The /newstuff Chronicles #472

• WOOO 2 - Various
  Doom 2 - ZDoom Compatible - Solo Play - 13402768 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: Jaxxoon R
  MrThejoshmon once again takes the lead of a jokewad in this sequel to the original WOOO. In WOOO 2: How 2 WOOO, players must guide Doomguy through 38 horrible maps filled with countless Cyberdemons, purposeful Hall-of-Mirrors effects, ridiculous scripted events, and disorienting architecture (not to mention the bizarre soundtrack that accompanies each level).
  
  This would all be quite amusing if it were not for the fact that most of these maps stuck to one goal: be as terrible and unfun as possible, something it inherits from the original WOOO. The problem lies within the fact that something made to be such a way is only funny once. And WOOO 2 is only even more of the same for players to slog through (essentially telling the same joke twice).
  
  This leads to WOOO 2 becoming dull and samey early on, and very rarely does this jokewad actually try to tell a joke. Though there are quite a few gems like "SLOPEWAY TO HEAVEN", "Pizza daze", "The my house", "Is this real life?", and "Craz Nessie", many maps are simply the same ugly techbases with a few anime screencaps for walls and absurdly high monster counts.
  
  Quite a few of the maps in the wad are even broken or otherwise unbeatable. One, for example, had the entire second half missing completely, leaving me to wander around the same tiny room for five minutes frantically tapping every wall until I simply gave up and skipped to the next map.
  
  In conclusion, WOOO 2: How 2 WOOO is a bloated, painful-to-play jokewad that seeks to punish anyone who dares bear through it. And it is best avoided by anyone seeking to actually enjoy themselves.
  
  
• Resurgence (final version) - Josh Sealy with Guest Mapper Darkwave0000
  Doom 2 - Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 13845344 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: MajorRawne
  People are more likely to buy a Winzip licence than they are to review megawads or partial megawads*, but rather than see Resurgence languish in the archives for a decade, it's time to present it to the world and see what wad author Josh Sealy and guest mapper Darkwave0000 can do. Judging from the heroic roll-call of megawads and wonder-maps in the text file, this is one of the most kick-arse rides of 2014. I mean, this is from the brains behind Speed of Doom. May the authors forgive the late, late review of Resurgence.
  
  (* Apologies if I've used that line before)
  
  The gameplay of Resurgence is rock hard on UV. Skill levels are supported for the first 27 maps but it's UV-only from there on, which seems like an idea born from haste rather than anything else. I carried on through each map consecutively without pistol starts. We're not out to set any records here, unless "worst review" counts.
  
  We are catapulted straight into hell without the customary build-up, progressing back into our universe later on, with marked gameplay and thematic differences between episodes. It's interesting to see it done this way for a change.
  
  Resurgence uses a lot of material from the Surge project... you've probably heard of that, but it slipped by me.
  
  We'll get some of the negatives out of the way first. The new font used throughout is a bit confusing. The 4s look like 9s, which is a big fething problem when it's your health.
  
  I also struggled a lot with the map layout. No megawad has ever brought me to a halt so many times. I felt like Skeletor yelling at his minions in Masters of the Universe - "WHERE - IS - THE KEY!" - except there was no one to lighten the moment by shouting "Yeah, where's the key, Beast-Man?" I couldn't find or work out how to get certain keys in certain maps even with noclipping. Is this a slaughterwad or Eternal Doom? You never seem to have the key you need when you need it. I gather this was a problem with other players, rather than me being a ponce.
  
  Many textures in the early maps are the same colour or manage to mislead your eyes, so it can be hard to discern a switch which doesn't even look like a switch, or to spot a teleporter on a pedestal which is outside a window. I even ran past a pivotal staircase in one early map, finding it some five minutes later. Some maps have a busy layout and the automap is a nightmare (honestly, good luck following the bloody thing), plus sometimes you just don't know what a switch has done. These problems were significant in some maps and prevented me from completing them without either cheating or fucking around for ten minutes. Grr!
  
  The visuals are generally OK, good in some maps, decent in others, nothing that will blow you away or challenge the status quo; this is about violence, not art. Some maps are well-designed enough that the environment is a part of the game, and this brings a sense of immersion. It doesn't always work well due to apparent design flaws. Several monster traps in several maps don't trigger properly unless you cross specific lines - and sometimes not even then - which stinks in a big, open map, or if you like exploring, get chased down the wrong tunnel, or are otherwise dicking about.
  
  That said, Resurgence is pretty sensational for a slaughter wad. It has more flaws than a blood diamond but the gameplay is so urgent, so exciting, it literally pulls its pants down, waggles its arse at you and dares you to put shotgun pellets in its cheeks. If slaughtermaps are your thing, you NEED this. NOW. If you are wanting to get into this type of wad but don't really like them or don't feel skilled enough, it's like the mappers are holding your hand through the early maps, allowing your skills and confidence to grow.
  
