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DEATH WISH ADD ON FOR BLOOD v1.3
*** COMMENTARY ***
by Bloatoid (bloatoid@gmail.com)

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Contents:

I........ Intro
II....... The Bug
III...... Level Commentary


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Part I. Intro

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I'm Dustin Twilley aka Bloatoid (I created that handle when I started mapping in middle school, so don't judge). These are some comments on Death Wish. 

THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS!!! I suggest playing through Death Wish before reading.

Special Thanks to the main QA/playtester Chris Hoopes aka Yodzilla & auxiliary tester Tecman for playtesting. Chris has been playtesting my levels as long as I've been making them. When you're making all the levels yourself there are bound to be things you don't think about or simply miss, and a good supporting cast is essential to putting out a really polished product.



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Part II. The Bug

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Before the winter of 2009 I got my hands on DOSBox and started making BloodBath (Blood's version of deathmatch) levels to play with my friend Chris, and one thing led to another. After getting bitten by the single-player bug I thought it might be fun to make an episode, which I began in January 2010. I finished the episode (no secret level or anything) and had Chris play through it, who was pretty impressed with what I could get done using the Mapedit tools. I took a long break and decided I'd go for broke and attempt to create the biggest and best add-on for Blood that I could, with a fully fleshed-out beginning, middle, and end. After finishing the second episode I thought it made the first pale in comparison, so I continued to polish old levels over and over again throughout development so that nothing showed its age. In 2011 I decided Halloween would be an appropriate time to release, as it gave me enough time to get everything done properly and coincided with the horror theme.



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Part III. Level Commentary
by creator Dustin and main QA Chris

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I'll admit that I don't have a lot of bad things to say at this point since I've been trying to iron out all the rough spots for so long, so I'll keep most of my comments related to the creation of the map. Comments from Chris are appended to each blurb. I'm sure the people playing will give me plenty of criticism anyway :-)


[dwe1m1]
Home Sweet Home
The first level I created, and the one that probably had the most changes and development time. I was getting used to using Mapedit again after a very long absence and it needed a lot of touching up by the time I had finished episode 2. I always thought the original Blood didn't make a lot of use out of wide open spaces, so I wanted to give it a try here and there throughout the add-on. It's great for building atmosphere and a sense of scale, although the action can get muddled if you aren't careful about what types of enemies you're using. No big problems building this until I got to the area where the player drops through the floor into the blood river. This glitched up really badly and it was difficult to make sure the sound of laughing didn't go off before the player actually fell into the hole. The blood area was originally completely dark, and was later reworked during the creation of episode 3. I thought some players wouldn't realize there was ammo behind the house so I added a tome note about it when I implemented the message system during episode 3's creation.
Favorite Moment: Chris dropping through the floor and having T-Bog laugh on his first playthrough. It's the first "surprise" moment in Death Wish and I think it makes the player wonder what other tricks are on the road ahead. 
-->Chris Comments: If I remember correctly, the first version of this map started with the player staring at himself in a working mirror. For whatever reason that completely destroyed the framerate even on a powerful modern machine. We didn't want peoples' first impressions of the expansion to be their game grinding to a halt so it was dropped.

[dwe1m2]
Lost Highway
I played a lot of user maps for Blood and the ones that are forest-themed are typically pretty shoddy, so I thought I'd see if I could do better. I ended up deciding the woods theme would be more tolerable in smaller doses, so I mixed it up with the roadway sections. The cars that continually travel back and forth on the second road section is actually a single sector that travels on a looped path. This still glitches up every once in a while, and there's nothing that can be done about it. Same goes for the subway in The Room and the train car in Spooky World. The entire "factory" section, past the parked vehicles near all the barrels, was added during the creation of episode 3.
Favorite Moment: When I finally got the car working without consistent glitches by deciding to use a looping path sector rather than a sliding sector group. Vehicles were pretty glitchtastic early on.
-->Chris Comments: The car glitches have been a constant source of amusement for me. Be their stretching on forever into the distance or a stationary car killing you instantly as soon as you step onto the hood they've been a pleasure to playtest. I feel like I've beaten this level more than any of the others.


