The /newstuff Chronicles #221

Despite a 3-day break and a temporary deluge of ZDaemon activity, newstuff is here once again! It's deathmatch overload this week with no fewer than 36 (!) of them. There's a few single player maps too plus a touch of Heretic, humour and those ever-popular weapons mods. 54 maps in all, so get playing:

• Beejay's DooM 2 Deathmatch Party by Beejay
  267kb - doom2.exe - DM - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
  A big bunch of 14 maps. There's some nice-looking areas in here, together with two good skys and many themes to boot. However it's littered with stuff everywhere you go. Weapons, ammo, health, armour, powerups you name it. This will affect the gameplay of the maps despite some interesting layouts. It also requires a high number of players to work properly.
  
  
• Hide and Seek by Bob Polmanter
  43kb - doom2.exe - DM - (img)
  A large modern map with a somewhat odd layout. Based around a huge outdoor area, this map 15 replacement has any amounts of passages branching off, rooms full of stuff and nooks/crannies to hide in. Hiding is the theme as the title suggests, and there's invisibility powerups scattered everywhere to enhance this. It would make an interesting final fight against some super-duper boss monster, but as a deathmatch it simply won't work (unless you have 16 players, in which case it could be interesting).
  
  
• Frag_you by David Davidson (Driller)
  15kb - doom.exe - DM - (img)
  A small tech map with a somewhat odd layout. 3 teleporters lead to the middle on one side, with two passages on the other side. It's cramped, pillars get in the way awkwardly and the layout is such that the flow wouldn't work at all. In short, a bit of a mess.
  
  
• Impy1 by Deathx88
  309kb - JDoom - SP -
  One must wonder how this even got into the archive, as it's just E1 stuffed with a ton of imps, ammo and a different starting spot. The only thing going for it is that it makes E1 reasonably challenging. Other than that, avoid. (especially if you're the compiler of the infamous wad list :p)
  
  
• Joe's Deathmatch (Joe's Wad) by Joe (duh)
  27kb - doom2.exe - DM - [url=http://www.doomworld.com/images/newstuff/221/_joe's.png](img)[/url]
  Another deathmatch map based around an open area with some passages and stuff coming off them. While nowhere near as big and complex as the hide and seek wad, it has a similar feel in some ways. It also has monsters, and a red key (presumably for decoration). Again it won't work for DM, but as a single player challenge it's ok.
  
  
• J_room by Jordan Russell (jordanr)
  267kb - doom2.exe - DM - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
  A big bunch of 18 maps located in 2 separate wads. Many of them are repeats of each other (with a few changes) and most of them are either spam-based or completely illogical. They do have some eye-catching large-scale designs, and the use of horizons and the Phobos sky gives a nice panoramic view in some maps. Altogether though, they won't play very well.
  
  
• The Community is Falling 2 by anonymous also known as Kaiser
  310kb - ZDoom - SP - (img) (img)
  The sequel to the wad with a thousand n00bs, these 6 maps come with thousands more. Basically you're on a mission to save the DooM community from the evil clutches of the HL2 community and a defective mapper who started it all. As you'd expect the storyline is full of humour, with some amusing twists as well. But this wad also has some highly unusual gameplay, namely 3 set-pieces. An extremely difficult fight against a horde of turbo-charged n00bs (which you can only win by straferunning and jumping), a huge n00bfest with the bfg and rockets (use your ammo wisely) and a boss battle round a pillar with a spider mastermind-type thingy. This together with the humour and a nice-looking second map make this the wad of the week.
  
  
• Next Nightmare by Fiend
  388kb - doom2.exe - SP - (img)
  A map with many styles, but the underlying theme is a base that's been partially morphed into hell. It starts as a dark metal base and goes through brick, grey, hellish and metal gothic. It looks nice, and the hell bits that morph into the base are well done. Gameplay is reasonably challenging, with some tricky battles and low-health moments (and of course some traps too). It's a good map, and one that is recommended.
  
  
• FreeHeretic E2M1: The Remote Outpost by Owen Lloyd (SargeBaldy)
  79kb - heretic.exe - SP - (img)
  Following on from Freedoom, this E2M1 from the Heretic version (which I didn't know existed, heh). Straying somewhat from the original E2M1 theme, this is a mixture of cave, lava and stone. Detail is of the low-ish level you'd get in classic Heretic maps, but it looks and feels good anyway. Gameplay is mostly leaning towards the simpler side, although some tricky moments exist as well. Nice.
  
  
• Rockets by Pouge (That's all I'm gonna tell ya!)
  5kb - doom2.exe - DM - (img)
  A simple map 08 replacement. Rockets, plenty of backpacks and a symmetrical layout. Those familiar with Dwango5's pure spamming maps will know what this one will be like.
  
