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Bloodshedder

The /newstuff Chronicles #315

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Welcome, again, to yet another edition of "WADs you might have seen before but never bothered to play because there were no /newstuff Chronicles to tell you if they were decent". About twenty of them.

  • Base One - Rick "Wildman" Clark
    EDGE - Solo Play - 328239 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: GreyGhost
    Base One - described by Rick as a base built on an old druid castle - is a good looking map with an interesting mix of architecture. Part tech base, part ancient ruin, part damaged base revealing ancient ruins and part carnival sideshow attraction. Extensive use is made of 3D effects that include translucent floors, overhead walkways, nukeage pools, mirrors and a ladder you have to climb.

    Gameplay is a fairly linear switch/key hunt with some ambushes along the way. The base's current occupants are a mixture of standard and stealth monsters - the latter will keep you on your toes - plus a couple of pinkies on steroids. Light levels in the map are fairly low - as should be apparent in my screenshots. Difficulty levels are implemented.

    I was amused and irritated by the room of mirrors, could have used some visual clues in the lava maze and discovered I could lock myself out of the boss battle courtyard. Those points aside I enjoyed the map and hope Rick will turn out some more.

  • Doom 3 Hellknight - Grapefruit66
    Limit Removing - n/a - 61562 bytes - (img)
    Reviewed by: MasterOfPuppets
    This is a sprite replacement for the Baron of Hell. As you might have guessed, the new sprites look like Doom 3's Hellknight... Well, that was the idea at least. In reality, what we have here is a re-colored Baron with a different head. While the new sprites don't look bad, they aren't that great. It may have been a worthwhile idea if some modified behavior was added, or perhaps some new sounds. As it stands, however, I can't see this being of much value to anybody. Try harder next time!

  • 1024 seized megawad - Walter "Daimon" Confalonieri
    ZDoom Compatible - Solo Play - 1628073 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Joe Capricorn
    Here is a nifty little megawad where you will get to break out of jail, kill winged Barons of Hell, fly through space and suffer extreme agony while trying to find all six keys in level 17. My goodness, they were so hard to find - you'd think they would be a little easier to find in a map that's only 1024x1024.

    Walter "Daimon" Confalonieri hops onto the Something-x-Something bandwagon and produces another megawad entirely composed of 17 maps that are at most 1024x1024. However, he doesn't do a bad job at all.

    My main complaint is how the gameplay is set up. Boss levels, except for the last one, are very easy to beat because an invincibility sphere is provided. In both cases I was able to defeat the boss before the invincibility wore out, and while I realize that 1024x1024 is kinda limiting in this aspect, I feel that Walter has the capability of coming up with something more creative than throwing 50 rockets and an invincibility power-up at the player and telling them that they have "no chance to survive make your time hahaha" and that "all your base are belong to us"... That reminds me, my other complaint is mainly in the narratives between a few of the maps. They look like they were translated using Babel fish, and while they were still mostly understandable, Walter could've sought out someone who could proofread or edit the phrases so it at least reads better.

    Crappy English or not, this is still a very fun mini-megawad to blast through. It won't take you that long at all, even if you won't find any AV level difficulty here due to the liberal amounts of ammo and health provided. There makes for some tight battles and a creative use of a couple Monster-Resource Wad monsters. I like the use of those winged Barons, I forget what they are actually called though. I also like those guys that yell out, "Hey you!" ZDoom features are not overused and only add to the atmosphere that many of these maps contain. Map architecture is moderate, and while sometimes the architecture and cramped nature of the maps leads to some odd events, such as Spectres being stuck in the hall, or me suddenly finding myself falling 150000 feet into space and not dying, for the most part the architecture is effective in evoking whatever atmosphere (usually dark) that the map intends. There is also a creative use of textures on top of the well-done architecture. Lastly, even though there is yet another Dead Simple clone, instead of several arachnotrons suddenly ambushing you after you pwn the Mancubuses, you have to take care of each of them individually and flip a series of switches in order to exit. It's a simple, yet different take on a map that has been repeated over and over since 1994.

    A short megawad that contains epic themes (Space travel = EPIC) and fun, fast-paced gameplay, so I recommend this if you want a casual serving of Doom. You'd also get the joke I made by now about level 17 if you play it, so...