  You get a berserk pack at the start of every level, all but crucial in a playthrough, which also offers a tactical choice: fight like an Ultramarine or a World Eater (look them up).
  
  Maps 01 and 02 are pretty much alike: fast, small, with everything being red. You can Tyson your way through the early part of the maps, and I highly recommend you learn how to do this if you don't already know. Opposition is mostly minion-level with a few heavy-hitters for backup. Map 03 is more interesting, taking place mainly in a lava canyon where you fight from ledge to ledge - it's pretty difficult without mouselook and requires some trial and error, as you can easily miss the ledge you're aiming for.
  
  A small spike in difficulty for map 04, which had me running around like a moron before realising you need to launch yourself off a ledge to get over the gate blocking the exit. I'd have found this map a lot more enjoyable if I'd seen this earlier, as otherwise the gameplay is exciting. Map 05 is shorter, more exciting and one of the better looking maps in the megawad. I really enjoyed this except for missing a crucial staircase due to the relentlessly grey textures buggering my eyesight. The megawad's first boss fight occurs here. You're also forced into a pistol start for the next map - ouch!
  
  For map 06, if you thought Perfect Hatred from Ultimate Doom started off hard, wait 'til you see this. Your battle skills will be tested, but it's enjoyable and simple once you figure it out. Note: You'll need to have patience and skill from here on in.
  
  Map 07 is a punishing endurance test but it's great fun, although the central keep with the rocket launchers plays like arse. Pop-up attacks where you get exactly one second to take the shot, then wait six seconds to take another one, are not really this Doomer's bag. The nukage floor is a bit mean. Map 08 takes things to more of an extreme with lots of dangerous teleporting hordes - exciting but frustrating if your dodging skills are as bad as mine, which isn't likely. You should probably bring your own ammo to this one. There's one part where you need to hop from pillar to pillar (this gimmick is repeated in many maps) and you need to take a specific route to trigger the battle in the red key area. This is the first true, relentless slaughtermap and it was an amazing feeling to beat it with 100% kills. Oh, and I think I noclipped to get one of the keys; fuck falling into lava every time you don't move in a perfectly coordinated fashion.
  
  Map 09 is so badass you actually see a boss monster from the start. You know that when the Masterminds start popping up, shit's getting serious. The frantic start to all these maps is just so much FUN, damn it. The problem is I just could not figure out where to go next and could therefore not beat the map legitimately. From hit to shit in three minutes.
  
  Map 10 features the first truly epic battles. The map is certainly better-looking, like a modern-day Inferno map, and it's the only map I've played where Spectres are dangerous - they are almost impossible to see in the heat of the moment, leading to many rocket-related deaths. Grr! Map 11 is reminiscent of the incredible map 28 of Speed of Doom, except much kinder and infinitely more frustrating, as you may miss the required teleporters and run around like a whore chasing a £10 note. This is the stage of the ride where casual gamers will start to get off (as in actually depart, not have an orgasm), leaving only those looking for some hardcore violence. There's now a step down in toughness for a few maps before things get hardcore again. You've been warned.
  
  Map 12 brings you back to reality, aka the Tech-Base Episode (TM) - it's surprisingly long-winded and very challenging but still a breather compared to map 11. Hope you worked on your Tyson skills. Map 13 is much shorter with a tough start, but it's very brief and generally a step down in difficulty, with the best music in the wad so far. Maps 14 and 15 and are also very short and relatively easy to beat, though 15 presents problems with fights over nukage and some pesky teleporting monsters.
  
  Map 16 is heart-rendingly scary. It's basically a puzzle room (albeit a simple one) with two Cyberdemons guarding it. Some people will probably give up here but it can be done with skill, luck and speed. The Baron at the beginning put up more of a fight than any monster I've ever seen. The music sounds like something from a good-natured porno. I'd definitely call this map memorable. Map 17 is also heart-stopping at times but I found an alternate route to the blue key that failed to trigger a huge ambush - I'm really not sure how well these maps were playtested. A good, claustrophobic massacre is supposed to ensue, assuming anyone turns up.
  
  Map 18 is truly grand, a total blast to play, though again I missed a crucial switch early on and got stuck looking for the red key. The map gets strangely easier as you go. Good music. Map 19 is a bruising, butchering affair which mixes Downtown with the Hell Revealed maps inspired by it. There's a really frustrating jump which requires a perfect straferun. The map is well designed and would be a nightmare from a pistol start, but it is hugely satisfying to beat. Map 20 seems like a blast and even has a Cyberdreams-style area, but I couldn't get the yellow key or lower the bars to the blue door. For feth's sake, I'm playing Doom, not The Crystal Maze. Next!
  
