Shovelware Society #43 - JON31.WAD & DOOMFIRE.WAD (and also QUAKE! if anyone seriously wants to check out E1M3

[RoastDoom]

 

Yeah this is definitely back to what's par for the course with D!Zone Gold! Map 1 is a complete joke, basically berserking pinkies and trying to do trick punches on the explosive barrels. Map 2 is probably the best of the 3: a honeycomb maze full of monsters which requires some thoughtful strafing, and then map 3 is a complete joke! I call Cyberdemon abuse! Overall, it's about 5-7 minutes of harmless shovelware amusement.

[Luleta]

i got to pick this time wee!

YERDEATH.WAD (Map10) - soulsphere

NERVES.WAD (Map01) - megasphere

HOOVER.WAD (Map18) - godmode

NAZICAVE.WAD (Map01) - blursphere

 

Edited October 28, 2022 by Luleta : swapped wad.wad for yerdeath.wad

[LadyMistDragon]

We already played Wad.wad months ago though. Can you replace that with something else @Luleta?

[Luleta]

51 minutes ago, LadyMistDragon said:

We already played Wad.wad months ago though. Can you replace that with something else @Luleta?

woops, sorry!

fixed now

[LadyMistDragon]

Hoover has won overwhelmingly. Let's try to get this done by Thursday, okay?

[United VirusX]

 @LadyMistDragon I think you forgot to add the wad in the folder because it doesn't show up when I click the link

[United VirusX]

I liked this map I know the map maker said in the readme file that it was intended for co-op and Deathmatch but it played nicely IMO for a singleplayer map the hot start with all the hitscanners got me the first time and some of the rooms were nicely made although for a DM map I think for the time (since it was only 4 player DM back then?) it's entirely way too big here's my playthrough of it.

 

 

[BigBoy91]

A little too big with not enough enemies, but I still enjoyed this one. The "maze" is pretty much pointless, considering the switch you find doesn't do anything. Not bad!

[HorseJockey]

So I actually found this map kind of fun for a 90's wad. Like @BigBoy91 said, a bit too big with how sparse the enemies are, and I got hopelessly lost trying to find the exit because I didn't realize that the button opened the door lol. The teleports were a bit strange, I tele fragged the Hell Knight the first time. Played with Beautiful doom, nash's gore and colored blood mod, and universal rain and snow because rain makes everything awesome. Just felt like mixing it up with a few cosmetic things. 

 

 

[LadyMistDragon]

HOOVER.WAD

By Jim Tanner

 

I wasn't exactly expecting a replica of the Hoover Dam here! A multiplayer map from the looks of things, there doesn't seem to be an exit or anything that indicates one anyway. Nicely square rooms, little wire closets and a couple of filtration systems that someone dumped lava into because.....I don't know and guess what, who cares! I want to know why there's a fort in the middle though. The Hoover Dam was not exactly built on a medieval castle after all. Of course, it's not exactly in the middle of an urban area either though, but that's F_SKY2 for you. The red and blue crusher was so sneaky though..

lmd_pandora_hoover.zip

[BigBoy91]

It's that time again!

 

1STBL2.WAD (MAP01) - soulsphere

ABIGOR.WAD (MAP01) - megasphere

DOOMMATH.WAD (E1M1) - invulnerability

XCALIBR!.WAD (E2M1) - blursphere

 

[LadyMistDragon]

Just a little reminder for anyone to vote who may have forgotten or are busy.:)

[LadyMistDragon]

XCALIBR! has won! We can try to get this done by Friday/Saturday, right?

[HorseJockey]

I try and go into these without reading the readme or voting for wads that I am familiar with. Looking this up after my playthrough, it seems that it is fairly well known, and honestly for 1995 I can see why. Level design while simple was enjoyable to explore, I loved all the doom cute through out. The enemy placement and amount were good, although (Not sure if it was an issue with my engine of choice or not) the monsters reaction time seemed off. A monster closet would open and they would just stand there. All in all I had a really fun time with this one, no spoilers for those who have yet to play it but thank goodness for invul spheres as there is a nasty trap towards the end that took me by surprise.