[dwe1m3]
Firebelly
Originally called "Ice & Fire." I had the house section from an old Bloodbath level and I thought I could get some more use out of it. It's the first use of complex sector-over-sector building, a technique that culminates in Shadehaven. I liked the idea of taking an existing section of the map and altering it to a more twisted state, which gave me the idea of using some portals to drop the player into alternate versions of map sections. The teleporting water trick used in the house basement is something I came across building a map years ago, where you have a lower link for the underwater section but 2 upper links in different locations. I loved how Chris reacted to this trick, as it is very subtle and never used in the original game (it's probably a bug). The temple section behind the portal in the fiery area was the last section created for Death Wish, right after I had finished working on Shadehaven. 
Favorite Moment: When someone realizes they went under the water and came out somewhere else. Also the look of the arena before you step inside ÑÊyou know something bad is going to happen.
-->Chris Comments: The Bloodbath level this is based on is one of my favorites. And yeah the sector tricks on display here are fantastic, good fun.

[dwe1m4]
The Abyss
I wanted this to be the first "difficult" level (unless you're terrible at navigating Firebelly's lava areas). When I was first making Death Wish I didn't have a lot of the hitscan/bullet enemies and I wanted to start working them in a bit more. This level looked too dark and pretty plain before I went back later and started adding some more environmental detail. The church area took the longest to create by far, but I was glad I invested the time into it. The part where T-Bog turned into a bunch of spiders surprised Chris so much that he started laughing, prompting me to use the trick several other times in the add-on, citing it as one of the foe's new powers. I liked the idea of the Cabal having churches and buildings deep underground, and the giant pit gave me another chance to show off a large-scale structure.
Favorite Moment: It was always one of my least favorite levels visually, so I went back and worked on it a few times. I was really glad I did. 
-->Chris Comments: Almost certain that the T-Bog spider trick is inspired by the bat-to-rat scene in Bram Stoker's Dracula, one of our favorite movies.

[dwe1m5]
Jigsaw
This was not a level I particularly enjoyed until I came back to rework it during the development of episode 3. I got the idea from the Saw movie, where the player would have to complete a number of small tasks inside a tight space, which would slowly reveal more and more until the player could escape. I had to be very careful with the placement of falling snow outside, as too many of the sprites would seriously mess up the game's performance. The original ending to the level was after opening the gates outside, right before the bomb-trap. The trap and the entire cave section was added later. I really like some of the cave areas of the original game's Bowels of the Earth, and in the mines of Home Sweet Home and the caves of Jigsaw I try to recreate the feeling a bit. The caves ended up being one of my favorite sections from episode 1, even though I hate fighting spiders.
Favorite Moment: Getting the bomb sequence working properly.
-->Chris Comments: Pretty sure I got stuck somewhere stupid in this level the first time I played it. The expanded edition included in this episode is much better than the original short build.

[dwe1m6]
What Lies Beneath
Originally called "Outpost" and inspired by the movie The Thing, with the current name grabbed from an unrelated horror movie. Another exhibit of a big open space that leads into something more claustrophobic. I didn't think the original game tried to do very much with colored lighting, and I thought the nighttime environments I was choosing were good places to put it into action. The spaceship section and the room leading to it were all added much later after episode 2 was completed when I was better with room-over-room effects. This level gave me a taste for "run from the explosion" sequences, which I think are super-tense and exciting, especially if you're the kind of player who doesn't like to save often. The explosion sequence effect goes full throttle at the end of the Mothership mission. The explosion effects have to be created last if they are big since all the sprites make Mapedit's 2D mode a big mess.
Favorite Moment: Making that squealing spider-thing run away as you enter the med lab.
-->Chris Comments: For whatever reason I had a LOT of trouble with this map. When playtesting I almost always started from the beginning of each level with nothing but the pitchfork on the standard difficulty. I think this is the first really tough challenge that the player faces but still a very cool map.

[dwe1m7]
Urban Decay
I liked the Ghost Town level from Blood so I thought I'd take the idea a little further in Death Wish. I watched The Grudge and Poltergeist before making the level and wanted to explore what I could get done in tightly packed indoor areas. The office section was actually a Bloodbath map I had played on against Chris a few times, which usually devolved into jumping around on the tops of the cubicles throwing explosives. The jump out of the office manager's window to the neighboring building is the most vicious in Death Wish Ñ sometimes I wonder if I should have made it easier even if it's supposed to be the most difficult mission in the episode. I liked the idea of starting way down on the ground and working your way up to higher structures. The Black Tower or Shadehaven probably does this best, going from ground level to sky-high (or far below). 
Favorite Moment: Seeing the suicide cultist sequence go off for the first time was great. Gotta love that scream.
-->Chris Comments: Complex city maps are always fun and this is one of the best.