  • Doom Commando - icecreamsoldier
    Limit Removing - Solo Play - 503159 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: myk
    Doom commando is a set of seven classic-styled levels by D. Simpson. The author has edited the menu skull and the help and credit screens to give them a color that's in tune with the general theme of the WAD (we could call it "military"), plus a dark gray sky replacement to set a grim mood. The text file gives a short briefing for each level, detailing the commands given to the marine as he proceeds into each area, and relatedly each level generally ends or starts with an area that's associated to the adjacent level's, to enhance the sense of progression. The exit areas are conveniently marked though, to counter any possible ambiguity. If a level ends at railway tracks, for example, the next starts on these too, although it properly gives the impression you have travelled a good distance between the two points. The level construction is generally clean and makes good use of solid designs and simple texturing to obtain a relatively pleasing overall appearance.

    The WAD starts with a somewhat challenging fortification-themed level, especially due to the use hitscanners are given, which made me think it was going to be a tough set to complete, but the difficulty does not really increase progressively in any noticeable degree in later levels, which may be considered the main flaw of the WAD. Due to enemy placement and how they show up, the first level may be one of the tougher ones in the set, actually, with some decent traps, and some more or less tough monsters not far from the start. The second level is likewise a fortified stronghold, while the third is part of a greenish mountainside or the like by some small lakes that includes a couple of bridges and a series of rock tunnels, although I've never liked the use of green stucco as a "natural" texture, as seen outside here. Another minor aesthetic complaint is blocking areas without a visible obstruction (such as the road going into the mountain); it's better to place a gate or something in the way. In the fourth level you land in a series of offices. These aren't as convincing as the previous architecture perhaps due to the furniture, which tends to not look too fitting in DOOM... even though the PC rendition is admittedly somewhat cute, although the layout in general is good and some interesting fights occur, especially on one of the external platform areas where you meet a pretty nasty surprise. On this fourth level there is a bug of sorts; you can get stuck in the chaingun dudes' guard post in the final room. Level five leads us into proper enemy territory, into a complex of green marble blocks dominated by a central tower, which can be dangerous on occasion due mainly to hitscan crossfire. The sixth level is a prison with a rough stone exterior and rusty metal interior. From the wall surrounding the outer courtyard and looking in you can trigger a VPO (it exited with 137 visplanes) using Doom 2 or Chocolate Doom, so you'll have stick to an engine that raises limits at least a bit to avoid the problem. The last level is perhaps a bit too "hellish" for the description in the text file, but it provides a smallish fine-looking and entertaining design where sections interconnect freely, if somewhat underpopulated.

    All in all a decent experience aside from some minor glitches, even though it would certainly have benefited from a greater opposition, at least in the last two levels. Progress is clear and well executed as far as the setting is concerned, but not so much in the way play progresses. Most of the levels themselves play relatively well, individually, but may not satisfy those hungry for a tight challenge.

  • Beyond Horrible! - Hardcore_gamer
    Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 910447 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Scet
    This is a collection of nine maps that replace episode 2 in the original Doom. Most of them are by Hardcore_gamer, with one from The Iron Hitman (E2M4) and one from Damion Reloaded (E2M9). Janitor apparently also did some part of the mapping as E2M7 is named "Janitors Map".

    I remember testing one of Hardcore_gamer's first maps after he joined over a year ago called Hell Beneath. It was pretty bad, but luckily for us his mapping skills have definitely improved and this set is anything but "beyond horrible". All the maps are solid, fun, old-school style maps with good architecture and flow. There's more than enough fighting to keep you interested without being too hard, and there isn't a lot of back-tracking or getting lost either.

    There is some room for improvement though, mainly with texture alignment. While there's nothing that really stands out, it should have been caught in testing. The obvious spots I remember are the red key room in E2M2 and the first large open area in E2M4. Another issue is with E2M3 in that it doesn't really know what it wants to be, as it contains areas that could be from any of the three episodes without any real transitions.

    Still this is a great set of episode 2 style maps with my favorites being E2M4, E2M2 and E2M6. The whole set took me over an hour to complete so if you're strapped for time, try those maps first. With everyone using fancy ZDoom effects, it's nice to see someone still making good classic Doom megawads, recommended.

  • Hyper-Node Alpha - Lutarez
    Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 685539 bytes - (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: myk
    Lutarez's Hyper-Node Alpha is a largish UAC base styled level that sticks largely to DOOM II's "vanilla" functionality. The level is described as medium sized, but during my playing session I ended in the "time: sucks" range, so expect to wander through the facility for a while when you play. Time playing may be increased looking for ways to continue, considering the level's extension, although it is not overly confusing because some effort was put into making keys or items viewable before they are obtained, and other devices that tell you when something has been activated, such as when you can get the blue key.

