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AndrewB

The /newstuff Chronicles #13

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We bring you nineteen downloadables in our weekly review of the newly-released DOOM-related WADs found in Newstuff!


  • Demon Sanctuary by Samuel A. Villarreal - This is a challenging, and well-designed single-player map for Doom 2. It has a few texture and sound replacements, as well as a good music replacement. It has some nice underwater effects, and a few other things. To play it, you'll need TeamTNT's Return Resources. Requires BOOM.
  • Blastem2 by Russell Pearson - Another challenging map for Doom 2. This level combines a theme of wide open outdoor areas, space base walkways, and indoor stone tunnels. While the map design is mostly linear, the music from E1M4 makes the level seem a little more enjoyable. Good for a challenge!
  • Lost Refinery by Jason Root - A single map for DOOM, this time on E1M3. This level feels a lot like the waste pits of DOOM's Toxin Refinery. Although, this time it's a lot larger, with many, many enemies. Detail is a little lax, but the wide open areas are nicely enough done. Seems best suited for a cooperative challenge.
  • Only The Strong by Sascha Müller - It looks like we're really into hard quality this week! Which is just what this level is. Great quality, great challenge. Lots of enemies. Ammo and health balance is very good. There's a few good texture replacements as well. The dark castle courtyard atmosphere is very distinct as well. Worth the download!
  • The Evil Place by Kurt Kesler - Another masterpiece by the former speeddemon-mapmaker! This seems to be his usual theme. Space bases, ambient sound... Lava, lots of outdoor areas... 3D bridges. All equaling a very, very large map! Good for single player, or cooperative play. Requires ZDoom.
  • Terrere1 by Wim Vanrie - Yet another large, difficult map. This one for Doom 2. Great detail in this map. Lots of monsters. Ammo balance is pretty good. A great-looking map, with lots of detail. But don't feel bad if you can't get anywhere on skill 4. This one is a doozy! Requires BOOM.
  • Base 67 by Sami Mäki-Mantila - We're not being stingy on the quality this week, are we? Superb, simply superb. This BOOM/ZDoom/Legacy map is of the finest quality. Superb light work, quality monster placement, and respectable ammo balance. The dark concrete/brick military base theme is outstanding. Simply one of the finest levels we've seen in a long time.
  • Doom Must Fall (Single Player Version) by Sparky - This seems to be an updated version of a one-level TC for Ultimate DOOM. All of the main DOOM monsters have been replaced. As have the weapons and most of the textures. The quality of the level design is unknown. Meaning: I can't get the thing to work. Worth a download, if you're into short total conversions. Enhanced DOOM port recommended.
  • Hell In The University by Sparky - An unauthorized updated version of a DOOM modification made by some university students a few years back. It has some amusing sounds, and some modified sprites, as well as a nice music replacement. Overall, it doesn't seem all that special. Not bad, though. Enhanced DOOM port recommended.
  • DungeonX by Richard J. Sham - A fairly large level for Doom 2. It has some new sounds, and a good music replacement I might add. Because it is rather large, detail lacks throughout most of the level. Textures seem to be unimaginatively placed. Nothing very special.
  • VillaMex by Richard J. Sham - Another large Doom 2 level with a good music replacement, and fairly nice level design; at first... It starts out looking very nice, but then seems to drop into a vague, undefined, undetailed maze. Again, nothing very special.
  • Yourdead by Richard J. Sham - Yet another large, undetailed level. An interesting note is that very few of the linedefs in these levels are at a non-90° angle. That's right, mostly square. Oh yes, and another decent music replacement. I guess there isn't much more to be said.
  • Nexus 6 by Prower - A standard single-player map for Doom 2. It claims to be much better than the recently-released Deus Ex Wasabi. If you're asking for my opinion, I would very much disagree. It's much smaller, and the design is much more basic. The only thing better about it, I suppose would be the higher monster count. Well, judge for yourself. Enhanced DOOM port recommended.
  • Fire Fight by Rick Clark - Here's something interesting! A monster and item generator for Doom 2. Press the switch, a random monster appears, along with an item, if you're lucky enough. But watch out! Get one of those revenants with their homing missiles, and goodbye body count! Requires ZDoom.
  • Music Replacement by Chris Laverdure - Nothing more than an almost-decent music replacement for DOOM, episode 1. No, a source port is not required, and no, the music isn't spectacular.
  • Alxdeth IV by Alex Nichols - A short combo for Doom 2, with a few treats. One short level, a few amusing new sounds, and a music replacement. The introduction picture is replaced, and there's a few demos to compliment it all. That's about it!
  • The Titan Anomaly by Jim Flynn - We have an alien space-base-theme level for Doom 2! This one looks a little boring, though. The sky is nice, but the rest of the level seems thrown together, and a little ugly. Nothing very special.
  • Blazin' by Sparky [/b]- Yet another version B update of a previously-released WAD. This time, a 20-level megawad for Doom 2, with reekingly atrocious level design. Nearly as basic designs and shapes as possible, the highlight of this WAD would definitely be the music replacements, with the modified sprites coming in a distant second. Enhanced DOOM port recommended.

