The /newstuff Chronicles #307

Hello, welcome to this fortnight's edition of the KDIZD Chronicles! It might as well be called that, as that's all there is! Oh, there's some other WAD but who really gives a crap about that because of KDIZD-

Didn't even need to finish that paragraph because I mentioned KDIZD-

Shit, it happened again! It seems rather inconvenient that the main /idgames mirror had to explode, because I can't really compare anything else to "that WAD" this week, as the other release is a deathmatch WAD. And if I mention "that WAD" again, nobody will pay attention to the rest of the paragraph because I said KDIZD-

Oops! Anyway, there's going to be a flamewar regardless of what I say about "that WAD", so make sure your flamethrowers are prepped and set to MAXIMUM DESTRUCTTTTIOOONNNN, because there's gonna be a roasting tonight!

• JLabs (AKA, "Joe's Labs") - Joseph "G.Ballblue" Breeden
  ZDaemon - DM - 281kb - (img) (img)
  Why the hell are most of the items set to multiplayer only? THIS IS STUPID AND I HATE PEOPLE WHO DO THAT
  
  It's a rather large map from some abandoned co-op WAD or something that was converted into a deathmatch map. It's way too large for 1-on-1 battles and even small FFAs, but it's perfect for at least six players. The layout and detail of the map itself is decent, but it is possible to get lost, and there's a rather annoying inescapable pit in a small room for no reason other to be a pain in the ass. The sounds and weapon modifications suck major ass and should have been removed. Also, the map titles should have been changed since it has all of the levels from his abandoned co-op WAD. Laziness is not a excuse for stupid errors like that.
  
  
• Knee-Deep in ZDoom - KDIZD Team
  ZDoom - SP - 23mb - (img) (img) (img)
  I don't think I need to make any screenshots because everyone's already played this by now, so let's get down to business shall we?
  
  I was enjoying the first two levels for the most part, except for those cramped battles which were annoying as hell. At first I thought "Wow, maybe this is actually better than I anticipated. Could I be actually wrong in assuming that this would turn out to be a horrible WAD?"
  
  Then I got halfway into the switch-hunting clusterfuck that is the third map and I closed ZDoom. I got frustrated to the point that I couldn't handle that shit of going back and forth anymore and I just gave up on KDIZD, then and there. All it takes is one bad experience to dislike something, and that third map was that bad experience, not to mention it was buggy as hell as I somehow got caught in the inside of instant teleport lines and poor scripting, like in that third screenshot.
  
  I also heard rumours that a MP3 I made of me "performing" the Doom E1M9 song was in KDIZD. I decided to check this out myself, and lo and behold, it was there. Nobody fucking asked me if I wanted it in KDIZD. For a project that had such a cautious legal team to the point of contacting id Software, I am personally pissed off that nobody contacted me about wanting to place my material in KDIZD and seeking my permission. Because I didn't want it in KDIZD. What's even more offensive is that I'm not even credited. Go fuck yourselves, whoever wrote the credits file and whoever decided it was a good idea to add something I did without asking if I wanted it in KDIZD.
  
  There's no denying that KDIZD is beautifully designed though.

fp!

I only posted to get the "first post" :-)

I guess I could mention I played KDiZD (the first 5 maps for now) and it's cool. Some of the monsters look great (the "shadowy Imp" and the Imp that fires yellow skulls). Were they made especially for this project (I haven't seen them before)?

The maps look good too, although it can be annoying figuring out where to go sometimes. I'll play the other maps asap.

[edit]Oh yeah: The first thing I noticed was the texture of the tank tracks on the vehicle in the opening area in map01. Which I made for tvr.wad. Somehow my name wasn't mentioned in the credits either (no problem though :-)).[/edit]

The third map is pretty weak; I believe Z1M2 to be the best, with Z1M8 coming in second.

EDIT=Oh, and when I come back tomorrow Im pretty sure this thread will have about 50 posts compaining about it...

