The /newstuff Chronicles #126

[Job]

OMG!!1! 30th post!
Yeah, I think the wad submit is hitting the peaks like they did back in the mid 90's.

[Grazza]

These seem like fair and useful reviews, on the basis of the comments about the maps I've already played.

I like most of Symo's wads myself, though I can understand the frustration with some aspects of them, and other people who may find them frustrating have now been suitably warned (feel free to use IDDT, I guess...). There are quite a lot of switches you need to shoot, and some of these switches aren't even very easy to find. SYMOISM is really tough (from a getting killed viewpoint) - I haven't managed to exit on UV yet. [EDIT: Done it now. Fun, but very tough - I don't think I've ever had to use the non-berserk fist quite so much. I reckon it was meant to be played on HMP.] It has some very nice features though, and gameplay is not very puzzle-based once you have dealt with the first two. The "shrinking" aspect is kind of cool. SYMOPLAN is difficult, but there is just enough ammo (if you find the berserk) - I've got far enough in UV -fast to be convinced it is possible. SYMOWOLF is probably the most fun to play (plenty of slaughter), once you've found your way out of the first room, and found the shootable switch (indicated by a missing texture) in the big room with the plasma gun.

I uploaded ABOOSYSV myself - it is one I had spent many fruitless hours searching the web for. Sorry if I didn't make it clearer in the text that there is no need for the DEUSF stuff if you're using a port. I mentioned it in the separate .txt, but left the zip wholly unmodified, wishing to keep the integrity of the original release. I just love ABOOSYSV - when I eventually found it (on an old back-up) I was not at all disappointed. BTW, if anyone has ABOOCEAN by the same author, I would be very interested to hear (c. 4 maps, former humans wear shorts, exploding barrels replaced by blocks of ice that shatter). Or ABOOSORD.TXT - I have the wad, but not the text.

[Fletcher`]

System Vice pwnz! (vaguely reminds me of Cleimos 2)

[netnomad312]

Job said:

This /newstuff probably wouldn't have taken so long if deathz0r hadn't submitted all those wads he made while inebriated.

Yeah, that... kinda screws things up.

Job said:

Oh well, I must have been re.... I mean, he must have been really bored, such a boring day... heh

If he was bored perhaps he should have made a map (or two in this case) that took more than two minutes to make?

Anyway. System Vices sounds good. I like wads which create an atmosphere. So I'm gonna go play that now...

Oh, crap. I forgot I'm not at the right computer for Doom 2. And I also have seemed to misplace my Doom 2 CD... *sulks off*

[Carnevil]

Linguica said:

I know I'm not in charge anymore and all, but what's the point of killing yourself just to write reviews and take screenshots of really shit WADs? Would anyone really care if you didn't do more than "the following WADs are not worth your time" and then just gave them a simple link? The authors maybe, but they should have gotten criticism BEFORE they released a crappy level.

I agree with sausage boy, who ironically now has a king on his avatar when he's no longer "King Ling".

[Job]

Job said?:
Oh well, I must have been re.... I mean, he must have been really bored, such a boring day... heh

I said that?

[Tormentor667]

Carnevil said:

I agree with sausage boy, who ironically now has a king on his avatar when he's no longer "King Ling".

I don't agree because I don't like some special sibjectivity of some reviewers. Sometimes they are only writing their own thoughts and feelings about a wad and sometimes they don't honor the effort which was taken into a wad.

If this is set (not reviewing bad newstuff) the reviewers should be changed or they should change something on their way of reviewing wads. Then, reviews should be an objectiv feedback of wads!

[Carnevil]

Tormentor667 said:

I don't agree because I don't like some special sibjectivity of some reviewers. Sometimes they are only writing their own thoughts and feelings about a wad and sometimes they don't honor the effort which was taken into a wad.

If this is set (not reviewing bad newstuff) the reviewers should be changed or they should change something on their way of reviewing wads. Then, reviews should be an objectiv feedback of wads!

Well, I think when a wad is pretty blatantly horrid (not that I'm saying any of the wads this week are (then again, I haven't really looked)) is the only time. Not when they just plain dislike a wad.

[Hyena]

Well, thoughts and feelings are what makes them reviews. If I just said "this is 2 maps they are difficult and short" that's only a description.

I think if I say "I had a hard time finding the exit switch because all of the textures are green" I think that helps readers determine for themselves whether it's the sort of wad they would like.

On the other hand, yes, saying "This wad sucks" is just being insulting.
Okay, I did that with some of Deathz0r's maps, but I doubt that's going to affect things one way or another. He did only submit them to get bad reviews :)
Same applies to heh1 and heh2.

