deathz0r
Bitch fuckin' stole me chaingun!
Posts: 4049
Registered: 01-01 |
Welcome to the monthly edition of /newstuff Chronicles! I apologize for it being late, but my ISP decided it was convenient for users to require a firewall and the customer service neglected to mention that to me when I rang them up, so I was basically Internetless for a day and a half. Hooray! Anywho, I got a lot of trash to go through this week month, so I'll keep the reviews short for your convenience. And yes, I'm aware I didn't review anything past May 1st as I'll get to those next week, but if I missed any before that date, whine about it!
- Adios - Jacob H. Orloff
ZDoom - SP - 131kb - (img) (img)
Starting off this week month is a fun little map for ZDoom. It doesn't abuse the ZDoom effects and it's a nice challenge to boot! It aims for an arcade "BLAST SHIT AND THEN BLAST MORE SHIT THAT TELEPORTS IN" feel and it definitely succeeds in that. Well done Jacob.
- Apocalypse - Carlos
CDoom - SP - 398kb
Utter shit.
- ARGH! SPIDERS! - Cutmanmike
ZDoom - N/A - 12kb - (img)
SPIIIDERS!!! I know find those little bastards annoying thanks to Cutty's brilliant modification that turns monsters into SPIIIIDEERS that destroy the shit out of you if you let them live for mere seconds too long. See above screenshot for a nice example.
- FraggleScript standalone source code - Simon Howard
N/A - N/A - 35kb
I can't say I know much about FraggleScript, but I'm sure someone could put this source code to good use in their port! The text file mentions that this is the original source code before it was integrated into SMMU and that some functions are missing because they weren't implemented by then.
- Gamarra's soul story: Mission 2 "The Spammer" - Giulio Galassi aka Glassyman
ZDoom - SP - 339kb - (img)
This is marginally more interesting than the first one that I reviewed last month. Still found it a bit too boring to play more than once though.
- Generator of Evil - Alexander "Eternal" S. (aka Deadall)
Boom - SP - 644kb - (img) (img)
I thought WAD files with spaces in their filenames were banned.
Anyway, this single map is your basic HR-style map with tons of monsters, tons of action and tons of darkness. Definitely looks like a quick blast in co-op, but it doesn't seem terribly interesting for single player.
- Gray textures v2 - Nick Baker, aka NiGHTMARE
N/A - N/A - 415kb
If Quake is known for being excessively brown, then I guess Doom is known for being excessively gray, and Nick Baker sells that point pretty damn good with this solid texture pack. The text file basically speaks for itself:
Over 600 variations of the gray textures (GRAY1, GRAY2, etc). These include 84 different layouts, with four colours of each (the standard gray, plus brown, green, and tan), plus variations with warning stripes and blue and red backgrounds.
So if you want your levels to be MORE GRAY, then I strongly suggest using this texture pack.
- Kohe 3 - Ruba
doom2.exe - SP - 32kb - (img)
It's kinda ironic that this replaces MAP13. A deliberate act on Ruba, or a coincidence? He/she/it does like to randomly choose map numbers other than MAP01 for unknown reasons, but this city-themed map is a lot more fun than I expected from a Ruba WAD. If Ruba keeps this up, I'm sure he/she/it will become a successful mapper over time.
- Kohe 4 - Ruba
doom2.exe - SP - 36kb
DOES NOT WORK IN INTENDED SOURCE PORT
- Kohe 5 - Ruba
doom2.exe - SP - 49kb - (img) (img)
Ruba is definitely improving as a mapper, and this level shows that he/she/it is putting in a lot more effort than his/her/its previous maps. I don't understand why Ruba still Nazis in maps, but the thing that boggles me most is the description in the text file:
You are in a small Maes of death and you will get some Bloodshedder done to you by all the Kakoka Balls.
What? The map has a rather nice hellish feel to it and the detail is very good. Keep it up ladyboy!