KDIZD had a few good maps, but yeah too many damn switch hunts and too many damn "OMG CUSTOM MONSTERS" for the heck of it. It was fairly enjoyable though, I loved all the secrets, and production values were OFF DA SCALE.

Yay a muckraker that doesn't fall for kdizd's hype! thank you for being a non-follower! I knew DW had something good in it still

(Disclaimer up front: I am not criticizing that deathz0r has issues with KDiZD, but I have issues with the way he handles them - not just here but in nearly all his reviews.)


To be blunt:

This is precisely what I expected from deathz0r. Why do you even review WADs when you are unwilling to review them in their completeness? What does this review help anyone? OK, you ran into an error that never was found in testing but you skipped on 70% of the whole project as a result? People who read this want to know about these 70% as well! Where's a reviewer's obligation to do a thorough job? Granted, I am probably asking the wrong person because this is one thing about your reviews that has been criticized endlessly without any hope for change.

As for the music piece: How about asking politely to take it out? Don't you think it would have been done? It was added as an easter egg by one person and most of the team didn't even know that its use was unauthorized. (As for crediting, it's an easter egg and due credit is given when it is FOUND! But nooooo. You have to wait until you have time to write a 'review' (if you can even call it that) and use it for a cheap insult.

If /newstuff reviews are expected as useless as this (and many other recent ones) what's the point in doing them in the first place? Your reviews are ok as long as you like something but as soon as you run into any kind of issue all that's left are insults and other cheap shots. A good reviewer should be capable of handling such situations more maturely.

Like ReX's exhaustive review, for example. He never resorted to insults, played all the maps despite having problems here and there, mentioned all the issues he had in a neutral and constructive fashion. This here is just pathetic in comparison.

Oh well, I know I am barking up the wrong tree because I know that you will never change. :(

@EANB: Deathz0r's crap reviews have that tendency. For someone who produces products of inferior quality it is to be expected that he gets challenged.

@leileilol: You are just an idiot so your opinion counts as much as the garbage in my trash bin. :P

I'm really feeling knee-deep in kdizd articles now.

It's very rare the /newstuff which has balanced and well-considered reviews of wads. If i remember correctly it was really started as a description of the newest wads so people could download the good ones and ignore the crap (which came in pretty handy during the funduke year). I remember some of the early reviews being little more than "a map with some monsters in it"

it does seem strange to write a review on something that wasn't even fully played. its not THAT long.

but it is tricky to get working right. it doesn't even work in zdoom for me, but is fine in gzdoom...as long as i don't use opengl o_0 and there are tons of complaints/confusion about just how to get the thing running, that should definitely be fixed.

minor gripe though, strangely i prefer doom's classic look to the unfittingly polished opengl (my opinion of course, just weird that the way i like it is the only way it works, lol).

i always find it funny when people rip on wads because of "switch/key" hunts. this is doom. no matter all the little sprinklings you put on it, its still got to be doom IMO.

i enjoyed all of it pretty immensely...all until the boss battle. this is the one new monster i felt really didn't fit at all. the overall battle was annoying, and sorta bland. remember the first time you came upon a cyberdemon? spider mastermind? even an arch-vile? everything about it screamed "this thing is going to kick your ass". i took one look at that thing and was just bored. it wouldn't have even been that hard if there weren't little creatures scurrying about and a lava pit to keep you cornered.

even the lion shield guy was tolerable IMO...not great...but tolerable. i felt it should have ended with those flaming barons, took me a while to beat those guys and they were just plain awesome.

i didn't really hear any hype about this, i follow the whole doom thing pretty loosely. so that's what a guy who heard about it the day it was released has to say, lol. no preconceptions here, maybe that's why i had so much fun with it (until the boss).

sorry to hear about the rip of your song though! that's just plain crap, can understand why you'd be jaded! get on it! they need to re-release it anyways in a way that is easy for people to get running anyways.

arfmcarf said:

it does seem strange to write a review on something that wasn't even fully played. its not THAT long.

but it is tricky to get working right. it doesn't even work in zdoom for me, but is fine in gzdoom...as long as i don't use opengl o_0 and there are tons of complaints/confusion about just how to get the thing running, that should definitely be fixed.