 

 

[United VirusX]

I love this map it had a lot of "Doom cute" set pieces it had an abundance of enemies to kill and combat was generally fun I think the only thing that irked me about the map was the monsters not being able to see you I tried the map in CrispyDOOM, GZDOOM, DSDA-DOOM & PRBOOM+, and nothing fixed the blind monster issues maybe ChocolateDOOM will have better luck? also, those "non-secret" secret areas with the random bunches of enemies can go to hell lol I redid the playthrough a few times cuz of those also that crusher at the end caught me by surprise the first time around.

 

 

 

[RoastDoom]

 

I had a lot of fun with this wad! I'd already played EXCALIB2.WAD for Doom 2 months ago(from this very thread I think!), and although that version has more monster variety, this one is still enjoyable in the combat department(albeit easier). It's also a really nice looking fortress map complete with courtyard, ramparts, jail cells and....private spa!?

 

[LadyMistDragon]

XCALIBR!.WAD

by Stefan Maes

 

Hey, I played you before! Soon as I reached the marble shrine with the Imps just outside the jails, I knew what this was. Several other landmarks, such as the multiple closets in the outer hallway and a certain marble stairway with Hell Knights and an Arch-vile leading to the blue key also annoyed me to no end. Also, the Cyberdemon at the end was so hilariously placed. I'd saved the Invulnerbility on purpose because I knew he was inside the gate, but I'd completely forgotten about the crusher, believe it or not. And yes, the washroom bit with the fireplace was just fabulous, dotcha know? I think that's enough Excalibas for now, don't you?

 

 

lmd_xcalibr.zip

[LateToDOOM2020]

I just finished XCALIBR!.WAD
It was really a fun map. I do not understand this "doom cute" I see people are talking about though.
It is well designed and the layout looks great on the map.
 

16 hours ago, United VirusX said:

the only thing that irked me about the map was the monsters not being able to see you

 

I also noticed this but I got carried away with the black health pack that makes me punch them in to pieces and it worked out.
Its too fun to run up to them and punch them in to many pieces!

 

[HorseJockey]

4 hours ago, LateToDOOM2020 said:

I do not understand this "doom cute" I see people are talking about though.

Furniture (Sofas, easy chairs, tables), TV sets, radios, and the like built with level geometry. Because of the limitations of the engine (Less so if you are using UDMF or limit removing) when you make those things they end up looking chunky and "cute".

[LateToDOOM2020]

12 minutes ago, HorseJockey said:

Furniture (Sofas, easy chairs, tables), TV sets, radios, and the like built with level geometry. Because of the limitations of the engine (Less so if you are using UDMF or limit removing) when you make those things they end up looking chunky and "cute".

Okay that makes sense thanks. Well I like the DOOM Cute features on this map, I did notice that while playing. Its one of the things I like in  maps.😁

[HorseJockey]

8 hours ago, LateToDOOM2020 said:

I just finished XCALIBR!.WAD

Just as a side note. I'm not sure it's required but you should fire up your engine of choice and record a demo of your playthrough for the next wad. Again I don't think anyone is going to grief you for not doing so, but I personally find it really enjoyable to both read about everyone's experiences and watch all of our different play styles and how we go about solving puzzles, attacking groups of enemies or just what people stop and look at while they play through. It adds allot to the post and it might be fun for you to learn how.

[HorseJockey]

Hey all, I get to pick this week yay! Let me know if any of these have already been done of course. First two are Doom, second two are Doom II

 

PURPLE25.WAD - Soulsphere

ILLUSORY.WAD - Megasphere

BESPIN.WAD - Invulnerability

MRME.WAD - Blursphere

 

[United VirusX]

going with purple since its my fav color

[LadyMistDragon]

Ok, PURPLE25.WAD has won! Have fun everyone! Get some writeups and demos done by Sunday morning everyone.

