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The Ultimate DooMer

The /newstuff Chronicles #121

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Just when you thought it was unsafe to come out, I'm back - bringing with me a new format (based around the new idgames database) and a collection of 11 wads with 25 maps, including big, small, silly, deathmatch, evasion, Boom-based ZDoom (as opposed to Hexen-based), a movie and some of those little programs that will be used by exactly 0 people. I've also turned 23 today, so no need to post a 'happy birthday' thread (not that I was going to anyway). Anyway, here we go:

  • Hunted by Martin Mikaelsson
    74kb - doom2.exe - SP - (img)
    A single map with a slightly unusual theme - during the map you're being hunted by a cyberdemon. This is reflected in the architecture, which was set up for monster evasion rather than monster battling. It serves it's purpose, but is quite basic and the texturing theme is different in each room. Gameplay-wise, the cyber appears at various points and some of the evasion scenarios are fairly well done, but the trouble is that you can't actually kill him, or the horde of hell knights/barons at the end, as the map has only shotgun and chaingun. So, if you fancy a slightly different style of gameplay then play this, but if you don't then it will disappoint.

  • Imp Encounter: Second Edition by Anonymous
    55kb - ZDoom - SP (sitting passively) - (img)
    This is that movie wad from last week, but apparently this second version is a little less censored than the other one. I wouldn't know (as I never saw the original) but it was fun to watch.

  • Show Wad Level Plus by Paul Robinson
    17kb - n/a - n/a -
    This is a program that lets you find out what maps a Doom/2/Heretic/Hexen wad is replacing...not that it's any quicker to read the wad's text file to find out.

  • Show Wad Level Plus W by Paul Robinson
    9kb - n/a - n/a -
    Ditto, except this version was programmed for Windows.

  • uh, I dunno, shall I give it one? by butter_pat_head
    98kb - doom2.exe - SP - (img) (img)
    Me smells mockery. Me definitely smells mockery. 6 silly maps for Doom 2, containing all the usual features - crap architecture, random texturing, tons of ammo, big rooms full of cybers etc. Most of the maps are beatable however, the last map is quite neat in terms of it's concept and the inclusion of a couple of Lemmings tunes is a small plus.

  • Bunker by Pascal 'gherkin' vd Heiden
    259kb - doom2.exe - DM - (img)
    A small deathmatch map, set in a small arena with a Dead Simple style layout. The detail is quite nice, particularly the shadows/lighting effects - although the pace should be very fast, so you probably wouldn't get chance to look at it properly (or indeed to catch you breath).

  • Desikration 2000 by Stealthy Ivan
    74kb - doom2.exe - DM - (img) (img)
    A 3-map deathmatch wad that actually looks quite good. Weapons, health, ammo and armour are scattered throughout and no non-health powerups are to be found. The layouts are somewhat linear a lot of the time, with plenty of dead ends and some teleporters thrown in to confuse the players. The maps are small however, and this means the pace should still be fast, furious and fun.

  • IC Doom 2003: Yet more Dooming by Ian Cunnings
    165kb - doom2.exe - SP - (img)
    A huge map, somewhat reminiscent of the Alex Parsons wads. Taking place in a gothic fortress surrounded by rocky areas, this map is crammed with monsters and will always keep you on your toes. The fortress itself is dark and fairly well detailed with a certain Doom 1 look about it, although it is symmetrical in places. Together with the repetitive monster types in the fortress (imps, demons and hell knights mostly) this can lead to repetitive gameplay in there. Fortunately the rocky areas are not like that, and the final arena is certainly worth playing for. Ammo and health are plentiful throughout but you could be left a little short at the end if you don't find all the hidden stashes in the final area. Also, the map suffers from a bad reject as the monsters don't wake up until you enter their sector. The quality is there though, and if you like castle/fortress maps and/or blowing away tons of monsters then you'll enjoy this.

  • WadSpy v1.0c by Oliver Brakmann
    54kb - n/a - n/a - A stats program that can generate stats about the number of monsters, health, ammo and even things like average light level, number of damage sectors. A lot of this stuff will be for curiosity only, but the bit that deals with difficulty (monsters, health/ammo balance etc.) may be of some use to mappers.

  • MGMYWTCX Demo by Dan Woodward and Owen Lloyd
    28kb - doom2.exe - DM - (img) (img)
    Another deathmatch wad, this time a 2-mapper made by, err...2 mappers. Each map is fairly small, low in detail and has various things scattered through them. Weapons and ammo are spread apart from each other, and there is no health or powerups except for a megasphere in the first map. The lack of doors and lifts in both maps means that the pace should be fairly fast, with a hunt-your-opponent style in the first map (a gothic series of passages, stairs and rooms) and an open firefight in the second (a brown outdoor map).

  • Bella by Paul Corfiatis
    1400kb - ZDoom - SP - (img) (img) (img) (img)
    We finish this week with an impressive 12-map wad for Doom 2. The unusual thing about this ZDoom wad is that no scripting is involved. This isn't a bad thing though, as the Boom-based ZDoom features are used pretty well, along with some mapinfo trickery. Onto the maps themselves, and there's something for everyone here - there's gothic, hellish, industrial, city, Doom 1 and Doom 2-style base maps, the last 3 maps are set on a space station and there's a couple of quirky secret maps thrown in as well. Architecture is decent throughout, enhanced by Boom/ZDoom features (notably scrolling and translucence) in some places and each map has an appropriate sky, which is a nice touch. However, the detail is a little basic in some maps. Gameplay-wise, there's some new monsters - two extra types of caco, an invisible hell knight and cyber. There are lots of monsters throughout, including stealth monsters and I believe this wad has more arch-viles than revenants (which is the first time ever I reckon). Cyberdemons are plentiful, and are often deployed in ordinary areas - so get your Hell Revealed book of tactics out (although there's sometimes a nearby secret to help you). In fact a lot of this wad is pretty hard, and lesser-skilled Doomers will have to play on a lower skill level. Health is plentiful, but the ammo balance is uneven - in some maps you'll run out if you don't find the secret stashes, in others you'll be full to the brim. To sum up, this is a very good wad with some interesting designs and features, and plenty of big monsters to get stuck into. It does have it's flaws, and will annoy those who don't like arch-viles, stealth monsters or cyberdemons but that doesn't stop it from being the wad of the week.