  Map 21 begins a new episode - the Plutonia Resurgence? The visuals are moodier, a throwback to the classic days, with calming music and exciting battles, but curiously low-key for the 21st map of a slaughterwad. It's designed for Tyson, so it pits you against balanced melee opponents such as chaingunners, plasma marines and an Afrit. Map 22 redefines epic, with a stunning view of a castle on a mountaintop as you wend your way around the peaks. Again, the blue key was a fething nightmare to find - when you kill the Mastermind behind the bars near the plasma rifle, there is a hard-to-spot staircase in the corner. While the map is pretty jaw-dropping, it seems badly designed, with lots of "leaps of faith" when you don't know where you'll end up. Mouselook is recommended. The music really suits the map.
  
  Map 23 was inspired by AV's map 5, Crimson Tide, but ends up making Crimson Tide look subtle. Slaughtermaps really have changed in the last decade or so. It's a small map, so it's exciting and relentless; visually, it really is a good tribute. The megawad becomes pretty much one giant grind from here as the remaining maps are very Plutonia, so you're either going to love the last quarter of this megawad to death or grit your teeth and bulldoze through it.
  
  There's another change of visual style in map 24 with a rare winter map which sets the theme to follow. It felt a bit linear, which seems a recurring thing in these last maps, but certainly got the blood pumping. I liked the frozen water. Few maps start more ominously than map 25, Technoprison 2, though the sight of massed ranks of Arch-Viles was a bit of a groaner.
  
  Congratulate yourself indeed if you come through maps 26 and 27 intact, they're harder than Arnie's love-spuds. The colour scheme in map 26 (called The Library, but the difficulty level is nothing to laugh about) seemed a bit off; it felt a bit nauseous for some reason. Map 28 looks good, with large, wide areas and plenty of contrasting colours used, cementing this as the most attractive episode of the wad. The gameplay was starting to wear on me by this point. For dedicated slaughterfest fans, though, it certainly delivers.
  
  Map 29 features walk-through walls which lower the way to the exit if you pass through them carrying keys of the corresponding colour. That's something I've never seen before. The map is a large water-logged base with plenty of room to run around, but it rapidly becomes crammed with monsters. The final arena of Map 30 looks amazing, especially if you clip up onto the edges and look down at the thousands of fireballs crossing the sky. The architecture dwarfs even the Cyber and Spider Demons. For sheer impressiveness it's a bit tasty, for difficulty it's insane. The map has a humble beginning, with an expanding close-quarter brawl with intense opposition, which in no way prepares you for the madness to come.
  
  Map 31 is far better-looking than many of the "normal" maps, so it's a shame people might miss it. The gameplay is heavily Plutonia, but features a Wormhole-style trip to a dried-up, subdued, parallel reality which is well worth taking. In the 15ish years I've been playing custom wads, I've seen this only one other time: an ancient UDoom map called Silver Mirror. Bizarrely, this Resurgence map's somewhat non-linear nature punishes exploration (you need to work out a route to get the weapons first, a nice way to add replay value but frustrating for FDA players), and it's hard as fuck! It's also ironic that this was built in the style of mapping stalwart Xaser and it happens to be one of the sexiest maps, as well as being probably my pick of the entire wad. Map 32 is just your typical modern-day slaughtermap which begins with ranks of monsters surrounding you but facing away from you, with some really eclectic groups of monsters popping up in front as you dash around, etc. Not too sure what the gimmick was meant to be here? Perhaps the monster count, which bordered on insane but then crossed the border.
  
  So, how to sum up what some people were calling the best megawad of 2014, and which did indeed win a deserved Cacoward? A megawad whose review is long overdue, and currently has not one, but two threads dedicated to it in the forum?
  
  Bad first. I've already mentioned what a fething nightmare I had progressing through some maps due to obtuse design. Some will write this off as Major Rawne moaning about something else, but these issues have been raised elsewhere by other players.
  
  The gameplay in the other maps is, for the most part, redemptive. Resurgence continually gives you a sense of betterment and achievement, that your skills are improving and you're awesome just for getting through each fight. It's superb training for budding slaughtermappers - and for those who normally think slaughtermaps are visionless abominations, it's the megawad that actually allows you to SEE why Sunder, Hell Revealed, Scythe et al. are still so popular.
  
  This is so close in spirit to Hell Revealed, you against the monsters in an environment that usually supercharges the gameplay, it's light-years ahead of contemporary megawads since it does more than simply pop five hundred Hell Knights up in the first five seconds (though it does pull this kind of trick at times). It challenges you and dares you to work it out.
  
  So what if anyone below Doom God level will probably chuck their mouse out of the window, the point is, Resurgence's target audience are going to absolutely love it and it captures the spirit of Hell Revealed, which was being strangled and killed by the dozens of megawads which never came close to emulating their granddaddy's success.
  
  Download and play, or miss a piece of Doom history.
  
  Slaughtermappers, take note.
  
