The /newstuff Chronicles #240

[Sporku]

Greetings, and welcome to another edition of the /newstuff Chronicles. I`m Agent Spork, and I`ll be your host this week. We have a mixed bag of both good and bad maps this week (as there always is?), with plenty of those wonderful 1994 wads we love so much, as well as some maps that were actually made sometime in the last ten years!

• DMCOLORS - SHOTGUN and NUKAGE
  doom.exe - n/a - 48 KB
  Basically, this is a bunch of wads combined together that change the playpal lump so that there are a bunch of wacky colors. Remember EGADOOM and CGADOOM from a few weeks back? It`s kind of like that, only slightly less retarded. Nothing truly amazing, although some of the pallette modifications look kinda neat.. for a whole 5 seconds, max.
  
  
• PILLAR.WAD - Nukage (Andy Pederson)
  doom.exe - Deathmatch - 19 KB - (img)
  Pillar is a somewhat large, techy deathmatch map. It`s got lousy weapon placement, and is not very pretty to look at either. I`m sure it`d fit in just fine with some of the stuff in the Dwango series, though!
  
  
• Dead on Arrival 12 - Paul Knapp
  doom.exe - Solo Play - 16 KB - (img)
  DOA-12, or "Dead on Arrival 12" as it is called is yet another lovely 1994 wad. This one in particular is seriously a vision of beauty. I mean, come on! Who doesn`t love giant grey boxes with misaligned textures all over the place, and doors that blend in with the rest of the environment (they use the exact same textures)! I was unable to beat this map, because I got lost running around looking for a random door that looked exactly like everything else in the map.
  
  
• EMPIRE SERIES - Tim Willits
  doom.exe - Solo Play - 185 KB - (img) (img) (img) (img)
  Empire is a series of maps by Tim Willits. You know, that bald guy that works for iD Software. Since it was made by Tim Willits, surely it is bound to be worth your time, right? Well, as far as the overall look of the maps go, they`re not very pretty. Also, the theme is completely random, and every room in these maps looks completely different from one another. A couple of the maps are mildly entertaining, but really, it`s nothing special.
  
  
• Overrun - Matt `CajunCC` Martin
  doom2.exe - Solo Play - 93 KB - (img) (img)
  After wading through a few of the sub-par 1994 wads, I`ve come to Overrun, a map by CajunCC, which is a medium-sized map with an overall techy theme. It is moderately detailed and quite fun to play. My only gripe I have with this map is that it appears as though some rooms have been copied and pasted a few times, for whatever reason. The ammo is also a little bit tight in the end, and I was forced to flee from a battle with a revenant, as I was left with nothing but my bare knuckles to fight with. It`s definitely worth a try nonetheless.
  
  
• Quake1 Base Deathmatch - The Solution
  ZDoom - Deathmatch - 1368 KB - (img)
  This next map is a deathmatch map that relies heavily on Quake resources (taken from Fanatic`s QDoom TC for EDGE), so beware of brown. The map is quite detailed, making good use of Quake`s texture set (although I am by no means a fan of it). On the downside the map is quite large, and the layout can be quite awkward to maneuver about, as well as strange weapon placement. I`d recommend playing this map with four or more players.
  
  
• Mines - The Solution
  ZDoom - Deathmatch - 1091 KB - (img)
  Another map from `The Solution`, this one uses a lot of textures from Nick Baker`s nightmare1 texture set. The map is overly brown, with some icy areas here and there. It is quite a bit smaller than the other map, but also presents some other problems as well. While the map is a lot less confusing to manuver around, there are quite a few dead ends, which could lead some people to camp in certain areas and wait for other players to wander in. Other than that I`d say it`s a decent map.
  