[dwe1m8]
Vertigo
This boss fight is a little wild, especially if you come into it with no Tesla ammo and have to go jumping around the rooftops looking for it. I have extra enemies in the boss battles since the bosses themselves aren't terribly threatening alone. I didn't want the section before the boss area to be overly-long in the event the player dies, but I didn't want it to be as short as the ones in the original game, which were basically elaborate arenas. The statue area was hard to get right. I wanted to make sure that if the player destroyed a statue early the zombie would die, so I had to make each statue link to the individual creature it spawned in that place. A big time investment but a neat effect (which almost always wins that battle).
Favorite Moment: Getting the zombie statues working properly.
-->Chris Comments: As much as I love the original Blood I don't think the boss fights were all that fantastic. The stone gargoyle at the end of the first episode had a great buildup in a well-done location but other than that they were pretty underwhelming. I like the approach here of a "boss level" instead of just a simple arena with one big enemy inside. It's far more interesting than a standard boss fight and actually feels like you're accomplishing something important.

[dwe1m9]
Spooky World
I made this at some point during episode 3's development when I started creating all the secret levels. Episode 3 took a long time because of all the hours I spent going back to work on the older material. I modeled the haunted house near the end after the one in Disney World. I liked the idea of the player having to go into a bunch of different rides to progress with the freedom to choose the order. My favorite area? Where T-Bog rides a train car blowing through a couple of bridges. Hey, the secret levels can be silly! This actually ended up being a pretty solid level by the time I was done with it, even though the secret maps in the original game could be considered underdeveloped compared to everything else. I'm almost sorry it's not part of the regular set of maps, but I'm glad it came out so well. I think if you're going to make the players go to great lengths to find the secret level by pouring over each mission they should be rewarded with a map that has gotten as much attention as everything else.
Favorite Moment: Seeing the revolving Spooky World sign. At that point I knew I had something good going.
-->Chris Comments: Of course a Blood expansion has to have a carnival level and this one is actually pretty damn big and complex for being a secret map.

[dwe1m10]
Ring of Fire
Hmm... how do I make this section harder without resorting to using Cultist enemies? Ah, the Hell Hounds! That zombie hallway can get you easily killed on the higher difficulties, too. More on those later.
Favorite Moment: Beating this when testing Extra Crispy mode on my first attempt with no weapons/items from previous missions.
-->Chris Comments: I'm terrible at Extra Crispy. :-( But this is an awesome map for its length and exactly the type of thing that old school FPS gamers have come to love, a fun gimmick map with good fights and special effects. Reminds me of a good old Doom 2 style level.

[dwe2m1]
Armada
I was pleased with this one right from the get-go. I liked how Blood's episode 2 started you out on the move, so I tried to up the ante. I wanted a "moving" level similar to Blood's Phantom Express but with a lot more movement around the environment itself. This level was really all about the visuals for me. I thought it gave a sense of urgency to be catching up to a caravan from behind to intercept them, pirate-style. I wanted to keep this mission a little shorter. I thought something the size of Home Sweet Home would be a little daunting when starting up another new episode so I kept it light and fun with some impressive effects. The playtester favorite is the giant cannon at the end.
Favorite Moment: The very beginning with the airplane flying overhead.
-->Chris Comments: Can't fault anything here save for my own stupidity. You should probably be careful and make sure you know which way a cannon is facing before setting it off. Just saying.

[dwe2m2]
Out to Launch
This might be one of the best levels in Death Wish. It flows in nicely from the previous mission and slowly builds up to the launch with wailing alarms and sirens. Arranging the launch sequence (and the lift off itself) was pretty time consuming, but I think it ended up being one of the better event clusters. The total area of the level is pretty condensed compared to other outings, and I liked having the ability to open paths to earlier sections of the level which is a feature a lot of the original Blood levels contained. This is the kind of level I always wanted to make when I was designing for Duke Nukem 3D but would have never been able to pull off at the time.
Favorite Moment: Sending the cart zooming down the corridor, destroying everything in its path.
-->Chris Comments: Rocket sleds are always a favorite of mine but the scale of this map blew my mind the first time I played. I still don't know how Dustin pulls off half of the stuff he does in Build and the launch sequence is among the best of the best of his tricks.