  
• An Obambirthday - Platinum Deluxe Director's Cut DX Battle Edition - Jaxxoon R
  Doom 2 - GZDoom - Solo Play - 1436323 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: Jaws In Space
  This wad was made for Job for his 31st birthday thread titled Happy Birthday, Mr. President. Jaxxoon R mistakenly thought, from the thread title, that he was supposed to make a wad about Obama fighting demons on his birthday, so he made a wad about that. There are only two levels here with various ZDoom effects; both are very simple and shouldn't be a challenge to anyone. The first map is a pretty small map that takes place in the White House where you kill a few few Imps and Zombiemen before unleashing Hell Knights throughout the map. The second level is a simple boss arena where you have to shoot various lowering and raising walls while avoiding imps and demons. The real reason to play this wad though is for the custom Obama faces that replace Doomguys face. There is a replacement for all of the sprites, as Obama gets weaker his facial expressions get sadder and sadder until he puts his head down and closes his eyes when he dies. The God mode replacement is one of my favorites as Obama looks at you like you just stole a cookie out of his cookie jar. Go ahead and check this one out, but only for a laugh to see Obama as Doomguy.
  
  
• DWANGO 20th Anniversary Edition - Various
  Doom 2 - Vanilla - Deathmatch - 1282926 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: the_miano
  Before I get into my review of DWANGO 20th Anniversary, let me just say this: I've been involved in the Multiplayer Doom Community for about two years now and I've noticed a lot of DWANGO criticism. I've heard people say things like "They are all f***ing crap" and "DWANGO was never better than average at its best. Stop living in the 90's. They are not played anymore with the exception of a select few maps."
  
  Here is my two cents on the criticism: Yes, the deathmatch standards have indeed changed since the late 90's. And I agree that not all of the DWANGO maps were good, but nor were they all horrible. I consider the DWANGO series to be a significant historical milestone for both online multiplayer gaming and map editing. Because of that, I believe it deserves a generous amount of recognition.
  
  So why did I bring up the criticism of the DWANGO wads? The reason is because lately I've noticed that there is a preconceived notion that any new WAD that is correlated to DWANGO is total garbage that consists of ugly/unplayable maps with terrible item placements and lousy gameplay. However, DWANGO 20th Anniversary is different than the original early DWANGO WADs. According to the text file, Doomkid took the time to shovel through the /idgames archives to find 31 deathmatch maps between 1994-1998 that were ahead of their time in terms of gameplay standards, layout, and design. I actually looked up some of these maps myself and the majority of them had very few reviews, which to me indicates that they were either forgotten about or underappreciated after all these years. But thanks to Doomkid, this compilation has given these maps a chance to see the light of day once again on ZDaemon and Odamex.
  
  By doing a quick run through in single player mode, you will notice that these maps are a mix between small and large layouts. I noticed that most of the maps have tall ceilings, pillars, spiral staircases, and symmetrical layouts. The texture usage from these maps looks great especially for its time. The item placement is fair with an abundance of weapons, ammo, power-ups, player spawns and health packs. The gameplay isn't exactly fast paced with 8 players (as noted in WADS such as greenwar, exec, or brit10), but I found it to be quite enjoyable. Based on my experience playing DWANGO 20 online via Odamex, I had the most fun doing 4-on-4 team deathmatch as well as free-for-all with 4-8 players.
  
  Overall, DWANGO 20th Anniversary is a charming and nostalgic old school deathmatch WAD. I give Doomkid a lot of credit for the time he spent on /idgames filtering out the good underappreciated 90's WADs from the run-of-the-mill junk 90's WADs. That said, give it a download and play it online with friends on a source port of your choice.
  
  
• Doomkid's Deathmatch 4! [Quick n' Dirty speedmaps] - Doomkid (Adam Post)
  Doom 2 - Limit Removing - Deathmatch - 1261187 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: the_miano
  Ahh yes, Doomkid's Deathmatch 4, Quick n'Dirty indeed! Doomkid never fails to whip up some fun FFA old school maps. Out of all the DK DM WADS, this one is by far the best (in my opinion of course). This one has 12 small/medium size fast-paced levels perfect for 4-8 player deathmatch. For all you ZDaemon players, these maps are ideal for chalking up experience points and getting those mastodonic monster kills...
  
  Brief description of each map:
  
  MAP01: A brick-themed base. Looks good enough for 1-on-1 duels. There is a texture that says "Everything you know is wrong" in one of the sectors with a plasma rifle. The BFG is also relatively easy to grab.
  
  MAP02: Similar to MAP01, but different layout with the corridor routes.
  
  MAP03: A somewhat symmetrical map that has a brick/stone theme to it. There is a body of water that separates the map in half. Hidden Easter egg of Mr. Crispy and myself behind one of the walls too.
  
  MAP04: Another symmetrical stone wall themed map.
  