  
• Phantom of The Opera - Carlos Hoyos
  doom2.exe - Solo Play - 57 KB - (img) (img) (img)
  Phantom of The Opera is a map that is meant to recreate locations similar to, well.. Phantom of The Opera (the novel). I can`t tell you exactly how accurate it is, but it`s not like it really matters that much anyways. The map looks pretty decent throughout, with some pretty nifty things along the way. It`s nothing spectacular, but it gets the job done. The gameplay, however, seems to have been thrown in at the very last minute. There is almost no ammo in the map whatsoever, so I found myself running around fisting hell knights and revenants, and running away from arch-viles. What`s more, there are also several SS Nazis running about the map. Nobody in their right mind uses those in a normal Doom map. What would have probably been a decent map for the time is brought down by mediocre gameplay.
  
  
• Fury`s Ambush - Ioan Chera - Ebon
  doom.exe - Solo Play - 9 KB - (img)
  This map is quite simple, really. Basically the entire map consists of you going in an almost straight line, shooting at a few monsters that get in your way, with a spider mastermind at the end for you to kill. That`s it. It`s like Doom E3M8 with more monsters to get in your way.
  
  
• WTF? Deathmatch 2 - Various
  Skulltag - Deathmatch - 1593 KB - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
  WTF? Deathmatch 2 is another one of those hilarious joke wads we have come to know and love (or hate). Hilarious as in, mildly amusing in some parts but moreso retarded and stupid. You`ll see such amazing things as a map with mirrors all over the place, a random map with random flashing colored lights all over the place, an ugly crate maze, a suspiciously overdetailed map (boy, I didn`t see that one coming), and even MOSKAU! Since it is a joke wad, it`s utomatically guaranteed to be ugly, stupid, and not fun to play. But, I suppose if you`re easily amused by such things, give it a try.
  
  
• MOTRHOME.WAD - Im me
  Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 85 KB - (img)
  The first thing of notice when getting ready to play this map is the absolutely wonderful story in the text file, which is as follows: "You board a motorhome, and end up in traffic infested by demons. You have to leap from car to car and seize the truck in front." Now, if that`s not an amazing plot, I`m sure what is.Now, imagine something. Imagine taking that amazing car chase scene in Action Doom. Now make it a lot darker, a lot uglier, and put a crapload of pain elementals and lost souls in the map. This map is what you`d end up with.
  
  
• Naval Battle - Jacek `Illdo` Dobrzyniecki
  ZDoom - Solo Play - 31 KB
  Naval Battle is a map set on, you guessed it, a battleship! The overall look of the map, while nowhere near ugly, is nothing special. Some parts look bland, some parts look decent; it`s a mixed bag. The map is pretty fun to play, with good ammo balance and difficulty. I`d give it a try.
  
  
• Robocop Weapons - Carlos Guariglia
  cDoom - n/a - 251 KB
  Robocop weapons is.. a weapons mod. Now, I hate weapons mods, but I`ll try to beopen-minded. The weapon art is overall not very good; the weapons look like plastic. Also, if I remember correctly, the only weapon robocop carries on him at any given time is a rather large pistol. Here we have a pistol that fires at rapid speed, a shotgun that doesn`t even seem to sync properly to the sounds at all, a chaingun, rocket launcher, and flame thrower that all look like the exact same weapon, only they shoot different projectiles, and a sniper rifle that shoots exploding bullets! If all weapons mods are like this, then I suppose I`m pretty glad I usually don`t bother downloading any of them.
  
  
• 92 Hoorrs - Jack Alcholsocks
  doom.exe - Solo Play - 19 KB
  It`s a Doom map made in 1992. Does that sound odd to you? It should. It`s quite obviously a joke wad mocking all of the 1994 wads that have been constantly uploaded to the archives as of late. Whoever the author is (I have a couple of guesses) obviously is not very good at making a map look like a common 1994 wad. In fact, this actually looks better than all of the ones I`ve reviewed so far this week. For one, it actually makes use of LIGHTING, rather than just making rooms fullbright, like most of these other wads tend not to do. For another, it actually uses an overly consistant theme, rather than changing themes every other room like most of the 1994 wads I`ve played do. Actually, this map would also be fun to play if it weren`t for the fact that there`s a ton of monsters that are just stuck in the walls. Shame on you!
  
