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dmslr

Which megawad could be considered as a true Master Levels?

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I really like the idea of the Master Levels. We have plenty of megawads compiled of maps by various experienced/veteran mappers. What do you think, which of them is most suited for the idea id wanted to achieve with the master levels?

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3 minutes ago, dmslr said:

megawads compiled of maps by various experienced/veteran mappers

 

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2 minutes ago, Henry said:

Maybe Plutonia?

 

Plutonia was made by a team of people though. iirc, the idea of the Master Levels is that they're made by such a large variety of people, like a collaboration project. Am I understanding this right, or do I need to get my head checked?

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i would say Memento Mori II.

Its just perfect from every angle.

Alien Vendetta, too.

And Eternal Doom is the obvious one.

 

Eternall Doom, most of all as it have authors that really contributed to the original master levels.

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The Japanese Community Project.

 

 

That was made by a large number of people, it could count as Master Levels.

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1 hour ago, dmslr said:

I really like the idea of the Master Levels. We have plenty of megawads compiled of maps by various experienced/veteran mappers. What do you think, which of them is most suited for the idea id wanted to achieve with the master levels?

 

That is a fairly vague question with a myriad of possible answers. If one were to focus purely on the timeframe in question then Memento Mori 1 and 2, Requiem, Icarus: Alien Vanguard, Hell Revealed and Eternal Doom would be the candidates. In the quarter century since then any number would fit the bill.

 

1 hour ago, ArgentFrequencies said:

Plutonia was made by a team of people though.

 

Well two people, I suppose that is a team?

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I'd say Eternal Doom given how impressive it is for it's time. Funnily enough it even has works from two of the Master Levels guys in it.

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2 hours ago, Grain of Salt said:

Master levels doesn't have a coherent approach on any level, it's a hasty cash-in.

 

Hmm, hasty cash-in or not (and i don't really see any reason to think that way - it's a collexion of levels upon which opinions vary greatly), i think the idea is to have variety and not a thematic set of levels.

 

i've also played from here a few maps made by non-high-profile mappers that would be perfect in such a set.  i don't think 'master levels' mean levels from 'master' mappers, whoever those are.  But an eclectic collexion of levels that will make you approach the game from different demanding angles.  But yeah, this means that not really any 'community project' would fit it, but to my mind someone should collect together a set of levels from a variety of sources, without paying attention to pedigree.  Good luck with that happening, haha.

Edited by dei_eldren

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I think an important thing to consider is that every original Master Levels contributor ended up doing greater very prominent things in the gaming community afterwards. While id's lazy '20 loose wads + shovelware disc' was a lame approach for an expansion pack, you cant deny the ML authors had real talent. Well, except Tim Willits, you'll never convince me he wasn't a lieing opportunist taking his sister's work and passing it off as his own, then brown-nosing his way up the ladder :p But he still had talent for that, and it got him far.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Devalaous said:

I think an important thing to consider is that every original Master Levels contributor ended up doing greater very prominent things in the gaming community afterwards. While id's lazy '20 loose wads + shovelware disc' was a lame approach for an expansion pack, you cant deny the ML authors had real talent. Well, except Tim Willits, you'll never convince me he wasn't a lieing opportunist taking his sister's work and passing it off as his own, then brown-nosing his way up the ladder :p But he still had talent for that, and it got him far.

 

 

 

Oof, and to think I like Tim Willit's levels on Quake. Then again those might not actually be his either.

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On 3/1/2021 at 7:36 AM, Murdoch said:

 

That is a fairly vague question with a myriad of possible answers. If one were to focus purely on the timeframe in question then Memento Mori 1 and 2, Requiem, Icarus: Alien Vanguard, Hell Revealed and Eternal Doom would be the candidates. In the quarter century since then any number would fit the bill.

 

 

Well two people, I suppose that is a team?

My bad, memory not good. They always called themselves the "tnt team" though, which implied a greater number of people.

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Just now, ArgentFrequencies said:

My bad, memory not good. They always called themselves the "tnt team" though, which implied a greater number of people.

 

TeamTNT made Evilution, but Plutonia was the work of the Casali brothers alone though both were also TNT members now I think of it so it sort of was a TNT product too.

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1 minute ago, Murdoch said:

 

TeamTNT made Evilution, but Plutonia was the work of the Casali brothers alone though both were also TNT members now I think of it so it sort of was a TNT product too.

Fair enough, but it does come back to my point: Weren't the master levels made by a much larger variety of people than two?

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52 minutes ago, ArgentFrequencies said:

Fair enough, but it does come back to my point: Weren't the master levels made by a much larger variety of people than two?

 

Yes

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Eternal Doom for sure, or essentially any megawad featuring a bunch of different authors and not following a strong sense of progression through and through, but rather feels more like a collection of maps.

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THT: Threnody seems to fit the bill pretty well, since pretty much all its contributors were masters of the craft. TNT: Revilution also included submissions from a lot of 'masters', as did wads like PRCP or JPCP. I think @Nevander is dead on here, honestly, which means there are too many candidates to list. If I had to choose just one, though, I'd go with Alien Vendetta, due to the fact that the project roped in many of Doom's greats at the time and has endured as a classic ever since.

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On 2/28/2021 at 4:36 PM, Murdoch said:

 

That is a fairly vague question with a myriad of possible answers. If one were to focus purely on the timeframe in question then Memento Mori 1 and 2, Requiem, Icarus: Alien Vanguard, Hell Revealed and Eternal Doom would be the candidates. In the quarter century since then any number would fit the bill.

 

To be honest, there's a good argument for adding all those megawads to the new official port like they did with Doom Zero. They're all classic wads that could easily have been official expansions back in the day if ID cared to release more.

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10 minutes ago, Trar said:

 

To be honest, there's a good argument for adding all those megawads to the new official port like they did with Doom Zero. They're all classic wads that could easily have been official expansions back in the day if ID cared to release more.

 

Agreed but alas getting suitable permission may be problematic especially in the case of TeamTNT WADs. Ty Halderman was the man in charge and i think Jim Flynn was one of the head guys too and both have sadly passed on. Not sure if any of the old crew are still around. 

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Probably because the one TNT project I was contributing to never got released :)

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On 3/17/2021 at 12:09 PM, NiGHTMARE said:

Probably because the one TNT project I was contributing to never got released :)

Well it was a big project and I couldn't keep interest in it after high school.  :)  I mean even with a team, 99 levels and new enemies and weapons is a lot of work.  But bits and pieces of it have been put in another project I'm working on.  So Ultimate Invasion lives on.  Somewhat. :)

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I'm choosing to interpret the question as asking for a collection of maps by a variety of authors, no singular unifying theme access the set, and making a strong surface impression/wow factor.  The main goal I see as showing off.  Plus a few other things I'm internalizing but having trouble putting into words.

 

     Setting aside my own feelings about the megawad for the moment (I don't think it has aged well), Requiem is the first thing I associate with my internal criteria.  At the time of its release, certain maps were a technical marvel and there are some creative ideas and eye-catching views.  Also like the real Master Levels, the quality is quite variable once past initial surface appearances.

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god, there are WAY too many to choose from. mm2, alien vendetta, community chest 4, prcp... the list goes on and on

 

On 2/28/2021 at 5:39 PM, Devalaous said:

Well, except Tim Willits, you'll never convince me he wasn't a lieing opportunist taking his sister's work and passing it off as his own, then brown-nosing his way up the ladder :p But he still had talent for that, and it got him far.

wait, wat? can someone fill me in lol

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