John Romero makes first new Doom map in 21 years

After exiting the Computer Station you knew the worst was up ahead. You still hadn't reached the place where the demons were coming from. The steel door shuts behind you as you realize you're there; you're at the Phobos Anomaly. Cracks from hell are all over the place as seepage from the portal invades the entire installation.

Now it's time to find the portal and stop the demons from coming through. You know UAC had hundreds of scientists working at a high-tech lab somewhere in this area, and the portal must be connected to it somehow. Time to lock and load.

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https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/Ports/d-f/e1m8b
DOWNLOAD ^^^^^

Fp!!!

Posting in historic thread

Also hell yes!!!!

Just beat the level, and Wow... Thanks for this awesome present, Romero. I'm so glad that this level has the nostalgic scent from the original episode 1. E1M8 has just become my favorite level from episode 1.

I could find only three secrets in my first play, though. But I'll try to get all of them in the next run. And yes, I'm sure that those bruiser brothers will also appreciate their new home.

Downloading right now! I hope your servers can keep up with the demand, Ling! :D

Yes. Yes! YES!
(downloading it now)

Would immediately be rejected from the DTWiD project for lack of authenticity.

EDIT: And the visplane overflows ;)

This is a really cool level. I was interested to see how many traits would remain from the first Doom, or if 21 years had swept away almost all trace of similarity. Some things did surprise me, especially how tightly packed the interior movement area is, as well as the boosted level of detail, and the fast-changing texture variation. In retrospect, though, I imagine that an editor like Doom Builder can encourage you to try more complicated details, with its sleek interface and seamless line-drawing features, so perhaps this is Romero at his more natural freewheeling? The text file says that it's a "warm-up" map built over a two-week period, so we can only hope that there's more stuff to come and compare! Certainly it's strange to think of Romero evolving a style, although it only makes sense; lots of us tend to think of his works as an unchallengeable text of Doom - the actual Doom Bible, heh.

For the few differences that riddle this map, however, there is much more in the way of familiarity. Lots of Gotcha-esque exploration values in a toxic sea of buildings, with sharp, tucked-away crannies that offer boatloads of treats or a glimpse of areas unconquered. Irregular-shaped platforms rising from liquid. Walkover light change effects (!). Single-strip SUPPORT2 in transition. At a huge crossroads like this, between a decades-long gap, a change in approach for Doom 2, a new editor, and creating a level that replaces the ending for E1, I find it pretty difficult to gauge where the holdovers begin and end, and how much of what we notice is made deliberately in light of its being a map for Doom 1. But it's fascinating stuff... and it makes me want to play more.

Thank you for this!

A bit harder than i expected but it was fun , Wasted a lot of HP on those damaging sectors :P .

DMGUYDZ64 said:

A bit harder than i expected but it was fun , Wasted a lot of HP on those damaging sectors :P .

In the pre-bugtest version, all damaging floors were of the -20% variety. Just imagine...

"What the hell is hurting me...? Wait, THIS little sector?"

Yep, it's old-school. <3

EDIT:
Annnd just beat it. That was grand.
Not a whole lot of gaming communities getting this kind of support 20+ years after the fact. Today was a good day.

Linguica said:

In the pre-bugtest version, all damaging floors were of the -20% variety. Just imagine...

Well it was when i fell in that acid and was unable to find the way to get out of it .

Sweet Jesus this is hard as balls.

Thank you, based Romero.

Linguica said:

...all damaging floors were of the -20% variety. Just imagine...

Wait, you mean that it also includes the red lava cracks inside the building? Oh my god, I can't even imagine it...

Because I had no idea why those cracks hurt me even though I wasn't standing on the crack. It could be better if the actual damaging floor has different brightness. About green slimes, thankfully there are plenty of radiation suits which are always nice to me.

Here's my FDA. One early death. 26:00 final attempt, recorded in prBoom+ cl 3.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/i4rb1x7i1rtb7pb/e1m8b_rdwpa_FDA.lmp

That was fun.

Awesome surprise. Hoping it won't be another 21 years for the next one :)

I hope to see a many more of these, and I wishfully beg for the original Id team to do a map pack or mega wad someday.

Thanks sir Romero :)

That was hard, but the end was worth it.

It is pretty hard. Almost gave up on pitol starting it, but managed to beat it by some miracle. I fucking loved the new battle with the Bruisers. The way the portals spawn more monsters other than the spectres, makes for a pretty intense battle.

Alfonzo said:

Would immediately be rejected from the DTWiD project for lack of authenticity.

lol

Mr. Romero sure loves his Sergeants, a surprisingly tricky but very enjoyable journey. More of it pls

I like the ammo balance a lot. Shells are basically free, but you should save the rarer bullets in case you get in a pinch and really need the chaingun.

And earlier traps (pincers with doors opening way behind you) teach you how to play later, more objectively dangerous traps.

These mappers who claim they're done with Doom. They always come back.

I haven't played this yet but i'm looking forward to it.

It feels like an EP1 level and it's got plenty of surprises, Romero never disappoints me.

Apparently per twitter he states (and I quote) "...just warming up."




And I just saw someone say on facebook "why all the excitement over DLC for a game that's 21 years old?"

I want to find the person behind the comment and pound their skull open on concrete.

excellent

21 years, and the Master hasn't lost his touch with Doom mapping one bit!

Buckshot said:

And I just saw someone say on facebook "why all the excitement over DLC for a game that's 21 years old?"

I want to find the person behind the comment and pound their skull open on concrete.

No, let him go. Anger does not cherish...

Ha, this was a treat. Coolest thing was that it wasn't a little one-off or simple map--it was large map packed to the brim with traps and sergeants... a lot of sergeants... a lot. I think tough Romero is best Romero, and it was fun trying to get a good footing while I ran around. I think at times there's too many enemies that pop up (the teleport trap towards the end is absolutely congested) and the baron fight is pretty much a nonthought. Awesome layout though; I really dug the scrolling REDWALL abberitions in the nukage and how the bars of SLADRIP were used in that one area. Fun stuff, awesome seeing the ways he has and hasn't changed regarding design (and the fact that this was made in the first place!)

Just finished playing it. It's pretty fun and not really that hard. I really love the layout of this, it feels like a huge base. I hope there's more on the way!

The ultimate advertisement for Dropbox over Mediafire... Romero uses it ;p

On topic: I can't wait to try this out later!

Bloody hell, what a lovely surprise! Tough as balls too. Really has that old doom feel to it, but with some cool visual details thrown in here and there. Really like the use of lighting, and the convoluted progression.

Thanks John - you're one of the few true gamers!