  
• CityLife - Phillip Wheeler
  doom.exe - Solo Play - 98 KB - (img)
  Here we have a grey city map. At night. For Doom. Usually, most of the city maps are made for Doom 2. That`s probably because, and I`m guessing, Doom 2 has a ton of really ugly city maps in it. So I suppose that would be the game of choice for making ugly city maps? Actually though, I`d probably have to say that this map looks quite a bit better than most of the city maps in Doom 2. Maybe it`s because it doesn`t use a lot of those ugly new textures Doom 2 introduced? I`m not sure. On the negative side, it has what I think is one of the ugliest skies I`ve ever seen, although I suppose I can`t expect people to know how to make decent looking custom graphics at that time. I`m not really sure how good of a deathmatch this map would make, as I really didn`t have time to test it. There`s lots of plasma guns all over the place, as well as a ton of soul spheres, which I`d imagine would get pretty annoying after a while.
  
  
• MajorCrap.WAD - Brendan `ace` Egan
  doom.exe - Solo Play - 7 KB - (img)
  It`s a joke wad which was apparently made for some kind of "make the crappiest map humanly possible" competition going on at the ZDoom.org forums, or something. It`s really bad. Not the funny kind of bad, just the.. bad.. kind of bad. Only the best comes from the dedicated people at ZDoom.org! That`s really all I have to say about that.
  
  
• KAMI2.WAD - J. OKAMURA
  doom.exe - Solo Play - 72 KB - (img)
  This map is supposed to recreate a realistic environment in Doom. While of course it looks nowhere near realistic, I suppose it doesn`t look terrible, besides the outdoor areas looking very bland. I can`t say that it`s really very exciting to play, either. There are very few monsters spread across the map, most of which are imps and demons. I spent most of the map just running around with a chainsaw as well.
  
  
• Extreme Evil Execution - Sami `MaxSpeeD` Mäki-Mantila
  Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 374 KB - (img) (img) (img)
  Sami `MaxSpeeD` Mäki-Mantila brings us a real treat this week! Extreme Evil Execution is a large, open base-ish map, with lots of good-looking detail. There are some outdoor and cave areas, as well as some indoor base areas, all of which looks very nice. The gameplay is very well executed and fun to play. It is of moderate difficulty, with good monster and item placement. There are also some great battles along the way. If you`re looking for one good map to play this week, look no further.
  
  
• Syndicate - youkai444
  ZDoom - Solo Play - 47 KB
  Syndicate is youkai444`s first attempt at a map. For a first attempt, it`s really not bad at all. In fact, I can safely say that it looks better than half of the stuff I`ve played this week. It also looks about ten times better than my first attempt at a map. But, does the gameplay hold up? For the most part, yes. The ammo is a bit tight in some parts, but overall it`s pretty fun to play. A good first attempt at a map, and I look forward to seeing more in the future.
  
  
• Halo Gen - Dennis `Exl` Meuwissen
  Boom Compatible - Deathmatch - 288 KB - (img) (img) (img)
  Halo Gen is a 10-map deathmatch levelset, focusing on one-on-one play. The detail in these maps is simple, but looks good (just the way I like it), with good map layouts. It`s also a blast to play as well, with good weapon and ammo placement. The maps are just the way I like them. Hopefully you deathmatch nuts will stop playing Dwango 5 for at least five seconds to play this. It`s well worth it.
  
  The following review was written by duncan:
  
  
• Geo X - Agent Spork
  ZDoom - Solo Play - 5068 KB - (img) (img)
  Geo X is a very decent offering from Agent Spork, which takes the player through a set of three maps. Playing through the different maps, there is a distinct variation in themes and occasionally quality, but the transfer between levels is a smooth one. The author states in the text file that Geo X is an improved version of previous maps sp_deny and sp_geo. Having never had the experience of playing these maps, I cannot personally comment on the differences. However, as a mapset in itself, Geo X is of very high quality. Detail is apparent at most turns and there are some very good looking sections to treat the player`s eye. Gameplay increases in difficulty throughout the levels and goes from catching the player on their toes, to being very intense. There are a number of ambushes along the way; Agent Spork doesn`t let you get away with doing much. While occasionally irritating, these additional fights usually add to the enjoyment of the map. Gameplay can sometimes be linear, but this is rarely in a tedious way. Overall, the maps are very fun to play and the author`s result from obvious hard work is commendable.
  
