Shovelware Society #13 - WAD.WAD Week

[adamastor]

 

Greetings, fellow Doomers, and welcome to C:\>PANDORA_, also known as the Shovelware Society.
 

 

 

This week winner was WAD.WAD, for the original DOOM. Get it here: WAD.WAD.7z.

 

 

 

 

What the !@#%* is this!

- This is a thread where we play random WADs found on DOOM shovelware CDs, that used to be sold as more-or-less "official" addons for our beloved game back in the day.

We intend to play through all of them, even if our very own sanity stands at the risk of being torn asunder.

 

Yeah, but how does it work?

- Each week we select four random WADs from a DOOM shovelware CD and we subject them to a whole day of voting (which is Sunday) here on this thread.

To each we assign a DW reaction and, depending on which WAD gets the most reactions, we jump head-first into it, not quite knowing what expects us.
- We play one each week, starting on Monday and ending on Saturday, and then Sunday we pick four more candidates, the winner of which we'll play on the following week.

- We try and make sure that we don't have any knowledge of the WADs contents before subjecting them to voting, and we only try and make sure they're not DM only maps, and that they run with the vanilla EXEs, even if we have to fix some major issues sometimes to make them run properly.

 

Can I butt in?

- Of course! That's why we've created this thread!
The  idea  is for you to vote on which WAD we'll play during the week and, if you'd like to join us as well, just check out the week's winner and download the 7-Zip file with said WAD from there, which I always link, for ease of use.

- Also, if you just want to plunge into the raging sea of DOOM shovelware from which we're catching all these WADs from, feel free to search through @xvertigox's awesome collection.

 

 

To start things up we've selected the D!Zone Gold CD, from 1996, by WizardWorks.

 

 

 

 

Let us play what no one has played before!

 

 

 

Shovelware that we've previously played through:

 

Spoiler

#1 - UTOPIA2.WAD - DOOM II (found on the D!Zone Gold or the Maximum Doom CDs)

 

#2 - UNHOLY.WAD - DOOM II (found on the D!Zone Gold CD)

 

#3 - JIHAD.WAD - DOOM II (found on the D!Zone Gold CD)

 

#4 - HELLFORT.WAD - DOOM II (found on the D!Zone Gold CD)

 

#5 - FRED.WAD - DOOM (found on the D!Zone Gold CD)

 

#6 - 2SIEGE.WAD and ACIDRAIN.WAD - DOOM II (found on the D!Zone Gold CD)

 

#7 - SCHOOL.WAD - DOOM (found on the D!Zone Gold CD)

 

#8 - WINDOWS.WAD - DOOM II (found on the D!Zone Gold CD)

 

#9 - OFFICE.WAD - DOOM II (found on the D!Zone Gold CD)

 

#10 - BEATLE.WAD for DOOM II, and DDS1.WAD for DOOM (found on the D!Zone Gold CD)

 

#11 - RICKS12.WAD and SPUNK2.WAD for DOOM II (found on the D!Zone Gold CD)

 

FRED2.7z

The Hellsley Suites.7z

Edited March 28, 2022 by Mr. Kong : It's WAD.WAD time!

[Endless]

Oh, so you guys will be playing the ''winner'' WAD the next week as vanilla as possible in co-op? I'm a little confused about the goal of this. I thought it was some sort of thread about discussing or reviewing shovelware WADs. But this looks pretty interesting, for sure!

[adamastor]

7 minutes ago, Endless said:

Oh, so you guys will be playing the ''winner'' WAD the next week as vanilla as possible in co-op? I'm a little confused about the goal of this. I thought it was some sort of thread about discussing or reviewing shovelware WADs. But this looks pretty interesting, for sure!

Sorry for the confusion, Endless.

 

What we're aiming for is just playing through each week's chosen WAD, be it single player or co-op, and just record a demo or a video of it, write some simple opinions, etc.

We'll leave serious discussion of rediscovered treasures from the past up to you.

[Horus]

Might a poll not be better than reactions? Especially as there will be a soulsphere bias due to it being the 'default' reaction (and some may click it simply to show their appreciation of the thread rather than intending to cast a vote)

[adamastor]

2 minutes ago, Horus said:

Might a poll not be better than reactions? Especially as there will be a soulsphere bias due to it being the 'default' reaction (and some may click it simply to show their appreciation of the thread rather than intending to cast a vote)

You might be right, Horus. We just decided to do it this way so as to stay in the main thread, and not have to create one for each week.