  MAP05: This map is supposed to be a shipyard. Neat looking little boat on the horizon of the water.
  
  MAP06: This kinda resembles greenwar just a little bit. There are a couple of obstacles in the arena. Plasma rifle is also relatively easy to grab.
  
  MAP07: A spiffy looking shopping mall. Plenty of room for 8 players.
  
  MAP08: I'm not really sure what this one is supposed to be, but guessing by the sector with the letter "H" I suppose that it is an airfield for a helicopter...
  
  MAP09: I like this one. The little house and outdoor areas look very nice. Fun map even for 1-on-1 duels.
  
  MAP10: A tech/brick-themed map. Somewhat symmetrical with an easy to grab BFG. Seems perfect for a Frag Your Brains Out Session on ZDaemon.
  
  MAP11: Damn, this is one is definitely one of the larger maps out of the DM pack. There is a sector that has a tall stack of boxes that spiral up to a soul sphere. There are many barrels too.
  
  MAP12: A very nice looking cave. Another big map out of the pack.
  
  Overall, this is a fun WAD. Go download it and have an 8 player DM party!
  
  
• The Demon's True Blood - Omegalore
  Doom 2 - ZDoom Compatible - N/A - 2278 bytes - (img) (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: scifista42
  This wad only contains a custom DECORATE lump (and GLDEFS lump) for ZDoom based ports, and it does the following:
  
  1. Changes Cacodemon's blood colour to blue.
  2. Changes Hell Knight's and Baron's blood colour to green.
  3. Pain Elemental and Lost Soul no longer bleed - bullet puffs appear on them instead.
  4. Changes Lost Soul's health to 20, allegedly for the sake of improved balance.
  5. Removes the Spectre's fuzziness and makes him translucent instead, for whatever reason.
  6. Very simple new GLDEFS for the Lost Soul, but I haven't even noticed a change while playing in GZDoom.
  7. "BLOODZAN.WAD" is included to change blood colour of two Skulltag-specific monsters, Cacolantern and Belphegor.
  
  That's all. I see little point in using such a tiny mod alone. It's obviously incompatible with all other gameplay mods that affect monsters, therefore I guess that a player who's into gameplay mods would choose a more complex one rather than this one. Either way, this mod works all right.
  
  
• Bloody Graveyard - Unholypimpin
  Doom 2 - ZDoom Compatible - Solo Play - 3855036 bytes - (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: the_miano
  Bloody Graveyard, created by Unholypimpin, is a single player/co-op WAD that contains one large Halloween-themed map. There are some custom textures/sprites that I recognize from Blood and Gothic. The resembles a spooky graveyard, and the MP3 file goes pretty nicely with the theme. You have to battle your way through 326 enemies with an ample supply of weapons and ammo. Sometimes it can get a bit monotonous fighting hordes of lost souls and imps, but it's still pretty epic. You'll notice that every time you die, a message appears in the middle of the screen. The level design is nice too. This probably can be a good survival map for a ZDaemon session. Give it a download!
  
  
• Ubi Amnis Est - Obsidian
  Doom 2 - Limit Removing - Solo Play - 84446 bytes - (img) (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: scifista42
  Obsidian's birthday map for Phobus. A very short, but violent one. It has good looking, clean design. You might easily run out of ammo if you don't play efficiently. Some mandatory switches and items and even monsters are hidden behind waterfalls. There is a couple of hardly avoidable Archviles; you need quick reactions when dealing with them. The map's last encounter is the easiest one, but shows an interesting usage of self-referencing sectors. Except the few above mentioned little annoyances, I liked the map.
  
  
• Muskadet - franckFRAG
  Doom 2 - Vanilla - Solo Play - 216557 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: scifista42
  "One big classic vanilla map, inspired by 'Interception' and 'Bellatrix'," says the wad's description. I can confirm that it's an entirely true and fitting description, and I would add that the map is also absolutely great. Delightful experience. There's everything for what I like playing Doom wads. Smooth fast-paced gameplay allowing for aggressive play style, beautiful visuals and varied environment, nonlinear and pleasant to explore. Overall classic-like feel, excellent atmosphere and well-picked music track (Doom's E1M4 MIDI), tons of fun. No other game than Doom has ever managed to give me exactly that. Highly recommended to everyone!
  
  
• Frigid Frag - Captain Toenail
  Doom 2 - Boom Compatible - Deathmatch - 150230 bytes - (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: the_miano
  Frigid Frag is a one-level deathmatch WAD made by the one and only Captain Toenail. According to the text file, the map is suitable for 1-on-1 duels along with 1-4 player FFA. The overall theme to this map is a brick base with snow and icicles. Captain Toenail has quite a knack for making quality maps fresh out of the editor. I think this should be included in a community project, maybe even a Christmas DM WAD. The map is pretty much everything you would expect from a Brit10 map. Good flow, appropriate weapon/item placement, and proper usage of textures.
  
