The /newstuff Chronicles #320

[EarthQuake]

Does anyone else think reviews should summarize the works at hand, and not cover every minute detail? I noticed some people were stating that the chronicles this week was a bit too much of a read and passed over much of it. This might be detrimental to the authors of those wads if readers aren't arsed to look at the review. :(

So why not set some restrictions on the presentation and content so things are a bit more consistent and easier to read?

For example, say we have a one-map wad. One paragraph should be sufficient. A small episode, maybe two paragraphs or so? A megawad, perhaps about three paragraphs? And everything in a legible paragraph form?

It's kind of ridiculous having a map-by-map analysis of a wad. Pointing out highlights or maps to avoid is okay, but readers don't need to know everything that goes on in the wad, just whether it's worth looking at and what to generally expect.

[Oldfukka]

hnsolo77 said:

this is due to the eXmX format we used

just hit ` to bring up the console and type in E2M5 *for example* to take you to that level, the secret levels are either M0 or M10

That doesn't work either. I type in E2M5 and hit Enter and it returns "Unknown command." BTW, I'm playing Zpack in ZDoom ver. 2.2 if that makes a difference.

[myk]

Type map e2m5 (in the console).

EarthQuake, not really... or, not necessarily (no one should be stopped from providing a short review, if they choose). In fact, I think it's best to give a full review that may interest the author and any player that digs that sort of WAD, more than guys who just ask whether each WAD is worth downloading. A summary at the end of the review can help the latter anyway.

I sometimes read some of the the reviews after playing WADs I've found to be more or less interesting. If a review is any good you can revisit it long after the particular T/nC occurred, even.

[hnsolo77]

typo on my part, forgot to add map in front of the map's lump name

[Oldfukka]

That worked, thanks!

[GreyGhost]

Bloodshedder said:

SUCH AS?

Was I the only one to read that far without their eyes glazing over?

"Mancubuses" in the review of Dead Perfect
"paletable" in the review of The Beesong

BTW - I'm not trying to restart the mancubuses/mancubi/mancubedes debate.

[Bloodshedder]

GreyGhost said:

Was I the only one to read that far without their eyes glazing over?

Well, no. The Beesong review is probably one of the ones I only skimmed quickly and approved (and thus didn't read fully) while on vacation.

BTW - I'm not trying to restart the mancubuses/mancubi/mancubedes debate.

It kinda sounds like you are. I changed the original review from "Mancubi" to "Mancubuses" because "Mancubi" is a made-up pseudo-Latin pluralization for a made-up monster name.

[myk]

That article takes octopus as pseudo-Latin because people retroactively applied the wrong Latin plural on it. The Latin plurals of succubus and incubus, the words used as a base for the fictional word, are truly succubi and incubi (second declension), so mancubi is valid.

[printz]

I think English should allow, someday, regular plural for all words ending in -s.

Deja vu with the mancubus topic -- I saw it yesterday in a <#100 /newstuff Chronicle.

[GreyGhost]

Bloodshedder said:

It kinda sounds like you are.

Damn reverse psychology - works every time. I'll accept mancubuses as an alternate spelling and go sulk in the corner. :-)

[Tango]

Remiel was pretty harsh but that's how I feel about ZPack.

[Naan]

If you hate ZDoom features, you'll hate ZPack, am I right ?


Nonetheless I am unable to run it because of multiple missing texture - even with correct versions...

[Use]

Naan said:

If you hate ZDoom features, you'll hate ZPack, am I right ?

Well, not all of it. There are some pretty cool maps in there, just takes effort to go digging.

[hnsolo77]

Naan said:

If you hate ZDoom features, you'll hate ZPack, am I right ?


Nonetheless I am unable to run it because of multiple missing texture - even with correct versions...

it runs fine for me, are you using a Doom II iwad? cause that is the one you are supposed to use

[Gez]

Naan said:

If you hate ZDoom features, you'll hate ZPack, am I right ?

If you hate ZDoom features, you won't care about ZPack because, out of internal consistency, you will not have ZDoom on your computer (why would you have something which you hate?) and therefore will never play ZPack.

[Naan]

hnsolo77 said:

it runs fine for me, are you using a Doom II iwad? cause that is the one you are supposed to use

Oh lol, the wad was filed in ~/doom/ so I thought it was a Doom wad, not a Doom II's...

[hnsolo77]

Naan said:

Oh lol, the wad was filed in ~/doom/ so I thought it was a Doom wad, not a Doom II's...

that has something to do with the asshole who uploaded the mod whithout permission when we did a public beta to find bugs we missed, as such the text file was not finished then.

the zip should have a proper text file in it

[JacKThERiPPeR]

You like my review? Well, I'll be posting a lot about bad maps actually. Because of the massive amount of 1994 maps arriving.

I sure like reviewing.

[Naan]

Well, I've played a bit of that ZPack, and I don't find anything wrong in it yet.

Only criticism would be a too big copy/paste of the Simplicity's gameplay style (and palette), at least for the first episode. But, well, that gameplay has been proven enjoyable, I don't get why people who applauded Simplicity don't like ZPack.

Other than that, nothing that can be compared to WolfenDoom, Gamarra, DRE or other community approved crap.

[esselfortium]

Naan said:

WolfenDoom

Huh? o_O I've always considered WolfenDoom to be pretty impressively well-made, especially the made-for-Doom episodes. I've definitely never seen it on a list with D:RE or Gamarra wads before.

[Jimmy]

I think he might be referring to Nazi Auferschtung or whatever it's called.

[myk]

hnsolo77 said:
that has something to do with the asshole who uploaded the mod whithout permission when we did a public beta to find bugs we missed, as such the text file was not finished then.

If you want, write to the archive adimn (Ty Haldeman, see the archive docs for an email address), he'll likely move it to the right directory for you.

JacKThERiPPeR said:
Because of the massive amount of 1994 maps arriving.

Yeah, early mapper flaws aside, many of those are fun to play, thus inviting attention for a review.

[Vader]

Hey, I'd like to thank you all for the comments on my maps in Zpack!
I'm glad most peolpe seemed to enjoy them, even E1M0 wich I feared to fell short in terms of gameplay!

Concering te review of Zpack;
Obviously I'm not in the position to complain, so I won't say much :P
I think both sides of the argument, wether the review has been too harsh, have valid points... in the end the only thing that I think is really inappropiate, is the lame "Gpack, Hpack, Tupac" name-calling thing...

[Naan]

Jimmy91 said:

I think he might be referring to Nazi Auferschtung or whatever it's called.

I was referring indeed this one, my apologies :x

[Plonker]

I really like Plexydome by mr rocket, a nicely designed map and a good reason to try Legacy. If I remember rightly it was one of the first Legacy maps to use 3d floors, was entered in a 3d mapping contest which john Romero forgot to judge, or chose not to because there were so few entries. Anyway a really nice little wad.

[Deeforce]

Yeah, Plexydome is my favorite Doom Legacy DM map, too! It really kicks ass, man!

[Haloless0320]

Jimmy91 said:

I think he might be referring to Nazi Auferschtung or whatever it's called.

Just mentioning that wad makes me sick...god awful.

[Plonker]

sorry, Plexydome wasnt the contest entry, it was 'processing acid' also by mr rocket. Anyway I like them both. I feel a wee bit inspired to make my own legacy maps now.