The only reason I can see why it won't run is that an older version of ZDoom is used - or Doom2.wad. You can be sure that 90% of the problems come from not reading the text file or they generally have problems with starting a .pk3-file. But I'd rather attribute that kind of problem to Windows and the inadequate workarounds many players use to start their WADs. Starting KDiZD should be as easy as installing ZDoom 2.1.7 and then either drag'n'dropping kdizd.pk3 onto zdoom.exe or opening a command prompt and typing 'zdoom -file kdizd.pk3'.

i always find it funny when people rip on wads because of "switch/key" hunts. this is doom. no matter all the little sprinklings you put on it, its still got to be doom IMO.

Many, many players seem to have general problems with larger puzzles. Let's just mention Hexen's 'Seven Portals' hub. There's a very strict logic to all of it and yet you hear endless complaints that people find it unbelievably hard to figure it out. Back in 1996 I played through it without ever encountering any issues. But of course you have to look at your surroundings and remember the clues placed throughout the different maps. If you just race through it at maximum speed without taking any hints - well, that's not the level's fault if you apply an incorrect gaming strategy trying solve it, right?

It's way too easy tog et you people going.

Graf Zahl said:

@EANB: Deathz0r's crap reviews have that tendency. For someone who produces products of inferior quality it is to be expected that he gets challenged.

You sure know how to be a real asshole about it, don't you?

I'll be an asshole back to you, because you've now provoked me:

Until you (Graf Zahl) have written reviews for new levels that you can't choose to review on a constant basis, you have no right to criticize my reviews or my reviewing styles. Shut the hell up and get the fuck out of this thread.

Do you see anyone else doing /newstuff now? Someone has to, and I'm the only who is willing week in, week out to do this and put up with your (general populace of people who have nothing better to do but take the internet seriously and turn into elitist poopsocking assholes on their high horses) retarded whines about how they're not up to your standards. Guess what? I don't give a shit about your standards. I've said this time and time again, and I will continue to not give a shit because almost every single time someone whines, it's either the map author themselves or someone who is so far up the map author's ass that I can't even see their head anymore. I will always be bluntly honest about what I thought about a WAD, and if you don't like it, you're going to have to accept it and move on with your life. Bloodshedder willingly put this particular /newstuff Chronicles up uncensored, and I salute him for preparing himself for the forthcoming shitstorm- oh wait, it's already started.

I don't have to do this, but I want to. I don't want to go through every new release, but I have to.

And for reference, I didn't skip the rest of KDIZD because of a scripting error. I skipped the rest because I got sick of flipping switches with little clue of where I'm supposed to go next.

Let's play a game, shall we? Let's predict how many posts it will take for this thread to be locked. I'll say ~70. I know, it's quite low but there's no way this thread will survive past five pages.

Since I've only played KDiZD of the maps in this /newstuff, I'll review two of its boss monsters here.

The final lava boss - the Magmantis

The Magmantis was probably meant as a "live" baphomet, but it could only spawn Imps and Lost Souls, as well as a red vortex shooting fireballs. It may have been better if it could spawn more enemies, but for that to work the battle area must be larger and better suited for such a boss. The artwork itself was pretty nice, but it lacked enough frames to make it move smoothly.

It would be extremely awesome to see a whole Baphomet. The Magmantis was close to that, but it was another creature altogether. If more types of enemies could be spawned, they should emerge over the entire area around the pentagram, with the Baphomet roaming free as well. It should attack by spawning enemies, as well as attacking directly in different ways.

In closing, the Magmantis was a step in the right direction, but it would've been better if it were more like the Baphomet.