    The designs are of the more modern style easier with today's enhanced editing tools, and while occasionally the level gets a bit too "busy" with colors and smaller details, look fine overall and there are some cool uses of lighting. The encounters against monsters are in more or less confined areas, as rooms are rarely large, but not especially hard during most of the progression because ammo is sufficient (especially with the berserk powerup) and monsters don't come in particularly large groups and, while they are often positioned strategically, don't ambush you often. The use of thin bars on some doorways are a clear advantage to the player as one can easity chaingun monsters through the openings as they hit the bars or shoot each other. The final battles can be more challenging, though.

    Cooperative play is supported, although the designer does not recommend it. He's more or less right due to the confined areas, and because cooperative is better in WADs with bigger amounts of monsters.

    While the wad is for a "limit removing" engine, it contains at least a couple of Boomisms that will hamper play using true Doom compatibility; both the yellow key door exiting the upper yellow key area and the lift going down to the final area before the exit both fail to trigger properly, the box with the yellow key doesn't lower (I got the key by bumping onto the box), and there are a few minor tutti frutti effects on some steps and the like. The lift issue is the more disastrous as it makes progress impossible without IDCLIP. The text file does however mention that it was tested solely with ZDoom, which can hint that there may be problems if played with Doom or (more rarely) Boom compatibility.

    The sky used is from the popular Memento Mori megawad, and some resources were taken from DOOM. To be honest, with its difficulty curve I think the WAD would have worked very well for DOOM (many other DOOM II add-ons wouldn't, on the other hand) as long as the arch-vile were to receive some suitable replacement, and especially because there would have been no SSG; and that would have made sense rather than importing resources from one game to the other (if something with the scope of KDiZD could largely avoid it, so can WADs making far less changes).

    All in all, fun enough, and the designer shows the ability to put together a relatively complex level with a decent atmosphere. In addition to ensuring limit removing v1.9 compatibility, I would given at least a few areas more a bit more space (perhaps using a some more dimness in places to offset any lost gloominess or suspense), and made fights generally more dynamic in one way or another to eliminate any monotony.

    Find the (I'm presuming unintentional) arcade game easter egg and get an imaginary cookie!

  • Ultimate Doom Episode Midis - Kyle "Skunk" Guthrie
    doom.exe - n/a - 6852 bytes
    Reviewed by: master lockwolf
    There really isn't much good here. I would pass, but you may be able to use e1m4 and e1m6, which are the only semi-decent music files on here.

  • Daemonic Martello 1024 - Vasek "(The_)Damned" Havranek
    ZDoom Compatible - Solo Play - 271007 bytes - (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Kirby
    DM 1024 (or Daemonic Martello) is a wad that follows in the style of Congestion 1024, restricting itself to a map size of 1024x1024. The map itself uses a combination of the existing Doom textures with the Gothic DM textures for added detail. The result? A balanced wad of both detail and gameplay that would indeed fit perfectly into the 1024 project. The map boasts just the right amount of detail so as not to obstruct the player, and it looks good too. The gameplay is a bit easier than I would consider standard, but you definitely won't be disappointed with this one.

  • Tech Tower of Ladyboys - Walter "Daimon" Confalonieri
    Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 213147 bytes
    Reviewed by: Wills
    Here Daimon has "remixed" a map by Ruba. I've never played the original, and normally I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of downloading a Ruba map just to compare it to this; however, Daimon has included the original with his new and improved map, making this job easier for a lazy reviewer such as myself.

    There's nothing outstandingly wrong with Daimon's level - a couple of textures are sorta wonky, and it's overall very easy. And one thing I think every level designer should know - killing spectres with just a pistol is no fun. At all. The detailing borders on good; it's interesting enough. As I mentioned, it's way too easy, especially once you get the super shotgun and the box of shells. Plus this level is super-short, two or three minutes at max. But honestly, Daimon didn't have very much level to work with from the start, and the stuff he added fit quite nicely.

