[Alien Vendetta] MAP09: Castle Gardens (UV-Max Demo)
14castle gardens is maybe a map i feel like i have a hard time coming to conclusions about. on the one hand, a lot of it is built on squares, rectangles and corridors, and especially the latter tends to lead to some pretty rote combat. on the other hand, the atmosphere is really pitch perfect, and there's a lot of detailed lighting work that goes into selling that as well. that is especially on display in the library with the chaingunners, which, well, i don't know why you'd arrange bookshelves like that but it certainly looks cool. also don't do what i did and snipe the arachnotron on the other side of the wall - you get to go there in a secret later. that wall should probably have been six inches higher or a foot lower, not sure which. there are a whole lot of other secrets in the level too, some of which, like the bfg in the blood fountain, are probably more useful in continuous play. and the outro is a really nice setup for the next level, which is (spoilers!) iconic.
oh and the midi. this is another case where i liked the original midi, but i think the new midi fits the quiet and isolated nighttime atmosphere of this level better. it's also by chris laverdure, who wrote the only bespoke midi on the original soundtrack (for map 20).
alien vendetta: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/lev...
av midi pack: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/mus...
get the demo: https://s3.yrriban.net/doom/av_map09.lmp
source port used: dsda-doom 0.27.5
sound font used: arachno.sf2
flags: -complevel 2