  
• Wizard's Rage II by Anthony "Wizard" Marino and Sal "Washee" Gonzalez
  137kb - doom.exe - SP - (img) (img)
  A very large classic map for E2M1. It has two layers: on the outside there's 8 octagonal rooms connected by straight passages, and on the inside there's 4 smaller octagonal rooms with connecting passages. Each room has a different theme, which I have to say works rather well. Detail and layout varies from room to room, but it's a mixture of everything really. Gameplay depends on where you start (you choose one of 8 teleports at the start) but is fairly easy throughout, although you might end up relying on the shotgun a lot. It's definitely unusual, and pretty good fun, too. Recommended.
  
  
• Batteries Not Included by WildWeasel
  921kb - Edge - n/a -
  Yes, your cravings are over, as it's a weapons mod! And an impressive one at that. 10 weapons in all, and there's a wealth of variety and innovation here. From spread guns that fire shots in a rotating pattern, through imp fireball spreaders and bfg shots that bounce off walls to plasma grenades, there's something for everyone here. Unfortunately the choice of port may limit it's success (but I don't think that could be avoided, given that ZDoom's new weapon support is still in the testing stages).
  
  

I s'pose I should start learning how to work with Decorate Weapons, in preperation for ZDoom 2.0.97 - because it'll vastly increase the audience. (Not to mention that Decorate weapons will work with pretty much anything, including Super Sonic Doom.)

Hmm... Some new levels to play!
Oh Goodie!
Beejays Deathmatch Party looks interesting, I think I'll stop by...

Not a bad week. Even Chris Houlihan is appeased.

I'm glad people enjoy my map, wasn't exactly a major project for me though it was fun getting to play with Heretic resources for a change. Although I thought the detail level was quite a bit higher than heretic.wad's, at least in some parts.

LOL. Nexnight rerelease got in again. And again, that same crappy room got the screenshot treatment. I hate that room...

I've only played ww-bni so far, which kicks ass.

Ooh boy, DM maps! Looks like I'll have something to rip into when I get back from school.

To the skys!

Funny how the review of Hide and Seek refers to this 1994 map as a modern map.

larsboy said:

Funny how the review of Hide and Seek refers to this 1994 map as a modern map.

I was referring to the texturing.

By the way The Ultimate Doomer, no offense intended. English is a very difficult and inconsistent language.

"Batteries Not Included by WildWeasel
921kb - Edge - n/a -
Yes, your cravings are over, as it's a weapons mod! And an impressive one at that. 10 weapons in all, and there's a wealth of variety and innovation here. From spread guns that fire shots in a rotating pattern, through imp fireball spreaders and bfg shots that bounce off walls to plasma grenades, there's something for everyone here. Unfortunately the choice of port may limit it's success (but I don't think that could be avoided, given that ZDoom's new weapon support is still in the testing stages)."

You gotta rename some things. It shoud be "Yes CT, your cravings are over"

Really, i've been waiting for this for a month now, staying up to four a.m, every hour checking /incoming, for the past month.

AndrewB said:

By the way The Ultimate Doomer, no offense intended. English is a very difficult and inconsistent language.

oh man, you are the poster boy for conceit.

darknation said:

oh man, you are the poster boy for conceit.

Since you choose to argue, please explain how English is easy and/or consistent.

use your godly english skills to decipher the meaning behind the complex words. Make me proud.

AndrewB said:
Since you choose to argue, please explain how English is easy and/or consistent.

The bandage was wound around the wound.
The farm was used to produce produce.
The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
We must polish the Polish furniture.
He could lead if he would get the lead out.
The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
I did not object to the object.
The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
They were too close to the door to close it.
The buck does funny things when the does are present.
A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
After a number of injections my jaw got number.
Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

:-)

I slew a slew of imps.

Beejay's DooM 2 Deathmatch Party was nice, but my favorite this week is The Community is Falling 2. Very cool. Though the Steam Forums area with the flashing colors was... painful.

An accurate representation of the real Steam Forums, then :P.

mystery8 said:

Beejay's DooM 2 Deathmatch Party was nice, but my favorite this week is The Community is Falling 2. Very cool. Though the Steam Forums area with the flashing colors was... painful.

I thought a weapons mod was required after finishing map04 and I missed it somewhere in the text file. It wasn't especially difficult since enough ammo is provided, but it just dragged on too much.

Map03 was actually fun once I resorted to running across the top of the newbie mob. ;)

Cute map02 secret as well, which I referenced before. The music sounds very familiar too but I can't place it... unlike the map03 music, which was easy to place. :)

I think any non-Doom music is from "Zelda: A Link to the Past." Good choices, actually; they fit the mood (what mood that really needed to be put into a joke wad) quite well.

Heh. That Kaiser HL2-n00b wad kicked major butt.

ALso, I'd probably recommend a weapons mod of some sort with this one. Map04 takes forever and a half. :P