The /newstuff Chronicles #144

Another week, another newstuff. Unfortunately there's not much to be had this week, with only 9 maps, 4 of which are deathmatch and one of which is a novelty. However, one of the others is a Heretic map and the other 3 aren't bad, so it's not altogether bad.

Cyb says: Damnit, I forgot to post it last night again. Oh well, now you have something to do on Sunday afternoon.

• NuTs III: ARENA by Bio Hazard
  91kb - ZDoom - SP - (img)
  No, it's not an official NuTs wad, it's by a different author. And you'll be pleased that it doesn't crash your CPU!!! (it even comes with a built in 'slow cpu' mode) This map is one big arena that looks a lot bigger (thanks to a skybox) and comprises of 3 levels - in each one you get tooled up and face a horde of identical monsters to fight. When they're all dead, you move on to the next. You get resupplies throughout, unless you choose 'nuts mode' when prompted (this mode will also give you an added surprise). It's certainly a good idea, but IMO a lot more could've been made of it (more levels, hence more types of monsters) as it will prove fairly easy for most. It's fun, though.
  
  
• CadsDM by Dale Harris (Cadman)
  54kb - ZDoom - DM - (img) (img)
  A couple of deathmatch maps with a few ZDoom features, notably slopes and mirrors. The detail is nicely enhanced with these, which wasn't too bad to start with, although the white stone floor in the first map is a bit out of place IMO. Gameplay will be spread out in the first map (it's not small) and a bit more concentrated in the second. All weapons and the odd bit of health are present, so it should be interesting - especially for the mirror-watchers among us...
  
  
• Waste Disposal Inc. by cyber-menace
  116kb - doom2.exe - DM - (img)
  An industrial deathmatch map, set in a waste disposal centre. Detail is actually quite good but is slightly spoiled by the presence of a gothic texture (grey marble) in one of the rooms. There are some pretty good pipes and an outdoor area (too bright IMO) with some of those nice trees that myself and Cyb are so fond of. There's enough weapons, ammo, health and armour to ensure no-one goes without, but there is a bottle-neck (the pipes) between indoor and outdoor areas, which could have gameplay implications. There's also a wicked Sonic tune (which will also feature in my mod - I guess we like the same tunes, heh).
  
  
• Rise by Kurt and Carolyn Schulenburg
  164kb - doom2.exe - SP - (img)
  We now enter a couple of old wads, courtesy of Grazza, our resident antique wad hunter. This first one is fairly large, with various random themes throughout (but this sort of thing was fairly common back then). Some of them are quite bizarre, in particular the ones using Wolfenstein textures. Some of the new graphics also add to the bizarreness, others are a nice addition. Detail is reasonable in places, and the gameplay isn't too bad either, despite the presence of SS soldiers (in fact they can be a pest at times). There are plenty of new sounds (sounding like they came from some old game) and a nice tune too, very much in the style of those offbeat tunes from the Shoreline wad. Retro-wad fans will like this, but I'm not sure about the rest of you.
  
  
• Road Kill by Kurt Schulenburg
  246kb - doom2.exe - SP - (img)
  This second map is by the same author, and is set in a city at night. The red/black sky certainly helps create an atmosphere with the low outdoor lighting, and some new graphics help out occasionally, too. The texturing is more themed this time, with only the odd deviation here and there. Detail is reasonable in places, bare in others but the outdoor bits look quite nice in the atmospheric conditions. Gameplay isn't too hard, but you have to search for a shotgun, and watch the ammo for quite a bit of the map. There's fewer sounds this time, but there's another quirky tune to be had (he certainly likes them). Not a bad map, it's better than the other one, and should appeal to more of you than just the retro-wad fans.
  
  
• Another DM map by Mr. Chris by Mr. Chris
  15kb - doom2.exe - DM - (img)
  A small symmetrical deathmatch map with a bright centre and dark surroundings. 5 weapons, a bit of other stuff and no dead-ends should make for some fast-paced battles.
  
  
• Easy Breezy by cyber-menace
  427kb - ZDoom - SP - (img)
  A huge map comprising of a huge dark outdoor area complete with broken buildings and lightning, surrounded by a few structures including tech bases, sniper points and a wood/stone building. Detail is nice outdoors, enhanced by ZDoom features and the realistic-looking broken buildings, but is not as good indoors despite a few spinning polyobjects. The gameplay is hard, a bit annoying in places (too many zombies for a dark outdoor area) and one area in particular is badly designed (a small watery maze with 2 air pockets and monsters that you haven't got the ammo to kill). Ammo is also too thin on the ground and a shortage beckons in the face of an archvile and cyberdemon later on. Still, this is a good (and challenging) map with another great tune.
  
