Anomaly Report - Released! A new 33-level megawad for vanilla Doom II.

[Fluuschoen]

Lovely megawad, just right up in my alley. Possible Top 10 stuff, I just don't know what to demote in favor of this.

[hybridial]

I just finished playing Countdown and so far I'm really enjoying the WAD. Pleasant style to it, easygoing difficulty curve. 

[Shanoa]

So, I came across this topic tonight while randomly browsing this forum section and after reading a couple posts I decided to download it. I missed the entire development cycle for it so I wasn't sure what I was getting into. That was a great decision on my part, this megawad is phenomenal. I played until I finished "Countdown" and I have a feeling the quality of the levels will just keep going up. The stand out aspect for me is the slowly increasing difficulty curve, I love it. Each encounters has been an enjoyable time and the secrets aren't that difficult to seek out, which compelled me to go for almost UV-Max. Almost because I couldn't find the last two secrets in Countdown so I noclipped (only after reaching the exit) and realized "duh, i'm dumb".

No words required for the layouts/architecture, it's simply fun to explore. Easily Cacoward worthy.

 

I can't remember the last time I finished a megawad but this one, this one i'm gonna finish, I enjoy it that much. Fantastic work and thank you for the maps.

[Shanoa]

Double-post

 

I just finished the megawad and that's gonna be an easy 10/10 from me. Quality of map and encounters improved from start to finish. Even the IoS map was fun. It's the first mapset I have played from start to finish in a long time and I'm happy I gave it a chance. My secret finding was sorely lacking post secret levels but thankfully I didn't need whatever was hidden to beat the mapset.

 

Once again, thank you for this megawad. Really loved my time with it.

[DoubleCakes]

Gave this one a little peak and brushed away the first five levels. They're a quintet of nicely paced and designed levels and I almost get the feeling this might make a good megawad suggestion for newcomers to the Doom modding scene, but I know that things are going to pick up later so I'll put that thought on the backburner.

 

Map 03 and Map 04 have been highlights, although I like the spaciousness and adventure of Map 05 with most of the combat taking place inside the facility but having to travel around the edges of the canyon to progress.

[cambreaKer]

decided to give this wad a shot and played through it until i died at map15 and forgot to save lol, i'll continue playing this later but so far i thought the levels were really good, my favourites so far were map08 and 09, and i thought the tank blowing up the wall at map10 was REALLY cool

[NightFright]

I didn't know AR had been added to the authorized addons on Steam. Congrats!

(I haven't been checking Doom-related news thoroughly for a while, obviously.)

Edited August 19, 2022 by NightFright

[DoubleCakes]

I finished this one a few days ago and it was a delightful experience. The pacing was king, the level themes were inspired and overall the challenge was on point.

[Heretic926]

Finished Anomaly Report just now and it was a blast. Final third is a bit harder than I expected, but I guess I'm not that good at the game. Visuals are nice, music slaps (of course it is - Memento Mori I and II, Icarus and Requiem tracks), combat is fast-paced and challenging, but it won't be a knock in the teeth for casual players (but be ready for final third). Secrets are mostly hold the balance between obscurity and the reward they hold. My favorite maps is MAP03 "Grasslands", MAP08 "Tanker", MAP15 "Colosseum", MAP18 "Sunset Villa", MAP20 "Diamond Apocalypse" (this is one of the hardest in megawad), MAP23 "Deja Vu" and MAP26 "Valley of Shadows". Secret maps also cool enough.

I gotta say - Anomaly Report gave me more inspiration to work on my own megawad. Amazing job, valkiriforce!

Edited August 23, 2022 by Heretic926

[skaags]

On 5/6/2022 at 7:26 AM, NightFright said:

More widescreen goodies. Don't ask me how I did BOSSBACK and INTERPIC - I used some really ugly tricks there. ^^

(CREDIT isn't based on the same picture since I didn't have the screenshot it's based upon. However, it looks very similar and uses many parts of the original image. I also took the opportunity to center the text a bit.)

 

 

I took a crack at your TITLEPIC, been using it alongside your other widescreen goodies :) I used a screengrab of the unity port alongside a couple other touch ups. 

 

@valkiriforce, any chance we could get a widescreen version of the status bar you used for the unity port? I've grown to prefer it. Thank you for your wad by the way, been having a blast with it!

[Dan50]

I'm on level 10 and still can't find a darn backpack haha. 

[Rudolph]

Alright, I have been finally played through the megawad. Pretty good overall, although the difficulty curve feels inconsistent at times. Then, you did put a disclaimer in the OP, so I cannot quite complain about that. The only thing that is sorely missing is new intermission texts. While not mandatory of course, it would be neat to give the player a better sense of what is supposed to be going on.