    Faults and all, this map suddenly seems to be the glorious apex of Doom level design when compared to the original. The Ruba version is just like Daimon's except shorter, with none of the lighting, enemy, and texture variations that make Daimon's a better than average map. You start by shooting some zombiemen, go up some stairs to get the red key and shoot more zombiemen, then head back downstairs for a final confrontation with... an imp. It's like a 1994 map, except more irritating because even though the map design is slightly better than a 1994 level, its gameplay is somehow even more boring - plus there's none of that "oh, we didn't know any better" retro-crap charm associated with really old maps.

    If you're looking for a five minute above-average use of your time, the first map will fill that need quite nicely. However, I would advise you to skip the second map entirely. Not even the curiosity of seeing exactly how Daimon improved on Ruba's version is worth it.

  • Void Deathmatch Set (Preview Release 1) - Adereth
    Multiplayer - Deathmatch - 4457396 bytes
    Reviewed by: Janitor
    This set of maps was inspired by Cyb's void. And it shows. These are by far the most well executed and creative maps I have ever seen. The maps take place on many bizarre locations like a twisted fun-house, gothic castles and a giant piano. The multi-coloured, flashing skyboxes in each level easily remind you of Void, and the music brings in that atmosphere as well. In short, these maps are quite impressive to look at and walk through.

    However, I tried deathmatching with a friend on these, but it didn't go too well. The maps are beautiful, but only a few of the maps play well for DM. Some of the maps do not even have single-player starts.

    Essentially, it is well worth your time to download this wad and have a look, but playing a Deathmatch is not advised.

  • Belial's Bad Brain - Alexander "Eternal" S. (aka Deadall)
    Limit Removing - Solo Play - 873006 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: GMan
    Belial's Bad Brain is a big map featuring large open spaces and long, wide corridors populated by hordes of monsters. Its play mechanic is modelled heavily along the lines of Deus Vault and much of map sets like Kama Sutra. Enemies come thick and fast and generally in large groups of the same type, with each room containing just enough of what you need to get you through.

    On the whole, the map is well balanced. In places there may be a few too many Soul Spheres - I noticed plenty still hanging around in some areas of the map long after I'd passed through them - but generally there's the right amount of health pick ups to keep things tense. Ammo too is about right. There were a few moments when I came close to running out, before finding a missed stash further back, keeping me well and truly on my toes.

    Architecturally, the map is pretty impressive. There are some nicely detailed areas - namely the two main corridor sections near the beginning and again at the end of the map - and the final battle takes place in a large, cavernous structure that has been well realised. There's a good amount of cover in most areas too, meaning it's always possible to scoot behind something if need be.

    While this may not be quite on par with the aforementioned Deus Vault, if you like your monsters in torrents, Belial's Bad Brain is well worth checking out.

  • Small doom1 E1 episode - Charles Horvath (Oldanimal)
    Limit Removing - Solo Play - 1239769 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: myk
    Oldanimal's WAD is a single-player episode one replacement for DOOM. Cooperative play is also supported, but not tested. It is called "Small doom1 E1 episode" as opposed to larger levels made for some of today's extended engines, as otherwise some of the levels can nonetheless take a decent amount to play through, at least initially. The levels generally use a relatively unique and simple UAC base setting often (but not abusively) using metal or steel textures and embedded panels and consoles, and require some limit removal to avoid HOMs and VPOs. They look decent for the most part, not entirely old fashioned but relatively economical as far as details are concerned, but it's clear from the onset (and the text file confirms this) that they aim for substance rather than appearance by concentrating on layouts and item arrangements geared around successive enemy defensive positions providing a consistent series of challenges in each level.

    The earlier levels provide ammo only through dropped items and a few weapons placed here or there (semi-spoiler: a trick in the first level may allow one to get the chaingun much earlier than expected), which forces the player to be exposed to enemy fire to acquire enough ammo, but both ammo and health are still available in reasonable amounts; enough to provide good resistance and an occasional death, but not force a save game reliance. Difficulty settings are provided for those with less fluid movements, as shotgun guys do show up in good amounts, being deadlier than in the original episode one because health is somewhat less abundant overall, and then because the monsters get nastier as the episode progresses.

    I felt that the toughest part, at least till I became more familiar with the levels, is around the middle (maybe E1M6), but while most levels offer some tightly fortified spots, using strategically positioned monsters of different types as well as some damaging floors in key locations, these always have routes allowing reasonable progress. These routes are not always immediately evident, but neither are they particularly contrived. It never really becomes an annoying switch hunt.

