The /newstuff Chronicles #206

[The Ultimate DooMer]

So, the Guy has been burnt again, but unfortunately there's no fireworks to be found in this week's newstuff (it fizzled out mid-week, hopefully to re-ignite next week). There is however an important thing here for fans of that distant relative of Doom, Strife. The rest is a trio of single and deathmatch maps, plus a few other bits and bobs.

• Capt. Red's Bag 'O Blau!! by Paul Whittaker (Captain Red)
  361kb - ZDoom - n/a -
  An update to an Immoral Conduct-inspired weapons mod. There's many behavioural differences including a slow-firing pistol, double firing shotgun, a flame thrower and a bfg so powerful it kills you. And a cheesy chainsaw replacement too. Should be fun, and will alter gameplay drastically in places.
  
  
• Extreme Measures by WildWeasel
  1100kb - ZDoom - n/a -
  Another weapons mod. The hitscan weapons look like they're based on real guns, there's a different-behaving plasma gun and a notorious bfg returns to show what it can do when it's not overloading. There's also one set of new monster sprites. Should provide some tactical differences in-game.
  
  
• Red Section by former human
  70kb - doom2.exe - DM - (img)
  A medium-sized green tech deathmatch map. The layout is symmetrical and fairly spacious, with two outdoor areas too and detail that isn't too bad for a map with generally large scale rooms. It's a bit of a hunting game with just 1 opponent, and the presence of easy-to-reach berserk, blue armour and megasphere makes it a low-frag encounter on low-turnout games. The fights can be interesting as all weapons are readily available, however the bfg could impact on high-turnout games (which the map is built for, really). It can still be fun though, and a bit different from the small maps.
  
  
• Zero Virus by Rei Yukamuri (Zero)
  4kb - Dehacked port - SP -
  A dehacked patch that makes things harder when fighting even a few monsters. They're twice as fast and 5x as tough, but you do have more powerful weapons and lots of ammo. Still, if you don't like easy maps and fast monsters, this could be for you.
  
  
• Mooninite by Rei Yukamuri (Zero)
  11kb - source port - SP -
  A skin that makes you look like the Mooninites from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
  
  
• The Dam by Jonathan Enright (SirTimberWolf)
  688kb - ZDoom - DM - (img)
  An impressive-looking deathmatch map. The atmosphere is nice, enhanced by a night sky and a slight grey mist in the air. The architecture is also nice, with nothing really left bare. Despite the complexity of the detail, the layout is actually quite simple - nothing more than a figure-8 if you use jumping. Non-plasma weapons only make it a fast and furious affair, and a pretty decent 1-on-1 too. Wad of the week, and recommended to all fraggers.
  
  
• SvStrife - Beta 3 by Samuel Villereal (Kaiser) and Janis Legzdinsh
  1270kb - itself - n/a -
  Hot on the heels of the new Strife-supporting ZDoom comes a Strife-supporting prBoom. It seems to run fine, although the Doom graphics are present in some menus. It has all the compatibility options of course, which should make it ideal for those who want to keep the feel of the original Strife. And it's still great to see a Strife port, even with ZDoom now supporting Doom's most distant relative. And don't underestimate the achievement here, as remember that the Strife source is not available which means it was built up from scratch (ouch!). So a big hats off to the authors for making this, and grab it if you have Strife.
  
  
• Phobos: Small by Impboy 4
  31kb - doom.exe - SP - (img)
  The title says it all, small and Phobos. Two very similar maps, with detailed ceiling lights and not much else however they do have those windows overlooking brown outdoor areas, that makes things look more genuine. Gameplay is also minimal, and nearly identical in both maps. Over in a trice.
  
  
• PunchOut!! by Joseph Colling (Dr. Lithius)
  46kb - dehacked port - n/a -
  The second dehacked wad this week, this one takes all the weapons out and leaves you with fists only. Probably more of a novelty than anything else (Doom Celebrity Deathmatch, ding ding!), but should be fun while it lasts.
  
