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duncan

The /newstuff Chronicles #246

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Welcome to another edition of /newstuff where I happen to host a distinct lack of new stuff. Most of those that aren't from 1994 look like they are. After sifting through a mountain of utter tosh, we come out with only a dwarf's handful of maps to play, and even they aren't that good. See what you can find among this lot to pass your time this week.

  • Bartshouse 2.0 - Bart McKendree
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 23KB -
    Right well, I was faced with a dilemma. Some reviewers mention these some don't. Some readers want them mentioned, some don't. I had a distinct lack of time, so I admit my playing each of these was a rush job. To make all happy, I WILL review them, but they will be very short and I'll get them out of the way first. I remember playing this one along time ago. It was rubbish then and is rubbish now. Meant to look like the inside of a house. It doesn't.

  • Theatre Of Doom - James Wilson
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 83 KB -
    Designed to be like a cinema and is one of the better 1994 Wads. Still ghastly.

  • DMJon - Jon Grieve
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 70 KB -
    I’ll quote: More of a collection of things he just tried out. See for yourself.

  • DMLaw - Unknown
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 35 KB -
    Meh, another 94 Wad. Good at the time I’d imagine. Awful now.

  • DMMisi - Unknown
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 18 KB -
    This probably wasn’t even good in 1994. It certainly isn’t now. (Sorry, these reviews aren’t helping, I should ignore them.)

  • Demongate v1.0 - Tony Lipscomb
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 33 KB -
    Inferno style 1994 wad--more joy.

  • Be Quick or Be Dead - Steve Faille
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 43 KB -
    The only thing more irritating about this map than the actual level is the name...

  • DMSFG - Ben Jordan
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 243 KB -
    Nine levels of 1994 rubbish instead of 1--so 9 times more to hate. This is so old that the author has to reveal the secret that monsters actually fight each other--my, how this will make my playing challenge a lot more lenient.

  • Welcome - Neil Reaner
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 45 KB -
    ...back to 1994 again. I love you Funduke. For review purposes, this is no better.

  • Whacker - Bobby Eddins
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 21 KB -
    A DM map of an arena that Funduke says looks original--maybe so, in 1994. You’d enjoy DM-ing in Doom 2 more.

  • DMLamou - Unknown, or if he is, he hasn't put it in the right place in the text file
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 522 KB -
    Two 1994 wads in one, both with hard gameplay--and predicatably nasty design. Avoid.

  • dmrsndpw - Unknown
    doom.exe - n/a - 238KB -
    Oh isn't this great. It's Doom with the f-word. *sarcastic applause*

  • Waffenmod - Kaiser Martins
    doom.exe - n/a - 379 KB - (img)
    Okay that's the 94 maps outta the way!
    This mod changes weapon and soldier graphics to WW2 type images. A slightly new slant that could add a certain something for a few minutes at least. Oh, there are sounds too.

  • Alpha! - Chronoteeth
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 772 KB -
    Another new weapons mod, sorry I was stuck for time and couldn’t find EDGE on my cluttered computer so instead followed the author’s advice and provided a link for EDGE and a link for the map--try it yourself! I’m sure it’s great.

    http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=2232

    Enjoy!

  • MGFX - Kaiser Martens
    doom.exe - n/a - 142 KB -
    Urmm the resources for Waffen.wad....take it if you want.

  • Dupe - GiltyGear
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 30 KB -
    Well another Doom 1 offering and not from Funduke this time. It’s actually pretty playable for a first time mapper creating a Doom 1 map. Give it a go, pretty fun and passes some time if you have no life like me. Haven’t got screenies for this as it was Doom 1 and I haven’t programmed a screenshot button.

  • Cavern - Zigmund Oswell
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 119 KB - (img)
    This is ugly--we’re talking Jackie Stallone ugly here--random textures, awful gameplay, irritatingly long and repetitive lifts. *Sigh* If I don’t get a good map soon I’m going to cry.

  • Aquafina - Jacob H Orloff
    ZDoom Compatible - Solo Play - 31 KB - (img)
    Was it me that reviewed you last time? Big piece of advice that will see steady improvement--stop trying to complete maps in a week. This is an improvement, but there is still little detail here. Good gameplay, very good try, and there is significant progress. Keep at it, take your time.
    Best map so far however--and that’s depressing.

  • Himmelfh - Kaiser Martens
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 81 KB - (img)
    A level from the author of Waffenmod. Mistexturing, lava pillars with SS guards, HOMs and that was all in the first two rooms--which is all I played to. I don’t imagine you’d have the willpower to go any further.

  • Blofeld X - Didy
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 1007 KB - (img) (img)
    Finally a set of maps that are decent and worth playing. That’s not to say they are brilliant but in comparison to what we’ve had so far--6 maps, mostly outdoor areas, easy enemies, smooth playing, large rooms, some nice detail. One of my main qualms is the fact places look very big and bare. Overall, a good set of maps.

