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Cyb

The /newstuff Chronicles #151

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Okay well, we all hate deathz0r now. You see, Mr. z0r suddenly decided (on Sunday) that he didn't have time to do t/nc this (last?) week. And since it makes the most sense he didn't tell anybody on staff, but instead he told SargeBaldy. Right, I guess that makes sense. Anyways, thanks to SargeBaldy for doing the reviews this week on amazingly short notice, I'd give him deathz0r's paycheck, but uh, it's for zero dollars so I won't bother. Instead everyone can just shower him with praise or something like that.

    Hey look, it's me. You know Doomworld is hitting a rough patch when I'm doing t/nc. What happened see, is that Deathz0r decided on Sunday he wasn't going to do /newstuff. Five minutes before he left he rounded up me to do it. What does this mean for you? Some hardass reviews of the six newest wads off the Doom grindstone. Well, there's no need to describe everything that's here right at the top, read on.

    Wart 02: Heart Of Fire - Brad "Carnevil" Carney
    4.08m - Skulltag v0.95b+ - SP - (img)(img)(img)(img)
    Yay, a Skulltag map! From the man himself, a sequel to Wart 01. I think this map can best be described as "Fucking tough". Admittedly, I'm not a great doom player, but I spent most of this map reloading my quicksaves. Tons of monsters with nary time to take a gasp for air, and not exactly generous with health and ammo. Although there wasn't really any points where I had time to look, a close inspection of the screenshots shows the map has some quite nice detailing, with particularly sexy lighting. The map is done in Hellish style, somewhat like Inferno but for the most part original. He did a fine job mixing the old monsters with the new, making them feel like part of Doom rather than segregating them and making it feel like a TC at points. The only real complaints I have besides the fact it kicked my ass are some y-misaligned stone blocks under a pool of lava (don't ask) and a rocket jump trick at the end that assumes you still have rockets left (I was lucky not to be on fist at that point) so make sure to save some. Oh yeah, and that you can grab the blue key through the window, although it does take a little effort. Despite these minor issues, I recommend you get yourself the newest Skulltag and check this thing out pronto.

    Mars War v2.0 - Nathan Lineback
    2.05m - doom2.exe - SP - (img)(img)(img)(img)
    Out of nowhere comes a new megawad. Well, OK, it's an old megawad but it's new to the archives. Right off I should admit I didn't play through the whole thing. I have a shitload of homework to do tonight and I don't have time to be playing megawads. But judging from the first 8 maps, this is a pretty fine little set. The detail is pretty average and there's a few misalignments but the level progression is truly interesting. As for gameplay, it's hard to say. It's mostly a bunch of rooms with easy guys in it but on occasion he likes tossing a ridiculous amount of foes at you. So perhaps things pick up a bunch where I left off. Anyway this certainly has its interesting points and you should probably check it out if you don't mind a slow start and a few misalignments. But if you're looking for something that screams 2003 you should probably pass on it.

    Props to Xaser for uploading this.

    The Imp Nest - Templar
    36k - EDGE 1.27/Doom1 - SP - (img)
    Stupid EDGE jokemap. Whether or not that's what the author actually intended this to be, that's what it is. Swarms of imps and buddy marines duke it out. And then there's some humongous imps somewhere that are bigger and deadlier or something. The regular Doom weapons are modified too but I wasn't really paying attention. Anyway don't bother with this.

    JarJar's Last Pinenapple Fritter - B.P.R.D
    444k - Advanced Port (not Boom) - SP - (img)(img)
    Yes it's a jokemap, but thankfully this one is original. New music, sounds, and items and some funny ideas, are compressed into a fairly crowded map which is the author's trademark. In short, if you liked nuts2, you'll like fritter.wad. If you didn't, then you probably ought to pass on this one.

    Quick and Deadly - DooMBoy
    40k - doom2.exe - SP - (img)(img)(img)
    To end things on a more serious note, here's a DooMBoy map. But it's pretty good, I swear. A very small map, but quite nicely detailed and with very standard tried-and-true Doom II gameplay. The architecture is simple but nice and it plays very well. The theme is about like Ola Bjorling's Tantrum, although this is all indoors. Doesn't take much time to play and it's certainly worth what it does take. Check it out.