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Guest The Mole

First of all, thanks for the good review AndrewB! But, i think you've made a little mistake. You see, Terrere1 is for Doom2, not for Doom.

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Guest cocoon

I can't get some of the zips I want... I come to another page at cdrom.com named wadname.zip


stupid

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1) I didn't make ANY of the stuff you've credited me with. You do this every week! Is all I've done is "advanced maintenance" on the Walnut Creek Archives - i.e. remove illegal exe's, pull illegal sprites out of wads, convert Dmgraph/Dmaud patches to wads, etc. Credit/flames go to the original authors, I'm simply providing a service to wad collectors like myself.

2) ALL of the wads you've accredited to me work fine with the 'Plain Vanilla' Doom exe's. Certain source ports are only recommended, NOT required.

3) Why bother rating 5/6 year old stuff up against today's finest wads anyway?

If you took a 20 year old car in for repair are you going to get car magazines lining up to do road test comparisons against the latest cars? And would the reviewer take the say 20 year old Ford, and suggest that it was a 2000 model manufactured by Joe Bloggs Automotive Repair?

4) AndrewB, how can you possibly not like Nexus 6 by Prower? It's an absolute hoot! I'd highly recommend it to anyone! Once again, it works fine in 'Plain Vanilla' Doom2 except for a HOM error in one outside area.

5) AndrewB, you're far too casual with the facts for this job. Almost every review you've done over the last few months contains at least one error. How about a bit more accuracy, eh?

One final thing, when you first got the job you said that you would be reporting not reviewing. At what point did your job description change? Leave the evaluations for the review sites, please.

<Hyrum's putting his glasses back on now>

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I found this map crappy!

The only thing beutifull about it, was the lightning.

The monster placement and ammo balance was NOT acceptable. I found myself battling 2 Mancubus' in a room where i couldnt move, with only a pistolin my hand.

Level design lacked! There is a maze. A MAZE!. You haev a hard time battling, caus' u have no ammo, no space to manouver and WAY too many monsters! I must give this wad the "Worst wad this week" award! Simply NOT GOOD! I will give it:

Gameplay: 1/5
Design: 2/5
Lighting: 5/5
Monsterplacement: 1/5
Balance 0/5

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I'd have to agree with Maonth. The lighting was par with Ola Bjorling's (that's a very good thing), but overall it was just bleh. Mazes died out in 1996, k? The architecture (sans lighting) was decent, the texturing/theme was pretty good but the maze gameplay and lack of ammo balance just killed it.

KZDoom5 is a great ZDoom wad, as all Kurt's maps are, so I suggest you pick it up rightnowmister.