 

However, I'm personally not quite experienced in creating this kind of initiative so, I'm open to better suggestions on how to handle it, of course.

[adamastor]

Voting is now closed.

 

This week's winner was UTOPIA2.WAD, with five votes.

 

We now have a week to play through it and record a playthrough (either as a video or as a demo) and write a small review with our thoughts on said experience.

 

Lock and load!

 

EDIT: For anyone wanting to join in, but that doesn't have either D!Zone Gold or Maximum Doom handy, you can get this week's WAD here.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Mr. Kong

[Dusty_Rhodes]

2 hours ago, Endless said:

Oh, so you guys will be playing the ''winner'' WAD the next week as vanilla as possible in co-op? I'm a little confused about the goal of this. I thought it was some sort of thread about discussing or reviewing shovelware WADs. But this looks pretty interesting, for sure!

Yeah with my schedule, co op doesn't work well, but I will try and record some demos everytime I play, along with writing a little review.

[xvertigox]

Very cool to see this kick off! It's gonna be great fun seeing what we turn up from these ever mysterious relics of the mid 90s..

[adamastor]

2 minutes ago, xvertigox said:

Very cool to see this kick off! It's gonna be great fun seeing what we turn up from these ever mysterious relics of the mid 90s..

Couldn't agree more! Let's just hope that our faces don't melt away, due to the sheer awesomness of this endeavour.

[xvertigox]

29 minutes ago, Mr. Kong said:

Let's just hope that our faces don't melt away, due to the sheer awesomness of this endeavour.

 

Given that it's 90s shovelware, if the awesomeness doesn't melt our faces then the wooden floor that's been inexplicably tagged as a damaging sector probably will.

[Endless]

18 minutes ago, xvertigox said:

then the wooden floor that's been inexplicably tagged as a damaging sector probably will. 

Indeed, some good wisdom there.

[Maggle]

Can't wait to play some ASGFTEETH.WAD and open some doors that are as big as an entire wall in large, square rooms full of enemies slightly too big for the map geometry, so they're entirely immobile.

[adamastor]

2 minutes ago, Maggle said:

Can't wait to play some ASGFTEETH.WAD and open some doors that are as big as an entire wall in large, square rooms full of enemies slightly too big for the map geometry, so they're entirely immobile.

The wonders of shovelware.

[adamastor]

The voting period has now ended and the actual playing's about to start! Stay tuned as we're about to tackle this week's winner: UTOPIA2.WAD!

[Dusty_Rhodes]

Very exciting!

[adamastor]

Finished! I've attached my demo of UTOPIA2.WAD as PANDORA1.rar. I played it on UV, didn't find any secrets at all, and missed 1% of the total kills.

 

Spoiler

 

I honestly had a blast playing through it. It was a lot better than I thought, as a whole, and it didn't drag itself so long as to make itself boring.

I especially liked that unfair ambush with the map's only Archie, which I cheesed through after being caught by surprise on my previous run, as well as the lowering platform ambush that gave way to all the shotgunners and imps in close-quarters combat.

 

I also came across what was probably one of the most useless super shotgun placements in a map, the reason being that to get to it you need the blue keycard (which also takes you back to the starting area, in one big loop) and gain access to the wide open area where it rests but, seeing as I'd already confronted or sniped most of the enemies by that time, I was only able to use it in a handful of monsters.

 

This was my third run, as my second, where I was already recording a demo, ended in an anti-climatic VO in the outdoor area, just as I was about to finish the level.

 

That's why I didn't lollygag around there too long on this run.

 

And that's it. Overall, it was a great experience, and my first real foray into the dark realm of shovelware cds. It's a pretty decent level, and I had lots of fun blasting through it.

 

I'm now even more psyched of continuing this journey with all of you than I was before, and I await for you to share your experience with UTOPIA2.WAD with glee.

 

 

Here's to the beginning of our epic quest!

 

 

EDIT: Youtube video here.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Mr. Kong

[Gibbon]

Finished!  I have a half-finished demo in Sprinkled Doom (it ended after it hit 128kb) but I carried on afterwards (which means I played it 3 times!)