[HorseJockey]

Ok, first of all epilepsy warning! If I never have to play a wad with rapidly changing sector light levels I will be happy. I'm going to try and not be too negative, but this entire level was a chore to play through. When playing, even if I don't like the level I try and come up with one thing positive to say about it. My default is "At least there isn't a soft lock" which is what I was going to say about this, just before I got soft locked outside of the yellow key door... So, knowing how much of a pain it was to draw shapes in older Doom editors, those stars certainly came out well. Other than that, there is little to no challenge. Even on UV it ends up just being a shooting gallery. The level layout is confusing at best, lazy at worst. Sectors that are, I'm assuming supposed to be caves, look like the author just dragged out lines and placed them wherever. Main rooms are void of any kind of detail (Besides aforementioned stars in a few). Combat encounters are a simple matter of taking out hit scanners first and dodging fireballs. Which becomes pointless as most of the rooms where you encounter Cacos, Barons or Imps are wide open and offer plenty of room to maneuver. Sorry to dump all over this level, but I can't recommend this to anyone and did not enjoy my time with it at all. Oh, also there was nothing purple, flagrant false advertising (Edit: Dead specters are kind of purple I suppose) :).

 

 

Edited November 15, 2022 by HorseJockey

[United VirusX]

I try to be positive when I play these older maps since it wasn't the easiest thing to make maps on those old map editors but I can say I absolutely hated this map not only did it cause me eyestrain it gave me a headache when I originally played it in GZDOOM the flashing certain sectors have are a lot more bearable in DSDA and Crispy DOOM for me anyway, The map isn't fun just had no idea where to go like no direction at all I ended up finding the exit by complete accident the first time around and completely skipped the red key door area entirely combat would be fine if the player wasn't given a metric ton of ammo for all the higher tier weapons so I had to force myself to use lower tier guns to make it a little bit more challenging.

 

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by United VirusX

[RoastDoom]

 

So I've not too much to add here that hasn't already been said by United VirusX and HorseJockey. This one's a real stinker! Admittedly I did appreciate a couple of the areas(that didn't rub sandpaper in my eyes) on a design level, and overall I didn't HATE the combat, but it commits way too many mapping sins(huge areas with just a handful of monsters, overabundance of powerups, wonky progression, doors that don't work properly) for these fleeting bright spots to matter. 

[LadyMistDragon]

Deep Purple (PURPLE25.WAD)

by Karl J. Solie

 

First thought on playing is so many corpses everywhere! You can also spot a texture misalignment or two but at the very least, Karl has a somewhat solid grasp on visual appeal, despite some rather abrupt texture changes in certain areas. But also, I like red, so long as mapper doesn't go overboard on that tech light texture.. Unfortunately, his grasp isn't so solid on properly marking doors, or, you know, avoiding self-indulgent mazes that do absolutely squat for the level design. Shadows could be worst, although their placement does seem a touch half-hearted. And of course, you're overloaded on supplies because what good shovelware map doesn't give you far more than you could ever possibly need! The yellow key placement ends up proving the absolute nadir of the map though. Why do you seriously have to drop entirely into the fucking pit here to raise it when other pits seemed to raise when you get close to them?! The ending area decides to depart completely from the hell and hell-adjacent themes depicted thus far and is a vast, empty tech complex that I just ran yhtough because I was a little bit disgusted at this point. Despite a largely positive first impression, shovelware charm quickly starts to poke through early, aggressively and often, managing to bring the bad with the good for the most part. Kinda fun, but navigation is about as bad as everyone else has said!

lmd_pandora_purple.zip

[staros96]

Can someone tell me how to load the WAD through D!Zone Gold? I have mounted + extracted D!Zone Gold from an iso program, and can navigate to the START.BAT through DOSBOX... but the front-end then asks me to navigate to the WAD (I've put PURPLE25.WAD in the DOOM 2 > LEVELS directory), and then asks where I want it extracted.. All I want to do is load the WAD through D!Zone GOLD as this seems the only way... surely there is an easier way than having to manually mount my D: drive through DOSBOX etc. I've tried looking for tuts, can anyone point me in right direction? 

[LadyMistDragon]

Oh wait....yes, you're supposed to just load the map independently from the D!Zone Gold collection in which it came in! The text file should tell you the map number too..