As for how AndrewB thinks Deus Ex Wasabi is better than Nexus 6, I dunno. Must be those Canadian drugs :P

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Guest space-dog

If this stuff is six years old, then whats it doing in /newstuff?

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Guest q.pixel[rex]

Dunno what you've been smoking andrewb, but that was awesome. It had varying fights (unlike ssg and cg madeness for 10 minutes), lower monster count, CONTROLED monster flow, and the areas looked pretty cool (and varying ;-)

That ending got me real nice ;-) The first time, I got killed when I realized I was shut in, the second time I tried fighting by the door-way which didn't quite work since the archies just revived each other...third time I just gave up and ran for the exit and whoa! That actually opened up cover! Prower you bastard! arg! Anyway, keep it up prow...and don't sag down to any wasabie quality maps anymore.

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Guest The Mole

Anyone played terrere1 yet. Please tell me some comments about it. Maonth, i know where you live :-)

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Well then. I better tell the truth!

Terrere 1 was a great map.

Graphics: 4/5
Design 4/5
Ligting 3/5
Balance 5/5

Great map man! Keep it up!

I did it in 9 minutes and 57 sec! on UV!

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Guest The Mole

Like you said in the text file, Prower:"Much much better than Deus ex wasabi" It's true, Nexus 6 is a very fun map, it aint got the best detail in the world but hey, were talking gameplay here! BTW, thanks for the comments Maonth

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Guest q.pixel[rex]

Nice, my only real complaint would be that it was a bit cluttered...I could have used some more fighting space = Especially on the rail track area. The detail was good...would look even better with more macro and less micro detail (ffi/sacrifice style, I suppose you call that architecture instead of detail since detail can't be macro =)

Detail: 9/10
(excellent, bit too many colors though)
Architecture: 7/10
(some varying heights and building forms...not much more)
Flow: 8/10
(Some areas well reused, otherwise linear)
Play: 8/10
(Bit cluttered, ok surprises)

Still can't beat it on UV...grrrr...

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Guest q.pixel[rex]

Kzdoom5:

Kurt's theme again = Nothing exactly wrong with the map but I sure could play something with a different twist to it. Looked kinda cool though a bit squarish. Oh and that ending was just wicked ;-) Anyone should just download the wad for the ending ;-)

Detail: 7/10
Architecture: 7.5/10
Flow: 8/10
Play: 8.5/10

Only the Strong:

This is just me...but I found this map rather boring = Now if it was totally non-linear, then it'll be really damn cool, but making the player hop across the map from one building to another for each step in the linear flow just doesn't do it...I hate having to go from spot to spot to find where I need to go next. I'm just not the puzzle type ;-( The detail and architecture looked decent though texturing was strange =

Detail: 8/10
Architecture: 7/10 (bad texture mix, some good styles though)
Flow: no score, I'm too anti-puzzle/biased
Play: 7/10

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Can someone link me to a demo of them beating this frickin' level on UV? I'm having a hell of a time doing it....

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Cool Level, Prower. Not overly decorative and busy as so many would have their levels (their's such a thing called balance when cluttering a level with detail.) I made a demo of me doing it first time out. I didn't look at the map before hand. If you're interested in seeing a first reaction of your level, you can dl the demo at http://schmolze.net/jacobi/nexus6.zip

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You guys are taking AndrewB for granted. You know ultimately that this is a collection of opinions and no one will ever completely agree. I don't agree with half of his reviews, but it's a starting block for helping me decide what I should invest my time in.

If some of you guys can't handle the heat of having your levels reviewed then you shouldn't read the review. You know Andrew cannot post full page reviews of each level.

Sparky, if you've made contributions to a wad then you will be credited. If you really don't want credit then don't put your name in the textfile then. I don't understand the point of these idiotic 'version b' updates anyways. Your clouding FTP CDROM with unneccessary zips. FTP policy states these types of zips are not acceptable unless by the original author but obviously Ty cannot catch everything. Modifications such as sorting wad resources, removing wasted space, and streamlining files is pointless. The actual effect on gameplay is null and the other effects are inconsequential (oooh, he saved my 4 gig HD from 120K of wasted space!). A majority of the time I bet these modifications are unauthorized hacks anyways. Why don't you try opening an editor and create something that you can truly call yours?