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Funny, I'd been toying with the idea of putting Lemmings tunes into a wad. BTW, 6lev.wad actually contains four Lemmings tunes - in addition to maps 04 and 06, there is Lemmings music for maps 12 and 13 (though no new map in either case!).

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Love that new Archive database.

Bella is freakin' hard! Kinda fun though.

Happy Birthday Ultimate Doomer :D

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Opulent said:

I'd personally prefer download links instead of that archive business.


The trouble at the moment is that the mirrors are waaaaay behind with their updates, whereas the database can be updated simply by getting the files off the main server.

Grazza said:

Funny, I'd been toying with the idea of putting Lemmings tunes into a wad.


Does that mean you've started making maps?

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Ultimate DooMer said:

We finish this week with an impressive 12-map wad for Doom 2. The unusual thing about this ZDoom wad is that no scripting is involved.

What's so unusual? I do that all the time.

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ravage said:

What's so unusual? I do that all the time.



..the unusual thing about this ZDOOM wad is that no scripting is involved.

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Little Faith said:

..the unusual thing about this ZDOOM wad is that no scripting is involved.

Like I said before, I do the same thing. :P

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Little Faith said:

Sure, mapinfo roolz.

And railgunz and sndinfo and stuff. :)

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Heh, this "no /newstuff flamewar" rule sure has improved the quality of discussion in these threads. =p

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ravage said:

Looking for Q3A mods for Doom2. (other than cw-q3dm1.wad)

See Newstuff Chronicles back in Sept 2002.

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Well, I played Bella. I'm on the Underground Conduit level. I only have one thing to say after playing a ZDoom-enhanced wad for the first time:

I hate stealth monsters!! Argh!

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Yeah, stealth monsters are a real pain. It's not even funny. Especially the hitscan weapon monsters. And when you try to walk into a room and you can't because it's blocked by a stealth monster (that does not see you because it's got it's back to you) you know the level author fails it. I was rather disappointed by Bella. Some of that stuff looks like it came right from 1994 (and probably did). Some of the maps have absolutely no theme. It probably uses every single texture available in Doom2. Some maps are really nice though.

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The only stealth monsters I like are stealth Demons. Then again, we do have the Spectres...

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Meh, I played the first two maps of Bella, I wasn't too impressed by it. There was like zero theme to the maps, it just went from random room to random room. It also seems like it would be obscenly hard (I played with god mode heh), even more than something like AV, but I dunno.

On the subject of stealth monsters, they're pretty cool, but, as with most things, only when used properly and in moderation. Stealth demons for example, when used right, are pure evil. Also hearing something wake up, but not being able to see it, is pretty cool, but like I said, it needs to be done right. Personally I usually stay away from using too many stealth monsters aside from the occasional caco or hk/baron or somesuch (usually isolated) and I use stealth demons instead of spectres since they just seem more effective as spectres to me, heh.

Anyways, I'm off to play it some more heh.

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Well here's another thing about Bella: somebody needs to think about their use of Cyberdemons. IMO, they should be used sparingly and strategically... certainly not in every freakin' level. And I dunno about that one in the first secret level. I got to that level, and the Cyberdemon fell off his perch and landed in that lava pit. I turned on the radiation suit and IDCLIP, and jumped down in after him. But when I tried to escape the pit, ZDoom crashed. I had to reload and then leave the level with 90% kills...

And yes, I do hate Arch-Viles unless they, too, are used sparingly. I think I used... two... in my Tower of WAR demo. And in the other 7 levels nobody but me has seen... uh... *racks brain* only one more! Hmm... maybe put another one or two in there. On a side note, I also hate Pain Elementals equally. The only monsters I really like are Cacodemons (I just love their stupid grins) and Arachnotrons (mostly 'cause I love the Plasma Gun).

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Of course, there's no reason to avoid using the big monsters, as long as the resulting gameplay is good and the player has a fair(ish) chance.

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Actually I have no problem with Bella's use of cyberdemons. It's the stealth monsters that really bug me, theyre all over the damn place! Plus, you've got to depend on infighting too much. That makes the gameplay dull since you spend too long just sitting around waiting for them to kill each other.

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Ultimate DooMer said:

Plus the fact it's my newstuff this week....

OMG YUO SUKC LOLZ!!!

It's all good because you are not Deathz0r or Hyena. :P

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Hmmm, the last battle in Bella was mighty dissapointing. The area in which you fight the new Cyberdemon actually gives you the advantage. Too bad. I was expecting much more after battling my way through the previous maps.

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Ultimate DooMer said:

Plus the fact it's my newstuff this week....


UD, you should do it every week :-)

I enjoyed IC Doom 2003 the most this week, I played the whole thing through in one sitting, it was great!

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Grazza said:

Heh, this "no /newstuff flamewar" rule sure has improved the quality of discussion in these threads. =p

There is a rule of such crappiness?

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this is the worst /newstuff i have ever read. ever. ultimate doomer, you should be dragged out into the back and shot. i found your reviews to be noncritical, hypothetical, and antipoprical.

FLAME WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

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