Thoughts on releasing a (mostly finished) megawad by an author who quit playing Doom?

So user Net Nomad (@netnomad312) was working on "Tower of War" back in 2003, and even released a demo back then (https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/m-o/nntwdemo), and I want to say quit working on the map around 2005/2006 and eventually quit playing Doom altogether in 2008 or so, and went on to playing other games such as MMOs, etc.

Me and a couple people ( @ermacaz for sure, maybe @ReFracture, @Macro11_1 too ) happen to have a copy of it still. I'm pretty sure all maps are 100% finished (minus some details/more monsters?)

Even though this mapset is a relic of the past, we personally think it should see the light of day to the community. The last time I was able to get ahold of him was around 2012, and said he didn't want it released because it didn't meet the standards of today. Sent an email to him at his old AOL email a couple months ago...and I don't expect to see a response from that one ever.

I guess I just hate the fact that we have a pretty solid megawad that the community isn't SUPPOSED to see at this point, but I know at least a few of us would like them to.

Would releasing something like this be a bad idea?

No, history must be preserved. How many wads we lost, because authors thought that their stuff don't meet some weird standards and sent their maps into oblivion, even if maps were decent for that time? 

No, it wouldn't, what would be a bad a idea is letting a megawad go to waste just because the author quitted Doom and he was afraid of the wad not meeting "modern criteria". He probably doesn't care anymore, besides isn't Alien Vendetta from 2001? People still play that megawad because it's fun to play, and that's the only thing that matters, everything else is secondary. 

I still feel weird with us doing it even though we said we wouldn't

1 hour ago, MegaZzZeux said:

... and said he didn't want it released ... 

Seems like he made his preferences about it being released or not very clear. 

Just archive it somewhere private like dropbox or something, and contact the author about it to get your answer.

Nomad if your lurking we still love you

literally 2 weeks from releasing and bailed

Unless the author confirms that they've changed their mind, I believe we should honour their expressed wish that it not be released.

Well, I know I would be pissed off is someone were to upload a work of mine that I consider to be bad/subpar, especially if I told them not to do it. As much as I'd like for these maps to be preserved, the author's wishes in this matter should always go first.

Of course, if you can contact him and talk some sense into him, it would be great.

If it was ambiguous or there had been no instructions regarding releasing or not then you could probably make it public. However with explicit instructions to not make it public then you should honour those wishes until told otherwise.

 just have the same question as him but in this case it is a wad of zombies that never completed, I completed it, not as he wanted but I made a variant so to speak, but I do not know if I release it too

If it appears in my PM, I won't tell anyone. Pinky promise!

Of course, I'm biased (more WADs > less WADs)...

I would normally say honor his wishes. But if he released a beta, later mentioned that it was done and ready for release, and then didn't release the final product, that's what you call "a tease", which is kinda lame...

Technically, if you have a copy, it was released.

It's strange to release a beta, get good reviews, make the other 24 levels, and then claim it's not up to standards...

I'm sure, in time I could come up with more B.S. justifications :)

You hear of book authors writing books that they then don't want released. If they forbid the book from being released, then that's that. If someone did leak the book that'd be a real issue (could even be illegal). Unreleased books like that only tend to see the light of day after the author has died, and the rights to publish pass to their relatives. 

Are mapsets different? I think maybe not.

4 hours ago, ermacaz said:

 

So much text he could almost have finished it instead 

Considering it was in beta, I see no issue in sharing it behind closed doors for those that want to try it. I'd probably sway away from making a forum thread and offering it there publicly, since it's clearly against the creator's wishes.

Slide it to me in a PM and I'll release it and take all the heat if NetNomad comes back and is pissed, perfect plan 💯 💯

Seriously though, I would love to see this. Back in the DC days Nomad's maps always impressed me, it would be great to check this out. It's a shame you've been left in the weird position of having a good wad on hand but also having been told (6 years ago) not to release it. Damn!

Don't release it if he considered it subpar. If people happend to play it before his other wads and it is worse than those it will colour the impressions of his other works. It will then be negative to his wad resume and legacy.

Archive it somewhere safe.

If he says no, then it's a no. I think you should respect your friend's choice. I would appreciate if my friends don't overrule me on my projects.

Thanks for mentioning me Mega, sadly no i don't have a copy of that any more -_- i'm pretty terrible when it comes to backing up my data. :(
Also, throw one more on the pile of missing the guy. ;_;

7 hours ago, NeedHealth said:

Don't release it if he considered it subpar. If people happend to play it before his other wads and it is worse than those it will colour the impressions of his other works. It will then be negative to his wad resume and legacy.

 

Archive it somewhere safe.

Well this was his only thing he worked on, besides a couple maps he released during... but yeah, I guess the consensus is to take this to our graves. 

Personally nomad hasn't spoke to me since 2012, but discussions never touched Doom at all, just some catching up.

Further attempts were not returned. He stopped using AIM and never appeared on steam to my knowledge.

He sent me the files for the purpose of testing.. it was a beta with only bug fixes or tweaks to be done.

I know at some point, before 2012, he expressed indifference when myself, Mega, Ermac, and Macro all asked for his blessing in testing, bugfixing, and releasing it.

Personally, lacking a direct answer relating to the files I have in my possession, I am taking it upon myself to release it.

If he comes back to yell at me.. well, if nothing else it would be real nice to hear from my old friend from the fun days of clan (*ORB*).

So... out with it!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s9jnj51634ogwh3/towar.zip?dl=1

Attachment: towar.zip

Limit removing engines should play it, my personal playing was done on prboom-plus -clev2 and zdoom based engines. The dehacked is story boards, level names, and the manifestation of his desire for there to be a green key in the game.

If he’s quit playing doom then obviously it shouldn’t be a big deal really, bit trivial in the grand scheme of things.

34 minutes ago, ReFracture said:

Personally nomad hasn't spoke to me since 2012, but discussions never touched Doom at all, just some catching up.

 

Further attempts were not returned. He stopped using AIM and never appeared on steam to my knowledge.

 

He sent me the files for the purpose of testing.. it was a beta with only bug fixes or tweaks to be done.

I know at some point, before 2012, he expressed indifference when myself, Mega, Ermac, and Macro all asked for his blessing in testing, bugfixing, and releasing it.

 

Personally, lacking a direct answer relating to the files I have in my possession, I am taking it upon myself to release it.

 

If he comes back to yell at me.. well, if nothing else it would be real nice to hear from my old friend from the fun days of clan (*ORB*).

 

So... out with it!

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s9jnj51634ogwh3/towar.zip?dl=1

 

Limit removing engines should play it, my personal playing was done on prboom-plus -clev2 and zdoom based engines. The dehacked is story boards, level names, and the manifestation of his desire for there to be a green key in the game.

... and there it is.

Eh, doesn't meet the standards for today.

I would respect his wishes, but also let him know there's a shitload of people who would probably pay him real money to play it too. (I'm broke af but I'm sure there's others here who would) Screenshots look awesome!