  
• Somewhat Simple Extra Crispy Version by Sgt. Crispy
  77kb - ZDoom - DM - (img)
  A deathmatch map with an obvious influence and it's no surprise that it plays similar, although the differences there are in the layout do play a part. There's three layers instead of two, the weapons are accessed from above and there's no bfg to be seen. ZDoom features aplenty, and it looks really good. Like the other deathmatch maps this week, it's recommended if you're the fragging type.
  
  
• You'll Need a Friend by KillingBlair
  128kb - ZDoom - SP - (img)
  Your friend being sanity in this case, as it's a pretty strange map. Two groups of monsters followed by a bizarre cave with cool fireball effects and springs. Finally a fast-scrolling water area with a rather useless bunch of rockets in it. Detail is ok apart from the last section, and many ZDoom features are used. However the areas seem a bit mismatched with each other. Gameplay, surprisingly, can be hard, as the darkness and hitscan monsters can catch you early on, the springs are controlled by you and there's a funky battle with a cyberdemon head (the rest of him is submerged). It's ok, but the week has been so poor that it finishes as the wad of the week (single player-wise).
  
  

[NiGHTMARE]

fp! Pros and whatnot.

Red Section, the Dam and Somewhat Simple are all pretty cool DM levels, though shouldn't the former really be called Green Section? :P

[Dron]

sp! seems like a good week.

[Xaser]

Ack. ACTION Revolution was too late for this one.

Extreme Measures is quite the awesome mod, though!

EDIT: Ack. Apparently, I'm not the first one to create a working Action Doom BFG anymore. Oh, well. :P

[boris]

Image link to Somewhat Simple Extra Crispy Version is broken.

[SirTimberWolf]

woohoo, wad of the week :D!

[The Ultimate DooMer]

boris said:

Image link to Somewhat Simple Extra Crispy Version is broken.

I've sent in a fixed version (it had the wrong name) but we've been told not to edit newstuff threads anymore, so they'll have to do it instead.

[TheDarkArchon]

Xaser said:

Ack. ACTION Revolution was too late for this one.

It's not in the archives - I just checked.

[NiGHTMARE]

That's extremely strange, because I just checked and it is ;).

BTW I believe the /newstuff deadline is Friday, though I could be wrong.

[Udderdude]

NiGHTMARE said:

That's extremely strange, because I just checked and it is ;).

Wow. Best map in this /newstuff and it's not even listed. All the fun of the Action Doom weapons without the whole 'dying in one hit' part. I'd love to see an SP map based around this (no, not Action Doom).

[NiGHTMARE]

As I said, Friday is the deadline. ACTION Revolution! was uploaded on Saturday, so it'll feature in next week's /newstuff chronicles.

[Nmn]

The dam map is one chunk of a really impressive map. This guy knows architecture. Thumbs up.

[Xaser]

udderdude said:

Wow. Best map in this /newstuff and it's not even listed. All the fun of the Action Doom weapons without the whole 'dying in one hit' part. I'd love to see an SP map based around this (no, not Action Doom).

Thanks! It took me forever and a half to recreate the weapons, and I'm glad to see that my work didn't go to waste. :P

[Nmn]

Wasn't enjoyable due that Dehsupp is not available anymore in Zdoom and the Super Shotgun bug is there.
Oh, You didn't made those weapons, thief :]

[NiGHTMARE]

DEHSUPP is still available, it's just that a DEHSUPP patch which works in 63a stands a very good chance of not working with 90-93.

[Udderdude]

Nmn said:

Wasn't enjoyable due that Dehsupp is not available anymore in Zdoom and the Super Shotgun bug is there.
Oh, You didn't made those weapons, thief :]

For the love of God, stop using .9x. It's got 2,000 bugs, and there aren't even any maps out that support it's new features yet.

Go back to .63a. You know you want to :P

[SirTimberWolf]

Nmn said:

The dam map is one chunk of a really impressive map. This guy knows architecture. Thumbs up.