[dwe2m3]
Mothership
Blood covers a bunch of horror movies, but due to its setting never reaches into SciFi horror. As Death Wish takes place many years after the events of the original game, that is not a problem for me! I suppose my play on The Thing in What Lies Beneath is the first attempt, but Mothership is the first (and only besides Dread Faction) completely SciFi setting. Inspired by the movie Alien, I wanted to make the ship seem like a labyrinth of hallways and and vents, where the player had a lot of freedom to choose a path even though the pathways were confined to tight spaces. I think the self destruct sequence at the end might be the scariest moment in Death Wish, not including my cheap jump-scares from The Black Tower.
Favorite Moment: The space pod sequence. This was unbelievably difficult to get working without the player flying outside the pod while it moves. It can still happen if the player starts jumping around during flight, but it results in death so that will teach a hard lesson: No horseplay in the space pod. I like how the pod continues to fly aimlessly around the ship after the ride ends.
-->Chris Comments: Fantastic atmosphere. I love how this map manages to be scary just because you're afraid of what you might find down in the darkness of the vents. The setting is way different than anything else in Death Wish but it works really well and reminds me of a throwback to Duke Nukem 3D style maps.

[dwe2m4]
Weird Science
I have a special place in my heart for the Butchery Loves Company map from the original game, and honestly, castles have been attempted by nearly everyone who has done mapping for Blood. Why make another? I thought I could take things to the next level by working on atmosphere and making sure that the castle was something you could walk through and come out the other side. Normally castle maps are all-interior so I could stand out by including more outdoor sections than usual. I wanted to give the player a lot of freedom to explore the castle grounds so I made sure not to form a progression path that was too linear.
Favorite Moment: The warp pod at the end, inspired by the movie The Fly. I was going to make the secret level for this episode a large maze using teleporter puzzles inspired by the game Portal, but without a Portal Gun to create your own solutions the idea loses most of its magic.
-->Chris Comments: The ending to this level is something really, really special. Weird Science is another one of those levels where it seems simple at first but then just kind of keeps opening up and building upon itself until it reaches a very satisfying ending.

[dwe2m5]
The Grapes of Wraith
This was the 3rd to last level created for Death Wish. I thought episode 2 needed a little more breadth to it, and after a summer vacation to the Finger Lakes in New York I came up with this level design. I wanted to do a rainy map, and I thought I could pull a much better storm together than the light shower in The Room. I already had thunder and lightning worked into Weird Science so this fit in perfectly. I also wanted to work in a temple section but keep it small. I think a lot of "temple" style maps go on a bit long and turn into corridor-crawls which I don't enjoy. The same goes for the dreaded "sewer level" in First Person Shooters, which are almost always tedious unless they are brief. 
Favorite Moment: Finishing the first area of the map. Nothing inspires you to keep going while doing quality work like starting off with an impressive set piece. I like fighting the Acolytes on the vineyard hill where all the bushes can be destroyed, too, but it's a little annoying on the higher difficulties where everyone's aim is dead-on.
-->Chris Comments: I had a lot of trouble on this map for a few reasons. First off, the Build engine has trouble with explosions on slanted or uneven floors. When I got to the hill battle I had nothing but explosive weaponry so many times I'd have TNT go off right next to an enemy without actually damaging it. It's something you just learn to deal with but I think the original game completely avoided as most regular Blood levels are completely flat. I also had problems with some signposting in this level that Dustin had to go back and fix. I didn't think it was articulated where you needed to go after visiting the winery at first and had him add more of an incentive to go back the way you came which is what the player is required to do. My first time through I got to the wine shop and then had no idea how to advance to the rest of the level. I find this to be the most common problem with first-runs of levels and it's tough to find a good balance between confusing a player utterly and leading them by the nose.

[dwe2m6]
Deep-Sixed
This was the 2nd to last level created for Death Wish. I wanted to do a better version of the original game's Catacombs level, which I thought was one of the weakest in the lot. It was supposed to be a lot more simple than it turned out, but that's just the way things go. I liked the idea of the player running around below ground trying to collect items for advancement, again in the order of the player's choosing to mix it up. I think a little freedom can give a map a lot more replay value. I made the tome location sections one at a time, completely finishing one before moving on so that I could make sure they wouldn't end up too similar to each other. At this point in the game when you see something in the shape of Tchernobog you know something terrible will happen if you get close. This level has a lot of little rooms that you don't have to enter to progress (including the entire underwater area), and I think that makes it feel more like a real location. Not only that, but I like to give players the feeling that there might be something they could miss if they don't stay alert.
Favorite Moment: Creating the rolling zombie head with body parts orbiting it that burst and spawn zombies, inspired by Castlevania: SOTN's Granfalloon boss.
-->Chris Comments: I love this level. It's a lot more freeform than most maps as there are multiple paths right from the start. It's not often that you get to sneak around and take enemies from behind in old shooters like Blood. And yeah the Granfalloon section is amazing.