The next-gen Baron - the Bruiserdemon

The Bruiserdemon was very well designed. It's very frightening when you first see it, very cool artwork and sounds. Its attacks also pose a real threat, especially the moving explosions. In relatively tight spaces, the Bruiserdemon is quite a challenge, especially multiple ones.

The first Bruiserdemon battle in the middle of M10 is easy when you keep hinding behind the structure in the middle of the room (inspired by E4M8). Do make sure that no other enemies bother you.
The final battle of M10 (formerly E3M8) is easier because you have plenty of space. If you keep running around the island, you should be able to avoid their attacks. It will cost you a shitload of ammo, so be packed & prepared.
The battle at M8 was very challenging, because you face two of them in a very tight space. Plus, there are two normal Barons. The Barons can be killed quickly with some rockets or cartridges, then face the Bruiserdemons. The best way to deal with them is to get them close to each other so you can concentrate on them both, then fire shots in between hiding. It will take a long time, because you only have a short time to fire before you have to avoid their attacks.

In closing, the Bruiserdemon is very well designed, really belongs in Doom and poses a real, new kind of challenge. It's not just strafing and hiding with this one.

Honestly, what's the point of this "review"?
We all knew you wouldn't like KDiZD, but I'd have expected you to at least play through all of it and perhaps give more reasons why you dislike it, not only "Lol puzzles suck".
If you can't stand finishing a project and giving a COMPLETE review, you should better stop doing this alltogether!
I'd rather have no Newstuff at all, than reading through half-assed pseudo reviews.

You have a valid point with the stolen music though... I didn't even know about it, but I'm sure it will be taken out for version 1.1!

I couldn't get past Z1M1, I found it too hard :-)

As far as I could tell, skill levels don't seem to have been implemented in KDIZD (though I may be wrong). The thing about Knee-Deep in the Dead is that it's the first episode of Doom, and the easiest thing to complete in all of the Doom games. Anyone can complete Episode 1 with a bit of time and dedication. It would be nice if the same level of difficulty had been preserved.

Vader said:

I'd rather have no Newstuff at all, than reading through half-assed pseudo reviews.

If you really mean that, why do you read them?


/me listens to Shitstorm by SYL

Good question... propably because not all reviews from Deathzor are like this one and I've actually enjoyed a few of them in the past.
However it seems that he can't be bothered to write something complete and decent for things he personally dislike... it's lamost like DWS's review policy!

deathz0r said:

Until you (Graf Zahl) have written reviews for new levels that you can't choose to review on a constant basis, you have no right to criticize my reviews or my reviewing styles. Shut the hell up and get the fuck out of this thread.

(Thanks for making is so much easier for me to post this reply by acknowledging to be an asshole.) :P
Thank you for confirming everything I am accusing you of! :P :)
That said, the difference between you and me is that I know that writing reviews is not something I am good at so I'm not doing it. You just don't seem to care and each time the community is plagued by the shit coming out of your (figurative) asshole.

Do you see anyone else doing /newstuff now? Someone has to, and I'm the only who is willing week in, week out to do this and put up with your (general populace of people who have nothing better to do but take the internet seriously and turn into elitist poopsocking assholes on their high horses) retarded whines about how they're not up to your standards. Guess what? I don't give a shit about your standards.

Yeah I figured. Your reviews are of inferior quality and Doomworld would be better off by dumping /newstuff chronicles altogether instead of letting such a bad reviewer as you review them.

I've said this time and time again, and I will continue to not give a shit because almost every single time someone whines, it's either the map author themselves or someone who is so far up the map author's ass that I can't even see their head anymore.

Do a decent review of a project you don't like and this won't happen. But your rants about minor issues that plague your worthless output time and again will certainly invite flamewars each and every time. If you can't do better, please do us all a favor and stop completely.

I will always be bluntly honest about what I thought about a WAD, and if you don't like it, you're going to have to accept it and move on with your life.

The problem with you is that you are bluntly honest in a way that is worthless. I will never accept any review that says something along 'I stopped playing after 2 maps because... (insert whatever lame reson you can think of)'. They are just a sign of incompetence.

