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Wadmodder Shalton

Map 33 Betray officially removed In Unity DOOM II releases (PC/Xbox One/PS4/iOS/Android/Switch)

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So a lot of you already are aware of those two weird maps that were included in the Original Xbox ports of The Ultimate DOOM & DOOM II released in 2005 as part of both the Limited Collector's Edition of the OG Xbox port of DOOM 3 & the OG Xbox port of the expansion Resurrection of Evil (with 18 of the Master Levels being included in the latter release).

 

These were E1M10: Sewers for The Ultimate DOOM & Map 33: Betray for DOOM II, as two of the Vicarious Visions programmers of the Xbox port David Calvin & Michael Bukowski previously made these maps in the mid-1990s (1994-1995 to be exact). These were accessible by secret switches in E1M1: Hangar & Map02: Underhalls in The Ultimate DOOM & DOOM II respectively. These maps are often criticized by many in the DOOM community for their ugly & mazey appearances, bland texturing, & abysmal item & monster placements.

 

When The Ultimate DOOM was released on the Xbox 360's Live Arcade service in 2006 (before it was pulled of the service in 2010 due to Activision losing the publishing rights, & re-released by Bethesda/Zenimax on the service in 2012), the developer of the port Nerve Software removed E1M10: Sewers from the game.

 

Despite the removal of Sewers from The Ultimate DOOM after it's release on the OG Xbox in 2005, Betray was still included in the IWAD file of the Xbox 360 version of DOOM II from 2010, the DOOM 3 BFG Edition release of DOOM II from 2012 & possibly DOOM Classic Complete also from 2012, but the map couldn't be accessed in these versions (unless you were playing the PC version of the BFG Edition of DOOM II on a source port).

 

However, as of today, with the release of the 2019 ports of DOOM & DOOM II for Xbox One, PS4, Switch, iOS & Android, and later on PC in 2020, id Software, Bethesda & Nerve Software made a few minor map changes for both games (aside from the removal of the Nine Inch Nails Easter egg in E4M1 Hell Beneath in The Ultimate DOOM & the removal of the linedef glitch on the door track for the red keycard door in Map 06 The Crusher in DOOM II), and among them was the removal of Map 33: Betray from the IWAD of the 2019 release of DOOM II, making this the second time that a map from one of the Vicarious Visions programmers (David Calvin & Michael Bukowski) was removed from a later release of DOOM.

 

If you own The Ultimate DOOM & DOOM II on Steam which come with the Bethesda.net Re-Releases & Original MS-DOS Releases of both (with the latter being emulated via DOSBox), and if you also own the DOOM 3 BFG Edition, try comparing the contents of the IWADs with SLADE in regards to Betray (I even used SLADE to view the contents of the IWADs myself), chances are that Betray was removed in the Unity re-release of DOOM II. I previously bought the original MS-DOS versions of The Ultimate DOOM, DOOM II (Including the Master Levels) & Final DOOM from Steam in December last year before the Unity release came to Steam, which were released for free for those who already owned them.

 

RIP E1M10: Sewers 4/3/2005-9/27/2006 & RIP Map 33: Betray 4/3/2005-7/26/2019 - Original Xbox DOOM levels that id Software & Bethesda want you to forget.

Edited by Wadmodder Shalton

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For something to be officially removed, it would need to be officially added in the first place. They were never intended (as in by design spec), nor licensed to appear in the original Xbox ports when they did. Their "removal" would have been as drastically simple as just simply not using the OG Xbox branch anymore for assets.

Hence why they couldn't even be accessed in the 360 ports, the code was simply never there to run them and only the assets were still incidentally there.

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I don't understand why a lot of people demonize Bethesda.

They released a new official port free of charge for almost all users, and they also added some of the better community made projects ever to it.

Those maps sucked really hard, and also they are available on Idgames, so every PC user could add them to the list and play theme if they want.

 

Demonizing Bethesda, a development company that is willing to hear they users is nonsense as they really helped the community with this port...

 

...Microsoft, on the other hand...

 

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I played them back in the day on xbox, i remember being excited to play the new maps they included only to be shocked by how bad they were. They were terrible maps then, and are still terrible maps now, they weren't part of the original release anyways so it's not even worth lamenting them finally getting removed imo, i always thought they were some easter eggs maps

Also it's not like you can't still download them if you're so interested in playing them

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Even comparing these maps' quality with that of the main DOOM 1 & 2 maps, in addition to The Master Levels & both IWADs of Final DOOM, these look like maps that were rejected for inclusion for Master Levels. So they were semi-official in 2005, but now they are non-official and non-canon.

Even if they were just Easter Eggs, they still look like maps to be included with Maximum DOOM, Demon Gate, or D!ZONE.

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They tend to at least pop up in PS1 mods as conversions with more detail and better balancing. I always liked these two maps, janky as they were. Would have been nice if the developers touched them up first or put a 'you may edit this' thing in the readme, the Tune-Up Project totally could have made these into something neat if they were allowed to be edited.

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On 11/10/2020 at 9:40 PM, sponge said:

and considering they were just maps that the programmers made, they weren't really ever official in any way

I disagree. If an employee of the development team creates a level, and the level is included in an official release, it's an official level. Real level or easter egg level is of no concern.