  • Inside of the Gray Building - Lucifer "Diablo" Kaminski
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 34 KB - (img)
    What can I say? It’s a first map, in a grey building. I’ll be fair, there is effort here, but it’s your run of the mill first map really. All aligned as the text file promises. Good attempt, look forward to progressively higher quality offerings from this author in the near future.

  • Machine - Jacek "Illdo" Dobrzyniecki
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 30 KB - (img) (img)
    Sorry, but if I was as nice as I was in my last /newstuff, this may have escaped with a positive "well at least you tried". Unfortunately I’m in a bad mood--this sucks. Big style. Attempts at detail are rare and when done are out of place (see example pic of blood) and texturing is all over the place.

  • Missile - Chris Valentine
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 46 KB - (img)
    Limited to just a rocket launcher (or missile launcher as the author calls it) there are several dashes along narrow ledges crammed with enemies. Inventive. Average enough design which becomes bland and repetitive and the gameplay is just plain irritating.

  • Outahere - Zigmund Ozwell
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 173 KB - (img)
    Pretty nice. Some good detail and some nice intense gameplay to enjoy. There is no fixed theme and some areas are a bit random but structuring and design is done well and item and monster placement are very good. Plus there’s something very satisfying about mowing down soldiers with a double minigun.

  • Rockisle - Zigmund Ozwell
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 222 KB - (img) (img)
    Excellent, we have something of quality. Two maps set around white rock caverns. A cold theme is present with great height variations and intricate detail. A very good play, give it a go.

  • Superfly - Jim Jankowski
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 71 KB - (img)
    There are some nice rooms but textures vary quite a bit, sometimes for no apparent reason. Lighting is done pretty well and overall it’s a well designed map. Nothing out of the ordinary, worth a whirl.



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(x)post, yayz0r

It appears we're going down the hill with newstuff, every weak is crappier.

IMO, it'd be better if we had 1 modern map per week that having to shove trough a bunch of shit to find something that's half-assed, but not completely assed. Someone rail Funduke's arse please :P

I liked Duncan's reviews, altough I'm not really a fan of reviews where the author depends on his mood when writing them.. :/

Also, what caught my attention is a number of homies that appeared in the community. That all-the-time being banned Illdo is one thing, bue Sin_Pl, and now Diablo (what kind of name is Lucifer tough oO ), unless that's the same person ^^

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Nmn said:



altough I'm not really a fan of reviews where the author depends on his mood when writing them.. :/

[/B]


I assure you my bad mood was due to the poor quality of the maps...and thus was relevant to my reviews. I had to review all those in a single day as didn't get the message asking me to do it until Friday night and getting maps like THAT one was enough to infuriate!

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Another fine week of /newstuff. Really enjoyed it...

...who the fuck am I kidding? This is re-fucking-diculous. The reviews were the best you could really expect when you're reaching the two-month point of 90% 1994 FUCKING WADS.

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duncan said:

I assure you my bad mood was due to the poor quality of the maps...and thus was relevant to my reviews.

Fair enough.

This reminds me of the time I had to do Newstuff. Maybe if I asked kindly enough, I'd get a second chance ;) but not too soon.

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Good reviews.


Yeah I'm going to put alot of work into my upcoming map.

"Best map so far however--and that’s depressing. "

I guess that's a compliment....I think....


HAHA just kidding.

I started laughing when I read that.

--SlatheDoomer

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Nmn said:

IMO, it'd be better if we had 1 modern map per week that having to shove trough a bunch of shit to find something that's half-assed, but not completely assed. Someone rail Funduke's arse please :P

I have an idea, outnumber 'em with current stuff! :)

The problem is, people really aren't making new DOOM maps that much any more--might as well accept it. It's sad but predictable, really.

As an aside, it would be a simple semi-review to just quote Funduke's "Review" line that he's now putting in each text file, and not have to even touch the wad if you don't want to.

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I had this idea the other day:

Newstuff would be better if instead of it being one guy each week you get several people each of whom specialise in different types of maps or source ports or whatever to do the reviews. For example:

  • somebody who likes old maps to do those
  • somebody else who plays deathmatch a lot to do the multiplayer stuff
  • people who prefer zdoom/skulltag/legacy/edge to review releases for those engines
  • even someone who appreciates weapon mods, I mean, say I had to review a weapons mod, I wouldn't give it a favourable treatment because I'm just not into weapons mods. But some people are, and they should be the ones to review each other's work, I guess.
And so forth. Then each week one of the admins or news posters would have to collect the parts together and post it. It'd probably be too hard to organise but might solve some problems.

It won't raise the signal to noise ratio of uploaded wads but I can't see how to do that other than the good mappers stopping being lazy and getting their projects out the door :grin:

Of course the other thing is the standard for what counts as a decent wad in most people's minds is high enough that making one takes a lot of talent, time and effort. This can put new potential talent off, rather than encourage it to be developed---especially getting a one-line mostly negative review from an unappreciative reviewer, after possibly hours of work. I think it's as much a thing for newstuff to encourage authors as well as provide an overview for players.