  Give it a download!
  
  
• Santo's House - Mr. Chris
  Doom 2 - Vanilla - Deathmatch - 220833 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: the_miano
  Santo's House, created by Mr. Chris, is a small Deathmatch map of a house. This is kind of a cliché of the 90s, but it looks better than most house maps from that era. According to the text file, it is implemented for 2-4 player FFA as well as 1-on-1 duels. The detailing is decent, but nothing super impressive. You as the player can explore in the house and around the perimeter outdoors.
  
  In the .zip file there is a santohs2.wad, which is a winter version of that map. The grass has been replaced with snow and new winter tree sprites have been added too. There are also icicles on the roof of the house and the fence. The MIDI also rocks. It's definitely worth a download.
  
  
• B/\|_||-|/\|_|S - Didy
  Doom 2 - Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 2970454 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: Zalewa
  If it's not the best WAD that I have played recently, it's definitely one of the best. The fact that it's been mentioned on the "runners up" list in 2014 Cacowards speaks for itself, although I believe that it clearly deserved to be up there with the "top ten". Everything here isn't just done well, it's done beyond well, and it's also original, refreshing and very atmospheric.
  
  Bauhaus, the name of this WAD, is more importantly the name of a German art/craft school. I won't go into much detail here. If you like, you can look it up on your own. The WAD is done in Bauhaus-art style, and it tries to emulate realistic locations. While usually "Doom" and "realistic" don't mix very well together, in this case the Bauhaus-art is already blocky in its nature, just like Doom, and the outcome of joining both is great. The first map shows that this union works well by putting the player in a suburban area where you circle around three houses trying to find switches that open the exit. It shows how a house can be built in Doom engine that not only doesn't look artificial but also doesn't break the flow of the map. MAP02 takes place in a villa (and its basement) where even the paintings consist of basic, geometric shapes. The remaining two maps are more abstract in their nature, but they combine simple geometry with contrasting colors to produce pleasing and original visuals. The final map is split into four parts that you can explore in any order you like. The goal in each part is to obtain a letter from word "EXIT". Once you obtain all four letters, you can complete the level. Atmospheric visuals are accompanied with likewise atmospheric music.
  
  Last, but not least, is the gameplay. This WAD plays just as good as any coherent, classic map. There are no oddities here, nothing weird nor stupid, and that's just what I like. Combat difficulty is moderate, with some harder parts here and there. Its flow is great too. It never gets tedious or forces you to be overly careful. The most pleasure in this WAD comes from continuous exploration, and monsters don't get in the way of that. You always have enough ammo and health to stay alive and to dispatch enemies quickly.
  
  If I have to nitpick, I'd only say that sometimes I found myself running in circles, looking for a switch I missed. The maps are small, concise and well-connected so this isn't much of a problem, and finding your way out isn't that difficult in the end.
  
  My only wish is that we could get more WADs like this.
  
  
• Rainbow dash HUD - Joe-Ilya & Omer
  Doom/Doom 2 - N/A - N/A - 331954 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: the_miano
  I just don't understand people's fascination with MLP. And for anybody who doesn't know what MLP stands for, it's My Little Pony. So apparently joe-ilya and Omer are openly bronies. This Rainbow Dash WAD has a replaced HUD that consists of a pony face instead of the Doomguy and an ST_BAR edited to look like the BRICK7 texture with ammo sprites. There are also sounds from MLP that are extremely annoying. And to top it off, the weapon sprites have been edited to look like MLP pony hands, which look awful.
  
  
• Tei Tenga entrance. - John Cartwright
  Doom 2 - Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 262246 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: Jaws In Space
  This is John Cartwright's 25th map uploaded to the IDGames Archive since his first way back in 1999. Given that he has 15 years of map making under his belt I expected something pretty good, and what we get here is at least fairly decent, but not great. The map starts with a very linear section of the map facing off against zombiemen and shotgunners with way more health and ammo than you could possible need. At first I was pretty disappointed and ready to write this one off as a complete failure, but the use of windows here to let the player see into the future sections of the map is done quite well. I kept looking out the windows into these vast tech base structures filled with nukage and far off imps just getting excited about finally getting to those parts of the map to just do some exploring.
  
  Eventually the linear hallway section does end and you get to play around in some pretty big rooms, but this is where the map falls apart. Monsters are all clumped together in grid patterns in these big areas, so they all come at you from the same direction from that one spot, which provides some very boring game play. After teleporting your way through these big rooms you make your way to the exit room, which has the best and worst parts of the map. It's good because it's a smaller sized room with monsters at different heights and angles to prove some actually challenging game play; it's bad because I finally started to run out of health and ammo here and I didn't want to go all the way back through the teleporters to restock on supplies. Also there are a few bugs in the exit room: first is when you come back up the lift from outside, where the lift will go back down and display a HOM. The second bug is for some reason the exit door itself would not open; I looked in the editor and as far as I can tell, the scrolling wall effect is interfering with the ability to use the door.
  