  For me, map 3 (Death Barracks) let the rest of the levels down. The map took a long time to end, something which the author mentioned in the textfile was a distinct problem in their earlier attempts. The ambushes by here had also become very predictable and drawn out. However, don`t get me wrong, it was another fantastic map, but personally I felt, in terms of gameplay anyway, that this didn`t match the quality of the predecessing maps. Also, due to the size of some rooms, places could sometimes look bare, but this was a minor judgement.
  
  The maps are atmospheric, excellently flowing and enjoyable to play. There is a good choice of graphics and music to add to feel of the maps. My personal recommendation would be to get your hands on it and enjoy the good 45 minutes to an hour of solid Dooming that this mapset provides.

[Bloodshedder]

fp fags

Props to Spork, these reviews are good.

[Jehar]

sp for conceding to ownage.
only a couple of the maps look nice.
Not including geox, went through that earlier.
These damn pallete shifts are startin to annoy me.

[Bloodshedder]

I didn't JUST post this, it was done several hours ago and was set to appear at midnight. So, you fail it.

[sargebaldy]

Well, we all know you synchronize your watch with it. Anyway I never remember which time zone's midnight it's supposed to come up with.

So Overrun and CityLife look pretty good to me, guess I'll try those.

[Cajun[CC]]

I'd say I'm happy with the review my map got. :)

Psst. They WERE copy/pasted and then altered to fit the area. It was intentional so that i could get a lot of variation in the theme of the other areas, but still keep the feel of it like it all belonged together.

Note to self: More modifications after cut/paste next time.

[Sporku]

Yay, /newstuff!

For me, map 3 (Death Barracks) let the rest of the levels down. The map took a long time to end, something which the author mentioned in the textfile was a distinct problem in their earlier attempts. The ambushes by here had also become very predictable and drawn out. However, don`t get me wrong, it was another fantastic map, but personally I felt, in terms of gameplay anyway, that this didn`t match the quality of the predecessing maps. Also, due to the size of some rooms, places could sometimes look bare, but this was a minor judgement.

Heh, you should have seen the map before.. It was probably twice as long as it is now, and was really not a very good map at all. I believe it was my first attempt (besides one other map which I'd rather not mention :P) at a ZDoom map when I first started on it. As I was working on it, I was too tied up trying to make the map as large as I possibly could, for whatever reason. I don't even really like large maps.

[Kaiser]

yay GeoX!

[sargebaldy]

Hmm, CityLife is actually meant to be a deathmatch map I think. Of course, like all deathmatch maps that old it still has monsters. I don't think there's even a single player exit, or at least I couldn't find one. And it's a little, uh, easy in single player.

[Grazza]

I notice that in Extreme Evil Execution (mseee) you don't need the yellow key thanks to a switch trick, which means you don't need to backtrack through the map and face the caco swarm, etc. It's still not a very speed-friendly map though, as health is scarce.

[Chrono_T]

Whoa, that shitty robocop weapon mod sucks.

To answer your question agent: Very, very little weapon mods are of THAT caliber of shittyness.

[kristus]

Well. I'm downloading GeoX, gotta see what you did to them maps Spork. :)

[duncan]

AgentSpork said:

Heh, you should have seen the map before.. It was probably twice as long as it is now, and was really not a very good map at all.

This new version is still a great map, I must stress that!!!