I realise people say that if you're making maps just to get good reviews you're doing it for the wrong reason, but it's true---if you show your map to the internet, you're obviously looking for other people to play it, and saying "oh I love making maps just for the sake of it" is so much hogwash. If you were doing that you wouldn't need to release them and hang around the forums waiting for newstuff every week, would you?!

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LordK said:

Itry out Enjay's "Operation Overlord".


very nice, can't get passed the fence though :(

Ty said:

I have an idea, outnumber 'em with current stuff! :)


You heard the man! get working

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RjY said:

I had this idea the other day:

Newstuff would be better if instead of it being one guy each week you get several people each of whom specialise in different types of maps or source ports or whatever to do the reviews.


And you think we have enough maps coming in to make this possible?

Besides who'd play them first to define which type was which...?
Ahaaa...I'm sensing flaws in your master plan ;)

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RjY said:
I had this idea the other day:

Thief!

You'll see below the post some reasons why it may not be a practical idea. But basically there's two types of people that play DOOM; those who pratice it and those who seek novelty. After that there's one type per player.

I realise people say that if you're making maps just to get good reviews you're doing it for the wrong reason, but it's true---if you show your map to the internet, you're obviously looking for other people to play it, and saying "oh I love making maps just for the sake of it" is so much hogwash. If you were doing that you wouldn't need to release them and hang around the forums waiting for newstuff every week, would you?!

When you release a map you're doing it for a certain type of audience, the type that would like your kind of map if it's any good. This is abstract, but in a way there's always such a audience in the maker's mind. If the maker himself is represented in it, he'll enjoy working on it, since he's making something he likes. But that phrase you noted is not hogwash when put against the idea of making wads for the reviews, unless somehow the reviews closely represent the imaginary audience, since the reviews will hardly determine how much a wad will be played and are just an opinion that's been put in the spotlight here, especially if the wad has any meaning in the first place.

As for myself, I release maps (not that I have yet) so people can enjoy them and record cool demos on them. And I make them because I like doing it and wish to play them myself just like I feel others might. Not for the reviews.

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The problem with newstuff will remain the same.
It's not the setup, the reviews or whatever, it is the quality of the maps coming in
There are a distinct lack of decent releases.
Changing newstuff around in the way it is brought to us will not alter that

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duncan said:

The problem with newstuff will remain the same.
It's not the setup, the reviews or whatever, it is the quality of the maps coming in
There are a distinct lack of decent releases.
Changing newstuff around in the way it is brought to us will not alter that


It's kind of futile to expect quality releases every week for an ancient game like doom.

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I didn't say every week...there is a distinct lack of new maps, never mind new quality maps, so I don't at any length expect that

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duncan said:

And you think we have enough maps coming in to make this possible?

The oldstuff guy would currently be busier than most I suppose :)

duncan said:

Besides who'd play them first to define which type was which...?
Ahaaa...I'm sensing flaws in your master plan ;)

I'd hope that it's possible to determine if a wad is old/new/SP/DM/zdoom/skulltag/graphics/etc. from the text file ;) But anyway it's clear it would make the review process too hard to organise and it wouldn't get done, so never mind :)

myk said:

Blast, I might've known it wasn't a new idea! That'll teach me to miss weeks of threads :)

myk said:

As for myself, I release maps (not that I have yet) so people can enjoy them and record cool demos on them. And I make them because I like doing it and wish to play them myself just like I feel others might. Not for the reviews.

Yes. I didn't mean specifically making maps to get good reviews of them. I meant that there's necessarily a positive feedback thing going on---that is, if somebody makes a map and it is appreciated by their target audience, then they're going to want to make more. For example in your case myk, when you release Certain Doom and people make a whole bunch of amazing demos for it, you'll be encouraged to do it again, and hopefully better. I certainly was when I saw the results of my speed villa thread.

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@Ty-indeed, it's a good thing he does that. Not starting a new rant on this stuff again.

As for newstuff-well, community is gonna die soon ;) \o/

@LordK-thanks homie! I wonder why NJ didn't upload it.. surely wad of the week (of friggen-reaking with 94-month wad actually!).

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Nmn said:
@LordK-thanks homie! I wonder why NJ didn't upload it

Well, he said in the thread that it was because of the custom engine and the custom resources, and that he wasn't going to host it indefinitely, so grab it while you can, people!

Szymanski, "use" the explosives on the fence. BTW, don't forget that you can duck and use a sniper zoom in this level.

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Szymanski said:

very nice, can't get passed the fence though :(


Did you "listen" to the briefing? Find the red charges on the fence [use] them and stand back.

[edit]Ooops, beaten to the advice :) [/edit]

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HobbsTiger1 said:

This weeks newstuff blows chunks in both review and wads.


Well, that's a very insightful opinion you express there, however I disagree and think Duncan did a pretty good job reviewing a rather unintresting lineup in very short time.

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You missed the weapon mods The Arms of Oblivion and Demented reality. They were uploaded BEFORE alpha!. Also, although you called it a weapon mod, you then called it a map. WTF?

Nice newstuff though. :/

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