Edited October 14, 2022 by Rudolph

[AnonKaiju]

Played the first 5 maps on "normal" after the cacoward honorable mention and I gotta say this is a great megawad to point to for newcomers since when played on normal it's use of standard enemies isn't any more aggressive then doom 1, 2, and 64. Also wow this is a really impressive wad considering it's playable in vanilla doom

[RaRu Des2122]

I don't know how it will go further, but I'm starting to walk through the @valkiriforce's megawad from the last one!
 

 

 

 

[RaRu Des2122]

 

 

 

[RaRu Des2122]

 

 

 

[RaRu Des2122]

 

 

 

[RaRu Des2122]

 

 

 

[RaRu Des2122]

 

One of the best levels in the mapset!

 

 

 

It is impossible to get to the level in an honest way but I tied it to the main action with the help of the SLADE 3 editor. I hope you'll forgive me for this - but I want to go through everything that the author (or authors) did in his (their) megawad, I don't like to start levels with only pistol too much and I want the level to have a soundtrack and a name invented for it by @valkiriforce (without a garter, the map is called Map33: Unnamed, no music plays on it and its completion leads to the end of the game and the demonstration of the monster gallery).

[RaRu Des2122]

 

 

 

[RaRu Des2122]

 

 

 

[Devalaous]

On 1/17/2023 at 12:01 AM, RaRu Des2122 said:

 

It is impossible to get to the level in an honest way but I tied it to the main action with the help of the SLADE 3 editor. I hope you'll forgive me for this - but I want to go through everything that the author (or authors) did in his (their) megawad, I don't like to start levels with only pistol too much and I want the level to have a soundtrack and a name invented for it by @valkiriforce (without a garter, the map is called Map33: Unnamed, no music plays on it and its completion leads to the end of the game and the demonstration of the monster gallery).

 

I posted a patch in this very thread that fixed all the issues with map 33 and made it selectable from the main menu. It's slightly outdated as finishing the map in GZDoom will play the No Rest for the Living text screen, but I've since fixed that on my end

[RaRu Des2122]

 

 

 

[Finnisher]

On 4/4/2022 at 2:45 AM, valkiriforce said:

 

===========================================================

 

Anomaly Report is a brand-new 33-level megawad for vanilla Doom 2 - inspired from my love for the original Doom 2 and Doom 2 The Way Id Did. It is intended to be an easygoing experience with a few nasty traps thrown into the mix. It is deliberately minimal in places and intended to work in any source port of choice. The wad was tested in chocorenderlimits, Woof! and DOOM Retro.

 

===========================================================

 

Play Information:

 

Name: Anomaly Report (AR.WAD)

IWAD: Doom 2

Compatibility: Vanilla

Ports Tested: chocorenderlimits, Woof!, DOOM Retro

Map slots: MAP01-MAP33

Music: Mark Klem, David Shaw, Jeremy Doyle, Tom Mustaine, Charles Li

Gameplay: single-player/co-op

Difficulty Settings: Yes

Build Time: 11 months

Requirements: no jumping/crouching

 

Thanks to @galileo31dos01 for the status bar which was originally intended for Akeldama, but has found a new home here.

 

Downloads:

>>>Idgames<<<

>>>Doomshack<<<

>>>ModDB<<<

 

Maplist:

  Reveal hidden contents

MAP01: Aerials
MAP02: Monkey Wrench
MAP03: Grasslands
MAP04: Watchtowers
MAP05: Canyon Station
MAP06: Crosswalk
MAP07: The Killing Arena
MAP08: Tanker
MAP09: Los Alamos
MAP10: Pendleton
MAP11: Countdown
MAP12: Water Temple
MAP13: The Crucible
MAP14: Fortress Floodgates
MAP15: Colosseum
MAP16: Wrecking Base
MAP17: Rebel Keep
MAP18: Sunset Villa
MAP19: Pavilion
MAP20: Diamond Apocalypse
MAP21: Highway Havoc
MAP22: Technochasm
MAP23: Deja Vu
MAP24: Sting Labs
MAP25: Nevermore
MAP26: Valley of Shadows
MAP27: The Trenches
MAP28: Nightfire
MAP29: End Times
MAP30: Anomaly
MAP31: Echoes Redux
MAP32: When In Romero
MAP33: X+Y

 

Soundtrack list:

  Reveal hidden contents

MAP01: Anchor (Memento Mori II) - Mark Klem
MAP02: Interphaze (Memento Mori II) - David Shaw
MAP03: Recapture (Icarus: Alien Vanguard) - David Shaw
MAP04: Rage (Requiem) - Mark Klem
MAP05: Dreadnaught (Memento Mori) - Mark Klem
MAP06: Mummy Rags (Memento Mori) - Mark Klem
MAP07: Hunter's Lair (Requiem) - David Shaw
MAP08: DLA (Memento Mori) - Mark Klem
MAP09: Quarry (Icarus: Alien Vanguard) - Jeremy Doyle
MAP10: Engine Core (Icarus: Alien Vanguard) - Jeremy Doyle
MAP11: Ghost In The Machine (Icarus: Alien Vanguard) - David Shaw
MAP12: Gerbert (Memento Mori) - Mark Klem
MAP13: Give In (With Pleasure) (Memento Mori II) - Mark Klem
MAP14: Lordly Might (Requiem) - Mark Klem
MAP15: The Wind (Memento Mori) - Mark Klem
MAP16: Triangle of Fear (Memento Mori) - Mark Klem
MAP17: Shadows of The Dead (Memento Mori II) - Mark Klem
MAP18: Junkie Smack (Memento Mori II) - Mark Klem
MAP19: WarTemple (Icarus: Alien Vanguard) - Charles Li
MAP20: And Blood Will Spill (Memento Mori II) - David Shaw
MAP21: Scary 2 (Memento Mori) - Mark Klem
MAP22: Path of Destruction (Requiem) - Mark Klem
MAP23: Brutality (Icarus: Alien Vanguard) - Jeremy Doyle
MAP24: Under Death (Requiem) - Mark Klem
MAP25: Organic Gods (Memento Mori II) - Mark Klem
MAP26: Nothing So Cruel (Memento Mori II) - Mark Klem
MAP27: FastTrack (Icarus: Alien Vanguard) - Tom Mustaine
MAP28: The Helix (Requiem) - David Shaw
MAP29: Time Runner (Memento Mori II) - Mark Klem
MAP30: Gresta (Icarus: Alien Vanguard) - Tom Mustaine
MAP31: Anger (Memento Mori) - Mark Klem
MAP32: Slipper (Memento Mori) - Mark Klem
Intermission: Hydroponics (Icarus: Alien Vanguard) - Jeremy Doyle
Title Screen: Tempter (Memento Mori II) - Mark Klem
Text Screen: Skinny Puppy (Requiem) - Jeremy Doyle

 

Screenshots:

 

 

 

Hello there!

 

I recently discovered and tried out this mapset, great work!!

However I have a question: which custom textures does the .wad use besides skyboxes?

 

The reason I ask is, I accidentally dragged AR.wad into the RT (ray tracing) modded PrBoom+ source port - instead of regular PrBoom+ - and to my surprise it launched and worked! However certain maps crash and those are likely the ones with any custom textures in them that aren't skyboxes.

 

For reference the following maps crash:

10, 11, 13, 14, 16 (not always which is weird), 18, 20, 27, 28, 29 and 31.

If I would know what custom textures are used in those maps, I could make my own "version" of AR for personal use with vanilla Doom or Doom 2 textures only that hopefully would run with RT.

 

Thank you for the awesome work and any help you might be able to give!

 

Some sample ray traced screenshots from the maps that did work:

 

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by AsiJu

[Faceman2000]

I’m pretty sure every single map has custom textures. Heck, there are custom textures visible in the screenshots you shared, so they can’t be the sole cause of the crash.

[Finnisher]

4 hours ago, Faceman2000 said:

I’m pretty sure every single map has custom textures. Heck, there are custom textures visible in the screenshots you shared, so they can’t be the sole cause of the crash.

 

It's possible, was just the first thought that it might be due to textures.

AR is very enjoyable on its own but RT would add a unique spin.

 

Also it's the only megawad that even starts with RT PrBoom+ for whatever reason, from what I've tried.

 

(The RT is meant to work with vanilla games only so not a surprise.)

[Grum]

Really enjoying it! The levels have a good length where they don't overstay their welcome and has a classic feel to it. Thinking this is will be my current favorite WAD.

[RaRu Des2122]

 

 

 

[RaRu Des2122]

And the last maps:
 

 

 

 

[RaRu Des2122]

Ahh, it's over... This bright, juicy and stylish megawad with colorful medium-length levels is finally over! I hope in the near future to get to the next @valkiriforce's works, the bar of expectation of which I have risen very high: Doom Core (most likely Delta), Reverie, Eternally Yours, maps from Doom 2 Unleashed, Akeldama...

 

And now some personal impressions:

 

1) Top of the best maps:

- Map31: Echoes Redux (the best map in whole megawad, I think!)
- Map08: Tanker

- Map09: Los Alamos / Map23: Deja Vu

- Map14: Fortress Floodgates
- Map18: Sunset Villa
- Map29: End Times

 

2) Top of the least liked maps (the greatest discomfort for me personally is the almost inevitable damage from many sides at once and the need to memorize the location or appearance of certain monsters in a certain place in order to move forward effectively): 

 

- Map25: Nevermore

- Map15: Colliseum

- Map28: Nightfire

 

3) Top of the best soundtracks:

- Map08: "DLA" by Mark Klem

- Map17: "Shadows of the Dead" by Mark Klem

- Map19: untitled by Charles Li

- Map24: "Under Death" by Mark Klem

- Map27: "FastTrack" by Tom Mustaine

- Map31: "Anger" by Mark Klem

 

@valkiriforce, thank you a lot! Everyone who has watched me and is watching me now - also thanks all of you!