    Later, the player's arsenal becomes more powerful, although bigger monsters appear, so the game does not become noticeably harder, perhaps a bit less so than the middle part. But the action does not diminish and one must still be wary, as in one occasion I managed to get trapped in a hall amid two barons of hell and viciously torn to shreds.

    To set the mood classic hard rock or metal tracks and the like are used on the levels, such as Iron Maiden and Deep Purple. These fit pretty nicely in the action oriented theme of the WAD. The WAD also contains new sounds for some of the game events... I ripped these out before playing because I don't like new sounds if the graphics aren't also modified to go with them, so I kind of forgot how they sound.

    If I have any clear complaints (in addition to the new sounds), which are minor, they are that the levels are a bit bright (although I played it in software mode and the author designed it using JDoom's GL mode, so that may explain why), and that the occasional tutti frutti effect and a Medusa effect in E1M4 (these appearing in Doom-plus, that I used) could easily be fixed.

    All in all, I'd rank this episode highly among DOOM level sets, as it does a very good job in utilizing DOOM's more limited range of monsters and items in a consistently challenging yet not frustrating way. Horvath said he is a player mainly, and his persistent playing experience has served him well in making this a very playable set.

  • ZIPZIPZIP - Ruba
    Limit Removing - Solo Play - 84699 bytes
    Reviewed by: StupidBunny
    I cannot for the life of me figure out what compels Ruba to keep mapping, much less what compelled me to review this. But I forced myself to play through all seven levels, each more pathetic than the last, and don't see what anybody could possibly in these.

    The first two levels are dense labyrinths of repetitive Wolfenstein textures, random health and ammo bonuses, and slews of SS men (always a bad sign). When I looked at the automaps in an attempt to orient myself, I discovered that the levels actually spelled stuff out. Unfortunately, reading the messages did not make up for the depressing boringness of the levels, as they said incredibly stupid things like "I'm not gay" and "Hey sexy" or something.

    After that, the levels just get worse. MAP03 is the old "you can see the center but can't get to it without going around this stupid spiral covered in Nazis" kind of thing, and so was really easy and boring. After that, it fans out ever so slightly to include zombies, lost souls, and a couple of cyberdemons, as well as lava in (read: all over) one level, but it's never difficult because there's ludicrous numbers of soulspheres and shit thrown about, and the player can avoid getting damaged with no real effort anyway. And all this time, the gameplay is the same: either running around some spiral, or running around a big, boring, repetitive maze. One level was just a long staircase with SS all over it. It was short, but my god, I want those 30 seconds back.

    So, what I'm saying is, don't play this. For your sake I tell you this. I'm sure that many of the Rubaphobes out there already suspected the worst, but I'll confirm for them that this is not worth their time. It sure as hell wasn't worth mine.

  • Jenova - Heavy Gunner
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 42624 bytes
    Reviewed by: Kirby
    Jenova is a small and simple wad that aims to be one of the author's first attempts at making a level. It's very basic with only a small bit of detail, making for a rather mediocre looking level overall. There's nothing special in terms of gameplay either, however this is a very genuine attempt at a modern level. The wad also includes a few new textures (such as an Impse cola machine) so as to make it a little less ordinary. There is nothing special about this wad, but it wouldn't kill you to play it.

  • Year 21 -The Vanishing Point- - Eric "The Green Herring" Baker
    Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 77100 bytes - (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Nuxius
    Basically it's a small, non-linear map with a prominent metal motif. It also uses some new textures based off the metal set to keep it feeling somewhat fresh.

    Played without finding any of the secrets, it's O.K., however the real fun comes in if you find the berserk secret and turn it into tyson city. Either way you go at it, the map is very easy, even on UV. It only contains lower level monsters, and would be a great starting map for a megawad.

    Overall nice job for a speedmap. Recommended.

  • Escape from Castle Chezcrea - Paul Hiebert aka Creaphis
    Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 690397 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Nuxius
    Atmosphere. It's something I've always been a sucker for, and I can definitely say that this 'gothic dungeon'-themed map has plenty of it. It has a lot of little details that give the map a used, lived-in feel, which stands in nice contrast compared to the spotlessly clean techbases we usually expect to find. Something else that helps is that the author makes a superb use of Doom's "hanging victim" decorations; here, they actually make sense in their location, and aid in creating the atmosphere the author is trying to achieve. It's also host to some pretty nifty special effects, at least as far as Boom stuff goes (although I obviously won't spoil any of that here).