[Grazza]

netnomad312 said:

Anyway. System Vices sounds good. I like wads which create an atmosphere. So I'm gonna go play that now... Oh, crap. I forgot I'm not at the right computer for Doom 2. And I also have seemed to misplace my Doom 2 CD... *sulks off*

You could try playing it with the Freedoom iwad - so many graphics and sounds are changed in System Vices that it doesn't screw things up very much. I've just watched my System Vices demopack using the Freedoom iwad, and the only annoying things were the beeps for imps firing, and the missing sprites for the pain elemental, hell knight and cyberdemon, none of which occur very frequently.

[Grazza]

Oh no, not another "objective vs subjective" discussion!

I think Hyena's reviews strike a good balance by providing both description and opinion, with it fairly obvious which is which.

I agree that the reviewer shouldn't waste time on maps that are clearly going to be of no interest to anyone, and just give the bare information about them. But how to judge that? (Answers on a postcard...)

[Ubik]

heh1.wad is hilarious because you get blasted all the way to the top of the (RIDICULOUSLY TALL!) map and can never come down unless you noclip :D It's tall enough that jDoom won't even render the floor if you look down!

[Cyb]

Tormentor667 said:

I don't agree because I don't like some special sibjectivity of some reviewers. Sometimes they are only writing their own thoughts and feelings about a wad and sometimes they don't honor the effort which was taken into a wad.

If this is set (not reviewing bad newstuff) the reviewers should be changed or they should change something on their way of reviewing wads. Then, reviews should be an objectiv feedback of wads!

because god forbid someone have a personal opinion to dislike something you, master of all that is doom level design, has made.

[Tai]

Omg, what a wussy! Hyena thinks some levels in /newstuff #126 are bad because he has no idea how to fix the puzzles? That is so funny!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!Hahahahahahaha, what a joke?!?!

Come on, Hyena...as an SP fan(me), I can't beleive you'd say bull about puzzles!! Puzzles rox0rs in Single Player! Without them, Single Player..would be boring :( . You should respect puzzles. You are a disgrace to all SP wads in the world!!!!!11!!1111!!11

Ok, now to review the wads. :)

[Job]

Tai said:

Omg, what a wussy! Hyena thinks some levels in /newstuff #126 are bad because he has no idea how to fix the puzzles? That is so funny!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!Hahahahahahaha, what a joke?!?!

Come on, Hyena...as an SP fan(me), I can't beleive you'd say bull about puzzles!! Puzzles rox0rs in Single Player! Without them, Single Player..would be boring :( . You should respect puzzles. You are a disgrace to all SP wads in the world!!!!!11!!1111!!11

Ok, now to review the wads. :)

Er... :þ

[Grazza]

Job said:

þ

Wow, an Icelandic thorn! Coolest letter ever.

[M8.]

Hyena said:

...especially considering I was expecting some lame doom2 wad from 1997...

...accompanying text file. Interested to see what 1997 had to offer? Me neither...

...?

1997 was one of the best years, ever, for user-made levels in the history of DOOM2. Consider the following epics...

Brit11 by Danny Lancashire & Stuart McKendrick (YETi)
Eternal DOOM III by Team Eternal & Team TNT
GothicDM by the Gothic Crew
Mordeth by Gaston Lahaut
Requiem by the Requiem Crew
STRAIN by the Alpha Dog Alliance
XenosX9 by Xenos

...not to mention the plethora of phenomenal single-map releases, amongst which are the King series of deathmatch maps by 'Jason', Malcolm Sailor's various Chord releases, Richard Jaspars' Styx and Paranoid maps, or Andy Badorek's sprawling Zap28, to name but a few.

Oldstuff,
M.

[Fletcher`]

Tai said:

Omg, what a wussy! Hyena thinks some levels in /newstuff #126 are bad because he has no idea how to fix the puzzles? That is so funny!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!Hahahahahahaha, what a joke?!?!

Come on, Hyena...as an SP fan(me), I can't beleive you'd say bull about puzzles!! Puzzles rox0rs in Single Player! Without them, Single Player..would be boring :( . You should respect puzzles. You are a disgrace to all SP wads in the world!!!!!11!!1111!!11

Ok, now to review the wads. :)

Err, he's right. These puzzles DO suck. I agree that puzzles are good for SP (as long as they don't suck, in which here they do), and that's a hell of a lot of exclamation points. :P

[Grazza]

M8. said:

1997 was one of the best years, ever, for user-made levels in the history of DOOM2.

Indeed so, and your list didn't even mention Hell Revealed. 1996 was a pretty good year too - more dross, but a lot of high-quality stuff as well.

I think Hyena was having a dig at deathz0r (see his text-file) rather than 1997 wads though.

[Hyena]

Tai said:

Omg, what a wussy! Hyena thinks some levels in /newstuff #126 are bad because he has no idea how to fix the puzzles? That is so funny!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!Hahahahahahaha, what a joke?!?!