- Little Tiny Map - D Link
Enhanced Port - SP - 45kb
DOES NOT WORK IN INTENDED SOURCE PORT
- Meretricious Plunge - Eugene Sloupsky a.k.a. DarkJedi188
ZDoom - SP - 158kb - (img) (img)
Hey, this isn't bad at all! It's a fun E2-style map which can consume a fair bit of your time if you have nothing else to do. There isn't much detail and the map is horribly symmetric (which isn't that bad for SP) that could have been made a bit more interesting, but it oozes in fun shotgun battles against Barons and Cacodemons and what say you. Definitely better than half of the trash released this week.
- Revenge of The Kunun - Ruba
doom2.exe - SP - 5kb - (img)
A boring 1-on-1 Cyberdemon battle with a Rocket Launcher. Yep, I just described the entire level. Moving on...
- TGRCP1 (or try the German version) - Tigers Files
Skulltag - SP - 1,518kb - (img) (img) (img)
Ok, the text file for this has to be by far the absurdly retarded text file I've ever read. Why? First, we start off with the information section:
Region : AmericaFile Theme: Blue HornFile Sys : Advanced TechnologiesWhat the hell was the point of writing that region shit? Is this WAD file only restricted for Americans to play? What about me, who is an Australian? What the fuck? I don't even understand what "Blue Horn" is as a theme, and when I played the WAD there was very little indication of "blue" or "horn" other than the blue status bar. And what the hell does "File Sys" mean?
Then there's the features section:
code:
=======================
Features
-----------------------
New Appearances and Themes of (Blue Horn)
Remote Procedure Call
Designed For "Skulltag 97.x" Series
Real Effects
Intentional Telefrag Protection (5 Seconds)
Re-Scaled Monsters
IWAD Game Play Support
Online Gaming Support
Offline Gaming Support
What the hell is "Remote Procedure Call"? What are "Real Effects"? What's the point of mentioning "IWAD Game Play Support" when it's a goddamn PWAD? It's also totally redundant to add "Online Gaming Support" and "Offline Gaming Support" in the same text file. What "Gaming Support" doesn't it support?
Here's the best part though:
code:
=======================
System Requriements
-----------------------
Your Operating System must be a genuine copy of Microsoft Windows!
If you are unsure if your version of Microsoft Windows is a genuine copy,
go to (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?Lin...48&clcid=0x0407) for more details!
Look below for your Operating System requirements for running (TGRCP1)
The Requirements are "Averaged" for good performance for (TGRCP1).
Which then rants on about all of the different versions of Windows. Again, what's the goddamn point, it's a fucking PWAD for Doom which requires Skulltag. I think it's obvious to almost anyone who has ever played Doom what system is required, and the maps aren't even that intensive to require a power system unlike the nuts series or anything with 20 billion linedefs. It also goes on about online requirements but I don't need to bore you there.
Ok, I lied, this is the best part. I love dissecting copyright sections of text files as I have done in the past, and this is certainly no exception:
code:
=======================
Restrictions of Limitations
(Copyright)
-----------------------
Once you have downloaded this file; you automatically Agree to the (ROL)!
(Restrictions of Limitations)
Which includes a lot of worthless and stupid crap such as:
code:
This file; can be used for Playable uses. "Hosting \ Server
(Broadcasting), Online and/or Offline Play uses."
I don't understand why there's quotes or if there's meant to be more to this section and they forgot to type out the rest, but I found it another waste of 20 seconds of my life.
code:
YOU MAY NOT steal any new effect(s) within-this file!
What effects?
code:
YOU MAY NOT use or steal any sounds\Music\MIDI's within this file!
This one made me literally laugh out loud. It's ok for this group of morons to blatantly steal sounds from Quake 2, but it's wrong for us to steal from them? Hello Tiger Files, meet double standards.
code:
YOU MAY NOT swap any Textures \ Flats \ etc... And give credit to the "TGRxxx Team"
for using "Illegal" Textures!
Ok? Combine this with the previous quoted text and you're bound to have a massive aneurysm. As for the WAD itself, it's nothing special, just five amateur HR-style maps with horrible scripting, especially in the fifth map.
The Corrupt Pit of Hell - Steve "Vermilion" Thiesmeyer
Skulltag - DM - 779kb - (img)
The only DM wad this week month, and I wish I handed this to RottKing as he wanted to review a DM wad for this /newstuff, and I kinda forgot about him. The layout is symmetrical, it's too dark to be interesting, and there's a very deep and annoying pit right in the middle of the level. The weapon modifications suck ass as well. Avoid.