Thanks **
Im thinking about putting together a small map pack with some themed maps like it...
Castles, tech depots and what not would be the general theme with emphisis on DM play (2-8 players)
But I dont know :s

[The Ultimate DooMer]

NiGHTMARE said:

BTW I believe the /newstuff deadline is Friday, though I could be wrong.

There's no deadline as such, but usually stuff that gets put in Saturday night misses out, unless it's small enough to be played then or on Sunday morning/afternoon (and I usually only play stuff on Sunday if I've got other wads outstanding from the day before, which can happen if it's a crowded week). There was a 18-map Skulltag wad in there, but it was too big to play last night (and there was no-one playing Skulltag last night when I checked too).

[NiGHTMARE]

udderdude said:

For the love of God, stop using .9x. It's got 2,000 bugs, and there aren't even any maps out that support it's new features yet.

Go back to .63a. You know you want to :P

93 has hardly any bugs, and most of those it does have will not affect casual players, only mappers doing unusual things. Besides, have a look through the 63a-90 changelong, and you'll see that your beloved 63a had something like twice the number of bugs than any 9x version.

[Nmn]

^ Everything I wanted to say :B about Zdoom's new versions.

[Linguica]

I went back to 63a because 9x's inventory code is still retarded

[Nmn]

You don't have Strife support..

[Linguica]

Nmn said:

You don't have Strife support..

Wow really???? Whatever shall I do???????

[Nmn]

Get 91 or a latter version :B

[Graf Zahl]

Nmn said:

Get 91 or a latter version :B

Only .93!

.92 has the SSG bug and .91 still has many of .90's problems.

Anyway, all this complaining about something that had just had a complete overhaul and tons of features added being somewhat buggy is a little idiotic. If you look closely at the ZDoom page you will see that .63a is still the latest 'official' release. The recent versions have been mainly released to find and eliminate bugs - which should soon be done.

[NiGHTMARE]

Linguica said:

I went back to 63a because 9x's inventory code is still retarded

If you're talking about it putting some of Doom's items in the inventory rather than auto-using them, items being duplicated, dropped items being screwed up, etc than all that was fixed for 92.

[Linguica]

NiGHTMARE said:

If you're talking about it putting some of Doom's items in the inventory rather than auto-using them, items being duplicated, dropped items being screwed up, etc than all that was fixed for 92.

I'm talking about it still doing weird things like when I warp to a level it doesn't raise the pistol, and that Action Doom weapons WAD didn't work at all, stuff like that.

[NiGHTMARE]

The problem with ACTION Revolution! is not a bug (and has nothing to do with the inventory, retarded or otherwise), it's a case of a wad designer doing something he wasn't supposed to do, i.e. using a DEHSUPP lump. I've lost count of the number of times Randy, Graf and others have said not to use DEHSUPP if you care about ensuring future compatability for your wad, so if someone makes the choice not to care you can't really blame ZDoom for it.

The problem will never get "fixed", so if that's your main reason for not using a newer version, I'm afraid you'll be stuck with 63a forever :(. Personally I wouldn't let a bunch of wad designers who made use of an unsupported and unrecommended ZDoom "feature" prevent my enjoyment of future wads which won't work in 63a.

The pistol problem should be gone in .94 (or whatever the next version will be) though, and in the meantime the pistol should work if you disable 'neverswitchonpickup'.

[Graf Zahl]

NiGHTMARE said:

I've lost count of the number of times Randy, Graf and others have said not to use DEHSUPP if you care about ensuring future compatability for your wad.

Let's just say that I mentioned it each and every time DEHSUPP was discussed. Nobody would listen. A few times I recommended to reduce the DEHSUPP lump to the stuff that is really needed. Nobody would listen. .90 gets released and right on cue Randy reorganizes some Heretic stuff and thereby breaking the old DEHSUPPs. Everyone having used this is screwed and the whining starts. Again I tell them 'I told you so' and what happens? 'How can this be fixed for future versions?' Some people never learn... Apparently they want to screw themselves - something I really shouldn't care about but in the end shit like this here happens ('The new ZDoom versions suck!')

[mystery8]

Hmm. Light week.

The Dam was my favorite though. Nice work.