Bloodshedder willingly put this particular /newstuff Chronicles up uncensored, and I salute him for preparing himself for the forthcoming shitstorm- oh wait, it's already started.

Then he has no right to complain about the forthcoming shitstorm, plain and simple.

And for reference, I didn't skip the rest of KDIZD because of a scripting error. I skipped the rest because I got sick of flipping switches with little clue of where I'm supposed to go next.

So you failed at one level (admittedly the largest and most complex in the entire WAD) and you generalize your opinion and refuse to give your readers an opinion about the rest. How enlightened... :?

Let's play a game, shall we? Let's predict how many posts it will take for this thread to be locked. I'll say ~70. I know, it's quite low but there's no way this thread will survive past five pages.

Blame yourself. For the record (and I have said this before) I have no problems with negative reviews as long as they are competently written and based on a thorough analysis. But this is precisely what you are unwilling to do. Your negative reviews mostly consist of cheap shots and show a general unwillingness to bother with anything you don't like at all. You can't do a proper review based on incomplete information yet you assume the right to do precisely that.

Anyway,

RIP, /newstuff chronicles... :(

Graf Zahl said:

The problem with you is that you are bluntly honest in a way that is worthless. I will never accept any review that says something along 'I stopped playing after 2 maps because... (insert whatever lame reson you can think of)'. They are just a sign of incompetence.

Are you one of those misguided fools who want the reviewer to tell you how to make your games? Saying that he couldn't be bothered to continue playing is really not incompetence, if it's what happened, that's what he should say. People aren't paid to play your wads, nor are the people who review them. So Why should they feel obligated to finish playing it, just so they would make you happy when they write the review.

Sure it might pick up later. But if it's so boring that you don't even want to bring yourself to keep on and see if you're right. Then that's a major flaw and worth the criticism, and that's something you should pay attention to.

For instance, most people wouldn't play one of my wads past the first map, cause they couldn't find their way, or found it just too frustrating or whatever. I've got a lot of complaints for that map. Of course I found it a damn shame they didn't stick it through. But I'm not going and blowing off some handle like you constantly do (although only when it's for projects that are relating to you in some way)

A review is nothing more than a person writing what he experienced and thought of a given something.

Graf Zahl said:

Anyway,

RIP, /newstuff chronicles... :(

And don't be so fucking melodramatic. You're really just a big drama queen.


EDIT:

Vader said:

Good question... propably because not all reviews from Deathzor are like this one and I've actually enjoyed a few of them in the past.
However it seems that he can't be bothered to write something complete and decent for things he personally dislike... it's lamost like DWS's review policy!

So because you're not satisfied with some of his reviews or doesn't agree with how he do some of the reviews. It's better that he just stopped all together? Sounds kind of like fashism to me. :p

kristus said:

Are you one of those misguided fools who want the reviewer to tell you how to make your games? Saying that he couldn't be bothered to continue playing is really not incompetence, if it's what happened, that's what he should say. People aren't paid to play your wads, nor are the people who review them. So Why should they feel obligated to finish playing it, just so they would make you happy when they write the review.

Arrrgggghhhh!
You don't get it, do you?
I couldn't be bothered what deathz0r writes as long as he gives the impression to do a proper job. But just giving up after 30% of any WAD and then writing the shit he wrote here is just plain unacceptable in my book. In such a case it's better not to write anything at all because it is evident that with the information at hand he is unable to do it right.

Sure it might pick up later. But if it's so boring that you don't even want to bring yourself to keep on and see if you're right. Then that's a major flaw and worth the criticism, and that's something you should pay attention to.

I don't need to pay attention to someone like deathz0r. The team is willing to listen to constructive criticism by people we can take seriously - being able to be taken seriously being the operative term here. I can't take someone seriously who gives up on a project he is obviously biased against when running into any kind of problem.