Demo: UTOPIA2.zip

 

Review in the spoiler:

Spoiler

Well what can I say.  On Ultra Violence it was a mish-mash of being sniped from across the map by hitscanners to being pulverised by a sneaky archville and teleporting around like a headless chicken in search of a blue key.

 

The level as a whole, had me backtracking for eternity to see if I missed anything, which apparently I did, thanks to the doors which are textured as an entrance door at the start of levels to doors that were lights.  In all, I was pressing the space bar on everything I could to see where I could go.

 

The screams of the ambushing Hellknights still elicit the Fight or Flight in me, even after I dispatched the archville..  oh those Hellknights.  On the window ledges?!

 

Ultimately, the sea of grey mazes and teleporter traps will forever be engraved into my mind, the trickery of a tempting soulsphere being something to be avoided, not to retrieve.

 

Utopia has become another meaning.

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Gibbon

[adamastor]

39 minutes ago, Gibbon said:

Finished!  I have a half-finished demo in Sprinkled Doom (it ended after it hit 128kb) but I carried on afterwards (which means I played it 3 times!)

Demo: UTOPIA2.zip

 

Review in the spoiler:

  Reveal hidden contents

Well what can I say.  On Ultra Violence it was a mish-mash of being sniped from across the map by hitscanners to being pulverised by a sneaky archville and teleporting around like a headless chicken in search of a blue key.

 

The level as a whole, had me backtracking for eternity to see if I missed anything, which apparently I did, thanks to the doors which are textured as an entrance door at the start of levels to doors that were lights.  In all, I was pressing the space bar on everything I could to see where I could go.

 

The screams of the ambushing Hellknights still elicit the Fight or Flight in me, even after I dispatched the archville..  oh those Hellknights.  On the window ledges?!

 

Ultimately, the sea of grey mazes and teleporter traps will forever be engraved into my mind, the trickery of a tempting soulsphere being something to be avoided, not to retrieve.

 

Utopia has become another meaning.

 

Great review Gibs. And it was very cool watching your demo, even if it goes beyond the vanilla limits.

 

We really went into it differently. Can't wait to play the next one together again!

[OpenRift]

Played the level. I'm not great at writing these descriptions but here's my best summary. The gameplay is fine, decent for a shovelware level. Not much to look at, though I kind of respect what they were trying to do with the exterior, kind of gives off a brutalist aesthetic. Finding the exit was just downright confusing and kind of stupid, as you'll see in this demo, I spend way too long looking for a way to progress.

utopia2_rift_demo.zip

[adamastor]

2 minutes ago, OpenRift said:

Played the level. I'm not great at writing these descriptions but here's my best summary. The gameplay is fine, decent for a shovelware level. Not much to look at, though I kind of respect what they were trying to do with the exterior, kind of gives off a brutalist aesthetic. Finding the exit was just downright confusing and kind of stupid, as you'll see in this demo, I spend way too long looking for a way to progress.

utopia2_rift_demo.zip

Great demo, Rift. I'm glad you enjoyed your time in UTOPIA as well!

[Dusty_Rhodes]

Utopia.lmp.zip

 

^^^^^

Demos

Recorded using Doom2.exe, v1.9 in DOSBox Staging

 

So, Utopia2.wad: very fun little map. With a surprisingly high body count (over 260!!!), this 90s map is actually pretty short. I beat it in about 11 minutes on my second try. Here's my thoughts:

 

The texturing is good, but inconsistent. Nearly anything can be a door and the ones that require keys are not marked. This can be frustrating, but as I said the map is relatively small and it's easy to navigate.

Many of the monsters are shotgunners and imps. I counted about 3 caco demons and only 1 archvile.  Otherwise, all the monsters are chaff for your super shotgun.

I'm really happy this map included a Berserk Pack, it's my favorite power up and made the later sections a lot of fun. You can't go wrong punching cacos and imps! There is one trap that's quite nasty though, multiple shotgunners and chaingunners, as well as the sole archvile. It's all in close quarters, with low lighting and hidden teleporters. That said, it wasn't that frustrating. I lost once. Then, on my second attempt, I beat it first try.