[dwe2m7]
Paradise Lost
Originally called "Twilight Grotto," this level was supposed to have a calming effect scenery-wise contrasted with some extremely large battles. I thought the calming effect of the visuals could allow the player to be caught off guard when the action finally started. I spent a lot of time on the terrain to make the setting seem huge, and that areas the player crossed into were only a part of a much grander environment. This was also my chance to show how dangerous the (normally unthreatening) Zombies could be when they gathered heavily in an area where there was nowhere to run or one false step could send you plummeting to the shallow water below. I always love big outdoor areas. I'd say this is the first difficult level in the second episode where dwe2m1 & dwe2m2 were easy and dwe2m3 and dwe2m4 were moderate. The section of the map that is accessed through the underwater passage was added much later than the rest of the level. I got the idea for the cave crystals from playing the Pathway to Na'Pali level in Unreal. I'd take my inspiration from Unreal to the limit in Shadehaven. 
Favorite Moment: Finishing the area where the orange light bleeds out into the blue cave area with translucent waterfalls to the side Ñ it turned out just the way I pictured it in my head. Realizing you could take out the entire first Zombie barrage with a single lit Spraycan was amusing.
-->Chris Comments: Another clever "wormy apple" style of map where what first appears to be a linear affair turns into a more complicated structure. This is just a solid map all around with some really great atmosphere.

[dwe2m8]
The Black Tower
Inspired by the idea of The Dark Tower from the Stephen King series, which I haven't had the chance to read as of the time I'm writing this commentary. There's so much buildup to this mission that I had to make it epic in scale, and it is one of the largest levels of Death Wish in terms of size and how long it takes to complete (I think either Duck & Cover or Inferno may hold the title). I originally wanted the player to slowly ascend the tower with different floors, but I realized how small the floors would be and that it would be a real mess in Mapedit. I imagine layering room after room would eventually churn out some horrible sector wall glitch (which it did during the making of Shadehaven) so I changed up the design plan. As long as the player got to take a ride to the top and look out over the battlefield I was satisfied. This is the level where I came up with the idea of using the blue lights to signify an invisible bridge. I made sure to make a tiny inviso-bridge before the big one so the player knew the reason for which the lights were present. I thought having bridges cross-crossing everywhere would ruin the cavernous feel of the area so this was my solution. The level on the whole is pretty difficult, especially the area leading up to the tower if you are playing on the less forgiving difficulties.
Favorite Moment: I loved making the 2 jump-scares. It's cheap but I think it's effective if not overused. I like the icy area where you can slide around at top speed, too.
-->Chris Comments: This is another good pre-boss level where you definitely feel like you're fighting through an army of enemies. The leadup to the Black Tower is a great fight that really showcases how awesome the old style of games were, where it was more about speed than taking cover to stay alive.

[dwe2m9]
Legion
The Stone Gargoyle, Cerberus, etc. were already bosses in the original game so I couldn't justifiably use them as such in Death Wish. Some people just give you an arena with 2 bosses instead of 1 which is a bit of a cop out (unless you make it part of a larger level, like Cryptic Passage did). I wanted the player to fight against what seemed like an army with the "boss" creatures acting like generals. Like the boss level from episode 1, this fight is pretty unruly and will have you running in circles trying to avoid attacks from all sides.
Favorite Moment: Tricking the boss creatures into destroying all their minions by running behind a line of enemies. Cerberus doesn't know the meaning of friendly fire.
-->Chris Comments: This is the level where I learned that it's trivially easy to stab both Cerberus and the Stone Gargoyle to death with your pitchfork. I quickly exhausted my ammo being stupid and found out that their attack patterns are extremely easy to avoid when you get in close and have a lot of room to maneuver around. Hooray! This and Black Tower also remind me of awesome Tricks n' Traps style of levels from Doom.

