicated tradition of dead simple riffs. (Sidebar: This map is interesting to compare to Eternal's new MAP07 in End Point.)

MAP08: Beast Island

My enjoyment of this was like a balloon slowly deflating. The opening is great, and the rest gets points for continuing the adventure, sort of, and having a big castle you can go inside of.

Info on the origins of this wad is really interesting to read. It would also be cool to hear more about how it has influenced people and the practice of mapping since its release.

MAP07: Showdown
100% kills, 1/1 secret

Boring Dead Simple remake is boring. I thought the outdoor area might provide some more fun, but it's not that great (too many pointless monsters in the pits, symmetrical design, etc.) FWIW despite Capellan's warning the map worked fine for me in ZDoom on default settings, so I guess the need to use -cl2 is just for Boom.

MAP08: Beast Island
84% kills, 4/9 secrets

This one starts out strong with a good atmosphere (especially dig the music track), but there's a lot of annoying bits later on that detract from enjoying the map. The first is that horrendous invisible wall in the water area, it's such a glaring break from reality that it really needed reworking of some sort... even some rocks in the water or a big trench or something just to break it up. Then there's some one-way staircases followed by annoying ambushes. Didn't appreciate the non-obvious revenant telefrag in the next area either, would've liked to keep my 8 rockets. The second half of the map is a bit of a castle exploration, which I kinda zoomed through once I saw the cyberdemon.

Map 09: Castle Gardens

Wasn't there a part 2 in Scythe 2?

Nice bit of continuity at the beginning where you find yourself beside a dock after sailing a ship with metal UAC sails to escape Beast Island. This map mostly goes for the green and brown castle aesthetic and not the gothic style seen in Scythe 2. There's a decent amount of non-linearity and freedom to explore the castle interior before progressing down into the dungeons. Gameplay here is quite easy with little in the way of sideline pressure and mostly involves shooting dudes in front of you. There are some sizable low-tier groups, like in map04, but there's ample cover provided in every situation. Some liberal use of monster blocking lines is seen here too. The library area does look nice though with the strangely circular angled shelves and the mass Chaingunner warp can be lethal if played poorly.

Pretty good map, although I believe I hated the one coming next.

What's up, everyone? I'm back again to play more Alien Vendetta. This time, I'll be doing two maps. So, here we go.

Map05: Crimson Tide (Anders Johnsen)
100% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets
Time: 04:59

This map is one of my all-time favourites in the set. A remake of Plutonia Map18: Neurosphere, which in turn is inspired by Doom 2 Map14: The Inmost Dens. This is relatively smaller from the last map, but has a lot of great action going. I like how each key you grab results in ambush as it keeps you on your toes. Just watch out for the revenants and chaingunners that can catch you off guard if you're not careful. Getting to the blue key requires to act very fast since you need to race for the lift that is activated via a switch in the hell knight chamber. It's very easy to miss the berserk pack, so be sure to scout a perimeter around the blood sea (not before grabbing the radiation suit, though!). Solid and tight map that is always enjoyable to play through. Just keep in mind about that chaingunner that will teleport from behind as you reach the exit portal.

Map06: Hillside Siege (Lee Szymanski/Anthony Soto)
103% kills, 100% items, 100% secrets
Time: 08:31

RotT music FTW! Apogee nerdgasm set aside, this is another excellent techbase map set in a hillside, this time even bigger than the previous maps, and man, there are a lot of fun and exciting moments! A lot of attention to realism is apparent here, as there's the rock formation outcroppings that make up the outer areas of the base, and although the main playing field is mostly techbase, it makes very convincing and fitting usage of the wood, metal, brick, and stone textures, with a lot of the brick walls being ripped from Plutonia, and yes, the grey stone floors are from Hexen. Monster placement ups the difficulty as we're getting fleets of cacodemons, and groups of hell knights, revenants, and mancubi. Fortunately, they're not that difficult to take down, and you have plenty of ground to manoeuvre, so evading their projectiles won't be a problem. One thing you have to be careful though, is the part with the cyberdemon, as being distracted with the other enemies is a death warrant. Lucky for me, I telefragged the bastard just when I uncovered and went on the secret teleporter, and booyah, there's the BFG9000! A bit of backtracking is involved, but the action keeps it entertaining. the aesthetics helps things too. Overall, this is a challenging map, and one of the Alien Vendetta's very best.

So with those levels done, I'm up to Map07, but I will tackle the next few after a weekend break. Take care and have fun, everyone.

map09: As much as I love Kim Maldes style, Im not a huge fan of this map. Flat map, and uninspired fights in room after room with some tight hallways here and there. The library room and the AV room are iconic though.

MAP09 Castle Gardens

I usually like castle levels, but I wound up not liking this one right now. It's certainly one of Kim's artistic ones, and has alright combat to boot, but when a shotgun guy shoots you through fucking WALLS, then something is just really bad. I'm alright with most hitscanner hordes here though, since they can be camped, and the mancubus trap in the rocket launcher room can be run away from easily. Same with the chaingunner trap at the blue key. There's some interesting texturing in the end caverns, and I'm okay with hell knight shooting here. But the hitscanner cheated in this one for me. This is certainly an early work.

Getsu Fune said:

MAP09 Castle Gardens

but when a shotgun guy shoots you through fucking WALLS, then something is just really bad.

youre going to LOVE the invisible room later on in the mapset :p