The /newstuff Chronicles #62-2

From small to big to small again, here is the latest installment of the new DOOM-related files found in Newstuff.

• Fragport by Stephen Clark - (img) (img) (img) - Here's something we haven't seen in quite a while. A brand new 32-level megawad for Doom 2. The detail isn't all that great, nothing is very pretty, but it plays decently. There are medium to medium-big sized monsters right from the beginning of the WAD, so there isn't any sort of gradual rise in difficulty. It has a few new sounds, and a new "alphabet" texture which allowed the author to print any word on any wall using only one texture, but unfortunately no music. Altogether, it's OK. Enhanced DOOM port recommended.
  
• Europa 2 by Erik Alm - (img) - One map for Doom 2. This one is considerably large, with a few huge wide-open semi-outdoor areas. The theme seems be along the line of a lot of wood, some water, and some towers, with every place loaded with monsters. If you like huge, panicky "nowhere to hide" challenges, this may be for you. The map contains a nice sky replacement, as well as a decent music replacement. To play it, you'll need to have Gothic Textures. Enhanced DOOM port required.

Go play Europa 2 you frads

What is Europa 2 already done?

Oh heh .. forgot.. it's Erik we're talkking about. :p

damn swedes

Europa2 got a bug.. when I ran it with legacy it said. warning: this map have broken a limit of the doom editor.

so I decided to nodebuild the map with zennode to see if it would help..
then I noticed that Europa2 got 2 map01 maps in it's wad. I removed one of them and zennoded again.. and it worked perfekt.. just so you know..

The swedish people must the the most effective.

Europa2 r0x0rs.

I saw too that MAP01 is duplicated in the WAD.

A map so big, it required two lumps!
no, seriously, it is a great map. Although Erik's penchant for ArchvileJump-only secrets is a bit tedious....
go play it!

I once thought there was such a secret in Vrack2 but then later I noticed that it was possible to open a door in the wall on the other side..

Bah, it's me who don't know how to use deutex properly. Is this bug fatal in any port?

and Opulent. There is only one archvile jump secret in europa 2. 2 secrets (plasma + armor secret and mega secret) are reachable with ledgerunning techniques. Only the bfg secret requires (a very easy) archvile jump.

did anyone else notice the pic mistake?

I haven't downloaded it yet, but I reckon people who put in the time to do 32 level megawads should be given a little bit more praise... or do all the levels just suck?

not played far into fragport yet. But from what I've seen so far, it doesn't suck at all.

There are some really cool levels in Fragport, actually. Give it a shot if you're bored.

That mine level looks nice. Gameplay rules.

Maybe it's just me but the colors looked washed out on these screen captures. You might want to try lowering your gamma/brightness.

they always are.

Fragport is good! I just started playing it, but I can tell I'm going to have fun with this one :)

I agree, Fragport is a pretty good megawad. Good level designs and a good mix of monsters and ammo. The secret levels are also pretty innovative. All in all a worthy donwload.

When I try to run Fragport, PrBoom 2.02 crashes immediately with a segmentation violation. ZDoom 1.21 final and 1.23b28a crash immediately with the error W_CacheLumpNum: 11554636 > numlumps. Legacy in OpenGL mode doesn't render the cell doors at the start of Map01--very confusing! The only thing I've gotten to work properly on the first map is Legacy's software mode. I'm curious about which ports the rest of you are using with Fragport.

doom2.exe

doom2.exe? What a concept! :-)

Yeah, that and Legacy software are about the only ports that will run it. Haven't tried it with Edge yet. Doom2.exe was the first thing I tried. If a wad doesn't require a port I don't use one :) I didn't realize the problem with the ports 'til you brought it up.

Now, this was fun! Great job with the gameplay/traps/secrets/ect. Not to mention a pretty good looking level also. One thing I noticed, however, there is one place where you can jump down to the water area with the cacodemons. It has a Supercharge, BFG, and cell ammo. The problem is, I couldn't find anyway back up. Is this a bug or am I just not looking hard enough?

Rebuild the nodes with a newer nodebuilder like BSP or zennode and the maps shoudl display properly in OpenGL legacy aswell..

where did that etf thingy come from, is it at /idstuff?

uh oh, my 'pwads to be played' directory is getting big..

Yeah, I got the error with Zdoom too. The lumps in the WAD are all a bit mixed up, and the flats have a FF_START marker, but a F_END.

I used DeePsea to put the lumps in a more traditional order: Levels, sounds and misc lumps, patches (inside markers) and flats (inside correctly named markers).

Don't know which of the above fixed it, but the WAD ran fine in Zdoom after that.

it's a bug. forgot to add a fence there and never noticed.

Fragport is quite good fun, AndrewB is quite fair with the review, its not a looker but I have to admire anyone who can throw 32 levels together. But this is definately not the first wad with 'desert' levels, as claimed in the text file, Boothill and my own Mummy Phuquers have been around for a few years now and both do desert style a bit better.
Well worth downloading anyway.