For instance, most people wouldn't play one of my wads past the first map, cause they couldn't find their way, or found it just too frustrating or whatever. I've got a lot of complaints for that map. Of course I found it a damn shame they didn't stick it through. But I'm not going and blowing off some handle like you constantly do (although only when it's for projects that are relating to you in some way)

Yes, that particular map was bad and I am on record for saying so repeatedly. Did that stop me from giving up? Certainly not. IDCLEV02 did the trick so I was able to enjoy the rest.

A review is nothing more than a person writing what he experienced and thought of a given something.

No, that's writing an opinion. A review is supposed to be more like that. Quoting Wiktionary: An account intended as a critical evaluation of a text or a piece of work. I see no 'critical evaluation' here and be it for the sole reason that he didn't even see 70% of the work. It's like judging a movie based on a 20 minute preview. You can't do that.

And don't be so fucking melodramatic. You're really just a big drama queen.

Yeah, another cheap shot. If you mention a problem regarding an issue at Doomworly you are dismissed as a 'drama queen'. How convenient an excuse so everything can stay as it is...

Graf Zahl said:

I have no problems with negative reviews as long as they are [...] based on a thorough analysis. But this is precisely what you are unwilling to do.

My review is similar to someone walking out of a movie half-way through the film and writing a review of it on IMDB. Are those kind of reviews on IMDB considered invalid for you because they didn't want to sit through the entire thing and couldn't bear it any more? That's basically what this is.

Also, why do you only do this crap on WADs heavy with ZDoom features? I still haven't received a straight answer from you after asking this numerous times.

RIP, /newstuff chronicles... :(

Hahaha, you've made my Monday night. Thanks =D

Graf Zahl said:

Arrrgggghhhh!
You don't get it, do you?
I couldn't be bothered what deathz0r writes as long as he gives the impression to do a proper job. But just giving up after 30% of any WAD and then writing the shit he wrote here is just plain unacceptable in my book. In such a case it's better not to write anything at all because it is evident that with the information at hand he is unable to do it right.

Oh come on, you previously had this long tantrum about another review by Deathz0r because he used the word "sucks" to summarize a wad.

Graf Zahl said:

I don't need to pay attention to someone like deathz0r. The team is willing to listen to constructive criticism by people we can take seriously - being able to be taken seriously being the operative term here. I can't take someone seriously who gives up on a project he is obviously biased against when running into any kind of problem.

But you are paying attention to Deathz0r. You're not ignoring him, you come here and cry and whine about how wrong he is, repeatedly. So why don't you follow your own advice and don't pay attention to him, if hi's reviews bother you that much?

Graf Zahl said:

Yes, that particular map was bad and I am on record for saying so repeatedly. Did that stop me from giving up? Certainly not. IDCLEV02 did the trick so I was able to enjoy the rest.

You did that perhaps, but I know many others, who just didn't play any more, and considering how agressive you were against people turning on "monster infighting" in KDIZD, I am surpriced to see you condoning codes like that. (:p) But I digress.

Graf Zahl said:

No, that's writing an opinion. A review is supposed to be more like that. Quoting Wiktionary: An account intended as a critical evaluation of a text or a piece of work. I see no 'critical evaluation' here and be it for the sole reason that he didn't even see 70% of the work. It's like judging a movie based on a 20 minute preview. You can't do that.

I see a very critical evaluation. But it's really not the point, what it boils down to, is that a person (or more) is behind writing the review, and anything he writes is really just a subject of opinion. Since obviously atleast one other person made the game, and that person most likely DO think it's good.

Graf Zahl said:

Yeah, another cheap shot. If you mention a problem regarding an issue at Doomworly you are dismissed as a 'drama queen'. How convenient an excuse so everything can stay as it is...

It was just a responce to your melodramatic outcry that really I find in lack of a better word. "Gay" as hell. It's like when the zealots cry things like "RIP Doom community, <insert name or group here> killed it."
it's stupid and melodramatic drama queen acting.

fraggle said: Anyone can complete Episode 1 with a bit of time and dedication.