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As far as I am concerned, the true mystery is: how, when and where was Betray originally released? Would it be included in that hypothetical CD-R of Bob Evans? Did its author hoard it until the release of those ports to the original Xbox? And no, the file xboxspec.zip does not count as the original release.

 

P.S.: Sewers was actually included in Maximum Doom.

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23 minutes ago, Diabolución said:

P.S.: Sewers was actually included in Maximum Doom.

Until the Unity ports add Maximum Doom as an addon, they will never truly be complete.

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The community needs to pull together and release a vanilla UltDoom episode called "Sewer Betrayal" as a tribute! But you have to copy the aesthetic and gameplay of these two gems!

Edited by VGA

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>two obscure mediocre maps (that are indefinitely archived on the Internet anyway) are not on the Unity Port

literally unplayable

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I heard they were shit, and looking at a video posted, they sure seem like it. Crammed into one rerelease by some Literally Who without any level designing talent. They should have added Final Doom to that port instead.

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I think some people don't realise that these maps were not designed for that release. They had been created many years ago when the designers were young Doom enthusiasts messing around with an editor. They added them as easter eggs and love letters to the game. There is no comparison to something like NRFTL or the new Doom 64 episode, which should be judged for their quality.

 

That said, I think those easter eggs should only exist in that version, not carried along into future rereleases.

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On 12/10/2020 at 4:25 PM, Nevander said:

I disagree. If an employee of the development team creates a level, and the level is included in an official release, it's an official level. Real level or easter egg level is of no concern.

 

Either way, whatever you want to consider it, it's not something we're interested in preserving in our ports since we're presenting the original game, not the original Xbox version.

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On 12/12/2020 at 7:51 PM, sponge said:

 

Either way, whatever you want to consider it, it's not something we're interested in preserving in our ports since we're presenting the original game, not the original Xbox version.

 

Which is totally fair. The official id-made Hell Gate and Hell Keep (very different level from E3M1) from the Jaguar versions have never shown up in PC version ports either, its neat having some exclusives here and there.

 

I think the only way they would ever show up again in an official release is in a Master Levels-like section, a collection of assorted exclusives from various ports all gathered together, like a sort of 'museum' showing levels that never were part of the original PC episodes.

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Even if they get permission, the exclusive PSX maps use colored lighting, the animateed fire sky and reverb.

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21 minutes ago, VGA said:

Even if they get permission, the exclusive PSX maps use colored lighting, the animateed fire sky and reverb.

 

Given how the community has already had a few hands in the port, im sure they would just make 'vanilla' versions. Hell, Xaser could just 'unvoidify' his lost episode.

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I mean, too bad they removed these two maps, but no matter what anyone says they ARE official Doom maps because they were sold on retail, which turns them into official maps. Even if they were super secret maps, they are still classified as official maps nonetheless. If anything, you can discuss how they fall under the same category as "Maximum Doom", which was also sold on retail (bundled with Master Levels for Doom II, that is).

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16 minutes ago, Devalaous said:

 

Given how the community has already had a few hands in the port, im sure they would just make 'vanilla' versions. Hell, Xaser could just 'unvoidify' his lost episode.

What is the point of butchering the PSX-exclusive maps by not having the lighting, the reverb sound, the proper skies and the soundtrack?

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You dont REALLY expect all the PSX version's rendering effects to be theoretically brought into the unity port or a successor to it, just for a handful of maps do you?

 

For THAT, your better off trying to get Nightdive and the Doom 64 team to get the rights to port the PS1 versions to PC and consoles. Hell Gate and Hell Keep Jag already have versions without the lighting, and you can play Xaser's Lost Episode to get a look at how it would feel.

 

Command and Conquer Remastered actually does this itself; the PS1 and N64 exclusive maps, including the silly PATSUX mission, make up a small bonus campaign. You don't have the neat 3D N64 stuff or its oddly charming midi-like soundtrack, its all redone in base game PC assets. Feels like it has always belonged there though.

 

That's about the gist of what I'm thinking of; one day including the Jaguar, PS1 and Xbox exclusive maps in a little side thing in a future Doom port, like how C&CR does it.

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On jeudi 10 décembre 2020 at 11:25 PM, Nevander said:

If an employee of the development team creates a level, and the level is included in an official release, it's an official level.

Well they weren't employees of the development team when they created these levels. It happened long after.

 

40 minutes ago, VGA said:

What is the point of butchering the PSX-exclusive maps by not having the lighting, the reverb sound, the proper skies and the soundtrack?

The firesky itself wouldn't be too hard to add to the engine. Certainly less than colored lighting or reverbs.

 

For reference: https://fabiensanglard.net/doom_fire_psx/

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13 minutes ago, Devalaous said:

You dont REALLY expect all the PSX version's rendering effects to be theoretically brought into the unity port or a successor to it, just for a handful of maps do you?

No, I don't expect the maps to be added to the Unity port, that's my point!

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1 hour ago, Gez said:

Well they weren't employees of the development team when they created these levels. It happened long after.

I know. But by becoming development team members, and including their levels in an official release (old maps or not), they became official levels. It's all about status. If they never included them, the two maps would still just be PWADs by some guys who eventually worked on an official port.

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Not even remotely the same thing. This is about inclusion of playable content in a videogame. Comparing that to airplane safety is rediculous.

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