    Moving on, the gameplay for the most part is just O.K.; there's a nice little berserk stint towards the beginning, and then it moves on to your standard run and gun fare. However, about a half to two thirds the way into the map, the author decided to throw in a completely non-intuitive puzzle out of left field that defies the conventions of how Doom normally works (it doesn't help matters that are clues that will lead the player away from what they are supposed to do, rather than towards it). Now there's nothing inherently wrong with this in of itself, if the author makes it fairly clear that is their intentions early on. Unfortunately, that's not the case here, as this is the only place this map adopts this particular convention. I will say that overall, it's a great idea, in theory; unfortunately, the execution is where it sort of just falls apart; I can think of several other ways this same idea could have been done better. Now it might sound like I'm making a big hoopla over one little problem, however, this puzzle is a pretty major part of this map.

    Regardless, I still recommend this map overall. Just be prepared to open up a map editor when you get to the aforementioned part.

  • Iraki Terrorist - Ruba
    Limit Removing - Solo Play - 50386 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: The Green Herring
    The text file for this level implies that you're a terrorist taking on the U.S. Army (or at least the bald guys in it) in a spectacular jab at the Iraq War. In reality, the only thing political about this level is the presence of George W. Bush's mug behind the cyberdemon. The level itself has a bit of an interesting theme, with a dirt field surrounded by a rusted, metal wall, strewn with tall, metal poles, piles of crates, and small, brick lava wells... which quickly becomes less interesting when you realize it's all shamelessly copied and pasted. The gameplay is a total joke; the key is easily reached, the 18 "bald rifle men who are soldiers" can be killed without a cinch, and the closest thing this map has to a fight is a single mancubus that even a novice can defeat as long as they use cover. And don't think the aforementioned cyberdemon is any worry, because apart from the fact that he can't reach you unless you're standing in exact alignment with his cage, the crusher (activated by running toward the switch) will take care of him for you. The level's not bug-free, either; the sole secret can't be reached because the stairs meant to take you there don't build properly. Skip this one.

  • ZEUS.WAD - Stephen Renton
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 261349 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: The Green Herring
    This July 1994 level, which wasn't in the /idgames archive until this February, claims to be a taste of things to come "when other people pick up the idea of new textures seriously." To this end, it makes heavy use of H. R. Giger's artwork, which, while looking remarkably good in Doom's palette, doesn't blend in well with the Doom textures around it. That the author just carelessly plastered it all over the walls makes things even uglier. The level itself is too boring and easy; the monsters provide little opposition, and the whole thing can be completed in less than 20 seconds. It's also rather buggy; only one of the three keys present has a corresponding door, there are one-sided walls you can fire rockets and plasma through, two enemies are trapped on a winding staircase, and there's a Spectre trapped in an enclosed space. Oh, and it doesn't help that the author included some horrible sound replacements as well. Only download this if you're interested in seeing custom textures used so early on in Doom editing history.

  • SNYPER.WAD - Snyper
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 32991 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: The Green Herring
    This October 1994 level, not in the /idgames archive until this February, features a somewhat detailed backstory (and a decent one at that, albeit with some spelling and grammatical errors) in its text file. Few people in 1994 ever gave their levels stories, let alone put that much effort into them, and few people do so even today. The level itself looks nice for a 1994 level (even if the themes are a little mixed,) and it plays well, although it's pretty easy; you get every weapon short of the chainsaw, and more than enough ammo to kill the generally meager opposition, not to mention the four secrets are simple to find. Their design, however, is questionable: one is a little /too/ rewarding, as you get an invulnerability for finding it; another rewards you with eight shells and an Arachnotron; and I'm not sure how two alcoves containing one sergeant each and nothing else are rewarding in any way. There's also a major bug on this level: despite having appropriate borders, the red key door isn't actually locked, making the red key worthless. It just means you have to jump into the well only once instead of twice, but still, a key without a door is no better than a door without a key. Nevertheless, this is a good choice if you want something short, simple, and fun.

  • PuNk DoOm - Cider Man
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 53589 bytes - (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: lupinx-Kassman
    This is another wad from '96 featuring a small level and a new status bar HUD of a punk Doomguy with a green mohawk.

    The architecture: The wad consists of a dark dungeon-like map, which portrays a marble theme. The design is very simplistic, bearing very little detail in most places, and occasionally you may spot a visual oddity, probably due to BSP-related bugs. However, there are only a couple of misaligned textures, and the lighting in the map was done well. Overall, the design is not bad, but lagging a bit behind for 1996.