  
• Cleimos Dehacked patch by Miguel Follatelli (myk)
  2kb - doom.exe - n/a -
  A dehacked patch for Cleimos (a Doom 1 episode) which allows everyone not using v1.2 to play with the new game text (as the program in the cleim10.zip that generates it only works with v1.2). Incidentally, I made one of those for Cleimos 2...
  
  
• The Cathedral by DoomBoy
  78kb - Heretic - SP - (img)
  Another Heretic (yes, that's right) map gets the remix treatment courtesy of DoomBoy. This time it's E1M6, and the result is a chapel with 2 graveyards and (predictably) 2 exits. Detail is pretty good (especially in the main hall) and is authentic E1 stuff. Gameplay is also authentic (E1 weapons and monsters), but a little easy. Heretic fans will like it, but non-Heretic fans might like it anyway, even if just for a change of scenery.
  
  

fp!!!!

uh.. you forgot swad.wad and swad2.wad...... they've been there since yesturday.

edit: Bleh, I'll wait for ns145.

IIRC wads added to newstuff after Friday aren't included in the Chronicles until the next weekend.

Nuts Arena could have been so much better. It's a nice idea. It just needs better execution. It's still decent though.

The Ultimate DooMer said:

Road Kill ... Gameplay isn't too hard, but you have to search for a shotgun, and watch the ammo for quite a bit of the map.

There is a plasma gun in a secret area very near the start, and that makes it quite easy to collect shotguns and a berserk, so the ammo supply is then quite generous.

Of the two I uploaded, I actually prefer Rise. The gameplay is very well balanced (at least, I found myself getting by on low health and ammo for prolonged periods), and I'm a sucker for automatically raising and lowering staircases/areas.

BlackFish said:

uh.. you forgot swad.wad and swad2.wad...... they've been there since yesturday.

Chances are they were uploaded on Saturday, in which case I'd probably miss them unless Ty moved them in a little early in your day. (I'm 7 hours ahead of Indiana, don't forget)

Next week everyone is in for a surprise from me. And this time it'll be worth checking out. What'll really get people is why I'm releaseing it and the news that'll be following with it...

I just put new versions of the swad packs into /incoming. There include many fixes.

Yay my Cathedral map got reviewed, and a good review too at that. :) I just might do another Heretic map, not sure what Episode it should be for, but I'm leaning towards E4 or E5 (that way I can make it hard and not get in trouble, since those Eps are a step up in difficulty anyway). If I do it, it will have the same detail level of my Cathedral map.

What's the heretic level warp cheat?

just add "-warp 1 6" in the command line.

ENGAGE##

Ok, it locks up in the crossbow room.

What port were you using (if at all)? I played it with ZDoom and got no trouble.

Assmaster said:

Nuts Arena could have been so much better. It's a nice idea. It just needs better execution. It's still decent though.

Yeah - I was expecting a big bunch of cacos or hell knights to show up (given that it is a Nuts wad) so I was a tad disappointed to get only weak monsters (even on level 4).

I've had that problem too. Use ZDoom.

ravage said:

Ok, it locks up in the crossbow room.

I thought I mentioned somewhere in the text file that this level requires a port. Oh well, no matter. You CANNOT use regular Heretic.exe with this level, it WILL crash. Just use ZDoom or JHeretic.

DooMBoy said:

I thought I mentioned somewhere in the text file that this level requires a port. Oh well, no matter. You CANNOT use regular Heretic.exe with this level, it WILL crash. Just use ZDoom or JHeretic.

Yes, I learned that the hard way. :P It's pretty cool though. :)

Hooray, I love it when people like my levels ;)

DooMBoy said:

I thought I mentioned somewhere in the text file that this level requires a port.

Doesn't look that way. Might be an idea to contact Ty - since he put it in idgames/levels/doom2/d-f/ it seems he assumed it was for doom2.exe.

CadsDM is linked to http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?id=10170 (bigcity.zip) when it's supposed to be http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?id=12170

and omg icecap

Doomboy, make a heretic megawad.

heh i should make a heretic map for shits and giggles.

5hfifty said:

CadsDM is linked to http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?id=10170 (bigcity.zip) when it's supposed to be http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?id=12170

/me fixes

ravage said:

Doomboy, make a heretic megawad.

Don't have the patience or the skillz just yet, but another Heretic map or three isn't out of the question :)

And no, I doubt I'll be able to help much with any maps for a while. I'm almost finished with the second hub, and I'd like to have it finished in a few weeks.

How exactly do you activate nuts mode in the Nutz Arena?

Bring up the console and type in "Puke 666".

I only discovered that by trial and error. The on-screen instructions didn't seem very clear to me either.

RoadKill:

Nice map! Easy challenge but enjoyable time spent playing and recording.

Look for lmp at Opulent's DSDA.