Come on, Hyena...as an SP fan(me), I can't beleive you'd say bull about puzzles!! Puzzles rox0rs in Single Player! Without them, Single Player..would be boring :( . You should respect puzzles. You are a disgrace to all SP wads in the world!!!!!11!!1111!!11

Ok, now to review the wads. :)

First off, I rather like puzzles except when they're stupid. Examples of stupid puzzles:

1. There are 128 switches in a room. One of them opens the only door, the others do nothing. Have fun spending an hour figuring out which is which.
2. A wad has about 60 medium-sized rooms. One of them has a blue key in it. Another room has an unmarked wall that requires a blue key. All of the walls are hidden from automap so you can't tell which one it is.
3. A switch lowers a lift for about 4 seconds. The lift is three rooms away and just far enough that you can't even hear the sound. Not only do you have to figure out what the switch actually does, you have to do it in 4 seconds without any clue.

There. I did you the service of actually taking your concern seriously even though you're clearly unable to support any argument without your 6-word vocabulary of petty insults and complete lack of coherent thought.

[Hyena]

Grazza said:

I think Hyena was having a dig at deathz0r (see his text-file) rather than 1997 wads though.

Yes. Exactly. Thank you.

[Fletcher`]

Hüraj for /newstuff threads. :)

[Use]

Hyena said:

I did you the service of actually taking your concern seriously even though you're clearly unable to support any argument without your 6-word vocabulary of petty insults and complete lack of coherent thought.

You are dealing with a person whose IQ is comparable to a stick, or branch of some kind.

[netnomad312]

[Fletcher`]

zdoom.notgod.com/lars

[M8.]

Grazza said:

Indeed so, and your list didn't even mention Hell Revealed. 1996 was a pretty good year too - more dross, but a lot of high-quality stuff as well.

I think Hyena was having a dig at deathz0r (see his text-file) rather than 1997 wads though.

Good day, Grazza.

Indeed, my list was by no means definitive -- it was drafted in but a few short seconds and mostly from memory -- and a great many quality maps, including the paradigm shift that is Hell Revealed, were not listed.

Had I had more time to compose my initial post, I would have drawn attention to the fact that the Top 10 designers for DOOM, as voted for by players around the world for 5 Years of DOOM, feature many of the authors responsible for some of the best of the best maps released in 1997.

As for Hyena having a 'dig' at his Doomworld /newstuff contemporary deathz0r: the casual reader has better things to do than wade through the textfiles of maps, maps that have received a poor review no less, in an effort to decipher an inside joke disguised as an ignorant blanket statement. My initial post to this thread was to show people that good things, nay, groundbreaking and amazing things were in fact accomplished in 1997 despite claims, in jest or no, to the contrary.

Oldstuff,
M.

[Job]

Grazza said:

Wow, an Icelandic thorn! Coolest letter ever.

Heh, yeah, I was messing around one day and I made this -- I couldn't remember the key combination to get it, so I saved it to a .txt file so I could use it when necessary. Heh.

[Grazza]

netnomad312 said:

Er... I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about.

Uh, you've heard of Freedoom, right? A playable iwad has been released. It is lacking some resources, so there are some place-holders in it, and some things that aren't all that cool. However, System Vices supplies so many textures, etc., that this isn't such an issue.

I was just responding to your comment that your didn't currenty have access to your Doom2 stuff by suggesting a way you could play it using downloadable materials.

[Ubik]

Hyena said:

1. There are 128 switches in a room. One of them opens the only door, the others do nothing. Have fun spending an hour figuring out which is which.
2. A wad has about 60 medium-sized rooms. One of them has a blue key in it. Another room has an unmarked wall that requires a blue key. All of the walls are hidden from automap so you can't tell which one it is.
3. A switch lowers a lift for about 4 seconds. The lift is three rooms away and just far enough that you can't even hear the sound. Not only do you have to figure out what the switch actually does, you have to do it in 4 seconds without any clue.

4. A switch activates a hidden door all the way across the map that has no texture, lighting or map design distinction to distinguish it as something necessary to progress, and is located in a hidden area anyway (I'm pretty sure this happened in the latter half of the Lost Episodes somewhere. Those maps fucking SUCKED).

[Tormentor667]

Cyb said:

because god forbid someone have a personal opinion to dislike something you, master of all that is doom level design, has made.

I think someone is very jealous of my work. Nevermind, this has nothing to do with me and my wads, I just think if a reviewer doesn't like a special way a wad is created (puzzles or a special theme like starwars), maybe he says: "This wad isn't worth downloading because I don't like it"

To review a wad is not just something you can do in a few minutes, you need a lot of experience and you also need a lot of knowledge concerning the objectivity of a wad. On professional sites (and magazines), reviewers get paid because they are good and understand how to tell the reader everything about a wad, the good and the bad things without giving a personal opinion to it. Have you ever read in your local "PC GAMES MAGAZINE" that a reviewer says "I don't like the wad because it's all that brown. I don't like brown textures so this map sucks, don't play it"