  Overall this map is pretty mixed in quality. There are some pretty interesting parts to the map, and there's really nothing wrong with the level design overall except for the overly large size of some areas. The real downside of this map though is the bad game play; there really seems to be little thought thrown into monster and item placement.
  
  
• Urotsuki: Inferno Road - Lainos
  Doom 2 - Limit Removing w/ OGG Support - Solo Play - 4717576 bytes - (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: the_miano
  Urotsuki: Inferno Road, created by Lainos, is a one-level single player/co-op WAD. The level design and texturing looks phenomenal, but the gameplay is just poor. To start off, you have two weapons nearby (shotgun and chaingun) to battle dozens of imps and a few arachnotrons. Wouldn't a super shotgun and rocket launcher be more suitable instead of the chaingun and shotgun? The monster placement could have been more strategically implemented. They are pretty much lined up like soldiers. It just makes the gameplay feel very monotonous.
  
  I give the author a lot of credit for making amazing visuals in urotsuki.wad, but he has to learn how to make good gameplay.
  
  

Ha, I forgot about that little birthday map! Thanks for the review Scifista.

A bit miffed that my WOOO 2 map didn't get a mention. :P

Bloodshedder said:

• The Demon's True Blood - Omegalore
  Doom 2 - ZDoom Compatible - N/A - 2278 bytes - (img) (img) (img)
  Reviewed by: scifista42
  This wad only contains a custom DECORATE lump (and GLDEFS lump) for ZDoom based ports, and it does the following:
  
  1. Changes Cacodemon's blood colour to blue.
  2. Changes Hell Knight's and Baron's blood colour to green.
  3. Pain Elemental and Lost Soul no longer bleed - bullet puffs appear on them instead.
  4. Changes Lost Soul's health to 20, allegedly for the sake of improved balance.
  5. Removes the Spectre's fuzziness and makes him translucent instead, for whatever reason.
  6. Very simple new GLDEFS for the Lost Soul, but I haven't even noticed a change while playing in GZDoom.
  7. "BLOODZAN.WAD" is included to change blood colour of two Skulltag-specific monsters, Cacolantern and Belphegor.
  
  That's all. I see little point in using such a tiny mod alone. It's obviously incompatible with all other gameplay mods that affect monsters, therefore I guess that a player who's into gameplay mods would choose a more complex one rather than this one. Either way, this mod works all right.
  

I really don't get the reason why the Pain Elemental is made non-bleeding, and the spectre fuzz is already customizable in ZDoom so you don't need a mod to make them translucent.

Maybe he thought that PEs must be made of shit since they are so annoying. :)

I'm pretty sure shit doesn't spark when shot. :)

Muskadet was great fun

Obsidian said:

A bit miffed that my WOOO 2 map didn't get a mention. :P

same here, I was hoping for a screenshot of my voodoo doll-filled adventure.

also, I have to agree with what MajorRawne said about Resurgence's layouts, they are confusing as hell.

Just to clarify a remark about it being ironic that the sexiest map is a copy of Xaser's style: this was not an insult to Xaser or the Resurgence mappers, I simply meant that the best-looking Resurgence map was based on someone else's style.

In conclusion, WOOO 2: How 2 WOOO is a bloated, painful-to-play jokewad that seeks to punish anyone who dares bear through it. And it is best avoided by anyone seeking to actually enjoy themselves.

It is a glorious victory to the WOOO team, we actually preformed the goal of making it unforgivably awful.

MajorRawne said:

Just to clarify a remark about it being ironic that the sexiest map is a copy of Xaser's style: this was not an insult to Xaser or the Resurgence mappers, I simply meant that the best-looking Resurgence map was based on someone else's style.

Personally i found many many of Joshys maps much more better looking than the Xaser-style map. Not that it matters. Just wanted to point it out.

Thank you for the positive review, miano. :D

The map definitely is hectic even with 2 other players. The squirrel photo in the bedroom also is an in-joke with my friend. In reality, his home is more confined (about half as much space in most rooms) so I made it more appropriate for DMing.

If anyone wants to end up reviewing the RDND mod, review the final version (1.5) and not 1.2.

I think that review of Dwango's 20th anniversary is by far one of the worst reviews I have ever read of a doom wad. Not only is there an unwanted scope of the reviewer's personal philosophy, most of the effort was spent on trying to defend and praise the wad and its Dwango roots without actually explaining why or even simply just giving a decent review of the maps. Extremely vague details are given that can categorize any wad and I am nowhere near convinced that the wad is as good as what is desperately trying to be proven. There is also an easily visible lack of deathmatch experience and I recommend he try playing the gamemode more often and not just in a closed group. This might help in grasping the important concepts and what makes a good dm map, which in turn might even enlighten him as to why his quotes about Dwango were made in the first place. The blatant sucking up to nostalgia and most likely the author, alongside the bias in opinion, makes this review plain unpleasant to read. Maybe if time was spent on actually reviewing the wad and not kissing the "good ol dwango days!" and the ground Doomkid walks on, we would have something intelligent to read.