    The gameplay: You are given an SSG and plenty of shells at the beginning of the map, so I was given the impression that it probably wouldn't be too difficult.However, after trudging along with health usually below 50%, I realized that the map does offer a decent challenge. This difficulty is mostly due to large groups of hit-scan enemies, though. I admit that I had a save-load fest in the area surrounding the blue key due to all the shotgunners barely visible in the dark area. After that, its a downhill ride with groups of imps that can pretty easily be skipped. Unfortunately, the map is also quite short.

    Overall: If you're pretty good at Doom and don't mind simple design, then this is a map that you could probably play and beat in ten minutes or less. Its an okay wad to complete while you drink your coffee in the morning.

Like what you are seeing? Want to get in on the reviewing action? Visit the /newstuff review center and start writing reviews today! You need a Doomworld forums account to participate.

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I'm still somewhat torn between making and uploading a slightly-improved version of my wad and just saying "screw it, time to move on."

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Three /Newstuffs in a row now where the first shot i've clicked on at random has been the one used at the top of the article page

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Since HNA was my next serious map after a hiatus of some number of years, I had a feeling some issue would sneak its way past me...but to top it off, there is no excuse for including the SSG. Nevertheless, it was a fun build.

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Heh, the void deathmatch wad is pretty neat. I hope the ST folks get a server up with that crazy wad soon.

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Cutman said:

Heh, the void deathmatch wad is pretty neat. I hope the ST folks get a server up with that crazy wad soon.

I'll try it, if I want to play the maps in singleplayer with dm start under ZDoom, what is the command line ? (something similar to -host 1 I guess)

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I actually didn't do a map for Beyond Horrible. I planed to but never got it done.

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K!r4 said:
(something similar to -host 1 I guess)

I gather adding -deathmatch in addition to -host 1 should do it.

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Janitor said:

I actually didn't do a map for Beyond Horrible. I planed to but never got it done.


Well it was somewhat confusing, you're name appears in the CREDIT picture and in E2M7. I guess someone just forgot to remove it.

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myk said:

I gather adding -deathmatch in addition to -host 1 should do it.

Thank you it works, this wad have some nice psychedelic ideas, I keep it in my hard drive.
Hopefully the final version would have sp start in all maps that I can take a look in them when I'm bored, because with the deathmatch starts I can't use cheats so I have to type -warp xx each time.

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You can enable cheats like this:

zdoom -hosts 1 -deathmatch -warp 1 +sv_cheats 1

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OMFG Zeus reminds me of CrazyEd II. I loved that!

Edit: 1000x better than Ruba.

Edit2: 1024 seized megawad is fun.

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myk said:

You can enable cheats like this:

zdoom -hosts 1 -deathmatch -warp 1 +sv_cheats 1

Oh heh I suck, thanks !

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myk those are some awesome walls of text there - No seriously, you might be the most thorough /newstuff reviewer yet.

Also, Ruba doing politikal wads? So edgy!

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Belial's Bad Brain is a big map featuring large open spaces and long, wide corridors populated by hordes of monsters. Its play mechanic is modelled heavily along the lines of Deus Vault and much of map sets like Kama Sutra.

"Deus Vault" :)

Anyway, just out of interest, if it is modelled heavily on anything, it is modelled heavily on oneweek.wad map11.

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myk said:

You can enable cheats like this:

zdoom -hosts 1 -deathmatch -warp 1 +sv_cheats 1

Duh... finally tested and it doesn't works, dm seems to force the sv_cheats 0 even if you set the opposite.
Anyway, these levels have sometimes nice idea...

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K!r4 said:
Duh... finally tested and it doesn't works, dm seems to force the sv_cheats 0 even if you set the opposite.

That's odd, I posted that after trying it out. I was using ZDoom v2.2. (Just tried it again and it worked.)

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Csonicgo said:

myk those are some awesome walls of text there - No seriously, you might be the most thorough /newstuff reviewer yet.

Yeah. He likes to use really long sentences, which tends to tire people out when reading--I know I get tired when I just have to look his reviews over, and I'm just skimming them--so I think he really ought to balance his reviews more, mixing shorter sentences with longer ones, like most writers do (or at least the ones who aren't trying to confuse their readers); otherwise, I might be forced to break them up in the future for readability's sake.