[dwe2m10]
Dread Faction
I love Half Life and Resident Evil so I wanted to do a "lab" type mission. I thought the train would be an interesting way to reach the facility, a set piece I probably could have stretched out for an entire mission. I wanted to have a mission that was a total zombie slaughter, something I had already done to some extent in Paradise Lost. The lab setting felt more natural flowing in from the castle level than anywhere else. The idea behind the level is that some of Cultists have attempted to create their own Zombies but they rebel and the entire place is crawling with them. This level is mostly a test of ammo management since without clever use of explosives you'll probably get swarmed. On the other hand if you come into the mission with a wealth of extra explosive ammo it's almost too easy. The high difficulty settings really make a difference in this mission since the Zombies can absorb so much additional damage. The area where you return to the elevator that leads back to the main mission is really a copy of the first section. This meant I didn't have to use respawns (which don't allow enemies to drop items).
Favorite Moment: Making the kitchen area and merging it up above the meat lockers without any residual sector glitches. Sometimes you miss mistakes like that until later and it could take untold hours to repair.
-->Chris Comments: Much like the carnival, the train level is another Blood staple but I really like how it's handled a bit differently. Here the train is just a means of getting from one section of the level to another instead of completely dominating the playtime. It's also the only train level that I can think of where you actually board the train within the level instead of just starting on it. Very cool.

[dwe2m11]
Behemoth
Another quick level that leads the player back to the main campaign trail. I was using these mini-missions that follow the secret levels as player challenges or miniboss fights. I always made sure to alter the original location a bit to make sure it wasn't a carbon copy, usually by adding damage to buildings, changing the sky colors, rearranging enemies, etc. I knocked down one the walls on the side of the castle so players had more than one way to tackle the skirmish. 
Favorite Moment: Tricking Zealots into firing on Cerberus, who would promptly spin around and kill anything within range of its attackers.
-->Chris Comments: It's really interesting to play a half-level like this after completing a secret level. I can't think of any of game or mod that really handles them like that and it's a nice bonus. And yeah, having Cerberus blow up your enemies never gets old.

[dwe3m1]
Whisper Peak
I adore the Silent Hill games, and even if the story is sometimes a little wonky I appreciate the idea behind them. This mission is inspired by Silent Hill 2 (the best of the series, if you ask me). Silent Hill games always have messages sitting around to read, which gave me the idea for the Tome message element in Death Wish. Some more modern games like the BioShock series still do this very well. Anyway, I wanted to start off episode 3 nice and slow since the end of episode 2 is so crazy. The fog effect is way more complicated than it seems and it is rarely done properly. I had to make sure that the player did not obtain bullet weapons before leaving the foggy sections, as the marks they left behind on walls did not fade in and out with the fog and looked very odd. This was also a good reason to use it in the beginning of a mission where the players begin empty handed. Every sector that used fog qualified as a special effect aka X-Sector (since you had to set the lighting in that sector to a special number) and there were only a limited amount that I could use, so I had to keep architecture very simple until the second section of the mission. It really sticks out from the rest of the levels in Death Wish in that it relies almost entirely on atmosphere and some subtle effects since I didn't want throw a bunch of enemies at a player so early.
Favorite Moment: Making the room that looks like a bloody mess but is back to normal seconds later. I fear some players may rush by and miss it entirely.
-->Chris Comments: I love this level. Blood's aesthetic lends itself to creepy, atmospheric levels and it's on full display here. The mind-games towards the end of the level really ramps up the tension, too. While it's not the hardest or the shootiest of levels that's also not the point. I hope people spend some time to look around instead of running through this section.

[dwe3m2]
The Room
Clearly inspired by Silent Hill 4. This also gave me the chance to use the setting of a late-night subway hub, which I always thought would be creepy. I attached the ambient train sound to the subway car sector so that you could hear it moving past as you ran around doing other things in the level. I think sound plays a big part in the design. I never added music to a level until it was completely finished and I was satisfied with the ambient noises. This level worked out even better than I had planned Ñ it ended up being effective enough that it made me go back and improve some earlier levels when I was finished (the same thing happened after completing work on Out to Launch). This was also an excellent opportunity to attempt rainy weather, as the outdoor areas were small and there wouldn't be enough sprites to overwhelm the game engine. Altering the apartment into something more twisted with each visit was a lot of fun.
Favorite Moment: Walking under the subway tracks as a train runs overhead. It completes that dank underground feeling.
-->Chris Comments: This level certainly plays better than Silent Hill 4 ever did. I kind of see the first three levels of this episode as a mini-trilogy and this level is certainly something a little different. I'm betting the more modern train station is based on the Metro tunnels around DC.