^Look at the very bottom of the entire Bloodshedder's original post.

I agree, bob would be a great reviewer for multiplayer wads. It'd still be appreciated if people would put more thought into a review instead of providing a flowery, sentimental reason why it's supposed to be good.

mrthejoshmon said:

It is a glorious victory to the WOOO team, we actually preformed the goal of making it unforgivably awful.

GG

scifista42 said:

^Look at the very bottom of the entire Bloodshedder's original post.

That's a call for people getting off their butts and start reviewing things, not a gag order on criticism of bad reviews.

Well, I definitely appreciate the review, but I agree that it's too nostalgic and not focused on the maps themselves. I can say though that Ive played a lot of public FFA over way too many years.. I've seen every kind of WAD there is to see. For some reason I find myself drawn to simple stuff, especially speedmaps, that's why I found appeal in the maps I picked.

We should all have a DM some time. I'd like to get more variation in, not just in terms of maps but also players. It may just be down to time zones but I rarely see DM servers these days, regardless of which source port is use.

I'm always willing to try anything new in terms of mapping/playing, honestly. Send me a message on IRC and lets get some frags in and talk about mapping techniques and all that good stuff. It'd be fun.

I can tell the_miano wrote this as a friend to another friend, I really do appreciate it in that respect. We definitely have similar taste when it comes to maps. I guess it was more like a blog post than an objective review, I always like to know what people dislike in stuff I make (or in this case, compile) so I know what to avoid in the future. I definitely wouldn't pick so many symmetrical maps if I could do it again, I didn't realize how many of the damn things there were!

Bauhaus was indeed a great map set, but I'm glad that the reviewer mentioned the "running in circles" aspect. It didn't ruin the experience for me, but it certainly made me feel a little stupid.

Obsidian said:
A bit miffed that my WOOO 2 map didn't get a mention. :P [/B]

Getsu Fune said:

same here, I was hoping for a screenshot of my voodoo doll-filled adventure.

I was mostly listing/capping the maps I hadn't blocked out of my memory, but my apologies just the same.

Also, I'm surprised people actually liked Obambirthday XD

Hey, this time better than nothing.

The reason I made the Spectre translucent was because he looked cooler like that. As for the lost souls, they are just souls. How do they have blood? As for the Pain Elemental, just because.

The reason there was no difference in GZDoom was because maybe the player forgot to use Lights.PK3. The lost soul health was from a idea from a Doomworld thread. I forget the name though.

I did need to put GLDEFS in there since if you use the replace command, the monster will no longer have the glow.

Gez said:

and the spectre fuzz is already customizable in ZDoom so you don't need a mod to make them translucent.

Unless you're using older versions of ZDoom or Zandronum.

Omegalore said:

Unless you're using older versions of ZDoom or Zandronum.

Seriously? r_drawfuzz has been in ZDoom since 1.14 (maybe even 1.13, I don't have its source code) from July 1998.

Sure, if you're using an older version of ZDoom like 1.12 or 1.11, you might not have that option... But your mod will not work with it anyway, DECORATE did not appear until the 2.0 beta.

Why is there so much black in the Tei Tenga entrance screenshots? It looks terrible and I don't think the reviewer even mentioned it. I couldn't play a map with lighting as bad as this looks.

cs99cjb said:

Why is there so much black in the Tei Tenga entrance screenshots? It looks terrible and I don't think the reviewer even mentioned it. I couldn't play a map with lighting as bad as this looks.

I didn't mention it because almost none of the gameplay happens in the dark environments, the darkness is there to add atmosphere to the map.

New /newstuff chronicles when?

Jaws In Space said:

I didn't mention it because almost none of the gameplay happens in the dark environments, the darkness is there to add atmosphere to the map.

Adding atmosphere is a laudable goal, but in the screenshots it just looks silly.

Breezeep said:

New /newstuff chronicles when?

I think my theory according to Doomguy2000, DOOM is slowly dying.

Let's hope it won't. Seen a video of his.

Omegalore said:

I think my theory according to Doomguy2k, DOOM is slowly dying.

no

Breezeep said:

New /newstuff chronicles when?

Probably when at least 15 new reviews are written, as usually. If you visited the Newstuff Review Center, you would see that only 5 are currently prepared (4 of them by me). You can write some reviews yourself. Of course, anyone can.

scifista42 said:

Probably when at least 15 new reviews are written, as usually.

Or that.

Nevermind :P