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I know I don't really bother reading more than the first couple of sentences unless it's a particular WAD that I have a specific interest in. Which I rarely do.
But I bet that there are others that are more excited about new WADs.

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myk said:

That's odd, I posted that after trying it out. I was using ZDoom v2.2. (Just tried it again and it worked.)

Here is my command line (ZDoom v2.2.) :

files\zdoom -iwad files\doom2.wad -file files\vdmset_r1.wad -host 1 -deathmatch -warp 01 -sv_cheats 1 -config files\newschool.ini


EDIT : OK found : it should be +sv_cheats 1 and not -sv_cheats 1 :)

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Yeah, I was thinking you had possibly been using a dash.

Bloodshedder said:
He likes to use really long sentences, which tends to tire people out when reading--I know I get tired when I just have to look his reviews over, and I'm just skimming them--so I think he really ought to balance his reviews more, mixing shorter sentences with longer ones, like most writers do (or at least the ones who aren't trying to confuse their readers); otherwise, I might be forced to break them up in the future for readability's sake.

I'll see what I can do about it, but I don't guarantee anything. I don't get paid here, I only have a limited amount of time to do this stuff, and I do it as a fun hobby just like the designers that make levels. People who are too lazy and don't care about the details (would they have really cared anyway?) can read the last paragraph, as I generally close the review saying whether I liked the WAD in some way. Everything else is why I judged it thus.

But it's ironic that if you only skim them, you'd want to spend time editing them. That certainly takes longer than merely reading them.

I did start breaking my paragraphs a little more as I noticed my reviews were getting long (compare smallde1 and hyprnod1 with commando; I wrote the latter review earlier). In fact, commando may be the one with the longest sentences, so perhaps I've already semi-consciously made some adjustments to sentences as well.

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I skim yours not just because they are long, but because you make fewer mistakes than some of the other reviewers. That's a good thing. I don't really enjoy having to fix spelling and grammar errors, or change ’ into ' and ” into " (because some apparently write their reviews in MS WORD for some reason).

Please don't take my criticism personally or anything; I'd hate to have caused someone to stop reviewing just by something I've said about their work. I couldn't afford to pay you anyway, especially by the word.

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Rhetorical question - if I was paid by the word, how long would it take me to starve to death?

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Heh. Maybe it's just time to say a few words about Rex's December release and call it done.

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so I can't help but notice my wad wasn't in this weeks /newstuff.

4hr.wad was claimed by Nuxius way back on May 17th, and likely was reviewed/approved for publishing not long after - but Nuxius's review has yet to make it onto /newstuff. I know at least two Sundays have passed since I saw the review was approved.

I'm not bitching or complaining, just bringing it to your attention Bloodshedder. not sure what your system is for posting /newstuff, just thought maybe my level had slipped through the proverbial cracks or whatever.

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MasterOfPuppets said:

so I can't help but notice my wad wasn't in this weeks /newstuff.

4hr.wad was claimed by Nuxius way back on May 17th, and likely was reviewed/approved for publishing not long after - but Nuxius's review has yet to make it onto /newstuff. I know at least two Sundays have passed since I saw the review was approved.

I'm not bitching or complaining, just bringing it to your attention Bloodshedder. not sure what your system is for posting /newstuff, just thought maybe my level had slipped through the proverbial cracks or whatever.


When was your wad released? Bloodshedder seems to be posting these fairly close to their chronological order of upload.

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Ralphis said:

When was your wad released? Bloodshedder seems to be posting these fairly close to their chronological order of upload.

I uploaded it on May 11. I hadn't noticed that Bloodshedder was going through the backorder of reviews in chronological order - I just assumed he was posting whatever reviews came in each week.

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MasterOfPuppets said:

so I can't help but notice my wad wasn't in this weeks /newstuff.

4hr.wad was claimed by Nuxius way back on May 17th, and likely was reviewed/approved for publishing not long after - but Nuxius's review has yet to make it onto /newstuff. I know at least two Sundays have passed since I saw the review was approved.

I'm not bitching or complaining, just bringing it to your attention Bloodshedder. not sure what your system is for posting /newstuff, just thought maybe my level had slipped through the proverbial cracks or whatever.

This is because Bloodshedder is posting these in order based on the dates the wads were released, and not by the dates the reviews are done.

edit: Nevermind this post, you seem to have it figured out already. (heh)

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