 

Overall, fun little map, I love the unremarkableness of old school shovel ware wads. They feel like Team TNT or Master Levels wads that were taken out of the oven too early. Still, I find them quite fun. 

[adamastor]

6 hours ago, Dusty_Rhodes said:

Utopia.lmp.zip

 

^^^^^

Demos

Recorded using Doom2.exe, v1.9 in DOSBox Staging

 

So, Utopia2.wad: very fun little map. With a surprisingly high body count (over 260!!!), this 90s map is actually pretty short. I beat it in about 11 minutes on my second try. Here's my thoughts:

 

The texturing is good, but inconsistent. Nearly anything can be a door and the ones that require keys are not marked. This can be frustrating, but as I said the map is relatively small and it's easy to navigate.

Many of the monsters are shotgunners and imps. I counted about 3 caco demons and only 1 archvile.  Otherwise, all the monsters are chaff for your super shotgun.

I'm really happy this map included a Berserk Pack, it's my favorite power up and made the later sections a lot of fun. You can't go wrong punching cacos and imps! There is one trap that's quite nasty though, multiple shotgunners and chaingunners, as well as the sole archvile. It's all in close quarters, with low lighting and hidden teleporters. That said, it wasn't that frustrating. I lost once. Then, on my second attempt, I beat it first try.

 

Overall, fun little map, I love the unremarkableness of old school shovel ware wads. They feel like Team TNT or Master Levels wads that were taken out of the oven too early. Still, I find them quite fun. 

Great demos! Your second attempt went great, and it was really entertaining to watch.

 

I'm glad you liked it as well, and that you're looking forward to more shovelware adventures!

[Dusty_Rhodes]

5 hours ago, Mr. Kong said:

Great demos! Your second attempt went great, and it was really entertaining to watch.

 

I'm glad you liked it as well, and that you're looking forward to more shovelware adventures!

Thanks, but I'd say my demos weren't very good haha. I took it a little slow. I think I'll go for a UVmax today, something really good.

[Endless]

UTOPIA2.WAD

 

Nothing like going into one of the deepest and most forgotten abysses in the history of Doom. Shovelware, once an icon of 90s gamer culture, is now just a kind of reflection of a past that, perhaps, lies better buried. But things shouldn't stay in the dust, but better in a museum! In this case it's UTOPIA2.WAD, a WAD that I don't know the author, nor the exact release date, nor any other extra information, just the fact that it's part of D!Zone Gold, one of the most successful shovelwares.

 

UTOPIA2.WAD is a simple map in terms of its premise; it follows a traditional scheme without altering much, featuring many of the tropes that we can expect from a WAD of the 90s. On the other hand, it manages to create a system solid enough to be enjoyed, almost 3 decades later. In that case it is because the WAD, despite having certain negative factors, manages to balance things in its favor by containing enough positive features to provide a good 10-20 minutes of entertainment. The map is medium to large in size, with over 200 enemies, something that initially scared me, because seeing that amount of enemies in a 90s WAD can only mean one thing: proto-slaughter, the worst form of slaughter. Luckily, this is not the case. Enemies are divided in a good way throughout the map, offering a good variety of encounters with a high use of monsters. The density is average despite having a high number. One thing is clear, the author loves shotgunners, but, luckily, they are usually not impossible to defeat and the map offers enough cover, most of the time. There is one part in particular that almost made me give up on this WAD for a moment: A small room with multiple secret teleporters that move us from one side to the other, while a huge amount of hitscanners destroy our faces, only for an archvile to enter the scene and roast our asses. That really sucks. Luckily, this is the only unfair and mediocre scene in the entire WAD. The rest of the map? Solid. Good design, good architecture, decent use of textures (although there are no door textures, for some reason, so I recommend using a source-port that allows to detect linedef actions in your automap) and an unexpected use of shadows.

 

The combat, out of the archvile scene, is fast, simple and entertaining. A good length balanced with a sweet variety of areas and zones. A bit cryptic at times, but once you get used to wallhumping, you shouldn't have much of a problem. The layout itself isn't complicated, but it's simply the fact that the doors and teleporters aren't marked that makes it a bit tricky.

 

Other than that, honestly, it's much better than I expected. If most shovelware maps were like this, I think they would have been remembered more fondly.