The Great Bicycle Mystery - TheCupboard
Enhanced Port - SP/Coop - 1,821kb - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
This gets the WAD of the Week award. Despite being a co-op oriented WAD, I believe the difficulty is on par with HR-style maps and can be beaten in single player. Granted I didn't get much time to test out that theory because of all of the other WADs, but it is clear that this is intended for co-op play, and would make for an great night of monster slaughtering action. If you have a friend who plays Doom, go through this shit together, you will not regret having an excellent time.
The Prometheus Experiment - Lorenzo Davia
ZDoom - SP - 2.4mb - (img) (img) (img)
Now this is a pretty damn cool WAD. It's story-driven and has a case of Engrish throughout the WAD, but the maps are beautiful, they're hard, and the themes for each map vary greatly, but they hold together well because of the story. It was pretty tough choosing between this and The Great Bicycle Mystery for the prestigious WAD of the Week award, but this WAD narrowly missed out. Play this now.
torture - mastofmet
Skulltag - SP - 209kb - (img)
These are horrible. Aspiring mappers, please learn from this example of terrible maps and don't waste my time uploading crap like this.
Ultimate Torment & Torture : Invasion - Daniel "Tormentor667" Gimmer
Skulltag - Other - 7mb - (img) (img)
People usually turn into crybabies whenever I review a Tormentor WAD. I don't know why that is, they believe that I have a biased opinion of Torm or that I'm jealous of him, so that I constantly have to give him negative reviews. Well, you're all stupid, retarded assholes.
Because this one almost won the WAD of the Week award.
But it didn't, because T2INV05 was a shit map that caught the "symmetric Invasion map" virus. So did T2INV04, but that map was more interesting.
The first three maps however are excellent, especially the first map. I was really hoping for a consistantly good mapset with the same gameplay quality of the first map, but it fell flat by the fourth map. Oh well, one day you'll win my heart Torm, just not this week month.
Untitled - Ryan Dupler (mastofmet)
Skulltag - N/A - 75kb
The text file says Just a demo for a Skulltag version of the "Unmaker". Ok then! The demo map has some items with really shitty scripting, a cyberdemon and the unmaker itself, which is apparently a rapid-fire railgun. Ok then!
Vermilion's Mod Version 3 - Steve "Vermilion" Thiesmeyer
ZDoom/Skulltag - N/A - 684kb
This is simply a standalone version of the shitty weapons mod in The Corrupt Pit of Hell. There's better stuff out there and I didn't find this interesting at all.
Water Treatment Facility #17 - Edward Dassmesser
ZDoom - SP - 281kb - (img)
This probably would have been an interesting map, but I hate scripts that give you temporary god mode, doesn't freeze monsters and moves a camera around like crazy to the point that it makes it impossible to exit the area because a revenant missile is mere units away from you and you have to try to dodge it when the cutscene finishes. That's just wrong on so many levels and instantly makes me stop playing the WAD.
Xenus 1.5 demo - Alterworldruler (not going to reveal RL name)
Enhanced Port - SP - 934kb - (img) (img) (img)
I liked this WAD. When I was gathering the links to the WADs, I noticed that this received a low score and I have to disagree with all of those idiots. Granted that the music choice was highly inappropiate, the levels themselves were brilliantly detailed and a lot of fun to play through. A recommended pick.
zbloodpak for skulltag - Cobalt and Butcher and steve "vermilion" thiesmeyer
ZDoom/Skulltag - SP - 14mb - (img) (img) (img) (img)
Ugh. Imagine Neodoom but with horrible amateur maps. It's painful to even think about it.
I thought that someone had already covered this in a previous /newstuff, but they didn't. Maybe it wasn't uploaded to /idgames because it's a horrible excuse of a megawad?There's also yet another upload of CDoom 2.05, just in case we haven't downloaded it already! And there's an updated version of the termin series that merges them all into one WAD. Cool!
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05-08-07 11:54 