[dwe3m3]
ShadeHaven
This mission, inspired by the Unreal level (hence all the colored lighting) The Sunspire, was the last one I created for Death Wish. It's close to what I had originally planned to do with The Black Tower. Shadehaven's build is extremely complex and there were a number of problems that arose with room-over-room areas. I finally got to employ the Shrink Shroom, an unused item from the original game that has no effect. I also got a chance to have enemies crash in through the ceiling, which is something I had been itching to do but never found a good place for it. I made sure the ceiling break didn't happen the first time you entered that area so it would be a surprise. Along with the architecture, this mission may have the most complex progression path, forcing the player all over the citadel to reach the top. I wanted lots of nooks and crannies so that curious players would be compelled to search around every corner. The size of the structure had to be enormous to give players the same epic feel they would receive from a massive Unreal level. Big structures are great for inspiring a sense of wonder and intimidation in a player before he/she has even entered the building. 
Favorite Moment: The Shrink Shroom and flipped room effects. They look impressive and give the mission another layer of mystique. 
-->Chris Comments: Yeah this level is a real challenge but absolutely massive. How everything unfolds and builds upon itself makes it one of my favorite levels from episode 3.

[dwe3m4]
Bogey Beach
Influenced by trips to Rehobeth Beach in Delaware. This level is really open-ended. I had to make sure the water/beach area was far below the boardwalk section so that you couldn't just swim out to sea in the beginning and have every enemy in sight come after you. I would have created some areas that included a few more stores like the liquor shop, but there weren't enough resources left available in the map file to make it happen. Part of me wonders if it's too open-ended for its own good, but as enemies are usually more dangerous in the water than out of it I wasn't worried about that too much. If the player jumped off the boardwalk it could be a long, Gill Beast invested swim back to shore. There were actually a lot of interesting places to hide items and other goodies with this setting.
Favorite Moment: Getting the waves on the beach to move in and out properly. A subtle effect but worth the extra effort. I think a lot of mappers would have avoiding doing this due to the complexity and time investment, but that only made me want to do it more! I also like the arcade, but who doesn't like Skeeball?
-->Chris Comments: Nah, it's not too open ended. Sure the progression might not be as focused as the more linear levels but people love to explore and this level definitely encourages that. Watch out for crabs, jellyfish, and fat people!

[dwe3m5]
Duck & Cover
This level is a monster. In the original Blood there's a mission called The Siege which depicts a war-torn city. I thought I would try to one-up that level and make something that had more explosions, more bombings, and more destruction! The environment really gets trashed in this level, and nearly every structure has a few holes in it by the conclusion (even your boat). I thought the bombings would not only give it a "wow" factor, but were also a good way of opening up the level by breaking down previously impassable walls and obstacles. The player should not feel safe AT ALL by the time they reach the minefield. Originally the buildings that you see in the beginning of the level were just for show, but I ended up fleshing out their interiors for use. The mountain face that you can look over to see the second battleground area also had to be carved away later. I probably should have done a better job of drawing this one out before starting to build Ñ it would have saved me some time. 
Favorite Moment: When I got the red ticking bomb box working.
-->Chris Comments: Dustin has always been good at complex explosions and levels that get blown to hell as the player progresses, and this one is probably his best. Someone remake this in the Frostbite 2.0 engine thanks in advance.

[dwe3m6]
Inferno
I liked the idea of starting this mission out very peacefully, building up to the descent into the fire pit. The fire pit is inspired by the Norfair/Hideout II section of Super Metroid, where the environment is just as dangerous as the enemies that inhabit it. Blood's normal damage settings for lava are laughable, so whenever I used it in Death Wish I made sure it was a real threat that could burn the player to a crisp with a single touch. I kept the 2 pools of water in the foyer area before the elevator to the fire pit in mind when placing enemies. It's the reason I had no qualms about placing Hell Hounds everywhere, since the challenge would be leading them to water rather than fighting them. This also gives the players an incentive to grit their teeth and fight any Gill Beasts they find so the pools are available for use later. The Flesh Temple Area is what I think the original Blood's In the Flesh map should have been: Shorter, more carefully made, and built into a larger setting rather than as an odd standalone mission that provides poor level transitions. I like to think of it as a section of a much larger structure, of which both the In the Flesh map and Inferno's Flesh Temple are pieces.
Favorite Moment: When the sacrifice blocks both activated for the first time, opening the "mouth" of the Flesh Temple.
-->Chris Comments: This is a tough, complex level. The lead-up sort of reminds me of how the original Unreal started with the peaceful landscape leading to more dangerous territory. I had quite a bit of trouble beating this one the first time.