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WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE IMAGES ARE ALL FINE. THAT'S RIGHT ALL FINE.

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OMG, I actually got screen of the week! /me orgasms violently
Heh, and I thought my level would get a bad review. This is very cool, very cool indeed. :)

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DooMBoy said:

OMG, I actually got screen of the week! /me orgasms violently
Heh, and I thought my level would get a bad review.

I can understand why. There's like 20 arch-viles in it, all of which are fucking bullshit hard.

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Carnevil said:

I can understand why. There's like 20 arch-viles in it, all of which are fucking bullshit hard.

I told him to tone the archvile population down. But he said I was full of shit. Oy.

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Job: You were full of shit. :p It needed more archies.

OK, maybe it does seem too hard if you release the monsters so that you have a pack of archies in front and a bunch of barons behind you. But you don't need to allow that to happen. :)

Marswar has been the subject of a fair bit of attention in the new Demos forum. It's a weird mix. The early levels are mostly average to mediocre (or worse), with map05 a shining exception. Later on the quality picks up quite a lot, but remains fairly uneven, as does the difficulty level. Some of the maps are a real blast. Others (just a few, thankfully) are used as a vehicle for the author to express his hatred of Microsoft, and the wad would have benefited if he had chosen a different way to express these feelings. Overall: well worth playing, even if you feel the need to skip several of the maps.

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Grazza: I never play tested the map. DooMBoy just described it to me. And from what it seemed, the skill levels were a bit skewed. I simply suggested he should knock one archie off of each difficulty level and adjust the map accordingly.

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sargebaldy said:

heh, there was three, and don't go off pretending wart02 wasn't bullshit hard :P

heh, alright. Any levels I do in the future will be easier.

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The hardest part of the map isn't the Arch-Viles. It's the lack of ammo. I'm glad there's a secret Berserk so I can punch out most of the enemies and save my ammo for the tough spots.

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Ichor said:

The hardest part of the map isn't the Arch-Viles. It's the lack of ammo.


I agree. I quite liked the level. Didn't find it all that hard. I thought ammo was ok until the end. But that was more down to the archviles, especially if they manage to revive a few hell knights or barons. I think a few more ammo bonuses toward the end wouldn't hurt so you have a better chance of being able to finish off anything that's been revived.

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It's especially bad if you have a bunch of big enemies, with an Arch-Vile in the back, in that hallway before the key. Even if you did conserve a lot of ammo, there still woulsn't be enough to kill them all because they would just get revived again. Another good way to get some extra ammo is to get the zombies close enough to the end of the hallway where an Arch-Vile could continually revive them from the other side of that monster block line.

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Heh, glad to see that you guys liked this map of mine. Now it is time to finish up one my unfinished maps and release it...

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Doomboy's map is okay. However I found it annoying for speedmapping with some of the map's space a bit too tight.

And btw, uhm, if deathz0r don't have time for newstuff reviews, fire him (and I mean it). Also the reviews always get up late, sorry but...

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Personally I think he should upload it a day early (he is an Aussie) so then Cyb can post it on Saturday night (which is some time after the Aussies go to bed) with a delay so it appears on Sunday.

(I'm not sure when he uploads it, but I think he does so on Sunday, so everyone then has to wait for Cyb to post it. Whereas myself and Grazza, being Brits, always upload on Saturday night so he gets it then, and posts it with a delay)

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Torn said:

Doomboy's map is okay. However I found it annoying for speedmapping with some of the map's space a bit too tight.

Heh, Torn I think you meant speedrunning :P

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DooMBoy said:

Heh, Torn I think you meant speedrunning :P

rofl, I hadn't seen it. Wheee for speedmapping demos!

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holy crap, comments on /newstuff where people actually discuss the maps! I must be at the wrong website

heh, maybe sargebaldy should do last second reviews more often :P

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