BTW, don't miss Lost Refinery by Jason Root. It's easy to overlook this level because frankly no one knows him as well as prower or kurt kesler. Short of Kurt's usual quality in kzdoom5 "Lost Refinery" is the next best thing.

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That's a great demo there! It's interesting to see people blaze through your level in godlike times, but it's even more interesting to see people's initial reactions. Looks like you got quite a scare out of that hellknight :) Also, you're really crazy when it comes to looking for secrets, and you're really catious. Interesting style of play, fun to watch too.

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Sparky and I go back a ways, from the time that I came down on him pretty hard for not doing anything original to the more recent days when I appreciate the stuff he's doing to revive some stuff. Many of the uploads that he's modifying were either illegal (all the DOOM/2 sprites included) or used some old lame 1995 program like DMADDS to modify your DOOM2.WAD. The new uploads work smoothly with modern source ports, and are generally cleaner.

He does a lot of work to get the original authors' permission to modify and update the files, and includes the original author's text file with his own preamble. I can't argue with this as a way of cleaning up the archives, as I don't begin to have the time to pay attention to comment, whereas Sparky's willing to go through them in detail.

I remove the original when he updates a file, and it shows up in newstuff/ because everything does that I touch. I'm not going to alter my automated procedures to make these not show up in newstuff, when in fact that would add a great number of questions (I do get a lot of emails, y'know). As it is, they're very self-explanatory and save space and trouble.

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Guest max_speed

Out of ammo??? well thats becauce you didnt get chaingun with about 200 bullets from one cell!!!

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Guest max_speed

Out of ammo??? well thats becauce you didnt get chaingun with about 200 bullets from one cell!!!

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I highly doubt he has gotten all the authors permissions to levels he has modified. One of the wads listed "Hell in the University" is an example of it. He is removing illegal sprites but those files have been there for a while and I think the statue of limitations has passed.

In the process of allowing these files and removing old ones your only breaking more and more links. Your allowing someone to edit their wads without their permission (How can you be so firm on Id's no sprites in wad rule when your violating individual wad author's rules and requests?). And the fact that you are removing the original versions shows you are encouraging these "b versions".

I know some mods have been authorized (Like Sparky's mod to Patrik Hoglud's Sieben) but in general your allowing something that shouldn't be going on. Maybeye it won't hit home Ty unless someone starts release "b versions" of Pax?

Anthony

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Fish,

I think you're missing the main point, and that is that we (the Doom Community) don't 'own' the Doom Archive at cdrom.com.
Walnut Creek is a private company and they support our little community through the goodness of their hearts. I may have only saved them about 50 MB in space over the last 2 years, but that's 50 MB of space you guys can use. There's absolutely no commercial reason Walnut Creek should keep the Doom site open - no cd sales, no advertising 'cause we all use ftp and web links, etc. I bet they still sell Quake CDs, and yet the Quake Archive has been closed for years. In fact, if they hadn't closed the Quake site, my guess is that the whole Doom Archive would have been DELETED.

As for your opinion on the statute of limitations regarding the use of id Software's copyrighted sprites and exe files, I'd suggest you read the agreement between Walnut Creek and id Software, and the text files on your Doom/Doom2/Heretic CDs.

Ty has made it perfectly clear to me what kind of changes he will accept. Up until recently it was limited to illegal wads, but after nearly 2 years I've managed to convince him that the old dmgraph patches should be converted to wad format. Ty runs a tight ship and while he's at the reins you can rest assured that your wads are being well cared for. If the community disagrees with the ethics of updating old dmgraph patches then lets talk about it.

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