This hits the nail right on the head. All aspects of the episode should be at perhaps most a little bit harder than the original E1, but no more. The main reason for this WAD was to "remake" E1 with today's technology, not "make it much much harder".

While I disagree with GZ about the "obviousness" of the clues in Seven Portals, puzzles are big discussion that has largely been done to death with sides taken forever; while there will likely never be general agreement as to whether a lot of puzzle-solving has a valid place in shoot-em-up games, this WAD is meant to be a remake of DOOM:E1 and not of HeXen:Seven Portals; therefore, excessive puzzles logically have no valid place in such a WAD and deny the experience to people who just want to play the damn game.

Excessive puzzles cause a WAD to fail the "anyone can complete it with a bit of time and dedication" test, because HeXen-level puzzles can NOT be guaranteed soluble just by throwing time and dedication at them; even if one can, why the heck should one HAVE to waste one's time solving over-complex puzzles in a SHOOT-EM-UP? Just try killing the cyberdemon in !CSRE2M2.WAD with a pistol or chaingun; with time and dedication it is indeed possible, but completely boring.

If anybody ever does remake any HeXen episode in ZDoom, you have my word that I will dump it in the recycle bin on sight :P

While I agree that the seven portals are rather easy, if you look at the signs. I don't agree that seeing and following signs, is what makes a puzzel.

fraggle said:

I'm really feeling knee-deep in kdizd articles now.

There's been enough drama for two or three dwforums WADs.

I got sick of this thread 30% in so i closed IE


But it's well designed

MartinHowe said:

This hits the nail right on the head. All aspects of the episode should be at perhaps most a little bit harder than the original E1, but no more. The main reason for this WAD was to "remake" E1 with today's technology, not "make it much much harder".

I think level authors nowadays have a skewed sense of difficulty. The thing is, almost everyone playing Doom now is _still_ playing Doom: ie. they've been playing it for years, and by now, they're likely to be good at it. So expectations of difficulty are a lot higher.

Personally, I never got very good at actually playing Doom: for me the interest has always been in the geeky side of understanding the game engine, etc. Clearly there are some people who found KDIZD too easy, but for me, I found it much harder than the original E1.

In my defence, I was playing using a laptop and no mouse; if I actually played using a mouse I could probably get through it. But I can certainly get through Doom E1 using a keyboard..

KDIZD it's great, makes RTC-3057 look almost plain (I never thought I could say that). My only gripe is the reuse of certain monsters from monster packs, or Demon Eclypse, and the Rifle sprites. But that doesn't rest not even half a star. FIVE STARS!

MartinHowe said:

If anybody ever does remake any HeXen episode in ZDoom, you have my word that I will dump it in the recycle bin on sight :P

There ain't much difference 'tween Hexen and ZDoom.

The problem: there should be another, MORE PATIENT, reviewer than deathz0r, who's biased on fast wads too much. E1M3 took me SUCKS seconds to finish with 100%/100%/100%.

How do I upload my review texts and when?

deathz0r said:

My review is similar to someone walking out of a movie half-way through the film and writing a review of it on IMDB. Are those kind of reviews on IMDB considered invalid for you because they didn't want to sit through the entire thing and couldn't bear it any more? That's basically what this is.

Yes, they are. You are not qualified to rate a product if you haven't seen it completely.

printz said:

The problem: there should be another, MORE PATIENT, reviewer than deathz0r, who's biased on fast wads too much. E1M3 took me SUCKS seconds to finish with 100%/100%/100%.

When I played it for the first time (at this point I haven't taken a closer look at anything in the level so I think it qualifies despite me being a member of the team) I required 48 minutes and several reloads to play through M3 completely - and that was without trying to get to the secret exit and finding all secrets.) I think the overall time I spent with the map was close to 80 minutes. So yes, it takes a long time and yes, it requires patience, so please factor this in when playing (and even more when reviewing) the map.