 

I'm actually thinking about including this in the Wadarcheology. While that archvile room was a pain in the ass and the lack of door textures can be a bit cryptic, I had quite some fun with it.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Endless

[adamastor]

23 minutes ago, Endless said:

UTOPIA2.WAD

 

Nothing like going into one of the deepest and most forgotten abysses in the history of Doom. Shovelware, once an icon of 90s gamer culture, is now just a kind of reflection of a past that, perhaps, lies better buried. But things shouldn't stay in the dust, but better in a museum! In this case it's UTOPIA2.WAD, a WAD that I don't know the author, nor the exact release date, nor any other extra information, just the fact that it's part of D!Zone Gold, one of the most successful shovelwares.

 

UTOPIA2.WAD is a simple map in terms of its premise; it follows a traditional scheme without altering much, featuring many of the tropes that we can expect from a WAD of the 90s. On the other hand, it manages to create a system solid enough to be enjoyed, almost 3 decades later. In that case it is because the WAD, despite having certain negative factors, manages to balance things in its favor by containing enough positive features to provide a good 10-20 minutes of entertainment. The map is medium to large in size, with over 200 enemies, something that initially scared me, because seeing that amount of enemies in a 90s WAD can only mean one thing: proto-slaughter, the worst form of slaughter. Luckily, this is not the case. Enemies are divided in a good way throughout the map, offering a good variety of encounters with a high use of monsters. The density is average despite having a high number. One thing is clear, the author loves shotgunners, but, luckily, they are usually not impossible to defeat and the map offers enough cover, most of the time. There is one part in space that made me give up on this WAD for a moment: A small room with multiple secret teleporters that move us from one side to the other, while a huge amount of hitscanners destroy our faces, only for an archvile to enter the scene and roast our asses. That really sucks. Luckily, this is the only unfair and mediocre scene in the entire WAD. The rest of the map? Solid. Good design, good architecture, decent use of textures (although there are no door textures, for some reason, so I recommend using a source-port that allows to detect linedef actions in your automap) and an unexpected use of shadows.

 

The combat, out of the archvile scene, is fast, simple and entertaining. A good length balanced with a sweet variety of areas and zones. A bit cryptic at times, but once you get used to wallhumping, you shouldn't have much of a problem. The layout itself isn't complicated, but it's simply the fact that the doors and teleporters aren't marked that makes it a bit tricky.

 

Other than that, honestly, it's much better than I expected. If most shovelware maps were like this, I think they would have been remembered more fondly.

 

I'm actually thinking about including this in the Wadarcheology. While that archvile room was a pain in the ass and the lack of door textures can be a bit cryptic, I had quite some fun with it.

Awesome review Endless! Really comprehensive.

I wholeheartedly agree with you. This map was really fun to play and, if it was the standard for shovelware WADs (which I don't believe will be the case) then folks would try and play through those cds that much more.

But alas, it's probably the amateurish and, sometimes, incompetent design that turned them into the outcasts that we're now set to rediscover and play!

[adamastor]

30 minutes ago, Endless said:

I'm actually thinking about including this in the Wadarcheology. While that archvile room was a pain in the ass and the lack of door textures can be a bit cryptic, I had quite some fun with it

And, in regards to that, we'd be honoured to see it happen!

[adamastor]

Get ready folks, as we'll present you with four more WADs for voting tomorrow!

[Dusty_Rhodes]

I'll be excited to see what we have coming up!

[adamastor]

13 minutes ago, Dusty_Rhodes said:

I'll be excited to see what we have coming up!

I thought it would be more fun if we switch around who selects which random WADs.

This time it's on Gibbon's hands. Maybe it could be your turn, on the following week, Dusty.

[adamastor]

Voting is now closed.

 

This week's winner was UNHOLY.WAD (for DOOM II), with three votes!

 

We now have until Friday to play through it and record a playthrough (either as a video or as a demo) and/ or write a small review and share our experiences and opinions with it.

 

Let's get shoveling!

 

 

EDIT: After we loaded it up, we found it was actually unplayable, so Gibbon fixed it right up in UDB, making it playable perhaps for the first time since it's release!

 

Also, for anyone wanting to join in, but that doesn't have either D!Zone Gold or Maximum Doom handy, you can get this week's WAD here.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Mr. Kong : Fixed version