[CodeImp]

Oh I like Geo X! As always, Agent Spork's maps have good detail and nice eye candy (translucent walls anyone?) without overdoing it. They play good too, not too hard, but not too easy either. I died a few times before I finished it but there was no moment where I got bored or a place impossible to get through. Good work.

[insertwackynamehere]

wtf, WTFDM2 stole something from Maddox!

[MikeyScoots]

insertwackynamehere said:

wtf, WTFDM2 stole something from Maddox!

You can thank me for that.

[The Flange Peddler]

A few nice maps this week. Spork's GeoX is better than the original, and Overrun was ok, if a bit too linear for my tastes. The ammo balance also seems to go way off in that last battle.

I liked Extreme Evil Execution quite a lot. A nice big open map. I did think there were way too many annoying hitscanners in that big open area to start with, and not enough health to compensate fairly. You also have to back track through the entire level twice which seems like bad planning (teleporters anyone?). But generally EEE was my favourite.

Haven't played Empire, but I'm sure I recognise some of those screenshots from the Raven series?

Edit: Oh I see in the textfile that Empire is just some of Raven's levels, which were originally released for Doom1. So now we're not only uploading 1994 wads but also 1994 wads that are already in the archives under a different name...

[Mikko_Sandt]

GeoX got a bit too hard a few times but other than that - fantastic. Design, theme and flow were all of top quality - just too bad that I wanted to start dicing people during those few frustrating scenes.

[exl]

Hmm.. where the heck is Bloody Cheese (a COOP wad btw, so putting in ammo is somewhat pointless). I uploaded it together with Halo Gen.

[funduke]

The Flange Peddler said:

... Oh I see in the textfile that Empire is just some of Raven's levels, which were originally released for Doom1. So now we're not only uploading 1994 wads but also 1994 wads that are already in the archives under a different name...

The raven levels are for doom2.
Empire for original DooM.
They are two different games.

Greetings
Funduke

[leileilol]

crap, woah and chisel aren't there yet

[Sporku]

exl said:

Hmm.. where the heck is Bloody Cheese (a COOP wad btw, so putting in ammo is somewhat pointless). I uploaded it together with Halo Gen.

Well, there were a couple of maps I didn't have much time to play and review, so I appologize. Hopefully whoever has /newstuff next week will review it.

[Veddge]

A pretty weak week (yay homophones). AgentSpork's maps are easily the prime cut this newstuff. I'm still really waiting for his megawad to be released ;)

[Udderdude]

Geo X was cool. :O

[Sporku]

If you thought this was a weak week, then you should take a look at last week's newstuff. :P

I'd highly recommend Extreme Evil Execution. It's easily the best map uploaded this week, in my opinion.

[duncan]

I've just played that map before I came here and I agree it's a very good piece of work. The outdoor area is particularly magnificent

[wildweasel]

AgentSpork said:

Robocop weapons is.. a weapons mod. Now, I hate weapons mods, but I`ll try to beopen-minded. The weapon art is overall not very good; the weapons look like plastic. Also, if I remember correctly, the only weapon robocop carries on him at any given time is a rather large pistol. Here we have a pistol that fires at rapid speed, a shotgun that doesn`t even seem to sync properly to the sounds at all, a chaingun, rocket launcher, and flame thrower that all look like the exact same weapon, only they shoot different projectiles, and a sniper rifle that shoots exploding bullets! If all weapons mods are like this, then I suppose I`m pretty glad I usually don`t bother downloading any of them.

I'm sorry you had to put up with that piece of crap. I assure you that anything made by the regulars over at the Doom Armory (Xaser, TDA, Snarboo, and me) is much better than this strictly amateur effort.

[exp(x)]

What's with using grave accents instead of apostrophes?

[Udderdude]

AgentSpork said:

If you thought this was a weak week, then you should take a look at last week's newstuff. :P

I changed my mind, Geo X is teh suck :P

[Bloodshedder]

exp(x) said:

What's with using grave accents instead of apostrophes?

Screwiness with the tool we use to generate the HTML - something is fubared in the code or with Telefragged's PHP settings.