[dwe3m7]
Last Rites
The last non-boss level, based on a quick cutscene shown before the final boss level from the original game. I wanted it to feel like you were building up to a climactic battle. I used the design from the original final boss map (The Hall of Epiphany) and played around with the architecture to make it look like it has taken a beating over the years. I tried pretty hard to make the level transitions in Death Wish as good as possible since the original game wasn't always that great about it and I was attempting to go a step further. This level is pretty effects/event heavy and I think it does a decent job of showing Tchernobog at full power, able to destroy structures and spawn tons of powerful creatures at will (as apposed to early in Death Wish when he is weaker, only able to transform into rats and spiders and eventually zombies). I created a tome with a hint that tells players to blast the Beasts off the cliff rather than fight them (I don't think there's enough ammo to even do so on harder settings), so I hope most people catch that. It's easily the most tricky event to survive in Death Wish, even if you include that dicey window jump from Urban Decay.
Favorite Moment: Tchernobog's Transformation.
-->Chris Comments: Last Rites is how the original Blood should have ended. This is a well crafted pre-boss stage that's a hell of a lot more satisfying to beat than just rehashed bosses and a doofy looking T-Bog tottering around in his tiny palace. The final encounter is incredible, even perhaps...epic??

[dwe3m8]
Dead End
It's so dark... is this "The Void" mentioned in the cut scenes? I wanted a more unique battle with Tchernobog than the original game provided (another arena-style map where you plow through the previous bosses old-school style). Also, since there is virtually no cover, the strategy is more about spacing and maintaining distance rather than hiding around corners. Tchernobog is the most dangerous up close and allowing the player, who is much faster, to run around corners wailing on him doesn't make him menacing. The bizarre second section where you fight the spirit form was still about spacing, but you have much less control over your movement. 
Favorite Moment: Allow Tchernobog to fall over and slowly fade away? I DON'T THINK SO. So unsatisfying after he has caused so much trouble. Only a giant explosion will do.
-->Chris Comments: This is such a weird and awesome way to end the episode. For some reason when I play this level T-Bog either kills me immediately or I kick his ass with no problems at all. But yeah it's more satisfying to beat him on a level playing field than, say, get him stuck on a floating pane of glass so that he spins around forever until you kill him. My favorite part of this has to be the intro where you fly in on your platform though, especially if T-Bog sees you early and just starts walking around screaming nonsense before you can even get to him.

[dwe3m9]
Nightmare
I took pieces from a bunch of different maps to see if I could mesh them together into something new. Since I wasn't spending time making a lot of new architecture I had the opportunity to alter the visuals and give the level a very unique appearance, with pink/red lighting everywhere and floating objects. It was too strange an idea for the regular campaign but for a secret level it fits right in. 
Favorite Moment: Putting in the space rocket from Out to Launch. No, you can't reach it, but it makes for some dramatic scenery.
-->Chris Comments: Nightmare has some of the best visuals in Death Wish and reminds me of an older map Dustin made based on an actual nightmare of his. It's cool to revisit previous maps in an altered form and definitely adds something to the experience that you wouldn't get if you just played this one standalone.

[dwe3m10]
Morning Gory
A heavily edited section of Bogey Beach converted to a miniboss map. I had to make the ocean shallow in the event Cerberus jumped off the boardwalk. This is very different from the Behemoth map in that there are many, many more places to hide yourself.
Favorite Moment: Beginning the level in a daze, as though the previous mission could have just been a bizarre, drunken dream you had after passing out in the Liquor Store. Did any of the events that occurred after you reached the liquor store in Bogey Beach even happen?
-->Chris Comments: Getting Cerberus to start fights with the hellhounds is great fun in this little level. Also I swear that one of these days I'm going to find whomever is flying that damn plane and put a bullet into him! This works really well as a short interstitial level.